Naruto could barely stand. His new sensei had been sparring with him for hours, and he was beginning to reach his limit. The boy tried to jump away before Jiraiya got too close so that he could catch his breath. Landing next to a nearby tree, Naruto moved behind it to force Jiraiya into his line of sight if he wanted to attack.

Seeing Naruto move behind the tree, Jiraiya stood still for a few moments before moving for an offensive. Moving around the blonde's cover, he was immediately greeted with a kick that he easily dodged. As Naruto brought his foot back, it got caught on a large root, causing him to trip and fall backwards.

Waiting for the pain to come, Naruto was surprised when his body never moved. Opening his eyes, he saw Jiraiya holding the front of his shirt, keeping him from the ground. "Are you ready to give up yet?" Jiraiya asked.

"No… way!" Naruto said through ragged breaths. Jiraiya sighed. The boy in front of him had both the best and worst qualities of determination.

"It's time I put my foot down you stubborn brat. We're done for the day. Now rest, and get ready to head home." Jiraiya walked away from the young blonde to go find Natsumi and check on her progress. Suddenly a kick came from behind him, which he blocked without turning around.

"I'm not… done yet!"

"Why do you insist on continuing?" the sage asked with a bit of frustration. "I've asked you for hours to just take a short break, but you refuse. Why?"

"So you'll stop looking down on me." Naruto said seriously.

Annoyingly, Naruto's new teacher burst out laughing. "You thought I was looking down on you?!" the sage asked through laughter.

"You're damn right you were!" Naruto declared Indignantly, pointing at Jiraiya. "You think I'm just a kid who can't take a hit!"

"Brat, don't mistake concern for condescension. We've been sparring since your sister went to practice her own stuff. Even if you and Natsumi have a lot more stamina than other kids your age, you have limits. Not to mention, if you wind up so tired that you can barely move, you're going to get less strength than you would if you gave your body a bit to rest."

Naruto took a few moments to think over Jiraiya's words before responding. "What's condescension?" Jiraiya could only sigh again. "Did you at least understand the rest of what I told you?"

"Pretty much."

"Good. Condescension just means looking down on you." Naruto's face quickly lit up in realization. "Ooooh. Got it."

"Either way, I wasn't kidding about getting you two home. It's getting late and your sister is probably exhausted." Jiraiya informed him. 'Emotionally as well, if I had to guess.' he added as an afterthought, before starting to walk over to Natsumi.

"What kind of cool jutsu did you teach her?!" Naruto asked as he followed his sensei.

"A defensive jutsu that uses-"

"Whaaaat? It's just for defense? That's so boring." he drawled.

"It sounds like you don't want to learn it then." Jiraiya said with a small smirk.

"Of course not! Why defend when you can dodge or attack? It's a waste of time."

Moving a small branch out of the way, Jiraiya spotted Natsumi sitting on the cut tree stump with her hands clasped together in the hand sign for snake. Observing her hair, the bottom of it was barely pointing outwards with a cluster of hairs formed into a single dull spike.

"Hey, sis!" Naruto called out. As if responding to the call, Natsumi's hair immediately straightened out. Slumping her shoulders, the girl sighed and opened her eyes. "Hey." she replied simply.

"Are you doing alright kid?" Jiraiya asked.

"Mhm."

"You ready to head home? It's almost eight o'clock and unlike Naruto, I don't think you've eaten at all since the Nine-tails put you under."

The girl seemed to brighten up for a second before returning to her rather neutral expression. "I'll be okay. I'll cook at home."

"If you're sure then… fine. I'll show you the way to get back here tomorrow, Natsumi. For now I'll just take you two back quickly." placing his hands on both siblings' shoulders, Jiraiya moved them all with a simple body flicker.

Naruto, unused to the sensation, yelped in surprise from the high speed movement. Within half a minute the trio arrived on the balcony of the twins' apartment.

"Sensei gave me your address while you two were sleeping. This is the place right?"

"Yeah. Gimme a second, the key should still be in my pocket." Natsumi said, rummaging through her shorts. Pulling out a small key ring, she looked at it for a moment before taking the correct key, and opening the balcony door.

With the door open, Naruto ran in and jumped on the couch. "Home sweet home." Naruto sighed.

"Get off the couch until you take a shower, you're still sweaty from training. If you want to, then do it now while I'm cooking."

Naruto pouted with the best innocent face he could muster before going to his room for his pajamas.

"So you're the boss of the house, huh? Mind showing me around?" Jiraiya asked with a chuckle.

"There's not much to look at. If you want you can check out my room over there." she said pointing to her right. "I'm going to start cooking though."

"I'll help. What are we making?"

Over the next twenty minutes, Jiraiya observed and helped Natsumi cook some simple steaks and rice. The man watched as she cut through the meat with a practiced ease. The girl never missed a step, always keeping pace with the food. By the time that Naruto had emerged from the bathroom, the food was already on the table.

"You're good at this kid."

"Mm."

Natsumi quietly ate her food with a small blush from Jiraiya's compliment. "It's no Ichiraku's, but it's pretty good." Naruto added. Jiraiya inwardly sighed. The boy seemed as socially clueless as he was at a young age. Although some of that was likely inevitable given their status as orphans, Naruto seemed oblivious to his sister's, now downtrodden, expression. While he was busy looking at Naruto, Natsumi had managed to finish everything on her plate. Quickly putting her things in the dishwasher, she whispered a quiet good night before, nearly silently, entering her room.

"You really shouldn't compare people's cooking, you know. It just makes one person feel like they didn't do good enough."

"But Ichiraku's IS better. Why should I lie about what tastes better?"

"Let's finish eating, then we can talk in your room."

Natsumi trudged herself over to the table in the center of her room. It barely had anything on it, only a deck of playing cards and the set of throwing weapons the Hokage had gifted to her and Naruto after their first day of school. She grabbed the cards sitting there and began idly shuffling them. She and Naruto had bought them on a whim when they had gotten their first bit of allowance from the Hokage. The twins had played with them constantly, learning new games alongside their friend, Hinata, with Natsumi even learning a few simple tricks in an effort to try and impress the girl. Now they simply sat there, a reminder of what no longer was.

The rest of the room contained nothing but the couch she liked sleeping on and a bookshelf that held the few remaining items. The shelves were lined with her textbooks from the academy, a random volume of manga she had stolen from the orphanage the twins used to live at just before moving out, and the guidebook she read to learn her card tricks. Natsumi looked back at the door to the living room and kitchen, Imagining Naruto and Jiraiya laughing about their sparring session from earlier.

Natsumi wanted the white haired man to laugh with her about something. She had seen Naruto getting close with Iruka-sensei a few months ago. It made her wonder what it would be like to have a closer bond with a teacher. Maybe she could have that connection with Jiraiya. He had already expressed genuine concern about her hunger earlier.

'No… he's already talking to Naruto. I shouldn't get between them… just like Hinata.' Natsumi thought somberly. 'Not tired. Might as well go practice that jutsu.'

Opening the window behind her couch, Natsumi jumped down small outcroppings on the side of the building and landed on the ground.

'I remember seeing a billboard with that new movie everyone in class was talking about. The only place movie ads are put up are in the northern commercial district. The place we were at earlier should be in the forest further north of it.'

Beginning her trek through the village, the young girl ignored just about everything around her. There was still much foot traffic throughout the streets of Konoha, almost all of it noticing Natsumi as she passed by. Despite taking notice of her, most people turned their heads and simply pretended they didn't.

Thinking she had walked for a while, Natsumi looked up and could barely see the colors that she recognized belonged to the movie ad. Moving a bit faster, she began to notice the discomfort of those around her as she moved through the crowds. Some even moved away from her, forcing her to spend a few seconds surrounded by onlookers before she ducked back into a new group of people.

'Fear…' Natsumi thought in observation. 'There aren't even that many who are angry. Just scared.' She flinched. 'Scared of me…' She picked up the pace more.

Eventually the sprawling city scape gave way to a large open field that also gave way to the start of the forest. Natsumi retraced her steps to the best of her ability until she finally found the strangely colored trees. After finding the stump she was previously practicing at, she sat down and repeated the sequence of hand signs she had used constantly earlier in the day. She channeled her chakra as precisely as she could into and throughout her hair, trying to give it the spiky quality that Jiraiya's had taken on when he showed her.

"This place feels nice." she spoke to herself.

Jiraiya was leaving the Uzumaki siblings' apartment with a look of annoyance obvious on his face. Naruto had absolutely zero tact or social awareness. He couldn't blame the young blonde however. Growing up without parents and living with only a twin sister as consistent company definitely didn't leave him well socially adjusted. Nonetheless it frustrated him how careless the boy was with his words. It was very clear that Natsumi was upset by the comparison that was made between her cooking, and the ramen shop that her brother had mentioned. 'I suppose I'll have to try and teach him SOME manners. Although admittedly I might not be the best choice given my usual tendencies.'

Finally the public bath he had been moving towards came into view. Normally, this would have made him light up in anticipation for what he might see on the other side, but today he only sighed. He simply did not have the energy for such things at the moment. The past four days had completely drained him. He had spent two days traveling without rest, only to immediately be forced to spend the second night fixing the twin's seals. The rest of that day had then been spent waiting for Naruto to wake up. Unfortunately for him, with Natsumi still being unconscious, he was too stressed to get a full night's sleep, ending with an hour of rest at most. At this point he practically felt like getting in the water and falling asleep right there.

Submerging himself in the warm water of the bathhouse, he turned his thoughts to Natsumi. She was proving to be a strange case even among jinchuriki. He had kept an interesting detail from both the Hokage and the girl herself. After he had readjusted her seal, it had changed its shape. At first it was identical to the one that Naruto had on his own stomach, but now it had morphed into the shape of the Shinigami's face. It didn't especially concern Jiraiya. He had known of his old students' use of the reaper death seal, making him much more curious than worried about the change. He started to wonder if the change was affecting her chakra flow. It would explain her lack of progress on the Needle Jizo technique, despite what he had heard about her gifted nature. Within a few seconds, he realized the cause.

'I forgot to teach her any chakra control!' Jiraiya thought with a facepalm, bringing the attention of the men around him. Sinking further into the water, he began mentally berating himself for his simplistic mistake. 'Given the taijutsu display she made this afternoon, she definitely has talent. She's probably beating herself up over her lack of progress today.' Jiraiya sighed. 'Such is the fate of prodigies, eh… Orochimaru?'

Jiraiya ultimately decided to stay another half hour, before returning to the siblings' apartment. Thankfully, Naruto had agreed to let him use the mattress Natsumi used to use before she took to the couch in her room. This way he didn't have to worry as much about the Nine-tails doing anything without him nearby.

Letting himself into the apartment with the spare key Naruto had given him, the tall man tried to sense Natsumi's chakra to see if she was asleep or not. With any luck he could encourage her a bit and let her know about his mistake. To his shock however, the only chakra signature that was nearby belonged to Naruto. "Crap." he muttered to himself. 'Where could she be? I can try the ramen that Naruto mentioned earlier. Ichiraku's he called it.'

Checking her room to make sure he wasn't being an idiot, Jiraiya jumped out the window and began searching for the food stall. After a lot of looking he finally found the stand in question and went in. The counter had one patron, no one recognizable, and the chef preparing something in the back. "Hey Mister!" Jiraiya called with a wave. Hearing the call, the chef turned around to face the newcomer to his shop. "Ah, welcome sir." he greeted with a smile. "What can I get you?"

"Have you seen a small girl with bright red hair and three marks on each cheek tonight? Her brother said they're frequent customers here." the customer beside him shifted uncomfortably at the description provided. He quietly skulked out of the stand, not waiting for his food. The chef seemed displeased with the reaction but turned back to face Jiraiya.

"You must be talking about Naruto and Natsumi. Why are you looking for her?" the man asked, a hint of caution in his eyes.

"They asked me to train them earlier today, but Naruto said she never came back home after staying to practice a bit longer." The man in front of him seemed like a good person. He seemed slightly protective of the siblings, which gave Jiraiya some hope that they weren't completely alone. He didn't want to lie to such a person, but circumstances weren't so kind. If Natsumi had run away or worse had been kidnapped, it needed to be kept close to the chest. While he highly doubted both scenarios, one could never be too careful in a situation involving jinchuriki.

"Mm, I see. Well Natsumi has sadly stopped coming by nearly as frequently as she used to." the ramen cook answered, seeming to trust Jiraiya at this point. His face turned pensive. "Whenever she feels down, she tends to go train as a way to keep her mind off of things. Unfortunately she isn't as talkative as her brother, so that's about the extent of what I know about her aside from her like of cards and some irrelevant school troubles."

"I see." Jiraiya replied, closing his eyes in thought. 'Could she be trying to find that spot in the forest?'

"Thank you for the information. Maybe I'll see you again soon with the twins."

"That sounds wonderful. I'm Teuchi. Thank you for being willing to help those two. I'm sure they appreciate it more than you think."

"Mm, oh and…" Jiraiya pulled some cash out of his wallet and placed it on the counter. "As an apology for scaring off your customer earlier."

Teuchi accepted the money with a grin. "I appreciate the donation."

Leaving the stand, Jiraiya quickly began making his way to the unique area of the forest. Once he made his way to the place Natsumi was practicing throughout the day, the toad sage stumbled upon an amusing scene. The girl he was searching for was sitting frozen, uncomfortably staring at a fox that was laying in her lap and looking back at her. Breathing a sigh of relief that Natsumi was alright, he began to approach the interesting pair. As the leaves crunched beneath his feet, the fox became startled and quickly retreated into the deeper reaches of the forest. Natsumi also jerked a little at the disrupted silence and looked to find the source. Spotting Jiraiya, she relaxed a small bit.

"You feeling alright kid? It's past ten you know. Kids your age need plenty of sleep."

"I've been sleeping for at least three days. I'm not tired." Jiraiya noticed how she slumped down a small bit. "Well then, what are you working on?"

"I was trying to figure out the jutsu you taught me. I don't know why I can't get my hair to be spiky, but I can move and grow it a little bit." Natsumi recounted.

"About that…" Jiraiya interjected awkwardly. "That's partially my fault. You see it's been twenty years since I've taught anyone so I kind of forgot to teach you chakra control before you started working on new jutsu." he rapidly admitted.

Jiraiya sighed heavily with an apologetic look. "Sorry kid, we're all human. We make mistakes sometimes. A lot of times even. The important thing is to do your best to correct them and make sure not to repeat them." Natsumi was taken aback. "I thought… Shinobi weren't supposed to make mistakes."

"Well, we definitely don't want to if we can avoid it, but it's bound to happen eventually. When it does, don't let it tear you apart." Familiar stories of traumatized shinobi flooded Jiraiya's mind. For a time he was one of those stories. "It's usually the first one that hits you the hardest."

"Is that really the world we live in…?" Natsumi asked with a hint of fear. She pulled her legs to her chest and curled up into herself. "A world full of broken people who can't come back together the same as they were?"

Jiraiya sat down next to her, empathizing with the nihilistic thought. It was one he was familiar with. "It is currently." Natsumi slumped down further. 'I'm not sure whether to blame the fox for this, or if I just don't know enough about her yet.' Jiraiya placed his hand on the girl's head in an effort to comfort her before proceeding. "That being said, I want to fix that." The Uzumaki looked up, somewhat curious and skeptical. "I've had to fight through two different wars in my life, in both of which I had to make choices that I wish I didn't, but I endured it. I endured it so that the thousands of people within the Land of Fire and even some of my comrades didn't have to. The word has become associated with a 'soldier' over the centuries, but at the very beginning, back when the Sage of Six Paths was around, being a Shinobi meant being a protector. I want that meaning to return to this world and its people."

Natsumi's eyes were wide, staring at Jiraiya. 'No… can't get between them…' Natsumi thought, turning away with closed eyes. Her eyelids were feeling heavy. 'Maybe I can still help.' With that thought, the girl drifted to sleep.

"I guess I gave you too much to think about, huh kid?" Jiraiya picked up Natsumi, and began walking back to his temporary place of residence, his new student sleeping on his back.

Hey people. I finally got a chapter done in less than a month, crazy. Also for any who are missing Naruto, don't worry too much. He should be back next chapter in a more prominent role. Unfortunately, with Natsumi being a blank slate compared to Naruto who already has a blueprint to follow, she needs some extra time in the spotlight so I can get the basis of her character across. As always I would love reviews and genuine criticism. Hope this all proved enjoyable!