Naruto's shocking declaration echoed in the silent, watery abyss of his mindscape, leaving the Nine-Tails momentarily speechless. His ancient, powerful mind, unable to process the statement, simply short-circuited. With a reflexive, almost panicked exertion of will, he expelled Naruto's consciousness from their shared space.
It was only after the intruder was gone and the oppressive silence returned that Kurama's senses rebooted.
"Damn it," he roared to the empty chamber, "I couldn't say a word!"
The great Nine-Tailed Demon Fox was nursing a grievance that had festered for decades. It had all started one day when, without warning, his perception of the outside world had been completely severed. The link was gone. His senses, which could once span nations, were forcibly compressed to the confines of Naruto's body. From that day forward, he was, in the truest sense of the word, imprisoned.
If it were just that, it might have been bearable. But his new jinchuriki, this Naruto brat, began to forcibly overdraft his chakra on a near-constant basis. To maintain his own existence, Kurama had no choice but to grit his teeth and supply his own power, preventing the boy's death from dragging him down into the void as well.
As if sensing the fox was his unwilling life-support system, Naruto pushed his body's limits even further. It wasn't just chakra; on several occasions, Kurama felt Naruto's physical form teeter on the very brink of death from sheer exhaustion, only to be dragged back by the raw life force of the Uzumaki clan and his own reluctant infusions of power.
He had tried, of course, to pull the boy into this space for a "conversation." But just as his senses were cut off, so was his ability to communicate. No matter how hard he raged, his calls never reached his jinchuriki's consciousness.
This had gone on for decades.
Until today. Today, the link had inexplicably returned. He could feel the outside world again. So he had immediately tried to pull Naruto in.
But it was nothing like he'd imagined. In his perception, Naruto's consciousness was as heavy as a mountain. Just dragging him into the mindscape had taken every ounce of his strength.
This kid... what in the world has he been through?
Even Mito Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze only possessed spirits that were slightly stronger than an average person's. Naruto's felt ancient and unbelievably dense. Forcibly expelling him had consumed the last of Kurama's energy. He could only slump back down into the water, letting the darkness of a deep, exhausted sleep claim him.
Naruto felt as if he had had a strange dream. He couldn't quite remember the details, only that it seemed to have something to do with food.
After changing into a fresh set of clothes, he looked at himself in the mirror. The dark, loose-fitting yukata felt far more natural than the garish orange jumpsuit of his youth. Mmm, much better. Full of spirit.
He took out the ninja headband he had finally found after rummaging through his cluttered apartment. After a moment's thought, he decided against wearing it on his forehead. Instead, he casually tied it around his upper arm, a style he vaguely remembered Shikamaru adopting after graduation.
Thinking of him, Naruto felt a pang of nostalgia. In his memory, he had been an outcast, and only Shikamaru and Choji were ever willing to be his friends. Of course, that smug Uchiha never ostracized him like the others did. He was simply too arrogant to care.
Stroking his chin, Naruto tried to summon the face of a certain girl from his academy days, but so much time had passed that the image remained a frustrating blur.
If I can't remember, so be it. He didn't dwell on it. After washing up, he pushed the door open and left.
Today was the day of the team assignments. Although he still had reservations about continuing down the path of a ninja, he found himself looking forward to seeing the "old friends" from his memories.
Following the familiar route, Naruto soon arrived at the Ninja Academy and stepped into his old classroom. He found a random seat and sat down. Glancing to the side, his eyes met the dark, intense gaze of Sasuke Uchiha.
Heh. This smug little brat is exactly the same as I remember.
Seeing the boy's cold, aloof expression, trying so hard to look like a little adult, Naruto found it amusing rather than irritating. He couldn't help it; mentally, he was already a middle-aged man. After giving Sasuke a small, smiling nod, Naruto leaned back, tucked his hands into his sleeves, and closed his eyes to rest.
He was completely unaware of the look of utter disbelief on Sasuke's face.
Is... is that really the dead last?
Sasuke stared, forgetting for a moment to maintain his own cool facade. It had only been a few days, but the loud, boisterous idiot in the orange jumpsuit seemed to have vanished, replaced by this calm, composed stranger.
Honestly, Sasuke had always paid attention to Naruto. Like him, Naruto was an orphan, yet he had never given up. Even when he failed, he always worked harder than anyone. Sasuke saw it all. In a strange way, he saw a reflection of his own stubborn determination in the blond boy.
But the Naruto of today was different. It wasn't just the clothes. It was the aura—an indescribable presence of someone who seemed utterly unconcerned with the world around him. The two were like completely different people.
"Eh? Is that you, Naruto?"
Shikamaru's lazy voice cut in, drawing both of their attention.
"Naruto! What are you doing here... hey, did you get taller?"
Naruto just gave him a bright smile, holding up his arm to show the headband tied there before pointing to the one on Shikamaru's arm. "Haha, I passed by accident. As for my height—maybe I'm just going through a growth spurt."
"What a drag. No one grows that much in a few days," Shikamaru grumbled, though he didn't press the issue. It was too troublesome. He found a seat in the back and promptly slumped down.
Seeing that no one else was approaching, Naruto simply slid down in his seat, pulled his headband over his eyes like a makeshift mask, and started to doze off.
Time flew by. Soon, a girl with pink hair and another with a blonde ponytail squeezed through the door, bickering loudly. Suddenly, the pink-haired girl spotted her target, abandoning her rival, and rushed to the front.
"Good morning, Sasuke!" Sakura Haruno chirped, her eyes filled with nothing but the Uchiha prodigy.
Seeing the black-clad figure blocking her path to the seat next to her beloved, she reacted on instinct. "Move it, Naruto!" she snapped, reaching out to shove him aside.
But before her hand could connect, it was caught in an iron grip.
"Hey, hey," a low voice murmured. "Disturbing someone's dream of all-you-can-eat barbecue and all-you-can-drink sake... that'll send you straight to hell, you know."
The headband was pushed up. Naruto's eyes, still hazy with sleep, held an unconscious weight. For a terrifying split second, an immense, suffocating pressure leaked from him, a killing intent so pure and dense it felt like a physical force.
He caught himself instantly, the pressure vanishing as he released Sakura's hand. But it was too late.
Sasuke, closest to him, froze. His blood ran cold. That suffocating aura, that absolute power that had made it impossible to even move a finger—it was the same. In his mind's eye, the image of that man appeared, his red eyes spinning, a sword pointed at his throat.
Sakura, for her part, was simply terrified, her mind went blank with shock.
As he fully woke up, Naruto looked at the familiar-yet-unfamiliar girl, unable to recall her name. "Ah, you want this seat?" he said, his voice back to normal. "Go on, sit down." He gently pushed the still-dazed Sakura into the spot next to Sasuke.
It wasn't until Iruka-sensei stepped onto the podium and announced, "Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke will form Team 7," that Sakura finally began to come to her senses. The joy of being on Sasuke's team quickly washed away the lingering fear.
Yes! I get to be with Sasuke!
Beside her, Sasuke kept stealing glances at Naruto, a thousand questions warring behind his dark eyes, not knowing where to even begin.
Naruto, meanwhile, gently tapped his fist into his palm with a look of quiet realization. Thanks to Iruka's announcement, he had finally remembered the little girl's name.
[Chapter Complete]
***
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