I apologize if toward the end the quality of this chapter suffers, but the forum I go to receive feedback has become increasingly useless lately.
CHAPTER 2 - Opinions
A little girl was laying on the floor with a book and a dictionary in front of her. The book was a simple one about the ninja villages and it contained even some basics about chakra and handseals.
The child, who looked around four years old, was frowning at the pages, partially because she had an hard time with reading and understanding some lines, and partially because she didn't really want to study those things.
She wanted to go and see her mother who, the child noticed, seemed sad lately. Or maybe she had always been but she didn't see it before? In any case her mother looked a little bit happier when she visited her, so she wanted to go.
The child didn't understand why her father forbid her to go outside her room except for when one of her tutors accompanied her, nor why he never spent any time with her. He was an important man with many responsibilities, or so her teachers said. They looked uncomfortable when she asked.
Still, there was something about him that unsettled her. Maybe it was the coldness that never left his eyes, or the disappointment that he never even tried to conceal when looking at her. Or the shadows -ninja?- that followed him everywhere. Or maybe the fact that anyone who spoke with him seemed terrified by his mere presence.
The noise of something falling on the floor and breaking, followed by muffled screams, startled the child out of her thoughts. They seemed to come from one of the rooms on the ground floor, and for once the little girl decided she'd go and steal a look at what was going on without her teachers accompanying her.
Reaching the doorknob wasn't easy, but she managed and found herself in the corridor. She made her way to the stairs and went down. The voices were clearer now, even if they weren't yelling anymore she could recognize her father's voice muffled by that strange mask he always wore.
Tiptoeing down the corridor, the child got to the more traditional sliding door which hid her father and she pulled to open it. The panel run on its wooden rails to reveal a scene that would scar the girl forever…
-o-o-
The first thing Kushina felt was a hand on her shoulder.
Her reaction was an automatic reflex more than anything. She grabbed her knife, which she always kept within reach regardless of the situation, grasped the wrist of her aggressor and pulled while rolling on her back. She ended up straddling the one who was shaking her shoulder while holding the knife at his throat.
Minato froze and controlled the impulse to gulp, least the blade at his throat cut him.
The redhead on top of him had her eyes unfocused and was looking around frantically. He also noticed that her breathing was shallow and sweat covered her forehead despite the cool air of the night.
After a minute of patiently waiting for the girl to get her bearings, she finally looked down at him and glared, waiting for an explanation.
"Ah… I thought to wake you up since it seemed you were having a bad dream. You were whimpering and moving around in your sleep, you know?"
The last part, which Minato had added as a sort of revenge for her not having removed that damned knife from his throat, caused Kushina to blush heavily in embarrassment. She also seemed to suddenly realize the position they were in, with her straddling him, which didn't help her in that regard.
"Whatever, don't expect me to thank you." The red head said while hastily standing up and turning her back to him.
Maybe it was only because he was used to girls fawning over him, but her attitude was really annoying the blonde. He was just trying to help, what the hell was her problem?
"I didn't expect it anyway, after all only civilized people thank who helps them. Next time I'll save myself the trouble and just leave you to cry in your sleep."
Minato saw her flinch at that and immediately regretted saying those words. He didn't really mean them, and they came out harsher than he intended them to be. He sighed and opened his mouth to apologize…
"I'm sorry."
…only to be beaten to it by Kushina. He blinked and looked at her back, surprised that she would not only say it, but mean it too. At least judging by her tone.
The younger girl turned around to face him, even though she avoided eye contact. She was hugging herself and was shivering slightly, but somehow Minato doubted that it was because of the night air.
"You're right, I was having a nightmare. I'm sorry for snapping at you, it's just… Living on the road has given me some problems with sleeping or just plain relaxing. I've heard ninja have them too, right?"
The Leaf jounin simply nodded at her. Most of his friends had trouble lowering their guards even in their own homes, some out of paranoia, others because they were haunted by memories of missions gone wrong.
"Want to talk about it?" Minato offered, "The dream I mean. It can help sometimes."
Kushina smiled and shook her head. Her half smile was meant to let him know that, even if she declined, she appreciated the gesture. The blond was just stunned by how much softer and prettier she looked like that, almost a whole different person from the loud annoying tomboy she was.
He wasn't offended, after all most people don't want to share potentially personal info like what they dreamed about with the first ninja that was assigned the mission to protect them. But still, a little part of him felt disappointed, this little red haired girl in front of him wasn't an air head like all the other civilian females he had come in contact with, and he found himself hoping they could become friends.
With that last thought in mind, he grinned and wished her good night as she went back to her futon, while he himself jumped on a nearby tree where he resumed his watch over the camp.
-o-o-
The first rays of sunlight hit Kushina's face waking her up before anyone else. She didn't really mind getting up so early. As demonstrated by that night 'accident', sleep wasn't always a peaceful and relaxing experience for her, although she had to admit that there had been some huge improvements from when she first left Amegakure.
Back then she couldn't sleep for more then two hours, the fear of being found and dragged back making her wake up at the slightest disturbance. She also always found tears trailing down her cheeks when she awakened.
Stretching lightly, she grabbed a bucket and began to walk towards the nearby river, enjoying the chilling morning air.
Once reached the shore, she placed the bucket on the ground next to her as she knelt down and dipped her hands in the ice cold water. The redhead scooped up some water and splashed her face, the action waking her up fully.
Kushina inhaled deeply with her eyes closed, then opened them to look up at the dawn sky and calmly breathed out.
After taking the bucket and filling it up, she turned and went back to rejoin the others who were starting to get up. The exception was the tall white haired shinobi leaning against a tree at the edge of the camp, as if to wait for her, who looked like he had been up for a while. Something that was probably true, as Kushina just realized.
"You were awake to guard us, Jiraiya-sama, weren't you?"
He smiled at her, "Bright girl. Yes, well, it's what I'm paid for. And for your information, I think you made a very cute picture while sleepily going to the stream."
Kushina's happy mood suddenly wasn't so happy anymore. With a murmured pervert and some curses she went to help Yasame making breakfast.
Jiraiya chuckled and jumped on a tree to see if Minato was already up and ready or if he needed a kick to get going. Sadly it wasn't the case, as the blond seemed to have developed a sixth sense for when the Toad Hermit was thinking of throwing him off a tree. Or a cliff. Or a roof. A ramp of stairs. Gamabunta's back.
After being thrown down anywhere he could be, Minato now woke up whenever Jiraiya was less then four steps from him. Which was fun too in its own way.
"We should reach the giant bamboo thicket forest by noon today. It's only a couple miles south of the Kannabi bridge, so I guess we're going to part soon. "
His voice would have sounded normal to anyone else, but Jiraiya had known him long enough to detect the slight anxiousness in his student's tone. He didn't even need to see Minato's face, which was glued to a map of the area, to know he was frowning. The toad summoner put an hand on his prized pupil's shoulder and patted him.
"Don't worry Minato, your work will be easy enough, and I can take care of myself just fine. Have some confidence."
"To be honest, I'm more worried about what you may find out, sensei."
Minato rolled up the map and put it back in his backpack. Without further words the two ninja jumped down the tree and went to help their clients re-packing everything they had used to camp, and the whole convoy left soon after.
A couple of hours later they were all travelling, Jiraiya was walking near the front while Minato was beside the last wagon. They hadn't talked since early morning, Minato because he was worried and Jiraiya because he was thinking of both what he'll have to do and how to reassure him.
In the end, the self-proclaimed Greatest Wooer and Hero Jiraiya-sama, decided that what his student really needed was some wisdom from his magnificent teacher. The whispering and giggling girls who somehow gathered near his student at the end of the convoy, only made it easier.
Slowing down until he was walking with Minato, the white haired man spoke quietly with his second favourite blond (after all there were two very big and good reason that kept Tsunade as number one in that list).
"You know Minato, those girls are eating you with their eyes. I'd suggest you that black haired one, very beautiful, and outrageous curves. Although the brunette sisters on her left would be to die for if you convince them to share..."
"Stop it, sensei. Even if I was interested, which I'm not, they're civilians we're escorting." Minato rebutted with a hint of annoyance in his tone.
"Oh come on Minato, don't be so picky. While I can agree about kunoichi having a certain appeal to them, you have to keep in mind that civilian girls can be just as pretty with the bonus that they're less likely to beat you into a coma."
"I don't plan to give girls a reason to beat me, sensei. And you totally missed my point."
"Yeah, yeah, the whole 'our lives are too different', 'she wouldn't understand me', 'I want a strong girlfriend who can look after herself', I heard those same things thousands of times, brat."
Minato was itching to punch him by now: first he feels the need to repeatedly try to hook him up, then he twist his words, and now he's gone back to calling him brat?
"But you know, just because a gal isn't a ninja it doesn't mean she is defenceless. For example I heard from Kateru-san and Yasame-san a bit about that little redhead, Kushina-chan. She's quite the firecracker and definitely someone who can defend herself."
The poor blond closed his eyes for a second when Jiraiya elbowed him and winked while talking about the young Uzumaki. Since simply saying 'I'm not interested' didn't seem to work, Minato tried another approach to shut him up.
"Sensei, please. She's sixteen!"
"So what?" Jiraiya responded, "It's only three years, they may seem like a big difference to you now, but I can guarantee you that once you both grow a bit more, you won't even realize it."
"What about rule 96?"
The toad summoner looked a bit uncomfortable, "What about that?"
"Well it's obvious that Kaiza-san has an interest in her, and since it's his parents who are officially our employers, add to that the warnings Sandaime-sama gave to you specifically about that rule, and with me being your student…"
"Ok, ok, I get it. Geez, you're really out to ruin my fun, aren't you? Ungrateful brat."
"Old pervert."
"And proud of it, boy."
Minato could only roll his eyes before going to take his place at the rear of the convoy. Really, why couldn't his sensei understand that he wasn't interested in getting a girlfriend now? He wanted to concentrate on his ninja career and to add to it a war seemed to be approaching… it wasn't the time to think about getting hooked up.
And even if it was, he'd definitely never go for a younger wanderer civilian girl with a personality that clashed so horribly with his own. Out of question.
"Anyway sensei, why are you so interested in her? I mean, you kept talking with her, or asking about her to Kateru-san and Yasame-san. I thought you'd be talking with the girls in the last wagon, if nothing else because you wouldn't look like a paedophile with them..."
"A pae- she's of age, Minato." Jiraiya hissed, "And as shocking as it may be for you, I don't think only about sex."
The blond stared back at his mentor expressionlessly.
"I'm serious, you little ungrateful brat. If you really need to know, I just... Well, when she glared at me yesterday, I had the weirdest déjà vu , somehow looking her in the eyes sent a shiver down my back."
The young jounin looked inquisitively at the older man, one of the great sannin of Konoha, a shinobi renowned in all the elemental countries. Why should he be intimidated by a little girl like that redhead?
The question was clearly written on his face as Jiraiya answered him.
"I don't know. Yet. That's why I was making so many questions. It doesn't matter, I'm sure I've never met her before, probably she simply looks like someone else. Anyway, don't let this distract you, just remember to keep your eyes open and everything will be fine."
While Minato didn't share the same optimism as his sensei, there really wasn't anything else he could do.
-o-o-
Grass Country had some of the more widely varied landscapes in the continent. Forests, grasslands, mountains, rivers and bamboo thickets, somehow they all fitted into that small patch of land. The real characteristic of Grass, however, was the numerous ravines that contoured the land.
As a consequence, Grass was also the nation with the highest count of bridges within its territory, and one of the most important was the same Kannabi bridge located only a few miles north of where a little group of travellers, mainly merchants and their families, stopped to have a quick lunch.
They'd normally have eaten without stopping, but two of the five children in the convoy were feeling sick, and as a plus, the ninja protecting them stated a little break wouldn't have affected the timetable anyway. They also added in a lower tone that the place was clear of bandits, and an ambush in the bamboo thicket forest was unlikely.
Of course, just to be on the safe side, they still went to scout the surroundings, so the former citizens of Basue were left alone as they eat a meager lunch and two families hastily warmed some broth for their youngsters.
There was among them also a red spot, clearly sticking out like a sore thumb in that environment, belonging to nonother than Kushina's hair.
"Are you sure you don't need help with anything else?"
"Yes, don't worry dear. Those two little hellions just aren't used to travelling, they'll be better soon."
Naoko, the mother of one of the sick children, smiled at the young girl with gratitude.
She, like a few others, had been a bit unsure about letting a stranger join their group, but didn't have the heart of denying her a chance. Nor the guts of going against Yasame, that woman could be wicked and had taken a shine to the lone girl.
Naoko thought it was because she saw herself in the young teenager, as Yasame too wasn't born in Basue.
She and her family had moved there when the dark haired woman was only a shy ten year old, and had to work hard to make some friends in the little village. Then, when she turned twenty, there was that dispute with Mariko, Kateru's girlfriend at the time, over him. No one would have expected the once timid girl to win as she did.
But it was only the previous day that she gained some understanding on her choice to help the young girl. It had taken less than two hours for Kushina's talk about her life to travel from the first wagon to the last one, and somehow it was like gossiping back in the village.
Naoko now truly felt guilty for having thought of letting the poor redhead go alone and couldn't be happier that she was with them. Kushina was after all a very nice person, worked hard, and tried to help everyone even if she officially, as an employee, was only bound to help Yasame and her family.
She always woke up before anyone else, went to a nearby river, and brought some fresh water back when they started to get up. She lend an hand to everyone when they packed, and was one of the last to lay down to sleep at night.
Everyone had come to like her quickly enough. Only the mothers of the others girls joked about how she was an hinderance for having caught the interest of such a good match as Kaiza, even if he wasn't interested in his parents' trade and chose pursuing his dream of becoming a fisherman. On the contrary, that was even better as it meant his eventual wife would inherit it.
But it seemed that girls nowadays preferred to stare dreamily at the admittedly really handsome, young and strong ninja passing by rather than thinking seriously about their future.
With a sigh, Naoko shook her head and went back to her son, internally cheering at not having to worry about finding him a nice spouse for a long time.
Meanwhile, just out of sight from the camp, Minato was looking at his sensei doing a last check on his equipment. A medium sized toad, which reached the blond's shoulder height, was standing beside him, watching as its summoner was getting ready.
"Very well, it seems this is it." Jiraiya said, now looking Minato in the eyes, "From now on, Gamashiro will take my place."
As if on clue, at those words that toad transformed in a perfect copy of its summoner. It even grinned widely and gave Minato a thumbs up.
"I gave him a lot of my chakra, but just in case the henge will exhaust his reserves faster than expected you can use that seal we worked on to to pass him some of yours. If everything goes according to the plan I'll reach you at the border with Waterfall country, but don't stop there just to wait for me. Go on till you bring them to destination, eventually you'll go to the safe house I told you about after that."
"I know, sensei. You've said the same things a thousand times already." Minato tried to joke, but a slight worry was still identifiable on his face.
Jiraiya smiled proudly at him, the only student he had left. He deeply wished for his spying operation to refute the rumours that had been going on for the last three months about Iwa amassing its forces. He had already lived through a war, and dearly wished to avoid another one.
"Ok, ok. Just remember, if you take up any of those girls I want you to put everything down on paper, so that when I get back you can tell me in details everything you did, how you did it, where, and how many times."
Minato inched the bridge of his nose, "For the love of... You're unbelievable, sensei."
The white haired man chuckled lightly, ruffled his pupil's hair -an action he knew pissed Minato off- and turned around. With three steps and a jump he was soon out of sight, but the blond jounin remained there staring off into space a bit longer. At least until an hand slammed into his back, making his knee alsmost give out.
"Cheer up, brat. Jiraiya-kun will be back soon, and in the meantime I'll keep you company. Now, why don't we go back to these pretty girls you were talking about?"
Minato blinked at the Jiraiya-look-alike-toad. Then, as he noticed just how well done that half-leer was, he groaned. He should have expected it, a perverted toad was just ideal for impersonating that perverted leech that was his sensei.
With a heavy sigh the human and the henged summon walked back to their clients to get them back on the road. Minato already didn't feel too comfortable with using this escort mission as a cover to let his sensei get near and into Iwa territory, and now he had to guard the travellers alone, except for a toad whose greatest skill was the transformation technique. He'd do his best to protect them, anyway.
As they were about to rejoin the group, however, the blond was startled by noneother than the young Uzumaki almost bumping into him.
"Oh, here you are. Kateru-san sent me to look for you, we're ready to resume our travel, Jiraiya-sama."
"Very well, my dear, let's hurry back." It was almost disturbing how much Gamashiro resembled his summoner.
Still, while walking back, Minato decided to point out the fact he was there too, especially considering that from a technical point of view he was the only escort left there.
"I thought we were starting from scratch Uzumaki, why is it that you see fit to ignore my presence?" His tone remained light nonetheless, almost jokingly if one were to pay attention.
"I'm sorry Namikaze, -that's your name, right?- but if you want me to be honest, I don't think you're that good of a ninja."
Minato opened his mouth, then when a comeback failed to come, closed it. He was thrown off balance by that blunt opinion, he had always been considered particularly gifted in the ninja arts. He even graduated early and made jounin when he was younger than the average chuunin.
"What makes you say that?" he asked as he found his voice again, "You don't even know how ninja are trained or how they operate, did you even saw any carrying out a mission?"
Kushina, who was walking slightly ahead of him, looked back from over her shoulder when answering.
"Well, it's true I don't know much about shinobi, but I doubt a good one would have let himself be beaten so easily by me as you did. I could have killed you last night."
"Last night?"
The fake Jiraiya had stopped abruptly and turned towards them. Even that glint in his eyes was exactly the same the real sannin would have displayed, and that made Minato reach a conclusion: he'd never, ever, summon toads.
"You are a lolicon after all, then!"
Never.
Deciding to behave as if he was dealing with the real Jiraiya, he promptly ignored him, and motioned the young girl who was looking between them with an half-amused half-troubled expression to do the same.
He wasn't going to respond how he had let her put that knife on his throat, and even then, he could have easily disarmed or killed her with minimum effort, but he hadn't seen the need to. She had been clearly upset and she wasn't a treat, and he preferred avoiding the use of force in those cases.
Besides he really had nothing to prove to her. That is, unless they were attacked, then he'd show his worth through his actions rather than with words.
Minato followed the disguised toad and Kushina who re-joined the group, doing his best to politely shack off the girls who were suggestively smiling and waving at him.
It was a bit like being back in the academy, only worse since back there he was in a class with girls two years older than him and while they found him 'cute' he wasn't considered as dating material. It was true that nowadays many girls had revised their opinion, but between missions and training he didn't have to spend long periods of time with them if he didn't want to.
Off to the side he noticed Kaiza offering an helping hand to the Uzumaki girl to get on the wagon. He had to wonder about it. While the redhead was undeniably strong-willed and likeable, he was sure Kaiza could have had any of the older and more beautiful girls who were currently casting sheep's eyes at him.
Damn, but he hated being looked at like that, he never knew how to let them down without sounding like an ass. And it wasn't lack of practice either, since Minato did attract quite a number of girls. He just never managed to formulate his words in the right way.
He was either too gentle, which only encouraged them to try harder, or too harsh, which caused the girl he was talking to to either burst out crying, or yelling at him for being a bastard too full of himself who thought he could step on anyone's feeling.
Damn, but that one girl had scared him, she had gone nuts when he said he didn't want to go out with her.
"Hey brat! Stop daydreaming and get back to work, I won't do all the work, got it?"
Stupid toad, had to treat him just like Jiraiya-sensei. Minato knew that if he asked Gamashiro could say that it was for appearance's sake, but that overgrown frog was having too much fun in his opinion.
-o-o-
At the Kannabi bridge, a couple miles northward from where he left his student and a summon, the real Jiraiya observed a little team of three chuunin wearing the stone headbands studying the bridge that, should a war really break out, would inevitably become a major supply line path.
While the fact a team was indeed already checking out the bridge was suspicious, his mission was trying to find either a concrete confirmation or a refutation to all those suspicions that were already circulating in the most informed circles of the ninja villages.
So he stealthily slipped by them and went past the ravine using the underside of the bridge. He absently noted the lack of traps and idly wondered whatever those chuunin were sent to set some up, after all.
Leaving them and those thought behind, he resumed his run northward. He'd have to reach and cross the border within the day if he wanted to have a chance at keeping up with the timetable. It'd have been easier if he had had time to complete that transport jutsu he was working on with some toads, but he'd have to get into Earth country the old fashioned way.
-o-o- 3?
"So, the Hokage are giants as big as a mountain?"
"No, it isn't like that, you stupid. They have statues that big, representing the Hokage, and they protect the village."
Minato stoically watched ahead ignoring the argument even as he wanted to bang his head on the ground. Twenty minutes prior he had told the chatty and amazed girls about the Hokage's heads carved on the mountain that symbolically watched over the village. What followed was total madness as each one of them interpreted his words in a different way.
"You mean that there are giant golems around Konohagakure no Sato? Isn't that dangerous? What if they decided to attack the village?"
"No, no. They protect it! Weren't you listening?"
He idly wondered why he seemed to attract only brainless flirt, while the majority of smart and talented women he knew liked him only as a friend or treated him like a younger brother. It was a curse.
He could understand Mikoto, she was already in a relationship with Fugaku and she was older than him by a good five years, but it was like at some point all the silly girls scared away the ones he found more interesting with their shrilly voices.
That or they assumed that he had taken up Jiraiya's habits and avoided him as a consequence.
"Am I right, Minato-kun?"
The blond blinked and turned to look at the brown haired girl -he had no idea what her name was- that had just spoken to him.
"Er... I have to check something with my sensei, if you'll excuse me."
He wasn't fleeing.
He was an elite jounin, one of the strongest ninja of the Leaf, and the youngest to have such a title in the whole village.
He was not fleeing.
He was tactically retreating.
It wasn't his fault, the blond simply didn't like being dragged into a pointless diatribes, and if he didn't leave he may end up saying something really rude that he may regret. Again.
In addition, the continuous arguing was not only giving him an headache, but it was also making paying attention to his surroundings much more difficult that it was supposed to be.
As he neared the front where Gamashiro was, he could hear female laughter behind him and... ahead?
'Ah, right, must be Uzumaki. I guess Kaiza-san managed to get to her.'
That thought was relieving, both because it meant he'd distract the little girl from her habit to insult him as soon as he was within hearing distance, and because it meant the dark haired guy wouldn't have a reason to glare murderously at him.
It was unnerving, because should Kaiza decide to attack, the young jounin couldn't exactly retaliate. Technically speaking Kaiza's parents were the only ones paying the mission, although Minato knew that everyone in the group had contributed paying it was custom to have only one or two names as the contractors.
Damn bureaucracy, the blond didn't envy the poor bastards that had to act as paper-pushers for the Hokage.
Minato reached his fake sensei and tapped him on the shoulder once, then twice then another final time, hoping Jiraiya had taught his summons basic signs codes. Luckily it seemed so as Gamashiro excused himself from the conversation he was having with Kateru-san and turned to him with a serious expression.
"A scout?"
Minato nodded, careful to keep his voice low, "Seems so, I think a larger group of bandits ahead may be preparing an ambush. If they noticed us, though, they may decide that it's not worth the risk, assuming there aren't ninja in that group."
"I doubt there are any, they'd have had the brains to send a scout who could avoid being spotted." Gamashiro seemed to share the same ability as Jiraiya to switch from perverted idiot to competent fighter when the need arose, "I won't be able to do much without giving away that I'm not Jiraiya, can you do this alone?"
"You mean defeat a group of thugs with no skill that think they have the element of surprise? Since I was an academy student." Minato answered sarcastically.
"Just remember that your priority is protecting the caravan and its members, tadpole. I'll help you with that but it'd be better if you didn't let anyone past you."
Minato nodded as the henged toad moved back, leaving the blond jounin at the front so that he could move to attack as soon as they reached whatever trap the bandits were preparing.
"Is there a problem?"
Minato smiled at the dark haired man leading the convoy.
"Nothing to worry about Kateru-san, sensei and I are going to take care of everything."
"If you say so."
Why was everyone always so condescending with him? When sensei said the exact same thing everyone felt relieved and looked at the pervert in amazement, but hearing his apprentice just wasn't the same it seemed.
"Dear," the voice of the merchant's wife caught her husband's attention, "It looks like we have a problem, the road's blocked."
And indeed, there was a barricade made from fallen trees and boulders that prevented the passage. More importantly, however, were the poorly -to Minato- concealed thugs in the foliage at the sides of the road. He counted eight of them.
"Don't leave the cart and stay down."
"Wha-"
In a blur of speed the young jounin disappeared from sight. With his left hand he launched an handful of shuriken on the left while he himself ran on the right, a kunai held firmly in his right hand. He reached and slit the throat of one bandit before the others realized they were being attacked instead of attacking.
Minato ducked under a sword swing that would have chopped his head of, and spun on his right foot drawing another kunai with his left hand that was promptly buried in his would-be beheader's gut. He launched the blade in his right hand between the eyes of a thug who had his sword half-way out of the sheath. A fourth man didn't wait there, he turned and run away without a second glance.
With the right side of the road cleaned, Minato turned his attention to the remaining assailants. One was on the ground, two shuriken in the chest and a bad cut on his throat, he was either dead or would be in under a minute. Another was leaning on a tree glaring murderously at him, his left leg having been injured by one of his shuriken.
The final two bandits, however, were a step away from reaching the cart, and one already had his sword raised ready to strike.
"Raiton: Shuurai!"
Two bolts of lightning struck them, sending the two men back and to the ground, unconscious. The only thug left had paled at the sight of a jutsu, finally realizing he was up against a trained ninja, and had started limping away to save his life.
Minato waited a bit to make sure the danger had passed before relaxing.
"Well done." Fake Jiraiya praised in the general silence, "Can you clear the way now? We still need to pass."
The blond nodded and walked to the barricade just as their shocked charges found their voices.
"Wow."
Minato, his back to the convoy, smirked proudly at having impressed their clients. It wasn't that he was vain, but people tended to always admire his sensei and overlook him, so it felt good to be acknowledged.
"Well, it seems your student isn't that useless after all, Jiraiya-sama."
Stupid nosy red-haired brat, maybe he should put spiders in her futon when she slept tonight.
"Kushina, you really shouldn't be so rude with Namikaze-san, he just saved us all."
"Sorry Yasame-san."
The blond grinned cheekily to himself while standing in from of the barrier the bandits had risen to block their path. Extending his right hand in front of him he concentrated and focused his chakra, making it spin in multiple directions faster and faster, but controlling it so that it formed a sphere.
It took him about a minute before he was ready and used the chakra sphere to hit the barricade. It blew it up, cutting through the trees and boulders alike.
Gamashiro-Jiraiya came to stand beside him admiring the effects of his new jutsu and whistled appreciatively.
"Nice. So is this that 'something amazing' that the gallant said you're working on?"
Minato made a face at hearing his pervert sensei called 'gallant' but otherwise ignored it and answered.
"Yeah, it's pretty much done, but I need to practice it a bit more. It takes me too long to form it if I want to use it comfortably in a fight, and sometimes I still loose control of it too."
"It's still impressive, to create such a jutsu from nothing. Have you thought of a name?"
"No, not really..." The blond muttered.
"You'll come up with something." the disguised summon then turned to their clients, "Onwards people, we have some more road to cover before the end of the day."
-o-o-
Jiraiya didn't like what he had gathered so far, not one bit.
Many villages near the border of Earth Country were deserted. In the last one he'd spied two teams of Iwa-nin were helping the civilians evacuate, they were being moved northward, in the hinterland.
He had also been given information about the increase of ninja activities, as well as stockings of various resources, from food, to weapons, to other essentials, and many trade routes were being modified.
A couple of his contacts had also become untraceable, and that worried him especially since one of the first he had been trying to communicate with had died in the collapse of his home. The problem was that he knew for a fact that the building that fell down wasn't where the guy lived. And he overheard a drunk hinting that there was more going on about his death.
The signs pointed to one thing, but he'll have to find some solid evidence before going back, and maybe also something about Iwa's plans and first targets.
He had hoped to never see another war, but if these bastards wanted one so badly, than he'll do anything in his power to stop them before it went out of control and dragged other villages into it.