The similarities he finds between the Elemental Nations and this new world are too many for his liking. It's not much, not noticeable—but still there. The technology this world has is superior. Or that's what he gets from the explanations the girl, Sophia, tells him about whatever artifact they stumble. In three days he's learned from cars and helicopters to coffee machines. Guns and tanks are new but not surprising. These humans cannot use chakra to fight. It's obvious they'll find something else to harm each other. Terrifying weapons, not because they're more deadly. They offer detachment to the attacker, being able to kill someone at a distance without the need for hard training. Battles to death don't seem to exist here. Battles for death do.
Kurama hates this world more than his own. It disgusts him.
Perhaps he's lucky he's met this girl. He obviously needs the knowledge to understand this world, to try to search for a way out. The language is not different, but the writing of it is. That alone would be detrimental to fishing for some more information. He's no Naruto. He doesn't have the charisma to gain other's people trust so they can aid him. He's not him and doesn't want to. He knows torture is his only option, but… Naruto kind of screwed him over. With his words of friendship and easy smiles—his trust in him.
That smile before they separated, he knows it was for his sake. Naruto's actions before being thrown away to who knows where.—were meant to comfort Kurama. And he doesn't want to torture or seriously hurt humans that don't deserve it because for some stupid, idiotic reason he doesn't want to let Naruto's faith in him down. He doesn't want that bright, warm, trusting smile, one that has been directed at him, to turn into disappointment.
Not that he'd ever say it aloud. Or ever.
So… he really has been fortunate to have met Sophia first in this world. He hates humans, he really does, no matter which world they're from. He doesn't think he'd be able to remain civil with one. Or want to talk with one. However, kids are 'cleaner' in a way. Still innocent and not so full of those other darker human qualities. Dealing with kids it's easier and not only because the information is obtained faster from them.
Light manipulation isn't recognized in their naïve minds after all.
On the other hand, sometimes they're too innocent, too indifferent to the horrors of the world because their eyes choose to ignore them even when they're surrounded by crap. Naruto was like that once. Trying to protect his innocence with smiles and loud proclamations from the glares and harsh words of the civilians. But he did know. Oh, that he did. He tried to ignore it but it was impossible. He needed a wake-up call and it came in the form of a ramen vendor giving him free food for him to realize what could be, what he wanted to obtain. Then came his goal. His stubbornness did everything else.
This girl has a goal. What she needs now is her own wake-up call. Naruto's was gentleness while surrounded by harshness. What will be hers?
"Can we rest? I'm—I'm hungry."
Kurama glances at the little girl jogging next to him. Her face is flushed as she pants heavily, her speed slowly weakening with every step she takes. Her shirt has wet spots in some parts and her arms are full of scraps from each time they had to go through bushes.
They've been keeping a steady pace for about two hours because of the walkers they've seen near the lake, choosing to evade that horde completely and instead surround it. They've found some houses near and grabbed everything useful. Unfortunately for Sophia, the places are already empty and food is scarce everywhere they've been.
Kids are easy to obtain information from, but that doesn't make them easier to deal with. They're weaker.
He stops, and the girl does the same immediately, throwing herself to the ground as she tries to recover her breath. Her stomach rumbles, as it has been doing for the past half an hour. Understandable, considering her last food has been some cookies seven hours ago. Seeing her sweaty and tired makes Kurama decide to take some pity on her and help her. They've rested a day and have been on the move together for two days, mostly because of her as the lake wasn't that far. It's true she hasn't whined at all until now and he has learned a lot about this world's culture and what's actually happening, thanks to her. Maybe he can throw her a bone now.
Positive reinforcement and all that. The one-eyed teacher of Naruto did the same to train his ninken, it should work with her, too.
Turning his head around the clearing, they stopped. Kurama sniffs the air for a couple of seconds.
"What are you doing, Nine?"
Kurama glances at her. "Stay here. I'll return shortly."
"There's no walker near?"
"No."
"Okay then. I'll wait." Her previous sitting position dissolves with her words and she falls again to the ground. "Take care."
Kurama snorts and starts running. She's not worried anymore about the way she was the first time he told her he was going to disappear for a couple of hours, so it's an improvement. He still needs to know more than what a kid can offer and also replenish his chakra. He's no Sage; he hasn't a body for it to work for him, but he can still retrieve some energy from nature itself. This world is tainted by war and pollution, but he can draw bits of the earth's power and turn it into something he can use. As his chakra is still dangerous for others without Naruto to cleanse it, he needs a bit of space to work.
It's harder to do it while conscious, but until he doesn't have some secure base, he won't be able to sleep and recover. He can only meditate.
This time he's not going off for those reasons, though. He sniffs the air once more and there's a rustle of leaves above him.
Got you.
He's a predator. The one at top of the food chain. Fighting against a goddess is hard. Capture a simple animal to eat? Easy.
Now he only has to remember what little survival classes Kushina and Naruto took in the Academy. It's going to be hard because they were both knuckleheads that didn't pay too much attention.
-
"You want me to—what?"
Human's kids are harder to work with than he thought.
"You found that pocket knife, remember? You can skin the squirrel using that. The entrails will be harder to reach but still possible. The weather's getting colder so it'll last. "
The girl—The brat, because that's what she's now. She keeps giving him a horrified look as her eyes don't move away from the two squirrels with necks bend in weird positions. Her head is slowly shaking as if to erase what she's seeing in front of her. Kurama growls. His body tenses as he pushes down the killing intent. She looks so similar, but she's so weak. It disgusts him someone with his traits can be this weak-minded being. He doesn't like it. He wants to erase the evidence of it.
His tail darts forwards to grab the girl's right arm. She startles at first, her body leaning back and her doll falling to the ground, but blue eyes, turned bluer because of the unshed tears, look directly into his red eyes. They anger him at the same time they manage to calm him down and he snarls, claws biting into the soft ground as he lets his temper recede, turning it into annoyance.
"Listen to me, brat. The world you knew is gone. You're alone now and you'll need to do and learn things you don't like. I won't deal with someone who can even survive, so tell me: Do you want to find your group?"
A couple of birds sing from upwards as the girl's lips tremble, unaware of what happens in the same way the girl wants to keep being. Her eyes become watery and she clutches the grip on her doll once but he doesn't back down. His tail's grip tightens around her arm and Kurama wants to curse his lack of power because he cannot turn his paws into hands with opposable thumbs right now to use instead of his tail.
"Do you want to find your group?" he growls.
Her head bobs slowly, shakily, a couple of tears falling down her cheeks.
"Yes," she chokes, but it's too weak for his liking.
He can wait for her wake-up call, or he can make one.
Kurama grabs the pocket knife from the ground where it fell and places it in front of her. He doesn't give her the squirrels yet. He leaves them next to him and then flexes his muscles and jumps. It's easy to move from branch to branch, painful but easy.
One second he's up; the next he's on the ground, with her, small bird's wing between his fangs.
Kurama puts the flailing bird at her feet. The animal tries to fly, but the broken wing makes him unable to do so.
"This will be your food. Kill it."
The girl openly sobs, eyes not looking at the struggling bird, whose panicked sounds are getting louder with each movement it makes.
"It's going to attract walkers if you don't do it. Show me how much you want to survive."
A trembling hand grabs the knife while the other hovers uncertainly close to the bird.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she murmurs when she grabs the bird. It screams louder, head moving in every direction it can, but the knife is close to its neck and that stops some movements. She takes a shaky breath in and her head turns slightly away, eyes not daring to see what she's going on in front of her.
"Don't look away. It's a life you're taking. Don't you dare to ignore it and shrug it off just to protect yourself."
A whimper escapes her lips and he can see it in her eyes; the innocence leaving. She's realizing, truly now, what this world entails. Reality is crashing at her and she no longer has someone that will pat her head and tell her everything will be alright.
She gags after and cries for what she's lost, but Kurama is proud. He remembers Naruto's first kill in his training trip, the catatonic state he was in for a couple of minutes before he looked at Jiraya and said, "I want to change it. I'll change this world," choosing to face reality and embrace his innocence and naïve idealism.
Sophia hasn't killed a human, but this will mark her, he's sure.
What's going to happen to her next? She's no Naruto. He doesn't expect her to do and say the same, but he's decided to accompany her and he isn't going to let someone that physically similar to him be weak.
"Now, I'll teach how to skin a squirrel and cook a bird."
She timidly nods and stands up from where she threw up to move closer. She notices her doll on the ground, the little arm bloody because of the bird's blood, and hesitates. Her arm extends momentarily before her muscles tense and she retreats the limb. She glances at him but he's simply observing her actions without commenting. Her lips thin and a frown forms before Sophia leans down to grab her doll.
Good girl.
.
.
"You can walk on water?" she asks, her words filled with wonder.
Kurama glances from where he's on top of the water. This is the first time in three hours she has spoken a sentence. When he was guiding him on how to skin an animal and how to cook it she only gave monosyllables as an answer. Not even asking how he managed to lit a fire without help.
"Where I come from, people can do this. They can also walk on solid vertical surfaces."
"Everyone?"
"Just the warriors. They've all kinds of different abilities and powers. Some stronger than others."
"And that friend you mentioned, is he strong?"
He stops cleaning his fur and considers if telling her more will be counterproductive or not. She's a kid, that's right, but she'll grow. He looks at her and marvels at how strong a child can be. Bags are under her eyes and she's afraid, scared, but also determined.
"One of the strongest."
"Really? He must be pretty cool, then."
Kurama snorts. "He's an idiotic goof and a loudmouth. An overconfident stubborn. The kind that goes face-first into a problem without thinking. He must be probably whining about food right now. He's a glutton."
But he's also kind and warm, with an unwavering will and fierce loyalty even if one doesn't deserve it. He can change others; make others want to change and be better.
"That doesn't sound too cool. How's he like?"
"You share similar traits, actually. He has blond hair and blue eyes, too. His skin's much tanner though. He also has some birthmarks that look like whiskers. And an awful fashion sense. He loves too much the color orange."
He submerges entirely into the water before leaving it. He shakes his body next to Sophia and she scrunches her nose.
"Maybe that's why he's friends with you then. You're all orange."
Her words aren't meant to hurt, he can't sense any malice coming from her, just curiosity. They still make him halt and look towards the water tinted bright because of the sun. It's late; they should search for a place to stay for the night.
"Yeah… maybe that's why."
-
"Are you sure is this way?"
Kurama stops and lifts his head up to glare at the young girl standing next to him. "Kid, I'm lowering myself to follow this scent. Don't question me and remind me I'm acting like a mutt."
"…Sorry."
He snorts. He can already picture Naruto throwing reassurances and bright grins to lift up the girl's spirits while yelling at him about the proper way to treat small kids. It makes his lips curl up. He knows he should apologize. However, unlike Naruto, he doesn't care if he has hurt her feelings. Her world is already in chaos if mere words will be enough to bring her down then she's better done for.
Though he's had to admit she's got better. The day after their trip to the lake she asked him if he could trace her group. He was honest and informed her of the possibility. It brought her hopes up and they spend a couple of days like that with him teaching her how to survive and showing her the ropes of a shinobi's ways. He hates them but he's had to admit they know a couple of useful things about survival.
It wasn't until two days ago that he found a scent similar to the one in her doll. They've been following it ever since. It's faint but his heightened senses are better than a ninken. He can follow it. He's slightly concerned about the weather though. It's getting colder as winter gets near. They need a better place to stay away from the cold.
"Nine?"
"Now what?"
The girl doesn't complain but she does talk. A lot. He kind of misses the days she was afraid of him and concerned about bothering him.
He waits for her to talk again but she doesn't answer, keeping quiet. Kurama frowns because that's now weird. He looks over his shoulder and sees the urgent face the girl's wearing. Her legs are slightly bent and he knows already what she wants to ask. He mentally sighs. Human bodily functions are so bothersome.
"We'll stop for five minutes."
"Thanks," she murmurs before leaving to go behind a tree far away from him but not enough so he loses sight of it.
Kurama looks around and inhales. He has been following the scent for so long, that it's become familiar to pick it up and ignore others, that's why just then realizes how close they were from a horde of walkers. He doesn't know the exact numbers because the odor of rotten flesh is similar.
There's also another smell. One he's used to and can easily recognize. Sweat and dirt. Kurama closes his eyes to sense and the emotions come to him clearly. Fear, exhaustion, hopelessness.
Other humans.
Terrific.
They can go around them so as to not meet them but a couple of those walkers are literally in front of the strongest path the scent has taken as of yet. It's already late in the evening and rain it's going to start to fall soon. He can taste it in the humidity around him. They need to know if the scent keeps going forward or if it turns to another place. They could lose the trail and he's not too keen on spending more time trying to find it again.
The kid returns and Kurama informs her of what he's found. She looks up and a drop of water falls on her forehead. It's starting.
.
.
"You can walk on water?" she asks, her words filled with wonder.
Kurama glances from where he's on top of the water. This is the first time in three hours she has spoken a sentence. When he was guiding him on how to skin an animal and how to cook it she only gave monosyllables as an answer. Not even asking how he managed to lit a fire without help.
"Where I come from, people can do this. They can also walk on solid vertical surfaces."
"Everyone?"
"Just the warriors. They've all kinds of different abilities and powers. Some stronger than others."
"And that friend you mentioned, is he strong?"
He stops cleaning his fur and considers if telling her more will be counterproductive or not. She's a kid, that's right, but she'll grow. He looks at her and marvels at how strong a child can be. Bags are under her eyes and she's afraid, scared, but also determined.
"One of the strongest."
"Really? He must be pretty cool, then."
Kurama snorts. "He's an idiotic goof and a loudmouth. An overconfident stubborn. The kind that goes face-first into a problem without thinking. He must be probably whining about food right now. He's a glutton."
But he's also kind and warm, with an unwavering will and fierce loyalty even if one doesn't deserve it. He can change others; make others want to change and be better.
"That doesn't sound too cool. How's he like?"
"You share similar traits, actually. He has blond hair and blue eyes, too. His skin's much tanner though. He also has some birthmarks that look like whiskers. And an awful fashion sense. He loves too much the color orange."
He submerges entirely into the water before leaving it. He shakes his body next to Sophia and she scrunches her nose.
"Maybe that's why he's friends with you then. You're all orange."
Her words aren't meant to hurt, he can't sense any malice coming from her, just curiosity. They still make him halt and look towards the water tinted bright because of the sun. It's late; they should search for a place to stay for the night.
"Yeah… maybe that's why."
-
"Are you sure is this way?"
Kurama stops and lifts his head up to glare at the young girl standing next to him. "Kid, I'm lowering myself to follow this scent. Don't question me and remind me I'm acting like a mutt."
"…Sorry."
He snorts. He can already picture Naruto throwing reassurances and bright grins to lift up the girl's spirits while yelling at him about the proper way to treat small kids. It makes his lips curl up. He knows he should apologize. However, unlike Naruto, he doesn't care if he has hurt her feelings. Her world is already in chaos if mere words will be enough to bring her down then she's better done for.
Though he's had to admit she's got better. The day after their trip to the lake she asked him if he could trace her group. He was honest and informed her of the possibility. It brought her hopes up and they spend a couple of days like that with him teaching her how to survive and showing her the ropes of a shinobi's ways. He hates them but he's had to admit they know a couple of useful things about survival.
It wasn't until two days ago that he found a scent similar to the one in her doll. They've been following it ever since. It's faint but his heightened senses are better than a ninken. He can follow it. He's slightly concerned about the weather though. It's getting colder as winter gets near. They need a better place to stay away from the cold.
"Nine?"
"Now what?"
The girl doesn't complain but she does talk. A lot. He kind of misses the days she was afraid of him and concerned about bothering him.
He waits for her to talk again but she doesn't answer, keeping quiet. Kurama frowns because that's now weird. He looks over his shoulder and sees the urgent face the girl's wearing. Her legs are slightly bent and he knows already what she wants to ask. He mentally sighs. Human bodily functions are so bothersome.
"We'll stop for five minutes."
"Thanks," she murmurs before leaving to go behind a tree far away from him but not enough so he loses sight of it.
Kurama looks around and inhales. He has been following the scent for so long, that it's become familiar to pick it up and ignore others, that's why just then realizes how close they were to a horde of walkers. He doesn't know the exact numbers because the odor of rotten flesh is similar.
There's also another smell. One he's used to and can easily recognize. Sweat and dirt. Kurama closes his eyes to sense and the emotions come to him clearly. Fear, exhaustion, hopelessness.
Other humans.
Terrific.
They can go around them so as to not meet them but a couple of those walkers are literally in front of the strongest path the scent has taken as of yet. It's already late in the evening and rain it's going to start to fall soon. He can taste it in the humidity around him. They need to know if the scent keeps going forward or if it turns to another place. They could lose the trail and he's not too keen on spending more time trying to find it again.
The kid returns and Kurama informs her of what he's found. She looks up and a drop of water falls on her forehead. It's starting.
.
.
They continue talking, relaxed now that no walkers are near, sharing what they did before the outbreak happened and asking how Sophia survived for so long. She answers, not giving details but telling them enough for them not to ask for more as he taught her.
Kurama doesn't move from where he is. Mostly because there's blood everywhere and he can't walk without stepping on some. He's been breaking necks instead of biting or using his claws as he doesn't have the chakra to spend cleaning his fur, or walking on top of the blood as he did at the lake. It's all the old way now apparently and water is scarce.
He's still clean from his trip to the lake and he isn't going to dirt his fur so soon. Especially with dead bodies' blood. The cleanest way for him to walk off is if someone turned around the dead guy at his left so he can jump on top of him and go to the cleaner parts. These humans thought of using weapons that are the kind that left all bloody so everything's a mess.
Kurama's still debating if he's going to degrade himself and ask for some assistance when the Sasha woman spots him while doing her self-appointed mission of checking if every fallen walker is really dead.
"A fox?"
Her voice is loud enough to make the others turn and he can see their eyes widen at his form.
"I've never known they could be this big," Donna adds, her hand moving to cover her mouth.
Sophia seems confused at first. She looks at them, following their line of sight before locking eyes with him. She's surprised as she opens her mouth to talk when the older, thin man approaches him with his weapon, a club. That makes her react as she goes to stand in front of him.
Kurama wants to scoff. Is not as if he needs help but that he doesn't want to move. Sophia's actions are enough to make Adam stop though. The girl glances briefly at him again, this time in the same way she did when he first woke up and she was curious to know what he was.
"He's Nine. We've been traveling together for a while."
"That's a fox. You do know they're wild animals, right?" says the teenager with a slightly condescending tone.
"He's right, Sophia. Foxes are not pets."
This time he does scoff. Damn right he is not one.
Sophia shakes her head. "He saved me. He's my friend."
The words bring an odd sense of Deja Vu that makes it easier to ignore her motions for him to stand next to her as if he were a mascot. When she notices he hasn't moved, she turns around completely and asks him what's wrong.
She's smart enough to know it's not going to improve things if the Big Fox suddenly turns into the Big Talking Fox, so he doesn't answer, choosing to point with his tail at the less bloody dead body.
"Oh."
She moves the body so he can use it as a bridge and smiles brightly at him, opening her arms wide so as to hug him. The people behind her gasp but she ignores them.
Kurama gives her a raised eyebrow, unimpressed, before jumping with regal movements and head held high next to her, making sure his waving tail smacks straight on her face. Looking over his shoulder, he nods mentally at seeing Sophia rubbing her face.
"That was mean, Nine."
He smirks briefly and gives the others a nod of acknowledgment as he continues walking towards the scent.
"Nine, where are you going?"
Kurama ignores the murmurs going at his back as he gestures to the girl ahead.
"Maybe we can stay for a while?" she says throwing a glance at the others.
Kurama points his tail upwards.
"Yeah, I know it's late. We should make camp and—"
Growling, he points upwards for a second time until she realizes what he means.
"The rain... The scent is that way then?"
He nods and she turns to the others who stayed silent while watching their interaction.
"I can't stay, sorry. Nine's helping me find my mom and her group and the rain can erase the trail so we need to go."
Tyreese is the one who steps ahead. "You're just going to follow that fox?"
"We're near. That's why we need to find it before it's too late."
"That direction leads to the highway, doesn't it? We were going towards it so we could follow it and find some stores or houses. Maybe we can go together?" says Tyreese, glancing at his group.
"Well, she's just a girl," adds Sasha, looking curiously at him. "It'd be better if we helped each other for now. You said you've already been in the south. We came from the west, so some info about what's going in there would be helpful."
Donna sighs. "It's true, besides winter's close and it can be difficult to be alone in that time. What do you say, Sophia?"
She glances at him and Kurama simply shrugs. He would prefer to be around fewer humans but if Sophia's group is already dead then he can leave her with them and then search for Naruto by himself.
Sophia nods and smiles at them. "Okay then."
.
.
"So how did you say you met this fox?" Sasha asks. They've been walking for half an hour together mostly in silence in case there are walkers near, but they've not sighted anything dangerous so they're relaxed.
"Well, I was trying to go to the houses near the lake because I hoped to find food. Some walkers surprised me but Nine helped me. I think I remind him of his real owner."
Kurama who's in front of the group suddenly stops and turns his head to growl at Sophia. The group steps back, startled, as they unconsciously press their weapons close to their bodies.
Sophia is unfazed as she looks at him with a frown. "Um, right. No owner… I look like your idiotic friend then?"
Kurama nods and continues walking forward, ignoring the hushed whispers.
After a couple more minutes, Adam pushes his slightly wet hair away from his forehead. "We should search for a place to cover from the rain. It will grow worse and we can't afford to get sick in this time."
The others start nodding, making sounds of agreement and plans for the night. Sophia looks at him and Kurama points his head towards a hill. They're really near. The scent's not strong but it's clearer than before. As if they've been more than a couple of times there. It's mixed with some kind of smoke and dry plants he can really recognize thanks to the rain but it's there. He dashes forward.
"We're near," she says.
"You said that before but how do you know that, Sophia?"
"Nine says so, let's go!"
She runs behind him but he's the first to reach the highway. There are lots of those cars she told him about before and he goes to the specific one with the scent of Sophia's mother. There's no human near but he still jumps on top of the cars and when he reaches the one with the food he inhales the cars alongside it where he can catch the scent of other people, memorizing them before the rain erases it.
"We separated near here," she murmurs. "There were walkers and… They left me food and a blanket."
Donna stands behind her and extends her arms to offer her a hug but Sophia turns around and walks to where he is. She kneels, blanket pressed against her chest, tears forming in her eyes but it doesn't stop her to look him directly into his eyes.
"It's raining. Are we going to be able to find them?"
He frowns. Kurama's not the kind to give empty promises. Or pull a Naruto and work to turn the promise into reality with every fiber of his being. It's not him so he doesn't even try.
"I memorized the scent," he whispers instead, softly enough for only her to hear. It's not a promise but a fact. And it seems to help her regain her bearings. She slowly nods and stands. This time she does accept Donna's hug.
- Naruto -
Ero-sennin has always said he has a screwed-up relationship with Lady Luck. That or he was her favorite plaything. He has good luck with chance games and the kind, but whenever something that's supposed to be simple that he has to do comes to him, he knows it's going to turn dangerous in a snap. He doesn't even remember being in a C-rank that hasn't turned into a B or an A. Sometimes even S.
He's never believed Ero-sennin's words to be true. But waking up in a new world to find being unable to move, every muscle in his being aching while his skin screams in discomfort, well, it makes him question the validity of his words. There are groans all around him, but when he looks from the corner of his eyes to take a look at his surroundings as he doesn't want to attempt to move his head, he only sees his skin turned as red as those times he came off from using the fourth tail.
His connection with Kurama's chakra is much, much better so he knows is not that. Most likely is thanks to the sun shining annoyingly bright above him.
Naruto wants to stand up and see what those groans are. He makes his fingers twitch and that action is enough to make him curse.
So moving is a bad idea then.
He sighs and closes his eyes, ignoring the sounds near and letting the warm sun burn his skin even more. He hopes Kurama and Sasuke are faring better.
Hopes can't really affect reality, though.