Aceso came back the next day, she had been summoned to the Hokage's office, it was early morning, there were frogs in the room, they were just waiting on Naruto and Kakashi. She was caught up on everything about Master Jiraya's death, Naruto being the Child of prophecy. Aceso was there along with Team 7, Naruto was confused when he showed up. 

"So this Jiraya boy's student, is it?" Fukusaku asked.

"Yes," Tsunade answered. "This is Naruto Uzumaki. The child of prophecy you spoke of."

"What's with the old geezer frog?" Naruto asked. "Who's he?"

"Pipe down," Tsunade demanded. "Watch your mouth, Naruto. He is one of the two great sages of Mt. Myoboku, Lord Fukasaku. He traveled all the way here just so that he could speak with you."

"Well, to be more accurate, I'm a Great Sage Toad," Fukasaku corrected. "But never mind that. It doesn't matter. Answer me this. Are you really Jiraya boy's student, or aren't you?"

"Jiraya boy?" Naruto asked. " A boy? Don't treat the pervy sage like a kid. Who does this geezer frog think he is, anyway?"

"I told you already, watch your mouth!" Tsunade snapped.

"Naruto, he's the one who taught Sage Jutsu to Lord Jiraya," Shizune informed. "He's Jiraya's master. "

"Huh?" Naruto asked.

" So you call him the Pervy Sage?" Fukasaku laughed. "I've never heard a more fitting name for Jiraya boy."

"What does this geezer sage want?" Naruto asked. "What did he come so far to talk to me about?"

"I'm not exactly sure where to begin this," Fukasaku admitted bowing his head. "But let me see. I suppose the most important thing is." He looked at Naruto. " I'm afraid Jiraya boy has died in battle. Naruto's face went cold.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked as his voice began to tremble. Everyone remained silent. 

"I know that this is very sudden, so I understand if you don't believe me," Fukasaku said. "For some time now, rumors had been circulating that the leader of the Akatsuki was operating out of the Village Hidden in the Rain, so Jiraya boy went there in person to verify whether these rumors were true."

"The leader of the Akatsuki was in the Hidden Rain Village?" Sakura asked. 

"As I recall, that village is difficult to infiltrate," Sai said. "It's closed off entirely from the outside world."

"I recall having to avoid it during my travels," Aceso recalled. 

"Yes," Kakashi nodded. "But Master Jiraya was exceptionally skilled in infiltration and espionage tactics."

"Yes. Exactly," Fukasaku said. "Jiraya boy encountered Pain, the leader of the Akatsuki. However--Pain was a former student of Jiraya's boys, from many, many years ago."

"He was his student?" Sakura repeated. "What do you mean by that?"

"I don't know the particulars, but Jiraya boy called him Nagato," Fukasaku answered. 

"That goes way back to a time during the chaos of the Third Great Ninja War," Tsunade said. "The Hidden Rain Village had become a battlefield, and Jiraya took some war orphans under his wing. Who would have imagined those kids--"

"But to defeat a shinobi as powerful as Jiraya--how did this Pain accomplish such a feat?" Kakashi asked.

"It was because Pain possesses the Rinnegan," Fukasaku answered. 

"What did you say?" Aceso asked. "Rinnegan?"

"It's an ocular Jutsu said to have been possessed by the father of all shinobi the Sage of Six Paths," Shizune answered. "But I believed that it was nothing more than a legend."

"The fabled ocular Jutsu," Fukasaku said. "The Rinnegan. Its power was supposedly beyond anything you could imagine. But there's more."

"There were six of them with the Rinnegan?" Kakashi asked. "How can that even be possible?"

" I don't know," Fukasaku answered. "Perhaps there's some trick behind it. I believe that Jiraya boy discovered the secret behind the six of them in that final terrible battle. But--" He went silent. They all looked at him to keep going. "Even after he had his throat crushed by Pain, and he knew the end was near, Jiraya boy left a message before collapsing. He took off his cloak and turned around revealing a message on his back. "This is his message."

"It's a code," Shizune said. 

"I'm sure he did this to prevent Pain from catching on," Fukasaku said turning around; putting his cloak back on. "And that's everything I know about Jiraya boy's efforts."

"I wonder what he was trying to tell us," Tsunade said. "Maybe we can decode this. Then, hopefully, we will understand."

"You let him go," Naruto said. "Is that right, granny?" She lowered her head closing her eyes. Naruto looked up at her. Tsunade lifted her head back up, opening her eyes; placing them on Naruto.

"That's right," Tsunade confirmed. 

"Why would you ever let him do something so risky?" Naruto demanded angrily. "You knew Pervy Sage better than anyone, granny! How could you send him somewhere so dangerous alone?"

"Stop it, Naruto," Kakashi snapped putting his arm out. "You of all people ought to know Lady Tsunade's feelings."

"Damnit," Naruto clenched his fist, he turned to the door. 

"Naruto, wait," Sakura pleaded. "Where are you going?"

"If the Pervy Sage had been the Fifth Hokage, he wouldn't have let granny Tsunade take a risk like that. Never." He opened the door, proceeding to leave.

"Naruto!" Sakura called out. 

"Let him be, Sakura," Aceso ordered putting her arm in front of the pink-haired girl. 

"But--"Sakura said looking at her. 

"My apologies, Lord Fukasaku," Kakashi apologized to the elder frog. "I'll arrange for Naruto to--"

"No need," Fukasaku denied. "That's quite all right. But about that child of prophecy vision I mentioned earlier--I can see that this child truly loved and admired Jiraya boy. It makes me hope more than anything that he is the child of prophecy." Tsunade started to lose focus."Tsunade girl, Tsunade girl." She came back around.

"Are you doing all right, milady?" Sakura asked. 

"Yes," Tsunade answered. "I'm fine now. I apologize."

"You've received some very sad news," Fukasaku said. "No one can blame you for being distraught. But that said, you have a vital duty to perform. You must protect the village. It's essential that you stay strong."

"I know," Tsunade responded. 

"In any case, let's discuss the clues that Jiraya boy left for us," Fukasaku suggested. "In addition to the message, he's put on my back, he's given us other leads, as well. A Hidden Rain ninja that Jiraya boy managed to capture is inside the belly of that frog. And one last thing remains." he clapped his hands together. Another frog appeared with a  cork in its mouth. "Inside this toad is one of the bodies of Pain that Jiraya boy managed to kill. One of the six."

"Pain's body?" Tsunade gasped. They took the toads over to the hospital, the toad spat out one of the bodies onto a medical table.

"This is Pain," Fukasaku informed. The man had long orange ripple, piercings all over, ripple eye pattern. 

 "The ripple pattern. Is that the legendary Rinnegan?" Shizune asked. 

"That's correct," Fukasaku answered. "If we studied his body, I believe we may find clues on how to defeat pain."

"A shinobi's corpse is full of information," Tsunade said. "We'll need skilled medical ninja, and then we'll launch a full autopsy on him immediately. Shizune."

"Right," Shizune responded. "I'll take care of it."

"Aceso, I have another job for you before you can join," Tsunade said.

"Yes, ma'am," Aceso nodded.

"Please get Shikamaru and return to my office," Tsunade ordered.

"On it," Aceso nodded. She stepped out to go find Shikamaru.

"Doctor Mastuba!" a voice called out. She looked over to see Iruka walking up to her.

"Iruka-sensei," Aceso greeted. "Have you seen Shikamaru?"

"He's probably looking up at some clouds, or playing shogi, "Iruka answered. "I saw Naruto answer...why is he so down?"

"Naruto just received some pretty sad news," Aceso answered. "He may seem like he wants to be left alone, but if anything it's probably best you try to comfort him."

"Sad news?" Iruka asked.

"It's about Master Jiraya," Aceso answered. 

"I see," Iruka said looking away. "Would you like to get some ramen with me?"

"Uh, sure," Aceso agreed. After talking to Iruka-sensei and having ramen, they went their separate ways. Aceso brought Shikamaru to the Hokage's office, it was late. 

"What? You want me to do this now?" Shikamaru asked.

"That's right," Tsunade answered. She was taking the news about Master Jiraya hard, she was completely out of it. Shikamaru was holding a picture of the code from Lord Fukasaku's back. "Take that over to them right away. "

"But the guys in the cipher division don't work this late," Shikamaru said. "Lady Hokage--"

"Then summon them and tell them it's on my orders," Tsunade ordered as she got up. "I'm putting you in charge. Get that message decoded."

"Look, I know this is important encryption, but you ask someone who isn't on a mission right now?" Shikamaru asked. Tsunade walked past him. "Wait! Where are you going? Aceso came and got me, and I came here on other matters"

"Shikamaru," Aceso said putting a hand on his shoulder, he looked at her. 

"But--" Shikamaru protested.

"Lady Tsunade has been very busy all day," Sakura informed. 

"Well, the same goes for me," Shikamaru said as Tsunade left the room, closing the door behind her. 

"Shikamaru, please give her space," Aceso requested softly. "You know how close she was with Master Jiraya."

Shikamaru stared at her, quickly figuring it out. "Yeah, I can give her some space." That night Aceso ended up running late, she made her way to Naruto's place, she had some ramen bowls, some were his favorite; some were flavors that no longer sold.

"Naruto?" Aceso asked knocking on the door.

"Little Sister," Naruto said sadly opening the door. "Iruka-sensei already spoken to me, you don't have to--."

"I brought you some ramen bowls," Aceso said. "Please, may I come inside? I know it's late." He stared at her. 

"Come in," Naruto said. She came in, she put the ramen bowls on his counter. Aceso walked over to his room to find Naruto on his bed with his head down.

"Naruto," Aceso breathed, she sat on the bed in front of him. 

"Why?" Naruto cried. "Why...why did he have to die?" Tears started to roll down his cheeks. "He shouldn't have gone alone! If he went with someone else, he would still be here!" He looked up at her. "First Asuma-sensei, and now--"

"Naruto, they aren't truly gone," Aceso cut him off.

"Then tell me! When can I find them?" Naruto demanded angrily. "They aren't at Ichiraku, and they definitely aren't in the Land of Fire! Pervy Sage isn't coming home! He's gone!" Tears spilled out rapidly. 

"They are in here," Aceso said putting a hand over his heart. "They may be gone, but they will always have a home in your heart." Naruto put a hand over her hand. "They are alive in your memory and your heart. Just because you can't see them, doesn't mean they aren't here." Naruto pulled her forward and cried harder into her shoulder. 

"Can you stay here?" Naruto pleaded in between his sobs. "Just for the night...I don't want to be alone." 

"Of course," Aceso agreed.

****
The next morning came around; Aceso had to leave Naruto's place for work. She passed Shikamaru, he was holding out the code.

"Any luck?" Aceso asked.

"Kakashi and Lady Tsunade have no clue," Shikamaru answered. "I'm going to Naruto next."

"He's still asleep," Aceso informed. "Try to cheer him up, it's your turn."

"I don't know what good I can do," Shikamaru said. "But I can try."

"Thank you, Shikamaru," Aceso smiled up at him. They went their separate ways. Aceso was doing a maternity check-up for Kurenai-sensei, she was pregnant with Asuma-sensei's child. 

"See you next time," Aceso said as they made their way outside. 

"Never thought I would be having you as my doctor during pregnancy," Kurenai admitted. "Times sure have changed."

"Either I or Ino will be the ones to help deliver the baby," Aceso said. "Or both of us."

"Now, that's just strange," Kurenai laughed, Aceso couldn't help but laugh as they stepped outside. They looked to see Naruto and Shikamaru standing at the gates.

"Huh?" Naruto asked in surprise. "Kurenai-sensei?"

"That's right," Shikamaru smiled. Naruto jumped forward.

"Were you hospitalized for eating too much barbecue?" Naruto asked. "Your stomach's bigger than Choji's!"

"She's pregnant, not overweight," Aceso corrected him. 

"Oh, boy," Shikamaru groaned. "You're still just as obnoxious as you were ever."

"So, then you mean she's" Naruto began in alarm. 

"Shikamaru, you know, you don't have to come every time," Kurenai said. 

"Sorry, no can do," Shikamaru smiled at her. "Asuma made me promise him." Kurenai smiled at him, she went home and Aceso went back inside. Aceso was given a half-day, due to Shikamaru needing her help with the deciphering. She stood in the cipher building with Naruto, Shikamaru, and Shiho. 

"You've been really quiet for a while. Do you notice anything?" Shikamaru asked. "I talked to Lady Tsunade and Kakashi-sensei. They had no clue. So I'm guessing that Jiraya wrote this message specifically with you in mind.  No, I'm positive he did. I'm positive he did. I'm sure. There's just got to be something there."

"Please, tell us anything that comes into your mind," Shiho requested. "Anything at all. It's not like we're asking you to instantly decode."

"There is one thing that's been bothering me since I saw it," Naruto admitted. 

"What is it?" Aceso asked.

"Well, there are all those numbers, right?" Naruto asked. "So why is there one katakana letter among all of them?"

"Katakana letter?" Shiho repeated. 

"Where do you see that?" Shikamaru asked as they all looked back at the code. 

"See, right here," Naruto answered pointing at the first symbol. 

"What are you talking about?" Shikamaru asked. "Isn't that just the number nine?"

"That's what I thought at first, but no," Naruto admitted. "Look again, it's not a number at all. It's the katakana letter for the sound ta."

"What?" Shiho asked.

"Well, yeah, I suppose that you could interpret it that way, but it's still a big stretch," Shikamaru said.

"No, I think Naruto's right," Aceso said. 

"Frankly, Naruto, what makes you think that it's the katakana letter ta instead of the number nine, anyway?" Shiho asked grabbing the rim of her glasses. 

"Well, you know Pervy Sage, always writing books," Naruto brought up. "I mean, he was a writer, after all. And I traveled all over with him. Wherever we went, he always made me read his handwritten drafts and asked me what I thought about them. They were really boring, though Anyway, each time he used the letter ta, it was hard to read because whenever I saw it, it looked like the number nine to me."

"It's a penmanship quirk," Shiho realized. 

"So it was a habit, then," Shikamaru said." He picked up a pencil; spun around a few times, before writing. "Like so. When Lord Jiraya wrote the katakana letter ta, he had a habit of drawing the first stroke shorter than most. So the first and third strokes get connected. And since he rounds his second stroke, the whole thing ends up looking like the number nine."

"Found it," Shiho said taking a book off the shelf. "Now,  let's see." She showed them the page. "This is a sample of Jiraya's handwriting."

"It's the same," Aceso said. 

"Jiraya planned this," Shiho said. "He knew that Naruto would remember this idiosyncrasy of his that he wrote the katakana ta like a nine. So frankly, that was the link between Jiraya and Naruto. We've finally figured it out."

"What were you thinking, Naruto?" Shikamaru demanded. "Why didn't you mention such an important thing sooner?"

"What's the big deal about knowing that it's the letter ta?" Naruto asked. "Sheesh." Shikamaru groaned putting a hand on his head.

"Wait, that's it," Shikamaru realized. "It was back when you were reading Jiraya's manuscripts. That was it. That's when you found out about his writing habit. The code must refer to the book you were reading."

"Book?" Naruto repeated.

"Yes, that's exactly right, Shikamaru," Shiho agreed. "It must be. I believe more clues must be hidden somewhere, inside his writings, as well. The numbers in the code probably represent a word order or numbers of lines, or--or even page numbers. It's got to be related to the encryption key."

"Naruto, do you recall which book Jiraya, was having you read?" Aceso asked. 

"Uh, Make Out something," Naruto answered. "What was it?"

"How many of Jiraya's books have been published?" Aceso asked.

"I'm not sure, but four or five, maybe?" Naruto answered. 

"Good," Shikamaru smiled. "That's not too many. We'll just have to check all of them."

"It's probably this one," Kakashi said. They looked over to see him at the window with a book.

"Make Out Tactics!" Shikamaru read. 

"Ta!" Naruto and Shikmamaru both said. 

"Dad," Aceso breathed as she and Naruto went over to the window. 

"It's been on my mind, so I decided to pop in when I overheard your voices," Kakashi explained. "I think I caught most of it. I'm pretty sure this is the book you're looking for."

"Make Out Tactics," Naruto read. "Yeah, that's right. That's the same one that Pervy Sage was working on all the time during our training together."

"Of course," Shikamaru smirked. "That's something else only Naruto would have known. Just as I thought, Lord Jiraya did pass the key to Naruto."

"Mm-hm," Naruto nodded. 

"This ta is the first character in the code," Kakashi said looking at the book. "Of all Jiraya's books, this is the only title a word that begins with ta."

"When a character from a book is used in code, it could signify word placement or line number, but the first line of investigation should always be page numbers," Shiho informed. "So, the numbers separated by a comma are 31, 8, 106, 207, and 15. Meaning six pages worth of information. Let's start with page 31. So please, flip to age 31."

"Page 31," Kakashi repeated as he flipped the pages. "Ok, here it is. What do we do next?"

"First, we look at what the first letter or word on that page is," Shiho instructed. "Please, read the first sentence out loud."

"What?" Kakashi asked in alarm. He looked down. He started to turn red. "uh--ah--uh--ahem. No, uh, I mean."

"Look, what is the problem?" Naruto demanded.

"Just get on with it, Dad," Aceso furrowed her eyebrows. 

"Yeah, just hurry up and read it, already!" Naruto added. Kakashi started to sweat. "Come on, spit it out, would ya?"

"Really?" Kakashi asked in a high-pitched voice.

"We don't have all day," Aceso huffed. 

"Just get on with it," Naruto and Aceso said at the same time. 

"I--love you," Kakashi managed out in a high-pitched voice. 

"That's such a powerful sentence," Aceso blinked. They then continued on with the rest of the decoding. By the end of it, Kakashi was completely embarrassed. 

"Uh, Dad," Aceso breathed pushing him lightly with her finger. He just swayed back and forth, Shikamaru was still trying to wrap his mind around the sentences. 

"You are to never read this book," Kakashi said as steam rose from him. 

"There," Shiho said. "Now we have all six pages done. 

"What's it say?" Naruto asked. 

"If I read the first character from each page of the book in order...the real one's not among them," Shiho read. "That's what it says."

"And what does that mean?" Naruto asked. 

"No idea," Shikamaru answered. 

"We ought to relay this to Lord Fukasaki right away," Kakashi urged. "Perhaps it will mean something to him, since he fought Pain, too.

"Then let's go ask Lady Tsunade to summon this Lord Fukasaku right away," Shikamaru said. 

"May I come along with you guys, too?" Shiho requested. 

"Yeah, please, do Shiho," Shikamaru nodded. 

"Great!" Shiho beamed. "Thank you. "

"Let's do this," Naruto declared slamming his hand on the table. "We gotta tell grandma Tsunade what we found out."