Red Storm Chapter 24: Heaven's Gates, a naruto fanfic

AN: It was a short chapter last time, so here's a nice long one for you all. :) I'll put the rest of my comments and responses to reviews at the end of the chapter this time.

Chapter 24: Heaven's Gates

"A happy family is but an earlier heaven."

~Tyron Edwards

"Naruto." whispered a voice. "Naruto."

"Just a few more minutes, -ruka." muttered Naruto, turning on his side.

There was a deep, rich laugh. "Believe me, Naruto, you will want to be awake for this."

Naruto blinked, rubbing his eye with the back of his hand. The room was unnaturally bright, and when he opened his eyes fully it was to see his father's face beaming at him like Christmas morning. Naruto stared at him in awe for a second as the memory of the past two days came flooding back. Sometimes it was easy to forget what had happened in such a short time. Each morning happiness would flood him anew. He grinned back at his father.

"Come on, get up." said the man. "You've been asleep for 12 hours. I know you need your recovery time, but…well, you have to come with me."

"What's going on?" asked Naruto as he threw back his covers and slid out of the bed. The floor was cold, and he slipped on the thin, hospital slippers.

"It's your mother." His father said in reverent tones.

Naruto snapped his head towards him.

"She's awake."

It was like an electric shock shot through his body, and a swarm of butterflies swirled like a storm in his stomach. Naruto almost stumbled back onto the bed.

"She…I…" he began, the words catching in his throat.

Mr. Uzumaki grinned, grabbing his arm to steady him. The warmth of his father's grip was comforting, grounding.

"Do you want to meet her?" he said.

Naruto could only nod a muted yes.

They stood outside her room, a single white door separating Naruto Uzumaki from his mother. Minato reached for the silver door handle.

"Wait." said Naruto.

Naruto was suddenly very aware of the fact that his hair was still sticking up from a long night's sleep, and he hadn't brushed his teeth. He fidgeted with his hospital pajamas.

"I, uh…" he said, trying to smooth down his hair, "I mean…what if she…"

Minato smiled and placed his hands on the teen's shoulders. "She has and always will love you more than anything, Naruto, and she's dying to see you. Don't worry. I'll be right behind you."

Naruto swallowed and nodded.

The man turned the handle and light flooded through the doorway. The room was bright with the late morning sun reflecting off the white walls, and there on the bed was his mother. No longer a pale, lifeless shell, she was sitting propped up by the hospital bed, and staring out the window at the blue sky. She turned her head when the door opened to face them with stormy, gray eyes.

They strangely reminded Naruto of Sasuke's eyes, and somehow this quietened the nervous butterflies churning inside him. He hesitated at the door.

"Naruto." She whispered in a voice filled with love, and lifted thin, weak arms out towards him

The last shreds of doubt left Naruto in that moment. He ran towards his mother and sank into her embrace.

Tears streamed down Kushina's face as she stroked her son's hair, and they stayed like that for what felt like forever, yet he knew it could never be long enough. Naruto's heart literally ached as he held his mother, everything he'd been holding in over the years, everything he'd endured seemed to fall away in her arms, replaced only by warmth and love. He pulled away eventually, the tears on his cheeks matching her own.

"I missed you so much." He said.

She clasped his hands between her own.

"I missed you too." She said, her voice was papery and croaked from lack of use.

"Oh, Naruto. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." She said as additional tears welled up in her eyes, and brushed Naruto's wet trails of tears with her thumb.

Naruto leaned down to hug her again. "It's okay." He whispered. "It's okay. None of that matters now."

His father cleared his throat, and they both looked up.

"Oh, don't just stand there, you big lug, get over here." Kushina said with a sob, holding out an arm, and his father grinned. He came over to her side and held her hand in both of his.

"Squeeze any tighter, and you'll break my fingers." said Naruto's mother with a soft smile.

"Ah, sorry." said Minato, loosening his grip.

Naruto held her other hand in his, marveling at the life now in them. His mother was still weak and thin, like a delicate china doll, and she looked exhausted as if she had just run a marathon, but her eyes shone with inner fire and her face was lit with joy.

She grinned at Naruto.

"You and I have a lot of catching up to do, Naruto."

Naruto grinned back, not even bothering to wipe the tears off his cheeks. "Yeah, we sure do."

She pulled her hand out of his, and brushed a lock of blond hair out of his face. The touch felt so familiar, so gentle. He closed his eyes. How many times had she done that when he was just a toddler?

"So…your father tells me you have a boyfriend." said Kushina in a mischievous tone.

Naruto's eyes shot open, and he took a step back.

"I, uh, that is…I mean, uh…" he stammered out. Out of all the things he'd expected his mother to say, it had not been that.

Kushina laughed and grabbed his arm, drawing him back before he could get too far from the bed.

"Don't worry, Naruto. We're not mad." She said. "I was surprised, but you know, we're happy for you."

She exchanged a smile with Minato. " He must be special for you to choose him. We look forward to meeting this Sasuke."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, his face beetroot.

"Well, uh…I look forward to you both, uh, meeting him."

His father grinned.

The next hour could be described as one of the happiest of Naruto's life. The three Uzumakis spent time reminiscing on his childhood and sharing jokes. Naruto could see why his father loved her so much. She brought joy and laughter into every conversation, and her sharp eyes never missed a trick. Eventually though, it had to end.

Dr. Tsunade came in and told them that his mother needed her rest. After much reassurance that they could visit again tomorrow, Naruto and Minato left. Kushina shot them a tired smile as they left.

"I'll see you tomorrow." She said. "And that's a promise."

"And Uzumakis never break a promise." replied Naruto.

"You got that right, kid." she grinned.

The door closed behind them.

Minato put an arm around his son as they strolled down the hallways. "What do you say to a game of chess to fill in the time?"

"Sounds good to me." replied Naruto, "Although you realize I am going to kick your ass."

His father laughed. "The day you beat me at chess, your mother will die her hair blonde and wear a frilly, pink dress."

Naruto laughed at the image. Somehow even in the hour he had gotten to know her anew, he could never picture his mother doing such a thing. Her style seemed more combat boots and camouflage.

"Hey, Naruto." said his father, dropping his arm and stopping. "I have some more good news, you know."

Naruto waited.

"The Konoha Corps believe they have rounded up the last of the Akatsuki members." He said, "From tomorrow, you and I are free to go home, to our real home. Your mom will need a little more time, but we can still visit her, and when she's well enough she can join us. I contacted Sasuke too. He said he'd like to help us move in. What do you think?"

Naruto couldn't speak. He was sure his heart was going to burst. His father understood, and he pulled Naruto in for a quick, bear hug.

"Good." He said with a grin, "From now on, Naruto, I promise. Things are going to be better."

Naruto gazed up that night at the plain white ceiling and smiled. Contentment filled him like a cloud. Tomorrow he would go home with his dad - his mom soon to follow. Sasuke would be there too. The world had finally righted itself. Everything Naruto had been struggling for, surviving for had suddenly come to fruition, and he couldn't ask for more. He sighed and fluffed up his pillow as he turned onto his side. His eyes closed, the hint of a smile still dancing on his lips.

A deep voice penetrated the darkness.

"What are you doing, Naruto?"

Naruto's eyes snapped open, and he sat up quickly, glancing round the room. It was empty.

An instant later, an immense heat washed over him, and he found himself squinting against a bright, yellowy light. The teen's mouth dropped open.

There, at the bottom of his bed towered a giant pillar of fire. The flames broiled and swirled, manipulated by a silent wind. And there within its midst, something moved.

Two burning red embers blazed brightly from out of the twisting flames. The pillar split into nine monstrous burning tails, which rippled above its head. One of the tails wrapped around four tree-trunk-sized legs made of eternal fire, and the shape of a fox emerged from the light.

Its head almost touched the ceiling, but it seemed unperturbed by the small space. Likewise, its surroundings seemed equally undisturbed by the monster it contained. There were no scorch marks and the licking flames set nothing on fire, yet Naruto's cheeks were pink from the terrible heat radiating from this fearsome beast.

Somehow, despite the intimidating look of the thing, Naruto did not feel afraid. He licked his lips which had turned dry from the crackling warmth, and frowned.

"I know you." He said finally.

The fox lowered its head in a bow, its flames streaking through the air with the movement.

"Indeed." It said in its deep voice. "We met a little over a year ago, in fact. Or rather, you met me. I have been with you since childhood."

The memories came rushing back – Naruto writhing in pain, the hallucinations that had followed, the terrifying dreams.

This fox had been there. It had rescued him, burning through the shadows that had attacked him without mercy. It was this beast that had helped him escape that nightmare and been with him throughout the battle to rid his system of the drugs.

"You're Kyuubi." whispered Naruto finally, his eyes wide.

The fox grinned. Its flaming teeth were so bright they shone white.

"You know me at last." It said. "You are correct. I am Kyuubi, your guardian and protector."

"Protector." repeated Naruto in wonder. "Yeah, you protected me from the drug that Orochimaru gave me. You helped me get off it. Although, you didn't help much with that whole thing with the Akatsuki did you? I might have died if my dad didn't arrive."

The beast lowered its great head towards him, the heat flowing from him with the intensity of a forest fire. Naruto backed up against the pillow.

"I protect you just as you protect me." It said. "I have no influence on the outside world, only the world within you. Your subconscious already understands that. The key is in your memories."

Naruto let out a frustrated sigh.

"Cryptic as ever, huh? What does that even mean?"

"The key is in your memories." repeated the fox.

Naruto screwed up his nose. "My memories? Well, if I knew what to remember maybe I could give that a try."

He bit his lip at the realization being sarcastic with a fox made of fire burning inches from him might not be the smartest move, but the beast was nonplussed.

"Ask the right questions and you will get the right answers." It said simply.

There was a thump at the door before the room fell silent again, save for the crackling of the flames.

"Or…" replied Naruto, glancing at the door. "Or, and just hear me out here, you could just tell me, you know, like a normal person."

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Why does my subconscious have to be so annoying?"

There was another thump at the door, followed by another. It sounded like someone banging harshly against the wood.

"What is that?" asked Naruto, pushing back his blankets and half-getting up.

"No!" roared the fox raising its head. Its booming voice stopped the teen in his tracks.

"Do not open that door."

"Why?" asked Naruto. He glanced nervously at the door, instinctively curling back into the bed and pulling his bedcovers back towards him. "What's out there?"

"You are not asking the right questions, Naruto Uzumaki." said the fox. "What you should be asking is, 'Why am I here?'"

Naruto frowned. Come to think of it, despite the feeling of familiarity, it wasn't exactly normal to have a 10-foot fiery monster towering at the end of your hospital bed.

Naruto rubbed at the beads of sweat forming on his forehead. The heat was making him dizzy.

How could he feel this? Sure, he already knew the Kyuubi was a subconscious apparition of the symbiotic virus. The last time he had appeared to Naruto was when –

"No." whispered the teen. Despite the blazing heat in the room, an ice cold chill rushed through him.

He stared at Kyuubi, willing it not to be true. The fox held his gaze, and Naruto wasn't sure if he imagined it, but he thought he saw pity emanate from those ember eyes.

"I'm sorry, Naruto Uzumaki." It said.

The thudding at the door had increased in pace and volume, and Naruto could hear the faint sound of yelling, the voice of his mother calling him desperately. The sound tore at his heart and he swallowed with difficulty as tears stung at his eyes.

Naruto looked down at the sheets in his hands.

"This. None of this is real?" He choked out.

He rubbed the starchy, grey fabric between his finger and thumb in disbelief, before looking back up at Kyuubi, a pleading look in his blue eyes.

"Since the lab? Since they injected me? It was all just…the drug?"

It was phrased as a question, but Naruto could hear the defeat in his own voice.

The fox's tails waved gently, the flames flickering.

"It's everything you ever dreamed of." It said quietly. "Your very own happily ever after."

"Happily ever after?" repeated Naruto incredulously. "Some happily ever after - where my mom was tortured by the Akatsuki and in a coma for thirteen years, and my dad injected me with a virus before leaving me to the children's home."

"It wouldn't feel real to you without some tragedy, would it, Naruto Uzumaki? Without some kind of reason for it all?" said the fox. "This is your happy ending, the one you created, the best one you could create under the circumstances. It was the only one you could convince yourself was true."

Naruto shook his head.

"Wait." said Naruto. "My father told me things, things that made sense, things about my past that I couldn't possibly know. Things I remembered."

The fox leaned forward and breathed over him just like it had one year ago in his fevered dreams. Naruto scrambled back, but instead of an onslaught of flame, he was bathed in a pleasant warmth. Memories arose in his mind like ash floating up in the curling smoke of a fire.

His parents talked in hushed tones at the kitchen table, whispered words of "kyuubi" and "mole", pages of paper with squiggly numbers and markings on them.

'That's not for you, munchkin,' said his dad, as he pulled the paper out of a whining Naruto's hands. His mother replaced it deftly with a rattle.

"What have I told you about leaving those pages around?" she said. "Do you have any idea what could happen if that formula falls into the wrong hands?"

"It's not even finished, Kushina." laughed his father. "How can the Akatsuki search for an antidote to their drug that doesn't even exist yet?"

His mother frowned. "Don't underestimate them, Minato. You have no idea what they're capable of."

The memory faded only to be replaced by another.

Naruto played with his train on the living room carpet while his mother sat at the table poring over paperwork. The door opened with a bang, and Naruto's father ran in, scooping his son up into a hug, his eyes bright. Little Naruto gurgled with delight. Minato carried him over to his mother and sat down at the table.

"We did it, Kushina." He said excitedly, "We cracked it. We've created the first artificially-made symbiote virus. It's a breakthrough in medical science, and it, well, I think it'll end everything."

Kushina placed a hand over her husband's and grinned although sadness tinged her expression.

"That's great, Minato., Really, the work you and your team have done is amazing." She said, "Now we'll finally have a chance."

"We'll have to make preparations." said his father, suddenly serious, looking down at the child in his arms. Naruto reached out to touch his father's face.

It disappeared like mist as another memory rose up.

Naruto sat between his two parents on the maroon sofa watching cartoons on the small analog TV set.

"We can't stay here, Minato." whispered Kushina over Naruto's head, glancing at him to make sure he wasn't paying attention. "It's too dangerous for us, too dangerous for him to be near us. If the mole were to find out where we had put the kyuubi…It's the only thing protecting any of us right now, the only reason we're not already d-e-a-d."

She spelled the last word out in a lowered voice.

Naruto felt his father lean towards him as he put an arm around his mother's shoulder.

"We'll figure it out, Kushina." He said. "We always do."

Kushina stroked her son's head, playing with the blond locks. Naruto barely noticed, too focused on watching Bugs Bunny trick Elmer Fudd into falling into yet another hole.

"I hope you're right, Minato." She said quietly. "No matter what happens to us, we have to protect him."

The memory faded once again, and Naruto found himself once again confronted with the Kyuubi at a loss for words.

"It was all memories from your own subconscious." The fox said. "You filled in the gaps yourself. All of this, it was always in your own memories. You just never had enough information to piece it together until now. Your run-ins with Kabuto and the Akatsuki helped with that."

Kabuto's words echoed through Naruto's mind.

"Your parents contributed to the development of an antidote, a cure-all if you will…a safehouse…pokey, damp sort of place…dank maroon sofa… they were foolish enough to leave."

Of course, Kabuto had just told him the basics, jogged his memory. His mind had filled in the rest. Naruto rubbed his tired eyes, his shoulders suddenly heavy.

BANG!

Naruto jerked his head up. The sturdy white door was being hit so hard the frame around it began to crack. Tiny fragments of white paint broke off, sprinkling to the ground.

"They'll be here soon." said the fox. "You must be strong."

"Why?" said Naruto, throwing back his blankets and standing, looking up at the Kyuubi with a pleading expression "Why do I have to be strong? I'm tired of being strong. Why can't I stay?"

His voice cracked as he asked the last question, gaze turning longingly towards the trembling door. His mother's voice still called to him.

The fox said only one word. "Sasuke."

The banging stopped for a moment and the room went deathly silent. Naruto swallowed and clenched his fists.

"He is waiting for you." said Kyuubi. "They are all waiting for you – Sasuke, Iruka, Sakura, Kiba. They're all waiting for you on the other side. You can stay here, live in this illusion, but know that you will never see them, the real them again. And you will be abandoning them to whatever fate awaits them. The end of your world as you know it."

The fox flicked its tails and then the flames disappeared. In the same instance, the door flew open and his mother burst in, her tousled, red hair wild around her head. She ran over to Naruto grasping his hands as his father ran in. Naruto didn't move, staring silently at them.

"Are you ok?" asked his mother, fussing over his hair and looking into his hollow eyes.

"What's going on?" Minato said, "It sounded like an earthquake happening in here."

"I couldn't get in," replied Kushina, babbling, not taking her eyes off her son. "I heard Naruto talking to someone, and the door was jammed, and I couldn't get in, and I panicked."

She looked up at her husband, "I thought, oh god, I thought it might be the Akatsuki."

Minato pulled his wife away and into a comforting embrace. "It's okay, Kushina. It's okay. The Akatsuki are locked away. Naruto's fine. We're all fine."

He smiled and reached out an arm to Naruto, but Naruto only looked at it numbly before taking a small, tentative step back.

His father frowned. "Naruto?"

Naruto's breath hitched in his throat, and his chest ached, but he continued to walk backward, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry, Dad."

His father drew away from Kushina now, and they both turned to him.

"What is it, Naruto?" asked Kushina. "What's wrong?"

She began to walk forward.

"Stay back." said Naruto sharply. He backed onto the bed, and rolled himself over the other side, using it to separate them. His mother stopped, confusion and hurt clouding her expression.

"Don't." whispered Naruto. "Please don't make this any harder than it already is."

He knew what he had to do. He wasn't sure how, but he knew. Whether or not he would have the strength was the question.

The bed stood between them now, and Naruto climbed onto the window sill.. It was a wide rectangular window that took up a large section of the wall. The locks were old, metal catches painted white and smooth by thick coats of gloss. Naruto crouched slightly in the window frame, fiddling with the lock.

"What are you doing, Naruto?" asked his father, concern mounting in his voice.

"I'm sorry, Dad." said Naruto. "It's not real. None of this is real. He made it clear for me. I can't stay here."

The white paint broke into pieces as he yanked the lock up. The window swung wide open, clacking against the brick wall on the outside of the building. Naruto swallowed as he looked down at the concrete parking lot stretched out far below him.

"Naruto, sweetheart." His mother pleaded in placating tones as she took tentative steps around the edge of the bed. "I don't know what's going on or who you thought you were talking to, but you need to relax and think about this. You're real. I'm real. Take my hand." She reached out. "Just touch it. You'll see it's real."

"Stay away!" shouted Naruto, pulling back a little too sharply, almost losing his footing on the ledge. His mother halted her movements at once.

"Naruto," said his father, holding up his hands. "Listen to me. This has to be the drug talking. It must be having some side effects we didn't expect, okay? Think about it. You're hallucinating."

Naruto hesitated in the frame of the windowsill, his heels suspended over empty space. He looked down and the height made him feel dizzy and sick.

His dad had a point. What if Kyuubi had been a hallucination?

But no, what he'd said had made so much sense. And yet…so had the things his dad has said.

He looked up at his father, desperate for an answer, something that could convince him.

"Why would he be the only hallucination?" he asked. "Why would I see Kyuubi?"

He shook his head hopelessly. "It's just like before."

His father frowned. "I-, well, I don't know, Naruto. I can't say for sure, but it could be playing all kinds of tricks with your mind. Maybe that's how the drug works. We just, we need to think about this before you do anything rash. Listen to me. Just step down from there and we'll talk about this okay? Let us look into it first."

"I can't, Dad." said Naruto, barely able to get the words out around the lump in his throat. He looked at the tears streaming down his mother's face, her dark eyes shining with silent pleas.

"If I stay any longer, I won't be able to bring myself to leave." he said quietly.

"Naruto," she whispered, "Please. We only just found each other. Please don't leave me."

Naruto felt his heart and will break at those words. He couldn't. Naruto couldn't do that to her. She was right. They had just found each other. They could talk about it, figure it out and he could always leave later, right?

He began to sink down to a sitting position on the sill when he was stopped by a sudden thought.

"How are you able to walk, Mom?"

His mother hesitated. "I- what?"

"How can you walk?" repeated Naruto. "You've been in a coma for thirteen years. You should need weeks of therapy again to be able to walk, let alone have the strength to run and bang down my door."

His mother was at a loss for a moment, glancing at Minato who only mirrored her confused expression. Naruto straightened up.

"How are you better, Mom?" he asked, his voice breaking.

"Wait!" shouted Kushina, holding up her palms towards him. "Wait. Just wait a second. Look, I don't know why it happened so fast, but you – you injected me with the kyuubi virus, right?"

Naruto nodded.

"So, I can regenerate faster just like you, right? That must be why I can move around."

Kushina flexed her hand tentatively, her eyes wide. "My muscles must have regenerated quickly. And I just…when I realized I was feeling better, I wanted to see you, okay? That's all. I came here because I wanted to see you. Then I heard you talking to someone, and the door was jammed. I panicked, adrenaline kicked in. I don't know. Does that even make sense? All I know is that I wanted to see you, but if you think this isn't real, can you at least let us talk about it, try to find out what's going before you do anything? Please, I'm sorry if I scared you. I just...I just wanted to see you."

She wiped her running nose. "So come down, munchkin. Just for a moment. Please."

Naruto relaxed slightly. "I guess…I guess it couldn't hurt to talk a bit."

"That's right." said his father in a soothing tone, inching around the bed to join his wife. "And Sasuke will be here soon, too. I think he'd be just a bit upset if you jumped out of a window before he arrived, don't you?"

He chuckled. "So how about we forget all this nonsense about flaming foxes, and we go meet him."

His father was almost there now, just a few feet away, arms outstretched.

Naruto could jump down onto the floor, hug his parents and go to see Sasuke for the first time in days. He stared at the floor. It would have all been so easy, but for one thing.

"I never mentioned Kyuubi was a fox made of flames." said Naruto quietly. He looked up.

An expression of shock passed over his father's face, and Minato let out a forced laugh.

"Yes, you did. You said it just a moment ago, that you were seeing the kyuubi."

Naruto shook his head. "I never told you what he looked like."

His father shrugged. "I guess I just assumed it would be a fox like the legend, Naruto. Come on, what are you doing with this?"

"And the fire?" continued Naruto. "How did you know he was on fire. That's not in any of the legends."

"Naruto," said his father, desperation edging his voice, and he took a step closer.

Naruto shuffled back on the sill, his heels now suspended once again over empty air.

"Naruto!" cried Kushina, stretching out her arms.

Naruto closed his eyes. He couldn't bring himself to look at her as he spoke. "Dad, the only way you could have known what I saw in my hallucination is if you're a part of it. Kyuubi was right. None of this is real." He opened his eyes and forced out the words that would shatter his 'happily ever after' into shards of painful reality.

"You're not real." He whispered.

Naruto leaned back and let go of the sill, falling backward into nothingness. The world seemed to go into slow motion, every detail hitting his mind like a freight train. His mother screaming, his dad yelling, and then through it all, he heard a familiar voice shout.

"No!"

Naruto opened his eyes just in time to see someone dashing into the room, a shock of black hair and eyes dark as coal.

"Sasuke." breathed Naruto. Dread rushed through him as he realized he'd made an awful mistake. It had been real. His mind had tricked him. The drug had tricked him. He reached forward, grasping at the window sill, but it was out of his reach. His eyes caught Sasuke's stricken gaze as the other teen rushed towards him yelling. Then the world around him upended as if in slow motion, the wind fluttering through his hair, and the last thing he saw was the gray tarmac charging up to greet him.

...

...

It's okay, Naruto.

...

Just breathe, kid. Take a deep breath.

...

Just breathe.

...

They're all waiting.

...

Waiting for you.

...

...

You did good, kid.

...

You did good.

...

"He's coming to." said a familiar voice. "Life signs are stable."

Naruto groaned. His throat was on fire and his burning head throbbed with every moment. He cracked open his lids and immediately regretted it when the intense light assaulted his eyeballs.

"Wher'm I?" he mumbled. He licked his lips. They were cracked and dry. Shadows moved on the edge of his vision as his eyes began to adjust to the brightness.

"You're where you've always been," came the reply.

Naruto squinted his eyes as the speaker leaned over him, silhouetting themselves in front of the lamp. The lenses of a pair of wiry spectacles flashed in the light.

"Welcome back, Naruto-kun." said Kabuto with a small smile.

Naruto closed his eyes and turned his head away, his heart sinking like a deadened weight in his chest. He was back. Back in wonderful reality.

...

Author's Note (feel free to skip): Shout out to LovelyMinx, face70 and Apple for calling it! If I missed anyone, I'm sorry. I think many of you called it or were at least wondering! :D I loved reading your reviews, and seeing that doubt creep in, and I was itching to put this next chapter up so I could put you out of your misery. ;) I had wanted to make it that 'Total Recall' kind of doubt in a "Is this real, or not?" way, so it was good to see many of you with your "tin foil hats" on as face70 put it.

ovicati - I hope this explains why the reunion was a tad anticlimactic and sudden. It seems my feelings reflect a lot in my writing, since I didn't have the heart to invest too much in something that was only Naruto's fantasy. I also wanted to leave that doubt in there. Don't worry about being honest about my writing or your feelings about the story. I don't mind it, I like it even. It's feedback like that that helps me improve. You're right about the mirroring of the story. I've tried to do that with certain elements in this series, so there are some parallels with the characters and flow. :)