The Legend of the Kyubi

"Someone please bring in the participant, Hinata Hyuga" - said Hayate as he started coughing again.     

"Someone to take his place so he can go to the doctor" - said Kiba as he looked at poor Jonin. He had already recovered although this was because Kurama had only knocked him out and had done him no harm - "I'm sure he's already past the maximum capacity of blood he could vomit..."     

"Don't worry, Kiba Inuzuka... this is normal..." - said Hayate with a slightly pale face - "I just need to rest a bit when this is over"     

"I am sure you will end up resting forever," the Inuzuka muttered as he shook his head.     

"I'm sorry I'm late..." - said Hinata as she was moved in a wheelchair by her father.     

Kurama nodded when she felt the calm aura of her teammate, especially when she saw how a loving aura surrounded the stoic-faced man. It was obvious that these two were beginning to make the right amends to their father-daughter relationship.     

"Relax... you're on time" - said Hayate as he nodded - "Now that all the participants who passed the first round are here, it's time for us to give the instructions for the second part of this test..."     

"First, the second part will take place in one month... second, the fighters will be chosen right now, so it will be a good idea for them to research your opponent and create a strategy..." - Hayate said seriously - "Finally, the dynamic will be the same, a mini-tournament"     

"Question," said Shikamaru as he raised his hand, "does that mean only one of us can become Chunin?"     

"No" - denied the sick Jonin - "The fights will be observed by 5 trained Jonin, who will be responsible for judging different qualities... strength, performance, intelligence, adaptation and most importantly, the courage not to give up"     

". . ." - The Genins looked at each other while analyzing which would be the best or worst enemies to touch, it is clear that the most dangerous were Kurama and Gaara.     

"Now... I ask you to look at the screen... There you can see who your opponents will be," continued the examiner "Now... Let the draw begin!"     

Now let the draw begin!"     

The Genins stared at the screen which quickly began to draw their names.     

"First match! Ino Yamanaka vs Hinata Hyuga!" - exclaimed the examiner as the two teammates looked at each other seriously, though a small smile appeared on their faces.     

"Second Match! Sasuke Uchiha vs Choji Akimichi!" - Hayate exclaimed again as the two Genin nodded firmly.     

"Please don't let me get into a fight with any of the troublesome redheads..." - Shikamaru muttered as he began to curse his luck, though he was not the only one thinking that because Temari was also begging not to be touched by his brother or the red hottie from Konoha.     

"Third Combat! Shikamaru Nara vs Sabaku no Temari!" - Hayate exclaimed and in the process, making the two mentioned sigh.     

"Finally the Fourth Combat! Sabaku no Gaara vs Kurama Uzumaki!" - exclaimed the examiner.     

"So I have to fight you... brother..." - said Kurama seriously.     

"And expect no mercy..." - Gaara replied in a deep and wild voice - "I'm going to enjoy this so I hope you appreciate your last days of life because we won't see each other again for centuries"     

Kurama only snorted back.     

"Additional rules will be given when the fighting begins... any other questions?" - Hayate asked as he looked around but since no one raised their hand or spoke, he decided that that was enough - "You are dismissed"     

That said, he disappeared from the scene.     

"Congratulations to all the participants" - said Hiruzen as he looked at each of the 8 remaining Genins - "You can be proud of having come so far, especially knowing that it's your first promotion test..."     

". . ." - the Genins just kept silent as they listened to the Hokage's words.     

"That's why you can take a well-deserved rest now... remember, training is a good thing but rest is a good thing too" - smiled the Sandaime as he looked at each of them but stopped his gaze at the red-haired Uzumaki - "You are dismissed"     

"Hai!" - exclaimed the Genins.     

"Kurama Uzumaki... I ask you to stay..." - Hiruzen said seriously - "We need to talk about something important"     

". . ." - Kurama nodded when he heard this because he felt it was time for both of them to make things clear. They could not be ignoring each other forever.     

The girls from team 8 gave the boy a worried look but he only nodded as if to say that everything was fine.     

"I ask you to join Kaasan in escorting Kin and Karin to our home... we will talk there" - the redheaded man nodded as he smiled at his teammates, then looked at Kurenai, who knew more about the situation than anyone who had heard his words - "Everything will be fine".     

"Ok..." - the red-eyed kunoichi muttered as she nodded.     

* * * * *     

The two involved watched as everyone retreated from the arena of combat while they were looked full of confusion and curiosity.     

"Why did you ask me to stay, Hokage-sama?" - Kurama asked seriously as he went straight to the point.     

"I am still your Hokage, Kurama-kun... I don't think it's a good idea for you to talk to me like that..." - Hiruzen said as he frowned slightly.     

"Let me remind you that I am an Ambassador from Uzu and even though my village is no longer in the best villages, it is still an Ancient Village that carries the same weight as one of the five great Villages" - said Kurama seriously - "As Ambassador and Leader of the Uzumaki Clan, as well as Daimyo of Uzu no Kuni, I carry the same political weight as you, as well as the ability to call you by your name as an equal... all that being said... don't you think that referring to you as 'sama' is giving you enough respect?"     

". . ." - Hiruzen sighed when he heard this as he thought that fixing everything would be much more difficult than he thought. He continued to mourn the death of his only living son but after a while, he began to calm down as he saw everything from a political point of view.     

Did that mean that everything was forgotten?     

No... that was far from the truth...     

It only meant that he had found 'peace' with himself and the situation, leaving the possibility of recovering an old ally like the ancient Uzumaki Clan.     

"I am sorry about that, Kurama-dono" - Hiruzen said after he calmed down. "I wanted to talk to you about the possibility of regaining our old alliance.     

"I think you forgot something important, Hokage-dono," Kurama said coolly. "Where was Konoha when my clan suffered its near-complete annihilation? What happened to our allies when the blood of my people was being spilled while protecting their village? Don't you think that before speaking of an alliance, I would first have to explain why Konoha did not come to help us?"     

". . ." - Hiruzen sighed when he heard this because he knew this moment would come. He knew things would be like this when he heard that the last two Uzumaki on record would return to Uzu, his ancestral homeland.     

"I could even go much further, Hokage-dono," continued the red-haired young man. "I could ask for compensation for all the years you used our seals because the moment you broke the agreement, they ceased to be Konoha's property... that would leave the village in such a bad economic situation that you would practically have to sell everything to pay me..."     

"I know you won't do that because, despite everything, this village is still Kushina-chan's home," Hiruzen said seriously. He honestly didn't like being threatened but he couldn't do anything because everything the redhead said was true.     

"Don't worry... I don't plan on asking for that kind of compensation" - said Kurama while he snorted in annoyance - "Let's just say that in the future, Konoha will have to render his services free of charge to help the Uzumaki Clan rebuild Uzu..."     

"I think that's a fair price" - Hiruzen nodded - "After that?"     

"Then we'll see if we can regain our alliance with Konoha.." - Kurama answered simply - "Honestly, my ancestors would roll over in their graves if they heard me say to ally myself with you with open arms after all that happened... that is why you have to earn this alliance..."     

"Now that we're on the subject of politics... how about we talk about the business issue?" - asked the redheaded man as he removed two chairs from his storage seal next to a table and a teapot with tea - "As I said... our seals are no longer from Konoha so it's obvious we'll have to get some income... don't you think?"     

"You said you wouldn't take any compensation" - said Hiruzen as he looked at him in annoyance.     

"I said that about the past... not about the present and future..." - snorted the redhead - "Do you think I'll let them use our seals for free?"     

"How much you want" - said Hiruzen in annoyance. That's why I hated politics, especially when he was the one who was at a disadvantage.     

"Hmm... I'm going to be 'nice' to this one... I want 40%" - said Kurama while serving some tea for the two of them.     

"Impossible!" - Hiruzen exclaimed seriously - "If we give you 40%, we will be left without income! 25%"     

"Ok" - nodded the young Uzumaki. Honestly, he only needed 15% but more money wasn't bad, not to mention that he felt he would soon have to use them and even come up short - "Method of payment?"     

"End of the month," said Hiruzen as he shook his head. The paperwork for all this would be hell.     

"I guess that settles it," nodded the Redhead as he pulled a scroll from his storage seal and opened it - "Let's see... section 7 paragraph 5... hmm..."     

"What are you doing?" - asked Hiruzen as he raised an eyebrow.     

"A contract..." - the redheaded man muttered as he made a hand seal - "Fuin!"     

"!" - Hiruzen was surprised when he saw hundreds of letters appear inside the scroll.     

"You have to love the art of Fuinjutsu Uzumaki... We even created a seal that can translate our thoughts into words" - said Kurama as he handed the scroll to Hiruzen to read.     

Poor Hokage, he could only cry for the injustice. The redheads could create all sorts of documents with just a little bit of chakra while he had to spend all day writing endlessly.