Naruto drifted into consciousness from a chaotic void.
Pain pulsed through his body, and his head felt foggy.
As he slowly opened his eyes, three faces loomed over him, staring intently.
Each of them wore a weird, unsettling smile.
"You're awake," one of them said.
"The technique was a success," another added.
Naruto's mind was still sluggish, but alarm kicked in.
His body jerked upright as he instinctively scooted back, putting distance between himself and the three figures.
He stared at them with wide, panicked eyes.
Tsunade. Jiraiya. Kakashi.
People he trusted—yet something felt terribly wrong.
They looked different. Strange.
Their faces were twisted into eerie, almost unnatural smiles. Their expressions were too still, their presence too heavy.
Something felt missing inside him.
Naruto's hands flew to his body—searching—what was gone?!
His panic grew.
"What... what did you do to me?!"
Tsunade tilted her head slightly, her smile never faltering.
"Naruto~ we used a special technique on you..."
Jiraiya's grin widened. "A permanent technique~"
Kakashi let out a low chuckle, his usual lazy demeanor replaced by something unnerving.
"Haha~ And we still have one last step left to do~"
Their feet never moved—yet they seemed to glide toward him.
Naruto whirled around.
His breath hitched—he had to get away.
Without thinking, he scrambled to his feet, running blindly into the distance.
But—
Yank!
A force grabbed his collar, yanking him back like a ragdoll.
The next second, multiple hands clamped down on his body.
Cold. Unrelenting. Trapping him.
Naruto struggled frantically, his heart pounding.
"No—NO!"
His eyes widened in pure terror.
"NOOOO!!"
Drowning. Suffocating.
Naruto gasped as his eyes snapped open.
His body jerked upright, drenched in sweat, breathing hard as if he'd just surfaced from deep water.
His frantic gaze darted around.
No eerie smiles.
No oppressive atmosphere.
Just… normalcy.
The barren wasteland where he had fought Sakiya.
"...You're awake."
Naruto turned sharply.
Tsunade. Jiraiya. Kakashi.
They stood a short distance away, watching him.
Their faces were normal.
No creepy smiles. No strange presence.
Just concern.
A dream?
Naruto swallowed hard, his heart still racing.
But deep inside, he wasn't sure if it had just been a dream… or something else entirely.
Naruto jolted upright, quickly stepping back, his body tense.
Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Kakashi exchanged puzzled looks.
"Naruto? What's wrong with you?"
Naruto blinked, looking at their familiar, normal expressions.
They weren't eerie. They weren't acting strange.
Just… the same as always.
Wait…
He had just woken up.
Did that mean—it was just a nightmare?
Realization hit, and his tension melted into embarrassment.
He awkwardly scratched his head, forcing a laugh.
"Haha… uh, sorry. I guess I just overreacted a bit."
What Naruto didn't notice was a certain girl standing behind the others, quietly giggling to herself.
Like a kid who had just pulled off a successful prank.
Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Kakashi, unfazed by Naruto's odd reaction, returned to business.
"Since you're awake," Tsunade said, her expression serious, "take a break—then we move on to the next step."
Naruto frowned. "Next step? What next step?"
A young girl casually walked past him, hands behind her back.
Then, as if rehearsed, she raised a fist to her mouth and gave a dramatic cough.
"Ahem—next step? Simple. We're taking you to have a little chat with a certain small animal."
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Small animal? Why?"
Tsunade folded her arms. "For your own safety."
Naruto still looked confused.
Jiraiya sighed and decided to spell it out.
"The 'small animal' Sakiya is talking about... is the little fox."
Naruto's expression froze.
Little fox?
Little fox... safety...
His brain clicked.
"Wait—THE Nine-Tailed Fox?!"
Jiraiya and Kakashi both nodded.
Naruto's head slowly turned toward Sakiya, who stood with a serious expression, arms crossed like a commander giving orders.
His face twitched.
"Negotiating? With that thing?"
Sakiya gave a firm nod.
"Of course."
"You're calling that a 'little animal'?"
Naruto stared at her, half in disbelief, half in frustration.
Jiraiya coughed. "Ahem. If Sakiya says so, just roll with it."
Naruto groaned.
He remembered the hellish days he had spent with that monster inside him.
His expression turned miserable.
"That thing doesn't seem like the negotiating type…"
Sakiya stepped up to Naruto, wagging a finger at him with a serious expression.
"No, no, no! You just don't understand the little fox well enough. If you spend more time playing with her, she won't attack you. Then there won't be any problems with negotiations!"
As she spoke, she flashed a small smile, placing her hands behind her back in a shy yet confident manner.
"But don't worry—I have a special skill for coaxing foxes. With me here, this negotiation is guaranteed to be a success!"
Naruto winced.
"...I feel like the fox you're talking about is not the same species as the one I'm thinking of."
Sakiya remained confident.
"Foxes are foxes! It makes no difference to me."
Naruto glanced at Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Kakashi, silently pleading for help.
But something felt... off about the way they were looking at him.
Tsunade's expression remained calm.
"Sakiya, Naruto—we'll be waiting for your good news."
Kakashi patted Naruto's shoulder.
"Take care, Naruto~"
Jiraiya grinned, but his words sent a chill down Naruto's spine.
"Naruto… stay safe."
Naruto's eye twitched.
"...Why does this sound like you're saying goodbye?"
Before he could get an answer, Sakiya waved her hand.
A glowing circle appeared beneath their feet, surrounding both of them.
"Enough talking! Orange-Red Flame Envoy, are you ready?"
Naruto looked down at the magic circle, his face paling.
"Eh—?"
Next moment—
Whoosh!
The scene around Naruto shifted instantly.
He was now standing in a dimly lit sewer, his reflection visible in the shallow water beneath his feet.
But something was different this time.
Beside him, bouncing excitedly, was Sakiya.
Naruto sighed, rubbing his forehead.
"Sakiya-chan… I never said I was ready."
Then he narrowed his eyes at her.
"And—why can you enter my mind so easily?"
Sakiya wandered around, looking at everything like a curious child. She answered without even turning back.
"Don't focus on the details, Orange Flame Envoy!"
She suddenly paused, tilting her head.
"Hmm… this place is weird. Besides the fox, I feel two other presences."
Naruto froze.
"...Two other people?"
Before he could process it—
A deep, rumbling voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Brat."
Naruto's blood ran cold.
"You dare bring someone in here?!"
He knew that voice.
His expression turned serious, and he immediately faced the massive iron gate ahead of him.
Then—
CRASH!
The ground trembled as a giant form lunged forward, slamming into the bars with terrifying force.
Metal groaned and clashed under the sheer impact.
A massive presence loomed over them.
"Boy!!"
The Nine-Tailed Fox's enormous form filled the space, its sharp eyes locking onto them with pure rage.
A powerful shockwave rippled through the water.
Naruto instinctively stepped back.
Then, his expression hardened.
"You stupid monster! Who are you trying to scare?!"
The fox let out a low, menacing chuckle.
"Heh… This is not a place for sightseeing, brat."
"If you don't want to die—"
"GET OUT."
Just as it growled out the last word, something felt off.
A strange tickling sensation crept up its tail.
The fox paused, confused.
Naruto, too, suddenly noticed something odd.
Sakiya was... missing.
The fox's ears twitched.
It looked down.
Then—it froze.
There, hugging the tip of its tail, was a small human girl.
Face buried in the thick, fluffy fur.
Her fingers gripping tightly, as if she had found treasure.
"...Mmm~ So soft… So fluffy…"
She nuzzled her face into the tail, eyes closed in pure bliss.
Silence.
The Nine-Tails was stunned.
Naruto was horrified.
The entire room fell deathly quiet.
_____________
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