Rhymes

Disclaimer: Never owned 'Naruto', never will…

The sun had long since set, the ball of fiery red sinking rapidly beyond the horizons. Night had fallen on the elemental nations, darkness shrouding the once blue skies. It was after midnight, and sleep was the first thing on most people's minds. Lights had been snuffed out and beds turned in.

Somewhere on the border of Kumo, a fire burned quietly, the crackling and hissing of tree branches and logs barely making a sound. From the orange-red blaze rose a minute plume of smoke, lazily twirling through the air as it drifted upward.

On a small plateau overlooking a tiny lake, sunk into leather chairs were two men, their feet propped up on logs. The fire a ways behind them, glowing a light yellow. Between the two was a table, on it, half dozen large jugs of sake, pens and scattered sheets of paper.

The taller, darker of the two leaned back in the cushiony chair, his hand raising a cup of sake into the air.

"Tastes like candy! Damn those sealing techniques sure come in handy…"

The shorter man grunted in agreement, not even looking up as he downed another cup. The scratching of pen on paper rustled in the dark. The man's hand moved quickly up and down the paper, stopping ever so often to strike out a few things.

Kirabi chuckled, reaching toward the jugs of sake and pouring himself some more of the sweet liquor. Looking up in the night sky, he smiled.

He's always wanted to do this. Always wanted to just sit back and vibe.

He'd just never found the right person to do it with. Never found the right person to share his marvelous creations with. Never found someone who could understand where he was coming from. Who could understand what he was trying to convey, what he was trying to portray and what he was trying to share.

Sometimes it tortured him.

People laughed. People ridiculed him.

But he didn't blame or get angry. They just didn't understand. They didn't understand his undying love of poetry. And how his raps were poetry. How each line was created with extra care and extra thought. How each rhyme was crafted with precision. How each word, each syllable was synchronized for maximum impact.

They couldn't see any of it.

It wasn't just about making words rhyme.

It was about making an impression.

It was about sending a message.

And no-one saw that…no one heard that…until now.

Kirabi's hard work had finally paid off. His long thought out lyricism and widely pursued voice had finally been heard. By perhaps the most unlikely person.

Looking across the table covered with spirits, he watched a short blonde scan over the pad in his lap, pen tapping at a piece of paper on the small table next to them.

For a kid that had flunked the academy test twice, had horrible grades, could barely read and was considered an idiot…Uzumaki Naruto had an incredible grasp of poetry.

And Kirabi loved it.

Because it was so fitting, that a person who had been shunned all his life, who had been cursed at birth, could mold and create poetry as great as the highest class scholar. Because he'd finally found someone that understood. Finally found someone that he could sit and think with, someone he could bounce ideas off, someone he could truly say was ready and willing to learn about the complexities of rhyming.

Uzumaki Naruto was special.

He understood it was about making a statement. He saw the subliminal messages, understood the meaning behind the words. He was able to comprehend the most complicated of rhyme patterns and the most subtle of tempo changes. Kirabi was proud.

He'd succeeded in comprehending a concept that was considered beyond a 'dead last' or a 'demon'. Naruto had truly appreciated the work put into creating something so simple yet so thoroughly intricate.

Kirabi had been pleasantly surprised.

Even more so when Naruto had asked to try a little bit of 'rapping'. For a moment he'd been stunned. No one had ever asked to rap with him. Ever. Laughing loudly as only he knew how, Kirabi had handed the blonde a pen and pad and sat back to watch him write in the dying glow of the fire.

And in between drinking, exchanging stories and more drinking, he had come up with some pretty deep rhymes. Rhymes that were about much of his personal life and much of the life that the two of them shared.

Life as a jinchuruuki had been hard.

In Konoha people had openly despised Naruto, treating him like the dirt under their feet. Not even worthy of their time.

While it might have been better for Kirabi, even in Kumo, where his elder brother was the Raikage and there were two vessels…people were wary of 'demons'.

Life as a jinchuruuki village had been hard. They knew.

The fire crackled, small sparks flying from the pit. The blonde was re-reading some of the tattooed man's work, noting lines here and there.

"As a demon vessel, it takes a whole lot, just to get a little, getting caught up in the middle, between lies and riddles…"

The blue-eyed teen looked up.

"I like that."

Kirabi beamed.

Naruto kept reading.

"I learned from the deepest of pains, between day to day life, it was never a game, for a 'demon' everyday pain was the same…living never came that easy, but for you it was easy to leave me, best believe me…"

It continued. Kirabi adding his two cents every now and then, and Naruto reading aloud and writing down his own raps.

"See these calluses on my soul? Couldn't let your hating paralysis take control. I pick you up from the ground till I can't no more, still my name stings in your mouth like canker sores..."

Kirabi drained another few cups of sake, thinking of the blonde's situation

"Yo, yo, that was deep Naruto…them teammates must've been a no, no…"

The tan man lifted another cup to his lips, looking over at the blonde. He shrugged, locks of hair falling over his blue eyes. There was a cold glint in those deep orbs and Kirabi could tell he had hit a touchy subject. He waved his hand, motioning for Naruto to continue.

"Not a dead last…I learned and got past the past. My future looks brighter, I'm not tangled in a web of lies, my heart feels lighter… I moved away from those who tried to stab me in the back, and…"

Kirabi looked over as Naruto stopped, working back over his words. He scratched out a few, eyes scanning back and forth. The vessel of the eight tails listened, leaning back in his chair and staring up at the night sky.

"I got past the past…now my future looks brighter."

Thinking about the hard edge in the blonde's eyes and the cold ferocity of his rhymes, Kirabi had no doubt about it.

'Now…all you need is a rap name…'

-Fin-