As the tension of the earlier briefing finally began to dissipate, the atmosphere in the Hokage's office shifted into something much more comfortable. Shizune pulled out a delicate tea set, pouring herself a warm cup to settle her nerves, while Tsunade and Jiraiya continued to pass the sake back and forth.
"By the way," Jiraiya mentioned casually, swirling the clear liquid in his cup. "I heard a little rumor from my network that Naruto got quite familiar with the Sand Princess during his stay in Suna. How exactly is that going?"
Tsunade took a slow sip of her sake and scoffed. "Not just the Sand Princess, from what I've been hearing. He's also gotten quite familiar with Ino Yamanaka and Hinata Hyuga."
PFFT!
Jiraiya violently choked, spitting a mist of sake directly across the room. He slammed his cup onto the desk, his eyes bulging out of his head. "What?! Are you telling me that brat slept with both the Hyuga and the Yamanaka clan heiresses?!"
"No, not yet, if I have any say about it," Tsunade replied coolly, wiping a stray drop of sake from her desk with an annoyed glare. "But with Temari? One hundred percent."
Jiraiya's jaw practically hit the floor. "What?! And he told you about that?! That ungrateful brat didn't tell his master a single thing about his conquests, but he tells the Hokage who he slept with? Do you have any idea what kind of prime material that is for a new book?!"
A visible, throbbing tick mark appeared on Tsunade's forehead. She leaned forward, her voice dropping to a dangerous, bone-crushing register. "He didn't tell me about it, Jiraiya. And if you so much as dare use him as inspiration for your filthy little novels, I will personally shatter every bone in your writing hand."
Tsunade leaned back, sighing. "I learned about it from Shizune."
"Wait, Shizune?" Jiraiya asked, rubbing his chin in confusion.
Shizune cleared her throat, a faint blush dusting her cheeks as she adjusted her tea cup. "I was there too, Lord Jiraiya. I saw it myself. The way Temari carried herself around Naruto on the day we left... other people might not have picked up on the subtle shifts in her body language, but I like to keep a medical eye on him. I am one hundred percent sure Naruto slept with her."
Jiraiya looked back at Tsunade in disbelief. "And you didn't chew him out for causing an international incident?!"
"What was I supposed to do, Jiraiya?" Tsunade shot back, throwing her hands up. "He's already done it! What can we do now? And honestly... if he does end up marrying that girl, it's basically two royal lines uniting."
Jiraiya blinked, the political reality suddenly hitting him. He burst into a booming laugh. "Yeah, that would be quite funny! The Fourth Hokage's son and the Fourth Kazekage's daughter tying the knot. The council would have an absolute aneurysm."
"But wait," Jiraiya said, wiping a tear of mirth from his eye. "What is this I heard about Ino and Hinata? You said he got familiar with them too?"
"Nothing scandalous," Tsunade smirked. "Just that before the brat left for this mission, he managed to light an absolute inferno in both of their eyes and souls."
"Huh?"
"He made a bet with them," Tsunade explained, resting her chin on her steepled hands. "He told them that if they both become Jonin and reach the level of A-rank kunoichi within the next six months, he will tell them a 'secret' about how to beat something. I don't know exactly what this secret is, but whatever it is, both of those girls are violently desperate to get it."
Jiraiya leaned forward, genuinely intrigued. "What? Seriously?"
"They are training completely out of their minds," Tsunade said, a genuine note of pride in her voice. "Hinata has aggressively started practicing advanced offensive ninjutsu, and Ino has thrown herself entirely into taijutsu. Not that they were bad at those disciplines before, but now? They are seriously going all-in. They are trying to become perfect all-rounders, focusing heavily on their weakest areas."
Shizune nodded enthusiastically. "Every two days, they practice against each other in brutal sparring sessions. If one of them is busy, they drag someone else into the ring. Yesterday, they practically forced Anko to train with them. And the day before that, they asked me to help them."
"You sparred with them, Shizune?" Jiraiya asked, raising an eyebrow. "How are they looking?"
"They are progressing incredibly well," Shizune reported with a professional nod. "I will say that if they keep this pace up for six months, they genuinely might hit the baseline for A-rank kunoichi. They wouldn't be elite A-rank right away, but they would firmly cross the starting threshold. And if they fought together? They would make an absolutely devastating A-rank tag team."
Jiraiya let out a low whistle, shaking his head with a mixture of awe and absolute perverted pride.
"Well," the Toad Sage chuckled, raising his newly poured cup of sake to the air in a mock toast. "It sounds to me like the brat is actively building himself a high-ranking harem. But hey, we can't really complain, can we? After all... somebody has to repopulate the Uzumaki clan.
Author's Note
Hey everyone!
I need a little help from you all. Since I'm not much of an artist, I'd really appreciate it if you could share or comment pictures of outfits you think would suit the characters.
I'm especially looking for outfit ideas for:
Naruto
Hinata
Ino
Temari
And any other characters you'd like to see redesigned.
Feel free to post as many references as you want. Casual clothes, mission outfits, formal wear, seasonal outfits, or anything else you think fits their personalities.
Your suggestions will really help me visualize the characters and make the story even better.
Thanks for all the support, and I can't wait to see your ideas!