Just as Natsumi was about to return to a semblance of normalcy a few days after the Third Hokage's funeral, Jiraiya came along and asked her to follow him on one of his research trips.
"Why do I have to go on a research trip with you, Ero-Sennin?" she voiced out her complaint.
"This isn't just a normal research trip," Jiraiya replied. "There's a woman I want to ask some questions, so I have to find her."
"I have no time to waste on your perverted stuff. I have to train!"
"Train?"
"I'm going to have Kakashi-sensei teach me a lot of stuff. Like the Chidori." Mentally, she grumbled about how Kakashi had been playing favorites lately. Yes, she understood Gaara was a much more dangerous opponent than Neji because the former had no qualms about killing to win but that did not mean he had to ignore her for an entire month!
"Well, um... I believe you can't master that technique," Jiraiya popped her bubble. "More importantly, the woman I was talking about is really hot. You want to see her, right?"
"Not at all. I'm not a kid who can easily be convinced by a perverted hermit like you. Anyway... No!"
"Hmm? I thought you were into women?" he raised an eyebrow in confusion. Was he wrong about which way Natsumi swung?
"Into women?" she repeated, confused by the phrase.
"I thought you were interested in other girls," he simplified.
"The only girl I'm interested in is Hinata-chan!" she huffed in annoyance. Jiraiya only nodded in acceptance, looking proud of himself despite the fact he knew Natsumi did not get what he was asking at all. She probably thought he was asking if she found other girls interesting in the normal sense.
"Then I have no other choice..." he sighed in fake disappointment and began walking away. "What a shame... I know a technique that's more powerful than the Chidori. I guess I'll take Sasuke with me."
"I changed my mind! I'll go!" Natsumi ran in front of him, looking at him with excited and sparkling eyes. "I'll go pack up my stuff! Ero-Sennin, stay there and don't go anywhere!" She then ran off like a stampede of bulls with that dust cloud behind her. As she rounded the corner, she was back immediately.
"What's wrong? Changed your mind again?" he asked.
"Let's take Hinata-chan along! You're looking for a woman, right? Hinata-chan's great at finding people and other stuff! She can help you!" she gushed.
"Well..." he struck a thinking pose. He had expected her to ask that although he only intended to bring Natsumi along. The elders had requested him to take the mantle of the Fifth Hokage but he denied the position and suggested his fellow Sannin instead, provided he find and bring her back to the village. He did not have much time to do so, really. The elders were not going to wait that long for him. Perhaps bringing a Hyuuga was a good idea. "Sure, why not?"
"Alright! Let's go to Hinata's house to pick her up!" She ran off again with the same vigor.
"Geez... She's such a cute kid," he smiled to himself before following and easily keeping up with her speed.
***Break Line***
After following Natsumi to the Hyuuga household, all Jiraiya had to do was request an audience with Hiashi to gain entry. His fame as one of the legendary Sannin really helped him when it came to certain matters. After a short while of waiting, a Branch House servant welcomed them and led the way to where the Main House members resided and the room where Hiashi was waiting.
"Welcome, Jiraiya-sama. What is it you wish to speak of with me?" Hiashi asked politely, bowing his head to show his respect as Jiraiya took his seat opposite the table. Natsumi was told to wait outside until they were done talking.
"I suppose you've heard about the village elders' decision to assign someone as the Fifth Hokage?" Jiraiya asked.
"Yes. They have just recently spread the news to the clan heads that either you or Tsunade-sama will be named the Fifth Hokage," he said.
"The reason I'm here is because my newest apprentice suggested I bring along her Hyuuga friend as well to aid in my search for Tsunade. The Hyuuga in question is your daughter Hinata. So just for formality's sake, I'm requesting to take her along with me."
"Of course. The Hyuugas are honored to aid in your search. I will send for Hinata immediately," he agreed as he gestured for a servant to do what was requested. "Jiraiya-sama, am I right to say your apprentice is Uzumaki Natsumi?"
"Yes, what of it?" Jiraiya asked.
"Oh no, it is just that I wish to speak with her once my daughter arrives. Privately, if I may."
"Sure," Jiraiya left the room and Natsumi soon entered. Hiashi could immediately tell she was not happy to see him just by the narrowed eyes.
"You wanted to talk with me?" she asked, her tone carefully neutral and her anger contained. There was no hint that she was going to use any formal honorific for him but knowing her dislike for him, Hiashi opted to overlook her informality and possible rudeness this time.
"Yes. We will speak once Hinata arrives," he replied, taking note that the mere mention of his daughter's name greatly lessened the anger in her eyes, looking almost relieved.
"I'm here, Father," Hinata's voice drifted into the room before she arrived and closed the door behind her. "Natsumi-chan? What are you doing here?" she asked in surprise when she saw Natsumi.
"We're going to help Ero-Sennin find somebody!" Natsumi said excitedly.
"Hinata, Natsumi, there is something we must discuss," Hiashi interrupted before they got carried away by their conversation.
"Yes, Father?" Hinata sat down across her father. Natsumi opted to remain standing and glaring at him until Hinata gave her sleeve a pleading tug. She sat down next to Hinata grudgingly but held her glare.
"Natsumi, you have willingly volunteered yourself to protect Hinata in Neji's stead if he refuses. I trust this is not simply something said in the spur of the moment?" Hiashi asked.
"Of course not! I always keep my promises!" Natsumi exclaimed, offended at the insinuation that she would lie about such a thing.
"Then I fully entrust my daughter's care to you and Jiraiya-sama. I hope you do not let me down."
"I'll keep Hinata-chan safe," she promised. Hiashi noted she seemed she had more to say but she held her tongue, so he would not pursue the issue.
"Hinata," he addressed his daughter next. "Aid Jiraiya-sama in his search as best as you can. If he offers any valuable advice or teachings, be sure to learn from him. Do not hold him back."
"Y-Yes, Father..." Hinata replied in a withdrawn manner.
"Cut it out already. Why won't you support Hinata-chan at all?" Natsumi spoke up, her anger now clear to see.
"What exactly are you implying?" Hiashi asked.
"You're her dad! Her family! Why the hell aren't you encouraging her?" she snapped, slamming her palm on the table. "Why do you immediately assume Hinata-chan will hold us back? Why don't you say something like 'do your best' or 'good luck'? Do you even care about her?"
"Natsumi-chan, please...!" Hinata pleaded but was ultimately at a loss as to what to do. She was touched that Natsumi cared so much for her but she still loved her father. She did not know what to say to either of them.
"That is why you are there for her, are you not?" he replied, taking her accusing questions in stride.
"Huh?" both girls echoed each other.
"I am aware of my shortcomings. Until I work them out and fix them to an acceptable standard, please be there for my daughter while I am unable. Be like family to her."
"Father..." Hinata was stunned her father had admitted such things about himself.
"Uzumaki Natsumi, I thank you for helping Neji realize his mistakes and allowing me an opportunity to rectify my own."
"Uh, okay..." Natsumi scratched the back of her head sheepishly.
"Don't let me hold you back from your mission. Go," he dismissed them. Just before the girls went out the room, he had one last thing to say. "Hinata, keep up with your training. Make sure your friend does not slack from your guidance." Both girls looked back with shocked expressions, realizing that Hiashi knew Hinata had been teaching Juuken to Natsumi and was willing to overlook it, maybe even support them. He spotted them exchanging smiles just as Hinata closed the door.
"We'll be waiting for you at the front gates. Take your time preparing your stuff, Hinata-chan!" Natsumi told her.
"I will be waiting for you two at the gates," Jiraiya forcibly changed her statement. "Once Hinata is done packing, the both of you will go to your house and pack your stuff. Judging by your excitement, I can easily tell you want to bring as many things as possible with you." He smirked at her busted expression. "My, my. What an amateur."
"Shut up! I'll show you who's an amateur!" Natsumi snapped as she waited for Hinata outside the Hyuuga compound. When they went to her apartment to do her own packing, she made Hinata promise not to tell Jiraiya that she had indeed messed up with her packing. She had forgotten to pack the female essentials for kunoichi and wanted to bring along her entire stock of instant ramen.
***Break Line***
"Hey, hey, Ero-Sennin. What kind of technique are you going to teach me?" Natsumi asked excitedly as they travelled down the road. "You taught me the water-walking technique last time... so will the next one be fire-walking? Or air-walking? Teach me the next one, Ero-Sennin!"
"Natsumi-chan..." Hinata called meekly. "Did you only just learn the water-walking technique from Jiraiya-sama?"
"Yeah! During the one-month break in the Chuunin Exam," she replied.
"You really should have learned it before the Exam..."
"What!" Natsumi exclaimed in shock, gaping at Hinata. "But, but... Wasn't it the tree-walking technique?"
"That too... You should have learned both some time before the Exam started. Don't tell me you didn't..." she trailed off. After a short pause, an aura of gloom hovered above Natsumi as she sulked at the side of the road. "B-B-But... I think it's really amazing you got that far even without knowing the water-walking technique!" Hinata quickly added praise as she panicked because she inadvertently caused Natsumi to get depressed.
"Hey, Natsumi. Is that true?" Jiraiya asked in a serious manner. 'I thought it was strange for her to still be working on the water-walking technique when Kakashi entered his team into the Chuunin Exam. Any Chuunins worth their rank would have already known the two walking techniques before their promotion. I thought Natsumi was still working on mastering the water-walking technique but she didn't even know of it until the day I met her?' he pondered.
"Yeah. Other than the D-Rank missions, Kakashi-sensei only taught Team 7 how to walk on trees," Natsumi replied, having recovered from her small bout of depression.
"No way..." Hinata gasped, her hands covering her mouth. Despite not saying anything, Jiraiya shared her exact sentiments.
"What? What?" Natsumi looked between the two of them in confusion.
"Nothing," Jiraiya brushed the issue aside. After they brought back Tsunade, he was going to get more information from Kakashi about his training methods. Either Natsumi was still trying to master the water-walking technique when the Chuunin Exam started, or her team as a whole did not even know about it. Kakashi must have had great confidence in his team to succeed in the Exam despite that and they did to a respectable degree, especially for rookie Genins. That did not mean he was entirely correct. It was a huge gamble that paid off but it was still a very hasty decision for the normally laidback Kakashi.
As they continued traveling, Natsumi asked what kind of student the Fourth Hokage was. Jiraiya replied that since he was the one who trained him, it was not an overstatement to say the Fourth Hokage became strong due to his tutelage. Since Natsumi was also receiving his teachings, she should consider herself very lucky. He noticed Hinata looked a little down at being left out, so he added that if she impressed him enough he would teach her a few things too. She brightened up considerably but Natsumi only made a deadpanned whine that told him she did not believe a word he said. He told her a good master raised a good apprentice and that was common sense. When asked who taught him, he replied that it was the Third Hokage, bringing back some pleasant and bitter memories for the Sannin.
***Break Line***
When they arrived at Otafuku City, Natsumi and Hinata looked around at the sights the city had to offer that their village did not have and found it a little strange for their tastes. Jiraiya appeared to know his way around the city as he led them straight to an inn.
"Girls. We're going to stay here for the rest of today," Jiraiya told them.
"But we can still continue walking," Natsumi whined.
"An apprentice must follow her master's orders," he told her.
"I just want to learn the new jutsu."
"And that's what makes you my apprentice."
Before their argument could continue, they heard very audible footsteps coming from the entrance of the inn. They looked at the source of the footsteps and saw a beautiful woman standing outside rather seductively. Jiraiya started getting excited and was cheering at the sight in front of them. Natsumi and Hinata looked between the Sannin and the woman repeatedly. The longer they looked, the more sweat-drops appeared at the back of their heads as they knew what was happening.
"U-Um... Jiraiya-sama..." Hinata called for him but to no avail as he was too hyped upon seeing the beauty. He got even more pumped up when she winked and threw a kiss with her fingers at him.
"Natsumi!" Jiraiya burst out from his excitement. He took her hand and placed a key on it. "Here are the keys. Go to the room, mold some chakra for training, and go to sleep. Okay?"
"Are you trying to say that from here on out is the world of adults?" Natsumi shrieked in protest. "What the hell, Ero-Sennin!"
"Let's just go and do what Jiraiya-sama said, okay?" Hinata suggested.
"Okay but... What are you doing, Hinata-chan?" Natsumi asked with a huge sweat-drop. Hinata had gone from beside her to behind her and was trying her hardest to bury her face into the crook between her backpack and her tracksuit. She never responded, only keeping her red face hidden where no-one could see it. She blamed her heritage as a Hyuuga and her Byakugan training for the highly vivid image her mind had brought up when Natsumi mentioned the 'world of adults'.
No-one started out with perfect control over all the Byakugan's abilities, so Hinata had seen far too much far too soon when she was training her Byakugan at her young age. She was a naturally shy person, but her huge susceptibility to embarrassment only appeared when she started her sexual education and learned exactly what the things between the legs of males were. She was just a young child at the time. Of course she was curious at the new sights her Byakugan revealed. No-one could blame a child for being curious... at least she hoped so. She remembered being very mortified because she did sneak glances at the men's 'package' unintentionally during Byakugan training, particularly during training to utilize its x-ray vision, but was far too shy to ask her father about them when all the females she snuck glances at, again unintentionally, did not have that and did not want to ask them either. She did not remember that was the time she developed her fainting spells that were caused when she was embarrassed beyond a certain limit.
Getting no response from Hinata, Natsumi just shrugged and proceeded to their designated room. There was nothing too fancy about the room. It had two beds and a bathroom with very simple accommodations. Hinata had managed to get rid of her embarrassment for the time being and inspected the room as well. Looking at the two beds, she quickly figured out they were meant to share a bed while Jiraiya had the other to himself. It was wide enough to keep two children tucked in comfortably. Her cheeks flushed pink at the thought. She did not have any problems with it, really, but it was the most intimate thing she would do with Natsumi besides the time during the Chuunin Exams when they bathed together in the hot springs and saw each other in complete nudity for the first time. She wondered why simply sleeping together in the same bed made her think weirdly about a seemingly normal situation. Natsumi's happy comment about it being fun sleeping together when she realized the same thing did not help with her thoughts, only making them more muddled and causing herself to get embarrassed for absolutely no reason.
"Natsumi-chan, I'll go ahead and take a bath first, okay?" Hinata said and dashed to the bathroom to do what she said she would after setting her backpack on the floor. The uncharacteristic haste in which she moved and the slight slam of the door was not unnoticed by Natsumi.
"What's with Hinata-chan today?" Natsumi wondered as she stared at the bathroom door in confusion. She quickly decided it was not worth thinking about and put both their backpacks in the corner. She frowned grouchily as she sat cross-legged on the bed and started the immensely boring process of molding chakra. She wanted to use her chakra for something cool, damn it! At least the sound of the shower and running water from the bathroom served as a pleasant reminder that Hinata was there and would join her soon.
Just then, some knocking on the door to their room was heard.
"What? He's already been dumped and decided to come back?" Natsumi muttered as she proceeded to open the door, thinking it was Jiraiya. The first thing she saw at eye-level was an adult wearing a full-body black cloak with red clouds adorned on it. This person was clearly not Jiraiya, so she raised her head to look at the person's face. She was almost immediately frozen in shock at the look of intensity on the person's face. The Sharingan in his eyes only added to that effect. 'Who is this guy? He looks like Sasuke... And he has the Sharingan like him...'
"To think that this little girl has the Kyuubi within her..." a newcomer spoke up as he walked past the adult Sasuke-lookalike and stood beside him. Natsumi turned to look at him in shock as well.
'How does he know about the Kyuubi?' she wondered as panic began to settle into her mind.
"Natsumi-kun, you're coming with us," the adult Sasuke-lookalike said quietly but there was a lot of hidden force behind his words. "Let's go outside."
'These guys aren't just normal ninjas,' she realized on the spot. Unlike with Zabuza, they did not even need to exude killing intent for her to know they were deadly and more than likely far above than what she could handle. Gulping down the rising fear and panic, she opted to obey him for now. She slowly stepped out into the hallway and stood in front of the two men.
"Itachi-san," the other man with weird blue skin, Natsumi finally noticed, addressed his partner. Despite being taller than him, it appeared he was the subordinate of the duo just from the honorific. "It would be annoying if she moved around... Perhaps we should cut off a leg or two," he suggested before gripping the handle of the very large sword on his back.
'What did he say?' Natsumi exclaimed in her head, unable to voice her words out as she stared at the blue man. Itachi gave no indication whether he approved of his partner's suggestion or not, simply remaining silent.
"Then I shall," his partner took his silence as an affirmative and walked towards Natsumi who was now frozen in fear. Before he could draw his sword, they were interrupted by the arrival of Sasuke.
"Uchiha Itachi," Sasuke said in cold fury, Sharingan blazing in his eyes.
"The Sharingan... And he's very similar to you," the blue man noted with amusement. "Who is he?"
"My little brother," Itachi replied, shocking Natsumi. Wasn't the whole Uchiha clan annihilated years ago with Sasuke as the only survivor? Now his older brother, this guy who did not mind having her legs chopped off by his partner, was alive too?
"I heard the entire Uchiha clan was killed... by you," Itachi's partner revealed casually.
"Uchiha Itachi! I'm going to kill you!" Sasuke declared. Hearing these statements reminded Natsumi of all the times he spoke about wanting to kill 'a certain man'. Itachi was that guy? Now she finally understood why he wanted to kill him so badly. It was because he murdered his own clan and Sasuke wanted vengeance for his lost family members. "Like you said... I hated you, detested you. And just to kill you, I've..." As his anger grew to its peak, the Chidori he created in his hand grew in power. "I'VE SURVIVED!" he slammed his Chidori into the wall and charged towards Itachi, heedless of the damage he was causing to public property. "DIE!" he yelled when he was in position to impale Itachi with the Chidori.
The next thing Natsumi saw, the room next to hers had a huge hole blown from the front all the way to the outer walls of the inn and Itachi stopping Sasuke's attack by grabbing his wrist. She did not even see what Itachi had done to avoid Sasuke's attack so easily because his clothes were not even ruffled. All she could see was Itachi grabbing Sasuke's wrist to stop him. When Sasuke let out a grunt of pain, she realized she had to do something fast. Putting her hands into a seal to concentrate, she started drawing out the Kyuubi's chakra and manifesting an orange aura.
"Her chakra is filling up the atmosphere," the blue man watched her closely. "I see, this is the Kyuubi's chakra."
"Why you...!" Sasuke thought he spotted a chance when both Itachi and his partner were distracted by Natsumi and tried to throw a punch.
"You're a bother," Itachi immediately proved him wrong and with a simple movement of the hand, broke and dislocated his wrist at the same time. Sasuke screamed in agony as he crumpled to his knees and bending over from the pain.
"Sasuke!" Natsumi cried out in worry. "Damn it!" she cursed as she went through the seals for the Kuchiyose.
"Too slow," the blue man said as he swung his sword through the aura, dispersing it completely. Just seconds before she slammed her palm to the floor, she froze up.
'I don't feel the chakra...' she realized in horror as she stared up at the two men. "Damn it, damn it! Why?" she yelled as she tried to regather the chakra again.
"My Samehada can shave... and devour chakra," he explained as his large sword started squirming from beneath its bandages. Natsumi could only stare in horror at him. Now she could not even use her jutsu? What was she supposed to do now? "It would be annoying if she used her petty jutsu. Perhaps we should cut off her arms before doing it to her legs." She tried even harder to gather her chakra but nothing would come. "It's futile." Just as he raised his sword to cleave her in half, the door to her room swung open and all eyes turned to the new addition.
"Natsumi-chan! What's happening?" Hinata asked in a huge panic, her hair still dripping water droplets from its ends and she did not have her jacket on. She was just done bathing when the eruption from Sasuke's Chidori destroying the room next door shocked her. She dressed as quickly as she could while being at least decent and rushed out. Just from looking at the scene in front of her and Sasuke on the ground writhing in pain, she immediately understood the situation and got into her stance.
"What do we have here?" he asked in amusement. "Itachi-san, what shall we do with this Hyuuga girl?"
"Who are you? I won't let you hurt Natsumi-chan!" she declared as fiercely as she could. It was easy for her to tell that Natsumi was their target just by looking at the panic and fear on her face.
"Out of the way. We have no business with you," Itachi told her and stared directly into her eyes. That was all he needed to disable her.
"Hinata-chan!" Natsumi cried out when Hinata let out a soft gasp and promptly fell on her face. She ceased moving the moment she hit the floor. Natsumi was immediately by her side and trying to rouse her.
"Shall we end this?" the blue man asked as he readjusted his aim to take out both girls. Natsumi quickly positioned herself to use herself as a human shield for Hinata, clutching her body close to her and exposing her back to him. She saw the sword descend from the corner of her eyes and shut them as tightly as she could to prepare for the incoming pain. Her eyes snapped open in surprise when she heard the sound of metal being hit instead. When she took a peak, she recognized her savior as one of the toad summons.
"You two... don't know me very well," Jiraiya's voice was heard. She raised her head and saw Jiraiya in front of her with the same woman he went out with earlier on his shoulder, but she was unconscious. She broke into a very grateful smile at his timely appearance until he made a dramatic speech over how the great Jiraiya did not allow women to simply seduce him with their beauty. Her mood made a trip all the way to the other side of the scale when he was done.
"Yeah, right! You were excited over a simple wink from that woman!" Natsumi pointed an accusing finger at him. "I don't think you should be showing off like that right now, Ero-Sennin!"
"Come on, now. Don't call me that in front of people," Jiraiya tried to appease her with a sheepish expression.
"Shut up!" she yelled at him. "More importantly, these guys aren't just regular ninja, Ero-Sennin. Ero-Sennin!"
"Stop calling me Ero-Sennin!" he snapped, comical tears pouring from his eyes.
"He is the great Jiraiya-sama, who was praised as one of the legendary Sannin, after all. Even if you are an extreme lover of women, I knew that we couldn't hold you off that easily," the blue man praised Jiraiya and gave respect to his prowess.
"They know Ero-Sennin's true identity?" Natsumi exclaimed in shock.
"Well, that's not my true identity or anything like that..." Jiraiya scratched the back of his head, trying to come up with a better explanation.
"It seems like you have dispelled the genjutsu from that woman," the blue man noted as Jiraiya placed the woman gently against the wall.
"You're a disgrace to all men, using your eyes to hypnotize a woman to separate me from these two girls, particularly Natsumi..." Jiraiya reprimanded Itachi who gave no response to it.
'Separate? But why?' Natsumi wondered.
"So you're after Natsumi, after all..." he said, fixing a hard look at Itachi.
"No wonder Kakashi-san knew. I see now. You were the source," Itachi replied. "It is an urgent order by our organization, Akatsuki, to take Natsumi-kun with us."
'What's going on?' Natsumi was still confused over why she was being targeted by these two men from Akatsuki.
"I can't hand Natsumi over to you," Jiraiya told them as he dismissed his toad.
"We'll see about that," Itachi laid down a challenge.
"Very well. I will get rid of you two here."
"Don't interfere..." Sasuke interrupted them. He finally managed to endure through the pain of his broken and dislocated wrist and found the strength to at least stand up. "The one who's going to kill him... is me!"
"I have no interest in you right now," Itachi replied.
"Don't screw with me!" he yelled and charged towards him, only to be kicked into a wall at the other end of the hallway.
"Sasuke!" Natsumi exclaimed in worry for her teammate. She wanted to help him so badly but she could not leave Hinata undefended in her current state. She did not want to burden Jiraiya unnecessarily either, especially if he needed to concentrate really hard against these two opponents. She was torn between what to do. Sasuke made that decision for her by standing back up and charging Itachi again, and was sent crashing into the same wall again. Itachi decided to humor his brother's wish to fight him and moved in, completely decimating an already crippled Sasuke with taijutsu before casting a powerful genjutsu his partner called 'Tsukuyomi' to end the one-sided beating. Sasuke let out screams of torture before fainting.
"Cut it out already, you bastard!" Natsumi yelled, finally deciding to leave Hinata in Jiraiya's care as she rushed towards Itachi to save Sasuke. The blue man gave chase but both stopped in their tracks when their entire surroundings changed.
"Ninpou: Gamaguchi Shibari," Jiraiya called out the name of the jutsu he used. "You're out of luck, Itachi, Kisame. You're inside my stomach, now." He explained that they were now in the esophagus of a giant toad he summoned. Since the two of them were wanted criminals anyway, he had no qualms turning them into food for the toad they were all in.
"What is this?" Natsumi asked, looking around in confusion.
"Natsumi! You stay still. Don't worry. This is my jutsu," he assured her. He commanded his jutsu to safely absorb the unconscious Hinata and Sasuke into its walls. Itachi decided it was time for retreat and called for Kisame, the blue man who Natsumi could finally put a name to, to follow. "It's useless!" Jiraiya said and commanded his jutsu to give chase to them. After some time, he felt part of his jutsu break and went to investigate. At what was supposed to be a dead end was a huge hole with black flames burning at the edges. He could not believe they managed to break out of his jutsu but knew it had to do with the black flames. Writing a sealing formula on a scroll, he sealed away the black flames for further investigation later.
"Okay. This should do for now," he tucked the scroll into his vest. "Now, we have to look at Sasuke and Hinata." The walls slowly began to recede and release both of them from the safety of its protection. Just as they put them in a comfortable position, a kunai whizzed by them. Turning around, Jiraiya was kicked in the face by a smirking Guy, until he realized he had the wrong person and gave a flimsy excuse for his mistake. "Forget about that for now," Jiraiya forgave him anyway. "Take Sasuke to a medical squad."
"Yes, sir," Guy complied.
"His arms and ribs are broken. Also, he took a psychological attack from a doujutsu and was knocked unconscious."
"Hey, what about Hinata-chan? You're not going to take her to a medical squad too?" Natsumi argued. "I know she isn't hurt but she got hit by the same doujutsu technique that Sasuke did!"
"No, she didn't. And she's fine," Jiraiya told her with little concern.
"What?" Natsumi was surprised at first, and then got angry. "What do you mean she's fine? I saw her get hit by the same thing from Itachi!"
"What I mean is she's not suffering from the same jutsu Sasuke is. She is just under the effects of a regular genjutsu." Jiraiya put a hand on Hinata's head and focused his chakra into her. "Kai!"
***Break Line***
"Out of the way. We have no business with you."
That was the last thing Hinata heard Itachi say before his Sharingan eyes filled the entirety of her vision, causing her to gasp in surprise and close her eyes from reflex. When she reopened them, she found herself in complete blackness.
"Where is this?" she asked herself. No matter which direction she looked, it was black everywhere. There were no walls, no ceiling, no floor. She could feel herself walking normally but she could see nothing but black. The only thing with shape, form and color was herself. She could see herself just fine.
"Stay here quietly, and no harm shall come to you," she heard Itachi's voice ring out throughout the blackness. Quickly moving into an defensive stance, she tried to locate his position while keeping herself alert. "It's useless. You will not find me in here. The only thing to be found is your fear."
'This is genjutsu,' Hinata realized. Remembering the lessons Kurenai had taught Team 8 about genjutsu, she took a deep breath and stopped the chakra flow in her body. Once she had done that, she restarted the flow as forcefully as she could, trying to disrupt the flow of Itachi's chakra in her body.
"It's useless," Itachi's voice rang out in his monotone. To her horror, absolutely nothing about the blackness changed. "Someone with such meager skills will never be able to break my genjutsu."
"Not yet..." she refused to be intimidated or discouraged by his words. "Byakugan!" she opted to activate her own doujutsu. Once it was active, the real things and people would be seen and that would give a stronger image for her mind to focus on to help her break the genjutsu she was under.
"It's useless," he told her again. "You will not see anything. The Byakugan will reveal nothing."
"W-Why...?" Hinata stammered. She was sure she channeled enough chakra to activate her doujutsu. She was sure she directed her chakra to her eyes. So why did her Byakugan not activate? She could not even feel the veins bulging. Panic was rising very quickly in her as her go-to methods of breaking genjutsu were immediately shut down. There was one other method, but that required Natsumi even knowing she was under a genjutsu. Or was she too busy defending herself from the two men? Did she even know anything about genjutsu? No, she could not depend on Natsumi for this. She had to help herself out of this and then aid Natsumi in her fight once she was free. She started running in a random direction, hoping beyond hope that she could find a way out.
"It's useless," she heard Itachi's voice again. "There is nowhere no run. There is no escape."
Hinata tried her best to ignore his words but years of being derogated by her father made her vulnerable to demeaning words. When Natsumi was not there to cheer her on, her self-esteem could easily be crushed. She was working hard on improving her self-confidence, but for now she still needed Natsumi's support to even begin to feel confident. But as she continued running aimlessly, more and more despair began to creep into her heart the longer she ran.
"Natsumi-chan? Jiraiya-sama? Where are you?" she cried out to the blackness.
"It's useless. There is no-one here but you. You will find no-one. You will find no freedom."
"Natsumi-chan! Jiraiya-sama! Kiba-kun! Shino-kun! Kurenai-sensei!" she started to scream and hyperventilate, even calling out to her team which she knew was not with her or even near her.
"It's useless."
"Natsumi-chan, where are you?" Hinata's aimless run steadily dropped to a stop. "Jiraiya-sama..."
"It's useless."
"Please, stop..." she pleaded with Itachi as she sat down and curled herself into the fetal position and began to weep.
"It's useless."
"Please... let me go..." she begged again, hugging her legs together as tightly as she could.
"It's useless."
"Stop... Stop... Stop..."
"It's useless."
"Please stop saying that... Please..."
"It's useless."
"Please...! Stop...!" she put her hands over her ears but still Itachi's voice could be heard clearly.
"It's useless."
"Natsumi-chan... Jiraiya-sama... Please help me..." she prayed as she shook her head from side to side violently.
"It's useless."
"NATSUMI-CHAN!" she let out a scream full of fear and despair.
"It's useless."
"JIRAIYA-SAMA!"
"It's useless."
"HELP ME!"
"Kai!"
***Break Line***
"Hinata-chan!" Natsumi exclaimed in huge relief when Hinata returned to consciousness with a huge gasp of air. Hinata looked around wildly, trying to figure out where she was. "I'm so glad you're okay!"
"Natsumi...-chan...?" Hinata whispered, as if she could not believe the sight in front of her.
"You're fine now, kid. I snapped you out of the genjutsu Itachi put you under," Jiraiya told her.
"Jiraiya-sama...? Genjutsu?" Hinata looked very out of it as she looked at him. Slowly, she began to remember exactly what she went through in the genjutsu. Her face scrunched up as tears rapidly built up in her eyelids. She dived towards Natsumi, knocking her down.
"Hinata-chan, what-" Natsumi started to ask but stopped when she felt Hinata grab her tracksuit and clenched it like it was a lifeline. She pushed her face into it and Natsumi heard heavily muffled wailing coming from her best friend. She was shaking violently and her shoulders hitched often from her hiccupping. Natsumi could feel her clothes getting wet from her tears. "I'm here, Hinata-chan! I'm here!" she hugged Hinata close, reassuring her that she was not going anywhere anytime soon. "You're safe now, I promise!"
"Natsumi-chan...! Natsumi-chan...!" Hinata cried hard, not waiting to let go of Natsumi for the moment. What she went through in the short period of time was so much worse than the time Neji tried to kill her. He had brought her to the brink of despair with his words then but they felt insignificant compared to now. At least back then she still had a fighting chance, no matter how small it seemed. Her own insecurities did not allow her to see that until Natsumi cleared the doubts she had. But the encounter with Itachi and his partner was at a completely different level. Neji only pointed out her perceived flaws and weaknesses, letting her sink into despair by her own doubts. Itachi grabbed them and forced her to drown into the depths with said flaws and weaknesses serving as anchors to pull her under. He did not even let her begin to doubt herself. He just crushed all hopes of victory beneath his heel, reinforcing the notion that it was impossible to even think, let alone hope, of winning against him.
As Natsumi held Hinata close, her mind replayed the one-sided beating Sasuke got from his brother.
"What in the hell... What did that bastard do to Sasuke, Ero-Sennin?" she asked angrily. She did not understand what Itachi did to Sasuke, except that Hinata got hit with a 'regular' version of whatever it was and it was already bad enough. Without waiting for an answer, she decided to take matters into her own hands. "We have a change in plans. I was scared back then, but I'm going to find those black coat guys and beat them up this time! They want me, right? Then I'll go to them." Hinata's sobbing seized suddenly while Jiraiya looked completely unimpressed with her bravado.
"Even if you go to them right now, you're going to get killed," Jiraiya told her. "Their level and yours are too different. I barely managed to get them away from you back there."
"Are you suggesting that we run and hide from them? You want me to shiver in fear everyday?"
"No! Don't go!" Hinata screamed, removing her face from her tracksuit and looking at her directly with her tear-stained face. "You'll be killed, Natsumi-chan! You'll really die! Don't go! Not now!"
"But if I don't, then they'll keep coming back! They might go after you next if they can't find me. Just look at what they did to Sasuke!"
"Shut up for a while!" Jiraiya boomed, silencing Natsumi's protest. "You're weak. Just because you have a never-give-up attitude and an impressive determination, that doesn't change the fact you're weak. The moment you tried using Hinata as a reason to go after them is more proof that you're weak. All you'll be accomplishing is suicide. If you truly value your friends and the people who care about you, don't use them as an excuse to die." Natsumi could only grimace at his words and only pulled Hinata closer to her, whispering an apology to her.
Satisfied when Natsumi seemed to consider his words, Jiraiya informed Guy of the current situation with Sasuke. Guy revealed that Kakashi was affected by the same jutsu and was unconscious and no-one was sure when he would wake up. The news shocked the two girls present. It was hard for them to believe one of their Jounin instructors had been taken down. Guy admitted that he wished from the bottom of his heart that she, the medical specialist, was with them, thinking about his dear student Lee. Jiraiya then said that same person was the person he was looking for. That surprised all those present sans Sasuke because he was unconscious. Natsumi and Hinata never realized they were looking for someone that important. That someone also happened to be a Sannin like him and was a slug summoner, and her name was Tsunade.
***End of Chapter***
Differences
Before leaving on their journey to find Tsunade.
Canon: Naruto goes alone with Jiraiya.
My version: Natsumi insists that they bring along Hinata to help find Tsunade because she is part of a tracking team. Even if she isn't, her Byakugan itself is already a great help for finding someone.
Naruto asking what type of 'walking' technique Jiraiya is going to teach him.
Canon: Jiraiya makes no comment about it while Naruto steps on dog stools. They later stop at a shrine for a short rest.
My version: Hinata questions why Natsumi only knows of water-walking despite making it so far in the Chuunin Exam. She is shocked that she only knew about it so late when it should have been taught way before that. She is even more shocked to know the only thing Natsumi learned prior to entering the Chuunin Exam was the tree-walking technique. Jiraiya thinks about Kakashi's training methods but puts it off for a later time. I skipped the part where they stop at the shrine because it has no real role in the story.
When the hypnotized woman lures Jiraiya away from the inn.
Canon: Jiraiya, and even Naruto, gets aroused and excited about her beauty until Jiraiya sends Naruto away to their room to keep him away from the 'world of adults'.
My version: Only Jiraiya gets excited at the sight and sends both girls to their room with Hinata completely embarrassed at the implication of the 'world of adults'.
Extra Scene 1: Jiraiya and Natsumi head to the Hyuuga household to pick up Hinata. After Jiraiya gets Hiashi's permission simply for formality's sake, Hiashi expresses his desire to speak with Natsumi and Hinata. Natsumi is naturally pissed at him for his treatment of his daughter. When he tells Hinata to not hold Jiraiya back, Natsumi loses her temper and demands why he wouldn't support his own family, he uses it as a chance to reaffirm her promise to be family to Hinata and allows her illegal practice of the Juuken.
Extra Scene 2: Just my vision of why Hinata is so easily embarrassed which leads to her fainting spells. In canon, it's because she gets very shy in Naruto's presence and her embarrassment easily reaches its peak with him, especially with physical contact. In this story, I needed to come up with something else to explain those moments, although some... questionable... moments with the two girls can get Hinata to react like she does in canon, although she doesn't faint that easily.
Extra Scene 3: What Hinata is going through under the effects of Itachi's genjutsu. It's seperated by a break line, but it's part of the same scene when Jiraiya snaps her out of the genjutsu and she clings to Natsumi to get over the traumatizing event she was trapped in.
***Break Line***
A really overdue update, but I was suffering from indecision regarding what I wanted to do with Hinata when Itachi and Kisame showed up. It's not that I was planning for her to put up a fight against either of them. None of the Genins would stand a chance against them anyway during pre-Shippuuden, so it was an easy decision for me to make Hinata lose. The problem I had was the degree of how badly she would lose to Itachi.
From my perspective, I believe Itachi is the type of ninja who would prefer the least amount of effort to take out his enemies. In pre-Shippuuden, Itachi is painted as a villian but does not go for anything brutal outside of the Tsukuyomi, so I went with the image that he is only cruel in his genjutsu. I decided Hinata would get incapacitated via genjutsu that she cannot break at her current skill level.
Then came another problem, which is Hinata's reaction to her psychological torment. I had a difficult time deciding just how much mental torture she can take before she breaks down, and then her reaction after. I was stuck at just how much I can properly victimize her without making her look like a complete wuss while at the same time keeping the fact in my mind that no Genin stood a snowball's chance in hell against Itachi. I just hope I portrayed that scene well without either Hinata or Itachi being too out of character or the genjutsu being too tame.
The next chapter or two will focus on Natsumi's Rasengan training. Hinata will definitely be helping her with it but how much will be decided by Jiraiya. Look forward to the changes Hinata will make with her presence.
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!