Scenes Referenced: This is never shown in canon, but during the two year time skip between the original Naruto series and Shippuden Naruto trained with Jiraya. He wanted to find a way for Naruto to control the Kyuubi. This next series of drabble chapters will be about that time period she's off training away from Konoha.
Smile
She had not entered her mind space since losing to Sasuke.
"So apparently Pervy Sage wants us to bond... or something..." The fourteen year old crossed her arms over her chest. The resentment was coming off of the girl in waves, buffeting Kurama's sensitive empathy. Aww, was Naruto upset her training had been interrupted? What an ungrateful child.
As if he would deign to 'bond' with a brat like that. Or anyone, for that matter.
The fox demon recoiled, lips curling in disdain. She was approaching him now, not for power, but for the sake of… friendship. How positively disgusting. Naruto bristled, short nails digging into her atrocious orange and black jumper. "Look, I'm only doing this because he asked me to, old man!"
Oh, of course. The Toad Sage, a master of fuuinjutsu, wished to study the Nine Tails while he had his lecherous paws on Naruto. Jiraya believed Kurama's power was something that could be harnessed.
He did not appreciate being used.
There was one thing on this damned earth that he wanted, and the key to it was currently in the hands of a small -very small- human girl. She wanted to get along? To bond? A fox certainly wasn't above playing nice if it might win him some measure of freedom in the future. He would beat the Toad Sage at his own game.
Naruto glared at him, her cherubic face twisted into a scowl. Disrespectful whelp. This would be difficult. Kurama exhaled slowly. His clawed fists flexed, irritation hidden in the shadows of his confinement.
He ventured a… smile, mouth cracking like stone from the effort of it.
She squinted at the weird face Kyuubi was pulling. What was up with his mouth? Was he constipated or something? Whatever. To be honest, Naruto didn't really give a crap about seeing this old fart again.
Wait. Wait wait wait. Okay, despite what Sakura and that bastard Sasuke said, she wasn't stupid, alright? Obviously the fox didn't LOOK like a geezer; the genin had seen that for herself. But that didn't change the fact he was older than Old Lady Tsunade… probably.
"Oi, grouch, how old are you?" Naruto blurted.
His fox ears twitched, that weird expression completely wiped clean. Red eyes narrowed into slits. "Older than you can likely count, runt." The kitsune growled, tossing his long hair primly. "Can you count? You can't even treat your elders with a modicum of respect."
"I-I can count!" The human girl stomped a foot, water splashing under her sandals. Her blonde pigtails bounced. "Shut up! I'm trying to make friends with you, you asshole." Did the demon shudder at that, or were the shadows playing tricks on her?
"Oh, joy. That's all I have ever wanted, a cute little worm friend of my very own." His tone was dry. "I am hatred incarnate, girl. You can not 'fix' me with pretty words like you do with your human playmates. This is my true nature."
Naruto huffed, scuffing the pool at her feet sulkily. What a load of garbage. It wasn't like she wanted to be here, either. The Pervy Sage had done some freaky stuff with the seals on her tummy to force her back into this dripping sewer hellhole. "...yeah, 'cause your true nature is asshole, asshole."
An annoyed vein popped up on the demon's forehead.
Note: Hey guys, it's been a while! It seemed like a shame to let this story die, so I'm reviving it in the form of shorter, drabble-esque chapters. Sorry about vanishing, and also sorry about the small word counts from here on out. I know you guys wanted the longer chapters, but it's a lot more fun for me to write in contained little bits and pieces like this!