a/n- Thank you soon much for the support you have all given me! It warms my heart to know that some of you did like my story! I will try not to disappoint anyone! Now, on with the story!

Konoha's Orange Maelstrom

Chapter 2

Naruto could not believe his eyes.

A few minutes ago he was practising his kunai throwing, to relieve his frustration on losing to Sasuke (again). Now, he was staring at the face of a huge beast behind bars.

It didn't make any sense to Naruto.

'Why is such a big beast in these sewers? Is it a prison of some sort? How did it even get here? More importantly, how did I get here?'

Naruto then took a closer look at the beast. Apparently, it was sleeping. It was huge fox with orange fur, what seemed to be black eyeliner around it's eyes, and most importantly a lot of tails. From there, Naruto could make out about 8, no, 9 tails. That was when it struck him.

'Wait a minute! Nine tails? As in the Kyuubi? But I thought Iruka-sensei said that the yondaime hokage defeated it! How is this possible?'

Now, Naruto was really confused. Why on earth was he with the Kyuubi that was supposed to have been killed? That was when it struck him.

'Ah, I am such a fool this is obviously a dream!'

And with that Naruto tried to wake up.

'Huh? Why can't I wake up?'

He tried willing himself to wake up, but he couldn't do that. Then he tried pinching himself. That was when he realised that this was no dream. Because it hurt. A lot.

'Oh crap! This isn't a dream?! But if this is real then where am I?'

That was when he realised something big. Something that was really unnerving.

'Wait a minute! The Kyuubi is supposed to be dead. But if this is real, then it means... that... I... am dead!'

That conclusion really broke him. He was dead? He couldn't believe it, but he had to. Uzumaki Naruto, future hokage of Konohagakure no Sato dead, by cracking his head in a tree of all things! He wouldn't have minded if he was killed by some big supervillain while protecting the village, but this was just ridiculous!

He then just stood there for this to sink in. He was on the verge of tears. He was never going to see... wait, he had no real friends. Just hokage-jiji, and to a lesser extent Kiba, Shikamaru, and Chouji. No one was really going to miss him.

'So... This is the afterlife... Being trapped with a demon fox... I wonder if this has something to do with the village calling me a 'demon'... Well... No use pondering over the past... Looks like I am stuck with the Kyuubi for eternity... Might as well make the best out if this... I don't want to be sulking for the rest of my afterlife... I'll try talking to the Kyuubi. Maybe it was also getting bored, all alone for ten years. Besides, maybe he may even know if there is someone else here.'

And with that, he tried to strike up a conversation with his only companion.

"H-Hello K-Kyuubi-san. N-Nice to meet you."

Naruto mentally cursed himself. He was stuttering like that girl Hinata! Speaking of Hinata-

Suddenly, the Kyuubi's eyes opened. It began studying Naruto as he stood there, shivering in front of the ancient beast.

It was a bit surprising to see Naruto got here so early in his life. He expected Naruto to come after he at least made genin and faced a few life and death situations. Apparently, that tree must have hit his head really hard for him to get here. However, he was surprised by the honorific used by Naruto.

'Kyuubi-san, eh? Might as well play along with him. It sure was boring to just sit here in this damn seal.'

Thinking this, he decided to entertain the boy.

"What do you want gaki?"

"I-I am Uzumaki Naruto. D-do you know i-if anyone else is h-here?"

At this, the Kyuubi burst out laughing.

Naruto felt a bit insulted by this. He was just asking a question. It shouldn't make fun of him like that. After all, he was new to the afterlife.

"Hey, what are you laughing at?"

The Kyuubi laughed even louder. Naruto just stood there waiting for the laughter to die down. After all, he didn't want to anger the demon fox who destroyed half of his village.

After the Kyuubi calmed down he asked-

"I am quite surprised that my prisoner is so stupid and dumb."

"Hey, I take offence to th- wait, what do you mean 'prisoner'?"

"Ah, it seems I have much to explain... Now, gaki, listen carefully. I don't want to explain this again. I am sealed within you."

All Naruto could manage was a "Huh?"

"*Groan* Looks like I have to tell you everything from the beginning. Your father was the yondaime hokage, Namikaze Minato and your mother was Uzumaki Kushina, my second container, successor of Uzumaki Mito, my first container, who was the wife of the shodaime. Got all of that?"

Naruto just stood there mouth wide open, with a look of disbelief.

"I'll take that as a yes. Moving on, on the day you were being delivered, a masked man attacked your mother right after child birth, since the seal which holds me weakens during childbirth. Then he... You know what gaki, long story short, He released me, took control over me, made me attack your damn village, then the yondaime intervened, he sealed half of me into himself and half of me into you with a suicidal fuuinjutsu of some sort since it is impossible to kill me."

The Kyuubi then waited for Naruto to recover from the shock of being bombarded with so much information. He knew that the ten year old was trying to get his head around all of this.

After a bit, Naruto finally found his voice to ask a question that had been nagging at him.

"What happened to my mother?"

"Oh, she was impaled by my claw while she tried to protect you from me trying to kill you. I was sick of being stuck in this seal all these years. I didn't want to be stuck in this damn seal again. It surprises me how my siblings cope with this. Besides, she was going to die soon anyway. No one has ever survived a bijuu extraction."

Naruto was shattered hearing this. His eyes were welling up with tears. Standing in front of him was the beast that killed his mother. He was seething with anger until some parts of the revelation hit him.

"I was sick of being stuck in this seal all these years. I didn't want to be stuck in this damn seal again."

"Besides, she was going to die soon anyway."

That was when Naruto's anger was replaced by sadness and a bit if sympathy for the Kyuubi. Being called a demon by almost everyone had given him the ability to sympathize with people. And if he was hated for containing the demon, he could not even imagine what it would be like being the demon. He then finally spoke, while wiping his tears-

"I... I understand K-Kyuubi-san... I would also have done the same thing... If I were you..."

The Kyuubi was taken aback by this. He didn't expect this. He did expect the initial anger, but this response completely shocked him.

'Maybe this one is going to be different.'

"Gaki, you intrigue me. This is the first time a mortal has ever sympathized with me... Well, a mortal other than my father..."

"Wait! You have a father? And what was it about siblings you were talking about?"

"Like I'm going to tell you that! You know what? If You can prove yourself worthy of being my container, I will tell you all about them and give you my full power. Something tells me that you will be different from everyone else who tried to control me."

Naruto was shocked by this. The great Kyuubi no Kitsune, was going to lend all of his power to him?! At first, he was a bit hesitant, since he had almost destroyed Konoha, but then again, he was under control of that masked man. But then, a possibility struck him...

"Kyuubi-san, I would like to prove myself worthy of being your container, but how do I know that you were telling me the truth?"

The Kyuubi had seen this question coming.

"You can ask that hokage-jiji of yours to satisfy your doubts. As for the being controlled part, I have no proof, but you have my word, and I do have my honour. I have no need for lying to a mortal like you!"

Naruto made a mental note to ask hokage-jiji to verify this, and he also decided to trust the Kyuubi. After all, why would he lie to someone like him.

"Kyuu-"

"Stop calling me that gaki."

"Kyuubi-sama?"

"That is not what I meant! I have a name you know. I am fed up of being called 'Kyuubi' by everyone"

"And what is your name?"

"Kurama."

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All right! Now Naruto is suddenly going to become so powerful that Sasuke is going to cry right? Wrong! As I said in the first chapter, no Naruto is not going to be OP.

I hope this feels realistic to you all and I know there may be a few questions in your mind.

Oh, and sorry if it felt a bit rushed. This is my first fanfiction, so I hope you understand.

Why can't Naruto wake up?

Well, that's because he was unconscious, had hit his head hard, and the mindscape is a really f'd up place. I still can't get my head around the mindscape, like, how did Sasuke get inside Naruto's mind when they first met in shippuuden? Was he copying any Jutsu from the Yamanaka clan? Who knows?

How did he get there in the first place?

I think hitting a very hard tree while running at full speed as a ninja in training and cracking your head a bit qualifies as a situation where Naruto can get to his seal mindscape.

Is Kurama getting a bit soft?

Maybe yes, maybe no. Kurama was explaining everything to Naruto because he was bored and decided to have some fun with the blond. I think I kept all the reactions realistic enough though.

How is Naruto going to prove himself worthy?

Ha! Like I'm going to tell you that before the next chapter!

Oh, and I watch the subbed version of Naruto, So I am sorry if you didn't quite get what I meant here are some of the words you need to know if you are watching the subbed version-

Warning- May not be exact meaning

Yondaime- fourth

Shodaime- first

Sama- honorific to show respect to your master

San- Honorific to show respect

Jiji- Geezer

Kyuubi- Nine-tails

Kitsune- fox

Fuuinjutsu- sealing arts

Gaki- brat

Please let me know what you think of this chapter!