"Hey. Hello there, Uzumaki Naruto."
…!
Naruto jerked. His chopsticks nearly slipped from his fingers. He fumbled them back and blurted, "Who… who's talking to me?"
"Keep it down, baka. Do you want the ANBU outside to hear you?"
"Oh." His voice fell from a shout to a whisper. "Who are you? Why… why do you know my name? Where are you?"
He bit back the question he really wanted to ask. Why didn't you call me the demon fox. Maybe the stranger did not know the rumor yet and that was why the greeting sounded kind.
"Forget talking. Close your eyes and relax. Empty your mind. I will bring you to me."
Mo Ke sighed. Naruto's idea of whispering was still pretty loud. The kid was just built that way. He decided to put in the work and pull Naruto's consciousness into the inner space so they could speak in peace.
"Okay," Naruto said. He left the steaming ramen where it sat, pattered to the bed, kicked a shoe off, then perched cross legged and scrunched his eyes with great ceremony.
"Idiot. Relax your mind. Do not tense up."
"Ah, stop talking then. Right, I mean stop talking inside my head. I hear you, all of it, what a mess. And what is this [his voice is so gentle, maybe he is kind like Grandpa Third]. Who taught you those words. Gentle is for old men. I am a youth in my prime."
"And no. I am not eating ramen with you. You never let the noodles soak. You do not even add sausage. It tastes awful."
"Oh…"
Having the nice big brother in his head hear every thought made Naruto blush. His round cheeks turned visibly red. He wanted to ask what a sausage was, but did not dare.
Even scolded, he felt warm. Half a year of Konoha's cold shoulder had made him sensitive. He could feel that this voice carried no malice.
After some slapstick and fussing, Naruto finally calmed.
He fell asleep. For a two year old, "empty your mind" was too abstract. And after Kinoshita Hisachi left, this was the first time in months someone spoke to him with affection. The excitement burned him out.
Inside the seal, Mo Ke exhaled in helpless sympathy. He had watched Naruto quietly for half a year. He knew exactly how a little kindness could knock the boy off balance. Now that Naruto slept without ripples, Mo Ke pulled his consciousness into the mindscape. He could have forced him straight into the seal, but for a soul this small that would have been too rough.
Naruto appeared floating, still lying on his back, breathing softly. The furrow had finally gone from his brow. For the first time in six months the child slept in peace.
Mo Ke looked at the tiny cheeks and felt a pinch in his chest. He formed an invisible bed of spiritual force beneath Naruto and decided to wait until he woke. Time was on their side.
He had read the manga in his past life and knew the shape of Naruto's hardships. Seeing them from Naruto's eyes was different. It made him want to sit on Konoha's ruins with Pain and share a cigarette.
The masses are blind. The rot had roots in the village's top. Even so, it was not as if Konoha had no kindness. Teuchi at Ichiraku. Iruka. Among his peers, the Ino–Shika–Cho trio, Kiba, and Sakura as a child were close friends thanks to Yuta in the anime's original story. The memories were wiped when Yuta left, so they forgot being friends. Even without those memories, Kiba, Choji, and Shikamaru still became Naruto's true friends later. Three delinquents and one prodigy became the village's famous class cutting quartet, and Choji let only Naruto take the last chip in his bag.
…
"Haaah—"
Naruto yawned, full and satisfied with sleep, and rolled off the bed.
This bed was not his usual one. He misjudged the height, stumbled, windmilled, and saved himself. Water splashed up and wet his clothes.
"Ahh, the roof is leaking. I am doomed. My clothes are dirty again, dattebayo."
Mo Ke pressed a palm to his forehead. "Hey. Naruto. Are you stupid. You woke up without looking around."
"What is there to look at. It is just my house and I live alone so I am bored of— whaa! Who are you. Why are you in my house."
Mo Ke blinked and then popped to Naruto's side with a space flicker. He rapped him on the head. "Brat. A minute ago I was the nice big brother. Now I am 'this guy'."
"Ah, I remember. You are the big brother in my head. Where are we. Is this your house. Why is the floor full of water. Did you forget to flush."
He finally relaxed enough to be curious.
"This is not my house. It is inside your body."
"Big brother, you look cool. Why are your hair and eyes red. Are you from our village. I have never seen you. It is my first time seeing red hair."
"Your first question should be why we are inside your body. You always drag the topic somewhere strange. Uzumaki Naruto really is the king of unpredictability."
Being called handsome softened Mo Ke's tone without his noticing. Hearing that it was the boy's first time seeing red hair, he could not help stroking the small head with a gentle hand.
"Right. Why are we inside me. The grown ups say people who will have a baby have someone in their belly. Am I going to have a baby?"
Mo Ke stared. With this kid you could not be too soft.
…
"So big brother. There really is a fox sealed in my belly that broke the village, right. We are standing in the swirly mark on my stomach, dattebayo."
Naruto's mood dipped when he said it. Mo Ke was relieved. After a long round of explanations, the dummy finally knew where he was.
"Then who are you. Why are you in my belly."
For six months Naruto had kept his mouth shut but believed in his heart that he was the fox. He looked down and then bounced back with a question.
"Question for you. There is a fox in your belly. Now you and I are both in your belly. So who am I."
"Hmm… soka. Big brother, you are the fox in my belly, dattebayo."
Naruto tapped his little head, then his palm. Epiphany. He froze a beat.
"Eeeeh. Big brother is the fox."
How did you deliver the right answer calmly, then go full anime face a second later.
"Yes. I am the terrifying fox that destroyed the village. Scared. I eat people."
Mo Ke bared his teeth and leaned in to spook him.
"No way. Your voice is gentle. You do not hate me. You would never eat people."
The answer surprised Mo Ke. Naruto met his eyes with absolute certainty. He even clenched his fists and gave them two fierce pumps to add weight to his words.
That was Naruto. If you were good to him, he trusted you without reservation.
Mo Ke sat on the invisible bed, hauled the pouting child beside him, ruffled his hair and smiled.
"So, you are not afraid even though a fox lives in your belly. You hate it when people call you the fox."
"I am not afraid. Big brother is gentle so he is not a bad person. The grown ups are lying."
"Careful. Some people act gentle to fool you. Do not trust that easily."
"Are you fooling me."
"Of course not. And stop calling me big brother."
Naruto brightened at once. Mo Ke hid a quiet grin. It was time to start the plan.
"I am going to tell you some secrets. Your past. Why the villagers hate you. No interrupting."
Naruto slapped both hands over his mouth and blinked like an owl. Mo Ke continued.
"First. I am not a common fox. I am a Nine Tailed Celestial Fox. 'Demon' is what the afraid ones call me to smear my name. My name is Mo Ke."
"And I have another identity. I am…"
He glanced at Naruto's glistening eyes, then at the steady seal scripts on the gate. He swallowed a pang of guilt and went for it.
"I am actually your father."
"Eeeeeh."
"Quiet. Listen. My clan has lived freely in endless forests since ancient times. We do not mingle with humans. We do not eat people."
That much was mostly true. Most tailed beasts preferred being alone. Humans went to them first. Tailed beasts were energy bodies. They killed people. Eating people made no sense. Some stories said Shukaku ate people to recover chakra, but come on.
"Our power is too great. Humans fear and covet it. Covet means they want to steal it."
Naruto blinked solemnly to show he understood. Mo Ke kept going with a straight face. The broad strokes of grudges and cause and effect were close enough to the truth.
"Because they coveted our power, they tried to conquer and enslave us. Your father, the strongest of the Nine Tailed Celestial Foxes, was besieged by the strongest village, Konoha, for ten days and nights. I carved my way through with nine tails, rivers of blood at my feet, but there were too many. In the end, I fell."
"After they defeated me they tried to force me to submit. A celestial fox does not bow. They could not kill me either. So they sealed me."
Naruto's brows drew together. Anger flushed his small face. Perfect. Mo Ke stood.
"This is the house they built for me. I have been locked here forty or fifty years. Before you were born it was worse. Chains bound me in place. I could not even scratch an itch."
Naruto imagined not being able to scratch and looked horrified.
"Dad… why did Konoha put you in my body. Why are they so bad. And where is my mom."
"That is another long story. Your mother was the previous jailer. Her name is Kushina. You will meet her one day. While she guarded the seal, she learned your father had a kind heart. She fell in love. Then we had you."
"When you were born, some in Konoha discovered your father was close to freedom. They worked with a truly evil man and sprang a trap on your mother and me. They used schemes to control me and make me attack Konoha. Then they sealed us both into your belly."
"Why not kill me. I hear the grown ups say they will kill me someday. They also tell me to die already. And if Mom is sealed in me, where is she. I want to see Mom. The other kids laugh that I am a stray with no mother."
"Because they still want my power. They sealed me inside you so they could siphon it through the seal and pass it to you. When you grow up you would have power like mine. Then the ones who raised you could claim you as their tool. As for your mother, she is still sealed. You will meet her."
"I do not want to take Father's power. I do not want to be Konoha's tool. I hate Konoha. Everyone hates me except Grandpa Third. Even Aunt Kinoshita… even she left me and hates me."
The tears fell hard and fast. Mo Ke drew him into a hug and wiped his cheeks. At the name of the Third, a shadow crossed Mo Ke's eyes. The next step would be to loosen the hold of Hiruzen's image, little by little.
Naruto sniffed and lifted his head. He stared at Mo Ke's face with new resolve.
"Dad, is there a way to remove the seal. I have disliked the circle on my belly for a long time. I do not want to take your power."
"Silly boy. Konoha still watches you every day. Your father is not strong enough yet. If I rip the seal open, you would be in danger too. Do not worry. This seal takes less from me than I recover on my own. A father's strength for his son is natural."
"And listen. When you sleep, I will bring you here. I will teach you how to gain strength. But Konoha is dangerous right now. When you wake, you cannot tell anyone about me. Not a soul. Not even Grandpa Third."
"Why will Grandpa Third not save you then. He is very very kind. He is the only one who visits me, dattebayo."
Naruto was scatterbrained, not stupid. Half a year had aged his heart faster than his face.
"Dad, is Grandpa Third really a good person. You said gentle people cannot always be trusted."
"Hiruzen is half a good man at best. The rest you should judge with your own eyes."
Mo Ke did not attack the Third. For six months the old man had been the only adult to show Naruto any warmth. If Mo Ke denied that kindness, he would be denying his own approach. When Naruto thought it through later, doubt would creep in. Better to let him witness and decide.
"Dad, can I sit on your shoulders. I saw kids at the festival sit on their dads' shoulders. They called it horse riding."
Suddenly "Dad." And he wanted a shoulder ride. Too much.
In the end, Naruto did not get his ride. Mo Ke was a fox after all.
Laughter bounced through the seal as a child played for the first time in months.
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