Naruto: The Youngest Anbu

Chapter 32

The day of the chunin exams...

Naruto sighed as he opened his eyes. He looked towards the sky and saw that he still had about 2 hours until he has to meet his team. It's the day of the chunin exams which means it is also the day Orochimaru might attack his team, mainly Sasuke. Unfortunately for him though, he had another thing coming for him. Naruto sighed as he got up. Kurama was still sleeping soundly inside him dreaming about his "father". Suddenly Naruto heard whimpering coming from him mindscape. He entered and saw Kurama breathing rapidly. What surprised him the most was that Kurama had tears running down his face. Naruto was surprised but he quickly ran up to his friend and tried to wake him up.

"Kurama, oi, Kurama. Are you okay? Wake up!" Naruto yelled trying to get through to the fox.

Kurama woke up with a jolt. He spotted Naruto and immediately changed into his chibi form. He ran up to the blonde and tackled him, tears still streaming down his face.

"There, there, it's alright. Calm down," Naruto cooed as he stroked the fox's back. Kurama had completely dropped his guard and former demeanor as he cried into Naruto's shirt. "It was only a dream," Naruto comforted in a soft voice, "It's going to be alright." After a few minutes, Kurama's cries gradually turned into whimpers and died down. Naruto held the fox at arm's length and wiped away his tears.

"Jiji..." Kurama whimpered.

Naruto smiled, "The sage of six paths?"

Kurama nodded, "I miss him..."

"I'm sorry Kurama, as much as I would like to bring him here for you, not even I know what to do to summon him."

"Hmph... It's not your fault. He's already dead..." Kurama sniffled and snuggled into Naruto's chest, "Don't tell anyone about this please."

Naruto chuckled, "Don't worry, I won't." They stayed like that for quite some time as the Jinchuriki continued to comfort the fox. Finally, the blonde kissed Kurama's little nose and decided to get ready for the exams. Never in a million years would Naruto have thought that Kurama would even shed a tear, although he realized a long time ago that Kurama was a lot like him in many ways. They were both shunned and treated as weapons. They were both feared and held a pain that many others would not understand and lastly, they both had tragic pasts that were extremely painful to bear with. Naruto sighed as he thought of all of this. He made sure to remind himself that Kurama also had feelings and still had emotions even though he never really showed it, just like himself.

At 9:00 sharp... (Hi, author's note here, I haven't watched the chunin exams arc in quite a while so forgive me if the events that take place in the story are not particularly on par with the original but then again, it is a fanfiction... anyway, back to the story!)

Naruto finally arrived at his team's meeting spot, not a second early or late. He had to finish a bit of paperwork and a few mission reports that he still had to give in and he made sure to remind his subordinates about his orders from a few days before.

"Yo, sorry, Tora wouldn't let me leave. Am I late?" Naruto greeted.

"Nope! Just on time!" Sakura greeted back cheerfully.

Sasuke just hn'd.

"Great, let's go." They both nodded as they all started walking towards. On the way there, Naruto met up with a few familiar faces.

"Kankuro, Temari," Naruto acknowledged.

"Naruto, hey," Temari smiled.

"Yo was up," Kankuro smirked.