Old Town Road (Kinzoku)

Another peaceful day it was. Minato had woken up pretty early as usual and started his morning routine. After some stretching it was time for a healthy breakfast and a cold shower to make sure he was completely awake to start his day. The day of the upcoming Chuunin Exams was getting closer and closer which meant that he did not have any time to lose if he wanted to be fully prepared for the event. The raven haired Uchiha wanted to avoid making a fool out of himself so he had to take every chance he could get to train and to improve. And this day wasn't any different.

Now that he had finished his morning routine the raven haired Uchiha was getting himself ready to leave his house to begin his training for the day. He grabbed his stuff, put on his Aegis armor and took his katana with him as he left the Uchiha District and was on his way to the Konoha forest. The direction he was headed would be one of the few things that was different from his regular routine. Most of the time he would just head to the Training Grounds to practice his skills, but he decided that he would pick a different training spot today.

With such a beautiful forest at his disposal it would be a shame not to use it, or at least visit it from time to time. As he entered the forest he could immediately feel the difference between his current location and the Training Grounds. Upon entering Minato could notice how quiet and peaceful it was, with only the sound of the birds and other animals around him. Usually the young Genin would be spending his time training and learning new skills and techniques, but this time he would try and practice something entirely different. This time he would focus on his skills with kunai and shuriken.

With enough trees around him that would suffice as targets he would reach for his kunai and shuriken in his weapon pouches and threw them with utmost precision, hitting all of the trees in front of him. Simultaneously with strucking the targets he could see and hear nearby birds and other animals flying and running away, almost as if he had disturbed their peace. Due to how he was concentrated on his training he almost forgot that he wasn't alone in the forest for a moment. Minato never really spend a lot of time in the forest so he was curious to see what kind of animals he might run into. 

(WC: 432)

A few years ago Kinzoku needed to find a new meditation spot. His original one had been destroyed back during the invasion of Kirigakure. Due to that he had resorted to meditating within his own office. It wasn't such a bad spot all things considered. But there was too much negative energy flowing around in that room. With all the work, stress, nervousness that came with holding the position, it made it difficult for the Nazar to meditate in his place of work. So he needed to find a new spot. One fortunate day, he had found that spot. All it took was a stroll into the forest. Shocking.

It was during a brief encounter with a young shinobi by the name of Suzume. They had an unconventional encounter in the forest where Kinzoku had decided to make this his new meditation spot. Of course, it's here he found himself at the moment. A lot of work and preparations when into planning the Chuunin Exams. Every now and then Kinzoku needed a break from all the hectic word. That brake usually consistent of two thing. The first, smoking a cigar. Didn't matter where he chose to enjoy a cigar. He could literally enjoy it in any situation. The second was meditation at his current spot in the forest that he had marked with a Flying Thunder God seal. Easy access.

Seated on the soft grass with his legs crossed, arms resting in between his legs, the Nazar had his eyes closed while dressed in his usual attire. Peacemaker was strapped to his back as usual. Kinzoku never went anywhere without his most prized possession. Even deep in meditation, the Nazar was extremely sensitive to his surrounding environment. It was something he had learned to do because he knew meditation left him vulnerable when in areas such as a forest. There were a number of wild animals that may see an opening to strike at Kinzoku. So it was no surprise when the sound of metal coming into contact with wood grabbed the Nazar's attention. It had him wondering who had come out here and what they were doing. He slowly gathered himself to his feet before dusting himself off and heading into the direction of the noise.

It was only a matter of time before the culprit came into sight. It was none other than Minato Uchiha. Apparently he had found a new spot to train other than the training grounds. Pulling a kunai out from a nearby tree, the noise likely alerting the Uchiha, Kinzoku would toss it his way. "Disturbing the peace for everyone, it would seem" Kinzoku jokingly said as he looked up to see the departing birds. "What bring you out here?" he'd inquire while looking back down at the black haired Genin. The answer to the question was quite obvious. To train. But most Genin enjoyed their time at the training grounds with the opportunity to train with others. Why choose a secluded spot?

He hadn't been going at it for long, but Minato had already worked up quite a sweat. It was all due to the intensity the raven haired Uchiha was throwing his kunai at the nearby trees in quick succession, one after the other, each of them hitting their target. It was something different than his usual training at the Training Grounds but some change wouldn't hurt. Some even believe that change was necessary. Always practicing the same thing over and over might eventually become dull, so Minato took this opportunity to change things up. And even a well aimed kunai can end someone's life, so it's not as if this training was useless.

Being so concentrated and focusing on his training the raven haired Uchiha almost didn't notice the presence of someone else, meaning he wasn't alone in the forest. The sound of one of his kunai being pulled out followed by it being tossed close to him confirmed his assumption of not being alone. When he heard a familiar voice and checked to see who it was, Minato would notice it was none other than the Hokage himself, Kinzoku Nazar. Immediately after recognizing who it was the young Genin went through his knees as he bowed in the presence of his leader. "Lord Hokage, I did not expect running into you here." 

With Kinzoku in the forest and therefore back in Konohagakure no Sato could mean only one thing, he had returned from the war in Sunagakure. Minato was glad to see that his Kage was able to make it back alive and well. "It fills me with pleasure to see that you have returned safe, although I've caught wind of some commotion both in Sunagakure and here as well. I hope nothing too serious?" With everything that had been going on it wouldn't surprise him trouble had found its way to Konohagakure no Sato.

It seemed that Minato wasn't the only one wondering about the reason of why the other was in the forest as Kinzoku asked what it was that brought the raven haired Uchiha where they currently were. It's true that normally most people would head to the Training Grounds to improve and hone their skills, usually that would also be the place where you would be able to find Minato, but this day was different. To avoid being stuck in a rut doing the same thing over and over Minato had found his way into the forest. That, and the fact that he had only been in the forest once were the reasons as to why he had found himself at this location.

"I felt it was time for something different and thought it wouldn't hurt secluding myself from the noise of everyone at the Training Grounds. And to be honest I might have been curious to see what kind of animals I may run into." It wouldn't have been the first time Minato heard about all sorts of creatures living in the forest so he wanted to have a look for himself to check if those rumors were holding any truth. "I even heard about how people found a way to summon animals to assist them in battle, do you know more about such a thing Lord Hokage?" The raven haired Uchiha was wondering if Kinzoku was informed of things like that. 

(WC: 558, TWC: 990)

Although Minato had not picked up on Kinzoku's presence from the get go, it was good to see that he was at least aware enough to pick up on the sounds from plucking the kunai from the tree. He did not however, catch the kunai in which Kinzoku had tossed over to him. Instead letting it clunk to the ground beside him. It left the Nazar starring at the kunai for a second or so, a little dumb founded to be honest. Why did he catch it? His thoughts quickly left his mind to the sight of the young Uchiha getting down on a knee to greet the sudden appearance of his leader. Kinzoku knew the gesture was done in good faith and the young Genin was only trying to be respectful to his Hokage. Yet the action had a gut wrenching feeling for the Nazar. There was something about kneeling that Kinzoku was not to fond of. It made it seem as though the Konoha shinobi were merely working under him instead of with him. Kinzoku much preferred the latter.

"Nor I" Kinzoku replied in response to this unlikely encounter. "There's no need for kneeling. A simple greeting will do" he added. For future reference. "I'm glad to be back home as well" he continued with a smile which soon faded. There was some commotion in Suna, of that Minato was correct. The commotion here however, Kinzoku was unaware of. It left a slightly puzzled expression on the Nazar's features. "There was someone... or something in Suna that's left an uneasy feeling lingering. It's best to keep your guard up when out of the village. But I don't know what you mean by 'here as well?' Is there something I should know of?" Had Kinzoku been too focused on preparations for the Chuunin Exams that he lost sight of what was happening in his surroundings?

After Minato may or may not inform the Nazar in what he meant, he moved on to answer the Hokage's question. It seems the two came out to the woods for a common purpose, to get to someplace quiet and away from other people. One for training, the other for meditation. However there was more to the young Uchiha's venture into the wood. Curiosity dragged him out into the wild in search for what kind of animals lived out here. His curiosity had sprouted from knowledge gained about shinobi summoning animals to assist them in battle.

"I do" Kinzoku said, adjusting his top hat to brush a few strands of loose hair out from his face. "There are certain race of animals which we can sign contracts with, if they allow it. This allows us to summon them, for battle or to simply help us with general tasks. But a bond needs to be built with them first. We need to earn their trust. Why? You have one in mind?" Kinzoku asked with another smile on his face, the young Uchiha's question sparking an idea of his own. Maybe he should find one of these animal races.

As he was getting back up Minato listened closely to what Kinzoku said about what happened in Sunagakure and the uneasy feeling it had left him with. Unaware of what the raven haired Uchiha meant by what happened in Konohagakure no Sato the Hokage decided to ask more as he inquired about what took place during his absence. “Soon after you departed for the war in Sunagakure there was a big fire in the Uchiha District where a family lost their lives, except for one, a son.”
 
Minato continued his story. “Mere moments after a fire took place I was able to stop a young boy from trying to leave the village, Jakku Uchiha. I found it too big a coincidence so I decided to take it upon myself to keep him from leaving. Aiding me in said interruption was a certain man who had traveled to our village to find out more about the history of his clan, the Nara. Having no reason to deny his wish to enter our village I decided to allow him passage into the village. The man didn’t pose a threat but I figured it was worth mentioning. Regarding the other boy, I dropped him off at the prison where he is probably facing his trial by now.”
 
Once he was done explaing the situation Minato paid attention as Kinzoku informed him of how there were certain races of animals which people can sign contracts with, if they allow it. This allows them to summon them, for battle or to simply help with general tasks. But a bond needs to be built with them first, otherwise they won’t sign the contract. “That does sound interesting.” About the question if he had a particular summon in mind the raven haired Uchiha had to think.
 
Before he could answer the question their conversation was suddenly interrupted by what sounded like something galloping. A sound that could only be made by a few animals. Coming out of one of the many bushes in the forest they were soon joined by a beautiful horse. The animal came running towards the two of them in a rapid and seemingly uncontrollable manner. Maybe it got hurt and started panicking and that’s how it eventually ended up in the forest. A lot of “maybes” and “ifs”, but Minato knew he had to handle quick before the animal would start to go on a rampage.
 
Approaching the horse as calmly as possible the raven haired Uchiha slowly walked towards the animal trying to calm it down to avoid any further panicking. He directed the horse to one of the nearby trees where he gently started to caress it. Now that he had a closer look the raven haired Uchiha was mesmerized by its beauty. A truly magnificent beast it was. “Easy boy, no one is going to hurt you.” To his relief he was able to calm down the horse as it became more at ease.
 
“Hey, you. Yeah you, pretty boy. Over here.” Completely taken by surprise the raven haired Uchiha was startled when he suddenly heard a strange voice. When he looked around him to see where the noise was coming from he was caught off guard when he saw a small toad in the grass looking up at him. “Ehm, Lord Hokage, is it me or did that toad just talk?”

(WC: 562, TWC: 1552)

Ah, that's right. How could he have forgotten about the fire in the Uchiha District. There were reports about the incident that took the life of two Konoha citizens. A tragedy. Perhaps it had been all the commotion with the returning of a Hokage once thought gone and the preparation of the Chuunin Exams that had caused Kinzoku to forget. But he was glad the young Uchiha had reminded him of the event. After all it was he who had stopped and capturing the fleeing son who committed the crime. During this time, he also encountered a Nara asking for permission to enter in order to learn more about his clan. This was in fact news to the Nazar and for the time being would have to trust Minato's judgment. It may do good for the Nazar to pay the Nara a visit. "Thank you for you're good work while we were gone" Kinzoku said to the Genin, "It's reassuring to know the village is in good hands while im out."

After Kinzoku informed the shinobi of what summoning contracts were, to the best of his knowledge, his head quickly turned into the direction of something approaching. Before it came through the brush Kinzoku could hear it bounding against the ground causing a ruckus. Without a seconds thought Kinzoku's left arm reached up behind him and grabbed the handle of Peacemaker. However the crossbow never left its strapping once Kinzoku realized it was nothing to worry about. Just a wild, magnificent, beauty of a stallion. He was quite surprised to see such a creature out here. Horses were not uncommon, but this one was. So close to the village too was certainly odd. Placing his arm back at his side, Kinzoku calmly watched as Minato approached the steed and calmed it down. 

After the Genin brought it over to a tree and calmed it dow, Kinzoku slowly made his way over to the horse as to not have it go on another frenzy. Once he reached it he placed his good hand onto it allowing the horse to get use to his touch before running his hand through its mane. It took him a moment to register that there had been some talking around him. He had been too concentrated on the beauty of the horse. He suddenly snapped out of it when he realized Minato had asked him a question. That's when it hit him, there had been another voice. But from who? His eyes dropped to find the toad Minato mentioned. Bending at the knees, Kinzoku went down down his toes while keeping one hand on the horse, the other adjusting his hat as to not fall off.

"It seems the Gods are watching over you, young Uchiha" Kinzoku said with a slight grin as he observed the talking toad. "We may have one such animal race right here" he finished before looking over to observe the Uchiha's reaction.

Similar to Minato it seemed that the Hokage was captivated by the stallion's beauty as well, as it took him some moments to become aware of the presence of the little toad. As soon as he had noticed Kinzoku took a crouching position and informed Minato that the little toad might be one of those summon races they were talking about earlier. "Really? But it's so small." True, there were women out there who claimed that size didn't matter, but the raven haired Uchiha wasn't sure how much use a small toad like that would be in battle. Of course not all of those toads were as little as this one, but still.

"Hey you, who do you think you're calling small? I bet I could take you!" It would seem that Minato had hit a nerve as the toad was angry by what the raven haired Uchiha had said about its posture. For some reason it were always the smaller ones who were easy to provoke and the first to react. Minato did mean no harm when he mentioned the size of the toad, but it wasn't easy to ignore the fact that the creature was indeed lacking in height and wasn't really standing out.

"Apologies, master of the forest. If I may, what would be your name?" It was pretty obvious all was said in a sarcastic tone but maybe the toad wouldn't figure it out. Or he would and it would make him even angrier than he already was. But luckily for Minato it seemed it was the first scenario. "Ah, it seems you do know your place after all, I misjudged you human. And yes you may know my name. I'm Gamaken Junior, Gamaken is my father. If you're lucky enough you might even be able to meet him. Now it's your time to tell me something about yourself, stranger."

It started to make sense why Junior was such a little toad. He was the son of Gamaken, it made the raven haired Uchiha wonder if the father would be the same size or would be much bigger. Oh well, like Gamaken Junior said, maybe he would be able to meet the older toad as well. For now Minato would just introduce himself to the little toad, just as he had asked. "Well, my name is Uchiha Minato. I'm a Genin of Konohagakure no Sato and I came here looking to find out more about summon races. You wouldn't happen to be one of those races, would you Gamaken Junior?" 

This could be Minato's chance of finding out more about summon races and maybe even get one himself. All would depend on how Gamaken Junior would react. In the meantime the raven haired Uchiha noticed how Kinzoku's attention was aimed at the beautiful stallion which had calmed down completely. "It looks like he's pretty comfortable around you, Lord Hokage. Or is it you who feels at ease?" Minato would joke and tease his Kage for a moment, maybe the Genin wouldn't be the only one able to bond with a summon race.

(WC: 516, TWC: 2068)

The Nazar glanced at the Uchiha from the corner of his eye as his lips shifted ever so slightly into a grin. To call someone, or something small when they in fact were small was a bold move to make. Many small people are quite self conscious about their height and the Nazar could only imagine animals with a conscious on the same level or greater than humans would have the same faults. His suspicion in this case were proven true as the toad clapped back at the young Uchiha, seemingly trying to provoke him into a fight. Or perhaps he was simply all talk and no show. Getting up from his kneeling position, Kinzoku now turned to fully observe the Uchiha as he continued speaking to the talking toad. At first he made it seem as though he were ready for a serious conversation but followed up by giving the toad a jolly nickname. To that Kinzoku's eyes darted over to the Uchiha once more, his grin growing slightly larger. The Uchiha was playing games with the creature. He may end up regretting it in the long run.

Fortunately for Minato, the toad did not pick up on his sarcasm. Perhaps toads simply could not recognize sarcasm. After all there were some humans he couldn't either. Once the two began their conversation, Kinzoku turned his attention back to the stallion beside him. Now both his hands were up onto the horse's neck, one on either side as he calmly began petting it once more. Nearly un-noticeably, Kinzoku was in fact talking to the horse during this time. Although he was whispering directly to the horse so that no one but it could here him. Every now and then the horse would give a low, quick neigh as though it were actually responding to the Nazar. Maybe it was.

The conversation was suddenly halted when Minato began speaking to Kinzoku about his connection with the horse. He turned his head to face the Uchiha having missed his talk with the toad. Was it already done? "Perhaps both?" Kinzoku replied. More often than not Kinzoku was at ease. It was due to the fact he meditated so often. It allowed him to control his emotions and remained perfectly balanced and at ease with himself. Or to the best of his capabilities. "Although I have you to thank for that" he answered in regards to the horse being comfortable. "You're the one who calmed him down." 

He whispered a few more words to the horse after turning back to it. After a brief pause, Kinzoku took a single step to the side of the horse and hauled himself onto it. The horse didn't budge, knowing what Kinzoku was doing and was strong enough to hold the Nazar up and some. "How's it going with Master of the Forest?" he asked with a slight laugh.

Now that Minato had formally introduced himself to Gamaken it was only a matter of time before the small toad would answer the raven haired Uchiha's question, that is if he chose to of course. For all he knew the toad might not want to share such information with a complete stranger, a human on top of that. Maybe these animals were afraid they would be used by humans to fight their battles and to endure pain in their place. If he would be completely honest Minato would have to admit it was part of why he wanted a summon, to aid him and help him grow stronger. But that wasn't the only reason the young Uchiha wanted one.

Meanwhile the raven haired Uchiha noticed how Kinzoku was occupied by the beautiful horse that had calmed down in the presence of the Hokage. With his hat and cigars the Nazar often reminded him of a cowboy, so it made sense for both of them to be at ease around each other. And so even Kinzoku had to admit how comfortable he and the horse felt. In the meantime it seemed that Gamaken was trying to come up with an answer, seemingly wondering what and if he should answer Minato's question about whether or not he was one of the so called summon races.

After some time the silence was interrupted by Kinzoku asking how the Master of the Forest was doing. "He seems to be quite the stubborn one" the raven haired Uchiha answered knowing all too well that it would annoy the toad. Even more so when Gamaken didn't take too long coming up with a response. "Hey hey hey, who are you calling stubborn? Fine, I'll tell you, after all you don't seem like a bad guy. You don't mind if I call you Minato right? Of course you don't." It seemed Minato's plan on getting him to talk worked. In the meantime he could also see how Kinzoku was able to haul himself onto the horse, the latter not minding it one single bit. 

Minato would direct his attention towards Gamaken once more, ready to listen to what he had to say. "Yes, it is true that I happen to be part of a summon race. The Toads of Konoha Forest to be more precise. Why? Are you trying to get your hands on some toads?" That wasn't exactly how Minato would say it but at the end of the day that would be his goal. And so he would respond. "Why? Are you offering?" Of course part of his question was filled with a bit of sarcasm again but he couldn't help but wonder what the toad would say about it. Shifting his gaze towards his Hokage still sitting atop of the horse he noticed the two of them truly getting along. "What do you think Lord Hokage, trying to take the beautiful horse for a ride?" he jokingly asked with a slight yet obvious smile.

(WC: 500, TWC: 2568)

Will just exit this

1987 words. Will compile claims later