Kurama looked up to see his brother walking towards the dining table in a dazed state, carrying himself in what he supposed to be a rejuvenated manner after sleeping all morning. It must have been quite a while since he had slept that well.

"I feel like shit," Naruto muttered under his breath as he raised his hand to touch his head.

Kurama chuckled. "That's good."

The blond-haired teenager looked at his brother with blatant skepticism and incredulity, wondering just how feeling like he's been run over by elephants, buried 90 feet underneath the ground and hauled back up only to be repeatedly stomped on by Godzilla could be 'good' for anyone. Did his brother inherit their mother's sadistic tendencies after all?

"I can tell by the look on your face that you're thinking of something incredibly stupid right now, Naruto," Kurama monotonously pointed out as he placed a plate in front of his brother who looked torn between glaring and laughing.

In the end, it didn't matter because Naruto greedily ate what was on his plate as if he hadn't eaten any decent meal for weeks.

They ate their breakfast which consisted of blueberry pancakes and waffles in silence, fairly comfortable with each other's presence and feeling at ease with the knowledge that no questions would be asked to open up a pathway to their conversation last night. It was frightening enough to witness his younger brother revert back to how he used to be 11 years ago. He didn't want a repeat of the events last night.

Kurama took a small bite from his pancake as he glanced at his brother. As soon as Naruto began sobbing into his chest like all those many years ago, Kurama made his mind to interfere, deciding that he had stayed out of his brother's life long enough. He couldn't afford having his brother return back to the way he had used to be after their parents' death.

"I called Tsunade-san a moment ago," the red-haired man began, choosing to omit the fact that he had called Tsunade last night right after Naruto had fallen asleep, "And I told her that you won't be attending for one whole week."

Naruto choked on his waffles. "You what?"

"I cancelled all my appointments this particular week. I also called your friend from your part-time job to tell the same thing," Kurama offhandedly stated. "As for your apartment, one of my friends, Matatabi, is now looking after it."

Naruto vaguely remembered meeting Kurama's friends, recalling the only woman amongst all nine of them with shoulder-length wavy blue hair that was nearly as dark as his eyes and slitted golden eyes. Matatabi carried herself with feline grace and although seemingly fragile, she was the fiercest out of all nine of them. She had a vast field of influence over Konoha and other towns just like all the other eight who exceeded their fields of professions.

"Wait, wait," he hastily said, eyes wide. "Why would you-"

Kurama didn't even bat an eyelash as he said, "You haven't been sleeping properly and I'm assuming that this was the first time in months that you've even slept for as long as 10 hours. You haven't been looking after yourself and Matatabi called to tell me how you barely even clean your own apartment. She checked the contents of your kitchen and she told me that all it contained was ramen. She also suspected that you've been punching the walls often from all the dents on the wall that she found in your room."

Naruto drastically paled. He had forgotten about those…

"If you're going to tell me that everything is fine and that I don't have to worry because you're mature enough to handle your own problems and that I have enough as it is from being the owner of one of the biggest incorporations next to the Uchiha's, I will punch you," Kurama warned.

The Namikaze had a thing for keeping their words so Naruto should understand what Kurama was trying to imply.

"I... understand," Naruto said softly.

It wasn't the fact that he was being forced or that Kurama was telling him what to do that frustrated him. It was the thought of bothering his brother and everybody else because of his helplessness.

"I'm sorry," he murmured as he set his fork down on his plate.

Kurama reached across the table to pinch his younger brother's nose.

"You're not bothering anybody, Naruto," he stated firmly in a reprimanding tone, knowing well what was running through his brother's head, a fond smile on his face. "We are helping you because we care about you."

"Kurama!" Naruto gave an indignant shriek as he flailed his arms in protest and unintentionally smacking Kurama over his head. Kurama blinked and Naruto froze.

"You little…" Kurama murmured before he was interrupted by a familiar laughter, startling the brothers who turned to face a young man with hair the color of sand and streaks of black in some places. There were swirling marks – tattoos? Birthmarks? - on his pale skin, accentuating his eyes which were the same color as his hair. He wore a pair of leather pants and a loose white shirt that showed his shoulders. Underneath, he wore a black sleeveless shirt and around his neck was a black choker. He had several piercings and a feral smirk graced his features.

Behind him was a younger man with hair that was a light shade of bluish green, the left part of his face concealed by his hair. His attire was completely different from his companion as he had chosen to wear a black button up shirt and jeans. He directed a playful salute towards Kurama, a mischievous and noticeable nicer smile on his face.

"Oh, this is wonderful," the taller of the two laughed as he stared at Kurama who remained fixated on his place with a slight frown. "Your brother smacks you on the head and the mighty Kurama does nothing? Naruto, you lucky brat! If it had been Chomei, Kurama would've already beheaded him and buried the rest of his body far, far away!"

Chomei shot his companion a dark look unbefitting of his childish features.

"Please refrain from using me as an example, Shukaku-san!"

"What, do you actually expect me to listen to you?"

"Yeah, you always do especially when Kurama-san is involved."

"Fuck you! I don't listen to anybody!"

Naruto stopped in his tracks and stared, his silence immediately catching Kurama's attention. A few seconds later, Shukaku and Chomei seems to have noticed the unusual silence and they, too, quieted down.

And then slowly – agonizingly slowly - a genuine smile spread across his face, surprising the occupants of the room that watched on as the blue-eyed youth tackled the two in a tight hug. Shukaku looked as uncomfortable as humanly possible while Chomei enthusiastically returned it with a bright smile on his face.

For a short while, Naruto felt as if everything was alright again.

A/N: Human Bijuu ftw xD