Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto, all rights go to Kishimoto

A/N- Please review, I enjoy reading all of your opinions, and constructive criticism ultimately makes for a better story, and a better read. Enjoy!

Chapter 2

Last time-

The black cloud woman was jumping from tree to tree at a breakneck pace. She had recently encountered a small toad-summon scout that had dispersed before she could properly put it under a genjutsu, so she knew that it must have reported back to its master, Jiraiya. It was paramount that she not be captured, and that she succeed in her mission.

From the corner of her eye she spotted a balled-up fist poking out of the cloth. She smiled. The woman had actually bonded with the baby over the course of the last few days, and she didn't want to be separated from him. All the more reason to hurry, she thought.

She jumped out from the trees and into a large clearing, where a massive toad-summon sat, with Jiraiya mounted on its back. Looking at her.

Jiraiya's POV-

The Toad-Hermit scowled as he finished the Body Flicker, effectively reappearing in the outskirts of Konoha. He just couldn't believe that the old man had said that, it had sounded like something Danzo would say! Where was the compassion that Jiraiya had come to love about his former sensei? It's Minato's son! That fact alone gave the baby enormous potential, not to mention that it happened to also be the container for the most powerful demon to have ever plagued the ninja world.

More importantly, the boy was his precocious student's only child, his legacy. Jiraiya's already upset features darkened considerably at that. He had to retrieve the child from the thief, he simply had to. He owed it to Minato. The coward that stole Naruto can rot in the lowest depths of Gamabunta's bowels, the summoner added as an afterthought.

It was with that mindset that the Gallant Jiraiya gathered his chakra, flashed through a familiar string of hand seals, bit his thumb, and slammed his palm down onto the earth with an audible thump, knocking up an impressive cloud of dust.

"Summoning technique!" There was a bright light, and a massive cloud of white smoke could be seen as the light faded. Moments later hundreds of knee-high, brightly colored toads covered the earth in a massive circle around the wayward sannin. "Find the scum that stole away your beloved Minato's heir! Find Naruto, find my godson!" The masterful shinobi called out in a commanding voice. With a flare of chakra, and a drastic hand point courtesy of the now serious lecher, they were off.

A small tremor could be felt throughout the city of Leaf as Jiraiya's determined summons leapt into the forest. For a moment, it looked as it a blue and green, kanji-covered wave had sprung up from the earth. The moment passed, and just as suddenly as they had appeared, they had dispersed into the vast land of forest, propelling themselves with powerful chakra-enhanced hops.

Not quite finished, the aged shinobi formed a single hand seal, then called out, "Shadow-clone technique!" and was greeted by the sight of a dozen Jiraiya doppelgangers materializing with a poof of smoke, and a small pop. They each stepped forward, then by an unspoken signal, all started rapidly forming the same seals. Moments later, all of the Jiraiyas were sitting atop large toad summons. With a short wave of the original's hand, they all sprung into the forest, each taking their own directions.

The original spurred his amphibian companion on, a look of grim determination on his face.

Several Days Later-

Jiraiya was moving at a rapid pace through Konoha's thick forest. The trees kept going on and on...there seemed to be no end to it, and he felt as if every second, Naruto was farther, and farther away... The spy master had been searching for several days now, and had ridden through the night each time, perhaps not for the better.

His summon had grown weary, its great orange and blue legs struggled a little more with each leap. The giant toad's eyes started to close, before it reopened them, renewed with newfound vigor.

This was the manner in which the duo traveled. Both weary and sore, they continued on, thoughts of the terrible injustice fresh on their minds.

Jiraiya started to pay less and less attention to his surroundings. The sannin's bagged eyes slowly closed, much to their owner's chagrin.

(Flashback Technique!)

Jiraiya watched in amusement as his young blonde student hurled the water balloon at the fence, adding another stain to the many. The sannin chuckled and said, "You'll never get it Minato, theres no way to pop that balloon with just your mind. Give up."

The future hokage squinted his eyes in frustration, not willing to acknowledge this as one of his rare failures. "NO, I'LL FIND A WAY TO DO IT, I'LL WIN THE BET. Then you will have to go a whole month without peeping, Ero-Sannin!" He grabbed another water ballon from the pile, and got started to concentrate, now with new-found motivation.

The legendary pervert paled at that.'The gaki might actually pull it off...' he thought to himself, awed by the raw amount of chakra that the young chuunin was exerting. It was then that he felt a new presence, and looked up to see a young woman appear in a cloud of smoke. He smiled, it was Kushina, the loud, upcoming kunoichi, who had somehow managed to endear herself to him.

"HEY BLONDIE!" she said with a grin, her red hair blowing slightly in the wind. She stepped forward and gave the said shinobi a hearty slam on the back, breaking his concentration, and sending him headfirst into the bucket of water balloons.

Minato sputtered as he pulled the pieces of popped balloon from his dampened hair. He angrily looked around, and caught sight of Kushina. He couldn't help but smile. The two gazed into each others eyes, sharing a moment, promising each other that they would meet later.

"COUGH-COUGH-cought" The spy master exclaimed. "Well! If you two lovebirds don't mind, I think I'll take my leave."

The two young ninja instantly became bright red, and they stubbornly turned away from each other. Kushina scowled, muttering "Old perv..."

Jiraiya sweatdropped, and started to walk away. As he left, he mentioned something about, "Important book research to conduct...", much to his immediate regret.

"PERVY OLD MAN!" The two shouted in unison, and proceeded to teach the sannin a lesson about common decency.

(Kai!)

"CRRAAAAAACCCCCKKKKK", the sound filled the vicinity. A searing pain awoke the elder shinobi from his delirium. His eyes jolted open, and he tried to make sense of the current predicament. He was sprawled on the ground, his summon had dispersed, and there was a medium sized branch lying near him. Apparently the sound had been it snapping off of the tree.

After a second, he figured that the exhausted toad must've stepped on a branch that was too weak, fallen, and no longer had the chakra to remain in this realm.

The Toad-Hermit climbed to his feet, and wearily brushed the dust off of his attire. The man looked himself over, disgusted. This is what he had been reduced to, he sighed. No, he thought, this is what he had always been; a failure. He hadn't been able to stop his teammate from leaving. He hadn't been skilled enough to take Minato's place, and save him from his fate. And now, he wasn't even capable of saving a small baby from a mere thief in the night.

Deeper and deeper, he sank into his own hopelessness. Jiraiya sat down on a nearby mossy boulder, cradling his head in his hands. What had any of it been for? He was still too weak to save those precious to him. He was drowning in his own self pity, losing all of his motivation, his will to continue. A single tear splashed down onto his dark hatama pant leg. He gazed at it, astonished by his own fragility. A moment passed, only the sound of nature.

With a loud crash, one of his small toad scouts materialized in front of him. The small creature was panting heavily, but was obviously pleased with itself. "I saw a lady, boss! She had a bundle in her arms, and she was moving like a shinobi!" The creatures stomach rumbled. "...Do you have any snacks?"

Jiraiya's eyes widened. He allowed himself a small hope, maybe, just maybe he could catch her...His eyebrows raised, "Her?", he thought. The thief was a woman? He filed that away for the future, before jumping to his feet.

He tossed a candy to the young toad, before forming a hand seal. A shadow-clone appeared next to him in a puff of smoke, and it nodded to him. Jiraiya then dispersed his clone, and summoned a new mount.

Before him appeared a large toad, bigger than the previous one. Time was of the essence. It was dark blue, but rippled with dark red patterns. It wore a brown vest, with the kanji for "Oil" on its back, and around its neck rested a thick chain of prayer beads.

The summon bent down, so thats it's elbows touched the ground, signaling that Jiraiya should get on.

Moments later, the two were leaping off towards the woman, and Naruto.

Elsewhere-

The clone's eyes widened as the original's knowledge became available to it. Realizing that it was much closer to the woman than his boss, he sped off, hoping to catch the thief unawares.

The doppelganger spurred his loyal summon on, and they reached speeds that were unobtainable to the average shinobi. The trees blurred past, and their vision no more than tunnels, their eyes being unable to keep up with their surroundings.

For a moment, there was an eerie silence, before they burst out into an open clearing. The clone hissed in annoyance, and immediately brought his hand up to block the offending sunlight.

With a hop, he descended from the toad, and strode over to the nearby trees. Closing his eyes, he slowly expanded his consciousness outwards, feeling for any other chakra-signatures. His chakra flared in a mix of excitement and rage, as he detected the woman moving towards the clearing. With a leap, he was back on the toad.

There was a pregnant silence, then a black-clad feminine figure emerged from the canopy, and came to a dead stop. Her body language showed extreme surprise, and a hint of fear. The sannin smirked.

Thief's POV-

The moment she saw the wayward summoner, she felt fear gripping her, sapping her strength. Remembering her training as a kunoichi, she brushed it off and began calculating her chances of success. The woman could not show any of her jutsu, or the lecher would recognize her. How to go about doing this then?

A smile tugged at her lips as she formulated her plan. With one hand, she put a kunai against Naruto's throat. The baby started to cry, disliking the cold metal. She smirked in satisfaction upon seeing Jiraiya's reaction. With the other hand, she discreetly created a small paper creature, and had it crawl down the back of her pant leg, onto the ground. The black-clad woman smiled at the sannin, then turned and dashed back to where she had emerged from the forest, still carrying Naruto.

Jiraiya's POV -

The super-pervert wasn't surprised when she had run away. With a steely calmness, he had his summon leap after her in pursuit. As he gained on her, he powered through a string of hand seals. "Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"

The sannin began pouring chakra into the technique, hoping to ensnare the woman. Just as the mud began to appear, the clone's eyes widened, and he was forced to disperse. The small paper assailant fell to the earth, losing its perch on the pervert's neck.

The original's eyes widened as he gained the clone's memory. He pushed the toad to its utmost limit, intent on arriving at the scene.

Thief's POV -

The woman raised her eyes in surprise. A shadow-clone? She smiled, and dashed off into the forest, knowing that the original was in pursuit.

Several minutes later, the trees started to disperse. She felt a wave of relief wash over her. Ame, her home. She was safe now. She dashed off towards the nearby mountain, and climbed into a cave at its base.

As she passed the mouth of the cave, a massive boulder slammed shut behind her, and the seals reactivated, prevented the great stone's removal.

She gazed forward, appreciating the familiar pipe-lined hallways that were characteristic of Leader-sama's hideout.

The young kunoichi started forward, walking swiftly among the torch lit halls. A happy squeal caught her attention, and she glanced down to see that the young blond had awoken from his nap. Ashe made a move to coddle the baby, then stopped, steeling herself. Leader-sama would not stand for such things.

After taking a fork in the path, she stepped into a large metallic cavern. Upon seeing the spiky haired silhouette of her teammate and master, she quickly bowed. As she heard him approach, she reluctantly held Naruto out.

"Rise, Konan." She did, and looked at the reanimated body of her dead teammate, Yahiko, she was quite terrified.

"Pein-sama, the mission was successful." Her eyes on the floor, as a sign of respect, to the self proclaimed 'God of the new Age'.

"So this is the Kyuubi jinchuriki..." A cold, calculating voice stated.

A/N- Pheww...I had better get used to writing these things. Please review, it keeps me motivated ^^