[Chapter Size: 2400 Words.]
Rōran, 43.
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...
"Hey, Naruto! Let me try something." Kushina, after hearing about the differences between the worlds, turned to Naruto with an excited look.
He was still confused, but at the same time, he hoped his mother would teach him something new.
"Give me your fist," she asked.
He raised his hand, while she lifted her own fist as well, opening a smile. The moment the two bumped fists, Naruto was pulled back into his mind.
In front of him was the gate. The fox was still there, trapped, pressed against the ground by the sacred gates that kept it immobile. However, something was different. Its eyes were wide — there was no longer that hatred, but rather surprise — as it stared at Naruto... or rather, something behind him.
"I knew I felt something disturbing, even while we were in Konoha an hour ago." A voice Naruto knew very well made him shiver. Despite the tone not having the hatred it always carried...
He quickly turned his body.
In front of him was a Kurama... not caged, but free, standing before him, while he raised his head to look beneath her lifted head, not looking at him.
Naruto could swear she was twice the size of the Kurama sealed behind the gate.
Fear took him immediately. On impulse, he took a step back. His mind went into shock — how was that possible? How could there be a free Kurama in front of him? What kind of absurdity was this?
"Hey, you're scaring my son!" His mother's voice came from atop Kurama. Without him being able to see her.
Finally, the gigantic beast began to lower her head. Naruto couldn't see what was on top of her, as Kushina's Kurama kept her gaze fixed on the other Fox, trapped behind the gate. When she turned her attention to Naruto, he saw: the redhead was sitting atop the head of that immense Kurama.
"So this is Naruto..." Kushina's Kurama, who had already seen Naruto through Kushina before, with her conversation with Minato since he took her to Rōran and saw how she interacted with her son from another world. Kurama seemed to be analyzing him. "He doesn't seem very impressive..." She was honest, the brat seemed weak.
"You're mocking my son, aren't you?" Kushina's voice sounded dissatisfied, her gaze even irritating Kurama herself.
"I'm not." Kurama replied in an indifferent tone.
"Of course you are, dattebane! Please, don't doubt my son! Minato warned about him!", Kushina insisted.
"Technically, he isn't your son," Kurama retorted.
"He is also the son of a Kushina from the Uzumaki clan, married to Minato Namikaze. So, he is my son," Kushina shot back, almost mocking.
"Have I ever said that it's annoying to talk to you?"
"You say that all the time, dattebane, but don't forget that I'm your only company."
"If this brat isn't as annoying as you, please transfer me to him as soon as he's born..."
"You say that, but the moment I leave, you'll miss me."
"You're irritating, at the same time, equally arrogant..."
"Look who's talking," Kushina mocked.
Naruto kept listening to the argument, his mouth slightly open, almost like a fish out of water. He didn't know if he was hearing things right, because what he was witnessing was beyond anything he was used to.
"How is this possible?" he thought.
Was that the same Kurama? The Kurama that was a mass of malicious hatred, that tried to manipulate him his whole life? And now she was there, arguing with his mother… as if they were old friends. It reminded him very well of his youth, with Sasuke, as they argued about everything...
"Stinky, flea-ridden, arrogant, and bad-tempered fox!"
"Rotten tomato, annoying, loud, and thick-headed!"
The two started insulting each other, while Naruto couldn't help but turn his body and look at the Kurama inside the seal. She was still there, with wide eyes, also witnessing the argument in disbelief.
"Red furball, swollen, dramatic, and full of ego!"
"Pathetic human woman, bossy, talkative, and unbearably stubborn!"
"Impossible!" The voice of the other Kurama interrupted the argument, making everyone turn their attention to the inside of the cell.
"It can't be..." the sealed Kurama said, perhaps denying the existence of her larger version.
"And what wouldn't be impossible, my 'other self' from another world?" Kushina's Kurama tilted her head slightly, with an arrogant tone.
She was already used to all kinds of madness. Minato had shown her some things about the future and about that other world. In fact, Minato had already spoken specifically about that world. Kushina's Kurama could understand well what was happening there.
For Naruto's Kurama, it wasn't enough to have been humiliated — now there was another version of herself, clearly mocking her, while showing a certain relationship with her former jinchūriki, something she would never accept. She would rather die than act like that larger Kurama, who was now offering her own head for Kushina to sit on.
'How could I have fallen so low?! I hate her!' That was her first thought.
At the same time, she couldn't help but notice: that Kurama was free. There was no seal holding her.
So that wasn't another half sealed by the Fourth Hokage with the help of the Shinigami… but her complete version from that world — a different world, where she had followed another path and allied herself with her jinchūriki in some way.
"You seem to be in quite a predicament, huh?" said Kushina's Kurama without worrying about the gaze and even the thoughts of the trapped Kurama.
"Why? Why did you ally yourself with our jailer? You're free, you could take over her body!"
"It's not that simple... but I can't explain much, because that could alter the future, maybe later... Anyway, Minato helped me see some things, and we need to be strong to deal with what is coming."
"Com... Future? Ally with your jinchūriki? You are stronger on your own!"
"I used to think that too... but even we, bijuus, have limits. You know that very well. After all, you must have already been inside the brat's body too..."
Those words made the sealed Kurama freeze in shock, her jaw practically pressed against the ground.
"You must be feeling humiliated... but don't be like that. I was also beaten by Minato, and he was weaker than he is now, so I suppose I'm not impressed that he left you like this...", said Kushina's Kurama.
The smaller Kurama just clicked her tongue, seeming to reflect on something.
Kushina, who wasn't in the mood to listen to the conversation, looked at Naruto down there and simply jumped from Kurama's head, landing in front of the boy.
"Wow, this place seems quite depressing," she said, looking around before turning her attention back to the seal. "The seal is different from yours, but it seems to work the same way."
"Are you really friends with the Kyuubi?" Naruto whispered, staring at his supposed mother with admiration.
"Yes... I must say it was difficult. She was also a fox full of hatred, wasn't she, Kurama?" Kushina looked up, while the fox just clicked her tongue and said nothing. Naruto kept watching in admiration.
"Kurama…" He murmured that name, the same name his supposed father also used. He shook his head and reflected on some things.
'Jiraiya-sensei always said I could try to control this power, but I just wasn't very good when it went past three tails. When the fourth comes into play, I lose control.' Naruto thought.
Now, seeing Kurama free, to the point that his mother could sit on her head and argue as if they were acquaintances, that went completely against everything he believed about mastering that power.
He was still watching Kushina, who looked with some disgust at all the details of the supposed sewer and the yellowish, dark atmosphere of that place.
"Was yours like this too?" Naruto asked curiously, trying to start some conversation in the middle of all that confusion.
Kushina looked back at him and opened a smile. "It wasn't a dark cave. At least there was a giant field full of flowers outside. It was so beautiful... Your father was impressed when he entered my mind for the first time, on the day we went to fight Kurama. We passed through the garden before entering the cave," she said, placing her hand on her chin, as if thinking about something.
"Of course, after we came to an understanding, I changed the whole place. Today it's a large forest, and Kurama stays free there. Why don't you do that too? I'm sure the fox inside you would appreciate it. She may not show it, but even I would be filled with hatred if I had to live in a place like this," she said in a light and relaxed tone.
That certainly wasn't the way everyone in Naruto's world dealt with the fox inside him, it was always a subject full of taboo that Naruto had to be careful about, now he was hearing from Kushina as if it were simple. Neither Ero-Sannin, the Old Lady, Kakashi-Sensei, nor Captain Yamato would ever deal with the fox the way he heard from his 'mother'.
Naruto seemed like he would never get used to this... He didn't even know what to answer, while she gave a light punch to his chest after seeing his expression.
"Don't worry, I'll teach you, dattebane!" she said excitedly, giving a thumbs up.
Naruto took a moment, but nodded.
"What are you trying to do with him?!" Naruto's Kurama's voice sounded irritated. She didn't like the way Kushina was talking to Naruto.
"If I ask my husband to get you out of there, do you promise you won't hurt Naruto?" Kushina didn't seem angry at Kurama's provocation inside the cage, she lifted her gaze over Naruto's shoulder and asked the fox directly.
Furious, Kurama only growled. Kushina walked past Naruto and went to the bars, jumping over more than 20 meters as she crossed them and landing near the fox's head.
"Come on, come on, don't be so petty. Minato can get you out of those gates. That way, you'll stay stuck there, and it must be worse than being in a cage. And even if you were planning to stop me from corrupting my future son..." Kushina continued, leaning slightly forward.
"Come on, listen carefully! Don't you want a forest where you can run freely? Don't you find this sewer a bit depressing and sad? Wouldn't you like to see the sun, the scenery?" Kushina began to whisper.
Naruto stood there, while Kushina's Kurama just shook her head. "She's like a demon... whispering for someone to sell their soul sometimes..." she muttered.
Naruto looked up before turning his attention back to his mother. He could see the smaller Kurama slightly shaken.
'She's convincing her so easily...' Naruto thought, shocked.
If Minato was a specialist in beating her, his mother was a great negotiator.
'My father... my mother... Were they like this?' Naruto thought about his real parents. If they were really like this in life, they must have been incredible.
"Do whatever you want in the end..." The smaller Kurama just mocked, in a disdainful tone. But clearly, she was tempted.
Kushina had won. She opened a smile.
It didn't take long for Minato to appear, like light falling from the sky, emerging beside Kushina. He had heard the entire conversation happening inside the spiritual world thanks to his observation ability. The changes hadn't gone unnoticed by him.
"Well, I admit I was going to keep her trapped until we found a way to send you back to your world... but if my wife convinced you..." Minato said, entering Sage Mode of the Senju while forming some hand seals.
The gates began to disappear into particles, and Kurama felt herself becoming less and less restrained, slowly rising.
She looked at Minato and Kushina, a bit frustrated. She didn't know what to think about those two, but she knew she didn't have much power against them. Even so, Kushina's offer — as much as it hurt her pride and her anger — was tempting.
Who wouldn't want to live in a forest instead of staying in that gloomy sewer?
She wanted to be in nature, sunbathe, or swim in a large lake. After all, ever since that damned Uchiha Madara subdued her, and then the First Hokage sealed her inside Mito, she had only known imprisonment and manipulation for the last 60 years!
"Well, let's at least do this properly," Kushina said to Minato.
Minato nodded, as he began to turn toward the exit with his wife. The smaller Kurama didn't attack them as they walked toward Naruto and the other Kurama.
"Hey, Minato... did you feel that too?" Kushina asked in a low voice as they walked through the sewer.
"Since I entered here earlier..." Minato replied, his gaze attentive, but without showing any reaction.
"Do you think they'll come talk to us?" Kushina asked.
"I don't think so. Leave it like this. We don't represent a threat to their son. It's better this way. We are not them, Kushina. We won't gain anything from a conversation with them, and they also seem to realize that," Minato said.
Meanwhile, Kushina felt that, in the darkness of that place, there were two chakra signatures — a man and a woman. They were clearly watching. They had probably been activated since Minato interfered, since their chakras had been placed there only to act when the seal and Naruto were in certain danger. An unknown person entering inside the cage should certainly have activated them.
But the Minato and Kushina from Naruto's original world didn't do anything to interfere, they only observed. It was impossible to know what they were thinking, but they clearly didn't see it as a threat to their own son.
They would wait to appear at the right moment, when Naruto truly needed them, since they would disappear if they went to the two of them and Naruto.
Ignoring that, Kushina hugged Naruto happily, while beginning to explain how they could change that place.
Kurama moved closer to the cage, finally able to walk, but instead of doing so, she simply lay down there, still frustrated from the humiliation of having been beaten earlier. She didn't want to pay attention to anyone, not even her version from another world.
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