A/N: Thank you to all who reviewed the last chapter! So glad you're enjoying the story, so far! Please continue to show your motivation and appreciation!

Have any of you seen the Naruto Dreamer's fight video on YouTube? If you haven't I'll suggest you check it out. It's awesome! ^_^

Journey of the Jinchuriki

Chapter 9 - Meeting

The next morning at first light Kakashi and the others met at Konoha's exit point. Konoha's gates stood tall and threatening to all who approached from the outside. However, for the shinobi of Konoha who entered and exited these gates on a daily basis they looked harmless.

"I know I informed all of you about the mission yesterday," Kakashi started, eying each of his teammates, "but just to clarify I'll go over it once more. We are to meet up with the ninja from Sunagakure and search for Garaa, who left his village three years ago. He is the Jinchuriki for the One-Tail and the first target for the Akatsuki. Our mission is to find him as soon as possible and have him brought back to Sunagakure."

Sakura, Sasuke and Sai nodded. All three of his teammates shared the same unwavering, determined look in their eyes, he noted and smiled.

"Let's go," he announced and they quickly headed outside, taking the path out of the village…

Minoru peered out from behind the cover of a tree, vigilantly scanning his surroundings. Directly in front of him, on the other side of the large stone wall, was a hotel with an adjoining Hot Spring. It seemed his friend was here somewhere. The first place to check would be the Hot Spring, where he was more likely to be. Moving anonymously through the cover of trees, he peered over the wall.

"I was wondering when you would show yourself."

Minoru stilled when he heard the deep, familiar voice from behind him. Calmly he lowered himself to the ground, turning around to face him. The two men locked gazes instantly.

"Jiraiya," Minoru broke the silence, a smile gracing his face. "It's good to see you."

Jiraiya didn't return the smile, choosing to frown instead. "So tell me, Minoru, why you suddenly decided to show yourself after all this time," Jiraiya asked, his tone hard.

Minoru sighed inwardly, deciding to get straight to the point. He'd been expecting the questions. "I needed some information about a group of ninja who wear long, dark cloaks with red clouds."

Jiraiya arched a grey brow, clearly surprised by his words. "Where's the boy?" he asked, completely ignoring what he'd said.

"He's safe," Minoru replied without hesitation. "Don't worry about him."

The frown on Jiraiya's face deepened.

Silence followed, which the older man decided to break.

"The group of ninja you're referring to are the Akatsuki," he said, answering Minoru's question from before.

"Akatsuki..?" Minoru frowned.

"The Akatsuki is formed of S-Rank missing-nin. They're targeting all of the Tailed Beasts, including the Nine-Tails..." Jiraiya paused, letting the words sink in.

Minoru looked stunned by the news.

"The boy needs to be taken back to Konoha, Minoru. The Akatsuki are after him and the other Jinchurikis. We don't know why, but it doesn't look too good. It's not safe for him to be wondering around anymore."

Minoru looked away, a deep frown on his face. It seemed his suspicions had been right all along. Though he'd never imagined it could be this bad.

"He doesn't need Konoha. I can take care of him," Minoru stated casually, looking back at him.

"Don't be a fool. You're going to get the boy killed," Jiraiya answered angrily.

"Don't underestimate me, Jiraiya," his tone suddenly turned cold. "I'm more than capable of looking after him. If I hadn't left that night sixteen years ago the boy would've been long dead by now. I've protected him with my life all this time and I'd never allow him to be taken back to that wretched village."

Jiraiya looked astounded at the outburst, his face losing all trace of the anger he displayed mere seconds ago. "What the hell are you talking about? The Third Hokage would never have allowed such a thing," he argued.

"I overheard him talking with the Council and Danzo that night. They were arguing about getting rid of the child."

"You know for a fact he wouldn't have allowed it," Jiraiya clarified firmly. "As for the Council and Danzo - you're perfectly aware of what they're like. Obviously they'd suggest such a thing."

"Even if he hadn't allowed it the same can't be said for the villagers," he argued angrily. "They would've tortured the poor child and you know it. I saved him from an unpleasant childhood. It was the least I could do for Minaton after what he did. He wanted Konoha to regard his son as a hero, but it wasn't going to happen," his voice turned bitter. "Our world is too selfish and full of hate. There's no room for any kind of understanding and affection."

Again there was silence while his words sank in.

The older man's face was grim as he waited patiently for him to calm down.

"You're probably right, but that's not important right now. A lot has happened in the past couple of years. Sarutobi-sensei died a few years ago in a battle against Orochimaru. He attacked the village during the Chunin Exams and we barely survived the onslaught, thanks to the Third Hokage. Tsunade is the Hokage now and you know she can be trusted. We need to take the boy back to Konoha for his own sake. The Akatsuki are strong and we still don't know what they're planning. The whole world could be in danger for all we know," he pressed, the urgency in his words evident.

A look of pain crossed Minoru's face before it disappeared. "I heard about the Third Hokage," he answered softly before his eyes hardened. "As for the boy - I don't think I can trust any of you."

He turned to leave, but Jiraiya's answer stopped him.

"Do you seriously think you're the only one who cares for the boy? Don't forget Minato was like a son to me and he wanted me to be his son's godfather. I've been searching for him since the night he was born. I never gave up hope, because I cared…"

Minoru closed his eyes, feeling a pang of guilt. He'd never considered how Jiraiya would've felt in all these years. It was true; Minato had been like a son to him.

Why hadn't he thought of going to Jiraiya at the time? The answer came to him immediately. He'd only thought about Naruto and nothing else. His safety had been more important.

"I will be in touch," was all he said and disappeared in a cloud of smoke…

Naruto woke up later in the evening. He was surprised to see the sun was already setting in the sky, which meant he'd ended up sleeping most of the day.

After leaving the bar last night he returned to his room only to pace back and forth, feeling strangely perturbed. Something was wrong, he could feel it. As much as he tried to calm himself, he couldn't. The stupid squirming in his gut lingered, continuing to make him worry.

It didn't help that Minoru-sensei wasn't there, only increasing his tension. If it wasn't for the promise he'd made to his sensei he would've gone looking for him, just to assure himself that he was okay.

Eventually sometime around dawn he'd finally knocked out.

Minoru-sensei still wasn't back, he realised. Peering outside the window he saw the streets were mostly empty. Hearing his stomach protest he decided to go get something to eat.

As he was walking out of the hotel something caught his eye from the shadows. It was the stranger from last night. He recognised the hooded cloak he wore.

A strong urge to pursue him filled him to the core and he tensed at the reaction. Without thinking twice he quickly teleported to his room and grabbed his sword. Teleporting back he decided to trust his gut feeling.

Lowering his Chakra signature until it couldn't be detected he followed him. He cursed silently when he realised the stranger was headed out of the village. Conjuring a shadow clone he ordered it to return to the hotel room, just in case Minoru-sensei returned. Without wasting another second he hurried after the stranger, making sure to stay hidden…

A/N: Thumbs up to all who guessed it was Jiraiya!

Sorry it's short like the rest, but the chapters are already sorted out like this. I'm actually ten chapters ahead. A quarter of this story was already written before I posted it just in case I didn't get time to write.

I can assure you there's plenty of action on its way. So stay tuned…

And yeah, don't forget to review! ^_^