Naruto jumped sideways to avoid the attack.

The large fireball landed on his previous location, causing an explosion. He twisted around quickly, just in time to dodge the red spectral hand that crashed beside him.

"Watch out for her Adamantine Sealing Chains. They can nullify your chakra."

'Have you found any way around the last layer?'

"No."

'How about the other half of your chakra?'

"It's not inside my former jinchuuriki, if that's what you're asking."

'Not inside your former jinchuuriki?'

"If Konoha can halve my chakra into two, then they can seal the remaining half in another jinchuuriki. I just can't find and get in contact with my other half."

'They're afraid of sending their jinchuuriki against us.'

"Those softies wouldn't force their jinchuuriki to fight unless it was the last option. Besides, keeping the jinchuuriki in the village is better for defending."

'So, the Sandaime, Yondaime, and Konoha's Jinchuuriki are defending the village. No wonder they can afford to send the rest after us.'

1v4.

The fight wasn't going in Naruto's favor.

A wave of hairy needles bombarded his direction, which Naruto countered by releasing a powerful wave of chakra from his body, intercepting and scattering the attack wildly in the other direction. The technique caused the ground around him to crack under pressure, throwing up a cloud of dust that blocked their sight of him.

He made a big mistake.

It was supposed to be his opportunity. Everyone was distracted. Konoha was under attack.

Orochimaru was losing.

Then she came.

Instantly the tables turned.

Naruto and Hiruzen were already up against three. It didn't help that their teamwork was absolutely zero against the two Hokage siblings who ran circles around them.

A kunai flew through the air. Naruto recognized the illusion and instantly dispersed it by cycling his chakra.

To his left.

Naruto jerked to his left and dodged the golden chain Kurama warned him about flying through the air. He stepped back just as a dark speck appeared in the air before crashing right in front of him. He braced himself and crossed his arms in front of him to block the monstrous punch that followed.

He was running out of time.

Naruto smashed into the rocks behind him. He coughed out blood, his insides bruised after tanking on the impact right behind his arms.

Pain.

He had to admit. Konoha's premier medic-nin knew how to amp up the pain while avoiding critical injury. Naruto pushed aside the distraction, shoving the alarms his body warned him at the back of his mind to numb them.

The situation was salvageable.

As long as he wasn't there, then Naruto's chances of escape weren't zero.

He flared his blue chakra cloak, reminiscent of the original he copied it off from. A mere mirror of the ability the two of them could do together.

If only Kurama's seal wasn't locked by her, then Naruto would've had more cards up his sleeve.

But no.

The Uzumaki sealmaster was able to touch it once. Just a fraction of a moment. That was all that was needed to lock the last layer of the seal, hindering Naruto and Kurama from releasing their full potential.

Truly, the seal was powerful.

Naruto knew the seal was created by Konoha's sealmasters, but stunned him by how fast they managed to abuse it. It didn't even take a full second to remove one of his trump cards from play.

As expected from a sealmaster of the Uzumaki clan.

A tail of blue chakra flashed out and intercepted the rigid mane of grey hair that attempted to wrap around him.

"Tsunade! Don't hurt him too much!" The man shouted once he saw the splatter of blood Naruto coughed on the ground.

"I'm not!"

Naruto flashed through hand signs and launched his own retaliatory assault. What he lacked in control and finesse, he made up for in power and sheer chakra volume.

A raging typhoon ripped through the area, ripping trees from the ground and whipping rocks up into the air. For a brief moment, the vision of the shinobi after him were obstructed.

It did little to stop the incoming golden chains that snuck its way past the chaos.

Naruto formed another tale of blue chakra and spun it around to slap away the encroaching chains that tried to surround him.

"Naruto, there's no more time."

Any minute now, the Yellow Flash would finish dealing with the Suna forces. Then, Naruto would truly be left alone to deal with the full might of Konoha's powerhouses.

He had to show one of his cards.

'Yeah, give me a moment.'

It was fortunate that the ones after him were holding back. They simply wanted to capture him.

But Naruto had other things to do.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

He flashed through the summoning signs just as the typhoon withered away. Smoke flooded the area as his summon appeared on the battlefield. His view changed. What once was the forest floor was now far below him.

The combat slowed once the scene registered on his opponents. Horror etched into their faces as they recognized just what Naruto had summoned.

Orange fur, long ears, a jaw pulled into a snarling visage of rage.

It didn't help that 9 long tails waved in the sky behind it.

"N-no…how?" Choked one terrified redhead.

The other three S-ranks didn't hesitate. Two summoned their own, a large slug and toad- both a smidgen smaller than the tailed beast. Between them, a large red skeletal spectre grew from the Anbu commander.

"Kyuubi, can you slow them down for me?"

"Ha! They don't stand a chance against me."

Naruto smiled. Kurama was as overconfident as ever despite only having half his power.

"Hold back. I don't want to be chased down by Konoha for causing damage to their village."

"Suna's wrecked it enough. Why would any damage we do matter?"

"Just don't do more."

"Fine…"

Naruto deactivated his Chakra Cloak, a bastardized version of the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode Kurama told him about. His blue form faded away, blue skin returning to its original hue, his blue cloak turning back into black and red. Disabling his chakra cloak was necessary if he wanted to hide from Konoha's pursuing S-ranks.

But more importantly, it wouldn't paint a red bullseye over his location once the Yellow Flash came for him.

Naruto leapt off the Kyuubi no Kitsune's head and disappeared into the forests below just as his best friend assaulted the S-ranked Konoha contingent after him.

Kurama will be fine against all of them.

He doubted they could seal the tailed-beast when his host was nearby.

"Kisame is going to complain about me leaving him out of the fun."

Naruto had express instructions for his partner to stay back. The true goal of his infiltration into Konoha was to intercept and kill Orochimaru in the midst of the Sunagakure attack. That failed- and now he was stuck escaping the S-ranks once he was identified as the second biggest threat after the Suna forces.

Oh and did he mention sending 4 S-ranks after him was a bit overkill?

Naruto shot a glance behind him to check on Kurama. A few golden chains wrapped themselves around the tailed-beast, but were easily shaken off. His friend parried the large blade sent his way by the toad, before kicking away the slug that slammed into his side. A mirror smashed into Kurama's face, but the fox snarled and returned his own attack at the spectral warrior with his fist.

Oh he'll be fine.

Annoyed once Naruto summoned him back though. Kurama had a revenge streak to deal with. It was the first time the tailed-beast could let loose on the village that imprisoned him for hundreds of years.

A yellow flash illuminated the area.

HOW!?

His thoughts were interrupted as a fist smashed him back mid-leap.

Naruto flipped over himself and landed on his legs to face the worst threat to his escape.

In the middle of the forest, two cloaked shinobi faced each other. One wearing white- with red fire crawling up his cloak. The other in black- dotted with red clouds.

Both carrying blonde hair and blue eyes.

Naruto instantly activated his personal chakra cloak, lighting up his figure in blue for the upcoming fight.

There weren't any Hiraishin seals in the area. Then that means…

His face morphed into a grimace as the hopeless situation dawned on him.

The Hokage placed a Hiraishin seal when Kurama was sealed into him.

He wasn't the only one grimacing.

Minato was hurting inside, looking at the near-identical looking criminal in front of him.

Their eyes met. Two powerful shinobi- unwilling to back off from their goals.

To Naruto, capture here meant losing his freedom.

To Minato, this was his only chance to recover his family.


Minato dashed at the cloaked individual.

After what happened, he needed answers. Capturing him was the only thing on his mind.

He dashed in with his tri-pronged kunai. They met in the middle in a clash of weapons. Minato engaged in melee to keep the other party from being able to cast any surprises. The two of them only needed one hand to keep their weapons. The other hand was free to cast jutsu, but Minato only needed to pull out his arsenal of prepped seals- which would outpace any technique the other could do.

And he was right.

Minato interrupted the hand seals by tagging his chakra seal on him.

Only for the seal to phase through.

What!?

"Impressive plan, Hokage-sama. Limiting your opponent's options by engaging in melee. Then use the threat of your seals in close combat to beat them."

Minato glared.

"Unfortunately for you, you're up against me."

The world shook as something raged in the distance. The Yellow Flash jerked back and saw the rampaging tailed-beast near Konoha's walls.

"You might want to deal with that."

"You fucking bastard!" Minato couldn't help but slip one of the few curses he ever would in his life.

The Yondaime Hokage flashed away, leaving behind his opponent. The man wearing a swirling mask tilted his head at the blonde's retreat.

He was lucky. That seal would've interrupted his chakra system, disabling him from using ninjutsu- and more importantly- Kamui.

"Now, time to watch the show."

Obito would watch the Hidden Leaf fall from the Kyuubi no Kitsune before he grabbed its jinchuuriki away from the village. He doubted Konoha would truly fall against a partially released bijuu, but weakening them would help him in the future.

.

.

.

The plan failed.

Obito stood in front of the two unconscious shinobi on the ground.

Are you shitting me?

Despite his genjutsu on the Kyuubi, the Yondaime and his wife were still able to deal with the rampaging tailed-beast.

How could they have sealed the Kyuubi away? She was supposed to be weak after giving birth!

Watching the bijuu disappear in front of his very eyes threw all of Obito's plans backward. He didn't have the Kyuubi- and now Konoha's forces were out in full force.

All isn't lost.

Konoha's jinchuuriki was unconscious right before him. Obito could simply whisk the red Uzumaki away and nobody could stop him.

So why did it feel like the Kyuubi's presence was still in the area?

Wait.

Obito walked closer to the wailing baby on the crib.

No wonder they were able to seal it away. They didn't use their weakened jinchuuriki. They sealed the Kyuubi into their child!

The drying seal on top of the blonde baby, combined with the malevolent energy slowly dispersing from it, confirmed his suspicions.

This baby was the new jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

How convenient.

Konoha wasn't weakened, but their tailed-beast was now in his hands. Especially in a weak container that could not fight him.

Obito grabbed the crying baby and placed it in his arms.

"Well aren't you a special one? You're going to change the future one day!"

It was a dark joke, one that Obito didn't laugh at.

He activated Kamui, spiralling out of existence just as the ANBU forces reached the perimeter.

None of them arrived in time to see him leave.

.

.

.

Obito stood in front of the Gedo Mazo, running through the process in which he would transfer the tailed-beast from one container to another.

From jinchuuriki to statue.

Three other figures were with him, watching from the side of the cave.

"This is the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki?! He's so cute!" A white-colored humanoid cooed over the baby. Obito had placed Naruto on a rock in the middle of the sealing array for the transmission.

"Don't move it, Tobi."

"Yeah, yeah. I won't."

Tobi backed off with his hands up. Between the three of them, Black Zetsu was the last person he wanted to annoy.

"How long does this process take?" White Zetsu asked his black counterpart.

"Between the four of us, it should take a few hours."

"Get ready. We're starting." Obito announced.

The four moved into position and began casting.


Kurama was settling down after a day of rampaging inside his new cell.

"THOSE BASTARDSSS!"

His roars were earth-shattering, but they did little to shake the large cell he was in.

"They steal half of me then seal me into another child!"

The Kyuubi prowled behind the bars angrily. He couldn't even vent his anger. He was stuck inside another jinchuuriki for who knew how long- perhaps another fifty years.

Kurama couldn't even remember his short time outside the seal. It was all so blurry to him. All he remembered was the being drawn out before confronting those dastardly Sharingan eyes. After that, everything became a blur.

Something's wrong.

His fur stood on edge as Kurama froze.

Something was happening.

The bijuu spun around his cell to study his environment. The feeling of dread crawled on his skin. An uncomfortable presence appeared in the area- one that he couldn't perceive.

"Come out! Whoever you are!"

He roared aimlessly, attempting to unsettle the feeling. Blue chains appeared from the ground and wrapped themselves around him. Kurama fought against the powerful chains, but was slowly dragged against his will to the hole that slowly emerged. It ripped a tear into the seal, exposing what was on the other side.

The Kyuubi seized up at seeing the Gedo Mazo.

No! Impossible!

How was the Gedo Mazo on the planet?!

The chains jerked him forwards, slowly dragging him against his will. Hour after hour, the struggle dragged on. Kurama kept fighting, pulling his body back away from doom.

"WHO DARES!? WHO DARES SUMMON THAT CURSED ABOMINATION HERE!?"

Kurama continued to pour rage into his muscles, powering himself up against the chains that bound him. His efforts were wasted- and the bijuu found himself slowly sucked into the Gedo Mazo.

.

.

.

Darkness.

Unending darkness.

The feeling of emptiness surrounded him.

Kurama felt empty inside. Hours of rage burnt up, half his power taken, and most importantly- he was absorbed into the creature his father warned him about. Tiredness filled his body- his chakra slowly being sucked away from him by the empty husk of a corpse.

"..."

"..."

"So this is how it ends."

"..."

"Alone. At half strength. Inside a dead statue."

Kurama rolled over, his emotions turbulent. His vision was wavering. For some reason, the idea of death suddenly seemed so real. His father appeared before him- a sight he had not seen for thousands of years.

"...old man."

His voice didn't carry a sliver of the rage he expressed hours prior. If anything, it was wistful.

Nostalgic.

"Hmph. To think my last thoughts would be about you. Dying like this…feels really pathetic."

It was a choked sentence. Kurama's body shivered as the heavy feeling inside him boiled forth. His eyes grew teary- the emotions he locked within pouring out like water at the sight of his father.

"Not so fast."

?!

"I've found a way out."

Kurama froze. His tears slowed down as he realized that he wasn't looking at a hallucination. A small familiar presence was with him inside the Gedo Mazo. A presence he remembered from his childhood.

"There's not much time. I can only coalesce this much energy to save you now. The rest will be up to your efforts."

"D-dad?"

Kurama choked out.

"Hi, Kurama."

The man greeted him with a smile.

"H-how…?"

"I've always been watching over everyone. I'm sorry but I can't stay any longer." Hagoromo Otsutsuki started spreading his energy around Kurama's quivering form. "I can only return you to your host once. I don't have enough time to collect more energy to save you a second time in the coming years. With half your power now, your body is unstable- making you the weakest out of all your siblings until you can stabilize yourself."

"W-what's going on?!"

Hagoromo smiled at him.

"Please work together with your host. It's your best chance to survive. This is as far as I can help. The rest is up to you."

Kurama's eyes widened.

"See you around…Kurama."

The next moment, the Kyuubi no Kitsune found himself inside his cell once again.


From the outside, everything went smoothly. They saw blue chains emerge from the Gedo Mazo before it shot at the baby. After a couple hours of work, the Kyuubi no Kitsune appeared for a brief moment before slowly being swallowed into the statue. They felt the tremendous rage and energy of the bijuu as it rampaged against the mouth of the statue before ultimately being defeated.

Obito sat down on the floor after the tiring endeavour. It was the first time he had sealed a tailed-beast into the Gedo Mazo, and it took a long time to finish.

"Is that it? Are we done?" Tobi couldn't help but ask after the frightening experience.

"The process is completed."

Cries from the baby interrupted their conversation. The four glanced at the baby in surprise.

"I thought jinchuuriki die after the bijuu is extracted?" White Zetsu asked.

"In most cases. The host dies from the sudden loss of chakra. Hosting the bijuu gains them large chakra reserves, but those reserves are lost when the bijuu is gone."

"Ehhh? But this one is still alive!" Tobi waddled over and looked at the crying baby.

"Do we dispose of the baby?" White Zetsu queried.

"No."

"No."

Black Zetsu and Obito looked at each other.

"...what do you have in mind?"

Obito's mind played around with an idea while Black Zetsu gazed at him.

"To use him as a hostage."

"The idea has some merit."

However, Black Zetsu had other plans in mind. Currently, Madara Uchiha's Rinnegan was transplanted into Nagato Uzumaki somewhere in Amegakure. There was only one pair in the entire world as far as he knew.

This was his chance to create another pair.

"Might I suggest raising him?"

"Eh?" Tobi perked.

White Zetsu and Obito looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"He has proven his endurance. A baby who survives the extraction of his bijuu carries a lot of potential. Potential that we can use to assist our goals."

His goals.

Madara had created his Rinnegan by implanting Hashirama Senju's cells into his body after their deadly battle. At the end of his old age, his Mangekyou Sharingan evolved into the Rinnegan after the Uchiha and Senju energies finally merged within him. Said eyes were implanted into an Uzumaki orphan in Amegakure for safekeeping.

To create the Rinnegan, Indra and Asura's bloodlines needed to fuse. Today, the Uchiha was Indra's legacy, and in turn, the Senju and Uzumaki were Asura's.

At the moment, Black Zetsu had all the pieces to make a second set.

The Uzumaki child.

Obito Uchiha.

A second pair of Rinnegan would greatly boost his repertoire. Perhaps even a third if Black Zetsu can successfully keep both the Uzumaki child and Obito Uchiha alive.

"So…you want us to raise the baby?" Obito groaned.

"It would be ideal, yes."

"None of us here have experience raising children."

"Hey! We took care of you after you tried to kill yourself!" Tobi pointed at Obito jokingly.

"There are four of us…" White Zetsu suggested.

Tobi and Obito went quiet as they went over the idea.

"Well…having another set of hands to help would be good." Obito acknowledged.

"Right! I can finally have someone to play with! The three of you always leave me behind in the cave to guard the statue…" Tobi fiddled with his thumbs sadly.

"Please…don't leave the baby with him." White Zetsu nearly begged.

"We take turns raising him."

"I'm not a bad parent! Well…not until we see how we do anyway!"

Black and White Zetsu both gave Tobi scathing glares. Obito slipped a small chuckle at the scene.

"So…everyone agrees to raise him?" He clarified one last time.

"Yes."

"Wahooo!"

"Don't let Tobi raise him."

Obito sweatdropped at White Zetsu's insistence.

Nobody was any the wiser. To them, their mission was a success. Konoha's bijuu was the hardest to attain, with the village having the most S-ranked shinobi out of all the major villages. Now, they would lay low for a few years to let the heat dissipate before attempting to collect the remaining bijuu from the other villages.

Unfortunately for them, half of the Kyuubi remained in Konoha. The other half, hidden away back inside the Uzumaki baby without their knowledge.


The village was in uproar.

For the next week, Konohagakure activated wartime measures. The city was in full defense mode. Hundreds of patrols were sent daily, thousands of shinobi scoured Hi no Kuni's borders to look for the masked criminal who the Yondaime fought.

But more importantly, was the missing child of their leader.

"What do you mean Naruto hasn't been found yet!?" Kushina screamed in despair at the poor toad summon inside the Hokage's office.

Minato stood on the side with a complicated expression. The toad was only a messenger between him and Jiraiya. His master was off scouting the other major hidden villages to see if there were any clues to the man and his son's whereabouts. Jiraiya had suspected that the man's intention was either to capture the Kyuubi- or attack Konoha with it.

He failed at one objective, but most likely succeeded on the other.

Kushina confirmed that the Kyuubi inside her was weakened- nowhere near his former strength. She and Minato had split the bijuu in half, sealing the Yang-half into their son to decrease the risk of Kushina dying in her weakened state should the Kyuubi be forced back in.

When they woke up in the hospital, Kushina immediately asked for their son. Up until that day, everyone knew that their Hokage was expecting the child any day. So it shook the village when they found Minato and Kushina without their child.

They learned that Naruto wasn't on the scene when they were found.

Once Jiraiya learned of the news, the godfather disappeared from Konoha to hunt down for his godson's whereabouts.

"T-that's what Jiraiya told me to report, M-Ma'am!" The poor toad responded.

Kushina hysterically fell backwards into Tsunade's arms, crying into the woman's arms. Tsunade hugged the heartbroken Uzumaki. Beside her, Dan Kato-turned-Senju wrapped a cloak around the redhead.

"K-Kushina…we should bring you back to the hospital. Your body has not fully recovered." The white-haired medic jounin reasoned.

"Dan's right. You need rest." Tsunade supported her husband.

"B-but…N-Naruto…" Kushina sniffled in her arms.

"No buts. I'm responsible for my patients, and I won't allow you to push yourself when it brings nothing but harm. We'll bring you back to the hospital. Minato will send news once they find Naruto." Tsunade looked at the Yondaime Hokage, who nodded.

"Yes, I'll send word right away once we find him."

Dan and Tsunade led the grieving Kushina away while Minato remained behind in his office.

Once he was alone, Minato sent the toad messenger off before calling his ANBU commander.

"Commander."

The shinobi emerged in a puff of smoke, having been watching the entire scene from another rooftop nearby. The three S-ranks in the Hokage's office knew of his presence, but ignored it to focus on the problem at hand.

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

"Call Fugaku Uchiha here. I need his help."

The man disappeared just as quickly as he came.

A few minutes later, the Uchiha clan patriarch arrived.

"Hokage-sama."

Minato leaned against the chair of his office- his weakened state obvious to the Uchiha- having burnt himself out recently to seal the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

"Fugaku."

The tension between Konoha and the Uchiha clan was at an all-time high. Witnesses of the Kyuubi's rampage had reported that the Sharingan was seen in the bijuu's eyes. Minato had hoped to keep that detail hidden, but the news spread like wildfire while he was incapacitated. It was only now that he could deal with the situation.

"You are aware of the news."

"Correct."

Minato sighed. A rumbling tone of exhaustion that resonated with Fugaku. Ever since the news of the Kyuubi being controlled by the Uchiha, he withdrew his entire clan to the Uchiha compound. Since then, tension arose as each day the villagers cried for the clan to be held accountable.

The atmosphere in the office was heavy.

Fugaku knew that he and the Hokage needed to tread lightly. Whatever happened between them now would forever change the future of the Uchiha…and of Konoha.

"I trust you."

Fugaku froze.

"I trust that the Uchiha clan had no part in this. That this was orchestrated by an outside party."

An outside party Minato had faced. An outside party who carried a doujutsu that looked remarkably similar to the Sharingan. In truth, Minato did not know of the Mangekyou's existence- and therefore concluded that the Uchiha were innocent.

"H-Hokage-sama?" Fugaku swallowed. He couldn't believe his ears.

"It was another person who I faced in the forest that night. He carried a doujutsu nearly identical to your Sharingan. Red eyes, but with a different spiral pattern. It was shaped like a shuriken."

Fugaku froze.

There was only one doujutsu he knew that mentioned the same details. It was marked down in the secret annals of the Uchiha clan.

The Legendary Mangekyou Sharingan.

A further advanced development of their famed Sharingan.

'There is another Mangekyou Sharingan user in this world?!'

Fugaku couldn't believe it. As far as he knew, only he had access to the legendary doujutsu his clan possessed. He kept it a secret after manifesting his own Mangekyou after the Third Great War.

"I…I need your help."

The Hokage's words shook the Uchiha patriarch deeply.

"I…I don't trust myself to lead the village properly as I am now. I need someone who can help me. As it is, the shinobi council is in a panicked state after the Kyuubi's appearance. I have not seen the Uchiha clan, but if the Sharingan can truly control the Kyuubi, then your clan would be vital to ensuring the village's safety."

Fugaku froze.

Years.

Years of the Uchiha clan being shunned aside for Senju. Years of Senju allies and disciples being chosen to lead the village. The Shodaime. The Nidaime. The Sandaime. The Yondaime. All deeply connected to the Senju.

Now, the Yondaime. An ally of the Senju- was coming to him for help.

Coming to the Uchiha clan for help.

His mind raced and quickly clung to the possibilities.

"I will come out and personally protect the Uchiha. But, my words won't be enough to secure your safety."

Fugaku found himself fixing his position as his Hokage looked at him with sharp intent. He responded with an equally sharp gaze of his own. Their eyes conveying a hidden conversation.

"You want me to actively take part in this hunt for the masked man who seeks to paint this attack on the Uchiha clan."

"Even more, I want you to stay here and help me lead the village. Out of all clans, the Uchiha are the most active inside the village. Your Military Police knows this village's defenses- even more so than some of the other clans combined."

While all clans participated equally in Konoha's shinobi forces, only the Uchiha were more involved in the village defense through their Military Police- an organization the Nidaime Hokage setup after the villages lost trust in the Uchiha when the Uchiha Patriarch and the Shodaime Hokage fought.

"Right now, your people are not trusted by the village. But I believe you can show them the truth. I will personally support the Uchiha clan's efforts."

"Hokage-sama…"

Fugaku bowed his head.

"I accept."

The Uchiha Patriarch and the Yondaime Hokage would talk deep into the night, discussing plans with how to go forward about their goal.

In the near future, the Uchiha clan would earn a massive resurgence in their popularity with the village. Their improved relationship would stabilize some of the insecurity between the clan and the village, but ultimately showed progress in favor of growing closer in the coming years.


Kyuubi no Kitsune.

The Strongest Bijuu.

The Nine-Tailed Fox.

He was feared throughout all the nations. A being that brought calamity, strength to flatten mountains, power to cut oceans. Nations trembled under his power while seeking to contain it.

"Listen here, brat."

The baby in front of his jail cell giggled.

"We're going to have to work together if we don't want to die, you hear me?"

It started crawling towards him with a big smile.

"You better not drag me down with you if you plan to die."

The Great Kyuubi no Kitsune.

Reduced to bargaining with babies.

It reached him and cooed at the soft fur it touched.

Kurama held the urge to gag and pull his paw away. The baby was drooling all over his fur now. If he wanted to build rapport with this child, then he had to stop himself from scaring it.

How embarrassing.

"I can't believe I'm doing this."

After being sucked into the Gedo Mazo, Kurama found his new lease on life extremely feeble. Where he once believed he was unstoppable- now he saw himself vulnerable.

It changed how he viewed the world.

Now, he was more open to doing things he had never done before.

Things like befriending children.

"Don't think you can cozy up to me you little shit."

Oh god, it was crawling up his forearm.

"I'm just doing this to survive. You're just lucky my survival is tied to yours."

The blonde baby laughed at the pained expression on the fox's face.

The Kyuubi no Kitsune would find himself unfortunately looking back and cringing at his own words in the coming years.

"GET OFF MY HEAD, DAMNED BRAT!"


Author's Note

So yes, I've finally gotten around writing my Naruto idea down. This idea has been with me the past year and stuck with me for so long that I just decided to start on it.

If anyone is asking, yes, Fugaku Uchiha had his own Mangekyou which he kept a secret.

I also decided to let Dan Kato survive here. Just a little happy ending for Tsunade after the 2nd great war. Hooray for the Senju clan's survival!

P.s. Yes, It's a Hard Knock Life For Us is the parody name for this fanfic lol