The following morning Jiraiya woke up ecstatic at the thought of that strange curly haired girl showing him new hiding spots where he could creep on more women. He had been drinking the night prior in celebration to such great discovery and despite having a bit of a hangover he decided to leave his hotel early in the morning to roam around the town. A bit distracted by a new bathhouse he had stumbled upon, he decided to investigate well aware that he needed to meet up with Kanna in a couple of hours. He was disappointed for having paid the entry fee to the bathhouse and finding out that it was not the mixed-gender type and not being able to get over himself, he decided to sneak into the female's section. Regrettably for him, he could not contain his excitement when he saw a group of beautiful women entering the private garden and discovered him staring at them. The women began to scream frantically and a bunch of males stormed into the area alarmed by their screams, but them being there only caused even more commotion. At the end, Jiraiya was apprehended and interrogated by the proprietor of the bathhouse.
The whole ordeal had caused him to be late to meet with Kanna, on top of that he had also been banned from that said establishment and his perversions had earned him a few punches from some of the ladies he had been creeping on. He finally reached the meeting point where he had agreed to meet the mysterious girl. It had been that same spot where she had dropped him off the day before, but she was nowhere to be found. He decided to lay on top of the rocks just how he had previously done to start lurking hoping that today would be his lucky day again and he'd be able to spot a few more of those naked mermaids sunbathing. He figured that Kanna would either show up later or she had bailed on him, not that it mattered because to be honest, he felt he had lucked out finding that particular spot.
Jiraiya looked down towards the waterfall and the hot spring, but to his disappointment there was not a single soul present today which made him a bit uncomfortable. Had that girl set up a trap for him to detain him for his pervy ways?, He had thought he had convinced her that it was for the sake of his research, but he was growing more suspicious by the minute. After waiting for some time and nobody either showing up to meet him or to visit the hot spring, he decided to venture down to where he wished the young maidens were. He walked around the body of water and took in the beautiful sight of the waterfall; the area was a perfect spot to camp out if he were on a mission from Konoha. He imagined being on a mission with Tsunade and bringing her here, and then..well, Jiraiya started being his pervy self…
He walked along a small river connected from the pool of water and it was only then when he noticed a small body laying on the other side of the river bank. He grew worried looking at the small girl as he walked closer and closer, she looked to have been beaten up badly and was now unconscious. He wondered if this was all a trap, Kanna had given him the impression that she could very well take care of herself, even if he was ignorant to the fact that she was an actual Kunoichi. He tried to sense any chakra nearby and cautiously approached the unconscious thief while being on high alert just in case anybody tried to ambush him. He stared at her, not really knowing what to do but not willing to leave her exposed to any more danger.
The sight of an unconscious child brought him back to when he had been a part of the last Ninja war. He had been named a legendary Sannin along with his teammates Orochimaru and Tsunade, and on their way back from a battle he had encountered a group of three small orphans. It seemed that deep down inside in his pervy heart, the sage had a soft spot for children in need. In that moment, the girl reminded him of those three children he had chosen to take care of and who later on would become his pupils. "I told her not to get too close to the people,'' The memory was interrupted by the toneless voice of a young girl. Somehow, Kanna had managed once again to sneak up on Jiraiya, he needed to work on not getting too deep in thought and neglecting his surroundings. She looked at him quizzically as he stared at the unconscious child. The reminder of his former pupils made him do something he didn't expect, he glanced at her in disbelief of what he was about to do and carried her over his shoulder in the direction of his hotel. Kanna looked at him baffled and followed close behind. "What do you think you are doing? I won't let you do anything to her… You pervy old man! I've seen what you do at the hot springs!" Kanna argued with him and kept frowning at the memory of him peeping. "Oi! Little brat! I might be pervy in some ways, but I am not that depraved…" Said as he blushed a little and looking somewhat indignant at her comment. He ignored her complaints the rest of the way until they got to the hotel.
Once in his room, he was able to tend to the girl's injuries, none of them had been serious but just enough to knock her out. He was glad he had been able to pick up a few healing jutsus from his time with Tsunade and as a Sage and managed to fully heal the younger female. Kanna looked attentively and with wonder as Jiraiya was slowly making the marks disappear. He asked her for help lifting the girl's upper body when he suddenly froze, he stared at her in disbelief looking at the two curse marks Kanna bore in her body as they have been uncovered when she had leaned over . Jiraiya needed to find out more about them, he had been traveling the lands doing research for his books, but most importantly, he was on a lifelong mission trying to find an old comrade and this girl could be the key to finding him.
The two finished tending to the smaller thief's injuries and sat there looking at her resting. Jiraiya asked Kanna if she knew who the now sleeping girl was but there was no response in return. He tried to make conversation with her by explaining how he had been able to heal her wounds even if he wasn't a doctor.
"I won't hurt your friend, I can at least promise you that. I have been traveling through the land of fire for some time now and I have mastered my Sage training and picked up a few healing techniques from an old comrade". Jiraiya elaborated. "I am a Ninja, that means I have certain powers and can develop chakra that other people can't…" He was cut off and looked at the girl in disbelief.
"I know what a Ninja is old man…." Kanna replied showing annoyance in her tone. "I.. It was my fault this happened, she is my friend and I taught her how to rob the people in the hot spring, but I told her not to do it by herself and not to get so close to them. They must have grown suspicious and were ready to catch me, but they got her instead. It should have been me." The poor girl frowned as regret washed over her.
"You gotta do what you gotta do to survive" Was all Jiraiya said deep in thought as Kanna looked at him surprised that he was able to understand why they were committing these crimes.
After waiting for the young child to wake up and being able to talk to the Sage, Kanna finally began to trust him. They had spent the entire night conversing about the hot springs, she explained that she had been trying to find decent work but was pushed to commit thievery due to the merchant's rejection. She even mentioned that she was helping the older couple by sending them funds weekly, but she was still too skeptical to tell him more about her life. On the other hand, he had told her about his travels, tried showing her his latest book in vain as she quickly dismissed it as being too vulgar. Jiraiya got up and exited the room as soon as he noticed the sun rising in the horizon, he came back shortly after with enough food to feed the three and Kanna and him started eating as they waited for the younger girl to wake up.
"My name is Kanna, but I don't remember where I come from and don't know if I have any family left" They had been eating in silence when she finally confessed as she looked down at her food. The sage was very receptive and understood right away that Kanna was being cautious around him. He deducted that she was lying by omission, but chose not to overstep. He knew that in time, she would open up to him but for now they had made great progress in opening up to each other and after getting to know the young girl a bit more, he felt the need to take her under his wing and look after her. Maybe it was about time he took up the role of Sensei once again and take a new apprentice, he suspected that Kanna was no normal girl whether she knew it or not and would eventually witness what she was truly capable of with time.
The younger girl finally rose from the bed and stared at the two eating. She froze looking at the old man with fear in her eyes, but Kanna reassured her that he was not going to hurt them and offered her some food. Jiraiya watched sneering towards the girls as Kanna was scolding the younger brat for not following her directions. It almost looked like Kanna was scolding her child and thought that she was a bit frightening when she was mad. He pulled out his small notebook and noted not to piss off the fiery young girl. He found out that the youngest brat was named Niko and that her family was a couple of farmers who had not been doing good with the season's drought. She quickly said her goodbyes and left to reunite with her parents and siblings not too excited at the thought of them scolding her for not going back home the day before.
Kanna looked over at Jiraiya about to take her leave, the sage told her to come back and offered her to become his assistant. She looked at him and questioned what the position entailed growing wary at the thought of having to sneak into more hot springs to creep on women. He reassured her that she would only be helping him with small chores such as writing messages, putting his book together, gathering his belongings when traveling. He told her that if she indeed wanted the position she would be willing to leave the town and travel along with him. She thought about it and knew she could no longer stay in town and not having any other place to go, she accepted his offer also being interested in learning jutsus from him. He told her they were to leave the following day just before the break of dawn, so she needed to collect her belongings and bring them to his hotel that same night.
The brunette girl ran to what had been her home for the past months, she looked around to collect any valuables she still had and seeing that she had too much stuff to carry with her, she decided to pay Niko a visit and leave her some of the precious objects she had acquired through time. She made a second stop on her way to Jiraiya's hotel, she looked for the traveling merchant who had been delivering goods to the old couple and gave him everything else she could not carry with her and told him to give it to them instead. She made sure to keep enough money/goods to last for at least 6 months, a few valuable objects and the perfume. She then made her way back to the hotel to find Jiraiya being a pervert and trying to pick up a whore on the street. Kanna frowned at the sight "DAD!..What do you think you are doing? Mom is looking for you and she is FURIOUS!". She said scolding him and dragging him into the hotel as the embarrassed sage was turning a thousand shades of red. "Oi! Little brat! You don't have to embarrass me like that!" Whined Jiraiya breaking a sweat and looking at her smug smirk.
The next day, they left town and walked East in the direction of the Hidden Rain Village. They had been engaged in conversation and after a few hours they decided to take a small break to rest and eat. Kanna had never traveled so far from the Land of Roses and thoroughly enjoyed the scenery. She was mesmerized by how the land was so different from her home and how it drastically changed the further away she went. "I want you to train me as a ninja" She broke the silence while she ate despite not revealing that she was one and a highly skilled at that. He looked at her incredulous and decided to test her by throwing a kunai at her, which she easily dodged.
"Ohhhhh..But it seems that you already are a Kunoichi..Would you like to tell me more about that dear Kanna?". She glared at him and mentally scolded herself for being discovered so easily.
"I don't remember much of my past, all I know is that I had an accident not too long ago and that I am highly skilled in combat..I discovered it while getting away from an angry mob after robbing some idiot feudal lord" She huffed and looked away pouting.
The sage decided to train her for the next few months as they traveled around the land "doing research" for his next book. He was surprised as to how skilled she was and was growing more and more suspicious of her true identity the more she trained and learned from him. He was concerned about the nightmares that would haunt her at night because she would have them often and seemed to deeply disturbed her. He couldn't help but wonder what on earth had happened to this child, but he was happy she was finally able to trust him and open up about her past little by little.
One day after training, he finally decided to ask about the curse mark on her neck hoping that she would give him any insight on Orochimaru's whereabouts. "Say, Kanna.. I couldn't help but notice the mark on your neck. How did you get that? She looked at him and gave him a vague explanation as to how she got it.
"You know, I know someone who also bears the very same mark" He mentioned hopeful that the brunette girl would be drawn to tell him more about it. Him and his sneaky ways of picking up information, it was no wonder he had been in this lifelong mission to collect any insight on his former comrade.
"I...hhad been attacked by this snake looking man during a mission. He ssaid he wanted my Jutsu but was not able to get it at the end. So now I am looking for him! I need to find him!" She exclaimed with tears appearing in her eyes. A mixed of emotions showered over the girl as she remembered the day she encountered Orochimaru ignorant of who and what his goal was. The only thing she knew was that he had been the culprit for her misery and now she had found hope that maybe her Sensei would know more about him. Little did she know that all this time they had been traveling together was to gather information about his whereabouts. Jiraiya assumed that if he was to tell Kanna about Orochimaru then she too, would decide to share the details of how she came to fight him.
"The snake man, as you call him, his name is Orochimaru and he used to be a dear friend of mine. I know what you are thinking, but he used to not be the way he was. His thirst for power corrupted him to become the monster he now is. He is one of the three legendary Sannin just like I am, and used to be a part of my team when we were younger. Sadly, he decided to defect the village we come from and leaving us all behind. I have been tracking him ever since, with the hopes that maybe one day I will either make him come to his senses or to put an end to his charade". Kanna listened carefully to her sensei, shocked to find out the monster who had destroyed her life was once a loyal shinobi and close friend of his. She did not judge her sensei, she had come to know him, grow fond of him and even trust him in the short time he had spent training her. More importantly, she understood the concept of betrayal. She had gone through the exact same thing with her family, so she did not judge but listened and decided to share a few fragments of what had been hunting her every night in her dreams.
"My father was the Chief of War in my land, we used to do a perimeter check around the village every morning and just before sunset. One day, we were patrolling like we usually did and all the sudden the bells rang to warn us of intruders in the village. Long story short.. We were surrounded and the Snake man attacked me, my father defended me and.. And.. He died in the process. The snake man cursed me and I couldn't save my father.." She quietly sobs looking away hiding her tears in embarrassment. "That's why I must find him...Orochimaru".. She savored his name greeting her teeth in anger.
"Kanna, You and I will work together to find him, but I advise against seeking vengeance. I will do anything in my power to find him and to help you get stronger, but I beg you not to cave into darkness or that will be your demise. You got the sweetest smile I have ever seen, but I can still see the sadness in your eyes, don't let the hate and anger dim the light in you." Jiraiya looked at her sympathetically and hugged the curly haired kunoichi. He had grown very protective of her and regretted not being able to stop Orochimaru before he had hurt her and anyone else.
"Crying will get me nowhere..I do not seek vengeance, I seek justice" Kanna replied bitterly as she hugged her Sensei.
It had been the first time Jiraiya had seen the young girl so vulnerable and he disliked seeing this side of her, she was indeed a walking contradiction and he could barely believe that the same bubbly and kind girl held so much inside of her. He vowed to be his mentor and guide her out of the darkness that was starting to consume her, he would try and save her just as he had tried and failed to save his and Tsunade's old comrade: Orochimaru.
Author's Note: I don't own Naruto.
I took a break from posting last week, but will be back to doing it every Friday or Saturday.
Enjoy this chapter! Next one will be about Neji, I'll try to alternate until the two story lines meet.