By the time Naruto and his group finally reached the Ninja Academy, the wide plaza in front of the school was already packed with orderly lines of people waiting to take the entrance exam. From a distance, only a few palm-sized gaps could barely be seen between the crowds, and even those were quickly vanishing as more people squeezed in. It gave Naruto a firsthand experience of just how grand and overwhelming the spectacle truly was—what he had seen earlier on the main road was just the tip of the iceberg of the Ninja Academy's registration day.
At this rate, if they had obediently followed the noisy crowd along the main road, they wouldn't have even made it close enough to glimpse the front gates—let alone the academy wall—before registration closed. There would've been no chance of signing up in time!
'What the heck… It's just preschool registration. Isn't this a bit much…?'
Although the crowd he saw earlier had prepared Naruto somewhat, sparing him from looking like some clueless bumpkin, the heavy tension hanging over this gathering still stirred up some traumatic memories from his past life—specifically the dreaded college entrance exams. After swallowing a few gulps of nervousness, he barely managed to stop himself from instinctively turning around and bolting. After a short pause, he furrowed his brow and muttered under his breath, curious.
'If just registering for preschool is this intense… then how did I manage to pull off year after year of terrible grades and constant prankster antics without failing or being held back? Could it be that the Third Hokage was secretly helping me behind the scenes all this time—pulling some strings to keep me from getting held back?'
That "he" Naruto was muttering about… was actually himself.
Or more precisely, the original owner of this body before he transmigrated into this world—Naruto Uzumaki, the forever bottom-ranked Genin and Dead Last of the Hidden Leaf Village.
'Tch, and here I thought something serious had happened…'
Just as Naruto was muttering to himself, Kurama—who had been lazily napping inside the Seal—suddenly snapped awake after sensing a flicker of fear in Naruto's emotions. Alert, he quickly scanned Naruto's surroundings through their shared perception. When he confirmed there was no actual danger, he blinked in confusion before catching sight of what Naruto was looking at… and couldn't help but feel a mix of exasperation and amusement.
He crossed his massive forelimbs to use as a pillow and reclined back down, lazily teasing.
"Oi, what's up, brat? You didn't even flinch when you were under my oppressive aura—the mightiest of the Nine Tailed Beasts—and now you're getting scared by this bunch of powerless humans? Don't tell me that fake Orochimaru showing up last night scared the courage right out of you? Or… are you just shy and awkward now that you're not used to being around people?"
"Shut it! Y-You—you… What do you even know?! Who said I'm shy or scared?! That's the last thing I needed to hear right now! And by the way, who do you think made me live alone for most of my life, huh?!"
Being (technically) called out for the truth by Kurama instantly made Naruto's face flush red. He quickly tried to rein in his expression, pretending to act mature and grumpy.
After a moment, he focused his consciousness inward, plunging into the seal's inner space to confront the oversized fox teasing him. Naruto leapt across the boundary of the seal without hesitation, baring his teeth and pretending to be angry as he clawed at Kurama's soft, thick-furred forehead.
"Hmph! Who told my parents to stuff you in me as a birthday gift anyway? You've got no one to blame but yourself!"
Kurama didn't even flinch. Clearly used to Naruto's antics by now, he curled his beastly eyes into a warm smile and lowered his head slightly to let Naruto land more comfortably atop his forehead. He even mimicked Naruto's usual tone with a teasing grin.
"Still, I've been lending you my power all these years as payment for 'rent.' That basically makes me your customer, doesn't it? And according to your logic—'the customer is always right!' So keeping your guest comfy in a quiet place? Sounds pretty reasonable to me~"
"Bah! If you're my customer, then that makes me—huh? Wait a sec…"
Naruto, already sprawled comfortably across Kurama's terrifying yet fluffy head, paused mid-sentence. With his legs swinging lazily, a grin crept onto his face as a sneaky thought struck him.
"Now that I think about it, haven't you been sleeping nonstop lately? I mean, aside from fighting, you've been out cold no matter how hard I try to wake you up. So how come you popped up so fast today without me even calling? Don't tell me… were you actually worried I was in danger?"
"Hah! Worried about you? Don't flatter yourself! I… I just happened to wake up. Needed to stretch my legs, that's all!"
Kurama's temperature rose noticeably at Naruto's pointed question. Thankfully, Naruto couldn't see the flush under all that thick fur. Still, Kurama quickly denied it and returned to his usual "grumpy old fox" persona to maintain his dignity.
"Oh? Reeally~?"
Of course, Naruto—who knew him inside and out by now—saw right through the bluff. He dragged out the word playfully, smirking as Kurama's momentary panic confirmed everything. But he didn't expose him directly. Instead, he kept teasing the bashful beast with a singsong tone.
"O-Of course!"
Kurama knew this brat didn't believe a word of it, but he didn't know how to shut him up either. After four years of living together, Kurama had slowly gotten used to Naruto's constant presence and chaotic companionship. He couldn't bring himself to get mad at the boy's carefree teasing anymore, and only grumbled with a mock-scowl.
"Tch! You little punk, you're getting more brazen by the day! Want me to take control of your body right now?!"
"Huh? Awesome! Go on, go on—please take it! Saves me the trouble of dealing with this dumb preschool sign-up nonsense!"
Perking up immediately, Naruto rolled off Kurama's head and landed on the tip of his nose, gripping it with a huge grin plastered across his face.
"Come on, don't hold back! Take it! I'll finally get to nap while you handle all this boring stuff~"
…
Staring at this smug little brat who wore the kind of grin that practically begged to be smacked—but whom Kurama couldn't bear to actually hurt—the fox let out a long sigh and dropped his ears. He flopped back down dramatically, looking away in a sulky pose. But then, as if an idea struck him, his ears perked straight up again, and his lips curled into a sharp-toothed grin.
"Little brat… are you sure you want to hand over control right now?"
"Mhm! Absolutely! No backsies! C'mon, take it!"
Naruto could faintly sense Kurama was plotting something, but after thinking it over, he couldn't figure out how giving up control would hurt him. So he kept nodding eagerly, grinning all the while.
"You're sure? No regrets? I'll give you one last chance to back out."
"Hahaha, Kurama! You're really trying to outfox me here? You're still too green to play mind games with me~"
Seeing Kurama's repeated questions as a bluff, Naruto was even more convinced he was just stalling. He wiggled his fingers teasingly in front of the fox's face.
"Of course I won't regret—"
"A-Ah… um… h-hi there…"
"…Huh? That voice… Wait—no way. KURAMA!! YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME SHE WAS HERE?!"
Before he could finish his sentence, a soft and familiar voice echoed from the real world into the seal. Naruto froze. His mind raced as the owner of that voice clicked into place—and in that instant, he wanted nothing more than to take back every word he'd just said.
"Hahahaha! I asked you multiple times, and you kept saying you had no regrets and begged me to take control~ So I'll just go ahead and accept your generous offer now—thanks for the body~"
Seeing Naruto's stunned face as the realization hit, Kurama knew he had finally won this round. Grinning wickedly, he rubbed it in with a deliberately smug tone.
"Aiyaa… even if that human girl looks like she'd cry at the drop of a hat and is super annoying to deal with… since you begged me to handle the 'trouble' for you, how could I refuse—?"
"WAIT! NO NO NO—MY BAD! I WAS WRONG!!"
Naruto didn't care about saving face anymore. Scrambling out of the seal like a man possessed, he snapped back to reality, whipped around toward the voice behind him, and shouted—completely out of the blue in front of everyone watching:
"I regret it!! I REGRET IT!!!"