Moments later, Naruto and Jiraiya appeared on a vast beach, and a few seconds later, Ino and Haku appeared as well. Although Naruto only pulled Jiraiya into his mindscape, as a Yamanaka, Ino had no trouble entering Naruto’s mindscape while helping Haku do the same. Well, at least as long as Naruto didn’t resist, it was no problem.
Jiraiya looked around the massive beach in fascination, and while his gaze was wandering, he saw something that made him freeze up immediately.
Naruto, Ino, and Haku noticed Jiraiya’s condition, and after following his gaze, all three of them had to suppress a chuckle. Inside the vast ocean, a gigantic fox was lying on a massive air mattress. It had sunglasses on its eyes and a loose expression on its face.
“*Cough* You got a moment, Kurama?”
“Mhh? Naruto? What do you w…”
While speaking, Kurama opened one of his eyes and glanced at Naruto, and while doing so, he noticed that Naruto was not alone. He had already met Ino and Haku a few times, so there was no problem with them seeing him relax like this, but when he noticed Jiraiya staring at him with a wide-open mouth, he immediately stopped talking.
As soon as Kurama realized that Naruto had brought Jiraiya here, he quickly got up in an attempt to get into a more dignified position. Unfortunately, he forgot that he was on an air mattress, so before getting up properly, the mattress turned around, dumping him into the ocean.
Around a minute of awkward silence later, Kurama was sitting in front of Naruto’s group with a dignified expression on his face.
“So, why did you come here, humans?”
“”””…””””
Everyone present could only look at Kurama in bewilderment when he tried to swipe what had just happened under the rug.
“Nonono, no matter how I look at it, it’s too late for that kind of act, Kurama.”
As soon as Kurama heard Naruto’s words, he started glaring at him.
“And whose fault do you think this is? Why did you come into my house without any forewarning.”
At first, Naruto felt a little apologetic towards Kurama, but now he started glaring at him as well.
“Your house!? This is my mindscape!”
“Yeah, and I live here, so it’s my house!”
While Naruto and Kurama were bickering, Jiraiya managed to pick up his jaw from the ground and regathered his wits. When Naruto said that the Kyuubi was his friend, he thought that at best that he meant something along the lines of not killing each other on sight, and not…this.
“Because you didn’t announce yourself properly, you came here while I had my guard down and was seen in a compromising position!”
“Haa? Why do you make it sound like it’s rare for you to let your guard down? As far as I know, you spent every day just lazing around.”
“*Tsk* So what? It’s still better than spending days on end creating new prank seals!”
“WHAT!? You better take that back, or things are about to get nasty.”
“Heee~ Try me, brat!”
Naruto was just about to unleash his most powerful jutsu that he had sealed away due to its danger, the Forbidden Sexy Jutsu, when Ino stepped between him and Kurama.
“Now, now, calm down, you two. Have you forgotten that we have a guest?”
Naruto and Kurama simultaneously looked at Jiraiya, causing him to take a step back on instinct. Kurama coughed awkwardly before he straightened his back.
“*Cough* Hello human, my name is Kurama, so I give you permission to call me the great Kurama-sa…”
“Just call him grumpy fox.”
Yet again, Naruto and Kurama’s gazes collided in midair and caused sparks to fly. While Haku chuckled in amusement, Ino could only roll her eyes at the duo’s antics.
“Err, I’m sorry to interrupt your argument, but could someone tell me what is going on?”
Yet again, Kurama’s gaze landed on Jiraiya, causing him to shiver in fear. Getting started at by a 100 meters tall fox is a rather daunting experience. Meanwhile, Naruto pondered on Jiraiya’s question for a short moment before shrugging his shoulders.
“Well, as I have already said, Kurama is my friend.”
“O-Okay, somehow that tells me very little, but I will leave it at that for now. Then what about that name. Why does the Kyuubi have a name.”
Kurama scoffed when he heard Jiraiya’s question.
“If a pervert like you can have a name, then why shouldn’t I have one as well?”
“Hey hey hey, I have to stop you right there. I’m not a pervert; I’m a super pervert.”
As Jiraiya said that, he started wiggling his fingers like worms. While Ino and Haku were glaring at him hard enough to almost burn a hole in his body, Naruto couldn’t help but facepalm, and Kurama was looking at him in indifference.
“And I’m a huge fox and couldn’t care less.”
“*Cough* Sorry that slipped out by reflex. So, who gave you that name?”
“My father, and no, I’m not telling you who that is.”
“Fine, fine, there is something much more pressing I would like to know about anyway. How could Naruto possible be willing to be your friend? You are the one that killed his parents. Have you tricked him?”
Jiraiya’s eyes became sharp when he asked that question. After all, Minato wasn’t just Naruto’s father; he was also Jiraiya’s student. However, Kurama was utterly indifferent to Jiraiya’s gaze.
“They wanted to capture me, and I didn’t want to get captured, so I retaliated. If you think I will obediently let myself get imprisoned yet again, then you are clearly delusional.”
“You were rampaging around Konoha, so they obviously had to capture you.”
“Yeah, and I just appeared smack in the middle of Konoha by coincidence. Aren’t you supposed to be some kind of spymaster? Have you considered occasionally using your brain?”
Jiraiya was taken aback by Kurama’s words. He never thought about it too deeply, but Kurama’s words were correct. Kushina was supposed to give birth at a remote location, far away from Konoha, so why did the Kyuubi suddenly appear in the middle of Konoha?
After thinking about it some more, Jiraiya’s eyes widened in surprise as he looked at Kurama.
“Someone instigated this.”
Yet again, Kurama snorted in disdain.
“Took you long enough to realize. Although I hate to admit it, I was controlled by the Sharingan during almost the whole incident. I only got free from it at the end of the conflict, and I was already half-sealed at that point in time.”
A deep frown appeared on Jiraiya’s face when he heard Kurama’s words. There were a lot of inconsistencies about that day, and Kurama’s story would explain most of them. Why did Kushina lose control of the Kyuubi? Why did it take Minato so long to appear? Why did the Kyuubi suddenly appear in the middle of the village? Kurama’s story would answer all these questions: there was someone who instigated all of it.
After a few more moments of thinking, Jiraiya’s gaze landed on Naruto.
“I think this story is true. Do you have any idea who is responsible for this?”
A smile appeared on Naruto’s face when he heard Jiraiya’s question. A smile that was very uncharacteristic for him. Instead of innocents or mischief, it was filled with nothing but pure malice.
“I know who it was. Nee-san found out about him a while ago. He is part of Akatsuki. Hehe, as soon as I get my hands on him, he will regret what he did to my parents.”
Jiraiya subconsciously took a step back when he saw Naruto’s facial expression. Rather than Naruto, that kind of facial expression was a much better fit for Yuna, so Jiraiya couldn’t help but feel weirded out by Naruto making that kind of face.
Simultaneously, he remembered something Kurama said about Naruto spending a lot of time designing new prank seals. A shiver went through Jiraiya’s spine when he tried to imagine what kind of things Naruto had planned for the responsible person.
‘God may have mercy on your soul, but I feel like Naruto won’t. So, whoever you are, I wish you good luck.’
