Naruto felt like he was having a very vivid dream.
This dream felt incredibly real to him.
He dreamt of arriving at a place that resembled a prison.
There was water everywhere on the ground, and the air was very damp and eerie.
The prison was vast.
It was so vast that he felt like a tiny ant, and he could vaguely see a massive shadow within the prison.
Naruto remembered dreaming about this place before.
But this time, the dream was particularly clear.
In the dream.
He could faintly hear the huge shadow in the prison grumbling, and Naruto could guess that it was in a complaining tone.
He heard words like "damn Whitebeard."
"Hey! You can't talk bad about Dad!!"
Naruto didn't know who was in the prison, but Dad was so good to him that he couldn't allow anyone to speak ill of him.
"Hmm?" Kurama turned its massive head in surprise.
It looked down and saw Naruto's small figure.
In an instant.
Kurama bared its fangs.
"Brat! You actually came here." It looked ferocious, like a beast ready to devour someone. The overwhelming killing intent within the sealed space was terrifying.
Kurama never had any goodwill towards humans.
It only had resentment and killing intent!
At first, Kurama didn't have strong feelings towards humans until, one day, someone inexplicably captured it.
Then that bastard put it under control with Susanoo, forcing it to fight against someone incredibly strong.
Kurama remembered being beaten badly.
Yes, it was the one being beaten.
Then.
It became a tool for humans, inexplicably sealed inside a human. When that human finally died, it was sealed inside another human.
When it finally got out, it was controlled again!
When it regained consciousness, Kurama was shocked to find its body had been forcibly split in half.
One-half of its body went who knows where.
The other half, the current Kurama, was sealed inside this kid named Naruto Uzumaki.
Shouting to the heavens was futile.
Calling to the earth was useless.
Today, it finally had a chance to break free from the seal, but that damn Whitebeard ruined it.
How could Kurama not be furious?
It was livid!
The anger mixed with hatred towards humans made Kurama's killing intent surge when it looked at Naruto.
If Kurama's killing intent was a vast ocean, Naruto was just a small boat.
Tossed about by the waves.
"Gulp!" As Kurama's massive body appeared in front of him, five-year-old Naruto couldn't help but feel afraid.
But remembering how this big fox had just badmouthed Dad, he somehow found courage.
Naruto tried to stand tall.
He stiffened his face.
"I'm not afraid of you!"
Naruto suddenly recalled what Kakashi had said and widened his eyes, "Are you the Nine-Tails Uncle Kakashi talked about? Are you the one who made me the demon fox of the village?"
"Huff—" Kurama exhaled a gust of eerie wind, nearly knocking Naruto over.
Kurama bared its sharp teeth.
It grinned menacingly, "Yes! It's me! I even killed a lot of people! Are you angry, brat?"
Naruto gritted his teeth.
How could he not be angry?
"Hahaha! Brat! You don't know the whole story. That white-haired brat didn't tell you everything about what happened back then!"
Kurama laughed joyfully, "Over the years, I've watched you being isolated, mocked, and bullied... It was hilarious! Hahaha!"
"Damn it!" Naruto clenched his teeth, "So all of this is because of you!"
"Don't blame the tailed beast, brat!!"
Kurama laughed maliciously, "It's not my choice to be here. The one who sealed me inside you... is your own father!!"
"Ahahahahaha!!!"
"Get lost, brat!"
...
Naruto woke up with a start, drenched in sweat.
When he opened his eyes, the prison disappeared, and so did the fox who called itself "the great lord." What he saw now was the familiar yet strange forest.
"Eh? Eh eh eh!" As Naruto tried to stand, he nearly fell over.
Instinctively, he reached out to grab something.
The familiar feeling made Naruto realize he was lying on Dad's shoulder.
He had slept on Dad's shoulder!
And had a nightmare!
"Idiot son, you're awake?" Whitebeard, whose beard was tugged, glanced at the now-awake Naruto.
"Dad!" Naruto's turbulent thoughts settled.
For some reason, dreaming about the Nine-Tails made Naruto restless, but seeing Dad brought him unprecedented peace.
"Naruto, are you okay? Do you feel anything strange in your body? Did anything unusual happen while you were asleep?" Another concerned voice came from the same side.
It was Kakashi speaking.
Yesterday, seeing the Nine-Tails' chakra raging in Naruto, even sprouting two tails, Kakashi had been drenched in cold sweat.
Fortunately.
Whitebeard had decisively knocked Naruto out with a punch, though the force of that punch had given Kakashi quite a scare.
Kakashi had worried that Naruto might never wake up.
"I... I think I dreamed of a huge fox." Naruto recalled the dream and said, "It insulted Dad, so I told it not to."
A fox?
The Nine-Tails?
Kakashi broke out in a cold sweat.
His biggest fear was that Naruto, with his immature mind, might be influenced by the tailed beast.
"It didn't say anything to you, did it?"
Kakashi asked.
"It said..." Naruto whispered, "It said it was sealed inside me by my own father."
Kakashi: "..."
Damn!
Whitebeard's frown deepened as he looked at the now-depressed Naruto. He snorted, "Such a dangerous thing, and he sealed it inside his own son?!"
Is this considered being a good father?
Hmph!
Not at all!!!
"Uncle Kakashi, is it true?" Naruto asked, "Was the big fox lying to me?"
"..." Kakashi was silent.
If it were just Naruto, he might have told a white lie, but Whitebeard was also present.
"It's true." Kakashi tried to defend his teacher, "But your father... he had no choice. The situation was urgent, and this might have been the best solution."
"Bullshit!" Whitebeard scoffed, "No matter how urgent, a father shouldn't let his child bear this! Did he think about how Naruto would be discriminated against? Did he consider that Naruto would be bullied? Did he care about Naruto?"
"Hmph! An unkind father!!!"
Whitebeard couldn't understand why a father would let his child endure all this suffering.
He considered it irresponsible.
And began to criticize Minato.
This left Kakashi speechless.
Unable to refute.
...
...