Chapter 5
“Since you can at least talk to the nine-tails, can you ask him to go into mindspace himself, even if he won’t take you?” Gaara asks.
Naruto runs a hand through his hair, grimacing. “Geez, I’ll try. He’s a real bastard, though.”
He is, agrees Shukaku. Can’t you make Son talk to him instead? I hate him.
“If Son is in mindspace already, certainly,” says Gaara. “Otherwise, I don’t really want to interrupt Roushi.” Naruto gives him an odd look, and he realizes it’s not considered normal to talk to people no-one else can hear. He didn’t think he had to be normal around Naruto. “Shukaku says he doesn’t like the nine-tails either. He doesn’t want to talk to him, even if it means he gets to show off how superior his jinchuuriki is.”
You think you’re really clever, but you’re not. I can see through your shitty manipulation like a window.
“So you’ll do it?”
Fucking fine, shut up. Like he’s gonna listen to me anyway.
“Uh, he said okay,” reports Naruto. “This is super weird. I think he thinks I’m playing a prank on him.”
Shukaku pulls Gaara into the bijuu mindspace, where the nine-tailed fox is sitting with crossed arms, glaring around at everything. “You’ve made it so cozy,” he says, sounding disgusted. “It stinks of humans in here.”
“Shut the fuck up, bastard,” growls Shukaku. “You’re not here to talk shit about the interior design, all right? These dumbass humans just want a way to warn you in case someone tries to kill you. Don’t know if you noticed, but your jinchuuriki’s not such hot shit. He looks like he’d die in about five seconds against Akatsuki.”
“I really don’t care what you say about the kid,” says the nine-tails, eying Shukaku with distaste. “I completely agree with you that he’s an easy target, but I can take care of myself.”
“Why are you literally the dumbest shit ever?” groans Shukaku. “You think you’re so much better than us just because you have more tails. These guys probably specialize in hunting bijuu, you know that, right? Just merge with the damn kid and bring him here and we can all go home.”
“I have better things to do than argue with you.” The nine-tails’ lip curls. “Like sleep, or stare blankly at the walls of the sewer where I live. Or plot my escape.”
“Or perhaps you could be more proactive,” Gaara suggests, “and make your cage into a home so you won’t be miserable until you do escape.”
The nine-tails leans down to look at Gaara. His eye is as wide as Gaara is tall. “Oh-ho, Shukaku, this one’s got a silver tongue. Is that why you haven’t managed to break him yet?”
“Haven’t felt like it,” Shukaku snarls. He brings a massive hand down behind Gaara, enclosing him with two of his fingers. “He’s occasionally useful, even if he doesn’t like blood much. Just talk to your damn jinchuuriki for five minutes, all right? I’m sick of your whining.” And he leaves the mindspace, taking Gaara with him.
I fucking hate him, he grumbles in Gaara’s head. “I can see why,” Gaara murmurs to him. Shukaku starts in on a long rant Gaara’s heard before, about how the nine-tails thinks he’s such hot shit and how Shukaku could kick his ass in five seconds. He tunes it out and looks at Naruto, who is staring blankly at the sky, pupils contracted to pinpricks. He probably is talking to the nine-tails, then.
Behind them, Roushi has finally calmed down. Jiraiya seems to have brought sake but no cups, because they’re taking turns drinking out of a bottle.
“Sooooo… what’s going on here?” asks Uchiha Haromo, who sat down a while ago next to Naruto, and now looks bored. “Is this some kind of jinchuuriki party we’re not invited to?”
Gaara turns to her and bows. “Sorry, Uchiha-san, Haruno-san. There’s an emergency that may soon involve people trying to kill Naruto. We’re trying to set up a way to contact him if we find out more information.”
“I almost miss the times when people were trying to kill me,” sighs Haromo. “It made me feel important, at least.” Gaara gives her what he hopes is an unimpressed look. He would love it if no-one were trying to kill him. “Oh, uh, maybe that was kind of a jerk thing to say. Sorry, Gaara. You’d be important to me even if no-one was trying to kill you, I promise.” She reminds him of Sasuke: completely tactless, yet somehow endearing anyway.
Naruto gasps and staggers, and they all look around. Sakura props him up until he can get his balance again. “Thanks, Sakura-chan!” he says. “I don’t know how you did it, Gaara, but you got him to actually talk to me! He only threatened to kill me, like, twice!” He grins. “I think we’re friends now. Oh, he’s still a creepy bastard, though.”
