"Well?" Jiraiya asked seemingly interested in what he had to say, but no response came from the boy beside him. "Come on" -he nudged him in the shoulder- "you can tell me." The boy, however, was in turmoil.
"Should I?" He pondered. On one hand, there was a part of him that leaped at the thought of telling someone his troubles and sharing his burdens, but on the other hand there lay a feeling of dread that his admission would be held against him. What would his master think of his situation?
A silence ensued among the pair as Naruto's thoughts rained on.
The cool night air tousled their hair before leaving a soothing and calm atmosphere they could bathe in, and after some time, the blonde sighed in conclusion that he had nothing to lose.
"Yeah." He admitted in a small voice.
A second passed before the man next to him spoke. "No kidding?" He asked in an almost disbelieving tone. "My pupil's got a girl with the hots for him?" He asked, excitement building in his voice.
Naruto blushed slightly at his use of wording. "I guess so."
Jiraiya's eyes sparkled and a rush of pride for his apprentice filled his senses. He gave his student a big pat on the back and a profound grin that only served to creep out the male next to him. "HA HA! I knew all those lessons on women would come in handy one day!" He exclaimed while hooking his arm over Naruto's neck once more.
"You found yourself a girl..." He said in an almost dreamy sort of way. "Finally all my hard work has paid off, that's all I've ever wanted you know." He was mostly talking to himself by now, and had dramatic animated tears of happiness streaming down his face.
Naruto gave the older man a confused look at how easily he seemed to forget such a significant detail in his story. "She's locked up: in jail, remember?"
Jiraiya's comical behavior visibly vanished and turned more appropriate and serious. He recollected himself and cleared his throat.
"Right." He said while resting back against the tree and looking at the illuminated forest in front of him. "How did you guys meet then?" He asked.
Naruto thought back to the day when he first got to know the redheaded girl. "At her cell. They allow visitors, so I went to see her one time." The wind picked up slightly and blew at their hair. "Next thing I knew we were seeing each other more and more."
The older man made a 'hm' sound and reflected on what his apprentice just told him. "Jail huh? Tough stuff... But how did that happen anyway?" He asked, getting more and more interested in the boy's affairs.
Naruto fidgeted with the zipper on his jacket. "She... Did some bad things." He admitted. He wasn't in any mood to provide broader details.
"Not too bad, right?" Jiraiya asked.
Feeling somewhat truthful, he replied with a simple no, which earned another 'hm' from his master.
Moments passed them by with neither one saying a word and both of them unmoving. With Naruto's admission fresh in his mind, Jiraiya reflected on the boy's situation. He thought of Naruto's strange and forbidden scenario, the type of scenario that only appeared in comedic plays and folklore: in things that were made up and joked upon. This was the literal stuff of fiction, to hear such an absurd thing in real life made the aged man ponder on how such a thing could make its way to reality.
"What should I do?" A voice full of confusion brought him out of his thoughts. Jiraiya looked at the source of the voice: there sat a 17-year-old boy with blonde hair and whiskers on his cheeks. Looking deeper he could see a deep confliction in his blue eyes.
"I always thought I'd want something like this. I thought I wanted it with Sakura, but then this girl comes and changes everything." He paused. "Then she says she likes me... But-"
"How do you feel about her?" The question caught him by surprise. He turned his head to Jiraiya and seen he was looking at him. They stared for a brief moment until Naruto turned his gaze to the forest in front of them. He hesitated for a moment, but spoke when he thought of how much he's already told the man. "I have feelings for her, but I-"
"There, you've said it!" Jiraiya exclaimed. "You like her, so what's all this unconfidence about?"
The boy just looked at him weird, so Jiraiya decided to elaborate further. "You like her. She likes you. What's stopping you guys from sealing the deal?"
He's going senile, Naruto thought. Has he forgotten about Karin's current status again? He gave the older male a questioning glare and promptly voiced his thoughts. "Did you forget again?"
Jiraiya only smirked. "Nope, not at all. I'll ask again. What's stopping you two from getting together?"
He reasoned his master wasn't crazy, and definitely not senile... So why was he asking such a stupid question when he already knows the answer?
"Naruto," Jiraiya said. "If you and that girl truly want to have... Something, then so be it. There shouldn't be anything stopping you two. Love is something so great that can't be restricted to even your situation. Not even jail is enough to stop the determination of loving someone."
"Love?!" The boy beside him was panicking in his head. He blushed and his heartbeat quickened beyond normal pacing. "Hey who said anything about loving someone!" He exclaimed in an over-dramatic fashion and put on an irritated demeanor. On the inside, however, Jiraiya's words made him deeply question his feelings for Karin.
Could these 'feelings' be associated with something much more meaningful? He thought of her back in the cell, her ruby-red eyes and smile hidden behind the bars while her outreaching hands waited for his to finish their makeshift 'hug' they created. Lo and behold his heart raced at the thought of holding her hands again-it never felt like this before whenever they interacted in such a way.
He mentally shook himself from his musings and cursed the middle-aged man for planting these thoughts in his head. There's no way I'm in love with her, I just like her," he thought while his blush became more prominent. "Damn perv is just assuming things."
"Yup," Jiraiya continued and ignored his outburst. "It's undying too. You find yourself moving on from a person you once loved, and after decades, even a hundred years, deep down that person will still have a place in your heart." He spoke in a melancholy voice with a certain teammate pictured in his mind.
Naruto crossed his arms. "You're rambling again." He said in a way that told him to shut up.
Jiraiya smiled and blew air out of his nose. "I do that sometimes." He admitted. He glanced towards the scroll that lay forgotten and resting on the ground between them. "What's this?" He said while he grabbed the item.
Naruto barely registered any of this, but when he did and seen that he was opening the scroll he freaked out.
"AH! What're you doing!" He yelled and dramatically reached across Jiraiya's body for the scroll (much in the same way that Karin did).
Jiraiya cried out in surprise at the sudden attack and was saddened to see the scroll was snatched from his hands. He looked to the person who just assaulted him, still dazed. "I just wanted to-"
"No! No way, get your own gramps." He stated and clutched the scroll close to his chest. Jiraiya, now more curious than ever, just had to read it. "What's so important that you cant show your old master?" He asked with a faked hurt expression.
Naruto wasn't buying any of it. "It's just a letter... From a friend." He opted for telling the bare minimum of the truth.
Jiraiya knew the scroll was somehow linked to Naruto's story. On more than one occasion when they stopped during the day to drink water or 'use the bathroom,' he saw the boy seclude himself from the others and read the scroll intently with an admiring look on his face. With this in mind, he just knew he had to read it. This was just too interesting to let go.
But he could wait a little. He dropped the act and smirked at his apprentice. "Alright." He stood up from his position on the grassy floor and looked down at the younger male, then he extended a hand for him to take. "Personal stuff, I get it." Naruto looked at the hand for a second before accepting it and being helped up off the ground.
"We better get some sleep, we have a long journey ahead." The blonde agreed and was thankful that his master dropped his sudden interest so quickly.
Together they walked through the forest filled with trees and back to the campsite. Along the way, Jiraiya tried to get information about the letter, but Naruto was a tough nut to crack when he wanted to be, so he ended up getting a whole lot of nothing.
They arrived at the campsite and seen that Sakura and Sai were still asleep in each of their tents, so the pair opted to do the same.
Jiraiya went into his tent and got snug into his sleeping bag, but upon remembering he had watch duty, he silently cried on the inside and dragged himself out of his tent. He plopped onto the log he previously sat on and listened to the buzzing of insects and crickets. He would have been better off staying in the tent however, as he fell asleep just after 5 minutes of keeping watch.