This chapter is a bit different, but I love it regardless.
"Hello, Fox." Naruto kept his voice level as he appeared in what Azula refered to as his mindscape. The old sewer/basement had changed taking on a more regal apperance without a constantly flooded ground. It looked like the inside of Azula's house of all places, only on a far greater scale. On the far side, away from him, he saw Kyuubi behind massive bars, the beast looking at him with hatred and rage and curiousity all at once.
To his shock, the Fox bowed a little, the hatred and rage shifting to something... not warmer persay, but less hateful then he had ever seen before. "Naruto... I know what you are here for, I have been paying attention since you met Azula. She is an interesting study, warmer then I would expect given her past and wiser then any human I have had the pleasure or displeasure of meeting. I do not know everything that you have to tell me, but I do know that Azula had you meditate to speak to me. So speak, I may not like you yet but I have come to respect you two enough to at least hear you out."
Bowing, Naruto offered the beast a smile. "I have so much to tell you... to start, you should know of the Akatsuki. Azula just told me about them, apparently they are taking up missions normally used for entire villages and according to her contacts there is whispers that they aim to go after the Jinchuuriki, like us. I know Itachi is after me, as is Kisame and their cloaks match what Azula described the Akatsuki as wearing so I think they are part of the same group.
I need your help to defend myself. Itachi is a beast, he took out the entire Uchiha clan at fourteen and apparently beat Orochimaru not long after from what Azula knows. Kisame's Bingo Book entry describes him as a literal Tailed Beast sans the tail. Azula says he was stronger then Orochimaru too. If the entire group has people of similar power, then they could manage to take you and that would kill me. I don't want that, so I ask you to share you power, not for my needs alone but yours as well."
"Fine."
"Wait, what?" Naruto gaped, looking at Fox in shock. "Just like that?"
The fox, to his even greater shock, laughed. "I am not dumb, we already agreed to aid each other in times of need before when that idiot Toad Sage tossed you down the canyon. " Naruto soured at that reminder of Jiriaya's incompetence. "You have more then earned enough of my respect to aid you in times of need. I will allow you to train with my power, so long as you keep it from Jiriaya until you return to the Village. I do not trust him not to abuse my power.
However, I also want you to agree to be independant from the village. I know now, from seeing your debates with Azula, that you are not going to abuse me like so many others, your mother including, have in the past. I will teach you what I know of sealing, a great amount to be honest, so you can one day safely free me and maintain your own life."
"Thank you... but what exactally earned your respect? What did I do that proved that I was worthy?"
"You chose to listen to Azula no matter how much it hurt, you have grown considerably in power and skill in three weeks. I know that I can rely on your help to free me one day. I know that you are a worthy ally and will not abuse me, something that I have rarely seen in humans. However the moment I made the choice was when you declared not only your father, but the First Hokage monsters for enslaving us Tailed Beasts. I can sense emotions, a trick you will posses once you start training with me, and I could sense your honesty and a lack of deceit. I am always watching but for the first time since I have been able to see through you, I knew you were not the monster so many of your people are."
Naruto actually felt tears well in his eyes, the raw acknowledegment even from the Fox was a lot for him. "Thank you,.. Kyuubi, thank you so much."
"Don't get sappy on me, I am using you plain and simple I just am aware that I can trust you to not screw me over. As for your sealing lessons, they will begin once you leave Azula..." The Fox stopped, sighing. "I can sense lifeforce as well, Naruto... Azula has very little life left. Cherish your time with her, while you still can."
:::
As Naruto left his minscape, Kurama sighed and sat down. "I hope I am not making a mistake, choosing to trust in the boy. He may have proven himself so far, but that rarely means as much as it could. I am taking a real risk."
His mind drifted, to the moment Naruto learned of who his father was, one of the moments that earned Kurama's respect...
"My father is the Fourth Hokage, are you sure?" The sound of Naruto's voice rippled across the waters of Naruto's subconcious, awakening the Fox.
Azula laughed at the boy, who was freaking out. "You are his near doppleganger, your tied in name and chakra to the previous vessel, Kushina Uzumaki whom was known to be close to the Fourth Hokage. Jiriaya is teaching you, or well pretending too rather... you were put in Kakashi's team, a student of the Fourth. No, it is clear to me who your father is."
"I am the son of the man that ruined my life and enslaved an intelligent being... How do I reconcile that?" Kurama almost recoiled, unable to beleive what he just heard. The boy was actually defending him against his father's actions. When had that happened, sure he did it with the First but this was his literal father...
"You don't, you accept it and move on. You are not your father, his evils are not yours."
Naruto nodded slowly, almost as if he was digesting the words. "I wish I could tell him what he did to me... that he left me to be ignored, hated, bullied and abused by the very people he saved and ruled. That he made me a sacrifice for a people that hate me. Even if I don't hate the civilians, since they don't have the understanding of seals to make an accurate set of views on me... I hate the Ninjas of the Leaf that hate me, that ignored me, that mistreated me because they knew better and My father was their ruler. The ones that actually knew him beyond a figure head... I wish I could make him feel that, and what I imagine Kyuubi is feeling since he has been enslaved for a century by that shithole of a village."
'I can't sense any lies, any deciet... he really means that.' Kurama gaped, lowering himself fully. 'Perhaps... perhaps he may be more then a vessel...'
"Perhaps, when you talk to Kyuubi, you two can comiserate on your collective loathing and disdain for Minato." Azula snarked.
Naruto laughed again. "Maybe, it might be the only common ground we really have...being enslaved to our abusers... yeah, maybe."
Kurama laughed loudly. "I made the right choice, trusting the boy so far... I can only hope he shows me that he can continue to earn my trust every day... only then might the world be returned to right... and my siblings and I freed from bondage."
"""
Azula admired Naruto's face as the boy meditated. He looked so different then when she first met him, his hair was longer for one and he had started braiding a thin strand of it down his back. He was no longer dressed in that ugly orange jumpsuit, instead wearing a black and grey set of ANBU Pants, an underwire shirt with a tight black shirt not unlike the Third Hokage's outfit only his sleeves ended midway up his forearms. The boy had gained maybe ten pounds of muscle thanks to his healing factor and better diet and training.
She was so proud to see the results of his efforts so visibly demonstrated even if he hid his true form under a transformation around that idiot Jiriaya.
Blue eyes opening distracted her from her observations. "It worked, he agreed to help me." Naruto went on from there, explaining to her all the Fox had said, to her shock. "I know, I never guessed he would help me so quickly, but I see his point. I might be the first person to actually call out the evils of the First Hokage and my father. That he is going to teach me seals is all the better."
"Then you ought to continue to prove your worth to him, I have a feeling he is not one to easily give his trust or aid... now, enough of that, we have other things to work on. For one, how you are going to continue training when you leave my care." Naruto's solemn, pained eyes made it clear he was not happy to hear about this. "We must discuss this Naruto, you only have a week longer with me..."
"I know." he croaked out. "I just... you are the first person, the only person, to treat me like I mattered. I don't want to leave you."
"But you must... now, strategy... I think you should leave Jiriaya and roam about for the next year, tackling Missing Ninja under a disguise. However you are tied to the the Toad Sage via contract, so that is out until you are able to break that contract. Instead, I propose you train in secret using the scrolls and books you will take with you, and send out clones to fight, kill and take in the bounties of Missing Ninja. Use the Fox's chakra to make your clones last longer so you can really get the most of this exercise. We know you retain experience from your clones, so this could allow you to make the most of your time."
"How do I find missing Ninja though?" Naruto asked. " I mean thugs are everywhere, which I could easily start with..."
She smiled. "Bingo books often show the location of various Missing Ninja, their last known location and places where they were scene previously or are known to frequent. You are traveling with Jiriaya, and can send clones out for long distances. That should allow you the means to find and complete your tasks."
"Great... that's a plan. I can practice Kyuubi's powers while I do this as well, so I will have a grip on his powers before I return to the Leaf."
"That is the plan, Multitasking is the best option for you right now. Jiriaya wasted a year and a half of your two and a half year training trip. You only have a year to become as powerful as possible. We must make the most of your time, so you are as prepared as possible for those that seek your life."
"I can only hope it will be enough."
She patted his hand. "So do I, Naruto... your clones will be of great aid, but mostly for gaining knowledge and experience rather then sheer skill. They will allow you to further master your techniques and learn new ones, and so with them you can make up for lost time."
"Helpful... Azula Sensei, what about breaking into the Monk's Temples and returning to the Land of Whirlpools? In the first case, I can steal scrolls on jutsu, sealing and taijutsu. In the second, who knows what I might find."
"Either case is a wonderful idea... when did this occur to you, deviousness is not in your nature? Are you trying to impress me, it is working?"
The boy flushed. "I just thought it seemed smart, I mean no one bar you and Kyuubi will willingly help me, so I might as well take what I need."
"Haha... I will help you plan your way into the nearest temples. Ways past their seals and senses... that is our newest project for the next week, well that and finding smaller thugs and ninja for you to start with. We will prepare you for success Naruto, by any means neccisary." And she meant that... she had so little time left, Naruto needed to have plans for the future settled entirely or he would never reach his true potential...
And she would never let that happen, not when she could so easily stop it.
Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.
This was so much fun to write.
Love, your Ninja Overlord,
Mika.