The Pathless Sage

A/R: Thanks for reviewing guys, I got a decent amount of reviews for the story now. Well, decent amount by my standards.

On with the story!

Naruto felt himself floating in what he assumed was air. He could feel nothing, literally nothing, hear nothing, smell nothing, taste nothing and see nothing. He was floating in a timeless black abyss. He couldn't feel any clothes on his body, so he assumed he was naked.

"Where am I?" Naruto thought, still half asleep.

Thinking set in motion a chain of events. First was the fact that the black abyss morphed into something more substantial, a sewer, but there was no pungent smell. The colour of the atmosphere slowly turned from black to a dull olive green.

"Where am I and what am I doing here? What's happening?" Naruto thought, slightly panicking. Suddenly, he could feel an overwhelming, evil presence near him. As he looked towards where he thought the presence came from, he saw what looked to be a jail cell. The inside of the cell glowed a dull, reddish orange.

"You don't realise where you are brat?" A deep, gravelly voice seemed to call from the depths of the cell, the voice shook him to the core of his very being. "You don't recognise who I am?"

Something told Naruto he should be scared of what this thing was. He still didn't understand where he was, or how he had got there, but this thing made him forget all of those worries and focus on it. He didn't know if he should actually be scared of the thing, seeing as it wa sbehind bars, but he decided to be wary.

"Who ... what are you?" Naruto called, not wanting to speak too much, lest he speak out of line and anger whatever it was that was behind bars.

"I am the Nine Tailed Demon Fox, brat. Your tenant, as you might know." The Fox came in full view of Naruto now, his demonic coat glowing with power, his slitted eyes blazing. His entire gigantic form exuded menace, rage, greed and all things negative in the world. Seeing the Fox this close, Naruto wanted to run and hide like a little child.

"So, what do you want with me? Why did you bring me here? Well, I assume it was you that brought me here." Naruto fought the urge to run, he knew running would do him no good here. If the Fox wanted to, he could come after Naruto and destroy him within a second.

"I wanted to speak with you, brat. It seems the time has come for us to make a pact, so as to not get in eachother's way." Kyuubi said, though in his mind, he was thinking down a different line. "Of course I want to make a pact with you, the eyes you unlocked with your potential because of the Seal puts my life in jeopardy. I might not want to admit it, but I can't do anything against those eyes of his."

"Sure," Naruto forgot the previous fear he had for the Kyuubi. He surprised the proud Fox by smiling and walking right up to the giant rods that were keeping the Kyuubi captive, "So, what would making the pact with you entail? I assume you want to offer something, but you want something in return?"

"Look, brat, I have been stuck inside you for the past ten years. I might not want to admit it, but even I can see that I am not getting out of you any time soon," At this, the Fox grimaced, making his intimidating features look truly frightening, "So I want to offer you my full co-operation. I will allow you to use my Chakra at will, but in return, I want your word that you won't enslave me with your eyes."

Naruto didn't seem to be listening, though he was, and was climbing up the gate that kept the cell closed. Upon reaching the centre, he once again surprised the Kyuubi, but this time, by ripping off the seal that kept him captive.

"Brat, do you realise what you have done? You have set me, the Nine Tailed Fox, the Kyuubi, the greatest demon on this planet, free. You have set me free." The Kyuubi's voice rumbled like thunder, the pressure from his presence multiplied tenfold.

-TT-

A nurse had come in to Naruto's hospital room to change the sheet, assuming that Naruto had already vacated the room. So imagine her surprise when she saw a boxer clad Naruto laying in the bed, looking peaceful.

At first, before seeing Naruto, she was humming happily to herself. She enjoyed her job, helping out at the hospital, helping the injured, the sick, the elderly. Even she, however, had to admit that doing the same chores day in and day out had gotten more and more tedious, boring even. They felt like chores.

Her breath hitched in her throat when she saw Naruto laying there. She walked slowly towards him and tucked the sheets under one of her armpits to allow the other hand to be free. She intended to wake Naruto so she could change the sheets.

She dropped the sheets and let out a bloodcurdling scream as an orange, rage filled aura consumed the room.

A doctor came running, wanting to see what had happened for a nurse to have screamed like that. Seeing the state of the room, he did the most rational thing he could think of.

"Inform the ANBU and the Hokage, the Demon is running rampant!" He called.

-TT-

"I know what I did, Kyuubi-" Naruto was cut off by the Kyuubi.

"Call me Kurama, brat. That's my real name."

"Right. I know what I did Kurama, but the fact that I released the Seal father had put on you doesn't mean that I am allowing you to do as you please." Naruto explained, not missing a beat even as he referred to the Fourth Hokage as his father.

"Hmmm, so you found out about the Fourth being your father. I won't lie to you, brat, even I held that man in great respect," At this, Kurama's eyes glazed over, as if reminiscing about the past, "But what do you mean, you won't allow me to run rampant? Let me clarify, brat, YOU SET ME FREE!"

"Keep your hair on, sheesh. What I am doing is not allowing you to run about and do as you please, but offering you an extension to our pact," As he said this, Kurama's eyes lit up as if intrigued. "I will allow you to live outside of this horrid place, maybe even allow you to come out from time to time, but you must promise me your complete allegience. I expect you to listen to every word I say and never, and I mean NEVER, attack the Village or attempt to take over my conscience."

Kurama contemplated his words for a bit, thinking it over and tossing it around in his mind. He seemed interested in the deal. "On one hand, I can't do absolutely anything I want, but in exchange I would be as close to freedom as I could hope for. In essence, this is offering me good living conditions and a will of my own."

"Well, what do you think? Want to take me up on my offer?" Naruto was never known for his patience and even after removing the Seal, his lack of patience showed no sign of improving.

"I will take you up on your offer, brat. It's the best living conditions I have ever had within a Jinchuuriki." Somehow, Kurama's tone of voice sounded lighter, as if he wasn't trying to kill everything in the general vicinity with just his voice anymore.

"Thanks Kurama," Naruto smiled, and his smile got even wider when something clicked into place in his mind. "I will never be alone and family-less while your still here."

"What are you trying to say, brat?" Kurama had an inkling as to what his container was saying, but he did not want to jump to any conclusions. After all, the idea of a human being calling a great demon such as he a part of their family? Utterly ludicrous.

"Well, think about it. Throughout my entire life, you were the only thing that was constantly there. It's like you're trying to fill up the void left behind by my parents. After all this, I think it would be an insult to not at least consider you a friend, if not family." Naruto said, his smile set perfectly in place.

For the first time in his long and arduous life, and not for the last, Kurama smiled. Not one of his menacing 'I-am-about-to-demolish-your-life' smiles, but one of his 'I-am-actually-really-happy' smiles. As what could only be interpretted as an affectionate gesture from the fox, he placed his right forepaw on Naruto's head, simulating a fatherly pat.

"Your parents would be proud of you, brat." Even after all this, he still called him a brat!

A/R: I know that chapter was short, but hey, it was nice and sweet. I am still going through the chapters to make a concrete foundation for the rest of the story. I promise a longer chapter sometime very soon.

Thanks to all for reviewing. Please continue reviewing, it makes me happy and urges me to pump these chapters out faster.

I would like to take this time to say, the person that semi-flamed, please leave a way for me to contact you so that I can actually explain what you thought was a spoiler.

I would also like to say, I really need a beta that can read chapters fast.