Naruto stared at Hayashi for a long while.
Finally, he couldn't hold back and murmured:
"Hayashi, your new hairstyle looks so nice..."
"Am I the first one to see it?"
Hayashi shook his head.
"Hayate-sensei and Yugao braided it for me, so of course they were the first to see it. Naruto, you really are-"
At the first half of that reply, Naruto seemed to lose all his energy, his head drooping.
Only after hearing the whole thing did he perk up again.
"All right! I knew it! I'm the first one to see it!"
Hayashi: "..."
Which half of that did this kid even hear?
No, Naruto wasn't listening at all. He was just waiting for the answer he wanted.
Hayashi decided not to call him out.
Naruto didn't notice Hayashi's exasperation at all. He simply nudged Jiraiya beside him.
"Pervy Sage, see? I told you Hayashi needed a good rest!"
"See? I was right!"
Jiraiya swayed under the nudges, looking dazed, and didn't answer Naruto.
He just took another look at Uzumaki Hayashi and couldn't help asking:
"Little girl, are you really that brat from yesterday?"
Little girl?
Hayashi's mouth twitched.
Yesterday I was a brat, and today I'm a little girl.
Did what Jiraiya called me depend entirely on my hairstyle?
Ignoring Hayashi's silent complaints, Jiraiya folded his arms and rubbed his chin with his thumb, musing:
"Does a hairstyle really make that much difference?"
"Maybe this sage should change his hairstyle too?"
"It doesn't matter what hairstyle you get, Pervy Sage..."
"What nonsense are you spouting, you brat!"
Jiraiya glared.
"With a new hairstyle, this sage might have thousands of girls swooning over him."
With that, Jiraiya started chuckling to himself.
"Pervy Sage, that laugh is so gross..."
"Hmm... Lord Jiraiya, perhaps you should stop peeping