Here's the next chapter! Just so you know, there's like an hour or so skip between this chapter and the previous one.
Jiraiya grinned as he looked around him. The area was perfect, and he saw no reason someone else would come over here. Besides, he had snuck into the Village of Chains, no one even knew that he was here. He grinned devilishly as he heard the women giggling as they bathed, this was perfect! Score! With a nod, he got out his telescope. "It's time to begin my research!"
Jiraiya giggled as he spied on the women. "Oh, I like that one! Oh, and that one has the biggest set of-"
"Hi."
Jiraiya flinched and damn near dropped his telescope before he turned around. "Hey, who do you think you-"
Jiraiya cut off as he saw the seven year old child behind him, looking surprised and embarrassed. As the child looked the other way, Jiraiya quickly looked him over. The strange purple hair on the child's head was wild and unkempt, left in tangles that Jiraiya deduced would be impossible to control. The child's green eyes were what really got Jiraiya's attention.
Jiraiya thought that if he looked close enough, he could see a strange tinge of red that was barely visible. Looking farther down, Jiraiya noticed that the child's arms hung limp at his side. One of his legs was taking most of his weight, the other one appeared to be pretty much limp. As the child brought up one of his arms, Jiraiya immediately noticed that the child was putting in quite a bit more effort than he should have had to. When the child attempted to step back, Jiraiya came to his conclusion.
The child took one step back, and it clearly was too much for the child to do. He saw the child cringe just before he began to fall, the child was aware that he was falling but didn't even lift his arms in an attempt to regain his balance. His legs gave way, and it was only because Jiraiya quickly caught the child that the child didn't hit his head on the ground. As the child gave an embarrassed smile Jiraiya gave a slight grin. "Problems with your motor skills, kid?"
The child looked the other way. No longer needing the answer, Jiraiya decided to change the subject. "What's your name?"
The boy's eyes immediately sparkled with joy at the change in subject, and Jiraiya noticed that the strange red tint in the boy's eyes intensified for just a moment before going back to normal. "I'm Kawaii."
Jiraiya grinned before remembering that his research was still incomplete. "Hey kid, is there any reason you came up to me, like anything really important?"
Kawaii blushed as he shook his head no. "I-I just . . . I saw you, and I didn't recognize you so I thought I'd say hi."
Jiraiya grinned, quite a friendly little guy. "Well it's nice to meet you. I'm sorry, but I have research I have to do."
Jiraiya thought it was done, he'd figure out more about Kawaii later. But as he got out his telescope and giggled, noticing a third girl, he suddenly realized Kawaii was still next to him. "Do you need help with your research?"
Jiraiya sighed before he spoke. "No thanks kid, i-it's something you wouldn't have much experience with."
As Jiraiya thought he saw something interesting happening in the bathhouse Kawaii spoke up again. "Yeah, but two people researching is better than one."
Jiraiya sighed. Kawaii was quickly becoming an annoyance. "Kid, not right now. This research is . . . I doubt you'd understand the importance. I'll talk to you later, right now-"
Jiraiya's eyes opened wide as he saw what else was happening in the bathhouse, score! Oh yes, this was what he liked to see! Now there were six girls and Jiraiya-"Uh, you're drooling sir."
Oh for . . . Jiraiya shut the telescope and glared at Kawaii. "DO YOU MIND?"
Kawaii flinched as he looked away. As Kawaii turned to leave, Jiraiya quickly went back to peeking. He quickly realized he probably should have kept his voice down when he saw the girls covering themselves and glaring at him. As Jiraiya decided staying in his vantage point was dangerous, he quickly got down and dashed past a very confused-looking Kawaii. When he decided he was a safe distance away Jiraiya quickly scaled the side of a building, quickly getting into a vantage point and looking quickly at the same bathhouse that he had been looking at before.
He cringed when he realized it was now empty, and he saw quite a few now-dressed women going over to where Jiraiya had been. Jiraiya grinned, they wouldn't find anyone th-Kawaii! Jiraiya quickly moved to a different vantage point. Yes Kawaii had gotten him caught, but if the women got angry at Kawaii, he couldn't do anything to defend himself! When Jiraiya settled for a tree on the other side of the bathhouse, he quickly looked over at where Kawaii had been.
Jiraiya almost wished the women would beat him up when he realized Kawaii was innocently giving the women an accurate description of Jiraiya. Jiraiya sighed. He'd have to lay low over there for a bit. Hmm . . . ah, there was a different bathhouse over there! Jiraiya grinned as he went over there and got out his telescope.
"There you are!"
Jiraiya cringed as he turned around. Yep. All six girls were standing there, their faces contorted in rage. This wasn't going to turn out well. As Jiraiya gulped, he suddenly noticed one of the women was giving Kawaii a piggyback ride. As another woman helped Kawaii down, Kawaii smiled at Jiraiya. "Hi again!"
Jiraiya couldn't believe that Kawaii didn't recognize that he had just about gotten Jiraiya killed. "Hi Kawaii. Remember when I said to not help me with my research?"
Kawaii smiled, looking completely unaware as the women cracked their knuckles. "Yeah, but after I told them it was all for researching . . . whatever you're researching, they said they would help you with the research."
What. Jiraiya couldn't help it as he broke out into a grin, how lucky could he get? That little genius! "Oh! Ok, then. Good job Kawaii, you should see if you can find others to help me with my research too."
Kawaii smiled as he stumbled to the stairs. Jiraiya grinned broadly at the women. "So, I'm writing a book and I want to know . . ."
Jiraiya trailed off when he saw their glaring at him. "You're not helping me with my research, are you?"
As the women all shook their head, Jiraiya gulped. The beat down was quick, efficient, and above all brutal. Jiraiya had a nosebleed, two black eyes, and bruises all over him by the time the women were done. After they left Jiraiya tended to his wounds with a sigh. "Fine, I guess I'm going to have to lay low for a while."
Alright then . . . as Jiraiya put on the last bandage, he nodded to himself with a grin. "Well, now is as good a time to learn about Kawaii as ever."
Jiraiya soon located the Rensakage's headquarters. He kind of hoped she didn't remember him, the two of them had . . . well, the Rensakage had damn near castrated Jiraiya the last time they met.
Hmm . . . then again, maybe he didn't have to enter? He was certain someone else could tell him about Kawaii, he seemed to be well known around here. Jiraiya grinned as he decided that he should retrace his steps to figure out where Kawaii was. And that meant . . . Jiraiya grinned as he scrambled over to the first place he met Kawaii. Maybe the girls had decided to go back to their bath? When Jiraiya reached the area and got out his telescope, he heard girls giggling. Soon he was quietly giggling to himself as he brought the telescope to his eye.
What the . . . Jiraiya couldn't believe what he was seeing. In spite of himself, he grinned. "Kawaii, you lucky bastard!"
Kawaii was in the bathhouse, smiling as the same women from before helped to soap up Kawaii's body. Jiraiya almost whimpered in need, why did KAWAII get to be bathed by six beautiful women? Jiraiya gnashed his teeth in frustration. Kawaii clearly didn't act like he was interested in sex. Of course, with Kawaii being only seven years old that kind of made sense.
Here Kawaii was, not even knowing how lucky he was. As the women continued to wash Kawaii up, Jiraiya found himself wishing he could be in Kawaii's place, and soon found himself thinking about what would happen if Jiraiya was in that spot, six naked women so close to him that Jiraiya could reach up and touch their-
Jiraiya was taken out of his dreams as he noticed something that greatly startled him. On Kawaii's stomach, there was a seal! He was a jinchūriki? Jiraiya couldn't believe it. Jiraiya just couldn't believe it. Jiraiya frowned as he focused on the seal. Hmm . . . strange, that looked like the Eight Trigrams Seal. But as Jiraiya continued to look, he suddenly noticed five prongs come into view around the seal. The Five-Prong seal?
Jiraiya frowned, as far as he knew he and the rest of the Sannin were the only ones that knew how to make that seal. Tsunade wasn't likely to have been the one to do it. Jiraiya didn't know where she was. Jiraiya certainly didn't do it. He would have remembered Kawaii from before if he had. That left one other person, Orochimaru.
Hmm . . . a five prong seal reinforcing an eight trigrams seal . . . that would cause Kawaii to be unable to use the chakra of whatever was inside of him, and it would make it very difficult for Kawaii to even use his own chakra. It was foolish to use an odd-numbered seal on top of an even-number, unless the goal had been to cripple the opponent and stop them from using chakra. "Jiraiya."
Aw, damn. Jiraiya put down the telescope and turned to find the Rensakage glaring viciously at him. Jiraiya sighed before he spoke. "Hold on, just hear me out."
The Rensakage glared at Jiraiya, but she didn't attack. Jiraiya nodded back at the bathhouse. "What can you tell me about Kawaii?"
Jiraiya had struck gold. The Rensakage's face practically erupted in shock before settling down with a look of guilt. "He . . . just how is that connected to the bathhouse?"
Jiraiya grinned as he nodded back at the bathhouse. "I was here a little bit ago, he unintentionally blew my cover and the women apparently tricked him into backing me into a corner. Now they're bathing him, and I noticed the seal on Kawaii's stomach."
The Rensakage blushed as she looked the other way. When she spoke, her words were halting. "Kawaii has Nanabi sealed within him. Orochimaru tricked me into one of his schemes. It ended with Kawaii orphaned and becoming Nanabi's jinchūriki, and . . . well, I only just got him away from Orochimaru's clutches."
Jiraiya frowned. "Orochimaru . . . but just look at Kawaii, he shouldn't be able to resist Nanabi's rage."
The Rensakage looked the other way before she spoke. "Orochimaru attacked Nanabi right when he sealed her in Kawaii. Nanabi's brain-dead now, and Kawaii took quite a bit of damage. From my understanding, Nanabi's chakra is drained right into Kawaii's to keep her mind from healing. Still . . . he can't draw it out. The damage to his mind crippled him."
Jiraiya gave a slight grin. "That's not it, my lady. Orochimaru made the seal too well, Nanabi's chakra is cut off from both Kawaii and Nanabi. The seal is creating an imbalance within him. Kawaii can't even access the chakra that's supposed to be his own."
As Jiraiya folded up his telescope, he spoke to the Rensakage. "Have him come to your headquarters soon and I'll see what I can do about the seal. By the way . . . have you noticed something strange about his eyes?"
The Rensakage frowned. "Strange? No, not really."
Jiraiya shrugged, maybe he was imagining things. "Alright, I'll be waiting in your headquarters."
Jiraiya walked away from the Rensakage then quickly changed direction. Seeing how Kawaii couldn't walk fast, Jiraiya could easily continue his 'research' for a little bit longer before he went to the Rensakage's headquarters.
Ah, good old Jiraiya. I never got tired of his obsession.