Life of a Legend

Chapter Two

Having just left the kids, Jiraiya took to walking the streets of the village. He was unsure of what to do now, he already had the whole test planned out for the morning but as he had the rest of the day to himself was unsure how to fill it.

'Too early for a few drinks,' he thought seeing the sun at its peak in the sky, he wasn't that much of a lush.

He also stamped out the idea of some time in the hot springs. Jiraiya knew that Tsunade had some time off and would be there, and as tempting as that was…he just did not feel like being sent to the hospital again.

Fortunately for the Sannin, had a voice not interrupted his thoughts he was sure that some part of him, well a part of his anatomy, would have led him there.

"What are up to, lost? Kukuku," said a voice that just grinded on his nerves. And that damn laugh did not help at all, chuckling at something that the toad sage failed to see the humor in.

The white haired man's face screwed up, as though about to face the most unpleasant and disturbing situation he could think of. He took a deep breath and turned to the sound and greeted his friend, "what do you want, Orochimaru?" He didn't really mean to sound so snippy, but couldn't help it.

"Now, now…is that anyway talk to a friend?" chided the pale man. A wide grin was spread over his face as he talked. "I just wanted to give a friendly greeting."

"You've got a funny way of doing that," Jiraiya said. The truth was, he didn't hate Orochimaru, they had been through far too much together for that. It was just an odd feeling he got when the Hebi-teme was around. It was hard to place due to his trust in him, but if he had to categorize it, he'd have to say that is was a feeling of unease.

The two walked together for a while, hell they had nothing better to do. It was Orochimaru that broke the silence, "so word is that Sensei had assigned a team to you. Do you not find it odd that you, a Sannin, are taking on the duties of a simple Jonin?"

Jiraiya did not miss the veiled slight against him with that statement. "Look you may have embraced the idea of 'Sannin' as it gives you an undue sense of superiority. But it is a false title given by an enemy, for the simple fact that we survived, and barely at that."

Orochimaru rolled his eyes; "please, as if you have not been using that with the ladies."

The other flushed a bit. "That's beside the point, for all intensive purposes we are Jonin of this village. And as such my leader saw fit to give me students to train." He grinned, "You should take on a team, excellent opportunity for some victims for torture."

"I never thought myself much of a teacher, I may find an apprentice at some point but no one has really caught my attention," Orochimaru said truthfully. "That said, now that you have a team to train perhaps I could too."

"Really?"

"Yes, after all your team has such an inept teacher that I may just train them out of pity." The smirk was wide on his face, his thin lips almost disappearing.

"Teme."

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It was a calm and quiet morning. The sun had just started to creep up the horizon, as a young blonde boy made his though the village toward the training grounds.

He had wanted to get to be early but had made a break though in his secretive project. Minato was still unsure what to call this jutsu that he was working on. But if he had figured it right, the possibilities for it were almost limitless.

It was the reason for his exhaustion. He had been working on it for almost a year now, and inspiration just had to strike as he was settling down to sleep last night. Minato could not pass up the opportunity to further his creation, after all, it had been so long since he had made any real progress with it.

He'd been working on it for almost a year now. So despite the fact that he was almost guaranteed a very exhausting day, he stayed up over three hours later than he should have done. Creating detailed notes and practiced as much as possible. It was worth it.

His joy had left him the moment he heard what the 'test' was going to be. "We have to what?" Sentou asked, disbelieving when Jiraiya had shown up and explained the rules of the test.

Jiraiya chuckled darkly, "it's real simple really. All you have to do is come at me and get one of these bells." He motioned to the two bells that had been attached to his belt. "You get a bell and you pass, don't get one and it's back to the academy with you for some remedial classes until you are deemed ready to try again."

The three kids stared at him is disbelief, but then the young konoichi noticed something. "There are only two bells." Karei said flatly, causing the two boys to notice this as well and frown.

"Yep," said Jiraiya happily. A wide smile split his face.

"But that is impossible," said Minato.

"How so?"

The boy began to explain, "in the academy we learned that a squad of three is the optimal number. Too many and you run a higher risk of detection during missions, and too few leaves you lacking and with less people watching your back."

The toad sage watched the boy shrewdly, perhaps he already understood the importance of teamwork. 'We'll see if he sticks with that thought.'

Jiraiya rolled his eyes, putting on a bit of a show. "That is a perfect quote from textbook, but surely you realize that while a team of three is optimal sometimes there are more or less. And sometimes one such as myself," he flourished his hands motioning to his own greatness, "could take on a single pupil. I have gained special permission from the Hokage to cut this team down teaching three would be too much of a hassle." He finished the last part in an off-hand voice.

"But that's not fair!" Karei all but shouted.

"When is the life of a shinobi…no when is life itself fair," The white haired man spat. "Bad things happen, good things happen. So you can think of this as a bad thing for you and good for me, also consider this your first lesson."

The three Genin said nothing to that, the older man was right.

Jiraiya's grin turned almost evil at that point, "Oh, I forgot to mention one last thing. You three have until noon to get a bell, the one, two or three of you that don't, will be tied to one of those stumps," he pointed to the three training posts on the field. "For the rest of the day, while I take the others, or myself out for lunch."

'That son-of a…' 'dammit' 'you monster', went though their heads but wisely kept their mouths shut.

"Begin," Jiraiya said and the three jumped off in different directions into the trees.

It was quiet, an occasional breeze rustled the leaves as it swept through the trees.

Among those trees the three Genin hid, watching the Sannin that was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the field. His eyes were closed and he looked to be meditating. All three were wondering who would make the first move and if they should be the first one.

Sentou was a bit impatient, after all if he waited then he would lose his chance. And despite how vindictive the man was, being trained under one of the Sannin was too great an opportunity to pass up.

It happened quickly, Sentou made his way through the trees and around to where Jiraiya's back was facing. He leapt from the trees, dashing at the older man's back, kunai in hand.

Jiraiya never opened his eyes. Sentou had one fist cocked to strike the sage in the back of the head while the blade would sever one of the stings from the mans belt.

He never had a chance, Jiraiya's head shifted to the left and the punch went wide. One of the Sannin's fingers looped its way through the hole on the blades handle, snatching it from the boy. The other hand lightly stuck the boy on the back, sending him speeding toward the woods opposite him. And with a flick of the wrist sent the kunai into the ground at his feet.

The boy happened to be sent directly where Minato was watching from, Minato jumped out of the way as Sentou righted himself and landed beside the blond lightly.

The two looked back at the older man who had not moved from his spot on the floor of the training grounds.

Sentou got his breathing under control, and glanced over at Minato. "I didn't have a prayer at getting one of those things."

Minato nodded, "yeah, tangling with a fully trained Sannin one-on-one is asking for trouble."

"Well how else was I going to get one of those bells? Asked nicely?" Sentou said irritably.

Minato shrugged, "I was thinking teamwork."

"Teamwork? But we are in a situation where we are against each other," Sentou said.

"Yeah but it's what he said, I know that there is no such thing as a two person Genin squad." Minato said firmly. "And while it is likely to take an apprentice, you only take one."

Sentou nodded, "good point but that doesn't help us here."

"I think it does," Minato said. "in the academy we had the idea of working as a team drilled into our heads, 'it is the most important thing.' I think this is a test and we need to work together, after all none of us will ever get a bell on our own."

Sentou thought about it a moment, "that makes sense, I guess you weren't top of the class for nothing."

Minato grinned, "great, now we have to find Karei."

"Too late," Sentou muttered looking out at the field.

Minato followed his gaze to see the girl in the shadows of the trees bordering the training grounds, they both watched as she started to run through some hand signs. While she was doing it the two boys made for her.

By the time that they reached her they found her panting, her face red from exerting herself, as though she just ran a few miles. Her breathing grew steady, as the two of them greeted her softly.

"Was that a genjutsu?" Minato asked curiously.

Karei nodded, "an attempt at one," she said sourly. "He broke it very easily."

"Well, I don't think that we will be able to get a bell in a one-on one try," Minato said.

The two boys then explained their idea, to a reluctant Karei. It took a bit of convincing, but soon they had a strategy formulated.

And none of them caught the slight smile that crept over Jiraiya's face. He could stop this now, they already get it. But he decided to let it play out, see what they could do.

Jiraiya felt the familiar sensation of what the girl had just tried before and smirked. This is what they were trying? He took his time and detached the genjutsu from himself. And was met with an impressive sight.

There was a small misshapen ball, with waves of chakra spiraling off of it heading for his face. It was held in the hand of the blonde Namikaze as he jumped at the Sannin.

Overall the technique looked weak to Jiraiya, the power coming off of it would do nothing to him. But the damned chakra was visible in the kid's hand.

Suddenly Jiraiya clicked into action, the kids were smart. 'They are trying to distract me. Well they are going about it all wrong…'

The older man reached out and latched his hand around the blond boys wrist, then he reached back to grab Sentou, who thought he was creeping up behind the sage stealthily.

With Minato by the wrist and Sentou griped by the front of the shirt he tossed both boys unceremoniously away from him. Both righted themselves and skidded to a halt, Minato's technique dissipating. All three kids started to get ready to go again

Then Jiraiya put his hand up, "all right that's enough." Then he said, "you all pass."

Authors note: Well I hope you all liked that. Please review let me know what you think. thanks for reading