Archive of Our Own

Translation of the above sentences: Do not feel disgusted by the overwhelming fannon elements or the apparently cliché scenes, because they are part of the plot. The story is built based on YOUR meta knowledge of the universe, and things are not as simple as they seem.

Prologue

Between the lines of the white mask glints keen blue eyes observing...

(A woman corpse falls)

... the whirlpool drawn on the belly of an unconscious kid.

X

The Fox contemplated its situation in a calm manner that was uncharacteristic of it.

Last time it had managed to break free, it had been forced into a rampage by a human with unrealistic power. And of course, as a result, it had been imprisoned again. This was the third time in a century already.

The hate it had born toward humans had been inhuman. The hate it had born toward Uchiha was superior to everything it ever felt. It had been on the verge of insanity. It had gripped its cage with its claws, spitting, cursing its fate.

It had spent as a result long, very long time shouting that it would eventually vanquish all humans on the Earth.

But at the end, even Kurama had grown bored of this pointless situation.

So it finally admitted that its behavior had just been childish, as it would not bring it any freedom or power. Worse, it was meaningless. There were no witnesses to listen to its complaints.

Thus, Kurama started to think. The Fox observed its surroundings. It realized it was in a sewer; or rather, the representation of its host's inner world looked like that. It had no idea how much time elapsed since it had been imprisoned. One week, one month, one year maybe? How could it know?

So it focused on its senses. It opened its eyes, watched a street. It listened to its environment, humans shouting behind him. It took in a deep breath, the scent of smoke and ash from torches stinging its sensitive nose. It felt the rough ground under its feet. It tasted the despair, the anger, the sadness.

Kurama had enough of this, all of those painful feelings. It wanted to go out and destroy this village that made it enslaved. It wanted to kill the human that dared control it. But Kurama knew the moment it escaped its cage, it would be imprisoned in the exact same way as previously — no maybe even worse, because at least for now, it had a link to the outside. A feeble link, but a link yet.

If it came to this point, if the Fox should live its life as the prisoner of this boy, this one should be strong; strong enough to hold his ground against its enemies. It would train the boy, in the manner of sharpening a weapon. The boy would be its tool to enact its plan. But it also knew the boy would obey to it only if he saw it as his closest friend. So it would wait the good moment, when the child's mind would be particularly weakened to listen to its voice.

Kurama grinned.

The Fox would make the boy its own.

Naruto was not stupid. He wanted people to think he was stupid so they would feel pity for him. However, at best, what he received was their indifference.

The abuse he was victim to every day was more of a psychological kind. He felt oppressed, lonely. People went out of their away to ignore him whenever he came close. The shops refused to sell groceries to him, so he often spent his nights hungry. The other children also avoided him, even if in their eyes, he understood that they themselves didn't know why; no doubt because of their parents.

Seldomly, one of his neighbors would knock on the door. Only once, he opened it to received a fist on his eye, that became swollen the rest of the night. He remembered the terrific laugh, the sadistic laugh followed by this act of violence toward him. Now, he never opened his door to anyone at night. They would knock at his window but he knew he was safe inside of his flat. He was like a rabbit in its cage, harmless and scared the big bad wolf would come for him and bite off his head. The nights of the Festival were the worst; the night of his birthday, but also the night he feared the most. Because it was the only moment where they would try to hunt him.

Toc. Toc. Toc. Toc. Toc. Toc.

This repetitive sound echoed throughout the small home, knowing no end. He cried on his couch, under his blanket, crying for someone to free him from his fate. They would not dare, they never dared to force...

Toc. Toc. Toc. Toc. Toc. Toc.

Why was he alone? Why had his parents abandoned him? Was he so ugly that even his own parents rejected him?

Toc. Toc. Toc. Squash.

And then, there were no sounds.

Naruto opened his eyes wide. He was scared, scared and scared and scared and scared. Because. They. Were. Inside.

"Tonight, we will kill you, demon spawn!" he heard them shout from the living room. He got up, tried to dress up with pants and went toward the windows. By luck, they would not circle him from two sides. Before he passed through the small opening, he saw his shadow reverberating on the floor and saw nine long curved black lines emerging from it, but he dismissed it as he fled.

He jumped through the second floor and landed on ground. His knees hurt him horribly but he had to run, to flee.

The night of the Hunt had begun.

This time, solely, Naruto found himself at a dead end. Even if he knew all the streets by heart, scared as he was, he made a mistake, took a wrong turn. And they were just before him.

The time had come. The fruit was ripe. The timing was perfect. The demonic smile of the Fox stretched its whiskers, a grin showing its malice.

A punch in the gut, a kick on his face, a burn on his shoulder. His spine was like it had always been part of the ground beneath him. He cowered, putting his hands above his face, begging for his life.

The Fox laughed as it winced at the pain.

Am I dead?

"No, you're not," the Fox stated factually as the child retreated into his inner world.

Shadows were deep, but even with the dimmed light, Naruto could see the immense being in front of him. Behind a titanic cage, there was red fur, white teeth, nine tails as red eyes observing him, judging him.

"Is this Hell?" Naruto asked. Certainly, only Hell would await him, because he must have done some misdeeds in his life or past life to deserve such hate. But only a sinister laughter responded to his query.

"If you consider your life to be a living Hell, well, it would be accurate, wouldn't it?"

But the child did not like the mocking tone the demon took. If he had to torture him, at least he could do it in silence. He glared furiously at this monstrous, strange creature, whose breath fanned his face. The whole body of the Fox suddenly laid before the boy, tapping its tails in a monotone rhythm. Naruto closed his eyes, waiting for the suffering to come, but only a dreaded pause welcomed him. Was that another kind of torture? If wait could kill, Naruto would have already died.

"So, what do you think about your fellows, child? Are they kind? Are they fair? Of course they are!" the Fox snorted. It hoped that its sarcasm would not be lost the kid, but this one was so traumatized by the previous events that he seemed unable to understand the joke. Even if Kurama knew its jokes were in bad taste sometimes.

"Please, don't punch me. Please, don't kick me. Please, don't hurt me," Naruto begged as he seemed to pray before the giant creature.

The Fox just yawned, and faced the opposite side.

"When you stop spouting bullshit, will you dare wake me up? I will take a short nap."

Naruto waited on his knees, his eyes closed for five minutes, until he realized no pain would come to him. He stood up, relief and gratitude causing tears to spill from his eyes, a bright smile plastered on his face.

"Thank you... sir?" he hesitated how to address the beast. This one turned its giant eyes in front of him, eyes that were as big as he was.

"Why would you thank me? I did nothing for you. When you called for help, I did nothing for you."

"But... you are not ignoring me, nor hurting me," the boy whispered. The eyes of the Demon twinkled.

"And why would I? I have no interest in hurting you, child. I am a known demon, but even humans seem to beat me in being evil. But now that you're here, shall we start introducing ourselves? My name is Kurama, and you child?"

One of its claws reached the shirt of the young kid, who lifted his nose and declared proudly. "I am Naruto, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, child." the Fox said in a smile.

"Can you stop calling me that? I just told you my name."

His boldness was only welcomed by an "Oh," from the Fox as its grin widened. "Maybe when you grow older, I will call you something else, but for now, to me, you are but a child." The Fox used its claw to tickle the boy, but noted it was not really suited to that as he almost put a hole into the young being. Naruto gasped in relief when he saw the claw retreating to the giant form. He saw the Fox lifting his finger before his eyes.

"Hmm, maybe I should try to take another form... A form more suited to speak with a child."

And then, the giant form brightened suddenly and exploded in a blinding light. Naruto jumped backward in surprise and almost fell if it it was not for a hand on his back preventing that. As he lifted his eyes in front of him, he saw a human head, a woman head, attached to a beautiful, naked figure, who measured at least twice his height. The eyes of the woman were red, slit in the middle, in the same manner of the fox. He then felt his head resting on a her opulent chest. He felt a warm handle ruffling his hair then his ears.

"Do you like it, child? I heard young human males like to be in presence of their adult counterpart." Her voice was still frightening and contrasted vividly with the rest of her alluring body. However, Naruto noted some mistake in the anatomy; one part of her jaw was too big, and she was missing one breast on her chest. The young boy pointed them and the missing parts were righted.

"Haha, sorry child. It is my first time taking this form, I am not still used to that," she laughed crazily. Naruto deemed to interrupt.

"But... Your voice no longer fits with the rest." She arched her eyebrows.

"Oh yes, I forgot about that also. Done." she finished, in a crystalline tone. She then hummed. "We may continue our conversation now that you are no longer scared of me."

Her voice was delightful, alluring. Naruto loved to the song of her voice. He felt like...

"Can I call you Onee-sama?" The woman looked at him, grinning like crazy. She lifted one hand, her nails started to look dangerously like claws.

"You may try, but I will not guarantee you escape unscathed from this, child." Despite the fact that she told him he would no longer be scared, he weirdly found her new form more... intimidating. "But you can shorten my name if you wish, and call me Kura for all I care. My old brethren used to call me that... sometimes." Her red eyes seemed to be lost, somewhere in the air.

"Kura—" she put a finger on his mouth.

"But, that will be the story of another time. You should wake up."

"Wh-what-?" But when his eyes opened, he realized he was alone again, still on the street. The dawn rose, and the sun illuminated the horizon.

He looked at torso, but saw no wounds. Felt as if he slept for a long time. It was as if... everything had just been a dream.

And yet, in a corner of his mind, a voice chuckled. "Do you like my present, child?"

"What, how?"

He answered vocally but the voice replied with an annoyed tone: "Do not speak to yourself. Thinking is enough as I can listen to you, child."

He sighed. Right. What time it is?

"Congratulations, child, you survived the Night, but you are still late for the Academy. People may ask questions. Hurry."

"Damn, I forgot about that!" the eight-year-old exclaimed as he ran toward the main street.

Behind him, laid the blooded bodies of his previous aggressors, scattered on the floor.

The Fox grinned. Humans were truly fascinating.