-Jiraiya-

.

Jiraiya had taken a short trip out of the village (his spy network did need some maintenance, after all), so he wasn't exactly up to speed with what was happening back home. He had planned on going straight to the Hokage's office to give his report and get the gist of what was happening, but he caught sight of Naruto sitting cross-legged on a roof. Of course, any interaction with Naruto (especially unprepared) was practically begging for trauma, but Jiraiya was the type of guy to let his curiosity get the best of him. So, against his better judgment, Jiraiya took a detour to say hi to the little blond menace.

Oddly enough, Naruto didn't even react to Jiraiya's presence. He was a bit too engrossed in whatever he was doing. Reading, maybe? This is a strange place to do that, though...

Jiraiya subtly peeked over Naruto's shoulder to see that he wasn't reading, but drawing. Huh. Come to think of it, didn't Naruto's Uchiha friend give him a sketchbook for his birthday? It seems Naruto finally decided to get some use out of it. Jiraiya looked again. While Naruto's picture wasn't a masterpiece, it was actually pretty decent for a seven-year-old. And if his single-minded focus was anything to go by (he still hadn't acknowledged Jiraiya, despite the fact that he usually ran off once Jiraiya got within fifty feet of him), he could get pretty good.

Still, Jiraiya was nothing if not an opportunist. He took great delight in shoving Naruto off the rooftop with no warning. The kid would be fine; he jumped across rooftops all the time!

As predicted, the brat was back on the rooftop in less than a minute, giving Jiraiya the best death glare he could muster (which was pretty intimidating, given that he learned it from the Kyuubi). Jiraiya immediately squashed any discomfort by making fun of the brat for being so lost in his own little world. Naruto was not amused.

"Hey! What kind of jerk are you, shoving a little kid off a roof?! So you're a creepy pervert and a shameless psychopath?!"

"Takes one to know one, brat. And stop whining, you and I both know it'd take way more than that to actually hurt you."

Naruto huffed, sending a look that promised retribution. Yeah, Jiraiya would probably regret that later, but that's Future Jiraiya's problem. For now, he was more concerned with satisfying his curiosity.

"So, what were you doing?"

"Drawing, idiot. Didn't you see when you were peeking over my shoulder like a creep?"

"Of course I did, I'm just wondering why."

"The jerk told me it'd help my handwriting so I can actually draw a working seal. Exploding storage seals are funny, but I wanna make seals that do what they're supposed to, you know?"

"Fuuinjutsu, huh? I know a thing or two about that, you know. If you want, I could show you a few things."

Naruto eyed him skeptically, then shrugged and just sat down to continue his drawing.

"At least take a suggestion? Try drawing some people, too. You can try to guess their situation in life by their appearance, and even try drawing them with different outfits or hairstyles to guess what they'd look like if their station was different. It'll be good for your observational skills, and with learning to spot potential spies."

Naruto hummed thoughtfully (how in the world could he hum like a normal person when his singing voice is so awful?!). He turned to a new page in his sketchbook and started to draw a rough (emphasis on the rough) outline of a person. Jiraiya stuck around for a while, happy that Naruto wasn't trying to escape or chase him off, when he noticed Naruto getting up.

"Where are you going?"

Naruto glanced back.

"To follow her, obviously."

Her? Jiraiya peeked at Naruto's picture. Oh, he was drawing one of the shopkeepers. The drawing was clearly unfinished, but the shopkeeper was packing up for the day and leaving. Naruto probably wanted to follow her so he could keep drawing her. Well, no harm in that. Not like shinobi don't stalk people all the time.

"Why are you stalking me, anyway?"

"What do you mean?"

Naruto looked somewhat annoyed now.

"A creepy pervert following a little kid? What do you think I mean?"

Jiraiya spluttered as Naruto walked off to keep stalking his unwilling model.

"Talk about stalking! Your double standards are unreal! You call me a pervert, but you're stalking a woman without her knowledge or permission to draw her! And you're probably going to draw her in a bunch of different settings, maybe including at home!"

Naruto had a very condescending look on his face now.

"Not the same."

"How is that not the same?!"

"I'm a freaking prophet. Obviously I have religious justification."

"WHAT THE F-"

Naruto slapped Jiraiya across the face and dropped him in a dumpster before he could finish.