Behind the Waterfall

#9 Good Bye

"Seems like she is not as happy as it seemed at first." Kurama voiced his opinion, as Naruto watched the green haired jinchuriki disappear between the houses.

"Yeah, but it could also be that something happened to her, that was totally unrelated to her status." Naruto tried to find an explanation that didn't take Takigakure's people down to the same level as Konoha's. Kurama stayed silent and he could almost hear the fox roll his eyes.

"So, I guess that you haven't decided yet?" The bijuu asked as the blonde walked through the village, towards his hotel.

"Not really, I mean I kind of want to help Fuu and be there for her, since we share the same fate and I can tell that she needs someone to help her through it, but at the same time I don't think I can see myself joining another village, where jinchurikis are treated that way, even if they have no idea about you." Naruto replied in his thoughts.

The rest of the walk was in relative silence as Naruto thought about the decision ahead of him.

"What do you know about rogue shinobi?" Naruto asked Kurama as he laid in his bed.

"What do you mean?"

"Like, I know that there are ninjas that don't belong to any village, how do they make money and survive?" Naruto asked further.

"Well, I know about them a bit, mostly from hearing others talk about them. I haven't been sealed in one of them, if that is what you want to know." Kurama stated, his tone light.

"What do you do know about them?" Sometimes the fox could be really annoying, since he took almost everything with a huge smile on his face.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Oh come on. You and I both know that you can read my thoughts. You already know the answers to your own questions." Naruto snapped back in his mind, as he sat up and channeled a bit of chakra through his hands.

"Actually, even though I can read your thoughts I haven't done it in a long time. I only 'listen' to the thoughts that are meant for me." Kurama said, his voice getting serious. Naruto didn't know what to say at first.

"But how would you know if a thought was meant for you?" The blonde asked.

"There is a difference between you thinking something to yourself and you thinking something, wanting me to hear it. These thoughts are sort of louder, if that makes any sense." The nine tailed fox tried to explain.

"Well, thank you for giving me a bit of privacy." Naruto smiled.

"So, why do you want to know about rogues?" Kurama restated his question.

"I've been thinking about a way to help Fuu. I mean it is pretty much settled, that we won't join Taki, so that is off the table. However, I still want to be around to see how Fuu is doing, since we share a similar fate and I know how it is to be alone. I have heard from Akaru and have seen mentions of rogue shinobi on the black boards and they sound like something that could be what I am looking for." The blonde thought, explaining his thought process. Focusing his chakra, Naruto entered his mindscape where he sat down next to the fox who was lying in the open field, watching the moon.

"So?"

"Well, I know a few things about rogues; They take their missions from small villages that don't have a standing shinobi force. Sometimes they get hired by others like merchants or something, if they have enough money for it. Most of them work in groups for protection, although there are a few that are notorious enough or simply strong enough where they don't need the protection and prefer the flexibility of traveling alone." Kurama recalled while Naruto listened carefully.