Hello everyone.

This is the first story like this that I've ever written. At the time of me writing this, the story is in its infancy. Many things are still unplanned and only a rough framework for the story exists.

I don't really have a passion for writing, I just have enough of an interest in Naruto fanfiction and a spark of creativity. All criticism is appreciated, even totally negative.

I have not written something of this caliber since high school, so some aspects of the story be it grammar, explanations, conversations, etc.. may seem unnatural at times.

There will be no bashing, I will try to minimize cliches, and be as original as possible.

There is no doubt that some parts of this story will feature parts very similar to canon, but that's why so many fics of Naruto exist: the ease of writing ideas into canon and not having to create an entirely new foundation of a story.

Original work is significantly harder to make than using a "template" so to speak.

I don't want to give away too much more, so… let us begin.

Even if you only read this small message from me, I still appreciate your time. Enjoy.


Brief Summary

Trauma will cause conflict, arguments will create tension, attacks of character will cause contempt, they will grow distant. It may even seem irreparable at some points, yet they will persevere. Because they are the same. Reliant on each other for reason. Purpose. Love. Lust? Both.

Various OOC characters each with their own struggles, flaws, and strengths. Story will slowly drift into AU as it progresses.


Reaching Reason

Bartledoo41

Chapter 1: Night of Terror

Chaos. Destruction. Fear. Many words could describe the state of Konohagakure. All of them relate in some way to catastrophe. The reason being, a massive fox with nine tails that ended hundreds of lives as they oscillated in a rhythm of destruction.

The enormous fox flailed and rampaged in the center of the village. Each swipe of its clawed hands decimated buildings, pulverizing concrete and steel into dust. Fragile human bodies stood no chance.

Screams competed with the guttural roar of the beast as if they were in a horrifying contest to see which could drive a man mad faster. The roar always won.

A man crawled on the debris ridden ground, searching for his leg that had just been ripped off during one of the many strokes of cataclysm. Underneath rubble, he found it. The tibia was extruding just past the flesh. It matched the hole in the flesh just below his knee where his tibia had once been. It had to be his.

He had only just realized, however, that the leg was missing a foot.

A scream of anguish was just beginning to leave the hysterical man's mouth when a large piece of concrete landed directly on top of him. Red mist exploded from the site of impact.

A few blocks away, a woman could be seen wailing in grief and agony. The cause? Her once round abdomen was now pathetically deformed. The fetus within was destroyed by a rogue water jutsu from a leaf ninja that had missed the fox.

Her mind shattered at that moment.

Was there even a point to living now? That child was all that was left of her deceased lover. Without it, she had nothing. It wouldn't matter, because a few seconds later she was crushed by the beast's foot.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, used all of the skills he possessed to keep the fox at bay. He watched closely for an opening.

The Kyuubi turned to swat at a couple of Jounin that were preparing a collaborative ninjutsu.

Seeing that this is his chance, the retired Kage used his trusty companion Enma to force the fox out of the village walls.

"Adamantine staff!" Shouted Hiruzen, causing the black staff to extend to impossible lengths.

Furious at losing ground, the beast prepared its final attack. A massive sphere of unstable energy ready to detonate at any moment hovered within the maw of the Kyuubi.

Then it was gone.

The horizon illuminated and night became day.


Above the stone faces of the village's great leaders, a plant-like object could be seen emerging from the ground.

It plant split open, revealing a man divided perfectly down the middle in black and white.

He donned a black cloak riddled with holes and a large tear in the white half's chest.

"I think we did pretty good, huh? Isn't it amazing what the Kyuubi can do? I mean the size of that explosion! The Fourth Hokage must be really strong to teleport it away like that." Said the white half in awe of the scene playing before them.

After a moment, the eye of the black half opened slightly revealing a Mangekyō Sharingan with the shape of three scythes.

"Yes. This is a fundamental step in the plan."

The white half of their shared mouth turned downwards into a frown.

"Always so serious. Say, since you have that eye, why do we still need to crawl around underground? I hate eating dirt."

The black half's crimson eye watched the rampaging beast below dispassionately for a few seconds before responding.

"I already told you Zetsu, it takes a substantial amount of chakra to use Kamui. I needed to conserve energy to control the Kyuubi." He closed his eye, hiding the infamous ocular ability from the world once more. 'Evading the Hokage used more chakra than I anticipated as well. No matter, I've done all that was needed.'

The white half shrugged its shoulder and yawned.

"Whatever you say. Let's just stay a little longer to enjoy the show, these leaf ninja sure are interesting."


"Waaah! Waaah!" An infant cried as it entered the world.

It cried because of the new sensations. The cool air on his skin. The noises that were no longer muffled ravaged his ears. The serene warmth from the womb was now gone. It's only solace was the pleasant sensation of someone stroking his nearly bald head.

All of this turmoil in exchange for a chance at life.

Kushina Uzumaki gazed lovingly at the bundle she held. She too was crying, though from relief and joy.

A few feet away, a man with spiky yellow hair looked at the baby in awe.

"Look, Kushina! Naruto has your hair!"

Curious at the new sound, the infant stopped crying for a moment and blearily opened his eyes to find the source. Cerulean orbs peered into the blurry world for the first time. Only being able to make out red and yellow blobs, he resumed crying.

"Yeah but he has your eyes, Minato." Kushina said with a tired chuckle, absently stroking the crimson tuft of hair on Naruto's head.

Awkwardly scratching the back of his head, Minato gave a grin.

"Yeah I guess he does. Those adorable whisker marks too!" The smile on Minato's face fell instantly. 'What is this sensation, like a shift in the atmosphere. The pressure in the room is dropping and it's becoming harder to breathe. Something's wrong.'

Minato rushed to Kushina's side, lifting her shirt slightly.

"Kushina. I need to check on the seal, to make sure it's still stable."

Before she could respond, a void in space appeared between them with a vortex spiraling quickly from its center. It seemed to be absorbing Naruto and Kushina into it.

Minato quickly tried to grab Kushina's arm only for his fingers to pass right through her and grab the bedsheets below.

"Kushina! Naruto! Damn it!"

Clutching the sheets of the still warm bed so hard his hands turned white, the Fourth Hokage shook with rage.

He turned around to look for Biwako, Kushina's midwife, only to find her dead in a pool of her own blood. Her throat had been cleanly slit.

"How?! How could anyone sneak in here? This location is classified!" Wasting no more time, he teleported to Kushina's location using the Flying Thunder God seal he placed on her just a few hours ago.

Appearing on the top of the Hokage Monument, he had no time to properly gauge his surroundings as a cloaked figure hurled Naruto over the edge.

Seeing your firstborn plummeting to their death just minutes after entering the world is something that even most shinobi cannot stay apathetic to.

It was Kushina's ear piercing scream that startled him into action, likely saving his son from becoming one with the terrain below.

"Nar-"

Minato moved at a pace that most ninja could not even comprehend.

He threw a Flying Thunder God Kunai so fast in Naruto's direction that the tip of the blade began to glow orange. The friction of something moving through the air at that speed generated immense amounts of heat.

He teleported to it just as it passed a wailing Naruto and grabbed him before vanishing as if he were never there.

"-uto!" This all happened before Kushina could even finish screaming Naruto's name.


'It's calm and peaceful tonight. Something most would enjoy. Yet to me, something is wrong.'

Hiruzen Sarutobi was having a decent night all things considered. Past failures were showing mercy to his old mind for once, though that's likely because they were temporarily replaced by a new anxiety.

Taking a long drag from his pipe, he sighed.

"I passed on the torch already, surely Minato could handle anything. I just need to relax."

Yellow filled the room and he knew immediately that his fears were not without reason.

Turning away from the window, he saw what confirmed this theory. A frantic looking Minato cradled a clearly distraught infant.

Hiruzen tensed, preparing himself.

"Minato, my boy. What's happened? Where is Kushina?"

Minato gently set Naruto down on the nearby sofa. Developing a look of concentration, he placed his hand on Naruto's stomach. After a moment he lifted his hand, revealing a series of symbols.

Minato looked to Hiruzen with deadly serious eyes and spoke quickly.

"Lord Third, the village is under attack by an unknown assailant. He killed Biwako, then took Naruto and Kushina. I managed to rescue Naruto. I need you to watch him while I save Kushina. I fear I am running out of-"

He was interrupted by a deafening roar that came from the center of the village. The two Kages expressions grew grim as they already knew what this meant.

Turning their gaze to the window, Hiruzen and Minato watched the daunting form of an enraged Kyuubi begin its slaughter on their citizens.

Minato looked at Naruto and clenched his fists, already forming a plan should the need arise.

"Nevermind, Lord Third. I'll need you to buy me some time, I need to confront the assailant. I just placed a marker on Naruto should anything happen." Not waiting for a response, he vanished.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's decent night was now anything but.

He puffed his pipe once more and exhaled slowly, savoring the moment before battle.

"Biwako…" He said, voice thick with emotion.

The wise shinobi steeled his emotions, it was time.

The night of terror had begun.


A chained up and exhausted Kushina glared at the monochrome man.

"Minato will kill you, you know!"

The white half hid behind his hand, shivering in fear.

"Wow! You sure are scary with that look! Zetsu, make her stop!"

The black half didn't respond immediately, instead focusing on the complex seal on Kushina's abdomen.

"Quite, Zetsu. I need to focus. The Fourth Hokage will be here soon, I don't have much time."

Kushina spent the last few minutes gathering her chakra. She knew she only had one shot.

'This freak can make himself intangible at will. Only just before touching something is he vulnerable. I can use this to my advantage.'

Black Zetsu spread his fingers and directed an extreme amount of chakra to his fingertips. Pushing his hand forward, he willed his eye to make him tangible again in order to destroy the seal containing the Kyuubi.

The black, texture less hand was mere inches from the intricate ink when a glowing chain with a serrated blade at its tip shot out of Kushina's back, piercing white Zetsu in the chest.

"Ahhh, Zetsu! I can't feel my chakra!" White Zetsu writhed around, trying to pull the chain out of his torso.

Black Zetsu growled and pushed closer, ignoring the screaming from his inverse colored partner. Gaining just enough distance, he slammed his hand into Kushina's seal.

The chain dissolved and she wailed in agony.

'The Adamantine Sealing Chains likely would have gotten us if White Zetsu and I shared the same chakra. Damned Uzumaki.' He started building a moderate amount of chakra in his stolen eye.

Mouth open in a silent scream, Kushina exploded into potent, toxic chakra. The bright orange energy had a miasma of despair that immediately got the attention of everyone in the village.

Slowly, the form of Kushina morphed into the vague shape of a fox.

"Yay! The fox comes out to play! What -cough- fun!" White Zetsu said, struggling to speak with his punctured lung.

Having decided that the beast had formed enough, black Zetsu opened his eye revealing the sharingan.

"You are in my control, Kyuubi."

His sharingan spun hypnotically until the crimson slitted eyes of the fox mirrored his own. The beast froze, its unmoving form towering over everything in their vicinity.

Acting with haste, Black Zetsu used Kamui to reappear in the village center.

Quickly going through five hand signs he slammed his hand on the pavement and roared, "Summoning Jutsu!"

The fox and its nine enormous tails appeared in all of its glory, still frozen in place. Zetsu grunted and put up his fingers in a single hand sign.

The beast turned feral.

Picking up a barely conscious Kushina, Black Zetsu used even more of his relatively small chakra reserves to use Kamui again. He appeared on the Hokage Monument for the second time.

Zetsu threw a lethargic Kushina several feet away and waited.

'That was phase one. Now, the hard part. I don't have enough chakra to go on the offensive, Kamui should be more than enough to evade.'

White Zetsu laughed at the crumpled form of Kushina. "Hahaha! That's what you get for stabbing me you crazy Uzumaki lady! Zetsu, why don't we just kill her?"

"..Quiet Zetsu, he is here." As soon as the words left his mouth, Minato Namikaze appeared next to Kushina.

Ice blue eyes never left Zetsu as Minato grabbed his wife and threw a Flying Thunder God Kunai high into the air.

The couple vanished.


They appeared in the living room of the Third Hokage's residence where they saw the sleeping form of Naruto on the sofa.

Minato gently placed Kushina next to Naruto and let out a shaky breath.

"Get rest, Kushina. Watch him for me."

He was about to teleport back to the fight when he heard a whisper.

"M-Minato.."

He turned to look at her, his eyes betraying no emotion. He was ready for battle.

Tear filled violet met cerulean.

"I love you, Minato."

Cold eyes softened instantly and the corners of his mouth lifted up in a smile.

"I love you too, Kushina. I'll be back in a bit once I take care of the stupid fox and plant man."

His smiling face then disappeared from her sight.

Kushina turned on her side and stroked Naruto's hair.

"Naruto… my baby. It wasn't supposed to be like this..." Her lip quivered and fresh tears streaked sideways down her face. "M-Mommy loves you.. Even if you never get to hear that, I hope somehow you know. My chakra system is torn to shreds, I don't think I have much time."

The screams of the damned and the destruction outside only served to amplify her feelings. She let grief overwhelm her.

Naruto must have sensed the discomfort, as he started crying too.

"Oh Naruto! There's so much I want to tell you! So much I wanted to do with you, to teach you! This world is flawed, baby. All anyone has is a lust for power. People kill, people die. Vengeance is born. It's just an infinite cycle! If you survive this day, Naruto, I hope you break it." She sobbed along with her son.


The tri-pronged kunai had already reached the height of its trajectory and was on its way back towards the Earth. Just before it impaled itself into the dirt, yellow illuminated the area and the blade was caught.

Minato stood kunai in hand. His White cloak with 'Fourth Hokage' on the back contrasted with the plain black cloak donned by his opponent.

Said opponent simply watched the Hokage that stood before him with disinterest.

The tension in the air was palpable, yet the shinobi stood firm as if waiting for some unforeseen signal.

After another roar of the Kyuubi rampaging in the village below them, the ninja flew into action.

Minato threw his kunai at Zetsu, only for it to phase through him.

Just as the blade was behind the invader, he teleported to it. Reversing his grip on the kunai, he went for a series of blows to the neck and chest.

It proved to be useless as each attack simply didn't connect.

Minato made distance once more, observing the odd man closely. 'My attacks are going right through him. It seems his ability is to make himself and objects intangible.' He took notice of the new holes in Zetsu's cloak. 'Ah, His cloak! He must not be incredibly proficient at this technique yet, or he must be trying to save chakra. I'm betting it's both.'

White Zetsu pointed a shaky finger at the Hokage. "You! Your stupid wife almost killed me and you are freakishly fast! I hate leaf ninja. Zetsu, I think it's time."

Black Zetsu considered his partner's words. 'Zetsu is right. Evading with Kamui is more taxing than I thought it would be. Maybe it's time to retreat, the fox has done a great deal of damage. The villagers have been traumatized, many lost loved ones. The seeds of hatred and distrust have been sown.'

Minato narrowed his eyes, trying to use the information to his advantage. 'Kushina almost killed him? I see.. the wound on his chest. He wasn't able to phase through one of Kushina's chains. No doubt Zetsu had to physically destroy her seal, which means he had to become tangible when he touched her. So.. he has to be tangible if he wants to physically interact with the world.' His eyes widened. 'Interact with the world, that's it!'

He threw another kunai at Zetsu, this time aiming for the man's legs.

Zetsu watched the kunai phase through him once more, not worried in the slightest.

The pain that emanated from his feet caused him great shock.

'What?! How?' He looked down to see a Rasengan grinding it's way through his feet and into the ground. '...I see, my feet are always tangible so as not to phase into the Earth. This human is clever. Too clever.'

He waited for the jutsu to end then sank halfway into the dirt. "Hokage. Look around you, analyze your situation fully. Your village is being destroyed by a tailed beast and your wife is dying, yet you waste your time here with me. You will never be able to defeat me."

Having said all that was needed, Zetsu sank the rest of the way into the ground.

Minato looked down to the destruction once he realized the enemy had escaped.

The Kyuubi had been forced out of the village, courtesy of the Third Hokage. Enraged, the fox ejected an enormous amount of yin and yang chakra. It spread its nine tails and began to condense the energy into a single point in its open mouth.

Minato's eyes widened. "That's a lot of chakra, it could level the village."

He threw his infamous kunai and waited for it to get close to the sphere of condensed chakra.

While waiting, he was coming to terms with what must be done. There was only one way to stop this catastrophe.

"Naruto… I'm sorry." He said before vanishing.


Panting, the aged Kage could do nothing but watch as the fox prepared a final attack.

'That is far too much chakra. Minato, I've done all I could. It's too powerfu- what?!'

Just as the energy was about to go critical, it vanished. Murmurs sounded in the crowd of ninja that were prepared to die.

Miles away, a massive explosion could be seen, then felt. It shook the village and the shinobi winced from the intense heat.

Hiruzen looked at the fireball in awe. 'That couldn't have been closer.'

Yellow light filled the forest around them and the shinobi cheered.

"Minato. Did you deal with the attacker?" Said Hiruzen, glad to see his successor still alive.

"No, he managed to escape. I managed to rescue Kushina but her chakra system was too intertwined with the Kyuubi. I'm not sure how long…" Minato wasn't able to finish the sentence.

"I see… That makes two of us then. Now, the fox. Do you have a plan?" He said critically.

The Fourth Hokage took a deep breath. "Yes… I need to seal it into Naruto. The Kyuubi cannot be beaten with conventional methods."

He then bit his thumb and went through five hand seals.

"Summoning Jutsu!" He yelled, pressing his hands into the ground beneath him.

A gigantic plume of smoke obscured something that rivaled even the Kyuubi in size.

Minato stood on top of a massive toads head.

"Bunta, I need you to get the fox as far from the village as you can."

The giant toad exhaled from his pipe, blowing the smoke away. Upon seeing the Kyuubi, the toad reached to the sword strapped to his back and held it in front of him.

"A tailed beast? You owe me for this one, Minato boy."

Minato didn't respond and just vanished in brilliant yellow once more.


He appeared in the house of his predecessor yet again and spotted Kushina cradling Naruto.

Sensing his presence, Kushina looked tiredly over her shoulder.

"Minato.. is it over? I.. I'm tired."

His heart broke at the scene, and from what he knew he had to do.

"..No, Kushina. Not yet. I need to take Naruto with me, there is only one way to stop this."

Kushina miraculously appeared alert once more, as if she was never tired to begin with. Her eyes narrowed and she clutched Naruto closer to her chest.

"What are you planning to do Minato? How does it involve Naruto? You are not going to make him a Jinchuuriki are you?!" She yelled with righteous fury, her hair rising against gravity due to the sheer chakra she exuded.

Clenching his teeth, Minato raised his voice to the same level.

"There is no other option Kushina! It's either that or let the whole village and everyone in it be destroyed. Is that what you want? I don't want to do this either, but I ask you to have faith in Naruto. He will persevere... He has to."

Turning to look out the nearby window, he saw Gamabunta and the Kyuubi at a standstill.

"I need to go, there is no more time. I need to prepare the seal."

Before he disappeared, Kushina grabbed his arm and looked into his eyes with a fierce look.

"I'm coming with."

Nodding, Minato quickly charged his chakra.

They then disappeared, leaving the house empty.


The trio appeared in the clearing where Gamabunta and the Kyuubi struggled for dominance.

Minato raised a hand seal. "That's enough, Gamabunta! I'll take it from here. It was an honor to fight alongside you."

After having said those words the toad disappeared in the same way he came; a plume of smoke.

"I need to prepare the Jutsu." He said as he began to rapidly go through hand seals.

Kushina set Naruto down on the altar that Minato had prepared and looked at the beast. Using her chains, she quickly wrapped them around the fox. It writhed and squirmed to get out of its predicament.

Now that the Kyuubi was immobilized, she looked at her son with concern. 'Naruto.. you are going to be a jinchuuriki like me. Now I know for sure that you need to change this world. You will have the power to do it, don't grow complacent like I-' Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt a tug on her chains. Turning around quickly, she saw the clawed hand of the fox speeding toward her son.

Minato and Kushina reacted in the first way they thought of to stop the claw; using themselves. The sound of flesh tearing and blood splattering on the ground resounded throughout the clearing.

Minato coughed mouthfuls of blood and grit his teeth in pain. "I… only have a few more hand signs to go. N-Naruto, -cough- What I am giving you now is both a blessing and a curse. I am not naïve enough to believe that the village will treat you as a -cough- hero. You will have a hard life, son. Just know, Naruto, both of your parents love you. Kushina, anything to say?"

After a few seconds of hearing no response, he checked her pulse.

'It's very weak but she's still alive.. Amazing. The fox has far too much chakra to be contained in an infant. I'll seal half of it back into Kushina and half into Naruto. But she will still die from her wounds… unless.'

"Reaper Death Seal!" Screamed Minato.

A ghastly apparition appeared from the ground, visible only to him. The apparition wore a white robe and in its fanged mouth was a dagger.

Steeling himself, Minato spoke in a whisper seemingly to no one.

"Reaper, I ask you to seal the fox into Kushina and Naruto. -cough- T-Then seal Kushina into Naruto as well." Minato paused to cough the blood that had been building in his lungs. The edges of his vision were failing him, but he spoke once more. "..In return, you can have my soul."

The demonic entity didn't respond with words. Instead, it simply grasped the blade from its mouth with its clawed hand.

The shinobi watching from the trees shielded their eyes as the entire clearing suddenly illuminated in a blinding light.

The grin on the apparition's face widened as it used its free hand to grasp Kushina and the Kyuubi, then shoved them impossibly into Naruto. Still grinning maniacally, the god of death then tore the blade horizontally across his own stomach, exposing the broken and the damned. It then extended its skeletal arm, absorbing Minato's very essence.

As the remnants of his chakra faded, one thought remained in Minato Namikaze's head. 'Did I do the right thing? Kushina… guide him.'

Just as quickly as the light filled the clearing, it disappeared. What remained was a crying red headed baby and the corpse of the beloved Fourth Hokage.

This is the scene that Hiruzen took in as he arrived in the clearing. "Minato… did you?"

Checking the crying infant's belly confirmed it. An intricate Eight Trigram Seal, though something about was different from a normal Eight Trigram Seal. It meshed with the Flying Thunder God seal he saw Minato place there earlier. The result is in the center instead of the typical swirl was another smaller seal with concentric rings in the center of it.

'I don't think Minato planned for that. Where is Kushina?'

The Third Hokage realized that his retirement was cut short. He gave a command.

"ANBU! Search the area for Kushina Uzumaki."

"Sir!" Spoke the masked ninja in unison, before darting off in different directions.

The reinstated Hokage bent down and picked up the crying baby and sighed.

"Naruto Namikaze. I'm afraid you can't use that last name for a while, my boy."


Kushina Uzumaki awoke to the sound of waves crashing against the shore.

Opening her eyes revealed that she was on the inside of a massive cage on an island surrounded by water. The island was not very big, only slightly bigger than the cage itself. But it still had room for a handful of palm trees to grow, their coconuts ready to be harvested by anyone brave enough to climb their steep trunks. Seagulls cawed as they flew around lazily in the sky, some even rested on the top of the cage she was in.

It was almost serene.

Then a deep, unsettling growl caused her to stand up straight and turn around.

The Kyuubi sat there, resting its enormous head on its clawed hand.

"I was waiting for you to wake up, human." It's guttural voice said in a bored tone.

Taking a step back, Kushina spoke. "K-Kyuubi? Where are we? Where is my son?!"

The fox ignored her question and stood on its four legs.

"I remember the torment you subjected me to, so now, I will return it. Tenfold." Snarled the fox. It walked closer to Kushina, eventually backing her into the very corner of the cage.

"I think you forgot just how I was able to keep you in line, fox! Adamantine Sealing Chains!" Several chains sprouted from Kushina's back and coiled around the Kyuubi.

Deep, raspy chuckles resounded in the cage.

"Foolish. You have no power here, this isn't your seal. I've already corrupted your chakra system. The damned Fourth Hokage split my chakra into the child and you, a terrible decision."

Kushina gasped and fell to her knees as orange chakra bubbled out of her. 'M-My chakra… I can feel something invading my mind. What is this?!'

'Yes, that's right… succumb. This is my body now, you may watch through it but never speak or act. You will watch your son grow up in a village that despises him. You will watch his daily struggle. You will watch his will waver. You will watch when he comes to me in despair, and you will answer. You will watch him give in. This is all in return for what you've done to me.'

The massive form of the fox exploded into vibrant energy before being absorbed into Kushina.

Kushina slumped over, unmoving except for her red hair which flowed gently in the salty breeze that came off the ocean.

Red slitted eyes opened in place of violet. She lifted her hand and observed the wrinkles and details in her palm. Stabbing her hand with her now sharp nails, she spoke in an emotionless tone.

"..How interesting. This body is far weaker than the other."

She created an Adamantine Sealing Chain and manipulated it around in the air for a few seconds.

"Still, it has its benefits. Naruto Namikaze. It will very be interesting to see how you turn out. What do you think, Kushina?"

Deep in the recesses of her own mind chained to a sphere, Kushina snarled back a response. 'Fuck you, fox! My son will put you in your place just like I did. Your time will come. When it does, I'll be the one laughing."

Giving a melodic chuckle, Kyuubi spoke once more.

"Oh, I don't think that will be the case. Don't you see? I will help Naruto whenever he needs it. Eventually, he will become dependent on me. What makes you think he will want to push away the only one that will treat him fairly?"

Slumping against the chains that tethered her, she replied. 'You underestimate humans, not every single one of us is garbage. There will be some that treat him fairly. Your plan is reliant on every single person to hate him. Given what you are, it's no surprise you hold humanity in such a negative light. How pathetic.'

Kyuubi smiled as she sat down with her knees to her chest in the corner of the oversized cage.

Her crimson eyes gazed dispassionately at to the infinite ocean. The corners of her mouth tilted upwards in a mocking smile, showing a small fang.

"We shall see, hmm?"


End of Chapter 1

Please, tell me what you think. Again, this is my first story. All criticism is appreciated.

Unfortunately, this will likely be the last you see of this story for quite some time. I don't plan to fully release it until the entire story is written unless demand for frequent updates is high.

This is because there is nothing worse as a reader than getting into a fic that will never be completed. It is an empty feeling that I will not subject anyone to.

Also, if my passion fizzles out and I never update it then feel free to adopt.

If you made it this far, thank you for reading.