A/N: I'm really freaking out rite now. Anyways, here's the next chapter. ARGH! Stressed!
Chapter 20: Month
"So you're moving out tomorrow?" Minato inquired, collapsing on the couch.
"Yeah, but what happened?" Haku asked, taking in the blond's haggard appearance.
"Gamabunta happened. He says he'll consider making me his subordinate. I had to stay on his back until sundown, which I did. I almost forgot about Gamabunta's temper and somehow, after all that, sensei ended up drunk again and I had to haul him away before he fell off a cliff," Minato sighed, kicking off his shoes.
"Sounds like you have a very interesting sensei, but who's Gamabunta," Haku giggled lightly.
"Gamabunta's the boss summon of the toads, and sometimes, I think my sensei's a little too interesting. The funny thing is, I wouldn't trade him for anyone else in the world," Minato replied, heaving himself off the sofa and staggering towards the bedroom.
"Good night, Haku," Minato called lazily before entering his room.
Haku smiled placidly and returned with a, "Good night, Naruto." Minato was asleep seconds after his head touched the pillow. Night flew past and Minato found himself meeting his sensei by the river again.
"What are you going to teach me today sensei?" Minato inquired.
"Tell me. What do you know about seals?" Jiraiya asked a question of his own.
"You can't expect me to defeat Neji with seals," Minato argued.
"I know. I'm just asking," Jiraiya said benignly.
"They're... squiggly lines?" Minato feigned confusion.
"Don't play with me Minato," Jiraiya shouted, his tone harsh.
"You didn't think I was that stupid did you?" Jiraiya said, noticing the blond's shocked expression.
"How did you find out, sensei?" Minato asked, schooling his expression.
"Hi. Mi. Tsu!" Jiraiya teased, wagging his index finger with each syllable. Minato shot the white haired man a murderous look.
"Relax. I already had my suspicions since in the hot spring. The thing beneath your headband made me even more suspicious. You just confirmed it," Jiraiya grinned.
"So how did you end up like this anyway?" Jiraiya sat down cross legged beside his blond student. "On the night of the attack. I messed up and now Naru-chan's trapped with Kyuubi. And now I have the Chunin Exams to worry about," Minato sighed heavily.
"Why don't you just take back your position?" the Sannin asked, puzzled.
"Looking like this? That's just not possible. Besides, I can't just turn up after twelve years and lead the village," Minato reasoned.
"True. So, what are you gonna do? Against Neji I mean," Jiraiya asked.
"Well, he's a Hyuuga, and from what I've heard, he's a genius. Hyuugas have one blind spot, but it's so miniscule I might as well forget about it. I'd have to attack long range, and I'd have to be out of his range of sight, which would be near impossible in the arena. I could wear him out by forcing him to use all of his chakra, but I can't take any hits or it's over, and for that, I'd still have to attack long range or use speed and execute short range attacks like taijutsu. I could also use speed and beat him into unconsciousness, how I'm going to do that is the same as for wearing him out. I'd take my chances with wearing him out," Minato planned.
"Why not just knock him out? You're fast enough," Jiraiya turned to his blond student.
"I don't want anyone knowing who I am. The only one who knows besides the two of us is Iruka-sensei," Minato stared at the fishes swimming serenely in the stream.
"What does being fast have anything to do with that? Many others are just as fast, and you said it yourself that you're not as fast as you used to be."
"Wouldn't you freak if a twelve year old Gennin was faster than you?"
"I'll leave all that to you. All this thinking is giving me a headache."
"Fine, but why weren't you here during the first twelve years? You were supposed to be Naruto's godfather weren't you?"
"I had to keep up the spy network. Besides, I did visit occasionally and helped with some financial stuff."
"So, the envelopes of money that turn up on my table are from you?"
"Yeah." "I thought those were from Sarutobi."
"Nope. So, what are we going to do about your training? I'm sure you've trained yourself before now and are no doubt better than most Gennin."
"Well yes, but for now, I'm still a Gennin nonetheless. Fancy taking me as your apprentice again?"
"Sure, why not?" Jiraiya got up, as did Minato, and the two took a stance, mirroring each other. A leaf fluttered to the ground, the two rushing at each other the moment it touched the floor.
"You've de-proved, Minato!" Jiraiya teased, blocking a strike.
"Well, that's to be expected," the blond shot back, aiming a kick, twisting his body around to add more force to the kick.
"Shift your weight to the left a bit more," Jiraiya criticised, dodging the kick. The two kept going at it until the sun disappeared on the horizon. The two sat by the river, panting doggedly, Jiraiya turning to his blond student saying, "That was fun. I haven't had a good taijutsu fight in a while."
"Well, Haku's moving out tomorrow, so I'd better go home and help her. I'll meet you here again tomorrow?" Minato propped himself up on his elbows and stood up. Jiraiya just nodded as Minato disappeared. Haku moved out the next day, but it wasn't all that bad, because the two were still living in the same building. Minato found out from Sakura that Sasuke had disappeared from the hospital, most likely Kakashi whisking him off to train him.
"Sensei, there's something I'd like to try. I've been working on it for the past few years and I'm trying to work out the bugs. It might not help me win against Neji, but I'd like to try it out anyway," Minato said.
"Taijutsu?" Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. Minato nodded, Jiraiya beckoning the blond with his hand. The wind started to pick up around Minato, before whipping around wildly as lightning joined in, sparking amidst the gusts of wind, rearing and plunging. The wind lashed fiercely around the blond, tearing into the barks of the trees as they whipped past, leaving large gash marks and burns. Jiraiya squinted and braced himself, shielding his face with his arms. The orange jumpsuit he was wearing was shredded mercilessly, revealing the black, sleeveless training clothes beneath as the attack condensed around the blond's arms and legs.
Minato charged at Jiraiya shouting, "Dodge!" Jiraiya fell to the side, Minato's fist missing Jiraiya and embedding itself in a tree. The wind died down and the lightning dissipated as the technique ended, leaving Minato panting, his fist still buried in the tree's trunk. Jiraiya got up from his position on the floor to inspect the damage done, finding that his entire right side was numb and peppered with miniscule cuts despite Minato having passed by him.
"Damn," Jiraiya whistled in appreciation. The tree was covered in deep gashes, the worst being where Minato's fist was, a deep, uneven hole from where his fist connected with the tree. The interior of the hole was charred black, the wood splintering around the blond's fist.
"Seems like I can't use that too often. I haven't perfected it yet," Minato choked out before pulling his fist out and falling to his knees. That was when Jiraiya noticed the cuts and burns littered around the blond's body, the worst covering his arms.
"I think you had better lay off it until you perfect it because it seems like it hurts you as well," Jiraiya noted. Minato nodded numbly, leaning against the decimated tree trunk. "What was that anyway? It looked a bit like your Rasengan," Jiraiya asked, inspecting the hole.
"It's not. I intended for it to be used in accompaniment with taijutsu. I'm trying to coat my arms and legs in lightning mixed with wind chakra. During taijutsu, you have no choice but to come into contact with your opponent's arms and legs, so…" Minato trailed off.
Jiraiya nodded in understanding, rubbing his right arm to get some feeling back into it, "Why don't we call it a day? I think you used too much chakra during that attack." Minato just nodded, staggering to his feet. Minato managed to drag his fatigued body back to his apartment and flopped onto the bed, not bothering to change his clothes before drifting into the sweet embrace of sleep. Minato was completely healed the next day, 'Probably because of the fox.'
The days flew by until there were only a few days left to the finals. Jiraiya had given the blond the day off so he decided to wander around the village. 'Maybe I should go visit Lee in the hospital,' Minato thought, heading towards the hospital. He strolled down the corridors and scrunched his nose slightly as the smell of disinfectant impinged his nose. The blond slid open the door and was greeted to the sight of Haku tending to Lee. "Hi Haku, Lee," Minato greeted, placing the flowers he'd bought along the way in the vase beside the bed.
"Naruto? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be training for the fight against Neji?" Lee asked.
"Sakura told you?" Minato asked, and, receiving a nod, said, "Well, my sensei let me have a day off today, so I decided to visit," Minato answered. Lee looked down at his arm-the one that was in a sling . "I'm sure you'll recover," Minato said reassuringly, feeling a twinge of guilt when Lee smiled at Minato. It was a smile filled with hope, and Minato didn't want to see it fade.
"Well, I'm done. I want to stay and chat, but the head nurse asked me to tend to the patient in ward 302. If you need me, just buzz for me," Haku smiled serenely as she exited the room.
"You can go you know," Lee said, hearing Minato's stomach growl.
"Alright, but don't do anything colossally stupid," Minato warned.
"Don't worry. I won't," Lee promised, Minato sighing as he left the ward. The blond found himself outside Yakiniku Q and screeched to a halt, spotting Team 10, with the exception of Ino, inside. He was about to call out to them from the window when he decided against it. Shikamaru could have been taking a break from training. He found himself in front of Ichiraku's, but he wasn't the only one.
"Hinata!" Minato called out, the owner of the name jumping in surprise before turning to the blond greeting him. "Were you going to go in too?" Minato asked, oblivious to the blush dusting the Hyuuga's cheeks as she nodded. "Then we'll eat together. My treat!" Minato pulled Hinata into the stand before the latter had the chance to protest. Minato tried numerous times to strike up a conversation with Hinata, but gave up when she kept turning away and blushing. The meal ended with Naruto dragging Hinata away from the stand after paying, and bringing her to the training grounds, where Minato tried getting the girl to talk, again. After that had failed, he brought her to the top of the Hokage Monument, where the view of the sunset was best. "Hinata, why does Neji hate you?" Minato asked.
"H-he ha-hates m-me because… Wh-when I w-was th-three, a Ku-kumo nin tr-tried to k-kidn-nap m-me. M-my f-father k-killed th-the man t-to sa-save me. Th-they c-couldn't pr-prove th-that th-the m-man wasn't a-acting on h-his o-own, s-so, Kumo d-demanded th-that m-my f-father b-be k-killed. I-if n-not, th-they'd d-declare w-war. N-Neji's f-father t-took my f-father's p-place a-and was k-killed i-instead. Th-they s-sent N-Neji's f-father's b-body to Kumo to k-keep th-the p-peace," Hinata answered.
"I see. I can understand why, especially since he's from the branch family, but that doesn't justify the hatred he has for you. He nearly killed you during the preliminaries. I know life's been hard on him, but I wonder why he blames you. You were only three at the time. You couldn't have done anything," Minato said.
"H-he h-has his r-reasons. H-he h-has th-the r-right t-to b-be an-angry. I sh-should b-be g-going h-home s-soon. I-It's g-getting l-late," Hinata stuttered, looking at the rapidly darkening sky.
"I'll walk you home. I've always wanted to see how the Hyuuga estate looks like," Minato offered. Hinata nodded, not trusting her voice. The two left the Hokage monument and trekked back through the trees towards the Hyuuga estate. The two rounded around the estate when two presences made themselves known to Minato. Two men burst into the forest, the taller one swinging a sack over his shoulder.
A muffled scream came from inside the bag, Hinata's eyes widening and whispering, "Hanabi."
"Your sister?" Minato whispered, Hinata nodding in response. 'They're probably using the Chunin exams as a cover to get the Byakugan. I remember one of them from outside the Forest of Death when Anko was explaining the rules for the Second Exam,' Minato thought.
"Wh-what are w-we g-going t-to d-do?" Hinata rushed, flustered.
"I'll go get her; you stay here and cover your eyes. Don't look, regardless of what you hear, okay?" Minato whispered to Hinata. Hinata nodded and raised her hands to cover her eyes when Minato stopped her, "But before that, could you activate your Byakugan and see what the insignia on their hitai-ate are?"
Hinata nodded again and activated her Byakugan before saying, "Th-they're f-from Ame, b-but th-they're N-nuke nin," Hinata informed the blond.
"Thanks," Minato got up as Hinata covered her eyes. The blond charged at the two, unsealing his tanto before bringing it down on the first one. The whipped out a kunai and blocked the attack, having sensed it. Minato jumped away, avoiding a slash of the kunai from the Ame-nin. 'This would be a good chance to test the efficiency of that on a human,' Minato thought as the wind started picking up around him.
"Look, Ryuuji, it's just a Gennin. I'll take care of him. You go on ahead," the shorter one of the two said.
"Fine, but you'd better not get your ass kicked by that brat, Hakuo," Ryuuji teased, leaping away with the sack still slung over his back.
"Looks like you know a trick or two. But that's not good enough," Hakuo jeered as his hands flashed through hand signs, watching as lightning started to dance around Minato's form. Minato didn't respond to the jibe, sweat beading his forehead as the wind and lightning died down, concentrating around the blond's arms and legs. The jumpsuit he was wearing was ripped once again, along with the rest of the orange apparel, revealing the black garb beneath. "Suiton: Suiryuudan no jutsu!" Hakuo shouted, a giant water dragon bursting from behind the wall around the Hyuuga estate. Apparently, there was a pond situated behind the wall, and a rather large on at that. Minato dodged the liquid dragon, but the attack just twisted around, still gunning for him. The blond blurred out of existence and reappeared before Hakuo, kicking the Ame-nin in the side.
Hakuo let out a bloodcurdling scream as he felt his flesh being sliced up and cauterised again and again for what seemed like eternity. When Minato jumped away to inspect the damage, he wasn't too surprised with the effects as the water dragon broke apart. The man's side had been brutally ripped and charred, like the tree, secondary cuts and burns framing the primary hit point where he'd kicked the man. Hakuo tried desperately to move, his whole body numb. "Wh-what are you?" Hakuo managed to cough out.
"Busy," Minato answered simply before running off to find the one known as 'Ryuuji', the wind and lightning giving him an unexpected boost. Minato found the man not far away and planted a fist in the man's gut, digging it into the man's stomach before leaping away and cancelling the technique, falling on his butt in the foliage. A young girl with long brown hair and milky white eyes emerged from the sack, looking bedraggled, like she'd been plucked from her bed while she was sleeping. "Hi," Minato greeted, not knowing what else to do. Hanabi scrambled to her feet and took up an offensive stance, her arms trembling. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm here to help," Minato put his hands up in front of him to placate the young Hyuuga.
"Who are you?" Hanabi demanded.
"Uzumaki Naruto," Minato replied, watching with amusement as Hanabi's eyes widened.
"You're the one Onee-san…" Hanabi smirked before relaxing.
Minato cocked his head, puzzled.
"Hinata's this way," Minato lead Hanabi towards the place he'd left Hinata at, sealing the man's body into a scroll prior. Minato found the man known as 'Hakuo' trying to move and promptly knocked the man out, dragging the limp body along with him towards Hinata.
"Onee-san," Hanabi greeted, drawing a gasp from Hinata. The latter removed her hands from her eyes, doing a double take when she saw Hanabi and her crush leaning over her.
"H-Hanabi… H-How d-did y-you s-save h-her s-so f-fast?" Hinata breathed.
"I was lucky I guess," Minato grinned, sheepishly scratching behind his head.
"Hanabi-sama, Hinata-sama!" a Hyuuga from the branch family had spotted them and was running towards them. "You suddenly disappeared from bed. Hiashi-sama will be furious when he finds out that you two were taking a night-time stroll. Remember what happened last time?" the branch member babbled, grabbing the two girls by their arms. "Excuse me," the branch member bowed to Minato and proceeded to drag the two young Hyuugas towards the entrance of the compound.
"Good night, Hinata, Hanabi!" Minato waved, watching as the three disappeared. Minato sealed Hakuo into another scroll and headed back to his apartment, relaying the information and bodies to Jiraiya to see if he knew anything about it. The remaining days passed fleetingly, and soon, Minato found himself standing in the arena alongside the other 6 candidates, gazing up at the thousands of people in the stands.
"Everyone besides Hyuuga Neji and Uzumaki Naruto are to leave the arena," Aoba, the proctor, announced. Hayate could not be found and so, they had had to find a replacement.
"Mendokuse," Shikamaru grumbled as they made their way into the stands, the absence of Dosu and Sasuke not going unnoticed. Soon, the only ones left on the field were Neji, Minato and Aoba.
The Third Exam had began.
A/N: Well, if something irks you, feel free to say so. I hit a wall. a really large wall, so I started another, weirder wall was so large I just decided to do this. Filler. If you have any questions, I will answer them, and updates will not be coming so frequently anymore because school is going to start soon. Also, I will rewrite the chapter if you find some really major flaws in it. Well, I think that's all. Please review. Thank you. Oh yeah. I need a name for the technique, so if you happen to come up with one, please tell me via review. I look forward to reading about what you think it should be called. Thank You.