Disclaimer: I didn't know if I wanted to post this, since I'd already marked the story for completion but meh. It's already written so whatever.

Rays of light blazed through the white curtains of his bedroom window, causing his eyes to shoot open. He stared for a few moments at the ceiling as his awareness returned to him. With that awareness came the ever-present phantom of her

He'd dreamed that she'd returned home, dreamed that she'd somehow came back to life. He'd dreamed of holding her, of kissing her and of laughing with her. Then, when he'd taken her home, she'd collected Naruto in her arms in exactly the way he'd expected she would. It had all been so vivid, but it couldn't be real. Why ever would Uzumaki Kushina be alive? It was wishful thinking on his part. In fact, it was more likely that he'd been pulled into a Genjutsu - a really nice Genjutsu.

Minato sighed and turned toward the presence beside him and stared at the impossible illusion. It couldn't be her laying right there, next to him.. it was impossible. He fought against his anxiety as he prepared to do what he knew he had to do.

This was only an illusion of happiness. Kushina was dead. He would never see her again.

"Kushina." He whispered as he traced a hand over her cheeks. The redhead groaned and pulled the covers over her head, causing spears of pain to lance through his heart.

Minato turned away. He marked a seal against his eyelids. With a concentrated burst, he consumed half his Chakra. The air tremored in a small radius around the entire apartment complex.

Immediately outside, several birds took to the air on instinct, scared by the explosion of Chakra that spread through the surrounding area.

Minato looked around. He was still sitting in his bed and..

Beside him, Kushina poked her head out of the blanket with another groan. "There are better ways to wake me you know."

Minato let out a brief laugh and pulled the redhead into his arms. "You're not an illusion!" He cried.

"No. I'm not." Kushina replied softly, a little bit confused by the blonde's odd behavior. "How about you let me get dressed?"

Minato chuckled as he continued to hold his wife against him, the reality of the night before sinking in deep into every fiber of his being. "How about no?"

-Intermission-

A peal of laughter echoed from his parent's room, and Naruto promptly shoved a cold dumpling into his mouth, chewing as loudly as he could.

For what felt like the hundredth time since the night before, Naruto reassured himself that nothing was happening and that his imagination was simply going off kilter.

He didn't want to think about any other alternative. Naruto frowned as another even more discomfiting noise emitted from his parent's room.

How had Sakura put it when Lee was exploring the apartment? The acoustics of the place were too damned good?

"The acoustics of this place are too damned good." Naruto said to himself.

-Intermission-

"Good morning. Naruto." Minato said with a carefree smile. "You're up early. It's only 6:30 in the morning."

"Did you make your own breakfast?" Kushina asked.

"No. I'm eating last night's dinner." Naruto shook his head before dropping his voice to a mutter. "And I couldn't sleep with all the noise."

Kushina froze as a flush crept up her cheeks. Slowly, she turned an accusing look at her husband who was similarly frozen in place. "I thought you said you put up a seal."

"I did." Minato frowned as he put himself back into motion and moved to reheat the previous night's meal. "Naruto.. what…" he paused hesitantly. "What did you hear?"

Naruto jammed the last bamboo shoot into his mouth and stood. "I'm going to see if Sasuke is awake. Bye mom! Bye dad!" The boy swiftly ran out the front door and vanished into the streets, leaving his parents to stare after him with apprehension.

"Minato go check that 'seal' right now!"

"Ah! Right away!" Minato dropped the pot he was holding onto the stove.

Kushina sighed and walked into the kitchen to finish from where he'd left off. After less than fifteen seconds, Minato was back in the dining commons. "There's nothing wrong with the seal.."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." Minato replied. "Did you hear me yell your name from the room?"

"You did?"

"Yes."

Kushina pouted slightly. "No. I didn't hear you."

"So the seal's working perfectly." Minato opened the fridge to retrieve a couple eggs. "If Naruto can hear us.." he trailed off.

"You mean he countered your seal?"

"Apparently. He probably has the counterseal somewhere on his person."

Forgetting her earlier embarrassment, Kushina lit the fire on the stove before her, turned and pulled her flabbergasted husband into an ecstatic embrace. "Our son's a genius!" she exclaimed proudly.

Minato grinned and patted her head with one of the eggs in his hands. "I know."

-Intermission-

Naruto smirked as he made his way into the Uchiha compound. Sasuke still hadn't figured out that he'd made a counterseal against his wards. It made things much too easy.. maybe he should tell his friend about the counterseal..

Naruto had a sudden thought and he pulled up his sleeve to glare at the other counterseal that he'd made several months back for a completely different purpose. "Oh." He muttered to himself simply and then shrugged as he slipped into Sasuke's room undetected.

The Uchiha lay fast asleep in his bed and Naruto's face lit up with sheer anticipation.

Across Sasuke's room, Itachi was pulling on a T-shirt when Sasuke's voice suddenly rang aloud. "NARUTO! WHAT THE HELL! GET OUT OF MY ROOM!"

Itachi shook his head and smiled as Naruto's laughter echoed through the house. Sliding open his room's door, he prepared to encounter the intrusion. The Fourth's son or not, one does not simply break into the Uchiha's home without repercussion. As he made his way to Sasuke's door, he heard Naruto chattering with his brother.

Itachi paused silently to listen to the friendly banter within. What nice acoustics we have.