Ch304. Grandmother's sadness

'So these are the so-called children of my eldest son...' Kaguya's voice gently resounded through Rei's head as he watched Yagura and Yugito spar, using full bijuu mode.

They were currently quite far from the Village on the Other Side, using one of the more remote, and therefore massive, training grounds. Two humongous beasts tore into each other with sheer physical might that rendered the surrounding country in shambles. Pieces of trees flew through the air, craters littered the ground, boulders were smashed into pulp...

The fight between bijuu was brutal and savage from the perspective of an outsider, yet, both Rei and Kaguya, who watched through his eyes, knew they were just playing around. After all, no bijuudama was involved.

Yet...

'Yeah, that's Isobu and Matatabi. The three-tails and two-tails respectively.' Rei nodded. This was the first time Kaguya saw what Hagoromo did with Juubi. The nine bijuu were created after she was already sealed and since Hagoromo basically adopted them, Kaguya was somewhat of a grandmother to them.

Needless to say, Rei had a blast feeling all the conflicting feelings within her through their mental connection. He already informed her she had two long-dead grandsons and also that their reincarnations are still plaguing the world.

Okay... using the word 'plaguing' might have been a bit too much but she didn't have to give him a migraine for an entire day because of it, no? Women...

That was the reason why Rei watched the Genin Test of Team Seven. After all, both the reincarnations of Indra and Ashura were there. That event was both fun and... not.

Seeing Kakashi's suffering was very entertaining. Seeing Kakashi brutally beat the shit out of Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata was also very enjoyable and nostalgic. It made Rei remember his own days as Jonin Sensei.

Unknown to him, Mei and Ringo involuntarily shuddered when he was remembering those times...

What wasn't fun was feeling Kaguya's feelings as she watched the spectacle. For the first time, Rei actually regretted making the mental connection between her and him. The sadness rolled out of her, seeping through the connection and ruining his merry mood. Kaguya wasn't sad because of seeing her grandsons' reincarnations. Nor was she sad that they were injured by Kakashi. She felt sad, regretful, and copious amounts of self-pity because she didn't feel anything watching Sasuke and Naruto. No familial love. No sudden spark and grandmotherly care. Nothing. Kaguya was sad because she simply couldn't bring herself to care about them.

Logically, she knew they were somewhat of a family to her. Yet, her heart refused to acknowledge it.

That sent Kaguya into a long pondering mood that ended with her requesting Rei to show her the bijuu created by Hagoromo. Hence... here he was.

'They are quite feisty.' Kaguya dryly remarked as yet another shockwave reached Rei's position, making his clothes flutter in the fierce wind despite the massive distance between him and the fighting bijuu.

'Yeah... they have been married just a bit over two years and they already pull their bijuu into their marriage quarrels. I wonder if it is the after-pregnancy crisis or if this will be the new norm in their relationship.' Rei wryly responded, thinking about the explosive relationship between Yugito and Yagura had after their daughter was born.

'So it's not the bijuu who is in control?' Kaguya rhetorically asked, already deciphering the answer from Rei's thoughts.

Rei knew the thing she asked and the thing she actually wanted to know were two different things. He didn't bother waiting for her to elaborate and ask a proper question and decided to answer what she wanted to know.

'No. Isobu is one of the laziest beings alive. In the past, he couldn't be bothered to fight even ninjas trying to seal him. Since I remade his seal, he is mostly sleeping his life away. Yagura can use bijuu mode only because Isobu allowed him to, stating it would be too troublesome having to be awake for every fight of his host.' Rei explained the circumstances between Yagura and Isobu's cordial relationship, feeling Kaguya's amusement through the mental connection.

'As for Matatabi...' Rei trailed off, feeling a bit awkward having to explain the cat, 'She is a massive pervert who just loves to nag Yugito to have sex with everything that walks. It is actually a wonder how she became like that, considering she is a chakra being.' Rei knew that while Matatabi might be a female in spirit but bodily she is asexual. That's why her antics were quite a curious thing. 'I personally blame faulty Kumo Seals.' Rei added.

'What do you mean?' Kaguya asked in confusion.

'You know how we have this mental connection between us, right?' Rei hinted at the answer and felt Kaguya's mild embarrassment.

The connection suddenly went silent, causing Rei to chuckle as he remembered Kaguya connecting to him when he had sex with Konan. Now that was both an amusing and awkward situation. Unfortunately for Kaguya, after Rei explained to Konan why he suddenly stopped, she showed not an ounce of care or embarrassment that Kaguya watched.

Poor Kaguya was trapped watching the two going wild at it while being mortified and feeling like a perverted voyeur. Yet, she was also far too curious for her own good to stop watching. Worse yet, some of Rei's sensations seeped through the mental bond...

Shortly put, Rei could hear two sets of womanly moans that night.

'You... stop remembering it! It's embarrassing!' Kaguya's aggravated yell made Rei rub his temples. 'You promised not to bring it up.' She mentally mumbled and despite the headache she previously inflicted upon him, Rei couldn't help but smile as he could clearly picture her blushing from head to toes.

'Yes, yes... I will stop embarrassing you now. Happy?' Rei teased with an eye roll. 'Don't yell again or I will cut out the mental connection.' Weirdly enough, he got a distinct feeling Kaguya pouted...

'Anyway... yeah. Matatabi probably had a few experiences with feeling and sensation leakage through seals which resulted in her perverted nature. She is quite an honest and kind individual though. If she wasn't, Yugito wouldn't live to see a double-digit age.' Rei wryly smiled, remembering the atrocious seal Yugito had on her body. Then again, it was no wonder Matatabi was both perverted and kind to her hosts with how they were treated in Kumo.

'A sloth and a pervert... what a great family legacy.' Kaguya deadpanned.

'Well, look at it from a positive angle. At least they are one of the most powerful beings on this planet.' Rei nonchalantly shrugged.

'That makes it even worse...' Kaguya mumbled. She had her hopes up for the bijuu as they were powerful enough to be able to help against the Otsutsuki clan. Getting to know that two of the nine were a pervert and a sloth was definitely not reassuring for her.

Rei wondered if he should tell her that Ichibi is murder-hobo, and Kyuubi hate-filled tsundere but decided that one revelation like this was enough for the day. He didn't want to bring her hopes down even more. Fortunately, he had the foresight to give himself a bit of leeway with their mental connection so he could hide his thoughts from Kaguya when he wanted.

'So? Do you feel anything for them?' Rei decided to change the topic and instantly got his answer when a wisp of resigned sadness seeped through the connection.

'No... I can't consider them as my grandchildren. No matter the circumstances behind their creation. The sheer thought of that is... ridiculous.' Kaguya sighed.

'Well, at least you are not giving me a headache with your self-pity this time.' Rei teased.

'Ass...' Kaguya harrumphed and cut the connection between them.

Well, Rei's comment clearly made the woman come to different thoughts. That was as good a win as any in his books.