"Huff, huff, huff."
White mist puffed from little Naruto's mouth.
The winter night was freezing, but little Naruto had no time to worry about that now.
Someone was trying to take away his only friend!
(╬￣皿￣)
Like a speeding dumpling, he raced down the road.
"Hey, Hashirama, have you thought about how little Naruto is supposed to beat this guy?"
As little Naruto and Hashirama charged ahead, Kurama raised a crucial question.
"Huh?"
Hashirama stopped, lowered his head, rubbed his chin, and stamped his feet.
"Uh... how about you do it, Kurama?"
It looks like I can't show myself, so there's only one choice. Go, Kurama!
Heh. When he doesn't need anything, he calls me Kura-whatever, but when he does, suddenly it's Kurama, huh?
You're just bullying me because I can't beat you, aren't you?
Am I the sort of fox who would bow to your tyranny?
Hashirama watched the Nine-Tails grow smug, with no idea what he was thinking.
"Hey, can you do it or not?"
Hashirama asked again, snapping Kurama out of his daydream.
Of course he would help Naruto. After all, in the Nine-Tails' eyes, this child had already become family.
In other words, Naruto was his cub. How could he let an outsider bully him?
"I can, but you have to call me the great Lord Kurama."
The Nine-Tails raised his noble head and cast a scornful look at Hashirama, as though calling him useless.
"Huh?"
An enormous wooden figure rose from the ground, its huge eyes glittering gold as they fixed on Kurama's raised head.
That day, Kurama remembered the terror of being dominated by the wooden figure.
But the fist he imagined never came. Instead, the wooden figure opened its mouth.
"O great Lord Kurama, please come forth and show us your mighty powers."
After spending this time together, Hashirama had learned that the Nine-Tails was not bad by nature, and the two had gradually become friends.
So, if Hashirama could bow his head to the ground before the other four Kage at the Five Kage Summit, what did it matter if he called Kurama a handsome fellow or something?
Satisfying! But not entirely satisfying.
The Nine-Tails felt that the title of "great Lord Kurama" had come too easily, robbing him of that sense of accomplishment.
Still, it would do. Little Naruto had arrived, too.
"Hey! Let go of Hinata!"
Little Naruto spotted a man dressed as a Cloud ninja, with little Hinata in his arms.
"Mmph! Mmph!"
When little Hinata saw Naruto arrive, she struggled even harder.
"A little brat? You know this girl?"
The Cloud ninja had never expected to be discovered by a child. How unbelievable.
But since he knew the Hyuga Clan's eldest daughter, he would not be leaving here alive today!
"Blond brat, blame your own stupidity. You turned away from the road to heaven and forced your way into hell."
A kunai flew straight at little Naruto's forehead.
But since the Cloud ninja saw little Naruto, still no bigger than a dumpling, as barely a threat, he had not put much force into the throw.
That was also to avoid making too much noise and alerting anyone in Konoha.
"Put my friend down!"
Little Naruto knocked the incoming kunai away with his tiny hand, but it left a huge gash so deep that bone showed!
Hiss, that hurts.
No, I have to save Hinata first.
What do I do? What should I do?
Little Naruto's still-small brain began a series of complex calculations, ultimately coming up empty.
"Hey, Naruto, use my power."
Kurama could no longer bear to look at little Naruto's injury.
With Hashirama's help, scarlet Nine-Tails Chakra flowed through the channel built into the Eight Trigrams Seal to supply Naruto with chakra, finally covering his bloodied hand.
"Ah, nothing for it. Until the Sealing Technique is undone, I can't truly merge with Naruto."
Watching Naruto enveloped in his scarlet chakra, Kurama drew a little of it back.
The wound on little Naruto's hand healed rapidly, but the whiskers on his face grew out again.
A faint Tailed Beast Cloak formed around him.
"Naruto, finish this quickly, or you'll lose consciousness."
Although the Nine-Tails would temporarily control Naruto's body once he lost consciousness, Kurama still did not want Naruto's mind to suffer too much damage.
"All right, let's go!"
Little Naruto leaped off the ground and lunged straight at the Cloud ninja in the tree.
"N-Nine-Tails?"
The Cloud ninja's gaze changed instantly as he looked at Naruto.
Seriously? I just ran into some kid along the way, and you're telling me he's the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki?
Well... he's still a child right now. I should be able to beat him, right?
All these thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant, because the next second, sharp claws formed from Naruto's Nine-Tails Chakra struck his body.
Damn it! How can he be so fast?
The Cloud ninja's body was pierced through, and that power ate into him.
The pain made him instinctively release his hold on Hinata.
Naruto's mind was a little muddled by then, but he still caught little Hinata immediately.
Forcing himself to hold on, Naruto set Hinata down and told her what to do.
"Run."
Naruto's scarlet eyes turned azure the moment he looked at little Hinata, shining so brilliantly in the moonlight.
"Hinata!"
After discovering the leaking Nine-Tails Chakra, Hiashi sprinted madly toward them.
He had no choice but to run. This was no longer just his family's business.
If the Nine-Tails went berserk, all of Konoha would go down with it.
Although the Third might still be able to sacrifice his life to seal the Nine-Tails, Hiashi could not shoulder that responsibility.
And so, running like a madman, Hiashi soon spotted his daughter in Naruto's arms.
"Father!"
Hinata froze for a moment, looked at Naruto beside her, and chose not to leave.
Hiashi first killed the dying Cloud ninja in the tree with a single palm strike, then hurried over to check on Naruto, that little troublemaker.
He even neglected to check his own daughter's injuries.
Honestly, he moved me to tears.
Through his Byakugan, Hiashi could see scarlet Nine-Tails Chakra flowing endlessly into Naruto's body from the Sealing Technique on his belly.
But as Naruto fainted, that flow slowly disappeared.
Hiashi wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. Thank goodness.
The Fourth's Sealing Technique was still as reliable as ever.
He did not dare strike Naruto's chakra points at all. A young child's chakra points were not fully developed yet; if he accidentally released the Nine-Tails, it would truly be over.
The actual reason, however, was that Kurama inside Naruto had withdrawn his chakra of his own accord, while Hashirama had closed that little corner of the Sealing Technique again.
"Little Naruto is amazing. That's my student for you."
Hashirama wiped away his tears, his eyes full of pride as he watched the cub he had raised.
Heh, this was entirely my doing, thank you very much. Otherwise, with Naruto's constitution...
Kurama had originally meant that Naruto could not possibly have recovered so quickly, but as Naruto trained in Taijutsu with Hashirama, his constitution had grown more and more like Hashirama's.
There seems to be a term for it: the Sage Body.
He was beginning to bear some resemblance to Asura back then.
Kurama gave a rare smile, then lay back down.
Naruto was too tired tonight. They could hold the horse race tomorrow.
Before you continue