Shin-chan's arms and legs flailed through the air. "Where are we going?"
"To a nice place." Jiraiya tapped his wooden sandal against the eaves and leaped toward the left.
"What nice place?"
Jiraiya blurted out, "The hot springs."
Then he looked down at the five-year-old kid dangling from his hand and immediately changed his tune.
"The waterfall past the hot springs."
Shin-chan's eyes, narrowed against the wind, slowly widened, and his brows rose.
"You were going to say the hot springs, weren't you?"
Jiraiya's sandal slipped across a roof tile. "The waterfall past the hot springs."
"But you paused when you said 'hot springs.'"
Jiraiya could feel the little brat in his hand giving him a very strange look.
Namikaze Minato caught up from behind and landed on the same rooftop beside Jiraiya.
"What hot springs?"
"Nothing." Jiraiya answered very quickly.
Shin-chan struggled to crane his head up at Jiraiya's chin. "Does Weird Uncle like hot springs?"
Jiraiya gave a dry cough. "No. The air near the waterfall is better."
"But hot springs have air too."
"The air near the waterfall is cooler."
"The water in the hot springs is warmer."
Jiraiya fell silent for three seconds.
"How do you know so much about hot springs?"
"I like them too," Shin-chan said seriously. "There are pretty big sisters in hot springs."
Jiraiya's step faltered.
Shin-chan continued, "Last time I went to the hot springs with Dad, there was a big sister in a pink yukata. She had long hair, and her eyes curved when she smiled."
Jiraiya's Adam's apple bobbed.
"You don't like pretty big sisters?" Shin-chan asked.
Jiraiya's gaze involuntarily drifted toward Namikaze Minato.
Namikaze Minato was keeping pace beside him, wearing his usual gentle smile, as though he had not noticed their conversation at all.
Jiraiya took a