章 24: Chapter 24: The slippery Toad

"Would you stop doing that! The First 1000 times were enough! At Least don't do it in public! It's embarrassing!" Atsuki complained to the hooded Shin who was wearing a smiling mask. "How rude, You are making me…ANGRY!" Shin waved his hand in front of his face and the smiling mask was replaced with an angry Oni. Atsuki simply shook his head and sighed.

This quick mask change was a skill he had picked up at the last summer festival where there was a mask dance where the dancers changed their masks with a single wave of their hands. Shin had been enchanted, he had all but begged the dancers to teach him this skill and after a lot of effort, and some bribes, Shin had finally learned this skill which relied on sleight of hand, specialized masks and chakra. The masks contained seals that changed the structure of the mask ever so slightly that it was deemed different, whenever chakra was employed into the masks.

Since then, Shin had honed this art and mastered it, even going as far as to research and create seals that improved upon the existing formula. Shin could now change a simple mask into a complex one through these seals. This had made Shin rather famous because the task appeared simple but required a high mastery of Fuinjutsu… Is what he would tell you but the real reason was because he had spent more than a month researching it and left everyone disappointed when they realized what exactly it was that he had accomplished.

Nonetheless, Shin now almost always took the opportunity to show off his new skill whenever possible, even after 5 months had passed. "Come on Shin, remember what happened yesterday?" Atsuki cast an accusatory glance at Shin to which the boy halted for a bit before replying, "That… was just because Mom was stunned by my… Handsome Face!" With another wave of the hand, the mask changed into an ugly green ogre to which Atsuki bleched before the duo started to laugh.

Shin removed his mask while the duo laughed, "Mom is just tired, she's been taking the extra shift at the orphanage. I told her to take it easy but does she listen to me? No." Shin sighed before suggesting, "Maybe she'll listen to you? That is if you can say anything to her, mama's boy!" Atsuki's face became a shade redder as he denied the accusation, "I-I am not! And I'll tell her! I can do it!" the boy exclaimed.

The boys kept arguing and laughing about various things when a black furry cat landed on Shin's shoulders. "Pineapple? I see less and less of her everyday. What's she been up to?" Atsuki asked as he tried to pet the cat, only to have it scratch his hand. Shin simply smiled and didn't reply. He had been sending Pineapple to spy on the various clan's training grounds, especially the Nara clan's shadow manipulation techniques were highly sought after by Shin. Pineapple had already reached level 30 and could be considered to have Chunin level stats with speeds that would make ordinary Jonin helpless.

"Huh, guess it's that time already." Atsuki said as the duo came upon a crowd of men and women as they talked with various ninjas in Chunin garb as excited children looked around with wide eyes. It was the 1st day of the academy and the hopes and expectations of the parents filled the air like the fragrance of spring flowers, carried by the winds made the dreams of the children as they excitedly looked forward to wielding fire and lightning like their heroes and the Hokages in the bed time stories they had heard since they were born.

"Well, see you." Atsuki gave the crowd one more look before he left, Shin could see a sadness in his eyes. The boy too had stood in this crowd, but he carried neither the hope or expectations of his parents nor the dreams of being strong, only an empty desire to be known, to be acknowledged and recognised. A desire that Shin saw mirrored in another in this crowd, a blonde haired boy that sat alone in the swing set by the academy. His eyes stared at the fallen leaves on the ground, fearing to look up at the fluttering leaves as they danced in the wind, he feared it because he knew that even if he did look up, there was no one to see.

Yet hope, hope is a powerful thing. It makes one do what they would never imagine and this hope gave the lonely boy the strength and the excuse to look up, just this once. The boy looked up even when his heart told him not to, he looked up and saw all that he did not have; mother, fathers, brothers, sisters… friends.

The boy cursed himself, almost laughing at his foolish self for daring to hope as he looked away from the crowd but as he did, his eyes widened. There in the distance, he saw a familiar figure, it was a boy in a black cat mask with a black cat lounging on his shoulders. The boy could not tell where this older boy was looking but felt, no he hoped, that the boy was looking at him. "Huh?" He watched as the masked boy waved at him, gave him a thumbs up and disappeared… leaving behind nothing but a smile on the blonde kids smile and a budding hope in his heart.

On the other side, Shin flickered away to a building a block away where he had observed a rather interesting sight. A white haired man dressed in a red outfit was using a telescope to peer into the academy.

[Name: Jiraiya

Level: 140(+5)

Title: Legendary Sannin of Konoha/ Toad Sage]

'Huh, I thought he would be stronger. And the add on is only +5? Guess it's because he still can't use Sage mode. Anyways, let's have some fun shall we.'

Shin flickered behind the old man and smirked, "Having fun old man?" he asked in a hushed tone as the mad was heaving and wearing an obscene laugh. "Oh yeah… very fun very fun heyheyhey." The man replied while he kept staring through the telescope as Shin followed the line of sight, he realized that there was also a public bath in that direction, 'Very commendable pervy sage, you know how to pick your angles. Looking at Naruto and naked girls at the same time. Very admirable.' Shin silently parised.

"Mind if I take a look?" Shin spoke while taking the telescope and looking through, 'Very admirable indeed.' "Yah sure thing- hey! Wait a second kid! Where did you come from!?" Jiraiya questioned while snatching back his telescope, causing Shin to "tsk" before the boy straightened up and spoke in an annoyed tone, "What? So you can see but I can't? Anyways, why don't you follow me for a bit. I have a few questions for you."

"Nah, maybe some other time kid, I gotta get back to my research." the man replied as he straightened up his telescope, only to get a close up of Shin's nose. "Aghhh!" the man yelled in fright as he fell back. "What the heck is wrong with you kid!?" Shin smiled kindly and replied while offering his hand to the pervert, "I just want you to come with me, like I said, I have a few questions."

The man took Shin's hand and got up, "Questions huh, sure kid go ahead… SIKE!" The sannin spun while holding Shin's hand and threw him away. "Good riddance. Now then, back to research. Writing is hard work afterall heyheyhey…" The man jumped off the building and headed towards the bathhouse, finding a location nearby and setting up his telescope again. He had only started before he sighed and turned his head back, "You're persistent, what'd you want kid, can't you see that I'm busy."

Shin appeared from behind a wall and smiled widely, "Like I said, I have a few questions." The man relented and went back to his"research" while gesturing to Shin to continue. Shin stood a few meters away before speaking, "I just wanted to ask, why were you spying on Naruto?" The man shrugged, "Naruto? What's that? Never heard of it." Shin's smile widened as he continued, "Oh I'm quite sure you are aware of how Naruto is, the Nine-tail Jinchuriki."

Shin could feel Jiraiya's muscles tense up as he stood up, "I'm gonna ask you one time kid, you better think carefully before you answer… How did you find out about Naruto?" Shin whistled, "You guys really think people are idiots huh. The whole village calls him the fox and you're asking me how I know about it?" Shin shook his head as the Sannin stood still with a serious look before he started to scratch his head, "Ahhhh, well I fell into that one didn't I." The man gave Shin a once over before continuing, "Alright, what do you want kid?"

This was exactly what Shin was waiting for, "Of nothing, though I'm sure the Hokage would be glad to know that one of the Sannin has returned." The man panicked for a bit as he yelled at Shin, "You told the Hokage!? Come on man! Not cool! Wait a minute, who did you know who I am!?" Shin simply shrugged, "I haven't ever seen you around yet you seemed to know your way around Konoha, you got past the barrier, showed aggression when I mentioned Naruto being the Jinchuriki and above all… You don't seem to know who I am."

Jiraiya was taken aback for a moment before asking, "Know who you are? What are you, the next Hokage?" Shin shook his head, "No, just the most famous Chunin in Konoha right now, anyone worth their salt knows who I am. You are clearly strong enough yet you didn't know me, this means that you haven't been away from the village for an extensive period, anyways, it's enough banter for now."

As Shin stopped talking, Jiraiya was impressed to say the least, 'The kid is smart alright, and his talent isn't something to scoff at. His movements are practiced and he looks relaxed but his posture is combat ready. Not to mention the seal on his wrist guard, it looks like a custom-made seal.'

Jiraiya sighed and sat back down, "Well, might as well enjoy the time I got before I get whisked away I guess." Shin sat next to the man and spoke with a grin while rubbing his fingers, "There might be a chance that I forget I saw you, no reason we can't settle this like gentlemen." Jiraiya looked at Shin and stood up in protest and defended himself, "How dare you try to black mail Jiraiya the Toad Sage! You think I am a push over that you can black mail for money! I won't give you a cent even if I had any!"

Shin shook his head, " I don't want money, I want a special jutsu. I am sure the great Toad Sage Jiraiya sama knows many awesome jutsus! It would be an honor to learn one of your special jutsus!" Jiraiya heard the praise and nodded his head with glee, "Hehehe, you have good eyes kid! Alright, I'll show you one of my most famous jutsus!" Jiraiya took a stance, ready to use a jutsu but Shin quickly stopped him, "No no no, I know what Jutsu I want to learn." Jirayai looked at Shin skeptically, "Well which one Is it kid? Trust me kid, the one I'm gonna teach you would definitely make you a hit with the ladies! Heheh!"

"I want senjutsu." Shin said and Jiraiya nodded, "Oh senjutsu huh, alright. Here catch." he tossed something to Shin which turned out to be a slimy toad that quickly jumped away. Shin looked up to see the white haired man had vanished. 'Tsk, he ran away!'