8 Just Passing Through
A Visit from the Sage-in-Training and Her Pervy Father

"Just wait here. I promise I won't take long," said the girl to her amphibian companion, sighing when it grumbled a peevish response. "You're a toad, for pete's sake! Don't tell me you don't like rain." Another complaint, and she patted it comfortingly on the head. "If it makes you feel any better, Gamatatsu, I'm not thrilled about doing his errands in this kind of weather either. I'll get both of us a snack once this is done, okay? And then once we get done with all of this you can go and tell your dad just how much a creep Jiraiya is, making us run around in a rainstorm..." This at least met with reluctant approval; the girl then hopped down off of the toad's back and ran for the nearest building, cursing with each soggy step that she'd forgotten to bring an umbrella.

Ignoring the stares and double-takes her appearance garnered from the various inhabitants once she got inside, she briefly shook the clinging raindrops from her loose gray clothing and unruly white hair before proceeding on to her destination. "I wonder if Hokage-sama had to do all of this when he was studying with my dad. Sometimes it just gets on my nerves... I'm his daughter first, his apprentice second, but in no way does that mean I'm his monkey-girl!" Muttering to herself the whole trip, the girl made her way up to the room just outside the Hokage's office where his assistant usually waited, processing correspondence and putting order to what could otherwise be a hectic job. She was surprised to note that a buxom blonde sat at the desk, feet kicked up next to Naeko's prized typewriter while their owner napped, a book over her face to block out the light. "Nikkou, is that you?"

The response was immediate, the blonde snapping to full alertness as she sat upright, removed her feet from the desk, and hid the book. "I'm sorry – did you need something?" She blinked as she looked closer at her visitor, then beamed brightly and jumped up to give the younger girl a hug. "Hi hi, Jura-chan! Wow, you've finally come back to us!"

Blushing and untangling herself from Nikkou's overenthusiastic embrace, Jura stepped back and did her best to smooth her again-untidy appearance. "I was here two months ago, Nikkou. It's not like I'm a stranger... But we can chat later. I'm here on official business."

Mewing disappointedly, Nikkou sank back down into her chair and glowered up at Jura. "Spoilsport. So what's the deal?"

A shrug and eye-roll. "Oh, the usual. Running around being my father's little toady, if you'll excuse the term. Are there any messages for him?"

Nikkou was plainly unused to her mother's filing system as she fumbled around the various nooks and crannies of the desk. "Um, not that I can see for now. Come back later when my mom's here, she should be able to tell you."

Jura sighed and shook her head ruefully. "I don't know what your family would do without her sometimes. So tell me, what's wrong enough that she would yank you away from proctor duties at the Academy to play secretary?"

The blonde shrugged. "She's been feeling kinda under the weather for the past week or so, and Dad finally made her go to the doctor today. It's weird, you know? The plague couldn't keep her away from this job, and now she can't keep anything down. And you know how nasty it is watching someone get sick in public."

A sympathetic wince. "All right, I'll come back tomorrow. I don't think my father will mind missing his messages for a day; hell, he's probably off at the baths doing 'research'."

Nikkou snickered and nodded in agreement. "No doubt he is. A pervert's still a pervert, no matter how old he gets, eh?" The two said their farewells and Jura trotted back out to finish whatever tasks remained. Nikkou kicked her feet back up on the desk but blinked when she noticed an important-looking envelope under one of her heels, wasting no time in digging it out and reading it. Her heart skipped a beat as her eyes traced over the words, which she then repeated aloud to make sure she wasn't dreaming. "Kouhei's here? Woohoo! Maybe this will be the time I win him back from that pale-eyed freak-girl Hana!" A frown then crossed Nikkou's usually pleasant visage when she read the rest of the message. "But who's this other guy they're talking about bringing with them? I'd better get this message to Kotori-san..." She stopped up short, then glared up at the clock. "When Mom gets back, whenever that is. I can't leave until then."

-------

Leaving Kotori in the capable hands of Fujo and the others, Kouhei politely excused both himself and Shinya and went back outside into the rain. They silently retraced their steps back to the inn, Shinya only venturing to speak once they were in their room. "I guess... that could have gone a lot better, couldn't it," he muttered glumly, sitting down on the edge of his bed and resting his chin in his hands. "I must really frighten her to make her faint like that."

Kouhei was momentarily at a loss for words, making several frustrated attempts at speech before giving up and lapsing into silence again. When he at last knew what to say, his words were low and Shinya had to listen carefully to hear. "I know you overheard my conversation with Hana last night, so I won't repeat what I said. Just know that it's not anything you've done, okay? It's not your fault that people act like they do." Deeming that sufficient, Kouhei shrugged. "Whatever – you know what I'm trying to say. I'm going to the baths to relax for a little bit, and you might want to come along."

-------

"Well, Tatsu, I'd say we're done for now," Jura told the toad after she exited the bookstore, placing a money pouch back inside her tunic for safekeeping. "Father'll be glad to know that his stuff is selling as well as ever, but he's going to wince when he sees just how much he owes Mother for royalties. Everything with her in it, in whatever form, just seems to sell faster..." Giving the toad another friendly pat, she added, "Go ahead and go now. I'll call you when I need you again." Gamatatsu nodded once and vanished, leaving Jura alone to proceed on foot to her ultimate destination.

She was not surprised to see that the baths were almost unoccupied, noting that the weather had gotten worse and figuring that most citizens with common sense had decided to stay at home. "If there's no one here, then he'll no doubt have gone to greener pastures." Jura was about ready to give up and search for her father elsewhere when the sound of voices from the mens' bath caught her attention and caused something to stir in her blood. "Well, what do you know? Guess it's time for me to do some 'research' of my own." Fading into invisibility, the girl made her way to a spot that she'd staked out long ago as a prime viewing location and peered inside. Her efforts were rewarded by the sight of two young men lounging in the hot water, but her excited grin soon faded when she recognized one of them. "Damnit, it's only my brother. He's aged well, but that's all I can say about that... Well,hello! Who do we have here? I wish I'd brought a camera, because hot damn! He's about my age, too..."

-------

Shinya inhaled once and then exhaled deeply, feeling accumulated stress seeping from his muscles under the effect of the hot waters of the bath. Maybe everything will be all right after all, he thought, then tensed when he heard Kouhei mutter something disgustedly under his breath. "What's wrong, Kou-san?"

"We're being watched," Kouhei growled, sending a pointed look towards one part of the bathhouse wall. "Her stealth technique has improved over the years, but I can still sense it when my Sharingan is active." He narrowed his eyes in focus, scowling as he did so. "What can I say, though? The apple does not fall far from the tree, and I'll bet our dear sister will be properly horrified once she hears who you are."

Something turned in Shinya's stomach upon hearing the word sister, and he turned a horrified look on his older brother. "If she's our sister... then why is she looking?"

"She's like her father in more ways than one. Perversity runs in her genes," was the terse response. "Besides, she doesn't know that you're related... yet."

-------

Ice ran through Jura's veins when she heard her older brother's words. "That chunk of juvenile beefcake is also my brother? No way! He's just too hot! I think I'm gonna be sick..."

-------

A smirk crossed Kouhei's face as both he and Shinya plainly heard the retching sound from the other side of the wall. "She knows now. Turnabout's fair play, though, wouldn't you say?"

"I... I think I'm ready to leave now," was the younger man's reply.

-------

Velvety darkness greeted Kotori when she returned to consciousness, but she could tell she was dreaming by the ring of faces that looked down on where she lay. "What the hell are you all doing here?" she mumbled, massaging the sore spot on the back of her head as she glanced from face to face.

"We figured that now is as good a time as any to get through to you, considering that you rarely ever listen to us when you're awake," answered the first, who Kotori recognized with a blink as Taiki. "Be openminded, Tori-chan, and know that you can find beauty in everything." Her former teammate then vanished, giving her his signature brilliant grin before fading from view.

A sneeze itching in her sinuses alerted her to the next presence, a familiar masked face glancing idly up from a pink-covered book to murmur, "Not everything is as awful as you think it is."

"And for gods' sake, quit being such a tightass," came the third voice, the irascible tones of the Nekomata. "I thought you'd have learned that after living with me all this time."

The next personality to emerge caused Kotori to recoil in remembered terror as she looked up into the blood-red eyes. "Learn from your past, but don't dwell on it."

Kotori breathed a sigh of relief as the elder of the two surviving Uchiha brothers faded from her consciousness, but her relief was short-lived as a massive burning rash began its slow creep across her skin. "Hell no, not him... not the Pervert King..."

-------

Fujo frowned in concern as he watched Kotori's face twitch in various reactions to some unseen event. "I don't know what's going on in her mind, but she's not waking up. It's been almost an hour now and this can't be good."

"What do we do now?" quavered Shingen. "We'll be in so much trouble if she dies!"

"Maybe Iruka-sensei will know how to wake her up," guessed Umi, then shook his head. "He's at the Academy right now, though, and I don't want to bother him over something like this."

The front door slid open unannounced, the newest visitor shaking the rain from his clothes and massive mane of white hair before entering and kicking his shoes off. "Oh, Tori-chan - " Noticing suddenly that his would-be hostess was unconscious on the floor, the stranger's dark eyes immediately narrowed in suspicion. "All right, what's going on here? It's too early in the day for this one to be drinking, unless of course it'sthat time... but if that were true then none of you should be here. Who are you, anyway?"

Silence reigned for the next long moment, the three genin trading puzzled glances before looking back up at the stranger. "No, sir, she hasn't been drinking. She just got a nasty surprise and fainted, that's all." Gathering up his resolve, Fujo focused a glare on the older man and added, "We're Kotori-sensei's new students, the cell she's been assigned to train. Who are you to address her so casually?"

This at least brought the visitor up short. He moved as if to strike a pose, then thought better of it. "Of course, you three would be too young to recognize me. I'm one of the Legendary Sannin – Jiraiya, the Holy Toad Sage, and one of your teacher's... ahem, special friends." When even this failed to impress the genin, Jiraiya rolled his eyes and made a shooing motion with his hands. "Please, allow me some space to work. I know exactly how to wake this one up."

Shingen, Umi, and Fujo once again traded dubious glances but nonetheless backed away to a safe distance. Getting a bad feeling about what would momentarily transpire, Shingen squeezed her eyes shut in dread but could not speak other than to let a worried squeak escape her lips. Umi received the same bad sensation but could not look away, and Fujo watched the proceedings carefully to see if he could learn anything from this esteemed personality. The visitor knelt next to the still-twitching Kotori, looking down thoughtfully over her pale face and trembling body, then leaned in closer. "Is he attempting mouth-to-mouth?" Umi whispered to Fujo. "It's not like Sensei stopped breathing or anything like that."

"No, Umi, he's not." The other boy's face was a classic study in disgust as he continued watching for another few seconds, then looked away with a vaguely nauseous expression. "He must be a very special friend indeed, because I think there's tongue involved and I don't even want to know where those hands are going."

The unorthodox attempt at resuscitation worked, however, because the heretofore-unconscious Kotori's eyes now flew open in fiery rage. In a movement almost too fast to track, one iron-hard fist slammed into her assailant and sent him flying into the living room where he luckily landed on the sofa in a groaning pile of uncoordinated limbs. Kotori sat up gagging and reflexively spat, a thin line of saliva and blood splattering the tile next to her as she wiped her mouth clean and shivered again. "How dare you, you asshole! You know better than that, and in front of my students too? Goddamn exhibitionist degenerate..."

"A special friend of yours, Sensei?" Umi inquired, trying futilely to hide a grin. "Please tell me you bit his tongue off."

"Tried my best to, but I think I only got part of it," the jounin muttered, giving herself one last shake before propping herself up on her elbow. She gingerly probed the sore spot on the back of her head, wincing as she did so. "So tell me, Jiraiya, did you come here just to embarrass me for old times' sake, or do you actually have a valid reason?"

The door opened once more at this point, revealing a girl perhaps eighteen years in age and garbed almost identically to the man Kotori had sent flying. "I should have figured he'd come here," she mused, closing the door after her and removing her shoes. "Is everything okay, Mother? You don't look well."

Kotori managed a dry chuckle, shaking her head. "Today just isn't my day, Jura. The last person on earth I'd expect to show up decides to pay a visit, I faint, and then your wonderful father decides to engage in an ill-advised session of tonsil hockey to try and wake me up."

"It worked, though," Umi interjected, looking up at the girl's statuesque profile with undisguised admiration. "You're Sensei's daughter?"

Turning her attention to the genin for a moment, Jura grinned wearily and replied, "One of them," before stepping past the foyer and into the living room. The others could only watch as she knelt next to the sofa and checked the figure reclining there for healthy vital signs. She frowned once and then waved her hand in front of Jiraiya's face, hoping for a reaction and then snapping her fingers once or twice when the first gesture didn't work. "Hello, are you in there?" The older man said something too low for anyone else to hear, except for Kotori apparently who shuddered and looked away. "What? Speak up, I can't hear you."

"It was heaven, I tell you. I was touching heaven, even if only for a minute..."

The young woman shook her head as if unable to believe what she was hearing. "But then she punched you straight to hell. Will you be all right, Daddy?"

Managing to stand on shaky legs, Kotori wobbled towards the stairs. "All right, if anyone needs me, I'm going to lie down in my bedroom. Do not let that man" she pointed out towards the living room "within ten feet of me, or you won't even live to regret it. You all are welcome to stay for dinner, so try to keep yourself constructively, quietly occupied until then. Watch TV or something, I don't care." With that pronouncement, Kotori withdrew to the upstairs and left those downstairs to their own devices. What a day, she mentally groaned as she stretched out on her bed and closed her eyes again.And the sad thing is, it ain't over yet. I still have to explain Shinya to them, and that's going to be a picnic and a half. Pushing this out of her mind, she then consigned herself to the restorative embrace of deep sleep.