Rating: M

Warnings: Angst, Kakashi and his porn, Genma and his mouth, etc.

Word Count: ~4000

Disclaimer: I don't hold the copyrights, I didn't create them, and I make no profit from this.

Notes: To those who are new to my writing: I suck majorly at action scenes. There will be some—it's hard to write a Naruto story without at least one—but I'm going to save up what little ability I do have until it's absolutely necessary. Therefore, this chapter is a bit of a copout. Also, this Naruto is both slightly overpowered and has had an entire year to plan everything with Sasuke—he wins his matches, since he's already seen these particular opponents get defeated/knows their weaknesses.

(From this point on, in order to reduce confusion—both my own and everyone else's—future!Naruto will be referred to by the name he introduces himself with here. Young!Naruto will remain Naruto.)

backslide

Chapter Two: Invitation

The Jounin Standby Station is sparsely populated, a handful of shinobi lounging on the couches or huddled in groups, speaking in low voices. Kakashi is perched on one arm of the sofa, hiding from Gai in the last place Konoha's Green Beast will ever look, knowing as he does Kakashi's antisocial tendencies. But Gai always underestimates Kakashi's drive to avoid his stupid challenges, and now is no different. He's got his book, his temporary peace, and all is right with the world.

Genma is watching him from the other end of the couch, senbon rolling between his teeth and expression entertained. Kakashi reading porn in public has never failed to amuse the other man, and now seems to be no different.

"I heard you got tapped as a sensei again," the tokubetsu jounin says lazily. "Gonna keep reading that in front of them?"

Kakashi manages to pull his eye away from the book long enough to fix Genma with a cool stare. "Why would I stop?" he asks disinterestedly, and turns a page.

Genma rolls his eyes at him, but he's still grinning. "I don't know, last time they asked me to take a team there was this whole long lecture about me not corrupting their innocent minds with my man-whore ways—"

"Yeah, but you're not Kakashi," Raidou puts in from the other couch, where he's got a pile of paperwork spread out. He doesn't look up, even as he tacks on, "And they only asked you because they were desperate and knew you'd fail the brats. How long did they last in your test again? Twelve minutes?"

"Eight," Genma corrects with a smirk. "Not my fault they couldn't make the cut."

Both Kakashi and Raidou level a look at the tokujo, who despite his lazy air is one of T&I's best interrogators, and one of the village's best assassins. His particular skillset would be enough to give a hardy chuunin nightmares, let alone a handful of green genin. There's a reason not even Kakashi has asked what test exactly he gave the kids. Some things even shinobi are better off not knowing.

Just then, the door blows open with a sharp bang and rebounds off the wall, though it doesn't quite dare to hit the man making his way through. Kakashi turns his head to watch Ibiki scatter jounin left and right as he makes his way to the couches. He's scowling fiercely, even more so than normal, and Kakashi arches a brow.

"Ouch," Raidou murmurs lowly. "Think Anko did something?"

"That's not an Anko-frown," Genma points out, and then raises his voice. "Everything all right, Ibiki?"

The big man changes course without so much as a hesitation, dropping down across Kakashi with a sharp huff. He scatters a handful of forms across the low table and growls, "Someone just claimed the bounty on Sasori of the Red Sand."

The senbon drops from Genma's mouth, and he only just catches it before it hits the floor. "What?" he manages after a stunned second. "But yesterday, didn't—?"

Ibiki nods, rubbing a hand over his bandana. "Yeah," he agrees grimly.

Kakashi looks between the two of them for a moment, and then asks airily, "Anyone want to fill in those of us who don't live in the T&I basement?"

Genma flicks a hand at the papers Ibiki dropped. "There's been a wave of bounties being claimed in all of the Elemental Countries these past few months. Not small ones, either—Deidara of Iwa, Hoshigaki Kisame of Kiri, and Kakuzu of Taki. All S-rank missing-nin, and all rumored to be part of the same organization. I'd say someone's got a grudge."

"Bodies found, too," Ibiki puts in. "Hidan, formerly of Yugakure, was chopped into pieces and buried. His head was dropped off to claim the bounty, still talking. The chuunin at the desk were told not to worry, that he'd starve to death eventually."

Raidou blanches at that, just slightly. "Damn," he murmurs.

Kakashi agrees. Shinobi have a lot of insane talents, but near-immortality seems like a mixed blessing in that case.

Then he pauses as something occurs to him. "Claimed. A wave," he repeats slowly, looking up at the head of T&I. "By the same person? All of them?"

There's a quick glance from Genma, but Ibiki ignores it as he slumps back in his seat and nods grudgingly. "Yes," he affirms, mouth twisting. It could be a grin or a grimace with him, Kakashi can't quite tell. "A man with red hair, wearing an Uzushio hitai-ate."

Kakashi stills, because even now Uzushiogakure only means one thing to him—and coupled with red hair, it means even more. "You're sure?" he asks roughly, not even bothering to try for disinterest. "Uzushio? Definitely?"

"I wouldn't trust the reports from Iwa or Kiri," Ibiki answers, "but Suna's an ally, however tentative, and this comes from a solid source. If he says it's an Uzushio hitai-ate, it is."

Heart in his throat, Kakashi hops off the arm of the couch and waves distractedly, already making for the door at a just-barely-polite speed. Then he's on the rooftops and hightailing it for the Hokage's office with hardly a thought.

Kushina, he thinks desperately, and while he knows it can't be her, knows she died that night and that her name is engraved on the Memorial Stone beside his sensei's, there's a flicker of something in his chest that he can't quite quell, a flare of hope that even if Kushina is gone, her clan still exists. The Uzumaki were long-lived, after all, strong in spirit and body, and there's always a chance—

He leaps through the window and only just manages to find his footing in time to keep from stumbling or falling on his nose, then spins to face the Hokage.

The Sandaime is watching him with one brow raised, expression politely attentive despite the suspicious twitch to one side of his mouth. "Ah, Kakashi," he says, and then glances at the clock. "Dare I say you're even early? I just sent out a message two minutes ago."

Were this even slightly less important, Kakashi would pause to mourn the death of his previously-unbroken tardy streak, but this is about an Uzumaki, so he stuffs that bit of woe down deep in his psyche and blurts, "Hokage-sama, the bounties that—"

"Yes, exactly why I wished to speak with you," the Hokage interrupts smoothly. "There are still a few weeks until the Academy graduation and you being called upon as an instructor. In that time, I would like you to track down this Uzushio nin and offer him Konoha's hand of friendship. There has long been an alliance between our villages, and even if Uzushio is no more, I would like to honor the tradition."

There's also the fact that if this shinobi managed to take out five S-rank missing-nin in the space of a few months, he'll be an incredibly valuable addition to Konoha's forces, but that's left unspoken. Kakashi straightens and nods. "Yes, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi smiles at him and hands over a slim scroll. "Last know location," he explains. "If he appears unfriendly, do not risk yourself, and simply return. However, do your best to be persuasive. And polite, Kakashi, please."

Kakashi beams at the old man, relief and gratitude filling him all the way down to his toes. "Maa, Hokage-sama," he says brightly. "When am I not?"

Perhaps wisely, the Hokage doesn't answer, but waves him out of the office with a long-suffering shake of his head. Kakashi whistles as he leaves, sauntering through the heavy doors and out.

However, once they're closed behind him, the cheer drops from his expression, and he unrolls the scroll. There's little to go on as far as appearance is concerned, but Suna border guards made note of the man heading into the Land of Fire, close to a small town Kakashi is passingly familiar with. There aren't many inns between Suna and the border, and counting the number of bounties the man's claimed, he's likely rolling in ryos and sick of sleeping in the desert. An inn is a safe bet, at least for the next few days.

It's what Kakashi would do, at least, coming off the capture of an S-rank criminal.

He turns on his heel, hops out the nearest window, and heads for home. With just a little packing, he can be on his way, and the sooner he leaves the sooner he'll reach the border town.

The sooner he'll be able to see if this man from Uzushio really is an Uzumaki.

Alone and moving fast, Kakashi reaches to small town in just under two days. It's a waypoint more than a village, a place to restock supplies before entering the Land of Wind, but there's a decent inn towards the center, manned by a retired Konoha shinobi and his family. Kakashi knows the man in passing from the Third Shinobi War, and nods as he meanders up to the desk.

"Copy-Nin Kakashi," the man says with a crooked smile that pulls at the deep scars which have all but destroyed the left side of his face. "Fancy meeting you here."

Kakashi gives him a little wave, smiling in return. "Hisoka-san. It's been a while." He glances around the room, then back at the former nin and says, "I'm looking for a man with red hair, shinobi, hitai-ate from—"

But Hisoka laughs and cuts him off before he can get any further. "No need, Hatake, that hair's enough of a marker to find him anywhere. Second floor, room sixteen. Hasn't left yet that I've seen."

Relieved at the lack of questioning, Kakashi nods his thanks and heads for the stairs, trying to control his heartbeat. He was expecting this to be harder, truthfully—if the Uzushio nin really did take out five members of an organization that recruits S-rank missing-nin, surely he'd be more wary, move on before he could be found. Granted, his deeds are impressive, even heard third-hand, but to stay in one place screams of arrogance.

Or, possibly, that he's so powerful he can back up that move, but Kakashi doesn't quite know what to think of that.

Room sixteen is at the end of the hall, a corner room—that, at least, shows proper shinobi paranoia, to want to watch as many angles as possible at one time. Kakashi pauses outside the door, for once wishing that he had a Byakugan that allowed him to see through solid objects. There's a lot of chakra in the room, and he can definitely sense someone in there, but in this case at least he'd like a bit of advance warning about what to expect.

Still, he's a Konoha shinobi, one of the greatest in his village, and dithering like a teenager in front of his crush's door definitely isn't going to help anything. Steeling his nerves, Kakashi raises a hand and knocks.

(It's futile to wish he could have done some reconnaissance before meeting the man, but he's trying to be polite as per his orders, and spying on a possible ally isn't. He's going in to this blind.)

"One moment," a quiet voice calls, and there's a rustle of paper for a moment before it goes silent. No footsteps, because no self-respecting shinobi would give themselves away like that, but there's a longer pause than absolutely necessary to get to the door, judging by the relative size of the room. Kakashi suspects that traps are either being disarmed or readied, and he approves either way. The man has some sense, at least.

Another pause, and then the door creaks open and one eye looks out, the figure it belongs to backlit by the window and rendered all but invisible. Several seconds of silence stretch out between them, and then the man asks courteously, "May I help you?"

Figuring this is as good a cue as any, Kakashi tosses off a lazy salute. "Yo," he says cheerfully. "I'm from Konoha."

There's a soft snort, and the door swings open a bit more, an unspoken invitation. "Yes," the man says dryly. "The hitai-ate is rather blatant, after all. And I assume you know that your reputation precedes you just about everywhere, Hatake-san."

Well, at least he's fairly polite. Kakashi wanders into the room, taking in the lack of clutter that says the nin is ready to evacuate at a moment's notice. There are papers on the bed, about the only mess in the room, and all it takes is a quick glance to recognize them as a variety of seals.

Satisfied there are no obvious traps, Kakashi finally turns to look at his host, and has to clamp down on his emotions. That hair is several shades darker than Kushina's was, but it's still unmistakably Uzumaki red, and worn long. The man is young, a little on the short side, leanly slim but still muscular, and there's a thinness to his face that speaks of hunger more than any kind of vanity or genetics. But his eyes are brilliantly blue, like the ocean under the summer sun, and large, full of quiet curiosity as he looks Kakashi over. The Uzushio hitai-ate is worn like a headband, holding his hair out of his face, and his clothes are sensible and well-worn, a mesh shirt with three-quarter sleeves, a sleeveless black top, and basic shinobi pants. Tattoos—seals—cover his arms, another Uzushio standby, and he's scarred as though he's seen warfare.

If they had met on the street, or on a mission, Kakashi would instantly mark this man as dangerous, despite his stature. The way he carries himself alone speaks of complete assurance in his own power, an easy sort of well-accustomed grace.

"You have me at a disadvantage, shinobi-san," he says, putting on another smile as he fishes.

The Uzushio nin snorts, even as he slips over to the bed and gathers up his seals. "I'm flattered you think I'm capable of such a thing," he says dryly. Then he turns, papers in hand, and offers Kakashi a faint smile. There's an edge to it, weary and worn. "However, I'm Uzumaki Kurama. It's an honor to meet the great Copy-Nin in person."

Uzumaki. Kakashi's mind latches on to the clan name and doesn't let go. "Any relation to Uzumaki—?" he begins.

Kurama cuts him off before he can finish. "One would assume," he says, smiling a little again. This time, though, it's sad. "Kushina, you were going to say." He doesn't wait for Kakashi's acknowledgement, but nods. "She was…a cousin, more or less. I don't remember our exact relationship. The clan was widespread, when it existed."

That's a bit of a disappointment, though possibly to be expected. Kakashi nods agreeably, and says, "The Hokage sent me to offer you a place in Konoha, if you want it."

Because he's looking for it, he catches the sharp but brief widening of the man's eyes, true surprise flickering across his features before it's swiftly buried again. Kakashi wonders at it, because surely he's gotten other such offers before, capturing missing-nin as he has been. But then Kurama hesitates, wavers, and dips his head.

"I think I would…like that," he says carefully, oddly deliberate. As though it's a fulcrum, and he just chose the way the world will turn. Then he flashes another quicksilver smile, there and gone in a moment, and says jokingly, "As long as the Hokage doesn't mind a bit of a mercenary joining. I haven't actually belonged to a village since mine fell."

Kakashi hears the bite of sorrow in his voice, however hidden, and mentally revises his estimation of Kurama's age. That sounded like the grief of someone who witnessed the destruction firsthand. He'd hardly be the first shinobi to conceal his age—Tsunade is perhaps the best example, but only one of many. And the Uzumaki were renowned for their vitality. It's not inconceivable that Kurama is actually closer to Minato's age than Kakashi's, regardless of appearance.

"All shinobi are mercenaries in one way or another," he offers, keeping his voice light. "And I think catching missing-nin makes for a good declaration of intent. Especially those missing-nin."

Kurama's eyes darken and narrow ever so slightly, and for a moment Kakashi is reminded of Genma's assumption of a grudge being involved. But before he can ask the redhead nods once, tight and sharp, before his smile returns. He turns, looking around the room, and then sighs and scoops up his pack and a sheathed katana. The seal papers are stuffed in a pocket before he turns to the Copy-Nin again. "I assume we should leave now?"

Kakashi calculates time and distance before nodding. They can make it a ways before nightfall if they leave now, and the sooner they're in Konoha the better he'll feel. This entire mission has been easy, and if Kakashi knows anything, it's that his luck never holds out for long.

Kurama moves like a shadow, swift and utterly silent, even to Kakashi's trained ears. He keeps in step with Kakashi easily enough, no matter how fast Kakashi sets their pace, and doesn't fumble even when Kakashi leads them on sudden detours or shortcuts. The Copy-Nin watches him out of the corner of one eye, curious and a little wary, but the Uzushio nin makes no threatening moves at all. His katana, a lovely thing with a silver hilt and deep blue wrappings, stays in its sheath, and Kakashi never sees him channel an ounce more chakra than is needed for running the branches. He does that as well as a Konoha shinobi, which is curious, and Kakashi files it away for later consideration.

He's doing a lot of that, it seems, but Uzumaki Kurama is interesting, when life has been fairly boring for years now. It's not just his appearance—red hair aside, he doesn't resemble Kushina much at all. But he's strong and by his own accounting has been alone for years, since Uzushio fell. Kakashi finds it hard to imagine such a thing, such a tragedy. He doesn't want to, either.

By unspoken agreement they stop when it gets too dark to pick out the individual trees, and set up a rough camp. Kakashi doesn't bother lighting a fire, simply watches as Kurama walks the perimeter they've set up, drawing symbols at each of the cardinal points and then connecting them in a circle. It comes to life with three speed-blurred hand signs, flaring up in a crackle of purple chakra and then settling back again, humming gently.

Kakashi considers the color, which he's never encountered before, and then files that away as well. It's an impressive seal for such quick work, though, and when Kakashi discretely tests it with a handful of pebbles, they end up as dots of smoldering slag scorching the ground. Kakashi stares at them for a long moment, suddenly overwhelmingly thankful that he chose to use rocks rather than going with his first impulse and poking the barrier.

"Forgot to warn you, Hatake-san," Kurama says, inordinately cheerful all of a sudden. "It might be best not to touch."

Kakashi shoots him the dark look that deserves and settles back. They haven't spoken much today, running in silence for the most part, and Kakashi is surprised that the man's been able to hold his tongue this long. Even some of the more sensible shinobi, such as Genma and Raidou, get twitchy after too much time without speaking. Kurama looks just fine, though, munching on a ration bar as he frowns down at yet another seal. Kakashi sneaks a peak, but can't make heads or tails of the thing—he's hardly a Seal Master—though Minato or Jiraiya would doubtless have loved to pick the young man's brain.

He makes it another ten minutes, choking down his own ration bar, before the hush gets to him and he gives in with a sigh. "You're good with seals, then."

"Mm." Kurama pulls the bar from his mouth, swallows with a faint grimace, and nods. "It was taught to pretty much everyone in Uzushio. Different people had talent in different areas, of course, but sealing was common." He glances down at his current project. "I'm good at creating, coming up with ideas. Adapting. Other people could counter seals, or dismantle them, or copy them flawlessly. It's just another kind of art. Uzushio simply taught it more thoroughly than anyone does today."

And Uzushio was destroyed because of that, Kakashi thinks, hiding a grimace of his own. In the Second Shinobi War, Iwa feared—rightly, perhaps—that Uzushio would come to Konoha's aid, devastating their ranks with fuinjutsu, so they had destroyed it. Uzushio was never a large village, and the Land of Whirlpools was small as well, so both had fallen quickly, before Konoha could reach them to lend support.

Kushina's grief whenever someone mentioned her country had been terrible, and she hadn't had to watch it be destroyed. It must have been far worse for Kurama, if he truly was present.

Seeming to feel Kakashi's eyes on him, Kurama looks up and offers a faint, sardonic smile. "Stop it. That happened a long time ago, Hatake-san. I've recovered as much as I ever will. Don't pity me."

"Why not go to Konoha?" Kakashi asks. "They were allies. You would have been welcomed."

"And trade one village for another?" Kurama shakes his head. "My home fell. At that point, I wasn't about to go looking for a new one. It would have felt like a betrayal." He turns to look up at the stars, eyes catching on the moon for a long moment as it peers through the branches, and then glances back at his companion. "Since I want to finish this, I'll take first watch," he offers.

Clearly the subject is closed now.

Kakashi tells himself to be content with what he's discovered so far, and nods his agreement. He settles into his bedroll and closes his eyes, but the faint scratch of pen over paper keeps catching his attention.

Sleep is a long time in coming.