The word "Jinchūriki" hung in the air, followed by Shibuki's shocked outburst. The Genin of Team 7 exchanged confused glances, as they had no idea what the term meant and neither Kakashi had told them.
Shibuki took a deep breath, settling back into his chair. "Kakashi-san, you know what you're speaking about, right?" Though his words were meant to be calm, but his voice still trembled slightly, a fact Kakashi noted. He knew his request was not simple, and he didn't even expect to get what he asked for, but he was determined to get to teach Fuu and improve her strength. This, he knew, would be a big help in the future calamities like Akatsuki.
Kakashi suddenly turned his face to the left, toward the entrance of Shibuki's place, large house. He sensed a person with vast amount of raw chakra, just somewhat lower than what Naruto possessed totally. A smirk played on his face as he realized who it belonged to— Lucky Number 7, Fuu, the Jinchūriki of Chōmei.
He muttered with a shrug, "I've heard that if you talk about someone and they suddenly appear, it means they have a long lifespan ahead of them. Hmm... but I'm not so sure about that."
Kakashi then turned to Shibuki and said, "I know what I'm speaking about, but first, hear me out completely."
Kakashi paused for a moment, and the silence in the room stretched for a few seconds before the door was kicked open, slamming into the wall with a loud bang. A petite, mint-haired girl entered the room. "Hey, Shibuki, I heard the enemies are all gone now!" Fuu greeted Shibuki loudly. She noticed four more figures in the room, all of whom had turned to look at her.
Fuu's appearance, after all was quite eye-catching— short, mint-green hair, a tan complexion but with an athletic build like most trained shinobi. She wore a short, sleeveless white midriff shirt over fishnet armor, with fishnet shorts and a white apron-skirt over them. Takigakure's forehead protector was tied to her left bicep, above her long white armlets.
"Hmm... Who are you? Are you those helpers who fought against the enemies?" Fuu asked, making a guess, her voice, loud but not rude, highly similar to Naruto's personality, her orange eyes scanned Team 7.
"F-Fuu?" Shibuki's eyes were wide. They had just been talking about Fuu, and now she was standing right in front of them.
However, Shibuki's voice was deadened by Naruto's equally loud voice as Fuu, who had stood up, proudly patting his chest. "Yes, we helped your village against the enemies, believe it!"
"Really!" Fuu cheered aloud. Seeing them, Kakashi sighed with a chuckle, noting and recalling that Fuu's personality was indeed very similar to Naruto's.
"Ahem... cough!" Sasuke coughed lightly, and Sakura looked to the side for a moment. Naruto noticed them, confused, asked, "Hey, why are you two looking sideways like that?"
Sakura turned to him, reminding him, "Naruto, we actually haven't done much; it was Kakashi-sensei who defeated them and did most of the work." Sasuke also nodded at Sakura, but Naruto was still confused. All he knew was that he had defeated a real ninja today and sent a Jōnin flying with his Jutsu.
He shrugged and said, "So what? We did our part, too."
Kakashi chuckled and interjected, "Yeah, Naruto is right. You two shouldn't feel like you haven't done much. You all did your part, no matter how small."
Hearing Kakashi's praise, Sakura and Sasuke felt a warm sense of satisfaction. Kakashi then turned to Shibuki, pointing at Fuu with his left thumb. "This is your village's Jinchūriki, right? But where has she been until now? It's been almost an hour since we sorted out the enemy matter."
He was genuinely confused. When they had arrived outside the entrance to Takigakure, Kakashi had been able to sense Fuu easily, but from the moment the enemy attack happened and they had discovered it, he had no longer been able to sense her— until now.
Before Shibuki could reply, Fuu spoke aloud in a single breath, "Oh, me? Uncle Hisen gave me a place. My home has a secret but small underground basement with several black markings. When the enemies came, Kegon and Yōrō told me to hide in there, saying some enemy had attacked, but they didn't tell me everything. Just now they came and announced that the enemies were gone and I could come out, so I immediately came to Shibuki's home. Huu..."
"Hmm... I see," Kakashi gave a simple three-word reply to Fuu's lengthy one-breath explanation. He nodded, thinking, 'Black markings... probably some Sealing Technique. I should check that out later; a sealing technique that can hide a Tailed-Beast's Chakra is worth learning.'
While Kakashi understood the explanation, however several of Fuu's words had flown right over the Genin's heads, literally gone like bouncer delivery of cricket ball. Naruto stood facing Fuu, his arms crossed and eyes closed, his expression like that of a cat. He muttered aloud with an understanding nod, "Hm, hm, I understand."
"Don't try to be cool, you didn't understand anything!"
Sakura reprimanded him. Sasuke turned his gaze back to the floor. He also hadn't fully grasped what Fuu had said and didn't want the others to know, or Naruto would have another thing to taunt him about.
"Which village are you all from?" Fuu asked with a cheery smile, her orange eyes looking at them expectantly.
"From Konoha, Land of Flames." Naruto answered. Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke all instantly turned their faces toward Naruto. They were face-palmed at his response, giving him dead-pan look.
"Naruto, what do you mean by Land of Flames? It's the Land of Fire; FIRE!" Sakura corrected him in a low, calm voice, but her expression betrayed her exasperation. How could a Leaf Shinobi not know the correct name of their own nation? It was a sign of disrespect in front of ninjas from other nations.
"But aren't Fire and Flames literally the same things? Flames comes from fire anyways" Naruto replied nonchalantly, turning to Sakura while rubbing his nose.
Smack!
Sakura's eyebrows twitched, and she punched Naruto on the head, yelling, "HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW THE CORRECT NAME?! AND STOP RUBBING YOUR NOSE IN FRONT OF ME!"
Sasuke scoffed, his expression betraying that say as he didn't even want to be there and didn't know who this blond kid is. Kakashi also sighed and thought, 'Just how many classes did this kid bunk during his time at the Academy?'