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Thanks to those who took the time to leave a legitimate review.


Chapter 7 - Cage

I was 5 months into my 8th year of age when I met my tenant.

I was expecting lots and lots of anger and cursing from the newly caged fox. This was the very first time he had been sealed after all.

What I got was different.

Before meeting Kurama for the first time, I had been practicing my meditation with Tobirama. And boy was clearing my mind a massive pain in the ass. It didn't help that I could hear Hashirama singing in the shower either.

It sounded like a damn flock of dying geese going through a cheese grater.

Tobirama and I shared a pained, withering look and I could tell he wanted to throw his tone-deaf brother out a window. Hell, I did too.

Anyway, after I finally managed to clear my mind after great effort, I felt my consciousness abruptly pulled inward. My vision swam, and I felt an extreme sense of vertigo.

.

.

Soon enough, the sensation was over and I found myself in a wide dark hallway, with a shabby, pealing wallpaper that looked like it belonged in a old Victorian building. The air was stagnant, and I could hear a creaking and groaning that one would expect of an ancient structure that was in desperate need of upkeep. What little light there was seemed to be coming from dusty, eerily-lit candelabras lining the walls.

Going spelunking in a spooky horror-movie house that I had somehow gotten sucked into was definitely not what I expected I would be doing that morning. At least it wasn't the strangest thing that had happened to me; Being born into the Narutoverse definitely took the cake for that.

I looked up curiously. There was no ceiling, and the walls appeared to stretch on endlessly into an inky blackness.

It was the kind of setup you'd expect in a horror movie. Needless to say, I was startled and confused as to my sudden change in scenery. I didn't think I was asleep.

'Am I in the Seal?' I finally wondered. 'If so, why does my head look like a horror movie?...Cool.'

My deep affection for 'Silent Hill' and other well-done horror books/games/movies from my old world probably didn't help my weird psyche, now that I thought about it. As a funny side note, what most would consider a nightmare, I usually found to be awesome. I personally had loved all those horror-related dreams, as I was not easily frightened by such things. It definitely wasn't all that surprising to see that my head was spooky, which sounds pretty funny out of context.

Digressing again. Should I tone down the rambling for future reference? Naaah, that was boring.

I walked down the corridor, the dark wood floor creaking ominously below my bare feet. It was impossible to tell how long the corridor stretched, and I wondered if it even had an end. After what seemed like an hour, eventually felt a draft billowing down the hall towards me, cutting through the previously stagnant air.

"An exit?" I asked myself quietly. I continued forward, and the draft began to sound more like breathing than simple wind.

If it was breathing, then I had a suspicion of who it belonged to.

When I finally reached the end of the long corridor, I carefully entered a large, circular chamber with a dark, stone floor. The chamber, too, was dimly-lit by old candelabras upon the walls.

There, a crimson cage stood built into the wall on the opposite side. The bars, like the walls, stretched upwards into the darkness. In the middle of the circular room, a strange mechanism lay built into the ground; It was bright and clean in contrast to the rest of the ancient-looking chamber. 'It almost looks like some sort of locking mechanism.'

I looked back up to the gilded, red bars. That's when I saw the eyes. Large eyes like polished rubies, gleaming in the dark chamber.

'Kurama,' was my thought.

We stared silently at each other for what seemed like an age, Kurama's scarlet eyes peering at me in a way that could only be described as contemplative.

"So the not-child finally comes to visit me," the Fox spoke suddenly, his voice unreadable.

"Not-child?" I responded. Did he know that I was older than my supposed age?

"I know everything about you, Musume," he replied cryptically, seemingly aware of my thoughts.

"That's not creepy at all," I said, somewhat irritated at his intrusiveness. I decided to get to the point now that I had the opportunity. "Well then Mr. Know-it-All, I hope you realize then that it would be better to work together, considering Da— my father might still be out there plotting." Speaking of my father still never failed to bring me great sorrow, but I pushed those feelings away bitterly.

"Why should I work with you?" the Fox sneered, his gleaming red tails shifting like countless coils in the darkness.

"You know why, you damn furball!" The Bijū bristled at the comment but said nothing. I continued, "If you've seen my memories, then you know just what he will try to accomplish if he still lives. An eternal illusion? I can't let that happen. We know the plan, so we have the advantage. Besides, if you claim to know me so well, then you know that I would do everything in my power to set you free once this is all over, and that I despise the fact that people would cage sentient beings just to use them as tools or weapons."

Kurama studied me quietly for a few minutes more."The 'Moon's Eye Plan' was it? While I detest the thought of working with a human, his daughter no less, I detest the thought of becoming part of the Jūbi more. I suppose I simply cannot ignore such a possibility.

So be it not-child. We will work together, but don't expect me to like it," the Fox said petulantly, huffing hot breath in my face.

I smiled.

.

.

"Musume!"

I jerked out of my subconscious, immediately disoriented. I turned my head to blink stupidly at my uncle who looked torn between being annoyed and amused.

"Yeah?" I responded, standing up to stretch a bit. I quickly became aware of another consciousness in my mind and realized that it was Kurama. I could tell that the Fox was scrutinizing the man before me the way one might scrutinize some bacteria under a microscope.

"It's called 'meditating' not 'sleeping,' brat," Tobirama replied, a small smirk on his usually stern face.

"Sorry, it's one of my body's natural defense reactions whenever I'm under threat of losing brain cells, which includes stupid singing," I replied easily, turning to grin at my silver-haired uncle. I could see he was about to make a sarcastic retort before Hashirama's singing started up again.

"I'M WALKING ON SUNSHINE! WOOOOOOOAAH!"

I let out a strangled laugh, and I could just tell that Kurama's incredulity and irritation had reached an all-time high. "Is this what I'm going to have to deal with from now on?" My tenant's voice was sardonic (and maybe a pinch concerned).

"That's it," Tobirama hissed, striding purposefully out into the hallway and towards his oblivious-to-the-danger brother.

"Uncle Tobi no! Murder isn't the only way!" I yelled after him, sticking my head into the hall to look after my angry uncle.

"What the hell did I just get into?" Kurama grumbled, before preparing himself for the long-haul.


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