The Weight On His Shoulders

•_____________________________•Back To A Time When It

My recent memories were of Kurama, he gruffly told me to give him control. I was frozen, broken, and alone. So alone!
I let him take over the wheel, and numbly watched as he went through a few hand signs before our body was thrown back by an invisible force and the world went dark.
Now I am sitting on a bed in an apartment that had long since been destroyed. 
"Kurama, what the Hell did you do!" I accused.
"Pft, did what needed to be done Kit. You need to prevent that from ever happening." The Kubbi smiled a grim smile.
"What needed to be done? Where am I Kura?" I ground out.
"You're back at the start of our relationship, back when you and I hadn't even spoken yet." He stayed simply.
"What? That's..."
"Impossible? No just extremely troublesome. Ps you should probably get ready for tomorrow or maybe just go to sleep. Tomorrow is the assignment of teams." Kura ordered, "oh and don't drink that milk. It's expired." 
"Yeah, you think I'd forget that?"
"Oh of course Kit. You are an airhead more times than not." The fur ball chuckled at his own joke.
"I don't wanna see them... not after..." I spoke out loud trying to fight the flashes of my dead loved ones.
Sasuke being sliced in half, Sakura crying her eyes out screaming at me before... before huge holes took the place of where her... skin, muscle, bone, and organs should've been.
Garra, Lee, Neji, Ino, Kiba and Akimaru, Iruka, Kakashi, Hinata, Tenten, Tsunade, Ero-sennin, KillerB, Choji, Asuma... Sh-shikamaru...
I curled in on myself, my knees pulled to my chest and my hands made their way to my head. I grasped two clumps of my spiky hair harshly tugging at my blonde locks. The hair I inherited from my dead father!
"Kit, calm down!" Kurama called gently with his deep soothing voice.
"I can't, I can't, I can't!" I sobbed into my knees still viscously yanking at my hair.
I heard Kurama sigh heavily before I noticed a puff of smoke from the corner of my eye.
I felt a nudge against my elbow then out of curiosity I moved my arm. What I found kinda startled me, Kurama was the size of Akamaru... maybe a bit bigger.
"Calm yourself Kit. I know this'll be hard for you... but if you really need some type of support I can accompany you. This time around." Kura pushed me back and curled up on my chest.
"Y-you would *hic* do t-that *sniffle* Kurama?" I ran a hesitant hand through his beautiful soft orange fur.
"Anything for you Kit. Anything." He purred.
"W-what about Jiji-Hokage sama? And Kakashi? Sasuke and Sakura?" I was terrified at how they'd react to a fox being around me. Especially one with nine tails.
"Well, for one we can stop by Sarutobi's office to speak to him about me... and the future. Two I can hide my eight other tails to appear as a normal fox." Kura explained looking semi-bored.
"Okay..."
"Now get your crybaby ass in the shower and change out of those awful pjs!"  Tiny Kurama stood up and strutted off to the other side of my bed eyeing me expectantly. "And do not put on that vile orange jumpsuit! Wear those actual shinobi clothes you bought a while ago! We should go and mark places for your Hikō-raijin."
With a sigh I obeyed going to my closet and grabbed the outfit I've always been too self-conscious to wear.
The undershirt is a black cropped turtleneck with two diagonal burnt orange stripes across the front and back. The over-shirt is a black mesh-sweater with the Uzumaki swirl on the back. The pants are Burnt Umber ANBU style with an orange mesh part on the left thigh. 
I head to the shower to attempt to be ready for tomorrow... I've no doubt that it will be horrific, for me that is. 
                                     ꧁❤︎꧂

{An Hour Later: In the Hokage's Office}
(20:00 hours; 8:00pm)
I took a deep breath, I got to see him again. Sarutobi, the third Hokage; the man I've always seen as my Ojii-chan. I held Kurama closer and he settled his head closer to my neck.
Without a second thought I knocked, I've never done that before. It felt weird.
A muffled, "come in," was heard and with a shaky breath I entered.
All I could do was stare, he was exactly how I remembered him. Him with his piles of paperwork and his pipe.
My breath staggered, and in feeling this Kurama padded his paws against my chest in a soothing way.
"Naruto? You used the door... and knocked! Shouldn't you be in bed it is quite late," Jiji looked almost horrified.
I felt the tears begin to brim my bright blue eyes. I choked on my saliva as I tried to get my words out. I forced myself to look away. I really couldn't face him.
"Naruto what's wrong?" Jiji had moved from his desk, now knelt before me, his hand gently placed on my shoulder. "And why do you have a fox with you?"
"Jiji, I... I missed you!" I whispered, "don't, please don't ever leave me again."
His grey brows furrowed, "what happened?"
"I... I don't know how, how to explain," I look down at Kurama for help.
He turned a bit in my grasp to place a paw on Jiji, "Sarutobi, you old fool."
Jiji jumped a little at the new voice in his head.
"I am the Kitsune no Kubbi, the nine-tails biiju. And I want to share with you what has happened here with my little Kit."
"T-the Kubbi?" Jiji looked from me to little Kurama in my arms.
"Yes, didn't I just say that? Kit I really don't understand how you get along with all these idiots..." I giggled drily, "well Sarutobi, the brain and memories of Naruto here are not that of his twelve year old self."
Jiji looked at me confused, I just nodded in response.
"This Kit here has the memories of and strength of his twenty year old self. And if you're wondering why, the short version is that everyone was killed. Konohagakure and every other village were decimated by the fourth great shinobi war."
Jiji looked at me with disbelief prevalent in his old eyes. But then shock flashed across his old wrinkled features.
"Kura?" I looked down at the fox in my arms.
"He's seeing flashes of your most detrimental memories Kit."
Jiji sat back on the floor, his legs crossed. He looked both shocked and devastated. He looked at me with so much grief and regret.
"Naruto..." his head fell, "I am so sorry you had to go through that. You're, or will be so young..."
I swallow the large lump in my throat, "Jiji, I'm gonna fix this! You're gonna live past the exams! Everyone is gonna live! I won't let it happen like that ever again! Dattebayo!" 
A familiar smile took the place of Jiji's frown.
"But Kit is very unstable at the moment. I need you to register me as a ninja animal. I can't leave his side." Kurama explained calmly.
"Understandable. I saw how he reacted to just seeing me. He'll need someone as support and in all honesty I know his team would be unable to do that for him. At the moment that is." Jiji stood up and headed back behind the piles and piles of paperwork.
He began scribbling on a blank sheet then setting that aside he opened a drawer pulling out a leaf headband like mine but smaller.
"Here, put this on him," he handed the band to me.
Gently I set Kura in one of the chairs and fastened the headband around his neck.
"Ooh Kit how do I look? More handsome I assume?" Kurama chuckled.
"Yes as handsome as I'll be in nine years," I smile down at him fondly. It wasn't my normal toothy grin but close as I could force my face.
"Now Naruto, I want you to head back home to rest, give this note to Iruka," he handed me a small sheet with messy writing on it, "and this one give to Kakashi," he handed me a smaller sheet, "when you see them tomorrow."
I nodded.
I began heading out but stopped when I remembered something, "you know Jiji, you could always have shadow clones do that dreadful paperwork for you right?" I asked innocently. And I marked the door so I could be there within a moment's notice.
I could basically hear his exasperation as I left.
"Naruto!" I giggled as I walked away.

(Naruto's Ninja Outfit!!!)