What's up, guys, it's rick12 and I have another reading story that I hope will be good. It's a reading story of Xenter's most popular story, Youkai No Bikou, and I have his/her permission to give it a go. I recommend it to everyone that is reading this story, as that story is quite good; it's cute and very original, has drama and romance, and Naruto and Kurama are extremely powerful, as in the end of canon and from evidence from fairy tail dragon slayer, another author that has great stories (For proof, read Naruto The Stat Sheets).
Anyways, this will take place sometime after the events of Volume 12 of the High School DxD light novels, but immediately before Volume 14. This is when Naruto decides to wait a few more days at the last minute so that he could train more and prepare his trip before activating the seal, so by the time he activates it, he'll arrive in the DxD universe post Volume 12, so except past DxD events before the ending of that volume to be canon. I chosen this time range because Kuroka develops feelings for Issei in Volume 14, but she could still have feelings for Naruto/Kurama. The twist to this story is that it will take place in the same universe as Youkai No Bikou, so except animosity between Yasaka and Kuroka and shocking revelations betweem them and their associates. Of course, like my other story, this reading story will only involve the cast from High School DxD. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own High School DxD, Naruto, or the story this reading story is based on. They belong to their respective owners.
Reading Youkai No Bikou – Chapter 1
It was a good day for everyone from the Three Factions, including other factions from other mythologies, some time after the incident that happened in the Underworld. Issei Hyoudou, the Red Dragon Emperor and Oppai Dragon, even obtained a new body after his old one was destroyed by Shalba Beelzebub during the said incident. They were enjoying their free time and minding their own business until they suddenly got teleported to a strange, but large room that was beautiful in its designs.
The room that they currently occupied was white in color, with beautiful decorations that filled the room, ranging from paintings of famous artists to a large flat-screen plasma TV that was fixed on one of the walls. There were love-seats and sofas that looked very comfortable to relax on. There was even a kitchen stocked with food in case someone was hungry. Overall, it looked like your average room that belonged in a mansion.
There were a lot of people that were present in the room, those being Rias, Sona, their peerages (with Bennia and Loup Garou in Sona's peerage), Sairaorg, the Four Maou with Grayfia, Gabriel, Michael, and Dulio, Azazel, Tobio, the Vali Team, Yasaka and her daughter, Ophis, Ravel, Irina, Valerie, Elmenhilde, and the Hero Faction (except Siegfried). All of them were wondering what was going on, except Ophis who had the perfect poker face.
"What the!? Vali and Cao Cao!? What are you two doing here!?" Issei asked his rival and the descendant of the Hero of Chaos, who just smirk and smile, respectively.
"I should be asking you that, Issei Hyoudou, but I doubt you know the answer to that." Vali replied to the perverted dragon.
"Indeed. So, Vali. Do you know what's going on? I should still be with Hades along with Leonardo and Georg." Cao Cao asked the silver-haired boy, who shrugged.
"I don't know, Cao Cao. Don't ask me." Vali retorted, but Cao Cao was still smiling.
"Are you ignoring me, you bastards!?" Issei yelled, much to Rias' annoyance to his stupidity and hotheadedness.
"Hey, white one." Ddraig greeted his eternal rival.
"Red one." greeted back the White Heavenly Dragon.
"Calm down, Issei. Everyone here is on the same boat." Rias scolded in a calm tone.
"Hello, Switch Princess." Cao Cao greeted Rias, who blushed in embarrassment.
"I'm not a switch princess!" Rias yelled in a flustered manner, which caused everyone to chuckle at her behavior, except Bikou who laughed loudly.
"Rias-tan! Come give your Onii-chan a big hug!" Sirzechs shouted in childish manner, which annoyed Grayfia to no end.
She proceeded to pinch his cheek. "Sirzechs-sama, this is no time to act like an idiot. Is this the image you want others to see you as?" Grayfia scolded sternly.
"Owwwww! Grayfia, that hurts!" Sirzechs yelped like the child he was, much to Rias' further embarrassment. Everyone, except Ophis, sweatdropped at the couple's antics.
"Sirzechs... Why are you an idiot?" Ajuka asked with a sigh upon seeing his friend's behavior. Falbium was just standing next to him, sleepy as usual.
"Hello, Issei, Vali... Cao Cao." Azazel greeted the three boys, with the last one being said cautiously to the Chinese boy.
"Hey, Azazel-sensei!" greeted Issei cheerfully.
"Hello, Azazel." greeted Vali in a stoic manner.
"Hello, Governor of the Fallen Angels. How are you doing?" greeted Cao Cao with a smile that bordered on smugness.
"Doing okay, no thanks to you, Cao Cao." retorted Azazel, not liking the so-called Hero one bit.
"Heh." Cao Cao just chuckled to the retort, like it didn't bother him.
"Hello. Vali." greeted Tobio, the Slash Dog, to the White Dragon Emperor. Tobio was one of the best fighters of Grigori. He was also a Longinus user that had the one of the 13 Longinus, called Canis Lykaon. The black-haired boy was Akeno's cousin, since his grandmother was from the Himejima clan.
"Hello, Slash Dog." Vali replied to one of the people that forced him to use Juggernaut Drive. Tobio was one of the people that the silver-haired boy wanted to fight (stupid battle maniac).
"Issei Hyoudou. Are you getting stronger?" Sairaorg asked the boy that defeated him with the Cardinal Crimson transformation.
"Hai, Sairaorg-san!" greeted the brown-haired boy to the Bael heir with respect.
"Hercule-chan! Georg-chan! Leonardo-kun! How are you doing?" Jeanne greeted her comrades in a cheerful manner. Even after her defeat by Issei, she was still cheerful and sweet-sounding, despite being held captive by the Grigori.
"Hey, Jeanne. Do you know what's going on?" asked Hercule and Georg to the carrier of the Maiden of Orleans. Leonardo was just silent.
"Nope!" Jeanne replied in a blunt, but cheerful way.
"It's too bad that Siegfried is dead." Georg said solemnly. Jeanne agreed with him in a sad face.
"Yeah..." Hercule said in a low tone. After his defeat by Sairaorg, he was no longer the loud brute he once was.
"Okaa-sama, do you know what's going on?" Kunou asked her mother curiously. The little fox girl was happy to see Issei, her crush, and his friends. She was wary of Cao Cao and the Hero Faction, since they kidnapped her mother.
"I don't, Kunou. I believe that the one who brought us here will be able to explain, but I don't know who that is." the beautiful Kyuubi replied to her daughter. The sight of Kunou caused her to think about her husband's disappearance before her daughter's birth. Despite her attitude towards him, she was still in love with him. Was he okay? It brought pain to Yasaka's heart whether she harmed him, but she believed that it would help him overcome his dark emotions in the past. 'I guess I was wrong...' thought the mother sorrowfully.
'Mother?' Kunou thought worriedly when she saw the sad expression on her mother's face.
"Sona-tan! It's good to see you again!" Serafall shouted before she lunged at her younger sister, getting her in a tight hug that caused the purple-eyed girl to blush nervously.
"O-Onee-sama, please let go of me! People are watching!" Sona cried desperately, which failed miserably as the mahou shoujo didn't comply to her request.
"Nope! You're my cute little sister and I want to hug you! We'll have yuri-yuri cuddling time!" Serafall retorted with childlike stubbornness, which caused everyone in the younger sister's peerage to have a 'WTF' expression on their faces.
"Xenovia, Asia, it's good to see you two again." Michael said to the two girls with a serene smile.
"It's an honor to meet you again, Michael-sama!" greeted Xenovia and Asia with respect in their voices to the current God.
"Ara, Michael-nii-san, are these two the girls that you gave permission to pray again? Hello, my name is Gabriel. It's nice to meet you two." The beautiful twelve-winged Seraph greeted with a gorgeous smile.
"Hai, Gabriel-sama! It's an honor to meet the Most Beautiful Woman in Heaven in person!" greeted the two girls as they bowed to the Seraph with deep respect.
"Hello, Michael-sama, Gabriel-sama. I'm going to go to the kitchen to see if there's good food." Dulio told his superiors in a laid-back manner before going to the kitchen.
"Oh, Dulio. I wonder how Griselda handles him all the time." Michael wondered curiously
"I think she has her ways, nii-san." Gabriel replied to her brother with a smile.
"Hey, Xenovia, Asia. How are you guys doing?" Irina greeted her fellow believers with a smile.
"I'm doing fine, Irina." Xenovia told her long-time friend with a smile.
"Hello, Irina-san!" Asia greeted the Self-Proclaimed Angel warmly.
"Valerie! What are you doing here!?" Gasper asked his childhood friend worriedly, since he hadn't seen her for a long time.
"It's good to see you, Gasper. To answer your question, I have no idea why I'm here." answered the Dhampire with a broken smile on her face. Due to her half-brother, Marius, forcing her to use the Sephiroth Grail too many times, she became broken in both heart and soul. Fortunately, she could still show emotions (A/N: This is before the events of Volume 16, so the DxD cast haven't found out that Valerie has the Sephiroth Grail yet, but they will in this story.).
"Are you okay?" Gasper asked with concern in his voice. This was the first time that he had saw Valerie look so broken, like a frail doll.
"Yes." replied Valerie, much to her heart's reluctance to say otherwise. She couldn't have her friend worry about her, despite needing help. 'Perhaps I should tell him once we calm down...' Valerie suggested to herself. Yes, that was what she would do: once everyone had calm down, she would tell Gasper about her dilemma.
"Hello, Gasper Vladi. My name is Elmenhilde Galnstein. It's nice to meet you." Elmenhilde greeted the cross-dresser with a smile that screamed arrogance. The smile she had on was clearly fake, as if she viewed Gasper as nothing more than low-life trash.
"H-Hello." greeted Gasper to the small vampire.
"I need to talk to you about the problems our kind have back at the homeland. It concerns Valerie Tepes next to you." Elmenhilde told the Dhampire.
"What? What does Valerie have to do with any of the problems that your homeland has?" Gasper asked the small, corpse-like girl.
"I'll tell you once I meet with your master, Rias Gremory. For now, we need to find out why we were teleported here." Elmenhilde told the cross-dressing boy, who reluctantly agreed.
'What does she mean that these problems concern Valerie?' thought Gasper worriedly. He wanted to ask Elmenhilde for more details, but they need to find out why they were here first.
"Hello, Nee-san." Koneko greeted her older sister.
"Hello, Shirone. How are things with you?" greeted Kuroka playfully.
"Things are well, Nee-san." Koneko replied stoically.
"That's good." Kuroka said in a serene manner. However, that happy mood went away when she saw Yasaka, who also looked at her. Both of them gave each other stern glares while walking towards one another, until they were standing about a foot away from each other.
"Kuroka..." Yasaka greeted the black-haired Nekoshou with indifference.
"Yasaka..." Kuroka greeted back to the Kyuubi leader with resentment in her voice. It was this woman that separated her beloved older cousin, her Kura-nii, from her and her mother when she needed him the most. Why did Yasaka still hate her and her mother? She had developed romantic feelings for him from the times he spent with her. He promised that he would help her, but he couldn't. Kuroka believed that it was because of Yasaka that Kurama couldn't help her, so the black-haired beauty hated the woman for that. She could still remember that time when she came to Kyoto, years after the death of her mother, to ask for Kurama to help Shirone, his daughter, when the white-haired girl was about to be executed by Devils after she killed her asshole of a master, but she realized that he had disappeared. The Nekomata race was on the brink of extinction at that time due to members of the Three Factions hunting them down due to fear of Senjutsu and from what Kuroka did. She still hadn't told Shirone that Kurama was her father who mated their mother, but she wouldn't do that, not just yet.
"How are you doing these days?" Yasaka asked with indifference still in her voice. She also held some resentment towards Kuroka and her mother, Kurohime, for trying to take her husband away, but she eventually got over it. Yasaka did try to help the Nekomata race, but by the time she actually heard of their genocide, most of them were hunted down and killed by Devils, with only a few survivors going into hiding. She felt regret and depression for being unable to help her husband's other blood-related race, which she only recovered from thanks to her daughter. However, the fact that she wasn't able to do anything to help out the Nekomata gnawed at her consciousness to this day. She hoped that she could remedy the strained relationship between Devils and Yokai by having peace talks, thus her meeting with Serafall after the Kyuubi leader's rescue from the Hero Faction. 'I still need to talk to the Devils about the near-extinction of the Nekomata...' though Yasaka solemnly. It was still of a very important matter to be concerned about. It was her way of atonement for her inability to save the Nekomata, where she hoped that she could find and save what was left of the feline race. Yasaka hoped that it could remedy the strained relationship between her and Kuroka; it was what her husband would want.
"I was doing fine, until I saw your face here." Kuroka spat venomously, causing Yasaka to flinch internally. The Kyuubi leader knew that the Nekoshou had every right to be angry at her, but she wasn't going to back down when it concerned her husband. Both women had strong feelings for Kurama, and they weren't going to like each other for that.
'Kuroka-nee-san...' Koneko thought with surprise on her face. This was practically the first time she saw her big sister be truly angry at someone, especially at someone like the Kyuubi leader. Was there bad blood between the two?
'Kuroka/Kuroka-san' her comrades from the Vali Team were also bewildered at Kuroka's behavior. They had never seen Kuroka this angry at someone before.
'Okaa-sama...' Kunou was shocked at the way her mother was behaving. She knew Kuroka from the past due to seeing her as a teenager once, but her mother at that time ordered her to get back inside their home after she mentioned that she saw a portrait of someone that looked very similar to the black-haired Nekoshou. Why were they at each other's throats? That was the question that Kunou was thinking.
"I know that everyone is having their own conversations, but does anyone know why we're here?" Ophis asked everyone, which caused them to get back to the current situation at hand. Now that they thought of it, why were they here? Who, or what, brought them to this room? Everyone was silent, until a swirling vortex suddenly appeared in the middle of the room. Everyone tensed when they saw a foot coming out of it. Seconds passed until a person came out of it. Once the person stepped out of the vortex, it vanished. Everybody got a good look at the stranger, who was weird in every way.
It was a tall, old man that looked tired, as if he didn't get enough sleep. He had strange clothing, which consisted of a white kimono that had six magatama on the collar. He had a necklace that was also composed of six magatama. On his back was a strange black staff. He had spiky, shoulder-length, pale-red hair with a chin-length braid going down from his left ear. He even sported a goatee that went to his waist. The strangest of things about the man's appearance was that he had horn-like protrusions coming
out of his head, with eyes that had a ringed pattern. Overall, he looked like your strange average old guy. What caused everyone, including Ophis, to tense was the massive amount of power that was radiating off the old man. It was absolutely monstrous, this power was practically equal to or even greater than that of Great Red's! Some of the weaker members in the room couldn't stand up straight, resulting in them kneeling on the floor. No doubt that this awesome being was the one who brought them here.
"Oh, sorry about that. I forgot to keep my power in check." the strange man said before the massive pressure on everyone was gone, causing those who were kneeling to stand back up.
"Hello, everyone. My name is Hagoromo Otsutsuki, and I have brought you all here to this dimension for a special occasion. Think of it as something to learn from." Hagoromo introduced himself with a smile. The situation was still tense until Sirzechs spoke to the powerful man.
"Hello, Otsutsuki-dono. What is this thing that you want us to do?" Sirzechs asked him politely. Hagoromo smiled, and proceeded to answer his question.
"Ah, yes. The reason why I brought you all here is because I want you all to read a book that pertains events about what will happen if the main character in it were to come back to your home dimension after so many years had passed since he left. This main character does exists, but he'll come to your home dimension after you finish this book, due to spending a few more days than what he intended to in the dimension that he lived in for a very long time, a dimension that is completely different and far away from yours. Time in the dimension he's in moves much faster your dimension's time. I can assure you that he will come to your dimension once he finishes spending those days, like he'll do in the first chapter of this book that you'll read, but much earlier. It's like the future." the old man explained to them, who had their eyes widened at the information, especially Yasaka and Kuroka. A dimension that was completely different from their own? The main character of the book being from their dimension who left to go to a new one? This would be interesting.
'Could it be?' Yasaka and Kuroka thought with shock on their faces. If the main character was Kurama, then...
"Don't worry too much. Everything that you don't know will be answered in this book. All of your questions will be satisfied. Who knows? This character might be someone you cherish." Hagoromo explained, causing everyone to calm down from the information. It would be interesting to see who this main character was.
"I don't have much time left since I need to go back to my home dimension. If that's all, I'll take my leave. Oh, and don't worry about the outside world. Time outside has stopped the moment all of you have been teleported here, and it'll resume once you finish this book." the old man told them before materializing the aforementioned book, and handing it to Michael, who thanked the powerful Rikudo Sennin. Before going back to the Narutoverse, he turned to Yasaka and Kuroka. "Yasaka-san, Kuroka-san, I would advise you two to listen to the story very attentively. It will answer all your questions about your loved one." explained Hagoromo cryptically before walking through a vortex that he created. 'I hope that you two get to this dimension eventually after they finish this story, Naruto and Kurama. People missed you two, especially you, Kurama.' thought the old man with a serene smile before he went back to his home dimension, with the vortex vanishing after his whole body stepped in.
Seconds passed after Hagoromo's departure, with Yasaka and Kuroka feeling confused yet anxious about the book. 'It must be him. I got to listen to this!' thought the two beautiful Youkai with determination in their eyes. Was Kurama coming back to the two of them? They had to know! Everyone proceeded to gather around Michael, while sitting on the love-seats and sofas that were nearby. Issei, as usual, had his harem close to him, which consisted of Rias, Akeno, Asia, Koneko, Ravel, Irina, Xenovia, and strangely Tsubasa. Rossweisse and Kiba were standing close to them, with Ophis sitting on a love-seat that was far away from them, but close to the group of people. Kunou was sitting on her mother's lap, close to Issei's position.
Once everyone had settled down, Michael proceeded to ask if some one would like to read first. "So, who would like to read the first chapter?" Michael asked kindly. Serafall raised her hand.
"I'll read first, Michael-tan!" Serafall said in a cheerful voice. Michael gave the book to her, in which she read the title. "Youkai No Bikou.".
"That means 'Shadow of the Youkai'. A strange, but interesting title." Ajuka commented. So this book was centered around Yokai?
Serafall thought it was a good title before proceeding to read. "Chapter 1 – Prologue." Serafall said before reading the first chapter.
"You coward! Get back here!" roared a fox with nine-tails. It was chasing another of its kind – with eight-tails – throughout the palace halls.
After Serafall read the first sentence, the plasma TV came to life, showing a real-live video of the two foxes running around, with the nine-tails chasing the eight-tails.
"Okaa-sama, is that you?" Kunou asked in shocked upon seeing the nine-tailed fox chasing the eight-tailed one.
"Y-yes, Kunou. That was me in the past." Yasaka said to her daughter with wide eyes. That was the day when her husband disappeared! She might be able to find how he had disappeared that day. Kuroka was suspicious of Yasaka's expression, since she vaguely recognized eight-tailed fox from the video.
The eight-tails dashed and weaved through the corridor in haste with a dreadful expression. It was running for its life. Even though it was a coward of sort, none could argue that it was very agile on its feet. No one within the palace could match its speed, including its wife.
"That's true. That one is faster than anyone there." Sirzechs commented upon seeing the eight-tailed fox's speed.
The creature did a zigzag, avoiding several other youkai that were trying to stop it on her orders. The fox then jumped on top of their heads after gracefully navigating through the space between their extended limbs. It used their heads as a stepping stone before going over the high wall.
The second fox landed on top of the wall a minute later and scanned the area beyond the palace, realizing her husband was long gone.
"Only good at running away," she murmured and sighed before returning back to the central palace again. Her husband would return eventually as he always did. There was nowhere else he could go, and she had a more important matter she must attend like preventing herself from throwing up due to morning sickness.
"That was when I was still pregnant with Kunou." Yasaka said, remembering her pregnancy with her daughter.
The escapee kept on running, passing through several the empty streets of Kyoto before finally starting to drop its speed. It felt that it had gotten far enough, thus beginning the transformation into its human form. While examining the surroundings, he revealed himself to have golden
blond hair with a matching set of eyes. Three whisker marks adorning both sides of his cheek as he puffed up and exhaled.
'Kura-nii/Kurama-kun...' thought Yasaka and Kuroka upon seeing the eight-tailed man. They felt a pang in their hearts from seeing him after so long.
"So that's Yasaka-chan's husband. He's cute." Serafall commented, which earned hard glares from the two Youkai women. Everyone sweatdropped at the mahou shoujo's comment, while Kunou and Koneko got curious looks on their faces from seeing the two women's reactions.
He leaned forward against the railing that was erected to prevent people from falling into the lake. He watched the undisturbed water silently in the secluded park. It was completely dark out and only the moonlight reflected off the lake's surface.
"Fucking bitch!" He cursed at his own reflection while rubbing the bruises that covered his body. "Just because she has more tails than me, she thinks she owned me. No one tells me what to do. I will show her who the boss is!"
"Kurama-kun..." said Yasaka sadly. She felt very guilty from harming him all the time, but that was the only way to get him to listen to her. Her husband refused to listen to her unless she could defeat him in a fight due to his beliefs that only the strong should rule, forcing her to hurt him to get him to listen. She regretted every time she had to hurt him, but she had no choice. 'I'm sorry, husband...' Yasaka thought remorsefully.
'Okaa-sama.' Kunou was shocked upon hearing the sad voice of her mother. Who was this man on the screen?
'Yasaka. You bitch.' Kuroka thought angrily upon seeing the bruises on Kurama's body. When she heard Yasaka's sad voice, it pissed her off. It was her fault that drove Kurama away! Why was she feeling sad!?
He had a total of eight tails and was still waiting to acquire the last one. His mate's power had exceeded his own, and he didn't like that one bit. As a creature of pride and as well as being male, he wanted to be on top and acquire more mates. A harem of sort, but unfortunately, he could not go against her as she pummeled him around the room for even hinting something like that. Under that humble and polite personality of her, which she displayed for the public, existed a demon. He felt just like a prisoner where she was the warden.
"Kurama..." Yasaka was feeling even more guilty and sad upon realizing that he took her beatings as something that she liked to do, but she hated doing it to him. However, she didn't had much choice; she was forced to hurt him since it was the only way to get him to listen to her. She didn't want him to get more mates, but he refused to listen to her, forcing her to hurt him to get him to listen to her and her objections to it. She felt emotional pain and remorse for having to harm him every time, but she had no choice. She wanted to change his mind, to get him away from the dark path he was taking, but it was for naught, causing Yasaka to feel anguish for all the beatings she dealt towards the man she still had strong feelings for. 'I'm sorry for making you feel that way.' Yasaka thought remorsefully. Kuroka wanted to slap the Kyuubi, but she restrained herself; now wasn't the time to blow up on her face.
"Then why don't you?" A voice asked from the side.
Startled, his slit eyes snapped towards it. The demonic fox was sure he was completely alone seconds ago. The person he saw was a tall and pale-skinned man with deep wrinkles to show his age.
The elderly man had spiky, shoulder-length, pale-red hair, with a chin-length braid hanging in front of his left ear as well as sporting a goatee which tapered down to his waist. Horn-like protrusions on his forehead with ringed patterns for eyes. He wore a white, full-length kimono with a pattern of six black magatama around a high collar along with a necklace which was also made up of six black magatama. A strange black staff was secured to his back, and he was sitting on a bench with two hands pressed against his knee as if they were to hold his weary body up. He looked very tired. Something appeared to be off about him, giving the youkai pause.
"It's Hagoromo-dono!" Michael said with shock. Yasaka and Kuroka were also shocked upon seeing the old man. The one who brought them here was also the one who took Kurama away? They were so confused.
"Who are you?" The fox asked after immediately placing the elderly man as an abnormal being from the appearance alone. He'd never seen such a being before, but there was a first time for everything. Could it be a devil as they tend to have numerous abilities and appearances? The fox had no answer to that.
"Shouldn't you introduce yourself first before asking another person's name?" The elderly man replied.
"I am Kurama, the great Kyuubi, so tell me who you are!" Kurama demanded.
'Arrogant, isn't he?' thought everyone in the room, except Yasaka and Kuroka, since they already knew that.
"Kyuubi? Ah yes… but you're still missing one more to make it nine," the man said as he analyzed the creature before nodding approvingly. It was as if he had found what he was seeking for. "Hagoromo Otsutsuki, The Sage of Six Paths."
"I will get my ninth tail! It's only a matter of time! In a few hundred years, nobody would challenge my powers, ahahahaha," Kurama retorted before laughing hysterically, imagining the destruction he would wreck upon those that challenged him. Hagoromo stroke his beard a little with a free hand. He was in thought, allowing the young man to continue in his delusional fantasy.
"Okay..." Azazel commented on Kurama's behavior with a sweatdrop. Everybody else thought that Kurama was being stupid with that laugh.
After Kurama stopped being an idiot, Hagoromo finally spoke up.
"I am looking for a vessel. If you could help me in that regard, I'm sure I can shorten the time you needed to get your final tail. I will also give you something more as a bonus, Kurama," Hagoromo offered as the said person narrowed his menacing eyes at the man.
"So, Hagoromo-dono was the one who helped Kurama-san get his last tail and become more powerful." Gabriel commented.
"Indeed." Serafall agreed with her rival.
Kurama was suspicious, but his desire for power overwhelmed his own vigilance.
"You can? Show me!" Kurama demanded.
Hagoromo nodded. He took the strange staff from his back and tapped the air space to his side. The air distorted around the impact point, and black lines appeared before spiraling like a whirlpool into some kind of dark portal.
Kurama stepped back a little after sensing the rift in space. He had seen many strange things in his life, but never something like this. The portal pulsed with strange and unknown energy that seemed to fill the air with malicious intentions.
"If you accept then follow me as you will be the last of the Nine. I can say that you will be the strongest and greatest of them all. However, you will disappear from here for a little while, and one day you will meet the child of prophecy. You will help him accomplish his goals and you will be given a chance to return here again," Hagoromo hinted as Kurama's eyes narrowed more.
It was really like selling your soul for power kind of deal, but Kurama wanted to powers above all else so…
"The Nine?" Vali asked curiously.
"I believe that Hagoromo-sama will explain it right now, Vali." Tobio told the silver-haired boy, who shrugged.
"What are the Nine?"
"The Nine will be known as Bijuu, each having the ability to remodel a country and landscape with just a flick of one of their tails. I need them to contain a certain being's energy. They are: Shukaku the Ichibi, Matatabi the Nibi, Isobu the Sanbi, Son Goku the Yonbi, Kokuo the Gobi, Saiken the Rokubi, Chomei the Nanabi, Gyuuki the Hachibi, and finally you, if you choose to accept, will be Kurama the Kyuubi," Hagoromo answered truthfully.
"What!?" Everybody shouted with shock in their wide eyes. Nine beings that could easily destroy a country in an instant with just a flick of one of their tails? And Kurama will be the strongest!? That was... very terrifying.
"H-how?" Issei asked with fear in his voice. He had to boost the power that he borrowed from Great Red to destroy Jabberwocky, and that took a lot of effort!
"I don't know, Issei." Rias said in shock to her true love.
"So, Kurama-sama will be the strongest out of those nine..." Sirzechs said cautiously. Even he didn't have the power to destroy a country in an instant. That would take quite a lot of time to do that.
"Indeed. I have a feeling that Kurama-sama will be very powerful after this." Ajuka said warily.
"I will have nine tails? The strongest?" Kurama asked.
Hagoromo nodded to confirm. "However, I will need to seal your memory of this place along with your body until such time an event will come to pass," he added with some thoughts, seeing how Kurama was quite arrogant, and that might be a bad thing if he allowed it to roam freely with that kind of behavior.
"Let's do it then!" Kurama howled decidedly.
The sage stroked his beard and entered the portal first to show that it was safe. It was soon followed by the demon fox without any hesitation.
"Kurama-kun/Kura-nii..." whispered Yasaka and Kuroka sadly. The Kyuubi leader was sad that he was still obsessed with power. It broke her heart when she couldn't change his mind. She thought she could by telling him that she was pregnant with their daughter, but she didn't had the chance. Both of them realized that he left his home dimension for power, and that caused them to become sad at the thought.
As the Sage had promised, all nine creatures he collected from different worlds were given a piece of Juubi's, the ten-tails', powers. (AN: Kurama was given half of the Juubi's power). Their memories were sealed along with their body, and they were giving a new immature one, completely made purely of Chakra. All of the Bijuu would need to grow into it, and after the task was done, Hagoromo's body failed him and he passed away. It was not before he told his creations that they would all be together again even if they went their separate ways. It was as if he knew what was to come far into the future.
"So his original body and memories were sealed away, and he was given a new body." Arthur commented from what he heard.
"Yes, but this new body is made completely of chakra." Koneko said with shock. That dimension had chakra as its main energy? Here, only certain Youkai could use chakra, and with it, Senjutsu. To think that there was a dimension that had everyone use chakra, including humans.
"Hagoromo-sama passed away, though. How was he able to appear before us then?" Rossweisse asked curiously.
"It must had been his spirit." speculated Cao Cao.
The Nine showed themselves from time to time, allowing the humans of the world to witness their might and powers. At first, they were together, having a close relationship with one another, but fragmented pieces of their former personality resurfaced, and they slowly drifted apart from a heated philosophical disagreement.
Eventually, they parted way just like their creator hinted long ago. Kurama, for his own reason, believed that their strength lies in the number of tails they held. He had nine so he was the strongest. Pride and hubris soon followed.
"Kurama-sama is still prideful, even in his new form." Sirzechs commented.
"Yes, but look at his size. He's bigger than most of the mountains there!" Gasper said with awe and fear in his voice. Everyone agreed with Gasper's comment, Kurama was much bigger than even his fellow Bijuu!
"Kurama..." Yasaka and Kuroka were shocked at the Kyuubi's size. They also agreed that Kurama was a monster in sheer size and power.
Over the centuries, countless inhabitants of the Elemental Nations failed to regard the tailed beasts as sapient individuals, treating them with great disdain and fear. Because of the immense power each of creatures wielded, the Shinobi sought out the tailed beasts as tools and weapons to be controlled. It was a sentiment they as a whole detested, but knew that it was necessary.
Kurama was the last to be sealed away inside a human sacrifice known as the Jinchuuriki. It was angry, filled with malice, of being imprisoned like some sort of prize.
"No one wants to be treated as some sort of tool." Elmenhilde commented, only with no arrogance in her voice. Yasaka and Kuroka felt angry to see Kurama locked inside someone like a prisoner, but there was nothing that they could do about it.
Mito Uzumaki was the first of its jailer then Kushina Uzumaki after the first reached her end. Its third jailer was one called Naruto Uzumaki.
Kurama wondered why the blond boy looked familiar with his bright blond hair and three whisker marks. However, the pair of blue eyes was wrong in its opinion, but it didn't know exactly why. No one truly knew, not even the great Sage, that a Jinchuuriki, who was giving birth, would give her child some of the Bijuu's original traits.
Thus, Naruto was like an incarnation of Kurama's original form. Was that a coincidence?
"Kurama-sama is right. Naruto-san does look like his original self." Georg commented.
"Naruto-san looks just like him..." Yasaka whispered in shock from the resemblance of the two.
Watching the orphaned boy being shunned by all in the village of his birth, Kurama decided to use Naruto's dependence on its power to gain control over him and break free from its cage. However, through the seemingly endless struggle, Kurama's attitude toward the blond soon began to change prior to the Fourth Shinobi World War. It was then the fox showed respect to the blond as if it was showing it to itself.
"It seems like his attitude has changed for the better, if only a little." Everyone agreed with Michael's comment. Kurama was becoming less arrogant, and he was treating his Jinchuuriki with respect.
Just like Hagoromo had stated those centuries before, the Nine were united once more in a single body to defeat powerful enemies that sought to erase everyone from existence, and they finally brought forth the much desired peace.
After a great and costly battle, Naruto Uzumaki emerged victorious. It was against all odd, but with the help of the Nine, he did the impossible, and Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki appeared before them once more.
"There's Hagoromo-sama." Kiba said. That must had been his spirit.
"Thank you… this is how it should be. I'm glad you all have completed the task I foresaw those centuries ago. I saw the end if you were not here to prevent it. As such, you have my deepest gratitude. I will return you back to your home, the place where you belonged originally, like I've promised all those years ago," Hagoromo said and explained that he took them from their home even though they did not remember. He was desperately searching for a way to change the dark future in his vision.
"But isn't thousands of years had already passed?"
"Time is relative and flows differently, Shusaku. You might have experienced thousands years here, but I will sent you back to the same time you left, maybe a year or two later. You will regain your original form along with new-found abilities as promised. I can also erase your memories of the Elemental Nations if you so desire," Hagoromo offered.
The first eight beasts accepted and wanted to return to the life they would know again. Some of them choose to remove the memory of the Elemental Nations along with all the pain they suffered during their unjust imprisonment.
"Those eight Bijuu are also from different dimensions." Azazel commented. It would make sense for Hagoromo to send them back to their home dimensions with their new-found powers. They wanted to forget the pain that they endured during their time there in Hagoromo's home dimension, so the old man would do that for them.
Kurama was hesitant to leave the blond as if he was now part of his life, however.
"Hey Kurama, we make a great team didn't we?" Naruto asked.
Kurama nodded in agreement. It felt that true powers came from the strength of characters and the will to make the impossible possible. Throughout their struggles, it had its moment of doubt, but Naruto had showed none of that. The boy, who was shunned most of his life, would climb over all the challenges and proved to those that did not believed that he would not back down from his belief.
'Naruto-san. He's practically the same as Kurama-kun.' Yasaka thought in awe. Here was a boy that was practically like Kurama, and he was able to overcome all obstacles in his path. She respected Naruto for that. She hoped that both of them would come back soon. Kuroka also shared her thoughts, even though they still had animosity toward each other.
The Juubi was powerful, exceeding its own power, but still lost to their teamwork in the end. Madara and Kaguya, a God and Goddess possibly, were no different. They were all defeated, one after another, as Hagoromo had foreseen in another possible and grimmer timeline.
"Child of prophecy," Kurama muttered as Naruto grinned proudly.
"He has such a deep, sinister voice." Valerie commented with fear and awe.
'Ah, so that's how it is', Hagoromo thought, looking at Naruto. The boy's appearance was like the humanoid Kurama, and he knew then that the Kyuubi would have a hand in bringing forth the boy's existence and thus saving the future. Hagoromo simply smiled and returned the rest of the
eight beasts back to their own world, allowing Naruto and Kurama some time to discuss where they would go from here onward. The Sage felt completely drained afterwards, but kept his composure. He wasn't sure if there was enough powers in him to send the last one back.
"I think I will stay here for a while," Kurama finally requested.
'Kurama...' thought Yasaka and Kuroka sadly. He didn't want to go back to their home dimension for a while. They missed him.
The Sage nodded, understanding the Kyuubi's reason. Naruto couldn't be happier that it chose to stay behind with him. Kurama was then resealed back into Naruto as it felt much more comfortable in there. Furthermore, as the Sage had also hinted, Kurama still needed to help the blond with the corruptive nature of all the Tailed-Beasts' chakra that were now coursing through his inner pathways. This time, however, Kurama wasn't being tied down or locked in a cage.
"So Naruto-san has the chakra of all the Tailed Beasts inside him. I wonder how powerful he is." Michael whispered.
"Very well, come back here when you are ready to return," Hagoromo said. He drew up the seal before continuing to speak. "This seal will activate upon your blood, Naruto. It will open a portal, but only one time. You or your children will be the one to send Kurama back to his home one
day. It will also return your original memory and body as well, Kurama."
'That means that Kurama can come home one day.' thought Yasaka and Kuroka happily. They hope he could come back soon.
"Is that another thing you saw?" Naruto asked curiously, but Hagoromo shook his head. He felt that he was fading away as he channeled the last of his energy into the time-space seal. It should be good for one being to pass through, and hopefully that was enough.
"I can see nothing now, so I cannot say what is to come, but make it a good one, Naruto and Kurama," Hagoromo said with a wide smile before fading away right before the two.
"Are you crying?" Naruto asked, hearing the whimpering noise in his mindscape.
"SHUT UP, BRAT! I'M NOT CRYING! Just something in my eyes, damn dusts," Kurama growled in denial as Naruto rolled his eyes and chuckled.
"So Kura-tan does have a soft side to him." Serafall giggled, with everyone chuckling at that. 'I'm becoming more interested in you two, Naru-tan and Kura-tan~!' the mahou shoujo thought happily.
"Right, let's return home and start rebuilding!" Naruto roared, jogging back to the devastated hidden village of leafs and meeting up with the rest of the allies' forces along the way. The costly war was over and the future would be something they would make for themselves.
An undisclosed amount of time later…
"Stop breaking things! If you want to help, stay put and don't touch anything!" One of the workers scolded the blond angrily.
Naruto frowned as he sat back down on the wooden bench, watching the busy bodies crowding the street again. They were rebuilding hidden village of the leaf again after all the crap they had to go through. A couple of year had passed since the last battle, and each village started to fight with words rather than swords and jutsus. Diplomacy was the new path, but even so, each Kage still kept their armed forces for the safety of their home. Fortunately, after seeing the devastation the last war had wrecked, they were more incline to sit down and cooperate towards a beneficial and mutual goal.
"That's good. At least they're no longer at war with each other." Sirzechs commented. Everybody agreed with that statement; war was harsh on everyone.
"I'm so darn useless now!" Naruto shouted in anger as he leaned against the tree further away from town. A few trees around was tore apart in his frustration. Peace… was incredibly boring to him. The blond was only good for one thing, and he could only show it in battle. Now that there were no conflicts going on, he was out of a job and would be for a long time with the ways thing were heading. It wasn't a bad thing, but it was bad for most of the shinobi, who only knew how to kill.
"It must be their way of living." Tobio said solemnly.
"They must have been raised that way." Vali replied.
In addition, by absorbing part of each Tailed-Beast into himself had made his own natural physical prowess went beyond normal, demonstrated by shattered ground and boulders around him. He didn't use any chakra in those strikes, but they were incredibly devastating nonetheless. Because of that, whenever he tried to help out in town, it usually ended badly and he had to pay for compensation.
"Gulp." Azazel swallowed fearfully. He wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of Naruto's hits.
"GET OUT OF HERE! STOP MAKING A MESS!" Tsunade shouted at him for breaking more things on accidents.
Naruto didn't know what to do now. He was kind of lost, not knowing where to go with his life.
"You should settle down and have some kits?" Kurama suggested. The blond rolled his blue eyes at the suggestion. He exhaled afterward with some lamentations. Everyone he knew had moved on, but he remained the same goofy idiot. Of the three young heroes from the last war, Sasuke
ran off somewhere as he didn't way to stay in the village that brought him so much pain and suffering. Sakura ran off after the raven-haired boy. Where the duo went, Naruto didn't know, but he hoped they were happier than him.
"Maybe you're right. Peace's kind of suck. Nothing good happening right now, I want to fight again in awesome battle!" Naruto shouted loudly, but no one was around to hear it. Although everyone wanted it after all the struggle, Naruto was born and lived in a rather turbulent time and he felt a bit unneeded now. Acknowledgement he finally got, but it felt hollowed.
'Naruto-san.' Yasaka thought with worry on her face. She saw that Naruto was finally accepted into his village, but he looked empty.
"Want me to go out and start destroying the villages so they could ask you for help?" Kurama asked dryly.
"Really? Can you do that?"
"I was joking, baka!"
"Tsk… me too," Naruto said the last part very softly.
"Maybe I should go on a self-searching journey like the teme, but where to?" Naruto asked before remembering something about a promise from a few years back by a certain Sage.
"Oh, I know." Naruto snapped his finger. "Let's go to your home and see what it is like. Maybe they need our help?"
'Yes!' Yasaka and Kuroka thought happily. They could now see them when they come back to their dimension.
Kurama blinked as it had no memories of that place, and currently had no desire of return. It was totally contended with its lifestyle, sleeping days in and out without a single care in the world while everyone still feared it. It was the only Bijuu left in the whole Elemental Nations, and it liked to stay that way.
"No thanks," Kurama refused flatly.
"Common, furball! Stop being lazy and let's go!" Naruto insisted and disappeared in an orange flash before Kurama could reply. He re-emerged back to the spot where Hagoromo last stood. The seal was still there as Naruto examined over it to make sure. He was getting very good at Fuuinjutsu, the sealing arts, but this was another level all together. He would not be able to reproduce it without some more extensive training, but he believed he could do it eventually.
"Sealing techniques, huh. Interesting." said Azazel with awe in his eyes.
"I'm not going! Leave me alone!" Kurama growled angrily. It didn't care what it was before and had no allusion of returning to that.
Naruto ignored Kurama and slashed one of his fingers before rubbing the lifeblood onto the seal. The black marking glowed and twirled on the surface of the rock, forming a spiraling portal.
"AH! YOU IDIOT! HE SAID IT WILL ONLY OPEN ONE TIME ONLY!" The fox roared furiously, seeing how its only way home was used up by the idiot. True, it didn't want to return home right now, but this was the only chance and it never knows when it would change its mind.
"Oh…" Naruto mumbled apologetically. He'd forgotten about that part.
"Damn it, we have no choice now! Nice one, Baka! Baka!..."
"They're going back to our dimension." Gabriel said. Yasaka and Kuroka were happy, since they could reunite with Kurama and Naruto.
"Alright, calm down. I'm sorry, so stop insulting me," Naruto said, feeling like there was nothing here for him to do. He would return one day again once he figured out how the seal work to replicate it. Without any further thoughts, Naruto walked into the portal with Kurama still within him.
Naruto had made another assumption that the seal could differentiate between the two entities. It did not as Hagoromo never thought that Naruto would enter it along with Kurama. The Youkai's original memory as added to the blond's instead. He held his head in pain as he continued to drift along the spiraling path of the portal. Visions and flashes were not his own invaded his mind before he emerged out from the other side. He thrashed around the ground, trying to get rid of the painful headache in whatever way he could.
"What!?" Everyone shouted in shock. Yasaka and Kuroka were especially worried since this might have adverse effects on Naruto and Kurama.
"Ahhh, shit! My head! It hurts! FUCK!" Naruto shouted/cursed, rolling around on the pavement. After more thrashings about, he stood up and leaned over the nearby railing, coughing and huffing heavily. He noticed one of his blue eyes was golden from the water surface. Heterochromia. His right eye was golden in color while the left was bluish, but other than that, everything seemed normal.
Kurama's original form and his own had merged during the transition.
"So Naruto-sama and Kurama-sama's origanal self are now one and the same." Michael said with shock. Yasaka and Kuroka were surprised from this. That would mean that Naruto was now Kurama in appearance, personality, and memories.
'So Naruto-san is now Kurama-kun/Kura-nii.' thought Yasaka and Kuroka. They were now truly worried for Naruto/Kurama. Was he okay and the same person as before? They hope that they could help him once they meet him.
"Hey, brat, how are you feeling? Didn't know it hurts that much. I'm glad it wasn't me," Kurama called out from the mindscape. Kurama felt exactly the same as before with no extra memory or limbs so he assumed they went to Naruto instead. The theory was solidified as he saw the blond's eyes in the reflection.
"Who are you calling a brat? I'm the great Kyuubi… oh wait…" Naruto said, but stopped abruptly. He face-palmed and tried to clear his mind from the conflicting set of memories. He remembered everything up the point he accepted Hagoromo's offer. Was that him? He assumed so, but he still distinctively remembered himself as Naruto as that particular set of memory was newer.
"Who am I?" He mumbled a little before nodding, clearing his mind from all doubts. His blue and golden eyes blinked. "I am Naruto. Now, where's that fucking bitch. I'm going to smack her around to show which one of us is stronger, mwahahahahah," he called out and ran back home while laughing hysterically as if it was the most normal thing to do.
"Okay." Azazel commented with a sweatdrop. Naruto/Kurama was the same as he was before he left with Hagoromo.
The ground cracked on each of his step as he was far stronger than he ever was.
'Where are we? What is this place?' Kurama thought, seeing through Naruto's eyes. He also noticed the blond was swearing a lot as well. He simply shrugged and started dozing off. He didn't seem to care one way or another.
"And that's the end of the chapter." Serafall said with shock. If what the ending of this chapter was true, Naruto and Kurama's old self were now one and the same! Yasaka and Kuroka were aware of this, since Naruto was practically Kurama now, so they were happy to see him again, but would he feel the same? That was something that bothered the two Youkai women.
"Okaa-sama. Was that Otou-sama?" Kunou asked her mother curiously.
"Yes, Kunou. Kurama-kun, or actually Naruto-san, is your father." Yasaka replied to her daughter, whose eyes widened in shock and happiness. That meant that Naruto was going to meet her for the first time. The little girl wanted to meet her father, so she was happy to see that he was coming home. However, what Naruto said worried Yasaka. Since he didn't know that Kunou was his daughter, he was going to be angry if Kunou was to say that she was his daughter, since he would believe that she had an affair with someone else. Kuroka heard that with a frown, but didn't interrupt the mother and daughter. The black-haired Nekoshou was going to meet Naruto/Kurama once he comes home, and then she would tell him that Shirone was his daughter. She wasn't going to let that fox bitch get in her way of reuniting with her cousin, her chosen one!
"How about we talk about this later?" Yasaka asked her daughter, who nodded. The little girl was happy that she was going to meet her father. Yasaka, however, was worried about their eventual meeting.
'That man... It was him from before!' Rossweisse thought angrily. Unknown to the others, Naruto/Kurama and Rossweisse did meet in the past, during the latter's training as a Valkyrie. He used to tease her since she didn't have a boyfriend, which caused her to hate him, causing a love/hate relationship between the two. They would only know each other for a few days before he had a one-night stand with her, mostly to get back at his wife. After said one-night stand, he left Rossweisse, causing the silver-haired girl to hold a grudge on him, and also to lament her lost of purity. That would explain why she would cry every time someone was to tease her about her not having a boyfriend. However, she was feeling a bit depressed and jealous that Naruto/Kurama had a wife. She believed that they had something special, despite his teasing. No matter, she would confront him about their past relationship when he comes back to their home dimension.
"So, who wants to read the next chapter?" Serafall asked
"I will, Serafall-san." Yasaka said, taking the book from Serafall.
"Naru-tan sure is handsome. I wonder what will happen to him next." Serafall whispered to herself.
"Okay. Chapter 2." Yasaka proceeded to read with anxiety.
And that ends this chapter! So, what do you guys think? Was it okay? Was it too detailed on some parts? Was everyone in character? Do their interactions seem emotional and realistic? Please give a review of your opinions and read Youkai No Bikou. Also, Xenter, please give me a review on what you think of this chapter. See you guys in the next chapter!