Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto (either the story or the character) or any of its component parts or associated bits of intellectual property. I do think it's pretty cool, and enjoy examining it through the looking glass of "What If". The originator, Masashi Kishimoto, is a creative guy and deserves credit for his work.

Naruto was sweating as he stood, right hand extended palm-up in front of him. The Toad's Mountain and the surrounding land were beautiful, in a way, but they also tended to be humid, so he was currently training in just his shorts.

"The air is thinner at this altitude, which makes it more difficult to breathe," Jiraiya had told them on the second day since arriving. "If you aren't careful, you'll find yourself gasping for air constantly. It's one thing that makes training here a challenge, since most people aren't used to it. You might think it sounds foolish, but squads and even armies have been weakened by something that simple. The first time the Hidden Cloud Village was seriously attacked, they let the invaders come right through their land all the way up to the mountains on purpose. When they finally had a decisive battle, the defenders were well-rested, and their enemies were exhausted from days of forced marching in unfamiliar conditions. It was a slaughter, partly because some of the attackers passed out in the middle of fighting – they couldn't get enough air to sustain the exertion of battle."

It had been a long-winded way of telling Naruto to put up with the discomfort and work through it, but he supposed he had been whining a bit at the time. The humidity didn't help, though. The air felt simultaneously thin and heavy. The constant damp was like a weight on his chest, and when he had trained fully dressed it had taken only a few minutes for his clothes to get soaked all the way through. The weight had slowed him noticeably.

So, for now, he worked without it. The sweat that beaded on his forehead and ran down his face was partly due to the humidity, but mostly due to the effort he was making. After seeing the Rasengan demonstrated, he'd found it easy to swirl chakra in his palm, and thought he'd succeed quickly, but now he wasn't so certain.

The hard part was holding it steady while maintaining constant motion. Naruto had found that he could hold the sphere of chakra in his hand, or cause it to spin, but doing both was another matter entirely.

He was determined, though. He would learn the technique, and master it. Learning new techniques had always been exciting, but this time he had another reason entirely.

Naruto closed his eyes, picturing the Hokage's monument, the faces chiseled carefully into the stone. Hashirama Senju, the first Hokage, had set a pattern of sorts when his face was put there. He'd told the men who did the work not to hide his scars, and those after him had followed suit. It had been a statement, of sorts, that he would be celebrated for the warrior he was.

Naruto, as a child, had once painted the monument as a joke; now, he was chagrined to realize he had defaced a monument to his own father. Cleaning it afterward, he'd felt like he had every single crack and seam of the stone memorized by the end, so he found it easy to visualize the carved recreation. On the bright side, it meant that he could picture the reproduction of Namikaze Minato's face in great detail.

Idly, he wondered for a moment if Tsunade's face had been added to the monument, yet, before shaking the thought off and regaining his concentration. He pictured his father's face again, for a moment, then shut out everything except his chakra, ignoring all the sounds and sights and smells around him, even ignoring the feel of the sweat dripping over his eyelids.

"Gather the chakra to my hand," he thought, not aware that he was speaking aloud. "Bring it out, holding it together. Then apply the rotation and maintain it."

He executed the first two steps flawlessly. The third, again, proved difficult.

When he was about to lose control, Naruto let the chakra fade and wiped the sweat from his face. He looked around. He was standing in a small clearing, by a little pond, with bushes and shrubs around him. A few wildflowers bloomed, as well, and the grass came up well past his ankles, almost to his knees. A look at the sky revealed that he'd been practicing for some time; the sun and clouds had moved, and the light was different. Jiraiya had told him to practice on his own for a while, while he carefully inspected Gaara's seal to try to learn how it worked.

Naruto let out a heavy breath and walked out of the clearing to a nearby tree, then climbed its trunk, clinging with chakra. That still came easily, at least. Running over the steps of the Rasengan in his mind again, he walked out onto the pond, trying to disturb the water as little as possible.

His control did seem to have improved, at least; when he started, his steps had all sent strong ripples out through the water. Now, he could walk without disturbing it at all, and run with much less effect than he used to. But it still wasn't enough.

The rotation was what gave him so much trouble. It had to be steady and consistent, or else the sphere just dissolved, turning into a chaotic mess in his hands. That might hurt someone if it hit them, but it was impossible to hold steady for more than a few seconds.

Naruto sipped at his water. It wasn't entirely pleasant in the humid conditions, but he knew he needed the moisture. When that was done, he took a few bites of food, as well. Jiraiya had let Naruto eagerly accept Shima's invitation to eat the first night and laughed at him when he returned, face green and stomach roiling at what he'd eaten. Naruto had been too hungry to notice the mischievous gleam in the old man's eye before it was too late, but he remembered the laughter vividly.

On the bright side, Shima and Fukasaku seemed to appreciate that he'd finished his food despite his failure to hide his initial surprise, and he'd mostly concealed his nausea until he was outside and safely away from their home. Since then, he'd politely refused further invitations, telling them that while Shima's cooking was excellent, he thought it was better for him to eat human foods. He still couldn't decide if they did it as a test of his character, a genuine kindness, a practical joke…or all three. He didn't think they were really fooled at all, but they had apparently decided that he was "a polite young man," which Naruto thought would make a lot of people laugh if they ever heard it.

He'd kept a straight face through that part, somehow. Still, Naruto was firmly resolved; he never again wanted a reminder of what so many insects tasted like. In truth, they were more bland than unpleasant, but the crunching noises and the feeling in his mouth…he could still remember it vividly. Dragonflies weren't meant to be eaten by people. He was certain of that much.

Naruto banished the idle recollections as he chewed on his snack. It was some kind of plant, which he'd decided not to ask too much about for fear of being told what it was. Hunting or gathering their own food was something any ninja could handle, in a pinch, although it was a challenge in unfamiliar environments. Fortunately, Jiraiya had been willing to point him in the right direction after having some fun at his expense.

He only had a few bites; there was more training to do. After washing it down with another sip of water, Naruto looked at the pond thoughtfully, then walked back over to it. He'd checked with Fukasaku beforehand and determined that none of the toads lived in it, so he didn't have to worry about harming a tadpole by accident and then being killed in retaliation.

He plunged his right hand into the water, cupping it, and then used his chakra to hold a sphere of water together, lifting it up into the air. A few stray drops fell, but in moments he held the oddly-shaped puddle in his hand. Naruto considered it carefully, then began to rotate his chakra, still holding on to the water.

Jiraiya had told him that the water might help him practice, but hadn't said how. He'd wondered if the man was referring to the water-walking exercise somehow, but that hadn't seemed right. But maybe this was what he'd meant?

As the sphere of chakra-infused water began to whirl, quickly gaining speed, a few drops escaped, flung in all directions. Naruto shifted focus to holding it together, watching as the loss stopped and the rotation slowed. The water didn't stop, however. He focused as hard as he could, tightening his grip in preparation to speed up again, only to watch more droplets slip free.

"What?" Naruto said, frowning. Why had he lost water when he tightened his grip?

It took a few minutes of experimentation for him to come up with a guess. Holding the water together with his chakra, as he did for the water-walking exercise, was one thing. But part of that same exercise involved holding the water still, so it didn't move. That prevented ripples from his footsteps, and meant that his feet wouldn't sink at all.

Naruto had gotten better at doing that as his control improved, and been proud of it. The best ninjas could run across a river or lake without leaving any sign or disturbing any of the animals inside, which was necessary because an enemy lying in wait might notice if you scared off a fish. But with the Rasengan, the goal was different, and using water had illustrated that difference. Rotating the chakra in his hand and holding it steady were almost opposite goals; the trick was to hold the sphere as a whole together without preventing the chakra that composed it from moving. Without realizing it, Naruto had been trying to make his chakra whirl and hold it still at the same time…which was why the technique kept falling apart. Either he held it too steady, preventing the rotation, or he gave it too much spin, causing the sphere to break up.

He took a deep breath before testing his conclusion. If he was right, he'd just figured out the trick to the Rasengan, and this would work. If not, then he shouldn't be any worse off.

"Gather the chakra to my hand," Naruto said. "Bring it out, holding the sphere. Then apply the rotation."

Naruto could feel the exertion of the day, but he wasn't tired, and his excitement gave him a fresh burst of energy. His chakra gathered easily in his hand. He held the sphere together, making certain that the effort was focused only on the whole shape, not the interior. Finally, with an effort of will, he started to spin the chakra inside.

It held. Elated, he jumped into the air, whooping in excitement, and lost control.

A moment later he sat up, blinking. "Huh. Need to remember that."

The plants in the clearing were undamaged, but the sphere of chakra had exploded when he lost concentration. A pulse of force traveled outward, too weak to do any damage. It had been sufficient to get dirt in his eyes, however, which was why he'd landed on his butt, rather than his feet.

Naruto got up, glancing around, and sighed. "Well, at least no one saw that."

After taking a minute to wash the dirt off of his face, he tried again.

This time, he held the sphere steady in his hand, slowly counting to one hundred. Jiraiya had told him that if he managed to get it right, he needed to be able to hold it at least that long before trying to use it, even in practice.

When that was done, Naruto slumped to the ground, leaning back against a tree – the same one he'd climbed earlier – and carefully dissipating the chakra sphere. He glanced up at the sun again. Jiraiya would be expecting him to come back soon, one way or another, but he was so close to being done that he didn't want to go yet. He let himself rest for a minute, mindful of the fact that he'd been practicing for hours with only a few small breaks, and sipped at his water again.

After a few minutes, Naruto stood again, walking toward the pond. He wasn't going to wait for tomorrow, he decided. The enemy was out there. His friends and teammates could be fighting at that very moment, as could Gaara's siblings, and the nine-tails' stolen power had to be reclaimed.

Naruto stood at the water's edge and held up his hand one more time. He watched as the chakra gathered, obeying his will, then began to spin. It didn't look quite as impressive as Jiraiya's demonstration, maybe, but he was still proud.

Jiraiya had warned him that there was a world of difference between holding the technique while standing still and using it in a fight, however. Naruto wasn't planning to do anything stupid, but he had an excellent test of control in mind.

With the sphere fully-formed and spinning rapidly, he walked out onto the water, trying to hold the Rasengan and keep from disturbing the pond's surface at the same time.

He didn't quite pull it off. Every other step or so, his foot started a ripple. When he stepped away from the pond, his feet were still dry, though. Naruto smiled at his success.

Naruto took a last look around the pond, then stepped toward the rock behind it and drove his hand forward. He felt resistance giving way as his Rasengan chipped into the rock, and when he pulled his hand back there was a small crater of smooth, almost polished-looking stone cut out.

Naruto let the sphere go, grabbed his things, and started to walk back. It might have taken days, but he'd learned. He grinned, not even noticing the effort of the climb back uphill, too excited to show Jiraiya and Gaara his success to realize that the same climb had left him panting in exhaustion after previous practices.

When Naruto made it back to the spot where he, Jiraiya, and Gaara had been resting, he found them both sitting cross-legged, facing each other. Between them sat a large scroll covered with complex diagrams. Naruto couldn't understand it at all, and he knew Gaara wasn't much better off, yet, but Jiraiya had told them that it represented the seal used to place Shukaku inside Gaara. The white-haired sage had been working with Gaara for the past few days when he wasn't with Naruto, learning more about the seal. Mindful of the complexity of the task, Naruto approached quietly – loud enough that they could hear him, but not loudly enough to interrupt their concentration.

Jiraiya, he saw as he drew closer, was leaning over the scroll, with one finger pointing at a small collection of symbols.

"You're sure this is what that array looks like?" Jiraiya asked. "There isn't another symbol with this group? It seems like something is missing."

Gaara stared at the area intently, then closed his eyes, concentrating.

He shook his head slightly. "There isn't another with them…wait a moment."

Jiraiya glanced over at Naruto, saw his grin, and raised a questioning eyebrow.

Naruto grinned wider and held up his right hand as if he were holding a Rasengan.

Jiraiya smiled and favored him with a nod, but then Gaara started to speak again.

"I think I see it now," Gaara said slowly. "There isn't another symbol mixed with those five, but the way they are arranged is significant, forming a basic shape…they aren't just grouped near each other, but actually connected."

"Ahh, like this?" Jiraiya asked. His hand gestured, and the ink on the scroll seemed to rearrange itself; the five symbols flowed and then resumed their shape, but where they had been arranged in a line before they were now the five points of a pentagon.

Gaara opened his eyes and examined them briefly. "That is the shape…but these two are in opposite positions," he said, pointing to two of the symbols.

Jiraiya frowned as he gestured again, causing the two symbols to switch places. "Hmm, that's not what I expected. Sealing styles can differ greatly, though…I think that means this part of the seal helps to govern your access to Shukaku's chakra, then. Specifically, these five symbols keep the flow steady, allowing you to draw the amount you want and preventing Shukaku from feeding extra chakra without you wanting it."

Gaara nodded, silently absorbing the information with the same intensity he'd brought to bear since the first moment they began their study. Jiraiya had found the young man's focus a bit off-putting. He pursued the study of his seal with a single-minded determination that Jiraiya thought few could match and none could exceed.

That, the sage mused, was the power of intense personal motivation. At least it was helping him to learn quickly, even if the implications for his personal life were poor.

The thought made him glance over at Naruto, clearly excited and wanting to show off for his friend and his teacher, but still waiting to let them finish. It was a small thing, but the patience – personal as well as professional – seemed to be another step toward maturity for Naruto.

"All right," Jiraiya said. "Shall we take a break now, or do you want to continue until Naruto sprains something from excitement?"

Gaara seemed to consider the question carefully. "Perhaps we should continue for his sake. I was always taught that patience is among a ninja's chief virtues."

Jiraiya laughed and Naruto's jaw dropped open a bit.

"Gaara!" Naruto yelled, "did you actually make a joke?"

Gaara glanced up at him. "A true ninja seeks to improve in every skill, Uzumaki Naruto…perhaps you have underestimated me up to now. As your ally and rival, I expect greater respect from this moment forward."

Naruto stared at him for a few seconds, then started laughing. Jiraiya's booming laugh was almost as loud.

Gaara smiled slightly. Anyone who didn't know him wouldn't have been able to tell the difference.

When they had finally regained their composure, Jiraiya rolled up the scroll and turned expectantly to Naruto. "All right, kid – Gaara has impressed me. Now it's your chance to show me what you've learned."

Naruto nodded and took a deep breath, extending his right hand palm-up again. He repeated the steps in his mind: Gather chakra, form the sphere, and apply rotation.

He opened his eyes again, not even noticing that he'd allowed them to close, and his grin blossomed once more as he looked at the whirling ball of pure power in his hand.

He looked at Jiraiya expectantly.

Jiraiya inspected the sphere and pursed his lips, nodding slightly. "It looks like you've got good rotation…a bit slow for combat, but that takes practice…the sphere itself isn't large, but it's dense, which is what really matters…hmm, and the cohesion looks okay." He looked up at Naruto. "I'm impressed," he said with a smile. "Now let's see if you can hold it. Hit that rock over there!"

Naruto turned and sprinted at the indicated target, a boulder about three times his own size, and shoved his Rasengan forward, pushing it as it ate a chunk out of the rock and then pulling it back for Jiraiya's inspection.

The sage was standing when Naruto turned around, and he started walking forward immediately. His eyes flicked back and forth between the Rasengan in Naruto's hand and the target he'd struck.

"Not bad at all," he pronounced. "I think you'll master the technique, in time. All you need to work on is strengthening it a bit, so you can use it to really strike, instead of pushing, and get to the point where you can do it from scratch faster. That, and the rotation speed, like I said before. But all of that is just a function of practice perfecting the technique – you've got the fundamentals down." He caught Naruto's eyes in his own and clapped him on the shoulder with one hand. "Good work, Naruto. You can let it go now."

Naruto, still smiling, did so. He let the technique lapse.

Jiraiya frowned at him a bit. "I know you have a lot of chakra compared to most people, Naruto, but that's no reason to waste it. One of the nice things about the Rasengan is that when you do it right, the chakra loss is very minimal unless the technique is disrupted – you can reclaim most of the energy you put into it afterward. It only sucks up power when you actually strike something. So in the future, please try to reclaim as much of the chakra you use for it as possible, all right? Waste is unprofessional."

"Yeah, sorry," Naruto said sheepishly. He was still too excited over his success to take the mild rebuke harshly. "It's just so great that I finally got it!"

"So, did you figure out the hint I gave you?" Jiraiya asked curiously. "Or did you just solve the issues yourself?"

"The water thing?" Naruto asked. "I figured that was about the rotation, maintaining the shape without losing speed. Or maybe just using water to help observe how the technique worked."

"Yes, that's pretty much it," Jiraiya said. "Good. Let's all take a short break, and then we'll get back to work."

…

Emi was in her cell, leaning back against the wall.

Emi was standing in a place she now knew was the Leaf Village, looking out. She could feel herself talking, but the voice that came from her throat wasn't her own.

It was familiar by now, though.

"Be careful out there, Nawaki," Emi felt herself – no, felt Tsunade say to the short boy. Her brother, Emi had learned. He was a cute kid, and clearly a handful. The kind of person it was easy to like, she thought. That was an obvious trap, but recognizing the trap didn't immediately negate it.

"I'm always careful," he said with an impish smile. "You know that."

Tsunade snorted. "I practically had to become a medical ninja just to keep you in one piece," she said fondly, smacking the back of his head. "The least you could do is have a little more respect for my work."

Nawaki laughed at her. "Okay, okay! Don't make the scary face! I promise to be careful."

There was something wrong with the whole thing, Emi thought. The memory was a happy one, but she could feel a current of darker emotion running underneath, like mud sucking at her ankles, threatening to mire her and wear her down. It felt like it didn't belong, somehow, but at the same time was tied tightly to what she was seeing and hearing. She knew it certainly wasn't coming from her.

Despite her better judgment, Emi was starting to wonder if the things she was being shown might contain some truth after all. The memories were all perfectly consistent, but more importantly the emotions in them were a mix of the powerful and the subtle. It was a blend that felt very real. While she was no expert in illusions or techniques to affect the mind, she knew that faking such things was incredibly difficult. And besides, it seemed like an inefficient method of turning her. If all they wanted was to make her a puppet, why hadn't they starved her, or hurt her, or anything? Since the sessions with Tsunade began, her mealtimes and rest periods seemed to have normalized, indicating they weren't even interested in keeping her off-balance.

She'd tried to observe without becoming personally invested in any of what she saw, but it was hard. Emi knew herself to be inexperienced and to lack the harder attitude than many felt ninjas should have. She fought out of loyalty to her home country, Orochimaru, and her comrades, but she hadn't made herself into a weapon.

The isolation she'd felt – that she was still feeling – made it so easy to sympathize with the young trainees she saw in Tsunade's memories. Granted, Orochimaru and his teammates were far more skilled than she had been at the same age, and the gap grew as the memories progressed, but other than that so much that she saw seemed so normal. Adults working, children playing, ninjas of all ages training…families. It gave her a bit of a shock when Emi realized how few of her fellow warriors had families. She'd never gone home since the day she left it to become a ninja. She found herself wondering what her village looked like now, and how the people she'd grown up with were doing. Would she recognize them if she met them? Would they recognize her?

If Tsunade's memories were to be believed, most of the Leaf ninjas came from families or clans dedicated to the profession. They seemed to be surrounded by family members and friends, and their home was full of civilians as well, most of them also relatives of one sort or another.

Emi's thoughts came to a sudden stop as she felt a wave of grief. She'd only been giving the memories half of her attention, trying to separate herself for her own good.

Tsunade was weeping like a broken woman. She might look younger, but there was no apparent strength in her limbs.

The memories themselves were disjointed, but Emi had no trouble understanding what had happened. She was even prepared to grant that Nawaki's death was a genuine tragedy. If the Leaf Village was corrupt even then, all the more so, for the boy had died serving unworthy masters.

Once she understood, she waited for the memory to end, trying to stay detached.

Tsunade wept and wailed, then wept again, then stared at the bloody corpse. She was as still as the dead boy for a long time, until one of her teammates finally judged that she would allow herself to be pulled away. Even then, she started to fight him at the last moment, nearly throwing him into a tree when he pulled her too far to see Nawaki's face.

Was this a mistake? Emi wondered. Tsunade's grief, so powerful, would be considered a weakness by some, including some of her own comrades. Emi had never been certain whether she agreed with them. Their ideas made some sense as principles…but Emi had always wondered if the people of the village she'd left behind would be comforted by the knowledge that they were being guarded by remorseless killers without emotion. She suspected they would not.

Orochimaru had never come out on one side of the debate or the other. Kimmimaro certainly seemed subdued, when Emi had seen him, but she didn't think he was without emotion. As for Orochimaru himself, she had heard the man speak with passion. She could never doubt that he still had emotions of his own, and so she had chosen to follow his unspoken example.

Still, she had learned and understood that emotions could be used against those who held them. Now, though, she wondered if the reverse might be happening. Tsunade, Emi thought, had turned her own grief and love for Nawaki into weapons, sharpening them to cut the ties of loyalty that bound her to her home and comrades. It wouldn't work, of course, but it was still having a dangerous impact, humanizing her to Emi, making her sympathize with the enemy. If she ever got free, or even got a chance to try to escape, the emotion could make her hesitate to kill or injure the enemy.

Emi continued to analyze and observe, trying to keep track of everything; Orochimaru would want to hear every detail if – no, when – when she made it back home.

The tears went on and on, with nothing else for Emi to observe. She felt them running down cheeks that weren't hers, felt the sobs wracking Tsunade's body, and knew that she was seeing this woman's heart break from the inside. She began to think she would go mad from it, and started recalling training exercises in an effort to take her mind off of the memory, but Tsunade's grief disrupted her attempts.

Finally, the memory ended. When Emi was released, she returned to feeling her own body, and she was surprised to feel the beginnings of tears in her eyes. She kept them closed for a few moments to ensure that she wouldn't start crying for real, and to ensure that her breathing was normal, then opened them to look at Tsunade.

Sitting in front of her in the cell, only a few feet away, Tsunade was hunched forward a bit. One hand wiped tears from her face, while the other rested on her knee. As always, there were two other figures with them: one who shared the memories, and one who seemed to be the Hokage's personal guard.

They sat in silence for a minute, until Tsunade straightened, sitting up. The Hokage looked at her, and her face was angry. For a moment, Emi feared for her life.

Tsunade let out a breath and touched Emi's knee.

"I'm still not going to hurt you," she said kindly. "But now it's time to show you what I've been leading up to. This is what made me decide to come see you in the first place."

Emi sat still, saying nothing. She'd suspected that Tsunade might be leading up to one particular memory, of course. There had been a number of visits, at this point. She'd lost track of the exact count, and some had been longer than others anyway. But most of the shared memories had either been about Orochimaru or Nawaki. With Nawaki dead, she assumed the next memory must feature Orochimaru somehow; this would be the turning point, the crux of the attempt to break her loyalty.

Unless, she noted, there was more to come; maybe Tsunade was trying to trick her somehow by prefacing whatever would happen next.

Again, the technique. Again, the sense of being in someone else's body. This time, Tsunade was older; in fact, she looked the same as she did now, sitting in Emi's cell. A recent event? That would make sense, from what Tsunade had said.

It was surprisingly boring to go through a morning as the Hokage, Emi found. The woman spent a great deal of time reading reports and approving decisions made by her subordinates.

The calm was shattered by an attack. Tsunade leapt out the window, gaining some distance, before turning to engage the enemy and –

Nawaki.

This time it wasn't just grief. The profound sadness warred with disgust, rage, and a searing hate like nothing Emi herself had ever felt. The hate wasn't directed at Nawaki, Emi knew. She didn't think it was directed at herself, either. Before the brief fight ended, she understood. The hate, the rage, and the disgust were all directed at whoever would send a twisted mockery of Nawaki to attack Tsunade.

The boy hadn't been a very good fighter. Emi suspected she would have done better, in terms of skill, and she knew she wouldn't even be able to slow Tsunade down significantly in a battle.

The memory ended abruptly, this time, and when Emi opened her eyes she found Tsunade staring into them, and she knew that the rage she'd felt was real and had not waned in the slightest. She suddenly felt like she was in a room with a feral animal. Emi stilled, too afraid to move.

"Have you ever heard of the technique called Edo Tensei?" Tsunade asked.

Emi shook her head, too frightened to even consider lying.

…

"Jiraiya?" Naruto said, trying to get the sage's attention.

Jiraiya swallowed the bite he'd been chewing. "What is it, Naruto?" he asked.

Naruto took a deep breath. "I've been thinking about the nine-tails and how to deal with it. Actually, I'm thinking that I probably can't do any more to prepare than I already have, at this point," he said. "Am I wrong?"

Jiraiya looked at him appraisingly. "You understand the basics of the seal. More than that will take time to teach you, but isn't critical for communication. As for how to talk to the thing…there's not much I can tell you, Naruto," Jiraiya admitted. "Those who host tailed beasts have always had to work a lot of things out for themselves. Even if I could talk to it for you, I wouldn't – the thing would never respect you, then. And as long as it doesn't respect you, it will keep trying to subvert you."

Naruto nodded solemnly. "Only a few people have ever really mastered any of them, you told me. The First Hokage's abilities let him control the beasts, but no other Leaf ninja truly has. But we know it can be done, right? That's good enough for me."

Jiraiya studied him carefully. "Naruto, I don't want you rushing into this. The tailed beasts are unlike anything else in history. Even comparing them to each other is tricky at best. If you try to master the nine-tails outright, it could turn into a contest of wills. You have an advantage, since the seal keeps the beast imprisoned, but that alone won't force it to obey you, and even with half of its power stolen, the thing has phenomenal chakra – it is chakra, in a sense. The tailed beasts are alive, but not like you or me. Are you sure you don't want to wait longer?"

"I'm sure," Naruto said. "I wish I knew more about it, about its history, but there's no way to get that information. There's nothing to gain by waiting any more. Besides," Naruto smiled, "he's been living in my body for years already. It's really past time I checked up on him again."

Jiraiya chuckled. "All right. Sleep on it tonight. If you're still determined tomorrow, you can do it then. Agreed?"

"Okay," Naruto agreed.

Oddly enough, he slept well that night.

The next day Jiraiya found, to his surprise, that Naruto had woken up first and gathered breakfast for all three of them. He was sitting on the ground, leaning back against a tree. Jiraiya walked over to him, about so speak, but reconsidered. Instead, he let Naruto have the quiet, simply sitting and waiting.

Perhaps ten minutes after Jiraiya woke up, Naruto stood and came to him.

"I'm ready," he said quietly.

Jiraiya nodded. He placed one hand to the ground in a silent summoning. A small toad with an odd-looking abdomen appeared in front of them.

It looked at Jiraiya, then Naruto. "What is it?" the toad asked expectantly.

"I need your help so I can talk to the fox," Naruto said.

The toad narrowed its eyes a bit, then looked at Jiraiya. "What about you?" it asked.

"He's ready to make his own decisions," Jiraiya said. "You don't need to ask me. Do it."

The toad eyed Naruto speculatively. "Well, if Jiraiya thinks you can handle it…I guess last time you talked to the thing it went well, at least. Fine."

Jiraiya had already explained the truth to Naruto; the first time he'd spoken to the fox, it had been the toad – Gerotora – who had temporarily weakened the seal, allowing them to communicate. When he realized that the foul-tasting brew Jiraiya had made him drink had been nothing but a simple sedative, he'd tried to hit the old man, but he was still too quick. Jiraiya laughed at how long it had taken for that little prank to come to light, and Naruto had to admit that the bastard had gotten him. He'd apologized for the deception, but at the time he hadn't wanted Naruto to know about the key to his seal; not until he got a chance to observe him more.

Gerotora revealed the seals on his belly, and a minute later Naruto was staring through prison bars into the eyes of the nine-tailed demon fox.

"Back again, landlord?" the fox asked.

Naruto looked at it, trying to hide his nervousness. "Hello again, fox," he said. "How do you feel?"

The fox's eyes narrowed. "I feel ridiculous!" it growled. "Probably because you let some fool steal away my chakra, you ignorant, incompetent BOY!"

Naruto weathered the tirade, managing to keep his reaction down to a flinch. "Maybe if I wasn't so busy worrying about fighting you, I could have won," he said.

The fox snorted. "That was clumsy and pathetic," it said. "I've had people demand my power, boy. I've had people beg for it. I've had people offer to trade for a portion of it, or sacrifice lives for my favor. If you think I'll give in to pathetic pleading or childishness, you're wasting both of our time."

"Time is all you have in here, fox," Naruto pointed out.

The fox made no answer. Naruto thought he might have earned a small measure of respect for ignoring its tirades and shouting – it seemed to be looking at him seriously, rather than like a morsel – but he couldn't be sure.

Naruto paced back and forth in front of the bars, looking at the fox. Its eyes followed him.

"I don't know if anyone has ever asked you this or not," Naruto said thoughtfully, "but I have a question. I want you to think about it seriously before you answer. Will you do that?" He stopped, standing still and expectant. Jiraiya had coached him a bit on how to handle this; the fox wasn't animal or human, but it did have a mind, and it could be manipulated in some ways. While records were sparse, past hosts had noted that it seemed to be impatient.

Naruto hoped to play on that impatience and use some of the lessons he'd learned about manipulating people as a prankster, in the Academy, and after. In this case, something he'd learned about interrogations. If he could get the fox to answer questions or agree with things he said, that would have an effect over time. And, he hoped, the fox's impatience could be used against it.

"I won't promise you a true answer without knowing the question, boy," the fox responded.

"That's fine," Naruto replied, unperturbed. "You can even decide not to tell me. But will you promise to think about the answer before you give it?"

"Fine," the fox grumbled. "What is it?"

Naruto suppressed a smile. That seemed to have worked.

"Since last time we talked, I've been wondering some things about you," Naruto said. "There are a lot of questions I'd like to ask, but this is the one that I'm most interested in. What do you want?"

The fox growled. "I want to be free!" it yelled.

Naruto held up a hand in a calming gesture. "You promised to think about it," he reminded the fox.

The fox's eyes narrowed to slits and it hissed in irritation. "I will still want to be free after thinking, fool boy. Are you done wasting my time? If this is all you came to say, I'd rather be alone."

Naruto shook his head. "Fine, you want to be free. But what would you do if you were free? I know you were free once. What was it like? It's something I can't ask anyone else about, you know. Every human with clear memories of the time you were free is dead now, I think. How did you live?"

The fox regarded him closely. "You want me to tell you about the past, boy?" it said. Whenever it spoke, Naruto could feel the hot breath of its exhalations on his face. "You want to hear about the time I nearly destroyed your precious village?"

Again, Naruto shook his head, refusing to rise to the bait. "No, not particularly. I can always hear about that from other people. Right now I'm wondering about you."

The fox fell silent again. Naruto waited for a minute, waiting to see if its impatience would cause it to fill the silence, preferably with information, but it just glared at him resentfully.

"By the way," Naruto said, "do you want me to call you fox? I just realized that might be rude, but I don't know what else to say. You can call me Naruto, if you want, from now on. Do you have a name?"

The fox hesitated for a second as if about to answer, Naruto noticed, and then let out another growl. "I don't care what your kind call me, boy," it said. "You've called me a demon, a fox, a terror, and more. At least when your kind call me 'demon' there's some respect involved."

Naruto frowned. "I don't think so, really. Just fear."

The fox laughed. "Foolish boy, fear is a kind of respect."

"Do you really think so?" Naruto asked, his tone doubtful. "I mean, I know it implies that you have power, but that's not the same thing. I guess it depends on the kind of fear and respect you mean…people might fear a fierce storm and respect its power, but you're a person. Besides, respecting your power isn't the same as respecting you, is it?"

The fox's eyes narrowed again. "Do you intend to sit here talking until you bore me into doing whatever it is that you want, boy? I'll admit no one has ever tried it before, but it won't work. After all, you're mortal. I can just wait for you to die – judging by the way you lost half of my power, it shouldn't even take that long."

"Do you want that power back?" Naruto asked.

The fox reacted to that, he saw. "I'll get it back sooner or later," the thing said. "You humans can never hold us for too long."

"Why wait longer than you have to, though?" Naruto asked. "Why don't you work with me, and we'll get it back together? The people who sought to steal your power will get in our way…wouldn't you like a shot at them?"

"You're as much a thief as they are!" the fox said.

"No, I'm not," Naruto answered. "First of all, I give you a place to live, so you get something in exchange…and second of all, as you reminded me the last time we talked, neither of us asked to be put together this way. I didn't request it any more than you did. So you can't blame me or call me a thief."

The fox grumbled again. "You talk too much," it said.

"Do you want me to leave?" Naruto asked. "I always assumed you must get bored in here, but if I'm wrong you can tell me now."

The fox was glaring again. "Yes, I get bored," he said. "Watching you struggle to fight people I could crush like ants if I had control of my power has long since lost what little amusement it held for me."

"Look, is there anything you want besides your freedom?" Naruto asked. "Maybe I can try to get it for you. I mean, I can't pretend I understand what it must be like to be stuck down here, but I can try to improve things." Naruto looked around. The place where they both stood didn't really exist, of course; it was just a construct, no more real than a genjutsu. But, he thought, did that matter? After all, the fox was stuck in here all the same.

Naruto had the seed of an idea; he resolved to ask Jiraiya about it, returning his full attention to the fox. It was looking at him suspiciously.

"I don't blame you for not leaping to trust a human, but what's the difference?" Naruto asked. "You're stuck here whether you talk to me or not. I just thought some conversation might be a nice break for you. I mean, how often has anyone asked you about anything besides your power?"

"Not often," the fox replied. "You want me to believe that you're different from every other person I've ever encountered?"

Naruto shrugged. "You have nothing to lose, fox. It's not like I'm asking you to give me your eternal loyalty, or something. Just talk to me a bit. Tell me about yourself. What's something you want besides being free?"

The fox sat up, face leaning closer to the bars of its cell, and more of it became visible – its sharp teeth nearly gleamed in the dim light.

"You want to convince me you're different, boy? Let me speak to Shukaku, and we'll see."

Naruto struggled to hide some alarm at that request, and elation that he'd gotten the fox to make it.

"I'll see what I can do," he said. "I'm not sure if that's possible, or how, but I'll look into it. All right?"

The fox snorted derisively. "I'll believe it when I see results, boy. Go, you're in danger of boring me again."

"Thanks for talking," Naruto said politely. "Oh, and please think about my questions: if there's anything you want other than freedom, and if there's something you want me to call you besides 'fox'. If you don't have a name, maybe we can pick one for you. Just think about it, okay? I'll come back again soon."

Naruto tried to will himself out of the place, but it didn't work. Frowning, he turned his back to the cell and walked down the hallway away from the fox.

A moment later, he woke up and opened his eyes to find Jiraiya and Gaara watching him. He sat up and smiled at them.

"That actually went pretty well, I think," Naruto said.

"What did it say?" Jiraiya asked.

"Well, he's definitely interested in getting the rest of his power back," Naruto said. "I think he's angry at whoever took it, too. And I'm pretty sure he's got a name or title or something, although he hasn't told me what it is. Anyway, it went well. There's just two things to figure out before I go back. The first one is, well," Naruto looked uncertainly at Gaara, "he um…asked to talk to Shukaku. I didn't promise anything, of course. But I think they must have met before, or something. Jiraiya, do you know anything about the tailed beasts meeting each other?"

"Hmm," Jiraiya mumbled. "You know, I don't think I've ever heard of them interacting, really, now that I think about it. That's interesting…"

…

Tsunade had told her story and showed her memory. Emi looked at Tsunade defiantly. "That's a lie. Orochimaru-sama would never do that – it doesn't even make tactical sense! You want me to believe that he's a fool and some sort of traitorous monster? I know your people attacked him when he came here in peace! I won't listen to your lies, or be fooled by your genjutsu! I'm willing to believe you lost a brother, and it was terrible, but that doesn't prove anything!"

She held herself still, waiting to be struck.

Tsunade looked at her. "I don't expect you to believe me right now. Or anytime soon, for that matter. But sooner or later, the truth is going to get through to you, Emi. Goodbye for now. Tomorrow, you'll have a new visitor, but she won't hurt you either – she has my orders not to."

With that, the woman stood and left, her bodyguard close behind her. In moments, Emi was left in the dark again.

As usual, she checked her restraints for slack and felt around the floor of her cell to see if her captors had dropped anything useful. It was beyond unlikely, of course, but her professionalism demanded that she make the futile effort every time.

As expected, she found nothing different and nothing that would help her escape. She began to wonder why Tsunade spent so much time with her. It seemed an inefficient use of the Hokage's day…perhaps it was really a fake, after all, someone using an illusion or transformation of some kind to look like the Hokage. The memories were probably fake anyway, or at least some of them were, so it didn't need to be the real woman.

Yes, that made more sense.

Emi's next meal came soon after the session ended. She ate it greedily, still wondering why the enemy was approaching her this way. She knew that people turned by persuasion, rather than by force, tended to be better converts and more useful tools, but still.

There had also been some who said the Leaf was soft, but she had never believed that. Orochimaru had always warned them not to underestimate their enemy, whoever it might be, and a group as treacherous as the ninjas of the Hidden Leaf wouldn't shrink from torture.

Troubled by her uncertainty, she waited in the dark.

…

When they crossed the border and re-entered their home country, Sasuke and Sakura had barely exchanged any words with each other since leaving the Hidden Valley. Both were lost in their own thoughts. Despite that, they remained close together the entire time; while there were a few familiar faces among the others being sent back, there wasn't anyone they truly knew well. Familiarity and habit kept them near each other at all times, whether asleep or awake. By habit, they ate together even when they had nothing to say.

Sasuke split his time between brooding over the past and planning for the future. Naruto's near-death, the sudden change in his eyes, and seeing his brother again had given him more than enough to think about. At first, he had felt frustrated that Itachi bested him and escaped so easily, but now he was reconsidering events.

When he had last seen his brother, Itachi had moved with speed he couldn't follow. His techniques had been executed with a skill that Sasuke couldn't even comprehend. Now, though, he'd seen the man flee, and while Sasuke knew Itachi was still stronger, he felt elated when he realized that he could understand the difference, now. He could look at the man and see his hand seals, perceive his movements, and grasp his techniques. As for his eyes…he recalled seeing something different about Itachi's eyes on two occasions. If he had gained the same power Itachi had, then they were closer to being equals than they had ever been.

His goal wasn't quite in reach, Sasuke thought, but for the first time it might be in sight.

Sakura was busy trying to come up with an argument persuasive enough to win over the foremost medical expert the world had ever seen. Hokages aren't noted for having a great deal of spare time, and Tsunade wasn't famous as a teacher, Shizune aside. If she wanted to learn from the best, she needed to convince the woman to teach her.

It felt right to be planning, to be thinking instead of simply reacting. Sakura had applied herself to her duties and studies, but since Orochimaru put his seal on her arm, she'd spent a lot of time feeling sorry for herself. Her teammates had tried to reassure her, in their different ways, as had Kakashi-sensei, and she was grateful for it, but now that she'd seen Naruto die, and seen proof of how effective she could be, she made herself a promise.

"I won't just wait to see what happens," Sakura told herself. "I won't just survive my enemies, or try not to be a burden on my teammates. I'm going to learn everything I can and fight alongside them. I'm going to get rid of this thing myself," she murmured, looking at the seal on her arm.

Sasuke glanced over at her, but she was clearly lost in thought, and he hadn't quite heard her words, so he let it be.

Despite all that had happened – or perhaps because of it – the pair felt a new strength as they headed home.

…

END CHAPTER