Naruto enjoyed reading, he always did, when he was younger books had been one of his few friends. They didn't lie to him, they didn't yell at him, they didn't discriminate, they gave him the same information they gave the person before him and to the person after him. Reading helped him focus, it helped him think, clear his mind. Currently, the redhead was in his father's study, going over a scroll for what seemed like the tenth time, a pen and an open notebook next to it, again Naruto took notes of what he read.
'The goddess' essence was split in nine, scattered by her eldest, while her body was kept by her youngest. The pieces must never be put back together, lest the goddess returns to take back all that was hers.'
He recited in his mind once more, going over his notes, leaning back in his chair.
'So putting the Biju back together will bring back Kaguya?' he asked his companion
'Yes.' came the cavernous voice of the large fox, 'Each Biju is a piece of the ten-tails, fusing us back together would revive it and thus would give Kaguya a chance to take over the Jinchuriki's body and come back whole.'
'Kaguya lives on, through you?'
'Yes. I hold the largest piece since I have the most tails, but her will is incomplete. That lack of control you feel when you use my chakra, she's that voice whispering in your head, it's her will trying to push you, to convince you to give yourself to her. She takes advantage of that inner darkness inside you, forming it in your mirror image, all your darkest desires and thoughts given form.'
Both sent glances to the metal door some ways away.
'What if the ten-tails doesn't have a Jinchuriki?'
'It will remain as such, Kaguya's chaotic essence, she needs a body to stabilize her essence and take over.'
'Isn't there a way to stop it?'
'If you can overpower Kaguya's will. But it would be a constant battle within yourself and the slightest moment of weakness, the tiniest amount of doubt will result in Kaguya's takeover. That is, if you can even survive having the god like power of the ten-tails sealed inside you.'
'So much power in the hands of one person.'
The redhead's musing was interrupted by a puff of smoke, revealing Kosuke standing on the desk, a scroll strapped to his back.
The amphibian raised a webbed hand, "Hey Naruto, sorry for popping in unannounced."
"Don't worry, Kosuke, what can I do for you?"
The toad slide the scroll from his back, resting it on the table, "Jiraiya sent you his notes on the Sage mask."
Naruto nodded, taking the scroll and unraveling it, "So the mask works as we thought?"
Kosuke nodded, "The moment he put the mask on he entered Sage Mode, the mask acted like Ma and Pa, constantly feeding him nature chakra." the toad chuckled, "He spent about five minutes taking it on and off, jumping around and giggling like a little kid on his birthday, even made a silly dance."
Naruto couldn't help the small laugh that escaped him at the imagery, soon sharing the laugh with his amphibian friend. When they calmed down, Naruto smiled at Kosuke.
"Thank you for your assistance, send my regards to everyone back home."
"Will do, stay safe, alright."
The two waved at each other before the toad returned to his home, Naruto decided to move on from his reading and get some fresh air, when he neared the top of the stairs he felt someone at his door moments before he heard the bell ringing, recognizing the chakra as Shikamaru's, he cocked an eyebrow, usually Shikamaru was never far from Choji, and he couldn't think of a reason for the Nara to visit. Opening the door and meeting the pineapple headed lazy genius.
"Hi Shikamaru, what can I do for you?"
"I just came by to ask you a question."
Naruto questioned the serious look on the other boy's face but stepped aside to allow him in, "We can talk over some tea." he said as he started to make his way to the kitchen.
"What do you have to do with the nine-tails?"
The question was spoken simply, bluntly really, it surprised the redhead so much that he froze in his steps, his eyes slowly growing. There was that pesky voice again, whispering in his head, he ignored it as he always did, slowly turning to look at Shikamaru.
"I'm sorry?" he tried to play it off
"The villagers call you a monster and look at you like you kicked their dog. Kiba calls you fox, says you smell like one too, the nine-tails attacked thirteen years ago. So, what do you have to do with it? That's too many signs pointing in the same direction."
The air was suddenly tense around the two, Naruto wasn't sure how to respond to it, he should've known Shikamaru would figure things out, he sighed defeated, well it was nice while it lasted he thought, he turned back around and continued towards the kitchen.
"Sit down, I'll tell you everything you need to know."
Aside from the water boiling in the kettle, the room was silent, Shikamaru staring at the back of the redhead while the latter organized his thoughts, could he put Shikamaru down? He had the skills to do it, but if push came to shove, would he have the heart to end the Nara? This was a secret, he trusted Shikamaru to an extent, but he could use Naruto's status as ammo against him. His train of thought was interrupted when the kettle whistled, he poured the tea and brought the cups to the living room table, sitting across from the Nara.
After another long moment of silence, Naruto finally spoke up, "The nine-tails is sealed inside me, Shikamaru. I am known as a Jinchuriki." he could see Shikamaru's eyes slowly widen as everything seem to fall in place in his mind, well, except one piece.
"So, the Forth didn't kill it. He..." he trailed to which Naruto nodded, understanding the question, Shikamaru frowned, "Why you?"
"What kind of leader would ask his people to make a sacrifice he himself isn't willing to make?"
Shikamaru was confused for a moment, only a moment before his sharp mind put the missing piece in its place, as the weight of this revelation hit him his eyes went wide, everything made sense now.
"You're..." he started, finding himself unable to finish, but Naruto nodded.
The redhead allowed his friend a minute to process everything, looking at him, evaluating his reaction, then Shikamaru did something he wasn't prepared for.
"Kami you're troublesome." the Nara sighed leaning against the couch.
Naruto blinked a couple of times, he had expected...more.
"Is that... it?" he carefully asked the Nara.
"Why? Should there be anything more? I asked my questions, and you gave me the answers."
"I guess I expected a... stronger reaction. After all, you just learned two of the village's most closely guarded secrets."
Shikamaru snorted, "Not much of a secret if every villager treats you like the plague."
"Fair point. Does it change anything? In our... friendship, I mean?"
Shikamaru waved it off, "You didn't ask to have it sealed inside you, things happen. You're still my friend, Naruto, you just come with a giant fur ball inside you."
Naruto was surprised, he had expected more questions, a longer discussion, but alas Shikamaru was seemingly satisfied. That last comment from the Nara did amuse him quite a lot, hearing said fur ball raging in his mind at the disrespect, in fact the entire situation was simply comical, leaving him to chuckle at it all as the Nara smirked.
"You're gonna tell anyone else?" asked the lazy genius
Naruto composed himself immediately, shaking his head, "No, not now."
Shikamaru had an idea why, "They won't see you any different, you know."
Naruto lowered his head a bit, there was always a chance, no matter how slime, "I don't want to risk it, not yet."
Shikamaru understood and decided to drop the matter, after all, what Naruto did with his secrets wasn't his business. The two fell into a pleasant silence, the Nara reviewing the information he gathered and thinking about how they'll move from there, on his end Naruto was silently happy one of his friends accepted him for who he was, he sensed no deception, no lie, Shikamaru's chakra didn't fluctuate or got muddied, so he was honest.
He felt comfortable, he could trust the Nara.
Shikamaru's eyes were drawn to the redhead as he saw his hand move to the cup of tea, his eyes locked on it as Naruto brought it closer to his face. His free hand came up and hooked on the edge of the mask before it was lowered, exposing the redhead's face. Shikamaru couldn't help but stare, jaw feeling somewhat loose, he had been told in the past that he and his father looked like twins but seeing someone else that was a copy of their father was rather uncanny. His mind conjured the image of the Forth, overlaying it on Naruto's, there was no doubt he was the son of the Yondaime.
"So that's why you hide your face? So people don't know who you're related to?" he offered one of his hypothesis
Naruto slowly shook his head after putting the cup down on the table, "Growing up I was teased a lot for my appearance, I'm a little insecure about it."
Shikamaru quirked an eyebrow, "You mean those whiskers? I mean, they're interesting birthmarks, but they don't look so bad."
"It's not just them, my pupils are slitted, and my fingernails extend into claws, but I trim down regularly. There's also my teeth." he added as he brought his hand to his mouth, parting his lips to reveal the two row of pearly white, jagged teeth, the Nara noting that the boy's canines extended about an inch further than the rest.
"Is it because you're a Jinchuriki?"
Naruto nodded, "My mother was the previous holder of the nine-tails after lady Mito. Because of Kyubi's chakra being present during my development, it... affected me. I gained the heightened senses and the physical alterations you can see."
"Right."
"Any more questions?" the redhead asked
"No, I have all I wanted to know." Shikamaru motioned to get up, "You still owe me that game of shogi."
"I have some training planned for the day, I need to go see the Hokage too. I can come to your home afterward."
"That works for me."
With that, Naruto was left to his own devices once more, he made his way to his private training ground. He had managed to mostly get his thoughts in order, although the image of Ino came more often than he would like, not that he minded. He sat under one of the trees and looked up, it was still fairly early in the day, he sent a group of clones away to work on his chakra control while he waited for his brother to arrive, he cleared his mind, taking deep breaths. Crystals forming in the palm of his hand, taking the shape of a flute, he lowered his mask and held up the instrument to his mouth, parallel to the ground.
Kakashi leisurely walked up to the Uzumaki residence, his nose buried in his ever present book. Between menial missions and low ranking assassinations the council had made sure to work Kakashi to the bone while they still had him on hand full time before his schedule got cluttered by his being a Jonin sensei, he had a vague idea that maybe it was to distance him from Naruto as his disposition towards the boy was no secret but without proof it was just a theory. Reaching the house he put his book away turned to old habits, jumping to the roof and away towards the forest, looking down to the garden had some work done to it recently, he quickly dashed through the tree, hearing some music in the distance getting louder as he approached.
When he reached the edge of the clearing he saw his little brother sitting in the lotus position, a flute to his mouth, eyes closed, fingers moving along the flute with a practiced expertise. He decided to stand back for now and let the redhead finish, after all, he was sure Naruto already sensed him. He pulled out his book again, searching for his last page, and continued his reading to the tune Naruto played for no one beyond himself. Kakashi wasn't one for music, he had very little knowledge on it beyond the bare minimum needed in his profession, but the emotions in the boy's piece were palpable. There was confusion, doubt, joy and sadness, all blending together, he could sense the underlying rage in the notes, that ever-growing hatred in his heart. As Naruto laid his soul bare through his flute, Kakashi could feel something else, a steadily increasing feeling in the eye of that storm of emotions, love.
The piece soon reached its end, when the last note was played Kakashi put his book away, curled his eye in his usual eye smile and gave the performance a clap.
"I didn't know you would greet me with such a nice piece of music."
"Don't get any ideas, it wasn't for you, it was just to clear my mind." Naruto deadpanned
"I have such a mean little brother." he said in mock sadness, wiping away a nonexistent tear
The two stared at each other and shared a small laugh. Hours later the surrogate siblings were sparing, Kakashi had his Sharingan out at Naruto's request, the redhead wanted to gage his progress with his fighting style. The Jonin had to admit, the Uzumaki clan's fighting style was a tricky one, his Sharingan didn't have trouble following the boy's movements, no, it was predicting what he'll do and that was the problem. Usually his Sharingan would conjure a ghost image of his opponent and their exact move but with Naruto he'd see dozens of ghost images of the redhead, all possible angles of attack, there was no pattern for him to copy either, but him being an elite Jonin he still was much faster than Naruto, so he could compensate. Out of every ten attacks Kakashi managed to block, two or three would hit him on average, and he could feel the pain of those few blows starting to add up. Watching Naruto fight exposed something to him, because of the various angles Naruto took to attack he would often leave himself wide open for a counter-attack, something he capitalized on, but after every hit Naruto bounced right back with double the intensity.
Eventually, when he felt his Sharingan had eaten through a good portion of his chakra, he called the spar off, covering up the eye.
"I think it should be good for now. It was a good spar, your mother would be proud her son has such a good grasp on her clan fighting style." the Jonin eye smiled at the redhead, who returned the smile with his own.
With the spar out of the way, both were sitting against the tree Naruto played his flute under, Kakashi in his book while Naruto held a lead between his fingers, a pile next to him. The silver haired cyclops looked at the redhead from the corner of his eye, observing the leaf slowly wrinkle before it crumpled around the boy's fingers, the foundation was there, but it still needed work, even with the help of shadow clones the process will be very time-consuming as lightning isn't the boy's affinity.
"Say Naruto." he got a 'hm?' in response, "Why do you want to learn how to use lightning release chakra? Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to teach you, but I can't help but feel like it's odd since you'll have very little in terms of defensive natures."
"In terms of defense, my crystal release is more than enough to protect me. As to why, well, I've heard the Third and Fourth Raikage use a sort of lightning chakra cloak to enhance their speed and reaction time."
"I've heard about it, I also heard it's very dangerous, the Third and Forth Raikage are the only ones capable to use it, others ended up paralyzed." he looked at the redhead, "It's a very dangerous technique Naruto, one wrong move, and you could fry yourself."
"I know, I talked about it with Ero-Senin and Kyubi, since I wanted to take advantage of the reaction time boost to use with one of my seals. We all agreed that since I am an Uzumaki and a Jinchuriki my body should be able to withstand the toll, maybe not now but when I'm older."
Kakashi thought it over and had to agree with the logic behind it, "Use it with a seal? What kind of seal?"
"One of my creations." Naruto said letting the leaf go and picking up a rock, unsealing some ink and a brush.
Kakashi quietly observed the quick, precise strokes of the brush as Naruto applied a seal onto it, putting the brush and rock down, the redhead joined his hands in a small prayer before activating the seal, handing the rock to Kakashi.
"It's a modified gravity seal." Kakashi held the rock in his hand, observing the seal, he noticed how light it felt compared to it's size, "A typical gravity seal would only increase the force of gravity around you, this one, in theory, can be adjusted on the fly to make you as light as a feather or as heavy as a boulder. I'm still testing it, but that's the idea behind it."
The Jonin listened closely to the explanation as he used his above average knowledge on seals to try to decipher the complex arrays, eventually he threw the rock up and watched as it ascended much faster than expected. As Naruto said, the rock slowly fell back in his outstretched hand, like a feather.
"Impressive." was the response of the cyclops, "I see now. With this seal you could move at higher speeds, but you would move too fast for your brain to follow, so you compensate by enhancing your reaction time." he saw the redhead nod in the corner of his eye.
"That's the idea." the redhead said as he picked up another leaf.
"When I'm named your official Jonin sensei we can work harder on your lightning release mastery, when you do master it will teach my signature jutsu." he gave the boy an eye smile.
"The chidori?" the redhead looked up.
Kakashi nodded catching the rock, "Since I have Sasuke Uchiha on the team as well I planned on only teaching it to him once I'm sure he is ready for it. Without the enhanced perception of the Sharingan the chidori is practically unusable, you get tunnel vision and can't change trajectory, since you move in a straight line you can't avoid a potential counter-attack. If you weren't already planning on enhancing your perception, I wouldn't have taught it to you."
"You based your chidori on my father's rasengan right?"
"Yeah, he taught us how to use the rasengan, Rin didn't have the reserves for the power and Obito didn't have the control for the shape. Since I was the only one to fully learn it he told me it's still an incomplete jutsu, I failed to add my lightning affinity to it and created the chidori. I assume Jiraiya taught you the rasengan already?"
Naruto nodded as he crumpled another leaf, "Ero-senin taught it to when we left Mt Myoboku, it took me a month to fully master it."
Kakashi eye smiled, "It took me two months to do it myself."
"So you will teach us all the chidori?"
"Your father did it his own signature technique, only fair I do it as well. I know you and Sasuke will have what it takes, but I don't know who the third member will be."
"Do you have an idea?"
"If we follow tradition each team has a specific purpose, for example team ten is always composed of the Ino-Shika-Cho and lead by a Sarutobi. Team seven is always a frontline assault team, it has a bit of a history, actually." he noticed he had the redhead's undivided attention and continued, "The first team seven was led by Hokage-sama, composed of Orochimaru, Jiraiya and Lady Tsunade, who went on to become the legendary Sanins. The second team seven was led by Jiraiya, composed of Minato Namikaze, Teuchi Ichiraku and Nanami Uchiha. Minato-sensei became the Yellow Flash and Teuchi became a legendary ramen cook." both shared a chuckle, "The third team seven was headed by your dad, composed of me, Obito Uchiha and Rin Nohara. I became Kakashi of the Sharingan and now, I will teach the newest team seven, composed of you, Sasuke Uchiha and the top kunoichi this year."
"Why specifically the top kunoichi?"
"It's another tradition, team seven is always composed of the rookie of the year, the dead last and the top kunoichi. But I suppose this tradition will be broken this time."
"Not really." Kakashi looked down at his brother, "I made sure to answer poorly on our latest test, I Ero-senin forged fake reports to add to my record. As far as anyone is concerned the only exceptional thing I can do is shadow clones and taijutsu, even if I have high grades in the Genin graduation exam I will still be the dead last and barely pass. Although it was hard to actually fail, I expected the things to be harder."
"In recent years, after the Kyubi attack and the end of the war, the standards of the academy slowly dropped in order to allow more civilians to enter and have a chance, we needed more man power to refill our ranks."
"Doesn't that hurt the civilians and whichever team they're put on more? Shouldn't the academy teach them the basics of chakra control, like tree or water walking? So at least it allows their respective sensei to focused on improving any pre-existing skills or potential in other areas. Then there's the D ranks and teamwork drills, I think it would be better to have the students placed in rotating three-man teams to see which work best together, then call on retired Shinobi to supervise said teams while they do the D ranks and maybe impart some wisdom. I would cut down even more time for their Jonin sensei to better train them."
Kakashi thought it over before smiling, playfully nudging the redhead, "With ideas like those you'd make a fine Hokage you know." he chuckled at the dead panned expression Naruto gave him, "It's a sound logic. Before the third war, the entrance exam and graduation was much harsher in order to weed out the best from the worst. I suppose that for now all we can really do is train hard and hope for the best, speaking of, how is that crystal release coming along? It will be a valuable asset in the team, it will take people off guard."
Naruto nodded, "It needs more training. I can't use it on people as well as I would like, I have to improve my control."
"Oh? What makes you say that?"
The thought of the spy appeared in Naruto's mind for a brief moment, but he was put at ease quickly, he had made sure to spread seals around the residence, forest and training ground, nothing could breach the seal without him being aware of it. He couldn't smell anything out of the ordinary in the air, and he couldn't pick up that emotionless chakra.
"For one, the process of crystallizing someone takes too long to be used in the middle of a battle, I need to maintain contact while I use the technique. Then for the control, I can control large masses of crystals just fine but what's more difficult are the small flakes of crystals that make up my dust, I need to be focused entirely on it to use it properly, I can't control crystals through solid matter, either. Since there's no other source for me to learn from, my training is mostly just trial and error."
"We can see what we can do about that. Have you made any techniques with it?"
The redhead nodded, bringing his hands together before flying through a set of hand seals, ending in one Kakashi didn't recognize.
The earth cracked in front of the redhead before a large crystal fox emerged from it, it stood there immobile.
"Impressive." he commented
"I call it the Crystal Release: Crystal Formation Style One - Crystal Beast: Fox."
The older man had a deadpanned expression, lightly smacking his book on the redhead's head, "Too long."
Naruto looked somewhat sheepish, placing a hand on the creature's head, "I can never find a good name for my techniques, they're usually too long or too complicated, sometimes both."
Kakashi sighed but behind his mask he was smiling, "Like father like son I suppose, you do take more after sensei."
The two fell into a pleasant silence, the fox cracking before falling to dust, each returning to their occupation until a thought came back to Kakashi, flipping a page of his book.
"What was on your mind earlier?" his interest grew when he noticed his brother's reddening cheeks.
"I-... I developed feelings for someone."
Kakashi was amused by the embarrassment in the young boy's voice, picking up on the slight shake it had.
"Oh? My little brother has a little crush, how cute. Who's the lucky girl?"
He already had a good idea of who that might be, after all the boy only had relations with two girls, one of which the redhead view more as a sister. His amusement only grew when the redhead seemingly tried to disappear into his hoodie, sparks flying from the leaf as it crumpled around the boy's fingers, emitting some smoke.
He closed his book and put his free hand to his chin, closing his lone eye in an exaggerated thinking pose, humming as he pretended to think, "Could it be a certain blonde florist?" he was satisfied when he saw his brother's face go even redder, he chuckled, gently elbowing the redhead, "So, when do you plan on telling her then?"
Naruto shook his head, "She's into the Uchiha, not me. Even if she wasn't, I'm no good for her."
"Why's that?"
"She deserves better, there are better guys that can make her happy, I'm not one of them."
"What makes you so different from said other guys?"
Naruto placed a hand on his stomach, Kakashi understood, "I have a duty to a dear friend, I probably won't be in the village for years on end, if I ever come back. With my lineage and what I hold, I would put a large target on her, I can't in good conscience put her in so much danger or have her live a life on her own while I'm out in the world."
"How much do you like her?"
"I discovered yesterday that shadow clones transfer emotions as well. She came by to help me with the garden and while we were working my clones kept stealing glances at her and well." he trailed.
Kakashi nodded silently, "What is your plan of action then?"
"I will try to set her up with the Uchiha. Our graduation is in two weeks, maybe set up a date for the two of them after the exams."
"And what if it works out and they get together? What then?"
Kakashi could see the hurt in the boy's eyes at the prospect of that possibility, it was the same look he saw in Obito whenever Rin would cheer him on, a look of quiet acceptance, knowing the girl you liked wouldn't like you back, yet there was a light in those eyes, a distant hope that maybe, just maybe.
"I would be content that she's happy." the cyclops didn't miss the slight crack in the boy's voice.
"You would just sit there and watch as she lives out her life with someone else?"
"It doesn't matter how I feel about it, I just want her to be happy. That kind of love is not for me."
"Ever thought of what you'd do if she liked you?"
Naruto looked at his brother with genuine surprise, looking at him as if he grew a second and third head, as if the very idea of someone liking him back was in itself impossible. Kakashi found that reaction rather wholesome, in a bittersweet kind of way, but above all he was angry, not at Naruto, he was angry at that woman, the scars she gave the redhead cut deep, he could see it now. He won't sit idly by, he'll help the boy and push him in the right directions.
He gave him an eye smile, "Give it time, I'm sure you'll find the answer to that one." the cyclops offered, "In the meantime, try to focus on other things."
Naruto scoffed, "I can't play my flute or work on fuinjutsu all the time. I don't think my funds will last very long if I start cooking every time the image of Ino comes to mind."
"What about reading?"
"I'm starting to get a little bored with my current material, I've been thinking about adding a new book series, can't find anything interesting though."
Kakashi got a spark in his eye, fishing into his tool pouch and pulling out an orange book, presenting it to the redhead, "Read this then."
Naruto quickly recognized the book and sent an incredulous look to his older brother, "Ero-senin's books? Really?"
Kakashi eye smiled, "Just read the first chapter."
Naruto looked from the Jonin to the book, sighed and took the book, opening it to the first page. As Kakashi read, he stole glances over at his little brother, seeing the disinterested demeanor fade, replaced quickly with anticipation as his blue eyes jumped from one word to the next. He saw those eyes go wide, then squint slightly, curl in amusement, a blush spread on his face at certain points of the story, his body would slowly lean forward. Soon enough the redhead reached the end of the first chapter, he slowly looked up, his eyes staring somewhere in front of him, contemplating something, Kakashi smiled as he knew exactly what the boy was experiencing.
"It was... great." Naruto said, a certain spark in his eyes.
"Told you." the Jonin lazily answered, flipping a page of his own book.
"He left me the full collection when he left, I put it in a scroll and didn't give it a second thought."
"Well now you know what you were missing out on."
Naruto nodded before lifting his head looking to the side, Kakashi questioned it for a moment and followed the boy's gaze, further away near the bushes he could see it, a small pair of eyes staring at them, upon closer inspection he saw it was a small fox, still a kit, no older than a couple of weeks.
"Strange, I was sure foxes in Konoha had gone extinct after the villagers declared war on them as some sort of payback to the Kyubi."
"I noticed this one a while back, he's been spying on me, haven't seen any other, so he might be on his own."
They watched as the fox came out of the bushes and slowly made its way to the two, keeping close to the ground, stopping close to the redhead. Naruto slowly extended a hand, the kit smelled it and immediately made its way to the boy's lap, curling up into a ball. He didn't know why, but he felt a sort of kinship with the animal, perhaps having Kyubi sealed in him was the reason for it, did the other Jinchuriki feel the same towards the animals related to their beast?
"Well, he definitely seems to like you."
"Kiba said I reek of fox, maybe he thinks I'm one too." he carefully caressed the small fur ball.
"You're going to keep him?"
After a long moment of silence, the redhead leaned back against the tree, "I don't think I would mind."
"In any case, you should bring him to a veterinarian, have him checked out."
"I was thinking the same. You think the Inuzukas will accept? Foxes and dogs are in the same family, it shouldn't be too hard."
"It's worth a shot." Kakashi shrugged.
The two surrogate siblings walked through the village in the direction of the Inuzuka compound, Kakashi could see the dirty looks sent the boy's way, some showed great fear when they noticed the red fox kit cradled in his arms, hearing murmurs that the demon was multiplying. Unlike the Hyuga, Sarutobi and now nearly extinct Uchiha, the clans of Konoha didn't have huge walled off compounds due to their smaller numbers and influence, the only exceptions being the Nara clan as they herded deer, keeping their forest walled off and the Aburame, preferring the company of their bugs, being natural introverts and wanting to avoid making the general population uneasy, each of the other clans had a dedicated district throughout the village. The two arrived at the wooden arch decorated with carvings of canines and humans, the two fang markings representing the Inuzuka clan proudly displayed at the top. There were shops and civilians present, but the vast majority of the inhabitants bared the distinctive mark of the Inuzuka and had their dog companions near them, said clan members would stare at the redhead, while their dogs snarled and growled, smelling a fox.
"Do you know where the veterinarian is?" the redhead asked, keeping his eyes on the road ahead, unbothered by the stares.
"It's close to the clan head's estate, we aren't too far from it."
As they neared the large home Naruto caught a smell that was all too familiar to him by now, sighing as it approached them, he could also smell something else, another scent he encountered before, but he couldn't his finger on who it belonged to, he simply knew they were nearby, on a roof perhaps?
"Hey fox boy!" came a loud voice, taking the redhead out of his musing, "The hell are you doing in my territory?!"
"None of your concerns, Kiba."
Kakashi briefly looked up from his book at the feral looking boy, noticing the small white puppy hiding behind its companion's legs, "Oh? One of your little friends, Naruto? Are you not going to introduce me?"
Naruto snorted, "He's a nuisance, just ignore him." he said, carrying on and walking past the Inuzuka heir as if he wasn't there.
This got Kiba's blood boiling, it was one thing to be disrespected at the academy, but in his own turf, now that was unacceptable, ignoring Akamaru's plea to just let it go he turned around to swing at the back of the redhead's head, seeing the latter sidestep the hit, turning around to swipe Kiba's legs from under him sending the feral boy to the hard ground.
"Stay down dog boy, that's my last advice."
But predictably Kiba did not heed the warning, jumping to his feet and attacking the redhead once more, the latter disappeared confusing the Inuzuka. Kiba turned around to see him kneeling next to the silver haired Jonin, putting down a small red fox kit, gently patting its head before standing back up, by now a crowd was forming around them.
"I'll be a minute." he said to the other as he stood back up.
"Don't hurt him too bad, you guys graduate in two weeks." the man answered, sounding bored as he flipped another page of his book.
Kiba barely had time to shoot an insult that he saw Naruto suddenly appear in front of him, the wind sucked out of his lugs as he felt a fist dig into his stomach, he stumbled back, trying to regain his breath, as he did Naruto turned to look at the white puppy who immediately started to whimper, its ears pinned to its head, tail curled firmly between its legs, it laid down and kept whimpering, showing its submission.
'The dog has more common sense.' he thought, walking past the puppy.
Kiba regained his breath, seeing the redhead approach him, he could see his clansmen looking at him, expecting the heir to beat down the fox boy. He sent a right hook, once again Naruto side stepped it, although now the other boy grabbed on his wrist and with one quick motion, pulled the Inuzuka heir to him, raised his right arm only to send his elbow down on the other's shoulder. A loud crack was heard seconds before Kiba cried out in pain, holding the offending area, his right arm hanging limply at his side, the bone had been dislocated. Once again his legs were kicked from under him, as he made impact with the ground his head bounce, pain akin to being stabbed through the forehead shot to his brain as the fall broke his nose. He tried to get back up only to have the redhead's foot press against his head, keeping his face in the dirt, he turned his head, looking up at the redhead, seeing his eyes through the lenses of his goggles, he was looking down on him.
"You're pathetic, all that bark and no bite to show for it, you're just an overcompensating mutt. You are not on my level, you never will be on my level, so follow your partner's example and stay down, boy."
The redhead could feel a new chakra signature coming right for him, Chunin by the feel. He ducked the punch aimed at the back of his head, sending an elbow to the person's ribs only to have it blocked, taking the opportunity to flicker away. He appeared closer to Kakashi, looking over at his second aggressor, a woman of about eighteen, long brown hair worn in a ponytail, two locks framing her face over her large, black eyes, the fang-like tattoos outing her as an Inuzuka, three identical dogs with gray fur and white undersides coming next to her.
"May I ask why you attacked my little brother?" the girl asked.
Naruto pointed at the fox kit that remained next to the Jonin, "I'm looking for a veterinarian, he got in the way."
"Was dislocating his shoulder necessary?" she asked in a more stern tone.
"Maybe if he was kept on a tighter leash, I wouldn't have to discipline your rabbit dog of a brother." by now, the redhead was growing annoyed with the dog users.
This visibly angered her, "Attacking an Inuzuka in our district is cause for arrest."
Seeing where this was going Kakashi looked up from his book at the scene, he knew Hana after all she was the veterinarian they were looking for, she was a decent Chunin, nothing outstanding, her focus was more on tracking and providing care for her clan's dogs than outright fighting, he was curious to see how Naruto would hold his own. On his end, the redhead sighed, he only wanted to see a veterinarian, how was it this hard?
"So I take you want to fight too then?"
Hana lowered herself, her dogs doing the same, snarling, "I'm not going to sit there after you injured my little brother."
He reached for his goggles, pulling them down and mumbling the name of his technique, he opened his eyes and immediately Hana and her companions felt the pressure of the redhead's killing intent, she couldn't look away from those cold blue eyes as they bore into her soul. Hearing her dogs whimpering as they mimicked Akamaru, she couldn't blame them, she wasn't a stranger to being blasted with killing intent as it came with living alongside her mother, but this, this was different, completely different. This was the primal feeling of facing a superior predator, it triggered her inner fight or flight and her body chose to freeze under the cold gaze of the apex predator. She could feel his rage, his hatred crashing against her body, leaving her to feel like a little girl staring at the monster in her closet, her body shook like a leaf, the fear made her forget to even breath, not like she'd be able to even if she tried. Her instincts yelled at her to either submit or run, but her body betrayed her by refusing to move. She saw a shadow forming behind the boy, growing until it covered the sun itself, she saw it writhe, twisting in on itself, taking a shape saw once in her life, but one that had haunted her since she was five.
She was forced to look at it, the massive figure of the nine-tailed fox dwarfing the surrounding houses, its breath reaching all the way down to her, burning her skin like fire and reeking of blood and death. Those long tails swaying behind it like writhing snakes, its growling shaking the earth and rattling her to her bones. The fox raised its hand, reaching for the heavens, she didn't have it in her to move, the sound of her pounding heart echoed in her mind as she saw the limb coming down to crush her.
She gasped for air, falling to her hands and knees, taking deep labored breaths, casting fearful eyes at the boy as he pulled his goggles back up to cover his eyes. What was he? This didn't feel like any genjutsu she'd ever been exposed to up until now. No, this was pure killing intent, it was vile, a pit of hatred and barely restrained rage. She didn't dare to look at his eyes less she was put into another of those illusions, flinching when she heard him come closer, his feet coming in her field of vision.
"Can you direct me to your veterinarian now?" he asked simply
Hana nodded, unable to form words, her body still shaking, pointing at herself.
Naruto was going to ask another question but felt something, turning around he saw the source, a woman in the standard Jonin attire with long, spiky, untamed brown hair, next to her sat a large wolf dog missing it's left ear and wearing an eye patch over its right eye. He recognized her as the clan head, Tsume Inuzuka, so it was her scent he caught earlier. She had her hands firmly crossed over her chest, sending a disappointed glare to her children before her eyes turned to rest on the redhead.
"I see you made quite the entrance, Uzumaki." she said in an irritated tone.
"I only came to have the fox checked out. Is this how your clan treat everyone that enters your district?" he kept eye contact with the woman, he knew the woman had a temper and if it came to blows he would be out of his depth.
The woman's lips quirked slightly upwards, "No, excuse my pups. Kiba's a hotheaded idiot with an overprotective older sister."
"I just want to see the veterinarian, and we can call it even."
The woman then laid her eyes on the fox, "Don't you think it's foolish to bring a fox in a dog's territory, especially when some have been bred to hunt them."
He had caught the possible double meaning of her statement, "If any attempt is made on the fox, then I suppose some dogs will have to be put down."
Her eyes narrowed, and she flickered in front of the redhead, her arms still crossed, a hard look in her eyes, leaking some killing intent.
"Threatening my dogs in my own home is very dangerous, boy."
Naruto stood his ground, leaking some of his own killing intent, keeping his eyes trained on Tsume, the angle allowing her to see them through his goggles, "So is threatening the fox, woman."
The two stood there, glaring at each other, Kakashi kept a close eye on the situation, ready to intervene if things got out of hand. The spectators were in awe at the brave, stupid redhead, the member of the Inuzuka clan were wincing, Tsume had a reputation, she was top dog around here, any form of disrespect was met with a severe beat down, they could only imagine the hell she will put the redhead through.
Tsume was appraising the boy, she could see similarities with her old friend even though the boy took mostly after his father, he was calm and collected, but there was still some of Kushina's traits in him, that look in his eyes mainly, that defiance.
Tsume leaned in, "You're either brave or insane to talk to me like that."
Tsume noticed the fox was making its way to them and signalled for Kuromaru making sure the redhead saw it, the large dog dashed towards the kit, jaw open and snarling, as she expected the redhead blurred away, jumping between the fox and the dog, turning her head to see Kuromaru's jaw clamped on the boy's forearm, blood trickling down to the ground, she noticed the fierce glare he sent her through the goggles, a glare she could recognize amongst thousands, a glare that told you 'They will scrape your body off the fucking floor'. Naruto had been surprised by the jaw strength, he underestimated it, and his thin sheet of crystal armor had been bitten right through.
'You produced a fine pup Kushi, I guess you won our little bet.'
Satisfied, Tsume smiled before calling off Kuromaru, "You have guts, I give you that. You're her pup, alright." she spoke that last part under her breath, but by the sudden turn of the boy's head in her direction, she knew he heard her loud and clear. Then she turned to her own two pups. "Hana, get up." her daughter executed the order, standing up on shaky legs, not meeting the boy's eyes, "Look over that fox for our visitor. Patch him up while you're at it."
Naruto looked at his bleeding arm, feeling as Kyubi's chakra was already gathering in the area, healing him, watching as the wound slowly closed.
Tsume turned to the masked ninja, "And what are you doing here, Hatake?"
Kakashi only eye smiled at the clan head and pointed to his young charge, "Oh, I'm only accompanying him, don't mind me, pretend I'm not even here."
With that the three left along with the canine triplets, the spectators returned to their current activities, Tsume's eyes landed on her son as he sat up, holding his shoulder, cursing. Her eyes softened ever so slightly, but she remained stern, coming up to her pup.
"What did you learn?" She said, looking expectantly at her son.
"That the damn fox boy is lucky I went easy on him." Kiba mumbled.
His mother scoffed, "Don't flatter yourself. He came in our territory and made you look like a punk in front of the clan. As far as they're concerned, you're the boy's puppy now. I told you to not neglect your training and now look where slacking off got you, a dislocated shoulder, a broken nose and mouthful of dirt." She chuckled to herself, smirking at her son, "How do you plan on becoming Hokage when you're so pathetic compared to your peers?"
"What do you want from me?! He was trained by a Sanin!"
"So? Last I checked, no one's been teaching the Uchiha brat, yet he's the rookie of the year and handed you your own ass on multiple occasions. You have a clan behind you and you're squandering it. Bottom line is, these two have trained to get where they are while you sat on your ass."
She saw her son clenching the fist of his good arm, Akamaru whimpering as it laid his head on his partner's thigh.
She turned to leave, "You have potential Kiba, you and Akamaru can be one of the greatest duos of our clan. It's up to you to cultivate that potential." Kiba looked up at his mother as she looked over her shoulder, "Go get your shoulder checked out and put back in place, dinner will be ready at seven." and with that the woman left.
Hana was nervous, not because of what she was doing, no she had checked up and treated enough dogs that it became second nature, foxes were the same just smaller, more compact. No, she was nervous about being in such a small space with the redhead, still feeling the after effects of that strange technique, she had kept her eyes either down or at the small kit she was checking up on. Her dogs were huddled in a corner, ears still pinned against their heads, she had thought she could easily take on the redhead or send him packing then go on with her day, but in her haste she didn't carefully evaluate the situation. She was spending an increasing amount of time taking care of the clan dogs, and she couldn't remember the last time she really pushed herself in her training since she became a Chunin. She had stagnated while this boy had been training like crazy, his presence was truly frightening.
When he noticed she had stopped, Naruto looked up at the medic, "How is he? Found anything?"
Hana flinched but gathered her courage, "Nothing. He's healthy, just a little underweight. I will give him a couple shots and prepare his file, then you can be on your way." she was proud she managed to speak without a stutter.
Naruto said nothing and simply returned his attention to the slumbering kit. Hana made sure to give every necessary shot to the kit as quickly as she could, wanting to be as far away from the redhead as humanly possible. Giving the documents to the redhead, watching him carefully pick up the still sleeping fox before him and Kakashi were on their way, he had tried to pay for her services, but she declined, offering free service as her apology for the attack.
After the two had walked a decent distance away from the district, Kakashi eyed his brother.
"What was that back there? What did you do to Hana?"
"It's one of my original jutsu."
"Is it a sort of genjutsu?."
Naruto shook his head, "I'm not adept at genjutsu, but I created a technique that works like one. I use my killing intent, saturating it with my hatred. When killing intent is used usually people don't direct it at one singular person, they just let it flood the air, I found a way to focus into a singular target through my eyes, flooding their body with it much like a genjustu sends the user's chakra to the target. Kyubi said I have about as much hatred as I have chakra, so the effects are quite potent. Although I need direct eye contact, that's why I remove my goggles."
"Just pure killing intent." Kakashi mused, seeing the boy nod
Kakashi felt a shudder run throughout his body, Hana and her dogs looked like they had seen the Shinigami itself, he knew first hand how much chakra an Uzumaki could have, to think the boy's hate was this abundant was a frightening realization. Along the way they stopped at a pet shop where Kakashi advised Naruto on which brands of food and shampoo he should get. A large dog bed was brought along with a couple of treats and some toys, everything was paid for before it was sealed away.
Kakashi leaned on the door frame, looking on amused as two Naruto kneeled near the bath tub, one struggling to keep the kit still while the other scrubbed off the dirt and grime from its fur, said kit was thrashing around and screaming bloody murder despite the gentle movements of its new master. He was sure he could hear some cursing coming from the redhead at the lack of cooperation, and the kit shaking off the water once more. Eventually he pulled the fox out of the tub and brought it to the other clone who gently enveloped it in a warm towel, slowly drying the kit and bringing it close to the ground, the brothers looked at each other as they saw the small canine high tail it out of the accursed bathroom with speed neither of them had thought possible for something so small.
Kakashi stayed a bit longer before he had to leave, Naruto looked at the wall mounted clock, there wasn't a specific time set, but he figured their games of shogi would take a long time, best to come early. He made a clone to keep company to the fox, grabbing a notebook before he body flickered away appearing on the Hokage tower's roof, sliding the window open as usual seeing the Hokage reading over some documents, the usual stacks of paperwork were gone making the table seem much lager than it first seemed.
"Good evening Naruto." the aged leader said before stamping and signing the document.
"Good evening Hokage-sama."
The redhead entered the office, closing the window as he saw the Hokage waving the ANBU away and letting him activate his own privacy seal. While Hiruzen finished up he took the time to study the Hokage, the man looked older than usual, from the little experience he had it meant that there was a council meeting today, he could smell the faint trace of Kosuke's scent in the air, looking to his right he saw three scrolls at the edge of the table, all three smelled of toad oil.
"Did Ero-senin send those reports?"
Hiruzen looked up for a moment, confused at whom the redhead was referring to before it clicked, "Yes, in the past year a new village has emerged in Rice country, we don't know much about it, so I asked Jiraiya to look into the affair."
"You mean the Sound village?"
"Ah, so you heard about it?"
Naruto nodded, "We visited the outskirts during our travels with Ero-senin. Back then it was just mercenaries banding together, I guess it lasted more than a couple of months after all."
"That it did." Responded the aged Kage, leaning back in his chair after signing the finale document, searching for his pipe.
"I assume the meeting was about the report, then."
"Yes, no one knows who is behind the village, as the local Daimyo has denied any and all affiliations with it. There are rumors the leaders of Sound and Sand will meet but knowing the kind of man Rasa is, I don't believe he will meet someone he has no intel on."
"But you have some theories on whom that person is, correct?"
Hiruzen nodded, as he stuffed his pipe with tobacco he seemed to gain another couple of years, "Jiraiya said he found evidence that Orochimaru might be involved, although he wants to confirm his suspicions first."
Silence fell between the two as Naruto reviewed the information, if Orochimaru was in fact the one behind that village, things could get very complicated quick.
"Assuming it's Orochimaru, why would he need an entire village? From what Ero-senin told me, he isn't the type to bother himself with the busy work of being a leader."
"That is what scares me, Orochimaru never does something without reason, if it is him behind the Sound village, and he is reaching out to the Sand village it can only mean one thing."
Naruto took a moment to go over the information as his leader lit up his pipe, "They are on either side of our borders. Do you think our relations with Sand are really that bad?"
Hiruzen got up from his chair, wanting to stretch his body a little, going to the window and inviting the redhead to stand with him.
"Our relationship with Sand has reached its breaking point. During the last war they were the first to pull away from the conflict with nothing to show for, the Sand has always been the weakest of the great Five and the last war only made that point more obvious. Due to their poor performance, the Wind Daimyo has been sending the high paying missions to us primarily as we came out of the war in better shape than all the other nations, leaving his country with scraps. Over time this soured Sand-Leaf relations, it wasn't uncommon for Sand nins to 'accidentally' attack Leaf nins, I believe Rasa is itching for a way to get back at the Leaf."
"What about the other nations? Mist is still in the middle of a civil war, but that still leaves out Cloud and... Rock."
"We have a rocky relation with Cloud since the Hyuga incident, as of late they've been flaunting their perfect Jinchuriki, but besides that they haven't made any move. As for Rock." the elderly man side eyed the redhead, "Since the last war, Leaf and Rock are in a Cold War, they've been rebuilding their strength after the massive casualties your father inflicted on them. Although since the Kyubi attack and your father's death they've been testing our borders, they've gotten very bold as of late, and I fear they might join up with Orochimaru."
"Both of them want to get back at the Leaf." Naruto furrowed his brow as he looked over the setting sun, "You're telling me all this because there might be a war coming." catching the older man's shoulder drop.
Hiruzen reluctantly nodded, taking a large puff, "As our Jinchuriki you will have the duty to fight for the Leaf." he had expected the sudden spike in killing intent flooding the room, seeing the redhead's face slowly turn to look up at him, "I'm sorry, but there is no other way." Hiruzen turned to look at the boy, "Iwa and Suna each have Jinchurikis at their disposal, the Kyubi will be needed if they are deployed, you will be needed."
"I refuse to fight my own kind for them." the redhead said, pointing at the village.
"What about for Shikamaru, Choji or Kakashi?" Hiruzen knew this was a dirty tactic but his duty as Hokage took precedence over his personal feelings, especially in times like these, "This village your parents died to protect, this village Jiraiya dedicates his life to protecting." the redhead was visibly taken off guard, "What about for Ino? Wouldn't you fight so all of them can be safe in their own home? So she can live in the safety of the village?"
This had evidently shaken the redhead as he turned back to stare outside, killing intent had long since stopped leaking out of him, Hiruzen observed carefully as the boy's eyes drifted to look in the direction of the flower shop. In his mind Naruto was questioning this himself, if he was faced with this choice, the people he has bonds with or the Biju, who would he choose? Would he have to choose? This was never a part of the plan, he had never counted on being close to anyone beyond Jiraiya. He was taken out of his musing when a hand landed on his shoulder, looking up at its owner.
"I do not expect an answer, Naruto, I just want you to think it over."
The two remained silent, Hiruzen took a couple more puffs as he watched over the village, he had never enjoyed war, he had gone against the entire council to end the last war and not push their advantage, he had asked himself many times if that was the right thing to do. Now a decade later and the prospect of war was back on the table. If the conflict breaks out Kumo might attempt to gain the Byakugan again or even worse the Sharingan, Kiri had enough on their plate as it was. Waterfall was slowly but surely gaining notoriety since they managed to get a Jinchuriki under their thumb. His eyes drifted to the redhead, seeing the ghostly visages of Minato and Kushina looking disapprovingly at him, putting their son front and center in another potential war at his young age.
'Hashirama-sensei. It seems your vision for a world where children can just be children and not soldiers is still out of my reach. I'm sorry I failed you.'
He took another deep puff before turning to look at the redhead.
"Now, then, I assume you came to show me your research so far."
"Yes, I experimented on small mammals as we agreed."
He produced the notebook, channeling his chakra to activate a seal before handing it to the Hokage, the aged man looked over the notes and research contained within the pages, the more he read, the more he thought of his first wayward student. Naruto was nowhere close to Orochimaru in terms of intellect, but he could see the way the redhead thought in those notes, the words he used, they all made him think of the experiment notes he had found in the third Sanin's lab, wondering if he should call on Inoichi to erase Naruto's memory of that technique to avoid another potential Orochimaru from rising up.
"Eventually I will to try it on humans." the redhead started, before the Hokage could object he continued, "Death row inmates will do just fine, they're already scheduled to die so at least then their death will mean something."
Hiruzen thought it over before nodding, "Under very close supervision."
"Naturally."
Once the Hokage finished reading the redhead's notebook, he handed it back to him, dismissing him in the same move. Naruto opened the window and stood on the edge for a moment.
"I'm sorry." he said
Hiruzen was confused, but waited for the redhead to continue.
"About your wife, I mean, you said she died on the night I was born. I'm sorry."
The Third's expression softened, reaching up to place a hand on the boy's lower back.
"Don't be my boy, it wasn't your fault, you were just born after all. Go and enjoy your evening, you have to go to the academy tomorrow."
And with that the redhead flickered away, stopping in front of the traditional styled home that was the Nara household. He knocked lightly on the door, hearing footsteps coming closer, seeing Yoshino open the door and greet him with a bright smile.
"Good evening Naruto, glad you could make it."
"Good evening Yoshino-san."
The older woman allowed him in, motioning for him to go to the living room, finding Shikamaru laying on the couch, seemingly asleep, seeing Choji sitting across from the Nara heir.
"I'll be off to the Yamanakas, you boys have fun and don't burn down the house, I'll be back later tonight." said the Nara matriarch as she left.
"Ah, good evening Naruto, didn't see you." Choji said between each munch.
"Evening Choji, Shikamaru."
"Shikamaru's asleep Naruto."
"He's awake, his breathing is usual and a bit uneven." the redhead answered pulling his goggles down
The one in question sighed and sat up, "Evening."
The lazy genius got up and went to get the shogi board along with some drinks, sitting at the table and inviting Naruto to sit across from him, each organizing their respective pieces.
"Do you remember how to play?" the Nara heir asked, looking up at the redhead
"I played every now and again."
Shikamaru was frustrated, he quickly found out that in Shogi Naruto was an even more troublesome person, every single time the redhead moved a piece seemingly at random, throwing him off his game and forcing him to rethink his strategy. For his part Choji was looking over their game, not understanding everything but by Shikamaru's look he knew the Nara was frustrated while Naruto looked rather calm. The Nara sighed internally again as Naruto moved an entirely different piece than what he planned for, having to rack his brain to analyze the situation over again.
The redhead's strategy was simplistic, unorthodox but there was one glaring weakness, the redhead often left his important pieces exposed, something that he used to either bait or distract him.
"Check." the redhead said.
Shikamaru was confused and looked over the board before he saw it, a piece he dismissed earlier as a faint, he sighed and straightened back up.
"You got this one." he drawled as they rearranged the pieces.
The two engaged in another game before Naruto spoke up.
"How are you two progressing with your chakra trainings?" he asked
"It's hard, but my dad said to focus on control first before moving on to nature transformation." The round boy answered.
"I do it every now and again, but walking on walls is useful when I want a better look at the clouds." the Nara said, grimacing as he rolled his shoulder, "Although that physical conditioning is troublesome."
"It feels like that now, but it's good for your chakra in the long run." he moved a piece.
"You said it, but you never explained why." Choji joined in
Naruto turned to his other friend, "Did they not cover chakra in the academy?"
"They did, but never said physical training is good for your chakra." Shikamaru answered.
Naruto furrowed his brow, "The academy curriculum is really behind, then. Chakra is a mix of physical and spiritual energy, to strengthen your chakra you need to work on both the mind and the body. For example, Shikamaru you have a sharp mind, but your body is weak, so you're not at your full capacity, not working on your body will only hinder the strength of your chakra. Being physically ill or mentally unwell will also negatively affect your chakra performance, just as much as being determined or motivated can make one's chakra shoot in power."
"Troublesome." was all Shikamaru had to say about the matter.
The rest of the early evening was spent talking and playing shogi, when Naruto had to leave the final score was ten to six for Shikamaru, the Nara having slowly but surely caught on to the basic thought process of the redhead. As he walked, Naruto couldn't help but think about his discussion with the Hokage, if war broke out would he accept to go to the front lines? Would he fight other Jinchurikis if it meant protecting the home of the people important to him? As he walked past a convenience store he stopped, stepping back and peering inside, there in one of the refrigerators was his favorite brand of popsicles, the one Jiraiya always shared with him. He went in, looking to his left to see an old lady at the counter, she looked back at him and gave him a welcoming smile, something that immediately put him off.
He walked to the refrigerator, eyes locked on the box of blue raspberry flavored popsicles, he had been annoyed when he couldn't find that specific brand when he looked around the stores, he opened the door and took the four remaining boxes. When he reached the register the woman was still smiling at him, when he focused on her, he couldn't sense any malicious intent. She simply rang him up, he narrowed his eyes, the price wasn't inflated, it was exactly what he should pay for, and he was sure the popsicles were far from their expiration date.
"I know who you are." he heard her say, her smile never living her face as she placed a hand on his shoulder, "Thank you for containing the nine tails, don't listen to the rest of the village you and Lord Fourth are this village's heroes."
Naruto was taken aback for lack of a better word, he didn't know how to respond.
"I... Thank you." he managed to say, still confused as he bagged his purchase.
The older woman laughed, "You're welcomed anytime."
"I'll remember, have a good evening." he said as he walked out of the store
"Thank you, you too, dear."
When he reached his home his clone dispersed, the little fox rushing to him, circling his legs as he walked to the kitchen, putting the popsicles in the refrigerator, taking out some ingredients and washing his hands before he started to cook. He put some rice and sauce in a plastic bowl and filling a plastic bottle with some tap water, giving the fox a bit of meat before he flashed away to the bunker, making his way to the guest room. He gave his prisoner the food and water, taking the other empty bowl, before he started to leave.
"How long are you going to keep me around?" he asked
"Until I finish what I have to do. You will know when it's time." The door was then closed and locked.
The redhead went to the storage room, the blood seal activated opening the door for him, inside was a large room, two cages off to the corner, a white and black rabbit in each of them respectively. He took out a tag from his hoodie, opened one of the cages and grabbed the rabbit by its ears, slapping the tag on it's body, paralyzing the rodent. After laying the white rabbit down he grabbed the black one, holding it to his chest, gently caressing its head to calm it down before a loud crunch was heard, the rodent's head hung uselessly from its broken neck as it was laid down, stepping back a few paces away, standing over an unraveled scroll, sprinkling some the rabbit's fur onto it.
'Tiger, snake, dog, dragon.'
He finished the sequence by clapping his hands together, watching the scroll activate, the black fur spread out in the form of a special seal, forming an intricate pattern on the floor with the white rabbit in the center. Dust and ash started to encase the living rodent's body, by the squeals of the white rabbit he assumed the process was quite painful, by the end the white rabbit had been completely covered, taking the shape of the black rabbit with visible cracks along its body. Almost as soon as the process was over the black rabbit started to freak out, running around everywhere in the room, with his limited control over the technique it took some time for the redhead to stop it, eventually canceling the jutsu all together and watching the newly reincarnated rabbit fall into a pile of ashes and dust.
'Still needs work.' he though looking at the pile.
The roof was divided into thirty-five tiles in five by seven grids, each tile had seventy-three grains cross woven in a thatch pattern, so there were exactly two thousand five hundred and fifty-five grains in total, that meant he was still awake. His bed was soft, comfortable, his blanket was warm, his stomach was full, and he had completed all his tasks of the day. There should be nothing keeping him from sleeping, he flipped his pillow to the cooler side once more, turned in his bed again and hugged Yoko to his chest but still nothing, not even the comfort from his plushy helped him find sleep. His mind was tormented, over and over, assaulted by thoughts of his blonde friend, he wondered if it was really him growing more affectionate with her the more he thought about her or if it was some twisted god trying to drive him crazy.
Soon he decided to step out of his bed, walking downstairs to the refrigerator and grabbing one of the frozen treats. There he sat on the back porch, a popsicle in hand, his eyes staring up at the moon. After he saves the Biju, what then? What will he do next? He never really thought of anything beyond that, so focused on his goal. If he survives, will he try to have a family? Continue the Uzumaki line? Maybe build a house near the water in Uzushio, live off the land and sea? Would he end up with Ino? Would she like that? A simple life?
He was interrupted in his train of thought when he felt something on his thigh, looking down to see the fox had placed its front paws on his thigh to try and sniff at the popsicles, the redhead snapped it in half and brought one half to the kit who started to lick and nibble on it while he took a bite off his own.
Hiruzen was sitting at home, enjoying some sake after a long day. His son was still out on a mission and his grandson had long since been put to bed. Now, the old man simply wanted to enjoy the few hours of freedom he was allowed before another day started. He was interrupted when one of the helpers came in the room.
"Hiruzen-sama." she said, gaining the attention of the old man, "It's Danzo-sama, he wants a word with you."
Hiruzen sighed, "Bring him in."
Soon the elderly man was joined by his old friend, the crippled man sat across from the aged leader, both silently looking at each other, the helper coming back with tea, placing it on the table and serving them before quickly leaving.
"What can I do for you, Danzo?"
"Have you heard of the small fight between the Kyubi container and the Inuzuka heir?
"
"I was told that Kiba was the one to initiate the fight with Naruto, yes. Tsume came by my office to clear the situation and was not seeking charges against Naruto."
"Tsume may not, but the villagers will see it in another way. They will think the Kyubi container is lashing out. After all, a child abused by a village will seek to burn it down to feel its warmth. He has already a relationship with the Ino-Shika-Cho heirs, and the people are uncomfortable."
"Danzo, Jiraiya has told us it is best to leave Naruto alone. He has only lashed out when provoked."
"You put too much trust in that bumbling oaf. What if he was wrong?"
"I would much rather trust my student's judgment over your plan to make Naruto one of your pawns."
Danzo opened his lone eye, looking at his friend and rival.
"You are making the same mistake again, Hiruzen. Like with the boy's mother, had you allowed me to take her in, she would've been a perfect asset to the village. Now more than ever, we need a weapon, you know the signs as well as I do, war is coming."
"I will do all in my power to stop it from happening."
"Like you did when the boy was young? Put him in an orphanage and pray for the best? Or when you foolishly accepted to receive Kumo's diplomat and bent to their demands, causing a larger rift form between the main and lower branch of the Hyuga clan? Or when you couldn't prevent the massacre of the Uchiha clan by one of their deranged members?"
Hiruzen was silent.
"Or perhaps will you do your best, like you did when you allowed Orochimaru to leave because you couldn't bring yourself to kill your own student?"
The room was instantly flooded with killing intent as Hiruzen glared at his former comrade.
"Leave my home, Danzo."
Danzo looked on unflinching, using his cane to help pull himself up, "Think careful, Hiruzen."
And with that, the war hawk left the Sarutobi residence, leaving the Hokage alone with his thoughts.