Hey guys! Here's a new chapter of Crystal Illusion.

Konoha-Next morning…

Naruto was sitting in the Hokage's office, looking everywhere but at the Hokage himself. A sense of unease swelled in his stomach. He chose to look at the pictures decorating the walls and gulped. The Hokage cleared his throat, settling his book aside. The Hokage walked around his desk, arms crossed as he leaned against it, a sign erupting from his lips. He rubbed his beard, and placed one hand firmly on Naruto's shoulder. Naruto flinched as if he had been struck.

"Naruto-"

"I'm sorry." Naruto was on his knees kowtowing to the Hokage quietly.

The Hokage shook his head, kneeling next to the boy. He gently pried the boy from the floor, holding his shoulders in his arms firmly. Naruto avoided eye contact and kept his head to the ground.

"I wasn't strong enough. I nearly failed this mission and for that I accept any form of punishment." Sarutobi sweat dropped.

"Naruto-kun. Let me finish a sentence before you start speaking nonsense. Your "death" certainly threw a wrench in your plans for your team, but you didn't cause your mission to nearly fail. That was Aoi's fault. Not your own." Sarutobi hushed Naruto again before he could open his mouth.

"And what he did is unacceptable. Inoichi and Ibiki will be here shortly. Unlike other interrogations, yours will be here since this is a special case. Nonetheless when it comes to your bloodline-" He said trailing off as the doors opened. The old man leaned back against the table, taking a whiff of his pipe.

"We'll continue this later. Ibiki-Inoichi you may begin when you're ready." Naruto sweat dropped. He really didn't have a say in this did he?

His eyes widened when he felt his arms being bound to the chair. He tried struggling against the invisible bonds and let out a breath when they tightened. He watched as Inoichi walked behind him, and his back went rigid. Cold hands gripped his head, keeping his head immobile. His body starting convulsing and a scream climbed its way up his throat, and upon its release, it sounded inhuman and more like a feral growl. Inoichi grunted, yet held firm as he pushed past the boy's mind defenses.

Sizzling skin wafted through his nostrils. Naruto's head was bleeding from a new wound. Chains rattled against any slight sound as he was dragged back to his cell. A cruel laugh ringed in his ears as a light touch of a blade nicked Naruto's cheek. The blood flowed down his cheek, slowing at a micro rate. Naruto's vision was blurring and fading fast.

"I can make the pain go away. Tell me about your mission."

"Go to hell!"

Inoichi watched another scene move in front of him.

Naruto was in chains, looking at something with such intensity that Inoichi was sure there would a hole in that spot. He rattled his chains, pulling against them, trying to get away from the approaching shadows. He made a deep growling in the back of his throat, his eyes bleeding red as his form was enveloped by a shadowy figure. Inoichi moved around to see the figure, but the memory itself was blurry and unfocused. Naruto was momentarily released from his chains. He was turned away and held down by three other men. His growling increased and even intensified as the blurred figure leaned over, his palm brushing against Naruto's neck and began pressing against the center. Naruto's eye widened, losing most of the red tint in his eyes, a scream bubbling from his throat. Creepy laughter soon drowned it out.

"Let's see how long you last against my seal Naruto-kun." The voice had a familiar twinge to it but Inoichi couldn't put his finger on it, then his eyes widened. It couldn't be. Or could it?

Naruto exploded with a burst of charka and lunged at the man, who merely raised a hand. Naruto crumbled to his knees, holding his head in his hands. His eyes were screw shut, his face painted in pain, yet when he opened his eyes, his face was transformed into a calm façade, his eyes had become a dull blue-empty and cold. He kept his eyes low and seemed his demeanor seemed to change completely.

"How can I be of assistance Master?" The man started laughing uncontrollably as a new figure stepped forward. He turned to the new comer, his smile gleaming in the moonlight.

"See how even the most rebellious of spirits eventually crumbles? Give me a report on the seal's progress every so often. It isn't perfected yet, so there may be times where his true self comes back. You will need to tighten the seal but doing so could cause him to become wilder as well." Aoi snickered to himself, nodding while running a hand threw his hair and smirked down at Naruto...

"You're nothing more than a puppet huh?"

Inoichi pulled out of Naruto's memories after looking around a little more, but he had enough to come to a conclusion. "I suspect that snake put the seal on himself. I think you should let Kakashi take a look at the seal if Jiraiya-sama isn't back soon. If the seal is tampered in any way, it'll get worse for Naruto in the end." The Hokage suspected as much.

Ibiki moved next to the boy, holding his shoulders and looked in glassy eyes.

"He was struggling in his bonds earlier, I was afraid I would have to restrain him even more." He placed a hand on Naruto's forehead and signed. He moved his hands over Naruto's temples and entered his mind as Inoichi took a seat next to the Hokage.

Ibiki found Naruto swimming in his mindscape, just floating in the water with no direction at all. "Naruto, where you conscious while the seal was active?" Naruto signed and glanced at Ibiki from the corner of his mind.

"Sometimes, but I was mostly surrounded in complete darkness." Naruto didn't say anything else, so Ibiki took the chance to inspect Naruto's mind.

The walls were still intact with the foundations solid. As his glaze went up, his noticed the cracks get much deeper and bigger. So he wasn't completely unaffected. Ibiki thought.

Ibiki tried looking much farther in his mindscape, when Naruto cried out behind him. Ibiki dodged a sloppy throw from Naruto's kunai and landed some feet away. His eyes narrowed as Naruto's eyes locked on his eyes with an empty glaze and eyes tinting red. He snarled as Ibiki put his hands up in defense.

"Naruto. Don't let the seal control you." Naruto threw his head back, and pulled another kunai from the air, and started running towards Ibiki.

"All the same! You're all the same." He screeched. "I'll kill you. I'll kill you all." Ibiki easily dodged any attacks Naruto threw at him, but the sudden crystalizing of his legs was new for him. Still, he parried Naruto's attacks, and pulled his arm behind his back, and held him against the water gently.

"All…same…same…" Naruto was repeating it like a mantra now, his mind overrun by the seal temporarily.

Ibiki pulled out of Naruto's mind and stepped away as Naruto broke one of his arms free, before Ibiki knocked him out with a swift punch. Sarutobi leaped out of his chair as the boy started convulsing and writhing on the floor, blood spilling from his nose.

"What the hell?!"

Later that day…

Opening his eyes, Naruto found himself staring back at the Hokage. A mixture of saliva and blood dripped down his chin, which he hastily removed. He tried lifting his head, but couldn't find the energy to do so. He reached a hand to the back of his head and hissed pulling away. Sarutobi's brows furrowed and he moved to help the boy sit up.

"Naruto?" He called softly as to not startle the boy.

Naruto cleared his throat, and tried to speak. His throat felt raw and burnt out. A wave of pain and nausea settled over him. The overwhelming stench of anesthetic and cleaning supplies wafted through his nostrils. Leaning against the pillow, he tried speaking once again.

"What happened to me?" His voice was no louder than a whisper.

The Hokage strained to hear the boy. Sarutobi glanced out the window, taking a few steps away from the boy lying in the bed.

"Tell me Naruto. What do you remember during your time in captivity?" An empty look entered his eyes.

"Lots of pain. Lots of darkness. And…"

"And…" Naruto's face flushed, as he ducked his head. The tips of his ears a light pink. Sarutobi found this amusing, yet puzzling.

"A girl." He finished softly. Realization dawned on Sarutobi.

"Was she cute?" Naruto chocked on his saliva.

'That's the first thing he asks.' He thought shaking his head.

"What happened between you two?"

Naruto took a second to think, and shook his head. "I don't remember. Everything's foggy." Sarutobi's eyes narrowed.

"Then how do you remember a girl?" Naruto's ears blushed a bright red.

"Her voice was soothing and made the pain go away…" He trailed off. Before Sarutobi could press any further, a knock was heard.

Before he could tell the person to go away, the door was swung open. Sarutobi clenched his fists by his side as Asuma walked his way across the room. Asuma gave his father a serious look, immediately dragging him away from the confused boy, leaving him alone.

"You were supposed to tell me when you wanted to question Naruto! What the hell happened back there?" Asuma half whispered as they walked back to the Hokage's tower. Sarutobi signed.

"I sent another pigeon for Jiraiya. The seal is getting worse."

"Sarutobi! What happened?" The old man held up his hand, silencing Asuma with a wave of his hand.

"You will address me as your-"

"Answer my question old man!"

Asuma easily dodged a kunai to the forehead and signed taking a seat.

"Naruto submitted to the seal's control momentarily. When Ibiki entered his mind, the seal activated. Whoever made it, had the intention on making Naruto lose his memories to protect themselves. The seal then proceeded to attack Naruto." Sarutobi held up his hand, keeping Asuma quiet.

"I managed to cut off the connection between Naruto's brain and the seal. He suffered some internal damage, which will take some time to heal. The bastard was also good at preventing Minato's seal from mostly interfering. The quicker Jiraiya gets here the better."

"When he gets here, I want him to spend some time with Naruto. Also, I'm removing Naruto from the field for a while and sending him to see a specialist. The last thing we need is an unstable ninja on the battlefield, suddenly going crazy and destroying everything in his path."

"You think Naruto's unstable?" Sarutobi shook his head.

"No, he's been through quite an ordeal and needs some time off. Maybe your whole team needs to be evaluated. They all had some experience on this mission. They may be ninjas but they are still children. I've seen and dealt with too many unstable ninjas in my time."

Asuma nodded slowly. "Understood."

"Dismissed."

The next week

Naruto was walking down a road, glancing at all the merchandise the merchants were displaying. He pulled out his wallet, and brought a few bags of fruit. He traveled a little further down and purchased a bag of beans and potatoes. Ever since Wave, he was trying to improve his diet a little at a time at Asuma's insistence. For a while, Shikamaru had come over to his place and taught him a few simple dishes to help him start out. His favorite dish was still ramen, but he accepted other dishes as well.

He stopped at one stand, surveying the herbs displayed. His mind went briefly to Haku. How was he faring? When they traveled to Wave that last time, Naruto took a day or so to figure out what happened to Haku, but no one had seen him since Naruto's first departure. Naruto looked at some of the herbs, and brought a few. They had some medical properties and he thought the team's current resident medic Shino would appreciate it.

Come to think about it…he hasn't seen either Shikamaru or Shino for a while.

He smiled as a thought in his mind. He quickly finished his grocery shopping and dropped the bags on his kitchen table and took to the roofs.

Feeling the wind blow through his hair, Naruto first stopped by Shikamaru's house. He found Shikamaru laying against a tree with his eyes closed and head bowed. Naruto gently stirred the lazy pineapple from his slumber and whispered his plan. Shikamaru groggily agreed and took the offered hand to stand up. They split up and Naruto found Shino training in their training ground, with a few scrapes and scratches. Naruto told Shino his idea and Shino seemed to smile under his hood and finished up his training session, before following Naruto around. They passed by Asuma on his daily walk and stopped for a moment, staring at his back as they watched him buy a bouquet of flowers. They glanced at each other, shrugged their shoulders and kept on running.

Later that day…

Naruto was putting the finishing touches on the cake, when the doorbell rang. He threw the apron into his room, and moved Shino towards the door, while he ran to the bathroom, making sure his face was devoid of any flour. Shikamaru pushed him out the bathroom a moment later. Naruto fixed his clothes, and greeted his guests. He smiled as all the genin walked in, suspiciously looking for any traps or surprises.

"Welcome everyone! Please come in. No, this isn't a trick." Dressed in black slacks, Naruto straightened his orange t-shirt, and adjusted his orange bowl style hat. His hands were stuffed in his pockets, which he removed to usher people in. He took Hinata's and Ino's arms and escorted them, while Shino literally pushed Sasuke and Kiba through the door. Once everyone was in the room, Naruto had Shikamaru hand everyone a drink.

"On the behalf of Team 8, I would like to congratulate all of us for a job well done. We have graduated from the academy and become full-fledged ninjas. The road ahead is steep and dangerous. We will be beaten and battered at first, but soon we will become jonin like our senseis. I wish us all luck at reaching our dreams together and with the support of everyone here. May the will of fire shine brightly in all of us!" Naruto raised his glass as everyone clapped. Shino took a swing of his drink, shaking his head.

"You're dramatic as always Naruto." Naruto scratched the back of his head, and laughed as he stepped down from his table.

The genin socialized and caught up with each other. Everyone was sitting around Naruto's living room, laughing and talking when Sakura asked a question, gaining Naruto's attention.

"Naruto, where have you been for the past week?" Everyone quieted down, while Naruto's smile grew tighter. Shikamaru and Shino tried not to make their interest obvious, but they failed. Naruto pulled on his hat and removed it from his head, tossing it in his lap.

"I've trained with Yamanaka-san, Sakura-chan." Ino's ears perked up.

"What kind of training?" Naruto shook his head.

"Nothing much, just a few things here and there. I think it's getting late everyone. Team 8 has a mission in the morning, and our sensei will be quite angry if we are late." Shino and Shikamaru nodded and helped Naruto clean up the mess later.

All three were in the kitchen, drinking away. "How's the 'training going'?" Naruto let his head fall in his hands and shook his head.

"Fine, but tiring." Shino pushed further.

"And the dreams?"

"Fine." Naruto snapped. Shino didn't push any further and nodded. Naruto threw his rag across the room. "They're not getting worse, but sometimes I just think about the mission over and over. Aoi's words are constantly in my head. Am a puppet? Or do I have a will of my own? Maybe…maybe…I don't even know sometimes."

Naruto grabbed his head and shook it. He crumbled to his knees and sobbed softly. Either Shino or Shikamaru approached him, instead keeping their distance for a moment. When the sobs quietened, Shikamaru took a sip of his glass.

"That mission was hard on all of us Naruto. Aoi did make you turn into a little puppet during your time with him. But your desire to protect your friends and family, made you overcome that. You're ability to rebel against the seal all the time proves that. You'll only be a puppet if you let Aoi win." Shino nodded.

Naruto wiped his eyes and smiled brightly at his teammates. "Thanks Shika. You too Shino."

"I'll see you tomorrow. I was serious about that mission." Naruto laughed as Shikamaru groaned.

(Extra)

One and a half months later…

Shikamaru's House

Shikamaru was staring at the clouds, on top of his roof. His mind however, wasn't relaxed like normal. No, the inside of his mind was chaotic and turbulent. But he needed this down time. He opened his eyes at the sound of shuffling foot settling next to him. His mother's hair was blowing in the summer breeze, little bits of flour adorning her face. She ruffled his hair for a moment, glazing at the clouds with him.

"How's your training?" She wasn't looking at him, but he glanced at her.

"Fine. Naruto came back yesterday. He's staying with us permanently this time. It felt nice having everyone together again. Shino learned a few new techniques from his family as well. And I've gotten better at making strategies, but…"

"But what?"

"I feel like I don't do enough. Most of the heavy fighting is done between Naruto and Shino. I just do the strategy. It's weirdly troublesome." Yoshido laughed.

"Doubt can be good and bad. It reminds someone that they have room for improvement. It may make a person question their abilities but it reminds one that they are human. Strategy is just as important as physical strength. To be in a team means to be able to divide responsibilities. Shino's like the medic of your group, Naruto's the heavy hitter, and you are the strategist of the group. What's wrong with that?"

She finally glanced at Shikamaru, smiling gently. "If a team was purely based on one element, they wouldn't survive long on the battlefield, would they?" Shikamaru shook his head.

The two shared a moment of silence, when Shikamaru cleared his throat and brushed the dirt off his pants. "Thanks for the talk mom."

Yoshido merely stood on her feet, smacking Shikamaru on the back of the head.

"You're welcome, now go clean your room. And when you're done, go to the market and pick up my dry-clean. When that's done, go wake up your father and tell him dinner's ready. Don't forget to clean the dishes afterwards!" She said walking away, wiping her face with a rag. Shikamaru groaned, scratching the back of his head.

"Troublesome woman."

End scene. The last part is an extra, meaning it's kind of a filler piece. Just a little more character development for Shikamaru, with a little son and mother bonding sewn in. I do apologize for the long wait. Part Two should be out shortly.

I really want to update at least one more time this year, so I'll work hard on getting the next chapter as well.

Thank you for all the followers, favorites, and reviews everyone! Feedback would be nice as always, so review if you have the time, please. ^-^

Flash~