Ta-da, I present "Alone I Dream" chapter 5! And man, it sure didn't want to be written (I'm sorry for the long wait). Yet thanks to your support I somehow pulled through, since this is by far my most successful FF.
But recently I started other stories too, and I write when the creativity flows^^
Now to the story, enjoy^^

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

"Speech"
'Thought'
"Demon Speech"
'Demon Thought'

Please R&R!!!

Chapter 5: To seek what is for sure

Three hours had passed. And unfortunately the Genin hadn't made any notable progress. The only clues they had found were the standard rumors, nothing they didn't already know. Meanwhile in the apartment Shikamaru was busy connecting the little bits of information they had gathered. There had to be a system, a pattern the ghost used for his movements. The lazy genius had marked the confirmed spots were the boy had been sighted. Most of the areas were off from the main streets, they were mainly recreation areas or parks.

'So he's avoiding large groups of people… This might be the deciding clue we need if we want to trap him.'

Before he could think any further his headset picked up an incoming message again and he had to answer (with a sigh).

"What is it Haku? You found something?"

While Shikamaru was still busy connecting the clues, the teams were just as busy finding them. The ice user had even created his infamous ice mirrors to cover a large area, just like Shino did with his bugs. Unfortunately it didn't help.

"Nothing new from my side Shikamaru, but Hinata just contacted me. It seems she came across her cousin's team. When she explained the situation their sensei seemed to encourage them to help us. I think I heard something like 'flames of youth' in the background…"

A sigh escaped the lazy genius' lips. He wondered what was worse: continue searching for the rumored ghost without three additional people or Lee's enthusiasm. A tough decision, but in the end he chose to say nothing against their help. Complaining was Ino's forte after all.

A few minutes later Shikamaru raised his hand to his headset and opened a channel to deliver a message to the whole team. His analytical mind had finally developed a plan to solve the mystery of Konoha's ghost boy. His plan would depend on the progress the rookies had made, and especially on their chakra reserves.

"Listen up everyone, I've got a plan. Concentrate your search on recreation areas and more isolated places. He should be in one of these places. Once you catch sight of him we'll engage him with the following plan…"

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Hokage Mountain, Naruto's POV
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Naruto sat on top of the Hokage Monument and let his gaze wander over the city that lay before him. He had come to enjoy the sight from the various Kage's heads. Everything looked so… peaceful from this place. Feeling at peace… had he ever felt like this before? Probably not.

His clothes had changed. Apparently he was able to create any image he wanted for his appearance, though it only applied to his clothes and his age. The general features like his hair and his eyes remained the same. Naruto now wore a long black sleeveless vest over a white shirt with long sleeves. The shirt ended in black cargo pants and a blood-red sash. Lastly he wore black ninja sandals, which were currently kicking small pebbles which lay on the monument.

The only thing Naruto had felt for the past 6 years in his basement was a dull pain and little to no emotions beside resignation. He had simply existed; there hadn't been anything exciting in his life since the day the old Hokage had tried to take him out of the basement. But that had failed and almost killed the young dreamseer. It was refreshing to have at least a little taste of what most humans took for granted.

But despite enjoying his newfound freedom, Naruto knew that this peace wouldn't last long. His eyes that had held the slightest shimmer inside them once again returned to their lifeless form. He might have been wandering around as a ghost for some time now, but that didn't mean his visions had stopped. Or the pain. The pain had only gotten worse, and Naruto knew that it was connected with his little trips. But the fox kept silent about this, and thus Naruto had to figure things out on his own.

Another fact was that the visions felt even more intense, especially after re-entering his body. And with the upcoming invasion Naruto had been forced to live through the bloodbath again and again. If his mind hadn't been used to this he would have gone insane a long time ago.

But even more disturbing was the other vision Naruto had seen. Why? Because he had seen himself in it. And that had never happened before. Could he really be this important that he could cause a vision about himself? Naruto sighed heavily. He didn't want to meet with these Genin, but it seemed like he was destined to do so. Normally Naruto used his prophecies to change the upcoming events, but he knew that some things were bound to happen. The planet couldn't be fooled easily. Just as the war against Oto would occur he would meet those kids. The war couldn't be prevented; it could only be lessened in its effects.

Naruto looked up into the sky and watched the clouds go by. How he envied them, they were free to go wherever they wanted, bound to no one. But he couldn't enjoy the view for long. The earth had told him that persons were drawing near, twelve of them. It looked like the three teams had gotten some more company and had formed the 'Konoha 12'.

Naruto sighed once more and readied himself. He knew what his role was. He had seen them in his dream already, and fate had bestowed some important roles upon them. Naruto just hated the fact that he had to play the delivery-boy. With a last sigh Naruto disappeared from the Nidaime's stone head. He should lead them to a less visible place.

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Somewhere in Konoha
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The plan was quite simple actually. So simple that most people wouldn't even think of it when they wanted to capture someone. As far as they could tell the ghost was no ninja, he neither looked nor acted like one. Furthermore they should have known him if he was one, he seemed to be in their age group after all. If these facts were all correct he shouldn't be able to tell that the hundreds of people that were slowly swarming the entire city were nothing else but disguised bunshins. This strategy took a huge amount of chakra from everyone, but it looked like it was worth the price.

Shikamaru had received the first sightings of the ghost, it seemed like he was really driven back by large masses of people. At this rate they would corner him… but something seemed off. Was it really that simple? Or was the ghost playing a trick on them? Shikamaru shook his head. Whoever this mysterious ghost was, he apparently held no hostile intentions towards them. Worrying wouldn't help in this situation; however, they had to be careful.

"Alright, listen up everyone. It's working; the ghost is retreating to the old playground behind the academy. Keep the bunshins up for the next 4 minutes, then dispel them, it should be enough by then. I'm heading to your destination; we'll meet at the playground in 5 minutes. Over and out."

5 minutes later

The twelve Genin had all gathered at the old playground behind the academy by now. They were forming a rough circle around the supposed destination of the spirit, but there was still no sign of him. Shikamaru had ordered Hinata and Neji to use their Byakugan to scan the area, but even the famous bloodline of the Hyuuga clan was able to find a trace of the rumored ghost. The lazy genius was getting anxious. Did he make a mistake? No, his theories had been flawless, he should appear here… right?

Another 2 minutes passed without anything happening, and just as Shikamaru was about to cancel their observation a chill went down his spine. The look he saw on his comrades faces told him that they had felt it too. Someone… or something was here. They only blinked for a split-second, but when they looked at the playground again a person stood there that hadn't been standing there a moment ago.

The person wore a long black sleeveless vest over a white shirt with long sleeves. A crimson sash held the vest closed, which was so long it only revealed a fraction of the black cargo pants the boy wore. Although his facial features were hidden by a hood that belonged to the vest the Genin instantly felt that he knew they were here.

"You can come out now. Don't worry; I'm not your enemy."

This caught especially Shikamaru of guard.

'How did he find out we were here? He shouldn't be able to sense chakra, but even if; we masked our chakra almost perfectly… It sounds like he wanted us to lure him here. But how is this possible?'

Slowly the four teams approached the hooded figure that stood with his back to them. The young 'Konoha 12' had all various expressions on their faces. Shikamaru, Sasuke and Neji were staring intently at the mysterious boy whose features remained hidden for the moment. They knew that he was dangerous, even if he said that he was no enemy. Haku, Shino and Tenten just looked at him curiously, but their body language betrayed that they were ready to attack whenever the black clad boy tried anything strange.

The rest of the Genin, namely Sakura, Ino, Hinata, Chouji, Kiba and Lee were rather unsettled by the boy's presence. Hinata far more than the others because she had used her Byakugan for a moment; and what she had seen was more than just disturbing. It was like staring into a huge fire, the boy was literally drenched in chakra. Hinata had to deactivate her eyes; she would have gotten a headache if she had continued to look at him.

An awkward silence befell the group. While the rumored 'ghost' was showing no intentions of acting soon, the four Genin teams were slowly getting tenser with each passing second. Finally Neji spoke up.

"Okay, let's get this straight. We were following a rumor about a ghost that was sighted in Konoha recently. We managed to corner the unknown source of this rumor at this playground. This leads me to only one question: Are you the one they call 'the ghost of Konoha'?"

The boy remained silent for a few moments before he slowly started turning around and said: "If you mean the mysterious sightings that have been reported lately, then yes. I am the ghost of Konoha."

He had fully turned around now and took of his hood almost painfully slow. The sight that presented itself then caught the rookies of guard.

In front of them stood a boy who couldn't be older than 12. His spiky blond hair hung down as if it had been drenched by water and almost reached his eyes. The eyes… The boy looked at them with eyes that had lost their light. The Genin suppressed a shiver. These eyes didn't belong to someone who was still alive.

The blond boy only stared at them with his lifeless eyes. Then, almost unnoticed his lips moved only to form one sentence:

"The time has come…"

The tension in the group increased even more. First the strange appearance of the ghost and now he started speaking in riddles!

"What do you mean?" Shikamaru asked.

"… As we speak, dark clouds gather in a far away place. Beyond the war of the snake lies the bloody dawn. You who carry the light of the next generation, the will of fire rests within you. But to face the harsh winds of destiny you must band together, solitude means utter destruction."

The boy recited those words as if they had been engraved into his mind. But this didn't mean they made much sense to the rookies. But before they could even ask what he meant with these words he interrupted them.

"… My work here is done. I can't interfere in the work of fate any longer. And you, although harsh times await you, don't lose hope. We shall meet again one day… Inheritors to the Will of Fire."

A sudden gust of wind erupted from the ground and blew the shinobi from their feet. When they looked back up the boy was gone. And the twelve genin were none the wiser.

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Basement of the Hokage Tower
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Naruto's eyes sprung open and pain cursed through his entire body. Had it gotten worse again? It was hard to tell. The pain Naruto felt would probably kill a normal person, but since Naruto had lost most of his nerves he didn't feel much in these parts. Meaning that if Naruto was almost constantly dying because of the pain it was no longer of this world.

'My work here is done for now. I guess I can… go back to sleep again… The invasion… won't start for… the next… six weeks or so… I'm so… tired….'

Naruto's body was getting slower and slower, his thoughts stopped and his heartbeat was almost non-existent. And at the same time a lamp started blinking at the special control setting of the Hokage's desk. Only one word was engraved under the blue lamp. 'Coma'.

Luckily the Hokage wasn't there at the moment. He would have fallen into one himself because of this probably.

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Naruto's Subconsciousness
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"Where am I? What is this place?"

Naruto had woken up in what appeared to be complete darkness. There were no directions, no sound, nothing. It was quite similar to Naruto's 'World of Twilight', but this place could break a mind.

"Just great. Not only I'm apparently in a coma again, no, I'm experiencing it this time too. Really, just great."

Since he had nothing better to do Naruto started walking into a direction. Not that he could tell he was actually walking in a circle or on the ground at all, but what were his alternatives? After what seemed like hours of walking Naruto spotted something. A light. A tiny light could be seen in the distance. Naruto felt a feeling swelling up inside of him he hadn't felt for a long time. Curiosity.

As he walked closer to the light, Naruto could slowly see just what he was heading towards. It appeared to be a campfire, and a person seemed to sit there, facing Naruto with his back. Naruto couldn't see that much of the person, but it seemed to be a man in his early twenties with spiky blond hair. A long trench coat covered his back and a strange writing could be seen on it.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked the man when he stood only a few meters away.

The man didn't turn around, but as Naruto slowly circled the man he could make out his face. A face he had seen quite often.

"It's been a long time, Naruto. I wondered when you would finally come here… my son." The mysterious man said.

He was the one who defeated the country of Iwa almost singlehandedly and sealed the Kyuubi in Naruto Uzumaki. The father of Konoha's dreamseer. The Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze.

"Now then… I think we have some catching up to do."

Finally it's done. I had a hard time writing this, especially with all the other ideas floating around in my head.

And I'm not satisfied with this one. But I guess I have to be in a bad mood to write dark stuff like this. Well, I also have other ideas I'm writing, but don't worry, I won't abandon this fic^^

Till next time,
Faroush