Chapter 2 - Dreams Are Reality
Naruto was lying on his bed reading a book. He had taken a liking to the book ever since he got it for his birthday the week before.
The book told the story of a boy who had been born with supernatural powers. The boy, named Katsuya, was scared of his abilities and always tried to hide them from everyone, even though his parents would always tell him that he shouldn't be ashamed of who he was. It was Naruto's favorite book because it reminded him of his own family.
Just like Katsuya, Naruto's parents would always tell him that he was special, and that he should always be proud of who he was. Even though it had been four years since he had overheard his parents' argument, he never believed them when they would tell him that it was okay to be different. He could see the anxiety on their faces, the fear in their eyes. That fear made him more ashamed than anything.
He knew that his parents loved him. It wasn't like that look of fear was always there. The look was only present when he would accidentally use his powers. His parents would see how his powers continued to develop. The love in their eyes would turn to fear. Fear of what he could do or fear of Naruto himself, he wasn't sure, but Naruto didn't like either choice.
Especially since his birthday "celebration" last week.
Naruto and Kyuubi were sitting at the dining room table, waiting for their mother to bring in the cake. Their dad was off looking for matches to light the candles with. However, Minato came back without any matches, saying that there weren't any left. Naruto remembered feeling disappointed just before he glared at the candles, wishing that the ten candles placed in the middle would just light themselves. Much to his, and everyone else's surprise, they did.
Everyone stared at the cake in amazement before his mother told him to blow out the candles lest they ruin his cake. It was too late though. The moment was ruined. Ever since then his parents were more…. "dejected" in the things they did, for lack of a better term. At least Kyuubi was still his same old self. He didn't mind Naruto's powers; he thought they were cool.
Naruto smiled at that. Even in the worst situations, his big brother was always there for him. He never feared him.
Right now, Kyuubi was hanging out with some friends. His birthday was two days after Naruto's. Their mother wanted to throw him a party too, but he complained that since he was now 18, he's too old to have, as he so kindly put it, a "kiddy party".
Naruto sighed when he finished the book. The clock on his wall read
9:16, but the blonde wasn't ready to go to bed just yet.
For weeks now, he's had the same recurring dream. The dream was always about a fire. The image of his parents surrounded by fire inside their burning house flashed across his mind's eye. A violent shiver passed through him and he clenched his eyes shut, hoping to block out the mirage that plagued him. He stayed like that, huddling himself underneath his blanket until he slipped into a dream-filled sleep.
~Dream~
Naruto was inside his room. His bed, desk, and the old toys that he had kept through the years; all of it was being consumed by the flames. The flames licked at his skin, but never really touched him. He felt himself move. He threw open his door. Flames were all over the walls. Pictures of his family were quickly burning to ash. The beams above him suddenly started to give way. He was barely able to jump out of the way before they landed on him. That's when he heard them. Voices. He started to run towards the sounds, yelling for his parents. It never crossed his mind to call for his brother. "
Mom?" Naruto's voice shouted over the roaring flames of the fire. "Dad?" No one answered him. The stair hadn't caught fire yet, so he tried his luck downstairs. "Mom! Dad! Can you hear me?" "
Naruto?" That sounded like his mother. His heartbeat started to speed up. Running towards their living room, he froze. His parents were trapped behind what looked like Kyuubi's bedroom. A look at the ceiling told him he was right. The floor of his brother's room had collapsed. Naruto looked desperately to find a way to get his parents free from the wreckage. Tears filled his eyes when he couldn't. He looked desperately at his parents. They were holding each other closely, yelling at him to leave, to save himself. He shook his head, refusing to leave. The rubble from the ceiling prevented him from getting to them, but he wouldn't leave them either. "
Naruto." He felt himself look up, the tears flowing down his cheeks. "
We love you." The flames suddenly roared and engulfed his parents in a curtain of dancing red. His feet felt like they were going to burn off at any minute, but he couldn't stop running.
~Dream~
Naruto sat up, his heart beating loudly in his ears. He again clenched his eyes shut tightly, pulling his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. He jumped slightly at the sound of someone knocking on his door. He didn't need to look up to know that it was his mother.
"Naruto?" she asked softly. "What's wrong?"
He didn't look at her, only buried his face into his knees. "What makes you think anything is wrong?"
From the corner of his eye, he could see his mother pick up one of the many fox dolls that lay spread across his bed and sit down next to him. She placed her hand gently on his back.
"I'm your mother. I always know when something is bothering you," she said.
He didn't say anything for a while, only looked at his mother's red hair, then at the doll that lay in her lap. He felt her hand rubbing circles on his back in a soothing manner. A sigh left his lips and a red tint filled his cheeks in embarrassment.
"I had a bad dream," he mumbled under his breath, hoping that he didn't sound like a baby.
His mother hugged him tightly. "Oh, my baby had a bad dream!"
The blush on Naruto's face deepened. "Mom!" he whined, struggling out of her grip. "Let go!"
Kushina shook her head, tears streaming from her eyes. "No, not until you tell me what that horrible dream was about!"
Much to Naruto's chagrin, his father just happened to be passing by his room. Great, just great. "What's this about a bad dream? Did our little Naruto have a nightmare?"
His mother nodded her head as Minato sat on the other side of him. "Yes! But he won't tell me what it was about!"
Sparing a quick look over, Naruto saw the tears that began to run down his father's face. Naruto yelped when his father hugged him and started to bawl like a baby. "My poor lil Naru!"
Naruto heaved a sigh and stopped trying to get out of their grip. It was absolutely useless at this point.
"Okay, okay! I'll tell you, just stop with the fake tears!" Just like that, his parents let go of him. Not a trace of the previous tears was found on their faces.
He couldn't help but smile at his parent's antics. It was their way of cheering him or Kyuubi up whenever either felt down. Strangely, it worked every time.
His father poked his shoulder in a friendly gesture. "So, what's bothering you?"
The smile on Naruto's face disappeared. He had known this time would come eventually. Looking back down at his knees, Naruto finally asked them the question that had been on his mind for a while.
"Do you love me?"
Even though his voice was only a whisper, his parents could hear it clear as day. He could feel his mother stiffen and his father grip his hand tightly.
"Naruto." His father's voice sounded strained. "Why would you think that we don't love you?"
Naruto couldn't look up. He didn't want to see the look on their faces. "Because of what I can do! You hate it! Don't try and tell me otherwise. I see the look in your eyes whenever I use these powers. You're scared of me and I can't help but think that you'll start to hate me too…just like you hate my powers."
For what felt like an eternity, his parents didn't say anything and he still couldn't bring himself to look at them. They hadn't said that they hated him, but they hadn't said that they loved him either.
He felt arms wrap around him in a warm embrace. He looked at his parents in shock. His father had him in a tight hug. Naruto could feel the tears falling from his father's face onto his. His mother was hugging him too, almost like they had done just a few minutes earlier. Except this time, the tears were real.
"Never think that. Never, ever think something like that," his father mumbled into the top of Naruto's head. His mother ran a hand through his blonde hair, softly singing a tune that he had heard before.
He relaxed into their hold, but only for a second. For some reason, he felt extremely strange. He tried shrugging off the feeling, but it only seemed to be getting worse. He could still hear his mother humming, but soon, everything started to become fuzzy.
His breath started to come out heavily and he could feel the sweat dampening his hair.
"—uto…"
It felt as if someone was holding him under water and wouldn't let him up. He felt a sudden constantly growing buildup of pressure.
"—aruto….!"
His father's voice sounded muffled. Naruto tried to listen, but the feeling was making it difficult.
"Ple—….ruto…!"
He could feel someone shaking him. It was making him dizzy and he couldn't think straight.
"Naruto!"
He felt the pressure suddenly release, leaving him in a state of numbness. The sound of his mother's scream broke through his consciousness. He looked up to see his father with his pillow trying to put out the fire on his bookshelf. His mother hugged him close to her body.
How did that happen? He jumped when the pictures that hung on his wall burst into flames. His heart started to race and he knew that he was panicking. The desk, the carpet, everything around him started to burst aflame. His father looked lost, a look that Naruto hasn't ever seen on his face before.
Why was this happening? What was causing this?
His mother screamed. Her dress had somehow caught on fire. Naruto watched, feeling somewhat detached as his father helped her put out the flames. He could see the burns on his father's hands…as well as his mother's legs. Naruto stared, his mind slowly turning.
He couldn't be doing this…could he? It would make sense though. That feeling of pressure earlier and the fact that he had the ability to start a fire would explain how this happened.
Smoke was filling the room quickly. Though his parents were coughing, he was fine. The smoke wasn't affecting him.
"Come on! We have to get out!" His father grabbed his hand, pulling his frozen figure from the bed, which was the only thing that hadn't caught on fire yet. Minato grabbed the door handle, only to yelp and let go. Naruto guessed that the metal on the handle had gotten hot. They would have to bust the door down somehow.
"Stand back."
Naruto and his mother watched as his father rammed him shoulder into the door. The door didn't seem to want to budge. His father tried again, again with no results. Naruto looked up and his eyes widened. The ceiling above his father was starting to come apart. Before he had time to warn him, the ceiling caved in.
He could feel himself scream. He dropped down in front of his fallen parent. His father was beside him, tears streaming down his face.
"Kushina! Please, stay with me!" Minato held her hand, yelling at her to stay awake.
His mother lay trapped under the fallen roof. She had seen the collapsing roof and had pushed his father out the way. His father let out an anguished scream when she closed her eyes. Naruto couldn't tell if she was dead…but it didn't matter. The door was blocked by debris and his mother was trapped. There was no way that they could get his mother out from under the rubble by themselves. They needed help and Naruto was sure that by the time help arrived, they would have long since burned to death.
Throughout all of this, Naruto didn't cry. He just didn't have it in him to cry at the moment. Maybe it was because of the shock. Or maybe the situation just hadn't registered yet…
The ceiling above the space between him and his parents collapsed, separating them from each other.
His parents were trapped behind what looked like Kyuubi's bedroom. A look at the ceiling told him he was right. The floor of his brother's room had collapsed. A feeling of déjà vu come over him as the dream started to play itself in his head. With it came a feeling of horror. There was no way this could be happening.
"N-Naruto"
Naruto wearily looked at his father. The man looked disheveled and worn. Blonde hair was singed and burn marks covered his body. He was coughing so bad that Naruto thought he would drop over dead from lack of oxygen.
"Naruto, son, I need you to climb out the window."
Naruto looked behind him. He had forgotten the window by his bed. Hope filled his heart. They could escape that way!
"Hurry! You don't have much time."
That hope soon disappeared.
"What about you?"
His father smiled sadly. "Don't worry, I'll be right behind you. I just have to get your mother out."
"B-but…she…I…I can't leave you!" Naruto swore he could feel his heart breaking.
His father was still smiling; the tears were falling heavier now. "It will be okay son."
Lies Naruto looked at his mother, then back at his father. He could see the heartbreak on the face that was nearly identical to his own.
"Please. Don't leave me,
please!" Naruto was crying now. This couldn't be happening. It just couldn't!
"I'm so sorry, Naruto. I can't leave your mother. You still have Kyuubi. Take care of yourself for us, okay?"
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" He was panicking again. There was that pressure again.
"Don't worry. Everything will be okay."
Naruto looked up, trying to catch one last glimpse of his father.
"I'm sorry it turned out this way, but I want you to know, me and your mother….we lo—"
That pressure inside of him exploded again. This time, it sent him flying backwards through the window. The world around him was spinning, the wind rushing through his ears as his body landed on something. He could hear glass breaking and something exploding. Sitting up quickly, he saw a house across from him up in flames. Recognition flowed through him. That was his house.
He looked around, not seeing his parents. He realized that they were still inside. Flames were blazing out of his room's window.
Nonononononononono! "MOM! DAD!"
The voice of his brother startled Naruto somewhat. He could see Kyuubi, a mask of horror plastered all over his face. Slowly Naruto's eyes turned back to stare at the burning building. He barely heard the sirens or registered the flashing lights. Tears poured from his eyes.
One thing that stuck with him during this whole moment would stay with him for years to come.
"
Naruto." "
We love you." He had never gotten his parents to utter those words to him.
