The seal space was dark and damp.
Naruto opened his eyes with curiosity and exclaimed, "What a big fox!"
A massive head slammed into thick bars, making a booming clang.
The flame-red fox bared teeth larger than a human, malice surging. "Brat!"
Chakra roiled out in a dense mist, but it never touched Naruto.
Ever since Natsume had Uzumaki Hinae reinforce the seal, it couldn't leak chakra or see the outside world.
Shut in solitary, Kurama was even more violent than in the original.
"This… this fox can talk?"
Naruto jumped, then relaxed when he realized it couldn't get out.
"Brat! I'm not a fox!"
Kurama's roar echoed through the seal.
Its huge breath gusted over Naruto and Natsume.
"…"
Natsume casually raised a chakra barrier.
"If you're not a fox, what are you?"
With safety assured, Naruto's childlike curiosity surfaced.
"I… I'm the most powerful tailed beast!"
Kurama stumbled for a beat, then bellowed.
"Tailed beast?"
Naruto's face showed he was thinking, then realization struck. "You're the demon fox?"
His expression changed.
Before, he thought people calling him the demon fox meant him. Turns out it was an actual fox.
So he'd been suffering because of it?
"I am indeed the demon fox they speak of."
Kurama grinned ferociously. "Come closer, you two, and I'll tell you why I'm the demon fox."
Naruto stepped forward instinctively.
He did want to know.
He'd hated being called "demon fox" for so long.
"Naruto."
Natsume pressed a hand to his shoulder. "Stay here. Don't move."
He strolled ahead.
Kurama rejoiced inwardly.
Kids were easy to trick.
So easily lured in.
The last two Jinchuriki had been a pain.
Though Natsume wasn't a Jinchuriki, he seemed close to one.
Catch him, and he could threaten Naruto.
Maybe even get out.
As Natsume approached, Kurama's eyes grew fiercer. It slowly opened its mouth.
It couldn't get out, but at this close range, a little chakra could leak out to bind the kid.
"Big bro, careful!"
Sensing danger, Naruto shouted.
Natsume raised a hand, glanced at the seal.
If he remembered right, peeling off half the seal would trigger Minato to appear and stop it.
Kushina would show when Kurama rampaged, binding it with Adamantine Sealing Chains.
Irresponsible as they were in some ways, they still cared for Naruto.
Just entrusted him to the wrong people.
"Brat! You're dead!"
Kurama's grin widened; red chakra tentacles lashed toward Natsume at the bars.
It looked down with contempt. This generation of Jinchuriki was weak.
Natsume didn't dodge. He clapped his hands.
Sage Art: Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!
A green seed appeared suddenly.
Kurama paused, a sense of déjà vu.
Before it could react—
The chakra-fed seed sprouted, becoming a vine like a dragon that quickly bound Kurama.
"Aaagh!"
Kurama's body cracked and popped. "It hurts! It's killing me!"
In the original, Hashirama had used this to bind Kurama, making it wail.
The Wood Dragon's restraint was powerful and absorbed chakra.
"Damn brat! Aaagh!"
Kurama struggled to no avail.
It remembered the fear of being dominated by Hashirama.
That smiling man who yelled "Nine-Tails, you're too strong, need to be sealed!" while pinning it to the ground so it couldn't move.
Damn!
You've got Wood Release? Say so earlier.
We could've talked.
Now you've put me in a bind.
I am not begging a human!
"Let me go!"
Kurama's ears stood straight from the pain.
"Big bro, maybe let it go? It sounds kinda pitiful!"
Naruto covered his ears and shouted.
He did feel a little sorry—but mostly, it was too loud.
Natsume nodded and dispelled the Wood Dragon.
Kurama collapsed, eyes wary.
"Who… who are you?"
Much milder now.
"Natsume."
Natsume smiled. "That's Uzumaki Naruto over there. You know him, right?"
"I know."
Kurama rumbled. "I watched him grow up."
The malice was gone; it looked rather docile.
"Watched me grow up?"
Naruto blinked. "From where?"
"Here."
Kurama glanced at him, then, seeing Natsume's look, answered honestly, "Since you were born, your parents sealed me inside you."
"What?"
Naruto was dumbstruck.
He couldn't understand why his parents would do that.
The demon fox wasn't good—why put it in their child?
"Fourth Hokage, time to come out."
Natsume pressed his hand to the seal.
Naruto's face changed again—confused.
The Fourth Hokage is in my belly too?
What is going on?
Kurama was dumbfounded as well.
There was a back door, after all!
As soon as he touched the seal, another hand pressed from the other side.
The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, appeared.
Classic flak jacket and white cloak.
"You're… Naruto?"
Minato looked puzzled.
Logically, only Naruto could be here and try to peel the seal.
Though Natsume's handsome looks rivaled his own, it was clearly a different style—not his son.
Plus the hair color and age didn't match.
If so, maybe Naruto had been captured?
"Over there."
Natsume pointed casually.
Minato turned and froze.
No need for an explanation—this one was his son.
They looked very alike.
Minato's heart tightened.
He and Naruto had only met once.
During the Nine-Tails incident, Naruto had just been born—an infant.
Now he was a lively boy.
All these years, he hadn't fulfilled his duty as a father, and now he didn't dare approach.
"Fourth Hokage?"
Naruto still didn't get what was happening—totally lost.
"You… don't know me?"
Minato, quick on the uptake, sensed the problem.
By rights, even if they hadn't met, Hiruzen Sarutobi would've told Naruto about him.
Why was he so flat and uncertain on hearing "Fourth Hokage"?
Unless he didn't know Minato was his father—just a stranger.
Minato's heart clenched.
What happened?
"I know you. You're the Fourth carved on Hokage Rock—Minato Namikaze."
Naruto's answer confirmed Minato's hunch.
Naruto had no idea about his lineage.
What were you doing, Third?
Minato looked at Naruto, emotions roiling.
He didn't know how to begin.
"Bring out Kushina."
Natsume broke the awkwardness.
"Who are you?"
Minato came to, wary again. "How do you know so much?"
"Sorry, forgot to introduce myself."
Natsume thought a moment. "I'm Fifth Hokage Tsunade's student, and a Senju who awakened Wood Release."
Minato was surprised.
He knew Tsunade's temperament and history.
If she'd wanted to be Hokage, it wouldn't have been his turn.
He didn't expect her to be the Fifth now.
More surprising was Natsume.
Senju.
With Wood Release.
The village would definitely treat him as a top talent.
He could see why Natsume could be here.
Wood Release countered Kurama.
With Natsume around, Naruto wouldn't risk going berserk.
"Bring out Kushina, and we'll talk about Naruto together."
Natsume added, "Don't worry about fading away."
He extended a hand; Yang Release chakra flowed into Minato, who couldn't help but look pleased.
The remnants Minato and Kushina had left behind wouldn't last long, which is why they hadn't appeared for Naruto all these years.
With Natsume's help, they could remain longer.
For him, it was a chance to make up for Naruto.
He didn't know he'd be Edo Tensei'd in the future.
"We need Kurama to go on a rampage for her to sense it."
Minato said, then realized something.
Where was Kurama?
How could such a big fox be this quiet?
He glanced into the depths and saw Kurama curled up in the farthest corner.
"???"
Minato had never seen it so obedient.
He almost thought he was under genjutsu.
"Kurama, rampage a bit."
Natsume raised a hand.
"What do you take me for, human?"
Kurama bristled.
You tell me to rampage, and I rampage?
I'm the mightiest tailed beast. Have some dignity.
"What was that?"
Natsume lifted his other hand.
Seeing those familiar clapped hands incoming, Kurama leaped up and opened its mouth.
Chakra gathered in torrents; a violent aura swept the space.
The next moment, golden chains bound it.
Kurama's lip twitched.
Called it.
So wronged! This is so wrong!
A red-haired woman appeared midair.
The chains came from her body.
A sealing art unique to the Uzumaki.
Adamantine Sealing Chains.
Also a tailed-beast nemesis.
In the shinobi world, sealing arts were rare non-kekkei genkai that could restrain tailed beasts.
"Eh? What's going on?"
Kushina landed, glanced at Minato and Natsume, then fixed on the utterly bewildered Naruto.
"Minato, is that… Naruto?"
"It is."
Minato nodded.
"He's grown… Naruto, I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you."
Kushina rushed over, hugged Naruto. "How are you living now?"
"Mom?"
Naruto jolted, subconsciously pushed her away, incredulous. "You're my mom?"
"???"
Kushina froze, turned to Minato. "What happened?"
"I'll explain."
Natsume stepped up, patted Naruto, giving a reassuring look, then raised his hand.
"I used a special method to extract Naruto's memories. You'll understand at a glance."
The "special method" was Fate Points.
Extraction wasn't expensive—ten points.
Two clear orbs sank into them.
…
Moments later, Kushina opened her eyes and lost her cool.
Her red hair flared; face fierce. "Third! What were you doing?! How could you treat Naruto like that?!"
Minato was a little better, but his face was dark.
He could have survived.
He had Flying Thunder God, after all.
But out of Hokage duty, trust in Hiruzen, and perhaps a hint of romantic fatalism, he went to his death.
Who knew Naruto would be treated like this?
Minato knew a Nine-Tails Jinchuriki couldn't live like a normal shinobi.
Likely he'd be confined like Kushina.
But Naruto's situation was beyond confinement.
He'd grown up amid malice.
Minato couldn't imagine how Naruto stayed positive and upbeat.
"Naruto! I'm sorry!"
Rage spent, Kushina hugged Naruto, tears flowing.
Minato felt burning embarrassment.
At the root, Naruto's plight was his doing.
He sealed half of Kurama into Naruto.
"Natsume, tell me—where are Jiraiya-sensei, Kakashi, and Genma Shiranui?"
Minato drew a deep breath to press down his anger.
Jiraiya was his teacher; Kakashi his student.
Genma Shiranui, Ryo Umino, and Iwashi Tatami were his Hokage guards.
He'd rested in peace because of them.
Plus, the one he trusted most: Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Yet none helped.
"Jiraiya's almost always away, barely returning. Kakashi fell into a slump after losing his teammates. As for your three guards, they've drifted from Konoha's power center and chose to stand aside."
Natsume paused. "And none of them could defy the Third's orders."
Minato clenched his fists.
The root of it was Hiruzen.
Others had reasons, but he didn't.
He hadn't treated Naruto as a hero's son, but as an indispensable weapon.
Kushina, with Mito and Minato shielding her, hadn't seen much darkness.
But Naruto, because they both died, was left utterly alone.
[Because of your actions, the fates of Uzumaki Naruto, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Namikaze Minato, and Uzumaki Kushina have changed. You gained 237 Fate Points.]
"I won't intrude on your family reunion. I'll head out."
Natsume glanced at Naruto.
His goal achieved, staying would be inappropriate.
This was their family—no place for him.
And the Fate Points told him enough. No need to worry.
"Natsume, thank you."
Minato said gratefully at once.
Without him, he and Kushina might have learned of Naruto's suffering much later.