Lost Chapter 25
The final two days passed in a flurry of training and activities. Minato wasn't seen much, but all three boys knew what he got like when he saw a seal he had never encountered before, especially if it was a dangerous seal, like the one on the Uchiha.
When he was around, however, he made sure to show that boys that he loved them and to keep up to date on their training. The boys were working hard. They did not want to disappoint Minato by losing when they knew they could win against most of the others that were competing.
Finally though, the day was here. Only seven teams had made it. Six Konoha teams and the Suna team. The sixth Konoha team had just come in that morning and consisted of three older genin. It was almost noon now and all of the remaining genin were standing on a balcony around a large training ground. They were all waiting and watch a large timer count down to zero. As the clock hit zero, the Hokage and several other people appeared, two of them being the proctors for the first two tests.
"Hello and Welcome." He explained the purpose of the second test, Harry had already explained it to his team,to all of the other genin who hadn't understood it, and he launched a surprise. "While I am happy to see that so many have made it, I am also regretful. Due to so many making it, there is now going to have to be a preliminary round." So many people started yelling when he said that. Team Arashi was proud to say that they were not among the fools. The hokage waited a few moments for the news to die down before he continued, only to be interrupted by a jonin who had just arrived.
"Pardon me, Hokage-sama, but I believe it would be best if I explained this, being the proctor of the third exam." The Hokage nodded and the jonin introduced himself.
"I am Hayate Gekko and I will now explain the rules to you. This is a single elimination round. One fight at a time, each fight will stop when I tell it to, and no harming the audience members. After the fights, the winners will draw numbers to see who they will face in the final match. From here on out, this is no longer a team competition. Any teams who have somebody that wants to drop out will not be penalized." He took a breath.
"Are there any who wish to leave the competition at this point?" Three hands went up. Sakura Haruno, the guy with silver hair on the older genin team, and Shikamaru Nara.
"Alright then. We will begin." Names began to flash on the board before they finally slowed down.
The first fight was Neji Hyuuga vs. Gaara Subaku.
/
Harry sighed as he collapsed into his comfortable bed at Minato's family home in Konoha. The fights had been rough.
Neji had been critically injured by the redheaded Suna kid, the Uchiha had gone insane when the seal on him had activated, so both him and Lee Rock were out, Naruto had easily beaten his opponent, a kid who could suck chakra out of people, and Neville had gone up against Sai, the kid who drew a lot, and had narrowly pulled of a win.
Harry had ended up fighting Kiba, so Kiba was also out of the competition now. The other two Suna teammates had won their fights too. The girl from Team Nine, Tenten, was out, and Hinata Hyuuga had also lost. The kid that could produce bugs, Shino Aburame, had won his fight against a kid who could stretch his body like rubber. A knock at the door interrupted Harry's train of thought.
"Hey Harry, you still awake?" Harry sat up and put his glasses on.
"Come in, Dad." Minato pushed open the door and smiled at his adopted son.
"Sorry to come in so late kiddo. I spoke to the other two first." Harry raised an eyebrow.
"You know that there is a month between the first and second rounds." Harry nodded.
"And you won't be able to train us will you, Dad?" Minato looked surprised for a moment.
"No, you are right. I won't. I will be busy preparing to take the Hokage position once more. Besides that, you three stand a strong chance of going against each other. I do not want to show you all any favoritism." Harry nodded.
"So who will be training us?" Minato sighed.
"I will be having Naruto trained by his godfather, Jiraiya, Neville is being trained by Tsunade, but I cannot find someone who would be good for training you." Harry sighed.
"It's alright Dad, I can learn on my own." Minato shook his head.
"It isn't fair to you-" Harry interrupted his dad.
"If you allow me into the library and I get thirty minutes of your time every night, it will be enough. Dad, I don't have to win. I just have to beat the ones who are not Nev or Naru." Minato smiled.
"That's my son. I love you Harry, don't ever forget that." Minato kissed Harry's head and gave the pre-teen a hug.
"Good night, Harry. I will see you at breakfast in the morning." Harry smiled.
"Good night, Dad. I love you."
/
Harry woke bright and early and was greeted in the hall by his brother.
"Hey Naru, where's Nev?" Naru shrugged, Harry could still see wisps of sleep in his eyes.
"Okay then…" Harry went downstairs to the kitchen and saw that both Nev and his Dad were already there.
"Good Morning!" Neville grunted, but Minato replied in a cheerful voice.
"Have you seen Naruto yet Harry?" Harry sat down next to Nev and across from Minato.
"Yeah, he was just getting up when I left my room." Minato nodded and passed Harry a plate of food.
"He should be done soon then. Good, I wanted to make an early start today." Harry looked up and heard a muffled yawn come from the stairs.
"Here he comes Dad." Naruto shuffled into the kitchen like a zombie and flopped into the only remaining chair.
"Hey Naru." The blond boy groaned and Harry smiled. One would think that after getting up early for so long, Naruto would get used to it, but the zombie-like state was a normal thing. Harry was the early bird. He did not mind getting up early. Neville was also still falling asleep into his own breakfast before Harry nudged him.
"H-what?" Minato laughed as Neville snorted and sat up higher.
"Harry. When did you get down here?" Harry smirked at Nev.
"Oh, I don't know, about fifteen minutes ago?" Neville frowned.
"Did I fall asleep again?" Harry laughed, soon followed by Minato. Neville and Naruto just blinked at the pair in confusion.
"What's so funny?" Harry and Minato just laughed harder.
/
Harry was still snickering every time he looked at Neville, even now, two hours later. The group was headed to a hidden training ground for Neville and Naruto to meet their temporary senseis. Minato had also explained what Harry was going to be doing in the month. The other two had taken it pretty well, there hadn't been any complaint, and the other two were actually giving Harry pitying glances as they walked.
The training ground was empty when they arrived, but Minato didn't seem very surprised.
"They will be here at noon. For now, I want to see you all doing your regular warm-ups." The trio nodded and set about doing their usual exercises. They generally consisted of running a lot of laps, a lot of push-ups, some chakra control, and some strength training. It was about half an hour's worth of work. When they were done, Minato called the three back together again.
"Now, I know we have worked on some elemental training before, it was necessary for the jutsus you three needed to learn. What I will teach you all this month is how to find your secondary elements and get them to work for you." Naruto cheered as Minato held out a piece of paper to each of them.
"You know what to do!" They each channeled chakra into the paper and were unsurprised. The results were almost the same as the last time they had tried it, only instead of focusing on the main element, they focused on what else was happening with the paper. In addition to splitting down the middle, Naruto's paper began to get wet around the edges, Harry's began to crinkle in addition to being wet in the middle, and Neville's started smoldering around the edges in addition to turning into dust.
"Well, that's interesting. Between the three of you, we have all five elements. Harry, your secondary is Lightning, Naruto's is water, and Neville's is Fire." He then handed the three of them a leaf each.
"Naruto, you are going to try and soak this using pure chakra. Harry, you are trying to cause yours to crinkle like the paper, and Neville, you are trying to get yours to burst into flame." The trio sighed. That was the most exasperating step of learning their primary element.
"Remember, the faster you learn it…" The boys finished the sentence.
"The faster we move on." They sighed and began to move away from each other.
"Correct. I'll pull you back together in an hour or so to check on your progress." The boys sighed and began attempting to use the respective elements they had. It was a long and frustrating road and they knew it.
/
The sun was nearing the middle of the sky as Minato pulled the group back together. Naruto triumphantly displayed a slightly damp leaf, while the other two had nothing yet.
"Good work! I honestly did not expect any of you to get anything today." Naruto beamed and Harry grinned at Neville, who was slightly discouraged.
"Don't worry Neville, it's just as hard as learning your main element." Neville groaned and a loud, booming laugh came from behind them.
"Hello Jiraiya." The toad sannin appeared in large burst of smoke. Naruto coughed and waved a hand in front of his face while Neville and Harry stepped back a little.
"Arashi! To what do I owe the pleasure!" Minato raised an eyebrow, not that anyone could see it, as he was wearing his mask.
"You know why Jiraiya. Naruto, this is Jiraiya. He is going to be training you this month. Jiraiya, I don't want you lazing around. I expect my student to actually learn something." Jiraiya sighed.
"Alright." Jiraiya grimaced and Naruto sighed.
"See you guys…" Harry waved cheerfully and didn't regret the decision of self study one bit. Nevill waved a little more reluctantly. If that was what Naruto's sensei was like, than what was his own going to be like? A drunk old woman with life problems?
"Erm, hello?" A young, dark haired woman had appeared at the edge of the training ground. She was holding a pig and appeared to be nervous.
"Hello!" Minato had turned to face the girl and she seemed to become even more nervous than before.
"My name is Shizune, I am Lady Tsunade's assistant. This is Tonton." The pig snorted. "I have been sent to collect Nev?" She sounded confused about his name.
"Yes," Nev stepped forward. "Why didn't Tsunade come herself?" Minato's voice was getting harsher with every syllable.
"S-she has a patient, it w-was an emergency." Minato stepped back and the poor girl's trembling stopped.
"Alright. Tell her that I expect reports on his progress." Shizune nodded and Nev followed her out of the training ground. When they were gone, Minato turned to Harry.
"Do you want to come to the Tower with me or would you rather head straight to the library?" Harry thought about it for a minute.
"Would Jiji be there?" Minato smiled.
"He would." Harry smiled.
"I'll go with you. It's been awhile since it was just you and I." Minato nodded and the two set off.
/
"So how did your first day of training go?" Naruto looked up from where he was mutilating his dinner and glared. Neville sighed.
"I didn't even see the lady who was supposed to be training me. Apparently, after getting done with her patient, she went and got drunk." Minato raised an eyebrow.
"My stupid sensei spent the entire lesson perving on a hot spring while he forced me to work on my elemental training." Naruto looked up at the end of his sentence as the KI from his father grew to a more noticeable level. Before any of the trio could say anything, Minato was out of his seat and gone in his signature yellow flash. Seconds later, an explosion echoed from outside and the boys rushed to the window.
Minato had completely obliterated a training ground near their house. It was not that close, however. It was the nearest training ground outside of their family compound.
"Whoa." Naruto and Harry looked at Neville.
"You think that's crazy? We've seen him cause more damage." The two helped Neville shut his mouth before they stood and hurried outside. The training ground was only seconds away, but by the time they got there, there was a crowd of people staring at the middle of the ground. Naruto and Harry shoved through the crowd and Neville followed in their wake.
"Dad!" Naruto rushed out onto the field before Harry could stop him. With a sigh, Harry and Neville followed Naruto.
"Dad! Are you okay?" His dad was on his hands and knees in the middle of a several meter wide crater. There was blood dripping from his fists. Naruto's eyes were wide.
"Dad…" Harry landed beside Naruto. "You're not wearing your mask…" Neville hit the dirt beside Harry and touched Naruto's shoulder.
"Dad?" Naruto stepped forward and touched his dad on the shoulder. Blazing blue eyes connected with worried blues.
"Naruto… Harry, Neville. I'm sorry. I was losing control and I couldn't hurt you." Harry knelt before his father and put his arms around him.
"It's okay… but you get to explain this." Harry waved a hand around to demonstrate the amount of people staring at him.
"Oops. I guess that cat is out of the bag." Naruto laughed and Minato stood.
"Er… well… How should I explain this one." He rubbed the back of his head before his posture suddenly changed. Behind him, his team snapped to attention and moved into a tri-formation with Naruto at the point.
"Yes, you are looking at who you think you are. I did not die." He paused. "Nobody here is to say anything. Don't worry, it won't be a secret for long. I am having it announced at the very end of the Chunin Exams. For now, nobody else is to know. Is that clear?" Many of the ninja there saluted and vanished. Two people did not.
"Jiraiya, Hiruzen." The aged Hokage grinned at his young successor.
"You sure picked a way to come back, Minato." Minato rubbed the back of his head.
"It wasn't planned. I lost control of myself when my son told me about his first day of training." He fixed Jiraiya with a sharp glare.
"Speaking of which. Jiraiya." The toad sannin shrunk in on himself as if trying to make himself smaller.
"You are a fool and I highly regret thinking I could trust you with my son's training. You have one chance remaining. Teach him, or lose him." Behind Minato, Naruto was looking between his dad and his temporary sensei.
"Dad rocks…" Naruto nodded to his brother without taking his eyes off of what was happening in front of him.
"Definitely…" Neville agreed with Harry, his eyes also glued to the scene.
"Naruto!" The blond snapped to attention under the direction of his father's voice.
"Come here. I would like to formally introduce you to someone. I know you already know him, but this is Jiraiya. I think I was drunk when I made him your godfather." Naruto smiled as his dad put a hand on his shoulder.
"You were named for a character in his only non-perverted book." Jiraiya struck a pose. Naruto raised an eyebrow.
"He writes books?" Minato laughed.
"Not really. He writes smut. Not actual literature." Jiraiya fell on his face and started crying. Next to him, the Hokage was almost on the ground laughing. Harry and Neville had no such decorum and had hit the dirt a while ago.
"If he doesn't lose his chance, he will teach you some important things. And no, Jiraiya, those things do not include how to spy on girls." Jiraiya sighed.
"Yes. I need him tomorrow morning at six am." Minato raised an eyebrow.
"No Kyuubi." Jiraiya nodded and raised a hand to his heart in a very sarcastic swear.
"I promise." Minato nodded.
"Alright then." Without warning, he landed a kick in Jiraiya's groin. Jiraiya vanished into a puff of smoke.
"Knew it was a shadow clone." The Sandaime smirked.
"He had it coming anyways." Minato nodded.
"Yes. Boys! It's time for bed. You're all getting up at five." Naruto and Neville groaned. Harry just sighed.
"Yes, Dad." Neville didn't answer yet, he was still too busy staring at Minato.
"Your hands…" Minato glanced down at his hands and rubbed dried blood from his knuckles. They were completely healed.
"Oh, I forgot." Minato wiped the rest of the blood off of his hands. "It's fine." Neville shook his head.
"O-okay. Goodnight, sensei." He turned and followed the paths of his teammates, vanishing in seconds.
"So Minato, triumphant return indeed. Now you have to come back!" The Sandaime cackled and rubbed his hands together.
"I know, I know. At least the office isn't nearly as crazy as it was when I 'died'" He used finger quotes and the Sandaime burst into laughter.
"It's nice to have you back…" Minato laughed.
"You just want out of the paperwork." The Sandaime laughed, but he didn't deny it.
"I can't wait for the next few weeks…"