The Jinchuuriki

This idea came to me after reading Lucidity. It was an idea born from Ayien's story Nine broken mirrors as well. What I want this to be is a story that really questions 'humanity'. Not the obvious question of what it means to be human, but how someone else would see us from the outside. Someone who we may alienate, discriminate.

I will have arguments in here branching from the cynical (humanity is rotten) to the hopeful (humanity can be saved). And the indifferent and so on.

But it also just can't be that simple. I needed (all stories do) to have a different or other subplot in there. So I decided to have Family. What does it meant to belong? What does it mean to alienate? Who do you get attached to?

These are questions I want to attempt to answer (from my own opinion) through this story.

And here we go.

It was always a mystery to people, how babies could immediately pick out their parents. Like some kind of natural or metaphysical force drew these kids to their parents. Maybe it had to do with the nurturing, maybe it had to do with 'perception' of the kid, or the constant familiarity but nonetheless babies did in fact know their family.

But family can be created in strange ways. And that family can be even stranger. But what made a family or what kept a family together was a bond. A bond that was shared throughout the group, a connection, a passion, a love. Bonds were changed, created, destroyed, and recreated all the time. One bond was recreated in a very climactic fashion.

On Oct. 10th a new family was created. With the death of one person, a birth of a new one, and finally the sealing of a demon.

Roshi was a good drinker, though at the age of 40. He always loved to party and being cousin the the Kage of Iwa had its benefits. He was surrounded by fellow nins and civilians alike, all of them human. They basked in the glory of Sake and Laughter. He shared jokes, and poured more drinks. He smiled and talked amiably with friends.

But did he consider this his family. Hell no. Roshi, a long time ago, had considered himself non-human. He wasn't anything like the race. He was treated different. He had no connections with these people. He was an entirely different entity of these humans. But he was not alone though, oh no. There were others. Others like him, of his species, the jinchuuriki.

Han was the perfect example. His nephew, who was staying near the base of Iwa, to hone his skills. Roshi drank sake as he thought about his nephew. He was a good kid, always tried hard, though he felt the stares. Han felt the hatred, the resentment of the humans. Roshi had found his shield in Sake, because humans were always accepting of it. Han … he needed to find his own shield. But for now, Roshi knew he could rely on family. Their family, not of humans, but of Jinchuuriki.

Roshi chuckled as he got up and brought a Sake bottle out. He walked outside, and looked out at the night sky. The stars were bright, and the moon was shining like a beauty. Roshi smiled. She would be having her baby today. She had told him so last night. Roshi lifted his bottle to the night sky and cheered. 'Hope, you tell me all about your little boy, Kushina.'

Han, down in his hut at the base of Iwa's mountain, made sure his red plate was secured on the armor. It was getting more and more stable with each remaking. He had worked on it for several months. He made it red, not black, in favor of Kushina. Kushina had been the big sister to him, all these years. Kept him close, and made him smile a lot. Han also knew that she took care of him when he was young. Kushina always joked that he would have to help out with taking care of the new kids.

Han sighed as he knew he was the better option than Bee. That kid, though older than him by a year, was more immature than he was. Bee was 19 years old and he still acted like a 7 year old. Han chuckled as he remembered Bee trying to Rap to the little brats. Bee said he would be taking care of Yugito at Kumo. Though the guy was an idiot, Han knew that Bee would give it his all to help Yugito. Han, though, was worried about Fu, Gaara, and Utakata. They had no one, or at least that's what he majority of the Jinchuuriki believed. Yagura told him not to worry. Han scoffed at the thought. The kid was only 8 years old and he was telling Han not to worry.

Han bit his lip though, it was troubling to see family in danger. It was even more infuriating, that he knew exactly where they were. He knew exactly how to get to them but he couldn't. If he did, than he would bring hell onto the Jinchuuriki's heads. He would expose a 5 generation secret. Han went back to polishing his armor, pushing out those thoughts. Han paused as he realized he was forgetting something. Last night, Kushina had told him, she was really excited.

'She's having a baby, that's right!' Han smiled as he remembered how excited Kushina looked. 'I think they wanted to name him Naruto.' Han thought, nodding to himself. Maybe he should make something, no... he wouldn't be able to even give it to little Naruto even if he wanted to. Han smiled as he went outside to get some air. Tonight would be a goodnight.

Bee was a happy dude. He was always happy, or at least tried to be. He accepted the hate, the resentment, the lack of friends. But he stood tall, he had people covering his back. He wasn't alone, he had hommies to talk to and a bad ass power to back it up. These fool didn't know what was going to hit them when he got onto the stage. Bee smiled at the thought as he held little Yugito, who had fallen asleep in his arms. Bee set her down in her crib and sat down on the desk.

He had to get to work though. He had to finish his rap lullaby for Kushina's new little brat. He had made 5 lines already … of the eventual 30. He wanted Kushina to sing it to Naruto and tell him if the brat liked it or not. Bee nodded to himself as he tapped a beat and started to write with his pen. Maybe he should use a rhyme with Naruto's name in it.

Yagura sighed contently as he was in the bath. It was one of the rare moments he could be alone. He had hidden himself into one of the springs outside the village and taken a rare occasion to turn it into a hot spring. He wanted to take a time to relax. Kushina-nee-chan was having a baby and it would be cool to here about him. Yagura shuddered at the times Kushina had those mood swings when the Jinchuuriki connected at night. It was really, really scary. Yagura pushed those thoughts aside and let the water soak his skin.

Roshi, Han, Bee, Yagura were the only ones to actually hear what happened next. But all the Jinchuuriki felt it. No matter what the age, from old Roshi to little Gaara, all the Jinchuuriki felt the pain. Felt the rip, the tear. The tear that was felt when family was ripped from you. The tear that was felt when an incomprehensible pain was pushed on you. Death. It was a horrible feeling. The trickle of something falling out of your reach. Something that you had been grasping so tight, willing it to stay with you. But than it slowly fell out of your hand, slipping out like sand. Despair filled the void that was left. But something came brushing over the connection, a final message.

'Goodbye guys. Take care of my son.' A whisper echoed in the winds. A faint whisper as if spoken by a passing breeze.

The world stopped.

Roshi, who had been drinking happy outside the bar, froze. His sake jug in his hand. His eye went wide like a deer. His body shook as if an earthquake ran through it. The jug in his hand exploded. Chakra rushed out of Roshi, every pore exploded. Roshi gritted his teeth, trying to control his chakra but it wouldn't stop. He couldn't stop his emotions. He knew exactly what had happened. He knew damn well what had happened. And he fucking swore on his name, someone was going to fucking pay. Roshi let out a scream in the air as the people around him move back in fear. The chakra was still streaming out, like the tears from his eyes.

Han, who had gone outside to look at the moon, fell to his knees. No... it couldn't be. NO! Not her. Anyone but her! NO NO NO NO! Han raised his fists and smashed it to the ground. The Gobi's chakra running through his body. The ground cracked underneath him. But Han kept smashing. He couldn't control his body. Rage poured out of every strike. He smashed again. "NO!" Again. "NO NO NO!" After a while, Han stopped. A crater half a mile in radius was formed. Han, on his hands and knees, balled like a baby. Now sadness poured out of every bit of his body.

Bee's pen snapped in his hands. At first he felt the familiar hot rage fill inside him. No he couldn't succumb to this feeling. Kushina-nee... she... wouldn't want that. Bee stood up and took a kunai. He put his hand on the paper, which he had been writing on. He stabbed downwards and Gritted his teeth. He focused the chakra into the hand and kept pushing it there. Bee took out the kunai and the wound healed, but the chakra was still flowing out. The hot liquid still present in his stomach. Bee stabbed again. And again. Until the blood had stained the entire desk. Bee finally stopped and threw away the kunai. He heard Yugito crying. Bee moved quickly to her. Ignoring the blood on his hands. He grabbed Yugito and rocked her back and forth. They cried together.

Yagura literally froze all the water around him, in his shock. The entire heated spring in a second had gone into ice. Yagura, realizing the meaning of the words, broke hell. He destroyed the ice, destroyed the spring. He destroyed the damn trees around him. He lifted water and condensed water and shot it every which way. He didn't care he just wanted destruction. He just wanted to break something with his damn hands. He wanted to find someway, some power to just fucking undo everything he had just felt.

And then as if Kami himself took pity on them, a light was shone. A single and innocent feeling came across the Jinchuuriki's connection. It was baby, a recently born baby. They were familiar with this feeling. They had felt it when Gaara, Yugito, Fu, Utakata were born.

The Jinchuuriki stilled themselves, slowly pushing their chakra down, to listen to this feeling. Trying to grasp it, make sure it was really true. Roshi was the first to identify the chakra.

'This is Kushina's son.' Roshi thought. Roshi closed his eyes, ignoring the many nins around him, backing away. Ignoring his cousin, the kage. Ignoring all the insignificant humans. He focused on that one strand of light. Kushina's son.

Than the Jinchuuriki were hit with it. Kushina's last message held a package to it.

Roshi saw it in his mind's eye. A man with an orange mask, the Sharingan. He had forcefully taken out the Jinchuuriki. He had summoned the Kyuubi. He had made Kushina and her husband make the ultimate sacrifice. He had made Kushina's son a jinchuuriki.

The Jinchuuriki knew instinctively what had happened.

Roshi reached out once more through the connection, saving his plots for revenge later. He grasped, this time successfully, at the strand of light. Nothing matter but this strand of light. He felt the other Jinchuuriki, even the babies, reach for the strand as if pulling at it. Trying to connect to it. Roshi felt Bee, Han, and Yagura take those strands and connect all of them into a unifying not.

Roshi reached into the strand, to send his message. He felt his will waver. He felt his heart crack and pull itself together. The claws at his heart still were scraping but he had a heart of stone. 'Hello there Naruto.' Roshi softly said. Sadness, and acceptance pouring from him.

6 years later

A young blond boy walked down the street of Konoha. He looked around and sighed as he saw the glares. The ignorance of these humans was disgusting. Naruto shook his head and reminded himself that even though they were ignorant they still were worth something. Naruto nodded to himself and kept on walking towards the Academy. He entered quietly and looked around at his classmates. He had entered academy with his age group, instead of entering earlier, which he could have.

Roshi-nii said he could have been a gennin easily at the age of 4. But Han told Naruto to wait, because humans hated what was different, what stood out, especially the Jinchuuriki. So, Naruto did what he was told. He trusted his brothers and sisters with his life. Every night, when Naruto fell asleep and entered the valley place, he would tell them everything. All of them were patient and listened. Naruto liked that, because no one listened to him over here.

Naruto sat down in the back and kept his head down. He wore bland colors. Brown shorts and a white shirt, with an orange spiral on it. Han suggested he wore a red shirt, but Bee-nii said it would cramp Naruto's style. Naruto put his hand on his head. Gaara would be starting school too. The Village's school system were the same. Yugito and Fu had already been in Academy for a year and were studying hard. Utakata-nii was working on making his skills even better, away from his village.

Utakata told Naruto how they threw rocks at him, so he usually practiced far from the village and only dropped into the academy when it was necessary. Naruto wish he could do that too, but Roshi-nii told him not too. He said it was important to understand Humans of all kinds, understand how they thought, worked. So that later, Naruto would understand how to manipulate them or defend himself.

Roshi-nii always said to be wary of those who tried to get close to him. Always be wary, of the humans because if Humans were good at one thing, it was betrayal.

Naruto watched as the sensei, Iruka, started his lecture. He droned it out. He had learned all this stuff as soon as he finished learning how to read and write. Which was at the age of 4. Roshi-nii really knew what he was doing when he taught all of them. Yugito-chan picked it up the fastest and helped Fu-chan and him. Gaara picked up second fastest.

Naruto sighed as he put his head in his hands and tilted his head, trying to find a comfortable posistion. They were going over basic history and stuff like that. Naruto was bored of this. He wanted to go to sleep and start learning about his mom.

As soon as Naruto could understand, his big brothers told him about his mother. They told how a bad man killed her and forced him to be a Jinchuuriki. When Naruto asked who did it, they would refuse to tell him When he persisted, Yagura-nii told him not to. Yagura-nii was sure strange though. He had ran away from his village a long time ago, ever since his mom died, and searched for the person who killed his mom. Yagura said he was onto something big and none of the Jinchuuriki were ready to take revenge just yet. When Yagura talked to Roshi, Han and Bee about something called the Akatsuki, they always argued. Naruto didn't understand most of it because they would muffle the connection when they argued. Naruto could understand though, that they wanted Yagura wanted stay hidden and not search for the people anymore. Yagura would argue they needed to be preemptive.

They didn't go past there as they would stop before it got really heated.

The bell rung and Naruto walked out of class, in a casual stroll. Walking towards the back area of Konoha, Naruto walked into one of the empty training grounds. 'Ok, Roshi-nii told me to practice summoning them...'

Naruto bit his lips. One time, when he was at the Valley, Roshi had asked Naruto to focus on his chakra while thinking of chains. When Naruto did, Chains sprung out of his arm like snakes. Naruto was freaked out but Roshi and the rest of the older Jinchuuriki smiled. Roshi said it was like Gaara's sand or Utakata's bubbles, it was a natural ability.

Naruto closed his eyes and focused on his chakra. He always felt he had two types of charka. The first one was the Kyuubi's chakra. It was violent, develped, and overal potent at causing destruction. His other chakra was weird though. It twisted and spun in his stomach He opened his eyes and jabbed forward with his right hand. Black chains shot out of his arm and struck the tree in front of him. Naruto smiled as he saw the hit.

"Yatta. I did it." Naruto pulled on the chains and let go of the chakra. The chains immediately retracted into Naruto. When they disappeared, Naruto looked at his arms and saw not a single mark was on him. Naruto smiled at his development. His brohters would be proud.

Naruto continued to practice calling out these chains, becoming excited every time he did.

Naruto kept practicing till sun down and ran home to go sleep.

As soon as Naruto was in his bed, he closed his eyes and waited. And then as if feeling light being poured on him, Naruto felt something calling him. He opened his eyes. Naruto was not in his bed, nor was he even in Konoha. He was on a strand of light. Naruto smiled as he ran on the strand of light. He always ran forward. It was the only way to them.

Naruto kept running, until the light strand started to become bigger. He kept running and running, excitement coursing through his body, ready to talk about his day.

And finally when the light strand had become huge, a bright flash erupted. Naruto closed his eyes and embraced the light.

When the light died down, Naruto was standing in a lush green valley. Nine trees in a circle in the middle of the valley. Naruto smiled and ran towards it, as fast as his little feet could carry him.

As Naruto ran up, Naruto saw four people already there. "Hey guys!" Naruto cried happily.

Han and Roshi waved at him, while Gaara and Fu ran up to meet him. Gaara tackled Naruto and they tumbled down, laughing. Fu watched a few feet away, giggling. "Come on you two" Fu said, holding a hand out to each of them.

Gaara looked at Naruto and they both smirked. The grabbed Fu and pulled her down with them. Fu squealed in surprise and laughed as Gaara and Naruto proceeded to tickle her. When they were done, the trio got up and ran up to the circle of trees. Naruto ran up to Han and Roshi and gave them each a hug. He turned to Roshi and smiled wide.

"Roshi-nii guess what." Naruto said, bouncing up and down on his feet.

Roshi smiled and guessed. "You've gotten down calling your chakra chains."

Naruto blinked and pouted, disappointed that Roshi had guessed it right. "You always get it right..."

Roshi laughed and ruffled Naruto's hair. Naruto tried to bat the invading hand, but to no avail.

"Congrats Naruto." A voice called behind him.

Naruto turned, smiling and waved. "HI Yagura-nii." Then Naruto saw the person next to Yagura and waved again. "And you too Utakata-nii."

Utakata smiled and sat down. Fu and Gaara sat down next to him, and Naruto bounded over and joined them. They started talking about the day at Academy.

Fu shook her head. "Yea it'll get really boring, Naruto. Humans don't know their left from their right, so they have to teach everyone it. Their so dumb."

Naruto scratched his head. "I don't know, some of them seem pretty smart."

Fu adamantly shook her head. "Nope, They can't even tell we aren't even demons. They still throw dirt at me and give me shitty food. Even the adults. They never grow up."

Gaara put his head down. " a lot of people are afraid of me..."

Utakata patted Gaara on the back. "don't worry Gaara you got us."

Naruto smiled and nodded. "Yep, of course we're family."

Gaara gave a small smile and was about to say something when a loud voice called out.

"Ain't you all cute as a deer, Its all up hill from here."

Naruto turned laughing, with the rest of the young Jinchuuriki. "You're rapping is getting better Bee-nii."

Bee walked up, strutting. "Of course, yo. I got the best skills...uh... yo."

A small voice behind Bee spoke up. "That was the same word, Bee."

Naruto hopped up smiling. "Yugito-chan!"

Yugito popped her head out from behind Bee and smiled at Naruto. "Hey Naru."

Bee put a hand behind Yugito and pushed her towards the young generation of Jinchuuriki. Once Bee had seen them interacting, he moved towards the older group.

Bee sat down on a stump, while Han leaned against a tree. Yagura stood and Roshi sat on a rock. Each passed each other a nod and proceeded to their nightly four of them already dampened the connection to the younger generation and started to speak. It was all business.

"Yagura, any information."

Yagura nodded. "The Akatsuki, isn't going to make a move till they confirm our identity and location. It probably won't be for a long while but they have numerous contacts. It'll be harder for them to find Naruto though, because Konoha's law."

Roshi nodded, his eyes watching the younger generation. He was weary. He had lost too many companions. Too much family, in these past years. First was the older generation, and now... he had just lost his last sister from his generation, when Naruto was born.

Han spoke slowly. "Is there any way we can pick them off individually, or get our villages to attack them."

Yagura shook his head. "I've been monitoring their movements. They usually go in packs and use a long distance connection to communicate."

Bee spoke next. "Any information on the orange masked guy."

Yagura sighed. "No, I don't even know where that fucker is or who he is."

"Language, Yagura." Roshi growled out, though half heartedly.

Yagura eyes narrowed. "I am not a child."

"Nor are you an adult" Han pointed out.

"I am not even human, you cannot judge me by their standards." Yagura countered. His fists clenched.

"No, but we judge you by ours." Roshi spoke quietly. "I think you've done enough information scouting. You've been doing this for six years. I think its time to stop."

Yagura scratched his head. "You told me that last year. And the answer is still no."

"What if you get caught. We know they are hunting the bijuu. What happens if you have to fight them?" Bee spoke quickly. Trying to persuade Yagura to see the danger in what he was doing.

Yagura gave a dangerous smile. "I already thought of that. I know a way to overcharge my body with chakra."

The three eldest of the Jinchuuriki stood up and faced the fourth oldest in their group. Roshi's fists were clenched. Han had his arms crossed, his eyes wide in disbelief. Bee gritted his teeth.

Roshi, now pissed, growled out. "You're talking about suicide. A suicidal bomb."

Yagura shrugged. "If it can take some bastards with me-"

Bee moved up and gripped Yagura's shirt. "You're – YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT KILLING YOURSELF!"

Roshi, anticipating the outburst had immediately separated the connection with the younger generation, placing a wall between them. Making sure they could not see nor, hear what the older generation was doing.

Yagura's eyes were averted and even Bee himself was shaking a bit. It was never pretty when family yelled at each other. Yagura spoke quietly. "I know, but its better than giving them what they want. The killed Kushina-nee-chan. They forced Naruto to bear our curse. They are the reasons for our pain. If I can kill them, for … for the sake of our family." Yagura looked meaningfully at the kids playing around the trees. Yagura closed his eyes and let the silence tell the rest.

Those words immediately mollified the situation. Those words always did. The wounds, while old, still hurt.

Bee let go of Yagura's shirt and sat down on his butt. Roshi shook his head and sat down as well. Han remained standing.

"You're dedication is worthy... but think about the people you would leave behind." Roshi said.

Yagura's eyes widened. Roshi had found the hole in Yagura's argument.

"You know they love you. And by sacrificing yourself in that manner, would it help them, or hurt them even more?"

Yagura bit his lip. "Look, Roshi... I know I may sound childish. But..." Yagura looked up at the sky.

"I always though there would be some kind of afterlife for us Jinchuuriki." As Yagura examined the sky, noting how peaceful it was. Yagura wondered if Kushina-nee-chan was watching over them, what would she think?

Roshi chuckled. "It's not childish. If it was, I would be a toddler."

Yagura looked down, eye brow raised. "You believe in it?"

Roshi nodded. He then motioned towards the young kids. "Those kids. They show us how we were before. Innocent young. We aren't incarnates of hate, death, or any other crap that the humans want to label us as. We are born innocent, but with burdens."

Bee chuckled at the monologue. "Very poetic yo."

Roshi got up and started to amp up the connection, ending the discussion. Han, Bee and Yagura also beefed up theirs and moved towards the kids to hear about their day.

This argument, or discussion happened many times. They would discuss, try to persuade Yagura to live his life in safety. It was not that they did not trust his abilities, it was not that they thought he was too young. No. Every family has an irrational response to want their 'members' to be safe. It is a natural response like maternal instincts. But it is also this response that Bee stood up to his brother, the next day.

"Its a horrible idea yo. You aren't Uncle." Bee said. His voice not like his usual loud and rappy tone, it was low and very serious.

A gave his full attention to his brother. "Bee, we need this. If we get the Hyuuga-"

"If..." Bee repeated. "If is a very big word. I know Konoha isn't at their strongest but if they were to stop the stealing, what would happen? We can't risk another war. We aren't ready."

A bit his lip as he took his brother's council. "How do you know it will fail."

"They have high level nins, are in a clan house, and have Anbu around the walls. It would be more likely that the Anbu would take down our nins, but it wouldn't matter because either way, trying to steal the bloodline in front of them is stupid."

A slammed his hand on the desk and stood up, glaring at his brother. "Then what. How am I supposed to live up to Father or Uncle if I can't improve Kumo."

Bee didn't even back down. A was an imposing figure when he was angry. Bee mostly subsided and allowed his brother lee way. But this time, no. He would not let his brother make this mistake. "You don't have to follow Uncle. You can find your own way." Bee spoke, staring at his brother. No anger in his words, just pleading.

A, realizing the tone of Bee's voice, realizing what he was telling him. A slumped back down into his chair and stayed there. He looked down, not meeting Bee's gaze.

After a long moment, A sighed. "Fine. Than how do you suppose we go about improving life around here."

Bee smiled wide, showing all his teeth. "By going forward with the Treaty, and making it an alliance."

A went wide eyed and stared at Bee. Thinking over the ramifications, what it would bring, A smiled as well. "And here I thought you were just an idiot."

Bee scowled in annoyance. "Hey at least add rapping into that."

2 Years later

It was at this point, that Three Hidden villages grew strong ties. Konoha, Suna and Kumo started to open trade routes and joint missions. Albeit, Kumo and Konoha were still very wary of each other, they were not at each others throats. Life started to improve for the majority of civilians as money started to pour in from Clients and nobles. Even the Daimyo's donated money for projects or towns to be built on borderlines as trade locus points.

And one of the greatest things for Naruto was that he was able to see his brother one time.

Naruto had a pretty uneventful day. He had woken up to his alarm clock like usual, after saying good bye to his fellow Jinchuuriki. Though it was strange because Bee was chuckling incessantly. Naruto ignored the laughter because it was Bee, and not many people really understood what went through his head... even if they were jinchuuriki.

Naruto ate a good breakfast of Pancakes (which he had learned from Yugito) and proceeded to do some warm ups (which were made mandatory by Han.) After those were done, he set out for the Academy, bringing along a scroll on the Basic Chakra theory. Naruto had learned that his Chakra Chains could be controlled by channeling chakra in certain ways. The feeling of the chakra curling in his stomach was actually his natural manipulation of the chakra. While his chakra control was not the best, he was adept at controlling the charka chains... sometimes. So Naruto decided to improve his control by reading chakra theory.

Naruto sighed as he looked up at the clock. Iruka-sensei was lecturing about the Iron country. Naruto ignored it though. He had already learned that from Yagura-nii. They had pretty damn interesting theories in chakra enhancement, things he wanted to try with the kyuubi's chakra but Han and Roshi had restricted him to only using it during Meditation training.

Meditation training was one of the more refined techniques that they had developed for the Jinchuuriki. It utilized the full potential of their mind spaces. Normal humans could not create a space where their 'mind' was fully utilized. While the very, very rare ones could actually see their own mind spaces, or what the human called Subconscious. The Jinchuuriki were a different case entirely. Their minds were far more advance and developed than the humans, from their demonic chakra of their hosts.

One of the earlier Jinchuuriki had theorized since that their demonic chakra were so similar, their minds were linked.

Naruto lost the rest of the information because he grew too bored to actually learn it. He had time though. The mind scape time compared to regular time was ten times faster, or more than that. Of course there was a point where it couldn't go past. Using the mindscape, while having your body active taxes it to an insane degree. Even with stamina like his, meditation training would leave him worn out.

"And that's it for class" Iruka called out.

Naruto blinked as he looked at the time. There should have been an hour and a half left. Why were they ending early? The Jinchuuriki bit his lip and thought to himself. Something was definitely up. School were usually ended early because Nins were called to service or something big was happening. Naruto guessed it was the later because Iruka-sensei, though a good teacher, was not a very great nin. Yagura-nii could kick him around the block, without even using his demon chakra.

Naruto didn't complain though. He swiftly walked out and down to the training yard. If he got out early, he might as well make it productive.

Walking down towards the Training ground 9. It was a very rare and unused training ground. So much so that vines and trees and grown in the clearing. Naruto used it a lot though, because he need practice in fighting close quarters, with his chains. His brothers never let him slack off on training. Every day, he had to train with his chains and demon chakra for at least an hour and a half, after that Naruto would go train on his Taijutsu and chakra control.

Naruto walked towards a large flat rock in the middle of the grounds. It was his starting spot. The method he was using was really simple. Roshi had given him the basics in the mind scape and left Naruto to expand on it. It revolved in concentric circles. Naruto was surrounded by a ring of circles, or at least in his mind's eye. The closest circle was his danger zone, and the circle beyond that was the attack zone. There were multiple circles and each of them represented which one he should prioritize. It also helped with zoning. Naruto's chakra chain needed to be accurate and the only way to do that was to make sure he had space.

For now, Naruto imagined the circles. But Roshi said that there had been a way to make it possible for him to have a sensory technique. It would be like a tracker that would help him fight off genjutsu or mutliple enemies. Naruto really wanted to know what it was but Roshi firmly told Naruto to take it one day at a time. Naruto spread his feet to make a solid base and breathed out slowly.

Gathering chakra into his arms, Naruto raised his arms slowly. And than Naruto lashed out. Striking the tree in front of him, Naruto struck with his legs. Than smashing down, while still in mid air, with an elbow. His elbows had actually sprouted chakra chains, gashing the trunk easily. Naruto spun back, gaining distance from his target. Naruto swiped towards the right with his left fist. 4 chains sprung out and wrapped themselves around the tree. Naruto smirked as he jumped up and pulled forward. Naruto opened his right hand so that he could strike with the palm. While still flying towards the tree, Naruto twisted his body and smashed the tree. But as he did so, several chakra chains came out of his right hand and pierced the tree.

Pausing there for a second. 'ok lets try this' Naruto thought. Closing his eyes, Naruto took a deep breath and focused on his stomach. Feeling the bubbly and harsh charka, Naruto drew the chakra, pushing it towards the chakra chain. The chakra, wanting to be released rushed out of Naruto, onto the chains, and into the tree. The tree exploded in a mixture of splinters and flames.

Naruto panted and smiled as he saw the work of his destruction. Naruto stepped back a couple times and fell onto his but... or at least he was going to. Someone caught Naruto by the neck of his shirt. Naruto jolted as he had not felt any presence due to his concentration. Naruto lifted his right elbow and shot a chain at the person behind him. No one could know this. It didn't matter who it was, if someone found out, that meant that everything would be over. They would question him, the humans would force the answer out of him. He would have to hide the body later. The chakra chian soared out and towards the person grabbing him. Naruto waited for the blood but...

Naruto felt the chakra chain miss and Naruto's eyes widened. 'Shit.' Naruto spun and was about to strike with his left hand, until his holder called out.

"Yo man. It ain't cool to be a fool."

Naruto eyes widened as he stopped in once place. There was only one person that would rhyme like that.

"Bee-nii?" Naruto jumped in surprise as he indeed saw his older brother in the flesh.

Bee flashed a smile. "Heya little squirt, I heard you were uh.." Bee paused trying to think of a rhyme. He didn't have to as Naruto tackled Bee in hapiness.

"How did you get here? What are you doing here." Naruto squealed in delight.

The older Jinchuuriki ruffled Naruto's hair. Naruto smiled as he did so. It felt different when he got his hair ruffled in real life, especially from his older brother. "My big bro, the Raikage is making a deal with your Hokage."

Naruto moved back and tilted his head. "Why are you here than?"

Bee crossed his arm and nodded. "I wanted to see you, so I made an excuse to guard my bro. Even though he doesn't need guarding at all."

The blonde glowed of happiness, "Thanks Bee-nii."

Killer Bee smiled and than blinked. "OH wait up, little bro, I got something from Yugito-chan."

Konoha's Jinchuuriki jolted and jumped up. "From Yugi-chan."

Bee took out a scroll and unsealed it. It was a crude carving of a fox on a necklace. Naruto grasped it and smiled. "Wow! Did she make this."

Bee nodded, "Yep just for you." Than Bee grew serious. "Never show that to anyone. We can't have people thinking you know you're a Jinchuuriki."

Naruto's face fell, he wanted to show it off to everyone. But Naruto knew that it was important to keep their secret. "ok... I'll keep it hidden."

Bee immediately regretted telling him the rule, but he had to. Not wanting to keep little Naruto sad, Bee thought of something to change the subject. "Isn't there a restaurant you always talk about?"

Naruto's attention changed in a snap. "You mean Ichiruka's, Of course. Follow me Bee-nii"

Bee nodded and watched as Naruto led the way.

That night, the younger group of Jinchuuriki received a huge surprise when Bee and Naruto came from the same area. The dream scape, though in the mind, did copy some elements of real life. It was a grounding rule, or a base to work from .Therefore, Jinchuuriki who were closer to each other, walked together.

Naruto tackled Yugito in thanks and showed his brothers and sisters his new necklace. Bee went to inform the older jinchuuriki about the development between Kumo and Konoha.

2 years later

Gaara walked carefully down the street. He had to watch out for any humans. It wasn't because he was afraid, it was because he didn't want anyone see him while he was going star gazing. Though 10 years old, many considered him to be extremely dangerous. His brother and sister were nice to him, but he could see their fear, or nervousness. At least they talked to him, Ukataka and Fuu had it really bad. The kids in their class glowered at them or ignored them outright.

Gaara sighed as he looked up at the cliff on the edge. Smiling to himself, Gaara gathered the sand underneath him and slowly lifted him up. As Gaara reached the top, a light breeze hit his face. Gaara smiled as he smelt the air and the sand. It was nice.

Sitting down on the edge, Gaara looked at he stars. He wondered what they were. Gaara reached up as if to grasp the tiny speck of light.

That was until something happened.

Jinchuuriki's world

Fu was so tired when she went to her room, as soon as she laid on the bed she fell asleep. It didn't really affect her 'real world' but man oh man would it feel good to get some down time with her family. She always believed that the Jinchuuriki connection was always the real world, and the gritty, dirty, disgusting world where humans resided was the mind scape. She hated it, it was just a stupid reoccurring nightmare. The humans were the monsters. They treated the Jinchuuriki like they were evil. They hated them without any reason.

Fu thought of Roshi, how he always told them funny stories, of how Bee always made them laugh, Han teaching them tricks, Yagura making sure they were studying and working hard. That was family. That was real.

As Fu felt her body fall to sleep, or her mind waking up, she felt the light pass around her. Fu smiled wide as she was greeted to the light strip. She ran across it as fast as she could. As Fu got closer her stomach bubbled up. It was unlike anything she felt in the day. Not anger, not disgust, rather what Roshi called anticipation. Fu finally entered the valley, seeing the trees, Fu ran towards it. As she got towards the forest, she felt a new feeling. It was something she never felt before, in this world at least. It was sadness.

Fu's pace slowed down to a walk, her smile lowered to a thin line of worry. Fu finally walked to the inside of the ring of trees and saw Gaara crying. The rest of her family were around him, her older brothers were standing around, their eyes holding sadness.

Naruto, Yugito, Ukataka were hugging Gaara. Fu walked up and looked up at Roshi, hoping to understand why her family was like this.

Roshi looked at his little sister, it pained him to see the kids like this. They were being broken so soon. Each of them would not have that little perfect life like the humans did. They would get the grit, the hellish nightmare.

Roshi cleared his throat. "Fu-" Roshi chocked a bit. It was never easy. Never easy to say how your family got hurt, how to explain that you cannot do anything at all.

"I-i'll tell her." Gaara whispered. Roshi looked down immediately, his eyes were shadowed with worry. Even Yagura, who usually maintained a stoic expression, looked pained. Bee's excited demeanor was sobered and you could see his anger as he clenched his forearms tightly. Han had closed his eyes.

Gaara looked at her.

"Uncle tried to kill me."

Fu froze. Uncle? The uncle, the human that Gaara was always raving about. The human that had been nice to Gaara. The Uncle had tried to kill him, kill her family.

Gaara scrunched his face. A mix of emotions filled his face. Fu couldn't tell what was the dominating emotion. It could have been anger, sadness, disgust, confusion... maybe all of them at once. Gaara continued. "I killed him. He called me a monster. He called all jinchuuriki monsters."

Fu stopped. As she heard the words, for the first time Fu understood the true disgusting creature that was a human. Vile, cruel, and ignorant, humans were and always will discriminate against jinchuuriki. Fu clenched her hands, shaking as she felt her stomach boil.

Suddenly, Yagura intervened. Yagura moved forward, and knelt down. He gently pried the other young Jinchuuriki back so Gaara was facing Yagura completely. Yagura gently placed his hands on Gaara's shoulders as if supporting, as if he could transfer the pain from Gaara to himself. Yagura spoke softly, "Gaara, if you are a monster, than so are we."

Gaara jolted as if scared at the thought. "B-but-"

Yagura smiled, a pained smile but a one trying to comfort. "We are not monsters? Monsters do not care for each other, do not help each other. We are a family. We aren't mosnters."

Gaara eyes went wide, his little mind, his heart trying to understand the words. He was desperately trying to clasp onto an understanding.

Yagura than continued. "Humans are very... irrational creatures, as are we. But we need to understand them. One's actions does not represent all."

Fu watched as Yagura continued to talk to Gaara. He talked about Humanity's 'potential' that they were 'good' in some ways. Fu scoffed internally at it. Yagura may be trying to help Gaara, but he was just shielding him from the future pain. Maybe, Fu thought as she looked at Gaara, slowly picking himself up. Maybe that was enough for now. Later on they would have to grown and mature, to defend himself. But for now, Fu moved and knelt next to Gaara, laying her head on his shoulder, this would be enough.

Han, Roshi, Bee and Yagura stared at the ground. The younger ones had already been sent to the clearing to play, to forget.

Roshi sighed as he really wished he could have a sake bottle in the mindscape. "he's going to gain a complex." Roshi looked over at the kids, who were softly talking to each other, laying on the grass.

Han scoffed at the comment. "They all are. Jinchuuriki are always fucked up in some way because of the humans."

Roshi didn't even bother to comment on the language or the opinion. Roshi looked over at Yagura. "Why did you tell about the potential for humans. We all know-"

"Do you wan them to end up like us." Yagura countered quickly.

Roshi paused. Han looked over and sighed.

Bee, surprisingly spoke up, "If we allow the to fall into thoughts like those, they will become bitter. Become deadened to emotions. They will become us, that is not what we want. We want them to live happily, to live life how we couldn't. We aren't in war right now so we don't have to pretend. We must end our problems with this generation."

Han looked at Bee, respect in his gaze. "you are talking about the masked man."

Bee nodded. "Yea. I don't know what he is after but he is after Jinchuuriki. We're going to kill them. Make sure that those kids" Bee looked over to the younger generation. "Are safe."

"so what now" Yagura intervened. "Do we just sit on our asses, twiddle our thumbs till we find a hint of our enemies."

Roshi scoffed, a new fire in his eyes was lit. "As if, we train these kids so they're stronger than us."

The younger generation on the grass were talking quietly.

"what are we going to do?" Gaara murmured his mind tired.

"Does it matter?" Fu asked, lying next to Gaara. Yugito was on her left side, and Naruto on Yugito's left side as well. Utakata was lying on the other side of Gaara.

"It does" Naruto said, his voice pensive. "We need to make sure we are safe. We need to take care of ourselves."

Fu growled out, though half heartedly, "We can't even help each other, we are so far from each other."

Naruto sighed, knowing that Fu was right.

Yugito spoke though, "I think, if we grow strong enough. No one can control us. Than we can go wherever we want. We can do whatever we want to. And than, than we can go see each other."

Gaara looked over, eyes wide at the idea. "Really? Thats-" Gaara's voice cut off. To see each other. To be free.

"I think that's a great idea" Utakata spoke up. "we need to be strong anyways. So we should just start training."

Naruto nodded as he looked up at the sky. "Yea. We should start training."

And thats it for the opening chapter. Put a lot of time into this one, hope you all like it! Please review.

Once again main projects are:

The Jinchuuriki

Red Claw and Shade Slayer

Golden Eyes (will be updated next).