A Stuttering Flame

Chapter 3

The great Kyuubi peered at the small blonde child from within his prison.

He sneered as she recklessly approached the OBVIOUSLY DANGEROUS ITEM in the middle of the seal room.

Since he didn't feel like dying today, he graciously forced his tails out through the bars towards the floating orb, intending to destroy it quickly, and rid them of whatever this threat was.

He suppressed all of his malice for the moment, forcing himself to remain calm so his energy would not leak outside his host's body and alert the sensors of the village.

Finally, the child noticed his tails approaching, and was startled out of her hyperfocus.

"Waaahh! What is that!" She cried as she took a tentative step back.

She watched as the several furry orange appendages surrounded the orange flame, and poised themselves to grab at it.

"No! Don't!" She cried as she reached forward. She didn't know why, but she just knew if that flame disappeared, something bad would happen.

However, it was too late. One of the appendages touched the small flame and was lit ablaze.

The flame traveled slowly and grew in strength. As they consumed the tail, the others began thrashing.

Naruto dodged the flailing tails as they began to burn as well. She didn't know what was happening and was just a little scared.

Whenever a tail was lit, it stopped its movement. When all but one had been taken, the last attempted to retreat, but the other 8 suddenly darted forward and grabbed it.

As the final tail burst into flames, a loud roar rang out in the room, and Naruto was forced to cover her ears.

"What was that?" She asked herself shakily.

She watched, enraptured as the tails filling the room slowly retreated further into the room, disappearing into a darkened area behind giant barred gates.

The original flame stayed where it had been all along, and flickered quietly.

She stared into the darkness with trepidation, unsure if she was in danger or not.

The darkness stared back, with gleaming red eyes.

Kurama opened his eyes.

Gone was the battlefield, devoid of life.

Gone was his Naruto, Her cheeks stained with tears of grief.

Gone was the overwhelming stench of death and decay.

Instead, he saw before him the bars of his old prison, and beyond them was the little girl Naruto whom he had detested and sneered at not so long ago.

He had done it, he had managed to make it to the past. Now, all he had to do was drag HIS Naruto back as well.

He watched as she cautiously approached his cell, her hesitance showing in every step.

"Hello? Who's there?" She asked with all the confidence she could manage to muster.

"Naruto..." He said with his booming voice.

"How do you know my name?" Naruto asked, her suspicion level rising rapidly. "Who are you, 'ttebayo!" Her verbal tic she had inherited from her mother surfaced due to the fear she was valiantly trying to hide.

"Naruto, you need to be strong. Something terrible has happened. There isn't much time for explanations, so I'll just say this, and explain the rest later." He paused for a moment to mull over how he should word this to her. "The future is in danger. YOUR future is in danger. I have come back to this point in time to give you a chance to change things for the better."