Author's Notes: I've had a scary few days. Some malware wiped out my security programs and destroyed my firewall. I had no protection. Eek! But I got some help, ran some scans, deleted some malware, and got back on track with a fresh download of my security program and a new firewall. Part of the virus in question is still in my computer, half deleted and currently quarantined, but it's apparently a recent discovery so I'm hoping for good things soon. (And my computer is running a little faster, too, with some of the crap gone. Hooray!) That's not the sole reason why this chapter is a little behind, but I did finish the chapter Wednesday evening and meant to have it done and posted by Friday or Saturday. That just didn't work out. Anyway . . .
HAPPY [UPCOMING] HOLIDAYS! (for those of you who celebrate something this time of year) This chapter is my longest to date, although only by about three hundred-thirty words.
Word Count: 7652 (Total: 128166)
Date Submitted: 12/18/11
Chapter 21 – Father's Thoughts
Arashi ghosted his fingers across the bark of the tree he had found Naruto lying at the base of. He had not thought it possible after what had happened nearly eight years earlier, but that evening had been unequivocally the absolute worst in his life—to think, for even an instant, that he had lost his son. Two months later there were still bloodstains on the wood that could be followed up to about the height of his chest . . . roughly Naruto's height. He had to wonder, though, if he had not lost his son anyway; considering the circumstances, there was honestly no way he knew of to be certain that Naruto was really all right.
Don't think about it, Anxiety whimpered. Don't think about it . . .
Arashi's mind turned away obediently, but the next logical train of thought was demarcated boldly by a smoldering fury. Even if his son was gone he still had a son to take care of, and that only emphasized that his family had been attacked—yet singling out Naruto had, in the end, served no apparent purpose. Naruto had slipped away from his guards that day, avoided the rest of the village, and never been found until Arashi had managed to stumble across him. There should have been plenty of time to kill Naruto if the point had been to inflict the greatest possible damage to Konoha and her Hokage, and though a spy replacement was hardly a farfetched theory, Naruto's tiniest quirks remained the same; of all the things that could have been omitted, the obvious ones—memory loss and behavior changes—should not have been it. It should have been the little things—always forgetting chopsticks with takeout, arguing that orange clothing was a method of stealth training, even assuming a little more of his mother's personality when he felt stressed—that faded into the past.
He was not certain what it meant, although a spy replacement could never be totally ruled out. He had his concerns, but he had no proof. Naruto was Naruto, and yet somehow not his son. Or something. He wished the boy's mother was there; she would have known what to do.
"I'm sure you have other places to be, Arashi."
He turned, smiled slightly, and nodded once in acknowledgement of his visitor—something else Naruto's mother would have known what to do about. "Kyuubi. What brings you from your forest? Is there anything that I can help with?"
The kitsune stood and looked at him for a moment, blood-colored eyes giving nothing away. Though none of the shinobi of Konoha—who knew of the fox, at least, since no one beneath the rank of chuunin did—realized it, he and the fox had a less than amazing relationship. She—well, it, rather, as it had no true gender, though Kushina had always called it 'she'—had a power he could not really control, and he knew the techniques necessary to seal her away for eternity if anything terrible ever happened. It made their friendship uneasy at best. For him, anyway, knowing the kyuubi was nothing but a blessing-curse of knowing his wife.
The Uzumaki and the Senju were distantly related, so it was no surprise that Konoha had always been full of the symbol of her shinobi allies from Whirlpool Country. It was also no surprise, then, that the Uzumaki were as adept as the Senju at controlling the bijuu, if in a slightly different way; where the Senju were known for their ability to physically control bijuu, it was the Uzumaki who used seals to control bijuu through chakra manipulation. Unlike the conflict with the Uchiha, the Senju and Uzumaki had never had trouble getting along—although, quite frankly, it was difficult for anyone to not get along with an Uzumaki if the Uzumaki in question was determined to have an accord with someone. As a result, there were numerous pockets of the Uzumaki clan all across the world, though many of them were probably unaware of their heritage despite that they doubtless used their family's knowledge on a nearly daily basis. And ultimately, those descendants served an extremely valuable function to the shinobi village to which their ancestors had been assigned by the Shodai Hokage.
They were the ones who controlled the bijuu between aigo.
There was all sorts of history and politics and doubts from the other shinobi nations, but the fact was that no Uzumaki in control of a non-Konoha bijuu had ever defected and taken the bijuu along. The Shodai had subdued and collected the bijuu with the help of his wife, an Uzumaki, and he had then handed one out to each war-capable nation that existed at the time. It was an act that had maintained a balance of power, and therefore a respectable—if tenuous—peace, ever since. With each of the eight bijuu had gone a family of Uzumaki familiar with its skills and behavior, so that no one nation would have a preliminary advantage over another, and the Shodai had absolved them of their loyalty to the Senju and Konoha so that the nation they were settling in would have their full cooperation from the outset. And the Uzumaki, whose loyalty was perhaps deeper than anyone knew, had obeyed even if they had not agreed; it was no secret that some Uzumaki had been unable to forget their bond to the Senju and defected to Konoha, but they had never attempted to take the bijuu with them.
Of course, regardless of the bijuu they knew best, the Uzumaki had all seemed to have a particular fondness for the kyuubi, perhaps because it had historically been the hardest to control and tame and the Uzumaki liked a challenge. In any case the Shodai's wife had insisted that the fox stay with Konoha, so the ninth bijuu had remained. Minding it had been a duty eventually passed down to Kushina, and for some reason—maybe because she had the temper and cunning to match the kyuubi—they had gotten along well. Arashi had nearly gone into cardiac arrest when he caught her allowing the large kitsune to hold Naruto, but the kyuubi had admittedly been perfectly careful and courteous. Not surprisingly, Naruto had taken to it right away, and Kushina had encouraged him to spend time with the fox. That had been all right with Arashi—because obviously Naruto would logically be expected to at least know how to deal with the kitsune even if it was never put into practice—but he would have preferred there to be supervision. However, Naruto had shown his normally quiet nature was good at talking the kyuubi out of a temper tantrum; on more than one occasion his guards had reported that he had calmed it after it had been irritated by some farmer who had been clear-cutting acreage for cattle without permission.
Arashi had more than hoped that he would never have to be responsible for the kyuubi—it was too much for someone who knew markedly less than the Uzumaki did—but with Kushina gone Naruto had been too young at first to take over the duty, and Arashi had been the only one with the seal knowledge to be enough of a threat to be taken seriously. Naruto had slowly been taking over the job, in a way; since Hotaru's mere presence had driven him out of the house he had spent virtually all of his free time with the fox, and good relations with the bijuu were crucial to keeping them calm and under control. But Naruto's amnesia had apparently undone all that, which meant that Arashi had to take over once more.
"I came to check on Naruto," the fox said as it sat primly, feet gathered together and long red tails fanned over the ground. "I haven't seen him for a while."
"I'm sorry you had to come out here," Arashi replied immediately. "Since you don't live in one particular den I wasn't sure how to get a hold of you. And, to be brutally honest, I'm afraid I forgot about you with all that's been going on. I appreciate your patience."
It straightened and its big ears lifted a bit more. "He's all right?"
"Yes," Arashi promised, relieved he could say that, at least. The Uzumaki fondness for the kyuubi had long since been answered by an equal fondness, and it horrified him to think of what the kitsune might do if it found out its favorite members of the clan were all gone. Kushina's circumstances had been understood if not agreed with, but Naruto's . . . probably not so much. The fox had already confessed that it all but viewed Naruto as its own child, and that made his safety even more important than most people could imagine. "But he was attacked about two months ago and in a coma for three weeks, and now that he's up and about he's . . ."
"Unusual," the kyuubi offered. "Curious."
He looked at it sharply. "Have you been watching him?" The civilians did not understand the bijuu, just outright feared the creatures. The kyuubi had promised Kushina—and proudly added that kitsune did not break their word—that it would never go into the village unaccompanied by either the redhead, Naruto, or Arashi. And while Naruto had left the village proper he had not been out for long enough that the fox could have gotten a good grasp of his new identity. So how the fox knew of his changes was of concern.
"No," it assured him. "But there is something . . . new."
"He has your chakra with him," Arashi noted. "It's raised a few eyebrows, but nothing we need to worry about just yet. I trust that you don't intend to hurt him, but still, is there something about that you can explain to me so I can do the same if I'm asked?"
The kyuubi grinned widely, baring everything from incisors to molars in a way no human could ever hope to mimic. "My dear, it's not my chakra."
Arashi blinked, startled. "But . . . it feels like yours . . .?"
"And isn't that fascinating?" the kyuubi mused thoughtfully. "Although if it will comfort you I will say that if it hasn't killed him so far he has it well in hand. He's certainly an Uzumaki."
"How can it appear to be your chakra but not be from you?" Arashi demanded. "Surely not even the bijuu can alter the traits inherent in their chakra."
"That, my dear, is entirely up to you to find out," it replied coolly. "I did not come here merely to check on Naruto, and though I will certainly be looking into his situation in time I'm currently satisfied with his condition. You are his sire and will care for him, and my chakra—such as it is—will protect him."
"Don't you have even an idea?"
"Indeed," it confirmed. "An odd one, but not entirely beyond the realm of possibility. And you, yourself, should be more concerned about those clerics than your son, I think."
Arashi frowned. "The clerics?"
The kyuubi got to its feet and began to circle him slowly; he did not both to turn, as it was something the fox did when agitated. "I am aware they went after Naruto, likely because they detected my chakra in him. Arashi, I was attacked before Naruto was—that piece of metal he found in that tree was part of a weapon that had been aimed at me. They collected the rest of it, but must have missed that one piece somehow. Or left it deliberately," it added, "as a warning."
"A warning of what?" Arashi pressed. "To whom?" He was not hugely concerned about the kyuubi being attacked, as attacks on bijuu were relatively common. Most of the civilians were superstitious and scared, and those who failed to run immediately would generally attack a bijuu on sight, presumably—and erroneously—thinking that the bijuu's size at the time, and a lack of an aigo, indicated its level of power. Fortunately, the bijuu could normally be counted on to avoid any small numbers of aggressive civilians who had not previously irritated them.
"To me or Naruto, I suppose, and I imagine they intended it to mean they would return for one of us."
Uneasy the alliance may have been with Kushina gone, the alliance did exist; the kyuubi and Konoha were to protect each other. Arashi knew that very well thanks to his wife's loud—always loud—vehemence on the issue, and in a purely martial sense he recognized the advantage of the kyuubi's power. "Would you like to come into the village? You can stay in the manor with Naruto and me—"
"No," the kyuubi returned quickly, though it stopped in front of him and dipped its head as it said, "but I appreciate the offer. And I will do this."
Arashi watched one of its tails suddenly pop loose. The root of it began to unfold and mutate, and when it landed on the ground it had become its own fox. It scampered over to him, sat at his feet, and gazed up at him with huge, innocent brown eyes. It looked very young, like a half-grown kit, and he scowled; he knew precisely what was going on, and what was worse was that the tactic was actually working despite him. The fact was that Mother Nature had designed babies of all mammalian species to look cute, specifically so their parents were more likely to care for them, and that cuteness was something that frequently transcended the species. Irritated, he turned his displeasure toward the kyuubi. "That's not necessary." It was not; if the kitsune had wanted to be kept informed then he would certainly have let the little creation tag along in any case.
It grinned widely again and said, "Ko Bunshin no Jutsu."
He rolled his eyes.
"At least for now," it went on, serious again, "I believe that it might be safer for me, Naruto, and Konoha if I remain at large. That way I can move freely and it will take more of their resources to target whichever of us is the one they want."
That was true. "Well, please don't hesitate to call on me if you need help."
"I won't need help."
Arashi made a face. "Stubborn fox, you might! Don't be so prideful!"
"Don't be so eager to leap into battle, Arashi," the kyuubi countered as it turned away and strode into the shadows of the trees surrounding the training ground, the tips of its eight remaining tails tracing subtle, idle patterns as they followed behind. "It comes to all ninja soon enough."
"I'd fight forever for my allies!" he shouted, not unaware that he had said to Naruto something similar to its words just the other month. It was different for him, however; he was the Hokage and it was always his time to fight, regardless of whether or not he actually wanted to.
Displeased by the encounter, Arashi nevertheless could not dig any deeper for the moment. Not only was it impossible to find the kyuubi if the kitsune did not wish to be found, but he had a meeting to attend soon and though it was more or less informal there was no reason for him to be late; Uchiha Itachi, after all, had an internal clock that was accurate to the nanosecond. So Arashi took another look at the tree trunk that had been stained with his son's blood and scowled violently. He then whirled away from it and, with the little fox clone creature trotting at his heels, headed for the administration building.
Itachi was indeed already there, politely—and very wisely—waiting outside his office to avoid suspicion and booby traps, but much to Arashi's surprise so was Naruto, who occasionally shot sideways glances at Itachi. He had expected his son to be a few minutes late; nothing dramatic, but a minute or two at least. "Sorry to keep you two waiting," he said as he opened the office door.
"It wasn't long, Hokage-sama," Itachi replied.
Naruto just shrugged. "I've waited longer." He then made a face and added in a mutter, "Much longer."
Arashi sighed to himself. Hiruzen had suggested that Itachi teach Naruto, and while Itachi definitely had the speed and power to keep Naruto in line physically, it had yet to be seen if he could withstand the psychological brutality Uzumaki were capable of. The Uchiha were deliberate in everything they did; they thought about every action they took well in advance of actually enacting it, and in battle a wise opponent could identify their patterns and predict their moves—it was just a matter of moving faster and avoiding the Sharingan, which admittedly most shinobi could not do. By contrast, to say the Uzumaki were unpredictable was to make a grave understatement; they were the walking definition of 'scatterbrained,' and though they were also deliberate like the Uchiha there was no way to tell which thought was going to lead to which action, even when they stated it aloud. Even Naruto, in all his childish un-Uzumaki-like solemnity the past near-decade of his life, had never thought in much of a linear fashion. Itachi was an amazing shinobi, to be sure, and he could probably adapt to the Uzumaki tendency to be everywhere at once, but it would still take time and Arashi really did not want to risk destabilizing one of the few Uchiha who seemed to have his head squarely on his shoulders.
He stepped into the office first. He never left traps on the actual office door since so many administrative personnel were in and out of the place even when he was not there, so technically he should have let Itachi or his guard detail—particularly the latter—enter first to check for enemy shinobi. But he was Hokage so he could watch over himself just fine, and quite frankly, if his guards could not slip past him into the room when he was not actively trying to get in first then they needed to go back to basic training. Besides, there had always been a few security seals in place around the office to alert the Hokage and the ANBU that someone was snooping in certain critical areas; the well-behaved administrative personnel would never set them off, so they would hint at a possible hidden enemy. He yawned behind the door as he let his guests in—he had been thinking too hard that morning, apparently, and needed a nap—then closed the door and went to take his seat at his desk.
It was only when he looked at his desk that he actually saw it, and he twitched away in alarm. "Whoa!"
Naruto jumped, and Itachi straightened alertly. "Hokage-sama?"
Arashi realized how his exclamation could have been mistaken and held up one hand. "Sorry, sorry. Not an emergency. I just noticed that my desk is empty." He grinned broadly. "I don't have to work today. Or at least not for an hour or two."
Itachi apparently did not know enough about administrative procedures to feel comfortable responding, but Naruto said, "Not to put a damper on your imagination, Dad, but it's probably just stuck somewhere downstairs in the outer office."
That was likely true, but Arashi jabbed a finger at him anyway. "Quiet, you."
Naruto poked out his tongue in response, then sat forward eagerly. "So? So so? Are you sending me on an awesome S-rank assignment?"
Arashi tilted his head at his eldest child. "Now who needs a damper on his imagination? You just wait. The only reason you're here is because this pertains to you." Naruto folded his arms but quieted, and Arashi turned to his other guest. "Itachi, how has your brother's private training been going?"
Itachi frowned, but only very, very faintly. He obviously did not understand the relevance of the question. "It's going, Hokage-sama. He's actually taking the test with the MP this afternoon."
"I see."
Naruto perked up. "Test? MP?"
Itachi peered at him, curious, then said, "I've been training Sasuke for a squad leader's position in the MP."
Naruto wrinkled his nose. "Yeah? Well, when he gets it, don't let it go to his head."
Itachi cocked his head, too wise to say anything about his tone. Arashi was not inclined to pursue the matter himself, but he wondered at his son's attitude. Naruto seemed absolutely confident that Sasuke was going to get the duty, to go so far as to say 'when,' even though Sasuke was little more than an above-average genin; while he was hardly anything to sniff at among his immediate peers, he was nowhere near the genius Itachi was and not overly impressive amongst the Uchiha clan as a whole. Of course, he definitely had great potential, but that relied entirely on his drive. Not that Naruto should have known or cared about that either way, because he had paid no attention to Sasuke that Arashi knew of. Not until recently, anyway.
"In that case," Arashi said to Itachi, "would you be interested in taking on a new student?"
Itachi blinked, but Naruto squawked and grabbed the armrests of his chair as though he thought it might take off and slam into the ceiling. He seemed to be alarmed at the idea that Itachi might teach him anything. "What? What's wrong with Sandaime-jijii teaching me?"
Arashi frowned. "He believes that he has nothing more to teach you; his teaching methods and your way of learning conflict, which he believes is putting unnecessary stress on you."
Naruto stared, then snorted loudly. "I'm not made of glass. I think I can handle a little conflict like that."
"It's not that," Arashi sighed. "You're not learning as well as you could, that's all. He believes that, in a way, he's holding you back."
Naruto sank back into his seat and folded his arms again. "He's an old man. He's allowed to do that."
"Yes," Arashi agreed, growing exasperated, "but it's not good for your training. He says you have plenty of energy and a willingness to learn, but with those you could be farther along than you are." Naruto lifted an eyebrow at that but blessedly did not argue, so Arashi turned to Itachi in silent question.
Put on the spot, Itachi hesitated for a moment to collect himself. "Hokage-sama . . . I'm honored that you would make this request of me, but I'm afraid I must decline. Sasuke's situation is . . . unique . . . otherwise I would not have even trained him. I'm not interested in being a teacher."
"I see," Arashi murmured, not unaware of the relieved expression Naruto wore.
"I'm very sorry," Itachi added quietly.
"No," Arashi replied. He was disappointed, but not angry. "You're right—you've never shown any interest in teaching. I've already made contingencies; I just thought I'd ask."
There was a long silence in which Naruto fidgeted several times. Itachi sat very still, not daring to assume that he had permission to simply get up and leave; he would wait to be dismissed.
Or so Arashi thought, at least, until Itachi tilted his head. "Hokage-sama . . ."
"Yes?"
"Sasuke . . . probably won't pass the test."
Naruto, surprisingly, whipped around to glare at Itachi. "Why the hell not?"
Itachi shrugged. He looked displeased to say it, but did not let that stop him from doing so. "Training alone can't fully prepare someone for anything—it merely helps with adaptation. Positions of command, in particular, usually require practical experience. Unfortunately, Sasuke is simply too recently out of the academy to have that, and that will count heavily against him."
Arashi frowned. ". . . Then why . . .?" But he decided abruptly that it was better to not finish the question. Even if his parents asked, Itachi was independent enough to have protested going to the trouble of accepting a duty as tedious as training Sasuke when he was both uninterested in teaching and so certain his brother would fail the test. And if he had been ordered, he would have been more resentful than he really was. No, Arashi was positive there was an ulterior motive behind the task—one that was sensitive—and wondered if there was any connection to the unrest Fugaku had mentioned was in the clan. So he said instead, "Never mind. And? I'm sure he'll be distressed if he does fail, but I don't see how that's of any interest to me."
"Sasuke is much like Naruto-sama, Hokage-sama," Itachi explained. "He's considered a genin because he graduated from the academy, not because he passed the actual genin test; he went straight from the academy into the MP. At the time that was a good thing, because the number of graduates was one short of six teams. Sasuke and Naruto-sama not sticking around to join a genin team meant there were exactly fifteen students, which allowed the chuunin-sensei to build five full teams. However, especially now with the training he's just completed, Sasuke will have no use for what I've taught him should he fail the test. It will probably depress him greatly to have worked so hard for what is essentially no reason."
"That's true, but I still don't see the relevance."
"I can't teach Naruto-sama," Itachi offered, "but if you'd like, I'm sure Sasuke would make an excellent sparring partner."
Naruto perked up slightly at that, but Arashi hesitated. It was a sound idea, at face value, but . . . "I don't know if Naruto's really ready for—"
Naruto screeched immediately, "What? That's not fair! You can't say that—you haven't even seen what I can do!" He folded his arms and slouched in his chair. "I appreciate your vote of confidence, oyaji . . ."
Dealing with the kyuubi's roundabout behaviors and the general stress of being in her presence had not been an ideal prerequisite for his current situation, and Arashi's last thread of patience gave out beneath the pressure of his son's childishness. He let his hand fall to the desktop, a gesture which produced a suitable bang to emphasize his exasperation. Curiously, however, while Itachi's perfect stillness had been expected, Naruto did not jump then; he jumped before, when Arashi's chakra had flickered with irritation before he tamped it down.
Reacting to chakra was something most people did without realizing it, and it was something that could not be taught. Even genin had to have the experience of it; as Itachi had said about Sasuke, training helped people adapt rather than told them all they needed to know, and the only real way to learn about chakra was to constantly feel it brushing against oneself from other sources. Further, like Arashi had told Naruto the day before, sensing chakra did not automatically come with knowing what information the chakra carried—emotion, intent, strength, affinity. One who had no experience with chakra would claim to feel a 'huge' chakra when it was actually nothing but a bluff by someone who knew how to intentionally exude a quantity of it over a wide area. Since logic would dictate no one would waste chakra that way, it was a common error among genin.
For Naruto to have jumped like that he had to have sensed at least intent, but possibly also emotion since the two were frequently intertwined. Merely sensing what had been a small surge of his father's chakra would have gotten him to focus, not startled him. At his age and level of experience, he should not have responded like that.
"Respectfully, Hokage-sama," Itachi put in, "I would like to point out that Sasuke would never deliberately harm Naruto-sama."
It was almost to a point where Arashi was wondering if he felt that was an issue any longer. Before, such a concern had needed its place because Naruto had no particular ambition, but since he had awakened from his coma he had reportedly made leaps and bounds in his growth as a shinobi. Still, admittedly, that kind of fast development just went to show how unprepared Naruto had once been. Arashi felt a sudden burst of guilt at the realization that Naruto might not have come to the harm he had if he had been pushed to train properly; at the very least he could have perhaps held his attacker at bay until help could arrive.
Arashi hesitated, then said, ". . . Maybe . . . Maybe, if he fails . . . in a few days—"
"No," Naruto interrupted sharply. He was sitting straight in his chair, his chest puffed with indignation. "If you two are so convinced he's going to fail, fine. I can't stop you from thinking that. But if he does then he won't want to mope—he's not that type. He'll be confused and frustrated and upset that he failed you." He wrinkled his nose at Itachi. "He'll want to get rid of that energy. If he fails that test then let me spar with him. Today. And you old men can watch just in case he almost kills me, if you really think that's likely to happen."
"'Old men'?" Itachi echoed mildly, apparently not understanding the insult that had been intended.
"All right, all right," Arashi answered. As much as the thought of Naruto getting hurt again—intentionally or not—frightened him, he did have to know for himself what his son could do. That, perhaps, would make it easier to let him wander around on his own or, even more, reassure Arashi that his contingency plan was not the farfetched hope he had been thinking it was. "You can have your spar."
Naruto grinned.
"Itachi, you're dismissed. Please determine your brother's exact temperament once the testing is done, and if you feel he could handle or would prefer a spar to cool down, bring him here. Obviously, if he seems upset and not in full control then we'll have to postpone."
"He's not going to hurt me," Naruto scoffed.
"Maybe not," Arashi conceded. "But if he's angry and lands a particularly hard hit on you, you're likely to get angry and try to hit back in a similar fashion, and the violence would only escalate. I won't let that happen."
Naruto snorted, but made no other protest.
"Hokage-sama." Itachi dipped his head respectfully as he got to his feet. He then nodded acknowledgement at Naruto before striding to the office door; he opened it, held it for an administrative ninja bearing a stack of papers, then exited quietly.
"Naruto," Arashi sighed as the papers were set in the desk's inbox, "you . . . do whatever you want as long as you don't go far or get into trouble." Naruto shrugged, lifted his right foot onto his left knee, and began to pick at the sole of his sandal. Arashi took that to mean he had nowhere to be and bent to his own work. That was when the Kyuubi clone decided to share its presence.
Arashi had seen Itachi make a brief visual note of the fake fox kit outside the office door, but Naruto had not seemed to notice it at all as far as the elder blond could tell. So he continued to read, sign, and stamp papers, but kept his peripheral attention on his son. Since Naruto had not been out to see the fox recently and had not even mentioned it in conversation, Arashi was curious as to whether or not he remembered it. Because he found that odd, in hindsight—that a spy would have no apparent interest in the kyuubi's whereabouts or the whereabouts of its aigo. Even if the kyuubi was not the goal of the infiltration, it would be a huge oversight to not know how something like that was handled in a foreign country.
The clone hopped lightly to Naruto's uplifted leg and sat on his right knee, somewhat out of the way but not far enough to be ignored. Not that Naruto even made an attempt. He zeroed in on the fake kit and went very still, his gaze cautious but not frightened. ". . . Dad, there's a wild animal in your office."
"Yes, thank you," Arashi replied, feigning distraction.
Naruto narrowed his eyes at the fox, which tilted its head slightly, but he was not impressed by its cuteness and, indeed, his nose began to wrinkle as he snarled silently at it, as though he considered it some kind of threat. The fake kit was equally unimpressed and yawned widely to prove it. Before the confrontation could escalate, however, the fox perked up and looked past Naruto to the office door; despite his apparent distrust, Naruto did turn his head as though he believed it really had noticed something.
Someone knocked on the office door, and the fox immediately retreated to Arashi's desk, where it crawled out of sight and hid in the leg space. Arashi sighed. He did not want to be nagged, especially when he was trying to study his son's idiosyncrasies. "Enter." The door opened and he brightened despite himself because his guest was not an administrative ninja. "Ah, Gai-san. So you and your team have finally returned. How many days overdue was this? Nine?"
"Eight!" Gai answered, with way too much energy considering how exhausted sixty percent of his students looked. The other thirty percent was as unnecessarily peppy as Gai. "But with the power of Youth, we persevered!"
Naruto was showing great interest in Gai and his team, which Arashi found curious. Gai's team was a year ahead of Naruto's own academy class, and seeing as Naruto had previously shown no interest whatsoever in even his immediate peers, it was odd that he would suddenly display it so openly. Apparently unable to help himself, he blurted, "What was your mission?" He looked them over and obviously noticed their attire, because he added, "Did you go up north?"
The female member of the team, Tenten, was seemingly the most tired of the team, because she jumped and looked at Naruto as though she had been unaware he was there. The two boys, Neji and Lee, did not look nearly as surprised. Gai smiled broadly and offered him a familiar thumbs-up. "It was naught but a simple escort assignment, Musuko-sama. However, inclement weather forced our client's caravan to seek shelter for several days, after which we had to break free of the drifts that had built around us. My adorable student Lee showed great proficiency with his Karyuu Endan and opened a path to the road for our client!"
Naruto's eyes widened and he looked at Lee. His tone was a touch disbelieving as he said, "Ninjutsu . . .?"
Lee mimicked Gai's grin-and-thumb. "My Fire techniques are powered by the Flames of Youth and only surpassed by Gai-sensei, Hokage-sama, and some members of the honorable Uchiha clan! But in time, through hard work, I will become as great!"
"Good for you . . ." Naruto trailed uncertainly. Despite his earlier enthusiasm, something about Gai's team had really thrown him off. He turned his attention to the other two students. "Neji, Tenten—you gonna make it?"
Tenten, laden with her usual sealed-weapon scrolls, straightened up immediately and waved her hand. "Oh yes! I'll be fine! Don't worry about me!"
Neji looked more than a bit ruffled and turned to Arashi to plead, "I need at least a week off, Hokage-sama. I can't take any more of this."
"I think you all need a week," Arashi replied. He scribbled a note on a spare piece of paper and handed it to Gai. "Take this to the finance department—they'll arrange for your compensation and time off."
Gai bobbed cheerfully as he accepted the paper. "You are most generous, Hokage-sama! Your Youth burns as brightly as ever!"
Arashi smiled. "Thank you very much. You're all dismissed."
"Come, my brave students!" Gai boomed as he turned away. "We shall make the most of our free time!"
"Gai-san," Arashi called, and when Gai looked back he said, "Give them at least two days before you get back into your usual routine, won't you?"
Gai faltered, but quickly replaced it with a grin. "If you feel that's best, Hokage-sama, I shall do so!" He strode out, followed closely by Lee, who was commenting about spending his free time honing his 'new technique.' Neji lagged but went along.
It was Tenten who turned at the door, bowed deeply, and said, "Thank you, Hokage-sama. Some of us will need every minute."
"I recommend light individual practices," Arashi advised. "You don't want to be totally stiff when he grabs you for training."
"Yes sir. Thank you." Tenten pulled the door closed as she exited.
Arashi returned to his paperwork and observed, "That man is a trip."
"I'll say," Naruto agreed as he settled back in his chair. "Hey, Dad . . ."
"Hm?"
"About Lee . . . Has he always been able to do ninjutsu?"
Arashi paused. He had no idea what to make of that question. Other than Neji, Hinata's cousin, Arashi was pretty sure Naruto had never met Gai's team, and therefore would have little to no knowledge of the individuals' capabilities. It was illogical to ask, however, if one particular ninja had "always been able" to perform ninjutsu; few ninja could not, as persevering in the effort to be a successful shinobi was made very difficult without ninjutsu. The question was noticeably alien, as one might expect from an infiltrator, yet had no tactical value he could discern. "As far as I know. I mean, I do recall Gai-san mentioning that Lee-kun did poorly in ninjutsu and genjutsu at the academy and graduated only after displaying remarkable taijutsu skills, but with a small team Gai-san was able to focus on him more than the chuunin-sensei had, and Lee-kun advanced rather quickly. He's now quite advanced with various Fire techniques and is at least average, if not a bit above it, with genjutsu."
Naruto latched onto part of what he had said. "Why did he do so badly in the academy? Do you know?"
Arashi frowned thoughtfully at that. He had reviewed Gai's team's records just the other week to be sure they were prepared for the mission. "Mm . . . Something about . . . a weak chakra system? . . . Well, there was an odd quality that gave him trouble when he was very young, but Obahime was able to perform a special surgery and prescribe certain exercises to help deal with it. She said it was fortunate that his parents were ninja, because they had an idea that something was wrong; it was good they'd caught it early, as it would've only gotten worse with age and he would've been permanently unable to use ninjutsu and genjutsu by the time he graduated from the academy."
". . . Obahime?"
Arashi rubbed his forehead. "Tsunade-sama."
Naruto brightened. "Baachan's here?" He paused and then scowled. "Wait, I'm still mad at her . . ."
Arashi found himself privately appalled. Tsunade was not really that old. Sure, she might have been old for a ninja, but not for a basic person. He supposed it was just a sign of Naruto's youth, to think a woman on the verge of fifty was old. Hearing that also brought up two problems. The first was that he was pretty sure a spy would not be so disrespectful of one of the Sannin, especially when Naruto had never in Arashi's memory referred to Tsunade that way; the second was that it made Arashi feel old. He was barely into his thirties—still young. Then the rest of what Naruto had said caught up. "Why are you mad at her?"
"She wouldn't let me see—"
Naruto seemed to realized far too late that he had let his mouth run away with him. Arashi was on the hunt. "Wouldn't let you see what?"
Naruto looked around as if for an escape, then said in a weak voice, ". . . My birth records . . ."
Arashi zeroed in on him, body tight with distress. "Why do you need to look at your birth records?"
"I wanted to . . . find out Mom's birthday."
"You couldn't have asked?"
"I wasn't home at the time," Naruto replied, sounding surer as he built on his little story. "So I just went to Baachan 'cause I knew she knew where it was."
Right. Because every young ninja who had a question about his parents would naturally think to go to birth records before asking one or both of them. Even in information gathering, people were easier to get facts from than papers which were almost always under lock and key. Everyday people were where a ninja started for information, not used as a last resort. Arashi's heart dropped. Only a spy, looking for something other than a birthday, would try to go to records because the goal was too suspicious to ask about.
That said, though, there was nothing about Naruto or Kushina that was special other than the fact that both were aigo to the kyuubi, and that was not exactly a secret. While civilians or ninja of low rank were not normally told about the bijuu—or aigo, by extension—that was less a security risk than it was for psychological comfort. All the countries who cared for one of the bijuu shared the name of the aigo with one another as a matter of goodwill, so a spy who wanted to know something like that could easily weasel into any other country's system and ask virtually any political administrator to look up the information. While it would not be too suspicious for Naruto to probe for information on the kyuubi, it would still be far less suspicious to go that route than travel to Konoha.
There was also nothing special about Arashi, were someone looking for information on him. Since he was alive, the exact number of techniques he knew or was studying was known to him and nobody else; the records were private and could be acquired through him alone. It would only be after his death that something like that would be transferred into the S-class section of the library. All of his nonessential personal information—parents' names and school grades and such, were considered a matter of public record, so even civilians could look up those things if they chose. Hell, even his pedigree and the basics facts of his missions records were accessible to anyone who was at least a genin, which Naruto was.
Except for the kyuubi, which could technically be considered a war machine and was therefore always at risk of theft by the unscrupulous, there was nothing of interest about him or his family. More, there was no reason to do something as dangerous as impersonate a member of the Hokage's family—especially someone like his son. Aya or one of the girls or even his teacher or Hotaru or his students, maybe, but not his children. And that did not explain the outcome of the tests that had been done the other month; Naruto's blood—barring the traces of the poison and the slight corpuscle damage Arashi was certain was from the kyuubi's chakra burning them—and basic encephalic patterns matched exactly the control samples that had been taken upon his graduation from the academy, and while his personality had changed since his coma, it was still quite easily traceable to Kushina.
The presence of the kyuubi's-but-not-the-kyuubi's bijuu chakra was of mild concern, but even though the fox had said the stuff did not come from it, Arashi was positive it did. He had met the other bijuu early in his tenure as Hokage—it was a matter of diplomacy for a new kage to visit not only the other kage, but the bijuu as well—and though the bijuu came from the same source and thus had virtually identical chakra signatures, there were nuances of element and personality that defined each as a unique entity, which most people did not bother to do; to those few who had actually met any of the bijuu, all bijuu chakra was the same. It was not the same to Arashi. He was sure. And although the kyuubi denied having anything to do with it, the fox certainly had not seemed worried. There was nothing he could do about its unhelpfulness, though, for the time being.
On the other hand, Naruto made the kind of mistakes that were far too amateur for a ninja who could mimic someone so well. The first mistake was that he had even admitted he was angry at her in the first place. That was childish and unprofessional—something that a spy would be careful to avoid unless the situation called for it, which it had not. The second mistake was acting surprised that Tsunade was in the village, then barely two breaths later claiming he had gone to see her for information. They were very glaring, cringe-worthy mistakes, and yet Naruto was making no effort to get away, or even acting as though he thought he had blown his cover. He was behaving like a child caught in a lie, and that was all.
Arashi did not know what to think anymore. Nothing made sense.
"So?" Naruto prompted abruptly.
Arashi blinked. "So what?"
"When's Mom's birthday?"
"July tenth."
Naruto surprised him by asking, "And yours?"
"January twenty-fifth."
He was even more surprised when Naruto carried it a step further. "Akiko's?"
"September thirtieth. What's this about?"
Naruto looked hurt. "I'm trying to get my memories back!"
There was another knock on the door, and although he was not intending to let the event fade into the past, Arashi raised his voice. "Enter!"
Itachi entered, Sasuke behind him. "Hokage-sama, Naruto-sama, Sasuke is eager to assist us."
To be continued in . . . Chapter 22 – Frog Kata
"It's true that, under normal circumstances, only dead ninja close their eyes. But the properties of natural chakra allow a sage to detect threats from a greater range regardless of surrounding visibility, and as I said earlier, natural chakra is difficult to control. Since humans are visually-oriented, closing the eyes permits a greater focus to go to some other endeavor; in many cases that has led to death, but since natural chakra improves the range of threat perception there's actually little risk of being harmed from that particular action. Sages certainly don't have to do it and arguably shouldn't, but the less practiced ones can do so without leaving themselves too open. And only a sage would feel comfortable taking the risk."
"Barring discrepancies in the time and circumstances, do you believe Naruto-sama is a toad sage?"
"Couldn't tell you for sure, although knowing kawazu kumite would absolutely imply it," Arashi mused. "But if at any point you witness him having some particularly frog-like traits—especially anything to do with his eyes—then yes, he is. And I'd love to know about it."
Answers To Questions You Didn't Even Know You Wanted To Ask:
Anon says: lol your writing flow sucks more since you want such a good indepth analytic 'reasonable criticism' : your paragraphs don't run together at all i do hope my good indepth analytic 'reasonable criticism' has helped you a lot
Flow is difficult to properly criticize, as much of it depends on the perspective of the reader and not what is simply 'right' and 'wrong.' What constitutes flow also differs significantly between fiction and nonfiction, and one cannot be applied to the other. Anyway, I am examining my current work and will double-check what I've already written when I (eventually) get around to copyediting the previous chapters, but I admit that I wouldn't have posted what I have if I wasn't satisfied with it, so I may be a touch biased and blind to my errors. Anyone who is in possession of a vocabulary superior to that of a fourth-grade child and is aware of the correct definition of "in-depth" is free to politely indicate a place where he or she feels my flow is wrong and suggest how it might be altered for improvement. As the author I do, of course, claim the final decision, but I will take your thoughts into consideration.
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Don't think about it, Anxiety whimpered. Don't think about it . . .
Helpful Reminder: Like Sarcasm, Anxiety is not actually any kind of "split personality." They are simply the part of our mind that "talks" to us—the part that randomly generates thoughts and sometimes distracts us—only I've given them names based on what they normally represent because for Naruto and Arashi these parts are more specific for certain reasons and turn up more frequently. This is to differentiate conscious thought from unconscious thought (e.g., separate Naruto from Dark Naruto, for those of you who'll know what that means).
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… where the Senju were known for their ability to physically control bijuu, it was the Uzumaki who used seals to control bijuu through chakra manipulation. …
Even though the Shodai is so far the only one noted in canon to be able to do so . . . Anyway, the idea is that the Senju can control the body, the Uchiha can control the mind, and the Uzumaki can control the chakra.
—
They were the ones who controlled the bijuu between aigo.
Aigo means "protection." There's a thing I'm going to introduce later that will explain this in more detail, but to give you an idea, an aigo is essentially a jinchuuriki. It is not identical to a jinchuuriki, which is why I'm not calling it that, but the concept is similar.
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The fact was that Mother Nature had designed babies of all mammalian species to look cute, specifically so their parents were more likely to care for them, and that cuteness was something that frequently transcended the species.
I don't know how much stock to put in this, but they've apparently done a lot of research on it. Head sizes, face shapes, and the like seemingly all contribute to what's perceived as "cute" by the adult(s) of the species, for the reason stated. If you've ever thought a human baby or a baby animal was adorable, this is likely why; further, it was speculated that some domesticated animals may have specifically evolved to be this way so that humans will accept them (cute babies are taken in, kept to adulthood, then they have cute babies, and so on, while the less cute ones are on their own as far as survival). And I said "mammalian" because I don't know that I've ever seen any cute baby birds, or fish, or frogs. Baby chickens, ducks, and turtles are cute, though, now that I think about it . . .
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"Ko Bunshin no Jutsu."
Ko means both "baby (human or animal)" and "child" (and is frequently used in female names like Akiko, Anko, Minako, etc.). So it's the Child Clone Technique. Kodomo, for the record, can mean both "child" and "children," and go can apparently be a modification of it—the way "fire" can be both hi and ho depending on the situation—and is present in minashigo, which means "orphan" (as does koji).
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"I'd fight forever for my allies!"
About ten minutes after writing this very cavalierly, while I was rereading the segment, I got a crawly feeling on my back. Because as much as I'd love to take credit for my genius, I honestly did not intentionally write it to mirror what Minato did in canonverse with regards to the Shiki Fuujin. But it does, and it's awesome, so it stays.
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Poll Results: Well, Akiko isn't going to have a Wood affinity this time around. Thank you to everyone who voted, and a special thanks to those of you who went to the trouble of sharing your feelings about it!
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It's time to play a quick game of Draw Your Own Conclusion! Arashi is currently seeing conspiracies in everything and is on edge. If you review, you will appear still and busy and therefore less threatening. Draw your own conclusion.
~RN (LS)