"Hey! Kabuto, you bastard!"
"Are you really going to abandon the years we spent together?"
Late at night, in front of the orphanage, over twenty orphans and Matron Nonō Yakushi watched as Kabuto walked toward a group of men dressed in black. The one shouting was Urushi, an older orphan with a talent for medical ninjutsu who had served alongside the Matron on the front lines.
It was during the Battle of Kikyo Pass that Nonō had rescued a child and named him Kabuto. Having displayed immense talent, Kabuto had become the Matron's reliable assistant. Their bond was deep, which made this sudden departure all the more painful for Urushi.
Uzumaki Menma stood at the back of the crowd, watching Urushi's desperate shouts and Kabuto's retreating back. Memories flickered in his mind—he vaguely recalled that after the Fourth Shinobi World War in the original story, when Kabuto returned to lead the orphanage, it was this very same Urushi who remained by his side.
"Kabuto, why?" Nonō whispered, her hands clasped in a prayer-like gesture.
She knew all too well how filthy the Root was; she didn't want any of her children to be taken by Danzo.
"I just want to be a ninja," Kabuto replied, masking his true emotions.
As he reached Danzo and Orochimaru, he turned back one last time to look at his family. Before he could say another word, a small figure pushed through the crowd to the front.
"Kabuto! Remember our promise!" Menma shouted.
Kabuto looked surprised for a moment. He then shook his head with a bitter smile.
"Has everyone forgotten the orphanage rules? It's time for bed."
With that, he turned and followed Danzo.
Orochimaru, draped in a black robe, narrowed his eyes as he scanned the children, his tongue flicking out to sense the chakra in the air. To his disappointment, none of the children possessed any notable chakra—not even the boy who had just shouted about a promise.
Danzo nodded in satisfaction, then led Orochimaru and Aburame Ryuma into the darkness. Kabuto vanished along with them.
As the other caretakers ushered the children back inside, Nonō remained, praying silently for Kabuto's safety.
"Matron," Menma said, tugging at the sleeve of his foster mother.
"Menma, go back to sleep," Nonō replied softly, trying to hide her grief.
To her, Menma was a bit of a headache—not just because he was a loner, but because he was the only child who refused to call her "Mother," insisting on the formal title of "Matron."
"I will bring Kabuto back," Menma said, his small face filled with startling conviction.
Nonō assumed he was simply struggling with the loss of a friend. She felt a flicker of relief, thinking that the boy wasn't as cold as he seemed. She knelt down and stroked his black hair.
'Wait... I remember when I first found him, his hair was blonde,' she thought, puzzled. 'How did it turn black as he grew?'
——————
Late that night, while the other children slept soundly, Menma lay in bed refining his chakra.
He could feel a bottomless vortex near his stomach, greedily devouring every drop of energy he produced. Even with the potent physical constitution of the Uzumaki clan, he couldn't fill the void.
Drip—
The sound of a water droplet echoed. Menma snapped his eyes open.
The orphanage ceiling was gone. The sleeping children were gone.
He found himself in a dark, damp corridor. The air was thick with moisture and a restless, primal energy. Menma stood barefoot in shallow water, looking up at a massive, sealed iron gate.
Behind the bars, a dark red silhouette with nine tails slowly approached.
"Nine-Tails. Long time no see," Menma greeted, his voice calm as if speaking to an old friend.
As the figure drew closer, Menma realized the beast was not a mountain-sized monster, but a "Little Nine-Tails" roughly the same height as himself.
"Menma! Where on earth are we?!" the little fox cried out, its paws gripping the iron bars.
Its dark red fur bristled, but its voice was nothing like the coarse, masculine roar of Kurama. It was feminine, warm, and soft.
"Tsk, it really is you," Menma muttered, rubbing his temples as his mind raced.
'Was that world actually a real parallel dimension? If so, why was I rejected by it?'
He couldn't tell the difference anymore. But one thing was certain: the "Dark Nine-Tails" he had brought from the Limited Tsukuyomi was here—and she was a girl. Unlike the arrogant, shut-in personality of the original Kurama, this version was gentle and had been Menma's closest partner.
"Menma! It's dark in here! Let me out!" she pleaded, pawing at the gate.
"If anyone sees your fox form, it'll cause a lot of trouble for me," Menma replied, though he was mostly teasing.
In the other world, they had stood together against eighty thousand ninjas. He had controlled her power to perform a one-man show that would have made Uchiha Madara proud.
"You and your weird hobbies..." the little fox huffed. Her paws began to blur as she wove hand signs.
"Transformation Jutsu!"
Poof!
In a cloud of smoke, the fox transformed into a small fox-girl.
She wore a flame-patterned kimono and stood barefoot. Two fox ears twitched atop her dark red hair, and nine tails drifted elegantly behind her.
"My chakra is too low. This is the best I can do for now," she grumbled, looking at her small form. "It'll take three to five years to fully recover."
She looked up at Menma.
"But I don't need to drain your chakra anymore. I can recover slowly on my own, and I can even provide chakra to you."
Looking at the little fox-girl so eager to help him, Menma gave her a thumbs-up.
He was already imagining the shocked expressions on Naruto and Kurama's faces when they eventually met her years from now.