Author's note: I do not own Naruto or its characters. This is for the 30 Kisses challenge using list beta. This is slightly AU and set in the future. It also plays with the idea of reincarnation. Jiraiya is about two years older than Tsunade. Theme 24: Faith.

Keeping the Faith

Tsunade let out a deep sigh and went through the kata again. She was frustrated and nervous, and the fact that the chuunin exams were in less than a month did not help. Her teacher wasn't useless precisely. He just didn't care about her. Both of her teammates had bloodline specialties and most of their teacher's attention was focused on them. Tsunade was less noticeable for two reasons. She didn't have any sort of specialty, and while her father supported her ambitions to be a ninja, but her stepmother did not. And she had made that clear to just about everyone she met. She let out a cry of frustration, slamming her hand against the wall. Apparently, that was enough to attract some attention.

Someone took a hold of her wrist and turned her around. Tsunade blinked as she found herself face to face with one of the Hokage's sons. He seemed more interested in examining her knuckles for damage.

"You know, if you're going to hit poor defenseless walls, you might consider hitting them properly, so you don't hurt yourself." The boy flashed her a smile. "I'm Jiraiya by the way. So what did the poor wall do to you?"

She huffed and shook her bangs out of her eyes. "Nothing. I'm just frustrated. I'm never going to pass the exam."

"I doubt that." He studied her a moment. "From what I saw earlier, you're pretty good. You just need to stop hesitating. It's throwing you off."

Tsunade tilted her head to the side. "What do you mean?"

Jiraiya frowned at her. "When you go through a kata, you hesitate before the blow is supposed to land. Your teacher hasn't mentioned it to you?"

She snorted. "I doubt he'd notice unless it was about to get me killed. I don't have a bloodline specialty like my teammates, and most of the time it's like I don't exist."

He smiled at her. "Don't look so discouraged. Having a bloodline specialty isn't everything. Or as my dad would say 'inbred mutant freaks.' You have your own skills."

Well, that was the first she had heard about it. Jiraiya seemed to realize this.

"You have really great chakra control. Use that. Here." He turned her so she was facing away from him and slipped his hands over hers. "Relax, Hime. Just follow what I show you."

He walked her through the kata again. His hands over hers made it clear what he was talking about in regards to hesitation. There was a moment when she would have paused, but he kept her moving.

"See? You can do it. Just don't let them intimidate you. Half the battle is having faith in yourself. Heroes are the ones who are stupid enough to walk into a fight believing that they can win and then don't let their opponents convince them otherwise."

Tsunade couldn't help but laugh at that as she turned around. She grinned at him. "Thank you."

To her surprise, Jiraiya leaned down and kissed her nose. ""You will do just fine, Hime. Good luck and keep practicing."

She watched him walk away and tried to ignore the warm, fuzzy feeling that had taken up residence in her chest. Tsunade would have time to explore that after she passed the exam.