Toltiir decided that having NARUTO being the agent of change was entirely too overdone. Why not try someone else?
Then there was the WHEN. Why not here?
Jiraiya was not having a particularly good year. Not only had the publisher of his "Gutsy Ninja" story informed him that there likely would not be a second printing, but Orochimaru had betrayed the village and done some pretty horrific things. Tsunade had left the village already, but word out was that she was intent on dragging her family's name through the mud.
It was a time when Jiraiya himself was questioning his path in life, where things he'd been certain of were now in doubt. Where he had his own doubts and insecurities rising up.
Had nothing changed, he would have gone on to bury himself in the whole 'super-pervert' lifestyle and written the Icha Icha series and been wandering spy/writer and the single one of the Leaf's Densetsu No Sannin still loyal to the village.
Things were changing though.
"Get that pervert!"
Jiraiya paused in the pouring of his tea. He had just wandered into this village, which was new as far as he knew.
Actually, even calling it a village was a bit much. So far it consisted of a cafe where one could get a cup of tea or sake, a small community center, and a hot spring. Only the hot spring/inn seemed to be older than a few months, though a few more foundations had been built for other buildings at this crossroads.
Second, nobody was even looking in his direction. Instead they were all looking outside.
"SWEET!" yelled a very short individual in a brown outfit as he leapt from obstacle to obstacle at high speed.
That the short fellow was clutching a variety of women's underthings was duly noted.
Jiraiya wasn't sure what to make of the scene. Other than someone else was being attacked, that the old guy was apparently a taijutsu expert of some kind, and that it was a lot more amusing when someone ELSE was being pursued by a number of outraged women.
"That guy never learns," said the chef behind the counter, grilling some sort of flatbread for a customer.
Jiraiya made a noise that could have been taken for agreement or a number of other things.
"Who?" asked the customer, a fisherman from his equipment and clothing.
"Happosai. Taijutsu master. Just appeared one day and started molesting the local girls," supplied the chef.
Jiraiya set his drink down. "Taijutsu master?"
"Yup," said the chef. "You'd think a master of a discipline would be more in control of themselves."
"You'd think," said the fisherman. "But it's not the case. Masters of ninjutsu, masters of taijutsu, men that be the fools for women both."
"No genjutsu masters then?" asked the chef.
"Haven't run across any, but then they'd be a bit more subtle don't you think?" said the fisherman, throwing back a cup of some amber fluid at the asking of that question.
"S'pose," agreed the chef.
Screams of pain and protests of innocence sounded outside the little place, along with the sounds of impacts.
"Is the game worth that much pain?" asked the chef.
"Meh, you know the guy most popular with the ladies I've ever seen?" countered the fisherman. "I was up at the lake. Met this wandering author type."
Jiraiya didn't twitch or anything. Just listened a bit more intently.
"Writes and illustrates KIDS books," said the fisherman. "Stuff for the little ones. Also does some music. Apparently one of those 'write what you know' guys so his main characters always have some music background. Anyway - you wouldn't believe the girls hanging around him!"
"Really?" asked the chef. "Huh."
"What was the guy's name?" asked the fisherman. "One of those almost-remember things. Bansho? Banto? Bansku? Bagi? Something like that."
Later, Jiraiya would pass the moaning beaten body of this 'Happosai' thrown on a trash heap. He would remember his own beatings, particularly those at the hands of Tsunade.
He would consider that perhaps a change in tactics would be advisable.
Minato had read the "Gutsy Ninja" story and been impressed by the novel despite its poor sales. This new book, on the other hand, was something entirely different.
A children's book, illustrated, in a style that would be considered a tankubon or a graphic novel in another world and time.
Quite a bit of "Gutsy Ninja" was copied in spirit in "Ninja Mouse, Wanderer's Rest" - but greatly simplified in terms of the main plot. It was when you got into the subtext that more complex themes and issues were brought up for consideration.
Minato set the book aside, looking up at the ceiling briefly. "This..."
"Has already been banned in Amegakure and two other Hidden Villages," said Jiraiya with a shrug. "It's also already outsold 'Gutsy Ninja' by a factor of three despite only being out a few weeks. My publisher is quite pleased - apparently preorders weren't that good but sales are picking up all the time."
"I'm not surprised if Kiri and a few other villages frown on it," said Minato Namikaze. "The character's philosophies, rendered in children's rhymes, are pretty different from what most other villages consider virtues among ninja."
"The artwork is fairly cute," said Kushina, setting aside her own copy. "Who did it?"
"An established children's writer, Basu Teruka," said Jiraiya. "Civilian artist. Ran into him near Lake Nigori. Turned out he'd read 'Gutsy Ninja' and liked it."
"I would have thought you'd have written something a little more adult, but this is good too," admitted Minato.
"Well, I'll probably write something a bit more adult, but under a pen-name." Jiraiya shrugged. "This is selling well though. I'm already working on a sequel."
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(Posted Sun, 26 May 2013 21:10)
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