Am i juxing? I forgot to post the Hiatus notice the other day! Well, I guess it spares the confusion of uploading a half-complete chapter. Still, if/when i enter an off period or start slowing down, I will try to express as much so the wait doesn't crash down on people.

Reminder: I'm still anticipating that this is a slow burn. There may be a few rapid chapters, but they accompany the risk that I jam the windup too.

===Chapter 11===

The room drifted slowly into focus as the wall of slumber about him sank. It was late, later than normal, as the sun's rays left no trace within his room.

The intervention last night was fresh in his mind, accompanied by a handful of strange impressions and the gruesome sight of the shadows. His parents. They were dead. He doubted, with what he saw, that they would have survived, but something about the stranger's words resumed to nag at him. Like he still saw them around.

'They're not as gone as you might think they are.'

Naruto rolled right out of bed, but promptly kicked the wall as his tails braced against the bed. He'd forgotten about the broken lamp. That was close. Somehow, even wasted, he'd been cautious enough to avoid that mistake.

The rooftops flitted past. I was incredibly close to playing the role of uncle, but I had a list of associates to sort out first, and right near the top was the toad sannin, jiraiya. I wanted to know where these people were, what they were like, where they fit into life in the village. I wanted to identify Naruto's friends as well. Not just the genin twelve, but his entire class. It wouldn't pick a random name or face and sick him with it. That meant learning what konoha was, and what it stood for.

I may suck at marking a face among a crowd, or individualizing people, but if I can learn the roles they play, it becomes the kami's board game.

Then again, I don't have all day. I never said so explicitly, but to a three year old boy, I had essentially promised what amounted to the make or break of childhoods. No pressure, but I do need to embody that when the time comes. Enough internal conflict was born last night.

It took a fair amount of time to get all of the pieces stashed together. Taking extra care to ensure he had all the pieces, the boy nodded to himself, and all but flew out the front door. Sweeping over the stairway railing like it wasn't even there. There was a grunt of protest as he alighted on the ground, but he didn't slow for a moment.

Two blocks later, Naruto slowed, coming to the conclusion that he really didn't know where to search for the stranger. When it had been in the forest, it was doing something he wasn't supposed to. Or at least, that was the impression left in mind. A lot of uncomfortable feelings had been milling about that night, and many of them out of place.

Where was he supposed to find a total stranger?

He thought about it for a moment, and before long his feet picked up towards a new destination. If he was gonna be searching all over the village, he might as well start by picking up some glue.

Following his errand, Naruto made a circuit of all the places he could think of. Fetching pretend articles and scanning everything in his way. Normally, Naruto had a very good sense of the people around him. Those that had ill feelings about those, and those who wished him harm. That didn't cover everyone in the village, not even close, but the feeling he got from that stranger…

Of all the adults in the village, only one other person had ever looked on him and given off that feeling. Like he was worth something special.

To his continued displeasure, four tracks through the village streets later, he hadn't a glimpse of that feeling. Well, there were his friends, and after being called out twice he felt it was high time he burned some daylight with them. He could run the rest of his routes after lunch.

An hour or so later, his agitation had bitten the dust, but his sense of purpose remained strong as ever. Snacking on a few bars early, he set out to find the stranger.

He was toward the end of his first track when something fell from above. His senses reeled as whatever it was had locked onto him, and willed to pounce.

The poor kid looked like a deer in headlights. Caught between wanting to dodge or split for the hills, "You know, I feel like this is the second coming, but you do look like something the cat set fire."

Naruto swung his arm around and pointed over the fence, "It's you!"

"Bless you, and I guess someone's not waiting for this afternoon." I glanced at the fence, and the tree behind me. Using the latter, one of the larger limbs to vault over the barrier. 'On'noki, mind your head.'

"I couldn't find you anywhere!" Pouting, "You said you knew my parents, but you didn't say where I could find you."

"Kids your age go through a lifecycle or two watching an hour tick by." I braced my jaw, brushing my ear, "I guess leaving off without a checkpoint was too much for you."

"Shut up! Why are you always talking down to me?!"

Raising a brow warily, "Eh, sorry kid. Talkings not easy, so I end up letting my mood have it's way. You know you're not about to lose out to my opinion, right?"

Naruto fumed, "Why are you like this?" 'Talking big, like everything I do is for show.'

"Because I'm different. I only ever react to other people, be it what they're doing in a space that's around me, or something in the making. If you ever want to be seen as something bigger than what you've been doing right now, you've come to the wrong person." I fold my arms, "I'll only ever see you as the person you've become, and what you are working to become. The attitude, I'm only sorry if it means I couldn't help you in the way I want. If it's tough love, I hope you can deal with it."

"Love? I barely know you jasit." Naruto scowled, "Am I supposed to let some stranger make fun of me?"

"Yes."

Naruto flinched like he'd just been backhanded, "Huh?"

I sigh and shrug, "I learned the hard way that you can't force people to say things because they're right. People are flawed by nature, and if you don't let them come to terms with that in their own way, they will spite you for it. You've got good instincts kid. Just… try not to become a train wreck like I did." 'Something they would sooner bury under a mountain of cement than allow plowing toward the ends of the earth.'

"So… Let them make fools of themselves doing it, and make fun of it later?" Naruto tilted his head.

I paused before cackling, "Word for word kid. Sounds terrible when you say it, but exactly that."

Naruto reddened, 'What is this messed up weirdo onto?' "So… You met my parents. Who were they?"

He was holding out hope that somehow, this person knew, and would be able to tell him. It was too easy, and backed by the conversation before, he felt that he could still be severely disappointed.

With a challenging look, and a merciless quip, "Not gonna happen kid."

Naruto flinched, and sagged like he'd just been hung out to dry, "You're not gonna make me beg. No one's ever gonna tell me."

"The reason being because if you went and ran your mouth, or ever hinted at the people they used to be, you would awaken more adversaries than this world can realize it has. They pissed countries off."

Naruto recoiled, "You're saying… were they bad people? Is that why everyone hates me?"

I raised a brow, "There is a lot of hatred reserved for those who are revered as heroes. Powerful people who make devastating effects on the path ahead on behalf of their countries. For every person embraced by their legacy, tenfold witness the strain behind it. You would be fortunate. If you managed to align with all those smoldering in their way, pacified in their absence, you'd be a force to be reckoned with." I shrugged, "You're already on the fast track to becoming something of an outlier. It's a matter of making the most of it."

Naruto pouted, "Gee thanks. You're making a great case for what I already know. I'm gonna be Hokage someday." His voice dripping with sarcasm.

It was such a far cry from the rallying cry of the blond knucklehead I came to know. His tone flooded with doubts, but word for word, I bet the big talk has already taken root, "Oh really now? That's the high bar you're looking at there. If the talk of the town is anything to go by, you're geared to fail before you even know what a ninja looks like." I smirk, "And they've chunin running the kiddie courses. You're in for an early retirement."

The eyes of steel were viscous enough, but I swear, the entirety of the fourths presence just rounded on me like the mechanically efficient war machine he was.

'Careful what you wish for.' Some part of me was thrilled by the uptake that sparked, but it was small and well concealed as the target I wanted painted on my vitals. That moment…

...Nah. Kid, if you wanna stand behind your parents, I'll challenge the bloody master of death himself. The look of doubt creeping on his feature swayed to curiosity as a pressure built beneath my palms.

The weight of buildings on the stone crept up behind be, the weight of a water tower cracking over my shoulders. The angle where the sky met the refuse sharpened like the tip of a loaded arrow, and a fire of remorse - ney, damned pity - wrapped and chewed around me like a wretched glove. Fear, hesitation and agony boiled across the surface of my flesh and hummed. A sound that drifted across the alley like a child's lullaby. The terror broke for a moment, a feeling of noble sacrifice before an irreparable charge. Man, what I can do about this kid.

Naruto shifted, as though the rally of power merely passed some inspection of his. Either the yondaime shields him, Or I'm actually pathetic, "Do you really think I could make it as a shinobi?"

So that's it. Changing his tune? I almost fell for the literal version of my own making, before I let it all slide, "You're strong, gifted, and talented beyond belief. But if you let yourself shrug off the wisdom of those ahead of you, the standard they hold you to will never register. Not that I can see you hitting your plateau as a result, but if the ninja corps are going to let you in, they have to see something they can show for it."

Naruto raised a brow, "What do you mean, they won't let me register? How do you know I can fail right off the bat?"

"Well for one, you couldn't resolve an issue on the second dimension if it meant going to a free ramen festival with every one of your friends."

Naruto was slack jaw, "They have one of those?"

My brow spasmed, "Not even if you did. You learn by doing, and being a part of the action, so any instance where you try to dedicate focus to paperwork is gonna sabotage you." 'No matter how many clones you sick on the job. If it looks like a chicken scratched on it, you'd probably stumbled on a creative insight and sprawled it out. Not to say you can't sign your name when it comes from the right person.'

"The academy isn't gonna teach you how to make the stuff they show you your own. Not to condemn the system as a whole, but they don't always cover the whole principle either. Against any exam you take to become a shinobi, you're gonna end up doing with one leg tied against your bum, your hands tied apart from each other, and that's before you can figure out whether you need to jump, squat or flip. Heaven forgive if there's a trick to it."

The face for the 'not so' festival deteriorated quickly. Naruto's attention was barely there and when it came time for the gymnastics, he fell over just thinking about it. As an afterthought, he raised a finger and asked, "Why do you *like* talking down at me?"

"Because it's endlessly entertaining, and I think you'd get the picture if you had it in you to try."

"Is it too soon to hate you?"

"Nah, passion suits you."

"Shut up."

===Chapter notes===

Dang, I need to get myself carried away more often.