The night Kakashi led Team Seven out of the village for their mission in the Land of Waves, a long-absent visitor appeared in Tsukimi Heshu's room.
Heshu sensed the odd chakra the moment he stepped through his door.
Back in his room, Obito sat on the edge of his bed, watching him in silence.
Heshu stared back.
"…Something up?"
Heshu broke the silence first. Obito was trying to look deep and brooding, sitting there without a word, leaving it to Heshu who couldn't stand it.
"When are you extracting the Nine-Tails?" Obito asked.
Obito had reason to suspect Heshu was getting soft. He'd been raising the Jinchūriki brat all these years. All Obito could do was remind him, over and over.
Heshu glanced at Obito, then thought of Kakashi, out there on a mission with Naruto right now. A plan clicked into place.
"Right now is fine."
His voice was flat, cold.
Obito, who'd expected another excuse: "…Now?"
Heshu settled onto the tatami, calm. "Now is the best time."
"Kakashi's leading three Genin—Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura—to the Land of Waves. Kill Kakashi and his team now, extract the Nine-Tails. Isn't that the perfect opportunity?"
He didn't blink, his gaze fixed on the single eye visible behind Obito's mask.
Obito's visible eyelashes trembled slightly. He said nothing.
Hmph. Heshu snorted inwardly. He pressed on. "And conveniently, I'm stuck here in the village. Can't lift a finger to help them. I'm sure you have ways to deal with Kakashi and three little Genin, right?"
You little punk.
Heshu didn't believe for a second Obito could bring himself to hurt Kakashi. In the original story, even after watching Kakashi kill Rin, Obito never laid a hand on him. Their bond was forged in titanium.
Obito's earlier initiative had evaporated. His silence screamed his refusal.
"…It's not the right time," he said, voice stiff.
He knew Heshu's logic was sound. This was a rare, perfect window. But…
He didn't understand his own refusal.
"Not the right time?" Heshu raised a brow. "When will we get another chance like this?"
He wasn't planning to expose this identity anytime soon. Not until he got everything he wanted from it. Then exposure might be worth something.
Obito looked at him. "The Nine-Tails' status is unique. You'd face significant pressure if it was captured while its Jinchūriki was on a mission outside the village. The Nine-Tails extraction can wait until the end."
There was some truth to that. Heshu would take heat. But Obito's refusal had far more to do with Kakashi.
Heshu pretended not to see the real reason. He nodded. "Right. It really isn't the time yet."
Watching Obito leave, Heshu sneered internally.
Classic Narutoverse. Bros before… well, everything.
Between Rin and Kakashi, who really holds the top spot in that messed-up heart of his?
Logically, watching the girl you love get killed by your best friend should kill any softness. Yet Obito not only spared Kakashi, he never even took back his other Mangekyō Sharingan.
Heshu clicked his tongue and pushed the thought away.
When Naruto's team returned, they were injured. Even without Zabuza Momochi and Haku, others had stood in their way.
Kakashi reported Naruto's Nine-Tails chakra flare to Heshu.
After hearing it, Heshu dismissed them to rest.
Naruto was well aware of the giant fox inside him.
Honestly? He didn't really hate it. This time, it was the fox's power that saved Sasuke.
That night, Heshu and Hanzo sandwiched Naruto between them for a little heart-to-heart.
"Naruto," Hanzo asked. "Are you afraid?"
Tailed Beasts were objects of terror in the shinobi world. Fear would be normal.
Naruto shook his head, confused. "No. Because Heshu-nee is really strong."
The Tailed Beast was no match for Heshu-nee. So he wasn't scared at all.
Hanzo paused. Fair enough.
"The Tailed Beasts aren't anything to fear," Heshu said, ruffling Naruto's hair. "They're not so different from us, in the end."
The Nine-Tails' hatred for humanity was understandable. Anyone who went through what it did would feel the same.
Imagine: you're living free and easy in the mountains, minding your own business. One day, some lunatic shows up, controls your mind, and forces you to fight. The guy you're fighting is someone you can't beat. Worst of all, he decides you're too powerful and locks you inside some shinobi's body. Generation after generation, you're a prisoner.
Who wouldn't be pissed?
It was all just misdirected rage. The controlled Nine-Tails had it rough.
Heshu slowly explained the Tailed Beasts' story to Naruto.
Naruto looked surprised, then sympathetic. "So the Tailed Beasts are pitiful too…"
He'd thought they were just monsters that hurt people. He never realized the humans who controlled them and started wars were the real villains.
Within the seal, listening to Heshu educate Naruto, the Nine-Tails was uncharacteristically silent. The usual scorn was gone from its face.
[Ding! Nine-Tails Favorability +50!]
Heshu heard the system prompt. His mood didn't shift.
"Then why don't we let it out?" Naruto asked.
A stupidly hopeful light shone in his eyes.
Inside the seal, the Nine-Tails' eyes gleamed. Was its centuries-long imprisonment finally ending?
"Naruto, the Tailed Beasts aren't just beasts anymore," Heshu explained patiently. "They're keys to the balance of power between villages. And the enemies we face now… they're strong. If we released the Nine-Tails, our enemies would capture it very quickly."
He wasn't lying. He'd bet anything the Nine-Tails would be in Akatsuki's hands within a month of its release.
Inside the seal, the light in the fox's eyes died.
It wasn't completely ignorant of the outside world. The Sharingan that had controlled it during Naruto's birth, the masked man who'd easily captured Shukaku not long ago… it all pointed to a vast conspiracy behind the scenes.
"Then what do we do?" Naruto asked, troubled.
The thought that he was also a tool, a cage, weighed on him.
Heshu and Hanzo exchanged a glance. "Perhaps you could try talking to it," Hanzo suggested. "As a friend."
"You're on the same side now," Heshu added, his words meant for both listeners. "The stronger you become, Naruto, the better you can protect the Nine-Tails from being captured."
The Nine-Tails scoffed internally. Who needs this brat's protection?
"Okay! I'll definitely protect it!" Naruto vowed, fist clenched.
The Nine-Tails: "…Don't make promises you can't keep, you little punk!"
A pleased smile touched Heshu's lips. "Naruto, you need to become strong yourself. Hanzo and I… we can't always be by your side."
Naruto didn't think much of it, didn't take the words to heart. Heshu-nee was the Hokage, the acknowledged strongest in the world. How could she ever leave him? And both she and Hanzo-nee were young. Their family wouldn't split up.
He was sure of it.
But he should get stronger. He couldn't let Heshu-nee worry about him.
After Naruto went to his room, Heshu said to Hanzo, "Keep an eye on him tonight."
Even if he advocated for communication, the Nine-Tails' attitude was still unknown. Having Hanzo watch was just being responsible.
Hanzo nodded. "Understood."
Deep Night.
Naruto fell asleep, then suddenly found himself in a strange space.
Everything was red. Warm water lapped at his calves. He quickly coated his feet in chakra, standing on the surface.
He looked around, thinking he was dreaming.
A massive, seal-covered cage loomed before him. Naruto approached it slowly.
"Could this be…?"
A pair of enormous, vertical pupils materialized from the cage's shadow.
Naruto yelped, falling backwards onto the water.
The Nine-Tails: "…"
This? This is the kid who says he'll protect me? It's not even clear who'd be protecting whom.
"Y-you… I know!" After the initial shock, Naruto scrambled to his feet. He pointed. "You're Kurama!"
Heshu had told him the fox's name.
The Nine-Tails just stared, its huge eyes unblinking. Its vertical pupils looked Naruto up and down.
It had, in a way, watched this kid grow. Honestly, it thought Naruto might have some genetic mutation. He didn't really take after Minato Namikaze or Kushina Uzumaki at all.
"Being locked up here… you must be really lonely." Naruto thought of Heshu's story, felt a surge of empathy. Tears welled in his eyes.
The Nine-Tails: "…"
What could it say? The kid seemed… kind of dumb. A level of dumb it felt bad even thinking about tricking.
"From now on, I'll be here with you! We can play games together, watch TV, read manga…"
Naruto thought of his own past, being shunned. But now he had friends. Kurama had been all alone… well, all alone as a giant fox. That must have been so lonely! Naruto felt it was his duty to make Kurama happy.
The Nine-Tails: "…"
Why did that sound… oddly appealing? Sleeping all the time did get boring. Having this little pest to pass the time with might not be bad? It didn't hate Naruto or Tsukimi Heshu, after all. As for that babysitter, Hanzo… something about her felt unfathomable. Its instincts said don't mess with her.
Naruto was a natural extrovert. And the Nine-Tails was a fascinating new species. It was like a whole new world had opened up.
"What was the world like hundreds of years ago?"
"Did you meet the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju?"
"Was he really strong?"
"Stronger than Heshu-nee?"
"How did they control you?"
"What do Tailed Beasts like to do?"
"Do you like ramen?"
"Don't you think ramen is the best?"
The Nine-Tails' head was pounding. Naruto's questions were an endless barrage.
The Nine-Tails: "…"
It had never felt this overwhelmed.
Hanzo, monitoring Naruto's condition from outside: "…"
She decided it was the Nine-Tails who needed her concern.
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