AN: Note that I do not own Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, or any of the characters from either Anime. This work is a fanfiction written out of my love for the series and not in any attempt to make a profit.

Proofread by: Author and Kyluxia

Had no idea as to what to write for the Author's notes this time around, so I invited my proofreader Kyluxia to say a little something at the end. Now then, on with the chapter you're all here for.

Chapter 13: Summon Possibilities

Heikō found herself regretting her choices as Sakura refused to cooperate. At least, she could still speak with Naruto and train with him. Although Naruto would occasionally stumble or blush at odd moments that messed with their training or made their discussions too awkward for Naruto to continue with. Besides, Sakura was too embarrassed to be the one in control of their body, leaving Heikō to be the one acting, reversing their roles for the time being. As a certain Nara, their age would say, things became a lot more troublesome.

Naturally, with Sakura and Heikō no longer bed-bound, they set out for the next village immediately. Heikō found out that they had been unconscious for nearly three days from Jiraiya, and that after he had made sure they were alright, he had tasked Naruto with looking after them, which was why they had been sharing a room. When Heikō inquired about who had changed them, Jiraiya informed them that he had solved the gender issue by calling on a female acquaintance to help them out, as Naruto was too embarrassed to do it. Jiraiya didn't think it would have been a good idea to force Naruto or do it himself. Although, the entire point of keeping their naked form safe from Naruto ended up being a moot point anyway, considering that he had gotten a real good look at them anyways.

Unfortunately, due to the incident, bringing Sakura and Naruto in close proximity for training turned out to be impossible. Heikō couldn't help herself and ended up teasing either one or the other, which always resulted in her disrupting Jiraiya's lessons. As punishment, as well as a way to solve the issue, Jiraiya tasked Heikō with talking her issue out with Sakura and bringing her back to her usual self, while he took Naruto to stop getting distracted and uncomfortable around Heikō.

Neither Heikō, nor Naruto were very pleased with the arrangement, but Heikō had to admit that Jiraiya had a point. The incident had severely impacted the relationship between the three of them, and something needed to be done about it if they were going to keep training together. Besides, some personal training wouldn't hurt.

As they reached the next village a day later, Jiraiya got them rooms in different parts of the village, before dropping contact for a week, deciding it should have been enough time to resolve things. Heikō agreed, even if it seemed a little bit excessive, but the opportunity to focus on their own training, and getting a chance to work with their summons was a blessing in disguise.

Sure, whenever they could, Sakura and Heikō would summon the Gochi twins to cuddle or train with them. No longer traveling for an entire week, Heikō decided they would push their training to the extreme. With the many mind tricks they knew, and through experimentation, they could cut down on the amount of sleep necessary. The rest they could substitute, by filling it with a Shadow Clone either reading, practicing calligraphy, or training their chakra control, while they slept, and recovered their chakra.

During the day, they had decided to keep the Gochi twins summoned with them to train actual techniques and cooperation with them. Seeing as how they together formed a three-man cell, it worked out rather well in Heikō's opinion. With Sakura's summon constantly close by, Heikō was glad to see Sakura slowly coming back out of her shell to interact with their summons, and in turn, begin to speak with her as well.

After two days, the blue-eyed Gochi had grown curious about the many scrolls their Shadow Clone produced during the night, and after an explanation, gave Sakura and Heikō a rather brilliant idea.

"Hey, what are these scrolls for?" Gochi asked suddenly, abruptly switching topics from recounting the time she and her sister had been learning to walk on water.

Heikō was a bit surprised by the change in topic. While she hadn't been listening in earnest, having learned to tune her sister's more talkative summon out while training, she was still aware enough to politely nod and respond when needed. Looking over at the scrolls Gochi was asking about, Heikō noticed it was the practice scrolls their clone had been filling with ink through the night.

"Oh, those are scrolls we use to practice calligraphy. Quite useful actually, the ink in them fades after a few hours due to a seal, so we can keep re-using them." Heikō informed Gochi.

"It makes the ink disappear?" The other hare asked, looking up from where she had slept, opening her orange eyes to look at Heikō in curiosity. Heikō shook her head.

"Not really," She admitted, before explaining in more detail. "The seal rehydrates the ink, before drawing it into a storage seal. While it can be reused, it's best only to do so once or twice, as the quality deteriorates with each use." Heikō informed them.

"Neat!" The ever-excited Gochi exclaimed cheerfully, while the other, satisfied with the explanation, laid back down to sleep.

"Really useful for practicing Fūinjutsu," Heikō agreed with a nod, intending to go back to her stretches.

"Wait, Fūinjutsu? That's what Fezā does, right? She could probably help you learn it really fast!" Gochi suggested, sounding excited.

"Sure, but Sakura and I can only muster up about four-fifths of the chakra required to actually summon her, and asking her to reverse summon herself to us each time wouldn't be fair, even if she was willing. We'd be abusing the contract we signed." Heikō pointed out.

Gochi looked ready to argue, having raised a paw in objection like humans would a finger, only to lower it and close her mouth as she thought about it. "Right, consent by the summon and summoner doesn't necessarily mean that they're following their obligations. Mom told us about this." Gochi admitted, while her lazy sister opened her eyes to look at her, before nodding in approval and closing her eyes again.

"Oh, what about using your clone then?" Gochi asked, her sister once again opening her eyes to focus on her hyperactive twin in interest.

"Making a clone splits our chakra in half. It won't help." Heikō pointed out with a sigh. If only Shadow clones could generate their own chakra, it wouldn't have been a problem, and the Shadow Clone Technique would have become even more amazing.

"No, I get that. I was thinking, like in the morning. You complained that when you dismissed your clone how you felt bloated from the excess chakra once. The clone doesn't use much chakra simply reading or practicing brush strokes, does it? So, before dismissing it, collectively you should, together with the chakra recovered while sleeping, have more chakra than your reserves usually allow." Gochi pointed out, making her sister snicker at Heikō's stunned look at the very logical and possible idea Gochi had come up with. Heikō had considered her to be the muscles of the twins, while her own personal summon would be the lazy brains.

"People forget that, just because they focus on strength, you shouldn't dismiss brash or hyperactive people as unintelligent. She's my twin sister after all, and she's been taught everything I have as well. I just prefer Genjutsu, while she prefers being more active." Gochi explained, smirking with pride.

"Huh, I'll keep that in mind. It's a really good idea after all." Heikō admitted, before mentally nudging Sakura who refused to answer with anything but a sensation of annoyance. Still, Heikō could tell that she was now paying attention. "We'll try it out tomorrow morning then, see if we can summon Fezā, and see if she can continue our Fūinjutsu training. Calligraphy can always be improved, but we can still learn more since I'd like to think we're fairly proficient in deciphering Fūinjutsu obfuscations by now." Heikō decided, smirking as she felt Sakura grow interested.

"That sounds like fun. I've always wanted to try and become human, like Fezā does, using the transformation technique, but I can never get it right." Gochi informed them, sighing as she sat down, disappointed.

"Really, is it that hard for you?" Heikō asked, surprised as she looked at Sakura's summon. She hadn't expected them to have so much trouble with an Academy level technique, although it did make sense in hindsight. The Haruno twins' summons were a lot younger than they were after all.

"Would you like some help then? Sakura and I have mastered the transformation technique to a level where we can transform into birds and inanimate objects, as well as perform it with just one hand seal." Heikō explained, smiling as she saw the offer not only get Sakura's summon but also her own to look at her with interested eyes and happy smiles.

"Yeah! With the help of a master, we'll nail this technique in no time!" The blue-eyed Gochi cheered in excitement, while her sister rolled her eyes.

"It's a lot harder for us to comprehend a human transformation due to your omnivore diet, as well as the increase in mass. Not to mention, we don't get to interact with a lot of humans our age, and attempting a transformation either older or younger than us requires more chakra." The orange-eyed Gochi clarified as to why they had so much trouble with the technique.

"Wait, you also want to try it, sis?" Her sister asked in surprise.

"Of course, dummy. That way we'd be able to learn and master more techniques, and help our summoners more. I don't understand why other summonses don't bother with it. It's too useful to ignore." Orange-eyed Gochi shared her confusion on the matter.

"I think it's a matter of pride, actually," Heikō responded, thinking about it. "As in, they'd rather keep to tradition and focus on their clan specialty, than adapt human forms and techniques. On one hand, I can understand it, but it's also a bit stupid. If you want to give it all, then give it all. Pride only gets you so far after all, and I don't think it gets you any friends in the end. I know a clan or two that could do with a taste of reality." Heikō informed them, thinking about the stick in the mud Hyūgas. Sure, Hinata, as well as some of the branch family members they had met were alright, but the clan was so heavy on traditionalism and perfection, that someone like Neji had ended up as he was. Fortunately, Naruto had managed to straighten him out. Something which in turn, had helped Hinata and the rest of the Hyūga, if Naruto's retelling of events were to be believed. He had apparently asked Hinata about it all in a letter and then decided to share with them.

Sakura and Heikō had also written a few letters and had found out from Ino, the gossip that she was, that Iruka had been rumored to be going on dates with someone. However, even more interesting, was that similar rumors were surrounding two of her friends. Sasuke and Karin. Something that Karin had touched upon in her own letter, although indirectly. Apparently, Sasuke and her just couldn't get along. They had spent about a month training together during the exams, but that hadn't done anything for their interactions. They hadn't had time to really get to know each other at the time, because of what a slave driver Kakashi had turned out to be. Something he had relaxed a bit on, resulting in Sasuke apparently driving Karin off the edge. Heikō couldn't help but be impressed by how many insults Karin had managed to include in the letter, which just made Ino's rumor all the odder. Karin didn't strike either her or Sakura as a Tsundere, so she doubted there was any merit to the rumors unless Sasuke had actually taken note of the girl.

At first, Sakura and Heikō had both dismissed the idea as ludicrous, why would Sasuke suddenly decide to take note of the opposite sex, when he had spent most of his life avoiding fangirls, and focusing on avenging his clan? Almost like a pile of bricks, the answer eventually hit Heikō, as soon as she felt it within their own body. The answer was obvious. Puberty.

AN: Hello there, Kyluxia here with your author's note. Sakura and Heiko are finally getting to know their summons a bit better, and also learning how fickle the hearts of the young can truly be. Fictional was kind enough to give me this little blurb, so I'd like to thank them for that. Until next time!

Indeed. I originally planned for Sakura and Heikō to enjoy some bonding time with their summons a lot earlier, but it got kind of side-lined, and at best, I could hint at them interacting from time to time off-screen, like sleeping together. I mean, come on, who wouldn't want to cuddle a furry little friend during the night if they could?