In the training grounds at the outskirts of Konoha, Team 7 was in the middle of a routine spar, getting ready for another mission. Naruto and Sasuke were engaging in Taijutsu, Sakura was on the sidelines watching, while Kakashi was on one of the wooden logs, reading a book, not paying much attention to them because... someone else was.
The spar this time was not poisonous; rather, Sasuke and Naruto went at each other with fervent rivalry, and gone were the two boys filled with resentment for one another.
Nevertheless, the desire to win was still there, and when they reached a stalemate in Taijutsu, there was still to be decided who was the better one.
Naruto made a clone to create a Rasengan, Sasuke made his hand signs, and a spark of brilliant lightning resurfaced; both stared at one another with a grin. In a very short time, their lives had changed completely.
Gone was the Uchiha boy who had been abandoned, a shame of the clan, as his brother had massacred their own clan. Now he had a family, a small one... but a family nonetheless (he also had a powerful step-father, but he didn't know that yet)
Gone was the lonesome last Uzumaki whom nobody looked to, now he had two caring aunts who paid attention to his every need, the possibilities of becoming a Hokage in the future had skyrocketed, Tsunade looked at him with keen eye, although she made it obvious that any dream of becoming a Hokage would have to wait until he grew up, became a Jonin, and demostrated his prowess. (He too had a powerful step-father, but... he wouldn't know about that for a while)
...
Immediately, feeling the huge chakra fluctuations, Kakashi's gaze left the book and focused on both boys with a frown, 'There they go again, these kids...'
He looked somewhere in particular, 'She's not doing anything, huh?'.
He sighed and went back to his reading. If she wasn't going to do anything, then he didn't need to intervene either. Sakura stood up too with concern, "You two, there is no need to get so serious!"
Sasuke looked at Sakura for a while, who knew what he was thinking, but he still didn't release his chidori.
"Come at me, Sasuke!"
"Don't get cocky, Naruto!"
Even now, as he watched them, Kakashi couldn't help but smile. Things had improved a lot, and although those two still didn't spare one another, he could tell there was no killing intent or resentment. There was friendship, genuine friendship.
Both ran at one another, but then... just then, in the middle of both, in their path, a weird, beautiful mist began to appear.
!!!
"Eh–"
Kakashi saw Ray appear out of nowhere and perked up, but it was too late; Naruto and Sasuke were already next to him.
"Ray-san!" Sakura screamed in fear.
*BAAANGG!!*
Ray squinted his brows; he was struck at either side by both techniques, and the atmosphere exploded.
Naruto and Sasuke both stared in shock at how both their techniques were unable to pierce Ray's skin; what they did do, however, was completely shatter his Hakama. Ray gasped as both techniques exploded in a mountain of dust.
When the dust dissipated, Sakura wanted to see what was going on, but a pair of hands was covering her face.
"Eh? Who is this?! What happened?!" She billowed, "It is better for you to... not look" Kakashi sighed.
As the dust cleared, Naruto and Sasuke had their faces contort when in front of them stood Ray, naked. The dark-skinned man stood there, aghast, unable to comprehend why he had been welcomed this way.
Nevertheless, the shock was so massive that Naruto and Sasuke didn't pay attention to his nakedness but rather...
"My chidori didn't do anything?!"
"Was my Rasengan faulty? But... if it was, it would have exploded".
"Oh, ain't the brat a bit strong?~" He ruffled Naruto's hair, but the boy was still stupefied, watching his hand.
Soon, a haze of shadows enveloped Ray, the air fluttered a bit, and Azrael manifested, wrapping a new Hakama around his body.
"Master, why are you not wearing any underwear?" Azrael said with a bit of jealousy. She knew exactly why he wasn't wearing any... he had to come from one of his encounters. Usually, she wouldn't feel jealous, but when she did, it meant her needs weren't satisfied, and she'd have to get a bit more proactive until she was.
"You know why~ sorry about it, but these brats attacked me out of nowhere".
"It is because you appear out of nowhere," Another brash yet feminine voice resounded, and Kushina landed nearby, placing her hand on her hips and rubbing her forehead.
She looked at Ray, who hadn't been so much as moved by the impact of both techniques, while keeping a nonchalant gaze outside; her inside was in chaos: 'Kyaa! He's so cool, dattebane! You see Naruto-kun!~ Daddy is strong, strong!~'
*cough!*
"Weren't you coming with Tsunade-sama?" She then asked, fixing his Hakama properly after Azrael's awkward attempt.
"She has work to do before the wedding. I left one of my girls to help her so that she can go to your little get-together," He said with rolling eyes.
"You can't come~"
"Yeah, I know".
Oblivious to his mother's banter, Naruto looked at Ray with a curious glint, he couldn't understand how his Rasengan hadn't done anything to Ray. For his part, Sasuke was looking at Ray, stupefied. Naruto may be none the wiser, but he literally saw the sparks manifest when his chidori clashed, struggling to pierce but not even managing to leave a scratch.
He knew he hadn't done his hand signs wrong or any nonsense like that.
'What is this monster...? Ka-san said... he was very strong, but...' He recalled how his mother had said never to enrage him, that he was a good man but also a very strong one.
Yet a part of him couldn't help but feel a bit of resentment towards this man. He finally had his mom and brother back, and although they did spend a lot of time together now, she would often go to visit him.
'Why is Ka-san getting so entangled with him? Even though tou-san is not here anymore...'
His thoughts divagated until a shout gained his attention.
"Naruto, Sasuke! How many times have I told you not to use those techniques so casually!?" Kakashi pulled both their ears and then looked at Ray with a complex expression. He couldn't shake this feeling out of his soul, especially after he saw Ray naked briefly just now.
That he had been that man in that dream.
'But why...?'
Obviously, Rin was not alive... and the version of Rin he had seen in his dream was a grown-up version of her. More or less how he thought Rin would look if she were alive today, which was impossible. That dream didn't make sense at al,l but it felt so palpable that he felt like strangling Ray this instant.
Feelings resurfaced in his heart, feelings he didn't even know he had.
'Did I love Rin?' He couldn't find any other way to explain his jealousy, the poison in his mind.
"Aunty, why are you here?" Naruto called and hugged Kushina after he freed his ear from Kakashi; the kids didn't know they were being watched.
Similarly, Sasuke did the same with Azrael, much to Ray's shock, who couldn't help but frown. Azrael allowed Sasuke to hug her lightly, but then he separated with a smile on his face. There were stars in his eyes as he stared at her like she was his mother... his second mother.
"Did you see, Azrael? I managed to cast Chidori faster this time. But... do you know why it didn't work?".
Azrael patted the boy's head, "You're doing well, Sasuke, you should take a break... don't think too much about it, my lord is too strong, unless you have an extremely strong technique, you won't even be able to penetrate his skin".
Sasuke then stared at Ray with a challenge. He knew that Azrael was very strong, probably at the peak of the village, but just now he realised that indeed, Ray had what it takes to tame the Archangel, he was stronger than her!
"I can't stop! In order to support my brother... I have to get stronger, I must become a jonin soon, so let's continue... Sakura!"
"H-Hai!"
"Let's fight~" Sasuke grinned, a grin that sent a slight blush to Sakura's cheeks and made Naruto harrumph. The adults all laughed at the kids' shenanigans.
"EH!?! You want to fight me!? No, go and fight Kakashi-sensei instead, I am out!" Sakura was having none of it; she knew she couldn't be compared to her fellow comrades, even if she wanted to.
Azrael slapped the back of Sasuke's head lightly, "Stop, don't get so worked up. You and Sakura can go; we have something important to do here" She then glared at Kakashi, "Kakashi, you too, you can all go".
"You stay, Naruto-kun" Kushina held Naruto before he walked off with them.
At Kushina's call, both Sasuke and Sakura frowned. Especially Sasuke. He looked around. Azrael, Kushina and Ray were staying.
'Why are we told to leave... while Naruto stays?'.
Instinctively, he looked at Azrael, asking for an explanation. Was Naruto being given special treatment? He wouldn't normally care... but it was Azrael who was giving that treatment.
The Angel sighed and flicked Sasuke's forehead, "Just go. It is about to get disastrous".
Kakashi did as asked and took both Sakura and Sasuke with him, all while Naruto stuck his tongue out at the latter. As a response, Sasuke gave him the finger.
"Should we wait for Miko-chan? She said she'd be here soon" Kushina took Ray's hand very naturally, entwinning their fingers even; she was placing all her confidence in him that nothing would happen to her son.
"It wouldn't change things much", Ray shrugged his shoulders, then looked at Naruto, "Does he know about the Kyubi?"
"Yes, Naruto-kun knows. Right, Sochi?" Kushina asked her son, who nodded.
"Yes, uncle. I know about the annoying fox. Are you really... going to help me keep it quiet?"
Naruto had been briefed about what was going to happen. Kushina told him the Kyubi was going to be released, then tamed. He couldn't believe it. The Hokage had even given her authorisation.
"I am not going to help you, boy... I am going to do it myself, you have no power against that creature at all the way you are now".
Naruto harrumphed but didn't deny.
Ray ruffled his hair again, "Also, although I am going to tame the Kyubi, it is I who is going to tame it, not you. So you have to behave respectfully with it and try to understand it. I want you both to make up with one another, understand?".
"I get it, I don't hate him anyway,dattebayo".
"You don't?"
Naruto shook his head, "He has saved me a few times, at least his chakra has... we don't come to an understanding, but that doesn't mean I hate it".
"You're a good kid~"
"That's right, my son-! *cough!* Naruto-kun is a good kid" Kushina fumbled but fixed it before Naruto could think too deeply about what he said. He was squinting his eyes suspiciously at her, though.
"We are ready whenever you are, Ray", Kushina said, standing next to her son and exhaling a deep breath. In front of her was a God and an Archangel, but no one could remove her fear of the Nine Tails.
Ray nodded and stretched his arms; soon, the whole world was covered in mist, and even the light of the sun struggled to cross over the mist.
He took a step and jumped far away from Naruto, standing nonchalantly.
"I am ready", he said loud enough, and Kushina nodded, exhaling a deep breath. Then she knelt down in front of Naruto, who was contemplating the beautiful mist.
"Naruto-kun, I am going to release the seal now. When I do, it may feel like the Kyubi is taking over, that he is influencing you, that he is shackling you. I promise it is not going to last very long. Don't fight back... just let him do whatever he wants, okay?"
"Alright, aunty" He said, looking at her deeply.
"I trust you, dattebane" Kushina smiled.
"Say, aunty", He stopped her.
"What is it?".
"The way you say 'dattebane' is very similar to how I say 'dattebayo', did you notice?" Naruto tilted his head as he asked, immediately noticing the droplet of sweat that left her forehead.
"H-Hehehe, of course I noticed, it is because we are close family, Naruto–"
"Close...? How close? Are you really my aunt...? Just my aunt?" His voice seemed to carry hope as he asked.
Kushina bit her lips and hugged him hard. She placed her hand on his abdomen, underneath his shirt, then kissed his forehead, "Sochi, once we resolve this matter, I will tell you, I promise, dattebane~".
"It's a promise, dattebayo!~"
Kushina kissed her son's forehead again, hard, and then she put her hand on his abdomen and twisted it.
After doing that, she separated from him and jumped away, landing next to Ray.
"P-Please, Ray... go easy on him, don't hurt him".
Ray hooked his arm around her neck, pulled her and kissed her. Kushina melted in the kiss, but her face still had concern as she placed her hands on his torso.
*BOOOMMMM!!*
An explosion of red chakra took over the world, sending tyrannical waves their way while Naruto's body began to constrinct.
"Please..." She begged again, watching her son transform. She had never experienced this type of transformation in the past, so she didn't know if it hurt him or not; she hoped it didn't.
*GROWLLL!!*
Naruto growled towards them, and soon his entire body began to be consumed by some red-miasma-like chakra that was very dense and strong to Ray's senses.
"Leave it to me, he's my son too," Ray smiled.
Kushina gasped and smiled warmly, giving him a light nod, then Ray pushed her, and Azrael caught her, setting flight.
"Take care of her, Azrael. No matter what, don't intervene".
"I understand, my lord. I pray for your success".
Beating and killing the Kyūbi was one thing, easy even; taming it was another. It was a way more difficult task, and they knew. Kushina said that once the seal was released, the power would increase exponentially until all of the Kyubi's chakra was released. When it did, then the Kyubi was very likely to leave Naruto's body on its own.
And when that happened, her son would die.
'So I have to tame it before he does that'.
Ray smirked, feeling how the aura grew more and more oppressive, like gravity pressing down on him. Naruto went on four feet, his eyes turned into slits, his nails elongated and he obtained this sharp feline appearance as he glared at Ray.
Then, a sudden explosion. And the next thing he saw, Naruto's claw, imbued by the tyrannical chakra, was descending on him.
"Oh?".
Kushina and Azrael both gasped at the ridiculous speed.
*BOOOOOMMMMMM!!!*
There was a huge impact that sent a devastating shockwave around the world, clearing a lot of the mist. A figure shot like a cannonball and shattered the world and a dozen trees in its way.
When the dust cleared, the Kyubi lay there, stupefied.
'What just happened...?'
In the place where Ray had been, he was still there, immutable... although this time he made sure to protect his Hakama.
"You're a bit stronger than I thought, Kyūbi. But...? Is that all? I will say it now, and I will continue to say it. Settle down and let's talk–"
*WHOOSH!*
The Kyubi came again, this time, Ray noticed three tails and sighed.
"You don't learn, huh?"