Miserly Old Man, Trickster Fox

by FernandelDeLaFrance

One day, a weary old traveller comes to visit Konoha, intent on resting his bones and keeping his nose out of other people's business. That supposedly simple plan comes crashing down around his ears after he meets a cheerful, whiskered, and defenceless child. Ploys are made and broken, various groups make their move, and red eyes watch from the darkness as war looms over Konoha...

11. Chapter XI – Trust

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…

Ladies and gentlemen, goodnight and good evening to you, and welcome to the next chapter of Miserly Old Man, Trickster Fox! I hope you didn't mind waiting for this update, but rewriting my lost data files took far too longer than I had anticipated. Please, forgive the delay. Thanks you for all the reviews, pageviews, folows and favourites - they kept me going when I thought that I never was going to have enough time to get this done. Thank you. You are all awesome.

This chapter is, in my opinion, the conversation that someone should have had with Naruto - about the Nine-Tails, his father, and what it means to be Hokage. And as you can probably see in this chapter, I am not a supporter of the 'Kyuubi is Naruto's best friend' idea.

But my rambling is not really what you're for, is it? Onward! Leave me a review if you liked it, hated it, or anything else you might want to say!

Please, enjoy this chapter and leave a review. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I had writing it.

...

Miserly Old Man, Trickster Fox

Chapter XI - Trust

…

Naruto fled.

There was no other word for it; he was fleeing, running away. He was running away from his Grandpa, from Uncle Tabi, but mostly he was running away from the ANBU, those blank-faced killers who would hunt him down and hurt him, perhaps kill him. Because their duty was to protect the village, and Naruto was dangerous. To Grandpa, to Uncle Tabi, and to everyone else in the village. He was running like a man possessed; a monster.

He'd taken to the roofs. Uncle Tabi had told him that it was always easier to hide in a crowd, but he couldn't do it here. Everyone knew him, from sight or from rumours. He'd always thought it was weird how everyone managed to recognize him, no matter where he went.

Now he knew why. They loathed him. Were scared of him. He tried very hard not to break down and sob as he leapt from roof to roof, as far. He was a monster. Oh, spirits.

…Running away, child? Have your fellow ants abandoned you?

A voice. There was a voice talking to him, but he hadn't picked up any sound. He looked around, panicked. "Who are you?"

Oh, come now, the voice continued idly. Let's not play pretend with each other. You know exactly who I am. Why, your grandfather and uncle told you not two moments ago, didn't they?

"…Kyūbi?"

So there actually is a brain behind that thick skull of yours. Fascinating.

Naruto gritted his teeth as he started running again. 'Get out of my head!'

The dark voice chuckled. Oh, I would love to, little one, it said, its voice smooth and silken with amusement. But, you see, as much as I would want to leave your… 'head', as empty as it may be, I honestly can't, no matter how hard I want to. The seal bars me from leaving my prison. It seems we are stuck with each other.

It laughed again as Naruto whimpered, clapping his hands over his ears. Oh, don't be so glum. Think of it this way, child – at least you can enjoy my pleasant company and intelligent conversation. Few have had the privilege over the centuries. Well, I killed them afterwards, so it wasn't much of a privilege, wouldn't you agree?

"Go away," Naruto whispered, stumbling over Konoha's roofs. "Go AWAY!"

I can't. And this time, the voice snarled, a menacing sound more terrifying than anything Naruto had ever heard or imagined. The seal imprisons me, child. I cannot leave, unless I am freed. The Beast suddenly made a small huff of amusement, a hint of sadistic glee in it. I was surprised, though… I thought that I was the epitome of cruelty and madness. To imprison me within a newborn child, condemning him to eternal torture… Well, it looks like humanity has surprised me yet again. How fun!

"Who?" Naruto yelled, snarling like a beast. "Who did it, damn it? Answer me!"

The Nine-Tails was only silent for a moment, though, and its whispers continued as Naruto leapt from roof to roof towards the village walls, quiet and malicious and Naruto couldn't stop listening. I have been a prisoner for a long time, little one, it whispered, far longer than I ever thought possible. So long… I have forgotten how many years it has been. Imprisoned, forced to serve petty human masters in their whims… and suddenly, one day I was free.

It sighed wistfully. Oh, you cannot imagine the feeling. Free to roam the wild, to bask in my power, to change the world as I saw fit once more! And then the voice growled, a thunderous sound that made the hairs on Naruto's neck stick on end and made him shiver in the hot summer sun. And then he came.

'…Who came?' Naruto asked, almost too afraid to ask.

Ah, but you already know, don't you? the voice whispered quietly, and an image flashed across Naruto's mind of a large, dark cavern, two glowing yellow eyes fixed on him from the darkness and a large maw with far too many teeth grinning at him. After all, you were there yourself… and you have read of his exploits, admired him… An idol, some might say…

Another picture flashed across his mind, an image of a tall man in a flowing fire-patterned coat with his arms crossed, blond, spiky hair standing out harshly against the burning horizon.

Naruto remembered all too well who had stopped the Nine-Tails from destroying Konoha. And it didn't take too long to figure out who had put the seal on him. Who had made him a monster. "No…"

Yes, the Beast whispered gleefully, basking in Naruto's stupefied despair as he understood. Oh yes, child, it was him. Your idol, your own father was the one who imprisoned me in you, who condemned you to life of neglect and pain, who shackled me to a worthless bag of MEAT!

The last word came out in a roar, and Naruto fumbled his grip on the next façade, managing to get a one-handed hold just in time. Splinters bit into his hand, pain lancing through his arm as inch-long pieces of wood bit into his arm. He blinked rapidly, and realized he was crying, tears running down his whiskered cheeks. "You're lying… you're lying!"

I have seen everything you have endured, child, the voice whispered, chuckling. And I saw everything that led to my imprisonment. I am a spirit, child. Lies are forbidden to us. Do you think I would lie to you? Truly?

Despair flooded Naruto as he recognized the monster's words, and the Beast hissed. Yes... Not long now.

Naruto blinked the tears out of his eyes, still hanging from the facade. ...What do you mean?

Oh, nothing much, the Beast said, laughing. Only for you to drown in your despair, to tear yourself apart. All so that I can be free again.

What? What are you talking about?

The Nine-Tails laughed again, a sound of rumbling thunder that nearly deafened him. Naruto grimaced as pain lanced through his mind, and he suddenly thought that something tried to claw its way out of his stomach. He screamed.

The seal is weak, the Beast whispered as the pain intensified, his mind nearly gone from the pain and horror. Your father was skilled, child, more skilled than any other that came before him, but he was still at death's door. He made mistakes – and every prison, no matter how strong, has its weak spots. It purred, content. And I've had enough time, years, to look for them.

It cackled as Naruto screamed again, as he felt as if someone was driving a serrated blade through his stomach, opening his belly bit by bit. Yes... Your despair, your pain, your fear; give it to me, all of it! Then I shall be free again, free to destroy this pathetic village, free to kill and maim as I please!

"I won't let you!" Naruto screamed out, the little boy clutching his head. He looked up wildly and started to climb up the building's wooden facade. He needed to get away, away from the voice, away from the village. "I won't let you, you bastard; I swear it!"

Too late, little one, the voice whispered maliciously. See for yourself.

And Naruto did see, to his horror, that the hands he was using to climb were no longer hands. His fingernails had grown longer and sharpened into grotesque claws, his lengthened fingers cracking the wood with their increased strength as he climbed up. The splinters in his hands were violently driven out, blood following them in spurts, and sparks of red chakra were already knitting his skin back together.

It's only a matter of time now...

The pain was beyond anything he had ever thought possible, but Naruto gritted his teeth as he kept climbing, ignoring the pain and claws and the monster. "You bastard…" he snarled, feeling long canines on his tongue and shivering. "I won't let you hurt them! Any of them, you hear me!"

Why, child? the monster growled. Why defy me? I have seen the way the way your fellows treat you. I was there, child. I was there, every time they glared at you with hatred in their eyes, every time you were neglected at the orphanage, every time you had to beg for food and were refused, and every time you were helped out of a store with a boot!

Fuck you! Naruto shouted in his mind as he scrabbled to the building's roof, ran over to the other side and leapt clearly over the open street to the next roof, gathering momentum. You won't hurt any of them, you bastard!

Why? the voice repeated angrily. They hate you. They all hate you. Your death would be celebrated in the streets. Let me break free, and I will take revenge for every single cruelty you have suffered! I will pay it back tenfold!

"FUCK! YOU!" Naruto roared and pushed back as hard as he could, and suddenly other images flashed through his mind, happier memories.

Teuchi-san and Ayame-chan giving him ramen when he was hungry. Iruka-nii taking him to buy clothes when his others had turned to rags. Going on walks in the park with Grandpa and listening to his stories. Training with Uncle Tabi and listening to him play the lute, taking lessons from him as he plucked the strings. Playing Go with Mayumi-nee-san and Shizuka-nee-san. Watching Hinata-chan climb trees, try to do the same, and then laugh when he got it right. Walking through the red light district in the evening, where his neighbours greeted him as one of their own, an outcast.

His legs pumped harder as he picked up speed, snarling.

Why? the voice repeated, but Naruto could have sworn that it sounded quieter now, unsure.

Naruto leapt over a busy street, shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Because this is my home, you son of a bitch!"

…

"Well, well, well," Tabibito muttered to himself as he ambled through Konoha's market district, bottle of saké in hand. "Brat managed to give me the slip. I think congratulations are in order." He grumbled unhappily, throwing back some more of the sharp alcohol. "After I kick his ass all over the block for throwing me into a tree, of course. Tch."

He glanced along the assorted market stalls where traders loudly praised their merchandise and hawked their wares, interested customers haggling loudly and enthusiastically with stubborn shopkeepers. "Now where exactly could he be...?"

To say that Tabibito was annoyed that Naruto had managed to evade him for so long would be like saying he had a mild alcohol problem. At first, it was easy to track the young jinchūriki from the training ground, considering that he was leaking demonic chakra like a rusty bucket.

After a few hundred yards, however, the trail started to thin to an ever smaller trickle of malevolent chakra that the old traveller found more and more difficult to follow – Tabibito may have been a moderately decent sensor thanks to his mastery of wind techniques, but Konoha, being a very large ninja village, had abnormally huge levels of background chakra, making it nearly impossible for a sensor of his mediocre calibre to track a single individual's chakra signature across the whole expanse of the village.

On one hand, the fact that he couldn't track Naruto was a good sign: the thinning release of demonic chakra meant that Naruto had somehow managed to get control over his tenant, or at least reduce its influence on the seal, one way or another.

Had the Nine-Tails actually been released, even partly, and Tabibito was sure that he would have noticed something. He may have been slightly tipsy, but even he wouldn't have missed the rampant destruction, mass panic, and nightmare-inducing chakra-cloak coating the whole horizon a bloody red. He'd need a few barrels of saké before he failed to register something like that.

On the other hand, this was a bad sign, because he had no bloody clue where the brat actually was.

Tabibito's thought on the matter were as drunkenly eloquent as ever. Koharu's gonna nail my balls to her mantelpiece for this.

The old traveller had been searching for hours at the spots Naruto would visit during the day. Ichiraku's ramen stand had been near empty, and the owner hadn't seen Naruto in quite a while, his young daughter even threatening him to bring back their favourite customer for dinner every once in a while, or else. Tabibito had hurriedly agreed, if only because he was sure that the girl's cooking ladle was heavy enough to cause grievous bodily harm, and she looked as if she knew how to use it.

The Hokage Tower was also free of any orange-clad troublemaker, as the ANBU squad stationed there seemed slightly more relaxed than usual – when Naruto had started to prank them during his visits, the Hokage had found it most amusing and closed both eyes to his shenanigans, as it kept his bodyguards on their toes. Tabibito had met Iruka stamping a mountain of paperwork, but the scarred genin had seen neither hair nor whisker of his adoptive little brother all day. He worriedly suggested checking the Dancing Dragon, the place that Naruto nowadays considered his true home.

The bordello itself was conspicuously Naruto-free, however, seeing as Mayumi and Shizuka were actually relaxing around a pot of tea. Naruto, being hyperactive, easily distracted, and having a mischievous streak a mile wide, had taken to the nasty habit of pranking the other inhabitants of the Dancing Dragon, cheekily justifying it as "Ninja training!" Mayumi, cold, distant, and proudly vain of her good looks (most of the time), had been a favourite target of his. Shizuka, who on the other hand was nice, cheerful, and responsible, did her best to rein in the small orange ball of energy and stop him from driving her best friend to despair, with mixed results.

The only one spared from Naruto's pranking campaigns was Ichirai Hōshi himself, who seemed to be the only person Naruto was genuinely terrified of. The scarred brothel owner mostly viewed the boy's shenanigans with good humour, though he occasionally reprimanded the young boy when he went too far, appeasing an enraged Mayumi when she had to change her hair colour again and consoling a despairing Shizuka when her efforts to educate Naruto went nowhere.

Calling Naruto a difficult child would have been the understatement of the era.

Yet when Tabibito turned up with news that the young demon host had disappeared, the two young courtesans looked quite ready to comb the village street by street to find him – even if a scowling Mayumi said she would only do so "To teach the little brat a lesson he won't forget so quickly!" Hōshi had discreetly begun questioning his customers and alerted his friends in the shinobi force to see if they had spotted any sign of the elusive blond hyperactive ninja-in-training.

In the end, Tabibito left to keep looking by himself, reassured and glad that there were people in the village who cared.

Now, however, the old lute player frowned unhappily, tapping his temple with his bottle of high-proof alcohol. "Think, think, think, Tabi," he muttered. "It's been hours since he ran away. He hasn't left the village, or else Sarutobi would have already kicked my ass all the way back to Suna. But he hasn't been spotted by anyone in the village, which is damn near impossible in a place crawling with ninja. So where could a scared, hyperactive, easily distracted wannabe-Hokage go to hide from everyone?"

It took only a moment for the pieces to fall into place, and then he repeatedly started hitting his head with the saké bottle. "I am – officially – the biggest – fucking – idiot – in the world! Of course he would go there, of all places! Where else!?" He glared accusingly at the cracked bottle. "I blame you for all this."

Throwing the offending container as far away as he could, he took to the roofs, leaping as fast as he could towards the Hokage Monument as the sun went lower and lower in the sky, shadows painting the stern faces overlooking the village.

…

He'd been right on the money, after all – the higher and higher he climbed the rocky surface of the monument, the thicker the Nine-Tails' chakra could be felt, like a leaden, heavy feeling in the air. It seemed to come from the corner right over the Fourth Hokage's head, Naruto having apparently decided to find refuge with his hero. Or former hero, or his father, or the man who cursed him – Tabibito wasn't entirely sure what Naruto thought of him anymore.

Well, the traveller thought as he puffed and puffed after clinging to the uneven surface of the monument for a few minutes too long, at least the beast doesn't seem to be in control, considering the amount of demonic chakra he's putting out…

Which was surprisingly little, as it turned out. But instead of a violent massive explosion of malevolent chakra that shook trees and induced nightmares, there was a small, constant trickle adding to the oppressive, evil energy floating around in the air – the Fourth's seal was definitely leaking, weakened by Naruto's warring emotions and dented when the Nine-Tails tried to break out earlier today.

But that was alright, Tabibito tried to reassure himself. Leaking seals could be fixed, no matter how damaged they were. Well, it actually depended on the level of damage done to the basic structure and surrounding ground-layer matrix, but still—

"Ah, screw this," the old traveller grumbled to himself. "If the demon does break out, I'll die old and drunk. One out of two ain't bad. Better than I ever hoped for, to be honest."

And so he muttered to himself during the march across the top of the Monument until he reached the spot above the Fourth Hokage's spiky fringe. And sure enough, sitting there with his legs crossed was a small figure wearing a hideous orange jumpsuit and being unnaturally still.

Tabibito moved slowly and carefully towards an unusually quiet Naruto – the seal may have have been only damaged, but the Beast might have still torn apart his mind from the inside, and—

"Hey, Uncle," Naruto said loudly, startling him slightly. He sounded cheerful. "Took you pretty long to find me, huh?"

"Yeah," Tabibito agreed, blinking. "Yeah, you're getting pretty good at this escape and evasion business, I have to admit. I wasn't thinking properly, to be honest, but hey, good on you. …D'you mind if I have a seat?"

The boy shrugged, grinning. "Mountain's free to everyone, right?"

"Right." The traveller grunted as he let himself drop onto the rocky surface next to the boy.

For a while, both silently watched the sun drawing closer and closer to the horizon, neither of them saying anything. Higher, far higher than the Hokage Tower, none of the sounds of the city reached the quiet plateau of the monument. Up here, it was eerily quiet – serene, even.

Ironic, that, Tabibito thought idly as he observed the coming and goings below. Some folks spend years wandering the wilderness to find a quiet place to meditate, to find peace in themselves or whatever, and the perfect spot for that is right here, on top of the world's largest hidden village. Life's funny like that.

He uncorked one of his many sake bottles, the first sound to be heard up here in minutes. "So, kid," he said casually, glancing over to Naruto. "You feeling okay?"

"Of course I am!" Naruto said loudly, jumping up and grinning widely. It only grew wider and more manic as he babbled on at high speed. "I mean, there's nothing to be worried about, is there? I'm Naruto Uzumaki, the guy's who's gonna be Hokage, right? The guy's who's gonna be the strongest in the village and protect everyone, right? There's really NOTHING to worry about—"

Tabibito slapped him across the head, hard. "Of course something's wrong, you idiot! You'd have to be an inhuman monster not to be bothered and worried about having a batshit insane spirit of homicidal fury sealed inside of you, by your own daddy, no less!" He roughly grabbed Naruto's shoulder and forced him to sit down. "Now park your butt down here, calm the hell down, and stop lying, will ya?"

"Who do you think I'm lying to?" Naruto asked, his broken smile replaced by a scowl. "Come on, old man, spit it out!"

"To me, to yourself… Doesn't really matter in the end, does it?" The traveller sipped moodily at his bottle, for once not enjoying the taste of the sharp alcohol. "Believe me, lying ain't good for you."

"Hello, shinobi here, remember?" Naruto muttered, huddling and hugging his knees to himself. "Lying is supposed to be something we're good at. You said that yourself, Uncle."

"Yeah, er, what I meant when I said that was, uh… Ah, fuck it." Tabibito grimaced and downed another mouthful of saké. "Sometimes, lying just doesn't help. Now's one of those times. Besides, I was probably lying as well when I was telling you all that crap. Drunk too, I bet."

Naruto frowned, confused. "But if you were a liar, but you were lying when you said that, then—"

"Don't even try to change the subject, brat," the old traveller warned, glaring. "My head's full enough as it is. Now – no lying, no stories, no bullshitting – tell me what's eating you."

"An evil fox spirit is trying to claw its way out of my stomach," Naruto said, staring blankly ahead at the horizon.

Tabibito winced. Alright, perhaps 'What's eating you' wasn't exactly the best way to phrase that particular question.

"And, uh, anything else?"

"…I can hear it talk in my head, Uncle," the small boy whispered as he just kept staring blankly ahead, his hands turning white as they clenched around his knees hard enough to draw blood. He started to rock back and forth, shaking uncontrollably. "It's talking to me, telling me to go out into the village and kill people, to tear them apart limb by limb, to burn down their houses, to kill you and Grandpa and Iruka-nii and Shizuka-nee-chan and Mayumi-nee-chan and Hinata-chan and I don't want to, but it just doesn't stop talking and whispering and it shows me these images of all of you dying and—"

A sharp slap across the back of his head brought Naruto back to his sense. He turned to yell at the traveller, only to see the old man sitting there, pale and more worried than he had ever seen him before.

"Don't look at me like that," the traveller muttered. "Please don't look at me with those eyes, kid. Please."

Naruto blinked, confused. "What eyes?"

The traveller sighed, draining another gulp from the bottle and looking away. "Those eyes, like you just survived a massacre all alone, or just walked across a battlefield, or… hell, I don't know." He glanced at Naruto helplessly. "It's hard to explain, but I'm sure you'll be able to recognize them some day." He swore. "Damn it all, the world's fucked up enough as it is."

For a moment, both sat there in silence, each not knowing what to say to the other.

"Uncle," Naruto spoke quietly, "did you ever meet my dad?"

"Twice. I never really knew him, though."

"It's just," Naruto began before clamming up, shivering. "I want to know why he did this to me. To his own son. Parents are supposed to protect their kids, aren't they? Didn't he love me at all?"

Never, on all his travels, had the traveller from Suna seen a child a young and so desperate for any kind of reassurance, any at all, that he hadn't been cursed by the father he had never known and yet always admired.

Karura had known how to handle kids. She would have known exactly what to say, how to make this poor kid feel better, how to make him understand why all these horrible things were happening to him.

But she was gone. And only a useless old man was left.

He sighed, resignedly rubbing his eyes. "Look," he began. "It's not that simple."

"Then explain it to me!" Naruto pleaded, blue eyes wide and begging. "Please, Uncle! You know everything, don't you!? You always explain stuff that I don't know! I promise I'll understand, Uncle, I swear!"

"It's not a question of me knowing everything," Tabibito grumbled. "'Cause I don't. I sure as hell don't, kid. I'm just an old man who managed to grow old when others didn't, Naruto. Nothing more."

The boy refused to look away, blue eyes growing familiarly determined, and Tabibito sighed in resignation. "Alright, alright; I get it," he mumbled, again letting the alcohol run down his throat and thinking quickly.

"…you know your daddy was the Hokage, right?"

Naruto nodded solemnly. "Yeah. The Fourth Hokage, the Scourge of Iwa."

"That title doesn't really matter, brat. What's important is that he was the Hokage. That means he was responsible for everyone living down there." He swept out the hand holding his bottle over the whole expanse of the village stretching out below them. "Everyone from the strongest jōnin to the poorest street rat. Question is, now: why, exactly, was he made the Hokage?"

"…because he was strong?"

Tabibito shook his head. "That's part of it, yeah, but it ain't the most important bit. See, there's folks out there that are really, really strong, some of them ninja and some of them not, but they're far too dumb or short-sighted to actually do anything worthwhile with that strength. Too stupid to find a pencil even if it was stuck right up their arse, but still insanely strong, see what I mean?"

Naruto chuckled, giving him a half-grin. "I get it, Uncle."

Tabibito nodded encouragingly. "Good, we're getting somewhere – now why would you're daddy be accepted as Hokage, if it wasn't for his strength? Think carefully, now!"

"Because he was really clever?" Naruto said quickly, warming up to the subject. This was just like one of those lessons where Uncle wanted him to think for himself.

"Closer, but still wrong." Tabibito chuckled at his student's annoyed look, grey eyes dancing with amusement. "What? I've seen guys and gals far cleverer than me in my time – and certainly cleverer than your dumb ass," he jibed, making Naruto scowl in childlike outrage, "but they still didn't become Kage of any village. Some folks are clever and cunning and all, but perhaps they're shifty types that are playing their own games, perhaps they have issues, perhaps they're too clever for their own good, or perhaps they can't see the forest because there's too many trees.

"In any case, you don't want these guys in charge. What does a Hokage make, then?"

Naruto thought long and hard, forehead scrunched up in a frown and visibly struggling, until he finally gave up. "I don't know, Uncle."

"Here's the answer, then." Tabibito leant over to conspiratorially whisper into Naruto's ear. "It's all about trust."

Naruto blinked a few times. "…trust?"

"Yeah."

"Why did he then do this to me?" Naruto asked, confused. "It doesn't make sens—"

"Brat, you're not thinking about this the right way," the traveller interrupted, eyes serious. "People want someone as Hokage that they are absolutely sure will protect them and the village; someone that they can trust to make the right choices, even if they are the most difficult and painful choices for themselves, even if it means sacrificing yourself and the things you love most."

"But I don't get it!" Naruto cried out, grabbing his hair angrily and tugging furiously. "He was my dad, wasn't he? Didn't he love me at all? Why else would he put this, this thing in me?"

Tabibito sighed. Children were always convinced that their parents must have loved them. Having such single-minded faith could be endearing, and it could give hope to children who had lost their parents. And yet sometimes, having such a single-minded belief shattered could be so very, very tragic.

"Kid, think very hard about this," he ordered sternly before Naruto could tear out half his hair in frustration. "The villagers trusted your daddy to protect them. To protect them all, even if it meant making the toughest choice he ever had to make in his life."

He shuddered, wrapping his travelling cloak around himself in the cold wind. "You've never seen a Tailed Beast on a rampage, but it's… it's horrible, kid. All that evil just pressing down on you like a tidal wave, all the corpses piling up as you throw everything you have at it just to slow it down, and it just keeps on going despite everything you try, everything you know and love getting reduced to ashes… People have killed themselves just trying to get away from the Tailed Beasts. That's how horrible those monsters are."

He fixed serious grey eyes on Naruto, willing him to understand. "Now imagine that everyone is trusting you to protect them from one of those beasts. Even if it means facing down the greatest spirit of rage and destruction, all by yourself. Even if it means giving your own life to save others." He leant forwards, poking Naruto gently in the stomach. "Even if it means sacrificing your own flesh and blood, your newly born son, to make sure that no one in the village is ever hurt by that beast again. And all that because they trusted you."

"…Is that what it means to be the Hokage?" Naruto asked, his voice smaller than Tabibito had ever heard it before. "Trust?"

The old traveller nodded gravely. "Yeah. Trust." He glared at his bottle before resignedly sighing and throwing it back once more. "Trust and sacrifice."

"Dad must have had it rough," Naruto said quietly.

Tabibito snorted, coughing on his rice spirit. "Hell, that's the funniest thing I've heard all year! Rough doesn't even start to cover it, kiddo."

"So why me, Uncle?" Naruto asked, apparently still not understanding. "Why did he choose me?"

"Thing is, he had to choose someone," Tabibito explained slowly. "The most powerful container seals, the ones used on Tailed Beasts, use the life force of the seal master, or someone else who's willing to take the plunge. In the end, your daddy chose you, his own flesh and blood. And why is that?" Taking pity on the small boy struggling with concepts he couldn't yet possibly understand, he smirked. "I'll give you a hint: it's all about trust."

For a moment, Naruto's frown deepened as he absorbed his Uncle's words, thinking long and hard, and then suddenly his head snapped sideways to stare at the traveller. "…he did it because he trusted me?"

"You're the one he chose," Tabibito said simply.

Naruto's frown disappeared as a slow smile crept on his face. "I get it," he said, his familiar grin reappearing. "He trusted me, didn't he? He trusted me to be strong. Strong enough to protect in the villagers in his place. From that monster, and from everyone else that might hurt them."

"Now you get it," Tabibito said approvingly, grinning mischievously at his student. "Your daddy might not have known you for very long, but he trusted you, see? He trusted you to protect the village he loved so much. He trusted you more than anyone else to be strong enough to keep the Beast in check. Otherwise, he would have chosen some other kid, don't you think?"

"Yeah!" Naruto yelled happily, jumping up and grinning widely, laughing and crying at the same time as he danced around the monument. "He didn't hate me after all! He trusted me!"

Narutos happiness was infectious, and soon Tabibito found himself chuckling as well, laughing at Naruto's antics and thanking the spirits and anyone else who would hear that they had given his student back to him.

After a while, Naruto had enough of dancing around like a lunatic and let himself fall back down to Tabibito, both of them watching the sun start to meet the horizon.

"Hey, Uncle."

"What is it, brat?"

"You really think my daddy loved me?"

Tabibito scratched his stubbly cheek. "Dunno," he admitted. "I didn't know the Fourth that well. But I'm sure he did love you very much."

"…How can you be so sure?" Naruto asked, blue eyes curious.

For just a moment, Tabibito riffled through old memories and recalled the image of a young girl and a small boy running towards him, laughing as they hugged him around the legs and waist, a woman smiling radiantly in a lit doorway behind them. He remembered laughing too and hugging them back.

Spirits, that had been such a long time ago.

"…Call it instinct. Besides, the Fourth was a good man. And good men love their children, no matter what happens to them." He turned to Naruto, eyeing him up and down. "You feeling better now, kid?"

"Yeah, tons!" Naruto grinned back cheerfully, all trace of his previous despair gone. "Thanks a lot, Uncle!"

"Not as if I did anything worth mentioning," the traveller muttered, before his eyes sharpened. "And what about your tenant? Feel anything unusual?"

"Uh, yeah, it was talking to me." Naruto frowned into the distance. "It's got a really creepy voice, you know that? And fuzzbutt was telling me—"

The traveller choked on his saké. "Fuzzbutt?" Tabibito stared at him as alcohol dripped down his chin, absolutely horrified. "You're calling the Nine-Tails fuzzbutt!?"

Naruto looked unconcerned. "Yeah, so?"

Tabibito just kept staring at him before mournfully palming his face. "Oh, nothing. Just wondering how you came up with such a ridiculous name for the most powerful natural disaster in the world. Please, go on."

"Okay!" Naruto said cheerfully as the traveller just grumbled to himself, shaking his head in despair. The little boy just kept chattering, gesticulating widely and grinning. "Well, it was telling me to go out and kill everyone, so I told it to get lost, but then it told me that it didn't really matter if I did it or not because it had found a weakness in the seal—"

Tabibito choked on his saké. Again.

"—and how it would be able to come out if I kept using its power, but it would still get out soon even if I didn't, 'cause every technique had a weakness somewhere—"

This time, Tabibito was sure that Naruto had finally succeeded in his goal of giving him a heart attack.

"—and then my fingernails grew longer and this red chakra went everywhere even though I didn't want it to – it really hurt, you know! And then I ran here." Naruto frowned, perplexed. "Is it supposed to hurt? It was really weird."

"Right," Tabibito said, his voice faint. "You mind lying down on your back and pulling up that hideous jumpsuit of yours? I think we might need to take a look at your seal."

Naruto frowned at him, confused. "Why do we need to do that?"

"Because it's extremely likely that the seal is unravelling or breaking down as we speak, and then the Nine-Tails would break out and start destroying the whole village, and then I'm pretty sure we're all gonna die in incredibly painful ways." The traveller gave his student a flat look. "Today would be nice."

"Oh," Naruto muttered as he quickly lied down and unzipping the top part of his jumpsuit. "I guess that's a pretty good reason."

"You don't say," Tabibito said drily as he drew back his sleeves. "Channel some chakra to your stomach, brat, and step to it!"

Soon enough, black lines appeared on Naruto's stomach, starting from a circle all around his navel and spreading out in layers and layers of hundreds, perhaps even thousands of symbols all over his stomach, chest, some of them even appearing to shoot off into the boy's limbs. Closing his eyes and his fingers moving quickly in a series of handseals, Tabibito placed his right palm on Naruto's stomach, channelling some chakra of his own to analyze it.

He was absolutely stunned by what he saw in his mind's eye as his own chakra ran through the seal. Never, ever had the old traveller seen a container seal of such power and complexity. The basic container seal was familiar to him, of course, but the layers and layers of additional seals added to it – variable chakra filters, demonic chakra conversion seals, power limitation blocks, tenketsu and inner gate safeguards, and many, many others whose function Tabibito could only guess at, all tied together by a seal matrix boggled his mind with its complexity – most certainly weren't.

Tabibito felt his respect for the Yondaime Hokage rise in him. This was easily the most complex seal he had ever seen, surpassing any of his own works by leaps and bounds. Minato Namikaze truly had been a genius, to implant this masterpiece while wounded, exhausted, and knowing he was about to die. What skill, what imagination!

But still... it was obvious that the Fourth's mind had been distracted during the sealing, or that he'd been rushed for time, or quite possibly both. Many of the symbols were hastily scribbled, a brush stroke missing here or there or shoddily executed; some of the sequences had been shortened by a symbol or two to avoid wasting precious time, and the great size and gigantic complexity of the seal had given the struggling demon many different avenues of attack to poke and prod at the seal matrix until it started to unravel. Tabibito spotted the frayed lines and weak spots in the seal matrix that allowed the Nine-Tails' chakra to trickle through Naruto's tenketsu, weakening the whole structure bit by bit.

Tabibito clicked his teeth in annoyance. Thanks the spirits that manipulating and repairing a pre-existing seal structure required far less chakra and skill than actually creating it from scratch, but this would still be a tricky job. He'd probably need some time to plan it all out, and he didn't really have that luxury.

Suddenly he felt something else pushing against his and Naruto's chakra coursing through the seal, something hot, angry, searing, alien—

He snatched back his hand with a strangled scream, only to stare in horror as he saw bloody, raw flesh where old, wizened skin had been just a moment ago. The pain hit a moment later. He started swearing profusely, using his other good hand to rummage in his travelling cloak's many pockets.

"Goddamned son of a bitch jackass fox spirit arsehole—"

"Uncle?" Naruto asked worriedly, leaping to his feet to see his teacher bandaging his own hand with shaking fingers, his own teeth, and a lot of mumbled profanity. Naruto jumped closer, panicking. "Uncle, do you need help? I can bandage that f—"

"Don't touch me!" Tabibito spat out, cursing his own foolishness when he saw Naruto reel back as if struck, the hurt evident in his eyes. "Look, you can't touch me," he snapped, holding up his hand to show Naruto that the clean white bandages were already starting to stain with large, dark red spots. "The Nine-Tails' chakra destroys any chakra not its own. It's like poison, or acid, or whatever the hell dissolves flesh this quickly. Container seals mitigate the problem for their hosts, but even then—" He grimaced as he tried to clench his fingers. "Damn, that hurts!"

"So what do we do?" Naruto asked, frantically wringing his hands and feeling utterly helpless. "I could—"

"You'll lie down, shut the hell up, and do exactly as I tell you," Tabibito ordered, halting Naruto in his tracks. "Fixing that seal takes priority over anything that happens to me, get it?"

"But Uncle, what if you lose your hand?"

"Naruto!" the traveller barked sternly. "This is a lesson! What do we do in a lesson?"

Naruto scrunched his eyes shut, taking a deep breath. "I do what you tell me to do, exactly as you tell me to do, nothing more and nothing less, otherwise I might hurt myself and others," he recited from memory.

Tabibito nodded. "Well done. Now, listen to me and do exactly as I say, alright?"

The old traveller grabbed one of his many scrolls from his pockets, unfurled it and used a one-handed seal to reveal a large black calligraphy stone, several brushes of varying sizes and makes, a few pots of differently coloured inks, and many sheaves of paper that he had collected on his travels around the world.

He quickly unstoppered a few of the ink pots, expertly letting a few drops of each drip down onto the calligraphy stone in varying consistencies, ending it by clenching his injured fingers with a grimace and letting a few drops of his own blood trickle down his bandages onto the stone.

Naruto had finally lied down on his back, watching the process with wide-open eyes full of his usual curiosity that reminded Tabibito that he was still a child. "What are you doing, Uncle?"

"Mixing sealing ink," he muttered as he swirled the ink until it reached a dark black colour. "Needs to be different for everything you want to do."

"Can you teach me how to do that?"

"If you survive the next hour or so, sure." Tabibito threw a serious look at Naruto as he dipped his brush into the ink. "Now, two things that you should know about, brat: one, you're not allowed to move. At all. No shifting, no spasms, no twitching a muscle, nothing at all. I need a stable surface to write on, otherwise the seal will go haywire, understand?"

Naruto nodded seriously. "I get it. Just like those meditation exercises we did, right? I can do that."

"Good."

"Hey, Uncle, what's the other thing?"

The traveller shot him a mirthless grin as he delicately set the brush to Naruto's stomach and started to draw. "This is going to hurt like an absolute bitch."

Naruto opened his mouth to confusedly ask what he was talking about, only to suddenly hear himself scream as he felt something roar in furious anger in his mind, struggling inside him and setting his very nerves on fire. He remembered Uncle Tabi's words just in time, fighting not to writhe and lash out in pain.

Tabibito winced at the bloodcurdling scream of terror and sheer pain that Naruto let out – spirits above, no child should scream like that, make him stop – and furiously pushed those thoughts out of his mind to calmly analyze the seal matrix. He thickened out furtive brush strokes and added symbols where necessary, strengthening the seal; he added symbols to shortened sequences to enhance the efficiency and strength of chakra filters, suppression blocks and other countless components; he knitted together the many different layers of seals constructed one above the other by creating new nexuses and dissolving those that had become too weak and frayed to be useful any longer.

And he did it all with his off-dominant hand, adding his own chakra to the ink to push back the horrifically caustic energy of the raging Nine-Tails as the Beast struggled to unmake the progress it had made after all these years, the pain in his injured hand wracking his mind and threatening to throw off his concentration, but nothing hurt him as badly as hearing the screams of his student – the child he'd raised like his own son for the last one and a half years, damn it! – that threatened to tear him apart from the inside out.

Heart of Steel, Mind of Steel, he desperately repeated over and over again, the mantra from his childhood as a shinobi used once more after many years as he desperately calculated estimates for Naruto's chakra output, yin-yang proportion levels, and demonic chakra conversion ratios for now and the future as his brush danced across the seal standing out starkly against Naruto's skin, trying to block out the small child's screams to no avail. Heart of Steel, Mind of Steel; Heart of Steel, Mind of Steel...

He thanked the spirits when Naruto's screams turned to far quieter crying after minutes of torture, when that crying turned to whimpers, and when he finally said nothing more, exhausted by minutes of screaming and pain and simply enduring the torture his teacher was putting him through.

Those helpless screams would haunt him for the rest of his life, though, Tabibito was sure of it.

Moments turned into minutes and minutes dragged on and on until an hour had passed, the old traveller never stopping his frenetic drawing, going over the whole seal and his corrections until he was absolutely certain that he had ironed out all the mistakes and reinforced it as best as he could.

His brush sipped again onto the calligraphy stone, which he now realized was completely dry. He sighed, wiping his brow and anxiously watching the black lines of the seal etched into Naruto's bare skin.

They thinned out and receded slowly when he no longer channelled any chakra into it, disappearing slowly. Tabibito heaved a sigh of relief, his shoulders slumping in exhaustion. His modifications to the seal hadn't been rejected, at least, and the Nine-Tails was still contained. Naruto would live.

He looked at his student's face for the first time since he started the whole sealing, carefully poking him. "Hey, kid – you still kicking, or am I gonna have to lug your carcass all the way down this piece of rock to the morgue?"

Naruto didn't answer immediately. He was still lying on his back, eyes scrunched shut in pain and his hands gripping the monument's rocky surface so hard that blood was seeping through his fingers. Otherwise he looked unharmed, though that really didn't really mean much. Tabibito felt some respect rise in him, though – like he'd said, he hadn't moved an inch during his ordeal. That took guts.

"Hey, Uncle," the child croaked hoarsely, throat sore from screaming. "I can move now, right?"

"Uh, yeah, I think so," Tabibito agreed, glad to hear his student sound weak, but alive. "I'm done with the seal."

"Okay," Naruto continued, eyes still screwed shut. "That means I can do this now, right?"

Tabibito blinked in confusion, leaning closer. "Do what?"

Naruto leapt up, moving faster than he ever had before, and punched the old traveller with everything he had in the face, sending the elder flying. "MOTHERFUCKER!" he roared at the top of his voice, glaring furiously. "Do you have any idea how much that hurt, you cock-sucking old prick? Kami, Spirits, and the Enlightened One! What the hell made you think that this was a good idea, old man?"

Tabibito didn't answer right away, though that might have been excused by the fact that he had been sent flying on his back and was currently counting stars, waiting for the world to stop spinning. If any six-year-old could punch like a mule hopped up on soldier pills, it was Naruto Uzumaki.

"Right," he slurred, holding up what he hoped was three fingers of his good hand. "Three things, brat. One, I need to tell the folks at the Dancing Dragon to watch their mouths around you. No six-year-old kid should have a vocabulary as filthy as yours. It's creepy."

Another finger rose up. "Two, the seal seems to be working fine, considering that you didn't just melt my face off with that punch of yours. And three..." The third finger rose up as Tabibito shook his head to clear it.

"I really, really need a freaking drink. Probably more than one." He shook his head again, swearing. "Spirits damn it, brat, you can sure as hell rattle someone's braincase."

"...I'm not gonna say sorry," Naruto sulked as Tabibito sat up and mumbled incoherently under his breath.

"Never asked you to, did I? Still, don't do that again. I only have so many brain cells, and a lot of them are already gone after... How old am I again? Sixty-something, I think." He rubbed his temple and glared accusingly at his student. "See? This is all your fault, brat."

Naruto crossed his arms and glared right back. "Hey, don't blame that on me, you old bastard! You were already senile when I met you!"

"That may very well be the case, but—" The traveller suddenly stopped short, studying Naruto intently. "Brat, come here for a moment."

"What the h—"

"Brat, no arguing!" Tabibito barked. "Come here already, damn it!"

Muttering mutinously under his breath, Naruto walked over to the traveller. The old man's uninjured hand shot out surprisingly quickly to forcefully open one of Naruto's eyelids, grey eyes scrutinizing the single bright blue one staring back.

"Oh, hell," the old musician muttered.

"Damn it, old man!" Naruto yelled as he struggled free of his teacher's grip, eyes watering. "What can't you just ask first instead of hurting people?"

"Because I know you're an uncooperative little tit whose greatest pleasure in life is to get on my nerves," Tabibito fired back. "But that's not important right now."

"So? What is?" Naruto snapped, rubbing his eye and glaring.

Tabibito sighed. "This is going to be a mite difficult to explain..."

"Spit it out already, will ya?"

"Fine, fine." The traveller rolled his eyes and started rummaging in another one of his many pockets until he found what he looked for – a small hand mirror, the kind that could be found in "girly shops", at least according to Naruto.

Tabibito wordlessly flipped it open and held it out to his student, who snatched it up with a last glare at his teacher and looked at his own expression. It took him a moment to understand what exactly had changed, but when he did, his eyes widened in shock.

His face had remained the same – it was still the same round, childlike face that most kids his age had, even if his whiskers seemed deeper and more pronounced than before. His hair was still that spiky blond mess that was kept in check by his favourite orange headband, no surprises there.

What had changed were his eyes. Their colour was still the same bright sky-blue that caught so many people off-guard when they met him for the first time, but the iris had morphed from the round iris of a human being into the thin-slitted horizontal slash that one expected of a fox. It looked alien, disconcerting.

For a moment, Naruto just stared at them before his face broke out into a delighted grin. "That is sooooo cool!"

Tabibito gaped at him, utterly thrown off balance. "Wait, what! You think they're cool?"

Naruto threw him an enthusiastic grin. "Yeah! Come on, Uncle, this is totally awesome! They make me special, don't they? Just like Hinata-chan's or those of the cops strutting around all-important-like." He looked back into the mirror, delightedly examining his eyes once more. "Besides, they look really, really wicked."

Tabibito slapped his palm against his forehead (remembering at the last moment to use the left and not his usual right), groaning loudly. "Of course," he grumbled. "First sign that your tenant might have an influence on your body and change it to its whims, and you think it's a brilliant fashion accessory. Sometimes, I forget that you're really just a kid."

"Hey! You take that back!" Naruto said indignantly. "I'm not a kid, I'm an awesome ninja!"

"Correction, young student of mine," Tabibito grunted as he uncertainly stumbled to his feet. "You're a six-year-old yapping brat that, while incredibly skilled for his age and far too clever by half, will still get himself eaten when confronted by an adult shinobi that actually knows their stuff. B'sides, only the Hokage can make you a real ninja, and I don't see a headband hanging off you somewhere, so there."

Naruto pouted at him as he handed back the mirror. "Way to ruin the moment, Uncle."

"I just spent over an hour making mental hoola-hoop jumps to adjust your seal, my hand is burnt all the way to the bone, and you punched me in the face. I think the more appropriate response would be a hearty 'Fuck you!' and kicking you off this damn mountain, but I'm apparently I'm too bloody nice for that."

"Let's not forget that Grandpa would kill you in the most painful manner possible," Naruto pointed out with a grin.

"Like I said, far too clever by half." Tabibito waved his bandaged hand over the assorted mess of inks, papers, and brushes scattered around them. "Now, clean up this lot, will ya? I wanna go home, get wasted, and pass out on my way to bed before midnight, understood?"

"Lazy old drunk hobo..." Naruto grumbled to himself as he quickly gathered up the various sealing utensils, sorted them by size and function, and then sealed them into their scroll with a hand seal and a brief burst of chakra. Tabibito observed him carefully while he did it, but felt none of the Nine-Tails' chakra leaking out. In fact, it seemed as if Naruto's control of his own chakra had drastically improved as if by magic, as the usual cloud of wasted chakra was conspicuously reduced.

Tabibito scratched his stubbly cheek, annoyed, and turned towards the village to enjoy the breeze. He had improved the seal wherever he could, working out kinks and ironing out wrinkles in every corner of its matrix, no matter how small and insignificant it appeared to be, but he had no idea what effects those improvements would actually have on the boy.

Well. No choice but to find out, was there?

Tabibito watched as the sun disappeared beyond the horizon, painting the sky and clouds a bloody red. His hand was burned, Naruto was safe, and he still had to answer to Sarutobi about the forehead protector whose cold metal he could feel pressing against him in his pocket.

He fumbled at his belt for another saké bottle, uncorking it with his teeth and grimacing as his hand throbbed with pain.

Damn, he'd be glad when this crazy day was over.

...

It had taken them quite a while to get off the mountain, for a variety of reasons. One was that Tabibito was utterly exhausted after manipulating Naruto's seal, another the fact that his injured pain made it impossible for him to make hand seals and stick to the side of the Monument, and the last one was that the sun had set, and climbing down a rock face generally took a while longer if you couldn't see where to put your feet.

By the time they were ambling over the line that designated the border between the red light district and the rest of the village, they were both tired, exhausted, and hoping that they could collapse on their beds and fall asleep.

"Bugger," Tabibito grumbled, squinting ahead in the pitch blackness of the small side street they were in. They had taken one of their usual shortcuts, but he wasn't exactly sure where he was anymore. Damn pain muddling his head. "Did we take a wrong turn somewhere, brat?"

"Not sure," Naruto muttered, his hand held in the uninjured one of his uncle. "Hold on... We've gotta go left next intersection, Uncle."

Tabibito threw his student a sharp, disbelieving look. How the hell could he see in this darkness? It took most experienced ninja years until they could adjust their night vision!

He spotted Naruto's eyes gleaming in the darkness. That by itself wasn't unusual – human eyes, and that of most other animals, had a certain lucidity that reflected light, even if there was little around. It was one of the signs that could betray an experienced ninja in night combat.

What was unusual, however, was that Naruto's eyes were shimmering an eerie blue in the darkness of the street, far brighter than any other eyes Tabibito had ever seen.

"Brat," he asked seriously, "are you channelling chakra to your eyes?"

"...Don't think so," Naruto said slowly before taking in a sharp breath. "Hey, I was! How'd I do that without hand seals?"

The traveller mulled it over for a moment. "Don't do it again unless I tell you," Tabibito warned as they continued on their way. "Considering you got that thing from a Tailed Beast, it might be dangerous. Or something else entirely."

"...Yes, Uncle."

He squeezed Naruto's fingers when he saw the boy's disappointment and grinned lopsidedly. "Hey, we'll experiment with those creepy eyes of yours later, promise. Right now, we're both far too knackered. You fine with that?"

Naruto's mood evaporated instantly as he grinned back. "Sure, Uncle! I'm sure it's gonna be awesome!"

Tabibito chuckled. Even after all he had been through today, it was impossible to keep Naruto down.

Thank goodness. His student was still the same, no matter if his eyes had changed.

They soon reached one of the main roads that criss-crossed the red light district, their way home lit by the dozens of red paper lanterns hanging from the brothels, bars, restaurants and hotels lining the street. Not a quarter of an hour later, they reached the Dancing Dragon.

Tabibito frowned as he spotted the sign hanging outside the bordello's entrance. Closed? Hōshi never closed his establishment on a weekday. There were always customers and regulars coming in, money to be made. Something was wrong.

He reached into his belt with his uninjured hand, loosening his dagger's blade in its sheath with a soft click. "Brat," he said quietly, "Stay behind me."

Naruto obeyed instantly, recognizing the seriousness in his uncle's tone. Cautiously, his hand still on the dagger's hilt, he threw back the flap on the Dragon's entrance, peeking in. His shoulders slumped in relief a moment later. "Come in, kid," he said over his shoulder, smiling. "It's safe."

Naruto blinked, confused, but followed him in anyways.

The Dancing Dragon was absolutely packed with people. Naruto goggled in surprise as he saw who was there.

Hōshi was present, of course, but he was sitting in front of his bar instead of behind the counter, surrounded by a group of serious-faced men and women, all of who were armed to the teeth as they quietly chatted with the scarred owner. Some of them wore headbands, some of them didn't, but all looked ready to move at a moment's notice.

Shizuka, Mayumi, and the other courtesans working at the Dancing Dragon were there too, but they weren't wearing the usual beautifully decorated kimonos that they used to enchant their customers as they danced and entertained them. Instead, they had all donned normal clothes and held unlit paper lanterns, worriedly whispering to each other in hushed tones.

Iruka and his white-haired teammate Mizuki were there too, standing off to the side and exchanging quiet words. Both of them looked tired and preoccupied as they stood there, forehead protectors drawn tight around their heads and equipment at the ready. Iruka looked especially worn as he glanced to the other side of the room.

At the other side of the room was another group, all of them tall, burly men. All of them were garishly dressed and many wore sunglasses that obscured their features, but the sword canes and wooden clubs in their hands and the daggers fastened in their trousers testified that they weren't to be messed with. Naruto recognized their leader instantly by the lack of a pinkie finger on his right hand and his perpetual scowl – it was Bako, the shodai or 'big brother' in charge of the local boryokudan, the thugs employed by the yakuza to keep some semblance of order in 'their' territory.

And scattered around the rest of the room were people that Naruto recognized as his neighbours, hard-working men and women that he greeted on his way to training or when he went shopping and now stood in the Dancing Dragon's hall, exchanging quiet words. He'd never really talked to any of them.

So why were they here?

The first one to see him was Shizuka. "Naruto!" the girl called out, all conversation in the room stopping immediately. There was relief in her voice as she ran over and scooped him up, hugging the bewildered child to herself as hard as she could. "Thank the spirits you're safe!"

Naruto threw a puzzled look at Tabibito as Shizuka lifted him cleanly off the floor, but the old traveller just shook his head, amused.

"We thought you were gone," Shizuka muttered quietly, and Naruto realized to his horror that she was crying, tears running down her face. "When oyaji-san came and said you'd run away, we thought you were gone for good, or injured, or—"

"Shizuka," a cool voice interrupted, and the young courtesan let go of Naruto, squeaking in surprise. "You're embarrassing yourself."

Naruto looked up and saw that Mayumi had approached, the blond girl all grace and elegance, fixing him with her angry, storm-grey eyes. He gulped.

She slapped him across the face, the sound echoing sharply around the quiet room. Naruto squawked in outrage and rounded on her to shout, but Mayumi raised her hand again in warning. "Never," she said quietly, "make us worry like that again. Understood?"

And then, to his everlasting surprise, she hugged him too, perhaps even harder than even Shizuka had. Now Naruto officially understood nothing anymoe. Mayumi had never, ever, hugged him. She'd always been too proud.

There was a rasping laugh, like wood scratching on sandpaper, and Mayumi hurriedly let Naruto go, her face red. "Well," Hōshi said, amused, "looks like I called you all here for nothing, fellas. Our little runaway's right here."

"What?" Naruto asked the owner of the brothel, face scrunched up in confusion. "What's that supposed to mean?"

The brothel owner scratched his scarred cheek, looking up thoughtfully. "Oh, nothing, really. I just spread the word that you were missing, had run away or something, and that I was gonna start combing the village for you if you didn't turn up by sunset." His destroyed face twisted into a hideous grin as he spread his arms wide, pointing at the filled room. "You'd be surprised how many people turned up to help, kid."

Naruto turned to look at everyone in the room, looking flabbergasted. "But... why?"

"This is our territory," Bako muttered, his deep voice easily carrying across the whole room. "If kids start disappearing, we'll get them back. Anyone twists even a hair on a kid's head, that guy loses his hand. That's how it's always been with our group." His men around him nodded seriously.

"You live here, Uzumaki-san," another voice spoke up. Naruto whirled around to see the owner of a small grocery store down the road approach. He was an unremarkable but honest man, and Naruto had often gone to him when Hōshi made him run errands. The man smiled quietly when he saw Naruto's look. "This is the red light district. We're all outcasts here, Uzumaki-san. The village thinks we're cutthroats, whores, and murderers. And no matter whether we really are or not, we're still watched with careful eyes when we leave our homes."

"But why help me?" Naruto repeated, confused.

The man shrugged helplessly. "We've got to stick together, don't we? No matter who," and here his eyes flickered to Naruto's stomach, "or what we really are. Otherwise, we'd never be able to live in peace." There were mutters of agreement and nods from the villagers in the room.

Naruto blinked quickly, and then rubbed his eyes with the sleeve of his jumpsuit. There were some small laughs and chuckles, and Naruto glared at them. But then his face broke out into a brilliant grin. "Thank you! All of you!"

Bako pulled down his sunglasses, studying Naruto over their rim. Then he shrugged. "Well, brat looks fine to me." He made a bow in Hōshi's direction, all of his men following his example. "We'll be going now, Hōshi-dono. We have business to attend to. Thank you for your hospitality."

Hōshi returned the bow and grinned, his face twisted in that ogre's grimace again. "Come in sometime next week. Drinks are on me."

Bako gave him a small smile. "I think we'd like that."

"Hands off the girls, though," the scarred ex-ninja warned, reaching into a pocket and bringing out a few senbon needles between his knuckles, shaking it threateningly.

"Aw, shucks," one of the men muttered under his breath, and Bako swatted his head as the mobsters all left the Dancing Dragon, chuckling and chattering. Soon, the villagers were leaving in small groups to get to their homes and finally to bed, many of them thanking Hōshi and bidding goodnight to Tabibito and Naruto. Some of them even smiled and ruffled his hair as they passed, which Naruto found both annoying and strangely pleasant – they weren't scared of him!

Tabibito watched the whole thing with barely concealed amusement. It was hard to be scared of an evil demon bent on destruction when he looked and acted like a scatterbrained, hyperactive, and genuinely good-hearted kid. Especially when he unleashed his annoying, but generally harmless pranks on the whole district.

But then again, most of the people in the red light district had gone through tougher times than the rest of the villagers... perhaps they just understood what it meant to be an outcast. What it meant to be hated.

Hm. Tabibito shrugged. Humans were weird.

Soon, the room was empty except for the courtesans that were now disappearing into the upper floors to get to bed – Hōshi had apparently decided to keep the Dancing Dragon closed for tonight, after all – the girls sleepily wishing everyone goodnight and yawning. Shizuka kept fussing over Naruto, while Iruka berated him for doing something as stupid as running away from the Hokage.

The flap of the Dancing Dragon was thrown back, and the old man himself entered the establishment. All activity in the brothel as they stared, open-mouthed, at the village leader as he stepped over the threshold, clad in his official robes and hat.

The Third smiled pleasantly, raising a hand in greeting. "Please excuse me," he said quietly. "I do know that you're closed, but I was looking for someone..."

Hōshi managed to shut his mouth first and made a deep bow. "Hokage-sama," he intoned, "you honour my insignificant establishment with your presence."

"Oh, nonsense," the Hokage said, still smiling as he approached. "The Dancing Dragon is quite famous, you know." He studied its owner for a moment as he stood up, the scarred man nervous under the old man's piercing gaze. "...Specialist Jōnin Hōshi Ichirai, correct?"

"You remember me?" Hōshi asked, his scarred mouth stretched out in an expression of bafflement.

"Of course," the Hokage said, clapping him on the shoulder with a smile. "You were always a good and honest soldier. Nasty business, your last mission," the Hokage threw a look around at the Dragon's beautiful wooden décor and general cleanliness, and smiled. "But at least retirement seems to have been kind to you."

His eyes roamed the room and fell on Naruto. "Ah," he said quietly. "There you are. Thank goodness you're safe."

Naruto looked miserable, refusing to look into the Hokage's eyes as he shuffled his feet. "'m sorry," he muttered.

Hiruzen Sarutobi blinked, confused. "You're sorry? What on earth for?"

"For hurting you," Naruto said, louder this time, and made a deep, sloppy bow. "I'm really, really sorry, Hokage-sama."

The Third laughed out loud, causing Naruto to blink as he looked up in perplexed surprise. "For hurting me?" The Hokage shook his head, chuckling in amusement. "Naruto, Naruto, how silly of you. You didn't hurt me." His eyes took on a mischievous glint. "You're not nearly strong enough to even scratch me, boy."

"Hey!" Naruto shouted in outrage, barely stopped by Iruka as he tried to launch himself at the Hokage. "Not true! I'm sure I can kick your ass now, old man! Believe it!"

The Third shook his head, chortling. "I'll believe it when you can hold me off for ten seconds without getting hit once," he retorted glibly. "I think it'll take you about... twenty years, give or take. And only if you don't stop training."

Naruto pouted and crossed his arms, held in mid-air by a scowling Iruka. "I'm gonna be Hokage after you, Grandpa," he muttered petulantly. "Bet your silly hat on that."

"Na-ru-to," Iruka growled threateningly as he glared. "We talked about a little thing called 'etiquette', remember?"

Naruto grinned cheekily at him. "Something you can eat, right?"

Before Iruka could start shaking the little fiend until he was blue in the face, the Hokage laughed. "Drop him, Umino-san. Thank you for your help." He held out his arms, smiling genially.

Naruto never waited an instant and ran over to hug him. "I'm glad you're safe," the village leader muttered. He held him out at arm's length a moment later, examining him from head to toe. "Are you injured?"

"Nah, Gramps," Naruto said, grinning cheerfully. "Just tired." His eyes suddenly grew wide, as if he had suddenly remembered something. "Ah, crap! I forgot! Uncle's hurt!"

"Was wondering when you were gonna remember that," a tired voice muttered. All eyes jumped to Tabibito, who was slumped against the wall next to the entrance. He waved at them with his bloodied hand, grinning weakly. "Anyone got something to drink? Tastier than painkillers, in my opinion."

When Sarutobi saw his old friend's hand, he immediately hurried over and unwrapped the injured hand. Iruka and Mizuki, who went over to help, looked as if they were going to be sick.

The old traveller's right hand had been horribly burned, that much was obvious from the start. The fingers of his hand were coloured red and white from fire, bleeding blisters covering his palm. The pinkie and ring fingers were particularly worse off, considering they were black and charred with dark eschar, dead tissue cast off from the surface of the skin. Bone was visible. This was generally a bad symptom, especially if something had to bite through all the skin encasing it first.

Sarutobi paled. "What on earth did this, Tabibito?"

The traveller chuckled, sweat breaking out on his forehead. "Demonic chakra. Got it when I repaired the brat's seal. Man, that Nine-Tails has a bad attitude, huh?"

The Hokage pointed at Mizuki. "You! Go to the hospital and ask for Doctor Kiyoshi, on my orders, and get him here! Now!"

Mizuki didn't even bow as he hurried out the door, face slightly panicked. "Umino-san," the Hokage muttered quietly as he grabbed Tabibito under the shoulders. "Help me, please."

Soon, Tabibito was stretched out on a table, the Hokage using a kunai to cut off his sleeve. The old traveller glared at him. "I liked that coat."

"Bite me," Sarutobi said without looking up as he tore it off. "I'll buy you a new one."

"Oh, fine, it's your money." The old traveller rolled his eyes and saw everyone worriedly crowding around his table. "Whatch'all looking at? Couldn't you get me some liquor or something?"

There was a rasping laugh as Hōshi pressed a coloured bottle to his lips. "Here, you crazy old fool. Northern brandy. Hope it dulls the pain."

Tabibito swallowed thoughtfully, smacking his lips. "Nope," he decided. "I need some more."

"What I need is a conscious patient," a voice added. A small, slightly overweight man had come in after a returning Mizuki, huffing, his Fu Manchu moustache matted with sweat and carrying a large bag. He bowed reverently as he adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses. "Hokage-sama. May I?"

"All yours, Kiyoshi-sensei," the Hokage muttered as he stepped aside. "Be careful," he added. "This was done by demonic chakra."

Kiyoshi threw Naruto a calculating look as he made a series of hand seals and started examining the burned hand, his own glowing as a miasma of green chakra appeared around it. "Is that so? Let me see."

A few moments later, the specialized medic-nin carefully put Tabibito's hand down, sighing. "Second to fourth-degree burns across the whole hand. The damage reaches throughout the entire dermis, subcutaneous tissue, and the muscles and bone below it."

"You hear that, brat?" Tabibito muttered blearily as Naruto watched anxiously. "Big words coming from a doctor. Usually means nothing good."

"There's a danger of infection, gangrene, and I think you may be going into shock, especially if this injury happened to you a while ago," Kiyoshi said, eyeing the traveller with a flat look. "I also think he's drunk and delirious, but I don't need a medical degree to tell you that."

"The treatment, sensei?" the Hokage muttered.

"Immediate amputation of the hand up to the wrist," Kiyoshi said promptly, adjusting his glasses. Everyone in the room fell silent as they watched him, horrified. He sighed, lifting up Tabibito's injured hand and pointing. "Do you see this, ladies and gentlemen?" he asked, pointing at the reddened skin as Tabibito winced. "This is what used to be this gentleman's skin barrier. Its job is to keep microbes and the like from getting in."

"Microbes?" Naruto asked quietly.

"Invisible biting creatures," Kiyoshi said without missing a beat. When many of your patients were ninja that were just hitting puberty and uneducated civilians, you learned how to dumb things down. "They make you sick."

"Oh." Naruto nodded, satisfied. "Okay."

"Now, considering that his skin barrier is breaking down, and that the area is rich in proteins, microbial growth will increase exponentially. This will increase the risk of infection and reduce the reaction of the immune system. Once that happens," and here Kiyoshi pointed up Tabibito's mostly unhurt arm, "the infection will spread through the bloodstream and give the patient an immensely high fever, and you will die from your cells simply breaking down. If the shock doesn't kill you first, that is."

"Can't you use medical ninjutsu to save the hand?" Hōshi asked quietly, watching the proceedings stonily.

Kiyoshi shook his head. "Unfortunately not. The damage is too extensive. All it would do is stave off the damage and final result. And considering that this injury was caused by something that seems to attack and poison the patient's chakra itself," and here he threw Naruto a small glance, "which I assume to be demonic chakra, I prefer not to take any chances."

He gave the old traveller a serious look. "If I don't cut off your hand, sir, I cannot guarantee your recovery. Do I have your permission to proceed?"

Tabibito stared at him as if he was stupid. "Um, no."

Kiyoshi blinked. The Hokage's personal physician didn't encounter resistance often. He covered it with impeccable professionalism. "Really? Why not?"

"Generally the same reason I don't like fellas drinking my booze. It's mine," Tabibito said, as if he was explaining the simplest thing in the world.

Kiyoshi rubbed the bridge of his nose, annoyed. "Sir, I really must insist—"

"Look," the old traveller interrupted. "I understand that whole amputation crap. The thing is that I need this hand." He lifted it up, examining the bloodied and charred flesh himself. "Back in the days, I used to be a shinobi. There's few of us in the profession missing limbs, and most of them don't live very long. Wonder why?" He snorted. "But that's not why I want to keep it. I have an agreement with Big Ugly over there," he said, jutting his chin out at Hōshi. "I play music, and me and the kid get a home. I lose that hand, no more music, meaning me and the kid are out on the street. Savvy?"

"Sir, listen—"

"No, you listen, doctor boy," Tabibito snapped, his grey eyes glaring. "I need this hand. I can't lose it."

"...Sensei," Naruto piped up, his voice small and plaintive. "Are you sure there's nothing else we can do?"

Kiyoshi looked at him, small, miserable, guilty, and his blue eyes begging him to save his uncle. The bespectacled man sighed, drawing his palm down his face. "Fine," he muttered, pointing at the blackened ring and pinkie fingers. "These two have to go. I guarantee nothing."

"Three fingers?" Tabibito mused aloud, and then grinned at the hapless physician. "I can still pluck a few strings with that. Sold, buddy."

Kiyoshi rolled his eyes but nodded, opening his bag and preparing his instruments. Tabibito glanced at Naruto, who still looked miserable and guilty. "Ah, what's the long face for, brat? It's just two fingers. They'll grow back."

"Fingers don't grow back, oyaji-san," Shizuka muttered quietly as she wiped his brow with a towel.

"...Well, sucks to be me, then." The old traveller took a swig from Hōshi's dark bottle and grinned at Kiyoshi – the man was busy making hand seals and picked up a scalpel, blue chakra flaring around its edge. "Hey, doc, think I can keep those fingers as a souvenir?"

"If you like your meat crispy, perhaps," Kiyoshi muttered as he touched the blade against Tabibito's blackened fingers. "This is going to be painful. Do you want a gag?"

"Ah, hell, I'll survive."

Kiyoshi smiled quietly. "We'll see." And with that, he swiftly started cutting.

Tabibito endured the procedure with what Naruto thought was incredible stoicism. The Hokage held down his shoulders like a vice and Hōshi had pinned Tabibito's elbow, making it impossible for the Suna traveller to move.

Still, his other arm was free, and it was busy moving so that Tabibito could chug Hōshi's strong alcohol, which might have explained why he didn't complain too much – the only exception being gritted teeth and an involuntary clenching of his muscles.

A moment of fast, methodical cutting later – Kiyoshi was the Third's personal physician for a reason – Kiyoshi had sawed through the thin finger bones and daintily separated knuckles and limb. Then he swiftly went to work on the rest of Tabibito's hand and palm, cutting out all other tissues that were burned so strongly that it was impossible to save them.

Then, two minutes later, he dropped the scalpel and went through a quick series of hand seals. "Mystical Palm Technique," he whispered, laying his palms directly onto the mangled limb. The green miasma swirling around his hand glowed strongly, and Kiyoshi himself closed his eyes, only occasionally moving his hands and twitching his fingers.

Naruto watched, eyes wide with amazement, as new tissue grew over the bloody spots where Kiyoshi had cut out muscle and skin. "Awesome..."

Shizuka and Mayumi watched as well, mesmerized by the jutsu that might as well have been magic, as far as they knew, and Iruka and Mizuki observed, fascinated. Hōshi whistled, impressed. "Damn. You're good, sensei. There's few medic-nin that can heal wounds that delicate."

Kiyoshi smiled faintly as he released the jutsu, the green glow dissipating. "Compliments are always welcome."

Tabibito raised his half-healed hand, now missing two fingers and scabs covering it in ugly spots. He poked the blunt knuckles bemusedly. "Now, that's just creepy."

Kiyoshi caught his wrist, glaring sternly. "No touching. You will see me every day for the next two weeks for further healing sessions, checkups, and so that we can finalize a therapy plan. No poking at the scabs, boiled bandages that you change in the morning and evening, regular disinfections, and no moving those fingers you still have left. Understand?"

"Yes, mum." Tabibito threw the annoyed physician a grin. "Thanks, doc. I owe you one."

"Right," Kiyoshi muttered as he packed up his things. "I am going back to the hospital. I have a comfortable bed in my office to get back to." He threw a look at the Hokage and bowed low. "As do you, Hokage-sama. By the way; I've rescheduled your prostate exam for—"

"Thank you, Kiyoshi-sensei!" the Third Hokage said loudly, grinning widely and maniacally. "Thank you very much for your assistance! I'll see you soon, yes? Goodnight!"

Kiyoshi smirked like a man who had gotten revenge for getting torn out of bed at an inconvenient time, bowed to everyone at large, and then disappeared into the darkness of the night outside.

Tabibito, meanwhile, was busily emptying the bottle of brandy while everyone was distracted. Mayumi managed to grab it from his hand before he gave himself liver poisoning. The old traveller looked plaintively at her. "Those were my painkillers you took, lass."

Mayumi just gave him a disgusted look, a hand covering her nose. "That's enough drinking for you, old man. Your breath smells."

Tabibito stood up from the table, swaying from side to side. "Stealing from cripples? Eeeeevil Mayu-chan."

"Right," the Hokage muttered, rolling his eyes as Mayumi primly returned the half-empty bottle to the bar. "He's drunk, delirious, and playing the cripple card the moment he's lost a finger. I think he's done for today."

"No!" Tabibito said loudly, grinning widely as he raised a finger on his uninjured hand. "Not done! Got sumthin' left ter do!" He suddenly seemed very interested in his hands, showing them to Naruto and grinning. "Hey, look! No fingersh!"

"...Definitely bedtime," Naruto said with all the dignity a six-year- old could muster.

"Shtop moving, brat," Tabibito slurred as he rummaged in his pocket.

Naruto's eyebrow twitched. "I'm not moving."

Tabibito looked at him blearily and nodded. "...Right. I'm just pished out of mind." A moment later, he was affixing something to Naruto's head, fumbling to get the knot done. He stepped back a moment later, grinning and swaying in place. "Congrats, brat!"

And then he fell onto his back with the skill of the experienced drunk, snoring a moment later.

Naruto ignored him as he gingerly touched the forehead protector wrapped at a strange angle around his head, thinking he was in a dream. But when he looked around and saw the smiles on everyone's faces and felt cold metal under his fingers as he traced the Leaf symbol engraved in the plate, he knew that he was awake.

The Hokage was just lighting his pipe, beaming with pride. "Congratulations, Naruto," he said quietly. "Welcome to the Shinobi Corps."

"...you have got to be kidding, Hokage-sama," Mizuki spoke up, disbelief in his voice. "He's only six!"

"I have every intention of confirming Ryokousha-sensei's recommendation," Sarutobi said primly, smiling in a grandfatherly way and breathing out a plume of smoke. "If anyone deserves to be our youngest genin, it's Naruto."

"But his skills—" Iruka protested, the worry for his adoptive little brother clear in his voice.

"Exceed that of any of our graduating academy students, if Ryokousha-san's reports are to be believed," the Hokage said, smiling at the youngest ninja under his command before his expression grew serious and his tone solemn. "Do you swear to serve your village, your shogun and your Emperor with all your heart and mind?"

All the ninja in the room recognized the oath of allegiance immediately – they had sworn it themselves, many years ago, fresh out of the Academy. It had been written by Hashirama Senju himself, and the words were such that they burned themselves into your mind, never to be forgotten.

Naruto's childish face grew serious as he nodded. "I swear it."

"Do you swear to protect your comrades, to fulfil your orders, and to fight so that the Will of Fire may never be extinguished?" the Hokage continued, his eyes boring into Naruto's.

Naruto nodded. "I swear it."

"Power through strength," the Hokage said quietly. "Strength through loyalty. And loyalty through friendship. Join us in the shadows, child, so that we may protect what we love."

"I shall join you in the shadows," Naruto repeated seriously after him, his eyes never leaving the Hokage's own. "To protect what I love."

The Hokage nodded, smiling. "I accept your pledge, Naruto Uzumaki." He didn't need to bow, considering that he was the boy's senior in the hierarchy, but he did it anyway. "Serve Konoha well, genin."

Naruto nodded too, his face more serious than it had ever been. "I will, Hokage-sama." And then his face bloomed into the happiest grin the Hokage had ever seen on his face as he ran forward to hug him. "That's a promise, old man! Believe it!"

The Third just laughed and adjusted Naruto's headband so that it sat correctly around his forehead instead of lopsidedly covering one of his eyebrows.

A large, scarred hand clapped itself down on Naruto's shoulder, and the small boy looked up into Hōshi's hideously grinning face. "Well done, kid," he growled.

"Uh, thanks," Naruto said, smiling nervously. The brothel owner could still unnerve like no one else.

Hōshi just laughed and made way for Iruka and Mizuki, the two genin themselves looking rather peeved. "While I may think that this is far too early," Iruka began, shooting the Hokage an annoyed look, "congratulations are in order." He cuffed Naruto around the head, smiling fondly. "Good job, Naruto. You're a ninja now."

Mizuki gave the younger genin a friendly wink. "Just remember, we're your seniors now! If we give orders, you have to follow them!"

"Hey!" Naruto said indignantly. "No fair! You can do that?"

Mizuki just laughed and shook his hand. Mayumi and Shizuka came over, the former peasant girl giving him a hug and whispering "Congratulations, Naruto!" while Mayumi juts sighed and shook her head, smiling.

"I have a mission for you, Naruto," the Hokage announced.

Naruto could barely contain his excitement. "Awesome, Gramps! It is something cool and dangerous?"

"Your mission," the Hokage announced with a serious expression, pointing at the snoring figure on the floor, "is to carry Tabibito Ryokousha to his bed and make sure he doesn't throw up all over himself in the morning."

Naruto glared at him. "Not funny, Gramps."

"Hey, we all had to do the dirty jobs once," Mizuki chuckled as he walked towards the door and waved. "See you around, kid."

"Goodnight, Naruto," Iruka called out as he followed his teammate, ruffling Naruto's hair on the way past and smiling. "I'll see you in training tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah, see ya," Naruto mumbled as he eyed his Uncle warily. The old traveller was drooling on the floor, out like a light.

Well, a mission was a mission, wasn't it?

Naruto sighed and heaved under his Uncle's armpits, lifting him onto his back. He was far heavier than any senior citizen had any right to be, damn it!

He glared at the chuckles he received. "I'll prank you all for that, you hear me!?"

The Hokage coughed into his sleeve, grinning. "Goodnight, Naruto. I expect great things from you in the future." And with a last smile and goodbye towards the two courtesans and Hōshi, he stepped outside into the darkness, humming under his breath.

Wishing goodnight to his housemates, Naruto slowly trudged up the stairs with his uncle on his back and occasionally swearing, but he soon found himself simply longing for his mattress and a good night's sleep.

"Good job, brat," a slurred voice mumbled in his ear. "Yer a ninja now..."

Naruto looked quizzically at the old man's face, but the traveller was still fast asleep, a content smile on his face. Naruto just grinned and kept climbing the stairs.

He slept soundly that night, ignoring the quiet whispers at the edge of his mind as the Nine-Tails raged fruitlessly against its prison.

...

The original manga series of Naruto was written and drawn by Masashi Kishimoto, originally published by Shueisha in 1997, and is still ongoing at the time of writing (May 2012) after sixty published volumes and two different anime adaptations: one simply titled Naruto byStudio Perrot that premiered in October 2002 and ended in February 2007, and its sequelNaruto: Shipuuden (Naruto: Hurricane Chronicles) by the same studio that premiered in February 2008 and is still ongoing at the time of writing. Various tie-in works like novels, video games, and a series of theatrical movies have been published to date.

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