Iwagakure no Sato – the Village Hidden in the Stones – stood with pride underneath the warm rays of the sun. The village was unlike any other, with intricate stone buildings that stood tall enough to reach the skies. It was said that the First and Second Tsuchikage contracted the greatest stone masons and builders from all across the Land of Earth to build Iwagakure from the ground up. Today, in an era where the Third Tsuchikage reigns, the village stands as a testimony to the strength of its previous generations. The Will of Stone, the words rang through Rōshi's mind. In a way, Rōshi embodied this belief like each other villager, despite how different he was from them.
Rōshi of the Lava Release, a shinobi of vast strength and container of the Four-Tails. The sun's rays engulfed Rōshi, painting his skin in a bright light. His minor features that normally went unnoticed were much more prominent in the light, his skin wrinkled and calloused. His hands were that of a laborers and his eyes were weary, signs of a seasoned shinobi. He had chosen to a spot seperated from the rest of the village to rest, and contemplate. "Oi, Four-Tails..."
It sounded as if Rōshi was talking to himself, and for the most part he was. For a few seconds, the silence was unsettling. Rōshi knew he wasn't on common ground with the beast, but he still wanted more from the beast. He was it's container; the Four-Tails lived because of him. Yet the beast remained cold and seperated from Rōshi. I know you're listening... this time Rōshi did not speak, he only thought.
His mind shifted, no longer a cloudy space where his thoughts rattled around from side to side. The clouds parted, and here Rōshi stood. He appeared to be floating, with a sea of flames swaying and roaring far below him. Even up here, his skin felt warm. "What'cha want?" the voice came as a bit of a surprise, but Rōshi kept his composure as the tailed beast appeared before him. It's breath was hot, almost as hot as the roaring flames from below. It's fur was an orange-red, its eyes the color of the sun. Twisted horns sat atop its head, and its thick simian arms looked ready to crush Rōshi at any second. But the beast wouldn't, so Rōshi was not afraid.
"You've been restless the last few days, and now you're suddenly quiet?"
The Four-Tails looked almost afraid, if a beast like it could actually show fear. It growled, and lowered its head to Rōshi's level. "Go back, it ain't any of your concern..." it spoke without emotion or care. For what seemed like an eternity, although it wasn't more then thirty or thirty-five years, Rōshi and the Four-Tailed beast were chained to each other, and they never got along. Maybe it was because the beast thought of Rōshi as a prison, while Rōshi held it in contempt for all of his anger and frustration. It was a fair trade at least, for both were damned to live as monsters in the eyes of the world. Rōshi had tried everything he could with the beast, from trying to defeat it to befriending it. In the end, he could do nothing more then barter with it. His reward, the ability to control Lava as a second nature. He wanted much more though...
"There's word going around through the village, that a Tailed Beast went rampant across the Land of Fire..." Rōshi had a feeling that this was what was troubling the Four-Tails. "You all are linked, right? Is that why you've been so quiet?"
The Four-Tails glared at Rōshi, with contempt and anger. Even though the Four-Tails was so much taller then Rōshi, he could do nothing to his jailer. "We are what you'd call 'brothers', although I use that word loosely."
"Brothers, aye?" Rōshi felt as though he was getting somewhere with the Four-Tails. "And you could feel him, even though you're inside me?" Rōshi took another glance at the flames below and saw how the waves of fire had calmed.
"Ain't nothing more then two parts of a greater source of power, boy."
There he goes, calling me boy again. Rōshi was well into his forties, yet the Four-Tails continued to call him boy. Rōshi figured that the beast has lived so long, even Rōshi was young to him, so he did not complain openly. "There hasn't been word from the Land of Fire, do you know how it ended?"
The Four-Tails huffed, spewing green flame as he did so. Rōshi thought he could make out a smile on the Four-Tails face, but he wasn't sure. "The strongest of us was sealed," the Four-Tails laughed at the thought. "Can you believe it? The Nine-Tailed Fox sealed into the body of an infant!" The Four-Tails laughed even harder.
"An infant?" this troubled Rōshi.
At the age of six, Rōshi was taken away from his parents. The Second Tsuchikage, that bastard Mū, sealed the Four-Tails into Rōshi. After that day, everything changed for him. He was feared, hated, and despised by everyone. The destruction that the Four-Tails had caused a year prior left a burning hatred in the minds of the villagers, and left Rōshi angry at the world. Rōshi looked up at the beast, wondering if the Four-Tails recalled the day he was sealed inside Rōshi. It would be best to not bring that up, Rōshi thought.
Rōshi opened his eyes, and was met with the sun's strong rays. His wrinkled skin had tanned a bit, after what seemed like hours of meditating. He was only forty, but he felt as though he was sixty. As a tool to the village, an ultimate weapon created for the sole purpose of destruction, Rōshi had taken a large toll physically and mentally. "It's a five day travel from here to Konohagakure," Rōshi said to himself, glancing towards the ground. He expected to see a sea of flames, whether they be roaring or calm. All he saw was the villagers, both citizen and shinobi, moving through their day as if it was any other. If only they knew that today.. a jinchūriki was born.