This is a monster of a chapter but it was in my head and I had to get it out. Fun fact, I write as breaks from my school work, so this made a super long break I didn't mean to take.
Reviews fuel my writer's soul, so feed it. And also let me know how the interaction and dialogue was!
It actually didn't take Kurama that long to furnish his new place with at least the essentials. He did keep to his idea though and immediately after buying a bed, he went and bought more and bigger pots.
Joys of having plant demon powers: you can grow your own stuff which saves you money. (And both being a fox and thief meant he was always trying to save money)
During that time though, he made a conscious effort of greeting Naruto at least at night before bed. Kurama managed to get up before many people, so it wasn't a surprise that he was usually up before Naruto. But ever since Kurama had moved in, he had noticed that Iruka had been walking Naruto at least to the complex.
He didn't always come up to the 3rd floor, but he always made an effort to check to see if Kurama was outside.
Kurama wondered if he was going to have to fight Iruka for custody over Naruto; but that was still a ways off (he shuddered at the idea of the amount of paperwork needed to adopt someone). It was much easier to adopt beasts made of pure chakra, no paperwork needed and no one to fight for custody.
It was slightly a shame that civilization had rebuilt in that it meant Kurama had to be proper and use the appropriate forms for things he used to be able to do very easily when he was last here. You gain some, you lose some, though Kurama seems to have lost a lot more than anything he gained currently.
As soon as Kurama had grown some of his food and had the essential furniture, he had turned his attention to helping Naruto.
Kurama didn't care too much for this place as his true home was far away. Plus, he would never hide something valuable in a village, that was just asking for questions and theft.
But it started simply enough, Kurama noticed how Naruto seemed to strictly only eat ramen so he started making lunch and left it by Naruto's front door in the morning before he left.
The first time Kurama had come home after doing so, Naruto had basically been vibrating with excitement and returned the bento box while thanking Kurama profusely. If Kurama could have gotten away with it, he would have hugged the boy, but he wasn't too sure if he was allowed to yet.
Good news out of this though was he lost his constant watcher. Apparently the one already watching Naruto's place was sufficient enough to also watch Kurama. He would sometimes gain a watcher while he was out and about but it didn't seem to be a constant thing anymore, which was nice.
Finally though, Iruka had come up to the 3rd floor and Kurama was very cheerful to invite the shinobi and Naruto to dinner in a few hours. Naruto had immediately agreed and ran off to his apartment to probably get ready.
Iruka and Kurama had stared at each other for a long time, neither quite willing to back down in this situation. Kurama had his default smile and Iruka seemed to just be looking at Kurama for any lies or misleads. Finally, after a stretch of time, Iruka gave a slight nod before turning to sedately walk after Naruto.
Dinner was a lively affair, just by having Naruto with him. Apparently Iruka was somewhat surprised that Kurama could cook firstly, and secondly could get Naruto to eat his vegetables. Iruka did perse his lips though when Naruto had admitted that Kurama had been making his lunch for a bit now.
Luckily for Kurama, and his plan of friendship, this made Iruka relax more. He had interrogated Kurama just a little bit of why but Kurama was truthful: he thought that Naruto could use more food and variety.
He didn't quite share yet that he had children or that he was planning on adopting Naruto though; had to keep Iruka on his toes some way.
This small dinner though seemed to rinse away some more of Iruka's wariness of Kurama. The shinobi didn't trust Kurama as far as he could throw him (actually it was a good question of if a shinobi could throw him), but apparently this cemented that Kurama was genuine with Naruto.
There was a brief consideration of telling Iruka that he was Kurama's favorite person in Konoha but decided he would do that as a surprise factor much later.
After a bit more time though, Kurama decided to be bold and visit Naruto, and maybe Iruka, at the academy. So far, he had been left alone to his own devices which hopefully meant that he was trusted a little more. But directly going to the academy where many people could see him and Naruto associate was risky.
But he had Iruka's grudging respect that he would treat Naruto right, and he was really the only one that Kurama cared about for his opinion in the matter.
Well, it had been a bit boring now that he had a place and wasn't getting any enjoyment from mundane things, time to liven things up.
Maybe Kurama should play a prank at some point, that could liven things up, but that could also lead to blaming Naruto which could get bad very fast. A thought for later then (he still had a couple of thoughts in the back of his mind to do if he really got desperate through boredom though).
Kurama was basing the academy schedule off of the Japanese school schedule. This meant that there were 4 subjects in the morning, a lunch, and then 2 more subjects in the afternoon.
The 2 in the afternoon were probably physical for the shinobi though. That was a thought, get there just before the end of the day to watch them fighting a little to see if he could learn anything.
He could fight, but he needed to learn at least what the newest styles were, and to not be caught off guard when he did encounter someone.
For the next couple of days, Kurama kept a sharp eye out for when it looked like the school let out. Once he had a general idea, he moved his timetable back by half an hour. Plenty of time for him to see some of the physical exercises, but not be too odd. Plus, it would be a nice surprise for Naruto.
Finally, he decided to visit. It was very lucky in that the academy's location was very common knowledge, so it wasn't too weird for him to know it.
He took his time getting there, but still timing it perfectly. Finally, he got there and could make hear some kids practicing. He looked at the wall surrounding the academy and decided to not enter the grounds and found a nice tree to wait by.
There was a fierce debate if he should go in the tree branches like normal, or stay visible. Deciding that he was pushing it just by being here, he sat at the base of the tree and leaned his back against the trunk.
Casually running a hand through his hair, he picked out a seed and placed his palms on the ground. He could technically get a visual, but that would be pushing it and tip his hand too much. But he could easily grow a plant that could get him clearer sound.
With a pulse of demon energy (after checking if anyone was nearby), he ran a vine under his shirt to rest on the shell of his ear while the other vine was making it's way closer to the wall and a little to the side to be closer to the children.
Kurama relaxed his muscles and closed his eyes as if just relaxing against the tree. He was listening intently to the lesson, but his senses were sharp for anyone else coming to the academy.
It didn't sound like the class he was listening to was Naruto's class which was a disappointment. But what was a boon was that it seemed to be a younger class so the instructor was explaining in lots of detail how to execute some moves.
He wondered what a kunai was but figured it was the name of one of the odder weapons he's seen around.
After listening to the basics, and the teacher correcting some of the students, Kurama slowly brought the vine back to palm. While he would love to listen the whole time, there was the risk that someone would notice the vine and he couldn't really afford that; plus, he felt a few energy slowly approaching the academy, probably to pick up kids.
Once the plant was back in seed form, he ran his hand through his hair, before bringing his hair forward, as if inspecting it.
The first people to arrive seemed to be either low class ninjas or civilians, which wasn't really a surprise. Things started getting interesting though when he felt actual energy levels of the shinobi approaching.
He turned his head just slightly to get a better look, but also kept his body loose in a way that if someone attacked, he could roll away before retaliating.
If it wasn't detrimental, Kurama would have tried to spar with someone at some point but he wasn't a shinobi and he didn't know enough of the fighting to blend in.
There were 3 men walking sedately towards the academy. One of them seemed heavier than the usual shinobi, but didn't let that fool Kurama because he knew for a fact that regardless of weight, anyone could be deadly. And going by the chakra levels, this man was definitely lethal. The red of his hair was interesting though, along with some facial markings.
The one to stand out a little more though was a man with blonde man with also pale skin. He had his long blonde hair though pulled up into a ponytail and, if Kurama was seeing correctly, he didn't appear to have eye pupils. Kurama briefly thought of the implications of that biologic diversity but decided he could think about it later.
The one that almost forced you to look past though, was the most interesting. Dark hair held in a spiky ponytail, a goatee, and 2 facial scars. He was slouched in a lazy position, with his hands shoved in his pockets.
At first glance, this man seemed to be nothing more than a lazy shinobi, but the level of chakra he had (even held back) and how his eyes seemed to be taking everything in told the true story.
Kurama might have stumbled upon a ninja as smart as the silver-haired shinobi from the beginning, but this one seemed to have teammates.
Kurama had admitted to himself that he was getting bored, what better way than meeting a new opponent. What stopped him though was that Kurama had a feeling these were clan shinobi. He might have entertained the thought of provoking an entire clan earlier but he still had too many gaps in his information, especially fighting, to be able to go against them easily.
Kurama might not have a choice though, because even though they were walking sedately, the dark-haired shinobi directed them to go towards Kurama. It was a subtle change in direction and if he hadn't known better he would have thought that this was their initial path, but he did know better.
The closer they got though, the better he could smell them though. The blonde smelled of flowers, sweat, and blood. Oh, this might be a person part of the clan that usually sold plants in the village. Kurama had meant to meet them at some point, apparently that point was now.
The red-haired male though smelled almost specifically of food. There was a stronger hint of barbeque in his scent, but other than that, it was all food.
The dark-haired male though was interesting, he smelled of forest, deer specifically, with a hint of blood. There was also a hint of smoke and alcohol but were relatively faint.
Watching those equally dark eyes though zero on him with a spark of interest though was interesting. Usually, Kurama was the one unnerving others with his intelligence, now he was on the opposite end.
He wasn't unnerved truly, but he was more wary than when he had first seen the trio. Kurama briefly wondered what their clan jutsus were, the civilians had no idea whatsoever, they only knew that clans had special jutsus.
The fox demon hybrid considered standing up to meet them. On one hand, it was a disadvantage and odd to be on the floor with others towering over him, but it also might appear to be aggressive. He'd wait until they started speaking, he didn't want to appear aggressive in any capacity, especially not against 3 clan shinobi.
They stopped a few feet away from Kurama, with the dark-haired shinobi slightly more forward than his companions. Kurama very slowly gave a relaxed smile before he just as slowly stood up.
Just by standing up, the dark-haired male was cataloging all his movements and actions, the blonde seemed to be reading his body language, and the red-haired male just smiled disarmingly.
Oh, these men were definitely comrades, if not even friends. They were each complimenting each other in their actions and were completely at ease, knowing that the other 2 could defend them.
This might be a bit more difficult than Kurama initially thought. It was one thing to go against the silver-haired man, and Iruka, but this was a full team he was now facing and Kurama wasn't as sure on how this was going to turn out.
He could escape relatively easy, but in an actual fight? Especially not knowing how shinobi fought? It would be difficult.
The blonde then offered a small smile, but the dark-haired man seemed to slouch even more. It was much too late to make an escape at this point, so he would just have to play word games and hope that they didn't deem him a threat.
This was probably the first time that Kurama was truly wary since coming back to this dimension. It was not a feeling he missed.
They still stood in silence as the dark-haired shinobi took out a cigarette and lit it. Kurama refused to even twitch at this point and was just smiling his default smile.
"I don't think I've ever seen you around before." The dark-haired man started.
Not even pretending to give civilian pleasantries, oh boy. Kurama's smile became a little wider, his eyes narrowed a little more, but he spoke, "I haven't been in Konoha long. My name is Kurama Minato."
Normally he wouldn't be giving out information like that, but right now, he was more concerned on getting out of this unscathed than truly playing a game. As soon as he realized they were a team, the tone had turned from a game to a more survival mindset.
Kurama though was watching them as intently as they were watching him and noticed the red-haired man twitched the slightest bit at the name. Ah, probably knew the Hokage with the Minato name. The blonde and dark-haired were too good to give away something like that.
The blonde's smile widened a little before he pleasantly said, "I am Inoichi Yamanaka, the man in the middle is Shikaku Nara, and the man on the end is Choza Akimichi."
Kurama gave each of them a smile. This was not ideal, the civilians might not know the clans jutsus, but they knew the names of the big clans and these 3 were part of that list.
Kurama pushed on to be pleasant and said, "It is a pleasure to meet you Yamanaka-san, Nara-san, and Akimichi-san."
Choza flashed another disarming smile while Inoichi's smile grew to the point he was closing his eyes. Shikaku though just continued to assess Kurama. How ironic that the man scrutinizing him had a similar name to one of his children, Shukaku.
"So what brings you here Minato-san?" Inoichi started.
If he were a lesser man/demon, he would have wilted at the feeling he was going to be interrogated. And just when he had lost his eternal watcher too.
"Ah, I have grown fond of my neighbor and wished to take him out to dinner tonight." Kurama offered, keeping his body language loose and his smile pleasant.
"Oh? Well then how are you liking Konoha?" The blonde continued.
Kurama let his smile become just a bit more genuine as he answered, "It is very beautiful here, I especially love the trees."
Kurama didn't really like the spark that entered Shikaku's eye. "Have you been in the forests then Minato-san?" Inoichi continued.
"I'm afraid I've only truly been in the forests outside of Konoha." Kurama answered easily, this wasn't really anything incriminating.
Plus, from what Kurama heard, some of the forests here were used for training the shinobi and he didn't want to ever accidentally enter a training ground.
Shikaku's lips twitched just a bit almost as if he wanted to smirk, that was no reassuring. "Well speaking of plant life, have you considered visiting the flower shop? You seem to be someone who would enjoy gardening."
If he was any less of the person he currently was, he would have tensed at that statement. Luckily for him, and this conversation, he was too good to do such a thing.
"Ah, I enjoy gardening, but I'm afraid I grow my own plants." Kurama had to force himself to not glance at the others and keep his attention on the blonde.
"Oh? Then you wouldn't happen to know of a new merchant that has been selling plants recently, have you?" Inoichi asked innocently.
Or at least, as innocent as a man that was honing in on prey. "I am deeply sorry to admit that I have been the new merchant. See, I really am only good at growing plants and I had run low on money. I didn't mean to intrude."
Inoichi continued to smile pleasantly at Kurama, but it felt like he had just gained even more interest from the trio. He could have stepped around the question, but if he was upfront with that information now, it might help him in the long run.
"Ah, no real harm done. Just surprising to hear of someone else selling plants here, you know?" Inoichi continued easily.
Kurama gave a slight nod of his head. He refused to lose his default smile, and refused to take his eyes off of the trio in front of him.
They descended into a bit of silence before Choza seemed to speak up, "So where exactly are you taking your neighbor for food?"
Internally relieved that they were steering to less tense topics, he answered honestly of "Ramen Ichiraku, my neighbor loves their food."
"Ah, you must live clear across the village near the reservoir and movie theater." Shikaku casually stated.
That was honestly concerning. He was right about where he was currently living, but the way the man got there was worrying. He would have had to figure out that the person who loved the ramen was academy age which narrowed it down, figured out it was Naruto out of all the students, and knew specifically where Naruto lived.
Kurama internally scolded himself, Naruto's love of ramen was clearly well known. It was more of a surprise that the shinobi in front of him don't seem to hate the boy.
As he had noticed before, shinobi were usually split on how to act around Naruto. Though, through watching closely, he caught a flicker of something in both Choza's and Inoichi's eyes. It was way too quick for him to know just what it was but he could deduce that these men might have known Naruto's parents. The age was certainly close enough, and their tie didn't seem to personally be with Naruto.
Kurama made his smile bigger and warmer which closed his eyes just a little bit more. "That is correct, that was very impressive Nara-san."
Shikaku casually shrugged, taking a deep drag of his cigarette. "So how is being Naruto's neighbor?" The man continued.
Well it seemed that Shikaku was done gathering information and letting his team mates talk for him. Now really began the word games.
Kurama mentally shoved any tenseness and wariness into the corner of his mind as he answered honestly, "Ah, Naruto is very nice and I quite enjoy his company."
Maybe if he indicated about his very genuine feelings for Naruto, it might force them to back off a little like Iruka? Probably not honestly, but he would give it a honest try, plus still freely associating information could help in the long run.
Kurama could see out of the corner of his eye, the man's two teammates smile. But his whole focus was almost solely on Shikaku, as he was the most dangerous currently.
"So, what made you start making him food?" Shikaku continued.
Now, Kurama was very intelligent, but the level of intelligence Shikaku seemed to possess was starting to become more than just a little worrying. "I noticed that he seemed to almost eat exclusively ramen and decided I could help by giving him a more balanced meal." Kurama answered, hoping that pleased the man.
Kurama was usually much shrewder in giving away information, but right now Shikaku seemed to know everything without Kurama even saying, so it was just smarter to offer the information for free.
"What do your other children think?"
It took literally all of Kurama's willpower to not outwardly react to the comment. Kurama could understand that he probably gave away something to the genius in front of him unintentionally, but this was getting much more dangerous the longer they spoke.
"I haven't seen my other children in a long time." Kurama refused to give anymore information on the matter.
Shikaku nodded and took another long drag of his cigarette. "You know, the Nara compound has a forest and I would be willing to show you around if you agreed to having lunch and play a game of shogi with me."
That was a very threatening offer. It appeared he could easily refuse, but this was basically a trap. If he didn't accept, it would seem as if he was hiding something which would make them scrutinize him more. But accepting meant spending more independent time with this frankly terrifyingly intelligent man.
"That sounds very nice, any specific day?" Kurama decided to just agree at this point.
He wasn't panicking at this point, but internally he was very tense and started to feel a little cornered. It was not a pleasant feeling and something he hadn't felt for decades. "Ah, why not tomorrow." Shikaku immediately countered.
Kurama could do nothing more than nod. Shikaku smiled, which was more of a smirk, before he turned away and started wandering to the gate doors where children were starting to flood out.
"It was nice to meet you Minato-san. Make sure to come visit my flower shop when you get a chance ok?" Inoichi called over his shoulder as he and Choza followed Shikaku.
That also felt slightly threatening.
Kurama had honestly gotten too comfortable in Konoha after meeting a good handful of shinobi and civilians. The silver-haired man was obviously an outlier, but not meeting anything as threatening made him complacent. And this was a very vivid and violent way to remind Kurama that he might be intelligent and gaining trust, but he was still in a village of actual warriors.
Kurama was going to berate himself so harshly when he got home about this. Just because he was gaining favor in the civilians and a bit in Iruka was no reason to become this dull.
Kurama hadn't made a mistake like this in a long time, because he knew better. But meeting Naruto, and then Iruka, just made him lower his guard a bit too much. This was no one's fault but his own, but it was still a damaging mistake.
Kurama watched out of the edge of his eye as the three shinobi picked up their own children and started to walk away. He was so focused on surviving those three that he didn't even get a chance to take stock of other notable shinobi.
Finally, Naruto came out of the building, talking intensively to Iruka. He was animatedly waving his arms around as he talked, but that didn't even settle Kurama. He stepped forward a little bit to be better seen.
Iruka spotted him first, and then Naruto spotted quickly after. Naruto's mouth fell open in shock before he gave a bright smile and started dragging Iruka over.
Iruka didn't seem to be fighting as much as he had earlier, so that was nice. But all of this was eclipsed by what had just happened. Kurama though forced his default smile to be a bit more genuine and spoke up before they could say anything, "I figured I would take us out for ramen."
Naruto shouted out in excitement while Iruka gave a thankful nod.
Even as they were leaving, Kurama felt more watched than when he had his watchers. Life here had just become way more dangerous than just befriending Naruto.