Chapter 12
AN Okay, so...this fic just reached 1K reveiws. Not to mention the 4K of reviews and followers. Glad you're all loving this fic so far!
"We are not killing our Jinchuriki."
The official with a sokutai hat frowned dramatically. "Raikage, need I remind you that the Daimyo-"
"This is not the first time a Jinchuriki has died," A said without hesitation or wavering. "This is the only time one has become a Bijuu. Are you aware of what normally happens? Is the daimyo?"
The courtier remained silent, knowing the answer.
"Best case scenario, the Bijuu is gone for couple years before reforming. Worst case? It is released right then and there, leading to devastation and death," A answered calmly.
"We are well aware of the last time the Hachibi broke loose," the courtier said quickly.
He flinched back, as if struck, as A stood and slammed his fists through his own desk. "Then why are you here, you moron!?" A declared. "I don't know what idiot whispered that into the Daimyo's ear, but I'll be amazed if they survive long enough to meet my fists with that stupidity."
The courtier attempted to mask his fear with outrage. "Now, see here-!"
"Konoha has the nine-tails!" A declared boldly as he marched forward. "Not in a jar, not in a host, but an actual Bijuu now guards the Land of Fire! And you want to risk our own Jinchuriki, of being at such a disadvantage for years!?"
The courtier fell backward in fright, attempting to crawl backwards without seeming pathetic. "Well, that is...a point, perhaps that I should remind to my lord at my return..."
A towered over the official from Lightning's capital. "Listen well, you worm. Tell the Lord of Lightning that without our Jinchuriki, we could never hope to stop the Nine-Tails before it ravished the lands, least of all if it is aided by the ninja of Konoha."
The official swallowed nervously.
"You are dismissed," A said pointedly, prompting the man to run as fast as his legs could carry him.
Mabui silently entered the still-opened door. "That went well."
"People that know nothing of ninja and sealings should keep their mouths shut on things like this," A said loudly under his breath.
Mabui frowned. "Do you think it'll come to war?"
"It might have to. This changes the balance of power," A said with a distasteful frown. "Many already considered Konoha the mightiest of the ninja villages, and they refused to utilize their Jinchuriki as weapons of war. Now they have a Bijuu that appears loyal to them."
"Has B heard anything from his Bijuu?" Mabui asked idly.
A shook his head. "B says the eighth bastard refuses to say anything about it. But Yugito thinks the beasts are...sad."
Mabui wasn't sure how to process that, so she left it be. "Our agents in the Land of Fire say the Kyuubi has been moved to a beach in the south. Konoha...wasn't very secretive."
"That is one boon. Hiding a Jinchuriki is easy enough, but a creature that massive?" A shook his head. "I can scarcely imagine what that thing is doing, now that it has space to move and practice its power freely."
Meanwhile
Naruto crawled out of the water, spitting a long and giant stream of water out of his mouth. "Huh. I made a rainbow. Neat!" Naruto said with a smile up at the event. He walked with three legs, one of his hands occupied.
He brought his hand down, carefully allowing the sands to shift out of his grip before placing down his prize: the wreckage of a sunken ship, taken from the bottom of the bay.
He idly looked over the rest of his "collection" that consisted of anywhere from four to seven ships. Some of them were still half missing and he wasn't sure which went together yet.
"Now if I only knew how they put ships in a bottle, than I could surprise the hell out of everyone back in Konoha," Naruto said, glancing to the empty saki bottle off to the side.
"This is what you're doing?"
"Hmm? I know that voice," Naruto said with a hum as he turned to see some familiar faces on the beach. "Izumo! Kotetsu! You finally got off gate duty?"
The two braced themselves as Naruto approached them; less because of fear and more from just how high they had to look up.
"Any reason to come to the beach," Kotetsu said with a smirk. "But seriously, this is what you're doing?"
"I took a break from falling in water," Naruto answered, his fur still dripping wet, making his fluffy tails a rather unimpressive display.
"And so you now have salvaging as a hobby?" Izumo jabbed, glancing at small fleet of wrecks. "Or just making the ship version of a junkyard?"
Naruto snorted as he flared his chakra to dry himself, the tips of one of his wet tails snapping in annoyance towards Izumo's general direction.
A curved blade of water shot from Naruto's tail, causing a sizable slice where the beach and forest met, easily big enough to be a cut from Naruto's claw.
"...Did ...did you know you could do that?" Izumo asked in surprise.
"Hell no!" Naruto answered, shock melting into excitement. "Did I just cast a Water Jutsu? Does that count as a Water Jutsu?!"
"Sure counts for me!" Kotetsu said as he ran over to the slice. "Damn, this isn't shallow either. That is definitely A-rank damage."
"And I have nine of them..."Naruto said, looking back at the nine tips of his tails. "...I'm beginning to see the upsides here."
"The Kyuubi could never do water attacks though," Izumo said in confusion. "Then again, the Kyuubi never went to the beach."
"Wait a minute," Kotetsu said with wide eyes, looking up at Naruto. "Can you do that with...other stuff?"
Naruto remained silent and motionless for a second before he laid a tail on the beach, twisting it back and forth in the sand. Then, with a sudden jerk, he struck it out to the ocean with a wave of chakra through it, unleashing a wave of sand.
"...Oh, Gaara is going to love that," Naruto said with a relishing smirk. "Guys, you might want to get away from the beach, maybe on the giant pillars?"
"Well, I think we just kick started the training marathon," Izumo remarked with a head shake. "We should probably listen to-"
"Hey, Naruto!?" Kotetsu yelled after Naruto, who was walking down the shore. "Where are you going?!"
"Away from my boat collection!" Naruto answered without looking back.
Izumo and Kotetsu shared a look at that. "We really shouldn't," Izumo said warningly.
"But imagine if there's something good in them?" Kotetsu said, looking at the ships.
"Yeah, but you want to be stuck inside one when Naruto cannonballs? You did hear Kakashi warn use about that, right?" Izumo reminded.
"Oh, he's not going to do that anytime soon! Not while he's training," Kotetsu waved off
"Yes, he's just going to be hurling around more chakra than we can probably comprehend," Izumo said dryly.
"Exactly," Kotetsu said with a sage nod, ignoring his friend entirely. "Besides, I'm sure he heard us talking, he hears everything!"
'Don't remind me!" Naruto yelled in the distance.
"See, it's fine," Kotetsu said assuredly as he headed off to one of the beached wrecks.
Izumo paused in consideration, "I almost miss the gate now."
A few hours later, a thoroughly destroyed section of the beach left Naruto rubbing his chin in thought.
"Okay, water and sand are easy. Same with earth, though, that turns more into a rain of rocks. Wind is...hard to catch with my chakra. Which, I get, it's fucking wind. I can't exactly grab it. Fire...I'm going to put off for the moment. Don't want to burn down all the trees." Naruto murmured.
Idly, he stabbed a tail into the ground, his chakra surging through it.
Naruto leaned away as a miniature sand twister formed near his back. "And I can do that," he mused as he removed his tail, shaking off the sand. "Though, if I can do sand, can I do stuff like ice if it was cold enough?"
The topic of ice made Naruto's mind drift back to an old enemy and friend of his. His eyes looked eastward, towards the Land of Waves and the grave of Haku. From that self-proclaimed tool, he had learned the value of fighting to protect those he cared about.
The sight of the setting sun on Konoha from his perch atop the Hokage monument flashed in his eyes, with Sakura sitting on his snout with a smile on her face.
That much hadn't changed about him.
"Something on your mind?" Izumo asked idly.
Naruto glanced to him and raised a great brow. "There's an octopus over your shoulder."
"It was in one of your ships," Izumo answered with a shrug. "Never tried to fry one of these things so, you know, something new to try."
Naruto said nothing to that, glancing back out over the horizon.
"We're, um, going to be setting up camp on one of the pillars, since it's getting late," Izumo offered.
"Enjoy the view then," Naruto answered idly.
"...Seriously, is there something wrong? Making me a bit worried here," Izumo asked in concern.
"No, just lost in thought," Naruto mused. "They ever say what they were doing about Sasuke?"
Izumo blinked, a small scowl on his face. "He's not seeing daylight anytime soon. That's all we know."
Naruto sighed and shook his head. "Stupid bastard. Ruined things for both of us. My dream and his revenge. Looks like neither of us will get what we wanted."
Izumo remained silent, knowing those words weren't really for him.
The giant fox rolled his massive shoulders as he stood. "Well, no use sulking about it," Naruto decided as he headed back to the waters.
Izumo watched in fascination as Naruto's hands and feet made contact with the water, bobbing in the water as he attempted to walk on the water before ultimately falling through into the shallows. Well, shallows for a Bijuu. Then he brought his hand up and tried again.
"Definitely still him. Just keeps pushing along," Izumo said with a bit of relief, watching as the golden figure slowly began to vanish beneath the surface of the water.
Naruto, trying to so much as hover underwater, continued his small trek on the seafloor as his fur swayed in the water. Something bumped against his nose, prompting him to stop in surprise.
It was a shark, a rather large one, who was staring at Naruto with an animalistic confusion.
Then it bit his nose.
Above water, Izumo and Kotetsu looked up as a very large explosion erupted at sea, launching something into the air with a voice echoing from the deep. "FUCK OFF!"
Both of them, from their perch on the mountainous pillars, watched as something flew through the sky and fell into the waters.
"Is that a shark?" Izumo asked, squinting at the object.
"Talk about biting off more than you can chew," Kotetsu remarked.
"More like natural selection," Izumo said with a headshake.
Next Day
"HEY! GATEGUYS! WAKE YOUR ASSES UP!"
Izumo and Kotetsu jumped from their bedrolls next to their campfire, as they rose to the edge and saw Naruto looking up at them.
"What the fuck, Naruto!?" Kotetsu yelled down. "Are we being attacked or are you a nine-tailed rooster now!?"
"Is something wrong? An intruder?" Izumo asked with a frown.
"Nope," Naruto answered, crossing his arms. "Pack your shit and get something in your stomach, we're going back to Konoha."
The two shared a look at that. "Why?" Kotetsu asked in bewilderment. "We just got here yesterday?"
"Because I feel like it," Naruto answered bluntly. "I've been here for the better half of a week. So either get ready or I'm not giving you a free ride home."
"...Can he really just go back without warning anyone?" Kotetsu asked in a whisper.
"Yes, I fucking can," Naruto interrupted in annoyance.
"Looks like we don't have a choice, and our job is to keep an eye on him," Izumo remarked, turning back to their little campsite.
Less than an hour later, Naruto was making his trek back to Konoha. Mostly retracing his path from the first time.
"Well, this is going to be like a giant road or something if you keep sticking to this path," Kotetsu remarked as he looked back, seeing Naruto's footprints from his coming and going to the beach.
"So, why the sudden desire to head back to the village?" Izumo asked from between Naruto's shoulders.
"Like I told Kakashi-Sensei and the pervert, I'm staying at the village at least once a week," Naruto said bluntly.
"You seemed pretty happy about getting your own space though," Kotetsu remarked.
"Well, yeah, but that's like being happy you can leave your house finally. You don't want to be cooped up all the time, but you want to come home still," Naruto explained.
"I guess that makes sense," Kotetsu decided, glancing back at Naruto's tails. "So...what's it like?"
Naruto grunted questioningly.
"Having nine tails? And I don't mean nine tails of chakra, I just mean nine actual tails," Kotetsu asked, watching them moves around. Mostly in unison, but one or two would sometimes twitch out in their own direction.
"Eh," Naruto started, hesitating. "It's hard to explain. They're a bit like arms, but it's hard to remember just how flexible they are. Controlling them all at once is hard, unless it's something simple. Avoid this spot, lay down, stay behind me and don't sway all over the place. Using one or two for more...speciifc things isn't too hard. They all feel weird as hell, like I have tiny legs sprouted just above my ass."
"...TIny legs?" Izumo asked, trying not to laugh at the description.
"Tiny to me," Naruto reasoned. "I'm telling you, those tails are ninety percent fluff!"
"Definitely one of my weirder missions," Kotetsu decided with a head shake- and nearly fell off as Naruto suddenly came to a stop. "Wow! What now? Little old lady crossing?!"
Izumo frowned as he noticed Naruto sniffing the air. "What is it?"
"I don't know," Naruto said, his voice free of all humor as a dark look crossed about his face. "I know this scent from somewhere though, and I don't like it."
Izumo looked to the north, the direction of the village. "The village is close now."
"I know," Naruto answered pointedly, his ears raised.
"Nothing seems wrong here," Kotetsu pointed out. "We should just head on, we can just report it to the Hokage,"
"I know," Naruto repeated with narrowed eyes.
Both Chunin resigned themselves as Naruto treaded off the path. No other settlements were nearby, so at least that wasn't a concern.
Naruto's strides got longer and faster. Izumo and Kotetsu said nothing, merely holding on while watching for anything out of the ordinary.
Then, without warning, Naruto reached his hand out towards the ground. His hands landed not with a loud slam but with a firm thud.
"You okay, Shika? Ino? Choji?" Naruto asked suddenly.
"Oh thank kami, it's just Naruto," Ino said in relief. "I thought it was some other giant monster."
Naruto normally took offense to unironically being called a monster. He did not, however, take issue to being summarized as a "giant monster" in terms of what he was. Somehow, adding "giant" to it made it sound more descriptive and less insulting.
Deciding now was the best time to investigate, Kotetsu and Izumo leapt down to the forest and found the second generation of the ino-shika-cho trio lying on the ground from the impact of Naruto's blow.
"What happened? Who are-" Izumo started, glancing back at Naruto's palm. To his horror, something was managing to budge the giant hand, just a little. "Or, who were you fighting?"
"Thanks, Naruto, for not crushing me!" Choji said in relief, particularly close to Naruto's fist.
"Yeah, Choji? Are these two idiots relatives of yours?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow as he tilted his palm to partially expose the enemies in question, their heads sticking out.
"Look, Raijin! A giant meal, all for us!" one said, looking up at Naruto with drool on his face.
"I've never eaten a fox before, Fujin!" the other declared.
"Really, really stupid relatives?" Naruto clarified.
"It's the Legendary Stupid Brothers," Izumo said with a sigh.
"..." Naruto blinked, twice. "Oh, wow, you're not saying that as a joke, are you?"
"No. And they're supposed to be in prison," Kotetsu remarked in exasperation.
"Huh? Brother, do we know them?" Fujin asked in confusion.
"I think they fed us snacks back at the club house," Raijin answered.
"I...am not even going to ask," Naruto said, getting a tick mark as they kept struggling. "Stop that! I'm trying to NOT burst you like blood pimples! Do you know how hard it is to step on an ant without crushing it!?"
"Think they're more like beetles for you," Shikamaru remarked as he addressed the Chunin. "There was a jail break. We were helping search for them and...another."
"I know," Naruto said flatly, making Shikamaru frown. "Can you two deal with these two?"
"...I mean, if we get some food, they're probably go back on their own," Kotetsu suggested.
"You have food?!" The Stupid Brothers asked instantly
"Oh, come on! Even I'm not that bad!" Choji said in disbelief.
"Luckily, we packed some for the road," Izumo remarked as he pulled out some jerky. "Okay, let them up. Just be ready in case they try anything."
Naruto obliged, watching in frustrated fascination as the two very large brothers stood up, not only unphased by being held down by a Bijuu, but now having seemed to forget that he even existed. That anything else existed besides the prospect of food, hence their intent stares at Izumo and Kotetsu.
"Here, you big lugs," Izumo said, as he and Kotetsu threw the pieces of food at them.
The brothers caught them mouth first, instantly grinning in stupidly good natured ways.
"...That was all we needed to do...!?" Ino hissed under her breath. "Why didn't they send a chef to catch them!?"
"Or, you know, just tell them there's more food back at the prison?" Naruto suggested.
"There is?!" Raijin and Fujin declared in sync.
"Race you, Brother Fujin!" Raijin challenged as he bolted away.
"No fair, Brother Raijin!" Fujin called after, still grinning away.
"...The fuck just happened...?" Naruto asked, utterly stupefied.
Izumo sighed, "We should probably go after them, make sure they actually get to prison. They might forget why they ran back to begin with."
"Wait, there's still-" Ino looked up at Naruto awkwardly.
"What part of "I know" did you not get?" Naruto asked, looking around the area. "Well? Are you going to just hide like a baby, Mizuki?"
Silence reigned.
Naruto sighed as he looked to the Chunin. "You two, keep an eye on those idiots? Shikamaru, you guys go warn someone back in Konoha that they might actually try to break back to prison."
"You could just yell it and the village will probably hear," Kotetsu reminded.
"Right," Shikamaru said with a sigh. "We'd probably just be in your way at this point."
With that, all five of them departed, leaving Naruto seemingly alone.
Seemingly.
"Come on, Mizuki. I can smell you. You honestly reek of hate and fear," Naruto said with a snort as he strolled around the forest, scanning it for any sight of the traitor. "What's the matter, "Sensei?" Fox got you tongue?"
Not a soul dared answer him.
Naruto knew he was getting close, lowering his head as his nose sniffed just below the canopy. "You know, I can smell a bit of Orochimaru on you. I guess that's why you came back to the village. He have some secret stash of dirty toys you wanted to plunder?" Naruto asked, as if he was having a casual conversation. "Hope you cleaned whatever you got. Never know where he's had his stuff."
Someone tried to flee with a body flicker and Naruto grinned.
He leaped forth, shaking the ground with his land, hand swiping out to swipe away a section of trees.
A flash of silver caught Naruto's eyes. "Got you!"
His hand reached out, snapping shut on his prey.
A bloody scream echoed in his ears as he pulled up, seeking Mizuki's head peak out of his fist.
"Well, Mizuki-Sensei, I see prison has been good to you. Had to bulk up before someone made you their prison-bitch or something?" Naruto asked with a smirk.
"You...! You damn monster, you fucking broke my arm!" Mizuki screamed.
"Like I said, it's hard to step on a bug without crushing it," Naruto repeated darkly.
"I knew I was right about you! Damn monster! You were the fox the whole time, biding your time!" Mizuki screamed, his eyes mad with rage and terror.
Naruto looked thoroughly unimpressed. "Yeah, yeah, heard it all already."
"Let me go you demon!" Mizuki yelled. "I was so close! So close to finally...!"
Naruto just stared at Mizuki, who fell into a silence of frustrated defeat.
"Naruto! Naruto!"
"Hmm? Iruka-sensei?" Naruto said in surprise as he turned to see the instructor heading towards him with a kunoichi in tow. "Well, this feels familiar, Mizuki. You cause trouble, I beat you up and Iruka cleans up after us. Just like old times."
"Naruto," Iruka said uncomfortably. "That's enough, please. Just hold him long enough for the ANBU to take him in?"
Naruto tilted his head at Iruka again before glancing to the woman again. She startled under his gaze, but it wasn't fear in her eyes. OR at least not the kind of fear he expected. She looked almost pleadingly at him as her eyes kept glancing to Mizuki.
"...Looks like you have someone that cares about you," Naruto muttered, looking back to Mizuki, who only glared in return. "Naruto sighed at what he saw. And you don't even care, do you? "
"Don't act like you know anything about it, Demon! You can drop the act already! You're not even hiding what you are anymore, so just get on with it already! We both know you have every reason to destroy the village!" Mizuki barked out hatefully.
"Mizuki, that's enough! " Iruka yelled with a glare of his own, wishing his old comrade was a bit closer to the ground and in Taijutsu range.
"It's fine, Sensei," Naruto waved off with his free hand. "I've had worse. Honestly, it's sad; I've heard literal children say more original insults than you."
"Stop! Acting! Like! You're! Human!" Mizuki demanded with some weird, crazed bloodlust about him.
"Tell you what, I'll consider acting like a demon when you start acting like a decent human being," Naruto retorted cheekily. "And seriously, chasing Orochimaru's coattails? Sasuke did it better."
"I...what are you even on about?" Mizuki asked in confusion.
Naruto blinked, looking to Iruka.
"They don't exactly give prisoners weekly reports on how the village is doing, Naruto," Iruka informed with a sigh.
"Right," Naruto said, his face shifting in thought. "Fancy seeing you here, Old Hag."
Right on cue, Tsunade appeared on Naruto's head.
"Fancy you catching our runaway," Tsunade remarked with a smirk, starring daggers into Mizuki's form. "I ran into Shikamaru and his team. You picked a perfect time to visit, Naruto."
"You're telling me," Naruto said as he lowered Mizuki down to the ground and suddenly released him.
"What are you-?!" Mizuki started, only to be surrounded by four ANBU, one holding a kunai to his throat. "...Oh."
With that, he was bound and restrained as Tsunade came down to flick him on the head, leaving him groaning and almost crying on the ground in pain.
"We're going to have a nice long chat about what you were planning before sending you back behind bars, Mizuki," Tsunade said factually.
"Lady Hokage," the kunoichi said. "May I...have a moment with Mizuki."
Tsunade frowned at her. "And you are...?"
'Tsubaki, My Lady," she answered softly.
Naruto couldn't see Tsunade's face from this angle, but he knew her eyes hardened at that. "I see. And I'm just supposed to trust you weren't helping him? Hiding him?"
"Lady Hokage-" Iruka started, until Tsunade held up her hand.
"You may," Tsunade said to Tsubaki. "You'd be stupid to try anything with all of us here."
Tsubaki didn't glance to the ANBU or the Hokage at that, but to Naruto himself.
He would be lying if he didn't feel a bit sheepish at that.
He didn't listen to whatever Tsubaki and Mizuki said to one another. He focused on absolutely anything else, mostly other ninja in the distance.
But whatever it was, as Mizuki was pulled to his feet by the masked ANBU, Naruto knew Mizuka hadn't said anything kind or comforting, judging by the tearful look on Tsubaki's face.
Before they took him away, the silver haired traitor turned to glare up at Naruto.
"You will always be a monster."
Naruto the human would have bristled and gritted his teeth at that. Naruto the Bijuu brought his head low, low to the ground. Mizuki's hate slowly gave way to fear, trying to jerk away. The ANBU held him firm, and Tsunade made no move to stop Naruto. Neither did Iruka. Or Tsubaki.
At last, Naruto's enormous snout was in front of Mizuki. A long, harsh snort came from Naruto's nose, Mizuki nearly jumping out of his skin.
Then, Naruto opened his jaw. Slow, and just enough to see through the vast fangs, to feel the heavy breath.
"Then why are you still alive?"
The cold, toneless question shook Mizuki as he stared into his personal image of the Shinigami, as if only now comprehending how painfully easy this "monster" could kill him.
After all, it's very hard to step on an ant without killing it.
Naruto snarled in disgust as he pulled back. "Naruto?" Tsunade asked with a quirk eyebrow.
"He pissed himself," Naruto informed with displeasure. "I'm done with him. You, Old Hag?"
"Take him away," Tsunade called out, the ANBU nodding as they left. "Iruka, escort Tsubaki back to the village. I have a few questions for her and you as well."
Iruka nodded solemnly, forcing a smile to Naruto despite the mood. "Thanks, Naruto. I'll stop by the mountain later if you're there."
"You know it," Naruto said with a halfhearted chuckle of his own.
"Lady Tsunade," Tsubaki said with a deep bow of respect. With some hesitation and uncertainty, she also bowed her head to Naruto. "And...thank you, for sparring him...Lord Naruto."
With that, they too departed, leaving the Godaime Hokage and Nidaime Kyuubi alone in the forests outside Konoha.
"Lord Naruto, eh?" Tsunade asked with a teasing tone.
"Well, the Daimyo did give me that beach, so...that technically makes me "lord" of that place, right?" Naruto pointed out with a joke smile.
Tsunade thought about that for a moment before conceding. "Can't argue with that logic.. But, moving on...got tired of the beach?" Tsunade asked curiously.
"Got tired of being away from home," Naruto answered with a shrug. "Besides, you guys apparently fall to pieces while I'm gone."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Tsunade asked flatly.
"I was gone for less than a week and you guys have a jail break!" Naruto pointed out, somehow both amused and frustrated. "Seriously, are the emergencies literally going to wait until I leave to happen?"
"Yes, you idiot! You're a giant guard fox looming over Konoha! People are afraid to pickpocket with you around!" Tsunade pointed out.
"It's a ninja village! They should be afraid to pickpocket on principle!" Naruto countered, finding the idea hilarious. "But seriously, a jail break? Did Sasuke break out? Cause if he did, I will honestly be a bit pissed off."
"No, he didn't," Tsunade said with an eye roll. "Given how valuable he is, we kept him secure in Konoha."
"..." Naruto stared at her for a long, long moment of concern.
"...I don't like that look," Tsunade said with a frown.
"Are you sure he didn't bust out in the middle of this?" Naruto asked, something almost a whine to his voice. "Cause knowing your luck..."
"Oh, go slump on your perch and get your tails in a knot! I'll have them check his cell," Tsunade said with a huff as she headed back to the village.
If she looked back ,she'd see a smiling nine-tails.
End of Chapter
Shoutout to EliteShadow who predicted that Naruto would be pulling up some sunken ships and deal with sea creatures. I swear, dude, I already had that written out and didn't steal the idea, but I kept laughing when I read your spot-on guess.
Well, had some fun stuff here. The sprinkling in of how Naruto's situation affects another country, aka Kumo, and Naruto comes back to help deal with a jailbreak. Look, say what you want about Naruto filler, at least it FITS in the timelines as oppose to Bleach's fillers. I honestly liked several of the filler arcs, and they happen to be useful for certain things in this fic.
Anyway, yeah, Mizuki got to see Naruto as the Kyuubi and Naruto got to have one of his darker moments. Look, he's grumpier but he's still about a good-aligned as he was pre-bijuufication. But as seen with his mindfuck of Karin, he has his moments.
Also, brief explanation on Naruto messing around with elements. Back in the earlier days of Naruto, I always assumed that Kurama had a fire-based chakra, given that's a common kitsune thing. The Eight-tailed scene in the Pain fight kind of implies that. Buuuuut besides that, he doesn't have much of an elemental thing going. All the others do, albeit some are niche. However, given that Kurama is unique among the Bijuu, I think he can technically do all of the elements to some extent, when he isn't split in two yin-yang halves at least. He just chooses not to because he can already brute-chakra-force most issues. Naruto beng Naruto is more interested in figuring out what he can do, hence this.
That's about it for now. Next chapter you'll find out where Sakura was in all of this.
Early viewing of chapters 12-13 avaliable on my pat-reon:
p a treon . com (slash) akumakami64