Third person pov

Naruto isn't sure if it's a dream or nightmare. It doesn't seem like either, actually. It's dark, and wet, but he's not particularly scared per se. That's not to say he wants to be here or anything. The only thing he knows for sure is that he definitely remembers falling asleep, and that this place reeks. Naruto definitely wouldn't recommend it to anyone looking for a place to dream in. Or nightmare in? Again, he's not super sure where the line is between the two or if he's crossed it yet.

Naruto looked down at his feet. He was submerged in water up to his ankles, which was just a little nasty. Who knew what was in this stuff. It was murky enough to tell him it was nothing good. He glanced around, rooted in his spot. The whole area was all just an endless stretch of black that seemed to go on forever. The gross water did too, stagnantly flat and just as never-ending as the rest of this rancid little venue was. If Naruto could ask for one thing and one thing only, it would be a one way ticket out of here. Or maybe a coupon that would get him free ramen for life from Ichiraku's. Hard decision. 

There was a clang somewhere behind him, and his heart jumped, his body moving before his mind could catch up to what was happening. He whirled around with wide eyes that only stretched wider when he saw the hulking structure before him. Steel bars taller than any tree's he'd ever seen dwarfed him with their sheer size, thicker than the trunk of even the biggest tree and sturdier than Pakkun during a staring contest. It was by far the most massive thing he'd ever seen in his short six years of life. His jaw dropped at the sight of the metal box. He registered, vaguely, that this was undoubtedly a cage. He was looking at a very large cage.

A very large cage with something just as large inside.

"Oh my god." Naruto breathed, watching as a pair of red eyes flew open from within the darkness, seeming almost to glow as they zeroed in on him. The blonde's shoulders hitched up, and he thrust a finger at the thing accusingly. "You're the reason the water is so nasty!" 

"What the hell?" The thing grumbled back with clear irritation. The voice was so deep and so loud that it shook the water, sending ripples that splashed lightly against Naruto's legs and made him shiver. Gross, gross, gross! So this was all just toilet water?! That cage didn't look big enough to have an adjoining bathroom! Not one big enough for whoever was in there, anyway. 

Those eyes were totally massive, so it had to be some like-- really big dog or something. Yeah! Yeah, yeah, no, this made total sense! It was a giant ninken, since ninken could talk and were animals! Though he'd never seen a dog with red eyes before. That was kind of cool. But why was he trapped? And why was he so big to begin with? Wait, he'd read a book about this once. About that one red dog that grew until it was bigger than a house. He hadn't realized that was based on a true story, but he's also six, so there's a lot he doesn't know.

"I mean, there's no bathroom in there, right? So you've just had to go!" Naruto explained, voice raising a bit as he gestured at the water. "That's why it smells so bad! Man, this really sucks!"

"You brat, I don't need to-- wait, how're you even in here?" The thing leaned closer and holy shit, it was orange. Was it the red dog's descendant? Because if you dulled down red it turned orange. That was Naruto's favorite color! "You're my foolish little vessel. You're far too puny to be in here."

"Vessel?" Naruto squinted. He frowned at the dog. This was a really confusing dream. He wondered if it meant something. Sakura-chan said that seeing things in your dreams symbolized stuff sometimes. Like how pickles can signify anxiety or something. What do big orange dogs in cages mean? "Are you calling me a pirate ship?"

"Ah. And you're an idiot." The thing growled, which was honestly just rude. It grinned at him, sharp and a little angry, and definitely not genuine. Naruto immediately felt on edge, his heartrate speeding up a little. Alright. Crossing from dream to nightmare territory, slowly but surely. At least he was stuck behind those bars, even if that meant Naruto had to stand in pee water. "Come over here and I'll explain everything, little kit."

"You literally just called me an idiot. Why would I come over there?" Naruto asked, his voice bordering on complaining. He watched the dog's smile drop into a snarl. Wow. Stingy, then. Naruto had dealt with way worse though, and he still really liked dogs even if they were mean. Maybe this one was just lonely and needed a friend! As long as Naruto didn't get too close to the bars it was probably fine. 

"Vermin." It hissed at him. Okay, so now he was being called a rat? Was it the whiskers? No wonder someone put him in a cage. His attitude was 'less than optimal', as Iruka-sensei might say.

"Hey, it's not like I asked to be here! I don't even know who you are." Naruto threw his hands up in the air, not really sure what else to do. He could ignore the dog but that seemed really, really rude. Like, they were the only two here. What else was he going to do? It's not like he could wake himself up on command. Might as well try to make the best out of a bad situation. It's what he did best. With his dad back, he'd been getting rusty anyway. Thing's are so happy right now that he may forget how to be positive even when things are awful if he's not careful. "Speaking of which, I'm Naruto! Naruto Uzumaki!" 

"I know who you are, you little rat." So he was being called a rat. "So pathetic. So weak. To think I'm trapped inside of you of all vessels... a mere child. Pitiful!" 

Naruto stared. That was a lot to work through, honestly. Was he calling himself pitiful? Maybe that's why he was in a bad mood. Having a low-self esteem wasn't good for optimism. Naruto knows that way better than anyone else but-- wait, was he'd said he was trapped inside of him? Like, inside of Naruto? Why would he be trapped inside of Naruto? That... well, this was actually a dream, so he guessed the logistics didn't matter. Things like this didn't need to make sense. 

"Why would I have a giant orange dog trapped inside of me? I think I'd have known before if you were inside me." Naruto frowned. He watched the creature go still, its red eyes going wide with rage. Was that the wrong thing to say? Based on the way he's standing up and confrontationally baring his teeth, Naruto's going to go with yes. He supposed he'd be finding out if those bars are as sturdy as they look. Still not the scariest thing that's ever happened to him. Amen to that.

"DOG?!" The dog roared, super angrier. Naruto frowned as it snapped its teeth, long arm coming through the cage doors and swiping at him but coming up way, way too short for him to be scared by it. Wow. He had the weirdest looking paws Naruto had ever seen. Were those opposable thumbs? Those looked a lot like opposable thumbs... was he actually a racoon? No, he was definitely a dog. His snout was a dead giveaway. Maybe because he was big, his toes had just like, grown with him and become double-jointed or whatever. "I am the Legendary Nine Tailed Fox! The Kyuubi! I am no mutt. I will rip you apart and they will never find all the pieces of you, you brat! The moment I break this seal and take over---"

And yeah. Naruto zoned out right about there, even as the dog rattled the cage so hard it shook the entire place and sent water splashing onto Naruto's pajama shorts. No offense to him, but his dad was way, way scarier. He'd like, practically killed that guy at the market, which was kinda cool. Plus Iruka-sensei still hadn't recovered from his dad's talk with him that one time. This dog was really big and loud, but Naruto had met a lot of really big and loud people and they were never as much bite as they were bark. Besides, he was too fluffy to be that threatening! And he was trapped behind bars that hadn't so much as budged, even as the entire place shook. 

Naruto watched patiently as the dog practically frothed at the mouth, hands held politely behind his back as the creature slowly winded itself down, still looking full of piping hot rage as he gripped the bars and shoved his snout between them as best he could. Something orange and murky was bleeding into the water around the cage bars, beginning to slowly seep outward. Was that... wait, had he peed? Was that pee? It had to be. Wow, that was so gross. Ew. Naruto wasn't a fan of this. Officially nightmare territory. 

"Um." Naruto eyed the orange stuff and tried to mask his utter disgust. "Look, I know I'm six, but I'm not an idiot. You're clearly not a fox."

"I am." The creature responded immediately, voice biting, harsh, and way too defensive. Naruto eyed him with open pity. 

"Sure." He said faintly. He took a deep breath. "But you know if you... were a dog, it would be totally okay--"

"I said I'm not a goddamn dog, you idiotic brat!" The creature snapped. Naruto held up his hands in surrender. "Stop looking at me like that!" 

"Right, right." Naruto agreed immediately, frowning. Poor thing had no idea what he was or who he was, even. The nine tailed fox? The cage was too dark to make out any tails, but come on. His dad had totally murked the nine tails when Naruto was born or whatever. This had to be a dog. Naruto has spent a lot of time around Kashi's dogs and this definitely seems like the same thing to him. With how angry he's being... yeah, he's like a really mad dog barking at strangers who pass their fence. Foxes are quiet and sly! 

This thing had a really wide head for a supposed fox. Plus, foxes didn't have mouths that big, or frames that large. Naruto was sure of it. They'd had a lesson on them literally two weeks ago and it had been very informative. This guy was too fluffy, and his ears were all long. They were almost like a rabbit's, honestly. Foxes had triangle ears on top of their heads, not weird floppy ones. Plus, wasn't the nine tails a chakra being? Because this guy didn't look like he was made out of chakra.

"I. Am. A. Fox." The creature hissed when it saw his expression and-- man, was it peeing more? Why was that his immediate response? 

"Uh huh." Naruto inched away from the pee. Ew. "Anyway, wanna hear about my day? We decorated picture frames!" 

The dog groaned, but it wasn't a definite no.

~~~~~~~~

Jiraiya stared up at Konoha's gates. They seemed to almost stare back in all their large, green grandeur. Lined with weathered grey stone set back into smoothed out brown rock, they were a testament to the village's overall ambience. A sturdy entrance that spoke of the Leaf's strength. 

It had been years since he'd last been back. It was shocking how little had changed-- though, he's not sure why he thought things would be any different. His adam's apple bobbed with trepidation as he grew closer and closer to his home, his dark eyes never leaving the large, open doors that coaxed him back in with promises of a happier time brought back to the present. The idea that Minato Namikaze was in there, alive and running things, was astonishing. To think his student would raise from the dead and reclaim his title as the village's leader... it seemed impossible. 

"Master Jiraiya!" A voice exclaimed, so incredibly invigorated it almost shocked him. He squinted as a man he didn't recognize leaned out of the guard's post, waving rapidly at him as though he wouldn't notice him otherwise. "Master Jiraiya! You're back!" 

"You know it!" He responded a little too smoothly, a grin that didn't quite reach his eyes slipping onto his face with practiced ease. His usual blanket of charisma dropped over his shoulders, and he let the knot in his chest loosen a bit and told himself it would be okay. He'd be fine, and Minato... probably would murder him if he was truly and really back, but it was a bridge they'd cross when they got to it. Honestly, the idea of Minato being back and kicking hadn't sunk in and it wasn't going to until he saw him.

There was a gnawing in his gut that made him feel short of breath. Guilt was crashing over him in terrifying waves, threatening to drown him if he wasn't careful. He hadn't come back for Naruto. He hadn't taken care of him like he promised he would if something ever happened to his student and his redheaded wife. He'd sworn to protect Naruto and yet he'd never seen the kid in person. It was too late to be feeling regret now this late in the game, however, and he knew this. He felt absolutely pathetic. Less than a man.

"You must've heard of Lord Fourth's return!" The young guard positively beamed at him, looking flustered by his own excitement as Jiraiya approached and stalled by the booth. It was still pretty early in the morning, but the signs of the village beginning to wake itself up were all present when he looked off into the nearest streets. "He doesn't usually get into the office until later, but you should be able to find him at the Namikaze Estate! He totally reclaimed it-- and he's been fixing up the Uchiha Clan's grounds in the center! There's talk of the police force moving back! Isn't it wonderful? He's already doing so much to revitalize the village!"

Jiraiya nodded slowly as the information was dumped on him. He'd known there was trepidation with the Uchiha Clan after what had happened, but they'd been moved? He... hadn't realized. He'd distanced himself from the village and its functions as much as he could when he first decided not to return. Realizing what he'd missed out on was just another pound of guilt added to the wagon he was towing around. A wagon that was getting harder and harder to lug, and that was going to crack under the weight it was carrying.

"That's Minato for yah!" Jiraiya laughed, but it came out stilted and tight. He cleared his throat a bit, the grin on his face so forced it was painful. The guard didn't seem notice, still smiling. "Well, I guess I'll have to just go see him then! Catch him before he gets busy with work. You know how it is."

The guard nodded enthusiastically, looking positively stoked by the mere idea of Jiraiya going to see Minato again. It was sign enough to Jiraiya that wow, this was real. Minato was back, and he was just as idolized as he had been before, if not more so now. His student had been a celebrity, young, handsome, strong and kind. Jiraiya's pride for him had known no bounds, and it still didn't. His sacrifices for the village went beyond what anyone ever could've asked for, and his loss hit harder than anything else ever could've. Jiraiya could still recall the stressed letters his own sensei had sent him, talking of the grief Konoha seemed to be drowning in even months after the attack.

Jiraiya signed in and was off, walking the path towards his student's home. It still felt familiar after all this time, as though it hadn't been over six years since he'd done it. Minato had been so proud to get that house. So excited for the family he and Kushina would grow within it, and so ready to take world on with his own bare hands. He'd come out of the war a hero, helping put an official end to it and bringing victory to the Leaf every time he walked through those gates. Then named Hokage, he was prepared to settle down a little and enjoy his life and youth alongside his wife and the child he had on the way.

Jiraiya felt in a haze as he went. It was almost like an out-of-body experience. He was back in Konoha, going to see his student at his new home. Walking on a path few knew existed, making it a little overgrown but not so much so that you couldn't see it. It looked like it had been cleared a way a little, almost as though it had expected him to come this way and had prepared. Jiraiya let his feet carry him, his heart pounding loud in his ears.

The house was just as he recalled it, if not a little more worn. It was a light, tan stone on the outside, with large windows in the front that were shaded by a small roof overhang. It was two stories, the corners rounded and with several windows to allow for natural light. Kushina had insisted they get the house with the most windows, because Naruto 'needed to vitamins the sun produced to grow big and strong'. Jiraiya had helped paint the inside of the that house. Had helped haul in furniture and install new countertops. 

As he approached, the door swung open. And Jiraiya's breath left him.

Minato stepped out. It was him, not looking a day older than he had been when he died. He was dressed in his Hokage coat, his hair just as vibrant as he recalled and his smile just as easy. He was a ghost of the past, and Jiraiya had no idea what to do. He couldn't breathe, watching with wide eyes as Kakashi followed, trailing after his sensei just like the old days. The only difference now was that Minato had a mini-me holding his hand. A spitting image, only with Kushina's round grin and face shape. The child Jiraiya had failed. 

"Yeah! I had the craziest dream ever!" The boy exclaimed fervently. He had a pug-- one of Kakashi's ninken, Jiraiya assumed distantly-- in the other arm, and a gaudy orange backpack on his back. Minato clutched his hand carefully, and Jiraiya couldn't fucking move, or think, or breathe. He was sure his heart had stopped beating.

That was Minato. The boy he'd seen as a son, who he'd watched grow into the man he had been-- still was?-- today. He was actually alive. Hiruzen's letter had been real. The gate guard's excitement had been genuine and true. Minato Namikaze had come back from the dead somehow, and he was... he was just back. He was Hokage again, and he was being a dad, and running around with his student as though no time at all had passed. He was... here. That's it. If you'd told Jiraiya no time had passed at all, he'd almost be inclined to believe you.

"Yeah?" His student's voice was a slap to the face. Jiraiya's throat was tight. He stayed stock still in the middle of the path, staring as Kakashi locked up the house and ruffled Naruto's blonde hair. Minato was still smiling, so alive, and present, and real, and not just a cold headstone that wouldn't bring an ounce of closure. "What was it about?"

"There was a giant talking dog in this cage. He was super mad and yelled at me at first, but he eventually kinda calmed down a little when I told him about my day. He'd never heard of a mechanical pencil before. Isn't that weird?" Naruto sniffed a bit, and Minato nodded with total agreement. Even he knew what a mechanical pencil was, and he'd been dead six years. Albeit, he'd only found out two days ago when Naruto pulled one out to do his homework, but those details weren't important. 

"I think you're hanging out with the ninken too much, Naruto." Kakashi noted. Naruto and Pakkun both gave him an offended side-eye that made Minato coo a little. Naruto was just so small and cute! Especially when he made those little expressions with Pakkun. Being a dad was the best thing ever.

"I don't think that's possible, Ka-- wait, why's that old guy staring at us?" Naruto, naturally, halted when he spotted Jiraiya suffocating in the middle of the road. Minato and Kakashi looked over. Jiraiya watched his student's smile harden, the shine in his eyes dulling with something cold. Even if that was an expression he never wanted directed at him, Jiraiya was still stunned that Minato had looked over and actually seen him. This wasn't a dream. This was real; he was here. 

"Ah." Minato said tartly, still smiling. He didn't look away from Jiraiya even when Kakashi nudged him questioningly. "He's... don't worry about it. Naruto, would you mind if Kakashi took you to school alone today? I promise to pick you up later. We can get ice cream and train."

"U-Uh, yeah. Believe it." Naruto agreed a little hesitantly, releasing his father's hand to reach for Kakashi's waiting one. He looking between his dad and Jiraiya nervously. He didn't know who that old guy was, but this was proof. His dad is way scarier than some orange dream dog. That was the same smile he'd given Iruka-sensei, and Iruka-sensei couldn't look at the color blue or yellow without shivering anymore. Naruto thought it was just him at first, but he was pretty sure his dad had just traumatized him or something.

Minato hummed, reaching down and running a hand through Naruto's hair as the boy looked up at him with brows furrowed in concern. He only looked away at Jiraiya to beam at his son, crouching down briefly to murmur something to him and plant a kiss on his forehead. Naruto brightened a little and nodded vigorously, gripping Kakashi's hand a little more willingly. Pakkun nodded too, watching as the Kage stood again. The man beamed at them and gave a wave. Kakashi gave a closed-eye smile to his sensei, shooting Jiraiya a sharp look before turning to tug Naruto down the street. 

Minato watched them go for a moment until he was sure they weren't going to turn around again. Jiraiya felt himself seize up all over again as his student turned towards him. Any hints of a smile, even a fake one, were gone. 

"Sensei." Minato's voice came out a little quiet, but not as coldly as Jiraiya thought it would. Instead it was sad, and that... hurt more, honestly. "Why don't you come inside? We have a lot to talk about."

Jiraiya couldn't do anything but follow.