Third person pov

It occurs to Kurama, as he holds his kit, that he has known the boy for every moment of his existence.

He felt him first in the womb of his previous jailer, a mere flicker of a thing. The beginnings of a concept not yet fully formed, a spark of something that could be larger if allowed to grow. He had watched the fire build. Had watched his soul come into shape, had seen it brighten. Since Naruto's coming into being, they have never been apart.

Kurama wonders if that makes Naruto just as much his an anyone else's. Perhaps that is wishful thinking on his part. Maybe he really is just some sad, old fox. He feels like one rather suddenly, like a coward, an imposter in his own skin. Kurama feels so much like nothing that he thinks maybe he was never much of anything at all.

He's not sure how to explain what he feels when the man comes for him. Ayumu Yamanaka looks different in person. Through Naruto's eyes, he is a towering man with pale hair and eyes. One with a sharp gaze who constantly analyzes, who sees patterns where others do not. He is a pen and a clipboard, and the smell of mandarin oranges.

Through Kurama's eyes he is a grand contrast, one so great that Kurama almost doesn't not recognize him. He's a shaky, puny thing. Not as small as Naruto but comparable, a flea next to Kurama's massive size. He quakes but does not run like most would, and Kurama has to give him credit for that much.

It's a testament to his distractedness that he did not feel him enter. Kurama has always been a somewhat territorial beast, his chakra sensitivity existing on a hairpin trigger. To think this human made it all the way down to the main chamber before Kurama noticed him. Perhaps it's a good thing. He may've expelled him prematurely otherwise. 

(A part of him wishes he had.)

But he doesn't. It would be terribly easy to keep holding Naruto, but the longer he stays here, the more precarious his situation becomes. As much as Kurama wants to keep him in his grasp forever, Naruto is not alive like this. He is stuck in a slumber held by the seal he'd been pulled behind, his body in stasis as Kurama healed his wounds and preserved his health.

It was a relief to see the therapist come in to retrieve him, to hear that Naruto was safe. It meant they'd found him. He was okay, in a secure enough position for them to enter and investigate. The chaos and danger had passed. Naruto would be just fine.

That's why it's rather pathetic that Kurama should feel such complete, all-encompassing dread.

He knows the moment those pale eyes land on him that this is it. After this, everyone will know, Naruto included. He will know what Kurama is. No longer will he be the quote-on-quote 'friendly rat in a cage that helps Naruto heal from his trauma'. He will once again be transformed into the monstrous, demonic nine-tailed fox.

A murderer. Incapable of love, of real thought. A tool, a weapon to be locked away. Kurama feels panic begin to claw at him as he bows his head over Naruto's still form, teeth clenching and breath coming out in heavy puffs. He did not lose Naruto permanently. He will continue to exist in this world, but--

Well. Kurama will be losing him in another way. It is entirely possible, he knows, that this will be the last time he sees him.

It's worth it. Of course the kit is worth it. Kurama is being a coward, is being dramatic and overemotional. He'd known this wouldn't last. He'd be a fool to think it would. He had known this day would come, and that when it would, Naruto would slip from his grasp forever and that would be that. 

It is enough to know he will live. That has to be enough, because Kurama has little else. What he's been given is more than he deserves, and he thinks the memory of it will make the scorn to come, the loneliness, easier to bear. They will seal him deeper after this, may even try to extract and move him completely.

Even if they didn't, Naruto would not... Naruto is kind, yes, but he is wary. Kurama takes solace in the fact that he has at least not lied to the boy. He hasn't deceived him-- or perhaps he had? At some point, Kurama had stopped arguing. He'd fallen into the role of sewer rat like an obedient dog and he had reveled in the companionship and light it brought him.

It is nearly comical to think that these days have been the best of his life. To think that, in all his time, this is the brightest his world has ever been. And even more comical that he should be devastated over a loss he knew would inevitably come.

He his not sure he's ready to feel Naruto's horror, but he guesses it doesn't matter what he is or isn't prepared for. It is time for Naruto go now. Kurama mustn't linger. If he does, he fears he may never be able to let go.

So he does. His throat tightens and his eyes sting, but he lets Naruto go for one last time. He watches sorrowfully as he is carried across their field, past the growing patch of flowers that has begun to blossom in the light of Naruto's assured survival. To think Kurama would ever care this much about the continued existence of a mere human. 

His siblings would laugh if they could see him. Kurama feels stuck between two emotions, like he is being pulled apart. Opposite directions war for dominance, splitting him right in two. Relief, love, joy, because Naruto will smile again. Fear, anger, bitterness, because that smile will never be directed at him again.

The therapist receives the boy gently, and Kurama takes one last look at his friend before he tells them to go, lest Kurama foolishly change his mind and try to keep him a little longer.

In a snap, that's exactly what the therapist does. He vanishes, and he takes Naruto with him when he does. It leaves the chamber quiet, deafeningly so. The sound of Naruto's even breathing continues to echo in his ears as he lays his head back down onto his paws, feeling heavy and distant, like he is perhaps existing outside his body.

Gaze coming to rest on their patch of flowers-- how many are there now? Fifteen? Twenty?-- Kurama settles in and does something he has become rather good at over the years. He sits, he waits, and he thinks. 

His thoughts are not kind, nor are his expectations, but the petals of the flowers are. Kurama takes his time memorizing them, cataloguing their different shades. There's more grass now, and little sprouts of weeds and other fauna just beginning to show itself. Kurama soaks it all in, ears drooping. 

After all, it won't be long before it all wilts.

~~~

The forty-five minutes Ayumu is in Naruto's mind are some of the most terrifying of Minato's life, and considering he'd faced down the nine-tailed fox and (apparently?) lived to tell about it, that was truly saying something.

Kushina wasn't faring much better than him, wringing her hands. Nobody could find the words to speak in the heavy silence, all of them waiting with bated breath. The sound of Kakashi's sandals occasionally squeaking on the floor as he continued to walk back and forth, back and forth was the only real sound aside from their breathing and the beeping of the heart monitor.

The feeling that sings through Minato when Naruto's chakra rises back to the surface is indescribable. It's like the sun's rays have broken through the clouds, and he knows without a shadow of a doubt that whatever was wrong to begin with, Ayumu has just solved it. Kushina gasps with relief, and Minato can't stop himself from collapsing back into the chair he'd pulled up to his son's bedside.

It is not a gradual return. His chakra just rushes back as though it were never gone to begin with. One moment it isn't there and the next it is, just as big and beautiful as it always has been. Minato closes his eyes and basks in the warmth of it, in the tingle it brings to the air with its sheer magnitude.

Now that it is closer, not so hidden away within him, it is easier to feel the state of it. It feels clean and full, not depleted or damaged like Minato had feared. Kushina's hands hover, glowing an assessing green as she inspected his pathways. The smile that broke across her face spoke to good news that Minato had feared they wouldn't get.

He's okay. He's going to be okay. His chakra-- wherever it was, Ayumu has somehow brought it back. It is the best possible outcome they could've hoped for. Minato's lip wobbles, his eyes wet as he struggles to hold back an onslaught of tears. He buries his face in his hands and takes deep breaths, telling himself that even though he failed his son, at least he would not suffer long term for it.

Naruto would need-- extra therapy. Definitely extra therapy. This had been highly traumatizing, hadn't it? Only six and he'd been nabbed away, sucked into his own body through means Minato does not yet know but is determined to understand. He prays there are no lasting effects, that Naruto will be able to move on from his father's failure of him healthily and happily.

Minato should've been there. He should've been able to save him. This never should've happened to begin with. Minato... instead of fighting, he should've found Naruto, taken him, and he should've run. Gotten him to safety before he tried to engage with the enemy. 

That will forever be his fault. Minato is not a man who lives with a lot of regrets, but when he fails those he loves... it cuts deeper than anything else could, and he thinks that he will always blame himself for this. For his son, who he chose to take out of the village, ending up in this hospital bed suffering. 

When most Yamanaka come out of others mindscapes, it is as easy as waking up. Minato has seen it a handful of times. There'll be a slight shift as they return to their body-- usually a tensing of muscles-- before their eyes flutter open. As though coming out of a deep sleep of a kind. 

That is... decidedly not what happens with Ayumu.

Rather than shift back into consciousness, he seems to fly into it. His eyes snap open, and he gasps for air, jolting up out of the slouch he'd been in. He nearly knocks his chair back as he does so, and its only his white-knuckled death grip on the arms of it that keeps such from happening. The color drains from his face and he looks inexplicitly scared.

Minato's light mood drops. Apprehension fills him, dread pooling through his veins as Ayumu struggles to catch his breath. His head whips around as though looking for a threat, his pallid complexion turning a little green. He looked disoriented and a little sick, fear plain as day on his face. 

Kakashi was at Ayumu's side in a flash when the man released the chair and stumbled to his feet, shaking all over. His reaction made Minato think maybe everything wasn't fine. Was something wrong with Naruto? Something had to be if Ayumu had come out of it looking like that.

But what was there to fear in Naruto's mind? Unless... no. No, they'd been certain it wasn't--

"Why's Ayumu look like he just saw a salamander? He's like, deathly afraid of those." A familiar voice chimed. Minato turned so fast he almost got whiplash, eyes wide. But Naruto wasn't looking at him-- his eyes had drawn to Kushina, who stared down at him in surprise. "Um, aren't you supposed to be dead?"

He was just... sitting up in bed. Awake, alive, color returned to his skin. He furrowed his brows as he observed Kushina's red hair and stunned expression, gaze shifting momentarily over to Jiraiya before he scrunched up his nose and averted his eyes again, raising a brow at his father as if to say 'what the hell is this guy doing here?'

It was as if nothing had happened. Like he'd just... woken up from a regular sleep and not a coma nobody could find the cause of. He blinked, looking... fine. He seemed fine. Normal. He didn't look afraid, didn't look green in the face like Ayumu. He seemed perfectly spry. 

Minato's eyes flooded with fresh tears. Naruto made a face.

"Is he going to cry?" He asked lowly out of the corner of his mouth, glancing to his mother. Who also had tears in her eyes. Naruto made a face at her too. "Alright, someone explain. I don't know how to comfort people when they're crying so you're all going to be on your own if that starts up."

Ayumu stared at Naruto look he'd just said something devastating somehow. Naruto stared back, a feeling of distinct sense of unease falling upon him at the look on the man's face. He looked incredibly distraught, which was unusual for someone as level-headed and emotionally stable as Ayumu was.

Naruto's eyes climbed across the room. Kashi was looking at him with heavy relief as well, his lone eye soft with emotion he didn't usually show so openly. The room they were in-- it was a hospital room. Naruto was the one in the bed, and he vaguely recalled the memory of getting attacked in the woods. That had sucked.

So he must've been rescued and brought here. He doesn't remember being asleep-- he'd have visited Kurama if he had been-- but he must've been out in some degree for them to be reacting like this. Not to mention the massive gap in his memory. He had no idea how he'd gotten here or when. How long had it been?

Ayumu's eyes were eerie and unblinking, and it was the first time the paleness of them had unnerved Naruto. He shifted under the gazes trained on him, fingers curling into the edges of the scratchy hospital blanket draped over him. The gown they'd put him in was papery and looked like something a loser would wear. Hopefully they'd get him something to change into soon.

But before that, there were more pressing matters to attend to. Naruto felt fine-- great, even! Any injuries he remembered getting were either pleasantly numbed or they'd vanished entirely. He was willing to bet the latter, since everyone else looked fairly patched up too. Healing chakra and all that, not to mention Kurama-- he'd probably help if Naruto was hurt, right?

Ayumu's fear was stark though. Naruto recognized it with ease, because being afraid was something he was so closely acquainted with. There was also this redheaded woman he was like, 80% sure was his mother. She sure looked like the photos he'd been shown. 

Was Naruto really lucky enough to have two parents come back from the dead? Seemed kind of impossible, but not entirely so if his dad was back. Two for two, then. That was... well. Sort of super epic, actually. Fate must've felt bad for being a dick and had done him another solid. Two living and breathing parents? Naruto should've got kidnapped sooner!

"Y-You're awake." His dad sputtered out, face crumbling. "You-- You wouldn't wake up. We couldn't... and... so Ayumu..."

He trailed off helplessly. Naruto felt something in him grow cold. 

He wouldn't wake up. They couldn't get him to wake up, and Ayumu... no. No, he hadn't. He couldn't have. He'd talked about it in the past, about one day going into Naruto's mind, but surely he wouldn't have. Would he? But he was shaking, staring at Naruto with desperation, and... 

And fuck. Fuck, he knew. He had to know. He'd gone in and-- well. Maybe Naruto had been too stupid to see Kurama for what he was at first, but Ayumu would've recognized him in a heartbeat. 

Naruto felt himself begin to panic. His shoulders drew in and he cursed the thought that fate had ever been on his side, since it very clearly was not. He stared at Ayumu with wide eyes, feeling like a deer caught in a floodlight. He held his breath, internally begging but knowing it was helpless.

"It was awake, wasn't it?" The old pervert asked, because apparently he loves to ruin everything. "It was there when you went in?" 

Naruto could see the way his dad tensed, the way his maybe-mom froze. Should they address that, by the way? It seemed like a good subject change. Naruto could do subject changes. He could, uh, he could deflect! Right? Fuck, this was so totally bad! He wasn't ready for this yet! 

What did he say? What if they tried to take Kurama away? What if they tried to seal him deeper so that Naruto couldn't visit him anymore? The mere thought made him want to tear up. He knew he was a big kid now, six years old and all, and six year olds didn't cry easy. But the idea that Kurama could be taken from? His best friend?

He couldn't let it happen. But Ayumu didn't seem to be registering Naruto's pleading look, dragging a trembling hand down his face. Naruto swallowed thickly and braced for what was going to, in all likelihood, be a total shitshow. Yay him. 

It felt like a death sentence as his therapist took a deep breath in and finally nodded. Naruto internally shrieked, cursing up a storm. He felt something in him shift and knew without a shadow of a doubt that Kurama had just heard that. 

He also knew that Kurama was likely been the reason he wasn't hurting now. The reason he was even alive. Hopefully, that would help him in the fight he was about to have ahead of him.

"K-Kurama was never... it was never a r-rat. It wasn't a construct." Ayumu's voice trembled. "Kurama was it the whole time. It's had access to him, has been talking to him. And we didn't-- none of us knew. When I went in... N-Naruto was behind a seal. I-It had him, unconscious, and... Kurama... K-Kurama is the nine tails. The Kyuubi, it's-- i-it's awake."

Ayumu looked green again. Ever so slowly, everyone's horrified gazes drew to Naruto. Ayumu's mouth snapped shut so hard his teeth audibly clacked together. Everyone looked expectant, scared of Naruto's reaction. His maybe-mom reached out and squeezed his shoulder. Minato sucked in a sharp breath. They all watched.

But Naruto wasn't shocked. Instead, he deflated like a stuck balloon, arms snaking around his middle protectively. He scowled in defeat, rather exhausted all of a sudden. Dammit. He'd been having a great day too. Well, before the whole getting stabbed in the woods. At least they hadn't actually turned out to be cannibals, right?

Seeing Naruto's pursed lips and petulant expression, Minato blanched. Kakashi's brows climbed. Ayumu, the fucking snitch, had the audacity to gawk at him. The old pervert choked a little, and his (again, maybe) mom just blinked cluelessly. Naruto sighed heavily.

"...Naruto?" His dad asked, voice small. 

Naruto blew out a puff of air. Debated not answering. Decided that he'd been caught and to just give up. It's just... what if they did to him what they did to Gaara? What if they locked Kurama up deep, alone in the dark, where Naruto could hardly hope to ever reach him again? 

What if they took him out?

He knew it was only a matter of time before they found out who Kurama really was, but Naruto had hoped for more time. Stupid kidnappers thwarting all his plans. Stupid Ayumu invading his privacy, even if it was out of the goodness of his heart. This was bad. Like, so bad. 

But if Naruto was anything, it was determined. They were going to see what Naruto saw whether they liked it or not, and they weren't going to lay a hand on Kurama in the process, either. Kurama was good. He was Naruto's friend, and friends protected each other. Kurama had saved him in so many ways-- it was time for Naruto to return to favor.

"...Damn." Naruto grimaced, still kind of bitter he'd been found out despite his hardening resolve. He winced at the way his dad's jaw all but dropped. "I was going to tell you eventually?" 

Minato made a high pitched sound like a tea-kettle. Naruto decided that was probably fair. 

~~~ 

He'd already known.

When Ayumu had blurted out the truth of Kurama being the Kyuubi, shaky and off kilter, Minato had immediately felt his heart seize. Because they all knew that Naruto hosted the nine tails, but Naruto sure hadn't. Or, none of them had though the did. Minato had braced for the worst, for a total mess.

He'd expected tears. Expected him to break down, to deny it, to say that there was no possible way Kurama could be what they claimed. Ayumu was certain though, and Minato trusted what he had seen to be true. It was devastating to know that Minato had failed his son in yet another way, that he'd exposed him to this monster, let it trick him.

These talks of friendship, of flowers-- they had to be false. The manipulation of a lonely child, a vulnerable one. One who was just now coming into himself and growing into his new life with parents and love. The fact that Minato had never noticed hurt, but who would ever assume Naruto's friendly rat companion would be the Kyuubi itself?

But Naruto doesn't freak out. He pouts. He gets a petulant look on his face, slumping with defeat and scowling like he's just been found out. He looks perhaps a little guilty, but more than that, he just looks put out. Minato... doesn't know how to feel about that.

The tension is so thick you could cut it with a knife. They get Naruto clean clothes, and Kushina introduces herself softly and with a smile. Naruto ducks his head and hardly responds, eyeing them with a wariness he hadn't held since the first time Minato met him. It hurt to see it on his face now, to have it directed at him once more.

Naruto was stubbornly silent. He wouldn't look anyone in the eye and was giving Ayumu the cold shoulder, huffing to himself and jumping at every sudden movement. Minato felt a little ill as his son kept an arm around his middle as though to shield the monster from them. Like they were the dangerous ones.

Just what had it told him, what lies had it spread, to make Naruto act in such a way? And what kind of father was Minato to have let it go on so long?

"I hosted the Kyuubi for most of my life, ya know." Kushina said softly as they ventured back towards Minato's home, all of them a little pale and stunned. "I didn't interact with it much. Maybe you can tell me a bit more about what it's been like and we can compare stories. What do you think?"

Naruto had agreed to hold her hand, tentatively awed by her but still wary all the same. Her lack of hostility and open expression seemed to coax him into some sense of security. She was the only one who didn't look like the world was ending, and Naruto seemed to take to that better than he did the shock of everyone else.

It's just that he... he was so small. Too young to be exposed to an entity of evil like the Kyuubi. Minato's mind went rampant trying to catalogue all the lies it must've told him. Naruto had hid this from them. 

Had it told him too? It must've. Naruto was so quick to share everything else... how much more had he hidden? Were his recollection of their dreams even true, or were those made up too?

"He's a he, not an it." Naruto scowled as they approached their house. Minato's stomach turned a little. "And why should I? It's not like you guys are going to listen to me anyway. You've already made up your minds. The whole village has-- I don't know why I thought you guys would be any different." 

He muttered it out bitterly, with scorn. His words hit Minato square, and suddenly he felt lost. He stared at his son, at his bowed head and watery eyes, and he felt... ashamed. Ashamed to be the cause of such discomfort, of such distrust.

Of such fear.

His son is afraid of him. He's afraid of all of them. Not of the nine tails inside of him. Maybe that says more about it than anything they can come up with ever could. 

"Hey! Don't say that." Kushina said good-naturedly, the blessing she was. She didn't bat an eye at his defense of the nine tails. "I want to hear all about him. I'm pretty open to new ideas, ya know, and so is your dad. I'm sure we can work this out together." 

Kushina sent him a warning look at that, and Minato realized that... yeah. He needed to calm down and he needed to open his eyes. Nothing bad was happening right now. Naruto was looking at them like they were the enemy and fuck, maybe they were right now. 

They were being no better than the rest of the village. Kushina was in a unique position to understand exactly how Naruto was probably feeling. Konoha had not always been so kind to her. They had thrown things, they had shunned her, they had insulted her. For a time, she had no one on her side, and she had closed in on herself.

So, she knew. Minato needed to remember that and he needed to pull his head out of his ass.

He took a deep breath. This was his son. This was the light of his life, a living, breathing human being. He had thoughts and feelings, and contrary to what some may think? He was about as far from stupid as a six year old could get. Nobody knew his situation better than him. Minato had to hold onto that and give him a chance to speak for himself.

If he didn't, he could lose his son entirely. Minato refused to allow that to happen. He could be calm. They could all be calm and they could all listen. Naruto deserved that much from them.

"She's right, Naruto." Minato cut in, voice strong. He pulled out his house key and gave his son, who looked upon him with uncertainty, a smile. "You're our son and we-- we want to listen and hear what you have to say. We won't do anything until we have your side of things, okay? I promise."

Naruto didn't look too sure, but he did smile back. Minato thought that was better than nothing at all.

~~~ 

The ambiance in the room is fierce. There is steely resolve against his son's face. Nobody can seem to look at one another, and nobody is sure exactly what to say. They've never been in this situation before. Minato reasons that very few probably have.

It would be easy to just seal it again. To make a decision and go with it, but he knows from the look on Naruto's face that such a thing simply isn't going to slide. And maybe-- maybe it shouldn't. Maybe there's a point to be made here if they just listen.

"Are you going to let me talk? Like, for real?" Naruto asked grumpily, sunk into the couch cushions with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked absolutely adorable. "Kurama is already gonna be like, super pissed I didn't tell him I knew. Since that means I've been calling him a rat this whole time for literally no reason, believe it." 

Kushina turned her head to the side and disguised her laugh with a cough. Minato rolled the statement around in his head. The Kyuubi didn't know... that Naruto knew it was the Kyuubi? That ruled out it telling him not to tell anyone. Naruto must've come to the conclusion that he needed to keep it a secret himself.

Considering their reactions... yeah. Minato winced a little. He guessed he couldn't blame his son for not saying anything if this is how they were going to act. Like the moon had just blown up and was about to rain meteors down and kill them all.

Ayumu straightened in his seat. After some deep breaths and a re-examination of the seal from a very reluctant Naruto, who'd hissed if anyone tried to do more than tap it, everyone was reassured that there was no danger of the nine tails jail-breaking and murdering the village. Ayumu had relaxed greatly after that and collected himself.

"Of course, Naruto." Ayumu placated, giving a small smile. "But first, I want to apologize to you for entering your mind without your permission. I wouldn't have done so were it not necessary. We were... very concerned with the state of your health when you failed to wake up, and we were unable to tell what was wrong. That's why I entered-- to investigate."

Naruto's face grew smug all of a sudden. Like Ayumu had just fallen into some unseen trap. The man paused, clipboard and pen out. He poised to write. Naruto sat up a little taller, victorious.

"It's fine. You're evidence anyway. My star witness." He rubbed his hands together in a scheming manner. Ayumu blinked at him curiously as Naruto grinned. "Kurama could've eaten you! Instead he gave me back and let me wake up, and he let you go without yelling at you even once. After saving my life and healing me too. You saw the flowers-- you can tell everyone that they're real. Everything I said about Kurama is super true and you're proof! You saw and you talked to him!" 

Minato... hadn't thought about that, actually. The Kyuubi had given Naruto back. Naruto had been behind its seal. The nine tails could've easily held him hostage and what would they have done? They'd either have to give Naruto up or submit to whatever demands it had, but as soon as Ayumu went in... yeah. It-- he-- had handed Naruto back over.

Ayumu paled a bit at the reminder, though his brows did furrow. Everyone turned to look at him for his input. He looked consideringly at Naruto, who peered back with challenge in his eyes. Maybe Naruto wasn't wrong. But it as the Kyuubi-- how could they be sure?

The whole thing felt like it wasn't really happening. It sounded entirely fake, that Naruto had been in cohorts with this creature for so long, but... well. Naruto was strange, his life was strange, and was it really any weirder than Minato and Kushina coming back from the dead? 

"That... is true." Ayumu said in all honesty. Kushina whistled lowly. "And he did return Naruto. The only threat he gave was not to allow anything like this to happen to him again, or else he would, ah... r-rip my intestines out, as he put it. But he did seem... relieved... Naruto was safe."

Naruto looked even smugger even if Ayumu's tone was reluctant. Kushina cocked her head. Kakashi seemed sold already, nodding along like he was ready to make the nine tails a custom fruit basket as thanks. He was lounged back, seemingly unconcerned with the proceedings now that Naruto was deemed safe. Minato glanced at the ceiling, imploring the gods for strength. 

"He tried to kill you as a baby." Jiraiya pointed out, which... yeah. Naruto looked affronted that he'd spoken at all.

"He was being controlled. Believe it. And then after that, he was pissed you were trying to lock him up again. Who the heck would want to get shoved in some tiny cage for like, hundreds of years? I'd be mad too!" Naruto scoffed. "Nobody has ever even tried to get to know him, believe it! Kurama is the best ever, and he hasn't tricked me into doing anything. I tricked him like, tons of times into teaching me cool stuff. And if you could just talk to him, you'd see how great he is." 

Kushina and Minato shared a look, Minato more uncertain and Kushina more contemplative, like she was on the cusp of something. The fact that she wasn't immediately calling it all out as false was promising. She'd lived with the nine tails for more of her life than she'd been without it. She would know better than anyone here.

It seemed too good to be true, though. Naruto couldn't be completely lying-- not if the Kyuubi had really let him go just like that. But all the tales of its destruction and hate couldn't be false either. Minato frowned, stuck. His six year old, friends with a chakra beast... if he were older, maybe, but as young as he was...

But he said all the stories he told them about Kurama were all true. And honestly? They'd all sort of loved Kurama before. They just knew his identity now, but how much did that change things? It didn't falsify all of what Naruto had jabbered on about, did it? All the help Naruto had gotten from the Kyuubi... maybe they should be making the thing a fruit basket.

"Alright." Kushina says, clapping her hands together. "Then let's do that. Let's talk to him and see for ourselves. We've got two conflicting stories, right? We need to investigate, then! Naruto and Ayumu's accounts don't lie, but we need to be sure, ya know? So lets go have a talk, see if he's really changed! If he's behind a seal he can't reach us either way, and we're all pretty capable!" 

"Jiraiya and I can stay back." Kakashi hummed in agreement. "Monitor from the outside."

It... wasn't a bad idea. And by the beaming grin growing across Naruto's face, by the open excitement, Minato knew his wife had done what she always did best. She'd found the right path to take and she'd gone for it. 

They all turned to look at Ayumu expectantly. The man looked like he'd sucked a lemon.

"He's the best." Naruto repeated, eyes pleading. He scooted to the edge of the couch, puppy eyes trained lethally on Ayumu. "Everyone-- everyone gets second chances, and chances to be good, but Kurama never got a first! People just-- they trapped him, and used him, and called him a monster, and they never even tried to get to know him. He thinks things, and feels things! And I-- I love him. I love him a lot, Ayumu, please don't let them--"

"Fine! Okay!" Ayumu tossed his clipboard to the side, caving immediately. The tears that had been building in Naruto's eyes immediately vanished as though they'd never been there to begin with. Kushina snorted at the blatant manipulation. "I'll do it. But... Naruto, are you sure?"

Naruto's expression didn't turn serious, but rather sad, almost. He looked down not because he didn't seem certain, but because he seemed... mellow, almost. It was a shine of insecurity he hadn't allowed himself to show this entire time, stress lining his face in the scrunch of his nose and squint of his eyes. 

Naruto, once again, looking afraid. His arms curled around his stomach again. Whether the Kyuubi was good or bad, Naruto saw him as a friend. Minato didn't see that changing. He hoped against hope that it wouldn't have to. Naruto was an amazing judge of character, so intuitive and smart. He was usually right... maybe he was right about this too.

"He used to get so mad at me." He admitted. "He'd call me puny and a runt, and... and he was pretty mean. He used to threaten to eat me, and his chakra would come in the water and try to get at me, but it never bothered me. I was just so happy that he was treating me like he'd treat any other human, like I was normal. But after a while... all I could think about was that... well. We were the same, I guess. He thought he was a monster, and nobody had ever been kind to him. So I decided to be his friend."

Naruto smiled, then. It was a little brittle and faraway. Minato swallowed thickly at this window into the six years he was gone. Naruto had told him a lot about the experiences he'd gone through while Minato was gone, but how he'd felt during that time? How it had effected him?

It was something he seldom ever shared. Not to this degree.

"He was really lonely and upset. So I'd tell him about my day. I'd talk and I'd talk and... eventually he stopped getting mad and he'd just listen. Sometimes he'd teach me things I didn't know, and he never made me feel stupid about it." Naruto's voice was very quiet. "That's... That's why I didn't tell you I knew who he was, and it's why I never told him. I got the chance to be more than a monster, more than what everyone told me I was, so... so I wanted him to get the chance to be something else too."

Naruto felt something warm flood through him and sniffled, face flushing with embarrassment. His mom's hand came to wrap around his own and he squeezed back. He didn't know her, not yet, but he could tell she understood. She was just like him, and maybe that meant she'd be able to see Kurama the way he did.

He ducked his head under the eyes on him. His dad's hand slid across his shoulder and cupped the back of his neck comfortingly. Naruto could feel a part of his finger missing, something he'd lost in the fight to get Naruto back to begin with. They loved Naruto. And if they loved Naruto, they could love Kurama. 

(They had to. Because Naruto wasn't sure what he'd do if they didn't.)

"Alright, Naruto." Ayumu murmured. Naruto looked up and the man was smiling more strongly now, looking more sure. He held out a hand. "Let's do it, then." 

With thoughts of flower fields on his mind, Naruto grinned and took it.

~~~

Y'all I rewrote this so many times and it's still BAD 

Ugh you can read up to chapter 33 on patreon's early access . This book is so close to done! There'll be a book two, and ofc, patreon will have an exclusive series that documents events that happen between this book and the beginning of the next, which picks up at the start of the actual anime when Naruto is 12!

The next chapter is lowkey cringe city and I am the mayor I'm literally not even gonna read it back I was gonna put a sneak peek but there's like fluff in there and I was sorta gagging like what goes through my mind when I write these yall 

Have a sneak peek for chapter 33 instead because I like that one: 

"What? I have no idea what you're talking about. Foxes only have one tail, Shikamaru, so don't even try to convince me there's one out there with nine of them." Naruto averted his gaze, sweat beading his brow. The blood he was covered in was not helping his case.