After Kakashi Hatake returned, the responsibility of teaching the students naturally fell onto him. Aside from occasionally guiding Sakura Haruno's Medical Ninjutsu, Amane remained an observer most of the time.
And Naruto, seemingly because of what happened that day, looked at Amane with somewhat evasive eyes.
"Sigh..." A soft sigh. It was now the sixth day since the Tree Climbing training began. Sasuke had already "graduated" from the Water Walking training and was following Kakashi to cultivate his two-tomoe Sharingan.
But Naruto seemed quite stuck at this step. Moreover, because Sasuke had also succeeded, he had become the last one, and a sense of anxiety grew in his heart.
And the more it was like this, the more difficult it became for him to succeed in his Water Walking training.
[This is bad. In this environment, Naruto's mind won't be able to calm down. In that case, why don't I...]
Amane observed a bit more and found that Naruto's attempts were getting worse and worse. She decided to take action.
In the original work, Zabuza's attack came after seven days of training.
Now, due to her and Kakashi's intervention, the timeline was very likely to be moved forward.
[I've finished testing the waters with Kakashi. Next, I want to teach Naruto how to use the Nine-Tails Chakra.]
Furthermore, she could take the opportunity to check on the status of her father's and mother's Chakra.
As for the issue of the Sealing leaking, with Amane there, it wouldn't be a problem at all. No matter how much Naruto used, she could seal it up tight.
"Naruto."
Jiu's emotionless voice rang in Naruto's ear. As expected, the latter panicked, lost his balance, and was about to fall into the water.
However, the expected cold sensation did not come. A force lifted him by his back collar and brought him to the shore.
"Kakashi-senpai, I'd like to spend some time alone with Naruto. Is that alright?"
Kakashi, who was training Sasuke, looked over upon hearing this and then nodded slightly. "Sure, but don't go too far."
The subtext was: don't leave the range of his perception. Although Kakashi trusted Amane quite a bit now, after all, the Root had that cursed seal. As long as it existed, that person was not free. This had nothing to do with trust.
So, Amane took Naruto to a nearby small grove.
"Sorry, um... I didn't realize at all."
Naruto apologized first. Scratching the back of his head, he spoke with great embarrassment regarding his unintentional comment from yesterday.
Amane's original intention was to soothe Naruto's emotions, but hearing him apologize first, a sudden urge to tease him rose in her heart.
"Oh? Someone who developed the Sexy Jutsu is actually embarrassed by this?"
Instantly, Naruto's cheeks turned bright red. Although this technique was his masterpiece, hearing it mentioned to his face by a woman whose appearance he didn't know still made his face burn.
But since she knew he could use the Sexy Jutsu, it meant she must have seen him in the village.
While feeling a bit embarrassed, a sense of pride also welled up in Naruto. Watching this, Amane couldn't help but sigh; he really was thick-skinned.
With that, the ice was broken, and the two of them began to chat back and forth.
They started with the Sexy Jutsu and moved on to how Iruka and the Third Hokage were instantly defeated, then to his complaints about Sasuke and his crush on Sakura. They also talked about how delicious Ichiraku Ramen in Konoha was, and how boring the usual tasks as a Genin were.
"I feel... very happy chatting with Miss Jiu." This was only the second time Naruto had been this happy just chatting with someone; the first was with Grandpa Third.
But the two of them gave Naruto completely different feelings. How should he put it... the Third gave Naruto a feeling of kindness, like a grandfather and grandson. Whereas Amane gave him a sense of intimacy and acceptance.
"Humph~ So, do you feel much more relaxed now?"
Amane leaned close to Naruto's ear and spoke, this time without using any special technique to alter her voice.
"Eh! So, you're not that old." Naruto was slightly stunned, his face turning a bit redder. Even someone as dense as him could tell that this was clearly the clear voice of a girl his age.
The moment that voice rang out, Naruto's heart inexplicably skipped a few beats, and a desire to hear the real voice beneath the mask again surged within him.
Amane chuckled and held up an index finger in a shushing gesture. It meant: don't tell anyone else.
Naruto nodded mechanically in a hurry.
[Haha, this is so much fun.]
She had originally intended to calm Naruto down, but she hadn't expected to start playing around out of instinct during the process.
[I'm really looking forward to the moment I take off my mask and appear before him.]
Amane couldn't help but daydream.
After this little interlude, Naruto's mindset shifted away from anxiety, and he actually managed to master Water Walking before dusk!
Normally, Naruto would have started jumping around and showing off. But now, there was no joy of victory at all, only glances towards Amane from time to time.
Aside from Naruto, who in Team 7 wasn't a talent with keen insight into details? For a moment, they all began to notice something.
The straightforward one, like Kakashi, came over and asked Amane directly.
The more subtle one, like Sakura, chose to quietly ask Naruto.
As for the brooding Sasuke, he chose to eavesdrop surreptitiously.
But Amane's answer was that she had just chatted with Naruto and provided some psychological counseling.
To be honest, even Kakashi couldn't see any flaws.
And Naruto, facing Sakura's inquiry, actually changed his usual fawning attitude. He was incredibly tight-lipped, and not a single word could be pried out of him.
Now, everyone's curiosity grew even stronger, and the atmosphere during dinner became somewhat subtle because of it.
The night passed in silence.
On the next day—the day in the original work when Naruto and Sasuke completely finished their Tree Climbing training—Amane first sought out Kakashi.
"Wind Release, are you good at it?" Kakashi looked up, his exposed right eye looking at Amane as she asked this, understanding what she meant.
Although he could use Ninjutsu of all five elements, what he truly mastered was Lightning. He could no longer continue to guide Naruto's next step in cultivation.
Except for the Rasengan.
But this Ninjutsu was clearly not suitable to be taught to Naruto right now. Great power must be wielded with a matching heart.
Teaching it now might not necessarily be a good thing for Naruto.
So Kakashi nodded; after all, there wasn't much time left. With Naruto's talent, it would be impossible for him to learn Wind Release Chakra before Tazuna finished building the bridge.
[You fell for it. I only asked if you were good at it; I never said I was going to teach Naruto Wind Release.]
A smile of success flashed through Amane's heart.
She took Naruto to the forest clearing from yesterday once again.
[The time is ripe; I can finally accomplish the two things I want to do.]
Amane felt a bit excited.
It's been twelve years. Although the circumstances are somewhat unusual, this counts as a family reunion.
"Naruto,"
"Before training, lift up your shirt first, expose your belly, and then try to refine Chakra."
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