Chapter 3: The More Things Change

The office was quiet. As it turned out, the Hokage hadn't arrived at the tower yet. Instead, he had been back in Konoha doing paperwork and handing out missions.

We weren't allowed to leave the forest of death until the second stage was official complete, so here we were, waiting for Iruka to return with the Hokage.

"Why'd you tell him?" Sasuke asked, breaking the silence.

"Hmmm?" I hummed. "Tell who what?"

"Don't act dumb, Naruto," Sasuke grit out. "Why did you tell Iruka about my mark?"

"Oh, that. To tell the truth, I wasn't going to tell anyone, but then Sakura mentioned it and Iruka wasn't going to leave it alone, so I just sped things up a little."

Sasuke grunted. "I still don't see what's so bad about your mark."

He wouldn't. To Sasuke, my seal looks like it's made me smarter, but in actuality that was caused my sudden case of spontaneous transmigration.

The five element seal was actually hindering me by screwing with my chakra control. I can't exactly explain this because… well, I can't explain the transmigration thing, but maybe I could explain the other part. If anyone in team 7 would understand, it would be Sasuke.

"That's because I lied," I began, feeling nervous. This… this was something that really weighed on Naruto's mind. He was afraid he would lose his friends if they ever learned the truth.

"You lied? About what?"

"About the mark… It's actually a seal that I've had since I was born," I explained. "Orochimaru… did something to it and it's been screwing with my chakra control ever since."

"You've had a seal on you since you were born?" Sasuke asked skeptically.

I nodded. "Yeah. I got it on my birthday, October 10th, the day the Kyuubi attacked. The forth Hokage gave it to me."

Sasuke snorted loudly. "You're implying that the Kyuubi was sealed in you?"

"You've seen it, haven't you? In the forest when I was fighting Orochimaru's snakes, I became much stronger. My eyes-"

"Were red and slitted," Sasuke finished.

"Yeah," I nodded. "I was tapping into a small amount of the Kyuubi's chakra back then. It's one of the reasons why I need to talk to the old man. I… really don't know what Orochimaru was planning on doing when he tampered with my seal, but it can't be anything good. My best guess is that he plans on trying to release the Kyuubi during the chunin exams, which would destroy Konoha."

"I… this is a lot to take in," Sasuke mumbled. "What was your other reason for seeing the Hokage?"

Oh, he caught on to that.

"Karin," I said simply. "I need to talk to the old man about her… more specifically, I want to get his permission for her to defect to Konoha."

"Why?"

That was the question, wasn't it? If I'm planning to keep Sasuke from going to Orochimaru, then I don't really have to worry about him forming a team with Karin, Jugo and Suigetsu. She would just be another one of Orochimaru's subordinates and I could worry about other things, but… The Naruto part of me just couldn't leave it alone.

Karin is a girl who's suffered a lot. Kusa abuses her healing ability. Orochimaru will experiment on her…

"I suppose I just want to help her," I replied. "I can see she's been abused by her village. She's had a tough life. I suppose I see a little of myself in her and want to offer her help and friendship, something that I didn't have until recently."

"Oh," Sasuke said, surprised.

I had surprised myself as well. It was true that I wanted to help Karin and it was true that she reminded me a little of myself… of Naruto. But I could feel there was another reason why I wanted her to defect. Karin is an Uzumaki, she's family.

"While defecting is rarely done outside of wars, it is still done. The higher the rank of the defector, the more problems their village will make. A genin who failed the chunin exams defecting to Konoha would make very few problems," Came a wizened old voice from behind us.

Sasuke and I jumped and rapidly turned to the voice to see the third calmly sitting at the desk in the room.

"Wha-" I began.

"It's good to see you, Naruto, Sasuke. I've heard that you had a run in with my former student."

"Um, yeah," I fumbled for words, caught off guard. "Orochimaru… He bit Sasuke and did something to my seal… not in that order."

"Hmmm," The third hummed. "You were right to be concerned," He said, turning towards Sasuke. "The mark that he gave you is called a curse mark. It can grant you power, but that power is addictive. The more you use it, the more it will corrode your mind until nothing is left but a shell that will follow Orochimaru's every whim."

Sasuke quietly gulped at that.

"Sadly, if I seal your curse mark right now, you won't have enough time to recover before the next stage of the chunin exams," The Third lamented. "But that doesn't mean that you're going to be left without help. Another Konoha Shinobi was also marked years ago and I've arranged for her to help you."

Hearing a knock at the door, the third smiled. "Enter."

"Hokage-sama," Anko greeted, walking into the room. "And two chunin hopeful brats. Now, which one of you have been marked by my old sensei?"

She… should know that already. I'm pretty sure that Orochimaru told her when she confronted him.

"I am," Sasuke answered, taking a step forward.

"Of course you are. Orochimaru was always interested in those with talent or bloodlines… until he grows bored of them and discards of them," Anko explained. Walking up to Sasuke, she swung an arm around his shoulders and pulled him into her side. "Don't worry brat. Under my guidance, that mark won't be much of a bother," She said, dragging Sasuke out of the room.

Damnit, now I'm jealous of Sasuke. He gets to go with the sexy and single Anko, while I'm stuck here with the Hokage.

"As for you, Naruto. I will need to see what has been done to your seal."

"Right," I said, lifting my shirt. From my memories, the third was never this… direct. Normally he was a lot more relaxed around me. Then again, he's probably stressed about what Orochimaru did to my seal and why he's here.

"The five element seal over your eight trigram seal. There's no immediate danger, but if left on, it will eventually damage your seal," The Hokage explained. "Naruto, close your eyes and brace yourself."

Wait, he's removing it now… by himself. I thought he would have brought Jiraiya in to do it. I had hoped that I would have been able to connect with Jiraiya earlier… I suppose I'll just have to find him after the second stage in the hot springs.

Closing my eyes, I barely had time to brace myself before I felt a punch to my gut, knocking me to the floor and all the air out of my lungs.

Damn, that hurt, but at the same time, I felt great… not in a masochist way of course. My chakra, it flowed… properly. With the seal, it was fluctuating, like taking a shower and having someone randomly flushing the toilet, but now it flowed smoothly.

"How are you feeling?" Hiruzen asked, looking less like a leader preparing for threats and more like the old man in Naruto's memories.

"Actually, really good," I said, pushing myself up. "It's like an itch I wasn't even aware of suddenly being scratched."

"I see… Removing the seal hasn't done anything for your altered mental state."

Crap. He knew about that.

"You thought I didn't know?" The old man chuckled. "There are camera's throughout the forest of death. I had been keeping an eye on your team from the moment that I heard Orochimaru was in the forest."

"Wait, you knew we encountered Orochimaru?"

"Yes," The old man answered. "I knew that he had marked Sasuke and I was content to leave its sealing to Kakashi… until it came to my attention that Orochimaru had tampered with your seal. Knowing that something had been done to your seal and seeing your change in personality had me worried, so I came here to personally inspect the situation."

He knew that something was wrong. "What happens now?"

Hiruzen chuckled. "Nothing. Your seal is undamaged and your mind is more focused than it was before you entered the forest."

So he still thinks I'm Naruto. That's good. "Ah, what about Karin?"

"The red haired sensor girl? She has a good ability and at the same time, she's not important to her village. Defecting to Konoha would benefit both her and us. After the second stage has been completed, bring her to me."

I let out a relieved breath. I had expected to fight tooth and nail to get Karin to stay, but in the end, it seemed like it was a simple process. In two days as Naruto, I had already been able to help someone. The future felt just a little less scary.

"Will do, old man," I replied.

"If that's all then," The old man said, standing up, he briefly stretched. "I will be returning to the administration building… A Hokage's work is never done. You can return to your room now."

"Right," I nodded, leaving the room.

"Oh, and Naruto. Good luck with the rest of the exam."

"Thanks," I turned around, but found I was standing in an empty room. Damn. Learning how to do that is definitely going to be on my list of things to do during the month break.

Walking out into the hallway, I just realized that I had no idea where my teams room is. Shrugging, I created several clones and sent them to explore the tower while I strolled throu… A clone found the room already… that was fast.

Walking towards my room, a grin splitting my face. Now all I needed to do was get in contact with Jiraiya, train like hell and meet Kurama. A hot wave of energy pulsed in my stomach. Wait, did he hear me. Maybe I'll have to alter the order of my plans and meet Kurama first.

I grimaced as a second wave of hot energy shot through my stomach. It seemed Kurama didn't like it when I called him by his name. Like clockwork, Kurama's chakra pulsed angrily.

"Ok, jeez, just give me a minute. I need to get somewhere that I can sit and not worry about anyone messing with my body,"I muttered, walking swiftly to my room. Opening the door, I was greeted to the sight of Sakura and Karin glaring at each other.

"Naruto, you're back," Sakura asked, snapping out of her glare. "How did it go and… where's Sasuke?" She asked nervously.

"It went well, the old ma- the Hokage checked on both of us. As it turns out, Sasuke wasn't the only one that was marked by Orochimaru. The proctor lady, Anko was marked years ago, she's busy helping Sasuke right now," I explained quickly.

"That's go-"

"And what about you?" Karin interrupted. "Your chakra is flowing… differently than before and there's something deeper in it."

Crap, she's beginning to sense Ku- the Kyuubi. I don't want to have to explain all that right now. "By the way, Karin. I talked with the Hokage and he said that you can defect to Konoha."

Karin's focus was interrupted as her gaze snapped to me, her eyes wide and full of hope. "Re-Really?"

"Yep," I nodded.

"Wait, this annoying bi-"

"THANK YOU," Karin cried, launching herself into my chest as she hugged me tightly.

Patting her back, I winced slightly. As weak as she looked, Karin was actually pretty strong. It must be her Uzumaki lineage.

"I… what's going on?" Sakura asked, hopelessly lost.

"Look underneath the underneath, Sakura," I said, quoting Kakashi. "Karin comes from a minor village, Kusa. They don't have as varied Shinobi as a major village like Konoha, so when someone they get someone with special talents, like sensing for instance, they force that person to obey them and abuse that ability, whether the user want to use it or not."

"But… that's not right."

"No it's not," I replied, feeling Karin stiffen in my arms and then relax. "That's why I offered her the chance to stay in Konoha while we were in the forest of death. Oh, by the way, Karin. After the second stage of the chunin exams are over, the Hokage wants to talk to you."

It had taken hours… HOURS, before I had a moment to myself, because everyone was in bed. Karin had become rather clingy with me, Sakura wanted to know what had happened with the Hokage and just when I finished explaining the basics of the meeting, barring the Kyuubi, Sasuke arrived and a whole slew of new questions and discussions started.

Sasuke, as it turns out, got some kind of medication from Anko. It was supposed to help with the pain and keep his chakra from spiking and accidentally activating the curse mark. Not a permanent fix, but rather a bandage that would help for now.

Making sure everyone was asleep, I shot a quick glance at Karin. I really hope that she can't sense in her sleep, or this might wake her up.

'I know you can hear me. We need to have a talk, face to face, Kurama,' I thought. Closing my eyes, I felt a harsh tug on my stomach and when I opened my eyes again, I found myself standing in an almost sewer like tunnel.

Walking down the tunnel, I felt power unlike any other. I wasn't a sensor, but I could feel this plainly. It wasn't long, before I arrived in the main room. A titanic gate with a seal on its center greeted me and beyond it… an absolutely massive fox with nine tails sat, glaring at me.

"Um, hi," I squeaked, unsure of how to begin this conversation. As far as I can remember, Kurama had been lied to and mistreated by humans for close to a hundred year now, I'm not quite sure on how to talk with him.

"My Name… How do you know it?" Kurama asked, the very air vibrating with his voice.

"I've heard it before, from Son Goku," I answered honestly. If I was going to be working together and literally merging my chakra with Kurama to enter the tailed beast mode, I would need to not keep any secrets from him.

"Do not lie to me, I know you've never met Son Goku," Kurama spat.

"No, I've never met him, but he did tell me what your name is… or rather, he will tell me," I explained. "Look. Something happened to me in the forest of death… It's kind of difficult to explain what, but surely you see it. You've been with me my entire life, you should see that I'm not entirely me."

"My connection to you was only restored this evening."

"You can learn though, right. All we have to do is bump fists and you can use Ninshu to see inside of me?" I asked hopeful.

"And why would I do that?"

Although he was stubborn, Kurama was being quite nice actually. From my memories of him, I remember him constantly mocking or taunting Naruto… but then again, Naruto didn't really treat Kurama nicely either. Maybe if I kept treating him with respect, he would do the same and we can have a better starting relationship than we did in canon.

"To confirm that I'm not lying! I know things, Kurama, things that I shouldn't know right now. The name of each biju, the name of your father, his sons, his brother, hell, even his mother. I know what the future holds and with your help, we can prevent it."

"Hm, you're just like the rest of your kind. Regardless of the fact you may be a time traveler, you seek to use my power for your own means," Kurama growled, his tone dripping with hatred.

"For our means," I corrected, walking towards the cage. "I want to use your power for our means and I want you to use my power for our means. I want us to work together as friends."

Stopping in front of the cage, I looked up into Kurama's eyes and raised my fist.

"Very well," Kurama said. Shifting to a sitting position, he held out his own fist to me, just far enough away that I would have to enter the cage to bump fists with him.

This was a trap. There was no doubt about it, if I walked in there, Kurama was going to stab me, crush me or grab me and flood my body with his chakra.

"What's the matter, don't you trust me?" He asked mockingly.

Damnit. If I back down now, he's probably going to hold it against me, but if I go in there now, he's probably going to kill me. I need to say something that will prevent him from killing me at least until we link and he truly sees what's at stake.

"When Madara took control of you at the valley of the end, he gained a portion of Hashirama's power and awakened the Rinnegan. Prior to his death, he summoned the Gedo Mazo and transplanted his eyes into an Uzumaki so that he can be resurrected one day and revive the Jubi," I explained, walking through the bars towards Kurama's fist.

Walking through the bars, I was greeted to the full sight of Kurama. There were few words that come to mind to describe him other than "Magnificent." Stopping in front of his house sized fist, I gave him a quick nervous glance before bringing my fist up and knocking against his.

At first, nothing happened, but then, as if a light had been switched on, I was hit by it. Pain, loneliness, hatred. Sensing the negative emotions of humanity. Being imprisoned in a dark void for decades. Being chained up and impaled by Kushina. Gaining freedom and immediately being enslaved. Losing half of himself and being locked right backup into a dark void for another decade.

It was a lot… Scratch that, it was too much. I can see why he hated humanity… I can see why he didn't want to connect like this. We had literally bared our hearts at each other, it was… almost an intimate act. I could honestly say that I actually understood him.

"You were telling the truth," Kurama said as his fist moved away from me.

"Yep," I hummed lightly. Looking up, I realized that at some point I had fallen over, not that it surprised me, that was the single most intense thing I have ever gone through. Pushing myself up, I looked at Kurama once more. He was still magnificent, but instead of feeling awe and trepidation, I felt familiarity and a form of kinship.

"Fucking hell, Naruto was insane if that's what he felt every time he connected with people," I mumbled to myself.

"It's my understanding that when he connected with people, he was only sharing what he felt in the moment and not his entire life, otherwise the Shinobi alliance would have been too distracted to fight."

That… actually made a lot more sense. "Thanks, that makes me feel better about myself. For a second there, I thought that I was so much more inferior to the original Naruto, that I was actually a hindrance… at least when it comes to Ninshu."

"No," Kurama shook his head. "Connecting with others using Ninshu is not something that can be measured as being better or worse than someone else. Sharing your heart and mind with someone else is not something one can train to always be good at."

I suppose that made sense… but it was a bit difficult to wrap my head around it. Connecting with others just wasn't something you could train to get better at, it's something that can only happen naturally. "So you saw it… everything that's to come?"

"Yes, and more," Kurama chuckled lightly, his mood having completely flipped.

Wait, what did that mea-

"I must admit, I have never come across someone that was excited to see me go on rampages and as you put it, 'Kick all kinds of ass.'"

"Oh," I mumbled, feeling my face warm slightly.

"It's… nice to see others view me as an individual and not just a beast or a weapon to be used. It's just a little sad that it can only come from someone not of this world."

"That's not completely true… I mean, the original Naruto did see you as an individual and I'm sure that Killer Bee doesn't see the biju as weapons… well, not only weapons."

"Is this really what you want to talk about when there are much more important things to discuss?"

"I mean… it's important to you and if we're going to be friends, then it's important to me too."

"You saw how I was treated by Mito and Kushina. In this world, us biju are treated as nothing but weapons of war by Shinobi and monsters by civilians… The only exception being you and Killer Bee. You will not change my mind on this, Naruto."

"Fine," I sighed. "I just don't want you to think that you're hated… rather, I don't want you to think you'll always be hated."

"It is appreciated, but seeing as your viewpoint comes from a different world with different values, it is ultimately meaningless. I was always be seen as a mindless monster to the people of this world."

The idealistic Naruto in me wanted to disagree with him and tell him how others would eventually view him as more than just a monster, but the realist in me knew that such a change would likely take years, if not decades.

"If people still think of you as a monster after we're done preventing the end of the world… well, fuck them then. Their opinion means jack shit," I shot back. "Enough of that, will you help me?"

Kurama rumbled as he brought his head down towards me, a single red eye larger than I am tall glared at me and then softened.

"The world is coming to an end and even us biju are in danger of dying permanently. Madara is trying to revive the Jubi and Kaguya will be resurrected if he succeeds and you're still asking if I will help prevent that?!"

"Well, yeah," I shrugged. "I mean, I could probably stop it on my own. I'd probably have to delve into some of the… darker jutsu and maybe go full Orochimaru with altering my body, but I could probably do it. Having you on my side though… that would help immensely, we would be able to prevent so many things from happening."

"How?"

It was a simple question with a long answer.

"It's simple, really. I have knowledge of events from the past and the future, but I can't truly use it because it would bring too many questions, like 'how did that 13 year old know about that?' But you on the other hand… Anyone that's dumb enough to question a giant thousand year old fox that has enough power to level mountains on why he knows something that no one else does… well, that's not someone worth sharing information with."

"You want me to… talk to others?" Kurama asked, almost affronted at the idea of having to deal with other humans.

"Not everyone… just the important ones, like Jiraiya, Tsunade, Kakashi and Sasuke," I paused for a moment. "Especially Sasuke. If you can tell him about how Obito was one of the main causes behind the Uchiha clan downfall, that would at the very least keep him from joining Obito. You know, really paint Obito as the piece of shit that he is!"

Kurama shot me an amused and exasperated look and I grinned. Things were really looking up.

And that's chapter 3.

At first I thought it might be too ooc for Kurama to just instantly accept this Naruto, but then remembered in Shippuden that Naruto had originally been a bit of a brat to him. It only took a single day for Kurama to work with him from when Naruto said he's coming after Kurama's hate to when Naruto showed he genuinely cares for the Biju after Son Goku was resealed.

Again, I love how everyone's reacted to this fic. There are some awesome things ahead and I'm not going to stick too closely to canon for too long. I am going to branch of, but right now there's not many opportunities to do that.

As I said, I'm going to be updating this fic daily until I reach chapter 10 and then I'm going to slow down and update once a week.

If you want to read ahead, I'm up to chapter 8 on the spooky P word website. I'm always 5 chapters ahead there, so everytime I update here, I update there as well.

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I go by the name of ThatKircguy. Just copy the name and paste it in the Patty Rio On search bar. It'd help me out immensely, but don't worry if that's not your style. I will be uploading weekly, so it's not going to be stuck there permanently.

Also, I post my original stuff there as well. It's nothing much, just two short stories for now, but I'll post more as I write them.

Thanks for reading. Enjoy your day or night.