So I've said this before, but don't expect this to be a normal thing. My brain is just screaming at me to write lately so I've been indulging it but this is no way a normal thing.
This is a little shorter (I say as it's over 2.5k words) but I feel good about this one.
So I wasn't really planning on showing the conversation between Shikaku and Kurama during lunch and a game, but if enough people want it, I might consider it. I'm not guaranteeing anything though.
Reviews fuel my soul, please feed it so it doesn't shriek into the abyss.
Despite a pleasant dinner with Iruka and Naruto, Kurama was plagued with wariness. After he got back to his apartment, he purposely sat down to stop and think of what he should be saying tomorrow at the interrogation.
Oh, the man might have passed it off as a pleasant visit to outsiders, but Kurama knew it for the threat it actually was. And just from his brief interaction with the man today, this was not a man easily fooled.
Even hoping that it is just a one on one, this man still held all the danger a full team would hold. If Kurama was being completely honest with himself, he was in a tight situation that was precarious at best.
So Kurama took a couple of hours before going to sleep going through his whole backstory and facts, because this man could see things others could not. He was even going to have to be more truthful than he really wanted to, simply to make sure the man didn't make a wrong conclusion.
Shikaku Nara was a truly terrifying person.
Kurama briefly wondered if it was only him or a clan thing, and hoped that it was only a him thing. Or if this level of intelligence was common in a whole clan, Kurama's situation just got a lot more dangerous.
One individual with this level of intelligence wasn't ideal but Kurama could probably still stand his ground. A whole clan with this level of intelligence? Even vaguely at the level shown by Shikaku? It would be tougher and might actually be better for Kurama to keep his head down or even leave.
Kurama also knew how geniuses operated, if they found something interesting, they would stop at nothing to figure it out. Kurama had a sinking feeling that Shikaku found Kurama interesting.
Honestly, depending how the lunch went would determine if Kurama would be leaving Konoha immediately or was still somewhat safe.
Kurama may want to adopt Naruto and befriend Iruka, but if he had to leave a bit to guarantee his own safety, he'd find a way to stay in contact. Because as much as he cared for others, especially his children, he was a survivor and that meant staying in relative safety, even if it meant hiding for a while.
He didn't really fancy endangering himself for someone else's sake, especially someone he wasn't completely attached to at that.
The next morning, Kurama realized that Shikaku never gave him a time meaning that Shikaku would come get him or he was waiting for Kurama to show up.
Almost desperate to be in control of something in this situation, Kurama decided he would go to the compound before Shikaku came to get Kurama.
Guaranteeing that all the seeds he needed were in his hair, and a few were in his pockets for easy access, Kurama started heading to where he was told the Nara compound was.
It was lucky in some aspects that Kurama purposely discovered where each clan lived, mainly to stay away from the area, but in this case it helped him from not making himself look like a fool. Or worse, look like an ignorant enemy.
Finally seeing the compound, Kurama didn't break his sedate stride, even when he saw guards at the entrance.
Kurama stopped a few feet away from them and gave a pleasant smile, "I was invited to have lunch with Shikaku Nara-san?"
Oh no, both their eyes sparked in interest. It seemed like the worse scenario was happening in that the whole clan was intelligent. "Nara-sama is in the main house as head of the clan. Just go straight until you hit a street juncture and take a right. The house should be at the end of that street."
Well. Shikaku was the clan head. This was even less ideal.
Refusing to show his internal turmoil though, Kurama continued to smile before giving a nod to each of them and walked past them with the same pace he had walked up with.
Kurama kept his eyes forward but was keeping all his other senses open as he followed the guard's instructions. There were some adults and children milling around; luckily most of them didn't do more than glance at him.
As Kurama neared the house, he slowed down just the slightest bit to take the appearance in. Luckily for Kurama, it didn't look like he had to look around for Shikaku as the man was sitting on a chair on the porch smoking a cigarette.
Shikaku was eyeing him shrewdly as Kurama stopped at the base of the stairs. A lazy smirk formed on his face and instantly Kurama knew that they had begun.
"Thank you for inviting me Nara-san, I am sure you are quite busy as a clan head." Kurama commented almost casually.
In a corner of his mind, Kurama was excited at the prospect of a proper game against someone intelligent, but he was at a clear disadvantage which ruined the thought.
Shikaku continued to stare at him for a second, still with a lazy smile before he got up from his slouched position. If Kurama hadn't known better, he would have thought the man was lazy with how he acted and his body posture. Luckily for Kurama, he did know better and he was able to pick up how sharp those dark eyes were looking at him, along with how even though he was slouched, it was in a way that he could easily move.
Shikaku looked the perfect picture of lazy genius and that made Kurama raise his hackles internally. But nothing showed outward as Shikaku finally commented back, "Ah, it was nothing Minato-san. I usually am busier being a head commander than a clan leader these days."
And we already got started on the threats, lovely. And he said commander meaning that he was in the top ranks of this militaristic dictatorship. (Oh, the civilians might love to sugar coat it, but Kurama knew that this was a military dictatorship and he refused to be fooled by the pretty exterior.)
So not only confirming that he was a clan leader, but also letting Kurama know that he was a high ranking official. Kurama disliked this game on principle now.
"Let me show you the forest before we have lunch on the patio and play a game off shogi." Shikaku finally stated after an intense staring contest, as he made his way down the steps leisurely and started making his way to the backyard.
So, something different must be in the forest that Shikaku wanted to test Kurama first before they actually started talking. This was also counting the fact that Shikaku was clearly telling Kurama how he didn't trust the red-head with even the interior of his own house.
Hopefully whatever was in the forest wasn't something too horrible or this might go bad super quickly.
Neither spoke as they stepped into the forest. Shikaku slowed down a little so that he was only slightly leading Kurama as they got deeper in the forest.
Even with these circumstances, Kurama had to admit the forest was gorgeous. It was humming with chakra, it was lush and lively, though the shadows seemed a little playful. He spotted a couple of animals but didn't give it much thought as he just took in inner strength from the plant life surrounding him.
He was slightly more at ease, because even though Shikaku would have a home advantage, plant life was literally in Kurama's blood.
Then they finally came to a clearing. Kurama had noticed the scent of deer before entering the clearing but decided not to remark upon it.
There were a few does and fawns in the clearing. What took all of his attention though was the very large stag standing next to an almost as large doe.
These must be the alpha pair for the deer herds here. This actually made sense, animals were a great sense of character and there might even be a way for Shikaku to talk to the deer. This could instantly expose Kurama if he was hostile or a spy while also giving Shikaku a brief look into his true character.
Kurama and Shikaku stopped in the middle of the clearing. Some of the deer stepped closer to Shikaku and he greeted them while moving away from Kurama. This was supposed to be an individual test then with no influence.
Kurama and the stag held eye contact. As a hybrid, he could never hide his true nature from animals, nor did he try to. Foxes might not be big enough to take down deer, it didn't change the fact that he was essentially a predator.
Kurama didn't know what the deer would do honestly, but he just let it happen instead of trying to manipulate the situation like he would with another human.
The stag tilted its head slightly before slowly walking to Kurama. Still keeping eye contact, Kurama stood his ground and didn't move.
He had his pride of a predator to not back down and it would be an insult if he even tried. Both the deer and Kurama knew what he was, so to act like he wasn't was an insult to not only them, but himself.
Kurama didn't quite know how long he held eye contact with the stag that was only a few feet away. To be quite honest, he was ignoring the outside world and it was only him and the stag in this moment.
Finally, the stag walked even closer until his breath was tickling Kurama's face. Conveying all of his movements, he slowly held up his hand in front of the stag's nose. For an intense moment Kurama thought the stag would ignore the gesture or even harm him.
But the stag gave a huff before pressing its nose against Kurama's hand.
Kurama couldn't stop the true gentle smile that appeared on his face as he slowly stroked the stag's muzzle. "You are gorgeous and powerful; you must take good care of your herd." Kurama murmured to the stag.
The stag seemed to straighten up a little at the praise. Then Kurama felt another muzzle against his left shoulder. Refusing to tense, he glanced over and saw that the doe had joined the stag.
He raised his other hand and waited for her to let him pet her too. She stared at him for a long second before doing so.
He continued to smile gently as he stroked both of the alpha deer. They had accepted him, and honestly at this moment that was all he cared about.
He then noticed that he was being approached by other deer now that he had the acceptance from the alpha deer. Making a rash decision though, he took a seed out of his pocket and forced it to mature enough that he could pluck off a few berries before returning it to seed form and his pocket.
He held half in his right hand to the stag and half in the left hand to the doe. Both eyed him and the berries critically before they both accepted the snack.
"I don't think I've quite seen them accept someone like that before."
Kurama would deny it to his dying day, but he was slightly startled when Shikaku spoke up. He was so absorbed in his interaction with the alphas he had let the fact that he was with someone slip his mind.
Kurama cursed his rash decision and hoped that it just appeared as if he took berries out of his pocket rather than grow them.
Kurama felt the stag nuzzling his hair and especially felt it when the stag gave a huff of amusement at his startlement.
Kurama patted the deer on the neck as a reprimand for laughing.
Deeming that they were done, the stag and doe slowly walked away from the clearing. At the edge they had stopped and looked back at him and he and the deer exchanged dips of the head. The other deer stayed around him though some also left.
As soon as he could no longer see the alpha pair, he turned his head to look at Shikaku.
The man was leaning against a tree trunk, also surrounded by a couple of deer. There was a look in his eye though that made Kurama curious what it meant. This is also at the point his brain caught up to Shikaku's comment.
Kurama flashed his first genuine smile at Shikaku as he pet a fawn that was trying to nuzzle his pockets for treats. Pulling the fawn out of his pockets he tapped the fawn on the nose as a reprimand. The fawn just huffed before walking away.
Kurama wondered if he should say something about Shikaku's comment but decided against it. For the first time since he had been in Konoha, even with Shikaku nearby, Kurama felt truly relaxed.
Even if this gave something away to the highly intelligent man, Kurama didn't honestly care in this moment as he relaxed and just rested. He was surrounded by other animals and deep in nature, and probably just made some allies with the alpha pair.
Before Kurama could fully kickstart his brain, he heard himself asking, "Would there be any chance I can visit again at some point?"
Internally Kurama cursed himself, he didn't mean to ask that. He especially didn't want to stay in a compound with the scarily competent Shikaku and his probably just as competent clan.
But, this was the first time Kurama felt at ease. And after the stress of coming back and having to deal with a new village and people, this was a welcome escape.
You know what, screw it. Kurama would gladly come back to the compound if it meant he could spend some time in the forest with the deer.
Kurama glanced at Shikaku and managed to catch a spark of surprise in those dark eyes. Looks like even Shikaku didn't expect him to seek out a place in his compound.
Shikaku's lazy smile was now tinged with something warm as he answered, "I could certainly see what I could do. I haven't quite seen them act like that with anyone before."
Kurama internally wondered which part was unique but internally shrugged. He already has enough problems without trying to figure out what was unique with his interaction with the alpha pair.
With that sobering thought though, Kurama started to pull his mind back together. It was a rookie mistake to relax like that and especially forget that he had company. Though, going by Shikaku's comments and actions, maybe it was a good thing he did relax like that.
Kurama would have never intentionally done something like that, but it was done now, so maybe it was for the better.
Kurama fully turned to face Shikaku as the deer started to go settle back down. Actually, it probably was a good thing because Shikaku's eyes were still sharp and assessing, but they were no longer hostile. And his body language had truly relaxed a little rather than feigning laziness.
The deer had probably just saved him from having to leave Konoha to hide. Oh, the man didn't trust him even a little bit, but at least he seemed to deduce that Kurama meant no harm.
And maybe right now, that was good enough. If a commander deemed him to at least being genuine, he probably just saved himself a trip to somewhere unpleasant. He would still have to watch himself, and still had to play word and information games, but at least the man wasn't ready to kill him in a millisecond.
At this point, with how downhill everything had occurred in the past 2 days, Kurama was willing to take the small victory. "You mentioned something about lunch and a game?" Kurama finally broke the peaceful silence.
Shikaku did nothing more than stare at him for a second before nodding and walking away, obviously wanting Kurama to follow him out.
Kurama didn't dread the next conversation as much as he did earlier, which was a sharp change to earlier and especially yesterday.