Sasuke's mind reeled, the casual words Naruto had just uttered echoing in his thoughts with the force of a physical blow. Naruto met his father and mother? Kurama told him his real name? The implications were staggering, utterly shattering the timeline he thought he understood.
He had anticipated gradual progress, a slow thawing of the animosity between Jinchuriki and Biju, culminating in a tentative alliance. He had hoped Naruto would eventually gain access to Kurama's chakra, a significant power boost that would be crucial in the years to come. But this… this was beyond anything he had envisioned.
He stared at Naruto, who beamed back with an innocent pride, completely oblivious to the turmoil raging within his friend's mind. Sasuke's carefully constructed understanding of the early Naruto years had just been ripped apart. They were still thirteen, The Akatsuki threat, as far as he could gauge, was still several years away, assuming his own actions hadn't drastically accelerated their plans. Yet, Naruto had seemingly fast-forwarded a pivotal moment that, in the original timeline, didn't occur until much later, during a time of immense crisis.
"Naruto," Sasuke began, his voice a low murmur, "Tell me… tell me exactly what happened. And when?" He needed details, a coherent explanation for this unbelievable turn of events.
Naruto eager to share his extraordinary experience. "It was last week, after our usual training session. I was talking to Kurama, you know, in my head. I told him I was serious about becoming his friend, that I wasn't like those other humans he hates. I told him I'd prove it to him."
Naruto paused, his expression becoming more thoughtful. "So, I focused all my chakra on the seal, the one that keeps him inside. I wanted to… I don't know… show him I trusted him? Anyway, the seal kinda… dissolved. It wasn't painful or anything, just… gone."
Naruto's eyes widened with the memory. "Then, suddenly, there were these two people standing right in front of me! They looked… well, one had spiky yellow hair like mine, and the other had long red hair. They looked… worried. They kinda yelled at me, asking what I had done, saying it was a huge problem."
Naruto frowned slightly. "When I asked who they were, they told me everything. The yellow-haired guy said he was Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, and the red-haired lady was Kushina Uzumaki… my parents!" Naruto's voice was filled with a mix of awe and a lingering confusion. "They said they had sealed the Kyuubi inside me and that by breaking the seal, I had put myself and the village in danger. They said they should seal Kurama again, quickly."
Here, Naruto's expression shifted, a newfound understanding dawning in his blue eyes. "But Kurama… he didn't even look at them much. He was just… looking at me. His eyes… they weren't filled with hate like they usually are. They looked… I don't know… almost… curious? He asked me, really quietly, if I really wanted to be his friend."
Naruto's voice gained a firm, determined edge. "And I told him, yeah! Of course, I did!"
He continued, recounting the tense exchange with his parents. "My… my parents, Minato and Kushina, they were really worried. They kept saying how dangerous the fox was and that they needed to seal him again before he could break free and hurt me, maybe even kill me in the process. Kurama just glared at them, like he was so tired of being treated like a monster."
Naruto's gaze softened. "But then tell all the things you told me, Sasuke. About how the Tailed Beasts weren't inherently evil, how it was the humans who had mistreated them and forced them into that hatred. I told my parents everything you said. It took a while, but they started to understand. They saw Kurama's eyes, the resentment at being sealed and feared for so long. They even looked a little… sorry for him."
A wistful smile touched Naruto's lips. "After that… they just looked at me. They hugged me, told me they loved me, and said to be happy and safe. Then… they were just gone."
Naruto then focused on his interaction with the Biju. "After they disappeared, I looked at Kurama. He wasn't in that cage anymore, Sasuke. He was just… lying there, huge and orange. I asked him, 'So fo—kyuubi… are we friends now, right?'"
Naruto's expression turned slightly sheepish. "He just yawned, like he was really tired. He said, 'No,' and then he told me his name isn't Kyuubi, that's just what humans call him. He said his name is Kurama."
Sasuke listened, utterly dumbfounded. The sheer speed and magnitude of these developments were overwhelming. Yet, beneath the shock, a sense of relief began to bloom.
Naruto, against all odds, had not only met his parents but had also taken a monumental step towards befriending Kurama. This could potentially unlock Kurama's immense chakra reserves far earlier than anticipated, a significant advantage for the future.
"Good work, Naruto," Sasuke managed, the words feeling inadequate to express the astonishment and cautious optimism swirling within him. "That's… that's really… something."
Naruto puffed out his chest, a renewed sense of confidence radiating from him. "Yeah! And you know what else? I'm even more determined to become Hokage now! If I can become friends with Kurama, I can do anything!"
Sasuke raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Why are you still so fixated on becoming Hokage? Shouldn't you be more focused on becoming strong?" He couldn't quite understand Naruto's unwavering ambition, especially now, with this newfound connection to Kurama and the emotional weight of meeting his parents.
Naruto's expression turned resolute. "Because when I become Hokage, everyone will finally respect me! All those people who looked down on me, who treated me like I was nothing… they'll have to acknowledge me then!"
Sasuke watched his friend, a flicker of curiousity – and a touch of unease – stirring within him. He couldn't help but draw a faint parallel between Naruto's fervent desire for recognition and the twisted ambitions of individuals like Danzo, who craved power and status of Hokage for his own self-serving reasons.
While Naruto's intentions were undoubtedly more pure, this intense fixation on the Hokage title, driven by a need for external validation, felt… precarious. He hoped Naruto's journey towards strength and acceptance wouldn't become solely defined by this single, all-consuming goal like original.
For now, however, he simply nodded, acknowledging Naruto's unwavering determination, even if he didn't fully comprehend its depths. The world, it seemed, was changing faster than he could have ever imagined.