Beginning of Class Assignment

What is called [Chakra] is a special energy formed by combining [Physical Energy], refined from the 13 trillion cells in the body, with [Mental Strength], cultivated through training and accumulated experience.

The pinnacle of [Mental Side] Chakra is called [Yin Release]; the pinnacle of [** Side] Chakra is called [Yang Release].

A master of Yin Release is [Madara Uchiha]; one who has achieved great mastery in Yang Release is [Hashirama Senju].

Six years ago on that day, Naruto Uzumaki, age 6, his consciousness came to that place for the first time.

Before the cage.

Naruto stood in front of the massive iron cage, his feet on the damp, dim water's surface. In the darkness beyond the iron bars, a huge, ferocious face was faintly visible, two enormous beastly pupils gleaming with a vicious light.

Those eyes were so large, large like the moon; the irises were so red, red like blood; the gaze was so malevolent, as if all the hatred in the world, all the causes and effects, were bound up in it.

Naruto now knew what was behind the cage.

It was [Despair].

His. Its.

His, hers, his, his, his, his... theirs.

"You little bug..." The great beast growled from behind the darkness, silently watching the young Jinchuriki before the cage. Its Chakra seeped through the gaps in the seal, thread by thread, drifting through this brat's body, observing everything he experienced.

It should have been [everything].

But lately, this brat had undergone changes it found hard to understand. He had inexplicably become more mature, inexplicably grown stronger, inexplicably... known it.

Known its name was [Kurama].

The Nine-Tails recalled what this brat had written in the classroom that day, and the intermittent forced isolation from the outside world over those days. Could it be that the Third Hokage old man had told this brat something? But logically, even the Third Hokage couldn't know its name.

Because ever since the [Sage of Six Paths] old man died, no one had cared about [their] names anymore.

But 6-year-old Naruto showed no fear at all, instead appearing more composed than in the real world: "Calling others a bug over and over isn't very polite... Kurama."

Bang! A massive claw thrust out from between the cage bars, stopping right at the tip of Naruto's nose with a loud crash.

The sealed giant cage didn't budge.

Kurama's enormous blood-red pupils floated in the darkness of the iron cage, its deep voice seeming to hold boundless fury: "I don't know where you little brat learned this old one's name, but... if you think you can put on such an attitude in front of me, you're mistaken!"

"Ha! Haha..." Naruto, seeing this, actually pointed at Kurama and laughed without a care, "You sure talk a lot, huh? Getting all worked up and angry?"

Bang! Another claw.

"Ahem, hmph..." Naruto coughed into his fist pretentiously, then shouted loudly, "Stupid fox! Since you're living inside my body, hand over your Chakra as rent!"

In the darkness, the two claws retracted.

Naruto spread his hands: "I probably would've said something like that the first time I met you... but everything's different now."

"Why is it different?" came the voice from inside the cage.

"Ha, you're really not that different from humans, are you? You can communicate, and you're curious..." Naruto said with a smile, and after another "bang" from the claw, he coughed twice, scratched his head, and said, "If you want to know, just come see for yourself."

With that, he extended his right fist toward the iron cage.

The darkness behind the iron cage was silent, silent.

A long time.

A long time.

Naruto just kept his fist raised, waiting.

Then a huge, fiery red fist also extended through the gaps in the cage.

The two fists, one large and one small, met.

Red and blue Chakra converged there.

In the mental world, countless images, countless words, countless thoughts all flashed by in an instant.

Kurama knew. It knew everything. It knew why this brat had become strange, why he knew its name. It even knew that the two of them would become close comrades, that it would genuinely come to accept this brat—just as the Sage of Six Paths old man had hoped...

An indescribable feeling lingered in its heart, and Kurama fell into deep thought.

This wasn't how Kurama had imagined meeting its Jinchuriki.

Not at all.

"What's wrong? Kurama?" Naruto smiled, sitting down directly on the water's surface, looking up at the massive Nine-Tails behind the cage as casually as if chatting with a friend.

The first true friend in these 6 years of life.

Naruto was undoubtedly happy.

"Even so, don't act like you're all chummy with me... This is only our first real meeting." The turn of events was a bit beyond imagination, and Kurama really didn't know what tone to use... In all its long life, it felt for the first time like it had been put through the wringer.

Kurama recalled the memories it had just seen from Naruto's mental world.

It hadn't expected that it would eventually have its Chakra taken by this brat, nor that this brat's mother would still have Chakra left inside him. It had to be said... that woman [Kushina Uzumaki] was something else.

"We'll get familiar sooner or later, right? We've been together for 6 years, after all! Even if I never knew you existed..." Naruto retorted.

The Nine-Tails narrowed its eyes. Unlike humans, as a tailed beast it was itself a mass of Chakra, so from that brief fist bump, the information it had gleaned... was far more than what this brat knew.

Still, no matter how he looked at it, this situation was a far cry from the first meeting with the current Jinchuriki that it had envisioned... and what was worse, it found it didn't even dislike it.

What an irritating Chakra.

Three days later, the squad assignment assembly for the new genin.

In the classroom.

Naruto walked in wearing his forehead protector, glanced around, and suddenly Kiba, with Akamaru on his head, came over to greet him. "Hey, Naruto, what's up with you? I heard some people saying you didn't pass the graduation exam?"

"Who knows? I've got the forehead protector now, anyway." Naruto grinned, remembering the technique he'd seen in the Scroll of Sealing three days ago. He had no idea if he could learn it.

Shino, face hidden behind his collar, added, "Theoretically speaking, there's no way Naruto could have failed the Ninja Academy graduation exam. The reason being, Sasuke was always second, and Naruto was first."

"Oh, found her!" Naruto's eyes lit up as he spotted the short girl he was looking for, Hinata Hyuga. "Alright, I'm off." With that, he walked over and sat down in the seat next to Hinata.

Hinata felt someone sit beside her and turned her head. Seeing who it was, she blushed bright red. "Ah, N-Naruto..." When she saw Naruto staring intently at her, she immediately lowered her head and started fidgeting with her fingers.

"Hinata, why are you always so shy..." Naruto propped his chin on his hand and looked at her sideways, chuckling. "But it's pretty cute."

You're supposed to be into that Sakura Haruno girl, aren't you? The Nine-Tails' mocking voice rang out in Naruto's mind.

That's the future me, not me! It's different... Naruto retorted internally.

At the back of the classroom, Shikamaru was as listless as ever, while Choji sat beside him, eating nonstop as he had for years. Sasuke rested his chin on both hands, his face neither expressionless nor expressive. Always the second-place finisher, compared to "that him," he was a little less cold and isolated, and a little more grounded.

"That idiot..." Sasuke watched Naruto fawning over Hinata nearby and was at a loss for words.

Sakura sat not far from Sasuke, jostling with Ino, practically ready to pull out weapons and start a fight.

Just as Hinata was caught between shyness, embarrassment, and joy, Iruka walked in with the roster.

"We'll start the squad assignments now." He opened the list and looked over the room full of fresh genin, his emotions a whirlwind. Then his gaze landed on Naruto sitting beside Hinata, and his heart sank. The Naruto who had always been first place had moved him once, but the one who had sparked a glimmer of resonance in him was long gone.

And the Naruto who had transformed into a golden Nine-Tails a few days ago was even more alien to him. A mix of feelings churned inside him, impossible to put into words.