YO! What's up, guys? Crazy7634 here, with the new instalment of The True Monsters. So, it's like, really freakin' early in the morning here, so I'm just gonna keep this short. To those who read "A Second Chance", the latest release of Season 3 has gotten rid of quite a lot of my writer's block, and I am currently working on something… special, for that story. To those who have followed, reviewed and/or favorited this story, then I say thank you, and I hope you like this chapter. Now, without further ado, I present to you the third chapter of… The True Monsters.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything, especially Naruto and Undertale.

Chapter 3 – Lacking In Sanity, Yes Or No?

"Man, this is awesome!" Naruto grinned, his face covered in flecks of food. The boy was amazed. One bite, and he couldn't get enough. Soon, the only thought floating in his mind was "EAT!". He had never eaten anything this good before. Sure, back in Leaf the occasional baker had coincidentally brought out some sort of freshly-baked pastry or delicacy during a time where he had to steal, but none of those that he had tried ever made his taste buds scream in joy like this. "I've never had anything like this before!"

This caused his new parent to raise an eyebrow. "You've never had pie before?"

"Nope! I've only tried bread and sometimes those round things that adults call donuts…" His voice trailed off at the end. A realization appeared in his mind, the thought causing his grip tighten around his plate. Noticing that he had paused, the former queen looked at him questioningly.

"Is something bothering you, my child?"

The blonde took a deep breath before he turned to face Toriel. "W-Well…"

"Yes?"

"Back in the surface, I didn't really have a home… you know, with how no one was around to take care of me, and the fact that no one wanted to. Well, because of that, if I was looking for food or clothes and stuff, I'd have to go looking around the big bins in the alleys. But sometimes, w-when I couldn't find anything to eat, I'd… I'd have to take stuff from someone at the market." Naruto gritted his teeth, wincing when he heard her gasp. "I mean, I know that stealing is wrong, but I didn't have any other choice! Please don't be mad. I didn't want to do it, but I had to. Sometimes, there weren't even any food in the trash and I couldn't eat for a while. Please don't kick me out, I- I…"

He hung his head, waiting for the woman to yell at him to get out. But, as seconds passed, he heard nothing. No yell, scream nor cry. He flinched when he felt her hand place itself atop his head again, and was surprised when she only ruffled his hair. Tentatively, he raised his head, slowly opening his eyes one by one. Once both of his eyes were open, he looked at Toriel's face, and saw the small, sad smile she carried.

"It is alright, little one. While thieves are looked down upon…" Naruto winced again, his form unconsciously readying itself to be struck by a blow. "…you said so yourself, you didn't have a choice. If you wanted to survive, the only way you could do so was to take items from others. While that was indeed what you did, you have always felt regret after the deed had been done, have you not?"

The short boy nodded, a near-inaudible whisper escaping his lips. "…Yeah."

"Then there you go. Although you are right, stealing IS wrong, I believe in second chances. YOU wish to repent for your actions, while most who have done the same as you could not be bothered to care less for such things." Toriel smiled at his relieved sigh and gestured to his plate. "Now, I believe you have some Butterscotch-Cinnamon Pie to eat."

Naruto grinned, perking up as he was reminded of his meal. After a few more bites, and practically shoving the rest of the pie slice into his mouth despite its large size, he pleadingly looked up at Toriel silently for another portion. She laughed into a sleeve and complied, cutting another part of the pie, making sure it was slightly larger than the previous slice, before gently placing it on the starving boy's plate. She giggled at the joyful expression that had appeared on Naruto's face as he scarfed down his food. Normally, she would have stopped anyone acting this way at the dinner table, but seeing his ragged condition and skinny stature, she let it slide.

Her mouth twisted into a frown, her eyes staring at his very thin arms. This wasn't the first time she had to take care of a human child, no doubt about that, and she definitely knew that no youngling his age should be as lanky as he was. It was unnatural, and she vaguely remembered reading about something like it somewhere. She also knew, from the previous children who had… fallen down, that nothing they have heard of Mt. Ebott had been good news. Rumours of dark things happening at this particular mountain were widely spread in any human settlement, and they were always told to the younger generation lest they make the foolish decision to attempt to brave the mountain. That thought gave her a few ideas of what might have happened throughout the boy's short life to cause him to currently be inside the monsters' prison, and none of them settled her worries.

"Uh…"

Hearing his voice, she snapped out of the daze she had been in and noticed him sheepishly scratching the back of his head as he chuckled nervously, a hand raising his plate up to her. She let out a chuckle of her own and cut the rest of the pie into slices, placing another one into his plate. His grin reappeared, and he was about to dig into his third serving, when the sound of Toriel's chair scraping against the wooden floor caught his attention. Looking up at her questioningly, he tilted his head. The goat woman gave him a pat, along with a reassuring smile.

"Do not worry, my child. I am simply not very hungry and am going to read a book from the shelf over there." Seeing her point behind her, Naruto followed her finger's direction to a bookcase placed against the wall by the fireplace and armchair. He blinked. He hadn't even noticed it before… how could he have missed it? Then again, the smell of food was the thing that led him here. Looking at the whole room was put aside in favour of searching for the source of both the heavenly scent and the sound of humming. Feeling his hair being ruffled, he turned back to his new mother. "You may have the rest. Help yourself, alright? I will merely be reading a book as I sit on that chair over there. Bother me if you need anything, okay?"

"Okay…" He murmured quietly. She smiled again at his shy response and walked over to the bookcase to grab the tome titled "Human Health".

Although the Underground had been sealed off to keep monsters away from humans and vice versa, many human possessions often fell down from the Surface and were found in the Dump. Long ago, there had been a time when the King's new Royal Scientist had once brought her items that helped with raising a human child… that is, if she had found any sort of object during her frequent visits to the odd location. Nonetheless, they were very useful, and she had kept those same items to this day. But that was years ago. She shook her head out of her thoughts and sat down on her comfortable seat, opening the slightly dusty book. Her eyes scanned the contents list and narrowed when she found what she had been looking for. Page 48, "Malnutrition". As she read the following passages, her hands gripped the book tighter, a frown plastered on her face. So, she really had been right… unfortunately. What had happened up there that lead to this adorable boy being in this condition? Where were the adults of his kind when he had made his choice to climb Mt. Ebott? Why would they ever allow such a thing to happen?

CLANG!

Toriel flinched as the sound of what she assumed was the metal pie tray falling forced her out of her musings. She slammed the book shut, her head snapping towards the blonde child, gaining a worried look on her face when she saw that he was frozen. He was stood on his chair, shaking arms stretched out, presumably from when he had picked up the tray. His eyes were wide and unfocused, his mouth open and curled in a scared frown. He blinked and let out a yelp as he fell back down into his seat, a surprised look on his face. Toriel quickly placed the book down on her armchair and hurriedly ran over to the terrified boy, kneeling down to his height.

"Naruto, are you alright?" She placed her hands on his shoulders and shook them gently. He slowly turned to face her, disoriented. "Please speak to me, young one. What's going on?"

Naruto shook his head and he wrapped his arms around Toriel in a tight hug, burying his head into her shoulder. "…something's talking to me."

Now this caught her off guard. "W-What?"

He pulled away and gazed up at her, the look in his frightened cerulean orbs made her heart ache. "Someone's in my head…"

"Do… you know who it is?" Out of all the children she had cared for, none of them had ever experienced something like this. This was uncharted territory for her, which made the woman even more concerned than she already was.

"I… no. I don't know who it is. Mom… what's going on?" Naruto asked, his eyes silently pleading for her to tell him that she understood what was happening, that she knew everything was alright. But the distressed look on her face said otherwise. He flinched before clutching his head, the rugged voice reverberated in his mind again.

"Naruto, calm yourself… I do not mean you any harm."

Naruto shook his head negatively, his head slightly aching from the loud sound of the stranger speaking.

"Naruto, if you don't calm down, then you'll keep worrying your mother over nothing."

That got his attention. Glancing up slightly, he peeked at Toriel's face and was saddened when he noticed her distressed expression. Taking a calming breath, he let his shoulders sag and pulled his hands away from his head.

"Good. Now, if you wish to speak to me, all you have to do is focus and think what you want to say."

His eyes glazed over, his vision going white as he spoke in his mind.

[Inner Conversation]

"So… you can hear my thoughts?"

"Yes…"

"How? Where are you, and what are you?"

"I am able to communicate with you through your mind as it is my home. What am I, you ask? I am merely a monster, a… slightly different monster, but a monster nonetheless. Just like your newly-acquired parent."

"Hey, you can't call her a monster!"

"Again, control your rage. I did not mean any disrespect. The term "monster", unlike in the Surface, is not used negatively in this place. A fact that you will soon learn."

"Wait. You know about… here?"

"Of course. After all, your species had taken most of my kind in order to seal this place away from the outside world."

"What are you talking about?"

"At the moment, it is none of your concern. Are there any more questions you would like to ask in order to prevent another panic?"

"Hm… well, you told me that you're a monster, but you didn't tell me who or what exactly you are."

"I… don't follow. What is it that you mean?"

"Like, you know… What's your name? How old are you? Normal questions to ask a stranger, ya know. Also, what do you look like? I don't know if you can see what I see, but at the moment, everything is white. I'm kinda worried that I'm blind now…"

"Well, if you must know, my name is Kurama, and I can assure you that you are definitely not blind. My age? I am well over a "few" centuries old. As for my appearance, the closest form you will be able to imagine for me, would be an enlarged version of a red-orange fox with nine tails."

"…How much bigger? Like a house?"

"Try a mountain, young one."

"Whoa… Ooh! Ooh! I've got another question. What did you mean by a "different" monster? Is it just cuz you look different or something?"

"Hm. Well, aren't you full of questions?"

"You said that I could ask whatever I wanted!"

"Yes, I suppose I did… and now, I regret that decision."

"What's THAT supposed to mean?!"

"Anyway, about your question. In order to get an answer for that, you may have to ask your mother."

"Eh? Why?"

"Because you would not be able to understand my version of an explanation."

"No way. I can totally handle it!"

"If you say so. Now, there are the two well-known types of monsters. The "normal" monsters, and the "boss" monsters. The fact that differentiates the two, other than that normal monsters are more common than the boss ones, is that boss monsters are far more powerful than their normal counterparts. This does not mean that the normal ones are weak, far from it. There are some that are considered very powerful. But no matter how tenacious a normal monster may be, they do not have the magical capacity nor the strength to hold a candle against a boss monster. Now, while we are on the subject of power, this leads me on to the subject of SOULS… are you following so far?"

"…candle?"

"*sigh* What did I tell you? I knew your yet-to-mature mind was not capable of comprehending my explanation. But if you ever wish to be truly free, then I suppose that I will have to take matters into my own hands and make sure you are ready for such a quest…"

"Huh?"

"In due time, you shall understand. But for now, I suggest that you inform your mother more clearly of my existence." Colour began to return to the child's eyes, and he felt a dull ache in the back of his head when he heard Kurama mutter one last sentence. "Though, you may need my input in order for her to believe that you are not lacking in something called… sanity."

"Hang on, wait-!"

[Real World]

Before he could ask for the supposed fox to elaborate, however, he felt himself being pulled out of his stupor as Toriel shook him fiercely.

"…child! My child, please. Speak!" She yelled in a troubled tone. The boy had been staring blankly into space, his silence coupled with his strange behaviour had been increasing her anxiety at each second that ticked by. Seeing him blink back into reality made her release a breath of relief. "Naruto, are you alright? What's happening? You said something about hearing someone speaking to you?"

"Huh?" He mumbled, his thoughts scrambled by his sudden jolt into the real world. After a few seconds, he finally managed to pull himself together and began rambling in a fast speed. "O-Oh! Right! Mom, you won't believe it. I'm fine, but something's in my mind! He says that he's a monster and can hear my thoughts, and that he can do it cuz he lives in my brain! He also said something about "sanity", but oh well. And he-"

"Hush now, young one. I'm afraid I did not understand a word you have said. Perhaps it is best if you slow down and start from the beginning…"

Naruto nodded and grinned. "Well, there's a giant fox that's as big as a mountain that sleeps in my head!"

Toriel blinked, her brain froze as it double-checked if her ears had heard right. A nine-tailed fox? No. It couldn't be. "Uh… I'm sorry, young one. Could you repeat that sentence again?"

"There's a fox as big as Mt. Ebott with nine tails whose using my brain as a house!"

Now certain that she had indeed heard right, she stood up and placed her hands gently on Naruto's shoulders as she began to usher him towards his room. "I'm afraid that you are more injured than I thought… your fall along with your encounter with that flower must have affected your mind. Come, let's put you back to bed."

"But it's true! You gotta believe me, Mom!" The human spun around and stared up at Toriel, wanting her to believe him. But he was only turned back to facing the hallway, and more light shoves moved him closer to the bedroom.

"You are confused, little one. With just a little more rest, you'll be fine." The goat woman continued to give him light nudges. She sighed and muttered under her breath. "Or at least I sure do hope so…"

"Hmph. I knew she wouldn't believe you. For words such as those to come from a young kit like you… they would only seem like an insane being's ramblings. Well, if you want her to trust in your words so much, then place a hand on her head. Once you do so, I will be able to create a link from your mind to hers, enabling me to speak to her. But remember, as long as you keep your hand on her head, I will be able to converse with her. If you remove it, the link will be severed, or in a simpler term, cut off. There are a few topics I wish to discuss with your mother, so do not lift your hand."

Naruto nodded slightly in understanding and immediately stepped to the side, tugging on Toriel's sleeve to get her attention quicker.

"My child, what are you-" Seeing that her gaze was now on him, he gestured for her to kneel down. Raising an eyebrow, she tentatively did as he silently asked, wondering what he was planning. "Huh? What are you up to?"

He stood up on the balls of his feet, his hand shaking as it stretched to reach the area in the middle of Toriel's horns, stopping once he felt her soft white fur under his hand. His eyes widened when the same red energy that saved him from falling to his doom appeared around his hand, sending tingles up his arm as it travelled up to his head.

"Alright, that should've done it."

Toriel flinched. Her eyes scanning her house in a panicked manner. "Who said that?!"

"Naruto, might want to explain the whole situation to your mother."

"I told you that the fox was real!" The kneeling monster looked at the child from the corner of her eyes and saw him grinning widely. "He said his name was Kurama, and that he wanted to talk to you about something, so he told me to put my hand on your head so that he can talk to you too. If you want, you can just think what you want to say and he'll hear it, but you gotta focus though."

Toriel was silent, her eyes wide and mouth slightly ajar. So, he really was saying the truth after all. Which meant that this fox… she shook her head out of her daze and closed her eyes, unsurely attempting to speak through her mind. "Hello?"

"Greetings. As Naruto had said, my name is Kurama."

"I'm… Toriel."

"Oh, I know full well of who you are, your Majesty."

The woman flinched slightly as the sentence had caused alarm bells to go ringing in her mind. She glanced at Naruto and was relieved that he didn't notice her reaction, as he was too busy looking hungrily at the pie pieces left at the table.

"Shh. I do not wish for that to become common knowledge!"

"If you are concerned about little Naruto overhearing any part of our conversation, then you need not worry. I have blocked him out of the link, an ability that he does not know I possess."

Toriel sighed internally in relief. "Oh, thank goodness…"

"But that leads me on to my first question. Where is your family? Last time I had been able to see my fellow monsters, you had been with the King and were expecting a child. Why are you not with them?"

Toriel's eyes became steely, a frown fixed itself on her face. "I left that man a while ago, after he claimed that he would wage war on the humans as soon as we were free."

"…if it isn't too much trouble, may I ask why? No offence intended, but I thought the king was nothing but a goofball. A leader who was too kind-hearted to even strike his most hate-filled enemy."

She took a breath. "You're right about him being too good-natured to do such a thing… but that was before the day we lost the two most precious things in our lives, our children."

"…"

"Me and Asgore didn't just have Asriel, we had another child as well. We adopted the first human to ever fall down that hole. Her name was Chara. Asriel had heard her calling out for help, and brought her back to the castle. We patched her up and she lived with us for years, the two becoming as close as siblings. Though she had been a bit of a troublesome child, proof of this was the time when she and Asriel had tried to make a pie for their father, but they accidentally poisoned him because Chara had mis-read the ingredients and put buttercups instead of cups of butter in their recipe. But even through bad times like that, we still loved her." She took a deep breath before continuing to speak. Kurama heard her voice beginning to waver. "Unfortunately… one day… she became ill. We didn't know how it happened, she had just been fine the day before… I had even been the one to tuck her into bed the previous night!"

Toriel's hand clenched itself into a fist at the painful memory, a movement that caught Naruto's eye. He noticed the tears forming at the corner of her eyes and looked at her worriedly.

"Uh… Mom?"

The woman flinched and glanced at him with a sad smile. "Uh, yes, Naruto?"

"Are you… alright? You're crying."

The goat monster blinked and raised a hand to her face, surprised when she did indeed feel tears running down her face. "Oh, it seems that I am…"

"What are you and Kurama talking about? I tried to say something to you guys earlier, but no one replied. After a couple of tries, I just stopped and waited for you guys to finish."

"Ah, it's nothing that important…" She took another deep breath and wiped the tears off of her cheeks. Hearing his stomach grumble, she giggled slightly and picked the child up, noting that his hand was still on her head as it was encased in a blob of crimson energy. "It seems that you are still quite hungry. Come, let us go back to that pie, yes?"

Naruto perked up at the mention of food and nodded excitedly. "YEAH!"

She walked back to the dining table and placed the boy back on his seat, dragging another chair over to his side. Sitting on the second seat, she pulled the pie slices over to the blonde and smiled when he happily dug in, despite the fact that he could only use one of his hands at the moment.

"It seems that he will be distracted for quite a while. Now, where was I again…?"

"Your Majesty, if it pains to speak of such things, then you do not have to do so. It is alright."

"No, I've held it all in for long enough. I guess talking about it should do me some good."

"…If you say so."

"Now, where was I… oh, yes. Chara's illness. Well, Asgore called over his royal scientist and had them check up on her… they said that she only had less than a day to live. The news was devastating, especially to little Asriel. Asgore and I couldn't stand to see the sight of our dying child and stayed outside. Asriel, however, stood completely still by his sister for hours, never leaving her side. The following morning, we were woken up by a loud cry. We rushed to the children's bedroom, and saw a grief-stricken Asriel absorb a red heart. It was Chara's soul. Before our very eyes, our innocent and adorable boy transformed into what seemed to be an older version of himself. He was as tall as Asgore, and magical power emanated off of him in waves. Silently, he picked up Chara's body and walked past us as we stood in shock in the doorway. For hours, he was unseen. None of the royal guard sentries saw him around the kingdom, and no other monster had seen him leave. We were going to go out and join the search for him, and froze when we spotted him limping back towards our home. We rushed over to him when he collapsed on the yard, crying at his injured form. He must've felt our worried eyes bearing down at him, for he tiredly opened his eyes after a minute of silence. He weakly gave us a reassuring smile, and told us to not be sad. I remember what he told Asgore when he asked him what happened…"

[Mini-Flashback]

"The humans." He told us. "With her last breath, Chara had asked me if she could see the golden flowers of her village one more time. I had intended to do just that. With her body, I made my way over to the center of the village… there, was a bed of golden flowers. I laid her still-warm body on them, and was about to say goodbye, when screams suddenly filled the air. A human had seen me carrying her limp form, and they sounded the alarm. The villagers attacked me… but I didn't fight back. I saw the fear in their eyes. They were only scared. They were too afraid to really think about what could have really been happening. Please, I know that I won't be able to survive, but please promise me one thing… don't blame the humans. They… were only acting out of… panic. Promise me, that…"

[End Mini-Flashback]

"…and with those words, he crumbled into dust, his remains scattering across the castle's garden. With that, Asgore stood, and cried to the surface in misery, his yell heard throughout the whole kingdom. Then, he just stayed there, staring at our son's dust in despondence. Slowly, all the monsters of the underground came to our location, sadly gazing at us from a distance. After a while, I heard Asgore growl and raise his head. I flinched when I saw the amount of hatred he contained in his eyes. Addressing the crowd, he bellowed."

[Mini-Flashback]

"Listen to me! The humans have taken enough from us. First, they take away the lives of our families, then they take away our homes, and now they have once again ruined our kind by taking the life of our kingdom's future! I have had enough. There will be a new rule that affects the whole of the Underground. From now on, any and all humans that fall down to this place shall be killed. No matter the age, no matter the innocence, they shall be slain. With their deaths, we can use the souls left behind to free us from this prison. Seven is all we need. I do not wish for any of those beasts to be given mercy. IS. THAT. CLEAR?!".

[End Mini-Flashback]

I stared at him, shocked. All the other monsters yelled out in both agreement, and to my horror, excitement. It seemed that everyone had the same mentality as he did. On that day, I knew I couldn't be able to live with him anymore. I couldn't live with someone whose life was filled with so much hate… so I left. For years, I have been the guardian of these ruins, the broken leftovers of our old settlement. I took care of all the children who had fallen down that hole, but unfortunately, all of them soon left in order to pursue freedom from the Underground… I haven't heard of anything from them in years."

Understanding what she was implying, Kurama winced from inside Naruto's mind.

"Oh… so, how many?"

"…Six."

"So if Naruto were to leave…"

"He would most-likely be public enemy number one to Asgore's royal guard."

"Of course…"

"It's why I hope that I can keep at least Naruto here, so that he wouldn't have to go through what the others no doubt did. Past the hurt in his eyes, I can see that he is still an innocent child. Although more aware to it than most children, he is still quite clueless to the fact that this world isn't exactly black-and-white… the fact that he trusted you so quickly, someone who he didn't even know about before now, is proof of this."

"…One other question on my mind though, my Queen. I have analysed the workings of the barrier from the outside world before, and from my findings coupled with the fact that you said your son managed to go to a human settlement, then it should only take the power of a boss monster and ONE human soul to escape. Why hasn't the King just taken one soul before going through the barrier to collect the rest he needs? Would that not have gone quicker? With the power level he should reach after absorbing the human soul, not even the humans' most powerful warrior should be able to defeat him in single-combat."

"Tch. Another thing that I dislike about that man. He knows that he could have done that, yet he refuses to do so. He's too much of a coward to go through with his own plan, I tell you."

"I see… well, as much as I would like to discuss with you more, it seems that Naruto has finished his food. I suggest that you tend to him before he starts asking questions again."

Toriel felt her sleeve being tugged on again, and the warm heat that Kurama's power sent out began to disappear, meaning that he was beginning to force his magic to recede. She said one more sentence to the old fox before gently pulling Naruto's hand off of her head.

"Alright, but we WILL talk more about certain topics later, starting with you… Lord Kyuubi."

Her sentence made the ancient being freeze. He was about to question her, but it was too late. The boy's hand was already dislodged from her head. The fox sighed, and stared at the sight of the outside world through Naruto's eyes. He chuckled lowly when the little boy jumped up and down excitedly as Toriel informed him of the education schedule she had made up just for him. His eyes trailed the woman as she walked over to the bookcase beside the fireplace, the vertically-slitted crimson orbs narrowed suspiciously as she pulled a children's book out from the wooden furniture. How much did she know about him? Her knowledge of his formal title alone was already too much information known for his liking. A brief thought passed through his mind. That he would get the boy to somehow re-create the link so that he would be able to interrogate her. But as he thought the idea through, he rolled his eyes and sighed.

'Ah, heck. I can't be bothered. I've already used more of my energy reserves than I had originally intended to.' He mumbled in his own mind, his head laying itself down on his paws as his eyelids started to droop. 'I'll just ask her about it later. Right now, it's nap time…'

Crazy7634: Guys, one last little message from me here. Please tell me if you are having a hard time distinguishing when the characters have thoughts, are speaking in real life or when they're speaking through the mind. Next chapter, I'll make sure to add some sort of symbol list to tell help you guys out if you are. ^_^