At the top floor of a shabby, old apartment, a faint trail of footsteps echoed closer and closer until they faded away. The tightly shut, rusted iron door slowly creaked open with an ear-piercing screech, allowing the moonlight outside to spill in and chase away the darkness inside. A small, shadowy figure slipped in swiftly through the gap.
"I'm back."
The child's voice echoed throughout the narrow room. Naturally, no one answered that ordinary greeting in the worn-down, empty apartment... Naruto, who had been in this world for over three years, was long used to it. Rather than a real greeting, it was more like a daily custom—just blending in with the local way of life.
"It took longer than I thought… ugh, this freezing weather is unbearable. I should've worn more layers."
Grumbling to himself, Naruto swapped out his ninja boots for tattered children's slippers. As he fumbled to switch on the dim, flickering yellow light—the only source of illumination in the room—he yanked the rust-covered door shut again, sealing off the cold wind, snow, and frost outside. Stretching and yawning, he slowly wandered into his messy bedroom.
A child's body really can't take much punishment. Just making one round trip in this cold wind drained over half his chakra just to stay warm... In the past, Naruto would've simply gone to bed early to recover after such exhaustion. But on his way home, that familiar crimson chakra kept surfacing now and then, replenishing what he lost and reinforcing his resolve to carry out his plan.
'Considering the unexpected benefits so far, maybe interfering with the timeline wasn't such a bad idea after all.'
Sitting cross-legged at the edge of the bed, Naruto pulled his thick blanket over himself tightly with one hand. With his free hand, he gently rubbed the seal on his stomach through his clothes.
Even though he'd made decent progress with the Flying Thunder God Technique, it still wasn't reliable enough to be considered a proper trump card for self-defense... 'Well, no choice. It's probably time I meet him and have a proper talk.'
Muttering softly, Naruto gathered the last of his chakra, drawing it to a single point. Once his focus sank deep into his inner world, he charged headfirst toward the massive, ominous red chakra deep within his abdomen.
"...Hmph! Foolish brat, rushing toward your own death! Fine—this time, I'll take your body for sure!"
"Heh... So you have been watching after all..."
"Long time no see. Ready, partner? I've come to collect the rent, dattebayo!"
…
The moment their two chakras fully intertwined, Naruto's surroundings shifted from the cramped, rundown room to a dim and chilling corridor.
This was the mental space where the strongest of the nine Tailed Beasts—the Nine-Tails—was sealed within Naruto's body by the Eight Trigrams Seal!
Even though he'd been here many times before, the sinister atmosphere still gave him goosebumps.
"Aaah, I get it, I get it. Quit rushing me... I'm coming."
After stretching out his limbs a little to adjust to the sensation of the spiritual space, Naruto raised his arms and struck his usual lazy pose—hands behind his head, looking completely unmotivated. With relaxed steps, he walked toward the deeper part of the tunnel, where a deafening bestial roar echoed from within.
Only when he reached several meters in front of the massive, tightly shut prison gate did he stop. Tilting his head up, he stared into the darkness beyond the bars, watching faint flashes of scarlet light flicker in the shadows. A mischievous smirk played across his lips.
"Say, partner, this is your place after all. Can't you make it a little warmer and cozier? Or... are you secretly a masochist?"
"...ROAR!!"
As soon as Naruto spoke, the beast's roar, which had been dying down, exploded into rage again. With a sharp ripping sound from the darkness, a gigantic claw surged out from between the bars—full of killing intent—lunging straight toward Naruto's grinning face like a lightning strike!
"Again with this trick? Hey, hey, you pulled this on me when I was just a baby, remember, partner?"
Though his senses clearly picked up on the incoming danger, Naruto didn't budge an inch, acting as if he were too dumb to react. Instead, he poured oil on the fire by taunting the imprisoned beast even more.
"I, Naruto Uzumaki, ain't gonna get scared by the same move twice, dattebayo!"
"Besides, if you really wanted me dead... you wouldn't have used your chakra to heal my injuries back when I screwed up practicing the Flying Thunder God Technique, right?"
"...Hmph. Stupid brat."
As if confirming Naruto's words, the massive claw stopped just short of his nose—barely three inches away—frozen in place. The furious roars reverberating through the mental space also paused, replaced by a gruff and annoyed male voice.
"You don't look like you've been bullied into despair by those foolish villagers. So tell me, Naruto—what kind of dumb plan brought you here this late?"
"Well... what if I said I just missed you and came to visit... no no no! I'm sorry! Put the claw away, put it away!"
Watching the brat fall to his knees and beg for mercy without a shred of shame, the Nine-Tails twitched its lips and reluctantly pulled its claw back. Though unwilling to admit it, deep down it actually felt more at ease and comfortable thanks to Naruto's sincere and casual attitude. With a snort, it couldn't resist teasing him back.
"I swear, you brat—out there you're all calm and collected, but the moment you come see me, it's like you become someone else. Don't forget, I'm the one who killed your parents... You keep calling me 'partner' every day, yet I haven't seen you try to avenge them once. You've got to be the most thick-skinned kid in the world."
"Of course I have to be cautious outside—it's dangerous. But now that I'm home, why should I keep wearing that exhausting mask?"
Naruto didn't even flinch at the Nine-Tails' jab. On the contrary, he shrugged with a smile, carefree and unbothered.
"Didn't I already tell you the first time we met? Yes, because of you, my parents sacrificed their lives for the village. And yes, I was forced to carry the burden of being the 'Demon Fox' and got hated and scorned by everyone…"
"But I also understand that you were just venting all the rage built up over years of being imprisoned by the ninja. If I had to blame someone, I'd blame the First Hokage and Uchiha Madara for sealing you in the first place."
"And besides, losing your freedom again under the Eight Trigrams Seal… that price is already more than enough to call it even, isn't it?"
"...Hmph. You're still the same brat—spouting useless nonsense!"
"But that 'useless nonsense' has been gradually calming your anger, hasn't it?"
With clear, bright blue eyes, Naruto met the beast's blood-red gaze without a hint of fear. He smiled wider as he slowly raised his right hand and repeated the same words he had solemnly declared when they first met:
"No matter how much you hate your past Jinchūriki… from the moment you were sealed inside me, we became partners for life, dattebayo!"
"...Tch! You delusional brat! I never agreed to that!"
"Hehe, then why did you keep saving me over and over?"
"Isn't that obvious, you idiot?! If you die, I go down with you!"
"Hehe, really? But if that's the case, wouldn't the smarter move be to steal my body while I'm dying, heal it up, and walk free again? You're still as tsundere as the day we met, partner~"
"...Shut up! I just think your body's too weak and unworthy, got it? You want me to take over so badly? Fine, I'll do it right now!"
"Ack—no, no, my bad, I take it back! Let's not do that! Well then… I'll be counting on you again, partner."
Looking at Naruto's arm reaching through the bars without hesitation, the Nine-Tails hesitated for a moment, then begrudgingly extended a claw to lightly tap his hand.
"Ugh… such a pain... Just don't go dying so easily out there, you brat."