Disclaimer:

I do not own the Naruto franchise. This is a work of fanfiction.

Chapter 2:

It took some time, but Naruto was able to go through the motions of his supposed daily life as an eight-year-old shinobi-in-training without arousing any suspicion. It helped that Naruto hadn't done anything a regular kid wouldn't have. True, shinobi as a whole were a suspicious lot, however, even for them it was a stretch to think that an eight-year-old kid was a war veteran and a leader who had travelled through time.

Naruto had just returned from the academy. He put away his books and crashed onto his bed, lying face down on his pillows. For a moment he didn't move, and then with frustration evident on his face Naruto rolled onto his back. The constant drip of the leaky faucet in his bathroom drummed a boring melody on his tiles.

Naruto tried to close his eyes and calm down. As his breath evened out, Naruto could hear the constant hum of electricity in his apartment. He could feel the slight breeze that came into his room through the open window. He could even hear the chirp of the crickets that came out as the evening slowly transitioned into night.

"Argh…", the noise came out unbridled from Naruto. The utter monotony of his current existence began to eat up his sanity.

Naruto slowly walked towards his window. He gently leaned on the ledge and looked outside. The village was slowly coming alive in the night. Lanterns were lit and the village was relaxed after a hard day's work. Soon the villagers would turn in for the night, after all a shinobi village started its day at the crack of dawn.

With an audible sigh, Naruto plopped back onto his bed. Soon though a small smile tugged at his lips. He was never truly alone, there indeed was someone whom he could bother.

With that thought in mind, Naruto closed his eyes. "Sheesh…the academy was such a drag eh Kurama?", thought Naruto.

"Will you give it a rest? You've been whining ever since we got here… it's beginning to get on my nerves", grumbled Kurama after pulling Naruto into their shared mindscape.

"Well, you did promise that you'd be with me every step of the way…", Naruto drawled, a teasing smirk adorning his features.

"Yeah yeah…you've got me…", muttered Kurama with a bored sigh. With an indulgent smile, Kurama continued, "If the other tailed beasts know that I'm acting so human they wouldn't let me hear the end of it."

"Aw…I always figured you were a softy under all that angst and anger…", said Naruto while patting Kurama's snout through the bars on the seal.

"Tch…watch it dumbass, I might just bite your arm off. As you humans would say, I am after all a giant mass of hatred given life…" growled Kurama a little bit peeved.

Naruto was silent for a while as he absent-mindedly sat in front of the great nine-tailed demon fox.

Seeing Naruto deep in thought, Kurama settled down, lying down on his stomach facing Naruto, his paws crossed over each other while watching Naruto.

"I know that look on your face brat…what are you up to?", asked Kurama.

Naruto didn't reply immediately, he however looked straight into Kurama's eyes. As he was about to speak his mind, an errant thought ran through Naruto's head. Even at his tallest, Naruto barely was as big as Kurama's eyes. Now in his eight-year-old body, Naruto was sure he could fit through his friend's pupils.

With a suppressed snort at the thought of him jumping into Kurama's eyes, Naruto said, "I've been thinking about our situation. We have an opportunity in our hands that no one has had or probably ever will."

"We know what is in store for us and our allies. We have information that could shatter the fragile peace the great shinobi villages barely maintain." Somewhere during his dialogue, Naruto started to pace in front of the cage his friend was imprisoned in.

Kurama's eyes were following Naruto as he walked back and forth. As Naruto turned to face him, Kurama looked expectantly into his friend's eyes.

"At first I thought that we should follow the path set ahead of us…", Kurama noticed that Naruto's hands were balled into fists as he said this.

"But what is the point? Why not use what we have to prevent the tragedies that are about to unfold?", asked Naruto rhetorically.

"As long as I can remember I've been chasing after something, be it a goal, a friend, power or an ideal", here Naruto paused for a while, then looked into the distance and continued, "But now…the difference now is that I know how to get all of that…", Naruto let out a deep breath, "Now I can actively shape events to what I desire while gaining that which I want."

Naruto sat down once again and then lay down folding his hands behind his head. For some time Naruto did nothing but take deep breaths.

Just when Kurama had thought that Naruto may have nodded off, Naruto sat up, looked straight at Kurama and asked, "Kurama, this is what I want to do. What do you want with this chance we have?".

Kurama did a double take. Up until the point where Naruto was describing his new goals everything was as he had expected. But Naruto's last question stumped him.

"What do I want?", Kurama asked in a daze.

Without missing a beat Naruto said, "For almost as long as I've lived you've been with me. Our relationship did not start on the best of terms…there were times when we were at each other's throats…there were times when we resented each other. However, off late I've grown weary…I do not know if it was the pressure of being the Hokage or if it was the resentment I saw brewing in Boruto…I just felt that I was never fully in control…it was always one thing after another…that's when I started to think of you Kurama…If anyone could understand me it would be you, our situations through dissimilar had similar effects on us…if I were in your place I honestly do not know how I would cope…forever a prisoner, forever bound to not to act on your will…"

This time the silence stretched on for quite some time.

Naruto felt a weight lift off his shoulder after he came clean with the fact that he was weary. Being the Hokage meant that he couldn't show any weakness. It was a harsh burden to bear. Leaders often find themselves to be lonely despite being surrounded by people.

Naruto wanted to take a step back. After the Fourth War, Naruto did not want to force his friend into anything he was not okay with.

Naruto saw his friend shift his position indicating that he was about to respond.

"Naruto…do you know what my father had tasked me to do?", asked Kurama in a voice that was barely more than a whisper.

Sensing that this was something deeply personal to his friend, Naruto listened with rapt attention.

"My father asked me to look after my siblings. I tried to do his wishes…I really did…but like in any family, problems arose between us…finally, it came to a point where only our hatred for humanity united us…", reminisced Kurama.

With a mirthful laugh, Kurama continued…"Then you came along, one who bears my father's will and was thick enough to not take offence at our barbs and then later befriend us Biju and finally reunited us…".

Kurama then took a moment to examine one particular memory. In his mind's eye, Kurama saw Shukaku sealed in a pot and contently sitting in the hands of Himawari. Never in a million years did Kurama think that his psychotic little brother would have done that willingly. Yet it had happened and it was all due to the man currently sitting in front of him.

"You made my dream a reality Naruto, and because of that you are now family", said Kurama.

Naruto was touched. He never thought that his friend considered him to be family. It was very cathartic.

"Naruto, I wish that I could right the wrongs I did on the day you were born. I really do. You, more than anyone deserve the love of a father and a mother. Life was not kind to you and I didn't help matters…", said Kurama awkwardly. Kurama did not know if he had any right to ask more of Naruto. If there was one thing Kurama truly resented it was his role in Naruto becoming an orphan.

"Yeah…", Naruto responded robotically while thinking of the memory he had seen of his parent's sacrifice. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Kurama hunched down in grief.

"Kurama, you did not kill my mother nor my father. I was your target. It was me who you tried to kill for your freedom. My parents chose to sacrifice themselves so that I could live. It was not a pretty sight nor something I could stomach for a long time", said Naruto while looking down at his feet.

Slowly Naruto raised his head looked straight into Kurama's dejected eyes and said, "However, I had come to terms with it and got past my hatred for you a long time ago…", while thinking of meeting his alter ego at the Falls of Truth.

"Do not dwell on the past Kurama…please tell me what you want to do with our second chance…", asked Naruto while holding a steady gaze with the titanic Biju who now sat up straight.

Kurama felt a weight slide down his back. It was as if he could stand straight without an overbearing weight on his soul. A tear slipped past his eyes into his fur.

Kurama took one shuddering breath and another. He did not want to rush his thoughts and Naruto seemed content to wait for his answer.

Kurama sat up on his haunches, and a small smile started to appear on his face. Slowly a feral but playful expression came upon his beastly countenance.

"Well…I was thinking…we reached a level of power that few could match despite being at odds with each other for most of your formative years…", trailed Kurama.

"I wonder what we can accomplish if we were to work together from the start", continued Kurama with a wide grin showcasing all of his sharp and powerful-looking canines.

Kurama's expression slowly started to mirror on Naruto's face. There was an odd resemblance between the two that was strikingly made visible due to Naruto's whisker marks.

With an identical smirk to that of the demon fox, Naruto said, "Ha! They won't know what hit them".

Both human and Biju started to laugh boisterously, leaving behind their worries for the future.

Come what may, they now know that they've got each other's backs.

Chapter end.