Kurama.
Such a familiar name.
So familiar that the Nine-Tails froze for a moment.
How many years had it been since anyone called it that?
A thousand years? Maybe more.
The last one who had ever called it by that name was probably that man—the Sage of Six Paths himself.
Its fellow tailed beasts usually just called it Nine-Tails.
As for humans?
They called it demon fox, natural disaster, calamity incarnate…
Later on, it was outright demoted to nothing more than a beast.
"How do you know that name?!"
Kurama's tails lashed violently, bristling like a cat caught stealing catnip—its fur practically standing on end, as if its deepest secret had just been exposed.
Kurama was the name the Sage of Six Paths had given it.
In a thousand years, the Nine-Tails had never told a single human its true name.
"Old Man Six Paths told me in a dream,"
Uchiha Nan replied casually, lying straight through his teeth.
He wasn't about to say I know it from watching anime.
"Bullshit!"
Kurama snapped instantly.
The Sage of Six Paths appearing in Nan's dreams?
The tailed beasts had been sealed inside humans and used as weapons of war for centuries. Six Paths never showed up even once. By now, he was probably long dead.
"Believe it or not," Nan shrugged,
"but otherwise, how would I know your name is Kurama?
I also know One-Tail is Shukaku, Two-Tails is Matatabi—"
He rattled off the names of all nine tailed beasts in one breath.
Kurama hesitated.
Nan looked far too confident.
Could it be…?
Is that old man really still alive?
Then why hadn't he come to save it all these years?
Dad… love me again, please…
Kurama silently prayed for the Sage to descend and free it from this suffering.
Nothing happened.
It sighed.
Still, doubt crept in.
The tailed beasts only revealed their names to those they acknowledged. There was no way Nan had earned the recognition of all nine.
Only one being in the entire ninja world could know all their names.
The Sage of Six Paths.
"What else did that old man tell you?"
Kurama asked despite itself.
Everyone knew foxes were dangerously curious.
Nan didn't miss the opening.
"He said I'm the savior of the ninja world,"
Nan declared smoothly.
"That one day, I'll liberate all the tailed beasts."
Kurama leaned in abruptly, staring straight into Nan's eyes.
Something's wrong.
The Sage had once left a prophecy with the tailed beasts:
'A blue-eyed youth will one day call out the names of all nine tailed beasts, laughing as he does so…'
Nan's eyes were black.
And now—red.
Not blue. Not even close.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
Nan yelped, instinctively backing away.
Kurama then told him about the prophecy.
Nan listened, unimpressed.
"Times change. Prophecies change too," he said flatly.
"If the Sage could really predict everything that precisely, his two sons wouldn't have ended up trying to kill each other."
A so-called sage who trusted frog prophecies over his own eldest son—tragic, really.
The entire family, from Kaguya down to the Sage himself, deserved a failing grade in parenting.
"Even that he told you?"
Kurama muttered, now believing Nan about seventy percent.
Family scandals like that weren't exactly public knowledge. Only someone from that era would know.
"Alright," Kurama said at last, lowering its massive body.
Its forepaws crossed, chin resting on top, settling into a lazy sprawl.
"Enough talk. Why are you really here?"
Nan smiled.
Here it came.
"Obviously," he said,
"I'm here to give you freedom."
Sales instincts from his previous life activated instantly.
When you ask for help, you don't beg—you make it sound like you're the one offering a favor.
Kurama's eyes snapped open.
"…Freedom?"
Who would willingly rot in a dark cage if given a choice?
It wanted forests. Sunlight. Rolling freely through the wilderness.
"You'll let me out?" Kurama asked cautiously.
"Of course."
"Tail-beasts are meant to be free," Nan said gently.
"Not enslaved and drained by humans."
Kurama's breathing quickened.
"However," Nan added smoothly,
"I can't do it yet."
Kurama's ears drooped.
"Because I'm not the Hokage."
"Only the Hokage has the authority to decide the fate of a tailed beast."
Nan sighed, looking troubled—like a man burdened by responsibility.
He glanced at Kurama, clearly seeing how badly it longed for freedom.
"You mean it?" Kurama asked slowly.
"Absolutely."
"I swear it in the name of the Sage of Six Paths."
Nan swore without hesitation.
If it didn't work out later, well…
Six Paths could take the hit to his reputation.
Kurama clenched its claws.
"Then," it said firmly,
"I'll help you become Hokage."
It was a gamble—but Kurama was desperate.
Endless darkness. Endless confinement.
It didn't know how it had endured this long.
"One word," Nan said, extending his hand.
"A deal."
"Deal."
"And once I become Hokage," Nan continued casually,
"after Uzumaki Mito dies, you'll be free."
Kurama's eyes bulged.
So you're still making me wait?!
"You want me to wait for her to die?!" it roared.
"Of course," Nan replied calmly.
"Mito is a founding elder of Konoha. Even if I become Hokage, I can't just kill her and release you."
"I'm a kind person," he added earnestly.
"I hate seeing people die."
He flashed a bright, wholesome smile.
Seeing Kurama hesitate, he pressed on.
"Besides, she's already old. How many years does she have left?"
"Just endure it a little longer. It'll pass."
Kurama's fox eyes darted back and forth.
Every instinct screamed that Nan was selling it a dream.
This was textbook bait.
"Fine," Nan sighed.
"Then let Mito beat me and become Hokage."
"Once she's in power, Konoha will probably start preparing a new Nine-Tails jinchūriki anyway."
"Might even be from the Uzumaki clan."
Nan turned as if to leave.
Kurama's breath hitched.
That…
That was absolutely something humans would do.
"Wait," Kurama growled.
Silence stretched.
Finally—
"…I'll help you."
Nan smiled.
Author's note:
Went to get dental work done today. Thought they covered my eyes to block the light.
I was wrong.
It was so I wouldn't see the saw, the drill, the hammer, and the scissors.
Judging by the sounds alone, if I had seen them coming toward my mouth, I'd have passed out on the spot.
Still asking for monthly tickets.
This time I won't kneel—I can't. It hurts too much.
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