Man, life tends to smack me across the face when I least expect it. Sorry for the absurdly long update. I hope you enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 26

Naruto crossed his arms and frowned at the older man perched on top of a giant toad's head. The frown deepened as he recognized the name, and he pointed a finger at the man. "You're the super pervert," stated Naruto dryly, "Jiraiya the super pervert. Motama told me about you."

"Yes! I am indeed the most perverted of them all!" shouted Jiraiya proudly, "No one can best me in the art of being sneaky in order to be naughty." He was putting on a show like he always did in front of people, but then the features of the kid before him registered. He hid his shock expertly, a slight widening of his eyes being the only sign. Is this him, thought Jiraiya, is this really him?

Naruto snorted. "Damn odd thing to be proud of. I thought a war veteran like you would be less energetic."

"I'm a young man trapped in a hermit's body, boy! And what's your name?"

"Naruto Uzumaki, Jiraiya-ero."

Jiraiya blinked and examined him closely, ignoring the insult. It is him, he thought, go figure. The hair and the white jacket gave it away. It was a little spooky, seeing that Jiraiya's former student looked so much like the boy in front of him. Very spooky.

Naruto didn't move as he was scrutinized by the hermit. He looked impatient, in fact, as if Jiraiya was wasting his time. He chewed his lip and tapped his foot restlessly. He wasn't one to be starstruck, especially by this old lecher. Jiraiya looked exactly how Motama had described him: a wild mane of white hair, a large, warty nose, two streaks of red paint under each eye, the unique hermit-sage outfit. "Are you done leering at me?" asked Naruto brusquely after a minute of scrutiny.

"I'm not leering," defended Jiraiya, "You don't have a nice rack. You just look like someone I used to know."

"You were definitely leering."

"No, I wasn't." There was laughter from the women's bath, and Jiraiya grinned lopsidedly. "Speaking of leering, let me leer at the beautiful ladies of the Leaf." He hopped off the toad's head and stuck his eye near a peephole in the fence. Naruto and the toad exchanged looks, a moment of understanding passing between them, and the toad disappeared into smoke. He walked up and kicked Jiraiya in the seat of his pants again.

"C'mon, quit while you're ahead, old man."

"Leave me alone, brat."

"No, I actually think you want to listen to me."

"No, I don't." Jiraiya craned his neck at an odd angle to get a better look.

"No, I think you do. Believe me."

Jiraiya looked around with a smug expression, ready to ask why he should believe the blonde, but then his sarcastic question was answered. He pressed himself against the fence while Anko, a woman with unsettling red eyes, and another with purple hair stood menacingly behind Naruto. Their expressions were glowering, and Anko's hand twitched near her kunai holster. Jiraiya chuckled nervously, trying to diffuse the situation. "So, uh, ladies, how's life?"

"It was going fine," began the purple-haired woman.

"Until we found you, of course," said the red-eyed one.

A kunai flashed in Anko's hand. "Now how should we start?"

Jiraiya eyed it fearfully and, with a grin, sprinted as fast as he could do the road. The women gave pursuit, and Naruto watched as they turned the corner after Jiraiya. He then burst out into laughter and mentally patted himself on the back. Just a few clones and transformations were able to fool the man. Naruto grinned. Maybe he had just tapped into the pervert's fear of being caught by those imposing women.

He followed the chase a few meters behind, watching as Jiraiya screeched to a halt and turned corner after corner. The clones were right behind him until the fifth turn or so, and then they halted. Jiraiya looked over his shoulder after another turn, and he came to a halt once he saw his pursuers had stopped. He panted and hunched over with his hands on his knees. Naruto, looking down from a rooftop opposite the Sanin, laughed aloud, drawing Jiraiya's attention.

"Screw you!" shouted Jiraiya.

Naruto grinned wickedly. "Poor choice of words." His clones, still in their transformations as Anko and company, appeared just yards away from Jiraiya. The poor man froze and scrambled backward into the wall, eying them fearfully. Naruto let the situation play out for a few moments before laughing and jumping down, and his clones grinned back at him and disappeared.

"Want to apologize?" suggested the blonde.

"No! That was cruel!" Jiraiya rubbed the back of his leg. "I mighta pulled something." He continued to rub it, muttering lowly to where he thought Naruto couldn't hear, "I haven't run like that since Tsunade nearly killed me. Jesus, it's been a long time..."

"Too bad Tsunade didn't teach you the lesson well enough," said Naruto, drawing an irritated look from Jiraiya, "I just thought I'd teach it to you better."

"How'd you hear that?"

"I've got good ears." He tapped his nose. "And a good nose. You smell like cheap perfume and a few other things." Jiraiya sniffed under his arms self-consciously and frowned at the blonde.

"What are you, part Inuzuka?" he asked teasingly, and Naruto snorted and rolled his eyes. "If not, when'd your sniffer get so good?" With that question, the man saw a shift in Naruto's eyes, a darkening of the light blue.

"I don't know, a few weeks ago?" he answered reluctantly, "It was kinda weird." He refused to say anything else. Jiraiya blinked a few times in puzzlement, but then he shrugged and turned to leave. He had just taken a single step before Naruto flashed in front of him, arms crossed. "Hey, I didn't say you could leave."

"Don't need your permission, brat." He's got a mouth on him, thought Jiraiya.

Naruto quirked a brow. "You're used to be a sensei, right?" Jiraiya nearly jumped out of skin; surely the kid didn't about them. He eyed the blonde carefully and nodded.

"I was. How'd you-,"

"Motama told me about you. You were the sensei of the Fourth Hokage." Jiraiya relaxed visibly, getting another brow quirk. "What? Who else?"

"No one else." Naruto frowned but then shrugged.

"Anyway, think you could be a sensei again?"

"For who? You? No way! I got research, important research, to make this!" He flourished an orange book at the blonde. "This has been a bestseller for years. I'm not going to give my precious-," He yelped as the book caught fire, and he dropped it and stamped it out. Naruto had a grin on his face, and Jiraiya kicked away the tattered, ashy remains of the book. "Why the hell did you do that!"

"I've seen enough of that book to last a lifetime. I didn't want to see it anymore."

"You didn't have to burn it," objected Jiraiya, "How'd you do that, anyway?"

"I focused fire chakra on the binding," answered Naruto shortly, tapping his foot, "I still want you to teach me."

"Don't you have your own sensei?"

"Yeah, but Guy-sensei shows me taijutsu mainly. You'd show me something like a new jutsu. Right, Jiraiya-ero?"

"With you calling me that, no."

"Right, Ero-Sannin?" Jiraiya glared at the smirking Naruto. "What? What'd I say?"

"Anything but that name. I mean anything."

"Alright, Jiraiya-ero. What do you feel like teaching me first?"

"I'm not teaching you!" He turned away to leave, but then Naruto flashed in front of him again. "Leave me in peace!" Jiraiya turned again, but again he found Naruto standing in front of him. "Stop, dammit!"

"Not until you agree to teach me a few things."

Jiraiya jabbed a finger in the blonde's face. "Alright, I teach you two things: respect your seniors and don't mess around with veterans!" His hair suddenly encased his body, and Naruto frowned before leaping backward to avoid being impaled on spikes protruding from it. "Needle Jizo!" The blonde kept his annoyed expression.

"Didn't hit me," he stated, "You sure you're a veteran?"

"Hair Senbon!"

"Now we're getting somewhere!" shouted Naruto at the shower of white needles.

Jiraiya sent out a single shot of the needles, sure that Naruto was as prickly as a porcupine. Not that it would kill him, but he'd be pulling out needles out for days. The hair unwrapped itself from around him, and Jiraiya gawked at the purple barrier protecting Naruto. The senbon had pinged off it harmlessly. The blonde behind still wore his smirk. "Surprised?"

"That's fuinjutsu! And a high-level barrier in order to block my needles!"

"Yes and yes. Impressed?"

"I'm annoyed as hell!"

"Same thing. Will you teach me now?"

"No!"

Naruto sighed. "You're a stubborn old man."

"You're a brat who can't keep his mouth shut!"

"Aw, you hurt my feelings." Jiraiya rolled his eyes. "You really did." The man snorted like a bull and shook his head.

"If I teach you something, will you leave me alone?"

Naruto shrugged. "Maybe."

"That's not good enough."

"Better than no."

Jiraiya thought about it. To be honest, he was impressed with the kid. To know decent fuinjutsu at this young age was remarkable. All of Jiraiya's blustering was just a reflex to the idea of teaching again. He mentally shrugged. He wouldn't get too involved with this student. Just a few tricks. "True. Fine, brat, follow me." With a grin, Naruto followed.

They stopped finally near a small stream with gravel banks with a waterfall feeding into it at one end. Jiraiya took a seat on a round stone, and Naruto stood across from him, waiting. There was silence until Jiraiya sighed and rubbed his chin. "Well, what do you want to know?"

"How'd you pull out that toad of yours?" asked Naruto without hesitation, "I barely saw anything."

"Summoning jutsu?" asked Jiraiya incredulously, "You wanna know that of all things?"

"What? What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing, except if you want to die from chakra exhaustion." Jiraiya shook his head. "You really wanna learn that instead of ninjutsu or something?"

Naruto's mind was set. "Yeah. Summoning jutsu or nothing." The man regarded him exasperatedly for a moment before shaking his head.

"Alright, but first..." He rubbed his chin harder. "You'll need to learn how to do something."

"Like what?"

Jiraiya thought for a moment, drumming his fingers on his knee. He eyed Naruto who looked back questioningly and then shrugged. "Do you ever feel like you have two kinds of chakra in you?" asked Jiraiya suddenly, "One that's your own, but one that isn't entirely yours?"

It was Naruto's turn to eye Jiraiya, this time with suspicion. How much did this man know? How much could he reveal? He knew that Jiraiya had been the sensei of the Fourth Hokage, but had the information ever been received by this lecher? The man's next actions settled Naruto's suspicion. "Remember, I was the Fourth's sensei. I know everything he did." He winked. "So how about it?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. Sometimes I feel it, usually when I'm angry or some strong emotion. Why?"

"You'll need be to able to harness it in order to use the summoning jutsu," said Jiraiya, noticing the blonde's stiffening at his words, "It's the only way for a kid like you."

"I'm not an ordinary kid," said Naruto lowly.

Jiraiya raised his hands in mock surrender. "Fine. Die from exhaustion. But first..." He drew out a large scroll set at the small of his back and partially unfurled it. On the paper that Naruto could see were three columns marked out, two of which were already written in. The first name was Jiraiya's, but the second... "Sign this in your blood," ordered Jiraiya, "and then put your fingerprints beneath it."

"That's the Fouth Hokage's name," pointed out Naruto, reading Minato Namikaze.

"Nah, it's the name of the local drunk. Of course it is, brat!"

"The Fourth knew how to summon toads?"

Jiraiya put his face in his hands. "Yes, yes, he did. Don't you know the details of his battle with the Kyuubi?"

Naruto scratched his cheek self-consciously. "I was absent for that history lesson, I think."

The man rolled his eyes. "I bet you were absent a lot."

Naruto laughed. "You're right. I was." He knelt before the scroll and bit his thumb, drawing blood. He quickly, neatly signed his name and wet each finger and pressed them under his name. He gazed at it, forehead creased, but stood. "There. It's signed. Now what?"

"Now the handsigns." Jiraiya flicked through them too quickly for Naruto to see, but then he did them again, this time slower. Naruto followed along, forming each carefully and eventually making them as easily and as quickly as Jiraiya. The man watched him and nodded. "Good, you're a fast learner. The only other thing I have to tell you is to bite your thumb to draw blood, and when you're done with the handsigns, slap the ground."

"That's it?"

Jiraiya shrugged. "Unless you want to try to access that other chakra-,"

"No." Naruto's tone was final.

"Alright, alright. Jeez, you're stubborn." Jiraiya stood from his seat. "Now try it out."

Naruto nodded and bit his thumb. He made the handsigns, slapped the ground, and was enveloped in smoke. Jiraiya leaned forward. He had an idea of what Naruto would summon because all beginners summoned it, but this kid was full of surprises.

And he wasn't through yet.

The smoke cleared, and Naruto blinked down at a large red toad in a blue jacket which blinked back at him. "Who the hell are you?" it asked. The blonde jumped at its voice, and the toad laughed. "Not used to animals talkin', are ya?" He shook his head, speechless. It turned toward Jiraiya. "Hey, Jiraiya! Why'd you summon me? Need me to talk to Tou-san?"

"I didn't summon you, Gamakichi," he said, silently applauding Naruto, "The brat did."

"What? This tadpole?" Gamakichi scrutinized Naruto. "Nah, can't be. The tadpoles haven't been disappearing like when a beginner starts."

Naruto found his voice. "You're the first thing I've summoned, Gamakichi-san."

"Quit lyin'."

"I'm not!"

"Yeah, you are."

"No, I'm not!" They glared at each other, and then Naruto grabbed the summoning contract, which still lie open, and brandished it at the toad. "See? There's my name, Gamakichi-san. I'm the newest toad summoner."

"Well, if it wasn't mushed up against my face, maybe I'd read it," muttered Gamakichi. Naruto pulled the scroll away a fraction, and the toad read his name. "Well, lookie there. Your name Naruto Uzumaki?"

"Yeah, and don't wear it out."

"Likewise, wiseguy, and no more of this Gamakichi-san crap. It's Gamakichi." He held out his hand, and they shook. "Now, if that's all..." Gamakichi hopped over near the bank and laid down. "...I'll be here."

"You're not going to go back?" asked Jiraiya.

"Mm, in a bit maybe." The toad closed one eye and kept the other trained on Naruto who looked between him and Jiraiya before shaking his head.

"This is nuts." He went through the handsigns again, and when the smoke cleared, another toad the same size of Gamakichi greeted him, this one chubby and a light orange. "Now who're you?" demanded Naruto.

"Got any snacks?"

"Gamatatsu, this ain't the time!" shouted Gamakichi, "Besides, Tou-san already gives you a million snacks back home!"

The new toad turned him and squinted. "Gamakichi? Why're you here?"

"'Cause Naruto here summoned me, and I'm too lazy to go back."

"You got any snacks?"

"No, I don't."

"So you're Gamatatsu?" interrupted Naruto. He nodded, and before he could ask again, Naruto quickly said, "I don't have snacks either."

"Aw," whined Gamatatsu, "Then why am I here?" He disappeared in a puff of smoke, and Naruto coughed and waved it away.

"What's his problem?"

"He likes snacks too much," stated Gamakichi plainly.

Jiraiya nodded. "I don't know how you put up with him up on the mountain, Gamakichi."

"Patience. Lots and lots and lots of patience." Naruto grinned and tried again, this time focusing as much chakra into the jutsu as he could muster. He slapped the ground, but then he was in the air, something big having forced its way under him. He landed on the warty back of a toad standing about as tall as himself, and it had a knife at its side. The blonde landed deftly on its head, but then the adrenaline gave out and he stumbled and fell off.

"Jesus, that was...exhausting," he breathed.

"Told you," said Jiraiya, "But you did more than I expected." A lot more, he added mentally, he's even summoned a toad that I've never managed to summon, not that I ever wanted to. He heard splashing and women laughing further down the river, and his hand went to his telescope. "Now if you'll excuse me..." He slipped off, Naruto too tired to object.

The blonde looked more closely at this new summon. It was almost entirely black except for a white dot under its chin, and its skin seemed to have a strange sheen. Its knife was securely wrapped in a wooden sheath. Its eyes, level with Naruto's own, were dark brown, almost the same color as its skin.

"Gamadoku!" shouted Gamakichi, "Man, I haven't seen you since...since a long time ago."

Gamadoku grunted. "You were a tadpole when we last saw each other."

"Oh yeah..."

"Now," Gamadoku turned toward Naruto, "what does Jiraiya need?"

"He don't need nothing," answered Gamakichi for the blonde, "Naruto summoned you."

"This tadpole?" said Gamadoku in surprise, "He's much too young."

"Nope, he summoned you alright. Summoned me, too."

"Mm." The black toad peered at him. "What's your name? Naruto what?"

"Uzumaki, Gamadoku-san. Naruto Uzumaki."

"Ah, an Uzumaki. I see. Your clan has always been interesting."

Gamakichi hopped on top of Gamadoku's head. "Hey, you're interesting, too. You can spit poison oil!"

The black toad grunted, and Naruto cocked his head. "Poison oil?"

Instead of answering, Gamadoku spat oil from his mouth onto a tree. The yellow, gooey mess steamed, and the tree slowly keeled over with crack. "It's more acid than poison," said Gamadoku, "But no one really cares."

Naruto's jaw dropped. "You spit acid?"

"One of few who can, yes, and I'm one of the few whose skin secretes poison." Naruto looked at his hands in alarm. "Don't worry. As long as you don't lick them or rub your eyes, you're fine."

"Is your oil flammable?"

"Yes. Why wouldn't it be?"

Naruto eagerly asked, "Can you spit it on another tree?"

Gamadoku shrugged and spat another load of oil on a tree. Before it steamed, Naruto quickly went through series of handsigns. "Fire Style: Grand Fireball!" The ensuing fireball ignited the oil into a great mushroom of fire that engulfed the tree, and both toads widened their eyes.

"Quite a show," observed Gamadoku.

"Hell yeah, Naruto!" shouted the other, "Give it another shot!"

The blonde grinned tiredly. "I don't know," he managed through breaths, "if I can." He sat down with a thud. "This was...fun. Mind if I ever summon you again, either of you?"

Gamadoku did something that could have been considered a shrug. "It's fine with me. No one likes to come to my part of the mountain anyway. This is the first time I've been summoned in years." He sounded lonely, and Gamakichi patted his head.

"Cheer up, big guy. It's not that bad." Gamadoku grunted. "It's not. Tou-san tries to visit, but your cave weirds him out." They both laughed, and the small toad looked at Naruto. "And sure, you can summon me. Ain't got anything else to do but mess with you."

The blonde smiled and felt his vision go in and out of focus. "That's good," he murmured, "Really good. Thanks." He fell back roughly, drawing a yelp from Gamakichi.

"Hey, Naruto! What's wrong?" He jumped onto the blonde's chest and slapped him, hard. He snored. "Hey! Wake up, ya big doof!"

"Leave him alone. He's asleep." Both toads turned to see Jiraiya come back from down the river, a red handprint on one cheek. "He must tuckered himself out with summoning and that one last jutsu. Still, he did more than I thought he could." He bent down and picked up the sleeping boy. "I'll take him to the hospital."

Jiraiya watched from a nearby rooftop as the light in Naruto's hospital room went out. He breathed in, the night air cool, and sighed. It had been twelve years, twelve long years since he had returned to this village. It held too many painful memories and too many familiar faces. Especially the rightmost one sculpted from the stone cliffside. His last student, or so he'd thought, until this little blonde guy had bumped into him.

Someone stepped onto the roof with him. "Jiraiya," the person said, "It's been a long time."

"Motama-sensei."

The old man shook his head. "I was never your sensei. That was always Hiruzen." He hobbled over to the sage. "Hiruzen told you about that incident that happened a few weeks ago, didn't he?"

Jiraiya nodded. "That's why I came back. To check on him."

"You came about twelve years too late." Motama's voice was hard.

He threw up his hands in a frustrated gesture. "I know, dammit! I know I could've taken him with me, I know I could've stayed here, I know I could've placed him under your or someone else's care. But I didn't."

"Why not?"

"Because I was scared. I froze. I didn't know what to do. My student and his wife had just died, my village had just been attacked by the very thing that killed them, and my job was to protect the person holding that very thing. I reacted instinctively. I ran, ran so that no one could find me. Only just recently have I been actually staying in contact with the village." He put his head in his hands. "I'm a terrible guardian."

"Mm, you could be worse."

"I don't know how."

"Look at Orochimaru and Anko. That is when the relationship truly teeters out of control."

"True." Jiraiya regarded Naruto's window dolefully. "I wish I could do more for him, but he barely knows me. He just knew stories that you told him about me." He looked around at Motama. "Which I found odd. How'd you meet him?"

"He walked into my shop one day and asked for a new jacket."

"Ah." There was silence, and then Jiraiya stood. "I'll be going."

"Out of the village?"

"Yeah, but not far." He took one last look at the window. "I want to be here just in case something goes wrong. Just in case." He disappeared into the night, and Motama, with a nod, vanished with a tap of his cane.

It was cloudy when Naruto awoke. He sat up in a hospital bed and blearily looked around. How did I get here, he thought, all I remember is talking to Gamadoku and Gamakichi and then falling asleep. He swung his feet out of the bed and found himself in a hospital gown with his clothes on a chair not far from him. Naruto rubbed the grit from his eyes, yawned, and dressed. He was pulling on his jacket when a nurse came in.

"Uzumaki-san, you're awake," she said in surprise, "The doctor said you'd be out for a day or two more."

"I'm resilient. How long was I out?"

"You came in yesterday, and it's ten'o'clock in the morning right now."

Naruto nodded. "Thanks for taking care of me. I'll go now."

"It's required that-,"

"I'll be fine." He left and found his way to the street outside. He started to walk to where he knew his team was training. As he was walking, Naruto stared up at the cloudy sky, sunlight streaming down in pockets that never touched the village. It was windy, dust and leaves flying up in miniature twisters that fizzled out in seconds. The wind carried the scent of rain on it.

Clouds, thought the blonde, a day just like when Iruka-sensei's funeral was held. A pang of grief went through him at the name. He shook himself. He shouldn't think like this, should be over the death that had occurred more than two weeks ago. But it still haunted him, but it wasn't his fault. It was no one's but Mizuki's, and he was dead as well. Naruto had killed him.

He shook himself again. Get over it, he told himself, you've grieved long enough. You've honored him, and nothing else can be done. No amount of grieving would ever bring Iruka back, and Naruto could take solace in the fact that Iruka's name would be forever engraved into that Memorial Stone. It was something to remember him by, something that, unlike people's memories, would stand the test of time.

The wind picked up, and leaves brushed by his feet, their skittering whispers one of the few sounds that Naruto heard. He furrowed his brow at that; to reach the training grounds where his team was, he needed to cut through the busiest part of the village. But instead of the bustling noise, there was almost complete silence. Not an eerie silence, but one meant out of respect.

He stopped and realized where he was.

The cemetery. He recognized the scattered trees honoring the dead, the clipped, carefully kept grass, the headstones like stolid guardians of the person they named. Nothing could erase from his memory. Naruto didn't want to be here, but in his musing, his feet had carried him here and were about to carry him out.

He turned, and Iruka's headstone greeted him starkly. Naruto froze, but it didn't seem to accuse him. It was the opposite in fact; a benevolent aura was imbued into the air around it, warmth that no cold could wash away. He felt a smile slid onto his face, and he took a step toward the headstone and knelt.

"Hi, Iruka-sensei."