Minato should not have trusted his sensei.
Sure, Jiraiya was one of the three Sannin (and also pretty popular with the ladies) but a young Minato Namikaze couldn’t shake the feeling that his first day of “Apprentice training” wouldn’t be what he expected. He already had been told to climb a mountain by himself to meet his teacher at the top- not that he had any qualms about it. It was just a little strange. Who did Jiraiya think he was, anyway? Mr. Miyagi?
When the blonde reached the top he paused, looking around the area for a few moments before he set his backpack down somewhere he thought was safe. Unfortunately, as he set his important I-need-this-to-survive backpack on the ground a noise made him stand up. Was someone in the bushes behind him?
Drawing a kunai, he made his way to the bushes and quickly shoved them aside. “...huh.” Nothing. Of course when he turned back around, “...my...backpack.” Gone.
Minato face palmed himself. “Sensei! I know you’re there!” He yelled.
“Good senses, but I wasn’t the one who stole your stuff.” Minato looked
up into the trees to see his white haired sensei squatting in a nearby branch. His white hair stood out in the sunlight and he gave Minato the biggest smile he’d ever seen. Minato blinked a couple of times. It would be impossible not to see him there....why didn’t he...? He guessed that was why Jiraiya was called one of the Legendary Sannin.
“Then how did you know...?” He raised a brow as Jiraiya landed on the ground beside Minato.
“Because...I saw it.” He answered, blinking.
“Then which way did it go, sensei?” Minato asked politely.
“Dunno, don’t care. You didn’t come here for that, you came for training.” Jiraiya said, nodding a bit to himself.
“But...” The fifteen-year-old Minato started.
“NO BUTS! You’ll be fine, Minato.” The sage said, waving his hand. “Now, first off, there are three shinobi vices. The first is sake. The second is money...and the last is women. You go it?”
“Yes, sensei...but...does that mean you have food and water here?” Minato questioned as he scanned the area.
“Nope! That’s in the next town which is about thirty miles from here.”
The blonde’s eyes widened. “Sensei...”
“What?”
“...are you saying we have no food or water?”
So that was how they ended up searching for the thing that took Minato’s backpack.
“Are you sure it went this way, sensei?” Minato asked, crawling on his stomach behind Jiraiya.
“Absolutely, kid. These sage eyes never lie.” Jiraiya glanced back at him and grinned. He was also crawling on his stomach.
“...um..” Minato bit his lip.
“What?”
“Sensei...do we really have to crawl like this to get it?” The blond blinked.
“Of course we do!” He huffed. “It was probably a small, unintelligent being.” There was the sound of faint rustling in the trees.
“I don’t think you should’ve said that, sensei.” Minato put in nervously. He had a really be feeling about all of this.
“Shh! I think I see it!” His teacher waved his hand, and Minato’s eyes widened. Had Jiraiya-sensei found the culprit? Would they be able to eat now? He took a deep breath as his teacher slowly pulled himself into a crouching position. If possible Minato’s eyes widened even more. Where was it? How could Jiraiya-sensei see it?
“Almost...” The sage muttered under his breath...only to pause and resume his crawling position. “Goddammit.”
Minato didn’t dare speak, so he raised an eyebrow.
“There’s a whole horde of them.”
“Wha..? Sensei I can’t-”
“Shutthefuckup, we could die like this.” Jiraiya hissed. “Now keep your head down. I don’t think we have much chance unless we steal it from them.”
“But…sensei...” Minato whispered. “I can’t even see what you’re talking about. It can’t be that bad...”
Jiraiya narrowed his eyes slightly. “You wanna take a look? Go right ahead.” He gestured for Minato to look through the bushes.
Again, the blonde’s eyes widened. Stretching across the fifteen yards in the clearing were trees filled with various types of monkeys- monkeys that were big enough to go one-on-one with Minato himself. He paled slightly and scooted back. “It is that bad...”
“Exactly.” An index finger inclined at the legion of chimps who looked surprisingly menacing. “So you know what we’re gonna do?”
Minato raised a brow at his teacher. “What?”
“We’re gonna steal that backpack back!”
A few beatings, sixteen scratches and a black eye later, the two were panting behind a couple of bushes. “Okay, what was plan B?”
So that was how they ended up walking thirty-two miles through a desert- like area for some grub...
