Naruto Shippuden – Life After Jiraiya

Summary: Konoha loses a great man leaving emotional burdens especially on his apprentice. Chaos replaces grief as the man's will is revealed.

Disclaimer:I don't own Naruto Shippuden

Life After Jiraiya
Chapter One - The Bad News

"Naruto, Jiraiya passed away. He was killed by Pein."

This was the last line the fifth Hokage said to Naruto. Last, because after that, Naruto began speaking so fast out of emotion if anything else that no one would dare speak. It was the kind of emotion he showed only when he talked about Sasuke. As it turns out, he cared about his "ero-sennin" very much as well.

After his outburst, Naruto left the Hokage's residence. As he left through the window, he missed one of his younger friends who was running through the hallway.

"You called for me Granny Tsunade?" said the person hailed as the second Naruto

"I did. But unfortunately, it's a bit too late." The Hokage was obviously distraught. One look at her face and you could see she was trying to weigh all her options, trying to make sense of what was happening. She regained her composure a little before speaking again.

"I have a mission for you Konohamaru."

"For me? Alone? I thought..."

"This mission is a bit... shall we say... special. It's something I can only entrust to you."

"Is something wrong? Did something happen?"

Fortunately, everyone else who was in the room, Sakura, Shizune and Kakashi had already heard the news and although saddened, have already collected themselves. Tsunade on the other hand, was still unnerved by Naruto's outburst a few minutes earlier.

"Jiraiya died recently. He was killed by Pein." Sakura said this unable to bear the silence any longer.

"SAKURA! Weren't we supposed to... you know... tone it down a bit?"

"Shizune, enough. It's fine. I don't think it's possible to sugar-coat this news anyway."

While the adults were discussing how the news should have been broken to the young genin, Konohamaru was still absorbing the news Sakura just gave him.

"Jiraiya... died..." said Konohamaru, mumbling to himself thinking why he would be told such a thing. After a few moments, he finally realizes it.

"What does this have to do with me? He was Naruto's master, not mine. Shouldn't you be telling him?"

"That's the problem." Sakura looked to Tsunade for permission to continue. Seeing the Hokage nod, she began explaining.

"We already told him but we never expected him to take it so hard. He just left before you came in."

"And my mission has something to do with this?"

"Your mission is to find Naruto, help him cope with his loss and get him to move on."

"But... Granny Tsunade, it took me months to cope with my grandfather's death. Uncle Asuma's death is still fresh in my mind."

"Which makes you better qualified than us to talk to him about it, don't you think?"

"I guess."

"Konohamaru, just listen for a bit. This is a rankless mission. No deadlines, no consequences for failure. Just don't forget..." Tsunade had completely recovered her composure and was now back to her decorum as Hokage. "While Naruto treats everyone as a friend, he sees you like a little brother. If anyone can reach him despite his loss, it's you."

"Alright. I guess I don't want him down in the dumps for too long. Is that all? I want to get started on this now." With a dismissing wave from Tsunade, the boy left leaving the teenager and three adults to ponder on their decision to leave it to Konohamaru.

It took Konohamaru half a day to find Naruto. First, he tried Ichiraku. Then he tried his house, the training grounds, and resorted to just search the entire village from top to bottom. He was tired. Finally, when he was about to call it a day, he saw someone sitting on the rock face of the fourth Hokage.

"Naruto-niichan... I was looking everywhere for you."

Author's notes: Well, there you have it, chapter one of my latest fic since a very very long hiatus. Please R&R.