Thunder God's Legacy Chapter 2, a Mortal Kombat + Naruto Crossover fanfic

12Ookami12 here with the second installment for Thunder God's Legacy.

Woah! The reception for the first chapter alone is staggering. I cannot express in words how grateful I am for the support.

Also, just in case it wasn't clear in the first chapter, Naruto and co. entered the academy at the age they would have graduated in canon. So by the time team placements come around he and the rest of the rookies will be at their Shippuden ages.

Side-note: There is a section in this chapter that is completely italicized. So as a heads up just remember the key I use for Normal Speech and Thoughts so you guys don't get confused.

"Normal Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Kyuubi Speech"

'Kyuubi Thoughts'

Disclaimer: All rights to Naruto and Mortal Kombat are not owned by me.

Chapter 2

Drip

That was the sound that echoed in the dimly lit tunnel that Naruto was now in. He was laying on his back and a low groan escaped his mouth as he stirred awake. His eyes slowly cracked open and his blurry vision gradually got clearer. "Where am I?" he asked as he sat up and heard the sound of water rippling under him. Looking down he could see that he was sitting in clear, ankle-deep water. But the funny thing was that he didn't feel wet.

His eyes adjusted to the dim lighting and he deduced that he was in some sort of sewer, given that he was in a tunnel as well as the water. Under the water he could make out some pipes running along the floor, he looked up and found similar pipes running along the ceiling.

He groggily got to his feet and looked around with a scrutinizing gaze. "It looks like a sewer, but, at the same time it doesn't seem like one." Given that he's been tossed into Konoha's sewer on more than a few occasions, he knew what being in one was like.

Knowing that just standing around wasn't gonna get him anywhere, he decided to follow the tunnel to see if he could find some way out. As he walked he began to inspect the tunnel walls and was silently surprised when he found multiple doors lining them.

With his interest piqued and his curiosity getting the better of him, he decided to go through one of them. He picked a door and turned the knob, as soon as he cracked it open his eyes were assaulted by a blinding bright light.

As the light died down, his ears picked up on the sound of running as well as the joyous cheers of children. He squinted his eyes and his blurry vision gradually got clearer. With his vision going from blurry to focused, he started to make the out objects around him.

Swing-sets, see-saws, jungle gyms, other recreational equipment, and an army of kids all playing on them.

"I'm on a playground." he noticed, before his features morphed into that of confusion, "How did I end up on a playground?"

He walked around and took notice that no one seemed to realize that he was there. It was like he was invisible.

Wanting to test this little theory, he decided to call out the child closest to him.

"Hey, kid." He called out but received no response. 'Maybe I didn't call loud enough' he pondered. "Hey, kid." He called louder but still received no response. The blonde's brow furrowed in confusion, 'Ok, this is starting to get weird.'

He walked up to the child and went to touch her on her shoulder, "Hey, didn't you hear me?" only for his hand to pass right through.

He raised an eyebrow at this discovery. "Ok, that went from weird to freaky, real quick?"

He watched as the little girl ran off to play with her friends before he turned his attention to the rest of the playground. Something, or rather someone, caught his attention. In the corner of the playground sitting under a tree by his lonesome, was a blonde boy with blonde hair, blue eyes, and three whisker marks on his cheeks.

Naruto's mouth fell open and his eyes widened as he realized just who he was looking at. "That's…..that's me."

It was that time in Konoha where the sun would be at its highest point in the sky. At one of Konoha's playgrounds was a seven-year-old Naruto. He was off to the side, sitting by himself under a tree while watching the other kids play. He so badly wanted to join them and hopefully make some friends, but he knew that he couldn't. He didn't know why but no parent would allow their kids to play with him, so the best he could do was sit aside and watch them have fun, all while wondering what it would be like if he were a part of it.

He could hear footsteps approaching, so he turned his head to see who it was. It was a pale-skinned girl with short, blond hair and pale, blue eyes, and she was standing just a few feet away from him with a smile on her face.

"Hey there cutie, I'm Ino. What's your name?" The girl asked.

Naruto looked around to see if she may have been referring to someone else. Not seeing anyone, he then looked back at her and pointed to himself. "Me?"

Ino giggled, "Of course I'm talking to you silly. Who else has those cute whiskers on their cheeks?" She pointed out.

A pink hue found its way onto the boy's cheeks as he put a hand to where his whiskers were, "Y-you think they're cute?"

Ino giggled again before she went right up and sat beside him. "Absolutely. Can I touch them? Please." The girl begged with pleading eyes.

One thought came to Naruto's mind to describe her. 'Cute…..Wait! Where did that come from?' He quickly shook his head to clear those thoughts. Seeing Ino still waiting for his approval, he gave it to her, much to the girl's joy.

"Yay! The blond girl cheered before she put her hand on his cheek, and slowly started to rub his whiskers.

Naruto felt a sudden but pleasant feeling start to flow through his body. His muscles started to relax as any tension he was feeling slowly melted away under Ino's ministration. His eyes became half-lidded and his breathing steadied. Then a low, continuous, vibratory sound started to emanate from him as he leaned more into her touch.

Ino watched his reactions with girlish delight, silently squealing at how adorable he was. Then she felt her hand start to vibrate. When she listened, she realized that the vibration was coming from Naruto.

A look of realization dawned on her as she realized what was happening. 'He…..He's purring.' She wanted to squeal and yell 'KAWAII!', but she held it in, not wanting to startle her new friend….who she still didn't know the name for. Time to rectify that. "You know, I never did get your name."

Naruto was so relaxed at this point, that his eyes were closed and he was half asleep. Upon hearing the question, he mumbled, "I-it's Naruto."

She stopped rubbing his whiskers and took her hand from his face, an action that instantly brought Naruto out of his blissful stupor. 'What was that? That's the first time I've ever felt like that….and I'm kinda missing it now.'

"Okay then Naruto, you wanna play?"

Naruto looked at her in disbelief, "You wanna play…with me?"

"Of course." The blonde girl then tilted her head in mild confusion, "Is there a reason I shouldn't?"

Naruto shook his head, "No, no reason…and thanks"

"No problem." She then grabbed his hand and dragged him to the playground, "Now let's go."

After that, the blond duo spent the rest of the day together. There wasn't a ride on the playground that they didn't play on. From pushing each other on the swing, going at crazy speeds on the spinner, to racing down the twin slides. They enjoyed themselves to the fullest. And when evening came they sat side by side atop the jungle gym, to rest from their day of fun.

Naruto pumped his fists in the air, "Today was great!" He exclaimed. "This is the first time I've ever had so much fun, and it's all thanks to you Ino."

Ino gave him a small smile, "Hehe, you're welcome. But don't think that this will be the only day."

"You mean." He started in a hopeful tone.

"Yep, you're my friend now, and I'm gonna spend as much time as I can with you."

"YATTA!" he then glomped the blonde girl in a big hug, "Thanks Ino-chan, you're the best."

Ino was briefly taken aback by his reaction, but returned the hug with a small smile and a pat on his back, "And you better remember that."

A few more seconds past and Naruto realized that he was still holding onto her. A blush crept onto his face as he immediately let go of her and rubbed the back of his sheepishly. "Hehe, sorry about that."

"It's alright, I didn't mind. Besides, you look so cute with that blush." She teased.

That only made Naruto's blush deepen to where he turned away to try and hide it.

Ino saw this and couldn't help but press on. "Aaw, is my cute little friend embarrassed?"

Again the boy's blush deepened to where he was looking like a ripe tomato.

"Ino!" The blonde boy whined as he turned to face her, "Will you please stop teasing me. I'd rather not die from all the blood going to my head."

She reached over and pinched his cheek, "But these whiskers look soooo adorable when you're red." She cooed.

Naruto swatted her hand away, "If you keep teasing me, then I'll just stop you from touching them."

Ino gasped, "You wouldn't dare?"

Thinking that he had the upper hand, he smugly answered, "Try me."

Ino shook her head at the boy, 'So you wanna play it that way huh.' "Ok Naruto, just know that you brought this on yourself."

She then got right up in his face and brought out her Koinu no inu no me.

'Oh no! LOOK AWAY, LOOK AWAY NOW!' Despite what his mind was yelling at him to do, his body stubbornly refused to comply.

She then started to speak in a soft tone, "You know you don't mean that. Eh, Na-ru-to-kun."

Naruto's body went rigid at the way she said his name, only made worse by the use of the honorific.

Ino saw that she had him right where she wanted him and a small devious smile appeared on her hips. 'Perfect. Now time to go in for the kill.' She then slowly started to raise her hand.

Naruto saw her hand getting closer but he was too mesmerized by her big, pale blue eyes to do anything to stop it.

She gently rested her hand on his cheek and slowly rubbed his whiskers, earning her the same reaction as before. "So, you still want to keep me from touching them."

Naruto was doing his ever best to fight against the pleasure that he was feeling, but in the end, he lost and had to relent. "O-ok fine, you win."

"Ha! I win Naruto-kun." The girl cheered.

Naruto shook himself out of his blissful stupor and folded his arms while pouting, feeling embarrassed at being played like that.

Ino saw this and patted the boy on his head, "Aaw, now don't be like that. Just let this be a lesson."

A sweat-drop appeared on Naruto's head. "What kind of lesson could I learn from you manipulating me?" he deadpanned.

"A simple one. I ALWAYS get what I want." Ino answered with smug pride in her tone.

"Believe me, my boy, you have no idea how true that statement is." An unknown, older male voice said.

Walking onto the playground, was a light-skinned man wearing a Jonin uniform, with blonde hair similar to Ino's but it was in a ponytail.

"Daddy!" the blonde girl shrieked as she rocketed off the jungle gym.

The man opened his arms and caught the girl before twirling her around and plopping her on his shoulders. "Hey there pumpkin, how was my little hime's day?"

"It was great! I had a lot of fun and even made a new friend." She then turned her attention to the boy who was still on top of the jungle gym. "HEY NARUTO, COME HERE. I WANT YOU TO MEET MY DAD."

"Ay, ay, ay Ino-hime. Lower your voice next time." The blonde man chided as he rubbed the inside of his ears.

The girl blushed and rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment, "Hehe, sorry daddy."

Naruto timidly walked up to the man while avoiding all eye contact, "U-um, g-good evening Yamanaka-san."

Inoichi saw how meek the boy was in his presence, so he put on a kind smile for the boy to lessen the tension, but on the inside he was frowning. 'Minato, Kushina, you'd be ashamed of what this village has done to your son.'

"A good evening to you as well young man. And chin up alright, there's no need to feel afraid."

Naruto slowly lifted his head to look at the man, an action made easier by the smile Inoichi was wearing before he gave a brief nod.

"Good." He then extended his hand to the boy, to which the whiskered boy hesitantly took. With the handshake, he asked, "So what might your name be?"

"I-its Naruto sir. Naruto Uzumaki." He answered while doing his best to keep eye contact.

Inoichi let go of the boy's hand, "Well Naruto, my name's Inoichi and it is a pleasure to meet you. I have to thank you for keeping my daughter's company today, and I apologize if she ended up talking your ear off."

A cry of "DADDY!" rang through the playground.

"Yeeow! Ino-hime, deaf in this ear now." Pointing to his right ear.

Ino folded her arms and huffed, "Good. That's what you get for embarrassing me."

Inoichi rubbed the inside of his ear to try and clear it out while grumbling about spoiled blonde brats.

Naruto awkwardly chuckled at the father-daughter duo and rubbed the back of his head, "I-it was no trouble at all Yamanaka-san. I didn't mind her talking."

"NARUTO! Not you too. Do I really talk that much?"

"Yes." Was the collective response.

The girl pouted and huffed in embarrassment, "You guys are meanies."

Naruto and Inoichi chuckled at the girl's response.

This being the first time he has had a positive interaction with an adult, aside from his Jiji, Baa-chan, and Teuchi, Naruto was a little lost as to how to converse with the man. So he opted to just bid them farewell.

"It's been a pleasure to meet you Yamanaka-san but I have to get going now." He then looked up to Ino. "I guess I'll see you around Ino-chan."

As Naruto moved to walk away he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around he saw that Ino's father had stopped him.

"Listen, as I said before there is no need to feel afraid alright. You're free to play with my daughter any time you like."

Naruto's face slowly brightened up, "R-really?"

Inoichi gave him a kind smile, "Yes, really."

Naruto's expression got brighter and brighter until a big smile found its way on his face. He felt overjoyed that he accepted his friendship with Ino. Not wanting to over-react, he settled for a quick bow to show his gratitude.

"Thank you Yamanaka-san."

"Hehe, it was no trouble at all my boy, and please, call me Inoichi." The man insisted.

Naruto's head sprang up to show the jovial smile still on his face. "Okay." He then looked up to the man's shoulders to see Ino and waved to her, "Bye Ino-chan, I'll see you tomorrow. Goodbye to you too Inoichi-san." With that, the young man ran off the playground and towards his home. As he left he could hear Ino yelling goodbye.

Naruto watched the scene with a dumbfounded expression as his mind already pieced together what he was seeing.

"This is a….." he started but was unable to finish, for he had to shield his eyes from another flash of bright light.

As it died down he realized that he was still standing in the playground, but now it was the next day.

Naruto was sitting atop the jungle gym waiting for Ino to show up. He was contemplating what Inoichi had said the day prior and was silently thankful that the man didn't turn out like most of the village.

'Heh, I guess Jiji was right, there are good people here after all.'

He soon heard the pitter-patter of incoming footsteps and saw Ino running toward him. He watched as she got closer to the jungle gym before doing a single leap and landed on top of the jungle gym beside him, before sitting down.

"Morning Naruto-kun." She greeted before she then turned to look at the playground's entrance to see her dad. "Bye dad."

Inoichi just waved goodbye and gave Naruto a thumbs up before he left.

With her dad gone Ino returned her attention to Naruto. "So my cute little friend. What should we start with today? Oh, I know, how about the monkey bars?"

Naruto waved his hand to say no, "Naah, I was thinking we could race on the slides again. That was fun."

"Aaw, but I wanted to play on the monkey bars." Ino whined.

"Maybe we can do that after."

"No! We will do the monkey bars first, the slide can come second."

"But Ino..." Naruto started.

"No buts." Ino interrupted. "A gentleman always gives a lady what she wants."

"I am a gentleman." Naruto defended, before a smirk came to his lips, "But I don't see any ladies around." He said while pretending to search.

A tick mark appeared on Ino's forehead and steam erupted from her ears at the implied insult, "Oh, you're so gonna get it Naruto." She then tackled him and both fell off the jungle gym.

Naruto fell on his back and Ino fell on top of him. As Naruto groaned in pain, he looked up and found pale blue eyes staring right into his.

'Wow. She's really pretty up close.'

'Wow. Were his eyes always that blue?'

Both soon took notice of the position they were in and atomic blushes crept onto their faces. Ino was on top of him with her waist straddling his, her hands were pressed against his chest, and her face was mere inches away from his.

Naruto was the first one to sputter out his discomfort. "U-u-um I-i-ino-chan. C-c-can you get o-off me. P-please."

"Y-yeah, s-sure Naruto-kun."

Slowly she got off of him and to her feet before she tentatively held out her hand to help him up.

With Ino's help, Naruto got to his feet, "T-thanks Ino-chan." He then realized that she was still holding his hand. "U-uh Ino, you can let go now."

Ino briefly went wide-eyed before she quickly withdrew her hand and placed it behind her head in a sheepish manner. "Hehe sooo, um….yeah. Sorry about the whole tackling and falling on top of you thing."

"Yeah, it's okay." A full minute of awkward silence passed between the two blondes, neither sure of what to say. Another full minute passed before Naruto broke the deafening silence.

"So Ino-chan, you wanna go play on the slides now?"

Ino's awkwardness washed away as she sent him a small glare. She knew that she couldn't refuse him since she kind of owed him for what she did. But that still didn't placate how annoyed she was at being denied.

She threw up her hands before folding them in resignation. "Ok fine, you win." She then got right up in his face and poked his chest with her finger, "But don't let it get to your head buster. This is the first and last time you'll ever get one over on me. Got that!"

The boy chuckled, "Hehe, whatever you say Hime-sama." Speaking as if he were addressing a noble. He then gave an exaggerated bow and spoke in the same formal tone. "Now if you and your royal butt don't mind, we have some fun to get to." He said looking up at her with a cheeky grin.

Ino grumbled as she walked past the bowing boy, knowing that he was only teasing her. "Well come on. The sooner we do this, the sooner we get to what I want to do."

"Coming Hime-sama." The boy further teased in a sing-song voice.

As they walked to the slide, they caught sight of a girl with shoulder-length pink hair on the ground. Her knees were drawn up to her chest and she was pulling them close as if to protect herself. Her head was neatly tucked away between her knees and her hands were wrapped around them, further obscuring her face from view.

Sakura Haruno was not having a good day. She had come to the playground with the hopes of having fun and making a few friends. But all of that went right out the gate once Ami and her band of bullies stepped onto the playground and caught sight of her.

Now here she was, sitting on the ground curled up in a fetal position, with tears streaming down her face, while Ami and her friends were tormenting her.

"Hey look, she's crying."

"Aaw, is the crybaby sad."

Ami went over to the crying pinkette, grabbed her by her hair, and roughly pulled her head up.

"Ow! That hurts, let go." The pinkette cried out

"Oh man, girls look here." Ami strengthened her grip on the girl's hair and pulled her head up some more before pointing at Sakura's face. "I thought she was ugly before, but her tears made her even uglier."

"I didn't think that was even possible."

The taunts and cruel childish laughter were a common occurrence when it came to this group. Ami and her five friends always found pleasure in making Sakura's life miserable at any chance they got, and since no one ever stopped them, they had free reign to do so anytime they wanted.

Sakura pulled her hair from Ami's grip and re-hid her face.

"Trying to hide from us huh? Not that you'll have much luck with a forehead like that."

"I bet you could see it all the way from Iwa."

"It would make a great billboard though." A light bulb went off in Ami's head. "Hey girls, I got the perfect name for her…..BILLBOARD BROW."

"Hah, Billboard Brow. It's perfect."

All of them pointed their fingers at Sakura and started to chant.

"BILLBOARD BROW!"

"Hey! Leave her alone you jerks!"

Hearing that voice, Ami rolled her eyes knowing exactly who it belonged to. She and her girls turned around and did their best to look as mean and smug as possible, while glaring daggers at the blonde pariah.

"Ooooh goody." Ami drawled in an annoyed tone, "It's the village reject. You come here to save your little girlfriend…loser?

The other girls started to laugh at this before adding their own two cents.

"Figures you two would be together."

"Guess the saying is true…birds of a feather, do flock together."

The girls erupted into laughter at their insults.

Naruto however didn't let their words nor their laughter rile him up though.

"At least she is way prettier than any of you could ever be."

"WHAT!" all the bullies yelled in indignation. Sakura who was behind them gained a tiny blush on her face.

"Yep, and unlike all of you she's not pathetic." The boy further insulted.

The girls all gasped and were about to give the boy a piece of their minds, but Naruto didn't allow them to get a word in. "Unlike you lot who going around tormenting others for your own sick pleasure, I can tell that she's just a sweet girl who was only trying to make friends. So aside from being prettier than you-" he then winked at the pinkette, who blushed in response, "-she's also a better person to be around." He finished with a satisfied smirk.

The six girls were red with anger. A fire burned in their eyes as they cracked their knuckles menacingly. "We're gonna make you eat those words, loser." Ami threatened in an angry tone.

Naruto pulled down one of his eyelids and stuck his tongue out at them, "Only if you can catch me you ugly, pathetic jerks." The boy taunted before he ran off laughing.

"GET HIM!" Ami yelled.

With that order all the girls gave chase, intent on making him pay for his insults.

Sakura watched as the girls completely forgot about her and took off after the blond boy. At first, she was fearful that he may have ended up joining the girls in picking on her. That fear turned to gratitude once she realized that he was just trying to help her, but now she was feeling worried and somewhat guilty for what those girls would do once they caught him.

"Pssst."

Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin once she heard that, she quickly turned around to find a short blond-haired girl behind her.

"Hey, hey, take it easy, and don't freak out, okay." The blond girl said in a placating tone.

Sakura nodded slowly before taking a few deep breaths to calm herself.

"They didn't hurt you did they?" The blonde girl asked while looking her over.

"N-no. They didn't hit me or anything, they were just picking on me."

Ino smiled and said, "That's good, but you're still dirty though. Let's go get you cleaned up while we wait for my friend to come back."

"You know him?" Sakura asked.

"Yep. He's the one who decided to distract those bullies while I came to help you." Ino explained

Sakura was surprised that they were willing to help her. Most others just ignored her whenever she was picked on. "Thanks, for helping me."

"It's fine really." Ino began before she realized… "Oh, where are my manners. I'm Ino Yamanaka."

"I-I'm Sakura Haruno."

After that Ino brought Sakura to the restroom and got her cleaned up. When they exited a few minutes later they found Naruto leaning against a tree waiting for them.

"Hey, you're back." Ino said.

"Yep, didn't take too long for me to ditch them." Naruto replied.

"Naruto, this is Sakura." Ino introduced since despite helping her, he didn't know her name

"Nice to meetcha." The blonde boy greeted.

"Likewise." Sakura responded before giving a small bow. "Thank you for helping me."

"It's fine." He then winked at her. "Besides, I can't see a pretty girl in trouble and not help her out."

Sakura lowered her head to hide the blush, "T-thanks for the compliment" her blush was then replaced by a sullen expression "but I'm not pretty."

"What makes you believe that?" an intrigued Ino asked while Naruto listened carefully.

Sakura kept her head lowered and spoke in a low, self-deprecating tone. "I'm not pretty because of my forehead. I'm always bullied because of it and get told that it's what makes me so ugly." A few tears escaped her now shut eyes. "So while I thank you for the compliments, please don't waste them on me."

Sakura kept her head down and her teary eyes closed, not wanting to see the looks of pity she believed they were no doubt giving her. She heard the sound of footsteps as well as when they stopped just in front of her. Her eyes snapped open and a jolt of surprise went through her body when she felt a finger touch her chin; that surprise only increased when the finger gently raised her head until she was face to face with blonde hair, blue eyes, whiskers, and a warm smile.

Before she could say anything, he leaned forward and pressed his lips against her forehead.

Sakura's eyes widened and a deep red blush appeared on her face.

Naruto pulled back and looked directly into Sakura's eyes before speaking in a soft tone, "Don't listen to anyone who says you're ugly alright. Anyone who is dumb enough to say that is obviously blind, for you are the prettiest girl I have ever seen."

Unknown to him, Ino was behind him with an annoyed expression on her face, a tick mark on her forehead, and a violently twitching eyebrow. 'Prettiest girl he's ever seen huh.'

"And you have such a charming forehead, I couldn't help but kiss it." Sakura was close to mimicking a ripe cherry at this point. "So don't be ashamed of your forehead, if anything it only makes you prettier."

Sakura closed her eyes and wiped away her tears, "Thanks for that.

"Heh, no problem. Now since we still haven't started our day of fun yet, why don't you pick out what we play on first."

Sakura brightened up at that and quickly gave her suggestion. "Oooh, I always wanted to try the monkey bars. Can we do that first?"

Naruto's eyebrow lightly twitched, 'What is with these girls and monkey bars?' he then forced a smile on his face, "Of course we can."

Ino walked up to Sakura, flashed Naruto a cocky grin as she passed him, which he returned with a small glare, and draped a hand over the pinkette's shoulder. "Sakura my dear, you and I will get along just fine."

"Huh?" was her intelligent reply.

Another flash obscured Naruto's vision, and when it subsided he found himself in the sewer tunnel, facing the now closed door.

"That was five years ago. It was a memory. But I couldn't have viewed it like that unless…." he stopped mid-sentence as a look of realization crept onto his face, "unless I was inside my mind."

"How perceptive." A deep, booming voice commented.

Naruto looked around in fright to see what that was, but there was no one else around. "Who said that?"

"I'm that dark secret no-one is willing to tell you. Follow the tunnel if you want to learn the truth."

Naruto was feeling apprehensive about whether or not he should follow the mysterious voice, so he asked. "How do I know that you won't just hurt me?"

The voice chuckled before giving its answer. "Believe me. With where I am, I couldn't hurt you even if I wanted to."

Naruto still wasn't sure on whether or not he should trust what that voice was saying, but ultimately decided to follow it. As he walked through the tunnel and was steadily getting closer to the source of the mysterious voice, his mind drifted to the memory he just revisited.

A smile came onto his face as he recalled the times he had with them. They were by far the best moments of his life. After that day they were practically inseparable, they did pretty much everything together. It also helped that both of the girl's parents actually liked him and treated him fairly. They even recognized the unfairness of the villagers and helped him out where they could.

For five months he experienced what it was like to be a normal kid. The villagers still despised him, but with the acceptance of the Harunos and the Yamanakas and by extension the Naras and Akimichis, he no longer cared about them.

Things were going well…until it happened. The event that tore all of that down in one fell swoop. His smile faded into a frown as he recalled what happened. "No!" He shook his head to clear those thoughts from his mind, "I refuse to think about that."

His trek through the water-laden tunnel ended when he entered a large room that had slightly better lighting than the tunnel. What caught his attention, however, were the massive set of gates.

'Guess that's where the voice is coming from.'

"Right again Naruto-kun."

A baffled expression came over the boy's face. "W-w-w-w-wait, hold up! Did you just..?"

"Read your thoughts." The voice finished. "Why yes, I did Naruto-kun. We are inside your mind after all. No thought is private in here."

"Noted."

"Well, I guess this is where the big reveal happens." The voice said, and if Naruto wasn't mistaken, the voice sounded vaguely feminine.

Boom

"Woah!" Naruto said as the room shook and he almost lost his balance.

Boom

The mysterious and obviously large figure was now close enough for Naruto to start making out its features. His eyes gradually widened as he took note of the figure's appearance: Red-orange fur, crimson red eyes, long bunny-like ears, razor-sharp teeth, the size of a mountain, and nine tails swaying behind it.

Naruto was stunned into silence, for he was looking at the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

Kyuubi for its part was silently amused at the boy's reaction. "What's wrong Naruto-kun? Fox got your tongue." It then made a sound that one would think such a beast would never make.

It giggled.

Naruto shook himself out of his stunned stupor and folded his arms while putting on a neutral expression. "So, I have the Kyuubi sealed inside of me huh."

If the beast had hands, it would have applauded the on-point deduction, "Spot on Naruto-kun. But would you be a dear and tell me, just how did you come to that conclusion."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the beast's choice of words but chose not to comment.

"Well for starters as you pointed out, we are inside my mind and I doubt everyone has a bijuu locked up in their mindscape." The blonde pointed out.

That managed to get a chuckle out of the ancient beast.

"Secondly." he then pointed a thumb at the piece of paper joining the gates, "That piece of paper marked 'seal', is kind of a dead giveaway; couple that with my birthday which so happens to fall on the day you attacked, well it becomes a no-brainer."

"I see. Very perceptive indeed." The beast commented, clearly pleased with its container.

No more words were said, and pretty soon a few minutes passed in complete silence as both beast and boy had a silent stare down.

"You surprise me Naruto-kun."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the beast's sudden comment. "What do you mean?"

"I'm sure that sharp mind of yours has already figured out that I'm the reason why this village despises you."

The bijuu's words were met with a slow nod.

"So here I am, the monster that laid waste to your village, the very architect of all your pain and suffering. Its tone then became one of intrigue. "Yet you stand there in my presence, completely calm and not lashing out at me." The beast then tilted its head to display its confusion, "Why is that?"

Naruto shrugged before giving his answer, "The fact that you've asked me such a question tells me that you're not some savage, mindless beast and that you are in fact intelligent. Also throughout this little encounter, you've been, for the lack of a better term, docile. You don't strike me as the type that would seek out trouble unless necessary. So there must have been another reason for your attack."

"And yes, while I should be mad at you for my shoddy hand in life. Standing here and yelling accusations at you ain't exactly gonna get me somewhere. So I see no reason to waste my time doing that."

"Very mature for your age."

Naruto once again shrugged. "Meh, it comes with the lifestyle."

"Indeed. And you are in fact correct. There was another reason for my attack but it wasn't my reason, so to speak."

It didn't take long for Naruto to pick up on what the beast hinted at. "Someone else was pulling the strings." He deduced.

"Yes again. But it seems that story will have to wait for another time."

Naruto was about to ask what the beast meant, but he then noticed how his body was gradually fading away. "W-what is happening?"

"Don't worry my dear, you're just waking up is all."

"Oh." The boy responded.

"Oh well." The beast then laid down and rested its massive head on its forelegs. "Until we meet again Naruto-kun."

The boy gave a brief nod before fading away completely.

With the boy gone, Kyuubi now had time to properly recuperate. It had expended two entire tails worth of chakra throughout the incident; one tail's worth just to keep him stable throughout the torturous ordeal and a second tail just to make sure he didn't die afterward. Coincidentally it was this second tail of chakra, coupled with the boy's anger that had led to the premature awakening of his bloodline.

Two tails of chakra may not have been a great loss, but it was enough to warrant the beast some rest. Just as the beast was getting ready to doze off, it took notice of a figure in the dark corner of the room. "You know instead of being a creep, you could have come out and said something. I'm sure he would have loved to learn about his bloodline."

The figure shrugged before speaking in a male voice, "I could have, but I felt it best to stay on the sidelines for the time being. He will learn of my existence soon enough. Besides, after this incident, Hiruzen will have no choice but to inform him."

The Kyuubi batted its eyelashes before rolling its eyes. "Whatever you say you walking bug zapper. Now, will you please leave, I have beauty sleep to catch up on."

The figure chuckled, "As you wish Kiyomi-san." He then vanished in a flash of lightning.

Finally alone, the ancient beast closed its eyes and in the next few minutes drifted off to sleep.

A groan escaped the blonde boy's lips as he stirred awake. "Ugh, where am I?"

As his blurry vision cleared up, he lifted his head and took in his environment, and noticed, "I'm in the hospital." He deadpanned. "Just great." He drawled as he plopped his head on the pillow. "Ow!" he groaned in pain.

He looked himself over and noted the multiple bandages he had; around his torso, his arms, his legs, he lifted one of his arms and touched his head only to feel another one.

He gave a dreary sigh, "The bastards really did a number on me this time, didn't they." He asked out loud.

"That they did." A female voice answered.

Now closing the door to the room was a woman with light brown skin and long brown hair that was done in a high ponytail. She had visible creases at the corners of her eyes and her mouth that showed her age. She was wearing a purple kimono-like dress, along with a white haori and sandals.

"How long was I out Biwako-Baa-chan?" The pre-teen asked.

"A goodnight to you as well Naruto-kun. Forgotten your manners have you." The brunette playfully chided.

Naruto smiled bashfully and rubbed the back of his head. "Hehe, goodnight to you as well Baa-chan."

"Now that's better." The elderly lady then walked up to his bedside, "As for your question, you've been unconscious for a full day now."

"A whole day huh. I'm just glad that…." Naruto's eyes then widened and he shot up in the bed as he recalled that he wasn't alone. "THE GIRLS!" His heartbeat raced as he asked frantically. "What happened to them? Where are they? Are they hurt?"

Understanding the young man's panic and concern, Biwako gently placed her hand on top of his head and rubbed it, a gesture that had the effect of calming the boy down. "Both of them are okay. Aside from the head injury Ino received, they are fine." She then turned and pointed to the wall to the right of his bed. "If it will quell your worries, just know that they are two rooms down from here."

Naruto could feel his heart rate steadily going back to normal as he took a few calming breaths. "Thanks, baa-chan."

"It was no trouble, my dear." She then placed a hand on his shoulder and gently pushed him to lay back on the bed. "Now rest. You're body still needs time to heal. I'll be back to see you in the morning."

Naruto gave her a small nod as his eyes started to feel heavy. Within a few minutes his eyes were closed and a low snore escaped his mouth, signifying that he was asleep.

Biwako let out a heavy sigh as she left the room. 'I may love you death Hiru-koi, but you were a fool to let that stupid council bully us out of our rights.'

A/N: I would like to inform my readers that I have started the process of getting a job. That was a part of the reason why I took so long with this chapter. I cannot promise that the next update will be speedy since I'll likely be busy with stuff IRL. But don't fear, I will not be dropping this fic and I will eventually complete it.

Also as a side-note. I know that there are some nit-picky readers out there, so I'll tell you from now. Nothing in this chapter is meant to be sexual in any way. That scene where Ino fell on Naruto in that position was just an accident and they're reactions was purely out of embarrassment at being so close to each other. Nothing more.

Another side-note. For each update I do, I will be switching between my two stories, so since I have updated this, the next update will be for KKR.

Koinu no inu no me = Puppy Dog Eyes