AN: Hello all. I'm not dead but November has been a difficult month for me. I went through an episode of strong anxiety, to not say depression, and I could not write anything good. As the wise probably said: "sometimes, shit happens."

I hope you enjoy this little chapter I finally put together.

"Hello, Fukasaku-sensei," greeted Naruto, panting from exhaustion.

The elderly toad looked at his youngest student and smiled. "Hello, Naruto-boy. Did you summon me yourself?"

The blond nodded with a proud smile. "Sure did."

"Well, given your reserves, the fact you're so out of breath means you need to work on your control more," chastised the toad gently.

The teenager looked down as his smile was coloured with embarrassment. "I know." He answered while scratching the back of his head. "With how it's going, I'll need to work on it for my entire life." He chuckled.

"Well, no one is ever perfect," noted the toad elder. "Think of it as something to keep you humble."

Naruto grumbled. "Would be nice to be able to call you without nearing coma every time though."

Fukasaku chuckled good-naturedly. "I've no doubt you'll get it eventually. To have a permanent reminder that the journey is never over, however, is a boon I would not overlook."

"A boon?"

"Certainly. I have difficulty finding the areas I can improve myself in. I need to remind myself constantly that, as good as I'm, I'm not the best I can be."

Naruto cocked one eyebrow up and grinned crookedly. "You are very good, though." The boy pointed out. "And that wasn't very humble," he muttered under his breath.

"I heard that you know," smiled Fukasaku. "Just like it would be false modesty to say otherwise, it would be hubris to think of myself as more than I am."

"Hubris?"

"The arrogance that leads to downfall."

"Oh. So be proud of what I achieve but don't let it go to my head?"

"Precisely." Fukasaku nodded with satisfaction.

"Got it," answered Naruto, his smile confident once again. "Anyways, I called you because I need your help, sensei."

"I had guessed, considering you never invite me for tea."

Naruto blushed and scratched the back of his scalp, suddenly feeling embarrassed. It was true, after all: he and his master Jiraiya did only ever call the elderly toad when they were in need of advice. Was it bad taste to do so? He knew Gamakichi liked sweets but would Fukasaku feel insulted if he was offered children treats? He looked up and saw the crooked smile the toad was wearing. The blond pouted.

"Don't tease me Fukasaku-sensei, please. I feel bad now." Naruto hesitated for a second. "Should I prepare some tea?"

The toad chuckled. "Surprise me next time. What is it you wanted to ask me?"

Still pouting mildly, Naruto took a second to order his thoughts. "Well, I kinda met with the Kyuubi."

Silence answered him before Fukasaku started humming. "You kinda met him?"

"Well, I discovered that meditating grant me access to the seal. I tried to discuss with the Kyuubi but he is… really hostile."

"Why did you want to talk with the bijuu?"

Naruto scratched his temple. "I thought that, as we're being hunted, we might as well ally. He did not take it well."

The teenage boy had thought a lot about it. The Kyuubi did not treat him fairly and at first, it had shaken his own resolution to give the giant fox a chance. After all, it was not Naruto's fault that the Kyuubi was caged within him. He was as much of an innocent bystander as it was possible to be in this situation.

Then, Naruto also had to admit that the Kyuubi himself had not been treated fairly by humanity. Being considered as nothing more than a mindless beast when he had feelings ought to anger the bijuu terribly.

And that, the blond teenager eventually realized, was the crux of the problem. The Kyuubi was angry, terribly so even. And when someone had so much anger inside them, being fair was the least of their concerns, especially when, like in Kyuubi's case, it would bring them nothing.

Naruto was tired of being nice, understanding and helpful and of constantly fighting to prove he had worth and was not the being he held at bay but the reason he had even bothered in the first place was a promise that things would get better. That his efforts would be rewarded with what he yearned for.

What did the Kyuubi seek that would be worth being fair to him? Nothing. The Fox only wanted freedom and it was the one thing Naruto could not grant for fear of dying. Why would a giant chakra being, possibly as old as humanity itself, want acceptance and approval from humans, especially after being hunted for or because of his power for so long? And why would he listen to Naruto when his power was precisely the reason the boy had tried to approach him in the first place?

"How do you think I could help you with that?" The toad's tone, while patient as always, was tinted with scepticism.

Naruto opened his mouth to answer but came up with a blank. He closed his lips and stared at the elderly batrachian with surprise slowly writing itself all over his face.

"You… don't know how to help me?"

Fukasaku cocked his brow. "Do you think me all-knowing, Naruto-boy?" The toad questioned amusedly. "It is not a widely spread knowledge, especially among your kind, but bijuus are sentient creatures like you and me. I supposed the one caged in your hara is angry."

It was not a question and the blond could only nod.

"Well, what would you have me do, wave his anger away?"

Naruto sighed as his eyes were cast down. "No, of course not. It's just… I don't know how to begin."

"Do you know what you even want to begin?" The toad asked gently.

"What do you mean?" The boy answered, uncomprehending.

"What is it you wish to achieve by contacting the Kyuubi?" The master questioned again.

Naruto sat and leaned back on his elbows, inhaling the crisp morning air as he looked up at the blue sky of early March. Trapping his breath in his lungs, the bond teenager pondered the question.

"I want to apologize," he eventually answered, relaxing his breathing. "When I approached him… Kyuubi I mean, I thought I wanted an alliance of a sort but I didn't realize how one-sided my proposition was. And ultimately, it entailed using his powers against other people who wish to use his power. I can understand how… hypocritical it seems for him."

Fukasaku nodded. "Well then… go and apologize I suppose."

The blond snorted and threw an incredulous look at the elderly toad. "Yeah, not sure it's gonna work, sensei."

"Why not?" The toad retorted immediately. "What more can you do? You cannot die to prove your sincerity. He might not see it like this but much like Kyuubi is an unwilling prisoner, you're an unwilling cage. His freedom against your life is a price he might be all too willing to pay but one does not weigh more than the other. So, go and apologize sincerely. It is up to him and him alone if he accepts it. You cannot force people to like you, you cannot force people to receive your help, you cannot force people to accept your apology and forgive you. It is called free will and you cannot go against that."

Naruto's face fell more and more as Fukasaku lectured until he sighed at the end.

"I know all that sensei," he groaned, "I just wish…" The boy threw his arm in the air as he abruptly righted himself straight. "I don't know what I wish. It'd be easier if everyone could be friends if I didn't have a bunch of psychopaths after me, and if Kyuubi were allowed to prance around… or whatever it is giant foxes do, as long as he does it outside of me."

"Many of us do, Naruto-boy," nodded Fukasaku understandingly. "Many do indeed, much like many do not and this is the root of all conflict. Some are satisfied with what they have and what they are, some aren't and thus they fight to get it."

"Couldn't they just be content with it?!" The blond spat before immediately grumbling to his sensei not to answer. He himself had never been content with being treated like some non-existence by his village; his goal of becoming a ninja was the very manifestation of his fight against the hand he had been dealt.

Now, a sect of S-ranked criminals was looking for the bijuus, all nine of them. What right did Naruto have to deny them, save the fact his life was on the line? The members of Akatsuki weren't satisfied and were fighting to achieve something. To upheave the rule of the five great ninja villages maybe? To establish themselves as some kind of world-rulers?

And why not? The era of the ninja village was objectively not better than the warring clan period. Clans banded together to fight against other alliances of clans rather than among themselves, countries were fewer in number but larger and more powerful. War had become rarer but each one had been many times more devastating than any skirmish of the warring clan era. Even the legendary Senju-Uchiha feud had been tame in comparison to the Second Shinobi War. The size of armies had grown larger, the extent of the desolation had become greater.

Maybe the world did need a New Dawn. After all, was there a moral high-ground somewhere for Naruto to stand upon? The one problem the boy could see was that there was absolutely no guarantee a bunch of dangerous criminals would do any better. There was also the fact they were after Naruto's life and the blond was not too keen on dying for a cause he knew nothing about.

He imagined for a second Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshikagi trying to convert him to their ideal. Intensely weirded out at the prospect, he blinked and chased the image out of his mind. Would it be so impossible though, considering he was trying to approach the Kyuubi?

"There is really nothing else to do, is there?" Naruto asked with a sigh and his tone heavy.

Fukasaku patted his student on the elbow. "You're trying to make a friend, Naruto-boy, don't sound so gloom about it. That's a nobler endeavour than many a man's."

The blond gave the toad a small but genuine smile. "Thanks." The boy looked up again and allowed his gaze to wander atop the bald trees. "Is it weird?"

Fukasaku cocked his brow. "What would be?"

"Me. Trying to make friends? I don't really know. Life was easier when a was dead-last," babbled the teenager, scratching his head.

"Was it? As for your question, everyone is weird. According to Gamamaru-sama, it makes the world go round."

"I thought Gamamaru-sama wasn't all there."

"Doesn't mean he isn't wise at times. And don't be disrespectful of the eldest member of your summons, Naruto-boy."

The blond sputtered. "But I… and you…"

"I am who I am, Naruto-boy, my age offers me certain privileges you have yet to earn."

Naruto sighed. "I suppose there is that." The boy turned his head to look at the elder toad. "What should I prepare next time I call upon you and it's not a matter of life and death?" He asked with a smile.

"There is this something you give to young Kichi and it's brilliant… those round, multicoloured sweets?"

Naruto stifled a bout of laughter. "The Clownarellos? Sure, I'll have that. And some tea."

Fukasaku offered the blond a smile. "Then, until I see you again, Naruto-boy. And don't lose faith if Kyuubi refuses to humour you."

"Sure, Fukasaku-sensei, thanks."

In a plume of smoke, the little old toad disappeared, recalled by some mysterious technique to the mount of his kin, leaving Naruto deep in thoughts.

Was it weird to try and make a friend of the Kyuubi? In fact, what did even compel Naruto to even want to make friends? Was it guided by the loneliness of his childhood; a constant effort to fill the void he was surrounded with? Bonds were truly an alien thing to him, he realized. There were so many possible variations that the blond could not truly tell anymore what he was looking for or even what he was looking at most of the time.

His thoughts drifted towards Sasame like they often did when he was having this kind of reflection and the blond screwed his eyes shut, dredging a particular memory he both yearned for and feared.

The searing of lips crashing on his own pulsed through his mind, dulled by time and the fog of memories already. Was it so long ago that he had been given this most wonderful and terribly confusing present? Nearly half a year, he realized. Fire coursed through his veins and his hands clasped on the air in front of him. With a start, Naruto opened his eyes and straightened himself. With a groan, he looked around him and saw there was no Sasame anywhere in sight.

"Urgh." Naruto flopped down on his back and pressed the palm of his hands against his eyes. He could not talk of that with his master. He was certain the old pervert would tease him relentlessly for it and that was not something the blond wanted to put up with.

Maybe he could send a letter to Tsunade? He had worked out that this was not friendship, that this feeling that would consume him each time he was thinking about the Fuuma girl, this urge to sink his teeth into her neck and not let go, was something different.

It felt raw and brutal and Naruto had to wonder about such a bond. It hurt without being so brutally severed like Sasuke had their friendship. The Uchiha's betrayal had left emptiness and something bitter rotting deep within. Being apart from Sasame was a new kind of pain.

The blond did not remotely feel the same towards Sakura or anyone from Konoha. He was not even missing anyone so much apart from his pink-haired teammate, a little bit. He had grown accustomed to her nagging and she had learned how to laugh over the course of their time together.

Who was there for him to miss in Konoha at all? And conversely, who in Konoha missed him?

Naruto's thoughts were cut short by Jiraiya's arrival, who entered the clearing they were camping in with a spring in his steps. The blond offered his master a faltering grin.

"I take there was some good-looking lady to take inspiration from?"

The white-haired sage laughed out loud. "That there was, Naruto, that there was."

Sunday was a day both master and disciple had agreed was for personal pursuits and as such, it was the day Jiraiya used to go peep on some unsuspecting women in order to write his pornographic literature. Naruto had tried to make the older man stop, his arguments increasingly sharp with the progress of his learnings but he had had to accept the sad truth: there would be no changing Jiraiya from his perverted habits.

As much as Naruto respected the Toad Sage as a ninja, he was not sure he had the same esteem for the man. There would always be this dark stain.

"What has you preoccupied?" Jiraiya asked suddenly.

Naruto started. "Nothing."

The white-haired man cocked one eyebrow. "It's written all over your face."

"I discussed with Fukasaku-sama about the Kyuubi."

"And what did he have to offer?"

The blond sighed. "Not much. He told me what you did."

The large man seated himself next to his apprentice. "Why are you so dispirited?"

Naruto glanced at his master before his gaze wandered in the sky above. "It's so daunting. I used to be an idiot who did things because I did not stop to think if they were possible or not, or if I should even do them. I realize I've been so incredibly lucky to not cause a catastrophe by accident it's ridiculous. But at least I did not second guess myself at every turn. And I did things. Now here I am, wondering how the heck I'm going to make peace with a bijuu and every sign tell me it's impossible."

Jiraiya gave the blond a half, crooked smile. "A year ago, you wouldn't even have known what daunting means."

Naruto answered with a dry laugh. "You have something wise to impart unto me or are you going to mock me?"

"Wisdom comes from experience so I might wait and see what conclusion you come to."

The blond's head slumped as his shoulders sagged. "I'm not sure I can afford a fuck-up sensei," he whispered.

Jiraiya nodded in agreement. "Very true. Let me say that to you then. The truly important challenges you face, you don't approach them asking yourself if they are possible or not. The only thing you need to wonder about is what they are worth."

"Worth?"

"Sure. Making peace with the Kyuubi, gaining his friendship. What is that worth to you?"

Naruto huffed and threw his arms in the air. "That's exactly what I don't know, sensei!" He remarked bitterly. "I've no idea what being friends with someone means! The best I have in Konoha are acquaintances, not friends, you made sure to explain that to me! I liked being with Sora but we left before I got my head around what I was feeling exactly and don't even get me started on Sasame!"

"And a giant fox isn't good enough for you?" Jiraiya interrupted calmly, shutting Naruto up.

The blond sputtered for a second. "Wh-what? No! I mean yes! Maybe!" He said, increasingly at each betrayal of his uncertainty. "I know why you want me to be friends with the fox, it's all about his power and I don't want that!"

"Then don't, you exasperating child!" Jiraiya roared, his eyes rolling up in his socket, hand thrown in the air. "It's about what you want, Naruto! Not me," said the sage, accentuating both words while pointing at himself, "but you!" He said, jabbing Naruto in the ribs. "Don't weigh me in your decision making, boy. No one has that power over you. I'm your master in the ninja arts, I can provide advice regarding this bitch we call life, and if you ever need me to woo a lady I'll be your wingman, but this is the kind of problem between you and yourself!"

The tirade left Naruto silent, the blond not daring to meet the smouldering gaze of his teacher as he organized his thoughts. Maybe it was that simple after all. The boy was confused as to the nature of those mysterious bonds men and women created between each other. He knew for certain, however, that living without those bonds was the worst kind of torture. Yes, it was that simple. After a minute of mute contemplation, Naruto looked at his master.

"Thanks, Jiraiya-sensei."

He needed friends and maybe the Kyuubi did need a friend too. Much like Naruto, the Fox was alone. That was reason enough, right?

The Toad Sage offered the blond a crooked smile. "If you're done, we are going."

"What? Why? Today is Sunday." Naruto remarked.

"I know but we need to move," Jiraiya said as he fished for something inside his clothes. Showing a sealed roll of parchment to the boy, he continued. "We got orders."

Naruto eyed the rolled piece of paper, recognizing it in a single glance as a mission issued by Konoha. "What is it?"

"Remember the Otogakure kunoichi I captured some months ago?"

Naruto nodded sharply.

"Well," said Jiraiya grimly. "Ibiki broke her."

The boy grimaced. He had heard tales of the master of Konoha's Torture and Interrogation section. Considering the man himself had been the first proctor of his Chuunin Examination, the blond had had a taste of what the ninja was capable.

"Where are we going then?"

"A small island off the coast of Lightning Country."

"What should we find there?"

"Failures and rejects."

Naruto's countenance darkened. "Let's go then."

Naruto arched as he pulled a thick rope toward him. "Why are we doing this?"

Jiraiya cocked one eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Why am I doing this, alone?" Naruto asked, clarifying his question through gritted teeth, the air heavy with salt and humidity whipping his face.

"Your ancestors were Uzumaki, sons and daughters of the whirlpool. The Senju were a firmly grounded people but the Uzumaki always heard the call of the Sea."

"And?" Naruto barked impatiently, tying his rope to a cleat.

"Well, don't you think it would be disgraceful for an Uzumaki to be incompetent at sailing."

"I'm so telling Tsunade you made me do that alone," growled said Uzumaki with a snarl.

"Tch, you're no fun boy," answered Jiraiya, who rose from his seated position and, with surprising ease, started taking control of the boat.

Naruto watched as his master demonstrated his ability to flawlessly - or so it seemed to the boy - sail a vessel. The blond pouted and glared at the man. "I hate you sometimes."

Jiraiya barked a laugh and shook his head. "Where would have been the fun?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure, I'm certain it was hilarious for you. I hope Jiji made you sail a boat without instruction too." Naruto spat.

The Toad Sage cocked his brow and sent a light, amused smile the blond's way. "Well, he did and I was much better than you."

The blond silently swore revenge of some kind on the older man and started fighting against a knot.

It had been a week already since they had received their mission form Konoha but as per his habits, Jiraiya was not in a hurry. His latest fad was to teach Naruto how to sail a boat, arguing that a ninja had to be able to do a little bit of everything. When the boy had retorted that he knew how to walk on water, the Toad Sage had begun a long list of situations where walking on water was not the way to go. The older man had not ceased to rub it in until they had rented their boat.

Sometimes, Naruto wanted to punch his master hard. He would ruin one or two peeping session with a prank and that would be it; the blond boy could not rightly fight his sensei yet.

Right now, however, he had his hands full with manoeuvering a small fishing boat with a single sail. The vessel was apparently made to endure the high sea but certainly not for long and the blond was happy the journey was reaching its end. There was way too much water seeping inside the hull than Naruto was comfortable with, everything was wet and smelt like salt and the sleeping place was cramped and cold.

The boy had discovered with mild surprise and great relief that he was not seasick, however. He had that going for him at least.

"Seriously sensei, are you sure we're still following the right direction?" Naruto asked after a momentaneous silence. It was their seventh day of navigation, the night was falling once again and they had yet to see the island they were aiming at.

Jiraiya expulsed his breath by his nose. "Yes, yes, gaki, I'm sure and I'm good with a map and a compass thank you very much. I told you we would see it either today or tomorrow, not before."

"Urgh," protested the blond with as much dignity as he could muster. Whatever they were going to do on this mission, it could not be any worse than the way there. To think they would probably return using the boat again made Naruto want to groan again but he refrained. He did not want to give his master an excuse to call him a "moody teenager" or whatever Jiraiya had taken to call him when he was whiny.

Hours passed with no other distraction than the sound of the water crashing against the hull and the bobbing motion of the boat as it cleaved the sea, the occasional, distant cry of a seagull the only break in the monotony of their surroundings. The night fell and enveloped them and their tiny vessel in her mantle of darkness, the wind stopping to a near still as if the sun disappearing below the horizon had made him shy.

Naruto breathed in and out, deeply. He did not dislike the smell of the sea per se. It was just pretty tiring to have it whipped against your nose all day long by a rather aggressive wind. With the calm atmosphere of evening settling all around him, he finally relaxed and fished inside his coat the latest exercise Jiraiya had devised for him.

Taking a small leaf in the palm of his hand, the boy focused on the flow of his chakra. His next challenge was to cut the leaf using only his chakra, giving the energy the mystical properties of wind.

Having a powerful gale blowing at him for an entire week might have been his sensei 's idea of an inspirational source.

Closing his eyes, the boy simply moulded his chakra the way he was used to, dipping the spiritual part of his power inside the howling mass of his physical energy. Supposedly, the resulting chakra was supposed to be attuned to wind already, like some were attuned to fire or earth.

Giving one's chakra the full properties of one of the five elements was called nature transformation and was one of the two highest manipulations a ninja could perform. Once a nature transformation was mastered, all related elemental ninjutsus could be cast by sheer force of will rather than with the help of hand signs. They were faster and stronger too.

Apparently, Rasengan fell in the opposed category called shape transformation, just as complex and just as helpful once mastered.

Only a handful of jutsus did not require chakra to be manipulated in at least one or even both ways so Naruto's new exercise was pretty important.

The blond frowned. If only it did not have to be so damn difficult!

AN: I hope you enjoyed.