As Tomoka opened her eyes the first thing she saw was a pretty blue sky with white clouds. The fluffy things floated in the vast blue without a care in the world. Sometimes she wondered how comfy it would be to have a nap on them. She understood that clouds were just masses of condensated water but still, they looked so fluffy.

[Hey you, you are finally awake.]

That got a chuckle out of Tomoka. She recognized that line. An iconic meme that was still in use even after twenty years. She wondered if Kurama had read her memories or if it had been just a coincidence. 

[What’s so funny?] Looks to be the latter option. Tomoka spent some time explaining to Kurama about meme culture and that very meme. However, her mind was elsewhere as she did. Once she finished explaining an exhausted sigh escaped her lips.

“What am I even doing?” She felt tired, not physically tough, after all this is her mindscape. Grasslands going as far as the eye could see. With patches of different forests here and there. In the middle a gigantic lake with clear water. Floating about ten meters above the tranquil waters is a massive building.

Her mind’s palace, the place that contained all her thoughts and memories. The Giant building looked like the love child between a stone castle and a wooden library. If one were to enter it they would find a maze of corridors and doors. She planned to fill the thing with Genjutsu traps for whoever tried to snoop around in her head. At the end of the maze a gigantic library containing thousands of books stood in all its glory. 

[What do you mean]

“I almost died, Kurama. I almost died again”

[You looked fine, you even said you didn’t care]

“Fake bravado, I was scared shitless. When I was using the static field jutsu I was in panic. I didn’t want to die, so I went all out.” Tomoka’s mental body began deaging. From her usual twenty-five year old mental self to her four year old real self. The girl began sobbing softly in an attempt to hide it from the fox. 

“It’s so much fun here. I don’t want it to end yet. I don’t want to die” Rain began falling in the mindscape as the wind picked up speed. The usually calm lake had its waters disturbed by waves that grew bigger each moment that passed. 

“I am an idiot, Kurama. I am only four years old! I could have died. Training and real combat is nothing alike. There was no need for me to go all out like that. What was I even thinking!” 

As her rant continued Tomoka’s tears flowed. Answering her unstable mind, the mindscape became more and more chaotic. Even the mind palace was creaking and groaning under the pressure. 

Tomoka was really angry at herself. She had been a complete idiot, a dumbass, brain dead. She could have died. She repeated those words to herself over and over again. That is until a soft something curled around her. Warm and soft like the softest blanket she had ever come in contact with. 

[I won’t deny that you are an idiot. However, you won, you can learn from your mistakes and improve. It is okay to be scared of death, even I am scared of dying and I am effectively immortal. You are alive now and that’s all that matters.] 

Tomoka took a deep breath and tried to calm down. Opening her eyes again she saw one of Kurama’s tails above her acting like a blanket while another worked as a pillow and mattress. The giant fox was looking elsewhere trying to exude disinterest in the current situation. Feeling a lot better and a little cheeky, Tomoka hugged Kurama’s tail while rubbing her face on it.  

“So soft” A content whisper scaped Tomoka's lips

[OI! what do you think you are…] Looking down Kurama saw the little four year old Tomoka cuddle up to his tail. Her soft breathing told him that Tomoka had fallen asleep again. A strange feeling he hadn’t felt before bubbled up in his chest. 

Deciding to allow it just this time a small smile appeared on the fox’s face as he curled up to take a nap as well. 

{I guess the twerp can be cute sometimes. Not that I will ever admit it}