When Naruto was brought home by Kushina, Minato was sitting on the couch, casually reading the newspaper. He looked completely at ease.
It wasn't until the two of them walked through the door that Minato turned his head, flashing his usual warm smile. "You're back?"
"Yeah, I'm back," Kushina replied with a smile. But then, her smile disappeared in an instant as she turned to look at Naruto. "Did you forget something?"
Naruto swallowed nervously. "I… I'm back?"
"That's more like it." Kushina nodded, satisfied.
Naruto wiped the sweat off his forehead.
He had always wanted someone to be at home waiting for him, welcoming him with a warm "Welcome home."
But honestly, with the way his mom was looking at him right now, he wasn't feeling touched at all.
Minato put down his newspaper and gave Kushina a curious look. "What's with that expression? Did Naruto do something again?"
At the mention of it, Kushina's anger flared up. She grabbed Naruto's ear and complained to Minato, "This brat actually set up a fight with Sasuke! The two of them went who-knows-where and had a full-on battle."
"He didn't get hurt, did he?" Minato's smile faded a little as he looked at Naruto with concern.
Naruto still had dried blood on him, making him look pretty bad.
Kushina shook her head. "Mikoto and I took them to the hospital. No injuries, just a bit scary to look at. I don't even know where all this blood came from."
*Yeah, it's our blood. It's just that we healed too fast for you to notice.* Naruto complained in his head.
"As long as he's not hurt, it's fine." Minato immediately relaxed. "They were probably just sparring. If no one got seriously injured, it's not a big deal."
Seeing how unconcerned Minato was, Kushina's anger spiked again.
She stepped forward, grabbed Minato's ear too, and glared at him.
"Mi-na-to! Your son just got into a fight! He came home covered in blood! And you're saying it's 'not a big deal'?!"
"Ow, ow, ow—!" Minato winced, his whole demeanor turning submissive.
Naruto looked on with a weird expression.
Inside his mind, Kurama silently watched the scene unfold.
It wasn't until Minato started begging Kushina for mercy that Kurama finally spoke.
"Naruto, no matter how similar they seem… these two aren't Minato and Kushina."
No one knew those two better than he did.
Naruto's smile faded a little.
He gave a small nod. "I know. Mom is tough, but she's also gentle. And Dad… sure, he never argues with Mom, but he's not this… spineless."
He knew they weren't really his parents.
But…
After finally seeing them again, it was hard not to get caught up in the moment.
"As long as you remember that."
Inside Naruto's mind, Kurama stood up, his expression turning slightly strange.
"I'm heading out for a bit."
Naruto blinked. "You're leaving?"
"Yeah." Kurama nodded, his expression growing even more unusual. "I just felt another version of my chakra. I want to go see for myself."
"How come I didn't sense anything?" Naruto tried focusing but felt nothing.
"It's not normal chakra sensing. It's something deeper—an instinct among Tailed Beasts.
Looks like the Tailed Beasts in this world were never sealed away."
Kurama explained briefly, then muttered, "I'm kind of curious what *this* version of me is like."
Naruto scratched his head. "Well… be careful."
"Relax." Kurama grinned proudly. "I'm not on the same level as those guys anymore. Even if all eight of them teamed up, they wouldn't be a match for me."
"I'm off."
With that, Kurama closed his eyes. As his chakra surged for a moment, his presence suddenly vanished from the sealed space.
Naruto knew—he had left his mind.
At the same time, somewhere else in the ninja world, deep inside someone's mind, a massive Nine-Tails suddenly opened its eyes.
Its sharp, intelligent gaze held a hint of curiosity.
Almost at the same moment, another enormous Kurama appeared in that space, standing face-to-face with the original.
Kurama opened his eyes, taking in the sight of an identical Nine-Tails standing before him.
The other Nine-Tails also stood up, looking him over with equal curiosity.
"Who are you?"
The voice was smooth and clear… almost like that of a mature…
A… a *woman*?!
Kurama froze, his expression turning horrified.
"The me from this world… is actually female?!"
That voice—there was no way anyone would believe it belonged to a male.
Kurama was momentarily stunned. Tilting its head in an adorable manner, it said, "Tailed beasts don't have genders. My voice sounds like this because Hagoromo liked it, so he deliberately set it this way."
What the heck? Did I just find this Nine-Tails… cute?!
Kurama shuddered. "Stop talking like that! You're a tailed beast for crying out loud! What's with the cutesy act?"
He had already given up on the so-called dignity of a tailed beast—
But even so, he would never act all cute like that.
Yet the Nine-Tails in front of him looked genuinely puzzled. "But we've always been like this. Hagoromo told us that if we weren't cute, humans wouldn't like us."
"Wow. So you guys really are just pets now, huh?" Kurama grumbled, his expression dark.
He never expected the tailed beasts in this world to actually be treated like pets.
This is too much, old man Six Paths!
"Aren't you one too?" the other Nine-Tails asked in a confused tone.
"You've got to be kidding me." Kurama jumped up on the spot. "I'm the most fearsome and evil tailed beast! Even if the Otsutsuki drained me of all my chakra and left me to die, I would never become Naruto's pet!"
The other Nine-Tails silently watched Kurama's angry outburst. Then, all of a sudden, it smiled and sat down, gazing at him with a look full of… care.
Kurama squinted. "What's with that look?"
"Nothing," the other Nine-Tails replied with a gentle smile. "By the way, you mentioned another world. Did you come from a different world?"
"Yeah, so what?" Kurama sat down as well.
The other Nine-Tails spoke with a hint of longing. "That's amazing. I'd love to see the outside world too, but I can't leave. If I do, Naruto will die."
Its face was full of regret.
Kurama thought for a moment. "Your Jinchuriki is also Naruto? He's not in Konohagakure right now?"
"Mm-hmm." The other Nine-Tails nodded obediently. "Last night, he and Sasuke left Konohagakure. Some guy with a spiral mask manipulated them. Now, the two of them are planning to attack Konohagakure—they want to destroy the entire village."
Kurama froze. "Wait… you just told me all of this? Just like that?"
The other Nine-Tails nodded again. "Because Hagoromo said tailed beasts shouldn't lie. And since you're just like me, you must be a good person. Naruto and Sasuke aren't bad people either—they're just a little extreme. That's why I hope your Naruto and Sasuke can save them."
What kind of nonsense…
Kurama shook his head vigorously. "So, in simple terms, this world's Naruto and Sasuke are trying to destroy Konohagakure, and you want us—people from another world—to stop them?"
"That's right." The other Nine-Tails gave a sweet, innocent smile.
Kurama felt his head ache. "Stop smiling like that… it's annoying."
"Hm?" The other Nine-Tails tilted its head in confusion, looking as cute as ever.
Kurama felt even worse.
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