Gentle Caress

The Land of Hot Water

Shizune slugged a bag over her shoulder. The children copied her with their own bags. Naruto stayed right at Tsunade's side. Talking excitedly. She listened, responding from time to time. It turned out that the boy hadn't only inherited his father's appearance. He was impulsive and hyperactive? Yes. But he was also very intelligent. All of these kids were, Shizune mused. They all were so promising.

Sakura looked up at kunoichi. "Shizune?"

"Yes, Sakura?"

"Where are we going?"

"Well... before we were looking for an old friend of Lady Tsunade's, but last night she came to the conclusion to wait for him at his house. Hermit or not, he always returns home. Even if it's not for too long."

The pinkette's mouth turned into an 'o'. "And who is this friend of K-Tsunade?"

Naruto looked behind, turning. Walking backward, he answered, "who else? Jiraiya. The mountain toad sage. I remember Jiji mentioning him before. He's an author and that's all I know."

Shizune grimace. "I wouldn't call him an author per se. His books are aimed... for a very selected audience."

"And where does he live?" Naruto had turned back to walk normally, chatting with Sai over drawing ink. Sakura was curious. Good.

"I don't know exactly. But Tsunade does." The woman in question was calmly explaining things to Gaara, who was looking up at her with wide, curious eyes. Could the kid get any cuter? "All I know is that he lives in the mountains... somewhere."

Naruto looked over his shoulder, a shit-eating grin on his face. "Looks like the name is well applied." Tonton squealed, running away from one of Sai's ink creatures. Said boy was giggling, before dispelling his creation. "Your creatures are getting better!"

"Thanks! I've been doodling a lot more lately." The raven-haired boy ran to keep up with the blonde. "How have the seals been going?"

Seals? "Well... I started to play around with a few designs. Only one of them has backfired so far."

"It exploded in your face, dobe." Sasuke, who seemed to have appeared from nowhere, elbowed the blonde. "I'm surprised you haven't blown yourself off the face of the earth, with how careless you can be."

"Teme! It was only once! Need I remind you that if it wasn't for me, we would not have been able to hold onto the things we still have."

"Big deal. So you can draw some kanji in a cool formation-" Naruto didn't let the raven head finish his statement as he tackled him to the ground. They wrestled for a while until Tsunade peeled them from one another.

"You two." Her tone was harsh yet there was no venom in her words. "If you hate each other so much-"

"But they don't hate each other." Kimimaro shrugged, amused by the outburst. "They have a weird friendship if anything. But they don't hate each other. Not fully at least."

She sighed, "let's keep moving. I wanna get to the next town before nightfall. I need a drink." She rubbed her temple, holding Sasuke and Naruto by the base of their necks. Steering them beside her.

Shizune giggled, falling towards the back of the group. The remaining children walked between the two adults. Stopping for seconds at a time to ask questions or to point out little things on the road. Gaara loved observing squirrels, and would often call out to raccoons. How the boy knew where raccoons set down their dens was beyond them. Hinata had a habit of stopping at flower patches and picking her favorites. She liked pressing flowers, apparently. She and Naruto could talk for hours about different plants and the best ways to care for them. It was quite enduring.