Chapter 9: The Villagers and the Fox.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto. Naruto is the work of Masashi Kishimoto.

"Wow, so cool~! You have so much chakra!"

Although he only had a vague idea of how much chakra a tailed beast possessed, Naruto was still amazed. Since tailed beasts have more chakra than any humans alive, he assumed that a tailed beast must have more chakra than a kage.

Since there were nine tailed-beasts, and the nine-tails have more chakra than the other eight combined, that must mean that at minimum, the nine-tails have as much chakra as nine kage! Especially considering the fact that a tailed beast's chakra must be higher than his guess, it makes the nine-tails more impressive!

As he was admiring the chakra powerhouse inside of him, Naruto suddenly had a thought.

"If you have so much chakra, how come you were defeated by the fourth hokage?"

Naruto tilted his head in wonder. Compared to the first hokage, no matter how much he idolized the fourth hokage, he simply didn't hold a candle against the legendary first hokage, not to mention that he came from a civilian family.

"Sigh… the problem lies with ninjutsu and other ninja techniques that you humans developed. We-tailed beasts are naturally different from humans. Similar to how a spider can produce silk but humans can't, and how humans can talk while spiders can't, the tailed beasts who are pure masses of chakra can't use the ninjutsu and other techniques that you humans invented."

The nine tails paused and reminisced about the old era when his father was still alive. Back then, ninjutsu wasn't a thing. Well, it was, but it wasn't as widespread as it is today.

"For example, if I try to use a Clone Jutsu, it wouldn't work because the Clone Jutsu is based on human anatomy and the chakra system of humans. Tailed beasts don't have a chakra system, nor do we have an anatomy similar to a human. We are simply massive lumps of chakra."

Hearing this, Naruto rubbed his chin in enlightenment, "So that's how it is."

But it seems that the nine-tails wasn't finished talking.

"Of course, over the centuries, we, tailed beasts, have invented our own ways to use our chakra. For example, I developed a technique to sense negative emotions when I was relatively young, and as we realized the need for self-defense and battle, we invented the Tailed Beast Bomb."

After the nine tails finished talking, Naruto was enlightened.

Before his talk with the nine-tailed fox, Naruto thought that as long as you had chakra, you could use ninjutsu. He never knew that the chakra of tailed beasts was different from human chakra.

'Well, I guess it should've been obvious that our chakra would be different. One is a human and one is a giant behemoth.'

As usual, the fox chuckled after hearing my thoughts.

"Okay, thank you, fox."

The nine tails didn't reply. Now that his conversation with the fox was over, Naruto realized that he was talking to himself inside his room. Of course, he could hear the nine tails' words and vice versa, but how weird would it be if someone saw him talking to himself?

He would be instantly labeled as crazy.

'I should develop the habit of thinking first before talking.'

His entire life, Naruto poured all of his emotions and thoughts into words as soon as he felt them or thought of them. But after removing the foreign chakra in his head, Naruto felt like he was liberated from a cage that was holding him back. The first major change was he learned to doubt other people's words and actions.

"Well, learning all of that is good and all, but I still can't draw a single explosive tag seal."

[End of flashback; a week later]

Naruto was panting like a dog who had just finished running a marathon. He couldn't count the number of times he was covered in sweat over the last week, but he couldn't care less if he filled an entire pool with his sweat. The progress he was making with his training was making every cell in his body excited.

Right now, he was training chakra control. He had given up writing explosive tags after he failed to infuse chakra into the ink for three days, so he focused his mind on chakra control training. However, he encountered a troublesome issue

Each time he finished his chakra control training, he would be exhausted and he would be sweating all over. He hadn't moved an inch during any of his chakra control exercises, but his body sweated and felt heavy like he ran for a week straight.

'Maybe the fox knows.'

Without wasting a second, Naruto entered his mindscape. There, he was greeted by the fox. His mindscape was once again remodeled by him. His mindscape changed three times now, and the fox was getting annoyed with it and made him promise to not change it again.

He suspected that the real reason why the fox didn't want him to change his mindscape for a fourth time was that he liked his current condition.

The mindscape was now an endless plain, with grass and flowers carpeting the entire earth around them, with a massive boulder over the distance. The seal was represented by a moat around the nine-tailed fox, and the nine-tailed fox can't step over the moat even if he wanted to. There was an invisible dome around the nine-tailed fox.

The nine-tailed fox gained a lot of freedom compared to his previous two cages, but the seal was still active. If Naruto wanted to remove the seal, he would have to break the giant boulder behind him and the nine-tailed fox.

Awoken by his arrival, the nine-tailed fox opened his eyes and revealed his blood-red slitted pupils. Then, his imposing voice filled the mindscape.

'So, you finally thought to ask me. It took you long enough. Don't worry, your current condition is not dangerous or detrimental to your future growth. You've just developed your chakra system a few months ago on your fourth birthday, your body is simply not used to chakra hence the reason you always feel tired when you use chakra.'

After talking, the nine-tails returned to his slumber. Naruto sweat-dropped at the fox's behavior, but he didn't bother his sleep and left the mindscape.

'Okay, thank you again, fox.'

Although the fox's personality could be better, Naruto didn't complain. Even though they weren't exactly friends, knowing someone was by your side all the time was relatively refreshing, especially for him who didn't have anyone by his side since birth.

'Maybe we can become friends… one day…'

Naruto's daily routine barely changed after that. He would train, eat, and sleep. He couldn't go out because of the ANBU outside his door. He learned that they were called "ANBU" after some ninja passed by and greeted them as "Sir. ANBU."

Apparently, the ANBU was sent by the hokage to keep him from leaving his apartment under the guise of "protection." The idea alone disgusted him.

He was only four years old, but he wasn't as ignorant as the average four years old. He was a ninja in training, he was bound to mature faster than normal kids. Furthermore, he had a fox full of wisdom inside his head. If he didn't mature faster than regular kids, he would be a laughingstock.

Another thing that he noticed was that after he removed the foreign chakra in his head, his mind was like a horse that tasted freedom for the first time. Back then, he was alike a thirsty man in a desert, searching for the sweet water called "affection," "love," and "attention."

Now, he was still a thirsty man in a desert, searching for sweet water. But this time, the water he was searching for was called knowledge.

He was intelligent. Very intelligent. But he lacked the knowledge to fuel his intelligence. He wanted to read books in the library, but he couldn't even leave his house thanks to the third hokage "protecting" him, making him very annoyed.

Days turned into months. Months turned into years. Seasons came in and went like the fleeting breeze and for a moment, last year felt like yesterday.

Six years had gone by since Naruto's rampage in Konoha.

In the streets of Konoha, a boy with sunset hair strolled about with his hands tucked in his pockets. He had a lollipop in his mouth, and his eyes dazedly watched the birds singing in the trees and flying in the sky. He wondered how good it would be if he could fly.

He sighed. Unfortunately, he only knew how to sing, not fly.

Looking back to where he was walking, he smiled in satisfaction. The streets were empty. Well, to be exact, it was "stuffed." The center of the streets was wide open, and the civilians all walked on the side of the street.

They avoided him like he was the plague. Like if they went near him, they would die.

Naturally, they weren't doing this out of love and respect. They did this out of fear and disgust.

Yes, fear.

Six years ago, a month after his rampage, he realized that the disgust the villagers had for him turned into malice. Some villagers threw vegetables at him, while some threw spoiled eggs at him. At first, he thought that it was good training to hone his ability to dodge, but when a civilian threw a glass bottle at him, he snapped.

[Flashback]

"Get out of here, you beast!"

Yelled a man with olive-colored eyes and black hair. Gripping the glass bottle in his hand tightly, he raised his hand and aimed at Naruto, who was leisurely dodging the eggs and vegetables being thrown at him.

Then, the man threw the glass bottle at Naruto.

Not expecting someone to throw a glass bottle at him, Naruto failed to dodge the heavy object and was hit on the head, falling on the ground. In an instant, he was pelted with whatever garbage the villagers threw at him, but it stopped not a moment later.

Covered in waste, Naruto raised his head and stared at the man who threw the glass bottle on his head, his blood-red slitted eyes gazing at the man's soul. Picking up the glass bottle that somehow didn't break, Naruto ran toward the man and smashed the glass bottle on the man's head.

Bang!

Shatter…

As the bottle hit the man's head, it shatter and the sharp shard of glass stuck on the man's head, making him bleed.

"AHH! Help! Help! Stop!"

Naruto didn't stop. He used the sharp glass bottle and beat the man to a bloody pulp. His once muscular body was now covered in blood and glass shards. His face was full of tears and snot.

"Halt!"

Before Naruto could do anything more, the Uchiha police force came and separated Naruto and the bloodied man. Then, the ANBU arrived and took the man away.

With the man gone, the attention shifted to Naruto. The Uchiha frowned at him, but the villagers looked at him with fear.

From that day onwards, no one dared to mess with him. The villagers made way for him. And when he went to their shops, they trembled and gave him the lowest price possible.

Naruto was happy with the result and forgot about the man in an instant.

[End of flashback]