All standard disclaimers apply
Chapter 2
Shinobi Physical ExaminationsKurama surveyed the battle arena. There were a few scrubby plant along the edges and a bare mention of grass and moss on the main ground. Stands surrounded the combat zone, empty save a few spectators. He spied the Hokage and the team that had found him in the forest. He waved at a cheering Naruto.
"Are you ready? Or are you just going to stand there?" his opponent asked.
Kurama looked over to the man he was to fight, "Forgive me, I was waiting for you to make the first move," he smiled, "But if you wish for me to begin..."
Running his hand through his hair he plucked some choice seeds from their hiding places. Unnaturally sharp blades of grass sprung to life between his fingers as throwing knives more deadly than kunai. The unlucky shinobi was forced into the defensive as Kurama threw them faster than the human eye could see. The deadly vegetation stuck the ground and sprouted into wildly twisting masses. A thorny whip lashed out and tore the skin across the shinobi's chest. A minor wound since Kurama was not aiming to kill.
A series of frantic handsigns and the ground around Kurama exploded. Nimbly he leapt from growing stalagmite to flying rock to stable ground.
"Interesting move," he commented, flicking his rose whip out again, "I have never seen ki manipulated quite like that,"
More handsigns and the world swayed for a moment. Kurama blinked as his opponent disappeared into thin air. Something tingled on the edge of his mind, akin to the feeling of Hiei's jagan. Mindplay? They were capable of that? No matter. He violently erected mental barriers against psychic intrusions.
He felt cold steel at his throat.
"Do you yield?"
Kurama froze, his mind racing.
"Do you yield?" the shinobi repeated, impatient.
"Do you?" Kurama retorted coolly. He could keenly smell the shinobi's anger and that only fed his amusement. The scanty grass around their feet sprung to life at the silent command of the Plantmaster, wrapping around the shinobi in a full body-bind, locking into place and freezing its victim's movements completely.
"What?" the shinobi exclaimed, "But you didn't use any handsigns!"
"I'll ask you again," he said sweetly, slipping away to study his handiwork. "Will you yield?"
Kurama could feel the trapped shinobi testing his bonds. When he found no way out he grudgingly nodded his defeat. The grass snaked away, freeing its captive.
"Wise choice. Being strangled to death by grass is a nasty way to go," he smiled, noting the scowl on the defeated shinobi, "but you did well. It is an impressive thing to last as long as you did against me," the scowl darkened and Kurama countered with an even brighter smile.
In a puff of smoke the shinobi was replaced and another fight began. The pattern instated reminded Kurama of the Dark Tournament when he fought the shinobi of the Makai. It was a wearing process but not as challenging as sparring with Yuusuke now that he was a toushin. Opponent after opponent faced the same end, forced to admit defeat. Kurama had managed to grow so many plants in the arena that all he had to do was command them and they defended him.
His currant opponent, a white-eyed boy approximately his age was faring unnaturally well against Kurama's self-made sentient jungle. It almost seemed as if he could see all 360 degrees around him as well as up and down. Strange.
"How is it that you can see so much, boy?" he demanded as he leapt away from an attack. He did not get an answer, so he increased the ferocity of his plants.
Naruto watched in amazement at the foreigner's movements. He could see, probably because of Kyuubi, the flow of chakra from the redhead to the plants. It was mesmerizing.
:I can't believe that he hasn't used the Death Tree yet: Chitose commented.
'The what?'
:Death Tree. It was one of Yoko's favorite plants. Like a Venus Fly Trap but much, much bigger and suited for devouring youkai. Acid, teeth, the whole works:
Naruto considered. 'Maybe he doesn't want to risk it. I mean, so far he hasn't really injured anyone, just fought them to their knees, worn them out or bound them in his plants,'
:That could be it:
They watched as Kurama fought Neji. From the beginning Neji had been fighting with his Byakugan activated and all of his genius skills in the Hyuuga style of the Gentle Fist displayed without reservation. It was apparent that he had no intention of following the pattern set by his forerunners of defeat: he was going to win.
But neither combatant had landed a blow since their face off began. It was strange, Kurama had been fighting for well over an hour straight, using up his chakra at an almost constant pace but he was hardly winded. Sakura commented on this, asking Kakashi his thoughts on the reason. Kakashi frowned – you could not tell with his mask on but Naruto had a feeling he was frowning –and did not answer right away.
"Maybe he does stamina training like Gai and Lee," he shrugged. Sakura nodded, accepting the answer.
"My Sharingan isn't working on him," Sasuke muttered. "It's like when I fought Naruto," Naruto held his breath, hoping that they did not figure it out.
"Eh? How could that be?" Sakura exclaimed.
"I don't know," Sasuke growled, frustrated, "It's the same feeling, but the chakra flow is almost natural compared to when I fought Naruto,"
Naruto started sweating lightly.
"What do you think Naruto?" Kakashi turned to his oddly silent student. Naruto jumped.
"Eh? Me? Well, maybe it's just a bloodlimit kinda thing," he hedged, trying not to look like he was sweating. Honestly, one would think that being raised by a kitsune trapped inside his body he'd be used to pressuring situations. But no. For some reason he always broke into a cold sweat when he had to withhold information from people he trusted.
Kakashi's gaze lingered, "Bloodline. Right," he said finally, clearly disbelieving his nervous student.
Kurama had found the weakness in his opponent's sight. Directly behind him for only a degree or two he was blind as anyone else. Utilizing this knowledge to his advantage he soon had the white-eyed Shinobi wrapped to the nines in thorny vines.
"Impressive, boy," he complemented, straightening his hair. "I don't know how you could see so much but I haven't had to face someone as slippery as you since I had to track down Hiei after he binged on ice cream. I hadn't thought that anyone else could be that evasive," he smiled at the memory.
The trapped shinobi, unable to speak around the vine in his mouth, glared impassively.
"Is there something you wish to say?" Kurama got a nod. The vine slithered away from the shinobi's mouth.
"How is it that someone my own age is so much stronger?" he asked quietly, grinding the words out.
Kurama smiled. "I'd like to say it was natural talent, or that I had a really good sensei, but in all honesty it was either get good or die a painful death after I watch some scumbag torture my mother. You see, a... friend of mine seemed to attract trouble like a magnet and that trouble always found its way to me," he shrugged.
"I see," the bound shinobi was silent for a moment before speaking again, "I have lost, this round goes to you. But I would like a rematch in the future,"
"Well," Kurama loosened the vines, "If you feel up to it I have no problems,"
"Neji conceded?" Sakura was amazed.
"I never thought I would see the day," Kakashi agreed.
:Good thing he did. Looks like Kurama is taking after Yoko in the way he fights. If Neji had resisted much more he would have taken more drastic measures:
'Like that Death Tree you mentioned?'
:Possibly, but I don't think just frustration would make him go that far...: but Chitose sounded uncertain. She knew Yoko, not the human that had learned everything from Yoko.
"Naruto? What's wrong? You look pale," Sakura commented, twisting around so she could see her teammate's eyes. Naruto blushed a little and smiled, scratching the back of his head.
"It's nothing Sakura-chan, don't worry,"
"If you say so," she said and turned her attention back to the arena.
Kurama sighed and cracked his back as he waited for the next shinobi to present itself for combat. He had used a goodly amount of youki in growing so many plants so quickly but the power radiating back to him from them increased his reserves exponentially. The lovely vegetation radiated healthy energies and Kurama reaped the excess.
Therefore it was hardly a surprise to him that he was not even winded.
Tsunade stared down at the redhead in disbelief. He had been in straight combat for an hour or two already and was not even breathing hard. Even Neji's Byakugan had not fazed him in the slightest, as far as she could tell. The Hyuuga prodigy had not been able to land a single blow on the former avatar.
"Hokage-sama," Shizune stuttered, "Who is this boy?"
"Just someone who was in a position like Naruto-kun," She whispered, low enough for only her assistant to overhear.
"Naruto-kun?"
"Only this one is separated from the kitsune that was trapped inside him," she considered who she would send next. Getting a brilliant idea she hastily scribbled a note and gave it to Lee to give to Kurama before they started.
Kurama edged away from the shinobi with a bad bowl cut and what looked like caterpillars feasting upon his eyebrows. He had leapt down in front of Kurama carrying a message from the Hokage.
I have seen how well plants respond to your bidding. How well do you fight without them?
Very well. He requested a minute to recall his homemade jungle. The creepy shinobi, Lee, bestowed him with a 'nice-guy' smile and thumbs up. Shuddering, he cleaned up the arena, storing all the regressed seeds back in his hair where they had come from.
At an unspoken signal they both slipped into opening taijutsu stances. Kurama, with all the patience dealing with a pigheaded kitsune thief had given him, waited for Lee to make the first move. Several minutes ticked by as they both stared into the other's eyes.
Suddenly, flickering out of sight, Lee made a move. Kurama blocked the incoming kick and his fist shot out for a straight punch to the chest. Lee flew back, flipping before his hit the ground. Again he darted inwards. Kurama sidestepped another blow.
Brush, check, strike.
He landed a fist to Lee's ribs.
"You are good," Lee commented, regaining his composure after skidding several feet back. Kurama shrugged.
"I'd like to think that I've gotten better over the years," he dissembled.
A flurry of fists that Yuusuke would be proud of, each blocked in an elegant weaving pattern of flowing hands. Lee managed to land only one blow to the avatar but by the time Kurama had him in a checkmate the taijutsu specialist was looking like a walking bruise.
"Very good," Tsunade clapped from behind them. Kurama released Lee and stepped back, bowing to the worthy opponent.
"Hokage-sama," He smiled politely, making Tsunade wonder if he ever frowned. "What can I do for you?"
"Even after fighting Lee you still aren't breathing hard," She observed.
Kurama shrugged, "After sparring with Yuusuke and Hiei I'm afraid that your shinobi aren't anything special,"
"Is that so?" she hitched up a blonde eyebrow.
"Well, other than the way you mould ki there isn't that much remarkable about your Shinobi," he said, "So, Hokage-sama, who am I to fight next?"
"That would be me. Orochimaru is a Legendary Sannin, as am I. If you can defeat me you have a chance against him,"
"Understandable," Kurama nodded.
"So far you have fought Shinobi of progressing ranks from Chuunin to Jounin and some ANBU yet you show little fatigue. The medic in me is screaming that such is impossible. Even knowing Naruto's condition and that he pulls on Kyuubi's chakra when needed but you no longer have Yoko in your body. How is it that you still have so much chakra?"
Kurama considered her words. "If by this 'chakra' you speak about you mean ki then the answer is fairly simple. When Yoko was taken from my body and given one of his own the technique used created two identical reservoirs for us both. Normally this wouldn't be possible, but Kagome-chan is a prodigy constantly accomplishing the impossible," he smiled, "So I was left with essentially a perfect copy Yoko's ki and abilities and he kept the originals. The only difference is that Yoko cannot manipulate reiki as I can, but we can both use youki,"
"And what have you been using up to now?"
"Youki,"
"Why just that? The plants?"
"Indeed," Kurama nodded, "Yoko's youki was specialized for the manipulation of vegetation as well as some other things,"
"So you control the two different energies at will?"
"Yes,"
"I see,"
"You had mentioned that you have had to use Yoko's youkai form at times. Can you still do that now that you are separated?" Tsunade was curious.
Kurama thought. "I might be able to," he said slowly, "But it would take me a while to figure out how to unlock it,"
Tsunade nodded.
"What are they talking about?" Sasuke asked.
"I don't know," Sakura sighed, frustrated. "I can't hear. What about you, Naruto?"
"Me neither,"
Team seven sat in sullen silence. They just knew that the Hokage and Kurama were talking about something interesting.
"I'm willing to wait," Tsunade said. Kurama looked at her for a moment, shrugged and slipped into a meditative state.
Searching his mind for the door to the fullness of Yoko's abilities, Kurama wondered idly how to transform without Yoko instigating the transfer of control. Before all Kurama had to do was step back and Yoko inserted himself into the position of control. Now Kurama had to find the body-memory of how to do that on his own.
Outside, Tsunade watched the foreign boy. Time ticked by and she was starting to wonder if he would be able to access his kitsune form. People in the stands murmured, wondering what was going on.
Kurama sifted methodically through his mind. He was following a trail of silver ki deeper and deeper into his soul. Living with Yoko all these years had left an imprint on the avatar. Soon he grasped what he was looking for, grinning ferally as he felt the change.
Tsunade stepped back as the boy's hair shifted colour and grew rapidly. His body changed and grew taller, clothing shifting to a strange style unknown to the Sannin. A silver tail, matching the now silver hair, caught her attention as it twitched behind him.
"Is this what you expected, Hokage-sama?" the voice sounded the same, even if the appearance was completely different. Tsunade examined what she could from her position.
"Well, to be honest, no. I hadn't expected something so...humanoid," she said honestly. Kurama cocked his head to the side.
"Is that so? Well, I have never used Yoko's animalistic form, so I don't know if I can. As far as I know youma only use those forms when they are in a killing rage, and the only times that Yoko has gotten that emotional was when one of his partners died and when Kagome-san was mortally wounded,"
"And he transformed then?" Tsunade ventured.
"Oh heavens no," Kurama looked appalled. "I can't give you the particulars on the first time, that's his business, but the second time I was holding onto his sanity. If he had snapped then Kagome-san's brother and her son would have killed us,"
Tsunade was silent. The people in the stands were panicking.
"What is he?" Sasuke whispered, red Sharingan eyes whirling defensively.
:I didn't think he could transform into Yoko:
'That's what Yoko looks like?'
:What'd you think he looked like:
Naruto sweat-dropped.
"Kakashi-sensei, what is he?" Sakura asked.
Kakashi shrugged, his one visible eye trained on the arena. He had an idea but he wasn't about to fill their ears with assumptions.
"He transformed," Naruto muttered, unconsciously voicing both his and Chitose's thoughts. "Why would he transform, he had enough chakra, ki, whatever. He had enough to fight the old lady. Did she ask for this? She knows. He told her about his past. Does she want to fight him like this? Why?"
"Naruto?" Sakura asked, vaguely worried for her teammate. He did not usually mutter to himself.
"But does she even know what she's getting into? He may be my age but he's got more experience and power than I do. Then again, I never did get to fight Baa-san, we got interrupted. But why would he transform? What purpose does this serve?"
"Naruto?" Sakura poked him in the side.
"But wait. That conversation. Maybe they were discussing the uses of demon chakra..."
"NARUTO!" Sakura screamed in his ear, sending the blond flying out of the way of the deadly decibels.
"Ow! Sakura-chan, what was that for?" he complained, holding his abused ear.
"You weren't paying any attention, looser," Sasuke snorted.
"Well, no need to yell," Naruto muttered.
"What on earth were you muttering about, Naruto?" Sakura asked. Naruto started sweating again.
"I...ah, well, you see," he stuttered
"Just spit it out, Naruto,"
"Hokage-sama hasn't cleared you," he said desperately. This got a few raised eyebrows. Naruto never called Tsunade 'Hokage-sama' it was always Baa-san or old lady.
"Hokage-sama hasn't cleared us? But you're cleared?" Sasuke drawled, scowling. "Does it have something to do with Kyuubi?"
"I can't say," he edged away. Sasuke and Sakura got a predatory gleam in their eyes and stalked closer, determined to pry the information out of the hapless jinchuuriki.
"So do you want to fight me or are you shocked into this stillness by the overwhelming beauty of this form?" Kurama smirked. So he had teased Yoko for using lines like that. But right now it just seemed to fit so perfectly. Tsunade mimed gagging.
"Don't you every say anything that cheesy again, boy," she commanded with mock ferocity. Kurama responded with a flamboyant bow.
"Yes ma'am,"
"Well, we're supposed to be fighting. Let's get a move on,"
Both slipped into taijutsu stances, shuffling around a little, waiting for the other to move.
"Is this fight to be fought weaponless like the last?" Kurama asked.
"That's up to you," Tsunade conceded.
"Wonderful," Tsunade leapt aside, just missing being caught by some rapidly growing grass. She slammed her fist into the earth creating an impressive ripple of destruction. Kurama flitted away with a grace that would have made Hiei proud and settled himself on a large uprooted rock. The rock exploded underneath him. He lashed his whip out, trying to distract her.
"You are strong,"
"Side effect of my training,"
"Useful side effect,"
"At times,"
Tsunade formed a jutsu and cast it Kurama's way. The silver kitsune blocked with a hastily grown tree.
"Naruto, if you tell me I'll buy you ramen for a week," Sakura coaxed. Naruto clenched his fists, resisting valiantly.
"No." he said stubbornly.
"A month," Sasuke upped the ante.
:Don't cave, boy:
Kurama was actually enjoying this battle. Tsunade was quick enough and strong enough to keep the Spirit Detective on his toes. He could feel the tension radiating form the spectators, present ever since he had unlocked Yoko's form. A feral grin escaped his lips. This match could be over at any moment. He had planted a seed on the Hokage's body and was just waiting for the roots to spread. He could not force it to grow to fast, she would notice. It had to be just right.
"What are you grinning about?" Tsunade demanded. She had to admit this foreigner was powerful, possibly even more so than herself. It was a scary thought.
Suddenly, Kurama slowed to a stop. "Hokage-sama? You should stop moving. You'll aggravate the seed I planted on your body,"
"Seed?" She looked down and was surprised to see angry looking veins running underneath her skin. "And what is this supposed to do?"
"Well, if left long enough without being extracted – and that means every piece of root as well – it would just grow slowly, leeching your body of anything that keeps you alive. Eventually it would rob you of any form of movement, other than anything involuntary like breathing. Of course, that's the passive side. If I say a certain word then the process is sped up exponentially and you won't even know what hit you before you become plant food," he explained seriously.
"I see," Tsunade considered her options. She tried extracting the roots from her body using medicnin techniques, but the seed reacted by growing faster. Kurama shook his head, warning her against any more action like that.
"You really can't do anything about it without a Plantmaster, Hokage-sama. Trust me, Yoko researched every move he used carefully so he would know every loophole and weakness before his victim," he ginned a foxy grin.
"So what can I do?" Tsunade asked.
"Other than yield?"
"Yes,"
"You could continue fighting, until the roots freeze your mobility, which won't be too long," he shrugged.
"Is that it?"
"Yes,"
Tsunade sighed. She could not see any other option and she didn't want to have a plant's root system eating away at her body while she was still living.
"Fine. I yield,"
Kurama nodded and retrieved the seed from her shoulder, recalling the roots and regressing the germination process. "Wise move," he nodded.
"Did Tsunade-sama just yield?" Sasuke asked, gaining the attention of his teammates.
"I think she just did," Kakakshi agreed.
"Who is this guy?" Sakura asked yet again.
Naruto crept away.
Kurama replaced the seed back within his hair and shifted back to his human body. The part of his personality that had been effected the most by Yoko wanted him to comment on what a pleasant warm up that was, but he resisted.
"I'll get you all the information you need on Orochimaru," Tsunade promised. Kurama bowed.
"Thank you Hokage-sama, that would be helpful,"
"When do you want to start?" she asked, wiping some sweat from her forehead.
"As soon as you let me take Naruto-san," He shrugged. "The boy is in need of serious training from someone who knows what is going on inside of him,"
"I understand, but it's going to be hard to release Naruto-kun into the custody of a stranger,"
"Just say that I'm a specialist you called in from another Village," he shrugged, taking what he knew of the political systems here and creating a plan.
"Hide me!" Naruto squeaked, startling Tsunade out of her skin. The blond boy had managed to creep up behind the Hokage without her even noticing. Sasuke and Sakura, on the other hand, had noticed his escape and were in hot pursuit.
"What's going on, brat?" Tsunade asked, rubbing her temples, feeling a headache coming on.
"They-want-me-to-tell-them-about-Kurama-but-you-didn't-say-I-could-so-I-didn't-but-they-aren't-giving-up-and-I-can't-handle-any-more-promises-of-ramen-without-cracking!" he said all in one breath.
"Me? They're trying to get you to talk about me?" Kurama laughed. Ah, if ever there was a time to pull on the reserves of Yoko attitude that he had accumulated over the years just to wow people with sheer animal charisma now was a pretty good time to test it.
He turned his shining emerald eyes to Naruto's teammates. Sakura blushed a deep red that clashed with her pink hair at the look he gave her, most defiantly not immune to a Kitsune Seduction. Kurama might not be fully kitsune himself, but the power was there. Just one Look and the pretty kunoichi suddenly felt like she would do anything for this beautiful man.
Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks when Kurama turned a different kind of gaze on him. Having different, more human, morals as he liked to think of it, Kurama didn't use the Seduction on the boy. Instead he leveled Sasuke with a look that said he was as deadly as anything the boy had ever heard about in any story and then some. Sasuke froze and Kurama almost smiled at the sweat that started pouring down the boy's face.
Kurama sneezed.
The interruption cancelled both spells he had woven. Sakura and Sasuke both took a wary step back.
"Someone's talking about me," he muttered, looking very annoyed. "It's about time. They should have noticed a long time ago,"
"Who?" Tsunade asked. Kurama shot her a long look.
"My friends and employer," he sighed.
"Well, the only time that old wife's tale is in effect is when the people doing the talking are in the same dimension as the one being talked about," said a deep voice from the shadows. Kurama whirled around in shock.
"Hiei!" He exclaimed.
"Seems you've gotten yourself in quite the quandary, Fox," he sneered in a friendly taunt.
"How'd you get here? Can I get back? What happened?"
"My jagan, and not without extensive research and we haven't figured it out yet," Hiei shrugged, stepping closer. "Who are these people, Fox?"
"Oh, sorry. Hiei, This is Naruto-san, someone like me, and this is Hokage-sama, who I don't believe I ever got her proper name,"
"Tsunade," She provided.
"Tsunade-sama, and these are Naruto-san's team: Sasuke-san, Sakura-san, and their sensei, Kakashi-san," Kurama gestured to each in turn. "Everyone, this is my friend and partner in battle, Hiei the Jaganshi," Hiei grunted and turned his attention to Naruto.
"So this boy is like you? Not silver but red, eh? Does Yoko know her?" Hiei asked, his jagan glowing slightly from under the warded bandages that covered it.
"Yes, Yoko does know her. But I don't think you should tell him when Kagome-san is in the room,"
"Ah?"
"It's Chitose-san," Kurama blushed at Yoko's memories.
"Ah," Hiei looked smug. If he let this info slip when Kagome was in earshot Yoko would be sleeping on the couch.
"Who's Chitose?" Sakura asked. Hiei shot her a dangerous glance. She shrunk back.
"No one you should worry about little girl," Hiei growled, enjoying the fear that practically radiated off the girl.
"Hiei," Kurama sighed.
"Hey!" Naruto shouted, stepping between Sakura and Hiei, "Don't talk to Sakura-chan like that!"
Hiei blinked at the blond. Naruto held his ground.
"He may be in a situation like yours, but you have nothing else in common. The boy is much too brash for his own personal safety," the fire youkai commented, turning away from the loud Shinobi boy.
"Ah, well, can you tell me just where I am?" Kurama asked. Hiei looked back to his friend.
"A sub-world. Apparently when Kagome created the Barrier of Worlds five hundred years ago she wasn't able to catch everything in one go. But she didn't realize that, being only human, and so this world is both of the Ningenkai and of the Makai, but also not. Parts of both worlds were taken and used to create this new plane," Hiei explained, ignoring the humans listening in.
"So this is a sub-world. That explains why there are both humans and youkai here. Why wasn't this world on our radar before?"
Hiei grinned, showing off deadly fangs, "Yuusuke is having fun beating that information out of the Brat as we speak,"
"Well, when you know can you tell me,"
"I'll contact you in a few days," Hiei promised.
"Will you be able to find me wherever I am?" Kurama asked. Hiei nodded and disappeared.
Silence.
"Kurama-san? Who was that?" Tsunade asked.
"Hm? Oh, that was Hiei. He and I fought together along with two others, Yuusuke and Kuwabara. Hiei is a hybrid, but is dominant Fire youkai, Yuusuke is a toushin hanyou of almost unsurpassable skill even by full-blooded youkai and Kuwabara is a human psychic," he explained absently.
"And who was that 'Yoko' he was talking about?" Sasuke asked.
Kurama stilled for a second before smiling a winning smile, "Yoko and I are close friends. Since Yoko and I have known each other for so long I know almost everything he does," he half-lied easily.
Sasuke did not say anything.
"Ne ne! Kurama! Can you show me some of those moves you did? The ones with all the cool plants and all?" Naruto begged. Kurama shook his head.
"Sorry, Naruto-san. My fighting style and your fighting style are two polar opposites. I won't be able to teach you to fight with plants like I do. But I think after we get you a little more control I might be able to talk Hiei into teaching you the finer points of fire manipulation," he paused and looked over at Tsunade, "That is, of course, if Hokage-sama is willing to allow me to train you,"
Naruto turned on Tsunade, "Baa-san! You gotta let me train with him! Please!" he begged.
"We'll see, Brat," She sighed, "I've still gotta come up with a plausible story as to why he'd be taking you on a training trip,"
"Hey! Why's he going to train Naruto?" Sakura demanded.
"Because if I tried to train you or Sasuke-san it would be useless. You have no ability to perform what I can teach," he shrugged.
"Why's that?" Sakura asked, curious.
"It's a matter of blood and circumstance, little girl," he sniffed regally no doubt confusing her even more.
"Blood and circumstance?" Sasuke muttered. Kurama nodded.
"Other than that, it is none of your business,"
"So, Tsunade-sama," Kakashi began, "Are you going to tell us what is going on?"
"Not here, I'm not," She tossed back. "Maybe, if Kurama-san agrees, in my office. Bring your students, else they won't leave Naruto alone,"
"I have no problem with telling them," Kurama shrugged in a reassuring manner. "It's not like I'm ashamed of it,"
"Well, if you're sure," Tsunade called Team seven in.
AN: Well, this chapter hopefully answered some questions people were asking at the end of the last book. Yes, Kurama still can fight like he used to. Don't ask me about his toying with Yoko's form. That'll probably be used more in sidestories more than this actual fic. And isn't it convenient that Hiei can go back and forth from this world and the others? Handy, ne? Don't ask me to hash out the details, cuz I really don't want to. My head'll explode if I think about it too much.
A couple cultural references in this chapter: a youma is a youkai that takes on a human form. Kitsune Seduction, which is what Kurama pulled on Sakura, was introduced in the last book (Family Ties, in case you haven't read it). Basically the poor human (or anyone else) who falls under it is so open to suggestion and willing to do the bidding of said Seduction Caster that the caster could have their wicked way with the victim in the middle of town square, at high noon with video cameras. Naught, naughty! . But it makes dealing with people easier on a short term basis, I bet!