So we didn't stay in Suna long, story wise, but in timeline wise we stayed a good chunk of time.
And oh boy is Kurama livid. :) Luckily we have a Jounin Commander who is part of one of the best teams in Konoha, who is willing to help Kurama sort out his anger.
Reviews fuel my soul, so leave one.
Kurama could admit to himself at least that he was slightly disappointed at how bad Suna was at games. At least Konoha had actual players; though the players had an easier time to hide in the nature chakra while in the desert, there wasn't that type of cover.
Kurama had kept his word and stayed a minimum of a week. Always just out of reach for the shinobi, yet meeting with Gaara every night and allowing the boy to sleep curled up next to him. He had also kept his word and would tell Gaara some stories about the bijuu back when they were young.
The hot sun must have sucked any form of fun out of these shinobi.
Luckily, because they were still terrified of Gaara, especially when sleeping, no one came near Kurama during the night when he was actually out in the open.
Still, Kurama was highly disappointed when it finally took them two and a half weeks to corner him. That was just kind of pathetic.
Well, maybe it's because he got used to playing with Shikaku who was a genius. This was probably unfair to the shinobi here for him to compare them to a literal genius but still. At least put some effort.
Still, when they finally did catch him, he had honestly let himself be caught because he was getting tired of them searching for him. Turns out when you know how to hide your chakra completely or even use simple jutsus for disguise, it's hard to find you.
Though, in the time it took to finally catch him, it took very little time for Kurama to adopt Gaara. Well, Gaara still had family, so technically he was stealing the boy. But going with their daily interactions and just how he was treated on principle made Kurama feel justified.
The general populace didn't know how to react to a non-bloodthirsty Gaara. With Shukaku no longer trying to break free and willing to talk to Gaara, he didn't have to constantly fight for control. Sure, the sand would still rise up in defense, but it never actually attacked anymore.
Back to the present, Kurama was going to be meeting the Kazekage. This would be the first time Kurama was meeting a village leader since he came back. Kurama was not thrilled with the idea, especially at the fact that the Kazekage was Gaara's biological father and thus was the reason for many injustices done to the boy.
For someone who grew up with a loving mother, in the human world, this behavior was simply disgusting to the hybrid. This reminded him more of demon world, but even then, demon world had its own kindness in some way. Here, they just viewed Gaara as an unstable weapon and didn't even attempt to help the small child.
Kurama briefly wondered if Gaara was going to show up during the interrogation. That was a thought, though it might tip his hand a little too much because Gaara was becoming as attached to Kurama as Kurama was to him.
Kurama had caught Gaara a few times slipping and calling him "Mama" and Kurama was completely blaming Shukaku for this development. He briefly wondered if the shinobi would pick up on the difference between Shukaku, who he called Mother, and Kurama, who he was starting to call Mama.
Kurama might be willing to disclose that he fixed Gaara's seal, but he wasn't going to make it easy for the man. And unless it got too hostile, he was making this a game because he was utterly disappointed so far.
Hopefully they won't try to throw him out right away because he had a few letters to send and he had just gotten a necklace commissioned for Gaara. And this time, Kurama could happily make the pendant a red fox.
Being given nothing but free time, outside of avoiding shinobi, gave the hybrid plenty of time to tweak the seals even further. He wasn't advanced enough quite yet to do anything too fancy, but he was able to make his own seal that connected to the necklace and let him know when one was being used as a beacon.
Just for safety's sake, he had the seal have 9 open connections, because if Naruto and Gaara were the pattern, then all of the hosts will be getting a necklace. 2 of those connections were already taken by Naruto and Gaara though, but at least he had built in the extra connections he might use later.
He had transferred the seals onto beads and had them woven into a bracelet. Now, Kurama didn't usually wear jewelry because as a thief, that was just asking to be stolen. But he needed an easy and quick way to see that he was being called and it was really the only practical thing.
So far, he had chosen gemstones to represent each of the necklaces. He currently had a garnet for Naruto and a tiger's eye for Gaara. He just etched the proper seal onto the gemstone so that they would glow when the necklaces were used.
He only had to give Gaara his necklace before he left.
Finally, Kurama was standing in front of the Kazekage. He noted all the elite shinobi in the office along with what to appeared to be some elders. So, they thought of him slightly as a threat but not enough to hide away liabilities.
Kurama gave the Kazekage a pleasant smile while everyone in the room either frowned, scowled, or had a blank face directed towards him. "Kazekage-sama." Kurama greeted with a slight bow.
Usually, Kurama would never give the honorific -sama, and especially wouldn't bow to someone, but for sake of less headaches, he'll do it this once. Didn't mean he actually meant the honorific or the bow though, but the humans didn't need to know that quite yet.
"You have been giving my shinobi a hard time lately."
Ah, the man skipped over pleasantries, well alright then. Kurama tsked in his mind at the lack of charisma and hospitality.
"Have I?" Kurama couldn't help but ask back, still keeping a pleasant smile on his face.
This caused more people in the room to scowl. Apparently, him giving them the slip was a sore subject.
Just because this was inevitable didn't mean Kurama would make this any easier for the shinobi, especially because he was so disappointed in their game playing skills.
"Yes, you have, and you have been spotted hanging around a valuable asset of the village."
Ok, so Kurama was going to be mostly neutral in this meeting, but that was a good way to make him angry.
The red-head narrowed his eyes just the slightest bit at the first stirrings of anger but continued to smile. "I have to admit, I'm slightly confused, I don't think I've been hanging around any assets of the village."
"The boy you have been interacting with is a highly valuable asset of the village and we don't appreciate outside interference trying to influence him."
Yeah, Kurama was already angry before and had even a pile of rage in the corner of his mind to unleash later, but this was just adding to that pile.
Honestly, the humans were lucky he had such iron control over his emotions or he would have started killing right here and now.
The man didn't even acknowledge Gaara as a human, let alone his son. He knew that the Kazekage didn't really see Gaara anything more than a bijuu container, but he didn't truly realize what that meant until now.
Shikaku better be ready for when he gets back to Konoha, because giving away something or not, he was going to need a full out spar and Kurama knew that Shikaku was a good enough shinobi to probably survive.
"Ah, you mean Gaara-kun? Well, he is simply just pleasant company and he reminds me of one of my children." Kurama commented easily, now actively clamping down on his rage.
"You have been influencing him heavily and have been reported to have done something to him." The Kazekage quickly stated back.
Kurama had to close his eyes with his smile for a second so they wouldn't flash to his full demon color. "You must be talking about the seal. Well, I noticed that Gaara-kun had a very finicky seal and I simply fixed it and applied a better one," Kurama answered, "and seeing as he reminded me of my child, I couldn't leave the poor boy to suffer like that."
Oops, Kurama might be becoming passive aggressive. Eh, they were lucky he was still trying to cooperate and not just kidnapping Gaara.
"You know seals well enough to fix it's?" One of the elders couldn't help but ask slightly incredulous.
Kurama gave the person a smile, but it was slightly sharper than before as he commented, "Well, it wasn't very hard."
Some of the elders started to talk to each other, but Kurama only made eye contact with the Kazekage. The fox hybrid was letting the Kazekage know that Kurama thought that his attempt at sealing was simply so pathetic that a random stranger could make a better one.
The Kazekage narrowed his eyes at the silent comment.
Just as the Kazekage opened his mouth to probably demand more information, the door opened. Only one person would be allowed to do that, and with just a glance, Kurama confirmed it was Gaara.
Gaara was looking at everyone blankly with slightly narrowed eyes. But the shinobi at least could spot the moment his eyes lit up when he spotted Kurama.
Kurama turned his head slightly, still keeping everyone in his sight as he commented, "Good morning Gaara-kun, how has your day been?"
Gaara's facial expression didn't change, but those observant enough noticed how his body language had softened slightly as he quietly answered, "It has been good Kurama-san."
"How many times have I told you to drop the -san?" Kurama couldn't help but almost automatically quip.
"At least once more." Gaara just as automatically answered.
Well, at least it wasn't Gaara calling him Mama. Kurama wouldn't mind (despite him saying that he wasn't a mother), but he didn't think the people currently in here would appreciate that knowledge.
Gaara glanced around the room and then made a showing of standing next to the door.
The Kazekage looked furious at Gaara being in the room, but seemed intelligent enough to not calling him out on it. Kurama thought it was simply adorable that Gaara was trying to stay and 'protect' Kurama.
This actually just added a little to his rage at how the Kazekage viewed his own son.
"I mean the village no harm, I am simply passing through as I look for my children." Kurama stated, mostly to get this over with because as soon as the Kazekage started referring to Gaara as an asset, this meeting lost all humor.
Not even the thought of messing with shinobi's minds was enticing enough to make him stay longer than he needed. The Kazekage scrutinized Kurama, trying to detect any lies, but Kurama just gave his default smile back, too angry to change his smile.
The man exchanged looks with his elite shinobi but they all seemed to come to the conclusion that he was telling the truth which was nice. "You are free to go, please don't cause trouble for my shinobi." The Kazekage dismissed the red-head.
Kurama dipped his head slightly to the man before he started walking out of the room under everyone's eyes. He stopped at the door though, smiled warmly at Gaara, and gestured for the boy to go out first.
It was second of hesitation before Gaara went through the door. Kurama turned back for a second, and gave a sharp feral smile while chirping, "It was nice to meet you all," before he left through the door.
Kurama hoped they understood that gesture as the threat it was, but who knows with humans.
No longer in the building, Kurama relaxed minutely and commented to the child, "Ah, Gaara, do you know where I could send letters?"
No longer surrounded by people, Kurama didn't really bother with honorifics. He was blaming his learning of the English language on this idea though; he did the same with Naruto. Kurama hadn't quite yet drop the honorifics for Iruka or Shikaku, except in his head, but sooner or later he would. Which reminded him of his letter to Shikaku where he signed off as Kurama instead of Minato. The man should be smart enough to see it for the olive branch that it was.
Gaara silently nodded his head and started to lead the way to where he could send mail.
Kurama had initially planned on traveling into multiple countries before going back to Konoha, but the trip to Suna and interacting with the shinobi here had put him in such a bad mood that he would need to go back to Konoha to cool off.
If it wouldn't cause an international incident, Kurama would absolutely take Gaara with him. But as much as he didn't care what the humans thought, he couldn't safely do this quite yet. Oh, but he would be building up to it.
Though, going by how they treated Gaara, the boy probably could go to Konoha to visit him whenever (as long as he was in the village). Now that was a thought; he could even introduce Gaara and Naruto together though Naruto still didn't quite understand why he was hated yet as his eldest was still asleep.
Along with the seals for the beacons, Kurama had been intensely looking at summoning seals. He had a hypothesis that he could alter the seal enough that the host could technically summon the bijuu out into the real world. But this would take much more than a week of looking at and much more research before he even considered it viable.
Maybe he and Shikaku were close enough that Kurama could pick the genius' brain a little for sealing techniques? That did ask the question though if he should explain to Shikaku why exactly he was doing something so specific for this seal.
Probably not then, Shikaku was a good man, but Kurama didn't trust a loyal shinobi with the information that Kurama raised the bijuu. He could probably still pick the brain just for sealing in general, but his specialized sealing would have to be by himself on the down low.
Which reminded Kurama, he was planning on telling Gaara that night about how he wasn't from this dimension. Gaara had known and settled down enough with Kurama now, that he felt like the boy could handle the knowledge that Kurama didn't originally come from here.
Before he knew it though, he was in a building with messenger hawks. Hm, probably the smartest idea would be to send all the letters to Iruka or Shikaku and then have one of them distribute.
Kurama weighed the pros and cons of sending to either of them before settling on Iruka. It wouldn't be as weird for Iruka to give a letter to Shikaku and Naruto, plus it gave a little protection because Kurama knew Iruka was honorable enough that he wouldn't look at other's mail.
Oh, Kurama didn't blame Shikaku for probably looking at the other letters, but didn't mean he wouldn't try to get around it.
Kurama smiled blandly at the worker who was sending wary looks at Gaara who was waiting outside. Kurama didn't waste any time though in buying a hawk and setting it off to deliver the scroll of letters to Iruka.
Kurama gave another bland smile before leaving the place and gesturing Gaara to follow him.
Kurama easily led the two of them to what became their usual spot, on top of that building from the very first night. It was still early morning though, so it was slightly odd, but Kurama was too incensed to do anything for the day and being around Gaara should hopefully calm him down somewhat.
Still, once they sat on the ledge, Gaara sitting close to Kurama, but not close enough to touch, Kurama pulled out a sealed scroll.
Luckily for the village, Gaara didn't have to worry about getting new clothes or being overcharged. So Kurama went a different route with gifting Gaara for his birthday.
Kurama quietly showed Gaara how to unseal the scroll. Growing up with Shukaku trying to bust out constantly, Gaara had a very good control on his chakra though he wasn't really learning about all it could do. So Kurama was confident enough that Gaara could easily channel chakra into a storage seal without outside help.
Very reminiscent of Naruto, Gaara couldn't help but stare at the presents that came out of the scroll. As this wasn't really a village he was living in, Kurama had only given Gaara 2 things.
First, he had given Gaara the same necklace he gave Naruto but with a different pendant and a slightly different seal. The other thing he had given, was he gave Gaara a cactus.
Now to humans, this was a normal cactus. But this cactus was special in that the needles were highly poisonous to humans. Luckily for the humans, the poison was only lethal when the needles were off the cactus, but anyone who touched the needles even on the plant would become very ill.
Having Shukaku in him since birth changed Gaara's genetics enough that he was immune to the plant. Kurama had tested with some non-lethal plants to make sure his theory was correct in that Gaara would be immune but the tests came back positive.
Kurama might not be around to support Gaara like he could support Naruto, but he wanted to keep the boy safe. Gaara would have to learn how to properly throw senbon which would transfer over to cactus needles, but it shouldn't be too hard for him.
The only thing Kurama regretted was that Gaara didn't have his own Iruka. With leaving Naruto, at least Kurama knew that Iruka would look after and care for Naruto. But here in Suna, there was no one that cared enough to look after the boy.
Oh, Kurama knew all about Yashamaru, and had a sneaking suspicion that the Kazekage had something to do with that incident but he currently didn't have any proof.
"Why?"
Kurama broke out of his thought to look at Gaara's confused face. His heart broke a little and he had the horrifying thought that Gaara didn't know it was his birthday. "Because it's your birthday and you are becoming like my child."
Gaara stared at Kurama wide eyed for a second. "But Shuka-"
"Just because you are holding one of my children doesn't mean you also can't be counted as my child." Kurama interrupted the boy before he could really start to protest.
Gaara continued to stare at Kurama with wide eyes. Kurama reached over and pulled Gaara into his side and ran a soothing hand through his hair.
Kurama didn't comment as the side of his shirt became wet with tears or how Gaara's shoulders were shaking.
Kurama was happy to be adopting/stealing new children, but the circumstances around them made him want to let loose and rage as only a demon could.
The amount of orphans Kurama had noticed was horrifying and very disheartening. And the fact of the matter was that Gaara had living family but they didn't view him as human, let alone family.
Kurama couldn't blame Gaara's siblings for avoiding him and being terrified. He knew how strong Shukaku was, and his mind was clouded in pain and bloodlust, and Gaara might have an amazing will, he was still young. Gaara might be changing now, and was no longer fighting Shukaku, but that wouldn't erase years of bloodshed and madness.
But he could easily blame the Kazekage for how Gaara was treated.
Not only was it cruel to seal a bijuu into his own son, but he didn't even view the boy as anything more than an asset. And not only that, instead of trying to fix the seal when it was shown to be faulty, the Kazekage just kept pushing Gaara.
Gaara might be powerful and had an iron will (he held a bijuu at bay with mostly his will alone), but he was still a child.
A child who was denied any love and care. A child who was (probably) forced to kill the only person that did care for him. A child who was forced to be fighting every second of every day with no one even attempting to help. A child who knew how much he was hated and yet could understand why.
This sweet child who was soft spoken. This child that was highly intelligent but actively hiding in the shadows for fear of retribution. This child who had an amazing grasp of his own chakra just from experience.
This child who was crying because someone cared for him. This child who thought for years that monsters could never be loved.
This was so similar and yet so different from Naruto. Kurama had the worst feeling that the hosts of the bijuu were all treated like this and it made him want to rage.
Kurama would be freeing his children. He would be giving the hosts a better and proper life; regardless of what any of the humans had to say about it.
The bijuu were here longer than anyone currently alive (besides himself). And then because someone controlled one of them, the other 8 were punished and sealed away.
Oh, if Kurama ever saw any of the people he had left behind to look after his children, they would be having words, dead or not. And if Kurama couldn't get them in this dimension, he wasn't beyond figuring out a way to drag them to his dimension and bring them to Spirit World.
Kurama firmly clamped down on the rage and quickly put it in a steel box and sealed it into a corner of his mind. He didn't have a proper outlet for that rage currently, and it wouldn't be good to appear angry near Gaara or the poor child will think he did something wrong.
Very reminiscent of Naruto, Kurama kissed the top of Gaara's head as he started to calm down. If it wasn't for humans and their stupid international laws, Kurama would be taking Gaara with him to Konoha. Even now, Kurama was almost tempted to just take Gaara but decided trying to fight against them all wasn't currently worth it, especially as he hadn't seen his other children yet.
Gaara finally pulled away, but not before Kurama put another kiss on the crown of his head. Gaara's face was trying to be stoic again but there was a genuine smile that was curling on the edges of his mouth.
"The necklace is a beacon, if you ever need me for any reason, channel your chakra into it and I will come find you. The cactus is extremely poisonous to all except for you and me, but only becomes lethal when you pull the needles fully out." Kurama explained.
The cactus was explained in a way that made it appear as if the plant recognized certain people instead of differentiating between humans and partially human.
Gaara gave a small smile and just looked down at his present. Kurama reached forward and put the necklace around Gaara's neck.
"I'm not leaving right this moment but I'll need to head back to Konoha soon," Kurama continued, "But I want you to keep in contact with me and you are free to visit me whenever you wish, just check that I'm physically there first."
Gaara gave a small nod and held the cactus pot in his hands and Kurama was struck with just how young and small Gaara was. The hybrid took a deep breath quietly before he ruffled Gaara's hair.
"Let me tell you a story, it starts with a world called Demon World…" Kurama started as he pulled Gaara back into his side with an arm around his shoulders.
When Kurama was back in Konoha two weeks later, he had left behind a trail of beaten and broken bodies of those unlucky enough trying to rob him. Even then, there was a simmering rage that had only a spark quenched.
Normally, Kurama would go straight to the academy as it was mid-day but right now, his rage was too close to the surface and seeing Naruto would only remind him of the injustices here and make it worse.
So, with his default smile, he signed in at the gate but immediately started heading to the Nara compound. Just from feeling around, Shikaku seemed to be home, but with his teammates.
But at this point, Kurama was so angry it was probably a good thing his teammates would be there just in case Kurama went overboard (he wouldn't, he had more restraint than that, but it was the principle of the matter).
Kurama had just walked through the gate when he saw Shikaku and his teammates exiting the house. They probably felt his chakra, and seeing as how competent they were, they probably also felt the rage simmering.
Kurama gave the three of them a bland smile and stopped a few feet from the front door.
"Good morning, I was hoping you would be open to a spar Nara-san?"
Best to be polite because he couldn't really be anything else right now. "Well, if I'm calling you Kurama, you can call me Shikaku."
Kurama's smile didn't even twitch but he bowed his head slightly in acknowledgment. "I don't normally do spars with non-shinobi, but I think for you, I need to make an exception." Shikaku drawled as he slowly made his way down and stood a few feet from Kurama.
Again, Kurama didn't even twitch as he just intensely watched Shikaku. Shikaku raised an eyebrow in surprise at Kurama's lack of response, Kurama was usually always up to play word games. The Nara briefly wondered what had pissed Kurama off so much and how could he avoid doing the same. Because the waves of anger and power coming off of the red-head were astounding.
"We can spar in my backyard, the ground is reinforced enough that it can handle it." Shikaku stated as he started to lead the way to the back.
This time, Kurama's smile twitched into something a tiny bit warmer as he followed the man.
The two teammates followed behind the red-head and couldn't help but have a silent mental conversation between each other. Finally, they were in the backyard and Shikaku asked, "What are the rules you want?"
"Ah, you see, I'm mostly sparring to get rid of some of my pent-up anger. So, it'll have to be a full out spar with everything but lethal goes." Kurama stated.
Shikaku almost wanted to snort at the understatement of pent-up anger. The red-head in front of him was positively livid.
"If it starts to become too rough, I have nothing against your teammates stepping in." Kurama continued.
Shikaku raised an eyebrow at the declaration. He knew the man usually played all his cards to his chest, so for him to be freely showing just how strong he actually was, was quite worrying.
On the other side of the field, Shikaku actually took his hands out of his pockets; he had a feeling that if he underestimated the man in front of him for a second, Kurama would easily overtake him. Shikaku swore he saw Kurama's eyes flash a full gold but it was gone before he could even blink.
Shikaku made eye contact with Inoichi and pushed his thought that if they needed to step in, they shouldn't hesitate. Shikaku knew that Kurama hid his true strength well, but it seemed that the man was so angry that he was willing to forgo his usual illusion.
Shikaku noted in the corner of his vision, that for the first time in a long time, the alpha deer were standing at the edge of the forest, actively watching the spar. They must have felt Kurama return and animals were great at detecting emotions so they probably felt the rage and came to investigate.
To Shikaku's slight startlement, the alpha stag told Shikaku to basically be ready to fight for his life, because Kurama was not a warrior to be underestimated.
Now Shikaku was even more wary about this fight; the alpha deer didn't worry about fights needlessly. Shikaku fully emptied his mind of all distractions and gave his full attention to the fight between the two of them.
Shikaku was sure that Kurama had enough strength to hold back from anything lethal, but it was best to be safe.
After a second of calm, Inoichi called for the match to start and the two leaped into battle; Shikaku with a serious face and sharp eyes and Kurama with a frankly terrifying bloodthirsty smile.