It's a beautiful day in the village Hidden in the Leaves. The sun is shinning, birds are singing, and there are thousands of pretty flowers blooming. Everyone and every creature is taking full advantage of this gorgeous day, refusing to let even one second of this day go to waste. It's a beautiful sight to see, a whole village happy and productive, even after such hard times throughout the years.
Naruto and Kurama are sitting together outside. The grass beneath them is soft and bright green. They're in an open field surrounded by daffodils, lilies, tulips, and other gorgeous flowers that you tend to find in nature. It's a spot they come to quite often, because it's beautiful and big enough to fit Kurama, the nine-tailed fox.
Between them is a small wooden table painted pink. On one side of the table, near Naruto, is a small glass of warm milk. On the other side of the table, near Kurama, is a trough filled with goat milk. No one knew how the small table could support such a weight, and an imbalanced one at that. But the pink table managed well, so they kept it despite its color.
Naruto picks up his glass of milk, blowing on it softly before taking a small sip. Kurama picks up his trough and starts drinking from it too. "Hey, Kurama?" The teen prods.
"Hmm?" The fox asks, taking a few generous gulps of milk before setting his trough back down on the table again.
"You can't die, right?" Naruto asks, but it's more of a statement than a question since Naruto already knows the answer. The fox nods his confirmation anyway, mostly to let his blonde host know he was listening, and that he could continue on.
"Well, humans usually die around seventy to eighty years old. There are exceptions though. Some people die earlier; some people die later. Some people even die really young, because we can catch deadly diseases that can't be cured, like cancer." Naruto tells him, and Kurama nods. "Since I'm a ninja, I'm expected to die younger than average people. You know, because I can die on a mission or become a target."
"Why are you telling me all of this? I already know these things, kit." Kurama says flicking Naruto on the arm playfully. There's a light tone to his voice, like he's trying to lighten the mood and get Naruto out of whatever depressing thoughts he's thinking. The flick is gentle, but it still knocks the blonde over. Naruto laughs as he topples over, letting himself fall to the soft grass below him.
On his back now, Naruto closes his eyes and grins widely. After doing so, he opens his ocean blue eyes again. He turns his head and looks over at the nine-tailed fox, drinking more of his goat's milk as if nothing happened. A small smile begins to form on the whiskered teen's face at the fox's antics and odd behavior. "C'mon Kurama, I'm being serious." The blonde jinchuuriki says, but he chuckles nonetheless.
Kurama nods, smiling despite himself. "Fine, continue. There better be a point to all of your depressing declarations." The fox warns him, and the blonde nods.
"The point is: One day I'm going to die too." Naruto says. Kurama puts down his milk, no longer thirsty. He looks away, at a butterfly resting on a red tulip. The fox smiles as he watches the simple creature do it's job, flapping its beautiful orange wings. A small bird is nearby; it swoops in, eating the butterfly. And Kurama starts feeling a little sick to his stomach, because the butterfly reminds him of a certain blonde jinchuuriki who loves orange.
"Do you think you'll forget me?" Naruto asks, but he doesn't give him the chance to answer. Just smiles and says, "I won't forget. Even if I die, I won't forget you, and everyone else, who helped me get to where I am today. You all made my life special. You all cared about me. You guys gave me a purpose for being here, for being born. So I don't think..." Naruto stops, he hiccups, and a tear rolls down his cheek. "I don't think I'll ever forget you, any of you."
There's a long moment of silence. No one speaks or moves. Everything seems still, even the wind, the butterflies, and the bees. Time itself seems to stop entirely. But then...
"No, I don't think I could forget you, even if I wanted to, kit. You gave my life purpose too, you know? You're the first person to give a damn about me since Six Paths. So no, I won't forget you, not now, not ever." Kurama tells him. Naruto looks up at him, eyes sparkling; Kurama smiles. "Now, shut up and drink your disgusting cow milk before it gets cold." Naruto smiles brightly, picking up his milk and downing it in one go.
While Naruto is distracted, Kurama lets the smile slip from him face. He looks up at the bright blue sky and shinning yellow sun. It was then he decided; he'd find a way to talk to the Hokage without Naruto's knowledge. Something was wrong with his blonde jinchuuriki. There had to be a reason he was speaking of death as if it was only just around the corner, and the fox would find out why.
"I could never forget you, kit. None of us could. We love you too much for that." Kurama whispered to himself, as he watched his blonde host slam down his glass as if he'd just won some competition. He shook his head, smiling in spite of himself. He couldn't lose this blonde idiot, not yet.
Thank you guys for reading this! I purposefully didn't say whether there's something wrong with Naruto. I mostly left that up for you guys to decide. I also don't think I specified his age in here, I may have, accidentally. But, that is also suppose to be for you guys to decide. Maybe he's already old and close to dying, maybe he's young and got some disease. Which ever floats your boat, it's all up to you. Please, review, favorite, and share! :)