Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other franchise mentioned.

I'll be posting some artwork for this story sooner or later, so I'll let you all know when I do so.

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


Chapter 12 - A Difficult Decision

Have you ever had to make a difficult, heartbreaking decision? Well, I was faced with one at the age of 17.

I suppose it started when I first began developing inhuman qualities a few years prior. Needless to say, the changes became more and more apparent.

Kurama and I had discovered, much to our dismay, that there was seemingly no way to fix the damage the Seal had done.

It was like the Fox had said; we really were stuck together.

And lo and behold, someone just so happened to see my new fox ears and tail.

It wasn't a family member, but a council member.

How the hell did that happen you ask? Well, how the hell was I supposed to know I'd suddenly grow them from out of nowhere as if a wizard had done it.

Seriously, I was just in the room, minding my own business and BAM! New appendages!

Lucky me.

Anyway, the council member who had been in the room instantly started shrieking and panicking like a howler monkey on meth, hurting my new ears like no tomorrow. He then took that moment to cheese it out of the room while I was stunned by the noise and the situation.

Yeeeeeah. I knew it couldn't end well.

Word must've spread quickly because a concerned and freaked out Hashirama and Tobirama soon found me.

They were firing concerned questions at me and all I could do was stare, because I honestly had no idea what to say. Even Kurama was quiet for once, but I could still feel his slight anxiousness.

After a while of mute staring I explained that I didn't know what was happening to me. I didn't want to let them know I had been in contact with my Bijū, and that I had known that there was something wrong with my Seal all along.

Why you ask? Because I had doubted them.

That was why I never told them anything of when I first met Kurama, or when I had first discovered the problem with my Seal. Call me selfish or foolish, but I didn't want them to know that I hadn't trusted even them.

I was such a coward.

Humans, by nature, are cruel and unpredictable. It was something I had learned as a child in my previous life. I had doubted even my family because of this.

It was a terrible, guilty feeling but I pushed it down. I had to endure. I had to.

Soon afterwards, Hashirama and Mito began their examination of my seal. The look on their faces was grim.

"Your Seal has greatly degraded, and it looks like the Kyūbi's chakra is infecting yours, for lack of a better term," they told me gravely. Not that I didn't already know that.

"Stop talking like I'm a virus or something!" Kurama had complained in response to their diagnosis.

"The Seal was near perfect. Mio and I ensured it. So why?" Mito had spoken softly to herself. "Why and how did this happen?"

"Interesting," Kurama intoned upon hearing the woman. "How very, interesting."

After their examination, they placed a couple of temporary seals on me that would slow the process while they tried to puzzle out a more permanent solution. I knew that it was too late to reverse what was happening, but I allowed them to hope for their sake.

Kurama was irritated at the new seals that disrupted his (and my) chakra, but we both knew that resisting their placement would only bring about more problems.

Things went downhill from there. How typical.

Word spread, and soon the entire council knew along with several other ninja. Hell, it was only a matter of time before everyone and their damn brother knew.

Hashirama may be an great guy and a good Hokage, but damn does he suck at keeping gossipers under wraps, not that there was too much anyone could have done by that point.

Soon enough, there became unrest that I wasn't being contained due to my failing Seal. Hashirama, bless him, was having none of it and refused to have me caged, saying that there was nothing to worry about and that I was a loyal Shinobi.

While this was good enough for some, it wasn't good enough for all. People, stupid as they were, were questioning his judgment. The fact that I was the 'Traitor's Daughter' only made it worse.

War between the rival Hidden Villages was brewing on the horizon as well, and Konoha couldn't afford in-fighting.

I knew something had to be done. But what?

"Don't worry, Musume. Everything will be just fine, you'll see! They'll all come around and see that you're a wonderful person!" Hashirama had told me kindly. Mito was off to the side, smiling comfortingly at me. I loved them both like parents. They were practically were my parents by now.

Uncle Tobirama, much to my relief, hadn't been treating me any differently. He was probably the only one too, considering Aunt Mito and Uncle Hashirama seemed to be walking on eggshells around me, as if I would break down under the slightest breeze.

My cousin, Itama, was indignant with anyone who spoke poorly of me as well. He was a good kid.

I wanted to cry. I didn't deserve such a wonderful family, and they didn't deserve the trouble I was putting them through.

"How naïve of Hashirama. Unless something as radical as you saving this damn village from some great enemy like Naruto did with Nagato happens, then I highly doubt anyone's view will change. You know this as well as I do, Kit," Kurama spoke solemnly. The Fox had been surprisingly sympathetic lately. It was one of the few comforts I had nowadays.

"...What if things don't change, Uncle? What if people only become more upset and unreasonable?" I spoke quietly.

'There will be death,' I wanted to say. 'Konoha can't afford it!'

"Don't worry so much, Musume. It'll all work out," Hashirama replied, but I could see the apprehension in both his and Mito's eyes.

I didn't sleep at all that night.

I knew what I had to do, but was it the right thing to do? It certainly wouldn't be the first time I had made a dreadfully poor decision.

I pictured the smiling faces of my Aunt, Uncles, and Cousin. I didn't want them to suffer because of me.

It was settled. I would leave Konoha.

I knew my family would be distraught, but I knew they would move on. If I didn't leave, then I knew the civil unrest would only increase and mostly likely lead to unnecessary violence and deaths. The rival Hidden Villages would probably jump at the chance to invade if they got wind of internal fighting.

The timeline could change too much.

I knew that my greatest advantage was knowing the events of the Manga, so if the timeline changed too much, I would have little to nothing to go on. Though I had forgotten some parts of the Manga, Kurama's ability to file away and retrieve memories at a moment's notice had been of great use to me. I would sometimes joke that he was my secretary, much to his consternation.

I had to go.

I liked Konoha well enough, and it had a lot of good people in it. It was its larger-than-it-should-be idiotic portion of people I wasn't very fond of. Regardless, my damn conscious would plague me to no end if something bad happened to the village.

I only hoped I was making the right decision.


Hope you enjoyed.