2. Standing Still
“Standing still is the fastest way of moving backwards in a rapidly changing world.”
- Lauren Bacall.
~.~
Days seemed never ending in the afterlife. Never once had the sun moved even an inch towards the horizon. It was fixed in the center of the sky perpetually. There were no seasons other than summer. Naruto wasn’t sure how much time had passed since his death, though it felt like years had gone by, and Kurama shared these sentiments. Both the fox and the man-turned-boy had grown used to something always going on, and now that there was nothing, both had started to grow a bit uncomfortable with the world’s frozen state.
They never became tired, hungry, or thirsty. When staying in one spot for any length of time, they never grew sore or stiff. The few times they ventured from the cliffs, they always felt the inexplicable need to return again.
Eventually, Naruto and Kurama ran out of things to discuss concerning their new situation that wasn’t a complaint or abstract comment and began to reflect on times long passed.
“Hey, do you remember that time I beat you up and stole your chakra?”
Kurama made a low rumbling noise in the back of his throat, and Naruto could’ve sworn he saw the fox roll his eyes. “We’re talking about this now? Really? I forgave you decades ago, old man.”
Naruto reached over to playfully swat the Kyuubi’s ear, earning a halfhearted growl in return. “No, just bear with me for a minute, okay? It won’t kill you.”
“Famous last words.”
“Quit being dramatic. Anyway, I beat you up and stole your chakra with the power mom gave me to help me out,” Naruto continued, “And it worked. And then I altered the seal to be more oppressive. I pinned you down until you could barely move… and I just left you there. I stole chakra from you whenever I needed it, and I left you.” Naruto reached up to rub the back of his neck, a nervous habit he’d never quite gotten over, and averted his gaze from the fox to the ground. “I don’t know… I think I just realized I never said sorry, is all. I’m sorry, Kurama, for being just like everyone else.”
The fox let out a long sigh, breath flattening the grass in front of him. He was silent for a long moment. Finally, he said, “It’s not your fault, Naruto,” in about as quiet as voice as you could get out of a tailed beast, which still rumbled through the ground like the beating of drums.
“Have you gone senile, too?” Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow questioningly at his friend. “Of course it’s my fault. I’m the one who did it!”
Kurama grimaced, his large ears flattening against his head. “...You did it again, brat,” he muttered, sending the boy a sideways glare.
Naruto’s defiance dropped from his face, replaced with a guilty half smile. “Sorry ‘bout that,” he said in a tone that was lower and softer than before. “I’m not used to having a higher pitched voice.” Then his stubbornness returned full force. “But it’s true either way. I was in the wrong, so just accept that I’m trying to apologize here so we can move on with our li- er, afterlives!”
“Have you forgotten that I killed your parents? You had every right to do what you did, so your apology is unnecessary. Just drop it, kit,” Kurama growled, firm voice leaving no room for argument. He shifted to rest his large head over his dark auburn paws and added, “The afterlife is supposed to be peaceful.”
Then Kurama saw it. The all too familiar way his former host sat up a little straighter, the way his shoulders became a little more squared, the tense set of his jaw and the fierce flame of defiance coming alight in his eyes. Kurama huffed and sat up, readying himself for the fight to come, tails beginning to twitch in irritation. There was no way he was going to get a peaceful nap now.
“That was before you even knew me!” Naruto fired back, pointing an accusatory finger at the fox. “You can’t use that!”
“So is what you’re referring to,” Kurama growled, ears pinned straight back as his tails swished in wider, more agitated arcs. “You’d think me having killed your parents would be a valid reason why you shouldn’t apologize for “beating me up”, as you put it!”
“I’m not mad about that anymore!” Naruto’s voice had risen to a shout, the heavy glare and bared teeth providing an almost comical contrast to his words.
“And neither am I!”
“Why didn’t we talk about this when we were alive?!”
“I don’t know!” Kurama roared, jaws snapping shut just inches from Naruto’s face. He had leapt up, enormous claws gauging deep trenches into the earth, russet fur bristling and red eyes narrowed to slits. His voice was so loud it sent every bird as far as the eye could see into a frenzied flight, the sheer power of it ripping leaves from their branches and flattening every blade of grass in the area around them.
Naruto went completely still, his hair blown back in spikes away from his face. His blue eyes had gone wide and his mouth hung open in dumbfounded awe. Slowly, he brought his hands up in surrender. “Okay… okay. I get it. We’re both terrible to each other. The past is in the past and all that shit. We’re dead. It’s all good.”
Kurama stared at him for a moment, then sighed defeatedly, releasing the tension in his muscles and allowing his fur to lie flat and smooth once more.
“Truce?” Naruto offered, holding out a steady hand.
The fox looked woefully resigned to his surrender, if a bit guilty for his outburst, as he pushed the tip of his inky black nose into the blond’s palm. “... Yeah, brat,” he mumbled. “Truce.”
Kurama had always wondered how a simple smile could resemble the sun so closely.
~.~
Naruto lounged leisurely under the warmth of the ever-present sun, nestled comfortably in the soft fur between the Kyuubi’s ears. Beneath him, Kurama dozed peacefully, his dark rust colored ears twitching every so often. The feel of the large rise and fall of his deep breaths was calming, almost causing Naruto to fall asleep himself. They may not have really needed sleep, but sometimes it was nice to just allow themselves the indulgence.
But just as the blonde’s light doze was beginning to sink into something deeper, Kurama’s head jerked upwards suddenly. For a moment, the world tilted, and the next thing Naruto knew, he was on the ground staring up at the fox in shock. Though their bodies seemed to hold no substance, his spine’s impact with the ground had stung just as much as it would have when he was alive.
He was about to give his former tenant a piece of his mind when he noticed Kurama had dropped into a state of high alert, complete with hunched shoulders, bristling fur, narrowed red eyes and nine powerful tails whipping into an agitated frenzy. Immediately, Naruto froze, casting his gaze warily around them. He felt incredibly vulnerable, splayed out on his back in the grass as he was.
“Kurama,” he whispered, watching the fox’s ears twitch in acknowledgement. “Hey. What’s going on? What's wrong?”
Kurama’s bright red eyes flicked down briefly before returning to the trees behind them, the wind from the cliff on the other side moving his fur back the wrong way. “Get up,” he growled, his deep voice sending vibrations through the ground.
Naruto scrambled up, backing against Kurama’s leg until he felt the coarse fur against his palms, tickling the back of his neck. “What is it?” He asked again, scanning the trees.
“Something’s off,” Kurama responded, ears pinned flat against his head. “You don't feel it?”
“No, I…” Naruto trailed off. The hair on the back of his neck stood up as a full body shiver made it's way down his spine.
The moment of silence which passed between them felt like hours. Steadily the wind behind them slowed and ceased. There was no bird song. The leaves on the trees froze in place like a picture.
All was still.
All was quiet.
A cold feeling of dread settled in the pit of his stomach. Something was wrong. Something was about to happen. He could feel it.
Swallowing thickly, he tilted his head up, another question on the tip of his tongue. That was when he felt it. He stumbled forward, spots swimming in his vision, dark and brightly colored alike. “Ku-Kura…” he gasped, hardly registering the impact of the ground beneath his head. “Kurama…?”
Had the sun always looked so big? Naruto didn’t think so. He was fairly certain it wasn’t supposed to cover the rest of the sky like that. It looked like it was bleeding. Like it was crying. Why was it so red? There should be blue somewhere, shouldn’t there? Was he breathing? He couldn’t tell.
Red. Red and black.
… Eyes? Eyes. They were eyes.
… Whose?
A fox. A fox’s eyes. And ears. The fearsome, worried face of a dear friend framing a bleeding, crying sun.
Did suns cry? Did people befriend red eyed foxes?
These were the questions running through Naruto’s mind as he fell into darkness, the frantic shout of his name echoing faintly in his ears. It was like dying all over again, only this time, he felt hopelessly, completely alone.
When Naruto woke, it was to darkness and silence, and Kurama was gone.