CHAPTER RATING: T

First things first, as of this chapter onward, please note this one fact:

Anything you remember from the Anime that happened will not accurately happen here. I know I've said this before, but I want to reiterate that I am not following the Anime anymore. The rest of the story is pure (fan) fiction, is no longer Canon Material, and will not wholly resemble Canon Naruto.

Lastly, as you all probably know, Naruto will encounter the Nine-Tails in this chapter. It'll only resemble the actual events slightly, but I'm writing this by memory; mainly because I haven't watched the episode(s) in over 6 months.

So, here we go.

Please, enjoy.

Chapter 33: The Scarlet Haired Woman

Here he stood, in a large room the gleamed with a bright, and brilliant golden hue. In front of him stood a woman with noticeably long hair, the color of pale scarlet. She turned around with a welcoming, and loving smile that he had never seen before.

"…I finally get to see you…Do you know who I am?" she whispered. Naruto stared at her, dumbfounded. His eyes widened when he realized who she was.

"M-Mom…?" He asked in a whimper.

"Uzumaki Kushina. I've always wanted to meet you, my son." She smiled. Naruto took a few breaths. He felt his eyes beginning to blur, his heart, skipping a few beats, before he took off towards her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Mom…I've always wondered…I've always wanted to have a mother." He held her tighter. Kushina wrapped her arms around him in return, gently embracing him as well.

"It's good to see you again, Naruto. You've grown since I last saw you." She smiled. Kushina set herself on her knees and invited him to follow. Naruto sat there, still amazed at who stood in front of him, he stared at her in disbelief. "How old are you now?"

A/N: For the sake of moving along, here, you should insert Kushina's own personal story.

"I-I'm twenty-one." He answered silently. He held his head low, and grasped her hands with his own. He began to quietly whimper. Kushina looked down at her blonde haired son, and smiled.

"What's wrong?" she asked with a smile. Her hand rested on his cheek and brought his face up. Tears were streaming down his eyes, running down to her hands. "Don't cry. I'm here now."

"I-I know." He stuttered through his tears. "I-I just…I don't know what to say." He wiped away his tears with his sleeve. "I'm just so…happy."

"I'm happy I could finally see you the way you are now." Kushina smiled at his expression. Naruto cleared his crackling voice and calmed himself down. "You are my son, you are a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf, and you are the Hero of Konoha. You have come very far, and have accomplished very much."

He smiled at her compliments. "Have you been taking care of yourself these last twenty-one years?"

"I have. I've been taking care of myself, bathing every day, sleeping for very long periods of time, and I've made friends…Not many friends, but friends that I can…" His mind trailed off for a second, an image of Sasuke popped inside his head for a second. "…friends that I can truly trust!" He replied with a wide smile.

"That's good. I'm glad that you have made it so far without us to be there for you."

"I've also been training very hard, even if I'm not very good at something, I never give up…I…" His mind trailed off again, thinking back to when he was twelve, and all of the things that he did to his instructors during his years at the academy. "…I've learned a lot from Iruka-sensei, and Kakashi-sensei! And I have a great deal of respect for them! I know I did many childish things when I was a kid, but I've learned a lot."

"That's good. It makes me happy that you were able to grow with the help of such great men." She smiled. "You learned from Jiraiya, didn't you?"

"I did…" Naruto solemnly replied. "But there are some things that he taught me that I'll remember."

"What did you learn?" she asked with interest.

"I learned to be careful about lending money to others." He paused, with his expression suddenly changing to frustration. "When he went to train me, he took all of my money, and spent it on booze and women!" He calmed himself and then added, "But I've never done those sorts of things! I've never spent any money on women! And I haven't even tried a sip of alcohol at all!"

"And? What else, have you found someone yet?"

His heart lightened as his thoughts trailed back to Sakura.

"I have…"

"…Did you follow my advice?"

"I did…" he said with a smile. "She was just like you. When we were just kids, she had this mean streak that she was always trying to hide. I would never do anything to wrong her…I would never hurt her by choice."

Kushina smiled. "You found someone just like me? Good. Good. I'm happy." Kushina stood. "I've had a great time, Naruto. But right now, we need to take care of the Nine-Tails. We can do it, together."

Before he had realized it, Naruto was kneeling down in a pool of water, in a green room with a giant cell. In front of him was the Nine-Tails, and bursting from his body were golden chains that restrained the Nine-tails.

"DO YOU REALLY THINK YOU CAN STOP ME?!" The Nine-Tails' voice echoed through the room. "HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN WHO I AM?!" The chained pulled him down even further.

He pulled Naruto closer, until, in the pitch black that obscured the ceiling, descended six gates. That fell upon his limbs, tails, and neck. The Nine-Tails roared with fierce anger at this humiliating defeat. The gates came together, and sealed him within them.

Naruto fell forward, and caught himself on his arms. When he looked up, he was in the glowing golden room, and his mother stood before him.

"You've become stronger than anyone could have imagined, Naruto." Kushina's eyes began to blur with tears. "I wish that I could have spent more time with you." Her voice was cracking with emotion. "…You are the best son anyone could ask for, it was an honor to have been your mother."

She moved forward and hugged him again. "It's time for me to go and be with your father."

She held him even tighter. "Remember that we love you."

Tears began to fall down Naruto's eyes.

"Thank you, Naruto…Thank you…so very much…" Kushina's image began to fade. Her embrace began to loosen.

"I love you, Mom." Before his eyes, she began to vanish. Tears were still falling as he found himself standing alone in the glittering room.

...

Naruto turned, and stepped forward. His foot landed in water. He faced the familiar giant fox, with a large sinister grin.

"You think you've defeated me." The Nine-tails laughed aloud. "…Let me tell you a secret."

Naruto stared blankly at him.

"You stare at me with dead eyes, as if you didn't care." The Nine-Tails added. "But you know, when you were healing Sakura, you panicked, and a small part of me, is now in her heart."

His grin widened, his massive claws, digging into his restraints. "She used the Waterfall of Truth, while we were in here. And I saw what she saw."

Naruto's heart skipped a beat.

"The truth is…"

Naruto felt the doubt and hatred he had overcome surge back into his heart.