"I love you, Yamei. I love your every smile, every frown... I love every inch of your skin. Your crimson lips drive me crazy, and your seductive eyes set me on fire..."
Sitting on the ground, Naruto recited line after line with a helpless look on his face. Jiraiya, on the other hand, sat beside him excitedly, scribbling away at lightning speed in his notebook.
"Hey, Pervy Sage, isn't that enough already? Shouldn't you be teaching me some jutsu by now? Look at the time..."
Naruto's tone was a mix of frustration and resignation.
"Oh… hehe, sorry about that. I got a little too excited, couldn't help myself."
Noticing the clear irritation in Naruto's voice, Jiraiya scratched his head awkwardly, then straightened up with a serious look. "Alright, the jutsu I'm going to teach you next is a big one. Make sure you're ready."
"Yeah, yeah!"
Naruto nodded eagerly.
"Okay, watch closely, Summoning Jutsu!"
With a single hand sign and a puff of white smoke, a toad wearing a string of prayer beads around its neck suddenly appeared beneath Jiraiya.
"Ribbit..."
From its mouth, the toad unrolled a scroll onto the ground. It looked lazily ahead, eyes half-lidded and uninterested.
"Naruto, this is the summoning scroll passed down through generations of the Toad Clan. Now, bite your finger, smear the blood on your five fingertips, and press your hand here."
Jiraiya pointed to a blank section of the scroll.
"Got it!"
Naruto bit his finger, spread the blood across his fingers, and pressed them firmly onto the scroll.
"Good, that's it!"
Jiraiya snapped his fingers and had the toad roll the scroll back up and hold it in its mouth.
"Alright, now give the Summoning Jutsu a try."
"Okay!"
Naruto bit his finger again (his previous wound had already healed, thanks to Kurama), formed the hand signs, and shouted, "Ninja Art: Summoning Jutsu!"
Boom!
A cloud of smoke burst forth, and as it cleared, a large shadow began to take shape.
"Haha! I really am a genius!"
Naruto grinned as he looked at the enormous figure hidden in the smoke.
"Yo, what'd you summon me for?"
Munching on a jumbo bag of snacks, the chubby toad named Gamaryu looked at Naruto and greeted him casually.
"Uh..."
Naruto stared blankly at the toad's soft golden skin and slightly cute appearance, stunned.
"Why is it you, you little squirt?!"
He glared and roared in frustration.
"Hey, you've got quite a temper, huh?"
Gamaryu raised a pudgy finger and pointed at Naruto.
"You..."
But looking at Gamaryu's innocent expression, Naruto's anger quickly faded into helplessness.
"Actually, Naruto, that wasn't bad at all!"
Jiraiya nodded in approval, clearly pleased. "To get this result on your first try, pretty impressive."
"Alright, Gamaryu, time to go back where you came from. And take your snacks with you!"
Naruto waved dismissively as Gamaryu scooped up his oversized snack bag and vanished in a puff of smoke.
"Looks like you didn't even need to tap into that special chakra."
Jiraiya stretched lazily. "All you need now is more practice."
"Got it."
Naruto nodded in understanding.
"Now then..."
Jiraiya's expression turned pervy again.
"Yeah, yeah, I know..."
Naruto sighed in resignation and began reciting the kind of lines he hated but had no choice but to deliver.
"Oh, Yamei, your enchanting figure dances before my dazed eyes. You're the one who lit the path before me, who stirred my soul for one fleeting moment, and then, unleashed an endless explosion..."
"Phew! What a day…"
Later, lying exhausted in bed, Naruto stared at the bright moonlight shining through the window.
"Practice the Summoning Jutsu, provide writing material for Pervy Sage... again."
He sighed.
"But hey, I did learn a lot today!"
Naruto took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly, his eyes growing heavy…
"Yaaawn… That was a good sleep."
Naruto sat up, rubbed his sleepy eyes, and got out of bed to change clothes.
Ever since that embarrassing morning when he accidentally went outside in pajamas, Naruto made a habit of changing into his outfit before brushing his teeth and washing up, then breakfast.
Once he'd finished getting ready, he stretched out his limbs and jumped out the window.
Since he'd already told Jiraiya the night before that he had a mission today, Naruto didn't need to check in with him.
At the meeting spot, Naruto found Sakura and Sasuke just arriving too, and couldn't help but sigh,
"Man, Kakashi-sensei really taught us all to be slackers..."
"Kakashi-sensei's not here yet, right?"
Sakura walked up and asked nervously.
"No way that lazy guy would show up this early. Relax..."
Naruto replied with a shrug.
"Whew…"
Sakura let out a relieved breath, then smirked. "Told you! Even if we're an hour late, we'd still get here before Kakashi-sensei."
"Hey, Sakura, how about we go to Ichiraku for some ramen and ditch Kakashi-sensei today?"
Naruto suggested mischievously.
"Um… is that really okay…?"
Sakura looked hesitant on the outside, but inside, she loved the idea.
Naruto glanced at Sasuke and saw he looked tempted too.
"All in favor of ditching Kakashi-sensei, raise your hand!"
Naruto suddenly called out.
Swish!
All three of them raised their hands at once.
"Perfect, unanimous vote. Let's go!"
Naruto cheered, and the trio headed off toward Ichiraku Ramen.
"...Ah, sorry I'm late. On the journey of life I, "
Kakashi raised a hand in apology, beginning his usual excuse, but stopped when he realized… the street was completely empty.
Whoosh…
A breeze drifted by. Kakashi's figure stood alone in the wind, melancholic, almost tragic.
A few seconds later…
"Damn it! Sakura! Naruto! Sasuke! You really ditched your Sensei?!"
Kakashi's furious roar echoed through the quiet, empty street...
⚔────────
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