“THIS. IS. SO. STUPID!” Haran’s words were punctuated by his fists smacking against the wood of a training dummy. He backed off; deciding that it was time for a break and laid down in the soft grass of the glen he was training in. His current funk was partially due to his inability to perform the academy taijutsu as well as he could use the jyuken and the second reason he was so angry was because he had to learn this infernal style or else he would be revealed in the final round of the chuunin exams in a month. With only three teams emerging from the forest with both scrolls, there was no need for preliminary matches; in fact, there were too few teams to make an all day trip worth while for the VIP guests that would attend. It was for that reason that Team ten was allowed to pass as well, making six first round matches. Haran, as well as his teammates had little doubt that they would be allowed to pass, considering the fact that the team they were supposed to track had been killed and later impersonated by an S-class criminal. The draws had been done immediately, to allow the maximum amount of time for the fighters to prepare for each other. The twelve remaining genin drew their lots by teams and the first ones to go had been Team Ten. Shikamaru drew number four; Chouji had drawn number eleven and Kiba number seven. Next up had been the sand team, Temari and Kankuro would try and get as large a berth of space as possible when they had to walk past their brother to pick out their numbers. It had been over a week since his last kill, making the red head overly bloodthirsty. Kankuro had picked nine and Temari twelve. Gaara didn’t even move from his spot, his sand drew the number six for him.
It was down to the final two Leaf teams, each with some extremely promising ninja. Rock Lee, the previous year’s dead last was now the foremost taijutsu user under the age of twenty that didn’t belong to a clan. The fact that he was nearly devoid of any chakra made him work even harder on his taijutsu, and so he had pushed himself passed every physical limit he knew of and was still growing. He had yelped something about the flames of soup…err…telephone booth? Um, maybe it was truth…Haran couldn’t remember, he had been too deep in thought about Uchiha Sasuke’s actions to think straight. Apparently it was a good thing, because by the time the boy had drawn the eighth lot, the entirety of the genin ninja were closing their ears or waving their hands in front of their eyes, testing to see if they still worked. Even Gaara’s sand had risen to block Lee from his view; obviously it had seen the green spandex as a threat and tried to neutralize it. The next person to select their number had been Tenten, the kunoichi that was on Neji’s team along with Lee. She had drawn the third lot, making a match up between her and Shikamaru that Haran thought was quite favorable for the girl. Neji was the last to draw from his team, and emotionlessly draw the first lot. This was one of the worst possible scenarios for the Hyuuga twins. There were three spots left open, one against Neji, one against Gaara and the other was against the red heads brother. Best case scenario…only one of the twins had to fight Neji or Gaara. Worst case…Haran tried not to think about what could have been. They had gotten lucky, relatively speaking. Hinata had drawn Kankuro as an opponent and Shino had the poor luck of getting Neji, a tough match to be sure, but not un-winnable. This of course left Haran and Gaara, fitting in that Haran was probably the only one in the tournament that could fight Gaara and not be overwhelmed by sheer force.
It was still a bad match up because the only real weapon that the young Hyuuga had was his jyuken, which if he showed off, would blow the lid off the proverbial cookie jar. He wasn’t sure he was ready to do that just yet. Deciding that he had lain idle long enough, he ran a hand through his fading blond hair before speaking.
“I know you’re out there, show yourself.”
For a moment nothing happened but before long a shimmer appeared in a tree overlooking the grassy patch and the relaxing boy. The shimmer eventually died down and revealed an older man with long white hair who was wearing some…interesting clothes. Jiraiya the legendary toad hermit and famous perverted author dropped to the floor of the forest, eyeing the boy who had seen through his disguise. After a momentary stare down, the old man’s eyes lit up before his mouth split into a grin.
“Ah, a Hyuuga, that explains a bit.”
Now it was Haran’s turn to be shocked. While his physical disguise was beginning to fade, he was using a genjutsu that Kurenai had him learn to hide his appearance. It was apparently based of a creation of Tsunade, the legendary Sannin, so for this man to break it, he must be a pretty powerful ninja.
“And you would be?” The Hyuuga asked, dropping the illusion, since all it was doing now was eating up his chakra.
“WHAT! You mean you don’t recognize me? I’m the legendary Toad hermit, I am the man with no enemies in the north, south, east or west, I am the great Jiraiya-sama!”
“You’re the author of those perverted books that Hatake-san reads.” Haran had stood up and brushed his shorts off. “Of course I know of the ‘legendary’ Jiraya, I just wanted to see if you actually did that silly introduction that I’ve heard about.” Jiraiya laughed as he walked closer to the young demon vessel and clapped his arm around Haran’s shoulders.
“I like you kid, you got a good sense of humor.”
“So are you gonna tell me why you were spying on me? I wouldn’t think you were gay, what with those books you write.”
“Now, now, spying is such a harsh word…I was watching you train is all. For a Hyuuga you don’t seem that good at taijutsu.”
“Humph! It’s just that stupid academy style; it’s so basic and choppy. I’m probably the best at the jyuken within four years of my age. I just can’t get used to this…this…crap!”
Jiraiya had moved over to a tree and sat at its roots as Haran explained himself to the Sannin. “If you’re so great at your family’s style, than why are you trying to learn that weak style?” Jiraiya had walked blindly into this meeting; he was in Konoha just to do some research and just happened to spot a boy who strongly resembled his former student.
“I’m Hinata’s younger brother; I have to stay hidden from the clan so that we can avoid the caged bird seal. Hinata has been hiding her true abilities so that Hanabi doesn’t get branded and if I were to reveal myself, then I would either get the seal, or neechan would.”
“And you’re trying to improve on a taijutsu style that isn’t your own why?” Jiraiya was just prying for information now, he knew all about the chuunin exam finals and how the finals would proceed.
“I’m fighting Sabaku no Gaara, from Suna. He’s got this sand that moves like it’s alive. I figured that the best way to get around it would be with taijutsu and speed. I just can’t use the jyuken.”
“Well, I suppose it could’ve been worse.” Jiraiya pondered out loud. “You could’ve been paired against that cousin of yours.”
Haran let out a snort of amusement. “True, if I had to fight Neji, I would’ve had no choice but to reveal myself.”
Jiraiya’s mood changed from jovial to serious. “You know that Gaara is like you, right?” Haran responded before the entire weight of the question fell on him.
“Yeah, I know he’s got demonic chakra, we saw it before the first exam began. I haven’t had any luck in drawing on the Kyuubi’s chakra yet; neechan and I have been trying for nearly as long as I can remember.” His response to the question was reflexive and it wasn’t until he got to the end of his sentence that he realized what Jiraiya must have known. “Wait! How did you know about the Kyuubi? I thought that was supposed to be a giant secret?”
“Kid, you’ve got a lot to learn about the world we live in and the first rule is that there are no such thing as secrets. Besides the you and Gaara, there are at least another five jinchuriki, that’s what people have been calling you guys, and I can give you any one of their life stories.”
For a moment Haran was shocked. “F-f-five others?”
“Yeah, there’s one form Kumogakure, one from Iwa, one was in Mist, he’s suddenly disappeared along with the vessel from Takigakure. The last one used to be from a small town near what was once the hidden whirlpool village, but she’s long since been moving around, making it hard to pinpoint her.”
Haran was still shocked to discover that there were other people out there that had the same infliction he had. His face began to twist into a serious thinking face, which apparently was pretty funny looking, because Jiraiya started to crack up in laughter again.
“Kid, I’m sorry, but if you don’t stop contorting your face that way you’ll scare off all the hot babes and then I might have to kill you.” Now Haran’s elastic face seemed confused and Jiraiya snickered again. “Look kid-“
“Haran.”
“’M sorry?”
“My name is Haran.”
“Well I didn’t know that.”
“Well you didn’t bother to ask, now did you?”
“Look, I’m sorry, ok.”
Haran decided to accept the token apology and allow the toad hermit to continue on with his original train of thought.
“Anyway, Haran, you got my interest, something that’s pretty hard to do, so I’ll train you for the finals.”
“And why do I want training from a pervert and an old one at that?” Haran crossed his arms over his chest.
“Because, I can help you draw out your demon’s chakra. You’ll need to do that if you want to win against Gaara in the final round.”
Obviously this had Haran’s attention.
“How do you intend to help me with that?” Byakugan eyes tried to bore through Jiraiya with no effect.
“If you get rid of all of your regular chakra, than you’ll have no choice but to use the Kyuubi’s chakra. I’ll have to teach you a pretty advanced technique that uses a lot of chakra since your reserves are larger than any Hyuuga I’ve ever seen and I’m assuming that your control is pretty good. Hmm…tell you what, meet me here tomorrow at nine and I’ll have an entire training schedule for you. In one month kid, your own sister won’t recognize you.” With that, Jiraiya had disappeared in a swirl of leaves while Haran yelled at his disappearing body.
“I’M THIRTEEN YOU BASTARD; I’M NOT A KID ANYMORE!”
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Neji had finished his training for the day, and was walking back to the Hyuuga clan compound when he spotted the blond haired boy from his cousin’s team. His actions in the Forest of Death had caught Neji’s attention, though it seemed that he had simply grabbed the Uchiha’s shoulder by coincidence, it was a precise strike by the blond. Then there was the fact that he had forcefully injected his own chakra into Sasuke’s chakra system, in just enough quantity to destroy the tenketsu around that oddly shaped mark.
Deciding that it might be a good idea to follow the boy, Neji turned around and tailed the boy back to a run down apartment building in a poorer section of town. The blond pulled out a key ring and fiddled with them until he pulled the right one out and unlocked his door. He was halfway through the threshold when he stopped and yelled without turning his head.
“Hey, Hyuuga, you want to come in or are you gonna keep stalking me all day?”
Surprised that he had been discovered by the dobe, Neji had no choice but to accept the invitation. The first thing that he noticed was that the inside of Naruto’s apartment was in much better shape than the outside of the building. It was neat and well cared for, with a kitchen table big enough for three or four and a nearly spotless kitchen.
“You want something to eat or drink?” Haran asked his stunned cousin. When Neji didn’t answer he just shrugged his shoulders and filled up an extra glass with ice water, just in case Neji changed his mind.
When Neji snapped back form admiring the surroundings, he quickly remembered why he was in this predicament in the first place.
“How did you know I was following you?” He asked, accepting the glass of water from Naruto with a curt nod of his head.
“It’s something that Kurenai-sensei had me work on, since I am the only one on my team without a kekki genkai. It’s kind of a sixth sense; I can feel chakra in the area around me. I just happened to remember the feel of your chakra from the exams.” Naruto spoke while sipping his water and swirling the liquid around, trying to melt the ice cubes a bit faster. It was true, Kurenai had him work on an exercise that was similar to that, but it was more like a barrier that told him whenever someone came within a certain distance, letting him know when to activate his byakugan.
Neji bought the lie hook line and sinker. Not even his experience in reading peoples body language could help him detect the tiny fib that Naruto had told him.
“So, why did you think it would be a good idea to follow me around? Did you think I was going to help you train for Shino? Obviously you’d be wrong, but I still want to know about your little stalking excursion.”
Neji put his glass down and the ice clinked against its walls as he eyed Naruto.
“I want to know how you could blow out the Uchiha’s tenketsu. If Hinata-sama taught you the jyuken she would be in a world of trouble, it is unlawful for a Hyuuga to teach the clan’s secrets to a non member.”
Naruto frowned at Neji. “Ten-whats? I don’t know what you’re saying. Hinata-chan never taught me the jyuken; I don’t get how you could accuse your own cousin like that.” He said his face the picture of stupidity.
“That’s a lie.” Neji smirked. “You forced your own chakra into Uchiha’s system, you blew out part of his chakra system, and it takes a precise amount of chakra to do that without causing damage to the entire system. Besides, you used lightning natured chakra to do it.”
“Really? That’s kinda cool; I never knew I blew out his chakra system! Does that mean that he can’t do any techniques any more? He was always such a teme anyway...” Naruto continued to babble on while Neji continued to sit and stare at the blond in disbelief. He had done it on accident?
“Wait, wait!” Neji had to shout to get Naruto to be quiet. “You’re telling me that you had no idea what you were doing to Sasuke when you attacked him?”
“Of course I had an idea!” Naruto defended. “And I thought it worked too! See, Hinata-chan had mentioned some medical technique that mixes up a person’s body; something about electrical porpoises…or…pomegranates…no…PULSES! That was it, electrical pulses and it makes them act all funny. Anyway, I asked Kurenai-sensei about it and she told me that I didn’t have the control to try something that advanced, but she did show me another lighting attack. It’s supposed to shock the person you’re aiming it at and I thought it worked, I guess it might’ve had a second effect, but all I wanted to do was shock that teme’s ass.” He smiled a mile wide at Neji who had his mouth open in shock at how unbelievably lucky and stupid the boy across the table from him was.
“Hey, do mind if I ask you a question?” Naruto asked innocently enough. When Neji didn’t say no, he assumed it would be ok and proceeded. “What do you have against Hinata-chan? You call her Hinata-sama with the same tone of voice that Kurenai-sensei refers to Hatake-san with. It’s like she doesn’t want to recognize him by talking with him, but she has to anyway, so she acts all polite.”
“It’s because she is the heiress of the main house of the Hyuuga clan, she represents their ideals and their legacy of hatred.” He was about to continue but the blond interrupted him.
“Hinata-chan? Hate? Is that even possible? Oh, wait, I see, is this going to be another one of those things like with Iwagakure, how they hate us just because of the Yondaime, even though he’s dead? That’s really stupid, how could you hate Hinata-chan? I bet you can’t name one specific thing about her that you hate.” Naruto seemed confused, but inside, Haran was smirking like the cat that caught the canary.
Sure enough, Neji was stumped. His knee-jerk reaction was to call her weak, but he couldn’t make that claim anymore. Ever since she had graduated from the academy she had quickly increased her skills and confidence. It was like there was glass ceiling that she had smashed and shot through.
“Look, I don’t care if you hate your clan, or your family, but seriously, how can you hate Hinata? I shudder to imagine what the team would’ve been like if Kurenai-sensei had your views of Hinata. Her jounin sensei was your father, you realize that right? Kurenai blamed Hinata’s dad for his death, but she actually requested for Hinata to be on her team. She was able to separate Hinata from her father and treat her as her own person.”
Neji remembered the three teenagers that his father would bring home every once in a while, just vaguely, but he could remember them. He hadn’t thought about it, but the genjutsu mistress was definitely one of those three.
Naruto stretched his arms and yawned. “Look, as great a conversation as this is, I’m pretty beat. I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but you’ll have to do your thinking on your way back.”
On his way out of Naruto’s apartment, Neji realized just how much the blond had made him think about. While he was still plenty angry with the main house, he couldn’t really blame Hinata; it would be like blaming a match for burning down a house when struck by an arsonist. It didn’t matter, tomorrow there would be plenty of time to think and maybe to apologize to Hinata, but it was getting dark and so it could wait.
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Chapter notes: I know that many of you have been waiting for this for about five months now, and I’m truly sorry that it’s taken so long, but I was way too busy with school work and a full time job that I never got the time. Then, when time presented itself, I found myself writer’s blocked so far into a corner that I just couldn’t think of anything or any way to continue the plot. I guess you could consider the past five months a kind of temporary hiatus for me, but hopefully you’ve noticed that in the past two or three weeks, this is my third update, so I’m back baby!
Although I’ve been concentrating on Naruto of the Mirage, this story probably has the most public demand of my stories, so it’ll be worked on until it is finished.
I apologize for the filler chapter, but I needed someway to break the block on my mind and this is all I thought of. Jiraiya gets introduced and Neji and Haran have a meeting of the minds. Nothing too big or too fancy, but necessary.
Thanks to everyone that reviewed the last chapter and to those who have been waiting patiently for this chapter, please help a poor man out and review, please!
Any way, next chapter we get some fighting, Haran and Gaara are set to go at it, it was originally going to be a Neji vs. Haran thing, but I didn’t feel like leaving Shino with Gaara. Don’t worry, I’m going to have the two geniuses square off before too long, either before the Tsunade retrieval mission, or right after it, not sure yet.
Anyway, next up on the list of stories to update is either Mirage or Aiko…who knows; maybe you’ll get both pretty soon. I got an Alphasmart for my birthday, so my typing capabilities have been extended greatly.)