AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry that I haven't been online in a LONG time, as school has been kicking my butt recently. I can't wait to graduate in June. Although I've been busy, the recent storm and rain have cost us a whole week of school, giving me plenty of time to write this new chapter. As always, PLEASE read and review, as your input helps me know what direction to take this story. Thanks, and enjoy...
Dear diary,
It's been a while, I'm just getting a chance to write things down. I would have never been truly prepared for what went down at the Chuunin Exam Tournament...
First off, I got there early, of course. When you're the son of the Toad Sage Sannin, you learn a thing or two about stealthily getting from one place to another with rapid speed. Just as this blundering blonde kid was running into the arena, I had taken a seat on the walls. Keeping the flow of my chakra to a very minimum, I maintained my Transparency Jutsu.
The blonde kid, whom was later revealed to be that father-stealer, Naruto Uzumaki, soundly whipped the pretentious Hyuuga boy in a surprising upset. The crowd went wild for the knuckle-head's antics, and I had to admit, he had an admirable flare to his fighting style. I can't wait to kick his butt into next week, I thought. Next up was some boring kid with no real motivation, and he won, too. It seems these Leaf ninja do nothing but pull surprising victories from their butts. Soon, though, the audience was cheering for an "Uchiha" to come out, and to fight. It had apparently been the most anticipated match all day.
After what seemed like the beginnings of a riot, the Uchiha boy came into the arena, with his silver-haired Sensei. From the first glance at the two of them, I knew I'd absolutely despise them. They both had an air of natural talent, and the raven-haired brat looked to care little for those not born with such innate skill as his own.
I watched the boy, whom I now recognized as the "Sasuke" everyone had been talking about, begin his spar with a red-haired kid from the Sand Village. No, there's a true Uzumaki, not that dumb blonde who stumbles into his victories.
Long story short, all Hell ensued. The fight came down to the wire very quickly, with Sasuke's lightning attacks shooting everywhere. Then, out of nowhere, the village exploded into fighting, as this giant, black snake creature ran amok through the village. Wasting little time to stay at the arena, I followed the sounds of kunai and screams of children, until I was in the center of town. I couldn't believe my eyes.
"BEHOLD, THE GREAT TOAD SAGE, JIRAIYA! TREMBLE BEFORE HIS AWESOMENESS!", came the absurd shout from atop a large, green frog wielding dual katanas. It was Dad, here to clean up whatever obvious mess had been made.
Without missing a beat, I sprinted towards him, hopping from rooftop to rooftop, and dropped my Transparency. Anger boiling in my stomach, I jumped high, and landed on Dad's toad, which shook his footing and caused him to fall.
"Woah woah woah! Who did that? You messed up my grand entrance!" Dad looked around and saw his only son, an expression of wrath on his face. "Hime! How are you? Why are you all the way here, in Konoha?"
The din of battle all around us, and the sounds of men yelling for backup, I stared the old man in the eyes, challenging him for an answer. "Mom died. Surely you know that. It's the only reason I'd ever leave our village, our home." I emphasized the word "home", which brought a brief expression of guilt upon his face. "I came a long way here, to find you." A scream of pain was heard some distance away, as a ninja, probably a Chuunin, fell to his death from the roof of a building.
"I'm sorry, son." Some true sense of remorse fell on him, and Dad shed a single tear from his eye. His shoulders slumped forward in defeat, and he knew that he had made a mistake in abandoning his family.
I still couldn't believe my eyes and ears, and I had to check the flow of chakra around me to ensure that this wasn't a genjutsu. Here he was, the object of my hatred for months now. "Dad, I want you to know that I hate you, so much right now. I will continue hating you, and I will eventually get back at you for what you've done to Mom," I told him.
"Go ahead, Hime. Hate me. You've got the right." He wiped the tear from his cheek and fixed his expression with one of encouragement and put on the brightest smile I'd ever seen him wear. Suddenly, my body felt light and I was oddly happy, to see him smile. Dad looked at the battle raging onward, and said with a grin, "Go ahead, Hime. Hate me. We've got work to do here, though, so no whining. I might be your dad, but I won't coddle you. Let's beat the snot out of some Sound Ninja!" His voice rose above the clamor below, and the green frog beneath us groaned into action.
"Can you do any jutsu, other than that Transparency I taught you a long time ago," he asked, his eyes on the battle as the green frog fought with the huge snake monster. Dad took a deep breath, made a handsign, and breathed fire at the snake.
"I can do a couple Genjutsu," I admitted. His face gleamed with pride suddenly, and looked to his side at me, like I had done something spectacular. Red covered my face, as I realized what it was like to have my father back, and be the object of his praise. "I know the Cherry Blossom scent and the Hazy illusions."
"Good, good. Hime, my boy, I want you to use your Hazy no Genjutsu on all of the ninja with leopard-print scarves around their necks. They deserve it, anyways, for having such bad fashion taste." He chuckled at his own terrible joke, and I gave him a small smile. As soon as he had said this, the pale man riding the black snake spoke to Dad, and I couldn't quite make out what was being said. I comitted myself to casting the Genjutsu, one of such large proportions, I'd have to use almost all of my chakra.
So, first things first, I gathered my chakra within my belly, like dad always taught me to do, formed the necessary handsign. With my elbows flared out, and my fists together in front, palms facing towards me, I put my fists at my sternum, and closed my eyes. This jutsu supposedly required concentration. When I was ready, I released the energy inside me, with my target being the soldiers below us.
As soon as I had done so, an entire half of the human-shaped blobs down there fell to the ground, disoriented and confused out of their wits. None could stand, let alone fight, and the battle was just about finished. With a small chuckle, I fell down, and crumpled at Dad's feet. I'm tired, I'll just take a little nap..., I thought to myself, as I drifted off into a blackness, promising rest like I hadn't known for weeks.
