Divergence

Chapter 1

Regular Speech

Demonic/Angelic/Shouting/Emphasis – Booming/Loud in general

Thought Speech/Emphasis

It's a combination of the above! :D

(OLD) A/N: Hello, here goes my first attempt at a fanfiction. Lots of fluff, plenty of over-powered. Writing for fun. Will eventually crossover into other series, but gotta finish the Narutoverse first, of course. Review if you like it, flame if you don't. Will take in mind any good suggestions and criticism, but hey, in the end, it's my fic. As a note, at some points, I'll probably write dialogue without labelling who is speaking at every line, so you'll have to figure out the flow and characters yourself.

(NEW) Edit: Yo. Well, here it is, my first ever fanfiction. I'm pretty sure it's filled with plot holes, female objectification, grammatical errors, not entirely developed characters, and all the other kinds of good stuff that you're looking for in a fanfiction, right? :p Well, I wrote this about three or four years ago, when I first started. I had been infatuated with the idea of strong female protag type characters, but…uh, it doesn't translate very well when I wrote this one. The characterization isn't…that bad? I don't think, but it's definitely not great. Anyway, if you do find some interest in reading this story, I'll welcome any reviews. Just, do keep in mind that anything ideas portrayed in this story aren't very applicable to me any longer.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in my story that you recognize from anime, games, and other fanfictions. Just took some ideas and melded them together in my own image. If you don't recognize something, hey, I might've actually made something original.

Parts of the village burned and were crushed underfoot as the beast rampaged through. Demonic chakra flared, permeating the air with a sickening presence, as another volley of flames burst from the beast's mouth. The shinobi futilely attacked the giant with comparably small spouts of fire, from their own Fire Release: Flame Bullet and Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique. The giant, nine-tailed fox was unaffected by the attacks. If one had been able to overcome the demonic pressure and look the demon in the eyes, they may have noticed the strange pattern adorning the beast's eyes from a certain angle. The beast's eyes had red sclera, laced with three black comma-shaped symbols in the pupils. On a treetop nearby, a strange figure, wearing a mask with one eyehole and wearing a large, black cloak adorned with red clouds, watched the chaos unfold. Satisfied with the outcome, the figure dashed away.

…..

In the hospital nearby, a different scene of chaos was unfolding. Two shinobi suppressed a woman with flowing red-hair on a hospital bed, violet eyes burning with rage and tears dripping from her eyes.

"MINATO, I SWEAR TO KAMI I WILL RIP YOU APART IF YOU DON'T LET HIM GO RIGHT NOW!" the woman snarled. Stood facing her was a man with spiky blond hair and blue eyes, glistening with sweat and tears, holding a child.

"Kushina, I'm sorry…but, this needs to be done. It's the only way…" the man said, head slanted downwards.

"Minato, please, he's our son…why does it have to be him!? He's our baby, Minato!" Kushina said, having calmed down slightly for now.

"It's our fault that the Kyuubi was released, Kushina…and how could I call myself the Hokage (Fire Shadow), if I selfishly sacrificed another child? I'm sorry Kushina, but this is the only thing we can do…"

"…Do what you have to do, Minato. There's no point in my arguing this anyway…Hokage's duties come before that of a father." She spat, laced with venom.

"…I'm sorry. Just stay safe. I need to go now. Give Naruto all the love he deserves, and tell him…that I'm sorry, and I hope he'll understand."

Minato disappeared with a flicker, to perform the Shiki Fujin and seal away the Kyuubi into his son, Naruto. Kushina laid there, a tear running down her cheek, and head hung in resignation. Emotions flashed through her currently dull eyes; rage, sorrow, regret, resentment, fatigue, but for the most part, defeat.

The two ANBU stood, slightly saddened behind their emotionless masks. They didn't like separating Kushina and her child like that, but they had no other choice. Their arms, however, ached with the amount of strength the red-head could still output, even after giving birth and having the Kyuubi forcefully unsealed. The Uzumaki traits of high life force, pain tolerance, and regeneration had served her well in keeping her alive through the ordeal, albeit greatly weakened from labor. While they stood there contemplating the events that had unfolded before them, when suddenly darkness descended upon the room. The bed was empty, the window open, curtains fluttering in the wind, and Kushina was missing.

…..

'She will give him the life he deserves…' Minato thought to himself, as he jumped through the village towards the Kyuubi. He was hurt by Kushina's words, and while she was right in a way, there was nothing else to be done. He couldn't simply stand by and sacrifice the whole village for the life of his son. With the Kyuubi in a slight lull of activity, Minato used the Hiraishin (Flying Thunder God Technique) to get to his office room in the clan compound. Making sure that the compound was sealed up properly for Naruto in the future, he took out an envelope, a good-bye letter, and slipped it into the box within the blood-sealed compartment in the desk, one that would register with Naruto and lead him, and only him, to it. Making sure all of the Jutsu and important scrolls were sealed away properly in the family library and the weapons and armor stored safely in the family armory, he took a long look at Naruto.

Naruto, a rather normal-looking baby, if not a bit thinner, with a bit of blonde hair sticking out of his scalp, cooed at his father. Minato looked down warmly, a few tears escaping in regret of what he needed to do. Transferring a bit of knowledge into an integration seal was all he could do for Naruto at this point. Nothing too extravagant, Minato had worked on a seal which would allow him to transfer basic understanding of chakra, reading, calligraphy, and methods to train the body. The seal would also enhance and aid the development of thought, integration of information, and other basic skills, nurturing the potential that a child's brain held for growth. The seal couldn't hold too much, however, so the remainder was sealed into the scrolls in the library, for Naruto's, and anybody he trusts', perusal.

Done with his business here, Minato proceeded toward the Kyuubi. He thought back to a couple of other regrets that he had with this entire situation, sighing internally at his mistakes.

…..

Flashback: Two days prior to Kyuubi being unleashed

Minato sat at his desk, signing off paperwork, as standard for the Hokage. He sighed, staring out the window. He didn't hate being Hokage per say, no, on the contrary, he loved working for the betterment of the village. It was just all of the damned paperwork that irritated him. "Protection detail for civilian council members? Grow some balls, and maybe some brains too! Who would bother going for you? DENIED!" Minato scoffed at the silliness of some of these requests. 'Why do we even have a civilian council…aren't we supposed to be a military dictatorship of sorts…of all the mistakes, Hiruzen…' Putting down his paperwork for a few moments, he smiled, thinking about Kushina and their soon-due son. Kushina had been somewhat less enthusiastic about the whole marriage deal than they were originally. Not to say they didn't still love each other, but there was a bit of a spark missing after the initial marriage. Naruto, however, seemed to bring that beautiful luster and shine back into Kushina's eyes. The thought of being a mother was riveting to Kushina, and Minato himself was looking forward to it too.

An abnormal gust blew into the office, buffeting Minato, and he moved up his arm to cover his eyes. When he brought his arms back down, he immediately jumped into alert, or at least attempted to, as he found himself paralyzed. A figure stood in front of him, feminine, it seemed, but hard to tell through the bulkiness of the white cloak. Piercing silver eyes gazed at him, mouth hidden under a collar. When the figure finally spoke, it sounded abnormal. Minato realized that a genjutsu was being applied to the figure's voice, but couldn't do anything.

"Hello, Yondaime (Fourth) Hokage-sama. I am here to warn you about an impending disaster that will soon befall the village. Sadly, there is not much I can do in terms of personal interference at the moment, but I advise that you work on storing up chakra for the day after tomorrow. Your chakra storage seals should work nicely." The figure spoke nonchalantly, making a slight hand motion. Minato found that he could feel his mouth responding again, and responded.

"Who are you? What are you doing here? Why should I believe you? What disaster?" 'And what the hell are my ANBU doing?'

"Well, I can't answer the first question, I believe I've already mentioned the second, for the third, well, it's up to you, but if I had wanted to harm you, you would already be dead, and I'm afraid I can't specify on the fourth. Also, come now Hokage-sama, let's not double standard here. What makes you think your ANBU would be able to move if I have even you stuck with my technique?

Minato stared, mouth gaping, with an incredulous look in his eyes. "How did yo-"

"Don't worry about that, Hokage-sama. Well, regardless, I must be leaving now. Think on my words, Hokage-sama, I'll return before you in the future."

The figure dispersed into rocks and moments later, the paralysis was dispelled.

…..

Minato took slight action after the experience, assigning the shinobi to missions within the Land of Fire, but couldn't get rid of the paranoia that it was some strange conspiracy to weaken the village through misdirection. He paid for his hesitation, though the attack was lessened slightly through the measures he took. The figure re-appeared soon after the Kyuubi was unsealed, handing off a slip, grabbing one of Minato's three-pronged Hiraishin kunai, and disappearing again.

Move the beast.

As the Kyuubi showed an opening, focusing on Gamabunta, the boss toad summon, Minato threw one of his kunai, teleporting to the Kyuubi before it could retaliate, and teleported the Kyuubi to the location where he felt one of his kunai register. The Kyuubi disappeared with a yellow flash, to be relocated in somewhat-nearby forest. Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime (Third) Hokage, quickly rushed off to follow Minato, in hopes of helping him with the ritual.

…..

As Minato landed in the clearing, he felt the drain of chakra from teleporting with such a large and powerful beast and the pain of being even slightly in contact with the damaging youki. He quickly moved backwards, Naruto safely secured on his back, as the Kyuubi let out a demonic roar. Channeling chakra to his feet, Minato dropped to the ground and activated two of the ten chakra storage seals that he had on his arm, to compensate for the Hiraishin. The mysterious figure stood in the clearing, before five chains emerged from around the figure to entrap the Kyuubi and hold it down tightly. In the tension of the situation, Minato did not properly register this event, instead setting down Naruto and beginning to unseal his storage seals one by one, so as to not get oversaturated in one large intake. Sarutobi arrived in the clearing and Shunshin'd (Body Flicker) over to Minato.

Sarutobi been briefed on the situation already, as Minato's confidant on all things village related. They had a somewhat father-son relationship, due to Minato's status as an orphan and never having a father. Sarutobi prepared to focus his chakra, so he could assist Minato in the ritual, but making sure not to make himself defenseless.

"Hey, you, come over here, we need to discuss our next move. There are some issues that need to be addressed." Minato said to the figure. It nodded and summoned another chain to aid in suppressing the Kyuubi, as it struggled more against the bindings. It soon appeared next to Minato and Sarutobi.

"I assume you are referring to the issue that little Naruto's body will not be able to integrate the entirety of the Kyuubi's chakra within him?" the figure stated dispassionately. Well, it was hard to tell, as the voice was still being altered.

"Yes, the Kyuubi's chakra is much too large for my son's body to handle. I was thinking that I would split it into halves, taking sealing the Yin chakra into myself."

"Hm, I suppose that would work. I had a different idea, myself…it would work better in the long run, but you would need to trust me. I could make a slight alteration to the seal that would allow you to redirect the Yin portion into me."

"That would be impossible to contain, however. The only reason Naruto would be able to even handle any portion is because his chakra coils are und-"

"-eveloped, yes, I'm aware of the theory behind Biju (Tailed Beast) sealing. Like I said, you will have to trust me. I have a method that would prevent the youki from destroying my body, up to the period when Naruto's body would develop enough to contain the additional Yin chakra, but still have room for development. When the time is right, what must happen should happen. It's a gamble I'm willing to take towards that goal. Now then, we are running out of time, we must hurry before the Kyuubi is fully enraged and understands our purpose. The calming effect of my chains can only affect the Kyuubi to a certain extent."

"Well, I suppose it's the best chance we have. I swear, however, that if I find out that you have done something strange, I will come kick your spirit's ass when you die."

The figure ceased speaking, instead spawning four more chains, locking down all four limbs more securely, and encircling the tails from each edge. Minato focused on his own task, finishing with the drawing of the seal marker on Naruto's stomach. Minato quickly activated the Shiki Fujin (Dead Demon Consuming Seal) and channeled his intent on putting the Yang chakra into Naruto's seal, and Yin into the seal on the figure's stomach.

The Kyuubi shrieked a cry of rage as the Shinigami's avatar penetrated chest. A red ray of light emerged and impacted the figure on the stomach. He/she stumbled and eyes widened in pain, from the weight of the Kyuubi's chakra. 'This is the feeling of the Yin chakra? I won't be able to hold out for too long…I'll need to move quickly once the sealing is over.'

Minato quickly moved onto the next step, and ripped out a blue ray, the Kyuubi's Yang chakra, and it planted itself into Naruto. The Kyuubi dissipated and Minato laid down, panting. The figure left quickly and off to whatever method it had to not die from the presence. Sarutobi approached Minato quickly, laying a sorrowful hand on his surrogate son's shoulder. Minato looked up at Sandaime, light slowly dimming from his eyes.

"Sarutobi-jiisan…I'm sorry I wasn't able to do more for this village."

"There's nothing for you to apologize for. You did a wonderful job and you've given up a lot to the village…the Will of the Fire burns strongly within you."

"…Please, promise me, that Naruto will be treated as a hero, not an incarnate of the demon that destroyed the village."

"I will try, Minato. I'd rather not let the information get out at all…but Minato, you know how people are…I'm not sure if-"

"Yes, I know. I may love this village, but damned if all people were so kind and open-armed all the time. At least promise me that you'll do whatever you can for Naruto for me…think of it as a personal request. Also, I had wanted to hide his heritage from him, due to all of the assassins that would be sent for him otherwise, but if you feel he's ready or he desperately needs it, give him access to the estate. There are many things left there that would be beneficial to him. Make sure nobody gets word of the fact that he's my son, however. He doesn't need that kind of publicity, hehe."

"I'm sure Kushina will keep Naruto safe…"

"Yes, I'm sure she will, but…you never know what might happen. "

The two remained there in a melancholic silence, nothing to say. Minato sat up and sealed the remaining portions of his chakra into Naruto as well, with a few farewell words. "I hope you'll be able to forgive me, Naruto…but I'm even more determined now that you're the Child of Prophecy…you'll become a great man Naruto…I just hope you'll think of me as a worthy father." He laid down one last time.

Namikaze Minato, the Kiroi Senko (Yellow Flash), Konoha's Yondaime Hokage, departed the physical world. Sarutobi picked up Minato's body and returned to the village.

In the trees, an elderly figure with the right side of his body wrapped in bandages watched contemplatively. Smirking, he immediately returned to Konoha.

…..

The white-cloaked figure stumbled into a room that had been prepared in advance, next to a clearing with a beautiful waterfall and small lake. It held basic in-depth material over genjutsu (Illusionary Techniques), kenjutsu (Sword Techniques), ninjutsu (Ninja Techniques), taijutsu (Body Techniques), iryoninjutsu (Medical Ninjutsu), fuinjutsu (Sealing Techniques), and one scroll that seemed more important than the others. The figure moved into the center of the room and placed a blood seal on the entrance.

"Alright then, this should work. The timed seal on Naruto should be safe where I put it…see you in a bit, Naruto-kun…Fuinjutsu: Seal of Stasis!" Two bodies began to glow and words of ink wrapped around them. The glow stopped for the body of the figure, as it lay encased in glass, while the other continued entwining words over the body, layering it multiple times. The light broke, and Uzumaki Kushina was encased side-by-side with the figure.

…..

With the disappearance of the Kyuubi, the Konoha immediately spread out to recover wounded and identify the deceased. Sadness and anger permeated the village, as the civilians lamented for their lost loved ones and livelihoods. Sarutobi arrived back in village and immediately headed for the hospital, only to find the two ANBU left to protect Kushina knocked out, and the woman in question missing. He quickly awakened them and, anger burning in his eyes, began to speak.

"Where is Uzumaki Kushina?!"

The two shinobi sputtered before answering, "We're sorry, Hokage-sama, we were caught off-guard. The room turned pitch-black and we were knocked out. We are not sure what happened to Uzumaki-san…" They looked down in shame.

The old man sat seething for a moment, before a coo roused him from his anger. He looked down softly at Naruto and began thinking about what he could do for little Naruto. With Kushina seemingly abducted, he was now an orphan. He sent out orders to fan out and look for Kushina, before being interrupted by another ANBU.

"Sandaime-sama, your presence is required. An emergency council has been called for, in order to deal with the chaos in the town." The ANBU stated, before leaving with a shunshin.

Sarutobi cursed at the inconvenience of the moment, but left to the council, so the old war-hawk Danzo couldn't do anything to usurp control. Arriving at the council room doors, he entered to a council room with most of the seats filled. Bickering and arguing could be heard and as Sarutobi took his seat, he began the meeting.

"SILENCE!"

The room settled. Hyuga Hiashi, Akimichi Choza, Inuzuka Tsume, Nara Shikaku, Yamanaka Inoichi, Higurashi Orina, and Aburame Shibi sat calmly in their seats. The civilian council members took longer to settle, but eventually, business began. Fees for reconstruction, labor, and other matters were conversed about, until Shimura Danzo spoke up with an entirely different topic.

"What do you plan on doing with that child, Sandaime-sama?" The other members in the room quieted down, as the little bundle that had been redirecting some of their attention was finally addressed.

"This child is one that was orphaned during the attack. I was considering for myself, for what to do, so I do not see how this concerns you." Sarutobi replied calmly.

"Oh, but the child does, Sandaime-sama. After all, we can hardly just ignore the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko, correct?" The air in the room grew heavy in the shinobi section registered the meaning of those words, as the civilians sat dumbfounded.

"I believe that we have all come to the conclusion that Yondaime-sama will not be returning, as he is absent from the room at the moment. This leads me to believe that, along with a few rumors I heard, that child must the container of the Kyuubi no Yoko." The civilians began to shout in rage at these few words. Finally having a scapegoat and target for all of their anger, they raged with fervor. The shinobi, on the other hand, were indifferent. They knew there was no point in blaming the container for the actions of his tenant. Some even felt sorry for the fate laid upon the child and resolved to try to aid the child, such as Inuzuka Tsume, Higurashi Orina, and Akimichi Choza. A cross-shaped vein popped up on Sarutobi's forehead and he eventually commanded, "BE QUIET!"

"Sandaime-sama, how could let t-t-that THING in here? It could kill us all?" panicked one of the civilians.

"Do not speak of matters which you are unaware of! Is a prison guilt of the crimes that its prisoners committed? I will hear no foolishness of assaulting this young child. If anything, all you will do is threaten us further! If you insist on attacking the walls of a prison, all you will accomplish is releasing the prisoners! The Yondaime used this child as a container, a hero that is protecting us from the wrath of the Kyuubi no Yoko, nothing less! An innocent child, that is all! Now silence, there is to be no more discussion over this." The Sandaime snapped.

The civilian members were quelled for the moment, but they would not get over beliefs that easily. No, they were too stubborn to think logically. As they seethed silently, Danzo spoke up again.

"Regardless, Sandaime-sama, I see no reason for any further thought on the matter. The child is an orphan and as such, will be sent to the orphanage, as per protocol. A weekly stipend will be granted to care for the child." Danzo stated irrefutably.

Sarutobi cursed inwardly, 'Damn that fool…he has left me no leeway for further deliberation on Naruto's wellbeing…I will need to assign ANBU to watch over Naruto, make sure he is treated properly.'

The meeting continued relatively smoothly, eventually ending with the Sandaime taking up the office of Hokage again.

…..

Three years later… Anniversary of the Kyuubi's defeat, October 10th

A small child dug around in the trash cans behind one of the civilian restaurants, looking for some food scraps. He was rather emaciated, ribs visible through his skin, body dirty with grime, and wearing some ragged and torn clothing. Finding a not completely eaten barbeque rib, he munched on it as his little stomach growled. Uzumaki Naruto was having one of his lucky days.

Earlier in the day, he'd found a couple of thrown out scrolls around the shinobi houses and some little trinkets that he thought looked neat. Scrolls and books were some of the only things that he had to do nowadays. It had been a long while since he'd been kicked out of the orphanage, matrons sneering behind him, and he'd been forced to live on his own. The other children at the orphanage either stayed away from him or just didn't seem to have the same level of intelligence as him. It wasn't all that bad though, Naruto thought to himself.

When he had first thought of how he was sneaking around in the shadows, a word came to his mind as a small, unnoticeable light sparkled, a pattern drawn of ink disappearing from his body. 'Shinobi,' young Naruto thought. Since then he'd been scavenging around for jutsu scrolls and other things, like weights, to help him train when he did. He stashed all of the scrolls in a little hole that he'd dug one day, when he was chased into the forest. He covered the hole with some brush to make sure nobody would find it and he'd read from the scrolls once in a while.

Suddenly, he felt himself lifted, flying and tumbling through the air, before falling onto the ground with a small thump. His eyes began to water a little in preparation of what was to come. Over the time that he'd lived in the orphanage, he always received sneers and glares of hatred from most of the matrons, but nothing worse. Now, in the past two years, he'd been the recipient of a number of beatings and sessions of pain, for no reason that he was aware of. Demon, murderer, and other things they'd call him, but he didn't know what they talking about, as he pleaded for the pain to stop. He got nothing but spit in his face, kicks in his ribs, punches to the face, however.

However, as he registered the person that attacked him this time, he noticed something that hadn't been on his assaulters in the past. His eyes widened at seeing the Leaf hitai-ate (Forehead Protector) on his assailant. People began to around him, some of them holding pots, pans, and anything they could lay their hands-on, seemingly more blood-thirsty than in the past. They rushed him, hitting any reachable part of his body with anything they had, screaming things about revenge for the Yondaime, added in to the list of other things they'd usually say.

Suddenly, he felt a new type of pain, as he felt something dripping off of his hands. A kunai was buried in his hand, coming out of the other side, as he cried with new pain. Seemingly delighted by this new response, more kunai came, stabbing into his arms, legs, torso, slashing his face, as he sobbed and screamed.

His vision began to blur and slowly fade, as he fell unconscious under the barrage of the unrelenting mob. Out of nowhere, two blurry whirlwinds crashed into the mob, knocking aside the mob, followed by four smaller whirlwinds. The crowd parted, leaving Naruto along in the center, as two figures stood glaring at the crowd, four dogs encircling Naruto as well.

"What the HELL is going on here? Huh? Beat it before I rip out your DAMN THROATS!" the taller figure shrieked. The civilians ran away, the shinobi of the crowd jumping, before only Naruto and his saviors stood along.

Two women stood, looking down at Naruto's battered and broken body with pity and sorrow in their eyes. The taller woman was Inuzuka Tsume; she had wild, spiky brown poking out in all directions, with two clan fang markings on both of her cheeks. The short was her daughter, Inuzuka Hana; she wore her brown hair in a ponytail, with two locks of hair falling down onto her face. They picked up Naruto and brought him to the hospital.

…..

They sat in the hospital room by Naruto's bedside as they both contemplated what they had seen up to now. Shinobi of the village, along with civilians, mobbing a small child who looked to be less than four years of age. The child being left with cuts and bruises all over his body, holes where kunai were stuck through, and one or two compound fractures. Even upon entering the hospital, they caught the sneers and disapproving stares at the child in their arms, the reluctance when they asked for treatment, and even the final condition after they 'treated' him. His bones were clumsily reset, cuts only rinsed with water and loosely bandaged, and bruises left. Hana, being interested in medicine, was able to set Naruto's bones herself.

"You know, Hana, when I heard that this kid was the Jinchuriki in the council room years ago, I felt bad for him, but I thought he'd be fine in the orphanage. But this…this just sickens me," spitting out the end of her remark. Hana nodded in agreement. They both got a good look at his body while she was re-bandaging his cuts and setting the wounds, gasping and tearing up at the sight of his emaciated body. It took something really despicable to draw tears out of Inuzuka Tsume, the matriarch of the Inuzuka clan, but the sight of his tiny body did the job.

They both bent down, embracing the little boy's body, hoping to comfort him even the slightest bit.

…..

Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip.

Naruto found himself in a sewer of some sort. 'How did I get in here? Last thing I remember…' before he shuddered in memory of the pain. Perking his ears, he heard a sound aside from the dripping. He continued through the tunnels until he found himself looking through bars with a piece of paper hanging from the lock and into a pair of large, red eyes.

"Hello?" he asked curiously.

A loud roar shook the tunnels as Naruto just stood there, unblinking. He felt oddly calm in here, as if nothing could actually harm him. The roar stopped soon, the eyes not leaving Naruto. Realizing that intimidation wouldn't really work, it tried a different approach.

"Sorry, but I don't really speak big, scary monster. Let's start again, hello!" Naruto said with a wide grin on his face.

A sweat drop seemed to appear on the face area of the giant behind the bars. A light filled the tunnel as the flames ignited on the figure's body. The Kyuubi appeared, laying behind the bars.

"What are you doing here, human?" The Kyuubi asked, though it knew exactly why the boy was here. It was curious as to the child's response.

Naruto crossed his legs and sat down in front of the bars, thinking on the question for a bit.

"I don't really know, giant fox-san. I just opened my eyes and found myself here! Why are you in here, giant fox-san?" Naruto asked, eyes glimmering with curiosity.

The Kyuubi sweat dropped again at the impromptu action of its container. "Stop calling me that…I am the Kyuubi no Yoko! And I am in here because of a foul man with dark intentions…" responding boastfully, then angrily.

"Oh, ok, Kyuubi-san. Say, it must be really cramped back there, I wonder if I could help with that…" Naruto said. He thought about how he'd much rather be in the forest than this damp sewer, when the scenery suddenly changed around him. 'Cool! Wait, if that happened because of me…then I must be in my mind…what's Kyuubi-san doing in my mind?'

The Kyuubi widened its eyes in shock at the scenery change. It felt a little thankful towards the tiny being in front of it as it finally escaped the dark sewers and look upon sunlight for the first time in a long time. The seal moved from the sewer bars to a choker on the Kyuubi. Naruto spoke up again, as the Kyuubi took in its new surroundings.

"Hey, Kyuubi-san, why are you here in my mind?"

The Kyuubi sighed, preparing for the inevitable backlash that would come when it revealed the truth. Slightly saddened from the eventual loss of the only conscious contact it'd had in a decade or so, it decided to just get the issue out of the way here. It wasn't as if there was much else the Kyuubi could do in Naruto's dreamscape anyway. This child was strange for a human, not a property that upset to the legendary demon.

"Are you aware of the attack upon your human village of Konoha that occurred three years ago?"

"Uh, I've heard things about it, but I don't really talk to people much. All I heard was that the town was damaged a lot and people blame me for it, for some reason…"

"Well, I am the demon that 'assaulted' the village those years back. I am the Kyuubi no Yoko, the nine-tailed fox demon, and I am the reason why the villagers hate you so much. I am contained within you, which is why I also exist here in your dreamscape. Foolish, disgusting humans…They call me the demon, while they act in a manner which no being should act, attacking one of the only truly innocent beings in existence, a child…" The Kyuubi rambled.

Naruto thought about this new information that he was just given. Some of the information just didn't add up for him.

"They focus on 'what' you did. But, 'why' did you attack the village, Kyuubi-san? You don't seem to be the type to aggress pointlessly. You've had lots of chances to attack me in here, but you haven't. So, why?"

The Kyuubi was rather surprised at how analytically Naruto approached the information. Even more than that, the vocabulary that he possessed was astounding. Obviously, he still had the emotional capacities of a normal child, if his glee at finding random trinkets and open pain at the beating he had received was any indication, so it was rather odd how so much thought development could occur at such a young age. She may have seen a stimulation seal activating a while back, but even it shouldn't have worked to such an effect.

"That day is a rather sore subject for me…but I suppose telling you wouldn't really effect much. Very well, I shall tell you my account of the incident. Prior to being sealed within you, my last container was, I believe, your mother. I do not know her name or any details about her, so I am sorry about that. The bond between your mother and I was not as open as this. The only reason why I am to believe that she is your mother is that when I was initially unleashed from the seal, you were held in her arms firmly.

I had a few short moments of free thought before I found myself staring into those….accursed eyes. I do not know what they were, but upon seeing them, I lost control of my body, found myself imprisoned within my own mind, as my shell began to attack your village. Soon, I found myself trapped in that sewer-like area in which you discovered me in, stuck back behind a seal once again. I give you my thanks for releasing me from that horrid place. One gets tired of certain areas once you've inhabited for upwards of a decade. You can mull over this some other time, human, but I believe it is time for you to return to the waking world soon."

Before Naruto could respond, the world began to fade as his actual eyes began to flicker open.

…..