Inside the cave in the Rock Face.
The two embraced, each pouring out his heart.
Though Naruto was powerful, he was still human, after all.
Humans had feelings and desires, and those feelings and desires gave rise to inner turmoil.
Although his absolute rationality when it came to the bigger picture and his highly intelligent planning allowed Naruto to easily suppress ninety percent of those emotions.
There was still ten percent that Naruto could not suppress, even when he recognized them.
That was the insidious effect of enduring prolonged emotional abuse.
Since crossing over into this world, Naruto had twice suffered emotional breakdowns he could not control.
The first had been at Konoha's Ninja Academy when he was seven.
To protect Sasuke from drawing the attention of the Konoha High Command, he had chosen to break up with him under the Third's Ninjutsu surveillance.
At the time, with Hinata's help, he had only just injected Hashirama cells into his spinal cord.
He had faced Konoha's constant surveillance and the villagers' emotional abuse, Sasuke's tearful, repeated demands to know why after he had cruelly broken things off, and the agonizing backlash from the Hashirama cells.
That time, he really had broken down and cried.
Kurama had even coaxed and tempted Naruto then, saying that he could help him if Naruto paid just a small price.
The second time had been when he personally sent away Sasuke, the person he loved, only to face Kakashi's shouted accusations afterward.
He had spoken to Kakashi with his eyes closed, bloody tears streaming from their corners, and unleashed all the negative emotions that had built up inside him over the years in front of his father's student-his own teacher.
Yet it was precisely that emotional outburst.
That had allowed him to successfully awaken his own