Was Naruto the Nine-Tailed Fox?

Beneath Konoha, at Root.

A middle-aged-to-elderly man wrapped in bandages, with his right eye covered as well, sat in a chair identical to the one in the Hokage's office.

An oppressive, sinister air hung over the large room.

"I see. Hiruzen let the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki move out."

That was right. This was the legendary Pot Kage-Shimura Danzō!

In Naruto, whenever there was blame with nowhere to go, it could always be dumped on him. He was practically the invincible king of scapegoats.

In the future, he would also boast the great achievements of sealing a bridge all by himself and stabbing a Susanoo with a kunai.

But at present, he had yet to fully build his power.

"Kō, the plan can begin."

The boy kneeling below him in a fox mask hesitated for a moment, but ultimately nodded.

"Yes!"

Kō, or rather, Tenzo, found Lord Danzo's order deeply puzzling, but obeyed it nonetheless because of Root's rules.

Yukimi...

A girl's figure flashed through Tenzo's mind, followed by that of the current Anbu Captain, Kakashi.

I am only a root in Konoha's shadows. All I need to do is obey Lord Danzo's orders.

That was what Tenzo told himself, but his hesitation had already betrayed his wavering heart.

On Konoha Village's East Street, several villagers who had never appeared there before and several who had only moved there a month or two ago brought little stools to the intersection and began spreading rumors.

"Hey, have you heard? The Nine-Tailed Fox didn't die. He just turned into a child."

"Yes, yes, I heard. Apparently, he did it on purpose to win people's sympathy, so he can come out again someday and kill us all."

"Oh, that damned Nine-Tailed Fox! You know, my maternal grandfather and paternal grandmother's unborn son died at his hands."

Silence fell for a moment.

"Oh, how awful. It's all that hateful demon fox's fault."

"Exactly. Why doesn't he just die? He killed so many people, yet he still wants to live. He'll definitely keep hurting people."

"It's all the Hokage's fault. If you ask me, the Third is already old. Even he was fooled by the Nine-Tailed Fox's appearance."

Hidden in the shadows, Danzo made a note of this Root member's name and decided to give such a clever person a small promotion.

"So what does that Nine-Tailed Fox look like now?"

"Hey, listen. He's turned into a little kid, a male, with yellow hair and those whiskers foxes have on his face!"

"Ah! That's terrifying. I need to tell my husband and child right away. They have to stay away from that monster."

"..."

And so the rumors spread through the crowd.

When Sakura came home that evening, she looked at her chattering parents and sat down at the dining table.

"Sakura, let me tell you, that Nine-Tailed Fox is still alive."

With a solemn expression, Sakura's mother told her at the dinner table about this major news she had just picked up through the grapevine.

"What!"

The hand holding Sakura's father's wineglass jerked, and the glass fell onto the table.

"Is that true?"

Little Sakura was rather scared. After all, ever since she was born, her mother had been frightening her with stories about the Nine-Tailed Fox.

Things like, if she did not go to sleep, the Nine-Tailed Fox would eat her in the night.

"It is. That demon fox even turned into a child to try to win people's sympathy."

"How despicable!"

Sakura's father slammed the table. The Nine-Tailed Fox who had destroyed his workplace was actually still alive, and had even turned into a child to win people's sympathy.

Simply unforgivable!

"Sakura, from now on, if you see a male little boy with yellow hair and fox whiskers on his face, you must stay away from him."

Sakura nodded solemnly, recalling a little yellow-haired boy she had seen on East Street that day.

Ino even said he kept looking at me. Could he be that Nine-Tailed Fox?

That's so terrifying.

Sakura pulled her head under the covers and fell asleep in fear.

And what was Naruto, the Nine-Tailed Fox, doing at that moment?

"Rock, paper, scissors!"

"Hahaha, I won again!"

Little Naruto laughed happily.

He had beaten Hashirama and Kurama in one go.

"Quick, quick, Kurama, let me pet you."

Since little Naruto was so bored, and had already learned how to extract chakra, Hashirama had thought he would play with him.

They had not made any dice here, and little Naruto did not know how to play anyway, so he had roped Kurama into playing rock, paper, scissors.

"Wait! Why am I playing this sort of game with you two?"

Kurama suddenly realized that Hashirama seemed to have led him into a trap without his noticing.

"Oh, Kurama, don't tell me you're a sore loser!"

Hashirama gave Kurama a scornful look, while little Naruto hid behind Hashirama, poking his little head out and nodding repeatedly.

"How could I possibly be!"

Kurama hesitated. Although he could simply go back on his word, still!

Everyone could consider him the embodiment of evil, but he absolutely could not let that bastard Hashirama Senju look down on him!

A tiny Nine-Tails seeped out through a small corner of the Sealing Technique.

"I knew you still had plenty left."

Hashirama could tell at a glance that this was actually more of the Nine-Tails' chakra that had seeped out earlier.

The large Kurama inside the cage stopped speaking. Instead, the little Nine-Tails began to speak.

"Heh..."

Holy crap, a little boy's voice!

Hashirama's gaze toward Kurama changed. Was this guy trying to compete with him for little Naruto's affection?

Little Naruto's eyes instantly lit up, and he pounced straight at the little Nine-Tails.

Come on, the Nine-Tails was seriously adorable when he was little!

Otherwise, the Sage of Six Paths would not have split eight portions of chakra among the other eight tailed beasts back then and given all the remaining ninety-two portions to Kurama.

Just kidding, though the Sage of Six Paths really had given the Nine-Tails the most chakra.

"Hey, hey, that's enough."

The Nine-Tails' mature voice rang out from inside the cage, and just like that, the little Nine-Tails slipped back inside the Sealing Technique.

"Hehe, so cute."

Three-year-old Naruto declared that he felt very nice to pet and that he wanted to keep petting him in the future.

"Honestly."

Kurama sighed helplessly.

Still, my negative emotions seem to have diminished quite a bit.

The Child of Prophecy?

Of course, that was not actually the case. It was entirely because two successive reincarnations of Asura were here, giving them a natural boost to tailed beasts' affection.

And with a powerhouse like Hashirama keeping him in line, Kurama could only open his heart and communicate with Naruto.

Otherwise, he might end up pinned beneath a dozen or so Gates of the Great God and become little Naruto's emotionless chakra dispenser.

"Boo-hoo-hoo, Naruto doesn't want me anymore."

Hashirama covered his face and shamelessly pretended to cry.

"Oh, Teacher, don't cry. I do want you."

Little Naruto panicked. Nobody had taught a three-year-old how to comfort a forty- or fifty-year-old man-child.

"Really?"

Hashirama peeked at Naruto through the gaps between his fingers.

"Really!"

Naruto gave his solemn assurance.

"I don't believe you! Not unless you say you like your teacher best."

Like a big bad wolf, Hashirama coaxed little Naruto.

Beside them, the Nine-Tails speechlessly covered his eyes with a tail.

Unbelievable.

"Naruto likes Teacher Hashirama best!"

Woohoo!

"Yahahaha, I knew it! How could a mere little Kurama possibly steal my place in Naruto's heart?"

Hashirama happily scooped Naruto up, thoroughly satisfied with his own trickery.

The Nine-Tails had little comment on that. Surely no adult fox would actually get angry with a child?

Although that was what Kurama thought, his other eight tails thrashed about in some displeasure.

"Get to sleep early, little Naruto."

As it was about time, Naruto left the Sealing Space and drifted off to sleep.