All the World's a Stage - Chapter 6 + links to prev (Patreon)

Chapter 1 

Chapter 2 

Chapter 3 

Chapter 4 

Chapter 5 

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Jiraiya was immensely proud of these kids. Worried, but proud.

They stood arrayed in front of him. Konan idly folded a sheet of paper using nothing but raw chakra control. It was slow still, but the lines were perfectly creased and without a single mistake. Nagato’s eyes darted around vigilantly, watchful for any danger that might come their way. Between them, Yahiko simply stared ahead calmly, one hand resting on the sword planted in the ground before him, ready. Utterly confident that one of his friends would see any danger before it got to him.

They were ten years old.

Truth be told, this mission was a waste of their talents. The Ame kids were far past the point of doing C-ranks. They knew it, too, but they trusted him and didn’t argue, which is more than he could ever have said about Team 6. But the point of the mission wasn’t training or preparing them, not anymore. Jiraiya simply wanted to go one one last, easy mission with the kids.

Yahiko had reached the point of starting to develop his own unique style, and his water jutsu were as good as they could be. Nagato had mastered all five elements. Konan, Jiraiya had given her as many chakra control exercises as he could think of and she’d made them look easy. Her paper techniques were unlike anything he’d ever seen, and she’d be a monster once she fully developed it. They all would.

But the Toad Sage wasn’t a swordsman, he didn’t know origami beyond the basics, and no one knew how Nagato’s eyes worked. They could only keep growing through experience. Jiraiya had nothing left to teach them.

They were ten years old, but they weren’t kids anymore. It was time to let them go.

He didn’t want to, though. They were ready, but Jiraiya wasn’t sure he was.

So, one last C-rank. After they’d collected the merchants and escorted them to Tanzaku Quarters, Jiraiya would have the team stick around the town for a few days having fun. It might be the last time he’d be able to hang around the kids as their sensei.

…Granted, he hadn’t… quite… figured out what they’d do at a den of gambling like that, but he’d find something. If all else fails he’d take suggestions from the kids on some detour they want to make on the way back to Konoha.

Yahiko shifted his weight from one leg to the other. Then back again. Jiraiya chuckled. The Sage counted under his breath.

At the count of fifteen (more than he expected), Yahiko sighed, and at once any sense of professionalism drained out of the team.

“Sensei,” Yahiko complained, “How much longer are we going to stand here?”

“It’s rude to keep us waiting,” Nagato murmured.

“Yeah! I saw the maps, they have less road to travel than we did!”

Jiraiya chuckled. “Yes, but they’re guarding the civilians, remember. They have to match the merchants’ pace. We’ll have to slow down once we collect them too.”

“Maybe it’s been too long since our last escort mission if you forget something like that,” Konan teased.

“I didn’t forget. But we’ve been camping here for three days already.”

“You were the one who wanted to hurry,” Nagato said flatly. “Sensei even said we didn’t have to leave for another day.”

Yahiko scratched his cheek, pouting. “I don’t like wasting time.”

Jiraiya couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Well, that’s a bold-faced lie. We had to drag you out of Mune’s store last time we were there.”

“I still think I could have handled the odachi.”

“That sword was longer than you are. Wait until you’ve grown a few more feet.” Jiraiya said it with a smile, but inside he was grimacing. They were still so small…

He shook the thought away. “Anyway. If they take too much longer I might consider venturing into River to look for them. This is taking a bit longer than I expected.”

Konan stiffened.

“Or maybe not. Do you sense them?”

“I… think so? How many shinobi were supposed to meet us?”

Jiraiya frowned. “Three.”

“...I think I sense more than that, but some of them feel strange. Something strange is happening with their chakra.”

Jiraiya hummed. He strode forward towards the border, signaling them to follow.

As they approached, they could make out the head of the caravan coming up the road that followed the river. The train of wagons was longer than he expected.

There appeared to be, in total, eight ninja guarding it. At first, at least. It took him a second to notice, but there were two ninja in the middle of the pack that the others never strayed too far from.

He wasn’t certain until he saw the flash of a chakra thread; whoever they were, they were good. The threads were almost invisible.

Jiraiya grinned. “I see what the problem is, Konan. You’ve never had to deal with Suna’s puppets before, have you?”

The girl’s eyes narrowed. Jiraiya let her think, and sure enough in no time at all a look of realization stole across her face. “I see. That’s very interesting. I can sense the way they’re connected now.”

Yep, she was going to be a terror.

The ninja leading the procession saw them first. The slimy-looking man sneered when he saw the kids, but once he processed who their sensei was he looked a lot more humble. Jiraiya always loved seeing that.

The Suna nin signaled and was joined by the two puppeteers. One of them was a young boy who looked even younger than his students, with bright red hair and a standard flak jacket over a purple shirt. Interesting choice.

The other man--damn, were there no kunoichi in Suna?--also had red hair, but much darker than the boy’s, or even Nagato’s; it was almost black. He had a short beard, and he wore a loose-fitting white shirt with a green… apron? Strange. He looked more like a craftsman of some sort than a shinobi, but the puppets by his side didn’t lie. He looked pale.

He also had a frog made out of cloth on his shoulder. What?

“What?” he asked out loud?

The lead ninja had been saying something, but Jiraiya hadn’t heard a word. “I’m sorry, sannin-sama?”

He shook himself. “Apologies. Was the journey hard for you?”

The frog puppet shifted and looked at him. “Why, are you jealous?”

Jiraiya nearly fell over. “What?”

The puppeteer clapped a hand over his out, looking horrified. “Sorry, that just slipped out,” he said hurriedly in his normal voice.

The lead man glared at him. “As I was saying, we hand the task of guarding these merchants over to you.”

“Is that my hitai-ate?” Jiraiya asked, terribly confused.

The frog puppet looked down at the band around its neck, then back up at him. “No,” it lied.

“Yes it is,” Nagato argued.

“No, mine doesn’t have horns.” The puppeteer looked like he was going to be ill. The younger one was staring between them.

“Rooster what are you doing?” the lead ninja hissed.

“I’m sorry!” the puppeteer squeaked, trying and failing to keep his voice low. “I’m panicking!”

“Wilkins is braver than you are, I see,” the young boy said, sounding faintly amused. He looked a little nervous too, and Jiraiya didn’t feel as good about that one.

Jiraiya walked up to the strange shinobi, eyes narrowed. “...You know, something’s familiar about you.”

‘Rooster’ stared unblinkingly, terrified, but that didn’t stop the frog from leaning down between them. “I should say so, I’m pretty famous.”

“No you aren’t,” the lead ninja snapped. “No one outside Suna knows who you are!”

The frog looked around. “Wow, Suna’s a lot greener than I remember.”

“You know what I mean, you--” He slapped himself. “I am not going to argue with a puppet.”

“I don’t blame you after you lost the last one.”

Jiraiya’s eye twitched as they bickered. He turned to his students, who looked just as lost as he felt. Yahiko could only shrug.

“Is Ondori-san doing a performance?”

The Konoha nin turned towards the speaker to see one of the merchants walking up with a clipboard. “A performance?”

“Oh yes, he does them all the time,” the man explained happily. “They’re great fun.”

“Oh, Mister Toad Sage?” ‘Wilkins’ called, and Jiraiya looked back. This Ondori was starting to develop a gray pallor, but he kept doing the frog’s voice without seeming aware of it. The other Suna nin were starting to look concerned.

“Yes?” he asked cautiously.

“What are those symbols on the kids’ headbands? Are they not from the Leaf?”

Yahiko answered for him. “No, we’re Ame!”

The frog nodded knowingly. “Ah, never heard of them.”

Ondori twitched. “Really?” he croaked, sounding more like a frog than his puppet’s voice. “I-I thought th-they were pretty well known.”

“Well you can’t be surprised. After all, it’s almost never Rain-nin in the desert.”

Konan laughed, to her own surprise.

“Okay, maybe that’s enough for now,” the youngest said. He flexed his hands and Wilkins flew off of his master’s shoulder into his hands. The frog gave an aborted shout before Ondori shuddered.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me,” Ondori said sincerely, wringing his hands.

Jiraiya gave him a look. “I could swear I’ve seen you before.”

“We’ve never met sir, nope, never once. Isn’t that right?” he asked the disguised, proper puppet standing next to him. The puppet clicked and shook its head. “He agrees with me.”

Jiraiya stared. The Ame kids stared. Ondori’s teammates stared.

The merchant clapped. “Amusing as always, sir, but I think it’s time we get back to business.” He brandished his clipboard as everyone remembered why they were here. “Gurosu and I have already filled out our end of the transfer forms, now you just need to finish your copies and we can all be on our way.”

Gurosu the poisoner? Interesting. Jiraiya shook himself and took the clipboard with a look of distaste. “Paperwork, hmph. Alright, I’ll get this done. Gimme a second, team, I’ll be right back.”

“You’re going to leave them alone with us?” Gurosu asked, surprised.

Jiraiya glanced at Ondori. “...Somehow I think they’re in no danger.”