"Nice to see you here," I heard from my left, and turned to see Jiraiya sitting next to me. "Two shots," he said to the man behind the counter, and suddenly I was sharing a drink with another of us Legendary Sannin.
"For what reason do I owe this pleasure?" I said, wrapping my hands around my little shot glass.
"I know I always teased you back when we were young and training in our team, and when I saw you sitting here, looking rather lonely, I thought I'd stop by and say sorry," Jiraiya said. I noticed he was staring down and fiddling with his full shot glass, and I saw a faint tint of red on his face.
"But why would you want to say sorry now? Trying to get on the good side of the Godaime with a shot of liquor won't work. You should know that," I said.
He finally turned to me. "Spending two and a half years with Naruto… He just reminded me of you with that necklace and all… He kind of reminded me of how I used to like you when I was younger."
I knew I had to look stupid, with my mouth hanging open and my eyes wide with shock. I could feel my face flush as I remembered liking his teasing, for I had liked him back then but had tried my hardest to hide it.
In the awkward silence, I swallowed the liquor from my shot glass, and slammed it down and let out a sigh.
Jiraiya chuckled a bit, sensing how the atmosphere has lightened.
"Jiraiya, I'm glad you finally told me. I'll give you a chance tonight to bring back the schoolgirl love I had when we were young." I stuck out my hand to signal I was trying to make it an official deal.
He grinned and brought my hand to his lips to kiss it. With his free hand, he gulped down his liquor, and then stood, helping me stand along with him. We then walked happily to my Hokage apartment, talking of younger, freer days all the way to my bedroom.
END