SleepyCat: Hello, my lovely readers! I am finally going to be starting this story that I've been wanting to do for quite some time. I'm excited for this story! Gives me the happy chills or something like that.

Main Characters: Minato, Jiraiya, Kushina, Hizashi Hyuga, Tsunade, Orochimaru

Recurring Characters: 3rd Hokage, Kakashi, Rin, Obito

Summary: Upon realizing that Jiraiya's rash and arrogant nature proves to be a danger to both his missions and his teammates, the third hokage forces his student to instruct a team of young genin, the very job Jiraiya loathed with a passion. As he struggles to teach the next generation, Jiraiya himself is taught once again what it takes to be a team...

Disclaimer: Naruto and it's characters do not belong to me. SHOCKER OF THE YEAR!

~~~~~~~~Chapter 1~~~~~~~~~~

-JIRAIYA's POV-

Quiet. It was too quiet.

I was crouching behind tall, green bushes, wet because of last night's heavy rainfall. The ground beneath me felt like quicksand, slowly dragging me lower and lower, even though it had the appearance of normal mud. I hated it, but what could I do? I can't talk or move unless instructed otherwise. All I can do is hide here and stare at the empty dirt road in front of me. It's a pain...

And it was quiet. Too quiet.

The wind was not blowing or howling; there was barely a breeze. The leaves were not shaking, and no birds were singing. My breathing was probably the loudest noise I've heard so far, and I've been crouching here since morning.

And not a soul in sight. Of course, not yet anyway...

Don't get me wrong, I'm not crouching here for nothing. I'm just waiting.

Actually, I'm expecting a certain someone: Goro Kin. AKA, The black Kemuri. Kemuri means smoke, due to the fact that appears when no one is looking and disappears before anyone is able to take a glance at him. I'm not sure why he is called the "Black" Kemuri; maybe someone just threw in the word "black" to make the name more intimidating.

In my opinion, I think the name is just plain cheesy. Anyway, the black Kemuri, Goro Kin, was my target for quite some time. Two years to be precise.

Long time ago, Goro was a ninja from my village and also in my generation. We were good friends; we had known each other since we were born. Goro was one of those geniuses in my generation; he was well-respected, skilled, and definitely liked by the ladies.

Not that I was jealous or anything...

Anyway, Goro basically excelled in everything. Taijutsu, genjutsu, and ninjutsu were all but child's play to him. Plus, he was highly skilled with a sword, and with his sword, which had powerful and dangerous specialties, he could slaughter anyone in his path. I'm actually surprised I was placed on the third hokage's team instead of him, since he was more popular and famous than myself. Goro was a golden star of my generation, standing above many of us.

Then it was all gone in one single mission..

Goro and his teammates were sent on an A-rank mission of retrieving a powerful scroll that had been stolen by ninja of the sound. I had no clue what was in the scroll exactly, but I knew that whatever was in inside was extremely powerful and dangerous.

Goro and his team successfully retrieved the scroll, but barely. Of course, this meant more fame, glory, and sadly, fangirls to his already-long list of successes. However, there was no fame, no glory, and no fangirls.

Actually, Goro and his team never returned home. There are many accounts on what exactly happened, but the one I'm about to tell was probably the most accurate.

The team was half-way home when Goro did the unthinkable. When his teammates were asleep, he grabbed his clean sword and cut off his teammates' heads. Then, he took the scroll and walked in the opposite direction of the leaf village. After that, he disappeared like smoke, and no one has seen his face ever since.

Once the Leaf realized what had become of Goro, his team, and the scroll, Goro was named an S-class criminal and missing-nin. It was not known why Goro turned rogue and committed this crime so suddenly; he was seemingly perfect in everyone's eyes. Guess not. Ultimately, he was to be found, killed on sight, and the scroll was to be retrieved.

It was then, two years ago, that I was assigned to catch, kill Goro, or otherwise now known as the Black Kemuri, and retrieve the scroll. So far, I have learned that he now lives in the sound village, having created a new person for himself. He works in and leads a group of highly-skilled sound ninja, who help him steal other powerful scrolls and weapons. Of course, no one was able to stop the cunning criminal.

I haven't been able to catch him because he only sends his buddies to do his errands and whatnot. I've caught a few of those guys, but they don't reveal anything at all. If they do, the information just leads me to another dead end.

But now, I have another lead, another possibility of finally catching my target. I was ready to catch him and have in my grasp, begging for mercy. It seemed like such a wonderful image to me. Then, I imagine all the glory fangirls I would achieve. Jiraiya, the powerful and charming sannin of leaf.

Of course, that would mean I would have to crouch here in the mud all day. However, I would've waited a month here to catch the infamous Black Kemuri.

I was so consumed in my thoughts that I had almost missed the sound of footsteps.

I glanced over the road, waiting to see who those footsteps belonged to. My heart was pounding hard against my chest, almost as if it wanted to burst out. Several sweat beads appeared on my face as I nervously waited.

Someone came into my vision. However, it was not the Black Kemuri..

It was one of his henchmen. Again.

I had seen this one before though. I checked over all the details of the newcomer. This someone was a woman who I identified to be the Black Kemuri's second-in-command; probably his lover too.

I realized the opportunity flying in front of me. She must have valuable information that could help me in finding the Kemuri. Although I've never seen her fight, she doesn't seem all that strong; not without any back-up anyway.

That's right! I almost forgot my teammates, but I don't think I need to waste time telling them about my status. Although we were ordered to stay in cover, even if someone appears, and to tail anyone who did, I wasn't going to get another chance so soon like this. It's not like my teammates are going to be ambushed or anything; they're far away and well-hidden. Yeah, I don't need to tell them.

Wasting no time, I grabbed a kunai from my pouch and leaped from my cover behind the bushes.

I hadn't realized the big mistake I had just made...

-12 HOURS LATER-

Awkward. That basically sums up the condition right now.

I was standing in the hokage's office along with my teammates. Actually, one of my teammates was currently in the hospital in critical condition. The rest of the team, except for me, was pretty beaten up, if I must say.

The third hokage, who was sitting in his chair, staring at us, had an angry and irritated look that kinda gave a few chills. He was not happy. Period.

Our mission had failed. It was actually a trap laid out by the Kemuri for us; it was a present that basically said "better luck next time." However, there was more to it. Apparently, I had screwed up.

With a deep sigh, the hokage finally spoke to my teammates, "Chiyo and Aiko, you may go home now. I have nothing to say to you besides the fact that the mission was a failure. You are dismissed. Jiraiya, I would like a word with you."

My teammates bowed quickly and left without a word. I counted the seconds as the door slowly closed.

I was secretly loathing of what was to come. I knew what to expect: another long, boring lecture. I got these all the time, due to my bold and daring nature. I usually didn't pay attention; however, by the look of sensei's face, this lecture was going to be different.

The hokage had closed eyes for some time, not looking up or moving a muscle. Then, after another deep sigh, he said, "Jiraiya, please explain to me what happened during the mission."

I wasn't in the mood of repeating what was already in the report, but sensei didn't look like he was open for other options.

"My team and I," I began, "decided to split up. I was watching over the roads for anyone to come by. My team was located to a tea house far away, in case anyone came by that way. A woman, Kemuri's second-in-command, came by my location and-"

"You jumped into action," the hokage interrupted, "that was against the orders."

"I deemed it best to take her in since she would most likely have information about the Kemuri."

The hokage still did not look up at me. He had opened his eyes, but he was focused on his hands in his lap.

"Did you tell your teammates the change of plans?"

"Well, no. I didn't think it was necess-"

The hokage slammed his hand on his desk, glaring at his student and yelled, "Jiraiya, will you never learn? Jumping into action like that was a rash move, but not warning your teammates sealed this mission as a failure."

I wast taken back by this sudden outburst. Usually, the old man was calm and well-collected, but the hokage had broken through his peaceful nature.

"Sensei, how was I supposed to know it was a trap?! She didn't hold any sign that said, "hey! Come here! There's a trap waiting for you.' That's a normal mistake."

"Did you bother to realize that your teammates had been ambushed by many ninja and were contacting you for help?

"Hmph, I didn't know the girl was waiting for me to jump out so she would contact the enemy ninja, who were trailing my team, to attack. I believed they were strong enough the handle themselves," I claimed, "apparently, they're not strong at all."

Sensei clenched his fist tightly till it turned tomato red. "That's not the point. Your actions endangered your whole team, and what do you do? You run after the girl instead, all the way to the border, in fact. Surely, you must have realized that the mission was a failure by then. That girl is a well-known ninja in the sound village, and you crossed the line when you dared to capture, maybe kill, her. That would lead into more conflict between the sound and the leaf. You were too ignorant to realize the amount of danger you had caused for your teammates and your village. Now one of your teammates is in the hospital with the possibility of dying."

"If we had gone along with MY original plan, then none of this would've happened. I should have gone by myself. I'm powerful enough without any team holding me back. The only people I can work with is Tsunade and Orochimaru, but you insisted on others. The way I see it, it's your fault," I screamed so loud that the people in the hallway would be able to hear me.

The Hokage paused. His eyes met mine in some type of glaring contest. Surprisingly, the hokage calmed himself and sat back down. Then, with another sigh, he said, "I have no other option. Jiraiya, as my student, I take great pride in you. You are an accomplished shinobi, and I agree that you are indeed strong.

However, you are too ignorant in believing you are strong enough alone; your selfish and rash nature have endangered too many missions and shinobi for too long. I've have tried to warn you, but your pride allows you to ignore my warnings along with your teammates. I had believed you knew how to work as a team and to rely on others. But now I see, that you are blind with power and pride. Alone, you are no stronger than you were when you joined my squad. And that is why..."

I knew to expect the worst. I knew to expect any punishment the third could give me in his power. But I could not expect..

"And that is why I'm assigning you to a team of genin as of today. You will learn to be a teacher and to be responsible of newcomers. Hopefully, you will be taught once again the true meaning of what it takes to be a team."

I wasn't sure how to take that in; I was trying not to believe what I had just heard. My mouth was slightly open, since I was shocked an all. I was still trying to make sense of what my sensei had just said. It took a few seconds before I was shook out of my phase, and I felt heat rise to my face. Stumbling on words to say, I said,

"W-what?! You can't be serious! You honestly think I would agree to train team of brats? You have plenty of shinobi for babysitting genin. I've got training to do, a mission to accomplish, and a target to eliminate, and now you want to hinder me with a bunch of-"

"In your current state, you will never be strong enough to eliminate your target," sensei interrupted. I opened my mouth to respond, but the hokage held up his hand, "as hokage, I am ordering you to take a team. There is no other option; you only have yourself to blame. In a couple days, you will be receiving your own team, a whole new responsibility. You are dismissed."

The old man turned his back to me and said no more.

I clutched my fist even more, restraining myself from jumping over the hokage's and knocking some sense into the man. I was angry. To be first forced into the position of sensei of a team of brats and then merely dismissed like I was some unimportant being to my sensei, it was infuriating and appalling.

There was no way out of this. My sensei was, in fact, the third hokage. I couldn't disobey a direct order from the village's leader. I hated it, but I had no other choice. I would have my own team of brats in a matter of days and play babysitter for who knows how long.

Believing I had had enough for one day, I opened the creaking door, and left.

I had just realized the mass headache I had obtained from the fight.

-END OF CHAPTER 1-

SleepyCat: Next will be a POV for Minato. Not all these chapters will be POV!