Hinata and Sparkles' newest customer is being difficult. "No, I do not have two unicorns the same colour," Hinata says patiently. "You can either have a pink unicorn or a purple unicorn. If you want two, you get one pink and one purple." Inside, Hinata is yelling at the man that he is lucky she even has unicorns in the first place. To say that out loud might mean losing business, so Hinata is holding her tongue.
"It says on your flier that you can also provide a fairy," the man says. "What about two fairies?"
Usually, Hinata or Hanabi is the fairy. Although, recently, Hanabi has been the fairy because Hinata is getting too old. Most people want a smallish fairy. "Well, yes."
"Is it a real fairy, or a little girl in a fairy costume?" asks the man, frowning.
"Girl in a costume," sighs Hinata, expecting protests.
"Good, then you can get two matching fairies for me?" says the man, surprising Hinata. "If the unicorns don't match, then I want two little girls, about five or six, with the same or similar hair colour. Put one in pink and one in purple to match the unicorns. I want them to be about the same height too, and their outfits have to be fluffy and delicate."
Relieved, Hinata pulls out a notebook and starts writing down what the man is saying. When he is finished, she says, "I hope you realize this will put the price up significantly. I will need to make completely new costumes and outsource the fairies."
"I will pay any price," says the customer. "Provided you meet all my requirements. My daughter's wedding will be PERFECT."
Hinata looks at what the requirements the customer has laid out so far and sees yen signs. She is sure there is a cash register being opened and closed somewhere nearby. Just like that, all the man's rudeness is forgiven. "Let's go over the details one more time to check that I have them right…"
When she is finished dealing with her customer, Hinata heads off to Team Training. Where is she going to get two five-six year old girls with similar hair and height? Maybe Hinata's Team will be able to help.
"Hi, Hinata!" Hinata hears Naruto's voice nearby.
Hinata looks around, but doesn't see him.
"Up here!" Naruto says with a laugh.
Hinata looks up at the sky and sees Naruto floating above her. A clone of Naruto is floating beside Naruto with a wheelchair in his arms. Naruto himself is carrying Sasuke quite gently in his arms. Hinata frowns in annoyance. "Hello Naruto," she says. There better be a good explanation for this. "Hi Sasuke."
"So what are you doing today?" asks Naruto, grinning. "And how's Moonbeam settling in?"
"Oh," says Hinata, tearing her glare away from Sasuke. "We have a new contract. The customer wanted matching unicorns, but I told him that's a no-can-do. So he asked for two matching fairies. You wouldn't happen to know two five-six year old girls with similar hair who are about the same height?" Maybe Naruto does know. Or maybe he could ask Iruka sensei. Iruka sensei know a lot of kids from the Academy.
Naruto screws his face up thinking. Then he grins. "I do! Burifu and Namiko! They are about the same height and Namiko's five and Burifu is six. I'll ask them for you once I've dropped Sasuke off back home. I've been teaching Sasuke fuuinjutsu at my house because her house is too loud, 'tebayo."
"I'll see you later," says Hinata, stiffly. She turns and marches away, thinking of what Shikamaru said about Naruto and Sasuke. If Naruto is teaching Sasuke fuuinjutsu, it must be because he wants to marry her someday. It seems Shikamaru is right.
That Sasuke! Trying to steal Naruto off Hinata!
Shikamaru and Choji raise their heads as they feel a strange chilling sensation.
"What's the matter?" asks Ino, from the other side of the training ground, where she is sparring with Asuma sensei.
Choji and Shikamaru, who where sparring until they felt that chilling sensation, turn to face the other half of their team.
"A feel a strange disturbance," says Choji gravely. "As if some great and terrible force was just unleashed upon the world.
"What are you talking about?" asks Asuma sensei, bemused.
"Troublesome," says Shikamaru, sticking his hands in his pockets. "It seems like hell is descending."
"Is something wrong, Sasuke?" Kazama asks Sasuke the next day. Sasuke is at Naruto's house learning fuuinjutsu again, and Kazama apparently noticed that something is bothering Sasuke.
Glad that Kazama waited until Naruto left to use the toilet, Sasuke says, "We met Hinata yesterday, and I think she's mad at me."
Kazama looks incredibly confused. "You don't know?" she asks. "Hinata likes Naruto, and she's jealous of you."
"But...she's Naruto's best friend," says Sasuke. "There's no reason for her to be jealous."
"No, Sasuke. Hinata LIKES Naruto," says Kazama, putting a lot more emphasis on the 'likes' that last time. "She has a crush on him!"
Sasuke's eyes widen. "Oh...no wonder she was glaring at me like I'm the devil incarnate." Something occurs to Sasuke. "Does she think I'm learning fuuinjutsu for...the Tradition…" Sasuke does not want to even say the word 'marriage'.
"Most likely," says Kazama, nodding. For some reason she looks relieved. "Maybe you should clear things up with her." Kazama pauses before adding, "Just try to do it without Naruto around or it will get really awkward."
Naruto reappears saying, "What's awkward, 'tebayo?"
"Your face," says Sasuke.
"Your face is awkward!" counters Naruto.
"Your insults are awkward!"
"Calm down, you two," says Kazama. "You are here to study fuuinjutsu, not insult each other."
"Hmph!" Sasuke and Naruto turn their heads away from each other and stick their chins in the air.
Now that they have their daily argument out of their systems, Naruto and Sasuke study fuuinjutsu with great fervour. It is only her second day, but Sasuke is beginning to grasp the basic concepts in the book. It is not hard - Naruto can do it, after all - but it is complicated. It is just confusing enough that someone whose brain is wired wrong (like Naruto) would be able to understand it. Naruto is having to explain it in several different ways before Sasuke understands any of the sealing theory in the book, and this is only chapter one.
Two little kids wander inside. Sasuke remembers seeing the chubby one the day before, but they did not speak. The other one looks insane.
"Burifu is here, Naruto-niisan," says the chubby one.
"Who's she?" asks the insane one.
"This is Sasuke," says Naruto. "She's my teammate, and I'm teaching her fuuinjutsu, 'tebayo. Sasuke, this is Burifu, she's my cousin or something. We're both Uzumakis."
"Sasuke, have you been introduced to Namiko yet?" asks Kazama.
Sasuke shakes her head.
"Namiko is Iruka-nii's kid," says Naruto.
"I'm Namiko," says the chubby one, pointing at her chest.
"Hi," says Sasuke, wondering how long it will take the two brats to leave.
Namiko trots up to the table and looks at the fuuinjutsu book. "I still don't get this bit," she says, pointing to the part Naruto was just trying to explain to Sasuke. "Nagato sensei keeps trying to use food to explain it, and I don't get it."
"Hello, kids!" Jiraiya burst into the room like he expects everyone to be glad to see him.
"Oh, Hi Pervy Sage," says Naruto. "We're just studying some fuuinjutsu."
"Sasuke and Namiko don't understand page four," says Burifu, pointing at the book. "But Namiko's already at Advanced Level, so she should."
Jiraiya stares at Namiko in disbelief. "How did you get to Advanced Level without knowing about chakra pulsing?"
"Wait, what?" Sasuke pulls the book towards herself and reads the page again. "This is chakra pulsing?"
"Yes," says Jiraiya. "Some seals only require a short burst of chakra to work, as opposed to constantly channeling chakra into them. Most people have no trouble pouring endless amounts of chakra into their jutsu. But people like Naruto who have a lot of chakra and not a lot of control need to learn to send short, controlled bursts into their jutsu." then he frowns. "But that doesn't answer my question!" he says. "How did Namiko reach Advanced Level without knowing this?"
"I passed the Level Two test," says Namiko. "And then I invented a jutsu. BUT I STILL CAN'T DO PAGE FOUR!" Namiko starts crying in frustration, and Sasuke is half tempted to drop her out the window.
"It's simple," says Jiraiya. He grabs a pen and two sheets of paper from Naruto and Sasuke's stash and draws the same seal on both sheets of paper. He gives one to Sasuke and one to Namiko. "Send some chakra into the seal and then stop sending chakra into the seal."
"OH!" Namiko's face lights up. "This is what Daddy showed me in the maze! I can do this...I think…" She screws up her face in concentration and pours some chakra into the seal. As soon as she cuts off the flow of chakra, the seal in Namiko's hands lights up. "It's the torch seal!" Namiko grins.
Sasuke turns her attention to her own seal. Thankfully, she knows how to do this because Kakashi sensei taught her after she got annoyed at Madoka and Naruto knowing when she herself did not. It takes Sasuke a second and very little effort to activate the seal.
"If you need help, come and find me," says Jiraiya, patting Naruto on the head. "I'm one of the best seal masters alive."
"Are you a master?" asks Naruto. "Or are you just really good?"
"Both!" Jiraiya grins proudly. "I passed my master's test, although I haven't tried to boss around the shinigami again."
Naruto laughs.