If Naruto had to pick the most unforgettable moments in his life—
First, meeting his parents. That moment in the Sage of Six Paths' world, when he met them for the first time—even if it was just chakra—it moved him so deeply he'd remember it forever.
Second, Hinata. That not-so-perfect day, the kinda lame movie, and that one kiss that felt like lightning—it all became something he'd hold onto for life.
Third—getting slapped to death.
Each one stands for something: family, love, and… "friendship."
Honestly, Naruto figured getting stabbed with a kunai would hurt, sure, but it's over fast and just bleeds a bit. That slap, though… how do you even describe that?
It's like this: if getting stabbed is like having diarrhea and not making it to the bathroom in time, then that slap was like having diarrhea and someone sneaking up to hit you with a thousand years of death at the same time, while you spray everywhere—and oh, your hemorrhoid bursts, and you just ate super spicy hotpot the night before.
Yeah, that kind of pain.
So bad you don't even wish you were dead—you already are.
Kurama: "…"
You're exaggerating…
"I'm not!" Naruto clenched his fists, glaring at the Fourth Raikage. "I've gotta get back at him someday… I mean in the gut, not anywhere weird."
"I thought you were gonna say with a thousand years of death," Kurama muttered, wiping sweat off his brow. Then he paused. "Actually… I'm on board. Do it."
While Naruto and Kurama were having this mental chat, Tsunade and A were getting into their own heated conversation.
A slammed both hands on the desk and smashed it with one fist, cracks spreading across the surface in an instant. "I don't care about intel, Hokage! Hand over the Nine-Tails!"
You think Tsunade was just gonna take that?
She punched the table right back. The cracks split all the way through and the whole thing collapsed. "Raikage, watch your mouth. The Nine-T—Nine-Tails is Konohagakure's tailed beast. Why don't you hand over the Eight-Tails, then?"
Chunks of the desk crashed to the ground with a loud bang.
Right after that, the two people behind A got tense. The guy with the sword even unsheathed it without a word.
Seeing that, Shizune quickly stepped forward and pulled out a scalpel, standing in front of Tsunade. At the same time, Naruto stepped up too, eyes locked on A, clearly itching for a fight.
A frowned slightly, but didn't notice Naruto's expression. He just looked straight at Tsunade and said, "Each Kage can only bring two guards to the Five Kage Summit."
He was pointing at Shizune, Naruto, and Tobirama.
Clearly, Tsunade had broken the rule.
Everyone's eyes naturally turned to Gaara—who only brought one guard, Kankuro.
The mood suddenly became a bit tense.
"Ahem…" Feeling awkward, Naruto cleared his throat. "Uh…"
"So… I'm Gaara's bodyguard."
At that moment, A finally looked directly at Naruto.
His face darkened. "What's that on your head?"
"On my head?" Naruto was confused and touched his forehead. "It's a forehead protector. Is there a problem?"
You're wearing a Konoha forehead protector and claiming to be the Kazekage's bodyguard? What's wrong with you?
"Are you messing with me, Lord Hokage?" A spoke through gritted teeth.
Honestly, if he wasn't thinking about Killer Bee and how Tsunade had saved some of his men in the past, he probably would've already exploded.
Tsunade just laughed and crossed her arms as she looked at A. "Even the Kazekage hasn't said anything. Aren't you overstepping a bit, Raikage-sama?"
The air grew even tenser than before. Naruto could feel faint chakra rising all around them.
This was the kind of situation that needed calming down… but who was he kidding? He really wanted Grandma Tsunade to let loose. Maybe even do a Thousand Years of Death—wait, no!
No no no, this is a serious Five Kage Summit. I shouldn't be enjoying this.
Kurama: "Fight! Fight! Fight!"
Naruto rolled his eyes on the spot. "Can you not?"
Just then, Gaara, who hadn't said a word until now, finally spoke up.
"Naruto is my friend. Konoha is an ally of the Sand Village. I asked Naruto to be my bodyguard because our village was recently attacked. Most of our high-ranking ninja were seriously injured. I asked Konoha for help to prevent another sneak attack."
He wasn't lying. Most of the Sand's jonin had been wiped out. That was a fact.
Their village was weak against aerial attacks, and when Sasori and Kakuzu went all out, even with Shukaku's help, Gaara could barely hold off two of them. He had no chance against three. The only reason he escaped was because the jonin risked their lives in a surprise counterattack.
He was truly thankful to Konoha. That part was real. And Naruto really was his friend. That was real too.
He hadn't asked for Naruto to be his guard specifically, but he *had* considered asking Konoha for backup.
If not for this Kage meeting, he probably would've gone to Konoha anyway—to borrow either Naruto or Sasuke to help protect him on the way back to the Sand Village.
A frowned without meaning to. The chakra tension in the air slowly faded.
He looked at Gaara thoughtfully. "As a Kage, do you really think it's okay to say something like that?"
"It's just the truth," Gaara replied calmly, his face showing no emotion. "Rather than pretending our village is fine, I'd rather be honest. The people in my village matter more to me than a Kage's pride."
A went silent. He glanced at Darui and Mabui beside him, then let out a long breath.
A moment later, he waved his hand, signaling for the two to stand down.
Then he turned to Tsunade again. "Over three years ago, the Nine-Tails came to the Land of Thunder. He had a conversation with the Eight-Tails. After that, our Jinchuriki left the village and hasn't come back since."
"We want to talk to the Nine-Tails to understand what was said between him and the Eight-Tails—between him and Killer Bee. That's all."
His voice was sincere.
Seeing Darui and Mabui lower their weapons, Shizune also relaxed and turned to Tsunade.
Tsunade paused, then looked straight at Naruto. "Naruto, bring out Kurama."
"Uh…" Naruto scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Kurama says: TL;DR, he doesn't know."
Tsunade rolled her eyes. "Do you want to go home and copy the ninja handbook a hundred times?"
Naruto's face changed instantly. He waved his hands quickly. "I'm serious! I really don't know! Kurama never told me what he did back then. I only know he went to learn the tail severing clone technique from Gyuki. After he learned it, he came back. As for where Gyuki and the others went, we honestly have no idea."
"Who is this kid?" A stared at Naruto. He looked a bit familiar.
Naruto scratched the back of his head and bowed to A: "Uh, I'm Kurama's Jinchuriki. Back then, it was my shadow clone that Kurama used to run off to the Land of Thunder, and... you kind of killed it with one slap."
"It was you!"
A jumped to his feet, and his face immediately darkened.
Back then, because it was Naruto's clone affected by Kurama's chakra, his appearance was a little different. Plus, three years had passed, and Naruto had grown up a lot, so A didn't recognize him right away.
But now that he looked closely—wasn't this the Nine-Tails kid?
He stepped forward, and his chakra flared out unconsciously, sparks of lightning flashing around him.
Shizune instinctively wanted to step forward, but Tsunade reached out to stop her, gently shaking her head. Everyone just stayed quiet and watched.
"I want to talk to the Nine-Tails," A said with a stern face.
"Um… I can't really make Kurama come out…" Naruto looked like he was about to cry.
Honestly, as a Jinchuriki, the fact that Kurama could come and go as he pleased was already crazy enough. What was even crazier was that he didn't even need Naruto's permission to switch personalities anymore. Because Naruto trusted Kurama so much deep down, Kurama didn't even need to ask.
But on the flip side, Naruto couldn't control when they switched at all.
It was just sad.
Inside his mind, Naruto looked at Kurama, nearly in tears: "Kurama~"
Kurama: "My mom told me not to hang out with idiots."
Kurama! Come on!
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