.
Naruto felt that he was laying on a bed, and that by itself didn't matter. What mattered was that his chakra was unusually weak. He opened his eyes and looked down at his bare chest, where a seal was written that connected and wrapped around where the seal on his navel should be. Annoyance flickered across his face and he pulsed His chakra past the seal which burned white hot for a split second before it returned to black and Naruto could feel his chakra again.
The door to the room swung open and Kakashi could be seen in the doorway. He looked at Naruto and warily relaxed his posture.
"Is that fear-look going to become a habit?" Naruto asked bored.
"I'm sorry Naruto, but that seal is preventing the Kyuubi's chakra from entering your system. We're going to have to get it fixed when when we get back to Konoha." explained Kakashi, "From the looks of it the chakra is barely being held back."
"It's not being held back at all." said Naruto.
"What?"
"What is left on my chest is ink. There is no chakra there. I burned it off." Naruto stated calmly.
Kakashi immediately tensed up again. He noticed Naruto was speaking differently, "Are you the Kyuubi?" he asked warily.
"I am Kurama of the Nine Tails, but I am also Naruto Uzumaki of Leaf. I am still confused about what happened to make us... me... this way. I got angry when the Uchiha vermin died, and called upon My chakra. I tried to get through a gap in the seal that allowed My chakra through, I wanted to influence and take my body from myself. But there was a short burst of the most intense pain I have felt in my lives, and then I existed. Naruto and Kurama were no more, and I was me." Naruto's explanation, as confusing as it was, was enough for Kakashi to understand a little bit of what was going on.
Kakashi looked distressed, "Naruto is dead then?"
"No. I am still Naruto, I'm just Kurama too. I am not two things, and I am not one thing. I remember everything, though. Everything. Like who my parents are." Naruto said with an annoyed expression.
Kakashi's eyes widened, "You know who your father is?"
"I know that as well, My father is the Hagoromo Otsutsuki. But I am speaking of my Dad. He was Minato, the Yondaime Hokage, and my Mom was My previous vessel. They are not part of my memories, but My memories say otherwise. It is... strange... at the very least, to look through your own eyes at someone you recognize as yourself. It is a paradox that makes my skull creak." Naruto said.
"The way you talk, is way different from how Naruto usually talks. If you were to give a guess, how much of Naruto do you have compared to how much Kyuubi?" Kakashi requested.
"I have all of Naruto, and I have half of Kurama. But the half of Kurama is still far greater that all of Naruto, because that half is Kurama's mind and chakra. Naruto is still there though, and still on the surface, so I guess you could say I am half Naruto and half Kurama." Naruto stated.
Kakashi nodded, "So, what are you planning now?" he asked.
"I will not attack Konoha. You cannot hide your intentions from me. I did not wish to attack Konoha in the first place. But that is a story for the Hokage. Not a story for the little rats hiding behind the door frame." Naruto said while looking at the door.
Kakashi whipped around, "Come out!" he said sternly.
Sasuke, Sakura, and Inari stepped out with fearful expressions or, in Sasuke's case, an irritated and confused frown on his face.
"How much did you hear?" asked Kakashi.
Sasuke answered,"We came when we felt that chakra. When we got here Naruto was calling himself the Kyuubi, which I find hard to believe."
"Yeah Naruto, you expect us to believe that you're the Kyuubi? Stop trying to act as cool as Sasuke, you'll never get there." Sakura said with her hands on her hips.
"Sakura." Kakashi warned.
"Silence child, you're annoying me." Naruto said.
Everyone was taken aback, Naruto never spoke to Sakura like that.
"You idiot! Don't tell me to shut up! Just because we don't believe you doesn't mean you can talk like you're better than us! You couldn't even beat me in a fight, so how about YOU shut up!" shouted Sakura furiously.
Naruto narrowed his eyes at her and bared his elongated canines slightly, which Kakashi took as a sign.
"Alright, everybody out. Now." said Kakashi sternly.
The other genin and Inari, who was surprisingly silent throughout the exchange, left the room staring at Naruto the whole way.
Naruto looked at Kakashi. Not even his mask could hide the fact that he had a question on his face.
"What is your plan though? This is going to cause a lot of trouble when we get back to the village, you know." said Kakashi.
"Kurama's goal was to be free from the seal. Now that his goal is accomplished, the only goal I have left is Naruto's dream of becoming Hokage. I guess I'll start there." Naruto said.
"Well, you can speak to Sarutobi-sama about that when we get back to Konoha. Speaking of which, we've been waiting for you to wake up so we can leave. Get dressed, then we can go." said Kakashi while gesturing to the spare clothes scroll that Naruto had with him.
After Kakashi had left the room, Naruto unsealed his clothes from the scroll, which immediately caught fire. Naruto yelped as his hand was burned before glaring at the flames, which were extinguished by his chakra. Naruto heard a knock at the door before Kakashi said, "You okay in there?"
"I am fine. My chakra caught the scroll on fire. It suprised me." said Naruto.
As the sound of footsteps left the door, Naruto put his clothes on. White T-shirt and black pants. He brushed the ashes into the wastebasket and picked up the chair they rested on before walking out the door.
He saw everybody waiting for him when he got downstairs, and he immediately looked at Tsunami, "I'm sorry. I uh, burned your chair when I was changing." He held up the chair for emphasis.
Everybody looked at him in confusion. Tsunami broke out of it before the others, "That's okay, Naruto. Just one more thing to remember you by."
Inari walked up and hugged Naruto around the waist. Naruto tensed up before quickly relaxing.
"Are you going to be okay?" asked Inari tearfully.
"... Inari, I'm fine. What do you mean?" asked Naruto gently.
"Your hair is orange, your eyes are purple and weird, your voice is deeper and you're even acting different. Do you have some weird disease?" Inari asked.
"Haha, no. There's nothing wrong with me, Inari. I'm just whole. The Naruto you knew before is only half of me. He's still here though." Naruto said. Inari seemed to accept the answer and let go of Naruto. Everybody was looking at him strangely, save Kakashi and the civilians. Kakashi expected the strangeness and Tsunami and Tazuna already accepted it as another ninja thing.
Naruto looked at Tazuna, "I hope everything worked out the way you wanted it to. I'll visit sometime in the future."
Tazuna smirked, "What makes you think I care about that?"
"I can sense your trepidation." Naruto stated simply.
Kakashi clapped his hands once, "Alright, you guys want to take the main road or the forest to the bridge?"
"I don't care." said Sasuke. Sakura just agreed.
"The forest. I'm not adapted enough to process so many people's emotions yet." stated Naruto.
Kakashi resolved to ask what that meant once they left the village.
Twenty minutes later, they stepped off the bridge before Kakashi asked, "Okay Naruto, it's been a while since you woke up, do you think you can tone down your chakra? It's very unnerving."
Naruto looked confused, but tried anyway. After a moment of concentration, Naruto held up a half ram seal and focused harder. Nothing happened.
"I can't. I didn't even notice I was putting out enough to feel, is it really that bad?" asked Naruto.
"Yes Naruto, you've been pumping out boatloads of chakra since you woke up. That's why that departure was so awkward." Kakashi said.
Naruto closed his eyes and one by one clenched and released every muscle in his body. The others were looking at him like he'd grown a second head.
"Uh, what are you doing, dobe?" asked Sasuke.
Naruto didn't respond at first, then he stopped and opened his eyes. He looked at Kakashi, "It seems my first Limiter is stuck open. Since Naruto and Kurama's chakra is fused, it means I'm stuck in the initial Jinchuuriki stage. The one just before a tail forms."
"What do you mean by- Oh no. You mean your first Gate is stuck open?! That will severely damage your body if it hasn't already!" Kakashi said urgently.
"No it won't, my body is healing too quickly. But I still don't want to be a beacon." Naruto's skin turned red from exertion as he forced the gate shut with his chakra.
"There."
Kakashi was stunned, "Naruto, shutting a gate like that takes immense practice."
"Kurama's body was made of condensed elemental chakra. My entire existence was a change in form and nature. This is nothing in comparison." Naruto grimaced, "Still hurt really bad though."
Kakashi sighed then perked up, "Oh yeah, what did you mean when you said you couldn't handle being in public?"
"It wasn't the public. Their emotions from being freed would no doubt be intense, I didn't want to sift through a village's worth of that."
"What do you mean? Why would you feel their emotions at all?"
"Kurama has the ability to sense emotion. It is how I evaded humanity all these centuries." Naruto stated factually.
Sasuke opened his mouth to speak but Kakashi saw him, "My ORDER still stands Sasuke."
"...fine."
Kakashi shook his head as he called a messenger hawk with his chakra.
The Hokage was going to need a warning.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at the orange haired boy in his office claiming to be both Naruto and the Kyuubi.
His hair wasn't the only thing that was different. His eyes were purple and slitted, his face was more angular and defined, he could see fangs poking out of his top lip, and his whisker marks now looked like large scars instead of lines of discolored skin.
"What proof can you give me that you're not just the Kyuubi?" Sarutobi asked politely.
"I can show you my chakra. Kurama witnessed Naruto's life through his eyes, so any memory test wouldn't work. I don't know of any other way, so maybe showing you my chakra cloak would help ease your suspicions." Naruto replied.
"I fail to understand how showing me the Kyuubi's chakra cloak would help your situation." Sarutobi said.
"Because you know what Kurama's cloak looked and felt like. My chakra would feel much different." Naruto said.
"I'm still not certain that's the best idea. What if you lose control?" Sarutobi asked.
"It is my chakra now. Have you ever lost control of your own chakra? I don't know if Kakashi noticed, but the seal is completely gone. The Shinigami's handwriting no longer resides on my stomach. Neither does Dad's." Naruto said assuringly.
Hiruzen paled and looked to Kakashi, "Did you tell him?"
"No, he remembered." said Kakashi. He had no doubts Naruto was what he said he was.
The old Hokage looked back at Naruto and rubbed his forehead,"Fine, but let me put up chakra seals so the village doesn't feel it." Sarutobi said.
After more than ten handsigns, he placed his hands on the wall and sent two lines of sealscript around the wall , floor and ceiling.
"Alright, Naruto. Go ahead." the Hokage said.
Naruto nodded. Violet chakra burst from him the instant he willed it. Within seconds, a cloak and tail had been formed.
Sarutobi was caught off guard. He didn't expect him to pull a tail out right away! He looked at the sealscript and saw it about to break, "Naruto! Pull it back, the seals can't take it!"
Naruto quickly suppressed his chakra till it was just a fine purple mist floating around him. Now that it had calmed, Hiruzen was able to tell what the difference was. It still felt wild and untamed, but now it felt more... innocent. Not weak, by any means. It just lacked the murderous intent that typically accompanied the Kyuubi's chakra. If anything it just felt excitable. Bot no less oppressing. It still bore down on you with a weight of power, but now it felt like an animal that was excited about something.
"Okay Naruto, I see what you meant. You can turn it off now." Hiruzen said.
Naruto did so, but frowned, "Turn it off? That seems a bit simplistic, doesn't it? That's like 'Turn off your arm so you don't hurt your buddy in a spar!' Who says that?"
Sarutobi looked at him strangely, "Right. Well, We have to keep this secret. However Naruto, you must realize that the villagers are not going to react pleasantly to this new change."
"As long as they do not attack me with intent to kill, then we'll be fine. If they do, it will be well within my rights to execute them." Naruto stated bluntly.
Sarutobi narrowed his eyes, "Naruto, you have to understand your very unique position. If you kill a civilian, no matter the cause, the village will call for your head."
"Then they can have it. My chakra has acclimate to being in a human body. It won't be too much trouble to take over another vessel if they decide to decapitate this one. I might even be able to come back in a couple months instead of three years with the aid of a developed chakra circulatory system. I've been studying my Tenketsu, and they are certainly interesting." Naruto replied offhandedly.
The aged Hokage sighed, "Just promise me you won't retaliate unless the person actually has a chance of killing you."
"...I can agree to that." Naruto relented
When he concluded that Naruto was not a threat, he dismissed him and his teacher.
After they left, Hiruzen pulled a thick book out of his robes, "This definitely goes in the Legacy Journal."
Aaaaaaaand I wound up posting this almost immediately after my new story, Silver Lining. I thought it would take longer but my insomnia kicked in. I will have people know right now that I am not a quick writer. I'm not someone who can do 30k chapters in a month, like other authors on this site.
Like I said before, I'm moving. I have lived in this house of seven people for ten years, so there's an assload and a half of stuff we have to move.