While Naruto drifted to sleep, his consciousness opened within his mindspace, a mental realm representing his inner world. In this space, a large, imposing cage stood, its bars symbolizing the seal that confined the Nine-Tails. Upon entering, Naruto looked around the unfamiliar landscape.
"Wow!" he exclaimed softly, taking in the scenery. This was the first time he had been able to access this place. He had tried before but for some reason could not. He was a little surprised by his surroundings.
From the anime, he remembered that the original Naruto's subconscious space was dark, with sewer water covering the ground. But the current scenery was different. There was no sewer water, nor was it dark; the entire area was bright. In front of him stood the same large door with imposing bars, and behind those bars was the figure of a sleeping orange fox - Kurama.
'What this space actually is,' Naruto thought. 'My subconscious space? Hard to say. Maybe it's the space created because of the Eight Trigram Seal that contains Bijuus in Jinchuriki, and the same would be the case for all Jinchuriki around the world.' Naruto couldn't think of any truly plausible explanation for this mindspace of his. After all, aside from himself, no one was ever shown possessing it in the anime aside from other Jinchuriki like Killer B, which made it seem limited to Jinchuriki only.
Kurama, sensing Naruto's presence, opened its eyes. It then grinned, its wide mouth spreading from ear to ear, revealing sharp teeth. Naruto's eyes widened upon seeing the humongous figure of Kurama, but he quickly recovered from his shock. He shook his head upon seeing the fox grinning and said, "Stop grinning, you damn fox."
Kurama put away its smile and spoke in its hoarse voice. "Brat, you finally decided to come, huh?!"
"I only wanted to see how you, the Nine-Tails Fox, look like, nothing special," Naruto replied. Kurama scoffed and was about to say something, but Naruto continued. "Well, I know you hate me and all humankind, but know one thing, you are safer here sealed inside me than outside, at least for now."
Hearing this, Kurama roared. "WHAT DID YOU SAY, BRAT?!"
Naruto said calmly, "Don't be angry, I am not lying. There are people who call themselves Akatsuki, and their objective is to revive the Juubi, the Ten-Tails, and I hope I didn't need to tell you the way to revive Juubi."
Kurama, who had been incredibly angry, went completely silent for a moment. Juubi, the Ten-Tails. Someone wanted to revive the Juubi. If the Juubi were to be revived, wouldn't that mean Kurama and all his siblings, the tailed beasts that were originally contained within it, would likely lose their individual identities and merge into the Juubi's consciousness? This was worse than death for the Bijuus, even though they couldn't truly die and would regenerate eventually. But if Juubi were to revive, there would be no consciousness left of them.
Kurama's large eyes looked directly towards Naruto, who looked like an ant in front of Kurama's height. It asked, "Brat! Are you telling the truth, and more importantly, how did you know about Juubi?!"
Naruto replied calmly, "You don't need to know—"
Kurama, in its same hoarse voice, interrupted. "Even if there are someone who wants to revive Juubi, do you think I, Kurama the Nine-Tails, need to hide in a brat like this? I will—"
This time, Naruto interrupted Kurama. "Their leader has the Rinnegan, and currently, even two Uchiha are members of that organization both possess the Mangekyo Sharingan. I know even if you have pride in your strength, you are at least not arrogant enough to think you can counter the Mangekyo Sharingan, right?"
Kurama once again fell silent for a moment. It then glanced at Naruto sharply and asked, "What do you want, Brat?!"
Naruto shook his head lightly. "Nothing, nothing from you. As I have said, I only came here to look at how you, the Nine-Tails, actually look like." With that, he left his mindspace.
...
When Naruto opened his eyes again, he found himself under the same tree where he had been sleeping. His transformation jutsu had worn off, and he was back in his real form. He got up and rubbed his eyes, seeing that the afternoon sun had begun to dip lower; it was already late afternoon.
But Naruto's expression became gloomy upon seeing who was sitting beside him. The person wore the Hokage robe and had a goatee. He began smiling upon seeing Naruto get up and said, "So, finally wakes up, huh, Naruto." This was none other than the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Naruto, with his usual plain look, asked, "How are you here, old man?"
Hiruzen's smile did not waver. "You still don't look like you are happy to see me," he said.
Naruto shook his head, his expression remaining the same. "No, Old Man Hokage, I am very happy to see you, just can't show it on my face."
Hiruzen chuckled, still misunderstanding his sarcasm. While Naruto and Hiruzen sat under the tree, looking ahead at the setting sun of early evening, a thought came into Naruto's mind. 'Shall I ask him about my parents' house and wealth now?' With this thought, he looked at Hiruzen and said, "Old man, I met my parents."
Hiruzen's eyes widened upon hearing this. He quickly looked at Naruto and asked, "W-what did you say, Naruto? Who did you meet?"
Naruto pointed towards the scribed stone face of Minato on the Hokage Monument. "My parents, my father, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, and my mother, Kushina Uzuma—"
Hiruzen quickly stood up and looked at Naruto with a bewildered expression. He asked, "H-how did that happen?!"
Naruto looked back at him with a straight look. Red bubbles began to form on Naruto's skin, and his eyes turned red. This was Version 1 of the Bijuu Mode. Naruto said, "Old man, they helped me get control over that Fox sealed inside me and told me everything about them and me. Why didn't you ever tell me about it and let the villagers treat me like that, huh?!"
Naruto didn't show angry expressions, but his current appearance in Version 1 Bijuu Mode made him look more intimidating. Hiruzen's guards went up, but when he heard about Naruto gaining full control over the Fox and heard his question, Hiruzen fell silent.
He couldn't believe how this normal conversation he wanted to have with Naruto had turned into such a big revelation. He slightly lowered his guard and said, "Sorry Naruto, I didn't tell you to protect you from your father's enemies."
Naruto turned off the Version 1 Bijuu Mode and quickly asked, "Then why let the villagers treat me like that? Was that also to protect me? And my parents told me that I am a Jinchuriki, the greatest asset of the Village, and yet this is how you treat me, old man?"
Hiruzen went completely silent. He couldn't think of words to say. After a moment of silence, Hiruzen sighed and said, "Rumors about you being the Nine-Tails Fox have been circulated within the village and got out of my control. I couldn't do anything."
Naruto slightly glared at him, thinking how he could still lie like that. He said, "Old man, you are the Hokage, and you don't even have the power to control things as small as rumors, and you want me to believe it? Really?"
Hiruzen rubbed his temple and sighed again. He truly didn't know how to answer him. He had never thought that the situation would ever go this far so suddenly, that Naruto would be able to meet Minato and Kushina and also gain control over Kyuubi. He knew that Minato and Kushina had left a portion of their Chakra within Naruto, but not that their Chakra was in such a large portion that they would even help him gain control over Kyuubi, plus even be able to talk with him to the point of telling him everything. Hiruzen thought, 'Why the hell did they have to tell him everything?'
Hiruzen was frustrated at this moment. He had no doubt about what Naruto said, especially not when Naruto had just a moment before been able to show the small amount of power of Kyuubi without losing any control over it.
Naruto, who had decided to reveal all this strategically, knowing Hiruzen's position and that he wouldn't be able to simply overpower him to take what he wanted, had a smirk on his face. He said, "Old man, I have no hate for the villagers. I know they don't know the truth."
Hiruzen, hearing this, sighed in relief. This was the main thing that made him stressed about all this—what if Naruto got angry and took a wrong step that would endanger the village's safety? He said, "Well, that's good—"
Once again, Naruto didn't let him complete his sentence. "I can forgive you and the Villagers for their past mistakes, but I no longer want to live like I have been until now—that crappy apartment, those rats following me 24/7, and being treated like trash by others." Naruto's expression hardened slightly. "Old man, I want a good life, and for that, I need a few things, and you have to agree on them no matter what."
Hiruzen sighed once again. He said, "Alright, Naruto, what do you need?"
Naruto smiled. "My parents' house and all their wealth they have accumulated until their death, plus no surveillance over me anymore, just like these two rats who are hiding behind that tree. And whatever we talked about here will only remain between us, and none other should know this."
Hiruzen was slightly shocked, but not for long. He said, "Well, I understand, but it's difficult. And about your parents' house, that's maybe even more difficult."
Naruto glanced at him and asked, "Why?!"
Hiruzen said, "Because..."
***