Okay. This kind of hit me out of nowhere, and I have no outline for this. (HINT: I'm open to ideas). A lot of my ideas are inspired from things that I have read over the years, and I hold no illusions that I am anything resembling an outstanding writer. I have no formal training, and every mistake made in this little chapter is my own. I don't own Naruto or anything of substance…Except my car. I do own that. In any case, I just graduated and got a pretty demanding job, so I don't know how often I'll have the energy to update this, and frankly, if I can even make it good enough to warrant such an effort. I will be going to graduate school soon enough though, so anything I can do that is remotely intellectually stimulating has to count for something, right?

As for what I do know about this story? It will be a Naruto/Kurama friendship story. I like that dynamic between the two of them, and have in the past wondered about how it would have been if the two had a more amicable relationship earlier on in the story. Don't know if I'll do pairings – have not really given anime pairings much regard, to be honest. I'm open to it, though.

Be gentle! I'm new to this, damn it.

"The one with the power to vanquish, the one with the power to redeem. Born to those who will twice deny you, my power shall be bequeathed to. With a love long forgot, within him will reside a power even hatred knows not. And either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives. The one with the power to change this world, a child will be born as the daylight dies. It is in you, Kurama, where my hope for him resides." – The Sage of the Six Paths.

With a calculating glance, piecing blue eyes soaked in the sight of the recovering potted plant resting upon the windowsill. It was always like this, the boy mused. The chakra infused Brussel Bonsai, Chinese Elm Tree would both thrive and perish in equal parts, it seemed. At the age of 6, when young Naruto had first moved away from the orphanage into his apartment, the Hokage had given the special plant to the boy as a gift. With kind eyes, he had told the boy of the importance of positive energy in relation to the trees health, and with a gentle smile, requested that his young ward see to the trees growth. With the sun gleaming across his face, and the singing of the early morning birds his only companion, Naruto couldn't help but comply with that request this morning; to feel happy. That, he had figured, was what had to be responsible for his now animate plants recovery.

For the past week things had been…difficult for the child. Ever cognizant of the atmosphere of feeling around him, the boy had hoped that on this week, the week he finally began his studies at the academy, things would begin to change. That things would become more cheerful. With a tentative glance at the academy instructor, Iruka Umino, it was all the blond manned youngster could do to stifle the frown threatening to split across his features. Most everyone that the boy had ever come across met him with either fear, contempt, or perhaps most often, a mixture of both. Though Iruka lacked a good deal of the contempt, the fear was ever present, and what contempt he lacked, the rest of the class more than made up for.

Straightening himself out, the academy instructor pushed forward, "today, class, we are going to talk about chakra." Casting a quick glance towards the resident jinchuriki, he pushed on, "some of you will naturally have a greater level of access to this energy, and others will have to work to build it up, but all of you will need to learn how to direct it. Chakra, no matter the amount, is capable of doing amazing things, and every one of you is capable of harnessing it in a way yet to be seen. I expect each of you to work hard in the coming years to work towards accomplishing that goal, and while you're at it, let's have some fun, yeah?"

Casting a doubtful glance out the window, Naruto finally let the frown he was holding in slip into place. Fun, indeed.

Resting deep within the recesses of his still ignorant jailers mind, the Kyubi let out a low grumble. Humans were a pathetically predictable lot. Motivated by their urges, and enslaved by their doubts, they, as far as the fox could tell, destroyed every beautiful and natural thing unfortunate enough to come into contact with them. Indeed, it was because of that knowledge that the fox found his jinchuriki to be such an enigma. After years of steadfast denial, he was forced to a realization: the kid had even more life energy than he did. That, of course, should not be possible, and for all he knew, it was his doing anyways. 'Obviously it is my doing – it absolutely has to be. No human filth could possibly…'

Of course, in moments of rare calm, the beast sometimes…sometimes allowed himself to contemplate the idea of there being some human's worthy of, if nothing else, tolerance. The very first of them that the fox was aware of harnessing chakra was, indeed, even worthy of love. It was through that love, with a swirling mess of tails, that he recalled the last words the great sage had ever uttered to him. Pained though he was to even acknowledge the thought, the greatest of all tailed beasts couldn't help but wonder if perhaps it was…this child, with whom his father had referred to. That it was this child that his father lived on in.

As the tenth month of the childs 9th year died, the fox could no longer deny it. For the first time in centuries, he had felt it. With the wind and the trees and the earth swaying, their energy gently settled itself into the boy's coils for the first time. Minute though it was, he felt his father's energy. He felt his home.

With wide eyes, Kurama felt his face betray him for the first time in 300 years. He smiled. "Tch," 'it really has been too long…old man.'

Resting against the tree with the wind dusting across his features, Naruto allowed himself a quick, still rest. Over the past two years, things had gotten better. Iruka now looked upon Naruto with pride and, though he couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was, a look that only the Hokage had given him. Naruto rather liked to think of it has familial love. He figured that love was what he felt for them, after all. And with the other children in the class…things were okay. In growing up to cold, disapproving stares, Naruto learned early on to go about his business with a quiet, drawn back disposition. In class, that was no exception. In fact, the only thing many could point to matching the boy's hushed disposition was perhaps his brilliance. With careful guidance from Iruka, and an unexpected acquaintance with a silver haired ANBU, Naruto began to receive more instruction in his study of the shinobi arts than he ever dared to hope for.

With an odd, robust feeling punching itself through his body, Naruto Jolted awake. Looking down in bewilderment, Naruto noticed that his hands had developed subtle, web-like features, and upon closer examination, felt unusually calloused. Later, he would realize, that it was his entire body that had developed hardened features – that he had experienced a small amount of natural energy.

Curious, the boy moved to get up before he felt his consciousness being ripped away from him. With a start, he found himself in a bizarre array of tunnels, each with a series of pipes that almost casually dripped water. With a sudden burst of heat whisping through the tunnel in the middle, something in Naruto told him where he needed to go. Reaching the epicenter of the seal woven by the Fourth himself, Naruto came upon the biggest structure he had ever laid eyes on. A cage.

With ominous, glowing red eyes, a behemoth of a creature revealed itself. With a low, reverberating voice, the fox spoke, "the time has come for us to have words, boy."

With wide eyes, the blond instantly felt his stomach drop. Of course he knew what he was seeing. Everyone that studied the shinobi arts, even academy students, knew of the Kyubi, and what was worse, the energy he felt from it was…familiar. With the pieces of the puzzle finally falling into place, the child forced himself to ask, "the seal on my stomach…you're in it, aren't you?"

Cracking a humorless, cruel smile, the fox acknowledged, "So you felt it. Very…very good, Naruto." Drawing back a paw in a show of abrupt aggression, the fox smashed an earth-shattering strike against the cage, pushing the water that had only moments ago hugged the boy's knees to the full height of the room.

Washed away, but otherwise unharmed, the jailor forced himself to stand, with only a slight tremor in his legs. Taking a calming breath, Naruto's veins became as ice. With a steely gaze, Naruto gazed at the tailed beast neutrally before saying the most unexpected of things. "Well then, since you know my name, it's only fair that I should know yours."

Years later, Kurama would attempt to remember the first day where he became absolutely certain that Naruto was the one the sage spoke of, though he never had much success in that- Perhaps it was in the boys earlier years, when the boy had pushed through anger and hatred so well that it left him speechless, or maybe it was when he saw the boy's life energy reviving that ridiculous plant. But in years later to come, the fox knew with absolute certainty that it was no later than this moment. Indeed, perhaps it was before this day, but there was no time after this day that he and Naruto weren't friends.

"Kurama."