(Revised 1/8/2023) Cleared up mostly some grammar.


Fire, destruction, and broken bodies surrounded him. The smell of burning flesh and death invaded his keen senses. Blood-curdling screams crying for help from those unfortunate enough to still be alive, he ignored them. He looked at his hands, hideous black claws protruding from where his fingernails should've been. Red liquid dripped off each one. A sinister howl coursed through his mind, his head thumping with pain.

"Is it done?" A maleficent voice from behind asked.

With one hand on his head he twisted to look, a woman covered head to toe in a black cloak, two red orbs peering out from her hooded face both fixated on him.

"Yes"

She strolled towards him, his vision blurring before fading to black.


Naruto woke up in terror, wide eyes quickly taking in the darkness of his small room. He pinched his arm, the faint pain confirming he was awake. Letting out a sigh of relief. He sat up running his hand through his damp hair, feeling the sweat drip down his neck.

The damn nightmare again he's had them for months, coming more frequently in recent weeks. He rubbed his finger, almost able to remember the pain of his nails being ripped off, and replaced by sickly black claws. He didn't know what it meant, he'd just wish they'd stop. He shook his head trying to free his mind from the frightening dream. He looked at the clock. 5:48, he turned to his window. The night sky still consumed the village, only the dark forms of shinobi starting their days visible, scurrying across the roofs. He begrudgingly walked to his bathroom to shower knowing any chance of sleep was gone.


He was sitting at his kitchen table after showering and eating breakfast (eggs with furikake) it was no ramen but it was easy to make. Sasuke had forced him to try other foods, saying it wasn't healthy to eat just ramen. She's one to talk with her damn tomato addiction. She eats them whole! Who does that?

A pout on his face as he continued to practice his calligraphy, a sealing for beginners books open next to him. There were three books in the beginner's stage, he was on the last one. They were mostly introductory, so he was speeding through. He would have never thought he'd be learning Fuinjutsu, let alone be any good at it but here he was enamored with it. How did he come by his new hobby? Well, a man named Jiraiya came around knocking.

He'd met him a few months into the academy. He showed up on his doorstep one day saying he was his godfather and to follow him. He could only stare at the odd man in front of him, before stupidly agreeing for reasons unbeknownst to him. They ended up at some hot spring just outside the village. The man put his hand on the ground, a large sum of smoke growing around him. The smoke vanished revealing him sitting atop a giant frog. (He would later come to know it was a Toad) He then proceeded to make a hole in the fence he was in front of, pulling out a small notebook. The giggles started soon after.

It took Naruto a second to realize what was happening. I willingly left my apartment with a perverted old man to watch him peep at people. He turned to walk back home not believing what just happened. Unfortunately, the pervert came back the next day asking where he went. Naruto could only blink back in unbelief.

He sighed. "Please leave me be you old pervert or I'll scream loud enough for the people with the masks to have cause to come to investigate."

Jiraiya quickly looked around him "Listen kid no need for any of that. I meant what I said yesterday about being your godfather. I just happened to get distracted by the beauty, there is no place like home. Now let me in so we can talk." He let him in for reasons once again unknown, maybe a secret part of him wanting it to be true.

He closed the door the man now sitting on his couch. He stood across from him, waiting for an explanation.

"I know I haven't been around much. Well never actually and I'm sorry but I'd like to make it up to you starting now If you'll let me."

"That explained nothing about how you're my supposed godfather." He said becoming annoyed.

Jiraiya waved his right hand at him while digging into the pocket of his red cloak with the other. "Here take this" passing him a small book (sealing for beginners) "Look I can't explain everything right now but if you can perhaps give this old man a chance to earn your trust, I promise you won't regret it." Naruto ran his fingers across the book.

"What's the book about?"

"It's about Fuinjutsu the art of sealing, which I happen to be a master at. I can teach you." A wide grin appeared across his face.

He blanched at his creepy smile. He didn't know what the old perverts' true intentions were but could he pass up the chance to learn something from a supposed Master? It's not like he had people lining up to help him with much of anything. Deciding to say screw it and accept his offer.

"Fine I'll allow you to teach me this supposed Fuinjutsu, but if I catch you doing any weird shit around me I'm out."

Jiraiya scoffed "You're not my type brat, if you had some milkers up top that'd be a different story. Meet at the same spot tomorrow, now if you excuse me I have to fully reintroduce myself to the beautiful women of the village. I don't get much time around here you know." With that, he walked out of his home.

Turned out he wasn't lying about the sealing part anyways. He would come by every few months, check his progress, and explain anything he was having trouble with. He never stayed long, a day or two at most but he had come to enjoy them somewhat. He still didn't believe him about the whole godfather thing but he was something to the old pervert.

He's only told Sasuke about him. She was curious about what got him so interested in Fuinjutsu and he trusted her, so he told her. Though a small part of him sometimes wonders if he's real if perhaps he had a psychotic break from being alone for so long that he had conjured up this imaginary godfather who magically showed up wanting to help him when no one else did. I mean he still was the only person to see him. Remembering to bring Sasuke with him next time he was in town to confirm.

He glanced up at the clock, quickly sealing away his calligraphy set inside a storage scroll, one of the first things he learned under Jiraiya's teachings. My imaginary mentor? Shaking his head, he grabbed his book and ran out the door.


Sasuke was leaning against the wall of her apartment building, waiting. Orange flashed in her peripheral, then another flash of blonde. His form rounding the corner. "Oi Sasuke!" she rolled her eyes walking to meet him. This has become the norm for her over these past two years.

"I know I'm late, I had a rough morning, ttebayo."

Her right eye twitched, that stupid word. She'd let it go, for now, knowing what his rough mornings were code for.

"You had it again?" Her eyebrow raised as they walked down the road.

"Yeah same as always, I don't know if it's cause I've had it so many times now but this one felt so much more real, almost like a memory."

"Were the woman's eyes still red?" He nodded. She always found that part troubling, considering the only people she knew that possessed red eyes were the Uchiha, and they were all supposed to be dead, save two. He brushed off her concerns when she mentioned it, though she was also worried about the killing and claws part. She was as lost as him when it came to that.

"Any progress in what could be causing them?" He kicked a rock in the road.

"No, but I think I'm going to hit the library again after school. Try and find some more information on dreams, maybe I missed something the last time. They're really starting to mess with my sleep."

She could see the worn look on his face. "We'll figure it out, don't worry."

He gave her a small smile, thankful for the reassurance. With the conversation ending, they hurried up their pace to class.


"...aruto"

"NARUTO!"

Sasuke hit his shoulder, rolling her eyes. I broke him off his ramen habit and he immediately picks up something else.

He turned to her, she nodded upfront. Iruka-sensei was staring at him, face red with anger. He could only rub the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Naruto how many times do I have to tell you to read that book of yours on your own time!"

"Sorry sensei."

A girl sitting in the top row watched the scene, it was a normal occurrence for the class. She had no doubt Iruka-sensei would yell at him again before the day was over. She wondered what he was reading to divert his attention so frequently. Besides the daily yelling, she didn't know much about him. Mostly quiet, hardly interacting with anyone else in the class unless forced to. The only person she'd seen him talk to was the girl he sat next to every day. Sasuke Uchiha. The envy of all her female classmates. Sasuke was perfect, everything she wasn't. She came from a legendary clan, was considered a prodigy by all her teachers, and her forehead was normal size. Sakura sighed, coming from a civilian-born family she had to work twice as hard to do what came easy to most of her classmates. She had no clan teaching her a special form of Taijutsu, or clan secret Ninjutsu. All she had was what the academy taught them and her brain and she'd use that brain of hers to show just what a civilian-born ninja could accomplish.

"Earth to forehead! You zoned out."

Turning to her loudmouth blonde friend "Shut up Ino pig!"

"Troublesome," a lazy boy across from them said. They both turned towards him, ready to yell something back.

Iruka could only let out a tired moan. Oh, the joys of guiding the next generation. "Ino! Sakura! Stop fighting and pay attention."

"Yes Sensei." both girls said in unison.

"Is that what I sound like when sensei yells at me?" Naruto turned to ask Sasuke.

"Hn"

He could only pout back. He let his head lean back against his chair, settling in for another long day.


"Winner Naruto Uzumaki!"

Giving the unison sign to his opponent. A boy with a furred jacket returned the sign, glaring at him. "You got lucky Naruto."

Does he have to say something after every match? Naruto just nodded to the other boy, he had no care to say anything back. Before walking back where the other students were waiting for their turn.

"Your balance was poor, which allowed him too many hits. Your lucky he's impatient."

"I know I know," he said to Sasuke. Thanks to her, his Taijutsu was passable now but far from perfect. He had been abysmally taking a beating after beating whenever they were brought outside for sparring practice before she forced him to train with her every day after class.

'Your performance reflects on me, I will not be seen as weak'

He could remember her saying to him. A little annoyed but used to her personality by then he accepted it, promising to improve. She eyed him critically. "We'll start back sparring today, you've slacked off lately, spending more time working on your sealing."

He rolled his eyes. Giving a bow. "Yes Sasuke-sensei"

She said nothing only lifting her eyebrow. Daring him to say something else. He didn't, she smirked.

They continued watching the rest of the spars. She watched intently, in the off chance she could learn something, though it was doubtful. Naruto was reading his book. Finally, her match was called, and she nudged him.

"We both know you're gonna win, what's the point?"

She just stared at him waiting. He begrudgingly put the book in the pocket of his hoodie. He knew what the point was, they always supported each other. Even when the outcome is already decided, frowning at Sasuke retreating.


"Sasuke Uchiha vs Sakura Haruno"

Of course, it'd be her, it's always her. Is this my punishment for my thoughts earlier? Maybe I can get a hit this time.

Both girls got into their fighting stances. Sakura's academy taught one, Sasuke's the preferred Uchiha style that focused on speed.

Sakura rushed in throwing a wild punch at Sasuke's face, Sasuke easily dodged it returning a punch to her midsection. To her credit Sakura didn't go down she quickly rolled back assessing the situation. She charged again, Sasuke just rolling her eyes displeased with her level of opponent. Sakura went for the same punch with her right hand pulling back, using her left leg she spun throwing her left hand into a spinning back punch. Sasuke's eyes widened for a second before her superior speed kicked in, she easily ducked delivering quick successions of punches to the girl's stomach again. The girl staggered to her knees, and Sasuke went to finish it with a blow to the back of her neck.

"Sasuke Uchiha is the winner!" Iruka-sensei called before the girl could be injured.

Sasuke put out her hand for the unison sign, the other girl begrudgingly doing the same. Sasuke turned to walk back toward Naruto, a smirk on his face.

"You let your guard down, she almost hit you."

She scoffed "She's much too slow to ever hit me, but I did underestimate her. I won't do that again."

"Training is gonna suck extra hard today huh?" She said nothing, he knew what nothing meant. He would be limping back home tonight.


They sat under a tree, enjoying their lunch break. He had his calligraphy set out, practicing his Kanji. She watched him silently, munching on a tomato. Something was captivating about watching, each stroke of the brush gently placed on the scroll. When he first told her he was learning Fuinjutsu she didn't quite know what to make of it. Fuinjutsu not being something they taught in class. He tried explaining it to her but it didn't make much sense. She'd never seen him so animated when showing her the storage scroll he made. Forcing her to sit and watch as he made one for her. She watched still not understanding much but coming to appreciate his joy for the art. Something was calming about it, she thought it quite fit his quiet demeanor. She had no doubt he'd come to do amazing things with it in the future.

"Quit chewing on that damn tomato so loud, you're distracting me"

She frowned looking at him, his tongue was sticking out between his lips, his focused face she had come to notice. "How are you ever gonna be able to use a seal in an actual battle if my chewing can pull your concentration so easily."

"What do you think I practice for Sasuke." She just shook her head, offering him no retort. The bell rang signaling lunch was over. She got up to walk back to class, leaving him behind to put away his set. "I'll see you inside."

He shot her an annoyed look, quickly sealing everything away. He shoved it in the pocket of his hoodie, ready to head back in.

"Wait," He stopped hearing a timid voice, a girl with midnight blue hair was walking up to him.

"You forgot this" she struggled to get the few words out. Holding his ink jar he had indeed forgotten in his hurried panic. Silently cursing himself for being so careless. The ink was expensive and he was in no way able to come into money easily.

"I can't believe I didn't notice," he said standing awkwardly, waiting for her to hand him the jar. She never did, deciding they'd be here all day if he didn't do something, he gently went to grab it from her hand. His fingers lightly touched hers for a second. "Thanks, uh.. actually I'm sorry I don't know your name?"

The girl turned redder than one of Sasuke's tomatoes before she let out an "Eeep!" proceeding to faint. He barely reacted in time to break her fall, laying her on the grass. He stared at her eyes blinking, before looking around. It was just them, he sighed heading inside to get a teacher.

This is why I don't talk to people.


"It's your damn fault! If you would've just waited for me none of it would've happened."

They were walking to the Lake they spent most of their time, having grabbed some books from the library that had anything to do with dreams. Meanwhile, Sasuke couldn't stop laughing about the incident with the girl (Hinata he later found out was her name). It was so rare to hear Sasuke genuinely laugh that if it hadn't been the most embarrassing moment of his young life he might've been fine with it happening.

"You should've seen your face when you came in to tell Iruka-sensei. I've never seen you rub your neck so fast." Another bout of laughter set in.

"I honestly thought she might've died." He said looking at her with a grimace on his face. Her laughter grew even louder. He threw his hands up in exasperation, letting her get it all out of her system. He took one of the books out of his bag, reading the cover. (The dreamer's dictionary: The complete guide to interpreting your dreams) Yeah, that pretty much hits everything. Opening it to skim a few pages. Sasuke glanced at him, her giggle fit seemingly over with.

Layed across the grass, they both sat reading. Only the sounds of pages turning provided assurance they were not alone. Moving his left leg out in front of him to give some relief to his sleep-induced blood flow. Sasuke was on her back with her knees up, the book in front of her, nearly going to tap it from her fingers so it'd lightly fall on her face before she spoke up.

"You believe in reincarnation?" He looked at her, wondering what brought the question on. "I don't see why not, why do you ask?"

"Your dreams, you said are starting to feel more like memories. I was thinking earlier that maybe you're remembering a part of a past life you had"

He scrunched his face thinking. It was plausible, but if it was true why would he be remembering it now? and what the hell kinda past life did he live where he had claws and could seem to cause destruction so casually?

"If your right and it's one of the better ideas we got right now then it's honestly scarier, the person I am in the nightmares is a monster." She could feel him stressing beside her. Great I made it worse.

"It's just a thought, no need to worry over it. Now hurry up, I'm itching to kick your ass." He groaned taking off after her.


He was laying on the grass, looking up at the clear sky. He was right, she took out her little mess up from earlier on him. Forcing him to spar for hours, drilling him on every mistake he made. Sasuke was sitting next to him continuing with the book she left off, before the death training begin. At least she looks almost as beat up as me. They were both soaked with sweat, bruises littering his body, a cut over his right eye. It'd be gone by tomorrow, he healed fast. Another mystery he couldn't possibly begin to know about his life. Her lip had a small cut, along with whatever bruises he couldn't see, he grinned. He was improving for sure, able to land a hit on her. She threw him a book, he groaned hitting a bruise on his chest.

"I'm not gonna read these books by myself, weirdo."

He rolled on his side, sticking his tongue out at her. They read, exchanging information whenever they thought it could help the situation. The brightness of the sun no longer peaking over the large trees, only the reflection of the moon providing a dim light for them. They had spent hours reading and found nothing better than the reincarnation theory.

"This was a big waste of time," he said laying back on the grass. She closed her book doing the same.

"Do you know when you're in the dream? Or do you not recognize it until you wake up?"

"No, I can instantly tell when I'm dreaming. It's like a checklist now, while I'm waiting for the end." She turned to him.

"One of the books said something about lucid dreaming, how when a person knows they're in a dream they can control what happens, so next time you have it, try to change something. No matter how small just do something different and see what happens."

"I'll try it." He said, lifting his head to look at her before falling back on the pillowy grass. Forgetting all their worries, they lay there under the moonlight, only the sound of the crickets chirping invading their ears. This was when they were at their most comfortable. Their silence conveys a trust no words could. Both revel in the feel of the company, their loneliness a thing of the past.


Fire, destruction, and broken bodies surrounded him. The smell of burning flesh and death invaded his keen senses. Blood-curdling screams crying for help from those unfortunate enough to still be alive- I'm dreaming, he looked around remembering what Sasuke said. Try and change one thing he thought. He looked to the people asking for help, a woman's hand stretched out in front of him. He gently grabbed her hand, how she was alive he didn't know. Her midsection had a gaping wound, obviously pierced by something large. His eyes finally met hers, even at death's door she looked beautiful. Red hair sprawled beneath her, violet eyes staring into his. She spoke her voice hoarse from screaming.

"Where is Naruto, please tell me he's okay." Tears freely fell down her pale cheeks.

He quickly let go of her hand, backing away. He knew nothing about his parents other than they were dead. He'd tried to imagine how they looked like, their personalities but no matter how many times he tried he'd always come up blank. Now here was a woman in his nightmares claiming to be his mother. My first image of my mother and it's her dying mostly by my hands. Something is seriously wrong with me. He tried to get as far away from the screams as possible. Wake up, wake up, wake up he screamed. I just wanna wake up, please. He tripped, falling face-first into the hard ground.

He tried to push himself up, shattered glass cutting his hands. A small reflection of himself on a larger piece of broken glass made him freeze. He stared, gone were his normal blue eyes replaced with a dark red, his pupils slit. If that wasn't terrifying enough, a silhouette of a giant fox, nine tails swishing back and forth formed his shadow. He quickly turned to look behind him but nothing was there.

"Is it done?" He knew that voice, the woman with the red eyes was sauntering over to him. He wanted this to end, he wanted to wake up but he had gotten further than ever before, he steeled himself to ask the question he had never been able to.

"Who are you?"

The woman smiled, pulling back the black hood covering her head. Freeing her long black hair to blow into the wind. She crouched down in front of him.

"How quickly you forget me, I am Madara Uchiha."


TBC...