Not for the first time she questioned why exactly she was back here, but each time the answer was both obvious and aggravating to the free-spirited girl, 'because sensei asked me to meet him here. As much as I loathe this village, I have an obligation to him, no matter how depraved some of his habits are,' she reminded herself, staring out over the rooftops where ninja jumped to and fro, always in a rush to get to their destinations.
A refreshing breeze blew past, catching her fiery red hair and sending it flying like a long scarf, bringing a small smile to her face as she recalled some of her adventures, and the places the wind had taken her so far in her short life. Dreaming of better times was all she could do to remain sane while she was trapped here.
Hearing someone land behind her, she turned her head slightly to regard her guest, and caught sight of gravity-defying silver hair that made her wary out of the corner of her eye, but didn't bother to turn fully, not wanting this shinobi to think that she cared about them.
"Afternoon," the ninja tried, hoping that this girl would turn to face him so this wouldn't be as awkward for the man, who had noticed her simply standing there while on his way to meet his team and tell them the good news about the upcoming Chunnin exams. He didn't normally concern himself with things like this, but in this situation something felt off about the girl the minute he noticed her, and this piqued his interests enough for him to stray from the normalcy of his day.
When the girl failed to offer a response, he went on as if he had expected it, "listen, I have to assume that you're here visiting for the Chunnin exams, but see, the thing is that civilians, or visiting ones aren't supposed to use the roofs to travel or stand on, tends to make the shinobi wary you see," he explained casually, slipping his hands into his pockets and turning away from the girl.
Still not offering any response, he almost thought that the girl might be intentionally ignoring him, until she finally moved, turning to face him fully, and offering a small bow to the tall man, "sorry then," she offered insincerely, and proceeded to jump off the roof landing amidst the crowd of visiting merchants and civilians, and disappearing from view in moments, even the bright red hair she had not standing out especially amidst the masses.
Humming to himself absently, Kakashi Hatake looked at the place where the girl had previously been standing, before turning back in the direction of training ground 7 and taking off, having a strange feeling that this girl with fiery hair and a long sword strapped to her back wouldn't be the strangest guest Konoha would be receiving in the coming weeks, but still held some significance in future events that would unfold.
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Only slightly thrown off by her impromptu meeting with one of the shinobi of this village, she made her way through the crowded streets, expertly evading housewives clucking like hens to one another about the latest gossip, and ignoring the sounds of merchants trying to shout over one another, heading in the direction of where her sensei had agreed to meet with her.
She stopped a moment when she suddenly heard a different kind of shouting, and diverted her course down a less-packed street, trying to follow the raised voices of what sounded like children, until she came to a stop at a three-way intersection lined with chalk-white bricks walls, and poked her head around the corner the voices were coming from.
The first thing she noticed was a girl with the most gaudy pink hair, along with a group of children, standing opposite a boy and girl wearing the headbands of Sunagakure, the male holding onto the front of the shirt of a young boy with the most ridiculously long scarf she had ever seen, and appeared to be muttering threats at the child.
Not bothering to actually do anything to help the boy, the pink-haired girl was screeching at the teen to let the child, Konohamaru she believed his name was by the banshee's wailing, down, since he was the Hokage's grandson. It didn't seem like the male had any intention of listening to the girl, and had his fist pulled back, looking ready to punch the boy.
Ducking back around the corner, the girl sighed to herself as she leaned her back against the wall, once more wishing she didn't have to be here, even as she noticed the new presence next to her, who had obviously shown up while she was spying on the little confrontation going on nearby.
"Sensei, how nice of you to be punctual for a change," she muttered to the man dryly, not opening her eyes to regard her teacher, though both knew she had the utmost respect for the man despite her vocal dislike of some of his activities.
"When the women are as beautiful as they can get, you bet I'll be punctual brat," the man replied, sitting next to the girl with his hands on his crossed legs, looking down at the ground with his eyes closed, "anyways, lets get this little meeting underway before I have to go and meet with sensei to let him know I'm here."
"Like you would ever dream of standing up the Hokage," she said with a roll of her eyes, before sliding down to the ground next to the man, "I've heard rumours that the grass and sound ninja have been moving abnormally recently, and it seems like they're beginning to set up camps around the outside walls of Konoha, just out of the range of the best Byakugan users in the village."
"That would suggest an internal informant for them to have that information," Jiraiya replied, thinking deeply, "I might need to mention to sensei that there's a snake among his ninja forces."
"As if he would believe you, Hiruzen Sarutobi is nothing if not stubborn, and has absolute faith in all of his ninja," she pointed out, making her teacher nod his head in agreement, "but perhaps, coming from you he would be inclined to at least hear you out."
"Do you have any clues on the identity of this spy then, or does this require further investigation?" The toad sage asked, wanting to make sure before he went around pointing any fingers, in case he ended up spooking their spy, and causing him to run back to sound.
"A few, but nothing concrete at the moment," she answered, "I have the feeling it might be someone that no one would normally pay close attention to, possibly one of the Genin entered into the Chunnin exams, but I would need the list of every team entering the exams to begin sniffing around."
"I might be able to talk sensei into giving up the names of at least all of the Konoha ninja entering the exams, but getting the names of the teams from foreign villages will be more difficult, since there's a very small window to scoop up that information. They tend to only send in the lists the day before the exam starts, so we may have to go with a more direct approach," Jiraiya stated.
"What do you have in mind sensei?" She asked, though a feeling of dread was beginning to curdle in her stomach, making her eager to change the topic.
"I'll get back to you once I've hashed out a few more details," the old man replied, waving his hand dismissively at the girl, "for now why don't you look around the village for a bit and get re-acquainted with the area, and then meet me in the hotel room I rented for you to stay in later tonight."
"Yes sensei," she replied, and pushed herself up to her feet, brushing off the legs of her pants of stray dust before beginning to walk off where the fight had been taking place, but was stopped as her sense spoke up once more.
"Shiki, I know you have some bad blood with this village, but try to put that aside for now, since we both know leaving the sound and grass ninja to invade Konoha will only leave a bigger mess to clean up later," the white-haired man reminded the girl.
"Don't worry sensei, I know what I have to do, and I can put aside personal grievances to accomplish the mission," Shiki replied, before walking away.
Watching the girl go without a word, he brought his hand up to his forehead once she disappeared from view, rubbing at his temples, "ugh, that girl is a pain, but she's the most promising infiltrator and information-gatherer I've ever seen. It would be a shame to lose that, and besides, she's also," he cut off that last train of thought as he lifted himself back to his feet, feeling his bones pop as he was reminded of his age.
"I'd better stop putting it off, and go say hello to sensei," he muttered to himself, before jumping off in the direction of the Hokage tower.