"So you're saying that you're from the future, used to be my age, carry the Kyuubi, and Uzu will cease to exist in a few months, then expect me to believe you?" asked Uzumaki Arashi, Acting Uzukage after his predecessor had passed away only a week ago.
Naruto, seated comfortably on the chair in front of him, nodded calmly as if the absurdity of the statement was nothing of concern.
"Correct." The man, who looked to be in his mid-twenties leaned backwards, face contemplative, and eyes filled with incredulity.
"I see..." he said, his voice thick with disbelief. After shaking his head a few times as if trying to clear it, he stared straight at the young blonde's eyes, the girl staring straight back at him as if the heavy weight of his stare was feather-light. "And have you any proof for that?"
Naruto hummed, tapping her cheek in thought, before her eyes brightened, and she gave a smile full of energy, nodding with all her might, acting perfectly like the child her body was aged as.
"I can let you talk to my tenant!"
Arashi flinched at the horrifying, terrible idea, but before he could refuse, the left half of Naruto's face started morphing: her eye turned crimson with slitted pupils, the faded whisker marks on her cheek suddenly thickened, and her fangs lengthened, turning as sharp as knives. An aura of danger and power combined enveloped the girl, and it took Arashi every bit of his willpower not to jump to his feet and whip out a kunai, while a drop of sweat dripped down his temple and onto his leg, not that he was in any state to take note of it.
The left side of her face grinned viciously, while the right side continued smiling brightly, and the scene sent shivers down the young man's spine. It was absolutely terrifying. They looked part angel and part demon, all in one body, both sides emitting power he had never seen before.
"So you are the Uzukage." spoke the Kyuubi, voice deeper than the tone Naruto used, an aura of authority accompanying it, a distinct difference Arashi took note of. The man had no idea how the beast was talking if he only had control over half of the body's mouth, but he wasn't about to contemplate on that right now.
He nodded hesitantly, making the grin grow larger, only looking more vicious and bloodthirsty.
Meanwhile, the right side chuckled, the eye on that side looking towards the left in an unsuccessful attempt of seeing its state.
"It always feels strange when we do this, right, Kyuu-chan?"
Whenever they were in front of people the fox didn't trust, they had a rule of not revealing his name. The nine-tailed fox only gave his name to those he truly trusted, and for that, this nickname was created.
Kurama found it childish and annoying, wanting to change it as it definitely didn't fit for the infamous Kyuubi no Kitsune to be called such a girly nickname, which made Naruto like it even more, so she used it persistently to get under his skin.
After all, Naruto loved angering people.
The left side shot a glare to the right, and now they looked cross-eyed. In fact, if not for the fearsome tailed beast being a part of the scene, Arashi might have been amused.
"I told you not to call me that." In response to that, Naruto pouted, but before she could tease him more, the Acting Uzukage sighed, a sigh filled with so much fatigue and misery that the girl nearly snorted at his suffering.
"So you claim to be the Kyuubi no Kitsune?" He asked, looking completely and utterly done by the surprises he was experiencing.
The left side took on an arrogant expression as if the man in front of him were beneath him, and seeing that it was the Kyuubi no Youko, he certainly was.
"Correct." The fox snarled, nose scrunching slightly in annoyance. "Now that you have been graced by my presence, do you need any more proof to believe my host?"
Just like how Naruto didn't call him by his name, he didn't call him by his nickname either. Outsiders didn't need to know how close they were, as it could be used as a weakness against them.
They both agreed that hiding weaknesses were definitely necessary, especially in the war they had been for a near-decade.
Arashi examined him with narrowed eyes, before nodding in acceptance. He would recognise that foul chakra from anywhere, especially since he personally knew its (previous?) Jinchuuriki for many years. Accompanied with that much arrogance and self-confidence, who else could it be but the Kyuubi himself?
"Although your tale was quite unbelievable, I have no reason not to accept it after it was proven correct," he told them. Both sides of the face slightly relaxed, Naruto more so than Kurama, albeit only slightly. "Now, I would like to hear what you want from me. I assume, with the knowledge you've given me, you would like to make an exchange."
This time, both sides grinned viciously, and Arashi could not help but shiver at the similarity between them. It was as if the host and tenant were one, and wasn't that a horrifying thought, even more so than bus previous one of one body filled with two complete opposites?
Naruto leaned forward, amusement glinting in her eyes as if she knew exactly what he was thinking.
"You are entirely correct, Uzukage-sama," she practically purred, showing much too many teeth to be innocent. No trace was left of the purity she held a minute ago, replaced with an aura of cunning an amusement, as if she were a fox with its claws grasped on its prey. "You can imagine that as a time traveller, I have no way of proving my identity without the aid of Kyuu-chan," the left side scowled at the nickname, but didn't interrupt. "and while I have no intention of revealing my true identity to more than a few, I do need an identity if I want to survive."
Arashi nodded, having caught on to what she was implying.
"I see. So you would like to become a citizen of Uzushiogakure no Sato?"
Naruto nodded enthusiastically.
"Correct. And I believe it will benefit me just as much as it would benefit you." She pulled down her sleeve on her left arm and pushed some chakra into the storage seal tattoo resting there, one Arashi stared at with interest, taking out a scroll and placing it onto the man's face.
The Acting Uzukage opened it with interest, and his eyes widened comically at the content of it.
The scroll contained the blueprints of a seal of Naruto's own creation, which she called a 'Chakra Leech'. It basically sucked chakra from the person or object it was drawn on and continued to do so until it was filled. The one on the scroll only had the containment capacity of Chuunin-level chakra, but it was still a revolution to the male Uzumaki.
He gaped at the drawing, and then at the girl, who gave him a satisfied smirk.
She couldn't wait to see his face when she revealed a second seal of her own creation to link and transfer the collected chakra to another one, effectively turning sealing into an art usable in fighting, by leeching on the opponent's chakra and using it against them.
"This is only the beginning. What do you say, Uzukage-sama?"
Seeing a glint in the girl's eyes, Arashi calmed down, and narrowed his eyes slightly, analysing the child in front of him.
"What are your conditions?" He asked. From the aura of the girl, he had suspicions that she wanted more than she let on.
He was proven correct when the girl straightened, licking her lips with mirth shining in her eyes. Arashi shivered at the expression. The girl could become a successful seductress if she so desired in the future easily if her features already so beautiful at infancy confirmed it.
"How observant," she praised him. Seeing no outward reaction, her smile dimmed slightly, and her exterior shifted, suddenly looking much older and mature than a second ago. It seems she had decided to cease her childish antics and move on to listing her demands. "I have two conditions: firstly, I want Jiraiya of the Sannin to be called here. He would be of help both to me and the upcoming threat to Uzushio."
Arashi nodded. That was acceptable and attainable.
The girl noted his agreement, and continued stating her conditions.
"Secondly, I want the Kyuubi to be sealed inside of me once again." Now this made his eyes harden. The next Jinchuuriki-to-be was already chosen, and such choices were not made lightly.
He was about to reveal his thoughts when Naruto held out his hand to silence him, making him pause.
"I know that Uzumaki Kushina has already been chosen for the job, but both Kyuu-chan and I agree that that isn't the best choice." The man hummed thoughtfully.
"Please state your reason," he said, calming down the outrage of emotions he was feeling inside of him, along with the overwhelming fatigue creeping on him from conversing with a previously-supposed-now-proven actual time traveller.
Naruto nodded and started spitting out facts that both she and Kurama had agreed on.
"Firstly, she's very young, only around eight years old, which can affect her infantile chakra network negatively. Secondly, she has no prior experience with the Kyuubi's chakra, which is known to be extremely corrosive and malicious. Thirdly, she is blinded by the preconceptions told her about the Kyuubi's supposed evil nature, which is entirely incorrect by the way. Fourthly, she has a brash nature, and that will most certainly collide with the Kyuubi's pride. There is absolutely no way they will ever get along, and have access to a Jinchuuriki's true potential." she counted out, her fingers moving accordingly with the number of facts she listed out. "And lastly, Kyuu-chan was sealed into me the day I was born, so I already have two-decades and a half years of experience with him. See what I mean?"
Arashi leaned forward contemplatively.
All of the reasons she had stated were entirely correct, and she made sense with her request, however absurd it was.
After a while, he sighed, and nodded his head, causing a blinding smile to appear on the seven-year-old's face.
He held up a hand to signal for her wait before she started cheering, and a sigh exited his lips.
"I can allow that, but the girl's family won't. Being a Jinchuuriki is very prestigious in Uzushio, and depriving someone already chosen to have the position won't be accepted easily."
Naruto chuckled at that.
"No problem," she said nonchalantly, and gears immediately started turning in the Acting Uzukage's head.
He leaned forward in interest.
"Does that mean you have a solution?"
Naruto nodded, and a sly smile appeared on her face, mirrored by the side currently occupied by Kurama, who had immediately discerned her thought process.
"Nobody could reject it if the Kyuubi himself agreed, right?"