Jiraiya's Apprentice

Chapter 1

The New Arrivals

Outraged shrieks filled the air as two ninjas, a teenage girl and an old man, ran for their lives. Kunai, shuriken, and various stones whizzed past them as the duo deftly dodged the various missiles of death.

It was supposed to be a simple mission, the girl thought. Just go in, observe, and get out. She scowled at the old man running next to her. But nooo! He just had to stay behind and get our cover blown. Some Toad Sage he is. As the screams, shrieks, and yells got louder, the ninjas pooled more chakra to their feet and took to the trees, hoping to evade their enemies.

Blood surged in the girl's ears as she felt a rush of adrenaline course through her body and gave her a rush of energy. Her heart beat erratically as she and her partner kept jumping through the trees. She glanced down and growled in frustration. Do they ever quit? The girl wondered.

"Jiraiya-sensei, if we ever get out of this, remind me to torture you and give you to Tsunade to castrate for later."

The old man, Jiraiya, gulped as he listened to his student's request. The girl's voice was calm and did not leave any room for argument. "But, Setsuna," he began, turning his head to look at his student. Before he could finish his plea, a flying tub hit him square in the face. "It was all part of the mission. And, in every mission, every ninja learns from his mistakes. And now, we know not to make a comment about a woman's chest right in front of her face," he continued in a more disoriented voice.

Setsuna, the girl, scoffed. "Oh, please. We'll talk about this later, after we lose the pests."

Before Jiraiya could say anything to lessen the girl's anger, Setsuna took out a scrap of paper and with a few hand signs, the word, fog, started to form on the scrap. Before the word fully emerged, she threw the paper in front of the enemies as she and Jiraiya put more chakra into their feet to get the hell out of there before the fog arrived. When they were a good distance away from their enemies, the duo reduced their pace into a sedate, but alert, walk.

"Learning experience? Learning experience?!" Setsuna shrieked. "We were supposed to relax after the mission and just go to the hot springs to study the women's behavior. You never said anything about putting the moves on them while you were in female disguise! Not every woman likes to be hit on by the same sex! Get your mind out of the gutter."

"If I did, little lady, you wouldn't be traveling with me, now would you?" Jiraiya wiggled his eyebrows at the petite teenager. "Besides, I wasn't the one who asked the redhead if she was an A-cup."

Setsuna sighed. "My idol is a super-pervert." She rubbed her forehead and started to mumble to herself. "And I'm traveling with the said super-pervert to carry on his legacy. Why couldn't I just stick to reading his smut books?"

The Toad Sage gave her a look.

"Don't answer that. So, where are you off to next?" she quickly changed the subject as she brushed a strand of navy blue hair from her face.

"We are going to Konoha, the Hidden Leaf Village," Jiraiya answered as a glow of chakra pooled in his feet and he took off into the trees with Setsuna hastily keeping up with him. "There's someone I have to see—and someone you have to meet."

When he didn't elaborate, Setsuna didn't bother to push. It was a regular occurrence ever since the girl joined him in his travels. They would arrive at a civilian village and Jiraiya would leave her there while he went off to the nearest ninja village doing whatever it was that he was supposed to do. Later, they'd meet up and he would train her. When they were done, they would go to the hot springs for research on the next Make Out novel and, through some weird twist of fate, they would get caught, and they would have to run for their lives until they had to go to the next village. To say that Setsuna was shocked at the change in routine would be an understatement. But, as much as she would like to know what was going on inside her sensei's mind, she knew it was futile—the old man could be very secretive when he wanted to be.

"So, what will I be doing in Konoha?" the girl asked to break the silence.

"What you would normally do in the other villages," Jiraiya answered. "The only difference is that there're more brats your age…and not all of them are civilians."

"Oh thank god," she mumbled. I so did not want to hang out with those uptight, chauvinist bastards.

The two continued to travel in a companionable silence. When Setsuna craned her neck up to see the tall wooden gates, it was mid-afternoon and she desperately wanted a shower. I wonder if there is any good hot springs around, the blue-haired girl pondered. I should look into it while I am researching.

"Come on," Jiraiya said, interrupting the girl from her thoughts. "There's someone I want you to meet."

"Really?" Cerulean eyes widened. "What is it? Tell me!"

Jiraiya shook his head in refusal, his out-of-control gray locks swinging with the head movement. "Nuh-uh." Dark eyes twinkled in mischief. "It's a surprise."

Setsuna glared. "I hate you."

"You know you love me," he said, dismissing the teenager's statement. "Now come along, she doesn't like to be kept waiting."

She frowned as he dragged her to the tall building with a dome-shaped roof. "Since when did you start to care about punctuality?"

"I don't," Jiraiya replied flippantly. "But, you do, and you usually don't listen to me unless there's a pressing deadline or I'm teaching you something valuable."

Setsuna frowned. Well, she thought, can't argue with sound logic. She internally groaned. God, I hope I don't have to wear a freaking kimono.

"Jiraiya," a woman's voice interrupted the teenager's internal struggle. Setsuna looked up to see a smiling woman with short, chin-length black hair. "You're here."

"You don't have to sound so surprised, Shizune," Jiraiya huffed. A second passed and his face turned serious. "How is the Slug-princess?"

Slug-princess? The blue-haired girl thought. Where have I heard that from?

Shizune sighed. "She overindulged last night and she's knee-deep in paperwork this morning. How do you think she is?" The brunette woman retorted as they trekked up the stairs to the Hokage's office. She glanced at the blue-haired teenager. "I just came back from the hospital to check on her. So, who is the girl?"

"Her name's Setsuna," Jiraiya answered easily. "And, she's my apprentice."

"Apprentice? I thought Naruto is your apprentice."

"He is. Setsuna is my other apprentice," Jiraiya vaguely replied.

"Apprentice for what?"

Before Jiraiya could answer, the trio entered the Hokage's office to see a weary blonde woman with pigtails sitting in a desk with piles of paper littering her desk. The woman was slouching and resting her chin in her hand as she glared at the papers in front of her. She looked up from her glaring contest with the paper and her expression changed from pure irritation to relief as she saw the trio.

"Oh, good, you're here," the blonde woman said, looking at the older ninja. As the trio stepped closer to the Hokage's desk, hazel eyes narrowed in anger at Jiraiya. She held up an orange book with the words, Make Out Lessons, emblazoned across the top portion of the cover.

So, the book has been published already? Setsuna briefly wondered.

"What the hell is this?!"