No author's notes to put, but this is the official start of the cross over! My lemon tree is running dry, so I gotta give it time to grow more fruit.
Anyway, please enjoy!
Donning his black-and-orange ninja apparel, Naruto made sure that his black head-protector was wrapped tightly, with its long bandana-like ends hanging down his neck. Stricken with the surprising realization that everything the night prior had actually happened, and wasn't at all a figment of his wild imagination, Naruto was both thrilled to have his own growing harem, yet was overwhelmed with the lifestyle change that came with that.
Believing that him joining up to assist Rock Lee's group would be good for him to distract himself while accepting his new lifestyle, Naruto was focused on preparing for the S-rank mission. Even so, Naruto made sure to kiss Sakura goodbye, before taking the breakfast that Mebuki made for him to go. Planning on meeting up with his group of comrades at the main gate leading in-and-out of Konoha, Naruto has been expecting to see Kaneki waiting there with his three other friends, so needless to say, he was surprised to see Haise there instead.
Dressed in an extremely fashionable white-trench coat with a black-collared dress shirt and white tie on, Haise looked extremely out of place compared to the rest of the shinobi. Still finding himself staring at Haise longer than he intended, Naruto shook the odd feeling resonating within him and instead tried making light of the situation, because from the way the situation looked when he came upon them, Rock Lee, Tenten, and Shikamaru weren't thrilled to see Haise at all.
"Oh hey, Haise! What's up, man?!" Naruto called out with a toothy grin across his whiskered face— being sure to interlace his fingers together behind his head, to try and be the cool one within their group.
Turning away from the disapproving states of the other three ninjas, Haise smiled politely at Naruto and gave him a formal bow before raising up from the waist. "Good morning Naruto, I came here instead of my brother because he had, uh… An important matter to attend to," Haise said vaguely, while doing his best to be discreet about Kaneki's personal life.
Nodding his head with an understanding expression on his positive face, Naruto replied, "You know what, he actually mentioned something along the lines of that yesterday! Well, whatever's up with Kaneki, I hope everything works out for him and whoever he's meeting up with!" Naruto said with a genuine tone of friendliness in his voice, as he made his way to the group with a hopeful expression on his face. "Welp, what are we waiting for?! Let's get a-move on!"
Seeing what Naruto was trying to do, Tenten immediately halted the blond shinobi and the older man by standing in front of them. "Not so fast, Uzumaki! Bringing him along was never part of the deal!" Tenten said with a sternness to her voice, while Naruto blinked at her with a dumbfounded look on his face.
"… W-What's wrong Haise? He's a pretty cool guy, and uh… I mean, he's pretty much like Kaneki— they look really, really similar after all, so… W-What's the issue here, haha...?" Naruto asked with an uneasy chuckle.
Shaking her head at him, Tenten crossed her arms over her medium-sized breasts and scoffed. "Look at him! He looks like he's getting ready for a business meeting, not an actual mission! It's insulting, is what it is!" Tenten shouted bitterly, as she turned her head toward Haise with her eyes narrowed. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
Shrugging at the way none of them approved of his outfit, Haise chuckled while adjusting his white tie. "What can I say? I dress to impress, and always strive to look my best~!" Haise replied in a lighthearted sing-song kind of voice, with an amused grin across his lips— earning a genuine laugh from Naruto, and only Naruto.
Joining in on Tenten's side, Rock took a step forward to make a knife-shaped gesture with his hand, before pointing it toward Haise. "He made a rhyme out that— clearly he's not taking any of this seriously! He's disrespectful, and I will not tolerate that sort of attitude on our mission!"
Seeing how riled up Rock was getting with him, Haise chuckled apologetically while smiling back at him. "I'm sorry, sheesh… It was only playing around with you guys. I didn't mean to get on your nerves, hehe…" Haise tried saying, but none of Rock's group was having it. "Besides, if we're being honest here, with all jokes aside, I actually did come prepared for this trip, see? Look, I brought some 'Timbs'," Haise said, while raising his leg up to flash his footwear for all of them to look at.
Raising a brow at what he was looking at, Shikamaru couldn't help but to point out the obvious at what they were all looking at. "… Why are they bright-pink?" The unimpressed shinobi asked, while Tenten and Rock Lee shook their heads at Haise.
"Well, my outfit and hair, and my… The point is, I'm pretty much by literally sense 'black-and-white', so I thought I could spice things up a bit, and add some flavor to my wardrobe," Haise said while lowering his Timb back down to the ground.
"Unbelievable… See what we mean, Uzumaki?" Tenten asked, while hoping that the visual was enough for Naruto to realize just how out of place Haise was amongst their group. However, rather than seeing anything that would have reassured her that he was on their side, Tenten instead was annoyed the moment she looked down toward the ground to see the blond shinobi kneeling down to ogle at Haise's bright-pink Timbs.
"Holy crap, dude! Where the hell did you get those, man?!" Naruto asked with a flabbergasted tone in his voice, as his eyes were lit up by how fascinated he was with the older man's stylish footwear.
"I ordered them online! That's how Ken and I get stuff shipped from Amegakure!" Haise replied back with an enthused look on his face, as he was always someone who enjoyed explaining the modern concepts that he grew up around. "The clothes we wear are sort of a rarity around here, I've noticed… I've tried wearing clothes that you guys tend to wear around the village, but, uh… Traditional garments and ninja gear aren't really my thing, sadly— I can't exactly pull it off."
"Damn dude, I'm gonna need to swing by or have one of you come over to show me what website you're using to buy your clothes! I gotta get me a pair of those though, BELIEVE IT!!!" Naruto shouted excitedly, as he sprang back up onto his feet before asking, "Do you they come in orange, by the way? That's kind of my thing, hehe…"
"Oh yeah, for sure! I don't see why they wouldn't have… Oh," Haise trailed off, as he and Naruto both looked around their surroundings after finally noticing that the three other ninjas had ditched them during their conversation on shoes. "Well, that's unfortunate… I apologize if I rubbed your friends the wrong way, I… I didn't think they'd get up and walk away without you coming along."
Not wanting Haise to blame himself for merely being different from his other friends, Naruto shook his head and waved off the apology dismissively. "Nah, it's not your fault. They already made a lot of compromises yesterday night when I wanted to tag along, and… To be honest, neither of them really wanted your brother to come along at first. That was until I sort of hyped them up by saying that Kaneki would write a story about their mission, or some crap like that, haha," Naruto admitted with a cheesy grin.
Nodding his head understandingly, Haise appreciated the open honesty from Naruto, and couldn't help but to find it slightly odd with how fast they were bonding. "Well… I don't want to disappoint you, and I really was actually looking forward to going out today, so… Are you still up for going up to Hokage Rock?" Haise offered, while feeling undeterred from wanting to go up to the mountain to investigate the reported missing people.
Having been banking on seeing the mission through for not only his own mental state's sake, but to try and do good by helping those who went missing trying to find the seismologists, Naruto was more excited than he should have been to have Haise along for the ride. "Hell yeah! I'm ready to go kick some ass when you are! Uhh… T-That is if you're comfortable with fighting… Probably should ask that, now that it's pretty much gonna be you and I soloing this mission," Naruto said with a more serious tone in his voice.
Nodding his head, Haise tucked his hands into the pockets of his slacks while smirking reassuringly at Naruto with enough sincerity on his face to convince the blond shinobi. "Oh, you don't have to worry about me, I'll be fine," Haise said casually without trying to oversell himself. "But uh, I do have a question for you Naruto…"
"Oh? Yeah, what's up?" Naruto asked curiously, while taking note of the confident way Haise was grinning back at him.
"Did you want to take the scenic route, and waste an entire day getting up there? Or did you want to take the shortcut?" Haise asked playfully, which at first confused Naruto, who thought the young man was joking with him.
"Hehe, uh… I mean, it's kind of a long walk I guess, but we weren't being serious when we told Kaneki that it would actually take a day getting there," Naruto said with an uneasy chuckle, before turning around to point a finger up at the four heads sculpted along the sides of the mountainous cliff that overlooked the bottom sector of the village. "Granted, there are a lot of tunnels inside of the actual plateau itself, so it might actually take a day or so to navigate through all of them… Sorry, I just… I just thought that Kaneki would have known by now what Hokage Rock was."
Putting two-and-two together, Haise felt incredibly embarrassed the moment it dawned on him that 'Hokage Rock' was the name given to the high plateau looking over the bottom sector of the village. "Oh my— That's what that freakin' thing is called?! Oh my God, that makes so much sense now! And here I thought 'Hokage Rock' was some sort of cryptic mountain out in the middle of some 'forbidden' desert, or something! God, I feel stupid right now…" Haise muttered with a sigh of defeat, before turning his head around to face up at the archway above the village's entrance. "Why are we even here then, if this is the opposite direction of where we need to be…?!"
Shrugging, Naruto motioned for Haise to look over at the direction he was pointing at. Frustrated with how misled he felt, Haise found himself looking directly toward where a coffee shop resided that had the sign above its door reading 'Anteiku'. "We were going to get some coffee to go before we planned on heading up there… This is Tenten's favorite place, so we agreed to come here as our meeting spot. Sorry if uh, if that was confusing for you."
Sighing with his shoulders drooped, Haise considered just calling it quits now that he no longer felt motivated to go on with the mission. Letting go of his broken confidence and ego, Haise rubbed his fingers between the bridge of his nose before accepting that he made a very, very stupid mistake. "… Let's just get this over with," Haise muttered with an upset voice, before sulking on his bright-pink Timbs and both he and Naruto casually made their way through the streets of Konoha, towards the giant faces sculpted into the side of the cliff.
Along their walk through the village, Naruto tried lifting Haise's spirits up by distracting him with casual small talk. Passing by landmarks and stores, where he would casually recieve untrusting glares from his fellow villagers who they passed by, Naruto acted like a tour guide to Haise— making recommendations of where he should visit, and what he should do since he was still considerably new to Konoha.
By the time that they reached the bottom stairwell leading up the side of Hokage Rock, Haise had already moved on from feeling embarrassed and was making jokes about how bad of an actual investigator he was to Naruto— referencing to the night that he got fired in front of everyone, before Naruto escalated the tension in the air by revealing to everyone that he was going to marry Sakura.
Making their way up the flight of crowded stairs, Haise began asking questions about him and Sakura, which eventually led to Naruto opening up quietly about his taboo relationship, and about the night he made love to his fiancé and her mother. Needing to be quiet about what they were talking about, due to the tunnels being filled with ninjas who were looking to make their fortune from the S-rank mission they were pursing as well, Naruto was practically whispering to Haise about the details of he had sex with Sakura's mom, and about how she wanted him to have his own harem.
Eating up all the drama while ushering Naruto to explain in detail about what he did to Mebuki and Sakura, Haise returned the favor by entrusting the blond shinobi with his own taboo encounters. Having forgotten that they were there within the heart of Hokage Rock for a specific reason, Naruto was letting out dramatic gasp and blushing as he listen to Haise telling him about all the times he had sex with a femboy trap who he taught was a girl in the academy he went to.
Giggling like school girls while talking more about their sexual experiences and other embarrassing stories, Haise and Naruto were blushing and smiling like idiots as they played the tried-and-true game, 'Smash-or-Pass'.
Going up first, Naruto grinned widely at Haise before asking, "Tsunade Senju? She was all over you man— not even your oblivious-ass could have missed that!"
"Her?! Didn't you call her 'Grandma'? Are you sure you want my actual answer?" Haise asked cautiously with a mischievous smirk on his face, which only enticed the immature shinobi to nod his head.
"Yeah man, this is just between us! Say whatever you want— the truth, and nothing but the truth," Naruto insisted, to which made Haise give him a silly unsure look before chuckling.
"Alright, you asked for it… When she let Kaneki and I inside, she thought we were strippers or something… And then asked us if she could pay us to watch Ken and I blow each other," Haise revealed with an amused look on his face, as he watched Naruto's jaw drop.
"No freakin' way, man…! Y-You gotta be screwing with me, right…?! S-She actually said that you…?!" Naruto asked with a shocked voice, while keeping his hand up over his agaped mouth.
"I am one-hundred telling you the honest truth right now, Naruto… Your 'grandma' wanted to pay me money, so I could sixty-nine my own brother while she got off to that," Haise reiterated once again, and watched as Naruto made a closed-fist over his mouth before letting out a breath of deep air.
"Yoooo…?! That's hella weird…! No wonder she was grabbing both of you like that…! Holy shit…!" Naruto giggled manically, while going pink in the face as he cackled to himself. "Damn…! So, like… That's a yes from you, right? You'd be willing to get down and dirty with my freakin' 'grandma'— pffft!?"
Appearing serious while holding his chin to express a sense of thoughtfulness, Haise raised and lowered his brows repeatedly towards Naruto in a way that made the younger man burst out laughing. "Yeaaaah… That's a definite 'smash' from me, Naruto…"
"Dude, if you like old women that much, freakin— I can hook you up, dude! Come over to my fiancé's place— her mom's a total freak, man!" Naruto offered with a smirk across his lips, to which caught Haise off guard completely.
"Really?! You'd really be okay with me coming over to have sex with Sakura's mom like that?!" Haise asked while chuckling, as he wasn't sure whether or not Naruto was being serious or not.
"Hell yeah I'm serious! It's like what Snoop Dogg said, 'Ain't no fun if the homies can't have none'," Naruto said with a smug look on his smiling face, while feeling proud of himself for being able to say that and actually be in a position where he can hook his friends up. "But only her mom though, alright? Sakura's off limits."
"Y-Yes, of course… I wouldn't dream of betraying your trust," Haise said with a genuine brotherly tone behind his voice, before realizing what they were actually talking about. "… You know, I'm actually surprised that you opened up about some really personal stuff to me, Naruto… And I'm genuinely concerned, because I actually said some pretty damning things myself that I haven't even told my own brother about."
Upon hearing Haise's realization, Naruto was hit with a sobering feeling as well. "… Damn, you're right. I… I was actually planning on never telling anyone about that night either, and… And w-why the hell was I trying to get you to have sex with my mother-in-law so badly…?! I would have never done that…!" Naruto muttered more so to himself than to Haise, and soon the two came to a halt as they stood alone within a rocky cavernous chamber that they had accidentally wandered aimlessly into.
Standing there while racking their brains for reasons as to why they were acting so openly with one another, Haise and Naruto were soon caught off guard when both their 'inner furries' decided to unveil themselves from within their souls. Standing there with a guilty look, Tamamo smiled apologetically at Haise while Kurama, in his small two-foot tall form, hopped off of Naruto's shoulder before strutting over to the servant.
Watching as his nine-tailed beast stood up on its hind legs to paw at the kitsune-hybrid's shin, Naruto's mind was getting blown by the sight of Tamamo affectionately petting her hand along Kurama's back before picking him up to cradle him in her arms like a lap dog. "What the… Wh-What the hell's going on?! Who are you?!" Naruto demanded with a shocked expression on his face, while noticing the uneasy look on Haise's face.
Speaking on behalf of the servant, Kurama stared directly into Naruto's gaze before explaining himself to him. "The young shrine-maiden you see before you is named 'Tamamo No Mae', she is the avatar of my older sister, 'Amaterasu': the Sun Deity," Kurama said with a voice that was very foretelling of the reverence he had for the woman who he was snuggling up against.
Smiling awkwardly at Naruto, who was stunned to hear that his nine-tailed beast actually had an older sister who was apparently an actual goddess, Tamamo cleared her throat to speak, all while still petting Kurama with one hand stroking the top of his head. "Greetings Naruto, I… I am Haise's servant; I was assigned to him since he was born. It's a pleasure to finally meet the Jinchuriki that my little brother has been sealed into," Tamamo said, while doing her best to sound friendly and non-threatening.
"I… I don't… Wait… Wait, were you two the ones making us… Making us admit those things to each other?" Naruto questioned with a hollow voice, before slowly looking toward Haise to give the young man a suspicious look. "Did… Did you know about this?" Naruto asked Haise, while deep down wishing that he hadn't been tricked by someone who he had let into his family's own home.
Speaking on behalf of Haise, Kurama said, "No, he didn't. Naruto, Tamamo and I were the ones who manipulated your minds into being so drawn to one another… It was us, do not place the blame on Sasaki."
Wanting to speak for himself, Haise furrowed his brows at the two tailed individuals while appearing just as bewildered about their scheme as Naruto was. "I… I don't understand why you did that. C-Can you please explain the goal you had in mind for going through the lengths you did?" Haise asked politely, while doing his best to keep his cool, even after the two powerful entities had just admitted that they had manipulated them for their own benefit.
Letting out a small sigh, Tamamo continued to pet Kurama for comfort as she averted her gaze down to the cavern floor. "… You and Naruto are more similar to one another than you know. You both have a younger brother who looks up to you two, both of you hide your true emotions and anxieties behind a friendly demeanor. You two have been unfairly demonized by those who need you the most… You two have so much heartache inside of you, so many things you want to tell the world, but are too ashamed of them to admit them openly…"
"… Kurama and I have known about one another being sealed within your souls since the moment you were born, Naruto," Tamamo admitted with a gentle smile, as she watched as his eyes widened at the revelation. "Kurama has told me so many things about you, as I've told him everything about Haise… It's okay to love who you love, and to go against societal norms, Naruto. You're a good man, and… And I'm sorry to admit this too, but… Getting you two close to each other, and allowing you to vent to each other was secondary to the real reason we've decided to twist the chains of fate to our own accord... You and Haise? You coming here wasn't ever your choice. It was ours... You... You two only have as much freedom as we allow it."
Instantly feeling dread coursing through his veins upon hearing Tamamo's ominous apology, Naruto froze up and felt his heart skipping a beat as he slowly parted his lips to utter out a simple, "W… What…?"
Usually vicious and aggressive, even when he wasn't in the heat of battle, Kurama for the first time since Naruto had first laid eyes on him appeared genuinely sorrowful as he hopped out of Tamamo's arms before slowly walking over to him. "… Naruto. I… I am the last of my kind. The other tailed beasts were slain by Madara. Amaterasu and I, we… We have seen the future, and… And unless we stop whoever it is that's trying to resurrect Madara, this universe will meet its eternal end… Which is why we led you two here. There's a rift inside of this chamber, you two are going to need to pass through it, and find out if they're the ones responsible for trying to take Madara's soul from the 'Throne'."
Looking down with frustration in his heart, Naruto willed his eyes one sleeve before staring down at Kurama with an angered look on his face. "… So what you're saying to me is that I never had free will then, huh? You and your sister, or whatever the hell she is, were using us to get close to one another?! Tell me, how many decisions have I made that were actually my own?! Do I even love Sakura, or have you been making me think that this entire time?! ANSWER ME, DAMN IT!!!"
Appearing unphased by Naruto's outburst, Kurama remained stoned face as he simply shook his head at the emotionally overwhelmed shinobi. "You've always had free will, Naruto. You have always loved Sakura, and that's something I've never manipulated you into feeling. As for everything else… I've only guided you and made you feel more prone into taking actions that Amaterasu and I have deemed necessary. Do not mistake us as cold-hearted monsters, Naruto… Your souls belong to you, and you two alone."
Shaking his head while sitting down on the ground, Naruto stared soleming into the eyes of the nine-tailed beast before him, before suddenly letting out a humorless snicker. Despite the fact that he didn't have any resentment for Haise being what he was, especially when he himself could relate to the struggles of being demonized for circumstances that were out of one's own control, Naruto was already overwhelmed with what he was struggling with.
With everything that had been on his mind lately, and on top of being given a legitimate reason for having an existential crisis, Naruto whipped his head back and continued letting out the last of his joyless chuckles before letting out a deep breath. "… All I wanted to do was go out, take my mind off all that crap that's been happening to me… Instead, I get told that I've been getting played my entire life by a goddamn-stupid fox… And the worst part… The worst part is that I know you and her are going to keep doing it… Isn't that right…?"
Not wanting to lie to the boy who he saw as his own son, Kurama closed his eyelids and remained silent for a few moments before nodding. "I… I have to stop the future from ever happening, Naruto... By any necessary costs, and I cannot exist without being alive… Nor can Tamamo be alive without Sasaki… I am sorry, I want you to live the life you deserve to, but… Until we've stopped the means to Madara's resurrection, I cannot allow you to jeopardize the future of this world. If that means controlling you, then so be it— hate me for it all you want, you know damn well you and anyone else with a heart would do the same."
Bringing his knees up to his chest while hanging his head low, Naruto remained silent as he slowly reached up to undo the knot of his head protector before softly letting it to the drop beside him. "… I don't want to wear this right now… And that's my decision, and mine alone…" Naruto whispered quietly, before continuing to sit solemnly as Kurama gently walked over to his side on all fours to cuddle up next to him.
Watching as Kurama did his best to silently comfort the blond boy, Tamamo couldn't help but feel a bittersweet smile forming across her lips as Naruto finally reached down to gently pet the back of her little brother's back. Looking back over at Haise, who appeared to be taking the news that he was serving a role much better than Naruto was, Tamamo gave her 'master' a gentle smile.
Taking in a deep breath and letting it out, Haise nodded softly while coming to terms with the fact that his free will was limited to whatever Tamamo was willing to let him have. "… In the future that you and Kurama have seen, you said that the end of the universe is supposed to happen when Madara gets resurrected… Can we really change that outcome?"
Nodding her head gently, Tamamo still appeared ashamed of what she had done to Haise, but was comforted that he wasn't showing any malice toward her. "Yes… Yes, we can change it. It's supposed to happen in two years from now, which means we have time to stop it."
"I… I see," Haise said with a worried expression coming over his face, as 'two years' until they were all destined to die didn't seem like a lot of wiggle room to screw up. "Do you know who's responsible for Madara's resurrection? Do you know who we need to stop to prevent that from ever happening?"
Letting out a joyless and sarcastic laugh beneath her breath, Tamamo shook her head at the question before lifting her gaze up from the cavern floor to look up into Haise's exposed eye. "If only it were that simple… No, no we don't know who's going to do it. All that Kurama and I know is that they would have to have the power to essentially steal Madara's soul from the 'Throne', and that power doesn't exist in this universe alone…"
"… Meaning that whoever is going to end the world is capable of traveling through dimensions," Haise mused, while picking up on what his servant was going to say. "… That's why we're here, isn't it? You two must have sensed a tear or portal of some kind, and led us here so that you two can investigate it through us."
Nodding her head again, Tamamo's smile lit up as she applauded Haise's witts by clapping her hands softly together. "Precisely! The only people that are capable of traveling through the fabrics of universes that we know of so far are Minato, you, Kaneki, Ichika, and… And your father," Tamamo said with her smile fading softly, as she swallowed back the lump in her throat. "I… I don't think he'd do it, and you four wouldn't do that, so… So I'm hoping that it's someone else who is responsible for the rift in this chamber."
Licking his lips and pursing his lips with a solemn look on his face, Haise closed his eyelids and smiled momentarily before sighing. "You… You have every right to be suspicious of him… But I agree, let's… Let's not jump to conclusions just yet. First thing's first, we need to investigate where that rift leads to, and find out who's behind it," Haise said with a determined look in his eye, before looking away from Tamamo to turn his gaze over toward where Naruto was sulking on the floor.
Walking over to the younger man, Haise came to a halt once he was standing in front of Naruto. Bending down on one knee, so that he and he were eye level with each other, Haise placed a comforting hand on Naruto's shoulder and waited for the blond boy to lift his chin up to stare back into his eye. "… Naruto. Despite our meeting being predestined, I am glad to have met you. Even now, without Tamamo in my soul to guide me, I can without doubt say that I trust you, and I can tell you're a good man… Which is why I'm going to share with you a secret that only five people in this entire world, not including Kurama or Tamamo, know about."
Intrigued with the secret that Haise had offered to show him, Naruto narrowed his eyes as he watched the older man reach up to wrap his fingers beneath the hand of his black eyepatch. Pulling it off of his head, Haise revealed to Naruto his glowing red iris and black sclera that he had in his right eye. Recognizing the Rinne Sharingan from the history lessons he learned from the ninja academy, the very same kind of eye that Madara Uchiha had taken from the Ōtsutsuki clan through 'Zetsu'.
"… That's what she meant by you being able to travel through space and crap, huh?" Naruto spoke quietly with a smile forming on his lips, as he let out a soft chortle through his nostrils. "Guess Kaneki has one too, eh? Explains why both of you have eyepatches, I guess…" Naruto mused quietly, before his smile slowly faded as he reflected more on what he had overheard Tamamo telling him. "… Your father, you said she had a reason to be suspicious of him… Why is that?"
Knowing better than to listen to his natural urge to lie, Haise let out a low whimper before building up the courage to tell Naruto his most kept secret— one that not even Kaneki knew about. "… My father goes by the name 'Arima', but… That's just a facade… The truth is, Naruto, is that my father is the last living member of the Ōtsutsuki clan… That's why me and my siblings have this eye… The real reason, anyway. Ken and my little sister, Ichika, were told that we were cursed. And… And I suppose in a way, we were… I think you can relate to that."
Taking in everything that Haise told him, Naruto remained silent for a few more moments before finally nodding his head agreeingly. "Yeah… Yeah, you're absolutely right about that," Naruto replied back with the same absence of joy in his voice.
Squeezing Naruto's shoulder to comfort him, Haise slowly got back up his feet before extending his hand down for the younger man to grab. "I'm going to be honest with you, Naruto: I love this world too much to sit around and feel sorry for myself, and I know damn well that you feel the same. So what if we got dealt an unfair hand at life? Who cares? We're here, and there are people who are counting on us, so… So what do you say? Are you still up for kicking some ass, or what?!"
Hearing his own words spoken back to him, Naruto reflected more about what Haise was saying, and that's when his mind immediately thought of all of those who he cared about. His parents, Boruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and everyone who he's met and befriended along the way. Despite the world seemingly hating him, Naruto knew that Haise was right: He loved the world, even when it didn't love him back.
Grabbing tightly on Haise's hand, Naruto smirked as he felt his determination returning to his very soul— igniting the burning fire within that he had inherited from his parents' willpower. Making sure to grab his protective headband first, Naruto was pulled up from the floor. Standing up, Naruto squeezed Haise's hand before letting go of it to begin re-tying his headband over his forehead. "… I'm always ready to kick Some ass! BELIEVE IT!!!" Naruto shouted from the top of his lungs, as he welcomed Kurama to hop onto his shoulder before getting ready to cross through the rift that Tamamo was able to expand using her own chakra.
Exchanging glances of determination and confidence, Haise and Naruto gave each other a nod before looking forward to stare at the tear within the very fabric of their reality, where they all could see a mythical forest just waiting for them on the other side.