As The Kyuubi no Yoko in Naruto

"It began on the night of your birth," the voice started, then paused -now no longer in the form of a man, but more a presence.

"No. That's not entirely true. It began long before, when I was first sealed into your mother. Years of darkness, of hatred, of being treated as nothing more than a power source to be contained..."

The bitterness in those words felt ancient, deep-rooted.

"My... mother?" The word felt strange in his mouth. No one had ever spoken to him about his parents. "She was like me?"

"Yes. Kushina Uzumaki." The voice spoke her name with a careful neutrality. "She was my previous vessel, before that man ripped me from her seal."

Naruto let that sink in. Kushina Uzumaki. His mother had a name. Had been like him. Had carried this same being within her.

"What... what was she like?"

The warmth shifted slightly. "Fierce. Determined. Her chakra was..." A pause. "Strong-willed, like yours. But she kept me caged, sealed away in darkness. As was her duty to the village."

"And what happened to her?" Naruto asked, though part of him already knew the answer.

"The extraction killed her. Just as that man knew it would." The voice grew softer. "But before she died, she and the Fourth Hokage worked together to seal me into you, to protect the village."

Naruto absorbed this in silence. His mother's name. Her death. The Fourth Hokage's involvement. Each piece of information felt like both a gift and a burden.

"The Fourth Hokage believed you would be strong enough to contain my power," the voice continued carefully. "He died performing the seal, giving his life to imprison me once more."

The words were measured, revealing truth while holding back more. The warmth remained steady, comforting, waiting to see how its vessel would process these fragments of his history.

"Tell me more," Naruto whispered. "About my mother. About that night. About everything."

The voice seemed to consider this request. "Are you truly sure, kit? Some truths are... heavy to bear."

"I need to know," Naruto insisted. "I've lived my whole life not knowing anything about where I came from. Who I am. Why I was chosen for this."

"Very well," the warmth curled closer, protective and familiar. 

"Your mother was known as the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero," the voice began, almost contemplative. "The villagers who now shun you once feared her temper, respected her strength. She came from a clan of seal masters, the Uzumaki, chosen specifically to be my vessel."

Naruto absorbed this, each detail precious. "A clan? I had a clan?"

"The Uzumaki clan was powerful, feared for their sealing techniques and massive chakra reserves. But that same power led to their destruction. Your mother was brought to Konoha as a child, chosen to replace my previous vessel."

The warmth paused, letting Naruto process this before continuing.

"That night, when Madara attacked, she had just given birth to you. She was weakened, vulnerable. The perfect moment for him to strike." There was genuine rage beneath those words, carefully controlled.

"He extracted me, turned me into his puppet, forced me to attack the very village I had been bound to protect."

"And the Fourth Hokage stopped you," Naruto said quietly. "By sealing you in me."

"He believed the village would see you as a hero," the warmth replied softly. "That they would understand the sacrifice made that night. The price paid to protect them."

The implications hung heavy in the silence that followed. The village's hatred, the years of isolation, the cold stares and whispered words - all despite what was meant to be a hero's legacy.

"Why?" Naruto's voice cracked slightly. "Why did he choose me? Out of all the children in the village, why..."

The warmth seemed to hesitate, as if weighing its next words carefully.

"The seal required... specific conditions," the voice explained carefully. "An Uzumaki's chakra, a newborn's adaptable pathways. And..." Another measured pause. "Someone he believed could handle this burden."

Naruto felt something unspoken in those words, some truth still being held back. But before he could question it, the voice continued.

"He died believing the village would honor his choice, would see you as their protector. Instead..." The warmth curled closer, almost protective. "Instead, they let their fear turn to hatred. Let that hatred blind them to what you truly are."

"And what am I?" Naruto whispered. "A vessel? A weapon? The demon they think I am?"

"You are what you have always been, kit. A child who deserved better than their fear. Better than their ignorance." The voice grew softer. "That's why I couldn't remain silent. Couldn't watch you suffer alone, believing their hatred was deserved."

Naruto sat with this, feeling the weight of years of unanswered questions. Every birthday spent alone, every cold stare, every whispered curse - all because of a choice made the day he was born.

"There's more you're not telling me," he finally said. "About the Fourth Hokage. About why he really chose me."

The warmth shifted slightly. "Some truths need time, kit. You've learned much tonight already. Perhaps we should-"

"No," Naruto interrupted. "No more waiting. No more half-truths. I need to know everything."

A long silence followed, heavy with unspoken things.

"Fine," the voice finally replied. "But remember - you asked for this truth..."

"The Fourth Hokage," the voice began with careful deliberation, "would not have asked another parent to sacrifice their child when he had one of his own."

The words hung in the darkness, their meaning taking long moments to fully register.

"What?" Naruto's voice was barely audible. "What are you saying?"

"Think, kit. Why you specifically? Why would he choose you, an Uzumaki child, born that very night?" The warmth remained steady, letting him piece it together himself.

Naruto felt his world tilting. "He... he was..."

"Your father." The voice was gentle, almost apologetic. "Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, sealed me into his own son."

The silence that followed was deafening. Naruto's mind raced through every story he'd heard about the Fourth, every time he'd looked up at that face on the monument, every dream he'd had of becoming Hokage himself.

"My... father?" The word felt wrong, foreign. "The Fourth Hokage was my father and he... he..."

"Chose the village," the warmth completed softly. "As Hokage, he chose to sacrifice his own son's happiness, his own wife's life, to protect Konoha. He died believing they would see you as a hero."

Naruto's emotions warred within him - pride, anger, confusion, betrayal. The man he'd admired, whose acknowledgment he'd sought through dreams of becoming Hokage, had been his father. Had sealed a demon into him. Had left him alone.

"While he died a hero," the voice continued, careful and measured, "you lived as their scapegoat. The very village he died protecting turned their hatred on his legacy. On his son."

The words struck deep, touching years of buried pain and loneliness.

"I..." Naruto's voice cracked. "I don't know how to feel about this."

"You don't have to know right now, kit," the warmth assured him. "Some truths take time to understand."

"But he was the Fourth Hokage," Naruto said, his voice rising slightly. "He was... he was supposed to be the greatest of them all. The hero who saved the village. My... my father."

The last word came out bitter, confused. The warmth shifted, responding to his turmoil.

"He was a great shinobi," the voice acknowledged. "A powerful leader. But being Hokage meant putting the village first. Above everything. Above everyone." A gentle pause. "Even above his own son."

Naruto thought of all the times he'd proclaimed he would become Hokage. How he'd stared up at that face on the monument, dreaming of acknowledgment, of proving himself worthy.

"All this time," he whispered, "I've been trying to make them acknowledge me. Trying to prove I could be like... like him."

"You wanted their love," the warmth responded softly. "Their recognition. It's natural, kit. But while you sought their approval, while you suffered their hatred... I was here. Watching. Protecting. Choosing you over everything else."

The contrast wasn't subtle, but it struck deep nonetheless. His father had chosen the village. The demon sealed within him had chosen him.

"Why?" Naruto asked, "Why did you choose me? Really?"

The warmth was silent for a long moment, as if considering its answer carefully.

"I already told you." the voice replied.

And yes, he did, yet Naruto still had trouble seeing what made him special enough that the demon began to care for him.

"There's something else," Naruto said after a long silence, deciding to change the topic. "Something about Madara. You said he's still out there, still planning..."

"Yes." The warmth grew heavier, more protective. "He'll come for you eventually. For us. It's why the imprints have become so active, so desperate to warn you. They can sense what's coming. They are after all those who can hear much from the cries of even the earlier dead."

"What does he want?"

"Power. My power. And he's not alone - there are others who seek to capture those like me, to use us as weapons." The voice grew careful, measured. "The graduation exam tomorrow... it makes you suspectible in their eyes. A shinobi. A target."

Naruto felt the weight of this new understanding. "Is that why you've been teaching me? Preparing me?"

"Partly," the warmth admitted. "But not entirely. Knowledge is protection, kit. Understanding what you carry, what you face - it's the first step to surviving what's coming."

"And the imprints? Now that I know the truth, will they stop trying to warn me?"

"No," the voice replied softly. "I suspect they're only beginning. There's more they're trying to tell you, more they're trying to show.

About the seals, about protection, about survival. But they are not omniscient, do not expect them to never make mistakes, nor always have the answer for you."

Soon enough the world started to dim, and the warmth started to fade.

"I suppose we'll be able to continue this conversation at a later date. For now, digest what you've heard..."

In Sasuke's room, Naruto's eyes slowly opened, finding his friend still awake, watching over him.

The imprints gathered in the corners seemed different now - less frantic, more purposeful. As if acknowledging that their first message had finally been delivered.

Yet, this was only, the beginning.

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(Author note: Hello everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter!

Do tell me how you found it?

Also, did you catch Kurama's subtle manipulation?

It will take a little while till we see things from the pov of Kurama again.

So yeah, I hope to see you all later,

Bye!)