So uh… In case anyone doesn't get that Kurama's appearance is quite literally the Story Cover picture, Uhhhhh yeah. There you go. Realized I might not have portrayed that well. Anyway. ONTO THE STORY

Read the disclaimer!

To say Kurama was disgusted with what he found was an understatement; a true understatement as he and the Elite guardsmen of the Anbu and their esteemed leader, traipsed through the underground tunnels of Konoha. Each turn was made with an almost unnatural knowledge, as if the fire shadow knew where his student was. But even as they sped through the tunnels; Kurama could not help but know they were going far too slow

Did this man even care about saving his kit!?

Not even caring to push it down as Minato's instincts merged with his, He pushed past and hurried down the path where he could feel his kit was, the Hokage and Anbu agents easily keeping in stride… if he was correct, they had just left the Eastern quadrant of the village, Heading North towards the country of fire in general. Why was this taking so long!?

"Kurama-san, I understand you're worried but we can't waste all our energy getting there! We'll get wiped out if-", the glare he gave the aged leader silenced all further speech, his feet digging into the stone of the tunnel as he kicked off, doubling his speed yet again. "THEN SHUT UP AND FOLLOW; I'LL GIVE YOU WHAT'S LEFT OF THE BASTARD AFTER I'M DONE!". The Anbu looked between them, watching the flaming shape of the protective beast dash off ahead of them. Meanwhile, the third, narrowed his eyes before sighing.

"Squad 5, Keep up with him; We will Catch up as backup. Do not let that fool die!". Their commander's words filling the air around them, a set of black cloaks breaking off before dashing off after the ember filled footprints. It did not take long for them to catch up to the man, but Kurama's eyes held no thanks for them.

It held only fear.

Panic..

And then pain; as his seal glowed brightly behind the fabric of his training outfit. but he continued on, if anything just a bit faster as the flames surrounding his legs began to burn at the clothing he wore, the anbu all sharing a look of knowledge that his body could not handle much more than what it already was.

When They finally arrived at their destination; it was with a man who's body was slowly healing from the flames that licked at his skin. One of the anbu could not help but liken it to Might Dui's eight gate's transformation, Blackened and charred skin healing back as their enemy-turned-ally stepped forward even now, on legs that looked ready to collapse from pain. The seal was glowing an ever brighter red, angry, painful.

But the man before them continued on; his own cindering skin acting as a torch as they came across a door of Chained Iron, Locks and seals alike upon it's frame. The Anbu around him sighed as they examined the door, shaking their heads before one pulled a radio free from his belt. "This is Cat; We have confirmed the presence of a Sealed door that… It looks like lord Jiraiya made it sir, We're going to need the full Squadron to knock it do-"

EIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!

Those on the other end of the radio and those around the door all winced and grabbed at their ears at the sound of metal being shredded by something. The one who's radio was being used, watched In minor shock as Kurama reached out and raked his claws through one of the chains; uncaring as the claws split and healed again under the action. And another. And another; the flames around them so intense that what they could not tear through, melted around the digits.

"If you tell me; I'm going to have to wait while my kit is being used as some kind of toy in there; I will use your own bones to pick these locks!". The anbu dismissed the man's words, they all knew him weak if he couldn't even handle the snake sannin's own student in a spar. But they watched anyway, as the man began Pounding on the door with his flaming fists, actually beginning to dent it in some places as the flames became more intense.

His growls got more desperate as he proceeded, like an animal clawing at a wall between it and it's cub. That damnable tunnel vision came back, sucking him from his own body to see…

The Kit's arms strapped down to a table. Pudgy, small hands squirming as his cries, whimpers continued… so much pain, so much fear, so much…everything. The snake, words cannot be understood but the needles, the needles surrounding Naruto, All filled with blood… his blood… UZUMAKI BLOOD.

Kurama's eyes widened. The snake sannin, that bastard was… he struck the door again, this time with all the force he could put into it. Bone snapped under the blow but he continued, driving his shoulder into the door as it too broke under the preasure.

The snake was fleeing. In his hands the vials he had collected, and something else in a larger container. The boy whimpering in fear, he did not know a thing as to what happened or why it happened- he only knew the pain.

"Oh no you Don't!". he reached out…if this link gave him chakra, then maybe; just maybe he could… he found it. He found the boy, the vials, still trickling with ambient energy in them. If only he could… if he could.. He reached out and felt all his strength leave him. all his power… and delighted in the visage he got.

The snake screamed as vials were set alight. His eye taken by a shard of glass, the second container shattering on the ground in shock.

He smirked… letting darkness take him as the sound of the old man arriving finally caught up with him.

"S..Save.. The boy…".

The last thing he felt was two hands wrapping around him.

~{TSTS}~

The pain he felt was immeasurable… the smell of chemicals in the air irrefutable. He sighed; opening his eyes slowly to see…nothing? He turned his head around, looking to the side where he noticed the darkness of night still hung over the village he laid in. he reached out slowly, wincing as the IV in his arm pulled at him… why did his chest feel so heavy… he remembered the button he was shown last time, reaching out to grasp it and push it in weakly; a low bzzzzt filling the air for a moment.

The response was slow, understandable for the time of night really, as a nurse walked in and over to him with her shoes clacking against the floor. "I suggest you close your eyes Kurama-san… I'm about to turn on the lights". He did as asked, still wincing as the light shone from behind his eyelids, slowly and hesitantly opening them to the blurry world around him… he looked over to the nurse, taking in her appearance. "Who are you… Where's..um.. Invo.. Ivan..?".

"I don't know anyone by those names Kurama-san, Please understand you've been put on quite a heavy dose of painkillers to make up for your lack of healing after you returned your chakra to young Naruto-kun…". He made to sit up, but she was too fast; pushing him back down with a gentle hand… and the weight on his chest did not help either. "The kit… Is he..?". the smile she gave him was… hesitant, leading him to expect the worst before he motioned to him to look down.

And when he did, he was both relieved… and terrified. He looked down at the much larger baby in his lap, sucking on their thumb as they curled up against him In his lap. "…What happened…?". He turned to the nurse as she pulled up a chair, his eyes finally catching the LARGE number of gifts behind her, as well as cards and even flowers.

"The Orochimaru Incident, Kurama-san… was 4 months ago". He couldn't believe it… his eyes showed as such, the nurse sighing as she motioned to the gifts, flowers and card, all piled up.

"They arrived when word got out that you put yourself in critical condition to save the son of lord fourth… You burnt up most of your Outer layer Kurama-san, Not to mention fractured most of your bones and damaged a large number of your organs trying to save him. it's only because of the minute amount of chakra flowing to you at all times that you even survived, and little Naru here… We noticed you got much better when he was closer, so we put his cot in here. he's been living here with you while you got better… seems he hasn't learnt to stop climbing onto you yet.."

…he missed his kit's first steps?

The look he gave the boy must have been easy to see, as the nurse began to lay him back down with a smile of her own; the light pinch in his neck bringing the darkness back on…

"Don't worry Kurama-san… we just need you to sleep a little bit more so we can begin the examination in the morning. Sleep tight, and don't worry about Naru… If a trained Chuunin cant break his grip on you, I doubt any tossing and turning can".

~{TSTS}~

The news that spread across the village was indeed rather… immense for the man when he escaped the grasp of those chemical clad rubber gloves and the same plain white walls the next morning. Sitting in a wheelchair with a random Jounin pushing it for him, a Babbling blonde brat in his lap, Kurama was more than surprised to find that his reemergence into the village was met with… applaud. Not a crowd or anything stupid like that, but where he was recognized; people would shout his name… Thank him, Children waving to him with bright smiles on their faces.

He had to wonder if this is what it felt like to be seen as a hero… heh, Guess this is what Gyuki meant by getting along with his hosts.

The brat in his lap was definitely ruining any image he had as the mighty nine tailed fox however, with the insistent 'babu babu' sound that the brat insisted on making. Kurama couldn't help but pat the child's head, an act that started with an attempt to quiet the child but… well. Continued with the feeling of the child trying to rub his head into the palm; a feeling that helped the fox distract himself from all the stares.

The doctor's orders had been to stay on bedrest for a few days, then he would have to work his way back up on physical rehabilitation with the help of his Jounin assistant- something that Anko would take great glee in since she had apparently recovered from the hell that their old sensei put her through, the thought of him bringing a restrained growl to his lungs. "I await our next meeting Snake… I'll show you the horrors that my siblings feared me for, and I'll drink up your fear…".

Any Killing intent that drifted off of the man was made basically null and void however, by the purring and happy child in his lap; his seal covered eye now hidden behind a black eyepatch since it was the child's first time out in public during the day. "Don't want anyone getting the wrong idea and spreading Rumors of one of those cursed eyes father bestowed on the world…". The idea of such sent a chill down kurama's spine… he had already been shown how easy it was to get past his believed defenses, and how easy it was to steal the young boy away…

He would have to get stronger, and fast… for Naruto. Heavens knows what the snake had done to the boy in the process of extracting his blood; the hours of pain he felt from their link most certainly not having been just from that alone… No, Orochimaru had done something; And the part that worried Kurama was he did not know what had actually BEEN done to the boy.

Asura's will seemed happy as could be, although… the scars were there. He had seen them when they had changed the boy; new thin pink skin around the arms and torso… God knows what he had gone through.

Over the space of the next hour, Kurama took the time to watch the boy. Watch him play. Even now he could feel that seal under the boy's eyepatch, calling to him and demanding his attention be on the boy and the boy alone… He did not mind. Truth be told, what else did he have to give his attention to. The boy holding his power was all he cared about in the end, and the fact he had failed to protect the lad was… a heavy blow to the man.

Kurama's eyes went to the sound of a cough; having noticed the wheelchair had stopped moving, looking up to the elder who had seen fit to give him his second chance in the first place. It was only now he realized just how far he and Naruto had been taken from the village center, now finding themselves at a rather… Ornate seeming set of buildings. The smell of old, OLD wood was still in the air from the rotting piles that were no doubt removed a while back during his coma; but the sight itself was… amazing.

White walls with Wooden trim marked every building, along with angular tile roofs that seemed freshly cut and even more so freshly laid; The beginnings of Red flowers lining the gardens around the building's rim; Be they roses, Tulips, Lillies or even Geraniums. The Uzumaki clan Symbol lay emblazoned with a fresh coat of paint over the gates themselves, which now lay open to him with the elder between them with that same grandfatherly smile on his face…

"Glad to see you are well Kurama-san". The politeness in the man's tone did well to ease his anxiousness over how the man may react to his rather unpleasant behavior towards him back in the tunnels. "And I am glad to see that The rescue mission went to plan… May I ask what happened after I fell unconscious due to my overexertion?". The look on the elder's face faltered a bit, before he motioned for the ma to enter the compound with him. Kurama did so, taking the wheels of his chair in his grasp before pushing.

The gates closed behind them both, Signs of a blood seal upon them closing quickly. "My student was rolling around with flames and some type of liquid that burnt him in a fashion akin to acid… but he was still fast enough to slay two anbu when he sensed our arrival before placing a barrier seal up to separate me from him. while I attempted to converse with him-". The sound of a low growl stopped the third in his steps, as he turned to look at the source.

Both Kurama and surprisingly Naruto were looking at him, one in curiosity for the familiar voice… the other in hot fury. "Converse with him!? you would talk with that monster!? You saw what he was doing to the Kit, What the hell were you thinking!?". The third's eyes filled with guilt, a sigh leaving his heavy heart as he turned back to the converted temple, turned home. "Don't turn away from me Hiruzen! That man committed crimes against nature itself! Why would you even let a man like that try to explain himself!?".

"the same could be said for you Otsutsuki-San". A low blow and the man knew it, but he turned to the simmering source of rage with his own hardened look. "Like your father, I saw someone I had raised and come to care for like a son be turned to darkness. I had hope that the man I saw was also controlled, twisted away from me in some form or another, so I might save him from his own darkness the way your father has acted to save you from yours. Instead, I saw… I saw that I had been blind to it. The darkness in his heart… his hate for Minato carried to his spawn. I will not apologize for trying, Kurama… Only for failing".

He could not refute the man's words… sitting back in his wheelchair as Naruto looked up at him in that same whimpered worry they got when anyone shouted around them, a look quelled when his hand ran over the boy's scalp once more. "…He hurt my Kit Hiruzen. I don't care if you think he can be redeemed In the future, I will see him dead if I ever get the chance…". The old man nodded, having already accepted such a thing as fact. Quick to change the subject, he smiled and gestured.

"I'm afraid that the Namikaze clan compound was too damaged to turn into a proper Domocile after your forced attack… So I had my men rebuild it, with the purpose of the home Minato would have wanted Naruto raised in. The Uzumaki-Namikaze clan compound, With a converted temple to an old deity used as the foundation for your new home. This is where you and Naruto can safely sleep, eat, train and more… the blood seals on the gate already have samples of your's and the child's blood, as well as a select number of trusted jounin who will come assist you with your recovery… I hope this can make up somewhat for my failure in keeping you and your charge safe".

Kurama just nodded, looking at the old man, to the buildings… sighing… smiling. Looking down at the blonde in his lap as he looked back with that same gummy purring smile, his hand brushing over the boy's scalp once more.

"Hm… Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze… it fits him. Welcome home kit… You and me? We're gonna get nice and strong over the next few years, you hear me? And when you're ready.."

"We'll get that Snake bastard for what he did to us".