And now he was on Guard, dutifully patrolling the grounds of the fire temple. It was normally a rather mundane task, loathed by his fellow monks almost as much as grave-duty. So imagine his surprise when he stumbled across a small blonde-child, looking as if he hadn't eaten in some days, just lying in the middle of a forest clearing. He may have been a trained warrior but he was a monk first so his first inclination was to rush over and see if the child was okay. "Ahh, I see you're awake, that's good." Naruto's vision was fuzzy at best as he opened his eyes; his head swimming from exhaustion and hunger. He tried to lift his head only to suddenly feel incredibly nauseous; nearly falling off the
He let out a small sigh of relief when he felt a pulse from the boy's wrist and immediately picked him up. His first reaction seemed to be right; the child was terribly malnourished and would require immediate care. He was walking back quickly when the boy began to stir; making soft groaning noises as he subconsciously buried himself further into Chiriku's warm body. He began to open his eyes and when the monk looked down he nearly dropped the boy.
After all it wasn't every day you looked into the rippled pattern of the Rinnegan. somewhat Spartan bed he was lying on. "Careful child, you shouldn't be trying to move just yet." A wrinkled but strong hand gently grasped his shoulder, guiding him back down onto the bed. The blonde tilted his head slightly, wincing as a light on a far wall nearly blinded him.
"What's going on? Where am I?" His voice sounded incredibly weak, his throat dry. As if in answer he suddenly found a wooden cup pressed up against his parched lips. Gratefully he sipped at the cooling water, sighing in relief as he felt his thirst somewhat quenched for now. He tried opening his eyes again with limited success, only managing to catch the silhouette of the man sitting beside him.
"You are at the Fire Temple child. Young Chiriku found you while he was patrolling the grounds. It is a sanctuary for priests and monks such as myself to find solace in meditation." Naruto simply blinked in response, finally managing to prop himself up on his elbows and right his vision. The man sitting next to him was old, very old. His face was wrinkled almost to the point where it seemed his eyes were permanently squinted. A small pointed beard jutted from his chin, the hair greyed with a few streaks of white.
Even so his face was kindly and serene, as to be expected from a monk. However the most amazing thing about him was that he seemed to be enshrouded in an aura of pure energy, his body aglow with that same ethereal blue light Naruto had seen ever since the incident which led to his self-imposed exile from Konoha. But where that energy had before seemed unruly and chaotic, around the monk it flowed calmly like water passing through a gentle stream.
"I see you do not know much of the world if my words confuse you." The man's smile took on a slightly more mischievous hue as he talked, his eyes squinting in a way Naruto found eerily reminiscent of his own fox-like look. Suddenly he blinked in surprise as he realised what the man had actually said, the information taking a few moments for his confused mind to handle.
"Hey! Are you calling me stupid!?" His response was a throaty laugh as the man placed a placating hand on Naruto's shoulder. The blonde instinctively shied away from the contact, finding it unpleasant for a reason he couldn't quite place; it was familiar.
"Not at all my lad." The old man looked away for a few moments as if in thought; however it was obvious even to Naruto that it was exaggerated. "Let's just say... ignorant." He gave another kindly smile before his gaze took on a more serious disposition. "Let me have a look at your eyes child, I need to check on something." He leaned forward but Naruto quickly backed away from the man's hands. The old monk merely took his hands back, holding them in a placating manner.
"What are you gonna do to my eyes?!" The man chuckled in what he hoped was a disarming manner, waving his hand dismissively.
"Nothing, nothing, I merely want to take a look at them." Naruto seemed hesitant to comply at first but eventually he leaned forward, opening his eyes for the monk to see them properly.
"Ahh, young Chiriku was correct then." He stayed like that for a few moments, gazing intently into Naruto's eyes as if they were the window to enlightenment.
"What? What is it about my eyes? And how do you see them when you squint so much?" Once again the elderly monk merely chuckled, amused by the boy's brazen question.
"My my, aren't you an energetic one? Tell me, what do you know about those eyes of yours?" Avoiding Naruto's question the man leaned back, gazing at the blonde evenly. Naruto simply looked confused as he blinked a few times, looking around for something reflective.
"Uhh my eyes? They're blue and they let me see stuff. What's it to you?" The wizened monk raised an eyebrow at that as he reached inside the sleeve of his robe, producing a small hand mirror.
"Blue you say? Is that what you see?" Naruto took the small mirror presented to him with caution, before nearly dropping it in surprise. He stared intently into the reflective glass, looking one way, then another just to check what he was seeing was real.
"My eyes! What happened to my eyes? They look all weird!" As Naruto fretted about his new appearance the old monk gazed at him calmly however a few more wrinkles appeared on his brow as he leaned back in.
"Those my boy are what are known as the Rinnegan, a Doujutsu like the Sharingan or Byakugan." The blonde, drawn away from the mirror in his hands by the elderly voice, gazed at the monk in confusion.
"Dojuku? Staringan? Bakulan?" The monk chuckled to himself, not sure what he was thinking trying to explain things such as these to a child. He offered a hand which the blonde seemed at first hesitant to accept but in the end took it anyway. "Walk with me child, we have a lot to talk about." Naruto gazed up at him, his new steely purple eyes wide with child-like innocence, even though behind that was something else. "What's your name my boy?" They left the small room Naruto had been lying in and the blonde took the opportunity to look around. The corridor they were now in seemed just as bare and Spartan as the room he had awoken in. Seeing this, the old man beside him gave a warm, knowing smile and gestured to the bare walls and floor.
"This is a temple child, we have little use for material possessions or gains. They are distractions from the pursuit of enlightenment." Seeing Naruto's confusion he chuckled, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly in a very un-monk-like manner. "We don't have a lot." Understanding now the boy's eyes widened as he nodded his head.