Like a Child

The figure of Han, his steam forming a shroud around and what looked like a tail behind him, was something that Naruto probably wouldn't forget so easily. That's why when his eyes opened again he instantly checked his surroundings to see if his nemesis was around. He wasn't—which was a relief to the boy—but something else caught his sight.

He wasn't outside in a mountainous environment anymore. He was in a room, but it wasn't any room either: it was his room, from inside the base. The same bed; the same dull, lifeless walls; the same door to the same bathroom…

Naruto blinked, raising his hands to rub his eyes. It was not possible; how could he be back in the base? Had he dreamt all that?

No, it couldn't have been a dream. Sure, he was not feeling pain like he should—after the beating he took from that big guy, even he would be feeling bad in the morning—but all that experience was so real, so vivid… That, and he doubted he could imagine someone like that guy, or the situation he went through. Most of his escape fantasies were far simpler and involved him beating up whoever stood in his way, not the opposite.

Another possibility that crossed Naruto's mind was that the invaders had been repelled. This seemed unlikely considering how easily that guy was dealing with Orochimaru's men, but there always was the possibility that Kabuto brought reinforcements, or maybe Orochimaru himself came back.

It wasn't likely, and didn't make much sense either. But Naruto couldn't think of anything else.

Deciding to keep this assumption for the time being, Naruto remembered another thing. Right before being attacked by Han, he saw that Haku was fighting someone; he didn't know who, nor who was winning, but thinking about it he felt uncomfortable. What if she met someone like that guy? She wasn't immortal, nor did she have his regeneration; worse, she had been injured previously. Feeling more concerned by the moment, he ran to the door—wait, he had been standing all this time?—and down the corridor, determined to find Haku.

Running down the corridors, Naruto felt something strange was up. While visually the place seemed exactly like when he and Haku went around it, it held a somber feeling now; the hallways seemed longer and slightly darker, and even after countless turns and entering rooms and making even more turns… there was no one. The entire place seemed deserted.

It was… too strange. As he kept walking Naruto started feeling nervous.

"Aw, c'mon! There must be someone around here!"

After yelling loudly, as loud as he could, Naruto stood where he was; waiting. Waiting for someone to come over, to check what the sound was.

Waiting for anyone to appear.

But no one came. He kept standing there for what seemed like hours, yet no one came. What was happening? What had happened? Where was everyone? Where was Haku? Unexpectedly, Naruto felt a feeling of despair creep upon him; he couldn't understand the situation, and the thought of being all alone seemed strangely despairing to him now.

As a child, he always wished for something like this to happen. He wished to be left alone, wished for Orochimaru and the scientists to forget about him, even ignore him. Sometimes it seemed to happen, true; most of the time he was left in his cell, but he knew they were always watching. Waiting for the time to make more experiments on him, to use him again like they did to the other children. He would have given anything to be in a situation like the one he found himself now.

Children normally wish for attention, but the way he was brought up made Naruto different. He was forced to mature earlier; he saw what too much attention caused and grew cautious of it.

But even the most mature of adults are prone to acting like children sometimes.

No matter how much you force a child to mature, they will remain a child. They may change on the outside, but they will stay the same deep inside.

And, as if the long-forgotten child inside him woke up, the childish fear of being alone started to overcome Naruto.

You are not alone…

The voice felt like a whisper to the blond boy, and he raised his head as he heard it. This time, it was… different. It didn't feel like it came from his head like all other times, but it came from the outside. A few moments later the words were repeated, this time a little louder, and Naruto had the confirmation he needed: the voice echoed through the corridor, showing it was not inside Naruto's head anymore.

Meaning there was someone out there.

Feeling a surge of hope and energy—"Since when was I so energic?"—Naruto rushed through the corridors, making turns and following the voice as it grew louder and louder. After going around a corner, he reached a 'landmark' he knew all too well.

From the middle of the corridor onwards there was a path of crushed ground, leading straight into a wall which was also partially destroyed; a big hole the size of a person in it. "Wasn't it in here that I fought the steam-guy?" The corner of his mouth curved upwards forming a small smile: this was the proof that what happened was not just a dream. After reaching the hole in the wall Naruto turned to the side, looking into another corridor. His heart sank when he saw no hole at its end; he remembered being literally punched through the wall and into the outside right there. But there was no hole. "What the hell is happening around here?"

As the voice kept echoing around, he kept on his way; making the same path he and Haku had done to escape, he made a turn when he reached the now-inexistent hole and kept forward.

This was the exit of the base Haku had been guiding him to.

This was where the voice was coming from.

"I wonder if they managed to escape."

That was the thought that ran through Kabuto Yakushi's head as he looked back to where he had just come from. Having left the base just before the attack started, he kept thinking about it as he made his trip. After the briefing, he expected Naruto to form something capable of flying in order to leave the place, even more so when he saw its surroundings personally; more than once he caught himself wishing that a huge shadow passed over him, just for him to look up and see Naruto's creation leaving.

The boy's escape would prove to be useful in the future, but right know he had more important things to care about.

Looking around, he had to admit this was a somewhat creepy-looking place for a meeting. Being in a transition area between the mountainous wasteland from where Kabuto came from and the Fire Country's abundant forests, the place was basically a forest of huge, dead trees. They were enormous and hollow, having little to no leafs growing on them, and quite spaced out, a few meters between each tree. Even in the ground there was little vegetation, with a few patches of grass growing here and there, and very few animals around, like that bird on the tree…

Taking a step back quickly, Kabuto avoided just in time the bird's falling crap. How lucky.

"Good. You are early."

Looking up from the bird's now smashed feces, Kabuto was welcomed by the figure of a hunchback man. His straw hat blocked most of his face, leaving only his expressionless eyes, and the rest of his body was covered in a black cloak with red clouds; even then, Kabuto knew very well who it was.

Akasuna no Sasori.

"Were you followed?"

"No, it is safe." Answered Kabuto, who had his own figure hidden by a cloak. "I must say I was a bit disoriented when you lifted the jutsu, Sasori-sama. If I may ask, why did you have me report back after so little time?"

"I have my motives. Now, what have you got for me?"

Having been a spy for Sasori for so long, Kabuto had learned to understand the real meaning behind the missing-nin's few words. He could see that he was expecting something big, and that what he just spoke was actually a threat; Kabuto couldn't help being afraid of this.

"W-Well, with so little time I couldn't advance in my studies of Orochimaru's seals or his 'immortality' technique." There was a brief movement inside Sasori's cloak and in the next moment a metal tail came out of it; it hung menacingly in the air, showing that this was not the answer Sasori wanted. "B-But I have some news. I just came from one of his bases hidden in the wastelands and, apparently, it has just been found out."

Sasori's tail stopped its movement, a sign that he was interested and listening carefully. And, for Kabuto, a sign that he was not going to die so soon.

"A squad of Iwagakure shinobi was going towards the base just as I left and, if the sounds I heard were any indication, they attacked it." He stopped to see if Sasori showed any reaction. There was none; and so, Kabuto continued. "Orochimaru had left that base yesterday and took some of his main experiments, but I was able to secure something that might be of interest for you."

Moving his hand inside his robes, Kabuto pulled out a scroll. Under Sasori's cautious gaze, he threw the scroll in his direction; it was caught midway by the tail, who took it down to eye-level. The puppeteer eyed the scorpion seal in it, recognizing it instantly.

"Yes, that is my puppetry scroll. So, it really was Orochimaru who took it…" He pulled the scroll into his robes, before returning his gaze to Kabuto. "It would seem as if it was lost in the attack, most likely destroyed. I wonder what Orochimaru's use for it was…"

The unasked question hung in the air, Kabuto not really trusting himself to answer. As the tail started moving again, showing Sasori's impatience, he managed to speak. "He used the knowledge on human puppets to help prevent the decay of bodies. It allowed him to protect Kekkei Genkai material, as well as use the dead bodies for-"

"I'm quite aware of the benefits Orochimaru would see in my human puppets, Kabuto." Sasori cut him off, his deep voice showing irritation. "And I'm also aware that you are keeping things from me."

"Wha-"

Before he could try to defend himself, something happened that made Kabuto lose all air in his lungs. As he gasped for air, he managed to look down and see what was causing this: a big centipede-like thing was around him, constricting him. But the thing wasn't totally strange to Kabuto: its color and texture seemed similar to…

"Shit"

"I told you to stay back, Deidara."

"Pfff, you are the one who's always complaining about waiting. Hypocrisy much, hn?"

As the centipede loosened its grip, Kabuto was able to—besides recovering his much needed oxygen—turn his head upwards to see the other man. Standing there, crouched on the branch of the hollowed tree alongside the bird from before, was Sasori's partner from Akatsuki.

Deidara.

The blond man merely looked down, waving at him and grinning. What was most disturbing about that scene was that he had a mouth on the palm of his hand; and it was also grinning at Kabuto.

As the blond jumped down, Sasori voiced his irritation again. "This is my business, brat. I told you to stay away."

"No way! I have as much right to know about Orochimaru's doings as you!"

"No, you don't."

"I do! I was the one attacked, wasn't it?"

Sasori showed no outwardly reaction to Deidara's point. This was only wasting time. "Fine, do as you wish. But I am the one questioning here, you understand?"

After a nod from the blond man, Sasori returned his attention to Kabuto. The boy seemed amused at their brief banter, but he couldn't hide his increasing nervousness.

"From the look in your face, I see you understand who this man is. Which brings up another question…"

Suddenly the clay centipede tightened again, and Deidara was in front of Kabuto. "What the hell did Orochimaru want attacking me, hn?"

"Deidara!"

Taking advantage of the duo's argument, Kabuto stopped to analyze the situation. A situation that was no good for him.

Ever since Orochimaru broke Sasori's control over him he had managed to find a balance between serving both nins, by not giving vital information about Orochimaru to Sasori and stalling about the information gathering regarding the snake's new experiments. Orochimaru did not ask much other than that and the occasional inquiry regarding the Akatsuki's current doings, such as new members or recent alliances; he could gain it normally through Sasori, without jeopardizing their relationship.

Anyway, there were things Sasori didn't know.

One of them was Naruto.

Of course, Kabuto already suspected Sasori's intentions with such an early call and had planned accordingly; but having Deidara here too would require rethinking. He knew how Sasori acted, and how to act around him: unlike Orochimaru, who employed a poison-laced charisma to get what he wanted from others—convincing them on joining him, preying on their ambitions, inducing possible spies into revealing themselves and changing sides—, Sasori was more brutal and direct. He did not care about subtlety, he merely pressed others for the information he wanted. His rough voice and his puppet's face, that made it seem like he was always angry, helped a lot in his intimidation act.

Or maybe he was only like that with Kabuto. It would be difficult to maintain a spy network like he had through mere physical threatening; Kabuto theorized that Sasori studied his spies to find their weak spots, and preyed on them accordingly in order to 'motivate' them and maximize their effectiveness. The physical threatening was probably what he believed worked best on Kabuto.

Going back to the matter at hand, Deidara could destroy Kabuto's plan. While he was sure he could convince Sasori that there was nothing wrong, he had no idea on how perceptive Deidara was: he could be able to see through Kabuto's deception, or even have some knowledge about the Bakuton that would make his explanation crumble. The only thing he knew was that the man was trigger-happy, meaning the blond probably wouldn't give him another chance if he was found lying.

But there was no other choice right now.

He would have to risk it.

"Where are they?"

Receiving the answer from the nurse the small man went down the hospital hall, the people opening way for him to pass. Seeing the small old man in there wasn't exactly new, but seeing him walking through there with such a look of determination instead of one of pain made them see that they would better not cross the Tsuchikage right now.

Onoki didn't even pay attention to them; actually, he probably didn't even notice they were there. He was focused on the door at the end of the hall, the door where they were…

So, let me get this straight: Orochimaru was not in that base?

That is right. But-

Then get out of here! This whole ordeal was just a waste of time, a failure!

I wouldn't say that, Tsuchikage-sama.

So? You secured something from his experiments? We have attacked him before and found that, without him or someone else who worked in that, his projects are of no use. Unless you found something useful, then this operation was a waste of time.

Just read this file, okay? We took it from Orochimaru's lab. If you change your mind, I will be at the hospital.

"Knew you would change your mind, Tsuchikage-sama."

Onoki glared at the brawny shinobi as soon as he opened the door, but paid no attention. Kitsuchi merely grinned as he saw the small Kage start to levitate in order to get a better view of the people on the hospital room. There were four beds, each one with an unconscious occupant; Onoki noticed that all of them were kids, most likely around 9-11 years old.

On one bed there was a boy lying on his side. He was different from everything Onoki had seen before: he had a head protruding from his upper back, almost from behind his neck. Both heads had bluish/grey hair, and the boy's body looked like it had once seen better days. Though he was not a medic, Onoki knew that the boy needed to be treated carefully; he seemed almost malnourished, and he could guess that the boy needed more energy than a normal person with this extra appendage. Of course Orochimaru would know to treat better someone with a Kekkei Genkai or whatever the boy's ability was, so why was the boy like this?

Deciding to think about it later, Onoki turned to the other beds. Two of them were occupied by girls: at first sight, they seemed perfectly normal. One was dark-haired, her hair growing a bit past her shoulders. She seemed to be the older of the bunch, and the one in the best physical condition.

On the other bed was another girl, this one probably 1-2 years younger than the other two. Like the boy she seemed in a bad state, though not as much. Her hair was green and, although it wasn't long, it seemed quite voluminous: they made natural bangs on the sides of her face, with a few lose strands falling on her face. Her clothes were very simple looking and were mostly ragged.

"What can you say about those three?"

Kitsuchi went closer, noticing that Onoki refrained from looking at the last bed. He could see the Tsuchikage was anxious to see the boy, but wanted to first understand the other three.

"Can't say for sure about them. These two were found by Ittan and some others while investigating the base. According to his report, they were with a bunch of other children in cells; these two seem to be the only ones who survived long enough to receive medical attention." Onoki nodded, showing his understanding. "We are not sure about the boy's mutation, and we don't know if the girl has anything else. The black-haired girl, though," Kitsuchi pointed at Haku's unconscious form "showed some skills; I believe she might interest you quite a bit."

"Why do you say so?" Onoki asked impatiently. He just wanted the man to finish the report so he could look at the other 'finding'; he had a feeling Kitsuchi was being obnoxious on purpose.

"Besides the fact she fought like a Kiri shinobi, hidden mist and all?" The Iwa shinobi smirked. "She used ice mirrors"

Onoki quickly got interested, turning to face Kitsuchi before looking incredulously at the girl. "How did Orochimaru… Are you sure about it?"

"Yes, I found her myself. She is quite skilled, though I doubt she has much knowledge on her bloodline powers..."

Onoki kept his eyes on the girl as he heard Kitsuchi talk. It was unlikely for her to have been trained by or even have met her clan; the Yuki clan was already being persecuted long before the purges as it was considered 'cursed'. Orochimaru, too, was unlikely to have enough knowledge on their jutsu to train the girl to her full potential.

That is not to say that he had. He had met Hyoton users in the past, and remembered a few of their abilities, but being taught by someone who used them was different than by someone who merely observed them —unless it was a Sharingan user, which Onoki wasn't.

She was a good finding, true, but the main prize was another one…

He turned away from the girl and looked at the last bed. There, laying unconscious, was the true motive for him being there. Orochimaru's experiment captured during the attack, and jinchuriki of the Kyuubi.

Naruto Uzumaki.

"Uzumaki. Didn't think I would hear that name again."

"Decided to finally kill your curiosity, old man?"

Once again ignoring Kitsuchi's comment, Onoki looked over the boy. The first thing he noticed was the condition his body was in.

"He fought Han." Kitsuchi's answer to his unasked question was enough. "And believe me, his body was way worse when he got here. That boy got an amazing regenerative power."

Even without seeing him before—when he was 'worse'—Onoki could believe in Kitsuchi's words. The boy's body was very burned, to the point it seemed to lack skin in some areas. Still, he could see a bit of the boy's appearance, matching with the file Kitsuchi had given him earlier.

His spiky, white hair that was eerily similar to Jiraiya's. Onoki briefly wondered if the boy had become a jinchuriki for some kind of connection with the Sannin.

His skin seemed more burned on one half of his body. This, alongside the patches of visible skin, showed that the boy's body seemed to have two different colored halves.

The few stitches that seemed to be appearing on his body matched the info on the report too, specially the bit about it helping his regeneration.

Then, there was the mere fact he was still alive after what happened. If he was not immortal, he was very close to.

All of the Akatsuki's powers on one being… Onoki was impressed. He had never seen all of them, but he could recognize some and the others were written on the report. Remembering the information on it, the old Tsuchikage felt oddly nervous as he approached the unconscious boy to check one last thing.

The most important of his powers.

Lifting the boy's eyelids, he watched his eyes in shock and amazement.

Such a sight could make bad things happens to a man as old as Onoki. However, Onoki wouldn't dare to succumb to any old age ailment right now; no, he instead stood strong and did the only reasonable thing he could.

Going back to the floor, he turned his back to the four beds and started walking out of the room. With such a treasure on Iwagakure's hands, he had no time to stand still contemplating it or to accompany the kids on a hospital bed. He had to start acting fast.

Kitsuchi smirked as he left. The old man wouldn't admit it, but he knew he was feeling like a children again.

A happy children.

Walk.

Naruto didn't know how long he kept doing it.

The only thing he knew was that he found no exit.

Instead of the mountains that surrounded the base, he kept seeing the dark walls; instead of feeling the earth underneath his feet, he kept walking over the floor of the base. What the hell was happening?

Finally, Naruto stopped. He didn't feel tired—"Strange"—nor did he have an idea. He just stopped trying: looking forward, the hall seemed to extend forever like an infinite corridor; looking behind, he saw the same thing. The despair he felt turned into a feeling of hopelessness, he had given up and could only pray for it to be a nightmare.

And for him to wake up, with someone at his side.

Even if it was the steam-guy; he didn't mind at this point.

"You should be careful with what you wish for, boy."

Naruto jumped at the voice, looking around frantically. He couldn't see anyone, but the voice wasn't an echo: it was more like a big roar, someone—or something—near him.

"Look more closely, and you might find me."

As if following the voice's order Naruto stood up—since when had he been on the floor?—and slowly turned around, examining his surroundings. There was nothing different: the infinite corridor, the dark walls, the infinite corridor on the other side, more dark walls, a dark pillar…

Wait…

Naruto stepped back in shock. As he completed a full turn and stood looking back at where he had been before, the whole place seemed to have changed. Gone were the corridors, and now he stood in the middle of a giant, empty room. In front of him there were what, at first, Naruto thought were pillars; by their position, though, they looked more like bars of a cell.

"What the fuck is happening around here?"

How… How could a place change like this?

He remembered Kabuto told him that shinobi could create illusions using their chakra. Maybe the steam-guy had placed him in one?

Naruto didn't have time to think more about it as a gigantic red claw smashed against the bars. The unexpected event caused Naruto to fall to the floor; once in there, he looked back to see that, behind the bars, there was what looked like a red mist. The claw slowly receded back into it.

"Wh-What the fuck?"

The mist seemed to solidify itself, forming an image Naruto didn't expect. Standing before him now was a giant fox, its multiple tails swinging behind it and its head looking upward. All of a sudden, it snapped downwards; its red, slanted eyes looking directly at Naruto. The blond could feel its malice; it was almost intoxicating, and he caught himself trembling as he looked into the eyes of the beast. He felt an odd urge to run away and hide, to try and forget the sheer evil he was feeling right now.

Yet, at the same time, he felt like staying. He couldn't understand, but he felt a stubborn urge to stay and stare back; like a children who doesn't realize the danger of a situation and, out of stubbornness, refuses to obey orders. Unconsciously, the iris of his eyes turned a bloody red and three tomoe appeared in it; the Kyuubi's eyes narrowed even more at this, focusing more and more of its malice on the boy. Naruto tried to glare back with as much intensity, but he knew he was losing this battle.

The Kyuubi smirked as it kept its glare at the boy. "You have guts, brat. I will enjoy eating them when I get out of here."

…when I get out of here…

Suddenly, something clicked on Naruto's mind. Averting his gaze from the beast, he looked at its tails and counted the number: nine.

"Th-That's it! You… You a-are the Kyuubi no Kitsune!"

He was stuttering. WHAT THE HELL WAS GOING ON WITH HIM?

The fox had a devilish smirk on its face. Not one of mischief, but one of pure evil. "So, you aren't as stupid as I thought."

Naruto kept his eyes away from the fox's, trying to comprehend what was going on.

"But, if the fox is in here, then where is here?"

The Kyuubi snarled. "I take back what I said." Then, for a moment, the fox noticed how close Naruto was to the cage. Close enough that it could catch him with a tail, tear him apart, make the promise from before turn real… And with him out, his body would be free for the beast to take.

Concentrating on the problem at hand, Naruto was paying no notice to this until he felt a powerful gust of wind. Looking up, he saw as the Nine-Tailed Fox seemed to be thrown back by it—and idly noticed that one of its tails seemed to have been reaching out of the cell. It jumped up again, letting out a fearful roar that almost made Naruto fall backwards.

The next moment, however, Naruto stood in amazement as lights started appearing inside the fox's cage. The Kyuubi growled more as it saw them and in the next moment one of the lights shot forward, hitting the beast and forcing it into the ground. As the fox tried to stand, the other lights followed suit, striking at it and forcing its tails and claws to stay on the floor. His eyes adjusting to the brightness of the light, Naruto was shocked to see that the light was, in reality, chains.

Chains made of chakra.

Its head forced into the ground, the Kyuubi opened one of its eyes. Naruto could see the hate in them as it looked in his direction, but something else caught his eye. Reflecting on the fox's eye was not only him, but something else behind him…

"I told you I wouldn't let you reach Naruto."

Naruto turned around quickly, recognizing the voice; it was the same voice that would talk to him, and the voice that called him there. What he saw was a bright glow, like an aura of light, but he could tell there was someone inside it.

"You can't do this to me! If you don't let me out, I will make your child suffer even more than I planned to!"

"Your child…?" A shocked Naruto kept his eyes on the figure, noticing it was walking closer to him and the cage. "Who is that person?"

"You are in no position to make threats, fox. Actually, you should just keep your mouth shut."

"You can't do this to me, you b-!" The Kyuubi was silenced as more chains appeared, this time from the ground, and circled its nose; suddenly they tightened, forcing the fox's mouth closed. They formed something similar to a muzzle.

"Well, now that the fox won't meddle anymore…" The figure turned to look at Naruto, who seemed amazed yet confused about the situation. "I may guess how strange this is for you, but believe me, you will get used to it."

"Who are you?" Naruto asked with uncertainty.

"I heard it the first time you asked. I will give you a hint."

Naruto didn't have time to ask what it meant, as the bright light that surrounded the person seemed to intensify to the point he had to raise his arm to protect his eyes. As it started dying out, Naruto cautiously looked again. The bright aura had disappeared, allowing him to fully see the figure.

He didn't expect what he saw.

The 'figure' revealed itself to be a woman. She had a fair skin, violet/blue eyes and quite a feminine face. She wore a pretty sleeveless dress, with a high-collar and… was that an apron? Being a 10 year old, Naruto's only way to describe her was that she was very pretty, more so than Haku; but what really caught his eye was her hair. A long, bright red hair that really amazed Naruto as he had never seen something like that.

He was glad to be able to see the figure, but that didn't answer the question of wh-

"…your child…"

Naruto's eyes widened as realization struck him. The woman smiled as she looked in Naruto's eyes, seeing that it was starting to water.

She crouched down as Naruto ran at her, throwing himself on her arms; she smiled as she held him in her arms, caressing his hair as he cried on her and desperately held on her as if his life depended on it. "M…Mom…"

"Shhh… It's okay, I'm here. You aren't alone, Naruto; not now, not never." She said, kissing the top of his head.

They stood like that for some time, neither really wanting to let go of the other.

Meanwhile, the Kyuubi closed its eyes, deciding that getting some sleep would be more beneficial than watching its damn vessels meeting.

Naruto leaned back, breaking their embrace to look at his mother's face. She too looked at him, her hand moving to caress his face. "You really take after me, son. But you have your father's beautiful hair."

"Really?" Naruto chuckled, swallowing the lump on his throat and bringing an arm to wipe his eyes. "Heh, too bad it isn't blond anymore then…"

"Well, at least in here it is."

Stopping what he was doing, Naruto was about to ask what she meant when he caught sight of something. Bringing up his other arm, he compared both his hands: they weren't differently colored, they were the same.

He was normal. And a surge of happiness rushed over him as he thought of it.

"You always were." Naruto looked up, seeing his mother smiling at him. "Well, all this happening and I forgot to answer your other question. Where are we… Considering the fox over there" a muffled sound, similar to a snarl, came from the supposedly-asleep beast "I ask you: where do you think we are?"

"Hm… In my belly?" Naruto knew it was improbable, but considering the seal was in there…

Kushina let out a loud laugh, surprising Naruto. The boy too couldn't help but laugh a little, infected by his mother's laugh. Regaining her composure, she answered with a smile on her face.

"Close enough. We are in your mindscape; your subconscious, to be more precise."

…

…Well, this kind of explained all the strange things that were happening.

Naruto didn't know how to react. However, one question started to cloud his mind.

"What am I doing here? Well, you see…" Kushina stopped as she saw the astonished look on Naruto's face. She hit her forehead with the palm of her hand. "Oh, sorry, it's kinda rude to interrupt your thought. You see, since we are at your mind, I can hear what you think too. It's like your voice in amplified for the entire mind to hear."

…Well, that explained why his thoughts seemed louder than before.

"Yeah, it does. Anyway… Well, I exist in your mind, Naruto. Where can I start…? I will try to simplify things. I tend to talk too much sometimes, and if you are like me you probably won't want to hear it all; at least not now." She chuckled.

"Your birth wasn't a very conventional one. I… was the jinchuriki of the Kyuubi before you. During birth the seal naturally weakens; this and some other… inconveniences… ended up letting the fox free. It attacked the village we lived in, and everyone did everything they could to stop it… Until your father did it. He saved us all, me, you, the village… In the end he gave his life to weaken the Kyuubi and seal the rest of it inside you, to protect you… Yes, I know that the damned fox would prefer to eat you than to protect you…" the Kyuubi made a movement with its head, signaling that she was right. "But, as an Uzumaki and, above all, our son… we knew you would be able to find a way to use it."

"He sacrificed himself to do it, but he left a parting gift. I was dying too… I know how it is, the burden of carrying that thing inside you… We didn't want you to be alone… So he sealed some of my chakra on you, so that I could appear to you when you needed most. It was supposed to be a one-time thing but… Something… Something strange happened. Something that Orochimaru put in you, one of his 'experiments', strengthened my chakra and gave me life again… Inside you."

As Kushina finished, she took a deep breath. Being a talkative person, it was difficult for her to leave out so many important details; she pretty much forced herself to make stops all the time. She looked at Naruto, waiting to see how he reacted. He had his head down; when he raised it, she could see he seemed on the verge of tears.

"I-I love you mom… and I love dad too…"

Kushina smiled; a genuine, yet sad, smile. She knew he had a difficult life, but in a different way than they had expected. Had it been different, had he stayed in the village, he would probably have hated them.

Still, she would have preferred for him to hate them than to have suffered like he did.

But destiny had a strange way of doing things. Had Orochimaru not interfered, Naruto would probably have made friends that would help him through the difficulties he would face; but, with Orochimaru's interference, something more than friends was in need. Naruto would need someone who could love and stand by his side even more than a friend would.

He would need his parents. His mother.

And, exactly because of Orochimaru's interference, his mother had been born again; this time even closer to him. She was alive, inside him.

"Just remember: I will always be here, no matter what. Anything you want, whenever you want someone to talk to, I will be here. I love you, Naruto."

They stayed there for God knows how long; talking, hugging, or just being near each other. There were many things Naruto wanted to know, about her past, his father, his birth… Kushina answered everything, smiling as she looked at her son's expressions, freeing herself to talk as much as she wanted to. Naruto didn't complain; rather, they both laughed at each others antics and enjoyed their little time together.

Because, when you have lost ten years, a month together was too little time.

Well, I am finally posting again, and just in time for Christmas. I guess this is my Christmas present for all of you who like this story and wanted it updated, and once again I apologize for the wait. I greatly thank everyone who kept reviewing/PMing, favoriting, and all around reading this story(look for the hidden message on the last phrase of the chapter :P ).

I could blame many things for the late update. Busy life, having to study a lot for school, final tests and finally finishing high school, tests for university(don't know how it is in your countries, but here in Brasil it's a pain), the fact I got addicted to cinema(god, don't know how I lived without seeing Sergio Leone's, Ingmar Bergman's and specially Stanley Kubrick's movies) and my own laziness. Seriously, I have the whole story already(even the ending) but I just can't seen to write it down.
I almost thought about giving up on fanfiction, as I found myself preferring to use my computer time watching movies rather than writing. It might seem strange, but a review I got a few days ago for a story I wrote at the beginning of the year made me feel bad. Made me feel bad about not writing, and especially about not carrying out some promises I made to people here. So, It gave me the motivation to write again and I managed to complete this chapter(I wrote the end of the hospital scene and the whole last part yesterday).
/true story.

Anyway, on story related comments:
-I found it extremely difficult to write the hospital scene as I am not sure how to characterize Onoki and Kitsuchi; that's why I ended up rushing that part a bit. If anyone has tips/advice on how to write them, please tell me.
-The green haired girl in that scene was Kagero Fuuma; she appeared in one of the filler arcs. I needed someone else to appear in there but didn't want it to be an OC; and someone suggested her for the story. I watched the episodes she appeared in, and decided to include her. Sorry if my description wasn't that good.
-Regarding Kushina, well, I wonder if some of you expected it. I thought the chain things were a dead give-away, so I included the 'yellow flash' in chapter 3 and people thought it was Minato :P. I have problems in disregarding some things from canon, and having Kushina be fully alive would be changing too much of the series backstory; as such, I twisted dracohalo117's challenge a bit and found a loophole to work with. If he is reading this, well, what do you think?
-Still on Kushina, she was also difficult to write. One of the flaws I see on the other Perfection stories is the way they characterize her, so I was a bit fearful on writing her. Believe me, I reread the manga chapters she appeared in so many times, I have pretty much memorized everything in them. Can anyone give feedback on this?

Once again, I deeply apologize to everyone who was kept waiting for this update, and hope you like it. Reviews are always welcome, especially with feedback on the story(even if it's just criticism). Merry Christmas to all!