Jiraiya was headed back home, if he could still call the Village hidden in the Leaves his home. The last time he left was twelve years ago, right after his last tie to the place had given his life to save it. In Jiraiya's eyes, Namikaze Minato was both foolish and wise; one needed both to take on the post of the Fourth Hokage. Jiraiya himself had been offered the job twice now, but had never quite gotten a grasp on the latter requirement.
The reasons for returned to his childhood home were foggy, even to the Toad Sannin. Just call it an author's intuition; the strings of fate were just pulling Jiraiya there on their own accord, and what kind of hermit would he be if he didn't listen? What kind of teacher would he be if he didn't follow the advice he gave to his students?
Students. Jiraiya had taught four young Shinobi and two radiating Konoichi in his long life, all of them now dead, three of them not even from the Fire Country. Twelve years ago, Jiraiya promised himself he'd never take on another one of those again on the off-chance he'd beat the odds and outlive them again. His teammates were out trying to beat those odds as well, off chasing after pseudo-immortality. And their teacher…? Jiraiya wondered if the old wind-bag was even still alive. He'd probably hear about it if old Sarutobi kicked the bucket, him being the Hokage and all. That would mean that the village elders would come after Jiraiya again begging him to replace his old master. He'd be a record holder for rejecting the post the most times.
What else tied him to that village that was pulling him back? Could it be the wonderful memory of blood-splattered colleagues? The stench of death? The ruined buildings? Oh that day again. Minato. Why was he remembering that night all of a sudden?
That's right, he'd made a promise on that day. Of what? And to whom? For the life of him, Jiraiya couldn't remember. Small, blond…Minato maybe? No, no that wasn't it. Kind of ugly…annoying…whiskers… Sarutobi's old cat? No! Jiraiya hit himself in the forehead with the heel of his hand. Think, man, think! Ramen… yes that was it, it had something to do with ramen. Or maybe he was just hungry, his stomach was starting to growl a bit. No, no there was definitely something to do with ramen. He'd promised to take Minato and Sarutobi's cat out to Ichiraku for lunch? No, no, goodness no! What was he thinking?
Jiraiya hadn't slowed his pace at all, and now he was entering familiar territory. His old training ground, his favorite places to hang out. There was that tree that he'd always sit in. It always had a perfect view of the a pond that some of the local girls always went swimming in. Naked. But that pond was long dried up by now.
Orochimaru was leaning against the old rough bark, smirking. "People like shouldn't be allowed to think. Mentally handicapped people that is. You probably don't even remember what you had for breakfast this morning!"
Jiraiya threw a kunai with deadly precision to the spot on the tree where the fifteen-year-old had been leaning. The old memory hung in the air long after the metal of the kunai stopped ringing, the words "shouldn't be allowed to think," still buzzing around Jiraiya's skull. Alright, he'd admit it, taking Sarutobi's cat to eat ramen would be a pretty dumb idea. The old fur ball would probably hack up something half-digested into his bowl. He'd bring a girl instead. Yes, a blond girl, with pigtails. And hell, he wouldn't care much if she had whiskers or not. Or if she was naked. Okay, he'd care a little.
"Damn you Jiraiya, do you ever think of anything besides girls?" A younger Tsunade complained, hanging by her knees from the large branch overhanging the path. "I think about other stuff!" the teenage Jiraiya called from a near-by bush, which just happened to have a good view of the river and the two young women splashing around in it. "I think about naked girls. Besides, I can't help it if both the girls on my team are completely flat chested." He shot a dirty look at Orochimaru who was standing on the edge of the path glaring back daggers. The pale boy was about to open his mouth to retort, when Tsunade spoke instead. "I won't be so flat-chested one day, you'll see! Then you'll be sorry because you'll beg and beg for me to go out with you and I'll never even look at you. And you're going to grow up and be an old pervert living all alone and I'm going to marry Dan. And we'll be happy and he's going to be the Hokage!" she teased, swinging back and forth by her knees.
Jiraiya stuck his tongue out at the empty tree branch. Well, maybe she was right about a few things, but that didn't give her the right to rub it in. He progressed down the path, the great gates coming into sight. Nostalgia flooded over him as he passed inside. He waved cheerfully at the gate guards' stunned expressions, and marched right inside. The streets were as crowded and confusing he'd left them.
A small blond head came running toward him through the crowd. "Jiraiya-sensei! Jiraiya-sensei!" The twelve-year old called, squeezing his way between two very annoyed villagers. "What is it Minato?" Jiraiya groaned, "I may be old but I'm not deaf." "Come on, come on! I have to show you something! This way! This way!" The genin was bouncing up and down excitedly, pointing in the direction of the baths. Jiraiya ran his fingers through his hair. "Look, I just got back, I'm tired. Can you show me tomor—" "No! No! Now!" Minato whined, and proceeded to pull his teacher back through the jumble of people.
Jiraiya had no choice but to follow. The memory was soon lost in the crowd but the hermit still continued to the destination. He'd need to catch up on his research at the baths anyway.
When he finally arrived, he had to rub his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things again. But no, it really was seeing the back of his last student's head, bobbing up and down awkwardly in the water trying to balance on its surface. Of course Minato, even back then, would never wear such a hideous shade of orange. But the kid turned around as he fell, and Jiraiya saw immediately that it was just some stupid brat. As his teacher proceeded to yell at the student, Jiraiya snuck over to the fence enclosing the women's baths.
Gosh, that kid sure was making a lot of noise. Good thing he'd never have to be that brat's teacher.