Chapter Twenty-One: Like Mother, Like Son

They were here. After quite a few weeks sailing the ocean and wishing that he had some way to conduct the wind to move in his favor, Naruto finally laid eyes upon the Island Turtle.

It was fucking gigantic. It had to be, considering that it was labeled as a damned island.

He hadn't visited the place in his own timeline, so it was a complete unknown to him. From the nostalgic looks on the faces of Yugito and Bee, it was obvious that they had already been to the island before.

Not that it wasn't obvious beforehand considering Cloud owned the island.

They were about to approach the "port" in the island, but there was a cry of surprise from one of the sailors and the seas surged. Tentacles arose from the depths, followed by a large, glistening body.

"Is that an octopus?" Naruto blurted.

"No, that's a squid," Jiraiya yelled out, preparing to send out a volley of ninjutsu at the beast that had just decided to start attacking their ship.

"Yo bro, let me handle the squid before he decides to go under the grid!" Bee rapped. The large man jumped over the railings of the ship and into the water before anyone could reprimand him.

"I think Bee transforms for less of a reason than I do," Naruto muttered, watching as octopus tentacles rose from the sea and began wrapping around the screeching squid.

"That's not fair," Fuu said, pouting. "I can't use Tailed Beast Mode yet..."

Yugito gave her fellow jinchūriki a reassuring smile despite the presence of the sea monster. "Don't worry. This island should help you master your powers, especially since your Tailed Beast is helping you out rather than actively sabotaging you."

"I wonder how this island does that," Naruto mused before octopus legs rose from the water and wrapped around the writhing squid. With their extreme strength, the tentacles ripped the squid away from the ship, thankfully without causing heavy damage.

The Eight Tails' body shot up from the ocean, rapping something that was unintelligible due to its baritone voice. The Hachibi-fied Bee delivered a vicious punch to the squid's, err, face, and sent it swimming away.

"You mad that I'm so rad!" the octo-bull rumbled out.

The remaining jinchūriki and Jiraiya, as well as some of the other ninja gave Bee a deadpan look. "Bee, just drag the ship onto port so we can get to our rooms and start dealing with this," Yugito demanded.

"You look more beautiful when you're not scowling," Naruto offhandedly replied. Then he jumped up and landed on the Eight Tails' nose, smirking when he heard Yugito sputter in surprise. "Oi! Let's hurry up! I want to explore this place!"

"Keep your panties on, man!" the transformed Bee yelled. The octopus legs latched onto the ship and began pulling it towards shore. Naruto comfortably reclined on the being's snout, ignorant of the dumbfounded looks some of the ninja were giving him.

Eventually, the ship and its occupants reached land. Granted, it was part of the shell of the giant turtle, but it was solid enough to constitute as land. It was probably massive enough, too.

After surveying the place, Naruto could see how it was meant to help control raging jinchūriki. The turtle could move and the shell was filled with dense, crotchety-looking trees. "So you two learned to control Tailed Beast chakra here?" he asked, gesturing towards Yugito and Bee.

Both of them nodded. "Hell yeah, muthafucka! I'm king of the beasts here!" Bee declared, lifting his chin in a pompous manner.

"Very impressive," Yugito said dryly. Clearing her throat, she elaborated, "Yes, Bee and I learned to control the chakra here. It has a lot of free space to train and there are a lot of animals here. Bee's managed to conquer them all, so they defer to him most of the time."

"Figures that they would follow an overgrown monkey," Fuu sniped, joining the conversation. A frown embedded itself on her visage. "I think Tayuya is really rubbing off on me."

"Considering you live with her, I don't doubt that."

Jiraiya approached the jinchūriki, clearing his throat to catch their attention. "The rest of the sailors, as well as the Leaf ninja accompanying them, have headed to the small buildings that were erected as shelters. Do you guys want to go there, or are you going to dive right into training?"

Naruto exchanged glances with Fuu. "That's fine. We'll rest a bit before Fuu attempts to master Chomei's chakra. It's getting late, anyway."

The perverted sage nodded in acceptance. "I'll meet you guys there. Yugito-san and Bee-san should know where to go."

Kurama's jinchūriki shrugged. "Sure." Naruto directed his gaze to his fellow Leaf-ninja and put a hand on her shoulder. "Want to explore this dump? I'm sure we could end up doing something to entertain ourselves."

Fuu grinned at that. "Really? Come find me, then." The green-haired girl's body turned into a swarm of beetles and flew in every direction, completely stunning Naruto.

"Huh, maybe I should pay more attention. I really didn't know she could do that."

"We're heading to the shelters," Yugito informed. "I assume you dumped a Flying Thunder God seal somewhere on me? I'm sure you did it a few nights ago."

Ignoring Bee's not-so-subtle thumbs up, Naruto grunted in affirmation before vanishing from view. His blistering speed left not even a blur behind him as he ran through the island, intent on finding his target.

VvVvV

=Falls of Truth=

"So what am I looking at here?" Jiraiya asked.

"This is where me and the Hachibi learnt to go out with a ring!" Bee explained. He gestured grandly to the waterfall.

Yugito sighed in response to Bee's vague explanation. The falls were only one part of the synchronization process, after all. "Let me explain this, Bee," Yugito tiredly said.

Jiraiya, Naruto, and Fuu turned to the Nibi's container, waiting for an explanation. Jiraiya and Fuu had no idea what the falls were supposed to do. Naruto had some idea, but his training was somewhat different. There was a whirlpool in place of a waterfall, for one.

"This," Yugito said, pointing at the crashing waterfall, "is known as the Falls of Truth. It's the first step in learning to commune with your Tailed Beast. Bee and I both came here to master the demonic chakra and eventually learned to completely communicate with our Tailed Beasts."

"So... what do I do?"

The older blonde smiled at Fuu. "This is where you'll confront your opposite; the traits that completely oppose your progress all imbued in one bad copy. We can't offer any help from here on out, but know that we're with you in spirit."

"Cheesy, but it works," Naruto mused. He grinned at the deadpan expressions of his friends and watched as Fuu took a deep breath and sat right in front of the waterfall. She adopted a meditating pose and waited.

After about thirty seconds, Naruto began tapping his foot. "How long is this supposed to take?"

Bee shrugged. "That depends on her copy's vitality, man. I'm sure she can do it; she's got the guts for it!"

"How did you master your demonic chakra, by the way?" Yugito asked her fellow blond, glancing at him from the corner of her eyes.

"The Mizukage of my time helped me out."

"And...?" the blonde prompted, indicating that she wanted Naruto to keep speaking.

"It was some special island near the Hidden Whirlpool Village where Yagura taught me to completely access and manipulate Kurama's chakra. That was when the fox and I connected and got all chummy with each other."

Jiraiya waved a hand towards the crashing wall of water. "So was there a waterfall like this on that special island as well?"

"There was a whirlpool that was manipulated by the natural energy in its surroundings," Naruto continued. "'The swirling tides force you to unite your feelings or else you will become 'swept away by darkness',' or so they say."

"And you said what these falls did were cheesy," Yugito dryly replied. She got a shrug in response.

"Well, in order to confront the hatred of the Tailed Beasts, you have to conquer your dark side."

"I think you two are right," Jiraiya mused, jumping into the conversation, "Conquering your dark side in order to access greater power really seems like it's been done before. Repeatedly, too."

"That's only because you put that shit in those novels of yours, old man," Bee chimed. Jiraiya's eyebrow twitched.

"Actually, I think those are devices used in many novels for the hero," Naruto said. "I don't think there's a story in which the hero must become... darker, so to speak, in order to access more power. They're always completely holy and good and all of that silly stuff. Where's the realism? No one can be that pure."

Yugito hummed in thought. "You know, I would have said you were all pure because you're the successor of the ancient sage, but after everything I've seen you do... definitely not."

There was a snort nearby and Fuu rose from her sitting position, stretching lithely as she rejoined her friends. "From that expression on your face, I'm guessing you either find what we were speaking about funny or you succeeded in confronting your opposite," Naruto said.

"Yeah... my opposite self was a real jerk," she replied, wrinkling her nose in an expression of distaste. "But we made up and now I'm ready to continue on. What's next?"

Bee and Yugito walked up to the waterfall and went right through it. Fuu and Jiraiya followed. Naruto walked up to the falls last.

They all ended up inside some cavern with various murals painted on the walls of the Nibi and Hachibi. In addition, there were various statues lying around. Yugito explained the history behind the cavern, which was known as the Tailed Beast Temple.

It was designed to help jinchūriki training in their Tailed Beast powers and stop Tailed Beasts from escaping should the beasts break away from their hosts and become reborn.

Yugito led Fuu to a statue of the Nibi's head, where she instructed the green-haired girl to stick her head inside. After some unnecessary - but amusing - jokes, the door to the Chakra Isolation Chamber was opened.

"Naruto," Yugito said, drawing her fellow blond's attention, "I need you to enter with Fuu. She told me that the Nanabi is already aware of who you are and her proving herself to the beetle will be smoother if you're there as reinforcement."

Naruto nodded and entered the chamber with Fuu. Yugito entered afterward in order to keep an eye on things since neither Naruto nor Fuu had been in the chamber before.

Fuu sat and entered a meditating position. Yugito motioned for Naruto to lay a hand on Fuu's right shoulder while Yugito put a hand on the other shoulder. Channeling demonic chakra to their fingertips, both jinchūriki took the plunge into Fuu's mind.

VvVvV

=Within the Mind=

A throbbing headache greeted Naruto when he opened his eyes. The blond held his head and groaned, rubbing his temple in an attempt to alleviate the pain. Usually, when he entered a fellow jinchūriki's mind, pain wasn't present. It was supposed to be a smooth transition.

What confused him - not scared him or made him nervous - was the lack of contact he felt with Kurama. His spirit and chakra felt disconnected from the world around him.

It was as if someone had dumped into some isolated plane of existence.

Naruto finally opened his eyes, taking in the pale brightness surrounding him. It looked like the image of his mind after bonding with Kurama, but without the presence of the Tailed Beast.

That didn't mean that the place was devoid of any presence bar his own. Naruto could feel something oddly familiar radiating from the area.

"What the hell is going on?" Naruto asked the nothingness.

A giggle caused him to whirl around, nearly twisting his torso into an uncomfortable position as he did so. He saw a woman with light skin, fiery red hair, and familiar blue eyes.

"Okay, now I know there was something in Bee's cooking."

The woman's giggling stopped and she gave him an irritated expression. Then she smacked him in the head. "Damn it, Naruto! Don't you recognize your mother?" she yelled, her hair flaring up menacingly.

Naruto winced and rubbed the growing bump on his head. He glanced up at his mother and then frowned. "Well yeah, of course I do. But you're supposed to be dead and the seal didn't have anything except for the Kyuubi locked, so I'm probably hallucinating."

Kushina punched her son again. "Idiot! You call yourself a seal master?! A seal master always accounts for the unaccounted! It's what makes us Uzumaki so damn useful!"

The blond groaned as he rubbed his head again. Maybe he had overlooked something... it was probably a side effect of his memories - and the Kyuubi - being sent to inhabit some body. That posed the question, though: "Are you my real mother or this Naruto's mother?" he asked.

The redhead smirked at him. "Yeah, I'm from your dimension. Didn't see that coming, did you?"

"I didn't see any of this coming. Here I thought I was supposed to help Fuu obtain control of the Nanabi's chakra..."

"Yeah, I don't understand it either, ya know..." Kushina rubbed the back of her head, chuckling sheepishly. "At least I get to spend some time with you, though," she said, smiling gently at her son.

Naruto laughed at that, tears pricking the corners of his eyes. He couldn't help it; the guy hadn't ever met his mother.

And then he hugged her tightly. Sure, he had received affection from many, many women, but that was one thing. A mother's touch was completely different.

The two sat down on the unending nothingness, gazing at each other in a sort of giddy happiness. "So, I guess I get my personality from you?" Naruto asked with a grin on his face.

Kushina again chuckled sheepishly. "Part of it. You're kind of like your father when you fight seriously, but most of the time you take after me. It's actually very scary," she replied.

"What, the verbal tick and all?"

"Especially that verbal tic," Kushina said dryly. "I was hoping you didn't get that, but apparently not." She sighed dramatically. "Oh, well. But, here's the thing: when can I expect some grandchildren?"

Naruto's jaw dropped. "Is that really what you want to ask me? When you can expect some grandchildren?"

Kushina shrugged. "Can you blame me? I was so looking forward to having more children..." she sighed morosely. "I'll just have to settle with grandchildren!" Her mood did a complete one-eighty.

"You do realize what your situation is, right mom?" Naruto said, completely lacking tact.

A rain cloud appeared above Kushina and she hung her head dejectedly. "So mean, Naruto-kun... so mean..." Then she straightened up, grinning deviously. "Enough about that, though! I want to hear all about how my son's managed to charm his way into the heart of every girl ever!"

"Of course..." Naruto muttered, rolling his eyes. "I didn't really do anything, actually. I didn't woo any girl, that's for sure. No flowers from me. I think I'm a grade-A asshole, to be honest."

"Don't sell yourself short. You've saved some of them from death and some from a terrible life, not to mention the fact that you've managed to erase some age-hold grudges."

"Yeah I had no idea what I was doing there too."

Kushina snorted and gave her son a smile. "I'm actually wondering how you're going to rebuild the Village Hidden by the Whirlpools if you're Hokage," she asked.

"And that's why I didn't want to be Hokage, but the old man had to hand down the damned hat. He just had to." The blond grumbled some more under his breath. "What am I supposed to do, let the Hidden Whirlpool rot in all its destroyed glory?"

"Well, maybe its time has passed in this timeline. Just rebuild it in the Hidden Leaf. I'm sure the prestige of being the Hokage would do our clan some good."

"I might need to get a bigger compound... my wallet's going to die." Tears shed for the loss of so much innocent dough rolled down his eyes.

"Honestly, that's not even the biggest issue here considering the Hokage gets a lot of money and leeway regarding certain things. Just how are you going to take care of so many women? Realistically, your relationships with them shouldn't even exist, so I'm chalking that up to divine intervention."

"What, nothing about my amazing personality?" Naruto joked.

"I thought you were a grade-A asshole," Kushina responded, smirking as his face fell. "Despite that fact, I'm surprised no one's called you up on that."

"A lot of people have called me an asshole!"

"No, I meant the fact that you have a harem of women after what's in your pants," Kushina said.

"I'm just that amazing," Naruto declared.

Kushina palmed her face. Of course he had to be too much like her. Not like Minato, who always followed the rules in public. She and Naruto damned the rules in public.

"Seriously though, I have no idea. You think I know why they all like me? Maybe kunoichi are attracted to power? Maybe they're attracted to my attitude? I have no idea. I don't even know how they tolerate each other because, to be honest, this whole thing is one huge slight against the standing of women."

Kushina nodded in agreement. "You've got that right. Too bad no one cares. But at least I'm going to get a lot of grandchildren!" she cried with a triumphant smile.

"Way too focused on that, mom. You have a grandchild on the way, though," he offhandedly replied.

There was a squeal and he felt himself being tackled by his mother. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him repeatedly in excitement. "I do, do I? Who is she? Did I know her? Is she a ninja? What hair color does she have?"

Naruto shook his head to regain his bearings and withstood the rapid barrage of questions. "In order from first to last, yes, a priestess, no, no, and light blonde hair."

The shaking stopped and Naruto was scrutinized by a careful pair of blue eyes. "A priestess? I thought they were supposed to take a vow of celibacy or something," the redhead said.

"She sure didn't act like she had taken a vow of celibacy," Naruto murmured, grinning stupidly at the memory. He received a smack to the back of the head from his mother.

"Tell me more," she said. "How did you two meet and all of that good stuff?"

"That might feel like a sappy love story and I'm not inclined to talk about it like that. I met her, she was an ice queen, I saved her, she wasn't an ice queen. And then she asked me to sire her progeny."

Kushina nodded. "You know, that really could read like a sappy love story if you decided to write like that."

"All right, enough about my relationships with various women and the pregnant girl waiting for me in some far-off land," Naruto said, moving away from the topic of grandchildren.

"I still have some time left before my chakra fades away," Kushina remarked. "What else do you want to talk about?"

"I... could resurrect you," Naruto offered, glancing hopefully at his mother. His lack of interaction towards his biological mother fueled his suggestion.

The redhead's jaw dropped. "Resurrect me? How? I know you're the successor of the Sage of the Six Paths, but you don't have the Rinnegan," she quietly said.

Naruto remained silent for a moment, looking away from his mother before he sighed slightly. "I don't, but mastery over Yin-Yang Release allows me to reach into the realm of souls. So, I can resurrect you and recreate your body. I can't do it without your willingness, however."

Kushina grinned at him. "Naruto-kun, as happy as that makes me, I want to join your father. He's been waiting for me and it's been a long time. I know you need a complete signature to have an idea of what to look for."

"I guess," Naruto muttered in reply, crestfallen at his mother's refusal.

"Don't give me that tone, mister!" Kushina snapped. Her abrupt change of tone caused Naruto to quickly meet her eyes in consternation. "There are a lot of people who would gladly be in your position right now."

Naruto took a deep breath and grinned confidently at his mother. "I gotcha, mom. I'll see you in the other world once my time comes, yeah?"

Kushina's body began to disintegrate into glowing particles of light as her time began to run out. She embraced her son once more as tears fell from her eyes. "Live your life, Naruto-kun. You still have a long one ahead of you. At least you were cared for and knew that your father and I loved you. Do you want any more of this parental junk before I vanish?" she joked, grinning at him.

Naruto let go of his mother and returned her smile. "That's fine, mom."

She whispered a faint good-bye that was imbued with all of the love and happiness that could come from one finally meeting her child. There was some other mushy stuff in it too.

The white nothingness began to blacken as the plane of existence created for both mother and son to meet fell apart, forcefully ejecting Naruto back to reality.

VvVvV

=Chakra Isolation Chamber=

Fuu gasped as Naruto suddenly moved. He fell back with a yelp and groaned at his stiff joints. He quickly stretched, wincing as his joints popped back into place.

"What happened to you?" Yugito asked, gazing down at her fellow blond in concern. "Fuu here finished up really quickly, but your presence completely vanished once you connected to her mind."

"I met my mom," he simply explained.

"Was it Bee's cooking?" Fuu snickered at Bee's outrage towards her statement.

"No, it was her actual soul sealed along with some chakra. I never figured out that it was there," Naruto explained. "I know people have told me where I get my personality, but it was so strange talking to her. It was like having a conversation with a redheaded, female version of myself."

"Enjoy yourself, did you?"

Naruto nodded absently at Yugito's statement. "I would've liked to meet my old man too, but I guess not. Enough about me, though." He turned to Fuu. "So what happened with you?"

In response, Fuu grabbed Naruto's hand and dragged him outside. Everyone followed the two out beyond the falls and into the wide expanse of the forest. "Check this out. Tailed Beast Mode go!" she cried out.

There was a massive influx of demonic chakra as Fuu's form turned monstrous and the Nanabi's beetle-like carapace manifested itself. Loud, incessant buzzing filled the air and dust was dislodged from the ground as the beetle hovered in midair.

"Fuck, that's not fair. I want to fly like a giant beetle too..." Naruto whined. At least he had nine tails to work with and more jinchūriki forms than his brethren.

He knew he was just overcompensating, though.

A giggling Fuu returned to normal, ecstatic at finally being able to transform like the other jinchūriki.

"I guess it's time for war, eh?" Naruto said, giving everyone a grim smile and dampening their happy mood.

"Once more," Kurama rumbled.

Once more, Naruto agreed.