"Now we have one more secret that no one else knows about. Let's keep it between us." Naruto said.
Ino's reaction was intense, her hand was warm and soft.
Letting herself be led, she followed Naruto back home in a daze, as if they had gone for a long walk and then returned.
With a bang, the door was pushed open. Without waiting to turn on the lights, Ino pulled her hand away and rushed into the bathroom with a flushed face.
"Are you okay?" Naruto knocked on the bathroom door from the outside.
"I'm fine!"
There was no light in the living room. Naruto lay on the sofa, thinking it would be a while before Ino came out, so he simply closed his eyes and let his consciousness sink into the seal space.
Drip.
Drip.
Naruto opened his eyes suddenly, and the mountainous figure of Kyubi appeared before him. The DVD player was playing nothing, but Kyubi wasn't dozing off as usual, instead, he was staring intently at Naruto.
It was as if Kyubi had known Naruto would come, and his face was full of wariness and caution.
"What have you done this time? There's a disgusting smell on you."
"Is there?" Naruto sniffed himself and looked up at Kyubi, "Does spiritual consciousness have a smell?"
"Of course it does." Kyuubi replied in a tone that suggested he was lecturing a younger generation, "You've been tainted with another scent, something like a curse. Anyway, brat, stay away from me."
Naruto thought about it and realized that the 'curse' Kyubi mentioned was likely from the system's Jashin's Dog.
'Even in the seal space, Kyubi could sense it, which meant it could potentially contain Kyubi.'
In truth, Naruto was more interested in containing Danzo, hoping to get a dog with a Sharingan that could use Izanagi.
But Danzo's current combat power is really outrageous. Without the proper tools, he felt it was best not to confront Danzo. After all, dealing with Kyubi's situation was still the priority.
"Kurouma, are you scared?" Naruto suddenly laughed, with a hint of smugness in his voice.
"How could I be scared? I just don't want to get too close to you."
"I see. My apologies then." Naruto said this, but he couldn't stop smiling, "Kurama, how about we have a good talk?"
He realized his moral bottom line were slipping lower and lower, to the point where he was even trying to deceive a fox.
"What's there to discuss with a human brat like you!" Kyubi looked down on Naruto, with his huge fox head resting outside the red bars and his eyes looking particularly fierce.
"Get lost, you cursed brat. Stay away from me."
"You're going to make me sad talking like that. Don't you have any feelings for me at all?"
"Feelings? With you? Can you even talk like a human and not like..." Kyubi couldn't show facial expressions, but somehow Naruto could see disdain in his eyes.
"To be honest, Kurama, I'm the one who cares about you the most." Naruto moved a bit closer, "Everyone outside just wants to take your power. They're either trying to seal you away or treat you like some kind of offering."
"But I'm different. I never thought of using you, and I'm always thinking about giving you freedom. If you don't believe me, go out and ask around. You won't find a Jinchuriki as good as me anywhere in the entire Shinobi World."
Kurama shifted its gaze, staring at Naruto with a doubtful look but remained silent.
"Do you know what life Shukaku goes through? He's locked up all day, chatting with some old man, and later, he is sealed into the body of a little jerk, being suppressed all day long."
Naruto attempted to appeal to Kurama's emotions, trying to make it understand the difference in living conditions among the Biju.
"Look at you. You can watch DVDs every day and you get to eat whatever you want. Aren't these enough to satisfy you? All of these are things I've had to work my butt off to afford. I barely able to spend on myself."
"I'm barely making ends meet, working hard to save money to buy you toys and food. I'm already 30 million ryo in debt, and I hide from place to place every day for fear of being hacked to death by debt collectors."
As Naruto spoke, he covered his face with a look of pain. If he could cry, he would have tears streaming down his face in the seal space.
Kyubi was annoyed just by looking at him, and his brain felt like it was about to split after listening to Naruto's long-winded explanation.
"Is everything you said true?"
"Of course it's true! I, Uzumaki Naruto, never lie."
"Hmm, considering you've been providing for me, I'll believe you this time." Kyubi said hesitantly, "But don't get too cocky, this is what you should be doing."
"As a Jinchuriki, I am guilty. It is all my fault that Kurama-sama has suffered. I repent every day. I often wake up from nightmares. The indescribable guilt makes me want to die to atone for my sins."
"Uh... no, you don't have to go that far." Kyubi didn't know what to say for a moment.
"I must. I'm going to take on three more jobs for Kurama-sama, even if it kills me from exhaustion."
Naruto's acting became more and more smooth. He thought about all the sad things he could think of in his previous life, forced out a few tears, and collapsed on the ground.
"It doesn't matter if I work like a horse. I've had a miserable life since birth. If serving Kurama-sama can give my life a little meaning…"
"Even if it's just a little, I'm willing."
Kurama was somewhat swayed, looking at the wretch lying in the seal space, remembering how he had torn through his parents, and suddenly felt a bit guilty.
"Kid... get up first, don't act like I'm…"
"Huh?" Naruto suddenly noticed that his consciousness was gradually fading, as if he was being pulled out of the seal space.
"How come he fell asleep on the sofa again? It's really a headache."
"The lights in the living room aren't on. Aren't you afraid of catching a cold sleeping here?"
Naruto suddenly opened his eyes, just in time to see Ino bending over, wrapped in a towel. Her wet hair hung down, and a drop of water fell on his cheek.
"Ah!" Ino had one hand holding her towel tightly, but she was still startled.
The living room was pitch black, only the orange light from the bathroom allowed them to see. Naruto, waking up on the couch, could only see Ino enveloped in the bright, thread-like light.
Her skin, flushed red from the bath, was as vivid as a blooming flower. Ino suddenly felt like she had nowhere to hide, her expression one of feigned anger, but she didn't scold him.
"Is it nice?" Ino unexpectedly asked.
"Cough cough cough!" Naruto choked, bending over in a fit of coughing. He quickly muttered, "I'll get you some clothes," before rushing into the room.
After saying that, Ino's face turned bright red and she began to regret saying such thing.
'But Mom said that if I didn't say something like that at this time, I wouldn't be able to impress a man at all, and I would probably just lose completely. Still… it was so embarrassing.'
'Although there's an unexpected reaction from that idiot, it was unexpectedly cute.' Ino stood beside the sofa with her eyes looking down, trying her best to suppress her smile.