Kurama doesn't understand the value of time. He's born out of what makes gods, able to spend eons without showing any signs of an incoming death. Sure, he can lose his sentience now and again, but it is a temporary thing – he will always be reborn, no matter what.
This leads to his non-existent empathy towards humans and their apparent sadness towards deaths around them. Kurama can't fathom what death feels like, at least not the way humans do. For him, being lost amongst the ambient chakra till he gets his strength back together is death, a small limbo where he can eventually think in but not act.
Death isn't an end for him. It's merely a short, insignificant pause.
And that makes all the difference in his worldview.
His callousness and indifference while gouging out a human's insides with his sharp claws isn't remotely disturbing to him. He can't understand the little people's emotions, or why they react so strongly to certain things. He doesn't want to anyway.
Once, perhaps, he was curious about humans. He wanted to know how they seemed so merry and jolly one day and wielded swords to slaughter each other the next. He'd pretend to be asleep when he was just a kid, shrouded under the warmth of his father, the Sage. With eyes closed, he listened to the murmurs of men, their conversations turning sharper after darkness fell. He heard in on tense negotiations and plans of mass attacks, he saw brothers turning their backs on one another, of fathers succumbing to the weight of their regret.
Mostly, he saw all the things that were wrong with humanity. Their deceit, their bloodlust, their irrationality, their disloyalty... their violence.
It wasn't long after that he willingly separated from his siblings. His travels around the world, free in spirit and body gave him more insight into humans. He didn't venture the globe to know more about the 'walking meat on sticks' as Shukaku would often say. No, he just wished to see the undulating landscapes, the meandering rivers, the birds and fish, the flowers and trees. He was still curious about men but they didn't appear to be a good bunch to him.
Nevertheless, he came across them every now and then. He'd stay out of their battles and settlements, only observing their fights or the occasional bonfire rejoicing. The latter was new to him. He hadn't known men to be so carefree – the Sage's family wasn't very warm and welcoming, even though the Sage himself was. To learn that humans cherished their families and smiled and laughed with their kin put them in a different perspective in Kurama's head.
They weren't miserable, brutal monsters to everyone. Just for their enemies.
Centuries flew by in such a manner. Kurama had more or less accepted the presence of humans all around. As long as he kept out of sight (which was very difficult given his size), he didn't have to bother with them.
Then, Matatabi was killed.
The nine tailed beasts were crafted with the same chakra by the Sage and so were deeply connected to one another. They could feel each other's emotions, were in synch and tuned to read their siblings' state of mind. But this was the first time, since they'd entered this world, that they felt absolutely nothing coming from Matatabi.
They knew that they couldn't die, not in the traditional sense of the word. Their father had told them as much. But the fact that Matatabi was 'dead' raised their hackles. Because a chakra beast could never 'die' of natural courses – even burning by lava or being crushed under a mountain could only come close.
That meant that someone or a group of someones had purposely killed their sister.
But who was strong enough to overcome Matatabi?
Kurama wanted answers but he didn't get any until after thirteen years. Matatabi reformed in the height of winter, diminished in size but flowing with wisdom. She didn't tell everyone – just Kurama. Because no matter how much they denied it, Kurama was the eldest of them, their brother who'd stand in the way of annihilation if it meant it would save the others.
"My flames burnt four humans by mistake. I couldn't control them, brother. I didn't mean to kill them. But I did."
Matatabi confessed to this, her pointed eyes drooped as she looked at Kurama. Both of them were hunched, hiding behind the cover of the mountain ranges that would one day become Kumogakure.
"I didn't fight them when they came. They don't use sticks and swords anymore. They wield chakra now, don't they? They weaponise it," Matatabi had said quietly, wary of her brother's reaction. She knew how much he cherished the Sage's teachings, how much he'd despaired when humans had slowly forgotten the ways of the Ninshu.
"My guilt was too heavy to bear. I couldn't murder more of the little people."
Kurama hadn't said much that night and while Matatabi finally slept, he slipped free and into the wild once more.
His connection with his siblings stayed strong and they felt all of his emotional turmoil: the sadness, the anger, the disappointment, the want for vengeance.
He didn't act on any of it. As it turned out, his brothers and sisters – they liked humans. Why else would Matatabi feel guilt over killing a handful of them?
It didn't make sense to him but he didn't want the other beasts to shun him. So, he sealed his unfavourable thoughts about men and kept going.
Watching humans progress while the other animals remained forest-dwellers was... intriguing.
He passively saw how men and women, with chakra flooding their systems, set out to kill their enemies and seize land or resources. Sometimes, it was simply a matter of pride. About who could shed more blood, who could disarm the other first.
Wars and battles were still a constant – they'd just become more organised, though not any less ruthless.
'Clan' was a term Kurama stumbled upon a century after he'd had that talk with Matatabi. Since then, he'd grown apart from his siblings. Every now and then, he'd stumble into one and a brief chat with them would be all the interaction he'd engage in. He didn't know the reason for this detachment.
But seeing men kill one another in the name of their clan's spirit made him wonder if it would truly be so awful if he were to exact revenge against humans for what they once did to Matatabi. Were he and his siblings not a clan, not a family as well? Was he not allowed to unleash his fury on them when they did so themselves for every perceived slight against their clan?
Ultimately, he wasn't the one to initiate violence.
He still remembers when he'd first stumbled into Madara Uchiha, the man whose eyes radiated disdain and hatred on those they fell upon.
Kurama knew that humans didn't exactly see the chakra beasts as the divine creatures they truly were. They saw him as a savage beast, someone to be afraid of and flee or to bear their fists and fight.
(Matatabi still blames herself for this. She can't know that humans will always be afraid of those who are more powerful than them, no matter how peaceful they are. She doesn't understand that a mystery is directly correlated to danger for humans and that they'd rather see a stranger as an enemy than a potential ally.)
Madara had wanted to tame Kurama – that's what the man had said. The kyubi had simply scoffed before waving his paw to sent the human flying. But he'd made one, single grave mistake.
He'd looked into Madara's eyes.
Those infuriatingly mesmerising, ruby-red eyes with tomoes like cutting scythes will always haunt him.
They marked the beginning of his captivity. The start of his fight for freedom.
That fight is still going on.
Passed from one person to the next like a nameless parcel, Kurama has grown used to the cages he's placed in. He doesn't like them, hasn't warmed up to the thick, iron-like bars that conceal him. His resentment has increased with every human that tries to trap him, to use him, to have his power for their selfish desires.
Madara was the first to treat Kurama like a weapon. But he wasn't the last.
His siblings weren't spared either. With knowledge of chakra that far surpassed the Sage's, accumulated over milennia, humans–shinobi–were finally able to use Kurama and the other tailed beasts like the shiny, pointed weapons that they saw them as.
Kurama wasn't a person in their eyes, still isn't. He's just a mindless creature of tremendous power that is better off caged than left to roam free.
The truth is... Kurama hasn't killed any humans on purpose.
(That's a lie. He'd flamed three men on three different occasions when he'd heard them badmouth him and his family. He never speaks of those instances. Somehow, he knows his siblings know about it anyway.)
The only other time he'd massacred them was when he was under the control of Madara or one of his descendants.
But now, after years of stewing on his rage and yearning for revenge, he wishes for nothing more than to see humanity burn.
(Distantly, he recalls warnings given to him by the Sage, his kind eyes growing stern. Warnings of how Kurama's a beast of rage– someone capable of feeling immense anger yet also able to manipulate those strong feelings to his advantage. Warnings of how this anger, if left to fester and grow out of control, can manipulate Kurama instead of the other way around. He ignores those warnings.)
He just wants humans to feel his anguish, his helplessness, his turmoil. And the only way to do that is to kill them.
Because unlike him, death is way more impactful for them. Yes, his anger flourished only because Matatabi was killed but it wasn't like he'd lost her forever. The thought that someone would dare to hurt her sister was more upsetting than someone trying to kill her.
The problem with his desire to flip the table, to see humans suffer (like he had; alone and lost in some sealed jail, not knowing when he'd see the sun–if he ever would, disconnected from his siblings) was that he didn't have enough freedom to do it. He couldn't hope to dismantle a seal in a language he neither read nor understood. And so far, none of his hosts had enough rage in them to naturally form an affinity for his chakra–the only way he knew he could destruct the jail's bars.
Then, everything changed.
From hosts like Mito who'd rather spit at him than embrace his anger, and Kushina who saw him as a being without any intelligence, one to be leashed but kept at an arm's length– he was put under Naruto Uzumaki's control.
Naruto.
A boy who grew up with so few laughs around him, he learnt to smile himself to sleep.
A boy who always had anger bubbling within his palms, but a countenance so cheerful no one could possibly tell.
A boy who ultimately doesn't realise his responsibility in containing Kurama, even after he met the beast.
A boy who, simply put, is Kurama's ticket to freedom.
He cares not for what happens to Naruto after his plans are accomplished. The boy will die– and he's ready to see it through. Though it may be true that he's somewhat invested in Naruto's life.
Kurama has been with him longer than anyone else, in a way.
Watching him toddling about to wielding a kunai to mastering seals– the kyubi has had rare moments of feeling something other than simple indifference for the blond. He's even grateful that through Naruto, he himself has learnt more about seals, though not as much as he would've liked.
Kurama knows one thing for certain though: he can never dismantle the seal from inside the cage.
Equipped with that certainty and white-hot fury ready to be launched and devour anyone standing close enough, Kurama sows the seeds of doubt in Naruto. He needs him to be wary of Uchihas.
Each and every Uchiha.
He can't have those bastards demanding his obedience anymore.
After he's poised Naruto against Obito, he's ready to sit back and wait for the next part of his plan to present itself.
But that doesn't happen.
Instead, his wait is cut short significantly because as usual, humans do stupid things for stupid reasons.
Though this time, he's already leaning on his paws to take advantage of this convenient opportunity that's emerged right before him.
The disorientation is easier to deal with this time. Naruto stands up on wobbly feet and starts walking through the path charted for him by his squinting eyes. He's not sure time works the same way in his head as it does outside but he'd rather not risk Sai's life by wasting time just approaching the gate of the prison.
The muddy, murky water his feet are soaked in is lower this time. He hadn't felt enough rage to make it knee-high. But the anger he did have was enough to let him enter into this shared mindscape with the kyubi.
Sourceless sunlight shines through thin columns in-between the bars of the jail – which is new. He guesses it's for the same reason the water's so low. His state of mind is more determined than it is drowning in fury, unlike the last time he was here.
When he's directly in front of the gigantic cage, he wavers for a moment. The aura leaking through the space is undoubtedly kyubi's, though once again, Naruto can't sense any intention or it, be it malicious or benign. The mysterious nature of the beast is vexing but today, he can't let his irritation show.
He clears his throat, fists held tightly against his sides. "Kyubi-san? Hey, hello. I'm back."
A sound like scraping sandstones filters through and the next thing he knows, large slitted eyes peer at him curiously.
Head cocked to the side in an exaggeration of innocence, the kyubi says, "Ah, whatever for? I can't imagine you ever needing my assistance in anything. And I don't make a very appealing conversationalist, do I?"
Realising that the red-furred beast already knows the situation he's in–the seal says the prisoner can share the captor's consciousness–he narrows his eyes at the kyubi.
"Let's get straight to the point," he tries to sound as confident as he can, as threatening.
"I want your chakra."
Even as he says those words, he can feel the drain on his own reserves, constantly being pulled by the counter-seal. He can feel a weariness seep into his bones as his feet go rigid to save him from doubling over.
"Nope," the kyubi says, lips stretched into a sneer of a smile. He approaches the thick poles ensuring his captivity with a leisure air and when he's finally close enough for Naruto to see the flecks of red in his orange fur, he says. "You don't want my chakra. No. You need it."
Gritting his teeth against the urge to scream at the kyubi, Naruto exhales deeply through his nose. "Yes," he nods, "I need your chakra. I need to save my friend. Question is, will you help me?"
"You're going too fast," the kyubi whines. Naruto's never heard a tone this mocking before. "Before we get to that life-or-death stuff, let's have a chat, shall we?"
"I don't have time for a chat!" Naruto whisper-yells, afraid of raising his voice in these empty halls save for the beast.
"Then make some," kyubi says flippantly, resting against the wall in a relaxed posture. "Go on, take a seat. You won't get what you want without giving me what I want."
As if controlled by invisible strings, Naruto forces himself to sit on the wet floor, back as stiff as a stick. "What do you want then?" he asks, "What do you wanna talk about?"
"Hmm," the chakra beast hums in thought if as truly pondering the question. "Tell me Naruto, did you consider ripping this seal off and setting me free?"
Naruto frowns, "No. Do you really think I'm that stupid to let you go? I don't believe in your Obito-is-an-evil-villain story, y'know."
Kurama makes a movement vaguely reminiscent of a shrug, "Too bad. I was just telling you the truth for once, seeing as how you're rarely kept in the loop by these people you love or respect."
"They must have their reasons," Naruto defends with as much conviction as he can muster – which is a lot. He tells himself the same thing every time doubt lingers in his head; he's starting to believe it. "And this isn't about them or how they treat me anyway. If I let you go, you'll kill us all, won't you?"
"I'm honoured that you think so highly of me," kyubi quips and for a moment, it does seem as if it's in good humor. But soon, his grin widens, pearlescent teeth gleaming in the light. "But no, I won't kill any of you. Contrary to what you may believe Naruto, I don't thrive in violence."
Naruto quirks a brow, skepticism flowing out of him in waves. Once again, he's stumped. He can't detect any lie in the kyubi's words but there wasn't an ounce of sincerity in his voice either. The confusion, the uncertainty is too much and it boils over when he says,
"How do I even know if what you say is true? I don't trust you, remember?! And you don't trust me! We haven't made any progress on that front but can't you just forget about this seal and your freedom for two minutes? I promise we'll talk more on it later but my friend needs me right now," Naruto holds the kyubi's imposing gaze, "... Please. Just help me."
"I will," the kyubi says, "but in due time. Don't be hasty. It's not everyday I get to have a talk with a tiny human with hair a colour so yellow it makes my eyes sore just looking at it."
"It's not that bad," Naruto mumbles, running a hand through his hair. His agitation lowers a bit, now that the kyubi has at least agreed to help. He can't be certain that the beast won't just back out later but he's still got another arguement to make if the kyubi turns his back on him.
"Why do you wish so desperately to save this friend of yours? Isn't he little more than a stranger to you?"
The question throws him for a loop. While he hadn't expected a series of threats on his person by the kyubi, he hadn't expected an inquiry behind the reasons for his actions either.
"He is a friend," Naruto replies lamely. "... Sometimes, we know very little about our friends, but that doesn't make us strangers. I still care for Sai. I still like him."
"And if this Sai turns out to be a very horrible person?" the kyubi counters lazily, inspecting his sharpened claws with an eye. "Would you be so eager to sacrifice yourself to save him then?"
"But he isn't," Naruto's brow furrow, "I may not know everything about Sai and his past but what I know from my interactions with him– Sai is a good person. An idiot, maybe. But good. He made Shino a painting of the hills as a gift. That's not something a horrible person would do, right?"
"Can you be certain of that?"
"No," Naruto says after some deliberation. "But I'm willing to take that risk."
"I should be surprised by your stupidity and recklessness but I'm not. You take after your parent, indeed."
"My dad was stupid and reckless?" Naruto tilts his head in confusion. The fourth was never described with such words in any records of him.
The kyubi mouth pulls up into a smirk, "Your other parent was."
Clarity hits him like a bolt of lightning. The kyubi was talking about his mother. The mother he knows nothing of except that she was from the Uzumaki clan. The mother he's yearned to know the name of, hear the voice of, know the stories of.
The kyubi knows her.
He almost unleashes a barrage of questions about her, barely restraining himself. His chakra is almost entirely depleted and his mindscape is growing duller by the moment. Something's happening to his chakra core, he knows it, and he has to stop this seal's tugging if he hopes to survive.
"I... I'll come back later to talk about that," Naruto says in a shaky voice. "Are you done with this conversation yet? You know I'm almost out of chakra right?"
"And?" Kurama says, lips curled downwards as if disappointed in something. "You can simply stop contact with Sai and let the boy die. You choose to not do so. It's your problem to deal with. Not mine."
"But that's where you are wrong," time for the kill, Naruto thinks, continuing, "You know the functions of this seal that binds you to me, links you to me, right? You should know then that if the host dies, so does the chakra beast inside them."
Surprisingly the kyubi snorts which soon turns into full-blown laughter, the belly-rumbling kind. Naruto wants to believe that the beast is genuinely amused but again, there's such a profound lack of sincerity to the sound he can't accept it to be anything but hollow.
"You think I didn't know that already?" the kyubi asks. "You may be new to being a captor and all, but being a prisoner isn't new for me. You'd do well to remember that."
Tucking away that piece of knowledge, Naruto swallows to buy himself some time to think. To make some sense of his thoughts that are being pulled in numerous directions.
"So. You don't... care? You don't mind dying?"
The attempt at manipulating the kyubi is pathetic but they both know that.
"I can't die," the kyubi says. "Not forever at least. So yes, I don't care."
A thought strikes Naruto then, causing a plan to form in his head. Puffing out his chest and stretching his lips into an arrogant smirk, he speaks up.
"Are you sure about that, Kyubi-san?" taking a step towards the giant seal covering the gates, he points at it. "I'm somewhat of a seal-expert y'know? This one's got a nasty little array on it. It's got a way to keep you linked to me. To my very soul. You know what that means, don't you?" Naruto looks up at beast who's eyeing him with burning scrutiny.
"If my soul goes to the afterlife, so does yours."
The kyubi holds Naruto's gaze for an excrutiatingly long moment. He shakes his head, finally saying, "You're bluffing."
"You can't know that for sure," Naruto retorts with force. "Is it worth the risk anyway?"
Kurama hums in thought again, turning his back on Naruto.
"Maybe. But what good is my life anyone if I'm trapped in this shit hole the whole time?"
"Hey! Hey! Where are you going?!" Naruto races to the bars till his head's going through two of them. The kyubi is still slowly trudging towards the back of the jail. "You said you'd help!"
"And I will," the kyubi shouts in a sing-song voice, "right after I'm done with a short nap!"
"Hey! Wait! You can't do that!" Naruto yells back, urgency coating his voice as he grips the bars enough to imprint the inside of his palms.
"Oh yeah?" the kyubi calls back in challenge. "Just watch me."
Like a band pulled taut for hours, something snaps in Naruto. His continuous worry for Sai, his weakened chakric state, the toll on his mind and body by the events of the day– it all comes free as he yells at the kyubi to stop again. He's so loud that the voice bounces off the interior of the prison, reverberating several times before dying out. It pays off though because the kyubi stops and turns his neck to look at Naruto.
The blond, with his head still wedged between the bars, sighs heavily before speaking again, this time in a much more ear-friendly pitch,
"Look, I know you don't like the situation you're in–and, and you can blame me all you want for it, even though, to be honest, it's not my fault you're stuck here. Hell, I didn't even know of your existence a few days ago but that doesn't matter. What matters is that my friend is fucking dying right now and so am I and I have no intention of stopping this process even if you don't help me but you will die if I do and I am really fucking tired at the moment and I feel drunk because my chakra is just all GONE so can you please stop being an asshole for one second and give me your goddamn chakra!"
By the end of his monologue, Naruto is heaving dry breaths, his chest rising and falling rapidly. If he was in a better condition, with his mental faculties not in shambles, he'd be mortified by what he'd just done: rant his heart out in front of a formidable, ancient monster who could rip his head off his shoulders if he were free.
Fortunately, he feels nothing of the sort, but just righteous anger coiling in his gut, a furious, aggressive worry that's reached a climax.
Wordlessly, the kyubi stalks forward, taking languid strides toward Naruto as if approaching a skittish prey. For one, irrational moment, Naruto is sure the kyubi will tear through the prison with the power of his stare alone. The moment passes, and he stumbles away from the jail-bars, holding his breath in anticipation of what's to come.
"You want my chakra," the kyubi says finally. He sounds way too pleased with himself, completely at odds with his indifferent attitude before. Naruto eyes the beast suspiciously but before he can investigate further, the kyubi thrusts his paw forward, a smirk dancing on his lips reeking of pure satisfaction.
"Here. Take it."
A surge of energy crackles forth, surging towards Naruto. It heats the water they're both standing it, sending a sizzle upwards with a wave of steam. Naruto lets the red chakra that oozes of all things negative envelope him, back ram-rod straight as he feels power rush back into him, clearing up a fog that had conjured in his mind before.
He pulls into, as far as his reach can go, taking as much of the kyubi's chakra as he can, afraid that the supply would stop any moment.
Distantly, he hears the sound of something tearing. It's too low in the cacophony of tides of flaring chakra and winds that zip past him, constructs of his own wild imagination. So he focuses on the task at hand and ignores everything else.
Once he's sure all of kyubi's provided chakra is being zapped instead of his own, he closes his eyes, a brick-wall finally lifting off his shoulders.
When he comes to, he's in a white bed and Sai's lying across from him, a little sickly but otherwise alive and well.
Author's Note:
Thanks for reading! have a nice day. :))