Monument

"I now have four students, one teacher, three lovers and a son with their names carved into this monument." Jiraiya said with a sad smile that looked more than a little odd on his usually grinning face.

"I didn't know you had a son." his masked companion stated, a genuine edge of sadness and sympathy in his voice.

"I didn't know it either. Not until he'd been dead for three months and his mother told me as she died in my arms." His words were laced with old pain, bitter and dry.

Silence ensued as they each occupied their own thoughts.

"He did manage to accomplish that dream of his." Kakashi said, returning the subject to the reason the Sannin had come to this solemn place that morning.

"He did." Jiraiya's thumb, scarred from years of drawing blood for his signature jutsu, traced over the most recent etching in the black stone.

Uzumaki Naruto



My first bit of fic posted here. I know it's tame enough to go on just about any site but I wanted to pop my cherry on this one so to speak. I'm going to stop typing now because the more I think about this little drabble the crappier it seems.