Authors Note: Final flashback chapter, probably. Besides that, CHAPTER 20!
Disclaimer: I obviously do not own Naruto, the world, the characters or any of the situations. All of these belong to the creator Masashi Kishimoto.
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Chapter 20
Roshi
He still remembered that day like it was yesterday. Every little detail was burned into his mind, the smell of the air, the boom of their voices. Roshi was five years old when he became the jinchuuriki of the four tails, the Yonbi.
Five years old was older then the average jinchuuriki sealing age. Roshi was the distant cousin of the Third Tsuchikage Onoki, extremely distant but related all the same, and the only one compatible with the Yonbi. The young Roshi had been in class when he was suddenly taken from the school. Confused but innocent, he naively believed the lies they told him about taking on a great honour.
The pain had been unbearable, he remembered the screaming and the old jinchuuriki lying motionless beside him as he was pulled away.
For the first few weeks he had been unable to understand what happened to him. For the first few weeks he couldn't understand why no one ever seemed to want to play with him. He couldn't understand why his family didn't like him anymore, why they yelled and cursed him whenever he was home.
All of these conditions caused Roshi to be moved to a different part of Iwagakure, to an isolated villa with a cold sealer. Nothing was the same for the boy after that, he couldn't remember being happy in that time.
The beast began talking to the jinchuuriki when he was ten. At that point Roshi had already learned about his status and what it truly meant. Gone was the bright, shy, loving boy and what remained was a sullen, blunt jinchuuriki.
Roshi was mediating in the villa alone, he was deep in concentration as his thoughts were the only thing he had for comfort those days.
"Hey human!" A loud voice bolstered out of nowhere, startling the jinchuuriki.
Looking around, Roshi scanned the area. However he saw nothing and quickly came to the conclusion he had imagined it. "No you weren't! I'm talking to you human so listen up!" The voice screeched again, offended.
"Who are you?" Roshi slowly asked out loud, confused.
"I am Son Goku! The great monkey king!" The voice revealed brimming with pride.
"Sorry, don't know who that is 'monkey king'." The ten year old mocked bored, the voice rubbed him the wrong way. "Wait, you can read my thoughts?" He then experimented mentally.
"You better get used to me human! You and me are stuck together forever, or at least until you croak. I am in you after all, 'sealed' is the word I believe is what the humans use." The voice continued arrogantly and without care.
"Sealed." The boy mumbled in thought before the pieces began to click. "You're the four tails!" Roshi yelled mentally.
"Do not call me that name you humans created. My name is Son Goku got it! SON GOKU!" The four tails corrected, sounding irritated for the first time.
"No you listen up FOUR TAILS! My life is ruined because of you. Everyone in my village hates me because of you! My own FAMILY threw me out because of you!" Roshi angrily accused.
"Do not call me the, the Four Tails." The beast once again demanded, angry now.
It appeared both jinchuuriki and tailed beast had a temper.
"Oh please, I would say that not saying your name is a small punishment compared to what I'm going through Four Tails." The young jinchuuriki scoffed venomously, dark eyes darkening.
"You insolent child! This is why I hate humans, you ruin EVERYTHING!" The four tails began ranting which Roshi tried and failed to tune out.
"The sentiment is returned you lousy monkey." Roshi deadpanned, scratching his red haired head.
That is how the first meeting between the four tails and their jinchuuriki went, this was what most of their conversations could be summed up as.
—
As the years progressed, Roshi was forced into harsh training to control the Yonbi's powers. He had to work hard to force the chakra out and make what he stole his own. It was a tiring effort, but eventually he did manage to utilize some of Son Goku's abilities to perform lava release techniques.
Of course this meant that he had to become one of Iwagakure's shinobi.
He would have to often meet with his cousin, the Tsuchikage. These visits were much more common then usual, as Roshi actually lived in the village.
If there was someone he hated more then the Yonbi, which was unlikely, it would be the Third Tsuchikage. After all, it was Onoki who had ordered the beast sealed within him and thus a direct reason for his suffering.
The two never got along, which was unfortunate. Maybe the four tails influenced the jinchuuriki's personality during these visits to rile him up more. But anyways, the two were quite similar in their mannerisms and personalities though neither would admit it. Arrogant, headstrong and stubborn individuals they were which led to at least one yelling match every time they met.
This relationship was not good, far from it but it was worse for Roshi then the old Kage. For the Tsuchikage could just restrict the jinchuuriki's movements every time he made him mad which not many objected to, having similar feelings for the boy.
Still, Roshi was alone. He refused to call the four tails its preferred name, sometimes he didn't even acknowledge it had one to annoy the beast. Roshi believed that all this was beyond minor compared to what he went through daily, the four tails on the other hand.
"You bastard human! You and your entire race can burn in fire! Don't even try and steal my chakra!" The four tails angrily threatened as Roshi trained his lava release.
When it was especially mad, the four tails would make it harder to use it's chakra. It was always hard on it's jinchuuriki, but it made it near impossible some days for the young inexperienced boy.
"You're just making me try harder!" Roshi muttered mentally in an annoyed tone as he panted.
The tailed beast scoffed as the days continued on in their same dull routine.
—
Continuing on this dark and resolute path would surely make an isolated individual go mad. Luckily, Roshi learned humility eventually. He had been slowly walking through the streets of Iwa with a cold indifferent look on his face when he was around fifteen.
While walking, he passed an older male teenager working in a garden. The teenager was taller by a few feet then the jinchuuriki, with pitch black hair and golden eyes. However, they were gentle with the little plants, treating them with care.
Scoffing once more as was a habit of the jinchuuriki, Roshi was about to leave before he heard a yell and sighed.
Jumping to the side, he used his lava release to shove his attackers into the garden. It was unintentional, but he found the direction the most convenient at the time and really could't care less about the plants.
Once he was sure the offenders were down Roshi finally went to leave back to the villa before a new voice called out.
"Hey you! You just ruined my garden!" The voice angrily accused and turning, Roshi saw it was the teenager.
"Yeah, I guess I did." Roshi replied coldly, glancing at the scorched greenery.
"I was working hard on that you know!" The teenager continued scandalized.
"What a shame then." The jinchuuriki said before turning around to leave, still not caring about the random civilian whose garden he wrecked.
But, he felt a rough grip on his shoulder pulling him back. Trying to just shove out of it, Roshi found it wasn't that easy to escape. "Hey!" He yelled out annoyed at the teenager who was dragging him back to the ruined plants.
"What are you doing?" Roshi asked confused as he was released onto the burnt grass, feeling his shoulder.
"You wrecked my garden, now you're going to help fix it." The teenager cooly replied as they already started to get to work on the plants.
"Um, no thanks. I'm going." The four tails jinchuuriki stated as they stood to leave once again, but were once again grabbed and thrown against the dirt.
Now the jinchuuriki was annoyed as he activated his lava release to just charge out. Before he could even start attacking a cool metal shovel was smacked against his face, knocking him back and deactivating the lava mode.
"Oh no you don't!" The teenager said again, as if it never happened.
"Oh come on! It wasn't even my fault, they attacked me!" Roshi complained, motioning angrily to the multiple bodies that were still on the ground.
"But you had to throw them into my garden." The taller teen noted.
"Not like it matters, no one cares about me so why should I care." The red head said as he once again stood.
"You're the four tails jinchuuriki right kid?" The dark haired teen asked casually as if it wasn't huge.
"What gave it away, the lava release or the people attacking me? Also you're not that older then me." Roshi shot back irritated.
"All of the above, but you're really not helping your point by wrecking other people's stuff, and their gardens." The teen argued, smirking.
Roshi didn't have a response to that, mouth open to retort but not finding the words too. "Go start separating the burnt flowers from the not burnt ones will you?" The teen went, and for some reason Roshi couldn't place later, he did.
"You're Roshi right?" The teen asked and the younger boy nodded. "Well, I'm Kai, resident gardener." They continued, introducing themselves with a friendly tone.
"Okay?" The jinchuuriki said slowly, as the two continued to work on the ruined garden.
—
Eventually, Roshi was let go by Kai once the garden was fixed up, new flowers replacing those scorched by Roshi. The offenders also got removed from some other Iwa shinobi, who shot the duo some odd looks. Then again, the resident jinchuuriki was planting flowers, it was a rare sight.
The next day Roshi traveled the same route he did the day before to observe Kai and his garden.
To his surprise the teen was still working on the botany, with the same determination as well. "You're still working on this?" He asked surprised as he studied the scene.
"I care about my garden. You came back?" Kai asked back, a twinkle in his eyes.
"Just travelling this route again." Roshi answered, trying to looked bored, though he was secretly intrigued.
"Want to help out?" The older teen then offered generously, giving a charming smile.
"Are you going to drag me over if I say no?" The jinchuuriki questioned, though he was already walking over to the greenery.
"Only if you wreck it again." Kai replied casually.
After that, Roshi and Kai developed a mutual bond. The jinchuuriki would come over after training and help with the plants, his walls slowly crumbling around the older teen.
Roshi also developed a sense of humour, something he though he had long lost.
—
And then the wars came.
Roshi had to leave for both, battling endless battles in the name of the village and Kage he despised with a fiery passion. He was recognizable though, as not many could replicate his lava release that the four tails seemed to be easing up on. Maybe it was the war and seeing so many humans being killed that the beast enjoyed viewing.
After the second shinobi war ended, Roshi returned to Iwagakure to see his buddy gardening still.
They greeted each other like old friends, Roshi showing the older man his battle scars and jokes. It lasted into the night as the friendly reunion continued, it was peaceful for some time. Soon after, maybe just maybe, their friendship evolved into something more.
And then the third shinobi war came, and Roshi once again had to leave. He was somewhat calmer due to his newer experiences back in Iwa. Despite the roaring battles and bloodshed around the shinobi, Roshi existed in his own sort of violent calm.
Returning back to the village, Roshi was happy despite the poor result of the war for Iwa. If anything, the loss Iwagakure underwent brought him more joy.
Wondering toward the house Kai and him shared, Roshi noticed it was empty. He then noticed that the garden looked untended too, for a good deal of weeks as well. This concerned the mature jinchuuriki.
Kai never forgot to tend the garden, never.
Roshi looked around frantically before he stumbled upon a fellow shinobi, who had the unfortunate fate of informing the jinchuuriki of Kai's fate. Said unfortunate shinobi spent a few days in the hospital after suffering the wrath of the grieving man.
Kai had been innocently taking a stroll through the village. Under his arm he had been carrying some flower seeds, typical Kai, with his garden. Out of an alley a large man charged suddenly. Striking Kai in the chest and then not stopping until Kai was long dead, not even being able to scream.
The man had hated the jinchuuriki, and since there was no jinchuuriki to torment at the moment, he settled for the ones they kept close.
They were punished and executed of course, long before Roshi had returned. The funeral had also already happened, and no one had bothered to even send news to him about Kai's fate. It was a war after all, they were not going to bring back one of their best fighters because a civilian died.
Roshi spent a few months grieving, visiting the tombstone of Kai every morning. Talking to the stone as if it was Kai himself. He talked about the war like the first time he returned, only this time nothing good came out of it.
The four tails took the time to mock their jinchuuriki as well, only adding to the man's agony.
Eventually, Roshi took some time to contemplate life as a whole. Contemplating the four tails, his purpose in the world. He wondered if it would ever be possible to truly control the tailed beast, which said beast scoffed at angrily.
But it was a worth a shot, he needed to know. He needed to get away from the memories, from the ruined garden that had long fallen into disregard. Iwagakure had nothing left for him besides ghosts of a world he used to know.
Roshi wanted to understand himself, and he knew the only way he could was to leave, for good.
—
He was thirty years old when he abandoned the village, but abandoned isn't the right term when he never felt any loyalty in the first place.
He mellowed out in that time, he travelled around learning all he could about the jinchuuriki and tailed beast. The results of his findings were minimal though, and the four tails wasn't any help, continuing to be a constant pain to Roshi.
One day when travelling around Iwa's mountains, he discovered a small hidden camp in the forest, a figure in red armour was seated around a fire. The armoured man looked at Roshi curiously, before he saw surprise in the man's eyes.
Roshi a little perturbed, turned to leave the man to his own devices and avoid the trouble of confrontation, before they said something that made him sigh.
"You are a jinchuuriki?" They asked slowly, as if sceptical of the claim them self.
"I am. Why does this matter?" Roshi asked curtly, though it lacked the hard edge it once had.
"I am one myself, I hold the five tails." The armoured man explained.
This surprised Roshi so much that he decided to stay the night in the man's camp when the offer was presented. However the two didn't exactly hit it off. The topic of the tailed beast came up and they had some minor disagreements. Roshi believed that if there was a way to completely subjugate them to the jinchuuriki's will it would be the best, while Han said they weren't that bad.
In the end any physical blows were avoided, but Roshi left the next day in a huff.
They would keep meeting occasionally, never saying more then simple greetings and exchange of information though.
Roshi was getting no where in his search for purpose.
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Authors Note: And there's the final flashback finally! And I honestly can't believe it's at chapter 20 already, I didn't think I would get this far, or that it would get this longish. Anyways I hoped the chapter was good and please review!