"Narutoooo!" shouted the other members of Team 7. Naruto didn't move, his eyelids simply quivered and closed, before his body slumped to the ground.
"Where...am I...?"
Drip!
"My...mind...?"
Drip!
"You're still weak, Naruto" boomed a deep voice.
"Tsk, don't...pester me...now..." spoke a tired Naruto, standing shakily. The fox smirked at him before leaning low, breathing against the gate of his seal. "You're still too weak. Beaten by a mere clone!" The fox laughed at his container with a sly smirk. Naruto grit his teeth and growled under his breath, mustering up what little strength he had left. "Would you...just...be...SILENT!" Naruto turned up to him and glared at him, his Sharingan spinning wildly. Naruto stared into the beast's eyes, subconsciously trying to make it cease its taunts. The Kyuubi paused for a moment before scoffing at his host. "Your Sharingan pales before the bastards that contorlled me. You need my power, Naruto, otherwise...you'll die here. The Biju let out a roaring laugh and smirked at him. "Your parents will have died protecting a failure, a failure who died on his first real mission. You're still weak, Naruto, weak!" The Kyuubi cackled and laughed. "The Yondaime died to save a worthless brat! How ironic that the greatest shinobi of your village died to save the weakest! Let me out, Naruto, and I will show you the power you desire." The beast gave a dark and terrifying grin. After all these years he knew exactly what buttons to push. All he needed was a single seed of doubt brought on by a near death experience and he could finally push the pieces into place. He wasn't a fox just for show, he had the cunning to match. His last container proved herself to be powerful in her own right, but his current container was weaker than her. He simply couldn't allow that, especially when the boy had so much potential. He was tired of watching, waiting for Naruto to become stronger when he knew the boy could. All that was necessary was a little...push.
Naruto walked, unsteadily, towards the gate of the seal. He stumbled and fell once, ignoring the Biju's watchful gaze as he finally reached the gate. The water beneath him swirled in a raging torrent, lifting him high into the air and in front of the seal. "Kyuubi...what do I do now? Tear this thing off?" The fox smirked "I thought you were supposed to be one of the smarter brats? Yes tear it off, you moron!". In a moment, Naruto gripped the top of the paper, preparing to take it off and gain the power he desired. "I'll never be seen as weak again. I'll become stronger than anyone alive. I'll surpass all that stand in my way!"
After what felt like an eternity, Naruto finally fell from the raging waters that were pulling him up and the change on the seal disappeared. Naruto slowly sat up, pushing himself up onto one knee, glancing down and noticing the dark circle where his seal was. "Strange...I don't remember seeing that...and I'm not tired anymore. What happened?" Naruto looked up to the seal, seeing it perfectly intact. "Minato, speak to your little brat over there. He's gotten far too reliant on my strength. He needs to become strong in his own right before he begins using my strength again, he's used it as a crutch." With that, the Kyuubi retreated into the darkness and closed his eyes, deciding to sleep until the little reunion was over. Boy, did he hate Naruto's eyes widened immediately upon hearing the name of the man in front of him. "Mi...nato...?" "I put my chakra into the seal, in case you might lose control and get taken over by the Kyuubi...I didn't expect it to be so soon..." Naruto grit his teeth. "Then again, maybe that's a good thing...? I've wanted to see how my son was d-" Naruto punched the man in the stomach as hard as he possibly could, causing Minato to recoil and nearly fall to his knees. "You...you're the one...who made my life...a living HELL!" Naruto slammed his fist into his cheek, sending Minato's face to the side. "Over and over, time after time, they made my life hell before the massacre! Then, they said I did it, they said I killed all of my clan members! They beat me until I was almost dead, and they still didn't stop! Then I lost control and gave in, and slaughtered them all! Then I had to watch everything happen again and again because of that damn Tsukiyomi! All because you had to seal that beast inside me! Why? WHY?!" Minato looked away ashamed. "Naruto...I thought that you could one day control the Kyuubi, one day defeat it and become strong. I hoped that you could be a hero...not a villain..." Naruto grit his teeth, tears threatening to escape from his Sharingan eyes. Naruto's lip quivered, trying to speak but being unable to bring himself to do so. He simply couldn't do it, he understood why his father had chosen to seal it in him. If the Kyuubi really killed his parents, then the only way to keep the Kyuubi from rampaging across the world was to seal it in a child, to make him a Jinchuriki. That was the only option, and yet Naruto still felt bitter.
"Naruto...your eyes...are those?" All Naruto could give was a nod, gritting his teeth hard as he fought to beat back his suppressed emotions. He refused to be weak ever again, he promised himself that, and here he was about to burst into tears over his own damn father. He felt like a damn child again and he hated that. "Naruto...how old are you?" "T-twelve..." choked out a struggling Naruto. Minato smiled at him "I can't believe how strong you are, I never thought you'd be a greater prodigy than even me." Naruto grit his teeth further, hating himself for being broken down so easily by his father's worthless praise. "Naruto, I want you to know that I never wanted this to happen to you. I never wanted anything bad for you. I only wanted you to be strong, to be the best you could be, and to be happy." The flood gates opened with that, and Naruto simply broke down and cried. After all, he was only twelve and had witnessed over a dozen killings by his own hand, witnessed over a dozen more corpses of his own clan, and been beaten nearly to death a dozen times. A boy can only be so strong for so long before he must release all that pent up emotion. Finally, Naruto broke down and cried for the first time since the Uchiha Massacre.
After almost five full minutes of sobbing, Naruto finally pulled himself together and stood. Wiping his eyes, Naruto spoke "Minato...Tou-san...I..." "Relax, Naruto, explain whatever you feel comfortable with talking about. I'll be here for you, no matter what." Minato gave him another one of his signature smiles before snapping his fingers. In the blink of an eye, they were in a more serene place, free of the sewer-like area of his mindscape. Now, the two were in the middle of a grassy clearing, sitting on rocks opposite of each other. Naruto released a sigh before sitting up and beginning to explain.
"Well, first, I was being attacked by the villagers since I could walk. Every birthday I spent being chased by drunken, angry mobs. Everytime I was caught I was beaten within an inch of my life, only the fox stood between myself and death. Even then, I still forced a smile to seem alright, even if it was just to keep...Hiruzen happy. For some reason or another, I wanted to visit Sasuke...Fugaku's younger son, but when I arrived...I..." Naruto took a deep breath. "All I could see were bodies, the bodies of the Uchiha clan. The villagers, stupid as they were, immediately felt I had done it, and deserved to die. They attacked me...but the thought that my only friend was dead, and that I was being blamed and attacked again...made me snap. I...I killed them, all of them, shinobi and citizen alike. My Sharingan awoke...I channeled the Kyuubi's chakra subconsciously, and killed all of them. By the time I calmed down, I realized what I'd done. Then Itachi came and cast his Tsukiyomi on me. I was forced to experience that hellish night over and over and over until it broke me. When I woke up I was different, the experience and the Sharingan changed me and I became emotionless. Then I found out who my father was, blackmailed Hiruzen into giving me your estate and money and jutsu and came up with my own goal. I decided I wanted to become the greatest in the world, to silence all opposition and become greater than anyone alive. It's what I decided I'd wanted. In the latter half of my time in the Academy I was attacked by Danzo's Root nin and realized he wanted me under his control. I fought and beat the Root shinobi, told the Sandaime, and then Danzo backed off. A few more years later, I finished the Academy and joined Team 7 under Kakashi. This was supposed to be my first C-Rank mission, but it's turned into something close to an A or B-Rank. That doesn't change the fact that I was beaten by a clone and gave into the Kyuubi though...dammit...I'm still so weak..."
Minato laughed and ruffled his hair. "You're not weak, Naruto, you're the best damn Genin I've ever seen or heard of. You've exceeded my hopes and expectations years ago, I'm proud of you Naruto. I'm sorry for all that's happened because I made you a Jinchuriki, but tell the Sandaime I told him it was alright to tell the village. I wanted him to tell you when you were old enough to defend yourself, I wanted the village to know when you were strong enough, but I think you're more than strong enough." Minato gave him a proud smile before pausing for a moment. "Hey, did you say you got my jutsu from old Hiruzen?" Naruto nodded "I've been struggling with the Hiraishin, could you give me a pointer or two?" "Seals, Naruto, it's just a seal. That's really as there is to it." Naruto had to resist the urge to launch him across the clearing. "You mean to tell me your notes are all just fancily worded bullshit?" Minato only laughed a bit nervously, "Ah well, sorta...ehehe..."
Naruto just sighed and stood, activating his Sharingan. "Tou-san...how much chakra do you have left, how much time left?" Minato blinked in surprise before remembering the Sharingan could see chakra. "I don't have much left at all, maybe a minute at most." "Then...I need you to do something for me..." Minato nodded quickly "Sure, anything, Kushina wouldn't let me live this down if I didn't help you." Naruto nodded and created a Rasengan in his hand. "Tou-san...I want to use you to awaken the Mangekyou." Minato, realizing what he meant, simply nodded solemnly. "I've told you all I wanted to tell you, Naruto. And now, I've got to go and tell Kushina how great our son grew up to be. Go ahead. Awaken the Mangekyou, and keep making us proud, alright?" Minato gave him a final smile before Naruto tearfully slammed the ball of pure chakra into Minato's chest, causing the chakra to begin to dissipate. The Yondaime's face formed a pained expression momentarily, before he smiled tearfully.
"I love you, Naruto."
The tomoe of Naruto's Sharingan spun rapidly, the tails of the tomoe shooting out and spiralling and crisscrossing over and over and over again, until finally his eyes spun once more and then snapped shut, tears dripping out. When he'd opened them again, he was staring into the eyes of his Biju. "You owe me for this, Naruto. I gave you the power you desired and more. I expect this debt to be paid in full." Naruto simply nodded and sat down, resting his eyes. "I do owe you, that's for certain. You gave Minato more chakra in order to stick around longer, didn't you?" The fox simply smirked in response and rested its chin on its paws. It was more than enough of an answer for Naruto, who simply nodded and stood. "I suppose it's time to test these eyes. And...thank you, Kyuubi."
Things had gone from bad, to a lot, lot worse.
Kakashi had watched Naruto be struck down by Zabuza's clone and then he started to go through his Biju transformations. Naruto had gotten all the way up to the fifth tail before suddenly the chakra exploded outward, blowing the others away. In the chaos, Zabuza slipped away, but Kakashi still had a five tailed Naruto to deal with. At least, that's what he thought. Once again the chakra shifted suddenly, dissipating within an instant, allowing Sakura to stand back up and breathe. The two Sharingan wielding nin who were still standing noticed the chakra was completely gone. They watched Naruto stand up slowly, before opening his eyes to show a strange design. Sasuke had instantly known what it meant, but it took Kakashi a moment to recognize that the design was vastly different from the normal Sharingan. "Thats...!" Naruto took a deep breath, opening and closing his eyes slowly, adjusting himself to his enhanced visual prowess. "Now to test my newfound powers." Naruto pumped chakra into his right eye, eager to see his newfound powers.