The Tale Of An Utterly Old Lady. [Jiraiya x OC]

Chapter 8 | On The Outside Looking In

Chapter 8 | On The Outside Looking In

It would take a few days before I could speak face-to-face with Hiruzen, and it would be, supposedly, about the marriage. The plan was to welcome me, since it was still very rare for anyone to move into the village, though the other side of it was for the Hokage to personally scrutinize me firsthand. For now, Jiraiya went off to meet the Hokage alone first; I'd asked him to inform Hiruzen about me and to make sure no one else but Hiruzen would hear what I planned to reveal in our upcoming meeting. Jiraiya agreed with the idea.

In the meantime, I explored the streets of Konohagakure, hoping to familiarize myself with the village. Initially, I felt excited about finally looking around the famed shinobi village—the one and only place of origin of so many iconic characters, especially the main character: Naruto Uzumaki; that was...until I was hit with a reminder of how absolutely terrifying it was to take a stroll by yourself in a foreign place.

Konohagakure was completely different from Hamaguri. While Hamaguri had mostly run-down wooden huts and houses, Konohagakure's were fresh and well-built. It also seemed to be three times larger than the small Hamaguri no Sato, which was intimidating, to say the least. I felt like a small speck of dust among the crowds of Konoha.

It didn't help that I would unconsciously stare at random Uchiha passing by me, who would then shoot me a very Uchiha glare. They were all just going about their days and it blew my mind because I wasn't used to seeing so many of them.

Damn...they all die later on, was my thought every time I saw them.

Next to the thought that most of them were attractive.

"Elena?"

I jumped a bit from the mention of my name, and I turned to see who had disturbed my Uchiha-watching.

"Tsunade!" I exclaimed with a smile, pleasantly surprised. "Glad to see you!"

It was kinda scary out here... Good to see a familiar face.

Tsunade, unlike the last time I saw her. now wore more of a crop-top white shirt, with mesh underneath. Her skirt was the same, however, and so were her heeled sandals. Her face was bare, missing the makeup she would've had in her older years, but her wide brown eyes and pretty pink lips were nonetheless very attractive.

Not to sound like Jiraiya but...Tsunade is always serving looks—without effort too. I thought contentedly.

"How's it going?" She amicably asked. "Where's Jiraiya? Why are you all alone?"

"Oh, um, he went to go see Hokage-sama," I informed, scratching my cheek awkwardly. "I decided to walk around in the meantime but...this place is a lot bigger than I thought. I don't even know where I am."

Tsunade laughed before offering, "How about I accompany you?"

"Really?" I clasped my hands together excitedly, but then gave her a worried look. "You're not busy? Orochimaru said you worked at the hospital, too."

"Oh, not today," she told me. "I have time to show you around."

"You're a life-saver!" I enthusiastically took both of her hands in mine, and she blinked a few times in confusion. Embarrassed, I quickly took my hands back as I laughed awkwardly.

Oh God... I need to stop doing that to people...

"So where do you want to take a look at first?" asked Tsunade.