Chapter 2
They were in the land of waves, and he was resting on his way home. He’d had to leave the kids behind, but Konan would keep Nagato and Yahiko in line. They would live long lives with the skills he’d taught them. That’s what he told himself. The war was going long and Jiraiya wasn’t sure how much he had left in him. So he sat and he drank the night away.
Jiraiya didn’t think much of the woman at first. She had long blonde hair and soft green eyes —she looked a hell of a lot like another Hime in his life. So maybe it was understandable, in a way, that he was taken in by her as she chatted to the bartender.
Her laugh was light and her tone soft.
And she’d already caught his eye several times.
Her name was Akihara. She’d said so quietly and with a smile.
She looked nothing like she should have —Jiraiya could not have known.
He couldn’t have known that his teammates murderer was sitting next to him, waxing poetic about the virtues of a good sake.
He couldn’t have known she was going to leave that bar and head deeper into the land of waves.
He couldn’t have known that she was going to murder the kids —hiskids.
No.
That came later.
It came with an update to the Bingo Book.
MEI "YOKAI" AKI, PREVIOUSLY PRESUMED DEAD
LAST SEEN IN THE LAND OF WAVES
SSS+ CLASS THREAT
FLEE ON SIGHT
The photo was a blurry thing, and there was blood covering her. But Jiraiya remembered the shape of her face and the wild smile she had.
Something in him shattered.