Chapter Text
Everything was going to hell. No one knew where Minato was, the ninetails was rampaging in the village and no one knew what to do.
Hiruzen is standing before the towering beast. It's chakra so oppressive and full of hate that he has to flare his just to fight it off. He needs to buy time and keep it's attention on him while his shinobi evacuate the village. Hopefully Minato would arrive soon. If anyone has hopes of sealing away the beast, it would be him.
The figure looms closer. It roars and lifts an angry paw. Hiruzen braces himself with chakra and prepares to catch it, except it never lands.
A figure stands in front of him, shockingly white in the dark of the night. He is pale as snow, from the lengthy white hair to the one armed robes he wears, broken here and there by accents of blue. Even the sword case, which Hiruzen notes is unsheathed, is pale.
He stands up straight, an arm to his jutted hips while the Kyubi seems to have frozen in front of him.
"Kurama," the stranger barks one word and he sees the fox's face smoothen, eyes widening. The rage and anger is gone, replaced by sheer disbelief. Even more so when the stranger flares chakra so potent and pure it feels almost like the Kyubi without the taste of hatred and malice.
"You..." The fox's voice was rough, and Hiruzen was not prepared for it to speak. Was not prepared for the hurt and disbelief in the entity that they all thought was nothing but a mindless beast. "How are you here." Alive, he doesn't say but Hiruzen hears it anyways.
"Asura too," the stranger responds and the Fox's eyes widen further. The third is even more unprepared for the hint of fear he sees in them.
"A..asura?" It's almost comical, how the massive beast's ears droop, his tails dropping slowly, almost mindful of where they fall.
"Uhuh, Asura's here too. Now how do you think would he react if he finds you throwing a tantrum like a week old kit?" The man lectures and impossibly, the fox's ears droop a bit more and it takes a tentative sit in front of them.
Hiruzen is gaping. As is every other shinobi he is with. This stranger has saved them, stopped the rampaging fox in front of them with a few choice words as if it were a mere disobedient puppy.
"I didn't do it!" If Hiruzen could swear drop right now, he would. The whine the Kyubi gives is entirely childish and does not remove the image of a toddler being chastised by it's guardian. "The humans made me do it! And then they had the gall to lock me up like I'm some mere beast!" It snarls and rages and Hiruzen is hit with a surprising amount of shame.
He thinks back on how the jinchuuriki started. Of Madara controlling the beast, and Mito sealing it into herself when they didn't know what to do with it after. Then the capture and sealing of the rest of the tailed beasts, who really didn't want anything to do with people before.
"I know," the man, Indra, said. He jumps forward, landing in front of the tailed beast who lowers his head to look the other man in the eye.
"I know the pain, little one." Hiruzen's eyebrow raises here, because there is nothing little about the tailed beast. "But you should know better than to lash out in hatred. Father has taught us better."
"Father wouldn't have created us just to be sealed into human's either, Indra!" the fox snarls and that makes Hiruzen stop short. Because he has heard of that before. Of the origin of the tailed beasts once, and for this two to call one person father..
"I know, Kurama. But it is needed. We need you safe, brother. Come, Asura is waiting," and before Hiruzen could say anything the two vanish in a whirl of chakra.
He is moving before he realizes, going to where he knew Minato is, even as he sees the Kyuubi materialize into being in the same direction. He bark's orders for evacuation and medical attention to the shinobi he leaves behind and allows Kakashi to accompany him by his side.
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"Kurama!!!" Sasuke, or rather, Indra, sighs. He had expected this. He ignores the gaping fourth, who was cradling a crying baby Naruto with a dead Kushina in his lap, and moves to sit directly on top of one, passed out, Obito Uchiha.
It is entirely unnecessary of course. He's sealed so tightly, he wouldn't even be able to twitch his fingers, much less use the kamui. It's petty, but he has never claimed to be anything else otherwise.
"So, what has the idiot told you?" He finally asks, gesturing to Naruto, Asura, who is cuddling Kurama and giving the gigantic fox neck rubs. A memory, of Kurama just as tall as Indra is with too wide paws and too big eyes, flashes into his mind and he snorts at his brother.
He turns back to Minato who is once again staring at Asura. "Has he told you he's your kid yet?" It has the desired effect of getting every inch of the blonde's attention, and he blatantly disregards Asura's indignant protests. "We agreed he'd be the best person to know, dobe."
"I already told him the future Teme!" For all that he is a formidable shinobi now, Naruto still flails and sputters as he makes his way back to them. Kurama follows soon after, eyes still half droopy the way it gets after he's been scratched in that spot behind the ears. "He didn't need to know that."
"I really think I would want to know something like that, Asura-kun," Minato disagrees, eyes soft. "Or should I call you Naruto?"
"Ah, I think I'm much more than just Naruto now," He answers with a rueful smile. This makes Kurama's eyes open wide, finally paying attention to the conversation. "We're as much Asura and Indra as we are Naruto and Sasuke."
"For what it's worth, I am proud of you." Minato finally said with a soft smile.
Sasuke let's them have their moment. He isn't rude enough to do that to the dobe right now who he knows wanted nothing more than to be acknowledged by his father even though the man is just shy a decade older than them now.
Still he senses other shinobi approaching, and he turns to the two. "We need to talk about what's going to happen. Now."