The sun peeked out from the clouds and a single ray shone down through Haku's bedroom curtains. After a quick stretch, Haku jumped off his bed, ready for a new day.
"It's time to get to work."
Although he had made some friends in Kiri, Haku had deliberately restrained himself as to not get too attached. Still, leaving his comrades to deal with an insane and dangerous Kage left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Having already packed his bags, Haku strode purposefully toward the village's main harbor, Hunter-nin mask gleaming in the sunlight. After checking his papers, The 3 chunin guarding the entrance let him pass, and Haku took out a map of the elemental nations that he had bought a few weeks before. In order to make it to the Land of Snow, he would have to take a 6-day boat trip to the mainland, presumably arriving in the Land of Hot Water.
From there, he would head directly north, heading straight to the inn where Sekibayashi was last spotted. If after 3 months, Kiri was still peaceful, then he would return with his target, as if he had never had any thoughts of disloyalty. If not, then he would stay on the mainland until he could find Jiraiya and request his aid in defeating Yagura.
The boat ride was quite uneventful, as shinobi and civilians were split into different parts of the boat, and Kiri shinobi had learned years ago what a bad idea it was to mess with him.
After arriving in the Land of Hot water, Haku pumped chakra into his legs and immediately began sprinting northward at top speed. Hours passed, and as the weather got colder and colder, the Yuki blood in Haku's veins began to react, sparking and shimmering from its close proximity to his ancestral homeland. Pushing forward through instinct alone, Haku felt freer and more liberated than he had ever been in his life. After 10 hours of running, he had crossed the border into the land of snow. Raising his head to look up into the sky, Haku became mesmerized by the sceneries' beauty.
Despite the fact that Haku hadn't put on a single article on winter clothing, he didn't feel cold in the freezing weather. As he watched great streaks of wind and snow clashed against the rock hard peaks of mountaintops, he felt as if he could stay in the land of snow for the rest of his life.
After breaking out of his previous trance, Haku pulled out a map. The mountains he had been fixated on were known as the Hyofu mountains. Many sightings of wolves were from the area around them. Still, Haku had expended a large chunk of his energy and chakra reserves, and the supplies in his pack were beginning to dwindle. He decided to backtrack to an inn he had passed to eat dinner and stay the night.
The land of hot water was famous for its hot springs, and even Haku, a member of the Yuki clan, felt immensely satisfied as he sat down in the amazingly warm water. Letting the water soothe every single ache and pain in his body, he noticed a tall, black-haired man pressing his ear against the thin wooden wall separating the men's and women's sides of the hot spring. Focusing on the man's body, Haku noted that the man was about 7 inches taller than himself, and he could faintly sense the aura of a small genjutsu surrounding him.
Standing at 5'8, Haku did some quick calculations and smirked smugly to himself. According to the bingo book, Jiraiya of the Sannin was 6'3, roughly 7 inches taller than him.
He didn't need to be a genius to realize how lucky he had gotten.
By the following morning, Haku was physically rejuvenated, and his chakra reserved had nearly fully recovered. He reached into his bag and pulled out a book, The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi.
In addition to being a great book, Haku had brought the book with him on his journey because it was Jiraiya's first and least popular book. Approaching Jiraiya and revealing that he has seen through the genjutsu would definitely catch Jiraiya's attention, but Jiraiya could mistake his intentions as malicious, especially considering his hunter-nin mask. Asking an author to sign their own book is nothing out of the ordinary, and in this way, Haku would catch Jiraiya's attention without ever giving the expression of malicious intent.
Haku approached Jiraiya cautiously and delicately tapped him on the back. "Would you sign my book? He asked softly, handing Jiraiya the book before quickly stepping back a half-step. Jiraiya's eyes lit up for a quarter second, elated that somebody had enjoyed his least well-known work, before his features darkened, nearly instantly realizing the implications of having been discovered.
Jiraiya slowly shifted his head to glance towards a patch of nearby trees.
"Let's talk over there", he whispered.
Authors note: Jiraiya's cloaking skill is particularly good, and it is stated that it is difficult for even A-rank shinobi to detect him when he gets serious. Being able to sense Jiraiya will automatically make him perceive you as a threat, even if you appear to have good intentions
