"Hey, Hokage-jii-san, how come you're so nice to me?"

"Hm? Well, it's the Hokage's duty to look after the people of Konoha. I watch over everyone, and in turn, the village prospers."

"So if I become Hokage, people will have to pay attention to me, right? 'Cause I'll be protecting them."

A somber expression overtook the Hokage's face, saddened by the child's simplistic solution to a problem far beyond his comprehension. "That may be an oversimplification," he placated. "The Hokage must also be strong—"

"But you're so old!"

He leveled a mock-affronted look at his companion. "I'm not that old. Besides, with age comes wisdom and experience. I'll have you know I'm stronger than I look."

"Eh, really? Well, then I'm gonna become even stronger than you so I can be Hokage!"

The Hokage chuckled, tousling the boy's already-unruly blond locks and earning a shout of protest. "I look forward to that day, Naruto-kun."

-l-l-l-

Today sucks.

So what if he'd been late to class? He'd been busy training to become Hokage! It wasn't like he'd ever learned anything of use in the Academy anyway, even though Iruka insisted that everything he taught was super important. What use was math in the face of an awesome jutsu?

But, Iruka always argued, strategy counted for something. 'The size or power of a jutsu is meaningless if a shinobi is clever enough to escape or counter it,' he'd say.

That was why they always practiced the same three techniques over and over and over again, until Naruto had gotten so sick of the monotony that he'd just given up going to class to master them. That he still couldn't figure out how to produce a true Bunshin didn't help his motivation either; it seemed like no matter how much chakra he used or how hard he focused, his clones always turned out half-formed and sickly.

Hearing that he'd need to produce a passable clone to graduate from the Academy had caused an uncomfortable knot in his stomach, a seed of despair that had bloomed into full growth with the call of his name.

"I'm sorry, Naruto, but we can't pass you."

'Again' had gone unspoken, though it hadn't changed the demoralizing weight that burdened his body. Watching his classmates meet their parents with new hitae-ate displayed proudly on their foreheads had only reminded him of both his failure and his loneliness, and so he'd turned and left, heading for the solace of the local playground.

Where everyone else was congratulated for their achievement, he wallowed in the despair of defeat.

Allowing the gentle rocking motion of the swing to provide a tiny semblance of comfort, he took the silence to think about what would happen next. His classmates would progress to the next level of shinobi life while he was left in the dust for another year.

Or maybe worse. Was there a punishment for those who had failed the Graduation Exam three times? Despite his continually terrible performance, he hadn't yet been removed from the Academy (although that may have been due to the support of the Third Hokage, there was no way of telling), but maybe that was just because he hadn't yet failed three times. Things tended to work out in threes – the basic Academy ninjutsu, strikes in stickball…points in an argument – so maybe the instructors had just been waiting for this moment to expel him.

What if they won't let me be Hokage?!

A hand clamped over his mouth – muffling his yelp of surprise – and an arm wrapped around his torso. In the next instant, his vision was engulfed in darkness, and then, after what felt like hours, he could see again.

He blinked in surprise as his vision returned. He was in the middle of the forest surrounded on all sides by towering trees. Dappled sunlight filtered down through the treetops, casting strange patterns against gnarled bark. Wow… Having never been outside of Konoha's great walls before, the sheer beauty of his surroundings was a welcome distraction from his current situation.

It was as he was turning around in admiration that he spotted his (presumed) kidnapper standing several feet away. The man was short and clad in what Naruto thought were purple pajamas, with scruffy, bright red hair held in a topknot that matched his short beard and connecting mustache. Judging by his forehead protector, he was not from the Hidden Leaf. "Hey!" he shouted, feelings of peace suddenly shattered by a righteous anger. "You think you can get away with kidnappin' the future Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Shut up, kid," grumbled the redhead, tone filled with bored disdain.

Naruto was used to how people talked to or about him in the same manner, but combined with the day he'd had so far, the man's actions and condescension were the final straws. With the intent to show his kidnapper what-for, he took two steps forward and then stumbled, letting out a surprised, "Wha—?" as he did. A glance down revealed his feet encased up to the ankle in hard rock that hadn't been there a moment ago.

"I'd stay put if I were yeh," the redhead advised. Naruto returned his gaze to the older man to find him pulling his hands apart from a clasped position. The blond reached into his kunai pouch and withdrew one of his blades to start breaking himself free of the rock, but the other male just laughed – almost cruelly, he thought – and said, "Don' waste yer time, yeh ain't gonna break out o' that."

Not one to listen to the advice of others, Naruto continued stabbing at his restraints. After almost a minute of hacking, his kidnapper's gruff voice asked, "Uzumaki yeh say?"

Force of habit had the blond stop to look up, gesture to his chest with his thumb, and boisterously reply, "Yeah! Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage!"

The redhead waved him off. "Aye, I heard yeh th' first time. Not Namikaze, eh?" he muttered.

"Who?"

His kidnapper stared at him in what Naruto guessed was disbelief for a long moment before turning away, muttering incomprehensibly. The blond let out an indignant huff before returning to the task of freeing himself. After another several minutes, the redhead grumbled, "Finally," and Naruto raised his head to look at what had driven him to speak.

Floating towards them was a boy with shoulder-length brown hair, casually sitting cross-legged inside a bubble. He was clothed in a blue kimono, and Naruto guessed he was probably a teenager. Once he was close enough, the bubble popped, and the kimono-clad boy alit on his feet with dainty ease.

Or it would have been if he didn't stumble the landing, a long, thin weapon digging into the ground and serving as a makeshift walking stick that kept the brunet (mostly) upright.

Naruto was so amazed by his appearance that he'd stopped working on his escape and was fixated on the new arrival. He snapped out of his daze when the redhead barked a laugh. "Ain't yeh graceful?"

The brunet chose to ignore his companion's sarcasm, instead straightening his posture and offering a genial, "Nice job, Rōshi. As far as I can tell, no one followed us, and we're pretty well hidden," he added, glancing around as if to accentuate this point. Naruto noticed he had a very calm way of talking, his voice even despite the praise he credited his accomplice. Though it might have just seemed that way in comparison to the redhead, who seemed as big a jerk as any of the people he'd run into in Konoha.

"Bah, don' matter," Rōshi scoffed. "Th' kid's a dud. Ain't even a Namikaze."

A startled expression overtook the brunet's features. "You said he was."

Rōshi shrugged. "It was a guess. An' he seems pretty stupid."

Naruto decided he'd had enough of being ignored and insulted. "Hey, you're talkin' about the future Hokage! Lemme go before I kick your ass!"

"Loud, too," added the redhead dryly.

"You're sure he's not the Jinchūriki?"

"I didn' ask, if that's what yer—"

"What's a…whatever you said?"

Both kidnappers turned to look at the blond. The younger one cursed, his calm composure showing fractures. "What's the likelihood that Konoha didn't tell its Jinchūriki that he's a Jinchūriki?" he asked his companion.

"Slim ter none," Rōshi responded, raising his chin to scratch his beard. "Th' strongest o' th' Biju at their disposal an' they ain't usin' 'im as a weapon? Seems unlikely."

"But everything else fit!" his companion protested, the timbre of his voice cracking with emotion. He began ticking off his fingers. "Solitary, disliked, connected to a high-ranking political figure—"

"Which he ain't," Rōshi interjected. "I told yeh it was a guess. 'Sides, yeh said it yerself, Namikaze didn' have a son, an' this damn idiot don' even know who he is."

"Just because we didn't hear of one doesn't mean he didn't have one. He's even got the marking!"

"Yer graspin' at straws. Jus' 'cause yeh want 'im ter be th' Jinchūriki don' mean he is."

The blue-clad boy waved off his companion's words – receiving an eye roll in return – before turning to the blond. "Hello…"

"Naruto," supplied the redhead. Then he muttered, "Stupid name."

"Naruto," repeated the teenager, "who are your parents?"

Unable to move, and deciding that playing along might expedite his release, Naruto replied, "Dunno. Never had any parents."

His kidnappers exchanged glances before the brown-haired boy turned back to him and said, "According to my friend here—" Rōshi scoffed again, "—you bear a striking resemblance to Namikaze Minato."

"Who?"

Rōshi again muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like 'idiot'. His companion turned to offer him a brief frown, and when he returned to speaking to Naruto, the expression remained etched on his face. "Namikaze Minato," he repeated, "your Yondaime Hokage."

Excitement bubbled within the blond's chest, all his problems momentarily forgotten. "I'm related to the Yondaime?!"

"It's…possible…"

"Bah, who cares?" Rōshi interrupted. "Th' kid ain't who yer lookin' fer, an' I ain't wastin' any more time here." He turned around and began to march away, the earth holding Naruto's feet in place crumbling away.

There were a lot of things that irritated Naruto, but being blown off by people who thought they were better than him – his (former) classmate Sasuke tended to act like that in their spars – was near the top of that list. Given that Rōshi had been nothing but condescending towards him during their entire interaction, the blond decided to take advantage of the older man's blasé attitude while he had the opportunity and teach him a lesson. He rushed past the blue-clad teenager – who called out his name in a warning – and charged the redhead with his kunai, fully prepared to enact vengeance.

He was caught by surprise when Rōshi turned and delivered a vicious spin-kick to his side, sending him rocketing into a thick tree trunk amidst a crunch of mangled bark. "So, yeh thought yeh could pull a fast one on me, eh?" The redhead stalked towards him, cracking his knuckles as he approached. "Yer too young ter be thinkin' yeh can take me on. Back off, boy," he barked when the brunet rushed closer in protest.

"Rōshi, you can't—"

"I can do what I want, 'less yeh sudd'nly turned inter th' Tsuchikage." He returned his attention to Naruto even as he continued to address the blue-clad male. "Yeh want ter see if he's th' Jinchūriki? This'll show if he's th' weapon they woulda trained 'im ter be."

Naruto rose from his slumped position with a groan and charged Rōshi again, this time telegraphing a punch. The redhead effortlessly caught the fist in his hand and then brought his knee into the blond's stomach, leaving him slumped over and wheezing for air. He slammed his elbow down on the boy's clavicle, laying him out flat on the ground, then stomped down with one foot. A rock jutted up from the earth and delivered a second blow to Naruto's stomach. The blond dry-heaved from where he lay.

"Rōshi, that's enough!"

The redhead glowered at the brunet for a long moment before turning and walking away with a snort. "Tch, waste o' time."

"Now we have to leave," his companion reprimanded. "We could've just separated peaceably, returned him back to the village, but now that you assaulted him, he'll tell the Hokage and Konoha will definitely be on the lookout for us."

"Hmph, yer optimistic. They woulda come after us anyway. Yer on yer own," Rōshi added, waving a hand in dismissal. "I told yeh this was a stupid idea, an' yeh've still got nothin' ter show fer it."

"We would've been able to keep looking if you hadn't lost your temper!"

"I jus' told yeh, there ain't no more 'we'."

Naruto slowly rose to his feet as the two argued. Even Sasuke had never beaten him so thoroughly and viciously, and now he was both pissed and humiliated. "Hey…oji-san…" he gasped, "I'm not…done…yet…"

Rōshi turned around and graced the blond with one of the most scornful expressions he'd ever seen, as if the finger he was pointing determinedly at the older man was a particularly bad joke. From his periphery, Naruto could see the other boy staring at him with something akin to awe on his features, probably amazed at his tenacity (or sheer awesomeness, either was a possibility). He brought his fingers into the Ram seal and announced, "Oiroke no Jutsu!"

Smoke enveloped his body briefly, only to dissipate and leave a taller, well-endowed, naked, female blonde with pigtails in his place. He blew a kiss at Rōshi, a sensual invitation designed to derive a reaction from him like he had from the normally straight-laced Iruka. From the corner of his eye, Naruto spied the brown-haired boy determinedly looking away.

Whatever he had expected to happen, it never came to pass. Rōshi's dark eyes narrowed into an approximation of obsidian chips, his hands fisted at his sides and anger shaking his body. "Yeh call that ninjutsu?!" he roared, hands flying through seals. "What self-respectin' shinobi falls fer somethin' so stupid? This is ninjutsu!"

"Rōshi, don't!"

"Yōton: Yōnami!"

-l-l-l-

Utakata couldn't find the words to express the disappointment flooding his veins. He'd had such high hopes that the blond child Rōshi had been so certain was the Namikaze heir was also the Kyūbi Jinchūriki that he hadn't even taken a moment to question the alternative. Even in their short window of observation, there had been enough mirrored similarities to his and Rōshi's lives as Jinchūriki that the likelihood of the boy not being the fox's container was astronomical.

But fate seemed to have him slated for failure, his enthusiastic haste overwhelming the common-sense decision to actually confirm their suspicions.

Now they had more than just circumstantial evidence, and given Naruto's general lack of knowledge and skill, it was hard to deny that the boy didn't seem all that likely a Jinchūriki candidate anymore. The Hidden Villages of Mist and Rock had pressed their Jinchūriki into becoming weapons as soon as they were capable; sooner in some cases. If Konoha, which possessed the strongest of the Bijū, hadn't…well, the bubble-user couldn't think of anything more surprising than not using all available resources to their fullest potential.

Despite that, he admired the boy's strength of character; if nothing else, getting up after Rōshi had delivered such a swift and brutal beatdown was impressive. Foolhardy, given how badly the redhead outclassed the boy, but admirable nonetheless.

But now the blond was far more likely to tell Konoha's superiors about his kidnapping, thus delaying his own plans to find and sway the true Jinchūriki to his side. The fact that he'd apparently used up Rōshi's tolerance on this mission was just another failure that he'd have to try and fix, and quickly.

"Oiroke no Jutsu!"

Utakata glanced over at the blond's shout and then quickly averted his eyes, embarrassed at the sight that greeted him. Naruto's transformation ploy was valid, he supposed, given that much of mankind would fall for something so…enticing (he'd certainly walked past Kiri's red light district enough times to notice man's folly in that regard), but to use it against someone who had lived the life he (and Rōshi, judging by redhead's shouting) had was misguided.

"—so stupid? This is ninjutsu!"

He became aware of Rōshi's intention just a little too late, spinning around and forming seals even as he instinctively yelled, "Rōshi, don't!" The Water Release: Wild Water Wave he was preparing would never make it in time to counter the stream of lava – Rōshi can use Yōton?! – that had left the redhead's mouth, and Naruto didn't have the wherewithal gained from experience to dodge the ninjutsu in time.

The blond held up his hands in a futile movement to protect himself from the technique, and the lava split and flowed around them like it had hit an invisible barrier.

Utakata swallowed the chakra he'd prepared and stared in shock; even Rōshi was caught flat-footed, letting out a surprised, "Eh?" at the situation.

What's going on? Lava manipulation wasn't completely unheard of – there was a clan in the Land of Water whose members could utilize it (though, as far as he knew, they'd been eliminated in the Bloodline Purges) – but like most kekkei genkai, it was rare. Utakata hadn't even known there were people outside the Land of Water who could use lava elemental chakra until this moment, and given its rarity, it was probably the ability granted to him by the Four-Tails. The odds of finding someone else who could do it – especially within a third Hidden Village – were astronomical.

It's not so strange if he is the Kyūbi Jinchūriki.

Utakata flinched at the unseen voice, a startled, "What?" escaping his lips and drawing a dark look from Rōshi. After being his only companion for the long months he'd been gone from the Hidden Mist, Saiken had been silent since he'd met Rōshi. The slug's burbling, boyish voice was welcome, if surprising, though the way he delivered that tidbit of information sounded almost…bitter. What do you mean?

The Kyūbi's power is…different. While the rest of us Bijū are a physical manifestation of some aspect of the natural world, the Kyūbi is more. All. Humans describe him as a natural disaster because they cannot fathom his ability to manipulate all the different components of the natural world. Just because he can use our powers, he thinks he can lord it over us…

Ah. Now the bubble-user understood the slug's bitterness. To have the powers you prided yourself on usurped by another and potentially perverted against you sounded as aggravating as it was dangerous.

Despite that, Utakata felt a swell of excitement bubble within him again. Saiken had essentially confirmed it; Naruto was the Jinchūriki of the Kyūbi.

On the one hand, it was a relief to know that he and Rōshi hadn't made a mistake in targeting the blond, but on the other, Naruto was not at all what he'd expected when he'd started his mission. The bubble-user had been a Jōnin by age 14, and Yagura had been appointed Mizukage the same year. Given the way Rōshi talked, it probably wasn't too far a stretch to assume that his history wasn't all that different from that of the two Mist Jinchūriki.

He walked over to the scowling Rōshi, grabbed his arm, and pulled him out of the blond's earshot. "He's the Kyūbi Jinchūriki."

Rōshi scoffed. "What, jus' 'cause he can use Yōton?"

"Saiken told me he can use the powers of the other Bijū." When Rōshi's eyebrows furrowed in skeptical incomprehension, Utakata sighed and prompted, "The Rokubi?"

The redhead nodded, though the gesture gave Utakata the distinct impression that he was being patronized. "Ah, right, yer friends with yer Bijū."

"Are you listening to me?" he demanded. "He can copy the abilities of the other Bijū. We found him!"

Rōshi raised an eyebrow. "An'? Did yeh see 'im fight? He's useless. Don' even know what he is. Mebbe yeh found 'im, good job," he added sarcastically, "but he ain't trained."

Utakata was silent for a long moment, digesting his companion's words. Rōshi hadn't said anything that wasn't true or that he himself hadn't seen with his own eyes, but the strength of the Kyūbi couldn't be ignored. Naruto's abilities also provided a solid basis for potentially finding the other Jinchūriki via a pseudo-osmosis (as much of a long shot as that was). We need to take advantage of this opportunity… "We'll train him," he decided.

Rōshi spared him a flat look. "No."

"Why not?"

"He's stupid, ain't even a Genin, an' I ain't wastin' my time helpin' some Konoha brat," spat the redhead.

"Do you have something better to do?" Rōshi could only scowl at the question, and so Utakata admitted, "This isn't exactly my ideal situation either. You think I want to be stuck here training someone from scratch?" He thought briefly of Hotaru, and how he'd rewarded her hospitality by dashing her hopes of being trained to be a kunoichi. This is different, he told himself. We need the Kyūbi on our side. For Yagura. "It's not like I've ever trained someone either—"

"Who said I ain't trained someone?" the Iwa-nin snapped.

Utakata blinked in surprise, everything he'd learned about his companion contrary to the idea of being a mentor to someone. Deciding that it was better not to pursue that line of questioning while the older Jinchūriki was still riled up, he gently pressed, "Look, he's got no one else, and we need all the help we can get. At least if we train him, we know it'll get done right, even if we have to do it from the beginning. Plus, he's got our abilities. Who else is better suited to train him? Besides," he added, almost as an afterthought, "you know that you can't take on Akatsuki by yourself—"

"I still have a village," Rōshi argued, though the bite in his voice sounded like it had dulled, just a little. He placed his right hand in his pocket and appeared to squeeze something there for several seconds before grunting, "Fine, have it yer way. I'll stay."

"You will?" That worked?

"But yeh can't interfere with how I train 'im, got it?"

The brunet immediately nodded his assent, relief at his success evident in the slouching of his shoulders. "Just don't go overboard," he said before walking over to where Naruto had collapsed in apparent shell shock. Softly, as to not startle him, the Kiri-nin said the boy's name, garnering his wide-eyed attention. "Sorry about all of this. My name's Utakata; you've already met Rōshi."

"Stupid old man," the blond grumbled, his normal feistiness returning to him.

"Idiot brat."

"Yes, well…" Utakata interjected awkwardly, unsure how to break the disdain brewing between the pair, "we clearly got off on the wrong foot, but contrary to what you might believe, we're not here to hurt you. If you'd allow us, we'd like to train you to become a better shinobi."

Naruto's crystal blue eyes were suddenly alight with wild enthusiasm. He jumped to his feet in excitement. "Really?"

Utakata nodded. "Yes. We're like you, Naruto. Jinchūriki. Humans who contain the power of the Bijū," he elaborated at the blond's confused expression.

"Are yeh gonna tell 'im all our secrets?" Rōshi interjected snidely.

"He needs to trust us," the brunet replied, sparing his companion a flat look, "and since you decided to try cooking him…well, desperate times." He graced Naruto with a gentle smile. "Sorry about that. As I was saying, we're all Jinchūriki. I have the Rokubi, Rōshi has the Yonbi…" he hesitated before continuing, not sure how the boy would react to such a bombshell, then continued on, "and you contain the Kyūbi."

"But…the Yondaime killed the Kyūbi…"

Rōshi let out a cruel bark of laughter. "Hah! An' yeh believe that crap?"

The Kiri-nin shot the older male a warning look; Rōshi grunted, annoyed at the silent reprimand, but said nothing else. Utakata found himself grateful (and hopeful) that the redhead was actually obeying his silent directives. To Naruto, he gently explained, "That's merely a story that was made up to cover what really happened. The Bijū can't be killed. From what I've heard of his reputation, the Yondaime Hokage was a sealing genius. It's likely that he was able to seal the Kyūbi inside you."

"But…why me?"

The brunet hesitated again before slowly replying, "Well…we can't know any of this for sure, but Jinchūriki typically aren't chosen at random. In order to ensure their loyalty, they're normally connected in some respect to their village's Kage or leadership. According to Rōshi, you bear a strong resemblance to the Yondaime, so it's possible that you're his son—"

Naruto's expression, which had grown progressively more somber as the bubble-user's explanations had dragged on, flipped back to excited with impressive alacrity. "Really?! So you weren't lyin' earlier? That's awesome!"

Utakata watched the blond with a critical eye as he considered how to proceed. He'd never met someone like Naruto, who seemed to take everything in stride and bounced back from bad news like he was elastic. It was unnerving in a way; the brunet was used to dealing with the suspicious but straight-shooting people of Kiri, and he'd even started adjusting to Rōshi's mocking skepticism (tolerance for it notwithstanding). But Naruto hadn't gone through the same type of training – being raised as a weapon – even as it seemed like he'd dealt with the typical backlash associated with being a Jinchūriki, and thus their mindsets were apparently quite different. That they'd all been raised in separate villages with varying societal and cultural outlooks probably didn't help either.

I wish I could tell if his unique persona is good for us or not.

He once again drew the younger boy's attention with a single utterance of his name. When blue eyes focused on him, he said, "You can't tell anyone about any of this. Or us."

"Eh? How come?"

He's disappointed again. He's far too transparent. "If no one's told you any of this before, there's probably a reason."

"Prob'bly not a good one," Rōshi grumbled.

Utakata continued as if he hadn't been interrupted, even if he agreed with the sentiment. "Your relationship to the Yondaime Hokage might not even be real, we don't know. But if you told people, it would raise suspicion about how you came across information you're not supposed to know. As for us…" He shot a glance at Rōshi before saying, "It's generally…frowned upon…to have contact with foreigners. Konoha wouldn't react well if anyone knew that you're talking with us." Especially Rōshi. Konoha's history with the Hidden Rock was well-documented, but given the extent (or lack thereof) of the youngest Jinchūriki's education, it was possible he wasn't aware of the tension between the two villages. If that's the case, I'm not going to be the one to tell him.

Naruto almost looked to be pouting, but then his expression soured. "Not like there's anyone to tell," he muttered, scuffing the ground with his shoe.

The Kiri-nin offered the boy a wan smile. "I know. We know. But I'm just telling you as a precaution: you can't tell anyone about us. We'll find a way to meet with you without attracting undue attention, but you'll have to do your part as well." Maybe couching it as training will help. "A good shinobi knows how to keep secrets. Do you think you can do that?" Naruto's head bobbed up and down with such vigorous enthusiasm Utakata thought he might give himself whiplash. "Good. Then we'll see you tomorrow."

"We're not gonna start now?"

"Uh, well—"

"We'll start now," Rōshi interrupted, cracking his knuckles and moving towards the younger pair.

"Rōshi—"

"Yeh said yeh'd let me do it my way." Utakata fell silent, acquiescing to the older Jinchūriki's subtle warning. "'Sides, we need ter see what we're dealin' with." He returned his attention to Naruto. "So, what can yeh do?"

Naruto glared back, but at Utakata's nod, he relaxed a fraction and put his hands in a familiar seal. "Oiroke—!"

"None o' that!" Rōshi barked. "Yeh ain't usin' that jutsu no more. Don' tell me yeh don' know nothin' else?"

The blond lowered his hands and crossed his arms, scowling at the Iwa-nin. "I can do Kawarimi and Henge, too!"

The redhead snorted. "Aye, who can't? What else?"

A flush colored Naruto's cheeks, his teeth grit together in anger. "I can also make a Bunshin! Uh, kinda…"

"How do you kind of make a Bunshin?"

"An' that's all?" Rōshi asked again. "Tch, Konoha's gotten weak. Like learnin' Bunshin's gonna help yeh in a fight."

Naruto graced the redhead with a look that warred between skepticism and hope. "Really? I don't need to know how to make a Bunshin?"

"Are you not going to elaborate on how you kind of make a Bunshin?"

"Hn. Yeh'll learn how ter make a Bunshin," Rōshi asserted, "it'll jus' be a useful one. Tsuchi, prob'bly, an' he can prob'bly teach yeh Mizu," he added, jerking his thumb at Utakata, who threw his hands in the air and mumbled something about being ignored. The redhead's lips quirked, a momentary flicker of amusement at the brunet's expense.

Naruto, watching the older man with rapt attention, caught the gesture. For a second, the redhead's gruff exterior disappeared, and in that moment, he almost seemed human, more than the hatred and irritation that radiated from his body like the warmth of the sun. Maybe he's not so bad… After all, Rōshi was willing to train the blond, and he didn't even care that he couldn't perform the Clone Technique, the one thing which had held him back from becoming a Leaf shinobi in the first place.

"What're yeh lookin' at?"

The blond crossed his arms, turning his head and closing his eyes so he was no longer looking at the older man. "Nothin'," he muttered. Tch, he's still a jerk.

A closed fist striking the back of his head had him whirling on the spot, a snarl on his lips. Rōshi's narrow-eyed stare greeted him. "Respect yer elders, brat," he criticized.

"Oh yeah?!"

"O-kay," Utakata interjected, stepping between the pair and placing them both at arm's length. They continued to shoot daggers at each other around the brunet's billowing kimono, and he realized that he was the tallest of the trio. I'll take whatever advantage I've got. "Like I was saying, let's call it a day for now." Rōshi snorted, but this time didn't override the teenager's suggestion. "Great. Naruto, a word?"

He hobbled out of the redhead's earshot, the blond following at a sedate pace. Golden eyes darted over to where Rōshi was standing; blue eyes followed the movement, scowling in the purple-clad man's direction as one hand came up to rub at the spot he'd been hit. "Does it hurt?"

"No," Naruto mumbled with just a tinge of embarrassment. "Just…stupid…"

The brunet placed a hand upon the younger boy's shoulder. "I know it's tough, really, I do, but you should try to get along with Rōshi. He'll be teaching you as much as I will."

Naruto crossed his arms over his chest, lips twisting into a pout as if to protest what he thought of that idea. "Why can't you just teach me?"

"I will be," the Kiri-nin assured him, "but as you may have noticed, Rōshi's quite strong. He's definitely stronger than me. If you want to learn how to be a strong shinobi, you'll need to listen to him."

There was a long moment of silence in which the blond seemed to be weighing his options before finally grumbling, "…Fine."

Utakata spared him a weak smile of gratitude, which the Leaf native tentatively returned. "Thank you." Then he turned his attention to the Iwa-nin and asked in a louder voice, "Rōshi, can you take him back?"

"Are yeh givin' me a choice?" At the Mist Jinchūriki's unchanging expression, the redhead growled and walked over. "Fine." Unbidden, he placed a heavy hand on the blond's shoulder, a too-strong grip that caused the boy to flinch. Then they sank into the ground.

Utakata stared at the spot they'd disappeared in silence. Until tomorrow, Naruto.

-l-l-l-

The journey back into Konoha proper was much less disorienting the second time around, probably because Naruto actually knew what was happening. They surfaced from the earth within a thicket of trees that the blond hoped was somewhere within the village. Rōshi immediately released him and shoved him away. "Playground's over there," he grunted, pointing in the direction of the thinning tree line. "Meet here tomorrow mornin'. Make sure yer not followed."

Naruto crossed his arms in an act of defiance and petulantly muttered, "Utakata already said not to let anyone know about you guys."

"Well I'm remindin' yeh," Rōshi snapped. "Yeh've already proven yer a stupid brat, yeh prob'bly don' listen ter what yer told."

The blond opened his mouth to argue, but then Utakata's words about getting along with the older man resurfaced, and he shut it before any words could escape. "I'll be careful," he promised, tone trite but sincere.

Rōshi appeared taken aback at his abrupt change in attitude, but quickly schooled his features back into the scowl that seemed a permanent fixture of his face. "Hn. We'll see." Then he disappeared back into the ground, and Naruto was once again alone.

Still, despite the solitude, the blond found his cheeks spreading into a wide grin. It no longer mattered that he'd failed out of the Academy, because Utakata had promised he and Rōshi would train him to be a shinobi. A great shinobi, like the Yondaime Hokage. My dad!

Naruto began the walk to his apartment with a new spring in his step, one fist pumping the air. I'm gonna be the next Hokage for sure, believe it!