Disclaimer: The only one who owns Naruto is the creator, as such please don't sue me cause I barely have enough for lunch each week . Damn minimum wage...
Three Souls, Two Blonds, One Goal
After officially graduating and a bowl or ten of Ichiraku Ramen, Naruto found himself unable to sleep as he lay in the bed of his rundown apartment. The events of the night before came crashing down on him... learning why the entire village hated him from a traitorous sensei, learning a skill he was sure no one else short of a High Leveled Chuunin could accomplish, becoming accepted by the teacher he thought had hated him... everything left Naruto's mind churning. The one thing that really kept him awake.. was the puzzle known as Kyuubi.
'Why did it attack Konoha? Why did the Fourth seal it in a baby instead of killing it? Why did he seal it in me?' these three questions kept spiraling in his mind, one after another. 'I guess.. the only ones who really know are the Fourth and the Kyuubi... but... the Fourth is dead. There's no way I can ask him, obviously. So... if I can't ask him... will I be able to ask Kyuubi?' Frowning, Naruto looked down at his stomach and glared at it, as if willing the offending body part to suddenly sprout the demon fox somehow so he could talk to it. After a few moments, though, Naruto sighed and laid his head back against his pillow. 'Guess not... Probably for the best... wouldn't want to... talk to the... damn... fur ball... any...' Finally, the events of the day caught up to Naruto, sending him into a sweet state of oblivion.
Loud, roaring laughter shook Naruto awake,causing him to bolt upright from his position on the ground. 'Wait... ground?' Looking around, Naruto found himself in what appeared to be a large sewer of some kind. "W...where am I?" the boy wondered aloud. Taking a moment to swallow and get his bearings, the boy stood up and, after hearing another bout of roaring laughter, followed by a crash, he decided to investigate.
Eventually, Naruto found himself standing before a large cage with an ofuda strip attached at its center with the word 'Seal' printed on it. The source of the laughter was obviously behind the sealed cage. 'S... something huge must be behind there...' he thought to himself as he hesitantly edged closer. In the back of the cage, he could make out what appeared to be a large, glowing window that displayed a familiar scene. On it, surrounded by grass and dripping blood from his swollen mouth, was the face of a badly beaten Mizuki. At first, Naruto was shocked... then curious... but the longer he looked at the beaten face, the harder it got for him to keep a straight face. All too soon, he was on the ground, holding his sides and adding to the roaring laughter.
By the time Naruto and the unknown being recovered from their fit of hysterics, the blond shinobi felt, more than heard, the being behind the cage make its way towards him. Sitting up, Naruto was suddenly aware of a feeling of... companionship. That whatever was behind the cage might be a kindred spirit. 'If whoever this is thought the look on Mizuki-baka's face was hilarious too, they can't be all THAT bad... right?' Of course... these thoughts soon fell quiet as he caught sight of a pair of large, red slit eyes glowing in the darkness of the cage, staring down at Naruto with curiosity.
"So... a damn fur ball, am I?" chuckled a deep, growling voice that caused the very air around Naruto to shiver from the reverberating base. It wasn't angry... but neither was it friendly. It was the kind of tone an adult would take on when a child or a new recruit would say something out of turn without realizing it. Forgiving and condescending all at once. "So you must be my vessel... shame you have to be so damned short, kit."
Suddenly standing up in shock, Naruto's eyes widened as he suddenly realized who it was behind the cage. Pointing right between the glowing red eyes, Naruto swallowed. "Y...YOU! You're the Kyuubi, aren't you! W... Well you ARE a damned fur ball! It's because of you I'm hated! It's because of you I don't have any friends! I can't shop anywhere without being kicked out or overcharged! I have to live in a crappy apartment complex alone because everywhere else would rather burn down their homes instead of have me living there! It's because of you I don't have a family! Everything bad in my life is ALL YOUR FAULT!" Tears began to form at the corners of his eyes as he glared at the Kyuubi, panting for breath as he had let out over 10 years of repressed emotion out in the span of a minute.
All was quiet as the Kyuubi merely waited patiently. As he did, the screen at the back of the cage began to flip quickly through the myriad of memories Naruto had growing up, faster than a normal person could watch or comprehend. The only constant that one could even glimpse were the cold, angry eyes that everyone seemed to hold towards the viewer. Finally, the screen blackened, leaving the only light in the cage to be the glowing red eyes of the fox demon. "Finished?" Kyuubi finally asked, his form slowly shifting in the dark. After Naruto nods, the demon fox sighs. "I'm sorry." the demon said as he stepped into the light, revealing his altered form.
Naruto's only reaction was utter and complete shock. Standing there before him was a face he had seen just recently... It was different, sure... after all, there is a difference between seen a face carved into a mountain and seeing the real thing before your eyes. Yondaime Hokage, the man who sealed the Kyuubi into him 12 years ago, stood behind the cage. Only... from what he had seen from an old picture in the Hokage's office, the Yondaime had blond hair and blue eyes. The figure before Naruto now had the same, glowing red eyes as before, looking completely unnatural on any human. His hair, too, was different, sporting crimson streaks and tips that looked as if they had been dipped in blood. Six whisker marks, similar to Naruto's own, streaked across his cheeks, only far more pronounced and made it appear as if one could reach out and pluck one. The real difference, though.. were the nine red fox tails that spread out behind the figure, waving slightly in the air but always kept in sight. "Y... you! W-Why do you look like Yondaime? And why's a demon apologizing!" Naruto's voice was filled with confusion and shock instead of any anger.
The look on Naruto's face, mouth hanging open in surprise, eyes wide in disbelief and body shivering like a leaf in a summer breeze, caused the Kyuubi to smirk... then snicker... until finally, he was leaning heavily on the bars of his cage, laughing in that same roaring way as before. "The... the look on your face! Priceless! Absolutely priceless!" he cried, falling onto his back and clutching his sides in an attempt to alleviate the pain he felt. "You look like Iruka after you pulled the Oiroke no Jutsu (Sexy Technique) on him!"
Blinking, Naruto closed his mouth and growled at the laughing Kyuubi. "OI! No one laughs at Uzumaki Naruto and gets away with it! How the hell do you know about that anyway! And why do you look like the Yondaime!" Seeing the human-like kitsune still rolling on the ground caused Naruto to frown and turn away indignantly. "Stupid fur ball..."
The Yondaime-kitsune finally calmed down after a while and sat back up, sighing as he wiped a few tears from his eyes. "Sorry bout that kit, it was just too much to pass up. Now then... Yes, I am the Kyuubi... but at the same time, I'm not. No questions till the end." The Kyuubi said, holding a clawed hand up to stop Naruto from speaking. "The reason I say this is the answer to your next question... I am Kyuubi... but at the same time, I am also the Yondaime Hokage, Kazama Kayaku, the one who sealed the Kyuubi no Kitsune into your body. When I sealed the -NO QUESTIONS TILL THE END!" Kyuubi's eyes flashed in anger as he caught Naruto about to say something... though the sudden loud roar and feeling of dread effectively shut Naruto up. "Now then... When I sealed Kyuubi in you with the Shiki Fujin (Dead Demon Consuming Seal), the sealing process took my soul as well. What generally is supposed to happen is the Shinigami (Death God) takes both the soul of the target and the soul of the user for itself... but since the Kyuubi was a demon lord, the Shinigami wouldn't have been able to handle the strain and Kyuubi would have been set free. As such, I altered the technique so the target gets sealed into a third party, namely you kit. What I didn't count on was my soul going along for the ride. Kinda like two different colors of paint, our two souls fused together when we got stuck in this prison inside of you. I tell ya kit, it took a LONG time for me to get used to one voice and single person pronouns again. So, here I am, my only contact with the outside world being your memories and dreams until you came along. NOW... any questions?"
For once, Naruto was speechless. This was more of a shock than finding out he contained the Kyuubi from the traitor Mizuki! For a few moments, All Naruto could do was gape and try to take it all in. Finally, he swallowed and shook his head to clear it for a moment. Glancing up, he stared at the Yondaime/Kyuubi fusion before him right into his red, slitted eyes. "Where does this leave me?" At the kitsune's confused expression, Naruto frowned and crossed his arms, standing up straight in a show of spirit. "Okay, I get that you screwed up somehow and fused with the demon. So now you aren't just a demon and now I'm stuck with a dead Kage-demon in my belly. So what do I get out of this? The way I see it, it's all YOUR fault that the teachers at school would never teach me anything or help me, outside of Iruka-sensei! It's also cause of you parents won't let me near their kids, and none of the kids wanna play or spar with me! I want payback!"
It was the kitsune's turn to be speechless. Very few had the gall to stand up to the Yondaime Hokage like this, let alone the Kyuubi. For the former, it was simply because people respected him too much to argue much of anything save for those truly close to him... and for the latter it was simply because anyone who did usually died. "What... would you have me do, kit?" he finally asked, unsure as to what kind of reaction to have as of yet. Respect was one, though that was tempered by the fact that the boy may not have been so bold if he was in the Kyuubi's demonic form and the Seal was not in the way. Anger was another, but that was quickly quelled, stemming from only one side of the kitsune's duality. Amusement was fairly strong within him, since the boy reminded him so much of his former human... and even younger kitsune self. Finally, curiosity...for whatever the kit was about to ask for that could possibly make up for the pain his beloved village had done to the child was most likely going to be big.
Uzumaki Naruto's blue eyes shone with determination as he clenched his fists. "Train me. Help me kick the old man out of his office so I can be the next Hokage! Then... Then I'll show the village who is the strongest and best ninja in the entire world, and they'll HAVE to respect me then! Do whatever you can to teach me everything I need to know! THAT is the only way you can EVER pay me back for these past 12 years!"
The look of determination... the strong will...the fierceness in his voice and the dream he just admitted... It was all really too much. Smirking, Kazama Kyuubi Kayaku smiled and nodded, before throwing his head back in that deep, reverberating laugh of his, his tails spreading fully behind him like a preening peacock before he spread his hands wide and brought them together in a thundering clap. "As Yondaime Hokage and as the Demon Lord Kyuubi, I give you, Uzumaki Naruto, my full support! I swear to you that I will train you in any way I can, and provide you with as much means to reaching your goal as possible! By my name, by my soul, and by my word it is done! And let me tell you kit... when a Hokage or a Kitsune give their word, they never go back on it. That is the way of a true leader! Now... get out of here kit... we have much to do and, tomorrow, you have your Team Sorting to go through tomorrow. We'll talk to Sarutobi-jiisan afterwards." And with that, Naruto vanished from the shared mind scape and slipped into a deep and peaceful rest... taking comfort in knowing that, as of tomorrow, he would be well on his way to his ultimate goal.
Next Time: Nightmares, Reflexes and Team Assignments
Author's Note: Well, how was that? This is my first Naruto fanfic, and this idea kept plaguing me after so many others. Pairings are kinda undecided at the moment, but we won't worry about that for now. Criticism and Commentary welcome! And please, give me questions and suggestions as well! Oh.. and seeking pre-readers as well! I'm thrusting this roughie out into the world and I want people to give me their two cents when I need it.
By the by.. according to Wikipedia, the Fourth's first name is Kayaku Since everyone likes to give him the last name Kazama or Uzumaki, I decided on Kazama. Thus, we have Triple-K sealed in Uzumaki and now things are just going to get INTERESTING! See you next time!
And those of you who are curious about my other fics... I'm still gonna do them! Please be patient with me!