This fanfic is dedicated to 'Sara-Beara-Pumpkin' and 'bunnygirl64' for your helpful instantaneous reviews of 'The Cure for Nightmares. The fanfic was on the site less than a day before I got your emails, thanks so much! My friends don't believe me when I tell them Americans are brilliant, now I have proof! :D
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I do own my OC: Toshiro Hyuuga. Besides him, all credit goes to Mashashi Kishimoto-sama, and his ability to think up a new unforeseen plot point/deus-ex-machina every five minutes!
Chapter 1: Of Leaf and Rain.
'Jiraiya-sensei' began Toshiro for the umpteenth time that afternoon 'are we there yet?' Jiraiya rolled his eyes skyward and chuckled heartily, patting his student on the head, before thoroughly roughing up the boy's jet black hair. The Sanin was spared the necessity of replying to Toshiro's comment when the latter received a rather hard punch in the arm from the irate Kunoichi next to him.
'Oww, Kushina? What the heck was that for?'
'Toshiro Hyuuga, how many times have I told you to stop asking stupid questions?' snarled Kushina at her team mate. Jiraiya made a mental note to never...ever annoy an Uzumaki, especially not a female one. 'I thought your clan didn't raise morons?' she finished with a contemptuous pout. At this point, Jiraiya interjected himself, rather than have to listen to his squad bicker themselves half to death.
'Alright, Jeez, settle down!' He huffed, forcing himself in between the two genin, 'Kushina, you'll have plenty of opportunity to vent your incredible levels of aggression out when we get to Ame.' As the red-haired Kunoichi nodded glumly, fists unfurling into her usual gentle hands, the sage rounded on the other offender; 'And Toshiro, if you want to know exactly how far we are away, you could always use your Byakugan, rather than ask again and have Kushina beat you to death.' Toshiro turned pink and nodded in embarrassment, falling into a slow step with Kushina and mumbling an incoherent apology that carried itself away on the wind.
The matter settled; Jiraiya turned his thoughts to their destination. It had been more than five years since he had last seen the Hidden Rain Village, Five years since he had said goodbye to Yahiko, Nagato and Konan. The toad sage mused on whether he'd see his students again, or what the reunion would be like. He allowed himself a private chuckle as he imagined Yahiko screwing up his face and pretending he wasn't interested, his eyes completely giving away just how much he wanted to bear hug his old teacher. He thought of gentle Konan, who would create a bunch of beautiful origami flowers from nothing, a spectacle worthy of the greatest of artists, and she'd be modest as hell and claim it wasn't anything special, smiling that soft, precious smile of hers. But it was Nagato who was at the forefront of Jiraiya's mind as his feet carried him towards the place he had called home for several years. Nagato, the boy had such amazing talent at everything he turned a hand to trying, an instant aptitude for everything and anything, in some cases more so than Jiraiya himself. The boy who held all that potential, and still hid an abundance of insecurities. Nagato would probably knock Yahiko over in his rush to embrace Jiraiya, not caring about the ginger boy rolling around in the mud behind him, spouting profanity, like a foul mouthed hyena. Jiraiya didn't often let himself get washed away in memory, but the orphans of the hidden rain, that was the exception to the rule.
'Jiraiya sensei, Minato-kun is on his way back.'
The sage was snapped out of his revere by Toshiro once again. The latest Hyuuga genin was, judging by the pronounced veins on his temples, in full Byakugan mode, tracing the final member of Team Jiraiya.
'How long until he gets back?' inquired the Sanin, cocking an eyebrow.
Toshiro grinned 'Three seconds.'
True to form, Minato appeared out of nowhere precisely 2.9 seconds later next to Jiraiya. The blonde genin ruffled his unruly hair, and high-fived Toshiro, before turning to his teacher, beaming like a five year old at Christmas.
'You can see the Hidden Rain from atop the next hill Sensei; we should be there by Sundown.' Reported Minato, somewhat breathless, His newly invented 'Flying Thunder God' technique having taken quite a strain on him. Kushina rolled her eyes and muttered something that sounded distinctly, to Jiraiya's honed ears, like 'that's what you get for showing off'
Minato had clearly not heard this comment and winked saucily at Kushina, earning himself a punch in the shoulder from the hair-trigger Kunoichi.
'Good Work Minato.' Interjected Jiraiya, not wanting a repeat of Kushina's incident with Toshiro. The Jonin patted his foremost pupil on the head and spurred his squad forwards, Minato jogging ten paces ahead of everyone in excitement. Had it been any other person, Jiraiya would have advised they slow down and save their energy for what was to come, not Minato however. This particular genin either had the worst case of ADHD known to mankind, or he was just permanently buzzed about something. He never stopped moving, and never ran out of energy! Jiraiya permitted himself a smile at just how much Minato reminded him of himself. The Sanin had no doubt that his pupil could sprint to the Hidden Rain from anywhere in the world, and still be able to take the upcoming event in his stride.
'Come on Slowcoaches!' called the aforementioned blonde ninja, 'We've got a Chunin exam to get to!'
'Yahiko, catching your death of cold does NOT constitute preparing for the Chunin Exam!' chuckled Konan, as she placed a towel around her teammate's soaked shoulders. She had caught the ginger shinobi practiscing his kendo techniques on the roof of their apartment building, the rain had been torrential, bad even by Amegakure's standards. Yahiko murmured a reply, doing his utmost to stop his teeth chattering.
'W-w-we're rain n-n-ninja, we should b-b-be used to this...'
Konan hushed him, placing her left forefinger on his lips, giggling inwardly as she watched his face go redder than Nagato's hair at her soft touch.
'You're also human, and not immune to the effects of bad weather,' he turned his head away and sulked. She put an arm around his shoulder's and pulled him close to her, whispering in his ear; her voice soft and reassuring, like an early spring breeze at the end of winter.
'One day, you'll be the god that our country needs Yahiko,' she couldn't see his face, but she could feel the muscles in his cheek relax against her, as his frown softened. 'Until then, try not to be your usual idiotic self.' She felt the vibrations against her face a moment faster than she heard his light-hearted chuckle. She untangled her arm from around him and looked him in the eyes, deep blue, like the rain she'd found him in.
'You always know how to solve my problems Konan.' There was so much else he wanted to tell her, but now was not the time. Especially since Yahiko could feel Nagato's chakra approaching from down the corridor. Yahiko had just enough time to pick himself up off of the floor and rub his hair quickly with the towel, before their scarlet haired friend entered the bedroom.
Konan was the first to pick up that something was wrong. Nagato's Rinnegan eyes could seem cold and haughty to those who did not know him well. Only Konan, and to a slightly lesser extent Yahiko could really see the emotion within the swirling violet rings. Something was clearly troubling their comrade, his eyes seemed heavy lidded, like he he'd been awake most of the night, and they were slightly glassy, indicating something was at the forefront of his mind and consciousness.
'Nagato? What's the matter?' said Konan, taking the Shinobi's hands in her own, snapping Nagato out of his reviere.
'I keep getting this feeling...' he began, unsteadily. His voice trembling, utterly out of character with his usual calm self, 'I keep getting these flashes of approaching chakra, so familiar...' he trailed off, and Konan had to shake him a little to bring him back to the present. Taking a breath, he carried on.
'I keep telling myself it's nothing, and I'm just sensing the other Ninja coming here for the Chunin exam, basically that my mind's playing tricks on me...but this last flash, was so close it practically burned. I can't be imagining it this time, I just can't! It's him...' Nagato whispered the last syllable so quietly that his friends had trouble hearing it, even from only a few paces away.
'Nagato, who is it?' Inquired Yahiko, his hand on the hilt of his sword, drawing it an inch from its hilt, ready to leap into action if the enemy were close. The trio were no strangers to attack, and neither was Yahiko's favourite weapon. The ginger Shinobi was always prepared to be attacked, it came from living rough for so many years. Rarely did anything good give his best friend such a shock, and more often than not, such things made them fight their way out of a tight corner, usually outnumbered. But Nagato's words made Yahiko's grip go numb.
'Jiraiya sensei...he's coming back...'
Alright, chapter 1 finished. Chapter 2 will cover the reunion of Jiraiya with his students, and the meeting of the two squads, but as to the challenges of the Chunin exam itself, that's where I need your input, to stave off my writers block, rest assured I have a few good ideas up my creative sleeves though, I'm not a total idiot, just a 60% idiot :D
Please, please, please review, and share your ideas with me!