Alright, author's note time. Reception seems pretty crazy for the last chapter, and it feels pretty great! At the same time, I'm very new to this, so... you know, a little bit of pressure. I'm still working my head around some of the changes in this world due to Minato's presence. Some, such as the Uchiha debacle, or the Kumo-Hyuga incident are a little more obviously changed with Minato around. Others, such as what came of Orochimaru, or Tsunade-as one commenter mentioned, are a little less clear cut.
I'm doing my research though, and plotting things out, so don't worry. At the same time, given I'm new to all of this, and I don't have the most thorough knowledge of the Naruto canon... I may miss some things. So let me know! Message or leave a review about certain events you think are relevant, let me know if you think one of my interpretations are fucking stupid, grammatical issues, continuity errors-I'm happy to learn!
Just do be gentle, and constructive, thanks!
"It's about time you met your tenant."
Naruto's day had been otherwise perfect. It was October 10th, his birthday-his tenth. He spent the day with loved ones and friends. He got a few gifts, though those mattered less than the time spent just enjoying his company. Ero-jiji was even able to pop in and stay for a bit, alongside introducing him to Gamakichi and Gamatatsu, both of which he'd be able to summon when he finally had the chance to sign the toad contract. Now though, the fun, the raw joy he'd felt that split his features until his mother slipped into his room had vanished.
"But... why?" He couldn't help but question. He trusted his parents near unconditionally, but it didn't make sense at all to have him visit the demon he harbored. "It'd be best if I never even had to deal with him right? So... why go and confront him?"
Kushina's smile was warm, taking a seat next to her son and gently lifting the hem of his shirt to reveal the seal that marred his stomach. He winced, looking down, having it revealed. Even to his mother's eyes, the sight left a rancid taste in his mouth. It was a symbol of unending hatred, of the curse Naruto bore, it was a constant reminder that even as an infant, Naruto had taken a life.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, a name he'd never forget.
"Sochi," Kushina soothed. "I didn't agree with the decision then, but your father designed this seal to allow you more access to the fox's chakra as you aged. It's a seal designed to be weakened over time, and in order to control the power sealed within you... It's necessary that you understand." His eyes widened slightly in fear at the word 'weakened,' there had been a nightmare or three in the past, his seal failed, or his will compromised. The beast ravaging his home, his fault, always his fault for loosing the nine-tailed demon... His eyes fluttered closed, and Kushina released the hem of his shirt to allow it to fall. He nodded slowly.
"Okay." That was it, his breath quickened and his heart raced, but he wouldn't allow the sudden chill of fear that encapsulated his heart to win. If his mother believed, if his father designed it this way and had the faith in him to succeed... He would succeed, at the cost of all else. His mother brushed a lock of blonde hair from his forehead, and then with a sharp intake of breath, Naruto found himself falling. It was a bite of chilly air, a rush of wind, and then his feet were on solid ground. Water pooled around his ankles, but when he lifted his feet, his clothes were dry. His mother was there, too, but her warmth had become something more solemn as she took his hand in hers.
"Let's go," she directed quietly, guiding him through corridor after corridor. As time passed, the air felt thicker, permeated with a weight that seemed to box him in and make his breaths shallow. His hair stood on end, and without conscious thought, his eyes danced from side to side, up and down, seeking a danger he could sense but not discern.
The bars were massive, thicker round than both he and his mother combined, and the height of them was so immense they seemed to rival the Hokage Rock. However, least imposing of all was the fox that resided within. It was a miserable sight, adamantine chains that curled around and secured every one of the fox's limbs, it's tails, and muzzled it. The look in those massive, crimson eyes however, was enough to nearly send Naruto to his knees, if not for his mother's hand squeezing his. "What... is this?" Naruto mumbled, to which Kushina was slow to reply. "It's a representation. My chains, securing the demon within your mind. So long as you breath, Sochi, should you need me-I will keep the evil at bay."
Naruto's head shook, the sight was impossible to bear. "No, I... I mean, I can't..." Why couldn't he? Countless lives were taken by this beast, and yet to see it reduced to this was simply heartbreaking in a way he couldn't describe. "He can't get out, can he?" Naruto murmured, "with the bars in place?"
Kushina seemed surprised by the question. "No, he can't. Not so long as the seal on the bars remains in place."
"Then release him." The conviction was so at odds with his shaky tone, whether it was fear, or horror that gripped him so tightly, he couldn't tell. "I can't allow this, mom. Not even a rabid animal deserves this-I have to cage him, I know, but torture will not be my way." Shocked was an understatement, his mother appeared stricken. "Naru-chan," she said, holding her voice firm. "These chains keep him silent, while he cannot escape it doesn't mean he can't influence." He shuddered visibly, the thought of an ancient demon aiming to influence his thoughts terrified him like no other, but after seeing this-he couldn't just walk back from it. "Then I will silence him myself. Please, mom-unbind him."
There was moments of deliberation, weighing the decision that was unleashing the entity versus simply disobeying her son. There was a quiet sigh, and a strained smile. "You're too kind for your own good, Sochi." Her free hand raised, and slowly, the beast was unbound.
"You..." The voice was dark, deep, every one of his bones rattled like they were made to obey the sheer force output. It dripped with loathing, and unraveled a story rife with pain, anger, and hatred the ten year old could not begin to comprehend. "...are a fool, boy." It raised on unsteady limbs, it's tails flickered so powerfully that wind swayed his hair and made his already shaky stance precarious. "Your foolishness will be the end of you, I will be the end of you, and every worthless life you love will suffer. When I am free, container..." The fox glowered, for effect, and yet now...
The child stood firm, how curious.
"You can insult me," Naruto said gently, his voice firmer with every passing instant. "But you will not insult my loved ones. You may try to influence me, but you will never hurt them. When I die, it will not be at your hands, because you will die alongside me. I am compelled to offer you what little freedom I can, but that does not mean you will not be muzzled should the need arise!" He shrunk some, then, as if realizing just how foolhardy raising his voice to a demon was. But he meant every last word, and he hoped his steadfast gaze communicated as much.
"Let's go, mom. I doubt we'll have productive conversation here, now."
Naruto gasped as he 'awoke,' the same shift that ended their traipse through his seal. Kushina was the first one to speak. "It's admirable, what you chose to do." She offered. "...and stupid, very stupid. I know it's not satisfying, my love, but some things in this world... You can't afford to be compassionate. I know this lesson will take time for you to learn, so until then, promise this to me: That when the time comes, and compassion risks your life, you will choose to be ruthless, Sochi. Promise that you will be ruthless so you can come home to me, and my sweet child can overcome the burden of his ruthlessness, and afford to be compassionate again where it counts." To see her close to tears, his mother, the strongest woman he knew-it broke him.
He would have promised her anything in that moment, even if he didn't mean it.
"I will, mom," he assured, wrapping his arms around her. She hugged him back after swiping at her eyes. "Good. Now, back to what I came here for. Let's talk a bit about the risks of the fox's chakra, and how it might be loosed..."
"Fox, target is closing in on your location. ETA-less than twenty seconds!" Hinata, or 'Dove,' -as her call sign was when they were using the communicators secured around their throats-used her Byakugan to keep tabs on the target's position, and relay it to their resident heavy hitter. "I'm a step ahead of you, don't worry." Naruto huffed, a little breathless, or 'Fox,' as his call sign went. He made a hand sign, and five more shadow clones danced from wall to wall, descending the alleyway to intercept their target. He grunted quietly as the clone's memories returned to him, and he let a weary, victorious smile find his lips. "Target's beginning to wear down. Hawk, that's your cue."
Satsuki's grin was almost feral as she leapt down into the alleyway, their target was worn thin, and had little fight to give as the Uchiha girl seized the cat by the scruff of it's neck to prevent it from clawing. Naruto, Hinata, and Kakashi joined her not moments later. "Well done, you guys." Kakashi eye-smiled, pleased with their coordination. Of course, that was nothing new for squad seven, it was obvious from the very beginning that team cohesion wouldn't be an issue. Hinata was a natural peacemaker, and while Satsuki and Naruto's personalities could clash, they were all well-acquainted since birth, a fact their mothers made sure of. Any jest was light fun, and while Kakashi was still concerned the ugliest of emotions; jealousy, might eventually rear it's head...
That was simply a lesson he couldn't help them with. He didn't have much experience where love was concerned, after all.
"I can't believe this demon cat took out sixty shadow clones!" Naruto sighed, rested his hands behind his head and took a deep breath. Then, like that, he seemed to rebound from the heavy pants he was taking moments ago. Kakashi simply shook his head, the boy's energy seemed boundless. "I'm surprised you made sixty clones to begin with," Satsuki admitted. Hinata shook her head, activating her Byakugan silently. "If you could see his chakra, you wouldn't be." Satsuki grumbled, partially because it felt like her yet-awakened dojutsu was being poked fun at, and because the girl's words seemed so oddly... flirtatious.
She knew Hinata didn't mean it that way though, the girl was simply too kind, and would be blushing like mad if she'd actually attempted to make a pass at Naruto. For a ninja, Hinata was about as emotionally subtle as an earthquake.
Kakashi waved the strange silence away. "Well, as quickly as you guys caught Tora, I think the Hokage's going to see it fit to assign this mission to you guys a lot more in the future." Naruto seemed horrified by the suggestion, shaking his head rapidly. "Let go of the cat now, Satsuki! We can postpone!" Satsuki held the still-paralyzed cat away from him. "I don't think so. I don't even mind this mission." She said with a little scoff. "It's just like a mission Itachi gave me a while back. If I can fill out that stupid Paw Encyclopedia, he'll teach me a new jutsu!" She brought the cat in to rub it's nose with her pointer. "You're lucky I don't have to add you, aren't you little guy?"
Naruto sighed, relegating himself to a lot more cat hunting in the near future. "Whatever, let's go. Faster we get through these D-ranks, faster I'll be able to get my first C-rank."
"Our first C-Rank," Satsuki corrected, before the group left the alley to collect their pay. "Rasengan," Naruto moaned, turning his gaze skyward as if to plead with Kami, desperate to learn his father's jutsu.
Training for squad seven could be a horrendously repetitive thing to watch. As an instructor, Kakashi was mostly at a loss. After their morning warmups, alongside their daily mission, the team would return to their training ground to practice. Naruto was typically found sitting beneath the shade of a large tree, studying seals and muttering to himself. It was a little out of Kakashi's depth, while he did know some... it seemed relatively limited compared to an Uzumaki's potential. Then there was the Hyuga heiress. Quite frankly, he couldn't help her practice her gentle fist either, unless he chose to have his chakra points potentially sealed to train her. That also sounded, frankly, less than ideal. So when he did attend their training, it was usually assisting Satsuki, who was always happy to improve her clan's fire techniques.
Not that the other two really minded. They were pretty understanding of their position, and if either wanted to work on something more within Kakashi's sphere of knowledge, he'd be eager to lend a hand. As it was, while Kakashi and Satsuki practiced over the nearest pond, Naruto and Hinata were able to chat among themselves.
"You know what's strange?" Naruto offered idly. Hinata never practiced too far from the blonde Genin, and while it could certainly be attributed to her feelings, it was also pragmatic. Collapsing in the shade of a tree to tend to her aching hands, and downing cool water like a glutton had it's benefits. Hinata set her flask of water aside after capping it, offering a curious glance-no words were needed, he seemed content on continuing without further prodding. "The whole 'gentle fist,' thing." Naruto admitted with a little shrug. "I mean, it doesn't look very gentle, honestly. I've been on the receiving end, it hurts like hell. Also, you guys have to be so... rigid." Hinata couldn't help the quiet laugh that escaped her. Naruto was a veritable sucker for puppy eyes, and so it hadn't taken much at all for Hanabi to convince him to help her train.
He was quick to underestimate her, and quicker still to find himself on the ground, half-paralyzed and severely bruised. The second round was declined after Hanabi helped unseal his tenketsu.
But there was a certain melancholy sort of undertone to her laugh. He'd kind of hit the nail right on the head, without even realizing where he was aiming. It was Hinata's greatest issue with the gentle fist, she just couldn't be rigid. She tried, she meditated to practice being unmoving, she practiced in her clan's dojo with her mother, or her father, and sometimes she'd drag herself out late at nights to continue on her own. She wasn't really one to believe that somebody could be unable to do something. There were natural talents, and people who wouldn't take as easily-sure, but to believe that she was somehow completely incompatible with the gentle fist...
It made her stomach turn violently. Naruto, as engrossed in his notebook as he may be, picked up on her mood immediately. "Hey, what's wrong?" He questioned, his lips tugging into a tight frown. "I wasn't really... you know, trying to insult the Hyuga or anything. I know it's crazy effective, even misnamed." He attempted again, but Hinata's head shook. "It's... not that." She admitted. Her knees drew up, and she wrapped her arms around her legs, hoping to make herself as small as possible-and why not? It's exactly how she felt. "It's just... what you said. I'm not good at my own clan's fighting style. I'm... I'm starting to get worried that... that..." Her voice became softer, then. "...maybe I'm not ever going to be."
"I'm sorry, Hina, but that's just stupid." Naruto decided, to her surprise. When her eyes turned his way, he wasn't looking at her, and instead his fingertips made a loose trail around the seals that decorated his paper. "Anybody can be good at anything. I don't know a whole lot about the gentle fist, so I'm not going to sit here and tell you that you are good. Maybe you're bad at it, I have no clue." Only then did his eyes turn to meet hers, the cerulean blue she'd been enamored with for so, so long. "But you need to get that out of your head, right now. Doubt breeds failure, and I won't have you thinking that way. You're strong, Hinata. You're determined. Maybe you're not going to be a good Hyuga ninja, but you'll be an amazing ninja regardless."
He set his notebook aside gently. "Is this what you want? To be good at your clan's technique?" Her reply was immediate, an instant shake of her head. "Why?" He pressed. "Is it for you, or is it for your clan, your family?" Her hesitation was all he needed. "If I didn't like fuinjutsu, if I wanted to be, say... a medic-nin, I would be. I'd be terrible at it, because my chakra control is shot, but I wouldn't give up. I do want to make my ancestors proud, everyone says the Uzumaki were amazing at fuinjutsu, but that's not the only reason. If I didn't like it, I'd just have to have faith that my ancestors would want me happy, more than they'd want me to succeed them."
"H-How can you be so sure?" Hinata's voice sound choked, she was close to tears, and she wasn't entirely sure they were sad ones.
"I've got a lot of people in my corner. My family, our sensei, Satsuki, you. They aren't behind me conditionally, and Hinata-they're... I'm not in your corner conditionally. You said when we introduced ourselves that you want to create your own style of the gentle fist. At the same time, I haven't seen you try. I think it's because you're still worried more about what others think, instead of what you're thinking. If you're not doing it for yourself, you'll never get where you want to be."
There was silence, a few moments-minutes, maybe-where nothing could be said beyond Hinata furiously palming at her eyes to prevent leakage. Why was she even worried about what the elders would think? She knew she had support, her mother, her father, her sister, her cousin. Naruto Uzumaki, they were all going to be happy for her, so long as she was happy. She finally slid closer, ignoring the way her heart nearly faltered when she rested her head on his shoulder.
"Thank you," she whispered. "I d-don't know if I can change the way I think today, or t-tomorrow. But I can learn, I will learn. Starting now, I'll try to do everything I can to... to take w-what I want."
He smiled, returning his notebook to his lap to continue working while she rested against him. "I don't ask of any more than that."