"My name is Matatabi! Kurama, you're always giving people weird nicknames!"
Matatabi's voice rang out beside Naruto's and Yugito Nii's ears as a little cat jumped down from Yugito Nii.
Her body was predominantly blue, with black stripes, and looked as though it were burning with blue flames.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it."
Kurama yawned, offering what barely counted as an apology.
"Honestly, you've been giving everyone random nicknames since way back."
Matatabi sounded exasperated, rather like a helpless older sister.
Back then, Kurama and Shukaku had gotten along the worst of all the tailed beasts. One called the other Stinky Fox, while the other called him Stinky Tanuki.
Later, word had it that the two of them often fought.
But most of those fights ended with Kurama winning and Shukaku losing.
At first, some members of the tailed beast family had wanted to intervene.
But they were too far apart, and as time passed, everyone mostly kept in touch through their special connection. Gradually, they just let the two of them be.
In short: the old Sage of Six Paths hadn't raised his children properly, leaving Kurama and Shukaku ignorant of how to look after each other.
The Sage of Six Paths, over in the Pure Land:
⊙(・◇・)?
Kurama: Actually, I take pretty good care of Shukaku. Every time he comes over, I treat him to his favorite-a big tail slap.
Shukaku: Every time, I rack my brains over how to defeat Kurama. After thinking it over and over, I even learned Sealing Jutsu.
The two tailed beasts spurred each other on. Wasn't that a kind of love-hate relationship, too?
Back to the matter at hand, Kurama and Matatabi chatted for a while, broadening Yugito Nii's horizons considerably in the process.
Yes, for once, because he was talking to