LB: Hello everyone! Sorry I took so long to update! I had both a problem with my laptop's HD and a new part-time job that took up my writing time. I shall warn now that my laptop may go crazy again, but I have help this time.

From now on, my beta reader, TheWolfBoss06 is going to co-write this story with me, and hopefully, you guys won't have to wait as much for an update.

So, here is the new chapter of Mirror Love, I hope you guys enjoy it!

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Mirror Love

Chapter 5: The Secret.

Black, that is everything Naruto saw, a void, empty space. Is this death? Is he going to be able to find Naruko here? Unlikely, she has already been absorbed back into him and now, he would spend the rest of eternity alone in this unchanging darkness, without being able to even do anything, at least, he could take comfort that he somehow managed to kill all the ones who were responsible for demise.

With this, Naruto allowed himself to fall asleep in this unchanging, unfeeling darkness.

Unknown location…

She was floating, that is all she could find in herself to describe what she was feeling. She could see something bluish all around her, maybe her chakra being returned into the original? She didn't know. What she knows however, is that this is essentially death for her.

Is death like this? She felt like… She is broken, she can't move, she can't even feel her body anymore, the clone now is just a floating mass of consciousness that is about to return to the source. Like an object broken beyond repair, she is now completely unsalvageable. But maybe, if only her experiences were to return to the original… Maybe it would mean she was useful for something, at least…

Her consciousness was fading, she knew that, her mind has disappearing, the clone could no longer tell the color of the energy, she can no longer remember what is it like to have limbs, a body, all sense of self has lost, now, the clone can only refer to itself as an it.

It also probably lost the ability to see things a long time ago, the energy being just what has left of its body, and now, it was fading away into nothingness, soon, soon, the clone would know no more, its existence completely erased from the face of earth.

As its mind has fading away along with all its memories, it suddenly clung hard into something. A memory, a special memory, many, many special memories, it couldn't describe them anymore, but it could easily still feel the warm, the peace, the happiness those memories gave it.

It wished, it wished hard to be able to live longer, it wished even harder to be able to feel such warm again, it wished with all of what was left of its consciousness to be able to remember those memories, to be able to live again, to be with this person.

Suddenly, she felt like she was being snatched out from a high place, falling at great speeds somewhere, and thus, she knew no more…

The sewer mindscape…

"Urgh…" Naruto started to open his eyes with a grimace. That was a very strange dream, he felt himself in darkness and then, started to receive a lot of memories, only to completely forget about all of them, like they had been taken out of him while he has still in the process of receiving them.

He got up, and much to his shock, found himself in some short of sewer corridor. Is this hell? Where is he? There is some short of giant gate in front of him, what is it?

Naruto got up from the rather warm water and suddenly remembered everything that happened. The ambush, Naruko sacrificing herself to protect him, his rampage, the dark power, how he killed the ones responsible, how he has stopped by the Sandaime Hokage. He lost his power to stand.

Falling to his knees, the boy began to yell and cry loudly, it didn't matter where he has anymore. Naruko was gone, truly gone. Even if he made a clone to replace her, it would just not be the same Naruko, it would be only a pretender.

"Naruko… Naruko… NARUKO!" Tears freely fell from his eyes while he hugged himself in a pitying attempt to remember what her cuddles felt like, trying to keep whatever warm she left with him on his body.

Black mist suddenly started to form around his body, which make him look up and around him in wonder, the mist then, began to condensate in a spot besides him.

The dark mist began to get form, two dark legs, two dark arms, a dark head… Until it finally started to gain color, what really caught his attention however, is that WHO the mist took the form of.

A girl he knew very well, wearing the strange orange jumpsuit they normally wear, long blond hair and three cute whisker marks on her face… No way…

The girl started grimacing and then, slowly opened her eyes with a dazed look, unsure of where the hell she was or what was going on. The girl started to get up with a very confused expression on her face as she started to get her memories in order of what had happened… She… still retains her sense of self? Or, is this death?

She felt sad, very sad about the fact that she can't see Naruto anymore, at least, she hoped that her original self had survived and would be able to recover. Not even bothering to look at her surroundings, she hugged her knees closer to her body. Not noticing the very one she wanted to see only a meter away.

"N-Naruko…? Is that you…?" The very hopeful voice of Naruto reached her hears, making her snap her head in his direction with shocked wide eyes.

"N-Naruto-kun? Wha… What…?" She must be dreaming, how, how is that possible?

Both kids stared at each other for about a minute before they started to tear up, slowly getting closer and closer until they are nearly touching. Hesitantly, they reached their hands out, as if to confirm the miracle in front of them. The moment their hands touched, their eyes widened even more, before they latched at each other with a tearful scream.

"Naruko, Naruko, Naruko! It's really you? Isn't it?" He hugged her harder than he ever did in his life, forgetting all about caution since here she seemed as solid as a full human being.

"Yes, yes, yes! It's me! Naruto, we are really together, aren't we, this… this is not a dream… this is not a dream!" She shouted happily back at him in their bear hug, both of them allowing their tears to fall freely from their eyes.

Naruto suddenly started to laugh softly, a laugh full of mirth for this moment.

"I'm so glad… I'm glad you are alive…" He buried his face in her neck, inhaling her scent, that, although it was pretty much the same one he had, it smelled different somehow, gentler is the only way he could describe it.

"I'm too… I'm so glad you are okay, Naru-kun… I'm so relived to be able to still exist and be here…" She also had her face in his neck as well, holding her original close to her own body, feeling his warm, she could almost lose herself now.

Suddenly, Naruto took hold of her shoulders, and pushed her slightly away from him, looking at her in the eyes for a moment, before surprising her with a kiss. Her eyes widened, before she closed them and happily kissed him back.

For both of them, this was a miracle. Naruko has supposed to be absorbed back into Naruto, gone forever, all her experiences and emotions should have been his now. But somehow, it hasn't, and she has there, both of them, in the same place.

Naruto had been devastated when she died right in front of him, so much that he went on a bloody rampage, killing all the ones who are responsible. He remembered that he also felt rage against everyone, and would also destroy the entire village, before being stopped. He realized there, nothing else mattered, as long as Naruko was with him, the world could burn for all he cared.

Pulling themselves back slightly, they looked at each other with flustered and tear stained faces, but they are happy, they could be together here, and that is all that matters.

"I don't know if I should be amazed or disturbed." A booming voice declared out of nowhere, instantly making the twins separate and look around in fright.

"W-who are you?!" Naruto looked around in fright, and rightfully, since he WAS in a giant sewer with no life signs nearby, it could as well be someone bent on killing them for good.

"I am the one who saved both of you, show some respect brat." The booming voice said once again, this time closer to the pair.

Naruto and Naruko looked to the giant gate next to them, the direction from where the voice was coming from and watched in growing horror as a giant figure approached them, each step making the ground shake like a leaf in a storm.

Their eyes got wide as the blackened giant became clear, taking the form a gigantic, red fox with nine swinging tails behind it. It's red demonic eyes staring at them with something akin to amusement with a grin on his face.

"W-what… Are you?" Naruko asked with fear evident in her face. After all, who wouldn't be scared to see a gigantic fox grinning down to you?

"I'm surprised YOU don't know, Naruko, after all, it's thanks to ME that you even exists." The arrogant voice of the mighty being declared, shocking the duo.

"W-what do you mean?! How come YOU created Naruko?!" Naruto yelled his question.

"Your disrespect annoy me brat. I meant that it's thanks to me that she EXISTS not that I created her, you are the one responsible for that." The giant fox said to them, who, upon looking at their confused faces, sighed in annoyance.

"I shall explain. Naruko is but the darkness in your heart boy, she represents all the negatives feelings you repressed during the years, all the hate, all the resentment, all the sadness, all murderous impulses, all selfishness. All of those were being condensed into a black mass inside this place so I decided to take a look at it, and to my surprise, it seemed to have developed a consciousness of sorts. For a good while I couldn't do shit with that black mass, but when you managed, by sheer luck, to get your hands on a kage bushin scroll, I began to mold that mass of hate into a female version of you. That black mass, sensing your despair as well as receiving all of your memories, sent a message to you to summon a clone, and thus, you meet her." Explained the great being, looking at both of them while they processed the information, so, before they began to ask questions, he continued on further.

"The reason I did that, frankly, was boredom. At first I thought about using your darkness to one day take over your body, but I gave up on that. I felt the darkness in your heart and could sense your sadness, and decided to give you a second personality to better cope with the hate in your village. Imagine my surprise when, instead of the personalities taking turns in the body, they FELL IN LOVE with each other, in all my years, that is the first time I saw such as thing happen." The giant fox then, got down, putting his head closer to the bars so he could see them better.

"As for who I am, I'm the great Nine Tailed Fox, Kyuubi no Kitsune, and you, humans, amuse me." And so, the giant fox introduced himself, much to the shock of the two blonds.

"The… Kyuubi? But… How?" Naruko asked herself, looking up at what should be an impossible sight. The Yondaime had killed the beast, does this mean they are indeed dead?

"And you are supposed to be the intelligent one? It's impossible for a mere human to kill a bijuu, no matter if it's the weakest, we can't be killed like that, as we are forces of nature." Kyuubi answered the girl.

"But… Then, where are we? How did we get there?"" Asked Naruto, suddenly getting a very bad feeling in his gut.

"If you'd just looked at the little paper that's keeping this cage closed, you would notice it brat. I'm sealed, inside you. Your father couldn't kill me, so he sealed me away to save that pathetic village of yours." Kyuubi declared, making the twins go dead silent in shock.

The giant fox actually though they died when 2 entire minutes passed without a single response from either of them, that is, at least until he noticed that both the original and the clone fell to their knees, their faces set into pure despair.

"Then… Does that mean…?" Naruko started to say.

"That… the villagers were right to hate us so much?" Naruto finished in a broken voice.

Kyuubi watched in silence as while Naruto was grimacing, preparing to cry again, Naruko actually looked up at him, more specifically, at the little paper seal keeping the cage closed, she glared, and glared, and glared for about ten minutes, all the while Naruto kept muttering 'I'm a monster…' over and over again.

Finally, she got fed up, turned to Naruto and grabbed him by his shoulders and started to shake him hard while shouting his name, making him snap out of his misery and look at her in the eyes.

"No, we are not monsters! Look at the cage! There is a giant fox there, and it's not us who are locked inside Naruto! We… Are just the prisoners… The villagers… They… They are in the wrong! Never again think that their hate for us is because of who we are! It's wrong! It's wrong! We keep them safe, and they treat us like dirt!" By the time Naruko finished her ranting, she had tears in her eyes, after finally knowing why they are hated so much, it hurt to know that they are supposed to be loved instead of hated.

"Naruko…" Her counterpart whispered.

"We… We are heroes… We keep a giant mass of chakra from finishing it's job of destroying them… We… We are supposed to be loved... The villagers… I hate them… I hate them so much… It hurts… To know that our lives could have been better…" She then, let go of his shoulders, dropping her own in the process and began to openly sob as well.

Naruto instantly embraced her to try and comfort his clone, but he remembered the way the giant fox said he got sealed.

He looked up at the fox, feeling dread again, but asked anyway.

"Kyuubi, what do you mean… When you said that my father sealed you inside of me?"

The fox looked at the boy intently, considering what to tell him, before shrugging it off and tell him the truth anyway.

"I mean exactly what I said, boy. Your father was the Fourth Hokage of this pathetic village, and he sealed me up inside of a tiny baby, you in this case." His words shock both of them once again.

"W-What?!" Naruko exploded out of the embrace and glanced at the fox in shock once again.

"O-our father… Was… The Fourth Hokage?!" Naruto exclaimed in surprise, staring once again at the ground.

"Must I repeat myself? Yes, he is. And your mother's name is Kushina Uzumaki, she was my previous container." Kyuubi once again declared, making both kids drop their shoulders.

"Why… Our own father…" Naruko asked herself.

"And… Our mom… she was a container as well…" Said the boy to himself.

Their shoulders dropped both in relief and in sadness. They now know who their parents were and that he was a great hero. On the other hand, they both are dead, and their father was the one who condemned them to a life of sorrow in Konoha.

"Did…"

"uh?"

"Did they love us…?" Naruto asked, glancing up at the fox with broken eyes.

The Kyuubi actually averted his eyes, looking up at the darkness behind the two blonds.

"I don't quite understand the concept of love of humans, but both of them died protecting you from me, smiling all the while and wishing happiness in your life. That is all I have to say for you." Kyuubi then got up and started walking backwards into the darkness of the cage.

"It's time for you two to return to the living world. Naruto, you still will be able to talk with Naruko in your mind and you can summon her later with a kage bushin. Remember, don't expect many favors from me, my only objective is to make sure my host is strong enough to not get both of us killed, now go, three days have passed already." And after that, Naruto could feel his vision blackening while Naruko watched in worry in her eyes.

…

…

…

Konoha hospital, special room…

White ceilings, that is the first thing Naruto saw when he woke up, the first thing he felt however, was some rather powerful ache all around his body.

"God fucking dammit!" Naruto cursed in his mind while forcing his body to move, first with his toes and hands, them with his arms, forcing them so he could get up in a sitting position.

"Naru-kun, be careful not to strain your body!" A worried voice yelled in his head, surprising him, making him look around looking for her before he remembered that she is inside his head right now.

"Don't worry Naruko-chan, I'm fine, just a little sore, it will pass in no time!" He grinned at her even though she can't see him, he still got the feeling she knew he has smiling however.

"Ahhhh, just be careful okay? I don't want to see you hurt." He voice carried so much affection and worry that the boy actually blushed and put a hand behind his head in an awkward manner.

Both of them stayed conversing for a while when someone slightly opened the door of his room. Turning to see who, Naruto got quite surprised when he saw Hiruzen entering.

"Naruto-kun, I think it's not safe to trust him completely yet… He had hidden who our parents were as well as the fact that we are Kyuubi's prison…" Naruko warned him, making his grin falter slightly.

The Sandaime hurried over to Naruto when he noticed that he was awake.

"Naruto-kun! How are you? Are you fine?" The old Hokage asked his grandson figure, who just grimaced.

"I'm hurt all over. What happened, jiji?" Of course Naruto knew, he just wanted to be sure of something.

"You don't remember Naruto-kun?" The old man asked, hoping to get some answers as well.

"Don't tell him the truth! We can't trust him, make something up!" Naruko advised from his head.

"I don't actually remember much old man, just that some ninja invaded my apartment at night, tied me up and started interrogating me. I forgot exactly about what…" Naruto lied through his teeth while scratching his cheek with a finger.

"Well, it's alright now Naruto-kun, it seems that a gas explosion saved your life, and ended the life of your captors. I'm afraid that your apartment is gone up in smoke though." Hiruzen declared while internally coming up to a conclusion that the bandits must have either pissed Naruto off greatly or wounded him such that the Kyuubi intervened to save their lives.

Whatever the case, it seemed that the blond didn't remember any of the events, something he has glad for as A) A kid his age remembering such rage, and by judging the state of the corpses, the slaughter that ensured would be detrimental to his mental health and B) Naruto wasn't ready to know about his burden yet.

What the DIDN'T know however, is that Naruto already knows both secrets that the Sandaime keeps from him, and that he was secretly staring at the old man with incredulity.

"Ahaha, it seems that my luck won this time uh?" He put a hand behind his head, laughing awkwardly, making the old timer chuckle as well.

"Gas explosion your ass!" Internally though, both he and Naruko are VERY pissed off at the old Hokage. He lied to them with a straight face, blaming it on a gas leak of all things! Hell, the old man actually looked relieved.

"Hey, Jiji? I-I'm going out, I need to look for a place to stay for the night." Naruto said, averting his eyes.

"Are you sure? You may not have recovered from the damage yet."

"Don't worry jiji! I always recover fast!" Naruto then, got up, took the clothes that were in a nearby chair, put them on and proceeded to exit the room.

Hiruzen just stared at the spot Naruto was moments ago.

"Poor boy… Being attacked by konoha ninjas, the very ones he wishes to become one day… I'm sorry I can't protect you better, Naruto-kun…" The old Hokage sighed, his chest filling up with guilt. He too old for this job, and Naruto too young for such crap.

With Naruto…

Naruto absent-mindedly noted that those clothes are new while walking towards… Somewhere… His house was gone in smoke after all and he forgot to talk to the Hokage about a new house, as angry as he was.

"Looks like I will have to rent a room for the night…" Passing an alley, Naruto did a quick henge into a brown haired adult with plain looks, before heading for a cheap inn, one of those that didn't ask for documents.

After tricking the staff to let him to a room, he closed the door, undid his henge and started to trace his fingers along the door with chakra, creating a temporary silencing seal.

His mood have improved ever since he got out of the hospital, since the boy realized he could once again materialize Naruko back into the world, and this time, he didn't had to worry about if she is going to fade away or not, a huge, huge height have been lifted from his shoulders.

"Kage Bushin: Naruko!" He declared, using her name mostly for concentration.

Naruto watched in awe as he felt something getting out of his body and saw a black mist forming in Naruko's shape, before taking color and fully turning into her, who looked around curiously, before looking back at her original… And tackling him into the ground in an embrace.

"Naruto-kun, I…" She said in a teary voice, but got silenced when Naruto put a hand on the back of her head.

"Don't worry Naruko-chan, I… I will never let go of you… I promise, we will be together forever. Not even god will be able to do us apart… Even after death… We will stay together!" Naruto embraced her body harder this time, for the first time, unafraid if she would dispel or not, while Naruko just snuggled into his body, feeling the warmth of the original, something she enjoyed.

Both teens stayed in an embrace for what could have been hours, before reluctantly getting up and separating. They just smiled at each other for a while, before Naruko couldn't resist her curiosity anymore.

"Hey, Naru-kun? Why is the room full of cracks?" She asked, which made the boy look at her funnily.

"Cracks? I don't see any cracks in the room?"

Naruko tilted her head, before getting up and walking up to a desk, she picked up a book there and showed him.

"Here, this books also have cracks, don't you see?" She then, used her fingers to trace the cracks for Naruto, but got quite a surprise when the book suddenly split into two. She looked at Naruto and saw the he looked quite surprised as well.

"How did you do that?" He asked.

"I-I don't know! I just traced those cracks and…" She traced another crack in one half of the book and once again it split into two.

"Hey, your eyes changed color, and they are glowing!" Naruto exclaimed, making Naruko surprised again.

"Well Shit…" They both heard a voice in their heads, and before they knew it, they back at the cage with Kyuubi staring at them with his jaw open in surprise.

"Kyuubi? What happened?" Naruko asked with a tilt of her head.

"Hmm, it seems that you, little clone, got quite the overpowered gift." He declared, sitting down and lowering his head to better look at them.

"Gift?" Both blonds asked at the same time. The Kyuubi didn't talk for a second, before declaring.

"Yes, a gift. The Mystic Eyes of Death Perception."

Chapter 5: END!