After school.
That feeling of being watched grew stronger and stronger, like someone was staring at him from behind. Shin-chan turned around several times, but there were only a few pedestrians on the street—no one suspicious.
And yet the feeling was still wrong.
Shin-chan unconsciously quickened his pace.
But before he had gone very far, he suddenly stopped.
There was someone crouching on a rooftop across from him.
White hair. A Konoha forehead protector. And in his hands was some sort of long tube, pointed toward the hot springs.
Shin-chan tilted his head and stared for two seconds.
That tube... looked like a telescope?
A telescope pointed at the hot springs?
And in the hot springs there were...
Shin-chan's eyes lit up. He took a deep breath, cupped his hands around his mouth, and shouted, "What are you doing? Are there pretty big sisters in the hot springs?"
The figure on the roof jolted so hard his whole body bounced, and his footing slipped.
"Waaaahhh!"
Crash!
He tumbled straight off the roof and landed spread-eagle on the ground, while the telescope flew off somewhere in the distance.
Before Shin-chan could even walk over, a burst of shrieks suddenly erupted from the direction of the hot springs.
"Ahhh!!!"
"Someone's peeping!"
"Pervert!"
Then all kinds of things came flying through the air toward this side—basins, ladles, bars of soap, shampoo bottles, and even a wooden sandal.
"Pervert, get out!"
"Beat him up!"
Shin-chan stood there blankly as the objects rained down everywhere, some of them nearly hitting him.
The man on the ground rolled to his feet in one motion, grabbed Shin-chan by the wrist, and shouted, "Run!"
The two of them took off.
Behind them, the furious shouts from the hot springs gradually faded farther and farther away.
Only after they had sprinted across three streets and turned into a side alley did the man finally stop, hands on his knees, gasping for breath. "Huff... huff... that was close..."
Shin-chan looked up at him and asked, "Who are you?"
The man straightened up, wiped off some sweat, and struck what he clearly thought was a very cool pose.
"Who am I? I am the legendary—"
He paused and cleared his throat.
"The Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku, one of the legendary Sannin, the white-haired boyish toad messenger, the number one heroic ninja of the world—"
He went on for a long time.
After listening very seriously, Shin-chan nodded. "So who are you?"
Jiraiya's mouth twitched.
"Didn't I just say that?!"
"You said too much," Shin-chan answered honestly. "I couldn't remember it."
"I am the Great Toad Sage Jiraiya!"
Shin-chan blinked and repeated, "Toad Sage?"
"That's right!"
"What does a sage do?"
Jiraiya got stuck on that one.
"Uh... it means... a really powerful ninja."
"Oh." Shin-chan nodded, then tilted his head and asked, "Then what were you doing just now?"
Jiraiya's expression stiffened. "Well... ahem... I was... gathering material."
"What's gathering material?"
"It means observing life and collecting writing inspiration." Jiraiya said it with a straight face. "I'm a writer, you know. I'm writing a novel."
Shin-chan thought about it.
"Why do you need a telescope pointed at the hot springs to write a novel?"
Jiraiya choked.
Shin-chan kept going. "There were pretty big sisters bathing in the hot springs, right?"
Jiraiya's face reddened a little.
"Well..."
"You like looking at pretty big sisters too?"
Jiraiya froze for a second, then looked down at this five-year-old kid.
This kid... was kind of interesting.
"You..." he asked carefully, "you like that too?"
Shin-chan nodded as if it were obvious.
"Of course. Who doesn't like pretty big sisters?"
Jiraiya's eyes lit up, and he slapped Shin-chan on the shoulder. "Good! Well said, kid. You've got taste!"
Shin-chan swayed proudly.
"But I look at them out in the open. I don't hide on rooftops."
Jiraiya's expression froze again.
"I... I call this professionalism!"
"Professional peeping?"
"It's research!"
"Oh." Shin-chan nodded. "Then why did your research get you beaten up?"
Jiraiya had no answer.
Shin-chan looked at him, then suddenly asked, "Are you hungry?"
Jiraiya froze.
"A little..."
"Then let's go eat." Shin-chan said. "You treat me, and I won't tell anyone you were peeping."
Jiraiya's mouth twitched.
This brat... was blackmailing him?
But after thinking it over, he decided hush money was probably necessary.
"Fine. What do you want to eat?"
"Chocolate sticks!"
"That's a snack, not a meal."
"Then barbecue?"
"Deal."
Inside the barbecue restaurant, Shin-chan sat on the chair with his short legs swinging back and forth, his mouth stuffed full of meat.
Jiraiya sat beside him, eating noodles while secretly studying the child.
"Kid, what's your name?"
"Nohara Shinnosuke," Shin-chan answered through a mouthful of meat. "I'm five years old."
"Five..." Jiraiya nodded. "Are your parents ninja?"
"My dad is. My mom isn't."
"What about you? Do you want to be a ninja someday?"
Shin-chan nodded. "My dream is to become Hokage."
"Why do you want to become Hokage?" Jiraiya asked.
Shin-chan swallowed the barbecue and said with a very serious face, "So I can wipe out all the bell peppers."
Jiraiya froze.
"Wipe out bell peppers?"
"Yeah." Shin-chan nodded seriously. "Bell peppers are the enemy of my life."
Jiraiya couldn't help laughing.
"Kid, you're pretty interesting. If you ever need anything, you can come find me."
"Thanks, mister."
"I'm a sage!"
"Thanks, weird mister."
Jiraiya's mouth twitched.
Whatever. Weird mister it was.
By the time they finished eating barbecue, it was completely dark outside.
Standing at the entrance of the barbecue restaurant, Shin-chan waved at Jiraiya. "Bye, weird mister."
"I'm a sage!"
"Weird mister, are you coming back to peep again tomorrow?"
"..."
Jiraiya turned around and left.
Shin-chan laughed and ran home. When he reached the front door, he suddenly stopped and looked back.
That feeling of being watched seemed to be gone now.
He tilted his head and thought about it.
Was it because of that weird mister?
Eh, whatever. No point thinking about it.
"I'm home!"
When he pushed the door open, Misae's voice came from the kitchen.
"Why are you so late again? Where did you go this time?"
"I met a weird mister, and he treated me to barbecue."
Misae poked her head out of the kitchen, instantly looking wary.
"A weird mister? What weird mister?"
"A white-haired one. He said he was some kind of toad sage."
Misae froze.
"Lord Jiraiya?"
"You know him?"
A vein popped out on Misae's forehead. "That's one of the legendary Sannin, not some weird mister!"
"But he was hiding on a rooftop peeping at the hot springs."
Misae's expression froze.
Two seconds later—
"Nohara Shinnosuke, you are not allowed to play with people like that ever again."
"But he bought me barbecue..."
"Not even for barbecue!"
Shin-chan sighed.
The grown-up world was really hard to understand.
Outside the window, the moon had risen.
And somewhere in Konoha, Jiraiya sneezed. "Who's talking about me?"
~~~
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