Head resting on my haunches, I watched in thinly veiled amusement as the shriveled mushroom glared at me through the thick bars of my prison.
"You told Naruto about his parents."
The ghost of a smirk curled my lips. "He has the right to know."
Judging by the slight twitch on his brow, he was probably close to getting a headache. It sparked a brief, bubbling warmth in the vast, foamy sea that simmered within my chakra.
Being stuck in here left me with no options for entertainment, other than messing with this old monkey.
Naruto needed to practice his chakra control a little more before I could get him started on ninshū meditation. So, it'd probably take another week before I got my TV running.
Sarutobi frowned. "Yes, but not so soon. If the wrong people learn about it, he will be in great danger."
This guy gave the brat way too little credit. Naruto wasn't that stupid, nor that big of a blabbermouth.
"They won't. He knows how to keep a secret." A faint, knowing smirk tugged at my lips. "And I can help him, should the worst come to pass."
The shriveled mushroom arched an eyebrow, eyeing me skeptically. "What can you even do from inside this cage?"
I held back a chuckle. If only he knew.
"The seal was designed to gradually allow me to share my power."
The frown on the old monkey's face deepened, eyes turning flinty. "That might cause panic, should it happen near the village."
"He needs to learn how to use my chakra. That's what The Fourth intended with this seal. The sooner he starts training, the stronger he will become."
Sarutobi considered my words for a quiet moment, gaze narrowing. "I hope you don't mind if I assign someone to supervise him during such training."
Oh? Who was he going to bring? Yamato? Was that guy even out of Root by this point?
"Of course not. If you wish for further precaution, we could have him try this through a shadow clone at first."
I might even be able to possess one for myself, once I got this seal opened. There were baddies like Tayuya in this world who needed a thorough breeding, and a shadow clone penis was still better than no penis.
I could only hope that my assumption turned out true.
"Perhaps." Sarutobi stroked at his tapering beard. "He should have enough chakra to make a few shadow clones, though he needs better control. I wouldn't trust him with such a technique before then."
"He should be good enough in a few weeks."
The old fart gave a thoughtful hum. "You have high expectations from him."
"He is their son." And Ashura's vessel. "The brat will get far in less than a decade."
Sarutobi gave a thoughtful hum, but said nothing. We stood in silence for the better part of a minute before the old monkey opened his mouth again.
"You told the boy about a cousin and an aunt. Two Uzumaki survivors in Hidden Grass Village. I find it a little strange for you to know such things, considering your current predicament."
I couldn't help a smirk as I watched the chief leaf muncher try to figure out a puzzle using completely wrong pieces. "We may be trapped in cages, but we are not ignorant of the outside world. We have means to acquire knowledge."
"But you're not going to tell me how, are you?"
He fixed me with a gimlet stare, and I didn't need any super empathy power to notice the annoyance wafting off him.
My lips stretched further, revealing a glimpse of ivory fangs. Playing this whole mysterious old master act was surprisingly fun.
"Perhaps, one day, I'll tell you more."
Sarutobi frowned, but didn't push the topic any further. Cope and seethe, you old monkey. I did that for five years, now it was his turn.
"Do you have anything else to share about those two Uzumaki?"
"Both the mother and her daughter possess the healing chakra of their clan. Overuse saps the life-force and leads to death, especially after prolonged usage over the years. I doubt the mother will survive, should Grass enter conflict with one of its neighbors."
"Retrieving such high value assets from a nominal ally would be far from simple."
A flash of anger bubbled to the surface, but I covered it with a sneer. This man had not only shriveled with old age, he'd also lost his spine. No wonder the other villages dared to walk all over him.
"Three great nations had banded together to destroy the Uzumaki. A single clan with less than three hundred strong. That's how dangerous their sealing knowledge and how powerful their bloodline limit were." I lifted my head, looking down on the coward standing before my cage. "The Cloud risked starting a war just to steal a Hyūga child. You wouldn't risk the enmity of those Grass weaklings for two pureblood descendants of Ashura?"
Sarutobi's face creased deeply with a frown, making him look a decade older. "I admit, two more Uzumaki would be a boon for the village, but this could easily result in long term political backlash."
I fought back the urge to roll my eyes. What? Was he worried they wouldn't sell him weed anymore?
"The girl is still young. She might have the other bloodlines yet to awaken. You've lost the Senju, and it weakened the village greatly. You have a great opportunity here."
An image flashed in my mind, unfolding into a vivid memory of bright golden chains wrapped tightly around my form, digging into my flesh.
My jaw tensed as I quelled a growl before it could even leave my chest. "She had one foot in the grave, and still held me back with her chains on that night." A fierce woman who fought until the very end. "I thought you would leap at this chance, just to have another insurance against me."
Sarutobi considered my words before his shoulders sagged ever so slightly. "This is not a decision I can take lightly. I'll have to think about it."
He turned away from the cage, ready to leave, but a sudden thought left me smirking. I failed to deliver that promised headache, but I could always give him a bit more paranoia.
"Have you ever heard about the Rinnegan?"
The old monkey paused mid-step, turning around, a curious glint in his gaze. "Legend says they were the mythical eyes of the Sage of Six Paths."
"Mythical, certainly, but they are not a mere fable. The old man possessed those Eyes of Samsara. A deep, dark purple on a backdrop of six concentric rings. One for each Path that one must understand in order to wield the power of god."
I always found it a little strange how Jiraiya kept Nagato and his Rinnegan a secret until Pain became a problem. Even if he assumed that the kid had died in the war, he should have at least told his teacher about those bullshit eyes.
Sarutobi hummed thoughtfully. "I assume the Rinnegan grants the wielder six separate powers?"
"Indeed. The Eyes of Six Paths, as named by The Sage."
If that wheelchair cripple, Nagato, expected to get away with his shit like in canon, he was in for a surprise.
"The Deva Path, with dominion over gravity," I said. "The Asura Path, with dominion over weapons. The Human Path, with dominion over souls and knowledge. A single touch can read a person like a book and rip out their soul."
Sarutobi's eyes widened a fraction, and I had to agree with the sentiment. That was the nastiest of the abilities, right after the Preta.
"The Animal Path, with dominion over summoning, be it people or strange creatures. The Preta Path, with dominion over chakra, capable of absorbing it in any of its forms. And the Hell Path, with dominion over truth and healing. There is an Outer Path, which grants the wielder dominion over life and death, though at a steep cost."
Sarutobi's face looked like it was carved from stone. "How steep?"
A knowing smile curled my lips. "If the wielder lacks in power, they must pay the toll with their own life."
"A forbidden technique."
"They are formidable eyes, but the most dangerous aspect is the fact that it is quite possible to awaken them."
The chief leaf muncher had a good poker face, but the brewing storm of his emotions was like an open book to me. If this was how he reacted to the Rinnegan, I could only wonder how he might react to the immortal alien farmers.
"How?"
"The Sage had two sons. One of them inherited his body, strong life force and chakra, and the other, his eyes, albeit in a lesser form. The Sharingan."
"The Senju and the Uchiha," Sarutobi breathed out. "I've heard tales in the past, but never found concrete proof to confirm most of them."
Probably because the Uchiha kept Hagoromo's stone tablet hidden in their basement. Not that it would help much after Zetsu messed with it.
"Much knowledge of the past has been lost. But the Sharingan is not merely a mutation of the Sage's eyes. It is just a downgraded form. An intermediary stage." My lips peeled apart into a fanged grin. "In truth, the Rinnegan is the natural evolution of the Sharingan."
"Then, a child between the two…" Sarutobi trailed off, looking grimly at my cage.
I held back a snort. Thank god it wasn't that easy to get those magic eyes.
"Thankfully, not. Such unions have been attempted a scant few times in the past, yet without results. The chakra of mere descendants is not sufficient. The Rinnegan will only manifest through recreating the power of the Sage. Six Paths Chakra."
"By uniting the chakra of his sons, I assume?"
"Indeed." I smirked. "But Indra and Ashura have been dead for a thousand years, their chakra long gone. And I doubt that anyone can bring them back from the Pure Land."
I didn't miss the way his eyes briefly widened before he schooled his expression under a neutral mask. Did he perhaps remember the Impure World Reincarnation? I hoped this kept him up at night for the next month. If he didn't want to deal with my shit, he should hurry up and appoint a better successor.
"While I appreciate the history lesson, is there a reason as to why you mentioned this particular topic out of a sudden?"
A chuckle escaped me, though it sounded quite ominous in my deep, gravelly voice.
"No, there isn't. I doubt that the world will ever see those eyes again, but it irks me that people have forgotten. The Sage has done so much for you, mortals. He gave you a priceless gift… he should be remembered."
__________________________________________
Naruto slurped the last of the salty broth, putting the bowl down with a smile.
His first day at the academy wasn't as bad as he thought. A lot of the kids treated him badly like everyone else, but some of them talked to him. He wasn't sure if he made any friends, but Daiki and Kenji didn't give him any bad looks like most people in the village.
Daiki even said they could play ninja tomorrow after class.
Naruto's smile widened, a fuzzy feeling churning inside him. He couldn't wait.
He kicked his legs back and forth, leaning forward on his seat to try and get a better look inside the shop, only to frown a little. He couldn't see anything from this angle.
He never saw the ramen shop from the inside, but he wasn't going to barge inside like that uninvited. It was rude.
He should ask big sis Ayame to show him inside when she had the time.
Just as his stomach growled in protest, old man Teuchi came back from the kitchen with another bowl of pork ramen, laying it on the counter in front of him. His nose twitched at the delicious smell. A single bowl of ramen was never enough.
"This one's free of charge, my boy." Teuchi picked up the empty bowl with a smile. "Eat up and celebrate your first day at the academy."
Naruto couldn't help a grin as he pointed at Teuchi with his chopsticks. "You're the best, old man!"
Chuckling, Teuchi went back to the kitchen, leaving Naruto with his his food. Eyes going back to his bowl, Naruto grabbed a chunk of noodles and dug in. His favorite ramen tasted even better today.
As he slurped the last of the broth, big sis Ayame also showed up from the backroom, giving him a smile that made his tummy warm in a way that had nothing to do with the hot ramen.
"Had fun on your first day?"
"Yeah! I talked to two boys in my class, and they weren't mean to me. We're playing ninja tomorrow."
Big sis Ayame reached a hand over the counter and ruffled his hair, making his tummy feel fuzzy again. "That's great, Naruto. But be careful not to hurt yourself, okay? Don't play with dangerous things like kunai and shuriken before the teachers show you how to use them."
"I won't." Naruto shook his head. "I'll be careful." He didn't want to make big sis Ayame sad.
She smiled, holding out her pinky in front of him. "Promise?"
Grinning, Naruto wrapped his own pinky around Ayame's, and they shook hands in promise. "Mm-hmm! Believe it!"
Big sis Ayame covered her mouth with a hand as she giggled. He had no idea why some girls did that. Maybe he could ask the fox later. The fox seemed to know a lot of stuff, just like gramps.
"Are you still hungry?"
"Nope." Naruto shook his head, watching as big sis Ayame took the empty ramen bowl. "I'll pay now. I need to get home and do my super ninja training before sleep."
Ayame gave another giggle. "You'll become an amazing ninja in no time at this rate."
Naruto looked up at her with a grin. "Of course I will. Believe it!"
Sticking a hand in his pocket, he pulled out a handful coins, carefully counted them, and dropped a few on the counter, smiling all the while. He said his goodbyes to big sis Ayame and quickly made his way through the busy streets.
He had so much to tell the fox once he got home.
__________________________________________
I sat in my dreary prison, head propped lazily on one hand while I poked idly with the other at the ground.
The brat came back all smiles from his first day at the Academy and just finished telling me everything about it. I wasn't heartless enough to tell him that the other shoe had yet to drop. I've seen how this story went, and things were going to get a little worse before they got better.
A frown crossed my lips. Dumb meatbags…
That aside, it turned out that Naruto was in the same class as the clan heirs, their instructor none other than the pineapple dolphin. It was a pleasant surprise, because canon contradicted itself a few times on this matter. This was either the canon retcon in effect, or maybe the old monkey just pulled some strings now that the brat suddenly had a lot more obvious potential for growth.
Just by abusing the shadow clone training as soon as feasible, Naruto would become a ninjutsu monster. He could probably master all nature transformations by the time he graduated.
I blinked, staring blankly at my reflection in the water. Speaking about ninjutsu…
Couldn't tailed beasts use their chakra to achieve something similar. It was all just chakra manipulation at its very root, and we could obviously do that, too.
I couldn't recall any specific instances from the story, but Isobu could manipulate water like most jutsu and Matatabi could do similar stuff with her fire. Or Son Gokū with his lava.
It should work. I couldn't see why it wouldn't, it was just–
A memory of Hagoromo teaching us ninshū surfaced to mind, and a sour feeling coiled deep within me, twisting beneath the surface until my chakra bubbled at a low simmer.
I took a slow, calming breath, resting my head on my haunches.
That explained why the tailed beasts never tried to do something like this. They saw ninjutsu as some sort of heresy, and they could barely tolerate watching the humans practice it.
Well, tough luck, because we had roughly three decades left until the homicidal alien farmers came knocking, and I needed all the advantages I could get.
So, what if part of me hated the mere idea of trying to mimic ninjutsu for my own benefit? I needed every weapon in the arsenal to prevent the world, and my furry ass, from getting harvested.
I wasn't too keen on killing myself with Baryon Mode, even knowing I could respawn, so I needed a better alternative.
Spamming tailed beast bombs was a very efficient solution, until it stopped working anymore. The Ten Tails could shrug off that stuff, and Isshiki could probably just no-sell them with his hax eye.
I needed more diversity, even if only for the sake of utility.
Though, I couldn't deny, in the privacy of my thoughts, that a part of me just wanted to do it for fun.
Being able to pull off something like a Rasengan would be epic. I'd be satisfied even with just doing a Transformation. I've always wanted to see what Kaguya looked like from up close, and I had a few other characters in mind that I'd like to inspect.
I wasn't doing anything else with my chakra anyway. It would be a waste to not use it and just sit on my ass, twiddling my thumbs. I was more than just a convenient chakra battery.
__________________________________________
Naruto stepped inside the classroom, a smile pulling at his cheeks. He looked around the half empty rows of seats, ignoring the mean looks from some of the kids, until he found two boys talking by the window.
He ran up to them, quickly getting their attention. "Hey, Daiki, do you like ramen? I know an awesome place we can go after class."
Daiki turned around, and Naruto's smile froze. He felt a familiar, cold feeling in his stomach when he saw the look on the boy's face.
"No. Don't talk to us anymore."
Naruto opened his mouth to say something, but his throat clenched, forming a knot. No words came out.
Why…
Kenji looked between them, face scrunched up in confusion. "Didn't you say we were gonna play ninja together after class?"
Daiki shook his head. "We can play without him."
Naruto felt a pressure behind his eyes as the cold spread to his chest, gripping on the inside like a claw.
"Why?" Kenji asked, scratching at his head.
"Mom said to stay away from him."
"Really? Why?"
Daiki shrugged. "Dunno. She just said he's bad news."
"Weird. I'll ask my dad later, maybe he knows."
Daiki looked at Naruto with a frown. "Go away."
Naruto swallowed the knot in his throat, looking away. He held back a sniffle as his eyes got blurry, but he just clenched his jaw, blinking away the tears.
He wouldn't cry. He wouldn't cry…
He turned away, walking past the other kids, quietly making his way to his seat.
He wouldn't cry here.
__________________________________________
Naruto stood quietly in front of my cage, eyes downcast at the rippling water, hair shadowing his face.
I held back a sigh, lifting my head and sitting cross-legged.
Oh boy… I kind of expected this, but it still pissed me off a little to see the results.
A quiet sniffle escaped the brat, and just looking at his face was enough to make me almost hear Sadness and Sorrow play in the background.
I fought back a frown. And now I couldn't get that stupid song out of my head. Great.
Naruto looked up, tears falling silently down his cheeks. "It's the same… Everyone hates me…"
"Don't be sad, Naruto." My rumbling voice carried a softer note as I spoke, "One day, you'll have a lot of friends. As long as you keep believing in yourself and never give up, anything is possible for you."
He rubbed at his face with his hands, giving another sniffle. "I tried… I talked to them, but today they were mean to me like everyone else."
"Sometimes, in life, things will get worse before they get better." I leaned closer to the tall bars of my cage, a small, encouraging smile tugging at my lips. "Try talking to the Inuzuka brat or the Nara tomorrow. They might not care that you're my host."
Naruto glanced at the rippling water, rubbing at his eyes again as a brief silence fell between us. When he looked back up, amidst the ugly tears and snot, there was a tiny, wobbly smile on his face.
"You're my friend… right?" His voice came out barely above a whisper, the fragile hope in his eyes one fracture away from shattering.
My smile took a melancholic note. I could see how that whole Dark Naruto nonsense came to be in the original timeline. But things were about to change here.
"We're better than friends."
Bright blue eyes stared at me, the smile on his face daring to grow a little. "Really? You mean it?"
I reached a hand between the bars of my cage, making a fist in front of the brat. He touched his fist to my own, and I shared a sliver of my chakra, forging a fleeting link between us that revealed the truth.
Naruto's eyes grew misty and he sniffled.
"Yeah." I drew my hand back with a smile. "We're partners."
Tears fell down his cheeks, but this time, he was smiling, too. He wiped at his face with the back of his hand before meeting my gaze.
"Okay."
Seeing him like this, a distant memory stirred in my mind.
I grew up with Naruto. I still remembered back then, when I first watched the Pain fight. Still in high-school, during summer break. I binge watched the whole arc until three in the morning. I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Shit gave me chills.
"Hey..."
Naruto's quiet voice reached my ears, and I glanced curiously at him.
"That fist bump you do… it's that ninshū thing you told me about, right?"
"Yes. Want me to teach you?"
The shrimp nodded, smiling in excitement. "Yeah!"
"We'll start in a few days."
He nodded again before going quiet for a while. Suddenly, he looked up at my face, a curious glint in his eyes. "Hey, fox..."
"Mm?"
"Do you have a name?"
I couldn't help a smirk. I've been wondering when he'd finally ask. "What makes you ask that?"
"You can talk and you're smart like gramps..." Naruto scratched at his head, looking a little sheepish. "You're a giant fox, but don't you have a name, too?"
Leaning closer to the gate, I looked Naruto in the eye. "Brat."
Naruto was a bit annoying as a kid, but he grew up to be really cool in Shippuden. I grew up along him, in a way. I first watched the Wave Arc in 6th grade, when it aired on TV with shitty dubs.
I couldn't help a smile at the fond memories. Naruto taught me to never give up on my dreams. Changed my life, I'd say. Now it was my turn to change his.
The brat scowled. "I'm not 'brat'. My name is Naruto. Believe it."
My lips peeled back into a fanged grin. "My name is Kurama." I rose up to my full height, tails swishing lazily behind me as Naruto's eyes widened. "And from now on, we're partners. Believe it."