Shy reader. Inspired by ATLA waterbending This is more light hearted with a comfy end.
Where the hell are you going? Jiraiya raises a brow as he happens to catch you leaving Konoha. You're not trained for fighting. No... you're just a healer. A talented one at that. You had a unique ability. Your connection with water was incredibly strong. It obeyed you like nothing anyone has ever seen. You used it to pull together wounds and clean blood. You manipulated the blood itself to mend the bones within the muscles and numbed the pain for your patients by freezing their breaks. It's a special power that has great potential. Hm... maybe more potential than anyone knows.
Jiraiya does what he do best. Stalking women!... er... surveillance. Just surveillance. All in the name of concern for a friend. He quite liked you. Your gentle smile and sweet words get his heart pounding. As a teenager, he really fell for you. He's never told you how he felt. He's harboured these feelings and kept them hidden for close to ten years. There's a part of him that's terrified he'll ruin a perfectly amazing friendship if he tells you. But... he just wants you.
You're so easy to talk to. You have the greatest smile. It suited your pretty face, but it was rarely seen. You would always heal his injuries. He loved the feeling of it. Every time you visited to watch his team train, he got distracted. Your presence effected his focus. No one has ever done that to him before. He worked harder to impress you, because you were watching! He had to impress you. When Tsunade would get a good strike on him, you would protest. You always ran into the field to assist.
"Tsunade! You don't gotta deck him so hard! It's just sparring." You scold your elder cousin.
The first time, Jiraiya flinched slightly. You got so close! He didn't know what to do so he froze up. Even at the age of seven, you had your powers mostly figured out. You waved your hands and the water in the nearby lake obeyed you. The water was cold on his cheek. It quickly got warm and felt like a soft kiss to his cheek. And embarrassingly, he got hooked on the feeling. Your attention was so precious. Jiraiya would purposely get hurt just to see you. What other excuse could he come up with? He just had to see you. Last time he did it, you laughed. It's such a rare sound. Your laugh is like music. He just loved hearing it and loved it more when he was the one who made you laugh. You wrapped a bandaid around his cut finger and teased him by putting a kiss on the injury like he was a little kid. The whole day after he stared at it in wonder and cherished how it made him feel. He felt like a little kid. Weak and unsure of himself. Only when it came to you. He just got so nervous. He could barely piece together a natural sounding sentence when he talked to you. His cheeks heated up and his brain turned off whenever he faced you alone. He stammered most times all while lost in your ever endless kind smile and patient eyes.
Like where did his balls go? He's known you for years! It's not like you're a stranger! He knows what you like. He just can't work up the nerve to ask you out. There was also Tsunade. Who knows how she'll react to you dating her teammate. She was close to you like a sister. She was protective of you and didn't trust Jiraiya, or any boy, around you. You were genuinely innocent sometimes and didn't pick up on someone hitting on you. Or men being creepy to you. You had to rely on your big cousin and her friends to protect you. Jiraiya himself had physically removed a man that was getting very creepy talking to you. You were too polite to tell the weirdo to fuck off. But you casted a pleading look to your friend, who happily stepped in. Ain't nobody gonna talk to you like that. No one talks to his girl like that!
He followed you into the forest, keeping his distance. Curious. You don't often leave the village. You had no reason to. It's just out of character. Are you in trouble? It's not like you get in trouble. You stay out of it as much as possible. You don't even get deployed for missions. Or just gathering herbs? But the Nara had that garden that supplies the hospital, what could you need out here? Jiraiya stalks the underbrush. Hiding in the leaves. Staying quiet as he watches you.
You stopped at a secluded section of a river. The area almost completely untouched by humans. Jiraiya found a good perch on the other side of the water. He had a cinematic view of you, the water, and the lush growth. It kept him completely hidden. The leaves covering him in their comforting embrace. You took off a layer to start. Oh ho! You got his undivided attention.
Your shoulders exposed as you revealed a tank top. You stretched your arms above your head. You look very nice. This was the most skin Jiraiya had ever seen you expose. You're so shy you don't ever show off. A shame. You look nice. You are quite the show stopper with your looks, but you're so shy most people pass you by without giving you a glance. It was kinda crappy that people ignore you in favour to your cousin. But that just meant the people that did notice you, noticed you for you. You had few friends, but they were close ones. The ones that took a chance on the quiet girl and forged a strong friendship with her. Jiraiya couldn't be happier he decided to befriend you. He wanted so much more... but how to tell you...
You activated your chakra to walk on the water until you were in the middle of it. You raised your hands. And just like that, Jiraiya was witnessing something phenomenal. You could control the water like it was apart of you. It danced to your command. You summoned a water style dragon and made the cast last longer and more accurately. You span around with your arms out and the dragon encircled you and span with you. It was almost like a ribbon dance. You tossed your hand to a tree and the dragon attacked. It flew to your command and smashed the tree. Wow! Just how long can you cast that for? Can you use it to defend yourself for longer when it spins around you like that? He had so many questions.
Well... it's no doubt who your bloodline is. It's a great blessing you don't have your grandfather's temperament. If you were anything like Tobirama, half of the population of Konoha would have been dead or terrified of you. Too many people have gotten away with saying terrible things to you or treating you poorly because of your kind nature. If you had a shred of Tobirama's temper, they would have been washed away with a storm you have casted. But you were so sweet. No one knew you could do this, did they? They all assumed you couldn't harm a fly. But if you wished, you probably had the accuracy with your water chakra to slice a fly in half.
Your training continued with other beautiful moves. Including commanding the river to send a cascading wave that would level a small town. You streamed a whip of water that you used to snap the branches of a tree. You rolled your arms like you were kneading dough and the whip turned into a high speed disk of water. You tossed your arm up and it flew to the tree and sliced it so cleanly and swiftly it didn't move for a moment before crashing apart to the ground.
Everything you did was executed with grace. It was almost like a dance. A fusion of ballet and fighting. You worked with the water to create your attacks. You could draw from the river to create massive jutsus. Wow! Just wow! You are amazing!
After an hour of these graceful attacks, you stopped. You bent down with your hands on your knees. You need a break. It's hot out. It's a little exhausting. You wipe the sweat from your brow. One deep breath later and you straighten out your posture. Your arms shake as you raise them up. Several shaky streams of water wiggles out of the water. They were unstable.
It looks taxing. You were putting in a lot of effort for this one. Jiraiya chances peering closer. He uses his hands to push the branches of the bush away to get a better look. This had to be good. You haven't disappointed so far. The streams of water grew and stabilized. There was ten of them. They protected you in a circle of tentacles. Each one curled and moved separately from each other.
They suddenly burst and splashed back into the water. Your arms fell to your sides. You're panting. You comb your sweaty hair away from your forehead. You waver on your feet. You can't catch your breath and it seemed your knees would buckle at any moment.
Oh... no. Oh no! Jiraiya tensed. He slid one foot forward as he braced himself to launch forward if needed. Please don't! He doesn't want to blow his cover. There's no chance in hell you would ever train while knowing someone could be watching you. Again, a damn shame. You had style and grace of some sort of water deity. He loved watching this. It was honestly the prettiest fighting style he's ever seen. Your eyes fluttered closed and you fall to the water. You had fainted. He reacted.
He caught you before you fell under the frigid water. Your legs fell in to the knees in the river. But you aren't drowning. Jiraiya touches your forehead. You are very warm. Looks like heat stroke and chakra exhaustion. He cuts the flow to his feet and shutters. The water is cold and he was not prepared. But he is more than willing to deal so that your insides don't cook. He crouched down until you are in the water to your chest. He throws handfuls of water on your face to cool it.
You come to quickly. You wake up, eyes opening and making contact with your saviour. Oh! Oh god it's him! You startle a little and almost fall out of his arms.
"Jiraiya! W-What are you doing here?" You stammer.
He fights with your struggling. It's like handling a fish out of water. You flop and struggle with confusion and embarrassment.
"Relax, would ya!" He was a little exasperated. You cling onto his shirt once you got a grip on yourself. "I was watching you, okay!"
Confusion instantly hit your face when he said that. "What? Why were you watching me?"
"Because," a smile grows on Jiraiya's face, "I knew you had more to you."
You watch him carefully. His eyes and expression so genuine. Heat rises to your cheeks. No one has ever said that to you before. Jiraiya scooped his arm under your legs and lifted you up. You hold onto his shoulders as he stood up straight. He was carrying you out of the water.
"I can walk!" You protest.
"Don't be silly!" Jiraiya laughed as he took you away. He stepped over the underbrush he hid in as he made his way back to the village. "Tsunade will kill me if I made you walk after you fainted!"
You sink down in embarrassment. Maybe your family was a little too protective. Tsunade was going to flip at the state of you. Without a doubt she'll send Jiraiya to the moon regardless of you walked or not. You're soaking wet with her teammate, who is also wet, and with a reputation for being a pervert. She didn't like it when you were in the company of men without her. She believes you are too sweet to tell anybody no or to fuck off.
And... well. Your shirt is see through from the water and he's obviously stole a couple of glances. His eyes darting down to your chest before shooting back up. He'd grit his teeth as he mentally scolded himself for it. He stared straight ahead with a ridged straight and tense neck. A light dusting of pink was on his cheeks. You timidity crossed your arms over yourself to hide them, but hey... it was kinda nice that he obviously liked what he saw.
Once at the hospital, Tsunade indeed bonked Jiraiya on the head. She was more restrained then expected. Still pissed, but didn't lose her mind. She was forgiving because you quietly mentioned you would have drowned without him there. He whined and she still chewed him out despite that.
"And stop stalking my cousin and just ask her out if you want to ask her out!" She whacked him with her clip board against his forehead with each word.
"Tsunade! Don't just out me like that!" Jiraiya complained as she left the room ignoring him completely.
She snuck a wink at you before shutting the door. She often told you that Jiraiya had a thing for you. But you never believed her until now. You thought she was just teasing you. He stood facing the door for a few seconds. He finally turned to face you. He smiled at you sheepishly. His throat bobbed with a heavy swallow and his voice even cracked a little when he said your name. He cleared his throat and tried again.
"Will you go to dinner with me?" Jiraiya finally asked you.
You can't help but smile. You quite like him. You may have harboured a bit of a crush on him ever since you were a kid. He's kind and sweet in his own way. Mostly with the people he truly cares about. He always took the time to talk to you and listen when you spoke. Not a lot of people do that. He stood close to you and often defended you. He was a great person and you found him to be pretty attractive. And he was finally asking you out! Oh man how you hoped this day would come.
"Yes! I would love to." You answer him happily.
He lets out a tense breath and smiles. He leaned forward and put his hands on either side of you on the hospital bed. His face was near yours. More heat flushes your cheeks and you can clearly see he's blushing as well.
"Perfect! We can work on your training too!" Jiraiya said.
Your face must have said it all, because he laughed. He closed the distance and gave you a kiss. It was quick and timid. His lips pressing against yours for only a few seconds before leaving. It left you wanting more when he pulled away.
"How about tomorrow? Once you've recovered and steady on your feet?" He asked.
"Okay." You agree.
He beamed a wide smile before backing up. Jiraiya turned to leave. Instead he walked right into the closed door. He always became a klutz around you. You snort and cover your mouth to silent your laughter. He slowly opened the door and turned to face you as he slid out the door. He's holding his nose in pain. But he's smiling. He had that 'I made you laugh' smile. He always managed to make you smile or laugh. Then he would look at you with a mix of fascination and warmth. With that smile that seemed to speak of how great his affection for you was. It's an expression that always manages to make you blush. It's so loving and he always does that whenever he sees you. A part of you wonders, does he injure himself just to see you? And to make you laugh? You'll have to ask him later.
"See you tomorrow!" He waved at you and his voice was a little nasally.
"Until then." You wave back.
He left and shut the door behind him. You shift in your seat excitedly. You can't stop smiling. Tomorrow will be fun! A first date with Jiraiya just has to be a good time. You spend the rest of your hospital stay wondering what the date will be like.