"When Naruto isn't in the seal and Kurama is talking" "When Naruto is talking back"

Kurama was a lot of things. Powerful, intelligent, a giant nine-tailed fox, but in no way was he a fuzzball. Or a giant bunny rabbit, as this tiny kid, maybe four years old, called him.

"What did you call me?" Kurama rumbled, amusement written across his furry face.

"A giant bunny rabbit!" The small child announced, looking proud of himself. "That's what the mean lady at the orphanage called animals like you! Bunny rabbits!"

Kurama snorted, sending a blast of warm air at the boy. "I am no bunny rabbit child. Bunny rabbits are white or brown. I am ginger-colored, thank you very much."

The little boy looked amazed. "You must be really smart!"

"Much smarter than you," Kurama agreed. "See all my tails? They mean I am very smart and powerful."

"Oooo," the little boy said. "That's a lotta tails. So, what's your name? Mine's Naruto!"

Kurama exhaled softly. "No one has asked my name in a very long time, Kit. My name is Kurama."

"Why are you in this sewer?"

"This is your mindscape. I must say, this cage is much more comfortable than being chained to a moon."

"But the moon is so far away? How'd you get here?"

"It was not the actual moon, it was your mother's mindscape."

"I had a mother?" The kit asked, eyes wide.

"Of course you did. If you did not have a mother, you would not exist."

"Do you have a mother?"

Kurama shook his head, amused. "No, I did not have a mother. I had a father. Although, I suppose the Juubi could be considered my mother."

"Can you have one or the other? Did I have a father?"

"Yes, Kit, you had a father and a mother."

"Woah. Where'd they go? Do they not love me?"

"They were forced to leave you," Kurama decided after a moment of thinking. He didn't really want to have to explain death to a four-year-old. "They died protecting you." He'd tell the kid about the incident later. In a few years perhaps.

"Oh," Naruto sat down. "But they did love me?"

"Yes. Very much."

"Okay. I forgive them for not being here."

Kurama smiled slightly at the kit. So small, and yet so kind. This could have been bad, but it seemed that the kid may actually be a good jinchuuriki.

"So, Kurama-san, what's a mindscope?"

"Mindscape," Kurama corrected. "It is a mental representation of your mind."

Naruto looked so confused, so Kurama took some pity on him. "It is a place in your head. It is all made up by your mind."

"So, why are you trapped here?" Naruto asked, brows furrowing.

"Lift up your shirt," Kurama commanded. Naruto did so, then looked back at him. Kurama was worried. The kid was way to thin. Way, way to thin for someone his age. As far as Kurama knew of humans, anyway. "Channel some chakra to your stomach."

"What's chakra?" Naruto asked, tilting his head, dropping his shirt and sitting down, clearly prepared for a lecture.

Kurama sighed but settled down, placing his head on his paws. He'd have to deal with that issue later. "Chakra is the energy that keeps us running. Ninjas like your parents use it to do jutsu."

"Oh, so, like, the switching thing that some people do when caught in a trap?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"Yes, like that," Kurama said. "That is the replacement jutsu."

"How do you channel it?"

"It is like diverting a river. Let the energy pool in your stomach."

Naruto nodded, pulling his shirt up to his ribs again, and concentrating. Slowly, the seal faded into view. Naruto looked down and gasped at the black lines of ink spreading across his stomach. It faded away, but the kit seemed shellshocked. "That keeps you in here?"

Kurama nodded. "Yes it does. Your father made sure of it."

"Does Jiji know about you?" Naruto asked, tilting his head to the side. Kurama resisted the urge to coo at the adorable sight.

"I would imagine he does."

"Why didn't he tell me?"

Kurama sighed, a gust of hot air nearly blowing the kit over. "I do not know, kit."

"Why do you call me kit?"

"It is a term of endearment. Also, a kit is a baby fox."

"What's a fox?"

Kurama internally sighed. So many questions. He supposed the kit hadn't had someone who'd answer his questions before. "I am a fox, kit."

"Oh! That's cool." Naruto said, grinning. "Hey, Kurama-san? If you're so smart, do you know why the villagers hate me?"

Kurama sighed once more. "Yes kit, I know why they hate you. It is because of me."

Naruto looked confused. "But you're so nice!"

"They do not realize that. Nor did they bother asking me. You are one of the first humans to ask my name."

"That's so sad!" Naruto decided. "Do you know who my parents were?"

"You don't?" Kurama asked, taken aback.

"Jiji just says that he doesn't know, but I think he's lying."

Kurama sighed. "Your parents were Minato Namikaze-"

"The fourth Hokage?" Naruto interrupted.

"Yes, and your mother was Kushina Uzumaki, who was my last jinchuuriki."

"Woah! Why don't I have my dad's last name?"

"It would be dangerous for you. Until you can properly defend yourself, you can not be known as Minato's relative. Iwa and Kumo hated Minato, and would jump at the chance to kill his son."

"But why didn't he tell me?" Naruto looked close to tears.

"I do not know," Kurama admitted. "Maybe avoid asking him though, we do not know how he will react. He could strengthen the seal once more, cutting me off from talking to you. And I rather like talking to you. Much better than sitting around here bored out of my mind."

"Hey, Kurama-san," Naruto began. "Can you teach me to be strong?"

Kurama was taken aback. Well, he was a four-year-old. He must just be searching for someone to help him. "Sure, I will help best I can." Even giant nine-tailed foxes were not immune to the urge to 'parent' small children. Being the oldest and most powerful, he'd always had much stronger parental instincts, especially when it came to his jinchuuriki.

Naruto grinned, wide and toothy. "Thanks, Kurama-sensei!"

Kurama blinked. Well, that was a development. "You need to wake up now," he said gently. "You can't stay in here forever."

Naruto sighed, slumping slightly. "Okay. How do I get out?"

"I'll send you back," Kurama said, pulsing his chakra to force the small boy's conscience back to the real world.

Naruto opened his eyes to see the blank ceiling of his room at the orphanage.

"Have you begun at the academy, kit?"

Naruto jumped at the sudden voice in his head. He fell off his a bit too small bed, and landed on the floor with a hard thump.

"What was that?" He asked, looking around.

"You just met me a few minutes ago."

"Kurama-sensei?"

"Yes. You can respond inside your head, it will keep you from looking like a lunatic."

"Like this?"

"Yes. Are you doing anything today?"

"The matron probably has me doing chores," Naruto replied sadly. "No one else does them, so I have no one to talk to."

"You do realize I literally cannot go anywhere, right?"

"Oh yeah," Naruto thought. His stomach grumbled. "I should probably check for what she wants me to do, I want dinner this time."

"Wait a moment. Come inside the seal, I'm going to show you how to make a Bushin. You'll get stuff done faster." Internally, Kurama also thought it would be funny to scare the matron by having a shadow clone able to henge into a fox and contain some of his consciousness.

Naruto appeared in front of the massive fox. "A bushin?"

Kurama nodded. "A Kage Bushin. It's solid, and you get it's memories back."

"Does that mean there's a normal bushin?" Naruto wondered.

"Yes, it is merely an illusion, and has no mass."

Naruto opened his mouth to as another question, and Kurama decided to cut the boy off before they got even further off topic.

"I use this hand sign for it, but there are a couple others you can use," Kurama told the boy, demonstrating the two half rams, one turned sideways to form a cross. "You can also use this one," he did the tiger hand sign, hands clasped together with the pointer and thumb fingers pointing to the sky. He channeled chakra through the seal, just a tiny amount, and a tiny fox, about the size of a normal fox appeared. It grinned crookedly at Naruto, and Naruto cooed at the fox.

"Aww, it's so cute!"

"I'm still Kurama," the tiny fox informed him. "Just, smaller. Less power."

Naruto nodded wisely. "Okay."

"Now, get out there and try it yourself. If you do well, maybe tomorrow we can leave the clones to do the work, and we'll go find somewhere to practice. Your mother used this one training field with her Uchiha friend. Mikoto, I think her name was. Not many know about it, so it should be free."

Naruto nodded. "Um, Kurama-sensei? Can you send me out again?"

Kurama shook his head, but pulsed his chakra to send the boy back outside.