Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me, this fanfic only exists for my amusement and the amusement of its readers.

~ Uzumaki Reborn: Teaser

Naruto Uzumaki stared at his reflection in the water of the valley of the kings.

From across the lake, Uchiha Sasuke did the same, their eyes were locked. Two sharingan eyes saw two ordinary eyes, human eyes.

They ran across the lake, the final showdown, and the human eyes closed. Sasuke raised his fist to deliver the ending blow. But he refused. In those last moments, he refused to gain power as his brother had, and he left to find his new master.

But Naruto was far closer to death than he had anticipated. He lay there, staring at the eyes of the fox demon that whispered to him. He desired life. Faces of people he wanted to live for flashed across his mind. Iruka. Kakashi. Sakura. Hinata. Yes, even Sasuke. Even him still.

God damn it.

He was tired, though, tired of playing the fool, of being the clown. Tired of scrapping for power that was given, overflowing, to others. He was so sick of being too weak to protect anyone, even himself, of relying on the fox demon, on his sensei, on others. Nobody relied on him, he was forced to rely on them! He was weak. He had always been weak. He had been lucky, he had strong friends, strong teachers, and a strong mark on his stomach to keep incredible power.

He did not want to be this person forever. His frustration was palpable.

Why? Why him? Why was it always him? Why did all the monstrous things happen to him and all the wonderful things happen to others? Was his clowning around just his own way of trying to get back at all those who were born with everything he wanted in life? He had never known a parent's love. His whole life had been cold. Affectionless. His sense of touch had been starved. The only time someone touched him was a fist in his stomach, or his own kick in their face.

If he could ever change, it would be now, it would HAVE to be now. His body coughed up blood, and with that blood, doubt vanished. Fear vanished. He opened his human eyes.

He lay in the water, and in his mind, the demon spoke, whispering dark things.

He stood, Naruto Uzumaki stood, both in this world and his mental landscape. And the fox demon quieted. Something had changed in the boy.

"I own you, fox demon, since the day I was born. I've lived so long afraid of you, ashamed of you. I wanted you gone! Everyone looked down on me because of you! But I've realized it now... it took me so long to realize it. If I hadn't been treated that way my whole life, I would never have come to this moment of perfect, pregnant clarity! You have existed for me. You immortal demon, born before humanity, you serve me! You nine-tailed beast that swam between the stars to find our pathetic world, you who have watched us, considering us nothing more than sad sacks of flesh. You have felt no attachment to these moments of mine that I have called upon you. It has been amusement for you. A game."

"The game ends. I own you, fox demon, I have always owned you. From the moment I was born, I could have digested you or given birth to you, for you were my womb and stomach. I thought that I was merely a vessel for you, I was your prison, that it was my good fortune to have such a source of power to draw from and my ill fortune that you carried such a stigma. I was wrong. You are such a magnificent thing. No, you are beyond that. You made the world your plaything, the oceans were your cup. What men dreamed of, you created, you could have conquered and discarded the universe, and I was afraid. I was wrong to be so"

"Uzumaki, are you imp..." The demon began to respond.

"QUIET. I am speaking. I was wrong, because it is not my good fortune that gave me to you, but my will. My destiny. My strength might come from you, but your existence comes from me. You were bound to me from the moment of my birth, even though you have lasted beyond forever. This is because you have nothing without me. You are all of the great things I have said and more. Because all of that power will soon be mine, all that you are is nothing be a fraction of me. I contain you, so you serve me. I am the inheritor of your will, and of your strength."

"I wonder what it means that it was I that was chosen, among everyone. I used to, anyway. I see it now. I was the only one who had the strength to hold you. From the start I held the power to cage a god within me! Why didn't I see it? Why did I choose to be so weak?"

"For yes, it was a choice, for me, as it is for everyone. The choice to be weak, the fear of being strong. I was afraid of power, of strength, of justice. I chose a lifetime of frustration and failure over the potential for supreme corruption that comes from true and pure power. And do you know why?"

"Fear! I was so afraid, it made my knees knock and my heart ache. Fear is vital to humanity! Those unable to fear fall to despair or rise above anyone! And yet here I stand, now unafraid, now poised between total annihilation and absolute power. You are my son, demon, and I can unmake you with a snap of my fingers."

"That is not true." The demon responded, but he sounded uncertain.

"Shall we test it then?" Naruto asked, smiling, raising his hand, ready to snap his fingers.

The demon did not respond. It rattled its cage.

"For now, you and I shall leave it at that. Watch me, Kyuubi, and perhaps you shall see something new."

Back in the Valley, Naruto's ordinary eyes, free from burdens and blessed with a new clarity, gazed at the sky. "For I know the world will! I am Naruto Uzumaki, I am the inheritor of the Spiral! I shall press the image of myself upon this world for eternity!" His shouting laughter shook the treetops. Somewhere, Sasuke heard and was afraid.