If there was one thing that Hiashi Hyuga knew, it was that he was a man of many mistakes. He was so inclined to this belief, that if anyone were to tell him otherwise, he would think he was under a Genjutsu or something.
He let out an exhausted sigh as he looked over yet another piece of paper, regarding an incident between a Main and Side Branch member, resulting in the usage of the Caged Bird Seal.
A tradition that has been present for much of the Hyuga Clan's history. So much so that Hiashi himself didn't even know when the tradition started. And even the origins of who started it was still a mystery and any other theories and speculations from the books in the Hyuga's library was questionable at best.
No matter how much he wanted it gone, he couldn't help but keep resorting to use that damn mark against the Branch members. He was too engrossed in the teachings of his ancestors to go against them now. He would not like to be the one to face the risks of performing such a task.
So much hatred had built up between the Main and Side Branches, it was too late. And that hatred was starting to get to Hiashi.
He deep down knew that soon, something bad was going to happen. He had the feeling that the Side Branch would rebel, and that they would have to be exterminated. Of course, that would solve the problem of Branch houses.
However, that would essentially be recreating the Uchiha Clan massacre except on a smaller scale.
And that was one of his failures.
All of the hatred present in the Hyuga Clan. Of course, he couldn't blame himself for what has happened in the past of the clan's history. Such things were out of his control. But maybe he could have been able to change all of that. Unfortunately, he, like many others before him, did nothing.
After seeing how his eldest daughter was at the age of 3, he had a small bit of hope.
Hope that with some adjustments, Hinata would have been able to become an exceptional Head, putting an end to the hatred spewing out in the Hyuga Clan.
Of course, such hope was abandoned after seeing how shy, kind, and timid the girl was.
Perhaps, her timidness and dislike of confrontations could all lead back to him, her father. After all, being a father was completely foreign to him, even after being one for 13 years now.
Another mistake.
How he treated his daughters and hell even Neji's pessimistic outlook on fate can be traced back to him. Then, with his daughters, he constantly looked down on Hinata, belittling her and destroying what little self-esteem she had.
And Hanabi…
As of a result of how he treated Hinata, he pushed a big burden on his youngest child. She not only carried the burden of the Hyuga Clan, but her sister's failures as well. All of which, could lead back to him, once again.
If his wife was still here, in this compound, things could have been much different.
Third mistake.
His wife.
Before he could ponder on the rest, a voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Hiashi-sama! Terrible news!"
He turned to the entrance of his office, where he saw Ko Hyuga, with an ill look on his face.
Hiashi prepared himself for the worst. What, was it going to be yet another case of a struggle between a Main and Side Branch member?
"What is it?" He asked with a displeased tone betraying the emotionless look on his face.
"It's Hinata-sama! She's in the hospital and is in cardiac arrest!"
"What?!"
The usual stoic face on Hiashi disappeared as multiple emotions flashed across expression. Anger. Concern. And surprisingly...fear.
He immediately rose from his chair, making his way to the doorway in a flash. Ko moved out of the way, letting Hiashi dash out of the door.
At the Konoha Hospital
When he got to the hospital, he rushed over to the reception desk. Only to see a bowl of blond hair and a boy draped in an orange jacket and pants.
What made the boy easily identifiable to Hiashi was the whisker marks on his face.
Naruto Uzumaki…
The Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi (Nine Tails). Frankly, he had no problem with the boy's status as the Fox's jailor. However, the brat's constant pranks and knack for trouble was too much for Hiashi's liking.
He understood why the Uzumaki was that way, of course. In some ways, deep down in his heart, Hiashi actually felt bad for the kid. He had known who the boy's father was. Not only was the resemblance canny, but he was one of the few people who was told about the Yondaime having a child.
The other Clan Heads like Shibi Aburame, Shikaku Nara, etc. The head of the Uchiha, Fugaku, was aware. But he was dead now.
He wasn't particularly close with the Fourth Hokage...or any of the Clan Heads for that matter. Before becoming heads of their respective clans, Hiashi had worked with the other Clan Heads in the past.
Despite their few interactions, Hiashi held a degree of respect for them. Of course, due to their status as future Clan Heads, they were never deployed into battle that often.
Hiashi held the Fourth Hokage in a high regard, due to his efforts in the Third Shinobi World War and his reputation as Konoha's Yellow Flash.
But to think that the kid at this desk right now...is his son...was simply mind-boggling to Hiashi.
By the time he made it to the reception desk, Naruto's eyes were on him.
His eyes carried a pleading light in them for some odd reason.
"Hey! Hey! You're the head of the Hyuga Clan! Hinata's dad, right? This lady here won't let me see her!" Naruto pointed an accusing finger at the lady at the desk, who stared at the boy with an exasperated expression at the way he was talking to Hiashi.
Said man narrowed his eyes. He already knew what the boy wanted.
"Hey, listen! I already told you! At the moment, you're teammate cannot be visited. Only members of her clan and her Jonin sensei are allowed that right. I assure you, she will live." The receptionist yelled.
"But-"
"I am sorry, Uzumaki. But the rules of the hospital must be followed."
Naruto returned his attention to the current speaker, Hiashi. His eyebrow twitched at the sight of the man. The expression on his face immediately reminded him of Neji. And being reminded of the guy makes him remember Hinata's condition.
"But that's not fair! What makes Kakashi-sensei so different from me to the point where he gets to visit and I don't?!"
"Hmm? I heard my name." A new voice entered the area. Hiashi chose this moment to leave and go to Hinata's room.
Naruto turned around to see Kakashi standing right behind him.
The Jonin already knew the next thing Naruto was going to say.
"Don't worry. Hinata is fine. Unconscious. But she will live to fight another day."
Naruto let a small sigh of relief hearing that. Now that his worries about his female teammate were quelled, he went onto his next point of interest.
"Kakashi-sensei! Please train me!"
The copy ninja sighed, "How did I know you were going to say that? I already got you covered. I hired you an instructor, and he will be here shortly. He'll be a much better sensei than I will be. In fact, I think I see him right now."
He pointed at the entrance, prompting Naruto to look in that direction.
At that moment, the blond wanted to jump into a lake and never see the sun again.
It was a man with shades, wearing the forehead protector as a bandanna and the standard Konoha outfit, minus the flak jacket.
He had remembered the man from the day he had taken his photo after becoming a Genin. He was supposed to watch over Konohamaru Sarutobi, the Sandaime's grandson. However, Naruto only associated him with one thing…
"Closet pervert!"
Later-Hinata's Room
Her father's face. That was the first thing she saw. And at first, she thought she was in a dream. She never expected her father to be looking after her. After all, she didn't think that he cared about her at all.
The expression he wore was blank. And it wasn't even looking at her. His eyes were just staring at the wall. Any trace of concern was hidden from her, never to be seen by the world.
After a few moments, Hinata uttered, "Father…"
Hiashi's eyes were now fixed on her. "You were in cardiac arrest. You won't be allowed to go out on missions for a month or so in order to recuperate…"
To her surprise, he trailed off. An awkward silence filled the room. It was only them. No doctors, no nurses. No one. Just Hinata and Hiashi.
Father and Daughter.
Hinata shamed herself for not knowing what to say in that moment. Unsurprisingly, it was her father who broke the silence.
"I heard that you faced off against Neji."
"Y-Yes…" Hinata spoke in a groggy tone, finally noticing how tired she was. An aching occurred in her chest as she was reminded of her match with her cousin.
"You lost."
"...Y-Yes."
She shut her eyes and looked away. If she could, she would have brought her hands up to her ears and blocked everything out. She didn't want to hear the insults that were cooking in her father's mind at the moment.
She had just managed to change herself! She couldn't allow insults to beat her down and make her regress now of all times. She had just stood up to Neji! The one who's been above her for so long now.
And NOTHING that Hiashi Hyuga had to say was going to-
"I'm proud of you…"
Her entire world froze.
…
"What?"
"I said I'm proud of you." His face showed no sign of feeling. However, one could tell from the tone of his voice that he had meant it. And he was actually happy. If just a little.
Hinata couldn't believe what she was hearing. Did that Sound ninja Dosu mess with her hearing while she was unconscious?
"C-Can you...repeat that...please?"
She spoke with a whimper. Her ears couldn't believe what Hiashi had said but her mind had fully processed the words.
The way she whimpered made Hiashi feel something weird in his chest. But...he couldn't figure out what it was. He could only assume that it was one of the many emotions that he tries so hard to suppress on a daily basis.
It was regret. Regret about all off his past failures.
But now, he made a decision.
This time...things would be different.
He'd make sure of it. It all started with this.
"I'm proud of you, Hinata...my daughter."
Later-Hokage's Office-Night
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Come in." Come the voice of Hiruzen Sarutobi in response.
The door creaked open, revealing the tall and big figure of a long white-haired man with red markings on his face.
Hiruzen couldn't help but smile at the sight of the newcomer.
"It has been a long time, Jiraiya."
Jiraiya of the Sannin sported an unusual serious expression. One that he almost never wore outside of battle. Hiruzen always keeps forgetting that Jiraiya has a serious side to him, which shows itself once in a while.
"I met Minato's brat today."
"You mean your godson?"
"You already know I don't deserve to carry the title of Naruto's godfather. After all, I'm absent for his entire life up until now." The Sage said, closing the door behind him, crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall.
"I assume you aren't here to mope about your failures, Jiraiya."
The 50-year old man smirked. His sensei could always see through him…
"Yes. There is another pressing matter. Orochimaru. Is he…?"
Hiruzen gave a grim nod, "Yes. Orochimaru is somewhere hiding in the village. He had defeated Anko in the Forest of Death. According to Kakashi, his squad of Genin were attacked by Orochimaru as well. One of the Genin, Sasuke Uchiha, was given the Curse Mark."
Jiraiya furrowed his eyebrows, taking the information in. There was no question about it. Orochimaru's motives are crystal clear.
"He wants the Uchiha."
"That's not all. I sense something bad is underway." Sarutobi told his pupil. "Not long ago, before the Chunin Exams, Team Kurenai took part in a joint C-ranked mission with Sunagakure (Sand Village). Their mission was to take down a group of bandits who stole the Fourth Kazekage's Gold Dust. They encountered actual ninja in that mission. Kurenai turned one over to Ibiki. The only piece of information we got put of him was that he was a ninja from Otogakure, a newly formed village. Anko said that while facing off against Orochimaru, she could have sworn that he wore a headband from Oto."
"You're suggesting that Orochimaru is secretly leading this new village?" Jiraiya asked. His answer was a nod from the Hokage, causing to let out a sigh of frustration. "I was going to leave after I finished up with Naruto, but now it seems like I have to stay."
"I see…"
"You know. If Orochimaru does show up again, we'll have to kill him. He's done too many horrible things to be left alive now."
"Yes…" The Third Hokage stated adamantly, "I know."
…
"So, Sarutobi-sensei." Jiraiya started, trying to break the ice. "I'm cooking up some new ideas for a new novel…"
The Next Day
"Come on! What are you gonna teach me now?! Tell me! Tell me!" Naruto demanded, swinging his arms up and down.
"Shut for a moment and listen, brat!" Jiraiya spoke, taking Naruto's jaw and snapping it shut. "Good. Now, then! Let's see what you got, kid."
…
…
…
"Huh?"
Jiraiya's head dropped.
This kid...he may be his son, but he's nothing like Minato in terms of intelligence.
He looked Naruto in the eyes and clarified, "I've already seen your water walking. Now show me what Jutsu you know. I need to know where you're at in order for me to gauge your strength so I can work from there."
"Alright! Let's see…" Naruto lifted up a finger, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Jutsu), uhh…"
Immediate silence.
Jiraiya began to get impatient. "Come on, kid! We're losing daylight and time for research!" He snuck a look of the surrounding area, trying to find any potential peeping places.
No response.
The Gama Sennin (Toad Sage) finally realized the problem. And boy did the news hit him like a truck.
"Please don't tell me you can only do perform Kage Bunshin no Jutsu…"
"No! No! No! No! No! I can do a Henge no Jutsu (Transformation Jutsu)! Umm...Kamawiri no Jutsu (Substitution Jutsu)...?" He spoke in a small tone, letting Jiraiya know that he sucked with the latter technique.
The long-haired man sighed and rubbed his temples out of frustration. Now he was beginning to wonder…
HOW THE FUCK DID THIS KID SURVIVE A RUN-IN WITH OROCHIMARU WITH ONLY A SHADOW CLONE JUTSU?!
No, in fact HOW IS THIS KID STILL ALIVE AT ALL?!
"Alright, brat. It seems my original plan for you will have to wait for a little bit. Now while I would teach you a new technique to compensate for your ass amount of Jutsu, I'm not going to."
"Huh?! Why?!" Naruto practically screamed out of anger.
"We're going to train to use your Kage Bunshins in a strategic and non-idiotic manner." Jiraiya informed the blond.
A tick mark formed on the boy's head after processing the insult. He calmed down, and lended his ears to the perverted member of the Sannin.
"Hey! How are we gonna be training my Kage Bunshins? I thought I was already pretty skilled with them, ya know!" Naruto began to let out a boastful laugh.
"Tell me, brat! You said you were taking part in the Chunin Exams. Who's your opponent?"
Naruto's eyebrows visibly narrowed as a hissing noise came from the boy's mouth out of anger. "My opponent is that bastard Neji Hyuga!"
"A Hyuga, eh? You'll definitely lose like this if you don't try to improve how you think in battle." Jiraiya stated with a smirk, something that only annoyed Naruto even further.
"Come on, Ero-sennin! I need to get even stronger so I can beat the crap out of that guy!" Naruto exclaimed with enthusiasm, forming a fist with his hand and digging deep into his skin with his nails.
"I like the enthusiasm, kid! Let's see if you have what it takes to back it up!"
Ever since Hiashi's visit, Hinata had found it awkward to even communicate with her father. And it wasn't for anything related for his disappointment in her. It was because she was at a loss of words.
For so long, she has been yearning for her acknowledgment from her clan, especially from her father. And now she finally got it. But...after all of those years of verbal abuse, it just...doesn't feel right.
Hinata had feelings in her heart that doubted Hiashi. And dare she say, little tiny bits of those feelings actually resented her father. She normally suppressed these feelings of resentment, but now, they seemed to be leaking out at full force.
They were completely denying Hiashi's compliment, believing it all to be a lie.
Hiashi may have been a terrible father, but he wasn't an idiot. He knew when someone held resentment towards him. And he could sense such a feeling in his daughter. It hurt him realizing that he was the cause of the resentment her daughter carried towards him.
Everything was still out of focus for Hiashi. Perhaps it was lack of sleep or detachment from reality all together. But now it was time to change things. Starting with the truth…
Father and daughter now stood in the training room in the Hyuga compound. Hinata had been discharged from the hospital mere hours earlier.
"Hinata, my daughter...I…" Hiashi paused, not even knowing where to begin. "I know I have been a terrible father to you…"
The lavender-eyed kunoichi flinched slightly, being reminded of all the harsh words that carved our scars into her mind. No matter how hard she tried to ignore them, Hinata couldn't help but feel a bit of bitterness towards her father.
She tuned back in to hear her father say, "It's about time I impart some truth to you. For all of this time, you must have wondered I treated you the way I did…"
Hinata looked down at the ground, not even wanting to look her parent in the eyes.
She wiped her face to feel that the top of her hand was wet. Hiashi paused to let her compose herself. He knew being reminded of how he treated her was going to hurt a lot.
Great, he hasn't even started and she was already shedding tears. No matter how hard she tired, it was pointless. She just couldn't stop the tears…
"Don't worry. You can cry as much as you like here. There is no else around except us." Hiashi informed his daughter with a surprisingly calm tone.
After Hinata stopped crying, the head of the clan continued, "I know that you are nothing like me. In fact, you take more after your mother, in both personality and appearance. Both quiet at most times...and too kind for your own good. And when she was your age, she suffered from confidence issues as well. Albeit her case wasn't as bad..."
"T-Then why? After knowing how I felt. How I thought. You still looked down on me...and destroyed what little self-esteem I-I had…"
Hiashi closed his eyes as he listened to his daughter's rant.
"A-And the training! It was so cruel...you almost always paired me up with N-Neji. You knew his hatred for the Main Branch and me...but you still did it anyway. Every session was...physical abuse...and the looks you gave me while I trained! That look of disappointment...of doubt. Doubt that I would ever be something useful…" She wrapped her arms around herself tightly as her body began to shake.
"And now! After all of these years...y-you turn around and just say...sorry? L-Like nothing happened at all?" She coughed, unable to handle the stress of the current situation.
"The reason I treated you that way was so I could motivate you. I thought that by putting you down...looking down on you, it would motivate you to get stronger for my respect. I thought that by insulting you, an unwavering desire to get stronger would form inside you. But it seemed like it did nothing...in fact, it only make things worse."
For the first time in a while, Hinata saw an emotion in her father's eye that she would never see. Regret. Or maybe sadness. Whatever it was, it signified that he truly regretted how he was in the past.
"However, I won't lie. My bitterness for the past 10 years can be traced back to the death of Hizashi. Then there is the loss of your mother. The way you are and how Neji used to be reminded me of your mother so much, I vented all of my bottled up anger on you both. And the fact that Neji was like Hizashi in skill didn't help either."
"S-So...Neji-nii-san is like thus because...because of you?" Hinata whimpered, shutting her eyes, hoping that it was all a dream. "All of this time...I-I thought he hated me. I thought I was the reason he...he changed. But it was you...again?!"
Now that got Hinata thinking. Just how many people close to Hiashi changed for the worse because of him.
No...wait.
"Did..." Hinata tried to speak the rest, but the words never came.
She was too scared about what answer fate would give her.
Great, now Neji was rubbing off of her.
"Speak up more, Hinata." Hiashi commanded with a soft tone. Even in a room where they were alone it was so hard to hear his daughter. It's like she wasn't hear at all. Was the damage done to her this bad? If it was...then how did she gather the courage to fight Neji?
His focus trailed away from those questions. He tuned back into hear a question that made widen his eyes...
"Did Mother run away?!"
Hiashi's fist tightened as he grit his teeth. It took everything in his power to keep him from beating the fuck out of a practice dummy. He knew Hinata didn't mean anything by it, but it still hurt like a bitch to hear it come from her mouth.
"No. She didn't."
Unbeknownst to Hinata, Hiashi pushed a certain memory to the back of his head. A memory involving him and his wife before her desth. A memory he was not fond of...
"Then...She did die?"
"Yes."
Hinata's heart skipped a beat, and a detested and sad look appeared on her face. While having her Mom run away was a bad thing, it was better knowing that she was alive than dead. At least, to Hinata that is. So the hope that she could been alive shined brightly within her. Only for that hope to thrown into the trash and replaced by emptiness.
The indigo-haired Hyuga then asked another question.
"What happened to Mother's body?"
Hiashi visibly stiffened. "Unfortunately...that is a question I have no answer to. We thought she died giving birth to Hanabi, as you know. But when we came to bury her body, it was gone…"
Hinata gasped, "Gone?! How?!"
"I don't know how." Hiashi stated with a blank look, "I can only assume that someone stole the body. Perhaps an outsider managed to sneak into the village somehow. But, I just don't know."
A rare flame of anger lit up within Hinata at that moment. A wide frown formed on her face as she clenched her fist tightly.
"B-But why? why are you telling me all of this?! Why now? After all of this time of rejecting me and walking away when J needed you most, why have you started treating me nicely?"
Hiashi closed his eyes and took a deep breath. This was it. The last chance he had...
"Hinata. All I wanted was for you to be strong so you could protect yourself. I thought my way was the best way, but it turned out to be the worst. That and...I've made so many mistakes until now. I want to make amends, and reforming our bond is one of those ways." He walked up to his daughter and pulled her in for a hug. "I don't expect your forgiveness. All I want, is for you to give me a chance. A chance to better myself, and make things right."
A small tint of red formed on Hinata's cheeks, covered by the tall body of her father. She hadn't felt like this in so long. She was feeling how she was feeling whenever she was with her mother.
It was love.
Love from a parent. Now that is something most kids with parents experience.
But love from Hiashi Hyuga as a parent. Something about it was special. Not as special as her mother's love. But still…
Special.
"F-Father, may I...ask you something?" She spoke with a small, yet firm tone.
"What is it?"
"I-I was wondering. A-After the Chunin Exams...when I'm in fine condition to go out and be a ninja again. C-Could you assist in my training in my free time?"
"Of course." He wasn't about to start refusing her now. Things were finally starting to seem right. Now he just had to do something about three other things. Three more of his failures.
Hanabi, Neji, and…
The Curse Mark.
At Night-Unknown Area
There he stood. From an unknown structure, overlooking the town of Konoha, pondering about the events of the coming month.
It's funny. The same place he had sworn to protect at one point, was the same place he was planning to destroy today.
He could have died of laughter from how funny another thing would be. The one who taught him, would end up dead because he taught him and loved him in the first place.
But Orochimaru didn't believe in dying.
The Snake Sannin closed his eyes and let out a malicious smile, "Kabuto. I presume you've brought the three brats?"
Kabuto Yakushi, who had just appeared behind the rogue ninja, smirked while adjusting his glasses. "You would be correct, Orochimaru-sama."
He moved out of the way to reveal the Sound Trio. They all had perplexed looks on their faces. Even when having his back turned to them, Orochimaru knew that somewhere deep down they were scared shitless of him.
"Dosu," He called out the bandaged Genin. "I'm surprised you are alive. I thought that you would go after the Kazekage's son to make sure Sasuke-kun lives."
"Not long after the preliminaries of the third round, I made it very clear to him that no matter what happened, Sasuke-kun will survive his match. After all, he is the last Uchiha. Well, the last one alive and loyal to the village." Kabuto corrected himself with a stale tone.
Secretly, an amused smirk formed in Kabuto's face. At least, he better hope that is the case.
"For what reason do we owe this meeting, Orochimaru-sama." Dosu walked forward, kneeling on a knee, prompting Kin and Zaku to do the same.
"Originally, I was just going to kill the three of you for not fulfilling your given assignment." The black-haired man spoke, licking his lips.
Shivers flew down Kin's spine while Dosu flinched. On the other hand, Zaku gave an aggravated glare towards the Snake user.
At this point, Kabuto had left.
"However…" He started, prompting all three of them to freeze, "I have changed my mind. It seems you three can still serve a purpose for me. As long as you pledge complete allegiance to me."
"Oi! What do we get in return?" Zaku blurted out impatiently, prompting Kin to throw a senbon into his leg as a way to make him shut up, causing a cry of pain from the male ninja. He seethed and muttered under his breath, "Bitch!"
Orochimaru merely chuckled. "What you get in return? I promise that the three of you will receive great power in the end of it all."
"Great power?" Kin raised an eyebrow skeptically. At Orochimaru's insistent nod, she grew even more suspicious. "There has to be a catch."
"You would be correct. There is a little process to receiving this power boost. In fact, there is a 90% chance that you will die in the process. But perhaps with Kabuto here he can raise the chances of survival slightly." Orochimaru spoke with no care at all, as if taking the lives of people was an everyday thing to him.
Which, for the most part, it was.
"A 10% chance of survival…" Dosu trailed off as a bead of sweat rolled down his face.
Could it be…?
His brain played a memory of Sasuke Uchiha awakening with a black pattern spread over the left side of his body. Then came great speed followed by the snapping of Zaku's arms.
Though the stakes were high, he needed some way to gain power. With monsters like the kid from Suns along with the Uchiha, the increase of power would be well worth the risk.
Kin closed her eyes, thinking about a certain pink-haired kunoichi along with another kunoichi with veins bulging around her eyes. The Hyuga had not only humiliated her but she got mollywhopped by some weak nobody using easy Genjutsu. If she could get that power, then she could have some fun.
Zaku on the other hand, thought of two boys. Shino Aburame and Sasuke Uchiha. The latter for breaking his arms and the former for making quick work of him twice in an infuriating and humiliating manner.
To lose to some bug brat…he would not accept it! In both matches, he could have had his arms blown off. In their second match, it didn't even last a minute. The Aburame quickly shut off the air holes in his hands and knocked him out.
Making their decision, the three Sound Shinobi rose to their feet. The three looked at each other before returning their attention to Orochimaru.
The power-hungry tyrant smirked. "Excellent. Since you three obliged, I assume you know the risk. We will begin the process now!"
The three Sound ninja widened their eyes out of shock as they saw Orochimaru's head practically pop itself out of place.
It flew over to each of their necks one by one, biting down on the sides. They all cried out in pain and dropped to the ground, writhing and squirming. When it was all said and done, Orochimaru's head returned to its rightful place. He began to chuckle sadistically and maliciously.
"I hope to see you three soon…"
Hey guys. Got another chapter up for you. Sorry it took so long.
ALRIGHT! SMALL RANT TIME:
Now here, my plan for Naruto isn't to become a fucking brainstorming genius like Shikamaru. Naruto isn't the type to think things through. He does things on the fly and goes with the flow. That's his character. And if you're trying to go by the character, you might as well TRY and stick with it. Naruto will become stronger, and he will use more Jutsu than Shadow Clone Jutsu and Rasengan. Jiraiya will also be a better teacher to Naruto, but still similar to his canon counterpart.
Again, Naruto will be smarter IN BATTLE. Remember Naruto's background, no friends, no parents. At the time of his graduation, he thought only Iruka and Hiruzen acknowledged him. Hiruzen didn't have time for Naruto due to his status as Hokage. Iruka is the closest thing to a father that Naruto has, and no one else.
Naruto is, pretty lazy despite his never-give-up attitude. When it comes to education and book smart, he cannot put his full effort because he doesn't think it matters. And he's pretty stupid because of it. With no one like Kushina to keep him in line and studying, it's no wonder why he's so idiotic.
With Jiraiya, he will become smarter. He'll still be least intelligent or second least intelligent of the Konoha 11(plus Sasuke), but the gap won't be as big.
RANT OVER
That's really I wanted to say here, to explain why Jiraiya is acting different. Because as Naruto's Godfather, he feels he's responsible to take care of him as much as he can as Naruto's only 'family'.
Now that that's over, I can close off this chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed.
Take care, goodbye!