Naruto Hikikaeru

Naruto refocused himseld on the task at hand. He needed to quickly get Kurama's trust and get control over his chakra. Then he would move onto the next phase of his plans and quickly take care of Akatsuki. After that, his plans would move into their final phase where he would deal with both Obito and Madara. He hoped it wouldn't come to the point of him having to fight against Kaguya and then Sasuke afterward. But he had to prepare himself for the possibility of either or both situations happening.

Thinking about such things caused Naruto's mood to become darker as he didn't like thinking about fighting against Sasuke. But he quickly shook his head to clear away such thoughts. The future isn't set in stone, things don't have to play out how they did before, Naruto told himself. He was going to do everything he could to avoid that future. He quickly approached the waterfall where he had confronted his inner hatred before. He had concealed his presence as best he could the entire time he moved. That way, no one would notice him while he traveled. After all, he was in the territory of the land of lightning and they weren't exactly friendly with the leaf at this point in time.

Once he got to the waterfall, he jumped onto the small island in the center of the small pond the waterfall fell into. Then he sat down cross legged and closed his eyes. He emptied his mind and sank into a meditative state. Soon a figure appeared within the waterfall and slowly came out. Naruto saw that it was himself, but at the same time, it wasn't. Half of the figure was him, while the other half was someone else. It was none other than Hateshi.

Narutos eyes stared at the figure with wide eyes. He could hardly believe what he was seeing. Why is the figure half me? While the other half is Hateshi?

Interesting... Hateshi spoke in Naruto's mind. Looks like that waterfall was not only able to reveal the darkness in Naruto, but the darkness within himself.

Naruto gathered himself once again and stood up as he faced the figure. He knew all he had to do was accept himself in order to get through this trial. But seeing Hateshi had startled him, but in the end, it should still carry the same principle. But did he have to accept Hateshi's darkness? Or did Hateshi need to? He wasn't entirely sure of the matter.

Suddenly, Hateshi appeared beside Naruto, slightly floating above the surface of the water while in a cross legged position.

"Hateshi?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Don't mind me, I'm just making things less confusing for you." Hateshi smiled.

Slowly, the figure in front of Naruto slowly seperated, creating two figures, one was of Naruto while the other of Hateshi.

Naruto nodded his head and slightly breathed a sigh of relief. He was a little worried that the test wouldn't be as simple as before if the figure had stayed half Naruto and half Hateshi.

Dark Naruto frowned as he stared at Naruto.

"Somethings wrong, you already know how to deal with this test. I can already feel myself fading away." Dark Naruto spoke.

Naruto grinned as he looked at Dark Naruto.

"If you're me, then you should already know why!" Naruot replied.

He walked forward and stuck his fist out in front of Dark Naruto.

Dark Naruto stared at regular Naruto for a second before gently smiling and bumping his fist against Naruto's.

"Yeah.... I do.... good luck." Dark Naruto replied as he slowly faded away.

Hateshi watched the whole scene play out with a smile on his face. Meanwhile, Dark Hateshi showed no sign of disappearing.

Naruto couldn't help but glance over at Hateshi and wonder why that was.

"Don't mind me Naruto, from this point on, it's all on you. I shall remain here and have a chat with myself." Hateshi smiled.

Naruto nodded and then turned back toward the waterfall and walked through it. He had no time for distractions.

Hateshi watched as Naruto slowly disappeared behind the waterfall. Then he turned his head to look at Dark Hateshi.

"Interesting... so you're supposed to be the darkness within my heart." Hateshi spoke.

Dark Hateshi smiled widely as he replied. "So it would seem, but that's not what's interesting to you."

"Hah, you really are me, you know exactly what I'm thinking." Hateshi laughed.

"Of course, I know you best after all." Dark Hateshi spoke.

"Then you also know my plan as well." Hateshi said as he narrowed his eyes.

"What do you think?" Dark Hateshi asked while smiling.

"I think that this back and forth is pointless." Hatehi answered.

Then Dark Hateshi slowly began fading away.

"Interesting, so there's this method as well?" Dark Hateshi commented as he looked at his slowly fading form.

"I have no time for interruptions, even though your existence is rather peculiar, it is unnecessary for me." Hateshi spoke as he watched Dark Hateshi disappear.

Dark Hateshi looked at Hateshi and opened his mouth to say something, but dissapeared before he could get the chance to say anything.

...

...

...

Naruto walked down the path, walking past the headless statues as he made his way toward his destination. It's finally time, Naruto thought to himself.

He found the familiar spot where he began his training to control Kurama's chakra in his previous life. Then he opened the door and stepped inside. Soon, the door closed behind him, sealing him within. No going back, it's all or nothing, Naruto thought as he took a deep breath. He sat down and crossed his legs and began meditating as he sank his consciousness into his inner mindscape. When he opened his eyes again, he was before the giant cage containing Kurama.

Kurama slowly opened his eye and stared at Naruto.

"Yo." Naruto called out.

"Looking scary as usual with that glare of yours." Naruto joked.

Kurama remained silent as he narrowed his eye at Naruto. It seemed Naruto had gotten rid of the darkness within his heart. But Kurama wasn't surprised, he noticed the change in Naruto long ago and knew that it would be only a matter of time before Naruto made his way here.

"What? No remarks about me not being the real Naruto?" Naruto had been sure Kurama would say something along those lines. He said those things before.

"There's no point, I already noticed the change in you a long time ago, and I figured this day would come sooner or later. I'm only surprised at how quickly it came." Kurama replied as he stood up within the cage.

"Oh? I guess I shouldn't underestimate you then!" Naruto replied as he slowly walked toward the seal on the cage.

"You sound confident brat. Don't expect me to simplyie over as you take my chakra!!" Kurama growled.

"Well that's where you're wrong! I'm not going to take your chakra! you're going to give it to me willingly!" Naruto laughed.

"In your dreams!" Kurama growled with him tensing up his muscles.

Naruto tore off the seal revealing the lock behind it. Then he lifted his shirt up, revealing the seal on his stomach, then he lifted his hand up and the key to unlocking the seal appeared on his arm. He slammed his hand onto the seal on his stomach and twisted his wrist turning it so that the seal would open.

The seal then began to slowly open before finally, Kurama slammed his hand against the cage, sending Naruto flying backward while the cage doors were swung open completely.

Kurama roard as he jumped out of the cage.

"Just try and take my chakra!" Kuramam roared as he lunged toward Naruto.

-End of Chapter 49-

Author's Notes: Moving right along, I'm gonna try and do a chapter upload once a week. I know you guys don't want me to rush, and I don't want this feeling rushed. But I'm going to write this story toward it's end, and trust me, it's the end that I came up with a long time ago. After all, the end is centered around a battle that I plan on making. Anyways, I'm going to stop dragging my feet is all, and I'll just focus on the main story. In other news, I had a sudden inspiration for another story, one that's original, and I'm interested in seeing where it goes. Well, that's all for this chapter. Peace!