"Yeah, your mother." Kushina said flatly before beginning to put on a display of waterworks with a sniffle, "The woman that brought you into this world and nurtured you lovingly. Gave to you of herself with all of her heart, and yet day after day you continue to disobey even the simplest request when all she wants is for her son to be safe and a splendid shinobi-!"
Naruto hopped back up and hugged her tightly, "Mom I'm so sorry, I didn't want to be gone so long you were worried! I wanted to come back sooner yesterday but I fell asleep and I lost track of time and-." Got beaten up by some guy in a mask that did something to make Kurama freak out.
Wait a minute, did that shit actually happen or was that a dream? And how did he even get home? He didn't remember walking, but he still had the feeling in his legs that he'd have after he trekked home from a venture to Kurama's temporary den.
His stomach hurt like hell too now that he was awake enough to feel it. But it wasn't a sick, puky kind of hurt or a physical one. It was like a burning feeling, like something being steadily seared into his being, if there was a way that someone could know what that felt like.
Apparently Naruto cutting off the explanation of his own train of events from last night was enough for Kushina to believe she'd gotten the gist of what had happened. She'd heard it more than a few times before already, "I only tell you to do things that I do because I love you Naruto." She said as she ran a hand through his hair.
"I know." Naruto mumbled into her yukata, "I'll try. I don't want to do it to make you mad. It's just… I don't know." He said in a near repeat of his conversation with her from the day before.
Kushina just smiled down at him and pulled away to exit his room, "You don't have to say if you don't want, but remember that you can tell me anything. No matter what happens. No matter how old you get or how strong you become you'll still be my baby. And I'll still be able to kick your ass no matter what, so be good." She walked down the hall and shouted something back at him, "Make sure you wash your face before breakfast! You're filthy! The dirt on your face looks like whiskers!"
Naruto grinned at her until she vanished from sight in the doorway. Once he was certain that she was gone he held his stomach with a cringe and sat down on his bed, looking out at the early morning sun. Kushina loved making sure he was up no later than six-thirty every morning, and he had no idea what time he'd gotten back last night.
Was it a dream? He got beaten up. Losing a fight like that should have meant death. But he was alive, with an entire body that burned like fire on the inside, but he was okay. At least he figured he was okay.
If it was real then what happened to the guy? What happened to him that he was able to walk out of there and not remember it? What happened to Kurama?
Naruto looked at his bag on the floor and then to his own doorway before making a decision. Sorry Kushina. He'd be home quick this time, "…I've got to go back."
XxX
Outside, walking the Uzumaki Clan streets trying to get herself to wake up properly for the day, Karin rubbed at her eyes underneath her glasses before sighing at the first specs of light peeking over the horizon, "Why can't the day start at noon or something? The sun doesn't even want to be up right now."
As she walked she saw a little black and orange figure dart over the fence to his house and head off in a hurry to wherever he was planning on going so early in the morning.
"Naruto." Karin said a bit distastefully. Other kids liked to ignore him and even she ostracized him from time to time to fit in with the rest, but there was a reason she never tried to follow him despite being able to sense him. She just wasn't fast enough to keep up with him. When it came to training she hated it except for when it came to using the Mind's Eye of the Kagura. She loved that jutsu.
Speaking of which, she might as well get in a bit of practice by locking in on Naruto's chakra signature. She was used to how it felt so it couldn't have been that hard.
And it wasn't. But she wasn't expecting to get the equivalent of feedback overload in her brain due to being unprepared for the sheer amount of chakra that was inside of his body. That definitely hadn't been there yesterday, 'That's such strong chakra!' And Kami it was unstable.
So scary.
She had to tell someone, because something was wrong. There was something infinitely more powerful than Naruto inside of his body. There was something sealed in there.
Something strong. Something bad.
XxX
(Later that Day – Uzu no Kuni Countryside – Hidden Ravine)
Naruto knew the way back to Kurama's den by heart, and his body moved on autopilot, using every precious brain cell to try and dredge up a decent recollection of what happened last night.
He was hanging out with Kurama. He went to sleep. He woke up and fell off of Kurama's paw. Weird guy in freaky full mask attacked Kurama, and instead of being smushed or eaten he did something to mess with his head. Naruto tried to fight him, and got flattened. He made eye contact with the guy, and then he went dark.
That didn't explain anything.
As he came back to the ravine, Naruto got on his hands and knees at the edge and looked down into the dark as if he could see with no light down there.