Jiraiya and Tsunade fled the Land of Earth.
They entered the Land of Grass.
But less than two days after entering the Land of Grass, they heard a rumor.
"A Missing-nin from Konoha went back to the village."
"I heard that Missing-nin has some insanely powerful connections. He went Missing-nin, then came back and got awarded a Glorious Family plaque."
"Holy shit!"
"Dark days have come to Konoha!!"
"..."
Jiraiya and Tsunade were eating ramen when they heard these rumors.
It tasted like Poop!!
Jiraiya had no appetite. He devoted all his attention to listening to the gossip instead.
As soon as he heard that news, Jiraiya went straight over.
"What Missing-nin from Konoha? Mind telling me about it too?"
Jiraiya grinned and ordered a plate of beef in sauce. The owner said they didn't have any, so Jiraiya switched to roast chicken. The owner said they didn't have that either. Jiraiya asked what they did have, and the owner said pickled vegetables.
"Then bring my buddies two plates of pickles."
Jiraiya was honestly speechless.
In this godforsaken backwater, it was bad enough that the ramen tasted like Poop, but they didn't even have roast chicken!!
Still,
it didn't really matter. The people here had never eaten anything good.
With just two plates of pickles, Jiraiya won them all over. They sat beside him and chattered away.
An Uchiha survivor, fleeing at the first sign of danger on the Night of the Massacre, an illegitimate child, a Glorious Family plaque after returning to the village...
They spilled it all in a jumbled heap, mixing truth and lies.
"Oh, right. I heard that family of four even came to our Land of Grass and stayed for quite a while. No idea who they were, though. It's just something I heard."
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