Jinchuukiri

A jinchuuriki lied prone on the grassy floor, exhausted. The gel-like wraps were still entangled with his body, but the young man remained unconscious of the cords. The pain from the lightning release coursed through his body, making his mind weak and confused. Utakata had been chased by Kirigakure's ANBU for two years, and his mind had never been so chaotic before. Although Utakata's mind was fatigued with pain, he remembered what the ANBU had told Hotaru as he was held hostage. "Utakata is a man who killed his own master before fleeing his village." Without even seeing her, Utakata knew that Hotaru didn't believe a word of what her captor said. I don't understand why she admires me so much, Utakata thought as the pain slowly receded from his body. I don't know why she puts so much faith in my abilities. All his life Utakata had endured the loneliness and the emotional agony of being a jinchuukiri. He had come to rely on himself, solely himself, ever since…

Utakata couldn't finish the thought that was lingering in his mind. At that moment, he felt the restraint of his body slack and promptly stood. He met the eyes of Naruto, the loudmouth blonde from Konohagakure. Does he know that I know what he is? Utakata had asked himself that many times since he had met the strange shinobi. It appeared that Naruto didn't realize he had reunited with his fellow jinchuukiri. He doesn't realize I know either. Utakata felt Naruto's surprise as if it was his own. In his heart, Utakata had not wanted to flee Kirigakure. Since he had been a small child, he had wanted to prove his worth to the village that hated him. The circumstances previously had prevented that. Suddenly Naruto's voice entered the air, and Utakata's blood had frozen at his words.

"Why do you want him so badly?"

His voice echoed in wind as silence answered. Utakata stared hard at the ANBU. He knew that he would answer the Konohagakure shinobi's question, and anger hardened in his heart. Utakata had wanted to not be known anymore. He did not want to be known as the jinchuukiri of the Bloody Mist to anyone anymore. His ears dreaded for what was to come.

"He is a jinchuukiri." The words were spoken with hesitation and held no emotion. Utakata felt Naruto's tense silence echo in woods. Shock – no, disbelief was etched on his face. His mouth moved and remained unable to speak words. At last he spoke, and the hoarseness in his voice made Utakata hard to understand him.

"Utakata…you…" Naruto swallowed, trying to gain his bearings. "You are a…jinchuukiri?" The word jinchuukiri came out in a gasp. Pain-filled eyes met Utakata's own empty ones. "How?"

"The same as you, Naruto." Utakata said this calmly. He was beyond the point now where he felt anger and sorrow for another jinchuukiri's pain. He just accepted it as it was. "The Six-Tailed Slug was sealed inside me."

"What…is a jinchuukiri?" Hotaru quietly asked. Her green eyes were wide not in anger but in curiosity. She looked at Utakata, seeping with innocence. "Shishō?"

Utakata was not angered by her title to him. "A jinchuukiri is a person who has a tailed beast, a creature with huge amounts of chakra, sealed inside them. As a result of their power, jinchuukiri are shunned and hated. Isn't that right, Naruto?" He glanced at his fellow jinchuuriki, and saw Naruto sadly nod his head. Utakata was surprised to find Hotaru looking at him still, without hostility or hate. A hint of a smile was on her face.

"You're like me then," she whispered. "We're both hated and feared by those we know because what's sealed inside us." Her eyes momentarily glazed with pain. "We both had choices to bear with it, and that made us stronger."

"I didn't have a choice," Utakata said harshly. Hotaru looked at him in confusion. His golden eyes were narrowed, and his voice spiked in anger. "Nor did Naruto," he added more calmly. "I was chosen, but not of my consent."

"But why?" Naruto's voice reached an angry pitch also. "Why you, Utakata?"

"The Third Shinobi World War was ending, and the Fourth Mizukage was dead. Kirigakure needed something to boost its morale and strength. I was needed." Anger surged through Utakata as he remembered the loneliness as the weapon of Kirigakure. "I was the nephew of the current Mizukage at the time, and it is customary for a relative of a Kage to become the jinchuukiri." Utakata sighed, trying to suppress the memories emerging from his head. "You should be proud, my nephew." His fists clenched at the memory of the Mizukage smiling sweetly at him as a child, masking the fear she held inside. She hated him for killing her little beloved brother. "I think that day when I was selected, that Terumi Utakata died. He became a nameless ghost, haunted by the looks of hate and fear surrounding him." Utakata raised his eyes to meet Naruto's, and saw empathy in his gaze.

"I killed them," Utakata murmured. "I…killed them." Sudden tears broke from his eyes, and he was blinded by the shocking salty taste they had on his mouth. "I didn't mean to kill them." Setsu… "My parents tried to love me still after the Six Tails was sealed inside me. I have no memories of them." He swallowed painfully. "My only memory of my family was my older brother by two years. His love for me shattered when I killed our parents." Hotaru audibly gasped as Naruto gazed with unfocused eyes. "The seal promptly broke after a year. I was told that my parents were killed instantly, and that my brother barely survived." My only memory was of Setsu shouting that he hated me. "I was three years old." Utakata paused, feeling the sadness build up in him again. "I never saw my brother again. The former Mizukage was a jinchuuriki, and so both the shinobi and citizens of Kirigakure feared that I would be ruthless and unfeeling like him. I was alone…and at that moment…when everyone abandoned me, I realized that I was cursed for my very existence." Until Harusame…

"I was found starving by a man named Harusame. He took me in, clothed me, and taught me ninjutsu. He taught me how to become a shinobi" The bittersweet memory of seeing the first kindness on his future master's face burned in his mind. "Harusame was everything to me. He was more than my teacher. He was…my father." Utakata griped his bubble blower in his hands, desperate to hold in the rage and grief. "Harusame, my…my shishō tried to kill me."