After bidding farewell to Teuchi and Aya for the morning, he set off towards the agreed eting spot.
Sakura was already waiting just as he was running, trying to catch his breath. When she spotted him, she grinned and waved him over.
"You're late," she teased, shaking her head in amusent.
Naruto chuckled, feeling a bit sheepish. "Sorry, sorry! I got caught up at Ichiriku's."
Sakura laughed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "That's right. I forgot you work there now. Well, I'm glad you're having fun there. But enough talking about restaurants; I'm starving already."
Naruto was more than happy to make up for lost ti. "Don't have to tell twice!"
Inside the café, she sat across from him. He was oddly quiet. When her drink ca, she absently stirred it, sensing that he was about to share sothing significant—sothing that she hadn't heard from him yet.
Why else would he be so quiet?
Naruto finally t her eyes to whisper, "Hey, Sakura, what do you know about a Jinchūriki?"
"Huh?" Sakura asked as she sipped her tea. Her eyes darted around as she wondered why he brought his voice so low. The place was filled with civilians and shinobi alike, and while she doubted anyone could hear them over the chatter, she decided to play it cool. "What do you an exactly?"
"I an," Naruto said, staring down at his cup. "What do you know about Tailed Beasts and their hosts? Ya know, like Gaara."
Sakura had honestly only interacted with Gaara once, and that was during the Chūnin Exams. He didn't quite give her a good impression, and ever since then, she never heard from him again—all thanks to William, Margaret, Jada, Alex, and Jasper stopping the Sand from invading the Leaf.
"Sorry, Naruto," she answered, "but I don't really know anything about Gaara or what a Jinchūriki is."
He took a sip of his tea, wondering how to explain things. "Well, you see, Tailed Beasts are special, and there are nine of them. I'm the host for Kurama."
"Who's that?"
"He's the Nine-Tailed Fox living inside of ."
This was actually her first ti hearing this. While yes, she witnessed Naruto use the Nine-Tails' chakra twice, but she never actually knew what it was. All she understood was that Naruto had a special type of chakra that no one bothered to explain to her. Not even Kakashi.
"You're not joking, right?" she asked. "Where is he then? In your jacket pocket? Under your shoe? Or maybe in that head of yours?"
"He's actually inside this seal," Naruto revealed. "Do you at least know what happened on October tenth, the day I was born?"
Sakura's composure faltered as she let out a shaky breath. "That was when the Nine-Tails attacked the village, right?"
"Yeah," Naruto nodded, still unable to et her eyes. "Sothing like that. I can't explain it as well as Will, but that was actually the sa day I was born. So when my dad couldn't kill Kurama, he had to figure out another way to save everyone—"
"...So he put it inside of soone," she finished.
Then she looked at him with fresh understanding, feeling empathetic.
"It's okay," he flatly said, gazing up at her. "That's why nobody liked and why shopkeepers always kicked out."
Sakura's heart pained at the mory of their childhood. "And why we were always told to stay away from you..."
"Yeah... And that's also why I couldn't do certain jutsu but still graduated from the academy. Even now, I actually still can't do certain techniques like I want. Ha-ha."
"But why are you telling this now?" she wondered.
It's then he reached into his jacket and pulled out a small book. "This belonged to my mom. She was Kurama's host before ."
Sakura's eyes widened in astonishnt. "You an your mom was like you?"
"Yeah, you could say it all runs in the family," he replied with a bitter smile.
He opened the book to show her its contents. Each page was filled with handwritten notes, drawings, and various stains from years of use. He smiled as he poured over the pages, and Sakura couldn't help but admire him; he had matured in ways she hadn't noticed before.
"Will, Pervy Sage, and I were in search of this book," he explained. "Sothing I never knew was that my mom was also never able to perform regular jutsus because of Kurama. Whatever she did learn, she wrote it all in here."
"How did you know about this?"
"She told when—" he paused, wondering how to explain that his mother and father transferred their chakra, awaiting the day he would learn to harness Kurama's chakra. "Let's just say she left behind sothing to help find it."
"So then... How does the Nine-Tails—I an Kurama—stop you from learning jutsus?"
Naruto took a mont to explain to her what a Jinchūriki was. Using the book as a reference, the two sat there learning about the other Tailed Beasts and what special qualities they give their hosts. So gain stronger senses, and so gain an extra chakra nature.
"And what does Kurama give you?" she asked, genuinely curious.
"He umm... he doesn't give anything; he actually limits ."
"What the heck does that an, Naruto?"
"I can only learn nine jutsus. Like, Kurama can breathe fire, but I can't do sothing as cool as that."
Sakura stared in shock. That's all? Just nine? She couldn't fathom how he had managed to do so much with such limitations.
"But wait, Naruto! I've seen you do more than nine, like the different Rasengans you use."
"Oh, those are just variants from my shape transformation." Naruto then gasped. "Wait, don't tell you didn't know about variants!"
"Of course I did!" she said, blushing before looking away. Naruto caught her off guard with that one. "You just confused with the number, is all."
"Well, there's sothing pretty cool about only knowing nine techniques," Naruto said, pumping his fist. "I've already perfected the first six!"
"In what sense?" she pressed, feeling intrigued.
Naruto took the ti to explain that the six out of the nine techniques he knows can all be considered s-rank jutsus depending on how much chakra he pours into them.
For instance, all the basic techniques, like the Transformation technique and the Substitution techniques, are perford on levels that other ninjas can't do. When Naruto transforms, he can not only fool all types of dōjutsus, but he can also maintain his transformation even when unconscious or if his chakra is sealed.
"It's not that impressive," he said, humbling himself. "Since I'm the host of such a powerful Tailed Beast, I can't even learn simple techniques. Actually—ha-ha—I'm already locked out of them."
Sakura forced herself to smile. While all that seed interesting, she couldn't forget all the tis that her parents warned her of Naruto, often calling him a devil.
"Naruto, I want you to know sothing," she said in a soft voice. "I don't think you're a demon like they said. To , you're Naruto, a good teammate and a good friend." Then she slamd her palms on the table, practically knocking it over. "Anyone who thinks you're a monster will have to answer to , got it?!"
Naruto couldn't tell if he should be either nervous or joyful. "Gee, thanks, Sakura."
"Which reminds ," she said, sitting down, "what are your other nine jutsus?"
Naruto scratched his head, trying to rember them. It was only nine, but he honestly had to think of what they were.
"Oh!" he said, rembering one. "Apart from my Shadow Clones and the Rasengan, Kurama gave this neat healing jutsu—or, I really don't know what to call it."
Sakura was impressed as he tried to explain its contents. And from what she heard, she couldn't equate the technique to healing; it sounded more like regeneration. All in all, she was content that he was strong.
A mont of reflection passed between them. The two finally hit a touchy subject.
"I still miss him, you know," she suddenly admitted, referring to Sasuke.
" too," Naruto somberly replied. "But I haven't given up on him. He's still our teammate."
"You're right," she said. "I didn't forget that promise you made ."
Naruto nodded.
It was clear that despite their teammate abandoning the village, they very much still had hopes that he would one day return. That's just how strong their bonds were.
The rest of the mont was spent eating their brunch. The topic of Sasuke was drowned out by their long-awaited al. Once they finished, Naruto looked at the sun from inside and rembered that he had another plan for the day.
"Hey, Sakura, can I pay you later? I really gotta go!"
"What?!" she said, unsure if she had even brought her purse.
"I promise, I'll pay you back!"
With that, he scurried out of the restaurant, leaving the pink-haired girl to handle the bill.
Today, several Jōnin were available and had agreed to help him train. And who was going to help him? None other than the big three—Asuma, Kakashi, and Might Guy.
This opportunity was a gift from Margaret, who'd encouraged him to harness his potential ever since he'd co to terms with his past as a reincarnation of one of Hagoromo's sons.
Margaret and the others believed that taming the Nine-Tails would be crucial for him, but Naruto knew that was easier said than done.
The Nine-Tails was still skeptical about Naruto. Despite all his progress, the fox remained unconvinced, viewing Naruto as weak and overly reliant on its Tailed Beast chakra. And although Naruto learned its na, it would take a little more than that to really earn its trust.
He couldn't tell what the fox's problem was; he was, after all, a reincarnation of Asura Ōtsutsuki. William had even gone as far as to speak to the fox, explaining to it that Naruto was also the boy Hagoromo spoke of that would unite the Tailed Beast.
That revelation only made the Nine-Tails more skeptical, unwilling to believe unless Naruto truly showed it sothing aningful.
While Naruto didn't understand what that ant, the other players ca to terms that it was because Naruto hadn't been in enough battles to prove to the Nine-Tails that he was worth trusting.
For instance, Naruto had gone through countless fights throughout his career. Perhaps the biggest one that really opened the Nine-Tails' eyes was when he fought seven other reanimated Jinchūriki.
An equivalent event like that hasn't happened yet, so they all decided to leave things like that for now, content that Naruto at least knew his own background. In ti, the Nine-Tails would surely trust Naruto and allow him to use its full power.
With this in mind, Naruto had committed himself to training hard. He wanted to prove himself, not just to the Nine-Tails, but to everyone who believed in him.
When he finally arrived at the training grounds, he scanned the area, only to find Kakashi, Asuma, and Might Guy were nowhere to be seen. He sighed, tapping his foot impatiently since he just blew a date with Sakura way too early.
Naruto stood there for about half an hour, looking at the sky, then the ground, wondering when they'd arrive.
"Kakashi-sensei, can't you at least show up on ti for once?" he grumbled under his breath.
Just as he was getting lost in his irritation, he heard footsteps approaching. When he turned to look, it was Jada who walked into the clearing.
"Hey, Jada! I didn't expect to see you here! What's up?"
Jada smiled back at him and said, "I heard Marge set this training up for you, so I wanted to see how it goes."
Naruto wondered, crossing his arms over his head. "Why isn't she here then?"
Jada sighed, rolling her eyes playfully. "She can be a little complicated sotis."
What Jada really wanted to tell Naruto was that Margaret thought training with those three special Jōnin was beneath her level—they would waste her ti. That included Might Guy.
Still, Naruto wished she would have co to at least support him. The last they spoke was at Iruka's funeral.
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