The Student of Toad and Slug

A/N: I'm taking a bit of a break from the Harry Potter Universe and am writing some Naruto FF again. Yay. Another "what if" based story. I tend to drift in and out of Japanese and English terms, feel free to contact me for any uncertainties. Don't worry, for those reading my HP story, there's more coming soon.

Note: Pairings not decided yet as this point, I'm open to anything though.

Note 2: I normally heavily dislike the Anime for its fillers, but I couldn't resist making use of the first Movie with Yukie. She'll make several appearances and play her important role later on.

** ALERT: If you are NOT up to date with the manga, I recommend that you do not read this as many things will be spoiled starting from this very chapter. You have been warned. **

Chapter 1: Prologue.

It had started as a day like any other. Jiraiya had gotten up sometime in the late afternoon with his customary hangover, courtesy of a standard night out in the moderate sized village's local red-light district. A peek here, a feel there, a sip in between and the continent-wide famous author and shinobi had found his fun.

After dragging himself out of his generously sized hotel room, the white-haired legend helped himself to an obscenely sized meal at a random ramen stand down the street from where he'd been staying at. Seeing a calendar in the restaurant, Jiraiya frowned at the prospect of the incoming deadline for the next instalment of his best-selling Icha Icha series. Naturally, the aforementioned frown quickly turned into a lecherous grin at the prospect of conducting more research, all in the name of literary science, of course.

With the aid of his trusty telescope, the aging pervert had perched himself in a tree overshadowing a female-only public bath house, the kind that could be found in any village on the continent.

Not even an hour had passed before the average day turned into one of the most dramatic in Jiraiya's life and given the Sannin's accomplished life that was saying something.

The town the pervert had set up shop in for a while was a mere three hour distance away from his beloved home, Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leaves. As Jiraiya conjured the most graphically explicit scenes in his self-proclaimed genius mind, a tremendous spike of chakra assaulted his experience-honed senses. Nearly dropping his telescope, Jiraiya froze. His mind immediately knew what kind of being could give off such oppressing power, causing his heart rate to nearly double in a mere moment, especially since the direction of the chakra was none other than Konoha itself.

With the sights of scantily clad women long forgotten, Jiraiya leapt out of his peeking spot, drawing blood from his thumb in the process and forming the seals for the Summoning Technique in mid-air. His sandal covered feet never touched the ground as he summoned the fastest toad he knew, who immediately leapt off to the direction of Konoha, not needing any instruction from his summoner - a clear sign of synergy developed over decades of trust and teamwork.

'Hold on Minato,' Jiraiya grimly thought, 'I'm coming.'

- Break -

Nothing had gone to plan. Everything had gone to shit the second Naruto had been born. Kushina's ANBU guard was dead, killed by a masked man. Minato had barely managed to save Naruto, only to have her kidnapped instead. The Nine-Tailed Beast had been extracted from her, leaving her extremely weak, barely alive.

In a fit of rage, the legendary beast went on a rampage. Realizing that the only way to stop it was to seal it again, hopefully back into Kushina, Minato had summoned Gamabunta, bombarded it with the strongest ninjutsu he knew, and baited the Kyubi away from Konoha, towards the remote location where Kushina was.

"Bunta!" He yelled to the toad mid-leap, "Where is Jiraiya-sensei!?"

"On his way," The Boss Toad grunted, "he's with my nephew, the fastest runner we have."

Closing his eyes in resignation, Minato asked the question he didn't really want to know the answer to. "How long?"

"Too long." Was all Gamabunta could grimly answer with.

'Shit.' They needed Jiraiya. Minato was considered a genius in every aspect of shinobi techniques, excelling in everything and being hailed as a master of Fuinjutsu, yet it had been his wife, Uzumaki Kushina, who had taught him the basics of everything he knew about sealing, and yet, Jiraiya still knew more than the two of them combined. The Fourth Hokage of Konoha flashed through a set of seals before slapping his hand on his summon's back, already reaching into his pouch to retrieve a pencil and piece of sealing paper as the small cloud of smoke disappeared.

Throwing the note to the toad, Minato instructed, "Find Jiraiya, give him that note, run as if your Boss' life depended on it!" The small carrier toad leapt off its boss' back in search of the white haired man.

"Bunta, we're running out of time. It's a matter of time before that masked bastard comes back, the wound I gave him won't be enough to stop him if he's powerful enough to break Kushina's seal. He isn't as fast as I am but he's very powerful, he can manipulate space and time at his will. We've stalled enough, it's time to finish this before it's too late for all of us."

"Are you sure about this, kid?" Gamabunta answered, despite knowing the answer already.

"I swore to protect this village and its people. I have to seal the demon even if it costs me my life, knowing that I saved at least my son is all I need!" Minato yelled resolutely, his voice surprisingly clear through the loudly rushing wind.

"Very well." Gamabunta conceded before abruptly stopping, turning around to face the incoming threat. With a gigantic leap the toad did what not even the rampaging Kyubi expected, as the two landed on the extremely large fox's head.

The Kyubi growled in anger at the toad restricting its movement. Minato's eyes closed in momentary concentration as he teleported himself, Gamabunta and their enemy to where Kushina and Naruto were.

Arriving at their destination, Gamabunta fought with all he had to restrain the Demon Fox for a few seconds longer to allow Minato to prepare. With a sadness rarely heard in the Toad Boss' voice, he spoke to his favourite summoner. "It's been an honour Minato, I could have never wished for a better man to fight alongside with."

"No Bunta, the honour was mine. Thank you for everything." Minato said, flashing the toad his trademark smile as the Kyubi broke free and Gamabunta disappeared in an explosion of smoke, forced to retreat back to his home.

Making use of his famed Hiraishin Jutsu, Minato appeared next to his weakened wife, cradling a small bundle in her arms.

- Break -

Jiraiya couldn't remember the last time he had cried, but this would be the one time he'd never forget for the rest of his life. He had been too late. The war veteran sunk to his knees next to the lifeless forms of the student that had been close enough to him to be his son, and his wife who he had come to love as much as his student. To him, Minato had never been the Yondaime Hokage or Konoha's Yellow Flash, no, to him he had always been the brash blonde kid with dreams bigger than the Hokage Mountain and potential larger than Tsunade's debts.

"I'm sorry…" Was all the hermit could manage to say through his sobs and tears, feeling as broken as he did the day Orochimaru had betrayed them.

A high pitched cry caused Jiraiya to look up and slowly get back on his unsteady feet. Stumbling across the torn up mud and dirt, the Toad Sage came to halt at a large, intact, piece of rock. In the middle of said rock lay a tiny bundle securely wrapped in a starkwhite blanket, causing the bright blue eyes of the little baby to stand out all the more against the grey rock. With careful deliberation, Jiraiya gently lifted the child out of the little crevice made in the stone for him, the sealing ink still not dry on the rock around him.

The little blonde bundle looked on in curiosity, examining the white hair of the big man with the most sincere of a newborn's innocence. Jiraiya had to do his best to suppress the tears that were threatening to rise once more. This was without a doubt the son of his student, Namikaze Minato, who had grown on him like a son and his wonderfully passionate wife, Uzumaki Kushina.

Naruto let out a sound of irritation – his tummy was itching and he didn't like it when it itched. So the little bundle of joy started kicking at the soft blanket until it moved, letting his displeasure being known to the world as well as providing some relief from the discomfort as his little knees and thighs rubbed his raw tummy.

As soon as the blanket fell away, Jiraiya's eyes were glued to the stomach of the infant, his experienced eyes analysing and dissecting the seal with a rapidness and urgency known to only the masters of the art, those who had been in situations where more than their own mere lives were at stake and a single mistake could have catastrophic consequences – such as the sealing of the highly dangerous Tailed Beasts.

Jiraiya sighed as he processed what he could from just glancing at the seal. Minato had truly outdone himself on this one, creating the only unbreakable seal to hold something as strong as the Kyubi; stronger than death could while bringing an arguable benefit to the host as the chakra could be controlled and regulated. He had even included a form of fail-safe, should the worst case scenario occur. The was only one flaw in the technique that Jiraiya could think of immediately – it would require the host to actually want to restrain the Kyubi and keep it locked away and not succumb to the pressure and undo the seal themselves. The alternate method of tampering with the flow of the Kyubi's charka was with a key that Jiraiya hadn't figured out quite yet – well, he hadn't even found the key yet.

It was an approaching presence that pulled the thoughtful Sannin out of his reverie. A small toad carrying a pouch came to a halt next to the only remaining summoner of the toads. It looked exhausted and worse for wear, but proudly fulfilled Minato's final request for the toads before disappearing in a plume of smoke.

Jiraiya held Naruto with one arm, putting the boy in reach of his trademark white hair which was immediately seized and pulled upon but the Sannin paid it no mind as he read the note left for him by his now late student.

Sensei,

I'm sorry I can't say this to you in person. Thank you for everything you have taught me and done for me. I hate to do this, but I must ask you to take care and protect my son, Naruto. You are his godfather and the only one Kushina and I can trust freely.

I'm sorry. It was fun, sensei.

Minato

- Break -

When Jiraiya was in his serious, "Sannin" mode, not much could faze him. If he wasn't goofing around, he was the man known across the global ranks of Shinobi as the Toad Sage, The Legendary Jiraiya. He had exceptional control over his body and mental facilities but he could not recall the last time he had been so very furious.

His sensei, Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage, had stepped up to take the leadership of the village for now, given that he ranked the highest as a retired Hokage and the village could not afford to show any signs of weakness now, lest they wanted to tempt the ever ravenous villages such as Kiri, Iwa or Kumo.

An emergency council and clan meeting had been called for in which Jiraiya explained the events to the best of his ability before going into detail as much as he could about the seal, its purpose, its power, its genius. He purposefully left out the fact that Naruto was Minato's son, or that Kushina had been the container before Naruto.

Once done, all chaos had broken loose. The conference room had turned into an all-out fest of yelling, rage and overall arguments.

The "Konoha Council" consisted of several different layers, each with their own responsibilities, yet often overlapping and combining with other layers on certain matters. All said layers were assembled in the round room on the very top floor of the Hokage Tower.

The three most prominent and influential layers were the Civilian, Shinobi, and Advisor layers.

The Civilian Council consisted of two dozen civilian council members plus its head. These members were voted in by non-shinobi population of Konoha and normally lasted until the Head found a reason to remove them from the council or a majority vote of no confidence had been passed among the other members. Amongst these 25 civilians they elected the Head amongst themselves through a vote, not able to vote for themselves. This part of the Konoha Council was responsible for civilian matters. They screened building permits for new housing requested by the general population, they judged complaints worthy or not of the Hokage's attention, dealt with unions and businesses, but most of all, represented the non-fighting public to the leader of the village. Even though they held a certain level of political power, nothing they did or any law they could come up with would not pass until approved by the Hokage. This had been set up by the Shodaime Hokage to allow him and his ancestors to learn from those that did not shed blood, but still not giving them any concrete power over the village's leader.

The Shinobi layer consisted of Clan Leaders as well as prominent and powerful shinobi. Once a family of ninja was recognized as a clan by the Hokage and thus the rest of the council, the Clan's leader automatically received a spot on the council. Shinobi without family could become part of the council too, but normally needed the backing of the Hokage or at least several of the Clan Leaders to be put up for nomination. All the big and small clans were represented, ranging from the mighty Uchiha to the wild Inuzuka, genius Nara and ever mysterious Aburame. This layer of the council discussed and worked on issues regarding peace treaties with other Hidden Villages, special cases regaring Konoha's warriors as well as problems pertaining to special missions. They held far more political power over the Civilian layer, as disagreements inside the layer of the council could lead to nothing necessary being done, as well as distrust being sown between certain members of the Shinobi council and the leader of the village.

The Advisors were the two former team mates of the Sandaime and were considered war heroes. They held significant power within the council as everyone knew the Hokage would always listen to them, no matter what they brought to his attention. They drifted between council layers, ensuring that proper meetings were had as well as reminding all members that the possible decisions discussed needed to be beneficial to the village as a whole, otherwise an investment of human resources would allow for more work to be done each day. The Advisors held seats in every layer of the Council and were known to justify their actions with nothing but the good for the village in their mind.

It was a meeting of all these layers that had enraged Jiraiya more than what he knew what to do with. Anger and hate were two powerful emotions and could be made into a powerful tool if wielded correctly. They wanted to kill Naruto and destroy the Yondaime's legacy. They wanted to experiment on him and meld him into their perfectly obedient weapon of mass destruction. They wanted to lock him up and never leave him out in fear or him killing everyone.

In the end, everyone wanted something different. Jiraiya was thankful for the few that didn't want to subject his godson to terrifying torture or immediate death, to those few willing to just treat him for what he was - a baby human being with a terrible burden placed upon it.

Allowing a minute slip on his emotions, the room immediately quieted and shifted focus to him, standing behind the Hokage's seat, leaning against the far wall of the room. The Civilians in the room froze at the suffocating feeling of Jiraiya's killing intent, cold sweat starting to drench their clothes.

The shinobi all quieted – none of them had felt such a powerfully oppressing killing intent on such a large scale, which only spoke volumes about the Sannin's mental capacity and well hidden powers.

"Look at yourselves," Jiraiya spoke in an icy, quiet tone, "doubting the work of your beloved Yondaime, the strongest ninja this village has seen since its founding. You are all fighting over what to do about a baby. You speak of executing him because you are all pathetically afraid. I know more than any of you about sealing techniques and I've run into hosts like Naruto before. The seal is unbreakable and the Kyubi would never try to break free on its own, knowing that it'll kill the container and thereby kill itself."

Silence reined the room as they took in what one of their living legends proclaimed. "He's just a little baby now and his capability to hurt anyone consists of him puking on you."

Once more, silence reigned through the room as no one dared to move against the oppressing tension radiating from the Sannin.

"If Minato was here right now, what do you think he'd do?" Jiraiya asked dangerously.

A moderate sized amount of the Council's members cringed or blanched at the thought of that.

"I doubt any of you would be alive right now if he stood here in my stead as you talk about killing a baby or experimenting on it to further your own little agendas." He continued, pushing himself off the wall and picking Naruto out of his little crib. "With your little display here I feel ashamed having to call myself a part of the same village as you insignificant worms and parasites. No, I will not let Minato's sacrifice go to waste by letting you sick bastards get your hands on Naruto to experiment on him. Do you think that it'd be such a wise idea to put him through suffering if he is the only one that can undo the seal? Don't you realize what that means? You'd all kill yourself and wipe out this village before you could even contact me. No one here has the power to subdue the Kyubi. Minato gave his life to save you all, I will not let his sacrifice be in vain."

After a short pause in which Jiraiya seemed to think thoroughly, he lifted Naruto with both arms to bring the baby to his eye level. Naruto giggled and kicked around with his legs at the sensation of being suspended in the air, his cerulean eyes taking in all the wondrous sights around him.

Allowing himself to smile slightly, Jiraiya brought the boy to his chest. "I'm taking him with me as I fear for his life should he stay here any further. I will make sure he is raised well and treated like Minato would have wanted him to. And one day I'll bring him back and you will see just how much of a demon he is."

Picking up the thread, the Sandaime continued, "And I will be passing a law the second this meeting is over in order to protect..."

- Break -

Jiraiya didn't waste any time. He made his way out of the room the second Sarutobi had taken over, introducing a law to protect the little infant's secret and heritage. He quickly found a weapons store that wasn't all banged up from the Kyubi attack and quickly purchased a shinobi-grade travelling backpack, a few rolls of wire and blank headband cloth.

Another quick stop in a supermarket, Jiraya was stocked up with baby formula and diapers which he sealed with an odd look on his face, never thinking he'd be one to purchase such goods for anything other than donation.

Shortly after that, the last Sannin on active duty left Konoha cradling a little Namikaze Naruto protectively in his arms, not looking back once, angered at the actions of the combined council. Once the gares of Konoha were out of sight, Jiraiya made use of the cloth, ninja wire, and blanket to make a comfortable little cove for little Naruto in the newly acquired travelling backpack. Naruto was wrapped in a blanket and Jiraiya padded the inside of the backpack so that only his little head peeked out of the pack. With a few straightened strands of ninja wire, a square piece of cloth and considerate skill and experience regarding camping in the wild, Jiraiya even managed to create a little sun-guard for Naruto so the infant wouldn't be affected by the bright sun.

After a few hours of walking, they managed to reach the same village Jiraiya had been when the Kyubi had started its attack on Konoha. On the outskirts of town he flashed through a familiar set of seals. A loud pop later, a plume of smoke faded into the wind and revealed a dozen small toads, all looking indistinguishable from the one next to it.

"Find Tsunade. Last I heard she's not too far from here. She's still travelling with Shizune so they're using the same methods of covering their tracks as always. Check the usual places and ask the usual people. Find her at all costs. If you can't find anything, report back in 12 hours."

And so began a tale, the tale of Namikaze Naruto, the son of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina, raised by the Toad Sage, Jiraiya of the Sannin and the help of many others.