The illusion of the evening

Naruto entered Qarth with fourteen horses, two riders, and three carts. On his way back to the others he had passed sparse corpses for a time before coming upon the site of the real battle.

Of the twenty Dothraki that had been left to pursue the caravan, three more had died before reaching the first cart. Yon, one of the few survivors, had told him that he and the other guards at the front had wheeled around their horses and rushed the Dothraki from a flank when they had been hidden behind a small hill for a few moments.

Four of the Dothraki had abandoned the fight at the end, cutting their braids as a sign of a fight lost. Yon suspected that one of the attackers they had killed had been their leader and that without him, and the losses they had sustained, the Dothraki saw no way to win.

Eight guards had still been standing then, but four of those had died from their injuries. Yong and Jeong had survived both the fight and the trip to Qarth and were unhurt except for some bruises. The other two had been hurt more seriously, a broken leg they had splinted as well as possible and a dislocated shoulder, respectively.

Those two had replaced the two dead cart drivers.

After taking care of the remaining injuries and binding together the horses that had not been killed or injured too heavily, the small group had set off, eager to reach Qarth even if they had lost much of their enthusiasm. Naruto's own wound was mostly healed by now, though his shoulder still twinged whenever he moved that arm.

The three walls of Qarth had been a wonder to behold even from afar and the city itself even more so. Colourful buildings, expansive squares filled with stalls, fountains and numerous revelries. The men and women of Qarth were tall and pale dressed in flowing silks and for some reason, every woman was walking around with her left breast exposed to the air.

All of it went ignored. Naruto did not care to admire the city at the moment. His goal was so close now, he could already feel it. Could already imagine meeting the others again. Seeing Kakashi smile his eye-smiles, bumping fists with B, even seeing Guy give a thumbs-up in his green spandex.

His clones had shown him the others as well after he had sent them out to help in the fight. Shikamaru, Choji and Ino and Kiba, Hinata and Shino. Sai, Yamato, Sakura, Neji and Tenten and Lee. Shizune, Granny Tsunade, Gaara and his siblings, and all the others he had left behind and were waiting for him.

Naruto absent-mindedly accepted the payment for the mission. A gold piece for every two days on the road, more than had been promised at the start, but he had no great need for money.

A few questions in the market, where people could speak Yitish, and a tall pale man had directed him towards the House of the Undying. The grey stone building revealed itself after an hour of walking. There were no other houses in the vicinity, only black-barked trees surrounded the low building, their blue-leaves stirring in a slight breeze.

There were no windows he could see anywhere and the whole building looked very old, or at least poorly maintained.

The path Naruto walked lead to one of the walls. It was made to look like a face, with an oval door set where the mouth would be. Standing in front of the door was a man. Taller than Naruto but thin, even gaunt, with blue lips and unnaturally pale skin.

Next to him was a tablet, a slender glass placed on it, already filled with a thick blue liquid. Only when he got close did Naruto realised that a miniature man was holding the tablet. For a moment he thought it was young child on account of the height, but the man had an adults face, pinched and pointed even if he stood no higher than his knee.

'It doesn't matter. Focus on getting back.' Naruto shook his head to dispel any curiosity in the matter. First his chakra and then his return.

"Welcome, visitor, I am Lyam Lorro. It has come to our attention that you seek the assistance of wise men." The man's voice was thin and quiet but Naruto understood him easily despite the strange accent to his Yitish.

"Yes, yes. I need your help. I heard you practice magic, and I don't know if that means what I think but I have a problem with my chakra. I can only gather a tiny portion and I need a lot more. I need to help my friends. Get back to them. If that means breaking the illusion some way or not, I don't know. I just hope you can help."

The man raised a hand to stop him from continuing, he did not look surprised in any way. "Fret not, young man. The Undying will gladly hear your problems but for that you must enter their house." He swept an arm towards the door behind him. "When you enter you will find a room with four doors. Take the door to your right, each and every time. If there are stairs, climb up. Never down, and never any door but the one to your right."

"Door to my right, okay," Naruto said.

"You will see many things then. Some doors will be open, some will not. Those inside will talk or they will not. Speak or speak not, as you choose, but do not enter any room but the audience chamber. There the Undying await, who will hear of your ills and you will receive an answer."

The little dwarf stepped up beside Lyam Lorro, bringing the glass within grabbing distance. The warlock gestured towards the liquid inside, urging Naruto on.

"Take and drink. Drink and enter." Lyam Lorro stepped back then, though he kept a close eye on Naruto and the glass.

Naruto wasn't sure what to think but presented with no other option he could see, he picked up the glass and drank. There was no discernible smell to the concoction but the taste was foul, like rotting meat or spoiled milk. Just when he wanted to spit it out and retch in disgust a bit of it touched his throat and the taste changed.

It tasted pleasant then, of honey and cream and yet of everything else he had ever enjoyed as well. Of Ichiraku Ramen and the popsicles Jiraiya had shared with him after a long day of training, of that first taste of sake and his sputtering at the unusual taste that had invited bellowing laughs from Jiraiya, and even of the way his mouth tasted when it felt salty and dry after so much exertion that he wanted nothing more than to simply lie down and sleep right where he was and he knew that tomorrow he would already feel stronger. And then the glass was empty.

Naruto stepped through the great doors and entered.

Three stone rooms with four doors each later and Naruto started to wonder what exactly he was doing now. This was clearly some kind of magic, the only question was if it would help. More rooms with doors showed themselves and he always took the first one on the right. Some rooms were square, some round, some oval but it did not matter. Some had four doors, some six, some even more but it did not matter. Always the first one on the right.

Then came a hallway with doors only on the left. Naruto heard movement in the walls, little taps and scratches that suggested rats or walked on. The hallway was long and he only cared about the first door to the right.

The door ahead was open. The scene inside was blurry, like he was watching everything through a filter that didn't allow his eyes to adjust to the distance of the objects. There was an expanse of blue with no end beginning at the room's threshold. Naruto was tempted to step inside, in an effort to see more clearly and understand what exactly it was he was looking at, but he caught himself. It looked like the ocean but there was no movement that would indicate waves. Even so Naruto was sure that he could make out the point were water bled into sky.

Before he turned away, something moved across the picture. It started above him and faded after crossing what he assumed was the sky, disappearing beyond the horizon. It was red and orange and purple and left a tail behind it that made it's surroundings seem grey for a moment.

Naruto pulled his eyes from the view and quickly walked further down the hall. The next doors were closed again, some barred and some had even been half-closed with bricks. On and on he walked until he arrived at the end.

Even here there was no door to the right, only to the left. The second to last one was open. Once more his vision was blurry, making it hard to make out details. Light flooded the room from a window opposite the open door. There were three beasts, hounds or wolves maybe, all three tearing at a long dark shape. It was a rod of some kind but he could tell any details. The three animals were bigger than the object but the sound of wood creaking and breaking was clear. Suddenly they turned to him, leaving the abused wooden object on the floor. They moved with an eerie synchronicity, as if one mind commanded all three beasts at once. The door slammed shut before they could jump towards him.

He turned towards the end of the hallway again. The same problem presented itself. No doors to the right. He felt along the cold stone, looking for a hidden switch or some indication for a hidden door, some secret that could be the answer to this riddle. His right shoulder twinged again as he moved his arm, his injury making itself known and he reached over with his left to massage the spot lightly.

The movement tickled his brain, like he was missing something obvious. Looking down at his arms he understood. The first one on the right was the last on the left. Naruto entered that door. Again four doors, again he took the first on the right.

On and on it went until he found the first staircase. He bounded up, again and again, always up and never down. Then doors, right, always right. And again stairs, up, always up. Doors, stairs, doors, stairs. On and on.

One of the doors was open again and he looked inside. He regretted it immediately. It looked like a hospital room, one of the ones in Konoha, with the window open. And sitting in the window was Jiraiya, looking just like he remembered him. White mane of hair, his unique headband and a little book in his hands that he was using to write down ideas for those perverse books of his.

Jiraiya looked up from his work on some kind of signal and seemed to see him. There was a smile on his face. Warm and happy and proud in a way he had only been when Naruto had really given it his all that day in training.

"Been a while, squirt. I hope you didn't miss me too much. I have some new chapters for you to look over. Come on," Jiraiya beckoned him inside the room, "I'll buy you some ramen and you can tell me all about what happened."

Without thinking his foot moved forward. He knew this wasn't real. Jiraiya was dead, killed by Pain months ago, but he was tempted. He wanted this to be real, wanted it badly. As if the illusion, for it could be nothing else, wasn't already sweet enough one of the curtains moved, revealing the bed behind it and it's occupant.

"Naruto!" Kushina called happily. "Come here, greet your little sister." His mother held a small bundle in her arms and Naruto could see small tufts of red hair on the baby's head as it snuggled close to Kushina's chest.

Naruto forced his eyes closed, but even he didn't know if it was to block out the vision or to stop the tears from falling. He had dreamed of something like this, again and again. But it was nothing else, just a dream.

Only a dream. Just some kind of illusion that was trying to draw him in. He stopped moving forward against every protest his heart raised.

No, he wouldn't falter now, not when he was this close. But knowing that it wasn't real didn't make turning away any easier. His heart cut at his resolve like knives with every movement away from that door, and when his baby sister started crying his knees buckled and he had to hold himself up using the wall.

'It's not real. Ignore it. It's not real.' Naruto repeated the mantra again and again, trying to block out the noise, trying to ignore Jiraiya and his mother calling for him. His fingernails were biting into his hands and drawing blood but he could not open the door on the right.

"Son? Where are you going?" His father's voice joined the others. His father, who had condemned him, thrust a destiny upon his shoulders he had wanted nothing to do with. Who had known full well what he had done, who didn't, couldn't regret his actions when they had saved the village.

His father, who had done that precisely because he thought that Naruto would be capable of doing what needed to be done, who had believed in him before he even knew him.

Naruto breathed out deeply and punched himself.

'What the hell am I doing?'

Putting the voices behind him he turned his back on that sweet dream for the last time and opened the door to the right.

The chamber beyond the door was expansive but dominated entirely by stone table in the middle and the blue beating heart floating above it. The blue glow was the only source of light in the room and every beat was followed by a wash of light that illuminated a tiny bit more of the room than was visible without.

Arrayed around the table were chairs, all as different as their occupants. Some small, some tall, some simple, some extravagant but all filled. Except for one. A small uncomfortable stone seat right in front of him.

The blue spectres did not spare him a glance as he took a seat, not even breathing and yet they all glowed with the weak beat of the floating heart. There was a whisper in the air, so slight that he couldn't understand the words.

As he opened his mouth to ask for their assistance something cracked across his head from behind and he knew no more.

He was cold, then hot and then cold again. He was both wet and dry and somehow neither. He was bathed in darkness and yet everything was too bright.

"Naruto."

He had no limbs and yet too many of them. His third arm itched something fierce while his fifth leg was lame, the old wound there stopping his movements. He closed his ears, the silence was much too loud for him.

"Naruto."

He hoped the ground would change soon. Swimming through stone was much easier than flying through sand. Something tickled him but he could not tell where and the fire in front was not cold enough to warm him.

"Naruto!"

Suddenly his eyes opened. The shallow water lapping around his toes was familiar as was the giant nine-tailed fox in front of him.

Kurama was thin, like he had not been eating, and his fur was spotted and brittle and grey in places. But the slitted red eye was open and angry and looking right at him.

"Kura—" Naruto jumped up but a bout of weakness staggered him. His voice was weak from disuse. There was no strength in his muscles, no chakra in his body and looking down revealed his body in a similar state to Kurama's. His fingers were bony and his skin pale, like he had not seen the sun in years. The skin was pulled tight to his bones, as if someone had squeezed out all the flesh and muscle from his body over night.

"What, what happened?"

"You've blundered into the arms of people that are using your body for their own gains. It is not as bad outside, but that won't be the case for long. You need to get out and away. I have done what I can to keep you strong enough for that." Kurama was clearly exhausted, but the anger and frustration was also obvious.

Naruto struggled to his feet and even that small task had him aching and sweating bullets. He focused on his centre, to pull himself from his own mind and into the real world.

"Naruto." Kurama's voice stopped him, he thought there was a note of sadness in the giant fox then. "Face the truth you already know. This is no illusion."

It hit him like a punch to the gut. He had suspected, entertained the idea but… but it just couldn't be.

"But—"

"BOY!" Kurama interrupted him with a roar. "You have grown taller, have grown the beginnings of a beard. Every feeling and sense, every sensation here is real. This is no product of someone's imagination. This world is as real as you or me and it's not our old world either. See clearly now. As weak as we are, you need what little wits you have. We can't go home." Kurama's voice had been growing weaker with every word and Naruto thought that only anger had allowed him to speak so much. The old fox closed his eye and his breathing slowed even more.

Naruto collapsed to the floor, water splashing around him. This wasn't an illusion? But that couldn't be the case. It just couldn't be.

It didn't matter. First he'd stop himself and Kurama from dying from whatever was happening and then he'd…. He didn't know what he would do then. He had no idea. At all.

'Focus. Come on. Get out and fall apart after that.'

Naruto reached for his centre and pulled.

Sensations filtered in with a snap.

Whispers came from all around him but he did not understand what they said. He was weak and growing weaker by the second, like a leech was sucking away all of his strength.

There were shackles binding his wrists behind his back and he was kneeling on cold hard ground. He opened his eyes and saw only bright blue.

Ba-dump

The blue glow weakened and strengthened with the beat and then he knew what he was seeing. It was the floating heart from before, only he was directly beneath it this time. And it was stronger, it's light brighter, it's beating quicker and surer than it had been.

Ba-dump

Naruto averted his eyes from the heart and saw the spectres. The sat in their seats still, but all of them were changed. Before they had resembled wisps of smoke. A trick of the light that only seemed present but now there was no doubt. They had solidified, clear blue shadows against the corrupted glow of the beating heart.

What little chakra he had left had been cut in half already but he could feel the small amount of Kurama's chakra he had access to. He would need all of it to get out.

The steel manacles weren't a big problem. What little chakra his body could supply he channelled into his arms, strengthening the weakened muscles and bones.

A sharp twist of his arms, one wrist inwards the other outwards, snapped the chain connecting both appendages. That left him with two heavy bracelets but he had more important things to worry about.

The room was big and square, with three empty walls while the fourth behind him held the only door, the one he had used to enter. He ignored that door and jumped from the table, his legs shaking with the landing. In a moment of inspiration he hurried towards the right hand wall, stumbling with every second step as feeling returned to his legs. There was no door there but he could make one. Whatever magic was at work here, Kurama's chakra was potent enough to smash one wall.

Tapping into the energy brought a curtain of red hot anger over his senses and thoughts. Without his own chakra to bank the soul-deep anger and fury inside Kurama he was exposed to the effects in a way he had not been since his training with B.

Fury drove his fist as much as chakra did. The wall exploded outwards in a shower of stone, leaving a hole big enough to squirm through. Naruto felt his hand break, from the chakra backlash as much as the impact, but he ignored the pain. He needed to leave.

Outside the air was fresh and warm and the sun was sinking, bathing the world in a red glow. The leaves on the trees outside looked purple in the light and the black bark had taken on a red hue.

Naruto forced one foot in front of the other again and again. He ran, never looking back. Past the trees, past the houses, past the people.

He ran and ran until his legs gave out under him and he had no more strength. He could see the sea now. Qarth was gigantic and the harbour mirrored the city. Countless ships dotted the port, no two quite the same.

A gentle breeze drifted from the sea, caressing his skin and hair as it moved past him.

Naruto liked the wind. He had learned to shape his chakra in it's likeness, used it to defeat his opponents, learned to balance himself against it, so that no muscle moved to counter it in meditation.

That at least had not changed. The wind didn't care about you or your problems. It blew or it didn't. With the force of a breeze or the force of a mighty hurricane. The wind did as it wanted, unbothered by everything else.

He wanted to cry but no tears came. How could it be like this? How could this all be real and not an illusion? Why? Why him? He had only wanted to help his friends.

His right hand throbbed and stung, the knuckles already red and swollen. He would need to see a healer, but what did it really matter. He could not go home, could not return to his friends.

His neck was itchy again and he moved his uninjured left hand to scratch it. He felt the small hairs growing there, irritating his skin. A beard, what a joke.

He forced himself to his feet. His body protested any movement and he almost fell to the ground but he gritted his teeth and walked.

Naruto walked and lost himself in the crowd.

Next chapter will be the first one from a different POV. I hope you enjoyed this one and I'll see you guys in the next one.

Reviews:

Killing in Naruto is a bit of a problem. In canon he definitely kills one guy. I would say destroying Kakuzu with Rasenshuriken is arguably the same as killing the guy, even if Kakashi finished him off in the end, but it doesn't really matter. If we assume that Naruto is at least slightly aware of what he is doing, then he was perfectly willing to kill, see his use of Rasengan against other people, they just never end up dying from Naruto, so that he seems like the bestest guy in the world. Kabuto would have died against that, or if he didn't he should have died, if he didn't pull a healing power out of his ass. Naruto also doesn't hesitate to destroy the Paths of Pain, and sure there is an argument about those not really being people, but the important thing is that they look and act like people and he destroys/kills them anyway.

Many people are still talking about the nerf but I hope you will give me two more chapters until you completely write this story off. The next chapters will also include some hints but in chapter 6 there will be a clearer indication of how Naruto will deal with my nerfing him to still turn out being almost unbeatable in a straight up fight.

In that same vein, Naruto is still beyond human in this story. That tree in chapters 2? I was thinking quite big, if it could cover a very wide road so much that they can't just roll it away. Exceeding a metric ton big. Of course he doesn't just lift it up, but he could have if he wanted, but decides against it because he can just do the same thing in any easier way. That is weaker than canon Naruto but I would say at least some part of his canon strength is dependent on his chakra, which he currently can't use that way.