Of Harrowed Hearts

Angst incoming– FIRE IN THE HOLE
And most of it isn't even Sasuke
Shit just got intense tho
I Regret Nothing.

It's two months into his training when Naruto notices it first. It takes another four before he figures it might mean something's wrong.

It's one of his rest days, when it first happens. Kurama insists on having them once a week to let Naruto recuperate from the hell he's put through regularly, but that doesn't mean they're not training. Kurama had seen one of the Tokubetsu Jounin on training ground nineteen spitting senbon with the speed and force of gunshots at terrified Chunin, and he'd asked if Naruto wanted to start his inner strength and breath training early during rest days.

And Kurama, the sneaky demon, had known he'd say hell yes after watching what it could do in action.

So he's sitting on a rock by the waterfall in his impromptu training ground, and... breathing, essentially. But Naruto is starting to get where the strength part is coming from, steady inner power, and is exploring how it seems to work when he sort of loses track of time.

It's dark when he opens his eyes, which is weird, he hadn't thought he'd been at it for that long, and Kurama hadn't warned him when it was getting late like he usually did.

He sends a soft askance through the seal, a hint of a question. He gets no response.

Sighing, he drops back into his head, landing with practiced ease in the clean blue water of the seal space. It's so different from how it had been nearly three years ago, dark and oppressive and so much like the inside of a sewer. There's actual light now, though Naruto couldn't say where exactly it comes from. The pale gold glimmers in sideways like the rays of a sunset after a storm, refracting off the obsidian cage bars in spider webs of fractured light. It gives the air a dream-like quality, the sensation of dozing lightly in a warm room on a lazy autumn evening. The water, crystal clear and mountain spring cool, reflects the golden sunrays in waves across the smoky opaqueness of the walls, stripes of shining dust motes that wink softly as they float about.

The shafts illuminate the sleeping beast within, gilding Kurama's coat at the ends and making it look more like fire lilies and less like blood.

"Kurama?"

The word echoes softly like a call in a canyon, but the bijuu doesn't move.

The fox is lying close enough to the bars for Naruto to touch him, so he reaches up to run his hand softly over the fur of Kurama's snout just above his canine nose– a familiar gesture nowadays.

Kurama's crimson eyes blink open, dazed and unfocused, far from their usual keen stare.

~Kit?~ He murmurs. ~What time is it?~

An odd question, since Kurama usually knows the time better than Naruto does. "Nine-ish, I think. You fell asleep."

Kurama scrunches his nose a little, like he finds it hard to imagine how that happened. ~So it seems.~ He mumbles, shaking his head once like a dog as if to jostle away the fatigue. ~Did you finish your exercises?~

Naruto makes a face, but it's more put out than actually offended. "I promised I would, didn't I? I keep my promises. Even if the whole 'just breathing' thing was dumb at first."

~I know you do, fishcake.~ He says sleepily, already starting to doze again. Naruto doesn't try to keep him awake; instead he just strokes Kurama's fur some more until the beast's breathing evens out again.

It's a little weird, sure– Kurama needs considerably less sleep than he does usually, but if Kurama needs rest Naruto's not going to bother him. He stays in the seal space a little while longer, suddenly overwhelmingly grateful to this creature of blood and chakra that has become his family, has become yet another precious person. He hasn't told Kurama that little tidbit, isn't sure the great fox would appreciate it, but he holds the knowledge close and tucks it deep inside him. Another place to draw strength from.