Sorry for the delay. Life happened. Okay, this chapter is for all Jiraiya-lovers out there! JIRAIYA ROCKS! If I receive at least five reviews, I'll post the next chapter before Wednesday!
*****************
While Sakura was being tortured–erm, healed– by an impressionable medic-nin and guiding him in the healing of the deep gash on her back, Obito and Rin had stopped at a dango shop and were talking about the match between Sakura and Kakashi when they saw their sensei walking by, his face set in a serious expression.
"Hey, sensei!" yelled Obito, "Come and eat with us!"
At the sound of his student's voice, Minato stopped and looked around. When he spotted them, his demeanour changed and it was with a sunny complexion that he sat next to his team mates.
"So, what were you two talking about?" he asked after getting a couple of dango from the plate.
"Just saying that the match was awesome. Well, that and Rin was worried about the ice prick."
"Now, now, Obito-kun, be nice. He is still your team mate," reprimanded Minato. "I know he can be cold at times, but he cares about you, deep down, I'm sure."
"Yeah, at the same level as dog crap," he muttered bitterly. "I don't know what you see in him, Rin-chan. Why don't you go out with me instead?"
"Obito-kun, you know I don't like you that way."
"Aww, c'mon, he doesn't even have a sense of humour!" whined the Uchiha.
"Please, Obito-kun, just let it drop. He is as good a person as you are. He simply has a strict code of honour. Anyway, sensei, who was that woman? I don't remember seeing her before."
"That's normal, she was gone for years on a secret mission. She's just been back for a week or so, most of that time she has spent in the hospital. And even if you had seen her, you may not have recognized her, because ANBU always wear masks, remember?"
Minato took a bite and waited for his students to process what he had said.
"Yeah, why was she in the hospital, anyway?" pondered Obito, snatching a dango from the plate.
"Well, she was under the influence of a genjutsu. To be frank, I don't know how she got out of it by herself."
"Ne, sensei, did you know her from before?" asked the boy eagerly.
"Iie, I met her for the first time at the hospital. So, did you like her?"
"Yeah! She was great! You know, all-powerful and all!" he exclaimed happily.
"And you, Rin? What did you think?" asked Minato as he turned toward the only female member of his team.
"Well… yes, she was good, but…her eyes seemed so cold and sad… Do you know why, sensei?"
"I may have an idea about that…" he began thoughtfully.
After hesitating a bit, he told them some of what she had revealed to him, leaving out the gory details. Rin and Obito listened to his tale raptly, eyes wide and mouths agape.
"That's so sad…" whispered Rin, sniffling gently and wiping her wet eyes.
"That's so courageous," breathed Obito.
Minato chuckled briefly at them.
"Well, I'm glad you like her, because I was thinking of asking her to replace me when I'm not available to teach you."
"Really? Sugoi!"
It just so happened that Sakura, who had finally gotten free of the clutches of the medic-nin, was walking down the street when she heard a crash and a yell, soon followed by a running Jiraiya who appeared to be running from a murderous-looking woman clad only in a towel. The Toad Sannin hid behind a door while the woman looked around, clearly trying to find him to emasculate him later on. Shaking her head, Sakura continued her walk, hiding her face behind her erotic book. The woman looked at her, disgusted, before stalking back to her house, having figured out that she would not catch the Sannin that time. As soon as she was gone, Sakura stopped, still not turning around.
"She's gone now, you big pervert. You can get out of your hiding place."
Rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, Jiraiya joined her as she put her Icha Icha book in an inner pocket.
"Hahaha, Sakura…" he said, a bit embarrassed, "what are you doing here?"
"I was walking peacefully before I saw you, you peeping tom. What'd you do this time? Spy on her bathing? Never mind," she added as he opened his mouth, "I don't want to know. My mind is already corrupted enough without you adding to it."
"Now, now, Sakura-san, don't be like that. Come on, what do you say I treat you to a cup of sake? I could even say yes to a plate of dango."
"Wow, you sure are desperate to get away from here, aren't you?" she chuckled with mirth.
"Would I be me if I missed a chance to be in the company of such a beautiful woman?" he asked rhetorically, puffing his chest out.
"Now, that was pure flattery. Alright, let's grab a bite and get something to warm our throats. Lead the way, charmer, it's been a long time since I've been in town."
"Of course, milady."
Gallantly, he offered her his arm, which she took with a heartfelt laugh, and they began their trek to Konoha's busier streets.
Spotting a little dango shop that seemed cosy enough for their taste, they sat at a table and ordered a plate of dango for both of them and a bottle of sake. To any onlookers, they looked like old friends reuniting after years of separation, and their identically white hair made more than one wonder if they, perchance, weren't related.
"So?" asked Jiraiya. "Have you had time to adjust?"
Sakura grabbed a dango and eyed it for a moment before pondering if she should use a Kakashi-eating technique or not before deciding to be lazy and unravelling the bandages around her face to bite her food hungrily.
"Hai. I've got brand new furniture now in my new apartment. It could be worse, I suppose. I didn't buy any food, 'cause Sandaime-sama is sending me on a mission tomorrow," she said calmly, playing with a senbon she had just put in her mouth.
Jiraiya's eyebrows touched his hairline.
"What, already? Isn't that a bit soon?"
The white-haired kunoichi shrugged and took another dango.
"Well, we are at war. Everyone is needed and because I'm ANBU, he can send me with less remorse on dangerous missions."
"Still, you are supposed to be in convalescence and you came back from that mission not long ago."
"Bah, I can take care of myself and if I get caught, which hopefully won't happen, Hokage-sama knows I won't break under torture and spill Konoha's secrets, so I guess I'll have to go with the flow of things," answered the young woman while tapping her lip thoughtfully.
"Speaking of that," said the older man while taking of sip of his sake and clucking his tongue, "how ever did you manage to break that genjutsu? Even Yamanaka Akira-san could not do it, and that's saying something."
Sakura's eyes glazed over as, lost in thought, she gazed at the sunny street.
"When I was young, I had schizophrenia, and I created a strong double personality to defend me, because I was weak. A girl once tried to possess me and was flung out of my body by that inner persona. As I grew up and became strong, that personality receded until it vanished, as I didn't need it anymore. You could say that we fused together to become the me you see now. Anyway," she continued, waving her hand as though to push that aside, "in that hellhole, I simply had to recreate that inner personality of mine, but the problem was that 1) I had to create one for each copy of me there was in the genjutsu, which was quite a bitch, let me tell you that, and 2) I had to do it while being tortured, which means that I had to manage to stay focused on that task. Wasn't easy, but in the end, it was worth it, ne?" she said with a sunny smile. "Of course, now, she's receded again, but because I've recreated her once, it will be easier to do it again if I have to."
Jiraiya whistled, eyeing the white-haired woman with new-found respect.
"Impressive."
"Yeah, and my punch will be impressive too if you don't stop looking at my boobs. I may use my body during seduction missions, but during my breaks, I'm like any normal woman, so don't push your luck," she replied calmly with a steely edge.
The Toad Sannin sheepishly took his eyes off of her cleavage, realizing that he had been caught. She tsked disapprovingly at him and decided to play with him a bit. Putting a sultry smile on her face, she leaned over the table, exposing more of her cleavage, and whispered in his ear, nibbling it gently.
"Ne, Jiraiya-sama, would you like to have more than just your eyes on my breasts? I suppose you're still…dashing in bed. Ne?"
The older ninja shivered at feeling her warm breath on his neck, making his body react in a way that he could not control. He had to refrain from groaning when she once again assumed her place on the other side of the table, her eyes dancing with mirth.
"That was cruel, you know," he whined. "It's nasty to do this to a male, you vixen."
"Ah, that was kind of the point, you know. I had warned you. And don't say that you didn't enjoy it. That may have been torture for you, but it was a sweet torture."
He could only shake his head as, with a shark grin, she plopped a dango in her mouth.
On the other side of the street, three ninja were looking at the pair of ninja, who were currently on their way to getting drunk, curiously and with something akin to strike-dumb surprise.
"She got him good on that one," murmured Minato pensively. "I must admit that it was a nice one. Never thought I would see it one day, though. He looks a bit upset, but that can only be good for him."
Rin and Obito didn't know what to say. The scene had astonished them, but they had to admit that it was fun to have a good laugh at the perverted Sannin. They only wished Kakashi could have been with them.
*****************
Just a bit of fun for now, 'cause drama is coming later on. Okay, no Kakashi here, but we'll see him soon, guys!
sugoi: amazing