章 16: Chapter 15
The three continued to soak in an awkward silence.
The two Konoha nin, unsure if the man before them had fallen asleep in the bath, seeing as he hadn't made and obvious moves other than his breathing. Sensing the extremely small chakra signature of the man, the two soon eased up and lowered their guard.
'With chakra that weak, he wouldn't even pass the academy.'
"Excuse me, kind sir?" The questionable voice was the first to break the silence.
Hearing them speak, the slight worry in their voice gave the impression that they were still young and were unsure how to approach him currently.
"Leave the geezer to sleep. If he's close to overheating, we could just pull him out later." The woman's voice soon came. She was so sure he was a sleeping old man, Shinku had to resist the urge to retort with a snarky remark.
'It's not worth it, and I could probably get something out of listening to the senju princess whine about the Hokage.'
Thinking this, he smirked. Getting dirt on any of the Kage, as well as finding out more about them, meant if they stood against him, killing them would be an easier task.
'I think Akame once mentioned the third Hokage is known as the professor and the current god of Shinobi. I wonder which of us would be the first to fall if we fought?'
"Easier said than done. The least we can do is wake him if he isn't up already." The unknown voice said, moving closer to Shinku by a few steps.
'Are you approaching me?'
"Orochimaru, leave him be. We both know you would never be this nice to some random old villager." The woman said and moved to halt Orochimaru from approaching further.
'I'm getting tired of you calling me an old man, princess.'
Shinku was a second away from moving when he sensed the third Chakra signature started tumbling off the roof toward the three.
'Shit. You better not fall on me.'
"Woah!"
The third Chakra signature soon fell off the roof and fell into the bath.
'Tsunade... Orochimaru...'
Shinku slid his towel off his face as he stared at Tsunade and Orochimaru, who had towels covering their torso down to their thighs and the third member of their squad who was previously peeping.
The spiky, white-haired man soon stood, his clothes drenched.
'And Jiraiya...'
"Dammit, Jiraiya! It's one thing to peek, but to dive headlong and damn near land on me while I'm almost naked!" Tsunade stood and threw a right hook, punching Jiraiya and sending him into the rock wall surrounding the bath.
'And that's what bothers you the most?'
Shinku watched as Jiraiya was sent flying before shifting his gaze onto the two figures right in front of him.
"So... just looking is fine, right?" Shinku gave a small grin as he untied his hair, letting it drap down.
"Oh, Shinku. Ssso nice to sssee you again." Orochimaru said, making Shinku's grin drop. Shinku still couldn't figure out Orochimaru's gender, and the towel only confused him more.
"Likewise."
Of course, this wasn't Shinku's first time crossing paths with the snake. Though it would be his first meeting with the other two.
"Orochimaru, you know the old man?" Tsunade's voice soon came as she looked between the two.
Orochimaru, who looked ready to tackle Shinku. And Shinku, whose gaze was solely on her.
Shinku's gaze started at her breasts before moving up to meet her fierce brown eyes.
"Of course. We met quite some time ago on a mission." Orochimaru took a few steps closer to Shinku, wrapping an arm over his shoulder.
"What'd you do? Save him from tripping over himself? With how scrawny and old he looks, plus how weak his chakra is."
Jiraya's voice soon came from the side as he approached the three, his gaze landing on Orochimaru's arm around Shinku.
"???"
"I know you're always talking about being gender fluid, but can you stick to one... it's kinda hard to know if I should be turned on by you or not." Jiraiya said, seeing how Orochimaru had a hand on his/her ass.
"..." Shinku was silent at Jiraya's words, his gaze locked with Tsunade's.
"Aww. There's no need to be a idiot all the time."
"You were up the entire time, weren't you?" Tsunade soon asked as she sat back down into the spring with her fierce glare locked on Shinku still.
"Hmm. What makes you think that?" Shinku tilyed his head slightly, acting as if he wasn't aware what the blonde was referring to.
"What do you want? And who sent you here?" Tsunade questioned, and seeing Shinku's smiling face only annoyed her. Reaching to her ankle, Tsunade was stunned that the senbon needle she had strapped to her was gone.
"Well, I actually live in this village, little girl, and I just wanna enjoy the hot springs. As for who sent me, well, better question is why did the three of you come to this village? And why are you so loose lipped when you whine about your Hokage?"
Shinku asked. The same senbon needle Tsunade had been looking for was currently in front of her sticking out of his mouth.
Tsunade frowned, hearing his words before shooting a glance at Orochimaru, who just watched the two with a smile.
"Can he be trusted, Orochimaru?" Her comrade nodded before sliding back over beside her.
"If your head is still attached, then I believe he's~ more than trustworthy." Orochimaru said, making Tsunade release a heavy sigh.
"Oh please, what is he compared to the great me?" Jiraiya said, taking some steps closer to the edge of the spring as he squatted down and stared Shinku down.
"Oh, that's right... I began suppressing my chakra when I noticed you all coming." Shinku chuckled before slowly letting his chakra out till it mimicked the Jiraya's.
"Tch. Show off. So what if he has more chakra than he let on, I'm still more skilled, younger, and handsome."
"If I remember correctly, you all should be around 15-16, correct? Then that makes me only 4-5 years older than all of you." Shinku smiled while looking up at Jiraya's stunned face.
"What?! You look like an old man!"
Jiraiya and Tsunade both shouted, making Shinku's eyebrow twitch.
"How the hell do I look old?"
"..."
"I don't know, you just do..." Jiraiya scratched his cheek while looking away from Shinku's glare.
"Idiot."
"Never mind that. Princess, I already answered your question, now, answer mine. What brings you three Konoha-nin to the Village of Hot Water? Especially when talks of war are in the air." Shinku soon shifted his gaze back to Tsunade and Orochimaru.
"It's... a long story." Tsunade mumbled barely audible under her breath.
"And it's classified, Top Konoha personnel only." Jiraiya soon butted in.
"..."
"You guys were tasked with investigating Sora, weren't you? And with rumors going around in other villages of this village being a hot spot for their mercenaries, it's only natural to start investigating here." Shinku said, leaning back against the rocky side of the spring.
"Though, I have to say you three would be leaving very disappointed. The organization known as Sora has long since left the village. Those guys are quite fierce, and while I'm not sure why Konoha would be interested in those guys, but, they're not a group any village can handle."
"..."
The three Shinobi were silent as the words left the man's lips. The man before them was more than aware of why they were sent here, yet he was acting as if he hadn't.
"Who are you?" Jiraiya was the first to break the silence they had found themselves in. With a kunai in hand, Jiraiya placed the blade against Shinku's throat.
"Answer me, or I'll slit your throat."
"Hn. And who's to say I'm not just a clone? What would killing me bring? Maybe I'm secretly I Shinobi from Kunoha and were sent here ahead of you three." Shinku closed his eyes, uncaring of the blade on his throat and the threat of Jiraiya.
"Maybe I'm a part of Sora and have secretly been keeping tabs on Konoha and you three."
"Bastard. Enough of your games. What the hell do you really want?!" Jiraiya soon grabbed a handful of Shinku's hair, an act he was given only a second to regret as in a flash he his head was slammed into the ground.
"It doesn't matter who I am or what I want. It also doesn't matter if you tell me why you all are here since I can get that answer anytime I want."
Shinku said, holding Jiraiya down when two hands soon grasped his shoulders.
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Chapter End
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