He was guilty. He was ashamed. He knew all that, but would never admit it. Hatake Kakashi, code name Inu, would never admit that, because then he would be admitting he was wrong. And he's never wrong. His pride would never survive that blow. But he knew. Oh, of course he knew. How could he not? In fact, it was because of this that his former rival, his best friend and teammate died. Pride doesn't mean anything when in a life or death situation. And this, right now, right here, may not be a life or death situation, but he would have died if Sensei and Kushina-san were alive. But he would have to admit it, sooner or later...

"Nngh...," came a quiet voice from the bed. He'd been beside the bed for the whole night, observing her. It was almost dawn now.

He looked at her. Her brows were furrowed, not in a painful way, but in a thoughtful way. She must be talking to the Kyuubi, he realized. He just hoped she survived the encounter...

Naru's Mindscape

She was in a sewer. It was dirty, the pipes were torn, and it was all so grey. It was all just so... dull. She didn't like this. Sure, she liked things simple, but that didn't mean she like things dull and disgusting. She heard the sound of metal being scraped, and followed it through the dull, lifeless sewer. The sound echoed off the wall, louder and louder with each step she took. When she turned around a corner, she was met with the sight of a tall cage, its endless bars stretching towards a height she could not see.

"Hm? What's this? Has my container finally decided to come meet me?" it was a voice full of malice, and she could hear the sneer on his face even without looking up.

"Hello."

"What, no screams of fright? No scrambling away? Do you not feel my power, girl?" Indeed, it was a fearsome thing. Bloodred fur, pointy ears, slitted eyes, and sharp, glinting teeth and claws. The pressure she felt was overwhelming, but nothing can be done if you're runing away all the time. Better spend that time asking, rather than cowering in fear. She didn't have a whole day, after all.

"Do you... want me to be afraid?" she asked, frowning. "I am, but nothing can be done when you're cowering in fear."

"Why have you come? Do you not hate me? Loathe me? You cursed me when you read the letters, but you did not feel any real hatred towards me, only towards Uchiha Madara. How is that so?" he purposefully avoided her question. He didn't know why, but he just didn't want to hear her answer if he said 'yes'.

Yes, what he said was true. She could not help but feel sorry for the Kyuubi, even while she cursed him for... everything. What does it feel like, to be out of control? To realize that it was all an illusion, but unable to break away from it? Oh, she was sure the Kyuubi knew of the genjutsu. She was so very sure of it. How, she didn't know. It was just a feeling in her gut.

"I don't know. You knew of the genjutsu, but you could not break away from it. So you took out your fustration on Konoha, right? I feel sorry for you. What did it feel like, to lose sight of yourself?" she asked, stepping closer to the cage with each syllable, until she was right in front of it. She put her hand of one of the bars, never breaking eye contact with the beast in front of her.

Why wasn't he attacking her? He normally would have, but he couldn't. Or rather, wouldn't. He had been so ferocious to his previous hosts, so hostile that even the previous container, Kushina, didn't dare come close to him. She would always be right out of his reach when they talked, but this girl, this five years old girl, was walking right towards him, never looking away. He liked that.

He felt so... docile now. Her voice, although quiet, was able to gain his unwavering attention with just one syllable. Her eyes, so bare, so open, showed all of her emotions. He knew that everyday, she would guard her features, her eyes, her face, so that they showed nothing other than what she wanted them to. But he appreciated the fact that she was not doing anything like that right now. He had never felt this trusted before. He liked that as well.

The first and foremost thing he saw in her eyes was trust. That surprised him. He had expected fear. There was fear, he could tell, but it was pushed aside with her trust for him. Even now, the trust was growing, and the fear disappearing. He layed his head down on his overlapped paws so that she didn't have to crane her neck just to stay in eye contact with him.

"Why do you trust me?" It was a simple question, but one that held much more meaning to him than her.

"You didn't hurt me." A simple answer. But that was not what he meant. He must have frowned, because she smiled. "I won't hurt you. You don't have be afraid."

What did that mean? How could she see through him so easily? But what she said was true. He had waited for so long for someone other than Rokudo Sennin to trust him, to love him. And he knew, he just knew, that she would never betray him, that she'd do anything she could for him. So he nodded, and so they talked.

She asked his origins, so he told her all about the Rokudo Sennin, the Juubi, and the splitting of its chakra.

"So you're a hero. You were made to prevent world destruction. You saved the world, along with all the other Bijuus." She never ceased to surprise him. He felt good, being called a hero. That was what the Sennin said they were.

They continued to talk. She asked how he became so hateful, so scared of trusting. He told her of all the people that feared him, loathed him, and struggled to use him. When he told her of how he killed them all, she only had a very sad, yet understanding look, as though she knew of what he was talking about. She did, at least the being feared and loathed part.

He asked her why she did not hate the villagers, the ones responsible of her past five years. Her answer was very... enlightening.

"Some say ignorance is bliss, but in the end, ignorance ony causes fear. The villagers were ignorant of what the seal did, and they didn't know that I was not you. But hopefully, they'd come to their senses, what with that fight between Mayu-baa-san and the woman Yumi. Isn't it better to... enlighten them, rather than killing them and causing even more fear?"

She asked him about that night of sealing five years ago. He answered in great detail; what Madara wore and said, how he felt, what her father and mother did...

She was yawning by the end of his recounting, and he told her to go to sleep.

"Sleep is used to regain your energy you used during the time you were awake. It comes in two parts: physical and mental. Right now, your body is resting, but your mind isn't, so you'd still be tired if you woke up like this, no matter how long you slept," he lectured.

She looked around the sewer, and asked if she could change this place. Of course she could, this was her mindscape. She changed the sewer into a field surrounded by trees. It was all very beautiful, and big enough that he could be in his full size and still have some room left. The cage had disappeared, but there was a collar on his neck with the kanji for seal. She looked aroung, satisfied with her work, and went to him, lying against his fur to sleep. Suddenly she looked up at him and asked the two questions she always wanted to know.

"Does the seal work? The part where it takes your chakra and converts it into my own."

"No, but you already have large reserves. You don't need my chakra."

"Well then, do you have a name? I don't really want to keep calling you Kyuubi, you know."

"...Kurama." And so she fell asleep.

She had been sleeping for twelve hours on her mindscape, but in the physical world it had only been two. Wehn she woke, the first thing she realized was that she was in her home, on her bed. Then she saw the man beside her, staring at her. She immediately knew who he was, even without the ANBU mask. She smiled at him.

"Thank you." That startled him. His eyes went wide with surprise, and as he opened his mouth to ask, she answered it before he could voice it out. "You're Inu, right? You always saved me after the beatings. So, thank you."

He almost cried. This girl knew what he always did, but was still thanking him. "I didn't save you. I let you be beaten before jumping in. I shouldn't have let you be beaten in the first place. I'm sorry," he cried out the last part, almost begging to be hated. Then he wouldn't be feeling so ashamed, so guilty. This girl was thanking him for something he didn't do, something he should have done. But she was still smiling.

"But you always took me back to this place. You always dressed my most serious wounds, when you could have left me there, being beaten to death. So, thank you." That was the last straw. He cried, apologizing over and over again, not just to her, but also to Sensei, Kushina-san, and the Sandaime Hokage. He knew he was wrong then, and he admitted it, but it didn't hurt as much as he thought it would. In fact, he felt relief when he admitted it, like a big weight had just been lifted from his heart.

She let him hold her while he cried, all the while smiling as though nothing was wrong. And to her, nothing was wrong. Maybe, through this, she would gain an older brother, one she would have had if at least her father was alive.

After he calmed down, they talked about her parents, how he came to know them, and what they would have thought about her.

"Hm? They'd be proud, of course. You're very forgiving, calm, kind, courageous, and understanding. And you'd make a good kunoichi, too." She had laughed slightly, happy about this revelation.

"Onii-chan, what's with your left eye? Are you blind?" The question, so innocent, had made him freeze. He looked at her with sad eyes, and she immediately said, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," giving him a look of understanding.

He shook his head and just told her. He knew she wouldn't judge him, so he told her how guilty he felt, how he caused his friend's death, and how he should have learned that lesson about pride but didn't. She didn't say anything for a long time, and he was starting to think she's hating him, but she suddenly said something, something that stopped his sulking he did from the moment Obito died.

"You know," she said, "onii-chan is a really nice person. But if your teammate, Obito, really is as you say, then shouldn't he be wanting to kill you right now? You're sulking, onii-chan. If, as you say, you caused his death, then shouldn't you be living for him right now? You have a heavy burden on your shoulders, Kakashi-nii, and you shouldn't have to bear them alone. I can help, so could Sarutobi-jii-san, and your friends. Don't dwell on the past too much, or you'll lose sight of your surroundings. Why don't we all live for him, Mom, Dad, and everyone else that died?" She added, "And look around you for someone to share the burden with; someone you never would have befriended in the past, but doesn't seem so bad now."

Kakashi laughed at the simplicity of the answer he'd been looking for. He had been dwelling on the past so much, thinking of a way to get away from the haunting, going in circles for the answer. And yet, you could never get away from the past, so why not just accept it? He chuckled as Naru's stomach grumbled and summoned Pakkun so deliver the message to the Sandaime Hokage.

After Sarutobi got the message that Naru's awake, he Shunshin'ed to Naru, arriving just in time for breakfast. They talked and laughed like a real family, and Nau told them about Kurama at his urging, and they had readily accepted the explanation after a few minutes of shocked silence. Naru had heard mad cacklings from inside her mind at their expressions, and she sighed at Kurama's antics.