Third person pov

Fuck.

"They said you have 'the fox' in you." Shikamaru noted drily as they tromped through the brush back towards what Naruto hoped was civilization. "They wouldn't happen to be talking about the Nine Tailed Fox, would they? Red eyes, orange, angry chakra? The very same one your dad sealed in a baby six years ago on your birthday?"

Fuuuuck.

"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.

With Kurama's help, escape had been a breeze. Almost comically so. In fact, it had been so easy that Naruto was rightfully suspicious of the entire thing. The whole thing, beyond the fact that it was a literal kidnapping, just felt off.

He's an abduction veteran, okay? He's been there, done that, got the anniversary coin and complimentary t-shirt. He knows they were supposedly after Sasuke, and that's all well and good since Naruto loves to blame him for shit, but the whole thing just... doesn't quite click the right way.

Maybe it's because he wasn't the target for once, and that spices things up. Maybe he's becoming paranoid now that he's entered such a domestic and peaceful life. Granted, said domestic and peaceful life had ended up with him nabbed by some snake maniac and his crinkly-faced companion and he'd almost fucking died, but you know. Whatever. It was the principal of the thing. 

"You know. I wouldn't tell anyone about you having the fox if that were the case." Shikamaru said in a strangely conversational tone that did not suit him like, even slightly. "Even if it is troublesome."

Naruto side-eyed him. Shikamaru side-eyed him back. Overhead, more thunder cracked, bringing with it another flash of blanketing rain.

"Right." Naruto slogged through a puddle, not even trying to go around it. The more water he got on him, the more likely this blood was to come off. Then maybe his parents wouldn't flip so hard. "Hypothetically what if the fox were actually like, a really cool dude though? Like, what if we were friends? Then how would you react?"

Shikamaru squinted at him. He looked odd with his normally-spikey ponytail all weighed down by the rain. The drizzle they'd first stepped out into was quickly becoming something stronger, and it was making it hard to figure out where they were and where they were going. 

Shikamaru was smarter than Naruto was, and he had a better sense of direction too. They at the very least probably weren't going in circles, then. But Naruto's assumption that they were still in the village? Sorely incorrect. Very obviously sorely incorrect.

He had no idea where they were. Shikamaru had shrugged and told Naruto that they were still in the country, which told him just about nothing. It was better than nothing though. Naruto, at this point, didn't care where they were heading. So long as it was away from their kidnappers and any allies they may have.

If they wanted Sasuke, maybe they wouldn't be so inclined to follow them. He had no idea if the three they'd slipped away from were dead or not. He'd sort of slashed first and then didn't ask questions later. They sucked, wanted Sasuke-- that was all he needed to know. Though, he probably should've made an effort to figure out for whom they were working.

Priorities, priorities. Kurama felt like he was trying to burn an actual hole in Naruto's stomach lining, so he hadn't really wanted to hang around and play interrogator. He'd gotten Shikamaru and they'd done what kidnapped kids do and they'd booked it like the place was an orphanage on fire. Cest la vie-- or whatever it is that Biscuit says before getting dunked in the bathtub against his will.

"...Hypothetically, I really don't think I'd give a shit unless said fox was going to actively come out and eat us." Fair. "Did we already pass that rock?"

Naruto turned to look at the rock in question. It was distinctly butt shaped and they'd definitely passed it before. Naruto frowned.

"I swear we've been going in a straight line." Naruto shot Shikamaru an accusatory look. "You were supposed to be navigating."

"What? Since when?" Shikamaru made a face. "I've been distracted. There's no clouds to look at. How am I supposed to focus when all I have to think about is the demon in your stomach?"

Naruto glanced up at the slate sky. Arguably, there were clouds to watch. They were just all so closely clumped together that they looked like a singular whole. Shikamaru probably wasn't going to buy into that. Whatever. It was fine by him.

He still had that weird feeling. Something was like, totally wrong. It felt like there were eyes drilling into the back of his head or something, and Naruto had no idea what the hell to even do with that. Run? Turn around and scream really loud, and hope he caught someone flinching in the shadows?

He shifted from foot to foot, pursing his lip and staring at the rock. For all his ragging on Shikamaru's (clearly not superior) sense of direction, Naruto actually wasn't a slouch himself. He wasn't great-- much better on his home turf than out of it--  but he felt sure enough in himself to say that yes. They had been going in a fairly straight line.

But this was the same rock. Next to the same tree, with the moss in the vague shape of Shiba's head and strange, spikey mohawk. The chances of there being an exact copy of the exact same rock some odd thirty minutes after they'd first seen it weren't exactly zero, but...

That same, odd feeling roiled in his gut. Rather suddenly, Naruto wished he had a solid place to take a nap. Kurama would know what to do in this situation. He always knew what to do.

"...I say we keep going." Naruto stated, though unease was beginning to take root in him with a passion. "If we see it again, we know something's wrong." 

"This is actually the third time this has happened. I just didn't mention it the first two times in hopes it was no big deal." Shikamaru noted. Naruto dragged his hands down his face and wished for lightning to strike... really either one of them down. He's not picky. "But sure. Fourth time's the charm."

~~~

There is one common factor in Minato-sensei and Kushina's return to life. And that factor lies within Naruto. An ancient power. A being that they still know so little about. An entity that, until this boy, has not shown willingness to work alongside anyone. 

The Nine Tailed Fox was a legend, yet nobody had ever studied it. It was a shame, he felt. Konoha had held this weapon in their hands for so long, and they'd never questioned the specifics of what the fox could do? What could that chakra bring, if harnessed?

(What had it already brought?)

~~~

Minato has been hyperventilating for exactly forty-three minutes. Kushina will eventually get him to calm down and drink something, at which point he will pensively stare down at the bottle and its contents, debating all of life's most philosophical questions. Afterwards, he will throw himself back into the search and continue breathing so fast his head begins to spin.

Naruto attracts danger like a magnet attracts a, uh... another magnet? Or something. But like, opposite poles. Because the same poles would repel one another and Naruto is definitely not repelling anything, at all, even slightly. Trouble finds him like a dog does a bone-- you get it. Minato's not in any shape to be making metaphors.

Somehow this time is worse than the last time, because Naruto isn't the only one missing. Shikamaru is too, and somehow they both got taken under Kakashi's very, very keen nose. Which shouldn't have been possible. 

"I'm telling you I had my Sharingan open when it happened." Kakashi was pacing, his hair in total disarray as he continued to run his hands anxiously through it. "A-And I didn't see anything! Whoever did this, they were powerful enough to-- to trick it, somehow. To trick Obito's eye. Who could be powerful enough to trick Obito's eye?!"

Minato flashes back to the night of the Kyuubi attack and makes an high-pitched, strangled noise in the back of his throat. Nope. Surely not. They'd have-- seen some sign of that. Besides, Choji had been a witness and he'd apparently heard someone say something about Sasuke Uchiha, meaning Naruto and Shikamaru probably weren't even the intended victims! Right?

Right! Definitely! 

Ayumu was observing Kakashi's mental breakdown with striking calmness considering the circumstances, tossing caramelized popcorn into his mouth with one hand and scribbling on his clipboard with the other. Not to turn the tables and psychoanalyze the resident pyschoanalyzer, but Minato had a feeling that was his way of coping.

"I'm sure he's fine, ya know? Our son's kind of a badass, and he's got Kurama now. And that Nara kid." Kushina was eating frozen yogurt. Their son was missing and she was eating frozen yogurt. She turned to look at Ayumu. "Does he get kidnapped often?"

"According to him, it's happened several times." Ayumu admits. Minato's heart practically stops in his chest. "Also, if you haven't found him yet, it's likely he's outside the village. I would consider looking there as well."

Minato and Kakashi both paused. Because... because yes. Right. Just because the last time he'd been kidnapped (which was still very recent. The trauma was fresh. Very fresh) and brought to the village didn't mean he was in the village this time. 

Minato felt like bashing his skull against the nearest hard surface. How had he not thought of that? And no, him panicking wasn't an excuse. He was supposed to be the Fourth Hokage! Hokages had leveler heads than this! God, fatherhood had mellowed him. They should crown someone else before he burns this place down by mistake.

Nevermind that, though. Naruto is out there somewhere, probably wondering what the hell is taking them so long. No Kushina is going to magically pop out of his seal and save him this time. Similarly, no Jiraiya was at the scene to deploy an emergency toad, either. 

"I got kidnapped several times as an academy student. Minato, I'm sure you remember. You saved me more than once." Kushina pointed her plastic spoon at him. "It always worked out great, and I didn't even have the fox on my side. He hated my guts. He wanted those guys to take my head off, ya know?"

Ayumu paused thoughtfully, staring at her for a beat before he ever so slowly flipped the page on his clipboard to a fresh one. Kushina watched the action with her eyes narrowed and spoon raised halfway to her mouth. Ayumu carefully clicked his pen a few times, poising it to write.

"Interesting. This is very insightful information, Kushina." He acknowledged in a tone of voice that made Kakashi shiver. "Do you want to elaborate on how that made you feel?"

Kushina popped out of her chair as though burned, tossing her frozen yogurt over her shoulder blindly. The ANBU agent it hit made a peculiar shrieking noise that they all ignored.

"Hell no I don't! Are you kidding me? My son is missing!" Kushina was suddenly full of fiery passion, raising her fist in the air. "Let's go find him! All capable men and women. And children, because why not, ya know?!" 

That, Minato could get behind.

~~~

Fourth time isn't the charm, apparently, because the butt rock is there exactly thirty minutes later. Shikamaru apparently counted. Naruto's too irritated to try and call him on lying, because for all he knows, counting and talking at the same time is a freaky Nara power he knows nothing about.

"Alright. So we're either stuck in an infinite time-loop." Naruto ticked off on one of his fingers. "We died at some point and are constantly reliving the moments before it. We fell through a portal and are stuck in a paradox. Or, this forest has an abundance of butt-shaped rocks." 

All very plausible options. The death one maybe not, since he's pretty sure Kurama would've been expelled from his body like a pocket of blown entrails. Or maybe that was the point of reliving the moment before his death. Maybe it was the ghostly echo of Kurama, who wasn't actually there anymore, and this was all just a paranormal illusion.

Shikamaru didn't look impressed. The rain hadn't let up, and he kept glancing up at the sky and frowning a little, and then looking down at Naruto. Naruto looked down at himself as well, expecting to see... he doesn't know. A hole in his stomach? Since he might be a ghost reliving his death, it would make sense for him to have death wounds.

Neither of them spoke as Shikamaru took a slight step back and looked up again. And then at the butt rock. And then at Naruto. And then down at himself. Naruto's not so blind that he can't see the cogs turning up in the factory, alright? He'll let Shikamaru do all the heavy thinking.

Kurama continues to bounce around in his stomach. Ghostly impression of Kurama? No, it feels pretty real. Again, stomach lining is definitely burning, he is going to take the craziest and most painful shit later, he just knows it. Maybe they'll knock death echo off the list. Naruto's too cool not to be aware of his own death.

He squinted, bringing a hand up when Shikamaru stomped his foot all of a sudden. The resounding splash sent water spraying at him. Great. Now wasn't the time to be playing in puddles, but what does Naruto know? He once had a guy try to chop his arm off and instead of crying about it for hours after like a normal kid would, he wrapped the wound with saran wrap and went to get ramen instead.

"What a drag. The rock isn't the only weird thing." Shikamaru sighed, looking ten times more tired. "How long have we been walking now, Naruto?" 

"Hours. I'm starving to death. I may not make it to the next butt rock if we leave now." Naruto admitted. Not that food was a good idea with Kurama beating him up from the inside out like he was. What the hell was up with him, anyway? "All of this sucks. Believe it."

Shikamaru nodded like that proved something. Naruto's too stupid to follow, he openly admits it.

"Exactly. We've been walking through the rain for hours now, Naruto, and how many muddy puddles have you walked through? We should both be covered in it." Shikamaru frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. "And your arms. They're still coated in blood. Some of it should've at least washed off by now, if not all of it. Remember how the rain was beginning to taper down when we first left, and then suddenly thunder struck and it picked up all over again?"

Naruto paused, thinking back. And... and yeah. Shikamaru was right. There'd been barely any sprinkles and Naruto had sworn the sky was beginning to lighten a little, but then suddenly it had come back tenfold. They were soaking wet and cold, and his feet ached, but Shikamaru was right. None of the mud he'd just splashed on them had actually landed. The sensation was there, but--

"What the hell?" Naruto muttered. Inside him, Kurama howled. They were on the right track. "You're... man, what is this?"

All Sasuke's fault is what. Ugh. Naruto scrubbed at his arms, expecting rivets of pink water to start dripping off his hands, but it wasn't happening. His hands were wet with rain water and the blood was still tacky as ever, but it wasn't coming off. Not even when he wiped his hands on his pants.

Something was wrong. Something was definitely wrong.

"It's a genjutsu. Not a perfect one, but definitely not weak either. I think it was hastily cast if this many details are slipping through. Or maybe we've just been in it that long. Things tend to repeat in illusions." Shikamaru said, which was probably the smartest shit Naruto had ever heard him say. "This is bad, Naruto."

Yeah, it sure sounded like it. They were trapped walking through an icy rain storm for... what? What was this supposed to accomplish? Iruka-sensei had said that a genjutsu that lasts hours can be only seconds in the real world. Their hours of walking could be only minutes out there. 

Normally, genjutsu attacked people though, right? Psychological torture or something? They used it to get information sometimes, but... Maybe it had only been a few seconds in the real world, and just longer here, so the person who cast it hadn't made a move yet. Or... no, they had to be after something.

If they weren't killing them, they had a reason for this. And the only reason Naruto could come up with was...

"Oh. This is bad." Naruto breathed out, eyes wide as he dropped his gaze to look down at his stomach where Kurama was running circles inside of him. "O-Okay. Genjutsu, cool. How do we get out of that?"

Shikamaru grimaced. Naruto had a feeling he wasn't going to like this very much.

~~~

He is an ancient, all-powerful being. He has been around for hundreds upon hundreds of years! He is condensed chakra, pure energy given form and intelligence. He is the strongest of all his siblings, able to raze nations, level villages. And now, with the alliance of his container, he is the healthiest and most capable he has been in years! 

So, realistically, he should not be having a panic attack.

Can chakra beasts even have panic attacks? A few months ago Kurama would've laughed (evilly cackled, actually) at the mere notion. If he was going to panic over anything, he would've claimed, it certainly would not have been a single, measly little runt. 

Things change though, and so had Kurama. Besides, if any situation was going to warrant panic, it was going to be this one. Because this kidnapping may've started out as a fluke, but it had quickly turned to something else. And Kurama was helpless to do anything about it.

He'd recognize the smell anywhere, too memorable to forget. The chakra the man gave off felt rotten and burnt, oily in the worst way. He didn't feel quite like Madara Uchiha-- like the man so many were claiming he was-- but the scent of him still clung to this man, which made Kurama think they were just a stone's throw away from one another anyhow. 

It didn't matter either way. Whoever this vermin was, he was able to take control of Kurama. The thought of being ripped away from his container and forced to do the bidding of another made him viscerally recoil, though for far more reasons than before. 

Before, it had been about pride. About autonomy. And it still was-- but there was more now. Now, Kurama had something to lose. Now, he had someone he didn't want hurt.

Kurama knew he hadn't been imaging it. The smell had been encroaching closer and closer, lingering in the corners of rooms, in the brush of the wind. He wasn't as in-tune with the world outside of Naruto, but he was aware enough to know that something was coming. He just hadn't realized how soon it would be, or just how close it had gotten. 

The genjutsu had sent him into a flurry, mostly because try as he might, he couldn't seem to break it. Naruto had stilled as the illusion fell over him, and so did the little deer brat he was with. Sucked away into an image Kurama could only vaguely see, but could do nothing to stop. 

It was, in a sense, torture.

They'd both slumped, and that's when the roach had appeared. Kurama couldn't see him clearly, vision split between reality and the false image Naruto was seeing, but the feeling was overwhelming enough to send him howling.

Naruto didn't know. He was stuck and walking, thinking he was escaping. Not because he's dense or an idiot, but because he's just a kit, he's only six, and this is-- this--

Kurama's chakra roils, and he roars as he feels that same, putrid chakra from before begin to seep into the seal like poison. Kurama pulls back, his own chakra coming up and shoving against the sensation. It doesn't do as much as he bitterly wishes it would. It doesn't stop the chakra from poking and starting to peel at the edges.

Physical pain is not a concept he thinks much about. It is different for him, because his body is all energy given form. He was not born in the same way Naruto was, or the way a regular fox is. Kurama was created. He cannot have his bones broken, cannot be cut open by a knife like other living beings. 

This, though? It is excruciating. Worse than he remembers. Like something is trying to claw its way beneath his skin. He feels as though he is being flayed alive as that putrid chakra starts to come in and grab. It's a raw feeling, brutal and relentless. As though something has sunk its hooks into him and is pulling.

He pulls against it despite the agony. Right now, the vermin is trying to get Kurama out. Putting him under his bidding will come after, once Kurama has materialized out of Naruto's body. Kurama cannot allow it to get to that point.

The actual control itself is hazy. He remembers being trapped in his own mind, and the rage that had built and built up until the point where he was finally out of it. All he'd wanted to do by then was destroy everything in his path, and get vengeance for those who'd dared try to take him over.

Naruto will die if this pathetic rat succeeds in getting that far. And that, as he has stated before, simply is not acceptable. 

Kurama's chakra forms a dome. A block. It'll keep him from coming in, at least, but it won't stop him from working from the outside. He hates that it's the best he can do right now. He hates that a repeat of that night six years ago feels like it's rapidly approaching, where someone will take his will from him and--

On the bars of his cage, the paper seal's corner pulls back ever so slightly, pulled by an unseen force. Kurama bares his teeth and howls.

~~~

So, turns out disrupting your chakra is a whole lot harder than than one would think. So it's on to plan B.

"That sounds sort of fake." Naruto and Shikamaru had decided to set up camp by the Butt Rock and were now convening, trying to come up with a plan. So far it was slow going. "I'm in tons of pain right now. My legs hurt like a total bitch and I'm definitely not waking up out of the genjutsu. I'd like, definitely notice." 

At least, he hoped he would. It was still pouring rain in the illusion, though in theory it wasn't in the real world, right? Naruto hoped that meant he wouldn't be so cold when he woke up. It was seriously freezing, believe it.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes like Naruto had just said something particularly stupid. Which is... probably true, but the judgement still isn't appreciated. Naruto is trying his best, okay? And maybe his best isn't as great as some people's, but he'll bet you dollars to donuts it's better than whatever Sasuke would be doing in this situation.

(Crying, probably. Because he's a loser, and a baby. And definitely nowhere near as cool as Naruto is.)

"It's not fake, Naruto. It's basic Genjutsu 101." Shikamaru said it simply, like Naruto was supposed to know what basic Genjutsu 101 even was. Wait. Was he supposed to know what basic Genjutsu 101 was? He really hopes that's not what their next test is over. "And pain from inside the genjutsu won't work. Only pain that comes from outside of it can snap someone out of the illusion."

Naruto stared at him. Shikamaru stared back, raising an expectant brow as the gears in Naruto's brain ground together. He gets it. Really, he does. Naruto is 100% here and understanding what he means. Only pain from outside the illusion: check. Since that would be real pain, and this was fake pain. Or something. 

The only problem is they're both in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, and they're both in here. So it's not like Shikamaru can pop out, make a rock shiv, and stab Naruto in the mid to upper thigh to get him out of here, or vise versa. So the idea is well and good in thought, but Naruto's got no idea how to put it into practice.

"...Alright. Cool." Naruto pursed his lips. "One problem. We're in here, and there's nobody out there that's going to want to help us. So I'm not sure how you're expecting either of us to get us out of here."

His dad calling Naras the backbone of Konoha was making a whole lot more sense now if Shikamaru was making connections about this situation that Naruto wasn't. Actually, why hasn't Naruto been hanging out with him? He's about a million times smarter than Sasuke. Than everyone, really. 

Is this how friendships are forged? Naruto... doesn't know, actually. He and Gaara became friends because that's just how that worked, you know? They were both jinchuuriki, their villages kinda super hated them, they had never really had friends their own age. Instantly clicked. They understood one another. Same-brand-of-traumatized solidarity, believe it.

Shikamaru was like... normal, though. Weird as hell, but categorically ordinary in terms of family, social life, and the general box all shinobi-hopeful children fit into. They went to class together-- had grown up adjacent in many ways. Shikamaru's dad was friends with his dad. It was... he didn't know.

Maybe their possible best friend-ship was something to ponder over at a later date. When they weren't like, kidnapped and stuck in a genjutsu or whatever. Naruto was stressing about it too much. He was being weird. Nobody got this caught up over something as simple as making friends.

Besides, Naruto had befriended Kurama, of all beings. Maybe Shikamaru would still... would still wanna hang out after all this. If he didn't hate Naruto for it happening to begin with. Shikamaru knew about Kurama and said he didn't care, right? That... That could be something. 

"Naruto. You've been complaining about your stomach hurting for the past hour, and I'm not stupid enough to think it's just because you're hungry, either." Shikamaru said it more earnestly than he did exasperatedly. "We're not getting us out. Someone else is."

He gave his stomach a pointed look. Naruto blanched, looking down as well. Another spike of burning went through him. Painful, and very, very real. Just... apparently not quite painful enough to wake him up. And if that wasn't painful enough...

"Oh." Naruto said, staring at his stomach. He grimaced when he felt the sudden burning stop, like Kurama had stilled and was perhaps listening. "Oh, this is going to suck."

~~~

Kurama's chakra is a storm. A natural disaster all on its own, angry and hurting. And the more the seal is tugged away, the more of it gets out, thrashing wildly against the threat. He can feel himself being pulled. It's being done gently, as to not disturb his container out of the illusion he's caught in, and Kurama hates it.

He no longer held host to the desire to harm Naruto. The boiling hatred in him had been snuffed out like a candle in the wind, as though it were never truly there to begin with. It felt strange to feel such rage now. Like what he'd felt before, when that damn snake dared touch him, but somehow more. Somehow greater.

This was more upsetting, somehow. The other two morons hadn't made it far before the Kit's mother was popping out and grinding them down beneath her heel. This, though-- this was a breach, a trespassing. This man has gotten Kurama once before, and to have it happen again, after he's just now found some modicum of peace--

Most jinchuuriki do not survive their tailed beast being extracted from them. And with the way the seal is being shimmied off, Kurama has no doubts of this Uchiha's plan to rip him out harshly and without mercy once it's finally loose enough. He does not know what this man wants him for-- if it is for destruction, or something else.

Kurama will not allow anything to happen to Naruto. He does not want to do this. He does not want to harm him in any way, does not want to be the cause of any pain, physical or mental if he can help it. Naruto has gone through a great deal in life thanks to Kurama's presence. He'd been making an effort not to contribute to that any longer.

And he'd been doing well, he thought. With their patch of flowers and late night talks. Age was a mellowing thing, Kurama had decided. Naruto called him a lazy old fox, and that's all Kurama had really wanted to be anymore, with Naruto to keep him company. It was... nice to watch him grow. 

Threats like this were what stopped him from fully falling into the peace of it. The seal being removed should've been excruciating for Naruto, but no-- the man was stopping the sensation from reaching him somehow. But keeping Naruto in a genjutsu despite it and fighting Kurama's wrath trying to push him away at the same time?

Whoever this was, they were good. Just not good enough to keep him under if Kurama contributed in.

Once upon a few minutes ago, the seal would've been too strong for Kurama to so much as dream of harming Naruto in any physical way. But it's more than halfway down now. Kurama can feel it, can see it in the way the paper bends and droops down. A good bang to the cage doors would send them flying open. 

But it would also send him flying out of Naruto, forcibly, and right into the hands of the enemy. Neither of these things were things he wanted. 

"Do it." Naruto's voice is a distant echo around the chamber, almost lost in the roar of Kurama's chakra. "I'll be okay, Kurama, but you've gotta do it." 

"I'm sorry." Kurama hisses out as fire races over him, pain piercing him. His chakra twists into several sharp points, and he clenches his eyes shut. "I'm sorry, Naruto."

He lets them explode outwards and pierce into the invisible bubble that makes up the vague borders of Naruto's mindscape, his chakra rushing hot through Naruto's system. He chokes as he does it, teeth grinding as the points dig in. 

The peeling of the seal stops almost immediately. And all at once, something shifts. The pain coursing through him halts dead. Kurama slumps with a gasp, ripping his chakra back sharply. The paper representation of the seal flops, still stuck part of the way down but not fully down quite yet. 

A good tap from the inside would finish it, and Kurama shrinks away from the bars of the cage, fearing what might happen if he accidentally nudged them. He knows the gates being open wouldn't change much, but he won't be the one to do it. He won't be the one to make that choice.

In the outside world, Naruto's eyes flash open, red swirling around the iris as the burns Kurama inflicted on him already begin the speedy process of healing. He's hurt, but he's awake.

Kurama wonders if that'll be enough.

~~~

God okay Patreon's early access you can read

-The last two chapters of this book
-The first three chapters of the next book
-The first chapter of the In-Between book, which documents events that occurred between this book and the second one