Chapter 58: Mid-Autumn Festival Special (End)
Jiraiya stood by Naruto's bed, looking at the kid sleeping with limbs sprawled in every direction. The corner of his mouth twitched.
"Hey! Brat!" He ripped the blankets off. "The sun is scorching your butt, and you're still sleeping!"
Naruto jolted awake, looking around blankly.
The familiar, run-down apartment. A few posters stuck crookedly on the walls. The frog alarm clock he'd used for five years on the nightstand.
That warm home, the touch of his father's big hand, the scent of his mother... it had all vanished completely.
"Pervy... Pervy Sage?"
"What, haven't seen me for one night and you don't recognize me?" Jiraiya rubbed Naruto's head vigorously.
Suddenly, he noticed Naruto's eyes were red. "A nightmare? Even a kid like you?"
Naruto lowered his head, his hair hiding his expression.
He felt like his heart had been torn in two. Half was still drowning in that world where he had parents, and the other half had been violently dragged back to this cold reality.
"I dreamed..." his voice was very soft. "I dreamed of them."
Jiraiya's hand, about to knock on his head, paused. "Them?"
"It was... a really good dream." Naruto suddenly looked up, revealing a smile uglier than crying. Ignoring Jiraiya's question, he continued rambling.
"Dad taught me a really awesome jutsu, and Mom's cooking was super delicious." He gestured wildly, speaking faster and faster. "Our kitchen was warm yellow, and Mom was always beating up Dad."
"And... and Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto's eyes lit up as he spoke. "Both his eyes were fine! I don't know why he keeps covering one."
"And Sasuke actually has a brother named Itachi Uchiha. I've never heard of him."
Naruto got more and more excited, gesturing wildly.
At first, hearing Naruto talk about his parents, Jiraiya thought he had just fabricated them in a dream.
But when Naruto mentioned Sasuke Uchiha's brother, Jiraiya had to take it seriously.
Jiraiya kept his expression calm and asked, "Naruto, what did you do for the Moon Viewing Festival yesterday? Did you have fun?"
"Yesterday?"
Naruto counted on his fingers, one by one.
"In the morning, I watched the performances with Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino."
"In the afternoon, I went to the river with Sakura and Hinata."
"At night... I ate dango by myself, and made a wish."
"A wish?" Jiraiya sensed something unusual. "What did you wish for?"
"Of course it was..." Naruto turned away. "Forget it. Can't tell you. Shikamaru said if you tell someone your wish, it won't come true."
Jiraiya was speechless for a moment. He thought for a bit, then squeezed out, "Let's go. You said you learned a new jutsu in your dream. Let's go to the training ground and see."
He racked his brain but couldn't think of a good way to get useful information out of Naruto's head. It was harder than climbing to heaven.
Maybe he just overheard the name "Itachi Uchiha" somewhere and accidentally linked it to Sasuke because of the last name.
The only way to judge was to go to the training ground and see this so-called "new jutsu."
Training Ground
Jiraiya's mouth hung open, but no words came out.
Looking at the Rasengan in Naruto's palm, he was filled with emotion.
The Rasengan, created by the father, had finally been passed to the son.
But... only he, Minato, and Kakashi knew this jutsu. How did Naruto learn it?
Did his father really visit him in a dream?
He observed the Rasengan in Naruto's hand carefully. Although small, the rotation of the chakra was exactly the jutsu Minato had developed.
Even more shocking was that Naruto's technique was even more standard than Minato's first attempts back in the day.
"Naruto." Jiraiya crouched down, looking into Naruto's eyes. "Are you sure your dad taught you this in a dream?"
"Of course!" Naruto waved his arm excitedly. "Dad taught me really carefully. He even told me this jutsu used to be called the 'Spiralling Flash Super Round Dance Howl Style: Jiraiya Twin Form Sphere'!"
"Wait." Jiraiya interrupted him. "You call this jutsu the 'Spiralling Flash Super Round Dance Howl Style: Jiraiya Twin Form Sphere'?"
Naruto paused, then said, "Yeah. Mom even yelled at Dad because of that name."
Jiraiya's expression grew incredibly serious.
He recalled the details Naruto had mentioned: Kakashi's two eyes, Itachi Uchiha, the color of the kitchen... these didn't seem like things Naruto could imagine out of thin air.
Especially that name, which only a few of them knew.
"Pervy Sage?" Naruto tilted his head. "What's wrong?"
Jiraiya took a deep breath. "Naruto, do you remember what your mom looked like in the dream?"
Naruto's eyes lit up. "Of course! She had beautiful red hair, always wore an apron, and when she got angry, her hair would float up..."
"And? What was her name?"
"Kushina. That's what Dad called her," Naruto answered without thinking.
"Oh, right! In the dream, I heard people say my dad was the Fourth Hokage! His name was... Minato Namikaze."
"Minato Namikaze?" Jiraiya grabbed Naruto's shoulders. "What did your father look like in the dream?"
"Golden hair! Wearing a cloak with flames on it! And..." Naruto suddenly lowered his voice. "Pervy Sage, I'll tell you a secret... the dad in my dream was your student, too."
The hand gripping Naruto's shoulder tightened unconsciously. The shock in Jiraiya's eyes could no longer be hidden.
Kushina. Minato Namikaze. Fourth Hokage. His student.
These names and identities, deliberately buried and classified as top secret, were now being spoken so clearly and naturally by a twelve-year-old boy.
This was no coincidence. And it wasn't something Naruto could just "dream" up!
Countless thoughts flashed through Jiraiya's mind. Was there a problem with the seal? Did someone leak the information? Some powerful genjutsu or secret technique? Or... was it related to the "anomaly" with Tsunade and Kakashi? That so-called "regression" phenomenon?
"Pervy Sage? What's wrong? That hurts!" Naruto grimaced, slapping Jiraiya's arm.
Jiraiya let go abruptly, looking at Naruto's pained face and those blue eyes still full of confusion and innocence.
This child had just experienced a "sweet dream" beyond his imagination, one so real it was indistinguishable from reality.
It wasn't a dream. It was almost a parallel world within reach, one where he had parents.
"Naruto..."
"That dream... besides teaching you jutsu and eating, was there anything else? About your mom and dad... or anyone else in the village?"