Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and Natsume Yūjin-chō belongs to Yuki Midorikawa. I own nothing but this fanfic.

Chapter 1

Human life is fleeting. They died easily, quickly. It was just a blink of an eye for a long-lived great yōkai like him.

Such a weak creature, but why was he so attached to them?

Reiko was not the first. Many years before her, Madara also favored a few other humans. But it was so long ago he had forgotten their looks and voices, only their warmth remained in his memories.

But Reiko, she was still fresh. As was her grandson, Natsume.

Ah, Natsume. It was only a few months ago he left the world. After living for millenniums, Madara was no stranger to death. Men die every day. However, Natsume was his human friend. His departure, as nice as it was since he left with a smile, was saddening and heartbreaking. Not only for Madara, but also for other yōkai who were close to him.

But this sadness will come to pass eventually, Madara consoled himself. It always did, it always will. One day, Natsume too will only be a part of his memories, one that will always give him warmth like others before him.

The problem is, now that Natsume is gone, what should he do?

Madara was not one to brood over death even if it was the death of his loved ones. The living must continue living after all, and precisely because of this, he was caught in a predicament. Natsume was not only a source of warmth and comfort. He was also his entertainment, errand boy, servant, and wallet. Now that Natsume was no longer here, he became lost. He did not know what to do, how to spend his long and boring life.

It would be better if the Book of Friends were still here, but the book no longer existed after Natsume returned all the names to their rightful owner. Now, not only had he lost his entertainment, but he had also lost his wallet. How was he going to get manju and dango? Who was going to fry tempura and cut a watermelon for him?

The bored Madara wound up wandering around mystical forests, bullying and annoying other yōkai out of boredom, hunting good quality sake, and stealing some human delicacies during festivals.

One day, when he was on his merry way to visit an old acquaintance, he came across an exorcist. That human was not that good; Natori was better, but unfortunately, this exorcist was so full of himself, trying to subdue him to make him a yōkai familiar.

Heh, as if. This great Madara-sama would never be a servant.

It was a one-sided battle. Madara thought he had won; the exorcist was not strong enough to defeat him. How wrong he was.

While he was indeed stronger, the exorcist was lucky. Madara did not know how, but in a desperate struggle to survive, the exorcist pulled out a paper talisman, chanting some spells, before throwing the paper to his face.

Madara used his spiritual light, but who knew it had no effect? The paper stuck on him and soon, the effect was visible.

Madara was absorbed.

He panicked. Was he being sealed again? This puny human dares?!

But later on, he found out that he was not sealed. He was absorbed, but not trapped. That talisman turned out to have a different function.

Madara was transported to a strange place he had never seen before.

~o0o~

The new place was so weird.

Madara took the form of a cat as he investigated. He was worried his real form would be too noticeable. He did not want to attract attention in an unfamiliar territory. He might be a daiyōkai, but he still had a sense of self-preservation. Better safe than sorry.

The humans were weird. The towns were strange. The forests were weird. Why do humans have a power like yōkai? Those elemental techniques they did, all of them were too mindblowing for him. No human in his lifetime had such abilities. It was like those fantasy TV series that Natsume sometimes liked to watch. They even called themselves shinobi! Ninja! What kind of ninja worked in broad daylight, guarding caravans as if they were mercenaries, and even fought in the open? If anything, they were more like the police or soldiers rather than ninja. There were some who worked in shadows like how ninjas were supposed to, but most of the ninjas here were not like that.

The towns had some kind of mismatched civilization. How could they have a flush toilet and plastic bags but not modern transportation like cars, motorcycles, and airplanes? These people still traveled like those from the Edo Period for Kami's sake! They had a radio, a telephone, and a camera, but no mobile phone. He even saw some people communicating through letters sent by messenger birds!

The forests were, well, forests. With trees, grass, and animals, but how come he never came across another daiyōkai? Forests, especially ones that were far from human civilization, were yōkai's favorite territory. It was unlikely for such a forest to be free from a single daiyōkai. Madara asked some lower yōkai about it, yet they even had the gall to be confused!

"Daiyōkai?" one of them repeated, unsure. "You mean the bijū? Or perhaps the boss of summon?"

Bijū? Summon? What was that?

"There is one not too far from here," the other one informed. "Kyūbi-sama is in Konoha. You know, one of the hidden villages." Then, the little yōkai proceeded to tell him about the hidden villages when he realized Madara did not know anything about them.

It turned out that hidden villages were ninja villages led by shinobi. Konoha was one of them. How strange. He never knew a village like that, but at this point, Madara was not surprised anymore. He had figured he was no longer in his world after encountering so many weird things.

Madara thanked the little yōkai before continuing his journey. To Konoha this time. They said the kyūbi lived there. It had been a long time since he saw a nine-tailed fox. That kyūbi must be a daiyōkai. Perhaps Madara could learn more about this world from him.

Konoha was a bustling village with shinobi and civilians living together side by side. It was a nice village surrounded by trees—weird trees with spiritual energy he had never felt before, almost like a yōkai tree but it was not—with the face of their leaders carved on a huge rock. More importantly, they had good food! Ramen, dango, yakiniku, senbei, and many more… Oh, Madara definitely could see why the kyūbi lived here. Unlike most yōkai, fox yōkai, including the kyūbi, loved to mingle with humans. They were good shapeshifters and seductresses. This kyūbi that he wanted to meet must be like that as well.

Hm… it was going to be a bit problematic to find that kyūbi among these humans, but Madara was in no hurry. For now, maybe he could have some dango to reward himself after coming this far.

He stole three sticks of dango. It was absolutely delicious.

Madara spent weeks in Konoha, trying to find the kyūbi while at the same time adapting to his new environment. He learned a few things during his stay, such as the leader of the village who was called Hokage, people with magic eyes, and ninja who were basically child soldiers.

Madara had difficulties accepting the last fact. Not that he was unfamiliar with the concept. A long, long time ago, child soldiers did exist. Adolescents going to war was quite normal even, but at that time, warfare relied heavily on manpower while medicinal knowledge was not as developed. Most people would not live past forty due to constant territorial war, famine, and disease.

But that was not how it was in Konoha. The war did exist, but it was over recently. They were not short of food. Their hospital seemed quite advanced as well. how come they still trained kids younger than eight to fight with weapons and sent them on a mission that would force them to either kill or die when they were less than fifteen years old?

He was glad Natsume was not born and did not live in this place.

Still, as unsettling as it was, it was not his place to meddle in human affairs. He felt sympathetic, but at the end of the day, it was not any of his business. Better for him to track down the kyūbi as soon as possible.

Madara just got a clue from a low-level yōkai he found in what the people called Forest of Death. It was truly a memorable forest that if he did not know any better, he would think it was a yōkai forest. The creatures there were unlike what he had seen before. Sure, tigers and bears lived in the forest, but what about those giant leeches and centipedes? Only yōkai had such a form, yet those creatures he saw in the forest were no yōkai.

Anyway, back to the topic. The low-level yōkai just told him to loiter around a ramen shop called Ichiraku to see the kyūbi. According to her, the kyūbi often went there.

Oh, ramen! Madara was excited. It seemed he and this kyūbi had the same taste. Who knows? They might become best buddies soon. Then he would ask the kyūbi to treat him to ramen every week. A daiyōkai with an established human identity should have plenty of money to treat him.

With such a good mood, Madara strolled to Ichiraku. Near the shop, he watched all the people coming and going as he desperately held in his hunger. The aroma was just so good yet he had not had the chance to taste it ever since he had arrived at this village. Hurry up and come out, Kyūbi! Let us be friends and treat me to ramen!

After a few days of stalking, finally he found the kyūbi, but not in the way he had imagined.

The kyūbi was sealed. In a woman.

I just got the idea and had the urge to write it down, so I did it. There's no long-term plan for this fic, though. I just write it for fun. Hope you don't mind.

Review please, and thank you for reading.