Chapter 15: Conversations

Reentering the village of Otafuku with had been a simple affair, with one complication. My clothes were covered in blood and half of my jacket and shirt had been shredded. Ordinarily, it wouldn't have been a big issue, I could have just replaced my shirt, but I left my bag back by Jiraiya and even though I was calm, I didn't want to go back there and start a whole new argument.

I was left with two choices, ask to borrow a shirt from Karin, or use a henge to hide my bloodied state and go buy a new set of clothes and get some lunch.

Needless to say, that's how I found myself sitting in a small restaurant, with a bowl of sweet and sour pork sitting on top of some rice, while I was wearing a simple white T-shirt.

"So that chakra was…"

"The Kyuubi's, yes," I answered with a nod. I had been explaining to Karin how I was a Jinchuriki and what that mean, she was taking it really well, certainly better than the majority of Konoha's civilians. "It was sealed in me when I was born."

"I don't understand. How was I able to use its chakra if it's in you?!"

It was a good question. Giving a regular Shinobi biju chakra without having the biju sealed in them to help regulate it would most likely kill them, the only exceptions in history being the gold and silver brothers of Kumo who had consumed some of Kurama's flesh.

"It's actually kind of simple. I can use the Kyuubi's chakra and my clones can use it too, despite their bodies fragile and only made of chakra," I began. "Before Itachi and Kisame arrived in the clearing, I connected my chakra to yours and used that as a bridge. My chakra acted as a buffer between your body and the Kyuubi's chakra. As I am right now, I doubt I'm strong enough to give you or someone else much more than a single tailed chakra cloak."

"So you… your chakra was inside me?" Karin blushed lightly, before a smile came to her face.

A shiver went down my spine and I immediately felt a little dirty. "Please don't say it like that," I requested. Looking down at my half finished bowl of sweet and sour pork, I felt my appetite leave me. "Besides, I also shared my chakra with P… with the toad, Fukasaku… and the Kyuubi shares his chakra with me!"

Karin's face turned green at that. "Right… disgusting."

I'm not sure if I should feel impressed, disturbed or even disgusted. Karin had somehow been able to take the simple concept of sharing chakra… of Ninshu and turned it into something slightly pervy.

"I'm not surprised," Kurama grumbled. "You humans are always good at taking a simple thing and making it about your genitals. Uzumaki especially!"

'That's not true…. Well, it might happen occasionally, but it doesn't mean humans do that to everything.'

"Naruto… I'm the one person you can't lie to. I'm inside your head, constantly hearing your thoughts, I've seen your past," Kurama commented and I immediately felt a pit of dread open in my stomach. "I've seen those drawings you've viewed that were called hentai. You've seen a lot of nude drawings of many people from this world, Kushina included!"

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, MAN, WHY!" I slapped my hand on the table, startling Karin and drawing the attention of the entirety of the restaurant, which luckily wasn't that much. "Heh… sorry. Stubbed my toe."

The other restaurant goers obviously didn't buy my excuse, but weren't interested enough to continue watching me.

"Naruto…" Karin began slowly.

"Don't worry. I'm just talking to the Kyuubi," I replied softly.

"Wait, you can talk to it?!" Karin whispered furiously. "And it talks back?!"

I nodded as I turned my attention inward once more.

"I don't see why you're making such a big deal of this. Humans frequently mate with each other and look at porn, your current sensei being a prime example."

'The big deal is those people generally don't have their mother in their head watching what they're doing!' I replied snappily. 'It's going to be so awkward when I meet Kushina, now that she knows I've seen drawn porn of her. Why'd you have to let her know?'

"It's likely that she already knew. Kushina exists in a different part of the seal, in a place where she's has free access to your memories. From the moment the Sandaime fixed your seal, she and Minato likely learned that you were different and saw your memories."

'Wait, Minato saw that as well?' I asked. My face turned red and I felt an incredible wave of embarrassment wash over me. 'Oh god. Then he also saw the pictures of him with Kushina as well.'

"Yes, and the other ones where he's with multiple other women. The same applies to Kushina being with other men, yourself incl-"

'STOP,' I roared in my head. 'That… Kushina, if you're listening in, I have no control over what people draw.'

"Nor did you have control over the numerous pictures of Kushina that you 'looked' at?"

'I'm confused. Kurama, have I done anything to piss you off?'

"Not particularly."

'Then why are you constantly bringing up the fact that one time or another, I've… spent time looking at sexy drawings of a woman who through no fault of my own became my mother?!'

"I'm stuck inside of you, I have to draw entertainment from somewhere," Kurama shrugged. "Besides, you humans get embarrassed over the oddest of things."

'Then what about you, huh. I know throughout my browsing that I've come across a few images of you as well. Some where you're turned into a fox girl and others,' I suppressed a shiver. 'Others where you're not!'

"Yes, I've seen them," Kurama replied in a bored tone. "It's odd that some of the people from your world would choose to see me in such a light, but other than that, I don't care."

'Then what about Hagoromo? Surely you would feel embarrassed if he had to see those pictures of you!'

"Naruto," Kurama began slowly. "You've seen me… You've seen my memories. You know that I'm a being completely made up of chakra. I would never get embarrassed over such a simple thing as those hentai drawings."

I sat quietly. Sometimes I forgot that Kurama had an entirely different thought process to my own. Ninshu had helped bridge the gap and led to us having a friendly relationship, but we were still two very different beings.

Ah, why was I even thinking about that right now?! I had worse things to worry about. Kushina… she knew about the pictures… Minato apparently did too, but he was also a calm minded individual. Kushina was hot blooded, there was almost no way she was going to let it go.

As if my eventual meeting with her wasn't going to be stressful enough. The best I could hope for was that she would be too embarrassed to even comment on it, but then again she might just get pissed off and kick the crap out of me.

"I think you're blowing it out of proportion."

'I'm sorry, have you ever looked at nude art of Hagoromo and then had him find out about it?' I asked snappily.

"My old man's dead."

'And when did that ever stop him?' I asked. 'He is quite literally one of the few beings in this world that would have had the power and the means to combine me with Naruto. Even if he's dead, he's probably still watching and even occasionally meddling!'

Hagoromo's power transcended death, he himself had said that he had still been watching the world. He was pretty much… scratch that, he is a god who could temporarily step foot in the living world under the right circumstances, namely being the chakra of all 9 biju coming together.

I refuse to believe that he didn't have a hand in my merge with Naruto.

"That is true… but what purpose could he have to bring you here?"

'Probably something relating to Kaguya,' I shrugged. 'Stopping black Zetsu from bringing her back… Killing Obito… preventing Kabuto from resurrecting Madara… hell, it could even be seducing Kaguya for all I know!'

Kurama hummed in thought. "I had never really considered how you happened into your current situation. I had mostly been focused on preparing for the future. I will need to think on this!"

'You do that buddy,' I replied, before a grin came to my face. 'And while you think on that, know that Hagoromo has likely seen everything I've seen… meaning that he's seen all the pictures, including the…' I shivered lightly. 'Including the ones involving you.'

"Hm, still trying to make me embarrassed… I'll admit, however slight, it's working," Kurama commented. "But at the very least I know that I've never looked up nude pictures of Kushina."

Damnit, I was never going to live that down. If I could, I would kick the crap out of my younger self for leaving me in such an awkward situation.

I was about to jump right back in, to try and find something that would screw with Kurama, but a hand was in front of my face, snapping its fingers.

Blinking I looked up and immediately frowned when I saw that it was Jiraiya.

"Great, you're here," I muttered, Kurama hadn't mentioned sensing any negative emotions, so I assumed that he had finally cooled down.

Jiraiya winced. "I deserved that… Look, Naruto… I came here to apologize."

"For what? Is it because you treated me like the villagers did? Was it for not helping with Itachi and Kisame sooner, or was it for scolding me for fighting back?" I snapped. Sure Jiraiya is a strong Shinobi, but I don't need someone treating me like crap because they're afraid of me.

"I want to apologize for not being a better master!"

I blinked at that. He now had my attention.

"Look… I'm not perfect, but at the same time I was trying to hold you to that standard. You have the potential to one day be the strongest Shinobi on earth and that's excluding the Kyuubi," Jiraiya explained. "A masters job is to help guide their pupil down their own path and I foolishly was trying to choose your path for you. Your abilities… and your control of the Kyuubi's chakra… it scared me and for all of that I am sorry."

I glanced around the restaurant to find that no one was listening to us. Kurama hadn't warned me of any serious negative emotions, so neither white, nor black Zetsu was spying on us. In fact, the only other person who was paying attention to this conversation was Karin who still sat across from me.

"What're you looking for?" Jiraiya asked.

"Just checking if anyone's listening in," I replied. I was probably letting my paranoia get the better of me. "Just sit down and order something," I waved him down.

"So does this mean that–" Jiraiya began as he was sitting down.

"It's been a long day and I just want to finish my meal," I interrupted him. "Look… all of this crap, can we just move past it already?"

Jiraiya nodded. "Sure."

I smiled, before pausing. "Oh, and can you and Karin keep the fact that I can allow people to use the Kyuubi's chakra quiet? I really don't need that kind of attention right now."

"About that. We need to discuss it first," Jiraiya began.

"I don't see what the big deal is," Karin said at the same time, before blushing lightly. "I… I mean, having your chakra protect me from that Jutsu… it was really cool."

Jiraiya shot a glance at Karin before sighing. "This is what I'm talking about. The jutsu Itachi used was definitely an S-rank one and you not only blocked it easily, you let someone else use the Kyuubi's chakra, a feat that should be all but impossible."

"It's actually just really difficult," I said nonchalantly. "I don't really want to go into details on how it works because who knows who's listening in, so can we maybe drop it for another time when we're in a more secure place, possibly with other people who would find this information important!?"

"Fine," Jiraiya surrendered. "But we're definitely having this conversation later on."

"Great," I let out a relieved sigh.

Several weeks had passed since our confrontation with Itachi and Kisame. Things had changed… Jiraiya was treating me oddly. Not badly though, he wasn't being rude, rather, he was involving me. Throughout our search for Tsunade, he was taking Karin and myself with him to gather information.

Before, Jiraiya would have been all too happy to ditch Karin and myself and go visit a brothel, but now, he was spending time with us, getting to know us. I wasn't exactly sure what spurred about this change, it could have been our argument, or it could have been something else, but in the end, it wasn't such a bad change.

Karin on the other hand… she hadn't really changed in the past few weeks. She still argued with Jiraiya, she was still clingy with me… the only difference now was that she wasn't afraid of being around me while I was using Kurama's chakra, although she did look uncomfortable while I was using it, but then again what sensor wouldn't when they could feel just how powerful and caustic Kurama's chakra was.

Hearing an explosion, I sighed as the memories from my clones flooded my head. Through my use of shadow clones, I had mastered the Rasengan within 2 days. I could now form it with a single hand, but I wasn't satisfied.

The Rasengan was a great technique, but there would be those that were capable of shrugging it off and I was definitely going to be fighting them. No, I needed something a little more powerful. The Rasenshuriken… the only problem being that it was insanely difficult to form.

I wasn't in Konoha, so I didn't have a proper space or security to use my maximum amount of clones. I was capable of forming a wind style Rasenshuriken with two clones, but it still wasn't enough.

I wanted to be capable of using it with only a single hand. I know it's possible, but that didn't make it any less difficult. Each time one of my clones failed, they were immediately destroyed by the half formed technique. I had already left quite a few exploded patches of forest during our search for Tsunade.

Another explosion and another set of memories flooded my head. This jutsu honestly felt impossible to pull off without a shadow clone. The Rasengan required the user to focus a large amount of chakra to their hand, spin it in several directions and contain it all at the same time. The Rasenshuriken did all of that, all while including transforming the chakra nature, which made the Rasengan volatile.

Part of me wanted to write it off as impossible and only something someone could do while under the influence of Six Paths Sage Mode, but a larger part of me was refusing to give in. I wanted… no, I needed to master this with a single hand, and once I did that, I'd move on to making the Rasenshuriken with other elements.

"Oi, Naruto. That's enough for today, I've got a lead on where Tsunade is," Jiraiya announced as he entered the clearing. His clone that he left to watch over us dispelled.

"About time," Karin groaned from her position on the ground. "I miss my little apartment in Konoha."

I may have been running her through some training. Nothing as intense as what I was doing, but I did make her twice as heavy and then had her run through some basic calisthenics.

"Just a few more," I grunted as I brought my body closer to the ground. Sweat dripped off my face and collided with the ground, forming small holes. With the increased gravity on my body, Rock Lee would probably have to open a few gates to be able to lift me.

My speed and strength were still a long ways off from someone like Gai, let alone Jiraiya, but as I am now, I could beat most of the weaker Jonin.

With one hand, Jiraiya grabbed me by my shoulder and effortlessly pulled me to my feet. "We can't afford a few more. We're short on time as is. If we want to find Tsunade, then we'll have to move now."

"Alright, fine," I grunted, feeling light headed. Under the increased gravity, even my blood was heavy. Walking over to my bag, I slung it over my back and turned towards Jiraiya. "Where're we heading?"

"Tanzaku-Gai," Jiraiya replied. "From what I hear, the town is filled with casinos!"

"Okay," I replied as I left for the direction of the road.

"Naruto," Jiraiya coughed into his fist. "You think you might be forgetting something?"

I turned around to look at him quizzically. I had my backpack on. He didn't mean my clones, Right? I was leaving them there to continue their training while we walked. Looking around, I heard Jiraiya stifle a laugh.

"Over there," He pointed towards Karin who remained on the floor.

"Oh, right," I replied. Walking over to Karin, I took in her exhausted appearance.

"Naruto, carry me. I'm too tired to walk," Karin said tiredly as she strained to lift her arms.

I wanted to roll my eyes at first, but on closer inspection, Karin really was beyond exhausted. She wasn't that accustomed to training like this. I might have pushed her a bit too hard today, but in my defense, she's an Uzumaki with a ton of vitality.

Leaning down, I picked her up and ignored the blush on her face as I turned towards Jiraiya. "Alright. We all ready to go?"

"Sure thing," Jiraiya replied with a smirk on his face as he furiously wrote in his little notebook.

"What's with the notebook?" Karin asked.

"He's being a perverted idiot," I answered. "Who happens to have forgotten that Kushina is still in my seal, likely seeing what he is doing right now."

A smirk came to my face as Jiraiya jumped and quickly slipped his notebook back into his jacket.

Alright, Chapter number 15 is here.

It's a bit on the short side, but it's mainly dealing with the aftermath of the big fight in the last chapter. Naruto and Jiraiya made up through the ancient art of, 'fuck it, fighting is dumb.' Kurama decided to be a bit of a dick and Karin's getting some much needed training.

The plot continues to move forward in the next chapter and things are going to get interesting.

Anyways, I'm on the spooky P word website. I'm currently on... chapter 22 there, which puts it 7 chapters ahead of this.

P
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I go by the name of ThatKircguy. Just copy the name and paste it in the Patty Rio On search bar. It'd help me out immensely, but don't worry if that's not your style. I will be uploading weekly, so it's not going to be stuck there permanently.

Also, I post my original stuff there as well. It's nothing much, just two short stories for now, but I'll post more as I write them.

See all of you dudes and dudettes on the 12th of April... holy crap, when did it become April.