A Subtle Shift

5| One And Only

Naruto stood in Lady Tsunade's office the first thing the next morning. His headband sat neatly on his forehead as nerves got the better of him. He knew how the ninja routine was like, but he still needed to adjust to his new schedule.

Beside him was Sakura, Sasuke, and Sai, and then Kakashi on his other side. The three Chunin must have told Kakashi what went down the other day, but none of them knew Naruto actually went to the woman's house. He decided to keep that to himself just for safety measures.

Kiyomi had accepted him and even apologized to him. He was welcome to visit any time he wanted, which made Kasaru and Akira ecstatic, and Isamu seemed happy at the news as well. Naruto ended up staying for dinner, which was the first family experience he ever felt. It almost made him cry.

Almost.

"Danzo," Lady Tsunade was saying, "is still onto you, Naruto. I debated on whether or not we should confront him with the new information from Sai, but as long as he isn't aware you're getting protection from us, he won't up his game, so his threats should stay at the bare minimum. Being with Team 7 will assure your safety." She beckoned to a woman beside her, who held a clipboard and a rather fancy-looking pig. "Shizune, the mission."

"Right," Shizune said, handing Lady Fifth the clipboard. Tsunade stared at it for a second before nodding.

"Naruto, I know I promoted you to Chunin, but I still need to test your skills," Lady Tsunade said, flicking her hair. It was a rather beautiful Konoha morning, but Naruto wasn't sure if that was because of what went down last night.

"So, I'm assigning you to an A-rank mission along with Team 7. If you feel like the rest of Team 7 is relying on you throughout the mission, it's because they are. Kakashi will let you handle most of the work and will only step in if necessary. His reports back to me will determine whether or not you really are qualified for the title of Chunin. That will involve your ethicalness and your ability to work and protect your comrades."

Tsunade lifted her head to look at him, more curiously than anything. "And also... if what you say about you befriending... Kurama... is true, then I want to know how you two collaborate with each other. For starters, how do you communicate with him?"

Naruto blinked at her before dipping his head calmly. "He sort of just talks to me in my head. And I can either choose to talk back verbally or think back to him."

Sai spoke up before anyone else could. "So, would that mean the seal has weakened drastically? Or does the seal not affect communication at all?"

Naruto glanced at him. "Huh? Oh, that thing? The seal is off completely."

Judging from the absolute horrified expressions from everyone in the office, he probably shouldn't have said that. He shrunk slightly under their gazes.

"Off completely?" Sakura cried, taking a terrified step back.

"You idiot," Kurama growled, letting out a heavy sigh that rattled Naruto's brain. "And I thought you were getting smarter."

"What?" Shizune's face drained as her voice caught in her throat.

"What do you mean off completely?" Lady Tsunade demanded, her face flushing of color, too. "Y-you mean the Nine-Tails could come out whenever it wants to?!"

"Naruto, why didn't you already mention this?" Kakashi asked, his eyes narrowing slightly as Sasuke also got on the defensive.

Naruto raised his hands. "Doesn't this just prove all the more that Kurama's changed? Like you said, Lady Fifth, he could have extracted himself from me if he seriously wanted to, but he cares about me. And he won't harm anybody I care about, that's certain. Please look at him from a new light."