Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Naruto or To Love Ru franchises. Comments/Criticism is fine as long as it isn't just hate or flaming
Thanks for reading and please enjoy
Reality Viewing: Naruto the Charming Assassin Charmer
-Chapter 23-
Everyone was frozen as they watched the doorknob jiggle back and forth before a muffled click was heard and it slowly turned with a muffled squeal of metal grinding against metal.
Acting without thinking, Yami moved Mikan behind her protectively as she transformed her hair into dozens of blades while Mea did the same only with Nana and creating an energy cannon out of her arm. The rest simply tensed up as they watched the door swing open…
"Ah, there you guys are," And a beautiful orange haired woman dressed in very fashionable clothes waltzed in.
""Mom!?"" Rito and Mikan exclaimed at the same time upon seeing the woman, their eyes wide in shock. Sure enough it was none other than Ringo Yuki, world class fashion designer and fashion scout alongside being a loving mother.
"Hey sweeties, nice to see you both," She said as she waved at them with a bright smile… that faltered a little when she noticed the rather large and deadly weapons aimed her way curtesy of Yami and Mea. "Uh, should I come back later?"
"No, no, it's fine Mrs. Yuki, you just startled us." The latter stated, willing her arm to normal and scratched her cheek with a sheepish giggle while Yami simply nodded in agreement as her hair dropped back to her shoulders. "What brings you here?"
"And more importantly how did you get the door open? Not even Yami or Mea could get it to budge." Nana asked with a raised brow as she pointed to the battered and beaten door.
"Oh sweetie, when you've dealt with as many overstressed models as I have you learn real fast how to jimmy a jammed door," Ringo stated with a wave of her hand, revealing a slightly bent nail file and bobby pin clasped between her fingers. "As for why I'm here, well I was intending to surprise Rito and Mikan with my visit by picking them up from school. When I got there the principal told me that you hadn't been showing up the last few days because of one of Lala's inventions so I figured I'd come by and see what happened this time."
"Well it's a good thing you did," Hopping up from her seat, Mikan wrapped her arms around her mother's waist and nuzzled her face against the woman's side. "Its good to see you mom."
"I missed you too Mikan," Ringo said with a soft smile as she rubbed the brunette's head before looking at her oldest and beckoning him over. "Come on Rito, where's my welcome back hug?"
"Oh! Right, I- wah!" The orange haired boy started to say as he got up… only to cut himself off with a yelp as he snagged his leg on a blanket and flopped face first onto the floor, knocking himself silly.
Ringo blinked in surprise as she watched Yami used her hair to pick up her half-conscious son and drop him onto Lala's lap, the bubbly princess immediately fussing over the small dribble of blood running down his nose. "…Huh, doesn't that usually end with-"
"Weird cosmic child stole his perv luck for some reason so now he's just the normal kind of extremely accident prone," Mikan explained before her mother could even finish asking the question while Lala helped Rito back to his feet. Feeling the incredulous look her mother was giving her, the youngest Yuki sighed in exasperation. "It's a long story."
"I'm sure we can go over it later," Gently pushing her daughter off as she stepped further into the room, Ringo's eyes flickered over the occupants curiously. Her gaze settling on the twins, her brow rose a little when her keen eye spotted to noticeable differences in their chest sizes from her last visit, before her smile grew when she locked sights on Sephie and held out a hand. "Well hello there, I don't believe we've met before, I'm Ringo, Rito and Mikan's mother."
"No we haven't, I'm Sephie Deviluke, Lala, Nana, and Momo's mother," The queen said as she got up and accepted the handshake. "It's a pleasure to-eep!"
A startled yelp tore from Sephie's lips when Ringo abruptly pulled her in close and spun her around while running her hands up and down her body. Before the oldest pinkette even realized what was going on her fellow mother had thoroughly felt up her chest and was moving down her ass.
'Oh son of a… not again.' Mikan palmed her face with a groan and Rito quickly covered his eyes as their mom went into what she liked to call 'work mode'. Being a high end fashion designer and model manager, it was pretty much pure reflex for Ringo to start checking out anyone she thought could be a potential model for her projects. And unfortunately for those that did catch her attention, she had no fear of getting very close and personal with her inspections…
All the girls had been victims of it in the past during her past visits, with even Yami having fallen prey to Ringo's machinations at least once before (Albeit only because Ringo had no perverted intentions behind her actions).
"Not bad, nice and firm with a pleasant softness yet no sagging, well balanced hip to chest ratio, and such silky-smooth skin." Ringo muttered to herself as she 'inspected' the alien royal, stuffing one arm under her shirt and the other traced down the pinkette's thigh. All the while a very confused and embarrassed Sephie's face turned redder than a tomato as she stuttered incomprehensibly, especially when the orangette started to pull her shirt off.
*Whap* "Ow!" Fortunately her salvation from indignity came in the form of a shoe that flew in through the doorway and nailed Ringo right in the back of her head. Stumbling from the impact, she whirled around towards the source, not noticing as Sephie quickly slipped away and hid behind her daughters. "Was that really necessary? That hurts a lot you know."
"Well maybe if you could learn to stop groping every pretty girl you come across I wouldn't have to keep doing it." An unknown female voice retorted before a woman with vibrant red hair and violet eyes walked through the doorway. Unlike Ringo's stylish outfit she was wearing just a plain green and white dress yet it did nothing to detract from her sheer stunning appearance.
At the same time there was something about her that was just so naggingly familiar to the girls and Rito. None more so than Yami though, with her gaze narrowing and lips pursed in thought as she stared at the new arrival intensely.
"I mean honestly, it's a miracle you haven't been slapped with a lawsuit or twelve for sexual harassment with how often you pull that 'work mode' stunt of yours." Said new arrival continued while slipping her discarded shoe back on.
"I can't help if I have a few bad habits from working so hard," Ringo muttered with a huff, causing the redhead to roll her eyes with a giggle. "And I thought I told you to wait outside, you've gone and ruined the surprise Kushina."
"Surprise? What surprise? Mom, who is this?" Rito asked with a raised brow, getting his mother and the redhead's attention as he pointed to the latter.
"Oh, do you really not remember Rito-chan?" As she spoke, Kushina walked up and playfully ruffled the boy's hair with a faux pouty look. "I know it's been a few years but surely you remember your favorite auntie."
"…Auntie?" He repeated in confusion while looking from Kushina to his mother and back again, question marks practically visible around his head. Mikan wasn't much better as she stared at the redhead with a blank face, the gears in her head having ground to a complete halt. As far as the siblings knew they didn't have an aunt since both of their parents were an only child.
"Yeah, auntie Kushi, I used to babysit you and Mikan all the time when you were little," The redhead said with a big cheesy smile that soon fell when she saw the complete lack of recognition on the boy's face. "You still don't remember me?"
"I'm… sorry?" He mumbled unsurely, causing Kushina to slump as her pout became more genuine.
"Aw man…"
Shake of her head in a mix of amusement and exasperation, Ringo patted her friend on the back sympathetically as she sulked. "It's been over ten years Kushina, you really shouldn't be surprised."
"I know, but come on, I was the cool aunt, who forgets about the cool aunt?" Kushina whimpered as she hugged her friend with an overdramatic sniffle.
Before Ringo could say anything the sound of someone loudly clearing their throat made them turn to see a very dull faced Nana drumming her fingers on her crossed arms. Seeing that she had their attention, the formerly flat chested pinkette gestured to herself and the other girls in the room. "I'm sorry but could you please just explain to us what's going on already? I've already dealt with enough shtick these last few days to last me a lifetime."
"Fine, fine, if that's how you want it," Like a switch Kushina's pouting disappeared and she turned completely serious, waltzing over to the door and sticking her head out. "You might as well get in here to, some party pooper killed all the fun."
This confused the other occupants in the room aside from Ringo as they all turned to the doorway in sync…
"About time, I was wondering how long I'd have to wait-Ttebayo." Before their jaws fell to the floor when they saw exactly who it was she had been talking too when they walked through the door.
'No… fucking… way.' Momo's eyes widened so much in shock that they were in legitimate danger of falling right our of her head while drool dribbled from her lips. Mea wasn't in much better shape, aside from the lack of drool, and poor Rito passed out from the shock. Meanwhile Nana was pinching her arm had enough to leave a bruise, Sephie and Mikan were doing the perfect impression a deer in the headlights, and Lala's eyes were practically sparkling as she smiled in pure joy.
However, none of their reactions held a candle in comparison to Yami's, who had completely locked up with an uncharacteristic amount of genuine emotions all over her normally impassive face. Her gaze was locked onto those rugged whiskers, that sunny blonde hair, the light peach skin, that kind yet ever slightly mischievous smile.
"It's nice to meet you all, I'm-"
"""NARUTO!?""" All the girls sans Kushina and Ringo cried out at once, causing the entire house to shake from the sheer force of their combined voices.
And sure enough, none other than Naruto Uzumaki himself was in the doorway, a completely baffled look on his face and his hand up frozen mid-wave. Then in the blink of an eye he was knocked clean off his feet and set flying down the hall by a pink blur ramming into him.
Once he finally tumbled to a stop, the whiskered blonde found himself lying on the floor with one very happy looking Lala straddling his waist.
"Uh… hi?" He offered unsurely with an awkward smile, before his face vanished into the princess's cleavage when she wrapped him up in a hug.
"Oh my gosh!" Lala exclaimed in pure excitement as she rolled back and forth on the floor. "You're real! You're really real! Oh it's so nice to meet you in person!"
"Ish mife fo meef fou thou, I vess." The blonde's voice could just be heard through the pinkette's bountiful bosom, not bothering to try and pull his head free because he could feel just how hellishly strong this girl's grip was. Well that and he was still trying to understand why this very lovely girl he'd never met before was acting like he was the absolute best person ever.
Still standing by the doorway, Kushina shared a surprised look with Ringo as they watched the pinkette smothering the blonde in affection both figuratively and literally. "Isn't that your son's fiancé you've been telling me about?"
"Yep."
"Okay, why is your son's fiancé straddling my son?"
"Good question." The orangette stated as she turned to her youngest child with a raised brow, causing the brunette to sigh in exasperation.
-One long explanations later-
"…And that's about what's been going on the last few days." Mikan finished with a sigh as she laid back in a recliner with a sigh, the group having moved into the living room as she had talk.
Ringo and Kushina were seated on a couch along with Sephie, the two earthlings listening intently while the alien queen quietly sipped a cup a tea. Meanwhile Lala, after having been successfully pried off Naruto, was working on setting up Viewer-Kun where the normal TV usual was with Momo's help.
Speaking of the whiskered blonde, he and Yami had ended up sharing a loveseat together thanks to one very insistent bubbly princess. Their faces were a bright cherry red after hearing Mikan recount the last few days of events, along with Lala and Momo throwing in their two cents every few sentences. It certainly didn't help that Lala was still wearing her "Yami x Naru" T-shirt and even waving a little flag around excitedly.
Rito, Nana, and Mea were all missing, the former having left to get Celine back from Mikado and the latter two tagging along to make sure he actually made it there okay after he'd tripped on the way down the stairs.
"Wow, that… that is a lot to take in," Kushina muttered, rubbing the back of her neck as she looked at Ringo. "I mean seriously, it was hard enough to believe that your son got married to a space princess when you told me but now we're getting alternate timeline stuff mixed in and something about Naruto being a super powered space ninja."
"That part does sound pretty badass," Naruto chipped in, his cheeks losing their red hue as he pictured himself as a ninja in his head. However, his eyes soon drifted back to Yami who was STILL staring at him and his blush returned full hue as he quickly adverted his gaze. "But yeah, definitely not how I was expecting this reunion to go."
"Welcome to my life." Mikan stated in a dry tone before gesturing to her and his mothers. "So now what about you guys, what's your story?"
"Oh well Kushina and I know each other from way back, we met in high school actually and got into the fashion business together, her as a model and me as her personal designer." Ringo said with a nostalgic smile on her lips.
"I also touched into idol work on the side for a bit in my teens, got pretty popular too, I think they still play a few of my songs on the radio," Kushina continued for the orangette. "To make a long story short we rocked the music and fashion industry, eventually met the loves of our lives, decided to settle down for a bit, and before we knew it the both of us had our own beautiful baby boy."
As she spoke, Kushina reached over and playfully pinched Naruto's cheek, causing him to squirm around with an indignant, "Mom…"
"I and Minato used to come over all the time so Naru and Rito could play, oh you two were just so cute together. And don't even get me started when Mikan came around," Ignoring her son's protests, the redhead giggled heartily as she recalled the good old days. However, the amusement soon faded from her face in place of a more somber as she let Naruto go and cupped her stomach. "But then a fire broke out in our home just after Mikan's first birthday, one of the candles got to close to a curtain and... thankfully everyone made it out alive but… but…"
"Shhh… it's okay Kushina, you don't have to talk about it," Ringo murmured comfortingly, gently patting her friend on the back as she choked on her words. Once she managed to settle her down a bit, the fashionista turned her attention back to the rest of the room with a weary sigh. "Kushina moved to the US after that for personal reasons but we still got to work together frequently. Then last week Kushina suggested that since summer break was coming up soon we both could take some time off and have a little reunion."
"I thought it'd be nice to see you all again after so long," Kushina said with a soft smile, looking directly at a certain brunette as she spoke. "Oh how much I wish I'd stayed now, you've grown into such a lovely young lady already and I missed it all."
That caused Mikan's cheeks to light up as she shrank in her seat shyly, nervously fiddling with a strand of hair. "T-thank you ma'am."
"Oh don't call me ma'am sweetheart, it makes me feel old, just call me aunt Kushina or auntie Kushi, whichever you prefer," The model said with a giggle, before patting the other mother on the couch on the shoulder. "And it has been a pleasure to meet all of you as well, anyone Ringo considers family I consider family as well."
"Uh, you might want to brace yourself then." Sephie said with a sheepish smile that made Kushina tilt her head in confusion.
"Why would I-" Was as far as the redhead got before she was knocked back into her seat curtesy of a tackle hug from Lala.
"It's great to meet you too auntie Kushi!" The bubbly princess all but shouted while snuggling against Kushina's side, unintentionally lifting the older woman up into the air as she swaddled her in her arms.
Naruto couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips as he watched his mother flailing helplessly in Lala's grasp before shaking it off with a literal shake of his head. "She is really affectionate, isn't she?"
"You don't know the half of it." Yami muttered dully, barely repressing a grimace upon recalling all the hugs and snuggles she'd been subjected too against her will. When it came to people Lala liked, getting hugged by was just an inevitability they had to get used to.
"Um, speaking of affection," Clearing his throat as he fiddled with his collar, Naruto turned to face his fellow blonde as he took a deep breath. "Look, I'm obviously not the same Naruto you've been watching on this fancy TV thing so... um well-"
The whiskered teen was cut off by a hand of hair covering his mouth while Yami nodded in understanding.
"You don't have to say anything, I am aware enough to understand the difference," She stated, before pointing to Lala with a deadpan as said pinkette continued to hug Kushina. "It's her that you'll have to convince of that, not me."
"Yeah I'm not gonna even try, I know a lost cause when I see one." Naruto said with his hands held up in surrender earning several giggles throughout the room while Lala stopped with a confused look.
"What's so funny?"
"Don't worry about it sweetie," Sephie told the younger pinkette after she got her laughter under control, gently prying her off of Kushina and setting her down on her lap as she ruffled her hair affectionately. She then gestured to the Viewer-kun as Momo plugged the last cords in, causing the screen to spring to life. "Besides, it looks like our shows back on."
"Alright! Make some room!" The plant lover stated as she squeezed in next to Naruto, squishing him between herself and Yami much to the latter's annoyance. However she let it slide for the time being as her attention was taken by the TV as it started to play.
'He's been meditating for almost a full day.' Yami thought as she looked at Naruto. It would still be a few days of space travel until they reached the galaxy that they were going to, and the planet that Naruto would be using to train, and Yami had watched as Naruto sat down and started his training.
"Whoa… that is trippy…" Kushina said while Ringo nodded.
"You can say that again," Naruto muttered with a low whistle, before rubbing his cheeks with a curious look. "Are his whiskers tattoos? They're too even to be scars like mine."
"Birthmarks actually, at least according to the pop-up any-wait," Momo cut herself off as her gaze snapped over to the 'real' Naruto. "Yours are scars?"
"Yeah, got them when I was little." Nodding, Naruto let his hand drop so the princess could get a better look. And sure enough, unlike the smooth even lines that his counterpart had, this Naruto's 'whiskers' were wider and uneven with the distinct pale discoloration of scar tissue. It looked almost as if someone had run jagged knives across his face, almost in near perfect symmetry but not quite.
Before she even realized what she was doing, Momo's hand was gently pressed against the blond's cheek as she gently traced her fingers over one. "What happened?"
"It's… a long story." Was all he said as he grabbed her hand and pulled it away, focusing his attention back on the television.
She didn't know exactly what he was doing, but she knew it was the most important first step to the training. "... He didn't get to say goodbye to anyone." Yami wondered out loud.
They had snuck off in the middle of the night, to avoid suspicion, and apparently there was a story about how Naruto was on a secret mission to save the world from a hidden threat. It was a bullshit story, but it was made to cover their tracks. Naturally, nobody was going to question Naruto being sent on a world saving mission.
She just wished that Naruto didn't look so sad when he left his world.
"Aw, why wouldn't he say goodbye to his friends?" Lala asked, her head tilting to the side in confusion as she pouted cutely. "You should always tell your friends your going somewhere, its rude not too."
"He probably just didn't want them to worry about him Lala, space exploration is still unknown to them after all." Sephie told her daughter as she rubbed her head comfortingly.
-Inside Naruto-
'So this is the deeper parts of my mind.' Naruto thought to himself as he walked around, sensing the more negative emotions that were all around him. The air inside of his mind was starting to feel gross to him. It had black clouds floating around, the water on the ground was blood red, and the lights weren't their usual yellow color, instead they were a dirty blue. "... So... my darkness exists somewhere inside of here." Naruto spoke out loud as he continued to walk.
The further he walked, the thicker the clouds of black got, and the deeper the crimson water turned.
The instant the scene appeared on screen Naruto felt a cold chill run down his spine as he shivered uncomfortably. "Ugh, I don't know why but just looking at that place makes me feel uneasy."
"Should that really be surprising? You are literally looking into your own darkness after all." Mikan pointed out, getting the whiskered blonde to pause for a moment before nodding.
"Good point."
"…What happened to him?" Kushina asked Sephie softly as she looked at the mind of her son's counterpart in pure concern. She was no psychologist but the sheer amount of negativity she could feel even from her seat was no joke.
Shaking her head, the queen hugged her daughter a little tighter as she whispered back. "I wouldn't even know where to begin."
Damn, he really pushed his darkness deep inside of himself.
"Don't... trust... anyone."
"... I haven't thought that in a long time." Naruto spoke when he heard his own voice coming out of a cloud. He remembered the days when he didn't trust a single person alive, and they were long gone. Now he had the trust and admiration of the entire village, all of whom had his back when Pain had attacked the village. Several of the ninja in the village died to protect the secret of where he was, though they were brought back to life later.
"Uh, did he just say-"
"Brought back to life, yeah," Mikan cut her mother off with a nod, "Which reminds me, we should introduce you to Shizu later. She's a ghost the school nurse brought back to life with an artificial body."
"…I don't know what's more alarming, the fact you can say that with a completely straight face or that I'm not even surprised by it." The orangette muttered while massaging the side of her forehead in exasperation.
Naruto smiled and placed his hand on top of the cloud that spoke those words, and he brought it close to himself.
He whispered to the cloud, and it turned bright gold, before it floated off back into the light, far away from the darkness. He smiled and watched the cloud go, before he turned around and started to walk towards the darkness once more.
"Whoa~ That was so cool! Do it again!" Lala called out, clapping excitedly like a child much to her mother's amusement.
No matter how dark his own hatred was... he knew the secret, something that he had longed for his entire life.
Not even darkness could face his weapon.
'His weapon?' Yami repeated mentally, her brow rising in confusion as her eyes flickering over the whiskered teen's form. She didn't see any weapon… he just spoke to the cloud and it changed.
"Hate all of them."
Naruto looked at the wall of black clouds in front of him, and he stopped moving. The tunnel ended beyond the clouds. This was the spot where the hate was thickest, and the clouds were the most violent looking shade of black. Thousands of whispers of pure hatred and sadness were inside of them, so many whispers that the words were lost amongst each other.
"Man... the darkness inside of me... It's scary seeing this, knowing that I have even more darkness in me than Sasuke... We really could have traded places." Naruto whispered to himself, seeing the physical proof how his life could have been different. He had seen the inside of Sasuke's heart when they fought each other, and Sasuke's darkness couldn't hold a candle to this.
"Nope, never happening, not ever," Lala said with her arms held up in a big X as she shook her head. "There's no way he'd ever be like that big meanie."
"Never say never Lala, everyone has a snapping point, some are just harder to reach than others." Ringo told the bubbly pinkette while Kushina nodded knowingly, both of them having seen their fair share of emotional breakdowns. Modeling was a lot more stressful than most people gave it credit for, from the constant demand to be in perfect figure all the time to the never ending harassment of the paparazzi invading every second of your personal life.
There was a reason why so many new and experienced models alike ended up choosing to bail out of the business each year.
Meanwhile a confused Naruto raised a brow as he tapped Yami's shoulder to get her attention. "Who's Sasuke again?"
"Former friend of that version of you who's obsessed with getting revenge who killed another friend Sakura recently when she tried to stop him." The transforming girl stated bluntly, getting her fellow blonde to wince sympathetically.
"Oh…"
Sasuke just had no control over his darkness, but were it not for his secret weapon, Naruto wasn't sure if he would be able to control what he sought to control either.
"So you've come... you've come to get rid of me."
The clouds started to gather together, all of the impure thoughts and feelings, condensed and started to take a physical form in his mind. Naruto watched with an emotionless face as his darkness took his own form, though with inverted eyes. His evil-looking copy stood up, fully formed, and looked at him with anger. The two of them stood apart, doing nothing but standing and staring.
Flinching upon seeing this 'Dark Naruto', Lala instinctively scooted closer to her mother for comfort with a shiver. "Scary…"
"Shh, it's okay sweetie." Sephie whispered softly while gently rubbing the younger pinkette's head, getting her to calm back down. At the same time Kushina frowned as she clasped her hands together in worry, barely noticing when Ringo grabbed her shoulder supportively.
Momo on the other hand was looking over the new doppelganger with a curious look, seemingly not affected at all by his appearance, before looking at their own whiskered blond. "You know, I gotta admit you pull off the evil darkside look pretty well."
"Really?" He asked with a raised brow, taking a moment to look himself over before shrugging. "I don't see it."
"... Love, Mom." Naruto repeated those words to his Darkness.
"Why did he-"
"Raaaaaah!" Dark Naruto screamed as he ran at Naruto with a fist pulled back. With a powerful punch, Naruto was hit right in the cheek and slammed into the mental wall behind them. He didn't make a move to dodge, block, or even fight back against his copy. He took the attack and kept standing after, landing on his feet after hitting the wall.
Yami cut herself off as she and everyone else flinched when the blow struck, the screen slowing down briefly to show the impact ripple across his face before returning to normal as he flew back into the wall.
"Ooooh, that's gonna smart." Kushina muttered while rubbing her own jaw.
He smiled.
"Love, Mom." Naruto said once more.
"Stop it!" Dark Naruto screamed once more as he rushed towards Naruto. Naruto winced when he was kicked in the stomach, and crumbled over as he had two fists slammed into his back. Naruto smiled through the pain, and looked at his darkness with a grin. He didn't stop smiling when he was punched in the face. "We're hated! You're hated, and once we're not useful we'll be hated again!" Dark Naruto shouted as he started to beat Naruto into the water, not stopping his assault of fists for even a moment.
"Dude! What the hell are you doing?! Fight back!" Momo shouted. "Punch him or something! Don't just stand there smiling!"
"Why isn't he doing anything?" Lala muttered worriedly, not understanding why Naruto was refusing to act against his darker counterpart.
"Because there's no point in fighting yourself, all you will accomplish is a pointless cycle of self destruction," Mikan stated, getting the attention of both princesses. Seeing their curious looks a light blush appeared on the brunette's cheeks as she avoided meeting their gazes. "…I read that in a manga once."
Whilst everyone else's attention was on either the fight or Mikan though, none of them noticed that Yami's was solely on Dark Naruto. She found herself staring straight into the burning red embers of his eyes as they flared with unrestrained emotion. However, it wasn't just rage she found smoldering in their depths…
'He's sad, his face is angry but his eyes are sad.'
Naruto did not stop smiling.
"Love, Mom." Naruto said those words again, with more power behind them as his face became gentle.
Those words had become a source of strength for him, just as much as they had destroyed him, they were something he held precious. He watched as his darkness started to change, with the black clouds in the air starting to change as Naruto spoke his most important treasure out loud.
Knowing his mother loved him... no darkness could hold a candle to the feelings inside of those words. The knowledge that he had been loved since the day he was born, and that both of his parents had so much faith in him.
"Stop-"
"You're me right? We've always wanted to meet her... Ma is pretty amazing. I mean, it's been almost 17 years since I was born... but I think I finally got a birthday present from her... I hope she's not angry that I waited so long to open it." Naruto spoke softly, laughing as he said it. He couldn't help himself as he recalled the day that he found the scarf. "... Why don't you just become a part of me... for real this time? I'm sure Ma wouldn't want me to become somebody who pushes his problems down." Naruto spoke as Dark Naruto stopped punching him.
"Seventeen years before…" Trailing off with wide eyes, Kushina clasped her hands together as she sank into her seat sadly. "Oh that poor boy."
"Indeed." Sephie said while tightening her grip on Lala again, both out of comfort and to keep her from trying to jump anyone else in a comfort hug.
Which he appreciated, since his darkness had his own strength, and that strength hurt a lot.
"Ma shouldn't have died... she should have hidden away and survived. Pa shouldn't have risked his life... he should have just stayed home... so he could tell us welcome home instead of being a hero." Dark Naruto tried to deny it.
"If only life could be as simple as that." Naruto muttered softly, unheard by anyone else, while softly rubbing his scarred cheeks with a wistful smile.
Naruto smiled.
"I'm going to become stronger than Ma, and better than Pa. They put Kurama inside of us, because they believed in me. I'm proud of my parents, and I'm sure they're proud of me too. After all... Ma's scarf is really warm." Naruto leaned up and placed his forehead against the forehead of his darkness. He looked into the eyes of red and black, and watched as they started to take on his own colors.
His parents love.
That was his secret weapon, the knowledge that he was loved by his parents. Years of neglect and anger, the hatred of the village, and the way they changed their minds about him didn't matter. The fact that his entire life, he had two amazing parents who loved him was more than enough for him.
'Ah… I see now, the words are his weapon or more so the joy they bring him.' Yami thought, her eyes lighting up in understanding once it finally clicked for her.
"I..."
"Pervy Sage believed in me too, and so do Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei... and Granny Tsunade. I'm not telling you to vanish... but you don't have to be Darkness anymore... become me and see the world for the light it has." Naruto watched as not only his darkness started to become light, and rejoin with himself... but inside his mindscape itself started to vanish. The walls of Kurama's great dungeon-prison started to turn into golden clouds, the floor and ceiling become white light.
"Whoa… so pretty…" Lala's eyes sparkled in awe at the sight… yet oddly didn't feel the same exuberance she normally did when seeing things so beautiful. Instead the more she looked at the abyss of golden clouds that was Naruto's purified mindscape the more it seemed to fill her with a sense of calm. Something about it seemed to calm the constant buzz of energy that perpetually shot through her into a serene flow as she unconsciously nuzzled into her mother's grasp.
She wasn't alone in this either as everyone aside from Naruto himself seemed to just chill out a little when they saw it.
The clouds started to vanish as his true nature was finally becoming complete, and Naruto saw Kurama looking towards him as his darkness was erased.
Kurama looked at him with surprise.
"You did it so quickly... you conquered your own darkness." Kurama was surprised that Naruto had been able to do it his first try.
"…That is a big fox." Naruto stated when the scene briefly changed to show a further back shot that truly emphasized the difference in size between his counterpart and the biju.
"No kidding, that fluffball's gotta be at least five or six hundred feet tall," Ringo muttered with wide eyes. "He could use the Metlife Stadium as a doggy bed…"
Naruto just smiled.
"What? I'm the most unpredictable ninja for a reason. You've been watching me my entire life. I would think you would know me better than anyone, or is the great Kurama confused by this ninja?" Naruto asked the nine tails behind him. Naruto even turned his back to Kurama and sat down, grinning as he did so.
Kurama was just silent, glaring at Naruto with as much anger as it could muster, before laying down and staring at Naruto.
Kurama let out a puff of air, and looked away.
"Hehe, he's like a big pouting puppy." Giggling softly, Lala covered her mouth in a vain attempt to stifle them as they slipped from her lips.
'Naruto isn't afraid of me anymore... he's confidently turning his back to me, standing up to me. I'm actually looking forward to fighting him.' Kurama glanced back at Naruto. He could feel his desire to fight Naruto rising up, but it wasn't the time just yet. First, he had to tell Naruto how to fight him for control. The victory conditions and what would happen if he were to lose.
"Uh, excuse me but how the fuck is he going to fight that?" Kushina demanded in disbelief while jabbing her thumb at the colossal vulpine. "He's like the size of a toothpick compared to that thing."
"Well hopefully he doesn't use the same method he use to kill that giant snake." Mikan muttered with a shiver as her cheeks gained a light green tint at the memory.
"Ugh, I did not need to be reminded of that." Momo gagged, swallowing down the bile that started to rise in the back of her throat.
-Outside Naruto's Mind-
"... What are you doing Yami-chan?" Naruto asked Yami when he saw her going through his bag. She had knocked over several of his scrolls, stuff that he was going to be using for training mostly, and she was holding up a book of his. He didn't know what she was looking for, but the way she looked away from him and started to put everything back in his bag told him that she didn't find what she was looking for.
"Oh ho~ somebody got caught with their hand in the cookie jar~" And like that Momo's revulsion was replaced with amusement as she sent Yami a teasing look. "May perhaps were you looking for what type of kinks he be into?"
"…shut up." Was all the transforming blonde could say as she refused to look in the youngest pinkette's direction as her cheeks gained a light blush. Not because of Momo herself but rather how she had pointedly put her face right next to Naruto's so she couldn't look at her without staring at him too.
"Uh, personal space." Or at least she was until said whiskered teen pushed her back with a weirded out look.
She tried to play innocent, in the hopes that he would drop it, but he didn't buy into her act as he looked over at his bag in curiosity.
Everything was there.
"I was wondering what type of books you liked..." Yami looked away from Naruto with pink cheeks, embarassed at having been caught. "... Your birthday is coming up soon." Yami knew it was coming up, simply because she had been looking at Naruto's calender. Calenders that had dates and holidays marked on them. She wanted to learn about Naruto's world, and see what holidays it had.
Surprise, she learned that his birthday was coming up soon, and she had tried to find a clue on what she could try and get him.
"Awwww, that's so thoughtful of you Yami-chan." Lala gushed as she clapped her hands. "Oh, you should totally get him a pet! No wait, he likes gardening like Rito so get him a cool plant like Celine!"
"Plant? I thought Celine was your son's kid." A confused Kushina said as she turned to Ringo with a raised brow, only to get an unsure shrug in response.
"That's what I thought…"
"She's technically both," Fortunately Mikan was there to fill in for the orangette's lack of explanation. "Celine used to be a huge alien flower that Lala got Rito for his birthday but then she turned into a cute baby girl for some reason. Don't ask me why, we have no idea."
"…And you said my family is weird-Ttebane." Kushina told Ringo with a dry look as her friend smiled sheepishly.
"Oh... ohhhh... right. Don't worry about it. I don't have a lot of interests besides training, so I never really want any birthday gifts or stuff like that. I'll be happy with just a Happy Birthday from you." Naruto waved off her concerns rather simply. He didn't remember ever getting a birthday gift his entire life, so unlike other people, he never really bothered wanting anything for his birthday.
Hell, just having somebody tell him happy birthday would have made his day.
"Aww…" And like that Lala deflated, pouting as she crossed her arms in disappointment. "Everybody should get a birthday present."
"Do you have any hobbies?" Yami questioned him.
She was caught, might as well try the direct approach.
"You're going to get me something anyway... Well, my hobbies are eating ramen and trying new ramen flavors, and training... Also, I love pulling pranks, and taking care of plants... gardening is a hobby of mine." Naruto knew she was going to pester him, so he gave the information willingly.
Yami was a little surprised, she had forgotten he had mentioned that to her.
The gardening thing, not the training thing.
"Yeah that kind of slipped my mind too until Lala brought it up." Momo admitted with a shrug, having been caught up in all the combat and cool power stuff that was being thrown around. Not to mention the less than pleasant topics that'd been brought up such as a certain deal that her mother had gotten her involved in.
"Gardening?" Yami asked again, just to be sure.
"Yes, I love watering plants and pulling pranks." Naruto repeated his hobbies to her, and she nodded her head. "Actually... now that we're going to be travelling through space together... once the war is over. I was thinking about finding new plants to take care of." Naruto didn't mention that as a hint. It had just been something he had been planning on doing on his own.
With different planets, there had to be tons of interesting plants out there for him to find and take care of.
A giggle slipped from Sephie's lips before they curled into a nostalgic smile as her gaze drifted to her youngest daughter. She could still when she was little and first discovered her connection with flora.
The first thing Momo had done had beg her to go to other planets so she could meet all the unique plants that grew on them. 'Oh those were the days…'
Yami made a mental note of that.
Naruto liked plants, good to know.
Chapter End!
"Well… that was a thing," Kushina stated once the screen had slipped back into buffering mode. "I always wondered if I'd see my boy on the big screen one day but this really wasn't what I was picturing."
"You can say that again, that was pretty freaky to be honest," Naruto added with a sigh, still trying to wrap his head around what he saw. "How'd you guys even get into this?"
"We were trapped in a little bedroom with nothing to do but watch it for days." Mikan said, unable to help the slight annoyance that bled into her voice when she said that. Yes it had been an interesting experience overall but she could have definitely done without that 'being trapped' part.
"Touché Mikan, touché," The whiskered blonde chuckled as he conceded to the brunette's point while squeezing his way out from between Yami and Momo. Rolling his shoulders as he stretched "Speaking of being stuck though, would it be alright if I use your guys bathroom to clean up? It was a long flight here and I'd really like to take a bath."
"Sure, it's just over on-" Was as far as Mikan got before a familiar pink blur shot across the room straight for Naruto. In a blink of an eye, the teen in question found himself once again trapped in the crushing yet cushiony embrace of Lala.
"Oh! A bath is a great idea! Nothing like a nice hot soak and scrubbing each-others backs to help new friends to get acquainted! Let's go!" The princess declared as she picked Naruto up with ease and started carrying him away.
While initially too stunned at what Lala said to react, Naruto was quick to shake it off when he noticed that they were moving. His face turned pure red as his brain finally caught up to what she had said before he started frantically squirming around in her grasp. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, just hold up a second here, we can't just take a bath together."
"Why not? I take baths with family all the time." Lala said with an innocent smile as Naruto stopped struggling for a moment.
"But we're not family," He pointed out, "We're two strangers that literally just met like maybe an hour ago at best."
"Well sure but Yami's my niece so that means you'll be my nephew-in-law eventually which makes us family, so that means it's okay," The inventive genius shot back without hesitation, making Naruto palm his face while she continued along once more. After just a few steps though, she suddenly turned around and hurried back to the love seat so she could scoop Yami up with her other arm. "Whoopsie, almost forgot you Yami-chan, sorry about that."
"I should have known this was gonna happen…" The former assassin muttered under her breath as she and her fellow blonde were carried away to the bathroom. Unlike Naruto she didn't even bother struggling because she knew that once Lala set her mind to something there was basically no way of getting her to stop. 'The only way this could get any worse is if-'
"Oh, don't forget about me~!"
'Fuck.' Yami was sure that she felt a blood vessel about ready to burst as Momo followed after them with the biggest grin ever on her lips.
Meanwhile, watching this all happen from the sidelines, Kushina wasn't sure whether she should be concerned or amused. "So… should we, uh, do something about that?"
"We could," Ringo started before her lips slowly curled up into a mischievous smile. "Or… we could be totally cliché mothers and start talking about all the adorably embarrassing stories we have of our kids."
…
"You still got the photo albums in the same place?"
-End Chapter-
