5 Talk with the Fox
Naruto sat in his room, pondering his next move. Having already ruled out Jiraiya, he was down to only two options. But if he went to the Toads, they would definitely tell Jiraiya. There was no way they would pick him over their senior summoner. So, the only option left was the Fox.
Now, he just had to think of a way to convince the Nine-Tails to help him.
"Why don't you just ask?"
Naruto's eyes widened. He looked around the room, startled.
"Who said that?" he demanded, a kunai instantly appearing in his hand as he scanned the empty room.
"Come on, brat, you're sharper than that."
Immediately, Naruto realized who the voice belonged to. The Fox.
Without hesitating, he sat cross-legged and began to meditate, focusing on the Nine-Tails. Within seconds, his surroundings faded, and he found himself standing ankle-deep in a dark, damp sewer.
Towering in front of him were giant steel bars, rusted red, held shut by a single piece of paper with the word 'Seal' written across it. From the pitch-black void behind the massive cage, two glowing, demonic eyes stared down at him.
Naruto just stood there, watching as the massive beast stepped forward into the dim light. Despite its terrifying reputation, it was a genuinely majestic creature, its nine massive tails swaying slowly behind it. In front of him stood the king of all the Tailed Beasts: Kurama.
"It's about time you came down here, brat. I was starting to think you forgot about me," Kurama rumbled.
Naruto blinked, completely caught off guard. "Huh?" It was the most intelligent reply he could muster.
"No need to look so surprised that I can talk. You already know I can do that, even if you are new to this body," Kurama said, a hint of amusement in his deep voice.
"So... you know everything?" Naruto asked, pointing a finger up at the giant fox. "And if so, how?"
"When you transferred into this body, I was hit with a flood of memories that definitely didn't belong to the Naruto I knew," Kurama replied. "For the past two days, I've been sorting through them. If you're wondering how they reached me... in simple terms, when your soul merged with Naruto's, it created a slight gap in the seal for just a few minutes. In that brief window, your memories bled into mine."
The giant fox was resting casually, sitting on his haunches with one massive elbow propped on his knee and his chin resting on his paw, while his other hand laid flat over his opposite knee.
"I had just finished sorting through all of it when your loud thoughts about your training reached me. I figured, why not bring you down here and sort this whole thing out ourselves?"
Hearing that, Naruto relaxed his stance and sat down cross-legged in the shallow water, looking up directly at Kurama.
"So, as you can probably tell from my memories, I don't belong in this universe, or this reality—take your pick," Naruto started. "But now that I am here, whether this is a dream or reality, I'm not taking any chances with my life. I've been given one of the most powerful bodies in this world, and I have some time before all the real chaos begins to turn it into an absolute fighting machine."
"Heh... Hahahaha!" Kurama let out a deep, booming laugh that shook the sewer walls.
"That's a good mindset, brat. But right now, you're stuck at a dead end with your training, aren't you?" The fox stopped laughing, his glowing red eyes narrowing in amusement.
"Yeah, you're right," Naruto admitted. "But you're the one who called me down here. So, are you going to tell me why?"
TO BE CONTINUE