A word:
First of all, please allow me to introduce myself: My name is Frey, how do you do? This is my very first fanfiction and I have to say... boy am I nervous!
Before reading this story, let me inform you that English isn't my first language, and you might encounter one or two grammatical mistakes... or even a tad bit more.

I'm trying my hardest and I hope you'll enjoy my work despite this handicap. Be sure to review, any type of support makes me happy!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or its characters.

Forest of the Crimson Tribe

"Minato, what on earth—"

"Were not going to another geisha house, right sensei?"

Jiraiya remained quiet for a moment then nodded slowly, trying not to look at the many lipstick marks that filled the little spiky-blond's cheeks and neck. "Uh, yeah... don't worry." He didn't want to dig in too much, especially after they were thrown out of a geisha house due to the lack of money, and so took his scrolls that were shattered on the ground and held into a nearby tree to steady up.

Minato offered his hand but Jiraiya refused it politely.

But that only resulted in making him pout, "Jiraiya-sensei... I'm not—"

"I know you're not a weakling, Minato." He smiled, "It's just that I'm too old and fat for you to handle." He explained.

"But you've barely reached thirty—"

"And still single," he sighed, "My luck with women sank into the deepest sea, I have no choice but to hide underneath the mask of a sage and accept my fate of eternal solitude... hey that sounds nice, write it down for me will ya?"

Minato sighed and took his sensei's scroll, writing down his 'words of wisdom', (or so he thought) into the thin paper. His journey with Jiraiya mainly resulted in making the 'perfect book' or finding 'the child of prophecy' while the training was just a brief and minor part of their adventures. He was tired alright, but never showed it.

"We are going to start my training, aren't we?"

Jiraiya rubbed his behind, "Of course, since I promised you."

"But it's already been three days since we left the village and all we did was—"

"Hush, Minato... hush. That, my friend... was more than necessary!"

He raised an eyebrow, Jiraiya sighed.

"Okay, okay... sorry. Old man here just wanted to have a bit of fun."

"Sensei, there's no need to apologize, I already know how helpless you can be sometimes," he smiled as he handed him over the scroll, Jiraiya was about to protest until Minato cut him off, "But despite that, I still think you are the best shinobi that this land has given."

Those words were so incredibly sweet that the ero-sennin restrained himself from just hugging his disciple and swinging him around like a ragdoll.

"A-Anyways..." he cleared his throat, "Do you have some water? I need to... sober up a little."

Minato nodded and took out of his bag a water bottle then handed it over to him; the ero-sennin took large gulps of it and emptied half of its contents.

"So, where are we heading now?" Little Minato asked, Jiraiya tilted his head slightly while wiping off the water from the corner of his lip, "There's a small village on the other side of the forest, we're going to rest a bit there then we'll head off to the grasslands and officially start your training."

"Alright." He nodded, then glanced at his watch, "We don't have much time, though. It's nearly dusk."

"Well it's not that far, so we'll just go and walk on ahead. Hopefully it won't take much."

And with that they both departed.

But unfortunately, with a clumsy thick-brained idiot for a sensei; little Minato had trouble keeping up with his delusional plans and thoughts. In terms of techniques, he was great; outstanding and unbelievably strong, and adding a little bonus to all of that, he did have a big heart.

However, when you turn around in circles in a suspicious forest and pass by the same darned tree over five times, you can get suspicious.

"Jiraiya-sensei—"

"What is it, Minato?" He said as he analyzed the map while muttering a few words. Minato looked at him with curious eyes, then finally spoke; "The map... you're holding it upside down."

Jiraiya glanced at his pupil then at his map, realizing how ridiculous he must've looked.

"Oops!" He stuck his tongue out, "My bad! Well now let's see..."

Minato smiled amusingly, "We're lost aren't we?"

The white-haired ero-sennin turned around, "Stop this blasphemy this instant!" he half-joked, "We are, by no means lost!"

"But sensei, we've been passing by the same tree over and over—"

Jiraiya chuckled, "Now now, Minato! It must be your imagination, the trees in the forest are all very similar, you probably just mistook them for one."

"I doubt all the trees in the forest have cravings on them, sensei." He pointed at the tree, which seemed to indeed have a few cravings on it. Jiraiya inspected it carefully, then patted the spiky-blond on his head, "Well now, you know how to observe! I'm impressed." He praised him while rubbing the marks on the tree with his index finger, "this looks like it was craved using a kunai of some sort... not that it matters."

"It's getting dark, maybe we should rest...?" He proposed, Jiraiya looked at the darkening sky and the weird sounds coming from every side of the sinister forest, "Nah, it's best if we just continue, we're almost there anyways."

"That's reassuring, considering you've been holding the map upside down this whole time!"

"Hey, that's harsh. Don't you trust your sensei?"

"Of course I do, but—" He stopped suddenly, his senses tingling and bringing him back to reality. He felt a presence, and it seemed as though jiraiya did too.

Both of them were on their guard, ready to face an enemy. Jiraiya whispered, "Stay close, Minato."

Minato nodded and took out of his pocket a sharp kunai, whoever it was, he was ready... ready to face him.

Before they even knew it, an arrow was aimed right at them coming at insane speed. They dodged it without much difficulty, until another series of arrows were thrown at them.

Those weren't kunai cravings... Minato thought, those were arrow marks!

He tried to analyze where the enemy was located carefully, eyes darting left to right. The arrows weren't thrown from one particular direction, as if it was some sort of technique to make them think that there was more than one archer. But it was clearly a failed attempt, since only one presence was felt.

Maybe he used the shadow clone jutsu to attack us from all sides?

Another arrow was thrown, this time it managed to scratch his cheek, a small yet visible drip of blood fell down into the floor. He wiped it off with his thumb and looked at it with great interest, a small smile illuminating his face.

Perhaps did he finally find someone who was worthy enough to be his opponent?

Jiraiya was already having a hard time figuring out where the arrows came from, while Minato pretty much understood their enemy's tactics. And with a swift movement, he threw his kunai towards their opponent.

A flash of red was seen, and for a split second; he was sure he hit him.

Minato walked onward, slowly but carefully. Faint whimpers could have been heard... very feminine whimpers. With precaution, he moved closer and closer until he finally found their assaulter.

It was a young woman with short red hair and green eyes crouching on the ground while holding the painful wound on her thigh, which he assumed was caused by him—after he noticed the bloody kunai next to her.

He expected it to be a shinobi from the enemy village, but not a foreign woman.

Minato squatted in front of her, she flinched. Still trembling in what seemed but fear and rage, she didn't seem to be from anywhere near here, she was barely clothed and looked like she could have died from the cold.

He instantly pitied her, for he did not intend to actually harm a frail looking woman like her. And with a gentle smile, he tried to reassure her, "Don't worry, I won't hurt you."

She didn't seem to understand Japanese, as she stared blankly at him. He thought that it might be best to show her what he meant and so he took his bag pack and opened it carefully, revealing a first-aid kit. She didn't seem to relax and only tensed up more, he frowned. Did she still not understand?

He was about to treat her wound until he finally felt it... the presence... the presence he felt previously, his actual opponent, the one who was throwing all of the arrows.

"Don't move." A calm voice said from behind him, he almost saw the menacing blade behind him and remained quiet.

He did, however, not move a muscle.

"Stand up," the voice commanded.

Minato stood up.

"Turn around."

He turned.

And then he saw her.

A girl, about his age was holding a kunai close to his throat. Light grey eyes and long red hair, even more stunning and bright than the woman behind him. She wore a short light green dress that only reached her upper thigh and was completely barefoot.

They looked at each other for a moment, not averting their eyes.

She lowered her kunai, yet still kept her serious expression. Minato's eyes softened, and before he knew it; the woman behind him stood up abruptly then hit him hard on the head, making him fall unconscious.

And with that, his vision faded with only the faint memory of the girl in red hair.

TBC.

How was it? Yeah, it sucked. But in the very least... review? I'd be very happy!
This is mostly adventure/romance than horror, though it will have its dark moments, I hope you guys can enjoy it.

See you!