That is not good.

Not good at all.

"Shit." Shikaku summed up his thoughts on the matter. "Pull everything you can from her mind, we're going to inform the Hokage."

"Right."

Shikaku picked me up and deposited me on his shoulder, and promptly made a handseal.

I prepared myself for the impending disorientation, and we promptly burst into smoke.

"Not good at all." Hiruzen sighed, reclining in his chair. "That changes things. If Iwa is aware of Naruto's parentage, then it is only a matter of time before they launch another assassination attempt. Inu, get Jiraiya."

One of the ANBU promptly vanished from the room.

He turned to look at me. "Am I correct in the assumption that you are aware of Naruto's parentage?"

I nodded. "It is a little obvious. What gave me away?"

"You weren't reacting like you normally do when you're confused."

Ah.

"Good catch."

A flare of Chakra, and a mysteriously healed Jiraiya promptly appeared in the room. Unlike the last few times I'd met with the man, there wasn't even a trace of the previously seemingly omnipresent humour inside his Heart.

"So, what's this I hear about Iwa knowing Naruto's parents?"

"Inoichi recently acquired the knowledge and informed us."

"Shit."

"Indeed."

"So. What are we going to do about it?"

"I can think of several options, Hokage-sama." Shikaku started.

"And what do you propose, Shikaku-san?"

I dipped through the Sea of the Skies, making my way to Madoka's World. I was rather in the mood to have some light-hearted conversation after the revelations of this evening.

I slipped through the Dimensional Barrier and looked around, immediately locating Madoka by the massive Light she held inside her. She was a little bit further away than I had expected, but a quick journey through the Corridors of Darkness made the distance entirely irrelevant.

"Hello again."

Madoka turned around with a smile on her face, her Light warm and welcoming, if still a little uncomfortable for me. Such a pleasant and nice girl.

"Ah, hello again."

I came to a stop next to her. We were on top of a building, facing towards the rest of the city; the various lights in the city providing illumination that made the city oddly beautiful.

Certainly nothing like Konoha at night, which was always less bright, the lights fewer and further away.

"It's nice to be in a city again."

"You're not normally in a city?"

"No. I spend a lot of my time in... well, I guess you could call it a village, but that isn't entirely accurate. Too big, too active."

"Is it nice?"

"Oh, it's normally quite pleasant. But it has a charm that's quite different from that of a modern city like this."

For a moment, I paused, before looking upwards.

"The sky is the same, though. No matter where I am, the night sky is always full of stars, always pretty to look at."

She smiled.

"Is she here?"

It took me a moment to realise that it hadn't been Madoka who had said that.

I turned around, and beheld the semi-familiar sight of one Kyubey, and one Homura Akemi. The latter of which was looking rather Hopeful.

"If you mean Madoka, then the answer is yes." I laid a claw on her shoulder, and Homura's eyes immediately latched on to where my claw met Madoka's shoulder.

Of course, she couldn't see Madoka. To he, it must have looked like I was touching an invisible barrier, one that she herself wouldn't be able to interact with.

Madoka didn't have a Body in the traditional sense, after all. All she had was her Heart and her Soul, yet, I was able to interact with her.

It was a simple thing, really; Darkness was just as capable of interacting with Souls as it was with interacting with Hearts, and interacting with Bodies. The last time I'd touched her had been when she had been hugging me, and, for all intents and purposes, her Soul had acted as a Body.

More importantly, I could interact with her, and they could see me.

I moved my claw away from her shoulder, and then I brought it to the rooftop beneath me. I cut into the rooftop, scooping out a very small piece. I held it between two claws, and then I corrupted it.

The small piece of the rooftop shifted and changed, lengthening and taking on a look similar to fabric. It was near weightless, and in the wind, it fluttered around quite a bit, but that didn't interfere with me changing the rock into something a tad bit more useful.

A coat, to be exact. I sized it for Madoka, and turned it white, before handing it to Madoka.

Homura's eyes followed it as it left my hands, and Madoka held it up.

I didn't, and couldn't, miss how Hope blossomed in her Heart.

Madoka slowly slipped the coat on, threading her arms through the sleeves, before carefully buttoning up the front.

And then, she promptly drew Homura into a hug.

Homura froze, shock and hope present in her Heart.

She sniffled, before immediately throwing her arms around Madoka, tears of joy in her eyes, happiness in her Heart. Madoka was much the same, that radiant smile on her face.

It was a shame that Madoka couldn't talk to Homura. I could tell she wanted to say something, but I wasn't even sure where to begin on allowing her to speak.

But then again, it's not like someone needs to speak to communicate with others, is it?

I cut another two pieces of cement out of the buildings, before corrupting both of them and slowly transforming them into gloves.

"Kyubey," I began, speaking to Kyubey and Kyubey alone. "You wouldn't happen to have a pen and notebook, would you?"

The creature seemed to understand what I was saying, because he promptly vanished and then soon reappeared with a pen and notebook in hand. Paw.

"Thank you." I said. And this time, speaking to everybody. "I can tell that you want to say something, Madoka, and while I'm not able to help others hear you, there are other solutions."

I handed her the gloves, and gestured to the currently floating pen and notebook.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."