"It's morning already?" Tsukiko mumbled to herself as she squinted at the sunlight that was streaming into the room through the thin slit in the curtains. She sighed and rolled over, stuffing her face into her pillow and curling herself up around it, listening to the gentle chirping of the birds from outside. Tsukiko sighed once more, this time in content. She was about to close her eyes when –
"TSUKIKO-CHAN!" Naruto's voice shouted loudly and Tsukiko let out a scream as she fell out of her bed, holding onto the Kunai that she kept under her pillow. Naruto knocked on the front door. "Tsukiko-Chan? Are you okay?!"
"I'm fine!" Tsukiko shouted back. She grimaced, wondering why Naruto was here so early in the morning when she realised that it was past ten and it was time for them to go and visit Sasuke at the Konoha Hospital. "Wait there, I'm coming out in a bit!"
Tsukiko hurriedly went through her basic morning hygienic procedure before pulling on the layers of clothing that she normally wore. Tying her Konohagakure forehead protector around her waist, Tsukiko almost tripped over Hashirama's Wood Style scroll that Hiruzen had lend to her. Tsukiko rushed out of the house, almost running into Naruto.
"Usa, come on!" Tsukiko said as she brushed her long white hair. When they were open, they went down to the back of her knees but once she had put them up in twin tails, they were only barely past her waist. "We need to meet Kakashi Sensei, too, we need a lot of training for the matches,"
"Let's go, dattebayo!" Naruto said and the two of them set off down the street toward the Konoha Hospital. Tsukiko continued to brush her hair and by the time they arrived in the hospital, she had managed to put her hair into their usual twin tails.
"Excuse me," Tsukiko said as she and Naruto headed to the front desk of the Konoha Hospital where two nurses were sitting. "Can you tell us which room Uchiha Sasuke is in?"
"I'm sorry," one of the nurses said. "Sasuke-Sama is not allowed any visitors," Tsukiko frowned at the news and turned to leave but Naruto wasn't done.
"What?!" Naruto shouted. "Hey, hey! What's up with that, dattebayo?!" Tsukiko gave him a furious look, motioning him to quieten down as she looked around. How many patients did he gave a heart attack to?
"I'm sorry, those are the rules," the nurse replied, good-naturedly. Tsukiko sighed and tried to drag Naruto out of there before he woke patients up from their sleep.
"Naruto, this is a hospital," Kakashi's voice sounded. "Keep it down," Tsukiko and Naruto looked over and saw their Sensei coming down toward them from one of the corridors.
"Kakashi Sensei!" Naruto shouted as he and Tsukiko rushed over to him. "Say, say! We've got a favour to ask you!" Kakashi looked down at them.
"You don't have to say it at all," Kakashi told them. Tsukiko looked at him confused. "Well, I thought it would come to this, so... I searched for someone to look over your training,"
"Why?!" Naruto protested immediately as he pointed at their Sensei. "I want you to, Kakashi Sensei!" Tsukiko nodded in agreement, too. She wanted to train her Sharingan!
"I have some matters to take care of," Kakashi replied. "I don't have the time to trouble myself with you," Tsukiko frowned before narrowing her eyes.
"I got it, Usa!" Tsukiko exclaimed as she pointed her finger at Kakashi as well. "You're going to train Sasuke, aren't you? That's not fair, Sensei! That's just not fair!"
"Now, now, don't say that, Tsukiko," Kakashi said. "I found a Sensei who is more reliable than I am," Tsukiko sighed and shook her head at him. "Hey, don't get all depressed on me, Tsukiko! The Sensei is actually good,"
"Who is it?" Tsukiko demanded, crossing her arms. She didn't want any old teacher to teach her, she wanted to learn how to control her Sharingan for the upcoming matches. She was already terrible at it.
"It's me!" someone said. Tsukiko and Naruto turned around to look at the person. The white-haired girl did not recognise this person with black glasses, but apparently Naruto did.
"It's you!" Naruto screamed as he pointed at this newcomer. "The Closet Pervert!" Tsukiko gasped scandalously, now recognising this person as Ebisu, Konohamaru's teacher.
"Such insolence!" Ebisu commented. Tsukiko gave Kakashi a rather annoyed look and wanted to kick him but held it back in.
"Why's this guy our training teacher, dattebayo?!" Naruto demanded of Kakashi. "In the first place, he's weaker than me! But you see! But you see! A long time ago, with my Harem Jutsu, this guy..."
"Harem Jutsu...?" Kakashi asked. Tsukiko realised that he had no idea what Naruto's Harem Jutsu was and was about to tell him when Ebisu leapt over and grabbed her and Naruto, shutting them both up.
"U-Uh, it's nothing!" Ebisu told Kakashi, laughing guiltily. He looked at the two Genins in his grip. "I'll treat you to and buy you whatever you two want later! Just be quiet about that!"
"You better!" Naruto and Tsukiko threatened him. Kakashi looked at the three of them closely, wondering what was up with them.
"Wow, I didn't know you were acquainted," Kakashi mused. Ebisu let go of the two kids and patted their heads as they glared at him.
"Well, they're unsavoury ties," Ebisu said. Tsukiko hadn't even met this guy before in her life, why is he being so frank with her? He removed his hand from her head when he accidently hit her horns.
"But why this guy of all the people in the wide world, Kakashi Sensei?" Tsukiko muttered, annoyed. As far as she knew, Ebisu did not have a Sharingan to help her with.
"I definitely don't to train with him," Naruto added in, glaring at Ebisu from the corner of his eyes. Tsukiko rubbed her horns, she had to clean them properly after all they had gone through.
"Same here!" Ebisu said. "If it weren't Kakashi's favour, who'd teach you for the fun of it?" Tsukiko gave him a nasty look. Why is he talking like that to Naruto?
"Then don't!" Tsukiko told him. "It's not like we want to train with a person who got defeated by Harem Jutsu!" Ebisu tried to quieten her up.
"Now, now, don't say that!" Kakashi said as he walked over to the three of them. He knelt down next to Naruto and Tsukiko. "Naruto, Tsukiko, Ebisu Sensei is a private tutor who teachers the elite, a special Jonin! He's truly better at teaching than I am,"
"You're a remarkable liar, Kakashi Sensei," Tsukiko deadpanned. Kakashi sweat-dropped as the white-haired girl huffed and looked away. He stood up, sighing.
"Well, Naruto, of the four kids in Team Seven that I taught," Kakashi said. "You're the worst at the basic skills. And Tsukiko is the best. So, work together and get taught with case this time around,"
"How the heck am I inferior compared to Sakura-Chan, Tsukiko-Chan and Sasuke, dattebayo?!" Naruto demanded. Kakashi motioned to Ebisu.
"Naruto, it's fact that you don't have the fundamentals down," Kakashi said. "No matter what you do, the basic skills are important. And it would help your Dojutsu, Tsukiko. If you really want to become strong, just be quiet and listen to what I say. Now then, Ebisu Sensei, I'm leaving them with you,"
"I won't forgive you for that, Kakashi Sensei," Tsukiko grumbled as he walked off. She crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at the back of his head. It was better to train with herself now than deal with Ebisu if Kakashi doesn't want to train them.
"Okay, then, let's go," Ebisu said as he turned to look at the annoyed blond-haired boy and white-haired girl. Tsukiko sighed as she let go of her crossed arms.
"Still, I'm not convinced..." Naruto said. Ebisu looked at him. "You see, fundamentals may be important but I won't get strong being taught by someone weaker than me, dattebayo!"
"So, in other words, you want to say that I'm weak?" Ebisu demanded. "I was certainly surprised having that indecent Jutsu used on me that time. But it's premature for you to judge my ability on just that,"
"Even though you were totally knocked out...?" Tsukiko asked, apprehensive of this teacher's tall tale. That struck Ebisu rather badly.
"Fine," Ebisu said. "Then, why don't we put it to the test?" He looked at the two kids. "Run," Tsukiko looked at him confused. "If you can manage to outrun me, I'll back down quietly,"
"Back down?" Naruto asked.
"Yes," Ebisu said. "And of course, I'll speak to Kakashi Sensei about you receiving direct training," Tsukiko found that fair.
"There's no one who can catch me, Usa," Tsukiko told him. "Do you swear that you won't go back on your word?" Ebisu stood up and looked down at them.
"This elite instructor does not go back on his word," Ebisu told them. "However, this is only if you two can outrun me,"
"Then, that makes it easy!" Naruto exclaimed. "See ya!" He went running off and Tsukiko followed him, overtaking him immediately. There was no way he could ever catch her.
But Tsukiko liked a challenge.
"There's no way you can catch me, Pervert Sensei!" Tsukiko shouted as she jumped over all over the buildings, rushing away from Ebisu. He had been alternatively targeting her and Naruto all afternoon and thus far failed to catch them. "There's no one who can catch me in this village, Usa!"
Tsukiko landed in one of the windowsills of the marketplace, sticking out a tongue at the Elite Jonin as he rushed toward her. She moved to turn around and froze in her place when she saw the face on the other side of the window, barely inches from her. It was Gaara.
For a second, Tsukiko stayed stuck in her place, staring at Gaara's mean green eyes, and she knew that if the glass hadn't been between the two of them, Gaara would've done more than just glare at her. As soon as she realised what was going on, Tsukiko let out a loud shriek that startled even the redhead inside.
But she hadn't shrieked at Gaara, Tsukiko had in fact seen Ebisu's reflection nearing her and she fled the place before she could get caught by Ebisu. She rushed down the buildings and threw herself against the wall, going through a series of hand seals and then vanished against it. She watched Ebisu jump past and away.
☾
"Miso flavour barbecued pork noodles, and salt flavour ramen noodles!" Ayame, the daughter of Teuchi, called out. Currently, Ebisu had brought Naruto and Tsukiko to the Ichiraku Ramen Place to uphold his side of the deal.
Ebisu had managed to catch Naruto, but hadn't been able to do the same for Tsukiko. She made him swear that he will ask Kakashi to train her if she shows him that she's really good enough at whatever he wanted to teach her and Naruto.
"Naruto-Kun, having been shown your movements and having further analysed what Kakashi has told me..." Ebisu was going on as Tsukiko and Naruto ate away at the Ramen. "...it is clear that you cannot control Chakra well,"
"Control?" Naruto asked, his mouth full of Ramen noodles. Tsukiko gave him a disgusted look and tried to ignore his poor table manners.
"That's right," Ebisu said. "Now, then, comparing you with Tsukiko-Kun, Sasuke-Kun and Sakura-Kun... I shall explain your bad points in order. As you know, in the case of using Ninjutsu, Genjutsu and the like, Ninjas build up Chakra and activate the Jutsu,"
"But I already know that," Naruto said.
"Is that so?" Ebisu asked. "Then, in the case of comparing the four of you, I shall explain specifically how you are inferior," Tsukiko sweat-dropped.
"That's kind of an irritating way of saying it," Naruto muttered. Tsukiko sighed as she played with her Ramen. Why was she stuck like this? She wanted to train and become stronger if she wanted to fight all those individuals.
"I'm treating you the Ramen as promised," Ebisu reminded him. "So, just be quiet and listen to what I have to say," Tsukiko submerged herself into her own thoughts.
As Ebisu talked about how Naruto was unable to use his Chakra properly, Tsukiko thought back to when they had fought Orochimaru. Didn't he put some sort of seal on Naruto as well? What if it was bother Naruto like the seal on Sasuke was bothering him?
Tsukiko frowned to herself. Does Kakashi know about this? Should she go and tell him? Should she tell the Hokage? What if it happened to harm Naruto the next time that he tried to use his Chakra a lot? She glanced at the blond, who was downing his umpteenth bowl of Ramen.
☽
"We've come quite a long way..." Naruto muttered as he and Tsukiko followed Ebisue. Tsukiko looked around the place that they had arrived at and stopped in her steps. What are they doing here at the hot springs? "But this is the Hot Spring Town, right?"
"It doesn't seem like we've come all the way here to leisurely soak in some hot spring," Tsukiko muttered as she and Ebisu stopped but Naruto kept walking onwards. Ebisu suddenly let out a yell that made Tsukiko jump.
"Hey, Naruto-Kun!" Ebisu shouted. "That's the women's bath! I simply will not allow indecent behaviour!" Tsukiko sweat-dropped, what kind of perverts is she surrounded with? Naruto walked back over. "What's with that look?"
"Nothing!" Naruto told him. "More importantly, why have we come to a place like this?!" Tsukiko nodded in agreement as she turned to look at Ebisu. "Will soaking in a hot spring do anything for training?"
"No!" Ebisu replied as he fixed his glasses in that strange elite manner of his. "The training will be here in this hot spring area!" He led them away from the bath houses and to the open hot spring. "Okay, this is the place,"
"It's a bath here, sure enough, dattebayo!" Naruto shouted. Tsukiko looked at the flowing hot water and wondered what he wanted them to do. Handle staying in there for hours? Manipulate it? She was best with Water Style anyway. She wanted to train her Earth, Wind, Fire and Lightning alongside!
"What are you saying?" Ebisu asked of the blond. "I said this is training, didn't I? Training!" Naruto slumped over as he looked at the Jonin.
"We're going to train here?" Naruto asked, clearly not up to the idea. Tsukiko felt rather drowsy in the steam that was emitting from the water. "What the heck are we going to do?"
"Walk on this hot water!" Ebisu said as he pointed at the hot spring behind them. Tsukiko let out an 'oh' of realisation but Naruto stared at Ebisu. "What is it?
"Walk on the water?" Naruto questioned the man. "Can you really do it?" It was a simply question but Ebisu seemed to have taken it as personal insult.
"Of course!" Ebisu shouted. He coughed to calm himself down. "I heard from Kakashi Sensei that you already did tree climbing training without using your hands, right?" Tsukiko nodded. "It's an application of that,"
"Hmm..." Naruto said. Tsukiko sweat-dropped. Did he not remember her running on water when fighting with Zabuza? "What do you mean? Besides, I don't really remember stuff from long ago,"
"I'll tell you," Tsukiko said before Ebisu could start. "When we were tree climbing, we were accumulating only the necessary amount of Chakra in one necessary location and maintaining that amount of Chakra all the while. Since trees are fixed objects, we only needed to be attached to it,"
"Correct, Tsukiko-Kun!" Ebisu said. "In other words, it's training for building up a fixed amount of Chakra. Can you tell us how we will do it on water?" Tsukiko nodded.
"To walk or float on the surface of water, we will have to discharge on a constant basis an appropriate amount of Chakra from our feet to the water," Tsukiko explained. "And balance that to the extent that you can float your own body,"
"This Chakra control is more difficult than maintaining and is a control training for discharge and usage of fixed amount of Chakra for Jutsus and alike," Ebisu added.
"Well, I don't really understand it still," Naruto deadpanned. Tsukiko pulled at her twin tails, frustrated that he didn't get a single word that she had said.
"Since you're a visual learner, I will show you how it is done first," Tsukiko said. Naruto watched the white-haired girl as she walked over to the edge of the hot spring. "First, we build up Chakra in our feet. Then, while constantly discharging a fixed amount, we balance it with your body weight,"
Tsukiko stepped onto the hot water and once she was sure that would stay afloat, started to walk all the way ahead and in the middle of the hot spring, even showing Naruto that she could jump and run if she wanted to. Naruto watched with his jaw-dropped. Ebisu nodded.
"Oh! Okay! I'm going to try!" Naruto shouted, excited. He held his hands in a seal like Tsukiko. "First, you build up Chakra in your feet. Then, discharge a fixed amount, right?" He stepped onto the water and then fell in.
"I knew it," Ebisu said as Tsukiko sighed, shaking her head as Naruto jumped out of the water, screaming about how hot it was. "I forgot to mention it, but this hot water is 60°C. If you do nothing but fail, you will become a boiled octopus!"
"Boiled octopus...?" Tsukiko thought out loud to herself. "That sounds rather tasty..." She smiled blissfully to herself. Maybe she should have that and Daifuku tonight... Right now, this steam is making her rather sleepy.
Tsukiko stood on the water, her arms crossed as she watched Naruto try again and again to master his water walking skills. She wished that she was doing something better and she still found it unfair that Kakashi was training Sasuke and not her. It was true that Kakashi's Lightning affinity matched with Sasuke's but Tsukiko wanted to learn tricks as well.
Suddenly, Naruto screamed and pointed at something. Tsukiko looked over with Ebisu and she made a disgusted expression when she saw that there was a white-haired man sitting by the window of the Women's Bathhouse.
"Humph! I don't know who you are or where you're from," Ebisu said as he looked at the man. "But i will not allow indecency!" He went running off toward the white-haired man.
"Whoa," Tsukiko said as the man swiftly summoned a toad and the orange toad grabbed Ebisu around the waist with his tongue and then slammed onto the ground, making the Elite Jonin pass out.
"Don't make a ruckus!" the white-haired man said. "Jeez, it wouldn't do good to be found out!" Tsukiko and Naruto stared at the man in shock before rushing over to where Ebisu laid, unconscious.
☾