Journey to the Village Hidden in the Stars

A/N: So a lot of people were upset about Minato's request and the MC giving up his clan's secret techniques so I'll explain why he did it. He wants Minato and the rest of Konoha to be on his good side. He knows there is probably going to be another shinobi war and he doesn't know how far canon has changed yet, so it is better to get everyone as powerful as possible before he completely loses control of the situation.

Anyways, if you want to drop it then go right ahead. I will not back down on my decision, though in the future, I will try to make Haruka seem like less of a 'doormat'.

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I was really excited to visit another Shinobi Village, even if it was a minor one. Hoshigakure was especially exciting. I had always liked the Hoshigakure's techniques as they seemed to be far more powerful than they appeared. They could fly, create constructs out of chakra similar to Susanoo, and even absorb chakra using the [Mysterious Peacock Method]. When I watched the filler for the first time, I had thought that those abilities were Kekkei Genkai but later in life, when I learned they weren't, I thought they were even cooler.

Now that I am in the Naruto world, I was always going to go to the Village Hidden in the Stars and try to learn their techniques. I wanted a substitute for the Kurama Avatar and for Susanoo that could rival adult Naruto and Sasuke or fight off Perfect Susanoo Madara if that event ever happens and the Chakra constructs of Hoshigakure were my ticket.

Haku, Jugo, and I had gathered at the village gate around dawn. I had kept Guren, Karin, Amaru, and Hinata up all night to hang out and enjoy ourselves before my departure. We watched movies, played a few Narutoverse equivalents of NES Games, and even argued about Ichiraku Ramen vs Restaurant Yukihira. Karin and her mother Hikari, who came home from work in time to join the fun, were firmly in the Ichiraku camp, while Guren and Amaru were in the Yukihira camp. I couldn't decide, while Haku said Dango was best and wouldn't back down. Hinata was too nervous to pick a side. She is a lot more open and possessive about our relationship now, but she is still a nervous person by heart. I saw Shizune waving a 'Go for it Hinata!' flag while the two sides were trying to pressure her.

Haku and I popped senzu beans to restore our stamina so we would be ready in the morning while Jugo turned in early like a good little genin. I had to leave a clone nearby the house to trick George into not following us all the way there. I had a feeling I would wake up in another country and my horse would have Skyrim'ed his way to us in the night if I didn't.

Honoka arrived just after daybreak with the sun Genin she promised. I wasn't expecting Masami Koge to be our escort. What made this so unexpected was that she was the daughter of Kazekage Pakura and said to be the "Jewel of Sunagakure" because of her talent and beauty. I could see it. Even though she was only a year older, she was quite the looker. In five or ten years, she would be on Tsunade's level, making her among the prettiest women alive. Even the normally emotionless Jugo blushed at seeing her.

Masami has dark green hair tied back in a bun and light brown eyes. Her clothes consisted of a tight-fitting, long sleeve black shirt with the right sleeve removed at the shoulder, short tight-fitting pants, and a grey Obi. She looks a lot like what I expected Pakura to look like when she was younger, though Pakura's shirt was completely sleeveless and Pakura had orange tips to her hair.

"Good Morning. My name is Masami Koge. I'm the Chunin who will be responsible for helping you on your mission." Masami said as she bowed to us.

"Please raise your head. Your higher ranked than us, you know." I replied.

"Oh yeah. Teehee" Masami said as she bonked her head and stuck out her tongue.

'Is she trying to put on an airheaded persona?' I thought.

"N-no worries Masami-san" Jugo replied. I was a little shocked. 'Being stunned by a person's looks is one thing, being nervous in front of them is another. Does Jugo have a crush?'

"Hooo...." I say as I look at Jugo. I don't know it, but I am currently showing the same shit-eating grin that Jugo gives me when getting a new harem member. Haku is also chuckling to herself but covering her mouth with her sleeve. Honoka has a smug look on her face.

'This is going to be a fun trip' I think to myself as we look over our things one last time before we leave.

...

It has only been a day since we left, but already we have reached the northern half of the Land of Wind. Traveling through the Land f Fire and the Land of Rivers didn't take long. It only took Naruto and his group about two days in the Kazekage Rescue arc and they had to double-back to the Land of Rivers to find the Akatsuki Base.

The deserts will make our journey faster since we won't be stopping to look for inns or having to keep a lookout for enemies since we have clear visibility for miles. On the flip side, IT'S SO FRIGGIN HOT!

Haku was able to chill our headbands with her ice release and keep us cool, but it only helped us so much. At first, Jugo was trying to act tough in front of Masami so he refused, but he ended up fainting from heat exhaustion after a few hours, so I ended up having to carry him. It reminded me of our first meeting, so I got a little nostalgic.

Apparently, even though Sunagakure is the smallest of the Five Great Ninja Villages, this type of hostile terrain makes their ninja more resistant to the elements, so Masami was fine. Suna shinobi are used to navigating their way through the deserts quickly to reach their clients, so we didn;t have to worry about getting lost. That was good because if I didn't have my compass, we wouldn't be able to tell which way was which.

...

That night, Haku and I were hanging out together while Jugo was recovering from his false bravado act. Honoka was setting up a sealing barrier and alert barrier so we could sleep without anything sneaking up on us. I looked over at Masami, and my curiosity got the best of me, so I decided to ask why she acted like a ditz.

"Hey, Masami. I've been meaning to ask. Why do you act so airheaded all the time?"

"Heh? What do you mean?" She said as she tilted her head to the side.

"You are known even in Konoha for being the 'Jewel of Sunagakure" because of your talents. No one who is a genius in terms of combat can truly be that naive and innocent. Especially a chunin. So why the act?"

Masami looked at me for a while before turning to see both Jugo and Haku staring intently and waiting for a response. She looked conflicted for a moment before she dismissed it and threw up her act again. "I don't know what you mean. Am I really that airheaded?" She states acting confused once again.

"It's not really a big deal if you don't want to talk to us about it, but I still want you to know, we won't judge you or treat you differently even if you show your true self," I said before dropping it and turning back to Haku.

Jugo thought hard to himself while Masami stood up and walked to the women's tent.

...

The next two days went by rather quickly. We created extra drinking water the night before bed with 'everyday jutsu' so our chakra reserves would refill while we slept, and we kept hydrated and cool because of it. Even if Jugo was still trying to act tough, he was at least more willing to used the chilled headbands to keep cool. He didn't want to embarrass himself again.

On the fourth day, we cut through the Land of Fangs. The scenery was majestic, with large towering stone pillars that looked like mini-mountains in the distance and lush oasis' in the south. The farther north we went, the more forested it became, but as we neared the border to the Land of Mountains, the landscape changed once again to one of high plateaus and steppe country.

Once again, I am amazed that the climates of these places are so close together. I am aware that this was a fictional anime world, but in under a day of travel on foot, we passed from a barren desert to a fertile river valley, to a lush forest, to a steppe plateau. Granted, we were running at roughly 80 km/h, but still.

We stopped at a small hamlet near the border to the Land of Bears late into the afternoon. We were given permission by the village elder to sleep in one of the old houses, but he also asked us to clear out some bandits on our way out tomorrow as payment, to which we agreed.

The next morning, we were stalking through the mountainside as we approached the cave system in the side of the ravine that the elder told us the bandits were located in. The bandits were your typical sort. A mix of young and middle-aged men with disheveled appearances and any old tool or weapon they could scrounge up. Altogether, there were only about twenty of them. Three on guard outside, while the rest were inside the cave. With all of us, we would be able to defeat them all no problem, but to a single person in our group, it would be good training. Not because it was difficult, but because doing it quickly and quietly was the true test of a shinobi.

I asked Honoka if we could have Jugo take care of them all. I wanted to help him look cool in front of his crush while also testing to see if he had full control over his [Demonic Sage Mode] so Honoka agreed.

While I positioned myself near the top of a ravine to watch with my Byakugan; Haku, Honoka, and Masami snuck close to Ravine's walls, using boulders as cover. If any made a break for it, they would be brought down. Jugo made his way to the ravine's peak and begun his transformation. Once we were all in position, Jugo jumped down from the top of the ravine and landed on one of the bandit's head, crushing his spine and killing him instantly. Two other bandits who saw their friend get turned into paste fell on their arses while Jugo turned to his next target.

As a chakra rocket fist threw another bandit dozens of meters into the ravine's walls, the third one finally woke up from his super and readied his pickaxe to strike. His pick met its mark and landed on Jugo's head with a loud *CLANG!*. Jugo's skin was harder than steel when in this mode, so only the attacks of Jonin or Kage level fighters could injure him physically.

An ax-arm to the face split the bandit's head in two as Jugo turned towards the cave entrance. I was shocked. Not at his performance, it was expected, but I was more shocked that Jugo had such fine control over his [Demonic Sage Mode] that he hadn't screamed or taunted them at all and had instead, become rather stealthy. I wouldn't be able to see him without my Byakugan. Before, even if it was difficult for me to make out his chakra with my senses due to his natural energy harmonization, I could still feel that something was there, but now he seems to have blended into the environment completely, making him undetectable to normal sensory powers. Basically, if you don't see him with a doujutsu, or hear him screaming and ranting, he is undetectable.

Haku, Honoka, and I all made our way to the Caves entrance while Jugo continued on inside. Masami was shocked at Jugo's transformation and stood there stunned. She couldn't fathom that Jugo, the awkward genin with a cute crush on her, could turn into a demonic killing machine so easily. Eventually, she did come back to her senses and made her way to us as we continued on. I spotted multiple traps and alarms, but somehow Jugo had avoided them all when he charged in.

Most of them were Paper Bomb tags set to activate when detecting chakra, so they probably couldn't distinguish between Jugo's [Demonic Sage Mode] and the environment either. I did gain an anime sweatdrop when I saw them though. Who would place an explosive trap in a cave that they live in? Are they trying to bury themselves alive?

By the time I had disabled the traps and added forty new paper bombs to my [Inventory], Jugo had already massacred the bandits. They never stood a chance. Unlike the bandits in the Land of Water, who were established and moderately wealthy, these bandits were rather new, so the only valuable things they had on them were a few consumable supplies, the paper bomb traps, and a few ores they had excavated. It seems this place was an old iron mine before being abandoned.

After burning the bandit's corpses, we returned to the village and let the chief know it was safe. He thanked us and allowed us to stay another night since the evening was approaching and he didn't want us to go down the mountain at night.