It was a bad day to be Yamanaka Ino
To Ino every mind was just a simple 'game' of hide and seek, she would freely roam the core of people's minds and find what she needed, doing this for years, she became quick at finding what she needed. All the minds were pretty much the same to her. So when Ino was standing in a dark hall, ankle deep in mucky water she knew something wasn't right.
Her mercury eyes were wide with disbelief; the walls were grimy and disgusting, a perfect shade of repulsive. Rusty tubes flowed out of the walls in a twisted pattern; the pipes were leaky and damaged. As she walked in the demented halls she noticed all the doors were not only shut but locked, which was weird because the memories were normally out and about, freely floating around.
The doors were not only shut, but nailed shut, boarded up by moldy planks, the mind walker never in her life could believe such a mind existed, she almost forgot who's inner mind she was in is.
'Naruto…what happened to you to make your mind…this bad…' She had always seen the boy with a smile that could split a face, he was so full of life and joy, it was damn near impossible to get the boy to calm down. He was always so full of spunk and guts, his mind shouldn't BE this…this BAD!
She felt like she was walking in a maze, her feet slushing in the water was the only noise in the whole place, an eerie quietness that didn't sit right with her. At times she would hear a baby cry or a child giggling. Ino wouldn't lie to herself, it sounded familiar but she was still scared.
Eventually she came to a long hallway, it was intimidating but there was a yellowish green light at the end. Her heart pounded, scared at each step she took, and the mind walker grabbed her long hair, needing to hold something, anything.
As she came to the colossal opening, her eyes widened to large proportions. Never in her life had she ever seen anything so simple but intense, her mind going a mile a minute of why this was in a person's mind.
There, a good couple of yards away was a cage, it stood tall and mighty, rivaling even the simplest of mountains. Its long iron bars thin but many, spreading out wide. The bars were cut and dented, like they were being gnawed on and clawed at, but still stood tall and mighty, the side of the gate was highly detailed, the design a hypnotic wonder. Ino's eyes noticed a single sheet of paper that simply stuck in the middle as she got closer to the gate, on it was even simpler, the Kanji for 'seal' painted on it.
Like in a trance she got closer, her eyes hungering for the knowledge and history behind this beautiful creation, what wonders it held behind the gate.
Be careful what you wish for though
Ino's ear twitched as she heard rustling behind the colossus gate, deep breaths and a low grumble that echoed her way. The mind walker got closer and closer, wanting to feel the bars, so close…so clo-
DANGER!
Ino's mind went ballistic with warning as her inner thoughts told her to bail, and FAST! She leapt backwards as hard as her legs could push just as a barrage of titan claws attached to fur smacked down with all the force of a monster, Ino's freighted mercury eyes watched as the claws retreated back into the abyss, scraping harshly on the ground. Her heart was racing and all the color drained from her body as she saw it come forth.
It was as big as the gate that held it back, its fur a messy blood orange. Its teeth sickeningly sharp and thin, she was sure anything in its jaw would be crushed and mangled to no return, the outlining of its gums as black as tar. The worst was its eyes, even behind thick darkness it shined sinisterly at her, its deep maroon eyes and black slits glaring down her down.
Ino didn't know it at the time, but in her presence was the destroyer of mountains, the one who flooded countless villages and burned down the thickest of forests, the nine tailed demon, Kyuubi!
She watched it lay down, getting comfortable as it raised its paw, examining it and licking the titan like claws. Its voice was deep and aged, vibrating through the walls and flooded floor. "What a shame…locked in the mortal for seventeen years and I only manage to get a 'sliver' of entertainment…"
Ino was in denial. 'It spoke, that THING spoke!' Looking down she found she was slightly glazed, the blood trickling down her leg. 'I-IMPOSSIBLE! I'm in a mind; NO one should be able to harm me!' She slowly got up with wobbly knees, her lower half soaked, weather from urine or the water, she didn't know. She finally found her voice, though it was trembling and week.
"Who…what are yo-" "SSSIIIILLLEEEENNNCE!" His roar blasted her away; smashing against the flooded floor like a rag doll, the mind walker quickly got a grip and applied chakra to her feet, trying to keep herself standing and steady. Her ears were ringing but she could easily still hear his hard voice.
"YOU speak, only when 'I' give you permission too! You humans have absolutely NO respect! You walk in my jailors mind like some kind of SICK GAME, STROLL around and come asking who 'I AM'! I should roar till your EARS bleed…but I need you, I haven't had entertainment in years. Though, to answer your question, it is I…the great and powerful KYUUBI!
Ino saw it prep itself up in all of its rotten glory, like some kind of king. Her mind once more being destroyed with plot bunnies, but she needed them answered at once! She felt silly but she raised her hand, Ino felt sick at the smirk it gave her, like she was lower than dirt.
'Yeeees?" "Yo-you said you're the nine tails…but that was killed." "NON SENCE! It seems you were lied to, by your parents and village no doubt. I was simply stowed away inside this pathetic vessel. 'Though if he dies I might die, damn that human and his wrench…'
'Wait, so, Naruto…all this time Naruto has been holding this thing inside him!? How in Kami's name is he so cheerful!?' "Wait! I don't have to stay here, I can just leave!" She pulled chakra to her mind, focusing on her body, but the chuckles from the beast only made her heart sink to her boots, and all the blood from her face drained from his next words.
His voice was sick and vile, but a hint of pleasure at seeing the frightened girl. "You may think this is some sort of GAME, but let me tell you this you little shit, I may be behind these bars, but I RUN this playground." He tongue launched out, licking the bars. "Awe the SMELL of fear always gets me going." His slit black eyes becoming dilated with wanderlust.
Ino was hyper venerating; she couldn't leave, why couldn't she leave! Her fingers dug into her hair as she tried to hold her head from spinning; she was going to be sick.
It was a nightmare she couldn't wake up from!
"So, how about a game then? Since you seem to love them." Ino stayed silent not questioning how he knew, her eyes staring at the boogeyman before her. He got up with no rush, his claws stabbing into the ground. "Let's see how much you VALUE your life shall we?" He lifted his paw high in the air, and slamming it down with all the force in the world, the mind walker shielded her eyes as the water splashed her, she could hear the walls creak and squeal as they bended, all around her pipes shifted and the walls morphed together, the room itself shaping all around her, it was like she was in some labyrinth. But the room soon smashed together, only a one way road, a single door in back of her and the cage in front.
Ino stared at the door; it too like the others was nailed shut, the boards locking it up tight. Once more the demon got ahold of the girl's attention, his voice casual, like he's done this a million times over. "The game is simple, behind that door is four other doors, but this is where things get fun! All you got to do is open all the doors, and on the last door, is the door to freedom. It's that simple, nothing more, nothing less, no strings attached. Buuuuut If you chose to give up, not being able to open the entire doors and getting to the finish line, you come to me. I'll gladly chew on you for days, and savor the flavor."
His mouth was drooling from the thought, the saliva dropping by the buckets, and it sickened the girl, but she had bigger problems, like what was behind those doors. No way could opening doors and getting to the end was THAT easy!
She looked in back of her, the Kyuubi back to laying, his eyes bored and uncaring. But even when a demon was displeased with you, behind sealed gates, it still frightened the you, this was truly a nightmare.
Little did she know it was only just beginning…
Walking her way over, her feet kicking the mucky water, she was at her target in seconds, her hands weren't doing to good, they were shaky and her heart was pounding out of her chest. Leaning forward she painfully pulled out the rusty nails one by one, the metallic bolts plopping in the water, already forgotten. Her fingers were a little sore, but she must carry on, it was this or…becoming mashed potatoes, the thought left a sick feeling in her gut. Oh how she prayed to kami this was a dream, but she knew better.
Ino grit her teeth as she pulled out the rotting wood, it was tough but it broke the door now completely free of locks. Her hand steadily gripped the knob, this was it, all she needed to do was pull open the door! With quick speed the girl twisted the knob and rammed in.
Ino had felt many kinds pain in her life, chipped nails, kunai cuts, a bruise here and there. It had never gotten worse than breaking a bone.
But this was one thousand more painful than any one of those.
Her throat nearly tor as she let out an ungodly loud scream, she fell to her knees and her eyes went through intense flashes. It was Naruto, all of it was Naruto! He was small and young, and all over she saw him get smacked around and beat senseless, the stabbings, the punches and kicks, the rusty pipes, but none of that compared to the depression that consumed her very body.
Images of Naruto being yelled at and hit over the head with beer bottles pledged her mind and the sour taste of rotten food in her mouth as he devoured the expired food, his body skinny and frail.
Ino went to scream some more but the bile in her stomach busted, spewing out her throat and nose as she crumbled, a years' worth of depression and pain injected into her physically and mentally. She twitched on the floor, trying to regain her sanity, but the chuckling of the sadistic fox's voice vibrating through the room didn't help much.
"OOOOOOH that's RIGHT! I forgot to mention one small detail, each door you open is a full year of the boy's sadness, and I simply smashed all the broken memories of the boy into one room, each year holding more pain then the last." He licked the bars, his teeth grinding on the metallic poles. "And remember you miserable piece of FLESH! I'll be right here waiting for you if you give up!"
Ino slowly got up, but the twitching never stopped, she couldn't get the images of the crying blonde out of her head, the smiling boy long gone, lost in the tears and pain he was pulled through. Ino at this very moment, in her slowly shattering mind, made a promise to herself, one she would keep to the day she was six feet under as soon as she got out.
She would do everything in her power to make up all the wrong she ever done and make the teen smile.
The flashes of those lonely nights still fresh in her mind, she wiped the vomit off her chin, the tears never stopping. She reached back and pulled the hair band out, tugging it harshly off. Her pale yellow hair flopped down, covering her face, she didn't want the fox to see her pained face he so craved to see. Never in her life did she know someone could go through so much pain, so much hardship at so young.
And here she was worrying about fat seeping out of her crop top and skirt.
How fucking foolish of her.
Her eyes were hard, Ino's numbed teeth grit, she wouldn't lose to the fox, if the little boy could make it through a year of pain, this was NOTHING. She got up, standing tall! She weaved forward, her vision a little blurry from the tears that still fell. She lunged at the next door, fingers ripping out the nails, there was more than the last, but the mind walker quickly pulled them out fast, cuts from the rust, her fingers weren't doing well. But in minutes they were all gone. Using her strength she pulled at the decaying wood, splintering her hands. The door was soon free of locks once more, her hands turning the knob harshly. She couldn't stop crying for the poor boy. "Nar…uto…Naruto…i-im so sorry…Na…Naru.."
She rammed the door bracing herself for the pain soon to come, she would not lose to this stupid game, and she would not lose to the fox! she would not LOSE! She blindly barged in the room the depression already seeping into her and her body; her bloody cries pierced the mindscape.
"NNAAAARRRUUUTTTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"Ino?" Everyone looked at the blonde from his sudden choice of words, and even more in shocked that his eye shedded a single tear. The bubbly boy wiped it away quickly with his cut up sleeve. Teuchi came up, a small frown on his face. "You okay Naruto?"
Naruto could have sworn he heard the girl that stormed out a while ago, but he passed it off as just hearing things, his grin came up once more as he slammed his Gamba-Chan down.
"Never better! Keep them coming gramps!"
