A/N: Wow, so many reviews after just one chapter. I really hope this is up to your expectations. Here we go xD

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Talking With The Tenant Part 2

The two days it took to travel back to Konoha were nothing short of mental torture for Naruto. He had to focus on watching his step, fighting off any bandits or missing nins, or just keeping watch as his teammates slept. Normally, this would've been no problem for Naruto. He would easily avoid tripping on any rocks or branches, overwhelm enemies with endless hordes of shadow clones, and stay alert like an owl while on watch.

Unfortunately...

All he could think about was getting back home to Konoha, dashing to the apartment, and asking the Kyuubi about so many things.

The constant irritation of waiting for answers as Team 7 slowly made their way home was UNBEARABLE.

He had a incredibly long list of questions that continued to grow with every passing moment. As a result, he had unintentionally shut himself out from his teammates. The number one hyperactive knucklehead ninja had gone completely silent, and the expressions on his face were very... Not Naruto-like. He didn't smile at all. There were times when he had a look of deep sorrow on his face, and there were other times when he scowled in irritation. To make things even more peculiar, Naruto had taken off his beloved headband to wipe the sweat off of his forehead. Now, Naruto's long and spiky blonde hair fell over his eyes, so it was becoming harder to tell what expression he had on his face.

Nobody had done anything to him, which made Team 7 all the more confused. Because when Naruto had left the Land of Waves, he was marching home happily and rambling on about how he would become Hokage.

Clearly, something was wrong and someone had to do something. Because even Sasuke was freaking out a little bit.

He had constantly expressed his dislike for the loser, but seeing Naruto like this was just... Wrong. It felt so unsettling.

And so, while treading through a path in the forest, Kakashi decided to take action.

Team 7 had been walking in their standard formation: Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura walking at the front as Kakashi followed from the center rear.

Gently, Kakashi tapped Sasuke and Sakura on their shoulders and motioned for them to fall back with him as Naruto continued to walk forward.

Naruto, whose mind was completely focused on the Kyuubi issue, didn't notice his teammates falling back.

When Sakura and Sasuke finally walked alongside Kakashi without Naruto noticing, Kakashi started the conversation:

"Don't pretend like nothing is wrong, because I know the both of you have noticed it too. Clearly, Naruto is not being himself. He is being way too quiet and he looks like he is in serious pain. What's going on?" Kakashi asked with a serious tone.

Both Sakura and Sasuke shrugged.

"Did either of you do anything to Naruto? ...Sasuke!" Kakashi continued while giving Sasuke the stink-eye.

Surprised by Kakashi's serious accusation of him, Sasuke stopped acting aloof and quickly got serious.

"I didn't do anything to him. I planned on asking Sakura about the way he is acting when we got back to the village." Sasuke said immediately.

Kakashi watched Sasuke carefully to make sure he wasn't lying. After all, it's not everyday Uchiha Sasuke got worried about someone. Especially Uzumaki Naruto. After making sure Sasuke was being honest, Kakashi looked over to Sakura.

"Sakura. Naruto asked you out on a date as we were leaving, remember? You may have hurt his feelings this time when you rejected him." Kakashi said firmly while looking Sakura in the eyes. Sasuke also glanced over at Sakura.

"Wh-What?! No way! I reject him all the time, but I never say anything too bad. I didn't do anything different from the usual. Besides, Naruto is the kind of person that gets right back up again when he goes down. When he started acting like this, I tried talking to him about it but he looked like he just wanted to be left alone. I was actually going to ask you about his behavior, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura stated earnestly.

After hearing Sakura's explanation, Kakashi started to recall any events that might have led up to Naruto's sudden change. Then, it hit him. Like a bolt of lightning.

"...That face he made when he was behind us back at the bridge. He looked horrified for some reason. Since then, he's been completely silent." Kakashi stated.

Both Sakura and Sasuke thought about Kakashi's statement for a moment and nodded.

"So what should we do? Do you think maybe he saw something at the bridge that scared him?" Sakura asked as she looked back at Kakashi.

"Hmm, I didn't notice anything extremely threatening back then. Besides, it's not easy to scare someone like Naruto now that he has fought strong enemies like Zabuza and Haku. But, something definitely happened on that bridge..." Kakashi replied as he watched both of his students' expressions change to worry.

"Ma, Ma, I guess we'll just have to get back to the village and see how things turn out. I'm sure he'll be right back to his normal self with a bowl of ramen at Ichiraku's." Kakashi continued as both of his students' expressions changed to slight relief.

"Y-Yeah! That has to be it. I'll bet Naruto just misses his ramen. He's always going crazy without his ramen. This probably some kind of weird withdrawal." Sakura said happily at Kakashi's explanation while Sasuke nodded.

"If that's the case, then the both of you should invite Naruto out to some bowls of ramen. On me." Kakashi suggested.

Both Sakura and Sasuke immediately acknowledged and the conversation came to an end.

As they finally entered the village gates, Kakashi finally spoke out to all three of his students.

"Alright team, this mission was definitely not what we were expecting. However, we all pulled through and did an excellent job. You're all growing up so fast, and I'm proud of you. You're dismissed to do whatever you like for the day, while I report to Hokage-sama." Kakashi said before winking at Sakura and Sasuke, then he disappeared in a swirl of wind and leaves.

Sasuke and Sakura immediately glanced over at each other and nodded. Finally, Sakura walked over to Naruto who was still really quiet and staring at the ground.

"Hey Naruto! Let's all go get some ramen together to celebrate the success of our mission. We can put it all on Kakashi-sensei's tab, too. So you can get anything you want!" Sakura said happily while putting her hand on Naruto's shoulder.

After a brief moment of silence, Naruto looked into Sakura's eyes with a sad expression on his face then widened his eyes slightly as he realized that he was back in the village. As the realization that his mental torture of waiting had finally ended sunk in, the life slowly returned to Naruto's eyes as he quietly spoke after two long days.

"I... need to go home." Naruto said as he turned away from Sakura and started walking off.

To put it simply, Sakura and Sasuke were flabbergasted at Naruto's actions.

'D-Did Naruto just... reject ramen?!' Both teammates thought.

Sasuke could see that this was a dire situation, so he jumped into action. He sprung forward and stood right in front of Naruto as he was walking away.

"Wait Naruto! Fight Me! Right Here! Right Now! This is your chance to show me what you got! Let's see if you have what it takes to be my rival! Besides, I've been wondering how you beat that Haku guy all by yourself!" Sasuke shouted to Naruto's face.

'No way will this loser back down. NO. FREAKING. WAY. Besides, I really do want to know how he beat Haku...' Sasuke thought as a smug smile came to his face.

Meanwhile, Sakura was surprised at Sasuke's sudden actions. Then, she began to smile as she realized his plan. She also knew how much Naruto wanted recognition from the Uchiha. She was also happy to see Sasuke care about Naruto as a teammate despite their differences. Every since the first fight with Zabuza at Wave, those two slowly built a good friendship with each other.

Unfortunately, Sasuke's efforts were in vain.

Naruto gently pushed Sasuke aside and kept walking forward while saying:

"I... need to be alone right now..."

The next thing anyone knew, he sprinted forward to his apartment leaving both of his teammates behind.

The situation was bad.

Very bad.

Both Sasuke and Sakura had their eyes bulging out of their heads and jaws dropped to the ground.

Kakashi was going to flip his shit when he heard about this...

He ran like a criminal. That's the only way to describe it.

Naruto bolted up the stairs to his floor of the apartment building, quickly whipped out his key, unlocked the door, threw his backpack aside, and shouted within his mind:

'KYUUBI!'

"Sheesh! You don't have to yell, brat. I'm right next to you, no, scratch that, I'm in you! By the way, what's the deal with the whole personality change? It's unsettling as hell..."

'How can I trust you?' Naruto asked seriously without the slightest hesitation.

The Kyuubi was surprised at his host's first question. Nevertheless, it answered.

"We are bound together by the seal. We share the same mind, body, and experiences. If you're hurt, I'm hurt. If you're hungry, I'm hungry. If you die, then I die. Also, we have access to each other's memories. I'll share some of mine with you if you don't believe me. Well, the necessary ones, anyway... The point is, I've been the one healing you with my power all this time. You don't have some sort miracle healing bloodline. I also protected you from that Haku boy. Need I go on?"

Naruto took a minute to absorb the Kyuubi's words. Then he broke the silence.

'And why do you trust me? You told me that humans treated you badly, so why trust me? I'm a human, aren't I?' Naruto questioned with a serious tone while slighty worried on the inside. After being called a demon and a monster for his entire life, this was the final moment of truth for him.

"You're a human, boy. Flesh, bone, and all. If anything, you're just more receptive to my demonic chakra because you were exposed to it while still in the womb. As for why I trust you, that's because you have something that everyone else doesn't: The power to resist hatred... I don't know how you do it, brat. But I've never seen someone with a power like that. Not to mention, you're quite the entertaining knucklehead so I doubt you can lie or betray me." the Kyuubi answered as it smirked at the "knucklehead" comment.

'...The power to... resist hatred...' Naruto thought deeply and repeated.

"It's a fine gift, brat. Be proud of it. You're probably the only human that can fight my influence over you because of it." The Kyuubi said.

After about a minute of silence, Naruto spoke in his mind again.

'You said that you've seen all of my memories?' Naruto asked.

"Well, I had to kill time somehow..." The Kyuubi answered honestly. "Demons get bored, too. Especially in this damn cage."

'Fine! Then show me all of your memories, too! Fair is fair!' Naruto shouted.

"W-What!? Absolutely not, brat! I will ally myself with you because I deem you tolerable, but I won't share ALL of my memories with you! Besides, your mind would probably break. After all, you're twelve, I'm ancient."

'...My mind would...break?' Naruto wondered in confusion.

The Kyuubi sighed loudly. Then it answered:

"I am a being of pure chakra that has existed for centuries. My memories would flood your mind and break your psyche. Besides that, what you'll see can't be unseen, Naruto. Once you learn certain things by seeing my memories, you can never go back to not knowing those things."

'If you've seen my memories and read my mind, then you know my life hasn't been particularly easy either.'

"Of course I know that. You are my Jinchuriki, and I am your Bijuu."

Naruto got confused for a second by this statement.

'I'm your what? and you're my what?' he asked.

The Kyuubi sighed again and took the time to explain the existences of the Bijuu and Jinchuriki to Naruto. He discussed the Rikudo Sennin (Sage of The Six Paths), the Juubi (Ten-tails), and how the Jinchuriki are used as human weapons by their villages to tap into the power of their Bijuu. He also explained how the strength of a Bijuu is determined by their number of tails, and how the Bijuu hate the human race for capturing and using them as weapons.

After finally explaining it all, Naruto took a minute to think. He was starting to understand the Kyuubi's hatred for humans, and he was glad that the Kyuubi had a legitimate reason for doing all of the terrible things it did. This meant that it really was more than just some monster. It had a heart as well.

Finally, Naruto spoke:

'You said you would show me the necessary memories... I want to see certain ones, then.'

"Hm, which ones do you want to see? I should warn you, though... some of them will shock you..."

'...I want to see the time you spent with the Rikudo Sennin... You said he was super strong and you seem to respect him a lot, so I want to see your time with him. I also want to see the entire attack on Konoha from twelve years ago. I have to see EVERYTHING from start to finish. It's my right, after all.'

"...I see. Well then... If it's you, I suppose I... could show you the time I spend with my honorable father. Alongside that, you deserve to know your origins and cause for your cursed fate as a Jinchuriki... Very well, then... Naruto, I need you to lay down on your bed, close your eyes, and relax."

Naruto was surprised at the fox's command. Nevertheless, it complied.

'I don't want to sleep, Kyuu-' Naruto said in his mind as he shut his eyes. However, he was shocked into silence by the sudden change in scenery around him.

In a brief moment, after just shutting his eyes to complete darkness, Naruto found himself in a massive yellow sewer room with little lighting and flooding water coming up to his ankles. As he looked forward, he saw a giant metal gate standing before him with a small piece of paper stuck in the middle of the gate. A large dark figure moved around behind the gate but it couldn't be seen because of the lack of lighting.

"What the heck is this place?" Naruto said as he tried to look deeper into the darkness behind the gate.

"This sewer room is your mind. I don't need to tell you why it's a sewer room, do I?" The Kyuubi's voice answered.

Naruto was shocked to suddenly hear the Kyuubi's voice. He could hear it echo from around the room. Finally, the fox's words began to sink into Naruto. Yes, he knew why it was a sewer room. As a child, Naruto would escape the mobs that would try to kill him by running through the back alleys and escaping to the sewers. It was dark and smelly, yet quiet and safe. It was the only place outside of his apartment that he felt comfortable in.

Naruto was eventually brought out of his thoughts by the Kyuubi again.

"Take a good look at that sheet of paper on the big gate in front of you."

Naruto immediately looked up at it. It said "seal" in kanji.

"So is this..."

"Exactly."

And with that word, the dark figure behind the gate came into view. Two large glowing red eyes, long rows of sharp gigantic teeth curved into a devious smile, and orange-brown fur all over. There it was, standing on its hind legs in all of its glory: The Kyuubi no Kitsune.

Naruto looked straight at the beast, lost the strength in his legs, and fell on his knees to the floor as he continued watching the monster fox.

The fox's enormous nine tails came into view as well.

Finally, the fox spoke.

"Impressive, you haven't fainted yet. My presence has struck fear into even the strongest of men."

"W-W-Why did you bring me here?" Naruto asked hesitantly as he mustered the strength to stand up from the wet floor he fell onto. Surprisingly, his clothes were perfectly dry despite the flooding water beneath him.

"You want to see those memories, right? You need to be here to see them. Now come to my cage." The Kyuubi spoke as it closed its five-fingered furry claw into a fist and stuck it out of its cage to Naruto.

Naruto just continued to stare at the fox for a minute.

"Bump it." The fox said as a smirk came onto its face.

"...Can I trust you?" Naruto asked seriously.

"I told before, brat. I deem you tolerable despite being a human. Not to mention, you're my Jinchuriki. I won't hurt you."

Naruto smiled at this and walked forward to the fox's cage, stuck his fist out, and fist-bumped the Kyuubi.

Immediately, the memories rushed in. Naruto was also surprised that he could hear the sounds in the memory like a movie.

A majestic valley in the mountains. Nine unique small creature including a minature Kyuubi surrounding a cloaked man with protruding spiky hair and strange eyes. He wielded a staff and spoke to the creatures as they smiled with joy. It looked like the cloaked man was telling them a story of some sort.

"So that's the..."

"My honorable father, the Rikudo Sennin. You are the first human to see him after his death."

"I-I'm honored."

"As expected of the human I've decided to ally myself with, it seems you do know when to show respect." The Kyuubi said while smiling.

Naruto returned to the small smile back to the Kyuubi.

The memories skipped forward to another gathering between the Rikudo Sennin and the nine Bijuus. But this time, the Bijuus looked sad as they listened to the cloaked man.

"What's happening now?" Naruto asked.

"My honorable father is telling us about his upcoming death. He is a human, after all." The Kyuubi explained.

"O-oh..." Naruto said as he lowered his head.

The memory eventually ended and Naruto returned to the sewer once more. His fist still connected to the Kyuubi's.

"And that is how we share memories in here, kit." The Kyuubi said while smiling at Naruto.

The boy had finally stopped being so serious and cautious around the beast and finally loosened up.

"WOW! That was AWESOME! We got to do that again, y'know!" Naruto exclaimed happily while jumping up and down.

"...It seems you're finally back to your normal cheerful self, brat. You had me and your team worried on your way back from the Land of Waves." the Kyuubi commented as it watched Naruto leap with joy.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I just couldn't stand waiting to ask you all my questions, though. I guess it really got to me..." Naruto answered while scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"No doubt about it. If it made you reject ramen and a fight with the Uchiha, then these upcoming questions of yours must be serious."

Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, they are, Kyuubi. But instead of asking you now, I want you to show me the memory instead... I need to see the attack on the Hidden Leaf from twelve years ago..."

The Kyuubi couldn't help but wince at this.

"Naruto... That memory isn't going to be easy to watch..."

Naruto's cheerful voice shifted over to a serious and surprisingly mature tone.

"I'm ready for it... The past is the past, Kyuubi. Ever since the Wave mission, I've been learning to understand new people that have done horrible things throughout their lives for their own reasons. You're no different. I'll watch everything from start to finish, and use my power of resisting hatred to make sure it doesn't affect my opinion of you. I don't know if you know this about me, but I've got more than just the power to fight hatred."

"Oh really, and what would that be?" The Kyuubi asked while slightly intrigued.

"GUTS!" Naruto shouted as he pulled back his fist from the Kyuubi's and fist-bumped it again.

The targeted memory flashed into Naruto's brain. And he saw the Kyuubi's attack on Konoha.

To put it simply, he saw EVERYTHING. From start to finish. His parents, their identities, his birth, the masked man, the breaking of his mother's seal, the teleportation technique of his father a.k.a. The Yondaime, the destruction of Konoha, the death of many ninjas and civilians, the summoning of a giant red toad, his mother's chakra chains, the fatal wound that his parents sustained to protect him from the vengeful Kyuubi, their final words, and the Kyuubi being sealed into him as a baby.

As the memory ended, Naruto fell to his knees in the sewer and cried.

The spiky blonde-haired, cerulean blue-eyed, sun-kissed white-skinned, orange-clad boy cried his fucking heart out.

The Kyuubi did nothing. It said nothing. All it did was watch as its host cried out at what he had just witnessed. Due to living in Naruto's mind, the Kyuubi could feel all of Naruto's emotions.

Naruto was happy.

He had been loved. He was the son of the Yondaime and the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. He was trusted with the fate of the ninja world by his parents. In summary, he was the son of heroes. Hell, becoming the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi automatically made him a hero, too.

But Naruto was also experiencing despair.

His parents had left him alone in the world. He was hated by the villagers for something he had no control over. He is forced to fight for the sake of the entire ninja world to defeat the unknown masked man that screwed up his life.

After a good three hours of crying and sorting his feelings out within the large sewer room, Naruto finally calmed down. He had tried to leave right after seeing the memory, but the Kyuubi continuously blocked out all of his attempts. It claimed that Naruto would do something drastic in the real world if it had let him go. It demanded Naruto to get himself under control first. With time, the crying had eventually stopped. And the only sound that could be heard in the sewer room was the faint dripping of pipe water...

The excruciatingly awkward silence went on for about twenty minutes. Then, the Kyuubi finally broke it.

"I'm sorry." It said clearly.

After a grueling thirty seconds of silence within the cage, Naruto responded.

"I'm... not mad at you, Kyuubi... I'm just disgusted... at the hatred that spreads around like a fucking disease!" Naruto shouted out with as he looked up at the Kyuubi with his bloodshot eyes.

"It just keeps spreading... and spreading... it hurt you, my parents, it's hurting me, it's hurting the other Jinchuriki and Bijuu out there, and it's probably ruining the entire ninja world!"

"...In this world, love and hatred must co-exist with one another. To deny that fact is to deny this world, kit."

"NO FUCKING WAY AM I GOING TO ACCEPT THAT!" Naruto roared out.

"My parents believed in me. They trusted me to save the ninja world and protect it. To do that, I can't limit myself to that train of thought!" Naruto continued.

"So, what will you do?" The Kyuubi asked as it narrowed its eyes at its host.

"The world... I...I'll change the world... I'll become the strongest... and... I'll protect everybody from hatred. Not just humans! Every living thing in the world!"

As Naruto's words echoed throughout the sewer room, a long moment of silence ensued. And then, laughter.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OH, THAT IS RICH! HAHAHAHAHAHA! SUCH AN IDEALISTIC KIT! A KNUCKLEHEAD INDEED! HEHEHEHEHE!" The Kyuubi howled in a laughing fit while rolling on the floor.

Naruto continued to stare at it, the strong look in his eyes from his declaration never leaving his gaze.

The Kyuubi noticed this, and paused in mid-laughter.

"Well, well, well, it looks like you're actually being serious about this, eh? And how do you plan to get stronger exactly?" The Kyuubi asked.

Naruto didn't waste any time in preforming his next action. He bowed his head to the floor of the sewer room towards the Kyuubi's cage and cried out loud:

"TRAIN ME!"

The Kyuubi stayed silent at this request as it continued to watch its host.

"I want to be strong. So strong that I can protect everyone from ever feeling hatred ever again... Back at Zabuza and Haku's graves, I swore to myself that I would live my life as a shinobi without regret. I still don't really get what that actually means yet, but right now... I know I have to get stronger. Please Kyuubi! Make me stronger!" Naruto continued with his head still bowed to the floor.

This was an amazing sight. Naruto was the first human to ever gain the Kyuubi's attention, respect, and sincerest apologies. He was the first to ever see its memories. He was the first to ever witness, and express honor at witnessing the Kyuubi's honorable father. He was also the first human to properly bow its head to the Kyuubi in respect while making a request... especially after just having seen the Kyuubi brutally stab his parents with his claw in a traumatic memory...

Yes, Naruto was definitely a unique individual indeed. He was certainly worthy of becoming strong, both as the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki and as a kind human.

With great pride in its voice, the Kyuubi finally spoke out.

"Very well, then... I shall help you on your quest, brat. I'll make you stronger than anyone on the entire face of this world. Your quest to fight hatred and protect the world is noble goal. And while I don't know the exact details of the prophecy your father spoke of before his death, I think I'll trust the Yondaime's words."

Naruto looked up at the Kyuubi in disbelief after hearing it's words.

"I told you before, Naruto... If it's you, then I don't mind being your ally. I've watched you since you were in your mother's womb, and I've seen all of your experiences up to this point. It may be the stupidest choice I ever make in my entire life, but it's the only choice I can make now... Besides, I know I won't regret allying myself with Konoha's number one hyperactive knucklehead ninja..."

Naruto finally regained his composure and a small smile grew on his face.

"Hey, hey, hey, that's no way to talk to Konoha's future Hokage, THE GREAT UZUMAKI NARUTO! Kyuubi!" Naruto screamed his head off with pride at the Kyuubi while smiling a big foxy grin.

"...Kurama."

"Eh?"

"The Kyuubi no Kitsune is my title, but it is not my name... My name is Kurama. We're partners now, Naruto. Remember my name."

"Kurama, eh? So that's your name. I got it, and I'll never forget it." Naruto exclaimed while standing up and pointing his right thumb at his heart.

"From this moment on, we're not the Kyuubi and the Jinchuriki anymore. We're partners... and you're my comrade from the Hidden Leaf." Naruto continued.

The Kyuubi smirked at this official declaration of alliance.

"Glad to hear it, Uzumaki Naruto."

A/N: Whew! This chapter took a serious toll on me. I really hope you guys enjoyed it. R&R. =D