Narumi shifted, snuggling her cheek down against the cool softness of her pillow, and sighed contentedly. She could feel warm morning sunlight glowing on her face, and she was curled up in a bed. The bed was a bit stiff and scratchy, and the room she was in had a strange, sterile scent, but still.
In a flash of images, Narumi remembered the preliminary matches, watching an attack be launched in her direction, and then nothing. Surging up, she gasped, eyes flashing wildly around the room.
"Narumi, calm down. You shouldn't be loud inside a hospital."
Narumi blinked, and looked across the room to see Kakashi-sensei. The silver haired jounin was sprawled in a chair, his favorite perverted orange book in his hand as he eyed her over the top of it.
To his left, two other chairs had been pushed together, and Sasuke was curled up into a tight ball on the bench made by their seats, a blanket thrown over him from beneath which only his messy hair and a single hand could be seen. Saburo was also asleep, though he was stretched out on the narrow bed beside her.
Narumi relaxed, realizing why her guard had been lowered in the first place when she had first woken up. The room was filled with the scent of her team, all of them in various states of peaceful relaxation.
After a minute, she kicked off the sheet, and pushed herself up to sit cross legged. She was surprised to find herself in nothing but her t-shirt and pants, all her other gear laid out neatly on the table beside her. Even her hair had been undone. She frowned at Kakashi-sensei in confusion.
"Ne, Kakashi-sensei, what happened?"
Kakashi shifted in his chair, lowering his book to look at her properly.
"The genin from Oto snapped and attacked the viewing balconies. He was properly subdued, but you got partly caught in the blast and lost consciousness. I brought you to the hospital to get checked over."
Narumi looked around at the bare white walls and floor, the metal bed frames, and the slightly scratchy, crisp sheets. The faint odor of disinfectant pervaded the place, masking the duller scents of old blood, sickness, and sweat. The blonde shivered and rubbed her arms. She didn't think she liked being in the hospital. Suddenly she had a horrible thought, and her head snapped around to Kakashi-sensei.
"Was there something wrong with me?"
Kakashi looked surprised, and then his eyes softened and he shook his head.
"No, you won't be held back from the third exam. I just decided you might as well stay with Saburo."
The jounin shrugged casually, and stretched.
"There was an empty bed in here, so I just let you sleep there. Sasuke was released not long after that, and came looking for the two of you. Made himself a nest, and bunked down for the night."
Narumi eyed the splay of blue-black hair peeking out from beneath the blanket and giggled, thinking how funny Sasuke-teme looked. Then she sucked in a breath, remembering that at least the two of them were supposed to fight in the final exam.
"Sensei! The third exam..!"
Kakashi shrugged, voice relaxed.
"You haven't missed it, don't worry. The final matches are being held a month from now. You'll be using the time to prepare for the upcoming battles."
Narumi frowned in confusion, cocking her head and furrowing her brow.
"What do you mean, prepare?"
Kakashi leaned his head back and shifted again, as relaxed as always.
"Training of course."
Narumi looked down and bit her lip, thinking hard. Kakashi-sensei was right. She needed to get stronger, much stronger. An idea occurred to her, and she brightened, bouncing up and down excitedly.
"Hey, Sensei, I've got a favor to ask!"
Kakashi sat up a bit, rubbing the back of his head.
"I figured. Special training, right?"
Narumi nodded vigorously, expression earnest as she leaned hopefully forward.
"Well, I expected it. So I've already arranged for someone to oversee your training."
Narumi's face fell, and disappointment swelled up inside her.
"What? Why? I want you, Kakashi-sensei!"
She eyed him suspiciously for a moment, and then narrowed her eyes.
"You're gonna train Sasuke, aren't you?"
Kakashi looked guilty, and Narumi's fists tightened. She scowled at him rebelliously, determined not to show how hurt she was by their sensei choosing the genius Uchiha over her. Not that she should be surprised. It was always like that. Even in the academy, no one ever would have chosen to instruct her over Sasuke. Kakashi spoke in a placating tone of voice, lowering his book entirely into his lap.
"Yes, I am going to train Sasuke. But for the same reason I'm going to train him, I can't train you." Narumi opened her mouth to speak, but Kakashi lifted his hand, voice firm.
"No, listen to me first."
Narumi nodded, doing her best not to sulk, and quietly listening to her Sensei.
"You have to understand, Narumi, my abilities are much stronger in the areas of stealth and assassination-style techniques. Physically speaking, Sasuke is more like me, suited to more subtle areas. Genjutsu, speed attacks, and swift, powerful, one shot strikes are much more suited to his style of fighting. These are things that I can guide him in."
Kakashi sighed and rubbed his temples, before meeting her eyes, his voice strong, even, and apologetic.
"But you're different. You tend to go more for powerful, head-on attacks, and you depend on your stamina and strength to get you through the fight. Also, the techniques you favor, like kage bunshin, are high-powered, but you tend to use them repeatedly. And I highly doubt that you'll ever have much skill with genjutsu."
Kakashi shrugged.
"You have a very limited window to improve here, it's important that you have someone who can maximize your potential for improvement in the given time frame. Which means at the very least, someone who won't be splitting his time between multiple students, and preferably someone more used to dealing with your type. Do you understand?"
Narumi crossed her arms and looked away, still not convinced that anyone could train her better than her own sensei. After all, even if he was late all the time, and read those perverted books, he was still the strongest shinobi she'd ever seen.
"Who's supposed to train me then?"
Before Kakashi could answer, the blanket covering Sasuke stirred, and the Uchiha sat up. His hair was ruffled, the side he'd slept on sticking up wildly in all directions in a way that Narumi would not have thought possible. He was blinking sleepily, and his eyes were still sleep fogged as he yawned widely, rubbing at one eye as he slowly woke up. Narumi stared. She had never seen the Uchiha sleep-rumpled like this before, even on overnight missions.
After a minute, Sasuke seemed to become aware of his surroundings, and jerked, staring back at Narumi with wide black eyes.
"Dobe! You're awake!"
Jumping out of his make-shift nest, the Uchiha scrambled over to perch on the end of her bed, and peer anxiously at her. Narumi burst out laughing, the conversation with Kakashi temporarily leaving her mind as she squinted her eyes closed against tears of laughter, and pointed helplessly at Sasuke's hair.
"S-Sasuke-teme! You should see yourself!"
Sasuke blinked, and raked a hand self-consciously through his hair, smoothing it down and blushing as he glared at her.
"Shut up, dobe! So, how were the preliminaries? Who won?"
Kakashi shook his head at their antics, and stood, languidly straightening from his chair.
"Alright you two, keep it down. Saburo still needs rest you know, as do the other genin housed in this wing. Both of you get ready to leave, and you can talk on the way."
Narumi snapped her mouth closed, nodded, and scrambled off the bed, shrugging on her jacket, and reaching for the bandage roll, as well as her holster, and weapons pouch. After she was nearly ready to go, she pulled on her combat sandals, and turned to Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke. She quickly braided her hair, tossing the resulting plait over her shoulder and tightening her hitae-ate across her forehead as Sasuke finished pulling on his own shoes.
Sensei was just setting a note down on the table beside Saburo, and when he realized both she and Sasuke were looking more like their normal selves, he motioned them out ahead of him, sliding the door to the room closed quietly behind them.
Narumi and Sasuke walked ahead of Kakashi, Narumi chattering brightly with much wild gesturing of arms as she filled Sasuke in on the coolness that was the preliminary round of the final exam. Kakashi followed them more slowly, nose in his book, despite the eye he kept on the two of them.
They stopped on the way out for Kakashi-sensei to sign some papers so that the hospital would know the two of them were leaving, and then they walked out the front doors. Narumi had just finished telling Sasuke about Teruyoshi's fight against Zaku when Kakashi came to a stop.
The two teammates looked back at him, surprise clearly written on their faces as he tucked the orange book into his weapons pouch. He looked around, and then nodded once in satisfaction before looking back to the two of them.
"Narumi, the man I told you about will be here soon. I'll introduce the two of you before Sasuke and I head out, alright?"
Narumi grimaced, understanding dawning on her features, despite the confusion that continued to pervade her Uchiha comrades scent.
"I understand, Sensei."
She did her level best to keep her voice even and clear of mutiny, despite her feelings on the matter. Sasuke looked back and forth between the two of them, obviously curious, but not asking what was up. Narumi looked away, suddenly remembering that Sasuke got to train with their own sensei. Though she understood Kakashi's reasons, she couldn't help but resent Sasuke-teme a bit.
A vaguely familiar voice interrupted her thoughts not long after.
"Kakashi-kun!"
Narumi and Sasuke exchanged looks, Sasuke's one of stoic disbelief, her own openly gaping surprise. 'Kakashi-KUN?'
They both looked in the direction of the voice, and Narumi stiffened, pointing at him in shock, eyebrows snapping down as she recognized the dark clad figure.
"AAHH! You're the closet pervert from before!"
Kakashi blinked, looking down at his agitated student in blank surprise.
"Closet...pervert? Ebisu-sensei...?"
Ebisu pushed his sunglasses up his nose, cheeks flushed and expression displeased.
"How impolite."
Narumi spluttered indignantly, never once wavering. Kakashi lifted an eyebrow, his lone visible eye traveling up to Ebisu.
"What's this about?"
Narumi turned around to look at her Sensei and teammate.
"Ne, remember that jutsu I have to make me look older?"
The technique in question was one she had developed to get into places that she'd been denied entry on account of her young age when she was little. It made her look like an older version of herself, and for some reason it had turned out to be a perfect way to knock out perverts from blood loss. It was pretty funny actually, even if she didn't use it often.
Before she could explain about how she had used this technique in combination with kage bunshin, Ebisu had wrapped an arm around her and clapped his hand firmly over her mouth.
"Oh, kids! You know how they like to tease, Kakashi-kun."
In an aside to her, Ebisu muttered under his breath, his tone a cross between frantic and threatening.
"I'll treat you to anything you want later, so please don't tell anyone about that."
Narumi eyed him suspiciously, but then the thought of Ichiraku Ramen came to her, and she nodded her head quietly. Kakashi, however, did not look quite convinced. Leaning forward slightly, he eyed the other jounin suspiciously.
"Ebisu? I didn't know you two had met before?"
Ebisu forced a laugh, patting Narumi's head stiffly, his hand striking just slightly too hard to feel friendly as he nervously answered Kakashi.
"Well, yes. It was a slightly unwilling meeting though. Narumi-chan here became acquainted with my charge."
Kakashi's expression cleared slightly, and he leaned back, apparently satisfied.
"Ah, Konohamaru. The Sandaime's grandson."
Ebisu nodded.
"That's right."
Narumi eyed him flatly, still less than impressed with her soon to be teacher. Even if he had promised her Ichiraku's, she'd much rather learn from Kakashi-sensei.
"Still, why him? I don't like this."
Ebisu glared down at her, voice rising an octave in indignation.
"I wouldn't even teach you in the first place if it had been anyone but Kakashi-kun asking!"
Narumi folded her arms, muttering under her breath as she squinted up at the older man.
"Then don't."
Kakashi lifted his hands in a peace-making gesture, lone eye curving up in a smile.
"Now, now you two. Don't say that!"
Coming over, he crouched next to Narumi, murmuring to her in a consoling voice.
"I know Ebisu-sensei's a bit stiff, but he's a personal teacher who instructs elite shinobi. He knows what he's doing. This is his area of expertise as a special jounin. He's actually a much better teacher than me."
Narumi merely grunted, still unconvinced that the closet pervert could possibly be a better teacher than her sensei. Kakashi stood, shooting her an apologetic glance and beckoning to Sasuke as they started to leave. As he passed Ebisu, the silver-haired jounin laid a gentle hand on the other mans shoulder, and squeezed, his voice dangerously calm.
"By the way, Ebisu?"
Ebisu gulped, voice uncertain.
"Yes, Kakashi-kun?"
The silver-haired jounin never once looked at him, and his face stayed relaxed, but his tone was all steel beneath it's silk glove.
"Please take good care of her. I would hate for anything to happen to my student while I'm absent."
Then he was sauntering on down the road towards their usual training grounds, as casual and calm as you could want. Sasuke smirked at her as he trotted after their sensei, his tone teasing and slightly challenging.
"Have fun, dobe."
Narumi snarled at him, watching wistfully until the two of them were out of sight before turning to Ebisu, her teacher for the month. The man looked back down at her, his expression strict, and his voice determined.
"Now, let's go."
Narumi glared mutinously up at him, still less than pleased with being left in the hands of this guy. A sly grin blossomed on her face as she braced one hand on her hip, and thrust her finger at his chest.
"Ramen first!"
Ebisu blinked at her in surprise, stiffening.
"Eh?"
She shrugged, looking away diffidently and crossing her arms over her chest.
"You promised to treat me to Ichiraku's if I didn't tell Kakashi-sensei about your pervertedness. I'm hungry, so let's get going."
Ebisu spluttered and flung up his hands, turning sharply to lead the way to Ichiraku's. Narumi grinned triumphantly at his back. She'd put up with this guy, since Kakashi-sensei couldn't train her right now. But she didn't have to like it, and she sure didn't have to make things too easy for him.
The two of them walked to Ichiraku in silence. As they approached the ramen stand, Narumi drew in deep breaths, savoring the rich scent of the delicious food. As they came into sight of the stand, she bounded past Ebisu, bursting into the shop and grinning almost maniacally.
"Ojii-san! Ayame-nee-chan!"
The old man and his daughter looked up in surprised pleasure.
"Narumi-chan! You're here pretty early, aren't you? Who's this?"
Narumi shrugged, hopping up on a stool and leaning her arms on the counter.
"He's gonna train me for the third exam, and he promised me ramen!"
Teuchi laughed at her enthusiasm at the mention of ramen, and dried his hands on his apron as Ebisu took the stool beside her.
"Alright then, what can I get you? I can't have you running off to train for something so important with an empty stomach!"
Narumi thought about it for a minute, and then grinned.
"Pork, please!"
Teuchi looked expectantly at Ebisu who cleared his throat and politely requested a bowl of Miso Ramen. Teuchi grinned and turned to grab a couple of large bowls.
"One pork and one miso, comin' up!"
Narumi grinned, pulling a pair of disposable wooden chopsticks from the stand between her and Ebisu, and accepting her steaming bowl from Teuchi. She split the chopsticks, and dug in with gusto, happily slurping up a mouthful of noodles. Beside her, Ebisu was staring thoughtfully into his own bowl.
"Narumi-chan, after analyzing what I've heard of you from Kakashi-kun and the academy teachers, I can see that you have poor chakra control."
Narumi finished chewing and swallowing her noodles, already scooping up another mouthful as she eyed the man irately.
"So I'm not the best at control. What's the big deal?"
Ebisu turned slightly towards her, twirling a pair of chopsticks idly around his fingers.
"I will explain what is wrong with you using Uchiha-san, and Haruno-san as comparisons."
Narumi put down her chopsticks, frowning slightly. She wanted to argue that there was nothing wrong with her, but on the other hand, her chakra control really wasn't as good as the other genin she knew. And this was the only person she'd be able to get training from right now, so she'd have to put up with it and see what he had for her. To keep from growling at the man, she went back to slurping down her ramen while she listened.
"First, let's imagine that Haruno-san uses a replication technique. In his case, he can mold and control his chakra nearly perfectly, a rare talent in a young man. This means she can use the technique to the fullest potential, without wasting any energy."
The man took a quick bite of his ramen, chewing contemplatively and swallowing, before resuming his explanation, gesturing with the chopsticks as he went.
"Now, in Uchiha-sans case, he is less adept at molding chakra. Closer to the level of a normal young shinobi. However, he still has good control of his chakra. So even though he wastes some energy, unlike Haruno-san, he is still well versed in the use of his chakra."
Narumi polished off her first bowl of ramen, and Teuchi, used to her appetite, set another down in front of her. She started in on it with a triumphant chuckle, picturing the dark-haired boys reaction if he were to overhear this conversation.
"So Sasuke-teme is weaker than Saburo-kun?"
Ebisu snorted, fixing her with a stern gaze, apparently unamused by her comment.
"You're in no position to be casting stones, Narumi-chan. You're not good at either molding or controlling your chakra. So with the same amount of effort and chakra you would have to expand to make two ordinary clones, both your teammates are able to create about ten apiece."
Narumi slurped up the last of the noodles in her second bowl, and drained the broth, setting it down with a quiet clink on the counter. Ebisu turned to her, voice calm, and a bit kinder than it had been until now.
"Well, the point is that even if you preform the same technique as someone else, your results will be effected by your control and molding abilities. In your case, you mould too much chakra and use up your strength more quickly. This results in the lower level techniques becoming unstable, which is why you have trouble preforming a regular bunshin, but have no such difficulty with the kinjutsu Kage Bunshin."
Narumi shifted, protesting defensively as she turned to Ebisu.
"But...there have been times when I've been stronger than Sasuke and Saburo..."
Ebisu glared at her, brows lowering quickly in disapproval as he snapped out an answer.
"That is because you have more stamina than they do."
Narumi froze, and then looked away. She fixed her eyes on the counter dejectedly, her shoulders stiff, hands fisted on her thighs. She bit her lip and kept silent. She'd never thought she was all that far behind the others, and she trained so hard to keep up with Sasuke-teme. Now, listening to Ebisu, she felt a bit slow.
The dark clothed jounin stood, his voice kinder again.
"Well, just do the exercises I give you and you'll get stronger for sure."
Narumi looked up excitedly, determination warming her belly as her blue eyes shot wide open. She'd train as hard as he wanted to get stronger.
"Really?"
Ebisu dipped his head once, a small smile pulling at the corners of his mouth.
"I guarantee it."
Laying some money on the counter for Teuchi and Ayame, he stood and headed out of the shop, beckoning to her over his shoulder.
"Come on now, let's get started."
Narumi sprang up and darted after him excitedly, curious as to what they would be doing. She was eager to get started on her training.
"Ne, ne! Where are we going?"
Ebisu smiled brightly at her, heading for the gates of Konoha.
"There's a civilian town not far from here. It's just outside the forest that protects Konoha. That's where we are headed."
Narumi blinked and squinted uncertainly at the man. She wasn't sure how a civilian town was supposed to help with shinobi training, but she figured that Ebisu knew best. He was, after all, the person who had just promised her she would be stronger if she followed his instructions. So follow them she would.
As they left the village through the large, chuunin guarded gates, Ebisu nodded to the men on duty, and sprang into the trees. Narumi followed him easily, the two of them springing through the trees with the inhuman speed of true shinobi. A civilian might take anywhere from one to two days to make the trip to the edge of the forest, but it took the two of them less than two hours.
Ebisu finally dropped to the ground as they reached the thinning trees that marked the edge of the mighty forest surrounding Konoha. Narumi followed him and peered out at the large, prosperous looking civilian village. She absently noted the lack of walls and other defensive measures that seemed common in civilian villages and followed Ebisu as they moved forward on foot.
They entered the village easily, the civilians so used to the sight of shinobi that they didn't even spare the two a second glance. Narumi looked around her as they walked, lacing her hands together behind her head as she eyed the shops and other buildings lining the streets.
After several twists and turns, Ebisu lead her down a well kept side street, empty of people. It was lined with buildings that had spacious, immaculately groomed grounds, and steam curled up from vents in the roofs. Narumi's brows drew slowly down as they slipped over the walls of one particularly extensive complex, and circled around to the side where the entrances to the bathes lay. An onsen.
"We've come pretty far...but isn't this a hot spring town? What are we supposed to train in here? Is this some kind of joke?"
Her voice was bored and skeptical, and she didn't pay attention when Ebisu stopped walking. After a minute, she looked back over her shoulder at him, and grudgingly returned to stand in front of him. The special jounin smiled, adjusting his dark glasses and sounding quite pleased with himself.
"No, it's not. We are going to train in this hot spring area." Narumi stared at him in disbelief as he gestured to the natural, open-air hot spring beside them, the red wooden bridge arching peacefully over it vague and indistinct with steam. Her mouth worked for several minutes before she could speak, her voice sharp with disbelief and horror.
"This is a place for bathing!"
Ebisu nodded, apparently quite pleased about something.
"Exactly!"
Narumi stared at him, blue eyes going wide, and then narrowing as she took a step back, a blank look on her face. Distantly she thought that she might ought to scream and through something at the man on principle. After all, he was obviously an enemy of woman-kind.
"Pervert!"
Ebisu stared at her in confusion for a minute, and then his face turned such a bright red that she thought his face might explode, one eyebrow twitching sporadically.
"N-no! What are you talking about? I said we're going to train! Train! I'm not a pedophile!"
She eyed him distrustfully, still not quite sure if she believed him.
"Train here? What am I supposed to do?"
Ebisu cleared his throat, apparently regaining a measure of calm and self control.
"You will walk on top of the water."
Narumi squinted up at him suspiciously, still unsure. There was something about the mans tone of voice that had her sure there was some sort of catch involved. Not that she wouldn't love to walk on water like Kakashi-sensei had done in his fight against Zabuza. Ebisu coughed and turned away from the intensely searching gaze, voice still smugly pleased.
"I heard from Kakashi-kun that you have learned how to tree-walk, correct?"
Narumi nodded slowly, still studying his profile as if she would find an answer to her suspicion if she only looked long and hard enough. Ebisu shrugged in an apparently careless manner.
"This is an application of that skill. In this exercise, you will need to mould a constant amount of chakra. In order to walk on the surface of the water, you must constantly release the correct amount of chakra from your foot into the water, and balance the amount to keep your body afloat. This will improve your chakra control, and broaden the battlefields on which you can fight. It is a very important skill."
Narumi crossed her arms over her chest thoughtfully. What he said made sense, even if the mechanics of the thing were a bit abstract for her to grasp easily. Narumi always did better with concrete concepts than abstract academia. She turned his words over in her mind several times, but still didn't quite get how she was supposed to go about the exercise.
"I don't get it."
Ebisu shrugged, his voice patient and calm.
"Well, in your case it's probably better just to show you. Watch carefully."
Obediently, Narumi locked her eyes on him as he activated his chakra and moved forward onto the steaming surface of the hot spring. As he stepped onto the water, light splashes accompanied each of his steps, and ripples spread out from his feet. The blonde girl watched with large eyes as Ebisu strode out to the center of the pool, and then turned to look back at her.
Narumi brightened excitedly, eyes intent on the older shinobi standing before her. Determination swelled within her, tamer and less desperate than it had been when she'd been racing Sasuke to the top of the tree on the mission to Nami no Kuni, but present still.
"Alright, let me at it!"
Lifting her hands into a concentration seal, she took a moment to focus her chakra in the soles of her feet as she did when she was tree walking. When she felt the familiar soothing warmth pooling in the bottoms of her feet, she dropped her hands and walked forward.
As soon as she tried to step onto the water, her leg plunged through the surface, overbalancing her and sending her crashing forward into the water. She yelped as the water closed over her head, squinting her eyes closed as sudden searing heat surrounded her, and her clothes felt suddenly bulky and unwieldy, weighting down her limbs and making her movements sluggish.
Twisting and writhing, she shot out of the water, dragging herself hurriedly back up onto the stone walkway and fighting for air, choking out protests against the scalding heat of the water as she went. Behind her, she heard Ebisu's slight chuckle, and sprang to her feet, whipping around to face him.
Her bangs were plastered to her face, straggling over her hitae-ate to dangle in front of her eyes, and she could feel the sopping weight of her braid lying heavily between her shoulder blades as hot water streamed down her body and oozed from her now dripping jumpsuit.
She glared at Ebisu accusingly.
"Oh, I forgot to mention. The water here is sixty degrees celsius. I'd advise you not fall in."
Gritting her teeth, the kunoichi lifted her hands back into a concentration seal, ignoring her so-called teacher, and focusing on her training. Gathering her chakra, she stepped forward again. Over and over she tried, and over and over she crashed into the steaming water. Ignoring the brooding gaze of the jounin watching over her, she kept up, not slowing down at all as the minutes slowly bled together and became hours.
After a while, it struck her that she was trying to stick to the water. But maybe that was the wrong way to go about it. To stick to something, she had to use her chakra to pull herself towards it. But pulling herself towards the water she didn't want to fall through seemed off. So the next time, she tried pushing away from the water. To her elation, she thought she felt some stability, and though her leg sank knee-deep into the water, she managed a second step before she found herself submerged once again.
Slowly, she began to get the hang of it, coming closer with every try until she found herself standing precariously in the water. Of course, she was still partly submerged, her feet and the lower half of her calves underwater, but she was not falling in. Her footing felt uneven with the shifting of the currents of liquid beneath her, and she felt herself swaying wildly back and forth, arms flailing for balance. Panting, she waded back to the walkway to continue her efforts.
She tried again, and this time she was delighted to find herself only ankle-deep in the steaming water. Of course, her feet were already bright red by this time, and almost painfully hot, but she ignored that as she wobbled out towards Ebisu. She was about halfway there, when a sudden undulation beneath her feet sent her stumbling heavily to one side. As she did, she caught sight of something behind Ebisu.
A man with long white hair and a red haori was crouched by the fence that separated their spring from the designated womens bath. His face was pressed up against the fence, and he was giggling strangely, scribbling away in a small black book he held in one hand.
Narumi's eyes widened, and she shrieked accusingly, pointing wildly at the man. So great was her indignant horror that she lost her grip on the flow of her chakra, and therefor her hard-won place on the surface of the water. With a great splash, she found herself once again submerged in steaming water. Briefly she mourned the fact that she was wet again, as she'd just been starting to feel less dripping and more damp.
Ignoring that, she fought her way back to the surface of the water, coughing and pointing at the man, her voice rough and angry.
"Enemy of women! Pervert! Hentai!"
The man stilled, his pen ceased its scratching across the page, and his chortling fell silent. Ebisu re-adjusted his dark glasses, his voice cool.
"I don't know who you are, but I will not allow shameless behavior!"
Narumi moved to the side of the pool, watching as her temporary teacher dashed towards the peeping tom. The man spun, his face annoyed, a strange hitae-ate flashing from his forehead as a large orange toad appeared beneath him.
The toads tongue shot out, wrapped several times around Ebisu's waist, and slammed him against the stone walkway, leaving him twitching on the ground with a bloody nose. Narumi stared wide-eyed as the man eyed the Konoha jounin with an aggrieved expression.
"Geez, why'd you do that? What if I get caught?"
As Narumi watched, the annoyed expression lifted, and a grin slid across his face, one side of his mouth hitching up a little higher than the other as he leaned his arm on one knee, leaning forward to inspect his victim.
Turning away, she levered herself out of the hot spring, ignoring the water that cascaded in a small waterfall from her clothes and hair, and scampering across the cobblestones to stand over the unconscious form of the man her Sensei had left in charge of her training.
She stood over him for a long moment, non-plussed by his limp state. Nudging his foot, she called him.
"Oi, Ebisu-san." When he didn't stir, she nudged him a little harder, and called a bit more sharply. "Hey pervert!"
Still he didn't move. Scratching the back of her head, she thought for a moment. Her expression brightened as an idea came to her, and she slipped out of her jacket, cringing slightly at the clammy feel of the warm, wet fabric sliding down her bare arms. After she had it off, she carefully wrung it out directly over Ebisu's face, allowing the still hot water to splash down on him. He didn't so much as twitch, the blood on his upper-lip smearing and becoming diluted as it was washed partly away.
Narumi tied her jacket around her waist, and crossed her arms, cocking her head at him in puzzled thought. Then she nodded decisively, speaking aloud as she did so.
"He's completely out of it. Guess he really is weak."
Then she bristled, and shook her fist at the man sitting cross-legged on the orange frog, voice indignant as she scolded him.
"Oi! Who the heck are you!"
The man grinned widely and snapped his head back, his long white pony-tail of shaggy hair flying back over his head as he proclaimed in a loud, theatrical voice.
"I'm glad you asked! I am the monk of the toad spirits, otherwise known as the great toad hermit, Jiraya-sama!"
Narumi blinked uncertainly, not sure how to deal with this development at all. Weren't hermits supposed to be wise sages that ought to be respected? And she certainly didn't think they were shinobi. But this guy was definitely wearing a hitae-ate, even if it didn't belong to any village she knew of, and no one but shinobi ever wore hitae-ate. It was widely recognized as being bad for your health.
"...hermit?"
The man nodded emphatically, looking quite pleased with himself.
"That's correct!"
The toad vanished from beneath him with a puff of smoke, and the man landed lightly on his feet, the wood of his geta clacking against the stones of the bridge as he straightened. Narumi cocked her head and frowned at him in confusion.
"Oi, ero-sennin! You pervert! Look at what you did! This guy was supposed to help me train!"
The man shrugged, calm and laid back.
"He interrupted with my data-gathering session."
She stared at him, brows furrowing, now thoroughly confused.
"What data?"
Jiraya reached into his wrapped shirt, fishing around with a pleased smirk sitting quietly on his face.
"I'm a writer. I write novels, like this!"
He pulled a book with an orange cover from his shirt with a delighted flourish, and Narumi stared, feeling her face go slack with surprise as she scanned the title, her mouth opening and closing soundlessly.
Icha Icha Paradise.
Lifting a hand, she choked out words, her eyes wide and round with the surprise of it all.
"T-thats...!"
Jiraya lifted an eyebrow, a decidedly crazed looking grin firmly in place as he watched her struggle to speak.
"Eh? You've heard of my book?"
The grin became sly as his eyes cut towards the thing with distinct pleasure and calculation in his gaze.
"...Kakashi-sensei's perverted book!"
Her eyes narrowed as her female nature rose, bristling with disapproval as she recalled how she'd spotted him, her voice going sharp and accusing.
"And what data-gathering! You were just peeking at the girls bath!"
As she spoke, the soft murmur of chatter from the bath suddenly went silent. Then a barrage of shrieks sounded from the other side of the fence, and the sounds of splashing and running were heard before all sound faded away.
Jiraya was looking over his shoulder at the bath with a look of bereaved shock, one hand extended almost pleadingly towards the wooden barrier. Then he looked back at her, eyes tightly scrunched up in sorrow as he scolded.
"Fool fool fool! They found out I was here!"
Narumi stared at him, body going slack as her gaze went flat.
"Pervert."
No longer an accusation, it had the ring of a simple fact that she just happened to be stating. The older shinobi stomped over to her, eyes alight with conviction as his voice strengthened into a tone of utter certainty.
"You fool! I am no mere pervert! I am able to write better novels through the inspiration gathered during my research!"
Narumi snorted, shaking her head slightly.
"Liar, stop with the excuses." Her voice became suddenly more impassioned, and her eyes sharpened again. "Anyway, what am I supposed to do about my training now?"
The man blinked, suddenly returning to a fairly serious and normal shinobi as he straightened to blink down at her.
"Hm? Training? You mean the water-walking?"
Narumi tilted her head back in surprise to look up at him as he returned to his true height, which was quite a bit more than her own.
"You know about it?" An idea suddenly jumped into her head, and her eyes hardened as she braced her hands on her hips.
"Then take responsibility and help me out with my training!"
Jiraya snorted scornfully, his expression becoming petulant as he walked past her.
"What do I care about your training?"
Scowling determinedly, Narumi ignored the unconscious jounin at her feet and chased after the other mans receding back.
"Hey, wait up! Ero-sennin, come on!"
The man spun, arm flung out palm outwards as he scolded right back.
"Shut up! I don't like people who can't ask properly for a favor!"
Then he crossed his arms, expression flippant and voice dismissive.
"Besides, I don't like little girls."
Then, in a burst of wind, he sprang away over the roofs, laughing maniacally all the way as he called over his shoulder.
"Farewell, kid!"
Narumi stared after him, mouth open and eyes sparkling.
"Cool! He's a pervert, but he's really cool!"
More determined than ever, she dashed away from the hot spring and headed further into town, traveling in the same direction she'd seen Jiraya going. Weaving around people, she darted through the streets, glancing around with keen eyes, and regularly drawing in deep breathes through her nose to try and catch his scent. Unfortunately, the scents of the town were muddying the trail she was trying to find, so she could only catch whiffs of that odd scent of steel, ink, and oil every once in a while. Looking around, she muttered to herself under her breath.
"Where could he have gone?"
She was just about to run past a small tea house when a young woman screamed indignantly from within. Surprised, Narumi stopped as the girl stomped out of the entrance, closely followed by the man she was looking for. Jiraya had his hands held up placatingly, and was speaking in a conciliatory tone.
"I'm sorry, little lady! It's just that you've got such an incredible body..."
The woman twitched and spun, turning on the white-haired man. "Pervert!" With that last cry, she slapped him hard across the face, and stalked off down the street. Jiraya looked after her, a goofy smile on his face as he rubbed absently at the red handprint on his cheek.
Narumi stared at him with dull eyes, and for a moment she questioned her own judgment on asking this guy to train her. "How pathetic..."
Then she shook her head vigorously as if to dislodge such thoughts, and reminded herself of how strong the guy was.
"Well, it's not like there's anyone else."
Slowly, she walked up behind him, doing her best to tune out his mutterings to himself as she approached his back. A snatch of his words reached her ears as she came to a halt behind him.
"...women of this town are still as feisty as ever!"
Narumi peered up at him, squinting one eye closed.
"So you've been here before?"
The man whipped around in surprise. She scowled up at him, scolding furiously.
"I bet you were peeping that time too. Ero-sennin, you pervert!"
She would have gone on, but the man was looking around in agitation, and shushed her intently.
"Stop that! Quit calling me a pervert so loudly!"
She glared up at him in exasperation, shaking a fist at him threateningly.
"Shut up! I'm holding you responsible for ruining my training, and you're gonna fix it!"
Jiraya frowned, strode over, and scooped her up, holding her around the waist and bracing her against his hip with a sigh.
"Troublesome kid!"
Stepping over to the side of the road, he deposited her inside a large, empty rain barrel. Before she could spring out of it, he capped it with the wooden lid, and she heard a loud thunk as if something else had been placed on top of that. Shouting in anger, she thrashed as the mans scent receded.
With a malicious glint in her eyes, she braced herself, and punched the underside of the lid with all the force she could manage from her awkward position within the jar. The lid and the object on top of it flew into the air, and she shoved herself to her feet, glaring menacingly at the shocked looking civilians staring at her.
Growling at them, she jumped out of the vat, and stalked off down the street after the traces of Jiraya's scent, careful not to lose it among the multitude of soapy, savory, and sweet scents that swirled throughout the town.
The scent led her out of town, and headed out into the woods around Konoha. Blue eyes narrowed as Narumi cackled in predatory glee. If it was hunt Jiraya wanted, it was a hunt he would get. She'd track him down and force him to train her.
Carefully, she followed his scent into the woods, moving as she'd been taught, with stealth and speed as she followed the unmistakable odor that had become her prey. It wasn't long before she caught up to him. Hiding herself behind a tree trunk, she listened to his fantasizing as he smoked from a strangely designed pipe. Taking a deep breath, she pulled out a handful of shuriken.
When the moment was right, she threw herself out from behind the tree, and launched them at the white-haired shinobi with vicious precision. With a yelp, the man scrambled over the fallen trunk, leaving the weapons to bury themselves with a quick succession of solid thunks in the section of wood he'd been leaning against.
Narrowing her eyes, Narumi made a shadow clone and the two of them moved carefully forward. The clone leapt up on the trunk of the tree, as she crouched next to her own kunai. The clone muttered something about the kawarimi, and scampered off into the forest. There was the sound of a chakra release, and Jiraya's voice drifted over the trunk.
"Too bad, girl. You'd have to train for a hundred more years to beat me."
Standing, Narumi eyed him, her voice flat and unimpressed.
"Not really."
The toad hermit jerked, yelping in shock and staring at her with wide eyes. Then he sighed and threw up his hands.
"Mou! I give up!"
Narumi nodded once, crossing her arms. It was about time!
Standing up, Jiraya led her over to a raised bank of earth, and sat down, leaning against it. She sat beside him, crossing her legs, and gripping her ankles, absently noticing that while her clothes no longer dripped, they were still wet enough to be clinging to her skin. She was careful not to lean back against the exposed dirt of the bank behind them, and spared a moment to be grateful they were sitting on grass. She didn't particularly care about the state of her clothing, but she didn't want mud smears in embarrassing places either.
Jiraya eyed her with grudging approval, and his voice had lost it's edge.
"Looks like you have some potential."
Narumi brightened slightly, voice hopeful.
"Will you supervise my training then?"
The man lifted a single finger, eyes serious.
"Give and take! If you fulfill my request, I might be willing to do so."
Narumi frowned at him, cocking her head curiously.
"Really? What's the request?"
Jiraya grinned and stood up, and started walking back into town. Scrambling to her feet, Narumi followed him. The man turned his head to look at her, and gestured with his hands to form an hour glass shape in the air between them.
"Research! It's all about research for my writing. I'm looking for something with a figure like this! Show me something like that, and I'll do it."
Narumi scowled, and then brightened, looking up at him eagerly as they reentered town on a deserted side street.
"Really? You promise?"
Jiraya nodded solemnly, smirking proudly at her.
"Of course! The toad hermit never lies!"
Narumi narrowed her eyes slightly, making sure she had the instructions right.
"All I need to do is bring you a girl? That's it?"
Jiraya nodded. Narumi grinned, and darted around to stand in front of him, stopping. The older shinobi stopped too, cocking his head at her in confusion as she chuckled.
"Watch this, ero-sennin!"
Putting her hands together, she grunted in concentration, and twisted with her chakra to produce her own special version of a henge. The same technique that she had used so successfully on Ebisu. With a puff of smoke, she transformed. When the smoke cleared, she looked down at herself contemplatively.
Her pants looked more like short, tight capris on her longer, more shapely legs, and they strained around the flare of her hips, riding low to compensate for the greater width. Luckily, the jacket tied around her waist helped conceal just how low it rode, or she would have died of mortification. Her shirt was also straining, the wet fabric stretched tight across her breasts, and clinging to her skin, riding up to reveal a good stretch of smooth midriff. She grimaced a bit, trying to ignore how uncomfortable it was to feel her body straining against too tight clothing and shoes, and looked up at her would-be teacher.
Jiraya's eyes bulged, and he stared at her, a slight trickle of blood running from his nose. His hands twitched sporadically, and a bright red tint spread across his cheeks as he looked up and down her. Narumi flushed a bit herself, tugging uncomfortably at the hem of her shirt.
"Is this okay?"
Jiraya gravitated towards her, looking caught between dazed disbelief, and burning delight. In a shocked voice, he croaked out.
"Of course! Perfect!"
Before he could move any closer, Ebisu suddenly dashed out of an ally, and sprang between them, his back to Narumi. The blonde blinked at the suddenly not-so-tall back in surprise.
"That is far enough! I will not allow any shameless behavior! Narumi, change back now!"
Half turning to look over his shoulder at her, he muttered.
"I couldn't face Kakashi-kun if I allowed a pervert to see his student in such a state."
Narumi felt her face slacken slightly in disbelief as she stared at him. Then she took a step back, eyebrow twitching as she pointed at him.
"You know, that would mean a lot more if you didn't have such a massive nosebleed."
Jiraya ignored the man between them, suddenly bursting out into a maniacal grin, his voice sounding a bit mad with delight.
"You pass! Just my type!"
Darting past the disheartened looking Ebisu, he examined her from several angles, voice exuberant as he stared.
"Genius! What do you call this technique?"
Ebisu grabbed the mans shoulder, spluttering as he made another attempt to put a halt to things.
"Oi! I'll thank you to look away now!"
WIthout even looking, Jiraya backhanded him into the wall, eyes still intent on Narumi.
"Don't even think of such a wasteful action! Beauty should be appreciated!"
Narumi blinked and scratched the back of her head nervously. She really wanted to change back. Older girls had things rough.
"So...you'll train me?"
Jiraya nodded enthusiastically, practically sparkling with willingness as he met her gaze.
"Of course I will! It would be my pleasure! There's just...one condition..."
Narumi blinked, cocking her head slightly to frown up at him.
"What condition?"
Jiraya flushed harder, and poked his fingers together, giggling in a very odd way as his eyes flickered away from her, back to her, and then away again.
"You...you must remain in that form whenever you are with me."
Narumi's eyebrow twitched, and she promptly released the jutsu, scowling up at the older shinobi as she returned to the relief of her own body.
"You enemy of women, ero-sennin! Pervert, you're nothing but a pervert!"
Jiraya turned to face her indignantly, looking more in control of himself now than he had a moment ago as he refuted her accusation.
"No, you're wrong! I am no pervert! I am a SUPER PERVERT!"
Narumi trembled, her fingers twitching and clenching into fists as annoyance bubbled up within her chest. 'That...that damned old man! He openly admitted it!'
Stalking forward, she kicked him hard in the shin, leaving him hopping around the street, clutching one leg and hollering in pain. Sucking in a deep breath, she shouted at him, clenching her eyes shut against the force of her own cry.
"Ero-sennin, you IDIOT!"
After a moment, Jiraya stopped his cavorting, gingerly setting his foot back down and scratching the back of his head absently, the gesture almost identical to Narumi's own habit.
"Maa...it's getting pretty late, so let's just see how far along you are in water-walking..."
Looking around, he spotted a nearby pond, and walked over to it. Her irritation dispersing, Narumi trotted after him. Gesturing to the water, he nodded to her.
"Go ahead."
Narumi frowned, and formed a concentration seal. After a moment of gathering her chakra, she wobbled out onto the water, ankle deep as she swayed uncertainly back and forth, desperately trying to maintain her balance.
She was just nearing the center of the pond, when her chakra flickered and slipped away from her, stripping her of her footing, and leaving her to crash through the surface of the water. As she plummeted under, she glumly reflected that at least it wasn't hot water like at the hot springs.
When she came up, Jiraya was laughing uproariously, tears of mirth forming at the corners of his tightly closed eyes. With an indignant huff, she glided over to the bank, pulling herself out and flipping her braid over her shoulder indignantly.
Jiraya wiped his eyes, laughter trailing off to a broad grin as she stretched, and tried to wring the water from her braid. Her shirt had ridden up a bit, but she ignored that, frowning at the water in disappointment and frustration.
Jiraya shook his head at her, still smiling, and when he spoke, his voice was calm and level.
"Try just gathering your chakra for me, alright?"
Narumi sighed and shrugged, folding her hands together, and closing her eyes as she reached for her chakra. The warm flow of it was familiar as it pulsed comfortingly through her body. But when she reached for it, her grasp was clumsy and awkward, the energy twisting and slipping away from her. It was like trying to turn a single page in a book while wearing a pair of thick gloves that were a size too big.
Jiraya's scent grew stronger, and she heard the slight shifting crunch of gravel and dirt, along with a rustle of cloth and hair as he came around and squatted in front of her. When he spoke, his voice was soft and reassuring, lightly teasing.
"Hey brat. I'm gonna manipulate some of your energy points to help with the flow of your chakra, alright? It'll relax you and make the exercise easier."
Narumi frowned, slitting one eye open to peer into the black eyes that were now on level with her own.
"...well...if it'll help..."
Jiraya smiled and lifted one finger, standing up as he did so.
"Of course it will. Just close your eyes, and lift your hands over your head."
Narumi blinked at him, suspicious of such strange instructions. Jiraya beamed back at her, the very picture of innocence and good will. Closing her eyes tightly, Narumi lifted her arms above her head, temporarily letting go of the flow of her chakra. Suddenly, Jiraya's fingers slammed into her stomach, hard.
Narumi coughed as she stumbled back, wincing as she rubbed at her sore midriff, and glaring furiously at the older shinobi through watering eyes.
"Ero-sennin! That hurt!"
Jiraya shrugged, still smiling despite his attempt to look apologetic.
"Yes yes, I'm sorry about that. But why don't you try again now?"
Muttering under her breath, Narumi eyed him dubiously before moving back towards the water. Folding her hands and regathering her chakra, she gingerly extended one foot, and brought it to rest on the surface of the water.
As she shifted her weight forward onto her foot, she stared in surprise as she remained perfectly on the surface of the water, innocent ripples spreading quietly from beneath her foot as she delicately moved out onto the water. The odd heaving swaying she'd been trying to compensate for had vanished, and she walked easily across the surface.
Incredulously she stared down at her feet as she came to a stop in the center of the pond, waiting for this strange ability to vanish, and leave her plunging into the water once again. When nothing happened after a long minute, her eyes slowly brightened, and she spun in place with a delighted chuckle, dancing across the surface of the water accompanied by the sounds of her own laughter, and the soft 'plish' of her steps on the surface.
"I did it! I did it! Look at me, Ero-sennin!"
Jiraya smiled indulgently and shook his head at her antics. She ignored him, elated at her triumph and spinning easily around the pond. After a moment Jiraya called out to her, his voice filled with a current of amusement.
"Oi, come on Gaki! It's getting late! We oughta be going!"
Surprised, Narumi twirled to a stop in her little dance, cocking her head at the man in confusion, brow furrowed as she tried to figure out what he was talking about.
"Huh? Where are we going? You just said you'd train me!"
Jiraya rolled his eyes a bit, though the effect was ruined by the amused smile still pulling at his mouth insistently. Jerking his thumb towards the west he spoke in a dry voice.
"To a hot spring of course! It's getting late, and we're in a town famous for its hot springs! We're gonna go relax now, and train tomorrow when you're fresh."
Narumi blinked, and then grinned broadly, whooping as she dashed across the water and leapt to the bank, landing excitedly in front of her new teacher, blue eyes glittering with anticipation.
"For real, Ero-sennin? Alright!"
Grabbing his hand, she tugged insistently, dragging him back towards the road. Visions of a warm pool of water that would soothe the aches in her muscles, and dry yukata to wrap up in afterwards, all accompanied by a plate of hot, savory food danced through her head, and her steps quickened slightly. Even if he was a little perverted, at least Ero-sennin had his priorities straight!
Narumi propped her hands on her hips, staring up at Jiraya in the clear morning light. After spending the night soaking at the onsen, and then getting good nights sleep, she'd woken refreshed and ready to go.
Jiraya had taken her out into the thin woods surrounding the edge of the forest that protected Konoha, to a small clearing on the bank of a clear river.
She cocked her head, brows furrowing as she addressed him.
"Ne, ne Ero-sennin! What's this move you're gonna teach me?"
Jiraya sighed, looking her up and down, eyes serious.
"First things first. I want you to attack me, alright?"
Narumi blinked at him in confusion, and opened her mouth to question him. Before she could, he cut her off on his own.
"I need to have a better idea of your abilities before I decide what you'll be learning. After all, didn't you say you've only got a month? That means we've got to economize."
Narumi sighed and nodded, falling back into a basic taijutsu stance.
"Alright then, let's go!"
Launching herself at Jiraya, she cocked back her fist and swung at him. Jiraya moved slightly back, knocking her fist away effortlessly.
Pulling back, Narumi planted her feet and pivoted her body, slamming her other fist towards his stomach. Again, Jiraya blocked, this time slapping her arm away in an almost gentle motion.
Growling in frustration, Narumi lifted her foot, shooting it out towards the older shinobi's upper chest with a rough sidekick. This time, Jiraya caught her ankle, hand wrapping around her limb with a grip like steel.
Turning, he threw her across the bank. Narumi threw up her arms, twisting as she rolled across the mercifully smooth dirt, and rose into a sliding crouch.
Hastily, she lifted her hands into the cross-shaped sign that was swiftly becoming more familiar than any other, and cried out sharply.
"Kage Bunshin!"
Five of her clones popped into existence around her, each ready and raring to go. Two charged towards Ero-sennin, both with firsts cocked back, much as she had only a moment ago. Another two flanked her as she circled around behind him, eyes narrowing as she looked searchingly for an opening in his guard. The last clone vanished into the surrounding trees.
Jiraya was easily fending off the other two clones, his eyes occasionally flickering between his two immediate opponents, and the three circling swiftly around to clank him.
Turning a bit, he snatched one clone up, and threw her hard into the other, causing both of them to disperse on impact as he caught the blow of one of the trio now behind him.
Narumi grinned tightly in concentration as one of the clones flung kunai at her new teacher, the three of them circling around him in an attempt to confuse him.
She knew from experience that not even Sasuke-teme or Kakashi-sensei could tell which she was when she used Kage Bunshin.
A flicker of awareness let her know that the plan was being put into action, and her grin turned a bit feral. However, at that very moment, Jiraya looked up and spotted the last clone, plummeting towards him with kunai in hand.
Dodging back, he snatched the clone that was currently behind him by the neck, and kneed her hard in the kidneys as he shot out of the path of the falling girl.
The clone landed, and all three remaining Narumi's swore, turning as one to go after the white haired man. Narumi frowned as one of her clones jostled her, knocking her slightly off balance just before they reached Jiraya.
The man smiled, and swept around, using a scythe kick to plow through the two clones, dispersing both as he snatched her up by the back of her jacket.
Narumi yelped as she was pulled off her feet, and whirled through the air to slam hard into the packed dirt. Before she could roll to her feet, she found herself flipped onto her stomach, and Jiraya's free hand closed firmly around the back of her neck, holding her down.
"Alright, that's enough."
Narumi huffed and wiggled as best she could.
"Oi, let me up!"
An amused chuckle sounded from behind her, and the hands let her go. Springing to her feet, she shot him an indignant glare. Jiraya regarded her with laughing dark eyes, clearing his throat.
"Well, it seems to me that we'd better start off by working on your taijutsu."
Narumi's irritation faded, and she cocked her head uncertainly, frowning at the man.
"My taijutsu? What's wrong with it?"
Jiraya shrugged.
"Nothing in particular. It works. But it's rough, and too close to the academy basics. It makes you easy to predict. Also, there's a move I plan to teach you that requires more chakra than you currently have access to. With a normal person, it would take months of training in taijutsu along with meditation to build up their chakra reserves. In your case however, you already have large reserves of chakra. So by training your taijutsu, you'll be able to gain access to those dormant reserves. Understand?"
Narumi nodded, eyes lighting up in anticipation.
"I got it!"
Jiraya looked skyward, a contemplative expression crossing his face as he rubbed the back of his head thoughtfully.
"The only question is the style. Right now you're definitely more suited to a 'hard' style, one that focuses on power and strength. Especially with your strength and stamina. But at the same time, you are a Kunoichi. When you get older, men will naturally have an edge on you in the strength department at the very least. And while you can train to overcome that, it's a fact that your body will eventually be less suited for those styles than a mans."
The dark eyes flickered over her with uncomfortable intensity, and Narumi shifted as he continued.
"At the same time, a 'soft' style just isn't suited for your personality. And to adopt one would completely disregard the advantages and strengths of your physical power and stamina. Added to that, 'soft' styles emphasize control of the practitioners chakra, and you have far too much chakra to ever have truly precise or delicate control."
Jiraya's eyes lit up, and he rubbed his hands together in a gesture that would have looked greedy if not for the childishly delighted expression on his face.
"A challenge then!"
Narumi was feeling more and more dismayed as Jiraya contemplated all this, and her dismay must have shown on her face. Jiraya's eyes softened, and he patted her shoulder reassuringly.
"Not to worry, we'll just make you a style of your own! Combine both hard and soft, so to speak!"
Narumi lit up, bouncing on her heels as she examined the idea of having a fighting style unique to her. She liked that idea.
"Cool!"
Jiraya laughed and shook his head. Then he regained his thoughtful look, slowly working through his idea in his head.
"First things first. You have the basics for a hard style down quite well. So what we need to do first, is cover the gaps that'll leave you with, using soft style methods. The glaring one...that would be the greater strength of males after puberty."
Jiraya trailed off quietly, staring at the sky hard, as if he could wring an answer from the puffy white clouds floating by overhead. Then he grinned and looked down at her.
"Dodging! Dodging and footwork. That's where we'll start. After all, superior power won't matter if they can't hit you in the first place."
Motioning Narumi back, he turned to face the long stretch of cleared riverbank. Flashing through hand signs, he frowned and pressed his palms to the ground. He called out the name of a jutsu, but Narumi lost his words in the resulting rumbling and cracking, only catching that it was a doton jutsu.
Squinting her eyes closed, she covered her sensitive ears as the grating and grinding of stone on stone sounded around her for several moments. When the racket finally ceased, she opened one eye. The other eye popped open, and she dropped her hands in surprise. Before her stretched a veritable forest of rotating poles with long arms that miraculously didn't not strike or tangle each other. It was like a giant puzzle with revolving pieces.
Jiraya patted her shoulder and grinned at her, before folding himself down into a cross legged position, and whipping out his latest manuscript and ink brush.
"Go ahead, gaki."
Narumi gaped, and then frowned uncertainly at him.
"I don't get it. What am I supposed to do?"
Jiraya hummed thoughtfully, and waved one hand distractedly at the strange forest of earth pillars before her.
"Oh it's simple. Just make your way through there without touching, striking, or destroying any of the pillars or their arms."
Narumi squeaked, looking back and forth between the man apparently absorbed in his half-written smut, and the now menacing mass before her.
"Are you serious?"
Jiraya nodded without looking at her.
"Of course. When you're done, come get me and we'll move on."
Looking up at the mass, he frowned for a moment, and then looked up at her calmly.
"Try using circular motions."
With that, he buried himself back into the pages of his manuscript, brush whirling down the page with a scent of thick, wet ink. Narumi swallowed, and then squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. Striding forward towards the pillars, she sucked in a deep breath, and charged into them.
Frantically, she dodged the first swinging arm, and jerked awkwardly to the side to avoid the next pillar. A particularly low arm swept towards her feet, and she leapt over it, beginning to feel a tad more confident that she could manage this if she only took it one pillar at a time.
Suddenly a high arm spun towards her, catching her hard in the chest, and flinging her back out of the maze. She landed hard on her back, coughing, one hand clutching at her chest even as the kyuubi's powers smoothed away the bruise before it could properly form. She looked back at Jiraya, eyes wide in surprise and shock.
The white haired shinobi was still diligently bent over his pages, muttering to himself as he manipulated the brush, apparently unaware of his students difficulties. Locking her jaw, Narumi got to her feet and growled at the pillars.
'Oh, it is SO on!'
A/N: Hi guys.
To Ceralyn, I'm glad you enjoyed the preliminaries! I know Narumi's fight wasn't the most impressive, but I wanted to mix the matches up a bit, and I just couldn't get the idea of her against Yoroi out of my head. He was just so very PROUD of his abilities to suck chakra, and it would work so BADLY on Narumi...well, my wicked streak acted up a bit. With Teruyoshi, it just seemed like a giant fan would be a tad too girly for him. I'm pleased you liked the weapon I chose for him instead. Also, very glad to hear that the format works better this way. I will try my best to keep more to this style from now on. Thanks again for the advice.
To Zelga Lim Li, it's nice to hear from you. Glad that you're enjoying the story, and I hope this chapter satisfies. I'm really reluctant to answer some of your questions, as it would ruin the surprise of what I'm planning for the future of this fic...but I can safely assure you that there will be no moonlit declaration of desperate love and devotion from Saburo to Sasuke. I promise. Saburo is quite straight, and his feelings toward Sasuke are firmly in the awe/hero-worship/envy department. Nothing romantic. For the rest, I'm afraid you'll just have to keep reading (^_^).
To jayley, always love to hear that people are still liking the story. Saburo's strange attacks will be further explained and developed later on, I promise! I just thought he needed a bit more going for him than "...someday he will be a medic with insane strength!" Not to diss Sakura or anything, but it seemed like that would be a bit wimpy for a guy character. As to Teruyoshi, he doesn't actually know about the invasion yet, or he would never have acted at all friendly towards any Konoha-nin in the first place. The information about the invasion was withheld from him and his siblings until after the preliminaries ended because it was believed that their behavior would alert the Konoha-nin to strange goings-on. Teruyoshi is quite loyal to his own village, much as Narumi is to hers, so as stated, if he had known about it at the time, he would never have allowed himself to get as friendly with Narumi as he is. What he did to Zaku was both out of disgust towards the guy, and a gesture of respect to Narumi. He's not being two-faced, I promise (^-^)/ .
To Bored and Sleepy with Waffles, your reviews are really starting to make me spoiled. Nice and lengthy, which is always unbelievably lovely. I appreciate all reviews of course, but the more detailed ones are always such a pleasure! About Tenma thrashing Kankuro...I'm so happy to hear that it went over well! It was really fun to write for one, and for another, I just couldn't see someone that skilled with weapons being taken out so easily. Plus, Kankuro kinda needed to be taken down a couple of pegs in my opinion...I'm afraid that I'm a bit vindictive myself. Not that I'm admitting to anything mind you!
Finally, to Zandamh, you make me blush. I'm glad you liked the match-ups, it took me a while to decide who'd go up against who. Looots of research about fighting styles and such. But it turned out okay, so it works!
Hope everyone continues to enjoy the story!
Alright, first off! Kakashi is not showing favoritism by training Sasuke instead of Narumi. As he said, his fighting style and body type align better with Sasuke than with Narumi. He really thinks he won't be able to do as good a job with her as she deserves given the time limit. If he could, he'd much prefer to take them both. In fact, he's a bit territorial about 'his kids'. Snaps at anyone who belittles them, or claims to know them better than he does, for example, Ikuye and Gai when they didn't think the rookies should be in the chuunin exams. Really, what he's doing is suppressing his own desire to watch over the both of them himself because he knows it would damage Narumi's growth, and her chances in the exams. Aside from being protective, he's just a teensy bit possessive of those he perceives as teammates. Plus, team seven is the closest thing he's had to a family since Narumi's parents died, which makes him even more wary about their safety. Particularly Narumi, since her mother and father were such important figures in Kakashi's life. So really, if there's favoritism, it would probably be towards Narumi rather than Sasuke.
Narumi's version of the sexy jutsu was less about manipulating adults, and more developed out of necessity. When she was younger, shop owners would often refuse to sell her things because of her status as jinchuuriki. However, they sometimes insisted that it was because of her age, saying that she was too young to shop in their stores. This led to Narumi creating the altered version of the henge. It's not so much an illusion as it is a transformation, and as such can affect physical objects such as her clothing. This is why she is not naked, and feels uncomfortable in it. Her body suddenly shifts, changing her center of gravity, the way she has to walk because of the length of her limbs, etcetera. It's quite unnerving for her, but she finds it useful, so she frequently uses the jutsu and practices moving in that form when she's alone in her apartment. The jutsu works by extrapolating from her genetic make-up what her appearance will most likely develop into when she's older, so think of it as a preview of her older self. But yeah, she's gonna be bombshell. Which is why she has the totally accidental side-effect of causing massive nosebleeds in some individuals when she uses it. Coincidentally, none of the boys in her age group have seen her use this to date, because she's only needed it to get around adults.
The scene where Jiraya strikes Narumi, is the removal of the seal that Orochimaru gave her, the one that unbalances her chakra control. He doesn't tell her what he's actually doing, because it won't matter once he's taken it off, and he doesn't want to worry her. She is, after all, his goddaughter. And yes, both Jiraya and Kakashi both realize just who she is. (In case anyone's curious, her name is derived from the 'Naruto' in "Tales of a Gutsy Ninja", but her mother insisted on a more feminine sounding version when they realized they were going to have a daughter.)
Lastly, I will admit that I got the idea for the taijutsu training method from 'The Legend of Korra' and air bending. I wanted to alter Narumi's taijutsu style just a bit, to make it more realistic. Narumi is still incredibly strong, and will eventually be on par with or stronger than Tsunade physically. But she is a girl, so I thought it would be more prudent for her teachers to assume she would eventually be weaker than the guys and try to compensate for it. Since she won't be, this will only make her stronger in the end, so it'll work out.
If anyone has any questions, please let me know.
Also, please do Review! Hearing from you guys after an update is my favorite part of the process!