208. Mindscape shenanigans

208. Mindscape shenanigans

Naruko was having a hard time processing everything that had happened in the last few hours. Many things were revealed to her and from the looks of things a few more would be revealed in the near future. She sat comfortably on top of the bed besides Satsuki who wanted to come along.

Tomoka had talked about the Kyubi and how they could speak with him through the mind escape. Naruko didn’t understand much of what had been said, she would be the first to admit she isn’t the smartest cookie in the jar. No, she wouldn’t admit it to others but internally she understood it was the truth.

Either way, she was feeling nervous. She had a LOT of questions to ask, both to the demon fox and Tomoka. Then again, the answers would probably be a tad too complicated for her. That is why she was thankful that Satsuki would be with her. She was a lot smarter than herself as much as she detested admitting the fact.

Doing as Tomoka had said she relaxed while holding Satsuki’s hand. Meanwhile the red haired menace was sitting behind them while placing her palms on their back. Hinata and Nozomi held Tomoka’s shoulders as they too would be coming along.

At first Naruko wondered when they would begin. She didn’t feel any different until she found herself standing in front of Tomoka. Behind the girl was an idyllic clearing with a clear water lake. A rather massive building floating a few meters above the water suspended in the air by forces unseen. To her sides Hinata and Nozomi stood with barely visible smug grins.

Even more amazing than that was the sight of a gigantic nine tailed fox napping on top of a large rock jutting from the lake’s water. The fox looked ever so familiar to Naruko, yet there were some undeniable differences. For example, this one’s fur looked a shade darker than her own Fox’s. That and there was this weird... slimness to it.

[Oi! What is the meaning of this!] Naruko was quickly brought out of her thoughts as she heard a loud rumbling voice behind her. As she turned around she saw another nine tailed fox inside a huge cage. This one, unlike the other one, looked pissed off to the highest degree.

[Shut up Yang, can’t you see I am trying to nap over here] To her astonishment she hears the exact same voice with a tiny difference in pitch coming from the napping fox as it lazily opened a single eye. Sure, she might not be the sharpest tool in the shed but even she could tell these two were the yin and yang sides of the Kyubi.

[How did you get out of the stupid seal!] Once again the trapped kyubi shouted as he began to bang his paws against the bars of the cage. His counterpart’s dismissing words doing nothing more than fuel the anger he was feeling.

“He played nice and now we are pals, I removed the seal just moments after he was sealed in me since we had a heart to heart. Now, as you can see, he gets to chill inside my mindscape.” Knowing her own fox Tomoka decided to answer otherwise these two would start arguing, wasting everyone's time.

[You would drop so low as to become friends with a human!? You are a disgrace to us!] Hearing this yin kurama couldn’t help but burst into laughter. He laughed so hard waves were forming around the rock he had been using as a napping spot. He even began banging the rock with his large paws as he laughed like he had just heard the best joke in recorded history.

[A human? She is the farthest thing from a human! She is much more of a monster than me or you. Hell, I wouldn’t put it past her to find a way of killing us permanently!] Yin Kurama shouted while laughing like a maniac. He had full access to Tomoka’s senses; this also meant he could see through her phantoms as well. He once tried to see and hear through all of them at once knocking himself out.

Meanwhile Tomoka scratched the back of her head with a sheepish smile hearing Kurama’s claim. Especially the last part. She couldn’t help but laugh nervously at the statement. Something that didn’t go unnoticed by both Kuramas.

[You actually found a way didn’t you?] Yin Kurama said with a deadpan. He had said it as a joke but he also knew that it was possible. When Tomoka is concerned you better assume she can do what you otherwise would deem not possible.

“With that done, here is the deal yang. We can release you and you play nice with Naruko. Like with yin I will make a body for you to inhabit later. Yin already has his body made and now it's just a matter of establishing the necessary connection. Aside from that I will have people help Naruko make her mindscape more hospitable. So, do we have a deal?”

Yang Kurama thought about it for quite a long while he really wanted to accept but his pride was getting in the way. He was flip flopping between accepting and not. In the end yin’s shamelessly doing whatever he wanted in the background made the balance tip towards accepting.

[Fine, I’ll accept] With the deal now finished it was time to free yang from his prison. Tomoka took this moment to tell Naruko about the seal and what would happen once she tried to remove it.

“Wait! So you're telling me both my parents may appear?” Naruko was just a moment away from bolting towards the seal and reaping it away. Seeing this Tomoka and yang could help but share the single thought. Yang could have easly tricked Naruko into fiddling with the seal if he had told him about this. Then again, how was he supposed to know?

“Yes, but they aren’t really your parents. Just a chakra imprint that acts like them.” Hearing this Naruko’s excitement diminished a little. However, even if they weren’t the real thing she still wanted to meet them, talk to them, get to know them.

With her excitement properly managed now Naruko marched forward. As she stood in front of the seal she took a deep breath before tearing away the piece of paper... or trying to. As soon as she tore a bit of it a hand took hold of her wrist preventing her from pulling the whole thing off.

“Naruto, I don’t know what Kyuubi told you but he is lying. As soon as you remove that seal he will try to escape and you will die.”

“Huh, that's the same you said to me back then word for word.” Tomoka couldn’t help but comment as she saw a picture perfect repeat of what had happened back then. Minato on the other hand was super confused after hearing Tomoka’s comment.

“Wait, what? Tomoka? What are you doing here, what is going on?” Minato asked as he looked around, seeing a bunch of other people he didn’t know. Well, kids really, a Hyuga and two Uchihas. Wait, was that the freaking Kyubi on a beach chair drinking lemonade with sunglasses on his face? What the actual fuck.

“So, I am helping your daughter get rid of the seal on the kyubi since we are all pals now.” Hearing Tomoka’s absurd words, Minato's mind blanked for a moment. As soon as his mind began working again the first thing to come out of his mouth was.

“Wait, daughter?” As soon as he said that, a chorus of facepalms resounded through the place. Even both of Kurama's facepalmed. The only one to not do so was Naruko who was too busy containing the deluge of happy tears forming on her eyes.

“Really? Like father like daughter I guess. TLDR shit happened and Naruto got gender-bent alongside his, now her, entire team.” Once again Minato’s mind blanked for a moment. All of this felt like a badly rehearsed joke. However, as he turned to see his... daughter, he saw it was real.

“Uh, this is awkward.” Tomoka was a moment away from saying: no shit sherlock. However, she didn’t get the chance as Naruko hugged her father with the strength of a hydraulic press. Good thing they were in the mindscape otherwise the man would have all of his bones broken.

[This will take a while, here.] Yin Kurama said while passing a lemonade to yang Kurama who felt left behind and forgotten.