3 Chapter 3

Hagoromo sighed, rubbing his hands awkwardly as he felt the most... unique... of his creations once more trip over herself. His two darling sons looked over at him with curious gazes, probably thinking it weird to see him so off-put.

"Is there anything troubling you, father?" Indra asked, his serious mien present as always. Hagoromo chuckled, shaking his head. He'd break the news of his new creations some other day, especially since most were still in the process of forming a personality for themselves.

"No, nothing like that. It's just that the most I learn about this world, the more I learn that I learned nothing at all." He said, shamelessly stealing the quote from Kurama's memories. The man who invented it had his serious respect.

His two boys looked at him like lost ducklings, and Hagoromo smiled at the sight. Their attention was quickly drawn away from himself, however, when their mother yelled at them from the garden outside, probably miffed about Asura's childish prank that he'd employed against their neighbor this morning.

For being essentially children of a demigod and the most outstanding woman (His mother didn't count, Hagoromo barely considered her human) that he knew of, his two boys could be delightfully normal at times.

His feet carried him almost without his consent as he lost himself within his thoughts, reminiscing about times long since past. He wondered how his brother was doing, whether he felt lonely guarding the moon all alone. Hagoromo would readily admit that, between his brother and himself, Hamura had always been the stronger of the two, and he wasn't talking about physical or combat strength.

The determination needed to stay on the moon for years and years, all alone, with little to do to entertain oneself... Before Hagoromo could start feeling guilty, he was brought back to himself once he realized where his feet had brought him.

It was a wonderful little place, an outcropping right on the edge of the village he and his family lived next to. It had a most wonderful view, and Hagoromo was no stranger to visiting this place in times of stress or low confidence, which happened more often than the demigod would have liked to admit.

He had traveled the nations, spreading his ideology of Ninshu, helping the people wherever and whenever he could, and yet, he knew, deep in his heart, that he had failed his mission. He wouldn't be the one to bring peace to the world, and despite being old, he wasn't blind to the truth. When he died, there would be a new era emerging, one where people would abuse the power he'd shared with them, bringing about unimaginable bloodshed.

It made him shiver. In his eyes, people were wonderful and unique, but at times, they could be monsters far outclassing even the most atrocious-looking being.

He sighed, rubbing at his horns as he considered what to do next. He dearly hoped his children would be able to fulfill his ambition, where he had failed, but he didn't dare burden them with it, especially since the signs were becoming clearer and clearer.

The same held true for his newest and most powerful creations. They were still children, after all, and they would take time to grow, and by the time they would have had the possibility of continuing his dream, he would have long since turned to dust.

It was truly disheartening. Clapping his hands over his cheeks, he psyched himself up, telling himself that things would work out, eventually.

Unbeknownst to the demigod walking back to his family, a shadowy figure stared at him, half-melded into the earth below. The creature's lips curled up, and ugly imitation of a smile, and then fused back into the ground, returning to its schemes.

The traitor was old, and his children were so wonderfully malleable. How could it not take advantage of this opportunity? His mother was waiting, calling out to him, and while Zetsu was eager to get her back, he knew that it would take time, and manipulating the three fools would be a good start.

Kurama cheered silently as she finally managed to reach her goal of ten steps without tripping. From there, the rest was more or less cakewalk, especially since she'd gotten the hard part of acclimating to her new body out of the way.

Still, she allowed herself a few moments to bask in the satisfaction of triumphing over something she's struggled so hard over. It reminded her of that time she'd managed to learn how to do flips without help, and then when she went to show it off to her brother--

She cut herself off, that word alone bringing forth memories she didn't need right now. Her happy mood now completely and utterly ruined, she grouchily allowed herself to flop over onto her side, well aware by now that nothing short of a meteorite to the face would hurt her.

She didn't hate Hagoromo for what he'd done, but she would be lying if she said she wasn't a bit angry and bitter over it. She knew it wasn't his fault, could see it clear as day in just how honest he'd been with her so far, but it still did little to stem the tide of depression that soon hit her.

What would her brother think? What happened to her back in her world? Was he grieving? Was she dead? Was she just a personality with Kurama's memories copied and pasted into this body?

She didn't know the answers to any of those, and it stung. She allowed herself to grieve for a while, and although she'd thought this body was unable to cry, she was quickly proven wrong as tears poured forth.

She dully noted that, when her tears hit the ground, it sizzled angrily for a bit. She chocked out a laugh, finding the idea of acid tears much funnier than she reasonably should. "Well, if nothing else, I can cry on my problems and watch them melt away!" She giggled a bit hysterically.

Really, it was either that or breaking down. Now that her task was done and Hagoromo nowhere to be found, she was left alone with her thoughts, and in her infinite wisdom, Kurama knew very well that leaving her time to think rarely led to anything good for anyone.

"Kurama? Are you alright?" Speak of the devil, and he shall come. Kurama cracked a wet eye open to glare at the horny man in front of her. She barked out a weak, self-deprecating laugh at his worried expression.

"W-what does it look like, dumbass? I want my brother, I want a burger, and I want my home back. I'm stuck in this god-forsaken wannabe mind-cave as a giant baby fox, with only a man that I'm half-convinced is secretly the devil trying to trick me for my soul." She said, her speech turning less and less coherent the more she talked.

The man had gone stiff, obviously unused to seeing a girl cry, and completely lost on how to deal with it. Kurama would have laughed had she not felt so much like shit.

"O-oh..." He said, awkwardly. "Can... Can I do something to help?" He asked, although it came out more like a beg. Kurama sniffled one last time, now too tired to even be angry at him for being so useless. She knew she was just being mean at this point, and that he was far from useless, but she didn't care one bit for rationality at this point.

"Get me something sweet and munchy. I want to drown myself in chocolate and sweets." She finally said with an air of finality about her as she swiped her hands (And they were hands, funnily enough. They had claws, sure, but they looked far more like human hands than foxy paws) on her eyes, barely even feeling the ticklish sensation as the tears melted away on her fur.

"Ah... Yes, I will do that. What was it now..." He purposefully overacted, obviously trying to cheer her up. "Ah, yes. Abra-cadabra, chocolate summon!"

With a loud and comical puff, a giant chocolate teddy bear the same size as her vulpine form appeared along with a burst of smoke. Kurama's ears perked up, not having actually believed that the man would have been able to give her what she wanted.

She practically threw herself onto the chocolate, angrily stuffing it into her mouth. It felt awkward to chew with her new teeth, the taste felt off, but the sheer familiarity with the action was enough to soothe her. She took back her earlier comments, he wasn't useless at all.

By the time she was done, practically all of the giant chocolate bear was gone. There were tidbits attached to her, but judging from the sizzling sound and burning smell emanating from said pieces, they wouldn't last long. In contrast, the floor was a mess, but Hagoromo didn't look too concerned with it, so she ignored it as well.

He gave her a smile, and if it was a bit awkward, Kurama was now feeling magnanimous enough to ignore it. "I'm... I'm glad you're better now?" He said/asked, and Kurama couldn't help but giggle at how cute he looked. It was probably her sugar high talking, but if she had been in her old body and if he hadn't been so old and horny-looking, she wouldn't have minded eating him as well.

He looked vaguely offended now. "I'm not that old! And it's not like I chose to get horns, you know? Kind of comes with the whole being the jinchuriki of the ten-tails. Also, for your information, I have a wife and kids." He said, voice stern yet still humorous, obviously not as offended as he attempted to imply.

"Ah." She simply said, rolling over onto her side in satisfaction. "'m tired now. Go away, old man."

She wasn't really tired physically, but emotionally? Yeah, a week-long nap sounded right up her alley right about now.

Hagoromo eyed her with ill-hidden interest. "How about you follow me first? I promise the place I said I'd show you last time is leagues ahead of this dump." He said.

Kurama looked at him tiredly, her sugar rush waning just as quickly as it came. "Can't you just do your magic-bullshit and teleport me there? I'm tired."

Hagoromo blinked a bit before raising his hands up in the air defensively. "I do not wish to intrude upon your personal space, Kurama. However, since you ask, I suppose I could." He said with an air of generosity around him.

Kurama just snorted at his bullshit. "'Not intruding upon my personal space' my sexy ass. You read my mind at least a few times by now, don't pull that shit on me. Just admit you didn't think about it." She said drowsily, curling up in a ball of fluff.

"Ah... Yes. I suppose that wasn't a very good excuse." Hagoromo mused. With a wave of his hand, Kurama's world shifted, and she found herself in what was definitely not a black and creepy cave anymore.

No, instead, it was far, far better. Her eyes shot open, drowsiness temporarily forgotten as she drank in the sight of her surroundings.

It was her old room, only on maximum scale. Her bed was there, her collection of books and comics, her clothes randomly thrown about just like she always left them, and even the pictures she'd always kept close to herself.

She scrambled to her feet, no coherent thought able to form within her mind. "I... I..." She struggled to say, oblivious to Hagoromo's knowing smile.

"It's not truly real, for this is ultimately my mind, but I hope it is to your satisfaction. I drew from your own memories to create this, so I suspect it is. It's quite late, so I will leave you to it. Good night, Kurama." He said and then vanished like he hadn't just dropped such a bomb on her.

She stood there for a bit, unsure of what to do, before gingerly and carefully jumping onto the bed, the motion clumsy and untrained but successful nonetheless. Everything was scaled to her size, meaning that the bed fit her just right, exactly as it had when she'd been human.

She took it all back. Hagoromo was far from useless. A jerk, yes. A bastard for dragging her here? Yes, but at least he was considerate, and Kurama was grateful for that.