Four-Tails and Naruto

Naruto felt himself fall into a warm, searing world.

It was not darkness. It was dark red, a glow like an underground furnace pouring in from all directions and wrapping around him. His body floated in a half-solid, viscous medium. It was neither water nor earth—it was chakra. Pure, lava-like Tailed Beast chakra, carrying the scorching heat of a volcanic eruption.

Yet strangely, he was not burned.

The golden glow of Nine-Tails Chakra Mode flickered faintly over his body, forming a clear boundary against the surrounding dark-red chakra. The two different Tailed Beast chakras probed and rubbed against one another at their point of contact, yet no violent rejection occurred. Like two wary beasts, neither was willing to bare its fangs before determining the other's intentions.

Naruto opened his eyes.

He found himself standing in a vast, hollow mindscape. There were no walls, no ground—only endless dark-red light pulsing slowly, like an enormous heart. Directly in front of him floated a denser outline of crimson chakra. Four thick tails swayed slowly behind it, while two golden pupils looked down at him from above.

The true form of the Four-Tails.

"You're awake, Nine-Tails brat." The voice was rough and deep, carrying the blazing intensity of a volcanic eruption, yet it also held an age and weariness utterly at odds with its appearance.

Naruto raised his head and met those golden eyes. He did not retreat or feel afraid. He merely stood there calmly, the glow of Nine-Tails Chakra Mode burning steadily over his body.

"You're the Four-Tails...?" Naruto asked.

"Rōshi calls me the Four-Tails, but that isn't my name." There was a trace of disdain in the Four-Tails' voice. "My name is Son Gokū, though you can just call me Four-Tails. Brat, I recognize the Nine-Tails chakra on you. Kurama finally