Chapter 2 Meetings and Revelations

Location: Mindscape Exterior

'Augh,' groaned out a youth as he stood in the dark tunnel. As his headache started to clear up, he looked around and thought to himself, 'Where the hell am I? Didn't I just get hit by a truck?'

As he looked around he noticed he was in an area that appeared to be similar to a sewer. He also noticed that he wasn't alone as in the corner of the tunnel he was in he noticed what appeared to be a 6-year-old child crying his eyes out. Thinking that he might be able to help as well as get some answers, he went over towards the child and stretched out his hand to get the boys attention then asked,

"Hey kid, you ok?" No sooner than he said this that he noticed the child visible try shrink back into himself and start to curl up into a ball before he whimpered out.

"Please don't hurt me. I'm not a demon. I never hurt anyone so please stop attacking me already," the boy managed to whimper out through soft sobs while still curled up into a ball. This caused the youth to narrow his eyes before retracting his hand and holding them up in a placating manner so that the child can see that he means no harm.

"I'm not gonna hurt you kid. I only wanna find out who you are and where this is. But after hearing the words you just said, I feel quite interested in knowing just what happened to you for you to react like that in our first meeting," responded the youth, though you could hear the flat tone in which he said it that denotes a trace of anger.

"Re, really? You're not going to hurt me like the rest?" asked the child as he peered through his hands to look up at the youth next to him.

"Really. I just want to know what happened to you as I saw you crying in a place like this," the youth said as he stepped back while giving the child a small smile noticing the child looking at him through his hands on the floor. The child could see that the youth genuinely meant no harm to him as even when he slightly lowered his guard, he noticed the youth stepped back a bit in case the child still felt threatened. Seeing this, he uncurled himself from the ball and started to stand up.

"My name is Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki. What's yours?" asked the child after giving his own name to the youth.

"My name is Dyre Kageshi," said the youth with a smile on his face. This smile, however, left his face which turned neutral before asking in a stern tone," Putting aside where we are at the moment, what did you mean by that small outburst earlier? Have people been attacking you?

Hearing the sternness in his voice, young Naruto looked down on the floor before giving a slight nod and a whimper. Seeing this, Dyre felt his blood boil while he clenched his fits tight enough until it actually drew blood but released a deep sigh, decided to deal with it later when they were both out of this sewer. While he was lost in his thoughts, he heard a soft voice directed at him.

"Are you mad at me?" came a question so soft that if the tunnel wasn't so quiet Dyre would have missed it. Looking up and seeing the tears rolling down young Naruto's face as if he was waiting to be punished, Dyre felt a part of himself break but ignored it in order to go comfort the boy.

"I'm not mad at you, Naruto. I'm just mad at the people who actually attacked you, a child of all things," responded Dyre as he went close to Naruto and set his hand on his head in order to ruffle his hair.

As soon as his hand touched Naruto's head, his mind was suddenly flooded with visions of Naruto's life over the last 6 years. From the night of his birth when the demon fox was sealed inside him, to the time he spent in the orphanage from the age to 3 to the time, he was kicked out of said orphanage which was a few weeks ago.

He also saw his interactions with those around him, ranging from the kindness he felt from a Sandaime Hokage and the duo from Ichiraku's Ramen stand, to the disdain and indifference he feels from the rest of the village, mainly the civilians and the clans. But what shocked and angered Dyre the most was what he saw for every year on October 10, specifically for what happened this year. By the time the memories had finished showing in his mind he was already on his knees holding Naruto in a hug to prevent himself from acting on any of his more violent feelings that showed up in response to those memories. While he was doing this, Dyre never noticed that Naruto had a dazed look on his face as he was also reliving memories of Dyre's life. This continued for a few minutes until Dyre broke away to check on Naruto who was quietly shedding silent tears for Dyre's own losses in life. They stayed like this for another 5 minutes before Dyre stood up, looked at Naruto before offering him his hand.

"Let's go. We have somewhere to be," Dyre said to Naruto while thinking to himself, 'Those villagers will pay for what they have done to this boy.'

*******

Mindscape: Cage

Naruto silently nodded and took his hand before both started walking down the tunnel of this sewer with what appeared to be water brushing against their ankles. After walking for the amount of time it takes to have dinner, they appeared in an open area. On one side both males found themselves facing prison bars, but each bar was as thick as trees and was over 30 feet tall. On one of the bars, they had seen a piece of paper with the word "Seal" on it which indicated that whatever was behind those bars was currently imprisoned. Behind the bars stood a beast, scarlet in color resting on its haunches. It had two eyes as big as Dyre each with slit red pupils with black sclera, elongated fangs protruding from its mouth and nine humongous tails swishing behind it as if they were in the wind. This was the lord of the demon world, the strongest of the biju, the kyube no kitsune. Seeing the two males making their way towards the cage with solemn expressions, the kyube decided to start off the conversion that was inevitably to begin.

"So I see my jailors have made time to visit me. To what do I owe the unexpected pleasure," said the fox with a tired expression, as if it had just used up a good amount of energy and was now resting while staring at both males.

Seeing the fox, Naruto seemed to display a look of fear, to which the fox smirked which was the only indication that showed the fox was amused. Dyre on the other hand had a look of indifference on his face, which did its job as the fox was unable to tell what kind of emotion, if any, that he was feeling. Feeling that he had humored the fox enough in allowing it to make Naruto squirm under its gaze, Dyre chose this time to speak up.

"So you must be the lord of all demons that I have seen those villagers talking about through Naruto's memories. Not what I expected a demon lord to look like, but different cultures have different ideologies I guess," spoke Dyre in an almost emotionless tone, one in which got the great demon to quirk an eyebrow.

"It would appear so, young one. From what I have seen in your memories that would appear to be the case. That being said, how much of what you have seen in the kit's memories do you understand? I'd like to get this sort of conversation over with quite early on," spoke the demon lord in almost a bored manner.

"Enough to know that he's actually dead and that I'm currently the owner of his body. What I truly want to know is what happened to result in that," replied the youth still in his indifferent tone.

"WHAT? I'm already dead. But how?" questioned Naruto in a scream after he heard what Dyre said. It's not every day one learns that they are dead and that someone else is in control of their body after all.

"He is right, kit. You died during that last mob attack. From what I can gather from both of your memories, the only reason we are even still alive is due to Dyre here appearing when he did. If not, I'm afraid we both would have been on our way to greet the Shinigami by now," said the fox in a grim tone. It's not every day a millennia year old being barely escapes death from so close, especially when it's the reason said being was currently sealed in the first place.

"From what I saw in your memories, due to the severity of the beatings you took from the few ninjas in that mob of villagers, your heart actually stopped. And it didn't just stop; it was properly damaged in multiple places that should have killed you then and there, but my timely appearance gave your body enough time and energy it needed for this guy to release his chakra, speeding up your already strong healing," continued Dyre while patting Naruto on the head to comfort him. As it stands he was not pleased that he just had to tell a 6-year old that not only had he died but that his body was revived and he was no longer in control of it. Silence drift between the trio after this revelation before the beast continued.

"As it stands you get to decide what we do now kit. Any thoughts on the matter?" asked the fox as he looked towards Dyre with a scrutinizing and calculative gaze.

"That it does, but before I do that, I'd like to ask some questions, mainly you demon lord," said Dyre coolly as if it was natural for him to be speaking with such a great being.

"Speak Ningen. What form of knowledge do you seek from me?" asked the fox.

"Just three questions: why did you attack this village, what benefits/demerits do this body get from having you sealed within it and how can I survive in this world with a target as big as you sealed literally in my gut?" responded Dyre while looking into the eyes of the demon fox.

"To answer your first question, I was being controlled. By whom, I won't tell you yet as knowledge on the matter without strength to protect yourself will get us killed, again," spat the fox as if it was remembering the humiliation it had faced all those years ago. Let it be known, the great kyube no kitsune does not take lightly to being controlled.

"For your second question, the benefits you receive from having me sealed inside you include heightened senses, vastly improved healing, amazing stamina, and a large chakra capacity that increases with time as parts of my chakra is being sent to you through the seal after being purified. The demerits though are the horrible control you will have over your chakra at the start, the easily identifiable birthmarks that mark you as my container for everyone to you, the whiskers, and the unnaturally strong bloodlust that will fill you the moment you try to use more of my chakra than you can control at that point in time. There is a middle ground for both sides with the negative emotion sensor you gain as it's a good tool to have out in the field but since you're in this village, unless you and I both actively try to suppress it, you will be overwhelmed," spoke the fox while listing the benefits and demerits that is gained from his sealing. Naruto started feeling his face, touching his whisker marks while listening to the talk between the youth and the great fox. Dyre on the other hand was contemplating the information he just obtained.

Not paying attention to either's thoughts or just not caring, the fox continued with his responses, "As for the last question. The answer is quite simple really."

Dyre looked up at the giant fox and questioned, "Oh? And what's that?"

The fox looked at him and smirked before saying, "Simple, just get strong. Strong enough that no one wants to attack you. Strong enough that even if someone attacks you then you can make them regret it. Get so strong that people will literally give you a wide birth when they see you. Only then will you be able to have a good chance of survival in this world." After this the fox looked down on Dyre to see what he plans to do next.

After thinking over what the kyube said, Dyre then gave it a small smile before turning towards young Naruto who has been quiet this entire time. Seeing him like this, Dyre couldn't help but pat his head before smiling and saying to him, "Now it's your turn to answer my questions Naruto"

Naruto tilted his head to the side in confusion before nodding and giving his undivided attention towards Dyre. Even the kyube looked towards this conversation with some form of interest.

"For you Naruto, I have but two questions. Think long and hard before you answer them, ok? Because after today, you won't be able to change your mind on it," stated Dyre with a bit of sternness laced in his voice.

Naruto nodded and he continued, "The first question is this; would you like to get revenge on the people who killed you here today or would you prefer I actively seek to avoid them and leave them alone unless they choose to attack your body again where I have all rights of self-defense?"

Seeing this, the fox quirked an eyebrow as he never thought Dyre would give Naruto such a difficult question first. Naruto on the other hand had a face looking as though he was thinking hard on the topic. After a few minutes, Naruto's face relaxed before he stared at Dyre with resolute determination.

"I, I don't want you to seek revenge on them. As it is now, I am already dead but I can see that you consider doing something like that for me. And for that, I am happy and that's enough. Should they choose to attack you then they are fair game but I would like for you to not kill them. Even though they treated me like they did, this village is still my home and I'd like it to stay as it is," stated a calm Naruto which caused both Dyre and the fox to quirk an eyebrow each before giving a nod of approval.

"It seems having been sealed into this kit wouldn't have been all that bad if you were alive for another few decades. That's good to know as far as hosts go," said the fox with an approving grin.

"Good, good. Even in death, you are still a better human being than the majority of this village. This makes me glad to present to you with this second question. I'm sure after you both hear it you will be quite surprised," said Dyre after ruffling Naruto's hair before sitting down and staring into his face.

"Huh/huh?" both child and demon said at the same time.

"My second question is this; instead of having you fade away like this, would you like for both of our personalities to fuse and create a new one based on both of our qualities?" said Dyre as he posed the question.

"WHAT? We can do that?" questioned Naruto in a startled yell.

"Pretty much. As it is right now, we are both just two split personalities in this body. As such we can stay separate or fuse to make a new one based on the qualities of both. That's kinda why I asked the other question first. It was to see if it was worth the trouble of doing. As it stands my own personality isn't as kind as yours. If you had said that you wanted to get revenge on those villagers I would have done it, no questions asked. But in doing that I know that they managed to corrupt you, a 6-year-old boy, to their ways and I wouldn't want to fuse with that. Seeing that you instead wanted me to give them a chance I instead decided that it's worth the effort. After all, it's not every day you see a 6-year-old suffer through what you did and die but even in death still forgives his attackers instead of asking for revenge. It is that kind of purity I want to add my experiences to and see what develops," stated Dyre smoothly as if it was something obvious as he stood up.

This left both the fox and the child wide-eyed at the implications of the first question on all 3 of their lives, especially the fox since it knew that its bloodlust was also a factor in corrupting the child as well. It wasn't long after that before the fox started cackling before it burst out in a full-fledged laughing fit. This caused Naruto to quirk an eyebrow as he wasn't sure what he missed while Dyre had a smile laced with mirth while looking at the laughing giant.

"Nicely played Ningen. Nicely done. It seems it wasn't just the kit that was being tested with that question but for me as well considering I'm a mass of negative emotions that could influence his thoughts if I try hard enough. It seems you truly have the makings for a wonderful host. For that, I shall tell you my name. My true name is Kurama. I hope we are able to get along splendidly from now on," said the giant fox with a merry smile on its face, that if you didn't know better would think it's a sadistic smirk.

"Likewise, Kurama. I'll introduce myself fully again. My name is Dyre Kageshi. Please remember it for however long I still have it," said Dyre with a slight bow towards the fox. He then turned towards Naruto who seemed lost in the direction of the conversation before he posed his question again. "So what do you say Naruto, stay separate and allow yourself to risk drifting off into the void or fuse together with me to give this body a new personality from our traits?"

Naruto looked up at Dyre's face before a foxy grin made its way on his. "You bet. Let's along as well, ok?" he said before holding out a fist.

"You bet kid," Dyre responded while bumping fists with Naruto before both bodies started glowing, gold for Naruto and silver for Dyre.

Both lights merged and then there was a big flash of light that blinded the entire room causing even Kurama to close its eyes before the lights died and the room returned to its proper lighting. After the light died down and Kurama opened its eyes, he noticed that currently, the new persona for the two was about the same height as Naruto except that he had black shoulder-length hair with gold tips with a few silver strands here and there. He also noticed that the persona's eyes had a blueish silver color and his skin was a bit darker, dark enough to hide the whisker marks unless you were paying very close attention. He was dressed in a mix of both of the former clothing, silver jacket over an orange shirt with a black Uzumaki swirl in the center, and grey pants with silver flames at the ends of the legs.

The duo spent a few minutes like that before Kurama got impatient and asked, "Interesting look, I must admit. But I gotta ask; who's in charge and what do I call ya kit?"

"Hmm," replied a slightly deeper voice. "I'd say Dyre mostly with a bit of Naruto's craziness mixed into it for certain areas. All in all, not a bad mix if I do say so myself. Hell, the kid had a knack for complicated and spontaneous plans. It truly was a blessing he was as nice as he was cuz some of these plans running through my mind right now makes me think that he could have literally destroyed this village within a few years if the negativity ever got to him. For now, I'll just take up his name since this was originally his body and I plan to live out his life as it should have been."

The fox nodded before sitting down on its haunches and staring at 'Naruto's' new form. Feeling content with what he saw he said to the new jailor, "As it stands you will wake up soon, so before then I've gotta fill you in on some jinchuriki stuff. You know my chakra is toxic to humans, except jinchurikis to a level but what you don't know is that there is a way to gain access to the full load without waiting for the seal. The only issue with that is that you have to defeat me in combat, all on your own, to get it. I may respect you as you are now, but you are too weak to be able to use my chakra so I suggest you start training. Also, I suggest you don't tell anyone about Naruto actually dying and you taking over his body or things might get dicey. At best, just inform the old man, but even then, you gotta bring him in here so that he can view the memories himself and to do that he'll need to have a member of the Yamanaka clan that he trusts to do it. I suggest you wait a few years to do it so that on the off chance that shit does hit the fan you'll be strong enough to at least be able to escape. Lastly, both of our senses have linked so whatever you see or smell, I'll do the same. Make use of this when you need to. Also you've got control over the mindscape so I suggest changing it to something better than this sewer-like image you currently got going."

After finishing his speech the light around the Naruto started to glow, but before it could take him, he turned to the giant fox and posed a question, "Which would you prefer; a forest or valley?"

Slightly confused by the question, Kurama blurted out the first response that came to mind, "Forest, why?"

"No reason," Naruto said before the light shone over him before he started to disappear. As he was disappearing, the scenery of the sewer and cage started to disappear before it was slowly being replaced with a forest. As for the seal on the cage bars, it turned into a pendant that attached itself to a collar that found its way around the fox's neck before he even noticed it was there. Looking around at the changes made to its cage, the kyube allowed a small smile to grace his lips.

"Seems like this host will be quite interesting to watch over in the future," the fox said before moving to the shade of a nearby tree to rest on its haunches and fall asleep, dreaming of hunting rabbits (biju sized).

Konoha Hospital: October 15

It's been 5 days since the incident in the forests outside of Konoha. Currently, the Hokage was looking at the young child lying on the bed in the hospital room with hints of regret in his eyes. He knows about the fox giving the young child advanced healing, so when it takes this long for him to recover from injury he cannot help but think about how serious the damage he must have went through. It was times like this when he thinks back to the sealing 6 years ago and cursed his successor for not allowing him to take his place during that sealing. At least that way the young boy wouldn't have had to face the hardships that he's already gone through in his short life. So wrapped up in his thoughts that he never noticed that said boy had actually awoken for a while now and was giving him a calculating gaze. It wasn't until a minute later before said boy decided to let the old man know that he was up.

"Hello jiji. How long was I out?" said the young boy in a raspy voice as if he hadn't drunk any liquids in quite a few days.

Hearing this, the Sandaime was removed from his thoughts and only then did he notice that 'Naruto' was awake. Remembering his question, he gave the boy a soft smile before saying, "It's been 5 days Naruto. How are you feeling?"

"Like I just got the life beat out of me," 'Naruto' replied wry smile before he started coughing. Hearing the comment, the old man thought he was making a joke for his sake so he gave Naruto a small smile of appreciation before patting his head. Before he could say anything, however, Naruto beat him to the punch by asking a question, "Ne jiji, can you tell me why I keep getting attacked like that by the villagers. I mean, all they have to do is see me before they either start scaring me off or accusing and attacking me for something I don't even know about?"

"I'm sorry you had to face that Naruto. I know you have questions on why you keep going through situations like that but I cannot tell you, at least not yet," replied the old man with a slight, feeling his age a lot more recently than he has had in years.

"Ok. Can you tell me when I'll be ready then? I know it must be something important if you can't tell me just yet but I would really like to know so that I won't have to ask you like this every time I end up here like this before then," said 'Naruto' with a sad sigh before shaking his head in exhaustion.

The old hokage looked down on the depressed-looking 'Naruto' before he thought for a moment before answering, "Originally I'm not supposed to tell you before you turn 16, but there IS another way that allows me to tell you years earlier. Only this method requires you to become a ninja for the village. Are you willing to take this method or wait until you are 16?"

'Naruto' thought about this for a few moments for looking the old man directly in the eyes and answer, "If that's all it takes for me to learn about it a few years earlier then you bet I'll become a ninja. What do I have to do?"

Old man Sarutobi looked at the young boy, seeing the determination on his face before allowing a smile to grace his lips. "That's easy Naruto-kun. All you have to do is join the ninja academy and graduate. How about I sign you up as soon as I leave here and head back to the tower for the class starting next year since its already too late to join the ones for this year?"

"You bet!" 'Naruto' started jumping up before he turned quiet and look down at his lap. "But how am I gonna be able to work seriously on trying to be a ninja when I can barely afford to buy any food or ninja equipment to support my ninja training that I'll have to follow? How am I gonna even have a place to stay considering I was kicked out of the orphanage a few weeks ago or even train when the villagers get angry just by seeing my face and would almost always start attacking me if they see me training in the public parks?" said the youth in a depressed and almost tearful tone.

Hearing this, Sarutobi was incensed before he quickly remembered something. Looking towards Naruto he got a smile on his face before told the boy, "I just so happen to have an apartment that you can use Naruto-kun. It's not the best but It can still serve you until you become a ninja or unless you decide to keep it. And this apartment just so happens to be across the road from a training field that no one uses anymore so you would basically have it all to yourself. As for the food and equipment troubles that you'll face, how about you come to me when you're ready to go shopping for food and I'll give you a set amount of ninja equipment that should last you for a set amount of time before you restock. I'll even introduce you to a friend of mine who'll help you out equipment-wise if I just so happen to be out of the village or in a meeting that requires my full attention."

"Are you serious, old man? Do you really mean it?" 'Naruto' questioned while looking up at the aged Kage with a look of enthusiasm.

"How about we go take care of that after you get discharged from the hospital? That way you'll know I'm being serious, won't you?" replied Sarutobi giving a friendly and reassuring smile to 'Naruto.' "I've got to head back to the tower for now but let's pick this up later. I hope you have a good night's sleep and look forward to tomorrow," old man Sarutobi said after he turned around, never noticing the small smirk and the flash of light in 'Naruto's' eyes as soon as he turned to leave the room.

After the elder left, 'Naruto' laid back down on the bed before looking up at the ceiling with a calculative look on his face as he plans for the next few years in which he has to attend school, again. It may be a ninja school, but it was a school nonetheless and he had to plan for all the sabotage he was sure to face due to his 'special circumstance.' It wasn't until a while later until he nodded off to dreamland with one final thought in mind, 'This world should be very interesting.'

Author's Note: Ok, this is the second chap under the title. I know some of you will have issues with my story so far but please bear with me as this beginning was actually annoying me to no end while I was trying to write it. In fact, it was so bad that it caused me to actually write most of this 2 days ago but I had to give it a break before uploading it cuz I just felt it didn't quite flow just right. Even now it still has such issues but it was better than it was before so be glad as after this it should get better, hopefully. Anyways, as usual, read and review, send me a suggestion if you have one, and point out where I can improve on this title. Flamers I should say I will ignore, but at this point in time, I'll take even a few of them just to see their thoughts. Anyways, that's it for me with this one. Peace!