Weeeee woooooo weeeeee woooooo

Third person pov

Physically, Naruto is fine. 

They get to the hospital in record time, as journeys have been known to be when Minato Namikaze is involved. Naruto's breathing deepens by the time a nurse is able to take his vitals and his heartbeat is strong, already recovering from the blood loss. Minato hovers anxiously by as they gently wipe the mess of remaining red from his son only to reveal smooth, unblemished skin beneath. Not even a scar.

So, he's okay in that regard. Any arteries that may or may not have been nicked have already closed. There will be no lasting internal trauma from the poison, which has somehow been expunged from his body. All his biological facilities are functioning at their very best-- maybe even better than before. His previously high blood pressure, taken a few weeks after Minato came back to life, has levelled out into the normal and target range.

It should be good news. And it is, really, it is. The only issue is that despite being perfectly fine, with brain activity recorded as regular, with lungs expanding and contracting, with his heart thumping to a steady rhythm... he won't wake up. 

They try everything. They give him a medication that triggers a burst of adrenaline, one that would have anyone else's eyes shooting open with alertness. They try to gently call out to him, and Minato's throat goes tight when his brain activity doesn't fluctuate in response, proving he's not hearing them. They even have Minato jolt a little chakra into his system to see if that'll get him up, but the blonde boy doesn't so much as twitch.

Chakra is what it really all comes down to. It's the problem here. Minato knows that, he just doesn't know why. He has no idea what they did to his son. It feels like his chakra gets further and further away the more time that passes, like it's sinking further beneath the surface.

Dread fills him. Minato can't sit still, pacing through his exhaustion, through his anxiety and his fear. Attempts to draw Naruto's chakra back forward are all to no avail. It's stuck, held in place behind what feels like an impenetrable wall. If Minato didn't know any better, he'd almost say... he'd almost say that Naruto, somehow, was sealed inside himself.

"Do you think he's what touched the seal?" Kushina asked, looking entirely stressed over the idea. She was covered in soot, her hair a wild scarlet curtain that frizzed out behind her. "What if I swapped places with him accidentally? Wh-What if I did this to him, Minato?" 

Having Kushina back made this whole thing feel a whole lot like a fever dream. Minato looks at her and nothing feels real. He wants to laugh and cry and hug her and never let go. He never thought he'd get the chance to scoop her up into his arms again, yet her she is. Present, tangible, and... just as afraid as he is.

Minato cannot fathom the thought of focusing his full attention into anything aside from his son right now, and he knows Kushina feels the same. Later, when this all ends and Naruto can smile at them again, he knows he'll break down. He knows he will feel a drowning sense of elation and relief, and he knows he'll cry.

That will come later, though. Right now Naruto is what's most important. Getting him out of-- whatever this is... they have to find a way. And to do that, they have to find what caused this.

"He shouldn't be able to access the seal at all, even if his body did go into crisis mode. The Kyuubi is asleep-- he should stay that way for at least a couple more years." Minato gnawed at the inside of his cheek. Even saying it, he knew how uncertain he sounded. 

"That was before I fucked up and sealed by entire body in him like he was some sort of scroll, Minato." Kushina tugged at her hair, throwing it into further disarray. "Is the-- I mean, is the seal still even intact? What if the Kyuubi woke up, or- or Naruto is stuck in there trying to get out and... and can't?"

She sounded so defeated as she said it, and Minato understood why. The mere thought sent a shiver down his spine. Was Naruto trapped in his own body fighting for a way out, alone and scared and unable to hear them? It made Minato sick to dwell on it to long-- the possibility that his son may be crying out for him in a way they couldn't hear.

If the Kyuubi is awake, Minato can't tell. The Kyuubi awake suddenly would almost certainly mean rage, would mean it trying to ram its way through the seal in the midst of Naruto's weakened state. Minato can feel none of that now. The Kyuubi's chakra rests still inside the seal, not burning through Naruto's pathways with anger and spite and intent to harm like it used to Kushina when she's slip.

The seal stands out as Jiraiya lightly channels chakra into it. It's inky and stark as ever, all its layers in the same condition they were before this whole mess started. The sannin looks as tired as Minato feels, and the blonde kage can hardly find it in himself to feel bitter towards the man anymore as he looms over his son, brows drawn in contemplatively.

Kakashi, not unlike Minato, is restless too. He wants to help but knows there's little he can do with his arbitrary knowledge on seals, since they're nearly certain that's what's causing this issue to begin with. Kushina had already tried to get the Hound nin to rest but it was pointless. None of them could fathom sitting still for more than a mere moment right now.

What do you do when you're faced with solving an issue, but you don't even know what the issue is to begin with? There's some vague sense of an idea there. The beginnings of an explanation lay spread out before their fingertips, but there were no directions for them to go. Not yet.

It was driving Minato utterly insane. 

"I don't see anything off. There's nothing. The seal-- it's flawless. I don't think they got the chance to even try and tamper with it. Orochimaru may not be a master, but he knows his stuff. If he'd really wanted to, there'd be some sign left over." Jiraiya huffed out in a frustrated tone. "I wish there was a way one of us could go inside. Look for him or something, maybe see what's going on in there." 

The man punctuated with a sniff, leaning back. He then paused. Minato paused too, blinking. They looked at one another.

Ever so slowly, everyone turns to look in the corner of the room where a droopy-eyed Ayumu sits, slouched and with his foot anxiously tapping along to an uneven beat. He perks up slightly when he realizes attention is on him, shoulders drawing up and spine straightening somewhat. He looked between them all, clearly not having heard what they were talking about. To his credit, they had been prattling on about to same dead-end theories for the past hour or so.

There was a moment of silence, the sound of Naruto's heart monitor steadily beeping the only sound. Ayumu yawned a little, dragging a hand down his face as he inspected their expectant gazes with a squint. Kushina cleared her throat.

"Uh." She leaned forward a little. "Is there... a reason we're all staring at the random guy in the corner?" 

~~~~

In Ayumu's professional opinion, this probably isn't a very good idea. Unfortunately, he's not the one who gets final say.

Something is wrong with Naruto. They don't know what or why it's happening, just that it is and they've got no way to fix it. How do you heal a person if you don't know what part of them is hurt? How do you wake a boy from a coma if you don't know why he's asleep?

Minds are fragile, delicate things. It is dangerous to try and delve too deeply within them without full acceptance and permission from the one being invaded. The Yamanaka are skilled-- their kekkai genkai allows them to possess, to seize minds and control of chakra pathways. This is similar, but not similar enough for Ayumu to feel certain.

Controlling and delving into are two very different things, after all. The Yamanaka's signature move lets them wrap around and contain, but to truly enter one's mind? It is something Ayumu had one day wanted to do with Naruto, once they knew one another better and had formed a thicker bridge of trust. 

It is a risky process. One Ayumu had planned on explaining the process to both Naruto and Minato very clearly. Walk him through the sensations so Naruto would not panic and reject him. Take a look at the inside of his mind and the state of it, just so Ayumu could learn how to better help him, so he could maybe talk to--

The rat. So he could maybe talk to the rat.

How could Ayumu have forgotten? Naruto's friend, Kurama, a reflection of himself! Such a unique way for trauma to manifest-- something that had utterly fascinated Ayumu with its rarity and vividness. Naruto's image of Kurama was so lucid, a driving force in his recovery that pushed Naruto further and further along the path of understanding what it meant to be okay.

Honestly, sometimes Ayumu felt like Kurama was doing his job for him. He sounded entirely strange, so strange that Ayumu had ambitiously hoped to one day observe him before Naruto became secure enough to no longer need the construct. A large rat in a cage, one that taught him about love, one that Naruto considered a friend. 

Was that rat in there now? Ayumu didn't know. If it was... perhaps Naruto had retreated into the safety of it. Was that a thing that could happen? He didn't know enough about what the rat even was to answer that question, and he doubted there was anyone else in the would that did either. They were flying blind.

Ayumu didn't like flying blind.

The rat could make things easier, or it could complicate them. As an extension of Naruto, would it reject him? Did it have a degree of sentience, or was it only active when Naruto's mind was? If Naruto was conscious within his mindscape, the rat likely was too. If Naruto wasn't... then in theory, he shouldn't be confronted with any large animals in cages. Unless, of course...

"The Kyuubi." Ayumu frowned, eyeing Minato dubiously. "How will it play into this? If I agree entering his mind is the best course of action."

As bad an idea as it was, it may be their only choice. Sleep deprived as Ayumu felt and still weak from the attack, him entering someone's mind-- especially a child's-- was a poor plan. But Naruto's chakra was so far away, and leaving it that way for a prolonged amount of time? There was no telling what that might do to him long term.

"The nine tails will be unconscious when you go in. And on the off chance it's not..." Minato grimaced. "Well, it won't be able to get to you anyhow."

"It should be staked and chained down." Kushina added in. "That's how it was with me. It was starfished on its back, on a round stone slab. Zero mobility whatsoever. Other than spit mean words, it'll be harmless-- and again, that's if it's even awake. I doubt you'll go to the area in which its sealed anyhow."

That was... somewhat reassuring, Ayumu supposed. The man took a breath, trying to steady himself and his roiling nerves. Naruto was not some sort of science experiment they could set up and try again if they failed. If Ayumu slipped in the wrong way at the wrong time, he could hurt him. Permanently. 

"Doesn't seem like it's awake. We'd feel it if it were." Jiraiya grimaced, eyes sliding over to the harried redhead woman and her pinched brows. Her expression has stayed twisted into the same face they all share-- one of growing worry and panic. "If Naruto sinks low enough that we can't feel his chakra anymore, I fear what will happen to his pathways. We need information more than anything right now. This has never happened before and that's a problem-- we just don't know."

In this world, not knowing is awfully dangerous. Ayumu knows this and he still hesitates. Just like they don't know what will happen if Naruto's chakra continues to recede away and out of their view, they don't know what will happen if Ayumu tries to enter his mind whilst he's in this state. He wonders which is worse.

Ayumu gnaws at the inside of his cheek, eyes dropping down to the boy again. He looks so much smaller in the hospital bed, drowning in white. His hair is a shock of yellow against the starkness of his pillowcase, his face sallow and devoid of the life and energy Ayumu had grown so accustomed to seeing him laden with. His heart clenches at the sight, and Ayumu's forced to look away.

He blinks back the sting in his eyes and he thinks. Is it odd to consider a six year old a friend? In his line of work, perhaps not. Naruto has always been special, though-- he was far before Ayumu ever met him. He is a flame that has burned strong for his whole life, ambitious and determined to stay alight no matter what was thrown his way.

Naruto is selfless in a way Ayumu did not think children could be. The way he thinks, the way he acts... he is spectacular. Children are precious, and Naruto is no different. He is a torch meant to be carried, a brilliance so blazing it blinds. 

To see that start to dim, to know there is a true risk of that light going out? 

"...Okay." Ayumu breaths out, and Minato's shoulders slouch with relief. "Okay. But if I think something is going to go wrong, if I feel any resistance... I pull back, and I don't try again. I do this slowly and carefully."

"Slowly and carefully." Minato agrees, his voice hoarse, and that's... that's that.

~~~

Kushina wonders if any of this is real, or if maybe she's just landed herself in a nightmare.

Kushina has always considered herself to be emotionally strong. She's hardheaded, slow to cry, quick to step up. Some would call her stubborn, but Kushina has always preferred Minato's way of putting it-- spirited, he used to grin when people asked if she was always like this, she's just spirited is all.

It felt like she had just saved her child. Like she had just fought tooth and nail, knowing she wasn't going to come out on the other end of things but not caring so long as Naruto did. She had carried him for nine months, had felt his chakra signature grow and twine with her own. Kushina can still remember the first time he kicked, the way she's stopped and closed her eyes and just... felt.

Naruto had been somewhat of a miracle. With the Kyuubi locked away inside her, she and Minato had both been afraid to try. Would the seal weaken? Would the baby be harmed, be changed by the beast's chakra hovering so near it as they developed? Kushina had stayed uncharacteristically insecure throughout her pregnancy, wrestling with doubts and fears almost constantly.

To have Naruto come out so perfect had been a miracle. The elation upon seeing him for the first time is still fresh in her mind, something that occurred not six years ago, but rather less than a day instead. Kushina peers at him now and her heart twists. Unlike the the Kyuubi's attack, she is powerless here. She can do nothing.

Kushina's never been good at standing still. She's a lively person, the type that keeps going and going until she's too tired to anymore. She does not like to be stopped. Like many forces of nature, often times she cannot be stopped. It takes a lot to make her immovable. This, Kushina things, is a far more than simply 'a lot'. 

This is fear deeper than what she felt the night Naruto was born. She could've lost him then, yes, but at least she was able to fight. At least she was able to win. 

How do you win against something like this?

(You don't, Kushina is beginning to realize. You just cross your fingers and you wait.)

((She hates waiting.))

~~~

Slowly and carefully had not been an understatement. 

Ayumu does not plunge in. He takes his time, skirting around the edges, prodding and feeling to see if anything is going to push back. When he finally does start to slowly sink below the outer surface, he starts with a mere fingertip, slight and cautious. 

He holds his breath and waits for resistance that does not come. Naruto, for all his openness, has always locked certain parts of himself away as well. If anyone knows how to keep a secret, Ayumu knows it would be this boy. There are parts of Naruto's life before Minato's time that he still has not told anyone about, that he may never.

It is why Ayumu goes in fully expecting rejection. Naruto shares only what he wants to share, and though that is a lot by the standards of most, that does not mean the blonde boy likes his privacy infringed on without his express permission or knowledge. He's careful about what he says and what he shows, and Ayumu has always found his skittishness to be somewhat saddening.

Asleep or not, the subconscious is a powerful thing. Ayumu enters Naruto's mind slowly, keeping his chakra and his presence soft as he sinks out of his own body and into Naruto's own. He does not go in with the intention to pilot or touch, but simply to see. To look, and to hopefully discover.

He knows his body in the physical world will crumble like a ragdoll, but he expects at least one of the present ninja will have the mind to catch him. Ayumu focuses on the distant feeling of Naruto's chakra, letting it act as a beacon in the darkness of everything else. With Naruto knocked out, none of the lights Ayumu is used to seeing within the human mind are on. It's all just... nothingness.

Naruto's chakra rests at the end of what feels like a very long hallway. Or-- no, not a hallway, he realizes with a start once his feet finally hit the ground. Ayumu stands at the mouth of a tunnel. A sewer tunnel, with craggy sides that come up to form an arch. Ayumu is in a tube, one with an atmosphere not unlike the one Naruto described his mindscape to be.

The air here is drenched with thick humidity. Heat pours from down the way, and Ayumu is struck with the sudden fear that perhaps the Kyuubi is not as asleep as it feels on the outside. That if Naruto's chakra has sunk back, perhaps it has too, enough so that they are unable to tell the status of it. Or maybe the heat is Naruto-- he always has been a bit of an inferno.

The ambiance is tense. Something is coloring the air, too far to quite make out the specifics but present enough for Ayumu to know how strong it must be. Turmoil washes over him in swathes, the smell of ozone so thick and acidic it nearly burns.

It would be easy to back out and leave. To say that something wasn't right and leave, because really, something isn't. The water is murky, lapping at his ankles. He does not dare try to stand atop it. A fluctuation in his own chakra could set off a cataclysm that Ayumu will be unable to control or prevent, and thus he does not risk it.

He remembers Naruto speaking of this. The water he spoke of was usually clammy, sometimes even cold according to him. This is nothing like that. It's hot enough to turn the skin it touches an irritated red, the temperature leaving him feeling raw and prickly. Steam lightly wafts up, painting everything in a foggy sheen.

Ayumu doesn't back out, though. His instincts scream at him to, not because he thinks Naruto is going to fight back, but because it feels as though something else is. Ayumu's not sure how to feel about that.

What he does feel for certain is a growing concern. Because whatever's causing that heat down there? Naruto's right smack in the middle of it. And Ayumu doesn't feel strong enough to leave him behind knowing that. He has to at least see. He has to at least try. They're all counting on him to do just that much. 

 The water grows uncomfortably hot in a way he forces himself to ignore. Ayumu's throat is tight, his brows drawing in as the murky color begins to bleed into a muddy red. It reminds him of blood, and his unease grows in time with the rapid thumping of his heart in his chest. Sweat beads at his forehead as the light at the end of the tunnel, all too telling, approaches.

It feels fast. Long as it was, Ayumu would've thought the tunnel would've taken more time to get down. Perhaps that had been wishful thinking on his part. The delaying of something inevitable, for Ayumu is going to do this, and he's now committed to seeing this through to the end. 

Somewhat belatedly, he realizes he's really, really not paid enough for this. Naruto's life seems like payment enough, even if Ayumu grows more and more doubtful that he'll be able to do anything. He berates himself, reminding himself that all he has to do is look. All he has to do is see and then he can leave. That's it.

(Maybe if he tells himself that enough times, he'll start to believe it.)

The eerie light casts an orange, angry glow across his face. Ayumu steadies himself against one of the uneven walls of the tunnel as a fresh wave of heat washes over him, this one far more intense than anything that drifted its way down the tunnel before. Naruto's chakra is stronger here, more in reach. Ayumu has reached the center of the sewer.

The first thing he sees is just... orange. Orange and red and hints of yellow, all deep in shade and full of fear and anger. Big, heaping, crashing waves tear across the vast space. Inky darkness extends out in every direction, no walls to contain the seemingly endless chaos. The darkness seems strangely stormy, and Ayumu is overcome with the strange sense that it is likely meant to be brighter than it looks now.

He has never seen anything like it before. It's almost beautiful in some twisted, morbid way. It's like watching flames dance. It feels very alive in its movement, and Ayumu can't do much but stand there in the face of it, taking the gargantuan sight in as these arching, towering plumes reach up to a sky he can't see the start or end of just to slam back down mere feet away from where he stands.

There are emotions laying sticky in the air, so intense he struggles to breathe through them. Ayumu is accustomed to feelings-- it is the very crux of his profession. Yet, in all his time, he has never felt anything on this grand a scale. This is fear at an intensity he did not know was possible.

It's strange that it's fear he feels from all this because it seems so obvious to him that this chakra must belong to the Kyuubi. Because that's what all this is, isn't it? Chakra? Ayumu has never felt any this lively before, has never seen it in such a physical form. This was not the soft glow of healing, the sharpness of wind, the blaze of fire, the roundness of water, the harsh edges of earth. This was... this was beyond all that. 

It's pure, raw, and powerful. So powerful Ayumu cannot fully wrap his head around the entire scope of it. There's so much-- much more than Ayumu will ever feel, ever see again in his lifetime, he thinks. This is the power of a tailed beast. Naruto, small as he is, holds all this and more inside of him. Has since he was an infant.

That... is amazing. It's terrifying. It seems, like most things do when it comes to Naruto and his peculiar life, utterly impossible. 

Ayumu lets it strangle him a little. It's not like he has much choice in the matter. It is nearly impossible to see through the snaking peaks, the ones that climb high just to crash down again. It feels a lot like grief, though Ayumu can't fathom why. He swallows thickly, tongue heavy in his mouth.

He half expects the Kyuubi to emerge and snap him up. To slink out of the orange, to morph out of it, and to roar its rage out at him. He swallows and recalls Minato's words and Jiraiya's certainty. Kushina's promise that it was still locked away, held down tightly and immobile. He thinks of the seal, about how long they'd observed it. 

It'll be harmless.

Looking out at all that chakra, Ayumu wonders how true that is.

Ever so hesitantly, he steps forward, not really wanting to enter the maelstrom but knowing that standing still wasn't going to do much. And the moment his shoe makes it an inch past the threshold of the tunnel, the world around him comes to a halt. 

It all just stops. Ayumu stops with it, startled with the suddenness of it all. He stands, frozen, sweat beginning to soak through his shirt. The fabric sticks uncomfortably to his back, his hair a frizzed out mess he doesn't bother trying to push out of his face. No, his focus is stolen by something else.

With the angry chakra stilled, Ayumu can see across the main chamber. He sees flowers, barely visible in the orange even with it momentarily halted. This is where Naruto goes when he sleeps. Ayumu feels a cold seep of dread begin to snake up his spine, the cusp of a realization teasing him. He tears his gaze from the flowers and looks up.

Across the way in a not a stone slab with a beast chained down and staked through the hands and tails. Instead what greets him is a massive, towering cage. One with thick metal bars so big around he doubts he could get his arms even halfway around them if he tried. The gaps between them are plenty large enough to walk through, proving it is host to something far greater in size than any human.

Ayumu's eyes climb the bars. The orange chakra sifts slow as it sinks down, and Ayumu's brain follows in suit, thoughts moving through molasses. He does not breathe, can hardly even think. Everything in him grows paralyzed, and understanding settles in the pit of his stomach like a cold stone.

A pair of massive red eyes glare out at him, wild and furious. They glow in the dark recesses of the cage, and he can just barely make out a muzzle and the glint of bared teeth. The Kyuubi is very much awake and very much upset, and Ayumu's heart drops. Because Kurama...

Kurama was never a rat in a cage. Was never a construct, was never a manifestation of Naruto's trauma, was never a coping mechanism for him to heal. Kurama had always been the nine tailed fox, an ageless monster, a caged beast, a demon to be feared.

And Naruto? Naruto wasn't resting before the bars and out of reach. He wasn't unconscious, wasn't fading away. 

No... No, Naruto was in there with it. 

The flowers, the description of the beast, the cage-- evidence had all pointed to an obvious explanation all of them had missed. You could not blame them, not when Naruto had been so certain about the creature's species, and Minato so confident the Kyuubi still lay dormant. After all, Naruto claimed this thing a friend, one he wanted to give a good life. Who would ever assume that to be a demon?

"You." The beast snarls, and Ayumu braces. For an attack, for a threat-- take the seal off or I eat the child whole. Something along those lines. Maybe for the chakra to burn him alive right here and now before he can even escape. "You..."

The Kyuubi, strangely, pauses then. Ayumu can't tear his gaze away as that muzzle comes into the light, just as terrifying in person as the stories say. The fox looks furious, though the way it glares at him is... almost contemplative. It looks almost angry. And as it comes forward--

There. Cupped in its massive claws, just barely visible... is Naruto. Tiny and curled up, but seemingly whole. Ayumu sucks in a breath of air so fast he almost chokes on it. The Kyuubi's ears flick, and Ayumu does not think he's ever been so afraid in his entire life. The glare he gets is oppressive. Something this old, something this powerful... 

So much for it not being awake.

The Kyuubi's voice is grating. It's presence fills the space, inciting terror. He feels like prey before a predator, and isn't that exactly what he is? Ayumu's pale eyes stay locked on Naruto, watching the distant rise and fall of his chest. He feels grief fill him. How are they ever going to get him out from behind the bars unharmed? How will they get the Kyuubi to release him?

Only... if this is the rat... Naruto hadn't been lying. Naruto is many things, but a liar? No, that boy is almost brutally honest. Ayumu's brows draw in. The Kyuubi teaching him about love? His... best friend, Naruto had said? Naruto had claimed to love it. Is it possible that Ayumu's wrong? That this isn't the rat? 

(Giant cage. Flowers. Orange. But how--)

"...You are the boy's... therapist. The Yamanaka." The Kyuubi says, and Ayumu flinches so hard he nearly falls. The Kyuubi draws even closer to the bars, seeming almost hesitant. It huffs out a blast of air from its nose that ruffles Ayumu's hair with its force even at this distance. Up closer, Ayumu can see... tears tracks. Tear tracks in its fur, darkening it into a more burnt orange. "Then you impudent mortals finally found him, then?"

Ayumu stares at him, eyes big. The Kyuubi's eyes narrow further, though he can see its body slouching with what seems like relief. The silence is nearly deafening, the gently lapping of the calming chakra the only sound.

The nine tails is a monster. Ayumu knows this-- the tailed beasts are weapons that seek only destruction, constructs of pure hatred. Ayumu did not expect the intelligence with which this being levels him with. There is hostility there, but something else too. Something defensive, something territorial. 

The Kyuubi is waiting for an answer. Ayumu's eyes climb back to Naruto, and somehow, he digs out his voice.

"H-He--" He clears his throat when it comes out dry and uneven. "H-He won't... H-He won't w-wake. He... He h-has healed, but he--"

He stumbles over his words, which catch anew in his throat. He stays still as a stone. The only thing that keeps him from running is Naruto, an anchor. One Ayumu can't just leave. Not when he has not even been attacked yet, and certainly not after seeing where he is.

The Kyuubi's ears seem to droop. It shifts, sending ripples through the water. And then, absurdly, it... laughs.

It is not a laugh like any Ayumu has ever heard. It's like gravel, grinding and deep. Even soft as it is, it comes out like a growl of booming thunder. Ayumu feels dizzy as he parses out the pure relief that coats the sound, taking in the way the Kyuubi seems to hunch.

"Safe, then. Yet after this..." The Kyuubi trails off, and the beast sounds bitter as it does. "He will leave, or you fools will take me. Perhaps both. He will know either way." 

His voice is quiet and echoes. Ayumu watches, not moving forward nor back, as the Kyuubi peers down at Naruto. There is something buttery in its glaring red eyes, something Ayumu did not think could exist in a place like this. He breathes in shakily, eyes flickering back to the flowers.

They are soft and whole. Ayumu glances back at the Kyuubi, who bows its head over Naruto's still form, lips curling with a show of teeth. It looks dangerous, yet the monster does not open its maw to devour him. It just.. sits like that. Holding him, so close its forehead nearly touches the boy.

Another flower sprouts, and then another. The Kyuubi snorts wetly, shaking its massive head. It turns back to Ayumu, pinning him under its terrifying focus again. Ayumu does not know how to feel in the face of it as it grins at him, ears and body slouched.

"He is a the stupidest idiot I think I have ever come across." The Kyuubi says, or perhaps it is telling Ayumu. "But he is also the brightest."

The Yamanaka watches in disbelief as the Kyuubi's arm passes between the bars, Naruto held out carefully. The boy's muffled chakra explodes back into place like it never left. A sudden snap and it's like the lights have been turned on, a switch flipped just like that. His chakra floods back into place, filling out the boy's system the way it was supposed to.

Their theory had been right, Ayumu thought to himself in a distant and detached sense. Naruto had been sealed inside of himself in a way. Or rather, he'd been behind the Kyuubi's seal. 

The orange chakra coating the ground bubbles up to meet the demon, carefully curling around the blond. It lifts him in a gentle cradle, supporting his head and all his limbs. It feels like a trick, the easy way the boy's body is carried over. The Kyuubi watches, seemingly satisfied as Ayumu stiffly reaches out his arms on reflex to receive him.

Ayumu wonders if this is real. Maybe he died in those woods and this is the weird after. Or perhaps he's the one in a coma, and this is the way it's manifesting.

The Kyuubi stares, and Ayumu can feel the way the chakra reaches and prods about. He watches the beast settle down, head coming to rest down on paws. It looks... tired. Tired and sad, watching Naruto with longing. It had not wanted to give him back, but it had. Ayumu can't figure out why. 

It doesn't make any sense. Why hold onto Naruto in such a way? Why release him with such ease after seeing Ayumu? How did it even recognize him? It only had to look at his face and it'd known immediately who he was, and it seemed... relieved. Glad. 

Demons are not supposed to be glad, are they? The Kyuubi, who sought to destroy the village above all else, to reign with terror...

"He will wake up with you, I believe." The Kyuubi-- Kurama-- sighs. It sounds mellow. Like a goodbye. His gaze sharpens for a moment, and Ayumu shrinks under the irate glare. "Do not allow this to happen again or I shall rip your intestines out through your throat."

Ayumu believes it.

"You... You're j-just going to... to give him to us?" Ayumu will have a heart attack over the fact that he talked to the nine tailed fox later. He thinks the only reason he is not spiraling entirely is because of the seal, still clearly in tact, holding the cage shut. He finds solace in the sight of it. "...Why?"

The Kyuubi's eyes drop to the flowers. Ayumu follows its gaze. Another flower pops up, and then another. Grass sprouts between the delicate stems, and the Kyuubi's snout pops between the bars, eyes trained on the sight of the growing plants. They are a soft contrast to the harshness surrounding them. They do not belong.

"Perhaps I am the fool." The beast muses, and then its furious gaze is back on Ayumu again. It bares its teeth halfheartedly, and there's... regret there. Resignation to something Ayumu does not yet understand. "Now. Get out."

Ayumu feels something shove him, and his eyes fly open with a gasp.

~~~

Read up to chapter 32 on Patreon's second tier early access, as usual! Backwards March is also available, so far with three parts-- in which Kakashi time travels with baby Naruto, and everyone is lost as hell. 

It's been decided that this book will officially have a book 2, in which there is a skip to Naruto being twelve! Patreon will have a mini series that shows sporadic scenes that occur between the end of this book and the start of the next one upcoming, though it isn't out yet!