So we're finally getting going on things. This is a little faster than Konoha just because it was super easy to find this bijuu and Kurama didn't see a reason to be as cautious. Plus it isn't an unknown world to him anymore. So he can afford to be a little less cautious, especially because he's only planning to live in Konoha so it matters what people think there.

On some level Kurama did feel a little bad about all the bandits he was taking down but it was their own fault. They were just so unprepared for the pretty redhead to be a warrior that it made them so pathetic you felt sorry for them.

Maybe it's because of his weird but finer clothes? They thought he was a noble and thus easy to rob? Or maybe because people considered him pretty?

Whatever it was, they kept coming after Kurama. But Kurama hadn't been the top thief in demon world for years to lose to some lowly bandits.

In fact, Kurama found some nice things among the bandits' stuff that he was definitely taking back and maybe even gifting. If they were going to rob him and fail, it was only fair that he successfully robbed them back.

When the attempts weren't so pathetic, they were also slightly annoying. Just because Kurama could fight and defend himself didn't mean he appreciated the near constant attacks. In other news he got way more training with kunai and senbon which was nice. The fox hybrid was starting to think he was good enough he might be able to get away with sparring Iruka.

Not Shikaku because he would instantly know that this was a new fighting style for Kurama, which would just interest the genius and Kurama just got him relaxed. Maybe after sparring with Iruka a little then he could try Shikaku? He would have to be more proficient and fix his ingrained fighting actions, such as pulling a rose from his hair to make into a whip.

It was surprisingly difficult to unlearn a motion that he had used for a majority of his long life. Though he did finally figure out how to hide senbons in his hair, so now he could pick up the senbon instead of a seed and it wouldn't look too weird.

It was still a work in progress.

Kurama had decided that he was going to immediately visit Sunagakure, or Suna for short. He had acquired a map and was following some well-known paths to the desert.

Shukaku could control and was made of sand. So hopefully in a whole village surrounded by sand, it could give him a clue on where his child was. The others were going to be slightly harder to find but he had a rough idea of where to look next.

Either way, when Kurama finally hit desert he couldn't help but fondly remember Shukaku demanding to come here to wrestle his siblings and then use the environment for his advantage. For some reason, Kurama, his child, always thought that he would stand a chance against Shukaku in the sand, especially at night. His eldest was proven wrong time and time again but he was stubborn and was convinced he could eventually beat Shukaku. Kurama and the other siblings had made bets on when the next challenge would be and how long it would last.

For a second Kurama's heart ached a little. For him these memories weren't so long ago, but for his children it's been hundreds of years. Did they still remember? Probably, but the fact the memories might be dull with age hurt.

Kurama had learned from his human mother how to be a parent. Ever since that moment she saved his life from the glass, he had come to adore the woman. Everything he did, he did it the best he could just for her. And through growing up with her, he had discovered that he didn't mind being a parent either. And then he became a parent of giant chakra beasts and he finally understood just why his human mother had injured herself in saving him when he was young.

Kurama let his heart ache for a moment more and mourned the lost time before he firmly shoved it away. He had children to find, it wasn't the time to regret something that already happened.

While going through the desert, Kurama was reminded how while they might have come here, the others didn't really like sand storms. Though with Shukaku with them, he had enough control over sand in general that he made a sort of dome to keep them from the sand. Until one of his siblings annoyed him and then he let them get hit by the full force of the sand storm.

Hiding out in a cave though waiting for the sand storm to pass did allow him to remember better times. But he never dwelled for long before immediately setting out again.

While Kurama preferred forests and land, he could still thrive in the desert. Every single climate and type of ground could support some type of plant life. And he wasn't so stupid to rely only on plants that would be found in lush places. He could grow any plant anywhere, it just was easier to grow plants with the soil provided.

When Kurama was finally able to see the walls of Suna, he felt something ping on his senses. Both demon energy and chakra.

He furrowed his eyebrows as he continued to walk to the gate and tried to figure out just what it was that he was feeling. In a few more moments he realized what it was, he could feel Shukaku!

But his energy was off, as if suppressed, and it was crying in rage and agony. Shukaku was always bloodthirsty to some degree, but this was to the degree it would have surely clouded his mind.

First things first, get through the gate and try to locate where the energy is coming from.

It felt somewhat similar to Naruto but there was something missing...the seal! Shukaku's energy was being suppressed but not by a very good seal.

Kurama pushed it out of his mind though as he smiled pleasantly at the guards. Once inside he could investigate.

Suna seemed a little more on edge than Konoha. But that was a problem for later.

He might have finally found a child! And one that he could talk to!

Kurama glanced up at the almost completely set sun and emerging stars. Well, hopefully whoever it is hasn't gone to sleep yet or went inside for the evening.

Even though he was excited and worried, he still took his time to walk leisurely towards the energy. He made no indication that he had a destination and looked to just be enjoying the scenery.

Because of the lack of nature chakra, it was very easy to ping his watchers. Oh, he only had 1, they must not deem him a threat. And going by the feeling it wasn't one of the elites that could disappear from all his chakra senses.

Finally, he was basically on top of the energy. Oh? It seemed there were more watchers here but not for him. And they also seemed a much greater distance away. In fact, Kurama's own watcher was no closer than the others.

Kurama had the brief thought of making a game of how far could he push the shinobi away before they moved in closer. Ah, another time.

Glancing at the now completely black sky with twinkling stars, Kurama went to an outside staircase and started climbing. The energy wasn't on the ground floor so maybe if he was higher, he could find it.

So, he was only slightly surprised when he saw a small red-haired child sitting on the ledge looking at the moon. Oh, but that energy mixing with his own was definitely Shukaku's.

Now that he was closer, he could poke a little and only found a super crudely made seal. Most of keeping Shukaku back had to be the kid's willpower. That was actually pretty impressive, having the willpower to hold back a bijuu.

Didn't red hair indicate an Uzumaki? But weren't they also all wiped out? Maybe a distant relation then?

Kurama deliberately made a noise as he walked slowly closer. Immediately sand rose up around the child to attack the intruder. But to the child's shock, the sand seemed to hesitate before falling back down.

"What did you do to Mother?"

Now that Kurama was closer, the poor child had permanent black ringing around his eyes from exhaustion. There was also a Kanji for love on the left side of his head. "Mother you said? Why I don't think I've ever heard anyone call him mother before." Kurama commented almost off hand as he made his way closer, still relaxed.

The sand again surged upwards when Kurama got close enough, but instead of attacking him, it seemed to hug him before falling back down.

The child looked confused and wary.

"Why don't we go inside your mind for a chat with who you call Mother?" Kurama offered as he sat down near the child but still allowing space in between.

He held out his hand and had 3 leaves in his palm. "If you put two of them in your mouth and hold them up to the roof of your mouth, I can come enter your mind without hurting you." Kurama explained but made no indication of what to do.

The child seemed to warily regard Kurama and looked unnerved by something. "You'll come to...talk?" He asked hesitantly.

"Yes." Kurama instantly agreed but again made no move.

The child tilted his head slightly to the left as if listening to something before he took two of the leaves put it in his mouth. Kurama put the one leaf in his mouth and grasped the kid's shoulder, but not before he saw sand rise and make a dome around them for privacy.

Entering someone else's mind was always odd. The plant that Kurama was using allowed him to enter another's mind but it wasn't something he did often, not even to interrogate. But in this case, Kurama didn't know how else to talk to Shukaku.

He had made theories back in Konoha and prepared but didn't try anything because his eldest energy was dormant. So, this was the result of theories that he managed to put together just from studying Naruto's seal.

It was slightly easier in this case because the actual seal was very flimsy.

When Kurama opened his eyes, he was in a sand dune. He glanced around and saw the small boy looking around in curiosity; he must have never gone into his mind before.

Before Kurama could comment though, he felt a wave of just pure anger and desperation. He staggered a little and took one step to steady himself before looking to where the emotion was coming from.

And there was Shukaku, bound in rusted spiked chains. Kurama narrowed his eyes and started to make his was over.

The child just watched curiously to see what the elder red head would do to the monster he called "mother".

Kurama touched the chains and seemed to start drawing something with his finger in the air. Surprisingly it left behind red lines so the child could see what was being written.

At the last symbol, Kurama directed the seal to the ground under Shukaku under the chains.

It settled and glowed for a second as another wave of emotion seemed to pulse out.

But then to the child's surprise, the chains loosened. He didn't know quite what to feel as he saw the monster in his head be given more freedom. But he was so curious on what was happening he didn't dare comment.

That chains then seemed to crumble away but instead a metal cage was taking form around the monster and elder.

For the first time ever, the child felt something more than anger and pain, he felt relief.

"Mama?" A voice rang out.

Kurama smiled softly and asked, "Won't you take a smaller size?"

The monster seemed to freeze and shiver before shrinking down into the size of a very large dog. "You came back?" The voice asked again, for once not screaming for blood and sounding surprisingly vulnerable.

"I did. I apologize for leaving for so long." Kurama said as he crouched down to make eye contact with the tanuki. "I forgot to account for the time ratio. I was always planning to come back; I just didn't think how long it would be here."

Again, the monster seemed to hesitate and the child couldn't help but watch in fascination the interaction. Finally, the chakra beast whined and threw himself at the elder red head.

The force knocked Kurama onto his butt but he did nothing more than hug the chakra beast that was his child. The tanuki wasn't crying but it had burrowed its head in the junction between Kurama's throat and shoulder.

The child didn't know what to think or feel. This man would hug even monsters?

"It's alright Mama." the monster sounded so much younger when it wasn't screaming about blood and carnage.

"Why must you call me Mama?" Kurama couldn't help but mutter fondly, as if an old joke.

"You certain mother us enough to be one," was the automatic quip.

Kurama turned his head slightly to glance at the child and patted the ground next to him. The child hesitated but willingly came forward and sat down, not taking his eyes off of Kurama or the monster that was cuddling the man.

"What's your name?" Kurama asked gently

He couldn't help but notice this child was also adorable. "Gaara" the finally named Gaara said.

"Well Gaara, I'm Kurama and this is Shukaku" Kurama easily introduced.

Now Gaara was just staring wide eyed at the man. "Demons can have names?" Gaara couldn't help but ask.

Kurama furrowed his eyebrows a little but decided that he probably learned it from the villagers, like Naruto. "I haven't been easy on you, have I?" Shukaku mumbled as he laid down in Kurama's lap while looking at Gaara.

Gaara was stunned. In all his years he's had this monster, it was never civil with him. And it was now even indirectly saying it was sorry?

"Who are you?" Gaara couldn't help but ask Kurama again, because there had to be something more than just a name.

"Well, I guess you could consider me to be a parent-" "mother" "-of the bijuu." Kurama explained gently with Shukaku intersecting to establish that Kurama was actually the mother not just a parent.

Gaara didn't quite know how to feel. He started to smile and even cry a little at the proof that even monsters could be loved. Kurama made a soothing noise and pulled Gaara into his side.

Gaara had immediately tensed up at the contact but only finding the embrace warm, he started to relax a little. "I think it's time we all had a talk." Kurama stated to his child and his (soon to probably be adopted) host.

Time moved weirdly in your mind so it was always hard to tell how much time had passed in the real world.

By the time both Gaara and Kurama blinked their eyes back into consciousness, several things had been changed.

While Kurama hated to do it, he had to remake and reinforce the seal on Gaara. He explained though how the seal was so painful for Shukaku it was making him rage and thus this way Gaara didn't have to be the only one holding him back.

Shukaku understood after Kurama admitted that he didn't know how to unravel the original seal without killing the host. Shukaku knew his mother though and Kurama would always rather find another way than thoughtless death.

But now with a better seal (and how pathetic was that, that the hybrid who hadn't been sealing in decades, except very recently, could do a better job than the original sealer) Shukaku and Gaara could actually speak to each other.

No longer enraged in pain, Shukaku wasn't too bad. Well, that was what Gaara thought in any regard.

During their time in Gaara's mind, Kurama decided apparently, we are adopting another human child. Oh, Kurama was seething with rage at several things but he managed to clamp down on it for later.

Kurama even told Gaara he would be willing to share some stories of the bijuu growing up in the real world. Shukaku had grumbled a little but didn't outright protest and that was as good as they were going to get.

The absolute best part though was, with Shukaku no longer trying to constantly break out, Gaara could finally sleep again. And oh, was Kurama angry that they expected him to be constantly awake instead of trying to make a better seal. But that was just added to the rage pile for later.

Gaara took the leaves out of his mouth and handed them back to Kurama. He didn't know how Kurama was going to get rid of the leaves but didn't honestly care. For once marveling at the blessed silence in his mind.

Kurama decided to sit a bit on the fact that he wasn't human or even from this dimension. Gaara was already overwhelmed enough.

Still, Kurama stored the leaves in a pocket and tugged on Gaara a little. The boy startled and looked at Kurama in puzzlement before Kurama patted his leg, "You can take a nap now if you want."

Gaara was so shocked his mouth almost hung open but luckily, he caught himself before he could make a fool of himself.

Even knowing that Shukaku wouldn't break out, Gaara hesitated. Shukaku must have said something though because as the sand dome was slowly coming down, Gaara laid down with his head on Kurama's thigh.

Kurama didn't even really register when he started to run his fingers through Gaara's hair in comfort as he cast a sharp eye around.

He could feel the shock and immediate panic from the shinobi at seeing Gaara lying down but none dared to approach.

Hmm, Kurama could make this a game. See how long he could stay off of the radar before they caught and questioned him about Gaara. Oh, he could even award points to how close they got!

Kurama never planned to tell the truth more than he fixed Gaara's seal.

But still, this should entertain him for a bit. He had to get a better lay of the land. And send a letter to Naruto and Iruka. Maybe even send one to Shikaku.

Either way, Kurama couldn't help but smile fondly down at the red-haired child that was sleeping peacefully against his thigh.

If this became a pattern, he was just going to have to adopt all the hosts of the bijuu. And oh boy would he need an all-out spar when he finally acknowledged his rage at what had occurred since he was gone. Bandits were going to pay dearly on his way back to Konoha.

Depending how long Kurama could keep the game going determined how long he would stay in Suna.

He would stay a minimum a week but after that it was up in the air. Who knows, maybe Suna shinobi are terrible at games.

Well, at least he won't be too bored while here. Hey, he probably just got Naruto a sibling as well!

After he recovered the bijuu and separated them without killing the host, he was absolutely abducting Naruto and Gaara into his true home in the woods. They both deserved better than whatever the hell this was.

Kurama stared up at the stars and moon in thought as he continued to run fingers through a sleeping Gaara's hair.

Am I adopting bijuu hosts? Probably. Can you stop me? No.

Am I going to adopt other orphans? Strong maybe, still debating if Kurama is going to adopt Iruka after discovering he's an orphan.