Reviewer Shoutout:

The Unapologetic and I-Love-Trunks1. Keep the reviews comping, I love hearing from everyone!

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Chapter 51: Raw Rage and His Fathers' Strength

Normal P.O.V.

"Sasuke… Sasuke… Get up… Come on… This isn't funny… Get up… Come on… GET UP!"

Wild, raw, powerful winds whip hard in the silence. Across the land, pale eyelids cover once mesmerizing onyx eyes. Pale skin is dirty and littered with scrapes, bruises, cuts, and laying in a pool of its owner's warm blood. Dark blue bangs, cat ears, and a tail also show no sign of movement or life. A mourning blond, fox, alpha tries to reach out towards his mate through their link. But, sadly, there's no answer.

Suddenly, memories of forehead poke, smiles, teasing, smirks, laughter, tears, kisses, their mating fill whirl around in his head. Naruto tries to grab hold of each memory before it disappears. But as he tries to reach for each memory, they slip through his fingers. He had finally got his mate back, only to let him die. With that realization suffocating his mind, Naruto loses all consciousness and gives himself to the raw rage inside of his heart.

Red charka pours out of Naruto's body as he slowly rises on his hands and feet. The chakra consumes his entire being. His clothes tear as he beings to transform. The black rods are forced out of his body and thrown across the ground. His once humanoid form transforms into a shell of Kurama's demon fox form. Blue eyes turn into red irises with black slits. His seven tails are covered in the red chakra until Kurama's own seven tails take form over them.

"YES! YES! RAGE BRINGS FORTH ITS RAW POWER! TELL ME, NINE-TAILED VESSEL, DO YOU HATE ME NOW?!"

Naruto gives off an ear-piercing roar in response to Deva Pain's question.

"GOOD! NOW COME TO ME, GREAT NINE-TAILS! GIVE ME YOUR POWER!"

Naruto lets out another road before he shoves his tails into the ground. Underneath them, the ground begins to fall apart, and the seven tails lift the remaining Pain into the air. Trying to find his footing, Pain jumps away from where Sasuke's body lays to higher ground. Seeing this, Naruto sends the broken ground in his tail's hands flying towards Pain. Pain skillfully dodges and slices through them but can't evade the powerful punch Naruto delivers to his face. The punch sends Pain flying backward, skidding across the unforgiving ground along the way.

Using his rods, Pain stops himself from going any further but stands ready when he sees Naruto speeding towards him. Above him, Naruto has another large piece of ground in his tails' hands. Seeing Pain trying to run, Naruto repeatedly slams the slab of ground on top of his enemy until all, but Pain's orange head sticks out of the ground and the slab breaks.

"This is annoying," Pain looks at Naruto indifferently after he gets out of the ground, "All this rage over me killing the youngest Uchiha? How interesting. He and all the other villagers I killed are nothing more than insects. Do you honestly think any of them will ever understand anything about either of us? About you?"

Naruto does not roar this time. Instead, he summons some of his chakras and opens the clouds in the sky. A surge of power fills the air as a skeleton form around his body. Pain can feel Naruto calling upon more on Kurama's power. Realizing that Naruto's consciousness is not present, the orange-haired humanoid takes in a deep breath.

"I can see your pain is tremendous. But know this, young one, MY PAIN IS MUCH MORE!" Pain screams as he slams his fist into the ground.

By him slamming his fist into the ground, Pain summons a flood to overwhelm Naruto's Nine-Tailed form. However, it is not enough as Naruto counters with direct hits from several of his charka balls. Pain digs his claws into the platform of the ground below him to steady himself during the assault.

"IS THAT ALL YOU GOT?!"

In response to this, Naruto continues his assault on Pain. Pain retaliates with his own attacks. For a while, their battle consists of each other sending powerful attacks at the other, never letting up. Suddenly, strands of green chakra shoot out of the Naruto's chest. Pain stands back and watches as the green chakra strands restrain Naruto in place. The necklace that Tsunade gave Naruto when they first met all those years ago activates to stop Naruto from fully transforming into the Nine-Tails. However, it is not enough. Reaching by his chest, Naruto grabs the necklace in his clawed hand and shatters the jewel, the last hope of converting Naruto back to his humanoid form. The emerald jewel falls to the ground as Naruto moves past it towards his opponent again.

"What was that just now?" Pain asks before reading himself again, "Here he comes," One second Pain could see Naruto coming towards him, then in the next moment he was gone. "He's fast," Suddenly, Naruto appears in front of him and knocks him back with another powerful punch. Pain tries to stop himself from going too far, despite the amount of distance Naruto put between them, "Universal Pull!" Pain uses his attack against Naruto but is shocked when he breaks through the attack and grabs hold of Pain's face, "Impossible! How did he resist my attack?!" Naruto uses his strength to send Pain flying backward into a nearby wall, "This isn't good. Although the Nine-Tails' power is magnificent, he's becoming too strong for me to handle. The fact he can resist my most powerful attack and deliver his own attacks is too much for me to handle right now. I need to let him away from here and closer to my body or else I'll die here,"

Just as Pain comes up with his retreat plan, Naruto starts summoning large black chakra balls from his mouth. To stop him, Pain uses his Universal Pull attack. The attack lands, giving him just enough time to start his retreat. Unfortunately, Naruto manages to catch up to him quickly.

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As the two escape further from the village, Naruto continues his assault on Pain. The orange-haired man can do nothing but dodge and put some distance between them until he gets close enough to his body and Konan's (who managed to escape long before the Pains fought Naruto, Sasuke, and Tsunade) location. When he reaches his destination, Pain forms a link with his real body to perform their ultimate attack.

"What are you doing?! Stop it! Your weakened body can't take that kind of attack. You won't survive!"

"Shut up Konan! I need silence to complete this Jutsu. Chibaku Tensei!"

At Pain's command, a black chakra ball appears before soaring into the sky. The power of the ball pulls the ground and everything below towards it. Naruto digs his claws into the ground to steady himself as he's lifted into the air. Blood leaks out of Pain's weakened true body in the cave has he pours all his strength into the attack. To contain the Nine-Tails, he must make the attack as large as possible to contain his opponent. The attack lasts for what seems like hours, especially with the amount of resistance from Naruto. Soon a large sphere of land floats above Deva Pain with a demon Naruto buried deep within.

Inside of the cave, a red-haired, skeleton fox breathes heavily as more blood spills from his nose, "Why did you have to push yourself to make it that big?" Konan asks.

"Our opponent is the Nine-Tailed vessel in its 7 tailed forms. He is indeed formidable. I could not afford to make it any smaller. However, I have heard that the Rinnegan was used to make the moon, so this is insignificant compared to this,"

"If that were true, you knew your body could not handle that kind of power. What if something would have happened to you while performing to that Jutsu? You could have died, Nagato," Konan glares.

"It does not matter, Konan. We have done what we have come here to do. The Nine-Tails is contained now. Our mission is complete~"

Suddenly, the ground starts to shake as a roar erupts, "What's going on Nagato?"

"No, it cannot be!"

Outside, Deva Pain stares up at the floating sphere with wide eyes as pieces of the sphere start to break. One tail, then two, then four, then seven, then eight tails along with a large, hairless Kurama form emerges with a loud roar.

However, deep inside another war rages within Naruto's mind.

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"How could I let this happen? Sasuke… I'm so sorry… I failed… Sasuke… I need you… Sasuke…"

Tears fall from Naruto's eyes as he kneels onto the ground in the water.

"Get up. Get up now! I know I taught you better than that," an angry voice calls out.

Naruto lifts his head to see Kurama standing before him in the first form he ever met him in. Long red shaggy hair hangs off broad shoulders. Tan skin barely hides behind a loose red and white kimono yukata until it disappears into the calf-high water. Piercing red eyes glares hard down at the young man kneeling below him. Wide blue eyes roamed the long-forgotten form before locking onto those of his first father.

"Kurama…?"

"Who else would it be? Now get the fuck up. You're embarrassing both yourself and me,"

"But… I…"

"I know, Kit. I know. But now is the time to take revenge. Let's destroy those that took your mate," Kurama walks towards Naruto with his outstretched, clawed hand. Naruto reaches up to grip Kurama's hand but stops when the other's hand pulls back, piercing red eyes close, and an annoying escapes full lips, "How did I know I would see you again, old man,"

Confused, Naruto turns around to see a dark figure approaching them, "Now that's an insult considering your thousands of years older than me, Fox,"

Naruto's blue eyes widen as the figure steps further into the light. Long, shaggy blond hair bounces with each step. Bright, ocean blue eyes lock onto him, almost like a mirror. Even though the figure wears traditional jonin clothing, Naruto can tell his ranking is higher because of the long, white Hokage cloak flowing behind him.

Looking at the figure before him, Naruto's breath catches in his throat. This is the first time he has ever come face to face with this figure, despite seeing pictures. And even though he always hears how much he looks like a said man, Naruto never thought he would see an older reflection standing before him.

"Now, are you going to sit there and stare at me all day, or are you going to offer a proper greeting?" the figure teases with a smile.

Slowly, Naruto stands up until he's face-to-face with his father. After a while, Naruto finally finds the words to speak, "Father…?"

"That's right. It's nice to meet you, son,"

"Why are you here, Minato? I have everything under control,"

"Oh yeah? You call letting Naruto transform into the Eight-Tailed version of you "under control"? That's rich, Fox,"

"How dare you! He lost his mate! You entrusted me to raise and care for him, right?! Did I not do well up until this point?! How did you want me to handle him losing his mate when you know the same thing would have happened if this was Kushina!"

"I would have wanted Kushina to not resort to this either if it were me instead! This is exactly why I did this. Before dying, I made sure to seal some of my chakras inside of Naruto's seal just in case he ever reached the Eight-Tails form. I knew you would never stop him. I never wanted to see you again, especially after that night, Fox. I was already hesitant leaving Naruto in your care, but I figured it was better than leaving him to the village. So, I guess you have my thanks for getting Naruto this far,"

"Stop it!" Naruto yells, shutting the two alpha males up. Both stop their bickering to stare at the distraught young male with sympathy, "Would you two please stop it. I don't need this… not right now…"

"Naruto's right. We shouldn't be fighting. Not now, anyway,"

"For once, I agree. Besides, I don't want to waste this moment. I finally get to meet my only son. Let me look at you," Minato places his hands-on Naruto's cheeks to hold his head up, "You've certainly grown. Kushina told me how much you look like me, but I didn't believe her. It's so nice to finally meet you, Naruto,"

Not being able to hold back, Naruto started to laugh until he cried. Minato moves to hug his son until Naruto punches him in the stomach. Minato wraps his arms around his stomach as he falls to his knees. In the background, Kurama throws his head back in laughter.

"Serves you right, Minato!"

"How could you?!" Naruto yells, causing Kurama to stop laughing. "What made you think to seal the Nine-Tails inside of me was a great idea? Do you know how much of a wreck my life is because of you?! All I wanted to do was grow up with my parents and live a normal life and have people accept me! But instead, I was bullied, tortured, isolated, hunted, and starved! I couldn't make friends because everyone knew I had the Nine-Tails inside of me! No one accepted me! I had to train hard, act dumb, and act out just to get people to notice me! And then I met Iruka and Kakashi-sensei and Pervy-Sage who helped me feel any kind of normal. I finally started to make friends and felt accepted and even found a mate. Now I'm being hunted by the Akatsuki, so I must train harder to protect everyone. I want to become Hokage like you, but all some people still see me as is a war weapon! And now… the reason we're all here… is because I let my mate die… I was too weak to save him… I… I…"

Naruto can't finish his words as more tears fall from his eyes. He brings his hands up to his eyes to try and stop the tears from falling, but they keep coming. Ignoring the lingering, dull pain in his stomach, Minato stands up to face his son.

"Naruto listen… this may not seem like much, but I'm truly sorry. I never intended or you to go through everything you did. In fact, I wanted you to be revered as the hero who saved the Hidden Leaf. However, I figured Old Man Third would not honor my late wishes. He had a grudge against me that you should have never inherited. If I could take it all back, I would. Please, forgive me,"

Naruto takes slow breathes to stop himself from crying. When it works, he speaks, "It's fine. If it means anything, Kurama did a good job of raising and protecting me. He was the first one to not make me feel alone,"

"Really now? That fox did something asked of him. I'm shocked," Minato said while throwing a smirk over his shoulder.

"Hn. Of course, I was going to protect my vessel, you idiot. You think so lowly of me," Kurama huffs with his head turned to the left and his arms crossing over his chest.

"Even though you suffered through so much, I'm happy you had success and happiness along the way. But there is something I want to discuss with you. The reason I sealed the Nine-Tails inside of you.

Before you were born, I discovered an attack led by Obito Uchiha. His goal was to extract the Nine-Tails from your mother and use it to attack the village,"

"I knew about that already," Naruto interrupts.

"Then you know that he plans to attack the village again?"

Naruto nods, "Yes. In fact, he and Madara have already declared The Fourth Shinobi War. It'll be here soon,"

"Hn. Then it's beginning sooner than I anticipated. Naruto, he reason I sealed the Nine-Tails inside of you is that you're going to need its power to win this war. You have never faced against any opponents like those two. They both possess powers unlike any you've ever seen before. The Nine-Tails is the most powerful of the Tailed Beasts before the Ten-Tails is formed. I believed that you would have the capabilities to mater its powers and utilize them in your upcoming battles. I am proud to say you have proved me right,"

"Well, I am the son of the Red-Hot Blooded Habanero, the Nine-Tails Fox Demon, and The Fourth Hokage," Naruto smiles brightly before his smile disappears, "But that's nothing to be proud of. How can I be proud of anything when I let my mate die?"

"When Pain lectured you earlier about his pain, he was right about a lot of things. As long as there is love in the world, pain and war will always exist. There will never be true peace. If the world needs shinobi, then there will never be peace. It's a sad fact, but a fact none the less. Pain is speaking from his previous experiences, just like you did a moment ago. You found love in war, did you not? And you lost that love because of war. I'm sorry that I must teach you this lesson, but it is true. You cannot do anything about your lost mate, I am truly sorry. However, you can use that pain and your power more constructively. Defeat Pain and avenge your mate,"

"I just… want to put an end to everyone's suffering,"

"Then start with your own. As I said, there will never be peace if there are shinobi. However, that does not mean that you cannot quell the pain that you are dealing with now. Use your strength and overcome your own Pain. Spread your resolve among those you meet and continue living your life, Naruto. Do you understand?"

"Yes, but how am I supposed to do that? Everyone expects too much of me! I mean, yeah, I'm smart, but there's so much I still must learn and do. How am I~"

Naruto's rant is interrupted when Minato and Kurama put their hands on top of his head. The younger male looks into the eyes of his fathers with curiosity.

"Stop your worrying. You're not going to do this alone. You still have plenty of people by your side to help you figure it out. We're not going to let you do this alone, Kit,"

"He's right, Naruto. Even though I cannot be there for you as everyone else, your mother and I are with you in spirit. We believe in your capabilities as both a shinobi and a leader. I am sorry I don't have all the answers for you, but I believe that you'll find them on your own,"

"You guys… really believe in me that much?"

"Of course, we do,"

Minato nods, "You are our son after all,"

Naruto offers a small smile, "Thank you, both of you,"

"Come one, Kit. We have the battle to finish,"

"Right!" Naruto cheers, "Will I ever see you again?"

"Just like what your mother said, whenever you need us, just come back to the recesses of your mind. We'll be waiting there,"

Naruto nods a final time before turning his back to both his fathers and closing his eyes.

The feeling of raw rage is replaced by peace and relief as he steps forward into the renewed light. The renewed light of fierce determination shining bright ahead of him.

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To Be Continued…