[The flicker of a scene from touching one of the flowers. Even steeped in hatred, his brother was the reason he kept living. To be better. Stronger. To get revenge. To get answers.

In a way, he knows how that feels, too. To hang on by a thread for a little while, to still be misplaced.

For a long moment, he stares at Nico without hardly even blinking. His lips part slightly, but he doesn't say whatever it is he had planned to say at the time.

Seeing it on him is amazing, though it's a handful more accessible now than it ever had been before: the corners of his lips tug upward into a knowing, amused smile. If he wasn't down with the whole Gloomy aesthetic, if he smiled more just like this, he is quite a handsome man.

But that look is for... Naruto. Yes. He'll keep the tall, dark, and brooding. The Hokage is the one who shines for the rest of the village.]

Usuratonkachi...

[The way he says it, without knowing the language or the word, it sounds very much like a nickname.] Thin Hammer. He was always about as useless as one. Still is most of the time. [He can see the look the loser would give him if he heard him giving away this kind of first impression.

What trouble was he getting into now, that old fool?]

Some other time, I'll tell you about Naruto. The stubborn, yellow-haired idiot who reminded me where I wanted to be.