the next day
Naruto's pov

When I woke up it was around noon I think. The sun was in my face so maybe a little before or after that. I had managed to move the boxes downstairs with the help of Kurama, there were still a couple more boxes stashed away that had scrolls and a bunch of stuff that he decided to keep— something about teaching me stuff, I'm not sure.

Now, I was sitting across from Kushina at the table eating breakfast. She was staring into my soul. I knew it set her on fire seeing me here right now, but as long as the Hokage was here, she couldn't do anything about it.

"You know, it's nice to finally eat as a family again," the Hokage smiled. Kushina didn't take her eyes off of me. "I agree. Naruto. Did you have fun with your friends last night. I hope you guys didn't get into too much trouble," she told me. She knows what happened last night. She's so... mean. I can't think of any other words. She's talking to me in that tone, that mean tone that everyone talks in when they're being mean to others without anyone else knowing. I'm so used to it.

"Well, you seen us, didn't you?" I finally looked up at her. "Oh, that's right, I remember I did catch a glimpse of you running by," she gave me a smile that was as evil as her words. "Oh, Naruto, don't forget that we're going to get you new clothes today," Minato added. He probably thinks this is such a lighthearted conversation. He's so gullible. I only nodded.

As long as I was with the Hokage, no one would touch me, I knew that now. Well, I hoped so. It seems like he had no clue about the things that have been going on. I'm not sure how, seeing as how he is the Hokage, but as long as I'm safe with him, I don't really care anymore.

"Again." "I can't, I'm tired." "Naruto, get up and do it again." I was soaked in sweat, the grass was soaking wet but there was a cool breeze whistling in the trees. The forest of death. That's where Kurama dragged me to train. I laid on the ground, covered in wounds and bug bites. Kurama stood over me, staring down at me, "Naruto. Get up, and do it again." His eyes glowed red in the darkness, a mix of satisfaction and irritation. This bastard liked seeing me in pain like this.

"You can't handle my chakra if you can't even handle your own. Now get up, and do it again." Kurama's voice was louder this time. I knew he was getting upset, but I was genuinely exhausted. The Hokage had dragged me around all day, and now Kurama had me training until the crack of dawn, which was still hours away.

I sat up, trying to catch my breath. I'm fine, I told myself. I stood up and walked over to the tree, placing one foot on it and starting to walk up. This I had no problem with. It was only when—

I dodged a hit, instinctively putting my arms up to block. "Focus, Naruto. You can't block the entire time; fight back," Kurama grunted as he struck out with his fist again. I dodged it. I had no problem with dodging; it was staying on the tree while simultaneously blocking and striking back that was the challenge.

I walked further up the tree, Kurama following me. He ducked the punches I managed to throw out. He hit me a couple more times, hard enough that I thought he broke something, but my injuries healed moments after. "Hit me back, Naruto." "I can't!" "Hit me back!" I put my arms up to dull the punches, but my wounds opened up again and blood ran down my skin.

We reached a leveled branch, so now it was up to my dodging skills. Kurama didn't hold back in the slightest, kicking, punching, and jabbing me wherever I was open. Was he trying to kill me!? "Fight back, Naruto!" I put my arms down and started hitting him. He's so mean to me; everyone's so mean to me. I never did anything to anyone, but everyone treats me like shit every single day!

Kurama started laughing. "Yeah, kid, get angry! Hit me back!" I kept trying to go for his open spots, but he moved as soon as I got close.

"Why are you laughing at me!?" I shouted, my frustration boiling over. "What's so funny about all of this?"

"Naruto, this isn't shit. The people out there will eat you alive at this point," Kurama growled, dodging another punch and landing a swift kick to my side. "Get mad, Naruto, use it all, everything that you've had to endure, use it, and hit me back!"

I gritted my teeth, ignoring the pain. I focused on Kurama's movements, his rhythm. I waited for an opening, then lunged forward. My fist connected with his jaw, and for a moment, the world seemed to freeze.

Kurama's eyes widened slightly, then he grinned. "There you go, Naruto. That's more like it."

I panted, my body aching and I laughed, "I'm so gonna beat your ass for this one day."

"Don't get cocky, that's only your first hit," Kurama said, his tone almost approving. I think he's proud of me? Or maybe he's just glad he can beat me up now. "We're just getting started."

We continued this for what seemed like hours. When I was tired, he made me get up and do it again until I could block and attack without second guessing it. The more I fought, the more I understood Kurama's harsh methods. He wasn't just looking for an excuse to put his hands on me; he was trying to make me stronger. Or, maybe he did want an excuse to put his hands on me? I wouldn't be surprised.

As dawn began to break, painting the sky with hues of orange and pink, I collapsed on the branch and almost fell off, utterly spent but with a sense of accomplishment I've never felt before.

Kurama looked down at me, grabbing my hand to keep me on the branch with him, his gaze was stern but with a hint of pride. "You might not see the light yet, but at this rate, you'll see a way out of this damn hole you're in. Use your anger, Naruto, just don't let it spiral out of control, because then I don't know if I can help you. I'll have to take my chance and lose it."

I nodded weakly, my eyelids heavy. "Yeah, whatever, Kurama. Keep dreaming, bitch."

As I drifted off to sleep, I knew that this was just the beginning. With Kurama as my teacher, I was in for a whole hell of a lot more, and he even talked about poisoning me! It's just... too much, I'm tired.

I woke up in the attic on the floor. I knew it was Kurama who brought me here. My wounds were healed and he was nowhere to be found so I figured he was resting. "Oh perfect, you're awake. Your furniture is being delivered today, and did you clean this up by yourself? It looks nice. There's a guy coming to install hardwood floors, so you're gonna need to be out of the room, and take anything you want with you because I'm not sure when they'll be done. They're gonna open up that wall too, make a bigger window."

Why's he doing all this? I would've been fine with a sheet and a balled up jacket. He's going out of his way to do all of this...

I nodded, "Thank you, Hokage-Sama." He didn't respond so I looked up. He was staring at me with a dumbfounded expression on his face. "Why'd you call me that?" "You're the Hokage?", I told him with the same expression on my face.

"Naruto, I'm always gonna be your dad before I'm the Hokage. Please don't ever call me Hokage-sama or anything like that, just dad is fine," he gave me a smile that felt the opposite of the one Kushina gave me yesterday.

I could compare the Hokage to... the sun. When he smiled at me, I swear I had to squint my eyes just to see him.

"You slept through breakfast, but lunch is done; come join us. The people will be here soon so make sure to grab what you need." "Okay.. dad..." the word felt foreign leaving my mouth. It felt wrong saying it.

At lunch, Kushina wasn't there, just me, the twins, and the Hokage. As he said, after we got downstairs, there were people knocking on the door to deliver some boxes as well as others with tools in their hands. The Hokage led them upstairs and I went to sit at the table. There were three brown sandwiches with yellow in them on a plate with red dip in a separate bowl at the seat I sat in yesterday. The twins had two sandwiches each with their own dip. The Hokage only had one sandwich and dip but he also had a bowl of some type of noodles with eggs and other things in there.

I sat down but didn't start eating yet. The other two however, were almost done with their first sandwich.

When they did finish, the Hokage was on his way back to the table. He looked at me, "What's wrong? Do you not like it?" I shook my head no. It was rude to start eating before him, no?

"Are you thirsty?" I shook my head no again. I picked up the first sandwich and took a bite, not chewing it yet—just to ease his worries. He smiled and started eating his sandwich. After a while I started chewing, it was really good.

I didn't know what to do with the red dip so I just copied the others. They dipped their sandwiches in it. I tried it and it was better than before. I ended up eating faster than I expected and I finished before the twins. I didn't know what to do so I just sat there. The Hokage was eating the stuff out of the other bowl and he noticed I was looking so I looked away.

"Do you want to try it? Your siblings don't like ramen, so I didn't think you would either. Are you still hungry?" I looked away before nodding a little. He slid the bowl over to me. I just stared at it. I tried to copy him, picking up the sticks and using them to pick up the noodles, but my hands wouldn't fold the way his did and I kept dropping them.

"Here, let me help." He picked up the sticks and picked up some noodles, wrapping them around the sticks and moving them towards me. I looked at him.

"Say ah," he opened his mouth to make the noise. He's so weird... I opened my mouth and he brought the sticks over to put the food in my mouth. I bit down and he took them out.

He stared as I chewed, it was pretty good. "Don't worry, you'll have more chances to use chopsticks, when I was younger, I couldn't use them for the life of me. Do you like it though?" I nodded. It was a little better than pretty good... okay it was really good.

"You can have these, I'll make some more, and don't worry, I'll get you a fork. I'll have to take you to ichiraku some time—best ramen in town. I'm glad you like ramen though, I was scared it ended with me when these two refused to eat it." He brought back a fork for me and slid the bowl in front of me, taking the other dishes from the table and bringing them to the sink.

The twins sat and ate the fruit that was in the middle of the table. I noticed they were whispering to each other and sneaking glances at me.

"Oh, Naruto. They told me it should take about a week and a half for your room to be done. They're also going to change the door, make sure all the lights, ac, and everything else works, install all the electrical things, and paint the room. I told them a gray would be fine, only because I noticed you were looking at a lot of dark colored themes. We can always change it if you don't like it."

The twins got up and left, taking a plate with them, and I continued to eat the.. ramen. The Hokage was doing so much for me, a lot of this wasn't even necessary, but I'm not complaining or anything. I just want to eat as much as I can before six, that's around the time Kurama drags me to the forest.

The Hokage sat back at the table and looked at me, then he looked around, then leaned in closer, "I'm having a bathroom installed, don't tell your siblings," he whispered. A bathroom? Yeah, this is definitely beyond what's needed. He smiled at me. "Do you like any tv shows?" I shook my head no.

"Oh, okay, uhm... are you going to enroll in the academy? Do you want to?" I shook my head no. It'd only get in the way of training with Kurama. "Hm... You don't have to right now, but you need to if you want to become a shinobi. It's not exactly mandatory but it's severely recommended." I nodded along with what he was saying, picking up the bowl and drinking the ramen juice.

I put the bowl down and wiped my mouth, looking at him. "I'm figuring things out, but I'll let you know." He looked a little shocked at my response but nodded, "That's okay. Are you going to hang out with your friends again tonight?" I nodded. "Okay, just stay safe. One day, I'm gonna meet these friends of yours Naruto. If they're so important that you're gone all the time, I think it's well overdue time we meet." I only nodded. I just sat at the table for a while, eating some of the fruit. The fruit I've had in the past was always thrown out old, which is how I got my hands on it in the first place.

"Family bonding time or something? Come on, we could be using this time to train. Your room isn't gonna be done for almost two weeks; I'm gonna work you to the bone, Naruto. And when your room is finally done, then you can pass out on your bed and sleep for as long as you'd like." He's so mean. But he's also right, I could be using this time to train.

"Hokag— ... Dad, can I stay at my friends house while the room is being done?" He looked at me with sad eyes, "Uhm... I mean.. I haven't even met them..." "Please," I added.

He sighed, "Yeah, that's fine." "I'll make sure to come back in between times, thank you, I'm gonna go," I excused myself from the table. "Bye, Naruto... I love you, stay safe." I nodded as I left.

Tbccc