The slanting glow of the evening sun streamed through the windows into the Hokage's office, casting a long bar of light across the floor.
The Third Hokage sat behind his desk, a thin trail of smoke rising from the pipe in his hand. A thick stack of documents lay piled in front of him.
Squinting slightly, he read through them one by one, occasionally jotting a few notes in the margins.
The door opened.
"Yo, old man, still working?"
A carefree voice drifted in, and then Jiraiya swaggered inside, hands tucked into his sleeves, looking completely at ease.
The Third Hokage glanced up at him, then lowered his head and went back to his paperwork.
"You're back?"
"Yeah." Jiraiya walked to the window, looked outside for a moment, then turned and leaned against the sill. "Mission's done."
"How did it go?"
Jiraiya grinned, and his expression immediately turned indecently pleased.
"I went to the hot springs today to gather material, and let me tell you, the harvest was incredible. The beauties in that bath, those figures, those curves—especially the one with the hair buns, whew..."
The Third Hokage nodded reflexively, his pen still moving over the documents. "Mm."
"Her skin was white as tofu, and the way the droplets slid down from her shoulders..."
"Mm."
"And then there was the one with the ponytail—what an elegant silhouette..."
"Mm."
The more Jiraiya talked, the more excited he got, gesturing wildly as he described it.
The Third Hokage's pen suddenly stopped. He slowly looked up, as if only just realizing something was wrong.
Jiraiya was still going enthusiastically. "Especially when she turned her head, that profile—"
"Ahem, ahem." The Third Hokage coughed heavily.
Jiraiya froze for a second. When he met the Third Hokage's expressionless stare, he hurriedly started explaining, flustered. "Ah... well... that's not what I meant..."
The Third Hokage took a deep breath and set down his pipe.
"I was asking about that child, Nohara Shinnosuke."
Jiraiya's expression locked up for a second. Then he coughed twice and straightened up, trying hard to look serious.
"Oh, oh, right. That. I know, I know."
Under the Third Hokage's deadly stare, Jiraiya laughed awkwardly a couple times and quickly changed the subject.
"That kid is interesting."
The Third Hokage looked at him and waited for him to continue.
Jiraiya's face became a little more serious. "I kept an eye on things for two days. Root people were definitely nearby, but they had enough sense to pull back the moment they saw me."
"And now?"
"They haven't shown up these past few days," Jiraiya said. "They probably know I'm watching and don't dare make a move."
The Third Hokage nodded, picked up his pipe again, and took a puff. Smoke curled upward slowly in the lamplight.
Jiraiya looked at him and suddenly asked, "Old man, what's so special about that kid? Why would Danzo have his eye on him?"
The Third Hokage was silent for two seconds.
"You know about what happened with Hatake Sakumo a few days ago?"
Jiraiya nodded. "I heard. Mission failed, and public opinion turned completely against him."
"Sakumo was in a very bad state those few days."
"And then?"
"Then that child went to see him." The Third Hokage couldn't help taking another drag from his pipe. "They talked alone for ten minutes. The next day, Sakumo was already much better."
Jiraiya froze, then asked again, "That kid?"
"Mm."
The Third Hokage nodded firmly.
Jiraiya remembered the little brat who had haggled with him, remembered that bizarre dream of his about "eliminating green bell peppers."
That child... had been able to influence Konoha's White Fang?
Jiraiya opened his mouth, but for a moment, he didn't know what to say.
"I was surprised too." The Third Hokage set down his pipe. "But that's what happened."
After a long pause, Jiraiya finally spoke again. "So Danzo's watching him because he can influence Hatake Sakumo?"
"Even if there's only a one percent chance, Danzo would still test it." The Third Hokage nodded.
Jiraiya clicked his tongue. "Politicians are rotten to the core."
The moment the words left his mouth, he felt a stare land on him.
Jiraiya looked up and met the Third Hokage's blank expression. He laughed awkwardly and scratched his head.
"Ahahaha... I wasn't talking about you. I meant Danzo..."
The Third Hokage looked away and kept smoking.
Jiraiya quickly changed the subject again. "So you had me keep an eye on the kid because you're worried Danzo might make a move on him?"
"Mm." The Third Hokage nodded. "That child is innocent. He can't be dragged into this."
He took another puff of smoke.
"And I've also rearranged his father's job."
Jiraiya blinked.
"His father? Who?"
"Nohara Hiroshi. A chūnin." The Third Hokage said, "Root was planning to pull him in too, so I moved him to the Hokage's office first."
Jiraiya scratched his head.
"Was there really a need to make such a big move? He's just a five-year-old kid. There's no way White Fang would really listen to him, right?"
"You don't understand." The Third Hokage shook his head.
Jiraiya looked at him.
"Changing Nohara Hiroshi's job was hardly any trouble at all." The Third Hokage took another pull from the pipe and said slowly, "That position already needed someone to fill it. If I didn't give it to him, I would've given it to someone else. I lost nothing, but avoided a lot of trouble."
He paused.
"As for Sakumo, you don't really understand that man."
Jiraiya listened in silence.
"Sakumo is sensitive, and he cares deeply about bonds." The Third Hokage said. "He completed so many missions, and yet after a single failure, everyone denied him completely. There's more bottled up inside him than we can imagine."
He glanced at Jiraiya.
"At a time like that, a single person's support becomes more important than anything. And the one who gives that support becomes important too."
The Third Hokage paused again.
"Besides, that child truly is unusual."
Jiraiya fell silent.
He thought of that little boy in the barbecue shop solemnly declaring, "Green bell peppers are the enemy of my life."
Yeah. Unusual was one way to put it.
"Alright, I get it. I'll keep an eye on him for another two days."
Jiraiya turned and took a few steps, then suddenly stopped.
"Old man."
"Mm?"
"It's time for dinner."
The Third Hokage froze for a second, then looked down at the paperwork on his desk, and then out the window.
Sure enough, it was already dark outside.
He smiled and waved him off. "Yeah, yeah. Get lost."
Jiraiya grinned, pushed the door open, and walked out.
The office fell quiet again.
The Third Hokage sat where he was, looking at the darkening sky outside the window, and took another drag from his pipe.
At the same time, deep inside Root's underground base—
Danzo sat beneath the dim light, fingers tapping lightly against the desk.
A Root ninja stood before him, head bowed, not daring to speak.
"What about Nohara Hiroshi?" Danzo asked.
The ninja lifted his head cautiously. "The Hokage's office intercepted him."
Danzo narrowed his eyes, then suddenly smiled.
"Hiruzen. You were one step ahead again."
He stood up and walked to the wall, staring at the map of Konoha hanging there.
"But can you stay one step ahead every time?"
His finger landed on the area marked as the ninja academy.
"That child..." Danzo murmured. "No rush. We'll take it slowly."
~~~
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