Naruko swirled her chopsticks around in her bowl of ramen with a deep frown. The noodles weren't as tasty as usual, their flavors dulled by the disappointment flooding her. She could feel Hinata's sympathetic glances and tried her best to down the rest of the broth in her bowl.
"I'm sorry, Naruko-chan. But maybe Kakashi-sensei had a reason for not recommending your team for the chuunin exams," Hinata soothed.
"He said that we weren't ready," Naruko grumbled. "How could he say that!? We've been working and training so hard!"
Earlier that day, Naruko had brought up the upcoming chuunin exams to Kakashi during team training. At the new knowledge of the exams, Sasuke and Sakura had paused their spar to stare at Kakashi expectantly. Kakashi had looked at each of his students before declaring that they wouldn't be competing. Naruko had been both stunned and betrayed.
"Why not, 'ttebayo!?"
"Because you're not ready," Kakashi had answered firmly.
"We're totally ready! We can handle some dumb, chuunin exams!" Naruko had objected and waved her arms exaggeratedly.
"Naruko," Sakura had chastised with a frown and her hands planted on her hips. "Kakashi-sensei already said no," Sakura had pointed out as if that were the end of it. Naruko had stared at Sakura in shock and betrayal.
"Sakura-chan didn't even fight him on it! It's like she didn't even wanna take the exam," Naruko complained.
"What did Sasuke-kun think?" Hinata asked and pulled up some more noodles.
Naruko pouted a bit and said, "He agreed with me… I think."
Turning from Sakura, Naruko had faced Sasuke with an expectant look. "Sasuke, you agree with me. Right?"
Sasuke had stared at her for a few seconds before grunting, "Hn" and fixing a narrowed gaze on Kakashi. Immediately, Naruko had turned triumphant eyes back on their sensei while Sakura now struggled with indecisiveness.
Kakashi met his students' stares with an even one of his own. "If our mission to the Land of Waves has shown me anything, it is that you all are not ready. The chuunin exams are not to be taken lightly. It's not uncommon for genin to die during them."
Naruko felt the next round of arguments die on her tongue when she remembered how their first C rank had turned out. But that had been a fluke! What were the chances that they would run into shinobi like Momochi Zabuza? But before she could start arguing again, Kakashi fixed a warning gaze on her that had the fight leaving her.
"As your jounin sensei, it's my job to train you and monitor your progress. You can only move forward when I deem you ready. You're not ready," Kakashi said, his tone becoming sterner and commanding. Naruko could see the effect that Kakashi's words were having on her teammates. Sakura looked positively cowed and Sasuke avoided eye contact with a frustrated glare. Even she could feel the weight of Kakashi's words, causing her to back down. He was no longer their lackadaisical sensei, his very aura and chakra imposing down on them now. Kakashi's dark grey eye scanned over them one final time before he said, "Sasuke and Sakura, your spar wasn't finished." Without another word on the matter, Sasuke and Sakura had gone back to their fight.
"That's good," Hinata said tentatively. Naruko raised a brow in confusion. "It's good that you and Sasuke-kun are getting along better now. Don't you think?"
Naruko pouted and considered Hinata's words. Ever since they had returned from their mission to Wave, things had been different with Sasuke. They had been back for less than a month and already she could see a remarkable difference. He was still a prickly bastard, but he didn't pick fights with her as much as he used to. He still insulted her, but it lacked the hurtful and venomous undertones. He still treated Sakura poorly, but it was almost as if he was warming up to Naruko. "I guess. He still calls me "Usuratonkachi", but he doesn't say it like he used to. What about you? Does Kiba still let Akamaru piss everywhere when you're training?"
Hinata blushed a little and shook her head. "Kurenai-sensei talked to him, so he tries to get Akamaru to aim better."
Naruko nodded once in acceptance. "Just tell me if Kiba does something dumb. I'll knock the stupid right out of him for you," Naruko said and put some money down on the counter for her and Hinata's meals.
Hinata looked both touched and worried, "That's okay, Naruko-chan. Kiba doesn't tease me as much as he used to. I think we're becoming friends now."
"That's good," Naruko commented as they left the ramen stand. While she had gotten along decently well with Kiba, the boy was notoriously abrasive when it came to Hinata. He'd claimed to be trying to toughen her up, but Kiba had a difficult time knowing what was too much. "You want to go train together?"
"I would like that. But Neji-nii-san is expecting me," Hinata said.
"He can train with us, too. Neji doesn't mind training with both of us," Naruko pointed out. Hinata took a second to think about it before nodding in agreement. "Great! I've been getting better at dodging, so I doubt that he'll be able to hit my tenketsu," Naruko bragged.
Hinata was about to say something but stopped when she looked ahead of them. Turning back to the direction they were walking, Naruko locked eyes with Sasuke of all people. He was walking with his hands tucked into his pockets and Sakura trailing behind him. Sasuke didn't have his usual, grumpy expression on his face. In fact, he stared at her so neutrally that Naruko wasn't sure how to react. Sasuke had been doing this more often as well. Sasuke staring at her wasn't a new occurrence, but she was used to him glaring at her when she caught him. But she wasn't sure how to react to his lack of hostility.
"Sasuke-kun. Sakura-chan," Hinata greeted once the two pairs got close.
"Hinata," Sakura replied with a nod. "Naruko," Sakura greeted as if her name left a poor taste on the rosette's tongue.
While her relationship with Sasuke was improving, her relationship with Sakura had been getting even worse. Despite not knowing how she had hurt the girl, Naruko had tried apologizing to Sakura. Sakura had brushed off her apology, seemingly more upset that Naruko had even apologized. Pulling her lower lip between her teeth, Naruko decided to try again. "We're going to go train. Do you want to train with us?" Naruko asked and stared at Sakura.
Sasuke was the one who answered, however. "No thanks. I have my own training to do."
Sasuke hadn't responded rudely to her this time so she determined that he must be in a good enough mood. "Are you training with Itachi-nii-san? Can you tell him hi for me? I haven't seen him in a while, 'ttebayo," Naruko said with a grin.
The neutral look on Sasuke's face quickly soured. He glared at Naruko and scoffed, "He's been busy." Picking up on Sasuke's dismissal, Sakura frowned at Naruko as well.
Naruko blinked in confusion at her teammates as they walked around her without another word. Naruko turned to watch them go, feeling lost and disappointed. "What did I say?"
"I'm sorry, Naruko-chan," Hinata said with a consoling pat to the back.
~:~
She'd heard stories of Jiraiya from her father, but nothing could have prepared for the 6'3" behemoth of a man with an even larger personality. Naruko still wasn't sure what to make of her godfather. She knew that he was supposed to be a legendary shinobi, one of the strongest alive. Whenever she imagined a powerful shinobi, her thoughts ran on her father, Kakashi, or even Itachi. Jiraiya was not what she expected.
"Hey, you perv! Quit peeping on the women's baths!" Naruko had made sure to project her voice at the white-haired man hunched over and giggling at the wooden fence behind the bathhouses. The man turned to her with a scandalized look and shushed her with a finger on his lips, but the damage had already been done. Several women on the other side of the fence shrieked and splashed around before the sounds of quick footsteps and cries of "Pervert!" could be heard.
"You brat! Look what you did!" the man had shouted at her, but Naruko had folded her arms over her chest and glared up at him in defiance. He had returned her glare for several seconds before pausing and tilting his head to the side in consideration.
Naruko blinked at him in confusion before looking down at herself. Suddenly, her cheeks flamed. "You gross, old man!" she shouted and covered her meager chest. "You're an even worse perv than I thought!"
His jaw dropped as a look of pure disbelief overtook his face. "What!? Don't flatter yourself, brat! I'm not interested in children!"
Of course, this was the first thing that her father had heard when he'd suddenly teleported onto the scene. With a look of resignation on his face, Minato said, "When I'd heard the reports of a man peeping on women at the bathhouse, I had a feeling that it would be you, sensei."
"Minato," Jiraiya greeted with a grin and wave. "I was just about to report in."
"Sure, Jiraiya-sensei," Minato replied as he approached, not sounding remotely convinced.
"Wait a minute. This old pervert is your sensei, Tou-chan? I thought you said that your sensei was a great shinobi!" Naruko objected.
"Hey!" Jiraiya objected. "I am a great shinobi! Legendary!" he supplied and posed with his fists on his hips. "I am Jiraiya, the great toad sage of Mount Myouboku!"
Several seconds passed where neither Naruko nor Minato said anything, both of them staring speechlessly at Jiraiya. Naruko sneered in disgust and disbelief. "Ero Sennin," she muttered loud enough for both men to hear.
Minato blinked in surprise before covering his mouth to hide his amused smile, but Jiraiya was anything but amused. "Is this how you treat family, gaki?"
"Family?" Naruko had repeated in surprise.
"Jiraiya-sensei is your godfather, Naruko," Minato supplied. Jiraiya grinned cheekily down at Naruko, highly amused by the horrified look on her face.
Both men watched the girl clap her hands to her cheeks and bemoan, "I'm related to another pervert!?" (Truthfully, Kakashi wasn't her real brother, but he was close enough.)
"Not just any pervert- a super pervert!" Jiraiya exclaimed because he couldn't help but mess with the girl. Naruko's eyebrow twitched in annoyance, as she watched Jiraiya guffaw.
Minato sighed deeply at his sensei's loud proclamation, doing his best to ignore the strange looks they were garnering. "Never a dull moment," he mused.
~:~
When Jiraiya had observed Uchiha Sasuke, he was surprised to find himself actually sympathizing with the brat. He'd heard his fair share of stories about Uchiha Fugaku's youngest son from both Minato and Naruko. Minato painted the kid as an adolescent delinquent, harping on and on about the boy's poor manners, obnoxious arrogance, and poor treatment of Naruko. Naruko's opinion was remarkably better, but even she wasn't blind to the boy's faults.
Jiraiya had been observing team seven's training from the tree line of Training Ground 3. He watched the way Naruko reacted to the boy, loudly objecting to whatever insult he hurled her way and threatening him with bodily harm. Based on what he remembered of Kushina in her youth, Jiraiya had expected Naruko to act similarly and explode on the boy over an hour ago. But Naruko was content to fire back with words, sometimes stumping the boy and making his face flush in frustration.
But Jiraiya had no trouble seeing through all the insults and criticisms. He saw the way that the boy seemed to gravitate around Naruko, always slightly turned towards her or eyeing her whenever she wasn't paying attention to him. 'Eleven minutes and forty-seven seconds,' Jiraiya noted how much time had passed since the last time Sasuke had done or said something to offend Naruko. Despite the seemingly rude treatment, Jiraiya couldn't detect any genuine hatred coming from the boy. 'He's just trying to provoke a reaction,' Jiraiya surmised. And boy was Naruko giving him one… Deciding that he'd watched for long enough, Jiraiya stepped out from the shadows.
Naruko didn't take long to spot him, pausing in her verbal tirade against the Uchiha boy to shoot Jiraiya a bright grin. "Ero Sennin!" she greeted with a wave. Jiraiya grimaced. He was starting to believe that he would never get her to stop calling him that.
"Jiraiya-sama," Kakashi greeted from over his shoulder, more than likely keen to Jiraiya's presence from the beginning. The pink-haired girl at Kakashi's side stared up at him in awe, her head tilted backwards to take in his full height. The reception that he received from the Uchiha boy was far from warm, however. Sasuke had sneered softly at the sight of him, probably still remembering their first meeting behind the bathhouses.
Jiraiya grinned and waved once at his goddaughter. "Kakashi, I'm borrowing Naruko for some training."
Kakashi blinked at Jiraiya before shrugging once. "We're done for the day anyways."
Naruko's eyes positively sparkled as she stared up at him. "What are you gonna teach me today, Ero Sennin? Can you teach me the hiraishin?" Naruko had babbled.
Jiraiya felt a fond admiration for the goddaughter he knew so little about start to settle within him. His goddaughter was hyperactive, troublesome, rough around the edges, and reminded him of himself in a lot of ways. "Brat, that's way above your level," Jiraiya pointed out. Naruko pouted up at him, but before she could say anything further, Jiraiya continued, "I have something else for you to learn, as long as you don't tell Minato." Jiraiya nearly laughed out loud at the sly grin on his goddaughter's face and mischievous glint in her eye. 'Hook, line, and sinker.'
As Naruko snickered and rubbed her hands together gleefully, Jiraiya quickly glanced at Sasuke. The boy was staring at Naruko's back, a small frown on his face. Jiraiya had clearly seen the disappointment that had flashed on the boy's face when Naruko had ignored him. Jiraiya smirked and eyed Kakashi from the corner of his eye. Kakashi returned the look with a long-suffering one of his own.
He almost felt pity for the younger man. Jiraiya had taken on two teams of adolescents in his life and was more than familiar with the trouble of teenage hormones. It was clear that while the Uchiha boy had a crush on Naruko, she remained blissfully unaware of his affections. (Jiraiya felt a bit of pity for the boy. Unrequited love was a song that Jiraiya was quite familiar with.) Additionally, it was obvious that the other girl on the team was trying her hardest to get her male teammate's attention. 'Kids,' Jiraiya thought with a chuckle.
"Let's go, brat. You're gonna need as much time as you can get to master this jutsu," Jiraiya said and started walking away.
"Osu!" Naruko replied and jogged to catch up to him. She yelled a farewell to her teammates behind her before asking him, "What jutsu are you going to teach me, Ero Sennin?"
Not even bothering to call her out on her horrible choice for a nickname, Jiraiya responded, "Minato doesn't think you're ready to learn the rasengan. Normally, he'd be right. On your own, you don't have the chakra or the control for it yet. But you've got a secret weapon."
Naruko frowned and clutched at her jacket over her stomach. She stared down at where her seal was hidden away before saying, "You're not gonna throw me off a cliff again right?"
Jiraiya cringed. "No. No more cliffs," he promised. His ears were still ringing from the chewing out Kushina had given him for endangering her child. Fortunately, Minato hadn't done more than given him a stern, displeased look, more than happy unleash his wife on Jiraiya.
~:~
"Naruko! Come down here," Kushina's voice called out from downstairs.
Naruko closed her comic and set it to the side. It felt nice to relax for a change. She had been enjoying her day off, spending the whole day catching up on the latest issues of her favorite manga. Since Kakashi-sensei was monitoring the chunin exams during the day, their missions had been put on hold for the next few days.
As she was descending the steps, Naruko could hear the muffled voices of her parents and Ero Sennin discussing something with grave tones. When she entered the kitchen, she stared at all three of them in question. For once, all three of them had serious and slightly worried looks on their faces. "What's going on?"
"Naruko, sit down. We need to speak with you," Minato started.
Naruko gulped. "It wasn't me! I was home all day. I swear, 'ttebayo!" she started, waving her hands out in front of her frantically.
"You didn't do anything wrong, Naruko. Ne?" Kushina said with a suspicious gaze.
"R-right," Naruko agreed and quickly sat at the table opposite of her parents. "What's going on?"
"Naruko, there's something very important that we need to discuss with you. As you know, you have half of the kyuubi's chakra sealed inside of you," Minato started. Naruko frowned slightly at the reminder but didn't interrupt. "Having such powerful chakra inside you makes you a target. We've just recently learned from Jiraiya-sensei that there is a group of shinobi that have made it their mission to capture jinchuuriki and remove the tailed beast from within them."
Naruko felt like a heavy stone was settling into her stomach. "But…that would kill them," she remembered.
"Precisely. It's become immensely more dangerous for you and your mother, but you more so because of your age and inexperience. You're vulnerable, Naruko," Minato stressed.
"But the village is safe. You're here. And so is Kaa-chan and Kakashi-nii," Naruko pointed out.
"I've heard rumors about the kind of ninja this group recruits. They aren't to be messed with, Naruko," Jiraiya said. "Most, if not all, of them are S ranked, missing nin."
Naruko contemplated their words as she stared down at the table. "So… the village isn't safe? Where are we going to go?"
"You're going to be coming with me," Jiraiya answered. "Think of it like a training trip. We'll always be on the move, so it'll be hard for the Akatsuki to track us. Plus, you'll have me to keep you out of trouble. I don't expect anything more than I can handle, but I can always send you to Mount Myouboku as a last resort."
"Training trip?" she latched onto.
"Of course, that's what you pay attention to," Jiraiya rolled his eyes good naturedly.
"The training that you've been doing with Jiraiya-sama has gotten the attention of the stuffy, old farts on the council," Kushina spoke up with a deep frown. "They're afraid of the kyuubi getting loose."
"I won't let it out again! I've been doing my best not to listen to the kyuubi when we train," Naruko rushed to get out.
Kushina smiled softly and reached across the table to squeeze Naruko's hands in her own. "I know. I know that you're doing your best, but those elders are scared. They only know how to sit up there in the Tower all day and complain about everything, dattebane."
The corner of Minato's mouth lifted in amusement before he sobered up and said, "We don't want you to go. I've already made it clear to them that you are my responsibility and that I've been keeping a close eye on your seal, but-"
"But they've been paranoid since Sarutobi-sensei died," Jiraiya cut in. "At the end of the day, you need training, kid. You need to be prepared to defend yourself from the Akatsuki and the kind of training that you need is making the elders wet themselves."
It was a lot to take in. Ero Sennin had been helping her learn how to use the kyuubi chakra for only a few weeks. It must not have taken long for the village elders to start complaining. "How long would we be gone?" she asked.
"Three years max. I shouldn't need more than that to whip you into shape," Jiraiya said with a grin.
"We'll understand if you don't want to leave. We just wanted you to be fully informed before you decide what you would like to do," Minato said with a small smile.
"…If I leave, the Akatsuki won't try to attack the village. Right?"
Minato frowned. "They would probably be less likely to, but we can't say for sure. There is a chance that they are unaware that you are also a jinchuuriki," Minato said, but didn't sound completely confident in his words.
"Someone knew that Kaa-chan was a jinchuuriki years ago. They attacked the village and everything, 'ttebayo. It would make it easier for everyone if I left," Naruko said and clenched her fists. She watched her parents exchange sad looks before giving her resigned ones.
"I… I guess you're right. It's only three years, 'ttebane. It'll fly right by," Kushina said with false cheer in her voice. Her violet eyes looked a bit teary and the smile she was forcing looked fragile.
Jiraiya frowned a bit as he moved over to Naruko's side. He rested a large hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "We'll leave at the end of the week. I'll give you the next few days to pack and let your friends know."
"Wait. What's gonna happen to Sasuke and Sakura-chan?" Naruko asked, the thought of her teammates suddenly hitting her.
"There may be one or two genin that make chunin. Some teams may have to rearranged, but Team seven will be disbanded for now," Minato answered.
"Don't worry about it too much. Sakura-chan and Sasuke-kun will be fine. They might even make chunin or jounin by the time you get back," Kushina pointed out with a grin.
Naruko nodded in acknowledgement. Sasuke and Sakura were smart enough to make chunin. And if she knew Sasuke as well as she thought she did, he could make jounin before anyone in their class. "But… But then Sasuke will make chunin before me!" Naruko objected. The image of Sasuke with the green flak jacket entered her mind, his smirking face looking smug. Her jaw clenched. "Tou-chan, can't I get a field promotion or something?
"Field promotions are only allowed during times of war, Naruko. I'm sorry," Minato said with an apologetic smile. Naruko groaned and slumped over the table in dismay.
Jiraiya guffawed loudly and slapped a hand on her back. "Don't worry so much about rank. You'll be plenty strong enough to kick your little boyfriend's ass by the time you get back to the village," Jiraiya consoled. Exactly three beats passed before both Naruko and Minato exclaimed, "Boyfriend!?" in disgust and objection, respectively.
"He's not my boyfriend! We're just friends, 'ttebayo!"
"She's too young to have a boyfriend, sensei!"
Kushina looked between her husband and daughter and gave a careless shrug. Sometimes they could both be so highstrung.