The White Demon Fox

Kurama, the giant furball, appeared in his mindscape. He stood on top of a floating platform on his hind legs. The fox conjured a wall in front of him and a rubber ball in his right hand. The Nine Tails started throwing the rubber ball at the wall catching it every time it bounced and throwing it back at a steady pace.

The Sage materialized on top of Kurama's head.

"It is a decent plan." Commented the Sage.

"I gave him three days, and he delivers me a sinister, Shinobi style chaos. The plan is incomplete, full of holes, but the goal behind it is Kami damn rational and sensible. The Nara stretched Konoha's ANBU thin in his plan, but he can't help it after the loss of the Uchiha clan. The moment I saw the plan, I subconsciously completed it for him and closed the significant cracks in it in my mind." Said Kurama.

"However, the golden chance of having all or most of your siblings brought to you in an all-out war guided you here, a struggle between your heart and brain." Said the Sage.

"Not my siblings, my sisters. My brothers, I know where they are, and they can wait for their turn after my sisters. I only know where Matatabi is at, and if I rush to her now, I risk alarming whoever has Saiken or Chōmei of my intentions. They can delay me for years by hiding them well when I have absolutely no clue where they are. It is a risk I'm willing to take with my brothers but not with my sweet sisters. Furthermore, Saiken can keep my brothers in check, especially Shukaku, I would not dare release him without her around." Kurama kept bouncing the rubber ball, awaiting inspiration like a particular doctor from a life long past.

"You can't do everything yourself; even I could not, without my brother by my side, I would not have accomplished anything. I would have been at best under my mother's thumb and at worst consumed with the rest of the planet by an omnivorous mad god." Said the Sage.

"What are you suggesting?" Asked Kurama.

"You have already sent a spymaster after your sisters; you had faith to give him the task, now have faith he will deliver or at least partially deliver." Said the Sage.

"Trust a human with my personal matters. What has the world come down to? Can't you locate my sisters' father?" Asked Kurama.

"I'm not omnipresent, omnipotent, or omniscient, that's Kami's domain if they exist. I have spent most of my time after death in the Whiteland, limbo. I only left to find you when I sensed the wheels of fate are once more turning to deliver us the long-awaited child of prophecy when you fell under the control of Indra's reincarnation. You, however, are connected to all your siblings, and they to each other, fragments of the same entity." Said the Sage.

"I could not establish a link with Gyūki when he was right next to me. We tried many times, I even have almost a tail worth of his chakra hidden away deep within me, but it made no difference." Said Kurama.

"You need to learn to trust in others, Kurama. You and your siblings have been judged all your lives, and there are only nine of you. There are a couple of billions of intelligent creatures on this planet; not all of them deserve to be painted with the same brush you have been using my son. Humans, more so than others, right, they are capable of appalling atrocities. Still, they are also capable of genuine compassion, kindness, and can act with honor. There are men and women out there who will die before they ever break their promises or oaths, you already know at least one, don't you?" Said the Sage.

"A baby does not count, father." Said Kurama.

"Just a baby? What about the mother, or the two boys you took as students? You keep at it with your students, and you may very well expect them to see you as the father they never had if one of them has not already, he certainly does adore you." Said the Sage.

"What? Pops, you have not been sniffing paint again, right?" Said Kurama.

The Sage sighed, took out his staff, and proceded to instill some respect in the disrespectful little shit.

"I try to have a serious conversation with you, and you...fine see if I don't revive Mito and have her again walk among the living." Said an irritated Sage.

"No! You would not dare!" Said the twitching, beaten down, Kurama with a broken voice.

"Dare? I will even use your life force to do it. Learn how to speak to your father next time, especially when he is trying to instill some wisdom in you." Said the Sage then disappeared from Kurama's mindscape.

"Father! Wait! I'm...F.u.c.k." Shouted the fox.

Kurama left his mindscape and opened his eyes, looking at the two awaiting Shinobis.

"I have thought about it. Your plan has the right idea; we will do it your way." Said Kurama.

Hizashi and Shikaku broke into faint smiles.

"Your plan is still missing a critical component. Aside from all the holes in it and the glaring lack of manpower needed for it." Said Kurama.

"What is it missing?" Asked Shikaku.

Kurama broke into a wide vicious grin, "A fox's tail touch."

Shikaku smiled, "I can't wait to hear it."

"Tell me first, what kind of man is our precious Daimyō-dono?" Asked Kurama.

"A fickle old man, weak-willed, easily manipulated, and a coward of the highest order." Said Shikaku.

"Ah! A man after my own heart, tell me, Nara-chan, can we, perhaps, honey trap him?" Asked Kurama with wicked anticipation.

"Hmm, his history is actually free of a.d.u.l.tery as far as I'm aware, the one good trait perhaps? Or maybe his wife is like mine, troublesome. Nevertheless, our Kunoichi...can make a eunuch feel like a man once more." Said Shikaku with a growing smile.

"I see, I see, Nara-chan, you know the recent Uchiha massacre have been really tough on our little Mikoto-chan, the loss of her husband truly broke her heart, the woman can't stop wailing and sobbing every night." Said a sorrowful Kurama.

"The poor thing. We can't allow it to keep going; we need to protect her precious little heart. Perhaps a change of scenery might help? Say, a trip to the Land of Iron accompanying our honored, great Daimyō?" Suggested Shikaku.

"What an excellent idea Nara-chan. Perhaps we even pick her mourning dress for her, the poor thing can barely see straight from all the weeping." Said Kurama with regret.

"Yes, of course, a modern black dress, two sizes smaller. We can also import an adorable little black mourning hat for poor little Mikoto to try an elevate her spirit." Said a thoughtful Shikaku.

"Come, Nara-chan, allow me to invite you to my private office, we can exchange ideas about the dress, and maybe add a bit of a fox touch to your lovely plan." Kurama stretched his fist to Shikaku, and the man did not wait long to answer the call.

Hizashi looked around confused, shrugged, and left to attend to the rest of his duties.

Shikaku appeared in Kurama's mindscape and whistled.

"I'm amazed, I only read about mindscapes before, and the best I could accomplish is to establish a mind palace to sort out my memories and notions. Perhaps you could teach me in exchange for the scrolls you memorized from my clan? My mind is in desperate need of some nice floating clouds." Said Shikaku.

"I'm a chakra construct, and mindscape comes with the territory, it was instincts. I can explain what a mindscape is to you, at a later date, I learned a lot from remodeling mine and my father's guidance." Said Kurama.

Shikaku sat down crossed legged, "Alright, enlighten me, what is the purpose of sending Mikoto as a personal escort? The plan is to hit the five Daimyōs on the road to Iron country, her presence will only, perhaps, strike at one target when we have much more than just the five Daimyō."

"This is the main problem in your plan. You have too many targets, the Daimyōs, their immediate successors, the a.d.u.l.t males in their families, and the political powerhouses in the five nations. You have to allocate so many black ANBU to target each Daimyō because you can't find a way to do it with fewer teams when they are all gathered together in one place." Said Kurama.

"It is an Iron country policy. Shinobi are not welcomed there. Mifune will have Samurai escorts awaiting each Daimyō and their entourage, right outside Iron country's borders. From this point forward, the protection details will be switched to Mifune's own trusted Samurai forces. Trying to infiltrate Iron country borders is unrealistic. The endless snow there is a natural defense against infiltrating Shinobi, not to mention the Samurai of Iron country are highly competent when it comes to catching Shinobi within their borders. Even if our team manages to reach their targets, it is not guaranteed they will succeed, then do the impossible, safely return to Konoha without leaving any tracks behind that link to us." Said Shikaku.

"Scratch that whole part of your plan. Black ANBU will only take care of the rest of our targets list. The five Daimyō will get Mikoto's soothing touch." Said Kurama.

"Eh? The woman has been retired for seven years now, she is far from being at her prime, and this is not a one-team job anyway, let alone a retired mother of two." Said Shikaku.

"You just said it yourself, retired for seven years, mother of two, what other completely unarmed women with Kunoichi history will Mifune allow in Iron country during a high alert state in the whole country? Even then, she will have to play the part of a helpless, harmless widow well enough to intrap the Fire Daimyō so he won't move an inch without her and hopefully forces Mifune's hands if he gets a little paranoid." Said Kurama.

"You have your own way then of ensuring Mikoto's success if she does get in." Said Shikaku.

"They are as good as dead if she does get in safely, it will also not lead back to Konoha, and she will return safely without incident." Said Kurama.

Shikaku frowned, he did not see how a single retired woman will accomplish the highest assassination profile in the history of the five great nations.

"Stop thinking about how and worry about getting her in. You will need to play the Uchiha's purge card well. I suggest 'Hachibi went into a rampage and killed the poor little Uchiha' or something like that. This is the most critical part. The world needs to buy a story that will get Mikoto in, and we are hard-pressed for time if we are to follow your plan instead of my original intention." Said Kurama.

"Very well, I will get it done. This is much simpler, and I won't have manpower issues any longer if I don't need to worry about how will the five Daimyō kindly move to the Pureland." Said Shikaku.

"Good, I will explain the plan for Mikoto personally, when you leave, send for someone to fetch my little band of tolerated humans." Said Kurama.

"Alright, anything else?" Asked Shikaku.

"Matter of fact, yes. All this talk about seduction reminded me of a future star in this art. Where is the snake princess, Anko Mitarashi, currently at?" Asked Kurama.

"Orochimaru's Genin!? If I remember correctly, she was recently field promoted to Chūnin by the Fourth." Said Shikaku.

"Oh? So she escaped the clutches of her sensei by complete coincidence. This makes her a target, I don't think Orochimaru will leave her alone for long. Have her sent to me for a quick chat. Report to Hizashi that the teme might come after her soon, or send someone to do the deed in his stead." Said Kurama.

"Seriously? Will he go that far for a child no older than 11 or 12 years? What could he possibly want with her?" Asked Shikaku.

"He is a vile man. I can make a long list of the things he would love to do to her. However, what will drive him is the potential he sees in her, from his point of view, she is a priceless experiment subject." Said Kurama.

Shikaku sighed, "Alright, I will make a report immediately and have ANBU escort her to you. Take it easy on her, will you? Chunin maybe but still a child."

"I mean her or any other child of any race no harm or harbor ill intent, of that you should be confident. You and the other current-generation, though? Yeah, I would pray every day, if I were you, that I don't get the itch to decorate the mountain we are on with your guts." Said a half smirking Kurama.

Kurama kicked Shikaku out, and the man went on his way.

'Now, where did my old man go? I should not have hidden my embarrassment by dissing him like that, stupid, I still have growing up to do after a thousand years, what a wasted life.' Kurama shook his head at himself.

Far away from Konoha, in a hidden location deep underground, two individuals were holding a conversation.

"You need to calm down." Said a masked man.

"Calm down? Madara-sama plans are in great jeopardy! I'm his will, and I can see decades of planning crumbling around us." Said an utterly black figure.

"Setbacks, no more than that. We are moving forward nicely, and the fox has always been our last target, why worry about him now?" Said the masked man.

"It is those damn eyes, it took Madara-sama so long to figure out how to achieve them, and he only had them at the end of his life. How did the beast get them? How is it even possible, he has no flesh or blood, and more than anything, he is just a chakra monster." Said the black figure.

"I'm surprised as much as you are. If I were not wary of the Yondaime speed and had Kamui active in anticipations, I would have died to the fox surprise attack. You are our spy, and you will figure it out eventually." Said Obito.

"You don't sound worried at all." Said Black Zetsu.

"Why should I? As I said, he is the last game, and he is already doing us a favor by placing his chakra into two different targets for us to take when the time comes if we could not get our hooks in him. We have everything to proceed as planned, Nagato is already making good progress furthering his ability to control the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. All is well and good." Said Obito.

"What if the fox summons the statue? What then? Nagato summoned it for the first time in a fit of rage, and the fox is all the rage in this world." Said Black Zetsu.

"It is a potential problem. We will have to figure out a way to completely isolate the Demonic Statue from anyone aside from Nagato." Said Obito.

"What about your exposed identity? You never told me how the fox learned who you are from just one look. It was like he was waiting for you specifically, anticipating your actions." Asked Black Zetsu.

"It is not strange for a chakra monster to remember every chakra signature he came across. I was around his previous host a lot in my adolescence years." Said Obito.

"Fine. Still, we should not let the beast do as he pleases for long. I'm the only one who can get anywhere near him without getting noticed, but I can't keep doing it forever. I have a lot on my plate already, for me to worry about what a beast with eyes he has no right to is doing all the time." Said Black Zetsu.

"Then find a suitable vessel to seal him in; it is about the best thing we could do for now. Until then, we ignore him and keep moving forward with our plans." Said Obito.

"An Uzumaki survivor will do nicely. We can sell them to the highest bidder and help the buyers acquire the Nine-Tails." Said Black Zetsu.

"Good luck with that, we will speak about it once more if you have something we can work with." Said Obito before he teleported away using Kamui.

Back in Konoha, a girl with purple hair was busy chewing a piece of gum and blowing bubbles. Four masked ANBU suddenly surrounded the snake princess.

"Eh? What did I do? I did nothing wrong!" shouted Anko.

"Anko Mitarashi, you have been summoned, and you are to report immediately." Said one of the four masked ANBU.

"Hokage-sama wants to see me? What for?" Asked Anko.

The four ANBU looked at each other, then shook their heads in sympathy at the little girl's fate.

One of the ANBU put his hand on Anko's shoulder and flickered away with her.

"Shall we start praying for her soul?" Said one of the ANBU left behind.

The other two nodded and prayed silently.

Anko appeared at the Hokage mountain steps with ANBU.

"Hmm? Where is Hokage-sama?" Asked Anko.

"It is not Hokage-sama who summoned you; it was the Kyubi." Said the masked ANBU.

"What? Me?" Said Anko terrified.

"By name." Answered the man.

Anko immediately turned around and bolted. ANBU sighed and went after her.

Half an hour later, a masked ANBU flickered in front of Kurama with Anko tied with ninja wires.

"Why is she tied?" Asked Kurama.

"Hai! Kyubi-sama, she tried to run away when I told her you summoned her." Said ANBU now kneeling on one knee.

"Hmm? Anko afraid? I'm disappointed in you, Anko-chan." Said Kurama in a low tone.

Anko could not get the courage to look up at Kurama, she was shaking, and dread seeped through her bones.

"Untie her and leave us." Ordered Kurama.

ANBU did as commanded, untied Anko then flickered away.

A tail shot and wrapped around Anko's petite body. Kurama lifted her so she can look at him.

"You are the snake princess, and you are better than to allow the fear of the unknown overcomes you." Said Kurama.

Anko did not hear a word coming out of Kurama; she was frozen stiff.

Kurama blew hot air at her face to wake her up from her state.

"AHHHH! Kyubi..sama...I'm sorry, whatever I did, I swear I won't do it again." Stuttered Anko.

Kurama was thoroughly disappointed now. It is not the Anko he expected, just a scared child. How could she? She is not the girl who suffered greatly at the hand of her mentor just to be called a snake whore by the villagers when she was rescued.

"Anko, listen well, and remember my words." Said Kurama in a stern voice.

Anko nodded fearfully.

"I'm close to a thousand-year-old, in all my long life, I never have, not once, intentionally or accidentally, harmed a single child, human or otherwise, in any shape or form. You will not be the first, so get a hold on yourself and act like the snake princess I expect." Said Kurama.

Anko looked wide-eyed at the beast and nodded.

Kurama put her down, and she immediately plopped on her b.u.t.t, her legs not carrying her.

"Show me your shoulder blades and neck." Said Kurama.

Anko just kept staring at Kurama, and slowly did as she was told.

"Truly, the misfortune of some is a great fortune for others. You have escaped a terrible fate Anko by sheer dumb luck, provided by yours truly." Said Kurama.

Anko did not understand anything and just nodded.

"Your traitor of a teacher had perverse plans for you. He wanted to place a repugnant seal on you. It would have made you suffer greatly and tainted you with a piece of his wretched soul for a very long time." Said Kurama.

"Really?" Spoke Anko for the first time now scared of something else aside from the Nine-Tails.

"Yes, If I did not expose him when I did, he would have kidnaped you in broad daylight as he became a missing-nin. You have escaped that terrible fate, but you are not out of the woods yet. Orochimaru does not strike me as a snake who will let his pray go because of some unexpected events. You will need to be careful and not fall for one of his traps." Said Kurama.

Anko nodded.

"Alright now to the reason why I have called for you. You did sign the snake contract correct? I can smell snakes on you." Asked Kurama.

Anko raised her arm and showed the content of her sleeves to Kurama; small snakes slithered on her arm.

"Great, summon a snake that can deliver a message to Manda for me." Said Kurama.

Anko did as she was told and summoned an orange snake.

The snake looked around, and when she saw Kurama, she hissed deeply and hid behind Anko.

"What is your name?" Asked Kurama.

"Madoka." Said the snake from behind Anko.

"Madoka, I have a message for you to deliver to your boss, Manda. You are to tell him that he is to show his ugly head in front of me post-haste for a friendly chat; otherwise, I will come to Ryūchi Cave myself. The purple reptile can expect to be manufactured into new shoes, sold right here in Konoha if I'm forced to push my brilliant self to unearth him." Said Kurama.

The orange snake nodded and poofed away.

A while later, a small snake slithered to the silently sitting Anko. It climbed up her arm all the way to hiss in her ear. Anko nodded in understanding and addressed Kurama, "Manda says I can summon him now."

"You do not have the chakra to do it safely, do you have a soldier pill on you? If so, swallow it before you try." Ordered Kurama.

Anko nodded, did as she was told, and attempted to summon Manda for the first time since she was never allowed to do so before.

A giant purple snake poofed into existence. Kurama shot a tail at the knocked out Anko from chakra exhaustion, gently moving her behind him.

The two beasts stared at each other wordlessly.

"What do you want, you detestable fox?" Said Manda.

Kurama smirked.

"Heavenly Attraction of All Creation," said Kurama.

Manda flew instantly towards Kurama's expecting claws. The white fur receded to be replaced by ominous red fur.

Killing intent spread out throughout all of Konoha's nearby regions.

Kurama tightened his hold on Manda and with his left hind leg stamped on the rest of Manda's body.

"it appears you are counting on returning to Ryūchi Cave if things got ugly here, what else will give you, a lower life form, the courage to look me in the eye, let alone insult me. Allow me to educate you kindly." Said Kurama in a low tone. Kurama left index claw extended to the max, and very slowly, he penetrated Manda's left eye. The giant snake hissed in pain and struggled hopelessly in Kurama's clutches.

Then the real pain came, red chakra forcefully invaded Manda's body from Kurama's left claw, it started boiling all the nerves around his eye socket.

"Now you have my chakra in you, go on, return to Ryūchi Cave, you are just a quick sprint away from me now, there is nowhere to hide from this, what did you call me again? Right, detestable fox." Kurama took his claw out of Manda's eye socket and picked the end of his body with his left hand.

Savagely and mercilessly, Kurama dragged the giant snake from its tail and started using Manda like a whip, banging the purple reptile head on the rocky ground repeatedly. Again and again, until Manda's blood covered the top of the Hokage mountain. Kurama threw the barely alive snake away, and Manda poofed back to Ryūchi Cave.

Kurama sneered and looked around at the gathered ANBU with their acting Hokage around, brought here by Kurama's unrestrained killing intent.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is how you get a snake to behave like a great little shoe the next time you meet him. He will be much more agreeable when I talk to him next time." Smirked Kurama and walked back to find a blood-free spot to laze around on.

Hizashi shook his head and signed for ANBU to go back to their stations.

"One day, just one day, without you causing an incident — dattebane." Huffed an irritated Kushina.

"Can it baboon b.u.t.t head." Said Kurama.

"You giant primitive furball, see if I don't prank you to death — dattebane," Shouted Kushina.

"Here, take her." Kurama flung Anko at Kushina using his tail.

Kushina caught her, and before she could ask, Kurama spoke, "Chakra exhaustion. She is an orphan, a vigorous seedling, take her under your wing and raise her well. I will take her as a student next year when I'm once again free to do so."

Kushina looked at Anko and had nothing but pity for the poor girl, Itachi and Shisui still have the occasional nightmares from Kurama's, fire breathing, exercises.

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