On seeing one of these rumored individuals in the market of Roulette Village, he was rather more intrigued.
She had been wearing a hooded cloak, but the occasional flash of exotic nut-brown skin as she concluded a deal for a wagon of supplies had revealed a few details the aged pervert could appreciate.
It was times like this that he was grateful that Tsunade had always rebuffed his advances (though frankly the force of those denials had been excessive even when he was being serious about the whole 'settling down' thing) and he'd continued his 'wandering pervert' spy lifestyle. Why, if she'd actually responded to one of his more serious flirtings - he might have settled down and become a respectable ninja/father/etcetera. Then he wouldn't be nearly as effective as a spy, more importantly - he wouldn't be here for this.
Following the trail was easy enough a genin fresh out of the Academy could have probably managed it. The woman was exceptionally wary though, so he had to follow at a distance. A very FAR distance as it turned out she was able to detect him nearly as if she had a Byakugan or something.
This country did not have a ninja village, so why had a rumor of a ninja village hidden even from the rulers of the country itself suddenly began making its way through the grapevine?
Such things made rulers of countries very nervous. Nervous rulers made their neighbors nervous. That tended to have all sorts of repercussions that screwed up people's lives at all levels of society. It wasn't instant though, so he'd just investigate and then be able to put a few words in the right ears.
Which was distracting him from going back to Konohagakure because he'd intended to investigate some rumors about some new bloodline that was going around.
His hobbies and his line of work both indicated that the hooded cloak concealed a very well built - if slender - maiden. That the woman was a warrior, not a stealth expert. That, despite her build, was heavy - indicating armor or some jutsu.
Also, from when he'd come close to her in the market place, that she smelled faintly of honeysuckle.
The coins she'd passed the merchant he'd spoken with were unfamiliar but were of gold. Therefore valuable though not generally passed around. Real gold coins that changed hands a lot wore quickly as gold was a soft metal, and merchants had a tendency to shave little bits off.
He noticed the ambush point long in advance of getting there.
It was a good choice, the forest giving way to sparse vegetation and rubble with the slow climb in elevation reaching the appropriate point for this area. There was a narrow pass with two cliffs bordering. More to the point, there were guards posted on one cliff. Which meant that the one on the other cliff was better at hiding.
Jiraiya considered that for awhile, letting the woman with her wagon move further ahead. To move ahead into the trap? Try and sneak in? Just go down the road as if unaware of anything, just a curious wanderer with nothing better to do?
Ah, the more obvious of the guards was exchanging a set of signals with the trader.
Maybe stay here and observe would be the best choice for now.
"Okay, here you go, Hinata," said Naruto, taking her hand and putting the ring on her palm. "It's... she fainted."
"Idiot," said Sakura, slapping him in the back of the head. "What ELSE was she going to do?"
"Sakura. Stop that. Really," responded Naruto. "Now that everyone has equipment-"
"Ahem," pointedly said Anko, crossing her arms in front of her and giving him a hostile look.
"No, you are NOT getting an everfull bottle of sake," said Naruto. "This is a mission. A potentially deadly mission."
"So you do have one?" asked Anko, suddenly more alert. "It's called an 'everfull bottle'?"
"Yes, but you're not... when did you steal my pouch?" asked Naruto.
"Now how does this work?" asked Anko as she opened the pouch and then tried to look inside.
WHIPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP! swoop!
"You know," said Kurenai after the pouch had hit the ground. "I just somehow knew that was going to occur. There's just one thing to say right now."
"'Better her than me?'" asked Sasuke.
"'Oh no, not again?'" suggested Sakura.
"'Aren't we EVER going to get to the actual mission?'" tried Kiba.
"'This is fate'?" was Shino's contribution.
"'I am not going in after her'?" hoped Naruto.
Hinata was unconscious and not available for comment.
"Rowl ruff?" supplied Akamaru, feeling left out.
"WHAT THE #?*! IS THAT?!" screamed Anko from somewhere inside the pouch. "%@&##!"
Ayame, as this WAS taking place in a private reserved room behind Ichiraku's, tried "Not stupid, not expendable, not going. Oh. Maybe 'Now that she had coming.'"
Kurenai regarded the innocent-looking little pouch on the ground. "I'm not going near that."
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(Posted Thu, 12 Aug 2010 16:40)
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