Whirlwind Fighters (NaruTema)

#17 Kurama

Naruto heard the gasp as he stabbed his sword towards his opponent, his sight obscured by the smoke that had appeared. Then he heard a second gasp and felt his blood freeze as he turned his head, his eyes darting towards the direction of the second gasp.

His vision flew over the form of the Akatsuki member he had thought to have stabbed, although he only registered that in the back of his mind as his eyes landed on his fiance, who had a black rod sticking out of her chest, with blood slowly beginning to drip from the wound. Naruto's eyes widened as he fully realized what had happened, replaying the moment in his mind as the two Akatsuki substituted with each other and the long haired man was impaled by Naruto.

"No." He whispered, his hand leaving the hilt of his blade, as he sprinted towards the body of his girlfriend. Catching her sinking body in his arms, Naruto felt tears coming to his eyes as Temari smiled weakly at him.

"I'm cold Naru." She whispered, lifting her arms in an attempt to pull him closer to her. Naruto's heart broke in two, as he felt the tears stream down his face, as he pulled the girl closer to himself, as much as the rod in her chest allowed that. Feeling the breathing of the girl start to get ragged, Naruto slowly lowered himself down, placing the blonde head on his lap, smiling sadly at the pain he saw in the teal eyes. The girl wanted to say something but no sound came out of her mouth. Naruto cried silently as the girl's breath slowed down and she closed her eyes.

Looking up he saw the orange haired man, his arm still stretched out.

To say that he was angry, would be wrong. He only felt sad. But he knew that he had to somehow transfer this sadness into some strength to defend the rest of the village. A single blink and he found himself in a dark place with water covering the floor. Remembering the way, he walked through the dark hallways. Arriving in front of a wooden door he went through and was greeted by a blinding light.

"What do you want?" A giant red fox asked as he lowered his gaze on the black haired boy standing in front of his cage.

"You already know that, don't you?" The boy shot back, knowing that the beast had access to his senses. A smile crept on the foxes face, as he nodded.

"So, you know what question I have for you." Naruto asked again, after the fox had not said anything for a few moments.

"Isn't it proper to introduce yourself before demanding something?" The fox asked, as he came closer to the metal bars separating himself from the boy. Sighing, the boy sat down.

"I am Naruto Hatake." The red animal laughed at that, as if he knew something Naruto didn't, but the boy didn't think about it as the beast began to speak.

"Well Naruto. I am Kurama. And regarding your request... What do I get out of it?" Naruto was taken aback by that. He hadn't expected the fox to be so forthcoming about his request, but apparently he was considering it.

"What would you want?" The boy asked, earning a smirk from Kurama.

"I don't suppose that you can unlock that seal?" The giant animal asked, only getting a disbelieving look from the boy opposite him. Bursting out laughing, Naruto was again taken aback by the attitude of the biju. He always had heard that these beings were extremely brutal and hostile. Kurama seemed to be almost friendly towards him.

"Ok, but for real, I want you to give me a nicer cage. I want to be able to stretch my legs. If you can do that for me, I will lend you my chakra should you need it." The fox stated, after a few moments of laughing. Narrowing his eyes the black haired boy thought that this seemed a bit too easy, as he quickly remodelled the part of his mindscape where Kurama's cage stood. A quick flash and everything changed. The floor was made of grass, there was a small hill with a cave, the sun smiled down and the bars had disappeared. Looking around, Kurama felt the new necklace, upon closer inspection he saw the seal engraved on every link of it.