Naruto's Journal

April 20th, 1932

(Yes Sakura I am dating them properly. Criminy woman, stop harping on me, will ya?)

Ya know, after reading through Sasuke's journal, I have come to a conclusion:

The Uchiha's "greatest" attribute ain't their Copycat Eyes, it's holding a grudge. I mean, I'm an orphan, I've been treated badly and the people I cared about have been treated badly for the Furball inside me ever since I was born, and even I ain't holding that big a grudge! And here we have Sasuke holding onto a grudge his family's held onto for nigh on a century now!

Don't get me wrong: Having your brother massacre your own family? I reckon that would make me pretty goddamned angry too. I'd want that bastard dead. But, I wouldn't put killing him higher in priority than just living. I mean, what's the point of killing him if the bastard makes you miserable?

Sister Ayame told me that the reason she don't hate the people who hate me back is because the Good Lord told us to love our enemies. Now, I didn't really get that, nor do I entirely understand it, but Sister Ayame did say there was wiggle room.

If you can't love your enemies, then at least don't hate 'em. They're your enemy, you gotta take 'em down, and all you can do is try to stop 'em in the best way you can without doing too much harm. Hate just clouds the issue, and eats you up on the inside as much as your enemy might try to kill you on the outside. That was Sister Ayame's advice to me when I said I wanted to become a ninja. I also used it as an excuse for my pranking on the townspeople, heheh.

So, no... No hatred for me. No holding a grudge for me. And especially no ranting and raving and arguing with Sakura over whether General Unohana should've taken that last hill at the Battle of Seion Valley. Well, maybe when it's about military strategy in general but not with all the baggage Sasuke and Sakura bring into it.

But uh, I promised to write more about my classmates, so I'll write more about my classmates. And I ain't about to break a promise... Even to a diary. I dunno if that's noble or stupid. Maybe it's both.

Well, we've been assigned archive duty alongside members of 8th Squad, Jounin Second Class Yuuhi Kurenai commanding. Would've written sooner but I got a mite bit distracted. Swear, it wasn't my fault a few models were missin' from Sasuke's recreation of the Battle of Soien. I swear, he loves that model in ways I will never love a woman. Well... A little costumin' and roleplay might not be out of the question... But not to the degree of Sasuke.

Anyway, Squad 8 is a reconnaissance section of the newly-formed Konoha Special Forces 220th Ninja Squadron, even though in terms of numbers the entire 220th is barely at Company level in the regular military. Squadron is a uniquely ninja term-See, taken all together, Konoha's total ninja forces number at around 10,000 personnel, including support units. This may sound impressive, until you learn that the Fire Republic Armed Forces, even with this Depression going on, numbers a little over 1 million with about half of that dedicated combat personnel. Taken another way, there are at least 50 Fire Republic soldiers, sailors, pilots and Marines for every ninja. There's a very good reason for this-Training ninja takes a long time to do. Several times longer than it does to train a professional soldier.

Right, right, getting off topic again. Me, I blame Sakura-She's always goin' off on tangents and such. My fellow graduates, hmm…

A notable one in more than one way is Hinata Hyuuga. She's probably the sweetest, kindest, most, uh... "gifted" girl my age. I mean, damn. The girl hides a lot behind her jacket, I can tell you. How I got a peek? Uhhh... Since Sakura's gonna be reading this I probably shouldn't say.

Actually, I probably shouldn't have said anything. Damnit.

Oh well, if I'm in the handbasket anyway, Hinata is hot. She's kind. She can see through walls, people, stuff like that. But uh, that's regarded as a bit of a problem. See, she's a Hyuuga-Their whole fighting style, their tactics are geared on killing with a touch. Any ninja can push chakra out of their hands, but Hyuuga have figured out how to push it out and into some poor soul to make their hearts explode or make it so they can't draw chakra. Hyuuga make great hunter nin (Bounty hunters, more or less, for missing ninja-Defectors basically), recon unit members, commanders, lots of stuff.

Hinata... Is not great at that stuff, 'cept maybe Recon, and she's very good at medicine. She's very stealthy, hard for me to even notice when she's around. Somehow I find her around me a lot of the time... Not that I'm complaining, she's a nice girl. Just kind shy, quiet... And faints when I touch her.

Ain't too sure what that's about, but I do like her.

Kiba Inuzuka and his dog, Akamaru, are both part of the Inuzuka family. For generations they've supplied first-rate trackers, scouts, and close-combat fighters for Konoha thanks to their style of ninjutsu. That is, something called "Beast Bonding." Their dogs have achieved sentience and the Inuzuka human members have become more feral. You get, in essence, two thinking, feeling dogs in every package. As far as the Inuzuka are concerned, the only difference between them and their dogs is how many feet they usually keep on the ground. Naturally there are rumors about them bein' involving in unsavory stuff, and using their dogs on certain unruly kunoichi prisoners, if you catch my drift. Real feral, fun loving bunch though. Kiba in particular though never took kindly to me-I reckon it's the Fox in me, to say nothing of how I've been eying Hinata as of late. Ain't my fault she needs help in Operational Planning and that, thanks to my pranks, I've got more than a solid grounding in the concept. Or that she's fun to be around. But eh, fuck him. I can out-Alpha him any day, thank you.

Shino Aburame is, as said, an Aburame, and they are among the scariest motherfuckers in Konoha. Like the Inuzuka, they've got a Beast Bond of their own. Only they have it with bugs. Their bugs live with them, inside of them, and fight with them. And this ain't even the start of the real scariness. They can track you with a single insect on your back. They can drain a man dry of chakra, or poison him to death with their stingers, or even send them down your throat to feast on your innards. Oh, and they will. They are cold, cool, calculating sons of bitches. If you're on their side, you best stay that way. Shino in particular is like most of his family-Quiet, rarely speaking except when they got something to say, coldly logical and kind of stiff. But Hinata seems to like him, so... Who knows? I'm no stranger to acting. But uh... I sincerely doubt he's warm and cuddly underneath his trenchcoat.

Though Hana Inuzuka may say otherwise...

(All right, all right, I'll stay on topic, God woman stop lookin' over my shoulder!)

Finally, there is their Jounin, Yuuhi Kurenai. She's a hotshot child prodigy in illusion techniques, often referred to as "genjutsu". At the age of 26, not only is she a Jounin, but he already has a doctorate in psychology from Senju University. She was slated to join the ANBU Intelligence Section (Previously referred to as the "Torture and Interrogation" section), but decided to instead take up a job teaching. She's very kind and patient, and Hinata loves her like a mother, seein' as her mother died while having her little sister. She crosstrains with other squads in the 220th on genjutsu and genjutsu resistance tactics, as well as basic SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape), particularly for kunoichi. While the Yunako Convention of 1918 was signed by every nation on the continent in regards to the treatment of prisoners of war and such, there have been such agreements in the past-Agreements that were summarily ignored by more than a few nations. I am proud to say that the Fire Republic has a record of trying it's war criminals, and of having a significantly smaller number of war crimes committed by it's troops than other nations. Stuff those other nations usually spin into "acts of courage and self-sacrifice".

Konoha's... A little vaguer on the subject. Self-Governing Zone and all that. The world of ninja can be a much darker place than the world of the regular military. It's like civilian intelligence spooks meeting soldiers with the power to shoot fireballs or copy themselves and such. I'm still confident we're nowhere as bad as other sons of bitches can get, thank you.

The other graduates are under Jounin Asuma Sarutobi, the Hokage's son. He's a cool customer, very neat, very laid back, always smokin' a cigarette like he's a gangster or something. He ain't a bad instructor, though he spends most of his time with Shikamaru. The guy is second best at everything, a jack of all trades, so he ain't a bad soldier in any way. But I don't know him very well… Cept that he's got this relationship with Jounin Kurenai they try to hide, badly. I mean, if even I can see it, then it ain't no secret. He has three students, same as the rest of the Jounin instructors.

Ino Yamanaka is as pretty as the flowers her shop grows. She's also as prickly as a rose with thorns, especially around Sakura. She is also a member of the "Wishes to be Mrs. Uchiha" Brigade. She has a better chance of it than Sakura in my estimation-The Yamanakas ain't Easterners, and she's a damn fine ninja... In all senses of the word. But that's not saying much, considering he don't so much as blush when she gives him a hug. She's... Sort of my friend, I believe. Her family belongs to my church, and we bond a little over the church garden, helping to maintain it and deliver vegetables to needy families. She's nice to talk to when other girls ain't around-It's then she pulls up the "proper lady" act and treats an orphan like me with no family and no titles like a... Well, as well as you'd expect. Still, she ain't bad. Her family specializes in Mind-based jutsu. Taking over other people's bodies, reading minds, that sort of thing. They're dang useful as spies and infiltrators.

Shikamaru Nara is another lazy ass son of a bitch. Hell, his grades were as bad as mine, if not worse in a number of areas. Thing is, the bastard is smart. Dead smart. Give him a few minutes and he'll have a plan to totally fuck up the bad guys ten ways from Sunday. However, he ain't commanding material. He'll do fine as a chuunin, maybe a special jounin, acting as a 2IC or strategic adviser but as he is now, he ain't going to want to take the responsibility of leading men into battle. Which is fine-It ain't for everyone. Hell, I ain't too good at simulating it myself. But I'm getting better. Sakura's a big help in that arena. Though I have to tolerate her lectures on such and such maneuver in such and such battle. She's like a goddamned textbook with a nice ass.

Right, right, off-topic. (I'm warning you Sakura, I ain't afraid to put you over my knee!

… What do you mean I'm a pervert?)

Chouji Akimichi is one of the nicest guys you could ever meet, and I mean that. He's a great cook, he's damn strong, he's a perfect gentlemen from a long line of wealthy, brave ninja. If it weren't for one issue, he'd have as many women after him as Sasuke does: He's fat. Well, "big". He don't take kindly to being called fat. No Akimichi does. They all use that fat for their family attacks, making themselves into giants or giant meatballs or even super-strong. Strangely enough, all the men are fat but the women are... Well, "voluptuous" is a more polite term than what I initially had in mind, so I'll use that.

Anyway, Chouji's good. He ain't as good a friend to me as to Shikamaru, but he's never done me wrong. Which is a fair amount more than I can say for some other "friends" I've had.

Anyway, the 220th is involved in various duties. Mostly training, and paid missions of a support and logistical nature throughout the Republic. The government's using it's ninja to help public works projects to improve the infrastructure and agriculture of Fire and a few nearby nations in the hopes that it will allow the economy to recover. The regular military and a number of government civil servant organizations are busy with the same thing. I'm not big on economics, to be honest, nor politics. I just know what I like. And I don't see anything wrong with being paid to help people out. Hell, I've made a pretty penny in helping out with farming, thanks to my Clone Spell.

But I didn't get into this to be a farmer. I got into this to be a ninja. So, here's hoping we get a C-Rank mission soon.

Konoha Post

The Self-Governing Zone's most popular newspaper 5 yen

April 20th, 1932

Wave Country Borders Sealed; President cites "emergency situation"

By Sho Saito

HI-KYO: While economic woes are nothing new in Wave Country, the reactions to them have been almost bi-polar. In his most bizarre move yet, President Koshinuke ordered the borders of the island nation sealed five days ago. The FR Naval base, Oshima Station, was also cut off, four Wave Navy destroyers (ironically enough purchased from Fire following the Continental War) deployed to blockade the base. Subsequent inquires from the naval base and from President Urashima himself yielded this response:

"Due to internal issues, Wave Country must be sealed off and quarantined for the time being, save by only the most essential of supplies. The reasons for this, I cannot reveal. But be assured that this situation will pass eventually. For now, please remain calm."

Senator Sachiko Haruno publicly decried this latest act from Wave's increasingly volatile president as "more villainy perpetrated by Jirou Gato".

"It has been increasingly clear who holds the true reins of power in Wave, and that is Gato," the Senator stated boldly in front of the Niin in downtown Hi-kyo. "His economic tyranny against Wave, based on the mere fact that he controls the shipping to and from that country, is clearly evident. His own ships and their operations have not been slowed by this so-called 'emergency situation'. In fact, it is just the opposite."

For more on Jirou Gato, turn to page 12D

For now, little news can be obtained from Wave Country. President Urashima has publicly stated that he is willing to do whatever is necessary to aid Wave Country in this time of trouble, extending a hand "to one of our closest allies". President Koshinuke has stated that it is "not necessary". However, the more time that passes, the more strained relations will no doubt become-Especially if Oshima Naval Base remains incommunicado. Already there are plans for the FR Navy to send a task force to investigate and provide relief efforts if needed. Included in the taskforce is the FRS Ryoko, the largest battleship yet built by our Navy, and the FRS Soien, the newest aircraft carrier in the fleet and first of her class. The task force is expected to depart "any time this week" according to the Naval Department.

For more on the FR Navy's recent building program, see page 14E