(...)

"Don't hold back on me."

As far as requests went, her's was pretty straightforward.

Whether she could handle it was another matter entirely.

"Remember, this is what you asked for." Jiraiya drawled, lazily twirling a pen between his fingers as he looked up just in time to see his apprentice to-be splashdown into one of the nearby springs. Disappearing beneath the crystal surface in a shower of mist and bubbles.

"Who knew Gamatoro was capable of holding a grudge?" He mused, chuckling quietly to himself watching the normally stoic toad break out into yet another fit of amused croaks, the closest approximation to laughter the sizable amphibian was capable of. It seemed like the two of them had developed something of a rivalry… It reminded him a bit of himself and Bunta, always butting heads and trading jabs.

It was like watching history repeat itself, ironically.

Still, entertaining as it was to watch the brat get tossed around there was an actual method to the madness of these little spars. As it stood, they had a bit less than three weeks to prepare for the finals…

Three weeks for him to break her down and mold her back up. A tight schedule but more than doable with the right motivation and methodology. She had a solid foundation for sure, but it was becoming increasingly clear to him that none of her instructors had applied the right amount of pressure to really see her grow into her potential. Natural talent and luck had carried her this far, but that could only last for so long.

He watched on in silence as she finally broke back through to the surface, retching water from her lungs while weakly clawing her way back onto dry land. Specifically, his attention focused on the dark-blue training vest strapped tightly to her torso and the large metal bands shackled to both her wrists and ankles. Outwardly they weren't anything special, at least not material wise… but in truth each had been inscribed with various seals that made them worth far more than their proverbial weight in gold, and perfectly suited for the type of training he had in mind.

The vest was the most basic of the set, fashioned with seals designed to make it heavier as chakra was pushed into it and some seals designed to improve durability. It was the perfect tool to improve endurance, stamina, and overall speed all without the hassle of typical weights. The bands, however, were a bit more complex and unsurprisingly an innovation on the part of his late student.

Each band possessed the same weight functionally as the vest, but Minato had taken them a step further. In his own words: "Improving your body without also improving your control is a road to mastery of neither."

To that end, Minato had drawn inspiration from Tsunade's legendary chakra control and created an exercise that bordered on sadism. In addition to weighing the user down, each band was also engraved with "coupling seals" causing them to aggressively seek out their counterpart. To prevent this the wearer would need to maintain a constant, fixed stream of chakra to both bands or otherwise find themselves rendered functionally immobilized. Obviously This was extremely mentally taxing, but the results spoke for themselves…

Drastically increased reserves, improved focus, heighted chakra control, and greater endurance.

Admitally these items were not intended for use by genin, and even seasoned chunin would likely struggle to manage both simultaneously… However, given Natusmi's unique circumstances her body was better suited to both handle and recover from the strain of this kind of training. If she managed to make it through to the end of the month at this pace he had little doubt she'd sweep through a majority of the competition with little to no issue.

The fact she managed to drag herself out of the water under her own power was a promising sign since the first time it happened he had needed to fish her out. Still, best not to get ahead of himself just yet… There was still plenty of time for her to call it quits, but he had a strong feeling that she was far too stubborn to throw in the towel.

She was Kushina's daughter after all

"Alright, I think that's enough for now!" He hopped to his feet, dusting himself off as he made his way over to the pair. "You can head on back home, Gamatoro. Good work as always."

The toad in question offered a lazy salute before croaking mockingly one last time at the washed-out genin, who returned said mockery with a glare hot enough to set the sun on fire, before cutting their connection and disappearing in a cloud of smoke, leaving them alone for the time being.

Jiraiya didn't bother to hide his amusement, throwing his head back with a laugh at the sight of the blond's rankled expression. "Well now, aren't you two just the best of friends?"

Natsumi only barely bit back the curses threatening to spew forth and instead focused on pushing herself unsteadily into a sitting position. "I'll… I'll get him… next time…" She huffed weakly, still coughing up some of the water she'd swallowed during her dip.

If she had her way, that overgrown wart would be served as a side dish one day.

"Haha! Well good to see you've still got some fight in you." The old sage smirked, rocking back on his heels. "I've already burned a lot of valuable research time to train you, if you threw in the towel so soon I might just have to charge you."

At the mention of "research" Natsumi couldn't help but shoot the man a rather dull look. "I still do not see what value there is in spying on women bathing. You could be far more productive doing almost anything else."

Somehow every text she'd read on the legendary shinobi had completely failed to mention that the Toad Sage was, to put it bluntly, an absolutely irredeemable pervert.

Actually that wasn't strictly true, Orochimaru's journal had made very minor mention of the Jiraiya's less than pure passtime, but that account had been written during their childhood years. Could she really be blamed for assuming that he would have grown out of it since then? Especially given the amount of reverence he received through the various texts and accounts she'd read on him since?

Apparently not.

Truthfully she just did not see the appeal in it, it wasn't like there was anything all that special about the female form compared to its male counterpart. All the diagrams she had seen had not exactly painted flattering images of either, but she supposed biological need superseded logic. Still, on more than one occasion he had elected to indulge in his peeping tendencies mid-session leaving her with a set of exercises to run through while he sat in the trees, giggling aloud to himself while scribbling notes down like some kind of mental patient.

Granted, she was not exactly flying through these exercises so it wasn't like she could complain about negligence.

If Jiraiya was at all put off by her admonishment he certainly did not show it, waving her off with that same easy-going smirk she was becoming accustomed to seeing on his face. "Bah, you're just too young to appreciate the finer things in life. Youth is synonymous with ignorance after all."

"I do not think age has anything to do with this." She scoffed, wringing out the last bits of water from her hair. She had long since given up trying to keep it up under the conditions of this training. Perhaps she should just cut it short? "If you think I am so ignorant why don't you enlighten me then?"

Jiraiya raised a brow but did not seem dissuaded in the slightest, quite the opposite actually. With entirely too much flourish, the old sage produced a small orange book from within his vest and held it out to her. "Oho! Make no mistake, I am always willing to educate the youth…" He shot her a challenging look." But the real question is, are you sure your closed little mind can handle the knowledge I have to impart?"

They both knew he was baiting her, playing to her sense of pride the way he was…

The fact that she was aware he was doing it and that it was still working annoyed her to no end.

"Kushina is absolutely going to throttle me in the afterlife…" Jiraiya mused to himself, keeping his expression neutral in the face of her heated stare. Honestly he didn't expect her to push back, but at the same time he wasn't all that surprised either. Bookworms hated nothing more than being patronized, it was just so predictable. That Kakashi brat had been the same way, hell even Minato had his moments.

Something about child prodigies, they just couldn't help themselves.

He would be proven correct when the last of her restraint left her and she snapped the copy up with a huff. "I'm sure I can handle whatever you consider to be education." She all but hissed, pausing to regard the cover with… trepidation, to put it mildly. "Icha-Icha Paradise?"

Something about the title and cover did not fill her with confidence but she stamped out those doubts as quickly as they came. Academia was her wheelhouse, if she could handle Tobimaru's principles of fuinjutsu then she could certainly handle whatever nonsense the Toad Sage had to throw her way. If his behavior was anything to go by, it wouldn't hold a candle to even a basic anatomy textbook.

"Let's see if that helps you open your eyes a little bit." Jiraiya giggled, admittedly curious to see how this would unfold. Perhaps this would lead to a new era for his work, wouldn't that be something? "Your inevitable enlightenment aside, we have other matters to discuss. Namely, what we are going to be doing for the rest of the month."

He easily caught the way her demeanor shifted at the mention of more training.

"For the last few days we've focused on physical conditioning and chakra control, not that you were slouching in either area but these drills will enhance an already solid foundation. I'm sure you've already noticed some slight improvement." He prodded and she nodded in affirmation, her reaction time and concentration had been growing slowly but steadily with each session. "You will continue to run these drills for the duration of your training, and I'll increase the difficulty as I deem fit. That said, I'm guessing you're more interested in what I plan to actually teach you?"

"I am curious, yes." She answered evenly, but there was a hint of anticipation in her answer.

Jiraiya hummed and folded his arms. "From what I've seen, you already have a pretty healthy repertoire of techniques under your belt. Basic techniques but effective, so we won't be focusing much on ninjutsu beyond refining what you already know."

Natsumi tried not to let her disappointment show, but couldn't help but deflate a bit at that news. She understood his reasoning… but she would be lying if said a part of her hadn't hoped to gain some powerful new techniques from the legendary shinobi.

He must have caught on to her disappointment regardless because he raised a hand in placation. "Hey, don't start pouting like that. I never said I wasn't going to teach you anything, just that it won't be the focus of our sessions going forward. Remember quality over quantity."

She huffed but ultimately nodded in concession. "I understand, Jiraiya-sensei."

"Good! " He nodded, then cracked his knuckles. A mischievous yet ominous glint entered his eyes that caused a cold sweat to run down her neck. "Now then, I think you've rested long enough. Back to training!"

For all his faults, Jiraiya could be a real slave driver when he wanted to be…

.

…

"I think it's time to call it quits for today, pup."

Tsume watched her youngest climb shakily back to his feet, his face bruised and covered in dirt… yet that glint still of determination still shined strongly behind his eyes. No matter how much she beat him down, he just kept getting back up. It was admirable in its own right, but there was only so much punishment his body could take and they had long since reached his limits.

Still, she was proud of him for holding out as long as he had.

"I.. I can k-keep going!" He hissed "N-Not done yet-"

"You are if you plan on waking up tomorrow." The matriarch of the Inzukua clan appeared before her son in a burst of speed and knocked him flat on his ass with a half-hearted shove, proving her point. "I like the enthusiasm, but you need to know your limits."

Kiba wheezed, the pain in his limbs leaving him helpless. "I-I know… but I n-need to get stronger, Mom. W-Way stronger than I am now."

"So you keep telling me." Tsume nodded. Those were the very same words he'd come to her with when he requested she take over his training for the finals, a need for strength. That he'd asked her at all was a sign of his commitment to that goal as her brand of training was well known to be harsh and unforgiving. On one hand, she was glad to see her youngest maturing and taking his career seriously… but the circumstances around this sudden bout of maturity were not ideal.

It seemed like he inherited more than just her looks.

She sighed and took a seat next to her boy. "How is she doing by the way?"

It didn't take a genius to figure out who she was referring to.

Kiba said nothing for a long while then spoke, his voice little more than a whisper. "She… She's stable. Well enough to receive visitors at least, but she hasn't woken up yet." His expression darkened as his thoughts drifted, the image of a comatose Hinata hooked up to wires with an oxygen mask strapped around her face was not something he would soon forget. "The doctors say they don't know when she'll snap out of it… So that's kinda where we are right now. Just… waiting."

He was never good at that… but what choice did he have?

"Keep faith in her, pup. I'm pretty sure it was you who told us that girl is stronger than she looks, remember?" She ruffled his hair softly, chuckling as he tried in vain to roll away from her touch. He was such a little shit, but she loved him all the same. "Sometimes you just have to accept that some things are out of your hands."

"Tsk, I know that… It's just-" He struggled trying to find the right words. "-I keep letting them down, mom."

Tsume frowned. "I think you're being too hard on yourself."

"No, it's the truth." Kiba forced himself to sit, wincing as he did so. "We got ambushed during the second stage… I never even saw it coming. Hinata and I, we both got knocked out before we even had a chance to react. We were lucky Shikamaru's team was nearby and came to help, but even then…"

His hands balled into tight fists at his side, recalling how helpless he'd been having to watch Shikamaru and Hinata run off to rescue Natsumi without him. Having to rely on her to patch them up again, even when she was running on fumes…

"Now Hinata's in the hospital because of that prick Neji. She could have died if not for Natsumi intervening-" His shoulders slumped and Tsume could see how much of a toll the last few days had taken on her boy. "-Just like she always does… It's always her bailing us out the fire, picking up the slack because we aren't good enough. Because I'm not strong enough."

"Do you resent her for it?" She couldn't help but ask, knowing that Kiba struggled to follow in the lead of others. He enjoyed being in charge, leading the pack so to speak. Deferring to someone else might have stung at his pride.

To her quiet relief he shook his head. "Nah that's not it. I mean, watching her act like she is so much better than everyone else does get on my nerves sometimes, but it's kind of hard to blame her when she really is better than everybody." He let out a rueful chuckle. "If I resent anyone, it's myself. Sensei says that a team should share their burdens with each other… but all I seem to do is keep putting more weight on her shoulders."

He scowled. "That's why I need to keep pushing harder, so I can finally start carrying my own weight and protect them, instead of the other way around! I wanna be a chunin too obviously, but more than that I want to show her that she can rely on me too."

"Heh, you really are growing into a fine young man… I'm proud of you, Kiba." She smiled warmly and pulled him into a sideways hug, one that he accepted without any fuss, squeezing back with a bashful grin of his own. "You know, I was a little worried about you, watching you push yourself like this-"

A teasing grin split her face and she tightened her grip around her youngest.

"-But now that I know you're doing this to impress your little crush I can understand where you're coming from."

…

"Wha-" Kiba floundered, sputtering as he tried in vain to break her hold while blood rushed liberally to his face as his mother's words finally processed. "H-How the heck did you get to that conclusion from what I told you!?"

Tsume tapped her chin, donning a facade of perfect innocence. "I mean, I don't think I've ever ever heard you talk about another girl the way you talk about her, wanting to protect her and show how capable you are. I just figured…" She held two fingers up then brought them together. "Also, you haven't denied it either."

She was just teasing him obviously, a little bit of humor to help steer his thoughts away from his stresses, even if only for a little while.

Though looking at his face, maybe she had stumbled into something a little bit too real… and the parent in her couldn't help but want details. It was her Kami given right as his mother to pry into the love lives of her brats!

"B-Because it's obviously not true!" He denied heatedly, finally breaking free of her grip. "Why would you even think that!?"

"Do you think she's cute?" The matriarch pressed on, completely ignoring his attempts to shoot her down and giggling aloud at the strangled growl he let out at the question. She wasn't sure his face had been this red since the day he was born. "Be honest now, I'll know if you're lying!~"

He sputtered once more and looked away, refusing to meet her gaze. "T-That isn't any of your business!"

"That sounds like an indirect way of saying you do." She grinned, fighting to hold down another bout of laughter as his face turned practically atomic and he began to scarper away. It seemed her teasing was enough to give him a second wind. "Oi, I still have more questions!"

"I think you're right, that's enough training for today!" He shouted back, still not willing to look at her right now. "See you at dinner!"

She couldn't hold it in any longer.

Guffawing laughter would be heard throughout the entire compound for the rest of the evening accompanied every so often by muffled screams of embarrassment and frustration.

The coming weeks would be quite a spectacle for the Inuzuka clan

…

"It will all be worth it in the end… It will all be worth it in the end… It will all be worth it in the end…"

That was the mantra she forced through her head as she gingerly made her way home, all but dragging herself through the thankfully barren streets. She couldn't even remember the last time she had been this exhausted from training, even the most strenuous of Kurenai-sensei's sessions hadn't left her quite this sore. Jiraiya did as she asked and held nothing back so she'd spent the last few hours being beaten into the ground and that was putting it mildly. If the Sannin really wanted to, he could have turned her to a bloody red smear in the dirt at any time. It didn't matter what she threw at him, he overcame it with ease.

It was unquestionably the most grueling experience she had ever been subjected to and she knew that this was only the beginning. Today marked the end of their first official week together and she was already fit to collapse. Was this level of training the norm amongst shinobi of such high caliber? Was she really so far behind the curve? Had he trained the Yondaime this way?

And wasn't that just another can of worms to unpack.

Obviously she knew of Jiraiya's history, the role he played as a mentor to the man that was directly responsible for the hardships of her youth. The same man who had lost his life to seal the Kyuubi within her and then left her to the proverbial wolves. It was practicality alone that stayed her tongue and even then just barely.

The opportunity to study under such a legendary figure was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Not something to be squandered by her own personal feelings and doubts.

But she also had to admit that it all just seemed too… convenient.

If she was being realistic… There was just no way Jiraiya wasn't aware of what happened that night. Her status was one of the most poorly kept secrets in the village by far, and yet the man still took it upon himself to take her on as a student, even if only temporarily. It left her conflicted on how to view him if she was being honest. It would be hypocritical of her to begrudge the man for the actions of his student. That would make her no better than the villagers and she refused to stoop so low, but…

She just wasn't able to shake the thought that his interest in her was less about her supposed talent, and more about her potential as a future asset to the village.

The thought struck an uncomfortable nerve. Perhaps it would be best to keep the Sannin at arm's length, at least until she was more confident she could trust him.

"Distractions on top of distractions…" She grumbled, shaking her head to clear those thoughts away. Whatever the truth was, it would have to wait until the finals behind them. Right now her goals were clear.

Gain strength.

Avenge Hinata.

Sweep the exams.

Become a chunin.

Anything unrelated was not her concern at the moment. It would not do for her to lose sight of her own ambitions to guess at the motivations of others. So long as Jiraiya proved useful, she would take advantage of him as a resource. She could plan out her next moves after things calmed down and-

"Oi, get back here!"

If she had the strength to jump she would have at the feeling of something abruptly crawling up her leg, an oddly familiar weight that scampered up her torso before settling atop her shoulder. She hardly had time to resiger what happened before something wet and rough launched a messy assault on her face. The only danger apparently being the pungent scent reminiscent of fresh grass and… puppy chow? An unusual combination certainly, but one that was unmistakable…

"Akamaru?"

A loud whine of approval and another round of excited face licking confirmed it, but what was he doing here?

Kiba must have been nearby then… The two were never far apart-

"Jeez, since when did you start just running off like that?"

That was most definitely not Kiba.

In place of her brash teammate stood a woman she had never seen before, one who looked to be a fair bit older than herself and just so happened to bear the same distinct scarlet fang-shaped markings of the Inuzuka clan. Compared to Kiba, her face was more rounded and her eyes softer. She had long brown hair tied into a neat ponytail with two locks that framed her face reaching down to about her chin.

The mysterious woman looked to the pup sitting on her shoulder and clicked her teeth in clear disapproval. "You know better than to climb strangers, it's not polite."

The nin-ken let out a sharp whine in response, yipping something at the stranger that seemed to take her by surprise before snuggling deeper into the crook of her neck.

"Really now?" Those dark-eyes turned to her, looking her up and down with open curiosity and the faintest hint of recognition. "What are the chances… Are you really my runt of a brother's teammate?"

Natsumi blinked.

Well now, wasn't this a development?

"I was not aware Kiba had siblings?" She whispered, before clearing her throat when she realized she had spoken the words aloud. "Forgive me, that was rude. To your question, yes I am. I'm Natsumi Uzumaki… It is a pleasure to meet you…?"

The older girl seemed to get a kick out of her formality, quickly waving her off with an easy going smile and a shake of the ahead. "I'm not surprised, he's always been a bit of a punk like that. I'm Hana Inuzuka, nice to officially meet the so-called 'Ice-princess' in person."

Despite her pleasant expression, Natsumi couldn't fully disguise the slight tightening in her jaw at the reminder of that particular moniker. She thought that name had died back in the Academy but apparently she was mistaken."Oh, Is that what he calls me?"

Hana easily caught the strained edge in her voice and her grin gained a mischievous air, the natural instinct all siblings possessed to cause chaos rearing its ugly head. "That among other things. 'Little miss know-it-all', 'Stick up her butt sumi', 'She-devil', 'pint-sized nightmare'..." She listed off just a few counting along her fingers.

Akamaru growled pitfully from his perch, haplessly covering his ears with his paws while his partner's words came back to haunt him. Kiba was his partner and would sacrifice himself for his master in a heartbeat if called to, but this was a grave that no amount of puppy-eyes of face licking could hope to solve.

Natsumi wasn't sure her face could get any tighter, such was the width of the frightful smile that seemed almost stitched onto her face at the moment. "I see… He and I will have words about appropriate nicknames in the near future."

There was an aura of borderline murderous intent wafting off the blond, one so palpable that even passersby took extra care to steer clear of them.

Hana felt sweat roll down her brow and realized that perhaps she had thrown a bit too much gasoline on an open fire. Kiba might actually die the next time they meet if she left things like this…

Which meant it was time for damage control!

"I-I wouldn't take it personally!" The older Inuzuka added quickly. "Boy's are just like that with people they like, and Kiba's always been too hard-headed to think before he speaks but I can tell you for sure that he doesn't mean anything bad by it."

Natusmi raised a brow, some of her annoyance bleeding into skeptical disbelief. "Are you sure we are talking about the same person?"

Hard-headed she agreed with, and Kiba did have a very bad habit of speaking first and thinking after. However, She never got the impression that he was dishonest in his feelings.

"I know it's hard to believe, but trust me. He takes a bit too much after our mom so he's a bit mouthy but it's just the way he knows how to show he cares." She cocked her hip with a small grin. "I'll admit, at first he wasn't thrilled to be away from his little friends and stuck with a bunch of 'boring girls', but now all he ever talks about is how strong his team is and how cool you guys are."

Akamaru barked in agreement, nodding his head. His master had grown quite fond of both girls, as had he! Although as of late he'd started to notice Kiba getting a bit more distracted while in their presence…

Natsumi said nothing for a moment, but inwardly felt her anger shift into that strange yet peculiarly comforting warmth she'd begun feeling more often for reasons she couldn't accurately pin down. Eventually she couldn't even find it in her to be angry, letting out a wistful sigh and a small chuckle. "He is quite a handful, but our team would not be the same without him I admit."

Hana smirked approvingly, content in the knowledge her brother was now safe from being murdered outright during his next team meeting. "You know, he's training real hard for the finals… I can't remember the last time I saw him so determined about anything, but I know that part of him feels like he needs to prove himself. Both to the village, and to you."

She frowned at that, confusion evident on her face. "Me? Why would he need to prove anything to me?"

Hana laughed and shook her head, gently grabbing Akamaru from her shoulder. "That's for him to tell you, I think I've given up enough of his secrets for one day." She turned with a playful wave and began to head in the opposite direction. "Either way, I'm sure the next match between you two will be one to remember. Give it your all, okay? He deserves nothing less."

Natsumi didn't reply, merely watching until the pair disappeared on the horizon.

She stood there for a few minutes longer, ruminating on what she had just learned before eventually turning and continuing on her way.

It seemed she had more to think on…

.

AN. Chapter Complete

Nice bit of fresh air, wasn't it?

Like I said last time, the goal of this chapter was to take a bit of a break from how bleak and depressing the last few chapters have been and I feel like this was a nice reprieve from that. The stakes are still looming in the background but a little bit of breathing room is needed every now and then. Speaking of, let's talk this chapter:

Jiraiya and Natsumi are a fun pair to write and I look forward to their future interactions. Having a character who can keep her grounded and still push at her buttons gives me a lot of leeway that I want to take advantage of for some good interactions. I've toned down some of his habits for now just to introduce the character, but we'll see more of the Jiraiya we've all come to love down the road.

We also got a lot on Kiba this chapter which was a personal goal for me as I feel like for most of the story he's been more of a satellite character compared to Hinata and even Kurenai. I really wanted to at least touch on his feelings after everything that happened and I hope to flesh his and Natsumi's relationship a bit more going forward. WITH THAT SAID… When I say relationship, I am not saying romance!

Despite how this chapter might come across I don't want anyone thinking this is some kind of confirmation of Natsumi/Kiba, or a sign the story is going to change direction with the power of love or whatever. This was just a bit of levity, poking fun at some characters and offering a bit more depth. I don't want to see comments like "I hope you don't ruin the story by pairing blah blah blah". Some people freak out at the thought and I always need to offer some reassurance that the story isn't about to be derailed.

Relax lol it's not that deep… or is it!?

Nah.

Before I sign off I do have a question for you all regarding the next chapter! I was originally just going to launch into the Finals following this chapter, but after writing this I entertained the idea of another more "slice of life" themed chapter inbetween. I haven't decided either way but feel free to let me know which you'd prefer as if there is a glaring desire for one over the other, then obviously I know what to start on. I'm not going to cover any more training as I want it to be a secret for the finals so this would be pure character interaction and a bit more humor before the high tension of the Finals, so give your thoughts.

As always let me know what you think, and I'll see you all next time. Whenever that is… (not another year I promise)