Although he had some disdain for Obito's blatant use of hacks, life still had to go on.
Kaede left his house.
He didn't go far, he headed straight to the top of the Hokage Rock, sat down cross-legged, and let his consciousness enter the sealed space within his body.
He had been ignoring the Nine-Tails all this time, but now it was finally time to go give the fox some attention.
Among the nine Tailed Beasts, the Nine-Tails really was the cutest. Kaede had even bought several keychains modeled after it in his previous life. The only downside with the real one was… well, it was way too big to be cute.
Inside the seal.
The Nine-Tails lay there with one paw resting on another, eyes closed, in a state that was half-asleep, half-awake. Its mood today was terrible.
It had been tolerable being sealed inside Kushina. Sure, she treated it like a power source and kept it locked up like every other ninja, but at least she was better than the previous host, Uzumaki Mito.
Then suddenly,
It was dragged out by the tail.
Out of nowhere.
What's worse, it was done by a damn Uchiha, who immediately slammed it with a Mangekyo Sharingan, ripping control of its body away with genjutsu.
Who could endure that?!
Just when it was about to be saved by Namikaze Minato, hoping to get a few words of explanation, Minato also went full battle mode. Bam! Straight into a Reaper Death Seal, right in its face.
The hell?!
It had almost exploded with rage right then and there, but thanks to the Reaper Death Seal, it couldn't even blow up if it wanted to.
It could be said that from the moment it was yanked out by the tail, today had felt like being tied up and helpless the entire time, like a girl caught in some kind of "shibari" situation, hardly able to move at all.
And now?
Back in the cage again.
If only it had asked the Sage of Six Paths to split its chakra into more pieces when it was first created. That way, fewer people could control it. That old man was such a jerk!
Just as the Nine-Tails was ranting internally about the Sage of Six Paths, it suddenly felt something strange, like something had landed on its head.
It opened its eyes, looked up, and saw a human figure lying comfortably nestled in its fur, as if it had found the perfect soft spot to rest.
The Nine-Tails froze for a moment, completely baffled.
After a few seconds, it finally reacted. Its body twisted violently as it threw Kaede off to the side with force.
"Bastard! Are you using my head as a pillow?!"
Crash!
Kaede was flung to the outside of the cage.
He looked at the Nine-Tails and sighed. "It's not like lying there would cost you anything... Anyway, let me be blunt. From now on, you're coming with me. I know that might sound weird, but between the two of us, someone has to be the boss. And I think I'm a bit stronger."
Hearing that, and seeing Kaede's casual attitude, the Nine-Tails was so angry it wanted to roll over and scream. It bellowed from behind the bars, "Arrogant brat! If you've got guts, come in here! I'll beat you till you piss yourself!"
"Sigh."
Kaede sighed again and walked straight toward the cage.
Under the Nine-Tails' dumbfounded gaze, he passed right through the bars and entered the cell. Then he cracked his knuckles, one hand pushing against the other, making a few crack crack sounds.
=============
Half a day later.
Kaede opened the cage.
The Nine-Tails stared at him, who was now standing on its head, and muttered, "Let's be clear. It's not like I couldn't beat you. I just figured continuing to fight was meaningless, so I'm letting it slide… temporarily…"
"Yes, yes. To avoid any more unnecessary conflict, we've agreed to a ceasefire," Kaede said, patting the fox's head. "But from now on, you're my fox."
The Nine-Tails wanted to swat him off with one paw, but the memory of their "fight" reminded it how utterly one-sided the beating was, so it held back. It growled instead, "What do you mean your fox, bastard! My name is Kurama!"
"Got it, fox."
Kurama made up its mind, next time, even if it got beaten again, it had to fight! A tailed beast could be beaten, but not humiliated!
Boom! Boom! Boom!!!
Another half a day passed.
Kurama now lay sprawled out on the ground, all four limbs stretched out, tongue lolling from its mouth, breathing weakly. Its nine tails were limp and unmoving behind it.
Kaede lay on the ground in front of it, looking completely relaxed and satisfied from head to toe.
The fight with Obito earlier had been thoroughly unpleasant. The complete-body Susanoo was a tough opponent, but Obito's Kamui phasing made Kaede's attacks hit nothing but air. That kind of fight was frustrating.
Now, though, he felt amazing.
"Hey, fox. Wanna go out for a walk?"
Kaede stood up, walked over to Kurama's face, and patted its head.
Kurama didn't even have the strength to argue about the "fox" nickname anymore. It pulled its tongue back in, kept lying still, and moved only its eyes to glance at Kaede.
"…What do you mean by 'go out for a walk'?"
"Exactly what it sounds like."
Kaede chuckled. "Do you think I'm like the other ninjas, too scared to let you out?"
If you're going to raise a fox, you should raise it properly.
From his past experience with pets, no matter what kind of animal it was, keeping it locked in a cage all the time would make it go dull. You had to take it out regularly for walks.
"…Fair point."
Kurama answered weakly, "But not today. I need to rest."
"All right. Let me know when you're up for it."
Kaede gave its fur another rub before disappearing from the sealed space.
Long after he left, Kurama finally managed to shake off some of its exhaustion. It pulled in its limbs and lay down in a pose that wasn't quite as disgraceful.
"More chakra than me… This guy's probably not even human…"
Kurama muttered.
Although it had been thoroughly beaten, Kaede's attitude was completely different from previous Jinchuriki. At least he was someone it could actually talk to. The only downside was… it couldn't beat him.
=============
Two months later.
Konoha.
A massive tail stretched in from outside the village, hovering over a street. A moment later, it dropped a bit of chakra onto the road.
This scene didn't cause panic, just made a few pedestrians swallow nervously. Most of them were already used to it.
Several shopkeepers pushed out carts of prepared food.
"Hey, watch it. Don't wreck their shops again," Kaede said lazily, lying on Kurama's head and giving it a light pat.
Kurama was lounging in an open field outside the village, using its tail like a fishing rod to hook snacks from the carts and toss them into its mouth, chewing slowly.
"No problem. I've got this."
"Thank you for your visit, Nine-Tails-sama! That'll be 200,000 ryō…"
Thud!
Kaede smacked Kurama on the head. "That's enough. Quit eating!"
"Stingy."
Kurama huffed, but obediently pulled its tail back.
Kaede rubbed his temples. The expense of keeping a fox like this was starting to make him think maybe something had gone wrong in his pet-raising strategy.
"Hey, fox. What kind of job do you think suits you?"
Kurama: "?"
=============
Not far away…
Might Guy, Shiranui Genma, and a few others had just returned to the village after a two-month mission. Seeing this scene, they couldn't help but rub their eyes in disbelief.
After several seconds of stunned silence,
Shiranui Genma finally spoke up:
"We must be exhausted from the road… I'm starting to hallucinate. I need to go lie down."
"See you guys later."
==========
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