81. Meeting the fox

A moment later Hinata and Nozomi found themselves standing near a clear lake. At their backs a lush green forest went for as far as their eyes could see. Looking around, the first thing they noticed was a massive building floating some meters on top of the middle of the lake.

“Where is this?” Surprised by what she was seeing, Hinata couldn’t help but murmure.

“This my dear Hinata is my mindscape” Tomoka had suddenly appeared besides Hinata giving her a bit of a scare.  

“So what do you think? Neat right?” Tomoka felt a bit smug at seeing her girlfriend's expression of awe. 

““yeah”” Still distracted by what they were seeing, the two answered in sync. 

What followed was a short tour around. Before they came to a gigantic fox taking a nap on top of a large flat rock in a clearing where the sun shone. Of course the rock nor the clearing were normal per say. They had been the reward of the fox for a previous deal.

“Oi, Kurama, we have guests” Said Tomoka giving the giant fox a slight kick to his front paw

‘I can’t believe this guy managed to fall asleep in such a short time’

[I can still hear you brat] Kurama felt a bit grumpy after being awakened in such a rude way

‘I know~’ Not like Tomoka cared anyway

“Let me introduce you. Ahem, Hinata, Nozomi, this is Kurama also known as the Kyubi”

[Oi! Who gave you permission to share my name with them] At this point Kurama didn’t really care that Tomoka shared his name with them. After all, he had also grown to like the two so in time he would have shared it himself. However, he still had to complain in principle. 

“Boo hoo, the big bad fox got his name shared. Come now and don’t be a giant baby, we both know you would have told them either way” 

[This brat sometimes, I swear one of this days I will bite your ankles or something] 

“Ahem, either way. Kurama, this is Nozomi and Hinata, my girlfriends, though you already know that” After that a bit of an awkward silence fell until the fox spoke. 

[Nozomi, right? I am sorry for what happened with your parents even though I can’t remember much since I was controlled] At the start Kurama felt reluctant to apologize. Especially since she is an Uchiha. However, he soon changed his mind as he remembered her behavior throughout the years. 

In Kurama’s eyes, Nozomi is the only decent Uchiha as he saw her grow alongside Tomoka and Hinata. Nozomi didn’t become power hungry nor did she become revenge driven. She could be called kind for an Uchiha and having her tease and prank Tomoka was the best time Kurama had in a long while. 

Seeing Nozomi’s eyes as he apologized he didn’t find hatred or anger. No, that is wrong, deep down those dark emotions were there, just not directed at him. Instead, what he found was sorrow and longing. 

“I accept your apology. Seeing how you interact so casually and friendly with Tomoka makes my heart feel at ease. I can see that the two of you have grown to be great friends or even like family. Even so I have a request to make. 

If you are really sorry about what happened in the past then please protect Tomoka” 

Kurama couldn’t help but smile hearing Nozomi’s words.

[Bah, as if I need a brat telling me what to do. I would have helped and protected her anyway. It’s comfy here, I would rather stay here instead of being placed in one of those super uncomfortable seals] As he said that Kurama began to leave. After all, as the strongest of the tailed beasts he had to protect his dignity.

“That’s his way of agreeing. The giant fox is a tsundere so don’t mind it” Hearing Tomoka’s words Kurama couldn’t help but have his expression cramp up. However, he knew from experience that trying to argue with Tomoka would lead to nowhere so he ignored it and left. 

“Well, with that done do you gals have any questions?”

“Wasn’t he supposed to be sealed?” 

“Oh… about that…” And like that Tomoka spent the next few minutes explaining what she had done followed by an hour long lecture by her girlfriends on self-preservation and what not.