//------------------------------//
// Mindscapes are Tricky 
// Story: The Truth of Bonds and Friendship 
// by Gadman85 
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Naruko’s eyes were a mix of shock and deep relief. Kyuubi then spoke in a deeper voice than normal as he said to her. “It is time you return to your Mindscape.”

(-------)

“What will that accomplish?” Naruko asked Kyuubi.

Kyuubi looked to her and spoke in his normal, but still far too deep for his size, voice. “I believe Discord’s spell had an actual effect on your mind other than what you experienced before fighting him,” he explained.

Naruko frowned to that. “What does going into there have to do with anything?” she asked. She wasn’t a fan of her mindscape really. The place was a literal sewer at one point and then a complete mess since then. She was mostly just guessing from what it was like last time she was there. She still didn’t want to go there if possible.

Kyuubi gave a sigh. “Like I said the problem is originating from there. I’m pretty sure about this after what happened in your last dream.”

Naruko blanched at that and wrapped her bed covers around her tighter.

“I know it won’t be easy… But it is necessary. Do you really want to go through the rest of your life fearing what you will see when you go to sleep?” he asked.

“No…” Naruko said in a small voice.

“Then you need to do this. Go into your mindscape. Clean it up. Improve it. Fix whatever is wrong in there, or at the very least identify what is wrong there,” he said. He knew this wasn’t an easy task, but it was something Naruko had to do. He wasn’t a full resident in her mindscape like he once was and not as knowledgeable of her inner workings even if he could still figure some things out.

Naruko was in thought for a moment. She looked to him and asked, “How do I do this?”

“I will stay here to act as an anchor for you. It will make returning easier. I don’t even know if this will be something that can be fixed in one trip. When you are ready to return, focus on our connection and you will find the way. I had to do a couple of things in preparation for this and I will need some time again before you return another time in the future with this method,” he explained.

“Could I go to my mindscape without your help?” Naruko asked.

Kyuubi shook his head. “Not at the moment you can’t. Well… you could but I don’t think that will be a good idea. Your mind is a bit of a mess at the moment. Without me or your other self, you could get swept away by it and your trip could end up taking years or even longer, regardless of how much time seems to pass inside there.”

Kyuubi gave a stretch. “With me acting as an anchor point, far less time will have passed while you are inside. Days or even longer will have passed inside, while out here it will only be a matter of minutes or seconds.”

Naruko nodded to him in understanding. Kyuubi was secretly glad she was far from the idiot she once was. It also really paid off having a studious bookworm friend like Twilight at times. Naruko could grasp and understand complex and abstract ideas with more ease now, even after she improved back in Konoha.

“Anything else?” Naruko asked.

Kyuubi was in thought for a moment. Something came to him, but he wasn’t sure if Naruko would know what he was talking about. “Have you… heard… voices? Apart from your darker self?” Kyuubi asked seriously.

Naruko narrowed her eyes thinking she should be offended, but she decided to be truthful. “Yes. I have heard them. They have been encouraging and helpful. If that makes a difference,” she answered.

Kyuubi was relieved. He wasn’t sure what to make of the whispers he heard inside her head. They felt different from what one would usually think was the case in such situations. He gave a nod to her. “Find them. Follow them… But don’t let them consume you while you are in there,” he advised.

“So… I’m not crazy for hearing them?” Naruko asked in surprise.

“In your case, I don’t think you are,” he replied. “I have no idea what they are, but I have heard them as well. They seem… oddly familiar…If that makes any sense,” he admitted.

Naruko’s eyes brightened and it was clear she felt relieved by his admission. “I do get what you mean. They helped me out last night. They helped me out during Discord’s attack. I feel a sense of familiarity, but I’ve never been able to place them.”

Kyuubi nodded to this as well. He knew he didn’t need to tell her to be safe. She would do that on her own. “When you are ready. Assume the meditation pose pony version,” he said.

Naruko sniffed but raised an eyebrow. “Really? Pony version?” she asked him with a neutral look.

“You know what I mean… I just figured I needed to point out you were a pony so it might be different,” he said with a slight blush on his cheeks.

Naruko smiled to him and gave him a surprise hug. “Thanks for helping me like this,” she said in a softer voice than normal.

“I would be terrible partner if I didn’t help you out, but I appreciate the sentiment,” he replied. Naruko smiled too brightly to be fooled by his tough demeanor, but she didn’t tease him about it. She instead got ready as he instructed her.

Naruko’s breathing evened out as she closed her eyes and concentrated on clearing her mind. She felt a small warm paw touch her chest and smiled at Kyuubi’s always familiar warmth. It was a little surprising how comforting his warmth had become since they arrived in Equestria. Naruko stopped focusing on it and returned to her meditation.

{-} {-} {-}

When she opened her eyes again, Naruko felt comfortable temperature wise. She wasn’t cool or warm. She was just right. She also noticed a certain level of serenity to her persona. Sapphire blue eyes looked around the area. The world was bright white. It wasn’t a sewer like it used to be. She did notice some flickers in the distance as it seemed parts of her mindscape were phasing in and out or something. Naruko started walking in the direction she felt was correct.

As she walked, she noticed other parts of her mindscape flickering. Some were even giving off a slight buzz sound every now and then. It was wrong seeing her mind messed up like this. Naruko knew she would have been freaked out about this at any other time, but this time she wasn't.

This time Naruko felt serene. She felt in control. She knew the flickers meant nothing to her here. She wouldn’t be assaulted with odd visions and images. She wouldn’t be sucked into twisted dreams of some form. It was just her and the mindscape around her.

Naruko gave a sigh. She kind of wished it looked better than this. As if on cue, her mindscape changed. It was now a forest glade with medium length grasses covering the floor. She also ignored the flickers in the distance, though they were harder to see now. “Wow…” she said out loud as she looked in front.

It seemed without Kyuubi taking up a permanent residence inside her she had more control over her own mindscape. She looked around and decided there was too much extra stuff and seemed to know what she could do about it. She took in a deep breath and concentrated on the image she wanted to see.

The forested area shimmered. It transformed into something different. It was now a rolling glade with a hill in the center and a tree perched on top of it. There was also a small pond to the side filled with clear and clean water. While the pond was small in size, she knew it was deep.

Naruko was focused on the tree atop the hill. It was a perfect tree for anypony to lounge under and enjoy a pleasant afternoon. “Wait a minute…” Naruko said to herself as she blinked a little. She then realized that she was much taller than her pony self was. She looked down and gasped as she saw feet and toes.

Naruko quickly ran over to the pond. She used the reflective surface as a makeshift mirror. The waters were calm enough it worked. The sixteen almost seventeen year old girl was surprised to see her human form. She was also pleased it resembled the body she had in her dream from earlier.

There were differences though. Naruko thought she actually looked much more beautiful and cuter here. It was as if the weight of being essentially owned by Sasuke had affected her dream’s self. Other than that, she looked much the same even to the whisker marks on her cheeks. She was still wearing a choker necklace but this one had a lovely medallion designed after the Royal Symbol of Equestria. She much preferred this one to the one in that dream.

Naruko smiled as she traced the medallion with a fine finger. In response the water rippled in a way that she would describe as happy if that made sense. She then looked at the clothes she was wearing. She could tell from her reflection she was wearing the altered dress Rarity made her after the Gala altered for her human body. Naruko felt warm seeing the dress her friend took great care to make for her. She looked it over some more and kept smiling. She didn’t notice as one flickering part of her mindscape seemed to mend itself in reaction to her thoughts about her friend.

The blonde girl stopped looking at her reflection and turned to the lone tree on the hill. Naruko looked around the area and thought on what Kyuubi recommended she do once inside her mind. “Where are those voices?” she asked herself gently.

She looked around some more before she decided to sit under the tree and focus. It seemed to be central to her mindscape and it looked the perfect place for such things as meditation. Naruko sat down with her legs folded and took in slow deep breaths as she focused on her surroundings.

The first sounds she noticed was the buzzing of the faulty parts of her mindscape. She filtered out those sounds. She then heard what sounded like birds chirping in the distance. “What is that about?” she asked. “Ambience?” she questioned. She could see that being the case. She hated absolute silence. She had to hear something or it wouldn’t feel right. She didn’t filter out these sounds since she found them comforting and not distracting.

It took some time, but eventually Naruko not so much heard as she did feel something like a voice. She could feel it coming from the tree right behind her. Naruko stood up and turned to the tree. She looked at it for a moment and then reached out to touch it with a hand.

When her hand touched the tree’s trunk, she felt something. It was a different kind of warmth. It wasn’t like the warmth she felt from being with her friends. It also wasn’t as exhilarating or caring in the same manner as the warmth she felt from Twilight. It was more akin to what she felt from Princess Celestia or Princess Luna.

“Who are you?” Naruko seemed to ask the warmth. It pulsed as if trying to answer, but she couldn’t make it out. The pulse was there, but it was weak. She still felt a distant familiarity from it.

Naruko didn’t like how weak it felt. She wanted to meet whatever was causing this warmth. She wanted to get to know it. Naruko closed her eyes and concentrated on the pulse. She found it and immediately started to feed it energy from her actual body, but not too much to cause problems for her in the real world. It felt grateful to her for the gift.

“Would you show yourself to me?” she asked it. There was a much large pulse and Naruko lowered her hand before stepping back a bit.

Shortly after she asked, a figure appeared next to the tree. Naruko’s eyes seemed to widen in eagerness and hope. She watched as the figure became fully visible. There was now a beautiful woman a little bit taller than her who seemed only a few years older standing next to the tree. She had fair skin and long bright red hair reaching just below her waist with violent colored eyes. Her eyes were filled with tears of happiness.

Naruko sniffed back tears of happiness as well. She knew who this woman was. Naruko raced forward and quickly grabbed the other woman in a hug. “Mom…” she said as the figure sniffed and hugged her just as tight.

“Yes… Yes, Naruko honey,” the woman said as she smiled.

“But how?” Naruko asked.

Kushina sniffed as she answered. “I used the last of my chakra to leave an imprint of myself here for you, Naruko… I was going to help you whenever you decided to face Kyuubi properly…”

Naruko kept hugging her mom as tight as she could. She didn’t care if it was an imprint or not. It was still her mom. She sniffed as she said, “Well. That won’t be needed.”

“I know… I’m proud of you. You’ve done something no one else has ever even considered doing, my dove… You befriended Kyuubi,” Kushina said smiling and pouring all she could into the hug before Naruko broke it off to look at her properly.

Kushina couldn’t help but smile warmly. Her daughter was a beauty and she was strong even if things had been really tough on her lately. She started to tear up a little again. She really wished she could have been there to see and watch her daughter grow up. She experienced some of it through Naruko, but there wasn’t anything she could do about it.

Naruko hugged her mom again as she said lowly, “Why are you sad? Don’t be sad… I’ll get sad and I’m tired of being sad lately…”

Kushina wiped some tears and tried to chuckle as she scratched the back of her head nervously. “I’m sorry, Honey… I just wish I could have been there for you. I was so happy and excited when I found out I was pregnant with you. I wanted my own family so much,” she sniffed a little. She felt kind of bad that her own daughter was now comforting her. It should be the other way around in all fairness.

She took in a calming breath and stood up. “Sorry about that… I wanted to help you out so much, but I couldn’t really do anything from in here. My connection to you didn’t even strengthen a little until after you came to this new world. I could only watch as your life played out.”

Naruko gave a bit of a sad smile to this even if she still mostly had the whole serene feeling, which she was thankful for. “I would have loved that… It would have been really nice,” she said.

Kushina gave her another hug. She really didn’t want to stop hugging her daughter now she had the chance. Naruko was perfectly okay with this as well. Kushina then spoke to her. “I’m honestly surprised you aren’t angry with me or something.”

Naruko gave a chuckle. “I think the way I entered here is helping with that. I feel… serene… It probably also helps that I learned about you from him a while ago. You two may not have been on good terms, but he did know you. He told me you were the kind of mom that would do all you could for their child and you wouldn’t have died unless it was the only way. Being here in Equestria has helped as well. I’m not alone like I was in Konoha.”

Kushina looked a little pouty and Naruko raised a questioning eyebrow at her mother. It was kind of odd being so close in age to her mom. She was guessing at most her mom was seven years older than her, if even that. Well her mom’s chakra imprint at least seemed that way.

Kushina blushed a little as she caught Naruko’s eye. “Sorry… I’m just a bit jealous… The Princesses got to be your mother instead of me. Especially Princess Celestia. I will say I approve of her at least.”

Kushina then gave a bit of a foxy grin as Naruko pouted now. “I also approve of your girlfriend,” she said in a sing song voice.

Despite Naurko’s serene nature she was now blushing deeply as she folded her arms and looked away sticking her bottom lip out. She was then hugged once more by her mother. Naruko blushed but returned the hug. “I trust you will treat her well,” Kushina said.

Naruko gave a nod. She then sighed as she looked around in thought. She wanted to spend as much time as she could with her mom, but she was here for a real reason. She then thought for a moment and then blinked. “Wait a minute… where is dad?” Naruko asked.

Kushina started to look around as if she hadn’t heard her daughter’s words.

“You know where he is…” Naruko said in accusation.

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” Kushina said innocently. She kind of wanted to hog more Naruko time so she wasn’t eager to bring out her husband’s imprint, even though she loved him dearly.

Naruko sighed. “You know as well as I do that if you left an imprint he sure as hell did. Don't try to play it off.”

“Language…” Kushina said weakly before sighing. Her daughter was almost 17 now. It was her first time actually being with her daughter and Naruko was already pretty much a full-grown adult. Kushina then gave a smile as she said, “Why don’t you find him like you did me?”

Naruko gave a pout before taking in a deep breath and calming down and closing her eyes. Kushina actually found the power from her daughter to be very impressive. It also wasn’t as stormy as she thought it would be. It was a lot calmer, but ready to burst forward if needed. Sure, Naruko found a way to enter her mindscape calmly, but her chakra’s or magic’s feel would not be changed by such things.

Soon Naruko’s eyes opened as she looked up above and then seemed to send out some of her energy as she did with her mother’s imprint earlier. “I know you’re there, dad.” Naruko said. There was a slight hint of bitterness in her voice, but her serene nature seemed to really temper it. Regardless of this, Kushina was starting to think she might have to defend her husband’s imprint from their daughter.

“If you don’t show yourself I will make you,” Naruko said in warning. There still wasn’t a response. She gave a sigh and again poured forth some more of her energy and said in a more commanding tone, “Show yourself.”

Shortly after she said that a tall man with spikey blonde hair and a strong but not too muscular build appeared before her eyes. Naruko had to do her best not to let her tears show.

“Eh heh heh heh,” Minato said warily as Kushina sighed. He was worried what would happen. He was really excited to see his beloved daughter finally, but he was scared of how things would go.

Naruko steeled her nerves and clenched her fists. She charged at him and punched him.

“Oooff…” he groaned as he rubbed his stomach where she punched him. He hadn’t expected her to hit that hard if at all. “What was that for?” he couldn’t help but ask.

“That’s for sealing Kyuubi inside of me and leaving me…” Naruko said as she looked downwards.

Minato was then surprised again as she wrapped her arms around him tightly and sniffed as she buried her head in his chest.

“Tha-that’s for giving me my one and only friend while growing up…” she said as she sniffed back more tears.

Minato sniffed as well and placed a comforting hand on Naruko’s back. Naruko shuddered and sobbed a little. Kushina came over and wrapped both of them in a big hug. Naruko felt really happy. Her parents loved her after all. She could tell it from the way they were hugging her now. She couldn’t describe how much this meant to her. She had a mother figure and even a bit of a father figure in her life, but that was nothing compared to her real parents. She didn’t care if they were only chakra imprints. Their actions and words meant so much to her.

{-} {-} {-}

After Naruko spent some time with her parents discussing small inconsequential things, she was focused on her task once again. “So, what is it you brought us here for, Naruko-chan?” Minato asked. He had some ideas, but he needed her to actually say it to be sure.

“I’m not sure how aware you two have been to what happened, but there was this God of Chaos I had to fight…” she started as she looked to the side not meeting her parents’ eyes. It was as if she felt depressed she wasn’t able to fully defeat a God or something.

“We know…” Minato started. He then reached out and hugged Naruko again. She liked the hug and returned it.

“We were the voices cheering you on there at the end that you probably didn’t recognize,” Kushina said as she joined the hug. She wanted to hug her daughter as much as possible here.

Naruko took in the hug and smiled. “Kyuubi said coming here and fixing the damage properly might be what I need to get over it all a little more and maybe the all too realistic feeling nightmares will end. Sadly, it is too much of an odd situation for even Princess Luna to really help. She might be able to make them disappear for the night if I told her, but that won’t solve anything.”

She then gave a sigh as she looked around her mindscape. She could see some small flickers scattered throughout the area, but they weren’t bothering her with horrific imagery. She stood tall and pointed at one, “I need to find a way to fix those.”

One flicker came close to her and her parents. It didn’t show anything, but it was something broken that needed to be repaired. Her father and mother looked it over. “Are there holes in your memory now?” her father asked.

“Nope. What would that mean?” she asked.

“It could have been due to the nature of the dream reality that when you dismissed it chunks of your memory went missing. Your brain could have then been cycling through probable scenarios in your life to replace them before settling on a version of the truth. Given you are pretty much both a pony and a human that would be extra difficult for it. If that happened you would know it by recognizing holes in your memory,” he said in thought.

It was something which happened to some unlucky veteran ninja during his brief time as Hokage. The Yamanaka came up with a way to use reports to fill in the gaps instead so the ninja’s memory of the event wasn’t as damaged. All of them knew they were missing memories or the ones they had were wrong in some manner though. It seemed Naruko didn't look at these flickers as memories, so it had to be something else.

“I can’t tell if you did anything wrong during the sealing of the anchor. That is something else that could have happened in this situation. There would be signs of some kind though, even with your ‘Runeseals’,” her mom said in thought. Kushina then smiled brightly and hugged her daughter again as she said, “I’m so proud you managed to take sealing to a new height! You really are an Uzumaki through and through.”

Naruko blushed as her mom hugged her. “Thanks…” she said quietly. She still couldn’t hide the bright smile she wore regardless of her supposed embarrassment.

Kushina was in thought again. “It might be your emotions are negatively tied to these… flickers, as you call them and that's what really causes the problems instead of them fixing themselves.”

“Can we fix that?” Naruko asked in worry. If her emotions were tied to them than it could explain why she would go from happy and wonderful dreams to nightmarish visions. “I really don’t want to chance seeing myself again with Sasuke the Bastard in that kind of manner,” she said with a slight shudder.

“Sasuke? Mikoto’s son? From the main branch?” Kushina asked curiously. She wasn't really aware of everything in full detail. She was a bit aware of how he acted, but for her to talk about him that way it had to be more to it.

Naruko blinked for a moment as she thought over what she knew of Sasuke's immediate family before nodding.

Kushina gave a sigh. “That’s a pity he turned out that way overall. She was actually my best friend and the two of us had hoped to have a boy and a girl who would end up together.”

Naruko blanched at that thought. “I’m sorry, mom… But I would hate myself being with him. He is terrible and so very stuck up and it would not work out at all… Not since the Uchiha Clan Massacre at least. I think I ran into him a couple of times before that happened and he was alright then, but there is no going back for him. I don’t know what has happened in Konoha since I left, but he was already well and truly down the dark path of no return even before we graduated from the academy.”

“I’m not saying you have to be with him. I was just saying it was a pity. Besides… Twilight is a wonderful girl,” Kushina said as her cheeks puffed a little.

Naruko’s blue eyes then widened a little in horror. “How much have you seen of our relationship? I agree she is wonderful, but still…”

Kushina looked a little worried and concerned as she tried to come up with an answer.

“I think if you focus on memories of your friends from your time in Equestria we can use those emotions to patch the problems here,” Minato said. Kushina was relieved her husband saved her from a very embarrassing discussion with her daughter. Naruko was now focused on the task at hand once again.

“That sounds… too easy… What's the catch?” she asked.

“You need a variety of memories from different friends. Focusing too much on memories with just Twilight would be problematic. You would want to be even closer to her than you are, which isn’t bad, but you would also end up depending on her fully to maintain your sanity for lack of a better word given what we are about to do. We could try to remove the flickers, but that would be far more taxing than simply rewriting them,” he explained to his daughter who nodded to him.

Kushina chose to speak as well in the hopes of further keeping her daughter from asking troubling questions. “If something were to happen to Twilight again, it would cause the flickers to burst forward suddenly and in full force. Using multiple happy memories from different friends would make it so you have mental forces to keep that from happening in a way. Building on from there will only further help heal the problem. Due to what happened to you, you actually need a more hands on approach to fix them here first and properly attach the feelings of happiness and contentment. If that make sense,” she said as she looked her daughter over and Minato nodded with a smile to them.

Minato wished this hadn’t happened to his Naruko, but it did. He was also partly thankful it did and brought her here. He was happy to get to actually see her and touch her in a manner. If things had happened how he wanted, she would still be in Konoha as a respected Kunoichi. He couldn’t blame her for leaving after knowing what she went through a little. He was also proud to have his daughter more or less his equivalent here in Equestria. “Hell, she’s probably higher in rank than me,” he thought. He wasn’t sure how Grand Captain of the Ever Free Patrol compared to Hokage.

“I get what you’re asking of me, but it seems like it will take a lot of time,” Naruko said with a frown.

“It will take some time at first, but eventually you can speed up the process, Naruko-chan,” he said to her. Naruko blushed but felt very warm hearing her father call her that.

Kushina beamed as she said, “You also have us to help out as well.”

“Well then… Let’s start with this one first,” she said pointing to the one in front of her.

“Think of the memory and we will tie it to the flicker. Pay attention and we will get this taken care of quicker. If you can multi-task like that,” Kushina said with a teasing lilt in her voice causing Minato to chuckle and Naruko to grin at the playful challenge.

The trio got to work. Naruko chose to first focus on more innocuous memories of her time with Twilight. She figured if they weren’t too heavy then it was less likely for the memory to fizzle out explosively and remain a flicker if something were to happen to Twilight. She thought of how happy she felt making her first friend apart from Kyuubi as the two talked magic and ninjas when they first met.

Naruko had a lovely smile as the feeling was quickly attached to the flicker in front of her. Kushina and Minato felt happy, but a little sad. They were happy she had such pleasant memories, but they were sad they missed them in real life. Minato was also deeply disappointed that his wonderful and lovely daughter had to go to a completely different world to get such memories. Perhaps he had severely over-estimated Konoha’s commitment to bonds after all and put too much faith in the people there.

“Good job! Naru-chan!” Kushina said in a very cheerful voice as the first flicker was dealt with.

Naruko then focused on another one. “Could you two just channel whatever it is you are using to tie the memories through me? That would make this easier,” she asked as another flicker was replaced. This time it was a memory of one of the nights she and Twilight spent together in the castle as a ‘sleep-over’.

Kushina and Minato analyzed what their daughter was doing and figured out how to do their job with her. They each placed a comforting hand on her shoulders as Naruko thought of more memories of Twilight. Now, the flickers were being dealt with faster than earlier.

As more memories of Twilight were used, Minato decided he needed to remind her of their plan. “Don’t just use memories of Twilight alone,” he said to her.

She started to use memories of Kyuubi. It wasn’t seen by Naruko, but Minato gave a triumphant smile as he watched the memories of her and Kyuubi overwrite flickers. “It seems one of my gambles paid of greatly at least,” he thought.

Kushina gave him a look as the two focused their power into Naruko to help her overwrite more flickers. She was surprised to see her daughter had such a friendly relationship with the tailed beast. She would have been worried, but she could tell there was no danger of falsehood in the memories so their friendship was real. She also caught her husband’s look and felt a little extra warm. He had done something amazing and that always got to her, even if she didn't know what it was yet.

Naruko thought of more wonderful memories. She thought of moments she shared with the other elements. She thought of more Twilight memories. She thought of both princesses she was close to in her own way. She thought of the times she foal-sat for Pipsqueak. She thought of Trixie, Lyra, Bon Bon, Cloud Kicker and especially her wonderful First Lieutenant, Derpy.

Naruko’s method was working really well. The memories she used were quickly seeking out flickers to fix. They didn’t even have to focus on anything more than using her memories to overwrite. They didn’t need to do any guiding of the memories or anything. They were seeking out the flickers on their own seemingly as they attached them with their own power.

{-} {-} {-}

Naruko frowned as she growled a little bit. Sure, the process was going faster than she originally feared it would, but it still seemed to be taking too long.

“I’ve thought enough of the others… Right?” she asked in an almost ragged voice. “It’s good enough right? Mom? Dad?” she asked in an almost pleading voice. This was taking a lot more mental energy than she wanted it to take and too much time. She wanted the flickers dealt with before she left. She figured focusing on strong memories of Twilight would speed up the process.

“Maybe…” Minato said in response. He was worried. He was also saddened she had been hurt so much that this was taking so long to repair.

Kushina took a break to give her daughter a tight hug. “You’ve done really well so far. I’m as proud as a mother can be of her daughter, Naru-chan,” she said in a soft and warm voice.

Minato didn’t want to be the bad guy here, but he had to give a last warning. “If you focus on Twilight for one last attempt to finish the ones remaining… You will come to rely on her a lot more than normal… probably.”

Naruko took in a deep breath and let it out. “I don’t care… Twilight already owns my heart as far as I’m concerned. I may not be the best at showing it, but that is how I feel. I want to be with her as long as she will have me. I want to be with her in anyway she will have me. Maybe it isn’t a safe and healthy way to feel about such things, but it is how I feel,” she said.

Minato looked to Kushina. She nodded to him. He then spoke. “Then we will let it happen and do what we can to finish off these flickers. Naruko-chan! Give it your all,” he said.

Naruko nodded. She then went through several memories choosing which one to use. There were plenty of strong memories with happiness and love and warmth tied to Twilight. Naruko knew she was possibly tying herself too closely to Twilight, but she didn’t care. She could tell this would fix the last of the flickers remaining. She would be there by Twilight’s side despite everything and she didn’t care how strong that attachment grew.

Naruko’s blue eyes seemed to shine with a bright light. It wasn’t to the level Twilight’s eyes shone when she was channeling the power of the Elements of Harmony, but it was still bright. Minato and Kushina could feel the power coming from all directions as their daughter made her choice.

Naruko chose to focus on the memory of Gala Night with Twilight. They might have been drunk, but many said alcohol lowered your inhibitions. Perhaps they both needed that to open up to the other like they did. Maybe they just needed that push to finally admit what they were feeling for the other. Naruko wasn’t sure, but she was sure it started a deeper relationship between her and Twilight. They weren’t just a one-night stand with the other and they didn’t require alcohol to be around the other.

She focused on their kisses and caresses. She also focused on when they touched each other’s horn and let their magic flow through the other. It was an event that she would never forget and she was certain it shaped the both of them in some manner. Naruko felt warmth and love around her. It was a warmth and love different from her parents. She let out a breath as she pushed out her own feelings of the same in return.

Minato and Kushina were wide eyed as they watched what happened. Naruko soon started to float upwards and away from them as power seemed to shimmer in her hair. They were unable to move as they just watched. Naruko seemed to glow in a pink aura that changed to a bright yellow orange. The building energy then shot outwards and all of the remaining flickers were demolished! The glow soon returned to Naruko as she floated back downwards.

When she opened her eyes, they were no longer blue. They were similar in appearance to the fox’s eyes, but they didn’t have any of the hatred and malice his once had. They emitted a feeling of comfortable warmth in the area as they held the same color as the glow from earlier. The glow seemed to die down but the color still stayed there.

Naruko looked around and seemed to have a deeper understanding than before. She seemed to sense everything around her. She felt her body flowing with a different energy. She felt much stronger. She looked around and seemed to understand things at a different level from before. She cocked her head as she looked at her parents’ chakra imprints and seemed to understand them differently. She waved a hand at them.

Both Kushina and Minato shivered as they felt something pass over them. The two were impressed with Naruko, but also a little wary of her for some reason. As the wave passed over them, they felt calmer. They looked to her and noticed tears seemed to slowly leak from her eyes.

Naruko reached out and grabbed them both into a deep hug. “I love you two,” she said quietly to them. She understood what they really were. “How long can you two stay?” she asked calmly.

Kushina was the first to answer her with a smile. “We will be here a good while yet. You gave us plenty of energy when you forced us to show ourselves,” she explained.

Minato then said, “We will have to go eventually…”

Naruko smiled and nodded to him. “I understand that. I want my parents’ souls to feel this all. I want them to know they were able to be with me in some fashion. Will you give me a warning before you have to go for good?” she asked as she again buried her head in her father’s cloak.

He gave a heartwarming chuckle as he said, “What kind of father would I be if I didn’t?”

Naruko smiled as she said, “You’d still be my father, no matter what and I’d still love you.”

He hugged her tighter. He tried to let her know through the hug how much he was sorry they couldn’t be there for her physically. He also tried to let her know how much he loved her despite everything. Naruko felt all of these emotions and sniffed happily as she shed some tears of happiness and held the hug.

Minato then said to her, “That means you better come back here to visit. You hear?” His voice choked a little at the end.

“I do. I will…” she said as she held the hug longer before breaking it off.

Naruko then turned to her mother and hugged her tightly. “I love you, Mom…” she simply said. She didn’t know what else to talk about at the moment. So, she tried her best to convey her feelings through their hug. The whole time her eyes still had that same look and she was able to pick up even more strongly her mother’s feelings for her. Naruko hated how it made her shed more tears even if they were tears of happiness.

It was odd. It was like Naruko felt she could better understand emotions and thoughts from others. She wasn’t sure what was happening and hoped she could find a way to use this ability once she returned to the real world of Equestria. It would take training but she was sure she could do it. At the moment, that didn’t matter. Naruko just wanted to enjoy what it felt like to receive a mother’s love. Kushina was her mom and not just a mother figure. It was much different from what she experienced with the princesses and she wanted to soak it all in the best she could.

Kushina hated this. She hated this so much. She wanted to say so much in this one moment, but she couldn’t voice those words. All she could say was, “I love you too, Naruko… My wonderful daughter.”

Naruko held the hug a good while longer as her eyes faded back to their usual sparkling blue. Minato joined in on the hug as the family held on to each other longer in silence.

{-} {-} {-}

“I found a scroll from Whirlpool it seems. I found it in a magic shop here in Canterlot. The shopkeeper claimed it was from a seer pony of some kind. Do you have any idea why that happened?” Naruko asked as she lounged under the tree next to her parents. Each of them would place a comforting hand on her here and there or sneak a quick hug as they talked about many things and enjoyed this time together.

“Well… You aren’t just an Uzumaki. You are an Uzumaki from the main family. From the main branch and founders of Uzushiogakure. Perhaps the scroll sought you out? It is amazing what our clan’s sealing techniques can do,” Kushina explained. She was incredibly happy to finally be able to share some of her clan’s history with her daughter. Had things been different, she would have been holding such lessons often with her beautiful baby girl, even if she was a lovely young woman now.

Minato gave a chuckle. “I know I was regarded as a seal master during my time in Konoha, but I only got to that level because of your mother,” he said as he flashed a loving grin at Kushina, who blushed in response.

“Well… well… you really took the craft to a new level yourself, my loving husband,” she said not at all hiding her blush and movements of unease.

Naruko smiled as she teasingly said, “I don’t know how this whole chakra imprint body thing works, but I do hope you two won’t do you know what kind of things and force me to see it as well. I don’t want to be forced to take a vow of celibacy with Twilight just to keep myself from experiencing visions of my parents’ spirits… if that is what you two are… doing it.” She understood when they disappeared everything they experienced her parents’ souls would when she was in that strange and powerful state earlier.

Kushina blushed and looked away. Minato chuckled and said, “Don’t worry about such things, Naruko-chan.” He then mussed her hair causing her cheeks to redden a little but also filling her with warm feelings and love.

The family talked a little longer together for some more time. Naruko knew her time was coming to a close. She had waited for the rewritten flickers to settle in as she stayed with her parents and talked about many things. As her time was coming to an end at the moment, she noticed her mother was constantly stealing glances at her and blushing.

“Is something wrong? Mom?” she asked.

Kushina felt her heart swell at the words. She still said, “Oh… umm… nothing… nothing is wrong.” She was making a point of not looking directly at her daughter.

Naruko sighed. It was so obvious her mom wanted to ask her something. The blonde girl wondered if she was this bad with Twilight at times. She feared maybe she would get this bad with the purple pony, but she also kind of looked forward to that oddly enough. “What is it, Mom? You can ask me anything,” she said.

Kushina sighed. “You’re just as perceptive as your father,” she mumbled.

Minato couldn’t help but chuckle at his lovely wife’s words. It was even more hilarious considering how often she called him a wimp when they were younger and thought he was a bit of an airhead and all around unimpressive. She was now here lovingly praising him to their daughter.

Kushina blushed as she puffed her cheeks at her husband.

Naruko chuckled at her parents’ actions. “So, what is it?” she asked again after enjoying the moment.

“Well… ummm… I was,” Kushina gave a suffering sigh. “I guess I should just come out and say it,” she tried to give herself a pep-talk. “Yosh!” she said in a sort of call to arms as she gained her courage to speak again.

She then turned to her daughter and quickly asked, “Can I see you in your Pony form?!” Kushina blushed once she said it. She couldn’t believe she was asking such a question. It was embarrassing for a fully-grown woman to ask such a thing. She was well known and respected by most ninjas, yet she was asking to see her daughter’s cute pony form.

Naruko smiled to her mother and laid her head on her mom’s chest for a moment. “Alright,” she simply said to her mom as she concentrated on taking her pony form. It was much easier than expected but tougher than wanted to Naruko. Regardless she was now in her peach tanned coated unicorn glory looking up more to her parents.

Kushina gave a surprising squeal before she grabbed Naruko in a really tight hug. “OOHHH!!! You are so adorable!!! I just want to take you home and hold you all the time!” she said grinning happily.

Naruko blushed as she actually felt a little embarrassed here. “Mom…” she whined.

Kushina paused at the sound of the whine. Kushina grinned and squealed again as she said, “That was just too cute!!!! You are cute! Such a cute little pony and daughter!”

Minato smiled and chuckled a little as he petted his daughter’s mane. She didn’t really notice because of how much Kushina was demanding of Naruko’s attention. He was happy with how soft and warm his daughter’s mane felt. To him, it said she was having a wonderful life and taking care of herself. That was all he could ever wish of her.

Naruko blushed and protested a little at first, but she was now enjoying her mom’s affections. “I’m still that attention starved girl…Aren’t I?” she wondered as her mother made more squeals and hugged her even more. Naruko was oddly happy and fine with being that kind of a girl. She would just find a way to get more attention and affection from Twilight, but right now she was going to enjoy her mom’s love.

{-} {-} {-}

“Well I guess I’ll be going now…” Naruko said with a sigh.

“Yes,” Minato said with a frown. Kushina sniffed and hugged her daughter once more tightly. Minato decided not to try and remain strong here after all and hugged her as well. Naruko couldn’t have felt happier at that moment.

“Kyuubi will probably want to speak to you, dad. When we fought Discord, he brought up some curious points. I would ask for the answers myself, but I feel Kyuubi should get those answers first,” Naruko said.

Minato smiled as he said, “When you can find a way for him to come here and not attack me, I will gladly answer his questions.”

Kushina was still holding on to Naruko with all of her might. Naruko loved it. She knew she would miss this sensation once she back in the real world and had to face the others. “I’ll do what I can there, you better believe it,” she replied as she looked to her father with a reassuring smile.

“I bet you well, Naruko. My lovely daughter,” he said and tried to remain strong for this temporary goodbye. Naruko smiled weakly back at him as she sniffed and then bowed before disappearing back to the real world.

Kushina let out a quick sob before she recovered. “I miss her already… It doesn’t matter we are here inside of her. I still miss my Naru-chan,” she said with tears in her eyes.

Minato came over and held her close to him as he said, “I miss her already too… But. Our daughter will come back and she is amazing in every way.”

Kushina nodded to that. “I’m really glad we will have more time with her before we cross over,” she said with a warm smile as he wiped the tears from her eyes.

She then smiled at him in a different manner. “I’m also glad I get to feel you again as well, even in this form,” she said as she adopted a foxy grin that Minato had long ago fallen for on many occasions. All of those occasions were wonderful. Kushina stood up on her tiptoes as she kissed her husband on the lips and blushed. It was obvious to him what she wanted and now they had physical bodies to do such things. They also knew how to keep such things from affecting their daughter’s mind and held each other’s hand as they moved to a different location.

{-} {-} {-}

Naruko let out a groan and moan as she sat up on her bed.

“Was it successful?” Kyuubi asked her.

“I’m not sure yet completely, but I think it was. I want a few days just to be sure on the matter,” she said.

Kyuubi nodded in understanding.

“Those voices… the ones you talked about… they were my parents. We will have to find a way to let you get in my mindscape as well. My dad. He said he would answer your questions as long as you didn’t try to kill him,” she said.

Kyuubi’s red eyes widened in surprise. He hadn’t expected the man who sentenced him to that punishment to be so reasonable. “Then that is something we will work on… If he is willing to talk peacefully and not attack me… Then I will do the same to meet him,” he said.

“That’s good to hear. There was also something else that happened in there. I want to figure it out. I can tell it will make us stronger. I felt as if I was something more than I was. I was much stronger. I could sense… feelings... almost. It was really strange, but I want to find out more about it,” she said.

Kyuubi was humming in thought. “Maybe... Maybe, you got a taste of what the humans called sage mode. Few were able to get to that level of power and understanding. It is tricky, but I think we can do it. It will require work,” he said. The fox then grinned and chuckled a little, “But you’re far from being shy of such things. I still want us to figure out how to get me in there to talk to your dad first. I think that will help greatly given our circumstance.”

He then gave a sigh. “It is really strange how we can communicate through our minds and you can even use my power and go into your own mindscape but I can’t do the same fooly yet. I was able to help a few times, but it is hardly an on demand kind of thing. I find it a bit ironic that I was once a forced resident inside your mindscape eager to escape, but now I can’t easily enter it on my own when I want to,” he admitted.

Naruko gave him a warm smile as she stroked his fine coat. “I’ll help you with that if I can. You’ve helped me so much. I can only wish to return the help back to you,” she said.

Kyuubi chuckled. “We’re partners now, Naruko. We don’t keep track of such things. Well… Not officially at least,” he said with a smirk.

Naruko couldn’t help but giggle to his words. She was feeling pretty good at the moment. The feeling was fading as she realized she would have to deal with the other elements soon and that did terrify her. She would do her best, but she wasn’t sure if that would be enough in this instance.

Naruko’s heart froze and her eyes widened when she heard a knock on her bedroom door. “Who… Who is it?” she asked weakly. She hated how she so quickly shifted moods just because of a knock on her door.

“It’s me… Twilight. I’m not alone. Can we come in? Please?” Twilight’s voice asked from the other side of the door.

Naruko swallowed as she got ready to fight her way out if needed. She would give them a chance, but she really hoped Twilight would be able to keep the others calm or something and she wouldn't have to flee or anything. “I guess…” Naruko replied weakly as her anxiety from earlier returned seemingly tenfold.

Twilight opened the door to Naruko’s room with her friends by her side. The purple pony wore a look of concern. The others were looking around nervously as well. It seemed they didn’t fully have control of their own composure at the moment. Twilight hoped that wouldn’t be a problem.

“Heh. Heh,” Naruko let out a dry laugh. “All of you are coming after me at once?” she asked worriedly. Naruko wasn’t so sure she could escape in this circumstance.

“After you? Why?” Rainbow asked. Her usual lack of tact actually playing in their favor for once it seemed.

“Well… I mean you all know I’m not a pony originally,” Naruko said caught a little off guard by Rainbow’s statement and the looks the others were giving her as they seemed to grow more serious.

“As far as we’re all concerned, ya are a pony, Naruko,” Applejack said.

“I explained things to them,” Twilight said to the blonde unicorn who still seemed a little lost.

“You mean… You don’t all hate me?” Naruko asked.

“Finding out about where you really came from was kind of a doozy, but it’s all good,” Pinkie said with a smile. She then giggled and added, “I would throw a I just discovered a good friend of mine is actually from a different planet party, but that is probably too much to go around shouting about.”

“I actually thought it was totally awesome finding out you are a legit ninja! That is so bad ass!” Rainbow said with a grin.

Naruko was feeling more at ease but she looked to her friends who had been quiet so far. Rarity cleared her throat, “It is still rather surreal finding out you were a human, but we are all on the same page, Naruko.” She smiled to the blonde unicorn.

“After the temple, I can’t help but see you as a close friend even if you are from a different world,” Fluttershy said.

Naruko was crying happy tears now as her friends came in for a group hug. “I’m so happy… I was scared you would all hate me,” she said as they all hugged.

Twilight gave a mock offended scoff to that statement. “You know I’d never hate you, Naruko,” she said with a grin when Naruko looked to her in question.

The group of friends spent some time together that day in the Library. Naruko mostly answered all of their questions about what it’s like being a human. Naruko was well prepared for this considering that was pretty much all she talked about with Twilight at first apart from magic. Spike was more than eager to join in as well. He actually helped answer some questions as well from what he knew so Naruko could catch her breath and take a break. Twilight tried to help out but she would get a little overly technical about things and slip into lecture mode.

{-} {-} {-}

Once the others went home and it was evening, Naruko and Twilight sat with each other and enjoyed the other’s company. Naruko was feeling really good and happy tonight. She was also tired and a little worried what she did in her mindscape wouldn’t be enough. She would find out tonight.

Naruko gave a yawn as Twilight floated over a mug of hot chocolate to her. “Thanks,” Naruko said as she took it into her own magic.

“Things started out really hectic, but ended up pretty well I believe,” Twilight said as she sat right by Naruko.

“Yes, they did. I was so sure they would hate me or in the best-case scenario tolerate me after that slip up. I was ready to go and live out the rest of my days deep in the Ever-Free Forest,” Naruko said with a chuckle. Now that the crisis was over, her overreaction to the situation was kind of funny.

“Are you going to be okay tonight? You know After that dream you were frantically telling me about?” Twilight asked.

“I think my dreams will be better now. While I was freaking out, Kyuubi came up with a plan to help with that. I gladly went through with it as a way to get my mind off of things,” Naruko said.

“That’s good to hear,” Twilight replied easily. She decided to ask for more details on this plan later. It sounded fascinating to her.

Naruko then blushed and looked to Twilight before looking away again. “What is it?” Twilight asked.

“Well… ummm… Never mind it was selfish,” Naruko said.

“While I find your blush cute, I know it isn’t a never mind kind of deal, Naruko,” Twilight said looking to her marefriend.

Naruko sighed. “Okay… So, I’m worried about tonight anyways. I was thinking maybe. If you didn’t mind. We could sleep together tonight. And I mean really sleep,” she said as she sipped on her hot chocolate.

Twilight smiled to that and grabbed Naruko is a hug. “Of course, we can.” Naruko seemed relieved. Twilight gave a sigh of her own and gave Naruko a sideways glance. “Pity we can’t have some fun before at least,” she said causing Naruko to blush a little. Twilight liked how Naruko was being very cute at the moment.

“Sorry…” Naruko replied.

Twilight chuckled and then said, “I was joking. I’m fine with just sleeping. If it will help you out I’m doubly fine.”

“Thanks,” Naruko replied this time.

The two ponies went to bed after finishing their mugs of hot chocolate. As they lay together in bed, Naruko snuggled in smiling and feeling very warm.

“Hey, Naruko?” Twilight asked.

“Yes?” she replied.

“Have you ever wondered what was going on back in Konoha?” Twilight asked.

Naruko was silent in thought for a moment. “I have sometimes. Not much. I’m still perfectly happy to not look back on that chapter of my life. This stuff with Discord hasn’t helped either.”

“Sorry I brought it up…” Twilight said with a frown at herself.

Naruko gave her a nuzzle. “It’s fine. You’re Twilight. You’re my girlfriend. You get to ask me things like that, even if they aren’t always easy to answer.”

She then ran a hoof across Twilight’s flank. She kind of wanted to get her mind off of Konoha now and had a solution. “Perhaps we can have a little adult pony fun tonight after all,” she said in a mischievous voice. Twilight giggled as the two shared a kiss and let their desires lead them into the night.