Naruto clicked his tongue as he put the finishing touches on array of seals surrounding the room. It was a building on the outskirts of Konoha, far enough away that it was nearly never used.

His eyes flicked over it, and he nodded to himself, giving a thumbs up to Sasuke.

Sasuke stepped back, outside the seal. The array flashed as Naruto activated it, and he shivered.

"That's weird." Sasuke said. "I can't feel you at all."

"That's the idea." Naruto said, though he wouldn't deny that it was weird. Like suddenly going blind, everything outside of the seal gone from his Chakra senses and muted in his normal ones.

With a click of his tongue, he moved over to center of the seal, and sat down. All ready to go.

Naruto breathed in, then out. The world shifted with a blink. "You ready?"

"All I have to do is hold my Chakra in?"

"Pretty much. There's a super basic containment seal so you won't just spill out, but that'll break if it's even looked at funny, so..." Naruto shrugged.

"Then do it."

Naruto pulled his shirt up, and snapped his fingers. Seal-script promptly appeared on his right hand, the Key to the Eight Trigrams appearing.

With no fanfare, Naruto pressed his hand to his stomach, and pulsed his Chakra.

On the cage in front of him, the slip of paper that represented the seal promptly burst into flames, and the massive gates began to edge open.

Naruto let out a long, slow breath as the full force of Kurama's Chakra ran through him, a pleasantly-burning sensation that filled his entire being with energy.

"You shouldn't take take too long." A voice said.

"I know." Naruto responded.

"What- YOU?!" Kurama roared.

"You don't see too surprised to see me, Naruto." Minato Namikaze, the fourth Hokage, stated.

"I figured something like this would happen." Naruto said. "I studied that seal for a long time, until I understood what each part was doing and how it all works. Those arrays that stored imprints of Chakra that weren't mine or his did kind of give the game away."

Minato chuckled, a soft smile spreading across his face. "And I was so worried you would inherit your mother's brashness."

Kurama growled. "You're dead."

"He is." Naruto agreed, already writing more seal-script on his body. "What you're seeing is an imprint of his Chakra, stored in the seal. I guessed it was a failsafe, or something."

"Correct." Minato agreed. "I had though that the seal would degrade over time, so I sealed an imprint of myself alongside of it, to reinforce it if it weakened too much, too early." He shook his head. "I'm quite glad I never needed to."

"You ripped my soul in half." Kurama said, deeply, lowly.

Minato nodded, turning to face him. For a few while, he said nothing.

"I'm not going to apologize for what I did." Minato said, eventually. "Not for the reasons that I did it."

Kurama's eyes narrowed.

"But I will give you an apology." Minato stated. "I misjudged you."

"An apology does not make it better." Kurama spat.

"No." Minato agreed, a bitter smile on his face. "It doesn't."

He turned around, and sighed. Naruto looked up as he came closer, placing the finishing touches on the new seal as he did.

"The other condition occurs when you try to place a new seal." Minato said.

"So, once I activate this..?"

"Yeah." Minato nodded.

"Ah..." Naruto sighed. "That's going to suck."

"Sorry, Naruto." Minato smiled. "I messed things up for you, didn't I?"

"You didn't really have much of a choice." Naruto noted.

Minato smiled, again. "I wish I could have been around to see you grow." He took a step closer, putting his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "For what it's worth, I'm proud of you."

"We'll see each other again." Naruto said.

"And I don't want that to be any time soon, hear me?" Minato smiled, and let go of him. "Live a long life."

Naruto squinted at him. "What do you think I'm working on?"

Minato grinned, and walked past him. Three steps on, and he vanished.

Naruto stared after him, before sighing. "Kurama."

"What." Kurama said, mood worsened by the unexpected encounter.

"I'm not going to ask that you don't attack, but..." Naruto paused, looking upwards. "Please be mindful of the seal."

"Why would I-"

"Because you're going to see someone you really, really hate." Naruto pulsed his Chakra.

The world around them broke, the darkness and sewers falling away. Grasslands and long lines of rivers took their place, an endless black sky shifting into a layer of clouds.

All a representation. The new seal attached at multiple points to his Chakra system, instead of being located roughly in his stomach. The widest parts of his internal network had a direct link, making very, very easy for Kurama to push his Chakra anywhere in his body. As a result; the change in scenery. The grasslands and rivers represented that network. The sky was clouded because he was inside the seal.

Kurama blinked as he took it in. Naruto was completely still, focused instead on the Chakra imprint shifting behind him, realizing itself.

Kurama didn't notice, not yet.

But it was only a matter of time until he did. The moment the distraction passed, he'd pick up on Naruto's ill feelings, that dread of what was about to happen. He'd look over, wanting to know why Naruto felt such emotion.

And then he'd see her.

Some part of Naruto was glad she was here. The rest of him was stuck in a state of trepidation.

Because this was not going to go well.

Footsteps, behind him, moving close.

"My baby boy." A soft voice, right on the edge of tears.

Kurama frowned, looking back down.

And he froze.

The wave of rage that swept from him was an almost physical thing. It filled the air with thick, powerful, cloying killing intent, a promise of quick and deadly violence.

The woman stepped up.

There was no way Naruto couldn't recognize her, even if he hadn't already known who she was.

"You." Kurama's voice rumbled like thunder.

"Kyuubi." Kushina Uzumaki greeted.

As quick as lightning, Kurama shot forward, teeth bared and claws raised.