Chapter 2: A Long Day
While his goal didn't actually require being a ninja to fulfil, Kurama knew that being one would have its advantages. It opened many windows for him to gain more knowledge on different topics related to his goal, including finding ways to break down his seal faster. That being said, there was another reason why he still wanted to be a ninja.
He was fully aware that his powers were limited, and he would have fought an uphill battle trying to escape without sufficient preparation. He planned to test his limits, and he knew that the best course of action would be to fight. And being a ninja was a sure-fire way to fight, and kill without raising any suspicion.
That and he finally graduated. He couldn't imagine failing for a fourth time, so he was glad that was over. Now he could focus on more important things.
The biggest threat to his goal was that masked man who was somehow able to control him. Kurama could only remember being controlled one other time, by Madara Uchiha. And that event was the start of Kurama's torturous Hidden Leaf Experience. And someone with similar powers to someone like Madara was far too dangerous to be left alive.
Those and other thoughts occupied Kurama's mind as he waited for someone to escort him to the Hokage, so he could put the whole Scroll of Seals fiasco behind him. A member of the Hidden Leaf Village's ANBU approached him.
"Naruto Uzumaki, the Hokage is ready to see you now." Allowing the ANBU to escort him to the Hokage's office, Kurama felt his world spin around him as he entered the office in a swirl of leaves and wind. The ANBU quickly took his leave.
"Ah, Naruto." The Hokage gave Kurama a kind, grandfatherly smile. "I'm glad you could join me. Please, sit down." Kurama sat down in the single chair in front of the Hokage's desk. "After hearing of your ability to perform Shadow Clones from Iruka, I have agreed with Iruka's decision and have made your promotion official."
"Thank you for the promotion, Lord Hokage."
The Hokage returned Naruto's smile. "Naruto, it's not like you to be so formal. Is there something troubling you?"
Kurama frowned. The Hokage had done a lot for him, but he always hid information from him behind a façade of wizened benevolence. Like the names of his 'parents', or his identity. "Why didn't you tell me the truth about the Nine-Tailed Fox, old man?" You could have helped me start my trek on the long road to freedom, Kurama added silently.
The Hokage took off his hat, revealing gray hair. "I only wanted to protect you. That was why I made the details about you and the Nine-Tailed Fox an S-Rank secret. Not for the previous generations, but for newer generations that, ideally, wouldn't be influenced by the Nine-Tailed Fox's attack. I did this so that you could live a normal life."
"That secret didn't help me out at all! In fact, most of my classmates treat me just as badly as the other villagers."
"I am aware of that. They were influenced by their parents' opinion of you, but as they do not know about you being a jinchūriki, you still have a chance to make them accept you for who you are."
Kurama remained silent.
"Iruka also told me about how a red cloak or shroud of chakra surrounded you and your clones when you attacked Mizuki," the Hokage continued. "I will have to warn you, however, that attacking Leaf ninja is a grave offense."
Kurama jumped out of his chair, fangs bared. "Mizuki was a traitor!"
The Hokage raised his hand in a placating gesture. "And you were fortunate that he was. As you would have been promoted to Genin, it wouldn't have affected your reputation or mission record anyway, but it would be prudent for you to remember the consequences of murdering Hidden Leaf ninja."
Kurama nodded curtly. "Don't worry, I'll remember them."
The Hokage smiled proudly. "Now let's return to discussing the chakra shroud. It seems that you somehow tapped into the Nine-Tailed Fox's chakra after Mizuki revealed the secret to you. When that happened, you succumbed to the Nine-Tails' bloodlust as you fought against Mizuki, correct?"
"No," Kurama snapped. "I was in full control."
The Hokage flinched for a brief moment. "How? You wouldn't mind explaining, wouldn't you?"
"I wanted to kill Mizuki for betraying my trust and threatening to kill Iruka-sensei, but at the last moment, I hesitated." And I don't know why. Killing Mizuki should have been as easy as breathing. Maybe I'm growing soft. Kurama scoffed at that thought. Not a chance. The day I regret killing someone is the day I'll call myself soft.
"Maybe the cloak appeared when I was angry," Kurama admitted. Then he drew on his power as much as he could, until he hit his limit. "But I didn't feel like I was losing control of my actions until that moment."
"At any rate, Naruto, I am glad at how these events have turned out. Before I let you go, however, do you have any questions for me?"
This is my chance to test the old man's loyalty to me. Kurama knew that as the Leaf Village's leader, the Hokage had an obligation to his village and would have to do whatever was necessary to protect it. That loyalty would most likely supersede any affection the Hokage had for him. "I have two questions. I noticed that when my clones were dispelled, I had full knowledge of what they did. Is that a side effect of the Shadow Clone Jutsu?"
"Yes. Everything that the Shadow Clone experiences will be transferred to you once the clone has dispelled. The technique itself was created to act as an extra tool for reconnaissance."
Kurama nodded and sat on the chair, a small smile tugging at his lips. "Do you have any other secrets to tell me? It'll only be for my own good if I know everything."
"Do you have any secrets of your own, Naruto?"
Kurama grinned. "It's something big. I do hope to tell you, but only if I can trust you completely."
"I'll have you know, Naruto, that I will support you as much as I can. I want you to know that you can trust me completely."
"We'll see," Kurama said darkly. "But why not tell me everything? I'm not that knowledgeable, and I want to use anything I can to my advantage."
"It's for your protection," the Hokage repeated.
"We're going back to that again, aren't we?" Kurama asked callously.
The Hokage's expression became grim, anger burning in his eyes as he clenched his fist. "I have done my best to protect you, Naruto! If a villager told you that you were the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, the villager would be punished by life imprisonment, at the very least. I have also gone to great lengths to prevent you from suffering the same kind of abuse that other jinchūriki like you have gone through. Did you know that the jinchūriki from the Village Hidden in Sand was the target of multiple assassination attempts?" Kurama shook his head. "As you can see, you have not suffered such a terrible ordeal, compared to what you might have suffered."
"I see what you mean." Kurama could see where the Hokage was coming from. For one, the villagers only ignored him or whispered about him. They never tried to hurt him, and if they did, he would paint the village red with their blood. It was as simple as that. And even if the Hokage was telling the truth, he would remain on guard and make sure that he wasn't hurt by the village any more than what already happened. "Thanks for telling me."
The Hokage relaxed considerably and smiled. "It's my pleasure, Naruto. Don't forget to fill in your Ninja Registration form. You must hand that in before week's end."
The rest of the morning went by quickly for Kurama after he filled out his Registration form and took a unique photograph. It had taken him quite a bit of time for him to make one of his eyes turn red without the other eye changing colour as well, but he managed to take the photograph and after completing the form, he handed it to the Hokage, who required a bit of convincing to accept the unusual photo. All Kurama could think about was how useful that technique of his was becoming.
And if he asks me to take the picture again, I'll just make both my eyes red instead.
A moment afterwards, he had witnessed a boy with spiky brown hair and a really long scarf try to assassinate the Hokage, only to trip on his scarf before he could. Kurama wondered if this was some sort of elaborate Genjutsu, but he was shaken out of his train of thought by the boy.
"Hey, you! Don't laugh at me!" He shouted after seeing and hearing Kurama laugh at him.
"Why shouldn't I? You seriously think that you can take out the Hokage?" Kurama sneered.
"Yeah, of course I can!" The boy then noticed the Hokage knocked out, lying on the floor. "Whoa, did you do that? You have to show me how you knocked out the Hokage, mister!"
"The name… is Naruto." Just before Kurama could make his decision, a man wearing black sunglasses and the Hidden Leaf's Chūnin uniform consisting of a blue long-sleeved shirt and matching pants without the customary green flak vest entered the room.
"Honourable Grandson, I have finally found you. Come now, you must continue your training." The man was about to turn around and leave, but he saw Kurama and sniffed in contempt. It's the Nine-Tailed Fox boy. "And don't waste your time playing with such unsavoury folk."
"Aw, come on, Ebisu, can't I take a break today?" The apparently honourable grandson whined.
"You cannot, Honourable Grandson." Ebisu let out a self-satisfied smile. "If you want to become a great ninja, then you must train with me, since I can show you many shortcuts to become stronger faster."
Before the boy could protest, Ebisu grabbed his scarf and pulled him out of the room. Kurama was relieved to an extent, since Ebisu really rubbed him the wrong way, and he had to suppress the urge to violently kill the man. Since he did hand in his Registration form, he was free for the rest of the day to do what he wanted. If I have my way, it'll be like this all the time.
Kurama was walking down the streets of the village for the first time since his memories returned. The knowledge of why the villagers had a vendetta against him didn't help at all with dealing with it – it made him far angrier, murderous in fact. He knew he slaughtered many of them, but the fact remained that they were perfectly willing to blame someone who by all accounts should have been innocent. And if it wasn't for the Hokage's law keeping them from talking about it, who knew what they would do?
It was why becoming Hokage would be futile for more than it conflicting with his goal of freedom. The villagers would never acknowledge him.
Kurama's stomach rumbled, reminding him that he hadn't eaten since the day before. He decided to visit Ichiraku Ramen, the only restaurant he ever spent time at. The food there was good and the owner had always been decent, which was better than he could say for most of the villagers.
"Hey Teuchi, can I get a miso ramen?" Kurama requested after entering the stand.
After hearing Kurama's voice, Teuchi immediately started preparing the meal for his favourite customer. "One miso ramen, coming up."
Kurama sat in his stool, which had been reserved for him for a very long time and waited for Teuchi to hand him his ramen.
Teuchi held out the steaming ramen bowl with both hands. "Here's your ramen. Enjoy!"
"I will!" Kurama replied happily. You can never have too much of a good thing, after all, so might as well make the most of it. "Oh yeah, I have some good news to tell you."
"What is it?"
"I became a Genin today. Promoted by the Hokage himself."
Teuchi smiled. "Congratulations, Naruto. Hey, Ayame, did you hear?"
Ayame, who was working in the kitchen, came out and gave Kurama a hug, having heard the conversation. "I always believed in you, Naruto! Congrats."
Kurama gave his thanks to Ayame's show of affection and began to eat, beginning to think deeply about the family in front of him. There was something troubling him, as a nauseatingly familiar feeling spread throughout his body. Why? Why do they care about me? They both know what I did to the village and they don't hate me for it. Again, the reminder that they accepted 'Naruto' and not 'Kurama' hit the new Genin, but he had to know why.
Before Ayame could head back into the kitchen, Kurama grabbed her by her apron, stopping her in her tracks. "Ayame, Teuchi. Can I ask you something?"
Both of them noticed Kurama's distant expression and knew that he was serious. After sitting down on the stool next to Kurama, Ayame said, "Yes, anything."
"You know what I contain, right?" Both of them nodded. "If that's so, then why bother helping me at all? I mean, most of this village hates me for something that I never wanted to happen, even if they aren't blatant about it." Besides, if I destroyed the Hidden Leaf Village, that would mean destroying this Ramen Stand. That wouldn't be so great, since these people did nothing to make me want to kill them.
"Quit talking like that, Naruto. You've never been like this before," Ayame said, a frown marring her pretty face. "It's like you've changed overnight or something."
"Don't be silly," Kurama said dismissively. "It's just... a shock to find out something like this, something so big."
"Look at it this way, Naruto. Now that you know the reason why you're not Mr. Popular, you can make people see that you're Naruto Uzumaki and not a big bad demon," Ayame said supportively.
"And you're our favourite customer no matter what," Teuchi added.
"You're right," Kurama said with a smile. They do care about me, but I doubt they would take kindly to serving the Nine-Tailed Fox.
"Naruto." Teuchi pointed at Kurama's ramen bowl. "Your ramen is getting cold."
In an action fitting the old Naruto's demeanour, Kurama ate the cold ramen quickly, asking for another bowl to make up for it. Teuchi and Ayame were more than happy to oblige.
After eating another three bowls of ramen, Kurama left Teuchi and Ayame's restaurant without having to pay.
"Since you're a Genin now, the meal is on the house," Teuchi had said.
It was nice to know that Teuchi and Ayame acknowledged and cared about him. And if they gave him free food, and didn't shun him because he was a demon container, they were... alright. Great, even. Kurama was still caught up in his thoughts and felt someone bump into him, bringing him back to reality.
"Watch where you're –" Kurama growled, before noticing who bumped into him. "Oh, it's you."
The boy from earlier jumped up. "Naruto! I was looking for you!"
Kurama's eye twitched. "Why?"
"You have to teach me that jutsu you used to beat my grandpa!" He answered excitedly.
So that's where the term 'Honourable Grandson' comes from. Kurama snorted. "No thanks."
"Come on, I'm Konohamaru, the 'Honourable Grandson'! Do you know how many people want to teach me?" Now he'll have no choice but to teach me. Konohamaru added silently.
"Yeah, like that guy, Ebisu," Kurama remarked. "Speaking of Ebisu, why'd you leave him?"
Konohamaru frowned. "He's annoying and a real stick in the mud," he explained. "He won't teach me any techniques; it's just theory, or chakra control with that guy."
"All that stuff's important, you know. If you don't know about chakra control, you can't learn new jutsu properly," Kurama said reasonably. Maybe I should follow my own advice. "Oh, and I don't care if you're the Honourable Grandson of the Third Hokage. You don't see me running around saying, 'I'm the Nine-Tailed Fox!' or 'I'm the son of the Fourth Hokage!' do you?"
"You're the son of the Fourth Hokage?" Konohamaru asked.
Kurama laughed. "Did I say that? I was just giving you examples, you know. Anyway, I hope you get my point. I have to go now, so you should go and train with Ebisu. It'll help." With that, Kurama left Konohamaru for a nearby training clearing.
"Let's try that again," Kurama said to himself.
If he could access all of his powers, he could break free from the seal and escape. Unfortunately, when he accessed his chakra the day before, he felt a block on his chakra that kept him from channeling any more of it. He began to channel his Tailed Beast chakra, making an orange-red chakra cloak wrap around his body; his features changing appropriately. Kurama took it further, channelling more of his chakra and pushing it outwards. The cloak's form changed as fox-like ears emerged and a single tail grew out from the base of his spine, giving the cloak an outline similar to his true form.
Kurama exerted even more chakra, but no other tails were formed as he felt the same block from before. He let the chakra cloak dissipate. Only one tail? Unbelievable! If Shukaku saw this, he'd probably be laughing all day at what happened to me. Kurama sat down and closed his eyes, trying to figure out the reason behind his limited power and trying to learn why that block even existed.
After about thirty short seconds of meditating, he was interrupted by someone screaming the name of his vessel. Which was his new name, he supposed, since no living human knew his real name.
"...aruto! Naruto!"
"Konohamaru? What are you doing here?" And how did he find me?
"You have to teach me that technique!" Konohamaru answered, clutching his knees and panting from exertion.
What a stubborn kid. Kurama exhaled deeply and stood up. "...If I teach you the technique, will you leave me alone?"
"Sure, Sensei!" Konohamaru beamed.
Kurama smirked. "Okay then, it's time for you to learn the Sexy Jutsu, the number one technique for dealing with perverts and the technique that knocked out our venerable Hokage!"
Konohamaru looked at his new 'sensei' with a mixture of surprise and adulation. "Show me!"
"Alright. Sexy Jutsu!" Kurama yelled as he formed the hand seal to the technique. In Kurama's place, a blonde woman with twin pigtails and a well-endowed figure stood in an enticing pose. Wisps of smoke covered her extremities. "You like what you see, Konohamaru?" Kurama's voice while in the Sexy Jutsu was melodic, intoxicating.
Konohamaru nodded. "Is this it?"
Kurama returned to normal. "Yeah. It's a focused Transformation Jutsu. It also increases your confidence, bravado and libido."
Konohamaru gawked, but before he could clear his confusion, Kurama continued his lecture. "You'll only be able to understand this jutsu completely if you use it yourself, alright?"
Konohamaru nodded again and formed his hands in the ram seal after asking Kurama how the jutsu was performed. "Sexy Jutsu!"
An ugly-looking woman appeared where Konohamaru stood after the smoke cleared. "How do you like this, Naruto?"
"I don't," Kurama deadpanned.
Konohamaru deactivated his transformation. "What did I do wrong?"
"Everything." Kurama massaged his temples. "All the curves were in the wrong places." When he saw Konohamaru's furrow his brow in confusion, Kurama's eyebrow twitched. He continued, saying, "By that, I mean the breasts and the ass. Anyways, you can mess that up, but you can't mess up the face. The face is actually the most important part of the technique, and when you used it, the face was bloated. It's the Sexy Jutsu, not the Scare Me Jutsu."
This actually isn't that bad. At least the kid doesn't treat me like trash. Kurama thought after noticing how Konohamaru hung off his every word. "Come on, before I show you the technique again, I need to show you how other women look like naked."
Kurama and Konohamaru stood in front of a book store in the village's market district. When Konohamaru saw the book store, he was not impressed.
"Books," Konohamaru groused. "What does the Sexy Jutsu got to do with books?"
A mischievous smile formed on Kurama's face. "I'll show you." Kurama went inside the store, walked straight to the adult section and took out a magazine called 'X-Rank Ninja'. He returned to Konohamaru, who wandered inside the store, too impatient to wait.
"Konohamaru!" Kurama shouted in irritation. "You can come here afterwards. Now, it's time for you to study."
Konohamaru acquiesced and looked at different pictures of naked and/or scantily-clad kunoichi (Kurama skipped the pages featuring the shinobi). "Oh, I see now!"
"Do you now? Well, let me put this magazine back where it belongs, then we can practise some more," Kurama replied.
Unfortunately, one of the employees at the store noticed the duo. "Naruto! You know that you can't take out such magazines unless you're 18 or older!"
"Well, I'm a ninja now! Old enough to kill, old enough to –"
"Out!" The employee screeched. "And as for you, Honourable Grandson, you should know better than to associate with a troublemaker like Naruto Uzumaki."
Kurama handed the employee the magazine, growling in irritation when the employee snorted in disgust. I get it, I was wrong. But do you have to be such a jerk about it? "Let's go, Konohamaru." Kurama was having trouble containing his temper, so he stormed out of the store before he could act on his desire to kill the employee.
"Is there something wrong, Naruto-sensei?" Konohamaru asked in concern.
"Nothing. I read through magazines like that before, and I may have done something personal to the employee. I was a prankster, you know," Kurama added as an afterthought.
"Alright then, don't worry about him!" Konohamaru began to tug Kurama's arm. "You have to teach me that technique, remember?"
Kurama smiled. "Yeah, you're right."
Even with Kurama's tutoring and the additional information he gained from the magazine, Konohamaru was still struggling with the technique and screamed in frustration after failing for the umpteenth time.
"Why can't I do this?" Konohamaru wailed.
I wonder... "Why are you working so hard at trying to beat Old Man Hokage?" Kurama asked.
"Everyone sees me as the 'Honourable Grandson' of the Third Hokage. Nobody sees me as Konohamaru Sarutobi. That's why when I beat my grandpa, then the whole village will have to see me for who I really am!"
He wants to be acknowledged as well. He just might turn out alright after all. "Let's continue practising that technique, alright Konohamaru?"
Konohamaru beamed brightly. Finally, someone outside of my family sees me as an actual person! "Yeah, let's do it!"
The sun was beginning to set, turning the sky from a bright blue into a mesmerizing orange, but that didn't stop Konohamaru's efforts to complete the Sexy Jutsu.
"Alright, Konohamaru," Kurama commanded. "Hit me with all you've got!"
Konohamaru formed his hands in the ram seal and exclaimed, "Sexy Jutsu!"
Where Konohamaru once stood, a beautiful woman with waist-length, silky brown hair took his place. She was naked and had wisps of smoke covering her sizable assets. She then transformed back to normal.
"Well done, Konohamaru! I knew you could do it," Kurama said with a smile on his face. Konohamaru wanted to reply, but before he could, he heard a familiar voice that made him shut up.
"Honourable Grandson, I've finally found you!" Ebisu called out. "I see that you didn't heed my advice when I told you to not hang out with this brat."
"Don't diss Naruto-sensei! He taught me a great new technique." A sly grin appeared on Konohamaru's face. "Wanna see it?"
Ebisu crossed his arms in response. "Show me this fantastic new technique, then."
"Sexy Jutsu!" Konohamaru stood in front of Ebisu, naked and female. "How does it look, Ebisu?"
"Such a foolish technique. I see that your time has been wasted." While Ebisu was distracted by Konohamaru, Kurama used the Sexy Jutsu and quickly went behind Ebisu, tapping him on the shoulder when 'she' was ready.
"Come on, Ebisu," Kurama crooned. "Don't you like this jutsu?"
"No I do not, boy," Ebisu spat.
I can feel the nervousness rolling off of him. Literally. Kurama smirked. It's time to put him in his place. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
"Such a technique might have been enough to defeat Mizuki, but you'll find that as a Special Jōnin, I am far superior."
When Ebisu stopped speaking, he found himself surrounded by clones of Kurama; all of them were in the Sexy Jutsu's transformation. "How do you like my Harem Jutsu, Ebisu?"
The amount of clones grabbing different parts of Ebisu's body or calling out his name was too much for him to handle, making him faint from sheer sensory overload. Both Kurama and Konohamaru exchanged a high-five, which had interesting effects on their transformed bodies.
After the duo reverted back to normal and Kurama dispelled his clones, Konohamaru said, "Thanks for the technique, Naruto-sensei! Now I can beat my grandpa and become Hokage. That way, I'll get the acknowledgment I want!"
Kurama shook his head. "You can't beat the Hokage that way, Konohamaru."
"Huh?" Konohamaru's mouth hung slack. "This was the jutsu you used to knockout Grandpa Hokage, right?"
"Yeah, but that's not how it works. There are no shortcuts on the Road to Hokage – there are no shortcuts to anything. When you want something, you do everything you can to get it. No remorse, no regrets. Just do your best. That's my ninja way."
"And that'll be my ninja way, too!" Konohamaru said brightly.
Kurama looked up to see the sun set over the village as the last parts of the orange-red sky faded to black. He yawned. "I'm pretty tired. I'll see you around, Konohamaru."
Kurama walked inside his apartment complex and spared a glance at his landlady, hard at work. He couldn't remember his landlady being outright hostile, but she wasn't exactly nice to him, either. She was merely neutral. Maybe it was because she was forced to deal with him. Either way, he knew that since he wouldn't be getting any stipend money from the Hokage now that he was a Genin, he would probably have to deal with her sometime in the near future.
He went up to his apartment, changed into his night clothes and lay on his bed, reflecting on the recent chain of events. He couldn't remember feeling so good in several decades. It was pretty nice, being acknowledged. Not just by Iruka, the Hokage, Teuchi and Ayame, who gave him a chance before, but by Konohamaru too.
If Konohamaru could accept him, it gave Kurama a glimmer of hope that more people would follow his example. The least he would do was make sure that he wasn't irritated unnecessarily by the villagers.
His encounter with Ebisu revealed his ability to sense negative emotions, and he would refine that skill to the best of his ability so that he could make sure he didn't get into a situation that would end badly for the opposing party. Not that he cared about the feelings of others, but it would arouse suspicion if he started killing people left and right, and he wasn't so arrogant to believe he was invincible, especially since he could only access one of his nine tails of power.
At the same time, he knew that even if he wasn't acknowledged, he would go above and beyond his limits to gain his freedom.
No remorse, no regrets. Think positive and always do your best.
