Twin1: Whimper. (ducks) Don't kill me! I'm sorry this took so long! I don't know why, this was written before I even posted the last chapter. I choose to blame my editor.
Twin2: Leave me out of this. You forgot to write the middle scene until last night, remember?
Twin1: SHADDUP!
Chapter Six: Jinchuuriki
Naruto lifted his head suddenly, stilling his movements. His head tilted back, raising his nose as he tried to find the scent he thought he'd caught a flash of on the warm morning breeze. It didn't take Kakashi-sir long to notice that he had stopped moving, and make his way back through the moving circus to reach him.
"Naruto? Hey, Naruto, are you alright?" he asked, reaching to touch the frozen child. Naruto turned confused, gentle eyes to the human, a frown caressing his golden face.
"There's something…" he trailed off then, distracted in tone and stance. Kakashi-sir clicked his fingers before the jinchuuriki's face, making Naruto jump and snap to attention. "Sorry, sir!" he said automatically.
Kakashi-sir was watching him carefully, wearing a – suspicious? Confused? Worried? Naruto wasn't sure – expression as he carefully placed a hand on Naruto's arm.
"You don't have to call me sir, just try to keep, up," he said. Naruto nodded obediently, making to follow the Handler to catch up to the group they were guarding, but froze when he caught the strange smell again, stronger this time.
A moment later, chaos exploded.
Screams echoed as a group of humans – seven male one female two males kits one male alpha heading leader there! – launched themselves from the trees on either side of the road, catching the circus in a perfect ambush-type attack.
Naruto froze, watching the humans under his Handler and Kakashi-sir react, watching the humans under Maro-Master scramble to run, to hide in their lumbering wagons and caravans, as the newcomers dispersed throughout and began attacking, shoving people aside as they rifled through the humans' possessions.
He felt himself instantly in battle-mode, his claws lengthening and hardening into cruel points, his canine teeth extending and sharpening until they reached his chin, something under his skin bubbling with the horrible heat that came with bloodshed.
Then the Sasuke-kit attacked one of the invaders, drawing blood with his knife, and suddenly Naruto was wrestling with his dark side once more.
Intruders! Kill them! Tear them apart and drink their blood! Scatter their teeth and feast on their flesh!
No! Humans... can't attack without orders, Naruto told himself. I have to wait... can't...
Ah, I smell it, the blood, the fear. I want to cause it – I want to feel their lifeforce on my claws, soaking my fur, I want to watch their terror as their life fades away –
I cannot attack humans without orders! Naruto screeched in his mind, Not without orders! Never without orders! Master must say to attack! I must not –
"Naruto!"
Kakashi-sir's shout had Naruto looking up, his dark side wrenching enough control to make him hopeful. He was hard to hear through the clash of battle and screams of frightened humans, but Naruto narrowed his eyes and focused his hearing on the man.
"Move!" he was shouting. "Get around behind-"
He was cut off as he moved to engage one of the invading men, but the damage was done. A shudder ran through the entirety of Naruto's frame as the words echoed in his head – a command.
A command his Handlers used. A battle instruction.
Suddenly, it was enough, and Naruto was lost in the confusing sea that was his dark side. The blonde surrendered himself to the feeling, letting his conscious, gentle self fall and fade and be smashed to pieces by the all-consuming ocean of bloodlust and rage that rode through him, raising him up and filling him like a drug.
His lips drew back in a feral snarl, and he leapt into the fray, a mindless machine of destruction.
Kakashi hadn't been surprised by the attack, not really: this area was infamous for its bandits. Indeed, it seemed that they had been attacked by a band of ex-ninja – probably not high-level: no more skilled than chuunin, after whatever valuables the circus happened to be carrying.
The jounin took a moment to let a sneer curl his hidden lips at the thought of shinobi stooping so low as to use their skills for petty theft and highway robbery, as he raced to meet them head-on.
He was close enough to see surprise flit across the face of one of the men – wearing a slashed Kiri hitai-ate – as Sasuke intercepted him, getting in a good blow with his kunai before they skidded apart.
"Ninja!" he spat, disgusted, inspecting his injured arm and then peering at his attacker. "From Konoha?"
"No, we're from the Village Hidden in the Sarcasm," Toshi drawled, somehow mixing mockery and brawling as he chose to forgo taijutsu and simply tackle a small, thirteen-ish boy to the ground and deal him several rabbit punches to the face before he was grabbed and dragged back by one of the boy's allies.
Kakashi fended off an attack and looked around, eye widening when he saw Naruto, pale and frozen, eyes flashing disconcertingly from red to blue and swirling rapidly.
"Naruto!" he hollered to his Sensei's child, "Move! Get around behind-" He broke off and dealt a punishing blow to one of the raiders, protecting a clown in the process, before finishing, "-the wagons, hide!"
A shudder ran down his back as he suddenly felt a wave of power being released, power he hadn't felt in fifteen years.
Kyuubi.
Frightened, he spun around to see the source of the power – was Kyuubi back? Had it escaped? Was he going to die here? – and saw a sight that truly, utterly terrified him.
Naruto had dropped forward onto all fours as his posture changed noticeably. Red chakra swirled around him, and his features became more animal and wild. His eyes were blood red and glowing as he snarled, and Kakashi's heart lurched to see Sensei's face mutating into such a feral countenance.
With a battle-scream that turned his blood to half-frozen slush, Naruto launched himself into the fight, and Kakashi gasped in horror as the boy Toshi had knocked over was torn to pieces in an instant by the enraged jinchuuriki.
As Naruto wheeled, leaping onto the back of another of the nuke-nin and burying his fangs viciously into the man's neck, claws tearing bloody gouges in his chest and sides, the Hatake was confronted for the first time with exactly what Minato had done to this child, exactly what he contained.
The realisation sparked a spiral of memories that crashed over him: Kyuubi, attacking the village; Minato, tears marking his face as he drew the seal; the bodies piled on the battlefield; the screams of the wounded…
Panting, Kakashi flickered his chakra, the signal he had practiced to bring his genin team to his side. Thankfully, they obeyed his call for once, flocking to his side, questions in their faces.
He didn't bother to answer their queries, grabbing Sakura and Toshi around their waists and dragging them backwards, settling behind an overturned wagon and forcing them to their knees.
"Stay here!" he ordered, grabbing Sasuke and adding him to the pile. "No, I mean it! This just got very dangerous, and I promise you, if you try to fight this battle, you will die! This time you will obey me, and you will stay right here."
Not giving them any chance to protest, Kakashi bolted back out to the fight, rapidly bundling the circus folk out of the way, forcing them together and guiding them to relative safety.
Finally, it seemed most of the people he was employed to protect were reasonably safe and Kakashi was free to turn back to watch the destruction.
The missing nin had obviously decided to cut their losses and flee, and were scrambling to evacuate. Kakashi watched as Naruto chased and attacked them one by one, following a fairly primal pattern of leaping onto their backs and tearing at their vulnerable throat and gut, leaving them in pieces by the time he felled them.
It was over suddenly, and what seemed like too quickly. Kakashi estimated that around half of the attacking force had managed to escape, and blinked in surprise at the way Naruto didn't stray out of sight of the circus party, just chasing the enemy to some invisible limit in an attempt to kill them before they crossed it.
When it was done, Naruto slowly turned in a circle, head swaying back and forth as he searched for survivors. He crept, still on all fours, past the remains of his victims, sniffing each one as if to confirm that it was dead.
Eventually, his circuit brought him face-to-face with Kakashi, and the Hatake tensed, not quite sure if he needed to be ready to fight off the boy or not.
Naruto settled back on his changed haunches and watched him with those knowing red eyes, blood covering him and dripping from his golden hair. It took a moment for Kakashi to realise he was waiting, and swallowed the fear in his throat nervously.
Should he…? It was worth a shot, right?
"Enough, Naruto," he said, more firmly than he felt. "I want you to stop now."
The effect was instantaneous. Blue flooded back into his eyes, mingling with the red to form the odd mixture Kakashi was used to, and the boy's features became instantly more human, back to what they were before the attack.
For a moment, a split second, they stared at each other, before Naruto crumpled forwards, collapsing face-down in the dirt with a moan, and lay still.
Very, very carefully, Kakashi crouched next to him and tentatively placed a hand on his head, then shifted it down to take the kid's pulse. His heart was beating, so he carefully rolled Naruto over onto his back, ignoring the protesting whimper and the way Naruto attempted to curl up.
He seemed to be asleep. Exhausted.
Maybe… drained?
Gathering Naruto's form up in his arms, he stood warily and called to the others in general.
"Okay! Show's over, people – we can keep moving. Everybody up, let's go."
Slowly, movement stirred around him as people began creeping out of their hiding places. In a wave of pink, Maro scrambled out from under a wagon and trotted to join Kakashi.
"What the hell was that, ninja?" he demanded. Kakashi adjusted Naruto in his arms.
"Naruto has a unique gift," he said guardedly.
"I'll say!" scoffed Maro. "More like he's half-animal. Now, it's not escaped my notice he hasn't done much of anything around here, an' I definitely think a feral half-human like that would be a nice addition to my show. How d'you make him turn it on?"
"Turn it on?" Kakashi snapped, his nerves frayed to breaking point by the battle. "Naruto is not a radio, or a performing poodle! And as for 'not much of anything', take a good look around you. See the four butchered nuke-nin? Naruto did all of that."
With an angry huff, he left to check on his other students, leaving Maro scowling amongst the carnage.
Sarutobi was just about to finish the third draft of an official announcement concerning the policing of water access and various legislative changes thereof which had been due to be released… Tuesday last week.
With a bit of a sigh, he moved to dip his brush into his inkwell to add his signature on the tail of the scroll. Once he did that, this stupid thing would be done and dusted, ready for distribution. The brush ducked into the neck of the glass inkwell, and came up just as dry as it had entered. Sarutobi checked the small glass bottle and realised that yes, he had run out of ink.
"Oh, for the love of… Akirai!" He raised his voice to call for the chuunin just outside the door. The door opened and the woman in uniform outside poked her head in.
"Yes, Hokage-sama?"
"Please fetch me some more ink," the Sandaime requested politely. Akirai's head bobbed as she bowed a little.
"Yes, sir. Sir, Morino Ibiki has arrived. Should I let him in?"
Sarutobi looked up, surprised. "Oh, of course. Yes, let him in."
The chuunin disappeared and a moment later the scarred Head of Torture and Interrogation Division was walking into the room, a manila folder tucked under his left arm. "Hokage-sama," Ibiki greeted, nodding his head.
"Ibiki," Sarutobi replied in turn, indicating with his depressingly ink-free brush for Ibiki to come in and stand before the desk. "I take it you have some news for me?"
The interrogator nodded tightly, moving closer and offering the file to his leader. "We have finally tracked down the man who purchased Uzumaki Naruto from his abductor," he said without flinching or sugar-coating. Sarutobi felt a jolt run up his spine like electricity, and reached for the file a little too eagerly.
The day Naruto had shown him that little copper plate secured to the nape of his neck, Intelligence had been trying to locate his so-called 'master'. Flipping the file open, Sarutobi looked over its contents, a series of facts about one Nakamura Makoto.
An incredibly rich, incredibly paranoid, incredibly well-insulated member of Tea Country, making him an untouchable political target.
Damn it. Bang went 'abduct and assassinate' as an option.
"What can you tell me about him?" the Hokage asked, trusting Ibiki to distil out the important information while he perused its entirety at his leisure. Ibiki clasped his hands behind his back and began to speak.
"Nakamura is rich and isolated. His property is in the middle of Tea Country, well defended. Officially, he's as straight-laced as they come, not so much as a late tax return to his name. Unofficially…"
"Unofficially?" Sarutobi prompted. Ibiki gave a wry smile.
"Pick a felony. He's not a crime lord – closer to a corrupt politician, actually – but his name can be linked to kidnappings, assassinations, tax evasions, smuggling, theft, blackmail, rigged elections, bribery, and all number of other things that make us shinobi all tingly inside." Sarutobi normally chuckled at Ibiki's comments of this nature: today he just shook his head.
"The long and short of it is that he's powerful. I don't think we can take him on and come away without sparking another war," the Torture and Interrogation specialist admitted. The Sandaime nodded, leaning back in his chair and placing a hand over his eyes with a tired sigh.
"I was afraid of that," he admitted. No matter how dear Naruto was to him, or how much he wanted to hurt the man who had destroyed the boy, the cost would be too high, the danger too great to risk on one (arguably unsalvageable) life anyway.
"Nakamura seems to be a collector of sorts – I believe he has gathered several other jinchuuriki besides Naruto, but my informants are annoyingly tight-lipped on the subject." Ibiki crossed his arms and gave an annoyed sort of grunt. "Besides, they're affiliated with the other hidden villages, not with us, so it doesn't really matter. Still, if it comes down to it, Nakamura may well send them to retrieve Naruto. Even a single jinchuuriki could… well, I'm sure I don't need to tell you, sir, what demons are capable of." The old Hokage nodded grimly, feeling his heart grow cold at the thought of two or more humans wielding the powers of Hell at their fingertips tearing down the village walls to get to Naruto.
"And the collar?" he asked, knowing the answer. Ibiki shook his head.
"Kakashi was right – chakra-sensitive alloy. Damn thing's stuck there. Short of abducting whoever put it on, I can't find a way of getting it off without killing the kid."
The old Hokage sighed again and nodded his acceptance wearily. "I understand, Ibiki."
There was a knock on the door before it opened, revealing the chuunin Sarutobi had sent in search of ink. She came in quickly, giving Ibiki a respectful wide berth, and placed the ink on the leader's desk, taking the empty inkwell with her when she retreated.
"For now, I think the best course of action is to do nothing," he decided when she was gone and the door was closed. "Naruto still has no understanding of the truth, and would as soon return to Nakamura as stay – sooner, actually, I get the feeling he's counting the days until he can return. Until we sway him, there is little we can do."
Ibiki nodded. "Yes, Hokage-sama," he said. He left quietly, and Sarutobi took a moment to settle his disappointment before he dipped his brush into his new inkwell and lowered it to the scroll he'd been working on to add his signature.
As he applied pressure to the brush to write, the stick of wood snapped along a fault line, splattering ink all over his announcement as the brush broke.
"Oh for the love of the gods!"
Naruto was floating, riding that warm fuzzy feeling that always filled him in moments like this, drifting back and forth on the lull of sleep. A satisfied rumble echoed in his belly and mind, comforting in its familiarity and warmth, reminding him of the vague, shadowy times he could remember when he was a kitling, when Master would pick him up and cradle him and pet him and call him good boy.
But he was no longer a kit, and Master's arms were not holding him like one. He was lying flat, face-down, on a not-hard-not-soft surface. In fact, it was quite uncomfortable. And slightly damp.
Something was tickling his nose every time he breathed in. Naruto huffed irritably, but it failed to banish the annoying feather-light brushes. Each breath drew in the scent of crushed grass and dried mud-turned-dirt-turned-mud-turned-dirt, combining with the smell of humans all around him.
He was settled on the ground, then. On a patch of mostly-dirt, kinda-grass.
There was a rock digging into his hip painfully.
Naruto let out a grumpy little growl and finally conceded defeat. He was awake.
Opening his eyes blearily, he raised his head off the arms he'd been using as a pillow and squinted down at them, wincing as his skin pulled uncomfortably. His arms were splashed with dried blood, and he dipped his head to lick it away absently, taking a moment to miss Yugito – she would have done it for him, while he was sleeping.
"Naruto?"
Kakashi-sir! The Handler's voice brought back everything that had happened in a rush, and Naruto looked up cautiously, ducking his head as he did so. Kakashi was sitting on a log right next to him, a bowl of half-eaten food on his lap, mask perfectly in place.
"Hey," the human said, reaching down to touch him, patting golden hair gently, "How are you feeling?"
Naruto frowned, unsure what to make of the question. After some consideration, he decided to disregard it and instead asked, "Kakashi-sir? Did… did I please you?"
There was a long pause, and Naruto flinched at the blank expression on his Handler's face, looking away, ashamed. Now that his head was clear of the heat battle caused, he could see objectively that he had done a horrible job at following his Handler's orders. He hadn't been able to obey the one command he'd been given: to get around behind the attacking force, trap and destroy them – he knew at least half of them had escaped. Kakashi-sir was probably greatly disappointed.
"Naruto…" Kakashi-sir sounded distant, almost muffled. Naruto flinched, ashamed of his conduct. "You think that…"
"I'm sorry!" Naruto burst out, cringing down onto the ground, so his chest was flush against the dirt. "I'll do better next time, I promise! I was trained better than this, I promise!" He was feeling vaguely hysterical, truth be told, knowing that he was most likely going to be punished or at the very least forced into some harsh training for this little incident.
"You were trained as an assault weapon." Kakashi-sir's tone didn't seem to be directed at him anymore: it was quiet and… sad? "To follow orders in a battle… Naruto." Abruptly, his tone changed to something commanding, "You did well. I am proud of your performance."
Naruto sagged with relief, going back to licking away the traces of the fight. He almost didn't hear Kakashi-sir's quiet sigh as the human stood and moved to fetch a wet cloth.
Naruto frowned with confusion – and truth be told, no little irritation – as the strange pink man prodded him through the bars of the cage again. He was muttering something about 'turning it on', but Naruto had no idea what he meant. Humans were so weird… And while the stick was annoying, it wasn't like it was doing any damage…
"Ow!" he yelped, as the next poke turned sharp very abruptly, and his scowl deepened as he swatted away the knife.
Okay, this human is seriously asking for it, his dark side snarled, and Naruto froze, backing quickly away from the next poke and fighting desperately to remain in control. This was one of the humans he wasn't allowed to hurt, he couldn't hurt this one, it was important –
Ow! That one really hurt! Grr…
Naruto felt his dark side bubble up and narrowed his eyes angrily at the stupid human who was jabbing at him with the hated stick-that-is-also-a-knife – the Handlers at home had used one on Mirasu frequently when he got dangerous. Maro-Master prodded him again and he yelped, before shoving himself against the bars of the cage he'd been shoved into, making the whole box wobble.
The man mumbled something – maybe 'Getting there', but it was hard to understand this human – and Naruto managed to wrestle his dark side away again, mentally equating his internal struggle with forcing the darkness inside a box and sitting on the lid to get it to stay there.
Suddenly, there was movement, and Naruto's eyes snapped up to see Kakashi-sir tear the curtain aside – they were in a small tent that had been erected for the animals' cages to be stored in, out of public eye – and push inside, anger roiling off him in tangible waves that made Naruto flinch.
There was a moment in which the jounin just stared at the sight before him, not believing what his eye was telling him, before he stepped forwards with a growl that would make Yugito proud and said in a low, gravelly voice, "What the fuck do you think you are doing?"
What followed was a confusing blur to Naruto, as Kakashi-sir assaulted Maro-Master, grabbing his pink clothing and slamming him against the cage hard enough that Naruto was certain he heard the crack of a rib or two. Kakashi-sir was snarling, hissing words out in a tangled jumble, killer intent pulsing furiously.
"What in Hell made you think I'd accept this?" he was snarling, his face barely three inches from Maro-Master's. "Didn't I make it absolutely clear that you were not to touch this boy! That he was to be left alone! Come on, explain to me now how you thought that locking him in a cage and torturing him falls into the 'leaving him alone' category."
Naruto whimpered, crouching low. He had never seen Kakashi-sir as angry as he was right now, and it frightened him.
The noise seemed to remind Kakashi-sir of his presence, and the human blinked, his single eye looking over Maro-Master's shoulder at the jinchuuriki, ignoring Maro-Master's spluttering.
In a single motion, Kakashi-sir shoved Maro-Master aside and pulled the cage door open, reaching inside towards Naruto. Naruto flinched away from his touch, ducking lower to the steel floor of the cage and half-raising a hand to ward off any blows or cruel grabs.
Kakashi-sir's breath caught in his throat, but he just took a deep breath and said in a level, if slightly shaking, voice, "It's okay, Naruto. I'm not going to hurt you. Just, come out of there. As long as you serve under me, you are not to enter any cage without my explicit and repeated instruction. Do you understand?"
A shiver of horror ran through Naruto. Of course Kakashi-sir was mad! He'd been obeying another like a Master – out of fear, though mostly the fear was that he wouldn't be able to control his dark side whenever Maro-Master started ordering him around. Hadn't Kakashi-sir told him he only took orders from Kakashi-sir?
"I'm sorry!" he blurted as Kakashi-sir finally took hold of his collar and pulled him out of the cage, his hands surprisingly gentle – when his Handlers back home pulled him anywhere, it was always rough enough to bruise. "Maro-Master, he said you wanted me to – I – just thought that – he said you'd said to put me out in front of all the people out there tonight! I thought I was doing what you wanted," Naruto pleaded as he found himself set on his feet, cringing and begging Kakashi-sir with his eyes to understand and go easy on him. He didn't want to be beaten.
Kakashi-sir drew in a sharp breath, and Naruto squeezed his eyes shut, leaning away unconsciously as he waited for the furious tirade and/or physical correction. All he got, however, was still-too-gentle hands on his shoulders and a little shake, just enough to make his eyes flick up to meet Kakashi-sir's serious, concerned expression.
"Naruto, I'd never do that," he said. Maro-Master said something, his words more unintelligible than usual as he held his throat where Kakashi-sir had applied pressure, and Kakashi-sir snarled, jerking Naruto closer to him as the blonde yelped and placing hands on the teen's arms almost protectively. "If you even glance at Naruto again," Kakashi-sir promised in a deadly voice, "I will not only return to Konoha without seeing this mission through, but I will destroy you all and report a mission failure upon our return home. Am I understood?"
Naruto flinched at the shouted last sentence so close to him, and Maro-Master muttered something, a resentful agreement. Kakashi-sir snapped at last, "Get out of my sight," at the other human before he slipped his arm right around Naruto and guided him from the spot, pulling him through the crowd of people preparing for the show that evening and finally settling him in a quiet spot on the edge of the camp, in the trailer of an empty wagon.
"Are you alright?" Kakashi-sir asked, sitting next to him and trailing his hands over the mostly-healed place Maro-Master had stuck him with the stick-knife.
"M'fine, sir," Naruto mumbled, looking away, forehead furrowed in confusion. "I… I will heal within a few minutes."
"Good," Kakashi-sir allowed, "But that's not what I meant. Are you okay? I know you were frightened…" he trailed off, waiting for Naruto to fabricate an answer.
Naruto found himself unable to pull one together. He was so confused, the question seemed to be the tipping point to send his mind swirling into chaos.
Why was Kakashi-sir so nice to him? Always, he was always nice to him.
He's fooling you, his dark side growled in the depths of his mind, but Naruto effortlessly shoved it down and closed the lid of the mental box again without even processing what it had said.
It made no sense. Suddenly, he had to ask, no matter how insulting the question would be to Kakashi-sir, no matter how he was punished for it. Naruto tried to stop it, but it bubbled up his throat and just tumbled out.
"Why do you act like this around me?" he blurted. "I mean, you treat me like… like I'm worth… something. I'm not, I'm a pet, I'm an animal, and it makes no sense what you do!"
For a moment, there was dead silence, and Naruto dipped his head, tears forming in his eyes. Why had he done that? Had he made Kakashi-sir angry? Had he ruined everything?
Kakashi-sir shifted just a little, before he said carefully, "Naruto, I treat you like this… because you are like me. We aren't different."
Naruto froze. Had he heard that right? No. No, it wasn't possible. His eyes slowly rose to lock on the hu- the Handler's single one, searching for some hint that this was a cruel joke, a sort of mental torture, punishment.
"You… you're a… a jinchuuriki, too?" he said, his voice dropping to a whisper as he mouthed the unthinkable words. A flicker passed over Kakashi-sir's face.
"I…" he hesitated, obviously torn over what to say. "Naruto, you and me, we're not a different species, we're… you're part of the same group as me."
Naruto tilted his head, confused. "…So you are a jinchuuriki?" he pressed. Again, indecision danced over Kakashi-sir's face. For a long moment, he was silent, before he seemed to reach his decision and nodded, once.
A jolt ran through Naruto's whole body at the confirmation.
"But you're a Handler," he blurted, actually feeling the world tumble as someone tipped it upside down. Kakashi-sir nodded again.
"Yes – in Konoha, jinchuuriki… are seen as… more than animals, Naruto. That's why you sleep indoors and eat human food – they view you – us – as capable of higher thinking, as… people. I teach three human kids… do you see now? Do you understand?"
"You're like me," Naruto repeated faintly. Kakashi-sir nodded again, hesitating as he debated what to say next, how to handle this.
"Actually, we're… very close to being brothers, Naruto," he said carefully. "Your father was my teacher, and he raised me after my father died."
"My father?" Predictably, Naruto sat up straighter at the mention of the man. Then he tipped his head and frowned. "What was he treated like? Was he considered a… person… too?"
Kakashi-sir blinked. "You… you think your father was a jinchuuriki?" he asked. Naruto blinked back.
"Well, yeah," he said, sounding mystified – humans were weird – as he reached to tug on his collar. "I mean, I'm completely jinchuuriki, not half-jinchuuriki, half-… something else."
Kakashi hesitated. He was going to regret asking this, but…
"Naruto, how do you think… how do you think jinchuuriki are made?"
Naruto shrugged, even though his neck began to feel a little hot and bothered, like his collar was too tight and hot. "The same way any animal reproduces, I guess," he said uncomfortably. "A tom and a bitch and…" he demonstrated with a hand gesture, then shrugged again. "I don't get it, really."
The three square inches of Kakashi-sir's face that was visible had turned a pinkish colour, and he looked away. "Good enough," he mumbled. "Okay, fine. We'll go with that. Yes, Sensei – your father – was the same species as both you and me."
Naruto nodded, eyes lighting up. "You were part of my father's pack," he said, summarising the hu – no, other jinchuuriki's cutely human way of talking. "Part of my pack, now?" he added hopefully, looking up cautiously. Kakashi-sir nodded.
"If you want," he said, his tone careful. "But, Naruto – please don't call me 'sir'."