Authors Forenote – I don't own Naruto, Kishimoto does.

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Two

"It's been a while." The man sat by the edge of the cliff said, not even bothering to look behind him. "When was the last time we were in the same place? The Final Line?"

"Just before Namikaze took out the counterstrike force, yes." The giant of a man rumbled, moving closer, but stopping several paces away from the cliff edge. "I assume that you got that odd note too, Roshi?"

"Along with one of the Kunai that Namikaze used, yes." The shorter man said, turning his head to look up at his tall companion, the small gold ring set into one side of his helmet chiming with the move. "Did you get the same?"

The tall man didn't answer verbally, but he slid his hand under the breastplate of his red armor, pulling out a tri-blade Kunai.

"Hmph. Well, while we're waiting, why not sit down, Han?"

"Prefer to stand." Han rumbled, lifting his hat slightly so that he could take in the scenery. "The view's better from up here."

"And the air's so thin, I'm amazed you're still breathing." Roshi instantly shot back. For a moment, both men remained silent, then they started chuckling.

"And we used to wonder why the Tsuchikage kept us in different areas whenever possible." Roshi shook his head. "He never understood, did he."

"He saw us as weapons." Han shrugged, then he frowned. "I think that was how he saw all the shinobi under his command. As weapons who should just do what they were told."

"Makes sense." Roshi agreed sourly. "So, when do you think whoever it is who wants to meet us will show up?"

"About the time that Han did."

"Ah." Roshi nodded, then he stiffened as realization dawned. "Han…?"

"Two of them." Han rumbled."A teenager I've never seen before and a young kid. Very young, about four."

"I'm almost six!" A young voice protested and Roshi pushed himself away from the cliff before rising to his feet in a move that let him turn to face the new arrivals.

"Good morning." The taller one said with a slight bow. "My name is Utakata, currently on leave from Kirigakure. I am the holder of the six-tails. This is Uzumaki Naruto, holder of the nine-tails."

"Uzumaki?" Han asked, kneeling down for a better look at the boy who returned his gaze fearlessly. "Surely you mean Namikaze?"

"He was named after his mother to protect him from those who would hate him for whom his father was." Utakata replied calmly, although Han noted that at no point did he let go of Naruto's hand.

"Makes sense." Roshi nodded as he strolled closer, coming to a stop by his colleague. "So, why did you ask to meet us?"

"I'm a Jinchuuriki like you and I wanted to say hello." Naruto replied and Han bust out laughing.

"You just wanted to say hello, huh? Okay, I'm impressed, but getting the message to us, that must have taken a lot of effort."

"Killer B-san took care of that for Naruto-kun." Utakata supplied and Roshi whistled.

"Whoah! The Raikage's brother? The holder of the Eight-tails? Now this is a story that I've got to hear."

"I'll get the picnic basket!" Naruto chrped and as Utakata released his hand, Naruto vanished, startling the two older men.

"How did he…?" Roshi began, then he shook his head. "Ah, hell. I thought that Namikaze used some sort of Jutsu, but it was a Kekkei Genkai, wasn't it? Damn, that's one hell of a gamebreaking bloodlimit. Kid's going to have wall-to-wall assassins after him when that gets out."

"It's not a bloodlimit." Utakata countered. "It's an aftereffect of fuuinjutsu. Jiraiya says he thinks he knows how it happened and it's something that could only happen to a Jinchuuriki."

"Indeed." A new voice said and Gaara stepped out from behind Utakata, who stared at him in shock. "What?"

"…how?" Utakata asked and Gaara looked up at him in confusion.

"Naruto-niisan helped me. We used special ink to copy the seal onto my chest, then I pushed some of the Ichibi's power into it and I got the same skill he has. Now I can buy Ramen whenever I want! I'm not strong enough to carry people with me yet, though…"

"Hi, Gaara!" Naruto caught the surprised boy in a hug. "I saw you arrive, so I grabbed more food. Let's eat!"

"Wait." Han said slowly. "You mean that this thing is something that Roshi and I can learn as well?"

"Sure." Naruto shrugged as he and Gaara started to unpack the basket.

"Of course, before then, you must promise not to tell anyone who is not one of us about how you can do it." Utakata interjected. "As B-san said, we are all siblings-in-burden and are more than just weapons."

"That's… something." Roshi lowered himself to the ground and tucked his feet in. "So, we keep quiet about it… anything else?"

"I have yet to gain the skill." Utakata gave Naruto a long look. "Does B or Yugito have it?"

"Naa, Gaara's the first." Naruto shrugged. "Jiraiya helped, said he wanted to see if it worked and now Gaara can visit whenever he wants!"

"I think that we should agree that if we get this… ability, we never use it against each other." Han stated. "Being a Jinchuuriki is bad enough, but add this ability too? We'd make the Yondaime look like a genin if we had to fight."

"Agreed." Utakata nodded as he accepted a beaker of juice. "I think that a condition of receiving this skill is that we do not engage in hostile military actions between our countries."

"So, we counter each other by simply not going up against whoever, thus taking us out of the military equation, at least for the Great Five, but a Jinchuuriki who hasn't agreed to this isn't covered." Roshi summed up.

"And we can call for help if that happens." Utakata added with a faint smile. "Unless they are totally insane, no Jinchuuriki would enjoy facing five or six others at once. I think at that point, they would be willing to abandon their plans of conquest."

"Bringing peace to the world." Han agreed as he lowered the rice ball he had been munching on. "You have my vote."

"So, when do we get this ability to go anywhere?" Roshi asked curiously.

"B and Yugito are next." Naruto offered diffidently. "Big brother B's helping me learn how to use a sword, but he's not teaching me how he does it. He uses six swords at once! It's really cool!"

Gaara blinked, obviously failing to work out how six swords in two hands could work.

"He doesn't even use his hands most of the time!" Naruto added.

Everyone stared at Naruto in confused disbelief.

"…what?"

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"So." Roshi said as he watched the sunset. "You in?"

"Almost certainly." Han rumbled from where he was seated, feet dangling over the edge of the cliff. "You remember when we went up against Blue B? The amount of damage we caused?"

"They abandoned that city." Roshi remenisced. "We managed to drive the Hachibi off, but he managed to complete his main mission. Heck, he used our attacks to help him destroy Mirror Lake City."

"When Jinchuuriki fight, the landscape and the lives of all around are destroyed." Han sighed. "I helped to bury the dead, Roshi. I still remember the eyes of the civilians who had trusted us to protect them."

Roshi lowered his head. "I remember the destruction only too well, Han. It's why I applied for this training trip. I needed to learn how to increase my control in order to decrease the collateral damage. I'm making some progress…"

"Maybe B could give you some hints." Han mused. "After all, I hear that he and his Biju work together flawlessly."

"Can't hurt." Roshi admitted. "Can't hurt."

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"Another bowl!"

"Same again, please."

Teuchi chuckled as his knife flickered through the vegetables, the two young boys sat on the other side of the counter watching him eagerly. A few moments later, he was dishing out the food and sliding the bowls in front of the duo.

"There you go."

"Thanks! Yay, more Ramen!"

"Thank you, Teuchi-san."

Teuchi chuckled as he watched the duo dig in, Gaara eating slower than Naruto as he took the time to savor the flavor.

"You'll soon be old enough to join the Academy." he noted and Naruto paused to answer.

"Yep, I'll study and study and prove that I'm awesome enough to be the Hokage and protect everyone!"

"I also will be attending the Academy back home." Gaara noted. "Alhough I will probably end up on a team with my siblings, my sand-sledge technique has gained a large measure of popularity for me."

"Yeah, it's awesome, zooming across the sand like that!" Naruto agreed as he lowered his bowl. "I wish I could do that, then we could race!"

"I am certain we will find many things to compete over, brother." Gaara replied even as a tendril of sand extended from the gourd-like mass strapped to his back and swatted Naruto's hand as the blond tried to sneakily steal some of his Ramen. Naruto pouted, then grinned as Teuchi switched out his empty bowl for a full one.

"Thank you!"

Gaara rolled his eyes, but otherwise ignored his fellow-Jinchuuriki's exhuberant actions.

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The masked man who went by the name of Uchiha Madara was confused.

While ensuring that his puppet did as it was bid (which was very difficult, given that he was a Jinchuuriki and thus resistant to mind-control techniques) took up the majority of his time these days, his unique way of transporting himself wherever he wished meant that he could generally keep track of everything that he needed to.

For the past few years, though, the other Jinchuuriki had started to escape his surveillance. Not for long in most cases (although he was having a hard time tracking down the location where Konoha had stashed the brat holding the Kyuubi), but they tended to vanish without trace, only to reappear a couple of hours later as if they'd never been missing in the first place.

It was quite aggravating.

As if that wasn't enough, he was now getting reports of rumors that Konoha and Kumo had signed a non-aggression treaty with the specific provisio that their Jinchuuriki would only be deployed in the event that either were attacked by one not part of the treaty.

A similar rumor was reported in Sunagakure, but since their Jinchuuriki was not even a trainee yet, it was probably unimportant.

The real issue was that Iwagakure, which he had been counting on to act as a counter to Konoha, was apparently in negotiations for a similar treaty. With four of the Great Five so aligned, it was quite possible that the civil war that he had been directing would be forced to an end if simply because if it didn't, the other four would decide to put an end to it themselves, turning the Great Five into the Great Four. While he had planned to instigate the Fourth Great Shinobi War at some point, he wanted it on his terms and no-one elses.

And he still hadn't found out where that damned six-tails had vanished. Even the Zetsus had failed to detect more than a few flickers that at least told them that he was still alive.

It was time to pay a visit.

Perhaps the deployment of a certain fact would prove productive.

Productive for him, that was, not those who opposed him.

With a smirk concealed by his one-eyed mask, the shinobi vanished in a swirl of space-time.

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In a small cave that had been eqipped with just enough amenities to make it (barely) deserving of the term home, a girl with pale green hair opened a package and held up the contents quizzically.

"Why would someone send Fu a new knife?"

"Well, miss seven, that blade has power,
"Lets people cross the nations in under an hour,
"But there are only nine who the power can command
"Nine who are the guardians of their native land.
"You hold a beast inside you, well I hold one as well,
"And those who hate and fear us try to cause us hell.
"But now in your hand, freedom's yours to claim,
"To join the holders of the beasts and true peace is our aim!
"Word!"

"…Fu thinks she needs to check what she has been drinking…"