Kushina looked in the mirror and flinched. The girl staring back was barely recognizable. Her eyes were bloodshot and swollen, red-rimmed and tired. Her vivid red hair, normally her pride, hung limp and disheveled. Her skin lost its usual warmth, and in its place came a sickly pallor.
She looked horrible.
Yet, it wasn't her reflection that scared her, but what it meant.
She had never felt like this before, not when her parents or Grandma Mito died, and not when she left Uzushiogakure. She was younger than six when she first felt the grief that accompanies the loss of a loved one- yet she hadn't despaired. She hadn't given up, and she didn't cry for days.
It wasn't that she was unfeeling, but rather that she was always strong-willed. Brash, tough, and raucous- that's Kushina Uzumaki. But this was different. This wasn't the grief that comes from loss, but rather an all-consuming hopelessness. Now that Uzushiogakure was gone, now that her clan was gone, what else did she have? What can push her forward to endure the cruelty of the Shinobi World?
'Nothing,' she chokes out through sobs.
She exists as a weapon of the village- a village to which she feels little attachment. All of her friends and family were Uzumaki, and now they're gone. She was never a true Konoha patriot or a follower of the Will of Fire. For the Uzumaki clan, she would sacrifice her life. But not for Konoha.
She wipes her face and moves to the bedroom. Hopefully, she'd feel a little better by tomorrow morning. But as soon as she lay down, she felt a tug on her consciousness. A pull toward the seal space inside of her. She didn't quite feel up to dealing with the fox at this moment, but she let it take her anyway.
----
Inside a dank and dark dungeon, Kushina suddenly materialized. She had been here once before, but it was only briefly, and she was exhausted from the transfer. Now that she's getting a good look around... it feels colder than she remembered. Its walls glistened with damp, slick stone, the air heavy with the scent of age and mildew. The low lighting created a dreary atmosphere.
Kushina didn't appear directly in front of the fox, but rather down a corridor connecting to his cell. It's obvious the Nine-Tails has something important to say to her, since this is the first time he's reached out in nearly 3 years, so she wasted no time in moving forward. As she walked, it felt as though the walls pulsed slightly, like the heartbeat of a beast.
She nears the front of his cell, and his form immediately jumps to the forefront of her vision. The fox looked the same as he did the last time Kushina was here, but with one major difference.
Dark orange fur accented with black. Red, slitted eyes that glowed faintly in the dim lighting. He was currently lying down, with his head resting on both his front legs. The one key difference Kushina noted from before and now was his size. Although he was still massive, instead of spanning mountains, he was now about the size of a smaller building. Slightly more approachable.
"What do you want, fox?" Kushina stated bluntly. She was still a little unstable from earlier.
Kurama didn't react. Normally, he would've bristled and lashed out for the sake of his pride as the strongest tailed-beast, but that has a time and place, so he simply started, his voice rumbling throughout the dungeon, "We are alike, little one. In more ways than one. I believe..." he paused. Kurama still wasn't quite comfortable working with a human, but he would do what he must. "It is better for both of us that we work together."
"Work together!? Why would I want to work with you!?" she replied sharply.
The dam broke. All of the emotions that built up the past few years and today came out.
"It's your fault I had to leave Uzushio! That I had to abandon a happy life and get shoved into this rotten village!"
"It's your fault Grandma Mito died, leaving me alone!"
"It's your fault I'm viewed as a living weapon and had my freedom taken away from me!"
"And it's your fault that I'm isolated from the rest of the village, that they're weary of me no matter what I do or say! That I can't make friends or that I'm banned from every other shop!"
"So, tell me, why would I want to work with you!?" As she finished, she started crying again, too overwhelmed with emotion.
Kurama, on the other hand, felt his anger surfacing. However, he quickly shoved it back down. He had let her rant to vent out all of her emotions, displaying a patient demeanor. He expected this much, after all, he is known as a demon fox. Someone with his reputation naturally has all of the world's evils dumped on them when it's convenient. Though being so disrespected by a human made him furious.
He paused for a moment, letting her calm down, then he began, "Hundreds of years ago, the Sage of Six Paths created us nine tailed beasts. He gave us names and raised us as he would his own children. He's the closest thing I can call a father in my long life."
Kushina absorbed this information with wide eyes. The origins of the tailed beasts and much of humanity's knowledge about the Sage of Six Paths were lost to time. The Sage himself is considered more myth than history.
"The other tailed beasts and I can be considered siblings in a way. The Sage divided us, built us temples, and assigned regions that we would protect, all in order to maintain peace. For many years, humanity worshiped us, and we were happy. Although the Sages' death stung deeply, we were all content."
Suddenly, Kurama's voice took on a darker edge, "But then, humanity grew envious of our powers. Their greed and desire to rule over others consumed them. Many tried to control us or utilize our immense and unique chakra to wage war. All of them failed, of course. But even so, I lived in isolation from that point. I wanted nothing to do with humanity. Sometimes, people would still find me and try to harness my power, but I destroyed them and annihilated their homes in response."
"This is when I realized humanity's true nature. Only under overwhelming power can conflicts cease. Only then can their greed and ambitions be quelled. Mutual understanding or friendship- naive ideals that are ultimately worthless. I retained the Sage's ideals of peace for many years after he died, yet that didn't stop humans from turning their backs on me. It wasn't until I responded with force that they left me alone, although I did have to remind them every century or so."
He paused once again and turned to face Kushina directly, "I say this as a lesson for you. Now that you are my container, people will naturally covet your powers in the same way they coveted mine. Other Hidden Villages, the smaller countries, missing nin, and even Konoha will all do whatever it takes to secure or kill you."
Kushina tried to scoff, but it came out rather thin, "I already know all of that already, what's new?"
Kurama let out a low chuckle, it was tinged with slight mockery, "Do you, little girl? Do you truly understand the extent they would go to wield my power? What if I told you it was an elder of Konoha who purposely revealed your status as my Jinchuriki to isolate you?"
Kushina's stomach churned, and her eyes widened. She had always assumed it got out naturally somehow and didn't think much of it. Though now that it was brought up again, such a high-class secret shouldn't have gotten out easily, and it wasn't suppressed at all...
"What if I told you Mito Uzumaki wanted Tsunade to take you as her apprentice and live in the Senju compound?" Kurama continued.
"No, no! That can't be true... why... why didn't she take me?" She thought about the time she returned to the Senju compound and was turned away by Nawaki. He had said the Third Hokage forbade her from returning...
Kurama continued, regardless of her thoughts. His voice was even heavier, "What if I told you that the Third Hokage and his advisors purposely watched the destruction of Uzushiogakure, so that they could swoop in and steal the techniques of the Uzumaki clan for themselves?"
This was the final nail in the coffin for Kushina. She had similar suspicions when she first heard about Uzushio's destruction, but she pushed the thought away rather quickly. Now, she can't ignore it. Being told that the village she now serves to protect is the same one that betrayed her homeland and allowed it to be destroyed...
She felt light-headed and woozy. Despair, grief, anger, and now betrayal, all in a few hours? That's too much for most people to handle. She didn't realize she was about to fall, but someone else did.
A soft warmth gathered around her. One of his massive tails curled gently beneath her, lifting her up, cradling her like something fragile. He laid her on the soft fur of his back, and for the first time in years, she felt held. The comfort soothed her mind.
"But we don't have to play their games." He spoke in a soothing and alluring tone, "With my immense and potent chakra, and you here to utilize it, we can be unstoppable."
She didn't speak.
He pulled her closer and continued, "We don't have to listen to anyone. Together, we can be more than weapons of war- we can be whatever we want, do whatever we want. If you want revenge, it can be done, easily, or... if you want to rebuild the Uzumaki clan."
Kushina's eyes shot wide open at the end of his sentence. She hadn't considered that, but yes, there should be a decent number of Uzumaki survivors. If she could round them up, it would indeed be possible to rebuild the clan- the only issue would be protecting them all. She refused to take them to Konoha.
Kurama saw her expression and knew he had her, "If you perfectly channel my power, no one alive right now could stop us. Eventually, even the Sage would fall before us."
Kurama's voice dropped to an alluring whisper, "We can choose our own path. Take what they denied you. A future. A family."
Kushina, at the end of her rope, grabbed onto this hope with both hands. Years of isolation, loneliness, grief, and the newly felt despair from the destruction of Uzushio culminated in this moment. She looked up at Kurama with eyes full of hope, contrary to the anger they had held moments ago. "Yes," she whispered, "Please, help me."
Kurama gave a rare smile and said, "Whatever you wish."
And with that, Kushina curled deeper into his fur and drifted into sleep. Tomorrow, she would wake up changed. But for now, she rested. For the first time in years, she didn't dream alone.