Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

To "Haffulk", my gaming friend. We'll miss you.

Chapter Six: The Fox's Web

Jiraiya kept his back ramrod straight and his face as impassive as he possibly could, determined not to fidget under Uzumaki Kenjiro's piercing gaze. He also pretended not to notice the dark look Kaji, who was standing slightly behind his father's right hand in what looked like full combat gear and with his arms crossed over his chest, was levelling at him.

'If looks could kill…'

"Jiraiya." The old man's voice could have caused blizzards in Suna.

The Sannin bowed his head politely to the Uzumaki clan head. "Kenjiro-sama."

"You have a lot of nerve, showing your face here after everything you've done."

'He's not beating around the bush, is he?' Nevertheless, Jiraiya wasn't going to complain. So far, things were going better than he had expected. He hadn't been kicked out of Uzushio yet, and he was actually standing face-to-face with the Uzumaki clan head.

… In the obviously infuriated clan head's office, which was undoubtedly fortified with some of the most powerful fuuinjutsu of the Uzumaki clan. While said clan head – who was one of the few people alive who could wipe the floor with him – was flanked by one of his most powerful jounin.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now."

On second thought, maybe things weren't going as well as he had hoped they would.

"I..." He could say that he was here only to talk. That killing him would lead to war between Konoha and Uzushio. That all he wanted was to finally meet his godson. "…I can't."

Kaji raised a perplexed eyebrow, but didn't otherwise comment on his unusual – borderline suicidal – response.

"You have an odd way of defending yourself," the old man said.

Jiraiya gave both of them a tiny shrug in response. "Would it make any difference if I told you that I'm sorry for everything that's happened?"

"No," Kenjiro said curtly; Jiraiya couldn't blame him.

"I'd like to meet Naruto."

"Why should I allow you to speak with him?"

"Because he's my godson," Jiraiya stated simply.

"Maybe you should have remembered that before you–" Kaji clamped his mouth shut when he noticed Kenjiro's 'settle down' gesture.

Jiraiya blinked at the sudden change in the young man's demeanor; he had gone from impassive observer to ready-to-cut-your-heart-out-with-a-spoon in less than a heartbeat.

He returned the young Uzumaki's glare with a scowl of his own. "I never forgot."

"Then why did you lie to us?" Even though Kenjiro had posed the question in a level tone, the Toad Sage felt a shiver running down his spine. Something was telling him that his answer would determine whether he would leave Uzushio or not – and in what fashion.

"I only agreed with the Hokage's insane plan because I truly believed that Naruto would be safer in anonymity." Seeing the dubious looks the two Uzumaki were giving him, he pressed on. "Naruto's life would have been in danger the moment Minato's enemies learned about the boy's existence. Remaining anonymous was the best way to ensure his survival; just one more child that had been orphaned by the Kyuubi's rampage.

"Besides," Jiraiya added, "I didn't think that Naruto's parentage would remain a secret for long. Even as a baby, the resemblance between him and Minato was striking. People were bound to notice."

"But they didn't notice," Kaji said scathingly.

"I know." The Toad Sage's hands clenched into fists as he remembered what he had learned about Naruto's life in Konoha. "I made a mistake."

He hadn't dared ask his informants about Naruto directly, and had assumed that they were reluctant to write to him about the boy out of fear of the letters being intercepted by an enemy. It had never crossed his mind that they would have considered the boy an annoyance unworthy of the great Sannin's attention.

"A 'mistake'?" Kaji snarled. "Almost everyone in Konoha pretended that Naruto didn't exist; they didn't even acknowledge him as a human being." The young man narrowed his eyes to the point they resembled this slits. "This would never have happened if you'd told us the truth."

The uncomfortable feeling of déjà-vu came over Jiraiya. 'First Kakashi, now Kaji…'

"Could you have protected him?" Jiraiya shot back. "Could you have kept him safe from Iwa and Kumo?"

Kaji opened his mouth to retort with something – some kind of expletive, judging by the look on his face – but Kenjiro raised his hand again, stopping his son before he could utter a single word.

"We will never know, will we?" the old man asked.

"…No, we won't." Jiraiya looked at his clenched fists and willed them to open. "All I ever wanted was to keep Naruto safe," he added in a voice barely above a whisper. "I thought: 'one year, two at the most' before people started wondering about the boy's resemblance to the deceased Hokage. And once they started gossiping about it, it was bound to reach your ears sooner or later, no matter what the elders did to hush things up."

"Too bad someone told them about the Kyuubi before they could notice the family resemblance," Kaji said icily.

"When I find out who let that piece of information slip, I'm going to make them regret it." Jiraiya wasn't a violent man, but he was willing to make an exception for the bastard – or bastards – who had ruined his godson's childhood.

"Good." The Sannin would have been more than a little disconcerted by the look of cold fury on the black-clad young man's face if it wasn't for the fact that his own features were twisted in the exact same murderous expression.

Silence followed the young man's statement, but it wasn't tense and uncomfortable like before. It took a few moments for the Toad Sage to realize why: there was no longer the threat of imminent violence in the air. Somehow, he and the two Uzumaki seemed to have reached some kind of understanding.

"Kaji," Kenjiro said after a couple more minutes spent contemplating their place in the grand scheme of things, "could you escort Jiraiya to our house and introduce him to the children?"

Kaji bowed his head politely to the old man. "Of course, Father."

"Thank you. I'll join you as soon as I have finished here."

The Toad Sage opened his mouth to protest; he hadn't even had a chance to bring up the possibility of reforming the alliance.

Then, it occurred to him that this line of inquiry could get him kicked out of the Whirlpool before he had a chance to talk to Naruto, so he decided to ask about the old man's sudden change of heart, instead; he didn't believe for an instant that Kenjiro was allowing him to meet Naruto purely out of the goodness of his heart.

Then, he thought better of it and decided to keep his big mouth shut; he probably shouldn't be pushing his luck.

"Until later." He turned around and walked towards the door Kaji was holding open for him.

He wordlessly followed the young man out of Uzushio's administrative building.

-XOXO-

If Kaji were to be entirely honest with himself, he was enjoying watching his father push one of the Legendary Sannin around like the man was a hapless genin barely out of the Academy. Especially since this particular Sannin had been the cause of so much grief for his family.

'And for himself,' the dark-haired man mused as he snuck a sidelong glance at Jiraiya.

He had seen the pain in the other man's face when he was talking about Naruto; the Toad Sage was terrible at hiding his feelings. Which was fortunate for him, because this small deviation from proper shinobi conduct was the only reason Kaji was willing to let Jiraiya come anywhere near his nephew.

It wasn't forgiveness – not yet. The old man would have to find a way to prove himself worthy of it. But it was a good first step. At the very least, he and Jiraiya wouldn't be constantly sniping at each other in front of Naruto.

"Who does Kenjiro-sama want me to meet, besides Naruto?" Jiraiya asked.

"Karin and Kimimaro; two children that are staying with us."

"I didn't know you had kids," the Sannin said with a sly grin.

"I don't," Kaji replied tersely; he know exactly what Jiraiya was thinking.

The white-haired man's grin widened, but he mercifully dropped the subject.

Kaji huffed in annoyance and decided to ignore the Sannin, thanking every kami in existence that Yahiko hadn't heard the older man's comments. The orange-haired ninja was already teasing him to no end about how he was turning into a mother hen.

'Mother hen,' he scoffed inwardly. 'I'm only trying to keep my nephew safe.'

It wasn't like he was a worrywart or anything like that. Naruto seemed to be magnetically attracted to trouble; he needed someone to keep an eye – or preferably both eyes – on him. He was simply being… cautious.

"I heard that you had taken a desk job."

Kaji glanced at Jiraiya again; was he fishing for information or was he just making idle conversation? "I did."

"You're literally the last person I'd expect to voluntarily ask to sit behind a desk all day."

The dark-haired man shrugged; he had the feeling that he didn't need to explain to Jiraiya why he had chosen to stop taking missions outside the Whirlpool.

The Sannin nodded towards the young man's attire. "Is paperwork giving you trouble?"

"Some letter are more troubling than others," Kaji replied with the hint of a smirk.

"…Point taken."

"Just so we're clear…" Kaji said as they reached the center of Uzushio and started walking down the street that would eventually lead them to the Uzumaki clan head's residence. "If you harm Naruto in any way, you'll never leave the island."

"And here I thought we were starting to get along…" Jiraiya mumbled.

"We are," Kaji admitted. "Which is why I'm giving you a warning."

"I don't mean to brag," the Sannin began in a tone that implied the exact opposite, "but I believe that a fight between the two of us would be a little one-sided."

"Take a look around you, Jiraiya-sama. What do you see?"

Without breaking stride, the Toad Sage examined his surroundings. His face changed from indifferent to concerned – and slightly awed – when he realized what he was looking at.

Every building in Uzushio was covered with a wide array of seals, which had been carefully camouflaged as decorative wall carvings. And that was without taking into account the extensive network of barrier and sentry seals extending over each island in the Land of Whirlpools. Even so, all of these paled in comparison to the seals protecting the administrative building and the new Noh Mask Hall.

Even Kaji's father was willing to admit that the Uzumaki may have gone just a little overboard in defending their homeland after the Invasion.

"As long as you're in Uzushio, Jiraiya-sama, it doesn't matter that you're one of the Legendary Sannin." The dark-haired man let a rather nasty smirk form on his face. "All I have to do is activate a couple of these seals and there won't be enough left of you to send back to Konoha in a matchbox." The smirk widened. "The biggest problem would be apologizing to the neighbors for ruining their garden."

"You really know how to make a guest feel welcome, don't you," Jiraiya said flatly. "What's next? A tour around the Whirlpool's Torture and Interrogation department?"

"I don't think that will be necessary." Unless talking with Konan, who was arguably Uzushio's best information gatherer and spymaster, counted as being interrogated by a ninja from T&I.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the house.

Kaji stopped in front of the entrance with his hand on the doorknob. "One more thing…"

"Another death threat?"

The dark-haired man shook his head. "Just a few words about Karin and Kimimaro."

Jiraiya raised an intrigued eyebrow.

"Kimimaro has only been here for a couple of weeks," Kaji continued; both children were in the Academy right now, but it would be for the best if the Sannin knew a few things about them in advance. "Have you heard about what happened to the Kaguya clan?"

"I heard that they tried to assassinate the Mizukage," Jiraiya said. "And that there weren't any survivors."

"He's the only one left," Kaji informed him. "And Karin's mother is missing in action."

"Missing? Or dead?"

"Until Yahiko and Nagato return from their mission, she's only missing."

"I see." Jiraiya let out a heavy sigh. "I'll avoid asking them about their families."

"Thank you," Kaji said; it was all the deference he was prepared to offer to the Toad Sage at the moment.

Without another word, he pushed the front door open.

-XOXO-

Jiraiya followed Kaji through the maze of corridors that was the young man's ancestral residence, trying to put his thoughts in some semblance of order.

First, there was this boy, Kimimaro. Assuming that he wasn't a bloodthirsty lunatic like most of his clan were reputed to be, he would grow up to be an invaluable ally. The Toad Sage was dying to know how the Uzumaki had managed to get their hands on the last survivor of the infamous Kaguya clan – along with what they had been doing in Kiri in the first place. He might have 'forgotten' to mention it to Kaji, but he was well aware that the young man had led a mission to the Hidden Mist a few weeks ago, despite having supposedly opted out of field work.

Then, there was the girl, Karin's, mother. She – or maybe one of her teammates – must have been very influential if Kenjiro was willing to send someone as powerful as Nagato on a search and rescue mission to find her instead of assigning him to act as his son and heir's bodyguard in Kiri. Which, in turn, led to the question of who was mad enough to attack this particular team of Uzushio shinobi – and powerful enough to defeat them.

'Questions upon questions…' And no way to get answers without offending his hosts.

They walked past a door that lead to a sitting room; Jiraiya idly examined a beautiful ink drawing hanging between two windows. He scowled as his eyes traced the distinctive pattern of a chakra draining seal that had been stylized to resemble an abstract wood carving on the wall behind it.

'In here as well…' If this was how the residential areas were defended, then he didn't even want to imagine what kind of seals were protecting the shoreline. From what he had seen, the Uzumaki had taken the notion of using their fuuinjutsu to fortify the Whirlpool and, as usual, had gone completely overboard.

'And there are some in Konoha who believe that attacking Uzushio is a good idea.' Jiraiya scoffed inwardly; any army foolish enough to march against the Whirlpool would be decimated before they made it two blocks inside the village.

In all honesty, this trip was turning into quite an educational experience.

They passed in front of a few more doorways leading to different parts of the house before Kaji stopped in front of a sliding door and pulled it open, revealing a small but well-tended sitting room. This time, Jiraiya didn't pay any attention to the décor; instead, his attention was caught by the young woman and the child sitting side by side at the low table in the center of the room.

"It's good to see you again, Jiraiya-sensei," Konan said, inclining her head politely in greeting. "Welcome to Uzushio."

Jiraiya smiled at her; it was good to hear something other than thinly-veiled threats – whenever they bothered with using a veil, that is. "It's good to see you too, Konan."

The blue-haired woman sighed tiredly. "Do I need to remind you where my eyes are, sensei?"

Jiraiya's grin widened and he lifted his gaze to her golden eyes, a sight no less enchanting than the rest of her. She had grown even more beautiful in the years since he had last seen her.

"Is he really a powerful ninja?" the boy who looked like a spot-the-differences copy of Minato mumbled under his breath.

"Don't let his looks deceive you, kid," Kaji said as he took a seat across the boy, motioning for the Toad Sage to join him. "He's one of the most powerful shinobi alive."

Jiraiya sat down next to the dark-haired man. "And what's that supposed to mean, exactly?"

"Just that you look a little…" Kaji faltered, evidently trying to come up with a characterization that wasn't insulting – or, more likely, that was child-friendly. "…Well, you know what I mean."

Jiraiya huffed indignantly, but refused to be baited into an argument.

The sound of giggles from the other side of the table drew his attention back to the golden-haired boy. Jiraiya wasn't sure what he was expecting his godson to be like, but he wasn't disappointed by what he was seeing.

Naruto had a warm smile that lit up his whisker-marked face, and bright blue eyes that seemed incapable of reflecting any malice. He was wearing a plain orange shirt that nonetheless looked expensive and, undoubtedly, had the red spiral of the Uzumaki clan stamped on the back. All in all, he seemed to be a healthy, happy seven-year-old boy.

Jiraiya privately wondered whether that would be the case if Naruto had never left Konoha.

He smiled at his godson, but his grin froze when Naruto turned to face him. He had seen that look before on Minato's face, and it never bode well for the person on the receiving end of it.

"Where have you been all this time?" Naruto asked furiously.

'Well, at least he's direct.' That was something the boy had definitely taken from his Uzumaki relatives.

Jiraiya took a deep breath, steeling himself, and began repeating his story.

-XOXO-

Naruto frowned as he listened to his newly-found godfather's explanation as to why the man had been absent from the boy's life for all those years. He wasn't an expert on proper shinobi conduct or politics, but all this 'go along with it and hope for the best' sounded pretty shaky to him.

He wasted no time informing Jiraiya of this. "That's nonsense."

Jiraiya stared at him for a moment with his mouth hanging slightly open. "I'm sorry?"

"Nonsense," Naruto repeated, enunciating the word; it wasn't the one he'd wanted to use, but Yahiko had cautioned him against using that other word anywhere near Konan. "You had no way of knowing that anyone would notice the resemblance between me and my dad."

"Well, not exactly," Jiraiya admitted, squirming uncomfortably in his seat, "but I was fairly certain that–"

Naruto didn't let him complete his sentence. "They didn't believe Grandfather when he told them who my dad was." He hadn't believed his grandfather either, at the time, but that was beside the point. "And how would they notice, when they never even looked at me?" he asked, unable to fully keep the bitterness out of his voice.

"I didn't know, Naruto," Jiraiya said softly. "I learned what was really going on after your grandfather broke the alliance and…" He paused and shook his head. "…And I'm sorry. You're right; so is your uncle, and Kakashi. I should have been keeping an eye on you."

Naruto's brow furrowed as he pondered the unfamiliar name. "Kakashi… Is that your friend's name, Uncle?"

Kaji gave Jiraiya a murderous look before turning his gaze to the boy. "Yes, that's his name."

"You haven't told him Kakashi's name?" the white-haired man asked incredulously.

"Not yet."

"You don't think he needs to know–?"

"Of course he needs to know," Kaji snapped, shooting another cold look at Jiraiya. "But I also want Kakashi to survive long enough for Naruto to be able to thank him in person one day."

"Oh." Comprehension dawned on the white-haired man's face. "Oops."

Kaji sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

"You haven't changed at all, sensei." Konan's voice was even, but Naruto could swear she was on the verge of laughter.

Naruto's mouth quirked in a small smile. Jiraiya wasn't all that bad. 'And he did say he was sorry.'

It couldn't hurt to give him a chance.

-XOXO-

"…Therefore, I believe that it would be beneficial for everyone involved if trade was reestablished between Uzushio and Konoha."

"I'm running out of ways to say 'No', Jiraiya," Kenjiro said tiredly.

'Then say 'Yes', you stubborn old geezer!' Jiraiya was feeling the need to grab fistfuls of his hair and start pulling them out in frustration. Negotiating with Uzumaki Kenjiro was like banging his head against a wall.

No, a wall could actually be brought down with a few good head-butts; Uzumaki Kenjiro was unyielding.

"Maybe he's hoping that you'll cave in if he becomes annoying enough," Akashio Rei told her fellow clan head.

"Then he doesn't know Kenjiro very well," Takashio Hiro commented lightly.

Jiraiya bristled inwardly at the way the elders of the Whirlpool were talking about him as if he weren't in the same room – and worse, as if he were a misbehaving genin – but somehow managed to swallow his indignant protests.

"With respect, Kenjiro-sama," the Toad Sage began, "you shouldn't reject my proposal so offhandedly."

"Your proposal?" the red-haired old man asked with an amused smirk. "Not the Hokage's?"

Jiraiya set his jaw, steeling himself for the treasonous words he was about to say. "No, not the Hokage's. Mine. But I can convince him to honor your terms, should we reach an agreement."

That was stretching the truth a bit, since Jiraiya hadn't exactly been authorized to offer terms to the Uzumaki – or even to speak on behalf of Konoha – but the Sannin considered it a mere technicality. If he managed to return with the Uzumaki's promise to reform the alliance between the two villages, not even Danzou would be able to object, no matter what the Whirlpool's demands were.

Kenjiro could literally demand anything he wanted. Anything at all.

The old man's reply was swift and decisive. "No."

'Why the hell not, dammit?' Jiraiya took a deep breath; he didn't know why the Head of Uzushio was trying so hard to anger him, but he wasn't about to fall in the old man's trap.

"Perhaps I didn't explain the situation clearly, Kenjiro-sama," Jiraiya said as diplomatically as he could muster at that moment – which, admittedly, wasn't all that much. "With the majority of the Uchiha clan dead and the Military Police effectively disbanded until a sufficient number of the surviving Uchiha reach the rank of chuunin, the Hyuuga clan is making a bid to acquire more of the Uchiha's previous responsibilities."

"So you mentioned before, Jiraiya," Nagare Shin said. "What's your point?"

"My point, esteemed elders," the Toad Sage began, shooting a cold glance at Kenjiro, "is that the Hyuuga are resentful of your alliance with Kumogakure."

"We're not allies with Kumo," Hiro corrected him.

"Not in essence, perhaps," Jiraiya said. "But in practice, Uzushio and Kumo are on friendlier terms than ever."

"Is maintaining good relationships with one's neighboring villages an offense now?" Rei asked, frowning.

"It's certainly a good pretext for war," Kenjiro remarked, eyeing Jiraiya thoughtfully. "Isn't that what you're trying to tell us?"

"…Yes," Jiraiya replied almost mechanically, completely taken aback by the elderly Uzumaki's bluntness.

The gears inside his head started turning again as he frantically tried to understand where the old man was going with this. Kenjiro knew how his actions would be seen by the elders of Konoha, and yet he had committed himself to this course regardless of the consequences. It was entirely uncharacteristic of the man who planned everything all the way down to the minutest detail, who had a reputation for being three steps ahead of his enemies, who–

Jiraiya's eyes widened in shock as all the pieces fell into place inside his mind. "…You want to start a war between Konoha and Uzushio," he said in an accusatory whisper. "Don't you?"

The four elders were looking at him, their faces blank masks that revealed nothing about their thoughts.

Then, one corner of Rei's mouth turned upward in a slight smirk. "Clever man."

Jiraiya gaped at her, feeling as if the world were collapsing all around him.

"I'm not trying to start a war, Jiraiya," Kenjiro corrected him. "I'm only seeking justice for my grandson."

'Justice?' Jiraiya thought. 'Or vengeance?' To Uzumaki Kenjiro, they were probably one and the same.

"Is getting revenge against the Hokage worth thousands of lives?" Jiraiya demanded. "Civilians, children; they will all be caught in the crossfire!"

"Is that the kind of man you think I am, Jiraiya?" Kenjiro asked sternly, clearly offended by the Sannin's accusation. "Do you truly believe that I would let children die for the mistakes of a few old men?"

"Right now, I don't know what to believe of you."

"Then believe me when I say this: I would rather take my own life right now, in this very room, than be responsible for the death of even a single child." Kenjiro's words were spoken with a conviction that Jiraiya found impossible to doubt.

"Then why are you doing this?" the Toad Sage asked. "What are you trying to accomplish?"

"I want to remove the Hokage and his advisors from their positions of power," Kenjiro said. "And then, when they're no longer a part of the Leaf's hierarchy, I will kill them."

Jiraiya shuddered at the calm tone in which the old man had announced his intention to end the lives of the Third Hokage and his advisors. "Why are you telling me this? Aren't you afraid I'll tell my old sensei about your plans?"

"Even if you did, it wouldn't change anything." The elderly Uzumaki gave him a long, searching look. "…But I don't think that you'll reveal any of this to Sarutobi."

Jiraiya averted his eyes; he didn't want to have to answer this.

The conniving old man was right; he wouldn't repeat a word of what had been discussed today to the Hokage. If anyone in Konoha got wind of the Uzumaki clan head's intentions, then they would all be screaming for his blood.

"What if your plan doesn't work?" Even the most carefully laid out plans could go wrong, after all. And if Jiraiya knew a few more details about it, he could make sure that everything would go wrong.

"Then I'll have to make adjustments whenever it's necessary," Kenjiro said evenly.

"And what's your gain from all this?" the Toad Sage asked curtly, looking in turn at Rei, Hiro, and Shin.

"The same as Kenjiro's, of course," Rei answered in a tone that implied that this should have been obvious to him.

"For years, we have been sending our clanmates to aid Konoha," Hiro explained. "Our siblings, our cousins, even our children. Most of them returned home, but some did not. They died in the service of the men and women who were lying to us.

"Kenjiro is not the only one here seeking revenge."

Shin nodded in agreement, his expression as cold and unrelenting as the others'.

Jiraiya felt the need to collapse on a sturdy chair as he considered the consequences of the Hokage having these four, who had managed to rebuild Uzushio from the rubble and return it to its former glory, as enemies.

"And what's going to happen once the Hokage is dead?"

"I don't know," Kenjiro replied. "I haven't planned that far ahead."

Jiraiya could tell that this was a lie, but he didn't contradict the old man.

After all, remaining in Uzumaki Kenjiro's good graces was the only way to ensure that the old man's claim of not wanting a war hadn't been a lie as well.

And as for the Hokage having to die…. Maybe there was a way to avoid it.

-XOXO-

"Poor man," Rei said after Jiraiya left the council chambers, shaking her head fractionally. "I'm starting to feel sorry for him."

"No, you're not," Hiro snorted.

Rei smirked at her fellow clan head before turning her gaze to Kenjiro. "Do you really think he's going to keep his mouth shut?"

"It doesn't matter," Kenjiro said. "Whether he talks or not, the outcome will still favor us."

If Jiraiya told the Hokage everything that had been discussed this afternoon, then Hiruzen wouldn't be able to prevent Danzou from starting a war without appearing too weak to continue serving as the Hokage. That would give Kenjiro the excuse he needed to kill every member of Konoha's Council. After all, what better way to protect your village than by eliminating your enemy's leaders?

If, on the other hand, Jiraiya didn't talk, then Kenjiro would have the time he needed to work out all the details of his current plan – only a fraction of which he had confided in the Sannin. It would still end in the deaths of the elderly Hokage and his three most trusted advisors, of course, but getting to that part would be much, much more gratifying.

"Indeed," Hiro said. "You should remember to thank Hiruzen for sending Jiraiya here instead of Tsunade," he added with a lopsided grin. "She wouldn't have fallen for your lies so easily, old friend."

"For a veteran of two wars, he still has an almost childish naiveté," Shin agreed.

"Most people call that 'idealism', Shin," Rei said with a bemused smirk on her face.

The white-haired man shook his head. "Foolishness."

"Why wouldn't he believe me?" Kenjiro asked his fellow clan heads. "After all, I didn't actually lie to him."

Hiro and Shin stared at him flatly, while Rei quirked a mocking eyebrow.

"I really don't want to start a war," Kenjiro said. "Wars are messy and unpredictable. Most of the time, they result in the deaths of innocents rather than of the people you're trying to kill."

"The Third Raikage was killed during the last War," Rei reminded him, her smirk turning downright evil.

"Yes, but Ohnoki is still alive." Despite Kenjiro's best efforts to rectify this.

"You can't win every time," Hiro said.

"Which is exactly my point," Kenjiro said, nodding in agreement. "In war, there's always the possibility of defeat."

'No,' the old man thought, 'I don't want a war.'

-XOXO-

"Jiraiya-sensei."

Jiraiya looked up from his notebook to find Konan standing a few meters away from him; a swirl of small, square pieces of paper was floating around her. She had mastered her jutsu to an unparalleled degree, somehow combining her own original paper manipulation jutsu with a ninjutsu that altered one's physical form. Adding a space-time altering jutsu on top of all that was simply incredible.

He smiled at her, proud to see how much she had grown from the timid little girl he had met so many years ago. "Yes, Konan?"

"Nagato and Yahiko have returned," she informed him, her voice barely above a whisper.

Jiraiya looked over to where Naruto was studying, along with three of his friends. The children didn't seem to have heard anything. "Should I end their lesson?"

It would be just his luck to have his lesson with Naruto interrupted after having gone through so much trouble to convince Kenjiro to allow him some time with the boy without Kaji breathing down his neck. Even if the old man had interpreted 'teaching my godson' as 'teaching Naruto and his closest friends'.

"There's no need for that, sensei." Konan glanced at the children. "Besides, it would be better if they remain occupied for a little longer."

Jiraiya nodded in understanding.

"Kenjiro-sama wishes you to attend the briefing."

The Toad Sage raised an eyebrow. "What does the scheming old man want with me?"

"You shouldn't call him that, Jiraiya-sensei," Konan scolded him mildly.

"Why not?" Jiraiya scoffed. "He's old, and he spends his time moving people around like pieces on a Shogi board."

He wasn't dumb enough to repeat that anywhere where Kenjiro or even Kaji might hear him, however.

"Kenjiro-sama is a great man," Konan said. "He offered Nagato, Yahiko, and I shelter and a place in Uzushio when he had every reason to imprison us as Ame spies." The young woman clasped her hands and fixed him with an even look. "He has earned our loyalty, sensei."

Jiraiya lifted his gaze from her eyes to the hitai-ate tied around her forehead, examining the spiral carved on the metal plate. "That's good; the spiral suits you much better than Ame's rainfall."

He didn't have to think hard on why Kenjiro had decided to accept someone as powerful as Nagato into the ranks of the shinobi of the Whirlpool, or why he had extended the same courtesy to Yahiko and Konan. But he couldn't even begin to guess what she had done to earn the armband bearing the Uzumaki crest she was wearing on her upper arm.

At least his three surviving students had found a home here. Even though he would have preferred it if they had sought refuge in Konoha, instead.

Konan smiled at him. "Thank you, sensei."

Jiraiya got on his feet and motioned for her to lead the way. "Shall we?"

-XOXO-

Nagato sighed inwardly as Yahiko fidgeted once again. He wanted to return to his home, take a warm bath, and eat a decent meal just as much as his best friend did, but he wasn't going to show his impatience.

"Anxious to go home?" Kaji teased the orange-haired ninja.

"You would be too, if you'd been on a mission for more than a month, eating nothing but field rations and bathing on streams," Yahiko mumbled darkly.

Nagato nodded in wholehearted agreement.

"I'll give you that one," the dark-haired man said.

Yahiko folded his arms over his chest and tapped his forearm. "What's taking them so long?"

Nagato glanced at the elderly Head of Uzushio. The old man was sitting behind his desk, calmly sipping his tea, seemingly oblivious to the world around him.

The Rinnegan bearer wasn't fooled for an instant by the old man's act. "If I may ask, Kenjiro-sama…"

The old man looked up from his cup. "You know you can speak freely in front of me, Nagato."

The red-haired young man squared his shoulders. "Why do you want Jiraiya-sensei to be here for this?"

Kenjiro's expression didn't change, although his mouth curved upward in an almost imperceptible smirk. "To give him some incentive."

Yahiko frowned at the old man's cryptic response. He opened his mouth to ask something, but was interrupted by a knock on the door.

The smirk vanished from the old man's face, leaving it completely blank. "Enter."

Konan walked into the Head of Uzushio's office, followed closely by a tall, broad-shouldered man with an unruly mane of white hair that was tied in a ponytail.

The white-haired man beamed at them. "Nagato! Yahiko! It's been a long time."

Nagato ginned back at his sensei. "It has, Jiraiya-sensei. It's good to see you again."

Yahiko nodded in agreement. "Eight years now, sensei." He pouted in mock outrage. "You could have sent us a letter."

Jiraiya's grin turned awkward. "Yeah, I've been getting that a lot, lately."

"For good reason," Kaji muttered under his breath.

"For good reason," Jiraiya agreed solemnly.

Nagato exchanged a puzzled look with Yahiko; then, both of them turned to look at Konan, hoping she would explain what had happened in the weeks they had been away.

She gave them a reassuring nod that everything was fine and a look that promised she was going to explain later.

That was good enough for Nagato. When Kenjiro had informed him and Yahiko that Jiraiya was going to visit Uzushio, both young men had been worried about their old sensei's health. The Whirlpool wasn't a safe place for outsiders – especially if they had managed to gain the ire of one of the clans.

The Toad Sage gave Yahiko a puzzled once-over, before doing the same to Nagato. "Is there a war going on that I haven't heard of?"

Both young men briefly examined their, by now, well-worn garments before glancing at each other.

"What, these?" Yahiko pointed at the numerous pouches clasped on his belt and the kunai sheathes strapped to each of his thighs. Considering that he also had a sword strapped across his back, along with several other weapons concealed inside his clothes – and that Nagato was similarly well-armed, minus the sword – Jiraiya's inquiry wasn't entirely unmerited. "No, these are for our last mission."

"I thought you were on a search and rescue mission," Jiraiya said.

"We were." Yahiko grimaced and glanced at Kenjiro.

"Now that we're all here," the old man began, looking between the five of them, "you can give us your report." He set his teacup aside. "Don't leave out any details, no matter how unimportant they may seem."

Yahiko's brow furrowed slightly in confusion, but he didn't ask for clarification. "At your request, Kenjiro-sama, Nagato and I left Uzushio in search of Takashio Akio's missing squad…"

-XOXO-

"Otogakure," Jiraiya said, repeating the unfamiliar name Yahiko had just mentioned. "I've heard rumors about it, but nothing indicating that it has already been founded."

"It hasn't yet," Yahiko said. "There were several camps across the Land of Rice Paddies, but none of them was significant enough to function as the base of operations for a Hidden Village."

"There must be another one somewhere," Kaji said.

"That's what we thought as well," the orange-haired jounin said, "but none of the shinobi we interrogated knew anything about it."

"They could have been lying to you," Jiraiya pointed out.

"No, they couldn't have," Nagato said in a cold, emotionless tone that made Kaji shiver. He had seen the Rinnegan bearer extract information from an enemy once; it wasn't a sight he wanted to witness again any time soon.

Jiraiya raised a perplexed eyebrow at his former student, but didn't press him for details. "And Orochimaru is behind this." He shook his head in disgust. "I should have known he would crawl out of his hidey-hole sooner or later."

"He has killed four of my people," Kaji's father said. "I trust that Sarutobi won't take offense if my hunter-nin found him before Konoha's did."

"Would it matter even if he did?" Jiraiya asked belligerently.

"No."

Kaji suppressed a smirk at his father's blunt response. "What happens now?"

"We watch," Kenjiro said. "We find out as much as we can about Otogakure. And we wait."

"For what?" Yahiko asked, puzzled.

"For Orochimaru to make a mistake."

"When that happens," Jiraiya said, "you can count on my help. He's dragged the name of the Sannin through the mud long enough."

Kenjiro inclined his head to the Toad Sannin, accepting his offer of help. "I appreciate it, Jiraiya."

Kaji nodded his own thanks, carefully schooling his features into an expression of gratitude; more than two decades of watching his father 'negotiating' with foreign dignitaries had taught him to flawlessly control his facial muscles.

Jiraiya hadn't realized it yet – and probably wouldn't for some time – but he had just played straight into the old man's hands.

-XOXO-

Karin wiped the tears from her eyes with the hem of her sleeve and released her hold on her knees. She tried to stretch her legs, but after hours of staying curled up in a tight little ball her joints ached and her muscles felt cramped. She stood up, but grimaced as pain shot up her legs. Gritting her teeth, she ignored it and started walking towards the door.

She couldn't keep hiding in her room forever.

She reached the bottom of the stairs and headed towards the garden.

"How long has she been up there?"

The sound of Honoka's soft voice made Karin pause outside Naruto's favorite sitting room.

"Ever since Grandfather told her the news."

"It's awful." Honoka's voice caught at the last syllable. "I can't believe that Hisa-san is gone."

"I'll miss her," Naruto said.

Karin blinked fresh tears away.

"I'll miss her, too," Honoka said quietly.

"I didn't know her–" A yelp of pain cut off whatever Kimimaro was about to say next.

"Kimimaro!" Honoka hissed.

Karin's mouth twitched from a fleeting smile. She might not be able to see what her friends were doing, but she was certain that Naruto had just kicked Kimimaro on the shin.

"–But I'm sorry she's gone," Kimimaro concluded. "I don't like seeing you all so sad," he added in an undertone.

Karin stepped away from the door; she didn't feel ready to talk to her friends just yet.

She headed outside the house, to the training dummies the behind the dojo. Karin tilted her head slightly to the side as she examined the closest one. It was a rough, vaguely human-shaped block of wood, riddled with dents and scratches from the years of use. Just yesterday, Kimimaro had added a few new marks on it with his bone daggers.

The red-haired girl narrowed her eyes. She created two chakra chains – something she had never managed to do before – and wrapped them around the dummy. With a flick of her wrist, the dummy was torn to small chunks of wood.

She let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding and let the chains fade into nothingness.

One day, the man who had hurt her mother was going to be in the dummy's place.

And she wasn't going to use only two chains.

-XOXO-

"Again!"

Naruto raised his sword in the 'ready' stance and prepared to defend himself against his uncle'ss attack.

A few strikes later, he found the tip of his uncle's sword a few centimeters away from his eyes.

"Focus, Naruto." Kaji drew back the sword and took a few steps back. "Again."

Naruto took a deep breath and nodded, trying to empty his mind of everything except the blunted weapon he was holding in his hands.

This time, it took only a couple of blows before the sword's point was resting against his heart.

Kaji lowered the blunted blade. "…Perhaps we should take a break and continue in a few minutes."

The eight-year-old boy grimaced and nodded, plopping down on the ground with an irritated grunt. From somewhere on the other side of the yard that doubled as a training ground, he could hear Karin and Kimimaro sparring with each other. Judging by Karin's increasingly louder battle cries, Kimimaro was winning. Again. 'At least someone's training is going well today,' he thought sullenly.

"Would you like to tell me what's bothering you, kid?"

Naruto blinked and lifted his gaze from the ground; his uncle was sitting across from him, looking at him with a worried expression on his face.

"Nothing's bothering me, Uncle."

Kaji raised an eyebrow, obviously unconvinced. "You haven't scored a single hit against me yet."

The blond boy shrugged, trying to make the motion as casual as possible. "I've never won any of our matches."

"Not winning and not being able to block more three hits in a row are two entirely different things, Naruto." The dark-haired man leaned forward slightly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," Naruto insisted.

"Don't lie to me, kid," his uncle scolded him. "For one thing, you're not as good at it as you think you are."

Any other day, Naruto would have cheekily asked his uncle to list all the other reasons he shouldn't lie to him. Instead, he lowered his head to examine his hands.

The boy glanced up briefly, opened his mouth, closed it again, and frowned slightly. This wasn't something he could just blurt out. The only reason he was even aware of his…– of what he truly was, was because he had snuck into the great library. It was one of the few rules his uncle had set for him, and he had broken it.

"What happened, Naruto?" Kaji asked softly.

"Am I a jinchuuriki, Uncle?" Naruto winced inwardly; so much for delicacy.

Kaji's back straightened; suddenly, he was looking as alert as he did when they were sparring. "Where did you hear that word?"

"I read it in one of the books in the library." The boy focused determinedly on his hands, fully expecting to be yelled at for breaking that rule.

His uncle didn't scold him; instead, he was watching him intently, waiting for him to continue.

"I was curious about the seal on my belly." Naruto placed his hand over the place the intricate geometric drawing that appeared every time he channeled his chakra. He had been asking about it for years, but all his grandfather would say was that he'd learn what it was when he was old enough to understand the seal's purpose.

Unfortunately, patience had never been an Uzumaki trait – and Naruto was no exception to that rule. "I wanted to know what it was, and nobody would tell me, so I began looking in the seal index in the library.

"Once I figured out that it's an Eight Trigrams Seal, the rest was easy." Despite what his discovery would mean for him, Naruto was proud of himself for having solved this puzzle all on his own. "I just found the right section and went through every book in it."

"And I suppose those fools guarding the entrance didn't notice you strolling through there," Kaji said; Naruto would bet that those guys were going to be in a lot of trouble later.

"So… Is it true, Uncle?"

"You being a jinchuuriki?" Kaji sighed and muttered something that sounded a lot like 'where's Father when I need him?' under his breath. "Yes."

"I see," was all Naruto could say; this changed everything.

"No, I don't think you do," Kaji said. "You, Naruto, are the third vessel of the Nine-Tailed Fox."

"Third?"

Kaji nodded. "The first was Uzumaki Mito, the wife of the First Hokage. The second was your mother, Kushina."

Naruto felt his jaw drop at the mention of his mother's name. "Mom was a jinchuuriki, too?"

"Yes." Kaji laced his fingers together. "When Mito-sama was nearing the end of her life, the Uzumaki clan was asked for someone to take on her burden." The dark-haired man glanced at his clasped hands. "Kushina was chosen."

"Why?" Naruto asked, aghast.

According to several of the books he had read, most jinchuuriki didn't lead happy lives. They had to keep the demon sealed inside them under control while enduring the mistrust of the people around them. Naruto himself had experienced this first-hand back in Konoha – even though he hadn't known why he was being treated like that at the time. To think that his mother had gone through the same thing – and that his grandfather hadn't prevented it from happening…

"Because Kenshin-nii-sama was too old to become a jinchuuriki, and Kaito-nii-san and I weren't strong enough to keep the Kyuubi in check."

Naruto stared speechlessly at his uncle.

"Did you think that choosing someone to become the living prison of an immensely powerful demon is simple?" his uncle asked.

Wasn't it? "The books said–"

"I know what they say," Kaji scoffed, waving a hand dismissively. "Choose someone, apply the seal, and hope for the best." He scoffed again. "If only it were that easy.

"First and foremost, the host's chakra must resonate with the Tailed Beast's, otherwise the seal will fail. There are other factors, of course, but resonance is the key."

"What are the other factors?" Naruto asked, choosing to ignore the fact that his chakra was in any way similar to a Demon's.

"Age is also important," Kaji said. "The younger a jinchuuriki is when the seal in applied to them, the better their control over the Tailed Beast's chakra will be."

Naruto shuddered as he remembered the voice he had heard three years ago and the red chakra it had offered him.

"There's also the amount of chakra the host-to be possesses. It has to be enough to power the seal and keep the Tailed Beast imprisoned.

"Then, there's a person's moral fiber." His uncle grimaced. "Although that's much harder to judge than age or chakra reserves."

Naruto blinked in surprise. "What does moral fiber have to do with imprisoning a Demon?"

"It has everything to do with it," Kaji said. "All jinchuuriki, even those who never learn to control their Beast's chakra, wield power great enough to level entire mountains. Would you trust that kind of power to just anyone?"

"No," Naruto said quietly. 'Of course not.'

"A Tailed Beast's host is almost always chosen from among the Kage's family," his uncle continued. "That way, their loyalty to their village is all but guaranteed."

"So Mom was chosen…" Naruto paused as he thought it over. His dad hadn't become the Fourth Hokage until he was in his twenties, and his parents had gotten married shortly before that. "…Why was she chosen? She wasn't the Hokage's wife back then."

Kaji gave him a mirthless smile. "You're right; back then, Kushina was a foreigner to Konoha, not to mention the daughter of another Hidden Village's Head.

"The second jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi should have been one of the Senju. However, Mito-sama's grandchildren weren't suited for the task; neither were the few other Senju who had managed to survive past the First Shinobi World War. So it was decided that it would be for the best if another Uzumaki was chosen.

"Ostensibly, it was because our overabundance of chakra would make it easier for the new host to keep the Kyuubi under control." Kaji let out a disdainful snort. "But the truth is that the Third Hokage didn't want to upset the… delicate relations between the Uchiha and the Hyuuga clans by giving one of them access to the Kyuubi's power."

"Because of their moral fiber?" Naruto asked, trying to wrap his head around all the new information his uncle was offering him while at the same time doing his best to recall his lessons on Konoha's most notable clans.

The Uchiha possessed the Sharingan – along with a giant chip on their collective shoulders, if Yahiko was to be believed. The Hyuuga had the Byakugan, and a chip to rival the Uchiha's. And the Senju were...

Ugh. He'd need to look the Senju clan up later.

"More like their lack of one," his uncle scoffed. "I've met some decent Hyuuga and a few decent Uchiha, but the majority of them wouldn't hesitate to screw their rivals over in order to gain more personal power."

Naruto nodded absently; while interesting, that didn't answer his most second most important question. "But… How did I become a jinchuuriki?"

"Short version?" his uncle asked. "Kushina's seal failed and Minato sealed the rampaging Kyuubi inside you in order to save Konoha."

"Why?"

Kaji's knuckles turned white; it looked like his fingers were about to snap. "All we know is that someone killed the midwives–"

"Not that," Naruto interjected, although he was curious to know what had happened that night. "Why did my dad do this to me?"

"I already explained why, Naruto," Kaji said softly. "Minato trusted you with the Kyuubi's power because he believed that you wouldn't abuse it."

"How would you know that? You weren't there."

"I knew my sister and my brother-in-law. And I know that they both wanted only the best for you."

Naruto looked at his hands, trying to sort out the mess in his head. Parents were supposed to protect their children, not turn them into vessels for all-powerful, hateful demons. Everything he had gone thought when he was little was–

Was it his father's fault?

His father wasn't the one who had been treating him like a monster; the people of Konoha had done that. His father had died trying to save him. He had entrusted him with the power of a Tailed Beast, even though he had been only a newborn at the time.

In a way, it was comforting to think that his father had so much faith in him.

'I wish I could have met them.' If only so he could punch his father for sealing the Kyuubi inside him. And hug his mother. Maybe he'd hug his father as well – after giving him another punch, just to drive his point home.

"…Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?" If he hadn't found out the truth by accident… "Where you even going to tell me?"

"Father and I never planned to keep this a secret, Naruto, but we were..." His uncle briefly glanced at him before averting his eyes. "…We were afraid you'd think we only wanted you here because of the Kyuubi."

Naruto stared unblinkingly at his uncle. Then, he sprang from his seat and tackled the dark-haired man into a hug.

He felt tears welling up in his eyes when his uncle returned the hug.

"Guess we were worried for nothing, huh?" Kaji asked softly.

Naruto, who had buried his face in the crook of his uncle's neck, simply nodded in agreement.

-XOXO-

Naruto found himself standing on a platform in the middle of an expanse of water too calm to be called an ocean but far too vast to be a lake. The air smelled fresh and salty, as if he were standing near the sea, but something made him feel that he was inside a cave – or maybe even underground.

'What is this place?'

He walked to the edge of the platform, but couldn't see any other roads. Still, the water didn't look too deep.

With a resigned sigh, he took a step into the water, which turned out to be only ankle-deep, and was nearly thrown off-balance when a tile under his foot moved, rising to the same height as the platform.

A few more tiles emerged from the water, forming a path towards… somewhere.

'Right.' This place was definitely weird.

His grandfather had warned him about that. Mindscapes were unpredictable, shaped by the experiences of each person, reflecting their mental state and changing according to their whims. As long as he was here, he could do anything he wanted. Unfortunately, that didn't extend to the space he shared with the Kyuubi.

Fortunately, the Kyuubi was imprisoned behind the seal, so he'd still have the upper hand. Or, at least, so he hoped.

After a couple of minutes of following the narrow path, the area around him changed, beginning to resemble a cave – assuming that a space larger than his entire house could even be called that. A few minutes later, he found himself in front of a wooden gate kept closed by a paper tag with the kanji for 'seal' written on it.

'So that's the seal.' Too bad he couldn't remove the tag to get a good look at it.

Naruto took a deep breath. "Hey! Kyuubi!"

A pair of blood-red eyes opened behind the wooden gate, fixating on him. They were so far above him that he had to crane his neck in order to return the look.

"What do you want, brat?" the demon asked, somehow managing to sound both annoyed and bored at the same time.

"I'm here to talk to you."

The demon remained silent.

"I want to have access to your chakra," he said before the demon's gaze fully eroded his confidence.

The blood-red eyes came closer to the wooden gate, revealing the massive head of a fox. It had long ears, almost like a rabbit's, and black markings around its eyes. Naruto's attention, however, was caught by the fox's fangs, each as long as his arm. The fact that they were on display because of the predatory grin the fox was giving him did nothing to make him feel better.

The fox grabbed one of the wooden door's bars with his right forepaw, drawing Naruto's attention back to the Seal paper tag.

The demon lowered his head and gave Naruto a searching look. "Why do you want my chakra, brat? Your life isn't in danger right now."

Naruto just shrugged in response; he knew better than to tell the Kyuubi that his Grandfather wanted him to familiarize himself with its chakra.

"That's a first," the fox chuckled; the low, gravely sound unnerved Naruto even more than that 'smile'.

"It is?" Naruto asked, surprise momentarily overcoming his growing apprehension.

"No-one has ever just asked me for my chakra before."

"Well, I am." Naruto clasped his hands over his chest – to appear more intimidating and definitely not because the demon's proximity was starting to make him really nervous – and gave the fox a determined, I'm-not-going-anywhere look.

The fox released the wooden bar, crossed his forepaws and rested his head on top of them. "I might be willing to help you."

"But…?"

"But you have to offer me something in return."

"I don't have to offer you anything!" Naruto said. "My seal, my rules."

"And how will you make me obey your rules, brat?" the fox asked mockingly.

Naruto opened his mouth, blinked at the demon, and closed it again.

"You can't force me to obey you yet, and since our continued existence isn't threatened, I'm not inclined to offer you my chakra." The fox yawned and closed his eyes. "Now go away; you're interrupting my nap."

Naruto bristled inwardly, but somehow managed to stop himself from yelling at the fox. "What do you want?"

The demon kept his eyes closed, pretending to be asleep.

'Stupid fox! Nobody falls asleep that fast.'

"…I'm not setting you free, if that's what you're asking" Naruto mumbled sullenly.

The demon let out a breath that sounded a lot like a snore.

An idea – a crazy idea which violated all common sense along with his self-preservation instinct – came to him. It was completely insane; even a desperate man would cringe in fear at the mere thought of acting on it.

But Naruto wasn't going to fail the task his grandfather had given him just because the Kyuubi was being stubborn. He was an Uzumaki; stubbornness was in his blood.

"However…" He clenched his fists; no chickening out now. "…If you lend me your chakra, you'll have more opportunities to attempt to take over my body."

The utter insanity of his proposal struck him the moment the final words left his mouth.

The Kyuubi's eyes shot open; from his expression, Naruto was willing to bet that if his jaw hadn't been supported by his forepaws, it would have been decorating the floor right now.

The silence stretched on for several moments, before it was broken by the demon's uproarious laughter.

"Very well," the Kyuubi said after he managed to compose himself again; a tendril of red chakra began flowing from him towards the boy. "I'll lend you my chakra."

Naruto briefly wondered if it was too late to say that he had changed his mind.

The thought was driven out of his mind the moment the tendril of red chakra wrapped itself around him. He had almost forgotten what it felt like: power unlike anything he could achieve on his own, along with the sense that he was invincible.

It was incredible.

Terrifying, now that he knew to whom this power really belonged, but still incredible.

"You're a strange one, brat," the Kyuubi muttered as quietly as a twenty meter tall fox could – which was: not at all.

Naruto didn't have time to answer before the demon's cage faded away.

The next heartbeat, he was in the back yard of his home, with his grandfather and his uncle standing a few meters in front of him.

His uncle was beaming at him. "Congratulations, kid! You did it."

"That was very well done, Naruto," his grandfather agreed, smiling just as broadly as his uncle.

Naruto became aware of the fact that he was surrounded by an aura of red chakra. Curious, he lifted his right hand to examine it more closely; his eyes widened when he noticed the elongated fingernails.

'More like claws.' His left hand was the same. "How do I look?"

His uncle came closer and wordlessly handed him a small mirror.

It wasn't that bad, Naruto thought as he examined his reflection. Fangs and demonic red eyes aside, his face hadn't changed at all. Even as he was looking, his features began returning to normal as the red chakra started fading away. Soon, a pair of blue eyes was staring back at him.

He returned the mirror to his uncle.

"How did your conversation with the Kyuubi go, Naruto?" his grandfather asked.

"It went alright." The boy quickly narrated the details of his bargain with the demon.

By the time he was done, both his grandfather and his uncle were looking at him as if he had grown a pair of pointy fox ears. "…What?"

Kenjiro sighed and gently massaged his forehead. "While effective, your proposal leaves much to be desired where your safety is concerned."

"It's the craziest thing I've ever heard," Kaji said bluntly. "It makes my brothers' infiltration of Kumo seem sane in comparison."

"But Grandfather," Naruto began, "you told me that in order for a negotiation to be successful, one must be willing to give up something the other party wants."

"Only when the relinquished item or service won't be detrimental to your success or even jeopardize your life," his grandfather reminded him in exasperation.

'Oops.' Naruto had completely forgotten about that part.

"Nevertheless," Kenjiro added, "the terms are acceptable. The Kyuubi would have tried to take control of you body regardless of your current agreement. Remember, child," his grandfather said softly, "he doesn't have any power over you unless you let him."

"I remember."

"And now that you have been reacquainted with the Fox's chakra," Kenjiro said, "it's time to tell you the only rule about using it."

Naruto nodded and stared eagerly at his grandfather.

"You will never use it again."

"What?!"

"Unless," his grandfather added, raising his voice, "you find yourself in a life-threatening situation which you can't overcome by using only your own power."

"But…" Naruto gaped at his grandfather, trying to find the words to express his indignation. "But then why did I go to all the trouble of asking the Kyuubi for his chakra?"

"Because, child, as I said, the Kyuubi will try to take over your body," Kenjiro reminded him patiently. "In the heat of battle, when you're angry – or even frustrated – and desperate to win, he will offer you his chakra in order to assist you.

"You must refuse," the old man said firmly. "When you feel the Kyuubi's chakra trying to overwhelm yours, you must refuse his 'help'. Or you risk losing yourself."

"And if I can't win on my own?" Naruto asked quietly.

"Then you must be wary, child."

Naruto lowered his gaze to his sandals. "…I just have to train and become stronger, then."

His uncle nodded in agreement and offered him a brief smile. "We'll start tomorrow."

-XOXO-

Kiba was twirling the battle-worn kunai from the ring on its hilt with a savage grin on his face, looking for all the world like he was accustomed to holding sharp, pointy instruments of death.

In Shikamaru's opinion, he was looking completely ridiculous.

"Watch it," the ten-year-old Nara told his reckless classmate. "I don't want to end up in the hospital because of your showing off."

If he'd wanted to dodge kunai, then he wouldn't have skipped class along with the others.

Kiba shot him a sullen look, but he stop twirling the kunai, choosing to hold it in a reverse grip, instead. Shikamaru didn't consider it much of an improvement.

Chouji didn't say anything; he was too busy eating his way through the… Shikamaru couldn't say with certainty; he had lost count of the number of bags of potato chips his big-boned best friend had devoured in the short time the three boys had been here.

"You're just jealous that you don't have a kunai like this one, Shikamaru," Kiba said with a feral smirk that exposed his canines.

"You're right," Shikamaru drawled, trying to make himself more comfortable on the log that served as his seat. "Who wouldn't want a discarded kunai with a damaged seal carved on it?"

"It's a chakra blade with a Fire seal inscribed on it by the seal masters of the Uzumaki clan," Kiba spat through clenched teeth.

"It's a kunai whose seal has been damaged beyond repair," Shikamaru insisted.

It wasn't the first such weapon Shikamaru had seen. In the five years since the alliance between Konoha and Uzushio had been disbanded, a large number of otherwise perfectly serviceable seal-inscribed weapons and armor had been taken out of commission, having fallen in disrepair since there wasn't anyone in Konoha who could fix the seals on them. No-one was stupid enough to tamper with the Uzumaki clan's fuuinjutsu.

"It's still better than a regular kunai," Kiba scoffed.

The ponytailed Nara stared at his classmate, wondering briefly if Kiba really was that ignorant.

"It's dangerous, Kiba," Shikamaru said, trying to talk some sense into his friend. "You should throw it away."

Chouji nodded in agreement and gulped down the rest of his potato chips. "My dad says that it's better to have an ordinary weapon than one that'll backfire on you."

Or blow you up when you tried to use it. Or just plain not work when you wanted it to. Once a seal was damaged, there was no telling exactly how it would react if one tried pouring chakra into it. The safest thing to do was to just throw the seal-inscribed item away.

Kiba narrowed his eyes at the two more level-headed boys. "Feh. Just watch."

Shikamaru's shadow barely managed to reach Kiba and bind him before the tattooed boy began channeling his chakra into the kunai.

Apparently, Kiba and the notion of safety had never been introduced.

"Are you trying to get us killed?" Shikamaru demanded in a tone that hadn't sounded so high-pitched inside his head.

"Hey! Let go of me!" Kiba yelled indignantly.

Chouji reached out and pried the kunai from the Inuzuka's hand. "It's for your own good, Kiba."

Shikamaru released his foolish classmate once the rotund boy was safely out of Kiba's reach. "Thanks, Chouji."

Kiba glowered at them and muttered a number of words that would get Shikamaru grounded for a month –minimum– if he dared to repeat them in front of his mother.

Chouji was examining the kunai, although his cheeks had turned bright red by the string of profanities. "It is a good kunai." He looked up at the Inuzuka. "Where did you get it?"

"From a pile of stuff my mom meant to throw away," Kiba admitted, growing a bit red in the face.

"And you still tried to use it?" Shikamaru asked incredulously. He felt like punching Kiba, but that would mean he'd have to stand up and walk all the way to the other boy.

Judging by the look on Chouji's face, he was thinking somewhere along the same lines, even though he was incapable of hurting one of his friends. It was one of the few times Shikamaru wished that the Akimichi was a little less kindhearted.

"…I just think that it's a waste to throw away a perfectly good weapon because of a damaged seal," Kiba muttered, keeping his gaze away from his classmates.

"Then try to get an Uzumaki to fix it," Shikamaru drawled. Going to the Whirlpool to find an Uzumaki seal master would be marginally less dangerous than using a chakra blade with a broken seal.

"Yeah, like that'll happen," Kiba snorted. "Those bastards left us on our own, remember?"

Shikamaru furrowed his brow; how could he forget? He could see the effects of Uzushio breaking away from Konoha first hand. The Nara and Yamanaka clans, who relied mostly on their ninjutsu, hadn't been quite as affected as the Akimichi clan, whose weapons and armor had been steadily breaking down in the five years since the alliance had been dissolved, but they hadn't come out unscathed, either.

But Konoha's biggest problem wasn't that they couldn't get their old equipment repaired.

It was that Suna and Kumo were slowly beginning to arm themselves with seal-inscribed weapons in pristine condition while Konoha's remaining ones were being systematically worn down in small, unimportant skirmishes.

And, unless his father was wrong, it was only a matter of time before the Kazekage or the Raikage decided to press their advantage.

-XOXO-

"Are you the Uzumaki seal master?"

The black-haired man tore his gaze away from the Kazekage's residence and lowered it to the voice's owner. His eyebrows shot up and his dark blue eyes widened slightly as he examined the small, red-haired boy that had called out to him.

Gaara flinched inwardly; the man clearly knew what he was.

"I am." The man swung his legs down from the bench he had been reclining on and lowered his head to the boy's level, placing his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together. "And you're Gaara, aren't you?"

Gaara nodded and clutched the shabby stuffed bear closer to his body. He had been waiting for days for the opportunity to talk to this man when Yashamaru wouldn't be nearby.

"…Can I help you with something, Gaara?" the dark-haired man asked politely.

"Can you fix me?" the boy whispered.

"Fix–" The man's eyebrows shot up again. "I'm sorry, what?!"

"You can lock the Demon away and make me normal, can't you?" Gaara pleaded. "Everyone says that I'm a monster, but you can fix that!"

His father had once said, when he thought that Gaara was out of earshot, that his son was too far gone and that only an Uzumaki could help him now. And when the black-haired man had arrived in Suna a few days ago, Yashamaru had begged the Kazekage to let the Uzumaki envoy study Gaara's seal. But his father had refused, saying that it was a secret they couldn't share with a foreigner.

Gaara, however, couldn't stay idle. Not when there was a chance to be like all the other kids.

The black-haired man's expression darkened; Gaara took an involuntary step back.

Then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the man's scowl vanished. "Who is this 'everyone' and what does he know of fuuinjutsu?"

Gaara blinked at the black-clad man. "…It isn't…"

"Oh, so Everyone is a woman, then?" the Uzumaki envoy scoffed; the red-haired boy grinned faintly when he saw the mischievous glint in the man's blue eyes. "I'm still not impressed."

"Can you fix me?" Gaara repeated, more confidently this time.

"There's nothing to 'fix', kid," the man said. "There's nothing wrong with you."

"But I can't control my sand!" Gaara yelled; the Uzumaki had to help him, he had to! "I don't want to keep hurting people."

The black-haired man extended his hand as if to ruffle Gaara's hair, but pulled it back with a startled yelp as sand rushed to cover the boy's head.

Gaara gasped when he saw that the man's glove was torn and the exposed skin was covered in deep scratches. "I'm sorry! I'm so–"

"Nah, don't worry about it," the black-haired man said, cutting the boy's frantic apologies off with a dismissive wave of his uninjured hand. "It'll heal up in a few hours."

"It…It will?"

The man nodded and grinned at him. "Uzumaki heal pretty fast." His grin faded. "Gaara, could I take a look at your seal, please?"

Gaara nodded excitedly and exposed the seal on his belly. His uncle would be disappointed at him and his father would be furious, but if the Uzumaki envoy succeeded in making him normal, it would be worth it.

The black-haired man examined the seal in complete silence. Gaara stood as still as possible, watching the man's expression change as he studied the ink drawing. He only hoped that Yashamaru wouldn't return from his work earlier than normal; his father was always away and his siblings stayed away from him, so they weren't going to interrupt.

"Huh," the man said after several minutes had passed. "That's unusual."

"What is?" Gaara asked.

"This." The black-haired man pointed at a scribble that, as far as Gaara was concerned, was no different from the others; this time he was careful to keep his fingers a few centimeters away from the boy's skin. "It isolates a specific part of the Ichibi's chakra.

"From a technical standpoint, it isn't wrong per se, but the wording is awkward to say the least," the man muttered to himself. "An Uzumaki would never try such a thing, as it's risky at best, but it's working." He grimaced as he flexed his injured hand. "Perhaps a little too well.

"Though it's clearly the work of an amateur – or a hobbyist," he added with a disapproving humph.

"What does it do?" Gaara asked, hoping he'd get a better answer this time.

"Hmm?" The black-haired man blinked and lifted his gaze to the boy's eyes. "Oh. It allows you to control a portion of the Ichibi's power at will. From the looks of it, I'd say that it's his ability to manipulate sand."

"But…" Gaara winced as he glanced at the black-haired Uzumaki's injured hand. "…But I can't control it."

"Of course you can't," the man said matter-of-factly. "You're still… Four years old? Five?"

"Five," Gaara said.

"Well, there you go then," the Uzumaki said with a nod.

"…I don't understand." What did that have to do with him being a monster? How would that help?

"It's a skill like any other, Gaara," the black-haired man explained patiently. "You just have to learn how to use it." He hummed thoughtfully. "Why don't you try making a sand whirlwind? A small one," he added hastily.

"A whirlwind?"

The Uzumaki envoy nodded in agreement. "It's a good exercise."

"This will help me?" Gaara asked dubiously.

The black-haired Uzumaki nodded again. "You'll see. Try it."

"Gaara," a stern, disapproving, familiar voice called.

The boy let his shirt fall, covering his seal, and turned to face his father. He winced when he saw the look on the Kazekage's face.

He was in big trouble.

"Kazekage-sama," the black-haired Uzumaki said, straightening his back but not rising from his seat.

"Kaji-san," the Kazekage said icily. "I see you've met my youngest child."

"I'm glad I did," Kaji said just as icily. "He's much better company than the rest of the people here."

The Kazekage's eyes never left the Uzumaki's. "Is that so?"

A hint of the anger Gaara had seen earlier reappeared on the black-haired man's face. "I don't like the way they're behaving towards an innocent child."

The Kazekage grimaced as if he'd been struck. "They have their reasons."

"I don't like the way you're behaving towards Gaara, either."

Gaara gaped at Kaji. Nobody had ever talked to his father like that on his behalf; not even Yashamaru.

The Kazekage glared at Kaji and opened his mouth to respond, but the Uzumaki envoy beat him to it.

"I'll be honest with you, Rasa-sama." Kaji stood up; Gaara was surprised by how intimidating he appeared to be all of a sudden. "If Uzushio didn't need Suna's help, I'd have walked out of here the moment I heard some ass calling Gaara a monster.

"I still might," he added menacingly. "We don't need you that much. But you, you need us."

From the look on his father's face, Gaara realized that Kaji's words were closer to the truth than anyone in Suna would ever admit.

"So I suggest taking some steps to improve your children's life." Kaji showed his teeth in a way that wasn't really a smile. "Just a friendly word of advice."

The not-smile was replaced by a warm and kind one when Kaji turned to look at Gaara again. "Remember your exercises, kid."

With a friendly nod to Gaara and a curt one to his father, Kaji left the two of them alone.

"Arrogant bastard," the Kazekage spat through his teeth, shooting a scathing look at the Uzumaki's backside. His glare mellowed somewhat as he looked at Gaara. "What did he mean by 'exercises'?"

Gaara didn't respond; he simply lifted his hands at chest level, palms apart but facing each other, and tried to create a small sand whirlwind.

He cried out in joy when a tiny, ragged mass of sand appeared between his palms. It could only be considered a whirlwind because it was lazily spinning around – it wasn't even staying at one point – but he had done it. He had really done it!

Gaara looked up at his father and smiled hesitantly at him.

His father returned the look; for once, his expression was hopeful instead of disapproving.

-X-

Gaara kept his eyes closed, trying to preserve his father's expression for as long as possible in his memory, but the dream was already fading away. With a sigh of regret, the twelve-year-old boy opened his eyes and sat up on his bed.

He extended his right hand, palm up, and created a small sand whirlwind.

Unlike his first ever attempt, this one was perfect. Exactly ten centimeters tall and four centimeters wide, spinning slowly at the center of his palm. With barely a thought, the whirlwind started spinning increasingly faster and became fifteen centimeters tall, but remained four centimeters wide.

He still remembered his father's smile when he had first shown him how he could change the sand whirlwind's dimensions and rotation speed at will six years ago. His father's earnest praise when he had done the same with a much larger sand whirlwind outside their home four years ago. Kankuro cheering him on and Temari smiling at him when he had tried to demonstrate a giant sand wave at them. The way both of them had assured him that it everything was fine when that sand wave had gotten out of his control and had knocked them down. That it wasn't his fault. That he'd do better next time.

And he did do better.

He had trained endlessly for months until he could control the sand wave without using any hand gestures. Then, he had trained even longer until he could turn the wave into a whirlwind – or any other shape he wanted.

He was Gaara of the desert. Every grain of sand was under his control.

Smiling to himself, he dispelled the small sand whirlwind by closing his hand.

-XOXO-

Breakfast in the Kazekage's residence was always a quiet affair – just the way Temari liked it. Unless, of course, Gaara was using his sand to discreetly rearrange the tableware in order to annoy Kankuro.

Like he was doing right now.

Kankuro reached out to his water glass without looking up from his designs for his newest puppet, but frowned in confusion when he only grasped empty air instead of a porcelain cup. He glanced suspiciously at Gaara, who was seemingly busy peeling an egg. With an obvious mental shrug, Kankuro picked up his glass and raised it to his lips.

Temari suppressed a smile; she wondered how long it would take him to notice what was going on.

She couldn't pinpoint the exact moment Gaara had decided that messing with his older brother by moving his stuff around was funny, but she was glad he had. It was a marked improvement over his behavior when they were little. There had been a time when she'd been afraid of Gaara – or, more specifically, of his sand. Now, however, the sand was anything but terrifying; Kankuro often went as far as to call it annoying.

She lifted her own water glass to cover her grin when she saw the platter with the toasted bread gliding smoothly towards her and the fruit platter taking its place.

Kankuro, too busy scribbling something on his papers, reached out to grab a slice of toasted bread this time. Instead, his hand closed around a tangerine. He blinked at the small orange fruit, looked at the bread platter, and finally put two and two together.

"Gaara!" Kankuro yelled indignantly. "Why do you keep doing this?"

Gaara didn't look up from his half-eaten egg. "You focus too much on your puppets, Kankuro."

The sound of the doorbell went unnoticed by both boys; with a small sigh, Temari stood up and went to answer the door.

Kankuro dropped the tangerine back in the fruit platter and pointed angrily at Gaara. "You're never doing this to Temari when she's studying!"

"That's because she always figures it out," Gaara replied evenly.

Kankuro's reply came muffled as she exited the kitchen, although there was no mistaking his tone.

"Good morning, Temari." Yashamaru tilted his head as the sound of the boys' voices reached him. "Another argument?" he asked amiably.

Temari grimaced and moved to the side, wordlessly inviting her uncle in. "Looks like it. Good morning, uncle."

Yashamaru chuckled. "They'll get over it. I can't stay; I just dropped by to give this to you."

Temari took the heavy-looking folder her uncle was holding out to her.

"The other candidates for this year's chuunin exams." He tapped the folder lightly. "I think you'll find the last entry intriguing."

Puzzled – and more than a little curious – Temari flipped through the pages until she reached the last entry.

'Uzushiogakure?' Now this was a surprise. Uzushio hadn't taken part in the chuunin exams ever since they had cut off all ties with Konoha.

"They're sending a team this year," her uncle said, answering her unspoken question. "The first after seven years of absence from the exams."

Temari frowned and turned to the next page.

Kaguya Kimimaro. Last scion of an extinct clan of Kirigakure, ward to the Uzumaki main family, and most likely possessing the Kaguya clan's kekkei genkai.

Uzumaki Karin. Daughter of a prodigious medical ninja. Also a ward to the Uzumaki main family.

And…

Temari's eyes went wide as she turned to the last page.

Uzumaki Naruto. Grandson of the Head of Uzushio. Son of the Fourth Hokage. Vessel of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. Rumored to be a prodigy, like his late father.

"A rather… contentious choice of candidates," Yashamaru remarked; he was clearly fighting back a smirk.

"I can see why," Temari muttered.

The son of the Fourth Hokage was going to compete in the chuunin exams. Against Konoha. In the chuunin exams Konoha was hosting.

'This is going to be interesting.'

Author's Notes

Once again, I apologize for the gap between updates. It seems that keeping up with a schedule isn't one of my talents.

I must admit, I'm having a blast writing Tobi and Kenjiro's chapters, which in entirely unexpected. I never thought they'd grow on me like this. Don't worry, though, I won't give them more POV time just because I like their machinations.

Fun fact: Chapters Five and Six were supposed to be one chapter, until the first half got bloated out of proportion and I had to split it in two.

Another fun fact: This is the end of the Introduction. Six chapters, almost 90000 words, and it's only the introduction! I shudder to think of how long this story will be by the time I finish it. (Inability to keep up with a schedule aside, I will finish both my stories.)

Anyway, moving on to the notes…

-X-

About Tobi defeating Nagato: Some reviewers pointed out that Tobi wouldn't be able to defeat Nagato even if Kisame and Yagura were helping him.

My opinion is: that depends entirely on the battlefield.

Tobi plus Kisame plus Yagura fighting Nagato in the desert? They'll get their asses handed to them.

Tobi plus Kisame plus Yagura fighting Nagato in the ocean? Hmm... Even Nagato would have some trouble fighting the most powerful Suiton user alive and the jinchuuriki of the Sanbi at the same time when they're in their element (that is, surrounded by water).

Anyway, the point wasn't whether Tobi's plan would work or not, since the trap was ruined before it could be sprung. The point was that Tobi thought he could defeat Nagato.

-X-

Jiraiya in Uzushio: So many challenging scenes to write there. I rewrote his first meeting with Naruto a dozen times until I was satisfied with how it played out. I hope you like it. (I'm reading your reviews; your feedback helps a lot.)

His absence from Naruto's life for five years: He isn't absent. I just didn't think that you'd be interested in reading about his sporadic visits to the Whirlpool. I could write an omake about one of them, if you'd like.

As for what is Kenjiro's plan: That would be telling.

-X-

Karin dealing with her mother's death: This was also a very difficult scene to write. I hope I did it justice.

-X-

Kaji in Sunagakure: Let me start by saying that I hate it when writers take an OC and have them fix every problem in the story. (Also, a disclaimer: none of the Uzumaki family is an author avatar in any way. In fact, I have a sheet where I've marked down their character traits and adjust their actions – reactions to a situation according to those.)

Kaji didn't turn Gaara sane just by talking to him.

He was in Suna because he was trying to get the Kazekage to sign the treaty with Uzushio. I wanted to show only one such meeting to preserve the surprise, so I chose the meeting with the Raikage (it was more fun to write than an awkward chat between Kaji and the Kazekage).

He didn't seek Gaara out; he didn't want to botch the negotiations, so he stayed away from the little boy who was going through the same shit his nephew was. Instead, Gaara was looking for the Uzumaki seal master because he heard his father and his uncle saying that this man might be able to help him. When he was confronted by Gaara, however, he decided to help the boy even if it meant angering the Kazekage and losing Suna's support.

He didn't alter Gaara's seal in any way; all he did was teach Gaara a simple exercise to master change in chakra nature (which will be elaborated further in later chapters).

Gaara started turning 'normal' when his father began believing that maybe he wasn't a hopeless case after all. Since Gaara has a number of daddy issues (seriously, is there any hero who doesn't?!), it was his father's sudden approval that made the difference (and not Kaji's assurance that he wasn't a monster).

Why did the Kazekage change his mind? Because nobody knows more about fuuinjutsu than the Uzumaki clan. If an Uzumaki seal master says that there's nothing wrong with his son's seal, then it must be so. Rasa doesn't know enough about fuuinjutsu to argue; neither does anyone else in Suna.

Yashamaru being alive: It follows with the above. The Kazekage saw that Gaara was getting better at controlling his sand, so he didn't send Yashamaru to 'test' him; instead, he waited to see whether the boy would get complete control over the Ichibi's power or not. Needless to say, Gaara, who was encouraged by his father's newfound trust, gained absolute mastery over his sand by the time he turned twelve.

-X-

No Hinata since Chapter Two: I debated adding a scene from her POV in this chapter, but decided to move it to the next one, instead.

I apologize (not).

Thank you for reading! Please, review and share your thoughts.