The Legend of the Kyubi

"Indeed, with your help she will be able to grow her consciousness to a normal state" - nodded Orochimaru as he clicked his tongue, mostly because if it wasn't because he needed this place to be safe, he wouldn't have intervened, much less made contact with Kurama, though now that he saw how much he had matured, this was good for him.     

"Let's do it right away, I still have some things to talk to you about, as well as a deal" - Kurama said seriously.     

"Ho ~? That surprises me too, I didn't think you wanted to make a... What did you call it, contract?" - Orochimaru mused with a long smile.     

"Yes, but we'll talk about that after we finish this" - said Kurama seriously.     

"I understand, for the sake of the three of us, I'll make a little effort to help you during the process, I'm the one who knows the limits of this place the best thanks to all the time I've been locked up" - replied Orochimaru while giving a few instructions to the blond.     

Kurama called Ino, who brought Tayuya to consciousness, though before he could say anything else, she let out a scream of terror at the sight of Orochimaru in this place. She quickly tried to attack the Sannin of the snake clan, though she stopped when she saw Kurama shake his head. Ino was confused, but she trusted her husband, so she followed his instructions.     

Tayuya looked at the strange man with snake-like features as he felt a strange sense of familiarity.     

"How could she possibly not be afraid of you when she reacted strangely surprised with us?" - Ino asked with a frown - "Are you the one to blame for her situation?"     

"I'm flattered that you think I'm the main culprit in this situation, though it's a pity that's not the case" - Orochimaru snorted disdainfully as he looked at this girl. He remembered her, though honestly he still didn't care much about her - "She's not afraid of me because she subconsciously knows that I'm the one who's been protecting her all this time, and in case you haven't noticed, my current state is much worse than hers."     

Ino was silent before nodding weakly. She could feel how Orochimaru was nothing more than a small flame that could be extinguished at any moment.     

"What do I have to do, Onii-chan, Onee-chan, daddy?" - Tayuya asked as he looked at the three present.     

Kurama and Ino felt as if something was stuck in their throats while Orochimaru remained silent.     

"You need to walk to the center and concentrate, then let everything go on as normal and don't be afraid, your Onii-chan is going to help you" - Orochimaru said while ignoring the confused looks from Kurama and his partner,     

"Ok!" - Tayuya nodded as she followed her "father's" instructions.     

Kurama decided not to think about this anymore and walked next to the girl to help her.     

Tayuya slowly closed her eyes as the black mist began to concentrate around her.     

A pained expression appeared on her face as she tried to scream to tell her "father" to help her.     

"Don't be afraid, just hold on for a little longer" - said Orochimaru as he interrupted her - "Kurama-kun, now it's time for you to use your Senjutsu chakra to soothe Tayuya's pain while absorbing the dark mist."     

"Ok" - Kurama nodded as he placed his hand on the girl's back.     

Slowly, the black mist started to change color to a lighter one as Tayuya slowly absorbed it.     

Ino was taken aback as she watched Tayuya seem to grow a few inches.     

"That's all for now," Orochimaru said as he nodded, though he quickly fell to the ground with a pained expression.     

"Are you okay?" - Ino asked as she walked over to the Sannin.     

"Yeah, that's normal for my current state" - Orochimaru replied as he took a long breath - "Though now that some of that corrosion is gone, I can recover a bit with the residue of the energy Tayuya couldn't absorb."     

"Ugh... Where am I?" - Tayuya asked as she slowly opened her eyes and noticed the people around her - "Kurama? Ino? Wait! Is that Orochimaru?!"     

"You've regained your memories" - Kurama sighed as he nodded.     

"Memories? What are you talking about?" - Tayuya asked with a frown, though she quickly grabbed her head - "Ugh... Right, I was looking for that little red monkey when... Are? Why can't I remember anything?"     

"It's because you've been under the effects of mental corrosion, causing many of your memories to disappear, even returning to your pure childlike state" - Orochimaru replied as he frowned.     

"This has to be a sick joke, or a simple nightmare, because there's no way you're alive, Orochimaru" - growled Tayuya while grabbing her head - "Ugh."     

"I already explained it to your lover, I don't need to say it again, he can tell you, I now need to rest until it will be the right time, besides, I hope this time you can help me" - Orochimaru said while looking at Kurama, who nodded silently.     

"Help you?" - Ino repeated while looking at her husband.     

"I'll tell you along with the others, for now it's best we get out of Tayuya's consciousness, then we'll continue to help her overcome this erosion" - said Kurama as he looked at Orochimaru - "How long do you think she needs to do this again?"     

"I'd say she needs about two or three days for her to manage to absorb as much consciousness as possible" - replied Orochimaru simply - "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to rest".     

Kurama and Ino quickly disappeared from the place, leaving a very confused Tayuya who quickly felt how everything around her started to glow.     

* * * * *     

"What the hell just happened?" - Tayuya asked as she shook her head.     

"Ino, call the others, we have a lot to talk about" - Kurama said seriously as he watched the blonde woman disappear.     

A few seconds later, all the women of the Uzumaki clan were gathered, waiting for the reason why Kurama had called them.     

"The matter is simple, and it has to do with the attitude Tayuya had shown during the last centuries" - Kurama said with a frown because now that he was saying it, he felt like a stupid for not having noticed it before. I mean, the damage was gradual, so from everyone's perspective, Tayuya hadn't changed much, but if they compared the Tayuya of the past, with the current one, the change was more than obvious.     

"Get straight to the point and tell us why Orochimaru is in my head" - Tayuya said with irritation. She now felt that everything was clearer than during the past centuries.     

"Orochimaru!" - The women exclaimed as they looked at each other apprehensively.     

"That's impossible, he died, and you erased his soul completely" - Anko said with a frown, and even though with all the years that have passed she had managed to overcome her hatred for her master, that didn't mean she was happy with the idea of that bastard coming back from the world of the dead.     

"You didn't kill him again?" - Kushina asked with a frown.     

"He's still of use, not to mention I'm going to make a contract with him" - Kurama answered seriously.     

"Are you crazy?!" - Tsunade exclaimed as she looked at her husband - "You know we can't trust him!"     

"Yes, but at the same time he is the only chance we have to be able to solve the problem of your mortality" - replied Kurama as he looked around - "Let's be honest, you guys are not immortal"     

The girls' complaints stopped when they heard this because they could understand the reason for the ten-tailed Kitsune's actions.     

"I think this is too risky" - Mikoto said as she frowned because no matter how much time passed, she still felt repulsed of Orochimaru's existence, after all, he had tried to take possession of Sasuke's body in more than one way.     

"I know, but I'm not going to let things get out of control" - Kurama answered seriously - "I have my methods to make him not do anything I don't want him to do."     

"If you say so" - sighed Mikoto as she shook her head - "Ok, I trust you..."     

"Thank you" - smiled Kurama as he looked around and started explaining everything he knew about Tayuya's situation.     

"Was I acting that bad?" - Tayuya asked in surprise, after all, she couldn't manage to remember anything clearly, only small recollections.     

"You looked like our daughter though, that explains everything" - sighed Mikoto as she looked at Kushina - "Seriously, I feel like you were punishing her because it was some kind of relaxation therapy."     

The other women also looked at Kushina seriously, after all, she had been being much more severe with the punishments she was giving Tayuya for the past few centuries.     

"I'm sorry" - Kushina muttered as she lowered her gaze.     

"Ok, I think that's enough of regretting, now we have some things to do before she manages to consume that consciousness and recover, not to mention that we have to think about how to deal with Orochimaru" - Tsunade said as she shook her head.