A Girl's Mind is a Dangerous Place

Chapter 50

Jiraiya will just have to put his curiosity to rest for now, he supposes.

Ah, the sacrifices he makes for the mission.

He's sure he could get even that legendary Uchiha composure to break, with this sort of situation!

He shakes the thought off with a sigh, and waves the kiddos into motion, positioning himself in the rear to keep an eye on everything.

It's a quick trip to the lake, the kids laying down Natsu, Sasuke's face pinched and annoyed as Naruto's twists up in worry.

Jiraiya's going to have to deal with that...

Later.

Pinky's not awake, which means whatever information he's got is useless to Jiraiya right now. But he blatantly ignored Jiraiya's orders on chakra usage to run into a chemical fire, all to save the life of one civilian merchant, so Jiraiya's going to trust there was a reason for it.

Kid's not an amature at least, so he shouldn't have to worry about Pinky doing something that reckless for no reason.

Kid's an idealist though... could have rushed in just to save a life, nothing else to it.

Jiraiya shakes off the thought and looks at the merchant, then at Naruto and Sasuke, sitting by their unconscious teammate.

He needs information, and the sooner the better but, well.

His best techniques take time.

And he doesn't have enough of it, with an attack like that already behind them. Who knows what else could happen, now that they're involved.

And something tells him they're about to get very involved.

So he puts on a friendly smile with just a little too much tooth to it, and looks at the merchant.

"Do you know who I am?"

The man's eyes skip across his face, just that side of too quick, and Jiraiya's sure the man does.

He shakes his head though - an attempt to get set free, or an attempt to lay the groundwork to deny everything?

Guess that'll be something to figure out.

"I know who you are," Jiraiya continues when he's certain the man won't speak. Playing omniscience isn't his preferred strategy, too much of a chance to say something wrong and show his hand, but he thinks the guy's just scared enough for it to work, as long as Jiraiya's careful. "You came from Kiri, didn't even get a good haul for all your trouble - I hear their trading tariffs are still obscene for your average dealer. Had to have been miserable, right? Maybe you picked up some extra cargo, just a couple things, no one was supposed to know - only someone did. Tell me, who could want to kill you so badly? This was no Kiri assassination, not unless they're hiring out these days. Perhaps I can even arrange some protection, if I know who I'm dealing with."

It's an empty promise, as much as Jiraiya wishes it weren't.

He's in no position to be offering a guard, and Konoha will take far too long to send someone.

Even if it's part of the job, lies always feel like ash on his tongue.

"I-it wasn't-" the man breaks off into coughs, wet enough that Jiraiya's pretty sure there'll be blood coming out soon.

Man probably needs a medic more than a protection team at this point...

"It was just some weapons..." the merchant all but whispers, and a stone drops in Jiraiya's gut.