The air outside was cold and bitter, the pounding rain outside the large cavern drowning the quiet steps of those encroaching on the terrain. The sound of the wind harmonized like a broken piano with the powerful onslaught of precipitation; it had been estimated to flood sometime later that evening if the rain continued to bear down on the small industrialized country. A clash of thunder sounded off, the howling winds drowning out the noise that tried to ring alongside the cave walls. The walls inside the cavern shook violently as if a small earthquake had been created by the thunder's all-enveloping sound. The following lightning strike struck the ground not too far from the entrance of the cave, igniting a small flame in its wake.

The storm above their heads was one that could kill but was also one that provided the best cover to finally meet in person after months apart.

Ten dark-clothed figures stepped towards the middle of the large cavern, each appearing in their own fashion - an illusion, a jutsu, or merely walking in from one of the many holes that littered the insides of the cave. Behind the group lay a large statue that shuddered lightly with another boom of thunder, reminding the members that their time here was limited underneath the onslaught the land was taking above it. Without a word, the group each took their respective spots on one of the statue's fingers, standing amongst each other in a semi-circle. They did not speak nor look at each other for a long while, at least, not until their leader stepped forth from the shadows.

"Hopefully, this meeting will not take as long as our last one." The man spoke without haste although there was a bite to his words. Purple-ringed eyes regarded the group around him, searching his members' faces for some kind of understanding before continuing, "It has been over five months since we last spoke. The whereabouts of your targets is of much interest to me at the moment. The Jinchuuriki's, where are they now?" Without moving his body whatsoever, the leader's eyes looked at a blond who was giving the man a bored stare, "Deidara."

"Yeah?" The man raised an eyebrow in question, standing up a bit straighter.

The leader bit back a sigh, "What of the one-tailed Jinchuuriki?" His voice was flat and stern, arms stiff by his side. "How close are we to capturing him?"

Deidara groaned loudly, dragging a hand down his face in annoyance, "Agh, the kid's pretty much guarded wherever he goes. There are eyes on him at all times - hell, I bet he can't even go to the bathroom without someone breathing down his neck." He rubbed the back of his neck, sighing heavily. "We're probably not going to have much of a chance to get him at night either, like when he's sleeping - apparently the Jinchuuriki is a chronic insomniac because of some shotty sealing done of him. Found it out when I was snooping through town."

After a brief moment of silence, the leader looked to the man's partner, "Sasori, what do you think of this?"

"It's unfortunately true. Shukaku's jailer - we've deduced that his name is Gaara - is one of the main priorities of Sunagakure and they are unlikely to let anyone else use him. There is absolutely no way we can get to him unless we do an all-out attack on the village." The man's voice was deep, shrouded underneath his dark cloak. The tail coming out from behind his body swiped at the air a few times. "He is the village's most powerful weapon, they will not let him out of their sights so soon."

"Even his sand has a mind of its own!" Deidara interrupted, as if he'd just remembered this information, "We witnessed an assassination attempt on the kid and his sand completely obliterated that guy."

Sasori gave the blond a long stare, annoyance clear as day in his aura, "For these reasons, I believe we should wait to grab the one-tailed Jinchuuriki until their village becomes lax in their protective tendencies over him."

"And when do you suggest this time will be?" Their leader inquired, purple-ringed eyes wide with interest.

"The chunin exams." The puppeteer answered swiftly, "My network of spies gifted me the knowledge that the next chunin exams will be held in Konohagakure in less than six months and that, with the recent build in trust between Konoha and Suna, there is potential in Gaara being amongst those to take their genin exams as he is of age to participate."

"I see." He hummed, "That is all, Sasori, Deidara. This information is indeed valued." The leader motioned towards two more of his members. "Speaking of Konohagakure, Itachi, Kisame - I pray that you finally have something to report on the nine-tailed Jinchuuriki. From my knowledge, it's been several years since any new developments, correct?"

"Wrong." A low voice called out.

"Itachi, I was hoping you would say something this time." The leader narrowed his eyes, "Speak."

"For the last few years, you have pulled out resources towards other villages - especially Kumogakure as there are two Jinchuuriki's that reside there. Due to this absence of our presence, Naruto - the nine-tailed Jinchuuriki - has grown to be an exceptional foe within a short amount of time." The long-haired man spoke curtly.

"How so?"

Itachi lifted his head, "He is slowly becoming one of Konohagakure's better medics and has great potential to grow as a combat medic."

"While medics are greatly gifted and valued in the shinobi world, I'm not sure how this makes him a threat to our mission, Itachi." The leader explained loosely.

"Some time within the past three years, the knowledge of Naruto's birthright - being the son of Minato Namikaze, the late Fourth Hokage, and Kushina Uzumaki, the previous nine-tailed Jinchuuriki, was released to the public; the information subsequently given to Naruto." The Uchiha stated in a grave voice, "If you recall from several meetings ago, none of us were worried about any long-term developments in Naruto Uzumaki's abilities as he was both an outcast as well as a deadlast in his academy. That has changed when the ban relaying information regarding Naruto's birthright as well as him being a jailer was lifted."

"Did you find out why it was lifted so suddenly?" Purple-ringed eyes stared on with interest.

Interrupting before Itachi could speak, Kisame stepped into the limelight, "My guess is that either someone purposefully told the gaki before the Hokage could or the Third decided it was finally time to know."

"You guess?"

The raven-haired man raised a hand, "We never did find out about the night he was given the information. We only heard about the ban's lift in passing conversation. The citizens were grateful that their lives were no longer at risk for speaking of the boy's status."

Deidara scoffed from across the cavern, "I still don't understand why there was a ban, to be honest."

The leader shifted his cold eyes over to the blond, "Do well to remember that you are not to speak unless spoken to." Wide blue eyes stared back, nodding quietly. "Good." He turned his attention back onto the pair, "Now, Itachi, how does this information relate to Naruto being a threat?"

"He defeated a chunin in twenty seconds. Although he was in control of the Kyuubi's chakra during the moment, he still managed to use both the tailed beast's chakra as well as his own to not only heal but bring back the life of one of his teachers. We are all aware of how volatile tailed beast chakra is - to use it as healing chakra is not something we've heard of before, correct?" He explained dutifully.

"You are correct in your observation. I've never heard of such a thing." The orange-haired man stood up straighter, "If the nine-tailed Jinchuuriki learned how to control the Kyuubi's chakra, there is no telling how long he'd be able to keep himself fighting for. We could be looking at several days worth of fighting if we tried going after him too late."

"Yes, as I mentioned, he is becoming one of their better medics. If we don't do something about him soon, I fear that he could potentially grow to possibly be on par with Tsunade Senju if we aren't careful about our moves within the near future." Itachi motioned helplessly, "It's not just his ability to merge healing chakra and tailed beast chakra, but we may also have another pressing issue."

"Go on."

"Kisame, explain." Red eyes stared at his partner.

"Gotcha. Through your instructions, we introduced ourselves to Mizuki in hopes he'd do something drastic to test Konohagakure's defenses. When he mentioned his hatred for the Jinchuuriki kid, we improvised and allowed him to attack the boy while we distracted enemy forces to see where the Jinchuuriki's skills were at." Kisame started off, speaking with his hands in grand motions, "Itachi was able to sneak pretty close to the Hokage tower in the center of the village and successfully set fire to a significant portion of it while I went to drown out bits and parts of the hospital and academy - they seemed pretty important to Konoha, so." He shrugged half-heartedly.

Their leader nodded his head in thought, "I'm sure that through that, you've gotten all the insight information you both will need against Konohagakure, then?"

"Mostly." The shark-like man stated, "We weren't expecting our disposable inside-man to be that rough on the Jinchuuriki kid - he nearly died which would've put our mission back many, many years. However, because of Mizuki's ruthlessness, the amount of ANBU agents surrounding him has nearly tripled, making him a bit more inaccessible."

"I see… this does hamper our plans, doesn't it?" The leader sighed loudly, "He must be taken out immediately. We cannot allow him to gain any more power and control or else we might have a lot more problems to handle than just a Jinchuuriki. Itachi, Kisame. You have the most experience with the Konohagakure landscape. I want you both to keep an eye out for him and gather as much intel as you can. If you find an opening, take it. Do not come back if you have nothing to report. You two are dismissed."

"Yes, sir." They both nodded, disappearing with a clap of thunder.

"As for the rest of you…"

Consciousness was not friendly to Naruto, his entire body straining against itself, desperate to even get his eyes to open. He stared up at a non-existent ceiling that disappeared into a deep black darkness making the boy wonder if he'd even opened his eyes at all. Before his mind had time to catch up to his hand, he was reaching out towards the black darkness as if he could touch such a thing. It was then that he noticed all the cuts running deep throughout his hand.

"...w-what?" His voice was a hushed whisper, eyes wide in disbelief and confusion. Why is his hand in such a state? What happened to him?

Lighting.

The thunderous boom sounded all around him as the lightning cascaded across the never-ending ceiling. Underneath the deafening thunder, Naruto screamed, arms wrapping around his chest tightly to try and dispel the awful burning pain ripping throughout his entire body. "It hurts!" His mind shrieked with him, tears dripping down his face as he rolled on the floor in agony.

There was a sudden roar that soared across the ceiling. His pain as well as the thunder and lightning dissipated, leaving only an electrifying feeling in his veins. Naruto breathed harshly, shoulders quaking at his sides as he gathered his senses once more. His eyes searched the ankle-deep water he was still lying in, searching for any recollection as to why he was hurt so badly. He allowed himself a few more moments to catch his breath and dry his face before allowing himself to carefully assess his injuries - if his hand was anything to go by, he had been in a very serious fight.

He was dressed in pajama wear although you wouldn't have been able to tell. The entirety of his outfit was in tatters, his shirt just barely hanging together with the multitude of holes in them. "Stab wounds…" His mind supplied without hesitation. His scar-ridden hands hovered over his lower abdomen where a small diagonal scar lay. Electricity pooled between his fingertips and his wound, the static startling his mind with recollection.

"I'm going to kill you, Naruto Uzumaki."

Blood gushed out of his mouth, the blond-haired teen coughing the crimson liquid up by the gallons it looked like, the waterfall coming out of him continuously. His eyes watered and he screamed, loud and pained - his body felt like it was on fire. There's thunder in his ears again, the world burning as lightning strikes the ground all around him. It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts-

"Why can't you just lie down and die?! You've always been a pain in my ass, you demon!"

"I don't want to die!" Naruto cried out, the blood pouring from his mouth coloring the water around him that boiled in hatred.

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck his quivering body. The blond-haired teen froze, staring off into space as Mizuki seemed to disappear from his mind. He fell onto his side, laying in the water for a few more moments, carefully collecting his thoughts before sighing deeply. "What happened to me?" He ushered out quietly, not expecting any response. Another bolt of lightning struck off in the distance not too far from where he was currently lying down. He stared after it, feeling the way the air fizzled comfortingly around him. Naruto sat up, hissing in pain, arms wrapping around his chest as he began to look at the area around him.

Underneath his feet was cracked concrete, the water above it slowly eroding it as time passed over the aged stone. Surrounding the ocean of broken concrete and off-colored water were bricks all ranging in condition that traveled miles high, disappearing into the strange ceiling of nothingness. If he weren't in so much pain, he might've investigated more. He stood up from the water, legs shaking and head swimming with a sense of dizziness. He turned in a small circle to get a better view of everything surrounding him, not just the walls and the water. The blond-haired genin found that he'd woken up in the middle of where four corridors connected, everything seemingly bleeding into each other. "Where am I?" He asks aloud.

It feels like something just stabbed him, making the medic-in-training double over slightly. Naruto grits his teeth, visibly in pain. Something was coiling around his heart, stampeding over his sternum, strangling it to death as thunder tore through his head. Tears pooled in his eyes, shuddering out a pained breath. There was a low grumble off in the distance, the wound deep within him lessening without a moment's notice. It was gone with a single, gasping breath. Naruto exhaled deeply, eyes blinking rapidly as he moved to stand at his full height.

"What the hell was that?" He asked himself, mouth still gaped open a bit. He swallowed thickly, another dizzy spell making his knees shaky. He moved closer to the cracked walls, a hand propping his body up against it. The blond searched it for anything, wracking his brain to give him some sort of reference but nothing jars any sort of similarity. The only thing he has is tugging on his gut, pulling him down the southbound corridor.

He's not even sure why he walks, there is nothing here – it's just him, the walls, and this non-existent ceiling. Naruto takes a deep breath as he walks, running a hand down his sweaty face; it feels like he has a low-grade fever of sorts. He feels exhausted beyond belief the longer he walks, his body pressed hard against the wall. Why doesn't he remember anything before this moment? It's like his mind is void of any memories. It's worrisome how he can't think of anything beyond this place and the thundering in the distance.

The medic-in-training scrubs his face in irritation, finding the urge to smack himself in hopes of remembrance but squashes the idea down - he doesn't need to be walking around making a fool of himself. He rubs the back of his neck, finding some comfort in the odd movement, fingers tangling in his hair. Shouldn't it be wet? He had been lying in water for who-knows-how-long. Naruto sighed deeply, not finding it in his heart to care much.

How long had he been walking? Time seems to bleed together in this place. It feels like years have passed since he'd gotten up, but that wouldn't be possible as years would mean aging and if the image that's being reflected in the dirty water splashing under his bare, scarred feet was anything to go by, it had definitely not been years. Naruto sighed, hand caressing the rough bricks against the wall as he walked sluggishly. A moment of boredom came over him. "Hello?" He called out, curious to see if anything would call back. Whether that was a good thing or not was up for debate.

Any noise that had been going on - his feet splashing against the water, the thundering in the background, his labored breathing, or the sound of his heart in his ears - all stopped at his voice.

"Well, that's weird," Naruto whispered to himself, eyes scouring the area once more.

"It's not weird when you realize what's in here."The voice called out, echoing off the ceiling as the thunder had before. Shortly after the disembodied noise had spoken, sounds all around Naruto began once more, continuing from where it left off.

The blond stopped in his tracks, eyebrows furrowed together, "Where are you?" Silence. "Hello?"

"Keep walking, medic."

"Well…" Naruto thought for a moment, crossing his arms, "What if I don't want to?"

The thunder was loud in his ears, deafening anything beyond that. "You do that, and you will never leave this place."It growled at him, deep and menacing in his ears, "And I want you out."

"Why?" He took a step forward. There was something about that voice that just screamed terror, something evil hidden behind the words that were spoken to him. However, Naruto couldn't find it in himself to be scared. In fact, it made him comfortable. Was there something wrong with him? "Why should I leave?" He asked again.

"Because you don't belong here, medic." Whatever was beyond the darkness in front of him responded in a slow, monotone voice as if Naruto was too incompetent to understand the words if spoken in a regular tone of voice. He had the decency to look offended.

The blond-haired gennin continued to march through the ankle-deep water, racking his brain for anything. His legs were starting to ache. "How much farther?" Naruto asked after a moment.

"How much more will it take for you to be quiet?" The thing countered.

He kept to himself, using the silence to think of something, "Where are you?"

All of the sudden, it was as if something was dragging him by his middle, his abdomen flaring up. It felt like something inside of him was on fire, burning and carving symbols into his innards. The odd thing was that it didn't hurt at all, just a strange pressure building up within him. Naruto watched in fascination as the world passed him by, the walls lightening in color and building back up to their original form - the cracks and moss were disappearing as he went. The black ceiling slowly turned into a deep navy blue, deepening with little spics of light somewhere as if there were stars above him. The water sliding around his feet as he was dragged forward lost its dirty color, picking up the pigment of the floor that had lost its cracks sometime ago.

The tugging in his abdomen stopped suddenly. Naruto looked up, eyes staring in awe, "Woah…" Before Naruto were two humongous golden gates, extending to the height of the non-existent ceiling, reaching for the navy in the sky. The bars were thick and wide, larger than Naruto tenfold - he could easily slip between them with room to spar. Some of the bars had lost their pigment with age it seems, moss growing where the bars connected with the ankle-deep water. Between the gates was a flimsy piece of paper with kanji on it - a seal, he realized.

Naruto stopped, searching the seal for any remembrance. "Where are you?" He asked again, his voice was quiet, hushed.

Two large eyes appeared behind the blackness of the gates, crimson red piercing the boy's soul. The creature had dark slits for pupils, the black slashes in its eyes flexing dangerously with a calculating glaze hidden within them. A cruel smile appeared next, sharp white teeth grinning down at him. There was a flash of red in the dark background, flicking behind the creature's large body. It watched him - it was dangerous, Naruto could tell.

But he was not afraid.

"Here I am." It called to him, voice still carrying the same frequency it had before, "Are you happy now?"

Naruto kept quiet, watching the being in front of him with keen eyes. Thunder rumbled in his brain, his mind tingling with remembrance the longer he stared into crimson eyes. His life's story finally played out before him with such clarity - Shikamaru, the academy, the hospital, the genin exam, Mizuki, Iruka - it came back in a flash of knowledge. "I know you…" The blond-haired genin responded slowly.

Its wide-mouth grinned, "I would have hoped you'd know of me. I am quite famous in that little village of yours."

"You're the Kyuubi no Kitsune – the nine-tailed fox." A hand snaked over his abdomen, feeling a deep warmth there.

The fox stepped up into the light, showing off its red body and tall stature. Nine large tails flexed around its body. "If you keep referring to me as an 'it' in that little head of yours, I'll kill you right here, right now." The threat carried some weight as lightning struck the ground right beside Naruto.

He flinched slightly. "Can you read my thoughts?" The blond-haired gennin questioned, curiosity blooming within him.

"I know everything you know and more, medic." He twisted his head, flashing a cruel smile, "That's better. You'd do best to follow my instructions if you ever hope to get out of here."

"Speaking of here, where is here?" Naruto looked the fox in the eye, never breaking the contact once despite the looming danger glaring back at him.

He growled lowly, teeth bared and tailed flickering in annoyance, "Full of questions, young medic. I hate questions."

The blond took a moment to mull over his next words, "This place is like a… dungeon."

"Close." The nine-tailed fox mocked, "The official term is called a mindscape."

"It's all in my head?" He whispered out, the question aimed more towards himself than the creature before him, "I'm guessing that a mindscape is just a physical manifestation of you."

He hummed, laying his head down on his large paws, "At least you're smarter than my last container."

Naruto felt like he'd just been punched, the wind knocked out of him. "My mom… was your last container…" His lip quivered, trying to keep his composure. "What was she like…?" He found himself asking before he could stop himself. The words just fell out of his mouth.

"If you keep asking questions, I might just lose my temper, medic." Crimson eyes pierced his soul, words filled with venom.

"If I'm not allowed to ask questions, then what am I supposed to do?" Irritation flooded his words, eyes stinging.

The fox laughed aloud, the noise bellowing and loudly nauseating, mixing with the thunder that racked across the ceiling. "You are the reason that you're here." He growled out, no longer laughing, teeth bared for all to see. Naruto stood his ground, defiant and defensive. "You and your idiotic decisions!" His voice held hatred and anger.

The medic-in-training hissed, taking a step forward with his arms outstretched, "What do you want from me?! I didn't ask to be here!"

"No more questions!" The Kyuubi no Kitsune roared out, the noise sending Naruto to his knees, "You don't get that privilege - you will sit and listen." When the boy didn't say anything back, the fox continued. "You are here because you nearly died and I am the only thing keeping your miserable body alive."

"What?"

"What did I just say, medic?!" Sharp claws flashed in the limelight, sending a message that Naruto clearly read, "You've exhausted not only all of your chakra reserves but almost all of my own as well. As I regenerate faster than your puny body, I'm having to supply your very being with my own chakra so that you won't die. You've fallen unconscious. You're here because you've given yourself chakra poisoning."

Naruto sat motionlessly, eyes trained on the water. "Oh…"

"I've been busting my ass making sure that my container does not die." He hissed out, "You'd do best to thank me for my efforts."

"Why would it matter to you if I died?" He asked, "You don't speak well about my mom who was your previous container so what would it have mattered if I died?"

His abdomen was tugged forward, placing his body in between two of the golden bars. A large claw sat at his throat, making Naruto's head level with one of the Kyuubi no Kitsune's large crimson eyes. "You die, I die. Simple as that. If I could live without you, without this cage - I would've killed you without a moment's notice." The large creature voices quietly, every word pierced with a poisonous lick, "We are not friends, this is just mutual surviving." The tugging left him, pushing Naruto to the ground again as the claw disappeared into the darkness.

Naruto's jaw locked up for a moment, trying to cool himself down, "How bad is the damage?"

The large red fox eyed the boy for a minute before responding. "You have a low-grade fever caused by your mild chakra poisoning, but I can heal that given some time. Your body is physically drained and you've lost some oxygen to your brain. I'm feeding your oxygen reserves with my chakra as we speak, forcing your body to take larger breaths but those at your hospital do have you on one of those oxygen tanks as well so I've made it a lesser priority for me to heal." His voice was monotone, like a prerecorded message, "There will be lasting damage that I cannot heal right now since you stole my chakra to bring your teacher back."

He stared down at his hands and feet, the scars already healed, "What about any brain damage?"

"Your brain is fine, medic. That and your heart were the first I healed as they would've killed you before you reached the hospital. You did a piss poor job healing your sternum after he broke it." The kitsune growled at the thought of Mizuki, "All of your internal bleedings has been taken care of between me and the surgeons at the hospital. Most of your broken bones will have to be healed with time, given a week or so. I've focused most of my energy elsewhere. Your scars will remain, though, not much I can do about them with all of the chakras I've already used."

"I see." The medic-in-training made eye contact with the beast, "Kyubi?"

"What?" He growled.

"I just want to say… Thank you. You've saved my life and helped me save Iruka-sensei." Naruto bowed politely.

The nine-tailed fox scoffed, "Whatever, medic. Don't think I'll be willing to do this for you again."

"I understand. I will do better so that you won't have to." The blond-haired genin exclaimed. He looked around him, copying the environment to memory. "How long do I have to stay here?

"I planned on kicking you out after we had our little discussion." The demon fox rolled his eyes at the boy's shocked face, "If you do this again, medic, I will kill you."

Lightning crashed down from the ceiling, striking the medic-in-training. The Kyuubi no Kitsune's voice and the thunderous undertones was the only thing Naruto could hear as the world went dark.

A/N - Um, hello, been a hot minute. Well, a couple of months. Apologies, as always. Had a lot of stuff going on. Work was affecting my health - emotionally, mentally, and physically - but that's okay, I finally put my two weeks in and have been working towards finally leaving that hell. Lasted seven and a half months, I guess, but I wasted my energy in that place. I had a really hard time writing this chapter and I'm still not all pleased with it. It was just hard to find a balance between what happened in the previous chapter versus what I needed to write in the in-betweens. Ya know? I also took a hiatus from speaking to readers and writing for a while. Wasn't doing well mentally and I've been struggling a lot in recent times.

I'm doing my best and thank you for waiting. Apologies to those on the server for not speaking for so long. I'll do better, I just need time. Ya know? Well, until next time, I suppose. I hope you enjoy this chapter!