A/N: Ahhhhhhhhh slept all day and I feel good. Now I'm working the next seven! HOWEVER! An update a day keeps the doctor away, so here we are.

HALP Undertale has my by the throat and won't let me gooooo~!

I just discovered it, needless to say and wow.

So many options, so may endings.

*head spins*

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...

Also, here.

Because everyone wanted to see that Alter Ego fight with Beast I mentioned awhile back and I promised it for the collection.

Remember, they fought while Kurama/Naruto was alive. And Beast got destroyed. It also gives us a chance to see a little bit more about Kurama's life as human.

*EDIT*

Now, I'm not begging for reviews here. I'm grateful for every kind word and criticism I get. I genuinely enjoy talking to people. But its when folks curse and threaten me that I begin to lose my temper. Anyway, I'm off to work another double. Looking forward to your reviews when I get back. Here. Another update. Out of spite for the trolls. Enjoy it. Have at ye.

Reviews are love. Reviews are life. Reviews make me strive.

As ever, this will be gone in two days if folks don't like it.

References are glorious and I own nothing~!

Get ready to laugh your arses off.

"You'll have to try a little harder than that now, pup.

No matter what you say...no matter what you do...I'll always reject that vision of yours, Beast.

You see, with great power comes great responsibility; a responsibility that you've squandered. These people have hopes. Dreams.

Its my duty to defend those dreams. They fill me with Determination. So step up to the plate, little man. If its a fight you want, you'll get one.

Don't come crying to me when you lose, don't blame me when you die, don't whine when you fry. Lets go, kid. Allow me to show you the error of your ways."

~Alter Ego (before becoming a Servant)

A Most Unlikely Parent

"Sneak attack~!"

Kurama didn't deign to open his eyes; he already knew said attack was coming long before his would-be assailant launched it in the first place. Even with its true owner long gone-and didn't that still sting?-Naruto's body was nothing if not durable these days. He barely felt the small body land on his back at all. There was only the faintest nudge against his back; scarcely enough to shift him against the bed. With little more than a grunt, he rolled over and ignored the attack altogether. Her happy chattering however, was another matter entirely.

"Dad, Dad, Dad!" a little girl's voice plucked at his ears as much as his heartstrings. "C'mon, get up! You promised you'd teach me a new jutsu today!"

"Your daughter's awake." Tenten exhaled softly, burying her head into his shoulder.

The blond groaned into a feather pillow. "Before sunrise she's your daughter."

"I'm pregnant. Again." her muffled voice rose against him. "So, yours."

"Hey now, you're not that far along and you know it-

His wife smacked him with said pillow.

"Alright, alright, I'm awake!"

Resigning himself to rise lest he face the wrath of the woman he loved, Kurama rolled over.

"You promised."

Priscilla's gem-like red eyes gazed up at him with familiar fervor he knew far too well. At ten years old she was her mother's child through and through, and also the eldest. He could see Tenten in the shape of her face and the stubborn set of her jaw-alongside a pair of whiskers adorning her cheeks-but for the life of him he couldn't understand where she'd gotten the white hair. His daughter had let it grow long despite his warnings; now it nearly reached her waist as she impatiently edged back on her heels and waited for him to get yp. Perhaps it was her frail constitution that led to her pale skin and paler hair; she'd always had a quiet cough that manifested whenever she over-exerted herself, but for once she seemed to be holding herself in check.

She'd even kitted herself out in attire resembling Tenten in her genin days, albeit a pale blue vest and gray slacks.

Almost made him proud, it did.

Unfortunately that pride was overshadowed by the startling urge to glomm his eldest in a crushing bear hug. Too good. Too pure. He wanted to squeeze her; because baby girl was growing up. With this kind of enthusiasm he might actually consider letting her become his successor sometime down the road. The village could always use a strong Hokage, and if his eldest had even a fourth of his own potential, she was going to be an outright monster when she came of age.

But that was neither here nor there.

"Where's the rest of your siblings?" he asked, stifling a yawn with the back of a hand.

Her sheepish grin flashed out at him as he gazed at her. "Yukiko and the others are still sleeping."

A blond brow rose, mildly bemused by her childish enthusiasm. "I'm sure they are. The sun probably isn't even up yet."

Her cheeks burned rosy, but she didn't budge. Good girl. Stubborn, but good. She wouldn't move unless he made her, not something he was prepared to do.

"Alright, just give me a second...

With a jaw-popping yawn, the blond climbed out of bed and began the laborious process of waking up. Quick as a flash he'd gotten himself dressed-behind a screen to avoid scarring his young daughter-and emerged in his customary attire. Not a heartbeat-and one kiss from a sleepy Tenten-later and they were well on their way out the door. He'd been right; the sleepy sun was only just now beginning to peek a sliver of its head above the horizon; it didn't seem to be in any particular hurry to rise at that.

The village itself was another matter.

Shinobi kept all manner of odd hours; thus he wasn't at all surprised to see some of the more eccentric sorts roaming about. That dust plume couldn't be anything other Lee and his son running laps around the perimeter again. There was Neji with his twin girls perusing a weapon's shop. Seeing them, the jonin granted him a small nod. Good man, Neji. He'd come a long way since their last fight. Of course, now that he had a family to see after, all the better.

Though he moved at a sedate-for him-pace, Priscilla matched him easily. It surprised him.

So he ran faster.

Still, she nearly kept up.

Cheeky little kid did him proud.

Once upon a time he'd been able to outrun everyone. Before he'd settled down. Before he'd gotten attached. Before his golden hair started to turn silver. Old age truly was creeping up on him. Slowly, inexorably, but all the same it was there. Each year took a little more from him. His body might be able to endure grievous wounds, recover from anything short of death, but not time. Time was the great enemy that no one could defeat, neither man, nor beast. Time took its toll from him in small ways, tiny ways, so slightly as nearly not to be noticed. He wouldn't be around forever. He knew that.

Well! All the more reason to prepare the next generation, then.

He took her to the old training ground, the one where everything had first begun so long ago.

Gods this place brought back memories. Of who he was. What he'd been. What they had become. The boy had slipped away from the foundation and come here, sometimes. They talked often here. He'd wanted to return here, before he'd died. He should have been here; not an operative in Danzo's root. Not a broken husk, not a tortured soul, not DEAD-

"Papa?"

Kurama blinked, tearing himself out of the past and back to the present.

"Its nothing, then." he began, turning to face his daughter, "Remind me. What have you learned so far? That includes the Academy."

She stood at attention and began slowly counting off her fingers. "The basic clone jutsu, replacement, tree walking, water walking, a minor genjutsu, and two earth jutsu."

Kurama blinked. "Well, that's a start-

"Oh!" Priscilla perked up. "Uncle Kakashi taught me the Chidori, too!"

A muscle jumped in the blond's jaw. Did he now? He'd be having words with him.

"Lets start with Shadow Clones, then." Her delighted squeal actually made him blink; he hadn't thought anyone capable of getting to that level of pitch. "They're a useful tool, and you seem to have the chakra reserves for them." when her head bobbed in frantic agreement, he laughed. "Once you master that, I teach you the Rasengan, if you'd like. No child of mine's going to be taking missions without knowing how to defend themselves."

Gods, the girl had a pair of lungs!

"Yesyesyes!" Priscilla all but skipped from one foot to the other. "You're the best!"

They spent the better part of a day going over that jutsu; the sun was hanging low in the sky by the time she managed to pull it off without a hitch. Priscilla's reserves were certainly large enough for the task-as one might expect of an Uzumaki, but she was still young. Creating one clone wasn't enough, she wanted to be able to make hundreds. In the blink of an eye. Without seals. Cute. For someone who could easily create thousands on a good day, Kurama found himself almost amused by her efforts. Of course, now that he'd taught her this, he knew rest of his brood would want to learn it as well and didn't that just bugger all...

A strange scent reached him all at once, wafting in on the breeze.

"Well, well, well." a rusty chuckle reverberated through the clearing. "Isn't this just touching."

Kurama paused.

The stranger didn't so much arrive as he did appear; simply stepping out of the trees themselves. Clad in little more than old furs, he looked like a hunter...but there was something wrong about him. Not only his presence but the very air itself; everything seemed to darken around him, the green-grass turned pale and dead, the once cheery sky slowly staining itself a ghastly red. Something deep inside of him recoiled at the sight of it, yet a tiny part of him recognized the face staring at him. Beast. A name popped into his head unbidden and he frowned at it. No. Not a beast. He'd seen one, once. Far, far from here. This was a fake. An impostor. Something to be shunned and scorned, yes, but also destroyed.

"Dad?" Priscilla shrank back behind him. "Who is that? Why does he look like you?"

At first Kurama froze.

He almost dared to hope.

But no, he knew the truth, saw the lie.

Growling, the blond fixed him with a gimlet eye.

The stranger opened his mouth to speak, but he would have none of it.

"No." he held up a hand to forestall any such speech. "I don't care what you are, and I don't care what else you're going to say. I've already made up my mind." a low snarl fled from his lips. "You are a liar. A deceiver. A fake. An impostor. You're not Naruto, and the fact that you wear his face despite what you've become offends me. I barely even known you and I'm already sick of you. Yet you dare stand before me with that visage?!" a touch of crimson chakra bubbled up around his shoulders. "Leave. Now."

Affronted by his remark, the stranger merely sniffed. "I think...not."

His hackles rose. "You do not want this fight."

"Ohhhhh, I think I do."

Kurama exhaled. "Priscilla, sweetheart. Go find your mother."

In one smooth movement hr slapped a hand against his daughters shoulder and she vanished, even as his right boot stomped against the ground.

A wall of earthen spikes shot up and skewered Beast before he could take so much as a single step forward. It was a very impressive jutsu all things considered; no seals involved, nothing beyond a chakra pulse and all of the world bent to his will. Ten dozen vicious stakes erupted from the soil, ripping him from his feet to hurl him into the air like a doll made of straw.

And the illusion broke.

He wasn't at all dismayed when "Naruto" turned out to be little more than an illusions; a facade formed by willpower and nothing else. When he found himself facing a monster out of his worst nightmare, a creature that'd send even the Ten-Tails itself screaming into the void. Yet he didn't falter. Even as he watched that towering scaled bulk tear itself from the spikes, he felt no fear. A retaliatory swipe blasted off half his face and caused a brief grimace of annoyance to flash across what remained. And then it grew back. Just like that.

...if its any consolation? That hurt like hell."

Beast balked, eyes bulging madly.

"How in the hell...?

"You don't get it, do you?" The entity snarled, exposing sharpened canine teeth. "Get it through that thick skull of yours. I'm not Naruto. Nor am I Kurama either. I'm both. They are me. I am them. We are one. I only call myself Kurama because it feels right; because the name brings me some semblance of comfort of who I once was. This my world, boy." a lone hand rose to cradle a cruel current of wind in its grasp. "I rule here. I am your judge. I am your jury. I am your executioner. I yield to no one save time. Now then, you ugly little shit...

He grinned.

"Get off my lawn."

And the world twisted.

Beast barely had time to blink before the familiar trees of the Leaf fell away, replaced by unforgiving stone and an unfamiliar rush of water.

"Ah, the Valley of the End!" Kurama threw his arms wide, as though to embrace the statues above. "Good times, good times. I have some fond memories of this place. Seems fitting for your demise."

"When did you...?!"

"Did you really think I was going to let you fight on my doorstep? Endanger my village?" Kurama quirked an eyebrow as the air grew dark around them. "I've had this little trap in place for years now, just in case any of my old enemies decided to come knocking. Hiraishin is a nasty piece of work, but its quite useful once you've learned the ins and outs of its intricacies."

With a roar, Beast flew at him.

Kurama didn't even deign to run; he simply planted his feet and swayed out of the way of that massive paw. Taut fingers flicked outward and that same arm collapsed at the elbow, spouting gore. He could've assumed his true form and grappled with this abomination, but he saw no need. No, he'd much rather address this...personally. It he turned into that again, he risked losing himself.

Besides.

This was fun.

Clenched knuckles rocketed up into Beast's jaw, strong fingers wrapping around its teeth before it could bite down. Towering teeth closed down around him and found themselves subsequently stalled. Instead of advancing the giant found itself inexplicably caught, its advance ground to halt by raw power and the determination lurking behind it. A looming red iris swiveled down at him, widening incomprehensibly large. Kurama cracked a tiny grin as the muscles in his shoulders tensed. Still gripping the creature's face, those golden slits still gazing calmly up at him, he spun...

"ORAH!"

...then he tossed him.

T'was a simple judo throw, nothing more; yet in that instant Kurama heaved the creature over his shoulder as though it weighed no more than a heavy sack of grain. With a startled squawk Beast went flying, tumbling end over endless end before crashing headlong into the lake, body thrashing mightily underwater. He burst out just as quickly, but a faint, distant pressure registered against his skull. In a rare moment of fear, he looked up.

Kurama waved back at him.

"You'll have to try a little harder than that now, pup."

A vicious one-two chop to the throat left his foe gasping for air.

"No matter what you say...no matter what you do...I'll always reject that vision of yours, Beast."

Slapping a clawed paw aside, he spun and drove an elbow through his armored side.

"You see, with great power comes great responsibility; a responsibility that you've squandered. These people have hopes. Dreams."

Sweeping the larger man's legs, he uprooted him and smashed an ax kick into the center of his chest.

"Its my duty to defend those dreams. They fill me with Determination. So step up to the plate, little man. If its a fight you want, you'll get one."

The moment Beast tried to rise he found a Rasengan lodged into his stomach; grinding him down into the earth.

"I warned, you didn't I?" Kurama's urbane hum drew a snarl from his prey as he climbed back out of the crater. "I gave you a chance to run. I told you. don't come crying to me if you lose, don't blame me when you die, don't whine if you fry." he fell back in a loose stance, four fingers crooking towards himself in a come-hither motion. "So lets go, kid. Allow me to show you the error of your ways."

To his credit, his foe almost resisted the taunt.

Almost.

Then they lunged.

Just as planned; Kurama took three more limbs, followed by a contemptuous back-fist sent them sprawling. When they regenerated and Beast lunged again, he supplexed them into the water where they belonged.

"ENOUGH!"

The hybrid calmly flicked a sealing array between him as the abomination tore itself out of the water; but an attack never came. A swell of darkness burst from the Beast-false!-but rather than scorch his skin, it washed over him harmlessly. He shook his shoulders like a wet dog, shaking off the last of the taint, and stood tall.

It came as something of a surprise to find himself staring at seven corrupted heroes.

"You know nothing about Servants!" the creature was frothing furious now, foam flecking at its lips as it dropped down to all fours. "Nothing about my army! I've corrupted legends! Conquered kings! Do you hear me?! I'LL CRUSH YOU!"

"Mindless puppets, really? You call that an army? How quaint. "You call yourself god?" Kurama permitted himself a small smile. "You're going to be less than that when I'm done with you. I can do this all day."

"Oh, yeah?" came the snarl. "You and what army? I see only one of you."

"Seriously? Have you forgotten our favorite jutsu? Really?

Kurama laughed, a loud, deep, delighted guffaw.

...he really shouldn'ta pressed that button.

"What army, you say? That's easy."

Then flexed his fingers.

"Mine."

With a single plume of smoke, he had an army of his own. A thousand scowling clones, each brimming with red chakra, each as angry as the original and nearly as solid. Nothing short of three blows would disperse them, and unlike Beast's pale ghosts, each held themselves capable of independent action and thought. They knew how to act as a unit. They had discipline. Cohesion. Nothing like the mindless rabble surging at them. They saw the threat before them, and each were of one mind on the matter.

"Gentlemen!"

Kurama raised a hand.

"Present arms! Take aim!"

Each of the clones mirrored him.

Beast bristled. 'I think...I've blundered.'

A high, keening shriek built and swelled in the air.

Fist a dozen. Then a hundred. More. And more. More still.

The furious buzz of a thousand Rasenshuriken filled the ground as one.

When Kurama flicked his hand forward, so too did his clones, all in an instant.

Beast didn't have time to curse them, or to snarl, or even give another grand speech.

He was far, far, FAR too preoccupied with screaming his throat raw as the vortex swallowed him whole.

A/N: There we go.

It felt...right to go back to the past like that.

Maybe I'll make it a thing here in the collection if you guys like it?

Lion King references are obvious and I don't own jack.

That's the last we'll see of Beast for awhile; remember, he's not the true villain. There's another force at work here. And yes, you're going to get the second half of that Servant Baseball Game quite soon, if I have anything to say about it. So by all means, talk to me. Tell me what you want to see. I like talking to you guys. It makes me feel like I'm making a difference in people's lives, you know?

Reviews are love. Reviews are life. Reviews make me strive. Without reviews, well, I simply wouldn't feel alive.

As ever, this will be gone in two days if folks don't like it. References are glorious and I own nothing~!

So...in the immortal words of Atlas...Review...Would You Kindly...?

And enjoy these preview! Here be a surprise:

Because someone asked. And, well...

...I like doing requests.

(Preview)

"And who are you, kiddo?"

The young man-Naruto?-beamed right back.

"Explorer! Say, you haven't seen Anne or Mary around, have ya?"

Despite himself, he almost smiled. There was just something familiar about him. "Who?"

"They're my partners in crime, you see. Well, we're going to steal some shit." his grin was almost infectious. "Its what pirates do."

R&R! =D