Something else?

The inn was nothing special, it was the same one they had in the anime, which meant I wasn't complaining. After training all day, I just wanted to rest for a bit, but Naruto had been bugging me the whole walk back.

We ended up in the same room, all three of us. I had changed in a separate room, coming back to see Jiraiya sprawled out lazily on the floor while Naruto sat cross-legged on the futon, fiddling with the rubber ball.

"Alright," I said, sitting across from Naruto, mirroring his position. "I think it's time I show you something."

Naruto tilted his head. "Huh? Show me what?"

Jiraiya barely cracked an eye open. "This better not be another argument about that seal of yours."

I ignored him. "Naruto, remember how you asked me to help you understand your Nine-Tails? Well, I'm going to help you enter your inner world."

Naruto blinked. "Inner world? Like...inside my head?"

I nodded. "Yeah. It's where you can talk to the thing inside you." I had spent years trying to talk with moonhydra and picked this skill up so it was something I could teach. "And if you can talk to it, maybe you can start to understand it."

Naruto's face scrunched up immediately with nervousness. "That thing killed my parents, right? Why would I even want to talk to it?" 

I sighed. "That's not what really happened."

Naruto glared at me. "What do you mean, that's not what happened? The Nine-Tails attacked the village! It killed my parents, Ayumi! If it wasn't for that thing, I wouldn't have—"

"—Naruto," I cut him off. "You don't know the whole story. I do."

That shut him up.

Jiraiya sat up fully now, arms crossing. "And how exactly do you know that? you wouldn't even be a year old during that time."

 I couldn't tell them the real reason I knew. I wasn't about to blurt out that I had knowledge from an entirely different world. That'd just make me look insane.

So, I did the next best thing. I played it off like instinct.

"I've... pieced things together," I said carefully. "I know the Nine-Tails didn't attack on its own. It was controlled. Someone used it against the village."

Jiraiya's entire demeanor changed. The lazy, goofy mask dropped in an instant. His face darkened, and he stared at me with an intensity I had never seen from him.

Naruto looked between us, confused. "Wait, wait—hold up! What do you mean, it was controlled?! You're saying someone made the Nine-Tails attack?!"

I nodded. "Yeah. And if you don't believe me, ask him yourself."

Naruto recoiled. "What?! No way! That thing hates me!"

I leaned forward. "You don't know that."

"Yes, I do!" Naruto shot back. "I've felt it my whole life! Everyone treated me like a monster because of it!"

I sighed again. "Naruto, do you trust me?"

Naruto faltered. "...Yeah, of course I do."

"Then let me prove it."

I placed a hand on his forehead, channeling my chakra. "Close your eyes. Breathe. Focus on the space inside your mind." So normally when I drained someone of their chakra id pull it into my stomach near where moonhydra was. this time id pull it gently to my own mine.

He squirmed. "Ugh, this is weird."

"Just do it."

Jiraiya watched in complete silence, his expression unreadable.

The moment Naruto finally let go and focused, I felt the shift. Our chakra linked, and just like that, I pulled him into my mindscape.

We stood on the surface of a massive, glowing moon. Everything was bathed in soft light, the dark void of space stretching infinitely around us with the earth above us, high in the space sky? 

And at the center of it all, Moonhydra lay bound in heavy chains.

Her three heads rested motionless, each one wrapped in thick black seals covered in glowing tags. The middle head, Callist, was the only one with golden horns. She was the only one I had ever awakened. and right now her horns had a total of 2 horns only. She was around the same size as the Nine tail, not that titan-sized beast that she should be like in the Monsterverse. 

Naruto's eyes went wide as he took a step back. "What... the hell?"

"This is my mindscape," I explained. "And that's Moonhydra."

He swallowed, glancing warily at the massive, slumbering beast. "She's... huge."

I nodded. "And yet, she's not complete. Only Callist has ever fully awakened before my seal was put in place."

Naruto took another step forward, tilting his head. "So is each head their own person? And They are... asleep."

"Yeah," I muttered, staring at her. "Because of the seal the Fourth put on me."

Naruto looked at me, then back at Moonhydra. His voice softened. "...Is she angry at you?"

I let out a bitter chuckle. "No. She's mad at the ones who did this to us."

Naruto turned fully to face me. "And you want to set her free?"

I met his gaze. "She's not a monster, Naruto. She's a part of me. Just like your Nine-Tails is a part of you."

Naruto's expression twisted with something unreadable.

"...That thing inside me isn't like her," he muttered.

"How do you know?"

"Because it would want me dead?" he didn't sound so sure now. 

I inhaled sharply, then placed a hand on his shoulder. "Then let's go see for ourselves."

He tensed. "Wait, what?"

"We're going into your mindscape."

Naruto's face turned pale. "No way! That thing's gonna rip me apart!"

I tightened my grip. "Not if I'm there with you."

For a moment, he hesitated. Then, with a deep breath, he closed his eyes and let it happen.

The silver glow of my moon vanished.

And suddenly, the warm glow of my moon vanished. The air turned damp, Water covered the floor, shallow, stretching out behund us beneath flickering lights.

And then there were the bars.

Massive, towering iron bars stood before us. Beyond them, red chakra curled and twisted like living fire, casting a hellish glow against the stone walls.

And in the center of it all, the Nine-Tails.

It was bigger than I'd imagined. Its was the same size as moonhydra, its crimson eyes glowing in this dark place, each breath it took rattled through the chamber.

The second it saw us, it moved.

My body locking up on instinct. Naruto stood frozen beside me, fists clenched, shoulders rigid. Even without the fox saying anything, I could feel the bloodlust. It seeped into my skin, into my bones.

I had been around powerful people before. I had faced enemies who wanted me dead. But this? This was pure, undiluted malice.

The fox hated us.

"Well, well…" The Nine-Tails' voice was a deep, guttural snarl, laced with something almost amused. "What a surprise."

I could hear the sneer in its tone, dripping with mockery.

"The little brat finally decided to come see me?"

Naruto tensed beside me, his breathing shallow. I glanced at him, his lips were pressed into a thin line, his fists trembling slightly. He wasn't saying anything.

I forced myself to move forward, just enough to step in front of Naruto.

The fox's gaze flicked to me, sharp and unreadable.

"And what are you?" It leaned forward, the chakra around it flaring. "A friend? A nuisance?"

Its voice was like claws dragging against my mind, sending shivers down my spine.

I swallowed hard. "Friend."

The Nine-Tails let out a slow, deliberate growl, the sound vibrating through the air. "Then what do you want, girl?"

I straightened my back, ignoring the way my instincts screamed at me to run. "I came here with Naruto because he has questions."

The fox's lip curled. "Questions?" It flicked its tail, the sheer movement making the entire chamber shake. "Hmph. Foolish. The only thing worth knowing is that I will never answer to weaklings."

Naruto gritted his teeth, stepping up beside me. "I'm not weak!"

"You are nothing," the fox snapped, its voice booming through the chamber. "You are a speck. An insect crawling in the filth of this world, pretending to be something greater. You expect me to give you answers?"

It let out a low, rumbling chuckle. "Pathetic."

I felt Naruto stiffen beside me, his nails digging into his palms. He was trying so hard not to let it get to him, but I could tell, it was getting to him.

I exhaled slowly, keeping my voice level. "You weren't in control when you attacked the village."

The Nine-Tails' laughter stopped.

Just like that, the room went deathly silent.

The fox didn't speak. It just stared, its massive red eyes locked onto mine, and for a moment, I felt something shift in the air.

"You weren't in control that night," I repeated, my voice quieter this time. "You were being controlled."

Naruto was looking between me and the fox, and he asked. "Controlled by who?!"

Still, the Nine-Tails said nothing.

But its chakra flickered.

And that was all the confirmation I needed.

Naruto's breath hitched. "Is that true?! Did someone make you attack the village?"

The fox's silence stretched, its eyes narrowing slightly.

Then, its expression twisted into something far more sinister.

"And what if it is?" It bared its teeth. "Would that change anything, boy? Would it erase the years of scorn? The hatred? The way your own people look at you like filth?"

Naruto flinched.

The fox's voice dropped lower, almost into a whisper. "Would it bring your parents back?"

A sick feeling twisted in my stomach.

I could see it, the way Naruto's entire body tensed, the way his breathing grew uneven. The Nine-Tails was digging into him, pressing on the cracks that had always been there.

Naruto's hands were shaking now, his jaw clenched so tightly I thought his teeth might crack. "Shut up."

The fox grinned. "Why? Does it hurt?"

The air felt heavier.

The longer we stood here, the worse it got. The killing intent pouring from the cage was suffocating. My lungs felt tight, my skin ice-cold.

This wasn't some battle I could win with strength.

"We should go." My voice came out quieter than I wanted. "Now."

Naruto didn't move. He was still staring up at the fox, still gripping his fists so tightly that his knuckles had gone white.

"Naruto," I said, louder this time. "Come on."

He sucked in a sharp breath, finally tearing his gaze away.

We turned on our heels and left.

The last thing I heard was the fox's low, dark laughter echoing behind us.

Back in the Inn

I snapped awake, my breath coming fast.

Naruto jolted too, gasping, his forehead drenched in sweat. He looked shaken.

Jiraiya was already sitting up, watching us carefully. "Well?"

Naruto didn't speak for a long moment.

Then, he whispered, "That thing... it really does hate me."

I swallowed. "Yeah, but its not just you, it hates people."

Jiraiya sighed, rubbing a hand down his face. "Well, that's not surprising. That fox has been sealed away for longer than three human lifetimes. You really thought it'd be friendly?"

Naruto didn't answer. He just sat there, staring at his hands.

I clenched my jaw, my mind still racing. The Nine-Tails had hesitated. It hadn't denied being controlled. Which was a start I guess.

But if I brought it up now, Naruto would only spiral more.

So I didn't say anything.

I just let the room fall into silence.

After a while, Naruto's voice broke it.

"I have to go back that someday."

I met his gaze. It seemed he saw pain in the fox's eyes. Pain Naruto knew all to well. This was the first time Naruto had ever faced the thing inside him. The first time he'd truly felt hatred and likely it loneliness.

I inhaled slowly. "You don't have to go back now."

Naruto nodded, but he still looked...lost.

Jiraiya stretched his arms over his head. "Well, that's enough excitement for one night." He yawned, rolling over. "We should all get some rest. Tomorrow's gonna be a long day."

Naruto barely reacted. He was still staring at nothing, lost in thought.

I let out a breath, then reached over and ruffled his hair. Naruto blinked at me.

Then, finally, he gave a small nod.