It was understandable that Karin Uzumaki didn't know how to cook.
"Let's clean up first." Tianming smiled and cast a minor Water Release jutsu to rinse out the smoke-filled kitchen, then tidied it up until it was back to normal.
"I'm sorry. I'm so useless," Karin Uzumaki said reproachfully. She realized that ever since she met Qingchuan Tianming, she had become useless.
"Don't say that. Take your time. If you don't know how, you can learn." Tianming comforted her and started to reach out to ruffle her hair, but stopped short, worried that the casual gesture might be rude.
Seeing his hand pause, Karin Uzumaki stepped forward, took it, and placed it on top of her head. "Did you want to touch my hair?"
"Uh..." Tianming felt awkward.
"It's fine. I'm willing to do anything you like," Karin Uzumaki said with complete sincerity.
"Ah, hahaha, that's good." Tianming pulled his hand back as fast as lightning and laughed awkwardly. "Let's make something to eat."
At the same time, Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno were on their way to Konoha Hospital.
Sakura Haruno walked extremely slowly, even stopping in front of shop windows along the street.
"Sakura, aren't we going to see Sasuke? Why don't we hurry up?" Naruto Uzumaki was clearly getting impatient.
If he hadn't been keeping Sakura Haruno company, the trip wouldn't have taken him even three minutes.
"I need to look my best when I see Sasuke. You wouldn't understand." Sakura Haruno adjusted the pink headband on her head in a mirror, then smiled in satisfaction. "I really am the prettiest kunoichi in Konoha. Let's go!"
The two leisurely made their way to Konoha Hospital, only to find Sasuke Uchiha's bed empty when they reached his room.
"Miss Nurse, where did the patient in this room go?" Naruto Uzumaki stopped a nurse nearby who was changing a dressing.
"Sasuke Uchiha? Someone took him out of the hospital last night. His discharge paperwork is posted on the door," the nurse said without looking back.
"He was discharged?" Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno both looked at the form on the door.
The signature read Kakashi Hatake.
"Kakashi-sensei took Sasuke away? That doesn't make sense!" Naruto Uzumaki was stunned. He had visited Sasuke at the hospital just yesterday, and Kakashi-sensei had still been sitting by his bedside.
Yet a day later, both of them had disappeared?
And their students, Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno, knew nothing about it?
"Where did they go? Do you think Qingchuan Tianming knows?" Sakura Haruno's mood immediately soured. She had put on a new headband especially to see Sasuke today.
"He probably doesn't. Tianming was summoned to the Konoha office yesterday. He wasn't with Kakashi-sensei," Naruto Uzumaki reasoned. "Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke probably went off on their own."
"Forget it. I'm leaving." Sakura Haruno's face fell, and she turned and left the hospital, ignoring Naruto's attempts to stop her.
"Sakura, wait for me!" Naruto Uzumaki chased her out of the hospital, but she was already nowhere to be seen.
Naruto Uzumaki sighed and decided to head home too. But just as he turned, he bumped into someone. The man stood so firmly that the collision sent Naruto flying.
"Ow, that hurts..." Naruto Uzumaki clutched his head and looked up to see a slender man wearing round sunglasses standing in front of him.
"Who are you, old man?"
"I am Ebisu! Kakashi-sensei asked me to teach you a few things. You're Naruto Uzumaki?" Ebisu asked with a lofty air.
"Ebisu?" Naruto Uzumaki was utterly confused. He had never heard that name at the Ninja Academy.
Still, after thinking it over, the man had no reason to use Kakashi Hatake's name just to mess with him. Since he couldn't find Kakashi-sensei, having another teacher train him wouldn't be bad, would it?
"All right, follow me." Ebisu turned and left, and Naruto Uzumaki had no choice but to follow.
They made their way to the northern side of Konoha. Unlike the dense woods to the south, streams flowed out of low mountain hollows here, collecting in pools of all sizes.
"Ebisu-sensei, did you bring me here for a bath?" Looking at the crystal-clear pools, Naruto Uzumaki couldn't imagine what kind of training they could do here.
"You won't be washing your feet. I'm going to teach you a whole new level of chakra control: walking on water!" With a light push of his toes, Ebisu landed gracefully on the water's surface.
Naruto Uzumaki was speechless.
Although he didn't understand what sort of training walking on water was supposed to be, Naruto Uzumaki said nothing. He simply gathered chakra beneath his feet and leaped onto the water.
But he had forgotten!
In the Forest of Death, Orochimaru had placed the Five Elements Seal on him, making his nine-tails chakra unusable, and Naruto Uzumaki's own chakra couldn't sustain him on the water.
Splash!
A simple plunge into the water brought Naruto Uzumaki's attempt to an end.
"Kid, pay attention and learn!" Ebisu said smugly.
Naruto Uzumaki swam back to shore and got ready to jump into the water again.
A transparent fishing line, nearly invisible to the naked eye, shot toward him from behind, wrapped around his waist, and pulled him back.
"Who's there?" Ebisu turned to look.
A short distance behind them, a man stood beside a pool with his back to them, his long white hair hanging loose.
The man turned around, the character for "oil" on his forehead particularly eye-catching.
"Oh, I am Jiraiya."
Before you continue