Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter 1: Beginnings

A long time ago, as mankind struggled to master its savage nature, a titanic struggle occurred between three powerful beings.

Twin brothers, imbued with the power of the gods themselves, fought to free the world from the madness and tyranny of their corrupted mother. The battle was terrible to behold, and the world was scarred permanently. Unable to bring themselves to kill the woman who birthed them, the brothers sealed their mother into the moon. One younger brother volunteered to stay on the moon to ensure the seal would remain unbroken. The elder brother returned to Earth to pass on his teachings. The twins understood peace was the result of compromise, understanding, and love. Above all else it was not something that can be dictated to or imposed on their fellow humans. Humanity needed to come to terms with itself in order to reach that ideal and the brothers knew that they would not live to see the fruits of their labor.

Time passed, and mankind multiplied throughout the lands. Though he possessed unimaginable power, the elder brother slowly succumbed to mortality. He foresaw the power struggle which will most assuredly flow in the wake of his passing, and embarked on an audacious plan. Utilizing all of the knowledge at his command, he divided his power into nine separate wells of power and fashioned them after mythical beasts. He commanded them to disperse into the world of man with the promise that they would all meet again one day in an indeterminate future.

Weakened by the effort, the brother's physical body quickly faded and he passed from this world. Without his guidance, jealously and resentment slowly poisoned his descendants and violence followed. In the decades and centuries that followed, the peace that the brothers had fought so hard and sacrificed so much for crumbled and mankind forsook the plowshare for the sword.

Dismayed at the petty strife that tore about nations and families, the tailed beasts followed their creator's bidding and dispersed into the Human world. Some hid themselves in the untouched wilderness of the world and became lost in time. Others settled down in remote locations and were worshiped as deities by superstitious humans. Some were captured and turned into living weapons.

The most powerful one of them all, the nine tails, was the one most dedicated to his creator's dream of peace. He prized knowledge and wisdom above all else as he believed (much like his creator) that peace would only come once everyone understood and accepted each other.

Kurama opened his eyes and narrowed them. It had been a long time since he had dreamed of the creator and his brothers. Kurama stretched his legs and yawned in the early morning light. For two centuries Kurama divided his time between the human world and the verdant bamboo forest he had come to call home. Kurama ventured out of the forest roughly every ten years or so to personally satisfy his need for contact and observe the progress the descendants had made towards peace.

On his last trip to the human world over a two decade ago, he had posed as a poor youth looking to make ends meet. Kurama staked out a roadside inn located at the outskirts of the forest and did odd jobs for the innkeeper. When a trade caravan paused at the inn to spend the night Kurama persuaded the head merchant to take him on with the caravan in exchange for free labor. For nearly three years, Kurama toured all the major cities and towns in the world of humans. He sampled a thousand different delicacies and made acquaintances with as many humans. At each stop he left proxies of himself, small copies of his essence shaped in his image, who raided the local library stacks for knowledge and lurked in the bars for the latest news and gossip. With a spy network whose loyalty cannot be bought and keeping him regularly informed, Kurama decided it was time to retire.

Though he was amazed at the ingenuity and creativity of humans, he was also equally disappointed. The humans were capable of constructing monolithic structures that touched the skies and build ships capable of staying afloat in the roughest seas, but seemed unable to (worse yet, unwilling to) devote the same volume of effort into uplifting their less fortunate brethren. In nearly every major population center he visited, he saw desperate men, women, and children lurking in the alleyways; a population of dregs that had fallen through the cracks of society and now festered in its shadows. Kurama could feel the slow bubbling of resentment, ready to explode any moment.

The final straw came when Kurama witnessed the corruption of his creator's gifts. When the trading caravan made a stopover in a small village, Kurama had went to fetch water for the pack animals in the nearby stream. A surge of chakra coming from the village caused him to drop the buckets and run back to the village. When he arrived, the bodies of all the villagers and the merchants were roasting in an open pit at the town center. Three bandits stood around the pit, dousing exposed flesh with a crude fire technique created with harnessed chakra.

Kurama lost control then. He had been friends with many members of the traveling caravans and was on a first name basis with the head merchant himself. By the time he had regained controlled over himself, everything within a five kilometer radius of the village center had been turned to ash. A circular disk of broken glass now sat where the bodies were; the chakra fire burning so hotly it melted the ground itself.

Unable to reconcile how far the descendants had strayed from the path of peace as well as ashamed of his loss of control, Kurama retreated into untamed forest, receiving periodic updates from his proxies.

Every so often, a proxy would return and Kurama would drink up the accumulated experiences and knowledge like a wet sponge. Within a span of a few years Kurama accumulated over a thousand years of social human interaction, Kurama grew wise in the ways of humans. He could tell without fail when someone was lying. He was adept at reading people's faces; a twitch of the mouth, a slightly raised eye brow, a quickening of breath all spoke volumes about a human's intentions and motivations.

Kurama mastered and perfected things in a single day that took lifetimes for humans. He could prepare a feast fit for an emperor, balance a nation's budget, or perform the secret Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palm technique of the Hyuga Clan. Nothing could be kept secret from the fox; he learned and learned and learned.

Kurama trotted over to the clearing he was so fond of near the middle of the forest. The field was awash with red, white, and blue flowers dancing in the morning breeze. He found a small patch of grass and laid down before rolling on his back. It should be a while before another proxy returned and a replacement was sent out. He was content, at least for now, to watch the clouds go by.

A familiar, yet malevolent presence penetrated deep into the forest. Sniffing the air, Kurama scanned the treeline suspiciously as the presence drew closer. Kurama tasted the subtle chakra that drifted towards him. It was so very familiar to him, but yet at the same time, distant. Kurama prepared for violence.

The breeze blowing across the flower field died and the swaying of the grass stopped. A hooded figure completely draped in black stepped out of the forest, walking hurriedly towards him. Kurama stared and briefly contemplated returning to his full size to frighten the trespasser away, but adopted a wait-and-see approach towards the curious stranger. The man stopped ten paces from Kurama, held out his hands to show he was unarmed, and sat down with his legs crossed.

Kurama tilted his head quizzically. Who was this man? Despite his experiences, Kurama felt unsettled. Wait and see, his inner voice urged in spite of the thickening tension.

The stranger's leathery, pale hands reached up from the robes and pulled the hood back. The hood gave way to a man with a pale that looked like he was in his late twenties. He had long, black hair that jutted backwards like jagged spikes. Black eyes accompanied by a small nose and a thin, false smile rounded out the stranger's sharp, angular face.

Kurama did not like the man's false smile. It was the type of smile he had seen in his countless memories. It was a lie, a method to placate a victim of imminent treachery.

"My name is Uchiha Madara," The man stated gravely, "I have come to you, Great Demon, to seek your aid and bring about peace to my village."

The Uchiha Clan... one of the direct inheritors of my creator. Kurama's mind quickly recalled the information from most recent of his proxy. They recently help form the first shinobi village with the Senju Clan. They are led by Senju Hashirama, the Shodai Hokage, also known as the God of Shinobi. Kurama was very well informed. How is it they have already fallen into conflict? He asked himself.

Baffled by what was asked of him, Kurama asked, "And how exactly do you want me to aid you?"

Madara responded, "I need your power. I wish to use your power to defeat a man I once called my brother. When Harashima Senju is defeated, I will be the undisputed leader of the village! No one would dare to disturb the peace I bring!"

Kurama shook his head, "I refuse." He said flatly. So predictable, so pitiful.

Madara lost the false smile he was wearing. His face reddened as shouted, "WHY? WHY DO YOU REFUSE ME? IS PROMISE OF PEACE NOT A WORTHY CAUSE?!"

Kurama stood on all fours as he readied himself to depart. This Uchiha was an echo; a reflection of the madness his creator had fought so hard to lock away.

"How can you call what you want peace when you impose your will on people? The peace you seek to create is a byproduct of a world without color and hope. I refuse."

Madara was stunned by this response. Kurama turned and started walking towards the forest depths while Madara muttered something to himself.

"WAIT!" Madara shouted. Kurama looked back at the deranged man as the air grew heavy from massive killing intent.

"I WILL NOT BE DENIED! SHARINGAN!" Madara screamed. Kurama stared in fascination as the whites of his Madara's eyes shifted to blood red.

Before he could avert his gaze, a massive wave of unreality hit Kurama. The world around him started to spin and he lost his footing. Kurama stumbled and lay panting in the grass as invisible forces tugged and pulled on his mind.

"What... What? What are you doing to me?" Kurama panted. He saw a shadow of a blurred form standing above his body.

"I will have your power demon, with or without your cooperation." Madara spat and leaned in close, "Your will is mine now." He whispered before breaking into a empty laugh.

"Never..." Kurama whispered defiantly as he felt his consciousness getting heavier, his control weakening.

"That's it Demon, let your true form out!" Madara tossed back his head and laughed.

"No..no..." Kurama felt reason evaporate as his eyes glazed over. Kurama was getting angry. Very angry. He needed to destroy something.

Madara smiled as he watched the demon fox grew to its original size. Raw, burning red chakra radiated off the fur in waves, the very air rippling outwards with heat. Lumps of raw chakra rolled off the body and dripped to the ground ground. The hateful chakra withered the ground it touched and sank hissing into the soil; the small field of flowers now ablaze from the heat wave as the inferno spread outwards.

Frightened birds took to the skies as the demon fox growled loudly. Tossing its head back, the fox roared with a ferocity that shook the ground while its massive tails swung and demolished the forest.

With a single leap Madara landed on the demon's head.

"THAT WAY BEAST!" Madara commanded.

The demon sniffed in the direction that Madara pointed to and coiled its muscles. In one giant leap, the demon fox cleared the burning forest and broke into a thundering run towards Konoha.

Kurama woke up and moaned.

A massive headache hammered at him as he opened his eyes and surveyed his environment. He was in what appeared to be a very large, study cage designed the size of a gigantic warehouse. He stared out the cage and was rewarded with silent darkness. Wherever the cage was located, it was poorly lit. Kurama extended a single paw towards the gap between the bars. Before his paw reached the bars however, a series of small green glowing inscriptions materialized in the air. An invisible barrier rippled into existence just before Kurama's paw reached the inscription.

Kurama frowned and pushed harder. The barrier yielded slightly before before Kurama realized his mistake. The inscriptions, which previously glowed a neon yellow, now started flashing red. Kurama watched in fascination as the small inscription extended all around the cage and crisscrossed the bars. The inscription flashed faster and faster, then completely stopped as liightning discharged inwards. Kurama howled in pain as pure electricity wreathed his body.

His pride wounded, Kurama shrank himself down to human size and approached the bars cautiously. He moved to what appeared to be the cage door, and experimentally placed his pawn on the invisible barrier again. The inscriptions appeared as they did before. Having learned his lesson the first time, Kurama pulled his paw back. The inscriptions stayed green, then vanished after ten seconds of inactivity. Kurama narrowed his eyes and sat on his haunches. He activated the barrier seal with his paw once more, this time examining the symbols closely.

A twelve symbol crystal zodiac seal with a six celestial guardian seal overlay. The only people talented enough to do this belongs to the Uzumaki Clan from Whirlpool Country.

As if summoned by the very thought of the clan, a young woman materialized quietly in front of the cage door She had red hair tied into buns at opposite sides of her head. Two seals hung loosely off her buns. The woman also wore a small copper crown on top of head and was dressed in a white kimono with a green undershirt.

Kurama stared at her as the young woman bowed.

"My name is Uzumaki Mito, second head of the Uzumaki clan." She continued in a formal voice, "Wife of Senju Hashirama, Shodai Hokage of Konoha."

Senju. Ah. Kurama put two and two together.

"If you truly are of the Uzumaki clan and wife of Hashirama, then it means Uchiha Madara did not achieve the victory he was looking for." Kurama spoke evenly.

Mito straightened and appraised Kurama with a careful eye, "If you do not remember his defeat, then does this mean you were under his control?"

Kurama grimaced and nodded, his pride having taken one too many hits today.

"May I ask how I was defeated?" He inquired.

"My husband is proficient in all five nature transformation as well as Ying and Yang releases," She stated proudly. "But his true strength lies in his ability to combine Earth and Water elements to form the Wood Release. He was able to utilize the wood release to temporarily incapacitate you before killing Madara.

Wood release... this explains how the village was built so quickly...

Kurama was impressed and pleased as simultaneously. Senju Hashirama was someone his creator could be proud of; not because he was talented, but because the Shodai Hokage had taken that tenuous first step towards peace by using chakra to benefit, rather than dominate his fellow man.

He is worthy. Kurama thought to himself.

Kurama bowed his head in submission to a very surprised Mito

"Please convey my thanks to your husband. Not only for freeing me from Madara's control, but for using chakra to benefit mankind."

Mito nodded, then narrowed her eyes.

"I thought you would be angry at your... imprisonment," she waved to the cage as she changed subjects, "But you don't seem to be bothered in the least bit."

Kurama snorted, "I know about five different ways I can break out of this 'prison.' All of which will either drive you insane or kill you outright."

It was true. One of his previous proxies had spent four years at the Uzumaki main clan house.

Mito's face paled. Kurama continued without any hint of malice, "However, since I am indebted to your husband for freeing me, I swear I will not attempt to break the seal that binds me to you. I won't ask you to free me either as the answer is most likely no and there are numerous political and military advantages in letting the world know your village possesses a Jinchuriki. I have three conditions you must meet however."

Mito tensed. The fox was dangerously clever, if not brutally honest and straightforward. "What are your conditions?"

Kurama answered, "The first condition is that you must lend me your senses. I want to observe your kind and see this... peace of your Shodai Hokage. And before you ask, no I'm not a pervert and I'm not going to spy on your... intimacy." Mito blushed. "My second condition is for you to visit me whenever you can spare the time... It has been a very long time since I have met someone I respected," Mito face reddened more, "And lastly... can I get a change of scenery please? I know for a fact you mortals have a good sense of imagination despite the size of your brains."

Mito chuckled at the slight against her kind. "I agree to your conditions. Please wait a second..." Mito closed her eyes.

The darkness gave way to flat dirt stretching as far as the eye can see in all directions. The cage bars retracted into the ground as the bottom of the cage sank beneath the soil. Stars winked into existence as rain fell from the cloudless sky. The dirt darkened as moisture sank into the ground; the smell of water filling Kurama's nose as grass sprouted beneath him. Brow saplings sprouted from the ground and raced towards the sky. The once skinny saplings thickened into tree trunks as branches covered in shot out of the tree trunk. A series of gentle puffs filled the air as green leaves burst outwards out of the once barren trees.

Mito opened her eyes.

Kurama nodded his approval and curled up in the grass. "Thank you, this is much more tolerable."

Mito bowed and shimmered out of existence silently.

True to her word, Mito visited Kurama every week to go over the latest events in the world, though he already knew most of what had occurred given he had access to Mito's senses. Overly formal at first as befitting her station, Mito relaxed her guard around Kurama over time. Even though their conversations often devolved into a verbal sparring match, neither would admit they enjoyed their little contests.

During one of the earliest conversations Kurama had with Mito, he asked her what the purpose of the shinobi was. Kurama was greatly dismayed when Mito informed him that shinobi existed as an elite mercenary military force, though he was somewhat placated by the fact that most contracts Konoha took were either humanitarian or peacekeeping missions. Every so often there would be an assassination contract, but Kurama was soothed by the fact that almost all of those contracts were for bandit leaders and other unsavory human characters who had made the mistake of angering powerful people one too many times.

Kurama was also greatly surprised to learn that shinobi were supposed to be stealthy; every shinobi he had encountered through Mito's eyes had a propensity for engaging in loud, flashy attacks in broad day light, contrary to the shinobi code Mito had explained to him before. They also shouted, Shouted the names of their attacks! The worst offender to the shinobi code, was predictably, Mito's excitable husband Hashirama. Mito had shrugged off Kurama's question in embarrassment, and was thankful when Kurama chose not to press the issue further. The massive difference between the shinobi code and their actual behavior perplexed Kurama to no end.

The years flew by.

Mito aged gracefully, but she aged. Her red hair faded to brown and her pale, smooth skin gave way to wrinkles and age spots. She was no longer capable of moving with the same grace she once had.

Kurama knew the time of their separation was fast approaching; it was an inevitability he dreaded as he greatly enjoyed her company in the past decades decades.

The forest in the mindscape aged much as Mito did. The lush, green leaves dried and turned into a riot of red and orange. Leaves broke off and fell to the forest floor by the dozens when the wind blew.

Mito materialized into existence in the clearing. Without moving from her spot, she slowly and carefully sat down. Kurama hopped down from the branch he was perched on and trotted over. He sat down next to her rather than across from her. No words were exchanged as they stared at the falling leaves.

Mito cleared her throat, "It is time." she said finally.

"I know."

"Are you fine staying in the village like this? Are you all right going into another prison?"

Kurama shrugged."I wish to observe more. Konoha is a place that has only gotten more interesting with time. There is a lot of potential for this place to become what my creator dreamed of."

Silence.

"I will miss you though." Kurama admitted after a while.

"I will miss you too." She smiled and gently ruffled the fur on top of Kurama's head with her hand.

The leaves fell in silence.

Kurama's new jailer was another member of the Uzumaki clan. Kushina, a young girl with a stubborn personality and propensity for shouting, was chosen primarily for her unusually large chakra reserves She also possessed the ability to manifest chakra chains which can be used for both attack and defense.

Kurama woke to find himself in a familiar cage; it was identical to Mito's cage before she changed the scenery.

They really need to find a way to improve this seal. Kurama frowned as he shrank himself down to human size again. A prisoner would be more likely to cooperate if they were given the carrot rather than the stick.

As if to summoned by his complaints, Kushina popped into existence in front of the cage with a small bang. She was short and slender, with violet eyes and fiery red hair that was typical of the Uzumaki clan.

She immediately started shouting, "I'M NOT AFRAID OF YOU DEMON FOX! YOU'RE MY PRISONER NOW AND YOU BETTER STAY ON YOUR BEST BEHAVIOR OR ELSE!"

Kurama stared in silence. She had a lot of spunk, he'll give her that. He hated spunk.

Kushina returned his stare and crossed her arms, "Well? Don't you have anything to say?"

Kurama turned his head and laid down facing away from her, "Whatever you say." He said flippantly. He felt a small surge of anger emanating from her at his blatant dismissal.

"You're not quite like what the others say about you." She stated after her anger receded.

He chuckled, but turned to face her. She had her arms crossed and she stared into his eyes without fear.

"My reputation tends to be... exaggerated. A lot of your kin tends to find convenient excuses to disasters. I don't really mind if it helps them cope with the harshness of this world, but you should know I'm not really the kind that flips mountains upside down and burning down villages." That last bit was only partially true, but Kushina didn't need to know details.

She considered what he said for a minute. "Sorry, I take back what I said." She offered.

"Apology accepted," Kurama sat up again. Now he was getting somewhere. "It really isn't in my nature to stir up trouble, just so you know. However, there are three things I I need you to do for me."

Kushina stayed impatiently silent.

Kurama laid out the same conditions he had set for Mito.

Kushina nodded her head in agreement after listening to his demands, closed her eyes, and inhaled.

As Kushina exhaled, the cage bars fell outwards onto the ground while the cage ceiling flew upwards into darkness. A trickle of water flowed from Kurama's left and grew into a gentle flowing stream between the two. The sky brightened into a vivid hue of orange and red, the fading light of the sinking sun reflecting off of the lazy clouds. Grass sprouted from the brown soil in all directions. Green stretched as far as Kurama could see.

Kushina opened her eyes. "Better?" She asked.

"Better." Kurama nodded. "Come visit me again sometime kid. You might be surprised at how smart I am." He bragged

Kushina stuck her tongue out at him, "See you later Mr. Fox!"

Kurama smiled. "The name is Kurama brat!" He yelled as Kushina poofed out their shared space.

Kushina never truly grew out of her personality. She was loud, brash, and prone to violent confrontations. She had just about the same subtlety as a crate of class two exploding tags. More often than not, the only solution Kushina had for her problems was an application of overwhelming force behind a closed fist. Despite his initial dislike of her, Kurama gradually warmed up to her as she was unabashedly honest in everything she did and everyone she met.

Things changed after her attempted kidnapping by Kumo-nins however. Kurama had watched helplessly as Kushina was marched away from Konoha and bound by specially inscribed chakra suppressing chains. He had been racking his brains for a way to temporarily nullify the imprisonment shield without harming her when a yellow flash appeared and single-handedly defeated all the enemies. Kurama got a good look at Kushina's savior. He was slightly tanned man with blue eyes and golden hair held back by his forehead protector. He had a sharp face which oozed of confidence.

The Yellow Flash indeed. Kurama thought.

It wasn't really surprising that Kushina fell head over heels for Namikaze Minato. What DID surprise Kurama was when Kushina approached him for help.

"Kurama!"

The disturbance woke Kurama out of his half nap in between the grass. He uncurled himself from his sleeping positions and stretched.

Kushina tapping her feet impatiently, as he trotted over. "You don't usually visit me on weekdays. Is something bothering you?" He asked. It was true. She only ever visited him on Sundays.

"Yes! No! I mean... I need your help." She looked down as her cheeks flushed.

She never asked for his help before. Not ever. Kurama realized she had swallowed her pride for this, so he chose not to mock her. He'll have his fun later.

"So what can I help you with?" He asked, now more curious than anything else.

"Well, I need your insight..." She trailed off.

Which tells me absolutely nothing. Kurama thought. But if she is dancing around the issue like this...

"Is this about... Minato?" He ventured.

"Yes! No! I mean... maybe?"

Kurama groaned. This will take a while.

Kurama rolled his eyes and started trotting away, "If you don't tell me exactly what you need from me then stop wasting my time." He was half way back to his favored napping spot when he felt her anger boil over.

"I NEED YOUR HELP TO GET MINATO! I MEAN, GET MINATO TO LIKE ME! THERE I SAID IT! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?!" She screamed at him. Her face was fast approaching the color of her hair and she was breathing heavily from yelling.

Kurama turned and trotted back. He sat down on his haunches facing her.

"Yes." He said with a smirk.

A large wave of unrefined killing intent spilled out of Kushina and hit like a sledgehammer Kurama, "Uh... Kushina?" He asked nervously.

Kushina's violet eyes disappeared behind a white haze as her face darkened. She eased into a combat stance as her feet spread apart and she hunched over slightly. Her hands dropped down to her side and she clenched them into fists.

Is this a new bloodline development? Kurama asked himself.

The hair that Kushina normally wore down took on a life of its own and rose and bobbed behind her independently of each other. Chakra chains emerged behind her and reached up and to her side. The sharp stakes bobbed up and down as they oriented themselves at Kurama. Faint traces of blood trickled between her fingers, a testament to how hard she was clenching her fingers. The normally lazy, afternoon sunset Kurama had grown fond of darkened as clouds swallowed up the sky. Lightning struck and cratered the landscape. Wisps of white smoke rose from the soil and congealed into arms, pulling Kurama into the ground as the soil shifted into faces contorted in agony and howled.

Kurama panicked. He spoke quickly, trying to keep his voice even and failing badly.

"I am an expert on human relationships and I know of a great many ways to attract members of the opposite sex." Kurama babbled out.

In an instant, the angry dark clouds dissolved into the air and uncovered the lazy sunset. The faces in the soil disintegrated and the arms dispersed into the grass.

"Oh! Is that so! I'm so glad you've decided to help me!" She closed her eyes and smiled while clapping her hands together. The chakra chains retracted quickly and her fiery red hair fell lifelessly behind her. A trickle of cold sweat ran down Kurama's back. His life had flashed before his eyes.

"Lets start with what we know." Kurama started, eager to avoid a repeat of the raw terror he had witnessed, "Do you know if he likes you?"

"Uh... maybe?" She blushed as she twirled with one end of her hair between her hands. Kurama rolled his eyes. Again.

Kurama with his fore legs crossed together, deep in thought, "If the attraction is mutual, why not start by cooking him something as a token of appreciation? I've often heard humans say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach."

Kushina slowly nodded her head, "That's not a bad idea. What should I make for him?" She asked.

"What does he like?" Do I really need to ask this? Is she dumber than I thought?.

"I don't know actually..." Kushina frowned.

"Why not bake some brownies than? You humans seem to have quite the fondness for sweet treats." Kurama suggested.

"You really thing he will like brownies?" She was warming to the idea.

"I'm sure he will like it since you made it for him." Kurama encouraged

"Great! Thanks for your help Kurama!" She puffed out of existence so quickly Kurama didn't even have a chance to respond.

Maybe I should have asked if knows how to cook. Kurama pondered. Well, its just brownies. How bad can it be?

Kushina Uzumaki stomped down the street. People scrambled and gave her a wide berth. They knew that look. Someone or something was going to be ended soon.

The brownies had been a disaster.

It's not my fault that you set your kitchen on fire. Kurama whined inside. I didn't know it was possible to set coco powder on fire!

Kushina was in the middle of snarling a retort when she collided with something and fell back on her butt.

"HEY! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!" She shouted as she rubbed her bottom.

"I'm Sorry! But you were the one that invited me over you know." A familiar voice said.

Kushina looked up to see a smiling Minato offering her his hand. Kushina blushed, her anger all but forgotten. She took Minato's offered hand and hauled herself upright.

"So, what are you doing out here?" Minato asked.

"I uh... I'm hungry. Lets go get dinner, it will be my treat!" Kushina said hurriedly as she grabbed Minato's arm and started dragging him away.

Minato turned his head back and squinted in down the street in the direction Kushina came from.

"Is there a fire in your apartment building? Shouldn't we go back and check it out first?" He asked.

"It's nothing don't worry about it." She huffed as several firemen ran past them with buckets of water.

The dinner was a catastrophe.

No one was quite sure what had happened. Everything was fine one minute, and the next a massive explosion rocked the market district. A massive inferno consumed the restaurant as the district descended into pandemonium. Firefighters battled the blaze for six whole hours before the fire was contained. Konoha General Hospital was filled to capacity with shell shocked survivors and walked wounded, the scene reminiscent of the darkest days of the Second Shinobi War.

The local police station received two new patrons that night.

Minato sat one cell, shocked to silence. He had been charged with disturbing the peace.

Kushina sat with her head lowered shame in the adjacent cell. She is charged with multiple counts of disturbing the peace and aggravated assault. She also needed to pay a fine for head-butting one of the dogs belonging to the Inuzuka Clan that had been out for a walk.

After an hour passed, Minato managed, "Well, you certainly know how to show a me a good time."

Kushina's head lowered further in shame while Kurama roared with laughter on the grass in the mindscape.

A gentle earthquake in the mind scape startled Kurama awake.

That's different. He thought. Worried, Kurama accessed the shared senses

Her eyes were closed, but Kurama could hear heavy breathing. Kurama kept their link open until Kushina opened her eyes. He caught a flash of a familiar golden hair in her vision.

Ah. Good for her. Kurama cut the shared senses immediately and curled back up, though he had difficulties going back to sleep due to the rolling earthquakes.

When Kushina came to visit that Sunday, she found Kurama waiting for her with a smirk. She felt an overwhelming urge to punch that smile off his face.

"It appears our little Kunoichi is now all grown up." Kurama said in sadness. He brushed away an exaggerated tear from his eyes with his paw.

Kushina turned bright red.

"You, you saw?" She stammered.

Kurama laughed, "Just enough to see what was happening." His faced turned serious, "I've been thinking its time that Minato changed his nickname to something more appropriate."

"And what, may I ask, should his new nickname be?" Kushina asked suspiciously, fully unaware of the the trap Kurama was luring her into.

"He should change his name to Yellow Flasher!" Kurama shouted and roared with laughter at his juvenile joke.

Kurama felt searing pain across his entire body as he was lifted into the air by Kushina's uppercut. He flew back a hundred meters and landed with a thud. Kurama yowled as chakra chains rained down from the sky and dug deep into his tails. Kurama looked up in pain, but Kushina was already gone.

Worth it. Kurama thought in between bouts of pain. Maybe I should have told her she's pregnant.

Nah...

Kurama limited his presence during the final stages of Kushina's pregnancy. The seal, though powerful enough to hold a tailed beast, was also at its weakest as the mother carried a new life inside her.

He was caught completely unaware when the mind scape started shaking violently.

"Kushina?" He asked.

Hairline fractures splintered across the afternoon sky. The earth beneath Kurama shook violently as random bits of soil pushed up from the ground.

"KUSHINA!"

The sky shattered outwards into a million fragments and gave way to darkness. The ground beneath Kurama gave way and vanished. Kurama fell screaming into the black abyss.

Kurama awoke once again. This really needs to stop happening.

He breathed in deeply. This is.. real. He thought. He could feel the coolness of the evening air and the soft grass he was lying on. He was in the real world.

Kurama opened his eyes. Kushina laid in front of him on the ground. She was alive, but weak. Next to her stood a man with short black hair in a black cloak. The man's face was completely covered with an orange mask, a swirling pattern ending in a single dark hole where the eye should be.

The man turned and looked up at Kurama as if appraising him. Kurama took this brief pause to create a much needed lifeline. Pure chakra dripped out of the tail closest to the ground. The chakra droplets hit the ground and bounced. At the apex of the bounce, the droplets shifted into the form of small foxes and darted into the woods. Kurama could feel his proxies splitting a few more times as they raced away into the night.

As Kurama felt the last of the proxies fade in the distance, the man with the orange mask appear suddenly on top of his nose.

A displacement technique? Kurama thought as he focused on the hole on the man's mask.

The eye behind the hole glowed red.

Sharingan.

Not again Kurama cursed himself as he felt his consciousness fading.

In the depths of the forest, a great Demon Fox wreathed in chakra fire raised its head in the moonlight and let out a terrifying roar.

The losses had been terrible. The Demon Fox had torn straight through all three of the hastily assembled defensive lines. Weaker shinobi had been frozen or killed outright by the massive killing intent that pulsed out of the Nine-tails. Shinobi died by the dozens as the Fox clawed at their hiding places and leveled entire sections of the forest. The demon had shrugged off their strongest explosive tags and kunai without slowing down. Each swiped of nine tails felled trees and cratered the land

Just as the demon was about to tear down the northern section of the village wall, the Yondaime had arrived on top of Gamabunta. The first of the Toad Clan struggled against the demon fox and was able to temporarily subdue him before Minato had teleported the Fox away.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had initially questioned the effectiveness of the tactic as the Fox can simply make its way back to Konoha, and Gamabunta was no match for the beast in a drawn out fight. He now understood the terrible meaning behind his successor's desperate action.

Sarutobi in full battle gi was still counting the losses in his head when he and his ANBU escorts arrived at the massive clearing.

They stared.

Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzamaki lay lifeless in a bloodied embrace on the ground before him; their eyes closed and their face caked with dirt and marred by dried tears. A rough stone altar occupied the center of the clearing. Oh Minato... had you only told me what you planned to do...

The soft sound of a baby's wail snapped Sarutobi out of his thoughts. He ran to the stone altar and gasped. On the altar was a wailing newborn with golden blond hair.

Kushina... Sarutobi choked back his tears as he realized the full extent of Minato and Kushina's sacrifice. He scooped up the baby, blanket and all, into his arms and rocked the baby gently.

"Dog, inform the Inuzuka tracking teams we have found the Yondaime and Kushina Uzumaki," Sarutobi ordered, "Have them divert to sector 112 to locate the Yondaime's escorts. When the escorts are found, have the investigation teams perform a full analysis before moving the bodies. When you have the results, report directly to me." The silver haired Anbu nodded.

"Cat, contact Shikaku Nara in the command center and have them dispatch a recovery team here. Tell him to prepare the post battle damage assessment as well as a list of our casualties... Inform the advisers of what has happened and send a message to the civilian council. Tell them... tell them I am temporarily in charge until a suitable Hokage replacement can be found." The purple haired Anbu dipped her head in acknowledgement

Nodding his head in dismissal, the two ANBU vanished in a swirl of leaves.

Sarutobi sighed and looked down at the sniffling baby.

Kurama stirred from his hazy nightmare and winced as massive pain echoed in his mind. He could sense that he was locked away again.

If I'm locked away, that means the masked man's plan failed. I'm sure Kushina made it out fine though, she's a tough one. Kurama comforted himself.

Kurama was never very good at fooling himself, so he chose to file away the sad thoughts. Kurama sat up and took in his surroundings

Wonderful. He thought as he stared past the bars of his cage and into the darkness. At least they added something new this time. Water pooled around his legs as he shrank himself down to a more manageable form. Kurama examined his the inscriptions on his cage as he pressed one of his paws against the bar.

Eight Trigrams Seal. He stated to no one in particular. Though... it's not as strong as it can be... I can feel my chakra leaking out of the cage... perhaps whoever sealed me didn't have enough time to properly perform the seal? Kurama pondered for a second.

No, this was done intentionally. Whoever sealed me in here wanted my jailer to have access to my chakra... Kurama concluded.

He had a pretty good idea of who his new jailer was; the most obvious choice would have been an Uzumaki, and given that the current mind scape was not the one he shared with Kushina, it meant he was sealed in the closest available Uzumaki candidate. The Uzumaki with Namikaze blood.

Kurama sighed at the desperation and anguish the parents must have felt as they sacrificed their baby to contain him. He decided then and there he was going to do everything in his power to help this child. He owed it to Kushina.

It's not as if I was doing anything more meaningful anyway. Kurama reasoned.

As he laid back down, Kurama noticed a mote of light dancing frantically just outside the cage. Kurama squinted at the mote and could feel pure terror radiating from it.

Kurama stretched out his tails and pushed against the seal. The seal strained, but gave way just slightly. He gathered the mote of light in his slightly diminished tails and rocked it gently. He hummed a gently lullaby, a song he recalled from Mito's time as a mother.

The mote settled down, growing stronger and brighter as the feeling of terror receded.

Kurama poured images of a smiling Kushina an Minato as well as the feeling of warmth and comfort into the mote.

The mote glowed intensely while radiating warmth in response. The mote flashed once, twice, and then disappeared for good.

Kurama retracted his tails and laid down. Though alone again, he closed his eyes and smiled.

Sarutobi leapt from tree to tree as he made his way back to Konoha. He had been dreading the damage report so much he barely noticed the baby had stopped crying.

Worried, Sarutobi stopped at the next branch and Sarutobi gently pulled back the blue blanket covering the baby's face. He noticed for the first time the whisker marks which adorned the babies face. Two large blue saucers stared back at him and cooed happily.

Sarutobi smiled at the baby, "It is nice to meet you Naruto."

A/N: This is my first attempt at a story.

Edit: 6/25 3rd round of proofreading. Minor re-wording / sentence changes. Formatting.

Edit: 6/26 Spell check (Should have done this first).

Edit: 6/30 Massive content re-write/update. More exposition for Kurama to better explain his motivations, yada yada yada. Remaining chapters to be taken offline until rewrite is complete and quality is up to acceptable standard.

Special thanks to SortaCore for formatting/writing tips.