Within a suffocating abyss of darkness, an ancient being watched from behind the golden bars of the cage that kept it prisoner. The beast's multiple tails, each containing enough power to level a mountain within a single sweep, flicked about its body irritably as it gazed out into the world it had been banished from over a decade before.
The beast let a blast of hot breath from its muzzle, snorting, as it regarded the events that were playing out before the eyes of its "prison," and it tilted its head slightly as it regarded the ongoings with interest.
And so the great demon known as kyuubi, the nine-tailed fox, thought about this boy that it had been sealed into, this "Uzumaki Naruto"—and it wondered….
Why? For what reason did this boy fight? For what reason did he care so much for those who cared for him so little; for those who would rejoice to see him dead?
Uzumaki Naruto had gone against another like he in the not so distant past, the kyuubi recalled. The individual its vessel had gone against was known as Gaara—and he was the container of its one-tail brethren, the sand priest Shukaku. The fight had taken place in the forest outside of the boy's village, and during it, the boy had engaged a Shukaku-crazed Gaara in a battle that would have—should have—killed the boy, had it not been for its help.
And for what was he prepared to throw his life away for? He was ready to die for a village that despised him for his mere existence. But most of all, he was ready to die for a girl…. He had engaged the one-tailed demon in a one-on-one battle, all so that a girl might live…. A girl whom had in the past, ignored the boy's existence, despite his devotion, instead choosing to dote over the other boy that all the individuals of her gender in the village was fawning over.
Indeed, even now, Uzumaki Naruto was locked into battle with the very boy that he had been ignored for, risking his life to return this traitor to his and the traitor's village. And why? All because the boy had promised that girl that he would….
The kyuubi could not understand why….
Regardless, the boy was in trouble, now that his opponent was utilizing some kind of cursed seal to augment his power. The kyuubi watched, and came to a decision.
It seemed very important to the boy that he return this traitor to their village. It would lend its power to the boy, for now, so that he may survive. It would lend Uzumaki Naruto its chakra so that he might keep his promise to the girl who he cared so much for, and yet she cared so little.
It would aid the boy in his fight—and it would observe. It would watch, and it would attempt to discover why…. Why it was that this boy, this Uzumaki Nartuo, fought….