Clad only in bath towels, the trio waded into the water…though Hinata had to be forcefully pushed inside by Sakura.
"Hey Sakura-chan, how come I gotta be on the other side?" asked Naruto.
"You're telling me if you were sitting right next to us right now, you wouldn't try anything perverted?"
"Oh, good point." Naruto leaned back and dipped his shoulders underwater. "What do we do now then?"
"Didn't you hear what Jiraiya-sama said? Think! We need some ideas."
"Hmm, it's so easy for us to think when Hinata-chan is comatose and I'm having a bath with two hot girls," Naruto replied sarcastically. "Wow, my mind is sparkling clear!"
"Shut up, Naruto!" Sakura closed her eyes. "Give me a moment to brainstorm…"
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When she opened her eyes, Hinata was still stone-like and Naruto was two inches away from her face.
"Hey beautiful, whatcha-"
Sakura promptly punched him back to the other side.
"Owww…"
"Naruto, did you learn anything from Jiraiya in the last three years…aside from his perverted habits?"
"Stupid Sakura-chan," mumbled Naruto under his breath. "So…did you think of anything? Or back to square one as usual?"
Sakura scowled.
"Of course I thought of an idea, and a practical one at that. Can you hear me, Hinata-chan?" Hinata bobbed her head slightly, still staring into space. "Good…alright, here's my plan. There's no way we can go back to Konoha right now with everyone looking for us. The good news is-"
"Booooring…what's the idea?"
"Let me finish, baka! The good news is, because Konoha needs to keep a supply of ninja on hand for the Chuunin exam preparations, they've allowed our allies to come in and take part in the search for us. That means-"
"I GET IT! You're saying we go in and beat them all up! Great plan, Sakura-chan!"
"…"
"…"
"What, dattebayo?"
"BAKA! I'm saying we need to go to Hidden Sand and ask them for some of their uniforms…then we can go back to Konoha pretending we're hunter-nins from Sunagakure and search the village inside and out in our disguises!"
"DoesKonoha really let hunter-nins do that?"
"Well, Tsunade-sensei obviously won't let them search certain parts of Konoha, but I'm guessing we'll be able to cover a large area regardless. They still have the village on lockdown, so we can assume that the Pervert Ninjahasn't gone anywhere."
"Ahhhhh…I get it, dattebayo! Whaddya think of that, Hinata-chan?"
"…"
Naruto noticed that the air on the girls' side of the spa was beginning to fog up.
"I agree...good thinking, Sakura-chan!"
"Yeah yeah, Naruto…I'm going to tell the others about it. Wait here, and try not to do anything stupid, Naruto…I'll be right back."
Sakura jumped out of the water and went back to the bathhouse, leaving Naruto and Hinata alone in the spa.
"What did she mean by that?"
Naruto looked around.
"Hey, Hinata-chan?"
The air was so thick with steam now, Naruto could barely see his hands.
"Hinata-chan?"
He got up and waded around the edges of the pool, noticing the more steps he took, the higher the water temperature went. Suddenly…
"OOF!" It felt like he had smacked into a lump of molten rock.
"Hey, that's no rock…"
Instead, the steam in front of him gave way to a familiar facegazinginto space. Her body was so red, it looked as if she had slept in a tanning salon.
"H-h-h-h-h-hi Naruto-k-kun," she managed, shaking all over.
"Jeez, calm down Hinata-chan! What's with your face?"
"I…I…"
"That does it, dattebayo! If you're not going to settle down, I'll have to give you some help…"
Naruto inched closer to Hinata's trembling form.
"N-Naruto-kun!"
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Several minutes later…
Sakura opened the bathhouse doors in a cheerful mood. Though she had expected Jiraiya to spend more time gazing at her unclothed parts than listening to her, he had actually approved her idea with Iruka. As she got closer to the spa, she noticed the unusually thick steam vapors permeating her surroundings.
"Shiramasu no Jutsu! (clear technique)"
The steam began to break to break off…unfolding a scene Sakura had never expected to see in her entire life.
"What the…Iruka-sensei, Jiraiya-sama...you better take a look at this," she whispered, unaware that they were far away. "How did it ever come to this?"
Next Chapter: What Happened, Baka? The Secret Events of the Hot Springs!
Hunter-nin-A ninja hired to hunt down missing-nin
Sunagakure- Another name for Hidden Sand village