Summary: What lies beyond the Moon's Eye Plan? A look at a possible future. Slight Matrix crossover, if only in the theme and elements.
Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto, wouldn't write this if I did.
He was still groggy from the transition - shaking and trembling all over. The trip hadn't been kind on him, and the stark reality he'd been exposed to had been bleak enough to cause physical pain.
This ... couldn't be true. He just couldn't accept it.
It couldn't be.
"Oh, quit it, you baby. You've barely even scratched the surface, and you're already wimping out."
The sharp, mocking voice of the woman in front of him brought him back to reality. He glared at her - she'd been nothing but antagonistic all the way up to this point, and he was in no mood to put up with her snide comments right now.
... Or at least, he didn't want to. The choice wasn't really his now, was it? Not like he could even do anything to her - the woman who'd casually ... casually ...
Even now, he felt a bit sick. What she'd done to those people. And she'd actually seemed to enjoy it.
"Snake, please - don't antagonize him. We're here to help, not-"
"Are you?" he asked, unable to stop himself from blurting it out. "You took me from my home, from my friends - you, you killed all those people-"
He took a deep breath - hyperventilating wasn't going to do any good.
Well, at least the glasses wearing guy hadn't interrupted him. That was a good sign, right?
"How do I know I can trust you?" he asked, gesticulating furiously at the silver haired boy - the one who seemed in charge, and had spoken out in his defense. "After everything that happened, everything you did - how, how do I know this isn't just some sick dream or, or a hallucination or something?"
"Look around, numbnuts" the woman retorted. Her gait had become more predatory, and he could detect a faint hint of irritation in her tone. "Does this look like a hallucination to you?"
Her hand suddenly came up - too fast for him to even follow. The next moment, it was like time had skipped him by - suddenly, she was right next to him ... licking the blood of his cheek?!
Panicking, he jumped away from her, tumbling to the ground due to his lost balance. The woman merely let out another laugh - mocking and amused at the same time.
But ... the pain was real. Or, at least was exactly like that in the illusion, which he'd thought to be the real world, but was actually a lie. So did that make this pain like that of an illusion, and hence not real - meaning he was actually dreaming this up, only when he woke he'd still be 'dreaming'?
... Gah. He pushed those thoughts out of his mind - he could deal with existential crises on his own time.
" ... Okay" he said, slowly and cautiously. "Say you're not lying - that this whole thing isn't some stupid nightmare I'm having. How ... How is all this even possible?"
He gestured at their surroundings - their bleak, ashen surroundings, which had been a city only a few moments ago, he was sure of it.
"This ... this was Konoha! This was my city! How did we just go from that to ... to this?! A worldwide hallucination? A never-ending dream? What kind of whacked out shit is that?!"
"And more than that, you killed people! If they were under an illusion - if, if they weren't even trying to harm you of their own free will, then why-"
"You really just don't know when to shut up, do you?", the purple-haired woman fiercely retorted. " 'Oh noes, we killed people, we're monsters''. Well newsflash, dipshit - those guys weren't out, you get me? They were Dorms. And that means, they were still connected."
She inched closer to him, her fierce eyes flashing out at him. Involuntarily, he gulped, her whole demeanor reminding him of a coiled snake about to strike.
"Every thought, every fucking memory, every goddamn action they were gonna take - guess who's responsible for it. Guess who was going to be controlling it, huh? You think, in that suped up hallucination, that they would have stayed the way they had? Fuck no. Leave 'em alone, for even an instant - and you're not facing Dorms, kiddo - you're facing Kages. Shadows - those little monstrous automatons that he likes to bring out when he's through playing."
"... He?" And goddammit, he was not trembling. He wasn't.
"The guy responsible for all this, of course", she said, her wide smile incredibly disconcerting. "The Puppetmaster, the Architect, God - whatever the hell you want to call him. We don't know who he is, or what he is - we just know he used to be one of us. Human. Until he got too emo for his britches and figured he'd make everyone stop fighting. Stop thinking. Stop living."
"Uzumaki Naruto", the silver-haired man interrupted. "Further details can, and will, be obtained only after you've made a commitment. This isn't a charity house - you are either with us, or against us."
"... A-Against you? What ... what will you do to me, if I refuse?"
The man smiled, a simple, nonchalant smile as he uttered those damning words-
"Absolutely nothing."
... Eh?
"We will do absolutely nothing - to you, or for you. You will be returned to your old life, none the worse for wear."
... That sounded good. Too good.
"... And spend the rest of my life with the knowledge that I'm a puppet. Or just have it erased. As if these moments never happened."
The man's smile grew wider. "Exactly."
A puppet. A life of no freedom, with his every action being dictated by a being on high.
They could be lying, of course. There might be another explanation, something that would make sense of all that had happened. Except ... except he had no other source to turn too, and he had a sinking feeling that they were telling the complete truth.
They didn't need to leave him alone, after all. If this was just a scam, it was too elaborate and real for them to do all this for no possible gain. And if they were right ... if they were right, then there was only one thing he'd become, one thing he refused to become-
"I ...", his voice shook, the sheer emotion, and rightness in the statement leaving him breathless. "I ... refuse to be a tool."
And he did. Right down to the very essence of who he was, down to his core - he felt this truth. He lived this truth.
"I'm in."
The silver-haired man laughed, a deep, resonating laugh that echoed around them. Beside him, the psychotic purple-haired woman smirked, twirling her knife through her fingers.
"Well said! It seems your Impression is stronger than most."
"... Impression?"
"Of course, I haven't explained have I? One thing you should know is that none of those who are out, who live in death and shadows - Shinobi, we're called - have any memories of who we used to be. Before the Illusion, I mean. All we have is faint 'impressions' of who we used to be, half-formed instincts and ideologies, ways of life we refused to give up even as our minds were taken over. Only someone with a strong Impression can get out, but I can see just by the way you said those words that yours is unusually strong. Our Impressions provide our reasons for getting out."
"What was yours?" Naruto asked, unable to stop himself. "Why- I mean, why did you choose to leave it?"
"Power", the man smirked, the words rolling across his tongue in the first example of emotion and passion he'd seen from him. "I want to be powerful, to be able to make my own way in the world, unbound by anyone else's orders or desires. You can only imagine how much this Illusion chafed at me."
Naruto shivered, feeling chills develop along his spine. Something about that ... something about that seemed wrong, like a half-remembered warning that had no force behind it.
"In any case", the man said, clapping his hands together. "We acknowledge your choice. Let us formally introduce ourselves - Snake, you already know-"
He gestured to the purple-haired woman, who did a mock curtsy in his direction.
"- and my name, is Silver."
"A-are those your real names? They seem ..."
"Fake?" the woman finished, smirking down at him. "No, brat, they're real. More real than any name we had in that fucked up dream. These names are who we are now, free of who we were then."
"You see, Uzumaki-san," the silver-haired boy (whose name made sense now) explained, "most of those who get out disassociate themselves completely from their previous life. It makes it easier to get over what was lost, to start anew. A new name is not a requirement, but it is recommended - best you forget what your life used to be."
He slowly nodded. He could see the logic in that. Still, he wasn't too eager to change his name.
He didn't know if he could really let go of all those memories, of all those times he spent with those precious to him.
"So ..." he wondered, "Is this it? Is there anything else I have to do?"
The woman snorted, mumbling something under her breath. The boy chided her, before turning back to Naruto, adjusting his glasses.
"There is nothing else to it, Uzumaki-san. As long as you stand by your decision and are sure about it, we should leave. It's best not to give him time to track and find us."
Naruto shuddered, already familiar with the 'him' in question. The Architect, the woman had mentioned. The one who made this illusion.
They began to move forwards, before the silver-haired boy suddenly stopped.
"Oh, where are my manners? I forgot to properly welcome you!"
He turned, stretching his hand in greeting.
"Welcome, Uzumaki-san, to the rising dawn that will illuminate this deceptive world.
Welcome, to the Akatsuki."
A/N: As always, review to your heart's desire. No, seriously, review - I'm a new writer, and I could use all the help I can get.