I ran over to the entrance gates and looked over to Kotetsu and Izumo. They were both asleep, so I shrugged and walked out to find Michi. My walk became a run and soon enough I found three people from a distance. I noticed blue hair right away, along with blonde and white hair beside her. I concealed my chakra and jumped into the trees to try to scare them.
Right when I was above them, they all disappeared. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion as to where they went, but my thoughts were clouded when someone appeared behind me and held a kunai against my neck.
"Who are you and why are you spying on us?" a man's voice asked. I squeezed my eyes shut and gulped in fear.
"M-my name is H-Hotaru Hamasaki," I breathed out.
"Hamasaki?" the man asked confused and put down the kunai. He grabbed me by the waist and jumped down from the trees. I screamed and kicked around for the strange man to let go. Finally, he dropped me.
I turned to face him for the first time. He had long, spiky white hair, had a green shirt and pants, and a red vest thing. He also wore a weird forehead protector, a giant scroll on his back, and these strange sandals that weren't like our traditional ones. Finally, he had a wart near his nose and red tattoo lines under his eyes. I blinked a few times.
After a few seconds though, two people jumped down next to me.
"Hotaru?!" two voices asked surprised. I turned around and my eyes widened to see Naruto and Michi.
"I told you to stay at home in the village, so what are you doing here?" Michi scolded and I smiled sheepishly.
"Well, you see, uh...well, how am I supposed to train without you? I mean, Momo is there, but it isn't enough. Plus, I haven't trained in weeks since my injury. I need to work on my abilities again," I explained, scratching the back of my head nervously. She sighed heavily and shook her head.
"Hotaru, we already went through this and you agreed to stay home. Now go back to the village," Michi began, but the man who held a kunai against my neck earlier interrupted her.
"I think we should let her stay. You should help her training and we're already far from the village. Even if you do send her back, what guarantee do we have that she'll actually go and not trail us from behind?" he said and my eyes widened. I looked over to Michi hopefully who sighed again.
"Fine, you can stay," she said and I grinned from ear to ear.
"Yes!" I cheered, stood up, and hugged Michi. Then I turned to the man. "And who is he?" I asked rather angrily.
"I am Jiraiya the Toad Sage, one of the Legendary Sannin like Michi here," he explained proudly and made a funny pose.
"Cool, now I know three out of the four Sannin. Are we going to meet the last one?" I asked Michi eagerly. This made Jiraiya furrow his eyebrows.
"Wait, you met Tsunade already?" he asked. I shook my head.
"Nope. Sadly, I met Orochimaru..." I mumbled and his eyes widened.
"How? When? Was it during the attack?" he asked all at once.
"I met him during the Chunin Exams. He was transformed as a Grass Ninja and was participating in the exams. He fought against me, Naruto, and the rest of our team. He gave me a curse mark, and he did the same to Sasuke," I explained and he looked over at Michi.
"Why didn't you tell me this? You know what happened the last time, and you still kept it a secret. Kakashi told me about Sasuke, but you never told me about this girl," he scolded and I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. Michi looked down guiltily.
"I know, I just wanted to protect her by myself-"
"Did that work last time?" he hissed. I glared at the both of them and huffed.
"Can you guys talk about this later? We're wasting time as it is arguing about things, so can you wait until later?" I pleaded. Although I was curious about what happened in the past, I couldn't let this bickering continue. Michi sighed and nodded.
"Alright. We'll talk about this later in private. Let's keep going," Michi told Jiraiya who gave a small nod.
As we continued our journey, Jiraiya told Naruto that the only reason he was teaching him was because he had a striking resemblance to the Fourth Hokage. Naruto, of course, got excited and kept asking about what kind of person he was. We stopped at a temple to eat lunch, and I was grateful I packed food, clothes, weapons, and other resources before going on the trip.
While Jiraiya, Michi, and I ate rice balls, Naruto started ringing these two giant bells. He asked Jiraiya what kind of student the Fourth Hokage was. Jiraiya started boasting about how he became a good ninja because he had a good sensei. He then told us that the Third Hokage was his sensei. I nodded, recollecting the memories of Michi telling me about her days with Team Sarutobi.
After explaining this, Naruto dropped the two bells and got tangled in them.
"Those curses are no joke," Jiraiya sighed, shaking his head. After a few seconds, he looked back at me and Naruto.
"You two train under Kakashi, right? That means you took the bell test," Jiraiya asked and Naruto and I nodded.
"We did, and come to think of it, it wasn't very fun," Naruto mumbled. "I was tied up to a post."
"You too, huh?" Jiraiya asked, which made my eyes widen. Was he tied to a post during a bell test too?
"'You too' what?" Naruto asked, but Jiraiya waved it off, probably so that Naruto wouldn't laugh at him. I helped untie Naruto and put the bells back where they were before. We paid our respects before starting our journey again.
We arrived at a village that was full of people, and it was really weird. There were things going around everywhere, vendors, mimes, and raffles. We arrived at a little hotel where we decided to stay. It had two rooms, one for Naruto and Jiraiya, and one for Michi and I.
Once Jiraiya got the key, he saw a young woman standing outside the entrance. Both he and Naruto started freaking out and blushed deeply. I glared at them. Perverts. He handed Naruto a key and told him to work on his chakra while he went off with the girl. Michi seemed very annoyed, but just sighed and rolled her eyes as if it was a normal thing.
"So...Master Jiraiya is a pervert? I never would've thought," I mumbled and both Naruto and Michi blinked at me for a while until they burst into laughter.
"How did you not know that?" Michi giggled.
"I met him peeping at a bathhouse! He's a big old pervert!" Naruto yelled and I paled. I looked down at my outfit that showed quite a bit of skin and blushed.
"I guess I should swap clothes..." I whispered and Michi and she waved her hand.
"No, it's fine. He won't look at you since you're only 12. If he does, I will kill him," she said with an evil grin. I laughed, nodded, and went upstairs with him. Michi told us that she was going to check on Jiraiya because she had a bad feeling about that woman. I mean, who would deliberately go with Jiraiya of all people?
Naruto and I went upstairs where he started focusing on his chakra. I tried activating my Hoshigan for the first time since the fight with Gaara. When I first tried to do it, it failed, which scared me a lot. Once I tried again, it worked, which was a relief. I quickly scanned the area and looked down at my hands. I noticed something different. Usually, I would only see the water nature chakra filled through me, but now it's mixed with little sparks. Can I use Lightning Style?
By the time I had looked up, Naruto had made about 10 Shadow Clones, but they were all asleep, which made me giggle softly. I tried working with my hair a little by going over and poking the Narutos awake. My little game was interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Did she dump you already?" Naruto asked loudly, and the knocking continued. "Alright, I'm going, jeez. Just let me unlock the door." When the door open, we were met with a tall figure that definitely was not Jiraiya.
He wore the same coat as the guys in the dango shop from earlier today. Is he one of them? He had long, dark hair that was tied back and a Hidden Leaf headband that was crossed in the middle, meaning he's a rogue ninja. Most importantly, he had the Sharingan, which made my eyes widen. Who was he? We stared at him for a while until another man walked from behind him.
"It's hard to believe that such a child carries the Nine Tailed Fox," he remarked. How did he know about the Nine Tails?
The new guy wore the same cloak, had blue skin, darker blue hair, and gills on his face. To sum it up, he looked like a human shark. The man with the Sharingan spoke.
"Naruto, you're coming with us," he said rather calmly. "Let's take a walk." Out of instinct, I stepped in front of Naruto protectively, and my hair formed and shield in front of me.
"No, he's not. He's staying here," I said before Naruto could. However, he shook his head and lightly pushed me aside. He gulped and started walking with him. My eyes widened. What is he doing?
"Hey, Itachi, it would be a pain in the ass if this kid made a run for it. How about I chop off a leg or two?" the blue man asked. Sharingan man remained silent, and the blue man stepped forward.
"Right," he said, gripping onto the hilt of the giant sword attached to his back. I ran forward and stood in front of Naruto protectively for the second time. I activated my Hoshigan and quickly weaved hand signs for Star Shuriken. However, everything stopped when the Sharingan man spoke.
"It's been a long time, Sasuke," he said. My eyes widened as I looked behind him to see a familiar figure that made my heart flutter. He looked extremely mad and his Sharingan was activated.
"Itachi Uchiha," he hissed, venom dripping from his voice. Itachi Uchiha? So they're family and they obviously knew each other well if Sasuke hates him. What's going on?
"The Sharingan, eh? And he looks a lot like you. Itachi, who is this kid?" the blue man asked Itachi.
"He's my little brother," he said emotionlessly. My mouth slightly opened and I realized how much Sasuke must be suffering. Whatever it was he did, he's a rogue ninja and that must've affected Sasuke tremendously.
"That's strange, because the way I heard it, the whole Uchiha clan was wiped out by you," blue man remarked, which made me look over at Sasuke with a worried look. His brother killed his whole family? He was the one who did this to Sasuke? I looked back over at Itachi with a look of hatred on my face.
"Itachi Uchiha, I hope you're ready to die," Sasuke said and my eyes quickly flickered back to him.
"Sasuke, don't. His chakra is very strong and much more developed than yours. Don't be reckless," I tried explaining, but this peeked the other two's interest.
"Ahh, the little lady has some special eyes of her own, but really, this is none of your business," the blue man said, which made me raise an eyebrow at him angrily.
"Hotaru, stay out of it! For the last time, you always try sticking your nose in things that don't involve you," Sasuke scolded, and I looked down, letting my hair rest normally on my shoulders. I looked up when I heard chirping and saw blue.
"It's just as you said, brother. I've fostered my hate for you all this time. I've been living my life with one purpose, to see you die!" he yelled. My eyes widened and I reached over to try to say something. However, the blue man smirked over at me and pointed his sword at me.
I watched as Sasuke charged at Itachi full force with the Chidori. There was an explosion in the wall, and I shielded my face with my arms. When the smoke and debris cleared, I saw Itachi holding Sasuke's wrist, which blocked the attack as if it was nothing. I glared and growled at Itachi. I heard Naruto grunt and sensed the Nine Tails chakra in his system. I turned around and saw orange chakra around him.
The blue man pushed my roughly to the ground and swung his sword at Naruto. Although it didn't hit him, it sucked up his chakra before he could perform his Summoning Jutsu. I dragged my body against a wall and started making hand signs myself.
"Summoning Jutsu," I whispered, my hands shaking as I did so. Instead of summoning Momo like I intended, I got a little kitten. I recognized her, we had met when the cats were healing me. Her name was Anzu (apricot).
"Anzu, I need you to find Michi and Master Jiraiya and bring them immediately," I breathed out. She nodded and left before anyone noticed. I watched as Itachi snapped Sasuke's wrist. He screamed in pain, and I winced. Then, blue guy looked over at Naruto. He lifted his sword and smirked.
"Forget cutting off his legs, I should get rid of those pesky little arms of his," he cackled, and my eyes widened. I wanted to help Naruto and stop the blue man, but I was frozen in fear. They were no match for us, and I was afraid I was going to die. I watched as blue man swung his giant sword down to slice Naruto, tears in my eyes, but there was a puff of smoke and the sound of metal clanging.
When the smoke cleared, I saw a toad holding the sword, Samehada, in place. I sighed in relief and regained composure. He's okay, but how did he manage to gather up chakra to summon a toad? I felt something lick my hand and I saw Anzu. I looked behind her to see Jiraiya. I pet the little kitten in gratefulness and let her go back home.
"You two don't know me at all, do you? Should have done your homework. Jiraiya the Toad Sage falls under the charm of no woman. It isn't like me to swoon over such beauty and chase after them. When you reach my level, the ladies kneel and worship your awesomeness!" Jiraiya yelled and I sweat dropped. I then realized the woman from earlier was draped over his shoulder.
"You big liar! One wink from a pretty girl and you were all over her! You fell for it like a ton of bricks, Pervy Sage!" Naruto shouted back and I sighed heavily.
"I really wish you wouldn't call me that in front of other people," Jiraiya mumbled, scratching the back oh his head.
"Are you kidding me?! We've got worse things to worry about than what these guys think of you! Get with it, Pervy Sage!"
"Didn't I just tell you not to call me that?!" Jiraiya screamed. My eyebrow twitched in annoyance. Blue guy, who's name is Kisame, started laughing.
"Whatever name you go by, Master Jiraiya, I must say, you're something of a disappointment. A grown man with the mind of a child. It's almost impossible to believe you're one of the Four Legendary Sannin," he hissed.
"Tell me about it," I mumbled softly to myself. Sure, I was on Jiraiya's side, but as of right now, he's not doing anything helpful.
They then started talking about how Naruto was what the two men were really after. He was the Akatsuki's target, not Jiraiya. They wanted the Nine Tailed Fox that was sealed inside of him.
"This all very convenient, actually. I can eliminate you all at once," Jiraiya said after putting down the woman that was on his shoulder.
"Stay out of this!" Sasuke yelled from behind Itachi. My head snapped in his direction. He shakily stood up and glared at Jiraiya.
"The only one to eliminate him...is me!" he yelled.