[Chapter Size: 2700 Words.]
Unknown Location, 43.
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"Kurama, it seems I won," Naruto said, jumping off her chest and landing directly on Kurama's nose, staring into her red eyes with a smile while she was unable to do anything now.
But her eyes were still filled with anger toward Naruto.
Naruto could hardly believe it. Until a few months ago, he had been overwhelmed by Kurama's chakra. Now, he kept the fox pinned down beneath his new powers.
His strength was now dozens of times greater than his former self's in just a few months.
Naruto could barely believe it, but there was the result before him as he continued staring at Kurama.
But he sighed; there had been a time when he hated this fox. Truly hated her.
He always blamed her for the biggest problems in his life once he learned there was a monster inside him: the village's rejection, the mistreatment, and the hatred the villagers harbored toward him.
So much so that when he arrived in this world and started walking around the village, he even found it strange how people, despite living in a different era, did not look at him with hatred. They merely observed him with curiosity and even some respect for living with the Namikaze family.
Even Kushina, whom everyone knew was Kurama's jinchūriki—since even the Bingo Book had openly declared her powers to the entire world—was treated with respect.
Everyone respected her strength and admired her.
There were no eyes filled with hatred and fear; people asked how she was doing, how her family was doing, and even whether she was pregnant with Minato's child, since she had been married for quite some time.
Naruto, despite being able to sense the difference in treatment he would have received without Kurama, still could not blame her for everything.
Even if she had done terrible things, was it worth continuing to nurture that hatred?
Naruto thought about the relationship his mother's Kurama had with her, and it could not be said that they were mortal enemies. They had become companions.
The same Kurama who was there should be like his own, and he even felt a certain envy toward his mother's relationship with the bijuu.
Looking at the fox before him, he could tell that his own Kurama also had eyes like those. The difference was that she would not give in easily.
She still carried that defiant look.
Minato had explained to him how he should subdue Kurama. When he took her chakra, he would also have to fight against her hatred.
After all, using the fox's chakra to become stronger also meant carrying the weight of that hatred.
He took a deep breath and looked at his parents from this world, floating in the air and watching him.
He also thought about that strange chakra that had appeared earlier. A chakra very similar to Minato's, but slightly different.
"Could it really have been him?" Naruto thought.
Minato had somehow forced the chakra to retreat with that shockwave... Naruto knew there had to be a reason for it, but for now, Naruto trusted this world's Minato completely. He had done it for a reason.
Naruto could not have asked for a better teacher. He and his mother from this world had helped Naruto reach a level of strength he had never imagined in his entire life.
He had also changed his appearance, inheriting his mother's hair, and he thought it was really cool. He could even notice the interested looks from other Uzumaki girls when he walked through the clan, as well as from some kunoichi and girls in the village.
Naruto had never been very good with women. Sasuke was always the popular one and had the attention of all the girls around them... And Naruto had always ignored that sort of thing, but somehow, he had become more handsome with red hair and without those marks on his face. Girls his age would giggle and smile at him, which left him feeling awkward.
Now, he had learned about his clan, his origins, where his surname came from, and the burden he carried within himself. He would also take all of that back to his own world, where the Uzumaki Clan no longer existed, but whose teachings would continue to live on through him and everything he had learned in that place.
And he got to know his parents a little. Although the Minato and Kushina of this world might have been somewhat different from his real parents, since they belonged to separate realities, they were still the same at their core.
They had allowed him to call them father and mother, allowed him to get to know them. They had given him a taste of what it was like to have a family. Naruto might not have lived with them, but he spent most of his time with them, sharing every meal together. Kushina always prepared a cake or some sweets for them, and she was very affectionate toward him.
They had taken pictures together, gone around the village many times, and eaten together at restaurants on numerous occasions.
Naruto had also met famous people from the past.
People he had never heard of before, but who held important names in Konoha's history.
He met, of course, the Tsunade and Jiraiya of this world. He even got to meet Hiruzen.
Although Hiruzen was always confined to his residence by village decree due to his crimes as Hokage.
As for Hiruzen, Minato had not failed to mention that he believed the way the village learned Naruto was a jinchūriki and began treating him that way might have had something to do with Hiruzen and Danzō.
That was a bit shocking for Naruto. To learn that Hiruzen, the man who had always taken care of him as a child, might have merely been giving him scraps so that he would always have someone to turn to and remain loyal.
Even though Minato said it was only his assumption, because none of it made sense. His parents had been the village's heroes. They had sacrificed themselves to stop Kurama from destroying Konoha and sealed the fox inside their son so that the village would not also lose its military power.
After all, a war could have begun as soon as the other nations discovered that Konoha no longer possessed the Nine-Tails Fox to maintain the balance of power among the villages.
Minato had explained all of that, but without mentioning anything about the masked man, since that was information Minato should not have known. He merely limited himself to making assumptions based on what Naruto had told him about his childhood and what he had heard from Yamato.
So they simply made assumptions within the bounds of logic.
Naruto could understand his parents' decisions even more now. Especially since his father had been the Hokage and needed to protect the village. And it was precisely because of that that he began to realize that none of it made sense.
It made no sense for them to allow the village to treat him that way. They should have treated him like a hero or, at the very least, like Konohamaru, who was appreciated for being the Third Hokage's grandson.
Konohamaru was treated well, while Naruto had always been treated like despicable trash, isolated from everyone else.
Meanwhile, the only helping hand he had was extremely limited. Even those who should have protected him so he could have a happy life never did enough to stop it.
Even so, Naruto wanted to meet the Hiruzen of this world. He spoke with him for a while, but there was no longer the happiness he would have felt before learning all this information. He only said that he was a friend, after all Naruto had cried at the Third's funeral, and that he had died tragically in their world at Orochimaru's own hands.
Naruto talked a little about his world. There was no reason to hide that information when the world had already changed so much.
Hiruzen thanked him, but their conversation ended there. Hiruzen did not know Naruto, and although he already had some ideas, he no longer involved himself in the village's affairs, as he had been forbidden to do so. Perhaps also because of personal guilt.
In any case, that world had given Naruto far more light than shadows.
In fact, he was happy to have come here. For the first time, he was able to feel what it was like to have two people care for him the way parents would.
He liked having a family. Even if he got beaten up during some training sessions, they always took care of him afterward and cared about him in a way that was different from all of his friends back in his world.
"I've become stronger, and I won't give up here!" Returning to reality, Naruto said as he jumped backward and stepped off Kurama's snout.
"What is he doing?" Kushina immediately asked from the air. She could feel that Naruto was about to do something.
Meanwhile, Minato smiled. "He's taking the test."
With those words, they watched Naruto crouch down, raise the palm of his hand, and press it directly against Kurama's chest.
The next moment, chakra erupted, surging through Naruto's hands.
"He's doing it this close to her?" Kushina said in surprise.
After all, that tug-of-war between chakras had happened at some distance in the original story. But this red-haired Naruto was doing it right there, with his hand pressed directly against Kurama.
Minato simply wore a satisfied smile as he watched. It was bold, but it was also clear that Naruto was quite confident.
So he let him continue, and both of them could feel the chakra beginning to flow directly into Naruto.
He did not seem to have any problems, continuing to absorb it.
Kushina could feel part of her hatred-filled chakra turning pure red and filling Naruto's palm.
But the redhead did not give up. "I won't let the hatred affect me," Naruto said to himself. Kushina was a little worried from afar.
Naruto remained resolute. He had heard about his mother's experience against the hatred. She had spoken about the happiness of seeing Naruto for the first time, even though it had been extremely strange for her. Since Minato had presented a family to Kushina, the child shown in the light images looked just like blond Naruto, while he had created an image of their family living together in an apartment to help Kushina overcome Kurama's hatred.
The hatred tried to fight Naruto, and he could hear voices from deep within.
"Freak!"
"You should just disappear."
"Never show your face in my shop again!"
"The Hokage should make you disappear..."
"Monster!"
But Naruto thought about the joy of receiving a hug from a woman who said she was his mother. Of hearing that she was proud of him for being her son.
Of how, after every training session, she would always prepare something for them to eat together. Of hugging her happily. Of exchanging jokes and laughing by her side.
Kushina could even seem like an older sister. But she was making an effort to become a mother to Naruto, even for a sixteen-year-old Naruto.
He also remembered Minato teaching him how to become stronger. The words of encouragement. The patience he had in helping him. Even going easy on him at times, allowing Naruto to grow stronger. His father in this world was always confident and strong, a role model Naruto had begun striving to reach, the kind of Hokage he also wanted to become. Everyone respected him, everyone around him liked and loved his father there...
He also remembered Captain Yamato, Kakashi-sensei, Sakura-chan, Sai, Tsunade-baachan, Ero-sennin, and all the others.
Then that red chakra, filled with corruption, began to retreat.
"You're doing this?!" Kurama seemed surprised and managed to shout this time. She began to grow thinner as her chakra started disappearing into Naruto.
And she barely managed to finish the sentence. The Adamantine Chains behind Naruto's back began tightening even more.
They were pulled back while constricting every part of Kurama's body once again, completely immobilizing her.
Naruto continued doing this for some time until he finally absorbed the last of the chakra, feeling a new power within him.
The next moment, he was surprised... He was glowing gold, just like his mother did when she used Kurama's chakra.
As he looked at his hands, someone landed beside him.
"You did it, dattebane!" Kushina's joyful shout made Naruto look back as she landed there and hugged him happily.
Placing a hand on his shoulder and clenching her fists, she continued, "You really did it, Naruto! I knew you would succeed, dattebane!" she said before stepping back a little and also transforming into pure golden chakra.
Hers was different, since she used the cloak at an advanced level, as she had Kurama's own cooperation.
But the two states were identical.
"I did it, Mom! Dattebayo!" Naruto replied happily at the resemblance between them.
Meanwhile, Minato landed beside Kurama, whose head was still being forced backward. "I'm going to ask him to stop taking your chakra. Could you please not try to kill him?"
Minato maintained a calm tone beside Kurama, speaking near her ear while patting her head.
"You wanted to challenge him. You wanted to see if he was worthy of fighting by your side. I believe that with this, he has proven his strength more than enough. After all, he didn't even really use all of his powers. You know that. You called him weak, but Naruto exceeded all of your expectations two months ago..."
Kurama simply listened, unable to respond.
"You need to fight alongside each other in the future, Kurama. My wife told you that some time ago. She already explained everything that needed to be said..." With those words, Minato returned to where Kushina and Naruto were talking.
"You two, move away from there. And Naruto, remove the chains." Naruto heard Minato and felt confident enough to fight Kurama if she tried anything again. His parents were there to help as well.
Quickly, the chains began withdrawing from her mouth, arms, tails, and every other part of Kurama's body. They returned to Naruto's back before he landed beside Kushina.
Kurama adjusted herself. She did not refrain from letting out a growl full of fury, baring her clenched teeth, but she did nothing beyond showing her displeasure.
She simply stood up. "I'm going to sleep for a while." That was all she said before returning to the lake within the prison.
Naruto watched this with a confused expression. "What happened? Why is she acting like that?"
"There's no denying that her ego is wounded, but she has also acknowledged you, Naruto. You are now strong enough to remove that gate and prison from her as well. You're also strong enough to deal with her. I don't believe she's going to do anything else now. But you still have the mission of getting closer to her and becoming her friend," Minato approached his son.
Naruto nodded. He could feel that he now had much greater control without the seal.
He clenched both fists and simply began removing all the bars that separated Kurama's area from the forest where they were.
There was no longer any reason to keep them there. It was quite a significant change.
Unlike what happened in the original story, where Naruto had to lock Kurama up again with those gates falling from the sky, which Minato himself had also used while in Senju Sage Mode, Kurama was now free.
But she did not seem to care in the slightest. She simply kept walking until she lay down and went to sleep.
"But what is this?" Naruto suddenly felt something.
With the greater control over his own mental world, he was also able to sense other chakras that were inside him.
Hearing that, Minato smiled. "So you felt it." He nodded, satisfied with Naruto's discovery. "Good. It's time for you to see them, Naruto," he declared.
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