So while Seijuro was having his moment and maybe planning some truly diabolical plan to get rid of certain people—

Somewhere else, he was spending time with Kushina. He wanted to see how she was handling her Bijū.

"So how is he? Or she?" he asked, looking at Kushina.

Kushina had a thoughtful expression.

"Technically, he doesn't have a gender... but he prefers 'he.'"

Neat. Good to know. Though thinking about it too deeply, it did make sense that a Bijū didn't have a gender. They were quite literally just piles of chakra—and imagining Bijū with actual genitalia scared him.

He could see it now: Shukaku with his sandy smeat, the Two-Tail with the catussy, and the Three-Tail with turtle meat.

Truly nasty.

What about the Four-Tail? He was like the proud monkey of the west. Wasn't that just nice—seeing a bipedal creature with its meat swinging around? Lava-enhanced cock smack.

The Five-Tail was probably either hung... or—

Let's not talk about it.

The Six-Tail was a slug. If the beast inherited slug biology... hm, he'd rather not think about it.

Chōmei was a bug, so that was safe—but thinking about it now, the beast flying in the sky and then you noticing an Eight-Tail out of nowhere—

Yeah. The Eight-Tail. He had no clue about its characteristics and would just assume it was probably a guy...

Heh. Not good.

And then there was the Nine-Tail... oh hell nah. That shit was not something you'd want to see.

Meanwhile, Kushina looked proud of herself.

"I'm guessing you got his name?" Seijuro asked.

"You betcha, dattebane!"

Hm. Her verbal tick still stayed.

"Neat. So what is it?" he asked carefully.

"Kurama," she responded, looking at him.

"Hm. So his name's the same as my clan name. How fun," he said calmly.

{I was born way before your clan, so your name is the one that's the same as mine,} the beast growled in Kushina's mind.

She had a wry look on her face.

"You got his name. That's nice. You can't befriend someone without a name. Now, what would you do?" he said, looking at her, wondering if she remembered the guidelines for making friends.

"I asked the fox for his hobby, but he was being mean the whole time," she said, sounding annoyed.

"Well, can't really expect him to soften up so quickly. At least you made some progress."

The thing was, she wanted more—but she couldn't get more. The fox didn't want to be friends with her.

But oh well. At least she was trying.

If she was honest with herself, she hadn't wanted to do this at all in the beginning. Like—why even try? But her brother asked it of her, so she decided to listen.

And over time, she got to learn the beast's name. She was even able to draw more of its chakra as time went on.

She'd gained some abilities in the meantime. Her seal, currently, was just as tight as it had been when she first received it. It had been a bit loose, and since Kurama told her he liked prairies, the scenery in her mental cage was now a prairie the Bijū could run around in or sleep in. She didn't mind at all.

For the most part, the Bijū kinda ignored her—and if needed, allowed her to take some of its chakra.

She could go Stage 2. Four Tails. So yeah, she had a good grasp of the beast's power. Not all of it, mind you—not even half.

She would lose control at Tail 7. This is why she limited herself to Tail 4, as this was the most efficient stage for her.

"Let me see your progress. Let's spar," Seijuro offered.

She beamed. She wanted to show her ANBU boyf/brother that she'd gotten stronger.

Kurama's ears perked up at that.

{Brat... she like y—}

"SHUSH, Kurama!" Kushina immediately tightened her seal. Fuck no.

He would not hear that.

Seijuro turned to face her.

"You okay?" he asked softly.

"Yeah, I'm all right, dattebane!"

Hm. Good to know.

They walked toward the training area, where he got into his fighting stance, getting ready for her.

It should be fine.

He took in a deep breath, absorbing a shit ton of nature energy into his body, using that energy to nurture his cells, to help him achieve—

Sage Mode.

After absorbing a shit ton of sage energy, Seijuro awakened Sage Mode.

Opening his eyes, he looked at Kushina, his presence feeling one with nature.

"I'm ready..." he said calmly.

Kushina, noticing this, nodded—before her body began to get cloaked in red chakra. She was entering her Bijū Cloak: First Stage.

Her pupils slitted, she had whisker marks on her cheeks, her canines sharpened, her nails lengthened, and she dropped to all fours.

Four tails formed behind her—lashing gently in the air like chakra whips.

"Here I come," She roared, preparing to launch at him.

A/N. Wow…even after all I did, why the fuck is the closest thing to my mom in love with this prick.