"Sō, how have you been?"
Sōjirō turned around -- there stood Naruto in the middle of his apartment in the ANBU complex.
"Master," acknowledged Sōjirō as he retrieved a folder from a storage seal. "This report details all of the recent occurrences in Konohagakure."
Naruto accepted the document and skimmed through it briefly.
"Senju Tsunade has taken office as the Hokage. Thus far, she has ordered a cleanup of the medic corps and replaced half of the hospital's staff. I was informed that they were guilty of dereliction of duty, slander and unprofessionalism. She also managed to dig up an illegal drugstore hidden in the black market with Hatake Kakashi's assistance. The new envelope-passing fūinjutsu system has been very popular with the civilian upper class and immigrant workers. I have yet to release the military-use variation of this system. Master, do you think I should spread this technology sooner or later?" Sōjirō gave Naruto a brief rundown of the significant happenings of late.
"It would be counterproductive if Iwa decided that it was a good idea to wage war with other shinobi villages because of this. You'll have to spread it to every corner of the continent. We'll have it easier if we can contact them instantaneously," Naruto stated.
"I will see it done, Master," replied Sōjirō.
If Naruto noticed the slight tilt of the clone's lips, he did not point it out.
"I'll be counting on you. For now, though, take a break. I can deal with ANBU duties for a week. Relax and rest while you can," Naruto instructed, using Kage Henge no Jutsu to disguise himself as Takamatsu Sōjirō -- the false identity which eventually became this clone's name.
Sōjirō stood still, looking lost.
"By that, I mean you should find a place to curl up with a good book or choose a recreational activity with which you can while your time away. It isn't good to be high-strung at all times," elaborated the blond, feeling a bit awkward.
This was his clone. How could he not know how to relax? It was indeed hard to deny that Naruto tried to keep himself busy. There was always work to be done, and Naruto disdained the notion of slacking off while letting his clones slave away in his stead. However, he did not think his obsession was so bad that he did not even know how to spend his free time!
He would mess around with fūinjutsu...
"Oh.. that's work, too, isn't it?" Naruto mumbled distractedly.
"I will try my best," Sōjirō said with determination.
"You know what? Nevermind. Just do whatever you like to do. You're off-duty, so you can't do stuff like espionage or report writing, but I won't stop you from training or inventing new seals," Naruto conceded.
It would be cruel to force Sōjirō to waste away in some dark corner, even if it was only for a week.
It defeated the purpose of letting Sōjirō take a break too.
The taut line of Sōjirō's shoulders slackened.
"Thank you, Master."
Then the clone dropped the disguise so easily recognisable as an Uzumaki, becoming shorter in stature as his hair turned blond. If there was anything that differentiated him from Konoha's Kyūbi Jinchūriki, it was his lack of a mask. He did not look optimistic, happy-go-lucky or approachable. His entire demeanour was cold, neutral and inhuman.
Naruto found this sight quite jarring.
Naruto never thought his normal appearance could show such detached impassivity. He had opted for a bright and warm personality to match his sunshine-hued hair, but that wooden and lifeless look was not discordant with those features either. Naruto certainly did not think he was such an apathetic individual -- it was evident Sōjirō grew into a different person during their time apart. The odd part was that, while the other blood clones became attached to certain people and integrated with their roles, Sōjirō distanced himself from everything except his creator.
All of the blood clones desired Naruto's acknowledgement to some extent, yet Sōjirō was the only one who rejected all human connections.
Unaware of his Master's plight, Sōjirō took his leave.
He used the Hiraishin no Jutsu to make himself scarce without leaving a trail to give away his identity.
Naruto sighed as he adjusted his scent to match the odour associated with the identity of "Sōjirō".
This was troublesome.
An option was to upgrade the Kage Henge no Jutsu to eliminate these issues. However, transforming not only one's body shape but also scent and chakra... sounded like a hassle just thinking about it. How could such a complicated task be accomplished without fūinjutsu? If only he could base a jutsu on the structural logic of fūinjutsu, it might just work out.
Except, how would he replicate a sealing array through ninjutsu? Becoming another person was difficult to achieve, requiring multiple seal arrays. He would be able to merge these arrays with a bit of calculating and reordering, but there had been no reason to do so -- the result would be too complex to be drawn casually.
Naruto was not big on chakra theory, so he did not quite understand how chakra manipulation gave this mystical energy its diverse range of properties. He was a bit remorseful -- he never paid attention to Ōnoki's lectures back then. He would not have been entrapped by such a dilemma if he knew how chakra worked.
"You will naturally understand once you have created life. You always stop halfway, creating bodies without souls and souls lacking form. Uninhabited vessels are useful as spare bodies and can be used to make puppets without major ethical issues. While they may be attached to objects to assist humans, spirits aren't alive. Stop backing out of it. You are capable of true creation," preached Mugetsu, seeming to know a truth just beyond Naruto's reach -- as always.
Naruto frowned. "I cannot take responsibility for the life I have created."
Using the genetic information of an existent creature to clone the young of that species was closer to reproduction than creation. It would survive in this world after reaching adulthood. However, if Naruto created a creature, its flaws would be his liability.
"All living things are flawed. If it is not, it ceases to be mortal. I know you like things to be perfect, but you must accept this truth. Any creature of this world has its defects," Mugetsu stated.
Naruto bit his lip but denied, 'I have no such habit.'
He did not ostracise people for their shortcomings.
"But you demand nothing less of yourself. You accept the flaws of others, yet you won't allow yourself to make similar mistakes," replied Mugetsu evenly.
"I try my best to prevent avoidable errors," Naruto countered weakly.
"Where there is life, there is variability. How can you demand perfection from a living being, even if it's created by you? Even if it doesn't turn out well or has a fatal flaw, that would be how it is," Mugetsu concluded without room for argument. "It's your call. It's up to you to decide whether you want to hesitate at that final step for all eternity."
Mugetsu resolutely turned around and played dead.
'You know something, Mugetsu. What is it? You should say everything you know at once,' Naruto probed.
The Jūbi was unresponsive, determined to ignore Naruto.
With a sigh, Naruto looked down at his hands.
"Creating life, huh? Let's start easy. How about an animal that's tall enough to reach the highest branches? I guess it can eat leaves unimpeded that way...?" Naruto arbitrarily decided.
"Are you really going to do this on a whim?" said Kurama, appalled.
"I admit I may be a bit of a perfectionist, but I am not a coward," groused Naruto, already running through the hand seals for the Banbutsu Sōzō no Jutsu.
"You are a fool," scolded Kurama in exasperation.
Thus, the long-necked mammal was born.
Since it was at least partially inspired by the mythical creatures, he called it the "Kirin".
ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ
After creating the bizarre animal known, in another world, as the giraffe, Naruto secluded himself in his mindscape for an unknown length of time to figure out a jutsu to meet his needs.
When he stepped out of the apartment before dawn, "Sōjirō" no longer wore any disguising seals. His only fūinjutsu adornments included the three communication seal matrices and a pair of wrist tattoos in an artistic script of a bygone era. The three seal matrices were drawn close together, almost as if making up one whole. These could not be concealed -- the sole shortcoming of his new jutsu. It was no longer illusory -- it had become a true transformation in all aspects.
The communication seals were redrawn, shrunk to be hidden in a small mole behind his right ear -- a mark left for the people close to Sōjirō to identify him by and the original location of the previous disguise seals. His wrists could not be seen anyway, hidden under the ANBU uniform, but the said seals were incorporated with concealment features and almost perfectly camouflaged with his skin. The seals on his wrists were not that difficult to explain away, even if an individual with sensory keen enough to penetrate his defences noticed it.
Besides these, there were also the seals that Sōjirō often carried around with his fūinjutsu kit and a storage seal tag hung at his waist.
Naruto equipped the katana that Sōjirō so prized and went to report for duty at the Hokage's Office.
ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ
Naruto did not know what to expect when the retired Sandaime Hokage called out to him on his way to ANBU HQ.
"How's your relationship with Kakashi-kun? Have you talked it out properly yet?"
Knocked off his feet by Hiruzen's unexpected curve ball, Naruto left the Hokage's Residence in a daze.
He was baffled -- what exactly happened between his clone and Kakashi?
His absentmindedness did not affect his work efficiency. Naruto swiftly settled the administrative matters that were Sōjirō's duty as Konoha's ANBU commander within an hour before supervising the ANBU trainees until noon. He did all this mechanically, Hiruzen's words echoing in his mind -- incessantly playing on repeat.
It... did not make sense.
Considering Sōjirō's personality, there was no way he would allow extraneous feelings to develop between himself and someone Naruto cherished.
Naruto knew he was dense, but he was not a fool.
He knew what Hiruzen was insinuating.
However, that only served to further confuse him.
After mulling over the matter all morning, Naruto spent the rest of the day staring at one Hatake Kakashi. This was, perhaps, part of the reason why Naruto had rushed Sōjirō's work for the day. This puzzle had to be solved immediately.
He noticed that Kakashi was happy at first, then flattered by the attention Sōjirō gave him.
Naruto did not know why he felt slightly guilty for doing this in Sōjirō's skin. It was an identity he had established. This was a character he had crafted. However, it had been acted out by a clone who had nothing besides this life. He knew Sōjirō would not mind dealing with the repercussions of his, the Master's, actions, but he felt it reprehensible nonetheless.
It took an entire afternoon before Kakashi began to feel flustered by Naruto's intent stare.
By evening, he was starting to feel anxious.
Kakashi had tried to ignore Sōjirō, but he was hardly trying to be inconspicuous in following the silver-haired jōnin around.
Kakashi looked somewhat apprehensive when Sōjirō followed him into his apartment.
The culprit was aware of his concerns -- Sōjirō was always straightforward. This was the first time he did not state the reason for his visit. He has never paid so much attention to his senpai -- Sōjirō's respect for him was influenced by Naruto's feelings towards his jōnin-sensei from the previous timeline. To infringe on this man's privacy would be beyond the line of professionalism.
This, however, was Naruto, who has overcome such reservations.
He had not forgotten his cover, but the reality was that he was too curious.
As the door shut behind them, Kakashi cornered the redhead.
Naruto, trapped against the door with neither opportunity nor intent to escape, remained unruffled.
"Are you about to 'kabedon' me?" he asked mildly.
This was the result of his research.
A "kabedon" was the most likely next step in Kakashi's approach, provided that the situation was as it seemed (to Naruto, at least).
Kakashi was not innocent -- he was, after all, once a big fan of Jiraiya's Icha Icha series.
Thus, he choked on air as his face heated up.
Kakashi was glad that his mask was still on -- otherwise, his kōhai would have borne witness to his discomposure.
Naruto did not allow the silver-haired jōnin any reprieve, continuing to stare at him expectantly.
Kakashi gave up on trying to answer.
Unsubtly avoiding the question, Kakashi hugged him and spoke quietly, "You're here."
Naruto did not resist, gently patting the jōnin on the back as he allowed himself to be pulled into an embrace.
He asked softly, "If you ever found that I am not who you thought I was -- if you discovered that I was lying to you, will you hate me?"
Kakashi answered by hugging him tighter.
After a while, he whispered, "How could I hate my dearest kōhai? I might feel hurt that you couldn't trust me with your secrets, but I'll never hate you."
Naruto replied calmly, "You should hate me."
Kakashi laughed. "Try me."
Naruto shook his head, his lips curving despite his air of melancholy.
"Not now, but I will tell you. Someday."
Perhaps Kakashi's affection for Sōjirō was more profound than that of a senpai for his kōhai, but it was still platonic -- for now, at least.
He did not doubt that Kakashi would never hate him.
Naruto knew the man was telling the truth.
And yet, he felt a stinging in his eyes as he looked away from Kakashi.
He could not accept the depth of this man's feelings, but he could not bring himself to push Kakashi away.
"You'll only invite upon yourself endless loneliness that way," advised Mugetsu.
'It has been like that from the beginning,' replied Naruto, recovering his calm.
Kurama refuted, "It's self-inflicted. You reject anyone who offers to remain by your side."
'I do not need companionship,' Naruto rebutted.
"But you desire it," scoffed Kurama.
Naruto could not say anything against that powerful statement.
He did enjoy having company.
However, it was more painful to lose something after grasping it in one's hands than to have never had it.
ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ
Naruto stepped out of Kakashi's home after spending the night crashing on his colleague's couch.
His features settled into a neutral expression betraying no emotion, and Naruto realised that he felt at ease while in Kakashi's territory.
There was a form of... comfort from knowing he did not need to watch his back there. He now understood why Sōjirō liked to stay there. It was too easy to let down one's guard in Kakashi's presence (for Naruto, at least).
Naruto found Sōjirō snoozing, a sealing scroll on his lap, in the artificially-illuminated tomato garden once frequented by the Uchiha survivors.
Sitting on lush green grass and leaning against one of the fruit trees that marked the perimeter of the tomato garden, the soundly sleeping clone had a smear of dirt on his cheek and soil sticking to his clothes -- a sharp contrast with his usual immaculate appearance.
Naruto recognised the incomplete seal matrix on the scroll as an improvement of the chakra system seal Sōjirō had invented in his stead.
Naruto chuckled. "I've already fixed that one. You won't have to toil overnight for that again, Sō."
Sōjirō's eyelashes twitched, and he slowly opened his eyes.
"Master?" he murmured blearily.
Naruto felt some remorse for interrupting Sōjirō's slumber.
"I told you to rest, so why are you still working so hard?" Naruto sighed in exasperation.
"Master's skill in fūinjutsu has advanced yet again," Sōjirō noted. "This time, I was incompetent."
Naruto did not pursue the topic.
"I openly stalked Kakashi yesterday. He cornered me to ask what I wanted to tell him, but the situation slipped out of control. I told him that I was hiding something important from him. Have you always known of Kakashi's feelings towards you, Sō?" Naruto went straight to the point.
Sōjirō blinked slowly.
"Senpai likes you. I've told you that, Master," responded Sōjirō, unhurried. "I've always maintained a distance from Hatake Kakashi, but Master has allowed him to breach that distance."
Naruto shut his eyes.
"To me, Kakashi is... a teacher and a friend. That is all there is between us."
Kakashi's attitude towards the identity of "Naruto" was perfectly normal. Their bond had never been so complicated. They were closer in this timeline than at any point during the previous, but it was akin to a brotherly relationship rather than... whatever the jōnin had with his clone. Kakashi's attachment to Sōjirō was unlike anything Naruto experienced being directed at himself.
"The big leaps in the relationship between 'Sōjirō' and Kakashi-senpai only happen when you are personally there, Master," Sōjirō informed the now-redhead, leaving Naruto speechless.
And the jinchūriki could not help but wonder.
Will Kakashi really be able to keep his word?
ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ
Naruto threw himself into his ANBU missions, keeping himself busy for the rest of the week.
He escorted some supposedly important people (civilian diplomats whose names he did not bother to remember) to the Fire Temple and undertook a barrier-unsealing procedure there. It was good that proper etiquette was not expected of ANBU captains. He then subsequently travelled to Iwa on foot to retrieve information gathered by spies of Konoha. These undercover agents were sent during the chaotic end of the previous war to track their rival nation's movements. Konoha, while passive, did not intend to become a sitting duck in the face of strife. Even if its military has grown lax in the absence of conflict, peace will not cause them to be handicapped on the information front.
At the end of Sōjirō's week-long break, he swiftly returned to his Master's side to assist Naruto. He took over the most tedious task (writing the mission reports necessary for the jobs Naruto has taken as Kitsune). At the time, Naruto was departing from Iwa with none the wiser about the leak of information from Iwagakure. After a brief verbal report on the classified information brought back from the blood, sweat and tears of the Konoha spies, Naruto disappeared from the village once again -- leaving Sōjirō to retake his place.
Sōjirō returned to Konoha to find Kakashi's burning gaze on his back.
He was also a victim of Neko's suggestive look.
Sōjirō felt his eyelid give an involuntary twitch.
"Nothing has happened between us," Sōjirō said stiffly.
Neko clearly did not believe his words.
Later that day, Hiruzen asked in private, "Have you officially started dating yet?"
Sōjirō could not help but start to reconsider his relationship with Kakashi.
If everyone seemed to think there was homoeroticism in their pure friendship, could it be that there was something there after all? Did Kakashi really like him that way? It was unfortunate, but he would never be able to return Kakashi's feelings.
He did not have a right to do so.
He was fond of Kakashi, but this person was one of Naruto's. This was no stranger -- Kakashi was important to Naruto. Moreover, to Sōjirō, his Master would always come first. It would be unfair to anyone who becomes his significant other.
That was not all -- Sōjirō's time is limited.
As a clone, Sōjirō would not be around for a lifetime.
He only existed for as long as his Master needed him.
It would be unfair for him to push such a tangled relationship upon Naruto when his end came. He has probed his Master, wanting to know how Naruto felt about Kakashi. Sōjirō understood Naruto best -- his Master was even more averse to forming bonds with others than himself.
With that being the case, Sōjirō wisely chose to play dumb.
He also mentioned it once again to Naruto.
It would be best for both parties if his dense Master would get the hint and give a straight answer.
Even a swift rejection would be better than nothing.
Oh well. For now, Sōjirō can only pretend to be deaf and blind.
ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ
Naruto reappeared in Sakura's place.
The owner of this minimalistic bedroom with strange decorations was nowhere to be seen at the moment -- his sensory told him that she was in the dining room with her parents.
However, he did not seem to be alone...
There was an intelligent organism sitting at the bottom of a tank.
While Naruto was unblinkingly maintaining eye contact with the strange creature, Sakura walked in.
Aoi was quick to greet Naruto, thus bringing his own master's attention to Naruto's presence.
She felt her temples beginning to throb.
"Naruto, you should not be entering a girl's room uninvited," Sakura lectured. A heavy sigh escaped her. "Besides, you shouldn't go into someone's room uninvited. You're invading their privacy by doing so. We all have... things we don't want others to see. Whether these are the objects of our embarrassment or just private, you should respect their right to keep them hidden. Unless it's your last resort, do not enter anyone's bedroom without express permission."
Still focused on the tiny reptile in the glass tank, Naruto did not seem to have heeded her wordy explanation.
Intrigued, he queried, "Is this hatchling the long-extinct basilisk?"
The remains of what seemed to be an eggshell -- yellow and webbed with cerulean, more brittle than leathery, were piled in a corner, possibly by the little snake from which it hatched.
"Correct. Highly venomous from the moment of its birth, this little one will be able to petrify living beings with natural energy once it has matured," Sakura explained curtly.
Naruto nodded, summoning the King of the Ice Phoenixes with a drop of blood and some chakra.
"You're Oswald, correct?" Naruto addressed the phoenix. "Do teach Sakura how to use senjutsu. It would be better if she managed to grasp the fundamentals of Sage Mode."
"It shall be done, Master of Mugetsu," replied Oswald deferentially.
Naruto's brow creased. "That title is ridiculous. My name is Naruto. Refer to me as such."
No longer paying attention to the mythical summons he had invited now that his point had been carried across, he inquired about the latest matter he entrusted Sakura with.
"How's Kimimaro?"
Sakura stuffed Aoi back into the brooch, interrupting its stare-off against Oswald, and explained, "He has an abnormal white blood cell count. I could not figure out what was causing the issue."
Naruto activated his Rinnetenseigan and briefly scanned the body of the last survivor of the Kaguya clan.
He soon noticed an anomaly in his bones.
Specifically, it was a strange aggregation of cells in the bone marrow -- visible to Naruto by the chakra within them.
After some investigation and a few clones made from Kimimaro's tissues, Naruto realised that this illness was similar to Itachi's. The only difference was that, in this case, the problem originated from the bone marrow rather than the lungs. The unique bone structure granted by Kimimaro's Shikotsumyaku was probably why the issue went undetected.
He resumed Kimimaro's time and asked, "Are you attached to this body of yours? Your disease is at such a late stage that it would be easier for us to replace your body altogether. It... isn't impossible to recover, but it would leave debilitating effects on your health."
Kimimaro blinked. "So, what was the problem with my body?"
"Mutated cells in your bone marrow. It seems to be linked to your genetics," Sakura stated. "He's engineered a new body modified to prevent the recurrence of similar diseases, so you can switch over right now."
Kimimaro was familiar with the concept of changing bodies -- Orochimaru had pioneered the technology. Kimimaro himself was once a candidate for the Snake Sannin's next vessel. He held no resistance to the idea. He had been prepared to give up ownership of that flawed body, only to discover that he actually had some strange terminal illness that had not been detected sooner. Afterwards, he had been resolved to die while bringing back the next vessel of Orochimaru -- the continuation of his story.
Little did he know he would be intercepted by one Uzumaki Naruto and fail at his task.
He had no way of knowing whether Uchiha Sasuke successfully made his way to Orochimaru's side -- Kimimaro supposed it did not really matter now.
This guy has promised that he would make Orochimaru immortal, after all.
The process of transferring between bodies went smoothly.
For Kimimaro, it probably felt like he woke up in a new body in the blink of an eye.
"Would you like to live forever?" Naruto asked lightly, as though this was as simple as ordering takeout.
"I would like to accompany Orochimaru-sama for a lifetime," Kimimaro corrected him.
Thus, Kimimaro received the perfected immortality seal that Naruto had tested on Sasori some time ago.
ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ
Naruto appeared before Kaien in a room that was outside of ROOT HQ.
He curiously inspected a brand-new easel by the window from which light streamed -- slightly too glaring in the early afternoon.
It was his first time visiting the apartment that housed this ROOT operative during his undercover mission. Sai never held a housewarming party, so there had been no opportunity to do so. In his defence, Naruto had never been prone to popping into people's homes -- this was a newly acquired habit from this timeline.
Kaien, stepping through the main entrance with a pile of equipment that could be used in fūinjutsu or painting, noticed the blond standing in his living room and hurriedly closed the door behind him.
"No one has tailed you," Naruto assured him when he sensed the pulse of chakra the black-haired shinobi emitted.
Kaien released a breath he did not realise he was holding.
"Santa-sama, forgive the state of my home. I just moved in and had no time to put anything away," Kaien explained apologetically.
Naruto glanced at the boxes full of ninja tools.
The apartment was sparsely furnished, and only one of the boxes contained personal items consisting of clothing and precious paintings that Kaien could not bear to leave behind in his room in ROOT. Apart from a wooden sofa and kitchenette, there was only a thin futon. Naruto was no interior design expert, but even he found this place too empty.
"You should already know my name, so why do you insist on calling me that?" Naruto asked, bemused.
"Until we officially meet, to me, you will continue to be 'Santa-sama'," Kaien stubbornly insisted.
Facing such a staunch refusal, Naruto could only let the matter rest.
"So, which mythical summons did you contract with?" Naruto inquired, finally bringing up the matter from years ago.
Kaien channelled chakra through an insignia -- likely bestowed by the summoning clan he contracted with, and a lion-dog hybrid creature appeared in a puff of smoke.
It was a Komainu.
"Which summonses did Santa-sama receive?" Kaien probed inquisitively, unable to help himself.
Naruto scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"I lack an exclusive summons," he revealed. "I've signed with the Kirin and Phoenix clans, but..."
Hearing this, the Komainu eagerly presented her contract for Naruto to sign.
Naruto once again felt like he was signing autographs, but he did not have the heart to say that out loud.
"I cordially welcome you to attend my summer banquets as well," Naruto told the excited Komainu.
ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ
He looked up, the fiery orange glow setting his golden hair aflame as his eyes rested on the sun dipping below the horizon.
"You are wrong, Mugetsu."
Naruto did not wait for the Jūbi to speak.
"I think... perfection does not exist as long as there is life. I don't pursue perfection -- I merely aim to make fewer mistakes. So that others wouldn't suffer for it, I try my best -- I cannot fail." He laughed hollowly, his smile bitter. "I, too, am imperfect. Otherwise, it won't be like this."