38 First Encounter

"Ah!" Natural gasped as he jolted up from his position ln the ground. He sat up and looked around him. He noticed that he was in a place that resembles an underground complex with pipes running along the ceiling and various hallways. The floor is also flooded with a shallow layer of water.

"Where am I?" He whispered as he slowly stood up. He looked over himself and he was shocked to find out that he was uninjured and that his Shinobi attire was in pristine condition.

"Okay, what the hell is going on? Am I in heaven or something? If so, then it looks ugly as fuck." He grumbled as he started walking through the hallways aimlessly.

He found himself in a giant room that spanned endlessly. There was an enormous cage that was separated from the rest of this complex Naruto was in. The bars of the cage are far enough apart for Naruto to walk between them.

The cage's doors are secured by a sheet of parchment with 'seal' written on it, behind which is the cage's lock. It was at this moment Naruto realized who was sealed behind the cage.

"Kyuubi." Naruto whispered to himself while clenching his fists. On cue, two giant eyes opened from behind the cage and glared at Naruto.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at them. It's pupil alone was taller than a human. Naruto was looking at crimson red eyes with large slits in them and large, sharp pearl white teeth which was scowling at him.

Naruto slowly approached the cage as he slowly got a good look at the Kyuubi who narrowed his eyes at him. The Kyuubi had red-orange coloured kitsune with black fur around its red eyes that stretch up to his ears, and nine long swiping tails.

He also had an upper-body structure of a human, complete with opposable thumbs on his clawed hands. His size was equal to the size of the Hokage Rock in Konoha. He was lying on the ground with his nine tails swaying in the background.

"Where am I?" Naruto asked him.

"We are in your feeble little mind. I thought you would realize that sooner." The Kyuubi answered with a bored tone.

"So what's your name?" Naruto suddenly asked him, making Kyuubi blink in response. Naruto sat down on the ground, not caring that his pants was getting soaked by the water flooding the floor.

"I mean, everything has a name. And I'm definitely not calling you Kyuubi everytime we meet, it sounds boring." Naruto added. Kyuubi narrowed his eyes at Naruto.

" I'm not telling you anything, brat. " Kyuubi replied to him angrily. Naruto took note that the Kyuubi didn't deny that he had a name.

" I know what you're here for and I'm not interested in talking with you. I know you're here to ask for my chakra." Kyuubi accused him. Naruto snorted and crossed his arms.

"Yeah, I'll pass on that. I want to know why you want me to destroy everything." Naruto replied. Kyuubi growled at him.

"The answer is simple you fool! I am the living embodiment of hatred! Right now, I can sense your hatred towards that Ice Release girl for killing your precious Uchiha teammate. Don't you want to release some of that anger you've been boiling up inside you? " Kyuubi asked him while grinning evilly. Naruto glared angrily at him.

"Say one word about them and I'll show you how angry I can truly be." Naruto threatened, making the Kyuubi laugh hysterically.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! You think you, a human can best me, the strongest of the tailed beasts?! How delusional can you be?! " Kyuubi shouted while laughing uncontrollably. Naruto stood up straight and pointed at him.

"You're not gonna take control of me!! I won't let my precious people get hurt just because you wanna get out of that seal!! I won't be dependent on your power, no matter how good it may sound!" Naruto then walked up towards Kyuubi who growled loudly at him.

Kyuubi then shot part of his sharp claws through the cage and towards Naruto who didn't flinch as he was face to face with the Kyuubi's giant white claws. The fox was glaring at him, sending shivers down Naruto's spine but he kept a calm front.

"You either work with me, or you'll be stuck in that cage forever and trying to escape when I won't allow you to. It's your choice, Kyuubi." Naruto muttered as he and Kyuubi resumed their intense staring match.

"Tch!!" Kyuubi pulled back his hand and punched the bars of the cage angrily. He looked down at Naruto who slowly held out his fist.

"I hope this can be the start of a great relationship." Naruto added with a smile on his face.

'Has he lost his mind?' Kyuubi thought before opening his mouth to reply.

"What are you even saying, brat? Do you not hate me? I killed your mother, I killed your father. My existence made your life hell. Why do you not hold any hatred towards me? "Kyuubi asked, genuinely wanting to know Naruto's reasons for not hating him.

"Because if it weren't for you being sealed inside me, I wouldn't be strong and independent. I wouldn't have found those who are precious to me. I wouldn't have found those who see me as Naruto Uzumaki and not as the Kyuubi who destroyed the village. "

" I'm not lying when I say that I hate you. I hate that you destroyed Konoha and killed so many innocent lives and for what? So that you can show off how powerful you are? Because of you I never felt my father's and mother's love. Because of you I was shunned, because of you I had my growth as a Shinobi stunted." Naruto shook his head.

" But I won't sit and mope about it, I have shit to do other than being depressed all day. Even though I don't know much about my mom and dad, their sacrifice to the village so that I could live means everything to me. I plan to earn the people's respect with my actions. And whether you like it or not, you're in this with me. You are sealed inside me after all. " Naruto grinned at him.

" So let's put aside what we hate about each other and try working together. What do you say?" Naruto asked him. Kyuubi stayed silent as he stared down at the blonde in front of him.

Kyuubi then held up a finger.

" Only one tail. "

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.

*FOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!!*

Back in the real world, Naruto's eyes widened as his eyes changed colour from bright blue to crimson red and his pupils become slitted. The senbon that was in his body was blasted away from the shockwave Naruto created by tapping in Kyuubi's chakra.

His nails and canine teeth grow longer and sharper. Naruto's hair also grows longer and spikier, and the whisker-like marks on his cheeks widen and thicken.

His wounds healed up in an instant. "Haaa..." Naruto breathed out a puff of steam from his mouth. Naruto was surrounded by a layer of red, wispy chakra granting him enhanced strength, speed and healing.

Around him, the ground was shaking violently as Haku stared at it in shock. 'This Chakra! It's so evil! Is Naruto-kun using the Kyuubi's chakra?!' Haku thought to herself, already knowing the about Naruto's burden since he told her about it yesterday.

Naruto stood up and turned his head to look at her.

.

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Meanwhile, Kakashi and Zabuza widened their eyes as the felt the evil chakra coming from Naruto. Zabuza narrowed his eyes.

'It's coming from inside Haku's ice mirrors dome, from that blonde haired brat. So that brat is a Jinchuriki like the Fourth Mizukage huh? This is interesting.' Zabuza thought while smirking behind his mask while Kakashi was having other thoughts.

'No! The seal isn't breaking! The seal is perfectly stable, it almost seems like this was supposed to happen.... I'll need to be careful since I don't know what Naruto will do in this state.' Kakashi thought before taking out a scroll.

Tazuna and Sakura were on their hands and knees, breathing heavily and unable to even move, staying conscious from the feeling of the Kyuubi's power was a challenge.

Haku took out more senbons and prepared herself to be attacked by Naruto. Naruto made a tiger hand seal, releasing his resistance seals on his body and gaining more speed.

He rushed towards Haku who was stunned at how fast he suddenly was. She threw a volley of senbons at Naruto.

"HAAA!!!!" Naruto roared as he generated a shockwave from it and sent the senbons flying away. Haku appeared in another ice mirror above Naruto and dove towards him.

Naruto did a flip, dodging her attack. Haku attempted to get to the next ice mirror by she was then punched in the gut by Naruto, sending her flying away and crashing through an ice mirror.

At the same time, Haku ran out of chakra to maintain the ice mirrors. The ice mirrors had large cracks on them before they shattered into piece.

Haku spat out some blood as she slowly stood up to look at Naruto who appeared in front of her in a blur. Naruto who was gritting his teeth, threw a punch at her as Haku just stared at it.

'Perhaps this is the price I pay for hurting you, Naruto-kun.' Haku thought as Naruto's fist inched closer and closer to her.

"Huh?" Haku opened her eyes and looked at Naruto whose fist was one centimeter away from hitting her in the face.

"Why.... why won't you kill me? My purpose is now gone Naruto-kun, Zabuza-san has no need for a broken tool. Kill me. " Haku whispered as a tear fell down her cheek.

"No, you cannot just ask something like that. Why would you even think that I could kill you! What makes you think I could ever Kill you! Just fighting you feels like I'm tearing apart pieces of my soul!" Naruto shouted.

" I am nothing more than a tool that has now been broken, Naruto-kun. I can no longer help Zabuza-san fulfill his dreams. Therefore you must—

"SHUT UP!!!"

"But I killed your friend!!" Haku shouted. Naruto pointed at Satsuki who was currently getting treated by Sakura.

"Does she look dead to you?" Naruto asked while Sakura was kneeling right beside Satsuki. She had already took out the senbons stuck in the Uchiha's body, now all she needed is to heal her

"Mystical Palm Technique." She whispered as a small green glow covered Satsuki's numerous stab wounds on her chest.

Sakura was applying her hands to a wounded part of the body and sends chakra into it, accelerating Satsuki's natural healing abilities.

Naruto pointed at her as his cold glare sent shivers down her spine, his crimson red eyes made it even worse.

"How dare you say something like that to me Haku-chan? What did all those times we spent together mean? Was that a lie? Are you telling me that you felt nothing when you were with me? That all those times we had spent together meant nothing to you? Were you simply using me to help Zabuza? " Naruto asked her, making Haku widen her eyes in shock.

" NO!!" Haku shouted before taking a step forward.

"How can you think that! Everything I said was true! I loved being with you! Every minute we were together I felt safe, and content! I even spent time with you when Zabuza-sama voiced his disapproval! Don't even think that our time together meant nothing!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at her." I thought you were a tool, Haku-chan. Tools aren't supposed to feel, especially not for their enemy. And tools aren't supposed to aim for non-vital points that would only knock a person out." Naruto smirked at her, shocking Haku as she had been caught red handed again.

" You're not a tool Haku-chan, you're a ninja, but ninja aren't just mindless tools who are used and then thrown away when someone feels they are no longer useful."

"B-but my purpose—

"A person can live for multiple purposes, Haku-chan. You're kind right? Perhaps that could be your other purpose, helping others. Just please.... let's stop fighting. " Naruto muttered as he held out his hand.

Naruto widened his eyes as he received a memory from his Shadow Clone. He had created them discreetly so that he could substitute with them if he was caught in a hard spot.

Right now, he received some news. News that could definitely stop all of this nonsense once and for all. But first, he had to stop Kakashi from killing Zabuza.

To be continued...