A Kitsune's Power

Chapter 1- Mistake

Chapter One – The Mistake

The stone came out of nowhere.

To be fair, even if he had realised it was incoming, Naruto would have had maybe a fifty/fifty chance of dodging it. Normally it would have been higher, but the portion of his mind that would normally notice such things was otherwise engaged with obsessing over the fact that the universe seemed to be naturally unfair.

He had been thrown out of the orphanage. Again.At the age of five.

Ironically, the stone that hit him had not been cast by one of the many ignorant villagers that hated him for reasons that he did not understand and had never been told. It simply fell from the top of the crumbling wall that he was curled up against, destabilised by the combination of aged mortar and the gentle, yet variable breeze.

Normally, it would have simply left a bruise. Had he been asleep, he would never have noticed since his healing would have fixed it by the morning, leaving maybe a bit of drying blood. If he had been awake, it would have led to some muttered cursing, a rubbing of the head and stomping off to find a less collapse-prone place to rest.

But he had been at the border between wakefullness and sleep, at the exact point between the two where awareness exists, but the will to move is absent. And the impact sent him spiralling into his own mind.

Inside Naruto's Mindscape

"Owww. What hit me?"

Naruto sat up and looked around, his irritation slowly vanishing to be replaced with an odd mixture of curiosity, unease and discomfort.

Pulling himself to his feet, he looked round at the walls and ceiling of the tunnel that he had found himself in, then he looked down and blinked.

"What the... is that water?"

The thin layer of liquid flowed over the stone flagstones and, having no reason to do otherwise, Naruto followed the flow to see where it went. After a journey that could have been as little as ten minutes or as long as ten hours, Naruto turned a corner and halted at the sight before him.

The tunnel was blocked by a set of massive gates, their hinges set deep into the walls. Where the gates met was a piece of paper marked only with the kanji for 'seal'. But it was what was behind the gates that caught Naruto's attention. A giant, shifting, red-furred shape that was unfolding and standing up. Nine tails extended from one end and at the other, a head containing glowing red eyes and sharp teeth almost as long as Naruto was high turned to look at him.

"Ah, so my new container has come to visit me." The mysterious voice said.

Naruto blinked and scratched his head.

"Container? Where am I? Who are you?" Naruto asked confused. The giant beast snorted.

"It is considered polite to introduce yourself before asking the name of another." The same mysterious voice said.

Naruto nodded, remembering many of the conversations he had overheard since very few people wanted to speak to him for some reason. Thinking back to how someone had talked to his favourite person, the old man he called Jiji and others called Hokage, Naruto bowed to the odd being.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto of Konohagakure. Might I know your name?" Naruto asked. A burst of laughter echoed through the tunnel.

"How polite! I think I'm going to like you. I am known to many as the Kitsune no Kyuubi. My true name I shall reveal to you if you prove yourself worthy. As for your other questions, we are inside your... mind, shall we say. It is far more complicated than that, but for now, that description will do. And as for what I meant by container, it is simple. When you were born, I was sealed inside you." The same voice said.