Jiraiya stared in shock at his former teacher. "You have got to be kidding me! I mean, I know I agreed to be the brat's godfather but what the hell do I know about raising a kid?!' His voice raised a half octave as he tried to image him, the great Gama Sennin, raising a small child. Sandaime shook his head and peered over his desk. "It's the only choice we've got at this point. And I'm not saying it's definite, it's only until we can find another guardian."

Jiraiya leaned back into the chair that he had collapsed into after hearing his sensei tell him "You're going to be a father." Briefly closing his eyes, the toad summoner pinched the bridge of his nose before sighing."Do you have any idea of what this is going to do to my research," he weakly asked the ceiling.

Sandaime glanced in the direction of a certain hidden drawer his desk and flinched mentally before replying. "Has your series been so disastrous that you can't afford to take a hiatus from writing?"

Jiraiya hauled his head forward to level a slight glare at the older man. "As if you didn't know", the author sniffed, "I wonder how Tsunade would take the news that her beloved Sarutobi-sensei was a closet pervert?"

Sarutobi felt a slight twinge in his eye as Jiraiya mentioned this, and he watched as a smirk formed on the younger nin's face. "Probably as well as she might if I were to inform her about how a bulk of your research is done by peeking on her."

Instantly the smirk was replaced with an intense expression of horror. "You wouldn't."

It was Sarutobi's turn to smile. "I would. Now, what do you say about taking in a little kid?"

"When can I take him?" Jiraiya sat upright, plastering an ingratiating smile on his face. Sarutobi smiled slightly before glancing down at the file in front of him.

"The medics want to keep him overnight to make sure he's healthy, but you can pick him up tomorrow afternoon if you want. Gives you time to get an apartment and supplies."

Jiraiya scowled at the though of having to actually stay in one place for an undetermined amount of time but nodded. "When can I see the kid?" He asked, raking one large hand through his mane of hair and letting out a sigh.

Sarutobi stood up, flipping the file of one Uzumaki Naruto closed. "Right now actually. I was planning to visit him myself. You can check the seal as well; though I'm sure Minato-kun left no room for error."

Jiraiya nodded, and followed Sarutobi out of the office. As they walked to the hospital, he stepped in unison with the Sandaime. Leaning his head close, he hissed at the Hokage. "Seriously, you're not planning on ratting me out to Tsunade, are you?"

Sarutobi chuckled. "It all depends on how well you take care of Naruto."

Jiraiya pouted as he said this, but continued on. "Please tell me, Sandaime-sama. This brat won't be like a mini-kitsune, will he? I don't think I'll be able to control a little trickster."

Sarutobi shrugged. "It depends. Raise him well, and he probably won't. Neglect him, and I can assure you he will do everything he can to get himself into mischief." He looked at Jiraiya with a playful glint in his eyes. "Who knows, maybe karma will come back to haunt you. You were quite the troublemaker in your younger days. I think it'd do you good to take care of a brat. It'd show you how much trouble you were."

Jiraiya sighed and hoped for the best as he pushed open the hospital door, entering a white room full of patients and medics. After quietly inquiring as to the whereabouts of Naruto, both men weaved easily through the hordes of people, taking the elevator to the third floor and quietly entering a small private room. The attending medics looked startled but quickly relaxed upon seeing who had entered. Leaving his sensei to confer quietly, Jiraiya walked over to the small bassinet that stood in the middle of the room and looked down.

Two innocent blue eyes gazed sleepily back up at him, covered somewhat by tufts of spiky blonde hair. Jiraiya felt his lips twitching as a small hand waved in the air. He gently offered one large finger to the grasping fingers and chuckled softly as small chubby digits latched on with a grip of iron. "Strong as Tsunade, ne?" He murmured softly. The baby merely gurgled happily, six whisker-like lines distorting as their owner grinned toothlessly.

The small child released his grip, as he stretched his arms, letting out a contented yawn. He squinted through half-opened azure eyes, and giggled as Jiraiya softly tickled his bare stomach. Jiraiya's smile faded, however, as he traced the seal mark around the baby's navel. To imagine that such an innocent little thing could contain something as terrifying as the Kyuubi. Jiraiya shook his head, clearing the thought from his mind. He stroked the boys head before standing straight and motioning to the sleeping boy. "I think he likes me."

Sarutobi gazed into the crib. "I think so, too."

Both men looked at the sleeping infant, smiling quietly. They stayed that way for a few more minutes before someone knocked on the door before sliding it open to reveal a tired looking ANBU with a spiky silver hair and a wolf mask shoved to one side. "Sandaime-sama, the council needs to see you," Kakashi said, bowing awkwardly as he attempted to keep various wounds from bleeding.

Sandaime let out a sigh and nodded. "I'll leave now." When Kakashi made as if to follow the old Hokage, the man shook his head. "Stay here with Jiraiya and get those wounds looked at." Kakashi made as if to protest but Jiraiya walked over and latched a hand on the teen's unhurt shoulder. "C'mere and let's take a look at that shoulder."

Kakashi sat down on the unoccupied bed in the hospital room and winced as Jiraiya looked over his wounds. He motioned for a medic to get some bandages, and a nearby nurse obeyed. When she returned, Jiraiya unraveled the cloth and began to treat Kakashi's wounds. "So, I heard you're going to be a father soon?"

Jiraiya met Kakashi's mischievously gleaming eye, and sighed. "You've heard correctly." He waved his hand toward the occupied bassinet. "He's the little one."

The ANBU member stood, after Jiraiya finished dressing his injuries, and closed his eye in pleasure. "He's almost an exact bunshin of his father. Just a little younger."

"You could say that..." Jiraiya smiled slightly, watching as the blonde baby shifted slightly in his sleep. Kakashi chuckled slightly before glancing at the chart that hung from the end of the bassinet. "...You named him fishcake?"

Jiraiya scowled, absently offering his finger to the sleeping Naruto again, only for it to grabbed and cuddled. "One, I didn't name him. Kind of. Two, I think Minato was going for the maelstrom interpretation."

Kakashi smiled. "Na, I think Sensei was going for fishcakes, he did love ramen." Kakashi slid his ANBU mask back on to cover his identity. "I think I should head back to the battlefield. There are still a lot of injured nin out there that could be saved, and I'm not that badly hurt. I'd like to help as many as possible." He thanked Jiraiya for tending to his injuries, and disappeared in a poof of smoke, leaving the older nin to his thoughts.

Jiraiya grinned before looking down at his trapped finger. He gently tugged it loose and watched apprehensively as Naruto frowned in his sleep before relaxing. "I gotta get some shut-eye...See ya gaki." Jiraiya muttered turning somewhat reluctantly from the bassinet and nodding to the medics on duty.

Yawning, Jiraiya headed to the hotel where he was staying. He sighed thinking about all the preparations he would need for Naruto. Probably a small bassinet, a bottle... He paused. What more did a baby need? He rubbed his eyes as he waited for the hotel concierge to give him his hotel room key. Taking the key from the concierge, he thanked the man and headed up to his room. When he finally got into the room, he promptly flopped down onto the newly-made bed, exhausted from all the excitement of the day. A new baby... just the thought made his hair stand on end. Even though he had to admit Naruto was adorable, he couldn't picture himself as a fatherly figure.

"Jiraiya you idiot! A baby needs more than a bottle and a bed! He needs clothes, diapers, soap and shampoo, formula unless you happen to have mammary glands!" Tsunade glared at her cowering teammate, ignoring the fact that they were in a public market square. The blonde healer had come to assist Konoha's overtaxed medics in the aftermath of the Kyuubi attack. When her teammate showed up, looking as if he'd gotten three hours of sleep and asking what stuff he would need for a baby she had nearly spewed her morning sake over poor Shizune.

Shizune had merely sighed and wandered off, trying to avoid the fiery angry of her sensei as she scolded Jiraiya, leaving him to the full power of Tsunade's agitation.

"Heheh... well, you know I'm not really good with choosing these 'baby supplies'." Jiraiya spoke trying to mask his fear of the kunoichi that stood before him.

Her amber eyes burned holes into his head as he tried to make excuses for his ignorance. "Well you see-"

Tsunade shook her head, repressing the urge to punch him into the nearest shopping stall. She grabbed his arm, her grip strong as iron, and dragged him into a nearby store. "I'll help you out, then, baka." She said through gritted teeth. "Then, since I'm saving your ass, you can treat me to some sake later."

Sighing, Jiraiya allowed himself to be dragged around the marketplace, constantly glancing inside the depths of his toad-wallet to assure himself he wasn't completely broke yet.

A few hours later Tsunade and her former teammate were seated at a local bar, having just arranged to have most of the baby supplies delivered to Jiraiya's hotel room.

"I don't know where I'm going put all of that stuff," the perverted writer lamented, sipping at his sake saucer.

Tsunade snorted, downing her own sake inelegantly. "I'm amazed that Minato actually made you the brat's godfather- who in their right minds would trust you with a kid? You'd use the poor child as a babe magnet."

Jiraiya looked somewhat nervous and yet thoughtful, pouring another drink for the both of them. "Not until the kid was a toddler...he could start crying in the middle of my resear-" He never got a chance to finish his statement before Tsunade's fist collided with his skull, lifting him out of his seat and sent sprawling ungracefully across the bar's floor.

"Don't mention your so-called research in front of me again," Tsunade growled before glancing at the clock mounted above the bar's back wall. "Don't you have a baby to pick up?" She muttered, causing Jiraiya to pick himself up off the floor with a muttered curse. "

Shit, you're right!" Clutching at his aching head, Jiraiya staggered towards the door.

Tsunade sighed as she poured the last of the sake into her cup as Jiraiya left. He had only been gone for a few minutes when she realized something. That idiot hadn't left any money to pay for the three bottles of sake!

Jiraiya laughed as he distanced himself from the bar, feeling pleased, as he had been able to shirk the responsibility of paying for the sake. He knew he would hear about it from Tsunade later, but for right now, he was safe. Jiraiya entered the hospital and headed for Naruto's room, explaining to the receptionist at the front desk that he was here to pick up the kid.

When he peered into the crib, he saw Naruto lying contented with a small binky in his mouth. However, as soon as he saw Jiraiya, he opened his mouth in a wide, toothless smile, letting out a squeal of delight. Jiraiya smiled at the kid and picked him up, wrapping the baby comfortably in a small blanket decorated with baby animals playing with colorful balloons.

Moving quickly out of the small room, Jiraiya made his way through the still-crowded halls of the hospital, nodding respectfully to the harried medics and nurses and trying his best not to blush as the few females who weren't busy cooed and giggled in his direction as they spotted the bundle in his arms. Once out of the hospital, Jiraiya made his way quickly to Hokage Tower, meaning to check in with his former mentor before going to his hotel and starting the search for a place to live that didn't cost a thousand ryou a night. Balancing carefully on the ledge outside the large windows surrounding the Hokage's office, Jiraiya knocked gingerly and entered.

He found Sarutobi hunched over his desk, the pipe in his mouth expelling small curls of smoke. When the Hokage spotted Jiraiya, he leaned back in his chair, and offered a chair to the white-haired nin. The Sandaime smiled, motioning to the small bundle of cloth in Jiraiya's arms. "I see you've got Naruto. So, what can I do for you?"

Jiraiya shook his head. "I just thought I'd let you know that the kid is in my care, much to my dismay..."

Sarutobi chuckled, puffs of smoke swirling around his head, before disappearing out the now-opened window. "I'm assuming Tsunade helped you pick out the right supplies?" Jiraiya nodded, smiling as Naruto hiccupped. He pulled out his wallet and sighed. "I'm pretty much broke, now."

The Third frowned. "I'm sure I can find some way to reimburse you." Jiraiya nodded, and then stood up, claiming he needed to return to the hotel to see if the baby supplies had been delivered. He bid farewell to Sarutobi, and leaped out the window, clinging the baby close to him, so the child wouldn't be frightened.

"So the rent would be about six hundred and seventy five ryou a month? Thanks." Jiraiya scribbled down a brief address before nodding his thanks to the hotel's concierge service. Thanks to the man's knowledge of Konoha, Jiraiya now had three likely places that he could investigate. He headed towards the stairs, Naruto in one arm when he remembered something else. "Oh! Did the packages I order arrive?" The man nodded and Jiraiya groaned slightly. "Great...I hope I still have a bed."

He unlocked the door and entered, only to find a storage room of boxes of baby supplies, rather than the cozy-looking hotel room he had been in earlier. He cleared off a spot on his bed with his one free hand, and laid Naruto down, turning to face the mess of the room. He began unpacking; searching for the baby bassinet he had bought, so he could put Naruto to bed while he readied everything else.

When he found the box containing the crib, he pulled it out and set it up. When the bed was ready for an occupant, Jiraiya picked up Naruto, who had fallen into a deep sleep, and put him into the soft sea of blankets. Naruto yawned, slightly opening his blue eyes, before sighing contentedly and returning to his dreams. Jiraiya cleared off the rest of his bed and lay down, happy to be able to sleep. He could tell already; it was going to be a long several months.

Bold Italics: Inuluvr

Bold: AnimeOtaku31821

XD First co-written story for me, and it's been a great experience thus far! AO is really a great writer, and it's an honor for me to be writing with such an amazing author!

As for the story, we're going for a post-Kyuubi attack setting. Basically, Minato just passed away, and as you've read, Jiraiya's been left as the godfather! XD Let us know what you think of the story!

Aw, your making me blush xD Anyway, since my fabulous co-writer mentioned the setting, I think I'll handle the technical, behind the scenes stuff.

We're writing this together, most of it through instant messaging. This chapter was literally co-written between the pair of us, but now we're going to start alternating who writes chapters. We're going to attempt to update regularly on Mondays, but between my pyschotic schedule and Inuluvr's spastic internet, we won't make any promises xD