Yuiko drummed her fingers impatiently on the table. A few hours had passed since she was assigned to accompany Jiraiya, and all he had done so far was drink and go up to his room to take a nap. She was doing her best to be patient with him, per Tsunade's request, but she had half a mind to grab her gear and take off for Iwagakure herself. She figured that doing just about anything would be better than waiting downstairs for Jiraiya to finally wake up. But she knew that there was also a good chance that Jiraiya would take the opportunity to ditch her, even if she did only step out for a moment. She closed her eyes, leaning back in her chair.
Are you nervous about going back to Iwa? She asked.
"I can't say I have pleasant memories of the place. My last jinchūriki was not treated well there. I felt rather sorry for him," Kokuō responded.
I didn't know why Grandfather wouldn't take me there on our travels until he died. It's weird that you "officially" belong to Iwa.
"I've never 'officially' belonged to anyone but you, little mouse. And that's for reasons entirely different than you being a jinchūriki."
Yuiko smiled. She opened her eyes at the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. She turned just as Jiraiya skipped the last few steps to land at the bottom, his wooden sandals making a sharp "clack!" against the floor.
"Something has happened," he said in an urgent tone. "We need to meet up with Tsunade."
—
The two of them found Tsunade at the village entrance. On the way over, Jiraiya briefed her on the news of the Kazekage's abduction. Yuiko tried to keep herself from feeling too perturbed by the news. To take down the Kazekage meant more than just beating him — it meant that the Akatsuki were able to hold off all the shinobi of Sunagakure as well. This wasn't good.
Yuiko was surprised to see that Kakashi and his team were with Tsunade when they arrived at the gate. She had figured that they would have left on their mission hours ago. She approached Kakashi as Jiraiya made his way to Tsunade.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"Have you heard about the Kazekage?" he responded.
"We have. That's why Jiraiya came to find the Hokage."
"It's the Akatsuki, from the sound of it," Kakashi said coolly. "We've been assigned to bring him back."
Yuiko quickly glanced over at Naruto.
"Naruto! Come here for a second!" Jiraiya called. She watched as Naruto joined Jiraiya. She turned her attention back to Kakashi. "Why is Lady Hokage sending Naruto on this mission? It sounds like this will be direct confrontation with the Akatsuki."
"Naruto and Gaara, the Kazekage, have some history," he replied. "I know you haven't had a chance to get to know Naruto much, but you'll come to learn that he's loyal beyond belief. If Tsunade told him no, he would go anyway; might as well give him a better chance of success by having the two of us along."
Jiraiya joined them, a serious look on his face. "Kakashi, make sure he doesn't do anything too reckless. I'm counting on you, okay?"
Kakashi nodded.
A thought suddenly struck Yuiko — she turned to Jiraiya. "Naruto and the Nine-Tails. Does he have it under control?"
Jiraiya sighed, crossing his arms, "I've already warned him not to use that power. In the future, maybe, but right now things can get bad if he loses control."
Yuiko pulled a piece of sealing paper from her side pouch. She ran through a series of signs with her other hand, finishing the seal by pressing her palm against the paper. Markings glowed in a bright blue on the paper before fading to black. She handed the seal to Kakashi.
"This is a chakra suppression seal. I've made it as strong as I can, so hopefully it will work if something goes wrong," she said, pulling out another sheet for a backup.
Jiraiya whistled. "I've never seen someone make one of those so fast," he said. "Impressive."
Yuiko ignored him, repeating the process before handing the second seal over to Kakashi. "Be careful, and look out for yourself, too."
"I've got a good team. We'll be fine," he replied, tucking the seals into his front pocket.
"Let's get a move on!" Naruto yelled impatiently, Sakura at his side.
Yuiko made her way over to the two younger Shinobi. "You two be careful, okay? Oh, I almost forgot!" she said, pulling a small package out of her pack. "I packed you a lunch! It's important to keep your blood sugars up on a mission."
"Uh, thanks," Naruto said, taking the package awkwardly. He stuffed it in his pack as he walked away. Sakura hid a smirk behind her hand as she bid Yuiko farewell.
"Is there one for me?" Kakashi asked.
"You're a grown man. You can make your own lunches," Yuiko replied matter-of-factly. Kakashi chuckled half-heartedly and made his way down the path after Naruto. The three disappeared in a flash. Jiraiya moved to stand beside her. "Shall we?" he asked.
She nodded. The situation was escalating much faster than expected, and they had no time to lose.
.
.
"I can't thank you enough for this, Jiraiya."
"Yeah, well, Yuiko isn't a bad kid. Trust me, I've had to deal with much worse!"
Minato laughed as he topped off the cup of sake Jiraiya held in one hand. "You're not referring to me, I hope?" he asked jokingly.
Jiraiya downed the cup and exhaled deeply, leaning back into Minato's couch. "Whatever trouble you may have caused me in the past, you seem to be making up for it now. So I'll let it slide this time," he said with a wink.
In all honesty, Jiraiya thought that Minato was going a bit overboard with this request. Kushina was being induced this evening, and Minato had asked Jiraiya to take Yuiko out of the village during the delivery. He was even footing the bill for the two of them to stay at an upscale inn for the night. Jiraiya leaned forward in his seat. "Do you really think this is necessary?" he whispered.
Minato chuckled. "Maybe not. But I can't be too careful. If something does happen, and Yuiko tries to get involved, I couldn't live with myself afterwards. This is more for my own peace of mind than anything."
They turned at the sound of footsteps coming down the hall. Kushina and Yuiko appeared, the latter wearing a backpack that seemed far too large for a simple overnight trip.
"Do you have your toothbrush?" Kushina asked. "And did you pack both pairs of pajamas I set out for you? It's getting colder this time of year, so you might need the thicker one. But on the other hand, they may have the heat turned up, so you'll need the thinner one, ya know? And make sure to eat some of the vegetables they serve you. And don't stay up too late —"
"She's going on an overnight trip, Kushina, not on a mission!" Jiraiya laughed.
Kushina glared at him. "And be mindful of Master Jiraiya, but not too mindful."
Jiraiya stood and crossed the room to Yuiko, leaning down to her level. "So, are you ready to hit the road? My ink supplier should be there to meet us by dinner."
"Do you have the manuscript?" Yuiko asked.
Jeez, this kid … Jiraiya thought, his smile wavering.
"I sure do! I'll let you read it when we get there to thank you for helping me transport the ink. How 'bout you wait outside and I'll join you in a minute, okay?"
Yuiko nodded. Minato and Kushina bid her farewell and she walked out the door. Jiraiya closed his eyes with a sigh. He jumped when he opened them and noticed Kushina in his face.
"I don't like that you gave her that book. It's inappropriate for someone her age," she said.
"Hey now! They're not all about, you know, that. Besides, I've blacked out all the more 'adult' parts in copies I've given her. Cross my heart!" he said nervously. "Besides, who am I to keep a fan from enjoying my astonishing literary talent?"
Kushina looked unimpressed. Minato walked up beside her and squeezed her shoulders. She placed her hand over his and smiled. "I guess I'm a little wound up," she said.
A little? Jiraiya thought.
"Just look after her, ya know? And we'll see you both tomorrow. Along with little Naruto," she said with a grin. Jiraiya returned the gesture and walked out the door.
"See you tomorrow!"
—
The inn was about a four hour walk outside the village. They met up with his ink supplier, and Jiraiya bought an unnecessarily large order of ink, much to the merchant's delight. Jiraiya needed to make it seem convincing that he actually required Yuiko's help to carry it all back, even though he figured that he now had enough ink for two lifetimes. After the exchange, the two had dinner and he let Yuiko retire to her room with the (heavily edited) manuscript of his next book. The kid wasn't much for company, but he did find it endearing how much she genuinely enjoyed his work.
He sat drinking alone at the bar. The inn didn't have many guests at the moment, and he hadn't spotted any women that he would like to have join him either.
At least the food is good, be thought bitterly.
All the glasses behind the bar tinkled as the inn shook.
"What the hell?" he muttered, lowering the glass from his lips.
Jiraiya walked outside. He couldn't see anything but dense forest, but a chakra signature like nothing he had felt before filled the air. It was powerful, and made the hair on his arms stand straight up.
Could it be? There's no way.
He ran back into the inn, leaping up the stairs. He darted past the other guests who had exited their rooms in a panicked confusion. He yanked open the door to Yuiko's room and saw that it was empty, his manuscript fluttering in the breeze from the open window.
Shit.
A/N: "Pssst, hey you. Yeah you. Wanna flashback?"
Don't worry, they're going to start thinning out as more holes in the character's pasts start getting filled. I'm hoping that people are liking where this is going with Jiraiya, since I always wondered what he was up to when Naruto was running around at the start of shippuden, and thought it could be fun to think about the kind of missions he went on. Let me know what you think!