He'd been in self-imposed exile for two months when he finally made contact. His mindscape was surprisingly wet, water cascading upon the enormous form of a four-tailed ape with fur as red as his own short, shaggy strands. Twin, black-tipped, beige tusks framed an open maw of pointed teeth, like the picture of a walrus he'd once seen in a book, and a crest of bone-like material sat upon the creature's brow, a beige tiara with upward-pointing horns colored similar to its tusks. Leathery skin the color of ripe honeydew covered its hands, feet, ears, chest, and face, contrasting its vibrant pelt.

Its muscular body was restrained by large manacles of some silvery metal around its wrists, biceps, and waist – steel, he assumed, based on the seal Mū had described using to secure the demon – forcing it into a subservient kneel with arms splayed wide. "So you're the Yonbi…"

"I HAVE A NAME!" the ape bellowed in a deep voice that resonated throughout the mindscape. "I AM SON GOKŪ, THE HANDSOME MONKEY KING OF SUIRENDŌ CAVE—"

"Do you think I care?" Rōshi cut in. Short arms were crossed over a small chest, an attempt to seem imposing when his 10-year-old stature was anything but.

Pupil-less orange eyes narrowed at the boy. "NO, WHY WOULD YOU?" the ape replied, baritone cynical yet measured. "HUMANS ARE TOO STUPID TO FATHOM ANYTHING BEYOND THEIR OWN NEEDS, AND ALL THEY NEED – OR THINK THEY NEED – IS POWER. MY POWER."

Rōshi scowled, the expression ill-suited for his childish features. "I'm not stupid!" he shot back. "But you're right about one thing: I'm here for your power."

The ape shrieked, its simian cry almost deafening. "I REFUSE! SOMEONE SO DISRESPECTFUL IS UNWORTHY OF MY POWER."

"Fine!" he spat, shouting to be heard over the ringing in his ears. The Yonbi was loud. "Then I'll figure it out myself!"

His mindscape disappeared, and Rōshi was left in the solitude of the cave he'd claimed as his temporary home. And without the Four-Tails' help, it was likely his shelter was going to be more permanent than he'd originally planned.

-l-l-l-

"Well, let's hear it."

"The mission was a success, Hokage-sama," Shikamaru reported. Naruto thought he sounded as bored as usual, though his normal slouch was absent, and his hands were laced in front of him rather than in his pockets. "While there were some…tribulations—" he appeared to stumble briefly over the word, the fact that Chōji, Kiba, Neji, and Lee had all been checked into the hospital upon returning to the Hidden Leaf a heavy burden, "—there were no Konoha casualties. Uchiha Sasuke has been detained by T&I to determine the cause of his defection."

Tsunade steepled her hands and rested her chin on them, scrutinizing the two boys with half-lidded honey eyes. "I see… Well, your performance exceeded my expectations, so at the very least, I believe commendations are in order." Her cheeks flexed, crinkling at the corners, the only visible sign of a smile with her mouth hidden behind her hands. "Congratulations on a job well done." Naruto found himself beaming at the honest compliment, pride swelling in his chest. He'd known from Neji's words, but to hear the Hokage confirm the success of his mission felt better than he could have imagined. The Sannin's eyes flickered to focus specifically on the blond. "I believe you deserve a little more."

Her hands unclasped, and she reached into her desk, pulling something out and placing it on the wooden surface. Naruto stared at the black insignia of the Hidden Leaf engraved on the metal of the hitae-ate, words failing him. "Congratulations, Genin Uzumaki Naruto."

At that, he finally found his voice. "YEAH! Woo hoo, I did it!"

Tsunade flapped a hand at him, bemused and trying to hide it. "Alright, that's enough of that. If you want to keep making noise, get out of here and do it at the house. I've got work to do."

Like a cobra, Naruto's arm reached out and grabbed the forehead protector, afraid that if he left it unattended for too long, Tsunade would change her mind and take it back. For a moment, he handled the blue cloth and bright metal like fine glass, scared that one wrong move would break it. Hands shaking, he managed to bring the hitae-ate to his forehead and knot it at the back of his skull, looking up at the Sannin with an ear-to-ear grin. His vision blurred slightly. "You're the best, Tsunade! Er, Hokage-sama!" he corrected at both her and Shikamaru's arched eyebrow. He turned on his heels and practically skipped out of the office, interchangeably humming nonsense and cheering jubilantly.

When the door closed behind him, honey eyes narrowed and fixed upon Shikamaru once more. "These tribulations you mentioned…elaborate."

"There were four Oto-nin accompanying Sasuke," the Nara began. "Whenever we intercepted them, one would stay behind to stall us. From what my team said, each one was capable of utilizing some sort of…extra chakra source that physically transformed them and significantly increased their power. Without intervention…" he paused, dark eyes unable to meet her steady gaze at the admission, "I'm not sure everyone on my team would have survived."

One blonde eyebrow rose in question. "Intervention?"

"There was a third and fourth party who assisted in dispatching the Oto-nin," he elaborated, once again finding the authority of his rank and returning it to his laconic timbre. "One was Sabaku no Gaara; he's a Genin from Suna who participated in the recent Chūnin Exams, and he was the lynchpin of the Suna-Oto attack. When I knew him, he was—" the Chūnin frowned, "—well, psychotic would be polite. I wouldn't have expected him to ever come to the aid of another person, but he helped both Chōji and myself and afterwards worked with our team to neutralize a fifth Oto-nin who was not part of the original team. He said he was there to protect Naruto's friends, but before this mission, I hadn't seen Naruto in months."

"You're saying his presence there doesn't make sense."

"Why would a Suna-nin be this far into the Land of Fire, especially on his own, and how does he know Naruto, who wasn't even an official shinobi until five minutes ago?"

Tsunade hummed, and Shikamaru got the impression that she was only giving the appearance of thought. "And this fourth party?"

"Female, dark-skinned, short green hair, orange eyes. Neji said her hitae-ate suggested an affiliation with Taki, and Kiba said she introduced herself as Fū." Another hum, and this time Shikamaru's dark eyes narrowed. "Hokage-sama, do you know—"

"Thank you, Nara, that'll be all." Her voice was curt, the dismissal obvious. "I expect a detailed report as soon as you can get the full statements of your teammates; might take a couple of days until they're out of the hospital and able to talk, but until then, enjoy the time off."

Shikamaru bowed. "Yes, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade waited until the Chūnin left her office before rising and following him out at a clipped gait.

-l-l-l-

"Oh, Hokage, great timing. We—"

"Don't know how to listen and continue to cause me great inconvenience," Tsunade snapped, causing Utakata to visibly recoil, "yes, I'm well aware. Where are they?"

The Kiri-nin hurried to keep pace with the shorter woman, trying to get ahead and guide her even though she already seemed to know where she was going. "You're talking about Gaara and Fū, right? Because they need your help. They're in this room."

She opened the door he gestured to and offered him a sarcastic, "Great. Now get out." He jumped again, visible golden eye wide, and was about to protest when the Sannin shot him a venomous look. He hurried away at that, unwilling to test the blonde any further, and Tsunade shouted after him, "And find me Jiraiya! Pains in my ass," she muttered, shutting the door behind her. Turning on her heels revealed the prone forms of the two young Jinchūriki Shikamaru had described, each laid out carefully on their own bed. Utakata, as polite as he was, had likely done that. They looked almost peaceful, prostrate on the clean linens, if not for the dried blood coating their skin and soaking their clothes.

Grumbling to herself, the blonde approached Gaara's bedside first. The Sand Genin's physical and mental conditions were intricately interwoven, and while Tsunade had faith that the seal Jiraiya had placed on the boy to restrict the Ichibi's influence would hold, years of gambling had taught her that even the shortest of odds could be beaten. Glowing green chakra encased her hands before she ran them in a diagnostic scan over the redhead. "Three broken ribs, perforated lung, chakra depletion… For a kid who's supposedly never been injured before, you sure get hurt a lot." She forced her chakra to speed the growth of cells in his lungs, simultaneously disintegrating the tiny bone fragments there and repairing the perforated tissue. The scab covering the entry point fell away as fresh skin knitted the wound closed. His chest expanded, filling with air that could remain where it was intended, and a flicker of her honey eyes revealed a hint of color returning to his pale face. Her focus turned to his ribs, chakra directing the broken fragments back into place. She forced the pieces to adhere to his ribcage, pushing them through the weeks-long healing process in a matter of minutes, and then burned the growing infection from his body.

Satisfied with her work on the redhead, Tsunade moved to the green-haired girl's bed, staring down at her with an expression that warred between irritation and sympathy. The girl had proven to be notoriously difficult to keep track of, the only one of the six Jinchūriki under her roof to not subject herself to the conditional examinations and constantly remaining out of sight. She never seemed to go anywhere, just away, but her flightiness was…annoying. Tsunade remembered being young, but her early teenage years had been in the middle of the Second Shinobi World War, when there was no time for whimsy or disobeying orders (Jiraiya's…predilections…notwithstanding), so the Waterfall Jinchūriki's attitude made her a bit of a nuisance. Since there hadn't been any harm so far – and the Sannin had higher priorities with returning the village to its pre-invasion glory – she hadn't pressed, but now seemed like an opportune moment to finally dig into the mystery.

Caramel-colored skin was speckled with dark bruises, arms, legs, and midriff all laid bare by the sleeveless crop-top and thigh-length apron skirt, both white but for the blood liberally staining portions a deep crimson. A surficial scan revealed no open or clotted wounds, so it was likely the blood came from whoever she'd fought, or even Gaara, the blonde mused, sparing the prone boy a quick glance. Tsunade's brow furrowed as her examination deepened; the Taki-nin's internal organs were…she'd never seen anything like it before. There were pockets of cells throughout her body that were completely shredded, random sections of spleen, kidney, liver, and lungs blended to a fine powder. Even some of the nerves scattered throughout her limbs had been severed, though she couldn't tell how – or if – it had affected the girl's bodily functions.

She pushed chakra into the dead spots, unsure what would happen; after a moment, the cells began to slowly split, multiplying to replace the shredded ones. Her body eventually took to the forced mitosis like any other patient the Sannin had treated, and in short order, the Taki-nin's body was mending itself with just minor guidance from the blonde's chakra. Aside from the strange internal damage – and the external bruising – she seemed normal, which was, in of itself, unusual. While the group of Jinchūriki had shown no health abnormalities, the rest had a distinct, physical inhuman trait, not to mention the years of neglect and other psychological abuse they'd all endured. This girl…Tsunade couldn't yet judge her mental state, but by all accounts, she appeared as human as the Sannin herself (albeit not blessed with the pubescent growth the blonde had experienced in her youth).

Tsunade left the room to allow the pair in heal in solitude, crossing Jiraiya's path and interrupting her former teammate's impending question with a clipped, "Watch them. Come find me when they wake up."

-l-l-l-

Fū groaned into consciousness, stiff but feeling marginally better than whenever she'd last been awake. Her body was still recovering from her fight with Ukon or Sakon – whoever she'd killed – but the pins and needles feeling that had numbed her limbs and made carrying Gaara a heavy task only tickled now. Orange eyes opened slowly, the Taki-nin slowly attempting to leverage herself to a sitting position.

"She is awake."

Fū gave up moving to turn her head towards Gaara's dry monotone. The redhead was sitting on a bed maybe 10 feet from where she lay, his flat, teal gaze unrelenting. Beside him stood the large white-haired man from their group's first encounter with the Hokage in her office; his name escaped her, even as he opened his mouth and wryly offered, "Yes, I can see that." He walked towards the door, opened it, and said to someone outside her field of vision, "Can you grab Tsunade? Thanks." He returned to the room and stood at the foot of her bed. "Well little miss, I hear you had quite the adventure."

Orange eyes flickered to Gaara, as if seeking approval, but the Suna-nin seemed to miss her silent question, expression unchanged. She couldn't interpret his stony silence, but deciding that he would hopefully say something if she was in trouble, the green-haired girl quietly offered, "I wanted to meet Naruto. Gaara said we should help his friends."

"Did he now?" The older man sounded bemused, and he tossed the redhead a quirk of his lips. Gaara caught and held the glance, but didn't seem to share the other male's amusement, his face betraying no emotion. "Regardless, I'm not here to grill you. Just wanna make sure everything is in working order."

That raised several more questions, but Fū decided to ask the most prescient one on her mind. "How long was I asleep?"

"Rough estimate? Thirty hours. This one woke up yesterday—" he jerked his thumb at Gaara, "—but refused to leave. Not that he had clearance from Tsunade anyway."

"I do not sleep," the Suna-nin intoned flatly, almost sounding annoyed, "and so did not 'wake up'. And I was waiting to introduce her to Naruto. That is what…friends do."

The white-haired man continued to grin, as if amused by a secret he was unwilling to share. "I see."

"Alright Jiraiya, that's enough. Let's get down to brass tacks."

Fū looked away from the two males and focused on the blonde woman across from her, her robust frame imposing in the doorframe. It had been a while since their last interaction, but her curt manner of speech was a stark reminder that she was far less free-spirited than her companion, authority cloaking her better than her green haori. "Um—"

"In case you forgot," she continued in a clipped voice, "I had rules regarding your, let's say, continued presence in my village. Putting aside the fact that you have been singularly evasive in submitting to a medical examination, I had also requested that you keep a low profile by staying within these four walls, something which the two of you saw fit to ignore."

"Your requirement was actually to stay away from the main portions of the village," Gaara corrected. Tsunade glared at him, and Jiraiya stifled a cough into his hand. Fū allowed herself a small grin at the redhead's capacity for bland observations, his direct manner slowly becoming a familiar comfort. He seemed unaffected by the Hokage's silent fuming, continuing in a monotone, "We ventured outside the village proper, and thus did not violate your stipulations."

"Semantics aside," she grit out, "the spirit of the rule was clear." She cleared her throat, features relaxing into a neutral expression. "However, preliminary reporting from my rescue squad indicates that you both played integral roles in saving the lives of my shinobi and successfully completing their mission, so for that, you have my gratitude." Gaara's expression remained unchanged, but Fū offered the older woman a hesitant smile that, for an instant, she thought the blonde returned. Then the ambivalent façade was back in place, and Tsunade continued, "Going forward, I'll stress the importance of being discrete, wherever you are and whatever your intentions."

"Yes Hokage-sama," Fū murmured. The Sannin shot a hard look at Gaara, who merely returned the gesture with his patented blankness. They engaged in a momentary stare-off, which the Suna-nin seemed unaware he was participating in, and then Tsunade broke eye contact with a grunt.

"Now that that's out of the way," the blonde announced, turning back to the Waterfall kunoichi, "let's discuss the remaining issues. I performed a medical scan while you were unconscious, and, aside from the injuries you received on your self-ascribed mission, I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary physiologically, although this assumes that whatever you did to your cells was self-inflicted by some jutsu."

"What did I do-ssu?"

Honey eyes narrowed. "Sporadic areas of cells and nerves throughout your body were, for lack of a better word, eviscerated. I honestly wasn't sure whether you could be healed, but I guess your body is used to whatever you did, because with only the slightest prompting, your cells began to regenerate. I've assumed that your body is either acclimated to whatever jutsu you used or it's part of your Jinchūriki power."

Her tone carried the same threatening edge that was becoming a familiar facet of her authoritative village-leader role, and Fū found herself admitting, "I, um, haven't used that jutsu before. I don't know if I'd even call it a jutsu-ssu? He was in me," she cried, barreling through Tsunade's alarmed expression, "I had to do something! You don't know what it felt like!"

"You don't have to defend what you did." Tsunade placed a hand as gentle as her tone on the younger girl's shoulder and was relieved when she didn't recoil; it likely meant there was some other context to her words than what they implied. "For now, let's assume that you made the decision appropriate for the situation." There was a moment of silence while the green-haired girl was allowed to compose herself, and – not for the first time – the blonde wondered at what quality of life she'd lived, that all the Jinchūriki had lived. Temporarily pushing that feeling to the side, she continued, "If you'll allow it, I'd like Jiraiya to perform an examination of your seal. Given your recent experience, I would understand if you'd prefer to post—"

"No—no, I'm okay."

Jiraiya stepped forward then, lacing his fingers together and stretching them out until they gave a loud crack. "Don't worry, little miss, this should be simple and painless. Kid," he said with a sideways look at Gaara, "if there's nothing else, I think it's time you head out."

"I would like to stay."

"I want him to stay!" Fū asserted at the same time. Their simultaneous calls – one emotionless and dry, the other pitched and slightly desperate – echoed in the small room. The two Sannin exchanged glances, and the Taki-nin, abashed, added, "Please?"

"You said you would teach me fūinjutsu," Gaara intoned. "This seems an ample introductory lesson."

"Fūinjutsu lessons, Jiraiya?" Tsunade growled, honey eyes narrowing.

"What can I say, hime? The kid asked."

"Just…" she sighed, seemingly defeated despite her irritation, "get on with it."

"Well, guess we gotta start you somewhere, huh kid? C'mere." Fū watched the white-haired man and her fellow Jinchūriki approach her bedside; Jiraiya offered what was supposed to be a reassuring smile, though she somehow felt more reassured by Gaara's stoicism. They were…friends, and that gave her confidence. "Alright, just relax."

She slumped to a supine position, orange eyes tracking the older man's movements around her bed. Gaara remained stationary on her left side, though his teal eyes followed the Sannin even closer than she did. With a single finger, Jiraiya touched her abdomen, and Fū felt a sudden warmth emanating from her belly. He let out a low whistle, and even Gaara made a noncommittal noise that the Taki-nin thought sounded impressed. "What, what? Is it bad? What's it look like?"

"It's hard to describe—" Jiraiya began.

"Like this," Gaara stated, and sand slithered into the air in a complex pattern of swirls and squiggles. Fū couldn't stop the gasp that escaped her lips, trying to decipher the mess of silica symbols drawn in midair. She didn't recognize any of characters, arranged in two concentric starburst patterns with a single line swirling counterclockwise from the very center until it filled the circular edge of the inner starburst.

"Well that's useful," Jiraiya muttered. He hummed to himself, poking at the grains of sand. "See this, kid?" He gestured to the inner starburst with one large finger, tracing its shape. "This is a Shishō Fūin. It's the backbone of the Uzumaki clan's fūinjutsu, and—"

"Uzumaki?" Gaara interrupted. "Like Naruto?"

"One and the same. In fact, the design itself is almost a dead ringer for Naruto's seal, but…how? The knowledge of this sealing methodology should be extinct; Naruto only has it because of Kushina and Minato. Surely Taki doesn't have access to that kind of expertise."

"I don't know."

"Ah, that wasn't directed at you, little miss." Jiraiya offered her a broad smile that, even to Fū's untrained eyes, looked a touch brittle. He grew thoughtful, stroking his chin with one hand and mumbling to himself, and when he finally looked up to find Tsunade's gaze, his expression was carefully controlled, nothing like the jocular, easygoing man from earlier. "Tsunade, if you ask me, there's no danger posed by her seal. Honestly, I think her seal is the most stable of all of them."

One blonde eyebrow rose. "Really?"

"See this?" He pointed to the outer starburst pattern, following its design with his finger. "This is an extra layer added to what Naruto currently has, which is already stable—"

"Not from what I hear."

"Oh? I'd like to hear more about that later. Regardless, think of each seal as a door with a different lock. Naruto's seal basically has one lock, but this seal has two. There's also an additional component." This time, he pointed to the swirl spiraling out from the center of the design. "See this? On Naruto's seal, it goes the other way, clockwise. It's designed in such a way to allow him to grow with the Kyūbi's chakra mixing with his own. Here, it's the exact opposite; everything is made in such a way so that the Bijū sealed within remains far, far away from the young lady here. For all intents and purposes, she's as human as you or I."

Jiraiya continued talking, but his words sounded muffled, distant, lost behind his last declaration. Human… I'm…human-ssu?

It didn't make sense. If she was human, why was it that no one in the Hidden Waterfall had treated her as such? She'd been a blight on the citizens of her former home, exiled to watch over but not be a part of it, cursed by the Elders to bear a burden no one wanted to explain. It felt especially ironic considering her recent decision to embrace her Jinchūriki title, an appeal to the short list of people who could understand what it was like to be reviled for something beyond their control. And now, to be told that the one trait that identified those she wanted to associate with was no more than a…a title allowing her to masquerade as one of them was like regressing to before her epiphany. No matter what she tried, or how she appeared, she wasn't human, and it seemed like she couldn't even claim to be a demon in the same way as her fellows. So where did that leave her?

Gaara's pale face entered her field of vision, peering at her with expressionless teal eyes. "You are as you are," he intoned, and though his timbre lacked affect, Fū thought his intention was to be reassuring. "To change takes time…and desire."

Fū sniffed to forestall the tears that threatened to leak from her eyes. For as cold and empty as his chakra felt, Gaara was proving to be a faithful friend. "Mm."

"I'd like to do some more comparisons of her seal and Naruto's," Jiraiya was saying. He seemed to be wrapping up his conversation with Tsunade. "There's a lot we can learn from studying two different Uzumaki-style seals that have two completely different purposes. But that can come later. In the interim, I don't think there's anything wrong with releasing her to mingle with the other…guests."

Tsunade hummed in thought and nodded her head. "Very well. That's all for now, Jiraiya. Take Gaara with you; I don't want him in my way."

Fū watched Jiraiya move towards the door, but Gaara's teal eyes remained fixed on her. The older man turned back towards him and, when it became apparent the redhead wasn't going to move, placed a hand on his shoulder. Gaara's gaze swung with startling alacrity to the Sannin, the sand hanging in the air swirling around him like a cloud of wasps. She called his name, and the Suna-nin turned back to her, expression intense. "Go. It's okay."

There was a long moment where the two Jinchūriki stared at each other, and from her periphery, Fū could see Jiraiya's muddy eyes flickering between them. Then the surrounding sand stopped twitching and settled into the gourd on the redhead's back; Gaara broke eye contact and walked to the exit in silence. Jiraiya followed him with a shrug and a careless farewell wave. When just Tsunade and Fū remained, the blonde took a seat in the chair beside her bed and laced her fingers together in her lap. "Now that it's quiet, let's talk." The Sannin's voice was low, but Fū got the distinct impression that it was a command, not a request. "I'd like to hear about what happened on your mission. Leave nothing out."

And so Fū opened her mouth and began to talk.

-l-l-l-

Rōshi watched from afar as Naruto conversed with a brown-haired boy his age and height wearing a grey jacket trimmed with dark fur on the sleeve cuffs and around the hood. It was the third visitor the blond had received in as many days, and the Iwa-nin had watched them all arrive, speak with the younger Jinchūriki, and then depart with a friendly wave, one after another; with each one, Naruto seemed to grow increasingly chipper, and Rōshi found his scowl deepening proportionally to the Leaf native's good mood. It wasn't natural for a Jinchūriki to be so happy; at least before, when it had just been him and Utakata training the boy, Naruto's strange positivity had been punctuated by periods of annoyance, pride, anger, calm…emotions other than this persistent and unyielding joy.

If he was trying to make up for the rest of the Jinchūriki being so dour, he was doing his damnedest, though knowing how stupid the blond was, it was more likely just a function of who he was. It was little wonder Rōshi preferred the company of Han, whose anger was justified, or even Utakata, who was (at worst) more naively optimistic than happy.

The brown-haired boy fist-bumped Naruto and then left the complex. Gaara approached from the shadows of the compound and seemed to take over where the blond's conversation had left off. It wasn't the first time Rōshi had seen the two interact in this way – Naruto yammering excitedly while the Suna-nin mostly listened – but watching his fellow redhead choose to engage in basic human interaction with what (arguably limited) information he had on the current and prior One-Tail Jinchūriki just seemed…strange. He was changing, that much was obvious, and even knowing that Rōshi himself had changed since meeting the other Jinchūriki didn't stop him from being curious as to how this boy – more broken than him – was making such great strides in self-improvement.

So he walked forward to interpose himself in their conversation, lifting a hand in response when Naruto cheerily shouted, "Hey Rōshi-oji!"

He exchanged a nod with Gaara when the younger redhead bobbed his head once in greeting. "Yer popular lately, ain't yeh?"

"Heh, when you're as great as I am, everyone wants to know you!" Rōshi arched an eyebrow, and Naruto had enough self-awareness to look embarrassed; he'd never impressed the redhead with his boasting before, and force of habit wasn't going to elicit any different reaction. "Kiba and I were just on a mission together. He was just askin' about how I got Sasuke back."

"An' what'd yeh tell 'im?"

"That I've been trainin' my ass off since graduation and I'm way better than that stuck-up bastard now."

Rōshi rolled his eyes, though his lips quirked with mild amusement. "Mebbe someone'll finally believe yeh."

"He did not do it alone," Gaara stated. "We provided assistance."

Rōshi released a long-suffering sigh. "So that's why Tsunade's been pissed somethin' fierce, eh? An' who's 'we'?"

"Myself and Fū." The name was vaguely familiar, and Rōshi had a brief recollection of it falling from Utakata's mouth in a hurried, whispered bid for kindness and sanctuary. Gaara looked towards the compound's entrance, and as if plucked from his memory, a girl with caramel-colored skin and mint green hair cut above her shoulders stepped out from the shadowed enclave. Her eyes were downcast, and a blanket cloaked most of her body, adding to the appearance of a withdrawn little girl. She stopped just shy of the clustered trio, and Gaara continued as if her appearance and subsequent walk hadn't spanned a full minute, "Naruto, this is Fū. She desires your friendship."

"Gaara!" Fū sounded horrified. Or embarrassed, he couldn't tell.

"You're the one who helped Kiba, right?" Naruto was peering at her curiously, and Fū only seemed capable of a hesitant nod in answer to his question. Then the blond's face broke into a wide smile. "You're awesome! Kiba was sayin' how you helped him kick the ass of that two-headed Oto-nin." Each word moved him progressively closer to her, until his bright grin was inches from her wide orange eyes. "Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage! Nice to meetcha, Fū. Thanks for all the help."

And just like that, Fū's hesitation disappeared, replaced with her own beatific smile. "I'm just glad everything turned out okay."

How's he do it? It was a marvel that Naruto could ease someone's state of mind with just a few words and a sunny disposition, neither of which any other Jinchūriki could manage. Rōshi wasn't even confident his niece could swing someone from one end of the emotional spectrum to the opposite as easily as Naruto did, and her life was far less burdened than his.

They were chatting amicably now, companions with a lifetime of shared history, and Rōshi found he could only shake his head at the turn of events. The sound of rustling clothes drew the redhead's attention, and he tilted his neck just enough to spy Utakata in his periphery. "I'm glad that she's finally talking to someone," the Kiri-nin said. Relief was evident in his voice. "Maybe now she won't be so angry."

"Aye, there's already enough o' that."

Utakata stared at him for a moment, looking vaguely bemused. "Was that a joke?"

Rōshi was grateful he didn't have to respond to the younger Jinchūriki's smarminess, for Jiraiya appeared from the compound with a single clap of his hands and loudly stated, "Oh good, you're all here." A quick glance to the side showed Han leaning against the building's wall with his arms crossed over his armored chest, the eaves shadowing the upper half of his body. His attention returned to Jiraiya as the Sannin continued, "Now that I have some more details of the so-called Sasuke Retrieval Mission, I think we should have a discussion about what comes next."

Utakata cleared his throat. "Sorry, what do you mean?"

"Well!" Jiraiya replied, as cheerful as Naruto, and Rōshi wondered if that kind of joy was just an affliction all Leaf shinobi were cursed with. "Someone decided to tap into their Bijū's chakra, a heretofore unprecedented event, and one which cannot be ignored. So, as a result, we're going to learn how best to utilize and, more importantly, control this power. To that end, I'd like to discuss how the rest of you have learned to use your Bijū's chakra, or, in the alternative, discuss strategies to prevent losing control. Obviously this one doesn't have much to contribute," he added, jerking a thumb at Gaara, who (to the boy's credit) didn't react to the gibe, "so who'd like to start?"

The nearby Jinchūriki exchanged glances, even Naruto unusually quiet – apparently reading the somber mood – and then Utakata cleared his throat again. "We can communicate with the Bijū. In our heads, in a…mindscape, I guess you'd say. Yagura…" his voice caught, Adam's apple bobbing with a hard swallow, "he said that the way to use the Bijū's power was to talk with them, come to an understanding—"

"That's got ter be th' dumbest—"

"Dumber than trying to gather the Jinchūriki?" argued the Kiri-nin. "Or staying to train Naruto? Or any one of the other half-dozen ideas I've had that's worked out?"

"Yer talkin' 'bout makin' friends with a demon!" Rōshi snarled.

"Yagura's the Mizukage and the only one among us who has full control of his Bijū, so I think he knows what he's talking about in this instance!"

"Yeh don' make a deal with th' devil!"

"Okay, gents," Jiraiya interceded, "let's put a pin in this and take five. I'm not particularly interested in mediating this kind of conflict."

Rōshi let out an irritated huff and then turned and stormed off towards where Han was leaning against the building's wall. The armored shinobi watched him approach with brown eyes shadowed by his red kasa. "You're not always right, you know."

He closed one eye and turned slightly to glare at the steam-user with the other. "Yer takin' his side?"

"You're the one who wants to make allies and amends," the giant noted sardonically. "Unless your words ring as hollow now as they always have."

The redhead's open eye narrowed perceptibly; it was a blatant call-out by his fellow Rock shinobi. "What's yer point?"

"I already told you – you're not always right. Why not prove that you're not too old to learn something new?" Rōshi scoffed quietly, closing his other eye in a bid to block out his surroundings and focus on calming his pricked temper. "Hey," Han said, his deep voice not quite a bark but no less authoritative. The lava-user opened his eyes to give the younger male his attention, but the Five-Tails' Jinchūriki was looking straight ahead, and when Rōshi followed his gaze, he spied Fū walking towards them, expression as downcast as it had been when she'd originally joined them outside. She didn't respond to his call, so Han uttered, "Girl," and she looked up at the pair with startled orange eyes. "Where are you going?"

"Inside," came the quiet response. She'd reverted back to her withdrawn persona, perhaps intimidated by how different the pair of Hidden Rock Jinchūriki were from her peers.

"Why?"

"I can't—I'm not…" she gesticulated randomly, unaware of what point she was trying to make. Her voice dropped even lower, a secret she was ashamed to divulge, "…like you. I can't learn to use my…Bijū's—" the word seemed to physically choke the air from her lungs, a mixture of unfamiliarity and tepid admittance, "—ability. What you're doing…it's impossible. I don't belong—"

She quieted as Han pushed himself off the wall and moved towards the green-haired girl with heavy steps. To her credit, Fū remained where she was as the giant approached, his height nearly double hers. "A month ago," he stated, the steadiness of his baritone surprising Rōshi, "this entire situation would have been considered impossible. Whether you can use it now or not is irrelevant. You're a Jinchūriki—" she twitched a little, "—if you belong anywhere, it is here."

It surprised the redhead even more when Fū graced the taller Iwa-nin with a tentative smile, apparently finding comfort in his words. Han raised a hand and placed it atop her scalp; Rōshi thought he might tousle her hair, as strange as the gesture would have been – both because it was Han doing it and because of the situation itself – but he simply guided her head so that she slowly turned with the motion until she was facing the way she'd come from. She seemed to accept his suggestion as a command, walking back to where the group of younger Jinchūriki were deep in conversation with Jiraiya. "That was kind o' yeh," Rōshi observed.

Han grunted. "Do you know about the mission they were on?" Rōshi scoffed; it wasn't of any importance to him what the shinobi of the Leaf did, or the stupid decisions the younger and more impetuous Jinchūriki made. "They fought shinobi of Otogakure."

He failed to see the relevance. "So?"

The Gobi Jinchūriki merely stared in response. Despite his natural impatience, Rōshi didn't push for an answer, knowing that anything Han had given over the last month and would continue to give going forward was an improvement over his attitude from when they'd left Iwa. After a long minute, Han made a noncommittal noise and then turned to face the other gathered Jinchūriki. "It's of interest."

Rōshi rolled his eyes. "Pft. Fine. Keep yer secrets." A call of his name drew his focus to the younger demon containers, where Naruto was waving one arm enthusiastically in a bid for the redhead's attention. With a shake of his head, he left the armored giant to his own devices and wandered towards his summoner, stepping up to the group and crossing his arms over his chest while five pairs of eyes watched. "Aye?"

"We'd like to hear your method of training," Jiraiya said, "if you wouldn't mind sharing."

"An' what changed yer mind?"

"Stupid fox doesn't wanna talk," Naruto complained, lips turned in a dour frown.

"The Kyūbi has not been…receptive…to my methods," Utakata admitted.

"Shockin'," was the redhead's wry retort. "Prob'bly better that way. I ain't one fer th' buddy-buddy way o' doin' it."

Utakata frowned at the gibe, and the corner of Rōshi's lips quirked in response; it was always fun to rile the brunet. "Rōshi," Jiraiya prompted, "your method?"

Rōshi spared him a long look, reading nothing off the white-haired man's carefully neutral expression. The Sannin was a man to be respected – the Iwa-nin's brief history with him bore that out – and he seemed to be invested in all the Jinchūriki, not just Naruto, which was…novel. He wasn't used to people caring about him – about any jailor of a Tailed Beast – especially if that someone was his age, jaded by two Great Shinobi World Wars and all the heartache and devastation associated with them. It was dangerous to trust anyone, especially someone who'd once been an enemy – and certainly wasn't a friend, even under these strange circumstances – but the Konoha-nin could probably be trusted with this. "Yeh take it."

Jiraiya let out a long-suffering sigh that seemed out of place considering he wasn't the one who had to steal a Bijū's chakra. "Yeah, I was afraid you'd say that. Nothing's ever easy with you."

"Sorry," Utakata interjected, "you just…take it?" The lava-user thought he sounded deeply offended by the suggestion, his delicate sensibility overrun by sheer impropriety. It was another reminder of how different the worlds they came from were, separated by generations and cultures that had been at odds since before they were born. "Did you ever think that's why you have such a terrible relationship with the Yonbi?"

"D'yeh think I care?" the redhead retorted. "Yer way didn' work, so jus' sit back an' shut up." He turned to give Naruto his full attention, ignoring the mixture of irritation and disapproval that painted the brunet's pale features. When he spoke again, his gruff voice lacked its usual edge. "Yeh used its power afore, aye? Didn' ask, didn' plan, jus' took it, aye?" At Naruto's nod, he continued, "Then yeh jus' need ter remember how it felt ter use it, an' do it again."

Naruto looked distinctly uncomfortable at his words. Jiraiya must have noticed as well, for he asked, "You remember how it felt, right?"

"Uh, well…not really? Like, I got real pissed 'cause Sasuke was being an asshole, and then it just, I dunno, came out."

"Like how I taught yeh Katon?"

"Yeah…yeah, kinda. It was like I could feel everything! There was this really dark presence; I think it was comin' from Sasuke. And the water felt real comfortable, and the earth—"

"Yeh could feel th' earth?" Naruto nodded eagerly. "An' th' heat?"

Another nod, then: "I could use Yōton, too. Super easily."

Rōshi smirked, then turned to face Utakata. "Yeh ever feel like that when yeh use th' Rokubi's chakra?"

The brunet blinked, clearly surprised to be addressed after having been dismissed. "Well…yeah, I suppose so. Not in the same way – there's no heat – but it's like…I can feel how things are tied together. Chemically, like their energy, or their composition. It's easier with liquids, that's why I like bubbles or water – solids are more inert, and gas is more volatile – but—"

"Yeh see," Rōshi interrupted, directing his speech back at Naruto, "that's th' power o' th' Bijū, tied ter nature. Yeh take their power, yeh control nature."

Awe painted Naruto's features, the same wide-eyed, slack-jawed expression that had colored the blond's face dozens of times before when the Iwa- or Kiri-nin had displayed some talent he'd found amazing. Jiraiya was cupping his chin in thought. "Huh, what an interesting way to look at things," he mused. "The Kyūbi's always been described as a force of nature, or a natural disaster, or a harbinger of one anyway. It always sounded like an old wives' tale, but maybe there's more truth to the stories than we thought."

"Yeh should feel its chakra," the redhead said. "Prob'bly feels like a mix o' ev'rythin'…hot an' boilin' an'…" Dark eyes shifted over to Gaara, studying his position on the group's outskirts for just a moment. "Mebbe a bit electric."

"I can feel it-ssu," Fū piped up. Her voice was quiet, and she seemed to shrink away from the eyes that focused on her, but an utterance of her name by Gaara straightened her spine and bolstered her confidence. When she spoke again, it was with a firmness he hadn't yet seen from her. "It's kind of like all of that…and more. I don't really know how to describe it."

"Yer a sensor, eh? That's all kinds o' useful. Yeh can tell 'im when he's got it, assumin' he can't figure it out 'imself."

Naruto seemed to recognize the Yonbi Jinchūriki's tone, for his brow furrowed in concentration as he tried to – presumably – tap into the Kyūbi's chakra. Rōshi's dark eyes wandered around to observe the other Jinchūriki as their attention turned to the blond. Utakata was watching the younger boy speculatively, right hand cupped over his mouth in silent, hidden appraisal. The redhead could guess the Kiri-nin's thoughts, likely an echo of his earlier disapproval over the Iwa-nin's training methodology; it was familiar territory for the pair, though to the teenager's credit, it had been a while since they'd publicly disagreed. His gaze carried over to Fū, who was watching Naruto with an intensity that rivaled the blond's own during a training session, and then Gaara, whose expressionless visage remained as unsettling as the lava-user's memory of his predecessor's black-rimmed stare. And yet…they seemed to draw strength from each other, and while he knew nothing of the green-haired girl, it was nothing short of baffling to see a jailor of the Ichibi interact positively with another living being.

Rōshi mused on the inanity of it all, on how different things were from what he knew, all of them silent sentinels to the Leaf native's struggles. They stood, watching, for almost an hour, Jiraiya intermittently offering pearls of wisdom for something beyond his comprehension and Fū making minor suggestions, until finally the kunoichi gasped and red-orange chakra sprang to life around the blond. She shivered as if chilled by a winter wind and moved to stand behind Gaara, putting the redhead between herself and Naruto. Jiraiya whistled. "Hoo boy, I'm no sensor, but even I can feel that. Glad I put up that barrier earlier, or all of Konoha'd be freaking out. So kid, now the question is: what can you do with it?"

Utakata looked ready to protest, but Rōshi shot him a scowl that had the brunet biting back his concerns. The redhead returned his attention to Naruto in time to see the younger boy form twin balls of lava in his hands and then pitch them towards the nearby pond. Steam erupted at the impact, then floated towards them in an unnatural path, washing them in humid air.

Rōshi kept a cautious eye on the vapor drowning them in heat, his fight with Han a reminder to be wary of steam in the hands of a Futton-user. It appeared to sway in the still air, matching the back-and-forth flick of the orange-red fox tail sprouting from the base of Naruto's spine. Jiraiya made a noise the redhead thought might be derision. "All that just for a trip to the sauna? C'mon kid, let's see what you've really got."

Naruto rushed the white-haired man with a burst of speed that surpassed anything he'd shown in the months of training with the two older Jinchūriki. Jiraiya bent his knees and delivered a palm strike to the Leaf Genin's jaw that momentarily stunned the boy, then kicked up into the blond's sternum. He growled as the blow lifted him off the ground, hands cupped together with a miasma of red-orange chakra coalescing between them.

The chakra formed into a blackened sphere fractured by cracks of molten yellow-orange, a perfect – if smaller – replica of the Yonbi Jinchūriki's Scorching Stream Rock Technique. It shot from his palms, the Kyūbi's chakra already forming another, and Jiraiya began to hop from side to side to avoid each projectile. Even as gravity brought him to the earth, Naruto continued to form and fire balls of molten rock from his palms, each sphere getting larger and larger until Jiraiya was forced to hold his arm out and call chakra to his hand, a compressed sphere of bright blue whirling into existence.

Rōshi stared at the ball, a shiver of apprehension tickling down his spine. Rasengan… It had been a long time since he'd born witness to the Fourth Hokage's second trademark technique, and the fact that it still had an effect on him, well over a decade later, was a testament to its legacy.

Jiraiya leaped towards the blond with the Rasengan stretched forward, blowing the Scorching Stream Rock Technique into a shower of heated debris and charging into Naruto's personal space. The formation of another molten sphere was abandoned as the Rasengan came within inches of the boy, lava absorbed into the Sannin's blue chakra and spilling around them in viscous globules.

Naruto leaned backwards, using his tail as a fulcrum so his body was parallel to the ground, and planted both legs into the older man's chest. Jiraiya grunted, stumbled backwards, then straightened up and laughed. "Well, can't say I expected that. Tricky little thing. Fine then, let's try this. Doton: Dosekidake!"

Spikes of earth erupted from the ground from every direction surrounding the blond, each point lancing towards the boy with speedy precision. The Jinchūriki avoided the first two, but the third sliced across his bicep, the fourth impaled his thigh, and then a second tail sprouted next to the first one and twisted the boy into a controlled spin that broke each incoming spire of the Earth and Stone Bamboo Shoot technique.

Behind Gaara, Fū seemed to shrink into herself a little more, orange eyes wide. Utakata stepped closer. "Rōshi…"

"Aye, I ain't blind," returned the redhead, his normal scorn absent. Dark eyes flickered between Naruto's two-tailed form and Jiraiya, the pair dancing around each other. "Jiraiya ain't one ter go down easy. Jus' wait."

"Doton: Yomi Numa!"

The ground in a 20-foot radius of the blond turned to sludge as the Swamp of the Underworld took effect. Naruto howled, and the muck transformed into water – the sediments dropping out – and then began to evaporate, steam rising from the makeshift pond as a third tail grew from the Kyūbi's chakra. It choked the air from their lungs, Fū reaching for her throat and falling against Gaara, whose normally ambivalent expression was beginning to look pained.

Rōshi flared his own chakra, saturating the air with an intense heat that dried out the humidity and left the group sweating but able to breathe. Though he kept his focus on maintaining the shroud of heat that was preventing the superheated steam from harming them, the redhead's attention was drawn to the compound, where the clinking of Han's sectional armor was growing into a cacophony. His own curved daggers were straining against their holsters, the metal in their vicinity reacting to a powerful force. Even Jiraiya seemed to notice, letting out another boisterous laugh and joyously prodding, "Yeah, now we're gettin' somewhere! What can you do at this stage, I wonder?"

In a frenetic whisper, Utakata urged, "Rōshi, don't you think—"

"Are yeh daft?!" the redhead shouted at Jiraiya. Beside him, Utakata took a surprised step back, apparently shocked the older Jinchūriki was finally intervening. "This trainin's gone too far, Jiraiya! Yeh don' piss off a Jinchūriki!"

"What's the worst that could—ngh!"

Naruto's blitz sent the white-haired man careening backwards until he struck an invisible barrier and slumped to the ground. He lifted his head, only to have the blond appear before him and deliver a hammerblow of hardened lava to his skull. His face hit the ground, then was lifted of its own accord by what felt like the pull of his forehead protector. One animalistic claw slashed a series of lines across his cheek, each cut burning like acid.

Jiraiya disappeared in a quick Body Flicker as Naruto launched a flurry of incensed attacks. His thumb swiped a drop of blood from his cheek, fingers blurring through seals even as the blond twisted to face him; he slammed his palm against the ground with a cry of, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" as the demonic Genin rushed forward, ramming into a bear-sized orange toad bearing metallic bracers that exploded into white smoke upon impact. The Sannin's hair tripled in size and twined itself protectively around him, its natural unkemptness hardening into spikes that Naruto appeared poised to break through.

"Fungōkyaku!"

Han's Erupting Strong Foot caught the younger Jinchūriki and sent him careening into the same invisible barrier Jiraiya had hit earlier. The older man's hair shrank, dark eyes peering at the armored shinobi curiously. "That's one beastly kick."

"You're in over your head," Han informed him, baritone frigid. He kept the Sannin at his back, maintaining a watchful eye on the Nine-Tails' Jinchūriki. "Whatever your intentions, you do not goad a Jinchūriki, especially not one who is inexperienced in controlling their Bijū."

"Heh, maybe I did go a little too far."

Naruto bellowed in fury, bubbling orange-red becoming shrouded in black as his skin began to peel off, blood vaporizing and darkening his chakra cloak. "Yes," Han agreed in the same unyielding tone. Steam erupted from his armor with a hiss of depressurization nearly lost among the continued clinking of the metal pieces. The steam propelled him forward as the miasma of dark chakra around the blond grew. "Funsuiken!"

He clotheslined the Genin, knocking him backwards against the barrier again. The vapor surrounding them seemed to react to the boy's mutating chakra, a power struggle between originator and manipulator, and then Han reached through the foul chakra to cover the boy's face with his palm, thick fingers clutching his temples, and slammed the blond's head into the barrier. Naruto howled, claws and tails lashing out against scarlet armor without success, and more steam erupted from the armor as the Iwa-nin repeatedly battered his skull against the invisible wall with concussive force.

Naruto's chakra cloak dissipated as the continuous blows finally rendered him unconscious. Han let the beaten boy drop unceremoniously to the ground, then turned to face Jiraiya and warningly intoned, "You are lucky he could be contained before entering his Version 2 state."

One white eyebrow arched in curiosity. "And what, pray tell, is a Version 2 state?"

The steam-user didn't immediately respond, staring Jiraiya down with an intensity that Rōshi assumed his fellow Rock shinobi thought was intimidating. Maybe it was, he mused, but the Sannin was unaffected, hardened – like Rōshi himself – by too many decades of life to flinch at a stern look. For a long moment, all was quiet, the gathered Jinchūriki watching the standoff with bated breath.

Then, chakra exploded from the armored shinobi, his massive form falling to all fours as a skin of red and black encompassed him, leaving round white eyes devoid of humanity. Five long tails twitched behind him, breath steaming out from an open maw framed by serrated teeth. Rōshi shuddered as Han's chakra washed over them all, a simian shriek he hadn't heard in years echoing within his skull. He brought a hand to his temple, disguising the motion by scratching at his red hair, forcing dark eyes to focus on the other demon containers.

Utakata, to his credit (and the redhead's surprise), was silent, only a speculative look and slightly pallid tone to his already pale skin belying his reaction. Fū looked to be on the verge of throwing up, sweat dripping down her face and pallor notably off-color; the sensation of so much demonic energy, especially to someone so sensitive to chakra, was likely overpowering. Beside her, Gaara's expression appeared…hungry, the naked desire on the boy's normally unflappable features a concerning regression in the face of all the progress Rōshi had noted throughout the day.

"Han!" he snapped. "Yeh've proved yer point."

And just like that, the oppressive chakra disappeared, and Han rose smoothly to his feet, right hand sliding beneath his gi to rest over his heart as he walked past a pensive Jiraiya and towards the compound. He paused next to Rōshi and muttered darkly, "And so Konoha is like all the rest, looking for ways to increase its presence on the world stage by any means necessary. How reassuring."

"Yeh stopped 'im, didn' yeh?"

"I shouldn't have to," was the giant's acerbic retort, "and I won't again."

Rōshi's eyes followed him as he returned to the shadow of the overhang, only to be distracted by Jiraiya taking his fellow Iwa-nin's place, looking far too nonchalant for what they'd all just experienced. "Well, that was…something," admitted the Sannin. "I'm a big enough man to admit that I took that farther than I should've."

"Yeh think so?" Sarcasm oozed past his lips. "Mebbe that's 'cause I tol' yeh that yeh took it too far."

"To be fair, I had no idea what would happen. Konoha's never invested effort to train its Jinchūriki to that extent before."

"So why start now?"

"Akatsuki's out there looking for all of you, doing who knows what, and they're not to be trifled with. I'd feel better knowing the kid's got an ace up his sleeve to help him out of a sticky situation rather than risk him getting captured because we were all too scared of what the Kyūbi could do to find out what Naruto can do. Besides, who better than you guys to help teach him how to control a Bijū? And now we at least know some of the lengths we can take the kid's training." Rōshi let out another annoyed huff, recognizing the Leaf shinobi's point yet too stubborn to admit it aloud. "Anyway, I think that's enough for now. I'll come up with a better training regimen in the future. In the meantime…" he reached into his vest and pulled out a small scroll, holding it out to the redhead. "Do me a favor and give this to the kid when he wakes up. Little 'congrats' present for making Genin. Slightly belated birthday gift, too, I guess," he mused to himself.

"I ain't yer erran' boy."

"True…which is why I said it was a favor. I've gotta go take care of some more pressing business, otherwise I'd do it myself." Rōshi raised a skeptic eyebrow, and Jiraiya grinned at him. "You're not gonna make me beg, are you?"

"Hmph." He took the scroll and tucked it into his own shirt for safekeeping. "Whatever yeh say."

Jiraiya tossed him a jaunty salute and then strolled out the Senju complex, leaving Rōshi surrounded by five Jinchūriki in various states of emotional and physical turmoil. He inhaled heavily through his nose, suddenly exhausted. That could o' gone better.