Nothing was happy in this area. The air contained a thick dinghy vibe, each of the scents flowing inside were that of a distasteful aroma. Water flooded the bottom quarter of the long room and pillars were shoved in the front of the hall; a sinister smirk was beneath the cage.
Naruto knew, he knew that he was here for a purpose. He wiped away his fear and trudged along the misty fog that layered the room. This was Naruto, or at least he thought it was him. Each step that was taken signified more and more of his fears washing away in the bloody drenched water. Soon his eyes narrowed upwards, he still saw pitch black behind the pillars.
"What do you want from me if your disturbing me now?"
A pale imitation of a chuckle left the cage and entered besides Naruto's ears. He felt like taking kunai out, but he knew it was no use against the great beast within him.
It spoke finally in a tenacious remark, "Naruto," The large body of a fox appeared, "When I first met you, you wanted rent. I have paid what you wished and now I want the benefits of my rent!"
Each of its body was slowly coming into shape. First came it's strong lanky arms, soon after its ears and whiskers, and was soon complimented by its full horrendous face. It was a monster. A beast feared by all due to causing harm and anguish.
"I'm not scared of you, you know!" His fists rose, "And I never will be. Believe it!"
Another fake chuckle came along. Naruto tensed his brow and walked back a little. His fear showed a little but as soon as he stepped back, he trudged back forward knowing that he could not show fear against the beast.
"You are a jinchûriki. Me and you have been together since birth and at this point we are one. This means you do not fear yourself, but who does?"
"You don't make sense so shut up and go back inside your cage!"
"You are me, and I am you. If I should shut up then so should you. If your not scared of me then neither am I to you. We are one. Do you understand?"
"I'm tired of your nonsense!"
It moved forward. Finally, its body could be seen and it was fully viewable to the eye. The fox spoke to Naruto from above him. The symbolism in their power echoed through the base of the room.
"Would you like to know where I'm leading to?"
"All this had a point?"
"Foolish child." The fox pointed its sharp nails at Naruto. "If everyone detests me, yet we are one, then do they act the same towards you?"
"What?"
"Still dumb I see. Does everyone you cherish see you for what is inside your belly? Or for what is inside your heart?"
Naruto produced a shadow clone. He had enough of the beasts talking and wanted to fight.
"I have tons of friends. Sasuke, Sakura and many more love me. They don't care for you-"
"What about the people who don't harbour a personal connection to you?" His smirk thickened to reveal his sharp razor teeth. "Your best friends don't know. Yet everyone who does detests and hates you. Me and you are the same, so this means you are a mass murderer that can't be kept custody of. Your a monster."
"They would see me as a friend even if they did know!"
The fox settled his smile. He had already known the battle was won on his side. The plan to weaken the seal within Naruto was about to draw to its conclusion.
"I sense the regret and contradiction in your voice. I am you and you are me, so tell somebody of your secret and I shall lend you all of my chakra if they still love you. If loathing comes however, then you really are what I tell you-"
"No I'm not!"
"You are worthless, useless, feared by everyone, and detestable. Prove me wrong!"
The fox cackled. The water drenched Naruto's feet whilst shaking and gained leverage. Naruto felt a feeling that he was trying to avoid at this moment. Quickly, his eyes shot as he realised something huge.
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After waking up from the realistic nightmare. Naruto walked along konoha in search of his answers. The streets were empty since it was still dawn, however his favourite ramen place was still open at the earliest convenience.
Despite the fact that he had already been the day before with his friends to celebrate their search mission, Naruto went inside again. The man looked at him. His name was Teuchi and was a kind, smart man who treasured Naruto as a companion. His daughter, Ayame hummed along and went to take his order.
"Your usual preference today?"
"Yeah, thanks!"
The girl cheered and ordered her dad a command. Happily, the father-daughter pair were in sync as they served Naruto's ramen. He was always grateful to to them. Teuchi most likely known about the beast within Naruto, since he was old enough to know the news. Ayami was a different story, but because of her fathers behaviour, she respected Naruto as a good customer.
"There's someone that doesn't know, tell her!"
The fox was speaking again. Naruto clenched his stomach as Ayame came along with the food.
"What's wrong, is your stomach doing good before your meal?"
Pain, it was immense. Naruto looked up at his ramen, then up at Ayame. He never had anything against the girl, and sometimes he caught himself talking to her occasionally. But now he could not see her as a friend. He saw her as a challenge.
"I... here's the money for the ramen." His hands produced cash, "I don't think I can eat today. I'm sorry..."
Teuchi came along in confusion but as he saw Naruto's mood he patted him on the head.
"No worries, I'll put it on a cheap bowl and have it sent for your house later. You don't have to pay for delivery."
They were so nice. Ayame was cheerful. Teuchi respected him. Naruto smiled earnestly and left.
"Thank you..."
The sadness was still inside of him, but he thought that a calm walk would help. The streets were not busy, but Naruto's thoughts made it overcrowded.
"You missed your chance. Try the next person."
Hatred to the fox was felt, "Shut up!"
"Fine by me, it just proves your wrong."
He felt like screaming. Painlessly, he clenched his stomach again and tried twisting it. His intentions were to make the fox feel pain but he knew his logic was flawed.
"The next person... the next person... the next person..." He muttered to himself uncontrollably. He was losing sanity. "The next person... the next person... the next person..."
He kept mumbling. Every single word he said had either gone louder or quieter and never kept to the same pitch. His curse was a big one and he could no longer control it. Slowly and slowly he had begun to realise his faults. He was everything the beast had told him he was. Naruto felt water envelope his eyes.
"Um, is that... you, Naruto?"
He stopped mumbling. He looked up whilst a single tear fell off of his eyes. As the drop cascaded down his face, he saw the person who made conversation. It was Hinata, the typical shy friend that Naruto knew. Despite this, he had respected her.
"Are you ok?" She ran to him to wipe his tear off but stepped back as her face reddened. "Did I do something?"
By far the kindest person Naruto had ever met was in front of him. He muttered once more to himself and within him, the nine-tailed beast smirked.
"The next person..."
"What next person?"
"The next person..."
"Um, am I not easy to talk to?" She began feeling sweat across her body, "I'm sorry, I'll be more nicer, just please forgive me."
"The next person..."
"Naruto..."
"The next person..." He stopped another tear from coming.
Hinata, afraid of her friend going through the motion, searched her jacket pocket and produced a singular piece of tissue.
"It's a little chilly this morning so I took this along... Um, would you like it?"
Without speaking, Naruto slowly took it and sniffed. He sniffed slowly at first in embarrassment of his sad status in front of Hinata, but the girl looked away in understanding. After seeing this, he sniffed louder and soon all the excess in his nose migrated into the tissue.
"Thanks Hinata."
"I'm glad I could help..."
The air felt silent. Since it was early in the morning, nobody was around. Naruto took this as his perfect opportunity and tried to speak up to the one friend who would love him no matter what.
"If I told you something about me... would you like to hear it?"
The girl blushed harder, "Um... what kind of thing?"
"I..." His ears begun to cancel out the noise of his beating heart, "I can't... I can't do it!"
"What wrong?"
Naruto slumped to the ground. He punched the floor in sadness, "Damn it!"
Hinata tried to get closer to Naruto. Despite being completely shy around the one she loved, her kindness enabled her to get closer. Suddenly, Naruto ran away. She watched him run away. Everything that had just happened was still registering inside of her. It did not seem realistic to her.
Meanwhile, Naruto felt horrible. He had just ditched the one friend who could listen, and as he ran through the village to his apartment. The fox's voice echoed through his body.
"You missed your chance. Try the next person."
______________________________________________________________________
Normally, she would have been too scared to do anything. However, in this instant she told Tsunade about it at such an urgent state that Jiraiya did not have time to see himself out of their established meeting.
The two great sannin listened with great curiosity. The plan they were discussing was taking its full course. They reassured the young girl and as she left, they could tell about her feeling for him.
"That Naruto knows nothing about women!"
Tsunade chuckled to herself when Jiraiya made the comment. "Coming from you that means a lot. But I do see what you mean..."
"Why obsess over Sakura, when there is another one right in front of you?" He tilted his head in confusion but then smiled. "Oh, guess I found some research after all!"
In irritation, Tsunade punched him. The two continued bickering, however it was clear that from this day on, Hinata would be an important character in Naruto's life.
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Characters:
1. Kakashi the copy ninja
2. Naruto the knucklehead
3. Sasuke of the uchiha clan
4. Tsunade the new hokage
5. Ibiki the expert
6. Jiraiya the gallant
7. Sakura the brains
8. Danzo Of ROOT
9. Anko as Sasuke's new teacher
10. Yamato as Naruto's new teacher
11. Sai of ROOT
12. Shizune as Tsunade's assistant
13. Tonton as Tsunade's pig
14. Suigetsu the liquid mystery
15. Kabuto as a villain
16. Hinata of the hyuga clan