Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Naruto’s hand hovered in front of a door. It was an odd sight, Naruto hesitating. Few years ago, he would run in, his shouts announcing his presence to the whole tower.

“Come in!” a muffled shout invited him in.

Naruto’s eyes widened in surprise. His hand fell, he didn’t even manage to knock yet. Still though, he opened the door.

“Hello, Naruto,” Kakashi’s eye crinkled in his signature smile over the monitor of his computer.

“How did you know? You are many things, but you aren’t a sensor, Sensei,” Naruto said, finger pointing at the said teacher in accusation. The dramatic effect only betrayed by the little smile curving his lips.

Kakashi’s eyes twinkled in mischief. His lips parting to spell some outrageous lie.

“Don’t,” Naruto interrupted, “you are too old to pull pranks Hokage-sama. Especially on me of all people,” he teased.

Kakashi deflated, his head falling back behind the edge of the monitor. Only to peek up right after. “Well, if you are like this, I’m not telling you,” he grumbled.

“Aww, come on, it’s some new tech again isn’t it,” Naruto tried to guess. It was a good guess too. Kakashi was a surprisingly big nerd. It felt like every time Naruto returned from a mission these days, some new invention was making rounds around the village. All thanks to Kakashi’s quite successful investment into research. The combination of these factors led to one thing…

Kakashi tried to hold his poker face for a few seconds. “Alright, alright, come here, look at the monitor,” he said. Naruto strode over, looking over Kakashi’s shoulder. “Security cameras all over the Hokage tower,” Kakashi said smugly.

…Kakashi was absolutely unable to stop himself from gloating about any new technology.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. “Is that live?”

“Well, there’s some latency, because of the nature of the transferred data so it isn’t exactly real time but we are working on the faster transfer of the packets.”

“Cool, pretty impressive,” Naruto said. He got lost somewhere around ‘latency’.

“So, what’s eating you? Come on, sit down. You are taking missions non-stop these days and you were about to actually knock for once just now. What’s going on?” Kakashi asked, moving in his swivel chair to look at Naruto as he moved to sit down in the chair across the table.

“Ah well,” Naruto rubbed his neck nervously, “I hoped you could grant me a leave. Possibly for uh,” he scratched his cheek, looking away, “few months,” he said quietly.

“Granted.”

Naruto’s head swung right back to Kakashi. “But!”

“Look, Naruto,” Kakashi interrupted, “you haven't really taken a break since the war. If you didn’t take a vacation, I would make you take one or Sakura would bash both of our heads in.”

“But it could be a few months. Is that really alright?” Naruto still worried.

“Well, it is a little unusual but with your recent record it’s more than justified,” Kakashi said. “Things have slowed down since the end of the war. You can let the village worry about itself for a while,” he smiled. “So, what are you planning?”

Naruto sighed both in relief and exhaustion. Though he grinned a little thinking about his plans. “I want to visit Wave and after that my mother’s homeland.”

“Uzushio.” Kakashi hummed. “I would tell you it’s dangerous but you are probably the most dangerous thing in the Nations nowadays so I will cut you some slack,” he teased Naruto.

“Hehe, you might not be wrong, Kurama and I are only getting stronger together.”

“Don’t get a big head now. When are you leaving?” Kakashi asked.

“I’m thinking tomorrow morning,” Naruto said.

“Eager to go huh,” Kakashi said. Naruto just grinned. “Well can’t blame you, I think I could use a break too,” Kakashi leaned back in the chair. “Oh well.” Kakashi stood up from the table, with Naruto doing the same more out of a habit than respect. “In case we don’t see each other in the meantime,” he said, walking around the table, “I want to wish you safe travels.”

“Thank you, Sensei.” Naruto drew Kakashi into a hug. “Please say bye for me to everyone.”

“I thought you would want to do that yourself.” Kakashi said as he weaseled out of the hug.

“I will go see Sakura, if possible, but I don’t want to make a big deal out of it. I still need to pack and everything. I will try to keep in touch.”

"Are you sure? That's quite unlike yourself." Kakashi eyed him worriedly back from the comfort of his swivel chair.

Naruto granted him a sidelong look, already on the way out of the office although freezing at Kakashi's words. His teeth gnawing at his lower lip as he mulled over the question. Soon he came to a decision.

"I think it would be best if no one knew I'm in Uzushio."

Kakashi's brain caught up only after he heard the soft click of the door closing. "What? Naruto, wait. Please!"

Kakashi leaped out his chair, trying to catch up with Naruto. Luckily his student took mercy on him, with his speed he could have been quite some distance from Konoha now. Naruto waited on the other side of the door.

"Goddamnit Kakashi, any other time you would be happy to have me out of your hair," Naruto sighed.

"What's wrong Naruto? Really now," Kakashi pleaded.

Naruto ran his hand over his face in exasperation. Looking around he saw the wide-eyed looks of the administrative shinobi in the hallway.

"Let's take it back into the office, we are causing a scene." Naruto took him by the elbow and dragged him back into the office, closing the door behind them.

Safe to talk? Naruto signed.

"It's the most secure place in the village, I took care of that myself." Kakashi answered seriously. It was clear now that there's more going on than he realized.

"What do you know about Uzushio?" Naruto asked, looking Kakashi into the eyes.

Kakashi was by all means a tall man. Yet, with Naruto's hand clasped around his shoulder like a bear trap, with the orange eyes of the sage mode and Kyuubi combined looking for something in his own, Kakashi felt small.

"I don't know much about it, honestly." Kakashi coughed to find his voice once again. "Only that it was home to Uzumaki, it was destroyed by the end of the second war and that it is dangerous."

The staredown continued for a few more seconds before Naruto found what he was looking for. With a blink his eyes returned to their own blue color.

"You are telling the truth." Naruto sighed. "It might have been easier if you lied. At least I would be able to get some answers then. Take a seat, this might take a while. I don't even know where to begin." He threw his hands up in frustration as he began pacing across the room.

"It's my office you know," Kakashi grumbled but settled down in his chair again. Naruto stopped his pacing long enough to fix him with a stare. He took a few more seconds to settle his thoughts before he took a seat in his own chair.

"Alright, I guess it all started with you making me study for the Jonin rank," Naruto began. "What you said about Uzushio agrees with what I found in the history books you provided. As in there's barely anything. It got me curious enough to research by myself though."

Now that made Kakashi curious too. He was never too much into history himself and the events of Uzushio happened before he was born, but whatever can make Naruto Uzumaki study on his own must be indeed interesting.

"I tried asking around, but it seems like Uzushio is more of a ghost story than history these days. Everyone knows it's dangerous, but no one knows why," Naruto scoffed.

Kakashi was glad about his mask because otherwise he would be found blushing in embarrassment. He had no idea why it is supposed to be dangerous either.

"So, I ended up leaving a few clones to dig through the records in the library. Let's start from the beginning I guess," Naruto took a deep breath.

"Uzumaki and Uzushio signed an alliance with Konoha sometime between clan wars and the first war. During the first war Uzushio fought on the side of Konoha already. Uzushio protected the eastern shore of Fire in exchange for support from the mainland. In the second war Uzushio played the same role. Until the end of war." Naruto's voice grew serious.

"That's where the records start to get hazy. Some say it was a desperate attack of the Iwa and Kumo navy, some say it was Kumo and Kiri. Others say it was either of them or all together. Two things are for sure; Uzushio was destroyed, and it led to the end of the war with Konoha as the winner. No one says what Uzushio did, but it crippled the other nations. Something happened there. Something worse than war. Something that terrified the few who knew enough to never speak about it. There are signs in the records. Theories of something unnatural."

"You would believe such theories?" Kakashi asked. He got a glare in return.

"Desperation breeds desperation they say. Something awakened that day in Uzushio. And it is terrifying enough to scare grown men more than thirty years later without even knowing what it is. You said it yourself. Uzushio is dangerous. And I have felt it, there's something wrong with the natural energy there. It's almost as if…"

Naruto shook his head. "No, we will get nowhere like this. I need to go there, there's no other way."

"Are you sure about this Naruto? I can see that you are serious about it but it really sounds dangerous. Maybe we should just let the sleeping dogs lie." Kakashi said, eyebrows scrunching in concern.

"You didn't have a problem with it before." Naruto frowned. Though he grinned soon after. "Thought you said I'm the most dangerous thing in nations," he teased.

"Alright, alright I will trust you with it." Kakashi relented.

Naruto stood up from the table, turning to leave for the second time.

"It's for the best sensei. I don't want to put anyone else in danger. Worst case I will just run back here, and we will figure it out together. Just tell everyone I'm on a mission as usual please."

With that final reassurance he shunshined directly from the office. He didn't want to be stopped again.

Chapter Text

“And you call me dramatic.”

“Oh shut up Kurama, you blew up a mountain when we found out Sasuke got released out of the prison.”

Red chakra flowed out of Naruto’s seal until it settled into a Kyuubi the size of a regular fox.  He then proceeded to promptly climb onto his shoulders. The people on the street suddenly gave the duo much more personal space.

“Fuck the Uchihas,” the fox grumbled “and it was a small one and most of it is still there.”

Naruto just sighed. He wouldn’t have it any other way though. Life’s never boring with a megaton fox for a companion.

“I don’t know why you even bother coming out of the seal when you just climb back on me like a cat. You keep clawing my clothes.” Naruto complained.

“Do I look like Matatabi to you?” the little Kyuubi huffed.

“Hmmm…” Naruto made show of considering it as he looked at his friend. Kurama’s head resting on his shoulder. 

Chomp.

He earned himself a bite for the trouble. “Oww, goddamnit Kurama my nose!” 

“Put some metal bars into these and you will look like the Pein guy,” Kurama mused looking at his work appraisingly. Four perfectly symetrical holes matching his canines. He was proud of himself.

Naruto snorted despite himself, managing to get blood all over himself in the process. “Aw fuck, I liked that shirt. Might as well just throw it away now.” His shinobi instincts suddenly flared up.

Bunch of girls watched him intensely with bated breath. “Not right now…” Naruto said eventually.

“Awww,” the small crowd dispersed with disappointment. 

“Look at you, all famous,” Kurama cackled.

“Shut it,” Naruto said. He wasn’t very convincing with the blush creeping up his cheeks. “And get these tails off my face or I’ll use them as tissues.”

“Ew, I healed your nose you ingrate,” the fox said in disgust.

“Oh,” Naruto blinked, poking his nose experimentally, “thanks!”

“Just get us home already, you look ridiculous.”

“And whose fault is that!” Naruto squawked. A quick shunshin and they were gone.

“So we are gonna what? Just walk out?” Kurama asked, lounging on the couch as Naruto packed his backpack with storage scrolls.

“Yep.”

“Well good enough for me.”

“Another mission?” Izumo asked at the gate.

“Yeah.”

“Good luck out there.”

“Have a good one boys.”

“That was anticlimactic,” commented Kurama a few steps out of the gate later.

“I still can’t believe they named a bridge after you,” Kurama whined on the top of Naruto’s head, “where’s my bridge.”

“You actually want stuff to be named after you? You were pretty difficult about letting anyone know your name.” Naruto looked curiously at Kurama. Well at least he tried to, all he managed was to jostle the little kyuubi off his head as he tried to look up.

“Hey watch what you are doing!” snarked Kurama. Pulling more chakra from the seal he changed his size mid-air, growing into the size of a horse and fell into the step next to Naruto. “And it’s the principle of the matter. I did as much work as you did in the war.” 

Naruto grinned. “Oh this one is not because of war it’s from a mission when I was twelve. Good memories, I almost died several times.” 

“You ninjas are fucked up.” Kurama said, scrunching up his nose in disgust.

“Well anyway, I apparently managed to give hope to the people and helped free this island. The end.”

“Your storytelling sucks.”

“Oh shut it, like you are any better. And anyway you have a clan named after you. I think that’s pretty cool.” Naruto patted his companion on the shoulder. 

“I don’t even know how that happened. And it’s just like one girl left. And she’s wimpy.” Kurama slumped.

“Hey don’t talk about Yakumo like that, she’s a nice girl.” Naruto tried to scold the grumpy fox.

“She carries my name!” There was fire in the fox's eyes. “And how many mountains did she destroy? Zero.” He scoffed.

“You can’t just judge people on their ability to destroy a mountain. Humans don’t work like that.” Naruto said sagely.

“Well my humans should. You can destroy a mountain.”Kurama nodded to himself.

“Aww, thank you.” Naruto decided to take that as a compliment.

“Listen-”

“I’m not destroying a mountain,” Naruto rolled his eyes.

Kurama mumbled something under his breath in response.

“What did you just say?” Naruto asked with a dangerous smile

“I said that you are a -”

“Lord Uzumaki!” A timely shout inadvertently saved an existence of a mountain. “It’s a honor to meet you.” 

Lanky middle aged man stood in front of them. Combed brown hair, greying around the temples and a fancy suit gave an image of a merchant. Unknown to them, lost in their little debate, Naruto and Kurama amassed quite an audience. The unassuming man being the first one brave or stupid enough to step in front of the man and his fox. 

“Ah, nice to meet you, I’m sorry but do I know you?” Naruto asked with a practiced smile.

“No, no of course not, my name is Isobe but that’s not important,” the man rambled. Suddenly he bowed in the waist, looking towards the ground. “Please, I know we didn’t help you in your time of need, we couldn’t. But I beg you, think of the old treaties when you return to your homeland. Remember the people of Wave. May the waves guide you home, Lord Uzumaki.” 

Silence ensued, some in expectance of an answer, some in the respect of the men facing each other. For one man and one kyuubi it was shock that tied their tongues.

A quick look at each other, few chakra powered jumps and they were gone. Let it be known that the man who said that you can’t run from your problems wasn’t the fastest man on the planet.

"So, lord Uzumaki huh? Wonder what's that about." Kurama mused, scratching his non-existing beard with his unreasonably human paws.

"The whole thing was weird." Naruto shuddered. "I know I have fans now but that was more like a cult member."

"The whole thing reeks of Uzushio though. Old treaties? Sounds like we are hitting the library again." Kurama said snickering at Naruto's disgust.

"Fuck that, I'm just gonna ask Tazuna." With the goal in mind Naruto set course back to the village, leaving the little kyuubi behind.

"Who?" Kurama said, puzzled and disgruntled that his plan of seeing his host suffering between dusty old tomes was foiled.

"An old man from the mission I told you about, we were going to meet him in the first place anyway." Naruto said, letting Kurama catch up to him.

“Do you even know where you are going?” Kurama asked with some doubt in his voice.

“Believe it or not, I didn't just run away into some random direction. This is the forest where we learned to walk on the trees,” Naruto grinned. “And I met Haku here,” he added faintly.

“Was that the ice boy? I remember that one, you were drawing on my power back then. We almost killed him.” Kurama noted crudely.

“Yeah…”

“Come on, don't get all sad on me now, it was a long time ago,” Kurama nudged him with a tail. 

“Yeah…”

They walked in an uncomfortable silence for a while.

“It's just… it's just that I wish he could be here. I wish I could tell him that he was right. Protecting something precious made me strong after all.” Naruto broke the silence.

“I think he knows,” Kurama said softly.

"Thank you, Kurama,” Naruto smiled at his companion.

“No, I mean like seriously.” Kurama added.

“Thanks.” Naruto's smile grew a little strained.

“No, I mean like seriously-seriously. Kakashi told him in the war, he got Edo Tensei-ed.” Kurama insisted.

“Oh,” Naruto stumbled on pure air. “It does make me feel oddly better though. How come you know that and I don't?” he questioned.

“I don't know man, my chakra was all over the place during the war, I'm getting random memories even now.” Kurama grinned suddenly. ”Do you want to know what Kaguya thought when you used the harem technique on her?”

“I'm not listening,” Naruto sped up, blushing.

“I know you thought she's hot, you can't hide your thoughts from me, human,” Kurama cackled, chasing after him.

“Well excuse me, she's the strongest woman on the planet of course she's hot.” Naruto tried to defend himself.

“Naruto, my friend, I believe you might have a very specific fetish,” Kurama said solemnly.

“Wha- how do you even know that word?” Naruto said, exasperated.

“I'm an ancient fox of ancient knowledge, what's your excuse?” The ancient fox said smugly.

“I’m the student of the great Jiraiya,” Naruto said proudly.

“I guess that explains some things,” Kurama said sagely.

Chapter Text

A dark-haired woman was sitting on the edge of the patio of a stilt house, her feet absentmindedly kicking through the rising waters of the tide. Things have been slow recently. Her father has been especially busy since the end of the war, traveling all over the fire country overseeing projects. Her son has been traveling with him, learning the trade. 

That left her, left her alone in a big house, left her bored as hell. Living on the edge of the island didn’t help the situation at all. She really needed to go to the city more often. Preferably for something else than shopping for once.

She leaned back on her hands until she just let her back hit the deck. Quickly regretting the decision as the afternoon sun glared her right in the eyes. For a few seconds she glared back until she closed her eyes in defeat, white spots dancing on the back of her eyelids. She should get back inside if she didn’t want to get sunburned, but a few more minutes couldn’t hurt.

A few minutes later shade fell over her, the sun attacking her eyelids no longer as intense as before. She cracked one eye open and after it adjusted she saw the source of the shadow. An upside-down face leaning over her.

“Hi,” said the face in between shit-eating grin.

She reacted as anyone would really. She screamed and punched the face.

“Ow,” Naruto rubbed his nose, dodging as Tsunami scrambled to get up. He offered her a hand for the trouble.

Tsunami took the offered hand tugging herself up. “Naruto? Is that you?”

“Yep, it's great to see you again Tsunami-san” Naruto grinned.

“And what was that about, you silly guppy?” she asked, arms crossed in mock anger, “Do you want me to get a heart attack?”

“You can't blame a ninja for being sneaky,” Naruto said smugly.

Tsunami smiled, not willing to act angry about a little prank anymore. “You grew up,” she said, having to crane her neck up to look him in the eyes close as they were standing. He was a good head taller than her now.

“I would hope so, I was twelve when we last saw each other,” Naruto laughed. “You are even prettier than I remember,” he quipped back.

“Oh, you are just saying that,” Tsunami rolled her eyes. “Come on, let's go inside, you must have quite some stories to tell.” She brushed past him, leading him to the door.

“I mean it, you know, I used to have a bit of a crush on you,” Naruto said.

“One thing hasn't changed Naruto,” Tsunami said after a pause, looking over her shoulder. “You still have absolutely no filter.”

Naruto cleared his throat in embarrassment. “Anyway!” he beamed. “This is Kurama,” he pointed to the front of the house. 

“Ah,” Tsunami didn't know how to react. They stopped at the door, standing next to each other, looking at the fox.

“I'm sorry, he does that sometimes,” He deflated. The fox the size of a horse was asleep and snoring. “We can just leave him here, he doesn't like it when you wake him up.”

“Should we really just let him sleep under the sun like this?” Tsunami said in concern.

“Oh that's fine, he's just a mass of chakra,” Naruto said flippantly.

“I'll… trust your judgment on that.” She decided to believe the resident expert on almighty kitsune. “Well, please come inside.” Tsunami invited him.

“Thank you.” Naruto took off his shoes coming inside. Tsunami wiping her own from seawater.

“Oh,” Tsunami froze, Naruto hovering over her shoulder. 

The living room was an absolute mess. Mannequin stands and full body mannequins all over the room, a roll of fabric spread out through half of the room, while a few more rolled up rolls were on the floor and leaning against the wall. There was even one mannequin sitting on the sofa in a quite elegant and well fitting dress suit. The table was covered by papers with designs, patterns and measurements. Even a forgotten plate and a coffee cup from breakfast couldn't find any space and were sitting on some hopefully unimportant sketches. Whatever was left of the room was covered in cut pieces and scraps of fabric, pins, needles and threads. 

Tsunami turned around to face him in horror. “I'm so sorry, oh gods, I completely forgot about this, please excuse me, I'll clean this up right away. I'm so sorry.” She apologized, bowing several times, her head almost hitting Naruto’s chest as he stopped right behind her before she turned around. 

“Please calm down, it's alright.” He caught her by the shoulders to keep her from bowing anymore. “I’ve been living by myself for a while, you can imagine my apartment gets much worse sometimes,” Naruto laughed, his right hand moving to scratch the back of his head in an embarrassed tick. “If anything, it seems  you are busy with work, I'm so sorry for coming unannounced.”

“It's not even that.” Tsunami bowed her head down in defeat. “I didn't get anything done the last two days, I'm in such a slump,” she sighed. Please just sit down next to Kimiko,” she gestured towards the mannequin on the sofa.

“Please, I don't want to be a bother. Maybe we could go to the city?” Naruto tried to offer.

“No, no, I couldn't possibly drag you all the way back to the city in this heat when you just arrived,” Tsunami said, dragging him towards the sofa. “I have some great cold green tea, would you like some?”

“That sounds awesome honestly,” Naruto smiled. He wasn't rude enough to say that he could get to the city in a blink of an eye if he really wanted to.

Tsunami started to collect the papers on the table to make space. Naruto, though, felt uncomfortable just sitting while someone was working. 

“Can I help you with anything?” he asked.

“Please, just relax, you are a guest here,” Tsunami rebuked him.

Naruto caught her hands to stop her. “Please, just let me help you and then we can relax together.”

Tsunami didn't last long under the onslaught of the earnest baby blues. “Alright,” she mumbled, turning her head away to avoid his gaze.

“Yes!” Naruto beamed. He stood up and snapped into a playful salute. “Lead me, captain!”

Tsunami could help but grin. “Alright, please collect the rolls and put them into the corner next to the sewing machine.” 

“Hmm there's a lot of them, I could just seal them inside of a scroll, you know.” Naruto said, unfurling a spare scroll from one of his pockets.

“How would I get them back though? Only ninja can use those right?” Tsunami wondered.

Naruto stared at the scroll in his hand for a few seconds. Sitting down he put it on the table. “Do you… do you have ink and brush?” The tone of his words unusually subdued and serious.

“Oh right, here you go.” She was a little surprised by the sudden change in attitude but handed him her calligraphy set from a drawer nearby.

“Perfect. Now if I adjust the limiter here, strengthen the sensor matrixes, hmm these connections here and here. Maybe let's make those a little more visible. Okay I got it.” He grabbed a nearby stack of papers and placed it on the unfurled scroll. Then he put his finger on one of the rectangles he just added to the sealing matrix. In a second the papers were sealed. “Now put your finger on the other rectangle.” He pointed it out for her.

Whether it was ignorance or trust, Tsunami put her finger onto the freshly redrawn seal. It took a few more seconds than it did with him but the papers appeared again on the same spot. Tsunami gaped. “How?”

“You do have chakra, you know. I just needed to adjust the seal so it sucks the chakra on its own instead of having to put the chakra into the seal.”

“I thought that it's supposed to be impossible for us to use the storage scrolls.” Tsunami said, still in awe.

Naruto frowned. “It’s not impossible, it feels more like no one ever bothered to figure it out. Everyone is so obsessed with modern technology in the research department, no one ever makes new seals these days,” he grumbled. 

Tsunami just shook her head at the improbability of the whole situation. Eventually she just started laughing. Not some dainty giggle but deep, hearty belly laugh. 

“Pheew, oh gods,” she wiped a tear from her eye. “Oh you are such an Uzumaki,” she slapped him on the shoulder in between the laughter attacks. 

Naruto's heart skipped a beat. Despite it being said perhaps like a throwaway comment, it felt like one of the nicest things anyone ever said to him. He couldn't fight the little blush and the feeling of pride as he laughed along with Tsunami's contagious laughter.

Chapter Text

He was a young girl. Barely out of the academy but such a brilliant child. She got the best grade out of everyone in seals. She can’t wait to tell mom and dad. That’s wrong, his parents are dead.

“Kimiko, wait!” her sensei wait that’s not Iruka-sensei yelled.

“What’s wrong, Yummen sensei?” she said, turning around so fast that her not blonde red hair fluttered around her.

“You forgot your forehead protector. In a bit of a hurry are we?” Iru- Yuumen sensei teased with a smile.

She blushed deep scarlet and snatched the forehead protector from his hands. It was the wrong symbol, isn’t it supposed to be a leaf? “Thanks, sensei,” she mumbled and bolted away. Her parents should be arriving this afternoon. She wants to wait for them there. They promised her they will be back for her graduation day.

When she arrived to the harbour, the merchant ships were just closing in to the docks. It was just her and a few workers receiving the latest shipment from Wave.

“They are going too fast. What the fuck are they doing,” she heard the worker nearby mutter.

“GET OFF THE DOCK,” someone screamed. It was too late, the wooden dock groaned and splintered as the ship rammed full speed through it.

When she came to, someone was lying on top of her. The worker shielded her with his own body. The blood from his split skull was dripping into her eyes.

“Sound the alarm! Kumo-” Whoever yelled that was soon silenced. Hidden by the body and blinded as she was, she reached with the eye of Kagura. The ships were full of lightning signals and they were quickly snuffing out anyone left on the dock.

She panicked and tried to clear the blood from her eyes.

“Movement there!” She heard someone. “Oh, it’s just a little girl.” She forgot to put the forehead protector on.

She managed to get the most of the blood from her eyes, she was surrounded. They pulled the body off her. “Just kill her.” someone said. She didn’t even have a kunai or any seall on her. Her tears traced lines across her bloodied face.

“You sure? Raikage-sama wanted some of them for the bloodline.”

Wait, there was one seal in her pocket. She was so proud of it. Her graduation assignment, A seal which transforms chakra into heat.

She curled into a ball and took it out of her pocket. She smudged the limiters she so painstakingly designed with the blood on her fingers.

“Oh, what do you got there?” Someone grabbed her by the arm. With the other hand, she put the seal over her navel, over her chakra core. 

“Mama, papa, I-”

The world burned.

Something bit her hand. The sensation almost unnoticeable among the pain of her boiling flesh.

“Wake up goddamnit!”

He shot up with a gasp, straightening his back, there was a fox and a woman looking at her with concerned eyes. 

“Naruto, are you alright? Kurama-san barged in while I was in the kitchen and we found you asleep.” Tsunami said.

“You were channelling nature energy, what’s going on?” Kurama asked.

“I need… I need a mirror,” Naruto said, trying to calm his racing heart.

“Get him a mirror, woman.” The fox growled.

Tsunami ran to her room, confused but startled enough to comply without a question. She returned with a little vanity mirror soon enough. She put it on the table, in front of Naruto.

For a second he thought he could see red in his hair. But he was him. He was Naruto.

“What's going on Naruto,” Kurama asked, hiding his worry in an angry tone.

“I…” Naruto started, his own voice oddly unfamiliar to him. “I was seeing a memory of a girl. No…” he corrected himself, “no, I was living it. I was the girl in the memory.”

“A memory? Like from a shadow clone?” Kurama asked.

“No, different, I was her but she wasn't me,” he frowned, hands clutching the fabric of his pants as his thoughts wandered, “it's hard to explain. It was a memory of a child. I believe it was from the fall of Uzushio.”

“Uzushio? Are you sure?” The kyuubi lifted his non-existent eyebrows.

“Well I don't know. She knew.” Naruto massaged his temples “But I'm inclined to believe it from what I saw and felt.”

“Alright,” Kurama said softly. “so what did you see?”

“My… her name was Kimiko. She just graduated from the academy so I don't suppose we will find anything about her. She was there at the beginning, at the harbour, when Kumo arrived.” Naruto shook his head. “Well we got our first clue at least. Kumo was definitely there.” Naruto glowered a little at the memory.

“What happened then?”

“Well they found me, debated whether to kill me or keep me for breeding.” Naruto said in an oddly detached manner, his chakra conveying what his voice did not. The air heavy yet shimmering like a mirage in the Suna desert. Something fell. “I had no weapons on me, only one seal. It wasn't even an offensive seal, more of a child's science project.” He snorted derisively to cover the choked sob that threatened to escape him. “So I broke it, put it over my chakra core and burned. Burned on inside, burned on outside and burned them all.”

“Naruto calm down, it's over.” Kurama wrapped one tail around Naruto's arm. His clawed hands have long since torn through the fabric of his pants and cut bloody grooves into his thighs.

“Why should I calm down! Don't you see what they did to me?! To us?” His chakra rose like a hammer before the fall.

“Boy calm down before I make you calm down.” The tail wrapped around Naruto's arm once in comfort now squeezed it in a threat. “You are a guest in a friend's house. Control your power. Return the nature energy to the earth.”

“Natu- I'm not-” Naruto blinked, his brows furrowing. He took a deep breath and centered himself, only to flinch a second after. “She doesn't want it back, it's not hers, it's twisted.” He got the oddest impression of the planet pouting . 

“Give it to me then, I'll absorb it.” Kurama huffed.

Naruto shuddered. “The energy,” he searched for the right words for a moment, “it just recoiled and left?” 

A gasp tore him from the thoughts. “Oh shit, fuck, Tsunami I'm so sorry.” He jumped from the couch, moving to the other end of the small table where she fell to the ground at some point.

The fast movement had her scuttle back with a small squeak, keeping him in sight all the while.

Naruto stalled, the small squeak striking him as a lightning. He fell to his knees in front of her, hand reaching out, palm up in an offer to help her to her feet. He swallowed the knot in his throat. “You know I wouldn't hurt you, right? You know me, I'm Naruto, the silly guy you just punched in the nose an hour ago.” He tried with a smile he couldn't really feel.

Kurama just observed them with resigned eyes.

On Tsunami’s side the animalistic part took over a while ago. It chucked the flight and fight options out of the window at the perceived threat and decided that freezing is the best option. Only after the predator moved in, it decided that flight might be a better idea. Then the predator in front of it effectively bared its throat in front of a prey and the animalistic part of her brain decided it's not dealing with that and restarted the human part to do it. So she sat there on the floor, blinking, trying to come down from the sudden wave of adrenaline, looking at the being in front of her, who offered her his hand with a strained smile.

So she took the hand. Her knees buckled as he tried to lift her up so he took her in his arms. She felt odd safety in the arms of the being she couldn't comprehend a minute ago. But he was Naruto. With the stress of the work, her messed up sleeping habits and of course the whole thing that just happened? She passed out in his arms.

Chapter Text

She woke up with a start to the smell of smoke. The scent wasn't overpowering, just unusual. She sluggishly swung her feet off the couch and planted them on the ground, narrowly avoiding the coffee table. Even under the soft light of the full moon she noticed something was different about the living room. It was empty! Everything was gone—Kimiko, all the materials, all her work. A knot of panic twisted painfully in her stomach, adrenaline flooding her drowsy brain. Thieves!

Hunching over, her eyes fell on the table in front of her. All the usual clutter was gone. It all seemed unusually empty. She absentmindedly ran her fingers over the surface of the table. Did they clean? The knot in her stomach loosened a bit in the confusion.

There was only one thing left on the table: a rather high-quality scroll. Did they leave a message? She unfurled it. Squinting at it she tilted it towards the moonlight coming through the window. Instead of blackmail or demands, she was greeted by a bunch of neatly labeled swirly squiggles. The seals! Naruto! Of course, how could she forget?

With some glee, she touched the unsealing rectangle of the seal labeled "Current notes". A neat pile of papers shimmered into existence. Pressing her finger onto the sealing rectangle again, the papers disappeared. She managed to suppress the rather uncharacteristic giddy giggle.

But what happened? She remembers the seals, the kitchen and then a mirror. Naruto talked about some memories of a girl. Do ninjas get visions? Is that normal? She shook her head. It wasn't important right now.

What happened after? There was this pressure coming from Naruto. Like a blanket heavy enough to suffocate you. It was unnatural, it was just too much. The last thing she remembered with some embarrassment was being held by him. She must have passed out or fallen asleep after.  But where is he now? Did he clean up and leave? Who does that?

As she looked around the room again, a flicker of flame caught her eye through the window. The light easily seen against the darkness of the forest at night. Picking up a blanket she was covered with off the sofa, she wrapped it around her shoulders and decided to investigate.

The investigation was concluded in short order as she noticed the shape of the now positively giant fox illuminated by the small campfire. If he was the size of a horse when she first saw him, now just his head was the size of one. He seemed to be sleeping again, his head resting on his paws. Sitting and leaning against the foxes side was her elusive guest, staring into the fire.

Slowly and, she would like to think, silently she approached the duo. When she was close enough to touch one of his tails if she so wished, the fox opened one of his eyes slightly, but just as she caught the glint of blood red reflecting the dancing flames it was gone again. If there was a test of some kind she seemed to have passed it.

“Naruto?” she called out softly. Only to get no answer at all. He didn't even move. The only proof that she wasn't looking at an especially vivid statue of a man and a kyuubi was the movement of the man’s chest and the kyuubi’s eye. She knelt down next to him. “Naruto?” she tried again, touching his shoulder.

“Tsunami!” Naruto answered this time. His whole body seemingly coming alive, the neutral expression on his face softening into a smile. “Sorry, I was talking with Kurama. I got so caught up, I actually tried to answer you through my mind the first time,” he chuckled. “Come sit with me if you'd like,” he said, taking off his jacket and spreading it on the ground for her.

Tsunami took the blanket off her shoulders and settled down on the offered jacket. She took the blanket, threw it over both of them and leaned on the giant kitsune. It was surprisingly soft. “Do you do that a lot?”, she asked.

“What? Talking to Kurama? Yeah, I mean we are always together, it would be odd not to talk to him.” Naruto mused.

“No, I mean cleaning other people’s houses,” she ribbed him good-naturedly, poking him in the ribs with her elbow for a good measure.

“Nope, that’s just for you,” he grinned wryly. “I felt a little guilty, you know,” he said, far more somber than before. “And I needed something to do, after the whole thing,” he added. “And I'm sorry for scaring you.”

“It's alright, you were upset, it happens to all of us,” she reached under the blanket and squeezed his hand in comfort. “And I wasn't afraid, not really, I was just… overwhelmed.”

“Most of you couldn't level this island if you are upset,” Naruto grumbled. “But thank you,” he said a little louder, looking her in the eyes and smiling gently. “I really looked forward to seeing you but I messed it all up.”

“Oh did you?” Tsunami teased him. Her thumb now tracing circles on the hand she still held. “Do you want to make it up to me?” she asked, her eyes smoldering as they looked at each other.

Naruto nodded, his throat dryer than the sands of Suna.

She got closer, her lips brushing against his ear as she whispered. “You could clean the kitchen too, stove included.”

“Wha-”

She leaned back, wanting to see his spluttering in full glory. Except he wasn't? He wasn't quite meeting her eyes and there was a tinge of red to his cheeks but he seemed shy more than anything else. He muttered something she didn't catch. “What was it?” She asked, leaning closer.

“I already did that…” he mumbled again.

“You did?”

“Yeah well, you were asleep and I needed something to do, so yeah,” Naruto defended himself.

“You weirdo,” she teased, grinning. She finally let go of his hand just to hit him in the shoulder. “Naruto Uzumaki, our hero, saving damsels and cleaning kitchens,” she laughed.

“You better not go spreading that around or else,” he poked her in the side glumly as she kept on laughing at him.

“Or else what? Do you think I'm afraid of you,” she said, chin held up, eyes mock defiant.

“No… I guess you are not,” he said after a moment, a soft smile playing on his lips as he realized what she was doing. “Thank you.” His smile, though, turned mischievous. “Don't think you are off the hook yet. You pranked me and I'll get you for that.”

“Oh come on,” she pouted.

“Hmm, I decided, we are going to the city tomorrow, I'll show you how to prank people.”

“Okaaay?” she agreed tentatively.

“Oh don't worry, you'll be fine… mostly,” he grinned. “I'll pick you up at uhm,” he looked up at the position of the moon and back at her, “whenever we wake up, it's a date,” he declared.

“Whenever we wake up it is.”

They sat together in a comfortable silence for a while.

Tsunami shook her head, shaking off the clutches of sleep she didn't want to succumb to just yet. “So what led you here? I doubt you came all the way here just for me.”

“As much as I would like to say otherwise, there is something else,” said Naruto. “I've been researching Uzushiogakure.”

“Well you are in the right place then. We used to be the bridge between Uzushio and the mainland. Every Uzu ship passed through us,” she boasted. “But that was before my time. I was about 2 years old when Uzushio fell. But even then me and my friends grew up hearing the stories about the warriors of Uzushio. Learning the little poems and songs, playing the games of Uzumaki against invaders. And now our children don't remember them much at all, the stories and games of their old parents not cool enough for them,” she smiled. “But even they know the story of at least one brave Uzumaki.”

Naruto tried not to blush, mostly unsuccessfully. As arrogant as it might sound he got used to some hero worship after the war. This felt different. Some of these people believed in him since the beginning, when he was just Naruto Uzumaki, the kyuubi kid, nothing more and in eyes of many people even less. Back then, for whatever reason he gave them hope. Now he's starting to suspect what was the reason - Uzumaki. Now, though, wasn't the time to get lost in that thought. “Do you remember some of those? The poems and songs.”, he asked.

“Hmm, well maybe one, that one always stayed with me for some reason, it's quite short though,” Tsunami mused.

“Please. And I promise,” Naruto said.

Tsunami cleared her throat off the embarrassment and started.

Over the waves lie the black shores,
Where sullen Hinoyama snores.
The woman with the red third eye,
Sang him a lullaby.

And where his flames once raged and roared,
Man found home and buried his sword.
In the ashes, the sword took root,
From nothing bore a fruit.

A child, wild and free as the sea,
A wayward sprout of the great tree.
A daughter born, her hair of flame,
Uzushio her name.

“Naruto?”

“Yes, sorry, I was lost in a thought.” He considered for a moment whether to tell her or not. But there wasn't really a reason not to. “The woman with the red third eye? I think I fought her in the war. I think that the woman in the poem is the mother of the Sage of Six Paths.”

“You fought the mother of the Sage? What?” Tsunami asked, bewildered. If anyone else said that she would think them insane. Even then she wasn't sure he isn't pranking her.

“It's a long story, maybe as long as the history of Shinobi, better to leave that for another time.” Naruto shook his head. “Please, tell me more about the stories of Uzushio.”

And so they spent the night talking about Uzushio and her people.

About the traders, fishermen and warriors.

About an orphan who grew up to be a god of Rain.

About the seals, sailors, songs and games.

About the lonely princess who left the sea and it's shores for the tree and its leaves.

And when the last flame of their little fire disappeared, they fell asleep in the embrace of the nine tails.