Author's notes: I decided to quickly add a chapter in my free time. Apologies if it may seem rushed.
Naruto stared into blood-red eyes in trepidation. Whatever was in there was huge, hell its eyes looked bigger than his body. He stood his ground however. If that thing in the cage would attack him then he'd rather die fighting than submit to being a coward. Knucklheaded to the end.
"Oh come on," the voice boomed, although it did not seem to have shouted the words. "I can literally smell the fear emitting from your body."
Naruto glared defiantly at the huge clouded figure.
"Where the hell am I? Who the hell are you?" Naruto questioned.
"Ohhh, so he finally speaks," the...thing sounded amused, and that made Naruto grit his teeth in anger.
"Hey, you stupid moron! Where the hell am I?! And who are you, huh?!" Naruto shouted angrily.
"Who am I? Hmmm...take a guess." This thing was playing with him and Naruto was anything but amused.
"You know what? Screw you! I'm outta here!" Naruto fumed as he looked back to the path he came from. But before he could move the figure continued on.
"Hahaha! You're such a brat! Okay, how about I give you a little riddle to figure out who I am," The figure suggested.
Naruto looked into red eyes in disbelief. What the hell?
"What's red, has nine tails, and attacked Konoha twelve years ago?" The figure questioned.
Naruto squinted his eyes. Well, he wounded up here so he might as well participate. His sence of logic was overruled by a twelve-year old's curiosity. At first he didn't understand what the riddle meant, but it didn't take long for him to piece everything together, especially with the clue of nine tails, and his eyes widened dramatically.
"...Kyuubi," he whispered in horror. The nine tailed fox was a popular subject in the academy and many were told of its malicious and destructive power. Something did not make sense however.
"Got it in one go. I'm genuinely surprised," Well that was only half-true. The Kyuubi wasn't that shocked that Naruto figured out its identity. I mean the clues where pretty much straight forward.
Naruto glared at the fox. He was not stupid and he felt insulted at the Kyuubi's jab.
"... Does this mean I'm dead?" Naruto inquired with gritted teeth. It only made sence that he was met with death. The fox was killed by his father, which meant he had joined it in the afterlife.
"Oh how I wish for that... But sadly you are not one of the departed." Kyuubi looked bored, as if it suddenly dawned on it who exactly it was talking to.
"Then where am I?" Naruto asked in confusion. If he wasn't dead then...what?
"This is getting tedious quite quickly. I'll summarise it for you. You are in your mindscape, more vaguely your mind. I was sealed into you the day you were born by your father to stop my murderous rampage - which wasn't really my doing mind you - and I've lived in this cage for the past twelve years. You can understand that, can't you?" Kyuubi inquired lazily with a scratch to its head.
That revelation did very little to dwindle Naruto's questions, but it did clear quite a few others. This was the reason that he was the village pariah, scorned and hated. How could Minato do this to him, above everything else? He looked at the cage and saw the little paper with the seal on it. This was unfair. He could admit to hating his parents now. After everything he had been through this had to be the worst revelation to date. Not only did they leave him to rot, but they left him with the full knowledge that he had a Bijuu within him. He tried to bite back the angry tears, but to no avail.
His body was shaking with unbridled rage. Fuck this! Fuck the world! If this was how life was going to treat him then he had enough of it. What was the point of trying to be Hokage when all the villagers saw him as the fox. What was the point of being a shinobi when he was stuck with the woman that he refused to see as a mother. What was the point of living when there was no reason to. He just could not take it anymore.
"For goodness sake. Enough of the waterworks already. Your life sucks. Get over it." Naruto fixed his glare at the towering fox. "You ruined my life."
"Casting the blame on me won't change a thing. Like I said before, it was beyond my power what happened on that day." The fox raised an eyebrow at the hatred radiating from the child. It was obvious that the boy was not listening to reason anymore. "Still angry? What are you gonna do? Fight me? I wouldn't recommend that. If I end up killing you then we would both die. Do yourself a favour and find a nice quite corner to drown in your sorrows. Your life is pathetic enough. Don't look for sympathy from me." Kyuubi did not even flinch in its verbal assault.
"So that's what its come to." Naruto's visioned turned red with overflowing anger. "I'm going to kill you! No matter what! I'm going to make sure that you die!"
"Ha! Compared to your failure of a battle with that missing nin individual then you can bet I don't expect much from you."
Naruto formed the familiar hand seal with his fingers. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Two hundred shadow clones suddenly appeared, all with the same clouded rage. Kyuubi expected them to charge at it but was a little surprised when they split and formed a half circle around the cage. The Naruto in the middle walked forward with his arm drawn back. Wind quickly started to gather around his hand. All the other clones proceeded to do the same. "Fuuton: Senpuuken!" All Naruto's shot their fists forward and a huge gust of power wind struck the surprised Kyuubi's face with so much force that the fox actually stumbled on its footing.
Naruto quickly unsealed two kunai and a few shurikan. He quickly charged at the fox at a remarkably fast pace. He charged at the dazed fox and threw his weapons, striking the fox on the side of its face.
Naruto grinned, but his victory tragically ended when it was made obviously clear that the Kyuubi's face had not even been scratched. The Kyuubi slowly got to its feet and looked at the tiny child in annoyance. Kyuubi had to admit, the boy caught it off guard with his attack.
It also realized that Naruto was inside the cage, but ultimately made no attempt to attack him.
"Hmm... Kushina taught you a little more than I gave her credit for." Kyuubi rolled its eyes when it saw the confusion of the blonde. "Come of it. Do you really think that I wouldn't be aware of everything that has been happening in your pitiful life? I would have added my own peace if it wasn't for this seal. If I can find a way out of here then I would make sure to eat you out of your misery."
"Ahhhh!" Naruto screamed and charged at the beast with the intent to kill.
"You're still remarkably weak." Kyuubi frowned and looked down at Naruto, who was trying and failing to slash its gigantic leg. "Too weak for me to even face in a human form."
"Human form! Like you can even do that you bastard!" Naruto screeched as he continued to attack the Kyuubi's left leg.
"I'm created out of pure chakra. With that comes the ability to mold myself into anything I wish. I'm a fox because I find those creature intriguing and clever. The nine tails asserts my dominance as the most powerful of the nine bijuu." Kyuubi yawned as it watched the boy continue to attack in his rage induced state.
"Bring it on bastard!" Naruto challenged as he created a distance from the fox, albeit a minuscule amount.
Kyuubi looked at the boy in irritation. It was really starting to lose its patience. "Be gone with you, before my temper flares."
"I aint going anywhere until you're dead!" He flipped the Kyuubi off. "Stupid retarded fox!"
Kyuubi knew that Naruto was goading it to commence battle. The Kyuubi could not help but shake its head. Naruto was a bit stronger than it originally realized, but his ability still paled in comparison to its'. Adding to the fact that Naruto was not in his right state of mind then it would be understandable why he was spewing anything hateful that came to mind. Oh well, the Kyuubi thought, it did warn him.
A large cloud of burning red chakra surrounded the fox. Naruto quickly jumped backwards to avoid the heat and watched in amazement as a huge ball of chakra formed right in front of him. After some time the ball started to shrink, slowly forming a humanoid silhouette. As soon as it reached the required size and shape, the burning chakra dissipated. In its place stood a very nude and very attractive red-headed girl, who had blood-red eyes, plump pink lips, a developing body and looked no older than Naruto himself.
Naruto did a double take when he saw what was in front of him. A huge blush formed as he proceeded to cover his eyes.
"You're a girl?!" Naruto sputtered out incredulously. His poor twelve-year old mind could not comprehend what just transpired.
"Your limited understanding of chakra still astonishes me to date." Kyuubi scoffed, a scowl dawning over her delicate features. "I told you that I am made of pure chakra. I can turn into anything I wish. I don't have a gender, but I may choose to wield any sex I see fit." To emphasise her point she turned herself into a very handsome male, with short red hair and an angular face, who was still nude.
"Put on some clothes already!" Naruto shouted out as he as he witnessed the transformation. He had no qualms with seeing a boy naked, he was a shinobi, but the...thing that was in front of him was not a boy at all. He refused to view the Kyuubi as anything other than a fox, but that didnt mean he wasn't aware of modesty.
"My goodness. You really have issues, boy," Kyuubi said as he clicked his fingers and a standard kimono covered his body.
"I got issues?! What the hell? I'm not the one having sex changes!" Naruto shouted.
"...This coming from a boy who developed a jutsu that gives the wielder the illusion of a female?" Kyuubi inquired non committedly.
"...Shut up you damn fox! That's different!" Naruto yelled in anger.
"Whatever you say, kid."
"You're a kid too!" Naruto shot back and then frowned confusion. "You look like my age?"
Kyuubi rolled his eyes again. "One of the drawbacks of being here is the fact that I have only technically been 'alive' for twelve years. Although I am able to retain my fox form at its maximum, every other form requires me to accommodate the age with a suitable body."
Naruto just stared at the other boy.
"Still don't get it? Well, it's not your fault that you're stupid. Or maybe it is," Kyuubi goaded cynically.
Naruto's anger flared and he glared at Kyuubi with hatred.
"Now, I believe you said something about killing me?" Kyuubi stretched his left arm and a sword quickly formed in his hand. "Let's see what you got."
Naruto stared at the Kyuubi seriously. He was still furious at the fox and his shit of a life. He made up his mind. His life was practically over anyway. He was going to end it here and take that damn fox with him. He put as much chakra into his feet and shot, like a bullet, to Kyuubi.
Kyuubi managed to narrowly dodge the attack and quickly turned to regard the boy.
"My my, that was very fast," Kyuubi said evenly.
Naruto quickly charged again with a kunai in hand. He aimed for the Kyuubi's face, but the Kyuubi blocked the attack with little to no effort.
"So that's all Kushina has taught you? One jutsu and a minimal increase in speed? Well, I guess it's understandable with the period of time that you had, but I was hoping for better," Kyuubi said scoldingly.
He was surprised when he felt harsh wind hit his back and violently flew a few feet away from the blonde before hitting the ground with a harsh thud.
Kyuubi quickly got to his feet and finally noticed something he had forgotten.
"Your kage bunshin are still here?" Kyuubi briefly assessed the damage and was surprised to see a lot of cuts on his back. "Not bad. You caught me by surprise. I wonder why you weren't as strategic when you were facing the missing nin."
Naruto tried to take advantage of Kyuubi's distracted state by rushing at the fox. He cocked his hand back. "Fuuton: Senpuuken!"
Kyuubi did not even raise his head as he proceeded to slap Naruto's wrist before the blonde even struck him, breaking it in the process.
"Arg!" Naruto grunted out as he jumped back. His wrist felt immensely painful and he could do nothing but nurse it the only way he knew how.
Kyuubi finally looked at Naruto. He raised an eyebrow as he watched the blonde nurse his wrist. "Did I do that?" He made a show of seeming confused. "You poor thing."
Naruto hissed in pain and anger. He looked back and was shocked to discover that his clones, his backup, had disappeared in a plump of smoke.
"Now, who's going to fight your battles for you?" Kyuubi mocked gleefully.
"Aaahhh!" Naruto's charge was filled with fury and desperation. It was all or nothing.
Kyuubi's right arm shot forward and grabbed Naruto's throat. Naruto tried prying himself out of the Kyuubi's grip but it was useless. Kyuubi brought the blonde within an inch of his face and proceeded to whisper, "You know what. The whole 'if one of us dies we both do' is a theory anyway. I'll figure out another way out of this place, but first..."
Naruto's eyes shot open as he felt Kyuubi's sword impale his abdomen. He stiffened and looked into condescending blood-red eyes.
"I hope you enjoy the after life. Hehehe... Hehahahahah!" Those were the last words Naruto heard before his vision was engulfed in complete darkness.
"... Mhmhm." He could hear muffled noises, but he could not distinguish what the sound was. "Mhmhmmhm." There it was again.
All Naruto could see was black. Was he really dead now? Kyuubi really did a number on him. The only good thing that he could think of was the fact that he died fighting. But what now? He was dead right? For some reason it did not seem that way.
"Mhhmhhm." What the hell was that sound? It was starting to annoy him. Couldn't he spent the rest of his afterlife in peace? He had a miserable childhood, bad parents, and he was the most hated and loathed individual in Konoha. At the very least this place would finally give him the solace and contentment that he longed for.
"Mmmhhmhbm... Mmahm up" Naruto would have thrown his hands in the air if he could move. He decided to concentrate on the sound again. "Mhahm up... Mhake up."
He was starting to hear it more clearly. It was a voice. A very feminine voice and it seemed to be calling to him. He groggily opened his eyes.
He was very shocked to see that he was still in the mindscape. Didn't he die? This didn't make any sense.
"And here I thought I actually killed you." Naruto looked to his side and saw Kyuubi's female form which was kneeling and looking at him in something akin to...relief?
He quickly scrambled away from the girl. Fear overtaking his sense of logic. The girl was bijuu and she had proven very capable of killing him. The fact that he was alive at all was very alarming.
"Oh relax. I'm not going to hurt you - " Upon seeing the disbelieving look Kyuubi continued, " - and besides, you're alive right now, aren't you?"
Naruto continued to stare at Kyuubi in bewilderment.
Kyuubi sighed and rolled her eyes. "Now that you've gotten all that anger out of your system, do you feel better?"
Naruto was frozen in place, but after some time he actually analyzed her inquiry. Now that he thought about it he felt a lot more calmer than he did before. He looked down and noticed that his body didn't have a scratch and his wrist was just fine. This whole situation was too confusing however, so all he could was offer a numb nod.
"Good!" Kyuubi chirped and got to her feet.
"...What the hell?!" Naruto finally blurted out.
"What's the matter now?" Kyuubi asked raising an eyebrow.
"..." Naruto was too lost to answer.
Kyuubi sighed. "Look, you were angry and irrational. I felt it was better letting you vent that anger instead of keeping it inside." Kyuubi shrugged her shoulders.
"So all this was for me to vent out my anger?" Naruto questioned with wide eyes. Was it really possible that he was the container of a demented fox?
"Pretty much." Kyuubi scratched her face and her mouth formed a whimsical smile. "Although 'killing' you was its own reward. You're very disrespectful and rude."
Naruto scowled. "Are you kidding me?!"
"Kidding? Kind of. Serious? Maybe so," Kyuubi proclaimed with a thoughtful pose.
"Why aren't I dead?" Naruto settled for knowing facts instead of succumbing to Kyuubi's mind games.
"Because I never killed you. Remember when I told you that if one of us died then the other would join? Well, that's true actually. The only way for me to be free from you is through extraction." Kyuubi looked at her outfit and frowned. "God, this is ugly." She snapped her fingers and a new, more accentuating, kimono appeared. "Ohh, that's way better. Males really have bland taste."
"Why are you a girl again?" Naruto asked more calmly. It didn't seem like Kyuubi was going to attack him, so he decided to just wing it and see what would transpire.
"I like being female." Kyuubi looked at her body, analyzed her outfit and then continued, "I'm not sure why, but I think this suites me more than a male image. Maybe it is because I've only ever been sealed in females until I was sealed into you."
"You were sealed before?" Naruto asked in surprise.
"Yep... Uhhm, look, about the incident twelve years ago... It really wasn't my fault. I never meant for any of that to happen." Kyuubi said honestly.
"Then why did you attack Konoha?" Naruto asked.
"I was being controlled by a man wearing this weird mask. I didn't know what I was doing until it was too late."
"Why should I believe that?" Naruto quarrelled.
"Because I'm telling the truth. I give you my word - "
"That's not good enough," Naruto quickly cut her off in stride. "After everything that I've been through I just can't trust anyone."
"... I could show you what happened," Kyuubi offered quietly.
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked with a frown.
"I have the power to channel my memories as well as yours into visual aspects. I can show you what really happened that night. The real reason your parents abandoned you. I could show you the truth in a nutshell, if you're willing." Kyuubi was a bit nervous for two reasons. The first being the fact that Naruto could really end up hating her for what she was about to do and the other would be the fact that her offer could backfire indefinitely with disastrous results.
"How will I know if it's the truth?" Naruto questioned with narrowed eyes.
This time Kyuubi huffed and frowned in annoyance. "You'll just have to trust me. If you're going to be living a life where you can't find it in yourself to trust anyone then you will never get anywhere. Just this once, put your trust in me, that's all I'm asking for. Don't you want to know why your parents did what they did?"
"... Why are you doing this?" Naruto finally asked.
"Simple, you humans make mistakes all the time, but there is always two sides to a story. I'm just tired of this constant on and off thing with your family. It affects the mindscape and makes me feel uncomfortable. At least this way you could better choose whether you like them or hate them without pause." Kyuubi said.
Naruto thought about. He had always wanted to know the reason why his parents chose to abandon one of their children, so his decision was made quite swiftly.
"I hope you're not lying to me," Naruto said seriously.
"I give you my word as a bijuu that everything you'll see will be the truth." Kyuubi made sure he knew how serious she was.
Naruto mentally prepared himself and then looked at Kyuubi again. "S-Show m-me...please."
"Alright." Kyuubi waved her left hand and a large orb appeared in front of them. "I hope you're ready. Here we go," Kyuubi said as she and Naruto where both engulfed in white.