Summary: Naruto Uzumaki, the one who bears the burden of being the warden of the Nine-Tailed Fox. That is what the people of Konoha know him as, has been for years. However, he has a destiny far greater than anyone has ever imagined. Will he bring forth the blessing of salvation or the curse of extinction?

Warnings/Notes: LGBT Themes, (implied) violent themes, minor inspiration from Japanese Mythology and Religion, extremely minor crossover themes (if there are any), there may be different POV in every chapter. As this story would be considered a semi-alternate reality, please understand that some of the characters would most probably become off character from their canon selves.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything, nor do intentionally wish to insult, offend, smear, besmirch, desecrate, or initiate any of kind "blasphemous" deeds, towards anyone sensitive to the warnings mentioned above, nor to anyone who are sensitive in regards to any of the references being used. Every word written in this work is for artistic expression, and should not be taken on a personal level. Any resemblance to real people, whether it be their physical appearance or their name, is purely coincidental. The warnings mentioned above will not be made mention of again, as it will be assumed that the reader has taken note and understood the warnings. The excuse of TL;DR does not excuse the reader from not reading the aforementioned warnings, this disclaimer and the following legend, and should not go out of their way to express their loathing in the review, as it would be both a waste of their time and mine. Constructive criticism and spelling corrections are welcome however, will be noted, and are greatly appreciated. Thank you.

"Normal"

"Demon"

Kami

Time and/or Place; Start/End of Chapter


Unknown Date, Fragments of the Past

"There is no other option, we must seal..."

"Wait Brother! There is..."

.

.

.

"Why do you have to sacrifice yourself for my sake?!"

"Dying to make his child have a better life... that's the..."

.

.

.

"... don't be a picky eater... I was never good at it... maybe you will... don't fall for a strange one... try to find someone... like me."

"Find a goal... a dream... and don't stop trying until it comes true!..."

"... listen to your motor-mouthed mom."

.

.

.

Though this life will bring you challenges and hardship, I wish for your happiness. Take care...a...u...


Present Day, Village Outskirts, Konohagakure no Sato

"What?!" I awoke with a jolt from the dream that I just had. "Ugh, the same dream again after all this time, couldn't it have given me a few..." I checked the alarm clock to see how early it is... 6:30 in the morning. "Huh, I guess I woke up just in time, thanks dream and mysterious voices in the dream"

"Good morning Konnushi-chan. I see that my own slumber is disrupted by your own awakening as usual" A light, yet guttural, whisper filtered through my head, in its usual sleepy manner.

"Good morning Ku-chan! Sorry if I woke you up from your slumber, I had that weird dream again."

"The one that sounded like a broken record?"

"That one. Well, at least I can say I know a bit more about the dream now."

"Interesting, but maybe we should talk about it later, it is uncommon for you to be up on time, so we best make most of the time getting ready."

"Right."

For those who could not follow, let me introduce myself. Hi there, my name's Uzumaki Naruto, twelve years old, I love ramen, I am currently studying at the Konoha Shinobi Academy, I love ramen, I dream of being Hokage, oh and did I mention I love ramen? Pretty much just a little boy who has big dreams for the future.

Well, I would have left it at that if that were just the case. Not saying I am some happy-go-lucky kid who did a complete one-eighty on the personality, nah it went more like this.

You see, way back when, like let's say seven years ago, I was being chased by a mob (I'll get to the mob part in just a second) who wanted to burn me alive for some ritual sacrifice mumbo jumbo. Heck they even had this bald dude with a bunch of beads wrapped around his neck, but he wasn't the real deal, trust me, I would know. Anyway what pretty much happened was a series of fortunate events, because it would pretty much be good fortune for me to find where I am right now, and more importantly, what I am.


Seven years ago

It had stated out a decent day, as decent as it could get for a five year old orphan at least, and was only going to head over to Jiji, or as he is formally called, the Sandaime Hokage. He's pretty much the head honcho in the village, everyone looks up to him and respects him. I want to be like him someday, someone important. Like the Yondaime Hokage, the one who was supposed to be the leader now, but he died while fighting the Kyūbi no Kitsune a few years had to take over leading the village again because of that, but even with his old age, he can most probably beat up every ninja on duty with both hands tied behind his back.

As I was meandering about in my thoughts, I bumped into someone. Now normally when people bump into each other, things tend to go like this if I were a normal little boy who everyone would basically expect that they didn't know any better: Offender apologizes, Offended would say it's alright and all that hashish, and both parties would leave amicably.

However in this scenario:

"You piece of shit! Did you just bump into me!" Offended ended up yelling, and upon close inspection, he looked like one of those high standing religious types. Also known as Lynch Mob Instigators No. Who gives a crap. At this point, the civilians all around have overheard, and then cue the not-so-slowly escalating murmurs.

"He bumped into that priest!"

"How disrespectful!"

"Is the demon brat trying to mug him?!"

"How could he not know that he's a holy man?! Shouldn't he be burning by now?!"

"He must be some other kind of monster then!"

"We should teach that demon some respect!"

"Burn the demon!"

"Yeah!"

And that is my cue to start running for my dear life. You may be wondering why that sounded pretty tame, think of it this way, with the amount of whispering that was escalating to the levels of outright yelling, those few sentences are the only ones I could really make out. Now normally at this point I would have ran towards the Hokage Tower or somewhere that these nutjobs won't catch me. Unfortunately for me, the day that I just so happened to decide to go out in the open, is the day that there is some road work being done at most of the main streets connecting to the Hokage Tower, and the only other place where I could safely hide, the sweet repository of the food of the gods Ichiraku Ramen, is currently closed as Teuch-oji would be at the other end of the village having a meeting with Konoha's Merchant Guild, and Ayame-neesan is at the Civilian Training Center, dunno what she's doing there but to each their own, like me running for my life.

Unfortunately for me, given that I am a five year old at that time, and that pretty much every other civilian is in cahoots with the mob, it was only a matter of time before the peanut galley corners me at a dead end and it is gonna be a one way trip for me going to the hospital. The chase ended up going all the way through the night, at the point where anyone can see the moon clearly at the sky, and even though I am running for my dear life at this moment, I could not help but bask in its beauty briefly as I make evasive maneuvers around the village. The irony of having a beautiful moon shining throughout a night such as this would be something I would appreciate more after I survive this ordeal.

"We've got the demon surrounded, give it everything that it deserves."

Though in hindsight, I probably should have been paying more attention to my surroundings. But looking back, I would never regret a single action I have made that day, for it had gotten me to where I am now.

At that time though, all I wanted was to just go somewhere safe, a place where I won't get hurt. I just wanted to be like every other kid in the village. Someone who was free, who was loved, not someone who would be chased by a mob for something minor and trivial as an accident. Or that maybe, for once, I want to be what they accuse me of. Demon. Monster. Maybe if I were those things, I would show them, and then they would finally leave me alone!

But... despite that, I know deep in my heart, that I cannot ever become who they want me to be, I cannot become the monster they accuse me of, because I wanted to not only be better than them. I wanted them, to know that regardless of what they do to me, I would never intend to harm them.

I want to love and protect them.

And it was at that moment of realization while I was running for my life that, for the first time in my life, a warm, gentle feeling, deep in my heart, telling me something that would change my life forever.

Close your eyes and focus on this feeling, We will take care of the rest.

As this was a matter of life and death, I did what was instructed as quickly as I could, at first it was just a warm feeling, and slowly it began to intensify, as if it was about to consume my whole being. However, this feeling, it does not feel painful at all, if anything, it feels like arms wrapping around my body, kind of like those hugs that I see some kids get from their mothers. I was curious as to what is happening that I wanted to open my eyes and see what is going on, but I was afraid that the feeling would leave me, and if this was the closest that I would get to having a hug from someone, I want to always relish the feeling as long as I could.

However, little by little, the intensity of the feeling began to fade, but it was still there with me, and for some reason, I know that I was safe now.


Unknown Location

You may open your eyes now, little one.

And open them I did, and truly I was amazed by what I saw. I can see the entire village at the horizon, high enough that I can see the tops of each of the heads of the Hokage Rock. I turn around observe my surroundings to get a bearing of where exactly I am, but all I could tell is that I am surrounded by trees, and there are these floating lights all around the place. They look like multicolored tongues of fire, slowly moving at their own rhythm, in a way they illuminated the entire place, like how a swarm of fireflies would light up a river during the summer nights. From the light that they are giving however, I can make out a path moving further into the expanse of trees all around me.

I moved further in, with only the lights from these wisps illuminating my path, however it did not take me long to reach my supposed destination. It looked like some sort of temple, but I do not think I have seen this one before. You see, I had tried communing with the villages around me way before all this happened and I noticed that people go to temples and shrines, I tried going to one and needless to say, I was chased out of most of them, and one of them even tried "exorcising the evil presence by trial of fire", the fire being fire element ninjutsu from the ninja that were there visiting at the time, I made sure thereafter that I would avoid all routes leading to that temple that day on.

I still took the time to learn what I needed and more in the Library closest to the Hokage Tower, as I found out one time though overhearing a random group of gossiping old ladies, and with confirmation from Jiji, that there are copies of all the scriptures of each temple present in the library, well, a lot more than that actually once I perused through everything I could get my hands on. But enough about my adventures in the library, that is not really the point of this recollection. The point of the matter was the temple that I did not recognize from any of the others in the village, nor from the archives in the library for that matter.

This one looked different, at the front of the temple, I could make out a red spiral painted above the entrance, like that of the flak jackets worn by some of the higher ranking shinobi in the village, though here it looks like it began to fade over the course of time. Heck it looked like everything needed more than just a fresh coat of paint, but I feel something pulling me further inside the main building, so further in I went, and what was inside was pretty surprising.

Statues all around, I could not tell how many, but all were kowtowing and facing towards one lone statue softly glowing white. As I made my approach towards the center, I could make out that the statue was that of a fox depicted at rest. It was obvious that this temple was focused on the worship of this fox, but I was unfamiliar at the time on who the fox was. But as I stand before the statue, I feel something within me stir, that I should feel at ease but remain cautious.

Greetings, Little One. We are most pleased that you stand before us.

"Who's there?" I began to look around, in search of the voice. It could be anything after all, that power that took me away from the villagers, or someone who could immediately send me back to them and more.

While We find it commendable that your instincts are telling you to be wary, your caution is not needed. For you are always safe here, for you are one of our chosen.

It was then I noticed that it was the fox statue that was the source of the voice that I was hearing, as I noticed that when I heard the voice speak each syllable, the light of the statue began to pulsate in time with every syllable uttered by the voice. As I listened to the voice, the feeling inside me that stirred began to unwind, as if I should no longer be wary of the presence before me.

"Who are you?"

We believe that, though We would like to indulge you with your request for our identity, We believe that you must also hear the voice of the third party amongst us, or rather within you.

I did not understand what the voice said at the time, both about the third party that they had mentioned nor anything about 'within me'. It was then while I was ruminating about their words is when I noticed a soft red glow coming from my navel, slowly growing brighter by the second, while everything around me except for the fox statue was consumed by darkness all around. Once the darkness had settled in, the intensity of the light from my navel subsided to a soft glow, the only other thing other than the fox statue illuminating the darkness.

Please reveal yourself to your young host, Kurama.

Again, I did not know whom the fox statue was speaking to, until I heard another voice join us, the source of which was from my navel.

"As you wish, ōkami-sama"

The red light from my navel burst forth into several wisps of light, just like the ones that I saw from outside. They danced around the darkness, yet the light did not illuminate anything around us, instead, the wisps grew brighter as the rhythm of their dance grew, until they all settled into one glowing red orb, that slowly made its descent to the ground. As it touched the ground, it began to slowly split itself into a burning four legged form.

"No way..."

Slowly, the form began growing in size as streams of this strange flame began to burst forth from what I assumed where a tail is supposed to go. As it reached up to nine tails, it was then I realized who was in front of me, the demon that had ravaged Konohagakure a few years back. Though I may not have been there, anyone who had briefly touched upon the village's history would know, especially in my case as I had looked up to the Yondaime Hokage, the one who had supposedly slain the demon that threatened to destroy Konoha.

"Kyūbi no Kitsune."

"We finally meet, young one. Though as ōkami-sama had said earlier, my real name, is Kurama."

For a giant fox though that had supposedly went on a rampage, the fox's voice was pretty even and very calming actually. Though for some reason, it also felt sad, as if the fox was keeping something inside for quite some time. Before I could say something however, the fox statue began to speak once more.

Now that we are all gathered together and that you have introduced yourself my dear servant, We believe you should introduce us to our Little One, do you not think so.

"Yes ōkami-sama. Young one, it is with honor that I, Kurama, who bears the title Kyūbi no Kitsune with pride and solemn duty, that I introduce to you, the Kami of Foxes, of Fertility, Rice, Tea and Sake, of Agriculture and Industry, of General Prosperity and Worldly Success, and one of the Principal Kami, Inari Ōkami!"

I guess that should explain how I was transported here, however, for the time I spent before going to the various temples, I have never encountered, nor heard any mention of an Inari anything really.

"Inari Ōkami? Wait a minute, if you are one of the principal kami, why have I not seen any of your shrines within the village?"

Somehow, it seems like it is the wrong thing to ask a deity. After I had asked, the air did not feel right anymore. It felt like it carried a lot sadness and anger, and somehow I feel like it is coming from both Kurama and the fox... no Inari Ōkami.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"No young one, it is not that. The reason why ōkami-sama does not have any shrines in your village, well, it is because of what I was forced to do years ago."

"You mean when you rampaged across the village."

"Yes. You see, that is only one part of the story, a very long story, one that has started eons ago. Though I am not sure if we have the time to discuss everything, but rest assured we will discuss this once it becomes relevant. To put it into summary in regards to as you say it, my "rampage", my actions were forced that night."

However, it is because of those same events that had occurred that night, a blight has been cast upon their hearts, where their fear has taken over their rationality, most notably anything that has any relation to foxes of any kind. It is with that fear however, they had gotten the urge to abolish Us out of their lives, for instead of us being seen as one of their guardians, we are now a reminder of their pain. Though their actions gives great pain to Us, it is with great understanding that we persevere through their fear. But in their fear, they have turned their anguish towards an innocent child. You.

"But why? I mean, I get why they are afraid of Kurama, and I sort of understand why they became afraid of you, but the only thing I never understood is why..."

At that point, I started venting out everything how I felt about their fear turned on me. I never really understood at the time why all the villagers look at me, why every single time I am around them, I feel their loathing, and their grief, how I could never understand what they really want with me. Do they want me to die, to disappear? I could never really tell, but as I let out all my frustrations, I never noticed how tears began to fall from my eyes, nor did I notice Kurama's tails began to wrap around me, until I am covered in the warmth of the Kyūbi's fur. In the safety of his warmth, I buried my face in his fur, if only to muffle out the scream that I let out, but I have a feeling that Inari Ōkami heard me scream despite my efforts.

"Are you alright now child?"

"I think so... I'm sorry I never really had anyone to talk to about how I felt."

Little One, We, that is both Kurama and I, of all beings, understand how you feel. Sadly, We must inform you the reason as to why you are the target of the villagers' ire. Though it is up to you if you wish to hear the truth.

I can tell by Inari Ōkami's voice that she is hesitating whether or not to tell me the truth. It must be more serious than I thought if it could make even one of the gods second guess their actions. However...

"I have been living in fear and sadness all my life, and most of it came from the villagers' treatment of me. Yet all this time, I never knew why, I think it is time that I deserve to know what is really going on."

Very well Little One. However, this may change your opinion of a certain person. Kurama, the Kyūbi no Kitsune, as you could see, did not die by the hands of your Yondaime Hokage. Instead, as Kurama was forced to wreak havoc and destruction due to the manipulative ambitions of one, the Yondaime Hokage was forced to put the safety of the village first. Kurama is one of few select beings that cannot be destroyed by any means, they can only be sealed into a special container. A human one.

"No..."

I began to wrap my arms around myself, while Kurama's tails began to wrap around me in comfort, which I strangely enough sink into, for which I am grateful for. Though Inari Ōkami did not say it outright, all the pieces are laid out and fit together to form one answer.

You, Uzumaki Naruto, born on the tenth night of October, are the third jinchūriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox.

Hearing the confirmation of my status, I could not help but bury myself again in Kurama's fur and let out a long scream of anguish. All these years, why was I never told of what I bear? If I had known a long time ago... I could not see how it could have been different really. Would I have given up on life if I had known? Would I subject myself to the physical and emotional torture dealt upon me by the villagers to put an end to their inner torment? Thinking on the "what could have been", I slowly realized that, whether or not I knew before, there is nothing that could change what I am. Just as there is nothing that could change how I feel.

"Kurama."

"Yes young one?"

"Do you hate what I am? I am the one keeping you prisoner after all."

"Oh child, I may be kept prisoner within you, but even then, I could never hate you, for I see you as one of mine."

"Why?"

"This is because I have taken it upon myself to love you, as your parents would have, had they been still alive to this day. For every time you are harmed by the hands of others, I had done all I could within this prison to heal every single blow, purge out every poison, and prevent every disease, if only so you would grow strong one day. All of which, I have done with love from not only me, but from your parents."

This shocked me. The Kyūbi, seen by the entirety of the village as a being of hate, so far has only done everything it could to keep me alive. Not only that, but Kurama knows who my parents were, and that they would have loved me if they were still alive.

"Kurama, who were my parents?"

I felt that Kurama was about to answer, but... he seemed uncomfortable.

Dear Kurama, would you like Us to answer on your behalf?

"No ōkami-sama, I must be the one to answer this. I just need a little time in gathering my thoughts for the young one to understand."

Very well, Kurama.

"Young one... Naruto, please listen carefully to what I have to say, I do not want you to interrupt until both myself and ōkami-sama are finished explaining from this point on, do you understand me?"

"As long as I know the truth Kurama, I would not ask for anything else."

"Thank you young one. Your parents, were the one and only Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato, and his wife, my second jinchūriki, Uzumaki Kushina. Yes, they loved you very much, and it is because of that love that you are still here today. Minato and Kushina loved you the moment you took your first breath in this world. But because of the events that had occurred, they were not given a chance to become the parents that they wanted to be."

This was a great shock, I cannot even fathom any words to say. All I could think about is how my parents were the ones who saved the village all those years ago, how my mother was Kurama's former prison, how I was loved by two people, who I barely even got to know, who I wanted to know. The only thing I do not understand is that if there could have been any other way the events that night have played, but I just could not verbalize what I wanted to say. The expression on my face must have said more than I thought because Kurama just looked at me and must have known what was going through my mind, if his next words are anything to go by.

"In all honesty, they could have chosen any child in theory, however, there were two things that made them not do so. First of which, that only those of Uzumaki blood can become my vessel, as the chakra I carry is far too great for any other bloodline to carry, so I have been carried by one Uzumaki to another. Had Kushina remained my jinchūriki, I would have been passed down to you eventually once you were old enough."

"The second and most important reason however that held them back, was that they could never ask another to sacrifice their child, no parent in their right mind would. They could never force anyone to make that sacrifice. So, with great sadness, I was restrained by Kushina's Kongō Fūsa, while Minato invoked the Shiki Fūjin to summon a shinigami to seal me within you."

"However, in my madness at the time, I ended up dealing a killing blow on both your parents. I do not recall if it was in desperation or something else, there was just a red haze taking over me at the time, I knew what I was doing, but I do not know why I was doing it. It was only when I was finally being sealed within you, that I regained rational thought."

"Young one... please know that every single thing that I had knowingly done that night, I regret it. I may not have been happy imprisoned, but I would never have acted out in absolute rage without reason. I swear upon my patron kami, Inari Ōkami, with their divine presence bearing witness to my oath."

It was here that I saw Kurama cry. How can anyone call the creature in front of me a demon? A demon would never cry for the death of my parents, nor would they have any regrets to their actions. No, Kurama was just a victim in all this, both in the past, and even now as my unwilling prisoner. Just as Kurama was my apparent lifeline all these years, and had been my emotional anchor throughout that night's revelations, I too shared emotional support through this by embracing one of Kurama's tails, just as tender as when Kurama had wrapped their tails around me, and I could feel Kurama returning the gesture, if only to reaffirm themselves. If that night's revelations have assured me of, it is that Kurama and I can always rely on one another, as we both share the bonds of pain given to us by circumstance. Of course we are aware that we are still in the presence of a divine being, but Inari Ōkami was gracious enough to spare us a few moments before the other reason why I was brought there to the temple came into light.

As much as We want you and your resident to establish and strengthen your bond Little One, We must ask if it can be done later on, as after all you and your resident have as long as you wish to do so, and we have more to discuss tonight. While my power can obscure us from the passage of time, due to the limited amount of faith in Us this day and age, the activity is taking its toll on Our limited presence here in your realm. Of course we are able to speak again later on, but We would prefer it if we are able to discuss it properly, as We do not wish to throw you amongst the trials that would come without warning.

I could feel that Kurama wanted to linger in my embrace for a little longer, and to be honest, I felt the same. However, I think we both felt at the time that whatever Inari Ōkami needed to say is really of importance, especially since if she really is amongst the principal kami, the admittance of her waning presence is a sign of the gravity of the situation, as it had been said that no divine being would admit to their faults. At least, that is what I have overheard during the times I tried to be involved in the temples at the village.

"I guess it must be really important, and to be honest I really was wondering why I am here. So I am guessing that the issue is more than just Kurama's imprisonment and my status as jinchūriki, am I correct?"

Yes Little One, and as you have given the same to our dear Kurama earlier, We implore that both you and Kurama remain silent until everything has been said. As you may recall, We have denoted you as "our" little one. As it is true that you belong to Kurama due to the bond that you share. You, Little One, also belong to Us, and when We say that, We truly meant both Ourselves, and Our other fellow kami. For you have been favorably chosen as Our representative in the mortal realm. Our Agent. Our Medium. Our Kannushi.

For this we are sure, as you have been chosen by those of higher station than Us. The reasons however, have yet to be known to Us and to Our fellow kami. All we truly know is that the reasons are in relation to the story Our dear Kurama had mentioned, but just as it was said earlier, once it is relevant to the situation, and once We clearly know the facts, we will not mention any further in regards to the story. Do understand Little One that We are not trying to hide the story from you because you are not ready, but it is because even We do not understand the full machinations of the higher station.

However, this does not mean We will leave you stranded, if anything, We, the principal kami, are given the task of teaching you what you would need for your station. Take note however Little One, that some of Us may ask you for a favor once in a while, or that we would be testing you in efforts on aiding your growth. Especially those of Us who are a bit more... We cannot truly say malicious in all honesty, We believe the more proper term would be that they are mischievous and nasty. We do not wish to give name as to who, as one of the duties you are tasked with is to keep an open mind and understanding heart in all things. We would wish to say more, but Our time on this plane is coming to a close.

Just as Inari Ōkami had finished speaking, the darkness that had surrounded us began to fade away. I could feel Kurama's hold on me waver slightly, as the same flames that had formed their presence began to dissolve into its original state, returning back inside me. But even as Kurama's form is no longer present, I can still feel the warmth of Kurama's tails wrapped around me as though it had never left. I took that as another sign that Kurama is here to stay with me, no matter what is said and done. Once the darkness has fully disappeared, everything in the room was just as the way we have left it, though I noticed that the glow from Inari Ōkami's statue began to dim, and I can hear their voice grow more weak and distant as the light

You have something within you that is special, and We are not talking about Kurama, Little One. No, truly what you have is something even We cannot truly understand. Just know, We will be watching. Before We make our leave however, a gift to you Li... no, Konnushi-chan. We believe that in time, you would be able to put this to good use. For now... Farewell... Konnushi-chan

While I am a wee bit irritated that I was given a nickname which roughly meant "little priest", I could not help but keep silent as I watch as the last of the glow from Inari Ōkami's statue fade into almost nothing, until it somehow left the statue in the form of the floating wisps I saw all around, only instead of going in a random direction, it slowly made its descent towards me, like one of the autumn leaves slowly dancing in the air. In a fit of whimsy and probably childish wonder in my part, I cupped my hands in hopes to catch the wisp. As soon as it landed on the palms of my hands, light filled the empty space for just a moment, and from where the wisp was, I held something wooden in my hands.

I took a closer look at it and saw that it is actually a sheathed weapon. A dagger most likely because of its length, cannot really tell what kind though specifically, but if I had to guess judging by the length and what I have read in the Library, I would say it is a kaiken. When I unsheathed it, from the tip of the blade up to the base of the mount, it is roughly twenty centimeters, and there was barely anything ornate about it. Despite that though, it feels like as if I was still in the presence of Inari Ōkami the longer I leave the blade exposed.

"A most peculiar gift Konnushi-chan."

"Kurama? How is it that I can hear you? And please don't tell me you'll be calling me that nickname from now on."

For some reason I could hear something like amused grumbling in my head, which for some reason, unsettled me a bit. Kurama was being very respectful when Inari Ōkami was still present. But for some reason, I cannot tell if he wants to be amused, or is irritated at something. But when I heard a light round of laughter, I think Kurama just stuck with being amused.

"Silly Konnushi-chan, you are forgetting that we are connected, and yes I will be 'calling you that nickname' as you so put it delicately. It is fitting though, you are little, and you are, as decided by the kami, a kannushi, so therefore Konnushi-chan. I am just disgruntled that I did not think of it first."

"Fitting... okay I guess I can deal with that... Ku-chan."

"Ku-chan?! The heck kid I thought we had a bond!"

"If I get a cutesy diabetes-inducing nickname, you get one as well, but if you don't like Ku-chan, well I guess we can settle over Fuwafuwa-chan."

"...I'll take Ku-chan. Goddammit first ōkami-sama thinks of a good nickname, and now you give me a ridiculous one."

"Now that we have that settled with, anything you want to tell me about the kaiken?"

"I cannot say for sure Konnushi-chan, but from what I feel from the blade, it has a small portion of divine energy exactly like Inari Ōkami-sama. From what I can recall, back before there were no ninja villages, there was a blade forged by a blacksmith by the name of Munechika with the guidance of Inari Ōkami-sama called Kogitsune-maru. The exact story of the blade varies, but from what I can recall, the blade had been passed down or had changed owners frequently until the sword was used by someone who tried to drive away a thunderstorm, only for it to be struck by lightning, and no longer mentioned further on in history. The sword was lost, with most assuming it was destroyed by the lightning, so with that assumption. I am guessing that the kaiken you now hold has a fragment of Kogitsune-maru in it."

"Wow. So is there anything special about the blade or anything?"

"None that I can recall I'm afraid. But if anything, you have been entrusted a fragment of ōkami-sama's power in that blade, so most likely it would serve a purpose. But do not worry Konnushi-chan, we have all the time in the world to figure out not only that, but to have you grow to fulfill your now divine role."

"You'll be with me every step of the way right Ku-chan?"

"Always Konnushi-chan."


End of Flashback, Back to Present Time

From then on, with the aid of Kurama, I was able to go through all the scrolls and books that we could find in the old structure. There were plenty of topics that all of the books in the temple talked about. One book was on calligraphy, which Kurama told me I should read since it would help immensely in learning fūinjutsu later on. Another book, which I pretty much memorized its full contents the moment I invested my time into reading it, was about how to make your own ramen, soba, and udon; that one I had shared with the Ichiraku family so I could get more hands-on experience in making it while Ichiraku Ramen added some techniques from the book to make improvements to their original recipe. Heck they taught me the recipe after my 'temporary apprenticeship' under their combined tutelage. I still go to the restaurant to secretly help out from time to time, and to of course enjoy the ramen they serve.

There were even books regarding proper etiquette. Those books turned out useful, as it came in handy with interacting with the other kami that deigned to visit me in what I now call home away from the village. Every so often since then, one of the kami would visit and stay with me in real time to teach me and train me. While most of them did say that I did not need to be so formal with them, they, as well as Kurama, approved on the proper etiquette training as there may come a time that I would have interactions that would require it. Especially since I am their representative in the long run.

Inari Ōkami, being the most frequent of the kami to visit as it is currently their shrine that I am residing in, trained and taught me various skills. Under their guidance I learned the ways of a zenko kitsune; I can now create, manipulate, and destroy illusions, along with creating and using foxfire to my advantage. I was even taught how to dreamwalk and was told to train my illusion weaving there as they follow the same principle. With foxfire on the other hand, I can use it not only for attacking, given time according to Kurama, I can even use it to drain chakra from my enemies and use it for either myself or for empowering others, as foxfire is really just an embodiment of pure energy. That said however, I still have not made a breakthrough with the chakra draining and empowering part of it, mostly due to lack of sparring partners and my hesitance to use it on some random drunk person at night.

They even taught me how to craft items, at first it started with some simple ofuda, omikuji, and ema, and once they were satisfied with my level of skill we moved on to increasingly difficult and intricate items such as omamori, tamagushi, netsuke, dolls, even some clothing items. Further on they had taught me how to hone and maintain the blade that they have gifted me with. Kurama's initial assumption was right, my kaiken held a fragment of the lost Kogitsune-maru, Inari Ōkami did say however that it is not broken, merely exhausted, though I never understood what they meant, neither did Kurama, and he was very knowledgeable in a lot of topics.

Inari Ōkami would have taught me more, but according to them, the other kami have things they wanted to teach me as well, so for now I was told to improve on the skills they taught me. They had a point, I am now juggling between three abilities from them as it is, I am actually glad that they stayed with me for a month to help out. Their other month-long visits within the span of seven years were spent not only honing the abilities given to me, but also in teaching me about industry, agriculture, diplomacy, and oddly enough, skills that would make even the most well trained housewife look slovenly in comparison. The only reason that I was able to retain all that was most probably from Inari Ōkami's zenko training, Kurama's influence, and well, my general curiosity really.

My seven years of under the guidance of the kami were not just limited to Inari Ōkami however. If anything I spent a total of twenty one months for each kami that had visited to teach me something. Only three other kami had made themselves known to me during my stay at the temple, but they appeared in the form of giant wisps rather than communicate from a statue like Inari Ōkami. They were Hachiman, the kami of war, Ame-no-Uzume, the kami of the dawn and revelry, and Ōkuninushi, the kami of magic and medicine.

Let's start with Ōkuninushi. As he is the kami of magic and medicine, I was taught in ways to help others through my actions. In terms of medicine, I was taught different forms of diseases and injuries, how they were inflicted, and how to heal them. I also learned medicine preparation, wherein I not only learned what plants and animal products can aid in curing diseases and in healing injuries, but also how to prepare special concoctions that would improve overall health. I was even taught how to handle finicky patients and how to "trick" them into taking their prescription. There were also lessons in anatomy, taxonomy, biology, botany, absolutely anything related with healing a living being really.

Magic lessons however were kind of enlightening. As it turned out, what the people call nowadays as 'elemental ninjutsu' is actually a form of magic that channels the elements. But Ōkuninushi felt that I can benefit more from fūinjutsu more as it was part of my heritage, and truth be told, he was right. With the knowledge of fuinjutsu, I am able to not only channel chakra into them to get the desired effect. I am able to improve in enchanting omamori and ofuda through channeling divine energy into them. Further on with my studies of magic under Ōkuninushi, I was also taught onmyōdō, but only the defensive aspects such as making barriers.

According to Kurama, the principle of creating barriers is similar to that of my mother's Kongō Fūsa technique, and with enough practice, I would be able to replicate it and even channel either divine energy, my own chakra, or even Kurama's chakra through the chains, so with permission and guidance from Ōkuninushi, I also trained on replicating my mother's chains. It was tough work however due to the differences between the two, with creating a wall it is just that, I am focusing on is creating a solid wall with divine energy, with Kongō Fūsa however, it is a more intricate process, I have to visualize every single link of the chains to understand its structure. It was also a form of being able to control and channel both my energy and my chakra.

At the end of my time with Ōkuninushi, I was able to create a single chain that I have full control over, I learned how to project a wall that is strong enough to hold ten times my weight; I tested it by using the projection ability to create a platform connecting two trees by their branches and applying the equivalent weight using some rocks in the vicinity; and with fūinjutsu, I can now create protective wards and amulets, as well as create basic ofuda with different properties like storage and exploding tags. I still have yet to make a breakthrough with replicating my mother's chains, but so far I can feel my control for the energies within me improve with every attempt.

Under Hachiman, as he knew beforehand that I aspired to be a ninja, trained my body, my mind, and my technique. I went through a meticulous training regimen of handling various weapons, wherein I discovered that I am proficient with the kaiken, a shakujō, and with the bow and arrow. I can handle thrown weaponry just as well, but when it comes to fighting at a distance, I would still rather use the bow and arrow as I am more able to focus down on my target, though I did understand that I may not always have the luxury of time, therefore I did not neglect thrown weaponry. Further down the line I was taught kenjutsu, bōjutsu, kyūjutsu, and shurikenjutsu that were more advanced than what would be taught in the Academy.

For my body, I was to endure a regimen that focused on improving strengthening my muscles but not to the point of them becoming bulky, if anything I was to focus on dexterity, flexibility, and blocking. I was taught to remain on the defensive at all times and only push for the offensive when absolutely necessary. For my taijutsu, I was told to focus on putting an enemy off balance to be able to either take advantage of their weakness by putting them under submission, or to knock them down so I am able to make a swift escape, therefore I was taught the methods of jujutsu, judo, and aikido.

For my mind, I was taught and quizzed upon battle tactics, geography, and even meteorology to be able to predict the tides of battle and to use it to my advantage. I was to also reflect upon what I learned every end of the day through meditation, the purpose of which was that I needed my body, my mind, and my spirit to be in sync with one another to not only be calm in the heat of battle, but for all the other teachings that the other kami have for me.

As Hachiman's time with me drew closer to an end, he created multiple apparitions of my likeness and basically had me "spar' against myself, and by 'spar' it is not just a simple match. Every single day I sparred with my duplicates, every single move I knew, they also knew, and they have numbers on their side, it truly was a battlefield simulation and I was able to test out everything that I have learned, though at the earlier sessions the spars always ended in a stalemate. But as each day passed, I knew I had to focus on being unpredictable, so I began to implement actual guerrilla warfare tactics, assassination tactics, and even misdirection. Once I was able to eliminate five of the apparitions, Hachiman doubles the amount of apparitions he creates, until it got to the point that the last spar between myself and one thousand duplicates ended in a victory in my favor. To which Hachiman had bowed out saying that we would be meeting once again when the time comes.

Now with Hachiman, I was taught in the art of war. With Ame-no-Uzume on the other hand, I was taught how to be graceful and peaceful in all aspects. She taught me how to move with grace, both with my movements in battle, and with dancing, especially dancing. To the point that when I fight, it now feels like I am dancing and performing, which to my surprise, I enjoyed being able to incorporate the flowing movements to my fighting style, it made it all the more unpredictable. I was also taught further in the art of conversation, and was told that violence is not always the solution to a favorable outcome. Lastly, she taught me asobi, a ceremony that was used a long time ago to appease the spirits of the dead.

According to Ame-no-Uzume, sometimes those who died in the battle or those who suffered a violent death, need a guiding hand to be laid to rest. If their spirits linger on, their grief of their own death would eventually cause them to become violent with time, as they feel that they have been wronged, up to the point that they are blinded with rage caused by their own grief. If not put to rest their vengeance and need to cause pain may manifest amongst the living.

So I began to practice the dance every day and night under Ame-no-Uzume's gentle guidance. Every step had to be on point to not only carry grace in my movements, but also in effort to put the dead to rest. As I move my body through the steps, I was to also draw from the energy within me and let it flow through every move for me to guide the spirits of the dead properly into the afterlife. Through Ame-no-Uzume's teachings I realized that I not only had a duty to the kami and to the living, but I now also have a duty to fulfill with the souls of the departed.

What I did not notice until later on within our sessions is that since I am constantly flowing energy for every single movement in the dance, I am subconsciously improving my control to greater heights. Especially since that one of the tests that Ame-no-Uzume asked me to do is perform the dance on still water on top of a pond, maintaining as much poise and grace as possible. Ame-no-Uzume even mentioned that once I get enough control, I should try practicing on different surfaces, but I have not made any attempts to try so far.

As soon as my time with Ame-no-Uzume was coming to a close, she taught me one final lesson. Well, more like request as the last lesson is something that can only be learned through experience, not through teachings. I was taught how to blend in within my surroundings for absolutely any situation necessary. The reason of which is that there may come a time that I would need to hide myself, and though Inari Ōkami's lessons in illusions and Hachiman's lessons in tactics are useful for that, being able to apply them in any setting is a whole different matter entirely, as it is not just like putting on an illusion, or making a hasty escape. Blending in is an art form in itself, it is an extremely taxing demonstration of not only illusions and tactics, it is a matter of behavioral psychology, sociology, etiquette, information gathering, spying, to the point of even the most shallow of feminine traits should even be considered in what your cover is and how your cover should be able to affect others.

So in order to fully practice blending in, I had to go to the Academy as it made good practice in blending in, adapting a persona depending on the situation, and a little bit of espionage. That and I needed to go either way otherwise people would find it suspicious that one day I was studying and shouting to the rooftops on becoming Hokage, and suddenly I disappear off the face of the village.

To fully enforce the deception, what the public in Konoha see is an orange wearing loudmouthed idiot who barely has a lick of common sense. I even made sure that if the villagers chase me, I practice misdirection and illusions while applying escape tactics to get away from an angry mob. Once I am in the temple though, I drop all pretense of that persona and embrace what I truly am. A servant of the kami, a child created out of love, and lastly, be myself, the true Uzumaki Naruto.

Of course, I needed help in maintaining this plan, and who better to know this than the three people I know. Grandpa Hokage and the Ichirakus are the only ones in the know of what I am. Only because that they were looking for me the day after the events had transpired. And to be honest, all of us were shocked, including me because of what I learned that day. Them, because they were shocked about the role that I was given, whereas I was shocked that all three of them were genuinely worried about me. At the end of the long discussion though; and maybe the unholy glass shattering screeching of one Ichiraku Ayame to a certain old Hokage about keeping things from me, we were all glad about the built-in soundproofing of the Hokage's Office that night I assure you, otherwise Ayame-neesan would have died of embarrassment then and there once she realized she berated the Hokage like a small child.

With their help and cooperation, I was able to restore the temple to at least be operational. Over time, around two years after the event, I was also able to attract a few tourists to the temple, which I now knew from the Hokage that it was actually one of the Uzumaki Temples located in Konoha, the other being a mask storage located further in the outskirts of Konoha, but Grandpa Hokage was not precise on where it is actually located. I am still in shock that I am not just some no-name orphan, that the Uzumaki really was a clan.

Grandpa Hokage was very apologetic about keeping the truth from me, he just thought it was for the best, but he really did try to make it up to me by helping me with the restoration of the temple and promoting it to be open to the public. Unfortunately, when I did ask him what he knew about my clan, he barely knows a thing about it, only that the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama married an Uzumaki, my great aunt Uzumaki Mito; that my mother belonged to the Uzumaki Clan but understandably was not very forthcoming about the clan; that they can live really long lives while looking younger for their age; and that most of them died out when Uzushigakure, the Village Hidden among the Eddies, fell into ruin. Kind of a downer really, I was hoping to have at least a distant cousin somewhere.

Kurama did reassure me however that there is a probability that some have survived. He did mention that he would be giving me lessons in sensing others, but in a different way. He said that there were sensor ninja who were able to detect the presence of others through getting a feel for chakra. Some were good to the point that they were able to tell what jutsu they were going to use just by reading certain tells from their chakra signature. Kurama will be going beyond that level.

According to Kurama, all bijū have a special ability that only they and their jinchūriki are able to utilize. In Kurama's case, his special ability is the ability to sense negative emotions, but he has a feeling that with my divine energy, I might even be able to have a broader range of sensing that even he does. After some experimentation and subtle practice with the new influx of pilgrims, Kurama and I were able to determine that I am able to detect all sorts of emotions rather than just negative ones. A part of me feels that my sensing abilities are capable of more than that, but I have yet to think of what else I should try to sense. Kurama and I agreed however that we are revisiting the issue when needed.

Although people now go to the temple now and then, the people do not seem to realize that the kid they were chasing is the same one who is running the Uzumaki Temple. Then again I have changed a lot since then, both in terms of outfits and in appearance. My hair has grown thick, soft, and layered over time, it sometimes reminded me of a chrysanthemums that are now planted and in full bloom at the middle of the temple courtyard. Ayame even commented one time that I smelled like chrysanthemums sometimes as well.

Due to my full acceptance of Kurama's chakra and my intensive training with my own chakra and divine energy, my whisker marks have faded over time, but they are still there, just barely noticeable unless one looks at me closely. However, when I tried to experiment with Kurama's chakra in an effort to see if my divine energy can merge with his demonic chakra, I do gain some slightly more feral features, shaggier hair, narrowed pupils, and most notably, my whisker marks become thicker than they originally were. It is like a merging of both mine and Kurama's features.

My outfits these days are completely different to the shirt and shorts that I wore from that night. I now have a wardrobe full of different clothes, a set of traditional clothing for kannushi, which consists of a robe called a jōe, a hat called an ebōshi, and a pair of lower garments that are called sashinuki, all of which I would only wear during important ceremonies, which I am glad because those robes can get stifling; the outfit that I am currently wearing, my persona's outfit, a jumpsuit of the most horrendous shade of orange there is with blue sandals and a kunai holster strapped to my leg; and lastly a special outfit that I am saving for when I become genin.

There was one thing that did not exactly change though, my height. I mean I did grow taller over the years, but right now I am at one hundred twenty seven centimeters. Below the average height, especially since according to... well, everyone and even the old Bingo Books, both my parents were considerably tall, with my father only having a minuscule height advantage over my mother. I would have inherited their height but of course there were extenuating circumstances that lead to my petite height, malnutrition from when I was younger for one, but I, and the Ichirakus as well as Jiji, noticed that I was not really getting any taller that much even with the new changes to my diet.

Kurama did shed some light in the matter once he was able to internally assess the problem, because who better to check what is wrong with my insides than someone who lives inside me, apparently the cause was my inheritance, but not in the way I thought it would. The Uzumaki Clan Longevity to be precise. With the fusion of Kurama's chakra, my longevity would be through the roof, but with the presence of my divine energy however, the longevity became anomalous to the point that it stunted some hormones, namely the one factoring to height. In short, because of my own body I am short. No pun intended. I should probably get used to the short jokes soon, heck I am expecting a lot of "little girl" jokes as well as soon as I become genin.

"Konnushi-chan, if you are done with your monologue-slash-recollection, we need to head to the Academy soon otherwise you are going to be late. Again."

"SHIMATTA!"

"Konnushi-chan, language!"


- End chapter 1

- Minor Edits made 2/24/2017

- More Edits made 2/25/2017