16

                                    

                                          

"Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool?" A child sang as she skipped holding her mothers hand.
"Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full!
One for the master, one for the dame,
And one for the little boy who lives down the lane." Kurama watched as the kid sang and swung her mother's hand.
                          
He turned his head and laid down. "Is there really nothing we can do about their size?" Sasuke asked looking at the two huge creatures. "Lady Tsunade said an Akatsuki member would be sent over, we'll just have to wait a bit" Sakura said.
                          
Sasuke sighed and sat down "I'll watch them so go get some rest" Sasuke said. Sakura glanced at him "Yeah thanks Sasuke I'll leave it to you" Sakura said. Sasuke watched as she left. Fuji stared at him as if he was sizing him up then turned away. 
                          
The silence was almost unbearable for the three so Sasuke decided to ask a question. "Do you mind if I ask you guys something?" Sasuke asked leaning back. Fuji looked at Kurama who just shrugged. "Go for it" Fuji said. "What-" he stopped to think he shook his head and started again.
                          
"Why was Naruto sad?" Sasuke asked still looking at the ground. Kurama stared at Fuji who looked back at him. "Well it's not my place to tell him" Fuji said. "What do you mean?" Kurama  asked Sasuke since the question had many answers. "When Naruto was a kid he left the village. When we heard of this we all wondered why. He always seemed so happy. He always wanted people to lean on him but he refused to lean on anybody else. I admit that even back then I admired him to some extent" Sasuke said looking up.
                          
"And when he came back I noticed something different. He seemed to light up whenever he talked about the Akatsuki. I wanna know why. Why he was sad? Why did he leave? And why did he say he wanted the village to feel the same pain he did?" Sasuke asked.
                          
Kurama took a second and cleared his throat. "Well I guess we should start with your first question, Naruto being a Jinchuriki was feared by the village. So much that some-" he shifted and looked away "some of the villagers hurt him. Very very badly" Kurama almost seemed to shiver. 
                          
"There were times when even my chakra wasn't enough to heal him, it was horrifying and that's coming from me. It was inhuman." Kurama said lowly remembering the pain and blood. 
                          
"When Naruto was young he didn't know about me. I hated Minato for putting me in him. Everyday I would release a bit if chakra in order to weaken the seal. I slept for a good 5 years until I was awoken by a horrible pain. The kid was bleeding so bad that you could hardly even tell he was human. I thought I should be happy that I would finally be able to get out of the kid's body but strangely I ended up healing him everytime he would get injured as time went by he just assumed it was normal" Kurama paused.
                          
"A couple of years went by and the old man died, leaving those villagers to do what they pleased with the kid. At one point I was ready to take over the kids body and go on a rampage, but as Naruto laid there in blood. He smiled. That idiot smiled. Almost every day he would have a new cut or bruise but no matter how bad the wound was he would smile, laugh, and misbehave" Sasuke stared at him wide eyed.
                          
"I had no idea" Sasuke whispered. "It wasn't your fault Naruto just- he knew how to hide things behind his smile. Itachi is the one who brought Naruto to the Akatsuki" sasuke looked up.
                          
"Naruto was crying that day, it was the first time he had cried in months. I guess Itachi saw him and consoled him. Naruto found comfort in him and the Akatsuki. He finally felt like he belonged somewhere. He felt free and he was undeniably happy. He left because he wanted to run. He wanted to escape the hands that kept him down. He wanted someone to help him but he had no one until he met them. They became his support, his family, friends, they became everything Naruto needed." Kurama said with a small smile that wasn't even noticeable.
                          
"Do you really think so?" A voice came from beneath them. Zetsu emerged from the ground. "They sent you?" Fuji asked. "Sent me? No Hidan should be arriving soon though I came here to speak to you two. Do you mind?" White Zetsu said looking at Sasuke. "Not at all" he said getting up and walking a short distance away.
                          
Zetsu turned back "Do you know how to bring Naruto out of his sleeping state?" he asked. "There is no way out of it as far as we know, Naruto said he would wake up but he never told us how." Fuji said. "Well we're working on ways to maintain his health, Nagato wants you two to figure out how to wake up Naruto" he said before merging back into the ground.
                          
"Kurama you do it" Fuji said laying down. "What? Oh no no you are helping out our resources are limited and we don't have much time so I need all the help I can get" Kurama said getting up. He outstretched his tails that had been curled up for hours. "Guys!" they turned to see Hidan waving like a madman. 
                          
"Oh great" Fuji said with a sigh. "Ouch. Here you go" Hidan said taking out a small pouch. "Sasori said to take two" Hidan said. Fuji took out two pills and ate them. "Tastes sweet" Fuji said as he started to shrink. Kurama took them too and they both ended up dog sized.  
                          
"Alright let's start our investigation" Kurama said. "We're counting on you" Hidan said and left.