Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Summary: This story begins during the time skip about 1 year before the Jiraiya and Naruto return to Konoha. After a training accident Naruto asks Jiraiya some very serious questions and gets some very surprising answers.

Notes: This is my first fan fic so please go easy, just having some fun! The original idea was just to be a romantic comedy but the back story turned out so well and got so many compliments that I've constructed a full plot off of it to weave the story around.

Also this is a divergence fic so I try to be faithful to canon up to the point that my story begins but I will take some liberties when I feel it makes the story better. Like the characters are all about a year older than canon when Naruto & Jiraiya return. This first chapter is mostly drama but the fic itself is a Comedy/Romance, I just needed the setup. Hopefully I do this thing some justice so enjoy!

Update: I've almost totally revamped this chapter because I felt it was too 'light' in the original version, I hope you like the update :)

Chapter 1 - Waking Up

Smoke. He could smell the hot, dry gas permeating his senses as he struggled to breath. It was difficult not to choke on every inhale, and to make matters worse the smell was now joined by the taste. As conciseness slowly crept back in sounds returned as well. He could hear crackling, the soft sounds of a dying fire echoing in his ears. Something moved over to his left … PAIN … His entire body was racked with terrible pain, every bone had to be broken and it felt like his skin was on fire. He knew he had to move, to get up, but his body didn't want to respond. It would just be so much easier to lay here and go back to sleep… Get up boy!

Naruto opened his eyes slowly, they didn't seem to want to work at first but the world gradually began to resolve itself. He wished for a moment that it hadn't. Shooting pains roamed his body with every movement as punishment, but as he propped himself upright he could see that he was lying in the middle of the worst devastation he had ever seen. The forest was burned for at least 200 meters in every direction, and there were craters the size of buildings littering the landscape. He turned his head to look in the direction of the movement he felt a moment ago, "Ero-Sennin!"

Jiraiya sat with his back against a small boulder, blood was oozing from his chest and staining is long mane of spiky white hair. His breathing was ragged, and he was having trouble staying conscious. It had taken everything the aging Shinobi had to stop Naruto's rampage, and he'd been worried that Naruto might not survive after seeing what the Kyuubi's possession had done to his student's body, but it looked like Naruto was back to normal and while the youngster had seen better days he would be fine. The healing powers the Kyuubi granted the genin never ceased to amaze him. Now his own condition was the pressing question, he'd been sitting here for the last 30 minutes trying to figure out if he could stand. Deciding it was now or never he gathered his strength and gave it a shot, "Naru...to" he managed before collapsing in cloud of ash.

Ignoring the constant pain every movement brought, Naruto crawled towards his unconscious teacher and grabbed hold of his his gi, "Ero-Sennin, wake up! Can you hear me?" It was no use he realized, his sensei was out cold and probably needed medical attention. Naruto groaned, it looked like he was going to have to carry Jiraiya to help and the old man looked awfully heavy. "Damn it, where are we?" he asked out loud. He looked around trying to spot something familiar but whatever happened here erased anything he might recognize.

Naruto quickly searched his memories trying to recall the last thing he could, "I remember setting up camp about 4 kilometers east of Nagoya, we were talking about the Kyuubi and the seal and then … shit. That's the last thing I remember, that's not a good sign. But at least I have direction, west it is."

He shook his sensei one last time just in case, "Ero-Sennin, are you awake? Didn't think so, you better not have been cheating on that diet!" Naruto gritted his teeth against his body's protest and heaved the other man up onto his shoulders. "Argh! You cheater!"

"Aw come on you old perv!" Naruto complained. "We both know you're awake and just too lazy to walk your damn self, give me a break would you?" He glanced over his shoulder at Jiraiya's face and saw the sannin was still out cold. Naruto sighed in irritation, he'd always imagined winning every argument against Ero-Sennin would be more entertaining. He readjusted the weight with a heave and resumed putting one foot in front of the other.

He'd been dragging the old man for what seemed like an eternity but his training told him was probably 3 kilometers or so, but he wasn't sure how much farther he could go. It was difficult to focus his eyes now and he was still bleeding from several deep gashes although the flow of blood had stemmed somewhat. His orange jumpsuit hung from his batted body in shreds. In his current state he'd collapse any moment but as he looked up he finally saw what he'd been looking for. The smoke of cooking fires, that could only mean people, and help.

"Help! Come quick, they're hurt!" Naruto looked toward the voice and saw a young boy running toward him. There were several adults behind him but Naruto couldn't quite make them out.

"Some kid spotted us and he's bringing help, that's a good thing," the weary ninja thought. "Now I think I just need to rest for a second…" Naruto flopped forward, crumpling in the tall grass.

"Well look at that, sleeping beauty awakes!"

That voice sounded familiar, "Well at least I'm not dead. There's no God in heaven that would stick me with Ero-Sennin for all eternity and call it paradise. Then again, I could be in hell…"

Naruto opened his eyes and actually felt the harsh fluorescent light ping against the back of eye balls. "What the hell," he moaned. He waited for his eyes to make the painful adjustment to his current surroundings and found himself staring at the white drop ceiling of your typical hospital, something he'd learned from extensive experience. "Good, we made it. You're a damn Liar."

"Liar? What are you talking about?"

Naruto turned his head to his right and saw Jiraiya lying in the bed next to him. "You said you weren't cheating on your diet."

Jiraiya looked incredulous, "I didn't I swear!"

"Please, I just lugged your overweight ass halfway across the countryside, from now on your name is Debu-Ero-Sennin." (Debu-Ero-Sennin means Fat-Perverted-Hermit)

"Bah! You're just too damn weak. Maybe if you worked on strength conditioning once in awhile instead of practicing the same jutsu over and over you wouldn't be lying there making baseless accusations!"

Naruto managed a grin, "Ya right." He tried to sit up and was immediately rewarded with a terrible jolt of pain trying to split him in half and gave up. "Damn that hurts, how are you doing?"

Jiraiya's smile faded a bit, "My chest feels like it's ground beef but I'll live. We might be stuck here for a few more days though, I don't heal like you do."

Naruto squinted out of one eye and nodded. "Speaking of which, what the hell happened out there? The whole dam forest looked like it was destroyed, I've never seen anything like it."

"You don't remember?" Jiraiya asked.

Naruto furrowed his brow, "No, the last thing I remember was us setting up camp and you taking another look at the Kyuubi's seal before we ate dinner."

Jiraiya put his arms up behind his head, "That's strange but I suppose you did take a pretty hard knock to the head. Well the truth is I was playing around with a new summoning and kind of … lost control. I managed to disperse the damn thing but not before the battle caused all that carnage you saw."

Naruto stared at his sensei, two years with the pervert taught him a lot about how to read the cagey shinobi and his bullshit sense was starting to tingle. "Jiraiya-sensei only summons frogs and he's basically in good standing with Gamabunta the most powerful of all frogs. Seems awfully unlikely that he could summon another frog that's actually too powerful for him to control, his story doesn't add up. Like why don't I remember anything at all? Even if I got knocked out during the fight I should still remember something about what happened. And if I really took that kind of hit to the head then why isn't my head bandaged?"

Naruto decided to bluff, "So what really happened?"

The question was just quick enough to catch the legendary sannin off guard, "W-What do you mean what happened? I just told you kid, try not to be so paranoid."

It wasn't much but it was enough, that almost instantaneous flicker in Jiraiya's response told Naruto all he needed to know. Jiraiya was lying. He turned his head back towards the ceiling and didn't say anything for a full minute.

"Jiraiya-sensei?"

Jiraiya twitched in surprise, he honestly couldn't remember the last time Naruto addressed him respectfully, he might be busted. "Yes?"

"Do you think you could tell me what really happened? It's been two years now and I want to be able trust you."

"Naruto…"

"Please Jiraiya, I know something else happened. I'm seventeen years old and I'm tired of all the fucking secrets and all the fucking lies. My life is like one big rollercoaster and a huge part of that is because everyone's always trying to protect me from the truth. I don't need that from you too, I need someone who'll treat me like a man and tell me what's real so I can face it."

Jiraiya turned away and went completely silent. Naruto sat waiting for him to say something, anything, but nothing came. "Damn it Jiraiya, not you too…" he whispered.

Naruto closed his eyes and tried to push back the flood of emotions that were starting to wash over him but something was breaking, giving way to the tide welling up from his gut. "Do you have any idea what it's like to grow up an outcast Jiraiya? Do you have any idea what's it's like for an eight year old to be spat on in the streets and not even know why?" he demanded angrily.

Jiraiya turned back and looked at his apprentice, he tried to keep his own composure but there was a sadness in face that he couldn't wipe away. He didn't know, and knowing that he'd been gallivanting around the world peeking into women's baths while Minato's only son suffered a lifetime's worth of pain just to start his childhood kept Jiraiya up more nights than Naruto would ever know. He wanted to say something, he wanted to apologize, but he didn't want to interrupt. This was something Naruto needed to get off his chest, and it was something Jiraiya knew he needed to hear.

Naruto's outburst was starting to pick up speed, "I used to get jealous of the other orphans because they could beg for food when we didn't get much to eat. But I couldn't because I was more likely to get beat down than get a piece of bread, the orphans didn't even want me around because I'd fuck things up for them. How is a little kid supposed to understand that? Telling me why they hated me wouldn't have changed how I lived but it would helped me understand Jiraiya! At least I would have known it wasn't my fault!"

Naruto sat up in his bed totally oblivious to the pain shooting through his body, the adrenaline was holding him up now and he couldn't even hear his own words over sound of blood rushing though his ears, "It took me my entire life to figure out that I wasn't a monster, that all those fucking bastards were wrong about me. If someone just would have told me the truth back then! But how did I find out that the Kyuubi no Kitsune was sealed into my chest forever trying to eat its way out? I had to learn it from the bastard demon himself after you threw me off a cliff! Jiraiya-sensei, I know I'm not even close to being the Hokage so I don't expect anything from those ignorant bastards in the village, but you do know me. You know better than anyone how I've risked my life for that ungrateful village and how I've risked my life for the people I love. You've even seen me kill for them, and I've killed to protect you too."

Jiraiya couldn't stop his eyes from tearing up, the look on Naruto's face the first time he killed was something the sannin never forgot, they couldn't wash the blood off fast enough. They never spoke of it again but the first kill wasn't something that any shinobi ever forgot.

Naruto looked Jiraiya square in the face, "I've never asked for anything before but acceptance. But now I'm asking you for something else Jiraiya-sensei, something I think I've earned after all this time. I want the truth, and I want to know all of it, not just the part you think I'm ready for."

Naruto tilted his head down towards the floor and his voice dropped off to a whisper, "I just want to know for once what's happening to me before I find out from a monster…"

Jiraiya couldn't take it anymore, he couldn't bear the sight of Naruto's face and had to turn away. Everything the kid said was true and then some, he couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so guilty. "That was one hell of a speech kid, you're a lot more grown up than I usually give you credit for. Maybe you are ready to hear the truth, God knows I'm sick of hiding it from you. I just hope Tsunade doesn't kill me when she finds out, and I hope you understand Minato."

"I have the key Naruto..."

Naruto picked his head up, "The key to what?"

"The key to the seal on your stomach."

Naruto gasped, "There's a key!? But why? What's it for?"

"Just calm down and listen," the Jiraiya responded. "Listen and I'll tell you everything." Naruto relaxed, shocked but quiet. "The 4th Hokage entrusted it to me just before he died. It was meant to strengthen the seal if it ever weakened over time, but it can also loosen or release the seal completely. That's what really happened yesterday, I thought I could loosen the seal and give you greater access to the fox's chakra, but the demon took over your body and I was barely able to stop you."

Naruto sank back into the soft cotton sheets, "So I was the one who destroyed the forest and caused all that destruction, and I don't remember any of it."

Jiraiya nodded, "Yes, and it was my fault. I've been studying the seal and I thought it would be safe to loosen it. But there's a lot more to the key than that Naruto."

"Like what?"

"My studies over the last couple of years keep pointing to the same conclusion no matter how I look at it. It looks like the seal that the 4th Hokage used to imprison the Kyuubi is … incomplete." Naruto almost jumped out of his bed and ended up doubled over in pain. "Naruto calm down you're gonna hurt yourself!"

"Arrrgh, Ok I'm calm," he spit through clenched teeth. Naruto tried to ease himself back into bed. "What do you mean incomplete?"

"I mean just that, it's like the sealing technique was left one step short for some reason. I don't know exactly why he would do that but one thing seems certain, it was intentional. If he had completed the seal than you and the Kyuubi would be permanently entangled but you're not."

Naruto's face brightened, "Really?"

Jiraiya saw his mistake a continued quickly, "That doesn't mean you can get rid of it Naruto, if the seal is released the Kyuubi would exit through you, killing you in the process. It's only temporary for him."

"Then why leave it open to being released at all?" Naruto wondered aloud. "What the fuck! Didn't he do enough to me?! I'm stuck with this damn thing for my entire life and he leaves the door cracked open for me to be ripped apart just in case?!" Naruto's outburst was rewarded with another flash of pain.

"Naruto, calm down if you want to hear the rest!"

He shot Jiraiya a dirty look, "There's more? What, did he leave a bomb in my chest too?"

Ignoring the sarcasm Jiraiya continued, "Have some faith would you? The 4th wouldn't have done this without good reason, I should know he was my student."

Naruto stared at his sensei in amazement, this really seemed like one of those things you told someone before a couple of years went by, "You what?!"

Jiraiya gave him a slightly bored expression, "What? I was the 4th Hokage's jounin instructor, didn't I mention it?"

Naruto shook his head, "No you didn't mention it! You know I've always wanted to be the Hokage, why wouldn't you tell me that you taught one of them?!"

Jiraiya smiled, "What's important is that I'm telling you now so you understand who taught the 4th his sealing techniques. Now the 4th did eventually eclipse me and your seal is one of his custom jobs that I don't fully understand but don't worry, you and I are going to figure this out together. The 4th Hokage had a plan for you Naruto, and we're going to finish what he started."

Naruto leaned back and looked thoroughly dejected, "Well you'll have to excuse me if I'm not overly impressed with his great plan so far. Seems more to me like his plan was a tragic yet inevitable death."

"Quit being such a drama queen, I can tell you as a matter of fact that the 4th Hokage had big plans for you," Jiraiya said smiling.

"Oh ya? And how do you figure that?"

Jiraiya's smile faded, "Are you sure you want to know everything Naruto? Once you know there's no going back."

The hairs on Naruto's neck stood straight up, it was a tone he hadn't heard from the sannin in a long time, not since the last time they had to… "My mind is made up Jiraiya-sensei, I want to know."

Jiraiya sighed, he never figured he would be the one to tell the kid even though by almost any measure it was his duty above anyone else's. It just wasn't his kind of thing, it was the kind of duty that he'd made a career out of avoiding. But perhaps that was the point, perhaps it was it important for them both, the teller and the tell-e. Minato would think it was hilarious.

"The reason I know the 4th would want things to go well for you is simple kid, he might have been my student … but he was your father." Jiraiya sat and stared at Naruto to see how he would react, this wasn't exactly his area of expertise.

Naruto blinked, "What?"

Naruto blinked again, "What did he say?"

The room started spinning and Naruto lost track of his surroundings, "My father was the 4th Hokage? But I don't have a father, I'm an orphan. If I had a father someone would have told me. If I had a father … if I had a family …"

"What the fuck did you say?!" Naruto screamed. "I don't have a father! I don't have a mother! I don't have anyone I didn't find myself! Do you understand me?! Fuck you Jiraiya! And fuck the 4th Hokage!"

A pair of large hands enveloped him, someone had him, someone was forcing him down, trying to stop him. "Get off of me! Get away from me you fuck! I'll kill you!" But the hands were strong, he couldn't break free, he couldn't even see, everything was red, everything hurt…

"Naruto please stop!"

He wasn't sure why, but Naruto stopped just like the voice asked. Maybe it was the word 'please', he didn't hear that very often. Nothing made much sense but he looked up and saw someone, someone was holding him, someone he knew. "Jiraiya?"

"Naruto? Are you OK?"

The world stopped spinning and the room turned white again, it was a hospital room wasn't it? Naruto moved his eyes around but ultimately they focused in on Jiraiya, the sannin was out of his bed and holding him down he realized. Looking into Jiraiya's face the new information finally integrated itself with his consciousness and Naruto breathed out slowly. Jiraiya was bleeding. "I'm OK Jiraiya-sensei, I - I'm sorry. Please lay down, you're bleeding."

Jiraiya cast a weary glance at his student and slowly peeled his hands from the young man's arms. He looked down and confirmed what he already knew, he broke a whole mess of stitches. He could hear the now patient-less monitor next to his bed echoing out a steady tone, at least he wouldn't have to call for the nurses. Jiraiya limped back over to his bed and laid back down with a heavy grunt.

Naruto watched him hit the bed, but he was lost in his own thoughts, "the 4thHokage? But why would he do this to me if I'm his son? Why did he curse me? Why did he leave me all alone? Why?!" An image suddenly flashed across his mind, of hair, of eyes, and stone. Naruto felt his entire body relax like an unseen weight just vanished into the ether, "He never left at all did he? He was always there watching over me, hiding in plain sight."

"Jiraiya-sensei?"

"Yes Naruto?"

"What was he like?..."

Authors Notes: I don't really know when Naruto learned about Jiraiya being Minato's teacher in canon but it wasn't when they first meet I can tell you that. Either way, in this story he learned about it just now :)

Sometimes I try to be subtle in my writing so here's some trivia for the curious:

For 3 points: when the hairs stood up on the back of Naruto's neck what event was he thinking about when he thought; "it was a tone he hadn't heard from the sannin in a long time, not since the last time they had to…" (this one will be a toughy)

For 2 points: "An image suddenly flashed across his mind, of hair, of eyes, and stone." What was the image?

I'll post the answers in the authors notes at the end of the next chapter…