Me: I do not own Naruto! By the way, just a heads-up, we're nearing the end of my already-written chapters, so this fic is going to be coming to a close soon. Sorry! *runs and hides away, ashamed of lack of muse*

Sage

Two days later, Kasumi hopped along the rooftops of Konoha, mind on the water jutsu her brother had showed her not long ago. It wasn't very hard to learn... but to use it effectively... yes, that was the problem.

"Kasumi-chan!"

Halting automatically on a building close to the Hokage's Office, Kasumi blinked, turning around to see a black and orange blur land in front of her before stopping to show her blonde teammate.

Naruto grinned at her, cerulean blue eyes glowing as he ran forward to envelop her in a tight hug. "Kasumi-chan, I haven't seen you for such a long time!"

Kasumi smiled sweetly, hugging him back. "Naruto-san. It has been a while, hasn't it? You look well."

He pulled back, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah! Hey... Kakashi-sensei's training the teme, but you have a teacher... right?" Naruto's gaze was worried, his brow creased slightly.

She smiled soothingly, "Of course. Onii-san is training me."

"Oh!" He perked up, relaxing. "That guy's strong; I'm sure he'll make you even more awesome in no time, Kasumi-chan!"

Kasumi laughed softly, brown eyes fond. She hadn't realized how much she had missed Naruto's boundless energy and enthusiasm, but she had. "Maybe. Who are you training with? Kakashi-sensei said he found you a private tutor."

Naruto pouted, scuffling his boots against the roof tiles. "Yeah, but that closet pervert was no help. At all."

"No?"

"Nope! He just tried to teach me water walking, but I already know all that stuff, so then I told him to teach me a super, awesome jutsu! Except he started prattling on about something I didn't pay attention to, and the next thing I know, the super pervert knocks him out!"

"Super pervert...?" Kasumi raised an eyebrow. Why was it that Naruto always attracted the strangest people?

"Yeah!" Naruto scowled for a second before brightening up. "But he's cool! He had me sign this summon scroll thing and now I'm learning how to summon toads!" He dimmed down again. "Although I'm not having much luck..."

She laughed softly, gently rustling his hair with her hand. "Well, I'm sure you'll get it soon. Who's this teacher of yours again?"

He smiled tentatively at her supportive words before adopting a thinking stance. "Hmm... he said something about that but I wasn't paying much attention. Like... Jikaya? No, Jiraba? Nah... Jirasa, Jiraia, Jiraiye...?"

Kasumi frowned thoughtfully. Toads... Orochimaru... Jiraiy - "Jiraiya?" She asked, eyes widening. Holy Kami-sama. Naruto really did have the oddest luck. But, honestly, another one of the Legendary Sannin right after Orochimaru?!

"Yeah!" Naruto snapped his fingers, grinning in triumph. "That's it! Mountain Something's Holy Master Sage, blah, blah, Toad Sage!"

Sage. Hadn't Hiroshi-onii-san said a sage was someone who could use natural energy? Logically, such a person would know a great deal about it and...

"... Naruto-san, you do realize that a sage, much less a sannin, is a very powerful shinobi, right?" Recovering quickly, she shook her head, smiling in exasperation while expertly covering up the thoughts spinning in her mind.

"Eeh?!" Apparently not. "That super pervert is strong?" Naruto furrowed his brow, tapping his chin. "Well, he did take that weird seal off of me?"

Kasumi snapped to attention. "Weird seal?"

"Yeah." He shrugged in faux casualness, staring at the tiles beneath his feet. "The one that the creepy snake person put on me, remember?"

"... Yeah." She smiled as if nothing was wrong. They would have to talk about the Kyubi someday, but maybe now wasn't the best time. Sasuke wasn't even here, anyways. "Neh, why don't you take me with you to meet with your new teacher? I might be able to help you with your summoning."

Naruto grinned openly, previous distress vanishing easily. "Really, Kasumi-chan?! That's be great! Come on, this way!"

Jiraiya

Kasumi blinked up at the white-haired, very tall shinobi that stood in front of her. Well. He was eccentric to say the least.

Jiraiya stared down at her, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Who's this, brat? Your girlfriend?" He questioned Naruto.

The blonde rolled his eyes. "Course not, pervy sage! Kasumi-chan's my teammate! Ah, and don't even think of perving on her!" Naruto pushed Kasumi behind him protectively, giving Jiraiya a firm glare.

"Humph. Show some more respect, brat!" Jiraiya barked. "Besides, she's not my type. Too young."

A-Ah. Kasumi sweatdropped. Eccentric, indeed. Then again, from what she had heard, all of the Legendary Sannin were.

There was Orochimaru, who had defected, was utterly immoral and rather brilliant if not despicable in his ways of expressing that brilliance.

There was Tsunade, who had left, was the best medic in the world and ran around said world gambling and drinking without actually healing.

There was Jiraiya, who was constantly out of the village, was terribly perverted and wrote porn disguised as orange books for other perverts.

They were some of the most powerful shinobi in the world.

But the more that Kasumi saw of the upper echelons of the shinobi ranks, the more convinced she became of the old idea that the more powerful you got, the stranger you got. Kakashi-sensei was her first proof... then came Zabuza, Gai... she shuddered a little.

"Whatever." Naruto huffed, crossing his arms and turning to his quiet teammate. "Kasumi-chan, you said you could probably help with my training, right?"

"... Right." Kasumi managed a faint smile, forcibly wrenching her attention away from the Sannin. She knew where he was now - peeping at the women's hot springs; she made a note to never, ever go there - so she would get her answers nonetheless. "Show me what you're doing?"

"Here!" Naruto led her away from the thin screen that separated the women's bath from the private pool. Biting his thumb, he swiped a line of blood across his palm, smacked his palm on the ground, and shouted, "Summoning Jutsu!"

There was a brief spread of black lines across the rough stones and then a poof of smoke. When it cleared, Kasumi found herself looking at a small tadpole wiggling on the pebbles. "See?" Naruto grinned foxily. "Cool, right?"

"That's still the best thing you can do, you moron?!" Jiraiya yelled at Naruto, clearly not at all impressed. "You've already been working on it for a week! I told you, release all the chakra in your body like you're about to die!"

'That's a strange way of thinking about it...' Kasumi thought to herself with a sweatdrop.

"Shut up, geez! I'm trying my best!" Naruto yelled back, irritated.

They snarled at each other for a moment longer before Jiraiya snorted and turned towards the wooden screen. "Keep trying, brat! I'm going to do some more research!"

"More like peeping." Naruto muttered.

"It's research! Research!"

Kasumi thought about asking and then decided it probably wouldn't be very good for her mental peace. She kept quiet on that matter, and turned to Naruto who was grumbling under his breath. "Alright, so you need a massive output of chakra to your hand, right?"

"Yeah." Naruto sighed, making a visible effort to calm down.

"Well, then, why don't you try some exercises for that first?" She suggested reasonably. "Instead of attempting the jutsu over and over again with the same results, improve upon what you need to improve on."

Naruto frowned at the prospect of yet more exercises, but went along with it. Everything that Kasumi had made Team 7 do had benefited them, to some degree or another. "What do you think I should do?"

"Hmm... do you remember the Leaf Concentration Exercise?" He wasn't lacking in chakra; that had never been what Naruto was lacking in. No, it looked like while Naruto could build up the chakra just fine, he couldn't channel it to his hand very well.

"Yeah!" He grinned, slamming a fist into his palm. "It was when we tried to get a leaf to stick to our forehead, right?"

"Right." Personally, Kasumi had possessed little to no problem completing the exercise, but then again, by that time she had been practicing medical ninjutsu. "Why don't you a variation of that?"

"What do you mean?" He cocked his head to the side, cerulean blue eyes inquisitive.

"Here." Picking up a nearby pebble, Kasumi concentrated on her chakra on her palm and pushed. Slowly, painstakingly, the pebble rose in the air, hovering above her hand.

"Cool!" Naruto's face lit up, an excited grin stretching across his face. "How'd you do that, Kasumi-chan?!"

"Well, the Leaf Concentration Exercise involved us focusing our chakra to our forehead, and then into the leaf, and that's what kept it there, right? What I'm doing right now is focusing my chakra to my hand and then forcing that chakra out to push against the pebble. It requires a bit more concentration and chakra control, which is what I think you need at this point."

"So I should just practice that?" He picked up a pebble, tossing it up and down.

"Start with pebbles. And then gradually get bigger." Kasumi advised. "You have the Shadow Clone Jutsu; you may as well use it."

"Oh, yeah!" Naruto snapped his fingers into the standard seal, chakra flaring, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" A cloud of smoke covered the small area, quickly dispelling to reveal the customary dozen of clones.

"Let's go, guys!" The original yelled at them, "You know what to do!"

"YOSH!"

"Brat, keep quiet back there!' Jiraiya shouted from the wall that separated the women's hot springs and them.

"Shut up, pervy sage!" Naruto huffed, shaking his head before turning to Kasumi with a thumbs-up, "Thanks, Kasumi-chan!"

"You're very welcome," She smiled, gaze flickering to the Sannin, "You stay here and practice, alright? I want to talk to your teacher for a bit?"

"Eeh, pervy sage?" He frowned, scratching the back of his neck in confusion. But Naruto, bless his heart, didn't push, "Okay, but be careful, yeah? He's a total pervert."

"Got it." Making her way to Jiraiya, Kasumi folded her hands in front of her, but before she could say anything, he spoke up.

"What do you want, little girl? I'm telling you, you're not my type. I don't want another student either, so go ahead and run off now." He didn't even look up from his peephole as he waved a hand dismissively.

She stared at him contemplatively, not at all insulted or scared off. Hmm... the Sannin was the hardest person she had ever had to pin down, clad in so many layers that shifted and churned without warning. It would be so easy to judge this man as the lecherous pervert that was first impression and just leave it at that.

There was, well... he wasn't playing the least ounce of attention to her. It was strange, for someone utterly resistant to the idea of teaching, he had gone to the trouble of taking Naruto on as a student. She had no idea why, but her blonde teammate was remarkable in many different ways and fashions so she doubted she would find out.

But now... she needed a method to grab the Toad Sage's attention, grab it so absolutely and irrevocably that he wouldn't be able to brush her off without first listening to what she had to say. Not easy for a genin, but maybe...

"Would you explain nature chakra to me, Jiraiya-sama?" Kasumi inquired politely.

Jiraiya went very, very still, a silent reminder that this was a predator she was provoking, a ninja who could crush her with his pinkie finger. He took a step back, head swiveling around to pin her to the spot with dark, shrewd eyes. "Nature chakra? That's not something little girls should play with."

Again, she was being warned. First Hiroshi and then Jiraiya; yes, Kasumi was getting the message that this was dangerous, dangerous, dangerous. But ignorance had never worked to her advantage before. "I know." She hesitated as she debated her next step. Evidently, while her brother knew about it, he didn't know much.

Which could turn into a big problem in time. However, the Tentaiora was a secret bloodline for a reason, its mysteries hidden from the rest of the world for decades. Even in the Clan, it had been the humongous pink elephant in the middle of the room. It was the unspoken rule never to talk about their bloodline in the open.

Kasumi didn't know Jiraiya. She had only met him today; he was a stranger as far as she was concerned. But he was a Konoha Sannin, well known as the only one that remained loyal to the Leaf Village. Plus, it was essential that she know whatever information he might give her. It could prove highly important in the future and staying in the dark in regards to her own powers...

It didn't bode well.

"You know my last name." She said, because there was no possible way that he didn't. Kasumi wasn't fully aware of the role that Jiraiya played in Konoha security, but any good ninja did research and he was training Naruto. Besides, he obviously had the security clearance.

A leap of faith centered on Naruto. Kasumi hoped she wouldn't regret it.

Natural

"Ah." Jiraiya paused, a new-found wariness in his veins. Bloodline traits were nothing to mess around with and with one of the last few bearers of the Tentaiora asking such questions, it was easy to connect the dots. He sighed, how had he gotten suckered into this again? But he hadn't lied; nature chakra wasn't anything children should be playing around with.

He couldn't just leave this little girl with wide brown eyes far older than they should be fumbling around in the dark. Hell, bloodline or not, his godson would be devastated if something happened to his female teammate; it was apparent that he was close with her, not in a romantic manner as he had suggested, but close nonetheless. Jiraiya didn't need any more guilt on his shoulders.

"Look." He sighed, turning away from the temptation of the hot springs completely to crouch down in front of Fumei Kasumi. It didn't look like he was going to get out of this one any time soon. "Nature chakra is energy that is inherent in this world. It's in the air you breathe, the ground you walk on, the very world that you live in."

"It's everywhere?" She asked, voice soft and deferential. It was a good front and maybe he would have believed it, but he had already seen the cool calculation in those eyes, the razor sharp intellect that had characterized her interactions with both him and his new student. It was a toss-up of whether the little kunoichi honestly felt respect for him, but she was certainly not above using it to get what she wanted.

Which Jiraiya could grudgingly appreciate, especially in one so young. She could make a nice spy, this girl. Too young, but he might put in a word to the Sandaime later. "Yeah. Everywhere, everything. To use nature chakra, you have to be in harmony with the flow of the world. Not easy, understand? Bloodline or not, don't go messing with nature chakra if you don't know how to use it. Might turn you into a stone statue."

A pretty stone statue, but still, you know, a statue.

Statues didn't help anyone; Jiraiya would know.

She blinked, apparently ready for anything but that. "A stone statue?"

"Mm-hm." Never something fun. Or, in his case, grow warts and emit toad-like features. Not really fun either, but such was the way of shinobi. Few things were fun.

"Sages... they have something to do with nature chakra, too, right?"

Jeez, where the hell was she getting this information? "Girl, are you sure you want to know about this?" Jiraiya asked incredulously. This was no genin material.

The little kunoichi didn't waver, "I don't want to get turned into a stone statue, Jiraiya-sama."

"Fine, I'll give you that." He didn't want her to get turned into a stone statue either. They tended not to turn back. "Alright, sages are those who can utilize senjutsu, a technique where the user gathers and mixes nature chakra with their natural chakra. That's all ya need to know, don't ask me anything more on it, little girl." There was only so far he was willing to go for his godson's teammate.

She looked thoughtful, "Can this senjutsu allow sages to sense upcoming threats or enemies?"

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, frowning. The hell? Was the little kunoichi able to do something like that? For all his efforts, he had never been able to gather so much as a whisper on the true power of the Tentaiora; the destruction that Kirigakure had wrought had assuredly not helped. "... Yeah. A sage can sense chakra around them and sense attacks without having to look."

"I see." Kasumi smiled vaguely and bowed, "Thank you for your help, Jiraya-sama." Without waiting for a response, she glided away, a child of the mist in a crowd of leaves. Jiraiya watched her go, frown deepening.

For Naruto's sake, that little Fumei girl should definitely be careful with how she pushed her bloodline, lest it turn against her.

The power of Nature itself was nothing to be trifled with.

Cliff

Three days later, Kasumi peered up at the massive cliff that faced her, carrying a small backpack. Well... Kakashi-sensei had certainly gone all out, she thought to herself wryly. It was highly unlikely that any civilian would have reason to be this far out, much less be able to climb such a rock face.

As for shinobi, the land here was remarkably barren. It would be easy to see any incoming enemies and react accordingly before they were so much as two feet up. As it was, she had no doubts that Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke already knew of her presence.

Not that they would come and greet her, of course.

Taking a step back, she place a hand on her hip and considered her options. She was obviously expected to climb this cliff on her own, or otherwise find some way to get to the top. Kasumi could climb it without chakra, an exercise in stamina and endurance, or with chakra, a chakra control excerise, or with kunai, an exercise in strength and precision.

Not the question was: which one did she require the most?

After musing it over, Kasumi decided to just climb the damn thing without the aid of anything but her hands and feet. She might as well work on endurance since she was potentially going against Shikamaru or Temari. Her chakra had been depleted by her morning training with Hiroshi, and her skill with kunai was fine. For now, at least. It was all about priorities at this point.

Reaching up, she grasped a section of rock and hauled herself up. Glancing at the distant top, she mentally measured the distance and sighed. This would take a while.

Hand

Some time later, Kasumi looked up again and noted the dark silhouette standing not far away. She reached for another hand hold, pushing forward with her right foot, and kept on climbing. One foot, two feet, five feet -

A pale hand offered itself to her.

Humming to herself, Kasumi reached up with a hand while her other hand hugged the rock and grabbed his hand. Sasuke hauled her up to the very top of the cliff with a faint smirk, taking in her exhausted, sweaty, panting state with amusement.

"You took your time." He said coolly, looking irritatingly refreshed and clean and relaxed.

She blew out a breath, slinging off her backpack and letting it fall to the ground with a thump. "Hello to you, too, Sasuke-san." Kasumi said dryly, feeling her muscles scream with relief. She really did need to work on her endurance, she thought to herself with an inward grimace. Good thing she was duty-bound to visit Sasuke every other three or four days.

Ugh. More climbing later. Wasn't that a nice thought?

"Kasumi-chan, we were wondering when you would get here." Kakashi-sensei greeted from where he was sitting on a rough boulder, orange book in hand. He looked up to eye-smile at her, "Well, Sasuke was wondering when you would get here."

Said boy glared darkly and folded his arms pointedly, but didn't refute his words.

Kasumi yawned, really too tired to care about what their sensei was trying to imply, "Hello, Kakashi-sensei. Sasuke-san, where's your sleeping bag?" She hadn't bought hers, an oversight she would correct last time. She had been too busy thinking about... stuff today to remember.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her but pointed behind her, where a lone tree that looked like it was going to die any day soon provided a fraction of shade that shielded his cot.

"I'm borrowing it." She declared.

Kakashi-sensei chuckled quietly while Sasuke's eye twitched, "You're just going to steal my sleeping bag?"

Kasumi gestured fleetingly at her backpack, "Food."

"Go ahead." He said off-handedly, dropping to his knees beside the backpack and snapping it open to flip through its contents. Evidently, Sasuke had grown very tired of shinobi rations.

Smiling weakly, Kasumi slipped into the bag and closed her eyes. It smelled familiar, like thunderstorms and mint. Sighing deeply as her exhaustion finally caught up with her, both chakra and physically, she fell asleep to the reassuring presences of Kakashi and Sasuke.