Jiraiya had pushed the pace on their trip to Yuni and, once they were in the city, he'd hushed them whenever they tried to speak. He hurried them through the streets to a small underground medical clinic occupied by a harried and clearly overworked woman in her fifties. She had looked sour upon seeing Jiraiya, but became professional and concerned as soon as she saw the teams' injuries. A quick triage and Akane was whisked through the curtain to the back room while the rest of the team waited nervously on hard wooden chairs in the outer area. Jiraiya had once again hushed them, so they were constrained to sit silently and stew in their own fears.

It took three hours before Akane came out. She still looked like five miles of bad road, but that was much better than she had been when she went in. Her teeth had been replaced, her leg was set and in a cast, and she was able to get around on crutches.

"Chew on the other side for a couple days and stay off that leg for at least a month," the medic said. She sniffed dismissively. "Not that I expect you to listen. Ninja. Worst patients ever. Patch you up, you're back two days later. 'Oh, the cast that you put on my hand after I broke it punching people? Yeah, I took that off. It was interfering with my training and I needed to be able to punch logs.'" She sniffed again and surveyed the remaining patients before pointing at Hazō. "You. Boy. Get in here."

The others went through to be healed one after another; their injuries being comparatively minor meant that they were out in minutes. They thanked the medic profusely and Jiraiya slipped a heavy bag of ryo into her hand before leading the group to what was clearly a safehouse. Once behind closed doors he became the happy and effusive man they'd met earlier.

"So, what's it gonna be, kids?" Jiraiya asked. He spread his arms dramatically, a wide smile on his face. "Anything you want! The Great Sage Jiraiya, Summoner of Toads, Master of the Bedroom Arts, Spymaster, Sage, and all-around great guy is offering you a wish."

The team all looked at each other. "Could we have a moment to discuss this, sir?" Keiko asked.

"Of course, of course!" Jiraiya said, waving magnanimously. "I need a drink anyway. I'll see you later. The pantry should be stocked. Stay inside and keep the curtains drawn." He slipped out the door, closing it quietly behind him.

The discussion went on for hours, but eventually they had their answers. They went downstairs to find Jiraiya, but the sage was gone. Instead, they made some food, scarfed it down, and fell onto the futons to sleep the sleep of the injured and utterly exhausted.

By the time they woke, sunlight was leaking around the curtains and Jiraiya was sitting at the kitchen table with a mug of hot tea, scribbling in a notebook.

"Morning, sunshine," Inoue said, leaning on the doorframe, one arm up and the other braced on her hip. She was very obvious about eyeing Jiraiya up and down; she even licked her lips.

Jiraiya didn't look up, but he chuckled slightly and waved at her without looking up. "Just a minute," he said. "I'm just finishing a bit of dialogue...how many 'p's in 'nipple'?"

"Two," Keiko said flatly. She moved past him without a glance and started preparing breakfast. Noburi and Hazō pitched in while Akane settled herself gingerly at the table.

Jiraiya made a last few scribbles in his notebook and then closed it with a snap. "Done!" he said. "Just need to drop this off with the printer and yet again I shall shatter all best-seller records!" He rubbed his hands together gleefully.

"I am very glad to hear that, sir," Hazō said. "If I may, I decided what I would like to ask you for."

"Aha! Good, good," Jiraiya said. "Hit me. What have you got?"

"I have an earth affinity, but sensei doesn't," Hazō said. "I've got no way to learn jutsu in my element. For my reward, I would like a teacher."

Jiraiya nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, I can see how that would be a problem," he said. He paused, thinking. "Okay, we can make that work. Before I go I'll teach you the basics of a couple useful ones, and I'll see about finding someone who can help you from there."

Hazō blinked in shock. He hadn't expected that Jiraiya would offer to teach him himself, merely that he'd provide a referral. He bowed very deeply. "Thank you, sir," he said. "You honor me."

"It's true," Jiraiya said, looking pleased. "Glad you recognize that. Okay, what about the rest of you?" He looked around but no one else said anything or met his eyes. The embarrassment hung in the air like mist.

Jiraiya sighed. "You guys...ugh. There's modest and then there's irritating. You! Nobby! Speak up!"

"Nobu—" Noburi clapped his teeth shut on the reflexive correction of that hated childhood nickname. He took a deep breath and bowed. "Sir, I would very much like to learn medical ninjutsu," he said. "It's something that many Wakahisa specialize in, and we have found it to be effective both in a support role and a combat position." He swallowed. "You have a friend, a famous med-nin. I was wondering if...." He trailed off, unable to complete the request.

"Hm," Jiraiya said. He shook his head. "Sorry kid, Tsunade wouldn't be the right choice. For one thing, she's a drunk with a vicious temper. For another, she's got a thing about medic-nin not being combatants. I can introduce you to Hashimoto, though. She's the one who patched you all up. She's a grouchy old biddy and she'll be a total pain in the ass as a sensei, but she's good at her job and she owes me enough favors that she'll at least give you a shot. It's up to you to keep her from pitching you out, though."

"Thank you, sir!" Noburi said, bowing deeply. "Thank you!"

"Don't thank me until you've had to deal with Hashimoto for a while," Jiraiya said. "It's not going to be fun, I promise." He gave Noburi a sympathetic glance, then looked at Keiko. "How about you, kid? Anything special for you?"

"I'm not sure what to ask for, sir," Keiko said. "I am satisfied with my role in the team: long ranged weapons use. I have teammates who respect me, upon whom I can rely. I have a sensei who can teach me what I need to know. I have all the weapons I need." She paused. "I think the only thing I can ask for, sir, is advice. What course would you advise me to take in order to become stronger?"

Jiraiya's bushy eyebrows shot up. "I am impressed," he said, giving her a shallow nod. "I've been running a spy network longer than you've been alive and you people are far from the first I've offered open-ended rewards to. You, Miss Mori, are the first one who has ever asked for nothing but advice. Yes, as it happens, I know something that would make you significantly stronger." He flicked open his notebook and started jotting kanji in it with fast, neat strokes of a pen.

"My former teammates and I are three of the most powerful ninja in the world," he said, without the slightest trace of modesty. "A big part of the reason for that is that all of us have signed summoning contracts. There's only a handful of contracts in existence, and the people who have them are universally at or near the top in the ninja game. There is exactly one contract that I'm aware of that, as far as I can tell, does not currently have a summoner. I've been looking for it for years with no success, and I recently got a lead. I don't know exactly where it is beyond 'somewhere in the Land of Tea'. I also don't know what animal the contract is for, although I'm pretty sure it's a mammal."

He tore the page out of the notebook and looked at Keiko. "This is directions to a contact of mine in Tea, and a code sign that will tell him I sent you. He'll tell you what he can about the contract, but that probably won't be much. It'll be up to you to find the thing and convince the animal it summons to accept you." Keiko started to reach for the paper but Jiraiya turned his hand, pulling it just a few inches away. "Be careful," he said seriously. "Contracts are seriously powerful, and nothing to mess around with if you have any doubt whatsoever about your ability to handle it. Having one puts a bullseye on your back, because powerful people will want to recruit you or kill you so that you can't mess with their plans. This is a reward, but it's also a real danger. You sure you want it?" He extended the paper to her again.

Keiko held his eyes with a serious expression as she reached out and took the paper. "Thank you, sir," she said, bowing deeply.

Jiraiya eyed her seriously for a moment, then relaxed back into the laughing jester they'd first met. "You've got massive ovaries, kid," he said. "I like that. Let me know what you find." He took a sip of his tea, then turned to Inoue who still stood in the doorway.

"So, the students are taken care of," he said. "How about the teacher? What can the old Toad Sage do for you?"

Inoue toyed absently with one of her shirt buttons, a wicked gleam in her eye. "Oh, Jiraiya-sempai," she purred. "My sweet little genin was very clever to ask your advice. I think in this the sensei must be the student. Would you be willing to give me the benefit of your enormous...wisdom?"

Jiraiya laughed and gave her a mock-serious nod. "I think I could manage that," he said. "We should probably discuss it in private, however. There are some things that should not be...discussed...in front of children."

Inoue pushed herself up off the doorframe and stretched, shaking her hair back and running her hands through it. "I agree," she said. "Perhaps we could have that conversation now?" she said. "Oh, unless you need some breakfast first, of course. I wouldn't want to take advantage of you while you were too weak to concentrate. I'm sure it will be a long conversation...I suspect I'll need a great deal of advice."

Jiraiya hopped up and bowed gallantly. "Well, young lady, never let it be said that the Great Sage Jiraiya had kept a woman waiting when she made such a polite request."

The two vanished into the bedroom while the genin tried not to gag.

o-o-o-o

"Good morning, Hashimoto-sensei," Noburi said with his best and brightest smile. That smile had gotten him out of parental punishments and made him the pet of not one but two teachers in the Mist Academy of the Ninja Arts. He was confident it would work to get him off on the right foot here.

He was wrong.

"So, you're the little brat the old goat wants me to train, huh?" Hashimoto said, eyeing him like a piece of yesterday's liver. "Go wash your hands, they're filthy. And try those wiles on someone else, because I'm not buying."

Noburi's smile vanished. "Yes, sensei," he said. He hurried to the washbasin and started cleaning his hands.

"Not like that, you twit!" Hashimoto said. She grabbed his left hand in hers and took the horsehair brush from the shelf above the basin. She ran the brush through the soap, then began scouring Noburi's skin as though it had offended her.

"Yow!" Noburi said. That thing hurt!

"Don't be such a baby," Hashimoto snapped. "If you can't even wash your hands properly I'll have to teach you. Consider it motivation to learn chakra sterilization techniques."

Noburi winced. The only good news in this situation was that he would only be studying with Hashimoto three days out of the week; the team would be splitting their time between here and Kagome's village, where Hazō was trying to get more seal training. Noburi spared a thought for his teammate and wondered which of them had the more awful teacher.

o-o-o-o

"Kagome-sensei?" Hazō called. "I have chocolate, sensei. Are you here?"

"Hi, kid." Unsurprisingly, the voice came from behind him. Hazō supressed the desire to jump. He turned around slowly, taking care to look non-threatening.

Kagome was a dozen meters away, looking out from behind a tree. Hazō was careful not to show his surprise. Instead, he held up the box he was carrying and turned it to show all sides before opening it and tilting it so Kagome could see inside. He set the box on the ground and backed away, keeping his hands out away from his body.

Kagome flicked his fingers and a clone stepped out from behind the tree. The clone advanced slowly, keeping at least ten meters between himself and Hazō, until he could retrieve the box and bear it back to the original. After he had done so, Hazō moved slowly back to his original position so that he wasn't shouting.

Hazō watched as Kagome examined the box minutely before removing a piece of the chocolate and nibbling one corner off.

"That's good stuff," Kagome said awkwardly. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Hazō said with a bow.

Kagome fidgeted. "So, uh...I haven't seen you for a while. I guess you've been busy and stuff?"

"Yes, sensei," Hazō said. "My teammates and I have been traveling a bit, but we're back in the village now. I was hoping to ask you for more seal training."

Kagome didn't seem to hear him; he was too busy studying the healing bruises and cuts that covered most of Hazō's visible skin. The medic-nin had accelerated the healing but they were still pretty dramatic. "Somebody beat you up a lot," Kagome said.

Hazō shrugged modestly. "You won't see the other three fellows," he said with a smile.

Kagome recoiled. "What do you mean, I won't see them? Are they following you? Are they going to ambush me?!" He looked around frantically, eyes wide and staring as he hugged the box of chocolate to his chest.

"No no, not like that!" Hazō said, holding up his palms placatingly. "I meant that I killed them! They're dead, that's why you won't see them. It's just an expression—'you should see the other guy', except you won't see them because they're dead."

Kagome relaxed only slowly. "Oh," he said. "Yeah." He gave a sickly and out-of-practice smile. "That's funny."

"Thank you," Hazō said, squatting down to appear less threatening to his very jumpy sensei. "I hope you like the chocolate."

Kagome's grip on the box tightened reflexively. He snatched a large chunk of the chocolate out and bit into it as though afraid it would be snatched away. "Iff gud," he said.

"I'm glad," Hazō said. "Would you be willing to teach me a bit more about sealing?"

Kagome froze, then forced himself to swallow the mouthful of chocolate. "You know you're going to have your face melted off, right?" he asked, in exactly the same tone someone might say 'you know the sun is going to rise tomorrow, right?'

Hazō shrugged. "Everyone dies eventually," he said. "Learning sealing will let me protect my team."

Kagome's face worked for a moment. "Yeah," he said. "Teammates."

Hazō waited for several long seconds, but Kagome said nothing else. He just stood, staring off into memory.

"Sensei?" Hazō asked carefully.

Kagome snapped back to the present and shook his head. "No," he said. "No training. Having spikey things climb in your nostrils and eat your brain is not good. The lip-smacking is awful and makes me gag." He looked at the ground for a moment, then back at Hazō. "So, um...you said that you were traveling. Did you, uh, did you see anything interesting?"

That question had been the subject of much discussion among the team, and Hazō had the answer prepared.

"There's a bandit leader up at the north end of Iron," he said. "He's pretending to be the Liberator from the myth. We infilitrated his camp to see what he was doing, and then we got out again. One of their teams tracked us down and we had to kill them. No one from the village knows where we are now, and we were careful to cover our tracks really well on the way here."

"Uh-huh," Kagome said, eating more of the chocolate. He wasn't a neat eater; his mouth and hands were covered in it. "Find anything interesting?"

Hazō sat down slowly and began telling his very strange teacher about the doings in the world outside his forest. The conversation lasted until night fell.

o-o-o-o

"Kagome-sensei, it's Hazō! I have food!" This time, Hazō was determined that Kagome would not sneak up on him. He looked behind himself every other step and periodically turned to survey the area around him.

"Hi, kid," Kagome said. He was in a tree ten meters to Hazō's left.

"Hello, sensei," Hazō said. "I brought fresh raisin bread, sushi, pickled ginger, honey candy, and soup. Would you like some?" He turned the bento box and tipped it as much as he could without spilling the soup.

"What's in it?" Kagome demanded. "Did you make it? How do I know it's safe? The villagers hate me, they might want to poison me. Or maybe they're just stupid and put the wrong mushrooms in the soup because they like watching the world getting all melty even though they're sitting right in the middle of an unholy doom fortress."

Hazō let that strange and disturbingly specific comment roll off. He knelt down slowly and set the box on the ground. He picked up the chopsticks and worked his way around the plate, sampling one of each item and taking a spoonful of soup. That done he backed away slowly and sat in the most unthreatening seiza he could manage.

Kagome waited until Hazō had been kneeling silently for several seconds before prowling nervously forward. He inspected the bento minutely from all angles, never touching it and always keeping Hazō within his field of vision. Once he was satisfied that it wouldn't explode he cautiously sniffed the food. After a moment he poked the sushi with one finger then jumped back. When everything continued to fail to explode he crept forward and picked up one of the sushi. He inspected it again very carefully, then popped it in his mouth. A moment later he was scarfing it down.

The sushi and pickled ginger were gone in seconds; Kagome had the soup bowl at his lips and half empty when he suddenly froze. He lowered the bowl and looked at Hazō guiltily. "So, um...did you want some?"

"Thank you," Hazō said. "Yes, I brought some for myself. It's in my sealing scroll, do you mind if I get it?"

Kagome leaned back, but didn't actually leap up. "Sure," he said. "No problem. Go right ahead."

Hazō unsealed his own lunch and started working through it with, if not the same haste, at least the same enjoyment that Kagome had shown.

"There's a woman in the village who makes this," Hazō said. "She's an excellent chef."

"Yeah," Kagome said. He had finished his soup while Hazō was eating and was staring regretfully at the bowl. He fidgeted for a moment, then quickly said, "Tell her thanks."

"I will," Hazō said with a smile. "I'm sure she'll appreciate knowing that you enjoyed it."

"Uh, yeah," Kagome said. "I guess. Probably not, though. They'd like it if I died."

"Why do you think that?" Hazō asked, frowning.

Kagome looked at him like he was an idiot. "They're civilians," he said. "I'm a ninja. Civilians hate ninja."

"Why?" Hazō asked.

"Because we're powerful and we can kill them just because they stepped on our shadow, or because we need to test the edge on a new sword or the effectiveness of a new jutsu, and so we do?" Kagome said. "I know I wouldn't like people who killed me."

"Well, that's probably true in general," Hazō said. "These villagers, though...they're actually glad to have you here. You never hurt them as long as they stay out of your territory, and you've killed every major predator in the area. They still need to be careful about the minor threats and the ones in the lake, but for the most part they're a lot safer than most civilians."

"Really?" Kagome said. He thought about that for a second. "Huh."

Hazō waited, but Kagome said nothing else. The strange forest-nin simply knelt, plucking nervously at the fabric of his sleeve. The silence stretched uncomfortably.

"So, uh, how much longer are you and your friends around?" Kagome said, feigning disinterest and doing a poor job.

"I'm not sure," Hazō said. "We came here because I wanted to thank you for the training you gave me before, and I was hoping to learn a little more about sealing. And, also, because we wanted to lie low for a little while. Being a missing-nin is tough, and the Liberator's village was a little more exciting than we really liked."

"Yeah," Kagome said. He was looking around, watching the surrounding forest suspiciously. "I hate excitement. Excitement is knives and fire and exploding everything and heads turning inside out with blood dripping off ceilings and walls. And then, after you leave from the excitement, they follow you and want you to go back in. Excitement is bad. Very bad. I like boring. I like boring a lot."

Hazō smiled. "I can relate. This"—he gestured to his bruised face—"was a little more excitement than I really prefer. Helping the villagers with a few earth jutsu has been nice." He paused. "I really would like to learn a little more sealing, though," he said carefully. "Would you be willing to tell me a bit more about the theory?"

Kagome licked his lips nervously, then seemed to come to a decision. "Yeah, okay. Just a little though. Don't go getting your head turned inside out. Okay? Promise?"

"I promise," Hazō said, smiling. He reached into his tunic, but froze as Kagome when leaped to his feet and back.

"I brought paper," Hazō said, not moving a muscle. He raised his left hand in a calming gesture. When Kagome failed to vanish into the woods Hazō brought his right out from his tunic very slowly, showing the paper and the writing box. He waited nearly a minute until Kagome finally settled back into his seat, then set the paper on the ground and carefully opened the writing box to show an inkstone and a brush.

"Last time we spoke you mentioned that poor brushwork could generate vortices in the chakra flow," Hazō said. "You mentioned there was a way to repair that during infusion, but we didn't get to that part. Would you mind explaining it?"

"Sure," Kagome said. "What you have to do is—"

Once again, the conversation went on until dark.