Naruto was overjoyed to have finally met his mother. "Now that I've met you, Mom, there's so much I want to ask!"
Kushina nodded. She glanced at the Nine-Tails outside the seal; Kanon gave her a small wave, signaling that everything was under control. Reassured, Kushina gave a comforted nod. "Kanon-chan really is a considerate child, isn't she?"
"Right?! She's my best friend!" Naruto said excitedly, his face flushing slightly.
"Just a friend?" Kushina teased. "Kanon is such a catch; you can't let her stay just a friend. After all, I'm very fond of her!" She reached out and gave Naruto's forehead a playful flick.
"Aww, Mom! Don't do that," Naruto muttered, feeling a wave of shyness wash over him.
"The Nine-Tails is behaving itself for now. Let's sit and talk." Kushina took the spot where Kanon had been sitting, and she and Naruto sat together on the edge of the precipice.
Mother and son began to speak of the events of years ago. Naruto listened with uncharacteristic stillness. He understood that this might be the last time he would ever see his mother. He wanted to etch her face into the deepest parts of his heart, and he stared at her, lost in thought.
…
Outside.
Kabuto looked at the masked man. "Wait. Let me be the one to handle the Nine-Tails and the Eight-Tails," Kabuto said softly.
"What is your angle?" the masked man asked suspiciously.
"It is a perfect opportunity to prove the sincerity of our collaboration," Kabuto replied blandly.
"In that case, I'll send a Shadow Clone along with you," Kanon added. She pressed her palms together, and as the white smoke cleared, a clone appeared. This version of Kanon wore a blue Uchiha duster, distinct from the original's red one.
"Fine. Besides, Naruto is not alone."
"He is accompanied by the First Hokage's clone, a man named Yamato."
"He is also one of my targets for experimentation."
Kabuto smiled at the masked man. "If things go south, I can make do with Zetsu's body. Provided you're willing to share a piece of him with me."
"Once that's done, the resurrection of the Ten-Tails will be well within our reach."
The masked man gave a slight nod. "It seems you know quite a lot. It appears Orochimaru did a fair amount of clandestine investigation, however..."
A slight smirk played on Kanon's lips. "Isn't that exactly what you were aiming for?"
"The intelligence provided by Kisame-nii is quite clear. The Allied Shinobi Forces have a total strength of eighty thousand, and we know their formations."
"So, the core of our military strength is Zetsu... there's no point in hiding it anymore."
"If we're going to keep secrets from each other, we might as well call off the collaboration," Kanon said indifferently.
The masked man and Zetsu both nodded. Seeing this, Kabuto decided to be open as well. "With the research materials and knowledge I have gathered, I can significantly augment Zetsu."
"But the prerequisite is that you must take me to that place."
White Zetsu looked toward the masked man. Even though Kanon was someone they trusted, the masked man was clearly the commander here. "Tobi, what should we do? Do you trust him?"
"If you can capture the Nine-Tails, I will give you one Zetsu."
With that, the masked man led Kanon and Kabuto toward the Gedo Statue. "Is this... the Gedo Statue?" Kabuto remarked, a smirk touching his lips as he gazed upon it.
"Why is it still so ugly?" Kanon muttered, a look of pure distain on her face.
"Stop complaining and get down here," the masked man said, leading the two of them further down.
After descending dozens of flights of stairs, they reached the lowest level. "This is...?" Kabuto looked puzzled.
"Yes, it is alive," the masked man said. There, at the very bottom, stood the living effigy of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju.
"That said, it is merely a cultivation I grew from the living cells I obtained from him during that battle."
"Is this the limit? If we restructured the cells using chakra and then split them, perhaps we could generate new cells through resonance with natural energy via Sage Transformation?" Kanon mused softly.
As she was caught in a whirlwind of mental brainstorming, she suddenly realized everyone had gone quiet. She blinked and saw them all staring at her. "What? Never seen a beautiful girl before?"
"I didn't realize you were a genius in this field as well," the masked man noted. He didn't fully grasp what she had said, but it sounded impressive.
"You've proposed an excellent hypothesis. I shall test it later," Kabuto added with a nod.
"He doesn't seem to have a consciousness, though," Kanon whispered.
"Correct," the masked man agreed. "What I wanted to show you is further down."
Kanon and Kabuto followed his gaze toward the water below. "This is truly something... when was this done?"
"The risk was not small, however."
"Creating this consumed a massive amount of the Tailed Beasts' chakra within the Statue."
"So, we must be as efficient as possible."
"If the resurrection of the Ten-Tails is delayed, it means my plan must be put on hold."
"How many are there?" Kabuto asked.
"Roughly one hundred thousand," the masked man stated flatly.
"One hundred thousand White Zetsu?" Kanon nodded. "But these hundred thousand aren't going to be high-tier combatants. They'll still need the leadership provided by the Reanimation Jutsu."
"Precisely. That is why I need your help," the masked man said.
"Kisame-nii's second report should be arriving soon. I'll head over to his location first and check things out."
…
Naruto's Inner World.
Kushina looked at her child, Naruto, her expression filled with a lingering sadness. The time for their parting had come. Clutching the tears at the corners of her eyes, Kushina apologized to Naruto.
"I'm so sorry... for making you the vessel for the Nine-Tails..."
"For making you carry our burden..."
"For not being able to live with you, and for not giving you more love."
Hearing his mother's apology, Naruto lowered his head. Learning that Minato and Kushina had died to protect him had washed away any lingering resentment. "You don't need to apologize to me."
"It's true, I went through a lot of pain in the past as a Jinchuriki."
"But I don't resent Dad or Mom."
Kushina froze, looking up at Naruto.
"To be honest, I didn't really understand what 'a mother's love' or 'a father's love' was."
"Since I can remember, you guys haven't been by my side."
"It was a vague feeling, but now I understand."
"Dad and Mom were willing to give up their lives for me! I understand now that before I became the vessel for the Nine-Tails, I was already filled with the love of my father and mother!"
"So, I'm happy!" Naruto beamed, looking directly at Kushina. "I'm proud to be your child."
Naruto walked up to Kushina and personally wiped away her tears. "So, Mom, don't worry about me! I'm happy!"
At those words, a boundless warmth flooded Kushina's heart. Her body began to dissolve into golden light as she pulled Naruto into an embrace. Her heart was filled with peace. Minato, did you hear that? Our feelings... this child understands.
Kushina's body trembled.
"Naruto! Thank you for letting me be your mother."
"Thank you for letting Minato be your father."
"I'm so glad... that you came to us as our child!"
"Thank you!"
Tears fell from Naruto's eyes as well. Within the shroud of light, his azure eyes looked toward the sky.
"Mom, from now on, I won't just eat instant ramen. I'll eat plenty of vegetables too."
"As for bathing, it's a hobby of mine, so don't worry, I go to the hot springs all the time."
"And I get plenty of sleep every day, though I sleep in so much that Kanon has to come wake me up."
"As for friends, I've made a bunch of amazing ones. You've already met my best friend, though right now, things aren't great between me and her brother."
"About studying... well, it's just like you thought. I always need Kanon to tutor me or teach me how to cheat."
"But don't worry, I haven't let it get me down!"
"Even though I had some rough patches with teachers and seniors during school, they're all people I respect now."
"The Three Prohibitions of a Ninja, Jiraiya-sensei already taught me about those."
"He was exactly like you described, but he was also the one who taught me how to be a true ninja. He was a great shinobi."
"I am Naruto Uzumaki, a ninja of Konoha!"
"My dream is to inherit the title of Hokage and surpass all the Hokages who came before me."
"And to become a man even cooler than my Dad, and a ninja even stronger than my Mom!"
Suddenly, the perspective shifted, and Naruto returned to his inner world. "Is it done?" Kanon's eyes were slightly red; clearly, she had witnessed everything that just occurred.
"Yeah. Kanon, thank you so much."
Kanon wiped her eyes. "Well, what are best friends for?" She gave her twin tails a tug, forcing herself to cheer up. "Enough of that. Let's take down the Nine-Tails together."
Suddenly, blue chakra erupted from Naruto's physical body, beginning to forcibly seize the Nine-Tails' chakra. At that same instant, the tomoe faded from the Nine-Tails' eyes, the sign that the genjutsu had been broken.
"Th-this is!" Outside, Yamato saw the orange Sage markings around Naruto's right eye and the pink markings around his left. He was struck with shock.
"Impressive. Keep monitoring!" Killer B shouted.
In the inner world, Kanon's twin tails swayed as she pressed her palms together. "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Naruto followed suit, unleashing the Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu alongside her. "Kanon, it's been way too long since we fought side-by-side like this!"
"Yeah! Let's settle this!" Kanon nodded, a smirk playing on her lips as she stood back-to-back with Naruto.