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Hello once again everyone! A huge thanks to everyone who's stuck with this story thus far. You all are some troopers! And thanks for all the follows, favorites, and reviews as well! I really appreciate it and I'm glad so many of you are enjoying the story! This upload wasn't too far off from my usual upload time so have fun enjoying this non-delayed chapter. :)

Always mind your surroundings.

- Ra's Al Ghul

Sparks Fly

Despite Kurama's growing fatigue, he made his way through the dark twists and turns, searching for any trace of light to suggest an exit. Unfortunately, there was nothing so far. The thought of breaking out of the stupid thing through sheer force was beyond tempting, but he decided it was too risky. For one, there was the fact that those stupid ninjas were probably still looking for him. His shadow clone had recently been caught by a wayward shuriken and that meant they now knew they had been duped and were probably pretty angry about it. That would be fun to deal with. Secondly, there was no way of telling where he was, so he could theoretically make things worse. Next thing you know, he'd break out of the duct and find out he had jumped into the village's ANBU headquarters or something. That seemed like the type of thing that would happen to him at random, at least with his rotten luck.

Yep. All of those factors had brought him to his very wise conclusion that he'd have to do things the old-fashioned way – without any flashy tricks. So, with an aching back and a pretty bad attitude, he made his way through the piles of dust and soot, crawling and grumbling in random intervals. In a desperate bid to find a silver lining, he tried to use Naruto's ability to see the good in any situation, but even that didn't work. It was sad to say, but he honestly couldn't think of anything good about their life right now. For one, his knee was still in pretty bad shape, and crawling was a whole lot harder to do when putting weight on one of your knees sent a sharp jolt of pain through it. Every. Single. Time. And that wasn't even to mention how cramped the crawl space was. The four walls were so close together that it almost felt like they would suddenly collapse in on you and squeeze you in. Not fun.

With a sigh, he came to a halt and shut both eyes, taking a moment to inhale and exhale slow. A moment later, the tired eyes fluttered open. It all had to end eventually, right? Yeah...it all had to end. A final sigh left the tired lips and he focused up, steeling his resolve once more.

Through all of his troubles, he noted Naruto's silence. It was the quietest he had been since they left Konoha. Not a single word. The lingering silence added to the dark, cramped space made it feel like he was alone, like a weary traveler walking - or maybe crawling - down a dark, lonely path. It bothered him more than he let on.

Despite knowing his actions were the direct cause of the awkward tension that had built between them, he could feel a part of him trying to avoid taking responsibility. A stubborn part of him that wanted to act like nothing had ever even happened. Like he hadn't lost his cool and gone totally mental. Unfortunately, they both knew that wasn't true. Something had most definitely happened and the lack of conversation was evidence enough that that was the case. Breaking the silence to address the incident had been an idea, but in the end, he decided against it. Right now they were trying to find their way out of a cramped air duct and it wasn't the time, and even if it was, he didn't really know what to say anyway. 'Hey, Naruto. Sorry for nearly crushing you to death. You know how it is.' He rolled his eyes at the thought then focused forward, determined to push the thought from his mind. Hopefully, it would just eventually fade from their collective memories.

As his travels through the system of interconnected ducts continued, he noticed that it was very much like a dark, cramped maze, the path to freedom obstructed by a lack of knowledge. Fortunately, his knowledge was growing. If memory served him well, he had been in this same spot before. It was a spot where the duct split in two going left and right. Confirmation of his prior visit came in the form of a dead rat in the corner. He had been just as dead last time Kurama was there.

His gaze narrowed towards the right and away he went. He had gone left last time, so he decided to play an elimination game. If he tried every direction, one of them had to work eventually.

This time, he didn't end up back where he started. Instead, the duct stretched on for a bit then turned to the left abruptly. Interestingly, this vent was cleaner, the dirt and soot not anywhere near as prevalent as they were previously. He could also feel a faint draft of wind brushing against his face. Maybe he was getting somewhere.

He was just starting to enjoy his progress when he heard a silent creaking sound and felt his hand start to sink. The red eyes opened so wide that they could've rolled right out of his head. Slowly, he looked down, not moving his hand in the slightest. Right under it lie something no ninja ever wanted to see. It was barely noticeable, but the bottom of the duct was elevated here. A trap...

With how dark it was, it was impossible to notice. Heck, he had enhanced vision and he still hadn't clocked it.

With an uneasy gulp, he pulled his hand upwards, breath quickening and heart-pounding at the possibility of whatever trap it was going off and giving him a rude awakening.

When his hand left the metal plate and nothing happened, he exhaled sharply, relief washing over him like the cool rush of wind on a summer day.

"You got lucky."

Kurama's brow twitched at the familiar voice. After what had happened just a short while ago, he wasn't expecting much conversation…at all. Fortunately, it seemed Naruto was willing to overlook things, at least for now. Of course, that was very likely due to the fact that they were currently in a pretty tight bind and there was no one else to talk to, but Kurama was grateful nonetheless. A little grace went a long way in times like these. In the past, he had railed on the kid for being so forgiving. He could see its merits now.

"Yeah," he replied softly. "I got lucky…"

With a sigh, he brought his face closer, staring at the plate intently. He examined it for an inordinate amount of time then, with the gentleness of a dove, moved his fingers near the bottom.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked silently.

"Seeing what we're dealing with."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"No...But not knowing what's lurking in these air ducts isn't so great either."

As his fingers reached the edge, a silent click was heard, and as he suspected, the bottom part of the vent lifted. It didn't lift more than an inch, but that was all he needed to peek under it and confirm his suspicions. There, under the plate, he could see the very tip of an explosive tag. Putting too much pressure on the plate would no doubt trigger an explosion.

He slowly let the plate fall back into place then sighed. "We need to be very careful."

"No, you need to be very careful," Naruto replied. "You're the one hijacking my body, remember? You mess up and we'll both get blown to kingdom come."

"Well, you're not wrong," Kurama mumbled. "In any case, this is a good sign. There were no traps before so we have to be getting closer to the places that need to be protected. Hopefully, that means a way out."

"Hopefully."

With a grunt, he placed one hand on the side of the vent and another on the top, using his chakra to crawl around the obstacle much like a spider would.

His journey through the dark, musty vents didn't last much longer. After rounding another corner, he spotted a vent ahead, the white light shining up into the darkness from below. "Finally," he breathed. As he neared, he could hear voices.

With the wariness of a cat, he stalked up to the edge of the vent, peering through the metal grate and down into the space below.

"Ugh!" he groaned, snapping his head away as the flash of white nearly blinded him.

"Looking into light with chakra enhanced vision?" Naruto said dryly. "I thought foxes were supposed to be pretty smart."

Kurama rubbed at his eyes vigorously, the reddish-orange chakra slowly fading away. "If you knew how much that hurt, you wouldn't joke about it."

"Just be smarter next time," Naruto said matter-of-factly.

"Jerk," Kurama grumbled, returning his gaze to the space below.

At first glance, the place seemed to be some type of large warehouse, wooden crates and boxes littered everywhere. The smell of the place was odd though, almost like some type of herb. It surprised him that he could smell it even from so high up. The vent looked to be some thirty feet from the ground.

It was also worth noting that he wasn't alone. Those voices he heard belonged to people, four of them to be exact, and they were all standing near what seemed to be the front of the warehouse. Fortunately, his spot in the ducts made it hard to notice he was lurking. He masked his chakra in an instant. No need to give them anything to work with.

The first one he noticed was a girl, her hair a fiery red and tied back into a ponytail that stopped just above the middle of her back. By his guess, she was around Naruto's age, maybe a few years older...fifteen or sixteen max. She carried a fairly worn bow on her back, complete with a half-empty quiver. Interesting.

Currently, she was standing across from a semi-built man who looked like he was just slightly older than her, maybe by two or three years. His hair was a dark burgundy color and somewhat disheveled, but also slicked back in some weird way. At his sides stood two men who looked, to put it nicely, ordinary. Although they had on ninja gear, they didn't look all that intimidating, and to be honest, they looked like they had something slightly off about them. Kurama presumed they were the lackeys.

After a while, he shifted his attention back to the man with the dark burgundy hair. It was telling that he was the only one out of the group seated, a few brown boxes propped under him as his chair. And besides that, there was something else about him that drew more attention than the rest. Maybe it was the subtle yet commanding physique, or the lazy look plastered on his face, or the fact that his emotions simply felt like they were in a state of irritation. Whatever it was, Kurama couldn't quite put his finger on it, and that bothered him.

...

"Mayumi," the burgundy-haired man started, scratching the side of his head. "Must we always go through this?"

"Uh oh," one of the lackeys said. "Boss is angry."

"Boss is angry," the other one repeated.

"You won't like him when he's angry." the first whispered.

"What are you talking about?" Mayumi replied, eyes rolling as she shifted her weight, leaning more on one leg than the other.

The burgundy-haired man simply sighed. "When you're in my town, you give me a commission on everything you steal. You know this."

"Boss isn't stupid." one of the lackeys chirped.

Mayumi sighed, crossing her arms. "I brought you your commission yesterday, Dīzejū."

"And where's the rest of it?" Dīzejū asked, fingers drumming on the box he was sitting on.

Mayumi gave a simple shrug. "I didn't steal as much this time."

"Oh. Well, the jewelry store near the village administration building must have just been a little understocked this week."

Mayumi kept her arms crossed and shrugged lightly. "Must have been." she chirped. "Business isn't always booming." she finished in a singsongy voice.

"Yeah," Dīzejū sighed, dropping his head. "You're right." His head jolted up as if he had just had the brightest idea. "But it's funny you should say that!"

"Dajji," he continued, nodding behind him.

Kurama watched as one of the lackeys walked a few steps away and reached behind a medium-sized box. When his hand emerged, it had a beige-colored folder in it.

"What's that?" Mayumi asked.

"Inventory logs," he chirped. "For the jewelry store, of course. My contact got them to me this morning."

Mayumi's eyes widened.

"What's the matter?" he asked nonchalantly, head still pointed downwards as he flipped through some of the pages. "You look nervous."

"No..." she retorted. "Just remembered I forgot to do something, that's all."

"Ohhh, I was sure you were acting that way because you were lying to me, but I must've read that wrong. My apologies."

"Apology accepted."

"Look at this, Dajji," he said, leaning towards the lackey with the folder open. "Oddly enough, the jewelry store's inventory wasn't only stocked to capacity this week, it was overstocked due to a lack of sales last week. Go figure!"

"Wow," Mayumi chuckled awkwardly. "How about that?"

"I know right! And look Ratta," he said, turning to the other lackey. "They were apparently cleaned out a couple of days ago due to a nighttime robbery."

"Oooh, yeah," Ratta nodded vigorously. "That definitely sounds like Mayumi."

"N-n-nooo," she defended. "That most definitely does not sound like Mayumi. And besides, sounds like doesn't prove anything."

"One assailant," he continued, reading the report. "Female..."

"Still doesn't prove anything."

"Red hair. Blue eyes. Wore a hood. Had a mask covering the bottom half of her face."

Mayumi gulped.

"And that," he said, snapping the folder closed. "Is why you can't lie to me. You're not smart enough to."

Mayumi gulped then smiled sheepishly, hands upturned in an 'I don't know.' shrug. "It was someone else who looks and dresses just like me?"

"You hear this guys?" Dīzejū said. "It was someone else who looks and dresses just like her."

"Unh, unh, unhhh," Dajji said, "Boss isn't stupid."

"Thank you, Dajji. Now," Dīzejū continued, rising to his feet and turning back to Mayumi. "Fortunately for you, I accept other forms of payment." A sly grin crossed his lips as he ran a hand down her face. Kurama noticed her flinch and take a step back.

"Keep your grubby paws off me," she spat. "Answer's the same as last time."

Dīzejū gave a simple hands upturned shrug. "Well, it's that...or death."

Dajji's eyes widened. "Oh no, Ratta." His voice fell to a whisper. "He used the D word."

"You never want boss using that word," Ratta whispered.

Mayumi kept her eyes turned away, lips set into a grim line.

"So, what's it gonna be?" Dīzejū pried. "Your call."

...

"Whoa," Kurama muttered, still peering through the grate. "This just got serious really fast."

"Other forms of payment?" Naruto asked. "What's he talking about?"

"Nothing," Kurama replied. "We don't need the trouble. We'll probably find another exit soon. No need to get involved in whatever this is."

"You're not gonna help her?"

"Uhhh, no. Not my problem."

"Are you serious right now?"

"Yeah, I actually am," he said, crawling forward. "That's another lesson you need to learn. Don't make other people's problems your problem."

"What about helping out someone in need?"

"That's overrated, trust me. Learning to mind your own business is a much more useful skill, especially when it comes to surviving on your own. And relax, someone like her can probably take care of herself anyway."

Naruto scoffed. "You're horrible."

"Maybe, but that's what makes me a survivor."

"I'd rather die than be like that."

Kurama crawl came to an immediate halt as he laughed incredulously. "Who do you think you're talking to, kid? I'm not one of your friends back at the academy. I've literally got hundreds of years of experience to your, what? Twelve? Probably six if we're only counting what you can remember. So don't come lecturing me about what I should and shouldn't do based on your ever-changing sense of morality."

"Whatever," Naruto replied. "I may only be twelve, but at least I have a soul."

At that statement, Kurama's incredulous grin faded and morphed into a scowl. No soul? No soul? After a stretch of silence, he scoffed, shaking his head in annoyance.

"Well, you may have a soul, but I've got your body. So until you have control again, I don't give that dead rat's behind what you think. I'm not gonna argue with some twelve-year-old about what to do when it's already obvious what should be done. If you want to get us killed, you go ahead and do that on your own time. I happen to not have a death wish."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night."

Kurama's eyes narrowed, then he focused his attention forward. "I'm going." he hissed, a determined frown on his face as he crawled forward relentlessly.

*click*

Kurama's eyes went wider than Rock Lee's as he cast his gaze downwards. The plate under his hand had sunk over an inch. "Oh no..."

BOOM!

An explosion of soot and metal rocked the warehouse from above, sending a cascade of fiery explosions traveling along the duct. Shrapnel flew out in every direction, clanging against the warehouse walls. Gray and black smoke filled the air instantly, traveling from above and polluting the air below. A few of the warehouse lights flickered ominously before going out and leaving the warehouse a dimly lit, smoke-filled mess. Among the puffs of gray and black, a distinct orange could be seen falling at blazing speed.

The debris from the duct landed first, hard metal colliding with tile in a resonating thud. Kurama landed a split second later, a few boxes crumbling under his weight and sending him into a series of rolls that broke his fall.

"Ughhh..." he groaned, smoke filling his vision as the world spun in circles.

"That's what you get," Naruto said.

Kurama simply groaned, rubbing at the back of his head. Whatever Naruto had said, he was too disoriented to hear it. There was the high-pitched ringing in his ears to thank for that. They had brought on a wave of deafness and dizziness along with a few other things.

He sat still for a moment to regain his bearings, then rose to his feet with a grunt, nearly stumbling over as his vision blurred into a daze. As the faint sounds around him started to return, he gave his body a quick shake, soot flying from his shoulders to the ground. Ok, that did not go as planned. Time to reassess the situation.

Despite the smoke, he could see fairly well. Looking to the front of the warehouse, he spotted Dīzejū and his lackeys. He assumed they would be looking at him, but oddly enough, they weren't.

"Where's Mayumi?!" Dīzejū yelled.

"Uhhh, I don't know boss," Dajji said. "She just disappeared."

Kurama looked around haphazardly and spotted the aforementioned girl already at a window, blowing him a kiss and mouthing her thanks before hopping out of the window happily.

Brilliant, he thought. I got involved.

"I can't sense her!" Dīzejū yelled. With a growl, he turned to Kurama. "You!"

Kurama turned around only to be yanked off the floor by his collar.

"I'm in here minding my own business, and some random kid comes in and ruins everything!"

Kurama sneered. "Everything? All you were doing was trying to extort that girl using your perverted little plan."

"Listen here you half-pint reject!" Dīzejū said, snatching him closer. "I don't know who you think you are, but if Mayumi's not back here by the end of the day, I swear you're really gonna wish you were somebody else!"

Kurama scoffed. "I don't think so."

In an instant, an explosion of red chakra shot out from his body, blasting everyone back in a blinding flash of light. In the chaos, Kurama dropped to the ground, turning to the window Mayumi had escaped from and vaulting over the windowsill.

As the flash died down, the three men rubbed at their eyes, regaining their bearings on the floor. When Dīzejū had fully reoriented himself, he shook uncontrollably. "DYAHHH!" he yelled, kicking himself onto his feet angrily.

"Uh oh," Dajji said. "Boss is angry again."

"Real angry this time," Ratta added.

"Get me as much information about this orange-clad freak as you can. I want to know who this kid is and what the heck he's doing here!"

"Uh, that's a good plan boss," Dajji replied. "But what about Mayumi?"

"Either you find her and bring her back. OR. YOU. KILL. HER!"

"Oooh, did you just say kill?" Dajji asked.

"As in the K word kill?" Ratta added.

"YEAH, KILL!"

"Yeah, there's just one problem."

"One problem."

"Mayumi's a good fighter, she won't let us do that."

"No, she won't let us do that."

"YOU CAN DO WHATEVER I SAY!" he yelled, grabbing Dajji by the collar. "Use something that'll get her attention to lure her in THEN KILL HER! And if you're so worried about being unable to finish the job, then bring her back alive! Heck, that would actually make me REALLY HAPPY!"

"Oh," Dajji replied, one hand on his chin as he considered it. "That's a pretty good plan…"

Dīzejū shoved him off with a grunt and sighed angrily, recomposing himself and straightening out his gear. When neither of the two moved, he could barely contain his rage.

"What are you two waiting for?!" he yelled.

"Uh, did you mean now?" Dajji asked.

"Nah, dum dum, tomorrow. YEAH, NOW!"

"Ok, ok, ok." Ratta soothed, grabbing Dajji by the shoulders and speed-walking away. "We got it, boss."

"Real angry this time, Ratta."

"Yep, yep. Irate."

"What does that mean?"

"I have no idea."

"It's a good word..."

Meanwhile, Kurama ran at a moderate pace, chakra masked as he made his way between the two walls of a dark alley. Ahead, he could see and hear the bustling of the crowds on the streets, a multitude of bodies passing through the thin opening of light. Time to disappear again.

As he reached the edge of the alley, he slowed to a walk and fell into the midday flow, the village hordes covering his position. Unfortunately, he wasn't done yet. His clothes were so dirty now that he stuck out like a sore thumb. And they didn't do much to cover the fact that he was cut up all over either. His tattered and torn orange jumpsuit with bloody red patches meant very long glances from villagers. Not good.

He lifted his eyes to look ahead, searching for any means of blending in. A few paces to the right, he spotted a clothes stand, various colored shirts flapping in the wind. With a quick swipe, a red shirt flew off the rack, finding its way into his hand and then into the crook under his armpit.

Naruto scoffed at the action. "I haven't stolen anything since I was eight years old."

"Well, desperate times call for desperate measures," Kurama replied, simultaneously swiping a pair of black pants from the same vendor.

Naruto sighed and shook his head as he sat down in his cage. "This whole thing went so wrong."

"Relax, kid. It was bound to go wrong eventually. And besides, you're a ninja. You're whatever you need to be."

"Even if that means going back to being the thieving little street urchin I used to be?"

"Sometimes, yeah."

"Tch, whatever. I hate this."

"Well, sorry to once again offend your twisted sense of morality, but this is the real world. There's no room for being high and mighty. There's survival and nothing else."

"I'm not high and mighty because I don't steal."

Kurama sighed before ducking into a nearby alley, quickly lifting the torn jumpsuit off over his head. "Look, kid, do you remember how I told you this would be harder than you thought?" He tossed the orange jumpsuit to the ground. "Yeah, welcome to what I was talking about."

"So harder than I thought means becoming a criminal?"

"What do you think happened when you went rogue?"

Naruto paused as if to say something, but closed his mouth and scoffed into the silence. Kurama took note.

"Now, look," Kurama continued, slipping the red shirt over his shoulders. "We already lost around a quarter day of travel because we had to wait out those chakra signatures, we lost even more when they ambushed us, our leg got broken, I've had to deal with mushroom sickness of all things, I've broadcasted our location more times than I can count, and now I'm stuck having to cover up a billion gashes and cuts until my healing factor takes care of them."

"And, apparently, we can add petty theft to the list," Naruto said in monotone.

Kurama scoffed. "You know, I was hoping to break the news to you in a way that was a little more considerate, but since all you have is a bad attitude, I'm just gonna rip the bandage off and see how that works."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the fact that we don't have any money. Those Sound nin emptied you."

"WHAT?!"

"Yep," Kurama said matter of factly. "That's why I have to steal what we need. I told you this wouldn't be a walk in the park and now you're starting to see why. To do this you're gonna have to make some compromises, and some of them won't let you sleep so well at night, but that's what it means to be a rogue. Heck, most times, that's what it means to be a ninja."

After that statement came complete silence, and, for once, the energetic blond seemed to have no words.

The silence lasted for a few seconds, then Kurama heard an angered groan, followed by unintelligible grumbling. That was more like it.

"What else did they steal?" Naruto asked angrily.

"Everything we need." Kurama snorted, slipping into the black pants. "Clothes – gone. Bathroom stuff – gone. Sleeping bag – gone. Ram-"

"Don't you say it!"

"..."

"..."

"Yeah, the ramen's gone too."

"OH, COME ON!"

"Sorry, kid. I didn't even notice we'd been cleaned out until we were miles away."

Naruto groaned loudly, dragging both hands across his face and letting out a very long exhale. "I've been waiting for days to eat that!" he whined. "I knew I shouldn't have listened to you. This was a bad idea."

"Well, we're here now, so deal with it."

"Whatever," Naruto grumbled, body splashing against the water as he plopped down in the cage.

Kurama looked forward into the crowds and kept his head low, once again trying to find a way to get them off the grid. Looking both ways, he dumped the jumpsuit in the alleyway garbage and made sure to cover it with the lid. Immediately after, he stuffed the Konoha headband away in his pouch. Best to be as inconspicuous as possible. Closing his eyes, he focused his chakra, soft sizzling emanating from his skin as his healing factor started going to work.

"Alright," he said. "We gotta keep moving."

The shadows of the alley hid him until he reached the edge, both hands disappearing into his pockets as he stepped into the flow of the crowd, falling into the midday rush.

Ok, time to take a step back. Sighing, he turned his gaze upwards. Bright yellow illuminated his face as the sun emerged from behind a cloud. It was nearly halfway across the sky by now. In other words, it was midday. Great. He was hoping to be leaving the town around this time, but he hadn't even done any of the things he planned for. No money meant no buying snacks for the road and that stupid bar incident meant he never actually got any real food to eat.

Guess that meant it was probably time to do a little shopping – or most likely stealing. Whatever. Either way, he had to get out of here quick, especially after the stunt he pulled at that pub. What time was it? He lifted his arm to look at his wristwatch only to see that it was now stuck trying to tick a few minutes past 9 AM. Great, just great...

"Maybe you're just not cut out for this," Naruto said in a mock tone.

"That's hilarious," Kurama said. "Using my own words against me. You're a real genius. Want a cookie?"

"No, I wanted some pickled eggs, but that's not happening anytime soon."

"You're just salty about everything, aren't you?"

"What isn't there to be salty about?"

Kurama sighed and kept walking. "Trust me, you didn't want pickled eggs. That would've just made the mushroom sickness worse."

"Would've been better than starving..."

"You know, I should've eaten those pickled eggs, then gave you back your body. See how you would've liked it."

"I would've been just fine."

"Oh, really? Even with the gas and explosive diarrhea?"

"Yep! I've had rotted milk, rotted eggs, and poisoned fish before. I'm pretty sure I'm immune to food poisoning by now."

"You forgot the poisoned mushrooms."

"Haha. Not funny."

"Yeah, it was," Kurama said. "Just not as funny when you're the brunt of the joke. And didn't all of those things have you running to the bathroom minutes after eating them?"

"Doesn't matter," Naruto retorted. "Food is food. Heck, I'd eat some more of those stupid mushrooms if it meant getting some food in me, but your dumb behind went and threw them all away."

Kurama rolled his eyes. "If you're really that hungry, I'll just steal some food next time we pass a vendor."

"I would say you should buy it instead, but apparently, we're flat broke."

"Apparently," Kurama replied pithily, focusing forward as he made his way through the crowds. When Naruto said nothing further, he let out a sigh of relief. With how everything was going, some peace and quiet was something he could really use right about now. Maybe with a clear head, he could think their situation through.

"What was that earlier?"

Kurama sighed. He knew it was too good to be true. "What was what?" he drawled.

Naruto huffed. "I'm talking about when you almost killed me a few minutes ago. Remember?"

Kurama kept his head forward, trying to focus on making his way through the crowds. The pause before he spoke was telling enough.

"Sometimes I lose control." he finally said. "Usually if I'm agitated or angry."

"You ever considered anger management?"

"Funny," Kurama replied. "But it's not that simple."

"What do you mean it's not that simple?"

"When I lose control, I don't lose control like a human. I don't build up to a point and then let it all go. It's instinct for me." His gaze fell towards the ground as he paused, eyes lost as he tried to understand the inner workings of his feral mind. "Once I get to the point where my instincts take over, it's hard to come back."

Naruto scoffed. "Some instincts."

"I'm sorry," Kurama said lowly. "I didn't mean to hurt you. It won't happen again."

"I hope not..." Naruto muttered.

"It won't," Kurama said firmly. "I swear it."

A brief span of silence passed between the two before Naruto replied. "Good," he said. A short while later, he added, "I still think you're an overgrown orange furball though."

Despite everything, Kurama smirked. "Noted."

"You know," Naruto continued. "If you really want to show that you're sorry, you could make up for it by giving me my body back."

Kurama grinned. "Listen here, kid. I-"

His statement was cut short as he stopped in an instant, a hard scrape coming from his sandal due to the sudden stop.

"You what?" Naruto asked.

Kurama's head spun towards the crowds behind him and he swallowed. In an instant, he focused chakra into his eyes, the thin black slit narrowing as he peered farther than any human eye could see.

"Kurama," Naruto asked tentatively. There was no reply. "You're not losing it again, are you?..."

Kurama kept his gaze focused, looking farther and farther through the crowds, past the old lady with a cart, around the kids chasing each other by the stands.

In the chamber, Naruto could feel a foggy cloud descending, something like misty darkness. But it was different this time. The usual emotions weren't there. In their place was...a sense of panic? Naruto's brows furrowed even deeper. What was that? Apprehension? Fear? Alarm? "What are you looking at?" he asked silently, a sinking pit building in his stomach.

No reply, just an impending sense of doom and the sound of Kurama's quickened breathing.

With an exhale, he shut his eyes, deciding that if Kurama wouldn't tell him what was going on, he'd just have to see for himself.

In the thin black slit appeared the very thing Kurama feared. As the figure blurred into view, the red eyes widened in horror.

"Hey..." Naruto said. "Is that-"

"It's freakin' Jiraiya!"

"They sent Pervy Sage after me?!"

"Darn it!" Kurama said. "He must've sensed me with everything that's been happening!"

"SO PERVY SAGE IS ON OUR TAIL BECAUSE YOU HAVE ANGER MANAGEMENT ISSUES?!"

"NOT HELPING!" Kurama retorted, head swiveling back to the crowds ahead as he started walking briskly.

"Well, now what?!" Naruto asked.

"You have to take control!"

"What?! Why're you only giving me the hard part?!"

"I'm not!" Kurama said, brushing past people at lightning speed. "I trust myself ten times more than you, but right now, you're nowhere near ready for a battle like this!"

"What does that mean?!"

"It means I need to focus on healing your body and I'll do that much better if I don't also have to worry about keeping you contained!"

"I- Er- But-...Grrrrr... Fine!" Naruto spat. "But I hope you're not expecting my body back anytime soon!"

"This is a lot bigger than me taking over your body, kid. What do you think is gonna happen if you get captured?"

Naruto paused, then said, "I don't know. I haven't really thought about it..."

"Well, let me guarantee you this, it's not gonna be a slap on the wrist."

The tone of Kurama's voice made it obvious he meant every word. After a short pause, Naruto groaned then rose to his feet, the red bars fading away into blackness. "Then I'll just have to make sure I don't get caught," he replied.

"Easier said than done."

Kurama sighed then folded his hands, infusing chakra until it was simmering just above the surface of the tan skin. His eyelids fell shut soon after. When they opened again, the dim red orbs were gone, and the cool blue orbs had returned once more.

Author's note:

Whoo! Looks like things are picking up quite a bit, aren't they? Well, that's the life of a rogue, I guess, especially one that's just about going through this whole ordeal on their own. In any case, hope you all enjoyed this chapter and that you all will leave a review letting me know that you did. That would make me very happy. :) Stay tuned for the next chapter! I have a feeling you guys are really gonna enjoy reading it! I'm sure enough enjoying writing it. XD