A/N: Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, nor am I getting paid for writing this.

This is an ongoing fic, and though I have more written already, I can't say when I'll get around to finishing it. So while the updates will be weekly for now, expect that pace to become highly erratic later on.

There won't be any pairings, and the focus will be Naruto & Kurama's friendship throughout the story. Will follow canon, mostly, so if something isn't specified or mentioned, you can assume that it happened the same way as in canon.

Edit: I made some minor changes to all chapters, I'll explain more thoroughly on chapter 6. Rereading isn't necessary, though (unless you wanna refresh your memory after the almost a year long break).

(3294)

Naruto is six when he first meets Kurama, and their meeting doesn't go well. There's the expected fear, hate, anger, and shouting – lots and lots of shouting. Naruto doesn't cower before the giant monster though, not even when it's spouting threats and curses at him.

Their second meeting goes much better; now they've gotten all they had to say out of the way, and can think more clearly. It helps that instead of simply being knocked out after hearing 'you're as much of a monster as the Kyuubi inside you', Naruto meditates and finds the presentation of his mind (and the seal) himself.

Kurama, too, is much more receptive to the brat's presence now that he understands that Naruto is being hurt because of him. (That doesn't mean that he feels guilty, though. It's just easier for him to get along with the one he's caged inside of when he knows that his jailor suffers too.)

When they meet for the third time, Naruto agrees to use some of Kurama's chakra, as he is unable to access his own.

The next time they meet Naruto tells Kurama about how he broke out of his prison and killed the one who had captured him. The boy also expresses his gratitude to Kurama, who can't help but wonder at this child who doesn't hate him for being the reason he was kidnapped in the first place.

They continue meeting at least once a week, mostly because Naruto loves having someone to talk to (the Hokage is too busy to see him regularly) and because Kurama is bored. His only contact to the outside world is the little brat, after all.

Naruto is nine when they discover that something is wrong. Kurama has noticed oddities in the boy's chakra pathways, and when Naruto complains about his legs and arms hurting after even the smallest chakra exercises at the ninja academy, the pieces click together. He informs Naruto of how he will be unable to use only his own chakra (separate from Kurama's) since the pathways to the Kyuubi's chakra were opened too early, and how, because of this, his body will slowly start to deteriorate.

Kurama's chakra was also constantly flowing through the boy's pathways already (had been ever since they were first linked, even if Kurama had missed it at the time), and so even if Naruto never used chakra, the damage would continue happening. It would only be slower, as excessive use of chakra would cause spikes in the deteriorating.

Naruto leaves his mindscape after that revelation, and when Kurama next sees him (only three days later), the boy informs him that he won't stop trying to become a ninja. Kurama considers the child for a while, before sighing in acceptance (because even the greatest of all tailed beasts isn't enough to change that little boy's mind).

From that point on, Kurama instructs the boy on how to use as little chakra as possible to lessen the damage. It's hard going, though, and it takes them forever to even manage the simplest chakra control exercises. (Neither of them is willing to stop trying.)

When Naruto fails his first genin exam, Kurama tells him to suck it up and become better or to give up completely. The boy glares at him and informs Kurama of how he'd never give up, no matter what. That is when Kurama tells him his name.

(1825)

Naruto is ten when he realizes that he's actually going to die, not just in 'everyone dies sometime', but as in 'I have a specific date which I won't live past'. He cries then, and demands Kurama to tell him why the hell he had given the boy his chakra back then, and why had he let him become a ninja, and why was he helping him at all.

The Kyuubi informs him that although his chakra would be released, it would take time for him to reform. And doing so feels like too big of a bother, and as such helping Naruto become stronger suits him.

When Naruto asks him what the hell is he on about, since won't he die when his body has deteriorated from the infuse of their chakra, Kurama tells him that yes, he will, but he knew that he couldn't change the boy's mind which was set on becoming a ninja, so he didn't bother trying. (He doesn't tell Naruto that he wants the boy to live his short life to the fullest, or how he wants to see his jailor accomplish his dream. He doesn't say how he feels upset at the thought of his chakra destroying Naruto's body, and wants to make it up to the boy as much as he possibly can.)

(1281)

The day before Naruto's second genin exam, the boy is overcome with pain. He is in his apartment, luckily, and he doesn't scream when he drops to his knees. It feels like every cell in his body is on fire, and he can't do anything but weep quietly on the floor. After the pain passes enough for him to slip into his mindscape (something he has become rather good at during the years) he goes to Kurama for help.

Kurama listens, thinks, checks the pathways, and closes his eyes. (Because he's upset, although Naruto doesn't know that.) When they open, they're emotionless as he tells the boy that the deteriorating is happening faster than they thought, and that Naruto probably wouldn't live past his fifteenth birthday. In fact, he'd be lucky to make it into a teenager at all.

That's the first time Naruto slips past the bars (before, he always carried a small worry that the Kyuubi would try to crush him with his giant tails) and curls around one huge paw. Kurama watches the boy cry, and enfolds Naruto with a tail in a rather pathetic embrace.

Somehow, Naruto still manages to wake up with enough time to rush to the Academy for the exam, but because of the aftershocks (which don't hurt, but simply disturb his chakra flow), he fails again.

This time Kurama lets him rage as much as he wants.

(1275)

Naruto overcomes the knowledge of his impending death soon enough, and simply throws himself back to the training. The only difference is that he avoids the use of chakra, at least until Kurama tells him that it won't help this time. The damage was done; the deteriorating was happening as fast as it could; and the spikes were only less than a percent of what was happening constantly.

The boy accepts these news quietly before moving on. Kurama would be worried about him if he didn't know that Naruto had immense capabilities at taking life for how it was, seeing all the worst sides to it, and still staying positive. (He is also aware that Naruto has never had much consideration for his own life besides 'staying alive to protect others', but he tries not to think about how the boy is likely to martyr himself at the first opportunity.)

(916)

The day after Naruto's third genin exam brings the first time Kurama wonders if the deteriorating has damaged the brat's brains as well. He knows Naruto is smarter than one would think at first glance, and he can't understand why the brat would have accepted Mizuki's, so obviously fake, alternative method of passing.

(It's later, when the Kyuubi has calmed down, that Naruto breaks down crying and tells him that he wants to at least make it to genin before dying. Kurama understands then, because desperation can make anyone do moronic things.)

Naruto did pass, though, and although Kurama berated the child for acting so stupidly, he feels oddly proud of his little jailor. So he listens to Naruto's retell of how he saved Iruka-sensei, and how Mizuki had tried to shock him by telling him about the Kyuubi, and how Naruto had acted surprised (because he hasn't told anyone about knowing about Kurama yet).

Naruto is highly proud of himself, too, and bursting with happiness at Iruka's protectiveness over him. (This only cements the fact that Iruka is a human worth protecting in Kurama's mind. The scarred teacher had been the only one to show caring towards the little brat besides the Hokage, and Kurama can't for the life of him count the Hokage in his good books simply because he occasionally has a kind word to offer to the kid. Not when he so clearly fails at looking after the child. The Kyuubi is pretty sure that Naruto would have appreciated money more than a pat on the head, so needless to say, Kurama doesn't much care for the Hokage.)

That's also partly why Naruto hasn't told anyone about his talks with Kurama; he knows that the Kyuubi himself disapproves, and he isn't sure if he can trust the Hokage with it. He could have told Iruka-sensei, but he was scared that the chuunin would start hating him for interacting with the Kyuubi. (Naruto isn't ready to lose the only human he counts as his family.)

It stands to reason, then, that no one knows about his 'sickness' either. Naruto, at first, wondered if he should try to find help for it, but after remembering his previous visits to the hospital (and how they treated him there) he figured the healers wouldn't help him anyway. He also knows that if the Hokage told them to treat him properly, they would, but he can't be sure that the Hokage wouldn't just simply kill him (he needs to protect the village first and foremost, and a rampaging Kyuubi is something the leader couldn't risk).

Telling Iruka-sensei would have been the same as going to the hospital or Hokage himself, and he didn't really have any more options. Besides, Kurama told him that there was nothing to be done, and Naruto is pretty sure that the eons old tailed beast is smarter than any human. Naruto still researched it himself, though, since he didn't trust Kurama back then implicitly like he does now. (Going to the library in a henge was nothing new, as the Kyuubi had forced him to take advantage of the collection of knowledge as soon as he had mastered the jutsu.)

But Naruto is a genin now, regardless of how he got the rank. (Kurama is slightly glad about the boy's adventure because now he can do kage bunshin, which is much more useful technique than the simple academy bunshin.) And in a week he will have a genin team. The boy is slightly scared about who he will be with since he's the dead last (both Kurama and him figured that he'd be better off not showing his true potential because otherwise people may start perceiving him as a threat) and he knows that most clans won't let their children's teams be ridden with a loser like him – even more so because he's a jinchuuriki.

They don't talk about it, but they're both also worried that their jounin-sensei is going to be someone who holds Naruto responsible for that night. (Kurama has also explained to the boy that he was controlled back then, and for some reason Naruto believed him. The Kyuubi made sure to tell him that it didn't mean that he was innocent or sweet or not-murderous, though.)

Iruka takes Naruto out for ramen and tries to dissuade his worries. It doesn't work, but both the boy and the Kyuubi are thankful for the effort.

Even if Naruto sort of glares hatefully at the teacher when the teams are revealed (because Iruka surely knew about them beforehand).

(910)

The first team meeting doesn't go too well. Sasuke broods, Sakura fawns over the Uchiha, and Naruto stares at their teacher, trying to figure out if he's prejudiced against him.

Then he decides it doesn't matter, since the man clearly doesn't care about any of them either way. (Maybe that was why he was made Naruto's team's teacher?) Kakashi also doesn't expect them to pass the other genin test (Naruto is going to prank Iruka for not telling him about it) that's going to take place tomorrow.

When he goes to Kurama that night, complaining about what had happened during the day, the Kyuubi is of the same opinion as him. He also tells Naruto to eat, though, because you get energy from food and the brat was surely going to need it during the test. Naruto listens to the Kyuubi, like always. (He is the one being that Naruto can trust without any worries.)

It is that trust that has Naruto sneaking around at night, trying to find out as much as possible about Kakashi. (Because according to Kurama, knowledge might not be power, but it can tell you how to use the power you already have.) He finds out that the jounin has a Sharingan eye, is really strong and always late, reads porn and adores his collection of it, has failed every genin team before, and was a student of the Fourth Hokage.

Naruto is not looking forward to the next day.

(909)

It goes better than he expected. He isn't harmed needlessly (no more than his teammates) and they pass (even if it's mostly due to Naruto not wanting to see anyone going hungry like he has so many times, so he feeds Sakura who performed the worst of them and got tied up).

He is rather upset, though, when he finds out that Kakashi isn't planning on teaching them much of anything besides teamwork (which would work much better if either of his teammates would agree to work with him) and that they will basically be doing mindless chores for god knows how long. Naruto is already 12, after all, which means that he has less than three years left.

(He considers telling Kakashi this, just so the man could speed up their training and Naruto might actually become something before dying, but decides it's not worth the risk.)

Kakashi does correct his taijutsu, and help him with his aim, so Naruto doesn't consider his time spent with the team completely wasted. Kurama also encourages him to go find more jutsus in the library and study them on his own, since learning kage bunshin proved that he is more than capable of doing so.

This sets the routine for the next few weeks until Naruto tires of waiting and grows just a tad too desperate to actually accomplish something and demands a C-rank.

Surprisingly, the Hokage acquiesces.

A/N: Hope you liked it! If you have any comments or thoughts to offer, please feel free to leave a review.

(Also, I haven't yet decided whether Naruto is going to die or not, so I'll take the readers' preferences into consideration.)