Uchiha: Back To The Past! (Naruto)

55: Invited To The Home Of Meritocracy

"Well, it's nice to meet you!"

The three looked at each other again. "Okay..." Yahiko said wearily with an unsure gaze at his other two friends.

Jiraiya smiled at them nicely, retracting his hand. "So," he started, jumping down from the tree they were on.

Yahiko soon followed with Konan and Nagato.

"What really brings you here?" he continued as he faced the three of them. They were shorter than him.

Yahiko squinted his eyes. "You're interrogating us now?" he incquired with knitted brows.

Konan glanced at him in worry as Yahiko was ready to pull out his sword from its sheathe.

Jiraiya raised his hands in defense, "Woah! It was just a question," he looked nervous, and with a silent conversation with Konan, Yahiko sighed and let go of the sword's cover.

"Fine... It's not like some old man can beat us three in a fight..." he grumbled the last part as he looked away from the said old man.

Jiraiya just sighed and shrugged it off. "Anyway, I came to Konoha to visit a former student of mine."

That seemed to pique Yahiko's interest as his brows lifted. "Really? Then that means you're from here." he said with a head tilt, making his hair move to the side with his head.

"Yeah! Glad you kids from the Hidden Rain understand." the man smiled brightly. "If you want I can tour you. It won't hurt to do that since my student is around."

Yahiko, Konan and Nagato perked up. "Seriously!?" Yahiko exclaimed.

"Yup! Surely my student wouldn't mind my visit with a few others."

-----

"Pervy Sage!" a blonde boy exclaimed whilst running towards Jiraiya.

"Hey, kid!" he ruffled the boy's hair. "Is your training finished, Naruto?" he asked with a smirk. Naruto nodded.

"Yup! Today was easy-peasy with Obito-sensei!" Naruto smiled wide like Kushina with closed eyes as Jiraiya ruffled his already messy hair more.

"Alright." he chuckled, inviting the trio from the Hidden Rain inside. Kushina was there, with the blonde father of Naruto.

"Minato!" Jiraiya greeted. Minato was not startled as he was aware of his visit. "Hey, Jiraiya-sensei." he greeted back with a small smile and a similarly small wave.

Jiraiya came to ruffle his hair, too, like Naruto. Minato just smiled it off kindly.

But then his brows raised when he saw the trio that came with Jiraiya.

"New students...?" Minato questioned as he set down his Hokage coat.

His former sensei shook his head. "Nope, I just found them outside. Brought them here since they were visiting, too."

He glanced at the three as they only looked around with awe.

"Hidden Rain?" Minato questioned again, his gaze hardening. Despite the eight years of peace, he still wasn't that friendly with all the villages, ever since he became Hokage.

"Calm down, boy." Jiraiya coaxed, sending Minato a carefree look. "You're the Hokage. They're fine." he looked back as he invited the three to sit down.

Kushina tilted her head at them before smiling. "Hidden Rain, right?" she asked, smiling still. Konan was the one to nod for the three of them.

"Alright! If Jiraiya-sensei trusts you, surely we can, too." she said as she waves her hand, signalling for them to sit down.