Use Your Illusion, Part One

Now on summer break, all Naruto could do to fill his time was either jumping around to search for criminals, or else go 'joyriding' through the Forest of Death.

It was a few hours before dawn, and Carnage suddenly heard the sound of a little girl crying.

Grateful for the distraction, Carnage lashed out with a tendril, catapulting himself towards the source.

Finding a girl in an alley, Carnage asked, "What's wrong—how can I help you?"

She was wearing a light blue shirt/blouse that covered the entirety of her upper body, as well as a dark red skirt that covered all of her legs. She looked to be a year or two older than Naruto was.

She looked up at him, her eyes all red and puffy from crying, and said, "You could kill me, for one."

Flame-like eyes widening, Carnage asked, "Excuse me? Why do you want to die?"

Suddenly, his Spider-sense went berserk as he instinctively jumped straight up… and barely evaded a massive stone claw fracturing the ground where he had just stood.

Landing on the wall directly above the girl, he looked at his sudden assailant.

It was about seven feet tall—and since it was hunched over, it was probably at least a third larger standing erect—and appeared to be all muscle. Colored grey, it had giant wings protruding from its back, a pair of wicked horns coming out the top of its head, and vicious claws. Made of stone, Carnage realized he was facing a Gargoyle.

It leaped up at him, snarling and growling as the monster thrashed its tail, furious that its attack had failed.

Once again evading the beast, Carnage threw a mighty punch at it, hitting its chest dead center-and watched as the rock crumbled around his fist. However, it was only a small crater near where the stomach would be; and with one massive claw swipe sent Carnage flying across the alley.

Quickly growing infuriated with his foe, Carnage lunged at the Grey Gargoyle as he morphed an arm into a massive drill with which he began tunneling into the monster's granite hide. He also began to expand the drill as he burrowed, until the creature violently fragmented into tiny little pieces.

Turning back to the girl, he asked, "Now what was all that about?"

The girl seemed to be in a trance for a few moments, as she was talking to herself.

Then, she said, "My name is Yakumo Kurama. My family has a supernatural affinity with Genjutsu, and I can make the results of my illusions real. However, my gift created an alternate personality—or rather, it turned my Id (the part of my mind that only understands taking what it wants, consequences be damned) into another personality. You probably think I'm joking with you or something, but I honestly swear, I'm not! My Id wants to take over my body and destroy the Village. Please, you have to help me!"

Yakumo's tone of voice had changed throughout the course of her speech from formality, to borderline desperation, to a great fear of what she was describing.

"… I'm not sure I understand all of that, but I do get that you need my help to save the village from your evil twin—from a strictly psychological standpoint, that is."

Relieved that he believed her, Yakumo said, "Thank you for believing me. In a couple of minutes or so, I'm going to wake up, and this Genjutsu will end. Yes, this basically happened in a dream, but it still happened in reality, too. See that hole in the ground from where the Grey Gargoyle tried to get you? It'll still be there when we get back to normal reality. I live in the manor located at 1408 Moll Street. From here, it's about three blocks away to the East—if you get to Lora Street, then you've gone too far. When you get to the door, the guards will ask you what the password is—oddly enough, it's 'Gargoyle'. After they let you in, ask to see me—tell them that it's urgent, and they won't trouble you. I can explain more then."

As the crumbs that formerly made up the Grey Gargoyle began to dissipate, Yakumo asked, "I can't believe I forgot—what's your name?!"

Everything was beginning to fade—they both were waking up. Carnage retracted the suit from his body, and just before she could no longer see or hear him, he said, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. See you in a little while."

A/N: Well, now I've introduced Yakumo to the story, and pretty soon I'll bring in two more of the central charcters: Electro (whose name within the story I'll keep to myself for now), and Naruto's sensei. Oh, and anyone who's managed to catch every single reference to Godzilla or another film series will be mentioned in the next update. I don't just mean this chapter—I mean the entire story so far. I've also decided to let you choose who Yakumo will become later on:

A) Mysterio

B) Doctor Strange

In either case, she'll still be a 'good guy', and… that's about it. Oh, and this is just part one of a two-parter. After I finish Part Two, I'll go back and merge them into one chapter. Regardin Yakumo, please vote in reviews whether you think she should be Doctor Strange or Mysterio! (Not a while lot of differences, but you know what I mean!)