"FoOlIsH uChIhA gIrL!"

SREECH!

RIP!

***

A gruesome ripping sound drew Kaori's attention to where Mikoto was trying to subdue Kushina, the Kyuubi had pretended to be subdued and when Mikoto let her guard down, it attacked her. The red claws tore through Mikoto's apron, leaving a jagged gash across her waist. 

Kaori averted her eyes,

'Black lace huh? Naughty~ Mikoto-chan.'

[If you have the time to perve around, why don't you try surviving?]

'An excellent advice~'

"Hebi! What's happening?"

Mikoto cried out as she wrapped her arms around Kushina's waist, trying to hold her in place. Her Sharingan was glowing eerie red, with the three tomoe spinning rapidly...

'That looks uncomfortable.'

Kushina was no better, her usual playful face had been replaced by a feral snarl and her eyes were scarlet slits that glowed menacingly.

BANG

CRUNCH

The Kyuubi-possessed redhead planted her elbow straight into Mikoto's face, probably breaking her nose in the process. She freed herself from the Uchiha's grasp and hurled herself at the Nara hanging upside down from the roof,

"Sage damnit!"

Hebi had no choice but to meet the redhead head-on, behind her was the window, and once outside, who knows what sort of trouble the damned fox will be up to. The ANBU Captain acted like a lazy bum, but she was quite skilled in handling stronger opponents.

First, she was fast, fast enough to dodge Kushina's attack and wrap her arm around her neck trying to choke the nine-tail back inside. 

"Why, why on my watch!? Go back! Go back! Go back!"

Kaori rolled her eyes,

'Then you shouldn't have eaten her food.'

Still, there was something wrong with the whole situation. Kushina had yet to take on more than one tail, and even that was with the minimum possible tailed beast chakra... which meant,

"Oi! Kushina! Quit throwing a tantrum!"

'Kushina's simply pretending to be possessed, there was no doubt about it.'

The redhead's head snapped towards her, her eyes wide open and a crazed snarl on her face,

"WhAt DiD yOu JuSt SaY, pIpSqUeAk?"

'Or it could just be the Kyuubi.'

[No shit Sherlock.]

Raw chakra erupted from within the Jinchūriki, her hair rising in the air. Hebi grunted, releasing her chokehold on Kushina as her hand singed from the heat. Well, at least Kaori distracted the redhead long enough for Hebi to put a safe distance between her and the Jinchūriki... which was less than two meters. Apartments do make for poor battlefields, huh?

Mikoto gaged, clutching her bleeding nose and trying to cover up her chest with what remained of her apron. She glared at the Kyuubi-possessed Kushina, her Sharingan fading away slowly,

"Something's off,"

She muttered, wiping away the blood flowing down her nose.

"You think so too?"

Hebi, panting heavily after all the wrestling moves she tried on Kushina, shouted over the commotion that the berserk redhead was making,

"I'm sure it's not a full-blown transformation, or we would've been dead. But she's much stronger than usual, too strong even,"

Mikoto nodded, raising her kunai to charge again,

"Nara-san, use your shadow paralysis to restrain her! I will see if my Sharingan can help her gain control again!"

The Uchiha rushed up again, ducked under the redhead's punch, planting her palm below her jaw,

"Kushina! Listen to me damnit!"

But an instant later she was forced back as the hair whizzed through the air like whips, crackling past Mikoto's head as she managed to duck just in time. 

"This isn't you! The Kyuubi is feeding off your anger, your frustration. Don't let it control you!"

'As if she'd listen to anyone right now.'

Kaori's role was simple, prevent the Jinchūriki from escaping through the main door. Slowly, she closed the door behind her, locking it while hiding her hand behind her back.

SNAP

The door snapped shut behind her, a bit too loud for her comfort though,

'Too loud?'

[She's glaring at you. Question answered.]

The system was right, Kushina had stopped her relentless attacks on Mikoto and was staring at her,

'Oops.'

"SHADOW PARALY-"

BANG

A backhand from the redhead sent Hebi flying back to the wall, crashing against the window. Her shoulders slumped, the Nara was out! Although, she might just be pretending to be out of commission.

Kushina's crimson eyes darted across the room, between Kaori and Mikoto, and the broken furniture. Suddenly, she sprinted across the room, lunging at Mikoto, her red chakra-cloaked claw slashing down at her,

"Grr, Die! You damn Uchiha!"

It was the feral voice of the nine-tails, but for some reason, Kaori thought he sounded more frustrated than angry. Mikoto didn't bother holding back anymore, she was done putting up with Kushina's petulance and swung her Kunai, technically Kaori's, at the redhead's claw.

At the last instant, the Kyuubi changed its trajectory and aimed for... what!?

 "Got it!"

"DIE PERVERT"

'Was his target Mikoto's bra all along?'

[Doesn't make sense. Isn't he a fox?]

But it sure as hell didn't save it from Mikoto's slap that sent the redhead stumbling across the room, all the way to Kaori's side,

"What the hell are you up to now, Kushina?"

Kaori couldn't help but ask as she tried to pin the thrashing redhead down on the floor.

"Hebi... Hebi-baka!... ate my... last one... saving... saving for... date."

The words were slurred, barely coherent, and made no sense whatsoever. But Kaori got the general idea of what triggered her tantrum,

'So she's been saving a cup noodle for her date?'

[Uzumaki... wait, do you?]

'No! I don't feel like storing expired ramen for dates.'

"Kuhahahaha!"

Guess whose back? The tsundere Kyuubi took back what scarce control Kushina had won and started to thrash around harder than before, his voice crackling like a madman. Kaori racked her brain, trying her best to remember anything that might rack in the madness unfolding only a couple of hours before he first mission outside the village,

"Focus Kushina! Try remembering something happy! Think of something that makes you happy!"

[What in the world are you doing?]

'Don't know yet!'

She thought back to her past life, nothing there. There were some methods of suppressing the Nine Tail's chakra but all of them were rather inconvenient at the moment,

Wood style? Who're you kidding!?

Sealing? Haven't got any! 

Combat? Stop joking!

Talk-no-jutsu? Haven't got any talent for it... might as well try it,

The Nine Tails, or rather Kushina, stopped growling. Instead, a watery sniff reached Kaori's ears and she grinned,

'Finally!'

"Think of Minato! How would he want you to handle this situation?"

At the mention of her Minato's name, something flickered behind that red slit in Kushina's eyes. Her snarl softened slightly, replaced by a grimace,

"But... Minato-baka's... he's... on a mission"

A tear rolled down her cheek,

'Ah, I don't wanna deal with a love-sick Jinchūriki!'

[Kinda your job really.]

Kaori sighed, no matter, she grasped a straw at least. She'd better pull at it before the Kyuubi takes control again.

"That's right, Kushina! Focus on him! Focus on your love for him, your dream of becoming Hokage together!"

'Ugh! That's a bit too...'

[Not your kind of talk is it?]

Finally, Kushina stopped struggling. The redhead twitched and shivered in Kaori's embrace, their red hair tangled in a messy bundle. The Tailed Beast's chakra had long since thrown off her disguise. 

Still, she waited, perhaps the Kyuubi was pretending to have been suppressed? But after five minutes and an awkward cough from Mikoto and a snore from Hebi, she decided to let the redhead go... big mistake,

"HA!"

Kushina broke free from underneath her, her eyes blazing crimson once more. Claws grabbed hold of Kaori's shirt and pinned her against the door,

"You... pipsqueak!"

The Kyuubi roared through Kushina's voice,

"Trying to manipulate a tailed beast with... love talk? Pathetic!"

Kaori felt her eyes twitch,

'Hah, as I thought. This Talk-no-Jutsu ain't for me.'

***{You can support my writing on my patron at: patreon.com/echoingdusk***