“Well hey, this isn’t that bad.” Jiraiya said, smiling a bit as he walked. “You can just think of it as extra training, you know?”
Minato only nodded gingerly touching his face. He was the one with the black eye. He hoped it would fade by the time they got back. Kushina would probably laugh him from here to America if she saw it. After about an hour or two of walking, Minato said, “Sensei, is there any way to get there faster?” He revised his statement, “I mean, I’m not tired, but the sun is pretty high in the sky...not to mention those buzzards.” Minato didn’t think he was complaining, especially because those buzzards were getting reeeeeally close.
“Huh?” The white haired sensei’s eyes widened. “...you know what, I think you’re right. Especially because those vultures are swooping in pretty low.” He seemed frozen for a moment, but then he laughed and continued walking. “Don’t be such a sissy, Minato. We don’t look dead so they wouldn’t possibly try for us.”
“Yeah...” Minato laughed, wondering why he’d been so foolish. “You’re probably ri-” At that exact moment, a vulture swooped a little too low for comfort and tore off a part of his clothes.
“....I don’t think that they care whether we’re dead or not, sensei.”
“I think you’re right, Minato.”
“AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!” Both of them ran like hell as they bobbed and weaved through the crowds of angry birds. “Sensei!” Minato cried, covering his head. “Don’t you owe me an apology?!”
Jiraiya was covering his head as he ran, but he didn’t seem to hear Minato. “MUST...SUMMON...SNACK..FOR...BIRDS!”
Minato looked a bit horrified when he heard this. “YOU AREN’T!”
Luckily for them, town was impossibly close- after running for about twenty- five miles with vultures pecking at them- and both master and student escaped the fate of ‘The Birds’ as they scampered inside of a small inn. Minato leaned against the door frame as he put his hands on his knees to catch his breath.
Jiraiya sighed as he took a seat in the lobby-like waiting area of the inn. “That was definitely some good exercise.”
Minato didn’t say anything about that and resisted the urge to glare at his sensei. Good God, if this is what it took to learn something, he wasn’t sure he wanted to do it. So far he had a black eye (oh God, that wasn’t fading either), numerous bruises, about sixteen cuts, a sprained ankle (which he really needed to treat) and a splitting headache...besides that, the place where the vulture clipped him was starting to itch. He may have an infection.
“Okay...now that we’re here...we should probably rest for a while. Here, did you bring any money with you? My stuff was taken before you met me at our training spot.”
Minato nodded and pulled out his wallet. “Yes, sensei.”
Jiraiya took the wallet from him, carefully searching its inventory, something that probably shouldn’t have made Minato nervous but did. “Alright! We’re all set to go.” He stood up and paid for a room. “Alright, I’ll get the food and you just treat your...ailments.” He looked Minato up and down. “Damn kid, you got it worse than me. How’s the black eye?” He fingered it, making Minato flinch. “Sorry. Well, I’m off! Be back soon!” He gave Minato a wave as he walked out of the inn and into the street.
Minato let out a sigh of relief. Even though this “training” had been plagued with terrible incidents, Jiraiya-sensei was still looking out for him. He walked into the room and immediately started treating his wounds as a sense of relief- and also a strange sinking feeling- started settling into his heart. After many hours of waiting, Minato, who was tired and still recovering from that nasty black eye, fell asleep on the mat.
Early the next morning, Minato woke to the sound of birds chirping. His eye was still slightly swollen, but it didn’t hurt as much as it had the day before. The floors were harder than he expected, even with the mat, so his back ached a bit, but he didn’t mind it as much as he minded the fact that his sensei was still gone.
Jiraiya hadn’t come back.
Minato closed his eyes. A part of him was worried. He had faith in his sensei, but to be honest, neither of them knew where exactly they were, and many of Minato’s training materials- like many of his kunai- were gone. Jiraiya-sensei stated earlier that his “stuff” had also been stolen. There was a possibility that he hadn’t come back because he was in a pickle... He sighed a little to himself. “You can never be too sure.”
The blonde stood and walked out of the inn, though not before checking how long Jiraiya had paid for them to stay. Because it was a simple overnight stay, Minato had no trouble with packing up and going off in search of his sensei.
There was an old man on the far side of the street who seemed to be having trouble with his grocery bags. Minato, not one to shun those in need, immediately thought that if he helped this person, he would not only perform a good deed, but he may also find some information on his sensei. “Excuse me sir,” Minato asked politely, “do you need any help with those bags? I’d be happy to help you carry them.”
