Naruto's eyes lit up when he learned Tsunade had an old book of songs from before the Cataclysm in the Senju compound. Naruto didn't realize he loved music so much, but now that he learned how to play from a music score he realized that he liked his new hobby.
He couldn't wait to show the old man his new leaf whistle.
All they had to do was wait for Tsunade's errand to be finished and they could go home...with a short side trip anyway. Naruto had learned through one of the vendors who sold fish caught off a nearby coast that the Land of Whirlpools was roughly two days away from where they were.
And since Naruto was their resident expert on all things Pokémon, he wanted to see the place where shinobi originated before their return. Plus he had the weirdest feeling that he needed to go there.
Jiraiya agreed to it, so long as Naruto quit sending Shifter after him. Plus this was a good way to introduce the kid to his heritage from his mother.
Naruto knew something was wrong when Shifter kept shaking him.
"What's up?"
He found Shizune and her partner Grumpig (which she named Sleepy because it hated to get up in the mornings) were out on the floor, clearly poisoned.
Naruto immediately went into his bags and found the Breeder's Field Kit for emergency first aid. He had gotten it after passing the qualifier exams as a joke, even though he didn't want to be a Breeder or a medic. Sleepy became right as rain within minutes, but the poison in Shizune would take time to work out.
"Tsunade...she went to meet Orochimaru!" said Shizune, the antidote kicking in.
Naruto found Jiraiya laid out from another poison, and despite his protests Naruto gave him the broad spectrum antidote from the kit.
Just because his chakra control was too sloppy to ever be a medic nin didn't mean he couldn't learn how to heal without it. And he had been nearly beaten to death far too many times before Shifter came along to not want to learn how to heal himself. And Hana didn't mind teaching him.
"Kid, how the hell do you have a Deluxe Breeder's Field Kit with you?" asked Jiraiya, who was feeling his limbs again.
"Passed the qualifier. I'm fully registered and qualified for most Pokémon injuries but I never bothered to take the one to become a full medic. With my control there wasn't any point. But as long as you can pass the qualifier you're legally allowed to buy any version of the Breeder's Field Kits baring the one that requires a mastery."
Shizune stared at him.
"Are you saying you're a qualified breeder?"
"I can do anything short of surgery. You have to take medic classes in order to learn that, and I couldn't. Besides, I got beaten up way too many times to count to rely on hospitals, which were iffy at best," said Naruto, replacing everything in his kit with precision.
The kit he had was an emergency treatment kit that only people with breeder training could get. It was far more expensive than the broad spectrum of healing equipment he had for standard injuries, like Full Heal and Super Potions. If Hana hadn't helped him study so he could get the Breeder's kit, he would be stuck with only the minimum needed to help his team.
Despite being called the Village Idiot, Naruto preferred being prepared for the worst. Plus it saved on hospital bills.
He pulled out one of his seal balls and sent Kiseki out to find Tsunade. She was one of the fastest on his team, second only to Shifter.
Naruto glared at Kabuto. Despite being a fellow trainer, the man barely knew anything about Pokémon. No way was that low score during the ranking exam first round a fluke.
And his Kecleon was beyond weak. Unlike Naruto, who preferred to train his Pokémon first and gradually get stronger with them, Kabuto clearly didn't train his Pokémon at all.
Naruto hated people like that.
Naruto leaned down to fiddle with his leg warmers.
"Brat, I don't think now is the time to adjust your outfit," said Jiraiya.
"Hold on a second... There. Now I'm ready to rock!"
Kabuto smiled coldly and went to strike at Naruto. There was only one problem.
He wasn't there.
Faster than anyone could blink, Naruto was gone. Jiraiya wasn't the only one to blink.
"What the...?" was the general consensus.
"Bushy Brows and Gai aren't the only one who knows the value of weight training to the extremes!" said Naruto pleased.
Jiraiya's eyebrow twitched.
"Kid, exactly how much weight did you take off?"
"About the same as an Onix," came Naruto's flippant reply.
Tsunade and Shizune gaped. The average Onix weighed 463 pounds. And this kid had that much strain on his body?!
"Why the hell would you have 463 pounds on you?!" demanded Shizune.
"It was a bet with Chouji," said Naruto shrugging. The rather rotund boy had bet Naruto that he couldn't lift a Snorlax all the way over his head, and if he ever did then he would give him a Munchlax from his clan's training grounds. His father had agreed to it mostly because he didn't think it was possible unless you were Tsunade or had opened all the Inner Gates.
Naruto had just found Shifter a week before, so he had agreed to the terms hoping to add to his team. That had been nearly six years ago. He had kept adding to his weights whenever Hana gave him the all clear to do so. Unlike Lee or Gai, he knew when the weights became too much. Which was why twice a week he took them off and just relaxed with his Pokémon.
That was more than the Green Duo ever did.
(Also the only reason Hana even let him try such a stupid thing.)
Kabuto who heard that comment sweatdropped. Now he really didn't want to get hit by the teen.
"Come on out, Kurama!" shouted Naruto.
Naruto knew one thing from his battles, never bring out your best Pokémon until the end. That way you could come out and surprise your opponent.
Besides, it helped to level up the weaker ones.
"A poor move Naruto-kun," said Kabuto. What Naruto didn't know was that he kept Kecleon for appearances sake. His real partner was much more dangerous.
"Come out, Banette!" yelled Kabuto.
Naruto paled. Banette was a ghost type and he didn't do too well with those. It was bad enough he had issues with human ghosts.
"Kurama, Shadow Ball!" shouted Naruto. Meanwhile he went after Kabuto.
"Nine!"
An orb of darkness appeared before Kurama, and it hit Banette dead-on. At least that was what Naruto thought. The Marionette Pokémon had thrown up a Protect at the last second. Naruto decided to copy Tsunade and struck the ground.
It split apart as if hit by an Earthquake attack.
"Very impressive Naruto-kun. Though I do wonder why you spend all your time training your Pokémon instead of yourself."
"Train the mind before the body, and all will fall before you. I'll wait to learn the super moves once my body is ready to handle that kind of strain. And the more I learn about Pokémon, the better I'll be able to take care of them in emergency situations. Might as well do it while I have the time before the real trouble starts."
Naruto turned to Kurama, who was still battling the Banette.
"Kurama, Future Sight!"
"Nine!"
Kurama's eyes glowed before it stopped.
"A useless move. It had absolutely no effect," said Kabuto snidely.
Naruto didn't stop smirking at him though. Unlike Kabuto, Naruto knew exactly what Future Sight did. It was a time-delayed move, one that was near impossible to predict when it would hit.
There was a reason why Naruto loved Psychic types...though he had no idea why he kept catching them.
"NETTE!" Banette cried out in pain which distracted Kabuto long enough for Naruto to land a nasty blow to the temple.
"What the hell was that?" he ground out.
"Future Sight," said Naruto simply. Kabuto had taken a serious hit to the head, so his vision was a bit iffy at the moment. His healing factor, however, was still up and running.
So instead of attacking Naruto directly (which he realized would be nearly as suicidal as attacking Tsunade in a straight out taijutsu fight) he went after Kurama instead.
"NINE!"
Kurama cried out in pain as Kabuto used his chakra scapel to sever one of his nine luxurious tails.
"Kurama!"
By the time Naruto got to his partner, it was clear that the Ninetails would bleed out from the wound. He wouldn't be able to stop the bleeding in time.
Naruto saw red. This was the only Pokémon he had ever raised from the egg... Kurama trusted him completely. Kabuto would be lucky to get away from this fight alive. He had no idea the reaction the Kyuubi had to what Kabuto had done, but at the moment Naruto could care less if the Fox ripped the bastard apart.
Kurama was inside the seal. He knew what it looked like...he had felt the presence of the old one inside Naruto even from the egg.
There was an odd quirk to the Kyuubi. He had the ability to sync his chakra with the power of any fox Pokémon bonded to his jailor. It was something Kushina had experimented with when she learned of it, but nothing had ever come out of it.
However the one Naruto had raised was different. It shared a name with the Kyuubi and didn't fear him.
When Kyuubi saw what Kabuto did to its cousin, it felt rage, a sentiment shared with his jailor. No fox should ever lose a tail like that. For once Kyuubi was ready to work with his idiot jailor.
So, he sent a little bit of his chakra to the almost unconscious Ninetails. Kurama looked up and met it's eyes with the demon fox.
"I will make you a deal, little fox. Tell that idiot trainer of yours that I want to make an arrangement with him, and I will help you and restore your lost tail. In exchange you shall become a Shiny Ninetails, and have access to my powers."
"What's in this for you, old one?"
"No respectable fox should ever lose a tail like that. Especially to a sniveling coward like this shinobi. At least my idiot jailor knows how to treat his team properly."
Kurama looked at the old fox, and said "We have an accord, old one. I will inform Naruto of your desire to work out an arrangement when this is over."
"Good. Now prepare little fox, because this will be most unpleasant. Perhaps you will fare better than the brat's mother did when she first attempted this."
Jiraiya didn't know what happened. One minute Naruto was battling the traitor (and doing better than he had every hoped for) the next, he was about to unleash the Kyuubi's chakra on the battlefield. Something he had never tried before, let alone knew how to control. Jiraiya had never had the chance to show the kid how to channel it properly for anything constructive. If he had taken the Chunin exams like he originally thought, maybe he would have had the chance.
An explosion of red, violent chakra coated Naruto. What he didn't notice until a few moments later was that a single tail reached out to the downed Ninetails.
"NINETAILS!" cried Kurama in shock.
The foul red chakra was enveloping the downed Pokémon, filling it up with new power and shooting his level up by five. The light orange tips of his eight tails suddenly turned a fire-red, and the ends of his fur became like fire. The multifaceted eyes, which were originally a dominant midnight blue, became a violent crimson red with blue streaks.
Kurama stood up, and everyone watched in shock as the tail which had been severed so cruelly was regrown. The claws became sharper and more fierce. The Pokémon's height became closer to Naruto's chest. And on the end of each tail was a single crimson flame. A shower of red colored sparkles appeared before him.
Kurama had become a Shiny Ninetails due to the influence of the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon.
Not that Naruto cared how rare his Pokémon had become. He was just glad Kurama was alright again.
By the time Naruto and Kurama were done with Kabuto you would have to pick up the pieces with tweezers. Naruto did not take an attack that nearly killed one of his team very well, and this was one time that the Kyuubi could agree on. Needless to say Jiraiya was looking a little queasy from the fact that Naruto had let the Kyuubi out long enough to tear Kabuto limb from limb.
(Not because of the blood but because the KI the Kyuubi let off is pretty damn foul.)
(I'm skipping to the next scene because you can probably guess what happened next. Orochi got his ass kicked soundly and ran with his tail between his legs thanks to Jiraiya and Tsunade tag teaming against him.)
Tsunade examined Kurama with a professional eye. By all accounts he had suddenly gone up five levels and became a Shiny Pokémon (who were supposedly blessed by the gods themselves, though there was never confirmation of this) simply by coming into direct contact with unfiltered bijuu chakra from the world's largest nine-tailed fox. In fact for some odd reason there appeared to be no adverse side-effects barring the large amount of pain he felt regrowing his cut off tail.
Naruto was currently sleeping off the excess chakra (and unknown to the two Sannin and Medic nin working out a deal with the cranky fox that would benefit both parties) so they had to wait until he was able to move on his own before they made that short side trip to Whirlpool.
They were mostly agreeing to the destination because A) it was part of his heritage and he wanted to see it at least once and B) according to their resident expert on all things before the Cataclysm (when tested about whether or not he actually read the books he bought Iruka learned Naruto actually knew more about pre-Shinobi era than most of the teachers at the Academy who barely dipped into the subject, which made him the premier expert in the Leaf village. Even the old Hokage hadn't bothered to learn about life before the Cataclysm) it was the birthplace of seal balls.
Even Jiraiya wanted to see that. Besides, one never knew what you could find by raiding an old village.
Inside the seal...
"Alright Fox, Kurama said you wanted to make an arrangement we can both agree to, so here I am. Since you did save his life, I am willing to hear any requests you want to make," said Naruto.
The Kyuubi blinked. At least the kid was willing to hear him out.
"First off, could you change the damn scenery around here? Sewers are not that fun to be stuck in," complained Kyuubi.
"Uh...how do I change the scenery?"
"Easily. Think of an area you feel most comfortable in and it will change."
Naruto blinked and actually thought about it. He didn't know why his mind looked like a sewer by default, but it wasn't very interesting. So instead he turned his mind into Konoha. All his knowledge was pooled into the bookstore he frequented (since he wasn't known as a very good student they never had reason to ban him, and it was run by people who had never lost anyone to the Fox, so they didn't have a grudge against him) his Jutsu repertoire (which was larger than one would expect) became the Academy, and Ichiraku held all his most precious memories like when Shifter first started to truly trust him.
The Kyuubi, to his disbelief, was stuck on top of the Hokage mountain in a golden cage that didn't really fit him at all.
"What the heck? Why are you still in a cage?"
"Because the one in charge of it refuses to let me walk around!" growled Kyuubi.
Naruto put his hands on the bar closest to him. He could feel the warmth of the gold, as if it were alive.
"Could you possibly become a collar or something? Despite being a grouch he can't be all that bad," asked Naruto.
He could feel the bars warm under his hands, as if thinking. Then, they melted like water and became chains. The chains wrapped themselves around Kyuubi like a collar and around each limb.
The Fox shifted, as if testing his new-found freedom.
"Impressive. It seems that you at least can be reasoned with, unlike your mother."
"You saved Kurama. I figure that at least earns you the benefit of a doubt in my book."
"Like I would allow one of the foxes who share my spirit be killed by a wretch like that snake. I have been watching you, little shinobi, and from what I've seen your dedication to your pack is admirable. You hate reading, yet you adapted it into a hobby in order to protect what is yours. You had no qualms about killing one who tried to harm your pack."
"Anyone who hurts my team like that deserves it," said Naruto. Sure it had made him a little queasy later, but he got over it simply by remembering the fact Kabuto had attempted to kill Kurama.
"Agreed. Anyone who harms the pack deserves to pay the price. Now, onto another arrangement. I am willing to work with you in supply chakra and control (though you would have to actually work at it) in exchange for a little freedom on the outside."
"...Would letting you loose in a Shadow Clone work? I mean those things are pretty much pure chakra and I generally spam them anyway, so no one would be able to know you hijacked one while I train. So long as you don't make it obvious that you're not a regular clone I have no objections."
"...Definitely more reasonable than your mother. So, do we have an agreement?"
"You supply chakra and help with my control, I let you run around in a clone so long as you don't get busted for it. Though I would like to know what happened to Kurama."
"That? That was something your mother experimented with after she caught a Vulpix, but never successfully completed. Because the Ninetails is the closest to my own Summon Set, I can temporarily give them a power boost. However, because Kurama was raised by you from the egg after your coils were opened up to the fullest extent you can manage and was trained in close proximity, his boost became permanent. The fact he became a Shiny is just a way of marking that fact. It means that he can filter my chakra for you and negate most of the negative side-effects, but he won't get another leveling boost like the initial change. He's actually able to handle the strain better than your mother's Ninetails partner."
"I get it. He was already influenced by your chakra from the egg when I first picked him, so the backlash wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. The amount of pain he was in was just for the initial change."
"Exactly. While he can handle the effects, battling with him for at least three days is something I wouldn't recommend."
"Good to know. So, are we settled then?"
"Yes."
And with that, Naruto woke up.