All standard disclaimers apply.
Chapter 9
The DL on Orochimaru
After the first day the cramps and the necessity of running to the washroom ever hour faded slowly. Kurama was thankful for this since she was finding it quite embarrassing and awkward. She almost run through the entire package of pads that Kagome had been so thoughtful to send. She had managed to work out her frustrations on her hapless student, making Chitose run into overtime just to keep up with both the healing process and in supplying youki for fighting.
Kurama, of course, was just warming up. She was, after all, the byproduct of a powerful nine-tailed yoko kitsune. Not that she was flaunting it or anything.
"Kurama," Naruto panted.
Kurama had once again dragged Naruto out for some training and the pair was currently exchanging potentially lethal blows. A few Sand shinobi watched from the sidelines, not understanding how the two women were able to cast so many 'jutsu' without the obligatory hand signs. Gaara, who had woken after three days of solid rest, had deemed it unnecessary to enlighten those who did not already know.
"What is it?"
It was strange, neither Kurama nor Naruto could quite get used to the few pairs of eyes boring holes into the backs of their heads. The only witnesses they were used to having was a stadium full of spectators, not a mere handful.
"Hiei's standing behind you,"
Kurama dodged a kick aimed for her knees and twisted out of the way when Naruto threw several senbon and shuriken at her.
"I know,"
She commanded the grass around Naruto's swiftly moving feet to grow. It grew with enthusiasm, long enough to tangle and trip. Naruto sprung into the air.
"Then why aren't you talking to him?" she asked, throwing several balls of fire at the redhead.
"Because I'm in the middle of a spar," Kurama said blandly, countering the fire assault with a broad-leafed plant that only she was familiar with. Vines burst from the ground, chasing Naruto through the air and ground as she wisely fled. Kurama winced as Naruto set fire to the pursuing vines.
"What's that got to do with anything?"
"Not much, I suppose, but talking with you doesn't break my concentration as much as it would if I concentrated on talking with Hiei as I fought you,"
Suddenly Naruto paused, causing Kurama to falter in the rhythm as well, going on an even higher alert. Kurama wondered just what in the name of Inari-sama was Naruto thinking.
"You know, Kurama, I don't think you've even had to move from that spot the entire time, have you?"
"I haven't,"
There was a general murmur of amazement from the onlookers as they saw that Naruto was in the right, that Kurama had indeed not moved from her original position. There was a hole worn into the sand where she pivoted and a circle of footprints around that, that being the only proof of motion on her part.
"I don't know if I should be insulted or what," Naruto sighed, rubbing the back of her neck.
"Don't bother, it's a waste of energy," Kurama waved a hand at her student and turned to Hiei, "Yo, Hiei! Long time, no see,"
"Hn. Fox, it hasn't been that long. I only left here three days ago," Hiei said, imitating crossness.
"Three long days," Kurama said as dramatically as Yoko in one of his playful moods. The small fire youkai scowled darkly.
"I get enough of that from Yoko, I don't need it from you as well,"
"Ah! Forgive me, Hiei!" She grinned and bowed apologetically, clapping her hands together as if she was praying.
"Keep this up and I'll leave," he threatened. Kurama pouted cutely, unaware of how cute it looked on her female face.
"But you just got here,"
"And I can leave just as quickly,"
"Alright," She held up her hands in defeat, "Alright, forgive me, Hiei, this unworthy one meant nothing by her play,"
"Of course not," Hiei sniffed, "You're as much a kitsune as the thief that lived in your head for more than twenty years,"
"Yoko was a thief?" Naruto interjected. Kurama blinked at her student, having momentarily forgotten that she was even there.
"Yoko? I thought I told you that,"
Naruto thought about it and grinned sheepishly, "Right, sorry, forgot,"
"What's that they say about airheads and blondes?" Hiei asked no one in particular. Kurama raised and eyebrow as she held Naruto back.
"You're in a particularly scathing mood today," she commented, "Any reason as to why?"
"The Brat is acting like a brat,"
"And you wish you could just do some good old fashioned torture on him?"
"Exactly,"
"And people say that you're the psychic," Kurama grinned cheekily. Hiei just rolled his crimson eyes, shoved his hands in his pockets and glared at the ground. "And what has the Toddler said so far?"
"That opening a portal for you to cross through will need Kagome to adjust the Barrier Spell,"
"And there's a problem with that?"
Hiei nodded, "Kagome is forbidden from doing any major spell casting while she's pregnant. It could harm the kit,"
Kurama's face fell as the implications sunk in. "I've been here for about a month so she's what, seven months along now?"
"With another three or four to go," Hiei nodded.
"So I'll be here for three or four months," Kurama bit her lip, "On the bright side that will give me plenty of time to teach Naruto the finer points of youki manipulation, and have him teach me these jutsu things,"
"Her," Naruto reminded, pointing to her female chest, "I'm a her right now,"
"Her, sorry," Kurama apologized.
"No problem," She waved it off, "So you've got a couple of months before you can get back home?"
"So it seems,"
"Maybe by the time you go home I'll have bet you into a dress," Naruto grinned evilly. Kurama paled and Hiei even cracked an amused smile.
"Never," Kurama swore fervently.
"We'll see," Naruto started whistling as she strolled off back to Gaara's house.
"That child is maniacal," Hiei said, impressed despite himself.
"Naruto is a natural mischief-maker with a kitsune stuck in his head, probably egging him on," Kurama groaned, running a hand through her long hair, wincing when she encountered several knots.
"And that is a perfect recipe for a well-balanced, perfectly normal, sane individual, isn't it?" Hiei asked sarcastically.
"Oh indeed," said Kurama with just as much sarcasm.
"So it seems that I will being hopping between worlds for longer than anticipated,"
"Is that a bad thing?"
"Just unexpected," Hiei grunted, "Is it just me or have you been in this village for a rather long time for someone who is supposed to be hunting someone down?"
Kurama paused, "Oh yeah," she mumbled, blushing a little, "I had almost forgotten that,"
"Photographic memory, my foot," he teased.
"Even a photographic memory is fallible at times, you know. I've had a lot on my plate these past few days,"
"Yes, going through the undeniable, physical proof that the man has truly become the woman,"
"One day I will find a way to force you into a pink bunny suit, Hiei,"
Kurama took what Hiei had said to heart and the next morning saw her, Naruto and Hiei leaving the stony confines of Sunagakure. Gaara had told them to contact him if they needed assistance, as a favor for Naruto, a friend, and as thanks for sealing Shukaku. The sky was clear, the sand was radiating heat and the company was…irritating.
"On the road again," Kurama sang. Hiei cringed. "Can't wait to get on the road again,"
"Cease that infernal racket, Fox, before I am forced to relieve you of your voice box," he threatened.
"Aw, but Hiei," she whined. Hiei glared and she shut up, but still grinned like she knew something he did not.
"So what do we know so far?" Naruto asked, examining her nails.
"About what?"
"Orochimaru," Chitose's ire bled through when Naruto said the name.
"Oh. Him," Kurama nodded, "Well, let's see. We started with bare facts, and though we haven't upgraded much from that I'd like to think we're making progress-"
"Fox. Get on with it,"
"Sorry, Hiei. So Orochimaru: one of the Legendary Sannin, summons snakes, apparently has cast some sort of jutsu on himself that makes him somewhat hard to kill and keep him dead,"
"Somewhat, oi," Naruto rolled her eyes.
"Former member of Akatsuki," Kurama continued, ignoring the interruption, "An all-evil-villains club for those who are pathetically fashion-dead. Former, because he got scared of Itachi, the little weasel we shoved head first and unconscious into a Konohagakure maximum-security prison cell. Scared of Itachi? Why, we ask. I'd say it's those scary copy-wheel eyes of his. Those eyes and his psychic abilities combined for what Naruto so helpfully called the Mangekyou Sharingan's Tsukiyomi," she nodded to her student and smiled, "So Orochimaru had left Akatsuki because of someone whose head I handed to him on a platter. He organized a new type of shinobi who utilize sound as their weapon, tricky but I've seen it done before. These shinobi, the Otonin, are under Orochimaru's control in something the same way that Hokage-sama controls the shinobi of Konohagakure,"
"Only they're pure eeeevviiiil," Naruto added darkly.
"Henchmen usually are," Hiei observed. Kurama frowned.
"May I continue?" she asked.
"Only if you really want to," Hiei teased.
"So, Henchmen. Right. Orochimaru, if you want my opinion, looks like your typical evil villain bent on world domination. Death, destruction, despair and all power for him. Not to mention Sasuke's cute body and the Sharingan eyes," Kurama sighed, "Now that one I don't understand. Why would he want uber creepy eyes like that?"
"They copy everything," Naruto supplied. "Anything seen with the Sharingan is instantly committed to both mind-memory and body-memory. It's creepy sometimes,"
"Huh. Just imagine the mental overload that would cause," Hiei grunted.
"That totally defeats the point of learning to fight," Kurama sighed in disgust.
"And keeping trade secrets," Hiei agreed with matching emotion.
"Cheating, that's what it is,"
"Never really thought of it that way," Naruto said thoughtfully, "I've always thought it was kinda cool, like the Byakugan or any other bloodlimit,"
"Byakugan?" Kurama asked curiously.
"Those freaky white eyes that the Hyuuga have. You should know, you fought Neji. They can see practically anything,"
Kurama did recall that duel, "The one who could see everything around him?"
"Yep, that's Neji. He's supposed to be some kind of genius in the Juuken,"
"Juuken? The Gentle Fist?" Hiei asked, surprised.
"You've heard of it, Hiei?" Kurama asked.
"Yes. It utilizes a soft form of ki destruction. Even the slightest brush from a Juuken master can kill by sealing away the tenketsu that need to be working for ki to be manipulated," Hiei explained. Kurama cringed.
"Sounds nasty. Glad he didn't get to knick me," she said fervently.
"That's worst case scenario," he admitted, smiling in amusement at his friend's reaction, "Usually the worst they can do is render your body useless,"
"Still, not a pleasant prospect. They can shut off the flow of ki?"
"In essence,"
"Scary,"
"Indeed, it can be if executed properly,"
"And this Byakugan aids in seeing the ki flow though the body, is that it?" Kurama guessed, looking to Naruto for confirmation. Naruto nodded.
"Which is probably why they can use the Juuken as a familial style," said Hiei.
"That would make sense," Kurama agreed.
"Back to Orochimaru," Chitose said through Naruto. Kurama apologized for getting caught up in the distracting tangent.
"Right, Orochimaru. What have we covered so far?"
"Evil dude bent on world domination and ultimate power," Hiei supplied.
"Remind you of anyone?" Kurama shot him a mischievous sideways grin. Hiei ignored it and continued.
"Former member of Akatsuki and he lusts after the Uchiha's ability to plagiarize," he finished.
"Anything else?" Naruto asked.
"Let's see," Kurama thought about it, "from the pictures I have seen he has this weird thing for nailpolish and come to think of it so did Itachi. Very strange indeed,"
"Fox. Get on with it,"
"Yes Hiei," she smiled sweetly, "Orochimaru, snake-summoner, also has a tongue that does that guy from, what was it? Arrowsmith? Something like that, anyways, it does that guy shame,"
"Pertinent information, if you would,"
"The Otonin, as of last report, are still small in numbers and have had a hard time growing since the defeat they suffered in the attack on Konohagakure," Kurama relented, divulging facts that could be useful, "The Otonin could be quite dangerous to us, all of us, since we all have abnormally, compared to normal humans, sensitive inner ears,"
"Trouble indeed," Hiei admitted.
"Just means we'll have to take them out quickly," she grinned.
"Uh," Naruto interrupted, "Do you think you guys can? I mean, take all of them out before one of them can get off an attack?"
Hiei looked offended and Chitose snorted something rude in the back of Naruto's mind. It was Kurama who decided to answer. "Naruto, hasn't my teaching you told you anything about how I fight? You think that I am fast? I can't even sense Hiei when he moves at an 'easy' pace. Remember, Naruto, youkai,"
Naruto blushed a little, "Ah. Right. Sorry,"
"No problem. You haven't seen either of us while we are serious, so it's understandable," Kurama smiled at her student, "Now, back to the Orochimaru problem. The Otonin could be a problem but Hiei and I will try to take them out before they become a nuisance. Now for the Kabuto problem. Kabuto, a medicnin – what a contradiction of terms – could be something of a problem. He has a highly refined method of ki use that was originally developed for surgery, not the battlefield. Nevertheless he as managed to adapt it, from what I have heard, quite nicely so that he can quite literally slice you to hamburger on the inside,"
"Sounds like fun," Hiei smirked. Naruto winced, remembering the last time she and Kabuto had crossed kunai.
"Not if you're on the receiving end of it," the blonde warned.
"Then just make sure not to be on the receiving end," Hiei shrugged indifferently.
"Easy for you so say," Naruto muttered, crossing her arms over her chest petulantly.
"Anyways," Kurama broke in with a stern edge to her voice, "back to the problem at hand. Kabuto is Orochimaru's right hand man and is therefore a stepping-stone to our victory. I'd like to see a mere human stand up to us. Even Naruto is something to be reckoned with now that I've had time to train with her,"
"Gee, thanks," the shinobi muttered.
"Not a problem. And as for Orochimaru, I say we cross that bridge when we get there," Kurama said brightly. Naruto goggled at her for a second. Hiei just sighed.
"So nothing else you know about him is pertinent?" Hiei asked patiently. He was not about to peep into Kurama's mind just to fleece her of information, it wasn't that important to him as of yet.
"The rest is along the lines of favorite kind of chewing gum and the endorsement from some sneaker company based out of the Countries,"
"A sneaker company?" Hiei asked, amused, "Next you're going to say he donates money to the Evil Little Orphans fund,"
"I wouldn't put it past him. Tax cuts and whatnot can be quite useful, you know,"
AN: Anyone who wants to draw me Hiei in a pink bunny suit PLEASE DO! What I wouldn't give to see that! I'd do it myself but I have school and my writing.
Sorry for the boring chapter. Just trying to recap and consolidate what they know