Here's the next chapter. I decided to do a slight mix between Jiraiya refusing and Jiraiya trying. If I went with the trying version they would have come a lot closer to having sex and they would stop because Jiraiya wouldn't be turned on. I feel that Jiraiya is straight enough in this story to know right away that it would never work, and that version would be stringing Naruto along for something that could never happen. I hope everyone finds this satisfactory. This is the first story that I didn't complete before posting. I had started righting down the first chapters back in December, and I had been thinking about it for months before that. I wrote this down on Saturday and have gone back through it a few times now. I think I have everything I wanted.

Two years, two months into trip.

In the few weeks that had been their slow paced return trip to Konoha that was still yet weeks away life had changed greatly for the pair. Whenever Naruto took the chance to train Jiraiya would comment from no less than ten feet away. When the pair traveled Naruto always seemed to be at least five steps ahead of Jiraiya. Anyone who had known Naruto would have noticed his loud and boisterous personality was subdued. Anyone who looked closely enough would have been able to tell that his smile did not reach his eyes.

Hotel owners were routinely confused when an elderly gentleman asked for separate rooms for himself and who they assumed must be his grandson, even after they politely explained that each of the rooms held two beds. Had any of them been able to witness what transpired in their rented rooms the hotel owners would have been more confused. If anyone was privileged enough to see that this was a nightly occurrence they would have felt it was a mystery indeed. Every night the young man could be seen crying himself to sleep in a tight ball. His left hand clutched around a ring and his right hand held on his abdomen. In a separate room the older man spent every night sitting at the table in the darkened room. A bottle of sake always sat in front of him and his fingers were always around the small cup, but never, never did he bring it to his lips. When dawn rose she would sometimes find him dozing in that same chair, but more often the white haired main would still be staring blankly ahead.

Their travel pattern was not too different from when they had first set out on this journey. Naruto still needed to train and Jiraiya still needed to learn what the plans of the Akatsuki and Orochimaru were. Naruto would spend the day practicing while Jiraiya listened for news. Once a town had lost its usefulness to Jiraiya they would set off again. Only now, instead of wandering randomly from place to place they were heading in a direct line for Konoha. Both of them were anxious to get home, for the tension between them was becoming suffocating.

Whenever Jiraiya realized there was no news early enough in the day he would go watch the end of Naruto's practice. He was still the boy's teacher after all, and it was his duty to offer advice. Jiraiya tried to stay far enough away that he couldn't easily notice the ring absent from Naruto's finger. He fully understood why Naruto would stop wearing the ring, but that didn't make it hurt any less.

Currently Jiraiya was watching Naruto train. As the blond slowly worked through a series of taijutsu moves Jiraiya tried hard not to stare at that bare hand. Guilt, remorse, and longing had slowly been eating away at him. He knew that Naruto must feel even worse. Suddenly he knew he couldn't stand it any longer. This thing between them had to be resolved. Neither one of them had brought up anything that had occurred before they set out for Konoha. The morning after Naruto returned to his natural male state Jiraiya entered the room, dropped a male outfit on the empty bed along with some money, and told Naruto he had until the afternoon to get some new clothes. After living as a female for more than a year Naruto had no clothes to suit a male body. Even if he still had the clothes from when they had first set out none of it would have fit him any longer. When Naruto met up with Jiraiya later that afternoon ready to head out Jiraiya told him he looked nice, but no further remarks where made by either men. Naruto left the female outfits in the hotel room, hoping that whoever cleaned the room would be able to make some use out of them.

Jiraiya strode quickly up to Naruto. He knew what he was going to ask and he was afraid of either answer Naruto could give him. He had to try though, for both their sakes. Naruto had stopped his practice when he noticed Jiraiya was heading towards him but refused to look at the man.

Jiraiya took a deep breath. "Naruto, I know I have no right to ask you this, but please let me see her one more time. Let me hold her, let me touch her, let me have her just once more, to say goodbye. I don't want that day to be the last between us." His voice was desperate, pleading.

Naruto looked up at Jiraiya, his eyes furious. The slap his hand made across Jiraiya's face rang through the air. "You have the audacity to ask me such a thing? After you murder our child, forcefully and painfully turn me back into a man, tell me you love me and then break up with me, then leave me by my self to deal with the hormonal and emotional backlash of all this that occurred on the same fucking day?! You dare to ask me to transform into a woman for your own selfish needs?"

Jiraiya felt sick. "I . . . but . . . Kyuubi was going too . . ."

"So?" Naruto cut him off. "I had a very clear impression that what Kyuubi was or was not going to do had no bases on what you did. Kyuubi had a reason to terminate the pregnancy. You on the other hand willingly destroyed your own child because of some law written by scared, stupid, old men. But I guess that's why you followed it, because you're a stupid, old man."

Jiraiya couldn't stop the tears from falling. "Naruto, I am so sorry, so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you. I wish I could go back and do it all over."

Naruto sighed, his eyes loosing their rage. "I know you are. I'm sorry for lashing out at you like that. I understand why you did it, and I forgive you. But I'm still so, so angry with you. It wasn't so much that you ended it; it was how you ended the pregnancy. I felt betrayed. You didn't ask me to change, you didn't tell me what you were going to do, you just went and did that. Doing that showed you didn't listen to me, you didn't trust me, which made it seem like you didn't love me. That hurt so much more than the physical pain you caused me when I transformed back."

"You have every right to be angry. I happen to be furious with myself. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"

"I don't think so," Naruto sadly replied.

"So there's no chance of us having one last night together?" Jiraiya asked.

"I can't Jiraiya. I can't trust you enough to be in that form. You broke my heart, and if I give you myself like that again it will crush me. You were right; I can't stay a woman for the rest of my life. If you can't love me as a man, then we have no reason to be together."

"I understand. I had to try."

"Jiraiya, you told me you loved me, you told me it wasn't just the way I looked. My personality is still here, is it really impossible for us to be together like this?"

Jiraiya looked down into the younger man's eyes. "I'm straight, Naruto."

"So was I. Please Jiraiya, I won't ever ask to top you. It can't be that much different from before." Naruto's voice was now the desperate and pleading one.

"It might not be different for you, but everything will seem different for me."

"Try, please. Just kiss me, you owe me that much."

Jiraiya leaned forward and both men closed their eyes as their lips touched. Both of them noticed the change; the passion was no longer there. Jiraiya ran his hands up Naruto's arms and down his chest. As his hands settled on Naruto's waist Jiraiya broke the kiss. With a sigh he rested his forehead against the shorter one in front of him. "I'm sorry. A male just won't turn me on. I need soft and squishy curves, not hard and flat muscles. I wish it was different."

"It's alright. I think we can both finally start to move on now." Naruto put his hand in his pocket and pulled out the ring Jiraiya had bought for her. "Do you want this back?"

"No, you keep it. I know you had a hard life growing up. Use the ring as a reminder that not everyone sees you as the demon vessel. You can be loved, and you deserved to be loved. Maybe you'll find someone to give it to in the future."

Naruto put the ring back in his pocket. "While I don't think I'm ready to start staying in the same room as you, I think we'll finally be able to begin interacting normally."

"I agree. Let's go get some dinner."

The two men headed back to town walking side by side. That night in their separate hotel rooms Naruto didn't feel compelled to clutch the ring as he poured his heart out onto the pillow. As he held the ring above him the tears did not come. Naruto set the ring on the nightstand and let his body drift into sleep. Jiraiya sat as usual at the table with a sake bottle and full cup in front of him. As he stared at the sake bottle he wondered while he had felt the urge to have it out every night. He was never one to drink by himself; it was too depressing that way. With a sigh Jiraiya corked the bottle and headed for the bed. It was time to quiet his thoughts and let his body have a good rest. Life was still far from perfect for both of them, but at least they could finally let go, heal, and let things get better.

Alright, I should have the next chapter ready within a week. I'm not sure if I'll do one final long chapter or break it up into two. Kakashi is the winner for the chance to capture Naruto's heart. I have a pretty good idea in my head of what I want. Until next time, I hope you enjoyed and happy reading!