Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto at all.
Chapter 7: The Unexpected Meeting
Three years had passed since the last time Naruto Namikaze was in danger. Minato and Kushina had started working on Naruto's chakra usage and control since that day, and, still three years after that, they had some difficulties to help Naruto using his chakra properly, but he was succeeding with the physical practices and the weapon and Taijutsu training.
On the other side, all what Minato and Kushina wanted to teach Naruto about basic tactics and strategy, things that he'll be seeing within classes soon, as he'd finally get into the Ninja Academy in a month, they could find ways to make the kid understand them in non-book-like ways, as they realized that, even when Naruto could read and write perfectly, he was a kid who needed to have fun to learn. That's why they had decided to take some time and explain Naruto the things he'd be seeing in class that way.
Even when that was a tough challenge for them, both Minato and Kushina could adapt themselves to Naruto's learning method, and he understood perfectly when he was lectured in a way that he could make his own associations. Of course, they always prepared some associations of their own, in case Naruto couldn't find things out on his own.
Minato, Kushina, Naruto and both Higan and Hinata, who were visiting the blond kid, were reunited for a while. As the parents were talking, Naruto and Hinata were talking and sparring together in the Namikaze house's yard. Hinata was surprised to see that Naruto's fighting style was quite difficult to predict for her, and Naruto saw that Hinata's Gentle Fist strikes hit really hard if he didn't take his precautions. Higan, seeing the children, said:
- This is amazing, don't you think, lady Kushina?
Kushina saw the children sparring and said:
- Yes, indeed. It's incredible that they're actually getting ready to replace us, lady Higan.
Higan Hyuuga replied:
- What I mean is: Hinata would never spar like this when training with my husband, with lord Hizashi or with the young Neji. She's kind of motivated.
Minato said:
- And so is Naruto. He fights with more energy when sparring with different people, and, as he's still developing his own fighting style, it's a lot better if he spars with as most different styles as he can. Of course, I don't need to state that he loves to spar with Hinata-chan, as he's quite fond of her.
Higan, lowering her sight, asked:
- I try to convince lord Hiashi to allow Hinata into discovering her own way to adapt the Gentle Fist to her ways, but he's kind of stubborn with this. If he could only see little Hinata-chan fighting here with Naruto-kun, he'd be proud.
Kushina replied:
- Yes, I know, but the Clan lately has been loathing for any kind of "external assistance", trusting in the Gentle Fist's strengths, and relying on the Caged Bird Seal to try and "compensate" its weaknesses, when not turning blind eyes towards them.
Higan said, quite sad:
- My husband can't do much to change that, and he couldn't call the Hokage to reason with them, as he'd be labeled as weak, and all of us would have to receive the Caged Bird Seal too. And I want neither Hinata-chan nor Hanabi-chan to take that curse mark.
The kids would take a rest, and the adults heard their conversation for a while. Hinata, blushing a bit, and catching her breath, saw Naruto, and asked:
- N-Naruto-kun…
Naruto, also catching his own breath, said:
- That was a hell of a spar, Hinata-chan! You've improved quite a lot, I must say!
Hinata's blush turned deep red. Naruto-kun thinks I'm strong! Higan smiled, as she knew her daughter would need that to keep herself motivated. Hinata said:
- Y-y-you really… t-think… so, Na-Naruto-kun?? – As Naruto nodded with his head, Hinata's heart started beating frantically: - T-thank you…
Naruto asked, suddenly turning his eyes away:
- Hinata-chan… I need help…
Hinata got close to Naruto, after the sudden break of joy, as she saw him get a bit depressed. Hinata asked kindly:
- What is it, Naruto-kun?
Minato realized what he was going to say, but the way he told her surprised him:
- You know that you told me that you saw two colored chakras inside me, right?
Hinata nodded. Naruto continued:
- I want to try and use my chakra, but somehow I cannot do it. Please, Hinata-chan, tell me what you see when I try to use it.
Minato was surprised. Not only his son knew that he had two chakra sources in his body, but also Hinata knew about it, even when none of them seemed to have any idea about this second chakra's origin. Hinata nodded, activating her bloodline trait. Naruto armed the Ram seal with his hands, and he started attempting to draw chakra out. Hinata's serious expression made the adults quite interested, but she only focused on what she saw in Naruto.
She saw how each one of his chakra points was attempting to release absurd amounts of both blue and red chakra at the same time, causing his chakra circulatory system to overload itself, and, as a result of it, the chakra wouldn't come out but in small leaks. She said:
- N-Naruto-kun, y-you're using too much chakra…y-your chakra points are overloaded…
Naruto started thinking in Hinata's words, but Kushina replied cleverly:
- You're trying to force hand-sized rocks through a fingertip-sized hole! Make the rocks smaller and they will pass through the hole!
Hinata understood the explanation, and saw that Naruto was thinking it clearly. He said, after a few seconds:
- My chakra is too dense and huge! I got it!
Hinata, still seeing Naruto, noticed how Naruto took a deep breath, and, with a great inner and physical effort, his chakra circulatory system started reducing the chakra amount slowly, and also, more and more chakra started surrounding him, like some sort of aura. Naruto asked:
- How about now, Hinata-chan?!
Hinata said, quite excited:
- I-It's amazing, Na-Naruto-kun! You're drawing out chakra! You're drawing out both blue and red chakra at the same time!
Naruto was happier than ever, panting due to the effort:
- After three years I could do it! Thanks a lot, Hinata-chan!
Naruto was about to jump and take a few steps to hug Hinata, but then he stumbled, losing consciousness due to the effort, and fell to the ground, fainted. The group of parents, so as Hinata, started checking on the fainted Naruto. Kushina said, touching Naruto's veins in his wrist:
- He's got pulse.
Minato checked his nose with his index finger:
- And he's breathing.
Higan checked with her Byakugan, and what she saw surprised her:
- The Fox's chakra is quite active.
The group could only think of an option: Naruto was talking to the Fox. Minato asked to let Naruto quiet.
Meanwhile, Naruto showed up in some sort of a dark sewer. Wondering where he was, he walked for a bit, and then he saw a large cage with a label that had the word "seal" written on it. Naruto got close to it, and when he tried to touch the label, a dark voice spoke:
- I don't think you want to do that, Naruto.
Naruto was scared half to death. Then, to scare him a lot more, a huge, red fox with slit red eyes, pointy fangs and nine tails showed up in the other side of the cage. Naruto, stumbled, asked:
- W-w-what a-are you!? Where am I?!
Kyuubi was quite bored of the scene, but somehow he knew that this would happen. Seeing a giant demon is not exactly the easiest thing in this world, even less for an eight-year old kid. It sighed, took a breath, and tried not to make its voice too dark:
- Listen to me, Naruto Namikaze. You're inside your own body. I'm the Kyuubi, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox the stories talk about.
Naruto remembered when his parents told him about the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox that attacked the village eight years ago, and trembled with fear:
- Y-y-you k-killed a lot of p-p-people!! W-what are you doing inside me?!
Kyuubi took a deep breath, when, all of a sudden, a scream caught their attention.
Outside, Minato, Kushina and Higan were trying to keep the room as fresh as it could be, and also they tried to keep watch in the house. Of course, it meant that Hinata was the only one who was close enough to Naruto.
Still with her Byakugan activated, she saw how the red chakra seemed to be active in his stomach. She started getting close to him, and raised his shirt. For the moment Kushina arrived, after checking the windows in the rooms, she saw Hinata touching Naruto's seal in his stomach, and she yelled:
- Crap!! Hinata touched the seal!!
Higan and Minato ran directly towards Naruto, realizing that it was too late. Minato just said:
- Well, I just hope they can handle this with not many problems.
Inside the sewers, the scream of the lithe girl was getting closer and closer:
- Naruto-kun?! Where are you?!
Kyuubi sighed. Damn, Naruto's little girlfriend found out a way in here… Damn it. When Hinata reached the place, Kyuubi was surprised to see she was a Hyuuga. It said:
- Well, well, well, naruto, you didn't tell me you had a girlfriend in the Hyuuga Clan.
Needless to say, Naruto blushed, screaming at Kyuubi, while Hinata's blood rose to her head furiously, gaining a deeper red tone in her face. Kyuubi, quite amused, decided to stop chuckling when Naruto replied, upset:
- Shut up, Kyuubi! You still have to answer me what the hell you're doing inside me!!
Hinata was startled to hear that. I'm inside Naruto-kun? She activated her Byakugan and saw how the fox irradiated the red chakra she used to see in him. So this is what gives Naruto-kun that red chakra… Kyuubi said:
- I was controlled long ago by some weird guy, and he used me to attack the Hidden Leaf Village eight years ago. Your father was the Hokage for those days, and, after getting some assistance, he could seal me inside your body. You could say that, right now, I live inside you.
Naruto saw the huge fox, and Hinata noticed that he was speaking rather calmly for being a millennia-old demon. She asked:
- So, what the stories say about your evil intent towards the village…
Kyuubi laughed soundly:
- I couldn't care less about this place, or about this pathetic human race! It was the evil intent of that bastard who used me that ended up getting me into this trouble, and I won't be able to get free until that bastard gets what he deserves!
Hinata, knowing that the huge fox was a demon, realized that its words were truthful. Naruto asked:
- Could I ask you something, scary fox?
Kyuubi, a bit irritated, saw Hinata, and she said, blushing:
- Heh, heh! N-Naruto-kun uses to p-put nicknames on e-everyone, Lord K-Kyuubi…
Kyuubi said then:
- Well, brat, you better show some respect, or I can make your life a hell – Noticing Naruto's reaction, he savored his terrorism to slow his horses down: -, and I'm sure you don't want Hinata to see my bad side, right?
Hinata got scared, and Naruto, seeing her, gulped. Kyuubi, content, said:
- Well, Naruto, what did you want to ask me?
Naruto took a deep breath ad asked:
- Well, Kyuubi, why is it so difficult for me to handle chakra?
Kyuubi answered quite quickly:
- Naruto, thanks to your heritage as a member of both the Namikaze and the Uzumaki Clans, you were born with a rather huge amount of chakra for a human. On the other side, you've got my chakra mixing up with yours constantly. That way, as you have too much chakra in your body, it's almost impossible for you to use small amounts of chakra yet.
Hinata said:
- Y-you have too much h-huge rocks in both your blue and red chakras, and you t-try to force them o-o-out of y-your body through f-fingertip-sized h-h-holes, Na-Naruto-kun… Y-you have to work harder in m-making the rocks smaller or even t-turn them to dust, so y-you can draw them out, without h-hurting yourself…
Naruto understood the explanation again with the same example his mother used before, and Kyuubi noticed that he'd have to search for simpler ways to explain himself with Naruto. Kyuubi sighed, and said:
- If you want, I can help you get your chakra boulders into dust. It shall take time, be sure of that, but you'll be able to use your chakra normally.
Naruto nodded, and grinned like a fox. Kyuubi, noticing the grin, replied with one of his own. Hinata, who watched the scene, blushed to a new shade of red. Naruto-kun grins like a fox! His "foxy grin" is so cute! Kyuubi said:
- Well, I guess I should say "It's been a pleasure to meet you", but I'm not sure how you'll take it. Anyways, Naruto, I shall be keeping in touch whenever you, or I, need to talk. Hinata, you seem to be very fond of Naruto, so you don't have to be afraid of me, okay? As long as you don't hurt Naruto, I won't harm you, and if he breaks your heart, I shall punish him until he fixes it. Even we, the demons, care for our people, and I know that there are few humans who do so.
Hinata nodded to the huge fox, and Naruto smiled at both of them. Kyuubi said:
- Well, it's time for the two of you to go. Your parents are concerned by now. Keep the secret about me if you want to have a life out there. The world is harsh, and having a demon inside you won't exactly be a friend-attractor. And you two: don't break apart if you don't want to suffer…
Naruto and Hinata left the sewers, vanishing in a smoke cloud.
Outside, the worried parents saw how both kids woke up, smiling and chuckling at each other. Minato asked, upset and concerned:
- What the hell just happened, Naruto?!
Naruto, looking at his worried father, stopped chuckling and said:
- I don't know, dad, I just tried to use my chakra with Hinata-chan's aid, then I stumbled, I passed out, and then I was in some strange sewers. I met this huge red fox with nine tails, and then Hinata-chan was also there. This fox talked to us, gave me some advice for my chakra usage, and even said "hi" to Hinata-chan! I guess it liked her!
Hinata nodded and said, blushing and twiddling her fingertips:
- I-It said that it won't hurt me a-as long as I'm N-Naruto-kun's friend…
Higan sighed in relief, saying to her daughter:
- Well, that's great, Hinata-chan; but you better tell no one about this, not even daddy or your cousin Neji; not if you want to keep seeing Naruto-kun, okay?
Hinata suddenly thought of the idea of not seeing Naruto again. No… I won't endure not seeing Naruto-kun again… She nodded eagerly, and held Naruto's hand firmly. Naruto noticed this and blushed, for the amusement of his parents.
The door rang, and Minato opened the door, surprised to see Mikoto Uchiha on the other side of the door:
- Lord Minato, good afternoon. May I come in?
Minato nodded happily, seeing that she was bringing her younger son, Sasuke, to play with Naruto. The raven-haired boy started checking the Namikaze house, and then he saw the yard, running to see if there were any kids to play with. Mikoto saw Higan Hyuuga and greeted her warmly:
- Mind if I sit here and talk to you, guys?
Kushina said:
- No problem at all. Actually, I was about to make some tea. Want some?
Both Mikoto and Higan nodded, and they started to talk to Minato, while Kushina stepped onto the kitchen, ready to make the tea, and checking on the kids through the window.
Naruto and Hinata were playing hide-and-seek when they saw the raven-haired boy enter the yard. Naruto saw him and said:
- Hello there! Want to play with us?
Sasuke, a bit nervous, saw Hinata, and then he saw Naruto, asking finally:
- May I?
Hinata nodded and Naruto threw a thumbs-up sign to him. Sasuke, relieved, said:
- My name is Sasuke Uchiha!
Naruto threw him a ball playfully, and they all started throwing the ball to each other. Naruto said then:
- I'm Naruto Namikaze, and this is Hinata Hyuuga! Welcome!
The kids played with the ball and then they started running and fighting playfully. Even they started playing ninjas, as they created imaginary enemies and fought them all together. The parents were surprised to see how the kids were playing so fluidly. Mikoto said:
- Naruto makes friends quite easily, isn't it?
Minato laughed:
- Heh, heh! Yes, he does! Even when no one wants to befriend him, and I guess you know why, whoever gets close to him with good intentions becomes fond of him immediately!
Higan said:
- Actually, I bet Hinata-chan is fonder of Naruto-kun than with the kids in the Main and Branch families.
Mikoto said then:
- Well, I decided to bring him here. No one wants to befriend him, at least not between the closed groups of other Clans.
Higan said:
- Yes, I know what you mean. Everyone looks at my little Hinata-chan as if she was a weirdo. And now even more, as she is Naruto-kun's friend.
Minato said, smiling to the two worried mothers:
- Every once in a while, Naruto-kun and Hinata-chan go together and play in the Nara forest with the deer. I guess Sasuke-kun could go with them, if he wants to.
Mikoto said:
- As long as my young Sasuke-kun has friends outside of the Clan, then I shall let him go.
The parents were smiling and talking to each other.
In the yard, Naruto, Hinata and Sasuke were running in circles, playing to climb a tree, or roll in the floor, or whatever crossed the children's minds. Sasuke felt really good with these two kids, and Hinata was happy, as she was still with Naruto. The blond kid suggested:
- How about if we go to have some cinnamon buns?
Hinata nodded merrily in approval, and Sasuke said, a bit afraid:
- Cinnamon buns? I've never tried that, guys…
Naruto replied to him with a grin on his face:
- You haven't lived if you haven't tried a cinnamon bun, Sasuke! Let's go ask our parents!
The kids ran to the inside of the house, meeting their parents, and naruto started pouting like a sad puppy, asking them to go and have some cinnamon buns in the town. Mikoto couldn't say no to her son, and both Higan and Kushina replied:
- It's a good idea, actually! Let's go!
The group prepared to leave happily, and after a few minutes, the Namizake house was left behind, as the group walked to a sweets store. Meanwhile, hiding behind a wall, a twenty-five year old woman was watching them. She activated the radio in her ear and said:
- This is bad. The Fox brat befriended the Uchiha and the Hyuuga kids already! We can't force the Hokage to throw the Namikaze couple out of town as we planned! Not without the support of the two greatest Clans in here!
A voice on the other side of the radio replied:
- Damn it! I guess that, if the civilized methods won't work, we shall have to rely in loud protest and propaganda! Come back, Akane!
The red-haired girl ran to the northern section of the village, entering the building of the Civilian Council.
End of Chapter 7.
A/N: I know, kind of a fluffy chapter, but I liked how Kyuubi turned out to be. Anyways, I've decided to leave another cliffhanger as a Christmas gift. Enjoy and review!
