Disclaimer: First Chapter
Story Start!

Kurama was complete.

Which meant it was time to train, and unfortunately he wouldn't be able to have any partner to train with. So, Naruto was having to make do with image training as he mentally prepared himself for when Sasuke came to find him, and thus tried to take Kurama from him for his own plans.

Naruto just relaxed on top of a building.

'Okay... as far as things stand, how do I beat him without murdering him...' Naruto had to do a check list of where he went wrong, what his advantages and disadvantages were during the last fight, and how he could counter all of Sasuke's abilities in such a way that he wouldn't kill Sasuke. '... an advantage I have this time is I'm already stronger with all of Kurama, and Sasuke can't steal Kurama's power to do that Susanoo thing.' Naruto had already turned one thing into an advantage for him.

He had been able to match Sasuke near the end, even when Sasuke used the full power of almost all of the Tailed Beasts. All he had needed to do to match that power was secretely have a clone of Kurama gather natural energy for him, and then fuse with 2 clones to hugely boost the power of his Kurama avatar state. Now, Sasuke would NOT have access to half of Kurama in order to give himself that same boost as before.

"Also, unlike last time, this time... lets face it, you went into that fight with barely any strength left. What with 3 days of war, fighting Kaguya, and ending the war pretty much just you and me." Kurama pointed out, and as long as Naruto kept himself in pretty decent shape without exhausting himself, he would be ready for Sasuke at pretty much any moment. "Also, even if you don't want to use a Rasenshuriken and kill Sasuke, you should at least use a Wind Style: Rasengan to counter his Chidori and negate it." Kurama gave Naruto that advice as well.

"... I could do that."

"Naruto, Sasuke was willing to sacrifice an entire world's worth of people just to cut you out of his life... you need to at least be willing to blow one of his arms off." Kurama knew that Naruto didn't want to cripple Sasuke, but the least he could do was think about what Sasuke had done.

Naruto only sighed.

"No, he didn't though... lets face it, Sasuke knew me well enough to know I would go through the portal." Naruto knew it had never been an option.

5 lives vs several billion lives that existed on this planet.

Sasuke opened that portal knowing that there was a 0% chance that he would allow innocent people to die for their fight to continue. Meaning that Sasuke teleporting his attack away in the end didn't risk the lives of anyone on this world, simply because Sasuke knew his mindset too well.

"Yeah, I guess you're right... you two know each other too well."

"The next time we fight, Sasuke will make sure it happens in this world, where innocent people can get hurt if I go all out. Even if I'm not exhausted like last time, I still won't be able to fight him at full strength... which brings us back to square one." Naruto slammed his hand against the roof hard enough to shatter part of it, but he sighed at his own frustration.

He had a counter for everything.

Chidori - Wind Style Rasengan
Teleportation - Clones and Speed
Chakra Absorption - Senjutsu Chakra
Gravity Manipulation - Raw fucking power
Amaterasu - Chakra Cloak defense
Genjutsu - Kurama to Break It

The fact is, even if he could counter it all, the act of countering Sasuke would most likely be crippled or killed by the way he countered him. In the end, he was right back to perfectly matching Sasuke blow for blow while holding himself and his killer techniques back.

"Hello there, and who are you talking to?"

"... Mashima?" Naruto recognized the weird woman when she climbed onto the roof, and walked right up to him. He sat up and watched her with narrowed eyes, because something about her just seemed off.

How did she find him?

"Makima, actually... who are you talking to?"

"The scary, world ending, monster demon fox that lives inside of my belly, who is now complete, and bigger than mountains... just talking with a friend you could say." Naruto said the most true, but also the most unbelievable statement possible. Either he would be seen as crazy and avoided, or this woman would be afraid of him and avoid him.

"Oh... well that certainly is an interesting friend you have."

"The fuck... are you okay in the head?" Naruto asked as he sat up all the way, and looked directly into Makima's smiling face. Not only did she take his words seriously, and seem to believe him, but she flat out showed no fear and accepted his words as just casual talk. "... I just told you I could end this world at a whim... and you... okay, what are you?"

"Well, that is a complicated answer... I guess you could..." Makima slowly moved her finger to poke her lip, as if she was considering how to answer. "... well, lets settle for what I'm doing. I'm here to invite you to have lunch." Makima instead just avoided the question completely.

"Not a human is the answer."

"That would be an answer."

"Are you an enemy of humans?" Naruto asked her, since he could tell that she wasn't human. She unnerved him too much to be a human. There was something unnatural about her. Makima just smiled and looked at him with her head slowly turning up. He could tell that he had asked a question that she found very amusing.

"Oh, now that question doesn't have a straight answer... I'm what one calls necessary evil. I work on the side of humanity, and I don't wish for the destruction of humanity. I don't even wish for the mass murder, or general murder, of humans. I quite enjoy the things humans make... now... let me ask you the same thing. What are you?" Makima seemed to lean forward slowly. She crouched down so that she could see eye to eye with him.

Her every move was sex appeal.

"Jeez you're damn sexy... stop that."

"Stop being sexy?"

"Stop being sexy, exactly. You think I'm an idiot. The subtle way you move your neck around to show off how thin it is, and how soft your skin is. The way you constantly give new angles to see your face from, but never break eye contact... even when you crouch down, you make sure to give peeks of the way your pants press against your butt." Naruto could tell subtle seduction when he saw it.

He was the fucking master of perverted ninjutsu and small details.

"Oh... I didn't think I was sedu-"

"There, there it is... you glance up and push against your lip with your finger. You show how full your lips are with the lip touch, and don't think I didn't notice that while you do that, you use your non-revealing clothes that hug your curves to make people WANT to see you naked." Naruto hopped up to his feet. He rolled his neck and cracked it, before shaking himself loose.

He had been on the roof for awhile.

Makima seemed amused.

"Thank you for complimenting my looks. You're paying a lot of attention to me, you notice the smallest of movements... you are very observant."

"I might not understand women that well, but damn if I don't understand how to seduce a person. Subtle touches... subtle breaks in eye contact to give a person a chance to glance at your body. So, Malina."

"Makima."

"Right, Makima." Naruto didn't even forget her name that time, he was just trying to get some sort of annoyed reaction out of her. What was weirder was how she didn't even deny she was trying to seduce him at this point. She just slowly stood up, before she dropped her smile for a moment. "... the worst part... you smile a lot, but your smile isn't even fake. Your smile just has no joy behind it... your heart isn't even empty..."

"Oh... you can sense my heart?"

"That's it... that's why you're so unnerving. You can genuinely smile when you aren't feeling joy, and you don't see things, you see them. You call yourself evil, but you don't see yourself as evil... do you?" Naruto figured out why she unnerved him so much.

She was seemingly in control of herself.

She could smile without any joy like Sai, but unlike Sai, her smile was still genuine. It was a genuine smile that didn't hold all the same emotions a smile was suppose to have.

"I have done evil things, so in that aspect, I am evil. I have also done more good than bad, so how can I myself be evil... we all have both good, and..." Makima stopped after a moment when she made eye contact with Naruto. Her joyless smile stopped for a moment, before she frowned. "... it seems I was about to lie... that is... what are you?"

Naruto smirked.

"When I sense people's hearts, I can let them sense my heart too. I'm an open book, go ahead, what were you saying?" Naruto crossed his arms and smirked wider.

Everyone has good and evil.

Makima didn't say anything.

"... There... there is no darkness inside of you, is there." Makima didn't let her smile return right away as she stared at Naruto. "... this is unnerving." Makima was honest with him about it too. She leaned forward so that her forehead was inches away from his. "... a human without darkness inside of them... or are you even human. What human is so open they would literally show a stranger their heart?" Makima had never dealt with a human like this before.

Never in her life had she met a human so strange, or even so powerful. Somebody who could pick out all of her subtle mannerisms and call them out for what they were.

"No matter where I go, you're going to keep finding me aren't you." Naruto didn't ask a question, he made a statement. Somehow she found him and got to him. Even if he had not a clue how she did it, the fact was she did it and she was going to keep doing it.

There was a long pause between the two of them.

"It depends, are you saying no to my lunch offer?"

"Just be honest and tell me what you want. If you want me to treat you like an equal or a friend, then I expect honesty. I'm not going to just let you manipulate me, I've got better things to do than dance in the palm of your hand." Naruto didn't want to play her games.

The awkward pause got longer.

"... an equal?"

"Yeah, an equal."

"... You're stronger than I am, but you will treat me as an equal... instead of an inferior?"

"Well, yeah, I treat everyone equally. How can I make friends, if I treat people like they are my inferiors?"

"... That certainly does make some sense, but if you could control people, would that no be better?" Makima asked him.

Naruto laughed.

"How can I laugh, love, and enjoy people if I control them!? NAH!? If you want somebody to stand by your side, you have to be willing to stand by their side too! After all, people aren't dogs that show you unconditional love, people are people!" Naruto laughed when he realized this woman seemed to have absolutely no clue what he was talking about. He could read confusion in her ringed eyes. "So... lets go get something to eat, your treat, I have no money." Naruto pointed out.

Makima was silent, before she allowed her face to show her same smile.

"... Oh... and I thought you weren't going to be manipulated?"

"Nope, I'm not being manipulated. Just because I'm doing what you want, doesn't mean I can't say no. But I am hungry, and you have money... so if you want to talk, we can talk with full bellies." Naruto felt a lot less unnerved by the woman now that he had broken through some of her act.

Also, he hadn't eaten in 4 days.

He was starving.

Chapter End!
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