Naruto: Journal of Hope
After the second half of the Chunin Exams Naruto is passed over by Kakashi to train Sasuke. Angry, he storms out and runs far away to an almost forgotten place. There he stumbles across a journal, written by his mother and holding the secrets of his lineage. Inspired by his parents' love, hope and dreams, he decides to become the Ninja his parents believed he could be.
Chapter II: Expectations
Sarutobi looked over his piles of paperwork as he sighed. Even after all these years, and his dedication to his job, he still found himself hating this infernal paperwork.
"Oh, why couldn't I have retired, chosen someone else to become Hokage and live a more quiet life?" he asked himself for the umpteenth time. But then, that wouldn't be his way. To be Hokage was to protect everyone in the village, to stand vigil and firm against whatever threat dared to harm the Leaf. And with the recent reports of Orochimaru on the loose, especially during the Chunin Exam, no one else would be ready to take on his fallen pupil.
"Still….I should've just retired and been done with this infernal paperwork once and for all, I swear it will be the death of me." he joked to himself.
"Don't say that Sensei," he suddenly felt the presence of one of his former pupils as Jiraiya sat on the edge of the windowsill. "You've still got plenty more years left in you," he said as Sarutobi sighed.
"Jiraiya, it's good to see you again. How have you been?" he asked as Jiraiya nodded.
"The same as always, going forth, doing this and that. Writing my next best seller…by the way Sensei," he reached into his coat and brought out a copy of his latest book. "Here's the next issue," Jiraiya said with a small perverted grin as the man blushed but still took the book.
"Thank you for the gift," he said as he coughed into his hand and hid the book in his robes. "I assume you're aware…Orochimaru is on the move," Sarutobi said as Jiraiya nodded.
"Yeah, I heard rumours that Snake Bastard was plotting something, the fact he was spotted here in the Village again is not a good sign," he said as Sarutobi nodded.
"Indeed, we need to be careful. No doubt he plans to attack the village of his old birth, all because I denied him the title of Hokage," he guessed as Jriaya shook his head.
"It was always more than that sensei and you know it. Those experiments, his disregard for his fellow ninja or life for that matter…he would've made a terrible Hokage. You made the right choice," Jiraiya tried to comfort his sensei who shook his head.
"And yet I didn't stop him…if I had…maybe none of this would be happening?" He asked himself more than Jiraiya. He could still remember the day Orochimaru left the village, and how the old man didn't strike down his once favourite student. "In any case, we'll deal with Orochimaru when he moves. But right now I assume you're here about Naruto?" he asked as Jiraiya nodded.
"Yeah, to tell you the truth I was surprised the kid learned the truth about his parents," he said as Sarutobi nodded.
"So was I, but it seemed that Kushina had inadvertently left a gift behind for her son…I should've known her Journal had contained sensitive information that could've leaked out into the open, but after their deaths and with the village as it was after the Nine-Tails attack I didn't consider it," he said as he sighed. "Still, Naruto has shown more maturity than I gave him credit for, he took the news better than I expected and seems more driven now to become Hokage…makes me think I should've told him about his parents sooner?" he asked as Jiraiya shrugged.
"Maybe…and maybe I should've been around more for him…but it's too late to change that now." Jiraiya looked over to the portrait of his former pupil as he felt his eyes upon him. "I messed up, and didn't take my role as Godfather more seriously…it's just…every time I looked at him…all I could see was Minato and Kushina…and it hurt," he admitted, as he shook his head. "Maybe that is just some lame excuse, and I hope they can forgive me someday," he wondered as Sarutobi thought the same.
"In any case, I wanted to talk about Naruto. Seeing as he's going up against that Neji kid in the semi-finals, I want to help him get better. Make up for not being there for him when he needed me," he said as Sarutobi nodded.
"Good, I think Naruto will need your guidance now more than ever," he said as he handed the man Naruto's results from the Chunin Exam. "The young man is not as cool-headed as his father was, but he is just as creative. Not to mention the years he's spent as a prankster have given him a unique cunning neither of his parents had. He tends to charge in, not coming up with a strategy at first but proving to be able to come up with one on the fly. Impressive, but honestly…not Chunin material at the moment," Sarutobi said as Jiraya nodded as he looked over the file.
"I got that, I've got my work cut out for me don't I?" he asked as Sarutobi sighed.
"Despite my best efforts, few would train the boy. Iruka was the only one that taught him anything, but that didn't happen till around Naruto's third year. And with my time being consumed with Hokage duties, there was not much I could do. Not to mention, with Orochimaru supposedly targeting Sasuke, I need Kakashi to train and focus on Sasuke for the time being," he lamented as Jiraiya nodded.
"Boy…we messed up, didn't we?" he asked his sensei as the man nodded.
"We have…but maybe it's time we righted some of our wrongs, and make sure Naruto fulfils his dream of becoming Hokage like his father, '' he said as they both looked at the photo of the Fourth Hokage.
Early Morning - Naruto's Apartment
Naruto woke up to a familiar ceiling, and his eyes still stung from crying the whole night. It confused him before he took a few seconds to put the pieces together with the events of yesterday.
'Oh yeah, that's right. I found out who my parents were. Wow…that's going to take some getting used to...' He thought to himself as the knowledge of his parents was still a foreign concept to him. But it was also uplifting to know who they were and that they loved him so much. It even caused him to smile as he gripped his chest.
"Well, time to go meet up with Pervy-Sage. I've got a month to get stronger so I can show Neji he's wrong about fate and junk!" He said to himself as he got up from the bed and stretched with renewed enthusiasm, as he donned his orange clothing from the closest.
It was some of the only clothing he had, but it was all the stores would sell him. At first, he never liked it because it was all he could afford. All the other stores would charge him way higher prices for normal clothing, he also suspected that they were hoping his orange outfit would get him killed one day. But he had decided to just wear them and prove them all wrong.
However, after finding out that his father was the Yellow Flash, and his mother was the Red-Hot Blooded Habanero, it became something more personal to him.
"Although…" he thought to himself as he noticed some of the new holes he got from the Preliminaries Exam. "I think I might need to update my wardrobe a little; I can't go around with holes in the back of my pants. Maybe Dad has some old clothes I could use? I'll stop by the Bunker later and see." He said as he grabbed his keys, secured his pouches to his body and grabbed his headband before tying it to his forehead.
He looked at himself in the mirror, as he for a moment imagined his parents were behind him. Hand on each shoulder as they smiled proudly at him. Before he never really imagined what his parents would look like, so they'd be a blur or random looking. But now that he had face to names, he could imagine what a life with them could've been like. And it hurt but in a good way. They faded before he took out the photo from the Journal in his pocket and stared at their faces.
"Mum…Dad…I promise to make you proud." He told himself before he hid the photo in the journal, and exited the apartment. Rushing off to the waterfall to begin his training for the Chunin Exam Finals. It didn't take long for him to reach it, as he spotted the white-haired man sitting under a tree, writing in a small notebook.
"Wow, you're… here?" Naruto said as Jiraiya looked up at the boy and chuckled.
"Of course, I said I was going to make up for a lot of lost time, being late would've been a bad start, wouldn't it?" he asked as Naruto nodded.
"Sorry, I'm just used to Kakashi-sensei always turning up hours late. So, what are you going to teach me? One of my dad's awesome Jutsu? One of his ultra-secret techniques-Oh! Or maybe his secret ninjutsu scrolls that can be only unlocked by blood!" he started getting excited at the possibilities.
"Water Walking"
"…huh?"
"Water Walking, today you're going to practice walking on water," Jiraiya said as Naruto stared at the man.
"…To be honest, I was kind of expecting something a little more…impressive?" he admitted as the man chuckled.
"You are so much like your mother; she would always get overly excited about everything. You should've seen her when she found out she was pregnant..." he trailed off when he saw Naruto grasping his chest, as the boy felt a warmth in his chest as he was compared to his mother.
It was nice.
"You have to remember you're still a Genin kid. While yes, you are the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki and have more Chakra than most your age, you are at the lowest level of being a Ninja. Your father didn't become Hokage overnight, it took him years of training and mastery over the basics before he became the Ninja he was. Heck, he even used some of the basics to create his most powerful Jutsu. Everything starts with small steps." he told Naruto as he crossed his arms and huffed a little.
"I guess…" he said before sighing. "Okay, what do I have to do?"
"Do you know the Wall-Walking technique?" Jiraiya asked as he nodded. "It's similar to that, but instead of using your chakra to stick to a surface, you're using it to repel yourself above the surface of the water. You have to release a constant steady stream of Chakra and keep yourself above the water's surface," he explained as he went out and walked on the water. "What I am doing right now is regulating the necessary chakra to keep me balanced. Like the tree exercise, too much and you blow off the water. Too little and you sink." he explained, as he walked back to shore.
"But before that, I need to gauge your current skill level and see what I'm dealing with. Tell me, what techniques do you know so far?" he asked.
"Well, I know the Shadow Clone Technique, some Shuriken and Kunai skills, the Transformation technique and the Tree Climbing Technique…" he listed off as Jiraiya
"...And?" he asked, looking at him expecting more.
"...And that's it?" Naruto said as Jiraiya stared and blinked for a moment.
"That's it?... You don't know any other techniques?" he asked, a little perplexed.
"Well, I know the Regular Clone Technique...but I suck at it, all my clones come out looking dead and lifeless for some reason?" he admitted to his embarrassment before he noticed Jiraiya smack his face with his palm. "Uh...Pervy Sage?"
"Are you kidding me...that's all you know!? Back when I was a student, it was standard that Genin had to know at least a few offensive and defensive types of Jutsu before they could pass! What the hell is going on at that school!? Argh!" he groaned as he brought his hand down his face. "Although I assume there weren't many at the Academy that was willing to teach you, right?" he asked as Naruto sighed and nodded.
"Yeah...the only one that was willing to teach me was Iruka-Sensei, but he was busy most of the time...and I kind of didn't help with my pranks and all…" he admitted as he rubbed the back of his head.
"...Okay...we got a lot to make up for. More than I can probably get through before the Finals. But for now, let's see if you can master the Water Walking technique." Jiraiya said as he gestured for the boy to walk on the water.
Naruto nodded as he made his way to the water, but stopped when he remembered his mother's journal in his jacket and placed the jacket and journal on a rock. Not wanting to get the only possession he had of his parents wet.
He then placed his hands in the familiar hand sign and focused his chakra on the soles of his feet. But instead of clinging to the water, he made them repel as he slowly took a few steps before he sunk into the water. He breached the water's surface, coughing out some water and making it back to shore.
"Damn it! Okay, let me try again!" he yelled as he focused Chakra again and stepped out onto the water, only to fall in again. "Damn it!" and so he tried again…
And again...and again...and again…
"You inherited your mother's stubbornness, I can say that much" Jiraiya commented with a chuckle as Naruto emerged from the water. But instantly he could tell that something was wrong with the boy's chakra.
"Damn it!" he threw off his shirt and focused again. This time he managed to keep himself afloat, with the water going up to his ankles, as he grinned. "Oh yeah! That's more like it!" he said to himself before he fell into the water.
"Damn it!"
"Oi, Naruto," he yelled out as the boy emerged from the water. "Come here for a minute," he said as Naruto raised a brow before walking back to him. "I want you to focus your chakra again," Naruto was confused and concentrated on moulding his chakra. As he did, the Eight trigram seal appeared over the boy's stomach.
'There it is, Minato's seal. It's just as complex as I thought, Minato must've mastered the Uzushiogakure sealing methods to create this little beauty. Using Two Four Symbols Seals to make the Hakke Seal, very smart. It's designed in a way to protect the kid from the Nine-Tails Chakra influence, while slowly letting a little bit mix into his chakra reserves. You were a clever man Minato.' his eyes then narrowed when a new seal appeared over the top. 'Ah, but someone recently overlapped it with a Five Prong seal, an Odd and Even Number Seal explains why it's disrupting the flow of Chakra in Naruto's body. No wonder he's having trouble mastering the water technique with this one. But this is rough and unrefined, not Minato's style. No, from the handiwork, this has Orochimaru written all over it.' he surmised as he prepared to remove the seal.
"Okay, are you done old man?" Naruto asked as Jiraiya shook his head.
"Almost, just raise your hands above your head," he told him as Naruto raised them above his head.
"Uh...like this?" he asked as Jiraiya nodded and subtly summoned the five-pronged seal release behind his back.
'Five-Pronged Seal: Release!' he mentally yelled and slammed his fingers into Naruto's stomach, causing the boy to gasp out and suddenly fly away from the man. The seal on his stomach disappeared, leaving only the Eight Trigram Seal behind.
"Gah! What the hell pervy sage! Why the heck did you do that!?" he yelled as the man held up his hands in surrender.
"Relax, I was hitting a series of pressure points in your stomach to help you relax, now why don't you try it again," he explained as Naruto looked confused.
"Uh...okay?" he said as Naruto approached the water and focused his Chakra on the soles of his feet. 'Huh, that's weird...my Chakra feels normal again?' he thought to himself as he carefully walked out onto the water's surface.
"Hey! I did it!" he yelled out with glee as he started to dance a little on the water's surface. Jiraiya watched on with a small smirk on his face, as his mind wandered back to his younger days when he trained the boy's father.
Sure, Naruto wasn't like his father and more like his mother, but he had his heart.
"Okay, that's enough showboating. Now, before I continue training you, first we need to address something…" he said as he kneeled to the boy. "You are aware that you have two types of Chakra, right?" he asked as Naruto was confused for a moment before he remembered.
"Yeah...mine and the Nine-Tails…" he said as he placed his hands on his stomach. "...My mother...she was like me. She had the Nine-Tails before me, right?" he asked as the man nodded.
"That's right, It's one of Konoha's greatest and most closely guarded secrets, since the time of the First Hokage. If you've read your mother's Journal, then you know you are also not the first Jinchuriki of the Hidden Leaf, but also you are not the only Jinchuriki," he said as Naruto blinked.
"I'm not?" he asked, shocked at hearing this, as the man nodded.
"Correct, I really shouldn't be telling you this, but since you found out about your mother and her former status, I guess it's only right to tell you. What you possess is one of the Nine-Tailed Beasts that each of the Five Villages possesses. Konoha possesses the strongest of the Beasts, the Nine-Tailed Fox. Despite what everyone thinks, The Nine-tails was here long before it managed to get loose years ago. During the Great Shinobi Wars, the Tailed Beasts Jinchuuriki were often used as weapons against the Enemy. But since it's more…peaceful for the moment…it was decided that public knowledge of their existence was kept under wraps. At Least here in Konoha, I'm still surprised you found out about it," Jiraiya admitted.
"Mum's journal told me about it. She was the Nine-tails Jinchuriki before me...did she ever master its Chakra?" Naruto asked out of curiosity.
"Not that I am aware of, your mother was more like...a warden with the Nine tails, making sure he never got out. And before her, the first Nine-tails Jinchuriki, Mito Uzumaki, was accordingly a powerful fighter and Seal Master, but not much is known if she ever used his chakra." Jiraiya admitted only learning about Kushina's status after her death, as Naruto blinked at this.
"Wait, Mito Uzumaki? I think I remember reading about her in the Journal. Was she a relative of mine?" Naruto asked, intrigued by the fact that before him and his mother, another Uzumaki was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
"Sort of, she was the first Hokage's wife and Heiress to the Uzumaki Clan before they were wiped out in the Third Shinobi War. So there's not much I can tell you. But in any case, as a Jinchuriki, you have access to two types of Chakra, yours and the Nine-Tails. Those that are hosts to Tailed Beasts possess powerful Chakra. But with more power comes a greater need for control. Have you ever felt the Nine-Tails Chakra seeping into you?" he asked as Naruto pondered.
"I...think so...I sort of remember the mission back at the Wave country, and then again in the Forest. I blacked out and when I came too, the fighting was over." Naruto admitted as Jiraiya nodded.
"And how would you describe this Chakra, what did it feel like?" he asked as Naruto pondered thinking about it.
"Well, my normal chakra feels blue. But this one felt red...and it made me angry, very angry…" he tried to explain, but the earliest memories of using the Nine-Tails Chakra were sketchy at best.
"Makes sense, your father designed the seal so that it would only leak out a portion of the Nine-Tail's Chakra, in what I assume was a way for your reserves to adapt to his Chakra. And from what I know, tailed beast Chakra is potent. Very potent. I'd want you to try and draw out this chakra, but given your current skills...and my lack of guidance with your education," he said the last part with regret. "We need to get you to remaster the basics."
"The basics! I don't have time for that! I need to get stronger now! There's this guy I need to face in the Semi-Finals, and I can't do that if I have to go over the basics again!" Naruto complained as Jiraiya folded his arms over his chest.
"And who exactly are you fighting against?" he asked as Naruto contracted until he could remember the name.
"A guy named uh...Neji...Neji Hyuuga," he said as Jiraiya nodded.
"I've heard of him, he's part of the Hyuuga clan's branch family. They say he's a genius when it comes to Taijutsu, he'd be quite a challenge for you," he summarised as Naruto gripped his fist.
"But I have to beat him! He hurt his cousin, Hinata, and I promised I'd make him pay for what he did," he said as Jiraiya raised a brow.
"Interesting, you are doing all this for the clan Heiress?" he asked as he got a small grin on his face. "Do you fancy her or something?" he asked as Naruto raised a brow.
"What? No, I mean...she's kind of weird, always quiet, and she can't seem to look me in the eye without her face turning red. I think she might have an illness or something?" he pondered to himself as Jiraiya slapped his forehead.
'Sage above give me strength,'
"But…" he smiled a little, "She didn't give up, no matter how much Neji tried to put her down, and I respect that," he said as he looked to his hand where he made the blood promise. "The fact that Neji belittled her for it, makes me mad and I want to prove to him how wrong he is. So I need to get stronger so I can beat him. You get what I mean?" he asked as Jiraiya nodded.
"I get you, okay kid, we'll get you stronger..." he said as Naruto nodded. "...To do this, I'm going to be serious with your training, I'm going to train you to both re-learn and master the basics, and get you to gain some control over the Nine-Tails Chakra," he said as Naruto blinked.
"Gain control, is that possible?" he asked as Jiraiya nodded.
"It's happened before, some containers have been able to harness and utilise their tailed beasts' Chakra over the years. You will be no different, so to do that, I'm also going to teach you a special technique that should help," Jiraiya explained as Naruto got bright-eyed.
"A special technique!? Awesome! What is it?!" Naruto got excited as the man smirked and bit his thumb before going through a series of hand signs.
"Summoning Jutsu!" he yelled as a seal appeared on the ground and a large puff of smoke exploded out before Jiraiay stood on top of a large toad.
"Woah!" Naruto shouted in surprise.
"Summoning Jutsu is a technique that can only be used if you have a contract with a certain lifeform. For example, your father and I both signed the toad summoning contract, which allowed us to summon Toads into battle." Jiraiya explained as Naruto stared with awe.
"Soo cool! What does it do!?" Naruto asked with excitement.
"Well that's the thing, summons can range from a variety of skills, from tracking to combat, my former teammates used theirs for reconnaissance and healing. This guy's job however is Contract Holder…" he said as the toad stretched out its tongue to the young Uzumaki. "To summon these guys, you need to sign your name in blood on this scroll. That way you enter a contract with these guys to summon one. I want you to sign this so that I have a way to reach you in case of an emergency,"
"Reach me...how?" Naruto asked in confusion as Jiraiya held up two fingers.
"The summoning contract works both ways, we can summon them, but they can also summon us in return. However they exist in a place called Mount Myōboku, so you'd be brought there instead. But that part is more advanced for your level of training, this way however I can get the toads to summon you there in case of an emergency, got it?" he asked as Naruto scrunched his face up a little.
"Kind of…" he admitted as Jiraiya sighed and shook his head.
"Just sign the contract, and then we can get started on summoning," he told him as Naruto nodded and unfurled the scroll. His eyes wandered over some of the older names written in dried-out blood before they paused on the last name written.
Minato Namikaze. His father.
Naruto stared at the name as his hand brushed up against the stained blood and he imagined his father's hand being placed upon it. Jiraiya noticed this as he gave a small melancholy smile.
"Your father was my best student...he was almost like the son I never had...I know that if he was here today, he'd be proud…" Jiraiya said as Naruto nodded, fighting back the tear that was about to fall from his eyes.
"It used to hurt not knowing…but now...knowing who they are now…" Naruto admitted. "At least now I know that they loved me…" Naruto said with a sad smile as Jiraiya placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Kid, they loved you before you were even born, never forget that…" he said as Naruto nodded and bit his thumb and smeared his fingertips. He then signed his name in blood, right next to his father's, and placed his fingertips on the paper. Completing the contract and becoming a part of the Toad Summoning pact.
"Okay, so for now let's work on summoning. We're going to do this to see what you can summon with Normal Chakra, then we focus on re-learning the basics. By the end of the month, I plan to have at least know two offensive Jutsu, one Defensive and hopefully learned how to summon a proper toad into battle. I'm also going to have you work on some Taijutsu practice. At this point, it's too late to get you to learn a whole Taijutsu art form before the match, but it will look better to the judges if you don't just charge your enemy. Your strategy skills will be another thing to work on, from what the old man told me, you tend to just charge in. Although he has noted that you tend to come up with unique methods on the fly, so we'll work on that. On top of all of that, we're going to work on you tapping into the Nine-Tails Chakra…you got all that?" Jiraiya asked as the top of Naruto's head was steaming.
"...Uh-uh?" he said with some level of certainty. "Seems like a lot though,"
"Well, your father did more than that before he became Hokage, so you have to be prepared to work hard," he said as Naruto nodded.
"I know… there is no easy path to becoming Hokage," he then bit his thumb, copied the hand signs and slammed his palm to the ground while shouting. "Summoning Jutsu!" a large poof of smoke appeared…
Only to reveal a small tadpole
"..." Jiraiya and Naruto both stared at the small flopping tadpole as both their eyes twitched. Before the tadpole returned to its home.
"...This…is going to take a lot more work than I thought…" Jiraiya admitted as Naruto hung his head in shame. "But, at least now we know where you are…at the beginning. All things have one, so does training…" Jiraiya tried to encourage the young man as Naruto looked up a little with some hope.
"Although your father did manage to summon a regular toad on his first try," he admitted as Naruto slumped again. "But hey, this is not bad for your first attempt! And your father was a prodigy back then! Heck, the first time I'll admit I only managed to summon a tadpole myself and look at me now!" he said with open arms.
"...a homeless pervert?" Naruto quipped back as Jiraiya fell over.
"A SAGE! AND A SUCCESSFUL AUTHOR!" he yelled as Naruto chuckled a little, soon followed by Jiraiya. "Well, it's getting late. We'll call it quits for today and pick it up again tomorrow," he said as he noticed the sun was going down. "Come on, let's get something to eat, my treat."
"Yeah, I could go for some Ramen right about now!" Naruto perked up at the thought of his favourite food.
"Ha! Figures, if you're anything like your mother you'll have a huge appetite for the stuff," he said as Naruto's huge grin slowly morphed into a sad smile.
"Hey…" he asked as Jiraiay looked back at him. "Can you tell me more about them?" he asked as Jiraiya started before nodding.
"Sure kid, let me tell you about the day they chose the name for you," he said as he led the child away. "I was working on this novel and I wanted to show your father, I got the idea from some Ramen, and they…" his voice trailed off as they walked back to Konoha.
Naruto listened intently as he heard more about his parents, what they were like and what they wanted for him. It was the first time in a long time that he paid attention to something, and he never interrupted once. How could he? He was learning more about his parents in one day than he had in his entire life. No way he was going to miss any of it…
Later that Night
Gaara of the Sand looked up to the moon as he once again had to suffer the effects of being an Insomniac. A curse that his father had inflicted upon him ever since he sealed the One-Tailed Beast inside of him. Because of how the seal was designed, if he fell asleep, the One-Tailed Beast would take control and he would rampage across the village. The only thing that seemed to relax him was staring at the moon.
But then, of course, He gets more anxious when the moon gets full.
Suddenly he heard someone approach him as he looked down from his perch to see one of the Sound Ninjas from Otogakure, Dosu, steadily approach him.
"Ah…A shame, do you ever sleep?" he asked the red-haired teen, who just glared at him. "I was hoping to catch you off guard in your sleep so that I can face Sasuke in the finals. I have my orders after all…" he said as he rolled up his sleeve and revealed his sound gauntlets. "I know all about your sand attacks, do you wonder which is faster…my sound or your sand?" he asked as he prepared to attack.
Gaara just sighed in annoyance as sand began to form around him. "You're annoying…" the sand took on a more monstrous form as it eclipsed the sound ninja. "And He gets more bloodthirsty when the moon is full…"
Dosu's eyes widened as the sand took on a monstrous form and he felt fear resonate in his soul.
"W-What the hell are you!?" was all he got to say before the sand destroyed him. All that was left of him was a mangled-up corpse.
From the distance, Kabuto and Baki watched, as they watched the whole battle from start to finish. Kabuto smirked behind his glasses as he observed the One-Tailed Jinchuriki.
"So…that's his true identity…Impressive, even if it's only the One-Tails." Kabuto observed as Baki raised a brow on the only exposed portion of his face.
"Are you sure this was okay? He was a Sound Ninja, after all, your ally…" Baki was a little concerned about Kabuto's lack of empathy towards his fellow Sound Ninja.
"It's fine…He had outlived his purpose, and had no real chance against Sasuke even if he somehow managed to beat Gaara", Kabuto said as Baki narrowed his gaze.
"But I thought his purpose was to test Sasuke 's abilities?" Baki asked as Hayate hid from the pair from around the corner.
After the incident at the Hospital with the Anbu guards assigned to watch over Sasuke Uchiha, Hayate visited his lover Yugao to make sure she was alright. After that and the promise they made under the moon, he was then assigned to investigate the identity of Kabuto Yakushi, the man identified as the assailant by Kakashi Hatake. He managed to track him down to this location, where he seemed to be meeting up with a Jonin from the Sand Village, Baki. He narrowed his gaze as he hid from the pair.
"Oh, well there's no need for that anymore. I had the task of abducting Sasuke-Kun, but I failed." Kabuto admitted as Baki raised a brow. "Yep, and now they know I'm a spy for the Sound," Kabuto seemed to proudly admit as Baki stared at the man.
"...That's not good news. If they found out you're a spy and find out about this meeting our plan to crush the Leaf will be effectively over before it can begin. I thought you were supposed to be Orochimaru's right-hand man. Yet you got discovered and still chose to meet up with me, seems sloppy if you ask me," Baki said as Kabuto smiled before his eyes narrowed into a glare.
"I let them find out about me. I wanted to see how they would react to this information and see how they would respond. After this, taking Sasuke won't be a problem at all…" Kabuto informed Baki grumbling in annoyance.
"...If it looks like you will fail, then the Sand will withdraw. You were the ones who came to us, remember? The Sand will only act behind the scenes, that is the will of the Kazekage…" Baki informed Kabuto and nodded while Hayate felt distressed.
'Not good, and why are the Sand and the Sound allies? Are you planning an attack? But why, the Sand have been our allies for years, how can this be?' Hayate asked himself as he continued to listen.
Kabut then handed a scroll to Baki who nodded. "Here are our plans, my Lord recommended that our allies be informed, so please do so. Once we make our move, there will be no going back…" Kabuto said as Baki nodded.
'This is bad, I need to inform Lord Hokage! If the Sand and Sound have allied themselves for an invasion…I need to warn them…' Hayate concluded as he prepared to leave.
"Also…" Kabuto suddenly said much to Hayate's shock. "I think it's about time we clean up the little spy that's been watching us. I'll test what kind they have moving around," Kabuto said as Baki shook his head.
"No, I'll deal with him. As Partners, the Sand needs to contribute to the plan. After all…" he then turned directly towards Hayate as the sick Jonin's eyes widened. "It's just one rat…"
Hayate bolted from there as fast as he could, as he tried to make it back to the Hokage's Manor or to a more populated area to warn his fellow ninja. But he was unable to get away as Baki managed to corner him on a deserted rooftop. The two had spared quickly with Kunai knives clashing against each other, only for Baki to spit sand into his eye. Hayate managed to avoid any hit as they landed on a desolate roof. Hayate gripped his blade in its sheath, but not drawing the blade as he and Baki stood at opposite ends of each other.
"My, my Mr Examiner. What are you doing out here so late at night? It's not very polite to spy on others you know," Baki mocked as Hayate slowly drew his blade.
'Cough, cough…This is not good…looks like I have no choice but to fight…' Hayate thought to himself as he prepared his technique. 'Shadow Clone Jutsu!' Hayate managed to summon two clones as they sped towards the Sand Jonin.
Baki managed to take out the other two when Hayate brought his blade down. "Leaf style: Dance of the Crescent Moon!" Hayate's blade struck the man in the shoulder, but the strike was too shallow as the blade was stuck in the Sand Ninja's Flak Jacket.
"I see…so this is the Leaf's Dance of the Crescent Moon technique?" Baki said even though a blade was lodged into his shoulder as Hayate's eyes widened.
'It won't move!' Hayate thought before Baki held his blade with his spare hand.
"To master a technique at such a young age is impressive," Bakie congratulated Hayate as he tried to pull his sword free. Baki held up his hand as the wind began to gather around his index and middle finger. "But while a steel blade can be stopped…'' the wind sped around his fingers as Baki stared into Hayate's eyes.
"Nothing can stop a blade of wind!"
Hayate didn't even have the time to react as blades of wind sliced into his body and the last thoughts that went through his mind were his village, his fellow Ninja and his lover Yugao and how he loathed the fact that he had failed them…
Next Day - Waterfall
Naruto and Jiraiya met up early in the morning as Jiraiya had with him a stack of books, some training equipment and a small set of weights. "Uh, what's all this for Pervy-Sage?" Naruto asked as Jiraiya groaned.
"I wish you wouldn't call me that," Jiraiya complained as Naruto stuck out his tongue.
"Well don't be a perv, even my mum knew you were one. Said so in her journal," Naruto said as Jiraiya sighed.
"Either way, seeing as I want to make up the time we lost and get you ready for the exam we're taking your training back a bit. Focusing on gaining more control over your chakra, and maybe drill some strategy into that hollow skull you call a head," Jiraiya said as Naruto gained a small tick on his head.
"Hey! My head is not hollow! I made it to the Semi-Finals didn't I!?" Naruto boasted as Jiraiya shook his head.
"Barely. From what I managed to gather you barely scraped a pass. You didn't understand the point of the written exam was to cheat and use any skill you had for collecting information. You and that Sasuke boy got beat up in the forest by one examinee. (Though granted it was Orochimaru, but best he doesn't know about that) and you won against the Inuzuka by farting in his face. Face it brat, you lucked out. By all accounts you should've lost, or failed after the first part of the exam." he told the young boy as Naruto grumbled and hung his head.
"But it's not the end of the world and the finals are where you can turn it around. You just need to show them that you are or are capable of being a Chunin. And that involves showing strategy, skill and combat ability. Whereas the first two parts of the Exam focused on Reconnaissance and Survival, the Final section will be the deciding factor. So we need to take this time to improve upon your weakness, and polish up your strengths." Jiraiya said going into full mentor mode. 'Heh, I haven't done this since Minato was my pupil. Though to be honest, that kid was so talented he out-shined even me in the end.' he thought to himself as Naruto picked up one of the books on strategy and already felt his brain was about to burst.
"Ah man…do I have to do this?" he asked as Jiraiya nodded.
"If you want to get promoted yes, otherwise if you don't you might find yourself having to do it again down the line. You wouldn't want that would you?" he asked as Naruto could only imagine not getting promoted because of his lack of studying.
Ever since he was young he hated studying, all those books and long paragraphs and lectures bored him to death. Granted, he didn't have anyone around to teach him properly until Iruka, but he still never found the idea not all that appealing. But then he thought about everything his parents had to go through to become Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf, and he remembered the words he told Konohamaru. There were no shortcuts to becoming Hokage. So whether he liked it or not, he had to study.
"Okay Pervy-Sage, let's do this!"
"That's the spirit!... And don't call me Pervy-Sage! Call me Sensei!"
"Okay…Pervy-Sensei!"
"That's a bet- HEY! You little brat!"
And Scene. Here is Chapter II of the Journal of Hope. Sorry for the long wait, things have escalated at Uni and I'm in my final year before going off to find a job in the industry. So it's been kind of hectic. On the plus side, I've been getting back into the swing of it thanks to the help of my online friends. Not much was meant to happen in this chapter, other than starting his new training. I realise that there's a lot Naruto needs to work on, which was part of the 3-year trip, and he wouldn't be a super strong shinobi before the Finals. But at least with Jirayai showing more dedication in this timeline and feeling like he owes Naruto, he'd be more 'competent and thoughtful' in his strategy.
I'm not sure how to learn other jutsu's work, but I believe everyone can learn Jutsu but find favour in their element. Clone discovery will be a thing for Naruto, as he is the only one capable of using it to accelerate his training. Granted it would only be the mental portion, such as remembering how to control his Chakra better and learning at least two new Jutsu by then. The Physical piece will be up to the Original Naruto and Jiraiya.
Any feedback would be appreciated and stay tuned for the next chapter. In…
Chapter III: The Clone Trick