Chapter 17

                                    

                                          
"Damn pervert, scolding me for coming to help him..."
"This selfless personality of yours is gonna get you killed one day. And by extension me."
Naruto looked up at Kurama, who was frowning at him from behind the bars.
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with wanting to help those precious to you, you know! Besides, going after Orochimaru would have been just as dangerous."
"Yeah, but you work better with the Uchiha. That lowers the risk of a gruesome death, which would involve yours truly."
"I appreciate your heartfelt concern..." Naruto muttered, giving the fox a half-hearted glare, which made Kurama chuckle.
"Oh, you know me better than that by now, Naruto. It was only spoken in jest, you know. We're in this together, and as much as it pains me to admit it, I'll follow your lead."
Naruto, who had already been prepared to offer a retort, was left with his mouth agape, staring at the old fox, who grinned widely at him.
"Oho, finally managed to stump you, did I?" the giant fox said with a bark of laughter. "Silence has never felt so satisfying!"
Naruto was prepared to argue with Kurama, to claim that he had only been momentarily stunned, but he honestly didn't feel like it. The fox deserved a win, after all, considering that Naruto couldn't sense a lie in his statement.
"Hey, Kurama?" Naruto asked suddenly, making Kurama raise an eyebrow, which was surprising considering that the fox didn't actually have any eyebrows. The skin above his left eye merely moved up slightly to show that he was curious as to what Naruto was going to say. "Why are you so pissed?"
"What?"
"Besides the whole 'sealed into people for decades' thing, I mean. There must'a been a reason why you were sealed up in the first place. I'm guessing you were acting pretty rowdy, huh?"
"Tch!" The mention of him being sealed up seemed to have brought a bad memory to the surface, as Kurama laid down and crossed his paws in front of him, glancing to the side. "I... lost someone..."
"What?"
"I'm not telling more, so don't ask, brat!" Kurama barked upon seeing Naruto's shocked expression. "You're making me feel like I've gone soft!"
"Sounds rough," Naruto said, ignoring Kurama's outburst as he walked up and leaned against the bars. "I kinda know what it's like, since I watched the old man die. I know that rage, so... You know, I want you to know that you're not alone."
Kurama's gaze snapped toward Naruto, who was grinning at him.
"You don't have to go through everything alone, man. I'm here if you ever wanna talk."
With that, the blond faded from view, leaving a stunned Kurama behind. His expression changed to an angry one, since Naruto had disappeared before he could retort, but he soon settled down, and a small grin appeared on his face.
"Heh, you damn brat..."
In the real world, Naruto opened his eyes just in time to see Ino pulling her hand away from one of the captured Ame ninjas.
"That's weird..." she muttered, catching the attention of both Naruto and Jiraiya.
"What's weird?" Jiraiya asked, to which Ino frowned.
"There's a tower to the west, and they think the leader of the Akatsuki, Pein, lives there, but I just don't understand..." she muttered. "They've been delivering dead bodies to that place for some reason..." She raised her hand and cupped her chin in thought. "Apparently, legend goes that the tower is where they enshrine the bones of the dead, but there was a woman there to collect the bodies... They called her Tenshi (Angel)..."