Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor do I claim to; all rights go to the legend himself, Kishimoto Masashi.
"Surround him," the Konohagakure-nin said to his fellow squad-members; one of the elite-jonin teams specialising in search and capture, or on the rare off-chance, elimination of a target. "He hasn't noticed us yet, so now's our chance!" whispered the Kunoichi, seemingly the only one present.
"Do it," the Leader said as the unit revealed themselves from the thick foliage. They were tasked with the capture of an unknown entity lurking around the outskirts of the village. The man adorned in an umber-on-mocha hooded-poncho, with the latter sewn over his head dropped to his knees, raising his arms to behind his head.
"I surrender," he said, lowering his head. One of the ninjas' removed his weapons from the holsters on his back, attached to him with the use of leather-straps under his poncho. "Why would he surrender?" one of the Ninjas asked, kunai in hand. "No idea, but keep sharp, he may have traps laying in wait."
The Kunoichi of the team moved his hands away from his head, to a position of restraint; holding both hands behind his back. "I do not; I am but a simple wanderer with no malice intent," he spoke trying to assure his innocence, but they weren't buying it.
She peeled the Mans' hood back, revealing a somewhat young complexion with long, dragon-esque hair dyed a black with blue streaks scattered about it; his eyes were covered exclusively by a cloth-like material. "Please, do whatever to my body but do not remove my blindfold, that is my only request," the Man pleaded with an odd sincerity to it.
They heeded his request, leaving his blindfold to cover his eyes. The group lead him toward the gate of Konohagakure, his army-green trousers stained by the dirt. All through the village people gave him stares, stares of judgement and condemnation. "Where are you taking me?" he asked, adjusting his hands due to them being in an uncomfortable position, so to speak.
"Shut up, you have no right to speak!" the Ninja at the front of the group yelled. This... this can't be what Konoha has come to, thought the self-acclaimed Wanderer still being pushed around.
Scene break;
"You can't catch me, Papa!" the young, black-haired girl called as she ran around the corner. She let out an oomph as she bumped into the captured prisoner, "Ow!" she muttered, sitting on the ground rubbing at her head. "I'm sorry," the restrained Prisoner said with a smile. The Kunoichi slapped the back of his head, "You just knocked the Hokages' daughter onto the ground!" she bellowed with an authoritative tone of voice.
"You're alright, Hima." The blonde-haired man said as he crouched beside his disorientated daughter, patting her on the head. He looked up at the Prisoner, closely inspecting him. "T-Tama," he whispered to himself, albeit quite loudly. "Tamareki?" he questioned, standing up straight with his eyes firmly glued to the Wanderer. "Ah, Naruto!" the Man exclaimed, even in his dire situation.
"Good to see you again, boy," he smiled at him, then to his daughter, Himawari. "Oh, my apologies, bub. May I?" he asked, looking at her father for his approval. "Release him, he is now a guest of the Hokage!" The Ninjas' who captured him were reluctant to let him free but did so under command. "Yes, Lord Hokage!" they released Tama and returned his weaponry, he bowed in thanks even though they practically abused him.
Tama stood with his back straight, pretty much towering over the now grown, Naruto. He walked over to the tomato-faced girl sitting on the ground, "May I?" he asked with a smile. Both her and her father nodded, signalling to Tama that it was okay to place his hand on her head. He crouched in place, smiling at her whilst a green-miasma enveloped his hand. "Ah," she sighed in relief, the pain of the bump no longer lingering. "Thank you, mister!" The girl stood to her feet, and hugged him, "Any friend of Papas' is a friend of mine," she exclaimed with a squeak.
"You're very much welcome," he spoke in reply, standing up and patting her on the head. Tama walked toward Naruto, embracing him with a hug, "I see you've been doing good for yourself," he laughed as they hugged. "They would be very proud of you, Lord Hokage." As he heard his tears began to roll down his face, Naruto knew exactly who he was referring to. "Please, just call me Naruto."
Scene break;
"Your daughter is a gift, Naruto," Tama stated as they walked into the Hokages' office. "Please don't ever take her for granted." Naruto nodded as he took a seat in his chair. "Are you still as skilled as you once were, back when I called you sensei." The blonde-haired boy asked, Shikamaru standing behind him closely inspecting Tama. Tama began to giggle, and from that, a laugh, "You could say that," he replied.
"Who is this guy, Lord Hokage?" asked Shikamaru as he walked closer toward him. "C'mon, I keep telling you, Shikamaru, just call me Naruto, I'm still your friend," he said with a smile, flicking through his paperwork. Tama walked to meet Shikamaru, extending his hand before him, "Tama, nice to meet you," he said. "Shikamaru, the pleasure is mine."
"So, what were you doing letting my Ninja capture you like that?" Naruto asked trying to mask his giggle, safe for the fact that he knew he was more than capable of escaping. "Gotta make an entrance, right?" he said with a laugh, shrugging his shoulders more comically than seriously. Naruto snickered, "Well, you're welcome to stay as long as you'd like – your accommodation has been arranged," Naruto stood to look him in the eye, he walked around the desk to meet him, squeezing the mans' shoulders. "You'll be staying with me, it's the least I can do for you."
Tama looked at him with a serious face, "No, no, I don't want to impose, you have a family to look after, I can handle myself." He said oddly adamant on the subject, he was a traveller – a wanderer – he had become accustom to moving from one place to another.
"Okay, well, please come to my home for dinner, it'd be an honour to have a guest of such calibre," Naruto insisted, walking back around his desk, sitting down in his chair. "Oh, stop it, you're gonna make me blush," he replied with a cheeky smile. Why does Naruto hold this guy in such high regard, who is he? Shikamaru thought to himself, still anxious about letting him in. Ever since the Momoshiki incident, everybody has been on edge.
"But I will accept your offer, if I am allowed to do one thing: help prepare the food," he asked in a somewhat insisting tone. "Sure thing, if you are to-" Before Naruto could finish, he was interrupted by the entrance of a boy with sun-bleached hair. He came racing through the door, as if he was running away from something, or someone.
"You jerk!" the little girl yelled, storming through after him with her hands planted firmly by her side. For such a tiny package, she seemed to induce fear, even to those of higher skill. "Dad, stop her!" She cocked her body back, lunging forward for a punch. "Ah!" the frightened boy yelled, anticipating the punch.
Tama, crouched in front of the girl catching her fist in his palm, smiling at her, "Violence is not the answer; you can be smart or you can be tough, and right now, you're being tough." He fell back onto his posterior, then moved her arm back beside her body. "Is he that son of yours?" Tama turned his head in an almost owl-like fashion to greet the face of the Boy with his own.
"Yes, his name is Boruto," he said with a sense of pride, with good reason. "Boruto, say hello," Boruto looked at Tama with a smirk. "Yo," he said casually. "Boruto, I like it," Tama placed his hand on the boys head, playfully messing up his hair. Boruto didn't like it when people messed up his hair, reluctantly pulling himself away, using his hands to restyle his hair back to normal.
"I don't mean to impose, Tama but would you mind teaching my children a thing or two," he whispered just loud enough for Tama to hear him. "I fear that they are missing something that, well, I cannot teach them." Naruto asked, even though he was the legendary 'Hero of the Leaf,' and the Seventh Hokage he understood the fact he had very demanding time-constraints, paired with the fact that Tama knew a lot more than himself, in terms of, well, everything. He had more experience over the semi-young Hokage and that pretty much says it all.
Tama looked at the Hokage in a state of confusion, letting out a quiet but noticeable laugh. "I will, so long as you don't sell yourself any longer," he said with a nod. "Agreed." Boruto looked around the room, seemingly uninterested in the subject; Himawari on the other hand, revelled any chance she received to train. "You'll be training with Tama from now on Boruto," his father told him, Boruto didn't seem to like this but went along with it any way.
"Hima," he said in a calm but authoritative voice. "Yes, Papa?" she asked, taking to her feet. "You will be training with them as well, Tama is an old friend of mine, he'll protect the both of you with his life!" Naruto had the utmost faith in Tamas' ability to protect his children, knowing what he has done for himself in the past.
"Well, children," Tama said with a look outward unto the village. "If you want to train with me, we're going to need big smiles, a rhythmic step and tea, and lots of it!" He hopped toward the door with a spring in his step, opening it only to gesture for Himawari and her brother to exit first. "I'll have 'em back before dinner, bud!" They exited the Hokages' place of work, with Tama leading the charge. He stepped in a rhythmic fashion, two steps forward and one step back singing, "Do, do, do dee!" with each step.
He swung his arms low then high, low then high. "Come on, where's the spring in your step?" he asked the two children looking quite embarrassed. "I told you two that if you want to train with me, we're going to need smiles," he said using his fingers to curve his lips. "Ah, okay then, mister!" Himawari curved her lips into a smile and began to skip happily, with Tama joining in on the fun.
"So, who are you?" asked the curious boy trailing behind the two. "Tama?" he asked sarcastically. "No, really, how do you know our father, and why does he like you so much?" Tama began to laugh at the question. "Well, a late-friend of mine was travelling, your father happened to be there with him," he spoke on the subject quite happily. "It took me a while to warm up to him, and vice-versa but when we did, we became great friends." Tama stopped and so did the children, "If you'd excuse me for one moment," he said whilst entering a locally-known tea shop. He came out with a cardboard-box presumably filled with tea, "What is life without tea?" he asked around not particularly looking for an answer.
They had left the village still not certain on where they were going. "So, do either of you know the way to that... that," he'd know the place if he saw it but he couldn't quite put his finger on the name. "The Valley of the End, that's it!" he exclaimed with the click of his fingers. "Papa told us not to go there," Hima said in a worried tone. "Yeah, that's where he and Uncle Sasuke duked it out, don't you know of that fight?" Boruto claimed with a smile and a sense of pride, knowing his father bested his life-long rival. "So, you know the way?" he asked sarcastically changing the subject. "Yeah, follow me."
"Actually," he said as they hopped from branch to branch; Tama noticed a stream leading through a dense piece of foliage. "Follow me," he called as he changed their trajectory, heading toward the stream instead. He jumped down from the branches of the tall trees, and started to walk beside the flowing water. He dipped his hands in the water and brought it up toward his face, "Ah, now that's good!" he stated with a refreshed look on his face. He splashed the two children trailing behind him, causing them to laugh and splash him back.
They continued along the path marked only by a narrow straight of dirt. Tama broke through the foliage using his hands, "Hey, mister, why do you have that thing covering your eyes?" she asked somewhat hesitantly. "Oh this? My eyes are different from yours, I don't like them so I cover them up," he said as they stumbled upon a paradise of sorts; the stream ended there, revealing a very pristine and seemingly untouched body of water surrounded by boulders and thick foliage.
Tama approached the well with the kids close behind, he dropped to the floor with his legs crossed. "Time for some tea!" he said as he rubbed his hands together. "Hima, grab some sticks; Boruto, rocks, not too big but not too small." They heeded his strange request, running back and forth from the foliage with the requested items. Tama thanked them with a nod, placing them in formation similar to a bonfire. "Stand back." Tama stood up and took a deep breath, exhaling a stream of flames, sparking their make-shift bonfire a light.
He opened the box, revealing an iron kettle with multiple pouches of tea; he removed the kettle and one pouch of tea, placing it inside of the kettle, and then above the flame. The water began to boil, causing steam to arise from it, "So, what does this have to do with training?" Boruto asked as he semi-patiently watched the water boil. Tama let out a quiet humph whilst playing with the grass. "Yeah, what does watching tea boil do for us?" his sister chimed in becoming slightly frustrated.
"Patience..." he said. He moved his hand with such grace, catching a fly between his index and middle finger; he kept it alive but incapacitated. "It is a virtue, and with it, concentration follows, like a moth to a flame." The two trainees looked at the man in awe as he released the fly, allowing it to live its life for it was not up to him to take. "Many things are unknown to us all, that is true, but with the help of others, we may uncover the untold knowledge of those before us."
He looked at Boruto then his sister, studying the two, "You wish to be taught yet you have no intent on learning; here, watch me, maybe another demonstration will help explain," he said with a fiery-emotion in his voice. He stood to his feet, unsheathing a spear from the holster on his back, "Patience and concentration," he said with a smile. He walked toward the body of water, studying it until he found what he was looking for.
Sploosh, the water splashed onto his face as he launched the spear into it, removing a fish from the water. "See, it works in life and in combat." He said, holding the spear over the fire, rotating slightly from time to time. "So, when are you gonna teach us something useful?" Boruto asked quite annoyed by the performance put on by Tama. Useful? He thought with a smile on his face, "I'll show you useful..."
A/N: Apologies for my 'hiatus,' people. Due to a lot of stuff that I can't be bothered explaining, my writing and uploading has been lacking, again, my deepest apologies. I'm currently travelling, so I'll upload whenever possible; please remember to R&R, it'd be greatly appreciated. Best regards.