After those baffling thoughts had run through Jiraiya's mind, he couldn't help coughing twice to clear his throat, tossing the scroll up and catching it again.
Seeing Jiraiya's expression, everyone in the office fell silent and waited for him to speak. Even the Third's pipe obligingly stopped giving off smoke.
At last, he spoke slowly:
"Well... going by what you've told me, Hayashi really should be fine."
Jiraiya reopened the scroll Sakura had just tossed back to him and told everyone:
"I just learned from Sage Fukasaku that Hayashi is probably training at Ryūchi Cave."
"And it seems Hayashi is very..."
"Welcome there, with that sage..."
Remembering the aura on the scroll that had made even Sage Fukasaku tremble, he could only say the word "welcome" with a certain ambiguity.
Still, the fact that the scroll had reached them spoke for itself.
Once Naruto was sure Hayashi was all right, he immediately returned to his usual carefree self.
He clasped his hands behind his head and said casually:
"Pervy Sage, you're seriously underestimating Hayashi."
"He'd be welcome anywhere he went."
"Honestly, Pervy Sage, you're such an idiot."
Someone nearby couldn't hold back a snort of laughter.
"You little brat!"
"You were calling me Lord Jiraiya just a moment ago!"
Jiraiya couldn't help hopping in indignation, then gave Naruto a hard knock on the head.
He put quite a bit of force into it, and a dull thunk rang out.
"Ow!"
Naruto clutched his head and hopped in place after the blow, only to rub the top of his head with a grin.
"That kinda hurt, so that proves this is all real! Hayashi's fine!"
At those words, even Sakura turned her face away to hide a little laugh.
Looking at Naruto standing there grinning, Jiraiya couldn't help sighing.
*Minato... just