Chapter 349 — Dreamwalk: The Fox and the Flood
The dream world shimmered like a veil of mist and memory, stitched together by chakra and subconscious thought. Malik walked through it with practiced ease, his footsteps silent against the shifting terrain of other people's minds. The air here was neither warm nor cold—it was aware, like the world itself was watching him pass.
He drifted past dreams like lanterns on a river: a child dreaming of flying, a shinobi reliving a battle with a different ending, a merchant dreaming of a feast he'd never afford. Each dream pulsed with its own rhythm, its own emotional hue. Malik didn't linger. He was searching for one in particular.
And then he found it.
A swirl of orange and blue chakra curled around a doorway of thought, pulsing with the unmistakable signature of Naruto Uzumaki. Malik stepped through without hesitation.
Naruto's Dream. At first, it was simple.
Naruto was dreaming of ramen.
Not just eating it—being in it. He was swimming through a sea of broth, laughing as noodles wrapped around his arms like affectionate eels. The sky was miso-colored, and the clouds were sliced fishcake. Sakura was there, rolling her eyes but smiling. Sasuke sat on a floating bench, pretending not to enjoy himself. Kakashi read a waterproof (brothproof?) book. Even Tsunade was there, lounging in a giant bowl like a human-shaped crouton.
Malik watched from the edge, amused. The dream was warm, silly, and deeply Naruto. But it wasn't what he came for.
He drifted deeper. The ramen faded. The laughter dimmed. The dream peeled back like layers of an onion, and Malik passed through the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style with a flick of his fingers. The seal shimmered, recognized him, and parted like water.
The Subconscious Plane, Malik entered Naruto's subconscious.
It was vast. Cold. Wet.
An underground complex stretched before him—pipes snaking along the ceiling like veins, hallways branching off into memory and instinct. The floor was flooded with a shallow layer of water, rippling with chakra. Malik, ever particular, floated above it, his feet dry by choice. Even in dreams, soggy socks were unacceptable.
The deeper he went, the more the water rose. Not physically, but emotionally. The pressure of Kurama's presence was palpable—like a tide waiting to break.
And then he saw it.
The cage.
Massive. Ancient. The bars wide enough for Malik to walk through, but far too narrow for the beast behind them. A parchment seal with the kanji for "seal" (封) hung across the gate, glowing faintly. Behind it, the lock pulsed like a heartbeat.
Dark liquid seeped from the cage—chakra, thick and heavy, curling toward Malik like ink in water.
He didn't flinch. Not even for The Fox.
Kurama loomed behind the bars, red-orange fur bristling, eyes glowing like twin suns dipped in blood. Its claws scraped the floor, one paw reaching through the bars just far enough to remind Malik that it could reach him—if only barely.
"You smell like mischief," Kurama growled, voice deep and ancient. "And you walk like someone who thinks he's safe."
Malik hovered just beyond the reach of the claw, arms folded, expression calm. "I am safe. This is a dream. Yours, technically."
Kurama snarled, but it wasn't full of venom. More like irritation. "You're not supposed to be here."
"I'm not supposed to be a lot of places," Malik replied. "But I show up anyway."
The fox narrowed its eyes. "You came to gawk? To poke the monster in the cage?"
"No," Malik said. "I came to ask how you're doing."
That stopped Kurama cold.
"…What?"
"How are you?" Malik repeated. "Not as a weapon. Not as a chakra source. Just… you."
Kurama blinked. The water rippled. The pipes groaned.
"Washi doesn't get asked that," the fox muttered. "Not by humans. Not by dreamwalkers."
"Washi? What a strange thing for a fox to call itself, but moving on, "I'm not most humans, in fact, I'm not human," Malik said. "And I'm not here to take anything."
Kurama studied him, then huffed. "I'm bored. I'm tired. I'm proud. I'm annoyed. I'm… conflicted."
"About Naruto?"
Kurama's ears twitched at the name, the water around Malik's feet swirling faster. The massive fox shifted, its tails flicking against the cage bars with a sound like steel against steel.
"Naruto," Kurama repeated, as if tasting the word. "The container. The seal. The boy who thinks he can contain what cannot be contained."
"And what is that?" Malik asked, keeping his tone carefully neutral. "What exactly cannot be contained?"
The fox's red-orange fur bristled, chakra leaking from the cage in thick, dark tendrils. The parchment seal on the door flickers, weakening for just a moment before steadying again.
"Me," Kurama snarls. "Us. This power. This rage. This... hunger."
Malik watches as the fox's massive paws tighten around the bars. "Naruto says he's getting better, that he's learning control. But I can see your lust for death and rage in your eyes. . . " "Control is an illusion," Kurama growls, claws flexing against the iron bars. "Naruto thinks he can cage me, shape me, make me something I'm not. But you've seen what I am. You've felt it in the chakra that pours from me, in the hunger that never sleeps."
The massive fox's eyes burn like embers, its tails lashing against the cage. "I am destruction. I am the storm that devours all in its path. And no boy, no matter how strong, can truly contain me." "Naruto is not the one who sealed you away, but you blame him, why?" Malik asked the fly to fly up higher to head level with the caged fox. Kurama's massive head turns sharply, eyes narrowing as it regards Malik.
The water around the cage churns, reflecting the fox's agitated state. "Naruto blames himself for everything," the beast growls, claws scraping against the metal bars. "But he doesn't understand. The seals, the cage - it's all a lie. A pretty illusion to make humans feel safe."
The fox's tails lash violently, sending ripples through the water. "I didn't ask to be sealed. I didn't ask to be cut in half. I was betrayed by those who feared me, by those too weak to live in a world where I existed. And now," Kurama's eyes blaze with fury and something akin to sorrow, "now I'm forced to live in the mind of a boy who thinks he can change what I am."
Malik gave the fox a smile, "That's fair, maybe, we can all do a little better. I've been too passive; maybe it's time to make some big changes. But, I'll need your help, for example, maybe don't threaten to eat Naruto every time he comes and sees you. I know you're locked up, but he is still so young; give him time to grow. (Make sure everything is in 3rd person!!!!) Kurama's massive form stills, ears twitching at Malik's words. The water around the cage stops its violent churning, settling into slow ripples. The fox's eyes—those ancient, burning eyes—narrow to slits.
"You want me to be patient?" Kurama's voice carries the rumble of distant thunder. "You want me to sit quietly in this cage while the boy who inherited me stumbles through life?"
Malik doesn't flinch, doesn't retreat. "I'm suggesting you consider your role. You're not just a weapon. Not just a monster."
Kurama's lips pull back, revealing fangs that shine like gold in the dim light of the subconscious. "And what would you have me be, dreamwalker? A pet? A guardian?" The fox's massive paw slams against the bars, the sound echoing through the flooded halls. "I am the Nine-Tails. I am power. I am destruction."
Malik wagged his finger at the giant fox, "You also said, I quote: 'I'm bored. I'm tired. I'm proud. I'm annoyed. I'm… conflicted." End quote, so I'm suggesting a little change is all, nothing too big, it just needs time, and you have a lot of time, Am I wrong, Mr. Fox?" Kurama's ears flick at Malik's words, the massive fox's tails stilling their agitated lashing. The water around the cage settles into gentle ripples, mirroring the beast's internal struggle. Its golden eyes, burning with ancient fury, flicker with something else—curiosity, perhaps, or reluctant acknowledgment.
"You speak as if you understand," Kurama growls, but the edge of hostility has dulled. "As if you know what it is to be caged, to be watched and feared and... misunderstood." The fox's massive head shifts, claws flexing against the iron bars. "Time is a luxury, yes. But patience?"
A low, rumbling chuckle escapes Kurama's throat, the sound reverberating through the flooded halls. "You ask much of a beast that was born of the wilds, dreamwalker."
Malik's smile doesn't waver, his body floating steadily above the churning water. Malik's lips curl into a knowing smirk, his eyes never leaving the massive fox's burning gaze. "And yet, you're still listening. That tells me everything I need to know."
Kurama's tails twitch, the thick fur bristling as the fox regards the dreamwalker with narrowed eyes. The water around the cage laps gently at the bars, the air thick with chakra that pulses like a heartbeat. "You speak as if you have all the answers, little dreamer," Kurama rumbles, the sound vibrating through the metal cage. "But you have no idea what it's like to be trapped. To be feared. To be... misunderstood."
Malik floats closer, just beyond the reach of the fox's massive paws. "Perhaps not. But I do understand what it's like to be different. To be seen as a threat. To be told I can't be what I truly am." Malik dared to float closer, not only in the reach of the fox's claws, but also its massive jaw, "I ask, please give Naruto a chance, in time, who knows, you both may become friends, family even." Kurama's golden eyes blaze with a fierce intensity, but there's something new behind them—curiosity, perhaps, or a spark of understanding. The fox's massive jaws part, revealing fangs that could tear through steel, yet his words carry a note of reluctant consideration.
"Friends?" The word rumbles from deep within the beast's chest, like distant thunder. "Family?" A low, rumbling chuckle escapes, the sound reverberating through the flooded halls of the subconscious. "You ask much, dreamwalker. To be chained, to be feared, and then to be loved? It is... an alien concept."
Kurama's tails lash once, sending a ripple through the dark water. "But I have lived in the mind of that boy for so long, I have seen what he has done, what he has become." The fox's gaze softens, just slightly. "Perhaps..." Malik gave him a true smile, "That is all I ask, and I'll leave you alone now. Sweet Dreams, Kurama." As Malik started to pass through the outer shell of the dream world, he pushed his magic into the fox's cage, a warmth that the fox had no idea what to do with, but knew was a kind gesture from a strange man.
The dream world shudders as Malik's magic seeps into the iron bars of Kurama's cage, the fox's eyes widening in surprise. The warmth spreads through the cold metal, curling around the beast's massive paws like a phantom caress. Kurama's fur bristles, its tails coiling tight around its body as it processes this unexpected gentleness.
The massive fox tilts its head, watching Malik retreat through the layers of the dream. Its claws flex against the now-toasty bars, the heat a strange comfort in the flooded depths of the subconscious. For a brief moment, the beast's eternal scowl softens, its glowing eyes dimming to a more subdued burn.
As Malik passes through the final veil of the dream, Kurama's massive jaws part, a low rumble building in its chest. It's not quite a purr, but neither is it the growl of a caged beast.