Hello everyone ! Recently I got caught into Naruto's universe when I found universes in which Naruto ended up leaving Konoha and joining Kumo and / or meeting Kurama at a young age and actually having a true relationship with him, the manga kinda forgot about the tailed beast for ... I don't know ... like 70% of the whole story ?

I felt like our favorite fox deserved the main spot and i just HAD to write something, so here it is !

I don't own Naruto of course.

Let me know what you like/dislike and what's good/wrong in the reviews ! Enjoy the reading.

This one day in the year was approaching again, his birthday, just for one night ... well perhaps two or three, he wouldn't be in the village. Not that he was running away from anything but Naruto would rather avoid the "festivities" in the village.

At this time of the year the villagers were acting more violently toward than at any other time of the year. Spending a day or two in the mountains will help him to drop the pressure, he might actually have a lot of fun ... this would be more fun if he had a friend or two with him.

But he had none.

The only people he could consider as a friend were, the 3rd Hokage, Teuchi, Ayame ... he did met this one girl with white eyes a skin as pale as the snow ... she looked different from the other kids, not only by her physical appearance but also by the way she acted toward Naruto.

After a few minutes of walk he finally found a nice spot to spend the night, no one would find him here, Naruto installed a large piece of tissue between some trees right next to a river. He considered trying to go fishing the next day, he had some rope and he wouldn't have to look around for a stick considering his current location.

He heard something exploding, a red light glowed in the sky, fireworks, the villagers had started the festivities.

Seven years ago a giant demon fox called the Kyubi attacked the village, who knows why, the 4th Hokage died to protect the village and destroyed the demon ... end of the story, a lot of people died on that day, Naruto would have expected the villagers to hold some sort of ceremony in their memory but instead their main activities this one night was to burn a giant Kyubi wood statue ... fire nation, Kyubi, Hokage, saving the village etc ... whoever thought about this either liked irony or he was simply not smart enough to think further.

Anyway, it was getting late and with the fireworks Naruto would just have more trouble finding his sleep so he installed his sleeping bag and tried to get inside as deeply as possible hoping to muffle the sounds of the explosions.

... Naruto felt like he was waking up, usually he would be too lazy to even stand up or do anything else than trying to go back to sleep but now something was different, he just felt awake, he was awake and he couldn't sleep or feel any exhaustion.

He noticed something else, his sleeping bag was gone, the forest was gone, the mountains were gone, the river- actually he felt water beneath him. He stood up quickly out of fear and confusion due to his discovery.

"W-where am I ?"

It wasn't the first time he had this sort of dream but usually he felt more ... tires yes, tired that's how he would describe it, not able to control anything or to have any sort of thought of his own ... just like in a normal dream. But here it was different, he was very conscious and very able to think and act as he desired.

Either he was dreaming very deeply ... or this place was real ? The second option wouldn't make sense, there is no way an entire forest could disappear like this without leaving any traces.

Well since he is in his own dream he might as well enjoy it ... but first why would his dream take place in ... a sewer ?usually dreams are made out of what you see during a day of your life, today he saw ... mostly the nature around Konoha and- ... well the preparations of the festival, so this sewer definitely came out from nowhere-

A thought scared him, what if he was in a nightmare ? ... no it didn't matter that much, if he was indeed dreaming this place had been built by his mind, he was the architect and he would do evrything he want here ... even if now he was more scared than- .. did time even pass here ?

Naruto found his courage and started exploring the sewers, he walked for a moment ... he noticed a few things, first this place had no light source yet he could see around him as if he was outside on a nice and sunny day and second ... well he was now lost, he was just traversing endless corridors and section of tubes, grills and water ...

But then he found something different, a greater room, with a massive gate and a paper sheet with the word "seal" on it.

This was even scarier than the sewer itself and yet ... Naruto got curious, he approached from the gate ... he even crossed it.

The light diminished as he walked further away throught the gate, at first Neuro thought it was a dead end but he distinguished something, something massive ... snoring ? Some sort of giant animal or creature.

He got closer and closer ... it had fur, orange fur just like fire, and tentacl- no tails, Naruto stopped at a certain range of the thing now he was walking around it to get a better look. He had already seen this somewhere ... then it hit him, he was an idiot, orange fur, multiple tails, he was about to reach the front of the creature and now it all made sense, he was standing in front of the Kyubi ...

Well no, not the real one since it was a dream but the giant fox in front of him definitely had all the attributes to be the Kyubi.

Why would he dream of the Kyubi ? ... Yes ! Yes that's it ! The 4th Hokage ! The death of the demon ! That's it ! He was dreaming that he was battling the demon ! ... who was currently sleeping. Now it all sounded less epic and heroic ...

Naruto was about to get closer again but the first step he took made more noise than the others before, he mentally cursed himself or rather his mind for putting water all around the place.

The fox's ears twitches, Naruto saw in horror the demon raising his head and smelling something, he didn't have to ask himself what the demon was trying to find, he was only other being in this place.

He had fo run away, now, drean or not a dream this was getting to scary for his own taste, so as fast as he could Naruto ran toward the gate once again but before he could cross it a tail of the demon blocked his path.

He heard someone laught, the voice was deep and sinister "Hehehe ... now what do we have here ?"

Naruto tried to find another way out but it was too late, he was trapped. A giant paw smashed the ground right next to him sending him flying against a wall of the room, when he looked up Naruto was staring at the face of the demon ... at first he would have say that Kyubi was smiling out of satisfaction but then he also seemed angry ... did he wake him up ?

"I-I'm sorry" Naruto immediately tried to apologise, in his current situation he might as well try to be civil "I-I didn't mean to disturb you, I didn't want to wake you up-"

"I would have thought my jailer might try a different approach than this one to tell me his greetings but no, you just woke me up at the worse possible moment of the year" the giant fox face kept getting closer and closer fron the wall, ready to take on bite of Naruto "but it doesn't matter now,you cam right into the lion- well hahaha, rather the fox's maw in that ca

"Jailer ? I know it's a dream but now you have lost me, why would I be your jailer ? Aren't you supposed to be dead ? Or perhaps I'm just imagining complex scenarios ..." The fox stared at the kid who didn't seem to be listening or caring about him anymore.

A dream ?! The kid seriously thought he was in a dream ? DEAD ? Him the strongest of the nine demons ? Oh he was about to show this kid that he was very much alive and then he wild crush his wimpy little body and suck his blood slowly and then-

"Uh ... also why is it the worse time of the year for you ?" Suddenly asked the kid "Is it because- ... because of the fireworks ? The festivities ?" The kid had no hatred or fear in his eyes ... he truly believed it was a dream, it would be very different if learnt the truth right now.

"... Yes, do you think it's easy to be reminded of-" he would wait for the last moment to reveal the truth, yes, this will be perfect, the kid will be scared to death and then he would kill him ... but- ... does he truly know what will happen once he kills the kid here ? "reminded of your own death every year ... in such a way, burning a statue of me? would give a fate worse than death to whoever thought about this! Have you seen how ugly it is?"

"Hehehe yeah, it doesn't look like you at all ! Actually I remember putting paints all over it once and it looked way better than the original crap the villagers made"

... it was true, during the last seven year the seal prevented him from having contacts with his jailer but Kyubi remembered this day, it was one week before the 5th anniversary yes ... and no one knew it was the kid who did this, he had to admit this made him chuckle, not like the other pranks the kid might have pulled off.

"Yes ... but yellow still looks ugly on me ! Next time try something more ... yes more ... ah what's the word again ?"

"Cool ?"

Cool ? To summarise why not, but Kyubi would have asked for something more terrifying ... like blood red ? Or dark paint with red eyes, at least whoever found the statue in such a state on the day of the dammed festivities would have an heart attack ... and would probably die in the process.

"Alright ... Oh sorry I forgot my first question, why did you say I was your jailer ?"

Kyubi couldn't tell what was the most annoying thing with the kid, the fact that he was completely ignorant, or simply too innocent "Kid ... you have to understand IT IS NOT a dream"

"... it's- ... not ?"

Well the moment came sooner than he would have expected "No, you are very much awake, of rather awake in your mind"

The kid only stared back at him in confusion "... awake ... mind ...uh"

The fox sighed with impatience "You aren't very smart are you ? I'm gonna have to explain everything since no one else will in this damned village ..."

"No one else in the village ? But- ... i don't understand, if it's something everyone in the village knows shouldn't I know it too ? ... right ?"

The fox grinned "There is a law preventing them from talking about it ... however there is no law preventing them from expressing their point of you about this truth, I remember now ... yes earlier you were asking yourself why the villagers weren't having some sort of ceremony in the memory of those who died that night right ? Well it's simple, that's because they know the fight isn't over, they aren't satisfied and they will never be until my blood, not that I actually have any, has been spilled in the ground"

"But- ... you are dead, you said it yourself just a minute ago !"

"I lied, I rarely get any visit here and we had such an "enjoyable" conversation ... but since you seem unaware of your own condition,I'm willing to enlighten your mind"

"Please ... please tell me"

Now Kyubi knew the boy was truly listening "The truth isn't always sweet, but let's go back to the beginning, seven years ago when your Hokage battled with me ... I- ... no this part isn't important and you wouldn't understand it. To make it simple, he just didn't have the strength to really "kill" me ... but he could make sure I would never be free for a long time, he could seal me somewhere"

"... So- ... the villagers know you are still alive ? WAIT YOU ARE STILL ALIVE ? But it's supposed to be a drea-" the fox gently hits Naruto's head with one of his massive fingers, he didn't mean to really hurt Naruto but Kyubi knew considering his size it would still shut the kid's mouth.

"Are you kidding me ?! I just told you IT IS NOT A DREAM ! This place is very real ! It is your mind !"

"Then what are you doing here ?!"

"I'M GETTING TO THIS PART NOW SIT DOWN AND LISTEN !" the kid crossed his legs and arm and waited for the end of the story "Better ... as I said I couldn't be "killed" at this moment but the 4th found a way to imprison me ... he had to seal me into someone" The kid's mouth dropped wide open, even an idiot like him was smart enough to understand where all of this was going "I called you my jailer because this is what you are ! You are the one kid laying around the 4th used to seal me before his death"

The kid was silent, he probably had a hard time accepting what Kyubi just told him, yet ... he didn't look scared, why ? Now he knew the fisnt fox in front of him was real ... so why was he not scared ?

"So that's why the villagers hate me ... that's because the 4th Hokage sealed you in me ... it- ... it makes sense, why my parents abandonned me, why it's always on my birthday that the villagers act the most violently towars me during the year ..."

"Yes ... you are smart enough to figure out the rest, they do not make the difference between you and me, you are me from their point of view, you are the nine tailed fox"

Naruto didn't speak for a minute, he didn't look at the fox either.

"If-If I let you go, do you think they will leave me alone ?"

The fox's ears twitched once again, he was very lucky ... his host was very, very, very stupid "Perhaps yes ... all you have to do is to tear off the seal at the gate, and then I will be able to exit you body once the gate is open"

The fox lifted his tail to let Naruto get put of his cell so he could take a look at the seal paper sheet "Alright !" Naruto beamed in excitement, now the people of the village will finally stop hating him and- ... what will happen once Kyubi is free ? Naruto stopped before leaving the cage "... Are you going to kill more people once you are out ?

Yet again Naruto wasn't necessarily angry or scared by the giant fox, he genuiely wanted to know if Kyubi would do something terrible again or not. The fox seemed hesitant ... of course he wanted to destroy the village, of course he wanted to kill every living being in this place until it become a giant cemetery. But the 3rd was still here, the old man could actually seal him again and he would have escaped for nothing ... no he would just go away, yes, he would find a nice place to live, and he would never be locked up again, never.

"I won't ... I promise, I could have killed you, I still can, that would be the quickest way to get out you know ? Anyway, let's just get done with this"

Naruto smiled and nodded, he exited the cage and looked at the seal ... at least ten meters above him "Uh ... this is mind of stupid but hehehe, I can't reach it"

The fox brought his right paw to his forehead and scratched his skin "Ah yes you can't reach it since you don't know how to use your chakra ... hum" the fox moved closer toward the gates and brought one of his paw on the other side of the gate "Here, get in my hand, I will lift you up"

Naruto did as he was ordered, he actually found it fun to be lifted up by a giant, he was now in front of the seal "Alright let's take it off" Naruto grabbed the top of the paper sheet and teared it off.

...

...

...

"So ... uh ... are you free now ?" Asked Naruto as nothing really special happened when he expected a cool mechanism to open the door or perhaps a bright light which would have melted the cage.

"You took it off ?" Asked Kyubi as confused as the boy.

"W-well yes !" Naruto showed the paper sheet he had just teared off "Oh wait there is something weird hidden behind ... it looks like a lock !" A very complex one, Naruto clearly saw it was a mechanism, however he had no clue concerning how it worked "W-what should I do now ?"

Kyubi brought back his paw to the ground to let Naruto get down "Forget it kid ... they weren't stupid enough to give you the key, so until they do, if eventually they ever decided to do that ... I'm stuck here" Kyubi turned around and went back to his sleeping position in the depth of the cage.

Naruto followed him throught the gate "I'm-I'm sorry ..."

"...You didn't chose to become my host, you were forced to be ... just like I didn't want to- ... it doesn't matter. Let me sleep now ... leave me alone"

...

"No' the fox turned around, now he was the one surprised "I promise I won't leave you all alone here ! If this is my mind then I promise i will come back as often as I can to keep you company, no one should be left alone like this ..."

The fox chucked "Go to sleep now kid ... go to sleep ..."

Naruto woke up again ... now he was tired and lazy, he smiled as he understood that now he was back to reality, even if it mean that he looked like a larva at the moment. After a few minutes of rolling around in his sleeping bag he found the strength to get up ... he was hungry and it wasn't noon yet. Naruto checked the inside of his backpack, he had brought with him enough to eat for four days. The longer he would stay here, the longer the villagers will leave him alone.

Naruto looked at the river, he remembered he thought about going to fish yesterday, he had no knowledge concerning this activity but it didn't look so hard, all he had to do was throw his rope in the river and a fish would bite ... probably.

So Naruto grabbed a rope, attached it to the extremity of a large stick, and started "fishing" ... the thing is, twenty minutes later he was still in the same position and he didn't caught ANYTHING.

"Oh comon ! What is wrong with this ?"

"You are the one doing something wrong ..."

Naruto looked around him, he clearly heard the voice of Kyubi "H-hey wha-"

"I'm talking from your mind, also there is no need to speak out loud, I can hear your thoughts ... as I said you are the one doing it wrong"

"oh yeah ? What do foxes know about fishing?" Asked Naruto out loud, ignoring what the fox just explained.

"Well first have you seen the crap you are using to catch your fish ? Seriously, even if I was completely stupid I wouldn't be baited by such an horror ... even with a nice piece of meat attached to it's extremity and second ... are you trying to fish in this ridiculous river ? Kid humour me, the water is too cold, it's moving too quickly, there is just no way you can find a fish here"

"Oh ... yeah that-that makes sense now that you are pointing this out" admitted Naruto dropping his hand made fishing rod.

"... You know, this river has to be going somewhere, a lake for example, and here you might actually be able to find fish, so cheer up a bit would you ? And give me something tasty"

"Tasty ? ... so you mean that since you were sealed inside me you ... tasted evrything I hate ?"

"Yes and no, I can feel your emotions and I do not necessarily requires food to survive but I do feel you joy each time you eat those ramens from ... Ichiraku ? I don't remember the name"

"you got it right, also why did you never try to talk to me if it's so easy now ?"

"Your mind was all closed up, the seal would not let me interact with you unless you started using chakra, now that we met at least once it's way easier to communicate and also- ... wait, you slept next to me ?!"

Naruto stopped on his way as kyubi's last question confused him "Wait what ?! Care to explain now ? Am I still in this dank sewer ?"

"No but your spiritual body is still in my cage ... so this why I felt something under my back-"

"DId you crush me in my sleep ?!" Asked Naruto worried.

"Uh-huh no your body is-uh ... it's fine do not worry about this, just-just keep walking"

After only three minutes Naruto reached a small lake, Kyubi was right ! He would definitely find some fish here "Damn I never heard about this place ...now where should I-"

"Your problem isn't completely fixed, you still can't do anything with your stick in it's current state" interrupted the fox "Kid you can't fish the "usual" way, you are gonna have to try a different approach ... try to find a stone and sharpen the edge of your stick"

Naruto understood what Kyubi had in mind and executed the order, after confirming with the fox if it was sharp enough they went to the next step.

"Good now ... oh I forgot you can't use chakra yet"

"Uh ... just to be sure, what is "chakra" ? You keep mentioning this"

Naruto could hear the fox sigh "And of course you don't even know what chakra is ... let's give you a "simple definition" chakra is is created when two other forms of energy, known collectively as one's "stamina", are moulded together. Physical energy is collected from each and every one of the body's cells and can be increased through training, stimulants, and exercise. Spiritual energy is derived from the mind's consciousness and can be increased through studying ... understood ?"

"So ... yeah I think I understand but how- ... how do I feel it ? If I used it already I don't remember when"

"I never said you used it yet but perhaps you are already producing enough to enter in contact with me ... let me think about this for a moment, I could- of course that's the solution, kid, get ready I'm going to give you a small help"

"A small what-?" Naruto felt that he was suddenly very hot, something was burning inside his body, he looked at his hand, at first he thought they were on fire but no, they had just been covered by a weird glowing substance "H-Hey there is something weird on me !"

"Stop yelling would you, this is my chakra, since you need to be babysitte for almost evrything why not having your first real chakra experience with me, first there is something really important you have to know, my chakra is very different from the chakra humans can usually produce, it is more ... consistent while yours is often evasive so DO NOT and I repeat myself DO NOT try anything stupid, you could hurt yourself to an extent I can't repair"

"You can't repair ? What do you me- ... wait, is this why most of my injuries always seem to go away after a few days ? You have been the one healing me ?"

"You are my host, if you die I die with you ... well technically no I don't but this process is very painful and complex so I won't speak about this. Anyway now you have chakra, can you feel it in your body ?"

"Of course I can ! It feels like I'm burning from everywhere"

"Urh ... yes, this must be a good sign ... maybe, I don't know human standards so let's take your current state as a neutral value"

Naruto looked at his body, it was now entirely recovered by the yellow substance, he was glowing like a lightbulb, he saw something moving behind him "Oh ! OH ! Kyubi !" The kid now sounded overexcited.

"What ? Is something wrong ?"

"I have a tail ! Just like you !" However Naruto quickly felt less excited when he understood that he wasn't really controlling it after being unable to catch it a few times.

"This had to happen, the more chakra I send in your body the more you will look like me ... back to my first question, do you feel the chakra moving in your body ? Try to focus it in your feets"

"My feets ? Hum ..." Naruto tried to think about his feets, he had never focused seriously on anything concerning his body, especially his feets and evrything related to chakra was completely new to him, yet it sounded fun ! Way less boring than in the books he had received to prepare his entry at the academy "I-I think I'm into something, yes i can feel it now !"

"Good ... now walk on the lake"

...

"Do you mind to repeat ?" Asked the kid scared about what he thought he just heard.

"I am very serious, now that you are focusing my chakra in your feets try to walk on water, it's not really easy at first but with time and practice I'm sure you will be able to do th-"

"Look it's working !" While Kyubi was making speeches about patience and hard work Naruto had nailed water walking on his first try.

"Great job pup-I-I mean kid"

Naruto ran around on the lake for a moment, he even managed to lay on the water, it happened to be a lot trickier and he felt hesitant at first but it ended up being as simple as if he was on the ground "Hey, I already know your name but you don't know mine, I guess I skilled this, I'm Naruto Uzumaki"

"Uzumaki ?" Kyubi sounded surprised.

"What ? It feels familiar ?"

"N-no ... I misunderstood what you said for a second that's all ... also my name isn't really Kyubi"

"But that's how the villagers call you right ?"

"No, it only means I have nine tails ... my true name is Kurama, that's how I was called"

"Kurama ? It sounds way better than Kyubi, unless you prefer to be called by your amount of tails"

"I trust you enough to give you my name, at least use it stupid brat !" suddenly barked the fox inside Naruto's mind making him laugh out loud.

"Does it mean there are others demon with multiple tails ?" Naruto felt like he had a friend, a real friend, even if this friend happened to be a gigantic demon fox sealed inside him he didn't care, as far as could see Kyu- he meant Kurama, wasn't a bad person, not genuinely and he could tell the difference.

"Of course, but they are probably all sealed just like I am ... we are nine in total, my brothers ans my sisters"

"They are all foxes ? I have never heard of them"

"Well no, to give you an example my closest relative, Gyūki, is an octopus ... eight tails? You get the idea ?"

"Yeah yeah I'm not that stupid ! ... can I go get our fish now ?"

"Oh I almost forgot about this, our time is running out, you should reach the ground right now"

Naruto blinked in confusion "w-whay do you mean our time is running out ? ... hey ? ... Kurama anyone her-?" Before he could finish his sentence Naruto notices that Kurama's chakra was disappearing around his body ... he also started feeling like the ground under his feets has disappeared too "oh no"

SPLASH

"I told you" even with his head under water Naruto could clearly hear the fox laughing at him.