“Well, maybe we can come up with the right approach if we put our heads together. What have you tried that didn’t work?”
Twenty minutes later Jiraiya’s note-taking was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder.
“Go away.” He whispered. “I’m busy with my research.”
“I bet we’ve got better ‘research material’ than they do, Jiraiya-sama.” Replied a sultry female voice.
He just about dropped his notebook when he turned around. Naruto and me were both in Sexy form with our arms around each other’s waists. We’d changed into tight tank-tops and very short skirts, but kept our forehead protectors and shuriken pouches.
“I’m Sakura.” I said in my best ‘sweet little schoolgirl’ voice. “And this is Naruto. We’re genin teammates, and very close friends. But our sensei left us all alone to go train our teammate, and we’re just desperate for an instructor to help us pass the chuunin exam. Do you know anyone who can help us?”
He stared. He drooled. Then he processed what I’d said, and broke down laughing. “Oh, that’s funny. You girls have me pegged, that’s for sure. But I can’t believe your sensei would leave students like you high and dry.”
Naruto rolled her eyes. “Kakashi’s too busy with the Uchiha to bother with us. He pawned us off on some looser who wants us to spend the whole month reviewing academy stuff.”
“Yeah.” I interjected. “Never mind that Naruto’s got enough chakra to lift the Hokage monument, and I’m matching Tsunade-sama’s record for instant jutsu mastery. Come on, give us a break. We can leave clones with our so-called instructor, so no one will even have to know. We’ll even keep the fan-service outfits!”
He chuckled. “Isn’t Naruto supposed to be a boy?”
“It’s a transformation technique.” She replied.
“Yeah, it turns the subject into a sexy girl. I still can’t believe he came up with that. Although since I’m already a girl, sometimes it makes me feel a little too sexy…” I snuggled against Naruto-chan’s side as my hand wandered suggestively up her bare belly. To be honest, I really was having a little trouble keeping my hands off her. Sexy form kicks my libido into overdrive, and Naruto-chan is even hotter than I am.
She smacked my butt, and I nearly had an orgasm. “Stop that, Sakura. I like you too, but I don’t want you freaking out when you change back.”
“Alright girls. I can see it’s my duty as Konoha’s most amazing ninja to rectify this terrible oversight. But if you want my training you’ll have to promise to do your best, dress properly and stay in those forms the whole time. Oh, and you’re definitely going to teach me that technique.”
Score!
Alas, Naruto really wasn’t comfortable enough as a girl for me to get too close. But we got in nearly a month of training under an amazing ninja, even if he did waste a lot of time making us pose for no good reason. Naruto learned a couple of neat wind techniques, and got to sign the toad summoning contract and practice with it again. I learned to make explosive tags, and got some serious training in armed combat techniques. He even showed Naruto the training technique for Rasengan, though by then there wasn’t enough time left for him to master it. I didn’t even try to do that one myself, since even with all my training over the resets I could tell I didn’t have enough chakra.
Interestingly, I learned even more from Naruto. He taught me Earth Flow River and Earth Rampart in a couple of days, and between his knowledge and a few hints from Jiraiya I managed to put together an Earth Clone technique a couple of weeks later. His wire control techniques were even easier — with their low chakra drain and emphasis on precision they were perfect for my style. In return I filled in the gaps in his spotty knowledge of genjutsu and medical techniques, including some handy first-aid jutsu designed for use by non-medics with relatively normal levels of chakra control.
“I don’t understand why we have to fight so hard to get this stuff.” He grumbled one evening as we walked home from the training grounds. “I mean, I know everyone hates me, but what about other people? You’d think they’d teach that first aid stuff to everyone who makes genin, and you guys could have all had an element and a bunch of attack jutsu before the loop if anyone had bothered teaching you.
“At first I thought it was Kakashi, but the other teams aren’t much better off. Heck, I can’t think of a single genin in Konoha who has more than one special technique. Why is that?”
“I’ve been thinking about that one for a long time now.” I said thoughtfully. “I think I’ve actually figured it out. You have to remember that we’re ninja, not samurai, and wars between hidden villages are usually won through treachery and deceit more than force of arms. Like the way Orochimaru seems to have compromised half the village before that surprise invasion even starts.”
“Ok, so?” He looked at me dubiously.
“So everyone’s afraid of giving too much power to the wrong people. The academy teaches some basic defensive techniques, and then they send us out to work directly under a jounin for a few years before they let us have anything better. The clans do the same thing, teaching their genin just enough to give them an edge and waiting for them to prove their loyalty before they learn more. I don’t think it ever changes, either. Have you noticed that chuunin only have a couple of favorite moves, and even jounin usually stick with a narrow specialty?”
“Yeah. I figured they just stick with what they like.”
“The lazy ones, maybe. I’ve certainly never seen Kakashi bother to train anything but his Sharingan. But if either of us spent a month in a jutsu library we’d walk out with more techniques than a Sanin, and we can’t be the only ones.”
“I don’t think there are any jutsu libraries. I’ve looked.” He seemed pretty put out about it, too.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Everyone is so afraid of their techniques ending up in the wrong hands that people like the Hokage will actually let them be lost instead. I think one of the biggest benefits we have in these loops is the fact that we can do whatever it takes to convince someone to teach us just one technique, and keep doing it again and again with different people. If anyone knew how much we already know no one would dare let us learn anything else.”
We walked through the darkness in silence for a few blocks, before Naruto spoke again. “We don’t have to be like that. If we meet again, we should share everything.”
I smiled, thinking of Hinata’s unexpected offer. “I agree. We’re in this together, so we should help each other as much as we can.”
I thought about that for a few more blocks.
“Naruto, there’s something else I want you to know. I’m afraid you really will start hating me if you have to put up with the old version of me for too many loops, so I’m going to tell you how to make it so you don’t have to.”
“What do you mean?” He asked curiously.
“I don’t think it would be hard to modify the Sexy technique to work on someone else. I also don’t think it would be hard to find a pattern where you use it on me and I end up being a lot nicer to you.”
If he kisses me like he did Hinata I’ll be jumping his bones in no time.
“Seriously? I figured you’d be pissed if I tried to use the loops to figure you out, Sakura. Especially something like that. Isn’t that kind of like mind control?”
“No, it’s not like that at all. I know it must be really weird for you, since you’re not normally a girl. But for me, what that technique does is more like letting the real me out of a cage. I stop worrying about rules and propriety and what other people will think, and just do what I want to do. It can be a little scary for me at first, but if I go too far it’s only because I’m drunk on freedom.”