CHAPTER 8: Hell

Flickers of black, red, orange, and yellow light blinded his vision. A rush of memories and pictures came to view, but it was scattered and unorganized. It gave him a major migraine. He groaned. He stood up and felt his paws, no hands coming in contact with the blazing hot black stone.

He jerked his hand away and looked at the unfamiliar and uncomfortable feeling of having humane features.

He still had his tails, fox-like ears, but he had human limbs and face. His image as a big, scary beast was ruined. It was the biggest betrayal and humiliation a proud beast like him could feel.

It was also the image of his hatred that would burn forever. Naruto was an exception but it's Naruto. You can hate him, but you can't push him away after knowing him.

Nevertheless, he began to notice his heart pounding rather abnormally. It was a strange and foreign feeling. His whole entire body felt hot as if he was in heat, but there was something off about it. As his vision became clearer he saw his surroundings.

This place, land, or whatever it is, had air that smelt like burning coal, smoke, and worse of all the familiar feeling of death, war clogged his nose and cloaked his body.

The fresh, thick, metallic scent of blood was as clear as day, it increased by the second. The screams of humans were so clear, they ringed and bleed his ears as if purposefully directing it to him.

It felt alive like it had a mind of its own. He felt like he was being watched every passing minute. This was worse than being neglected and ignored or abandoned by his master. At least he could shut out, ignore or scare the clamoring, gossiping humans and beasts with his menacing aura.

Here, Kurama didn't feel safe at all. Not like the idea of 'safe' ever crossed his mind, since it was nothing more than a fantasy that would never come true. But at least with Naruto, he felt a sense of safety and reassurance that's rare and uncommon to him.

As the minutes, hours, days, weeks, and months passed he began to slowly accept Naruto as more than a friend but a family he cherished and trusted. Nevertheless, the smoldering heat started to slowly burn his fur, consuming his chakra with it. He noticed it and panicked.

The ground he is on wasn't necessarily secure, sheltered, or barracked. It was the source of the live-like flames that increased and decreased the temperature and size at will.

As he tried to find a way to escape, he felt looming oppression gracing over him. Breathing and living felt like a burden, a difficult task. The place felt like it was becoming smaller and smaller.

At the last hair of consciousness and awareness, the realization of the place being Hell itself became clearer and clearer. For the first time in a thousand years, Kurama felt fear. Fear far greater than being trapped bounded by chains, or sealed inside the body of a human being.

At least you knew that you would escape one day, even if it took a thousand years there was still hope of escaping. But this, this place, the land felt like an eternal wasteland of never-ending torture of crushed hopes and loneliness that felt unknown to mortal men and beasts. The orange, red, and blue flames burnt his tails, till black crisps.

The light in his eyes was beginning to disappear, he was as good as dead but he still groaned and made sounds instigating he's still alive. As death dawned closer to him, he saw a door that slowly began to open, as if waiting for him to crawl in. He knew, deep down it was a trap and what waited for him on the other side was probably a terrifying monster. [A/N: Ironic]

Despite this, he slithered and writhed his way in. A desperate attempt to reach the door before it closes. It was also an attempt to run away from the flames that grew bigger and bigger in size. To the point it surrounded him in all 6 corners. It grew taller in length and density.

It was taller than any cliff or mountain and looked like it was about to crash down on him, when the small hole at the top enclosed. 'Close call' he thought as he sighed in relief.

Little did he know, the door he wriggled in was far more frightening than any villain or enemy he fought. His own fears, anxieties, insecurities, frustrations, guilts would come to life.

A tint of blurred red and orange lights lit small corners in the room, even then it was still difficult to see. His chakra has been removed and only has 10% left. A shadow of a person lurked in the dark. Form or figure unclear, identity unknown, and gender as well.

Even so, the being began to walk, and the closer 'It' got, the more Kurama feared if 'It' is actually 'Him'. When it stopped walking, the spiky silhouette of a big, buff man was in view, but that was it. Facial features, what he was wearing, the color of his hair? None were known.

However, he could already guess who this person was. His biggest fear and the epitome of his hatred. Madara Uchiha, and boy was he right.

"Y-y-you!" Kurama shakily yelled.

"Yes. Hello. Nine Tails~." A husky, gruff voice greeted him. Kurama just stared at him in horror, as he could feel the floor increase its flooring from his enlarged hands. He could feel his bones piece together and duplicate itself as it tries to wriggle and move around his skin.

When it ran out of space it teared his skin apart for more room. His organs were being crushed and restructured as it was forced to enlarge. It did all of this in the span of 40 seconds. He didn't even have time to breathe all he could do was scream but even then it sounded quite to him.

His beastly stature has returned in the most painful way possible. But he knew why he morphed back. He is to be a weapon starting from today.

Simulations after simulation of meaningless wars, fights, battles played and controlled his body to become the perfect weapon. His chakra was drained and recharged the second he 'died' and deemed useless.

Kurama was mentally, emotionally and physically exhausted. Day by day, his abomination towards Madara grew but he also became even more broken as this illusion pressed on.

It was the constant reminder of his helpless situation of being controlled by this 'MONSTER'. Although it made his animosity against Madara and the Uchiha's stronger it also made it weaker, foolish and senseless at the same time. The cycle repeated for the next 3,000 years.

Kurama became devoid of emotion, an empty shell of who he was. Madara is still the same as he was 3,000 years before. The next cycle was about to be repeated. The last straw of sanity left in Kurama was about to be plucked.

What will happen to Kurama? Will he go completely insane without reuniting with Naruto? Is Naruto going through something similar? Will the 'Man' appear again? Who will save Kurama?

Stay tuned 😉.