Disclaimer: Naruto is the intellectual property of Masashi Kishimoto. Anything you might recognise from other shows/manga/books/etc do not belong to me. I own nothing but the plot to this story. Please support the official release!
~Because you are my Brother~
"Say, Kurama?" a blond-haired teen sat in front of a giant Nine-tailed fox began, "Why are you still here?"
"What kind of question is that, Naruto?" Kurama huffed in amusement, "Tired of my presence?"
The pair were currently within the teen's mindscape, simply hanging out. Not even a year ago, Kurama would have baulked at the sheer concept of 'hanging out' with his jinchūriki. Nowadays, the idea barely made him cringe.
"No, I mean. There's no seal holding you in," Naruto went on, "I removed that when we fought the bijū. There literally isn't anything holding you in here. I'm still trying to work out how your other half got back in."
Kurama sighed. As much as he was on amicable terms with his current host, Naruto's obliviousness grated on his nerves at times.
"Do you remember what happened with regards to me after you fought the blasted Uchiha?" he grunted.
"Hey! Don't insult Sasuke, he's a good guy now!" the brat yelled.
"Answer the question, gaki," Kurama insisted, losing patience.
Naruto harrumphed before replying, "The other you went into weird gas and nearly choked me."
Kurama tutted at the answer. Evidently the boy didn't have enough brains to deduce the facts.
"Naruto what are the bijū?" Kurama then asked. Hopefully he'd be able to teach the knucklehead.
"Demons?" Naruto replied, folding his arms, and tilted his head in confusion.
"BRAT! WE ARE NOT DEMONS!" Kurama roared. Father preserve his patience; the boy was starting to make Kurama hate him again. He continued in a softer tone, "Demons are the likes of Satori or Mōryō. We bijū are living forms of chakra. It is why we were able to be sealed by…by her."
"Right. Sorry," Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head, "Then…where do you exist, when you're sealed? Where are we right now?"
Kurama sighed, heavily, "This mindscape is what the seal creates. A…neutral zone where we can meet. Otherwise, I do not exist in this form. But rather within your own chakra. A seal, like the Hakke no Fūin, creates a barrier between your own chakra within the pathway and mine."
"So…when Other You poofed into chakra you entered my chakra pathway? How?" Naruto asked, still looking clueless. Though in Kurama's honest opinion, it wasn't far from the brat's usual expression.
"How else, Naruto? Through your Tenketsu," Kurama explained.
"Right, fine. That's explain how you were sealed in me. But why are you still here? I removed the seal. You could be free right now? Like the others?" Naruto pressed.
"I am quite sure Gyūki remains with the moron that likes to…what do you call it? Oh yes, rap."
"You're avoiding the question," Naruto noted, uncharacteristically shrewd for once, "You hate being sealed."
"I…Naruto, I utterly detest your Shodai and his damned wife. Their treatment of my kin is unforgiveable, Naruto. They thought us mindless creatures," Kurama darkly explained.
"I get that, so I won't expect you to forgive them. If I had the chance, I'd yell at the Shodai too. Knowing what I do now," Naruto assured.
"Of course, you, of all people, would yell at the Shinobi no Kami," Kurama snorted before continuing, "I ignored your mother for the most part, as she didn't want anything to do with me. Aside from being responsible for her death, that is. I'm not going to apologise for that, either, by the way."
"Well, my parents were trying to seal you again, so it is understandable," Naruto waved for Kurama to continued.
'I'll never understand your propensity to forgive others easily, brat,' Kurama fondly thought. Aloud, he continued, "Right…Well. Naruto, before you, no one has tried to befriend me. To understand me. You were the first to treat me with the barest of common decency. At least, after you got your head out of your ass."
"Oi!" Naruto complained, but smiled nonetheless, knowing that Kurama was teasing.
"At any rate, Naruto. I stayed because I wanted to. Because I still want to. Because we're friends," the strongest of the bijū listed.
"Kurama…" Naruto breathed, stunned.
"Take your pick, brat. I have many reasons," the bijū continued, "Most I suppose the most significant reason is due to you being Asura's reincarnation. In a roundabout way, I stayed because you are my brother."
Author's Note: 'Sup everyone? Just a little one-shot to say that I'm alive and writing. My free time is severely limited at the moment, though. I'm about half-way through the rewrite for The Prince that was Promised. The delays are mostly stemmed from a new sub-plot I'm writing and the changing of some others things to better fit the main plot. Please be patient.
Anyway, this one-shot is just to give form to my headcanon for how bijū are sealed within jinchūriki, how the Yang portion of Kurama joined with the Yin, and why Kurama stayed with Naruto.
Feel free to adopt the idea if you like, but I'd appreciate that you at least refer to me if you do.