Book 1: Dancing With Lightning [Naruto]

Inner Beast

Hoshino slowly opened his bright blue eyes and found himself staring at a ceiling. It looked very old and rusty.

Sitting up, he came to realize that he was in some sort of rusty room with yellow lights that flickered. He glanced down and saw... water?

There was water everywhere. When he looked up, he saw pipes running down between two doors that led to two hallways. Standing up, he choose the one to his right and walked through the door and into the hallway. Lining on each side of the walls were doors with numbers on them. He didn't dare open them though.

"Hello?"

No answer.

With each step he took, ripples would erupt. He tried his best to stay calm. This place looks like a sewer... he mused to himself. How did I get here in the first place? The longer he walked, the more uneasy he felt. He couldn't describe it, but it was like a massive pressure weighed on his shoulders-- making it heavy for him to walk. But... if this place was a sewer, it would also smell horribly, so it couldn't have been that.

He came to a sudden stop when he saw a sign. "Warning! You Are Entering Dangerous Territory!".

He furrowed his brows. He gulped as he took an extra step and immediately found himself in a giant room. It was easily big enough to fit a bijuu.

In front of him was a huge red cage with a single paper in the middle of the cage. The word for 'kanji' which means 'seal'.

He peered into the cage nervously. There must have been something behind those these bars. Something massive and dangerous. Suddenly, a big crimson eye with black slits opened and stared straight at him. He gasped and quickly backed away. Seconds after, a massive shadow fell over him. He slowly looked up...

...And saw the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

His heart nearly stopped.

The Kyuubi was big. And I mean like, mountain size big, if not bigger. It loomed over him, casting a big shadow. It's fur was burnt orange with long flowing nine fluffy tails and had long rabbit like ears and crimson eyes with black slits.

"Naruto... am I the only one seeing the giant fox?" Hoshino asked faintly, trying not to panic. "What's going on?"

"Yeah, um..  Kurama's real." Naruto said casually from beside him, staring up at the Tailed Beast.

"Kurama? That's his name?" Hoshino asked, looking at the Nine Tails. "Wait... is this the Nine Tails?"

"Yeah, you remember, right? You defended me against Mizuki when he told you about it." Naruto caught Hoshino's downcast gaze. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"It's just..." Hoshino swallowed and looked down. "It's hard to be face to face with the one who nearly eliminated my clan."

Naruto and Kurama sucked in a breath.

That's right. Naruto realized.

Hoshino's family had taken a huge blow from the Nine Tails attack. Iro's best friend had been killed along with a majority of their best shinobi and medics.

Kurama didn't like the fact that he was starting to feel guilty. He had hurt Hoshino. Not directly, but he had hurt his clan and family. He knew that Hoshino loved his family and clan with all his heart, and he knew that it would take a while, if ever, for Hoshino to forgive him.

Hoshino knew he had ever right to be upset, angry, and hurt when looking into Kurama's crimson eyes. His uncle, and countless others had died fighting the beast. Asuka had died fighting him when he managed to break through the seal.