Those Little Moments (Hatake Kakashi)

7

I travelled many days without any delays, thanks to the money Itachi had given me. It was sometime after the first week that I met him.

The bar was full, and the seat next to me did not stay unoccupied long. 

"What's a lovely lady like you doing all alone?" 

The man had long white hair, red lines trailing down from his eyes, and a horned forehead protector marked oil. 

"Who are you?" was all I said, eyeing him up and down sceptically, though he seemed to be more of a rascal than a danger to me, despite the look in his eyes that somewhat resembled that of the other old men I'd been 'acquainted' with.

"Master Jiraiya..." The man went on to list his achievements proudly, constantly looking at me as if hoping to impress me.

"I know that name..." I muttered under my breath during his monologue. It took me nearly to the end of his speech before it hit me. "You're Minato-nii-san's teacher!"

That made him stop cold, and his eyes hardened. Suddenly, he wasn't so interested in my body as in my eyes. "Yes. Who are you?"

"Are you still a friend of the Leaf?" I demanded, not willing to be returned to those I'd just escaped from.

The man leaned in, his eyes locked on mine. "In the important ways, yes."

"I guess, either way, you'd win a fight." I mumbled begrudgingly as I realized I would just have to trust him and hope. "I'm Uzumaki Emiko."

"Impossible, she's dead." His reply was immediate and I frowned.

"Well, I'm right here, and I've been locked up for however many years and just escaped. If you want to see the scars, I have plenty." I grabbed my drink and sipped from it frustratedly.

Jiraiya chuckled. "I'm sure I would." He looked me up and down again appreciatively. "How did you escape?"

"I shouldn't be telling this to a stranger, even though Minato-nii-san did speak highly of you." I sighed, looking down at my drink. "In any case, it's clear you could beat me in a fight, so if anyone has something to worry about, it's me."

Jiraiya drank from his own drink, his cheeks flushing from the alcohol. "Fair enough."

"You said you're a friend of the Leaf, right?" I asked, wondering what I should do next.

He nodded, his eyes no longer on my face. I rolled my eyes as I realized where they had wandered, pulling my tunic up to cover any cleavage.

"So, you could take me back?" At this, he finally looked at my face again. "I've lost most of my muscle mass, I haven't trained, and if I get attacked, I won't be able to fight back, and I'll just be brought back to my cell."

"All the way back to the Hidden Leaf?" Jiraiya laughed, shaking his head. "We're at the far edges of the Land of Wind right now, it would take ages to get back. Besides, I have my own business."

I felt the hope in me putter out. It would only be a matter of time before they found me, and my brief life would end once again.

Jiraiya was once again eyeing my chest, with a thoughtful, greedy look on his face. "Hmm..." He said, still staring as his cheeks flushed. "Now, I could let you tag along. That way, until you get back in practice, you're safe." He grinned mischievously, murmuring to himself, "And I'll get a beautiful view."

Having had more than enough experience with pervy old men, I, unfortunately, knew exactly what he wanted, and would absolutely not be giving it to him, under any circumstances. However, the opportunity was too good to pass up, and I could definitely survive some unwanted glances in favour of protection.

"Thank you, Jiraiya-sama." I said, bowing my head to him slightly. I immediately regretted it when his grin widened and the look in his eyes grew. I rolled my eyes, already his perviness was going to get on my nerves. I just resolved to do my best not to do anything remotely... exciting.

"Anything for a pretty lady like yourself." He was smiling at me expectantly, but I gave him a deadpan look and shook my head. 

Jiraiya insisted I stay in his room for the night, thankfully and shockingly not trying to do anything to me, though I guessed he had wanted to get a glance of me when I changed clothes. Judging by his disappointed expression when I said I wasn't going to change my clothes, at least.

The next morning, we set out early, and by midday, I was panting and sweating heavily from running nonstop through the trees. For my sake, Jiraiya stopped by a river so I could drink. He suggested I bathe, but I decided immediately I would wait until the next town, when there were walls separating me from prying eyes.

During the break, though I was exhausted beyond belief, I took it upon myself to practice throwing kunai. The motion felt unfamiliar in my arms, though I remembered how I was supposed to do it in theory. After the first failed throw, I went through the motions slowly, without throwing the blade, nonstop until the end of the break. Around halfway through, I had decided to work on chakra control as well, and stood sideways on the trunk of a tree while still going over the motions.

"Hey, Emiko, you can take it easy, it's your first day of training." Jiraiya told me as we set out again.

"No, I've been out for a week now, and I've been doing nothing, just eating and hiding. I won't waste a single moment now that I'm safe enough to train." I told him, keeping my eyes ahead of me. I looked back at him for a split second to grin, saying, "Besides, being able to do this makes me really happy."

His gaze dipped towards my chest again, which had sweat droplets falling down it. Typical. Already, I had gotten used to his wandering eyes, but that didn't mean I enjoyed it.

I was barely able to keep up with him, though I'd made sure to drink a lot of water during the midday break, and I was very grateful when we stopped for the night, gulping down my water relievedly. While Jiraiya set up a tent, he left me in charge of food. Though I did my best, Jiraiya was clearly trying not to cringe at the burnt edges of the meat I'd cooked. My ninja abilities were not the only things that had deteriorated apparently.

I fell asleep while Jiraiya was still putting out the fire, leaning against a tree.