Almost a year and a half after the last update, over nine years after the first posting, Team 8 has finally updated again.
In the time since the last update, a lot has happened. Naruto finally concluded after 15 years. NaruHina became canon. I did several other liveblogs, and published a Girls und Panzer and Saki crossover that is longer than this fic
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So here's a brief recap. In this fic, Naruto is assigned to the eponymous Team 8 instead of Team 7. Alongside Shino and Hinata, he trains under Kurenai, does missions with his teammates, and attempts the Chunin Exams. During this time, Kurenai becomes aware of a conspiracy against Naruto, as well as how terrible Hinata's home life is, and begins to suspect that the two are not only tied with each other, but to the deaths of her old team, with Hiashi Hyuuga at the center. Unfortunately, Kurenai is killed, and soon after her funeral, her students go their separate ways, with Naruto training under Jiraiya, Hinata becoming Tsunade's servant/student, and Shino training with his family. A six month Time Skip ensues, leading us to the latest chapter.
Somewhat ironically, the section begins with Jiraiya complaining about how the six months isn't nearly enough. He had in mind a trip that lasts three years (the length of the canon timeskip), so that he won't feel rushed, and in addition to teaching Naruto everything he knows at an appropriate pace, he can also relax, get to know his godson, throw the Akatsuki off their trail, and find out what the organization wants (If I recall correctly, Jiraiya was looking into Akatsuki during the filler arcs).
But the problem is Naruto, who already sees being out of the village for six months as too long, and apparently, Tsunade is not the sort who would have approved it. But she did, possibly because it works with Hinata's six months of indentured servitude (during which time she gets to stay away from home). Six months later, Naruto will get to try the Chunin Exam again and get the promotion he "was cheated out of," (disregarding how there are reasons that Naruto might not have earned the promotion, as Izumo and Kotetsu said).
Incidentally, in canon, Naruto goes for the entirety of Part 2 without retaking the Chunin exam. If he did, it happens in the Time Skip before the Distant Finale in Chapter 700.
Jiraiya's mind wanders to the turtle contract, and him being annoyed that Naruto chose that over the toads, feeling "betrayed" as a result. That feeling is tempered, however, by the knowledge of Naruto's loyalty to Team 8, which is largely because of their status as Naruto's first friends his age, something that Jiraiya blames himself for.
It's implied that Jiraiya's absence from Naruto's life (people tend to vary based on how much Jiraiya is truly Naruto's godfather, and how much his actions constitute abdicating his responsibilities), is because Jiraiya accepted a long-term mission from the Third Hokage. Jiraiya wonders if the Third Hokage is partly responsible, but he concedes that he did what he did for the village rather than for Naruto, partially motivated by grief and Naruto's looking like his dead parents. As such, Jiraiya concludes that he failed Naruto like every other adult except for Iruka and "that kami-sent jonin sensei"(again, the author seems to use Kami as a stand-in for "God" because it's Japanese) Kurenai. With that brief bit of Wangst out of the way, Jiraiya decides to focus on the positives- positives for Kurenai, that is.
Jiraiya considers Kurenai one of the most annoying women he knows, even including Tsunade, but believes she's what Naruto needs as a teacher. He believes that while her students don't worship the ground she walks on (could have fooled me), Naruto and Hinata regard her especially highly. He also concludes that she was right to lay into him, more of a godparent to Naruto than he could ever be, and the one who is most responsible for Naruto being set on the right path. As such, Jiraiya chooses to honor Kurenai's requests, even giving up sake for six months.
If you read my liveblog of Boys und Sensha-do, you may recall how I was livid when Akio accused Maho(my favorite Girls und Panzer character) of not being there for Miho enough, in spite of Maho having chosen to become Shiho's heiress so that Miho would not have to, and no other characters making that judgment on her. His words sting Maho, who doesn't say a word in response. Granted, Miho is unwilling to agree with Akio about her sister, but Jiraiya's internal monologue reminded me of Maho's, in that case. Whenever a character has the author's favoritism and lashes out against others, said individuals tend to just lie down and take it, even if it's not right or in character for them to do so. Even though Kurenai has been dead for over three chapters, six months in universe, and almost five years out of universe, it seems as though she's still subject to the author's favoritism.
The scene shifts to Shizune, who is thinking about her "cohei" (It's spelled kohai), which the narration explains is a junior student. Technically, "kohai" means junior in a variety of contexts, such as someone who joined a company after a certain person; Sakura calls Shizune "Shizune-senpai" since she's Tsunade's previous disciple, while Shikamaru uses "-senpai" on some older ninja.
It essentially sums up how Hinata got there; she accepted Tsunade's offer and became her servant for six months in return for getting Naruto out of his Tsukiyomi-induced coma, and Naruto tricked her into losing the "win with one finger" bet in canon. She has difficulty understanding why Hinata, eldest daughter of a prestigious clan, would do all this "for a clanless orphan." Clearly, she has no understanding of what kind of family Hinata's is or what Naruto means to her; one would think that given the story, she would know this, too.
Hinata does well in anatomy, having the Nerves of Steel instilled in her by her clan, or possibly her ability to see them with the Byakugan (as far as I can tell, they only show chakra coils) as well as an admirable ability to stay focused, retain knowledge and ask questions.
A week after Hinata's training starts, Shizune meets with Tsunade, who's aggravated and thinking about Jiraiya, suspecting that she is starting to realize what it means to teach someone who will surpass her. She says that Hinata has "ridiculous" stamina for her age (in the databook, it's still 2/5 post timeskip), good chakra control (which seems to be true), water-natured chakra (entirely fanon), the Byakugan (true), and most of all, a good motivation. Tsunade says that Hinata considers the worst parts of her life to be the ones in which she couldn't help Naruto. Tsunade's surprised, given what she's heard about Hiashi, and also impressed, seeing it as the best reason to go into medicine. I have to agree, and see it as in character for Hinata, even if it's still somewhat based on fanon.
Shizune's pleased that Tsunade's thinking of someone other than herself, enough so that she doesn't scold her for having a drink.
Shino spars with Tenten, the only other person in this fic with a lot of skill with weapons; he's using his kamas and she's using butterfly swords. He recalls about how she got a poor matchup when she was pitted against Temari (whom the fic doesn't refer to by name at this point), when he spoke with Hinata about it. He then segues into how he still meets with Hinata for lunch, even though Naruto is gone. Shino thinks about how Hinata has gotten stronger physically and in terms of chakra capacity from working with Guy and Lee, enough to stir the bugs inside him. He also wonders if he might have fallen in love with her(he often does; he's the most common partner for her besides Naruto), but puts that thought out of his head.
He transitions back into his original subject, since he met Tenten at one of Hinata's morning training sessions to do a little target practice, and to complain about not having qualified sparring partners. Fortuitously enough, Shiho is also looking for the same thing, so the two start sparring together. Even though Tenten wields many different weapons, while Shino only wields kamas, it works out, with Tenten honing her skills in many weapons, and Shino learning how to defend against many weapons.
Shino also gets a new outfit from Ikitaro, whom you may remember from earlier as the one who gave Naruto his non-orange clothing.
Shino also gets along with Tenten better than the rest of the team. He realizes that Guy and Lee's reputations are no exaggeration, and the other, saner members of the group look for distractions from their boisterous ways. This makes sense, especially since Shino is probably the least like Guy and Lee in terms of personality or fighting style.
Neji, while somewhat more similar to Shino in temperament, presents more of a problem. Shino initially hasn't forgiven Neji for what he did, but does tolerate him for the sake of professionalism and to honor Kurenai's teachings. The former's all well and good, but Kurenai seems somewhat tangential in all this.
Of course, Hinata also vouches for Neji's character, and he starts to prove her right. During a D-rank mission that Guy chose to let the team get to know each other, Shino realizes that Neji is no longer as haughty as he was before. Neji humbly asks Shino if he's in contact with Hinata, and sends Hinata a letter. We don't find out what's in it, but Hinata's apparently nearly reduced to tears by news from home. Hinata sends a reply, but Neji incinerates them after reading them, explaining to Shino that the head family cannot learn of his being in contact with Hinata.
There's fewer issues between Shino and Team 10, with Shino being friendly with Chouji, Shikamaru being an interesting conversationalist and "the less said about Ino, the better." While it's unfortunate that Ino's being bashed again, to Shino and the fic's credit, Shino wonders if he's being too hard on Ino by comparing her to Hinata.
Naturally, Team 7 is the most difficult. Shino doesn't get along all that well with Sasuke, and finds his blaming himself for Kurenai's death unreasonable, but they share the desire to kill Itachi. For some reason, Kakashi enjoys pitting Kiba against Shino, and Shino observes, rather than rants about this when meeting with Hinata.
Meanwhile, Naruto's practicing the Rasengan, and has almost gotten it mastered after a week, slower than usual for him. On the other hand, it's a more realistic pace for learning a jutsu, at least considering how he does in canon (although a week might be a bit fast). He's unsure of what to use the Rasengan for, when, in canon, he quickly comes up with the idea of adding additional chakra types to it, mastering Rasenshuriken with a few days of intense training, and making it airborne with Sage Jutsu (which he most likely won't be able to do in this fic).
Naruto's somewhat anxious, wanting to be ready for anything, such as Itachi attacking, or the Chunin Exam, especially since Hinata's apprenticeship is almost over. Meanwhile, Jiraiya is quite pleased with Naruto, believing that he'll be ready for the exam.
Naruto goes to work on his new summons, with Jiraiya being annoyed that he refused the toad contact, and Naruto saying it's for the sake of them not eating Shino or his bugs (again, they should be intelligent enough not to do that). Naruto wonders if he'll present himself to the boss turtle (in canon, Naruto only was summoned met the Great Toad Sage when it was time for him to learn Sage Mode), but instead, he gets a turtle that can't communicate in any way other than spitting water in his face. That is useful in its own way, though, because Naruto learns that the turtle can spit water, similar to a condensation jutsu.
Naruto tries again and gets Genji, and the two know of each other through Guy. Genji is Ninkame's cousin, and says that Naruto had previously got Squirtle, who doesn't know how to talk.
Naruto asks if Genji has any stipulations, but Genji says that he's not allowed to make any, after what happened with the last summoner; he doesn't go into specifics, but says the summoner in question was "so serious".
Genji does, however, have stipulations of his own, saying that the turtles value wisdom above all else. Evidently anticipating being summoned into battle, Genji asks Naruto to name his worst enemy. Naruto thinks about Orochimaru for a moment, then thinks about Itachi, letting off a burst of "killing intent" in the process. Genji asks Naruto if he can summon a turtle against Itachi without hate in his heart, and Naruto says no, before listing Itachi's crimes- killing his clan, including the children (since Sasuke was the youngest Uchiha, Itachi cannot have killed anyone younger than him, and is not likely to have killed anyone between the brothers' ages), and killing Kurenai.
It's an interesting concept, but Naruto is a bit more bitter and hateful than in canon, and he shows no sign of changing this.
Genji says that Naruto's anger and hatred are not without cause, but can corrupt him and make him do things he wouldn't normally do, a lesson reminiscent of what Kurenai taught him. Genji says that he's not asking Naruto to discard these feelings, but to be on guard against them, lest he end up like their former summoner.
Genji says that the turtles are wisdom incarnate, and cannot be summoned for an evil purpose. Naruto brings up peeping as an example, and says that it's inadvisable, but Jiraiya's perversion is tolerated because he gives the Toads respect, and the toads haven't always been high-status. This seems to come off as an unnecessary Take That! against the toads, almost as if to establish the turtles as superior when we've only seen Ninkame twice in all of canon. Jiraiya is, understandably, offended by this.
Genji then gets onto the root of the problem. The summoner summoned Ninkame to destroy the fortress of a rebellious clan on his master's orders, even though their cause was just. One has to wonder who gets to decide the cause is just, but the Friend of all Children intervened on behalf of the youngest child of the clan, destroying the summoner's army and giving the contract to the child. Naruto apparently descends from that child.
Jiraiya wonders if the summoner was originally from Iwa, and decides to ask Fukasaku. Naruto then asks the appropriate question of how he knows his cause is just, and Genji says it must be thought about dispassionately, even if he doesn't answer the question of what qualifies as just or unjust. He does, however, say that summoning for defense works better than summoning for attack.
Naruto and Jiraiya continue to travel while keeping a low profile, helped by dyes and disguises (the Transformation jutsu offers both and more). Naruto observes the difference in Jiraiya's behavior when meeting with his contacts, and begins to develop some grudging respect for him.
Naturally, seeing all these disguises causes Naruto to wonder if his "Pervy Sage" one is yet another persona, a mask he wears, and Naruto decides to ask him. Jiraiya says he needs to make peace with himself and accept who he is, and attributes Tsunade's alcoholism and Orochimaru's becoming a Mad Scientist to this. Jiraiya does have his regrets- and points out that everyone does- but he has learned to live with them. Canonically, Jiraiya had a good deal of self-loathing until the end of his life.
Naruto asks Jiraiya for advice on dealing with his regrets, acknowledging him as a sensei for the first time. Jiraiya starts with Naruto's greatest regret, which Naruto says is related to Kurenai, specifically not letting her know how much he appreciates her as a teacher and Parental Substitute, comparing his losing her to Hinata losing her mother. Jiraiya gives Naruto a rap on the head and says Kurenai always knew how he felt, given that she cared for her students as if she was their mother, and even more than some mothers care for their children.
Naruto doesn't seem entirely convinced, but Jiraiya is convinced that Naruto is an idiot. Naruto thinks that Jiraiya regrets bringing him on the training trip because of that, but Jiraiya says his biggest regret is how Naruto grew up. Jiraiya admits to being Naruto's godfather, and Naruto feels betrayed, wondering why he only met Jiraiya recently.
Jiraiya says it was the Third Hokage's decision to make Naruto a ward of the village, to protect him from those who wanted him dead and the enemies outside the village. The secrecy law did little good (again, the villagers' ostracism of Naruto is more about human nature than a conspiracy), and Jiraiya, sent by the Third Hokage to gather intelligence, learned that the village's enemies were still looking for the nine-tailed fox.
Jiraiya recalls hearing that Naruto was doing well and learning at the academy. He then says that now that Akatsuki's after him, he now has to learn how to fight against them (with Naruto briefly wondering why they wear such an obvious uniform, although most of them are also highly wanted criminals who will be recognized easily), and be ready for the next Chunin Exam in the Cloud Village. Naruto asks if Tsunade will let him and his team attend, and Jiraiya says she will if she can bet on it.
All in all, this is an interesting theory about Jiraiya's role in Naruto's upbringing, albeit one that ties back to the author's fanon theories, particularly the village council.
Naruto speaks with Genji, who doesn't know the custom of being a godfather (leading one to wonder what arrangements the turtles make when they can't care for their young), but does understand the idea of taking on obligations and being unable to meet them because of circumstances. He says Jiraiya was not required to tell Naruto about his status as Naruto's godfather, but now that he has done so- thereby disclosing a secret despite being a master spy- Naruto is better off, and should count his blessings. It's a nice way of showing a bit more sympathy toward Jiraiya, even if Naruto's responses- a nod, a shake of his head, another nod and a snort- remain non-verbal.
Shino's mother looks over the hidden blade in his kamas, glad that Tenten's father (the weapons merchant), has done good work, even if she incorrectly identifies Tenten as Shino's girlfriend, and Shino says that Tenten has threatened to castrate him if he uses it in a sparring session.
Naruto continues meeting some more turtles, one of whom coincidentally shares Kabuto's name; Naruto still appears to be ignorant of Kabuto being a traitor in this fic. Like Kabuto Yakushi, the turtle's named for a samurai's helmet (with Kabuto having a Theme Naming with his teammates Yoroi and Misumi), which is fitting because he's clad in armor and armed with a naginata. He's interested in knowing how much Naruto knows about weaponry, and Naruto says that he's not specializing in a weapon yet, but mainly uses taijutsu, along with kunai and shuriken as backup weapons. Incidentally, most ninja seem to do the same, unless they have a special weapon that's part of their fighting style.
Kabuto seems somewhat disappointed, but is pleased to hear of Naruto's training under Guy. He begins sparring with Kabuto, which is quite easy for the turtle but quite grueling for Naruto. Kabuto turns the haft so that Naruto gets slapped with the blade, rather than stabbed, but expects Naruto to get to the point at which he can disarm him without getting hit.
We return to Hinata's perspective, with her in the process of studying pharmaceuticals, which leads to an unfortunate chance encounter with branch family members. Some aren't expecting to see her, but others act like she doesn't exist.
The reason for this is that Hinata is being treated like a Senju during her stay with Tsunade, so that they won't have to bear the shame of a Hyuuga being a servant to another clan. Essentially, if the Hyuuga attitude toward others is any indication of how they view other clans, Hinata is treated as someone not worth their consideration, rather than a comrade in arms from the same village.
Hinata finds this very painful, keeping her feelings inside only so that she can avoid showing a public display of weakness, but is comforted by a small gesture of acknowledgment from Neji. It seems as though Hinata's time away has not improved her self-esteem, or helped reverse how much she has internalized her clan's unreasonable expectations.
The perspective returns to Naruto, who is in the process of meeting and learning to summon more turtles, which are larger and require more chakra to summon. Naruto's surprised to learn that his primary element's air, citing how he can do Swamp of the Underworld and Condensation (which he shouldn't be able to do at all if he doesn't have the affinity). Jiraiya says that Naruto got them through practice, and his wind affinity will make learning techniques easier, before teaching him Great Breakthrough.
The Aburames get their first scene in a while, with Suba summoning Shibi to a private meeting after the end of the clan council meeting through pheromones. Apparently, Shibi, being a junior member, is tasked with record keeping and other activities that the other council members can't be bothered to do after a three hour meeting.
Suba, after making sure the meeting is in private, talks to Shibi about his message. Shibi says that Shino got a message from Kurenai, to be delivered in the event of her death, with many precautions being taken. Suba is impressed with Kurenai, understanding her as the cause for Shino's rapid development, and saying that he'll soon be ready for a third hive. Shibi gets back to the subject and the reason behind Kurenai's precautions; the conspiracy that she mentioned, which partly ties back to Bataru. Suba wishes to hear more as the scene ends.
Jiraiya meets the turtles, and is impressed with how useful they are, particularly in taking some of Naruto' s morning energy out of him. Jiraiya realizes that keeping Naruto fully occupied will be a challenge, especially given how much "fully occupied" is for someone with Naruto's energy, especially given what he trained with Guy. Of course, effort alone isn't yet enough for Naruto to catch up to Itachi's level.
Of course, Naruto's shadow clones factor into Jiraiya's projections for teaching jutsus, especially given how he can learn more quickly (although, as I may have said before, having hundreds of clones magnifying hours of practice often does less for his progress than a single moment of inspiration). Naruto's learning jutsus at an alarming rate, and keeping up with his rate of learning is not conducive to staying under the radar. So Jiraiya thinks of something else to teach Naruto- the basics of spycraft- which is an interesting and novel solution, useful to their current situation.
Hinata's perspective is next, with her healing a fish like Sakura did in her training at this point in the story. Of course, Hinata is implied to have failed at one point, and part of her duties involve preparing fish for dinner; I wonder if it's a coincidence. Of course, Hinata's previous failures rendered the fishes inedible.
But Hinata's getting better at this, and saves this fish's life, at least until dinner time.
Naruto's training once again, including doing a summon that's taxing even on him. He summons a turtle known as the Old One, whose real name is Clothahump. Naruto introduces himself somewhat formally and goes about making tea.
Naruto realizes that many of the turtles know who he is, possibly because of his connection to Guy. Clothahump knows that the more advanced summons, like The Four (who must be summoned as a group), and the aforementioned Friend to All Children (the one that destroyed the army). Clothahump, however, does begin to teach Naruto the basics of toad magic.
4 months away from Konoha, Naruto and Jiraiya head out to the middle of nowhere, possibly to meet with someone, although Naruto keeps silent in order to learn the purpose. After a few questions by Naruto, Jiraiya reveals the real reason- learning how to use the nine-tailed fox. Naruto wonders if that's a good idea, saying he's concerned about the fox's chakra's side effects, and that he doesn't want to be indebted to the being that attacked the village, but Jiraiya says that it's an advantage that should be utilized, a good perspective that nicely shows why it was the best for Naruto to learn how to control it.
Jiraiya suggests that Naruto start by talking to it, and by meditating, Naruto does so. The fox is hostile, but willing to talk, so Naruto begins by saying, with bits of sarcasm, that Akatsuki's after him and the fox won't benefit if he's taken out of Naruto. The fox says that he doesn't care about what happens to Naruto, either, and while Naruto says that the Fourth Hokage sealed him to save the village, the fox reveals that he has a long-standing grudge against the village. Naruto primarily thinks of Hinata and Shino, who were babies as of the fox's release (Naruto's birthday was October 10, Hinata's was December 27, and Shino's was January 10, so the latter two wouldn't have been born yet), he should have no grudge against them. Despite the appeal to the fox's reason, the fox sees no reason to help Naruto, so Naruto moves onto a somewhat poorly thought out and no more successful argument that his being captured will be a blow to the fox's fearsome reputation.
Naruto finally gets to an argument that seems effective; he wants the fox's help to destroy his enemies, but won't rely on it. This works out, and the fox agrees to lend Naruto his power in emergencies, as long as he gives him a better mindscape than the sewer he's stuck in. Of course, in a shonen series like Naruto, whenever the heroes have some big powerup (for example, drawing on the fox's chakra, Sage Mode, and the Nine Tails mode), they tend to use it in almost every major battle, partly because dramatic tension requires them to be pushed to the point at which they need to use everything they have in order to win.
The author says that he's back and intends to update more frequently, both with this fic and Harry Potter and the Nightmares of Futures Past, with things like finances permitting. He also thanks his beta readers.
I'm glad to see this fic is updating again. I may have some issues with some of the characterization and worldbuilding, but after seeing it again, I notice that it's much deeper than many of the other fanfics I read (particularly since may Girls und Panzer fanfic writers can't be bothered to give most of their cast a name and a role in a tank), and applaud the author for this effort.
What I liked
- That the author's finally updating again.
- That the updates may come more regularly
- The author's description of Hinata's reason for choosing medicine
- Genji's description of Jiraiya.
- Meeting the turtles, who seem like interesting Original Character summons.
- Neji's Character Development
- Naruto convincing the fox to help him out.
What I didn't like
- More Character Shilling of Kurenai, even after her death.
- Some fanon about Hinata's suitability as a medic-nin
- The way the summons work.
- The Black-and-White Morality present in the summons determining what a "just cause" is.
- Some bashing of Ino and Team 7.
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