Yes, on the heel of chapter 23 of Lucidity comes Psyche, my second story here on . This chapter (not including A/N), is 3800 words exactly, and I hope that it's about as well-received as Lucidity.

And to make clear, this is a YAOI. A relationship-centric yaoi, yes, but still YAOI. That means that the pairing is boyXboy.

No, there won't be any adult actions outside of the ninja profession. Just making that clear.

Disclaimer: Don't own this (the realm of Naruto, that is). I own some of the books, but that's it.

Disclaimer the Second: Apparently, there is a way around posting new stories. I was informed that you just have to set it up as a Code Geass catagory, and change it after it's all set up.

Chapter 1

Mistake

The darkness permeated everything, yet hid nothing. All around it, there was nothing but the endless blank, a stark black that made knowing whether it was dark or that was just the nature of the place unknown. Nothing appeared to live within this space, if it could be called space, yet only one thing existed within.

The Kyuubi.

Resting on it's haunches, it looked to the only thing of interest within the space- a gate, as large as it was and just as wide. Staring at the gate, it looked past the bars, flimsy strands of rusted metal that held their way no matter what they were attacked with. Beyond the barred gate was a flooded room, water dripping down from the leaking pipes to join its wayward half on the floor. The room itself was small, and would barely accommodate Kyuubi, even if it were to somehow become even smaller. Scrunching up it's nose in disgust, though not at any smells- for there existed none within the black space- it thought back to how it had gotten where it was now.

It began countless centuries ago, though how many was lost on Kyuubi, who knew neither about time nor how it was measured. All it knew was that it existed to destroy. So destroy it did, attacking these tiny creatures it came across, slaughtering them as though they were nothing to it- which they were- before finding a valley within the mountains or a canyon in the desert to rest in, recuperating the energy that it hadn't known it had expended. How long it rested before attacking again it didn't know, for such things were inconsequential to a great being such as it. But that was now it lived, attacking and resting, in an endless cycle. Over time, it came across other beings similar to it- great beasts that looked different yet were exactly like it. Occasionally, they fought over the right to slaughter a settlement of those tiny creatures, only to find that their fight had removed the settlement from existence. During the attacks, the few of those tiny creatures that had somehow made their way down Kyuubi's throat were eaten up by the energy that it was made of- turning them into a part of it. They brought with them their memories and knowledge, and over time Kyuubi had built up a sense of self, a knowledge that was new to it. With that sense of self came the new knowledge that it could do more, be more than before. It found that wanting to be and do more would give it something that it found itself desperately lacking- purpose.

With that newfound individualization, Kyuubi started going after those humans- what those tiny creatures it slaughtered called themselves- that could give it a real fight, that could force it to better itself, and find it's purpose in the process. However, those early battles tended to leave Kyuubi resting more often- though it happened less and less as time wore on. One of it's more memorable battles- and one it detested- was against a human that called itself Hokage. It fought the human, thinking itself invincible, and wound up obeying him, due to the controlling nature of his energy, which manifested in trees that sapped it of it's energy.

Another memorable battle was against two humans that looked much too alike, that Kyuubi had ended up eating- by accident, of course. For fourteen cycles of the sun, they had raged within it's stomach, and it felt pain for the first time when they started consuming it's flesh. Feeling rage at that, Kyuubi had had it's first coherent thought.

If they want to eat me, then let's see how much they can take.

After the fourteenth cycle, Kyuubi could take no more of them, and willed itself to expel them from it's stomach.

It was some time later that a man had appeared, looking much like that 'Hokage', yet had strangely familiar red eyes. The man introduced himself as Uchiha Madara, and said that Kyuubi was his pet.

When Kyuubi awoke, it found itself pinned down, giant spikes ramming themselves through all it's tails, even it's paws. Looking around, it found that it wasn't pinned on the ground so much as it was pinned against a giant ethereal orange ball of energy, with a red-haired woman standing before it.

"So you are Kyuubi." She had said, staring at it. It roared in response, not knowing how to communicate with her. "Perhaps I shall teach you some manners."

So began it's lessons on humans and their lives. Most of it was forgotten as soon as it was learned, but some things- such as how to talk and that the energy was called chakra- stuck. She'd visited it regularly, showing it her memories of things that it was to learn. Some of the things were quite marvelous, like those 'jutsu' that ninja used, while others were completely useless- knowing how to properly greet a superior had no point. One of the more interesting things it learned was that it was sealed within the woman, causing her to teach it about seals, and to learn about a new type of human- Jinchuuriki.

Throughout it's time sealed, Kyuubi learned many things, though the most important thing it learned was when the woman- Mito, she had called herself- was with child. The spikes keeping it trapped were loosening, though when it tried to escape during birth, it was driven back by the chakra of that one man- that 'Hokage'.

Over the years, Mito had aged, though she still maintained those regular lessons, despite having already exhausted all the topics to teach it about. Often, they conversed, discussing different things, such as their lives, though the popular topic was Kyuubi itself. They talked about it's early life, the creation of it's sense of self, and how it had sought out ninja to challenge itself, to be and do more than it could.

"Perhaps this is my purpose." It had told her, referring to it's life within her. She had laughed it off.

At one point, when Mito was getting on in years, Kyuubi had asked her a simple question.

"What does it mean to have emotions?"

She'd answered that emotions were what made all things, human or no, so much more. That to have emotions, be they positive or negative, were what separated people from monsters.

"And what of emotions to other people?" It had asked, curious about the subject. Mito then told it about love and hate, and how they were deeply intertwined.

"To hate, one must first love." She had summarized, though Kyuubi barely understood her. "The opposite of love is apathy, which is when you simply don't care about the person enough to have loved them in the first place."

This had continued for many years, until she came one day to tell him that it was going to be removed from her- which it was pleased about, having dreamt of seeing the outside world for some time now. Of course, such an emotion was still rather new to Kyuubi, as it had developed such things as 'emotions' over the years within Mito. The pleasure at being released was short-lived, however, when she followed up by saying that Kyuubi was to be sealed within another, younger host. The anger at being denied it's freedom had Kyuubi thrashing and so furious, that it had missed the opportunity to escape when it was unsealed from Mito and sealed within a young girl, looking quite like a young Mito.

When Kyuubi came to, it found itself back in the state it was in after having been sealed within Mito. There was an immediate feeling of guilt at having been the cause of Mito's death- the two having grown quite fond of each other. Of course, that guilt was short-lived when Kyuubi felt it's chakra being pulled and used by that girl, and the guilt was replaced with anger- anger at Mito, for having denied it the chance to live a new life with it's knowledge, anger at Madara for having used it, anger at this girl for having the audacity to use it's chakra at her will, and anger at itself, for not having acted when it was being transferred from Mito. Kyuubi spent the first few months sealed within the girl- Kushina, it had learned, was her name- wondering if there was anything it could have done to gain it's freedom without killing Mito, wondering if it should have apologized to her, wondering if it would ever meet her again. The last one was highly doubtful, as there seemed to be no lifespan to determine whether or not Kyuubi would ever die. Eventually, it concluded that they were just empty possibilities, and no amount of ruminating would change the past.

Kushina, as it would come to find, was not like Mito. She didn't visit it, and when she did, it was only to demand it's chakra. Whenever it contested her, she simply willed the chains on the spikes yank taut, causing immeasurable pain hitherto unknown to it until it relented and gave her the chakra, after which she would leave the chains taut for some time, only loosening them when she no longer needed it's chakra.

Kushina was, to coin a vulgar term it learned from her during one of those times, a bitch.

Of course, after it concluded that, Kyuubi took to doing the one thing it could do- watch her memories, something that Mito had taught it to do after having expressed displeasure at having nothing to entertain itself with. From those memories, it found that Kushina was just as much a bitch to others at she was to it, having a horrible temper and often beating up others when they made fun of her in the academy- which was the reason for all those times demanding it's chakra when she was younger.

Of the many other children in the academy, one that it found had caught Kushina's eye was a blond-haired boy with an angular face, whom the girl had deemed a 'flake'- whatever that was. She continued to think that- her thoughts becoming quite loud as she aged, sometimes proclamations of "he's a flake!" would scream across the mindscape, making the Kyuubi wish that it was still sealed in Mito.

Kyuubi later wondered if that was what it was like to love another, and if it would ever love someone like it had Mito.

Sadly, all good things must come to an end, as Kushina, after making Genin, was kidnapped by a group of ninja called 'Kumo-nin', who bore the same markings on their pieces of metal- Hitai-Ate, Mito had once told it- as those two that it had expelled from it's stomach. Feeling displeasure at having been bested by 'Kumo-nin' once more, if only by the proxy of it's jailer, Kyuubi wished for the worst of fates to befall them- death.

Kyuubi got it's wish, of course, but at the expense of the blond-haired flake suddenly becoming the object of Kushina's thoughts, to the point where it desperately wished for one of those ninja who dealt in the mind to appear before it and wipe the horror of having to watch her fantasies from it's memory.

Kushina grew up, as all humans were wont to do, though Kyuubi wasn't able to view her aging first-hand, as she'd taken to no longer using it's chakra ever since meeting the blond-haired flake- whose name, it regretfully learned, was Minato. She'd remained in love with Minato, and the thoughts that ran through her mind-scape were proclamations of love for him, making Kyuubi feel something new- jealousy. Needless to say, it was vexed. Why was it jealous of some pitiful human for taking the affections of this woman who, albeit begrudgingly, had it's respect for her audacity?

Kyuubi would never know the answer to that question.

Kushina, suffice to say, learned she was pregnant, though not from Kyuubi- it had long since given up on attempting to be anything other than the evil beast it both was and she thought of it. Kyuubi, being vaguely tied to her chakra system, had felt the sudden blossoming of a second chakra source, however faint, within Kushina, in the same spot as Mito when she was with child.

Seeing it's chance at freedom, Kyuubi used it's connection to Kushina- and the seal's shifting to protect the child- to nurse the tiny human, upping it's budding chakra system by having the child interact with Kyuubi's. The plan, of course, was to ensure that the child's chakra was far enough along by the time for the birth that almost all of the seal's efforts were directed at it, leaving Kushina weak enough for it to escape. So it lay in wait, feeling the chains loosen a little more each day, feeling the child's chakra grow stronger, drawing on more of the seal's power, until the day the child- a boy- was born.

When the day came, Kyuubi had raged, pushing and pulling with all it's might, struggling against both the chakra-enforced wills of Kushina and her lover, who had become Yondaime Hokage. The birth was long and hard, on both the parents and Kyuubi, before it was suddenly over. Knowing that the window of freedom was closing, Kyuubi let up on the battle momentarily, rethinking it's strategy, before the chains holding it in place were broken, allowing Kyuubi complete freedom.

Appearing above Kushina, Kyuubi let out a victorious roar, gazing around to see it's former container in her last moments alive, only to find the dark, malicious chakra of that bastard Madara, who was the only person it had once hated, but now felt nothing but apathy for.

Which didn't mean that it didn't want to kill him, just that it felt nothing towards him.

But then Madara looked Kyuubi in the eyes, and it was undone once more.

When Kyuubi awoke once more, it was being driven outside the walls of Konoha, which it had apparently been attacking. Charging a Biju Ball, as it called the preferred weapon used by it and it's brethren, Kyuubi was about to unleash it upon the village when a giant toad- which looked familiar, but Kyuubi couldn't place where it had seen it before- crashed into it from above. Turning it's eyes, it saw that damned Yondaime standing atop the toad, before the human had jumped down and teleported the both of them near a tiny cottage, which was obliterated when the Biju Ball imploded. In the wake of the explosion, a child's cries could suddenly be heard, and Kyuubi looked over to see those damned chains of Kushina's explode from her back and engulf the area in a barrier- and bind Kyuubi. Looking at the crisscrossing chains in amusement, it turned back to see something that had it's blood run cold- the Shinigami.

Kyuubi was no fool- it knew what the presence of the Shinigami meant, and felt fear for the first time in it's existence. Real fear, not simply cowardice, as all previous times it felt fear were like in comparison. Staring at the Shinigami, Kyuubi wondered if this was when it would die. Watching the god, it found that it hadn't moved from behind the Yondaime Hokage, who was talking with Kushina- probably to console her in her final moments. The Kyuubi scoffed to itself, disgusted at how pathetic humans were. It didn't matter that Kyuubi had had moments where it almost felt human, but this, being out in the world, causing destruction wherever it went, this was what it truly was- Biju. This was it's purpose- to die here, after gaining that purpose, was to lose everything.

And then the human had brought it's attention back to him, and he said one word.

"Seal!"

An ethereal hand, wrapped in a beaded rosary, burst from the Yondaime's stomach, and suddenly everything made sense to Kyuubi. The Shinigami wasn't there to kill it, it was there by the power of the Yondaime. As the hand pierced Kyuubi's left front leg, gripping it's soul, it could only think one thing-

Damn you, Yondaime Hokage!

The anger was short-lived, however, as soon the hand retracted, it pulled with it half of Kyuubi's power, with a part of it's soul. Kyuubi then felt itself shrinking, and looked down to find that it was only a fraction of the size- and power- that it used to be. Glancing at the chains, it saw that they hadn't yet compensated for the decrease in size, so it was free- for the moment. Bringing it's attention back to the Yondaime, it saw that he was moving the child into-

The ceremonial pedestal! He plans on sealing me again!

Feeling anger swell within it, Kyuubi waited for the best moment before lunging one paw forward, aiming to skewer the child and end the possibility of being sealed again. Suddenly, both the Yondaime and Kushina moved to intercept, allowing themselves to be impaled though the midsection while the chains constricted, stopping all movement. Off to the side, the Shinigami prepared to devour that half of Kyuubi's power and soul that it had taken, along with the Yondaime's soul.

"You bastard!" The Kyuubi spoke, it's first words in it's corporeal body. It could do nothing but watch on as both humans talked to the child, and the Yondaime summoned a toad- which made Kyuubi remember where it had seen the giant one before- before all went black.

Which led Kyuubi to where it was now. When it had come to, all those years ago, it had fully expected to be chained to a ball of swirling chakra, like before, not the inky blackness that was only driven back by the gate in front of it.

That was 12 years ago, and Kyuubi was now waiting for the perfect opportunity to try something it had attempted before, but was never successful. Several weeks previously, it's current container, an idiot much like it's mother, had learned to create full copies of itself- complete with perfect clones of Kyuubi. The sudden backlash of memories of actions that it did not remember doing nearly sent it into conniptions. As it's container used that jutsu more and more, Kyuubi learned that it was getting the memories of those clones, who had attempted to take over the clones they were contained in. Seeing an opportunity to escape, Kyuubi, whenever it felt itself being cloned along with the boy, it set about the task of seeing how it could take over one of those clones and use it to escape. The memories it got were ones of how Kyuubi could use the pull of it's chakra to appear on the other side of the cage, with a slightly limited range of motion away from the cage, as wandering too far or pulling too much of it's chakra with it through the cage would cause the seal to snap into action, sending the clones back in the black nothing within the seal.

Which led to it's current problem. While it could tell that the boy was in battle, it could also feel that he was nearing the desperation of drawing on Kyuubi's chakra, albeit unconsciously. Closing it's eyes, Kyuubi put it's plan into action, sending a tendril of chakra imbued with it's entire consciousness out past the seal, making sure that the amount was minute enough to slip past the safeguards of the seal, while large enough to hide the massive mind held within. Once the tendril was a safe enough distance from the gate, a single tiny fox formed, not completely corporeal, but solid enough to allow it free range. Looking down, it saw the tiny thread of chakra connecting it back to the unconscious body that once held itself. Chuckling softly, it started to move when there was a groaning sound from behind, causing Kyuubi to pause. Turning around it saw that the amount of blue water- symbolic of the boy's own chakra, swirling outside the seal, catching the tiny thread and yanking both it and Kyuubi's chakra, both from the body and the tiny fox itself.

Hopping away, Kyuubi could only watch helplessly as the thread connecting it to it's body dragged it into the swirling vortex. Once there, Kyuubi's tiny fox body was dissolved into the chakra it was, and was pulled into the boy's chakra coils.

The experience was one Kyuubi would never forget. Twisting and turning, flowing and receding, folding in on itself and combining to create new forms, Kyuubi could tell that there was no thinking, was no being, only doing. Shifting it's consciousness, it used it's mind to control it's chakra to speed around the coils, studying everything it could, it's curiosity knowing no bounds. It flowed everywhere, feeling the entire body at work- muscles moving as the boy threw punches, the heart beating furiously, filling up with blood before pumping it out and through the lungs, oxygenating the blood with every breath he took, before flowing out and throughout the entire body, providing important energy to anything and everything in its path.

Kyuubi felt... intoxicated. The flowing chakra, never stopping, never ending, never slowing, was addictive to feel, to experience. Going around, Kyuubi reveled in the rush it got from flowing with the boy's own chakra, not even noticing nor caring about how long it spent there, nor worrying about it's connection to it's body.

Freedom? Why did it need freedom when it had all this at it's disposal?

Time became a blur, and it wasn't until Kyuubi could feel the boy pull on his chakra to clone himself that it felt that something was wrong. It could feel itself being molded with the boy's chakra, creating a single clone itself, though not a clone. If it had a voice, Kyuubi would have shrieked as it felt for a connection that was no longer there, to a body that was left without a mind to occupy it. Helpless, Kyuubi could do nothing except feel the body forming, flesh and blood and bones and muscle creating from nothing. Could feel nothing but the excruciating pain that came from having it's nervous system build itself, sending signals of warning to the brain that was being built around a consciousness that was barely able to form coherent thought.

As Kyuubi's new, real, human body collapsed, the screams of pain coming not just from him but from the boy that used to hold him, only then did he realize that he'd made a horrible mistake, and wished terribly that it was all just a dream as everything went dark.