ϟ—Chapter Twenty-one — Jinchuriki School—ϟ

Kumo made a stop inside the Forest of Death when they left. Cee put up a Genjutsu that made it look like, sound, smell, and feel they weren't even there; Clowui strengthened it with her own eyes. Each and everyone encircled Ka'rai, besides Hane, of course. She stood by his side.

The air in the cave was tense and hot. Hot because of Ka'rai's aura. He knew what was coming—he knew and he was prepared. It didn't occur to him the sweat of Hane's palms weren't from the heat.

"Ka'rai…" Kay began, keeping her cool. "You utterly ruined the established plan we had with four other hidden villages."

"How do you expect to explain this to our allies? Gaara was the crux of the invasion, the most vital cog, and you and your recklessness destroyed it entirely!" yelled Cee, less inclined to stay calm than Kay was.

Kay glared at Ka'rai as he kept his gaze on the floor. "You have no chance to be promoted to Chunin after this. It's going against every fiber in my body not to push you for a demotion."

Ka'rai remained silent.

The air grew hotter.

Kay's patience was burned lit like a fuse. "Ka'rai, what do you have to say for yourself?!"

"I don't fucking care," he spat. The air around felt as if it was on fire and yet it wasn't. Hane squeezed his hand tightly and quickly. It took a bit for the air to calm. "Gaara was going to kill Hane and Yowui had I not stopped him.

"If anything, I did this invasion a favor. Gaara is unstable, fucking crazy. He was already willing to turn against us. Now, I'm taking his role."

"You can't go full Bijuu," snapped Kay. "How do you expect to do that?!"

"The Bakugami I used to defeat Gaara. He had his full domain, I didn't have a thing. That attack would've killed him if he wasn't a Jinchuriki. What was special about that attack… was that it was condensed, that's something I can't do usually.

"An attack that powerful, uncondensed… I could turn that whole stadium to ash, kill everyone inside. Gaara's going to heal eventually, there won't be anything stopping him from transforming into Shukaku when the time comes. All I did was put the crux of the invasion in Kumo's hands."

Hane's hand went limp in his.

Cee stepped forward—visibly frustrated. "We all know you don't have foresight like that! None of that went through your head when you fought him—you were just angry!"

"So what if I was?!" he yelled. "You can't do shit about it. What are you going to use?! Genjutsu?! Nibi will break me right out. I am the strongest out of everybody here. There's nothing any of you can do to me!" Pure aura and killing intent flooded the confined space inside of the tree—he summoned just enough of Nibi's chakra to make his eyes glow with glower.

Black flames poured from his mouth like smoke. Hane took her hand out of his grip and stumbled away from him. All Ka'rai did was glare at Kay and Cee—mostly the latter. "If I was like Gaara, if I really wanted to, there's nothing stopping me from just slaughtering you all! The next time you want to yell at me, scream at me, do anything to me… you better keep that in mind."

Everybody was stunned into silence. Nobody said anything because he was right. Even Cee bit his tongue. Kay was just… shocked. She looked Ka'rai in the eyes, for some sort of assurance. His eyes softened, he looked away with guilt flashing his eyes back to black. Yowui broke the silence with a whistle as he stepped back, away from Ka'rai.

"Sorry, Kay," he muttered. "Cee, you can go fuck yourself."

His eyes sharpened. "I am a Jonin, Ka'rai. You're a Genin. Your strength doesn't change your rank. You will follow my orders because I am your superior, do you understand me?"

"Nah… I don't speak the language of weak." With that, he made his exit. Immediately, Hane rushed out behind him.

She stepped in front of him, pleading in her brown eyes. "Please Ka'rai, please tell me you didn't mean that. Please tell me you didn't mean any of that."

Ka'rai went silent… he couldn't bear to look into her eyes, so he looked to the sky. He had to be honest. It made him chuckle a bit.

"I don't know…"

⁑ —ϟ— ⁑

When she was first assigned to guard Ka'rai… Kay never thought she'd see the day where she was terrified of him. Not a single thought of this would've ever crossed her mind. She was his protector, what happened when he stopped becoming something to protect—a threat. What did that mean?! Did she have to capture him—could she capture him?

She didn't know. She didn't know anything.

She didn't want to hurt him. Ka'rai was her friend… and he showed… a bit of remorse. Toward her, at least. Technically, his strategy was sound as well. The invasion was in Kumo's hands now. What he did could be seen as a calculated power play—but it wasn't.

Cee was right, he was just angry. He lashed out and it happened to work in their favor. The next time he pulled something like this, it could ruin everything. At the same time, his anger wasn't unfounded. Gaara attempted to murder two Kumo Shinobi; Gaara was more of a liability than Ka'rai.

Ka'rai was just the lesser of two evils. Before today, she wouldn't have doubted his loyalty to Kumo for a second. But, now… after his display—his threat… she wasn't too sure. Her family, the Cessitsu, they made similar threats to her and she never questioned their loyalty.

Was she overthinking it? Everything?! Nothing made sense anymore. All of this thinking went against her training.

Kay took a deep breath. Immediately, her mind calmed, everything was clear. Nothing was resolved, but it didn't affect her. From there, she went to her hotel to rest… it was getting late.

⁑ —ϟ— ⁑

Well, wasn't today a day? Yowui asked to himself. Ka'rai messed everything up, I won my match, I'm fighting Cirru, and then Ka'rai went all crazy… Hane isn't happy with him for sure. He threw himself on the bed and just stared at the whirling ceiling fan.

He whistled to fill the silence. Konoha was a really nice village, it was a shame that it was going to be destroyed… it really reminded him of home. Well, there was nothing he could do about it, so why worry? Instead, he decided to worry about his upcoming match… against Cirru.

In all honesty, he didn't think he would win. Cirru was Cirru, and that meant he was stronger than him! All he needed to do was put on a good enough show to get promoted; if he even wanted to get promoted. He'll decide in the moment.

It'd be smarter to conserve stamina for the invasion, though…

A thought crossed his mind.

What if… he beat Cirru.

That idiot spent years humiliating him and teasing him. Now, and now, he had the opportunity to repay all of that. Defeating Cirru in front of a massive crowd of people, leaving him ashamed and mortified at his feet, while the crowds cheered at his display…

Yowui smirked.

That sounded like a swell idea.

If he was going to beat Cirru, then he couldn't waste a second he had. Immediately he got up from his bed to seek out Cee. There was no way he could match Cirru with Ninjutsu, but Genjutsu…

That was the only art he was entirely and wholly confident in.

Cirru won't see what hit him, quite literally.

⁑ —ϟ— ⁑

So, Kumo was planning to destroy Konoha… Fuu's eyes narrowed. What if she never deserted? Would she have just been caught in the crossfire? Would she have been caged again? Well, it didn't matter. Whatever her fate would've been, she managed to avoid it. Good on her, or Ka'rai, I guess. He was the one that talked her into it.

The first person she'd met in years to not treat her like shit. She didn't even know how to act, so she just… I don't even fucking know. However she acted was how she acted. It was about damned time she stopped being confined, confined by the hatred of others, figuratively and literally.

Fuu was free.

She really was…

All that was left was to spread her wings.

You've never thought this much before, fleshling. Be careful, you might hurt yourself.

Oh, shut up! Fuu yelled in her head. I'm just… She sighed. Happy, I guess? I get to go to a place where people are going to like me. It seems scary, but also… like the best thing ever.

It must be nice.

Jinchuriki are only hated because of the Bijuu they have. If they're fine with me, then they're going to be fine with you.

Then release me in the middle of the village and let's see how they feel then!

No, that'd kill me.

What's the purpose of your life, anyway? huffed Nanabi.

Fuu paused… she was right. Why was she even alive? Well… to keep you from killing people.

Oh, so you care about the lives of others now?

I don't fucking know.

Exactly! You don't know anything. So, release me.

No, I don't want to.

You're finally free… and yet you won't grant that same privilege to me. You're a disgusting little fleshling.

You'll be free when I die…

Yeah, so make that soon so I can fly.

I can fly for you.

That's not the same. Even still, you have the opportunity to fly, and yet you decide sit in this room.

I just want to think…

I said that'll hurt you, fleshling.

Shut up.

No!

Fuu groaned. I missed it when my head was silent.

Nanabi buzzed and screeched loudly inside of Fuu's mind. The girl nearly ripped her hair out. SHUT THE FUCK UP!

You dare speak to me like that, fleshling?!

Stop calling me that! I have a name!

I don't care.

Then why should I care about yours?! I'm sure it sounds dumb anyway.

Nanabi went silent and Fuu's body felt weightless… as if she was falling. Don't you dare insult the name my father gave me.

Then call me by mine! I was called so many things other than my name that I nearly forgot what it was! Beast, Jinchuriki, Nanabi, girl… they'll call me ANYTHING but Fuu.

I won't stand for that bullshit anymore. My name is Fuu. Use it. Tell me yours when you feel like it… and then I'll use it too.

You've lived more than I thought…

What is that supposed to mean?

Nothing.

I don't get how I could've lived all that much when I've been locked in a cage for my whole life.

Exactly, you lived like how I have been living.

That's not living…

So, I'm dead?

You should ask Nibi about that, I don't know.

That made Nanabi laugh… the sound of a swarm. Perhaps~

You make no sense…

You are just a dumb human. I don't expect you to get anything.

From there, it was silent. The feeling was odd… Fuu felt some sort of comradery with Nanabi. They were both caged, nobody cared about their names, they wanted to be free—they wanted to fly. It made her feel bad…

Maybe she should just release Nanabi. Death was freedom in of itself, right? I should ask Nibi about that… Fuu shook her head. Her and Nanabi really were the same, it made her want to be the one who cared when nobody else did.

Odd feeling… to want to care.

For her sake, for Nanabi's sake…

She needed to fly.

Fuu got up from her bed, opened the door, had her wrist grabbed, was yanked down the hallway—"What the hell?!"

"Hey, Fuu!" greeted Ka'rai, pulling her outside. "We're gonna go train."

She sputtered before letting out the world's biggest sigh.

At least she got to see the sky.

It was so gray… none of the blue she heard so much about.

She needed to change that.

⁑ —ϟ— ⁑

Ka'rai went to train, that meant she was alone… That was good. Hane didn't particularly like Ka'rai right now. Well, of course she did, but—She shook her head, the sigh she let out sounding more like a growl. Disappointed, yeah, that was the word. Also kind of scared. She wasn't scared because she thought he would hurt her, no, not at all. But… everyone else looked like fair game to him.

After all they talked about before, it was the biggest slap to the face. Was he really listening? Did he actually go out and apologize, what was he—? Slowly, she remembered the depressed look on his face from beforehand. How low his energy was… so subdued.

He wasn't in his right mind. Not that it excused his behavior, not in the slightest. As a Shinobi, stuff like that would happen a lot. If he acted out whenever he was feeling that way… then a lot of people would die.

She wouldn't let that happen—absolutely not. Ka'rai was her responsibility, his capacity for destruction was just as massive as his capacity for great things. She'd seen both, felt both up close and personal. Right then, he was teetering… she had to keep him on the right path—she couldn't let him be a destroyer like Gaara.

Gaara's actions influenced him just as much as her words did… how Gaara nearly killed both her and Yowui right in front of Ka'rai. The phantom agony of pain past ached in her legs. She couldn't help but wonder if Gaara had someone like her, someone good… could he have been different? Could he have avoided his terrible path?

Was he too far gone, or could he still be saved?

For him to end up in such a horrid state, then something horrid must've happened to him. A large part of her wanted to talk to him, but an equally large part—called common sense—told her off. Gaara would kill her on the spot.

She had no idea what Ka'rai would become after something like that.

The thought gave her chills.

Ka'rai could burn the world if he wanted. Sometimes, it really felt like she was the only one stopping him from doing that. A part of her wished that she was in charge of power like that as well.

She'd do so much good… Hane barely trusted anyone besides herself with power like that. Was it kinda arrogant? Yeah, but it was hard to have faith in the world when she saw how they used the power they had.

So much war.

So much sadness—so much death.

She shook her head. "No," she said. I can still… make a difference. There were other powerful people she knew. Fuu, Ms. Arasei, Cee, Clowui… if she could mold them into good people like her, then they would be able to do good for the world with their power.

To sway the hearts of the powerful… yeah, that was why she lived. Why she fought. It sucked that she couldn't get promoted… Neji was too strong for her to beat. Tis the past… she reasoned, there was nothing she could do.

Fuu, she went with Ka'rai.

Cee and Kay were busy with Jonin stuff.

Clowui… maybe she could talk with her? There was no way she could get a read on her, not at all. She had that suspiciously evil power… that Curse Mark. Well, it was at least worth a shot. Hane got up from her hotel room and walked out into the hall. Clowui and Sami shared a room, it was the one past Yowui's.

She wondered how he was doing… he was also the type to dislike being bothered. So, she let him be. A few steps later, and she found herself knocking on Clowui's room door. Of course, she answered.

"Hello."

"Hi!" she greeted with a smile. "Are you free to talk?"

Clowui tilted her head, narrowing her eyes. "Sure…"

"Great! So, I think you're strong."

"I am."

"Uh huh! So, what do you want to do with that power of yours?"

"Why should I tell you?"

Hane chuckled, stepping back a little bit. "Well, you don't have a reason, but it'd be nice! It'd make me happy too!"

"I use it in service of the Chinoike Clan," was Clowui's answer. From the little expression she showed, she seemed intrigued. "Why do you ask?"

Not Kumo, just her clan, noted Hane. "Because you're powerful, I say that you can use that power for a lot of good! You control blood, right? Imagine how good of a medic you could be with that! You'd be able to stop so many people from dying, it's amazing."

Clowui paused, furrowing her brows. "I've never considered that…"

Hane grinned.

"Well, I don't think I'd have the time to learn medical Ninjutsu. I have a full schedule," said Clowui.

Hane's grin dropped a bit. "Ah… what are you going to be doing? Maybe I can help!"

"No thank you, it's a private matter," denied Clowui, shaking her head.

Hane frowned a bit. "Ah… okay." She let out a sigh. "Just make sure to do good with what you're doing, alright!"

"Hmm," she hummed, tilting her head. "Is that all?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Alright, goodbye," said Clowui, nodding her head before closing the door.

Yay… success?

⁑ —ϟ— ⁑

He hated Gaara, but dammit his move set had a lot of good ideas. If Gaara made the floor sand, then Ka'rai would make the ground Jinsei. That was how he kept Fuu from flying to activate her domain, and takeaway her biggest advantage. He just had to widdle her down and down and then he ignited a firestorm around her.

Ka'rai smirked. "Bakugami."

A detonation rattled Fuu and she yelled. Her form was blown away in the flames, all three tails now ash. Well, it was more like one tail and two wings—her Nanabi forms were scary. It was also cheating. She had to skip every even-numbered tail because she couldn't fly with an odd number of wings.

One to three, three to five, and five to seven.

He would've complained about skipping tails had he had more himself. But, nope! He only had two.

Bakugami's smoke cleared and Ka'rai cackled. Fuu was on the floor with barely an ounce of Nanabi chakra. He stomped on her and boasted in his victory. Fuu groaned, barely conscious. "I'M THE STRONGEST JINCHURIKI!"

His hysterics came to a head as the fiery two-tailed cloak he had evaporated off his body. "I BEAT GAARA! I BEAT FUU! AND I CAN DEFINITELY BEAT YOU!" Ka'rai rounded on Naruto with a pointed finger.

The other Uzumaki had come just in time to witness Ka'rai's victory. Naruto's gulp was out-sounded by Fuu yelling out, "GET YOUR NASTY ASS FOOT OFF OF ME!" she yelled, throwing Ka'rai's foot off of her and punching him right in the groin. Ka'rai squealed like a rat in a mousetrap.

He collapsed to the floor with utter agony. Fuu stood, charred from the battle. She started kicking him. Hard. Over and over. "STOP ITT!" Ka'rai cried.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP DUMBASS! WITH YOUR DUMBASS FIRE! DUMBASS BIJUU! DUMBASS HAIR! DUMBASS MAKEUP! EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU IS DUMBASS!" Each insult was accompanied by an even harder and harder stomp.

Ka'rai wailed and flinched and convulsed with every impact. "FUU! MY ARM! PLEASE—!" Snap. Ka'rai screamed, especially as Fuu stomped on the arm she just broke. Ka'rai's cries growled into a roar. "BAKUGAMI!"

Fuu was blown back by an explosion of chakra—even Naruto was knocked to his ass by being too close. Ka'rai stood and his broken arm was ignited with Jinsei. Jinsei sprouted in the shape of chains from the floor and held Fuu down on her knees—like a prisoner. "YOU'RE STAYING LIKE THAT FOR THE REST OF THE DAY!"

Fuu growled against her restraints and glared at Ka'rai. "FUCK YOU!"

"FUCK YOU!"

"FUCK YOU!"

"FUCK YOU!"

"FUCK YOU!"

"FUCK YOU!"

"FUCK YOU!"

"FUCK YOU!"

"BOTH OF YOU CALM THE FUCK DOWN!" screamed Naruto.

Ka'rai and Fuu rounded on Naruto. "WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO IT ABOUT?!" they yelled simultaneously

"Use Wind Style?! Against ME?!" Fuu questioned. "YOU SAW WHAT HAPPENED!"

Ka'rai cackled, roaring a plume of fire in his hand. "Oh yeah, please use Wind Style against me. Just see what happens."

Naruto crossed his fingers. Three dozen clones popped into existence. They both gave him a deadpanned look. All Ka'rai did was snap his fingers and tendrils of Jinsei skewered all of his clones from underground. "Try again."

Shaking, Naruto then threw his fists to his side. "Y'know what, YEAH! I AM WEAK RIGHT NOW! BUT THAT'S WHY I'M HERE!" Naruto pointed a righteous finger at Ka'rai. "You're going to teach me how to use the Kyuubi's chakra!"

Ka'rai gasped. Nibi! This is perfect! We'll get to talk to Kyuubi!

Indeed.

Ka'rai, you're not going to seriously train a foreign Jinchuriki?!

I am!

His head felt like it was stabbed but he managed to ignore it. "YES! THAT'S GREAT!" he pointed to the floor of charred grass next to the imprisoned Fuu. "Sit down!"

"YES!" cheered Naruto, dancing over the grass to take his seat. It didn't take him more than a few seconds to feel Jinsei's heat—his skin searing. "Uh… I think you should unlight her on fire…"

"Oh no, it's helping her! It's called Jinsei Flame, it heals you. I can also do this!" Ka'rai created a chair of Jinsei Fire for him to sit in, as well as a stick and a board. Ka'rai smirked.

"That's so cool…"

"LAME!"

"Why, thank you, Naruto! You're looking to be a star pupil of Ka'rai Uzumaki's Jinchuriki School already!" said Ka'rai, ignoring Fuu entirely.

"Wooh!" cheered Naruto.

"Okay, so, before we get to the cool stuff, we have to talk about the need-to-know stuff about Bijuu." Ka'rai cleared his throats, pointing his fire stick to the board. He proceeded to explain the history of the Bijuu starting from the Juubi and the Sage of the Six Paths, going over the domains.

Once he got to Kyuubi's domain—Chaos and Order—Naruto's brows furrowed. "Huh? What does that mean?"

"I don't fucking know!" beamed Ka'rai. "Go ask Kyuubi himself, he should tell you all about it."

Naruto huffed. "How do I do that?"

"Go into your mind!"

"What?!"

"Did the other Jinchuriki teach you anything?!"

"No! That's why I'm here."

Ka'rai frowned. I haven't even met them and they're pissing me off. "Fair enough…"

"Heh, my domain is simple," Fuu snickered. "You said I have to go up and… fix it?"

"Yeah, my trip to hell messed things up," mumbled Ka'rai.

Naruto's eyes widened. "Your what?!"

"Eh, don't worry about it! That's Nibi's domain, not yours." He cleared his throat. "So yeah, for hundreds of years, thousands? Well, for a really long time, the Bijuu kept the world intact. Everything changed when humans attacked. They started capturing the Bijuu, and because of that, the world went to shit!

"That's why the Bijuu hate humanity so much and try to kill us whenever they get the chance. We ruined the world they love so much, we fill it up with hatred, war, and sadness and it just makes everything worse. That's why, I believe that if we really try, humanity and the Bijuu can live together and make a really really strong world!"

"Wow…" muttered Naruto, taking in the knowledge. "This is all true?"

"Very!" affirmed Ka'rai. "And if you don't believe me, let's go talk to Kyuubi and Nibi and hear it from them yourself!"

Naruto nodded. "Let's do it!"

Ka'rai let out a breath. He stood and his teaching stand of Jinsei Flame evaporated. "Fuu, you're going to have to sit there patiently until we're done talking to Kyuubi."

"AT LEAST LET ME GO!" she yelled, fighting against her Jinsei Fire constraints.

Ka'rai hummed in pondering. "Nah." She yelled profanities at him, but both of them ignored her. "Stand up," he commanded Naruto, sticking out his fist. A feline smirk curled his lips. "Let us meet Kyuubi."

Naruto gulped as he stood. With a bit of hesitation, he bumped Ka'rai's fist. Everything went black. In a flash Ka'rai was very used to, the golden light of his mindscape shone—at the same time a deafening roar he was not used to brought him to his knees.

Suffocating waves of killing intent had the weight of mountains. Barely a breath escaped Ka'rai's lungs, whenever air left—he could never bring any back in. Just as quickly, his entire body felt like it was being ripped to shreds. He cried out from the sheer agony.

Ka'rai didn't have the will to fight off the phantoms—the living chaos that enveloped him. Kyuubi's mere presence overwhelmed him—just being near him could lead to his death.

"Calm yourself, Kyuubi," Nibi ordered. She spewed the area where Naruto was sealed with fire. Ka'rai could barely look up to see it—it was like a massive sewer. In that sewer, there was a cage. Behind the cage was a fox. A fox with spearlike fangs grinned with a glare of malice incarnate. Red slitted eyes the color of blood he wished to spill. Fur orange and sporadic like the fires he fantasized of starting. Nine tails wild and waving like the hurricanes he brought with his presence. Each claw and tooth sharper than an entire armory.

"Nibi…" Silence followed. Kyuubi laughed. The sound of titanic claws on metal scratched with an ear-pierced screech. "You have yourself trapped in an Uzumaki too! You must be itching to kill him every second of every waking moment, aren't you!" Metal rattled as something enormous slammed into it. "Let me scratch that itch for you, please."

"Don't you dare kill my Jinchuriki," spat Nibi.

A fox's fist pounded the metal—disappointed. "BAH! You were never any fun…" growled the Bijuu, almost like a pout.

"Now, calm your presence. Our Jinchuriki wish to converse," ordered Nibi, her tone stern.

Kyuubi scoffed. "You care?!" Kyuubi cackled; slowly but surely, Naruto found himself able to breathe once again. "You really went insane rotting in those Jinchuriki!"

"You're not one to talk."

"TRY GETTING SPLIT IN HALF! IT DOES WONDERS FOR YOUR SANITY!"

"So it seems…" muttered Nibi.

Ka'rai chuckled, standing to his feet. Kyuubi was by far the most terrifying Bijuu he had the pleasure of facing. He looked toward Naruto, they both laughed nervously—Ka'rai forced a bigger smile. "Welcome to Bijuu!"

"I wanna go back," wished Naruto, looking up past Ka'rai. He set his eyes on Nibi, taking in the majestic cobalt majesty of her flaming being. "H-hi… Nibi."

"Hello, Naruto Uzumaki," she responded.

Another bang against metal nearly knocked Naruto off his feet. "GREET THE BIJUU THAT'S INSIDE OF YOU FIRST FOOL!"

Naruto turned back and Ka'rai set his sights on Kyuubi. "H-hey… K-kyuubi."

Kyuubi seemed pleased as his teeth were bared. "So… what did you want to see me for, Naruto?"

Ka'rai decided to hang back… Kyuubi was Naruto's Bijuu after all. He would interfere if anything bad happened.

"Your help!" was Naruto's answer to Kyuubi's question.

Kyuubi laughed harder than he ever did before. He headbutt the cage, scratching his teeth against the metal. "WHY WOULD I HELP YOU?!"

"I've found it useful," interjected Nibi. "Through Ka'rai, I've been able to maintain my domain… in the area surrounding Kumo, at least."

"Why would I care about my domain?! Let this pathetic world fall apart so humanity can die and then we'll be free. We can just fix it afterward," growled Kyuubi.

Ka'rai cleared his throat. "Well, Kyuubi, uh…" He stumbled over his words as Kyuubi set his sights on him. "Nibi and I, we're working together. I'm sure you know, but humans are very dumb. But, we also can be very strong! So, I think that if you Bijuu teach humans to be smart, then the world would be even better than it would be if all of us were to die."

"You overestimate how much you matter to us! I've lived for thousands of years, hundreds of human lifetimes, and none of them have mattered! None of them made a lick of a difference," he snarled.

"What about all the Shinobi that defeated and controlled Bijuu?" asked Naruto. "From what I've heard, all the Bijuu were bitches compared to Madara Uchiha and the Shodai…"

Both Bijuu in the mindscape snarled at Naruto. Kyuubi, however, laughed afterward. "You have some nerve, you brat."

Naruto's fist clenched. The dark sewer of his mindscape churned with orange light. "Y'know what, yeah! I DO!"

"Naruto, what are you doing—?" began Ka'rai visibly worried.

Naruto didn't care. He marched up to Kyuubi's cage. "I'm going to be the Hokage one day. Some idiot named Gosei does too. He wants to be stronger than the Shodai, and I need to be stronger than him. So, that means I'm going to be stronger than the Shodai one day! You better get used to listening to me sooner or later, Kyuubi."

Ka'rai paled. "...He's going to get us all killed."

With a sigh, Nibi assured that, "I won't let that happen."

"I don't care if you're the big bad fox that blew my village down. I'm made of bricks so you can't do shit to me! I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm real tired of you living in my body rent-free. I'm the landlord of my body and you gotta start paying up!"

Naruto stepped closer to the cage and put his fist to the metal. "We're going to have some sort of working relationship here. Got it?!"

Kyuubi cackled and slammed his snout through the bars best he could. The force of his breath blew Naruto back first into the water. "YOU'VE IMPRESSED ME!"

"The hell is that supposed to mean?!"

"The last person to speak to me like that was that bastard Madara Uchiha. And you're not even a fraction of the Shinobi he was! With guts like that, then you just might be able to live up to your words." Kyuubi growled through the bars. "Especially considering your father…

"I'll give you my chakra! Call upon it whenever you want. I'll pump you full. It's up to you to stop me from taking over your body and doing what I want."

Naruto managed to laugh. "You got a deal, Kyuubi!"

"Now get out of my sight!" In a violent flash of red, Kyuubi's cage disappeared and Naruto was left in the golden void of Ka'rai's mind.

Ka'rai let out a breath. "You have no idea how much you fucking terrified me."

"Whaaat?" asked Naruto, sweating buckets, shaking, and laughing nervously. "That wasn't scary at all."

Ka'rai sputtered out unintelligible sounds. "Okay… at least that was… semi-successful? You guys are working together, right?"

Naruto shrugged. Nibi let out a sigh. "It seems you've inherited the chaotic half of Kyuubi. His domain being the very concepts of Yin and Yang itself leads to Kyuubi having very distinct halves. Even when he was whole. Some days he was calm, collected, cunning. Other days he was… this."

"Cool… I think?" Naruto shook his head. "I still don't get this whole domain thing."

"In short," began Nibi. "Kyuubi's job is to keep the world balanced. Think of him as a warden, to watch over everything, a guardian and keeper of all that is and is not."

"So, he's like… your boss?" asked Naruto.

Nibi huffed. "That's one way to word it."

Naruto let out a hefty laugh, pointing at Ka'rai. "That means I'm your boss Ka'rai!"

"Don't make me beat your ass."

"Hey! I have Kyuubi Chakra now! I won't be a pushover anymore!"

"Uh huh… good luck controlling it," muttered Ka'rai.

Naruto crossed his arms with a huff. "It shouldn't be that hard!"

"Oh, let's go and find out then," declared Ka'rai, looking back at his Bijuu. "Say goodbye to Nibi!"

"Bye, Nibi! It was nice meeting you! Well, again… it was nice talking to you! And uh, thanks for helping me a bit here!" Naruto yammered with a giddy grin.

She paused and her coat of cobalt tensed. "You're welcome… Goodbye."

In a golden flash, everything was black again. It was just as quick when he and Ka'rai appeared back in the real world, their fists touching.

"YOU GUYS TOOK FOREVER!" yelled Fuu. "I'm starting to cramp! Please let me go Ka'rai! I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!"

He sighed before allowing her Jinsei restraints to drop off of her. She groaned and dropped to the burned grass. "So much better…"

Ka'rai ignored her, only looking at Naruto with a sly smirk and giddy eyes. "Kyuubi."

"Well, here goes nothing…" muttered Naruto before putting his hands into the Ram Seal. With a grunt, he summoned the chakra. Immediately, a burst of crimson chakra blew the charred grass into ash. Fuu jumped up onto the trunk of a collapsed tree.

Pained grunts and searing skin sounded as bubbling chakra boiled from his pores. Crimson-slitted eyes glowed with claws and fangs extending. Naruto growled, one chakra tail protruded from Kyuubi's cloak—he could just barely hold back a second.

"Fuu! On guard, we might have to fight here!" yelled Ka'rai as he sprouted two cobalt chakra tails. With narrowed sunset eyes, an insectile tail grew from her back and two wings did the same on either side of it. A gray exoskeleton grew over her arms, she crossed them to block the pulsing force of Naruto's chakra.

Naruto roared, his cloak overflowed with chakra. Fires burned over Ka'rai's cloak as he prepared for the worst, Fuu did the same with her wind and lightning. Naruto let out an empowering shout. The chakra cloak was blown off of him, all that was left was Kyuubi's features, version zero.

It took a bit for Naruto to gather himself as he observed his new form. Before long, a wicked fanged grin broke his face. "I DID IT!"

"YOU DID!" cheered on Ka'rai, his chakra cloak evaporating. "Just keep practicing and you'll be where we are in no time."

"Aw," pouted Fuu, the insectile features of her body dropping to the floor to be decomposed. "I wanted to beat up Naruto."

"Well, you still can," offered Ka'rai.

Naruto looked panicked. "Nono, wait! Let me try to do the tail thing again. I was close, I swear!"

Ka'rai's two tails returned. "Okay, the ass whooping can wait!"

"Or it might come sooner!" exclaimed Fuu, returning to her three-tailed state.

Naruto slammed his hands into the Ram Seal again, straining as that same bubbling chakra returned—Ash and dust kicked up. All three Jinchuriki looked at the fourth Jinchuriki that just entered.

It was a man. His skin was brown with his hair black as night. He had the Jonin Uniform of a Konoha Shinobi— except it was gray with orange flame decals. Immediately, Nibi's senses flared. He knew exactly who this was.

Ryujin Hiyenzo, Kyuubi's other Jinchuriki.

Ka'rai couldn't help his smirk. He looks strong…

Try to communicate with Kyuubi's Yin half.

Got it!

He glared at the three. "What the hell—?!"

With Naruto's focus broken, Kyuubi's chakra flared—he barely managed to push it back down to the tailless state. "What are you doing here?!" yelled Naruto, irritation palpable in his tone.

"I sensed the Kyuubi's chakra activating," he looked to Ka'rai and Fuu, both in their Jinchuriki forms. Fuu stayed on guard, her overcast exoskeleton hardening. Ka'rai stayed in his cloak but seemed excited.

Kyuubi's chakra is radiating off of him.

That made Ka'rai grin. "So, you're the other one!" he declared with a pointed finger. "Nibi wants to talk to both Kyuubis."

"Naruto, you allowed the Kyuubi to converse with other Bijuu?!" Ryujin asked with outrage.

Naruto's crimson eyes narrowed with defiance. "I did."

Ryujin rounded on Ka'rai. "Get away from here."

"No," he sputtered with a laugh. "I need to make sure my fellow Jinchuriki are Jinchuriki-ing the right way. Are you? I mean, I assume you can use Kyuubi chakra, Nibi says you reek of it. Do you know about domains and stuff?"

"I know enough to know that both you and that girl are powerless in your current situation. Do not make me resort to violence," Ryujin ordered with a sneer.

What the hell is with him? questioned Ka'rai.

At the same time, Naruto's fists clenched—crimson chakra spewed like a geyser. "No, Ryu, you're the one that needs to leave!"

Ryujin's eyes sharpened. "These two are threats, Naruto, foreign Jinchuriki that mingle with those beasts."

Ka'rai's eyes narrowed at the statement. Don't tell me he's one of those fuckers.

"No, they're teaching me how to use Kyuubi's chakra because you never did! I've learned more from Ka'rai in an hour than you ever taught me in the months you've been allowed to see me!" shouted Naruto with an accusing clawed finger. Ryujin opened his mouth—"And don't you dare say that I'm not ready because I'm using the chakra right now! I was just going to use more had you not come and ruin everything!"

"Then why are you so angry?! You're letting it's influence overtake you—"

Naruto bared his teeth and glared. Crimson glower faded to azure. Crimson chakra faded to the air. "This isn't Kyuubi's anger. It's just me that's pissed. You disappear for most of my life, come back and act like you own me! You barely talk to me unless it's about training, and even then you don't even teach me anything worthwhile! You're just like everyone else in the village who pretends that I don't exist!"

Ka'rai's eyes narrowed further as the two argued. Damn… this must be personal. I have to try and back Naruto… and defend the Bijuu too. If he says any bullshit, I won't let it slide.

"I… was going to teach you, Naruto. After seeing what Gaara and those two could do. I couldn't let you fall behind—"

"—You already did!" yelled Naruto. "You're too late. I made a deal with Kyuubi, he said that he'll pump me full of chakra whenever I call upon it. It's up to me to hold him back. Like Ka'rai said, I just need practice."

"You made a deal with the devil Naruto—"

There's the bullshit. "No, you're the fucking devil," snarled Ka'rai, earning a glare from Ryujin. "The way you talk about Bijuu is disgusting. You're everything they hate about humanity. Fuckers like you are the reason why villages are destroyed. You see them as nothing but sources for power, like they're not even human."

"What do you know?! Of the suffering that Bijuu inflict on innocents! How many good people die because of their needless rampages!" Ryujin's eyes flickered to crimson. Both of Ka'rai's tails burned hotter in response.

"The Bijuu were innocent first, you fucking idiot. You have one inside you and you don't even know the first thing about them! None of the Bijuu would dare hurt a human before we enslaved them for no fucking reason!"

"That's false. The Sanbi, it wrecked seaside villages—"

"—For polluting the ocean and destroying his domain! If anybody is killed by a Bijuu then they deserved it."

"How dare you say that!" shouted Ryujin, stepping forward toward Ka'rai. Of course, Ka'rai stepped forward to match. Both Jinchuriki had their Bijuu's eyes glaring with a snarled face. "You Jinchuriki in Kumo don't have an ounce of experience when it comes to hatred. Killer Bee made it easy, fooled the population into trusting Bijuu."

"If Bee-sensei is so dumb, then why is he the strongest?! He's friends with Hachibi, knows his name, they help each other with everything! You want to hate Kyuubi, hate Bijuu and you're pathetic compared to him!"

"It's only a matter of time before he betrays humanity for those fucking monsters! He forsook his humanity for the power of the Hachibi!"

Ka'rai snickered at that. This guy is actually fucking braindead…

"He's just as much as a devil as the Kyuubi itself! Yet, you can't see that because you've only been exposed to the lies the Bijuu have told you about themselves! You don't know what it's like to be hated, you don't know what it's like to have an entire village turn against you, something you love hating you in return for who you are!"

"I do…" interjected Fuu, clenching her fists. All eyes turned on her, she kept her sunset gaze to the burned grass. Ka'rai listened in intently to her words… he didn't expect her to speak at all.

"I still remember being a normal girl before I became a Jinchuriki. My parents loved me, I got to walk around, see the clouds, feel the breeze and the sun on my face.

"Then Nanabi was sealed into me. My parents called me disgusting and I never saw them again. I was locked in a cage, the only human interaction I got was training-related. For the longest time I thought I did something bad, that it was somehow my fault that all this happened to me. It wasn't, of course it wasn't. Everyone was just fucking stupid. I was fucking stupid. I hated Nanabi because I needed something to blame for everything going wrong.

"That was until I actually talked to her. We're… the same. She hates me because she needs something to blame, something to blame for being trapped in a cage, like we both were. I'm free now, she's not still." Fuu let out a sigh, shaking her head. "Just talk to Kyuubi, maybe you'll find that you're more similar than you think."

Ka'rai was proud of her… but he was too angry to smile. Instead, he narrowed his eyes on Ryujin. "There… someone like you who agrees with me."

Ryujin snarled. "The Kyuubi has killed those close to me. You expect me to forgive it? To forgive it for all the hate and destruction it's caused for centuries?!"

"Yes, you do need to forgive him!" spat Ka'rai. "Get over yourself! Do you want Kyuubi to attack Konoha again?! That's what it's sounding like—"

Crimson chakra swirled around Ryujin, his glowing red eyes focused entirely on Ka'rai. "That bastard fox will become my slave. It needs to go on an impossible journey to earn my forgiveness."

Cobalt flames erupted from Ka'rai—his growl overlapped with Nibi's. The air became hot with heat and cold with killing intent. "You're a disgrace of a Jinchuriki. If I could I'd rip Kyuubi right out of you."

"Hey!" yelled Naruto at Ka'rai. "Watch what you say!"

Ka'rai responded with a reluctant huff. With a growl, Naruto turned back at Ryujin. "Just go, Ryu. I'm sick of hearing you talk like this, and I need to focus on my training. You're getting in my way, so move!" Naruto roared back into his Kyuubi form, bubbling on the verge of the first tail. "I'll move you myself if I have to!"

Ka'rai stepped forward, cloak fiery and bright. "I'll help…" Fuu put herself on guard with a reluctant nod.

All Ryujin did was look on, there wasn't an ounce of fear or worry. His crimson cloak subsided, his fists clenched. "Go ahead and mingle you demons."

Both Naruto and Fuu were visibly hurt by that. It made Ka'rai growl as his cloak burned brighter. Nibi was pissed too—he could feel it.

I really do want to rip Kyuubi out of him…

Good. The moment the opportunity arises, that is what we will do.

We have the invasion… Bee-sensei can probably help.

Indeed.

With a sigh, Ka'rai walked up to Naruto. "It's good that you're mad, It makes summoning the chakra easier." He gave Naruto an assuring smile. "Let's beat the control into you, eh?"

"Yeah," agreed Naruto, forcing out a chuckle. "Let's get to it."

As Naruto powered up, Ka'rai took the chance to back up to Fuu. She looked at him, and he looked back and kept up his smile. "Good job, Fuu. You're going to be a great Jinchuriki."

She looked at him wide-eyed… Ka'rai expected some snark or something similar, but no. Her eyes looked to the floor—both sets looked to Naruto as he yelled out. He was fine.

Fuu then sighed. "Thank you, Ka'rai."

Ka'rai let out his usual chuckle. "You're welcome, Fuu."

⁑ —ϟ— ⁑

Ever since he was a child, the only thing that hurt was his heart. He never bleed, bruised, or even had a scrape. Mother always protected him… even though she hated him and damned him to have no love but from himself. There was nobody in Suna stronger than him besides his own father.

Whenever he looked at the Kazekage's eyes, he just saw his own eyes. That same cold glare of putrid hatred… the eyes of a killer. The eyes that wanted everyone they set sights on dead. Only people with those eyes were strong.

That was what he thought.

Until… he met Ka'rai Uzumaki.

His eyes were bright, happy, energetic—it disgusted him. He was surrounded by people who cared. By all means and metrics he should've been weak. But no… Ka'rai utterly annihilated him. Shukaku's domain was full, Ka'rai didn't have an ounce of Nibi's and yet he lost.

On top of that, he spared him. That bastard didn't even kill him. Did his existence really mean that little to him…? Did he truly not matter at all? In that battle, he had his first taste of pain. He saw his own blood. He felt the cold of air on his internal organs… mother couldn't protect him, Shukaku couldn't protect him from Ka'rai.

In that battle, his eyes had hate, but it wasn't cold, it was hot, it wasn't at the world, it wasn't toward everybody, it was focused on just him. The hate was because he hurt those close to him, it was because he tried to take his weaknesses… that hate made him stronger. Hate that came from… love.

Something weak made him strong—stronger than him.

Gaara didn't understand, not at all.

A door opened. Even opening his eyes hurt. His entire body still burned… it all hurt. It all hurt just like his heart did. He was in a room, it was white. A constant predictable beep filled the silence of the room. This was his first time in a hospital.

It was Kankuro that came to sit down next to him. He could barely speak next to him; he was utterly terrified. "H-how… are you feeling, Gaara?"

"Everything hurts," he rasped. "I don't like it."

"Yeah… hurting sucks…" he agreed with a nervous chuckle. When Gaara turned to look at his face, he saw that his usual face-paint was gone. What looked to be streaks of wetness was all over his face.

Like tears.

Kankuro had cried.

Gaara hadn't cried since Yashamaru…

His heart hurt then a thousand times more than Ka'rai hurt him in their battle.

Kankuro cleared his throat. "I-I have something to tell you… something… important."

"What is it?"

"Temari… she… was." Kankuro paused, looking down with his fists clenched. "She was killed, Gaara."

"Oh," was all he said. Gaara couldn't bring himself to care, not at all.

If he did care, would he be stronger, stronger like Ka'rai?

There was really only one way to find out.

Once he was out of this hospital bed, he was going to seek him out. He needed to understand; he needed to understand and learn so his existence could matter again.

Nothing he had overcame Ka'rai.

All his existence meant was nothing.

He didn't exist, not right now.

Gaara was just… dead.

ϟ—Chapter End—ϟ