The Nine-Tails' Life (Please Vote)

"Knock, knock, knock, Naruto, I brought you lunch!"

Watching Sasuke pull out lunch boxes one after another from his bag, Naruto's eyes lit up. His mouth began watering uncontrollably. He was starving.

Seeing Naruto drool, Sasuke could not help feeling a little smug. Heh heh. Brother had been busy in the kitchen for hours before dawn, carefully making these lunches. Once he opened them, he would definitely drool buckets.

Soon, more than a dozen lunch boxes were spread out before them.

"Let's open them..." Sasuke said.

"Mm-hmm."

Naruto had long since been unable to wait. Hearing that, he hurriedly grabbed a lunch box and gently opened it. The moment it opened, a fragrant aroma rushed up his nose. Naruto's eyes gleamed as he cried, "Wow, it's Miso Soup! Just looking at that color makes me want to eat three huge bowls of rice!"

"Wow, Eel Rice..."

"Pork Rice Bowl..."

"Takoyaki..."

"Asuka Nabe? There's even Asuka Nabe..."

"Takoyaki!" Every time Naruto opened a lunch box, he exclaimed. They were all delicious dishes, beautifully colored and enough to whet anyone's appetite at a glance.

Sasuke was very satisfied with Naruto's reaction.

Once every lunch box had been opened, dish after beautifully colored dish was laid out before them. Sasuke said, "Dig in, Naruto."

"Mm, then I'll dig in." Naruto pressed his palms together and spoke reverently. Then, he took a serving of Eel Rice and ladled two spoonfuls of Miso Soup over it.

The eel was grilled to a golden brown, while the plump white grains of rice were already covered in sauce. Now, with the addition of Miso Soup, Naruto scooped up a large spoonful of Eel Rice mixed with the soup and gently put it into his mouth.

The moment it entered his mouth, Naruto felt the springy texture of the rice, soaked through with Miso Soup and mingling with the savory freshness of the eel. Unable to help himself, Naruto closed his eyes, swayed his head, and savored it as he chewed. After swallowing the bite, he opened his eyes and sighed, "This is absolutely incredible."

"Good, right? Brother got up really early to make it," Sasuke asked expectantly as he looked at Naruto.

"Mm-hmm, it's so good! Your brother really is a master chef. Thanks for working so hard, Brother." Naruto gave a thumbs-up and spoke sincerely.

Then Naruto pointed at the lunches and asked, "So, which one did Sasuke make? I want to try Sasuke's cooking too."

Naruto looked at Sasuke with anticipation written all over his face.

"Uh..." Sasuke's expression stiffened at Naruto's question. After hesitating for a while, he stammered, "Well, I went to bed too late today, so I didn't have time to prepare anything. I could only trouble Brother to do all the hard work himself."

"Ah, so that's how it is. Then I'll look forward to trying Sasuke's cooking next time." Naruto did not suspect a thing and happily continued eating his Eel Rice.

Sasuke let out a breath of relief.

Across the river, clumps of weeds grew thickly. Suddenly, the weeds parted slightly, revealing a narrow gap. Four eyes were hidden within it.

"Hey, did Sasuke bring Naruto lunch?" Ino Yamanaka asked blankly, her confusion mixed with envy.

"Do you even need to ask? They're already eating," Sakura Haruno said, her face covered in black lines.

Yet inwardly, she was screaming madly: Aaaaah! Why isn't it me sharing lunch with Sasuke? Aaaaah! Why? Just because Naruto can eat?

"It smells so good. Sasuke's lunch smells amazing—the scent has drifted all the way over here." Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno had not eaten. As soon as school ended, they had followed Naruto and Sasuke here.

As she inhaled the food's aroma, Ino Yamanaka's stomach growled traitorously. Lowering her eyes, she suggested, "Sakura, how about we go eat first?"

"What are you talking about? This is more important than eating! Do you want to just watch Sasuke get snatched away?" Sakura Haruno immediately became serious. "Grrr..." Her stomach suddenly growled, making it clear that she too had been tempted by the food.

"Then... let's eat first," Sakura Haruno said.

The two slowly backed away and left the patch of weeds.

Back Mountain,

The Nine-Tails crouched on a rock, its narrow eyes fixed on the distant road.

Why isn't Naruto back yet?

It's been so long!

At this time on normal days, Naruto would have already returned for lunch. After crouching there for a while, the Nine-Tails jumped down from the rock and went back inside. Looking at the table full of dishes, it found that they had all gone cold.

With nothing to do, the Nine-Tails lay on the sofa, its thoughts drifting...

To be honest, the Nine-Tails had actually grown fond of this way of getting along with Naruto. It also liked chatting with him, even though that brat sometimes bullied foxes by throwing his weight around.

Still, at least it was free.

The scent of freedom.

It was far better than being trapped in that pitch-black seal, with no one to talk to.

Thinking about it, the Nine-Tails suddenly recalled its life as a fox. Sigh, its life had actually been rather miserable. Things had been better when it was young. With that old man around, it had been happy and carefree.

Though it was sometimes forced to study, it had been happy overall.

Later, that old man left, and the Nine-Tails discovered that its luck kept getting worse. It was always being sealed by this person or sealed by that person.

It had been sealed inside all those people, but the hosts were all taciturn types. None of them liked talking.

Kushina was the same. She did not like talking to it either. Most hateful of all was Minato Namikaze. Whenever night fell, when he was alone with Kushina in the dead of night, he would completely block off its senses. It could see nothing and hear nothing.

Sigh, why did you have to block me out? It's not like you two were doing anything bad.

The Nine-Tails felt helpless.

Later, the Masked Man summoned it and controlled its mind... Then it was sealed inside that brat Naruto's body.

At first, the Nine-Tails felt that its life as a fox would just be like that.

It truly hated Minato Namikaze. Since it hated the man, it naturally hated Naruto as well. When it first met Naruto, the Nine-Tails had actually felt the urge to eat him.

Who would have thought that this brat had someone backing him up, and that backing was stronger than itself?

There was nothing it could do but surrender. Since it could not resist, it could only embrace its new life and enjoy it.

As time passed, the Nine-Tails discovered that this new life was not too bad. Naruto, that brat, was not completely useless after all.

It had begun to like this life.

As it thought, a hint of ease appeared on the Nine-Tails' face. Suddenly, its ears perked up. It heard footsteps outside—Naruto's footsteps.

It knew them better than anyone.

But I'm not going outside to welcome you. The Nine-Tails snorted inwardly and continued lying there.

Naruto pushed open the door and saw a whole table of food. The Nine-Tails was lying quietly on the sofa nearby, not even greeting him when it saw that he had returned.

Naruto naturally knew why. He walked over, picked up the Nine-Tails, gently rubbed his chin against the top of its head, and said:

"Kurama, I'm sorry. I came back late!"

Thanks to Moon Shadow Not Drunk for the 100 Qidian Coin tip. My writing isn't very good, and I can't make everyone like it. Sorry about that. Still, to all the readers who stayed, thank you for your understanding. Mwah!