The first thing she did was assess the situation. It was almost noon, so she couldn't easily charm anyone in a bar, but she could approach someone in a supermarket, pretending she needed help, or flirt in a shop with a male clerk. She walked slowly down the street until she found what she was looking for: a café with an outdoor terrace and a couple of young waiters.
She sat at a sunny table and leaned back, closing her eyes. She waited for one of them to come take her order. She felt their eyes on her face but didn't smile. She heard someone's footsteps approaching but played distracted. Then someone cleared their throat beside her. She slowly opened her eyes, tilting her head to look into the eyes of the waiter beside her. She had to bite her tongue not to laugh at his stunned expression and quickly reddening cheeks.
"Sorry to bother you, I just wanted to know if you've decided what you'd like to order."
"Oh, sorry. I was just soaking up the sun and... hahaha," she laughed, smiling a bit sheepishly at the boy.
"No worries. I can come back in a few minutes if you'd like."
"Why don't you recommend a tea for me to try?" she asked, smiling angelically.
"Of course!" he smiled. "Our green tea is harvested locally and is very popular with our customers."
"I definitely have to try it now that I'm just passing through!"
"Are you visiting the city?"
"Yes. I live in the next village over."
"In Fuse?"
"Yes. Have you been there before?" she asked, trying to sound genuinely interested.
"Last time was a couple of years ago. I went to an onsen, the one on the outskirts."
Seina and Jun—his name, as it turned out—chatted for about 15 minutes before the other waiter called him inside. They were mid-conversation, but Seina waved him off, saying she didn't want to get him in trouble. Smiling, Jun offered to show her the best spots in the city if she waited for him to finish work in half an hour. She accepted, smiling, and acted excited to see the city for the first time.
She paid for the tea without even trying to get it for free. There would be more chances later, and she didn't want him to think she was just using him. The plan was to have him pay for something else and then invite her to dinner or something like that. They walked slowly, with him pointing in different directions and explaining what there was to see. An hour later, they had wandered through part of a neighborhood browsing shops while chatting.
"Would you like to grab something to eat?" he asked, cheeks flushed and looking nervous.
"Sure!" Seina loosely hooked her arm around his. "To be honest, I'm starving. I was about to ask if you wanted to try that yakiniku place we saw."
"Really?"
Seina smiled and nodded. She didn't feel guilty about manipulating him, partly because she didn't want to hurt him and knew that, even if they never saw each other again, he'd be left with a sweet memory of a spontaneous date. They entered the restaurant and sat at a double table. They talked like old friends, though Seina turned it up a notch—smiling elegantly and casting the occasional shy glance, seducing him in the most innocent way possible. Jun seemed to swallow hard several times when their eyes met.
She picked up a small piece of meat and brought it to her mouth, chewing slowly while holding his gaze as he told a story. She licked her lips, trying not to laugh at how he lost the thread of the conversation, swallowed again, and turned red in the ears. She didn't push too hard, but even so, when they finished eating, he offered to pay for everything.
"What? That's not necessary," she waved her hand, though trying not to seem too stubborn.
"I insist. I invited you, and I wanted to show you my city. It's no problem."
Seina blinked at him as if considering it, then slowly nodded.
"Alright. If you insist… though next time, I'm paying."
Jun smiled and offered his arm, but she took his hand instead. Surprised but seemingly happy, he held her hand. She extracted all the information she could. She learned all his family members' names, how much he weighed, how tall he was, who his best friends were, how long he'd worked at the café, his schedule, his dreams for the future, the last movie he saw, the clothes he planned to buy, how many times he'd broken a leg, and his fear of being buried alive… She could've interrogated him for days and eventually known everything about him.
As night fell, after several hours sitting in a park, Seina invited him for a drink—insisting she would pay this time since she was now the one inviting him. Jun, looking pleased, accepted but joked that he'd probably end up paying anyway.
"How long are you staying around here?" he asked while sipping his sake.
"Only until tomorrow morning," she sighed, pretending to be a bit sad.
Jun frowned, looking disappointed upon realizing she wasn't staying long. Seina shifted at the bar, crossing her legs the other way to have an excuse to rest one lightly against his. She glanced sideways to watch her bare knee touch his pants.
"But it's been amazing meeting you," she smiled, leaning the tiniest bit toward him and meeting his eyes with a soft sparkle.
He leaned in too.
"I can't believe I won't see you again after tomorrow, Yuri," he sighed, using her fake name.
Seina reached out, placing a hand on his thigh and giving his knee a small, comforting squeeze. When Jun took her hand and stroked it, she knew she had him. A faint blush appeared on her cheeks as she opened her fingers to receive his caress.
"I know I shouldn't ask, but... would you like to stay with me tonight?" he asked, clearly nervous.
Seina looked vaguely surprised, blinking, but then nodded shyly. They left the place after he paid for the drinks without a second thought. She crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow like she was stunned by his boldness. He laughed and slipped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. They walked slowly to his house. Seina knew they were being followed, as they had been for hours, so she avoided looking back.
As soon as they arrived, she gave him a seductive kiss on the cheek and asked to use the bathroom. She left the door slightly ajar, used her invisibility bracelet, and slipped back out. She knocked him unconscious with a stupefy. She ruffled the sheets to make it look like they'd had sex, placed him in bed naked, sprayed a bit of her perfume on the pillows and sheets, wrote a note pretending she had left the next morning, and then implanted a new memory in his mind so he'd believe they had spent a few hours together.
It wasn't the same as the truth, but she wasn't going to cheat on Kakashi—and besides, she was only thirteen. She left after casting a spell to make him sleep for the next eight hours. Then she transformed her dress, her bag, her hair, and her shoes so no one could recognize her. It took her a few minutes to get to the hotel, and minutes later, Jiraiya and the others arrived.
Naruto's face was priceless. He looked somewhere between impressed and horrified. Sasuke looked at her with a poker face, but she caught the amusement in his black eyes and his raised eyebrow. The pervert, however, was in disbelief.
"Who taught you how to do all that?" he asked the moment the door closed behind him. "You're only thirteen! Minato is going to kill me."
"I'm very smart."
Sasuke stifled a laugh that Naruto couldn't hold back.
"Well, I have to admit, you did incredibly well," Jiraiya looked at her with a raised brow. "If you'd been more aggressive, you might've gotten the intel faster, but it only took you about nine hours, so not bad."
"If I'd been more aggressive, he wouldn't have gone along with it," she rolled her eyes. "Maybe if we had met tonight instead."
"Mmm… You might be right. I liked the touch of having an excuse to disappear without raising suspicion."
"Thanks."
"Alright, you two. What can you tell me about what Seina did this afternoon?"
"Hn. She chose someone young, inexperienced, and of the opposite sex," Sasuke began, crossing his arms. "She changed her appearance to look young, easily manipulated, and attractive."
"Okay, now you, Naruto."
"... She manipulated Jun by pretending to be someone in need."
"What do you mean?"
"She told him she was just passing through, that she hadn't seen the city before, and that made Jun offer to show her around, giving her more time to… seduce him."
"Not bad, knucklehead. What you're trying to say is that Seina created a need so Jun could fulfil it, making him feel good for knowing something she supposedly didn't. People like to feel needed. They like to feel like they know more about something—it makes them feel useful. What else?"
They spent some time analysing her strategy of the young, innocent girl who had fallen under the masculine charm of her victim.
The next day, it was Sasuke's turn. Seeing what she had done gave him a pretty good idea of what he needed to do. He used a henge to appear older and changed into casual street clothes to blend in. Naruto, Jiraiya, and Seina followed him from the rooftops.
"Is this what you guys did yesterday?" She asked, suppressing a laugh as Sasuke walked into a baby clothing store.
"What the hell is he doing?"
Seina watched, slightly open-mouthed, as Sasuke began searching the store with a visibly worried expression. A shop assistant approached after eyeing his butt for several seconds.
"Excuse me, can I help you with something?"
"Yes. I'm looking for a gift for my sister's newborn," Sasuke said, running a hand through his hair like he was overwhelmed. "The problem is I don't know what to buy. Can you help me?"
The girl followed his gesture with a hungry expression. Just from that, Seina knew Sasuke had been luckier than she was in picking his target. The shop assistant seemed far bolder than Jun. She knew that if Sasuke played it right, he'd have her eating out of his hand in minutes with his act of the worried young uncle shopping for a baby.
"He's so clever," she hissed with a smile.
"Huh?"
"Shut up and watch, Naruto," Jiraiya said, silently agreeing.
The three of them watched as the girl got dangerously close to Sasuke, placing a hand on his arm innocently to guide him to another section. It was obvious she thought she was the one seducing her customer—not the other way around. Sasuke took exactly three hours to learn everything he wanted about the girl and even got invited to her place for dinner that night.
When he returned, his face was a mix of triumph and disgust.
"I can't believe you only took a few hours!" Naruto exclaimed as they all entered the room.
"That's because Sasuke had a brilliant idea, using a woman's maternal instinct, and he also had a good eye when picking a target who clearly wanted to sleep with him," Jiraiya explained. "If it had been someone else, it might've taken longer. In fact, you barely had to do anything, considering how interested she was."
"Hn. I completed the mission just like you asked," Sasuke smirked arrogantly.
"Not so fast, cowboy," Jiraiya chuckled. "This is just the very beginning of seduction arts. I didn't even assign the targets—you just picked the easiest ones. Especially you, Sasuke. Seina, at least, put more work into showing off her seductive skills. Now it's Naruto's turn."
"I wouldn't miss this for the world," Sasuke laughed, grinning at Naruto's worried expression.
Since it was still early—not even dark yet—Naruto had to start his turn right away. He went into the bathroom to change clothes and use a henge, looking like a man marching to his doom. He came out looking a few years older, with altered features like the others, and wearing black capri pants and a sky-blue short-sleeved shirt that matched his eyes. Seina felt proud that her brother had learned a bit from her about colour coordination. She didn't want to imagine what he might've worn otherwise.
But as soon as they hit the street, Seina realized Naruto was very green when it came to "seduction."
"Want to bet someone slaps him?" Sasuke whispered.
Watching Naruto sweat as he entered the bar and scanned the clientele, Seina didn't take the bet. She wasn't that reckless. In the end, Naruto decided that a woman sitting alone at the bar was the perfect prey. Seina barely kept from cringing when he failed to notice the most obvious sign. She was checking her watch.
Naruto sat next to her silently and ordered a drink.
"Did your boyfriend stand you up?" he asked, almost genuinely, leaning toward her.
The woman looked up from her watch with mild surprise.
"No."
"My name is Jun," Seina barely stifled a laugh.
"Mei."
"Nice to meet you," her brother smiled.
Then, another woman arrived, running and out of breath.
"Sorry, sorry! You know how my mother is!" she apologized.
"I know."
Mei smiled, completely forgetting about Naruto and leaning in to accept a kiss from the stranger who, obviously, was her girlfriend. They left without another word. Beside her, Sasuke was suppressing a laugh, hiding his face at the horrified expression on Naruto's face. Seina heard a snort of laughter from Jiraiya, but he was more focused on scribbling something quickly in a small journal than laughing at her brother. Naruto sighed and went off in search of someone else to charm.
"Hey, baby," a voice called from behind her brother.
Naruto turned around slowly. Sasuke, Jiraiya, and Seina watched in silence as a man dressed as a woman looked him up and down with a hungry expression.
"Don't you feel like chatting for a while?" they winked at him.
"Huh. Y-yeah, sure," he stammered like a total rookie, face bright red.
"A drink, bartender!" the woman sang, raising a finger toward the bar. "You won't believe the day I've had today, baby."
Seina shook her head as she heard the new woman's rant, who was telling Naruto her life story like it was a therapy session, while her brother did absolutely nothing. Damn Naruto. He always had insane luck.
"...And I told him: next time you wear one of my thongs, you ball of lard, wash it after using it," sighed the self-proclaimed Sayuri. "People just don't listen to me! You see how much I suffer?!"
Naruto nodded, face completely blank. Sasuke, next to her, had been laughing silently for a while, clutching his ribs. Seina looked up at the starry night, realizing they'd been talking for nearly two hours. Well—Sayuri talked, and Naruto nodded. The funny part was that Naruto hadn't forgotten his mission, so he kept accepting drinks without actually drinking them while his "target" got more and more drunk.
Since Sayuri was very direct and had no filter, plus all the alcohol she was downing, she ended up spilling all her secrets. Naruto discreetly glanced at the other bar patrons.
"I'm just going to the bathroom. I'll be right back."
"I'll be waiting right here, baby," Sayuri slurred, her tongue heavy.
Naruto got up like nothing, and on his way to the bathroom, he bumped into someone and apologized. Seina saw that they'd stolen his wallet, which had been sticking out of his pocket, without him noticing. When he came out a few minutes later, he dropped the wallet on the floor without anyone noticing a thing.
"What the hell is he doing?" Sasuke asked, curiosity piqued, finally catching his breath.
"I'd say he figured out that the intriguing Sayuri has no intention of paying for the drinks," Jiraiya chuckled behind them. "And, apparently, neither does he."
"Huh."
The impressed sound from Sasuke made her smile.
"You're back!" they heard Sayuri say. "I thought you were going to leave me, like everyone does."
"I'm a man of my word. I told you I'd be back."
"That's true."
Seina was starting to feel impressed too. Naruto seemed to be getting the hang of this whole seduction thing because he offered to pay for the drinks before she even brought up the bar tab. Then he offered to walk her home, holding Sayuri by the waist without touching her inappropriately.
"If I weren't so drunk and didn't know I'm going to pass out the second I hit the mattress, I'd invite you in," she said, more lucid than before.
"I'd rather you were sober… next time," he replied, looking into her eyes seductively.
"God, where did you come from, and why are you so stupidly perfect?"
She leaned in to kiss Naruto, but he put a finger on her lips.
"Save it for when I know you won't be able to forget it. See you soon."
He kissed her on the cheek and turned around. Sasuke and Seina exchanged impressed and surprised looks as they watched Naruto, against all odds, successfully seduce someone—even if it was far from conventional. Jiraiya snapped his notebook shut with a pervy grin. She didn't even want to imagine what that pervert was thinking.
"Ew."
They followed Naruto back to the hotel. As soon as they shut the door behind them, Naruto started grinning from ear to ear.
"I think I'm starting to get what this is all about."
"Before or after the first woman dumped you for another woman?" Sasuke teased.
"Hey!"
Sasuke didn't dodge the pillow and let it hit him in the face, snorting a laugh.
"I have to admit, I'm impressed, Naruto. I thought you'd bail the first chance you got, but you actually managed to win Sayuri over in the end. And nice thinking with stealing someone else's money to pretend you were paying," Jiraiya praised.
She listened as Jiraiya lectured her brother, who was clearly the most innocent of them all, giving him tips for next time.
"Unfortunately, we'll have to pause training for now, since my informant arrives tomorrow afternoon. You guys can either stay in the village and take a break, or head to the outskirts with the tent."
They exchanged glances.
"How long will you be this time?" Sasuke asked.
"Who knows. Maybe a couple of days. Three, max."
"And who's paying for our room?" she raised an eyebrow.
"...You?"
"I'd rather go back to the forest. It's free."
"Cheapskates!" Jiraiya exclaimed when he saw Naruto and Sasuke nodding in agreement.
"...And this is coming from the man who once asked a 12-year-old girl for money to pay prostitutes—in the middle of a mission," she muttered, rolling her eyes.
They headed to the outskirts, choosing a hidden place to pitch their tent under magical barriers, near a clearing where they could train. They resumed their usual routine, laughing about everything that had happened in the village—which she wrote to Kakashi about in full detail, even though he still hadn't replied after his first, and only, letter.
November passed, then December, and January arrived. Time passed slowly, but inexorably. Routine took over in such a way that the weeks felt like carbon copies of one another. The shorter days and growing cold were the only reminders that time kept moving. She didn't mind. It meant it was getting closer to the day they could return to Konoha.