"So, what's next on the possible list of places our wayward teacher might've hit?"
"Bars," Naruko said, "they are excellent places to gather gossip and information. Any ninja worth their salt knows this. Either jisan will be in the Pig's Head, or there'll be someone who knows where he is."
"The Pig's what?" Haruto asked. "I thought you're not supposed to eat that."
"Well, you can, but—" Satsuki explained, before shaking her head.
"It's a bar that jisan frequents, it's where he meets his contacts in Konoha."
***
Somewhere, deep within, Satsuki had been half expecting a run down, seedy little place in one of the poorer neighborhoods of Konoha, where the scum of the earth met to discuss their vile doings.
Instead, however, it was a clean, quaint and welcoming place, with a warm fire roaring at the very center, where no less than three whole pigs were being roasted to be served. The bar apparently doubled as a grill, and given that it was quite large, it was probably fit to host parties, as well. It was even placed in a rather nice neighborhood, with clean streets and homes, even if most were quite old, and some having front yards suffering the signs of neglect.
It was strangely disappointing, given that she'd half expected to wander into the bar, slam her fist against the counter and demand information.
The owner was a very tall man wearing what looked like an old and worn, but lovingly cared for robe, hiding an impeccable business suit that could only be glimpsed behind his massive white beard, which was only matched in length by his hair, also white as snow. He introduced himself with a long and complex name, but told them to just call him Shiroi, it was his nickname, after all.
He had, indeed, seen Jiraiya drop by earlier. "Energetic young lad, that one," the man said, smiling fondly.
Lad?
Jiraiya was at least fifty years old.
Apparently Shiroi was just ancient, it seemed, and to him Jiraiya was a lad. Given that the old man predated the foundation of Konoha, it was very much possible. Nobody was quite sure how old he was, from what they could gather, but still, to call Jiraiya 'lad'…
"Would you mind telling us, if you know, where he went from here?" Haruto asked.
"Sure. Perhaps you'd care for a drink before you leave?" the man asked, smiling at them, gesturing towards the scores of bottles behind him, all neatly arranged in some fashion lost to them.
"No, thanks," Satsuki said, "I don't really drink."
"I don't do good with alcohol," Haruto admitted, frowning a bit.
Naruko shook her head, but didn't speak.
"Well, that's too bad, because when he left here, he told me that at least one of you would have to drink this whole bottle," he said, as he pulled out a long, transparent bottle that had a milky, semi-transparent white fluid within. It sloshed gently as he laid it on the bar, "before I'd tell you where he went to."
"So, he knew we were going to come here?" Haruto said.
"Of course he did. He probably planned for it, knowing I knew he'd come here. He is, after all, an exemplary shinobi," Naruko said, closing her eyes and smiling smugly, as if the man's achievements reflected on her.
Satsuki believed that Naruko probably did.
Haruto flat out didn't care, he just wanted to get it over with. "I… really can't hold my liquor," he admitted. "A single sake saucer will get me drunk."
"That's pathetic," the white bearded man said, "I'm really sorry for you."
"Yeah… I am too…" Haruto admitted, slumping.
Satsuki sighed. "I'm a bit of a lightweight, too… Okay, I'm REALLY light weight. Excuse me for being short!" she said, clearly offended that she'd have to admit it. "But you… you've got space to put the alcohol in, don't you? With those huge breasts of yours…" she said, glaring snidely at Naruko, who scoffed. "Or maybe you're just too scared that you'll get drunk and look stupid in front of everyone?"
"As if a single bottle of any alcoholic beverage could best me! I will show you!" she yelled, grabbing hold of the bottle's neck, and then putting it to her lips before she threw her head back, the bottle following her movements until she was pouring the liquid down her throat.
"Well… that was easy," Shiroi stated, somewhat disappointed.
"Naruko's really, really easy to manipulate, if you know how," Satsuki admitted, shrugging, though her eyes straying to Naruko's throat, as she gulped the liquid down.
"I don't think this is healthy," Shiroi admitted.
"Eh. She'll live. Maybe she'll learn a lesson, too," Satsuki said.
Haruto frowned. "Are you sure? I think people have died from consuming less than that at a slower rate… That's really high quality sake, isn't it?"
"Yep," Shiroi confirmed. "Jiraiya shelled out for you guys to get a taste of the good stuff," he said.
After a few seconds more, Naruko was done, and she put the bottle down, before wiping her lips, and glaring at Satsuki. "See? There!" she said, gesturing to the bottle.
"Huh. So you could. And you're perfectly fine… great, another thing to be envious about…" Satsuki muttered to herself, before shaking her head. "Now, the clue..?"
"Ah. Yes. Jiraiya said he was going to the Golden Hind," Shiroi stated, looking at Naruko for a few seconds, before shaking his head. "Don't worry, Jiraiya paid for the bottle before, so you can go. Uh… take care… I guess."
"We will. Thank you," Haruto said, nodding eagerly.
Satsuki and Naruko offered their own thanks and the genin team moved out.
"Huh. Jiraiya said that should've been enough to get all of them drunk… did he really misjudge her tolerance that much?" Shiroi asked himself, as the genin team crossed the boundary of the door. "Oh. Well. I've got five minutes 'till Anko-chan drops by for a refill…"
***
Haruto was starting to worry a little.
Naruko had not been as unaffected as they'd thought by the bottle of sake she'd thrown back in something like a minute.
In fact, he could see her eyes drooping slightly, and her face becoming flushed. As they walked, her steps became wobbly, too, and she sometimes swayed from side to side, almost as if she had trouble walking straight. Which… she probably did. Naruko was quite likely smashed, and it showed. Maybe it was a bad idea to let her drink it all… but he'd be in the same state with just a little sip, and he didn't know if Satsuki would've reacted much better to the alcohol herself.
The fact that Naruko was even standing at all showed that she had quite a bit more tolerance for the nasty stuff than they did. The fact that she hadn't puked it out at least told as much. Given how horrible it felt when it went down, Haruto wondered if she was more experienced in drinking than one'd expect. After all, it takes a while to get used to the burning sensation.
Regardless, he was starting to get worried that they might not make it to the golden hind.
This place, he did know. It was one of the most well known tourist spots in Konoha, the Nara casino. Apparently, the Konoha's clan of lazy bastards, or so they called themselves, weren't so lazy when it came to earning lots of money with little effort, relatively speaking.
Naruko managed to keep her head straight long enough to make it to the casino without any real incidents, though some people did look a little oddly at the Hokage's daughter, as she was clearly suffering from some sort of malady.
Or at least the hiccups. She was suffering from those, too, periodically.
They were almost denied entrance, given that one of their number was clearly inebriated, but Haruto could easily pass for a full adult, and Satsuki had her headband to fall back on. Naruko didn't even need that much, as she was let in as soon as the bouncer recognized her as the Hokage's daughter, who everyone knew was graduating from the academy that year. Even if she also looked quite drunk.
Suffice to say, it didn't take a genius to notice the obvious guards that were keeping an eye on them. It wouldn't do for the Hokage's bratty daughter to start an incident in their casino, after all.
Team 13 ignored the machines all around them, arranged in different ways, and pushed past the blackjack, poker and roulette tables. They were going straight to the back, where they'd be able to have a quiet moment in a room to recollect themselves. Acquiring the room itself was easy. They were rented for relatively cheap prices, and there were quite a few. It was just nice that the casino also functioned as a hotel.
Naruko insisted on getting the nicest room they could, and threw a black credit card to Haruto, ordering him to get them the penthouse. The high rollers's suites were unavailable, for reasons obvious to everyone, but enough money to throw at the problem fixes anything. Including the lack of reservations. Naruko had a lot of money to throw at her problems, fortunately for Team 13.
Room service brought them a complimentary lunch, a full roasted chicken with potatoes, both sweet and the normal variety, as well as three different kinds of salad. It also came with champagne.
For some reason, the trolley that their lunch had been brought in with also had a box with several condoms, and the bus boy who'd brought it along had looked at Haruto with a face full of such envy that the pink haired boy thought he might just explode on the spot. Haruto was left confused as the guy bit his lip and fell to his knees, proclaiming how he wasn't worthy, before he turned around and left.
From the dark stains on the carpet, it was clear he was crying as he boarded the employee-only elevator.
Haruto was left deeply confused, though he wheeled the trolley in.
The chicken didn't last long. Naruko was quite clearly ravenously hungry, and while they still brought out the boxed lunches they'd made for just such an occasion, they'd eaten everything, though Naruko ate most of the chicken. She also drank most of the champaigne, which both Satsuki and Haruto barely touched.
"Ne, ne, Haruhka… Yur hair'sh purdy…" Naruko said, out of the blue, somewhat startling her teammates.
Haruto frowned at the use of his nickname, as well as the reference to his hair. He frowned even more at how Naruko was slurring her words.
"Well, this is great. She's annoying while sober, I can only imagine how annoying she's going to be when drunk," Satsuki groaned, giving a long, suffering sigh as she turned to the large, king sized bed that dominated the penthouse. "Well.. good thing she chose a room with such a comfortable bed… 'cause she'd complain if she didn't have silk sheets, I'm sure."
"Nuh uh!" Naruko said, glaring at her, though she was wagging her finger with aim a little to the left of her intended target.
"Yes, you would, now shut up and take a nap. You're drunk," Satsuki said, crossing her arms.
Haruto sighed, and went to lift Naruko by her armpits, intent on throwing her onto the bed. He remembered his mother doing this to his father when he'd come home after getting beaten up to the point he was dizzy hours after the fact. Naruko, however, proved her great physical strength was intact by shaking him off. Ironically, hiccuping right then and there was enough to give her the opening she needed to do so. "Ish not!" she said.
"Yes you are," Satsuki said, then held up four fingers in front of Naruko's face. "How many fingers am I holding up?"
"Ff… f-hic-four!" Naruko said, triumphantly. Then she blinked. "Er… six?" she asked, hopefully.
Satsuki shook her head. "I hate dealing with you, when you get like this, idiot," Satsuki muttered, before actually walking up to her and picking up the blonde, trying to get her to lean on her slimmer body for support.
"You shmell… nice… Mikoto-obashan!"
At this, Haruto was forced to step in to steady both Naruko and Satsuki, as the latter had stumbled on an invisible snag on the red carpet below them.
"Mikoto-obashan… you sh-hic-shaid… you shaid daddy would be home, obashan… why you lie?" Naruko asked, breaking the one armed hug that kept her on her feet, or at least trying to, only to stumble and head to the floor, pulling Satsuki with her.
Unfortunately, there was a mass of man named Haruto on the way, and she knocked into him, forcing him to be the bottom of the pile.
"Haruhka, tell obashan that shesh a liar!" Naruko commanded, poking Haruto in the chest as she did. "She told me daddy'd be home. She alwaysh shaid daddy'd be home… -Hic- But 'e never sch-shuw-shew-came! Why? Obashan… why'd you lie to Naruko…"
Haruto found himself experiencing something he never thought he would, as he felt Naruko's body spasm above him, sobs escaping her mouth as her words became even more slurred and almost undecipherable. He felt incredibly awkward, as he felt on his left side a squirming body trying to pull herself out of the pile, as Satsuki was trying to push Naruko off her while at the same time pushing herself off Haruto.
She was muttering curses, because Naruko's hand was clinging tightly to her, not letting her go.
Haruto's right arm was free, though not for much longer, as he reached as best as he could to try and pat Naruko's back, as she continued to sob while clinging tightly to both of her teammates.
It wouldn't be until five minutes later that Naruko would finally calm down and succumb to her emotional exhaustion, enough to let her body relax. From there, it took little effort for Satsuki to separate from them.
Haruto stood, awkwardly trying his best to lift Naruko bridal style, until he could lay her down to rest on the bed, while Satsuki went to dim the lights.
"Should we…" Haruto asked, looking at the skin-tight body suit that Naruko wore, along with the dress styled in such a way that it marked her as the fourth Hokage's daughter everywhere she went, styled after the man's own. It was clearly not something comfortable to sleep in.
"Give me a minute. I'll change her into some of my pajamas. I don't know how the storage seals on her pouch work, they're really advanced stuff, so I can't open them. Here, help me pull off her clothes—" Satsuki said, pulling on one of Naruko's coat's sleeves while keeping her arm in place.
Haruto went red at this. "B-But I'm a boy—I'll just wait outside," he said.
"Nonsense. This isn't anything you haven't seen before. I saw her change. Her underwear covers more than her swimsuit," Satsuki said, rolling her eyes.
Turns out that, despite her risqué choice in swimwear, Naruko happened to be wearing much more conservative underwear, and while her breasts strained the silk nightgown that Satsuki had pulled out for her, it managed to cover her modesty nonetheless.
Haruto still wouldn't stop blushing all the way from the tips of his toes to the roots of his hair for quite a while, though.
It'd been a bit more difficult than it should've been, considering that Haruto kept his eyes closed as much as he could… but were one to ask Satsuki, she would always say it was a good thing.
At least he hadn't seen her blushing, too.