Wow, I was kinda surprised no one commented on the King Moron reference from Persona 4 I tried to work in. Anyway, I'm two days late on my goal to get this chapter out before my classes begin. At least it's about 30% longer for you than I intended, so don't sue me. I didn't expect to run this long, even after cutting a minor scene. Anyway, on to the third and final part of the day.

Get Out There

Monday Morning, April 11, 20XX

Outside Shujin Academy

Naruto, Akira and Ryuji hopped out of the ventilation shaft and crossed the drawbridge as quickly as they could, wanting to put as much distance between them and that castle as possible. As they rushed forward, Naruto felt an odd distortion pass through them, similar to the one he'd experienced just before arriving at the castle. Dark rippling waves seemed to flit through his vision as reality itself seemed to twist. However, Naruto couldn't bother to question the strange phenomenon at the moment. Before they knew it, the trio found themselves near the station. Ryuji slumped over, panting heavily. Naruto looked around and saw to his immense relief actual people milling around as usual. He'd never been happier to see such a mundane sight. A beeping sound came from Akira's pocket, prompting him to pull out his phone.

"You have returned to real world. Welcome back," a feminine navigation voice stated. Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Returned? What the hell does that mean?" he wondered aloud. Ryuji peaked over Akira's shoulder.

"Did we escape that hellhole?" he asked hopefully.

"I think so," Akira replied, a little unsure. "I mean, there are normal-looking people around here."

"That place really screws with your sense of 'normal,'" Naruto commented dryly. Ryuji nodded.

"What the hell was all that?" he demanded. "Kamoshida, the castle, that strange cat!"

"Don't look at me," Naruto replied. "I'm just as lost as you are dude."

"Hey, what are you kids doing out here?" Naruto and the others turned to see two police officers stride up to them.

"Those are Shujin uniforms; you three trying to cut classes?" the other guard asked. Ryuji stepped forward.

"No way, we were on our way to the school but instead found this cast-ow!" Ryuji winced under the fierce elbow Naruto delivered.

"What was that?" the first policeman asked. Naruto flashed him an innocent smile.

"Sorry sir," he said with a slight American accent. "My pal here got a fever after stayin' up too late playin' video games. Unfortunately his parents are outta the country with ours on business, so we've been lookin' after his ass for him. He's still a little delirious, but he insisted on comin' in today. We'll be on our way, officers." Akira and Ryuji both looked at Naruto like he grew a second head. The second policeman nodded.

"Alright, then. Just head straight to school." Naruto nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes sir!" Naruto replied. "By the way, since you guys've been patrollin' the area, has Shujin set up any special decorations? I heard the drama team was doin' some sorta Renaissance play." The second policeman looked quizzically at Naruto.

"Um, no; we just passed by a moment ago, and it looked the same as it always has." Naruto put on a face of pure disappointment.

"Darn, that's why my pal was so fierce about coming. I guess he musta got the dates mixed up." He clapped Ryuji on the back, sending him stumbling forward a bit. "Chin up, partner," he said sympathetically. The first policeman snorted.

"Whatever; just get to class already." He turned around and walked away, followed by the other policeman. "Fuckin' Yanks," Naruto heard the man mutter to his cohort when he thought he was out of earshot. Ryuji looked at Naruto angrily.

"What the hell was all that for?" he snarled.

"Chill Ryuji," Naruto replied. "I had a gut feeling that trying to explain we escaped from a castle wasn't going to go over very well with them. There's no need to put on their radar by bringing it up and making them think we're crazy."

"And that accent?" Akira asked with a raised eyebrow. Naruto smirked.

"What can I say; I'm a man of many talents." Ryuji stared at him for a moment and then looked away with a sigh.

"I guess you're right, Naruto," he admitted. "Though I don't want to head back to that castle." Naruto nodded.

"That's why I asked them if they even saw what we did. They didn't see anything." He sighed. "I get the feeling we're going to be in for a surprise. Come on; let's get going before those cops get back. Let's just keep what we saw to ourselves for now." Naruto started walking towards the school, followed by Ryuji and Akira.

After a few minutes, they arrived at the gates of the normal Shujin academy. "What the hell? That castle was right here!" Ryuji exclaimed as they stared at the stairs to the school, where the drawbridge had been. Naruto nodded in absolute confusion. He remembered those strange ripples in reality in felt before arriving at the castle and during their escape.

"Were we in a parallel dimension or something?" he wondered.

"You three!" The school counselor walked up them, leveling a bespectacled glare at the trio. We received a call from the police about some Shujin academy students. You are all extremely late!"

"Tch, that policeman must have ratted us out," Ryuji muttered.

"So much for your acting, Naruto," Akira agreed.

"Hey, at least I tried," he shot back. The counselor looked at Ryuji and then to Naruto.

"I should have known you it was you two, Uzumaki and Sakamoto." He shook his head. "Two delinquents if I ever saw one. Where have you all been all this time?" he demanded.

"Well, on my way to school today, a black cat crossed my path, so I decided to take the long way to school to cure my bad luck, but I ended up getting lost on the road of life until I eventually met these guys," Naruto said casually. Akira, Ryuji and the counselor all blankly stared at the whiskered blond. Even though it wasn't even summer yet, Naruto could have sworn he could hear the sound of crickets chirping. The Uzumaki kept his face perfectly straight, though inside he was cracking up. "Damn! I see why Kakashi always did this to us; their faces are priceless!" he thought gleefully. The counselor was the first to recover.

"I see; you have no intention of disclosing your whereabouts then?" he stated. "Very well then; you'll just have to come with me to my office."

"What's all the commotion about?" a voice asked behind them. Naruto saw Kamoshida, dressed in his normal gym teacher apparel, and wearing his normal arrogant smugness, step forward next to the counselor, who turned to acknowledge him.

"Ah, Kamoshida-sensei," he replied. "These three have just shown up extremely late." Kamoshida glanced over the culprits.

"Uzumaki, huh? You should have taken me up on my offer, this morning."

"Yeah, I guess you could say I ran into a bit of trouble." Naruto kept his face passive, though his mind was running at a mile a minute.

"He doesn't seem to have any recollection of what happened in that castle. That or he's just an insanely good actor," he wondered. Kamoshida turned to Ryuji.

"Sakamoto too? This is a far cry from his early morning practice on track team. Such a shame." Ryuji took a step forward.

"It's your fault I'm so late, jerk!" he snarled. The counselor glared at Ryuji.

"Don't talk that way to Kamoshida-sensei, you uncultured punk. Now come with me!"

"Aw, you can just let it slide for today. Let's just say we were both at fault." The counselor nodded.

"Very well; but Sakamoto and Uzumaki must still come with me. They are still extraordinarily late."

"Don't worry about Uzumaki; I'll get him to Kawakami-sensei," Kamoshida replied.

"Very well. Come, Sakamoto!" Ryuji sent the gym coach a hateful glare as he followed the counselor in, which Kamoshida ignored. He glanced at Akira.

"Hey, haven't I seen you before?" he asked curiously.

"At the station, I think," Akira replied. Kamoshida nodded.

"So, you're the new transfer student, huh?" he narrowed his eyes. "I know the principal advised you, but there's no room for you to make any trouble here. This school has no room for delinquents who can't learn to behave." Akira nodded silently. Kamoshida gave him one more look and then turned around to leave.

"Don't worry sensei; I'll get him to Kawakami-sensei," Naruto called out. Kamoshida nodded.

"She's been waiting in the faculty office for you. Now don't dawdle any further, Uzumaki."

"Got it, sensei!" Naruto flashing a smile. He watched the man stride into the school before sighing. "Kami, that bastard gets on my nerves sometimes," he muttered. He turned to Akira. "Well Akira, you ready?" the curly haired boy nodded.

"Ready as I'll ever be." The two ascended the stairs and walked into the school. Immediately they were assaulted by the stares and whispers of the crowd.

"That's him, right? The transfer student?"

"I think so. Have you seen the rumors online about him? He might be carrying a knife with him."

"Yeah, the guy's a menace, that's for sure."

"He's with Uzumaki, too. I guess birds of a feather do flock together."

Naruto tried his best to ignore the gazes as they climbed the stairs to the second floor. However, their snide gazes and whispered comments reminded him only too well of the past. Akira followed behind him, glancing at the passerby.

"You weren't kidding about the rumor mill," he murmured. Naruto chuckled.

"Nope. And being seen with me is probably not going to help matters either." Akira shrugged.

"I think I'd rather take my chances with you," he replied. While Naruto only grinned and continued walking, Akira's words really meant something. It felt nice to be relied on again. They soon arrived at the door to the faculty office.

"Here we are," Naruto said. He slid open the door, where a long-faced woman in a yellow stripped shirt and denim skirt with messy brown hair was sitting at a desk. The mousy woman wore a tired look on her face. She looked up upon hearing the door slide and sighed when she saw Akira there.

"There you are Kurusu-san. I've been waiting here for since class began." She glanced over his shoulder and spotted Naruto. "And Uzumaki-san as well? That explains a lot." Naruto tried to grin.

"Hey Kawakami-sensei, don't be too hard on the guy. He and I got wrapped up in a bit of trouble on our way here."

"With you involved, I'm not surprised." She gave a long sigh again. "Fine, I suppose I can cut him some slack on his first day, but you still have to serve a detention." Naruto groaned.

"Great, Iwai's going to be pissed when I get back late." Kawakami shook her head.

"Maybe you should have thought about that before missing so much school. Now head along to class."

"Yes, sensei," Naruto left Akira with Kawakami and trudged to class. He walked in the door, ignoring the whispers of his classmates and took his seat in the corner, two seats behind Ann. The blond girl turned around to meet him.

"Why hello Naruto!" she said with her faux interest. "Where have you been all day?" Naruto grimaced and shook his head.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Before Ann could question him further, the door opened again. Kawakami entered the room.

"Alright class," she said. "As I told you last week, today we're getting a new student." Akira walked in the room and stood at the front of the class. He gave a small wave.

"Hello, my name is Akira Kurusu. It's nice to meet you." His polite greeting was met with small whispers and hard stares. Kawakami sighed again.

"Alright Kurusu-san; why don't you take the open seat in between Uzumaki-san and Takamaki-san." Akira nodded and walked down the aisle. As he passed by Ann's desk, she leveled a glare at him.

"Lies," she hissed. Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"What's got her so riled up?" he wondered. Akira stopped for a moment and looked curiously at her before continuing to his seat. The class's whispers continued.

"He knows Takamaki-san too?"

"I heard he came in late with Uzumaki and Sakamoto too."

"Now class, remember the volleyball rally is in two days," Kawakami said, ignoring the students' whispers. "I know the school year just started and classes have been switched around, so now is a good get to know each other. Now enough time's been wasted. Let's begin class."

Evening

Shibuya Central Street

The sun had almost set by the time Naruto finally climbed out of the subway station onto the main street in the bustling urban center. The central street was now fully illuminated by with the Shibuya night life. He stumbled into the side alley towards Untouchable, feeling rather exhausted from the day's events. "Ugh, it's been one hell of a day," he muttered. He entered the model gun shop and noticed his surly benefactor wasn't behind the counter like he usually was. "Hey Iwai!" he called out tiredly. "Where the hell are you, you scruffy bastard?"

"Hold your horses, you little punk," he heard the man reply from somewhere beyond the counter. A few moments later the model gun owner emerged from the back room, holding a clipboard with an annoyed look on his face. "It's about time you showed up, brat. I had to start going checking the inventory since you didn't show up when you normally would." Naruto looked away sheepishly.

"Yeah, sorry about that boss." He rubbed the back of his head. "A crap ton of shit happened to me today." The model gun owner raised an eyebrow.

"So I've heard," he mused. "I got a call from that teacher of yours earlier, about how you just showed up at school after missing half the day." Naruto blanched and looked away.

"Ugh, of course Kawakami-sensei would do that," he muttered. He should have known dreary homeroom teacher would have made that effort. He scrambled to come up with some excuse for the insane events. "Listen boss, here's what happened-" However, Iwai held up a hand to stop him before Naruto could continue.

"I'm not looking for a stupid excuse, brat. It's not like I really care about you skipping. Hell, I wasn't a saint in school either."

"Then why the hell are you bringing it up?" Naruto asked in bewilderment. Iwai sighed.

"Because that's not the big issue here," he replied. "If you make enough trouble, then obviously the cops are going to get involved. As incompetent as they can be sometimes, they'll probably start digging into your background. If that happens, you're going to find yourself in some seriously shitty trouble." Naruto's eyes narrowed. He knew Iwai was being dead serious. After all of his ninja adventures, he knew he was a freaking magnet for getting into ridiculous circumstances, which only raised the question…

"What kind of trouble are we talking about here?" he finally asked. Iwai grabbed a lollipop out of his coat and stuck it in his mouth, sighing again.

"Well brat; in order to establish you here in Shibuya, I called in a couple favors with some former…associates." The grizzly shopkeeper hesitated for a moment. By this point Naruto knew the man had some underworld connections, as some of the errands he'd run had put him in contact with some clearly shady people. However, as the guy had respected Naruto's own personal background, he hadn't bothered to pry further. "They were able to set you up with that fake ID and put in a few false records and documents, but nothing too fancy." Iwai continued, "They only put in the bare bones needed so things at least look legit on the surface, and it doesn't look like you just popped into existence from another world or something." Naruto had to use all his ninja skills not to react to Iwai's off-handed comment.

"If only he knew how close he was to hitting the mark," he thought dryly. He focused on what the shopkeeper had said and realized what he was implying. He narrowed his eyes. "So, what you're saying is, if I get the cops on my case and they decide to look over my info, they'll find out something's off and come to ask questions?" Iwai nodded.

"Exactly kid, and if that happens, you're on your own. If any of the cops ask, I'll deny ever knowing you."

"Gee, thanks boss," Naruto said sarcastically. However, he couldn't fault the man for his decision. He'd already done more than enough for him as it is, what with taking in him in and all. He nodded at the shopkeeper and flashed him his foxy smile. "That's fine! I just have to not get caught." Iwai raised an eyebrow.

"Don't you mean not get in trouble, brat?" Naruto smirked mischievously.

"I know what I said. The cops won't have any reason to investigate me if they can't connect me to anything that happens. It's not like the average cop has the time or resources to do an in depth-investigation, just on a hunch." Iwai stared at the whiskered teen for a few seconds before shaking his head.

"Whatever, you little punk; I gave you my warning. Just don't come crying to me if you get in over your head." Naruto gave him the patented Might Smile™*.

"Don't worry boss. Trust me; I'm an old hand at keeping under the radar when needs be." Iwai shrugged.

"If you say so, brat." He handed Naruto the clipboard. "I'll leave you to finish up with checking inventory. Just put the list on the counter when you're done. I'll check it tomorrow morning when I come in." Iwai grabbed a small bag from behind the counter. "I'm heading home for the night; I'm due for a bit of alone time." Naruto grinned.

"Try not to overwork Palma. You wouldn't want to have cramps while handling the models tomorrow!" Iwai scowled and flipped him the bird.

"Shut up; it's not like you've got girls lined up to kiss that ugly mug either. Anyways, be sure to lock up and turn off the lights out here, you little bastard." The bell rung as he opened the door and strode out of the shop.

"Will do, you old timer!" Naruto called out before the door closed. Now that he was alone, he let the goofy grin on his face drop and sighed, plopping into the chair behind the counter.

"Great, so I have to be wary about the police as well," he thought to himself. "There's no way anyone would believe me if told them, 'I come from a different dimension, so that's why there's no public records of me.'" He chuckled humorlessly. "I'd probably get checked into a mental asylum." Thinking of impossible events, his mind began flashing back to the day's insane train of craziness, from that mysterious voice on the subway, to entering that ridiculous castle and meeting whatever alternate version of Kamoshida, to finally accessing Kurama and his chakra after 6 months, and then escaping that crazy place with the help of a talking cat monster. Naruto couldn't help but sigh.

"I should have known something was going to go off the rails sooner or later," he mused aloud. "It's like I'm cursed to always have shit hitting the fan, leaving me with a ton of crap to deal with each time. There's no such thing as a regular life for me, is there?" The blond thought for a moment and shrugged. "Ah well, normal's for losers who can't handle life on hard mode." He looked at the clipboard on the counter. "I'd better start going over the inventory. Don't want the boss to get all pissy tomorrow morning."

Naruto grabbed the clipboard and went to the back room. Throwing his Shujin bag by the doorway, he began the tedious process of going through the stocks for each and every model gun set, which took him the better part of three hours to finally finish. After finally writing down the count for the last model, Naruto walked out to the front and tossed the clipboard onto the counter. He checked the time on his phone. "Damn, it's almost eleven," he said with a tired yawn. He returned to the back room and walked over to his futon, plopping down on it. He hadn't felt this drained in ages.

"That dungeon or whatever the hell that place was must have taken more out of me than I thought," he realized. He frowned upon the thought of the strange castle which had temporarily replaced Shujin. While he wasn't too keen on entering that bizarre place, it was the only place he knew of where he could access chakra or potentially speak to Kurama again. "There just might be a clue somewhere in that place about getting home," he thought. He knew it was a long shot, but it was all he had to go on for the time being. He remembered the voice on Akira's phone that spoke when they escaped the castle.

"That weird app on his phone said something along the lines of, 'You have returned to the real world,' when we got back, right?" he wondered. "Whatever it was, it was probably what sent us there in the first place."He yawned again. "Meh, I'll worry about it tomorrow." He kicked off his shoes and pulled off his shirt before settling under the covers.

"This whole mess began with that strange voice I heard on the subway," he mused sleepily. "Though I can't shake the feeling I've heard it somewhere before…" Any further ruminations on the origin of that mysterious voice were lost as Naruto quickly found his way into the land of slumber

Nighttime

? Location

Naruto found himself in a strange, empty space, surrounded by a thick misty haze which continued into infinity. He looked around in confusion. "Now where the hell am I? Is this a dream or something?" he asked. He looked down and found he was in the same attire he'd been in when he fought in that dungeon, though the mask was absent from his face. "Why am I in this get-up again?" he exclaimed. "Did I somehow get dragged back into that castle?" The blond couldn't feel any of his chakra either. He suppressed the rising urge to panic.

"First thing to do in an unknown situation is to take stock of your surroundings," he reminded himself of one of Ero-Sennin's lessons. After scanning his hazy surroundings, he found a solitary wooden path leading further into the mist. He stared at the path for a moment before shrugging. "Well, it's not like I've got anything to lose. Might as well check this out and see where it leads." Naruto followed the path deeper into the mist. He found he was unable to see anything else besides the path before him; the rest of the scenery was still obscured by the dense mist. The path eventually led to a stairway with steps made of what looked like giant leaves.

"Am I on a giant tree or something?" he wondered. "What's with these places I keep ending up? First a freaking castle, now this?" Nonetheless, Naruto ascended the arboreal approach, utilizing his athletic ability to easily leap from leaf to leaf, and climb the strangely arranged steps.

After a couple dozen jumps, Naruto arrived at the end of the stairs. He found himself on another wooden surface, a massive circular plateau at least 30 meters in diameter. The Uzumaki cautiously walked forward into the center of the platform and looked around, but there didn't seem to be any other paths to take. He turned around to try going back and see if he missed something, but the leaves he'd jumped from had vanished into the mist, and Naruto had a distinct feeling they weren't there anymore. "Just great," he muttered. "Now I'm stuck here."

"That makes two of us kit," a gruff voice said behind him. "Though at least you're in a better condition than I am." Naruto stiffened for a moment before whirling around. The mist had parted near a section of the plateau's edge, revealing silhouette of the massive fox he'd been paired with for his entire life.

"Kurama!" Naruto yelled. The Uzumaki sprinted towards his partner, anxious to be reunited with him. However, upon approaching the silhouette, he discovered the fox was sealed with a cell, not unlike the one he'd been in when inside of Naruto. However, this cage seemed to be a bit more personalized to the biju's tastes, as the cage was stylized with blazing red lining the walls and floors. The biju was locked behind gargantuan iron bars, the heights of the bars unknown as they faded into the mist. Two impossibly long obsidian chains crisscrossed over the chakra beast's entire body, particularly his tails and his paws. The chains looped through a number of links connected to the walls and floor of the cell, binding him to the prison.

Naruto immediately tried to pass through the cracks in the cage, but some invisible force field repelled him, sending him bouncing back. He landed on the ground with a thud. Naruto glared at the cell locking away his friend. "Damn it, what the hell is going on here?" he growled. The Kyuubi chuckled.

"Thanks for trying, kit. Glad to see you haven't changed too much since we got separated." Naruto got up and looked at the towering fox.

"Are you doing ok, Kurama?" he asked. The biju gave Naruto a deadpan look.

"Oh sure, I just love being chained down and locked in a cell again!" he replied sarcastically. "I could just stay like this forever. What do you think, dumbass!" Naruto managed to grin.

"Doesn't look like you've changed much either, fuzzball," he teased. "Besides the new interest in BDSM."

"Ha ha," Kurama replied unamused. "Since when did you become more of an asshole?" He attempted to sit up with much difficulty, as the chains strained against his movement. After a few moments, the fox gave up and lay back down, crossing his paws. "Seriously, it's like I've been stuffed back into your seal again, with Kushina's chains thrown in. At least I'm not being skewered this time."

"Hey, that's progress at least." Naruto looked around at the hazy scenery. "You have any idea where the hell we are?"

"Don't ask me; today's the first time I've seen more than the inside of a cell." The blond looked quizzically at him.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, after that stupid goddess launched us outside of our dimension, I tried my best to keep you from fading into the void. But then all of a sudden, there was this flash of white light and I blacked out. When I came to, I found myself stuck in this cage with these blasted chains binding me. I tried to break out, but these chains seemed to be linked to my chakra, so I couldn't use any of it to break free."

"So, you've just been lying in this cell all by yourself for 6 months?" Naruto asked, shivering. He couldn't imagine having to sit restrained in solitude for that long. Kurama shrugged noncommittally.

"I've gotten used to it after being stuck in jinchurikis for so long. I spent most of my time napping. I could still feel a faint link with you from the Shiki Fujin, so I knew it was only a matter of time before something happened." The massive fox grinned."I figured a huge knucklehead like you would get into trouble sooner or later." This time it was Naruto's turn to roll his eyes at the fox.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, you fuzzy bastard," he said waving him off. "How'd you manage to connect with me before?" Kurama settled down and rested his head on his paws.

"Well a few hours ago, one of the links connecting the chains to the floor just up and broke, giving me access to a small portion of my chakra." The biju motioned to the a point near the front of the cage, where Naruto could see one of the links had indeed snapped, allowing for Kurama's front right paw to be free."I tried pushing my chakra through the link and was finally able to hear and see bits and pieces of what was going on outside, though it was really fuzzy at first. The connection became really clear when you ended up in that weird castle, though."

"I see. And that's when you appeared and became that mask I ripped off, giving me those weird powers," Naruto realized. The biju nodded.

"A couple strange spells or whatever the hell they were got rammed into my head when that link broke. It was only because that frizzy haired masked guy used a similar sounding spell that I guessed what that one of them could do." Naruto nodded as his face scrunched, deep in thought. It seemed more and more likely that whatever stuff that strange voice was talking about bonds and fools and rebellion that voice was talking about had something to do with the chains binding the Kyuubi and the powers he'd gained in that castle, but how? And why only in the castle? And most importantly…was there any way to use these new abilities to return home? The queries ran rampant through the blond's mind, with no answers coming for any of them. Naruto ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

"Damn it! None of this is making any sense!" he yelled out.

"Calm down, Naruto," Kurama replied. "Trying to figure out everything right now is pointless. There are just too many unknowns at the moment. Just focus on what you do know right now." Naruto sighed.

"I know, I know; it's just this whole thing came out of the blue. I'd almost given up hope of ever getting chakra again." The fox nodded.

"Well, knowing you kit, you'll figure something out eventually. You always do. You're not going to give up, right?" Naruto grinned and gave him a thumbs-up.

"Hell no! I'm Naruto Uzumaki. Doing the impossible is the headline of my resumé!" Naruto squinted at the hazy silhouette of the fox as it became increasingly difficult to see the massive beast despite being in front of him. He realized the mist seemed to be closing in. "Looks like we might be out of time for now," Kurama realized.

"I guess so," Naruto agreed. He narrowed his eyes as he realized his only course of action remaining to him. "Hey Kurama; I'm going to head back to that castle!" he called out into the thickening haze. "You better not be napping when I need you, furball." He could hear Kurama's chuckle.

"Whatever brat; you just don't want to admit you're useless without my epicness. I'll be there to wipe your nose when you get in over your head!" After a few more moments, the haze had completely enveloped everything in Naruto's sight. It kept thickening further and further, until all Naruto could see was white, and then…darkness.

Naruto woke up with a start, breathing heavily. He looked at his regular body. "A dream?" he wondered. He dismissed the thought. It felt far too real to be a dream. "I must have been some sort of mindscape, except...different." He couldn't put his finger on it, but it felt far too different from the pipes and sewers he had first met Kurama in. He checked the clock on his phone. "Great," he muttered. "Still got another three hours left." He sighed and turned back over. "Might as well try and get some more shuteye," he said knowing full well that was unlikely to happen. He was too far too wired. One way or another, he was going back to that strange castle to get some more answers, and no psycho king or creepy monsters were going to stop him.

And that marks the end of my trio of Day 1 chapters. Again, I'll be giving a shout out if anyone realizes what I did with them. Now here on out, things are going to start changing even more than just Naruto being there. I already have some pretty cool things planned both in Kamoshida's arc and beyond. It's going to be good. As I said before, school has started, so I can't promise I'll be able to keep the weekly schedule I set for myself, but hopefully no more than two weeks will pass without a chapter going on. I may start updating my profile with status updates as time goes on.

Anyway, a lot of stuff got revealed this chapter. I'm really excited to see what you think and if any of you will be able to piece together some of my master plan…Oh it feels so awesome to be in the driver's seat for a change. Just as a head's-up the next chapter may take me a bit longer to get out as I'm going to try avoiding splitting up chapters, and the next one's a bit of a doozy. As always, read and review, and PMs are welcome!

Also, not one word from any of you about my attempt at an American accent. Not. One. Word.