Chapter 6: Rediscovering Who You Are

Blackness. That was all he could see. An endless black abyss where he couldn't see, smell, taste or touch. Only the sound of his own breathing and his thoughts could be heard.

"What happened to me?" he said aloud, his voice leaving no echo. He thought for a second before he remembered. "Oh, that's right. I fell into the Lifestream. Funny. I though the place would be a little greener." He then realised that Kyuubi hadn't spoken since he had awakened.

'Kyuu-chan! You still with me?'

"I am. I'll never leave you, ever," was the comforting reply.

'Thank god. I'm so glad,' he said in his mind.

Suddenly the blackness was filled with white light that for some reason didn't blind him. The light was very easy on his eyes, though the colour was definitely pure white. The new colour stuck around for a few minutes before a new vision revealed upon his eyes. A very familiar landscape began to replace the white until he was surrounded by buildings. On instinct Naruto turned to the east and saw a large cliff where four large stone heads stuck out of the cliff face.

"Konoha…" breathed Naruto. But as soon as the word left his mouth he was on guard. The sky was awash with oranges, reds and dark blue with streaks of cloud highlighted with yellow. Normally at this time, the streets would be packed with people getting back to their homes, or going out to dinner. However the hidden village was devoid of all human life. It was like a ghost town.

"Wha… what's going on?" Naruto asked.

"Get back here demon!" came a shout from his left. Instinctively he flinched violently before turning around to the direction of the voice.

A mob of people with makeshift weapons were chasing a little boy down the street. The boy didn't seem to be any older than five but he was running quite fast for his age. As he and the mob drew closer, Naruto realised with a shock that this boy was him. Himself on his 6th birthday. Now he understood why there was no-one on the streets as everyone was attending the festival.

The younger Naruto wore disgusting garbs not fit for any person to wear, they smelled horrible, and were ripped to shreds barely hanging onto his obviously malnourished body. The older Naruto watched as the kid came barrelling past him and turned into a darkened corner only to meet a dead-end. He turned to run back but alas, the mob of villagers and some shinobi had caught up to him, cornering him in that dreadful alley.

"Ah finally stopped running huh demon!?" A man sneered

"Good I was getting tired from running after your little ass!" Another agreed

"We'll take good care of you demon...just like the Yondaime should have!" A third one concurred.

The mob slowly walked towards the boy who was huddled against the wall crying, wishing for someone...anyone to help him.

"W...why are you doing t...this to me? I n...never did anything to you, I'm not a de...demon, I'm just me. I just want to be left alone...p...please." He pleaded, tears running down his dirtied form.

"Aw...the little demon wants mercy how...detestable! Where was your mercy when you were slaughtering our mothers and fathers, our sisters and brothers huh?" The first man barked back.

The mob lost all self-control after the final words of their family's losses was spoken, and simply beat the hell out of the little boy cowering in fear of them. Right before the final blow was struck, the boy turned into a log to the mob's frustration. They turned to see the half conscious, bleeding, and broken boy in the arms of one of the few people who had ever protected him from them. Sadly he was one if not the strongest person in the entire village...the Sandaime Hokage.

"And just what the HELL do you people think you are doing to him!?" Sarutobi yelled, letting his KI wash over the mob, making most into crying, snivelling babies.

"We were simply finishing what the Yondaime started, and what he'd want us to finish if he was still alive!" One of the few ninjas associated with the mob had gasped out.

He narrowed his eyes at the group. "I see...well I've told you fools for the past five years what happened...and I'm tired of repeating myself. ANBU! Take care of these fools, they have broken my law and WILL pay the consequences!"

As the ANBU jumped down from the rooftops the memory vision dissolved into a second one similar to the first one. The second one was then replaced with a third, and a fourth. By the time the eight memories came round, Naruto was on the ground, crying, sobbing and shaking; repeating the same words that came out of the young kid.

"Please, don't hit me. Please… I'm not a d-demon. Somebody, please… help me… please. What did I do…?"

Suddenly a pair of warm arms enveloped him and held the young man to their body. Naruto looked up to see Kyuubi's ruby red eyes gazing back into his own. She then closed the gap between them and kissed him on the lips. This kiss was different from any of the others he'd received in the past. This one radiated warmth and love that filled his body up and banished all negative thoughts and emotions from him. Naruto responded to the kiss, running his hands through her silky red hair.

After a minute of this they both broke apart, panting slightly, even though halfway through the kiss they had resorted to breathing through their noses. Naruto smiled, not one of his foxy smiles, but a true smile.

"Thanks. I really needed that," he said softly as he wiped the tears from his eyes.

"You don't ever need to thank me for this kind of thing. I love you from the bottom of my heart and I will promise you that I will never leave you alone," she said lovingly. She then wrapped her arms around him once again and held him close to her body. Naruto responded to the hug by sliding his own arms around her waist and back.

"Well, truly I never expected your past to be this hellish," said the same voice that was heard before Naruto fell into the Lifestream. Naruto and Kyuubi jumped violently and looked around franticly for the voice before they saw the owner.

There, dressed in ceremonial armour, wielding a spear that seemed to be more for spell casting than fighting and a large round shield, was a woman. She had long blond hair and a kind smile on her face. All in all, she looked like a goddess. Not in beauty though she was undeniably so, but in what a typical goddess would look like.

"Who are you?" asked Naruto in awe.

The new person smiled. "I'm the spirit of this planet."

"I see," said Naruto, nodding as if it all made sense. "So I guess there was a reason to delve into my past?"

The goddess nodded. "I needed to see your true self and the only way to do so is to see your past. I sifted through your whole history while you relived only a few of your memories. I'm sorry I had to do this."

"It's alright," replied Naruto.

"I should now take you to your friend. You need to help him find his real self," she said. Naruto and Kyuubi nodded before tendrils of Lifestream energy flowed out of the goddess and wrapped themselves around the pair. Naruto was blinded by green light before all went black.

*********

When Naruto opened his eyes again he found himself in a metal corridor. In the corners were blue cables running as far as he could see. The metal was specked with rust and in more than a few places there was water leaking out of the walls.

"Where am I?" wondered Naruto out loud.

"We're inside Cloud's mind. These corridors represent the main chakra pathways while the blue cables are his minor chakra pathways," answered Kyuubi who stepped into Naruto's view.

"I see. It's like the sewers in my mind," realised Naruto. "I guess we just have to find something." With this said Naruto and Kyuubi started walking forward.

About 10 minutes later they came across a huge room. It wasn't quite as big as the cage where Kyuubi was trapped in before but it was still huge. On one side there was a pair of massive steal doors. Carved into the doors were many things. In one section there was a boy and girl sitting on a well, looking to the stars above. Another was a house on fire. There was a big carving of Sephiroth near the middle. There were others but they seemed either too small to make out or were too faint. And standing in front of the doors was Cloud.

"Cloud! What's going on?" asked Naruto as he walked towards his friend. But before he could get close enough, Cloud drew his Buster sword and swung the blunt edge at Naruto, catching him completely off guard. The force blew Naruto all the way back to the edge of the room and he slammed into the wall.

"Naruto! Are you alright?!" asked Kyuubi franticly.

"Yeah," replied Naruto; wincing at the pain. "Just dandy," he muttered the last part.

"It's not Cloud," said a voice beside Naruto and he turned to see Aeris beside him. She was already healing him and after a few seconds Naruto was back on his feet.

"Then who..." began Naruto but then he trailed off. "It's the physical manifestation of the Jenova cells inside him, isn't it?"

Aeris nodded.

"Great, just great."

The anti-Cloud moved back to his original position, his sword leaning on the ground in front of him and both his hands on the handle. He looked like a guardian but Naruto knew better. "I wonder what's behind those doors he's guarding?" asked Aeris.

"Cloud's memories," answered Kyuubi. Naruto nodded in agreement.

"What do you mean?" asked Aeris.

"When the Jenova cells were injected into Cloud, he was then stuffed inside a mako tank for 5 years. The cells had ample time to create a new persona. To make sure that his real self was suppressed, Jenova shut away his memories. That's what is behind the door," explained Naruto.

"So if we defeat this persona and release Cloud's memories?" asked Aeris.

"Then Cloud will return to his former self. All his memories will reinsert themselves into his mind. The Jenova cells should become inert when the manifestation is beaten," said Kyuubi.

"Will that work for Sephiroth?" asked Naruto.

Kyuubi shook her head. "No. Because he was injected with the cells when he was still inside his mother's womb, the cells are more ingrained into his body and mind. Defeating the Jenova persona will most certainly kill the host. The only way is to replace the cells with something similar."

"I see." Naruto then looked at the anti-Cloud. "I guess it's time to throw this party crasher out."

Naruto looked at Kyuubi who knew instantly what he wanted. She poofed into the sword and Naruto rushed the anti-Cloud. He brought his sword around in a quick slash but anti-Cloud was already in a block position. The two collided into a deadlock for a few seconds before Naruto loosened the pressure for a fraction of a second. Anti-Cloud stumbled forward, only to receive the handle of Naruto's sword into its face. It stumbled back a few paces before recovering. Naruto pointed the sword at anti-Cloud and waited for it to make a move.

They both charged at each other and engaged in a terrific fight. Blow after blow was struck and after several seconds anti-Cloud began to get the advantage. Naruto jumped away before activating his first level Kikangan and streaked back to anti-Cloud.

Naruto went in for a stab but anti-Cloud blocked it, however only just. He brought his weapon around to try to counter attack but Naruto was a step in front and brought his sword to change anti-Cloud's strike away from him. The two exchanged several high speed blows before Naruto brought in a two handed swing and struck anti-Cloud off his feet, sending him flying into the doors. A loud resounding clang sounded through the room as anti-Cloud came in contact. A large cloud of dust and debris was thrown up.

For several seconds, nothing happened. Naruto, who had been waiting in a guard stance, relaxed slightly, before going tense again. For inside the dust cloud were several purple black spirals of energy that twisted in a quadruple helix. The dust was blown away, revealing anti-Cloud's real form.

He still looked the same in shape but that was where all similarities ended. His whole body had turned to a dark, pulsing purple colour. His eyeballs were completely yellow. And he had a sick smirk on his face. The sword had changed into some kind of hybrid of metal and disfigured flesh. And attached to his left side was a black feathered wing.

"You're never going to meet any girls with that ugly face," Naruto taunted. It seemed to do the trick and the monstrosity shot towards Naruto, it's speed much faster now. Naruto had a split second to jump to his Kikangan's second level before the two met. Sparks flew as they clashed into another deadlock. Anti-Cloud tried to push through the lock but Naruto pushed chakra into his sword and sliced through anti-Cloud's sword. The tip piece spun through the air away from the two and Naruto flashed his sword at amazing speeds across anti-Cloud. Wherever Naruto sliced a glowing blue line appeared on anti-Cloud's body after several strikes Naruto backed off slightly. Anti-Cloud was covered in bright blue lines. Naruto then finished the job by powering up an enhanced pure chakra Rasengan straight through anti-Cloud. Blue cracks began to creep over anti-Cloud's body before he blew into a million pieces. The remaining pieces dissolved into fine blue energy mist.

As soon as anti-Cloud had been defeated, the markings on the door slowly faded right off. Then with a loud creaking the doors slowly opened. A rush of wind swept through the room before it calmed down.

Naruto sighed. "I'm glad that's over. Cloud should be back to normal. Well, normal including his new past memories." As soon as he had finished saying that a small burst of white light appeared in the middle of the room and stayed there, like a tear in space.

"Hey guys? I think that's our ticket out of here," said Naruto as he and Kyuubi walked over to the light, followed closely by Aeris. We were soon surrounding the small swirling portal of light.

"Ready?" asked Naruto. Kyuubi and Aeris nodded. Then all three touched the portal and they vanished from the room.

*********

"Hey, I think Naruto's coming to," said Garra as he saw Naruto's eyeballs move under the lids.

"Yeah! Aeris and Cloud seem to be as well!" yelled Barret in his usual loud gruff voice.

"A little louder so the Shinra can hear you," groaned Naruto as he opened his eyes and slowly sat up.

"You alright there Naruto?" asked Garra in a worried voice.

"Yeah. Yeah, just fine," replied Naruto as he shook his head before Garra offered his hand. Naruto smiled and grasped it; Garra pulling him up.

"Yo Aeris, you awright?" asked Barret.

Aeris moaned slightly before she opened her eyes and squinted at everyone who was gathered around her. She caught sight of Naruto who had appeared into her sight.

"Hey Naruto. What happened?" she asked.

"Ah, we fell into the lifestream, we met up in Clouds mind, I kicked ass to the anti-Cloud who was guarding the real Cloud's memories and then we got out. And here we are," Naruto summarised.

"So that wasn't a dream?" she asked.

"Nope. It all happened," assured Naruto.

"Then where's..." began to ask Aeris but Naruto just pointed to her side. She sat up and turned around to see him on the ground, sleeping. Tifa was by his side.

"Tifa," began Aeris. "When Cloud wakes up, he should be fine. We unlocked all of his suppressed memories."

Tifa was about to convey her thanks when a groan came from Cloud. Instantly everyone crowded around him. His eyes opened slowly.

"Hey everyone. What happened?" he asked.

Naruto held out his hand to him. "I think we should get to the airship and we'll all explain ourselves." Everyone agreed and they all trouped off to the airship for some rest and catching up.

*********

Naruto stood at the rails and watched the night scenery fly past. At the moment the airship was just flying around, the pilot still getting used to the controls, even though he was much better than when they started out.

At the moment Cloud was talking to the rest of the team; explaining and apologising. More the latter than the former. Naruto had already explained to everyone that the Jenova cells were to blame for most of the damage but Cloud still thought he had to say that he was sorry.

"Hey," came a voice and Naruto turned around to see his friend.

"Hey Garra," said Naruto before he realised that this was probably the first time in a while that they had really talked.

"Sorry if it seemed that I haven't seemed much of a friend these days," said Naruto.

"Don't be stupid. It's been a wild month for me too. There's so much going on, we get distracted easily," replied Garra, assuring his friend that he wasn't offended at the inattention on their friendship.

"Has it really been a month?" asked Naruto.

"Yeah. Feels longer though," said the red haired ninja.

"How are things between you and Nibi?" Naruto asked, who had always had a slight suspicion that the two of them would get together at some point.

Garra smiled, which was rare on him. But it suited him great. "We're doing fine. We are now officially going out, though I haven't taken her on a date yet."

Naruto smiled back. "That's great! I'm really happy for you."

"I am too! Don't forget me too!" said Kyuubi over the telepathic link.

'Wouldn't dream of leaving you out of this little talk,' answered Naruto.

"What about me?" asked Nibi.

'You too,' replied Garra. He then took his eyes off Naruto and turned them to the landscape below. They were currently flying over North Corel heading in the direction of Costa de Sol. In the distance they could see the Gold Saucer sparkling in the night like a large golden tree with jewels for leaves.

"I wonder what's happening back home?" asked Naruto suddenly.

Garra's eyed his partner for a moment before looking back to the sky. "I don't know. But isn't time frozen there? You'll get back the same time you left."

"Well I think it's for the best if I went back in the real time. I didn't exactly leave behind happy friends. I think they need space from me for a little while," replied Naruto.

"I see," said Garra. "I still plan to go back on the same moment I left. Just so you know."

Just then the airship lurched sideways and the Golden Saucer shifted out of view only to reappear on the other side of the deck.

"I guess we have a destination in mind. I wonder where we are going?" asked Naruto.

"We're going to Nibelheim," said a voice from behind them and the two ninjas turned to see Cloud. He looked like he wanted to say something to Naruto but was looking slightly at Garra. Seeing his cue Garra walked to the door and with a "See you up on the bridge," he stepped through.

"I just wanted to say thanks for what you did," said Cloud. Naruto looked back at him, slightly confused.

"Aeris told me what you did inside my mind."

Naruto nodded. "Not a problem. That's what friends do. They help each other out." He turned back to the night sky. "So why are you going to Nibelheim?" he asked.

"Well most of my memory is back to the way it was but I'm still a little fuzzy on what happened before we met. I seem to remember that I was stashed in the basement of Shinra Mansion. When we visited before nothing triggered in my memory of the place, probably the Jenova cells suppressing that particular memory extra hard. So I'm going there again without the memory restrictions I had before. I might get a clearer picture on what happened that night," explained Cloud.

"Well then that's good. You'll want to do this alone though. It'll help," advised Naruto.

"Thanks Naruto," said Cloud as he turned to head back to the door and began to walk over to it but Naruto placed a hand on his bare shoulder.

"Cloud," said Naruto and the buster wielding swordsman turned to him, his eyes questioning. Naruto's own eyes hardened in seriousness.

"Who's your enemy?" Naruto asked, his voice as serious as his eyes looked.

Cloud answered after a moment. "Jenova. I know this now. Sephiroth is as much of a victim as we all are. I'm sorry that I didn't realise this before." He looked down at the end, feeling genuine regret and sadness.

Naruto smiled and clapped the shoulder he was grasping. "Glad you know the real target here. Just so you know I have plans to save Sephiroth from this nightmare."

Cloud looked up again, his eyes wide in disbelief. Naruto noticed a childish spark in Cloud's eyes; a spark that definitely wasn't there before his memories were restored. "You can do such a thing?" he asked.

Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment. "I think so, but I have to run it past some people first." He then slung his arm around Cloud's neck.

"Don't worry. I got it covered. Now let's go up to the bridge before Barret gets any stupid ideas of him being the leader."

The two of them chuckled before they left the deck together.