The Path of a Shinobi (Reader x various)

Waterfall of Truth

"Even after everything they've done to you?" She lifted her head up and there were fresh tears in her eyes that had yet to spill.

"Yes...I'm leaving all that behind. So....thank you for everything. You're one of the reasons why I am who I am now. Everything is going to be okay now."

She removed her hand from my shirt and dropped her hands to the side. Her body started to slowly evaporate and all that was left were fragments of her that floated up to the sky.

My surroundings began to change and I was brought back out of my subconscious. I stood up and looked over my shoulder and gleefully smiled at them. Naruto engulfed me in a hug and we gave each other a high five for completing the first step.

"It's too soon to celebrate now, fool, ya fool." Bee settled us down and he walked on over to us. "Shall we try to control the Nine Tails' and Eleven Tails' power now? From now on, I'll be your instructor! Ya better prepare yourself or else you'll suffer death and torture."

"All right!" Exclaimed Naruto and Bee has us follow him behind the waterfall and when we stepped in, we saw a temple.

"This is where you'll fight your tailed beast."

We walked down a long straightaway and passed by two rows of headless statues.

"Since long ago, this has been a sacred place where those selected as Jinchuriki have come to undergo the Purification Ceremony," explained Bee as he brought us to a dead end and on the wall, there was a statue of the head of a beast with its mouth parted open. "It's set up here so you can talk to your beast in a special way. It's right inside this building."

We stared at the wall and wondered what would be on the other side for us.

"Go ahead and stick your head into the statue's mouth. If there isn't any darkness inside your heart, the door will open. However, if there's even the slightest bit of darkness inside your heart, the gate won't open. And the gate will bite off your head and tear you apart. All those headless statues were Jinchurikis who weren't....sincere. Do you consent?"

I gulped and reached for my neck in fear that I would have my head bitten off. The first step is connected to this and if I really hadn't accepted myself back there, then I would still be stuck fighting my other half.

Captain Yamato wasn't on board with this finding it too risky, but Naruto wanted to go through with this and volunteered to go first.

He proceeded to stick his head inside and as we anxiously waited for something to happen, he screamed and tried pulling himself out.

Captain Yamato and I quickly grabbed him and pulled him out and saw that his head was gone. I stumbled away from his body in shock and frantically tried to figure out something to do.

"No! How could this happen?!" Captain Yamato looked frightened and guilty as he almost collapsed to his knees.

"Just kidding!" Naruto popped his head out from within his jacket and found the prank he pulled to be rather amusing. "There's a switch in there. It's a habit. I couldn't help myself." Killer Bee joined in on the laughter and mentioned that he did the same thing too and that the statue didn't actually work, it was just broken.

"Don't scare us like that!" I whacked him upside the head and he almost fell forward and ended up apologizing to me.

Captain Yamato ended up scolding them for nearly scaring him half to death.

The door slid open and we followed Bee inside a vast area that was painted in pink and purple. He shut the door and Naruto was the first one to go up.

Him and Bee were facing each other in a cross cross position and bumped their fists and kept them connected. Naruto closed his eyes and so began the battle inside him.

Time ticked away and there was a time where the Nine Tails' chakra seeped from his body and covered half of his body and Captain Yamato has to step in to suppress it, but it eventually stopped due to an unknown reason.

It had seeped back into his body and when he opened his eyes, a smile was plastered on his face.

"All right!" Naruto pumped his fist in the air and it turned out to be a success for him. His appearance had changed and his body was now coated in yellow chakra that resembled a flickering flame with a circular swirl on his stomach.

"That's so cool!" I gushed over his new look and I wondered if I would have the same appearance. His eyes quickly farted to mine and he stepped in front of me.

"I met her!" His eyes were full of life and adoration as he stared at me and I raised a brow at him. "My mom! I got to talk to her!"

My eyes widened and a smile broke out on my face. "No way!" I grabbed his hands and eagerly wanted to know about her. "What's she like?!"

"She's so strong and beautiful! And I found out how her and dad fell in love! Man, I wish I could've kept talking to her!" He sighed feeling content as he recalled the only moments he shared with her and I couldn't be any happier for him. He now knew who both his parents were.

I let his hands go and slipped my arms around him. "I'm really glad you got to meet her. You deserved to have the love of a parent."

"Yeah...I know how it feels like now. Because of them and because of y-"

Captain Yamato cleared his throat and interrupted Naruto from finishing what he had to say. I had an idea as to what Naruto was about to say, but I wanted to hear him say it.

We let go of each other and I looked at Naruto one last time.

"Guess it's my turn then. Wish me luck." I took in a deep breath and seated myself on the ground. I extended my arm and bumped fists with Bee and kept my fist there as I closed my eyes.

I entered my subconscious and found a large pair of glowing red eyes glaring at me from behind bars. She growled at me as she laid on the shallow water that was soaking her white fur.

"It's been awhile hasn't it, Eleven Tails?"