Hello, everyone! Before I even get to the thanking thing and the disclaiming thing, there are a few issues for me to address!

Kyuubi: To the many people who asked about him, YES, he'll be in it! And yes, he has a fairly large role! You can expect him around chapter five…or maybe earlier, if I feel generous! I wasn't aware he had so many fans…

Story Length: This story should be thirty-one chapters. I know, not as long as Ocarina of Konoha, but I hope you'll all be satisfied with the length anyway.

Also, I urge you all – especially if you're fans of Fire Emblem – to read Ocarina of Pherae by Aweirdguy! I feel honoured to have inspired you, Aweirdguy! For those who are interested, just remove the spaces of the link: http:// www. fanfiction. net/ s/ 3114296/1/

Thanks to all my returning readers – Some of you, specifically, are Flames of Insanity, BlooDy-MaY, AngelWing1138, PTalim, EvilFuzzy9…Ack, so many I want to thank, but not enough space!

Lastly, I'M SO SORRY! I will NEVER take that long to update again! …Uh, but don't quote me on that.

So, without further adieu, (God knows you've waited long enough…) the next chapter!

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Naruto jumped slightly as the large wooden doors slammed behind him, and the screen went black, stark words blaring from the screen, reading 'Dawn of the First Day; 72 hours remaining'. Naruto blinked and shook his head slightly.

"This is weird," he muttered to himself. "I think I've done this before…"

"Déjà vu," Kin nodded faintly. "Well, there's no point in thinking much about it. Don't just stand there, we need to go see the Great Fairy!"

"The Great Fairy?"

"You want to find the Skull Kid, don't you?" she asked, sounding exasperated. "The Great Fairy will know what he's up to. She watches over everything, and between you and me, the Skull Kid would be no match for her. So, get going to the shrine near the North gate!"

Naruto hesitated. "I don't know…I think we should look around first. This seems like a big place," he pointed out, looking up curiously at the top left-hand corner. "South Clock Town…" he mused. "Come on, let's look around a bit!"

Kin sniffed haughtily. "There's no point in – hey!" she cried once he began walking off. "You stupid little…Argh! Watch out!"

Naruto spun towards her curiously, opening his mouth questioningly, only to be barrelled over by a snarling dog. Tail held high, the dog marched away, looking smug. Kiba, from the audience, looked smug.

"Serves him right for using Akamaru as a horse," he muttered.

"Ouch," Naruto groaned, rubbing his large head gingerly. He stood back up, hopping into some knee-deep water, watching the dog warily. At least, to a Deku Scrub, it was knee-deep. He took the opportunity to look around more.

Several carpenters were bustling about, climbing up on top of a tall wooden fixture and several wooden overhangs, moving by the occasional crate. A small set of stairs over by the post box lead to the right, where someone in a yellow mask was looking around furtively around as he slid a letter into the post box. He looked up at the tall clock tower, blinking a little.

"Hey," he realized. "The clock tower kind of looks like a giant pe -"(1)

"Who said you could run off like that?" Kin demanded, zooming over and crossing her arms huffily. "Stop 'exploring' and listen to me!"

Naruto ignored her, staring up in horror at the sky, pointing to the pale-faced, sneering moon. "T-that's…" he stuttered.

"The moon," Kin said, eyes widening slightly. "…Well, just forget that for now. We need to-"

Naruto had taken off again through the nearest exit, west. Kin made a shrill sound of irritation. "That stupid little…!"

The Deku-boy looked around in fascination at the strip that was West Clock Town. Stairs lead down to the exit, with doors to shops scattered about. An androgynous red-haired…person sat on their knees in a small nook, waving their arms occasionally. Naruto looked up at some of the signs above the doors.

"Post office…" he made a face, a cross between a smile and scowl. "Trading post…Curiosity Shop…" He turned to the redhead. "What do you do?"

"Depends on what you mean," the person answered casually, voice deep. Naruto supposed he was male. "I'll do a lot of things to a Deku Scrub…"

"W-What?" Naruto stepped back automatically, eyes wide. Kin, who had caught up by now, pushed him back forward.

"They read into things," she hissed a reminder. Naruto gulped.

"I'm, uh, not that kind of Scrub," Naruto stammered, looking very much like he just wanted to run for it. The man laughed slightly.

"Oh, a Business Scrub, then," he chuckled. "Sorry. I can never tell the difference. This is the only bank in Clock Town. What can I do for you?"

Naruto looked relieved. "Uh…I don't know…can I open an account, or something?"

"Sure," the banker shrugged. "Just let me mark you with my special stamp!"

"I told you, I'm not that kind of…"

"Not like that," the banker laughed again. "Although the offer still stands. Just hold still for one second," he mimed holding something heavy and stamping the top of Naruto's head. "There! Now I'll recognize you! What's your name, little guy?"

"Naruto, dattebayo," he answered, eyes looking up as he strained to see what the banker had supposedly done. The banker nodded.

"Okay, Naruto-dattebayo, I have no rupees saved from you! Hurry up and make a deposit sometime, will you?" the banker went back to waving his arms pointlessly. Naruto walked away slowly, still trying to see what the banker had done. Kin rolled her eyes.

"He didn't even stamp you with anything," she sniffed. "That banker has a few issues, if you ask me."

Naruto shuddered slightly. "I'll say." He walked through the exit, finding himself back in South Clock town. "Where should we go next…?"

"I don't know, maybe the shrine at the North gate?" Kin said snappishly. "You're wasting a lot of time, you know! It's getting late!"

"Wonder what's up these stairs," Naruto mused, heading up the stairs and down the path. Kin followed him angrily.

"You are so annoying!" she said tersely. "It's no wonder your last partner left!"

Naruto flinched slightly, but ignored her. A frog croaked pointlessly at the water's edge, the path of land around the pond leading to a door. Not too far from where Naruto was standing was a bell, and a bench was in the corner. Curious, Naruto rung the bell, and it clanged loudly in his ears.

Timidly, the door opened, and a masked face peered out, tufts of dark hair the only part of the boy's head that was visible. Naruto's eyes narrowed, trying to identify the person just as he scrambled back inside, locking the door.

"Yup," he nodded to himself. "No question about it."

"You figured out who he is?" Kin asked, raising her eyebrows. "I'm impressed. Looks like you actually are capable."

"Of course," Naruto beamed. "After seeing him, I know that he's obviously…"

Kin waited. Naruto posed triumphantly. "One of the characters from our series!"

Kin stared. Then she proceeded to rap her knuckles sharply on his wooden head. "It even sounds hollow," she commented in disdain. Naruto whined, rubbing his forehead.

"Well, it could've been one of the original characters!" he protested. Kin gave him a sceptical glare, and he shrunk back slightly.

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"See?" Naruto gave Kin a smug look. "I knew it was a good idea to go to the Laundry pool first, otherwise we wouldn't have gotten that part of the Great Fairy and been able to fix her!"

"You got magic power. Yay. All our problems are solved," Kin said flatly. "We still don't know where Skull Kid…" she trailed off, looking around. "Deku boy…?"

Naruto was using his power to blow a bubble of mucous, aiming it a giant balloon with a picture of Majora's Mask on it. Kin made a sound of exasperation. "You can't just -"

Naruto ignored her, letting the bubble go. It whizzed through the air, exploding against the thin surface of the balloon and popping it. A little boy with a peashooter, who had been shooting spit wads at the balloon since that morning, lowered it in surprise.

"Konohamaru?" Naruto exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

Konohamaru ignored the question, scurrying up to Naruto with wide eyes. "Are you the one who popped that balloon just now?"

Naruto frowned. "Yeah…Konohamaru, it's me. Naruto Uzumaki!"

Konohamaru laughed at this. "Yeah, right! Big brother Naruto is afraid of Deku Scrubs!"

The Deku looked affronted, mumbling under his breath, "I'm not afraid…"

"Anyway, that was pretty cool for a Scrub," Konohamaru went on. "We Bombers have a hide out that leads to the observatory outside town. You need a code to get in, and maybe I'll tell you what it is!"

Kin hissed in Naruto's ear, "It would be easier to find Skull Kid if we used the observatory! Get the information out of this kid!"

Konohamaru laughed. "Hey, don't think you're getting in that easily! I can't just tell you the code…you have to pass my test first!"

"That's my protégé," Naruto sighed. Kin glared angrily.

"Force it out of him if you have to," she grumbled. "We don't have time for games."

Naruto looked at her strangely. "This is a game. We're in a parody of a video game. I thought you knew that?"

"That's not what I -" she began hotly, but Konohamaru cut her off, impatient.

"Are you ready?" he asked, stamping his feet a little. Naruto nodded, and Konohamaru whistled loudly. "Alright! LINE UP, GUYS!"

More children emerged from out of nowhere, two flanking either side of Konohamaru. The ones closest to him huddled creepily, their wooden, puppet-like heads flopping from side to side, making hollow wooden noises when they came into contact with anything. Naruto had a strong sense of seeing them before – and was reminded of Kankuro, for some reason – but chose not to comment. The two other earnest-looking children stood at attention.

"If you find and catch all of us by tomorrow morning, I'll teach you the code!" Konohamaru announced. "Are you ready?"

"Are you kidding?" Naruto shrieked, panicked. "How do you think that would look? I'm a Deku Scrub! If I'm seen chasing after kids, I'd probably be arrested or something!"

Konohamaru looked considering. "You know, if you were human, then I could make you a member and give you an original Bombers notebook. You do seem pretty good for a Scrub." He turned to the others. "What do you guys think?"

"No Scrubs!" they chorused.

"Non-humans aren't allowed anymore, after what happened with that Skull Kid!" Inari scowled.

"No girls allowed, either!" Moegi announced. Konohamaru gave her an odd look.

"You're still a girl, Moegi!" he told her. She pouted.

"Come on!" Naruto whined. "Can't you make an exception just this once, dattebayo? I really need to get into the observatory!"

"The observatory?" Konohamaru repeated, breaking into a wide grin. "There's some cool stuff in there!"

Naruto got on his knees pleadingly. "Come on, I'm begging for it!"

Kin read the last line of narration and coughed lightly. Naruto blinked at her, and she held out a copy of ANBU's Mask, indicating the line. Realizing how people read into things since he was a Deku Scrub, he leapt to his feet in revulsion. "Not like that! Sick…"

"…I guess we'll teach you the code," Konohamaru said reluctantly. "Since it will help develop the plot. I'm only going to say it once, though, so pay attention!" he turned to the others. "Ready guys?"

"And girls," Inari muttered. Moegi kicked him.

Naruto watched as one by one they turned around, revealing the code on the backs of their shirts. He blinked, and Kin's jaw dropped.

"'Insert generic and random code here'? You have got to be joking!"

"What's wrong with our code?" Konohamaru pouted. "If you want to get into our hideout, just tell our guard the password! See you later, Deku Scrub!"

As Naruto was leaving, he heard Inari say worriedly to Konohamaru, "But my mommy said I shouldn't go near Deku Scrubs after what happened last time…"

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Udon sniffed, wiping his nose on the back of his sleeve. "Um…that was the right password."

"Stupidest password ever…" Kin griped, crossing her arms huffily and tapping her fingers in annoyance. Naruto frowned at the last narration.

"She doesn't have a body," he pointed out. "She can't cross her arms or anything, it's physically impossible."

Naruto's small wooden foot caught aflame quite suddenly. The Scrub yelped and began stamping his foot frantically, taking off his hat and smothering his burning appendage. He glared, but thought better than to comment, knowing enough not to tempt the narrator again.

Yes, he knew better. His brain, although often unused, does serve its purpose occasionally.

"Hey…!"

"Just move out of the way and let us through," Kin said, looking disgusted as Udon sniffed again.

"There are lots of cool things at the telescope guy's place!" Udon seemed to think for a second. "Oh, and, uh, Bombers Secret Society of Justice forever!"

"Your society ranks right up there with Orochimaru's sexual deviances as the world's worst-kept secret," Kin snorted.

Udon looked confused. "What are sexual deviances?"

Kin pointed at Naruto. "Here's the epitome of one, kid."

"Hey!"

"Let's go," Kin urged impatiently, practically shoving Naruto past Udon. Grumbling, Naruto skittered down the narrow passageway, hesitating before skipping over the water and through to the next room. A balloon, similar to the one Konohamaru had been trying to pop, was suspended in front of the ladder, blocking it.

"Where exactly do you think this leads to, anyway?" Naruto's voice was hard to understand as he blew a mucous bubble, aiming it for the balloon. Kin shrugged her tiny fairy shoulders.

"I don't know," she said sarcastically. "I have a feeling it might have something to do with an astronomy tower, though, seeing as those damn Bomber kids kept mentioning it…"

Naruto climbed up the ladder, scowling slightly. "I really miss Kyuubi…"

The inside of the astronomy tower looked like the result of an architect on acid, with swirling colours and awkward steps leading up to the main room, where on a slightly risen platform was a gigantic telescope. An elderly man stood hunched over it, and only peered upwards when Naruto approached hesitantly.

"Before you say anything, I'm not that kind of Scrub, dattebayo," Naruto said cautiously. The man rolled his eyes.

"You just assume that since I'm old, I'm desperate?" he snapped. "Kids these days…are you a new friend of the Bombers gang?"

Kin snorted. Naruto gave her a withering look.

The old man didn't seem to notice the exchange. "At the very least, you seem better mannered than your mischievous friend from the other day." He gave an odd, creepy sort of laugh that sounded quite a bit like a dog being sick.

Kiba looked up, almost threateningly, as if sensing the author's intention of adding in a dog joke. The author wisely decided to let it slide.

"What 'mischievous friend' are you talking about?" Naruto frowned.

"And what do you mean, he's well-mannered?" Kin said, pointing at Naruto in honest bewilderment. Naruto swatted her out of the air.

"He's probably causing trouble at the clock tower right now," the old man scowled. "Will you gaze into the telescope?"

"…'Kay." Naruto had to strain himself, stretching to peer through the lens. He gasped lightly. "Hey, Kin! I see something!"

"This better damn well be something interesting," she groused. "If you say something stupid like the moon's getting a pimple or you can see some girl changing in a window…"

"I wasn't gonna mention those," Naruto waved a hand, still staring into the lens, "but since you mentioned it, that girl really ought to invest in some curtains…ugh…"

Kin narrowed her eyes irritably. Naruto wisely turned his attention back to the top of the clock tower. "I can see Gaara, dattebayo…"

"What?" Kin fluttered underneath Naruto's face, which was a scant inch from the lens. The blonde yelped and fell backwards, clutching his eyes.

"The fairy dust! It BURNS!" he screeched. "I'm BLIND!"

Kin ignored him, frowning. "Oh, he did not just flip the screen off…"

"Everything's going dark…" Naruto groaned.

"Hey! Something just fell out of the sky!" Kin informed him, yanking him to his feet. "Something glowing with a strange light fell from the moon's eye…and if I'm lucky, it'll be something that can get me out of this god damn parody…"

"I see a whole bunch of little glowing spots," Naruto said, blinking his eyes rapidly. "Is that normal?"

"For you? Why not," Kin dragged him over to the door, past the old man, who looked rather politely puzzled.

"…I'll just go back to my stargazing, shall I?" he said uneasily, bending over to stare into the lens, content to fade into obscure anonymity for the rest of the parody. "Ah, yes…what beautiful stars…for my sake, I hope she never invests in curtains…"

Outside, Kin was examining the moon's tear with disdain. "A glowing rock," she said dully. "Well, isn't that useful. I can think of a million uses for that."

Naruto was bouncing slightly. "I want to see!" he whined.

"I liked you better blind," she snapped, tossing the moon's tear at him. It hit his head with a dull thud, creating a small dent in Naruto's wooden head. Kin snickered.

"Well, at least I get some amusement out of it," she mused. Naruto frowned and picked it up, examining it from all angles.

"You could have warned me you were gonna throw it," Naruto said sulkily. He pocketed the moon's tear.

"You're going to bother taking it along?" Kin snorted. "It's your dead weight, then…"

Naruto gave her the best condescending look he could muster, which failed to be overly impressive – after all, when your expression is set in wood, it's hard to convey emotions properly. "Kyuubi taught me that as long as I have infinite holding space, I might as well take along whatever I want…or whatever he wants."

Kin rolled her eyes. "Up to you, then…I don't see why anyone would want it, though…"

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"You simply MUST let me have it, young sahr!"

"Stupid…" Kin twitched irritably at the scene. A Business Scrub was almost literally begging Naruto for the moon's tear. The Deku boy looked up at Kin inquiringly.

"Think I should sell it or something?"

Before Kin could even get a chance to answer, the Business Scrub started again. "Ah need to bring my wife back a souvenir from when Ah was here! Do you know what she'll do to me if Ah don't? Ah am willing to pay you thousands, young sahr!"

Kin raises her eyebrows. "Scrubs have wives…?" she shook her head. "Actually, never mind. You may as well sell it, Deku boy."

The Business Scrub looked thrilled, and his joy only grew when Naruto began speaking again. "You're right, Kin…I mean, we really don't want it. It's kind of heavy to carry around, and it takes up space, so if anything I'm getting desperate to get rid of it."

Kin smacked her forehead. The Business Scrub grinned greedily.

"In that case, a trade seems more than fair!" he declared. "Ah will give you this spot here – prime marketing position, Ah tell you, young sahr – and you will give me that stone! All seems fair? Hmm? Alright, it's a deal!" the Scrub shook Naruto's hand exuberantly, swiping the moon's tear with his other hand and grinning.

Naruto blinked in bewilderment. Kin gave Naruto a look of loathing.

"I despise you, and I despise the fact that you're too stupid to know when to shut up," she said witheringly. Naruto continued to look puzzled.

"Well, Ah'm off!" The Business Scrub said cheerfully, diving into his Deku flower and pulling up a few suitcases. "Nice doing business with you!"

"I'll bet," Kin spat. The Business Scrub took off, disappearing off the screen.

"…Hey!" Naruto gasped in realisation. "He ripped us off!"

Kin proceeded to beat him over the head. "Took you long enough!" she snarled. "It's all your damn fault, too! We could have scammed enough money to buy that stupid mask back from the Skull Kid and end this, but no…"

Naruto swatted at her in a feeble attempt to keep her away. "Ouch! Cut it out…"

Kin froze suddenly, almost forgetting to beat her wings to catch herself mid-fall. Fireworks exploded behind the clock tower, and the clock began to chime, marking midnight of the third and final day. "It's starting…"

The front of the clock tower extended, rising up with a mechanical whirr. The new extension fell forward, freeing part of the tower to fall into itself, forming stairs leading up into the tower itself. Kin's jaw dropped.

"That has got to be the stupidest thing I've ever seen," she said decisively. "We're expected to believe that stairs would just magically be revealed like that? For Din's sake, it collapsed in on itself! That would NEVER logically happen!"

"Shut up, Kin!" Naruto said urgently. "You're not supposed to question game logistics! Besides, your critique is taking up time, and we only five minutes real-time according to that useful little counter at the bottom of the screen," he pointed at said counter.

"Whatever," Kin snorted. "You need to get inside that clock tower. Now, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think that deal you made that Business Scrub will help you out. Dive into the flower and fly up to those stairs."

"…You want me to go inside that thing?" Naruto said uneasily. "As a Deku Scrub? But Kin, it looks like a -"

"I don't care," she cut him off. "Skull Kid's up there."

"How do you know?"

Kin hit him. "We just saw him up there above the last cut-off line, idiot! Now get going before I really give you incentive…"

Naruto blinked. "I don't really know what you meant, but I'm guessing that was a vague, open-ended threat that you don't really intend on following through. Kyuubi used to do that all the time."

Kin gave him a look. Naruto wisely dived into the Deku Flower, launching himself up, clutching the spinning flowers desperately.

"Don't like heights…" he sighed, looking down at the ground nervously. Kin whizzed after him, prompting him to let go once he hovered above the steps.

At the end of the tunnel, Gaara was suspended on some wires, hovering and looking rather bored. He tossed Naruto's ocarina up in the air carelessly, letting his sand do the work on the rare occasions he didn't manage to catch it. Zaku bobbed up and down in time with Gaara's tosses. Kin cleared her throat pointedly.

"Sis!" Zaku brightened – literally. Kin rolled her eyes.

"Took you long enough," she snapped. "We've been looking everywhere for you. Hey, Skull Kid, how about you give back that mask now?" she paused, then said irritably, "Are you listening?"

Zaku flew forward. "Swamp. Mountain. Ocean. Canyon. The four who are there…bring them here."

Naruto looked confused. "Sorry, could you be a bit more vague, please?"

Zaku frowned. "I thought it was a good hint…"

Kin gave him a flat look.

"Stop speaking out of line," Gaara growled, rolling his eyes. "Stupid fairy…" Casually, a large flyswatter formed out of sand and knocked Zaku out of the air. Kin looked outraged.

"Hey! Low blow!" she screeched. "Flyswatters are outlawed!"

"Whatever," Gaara shrugged, seemingly ignoring Kin. "Even if they came here now, they wouldn't be able to handle me. Just look above you." He smirked, indicating the moon.

Naruto gasped, grimacing in disgust. The tip of Orochimaru's gigantic nose was growing nearer and nearer, almost touching the very top of the clock tower where they stood. Gaara sneered.

"If it's something that can be stopped, then just try to stop it!" His wires snapped back, positioning him upright. His mask began to shake, some sand trickling off the edges, and the ground rumbled. Orochimaru's face sneered and began to descend faster. Kin swore vehemently.

Naruto spat in disgust, a mucous bubble forming as he did so. Looking surprised and slightly grosses out, Naruto tried to shake it loose. It flew into Gaara, who gave him a flat look of revulsion.

"I really should have chosen something other than a Deku Scrub," he said, looking slightly sick. He snatched a towel from a passing stagehand and proceeded to wipe himself off, forgetting to catch the Ocarina of Time. Naruto darted forward and grabbed it.

Kin began screeching something at him, but it all seemed to fade away into whiteness.

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Naruto blinked. "Oh, one of those memory sequences…I get it." He looked from the miniature red horse, who pawing the insubstantial ground nervously, to the back of the figure clad in a pink dress.

"You're already leaving this land of Hyrule, aren't you?" The person said, turning around. Naruto blinked.

"Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Princess Zelda," Zelda blinked. "What do you mean, who am I? We met in the last game, Ocarina of Time, remember?"

"Did not," Naruto retorted. "Our Princess Zelda was played by a bastard. I think it was the author's idea of comedic effect."

"Well, just pretend you met me, okay?" Zelda snapped. Naruto fell silent obediently. Zelda smirked. "That's better. Even though it was only a short time that we knew each other -"

"For the past few seconds, you mean?" Naruto interjected helpfully. She glared at him. "…I'll shut up now, dattebayo…"

"I feel as though I've known you forever," Zelda sighed, before muttering under her breath. "Seriously, if you keep making this difficult this will take up an eternity…" In a louder voice, she continued. "I'll never forget the days we spent together in Hyrule…and I believe in my heart that we'll meet again."

"We would have had to meet before if we were going to meet again…"

"Until that day comes," she said pointedly through gritted teeth, "please take this. I'm praying your journey will be a safe one. Now, if something should happen to you, please remember this song…" she lifted the Ocarina of Time to her lips and began playing the Song of Time.

Naruto rolled his eyes and snatched the ocarina right out of her hands. "I already know that song, so can I go? I'm supposed to be being crushed by a moon, and I sort of need to be there."

"Fine!" Zelda snapped. "The Goddess of Time is protecting you now, so as of now, I have nothing to do with you!" Huffily, she crossed her arms. "I can't believe this is the only cameo I get, and I'm not even getting paid…"

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"SNAP OUT OF IT!"

Naruto blinked, shaking his aching head. It only took him thirty seconds to realise his hurt so much because Kin was hitting him repeatedly.

"What d'you think you're doing, getting lost in memories? Get yourself together!" she yelled. "That stupid ocarina isn't going to help us!" she flew upwards, obviously growing more and more hostile and panicked. "Somebody, anybody! Goddess of Time, help us, damn it! We need more time!"

Naruto blinked. "Goddess of Time…now where have I heard that before…"

Kin began whizzing around, screeching at the top of her lungs and scratching her throat raw in a frantic frenzy. Naruto continued to look thoughtful.

"Time…hmm…"

"We're all gonna die!" Kin wailed. "I'm too young to die! They took my character out of the series way too early as it is! It isn't fair!"

Naruto continued to look perplexed, brow furrowed. "Time…"

Kin began beating her fists against the ground, sobbing hysterically.

"…Hmm…" something in Naruto's mind finally managed to make the connection. "Wait a minute, time!" He went to take out his ocarina. Kin looked up, staring at him in surprise.

"Where did you get that instrument?" she demanded.

Naruto studied the set of pipes he had just taken out in confusion. "How did an ocarina turn into pipes?"

"Forget that! We're all gonna die…" Kin went back to wailing. Looking thoughtful, Naruto played three notes, then repeated them. Gaara's eyes widened slightly.

A strange sensation overtook the Deku boy, oddly familiar in the sense that it felt as if time was rushing through him, backwards. Visions of the past three days flashed before his eyes.

"If I'm dying, that is so not funny…" he muttered weakly, not really aware of his own words. "Though, I could always be brought back later, I guess…"

Everything went black. Naruto jumped slightly as the large wooden doors slammed behind him, and the screen went black, stark words blaring from the screen, reading 'Dawn of the First Day; 72 hours remaining'. Naruto blinked and shook his head slightly.

"Whoa…"

"What just happened?" Kin said shrilly. She stared out at South Clock Town, watching the carpenters bustle about merrily, a small dog darting about with his tail held high. Naruto's jaw dropped, and Kin looked stunned.

"Everything has…started over…"

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Okay, for anyone who's played the game – it really DOES look like one! Especially during the 'Dawn of the Day' thing. Y'know, when the camera zooms out to show you where you are? I've made fun of that for ages, and you can check if you don't believe me! …Oh, and everyone got what I was saying there, right? (Mutters something to someone off screen) YES, I know you got it, Sai…

And once again, I'M SORRY! I will never, ever, ever, take so long to update again…thanks to all the concerned readers who messaged me to make sure I was still alive.

Until next chapter…whenever that may be…please, be patient with me!