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-Mindscape-

"I expected you to come by earlier than this."

"..."

Kurama calmly observed Naruto from within his cage as the blond seemed to try to get his thoughts in order, a furrow in his brow giving away the fact. Seemingly regaining his wits, Naruto responded.

"I wanted to get my shit together before talking to you. Both of us know that me ranting and raving at you to vent my frustrations would achieve nothing."

"Pretty mature of you, brat. Colour me impressed. But enough banter, I'm sure you have questions."

Naruto moved closer towards the cage, serious blue eyes meeting Kurama's orange-red, before he spoke.

"Tell me what happened that night. Please."

"...I am not aware of everything that happened that night, for reasons that you'll learn of, but here's what I remember..."

-October 10th, 12 years ago-

'...'

If anyone were to see Kurama right now, they'd see him almost vibrating in anticipation, but who could really blame him when the chains holding him to a flaming ball of molten rock felt looser and looser, giving him more slack than ever before to move?

He knew that his Jinchuuriki was a female. He knew that she was pregnant. And due to his previous host, Mito, going through the same thing, he knew that she was about to give birth to another one of those annoying, hairless apes.

The best part? The girl's emotions where nowhere near as controlled as Mito's, which meant that, with the weakened seal, it'd be easier to try and influence her emotions without her noticing, possibly leading to further weakening of the seal.

'Soon. Oh, so soon.'

Less than 10 seconds after that thought Kurama felt all of the chains restraining him slacken all at once, allowing him to try pry himself away from the rock he was imprisoned against and force his way out of the seal...

Only to find himself being suppressed by an external power, the outter 'gates' of the seal repelling him as the chains started glowing an intense blue, before shooting off from the rock and piercing through his tails, trying to reel him in. That, together with the gate's pushing, managed to block him off and re-attach him to his flaming prison, drawing a roar of absolute bestial rage from the Bijuu.

'RAGHHHHHHHHHHH! RELEASE ME, WOMAN! SET ME FREE AND YOUR CHILD'S DEMISE SHALL BE QUICK AND PAINLESS!'

In her recent post-natal state Kushina could barely understand what was being said around her in the real world, much less inside the seal, so Kurama's roars went unheard, further increasing his anger. However, it was nothing more than impotent rage as his prison protected his host.

Before his rage could subside and give way to despair, Kurama felt something that he did not expect to ever feel again.

'Freedom.'

It was an instantaneous thing, one second he was raging inside the void, the next one he was outside, feeling a crisp night wind on his fur, grass and dirt under his paws, and the ebb and flow of Chakra around him.

Regaining himself, Kurama decided to destroy his previous host to ensure he would not be further sealed, before escaping, however before he could do a thing, he was bombarded by a dark and twisted chakra, so full of hatred that it got close to only one other person he felt before.

It wasn't the same, no, it was much weaker, smaller in amount, but it was enough to cause Kurama to look at it in order to assess the threat...

Only to be met by a red eye with spinning red comma within.

'You motherfu-'

And just like that, everything went blank for Kurama. One could even say that while the lights were on, there was no-one home. A few red-tinted flashes passed through his mind, trees felled, homes destroyed, squishy human bodies snapping, breaking and popping under his paws, before he came to in the middle of charging a bijuudama to shoot against a mountain with faces carved into it, an army of tiny humans arrayed around him feeling mostly defeat and despair at the sight.

Absentmindedly, the bijuu shot the condensed chakra sphere, only for the sight of... Well, it could only be described as a tear in the air itself... Surrounded in various characters one would expect to see in a seal that somehow wrote themselves into the air itself. Said tear then proceeded to swallow a fully-charged bijuudama.

That lead to a realization.

'Not good! Not fucking good at all! If this place has someone with this level of sealing skill available, then they can probably seal me again! I have to trash this place!'

With that thought in mind Kurama started charging a second bijuudama...

Only for a massive toad to drop on top of his head, disrupting his focus and dispersing the built-up chakra. Panicking, Kurama tried to roll over and dislodge the toad even as he scratched and clawed at it, but while he did feel one of his claws strike true with a single gash, he did not manage to free himself before he could feel a sense of vertigo and nausea as he suddenly found himself transported to a different place.

The toad was no longer on top of him, but across him instead, a blond man riding atop it's head. Before Kurama could try to strike out at it, he was forced to roar in rage as he felt familiar blue chains wrapping themselves around him and knocking him to the ground, immobile.

He felt an absolutely unnatural chill pass through the clearing as if death itself had made it's presence known, before he felt a literally soul-wrenching pain as his power was halved, a purple hand covered in seal markings making itself seen after the act, leading to the blond man's stomach.

He almost crowed in victory at the knowledge that the blond idiot had just killed himself without succeeding in actually sealing him, before the cry of a child reached his ears, causing him to look down at a newborn babe...

Which was in the middle of a sealing altar.

'No... No! No! NO! I REFUSE TO BE SEALED AGAIN! I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO DO THIS!'

The chains around one of his arms slackened for just an instant, and he decided to capitalize on it. Kurama could only watch with glee as his nail grew closer and closer to the child, destroying the only remaining person alive capable of hosting him, unlike the dying vixen...

Only for his claw to register an unexpected level of resistance, and for his eyes to widen as they registered the sight of the two humans impaled on said claw, before the chain re-tightened around him. He saw the two humans speaking for a bit, but he heard nothing of what they said, his brain registering only the fact that he was going to be forced into another prison so soon.

He could do nothing more than roar impotently and curse the entire Line of Indra's descendants as he was shoved into the crying newborn, his vision blanking out during.

When it returned, it was to the sight of a set of infinitely tall bars in front of him, and what seemed like concrete walls surrounding him. And he could only seethe impotently as, once again, the freedom that was rightfully his was stolen.

-Now-

'And those are pretty much that night's events.'

"...I see."

The blonde let out a tired sight, turning his back towards the seal's bars and sliding down to the ground, his back propped up by one of said bars. Boy and Bijuu kept silent as each of them got their thoughts in order, Kurama trying to do his best not to dwell on such bad memories and emotions, and Naruto trying to analyze the events from as many angles as possible.

After a few seconds of silence, Naruto let out a sigh, before speaking.

"I... Fuck, everything's so complicated now! Before things were simple! I was just some naive kid dreaming of getting the Hat, ignoring the naysayers and saying 'screw you' to the hurdles put in my way. Now... Now I'm actually aware of things such as context, and nuance, and emotion. What am I supposed to feel now? I should feel mad at you. Angry! Livid even! You attacked the village! You tried to kill me when I was a baby... You even killed my parents!"

Kurama kept his silence, knowing that Naruto wasn't done yet.

"I should hate you, but... I don't. I know why you did it. I understand. I'd probably have done the same if I were in your position. I... Kurama, I feel horrible. Is not hating you a betrayal of my mom's memory? Of the people that died that night?"

'...You're really something, kid, you know that? Someone else in your position would just ignore the other side of the issue, and push all the blame onto the "monster". It's easier to blindly hate than to understand.'

Naruto snorted at that, before speaking up.

"You're one to talk. Somone else in your place would've held on to the anger and hatred. They would've used every opportunity to manipulate a dumb kid like me into freeing them. Instead, you helped me grow stronger, smarter. Why?"

'Do not cry, Kurama. We, you and I, both knew that this day would come. The final rest comes for all. My only regret is to leave my children, all of them, to this unfair world of pain, grief and loss. I wish, more than anything else, that I managed to make this world let go of it's hatred. Alas, my time has come. My last requests for you, Kurama, are that you take care of your younger siblings... And that you do not give into hatred, no matter what.'

'...Let's say that I got tired of holding onto the hatred.'

The two shared a brief silence, with Naruto contemplating Kurama's words, and Kurama giving a bittersweet smile as he remembered his father's words, and his soothing aura.

"So... where does this leave us?"

Kurama looked at the young blonde that had stood up and turned back towards him, his eyes covered by his bangs, as he answered.

'That... Is entirely up to you, Naruto. Ignoring me, forcing my power away from me, locking me away, or whatever else... You get to choose.'

"Then, I choose..."

Kurama was surprised to see Naruto stepping into his cage, his bangs shadowing his eyes as he did, before stopping in front of the massive - even while lying down - fox. The blond further surprised Kurama by raising his arm, his hand curled into a fist, before raising his head, revealing a confident smirk and a pair of eyes full of nothing other than honesty and determination.

"To call you my partner, and my friend, for the rest of my life... Kurama!"

The fox could have sworn he saw the outline of a taller, red-haired man in a white cloak, with purple, rippled eyes in Naruto's place, causing him to mimic Naruto's smirk even as he rose to his full height, before stretching out his own arm, his fist closed tightly, and lightly bumping it against the blond's.

'Heh... It's a deal... Partner!'

-Chapter, End!-

AN: Finally, I have returned! The Olde Pc was fixed, so I'm back to working on my writing! Hope you enjoy this chapter, which is simultaneously my attempt at shaking off the rust from the lack of practice, and an interlude before the next chapter of the story.

You are free to leave me any sort of feedback (hopefully positive), be it in reviews, or in private messages. Arrivederci, for now!