Naruto and the Nine-Tails' Pact

Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura had a terrible day, since their team teacher hadn't even shown his face.

Naruto and Sakura, however, were quite content and wished the day could go on forever. That was how love worked: just looking at the person you liked, even without doing anything, could make you incredibly happy.

In the end, Sasuke and the others waited in the classroom until evening, but the only person who showed up was a shinobi. He told them to meet at a certain place at eight the next morning, then left.

So after waiting all day, all they got was a message.

The next day, Yu and Sasuke got up early and set out, arriving at the meeting place before the appointed time.

Sasuke's meeting was at eight, while Yu's was at nine, so Yu went with Sasuke to his meeting place first.

"Good morning, Naruto and Sakura!" Yu greeted them with a smile.

"Good morning, Yu!" Sakura replied with a smile, perfectly ladylike.

But Yu knew that there was a very violent personality living inside Sakura. It simply never showed itself in front of Sasuke. After all, everyone wanted to show their best side to the person they loved.

Naruto wasn't hanging around Sakura and trying to impress her today. He was standing off to one side, holding Snow Charm. Whenever Snow Charm was by his side, Naruto turned into a sunny, handsome young man who barely paid attention to anything around him.

But Yu could sense a special power coming from Naruto now. It was affecting him—or, to put it another way, the Naruto here now wasn't really Naruto.

Yu didn't have to think hard to guess that this power belonged to the Nine-Tails.

Naruto had never brought up the Nine-Tails himself, but even Sasuke could tell from his everyday behavior that Naruto was hiding something from them. Still, since Naruto didn't say anything, they didn't ask. Everyone had secrets, and if someone didn't want to share theirs, there was probably a good reason. They shouldn't press him about it.

In fact, Naruto had passed the graduation exam the day before thanks to the Nine-Tails.

After parting ways with Yu and Sasuke the previous day, Naruto had gone home and practiced the Clone Technique nonstop. But as usual, his success rate was terrible. He knew that if things continued like this, he had a good chance of failing the graduation exam the next day.

Then, suddenly, a voice came from inside him.

"Hey, kid!"

A weathered, deep male voice echoed inside his head.

"Who's there?"

As soon as he heard the voice, Naruto immediately took up a defensive stance. He and Sasuke had fought hundreds of battles. They had always stopped short of seriously hurting each other, but Naruto's combat instincts were now extremely sharp.

He searched every corner of the room but couldn't find anyone.

"Don't bother looking, kid. I'm inside your body."

Just as Naruto began to think he'd imagined it, the deep voice spoke again.

"What? You're inside my body?"

The words left Naruto stunned for a moment. Then he looked down at his stomach. He had never felt like there was someone else inside him.

"Kid, you know about the Nine-Tails, don't you?" The deep voice echoed in his head again.

Naruto had heard of the Nine-Tails.

The Nine-Tails was a terrifying beast that had committed countless atrocities and caused Konoha immense destruction. The people of Konoha hated it.

"I do."

Naruto thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Then let me tell you a story..."

The Nine-Tails told him how it had been sealed inside Naruto, and revealed the truth about Naruto's birth.

"That can't be true! You're lying to me!" Naruto shouted after hearing the Nine-Tails' story, his face full of disbelief.

The shock of the truth was too much for Naruto to accept. The Nine-Tails had been sealed inside him all along, and the real reason the villagers ignored and hated him was that the beast was inside him.

What's more, his own parents had sealed the Nine-Tails inside him. His father was Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage of Konoha, and his mother had been the previous Jinchuriki.

Naruto wasn't supposed to learn this information at this point. Yu's presence had changed the story, which was why things had turned out this way.

Naruto still hadn't developed a complete worldview, and no one could say what he might become after learning the truth so early. He might turn dark and become a revenge-seeker like Sasuke, or he might still grow into the "righteous" protagonist from the anime.

After that, the Nine-Tails and Naruto struck a deal: it would help Naruto control his Chakra so he could pass the graduation exam, and in exchange, Naruto would let it control his body for a while each day.

Naruto thought it over for a long time before finally agreeing. Whatever happened in the future, he was determined to become a ninja.

With the Nine-Tails' wholehearted cooperation, performing a simple Clone Technique was no problem. So Naruto did exceptionally well on the exam the next day.

The Nine-Tails no longer thought about revenge or destruction. All it wanted was to stay by Snow Charm's side. Its greatest dream was to meet Snow Charm in its true form one day.

But the seal on Naruto was incredibly powerful, and the Nine-Tails couldn't break free by force. That was why it had come up with this plan. As long as it could stay by Snow Charm's side, even as a mere consciousness, it was perfectly happy. (That's love for you.)

The Naruto holding Snow Charm now was actually being controlled by the Nine-Tails' consciousness.

Naruto was about to borrow the Nine-Tails' power to pass his team teacher's test. The price was letting the Nine-Tails' consciousness control his body while they waited.

Of course, when the Nine-Tails controlled Naruto's body, Naruto's own consciousness remained intact. If Naruto wanted his body back, he could drive the Nine-Tails' consciousness out in an instant.

The Nine-Tails could only control Naruto's body with his cooperation.

Time passed slowly...

It was nearly nine o'clock, but Kakashi still hadn't appeared.

Sasuke's expression grew darker and darker. For the past five years, Sasuke had made a habit of sticking to a strict schedule. There were set times for eating, sleeping, and training.

And now, a teacher he hadn't even met had stood him up twice. Sasuke was genuinely furious.

"Big Brother Sasuke, I have to go. It's almost time for my meeting, too. I hope you pass your teacher's test!" Yu said to Sasuke. Then he waved to Naruto and Sakura before running toward the meeting place Yamashiro Aoba had arranged.