The singer

"Not the same thing as these chains you mentioned, then." Naruto admitted defeat.

The summoned gauntlet definitely didn't nullify or absorb chakra. It could be used as protection, but a simple pair of plates would do the same job.

"What about sealing ability?" Orochimaru asked, still curious, despite his initial disappointment. There was likely something useful in there, they just had to dig.

"I don't think it has one. Can't use it to pull anything in, at least."

"What about the other way?"

"It seems like I can put down some sort of mark. I'm not sure what it is for, but it feels like Lightning chakra… somewhat."

"Show me."

Naruto did. He put a hand on the ground, focused his chakra and a golden mark appeared.

Orochimaru took a look. It was not any kind of sealing language he knew. He called for Karin.

"Lightning… No, this feels closer to Thunder than Lightning." Karin said.

Naruto frowned. "Is there a difference?"

"It's more of a nuance." She shrugged. "Is this a seal, then?"

"That's the thing. We're not sure." Naruto answered.

"Hmm… Let me take a closer look."

She whistled a soft tune while she did.

Orochimaru asked him. "What about the other one you summoned before? Any particularity?"

"The weapon I made for Sasuke could conduct and emit chakra." He hesitated, then. "Both of the blades, I think."

"So their power depends on the person you create a link with, then."

But when Naruto summoned their replicas, earlier this morning… They only conducted chakra as much as a regular pair of chakra-conductive swords.

Not much compared to the original. He said as much to Orochimaru.

"Then it stands to reason that the copies you can summon have a similar ability, but either lesser… or simply different, only time will tell."

"Maybe that's it."

"We'll have to do more extensive testing, then."

"I think I got it!" Karin said, interrupting them. "This has the same feeling as a location seal."

"Like the ones used for direction?"

"Yes, exactly. The ones without a range limit." The snake sage finished.

Orochimaru had tried to understand the Second and Fourth Hokage's space-time jutsu for months, before putting it aside. As far as he understood, their techniques were based on a similar seal, as there was no distance limit.

If he understood it right, — if — then the only factor was the user's sensing ability. As long as you could locate the tag, you could jump there.

This was confirmed by Naruto's failed use of it, making him leap from Rain all the way to the Land of Hot Springs, without being able to sense the tag that had been left there, or any tag at all.

Naruto asked, his brow furrowing. "So Thunder, and Location?"

"Seems so." Karin smiled.

"I'm still not sure about its use. What do you think this could be?"

"I don't know." Karin admitted. "Maybe summoning a thunder strike where you put a mark? Try it."

He did.

Nothing happened.

"Maybe not." She said, looking sheepish.

In the end, they didn't manage to figure out what this was for.

Karin asked Naruto if it was possible for him to create more of the weapons. He tried to create a link with Orochimaru, who showed a bit of disappointment when nothing happened.

He couldn't manage with Karin either, but he felt that he was closer, at least.

Orochimaru said he would look into it later. He still was not done with Suijin's research, despite spending most of his time over it.

They resumed training, instead. It was hellish.

The same training ritual played out day after day.

Naruto showed up to outdoor practice two hours after he met up with Karin. He endured a few hours of extreme pain.

He went to eat.

Then he went back for more, in the strange, expanded training room Orochimaru had built in what looked like a regular-size stone house from the outside.

The room was way bigger than it should be, by a factor of three or four. The walls absorbed most jutsu and techniques, which made it possible to train indoors in the first place.

As for the afternoon training…

It wasn't easy. He sometimes felt as if he were surfing on a wave of adrenaline for half the session.

His legs felt as if they were strapped down with weight. His arms, he had trouble lifting.

He dug deep within himself, taking more and more every day.

Then he staggered back to his quarters and slumped into his bed, where he'd be lucky to be tired enough to avoid the dreams.

When his teacher saw that his growth was exceeding his previsions… he pushed him even more.

It wasn't long before Naruto reached a bit too deep, touching the ancient well of power he pretended was not here most days.

That night, he passed out more than he went to sleep.

Naruto blinked. His quarters were gone, and he was standing in the darkness.

The air was heavy, and smelled of smoke.

He was walking out of a building. Torches littered the path in front of him.

He looked at his hands, noticing they looked different. More callused, older, somehow.

There were people there, wearing white robes. They bowed to him, foreheads touching the floor.

He saw himself ignore them, walking without a sound.

He reached another man, who bowed as well, not as low.

"The preparations are over, my lord." He said.

"Very well." Naruto felt himself nod. "Then we shall depart in an hour. My brother shall breathe his last tonight."

He walked away from them, reaching a large dark room. His left hand moved and a flame surged. Three candles were lit. Naruto saw himself approach the mirror.

He took a look.

Long, curly brown hair fell over his back. Red eyes stared back, three tomoe swirling in them lazily.

But it was the expression that took him by surprise. He had seen the very same on a different face, most mornings. His own.

Without knowing where the knowledge came from, he knew who he was. No, who the man was.

The First son of the first son. Former heir to the Sage of Six Paths.

In time, he would take the world.

Something changed in his eyes. The tomoe swirled together, forming a different shape altogether. His eyes widened, a mad shine into them, and the face he was seeing shifted into amusement.

"I SEE YOU, LITTLE UZUMAKI."

Naruto screamed. The nightmare stopped.

He was still screaming when he woke up, drenched in sweat.

Somebody came. The door opened, and Orochimaru stood there, an inscrutable emotion on his face.

"I think it's time you tell me what it is that is going on, exactly."

He followed Orochimaru to the highest platform.

The man waited for him to start.

"I don't think these are regular nightmares. Not anymore." He said.

Orochimaru nodded. "Karin has told me that there was a strange chakra coming from your rooms, on some nights. I assume today is one of these nights."

"Most likely. I seem to have a… different chakra within me. I only became fully aware of it recently, when I learned how to sense chakra. I thought it was the Nine-Tails, at first."

"So it's not, then?"

"No." Naruto gripped the railing. "I think it's the source of these strange weapon abilities. No, not all of it. But I think they are so different from the Uzumaki bloodline because of his presence."

"His? Do you know who this chakra belongs to?"

Naruto breathed. "Yes. I thought he only existed in legends. A man that's been dead for long, too. But… I don't think this is entirely true, either. I know who he is, at least."

Orochimaru stared at him, eyes squinted. "Who is he?"

"Ōtsutsuki Indra."

Orochimaru said nothing, folding his arms.

He sighed. "So, some legends are real. I had a feeling, what with Nagato and his eyes…"

"Can you tell me more?" Naruto asked, desperate for something to… Just something.

"Legends says the Sage of Six Paths, the ancestor of shinobi, and the founder of what became ninjutsu… had two sons. Knowing he could not achieve true peace in his lifetime, he entrusted his dream to both of them."

Orochimaru paused. "Well, he ended chosing only one. Indra, the prodigious elder brother, was passed over, in favor of Asura, the younger one."

"…I've heard this name before. The voice… Indra called Sasuke by that name."

"…Uchiha Sasuke, then? How peculiar."

"Why is that?"

"The Senju and Uzumaki clans are said to be descendants of Asura. And the Uchiha, from Indra. It seems as though things have gotten mixed up, somewhere."

"…"

"No matter. According to the legend, Indra never accepted being passed over. Overcome by bitterness, he swore to fight a war against Asura that would last through the ages."

"Do you think it is true…? That he could be speaking to me somehow?"

"As true as your dreams, I would assume. The only way to know for sure would be trying to communicate with him."

It was easier said than done.

No matter how much he tried to reach for the ancient chakra, nothing seemed to happen.

The dreams had stopped, too.

Months and months… and months passed.

Knowing what the dreams had been about turned out to be a huge relief, somehow.

From then on, he was able to stop thinking about them as much.

A legend told him there was a chance that some dead guy's chakra was coursing through his vein?

Great. He'd deal with him the day he would show his face. That was how he dealt with things.

In the meantime, he still had to get up and go after it every single morning. This was more concrete.

His tolerance for punishment rose and rose, until even Orochimaru seemed surprised.

Six in the morning became five.

Five become four in the morning.

It sometimes meant running through the forest without using his chakra before his lesson with Karin.

Sometimes it was more speed drill carrying weights up and down the local hills.

Sometimes it was more muscle training, becoming stronger with each passing day. Pull-ups, push-ups, squats, and a myriad of variants.

Overtraining? Maybe at first.

Orochimaru's training was rigorous, but he knew what he was doing. There was no time for comfort; no settling for mediocrity.

Naruto adapted. His body was changing, and not just on a superficial level.

Things he had assumed to be impossible were now within reach.

He learned Wind jutsu. He learned Lightning jutsu.

He practiced with the bow. He practiced with the sword.

He had so many clones out at any given moment he couldn't tell them when he had made them in the first place. Or when they were Transformed… that they were him.

He became familiar with some of the residents of Orochimaru's little haven.

Most of them were only around from time to time, being busy with the outside world.

Karin and Anko were exceptions, working directly with Orochimaru.

Many were not too interested in making acquaintances.

"Mind if I sit here?" He asked the foul-mouthed girl he had seen around, when he came, what felt long ago.

"Yeah. I mind. Go find somewhere else to eat, fuckhead."

"Orochimaru-sensei said you were his first student."

"Hell yeah, I was. The man's got his hands full with you now, and all. I'm still the best, though." Anko answered, her feet on the table.

"Care to teach me a few tricks, student to student?"

"Bet. Whatcha wanna know?" She grinned.

"I'll take anything you think might be interesting, really."

"Nah, you got something specific in mind. Tell me."

"How do I flirt?"

She let out a cackle.

"Mind if I sit here?" He asked the foul-mouthed girl again. She was playing music, and it had been too long since he had. It got him curious

"Yeah. I'm practicing the flute. Go away, kid."

"You play the flute?"

"The fuck does it look like I'm doing…? Shoo."

"Huh…? Didn't I see you sitting in the library, five minutes ago?" A huge teenager with orange hair asked.

"I'm just really fast."

The guy looked at Naruto, doubtful. Naruto laughed. "Sorry, stupid joke an old man used to play on me. It was likely a clone. I'm Naruto."

"Call me Jūgo, then." The giant said smiled, extending his hand.

"Mind if I sit here?" He asked again, three days later.

"Holy shit. How many times…" She rolled her eyes, and then saw what he was carrying. "…You play the koto?"

"The fuck does it look like?" He answered with a stupid smile.

She snorted a laugh. "Okay smartass. Let's hear it."

The red-head — it was closer to pink, from up close — actually listened to him play, without saying anything.

"Yeah, maybe you play. Too bad it sounds like shit."

"I'm out of practice. Help me out?" He tried with a smile.

"Is this a cheesy pickup line?"

"Do you want it to be?"

She snorted. "You been hanging out with that fucktard Sakon or what? Try this shit again and I'll rip your little balls off."

"Sure thing. So are we going to play music or what?"

"…Damn, so you were serious then."

"Yeah."

"Well, fuck it then. Let's play some music."

"…Did somebody pay for musicians?" Shimizu Naoki asked, confused, a few days later.

"Nah, apparently Orochimaru's latest apprentice knows a few songs, though." His drinking companion nodded.

True to his words, near the campfire, the blond teenager — though he was starting to really look more like a young adult, strangely enough — was sitting next to…

"…Is this Tayuya?"

"Seems so. I was pretty shocked, too. She can be… difficult."

Naoki snorted. That was a bit of an understatement.

Then he paused. He knew that song!

His friend asked him what this was about.

"Ah, it's nothing… Just a bit nostalgic, is all. It's something from where I'm from."

The camp stilled a bit, and the blond continued to play, his fingers strumming the koto's strings softly.

The music came out of him, just like singing. The girl, Tayuya, started playing as well, her flute, like a second voice.

On the choruses, the koto and the flute mixed.

Naoki was only dimly aware of the audience, or of the musicians themselves.

The only thing he could think about was growing up in the North of the Land of Fire, just him and his mother.

He could remember the taste of the sweet rice she served so often. Oh, how he had complained, at times.

Now, he'd give anything to taste it again.

A little tear rolled down his face and he wiped it before his friend could see it.

That had been years ago. A different life.

Still, he clapped hard when their impromptu performance was over.

The applause roared, like thunder.

"Uh. I don't think this is such a great idea, Tayuya-san." Naruto said, a couple hours later.

She snorted. "Are you always this formal with people you're not too familiar with?"

"I guess so… I never really thought about it." He definitely was.

"Well, if you don't want to drink, I guess that's more for me, then." She took a big gulp of the bottle of sake.

"…You know what, let me have some." With how high his metabolism seemed to be these days, chances were he would purge the alcohol quickly enough.

"Oooooh. So you're not that much of a fucking square, then? What would poor Orochimaru-sensei think?"

"Not much, I presume. His former teammates were pretty big on the bottle, apparently. According to him."

He took a huge gulp, like she had.

"Guh… This burns!" He wanted to scrape his tongue. His throat felt as though it were on fire.

"Well, it's sake. What did you expect?" She rolled her eyes.

"How should I know? I never drank before."

"…Really? Fucking square. How old are you even…?"

"You guess."

"…Hm." She thought, looking him over. I would say Eighteen… maybe seventeen? So a bit younger than me."

He raised an eyebrow. Physically speaking, that was probably where he was. Apparently, he really would have been a late bloomer, growing taller only late — he still was. Maybe some Uzumaki quirk. When did he come here again…?

Mentally, with all his clones running around, living parallel lives since he had been twelve or so… It was hard for him to say. Likely around her age.

She continued. "But I saw you when you first came, you looked much, much younger. What the fuck was that about, by the way..? I don't think people are supposed to grow this much in such a short amount of time."

"Maybe I'm just a late bloomer."

Tayuya snorted. "Right."

They lapsed into comfortable silence.

"You played pretty well down there. Decent, I mean." She said.

"So did you." He nodded, starting to feel a bit lightheaded from the alcohol.

"Hey, I was thinking…"

"Yeah?"

"Couldn't you use your clone thing to be like… a one-man band or something?"

"…I guess? I can only play the koto though."

"Well, learn some other shit."

"It would take a while.

"Not necessarily. There's always…" She perked up. "Wait, wait! I got a joke for you."

"All right? Go ahead."

She snorted a laugh, amused herself. "What do you call someone who likes getting drunk and hanging around musicians?"

He thought. No answer came. Looking at her face, all puffed up and red, trying to contain her laughter was making him start to laugh too.

"A drummer!" She finished, before starting to cackle. She cracked up at her own joke, it was a real belly laugh.

He laughed too, despite himself.

They spent the night talking about random topics, from music to future plans.

"You're from Konoha?" She asked, in surprise.

"Yeah. Though I don't particularly want this info to get back at them." He said, wryly.

She smirked. "I won't tell if you won't. I ran away from a town south of the Land of Rice. Parents wanted to marry me off to some shitty noble."

He winced.

"Eh, it's a long time ago already. We've all got our own shit, anyway." She smiled. She really was cute, he thought.

"I think the sun's rising. Maybe we should go to bed." He said, one minute later.

Sunrises truly were nice in the Land of Rice.

The sky turned blue at first. Then red and purple patches would appear. The orange glow would come after, until everything was painted gold.

Tayuya watched the sun rise for a while, and seemed to think about something.

The next instant, she was pressing her lips against his own.

Naruto seemed to short-circuit.

"Yeah. Maybe we should." She looked at him straight.

He wasn't very experienced in these matters, but even he could understand an invitation this blunt.

'Damn. So this is really happening, then?'

"You really are shy, then?" She asked.

"I don't think so." He shrugged, trying to look casual. "I'm a virgin, though?"

"For real?" She said, eyebrows rising. "…How?"

"Never had sex, I mean."

"I get that." She smacked his chest. "But why? You are pretty good-looking."

At his cheesy grin, she added "…For a Leaf ninja, I mean."

He pretended to frown. "Take the lead, then? Mistress."

A mini lemon by - lemon master kids avoid.

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She knew he was joking. Still, her imagination and the alcohol helping, she felt herself react. There was something about the idea of teaching such an eager volunteer. And she hadn't been lying, he was pretty easy on the eyes, if a bit young-looking.

"Well, if you insist…" She just said, instead, before kissing him. "Take my clothes off."

Naruto almost ripped her shirt off, and she laughed at his enthusiasm. He kissed her, somewhat clumsily. It wasn't bad, though, she felt.

She bit back a chuckle as she felt him struggle with her bra.

She looked pretty tired, Naruto thought, as she was riding him, a while later.

It seemed she had forgotten any pretense of teaching him anything.

Not that he was complaining.

"Don't come anywhere near me with that." She moaned tiredly, dragging her sweaty body under the covers. "I'd love to help you out, but I'm dead. Finished."

Since she passed out right after, he thought she was probably telling the truth.

The sun was high up in the sky, now.

Maybe his stamina could be a bit of a problem, then. He'd have to find a way around that.

The only thing he was thinking about, though…

It seemed all the shit Kakashi had made him read actually had some decent advice in it.

He muttered a silent thanks to the author, "The Gallant Hermit", whoever he was.

And Orochimaru. In his roundabout way, he may have been onto something when he told him to get laid.

He fell asleep.

At ten in the morning, about an hour later, Karin knocked on his door.

He woke up, staring blearily at the door, a light headache — not too bad considering what they had drunk the day before, overall — and lack of sleep contributing to his general incomprehension.

The smell of the room hit Karin, who made a face. She took in Tayuya, who was snoring, and his half naked form.

She didn't seem particularly impressed.

"Whazzat?"

"I think…" She said, taking a second to fight some amusement. "You might have overslept. Get your clothes, we're going to practice. Now."

'Ah… True.'

He had hoped that what little sleep he got would be enough.

Now, as he steadied himself, he took a look at Karin, who looked half-amused, half-annoyed.

It was going to be another long day, then.