Falling In Reverse

Chapter 5: Kurama is not a cuddly type

They heard Hashirama's laugh the moment they reached the entrance to the cave and stepped over the boundary of the wards. It was just another temporary shelter, a few days pit stop during their endless hide-and-seek game with their enemy.

The trio shared a glance. Minato looked exasperated, Kakashi looked amused, and Naruto was simply curious about what made the Shodai guffaw so merrily. All possibilities promised to be equally hilarious.

They entered the yawning hole in the side of the mountain. Assured footsteps shuffled through the narrow passage using only a dim glow of the concealing seals painted on the walls to light their way. Hashirama's laugh rang in their ears as the three men approached. They could already see the light spilling through. The pleasant heated air warmed their chilled skin.

Soon, the path opened up into a spacious cavern. The bonfire in the middle cast myriads shimmering shadows all around it, merging and morphing the various shapes and forms of stalactites and stalagmites dotting the great expanse of the cave's interior into something eerie and obscure.

The trio shared another glance between each other as they saw Tobirama and the Kyuubi's clone sitting at the opposite sides of the shogi board.

No one paid attention to the team that just returned from their recon mission.

"You can't just—" Tobirama protested, motioning speechlessly at the board in front of him, searching for the correct word. It was kind of bizarre seeing the usually collected and serious Nidaime this flustered. "—do that!"

Kurama's fur along his topline bristled. "And why not?" he growled, lips pulling back into a sneer, red eyes narrowed, dangerous. "These," he tapped two pieces with his nails, "should be able to move wherever they want on this rotten scrap of wood. It is ridiculous to assume that they would be hindered by such a measly distance."

Minato chuckled quietly under his breath. A slight hue of pink dusted Naruto's cheeks as he stared at those two specific shogi pieces. The king and the golden general.

"And this one," the Kyuubi tapped another piece, a silver general this time, "would never be far behind the other two. He would tear through the enemy like a bolt of lightning to reach them."

Kakashi's awkward cough got drowned by another explosive bout of Hashirama's laugh, his body shaking with the force of it. So much that Naruto worried that he would really undo the Edo Tensei Jutsu this time. Just a bit more and he would probably be rolling on the ground.

The Bijuu straightened up, pride and grace etched in his every motion. "Besides," he said, "this imitation of a battlefield is incomplete."His mouth stretched into a toothy grin, all razor sharp. "It is missing the most important thing—someone great and powerful looking after the King."

Tobirama stared at the fox with utter incredulity.

Obviously pleased with his reaction, Kurama puffed his chest, his tails swaying and moving to one side and then another. It reminded Naruto of Kakashi's ninken wagging their tails when they were particularly happy.

With trained stubbornness, he ignored the pang in his chest at the thought of their fallen four-legged companions.

The Nidaime took a long breath to calm himself and gather his wits. "It's not in the rules," he tried to reason.

"Screw the rules!" The stone walls vibrated with the sheer defiance packed into Kurama's snarl as the chakra beast rose from his seated position, angry and imposing. All nine tails thrashed wildly in every direction, responding to their owner's sudden ire.