Chapter 37: A Trio of Beasts

"It's good to see you again . . . Ready to have a nice chit-chat?!"

Shukaku was looking down at the redhead with an intense edge to his golden eyes. Gaara had to admit that it had been a while since he and the One Tails met face-to-face, but he didn't miss how the larger-than-life mass of chakra leered at him with that ever-present grin on his face, waiting for him to speak.

"Do you really want me to answer that?" He bluntly asked in return, raising his nonexistent eyebrows in the process as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Pfft, should have figured you'd answer like that," The tanuki gruffly admitted as his eyes narrowed slightly. "You don't show your emotions much of the time, but you have plenty of sass to make up for it."

"Only for those that deserve it."

"I'll ignore that for now," Shukaku grumbled as he gave his vessel the side eye. "Anyway, have you noticed where you are right now?"

Gaara thought it was an odd question until he started to notice that the endless sun that had always been a feature of his Inner World was not beating down on his back. When he looked around, it immediately dawned on him that they weren't in his Inner World, per se. ". . . Okay, this is not the desert I was expecting."

"We're a long way from there, fleshbag," Shukaku admitted. "Don't worry. We're still in your little head. We're just in a different part of it . . . One that you couldn't access without me doing it for you."

"You? Doing it for me?" Gaara whispered as he looked around to see if he could find anything discernible, only to come up short. Aside from a large lit fire pit that stood about thirty feet away, the place they stood in was an endless darkness as far as their eyes could see. "Shukaku, what exactly is this place?"

"It's an ancient dimension that can only be accessed by us tailed beasts, regardless of if we've been sealed or not. . . This place has been our go to whenever we had to meet up but were too far away to see each other physically."

"Well, that's convenient," Gaara mumbled, just as the sound of loud, and very large footprints, could be heard from somewhere on their right. ". . . Would that be one of the other beasts right now?"

"Yep, and judging from the sound of those footsteps, and the incoming stench, I know exactly who it is," Shukaku grumbled as he looked in the same direction. "Come out of the shadows Kurama! I know it's you!"

"So much for the element of surprise. . ."

The voice was a deep timbre that sent shivers down Gaara's spine, a feeling that he hadn't felt since the first time he met Shukaku in his mind. Looking up, the redhead's eyes widened as he took in the large figure that suddenly appeared from the darkness, coming face-to-face with the nine tailed fox himself.

Kurama emerged from the darkness looking like he owned the place, his nine furry tails swishing back and forth behind him as he came to a stop with an impassive glare on his face. Sitting still, he appeared a little taller than his sandy brother, and his upper body was shaped surprisingly more like a human's than an actual fox's, but other than that, he looked like a normal, orange furred fox, just with red eyes and multiple tails.

On top of his head, Gaara spotted Naruto leaning against Kurama's left ear, waving in his direction before leaping down to ground level.

"I see you had no trouble getting in here," The blonde admitted as he walked toward him. "This is your first time, correct?"

"It is," Gaara admitted as the two tailed beasts continued with their stare down. "I've never known about this place till now."

"You can blame Shukaku for that," Kurama admitted as the tanuki narrowed his eyes on him. "He's not one for family visits."

"To be honest, we haven't been much of a family these last few centuries," Shukaku grumbled before pointing accusingly at the fox. "Besides, as if I would waste my time being in the same vicinity as you!"

"Oh, little brother, I'm not that bad. . ." Kurama teased as he crossed his arms over his chest, looking even more human than fox.

"You were the bully of the bunch!" Shukaku groused, looking more agitated by the second. "You and your stupid tails superiority complex!"

"Tails superiority complex?" Gaara asked, slightly confused by the mention of the term. He wanted to be exasperated by the tanuki's behavior, but after hearing the tinge of pain in Shukaku's voice, he was becoming more curious of his past by the second.

Now that he thought about it, had he ever asked Shukaku about his past?

"Kurama believes that among the tailed beasts, the more tails you have, the more powerful you are," Naruto explained as he looked at the redhead. "And since Shukaku only has one tail. . ."

"He's seen as the weakest in his brother's eyes," Gaara concluded as he looked up at the two beasts, who had fallen into another silent stare off. ". . . Do you think any of the other tailed beasts feel the same way?"

"Not in the slightest. . ."

At the sound of the newer voice, both the boys and the tailed beasts turned their heads to see a set of four red eyes with black slits watching them from within the darkness on their left. It was an unsettling sight for the redhead, but Naruto simply smirked, waving at the eyes in greeting as both Kurama and Shukaku watched on quietly.

"Must you interrupt sister?" Kurama grumbled as Shukaku smirked at the agitated look that crossed his brother's face.

The Ten Tails didn't answer. Instead, she finally emerged from the shadows, allowing her brothers, Gaara, and Naruto to finally see her true self. Gaara was quick to spot Shizuka sitting on top of the beast's head, but he couldn't think on that for long since a large 10 tailed dragon had slithered into view.

Ryuna had all the features of an Eastern dragon, except for her numerous tails and her forearms, which had large bat-like wings that protruded from it. Save for her red eyes, her entire coloring was a mix of white and silver, making her appear like the largest case of albinism that Gaara had ever seen.

"Someone has to bring you down a peg or two every once in a while," Ryuna admitted, her eyes looking somewhat amused as she glared at her brother. "You are the only one that preaches that the more tails we possess, the more powerful we are. . . It's quite annoying if you ask me."

"You can't dismiss it though," Kurama argued, his expression bordering on smug, well, as smug as a fox can be. "You can't deny that the power level significantly goes up the higher the tail count!"

"That's a fair assessment to make, but it still gives you no excuse for bullying the rest of our siblings when we were younger," Ryuna admonished, her eyes narrowing slightly as Shizuka jumped down from her perch. ". . . And if I remember correctly, Shukaku was your most frequent victim."

". . . I wonder why," Shukaku mumbled with dry sarcasm, more than eager to gang up on Kurama. ". . . The times Ryuna and Father had to put you in your place when you got out of hand. Oh, those were some glorious memories."

"Wow Kurama, I always knew that you could be a hardass, but hearing it from your own siblings really cements it," Naruto added, smirking despite the fox obviously growling in his direction. "Don't growl! That just adds to the guilt."

"I highly doubt my brother even knows what guilt is." Shukaku mumbled as he looked off to the side.

"And you do?" Ryuna asked. "I've heard about your exploits in the deserts out west Shukaku . . . Pot calling the kettle black little brother?"

"Is nothing private in this family?!" Shukaku grumbled, his ears drooping slightly as he did his best impression of a pout, an expression that Gaara had never seen on the sandy demon.

"It's kind of odd seeing them like this huh?"

"It is. . ." Gaara was willing to admit, turning his head to see that Shizuka was standing only a few feet away from him now. He had been so distracted by the beasts; he hadn't noticed that the princess had moved to be in reaching distance of him now.

"You get used to it after a while," She admitted. "Yes, the tailed beasts can stoke fear and dread to the public at large, but when you see them interact with each other, it definitely changes the perspective a little."

"I don't think I could ever look at Shukaku the same way after this," Gaara mumbled, though his words did not go unheard by the tailed beasts.

"Ah, looks like your vessel isn't as fearful of you as he used to be," Kurama mumbled as he leaned down, resting his head on his folded paws.

"To be honest, I haven't really been fearful of Shukaku for years," The redhead admitted, bringing a smile to the fox's face while a scowl marred the tanuki's. Ryuna simply looked indifferent. "Annoyed and irritated, yes. Fearful, not so much."

"That tends to happen when you run with the same Stay awake or I'll take over your body schtick every time you get sealed away in a new host," Ryuna mused as she glared at her shocked brother. "Yes, I've known for years. . . And it gets boring after a while."

"I'M NOT BORING!" Shukaku exclaimed, though he did sound a bit petulant as he spoke.

"Could have fooled me. . ." Kurama mumbled as he closed his eyes.

"Why, out of all of our siblings, do you two have to be the ones that argue with each other the most?" Ryuna asked, her tails slowly flickering behind her as she glared at her brothers. "No one else is at each other's throats as much as you two are."

"Ask him," Shukaku directed as he pointed at Kurama. "He started it."

"Regardless of who started it, you two need to end it," Ryuna ordered, her red eyes glowing dangerously as she glared at the two. "If we're going to survive what's to come, we need everyone's cooperation, including you two!"

"What's to come?" Gaara asked, turning to the twins to see that while Naruto looked as confused as he probably did, Shizuka appeared more concerned, as if she knew what her beast was getting at, which was likely. "What do you mean?"

"Let me ask you this instead Wind Prince," Ryuna countered, leaning her head forward. "What do you know of the Akatsuki?"

A/N: Please review!