自来也

"Rise and shine, kid!"

A groan emitted from within the small bundle of blankets, and Jiraiya decided to try a different tactic.

"I was going to teach you a really powerful new jutsu today, but I guess since you're too bedridden-"
"AH! REALLY?!" The blanket bundle exploded and a small blonde boy of about twelve leapt out of its depths wearing a set of loose-fitting starry-blue pajamas.

"Hmm." Jiraiya put his hands on his chin with interest as he observed the boy's reactions.

"You weren't just saying that to get me to get up were you?" The boy accused.

Jiraiya chuckled. "I was."

The boy slumped back down onto the mattress and rolled onto his back, pulling up the covers in one smooth motion. "Meh, I'm going back to sleep then."

"You-!"

The boy ducked his head back under the covers and began making loud snoring noises.

"I'll have you know, you impudent little brat, that I, the great Sage of Toads Jiraiya, am a man of my words. Which means-"

"Which means you're going to teach me?!" The boy shouted excitedly, the blankets flying into the ceiling as he once again jumped to his feet.

"Only if you do as I say and start treating me with proper respect."

"Pfft." The boy raspberried. "That's not what you said earlier, you lying old fogey."

"Old-!" Jiraiya scoffed. "Do you know who I am?"

"Yeah. You're the old man who said that you'd teach me a really awesome new jutsu if I got up."

"I said no such thing!"

"Uh-huh you did!"

"You weren't even listening to me, I said-"

The boy shut his eyes and put his hands over his ears. "BLEHBLEHBLAHBLAHBLAHICAN'THEARYOUBLAHBLAHBLAH!"

After nearly half a minute of ruckus, the boy popped one eye open to peep up at the man who was looking down at him patiently.

"Are you done?"

"Hmph!" The boy crossed his arms, turned his head and looked away. "You left me here at this hotel all day yesterday just so you could, you could go out and mess around! All day! Who does that?!"

"I had important business."

"Yeah right! Important business' pfff! I saw you go into that… that place where.. where-!" The boy stopped, his cheeks going red as if he were recalling some embarrassing memory.

"Oh I see. You were the one who was following me last night."

"Aha! I knew it!" Naruto pointed an accusing finger. "You were neglecting me!"

Jiraiya shrugged and grinned. "Come on kid, let's get some breakfast, we're heading out."

"Don't change the subject!"

"There's been a change of plans." Jiraiya said reasonably. "We'll have to put off finding Tsunade and head further north to the Temple of Fire. I'll teach you the new jutsu along the way if you can get dressed and get ready in the next 10 minutes."

The boy crossed his arms and pouted.

"I'll be outside after I check out of this hotel. Remember, 10 minutes. It's a once in a lifetime offer. The technique I'll be teaching you is a high-level jutsu developed by the Fourth Hokage himself."

"Really?!" The boy's attitude spun another one-eighty degrees, and Jiraiya wondered briefly whether or not the kid was bipolar.

"Yup. Come down when you're done."

The kid stared at the mane of white hair hanging down the receding back of his newest mentor and waggled his tongue, but when the man closed the door, the boy immediately began putting things away and tidying up. He managed to finish his task in record speed with the help of several clones which he produced and then dispelled after his job was done.

By the time he'd ran down to the lobby, Jiraiya was still turning the room keys in to the receptionist.

"To put it bluntly, Mr. Jiraiya, I don't care who you are." The woman was saying. "I will not have you taking me for one of those common whores to be used and thrown away at your leisure."

Jiraiya ran his hands through his copious white hair and laughed. "Not at all, Chihiro-chan! Not at all!"

"Then stop flirting with me every time you come to this hotel. It's creepy."

"Oh pity unto me!" Jiraiya placed the back of his wrists on his forehead in a posture of lament. "How can she expect me to resist the allure of such a wonderful-"

"Jiraiya." The receptionist interrupted. "Your kid's already here."

Jiraiya turned in surprise as if just noticing the presence of his charge. "Oh Naruto! That was fast! Are you sure you didn't forget anything?"

"No." The boy, Naruto, replied. "I checked ten times."

"Ten times?" Jiraiya guessed. "So nine clones huh?"

Naruto nodded.

"What a convenient number." Jiraiya mused. "And here I thought I'd have just as many minutes to talk with Chihiro over here." He gestured toward the mousy-haired,young receptionist who was pointedly ignoring him.

At this Naruto, took an aggressive stance and pointed. "You just wanted time to mess around with that nee-chan. You… you pervy sage!"

"Don't call me that. I am your mentor, call me Jiraiya-sama or I won't teach-"

"Pervy Sage! Pervy Sage! Pervy Sage! Pervy Sage! Pervy Sage! PERVY SAGE!"

"..." Jiraiya looked into the distance as he contemplated the fact that he was probably doomed to being called pervy sage by Minato's son for the rest of their master-student relationship. "At least it rolls off the tongue… ero sennin.."

"What was that, pervy sage?" Naruto tilted his head.

Jiraiya sighed. "Let's go. We've got a long walk ahead of us."

"I hope you enjoyed your visit! Please come again!" The receptionist called after them out of habit.

Jiraiya turned to give the woman a sideways grin and a wink, and she instantly regretted having said anything at all, even if it was standard protocol.

"So what's this jutsu you're going to teach me?" Naruto asked as they left the town into the surrounding forest

"I'll show you after breakfast. Let's catch some things. That Kakashi did teach you how to survive in the wilderness right?"

"Hah! You mean living by myself out in the wild? That's easy!" Naruto proudly jerked a self-assured thumb at himself. "I taught myself to do that when I was five!"

"Is that so? Interesting. The Fourth Hokage had that down when he was four, when I had him train in the Forest of Death for a month." Except unlike Naruto, Minato had had plenty of help from Jiraiya who had been his mentor at the time. Then again, Naruto probably hadn't trained himself to survive the Forest of Death, where predators of every kind lurked in sizable numbers. The Forest of Death was one of the most dangerous natural habitats on the continent.

"Really?" Naruto looked down at his hands. "Wow." He finally said after a moment of silent contemplation. "The Fourth is amazing."

Jiraiya looked down at the boy walking alongside him with concern as he pondered the circumstances that would have led to a five year old learning to keep himself alive in a non-civilized setting.

"Was it part of a training exercise?" He ventured.

"Was what part of a training exercise?"

"Learning to survive in the wilderness, foraging your own food, building your own shelter. You did all that right?"

"I did." Naruto looked down at his feet as if ashamed to further discuss the matter. "I was just hungry and couldn't afford anything." He muttered.

"Couldn't afford to eat?"

"Yeah." The boy confirmed dejectedly as he seemed to drudge up some unpleasant memories.

Jiraiya examined the boy's somber countenance for several moments and decided to change the topic. He would save the guilt-trip for after Minato's burial.

"So! Let me tell you where we're going, then I'll tell you about the jutsu that the Fourth invented. I warn you, it's an extremely difficult A-rank jutsu, and only three people in Shinobi history have been known to be able to use it."

"You're one of them?" Naruto asked curiously, his memories of the past momentarily forgotten. "Who's the third?"

Jiraiya chuckled. "I'll leave that a secret for you to discover later on your own. I'm sure the person would prefer I keep it a secret and not ruin the surprise anyway."

"Surprise? Who is it? Tell me, tell me!"

"We're going to head straight for the Temple of Fire."

"You're changing the subject again!"

"There's a certain scroll that is extremely important."

"Pervy old man sage!"

"You see," Jiraiya continued as if Naruto hadn't said anything. "The Fourth's funeral twelve years ago was really a sham. He has, in fact, actually been in the Temple of Fire this entire time."

"Yeah, whatever. You're just..." Naruto trailed off and his mouth fell open agape as he absorbed the words that had been spoken to him. "WHAT?!"