Conrad had tried to get an answer from this old man that had shown up out of nowhere, to ask where he was taking him. The man stayed silent, and Conrad was left in the dark until he saw the first stone marker. They were in a graveyard. It was shiny and well-maintained, with polished, square pillars instead of tombstones and neatly-clipped grass, but still a graveyard.

The graveyard was large, which was expected for city like Konoha. Danzo guided him through an odd-looking wooden gate-like structure to a secluded part without sparing a word.

There were fewer graves, spread further apart and more elaborate. Some had multiple columns grouped closely together, along with ornamental things Conrad couldn’t really understand the meaning for.

Danzo led him past several sets before stopping in front of a monument with only two columns. Both were blank aside from the row of Akaviri lettering that Conrad still struggled with. He didn’t need to read them. He knew whose grave this was.

Already knowing that his brother was dead should've made staring at it easier. It didn't.

"The Uzumaki woman's ashes are buried besides his," Danzo said, gesturing to the gravestone on the right. This one had a small spiral engraved intoit for some reason. "A breach of protocol, given the delicate nature of their relationship, but one Sarutobi permitted."

"The nature of their relationship?" Conrad repeated, confused. Weren't they married?

"That is something only the Hokage can tell you," Danzo answered in a reprimanding tone, as if he hadn't brought the topic up. Conrad frowned, but did add it to the growing list of things he should talk to the old Kage about.

"Why did you take me here?" he asked, looking back at the name on the grave marker. The name his brother was given by these people.

"It was brought to my attention that nobody had shown you your brother's final resting place. I understand it was because of the exams and the invasion, but I decided to correct this mistake," Danzo explained. Conrad couldn't help but feel like something in his voice wasn't right, but couldn't really place it.

"I hope that the fact that your brother was cremated doesn't disturb you, Harissen-san," the old man kept talking. "It is customary for shinobi, since our bodies may reveal our village's secrets even in death."

Conrad turned to look into the man's single eye, trying to see if he was pulling his leg. As far as he could tell, he was being completely serious. He had figured that Shinobi were obsessively paranoid, but this was a new peak.

"Civilians, on the other hand, either entomb or cremate their dead based on their family's traditions or beliefs," Danzo continued. “And I believe that other nations have their own funeral rites… what are your people’s customs, Harissen-san?”

The question surprised the Nord, but he answered nonetheless. “Most Nords are put in the Hall of the Dead, or in a graveyard if their city is too small to have one. Sometimes, though, they ask for their bodies to be burned.” It was rare, but it happened. Old Kodiak Whitemane’s funeral had been the only one he had taken part in.

"I suppose that in death our people are similar," Danzo seemed to wonder as he looked at Minato's grave. "Although, I wonder how different they are in life."

"What do you mean?" Conrad asked, maybe a bit too sharply. He wasn't in the mood to philosophise and debate cultural differences while visiting his brother's grave.

"I cannot say that I have ever heard of a man without shinobi training being able to perform feats like the ones you displayed a few days ago during the invasion. And…that destructive power. Do you know what a Bijuu is?"

“No. Is it important?” although Conrad knew what it is, he lied to get more information about it after hearing it a few times.

“The Bijuu are powerful beasts that’s made of chakra, for you that would be a counterpart for country’s magicka. There are nine of them. Because of their tremendous amount of chakra, they could be considered as a potential weapon. So many powerful shinobi tried many times to control them in the past, and few were successful. Which resulted on countless lives lost during the past wars. And at the time of the first hokage, he tried to make peace with other nations by dividing these Bijuu. Each shinobi village had been given one Bijuu to balance the power. The First hoped that this will be a start the Era of peace.”

“Yet, the wars started anyway.” Conrad interrupted.

“Yes, the wars started anyway.” Danzo confirmed.

“The villages who held these Bijuu instead tried to control and use them as weapons like what they were previously thought as. And during Chunin Exam invasion, the Sunagakure sent their own Bijuu here to wreck havoc on this village. Which fortunately for us, was chased out outside of the walls and was defeated. By your nephew.”

“…” he glared at him, after knowing that this nation used their own children as soldiers.

“Oh don’t look at me like that Harrisen-san. I didn’t force your nephew. In fact, I would have stopped him myself if I knew he would be facing a bijuu.” Danzo only smiled at his expression. “Thought not on the same familial intention as yours.”

“Where are you going with this?”

“Let me finish first Harrisen-san.” Danzo gently tapped his cane on the ground to make his point. “These Bijuu were usually sealed inside a person. It applies to all village who wanted to take advantage of this power. As such, the only people who could control this immense power were these human vessels that we call as Jinchuuriki.”

“Jinchuuriki…” Conrad immediately remembered that word when he fought the invaders. That’s the same word these invaders used to call him. So it wasn’t the word for “Run”.

"What do you want, exactly?" Conrad asked with a frustrated tone.

“The power that you had shown is not a common sight in these lands.” Danzo stared at him with threatening eyes. “As you may have realized by now, what you had displayed made both our enemies and allies suspect that we are hiding a secret Jinchuuriki. One of my spies even reported how some of them were suspecting that we resurrected the Yondaime and made him an artificial jinchuuriki.”

“Can that even be done?”

“It’s not impossible but those who were able have been covered by the sands of time.” He could sense that Danzo don’t want to divulge specific information about this. “That’s why I will be frank Harrisen-san. What are you?”

"Why do you care?" Conrad have no problem in straight up telling him. But he can feel that this old man is much more dangerous than Sarutobi. He can sense some sort of fanatism on Danzo’s eyes, something he usually encounters on cults. And from his experience on this kind of people, they are dangerous and have to be avoided.

"I am one of the Hokage's advisors. Occasionally, anyway. I'm mostly retired from service. Still, when I heard about how you fought the invaders, it required my attention… no, it got my full attention," Danzo told him. “So could you answer my previous question?”

“Hm. You can call my kind, Dragonborns.” Conrad decided to reveal it. It’s an open secret to Tamriel anyway and his students probably told others about this already. And he could use this as a threat to others who would try to do him and his nephew harm, especially this dangerous old man. Ignorance after all, is much more dangerous, especially to arrogant enemies who would attack first and ask questions later.

Conrad wanted them to know that he is dangerous, only if he becomes their enemy.

“Kind? Are you telling me that you aren’t human?”

“I am human. My flesh is the same as yours. But my blood and soul are that of the dragon’s. You can consider me as someone that was born to kill and hunt… dragons.” He said this in threatening tone.

“A dragon slayer then?” Danzo however showed no response. Conrad don’t know if he is either pretending to not care or he really does. He had to admit that, he can’t read the man.

Danzo on the other hand, was busy thinking something elese. That could explain the dragon he summoned and the dragon form he displayed, like what myths always told, only dragons could kill another dragon. But still that just gave Danzo more questions than answers. This so called “spells” are much faster and requires no chakra to cast unlike their jutsu. The “restorative potions” they brought from their land was even more dangerous and could change the very outcomes of any war. They don’t even know the possible effect of these to this continent. What about that monstrosity that the Anbu encountered? It is more like a demon of the folklores than a dragon.

"Are warriors like you common in your homeland?"

Conrad paused for a moment at the question. Was this old geezer worried that he was a spy for another invasion or something?

"No," he said, shaking his head. The idea of an army of magic-using, Thu'um-wielding, mead-drinking Nords was amusing. Sadly magic was a cultural taboo amongst his people and there were no Tongues left, as far as he knew. The Greybeards had been wary of teaching the Way of the Voice to anyone else after Ulfric Stormcloak's tantrum.

Maybe it was for the best, the last time that such an army had existed, back in the First Era, it had been a bloodbath.

If Danzo wasn't satisfied by the short answer, he didn't show it. "No?" he repeated. "I suppose you just happened to learn your abilities, then?"

"I had many teachers, I learned something from all of them," Conrad said curtly. From them, and a long time spent on the roads of Tamriel.

"I see. You must be an exceptional individual among your people," the old man said. It didn't sound like praise. "I imagine you have a lot of responsibilities back at home, just like your brother had here during his life."

At that, Conrad felt like he wanted to laugh, but he was in front of a tomb. So he just snorted. Loudly.

"Did I say something amusing?" Danzo asked with a small frown.

"No," Conrad answered. "But I don't think I'm like my brother at all."

"How so?"

"You mentioned responsibilities. From what I was told so far, he had many," Conrad said with a sad smile. "I don't like having them. I got on a ship and came here hoping to avoid them for some time."

Danzo seemed to weigh his words for a moment, but Conrad couldn't tell how he had judged his words. "Doesn't your leader disapprove?"

Conrad resisted the urge to snort again. "Not really," he said. He had refused to lead the Companions and the College multiple times, they were in better hands than his anyway. Delphine self proclaimed that she was just his proxy in leading the reborn Blades even at her age until he decides to take up its responsibilities. Conrad minded his own business while she did that. The only one that had any authority over him was Jarl Balgruuf, his teacher and friend. This is not because the Jarl was his ruler or something, but because he respected the Jarl for his wisdom and knowledge over things. He would be the second one to be asked for consultation, if Conrad needed an advice if he can’t reach Paarthunax in time. But the two of them also had made a deal. He gave Conrad, Breezehome as his personal outpost in Whiterun.

"And why is that?" Danzo asked. He sounded almost confused, and Conrad had the idea that he wasn't used to that.

"I'm an..." Conrad told him before pausing to find a word for 'adventurer' in Akaviri, and found that he knew none.

So he tried to explain the concept of adventurers the best he could. It took some time because he didn't know all the words he would've liked, but he was pretty sure that in the end he was able to convey the idea of people roaming the lands, either alone or in groups, exploring forgotten places or deciding to enter filthy holes in the ground and kill monsters or bandits for a usually measy reward. And that they would probably loot everything that wasn't nailed on the walls if they had the chance.

Danzo was mostly silent for most of his explanation, but voiced some questions every now and then which Conrad tried to answer the best he could.

"These individuals... who trains them?" the old man asked.

"It depends. Some get training from groups or skilled people. Others just learn it on their travels."

"Who regulates them? Who gives them these missions?"

"Either the Jarl... well, the Jarl's mens most of the time, or people in need of their skills. Or they just look for fortune on their own."

"... And who are they loyal to?" Danzo asked in a forcefully neutral tone.

"To whoever they give their loyalty, I suppose?" Conrad wondered out loud. “But most are just in it for themselves. They were never bound to any law or faith or king. They were free."

Danzo remained silent for a while after that, as he seemed to study Conrad with his only eye. “So, you go wherever you want to and either accept missions or do whatever you please, while avoiding any responsibility?” he asked finally.

“That would be correct, yes,” Conrad said, his attention back on his brother’s grave. Maybe now this old man would let him figure how he wanted to mourn Minato.

“But you do have responsibilities, Harissen-san. Even here,” Danzo continued. “Didn’t you bring your students with you?”

At the mention of the magelings, Conrad turned back to Danzo. “I didn’t bring them, they hid on the ship we came in on,” he said, feeling the need to correct the old man. Sure, he felt begrudgingly responsible for their continued survival but why would the old man bring them up out of the blue?

“I see. They do whatever they want, like their teacher,” Danzo said with his usual tone, but Conrad wondered if the half-bandaged man was subtly mocking him somehow.

“They think with their heads, yes,” he couldn’t help but answer. He didn’t want to have the last word, not at all. He was better than that. The Nord couldn’t help but wonder what Danzo was trying to get at, though.

“And if that wasn’t enough, you found something else to be responsible for,” Danzo continued, seemingly unperturbed by Conrad’s comment.

The Nord blinked for a second before realizing what, or actually, who the man meant. “You mean Naruto,” he frowned. Did this man just refer to his nephew as if the boy was a thing?

“Indeed,” Danzo slightly nodded. “Although I can’t help but wonder what your intentions are, Harissen-san.”

"What kind of question is that?" Conrad asked, eyes narrowing.

"I would assume that sooner or later you will desire to go back to your homeland. Maybe bringing the genin with you."

"Of course, he's my—"

"And then what?” Danzo immediately asked, interrupting him. “Let him live in your homeland?"

"I have seen how he is treated, old man,” Conrad told him with a hard stare. “If you think I'm going to leave him here—"

"I take it that Yamanaka-san never mentioned to you what happens to shinobi that decide to leave the village and never return?"

"... No, he didn't,” Conrad admitted, having been caught by surprise by the sudden shift in topic.

"They're declared missing-nin. Deserters. Traitors,” Danzo said, adding the last two words as he saw Conrad’s puzzled expression. “They're tracked and hunted down by specially trained Shinobi, known as hunter-nin, who will either bring them to the village or dispose of them."

"... Dispose?" Conrad asked. He didn’t like the sound of that word.

"Execute. Kill. Slay,” Danzo said slowly, almost if he were talking to a child. “Many are executed after being brought back to the village, as a traitor deserves."

Conrad remained silent for a long moment, staring at the almost expressionless man. “You're serious."

“A shinobi’s loyalty to the village must be absolute,” Danzo said, his voice filled with the unshakable conviction of a man who could order death as easily as breathing. The dogmatic tone used was enough to stop Conrad from correcting the man about the fact that Konoha was a city, not a village. “Unlike you and your people, Shinobi aren’t free to do whatever they want. Our lives are meant for a greater purpose than exploring and treasure-hunting. Even the civilians, who enjoy more freedom than us, aren’t able to do so.”

"That sounds awful," Conrad said, trying to imagine what it would mean living under such an alien mentality. A lot of things he had heard in the past few days suddenly took on a much more sinister meaning. "How can you expect people to agree to that?"

"There are larger stakes than personal glory in a hidden village, Harissen-san. And I'm afraid an outsider like you could disrupt that, especially one so close to one of our genin."

"'Close'? He's family, Danzo. And I don't like your tone."

"And I do not care for yours, Harissen-san," the old man said, pointing his cane at Conrad to make a point. "Besides, didn't you just admit you dislike responsibilities?"

"Family is different," Conrad declared. Family was important for every Nord. How dare this old man twist his own words against him?

“Yes, family is surely different,” Danzo acknowledged. “At least, for someone who is not a Shinobi. But nonetheless, the village always comes first. It must, or the petty rivalries of dozens of clans would weaken us, and our enemies are always watching, always looking for weakness.”

That sounded far too heavy-handed for Conrad’s liking, almost reminiscent of the Thalmor’s methods. Was moving away even possible? Were the citizens really just glorified prisoners who would be killed if they tried to leave?

"As... fascinating as this talk has been, I would like some time to properly mourn my brother. Alone.”

"Of course, Harrissen-san," Danzo said, once again polite after giving him a measuring look. "Although I still have a lot of questions, we will simply need to continue our discussion later."

“I can’t wait,” Conrad said with sarcastic tone. The old man hobbled away, heavily favoring his cane. Conrad stared after him with narrow eyes, for the first time realizing just how ruthless these people here were.

Once he was alone, at least as far as he could tell, he knelt by the grave. Minato had grown up here? Led these people?

Why hadn’t Inoichi, the Hokage, or Jiraiya said anything about these barbaric customs? Was it because they were afraid of how he would react, or because they thought that it was perfectly normal? How things should be?

He tried to ease his mind by putting some offerings on the grave, but quickly realized he had nothing on him. So he just stared at the grave in silence for a few minutes.

"Sorry, it's not like I planned to come by," he apologized. He wasn't sure why he even bothered. After all, Minato's soul was trapped in the Soul Cairn. "If we ever see each other again, we'll have words, you know."

And punches, lots of it. For me and for your son, Naruto. He mentally added. He had punched a ghost before, he could do it again.

:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:

"Come on, Naruto. Tell me," Ino asked for the third time.

"No. You know I can't, Ino," Naruto answered once again in a bored tone as he tried to follow the spar between Shikamaru and Sasuke, but it had gotten boring after the Nara had caught Sasuke with his shadow. Funny, sure, but boring.

"The guy lives at my house, I'll find out sooner or later. I just want to know how he’s related to you."

"He's my uncle," Naruto said as if it were common knowledge, which it technically was for all present. The details, on the other hand, were something he was pretty sure he couldn't tell anyone outside of his team. For now.

"Yes, but how?! Look, tell me and I'll buy you ramen for a whole week," Ino said solemnly. Everyone paused to look at the two blondes. They all knew how much ramen Naruto could consume in a meal, nevermind in seven days. For a genin, it was a pricey bribe and it was obvious that Naruto was tempted.

"Ino, he said no," Sakura said before Naruto could answer.

"Uh, yeah, right. I did," the young Uzumaki conceded, clearly reluctant. He had to stand by his decision and be strong. Even in front of the promise of ramen.

After that, the six genin continued their practice, albeit half-heartedly because of the lack of adult supervision. Both Kakashi and Asuma had been called away for a mission and had left saying something about every jonin having to fill the gaps in the roster left by the invasion.

Naruto and Sasuke ended up refusing to rotate in the sparring matches, which slowly forced the others to stand by and watch the two teammates try to punch the crap out of each other until Shikamaru had to shadow-bind the two of them to a stop.

“We should go back,” the Nara said. “It’s lunchtime anyway.”

Everyone agreed that it was time to put something in their stomach, especially Chouji, so the six genin started walking back to the village and ended up gravitating towards Ino’s house, much to her annoyance.

And, judging by the looks she gave them, Ino’s mother wasn’t really amused by that either, but that was probably related to the fact that she was already housing a stranger in her house, along with his team of not-genin.

She gave them all snacks as they waited for lunch, though. Maybe she didn’t like having so many strangers in the house, but she wouldn’t let them starve. Speaking of which…

“Where are the cat-man and the other two?” Naruto asked.

"In the kitchen," Ino's mom replied, actually smiling a bit. "They asked if they could cook something for us as thanks for letting them stay here.”

“What are they preparing?” Ino asked.

“Something called… ‘soufflé’, I believe,” she said. ”Why don’t you help me set the table, Ino?”

Ino huffed a bit, but followed her and started working together on the task at hand.

Naruto lost interest in the small talk between his other fellow genin and ended up watching as mother and daughter worked around the dining room. He had always known that most of his classmates had a family at home, but seeing such a completely familial scene in person really made him realize it. He couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to live together with a family. It wasn't just a silly fantasy now. He, Naruto, had a family and he was still trying to wrap his head around it.

His uncle didn't seem like the domestic type, though. Naruto couldn't imagine him neatly preparing the table for a meal.

“Naruto, did you hear me?” someone asked.

“Uh-huh,” he mumbled, not really listening and still lost in thought. Of course his uncle couldn’t set a table, he didn’t even know how to use chopsticks to eat ramen.

Naruto was snapped back to reality when a hand waved in front of his eyes. Startled, he turned around to see Sakura looking at him. “Uh, sorry. Did you ask me something, Sakura-chan?” he asked sheepishly.

“You were spacing out.”

“Yeah… sorry. I was just thinking, that’s all.”

“About what?”

“Family,” he admitted.

There was a pause as everyone seemed surprised by his answer. Sasuke even went noticeably still, for some reason.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Sakura asked hesitantly.

“I don’t know,” he said, biting his lip. “I mean, what are people even supposed to do with their uncles, anyway?”

“You mean like, what do people do with their families?"

"Uh, yeah! Yeah that."

“Uhh…” Ino said as she kept working on the table. “What about gardening? My parents and I always garden together.”

Naruto wrinkled his nose. “I don’t think Uncle Conrad is much of a gardener...”

Ino harrumphed and went back to setting the table with her mother as Shikamaru took over. “You could always play Shogi with him. It’s a great way to figure out how he thinks.”

“But that just sounds boring,” Naruto complained.

“Then you’re not going to like cloud-watching either.”

“I want to do something fun with Uncle Conrad, not lie still for hours.”

“Suit yourself,” Shikamaru shrugged, not bothered in the slightest by his suggestions being turned down.

“You should take him out for barbeque!” Chouji cheered. “No activity is greater for family bonding!”

“Maybe,” Naruto allowed after a moment’s thought. “I’m not sure if he’s ever had barbeque, though.”

“Never had barbeque?!” Chouji demanded, scandalized. “Who’s never had barbeque?!”

“I don’t know, but… he didn’t even know what ramen was. Who knows what they eat in his country?”

“I think you’re overthinking this,” Sakura cut in, turning to her teammate. “All you need to do is spend time with him and get to know him. You’ve known your uncle for what, a few days now?”

Naruto nodded, and she continued, “Right. That’s not enough. If you want to bond with him you just need to spend time with him. It doesn’t really matter what you do.”

Naruto looked dubious. “So we could do anything?”

Sakura shrugged. “Yeah, that’s what I said. Try to think of something you could do to break the ice and get to know each other.”

Naruto thought about it for a moment, trying to remember everything he knew about his uncle. He was, well, his uncle. He came from a very far away place, spoke a different language, kept saying that things back home were different, and he was some sort of fighter but not a shinobi because they didn’t have those in his country. The last one just sounded crazy.

Even if he wasn’t a Shinobi he must have gotten some kind of training… not-Shinobi did that, right? He must have. Naruto was pretty sure that you needed it in order to learn how to throw jutsu at your enemies. Even if you didn’t call them jutsu.

Studying, learning, sparring… just like at the Academy. Naruto would bet that his uncle had done all of that, too. Maybe…

“I got it!” he exclaimed. “I’ll ask uncle to spar with me!”

“What? Naruto, that’s not what I meant—”

“We’ll spend time together and get to know each other!” he continued enthusiastically.

“Are you even listening to me?” Sakura asked, mildly annoyed. Before Naruto could answer or continue expanding upon his plans for a fight with his uncle, Sasuke suddenly got up and walked towards the door.

“Hey, where are you going?” Naruto asked. “Lunch is almost ready.”

“I have stuff to do,” the Uchiha replied, closing the door after him.

"What's with him?" Naruto looked after his teammate, puzzled.

"Let him go," Shikamaru said, an odd look on his face.

"But what—"

"Just let it go," Sakura said, looking at the door longingly as if she was barely holding herself back from running after their teammate as well.

That was when Ino came back carrying the last things for the table and noticed the somber mood. “Where’s Sasuke-kun?”

“He left,” Naruto said.

“He left? Oh, I bet it’s your fault, Forehead!”

“It’s not!” Sakura protested. “He—”

“Girls, don’t fight,” Ino’s mom called from the other room. “After all these years, it’s so nice seeing you be friends again.”

At that, both kunoichi looked at each other, before deciding to sit on the opposite sides of the room and grumble about having to spend time in each other’s company.

They didn’t deny being friends again, though.

:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:

Conrad had taken his sweet time before going back to Inoichi’s house. Not because he particularly liked standing in front of a couple of graves, mostly because he wanted time to think.

The talk with Danzo had been… worrying. For all he knew the old, bandaged man was the local crazy guy, but what was he supposed to do? Ask a random shinobi on the street if they actually had such a rigid and dogmatic loyalty that nobody had mentioned before?

He snorted to himself. Yeah, that would go over wonderfully.

Finally opening the door, he was greeted by the sight of an abandoned table and Inoichi’s daughter collecting empty dishes. What was her name, again?

“You missed lunch,” she said, her surprise turning into annoyance.

So that was why he was feeling a bit peevish. He had not realized he had been outside for so long. As Conrad hung the hat and old coat he had borrowed, the little girl spoke again. “I’ll go call Naruto, you kept him waiting too long as it is.”

Well then. Someone had a sharp tongue. Conrad doubted that she got it from her father, though.

Almost immediately after the girl had closed the sliding door to the kitchen, it slammed open to reveal a breathless Inoichi. “Finally!” he exclaimed as he shot towards Conrad. "Where were you?!"

“Outside?” Conrad asked rhetorically, trying to move towards the kitchen to get something to eat. Maybe there were leftovers. Before he could move, though, Inoichi seized him by the shoulders so suddenly that Conrad didn’t even have the time to step away.

"You vanished for two hours!” the Yamanaka nearly shouted. “Not even your ANBU guards knew where you were!"

"I… what?" Conrad stammered. They didn’t know where he had been?

“Do you have any idea how serious this is, Conrad?” Inoichi asked solemnly, visibly calming himself down. “We lost track of you in our own village. Please, tell me where you were."

Conrad didn’t know how that was possible, but he had not exactly checked to see if the guards were still following him. He’d almost gotten so used to their constant shadowing that he didn’t even try to locate them with magic anymore.

“To the graveyard,” he said as he looked Inoichi right in the eyes.

“The graveyard? Why would you—Oh,” Inoichi said in realization.

“Yes. ‘Oh’,” Conrad grunted, shooing the man’s hands away.

“I… I’m sorry. I really am, for not showing you, but between your presence being a secret and the invasion—”

“Whatever. I know now.”

Inoichi seemed to deflate at that, with guilt or frustration or some combination of both Conrad didn't know. At this moment he didn't care too much, either. “Could you tell me who showed you the grave, though? Was it Jiraiya-sama?”

“No, I left Jiraiya this morning. Some old guy called Danzo showed up,” Conrad told him, and Inoichi went noticeably paler at that.

“Sandaime-sama’s… advisor?” he asked.

“Cripple old guy with only one eye and a cane,” Conrad described, not mentioning the impressions Danzo had left him. “Why? Is there a problem?”

Inoichi stared at him in silence for a few seconds before getting, if it was possible, even more serious than usual. “I have to go. Do not lose your ANBU guard again.”

After that, he hastily moved to get a pair of those unholy union between sandals and boots that shinobi seemed to prefer for some reason and walked out of the door without even looking at Conrad, who was left to wonder what that had been about.

Was he not supposed to meet this Danzo, for some reason? That didn’t make sense, it had been the loyal-beyond-stupidity old guy that had approached him… and had gotten him away from his guards, somehow.

Did he just stumbled into… Shinobi internal politics? Because half of the reason he had embarked on this crazy journey was that he wanted a respite from all the intrigue and crap.

The loud sound of racing footsteps announced the arrival of his nephew, so Conrad wasn’t completely caught by surprise when Naruto showed up. He wasn’t ready for his enthusiasm though.

“There you are! You missed lunch!”

“Yes, I was told that already,” Conrad sighed.

“Beta saved you a piece of… uh… soup-flea?”

Conrad blinked for a moment. “You mean soufflé?”

“Yeah, that!” Naruto nodded. “It was very good.”

“Better eat it before Ta’Sava steals it, then,” he chuckled, walking towards the dinner table. Before Conrad had time to sit down, Naruto had run over the kitchen and came back with a serving of the dessert and placed it in front of his uncle. Conrad was about to eat a spoonful, when he paused and glanced at the boy questioningly. “Do you want some?”

“Uh?”

“The soufflé. Do you want half?” Conrad asked again.

“But you didn’t have lunch.”

“I’m not that hungry,” he told him. The boy needed to eat a bit more in his opinion. Conrad had not been that short when he was his age.

Naruto seemed surprised by the offer and some other emotions Conrad couldn’t place briefly flashed in the boy’s eyes. He pushed the dish towards the boy, and that seemed to snap him out of his reverie. “Thanks! But, uh, after eating it, do you want to spar with me?”

“Sure, sure…” Conrad answered absentmindedly. He doubted Naruto knew about his parents’ graves, having being unaware of their identities for his whole life, and so Conrad was trying to imagine a way to bring it up. Possibly one that didn’t involve too many tears.

“Wait, what does ‘spar’ mean?”

:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:

“A fight?” Conrad asked incredulously. “You want to fight me?”

"Well, yeah. That's what sparring is. Fighting for, you know... practice."

"I know what a practice fight is," Conrad made a curt hand gesture. "Why do you want to...'spar' against me?"

“I just… thought you may like it,” Naruto admitted, eyes downcast.

Conrad glanced at the empty grass field. The masked guards posted around Inoichi’s house had all agreed, almost eagerly, to accompany them to the middle of nowhere without being seen. They must have been on edge because of Conrad’s earlier ‘disappearance’.

He didn't want to fight the boy, even if it was for practice. He wasn't a fencing instructor or much of an instructor at all. He fought by hacking people or blowing them up with spells, for the gods' sake! What if he hurt him?! Children were fragile. They shouldn't ask a battlemage like to fight with them just for practice.

"I don't have my armor," he said, trying to find a way out of this.

“Armor?”

“Yes. I’m more used to fighting with it.”

"But you didn't have it during the invasion," the boy countered.

Conrad grunted, making a note to tell Inoichi he wanted his stuff back. Especially his axe. "Nords practice fighting with their weapons," he tried again. The boy didn't seem to have any on him.

"I have my kunai," Naruto told him, unsheathing one of those puny kitchen knives shinobi used from the holster on his leg. Right. His twelve years old nephew was armed and acted like it was normal. Fantastic. "I have some shuriken, too. We can share if you want."

"No," Conrad refused.

"Can't you create a weapon with magic, then?"

Summoning a daedric weapon able to cut through steel, skin, muscle, and bone with ease for a practice fight. What could go wrong?

"No," he repeated, crossing his arms.

"Then... we could just use taijutsu?" Naruto asked, pouting.

"What's that?" Conrad asked back.

"Fists. And kicks."

The Nord thought about it for a moment. He could do fists and kicks.

Be the target of them, that is. The boy had a pretty good punch, he had experienced it when they had met, but he was still twelve years old. Conrad was pretty sure he could handle some roughhousing with a child whose voice had not even changed yet, and there was no risk of the boy getting hurt.

"Alright, fine," he conceded, dropping his bag by the side of the field as the boy loudly expressed his enthusiasm. "Do your best."

“My best…?" Naruto hesitated, stopping his celebration. "Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” Conrad said, raising his fists in a defensive position. “Do not worry, I can take it.”

“Okay then…” Naruto said, moving his hands together to form some sort of cross-like sign. “Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!”

A cloud of smoke appeared out of nowhere and once it dispersed, Conrad could see only his nephew. A horde of nephews. Everywhere. All around him, covering the whole field.

"What the—"

"CHARGE!" one Naruto yelled, sprinting towards him. All the others followed suit. Conrad managed to side-step the first one that lunged at him, then someone slammed into his back, causing him to lose his balance.

Before he knew it, he was tackled by half-a-dozen kids and fell to the ground under their combined weight. Then they started hitting him as he was on the ground, which he kind of approved of but didn’t really appreciate.

Thankfully they stopped once they realized that he wasn't doing much aside from covering his face.

“Uncle…ummm? Are you okay?” a Naruto asked. Conrad spat a few grass leaves and slowly got back on his feet as the mob gave him some space.

“What is… this?” Conrad asked, looking at the multitude of blond and orange-wearing kids.

“It’s a secret technique I learned! I can create clones of myself with my chakra. It’s awesome!”

“Huh,” Conrad said, mostly just to say something. They weren’t illusions, that’s for sure. The pain in his back could testify about it. And there were so many… “How long does it work?”

“You mean, how long I can keep them around? Uh… I never tried, I usually just create them for fights. And chores.”

“What happens when they… get hurt?” he asked to his nephew. Wait, was that his nephew or one of the copies? He was feeling a bit lost in the sea of orange.

“Oh, they just disappear, Look,” Naruto said, forming a fist and rearing back to punch the closest one in the gut. The clone made a pained expression that lasted for less than a second before exploding in a puff of smoke. “See?”

Conrad tried to not show how disturbing it was to see Naruto, even if it was just a magical copy, cease to exist in such a manner. “How long did it take you to learn this?”

“Just an hour or two,” one of the kids surrounding Conrad said, puffing his chest in pride. “It was easy.”

Easy, Conrad contemplated as he looked at the multitude of clones. The boy had just created an instant army of copies of himself, and he called it easy. Thankfully it was some sort of secret magic, at least according to the boy. If it had been common, killing those shinobi during the invasion could’ve been… problematic.

How did it exactly work? Was the boy controlling them like they were conjured creatures or were they an independent entity? They all seemed to share his personality and not just his looks… maybe he could casts a few spells to see if they were actually ‘alive’, with a soul, or—

“Can we keep going, Uncle?” a Naruto close by, presumably the real one, asked.

Right. He could always go all academical on the strange Shinobi magic at a later date. “You want to continue?”

“Of course, we barely started!”

“Fine.”

“This time, give it your best shot, Uncle!"

Conrad chuckled. Was that confidence, or cockiness? He didn't want to hurt the boy, so his 'best' was not an option. But if his nephew wanted a fight, he could provide one.

"Ready?" he asked. Naruto and the clones gave a determined nod and dropped into a fighting stance. Conrad didn't let them have the initiative this time.

"Fus!" Conrad shouted, hurling the Unrelenting Force in a direction that he didn’t contain his nephew. Dozens of clones went send flying before disappearing in a blast of smoke.

The fight was on.

:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:

Conrad didn't know how long the spar had lasted, but he did know one thing: he wasn't supposed to feel this old after a brawl with a brat with no facial hair. Yet the boy barely looked winded. Conrad wondered what the boy could be able to do in a few years. Or if he learned how to swing a couple of axes.

He had to step up his game if he wanted to do this again. Maybe design some new spells that didn’t blow the target to smithereens.

"That was cheating," Naruto grumbled. Uncle and nephew had been sitting on the edge of the field since Conrad had called for a pause.

"What?" he asked.

"That yelling thing you did."

"How?" Conrad couldn't help but ask.

"It was supposed to be a taijutsu spar, but you kept blasting the place with that yelling jutsu of yours!"

"It was hundreds against one. That's cheating, too."

“... it’s not.”

“It is, too,” Conrad countered as he rummaged through his bag. “And you had fun, I can tell.”

“Well… yeah that was pretty awesome,” the boy admitted. “Can we do it again?”

“Another time,” he said, handing Naruto a vial of healing potion. “Here, drink this.”

“What? Why?”

“Drink it. It will heal you.”

“But I wasn’t hurt that bad,” Naruto protested. And true, he had been barely touched by Conrad’s Thu’um or his fists.

That didn’t mean that Conrad had not felt his heart stop when a clone of the boy had jumped in front of him just as he was about to unleash a shout.

Although he had to admit now. The boy was trained well. He even had a hard time in catching up with the boy’s speed and agility. The martial arts on this continent is hundred times better than Tamriel. Maybe because they don’t depend on overpowering others with spells, enchantsments and power, that they had to depend on their body’s martial might?

“Drink. It,” he ordered. The boy finally obeyed.

“It tastes terrible,” Naruto protested, handing the empty vial back to Conrad.

“I know. Sven is terrible at making them.”

“Can you teach me how to make them?”

“I think I can, if you want. It requires patience,” Conrad added. The boy didn’t seem to be patient enough to work in an alchemic lab though, but he could always try.

“Also teach me how to make my skin into stone! Like what you did!”

“That will be very hard for you.”

“Eh? Why?”

“Because you need to read a lot first.” Conrad sneered. Naruto could only pout and mumbled that he hated books.

“What about the yelling jutsu?” Naruto then remembered.

“You mean the Thu’um?” Conrad asked, slightly surprised.

“Thu'um...” Naruto repeated, weighting the word. “Can I learn that?”

“No.”

“What? Why not?” Naruto asked, clearly disappointed. “I swear, I won’t tell anyone. It could be like a family technique, and—”

“Naruto,” Conrad said again, trying to put some warmth into his tone. “I can’t teach you how to use the Thu’um because I don’t know how.”

“That doesn’t make sense, Uncle. How did you learn it?”

“It takes years, even decades for someone to learn how to use it. But... I’m a special case.”

“A special case?” Naruto repeated.

“I have a something inside me. Something that no one else has.”

Conrad waited for Naruto to press him with more questions, but instead the boy grew quiet, his hand drifting to his stomach.

The Nord hoped that potion wasn’t giving him any stomach troubles. Getting up, Conrad slung his bag back on before making a gesture to the guards he knew were still hidden around.

After looking thoughtful for a few moments, Naruto got up as well and walked towards a small rock beside the clearing and observed it with a resolved expression.

“FUZZZ!” the boy shouted hard enough to make his face turn red. Opening his eyes, Naruto noticed that nothing had happened and let out one of the most frustrated groaning sound Conrad had ever heard in his life.

The dragonborn couldn't help himself as he barked out a guffaw. Soon he was laughing too hard to remain standing and had to take a seat. The loudest most genuine laugh he'd had in years. As if that wasn’t enough, Naruto gave him the tiniest, most adorable scowl ever, which just made him laugh even more.

“Are you making fun of me?”

“No, no… sorry boy,” Conrad said, finally calming down. “I just didn’t expect that, whatever that was.”

“I just thought that I would try…”

"A good attempt," Conrad answered, his smile warmer than amused now. They sat in silence for a moment, until the Nord made a decision. “Come on, there’s something I need to show you.”

:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:

Naruto didn’t pay much attention as he followed his Uncle. He had spent some time wondering what he wanted to show him, and asked about it only to be met with short answers about being patient.

So his mind had started to wonder about other things. He had followed Sakura’s advice and had a hearty spar with family, and of course they were going to spend more time together from now on. He wondered how long it would take for his Uncle to start living at his place. He couldn’t stay at Ino’s house forever, right?

Maybe once the Old Man Hokage got out of the hospital he could smooth things over. If Naruto’s apartment was too small, his uncle could take missions, or get a job… civilians had jobs, not missions. They could pool the money together and rent or buy a new place.

It would be difficult to find a place big enough for his Uncle’s students too… maybe they could find jobs as well? That or live at his old place or something. Maybe he was being selfish, but Naruto would like to live with his Uncle on their own for a bit. Having someone who would say “welcome home” to him would be great, but more than anything he was just grateful he wasn’t alone anymore.

Then he noticed they’d stopped in their walk, right in front of the village’s graveyard. Naruto didn’t come here often. Actually, he didn’t come here at all. Graveyards were spooky.

“What’re we doing here?” he asked, looking up at his uncle. He saw the man hesitate for a moment, only to sigh and gesture for Naruto to follow him.

His uncle Conrad led him deeper and deeper into the graveyard, pausing a few of times as if he were trying to remember the right way to go, and Naruto couldn’t help but feel an odd sense of foreboding.

“Here,” his said after coming to a stop, pointing at two graves. Naruto’s eyes widened as he read the names on them, his eyes darting between the stones.

“Are… are they…”

“Yes,” Uncle Conrad admitted. “I found out this morning.”

Naruto looked at the gravestones for a long while. Then something in Naruto crumpled.

Maybe it was because of all the revelations and surprises he’d had to deal in the last few weeks, or maybe it was because he was right in front of an actual, tangible evidence of his parents’ existence and passing. His eyes burned, and he furiously swiped at them.

“Naruto…” Uncle Conrad said as he put a hand on his shoulder. “These are your parents. It’s okay to cry.”

Naruto hiccupped as he gave up on the attempt to hold back. Tears started spilling over his cheeks and he almost fell to his knees.

His uncle's hand was heavy on his shoulder, but somehow it felt comforting. They stood like that for a long time, until the sun went down and the lights of Konoha flickered to life one by one.