I ended up going to the Hidden Leaf again, my reasoning along the lines of I'm going to pick up Kakashi and Sasuke and maybe a few others and fight Tobi with them.

My reasoning did not include this.

I wasn't happy about the idea of warning them before I came. If I did that, then they would be ready, and if they were ready I had to stay on my toes. Never can trust these people.

But, I alerted them of my arrival anyways, via Son Goku. Kurama contacted him and told him to let them know I was coming.

And there was a whole-ass welcome party to greet me.

"It's Naruto!" 

I jumped. When someone screams, "It's Naruto," it usually doesn't mean anything good. 

But, it was just Rock Lee. I don't know why that was weirdly relieving. 

It wasn't, after a while. With Rock Lee was the entirety of the genin (now chunin and jounin) that were my classmates (maybe friends? Probably not) at some point. 

And they all looked positively amazed to see me.

"Wow. Hi Naruto!" Choji shouted, a bag of chips in his hand.

"Uh...hi?" I furrowed my brow. Since when did they give a fuck?

Choji was one of the nice ones, though, so I was easy on him.

"They insisted." Sasuke's voice said from beside me. I knew he was there, and didn't turn to look at him when I nodded. That was enough explanation.

I noticed the calculative look from Sasuke out of the corner of my eye. He was far too good at picking apart my reactions.

"So? What's this all about?" I asked.

"The Yon - I mean, Son Goku," Ino corrected when Shikamaru sent her a pointed look, "told us why you were coming. We got a team ready to help."

I stared, gaze raking over the group gathered in front of me. "All of you?"

Ino nodded. Son Goku's chakra, the small part that he gave me, flared up in that moment. He was laughing at me.

Right. I forgot he could communicate with me directly, since I had some of his chakra.

'Son Goku?' my voice, even in my head, was small.

"I don't like these humans, Naruto. That Uchiha brat and a couple of his friends are the only tolerable ones."

'Huh?'

"I'm giving them all to you."

'Uh...okay?'

Son Goku laughed again. 

I wasn't sure before, but now I know: All the Bijuu are weird.

Kurama huffed from the back of my mind, but didn't say anything.

"...okay?"

They were all staring at me curiously. I sighed, exasperated.

"Son Goku is telling me that he's come to care about all of you and wants me to take care of you."

The lava chakra that I got from Son Goku flared up again.

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I SAID BRAT."

I wisely didn't respond, stifling a snicker.

The chakra he gave me still had some of his influence. The chakra he gave me wasn't just chakra, it was a piece of his consciousness, a way to communicate through chakra. But that meant he still had a small bit of control over it. I didn't bother trying to stop him when some of Son Goku's chakra began to leak out and form the shape of the Bijuu himself on my shoulder.

When he was fully formed, the group in front of me stared in shock (except for Sasuke, who was used to this shit, and Shikamaru, who was the guy who fell asleep during an invasion and never reacted to anything). 

Their jaws touched the floor when the mini Son Goku smacked me in the head.

"Kurama!" he growled, "Teach your damn Jinchuriki some manners!"

I could feel the mini Kurama form on my other shoulder as well. He was pretending to curl up and sleep, but I could see the quirking at the corner of his mouth. 

"Is that...the Kyuubi?" Ino muttered.

Kurama wouldn't reveal himself like this without reason, even if he was disguising that reason for now with the excuse of publicly bickering with Son Goku. Oh no.

"He's like that with everyone. Get used to it." Kurama snarked.

Here I was, standing right outside the gates of Konoha with Sasuke secretly smirking at me and the entirety of my old year mates watching me with two Bijuu arguing on my shoulders like children. 

My life in a sentence. 

"You're a damn brat! Both of you are! Twisting my words..." Son Goku grumbled. There was no bite in his tone. No doubt he noticed Kurama's behavior as well. He wouldn't still be here if he didn't.

Sure enough, Kurama soon stood, and the lazy pretense was gone. It was as if it was never there in the first place.

"Anyways." Kurama's killing intent began to leak through, "This is not why I'm here."

Son Goku fell silent, also dropping his downright cuddly act. The two of them were formidable. Even I, who was used to the feel of Bijuu chakra and was normally unaffected by these things, felt the chill in the air when Kurama turned his sharp gaze on the group before us.

Sasuke tensed beside me, but didn't move. 

The others were feeling the full force of Kurama's chakra. Any shinobi near the area would feel it too.

Kurama's glare was a piercing, burning crimson. I knew that glare, the glare that ripped a hole through the strongest defenses, the glare that promised a grisly, bloody death.

And then it was gone. Kurama fur, which had been spiked with red and radiating a powerful terror, lay flat again. The chibi form of Kurama settled, dropping back down to curl up on my shoulder.

Son Goku's gaze was flat and hard. He said nothing.

"You're attempts are petty at best. I cannot even call them admirable." Kurama said. Beneath the nonchalant tone lay a diamond-hard warning.

Nobody spoke for a moment. I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Kurama. Please leave them alone."

Kurama cracked open an eyelid and looked at me. "I probably won't speak to them like this again. I will say my part."

His voice brooked no argument. I could tell he was planning this for some time. He absolutely hated talking to most humans, but he'd forced himself to face many of his least favorite people recently. 

He was okay with Sasuke and Tsunade. He tolerated the five Kage, simply because he hated them but didn't know them personally.

I didn't know how much mercy he'd grant to the people in front of me, though, because unlike the five Kage, they were direct influences in my life. Perhaps, you could say, not in a good way.

Kurama fixed that blood-red stare on them, and a collective shudder ran through the group. Sasuke was looking at Kurama, now, eyebrows furrowed in what looked like worry.

"I have been watching, ever since you all were kids. You may not have known it, but I was always around wherever Naruto was. I was privy to everything he saw, and everything he experienced. I've seen every single bit of the abuse directed towards him."

That sounded creepy when he said it like that, but it was true. I couldn't deny that.

"I have also seen that none of you have ever tried to stop it. If anything, some of you encouraged it." a gleaming eye flicked over to Sakura, "Even his own teammates."

He closed his eyes again. "I'm not here to have a parent-teacher conference or some shit with you. I am simply stating the facts. I was there when you lot called him a demon." he opened his eyes again, and they were now settled over the group like a cold, murderous blanket. 

"If you want a demon, you can come to me. Not him."

That last sentence had my blood running cold more than any of the others.

Without another word, Kurama's chakra form dissolved and seeped back into me. Son Goku remained.

Kurama was silent after that.

Kakashi POV~

The killing intent in the air was the most powerful I'd ever felt, ever since that night 16 years ago.

I arrived at where our students were talking to Naruto just in time to hear the Kyuubi's departing words.

"If you want a demon, you can come to me. Not him."

He was gone after that, back inside of Naruto. All of the kids were standing stock-still, a lingering terror hanging over them. Even Gai, who had come with me, stared with wide eyes at the scene. The only ones who looked unaffected were Sasuke and Naruto.

Naruto, if anything, just looked tired. Sasuke looked concerned, but that was about it.

Naruto just heaved a breath and closed his eyes, running a hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry about him. He can get very protective, and he tends to hold grudges."

It was almost humorous, how nonchalant he was being. But the worry lining his shoulders was still there, along with a deep exhaustion. 

Sasuke put a hand on his shoulder and muttered something, and Naruto answered back in a low voice. I couldn't catch what they said, but I didn't need to.

We were reminded, once more, just what we were dealing with.

"Anyways, coming to help me will be entirely voluntary. If you don't want to come, don't come. You'll only be a burden if that's the case." Naruto said. His words were harsh, but now I could see just exactly what Kurama was doing.

He was rooting out the true friends, the ones who genuinely cared, from the frauds. 

If they actually cared about Naruto himself, they would come. If they didn't, then they shouldn't have been here in the first place.

This was a tense, revealing moment. A moment that would reveal who was a real comrade. A moment of truth.

Ino backed out, as did Tenten. Sakura almost did, and same with Kiba.

The rest didn't move. 

Naruto actually looked surprised that only two left.

"Well, this is more than I hoped for." he said.

"Ha! I have to admit, I didn't expect that." the Yonbi, Son Goku said from where his mini chakra form was on Naruto's shoulder. When did Naruto get his chakra? "Kurama is the strongest of our siblings. He could defeat five of us at once, easy. It's always got Shukaku's tail in a knot. These kids got balls."

"Yeah, they didn't know that. And Shukaku's always got his tail in a knot." Naruto answered.

"Mmhm. I'll leave you guys to it, then. I might drop by occasionally, though. See ya, brat."

Naruto murmured a "bye" and Son Goku's chakra form melted, just like Kurama's did, into Naruto's body. Somehow, Naruto managed to acquire chakra from the other Bijuu sometime.

He never ceases to amaze me.

I did a quick head count. Now that Ino and Tenten were gone, there were twelve of us, including myself and Gai. It should be enough.

Naruto sighed again. He looked so tired.

"Alright, then. Let's move. I can sense Tobi, but I don't know how long he'll stay where he is. Let's go."

Naruto turned and strode away, not even bothering to check if we were following. He pulled up the hood of his dark cloak along the way.

The rest of us who remained fell into step behind him. Sasuke and Naruto were joined at the hip, falling into step beside each other. The two of them were talking in low tones.

Even if he didn't quite realize it, Naruto had influenced a great number of people. Even if he didn't know it, he was a leader now, in his own way.

I smiled behind my Icha Icha book. 

Let the eagle fly, I thought, I'll support him.

AN~

Naruto has gained an army.