14 A Cursed Seal from a Yuki-Onna (End)

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When I awoke to a dark place, I internally panicked. Who knew Koyuki would be that salty being called a Yuki-Onna and kill me in spite? But then, I registered the unknown ceiling and calmed down. I sat up and idly looked at the water pooling the ground. For some reason, I didn't get wet. I concluded that I was in my Mindscape.

The place was a gutter. It was spacious, empty, and unsightly. It reflected Naruto perfectly: a lonely kid who had great potential but was too focused on his misfortune. Well, the previous Naruto. Standing up, I clicked my finger and changed the scenery. The gutter disappeared, replaced by a blank white space.

Ahead of me was the gigantic cell entrapping the tenant inside my body, the Nine-Tailed Kurama. I walked to it while wondering why I couldn't see the cell's interior. That part wasn't under my control. The white space I created was to show Kurama that I was willing to open up. It seemed that he had to be willing to open up first for me to peer into the cell freely.

"Has my jailor finally come to visit me?" a deep voice rumbled throughout the space.

I stopped; not because I was afraid, but because I was figuring a way to fit my body through the bars. I wasn't afraid of Kurama killing me. Unless he had gone senile, he wouldn't want to die. In case he was, I could tell the moment I saw his eyes.

"You don't seem to be afraid, human."

The beast finally showed off his snout. I knew how big Kurama was, but he still astonished me. Looking at his eyes, I found resentment as he looked at me. He lowly growled, baring his fangs as I assessed him. A realization dawned on me. Even if Kurama couldn't kill me, he could still hurt me. If I pissed him, he might do that whenever I came here.

That's not going to happen.

To hurt me without killing me required a great amount of control. Kurama didn't have that, so he wouldn't even dream about trying. In the anime, he growled and snarled at Naruto but did nothing. That kid was more annoying than I could ever be, so it was safe to say that I would be fine.

"Yo, nice to meet you, Kurama!"

Kurama's reaction to my calling his name was instantaneous.

"You are not worthy of calling my name!"

A wave of killing intent that was strong enough to make me sweat washed over me. I wasn't bothered by the killing intent, but the wind Kurama's roar produced was annoying.

"Oh, shut the fuck up! It's just a fucking name. Don't be petty just because you don't like humans!" I ironically exploded. Kurama's Chakra was amplifying my temper. "Sorry for my outburst," I apologize, schooling my feature.

Kurama blinked and drawled, "You are a weird kid."

"How do you like to call you?"

"Hmph! I don't care. Just don't say my name vainly," he scoffed.

"Then, I am going to call you Fur-Covered Whiny Stuck-Up Cunt from now on."

Bam!

Kurama stood up and banged his hands against the bar. "Are you playing with me!?"

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. It's a pleasure to meet you, Fur-Covered Whiny Stuck-Up Cunt."

"I will kill you!"

A stronger killing intent washed over me. My body stiffened. The sensation was so foreign that it excited me. A manic grin crept up my face against my will as I looked up at Kurama. The towering fox glared down for a moment before losing his snarl. He retracted his killing intent and then lied down again.

"Tell me what you want, brat," he grunted.

"I am here to establish an amiable partnership with you until I achieve my goal which is world domination."

"Hmph! You no longer want to become a Hokage?"

"What has Konoha ever done for me?" I said more coldly than I intended. "You hate humans? We have something in common. I want to put them beneath my feet, so I need your help. As a repayment, I will release you and your siblings when I have achieved my goal."

"Aren't you afraid that we will threaten your rule if you let us free?" he scoffed.

"When that time comes, all of you won't be nothing more than house pets to me. I don't kill house pets and I certainly don't feel threatened by them."

Kurama became silent. He stared at me with his large orbs, dissecting me with his stare. I didn't falter, meeting his gaze resolutely. The furball might be as intimidating as he could, but he lived inside me. He had to abide by my rules.

"Hmph. I like it. You don't even bother hiding your negative emotions. I like those who are honest with themselves," Kurama smirked.

"Well, it's a pleasure doing business with you, Fur-Covered Whiny Stuck-Up Cunt," I said professionally as I extended my hand.

Kurama's mouth twitched. "Just call me Kurama," he growled.

"Well?"

I gestured my chin at my extended hand. Kurama grumbled again but extended one of his fingers, offering his long claw. I firmly grasped the claw and smiled professionally. I could tell Kurama was holding back a sigh. Poor guy; he might sigh more in the future.

Letting go of his claw, I said, "Until then, Kurama."

Kurama grunted like a certain Sasuke. I willed myself to get out of my Mindscape. My body felt light before abruptly getting heavy. I could hear various sounds again and my nose registered a fragrant vanilla smell. I was back in the outside world. Waking up, I was greeted by an unfamiliar ceiling. I sat up and noticed that my body had become more toned.

"You enjoyed your sleep, didn't you, Naruto?"

I turned to the owner of the voice and found Kakashi reading Icha Icha Paradise. He probably thought he was being slick, but I knew he was paying close attention to me instead of immersing himself in his book.

"How long have I been out?"

"Three days."

"Did I miss something?"

Kakashi put down his book and informed me of what had transpired after I had lost consciousness. As I had expected, the battle ended when my clone showed everyone Dotō's head. Dotō's forces immediately surrendered and the samurai took over. Koyuki decided to become the Daimyō of the Land of Snow and rose to power.

Everything went similarly to the anime except for the fact that Yukigakure citizens wanted to see me. Kakashi teased me about being dubbed as the Sunshine in the Snow for what I did and it wasn't amusing. I didn't care about what anyone called me, but I felt uncomfortable getting hailed for something I didn't consider noteworthy. Dotō and his goons were only citizens with weird devices. It was not that hard taking them down.

"I believe you deserved your rest, but you have to get up now. The Princess is waiting for you," Kakashi said offhandedly. "Also, I am proud of you, Naruto. Taking Dotō down by yourself is a feat you should be proud of."

"You weakened him greatly. He was not a problem," I pointed out.

"I believe not even a Chūnin could take Dotō down."

"Since I am better than a Chūnin, promote me already," I scoffed.

"Soon," he chuckled.

I blinked my eyes in surprise at the response. Shrugging it off, I stood up and found out that I was naked. I just flashed my teacher. It would have been a happy accident if the said teacher was Yūhi Kurenai or any other female Jōnin, but it was Hatake Kakashi.

"Uh… I don't swing that way," Kakashi said, looking away bashfully.

"What the fuck did you say to a child, you pervert!" I shouted, throwing a kunai at him.

Kakashi promptly left the room with a fit of giggle. I sighed in exasperation before cursing whoever thought it was a good idea to leave me naked. My eyes landed on a nightstand and I found my tightly folded pants there. There was a note on them, so I curiously picked it up and read the content.

I am sorry for being intrusive, but my conscience told me to do nothing upon seeing it. You see, you just experienced something that a teenager going through puberty goes through. I believe it is called a wet dream. I can't explain it in detail, but it happens when…

I skimmed over the rest of the note and looked at the writer of the note. It was, to my mortification, Koyuki. I hated this body. I thought Naruto had had his wet dream already. Sighing to calm myself, I crumpled the note. When I picked up the pants, the door was slammed open.

Bam!

"Naruto-kun!"

"Naruto!"

I groaned and cursed profusely in my mind. Of course, I remained collected from other's perspectives. I turned around and faced the culprits. It was no other than Koyuki and Sakura. Koyuki had a shade of pink coloring her cheeks as her eyes wandered downward. I would have screamed child predator if she wasn't pretty. On the other hand, Sakura had respectfully covered her face, opting to peek through the tiny gaps of her fingers.

"I am in the middle of dressing myself. I will meet you in a minute," I said stoically.

"Oh… Uh… okay," Koyuki replied dumbly as she closed the door.

It was a unanimous decision that we didn't talk about what had happened. Everything passed in a blur. We were forced to spend another day there as the civilians wanted to celebrate with me. They were annoying, but I got a lot of gifts, so I blessed them with my professional smile. Koyuki was nervous around me, but that might be because she felt guilty for what she had done. Sexual harassment happens to both genders, after all.

When it was time for us to return to Konoha, Koyuki finally womaned up. She took me aside in front of everyone, saying that she wanted to say something. A light smirk crept up my face. She didn't need to apologize, but I would accept regardless. The clueless people cheered and I ignored them. It was not a confession.

Chu!

At least, that was what I thought until Koyuki kissed me on the lips. I reciprocated as if I had expected it, but I was genuinely shocked by what happened.

"D- Don't forget to visit me again," she stuttered with a healthy blush.

The good thing was she was properly looking at me. I would have turned around if she had acted like a maiden in love that you could only find in anime.

"Sure. Nice kiss, by the way."

"Oh…"

She looked down this time, but I could understand it. I chuckled and then patted her head. Saying goodbye, I turned around and found everyone looking at us in amusement. I couldn't fault them. It was Koyuki's fault for not taking us to a more private area. It didn't bother me. As always, I took the attention in a stride. It was just a kiss.

But what the fuck just happened?

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Honorary Mention:

Faisal Salih

Florin Durbaca

Friday

Jamaul Pryor

Luck George