It was the first time Natsumi actually disliked being able to heal faster than others. When she had woken up in the hospital, she was upset with herself when she felt and looked fine but Hinata was still unconscious. She did not want to be the only healthy one in the room.
"Good morning there. I see you're awake now," she heard Kakashi's voice as the door to their room opened and he entered.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Despite her own mood, she was glad to see her Jounin instructor.
"Now that you're awake, I can tell you what you missed during the final parts of the preliminary matches."
"What is it? Tell me, tell me!" she was excited for the news. When her heart acted up painfully but thankfully without the urge to cough violently, she realized she was not as healed as she had first thought.
"Careful, Natsumi. You just survived a killing blow to the heart. Even with how fast you heal, this injury is too severe to brush off like most of your other injuries," he told her. "Give it another day or two."
"Right... Anyway, the news, Kakashi-sensei!"
"Okay, okay, calm down. I suppose there is a piece of good news for you. You got the fight you wanted. Your first match in the finals is against Hyuuga Neji." Kakashi watched as Natsumi's eyes showed anger and determination.
"So it's against that bastard..." she muttered before staring fiercely at Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei! I've got a favor to ask."
"You do not have to say more. I knew you would come to me. So, I found someone to supervise your training."
"Why? I want you, Kakashi-sensei!" she whined.
"I have something to do, so I don't have time to look after you." He watched patiently as she tried to figure out what he meant.
"Ah! I got it! You're going to train Sasuke!" she accused.
"Don't say that. I found a much better teacher for you than me."
"Who is it?"
"It's a Tokubetsu Jounin named Ebisu. You know the Third Hokage's grandson, don't you?"
"Konohamaru? Yeah, I do."
"Then I'm sure you've seen a man wearing a bandana and round sunglasses hovering around him quite often. That man is Ebisu."
"I remember now! It's that jerk that tried to pick a fight with me when I taught Konohamaru how to do the Henge!" Natsumi remembered the described man. "But why him? I don't like him one bit."
"Natsumi, Ebisu-sensei is a personal teacher who instructs the elite. He's a Tokubetsu Jounin, after all. He's better at teaching than me, actually. And out of the three people I taught in our team, your basics are a mess. The only thing that isn't a mess is your taijutsu, but even then it's not really worth noting if you don't include your special training. Have him teach you the basics thoroughly."
"How am I inferior to Sasuke and Sakura?" she demanded.
"Natsumi, it's true that your basics are a mess. The basics are important in everything you do. If you want to become stronger, just listen to what I have to say." Natsumi was frowning unhappily but she stopped complaining, so he took that as acceptance. "I assume you're up for training tomorrow morning?"
"Yeah..." she answered, feeling very dejected.
"I'll let Ebisu-sensei know that the meeting point will be outside the hot springs area," he told her as he left the room. 'This might be tough for you, but you'll become stronger. Do your best,' he encouraged his student in the privacy of his thoughts.
***Break Line***
Natsumi went to the designated location and Ebisu was already waiting there.
"I've been waiting, Natsumi-kun," Ebisu greeted her.
"So, what are you going to teach me? The basics that I already know?" Natsumi asked rudely, not in the mood for any pleasant introductions with him.
"How impolite," he commented as he adjusted his sunglasses.
"But why you? I really don't like this."
"Why would I even want to teach you had Kakashi-kun not asked me of it?"
"Then don't."
"The elite teacher will not take back his words. I agreed to teach you in Kakashi-kun's stead, so I will. You are of course free to leave, but I can assure you leaving now will result in absolute failure for you when the Chuunin Exam finals begin."
"...Fine. I'll stay for your lesson," she agreed, but only for Hinata's sake. She made a promise on their blood that she would defeat Neji. If this guy could really help her to improve her chances of winning, then she would bear with it despite her dislike for the man.
"Very well. Listen carefully now. After going through what Kakashi-sensei has informed me of you, I can see that you cannot control your chakra very well," he started his lecture.
"I know my control sucks. Hinata-chan already told me that," Natsumi cut him off. "She said I'm not good at either molding or controlling my chakra, so I waste a lot of it doing ninjutsu. She always says that I mold too much chakra and waste my strength needlessly."
"If you already know that, then that makes things faster," Ebisu nodded in approval, not minding the interruption.
"I'm trying to fix it, but I still do better than Sakura and Sasuke at times."
"Do not flatter yourself with that. That is because you have more stamina than the other two! In terms of molding and controlling chakra, you are by far the worst!"
"You think I don't know that? Are you purposely trying to rub it in my face?" she said angrily. "Hinata-chan already told me about that since we were in the Academy! I know I have more stamina than anyone else my age!"
'It seems neither she nor Hinata-kun knows that the source of her stamina, the Kyuubi, makes it difficult for her to control her chakra,' Ebisu noted in his mind. While he did not know that Hinata already knew about the Kyuubi sealed within Natsumi, he was dead-on with his analysis. "Anyway, if you perform the exercises we will be doing, you can become stronger for sure."
"What? Really?" Natsumi's anger quickly faded away in the face of hopeful improvement.
"I guarantee it. Now, let's begin." For the first time, Ebisu smiled at her determination. He led her to the area outside of one of the hot spring establishments and in front of a bridge leading to it.
"Anyway, why did we come here?" she asked, not understanding why Kakashi sent her here in the first place. "Do I train by dipping into a hot spring?"
"No, we're going to train in this hot spring area," he replied, adjusting his sunglasses. Natsumi had a puzzled expression on her face as she tried and failed to understand what he meant. "Here is the spot."
"What? This is a place to bathe!" she exclaimed.
"What are you talking about? I said we're going to train! Train!" he insisted.
"Train here? What am I going to do?"
"You will walk on top of this water," he grinned when he heard her yelp in surprise at his statement. "What?" he asked when her surprise changed to her staring at him in a deadpan manner.
"Walk on top on water?" she repeated.
"Yes."
"Are you really able to do that? I know Kakashi-sensei can, but you?" she did not believe his claim.
"Of course!" he yelled at her. "I have heard from Kakashi-sensei that you have completed the tree climbing exercise where you do not use your hands, correct? This is an application of that."
"What's so different about that and this?"
"When you climbed the tree, all you had to do was gather the necessary amount of chakra into the necessary spot and maintain it. Trees are solid, so all you had to do was make it stick. So, this is an exercise to mold a constant amount of chakra. To walk on water, you must constantly release the right amount of chakra from your foot into the water and balance the amount to make your body float," he explained the exercise. "This chakra control is harder than maintaining chakra. This exercise is designed to teach you to control your chakra by releasing a constant amount of it. You will need it for certain techniques."
"I don't understand. If I just maintain the chakra in my feet like I do for the tree climbing exercise, aren't I already using the right amount of chakra?" Natsumi did not get what was so different between the two exercises.
"I guess showing you will be better in your case." Putting his hands into a seal to gather his chakra to his feet, Ebisu confidently walked on top of the water, just like he said he could do. "As I said earlier, you must constantly release the right amount of chakra to balance yourself. Then, this is the result you get. But if you believe it to be the same as the tree climbing exercise, you are welcome to try and see the difference for yourself."
"All right!" Natsumi made a seal to gather the amount of chakra she always used to climb trees with. While clearly impressed at Ebisu's demonstration, she was not ready to believe there was a difference until she tried it out for herself. Once she was ready, she confidently strode out into the water... and promptly fell in.
"Just as I thought," Ebisu commented.
"Hot, hot, hot, hot!" she burst out of the surface screaming as she scrambled back to the safety of the stone pavement.
"I forgot to mention that the water here is 60 degrees. If you keep falling, you will become as red as a lobster."
"Damn it..." she muttered under her breath as she pulled herself up. "I'll do this no matter what," she steeled her determination as she glared defiantly at the hot water. Knowing she would need a few tries before she would get it right, she started to unzip her tracksuit before it absorbed too much water and became a hindrance.
"Hey! Natsumi-kun!" Ebisu suddenly yelled at her from his position on top of the water before she could completely unzip her tracksuit. "Zip up your jacket this instant! I will not allow any shameless acts in my presence!" Natsumi's eyebrows twitched as she stared at him.
'How is unzipping my jacket considered shameless? I'm wearing a black t-shirt underneath. Did you seriously think I was stripping down? Assuming I would do such a thing makes you a closet pervert,' she berated him in her thoughts even though she obeyed his order to zip up her tracksuit.
"What is with those eyes?" he questioned.
"Nothing," she denied before returning to the exercise. Ebisu watched with a strangely proud expression as she continued doing the exercise with an unyielding spirit even as she failed over and over again. It was not until one attempt where only her feet sank in, but she was still standing on water. "I'm starting to get a grip on this."
Ebisu was amazed at how fast she had grasped the trick to perform the water walking exercise. He began reevaluating his impressions of Natsumi, acknowledging that she was a better teacher than him towards Konohamaru and admitted she was not a monster fox, but instead an excellent Konoha ninja. He was snapped out of his musings when Natsumi screamed at something behind him, the distraction causing her concentration to slip and making her fall completely into the water. There, outside the hot spring establishment on the other side of the bridge, was a man with long, spiky white hair tied into a ponytail, and he was openly peeking at the woman's bath.
"I do not know who you are..." he said as he rushed towards the shameless offender. "But I will not allow shameless acts in my presence!"
"Geez," the man heard him coming and formed a seal, covering himself in white smoke. When it cleared, he was sitting on a huge orange toad.
"That's...!" Ebisu seemed to recognize something about the man or the toad. Before he could say anything else, the toad had already wrapped its tongue around his midsection and slammed him into the stone pavement, defeating him instantly.
"Don't make a ruckus. Geez, what's going to happen if I get caught?" the white-haired man questioned the unconscious man. Natsumi, who was already on her way out of the water, could only stare in disbelief that Ebisu had lost so easily to the open pervert. Checking on him for a moment and realizing he was out cold, she turned her attention towards the open pervert.
"What's with that huge frog? Who are you?" she demanded.
"Thank you for asking!" he responded with a dramatic flair. "I am Myoubokuzan's Monk of the Toad Spirits. Also known as the Gama-Sennin."
"Hermit?" she repeated, having never heard of that title before.
"Correct," he said as the toad disappeared with a poof of white smoke.
"Hey! Hey, Ero-Sennin!" Natsumi gave him a nickname of her own since she did not know the man. "Look at what you did! He was supposed to supervise my training! And you went and did this to him."
"He interfered with my data gathering session," the newly titled Ero-Sennin replied.
"Data gathering session?"
"I'm an author. I write novels. Like this!" he pulled out a very familiar orange book.
"That's...!" Natsumi recognized the book.
"You've heard of my book?" he got excited at the apparent recognition before he giggled with a disturbing expression on his face.
"I bet that's a naughty novel!" Remembering that Kakashi had that same book and this man was clearly a pervert, there was no other conclusion. "And what do you mean 'data gathering'? You were just peeking at the women's bath!" She was shouting loud enough that the women bathing heard her and immediately fled the area to the man's shock.
"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! They found out I was peeking!" he whined like a bratty kid.
"You pervert," Natsumi openly accused.
"You fool! I am no ordinary pervert! I get inspiration to write better novels from peeking!" he defended his actions.
"Liar. Stop with the excuses," she deadpanned at him. "Anyway, what are you going to do about my training?"
"Training? You mean the water walking training?"
"You know of it?" she was surprised he knew of it. "Then be responsible and cooperate with my training."
"I don't care about your training," he snubbed her as he walked past her.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! Wait up, Ero-Sennin! Cooperate with my training, damn it!"
"Shut up!" he snapped. "I don't like people who don't know the proper way to ask for a favor."
Natsumi froze with a busted expression on her face when she got pointed out for being rude. She knew she really needed someone to supervise her training and she could not get it by being the brash person she usually was. She tried complimenting his book but it was quickly busted as a lie because people under eighteen were not able to even view that book. He mentioned that it was useless trying to flatter him. He was a hermit, and he was not foolish enough to be deceived by a youngster like her before casting a wind jutsu to help him escape. Despite his perverted nature, Natsumi actually found him to be pretty cool and was quickly enamored by him. She decided right then and there that she would make him supervise her training no matter what.
***Break Line***
After getting dumped and trapped inside a huge pot, chasing him to a forest and busting his attempt at evading her through the use of Henge, Natsumi finally managed to get him to acknowledge that she had potential to be a great ninja. However, he wanted her to do one of his requests before he would supervise her training. He wanted her to bring him a mature 'fruit' that had a round top and a rounder bottom. She at first expected him to tell her to get him a pretty woman but was surprised at the seemingly innocent request. She never realized she had completely mistaken what he was really referring to. Still, she managed to find a watermelon in the shape just like the hermit described. For whatever reason, he looked upset at what she brought but they still ended up sharing the fruit.
"Well, well, looks like I wasted some time," the hermit said as he started walking away.
"Wait a second. Where do you think you're going?" Natsumi stopped him. "What are you going to do with my training?"
"I don't care!" he started flailing his arms up and down childishly. "You ruined my data gathering!"
"Data gathering, my ass. I can't just stay here and do nothing. I need to train like hell, become stronger than everyone, pass the Chuunin Exam, and surpass the Hokage! I also need to fulfill my promise to Hinata-chan!"
"That's none of my business. You keep bothering me and bothering me. What an unpleasant kid. I need babes like the ones you saw for my great writing!"
"Hey! You are just a pervert, you Ero-Sennin!" she accused him again once she realized that he had wanted a sexy babe all along.
"No, I am no ordinary pervert!" he denied.
"What? Don't play dumb with me!"
"I'm a super pervert!" he said proudly with a lecherous look on his face and fingers moving like they were just waiting to grope the female body.
"Damn it... He openly admitted it..." Natsumi had no choice but to admit defeat.
***Break Line***
"I was kidding about what I said earlier. I will supervise your training," the hermit said when he brought Natsumi next to a river stream and away from the general populace.
"You better be telling the truth," Natsumi said skeptically.
"A hermit does not take back his words. Now, kid. Resume the training you were doing back there," he instructed. Natsumi stepped to the edge of the stream and gathered her chakra. Once she was ready, she took several unsteady steps on the water. When one of her feet suddenly sank, she lost her balance and her control over her chakra and plummeted into the river. The hermit burst out laughing from where he was watching her.
"Damn it..." she cursed under her breath as she swam back to shore. It was not perfect, but she knew she had it right! That damn seal Orochimaru put on her interfered again! Even though her chakra control was poor, she still should not have lost her grip on her chakra that quickly.
"You can't do it right at all," the hermit told her.
"Shut up!" she snapped as she unzipped her tracksuit and tossed it aside. When she took off her pants as well, she heard the hermit scream as if he had seen something horrifying. "What is it?" she asked, clad in her black t-shirt and a boy's boxers. Although she was wearing the boxers, she still wore her panties underneath it. She was not going to strip down to her real undergarments for anybody except for Hinata.
"Why are you wearing that?" he pointed to her boxers as if it had greatly offended him. "Those aren't for girls, you fool! Take it off!"
"I'm not stripping in front of you!"
"As if I want to see that underdeveloped body of yours!" For whatever reason, Natsumi felt even more angered that she normally would when she got insulted. She had no idea that she was beginning to develop feminine pride and that it had been hit hard by that statement. "You wait here until I return!" With that said, he disappeared with a Shunshin and left a furious Natsumi behind. He returned in a jiffy with a set of girl's clothes in each of his hands.
"Just how did you get that?" Natsumi asked, her eyebrows twitching rapidly.
"Don't look down on me! I am the great Gama-Sennin!" he boasted with a proud laugh.
"To steal a swimsuit, spandex biker shorts and a skirt? Are you crazy!" she screamed at him.
In his left hand was a one-piece swimsuit. It was orange in color, thankfully. He did notice her like for the color orange. The problem was, it looked far too girly with those frills in her opinion. In his right hand was the black spandex biker shorts and the orange skirt. The skirt was short but thankfully not that short that it hid next to nothing. The shorts were the problem. Sakura wore biker shorts, but hers were simply formfitting. The one the hermit had in his hands? It was made of spandex. It would cling to her panties and her butt like a second skin. She might as well be wearing nothing underneath. Its one redeeming factor was that it was slightly longer than the skirt and could clearly be seen so she could care less if her skirt was flapping around.
"Wear one of these, or my supervision ends here," he gave her a choice with a disgusting, lecherous look on his face. He would not touch her, of course. She was still a minor and he had his pride as a super pervert. He would not peek on her until her body had matured appropriately. Although he did not and would not actively endeavor to seek out young girls, he admitted there was a certain sort of beauty in the time when a girl was maturing into a woman.
"Damn it..." Natsumi eyed the two sets of clothing with distaste before picking the spandex biker shorts and the skirt. She felt it was the less of two pleasures for the perverted hermit. As she moved into the bushes to change out of her boxers and into the given clothes, she completely missed the victorious glint in his eyes.
'She fell for it! The swimsuit is only a distraction! My real goal all along is the shorts and skirt!' he cackled mentally. He quickly schooled his lecherous expression into a neutral one when she returned. She had her arms crossed in irritation as she stood in front of him.
"Are you happy now, Ero-Sennin?" she grumbled. She was a little surprised to know the spandex was not as uncomfortable as she thought and the skirt was not as disturbing, but she would never admit that to him. Instead of a verbal reply, he moved so quickly he vanished from her sight. "What?" she exclaimed when she realized he was now behind her. When she felt a small breeze against her butt and her skirt moving back into position, she knew he had just flipped her skirt. Despite knowing she was wearing shorts and revealing nothing she did not want shown, despite having no problems stripping down to boxers in front of a man, she still felt her face go red as she jumped away and held down the back of her skirt. "What the hell are you doing!" she demanded.
"Ah, that reminds me of my younger days!" the hermit said with a fond look on his face as he recalled pleasant memories. "Why do you look so angry? You didn't have any problems stripping halfway in front of me. You're still wearing shorts underneath." A tick mark appeared on the back of Natsumi's head at the arrogant look on his face because they both knew he was right.
'This shouldn't be bothering me one bit but somehow... This is so embarrassing!' she screamed in her head as she tried and failed to rid her face of its blush. She decided the next best thing was to remove the skirt, ignoring the hermit's protests to keep it on. "I'm training again!" she shouted as she stalked away to the river.
"Hey. Try molding some chakra again," he suddenly dropped his goofy attitude and gave her an instruction.
"Why?" she asked.
"Just do it. Lift your t-shirt a little too." At his stern voice, she decided to quietly do as she was told. She lifted her t-shirt to reveal her bare stomach and tied a small knot at the side to prevent it from slipping back down. She then put her hands into a seal to mold her chakra, wondering what he wanted her to do next.
"You...!" his sudden shout of surprise snapped her out of her concentration. "You're quite sexy when you tie your t-shirt like that." She almost slipped on nothing at the random compliment.
"I'm trying to concentrate, don't bother me!" she snapped.
"Sorry, sorry. Continue."
"You're messing me up..." she grumbled as she remolded her chakra. When she felt him touch her bare stomach, she quickly leaped back and hastily pulled down her t-shirt. "What do you think you're doing!" she yelled as she got into a fighting stance. If he was trying to grope her, he was getting hell for it!
"Stop reacting to everything I do! Pull your t-shirt up again and mold your chakra!" At his fierce tone, all her protests died on her lips as she obediently followed his instructions. "Kid, put your hands up," he gave her another instruction after a moment of observation. Not wanting another scolding, she quickly raised her hands. "Gogyou Kaiin!" Out of nowhere, he jabbed his fingers into her stomach so hard she was thrown off her feet and flung a short distance away.
"Why did you do that...?" she wheezed as she wrapped an arm around her sore stomach.
"I just hit some points in your body that relax you," he replied. "Try and walk on the water again."
"Geez..." she groaned as she went to the river. She expected to have trouble again but she was surprised by the stability of her chakra. "It's working!" She hopped from one foot to the other and jumped around as she cheered joyfully at her complete success of the water walking exercise. "I'm amazing!"
"Okay, kid. Come here," he told her. "I'm going to teach you a technique that I've kept in store for you."
"What? What? A secret technique?" she excitedly ran back, eager to learn the offered technique. He gestured her to sit on a nearby rock cropping for a short conversation.
"Before I teach you the technique, there is something you must understand. You probably don't realize it, but you have two different kinds of chakra."
"Two different kinds?" she repeated.
"Have you ever felt any special chakra in you before?"
"Special?" Natsumi thought hard to recall if her chakra had done anything special before. The only incident she recalled happening but could not remember completely was on her first C-Rank mission. Chakra had gushed out of her and gave her incredible power. It was not her usual chakra and it was red in color while normally it was blue. It was at that moment a sense of danger struck her hard. How the heck did this man know about that? How did he know she had two different kinds of chakra in her when she did not until that incident happened? Then she recalled how easy it was to mold the chakra needed to walk on water and control it after he had jabbed her in her stomach. She was overjoyed at her success so she did not notice it back then. Orochimaru had added a seal to disrupt her chakra control, and the hermit returned it back to normal. That meant he knew about that too. With her eyes wide in alarm with realization, she jumped back and hurriedly produced several Kage Bunshin.
"You know about the Kyuubi in me!" she snarled angrily as her clones charged with an angry cry. She was not risking another attempt at her seal and potentially her life. The hermit was caught flat-footed by her sudden aggression but he was not fazed by it. He slowly stood up and walked towards the charging clones. Without breaking his stride, he destroyed each and every clone as he walked towards her.
"So you know about your seal already, huh? You can calm down. I'm not going to attack you or anything," he told her. She looked at him skeptically but eventually dropped her hostile demeanor. "Relax. I am not your enemy. I'm here to help you," he patted her head to show he really meant no harm. That got her to relax around him completely.
"Sorry about that. The last time someone knew about the Kyuubi in me, they attacked me," she apologized with a guilty look in her eyes.
"No harm done. You can't touch this hermit at your level!" he boasted with a hearty laugh.
"What! You arrogant...!" she exclaimed as she shook her fist angrily at him.
"Okay. Let's end today's training here," he suddenly decided.
"What? Already? What happened to the secret technique? I can still train!" she protested.
"You mustn't get hasty when training," he advised. "Since we're here, let's go into a hot spring. Instead of falling into one..."
"Sorry, I can't. I've got to get back to the hospital," she turned down the offer.
"Do you have some business there? You look fine to me," he looked her up and down to check if she had injuries he had not spotted.
"It's not me. Hinata-chan is still there because of an injury to her heart. I need to go back and keep her company."
"Hinata? Ah, you did mention you needed to keep a promise to her," he remembered.
"Yeah, that's why I'm training really hard right now. I swore to beat her stuck-up cousin in the Chuunin Exam."
"I see. I have some free time. How about I accompany you to the hospital?" Natsumi smiled at his offer and nodded her head. When she changed out of her clothes and back into her normal attire, the hermit was not happy.
"Do you know how much trouble I went through to get you those clothes? Wear them!" he told her.
"I'm not wearing that! An amazing kunoichi like me don't wear skirts!" she argued.
"Fine then! You can forget about the secret technique and my supervision. See you," the hermit started to leave.
"Hey, wait! Fine, I'll wear them! Don't go!" she begged him.
"When you're with me, you are to wear that skirt at all times. Otherwise, our deal is off. Are we clear?" The hermit laughed victoriously as Natsumi was forced to accept his terms if she wanted his help.
"You Ero-Sennin...!" she cursed under her breath as she conceded defeat.
***Break Line***
It was night-time when they got to the hospital. They returned to find a conscious Hinata sitting up on her bed and staring out the window with great anxiety.
"Natsumi-chan, where did you go?" Hinata asked worriedly when she entered the room.
"Hinata-chan, you're awake!" Natsumi said happily, giving her best friend a hug and the cheek rub.
"You two seem really close," the hermit commented from the door. When Natsumi broke the hug and Hinata saw him, she let out a huge gasp.
"Y-You're...!" Hinata was nearly speechless. "Jiraiya-sama of the Sannin!"
"Jiraiya? Is that his name?" Natsumi asked. "Sannin? What's that?"
"They're the most famous ninja team in Konoha right next to the Hokages."
"It's great to hear that my name is even known to Genin!" Jiraiya boasted with pride.
"Is he really that great? He's just an Ero-Sennin," Natsumi said.
"Ero-Sennin?" Hinata repeated in confusion before panicking. "Natsumi-chan, you shouldn't give Jiraiya-sama such a degrading nickname! It's rude!"
"You should listen to your Hyuuga friend, kid. You should learn to respect your elders," Jiraiya agreed with Hinata while blatantly flipping Natsumi's skirt up in plain sight. Hinata stared in shocked silence as Natsumi hastily held her skirt down.
"Damn it, Ero-Sennin! Don't do that!" Natsumi yelled at him as her face turned red again. It was only then did Hinata truly notice Natsumi's skirt and spandex biker shorts. Hinata's own face started to heat up as her mind replayed the scene over and over again. Natsumi did not look out of place wearing a skirt though she clearly was not happy with it. When Jiraiya flipped her skirt which was embarrassing to Hinata to even remember once she got over her shock, she found Natsumi's blushing face to be endearingly cute. When her mind registered that thought, her own face turned red.
"Hinata-chan, are you alright? Your face is all red. Do you have a fever?" Natsumi asked her worriedly, touching her forehead with her palm.
"N-No..." Hinata replied, gently removing Natsumi's hand. "It's just... you looked... really cute just now..." she admitted shyly, touching her index fingers nervously.
"C-C-Cute?" she stammered. "I'm not cute! I'm cool and amazing!" Even though Natsumi denied being cute, the blush that remained on her face said otherwise.
"Could it be..." Jiraiya spoke up, shocked at the scene playing in front of him. Being the super pervert that he was, he inevitably arrived at one conclusion and a perverted look appeared on his face. "Are you two... really... 'together'?" Hinata's blush grew tenfold in intensity at that question. Natsumi and her were not like that! Natsumi was simply very forward with her show of affection for her! That was all!
"Together? Yeah, we are," Natsumi replied, completely missing what Jiraiya really meant. Hinata immediately fainted when she heard Natsumi said. "Hinata-chan? Are you alright? Hey!" she tried rousing her red-faced friend to no avail.
"Ooh... This is really good material for my next novel..." Jiraiya giggled in a perverted manner as he left the room jotting notes rapidly in a notepad.
***End of Chapter***
Differences
Kakashi relegating Naruto's training to Ebisu.
Canon: Ebisu meets up with Naruto in the hospital and challenges him to a game of tag.
My version: Natsumi is still recovering from her injury, so the game of tag doesn't happen.
Ebisu telling Naruto how bad he is at molding and controlling chakra.
Canon: He explains how Naruto's success at doing ninjutsu was only due to his stamina.
My version: Natsumi doesn't need to hear it because at some point during her Academy years, Hinata is bound to have used her Byakugan to help Natsumi with chakra control, especially with her inability to do the Bunshin correctly.
Ebisu being identified as a closet pervert.
Canon: He reveals himself when Naruto walks towards the women's section of the hot springs.
My version: There is nothing wrong with Natsumi walking towards the women's section as she is a girl, so I changed the scene. When she first falls in the hot water, she attempts to remove her tracksuit and Ebisu calls her out on it, revealing himself as a closet pervert.
Naruto stripping down to his boxers after falling into the river.
Canon: Jiraiya inspects the seal containing the Kyuubi.
My version: Natsumi is wearing boy's boxers underneath her pants, something blasphemous to Jiraiya. I included an original scene where he gets her more 'appropriate' clothing and coerces her into wearing them or he will not supervise her training. When she does, he flips her skirt like an immature teenage boy to tease her. Although Natsumi is rather boyish for a girl, she feels an overwhelming sense of embarrassment when it happens even though she knows everything underneath is properly covered.
Before Jiraiya removes Orochimaru's interfering seal.
Canon: He accidentally tickles Naruto as he inspects the seal.
My version: When he touches Natsumi, she thinks he is trying to grope her and gets hostile. He becomes very stern to get her to stop moving so he can inspect the seal.
Jiraiya telling Naruto he has two different kinds of chakra.
Canon: Naruto doesn't know his second chakra actually belongs to the Kyuubi, only knowing that its chakra is red compared to the normal blue.
My version: Natsumi isn't as ignorant as Naruto due to Hinata's presence in her life, so she figures out that Jiraiya knows about her secret when he mentions about the two different chakras.
Jiraiya inviting Naruto for a dip in the hot spring.
Canon: Naruto accepts his offer.
My version: Natsumi refuses his offer not because they are of different genders, but because she wants to check up on Hinata.
Extra Scene: Hinata is shocked to see Jiraiya with Natsumi. She gets panicked when Natsumi calls him Ero-Sennin, which is very disrespectful to him. She learns that Natsumi's nickname for him is very appropriate when he flips Natsumi's skirt, causing Hinata to get embarrassed as well. She also finds a blushing Natsumi to be rather cute. When Jiraiya sees their close interaction with each other, he believes they are a couple. Hinata never answers as she knows what he means and becomes unable to say anything from sheer embarrassment. Unfortunately, Natsumi misunderstands his question and says that they are, causing her to faint from embarrassment overload.
***Break Line***
Jiraiya finally appears! There's nothing much to change about the events in this chapter except for several different scenes simply because Natsumi is a girl. One thing to note from now on is that when Natsumi is away from Jiraiya, she is in her usual outfit. When she is with him, she is forced to change out of her blue pants for spandex biker shorts and an orange skirt because of their deal. I may or may not mention it, but do keep it in mind if you suddenly get confused when Jiraiya flips her skirt.
I look forward to getting more readers who like this story! Do Follow/Favorite/Review this story, and big thanks to those who are kind enough to do so!