Chapter 5

What Naruto saw was astounding, pictures all over the walls. These pictures were pictures of Ayame, Teuchi, and another woman. This woman was beautiful. So beautiful that it was no wonder Ayame is pretty. 'Wait this must be Ayame's mother…I wonder why I haven't seen her yet.' Taking a longer look around Naruto noticed the whole room was filled with pictures and that she was in every one of them. Sometimes it was just pictures of her. 'This room seems kind of special, maybe I should…' Naruto's train of thought was interrupted by footsteps coming down the stairs.

As Ayame walked down the stairs she saw the door open to the special room. In the door way she noticed Naruto staring up at all the pictures almost lost in a trance. "Naruto?... What are you doing?" She said with a sad look on her face hoping that she wouldn't have to relive the past and tell Naruto.

Naruto looked at Ayame and saw her sad face. He didn't know what to do. He really wanted to know more about the beautiful lady in the picture but he didn't want to intrude. '…hmmmm what to do?' "Ayame… who is that?" Naruto said as he pointed to the nearest picture of the woman.

Ayame walked closer to Naruto with her head down in a defeated look. "That is my mother…" She was having trouble keeping her tears from dripping, but she was able to hold it in. She wished that her father would call the two up for lunch time so she didn't have to talk about what had happened to her mother. But suddenly all that disappeared when two arms wrapped around her in a tight hug.

Naruto didn't know what he was doing but it was as if his body was acting on its own accord. 'Why does it feel like my arms are moving around Ayame by themselves?' Naruto thought to himself. Though he was happy to be holding Ayame and she seemed to be happy that he was. {Don't question why, just be happy you made the girl happy.} Said a voice that Naruto recognized from earlier.

'Hey you are the one that told me you'd kill that man that was being mean to me at the orphanage this morning aren't you? I will never allow you to control me to hurt Ayame! She's a good girl and not someone you can hurt!' Naruto yelled to the other voice. As he was finishing his thought he felt himself pulled into his mindscape (something he didn't understand at the time).

Naruto looked around and noticed lights like candles on the wall to light up the path in front of him. He also noticed he was standing in water like he was in a hallway that was flooded. 'It seems as though the lights lead toward some cage thing. Maybe I should get closer and see what is in that cage.' Naruto began to move toward the cage and found the scariest beast held within it. "Who are you! …Wait.. You are the Nine-tailed demon fox aren't you?" Naruto curiously spoke.

The Nine-tails had a scary look on his face that showed he was not happy by something. Not that Naruto would ever expect that the infamous Nine-tails would ever look happy. But the fox's face had changed at some point when Naruto spoke. The Nine-tails looked at his cage then back at Naruto and spoke. "Boy, I just like you do not like to be called demon! Call me Nine-tails or better yet call me Kurama! If you ever call me demon again you will regret it! …You have some nerve; after I help you make that girl that is precious to you happy." Although Kurama was upset about being called a demon he knew he could never kill Naruto because if Naruto died so would he. Not only that but Kurama is seen as an evil fox but he was being controlled when he attacked the Hidden Leaf. He may have some temper issues but not even he can be evil enough to be mean to the kid who is treated as badly as Naruto is. When Kurama talked to Naruto about killing the employee earlier this morning it was just to protect the boy. Kurama was tired of seeing the boy tormented by others.

Naruto looked at the fox some more. 'I've heard so much about him but he doesn't seem to be the same as what I heard from the Hokage. I heard that the fox was supposed to be crazy, wild, and out for blood. But the fox doesn't seem to be displaying that same ferocity.' Naruto started to believe it was some sort of trap. "Kurama huh? That's a weird name for a Fox… Why do you want to make Ayame happy anyways?" Naruto said thinking about the girl that had become his first friend. The way Naruto's body seemed to move by itself did make Naruto feel like maybe the fox was telling the truth.

"Yes that is my name kid, and as for the girl… I have my reasons. You see I've had to watch over you for the last 3 years… being stuck in this body and all. I've had to watch you suffer from one torture to the next by the people in this village you call home. Though in any other case I wouldn't mind the torment but not with you kid. Call me soft but I am not as evil as others believe that I am. I was controlled by a man called Madara Uchiha… not like you will even remember this talk that well. But yes I'm not the raging monster people believe that I am, and that is why I don't like to be called demon." Kurama said to Naruto. "Well boy it looks like I should let you get back to your moment with the girl. Make sure you treat her well because she is the first person to become your friend. If you ever need to talk just think about it and I'll bring you into the mindscape. Remember I see what you see, so if your ever in danger I will do what I can to help." Kurama implied as he took in air and blew Naruto out of the mindscape.

Naruto was still holding Ayame who was slightly taller than him. Being the young boy that he was, he didn't understand why Ayame was sad and decided to ask her. "Ayame why are you sad does it have to deal with your mother?"

Ayame looked into the face of Naruto and could only see a face that wanted to help. She knew that Naruto only wanted her to be happy and that he'd do anything to make her happy. "Naruto… Thank you for caring so much. I really only ever talk to my dad about my mother but I guess I kind of like that you are so caring and want to know more. My mother… she was a ninja, an amazing ninja. She had great skills in Genjutsu. It was the day before the Nine-tails attacked the village and my mother was on her way back to the village, from a mission with her squad. They were attacked less than 5 miles from the boarder. The bodies of the three other ninja she was with were found, but hers was never found… This is the reason I will never become a ninja or Hokage."

Naruto looked at Ayame and could understand now why she didn't want to become Hokage. But he didn't agree with Ayame about not being a ninja just for that. So he decided to speak his mind to his friend. "But Ayame your mother was given the mission to help our village whether it was for protection or for financial reasons. Doesn't that seem right to you? Your mother was a great person and ninja for going on missions. I'm going to go to the academy to become a ninja because I respect people like your mother and I want to become Hokage! I will never allow death to scare me from protecting those I care about or from reaching my goals. I only have a few people that care about me in this village now… but when I make a name for myself and become Hokage , those people who hate me now will respect me and I will protect them all! Naruto said with a burning passion as he heard from inside his mind {And I will make that goal a reality; even if I have to destroy a few people…}. Naruto cringed at the thought of being one of those people that pissed off Kurama.

Ayame really was hoping that Naruto wouldn't become a ninja but it seemed as though his mind was made up. She wanted to tell Naruto her feeling but she didn't know how to after Naruto felt so strongly about it. "Naruto… I would be very sad if I had to go to your funeral because for your information I was going to ask papa if we could keep you." She said with the most adorable puppy dog face she could make (which she had learned from her Aunt, worked against any man).

'Oh no, why does it feel like I'm being controlled again? Kurama is this your doing?' Naruto asked worriedly. {…Stupid boy.. It's not me, it's the girl she's using an infamous justu called puppy dog eyes no jutsu! But no worries I can snap you out of it by making you watch this…} As Naruto heard the booming voice of Kurama, a memory of Kurama's popped into his mind. The memory showed Kurama tearing a ninja to bits and pieces. Naruto immediately learned right then how to block any communication with the fox, which is what he did. But Naruto had gone pale at watching the brutal massacre. 'Damn that fox was right, that expression Ayame won't affect me for a while now that I saw that…' Naruto thought to himself as he tried to shake the massacre out of his head. "But Ayame I promise that I won't die because I have to fulfill my goal of becoming Hokage first." Naruto said excitedly as he put up the victory sign with his fingers. "Plus if you really want me not to die; how about you join me in the academy and we can protect each other?" Naruto said with a big smile on his face.

Ayame thought about the proposition that Naruto had made to her. She was deathly afraid of ending up like her mother did… but maybe she was more afraid of losing the boy she had just met. She didn't understand why but for some reason she felt so close to Naruto. Part of her knew that she cared so much about Naruto because no one else would and she wanted to protect him from those people. But now it seemed as though the only way she was going to be able to protect Naruto, was if she became a ninja like he did. She really had to think about it though and she had to ask father if she could join the academy. She was about to speak when she heard her father yell… "LUNCH TIME!"