Arriving in camp, I shook my head tiredly. Shukaku was now fully released, Gaara hidden somewhere out of sight. Pyrai was nowhere to be seen while Kyuubi stood in front of the sand demon, pinning him down with his tails.
"Shukaku… You'd think after what happened in the last timeline, you wouldn't pick a fight with me. I'm even stronger than last time."
"I don't care. If this is the only way I can talk without Zoran watching my every move! Now, I'm finally- What are you- No! You stupid-"
"Shukaku, really. Act your age. You're sealed into a cub. There is only so much you can do without forcing my hand," I said, laying my hand onto Shukaku's hide, fully activating the seal I had placed over Gaara's original seal. "This seal has more than one purpose. It allows me, as well as any other seal master, to feed off your chakra and cut you down to size. I'm a kit, he's a cub. What makes me interesting to you Shukaku? How easily I can get along with Kyuubi? Because I can assure you, he hated me for seventeen years of my life and I wasn't too fond of having a demon sealed within me until I figured out why my father entrusted his chakra to me. You were sealed to make the perfect weapon-"
"I was sealed to make a hero," Kyuubi finished for me. I placed a hand on his leg affectionately and we watched as Shukaku shrunk down to the size of a mortal raccoon and Gaara stumbled over to us, dazed.
"Wha- what happened?"
"Shika escaped but I brought him down. Say hello to your tenant Gaara. I forced him into this form," I said, smiling to the redhead before glancing back the tiny Ichibi demon. "Isn't he cute?"
"Kit, you don't have to torture him. It's his nature to make his jinchuuriki's life hell. He feeds off their pain." Kyuubi chided me.
"So did you; you grew out of it. I'm just speeding up the process," I defended my actions. "Shukaku, you better get over this fast. I need to go back to Konoha."
"I will never-"
"Aw, Shukaku-sama! You're so cute!" Pyrai shouted, running out of the shadows and dashing to the raccoon. She knelt beside him and pet his head as he fumed silently.
"Pyrai, I just told the kit. You don't need to torture him. It's not his fault that he-" Kyuubi was silenced as he noticed a long cut etched onto Pyrai's arm. It didn't look very deep, but it was bleeding nonetheless. I winced out of sympathy for the sand demon as Kyuubi let loose a wave of killing intent that would have scared Madara. "Pyrai. What exactly happened to your arm?"Kyuubi growled. Pyrai jumped slightly at her grandfather's voice and Shukaku shrank even more.
"Bad move, Shika. Very bad move," I said, shaking my head. Gaara's eyes widened as they darted between the two demons. Seeing the anxiety in his pale green eyes, I sighed and stood in front of Shukaku. "Kyuubi, as much as I'd like to beat the raccoon into the ground, I can't. Okay, I probably could, but I won't out of respect for Gaara, as you shouldn't. I'll heal Pyrai but even you can see that's not necessary; her own demonic chakra is closing the wound."
"Kit," he warned, growling. I shook my head and emanated as many calm thoughts, every had memory I had, through the bond Kyuubi and I shared. He calmed, but didn't look very happy about it.
"You're lucky this time, Shukaku. Next time I won't be as lenient."
"I'll take care of Shika. Why don't you walk around for a bit? You haven't been out in a long time," I said. Kyuubi nodded his head before giving Shukaku once last growl and stalking away. "You owe me one, Shukaku. I expect you'll behave in the future or I shall let Kyuu fulfill his promise. If you wanted to come out so badly all you needed to do was give Gaara the summoning contract. I'm sure he has enough chakra by now to summon you."
The sand demon just grunted before turning away and sit down, staring into the fire. Gaara took a step towards him before glancing at me.
"He's not completely free. One touch, a single physical contact from you and he is sucked back into your improved seal. While he's out, I should probably tell you two more about the seal," I said, sitting next to Shukaku and reaching a hand towards his back. "The seal has four effects from what Kyuubi and I have noticed. The first is that it more completely separates your consciousnesses. That way Shukaku has no direct influence on you, Gaara, but in turn you cannot force your will onto him. The second effect allows you, Gaara, to access Shukaku's chakra easier. He can still limit how much he gives to you, but what chakra he offers will be more available. The third is that, if Shukaku is released with your permission you can physically absorb his chakra and make him shrink down. That's how I forced him into this form. There are two different ways to do that, and I'll show you how to use them both. The first takes his chakra and converts most it into usable chakra, human chakra. The other method takes him chakra and expels it into the environment. I wouldn't use that, it may have side effects. The last effect that I've noticed is that it makes the demon's chakra, in your case Shukaku's, inheritable." I finished awkwardly, not really wanting to go into the details.
"Like a kekkai genkai?" Gaara asked. I nodded in turn and he put on his stoic thinking face. "How do you know?" I winced. I'd rather not have 'the talk' with a six year old Gaara, but I needed to make sure of some things.
"I've told you I'm a time traveling. In the future, I was a father," I explained, trying to be evasive. "She was two days old when I left for this time. Her name was Hana. Namikaze Hana," I said, smiling sadly. Gaara seemed to realize it was a raw topic and nodded in understanding.
"So your daughter, Hana, had Kyuubi's chakra?"
"Not exactly. Instead of drawing on Kyuu's chakra, like I did, she seemed to generate her own. Also, her chakra coils developed abnormally early, even faster than mine did after the sealing. Before you ask, from what I understand, you were born with your coils already strong. Shukaku was sealed into you before you were born, you had more time to adapt to the demonic chakra." At mention of his sealing, Gaara's bright eyes dimmed and he looked into the fire, avoiding my eyes.
"I know," he said with such bitterness it was easy to picture the Gaara I had met during my Chuunin exams. The insanity that Shukaku fed him from such a young age, finally snapping before I beat him into a pulp. I shook my head as the sand demon grinned sadistically, laughing at what his influence had done to the young redhead.
"Listen to me," I said firmly. Gaara looked up but refused to meet my gaze. "I know what you're thinking right now, Gaara. You aren't a monster, you weren't born a monster. You care about people, you value life. That's what made you try to fight Shukaku, that is why you wouldn't let yourself fall asleep. You kept your humanity alive, even at the price of never resting, never relaxing. You are not what Yashamaru said. Your mother named you for her hatred for your father, the injustice of what he did. 'The self loving carnage…' That is what your father wanted you to be, what your mother knew she would be powerless to stop. But you can stop it.
"You don't have to become what your father envisioned you to be, he was a fool to believe he could control your life. People like Danzo and the Yondaime Kazekage, people who believe that people are no more than puppets to be controlled, are the monsters. They want you to become strong through bloodshed so that you can turn and spill blood in the name of your village. I want you to become strong so that you can return to your village proud to be a jinchuuriki, proud to be your own person." I said before realizing I was trying to press the Gaara I knew into this Gaara. I was repeating everything I knew Gaara, the Godaime Kazekage and General-in-Chief of the Joint Shinobi Forces, to be. My voice caught in my throat and I coughed, completely ruining the seriousness of the situation. Gaara smiled and laughed easily. Shukaku glared at me indignantly.
"Stupid kit. Between you and Kyuubi, I knew get to have any fun."
"I wouldn't say that, Shika. Kyuu isn't too far away, he may hear you," I grinned my vulpine grin, the smile broadening as the sand raccoon shuddered visibly. "Good Shukaku."
"Kami, you're annoying."
"Kyuu thought so too," I smiled at the demon who shifted his weight so he was facing away from my. "Are you done moping yet, because this entire training thing would go a lot smoother if you gave Gaara the scroll now."
"He hasn't earned my respect yet. Until he does, he doesn't deserve it. When he becomes who you think he can be, then we'll see."
"He got that far with you whispering in his head, pushing him to insanity before I knocked both of you from your pedestal. In case Kyuu didn't tell you, I kicked your ass. When I was a genin."
"And for that you have my respect. But why is that relevant? Do you want the contract?" Shukaku chuckled.
"No thank you. One demon summons is enough for now. Maybe in a few years," I laughed back before feeling a pulse of chakra that didn't originate from our camp. "I need to leave for a while. Will you two be okay while I talk to an old friend?"
"I'll play nice," Shukaku smirked teasingly. "Just tell the cub to keep his distance and I'll be fine."
"Hey, what are you-!"
"It's okay Gaara. He's just not ready to go back yet. If you touch him, he's sucked back into your head unless you learn how to interact properly. That's something I'll teach you later. Maybe tomorrow if Shika behaves himself. Training would be easier if he and Kyuubi kept each other busy."
"I heard that, Kit. Don't you have somewhere to be? I felt the chakra from the seal."
"I was just making sure these wouldn't fight. I'll leave them to you and Pyrai, wherever she went. Don't kill Shika, Kyuu. Gaara still needs to contract and I'll be very sad if I don't get the chance to beat him up again."
"No promises, kit. Get going."
"I'll be back late tomorrow, no killing defenseless villagers and such," I said, focusing on Hinata's blood steel charm. If she had listened, I'd appear in Kakashi's apartment, next to Itachi. We'll see, I guess.