Akumu took a while to calm down, breathing in and out slowly.

I waited for him to calm down next to him, lying on the side of stomach.

"I miss this fur."

[Haaa. Hehe, you'd sleep in it all the time. I can't stand your drool though.]

"I didn't drool!"

[You did. Like a river.]

I was going to counter that argument, but I noticed Akumu went stiff. 

[Someone's coming. I'm gonna go hide nearby!]

"Just hide in me. At least until they go."

[.....Fine.]

Akumu jumped into me and completely disappeared. I felt my body become cool as a familiar feeling washes over me.

'Welcome back!'

[What are you, a wife?!]

He jokes, but I can feel his tail wagging in there.

[Be careful. Three Life Signatures are coming this way.]

I was gonna ask if he knew them, but the rustling bushes took my attention away.

I see a kid jump out of the bush with striking blonde hair and excited blue eyes.

"Hehehe! I finally lost them!"

Naruto did a victory pose and started laughing at his success almost immediately. 

[The other two are in the trees watching.]

I....I fought the urge to facepalm. Somehow anyway. 

'Is he gonna be ok like this?'

[...I don't know. This is...a new sensation.]

"Alright! Now I can train on my own!"

Naruto pulled out a scroll and prepared to open it when suddenly, he stopped and slowly looked my way.

"....Don't tell me you only noticed me right now?"

"......"

Naruto gets into a defensive pose, looking ready to charge at anytime.

"Who're you? What are you doing here?!"

"....What are you doing here, Naruto?"

He flinched. 

'So he really doesn't remember?'

[Babies don't really remember what happened during the early years. You've been with me since the start so your kinda like my age.]

'Eww. Old Babies'

[Or Geniuses. Pick one.]

"How do you know who I am?! Are you a spy?!"

Now, I know what I could say to get him to calm down real quick.

Buuuuut....

"Hehehehe! Finally! I have you alone!"

"!!"

[You're evil! I'll watch out for the other two if they move and let you know!]

With Akumu at my back, I can have some fun for once!

Naruto grits his teeth and readies himself. I got to think of something good to follow up with. Should I just attack or monologue?

"You'll never get away with this!"

Ooooh! I can play off this!

"Hahaha! Foolish! Once my plans are complete, the world will tremble before me!"

"I'll stop you!!"

'Oh the heroism is so strong~.'

Naruto comes swinging with his right fist to my face. I duck under it and trip him with a low sweep. He tumbles away a bit before getting up. 

"Uraaah!"

"Hehehe! It's useless!"

I goad him on and he swings a left and another right, much more controlled than before. I step back and dodge, but he follows up with a kick. I grab his foot and toss him to the side, making him roll in the dirt some more.

[He still has a clean patch in the back.]

'I'll get to it!'

Naruto stands up again, this time with tears starting to well up. 

Oh boy, did I go a bit too far?

"Hey, I do wanna apologize for that. It's just a joke."

I try to explain to Naruto, but it looks like he isn't listening.

.....What are you doing with that scroll?

"Hey....don't take it too far now."

"I."

This guy seems serious.

"Will."

The scroll opens up and out pops a few shuriken and kunais.

"Beat you!!"

'Guess he doesn't have chakra yet. That looks like a quick release scroll.'

[Don't hit him too hard.]

He tosses the shurikens and kunai in desperation towards me. 

I just stand there and watch four shuriken fly right by me.

'Guess he hasn't trained enough yet.'

He seems better with the kunais though as they seem to be heading on course.

'Here goes.'

The two kunai hit me straight in the chest and I fall down. Naruto's mouth drops as the other kunai in his hand stays still. 

[The other two look surprised as well!]

Yay, I got everyone by surprise!

*Poof*

My body disappears as a log with the two kunai embedded in them replaces me. I slowly approach Naruto from behind while he's still shocked and confused.

"Feel my dreaded power! Secret Technique: Tickle Monster Jutsu!"

My fingers go to town on his sides as he starts howling with laughter. I still do this to Moya and Yozora from time to time, earning me great skill at this technique. I gotta instill fear of the older sibling somehow, right?

 Naruto tries to run away from my fingers, but he's no match for my speed.

Moments later, he's on the floor, wheezing and giggling in exhaustion. 

Victory is mine!

*****

"Eh?! You're not a spy, but Auntie Kaya's son?!"

Naruto has calmed down now so I decided to clear the misunderstanding. I'm still trying to figure out how he didn't realize I was lying. An enemy ninja that gets the drop on you definetly won't tickle you into submission.

"I thought you'd figure it out during the little scuffle."

"Hahaha! Yeah, I knew all along! I was just playing!"

[Thick skin on this one.]

"Yeah, sure. What are you doing out here by yourself?"

Naruto seems to want to say something, but I have a feeling  of what was coming. Let's cut him off here.

"Before you even say it, I have permission to be here and train. How about you?"

Looks like I got him. Naruto's just fiddling with his scroll now as he tries to roll them up into it again. I sigh and take the scroll from him and reset the seals and put the tools back. It's my fault he used it anyway. 

I'm just really glad he didn't throw that last one. It looks a little different from the other kunai. It's three pronged and has some writing on it. It looks like it'll hurt real bad.

[That's the 4th Hokage's kunai. If he threw it, the 4th would've. probably appeared.]

I must be getting better at Water style because my back is iflooded! I try to keep calm and put the string back on the seal and wrap it up. I hand it back to Naruto, and he's just staring at me. With sparkles in his eyes.

Oh no.

"Nope."

"Eh~?! Wait! Can't you help me train?!"

"Why do you want to train with me? I don't know much at all. Isn't Kushina Nee-san a strong ninja?"

Naruto folds his arms and huffs. 

"Mom just wants me to practice seals all day. That's not training at all, just studying! I've copied the seal on this scroll so many times, but I can't even make a real one yet since Mom won't teach my how to unlock my chakra."

[That's probably because of his seal. His chakra is held air tight, but he's probably got a lot of it.]

"What about your Dad?"

Uwaaaah. Bad topic! Even more silence! This time, he's just sad.

"He's been busy trying to find someone that attacked the village. I think he means the guy behind the Kyuubi attack. I overheard him and Mom talking about it. I don't want to interrupt him catching the bad guy."

Naruto just fiddles with his little scroll and looks down. My hand seems to find its way to his head and I ruffle his hair.

"Fine. I'll only teach you some little things I know today. You have to get your Mom's permission to come back out with me next time, ok?"

He turns and gives me the brightest smile I've seen yet. He seems almost radiant.

"Oh yeah!!! Thanks, Hii-nii!!"

"Everyone calls me that! Ugh, nevermind. Let me teach you a few things."

Since he has them here, we go over shuriken-jutsu since missing four shurikens with a still target is a huge no-no.

We practice and hang out until the sun starts to set. 

I stretch and get ready to head home when I remember something I heard Naruto say earlier. 

"Hey, Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"What did you mean you finally got away from them earlier?"

"Oh! That was because..."

Uh oh. His face went white.

[One of the Ninjas hiding left a while ago, And I'm sensing an eruption of Yin energy nearby.]

Someone told already huh?

"H-Hii-nii."

"...Yeah?"

"Can you help me apologize to my Mom?"

[One extra large serving of angry Mom is coming this way. I think Naruto ordered it.]

"NAAAARRUUUUUTTTTOOO!!"

Right on que, Kushina is walking slowly to Naruto from the distance. How her hair is rising into the air like that is beyond my comprehension as the only thing I can recognize is that face she has. It's the face of a reckoning coming.

Naruto has gotten as pale as a sheet. He won't even turn around to look at her as she creeps closer and closer. I'm pretty sure even I can taste the anger in the air, and it's spicy!

Well, I have no other choice.

I do the only thing I can do in this situation.

I clap my hands twice, and pray through the screams as Kushina gives Naruto a hard lesson in discipline.

['Amitabha.']

The sunset looks pretty as usual today. I'll just stare at it for a while.