Perchance to Dream

Naruto could only blink in confusion as this 'Morpheus' requested such a thing. The publisher merely shook off his uneasy feeling as he looked at the man before him. Though he tried not to go in direct contact with the man's gaze, as it seemed to pierce deep into the whiskered man's very soul.

"What do you mean 'you require my services'?" Asked the publisher. "I… have no idea what you're talking about Morpheus… if that's really your name."

The gaunt man tilted his head slightly in response before speaking back. "Morpheus is merely one of many name's I've been given, by mortals, throughout the years."

"When you say 'mortals', you're saying as if you're older than anyone currently alive."

"There are a few individuals older than me, but as to what you're referring to, then yes I am indeed much older than many currently alive to this day."

"So are you some sort of... god perhaps? Like Yggdrasil?" Questioned the Uzumaki, earning an odd chuckle from the man before him. "Is there something funny about what I said?"

"Something like that." Replied 'Morpheus'. "Throughout my many years of existence, I always wonder why mortals always label beings that are beyond their comprehension with a god. Labeling others as certain aspects of a much bigger picture would merely boost one's ego."

"...Okay…"

"And with Yggdrasil, I know who you're referring to and he can be considered a god." Answered the gaunt man. "Or at least one of a higher plane with his connections to the Green."

"So you're not a god then." Naruto guessed, earning a nod in return. "Though given with your appearance, you could possibly pass as one. No offense."

"None taken, since you're not the first and will surely not be the last with that thought in mind. But I should at least clarify to you, at least, that there's much that separates me from the gods that you mortals worship."

"Well by all means, what does separate you from 'gods'?" Replied the publisher as he soon sat down on the ground, with the man soon following. "As a matter of fact, who are you exactly? 'Morpheus' is a god's name from the Greeks with said god governing sleep and dreams."

Nodding in understanding, the man spoke his explanations. "Like I said before, Naruto Uzumaki, Morpheus is one of many names I've been given by mortals years ago. In fact, it's one of my favorites I go by alongside Oneiros since they describe my roles and designations so well." Earning a head tilt from the whiskered man, 'Morpheus' continued in a strong, dignified tone. "My true name is Dream of the Endless. For I am the Shepherd of Dreams; the Lord and Master of every idea, every thought and illusion that has ever existed or will come to fruition one day."

Naruto could only blink as the man's introduction started to sink in as questions rose with only a mere answer was given. All that he can do how was hold out his hand for the Lord of Dreams to shake. "Uh… Hi Dream."

Looking at the held out appendage, Dream soon grasped Naruto's hand as a cold feeling was momentarily felt by the publisher. "And hello to you, Naruto of Konoha."

"...How do you know that?" Naruto asked with a narrowed glance.

Letting go of Naruto's hand, Dream elaborated. "Apart of my duties, I oversee the dreams of many that sleep each and every day once they enter my realm. And dreams hold one's memories: the good, the bad and ones in between. And you were quite the oddity once you came to this world close to a decade ago, making me look into your memories out of curiosity."

Naruto felt unnerved when hearing this as this higher being already knew of his entire past. Though not wanting to quickly show his displeasure, the publisher slightly joked around this. "Makes me think that you're some sort of stalker."

"I do apologize if my confession made you unsettled, but I cannot feel guilty on my actions. For it's necessary since I'm responsible to oversee the dreams of gods, immortals and mortals alike and their welfare while traversing the Dreaming."

"The... Dreaming? What's that?" Naruto scratched his head as he pondered the importance. "Sounds like it's your domain since you keep talking of dreams and sleep."

"That is indeed correct since I'm the embodiment of the Dreaming itself with me as it's ruler." Dream pointed out as he continued. "And as it's ruler, I guard over their dreams as they pass my gaze. So whatever secrets you have, I won't be that easy to spill onto others."

"Okay, I get that that idea now." Muttered the whiskered man. "But earlier you said that you wanted to clarify on what separated you from 'gods'. Mind explaining that now?"

Nodding in consent, Dream spoke. "Before we start Naruto; what do you know on how gods are born?"

Once again, Naruto scratched his head as he racked his mind for some ideas. "Much to my understanding Dream, many religions start with people wanting to explain how certain occurrences happened. From hurricanes, earthquakes, states of harvests and many other instances. Telling stories on each moment and do a connection on beings they made up. And in time, people would worship and pray towards them for comfort and success in whatever is currently going on."

Dream smiled slightly as the former shinobi got a good understanding on how gods first started out. "It seems you got a good grasp, but there's more than you realize."

"Really? How?"

"It is like you said that men had created their own gods to explain occurrences and would pray towards them. But it's their dreams that helps bring the gods life. For they are born in the Dreaming and once ready, they leave that realm behind and search for power to take for themselves.

But you need to realize that the source of power gods relies on heavily comes from their followers. And if a god loses its acolytes, if there's no one to believe in either of them; then the god falls in disgrace and eventually fades. This process does take centuries to happen and in that time the gods lose much of their strength. They'll be forgotten by the very people who once revered them and will eventually be forced to return to the Dreaming from whence they came.

Of course the gods do try to exploit this through different loopholes, but I'm only entitled to know such things and knowing what happens once they return to the Dreaming."

"That's… That's a lot to take in and think about." Naruto simply said as he massaged the side of his head. "But what about the difference between you and the gods?"

"Unlike them; we of the Endless, which consists of me and my six siblings, do not require someone to believe in us in order to exist. We carry out our tasks, whether people acknowledge our existence or not, as we'll always be here until the very end. And asides from the Endless, there's the Presence, who is beyond our understanding and whom I'll not discuss."

Naruto nodded in understanding as he looked up into the void above. Processing everything Dream laid out for him as the publisher got a better idea on how gods were born and the odd difference from them and these Endless. Naruto looked back at the Lord of Dreams and saw the man was still sitting patiently for any form of response from the publisher.

"Thanks for informing me on such things Dream."

"You're welcome."

"But I do have to ask: why do you require my services?"

Dream merely tilted his head slightly in hearing the question, but nodded in remembrance as his voice went into a serious tone. "There is a problem involving with a particular man of great importance. Trapped in a dream that was manufactured by someone who wishes to be rid of him."

"Can't you just go in there and end the dream? After all, isn't that your territory?"

"It is, but I'm afraid I can't interfere?"

"...Excuse me?" Naruto was baffled at the response and voiced it further. "Why can't you interfere on this situation? You clearly said this man is of great importance and yet you can't do a thing about it. What the hell is wrong with that?"

Dream sighed in response as he looked straight into Naruto's eyes, making the mortal try to look not too deep. "Reason why I can't interfere was the specific manner on how the man got into the dream and of how important he is being a key factor to a larger scale... Not only that, but I was ordered by my older brother to not interfere, directly."

"Then mind explaining to me Dream?"

"That I cannot do since I can understand with your current… mindset, my further explanations would not make much sense to you unless you are of a higher form of intelligence."

'Wow… That has got to be the oddest insult to my smarts I've ever heard.' Thought the Uzumaki before remembering Dream mentioning 'directly'. "You want me to get the man out of his dream, aren't you?" Seeing the Endless nod, Naruto spoke again. "And with your occupation, and with me here, I'm guessing you want to put me into the man's dream."

"Right on the nose, as the mortals say." Getting up from the platform's surface, Dream dusted himself off of the imaginary dust before speaking again. "In your previous occupation, you were given missions for the betterment of others if I'm not mistaken. And with this current situation; if this man isn't awoken from his dream, then many fates will be greatly altered and countless lives would be lost."

"...He's really that important huh?" Naruto asked, seeing the seriousness in the man's features. Naruto merely sighed as he stood up as he adopted the same features as Dream's. "Alright. I'll do this Dream."

"Good." Walking to the edge of the platform, the Lord of Dreams placed his hand onto an invisible surface. Before Naruto could question his actions, a door started to materialize from specks of light. "This doorway will get you to your destination."

"Okay… Is there something else I should know exactly in where I'm going?"

"The people that you'll interact with are those that you know in the waking world." Dream stated as he pulled out a key from out of nowhere, seemingly to access the doorway. "But because of one man's manipulations towards the dream, not all will be the same. So play along, to not be noticed, and not give away your Vanitas identity on accident… to anyone. Even to the dream version of your lover."

'This is really similar to what Kurama warned me when we got to this world.' Naruto thought as he approached the door. 'At least I have a lot of experience on that.' "Anything else?"

"You'll wake up once he wakes up from his dream." Inserting the key into the lock, Dream unlocked the door and opened it. "Good luck."

Nodding at this, Naruto peered into the blinding white space beyond the door and stepped through. Once gone, Dream closed the door and stepped away as the door reverted back into specks of light.

"I do wonder what surprises Naruto will see once there." Mused the Lord of Dreams as he left the white platform to continue his continuous work in the Dreaming.

-Unknown Dream, The Dreaming-

Opening his eyes, Naruto groaned as he lifted himself from his bedroom mattress. Though he couldn't get up all the way as he felt some weight clinging onto his arm. Looking towards the source, Naruto saw Pam snuggling onto said limb.

'Well that's good for starters.' He thought as he slightly feared he wasn't going to be with Pam in whatever dream he was in. Looking off to the other side of the bed, Naruto didn't see Selina there. 'Though where is she.'

He felt Pam stir in the bed as she woke up with a yawn. "Morning Naruto."

"Morning Pam." Leaning close, he captured her lips and held for several moments before releasing them. "How was your sleep?"

"It was good." The botanist muttered as she tried to rub her eyes awake. "Though I wish the babies would stop kicking in my sleep."

"That's good." Naruto replied in his slight daze. But then his mind processed on what 'dream' Pam said, causing him to stiffen and look towards his girlfriend. 'Did she say… babies?'

Being really curious, Naruto lifted up the bedsheets and gazed towards Pam's stomach and saw that she was indeed pregnant with her swollen breasts due to said pregnancy. And in his mind, he guessed she was roughly 7-8 months pregnant… with triplets. His eyes watered slightly and his breath hitched as his hand came in contact with her pregnant belly, grazing against its surface.

'Pam's… pregnant?' He thought as apart of him wanted to scream out in joy on such an occasion. Though the other part told him that this was not real as its only a dream. Yet this was so hard for him to accept as his hand started to shake, causing Pam to quickly notice.

"Naruto? Is something wrong?"

Snapping out of his thoughts, the publisher shook his head as he tried to hide away his worry. "Nothing's wrong Pam. J-Just worried about the kids, that's all."

She chuckled in response as her hand came towards his whiskered cheek and petted him slightly. "My husband being such a worrywart. God, what am I gonna do with you?" Pam brought up her head and kissed Naruto on the lips, missing the widened expression being shown.

'We're married?!' Naruto yelled inside his mind as his heart seemingly soared once again. But once more, his rational thoughts had to kill such feelings as he reminded himself that this was not real. Whoever was behind all this was making this happen.

Pam separated the kiss as she patted his cheek before rolling out of bed. "Come on Naruto, I'd like to start today off well with a nice breakfast with Rachel."

"R-Right." He said as he quickly got out of the sheets and went to the bed's opposite side to help get his 'wife' out of bed.

"You don't have to keep helping me like this, you know. I'm a big girl and I can handle such things."

"I know honey, but I didn't want you to overexert yourself."

The two eventually made their way towards the kitchen, with Naruto right behind Pam in case of anything, as they saw Rachel already there making breakfast.

"Morning mom, dad." She said with a soft smile on her face.

"Morning Rachel." Voiced the botanist while her husband nodded towards the ashen girl. Though underneath the small smile, Naruto was freaking out once more.

'Seriously? Rachel calling us her parents?' He thought as he tried to control his emotions. 'What's next? Someone I know here is engaged?' "Is there enough for us?"

Rachel merely chuckled. "Of course dad. I know how much you eat, so I made extra." Nodding at this, the small family was about to eat when they heard the doorbell ring. "I'll get it."

"So will you finally tell me what's going on?" Pam asked, getting an odd look from her husband.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He defended as he took a sip of his drink in front of him.

"Right~ It's about the wedding next week, isn't it?" As she said this, Naruto coughed as some of the liquid came out of his mouth. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah… I'm fine. J-Just ended up having it go down the wrong pipe."

"I'm guessing it's more than that Naruto." A voice called out from the doorway, causing Naruto to swirl around on his stool to see Selina walking in with Rachel not far behind. "Probably nervous about getting things prepared for Bruce's bachelor party soon huh."

"W-What?!"

"Seriously? You're shocked about that?" The ravenette said as she curiously looked at her friend. "Red, has he been sleeping well?"

"Yes he is. Why?"

"Well look at him." She said as she pointed at the only man in the room. "Looks like he's a bit of a nervous wreck right now."

"Give dad some slack auntie." Rachel said as she wanted to defend her adoptive father. "He's in a lot of stress trying to deal with a lot of things right now. From work, soon-to-be uncle Bruce's party and your guys' wedding coming up." She listed off as neither girls saw Naruto's shocked look. "He wanted to help plan a lot of it so please take it easy on him."

"Uh… Thanks Rachel." He voiced as he mentally sighed in defeat. 'Okay… seems I ended up calling the engagement part too soon. More like marriage was supposed to be the right answer here.'

"Ah~ Aren't you cute on trying to act all mature." Selina cooed as she planted kisses on the ashen girl's cheeks.

"Ugh! Quit it!" Responded the adopted child as she tried to push her aunt away, but it was unsuccessful.

"I will once you stop being so cute!"

Naruto smiled at the scene before him that it seemed quite the same like what he does know, yet different. It seemed that Rachel seemed a tad more confident and less shy here than from the waking world. But asides from this from his… adopted daughter apparently is the only change about her in general.

Though he does wonder what else is different here in the Dreaming from the Waking World.

The additional person in the loft did join them for breakfast as the girls talked about the Wayne-Kyle wedding next week. The manor will be where the event will be taken place, upon Thomas and Martha Wayne's insistence (que spit take from Naruto on hearing this). After the little clean up, further discussions went on of little reminders that's supposed to happen around the event like Rachel being the flower girl, Harley being apart of the bride's maids alongside Selina's sister Maggie and Naruto being Bruce's best man for the occation.

As things were being cleaned up, on both dishes and taking showers, Selina came up to the publisher once he got fully dressed with a worried look on her face.

"Is something wrong Selina?"

"Yeah. It's about Bruce."

Feeling curious, the whiskered man asked the environmentalist. "What's wrong with Bruce?"

-Wayne Industries-

'What the hell is going on?' Bruce thought as he tried to fill out paperwork at the company office. Keyword tried as he didn't touch a single document. 'Everything is so strange.'

He didn't know what was happening to him since he woke up this morning. All that he can remember the night before was him chasing some crooks before ending up at a warehouse. Next thing he knew, he woke up in his bed with Alfred being confused on who Robin was… Who Dick Grayson was for crying out loud!

If that wasn't odd enough, apparently his parents were alive as well, but that was impossible. Bruce saw them die when he was eight and yet there they stood at the manor with grey hair and slightly wrinkled skin on their features. It was truly hard to believe that was happening to him as this must've been some sick joke of some kind, but he couldn't explain it.

Though one of the oddest things happened as he tried to get into the batcave through one of the many entrances at his home. He didn't know how, but none of them were working or even there to begin with. Bruce tried to discreetly ask Alfred, but he was confused on what the billionaire was talking about.

Of course to finish off making his day quite disturbing for him was learning he is set to marry Selina next week. That really threw him off in a loop as Bruce was fine with not being with Selina in the first place, as she wanted to just be friends. Yet, from his understanding once Alfred explained things, the two have been lovers for over a year now ever since Naruto introduced the two of them on a blind double date.

"Not to mention him being married with kids on the way." Bruce muttered as he massaged his head. "God this is insane."

*Knock Knock* *Knock Knock*

"The door's open!" The billionaire called out before the entrance to his office opened. Stepping through, he saw Naruto and Selina come closer to his desk. "Naruto? Selina? What are you two doing here?"

Bruce's 'fiancee' merely walked closer and sat on his desk before responding. "Your mother called saying that you needed some cheering up. And who better than the woman you're marrying quite soon."

"And me. Don't forget about me." Naruto added in as he felt a little uncomfortable seeing Selina act this flirty towards another man. Sure this ain't 'his' Selina, but she's really close to the same woman he fell in love with. So it's a tad hard for him not showing any form of jealousy at this very moment.

Bruce didn't respond to either of his friends as he kept looking away from them. This got said friends to look at each other in worry as neither knew what to do.

"Wow… you really are upset." Selina said in worry as Bruce couldn't meet her eyes. "Honey… Is something wrong?"

"I… I feel as if I'm missing something." Came the billionaire's response.

"Missing what Bruce?"

"I don't know how to explain it Naruto. It's like I'm someone else."

"You're probably having pre-wedding jitters." Selina said in reassurance. "It's so close to the wedding that you're already nervous as it is. Yes, that's probably it."

"No, it's not that at all." Came the quick response from her future husband before he turned away from her. "I-It's crazy, but it feels like I'm-" "BATMAN!"

Hearing Selena's interruption caused Bruce's eyes to widen and snap his head towards her direction. Seeing her shocked expression, he turned towards the source of her attention and saw something that was completely impossible. Something that definitely should not be happening right now.

'What the hell is going on?!' Bruce thought as he saw Batman gliding through the Gotham skies. He was in so much shock, he stood up from his seat and quickly ran out of his office.

"Bruce?" Naruto questioned seeing his friend go in a hurried state. Seeing the panicked look at his face made the publisher feel uneasy like there was more to his friend than meets the eye. But none of that mattered at this time as he and Selina ran out and followed Bruce's trail. "Bruce! Wait up!"

Naruto and Selina rushed through the halls and saw Bruce enter one of the elevators. They tried to make it inside, but they closed at the last moment. Not wanting to lose the trail, they went into the one that recently opened and quickly got inside.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Selina asked as she pressed the first floor button.

"I don't know, but I'd like to find out." Came her friend's response with determination in his voice. With how Bruce was acting, Naruto wants to do just that.

By the time they came out of the building, they saw Bruce stop his movements and looked onwards to see several robbers run out of a store across the street. It wasn't long before a shadow flew over head, causing several people to look up to see Batman gliding downwards from the sky. By the time he closed his cape-like wings, he dived towards one of the robbers and kicked the man's back.

"FUCK!" The one robber cried out as he dropped his share of the loot.

Several of the other robbers looked back to see what happened. By the time that occurred, they were assaulted by the Dark Knight as he dashed towards the closest one. Landing blows across the robber's chest before spin kicking the man into another robber to tumble both to the ground.

Another robber pulled a gun and fired several rounds towards the hero, but each missed as Batman weaved his way closer to the armed robber. Once close, he quickly grabbed the gun and dismantled it like it was nothing. Dumbfounded by this, the robber tried to pull out another gun from his side, only to fail as Batman punched the man's lights out before going after the others.

"Isn't he fantastic?" Selina asked with a smile on her face. This ended up getting odd looks from both men, which neither noticed. They didn't expected such a response from her in the first place as if it's like she's seeing Batman for the first time.

"Actually… yeah." Bruce muttered under his breath with widened eyes. He didn't know how to make of it, but he could happily agree with Selena's assessment of seeing his alter ego fight like that. Strange that it is with him seeing it through another's perspective.

Naruto chose and said nothing as he studied the Bat's movements and fighting style. Having seen it several times in the past when he interacted with the hero in question. Then again, the Uzumaki has experienced such things when he was Vanitas and not as his civilian self.

As he gazed to his friends, Naruto started to suspect things were clearly off in this situation. He knew for a fact that his Selina saw Batman fight before and interacted with him, yet shouldn't be this impressed. As for Bruce, he noticed an odd look of familiarity across the billionaire's features. It was as if Bruce was picturing himself as Batman. It was hard to explain it, but Naruto started to suspect things were up.

By the fight across the street ended, police sirens were heard as the GCPD arrived onto the scene. Before any of the police could get out of their vehicles, Batman pulled out his grappling hook and fired it. Once it landed it's mark at a high enough spot, he pressed a button and shot himself into the sky before gliding away from the scene.

"W-Who is he?"

"He's Batman Bruce." Came the publisher's response. Though he oddly got a shake to the head in return.

"No, not that Naruto. I meant who is he?"

"...Isn't that the reason why he wears a cape and cowl?"

Selina giggled into her hand at her friend's response. "I do agree with Naruto on this one Bruce. But to answer your question… no one really knows. He just appeared one day a few weeks ago." She then gained a worried look once more as she looked onto Bruce's features. "Are you alright?"

Bruce merely looked at his 'fiancee' and had one question in mind. "Selina… Does the name Catwoman ring any bells?"

"I… I have no idea who you're talking about." She said in complete confusion. "Bruce you're really starting to worry me."

"Same here." Naruto said in agreement, but in not in the way the others were expecting. Inside of the publisher's mind, he was really starting to piece together things that he didn't expect to find out while in this dream. But to keep things flowing and try not to give himself away, Naruto quickly formulated a plan. "Maybe you should see Harley Bruce. She could possibly help."

Selina nodded as she spoke. "I agree. Her being one of the best psychologists in Gotham, she could maybe help you out on whatevers happening."

Being ganged up like this, along with his mind being such a turmoil, he sighed out in response. "Okay… I'll go check on her once I'm done with work. After all, I still have other things to take care of in the office."

-Evening, Dr. Harleen Quinzel's Office-

"So mind telling me what's going on Bruce?" Harley questioned the billionaire, who was lying on the patient chair in her office. "When Naruto called me earlier to set up the interview; it was odd to hear you wanting to see a psychologist. Even me, no less, since you apparently don't like going to them at all. Hell I even remember hearing about you trying to date that one psychologist last year before she died and even then you two never got along as she tried to psychoanalyze you."

"I'm sorry on that Harley, but it's just I never felt comfortable going to one to begin with… And as for Bethanie, well, she started to push the wrong buttons that made me feel quite uneasy with her."

"How so?"

"Well…" He drawled out as he tried to think on the proper answer. "I didn't want to be downgraded like a child after my parent's accident."

"The one with the car accident?"

Blinking in confusion in what she meant, Bruce decided to play along since he has no memory of such a thing. Only the memory of his parent's death entering his vision. "Right… that. It was a hard experience for me to endure and I started bottling things up for a long time. And when Bethanie started to probe me on such sensitive and personal subjects, I had to end things with her."

"That's quite understandable Bruce." The blonde doctor said as she wrote on her clipboard. "You didn't give her the proper trust to know such things and her being a psychologist seemed to add to the problem of a notion you never wanted to come across, ever since your childhood."

"That's pretty much it I suppose."

"And yet here you are in my office, a psychologist's office, to deal with your problems." Harley pointed out with a small smile.

"You got me there Harley." He chuckled a little. "You're Naruto's dear friend and I want to put a lot of trust in you on this."

"Then I'm glad you want to do so." Came her response with a genuine smile. "So… What's troubling you Bruce?"

The dark haired man could only sigh in frustration as his hands were massaging his temples. "It's like I'm living another person's life Harley. I don't really know myself anymore. All I know is so different from things that I'm seeing right now."

"Mind telling me some examples? If you're comfortable that is."

"Well… there's you for starters."

The psychologist blinked in confusion and pointed towards herself. "Me?"

"Yes you. I don't know how to say it without offending you or hurting you, but you were in an accident that ended up bleaching your skin and hair and you ended up childish." Bruce said as he looked her way to see a raised brow look across her features. "But you do keep your childish tendencies from your work so you can work better at Arkham."

She merely blinked at this and only muttered a little. "Huh… weird."

"Then there's Selina that she's a thief to help fund many environmental situations, Pam's not pregnant and she has plant based powers and I know that I took in a child when he was roughly eight years old and practically raised him like a son. Yet none of that happened."

Harley hummed a little as she wrote these down before addressing her patient. "I could say that you're a little crazy and stay away from comic books on giving you such ideas." This earned a little chuckle from Bruce. "Though joking aside, I think the problem is a little clear to me. Now you've lived this carefree life with everything handed to you since you were born in privilege. For example, you were given Wayne Enterprises ever since your father retired.

Yet you fear that you never really accomplished anything noteworthy with things laid out for you. And I'm not talking about of you graduating college as such a thing since that takes a lot of hard work mind you. But getting back to the matter at hand, you're at a big point in your life that's going to change yourself for the next big step towards your future."

"Marrying Selina?"

"Yes and instead of going through your typical life crisis, you started to fantasize and create a life more satisfying for you. Replacing yourself with someone else that's doing so much good for others and is worth of great value." Harley explained as she saw the billionaire's head nod and come to some form of understanding.

"Batman."

"I guess so and to simply put it, you're suffering from dissociation. The only way to treat this problem is for you to find pride in your own existence and then these delusions will fade away. Merely becoming thoughts that you'd laugh about years later."

Bruce seemed quite unsettled in hearing this and didn't know what to do. He could only mutter his response. "And all these years of training and discipline ever since my parent's murder in Crime Alley… A delusion?"

"I guess so Bruce." She responded with a shrug before seeing the billionaire rub his temples with a small smile seemingly grow on his lips.

"Then… Then the nightmare is over." Bruce declared as he stood up from the patient chair and shook Harley's hand. "Thank you Harley for helping me on this."

"Your welcome and I'll be sure to forward the bill to your family."

Nodding at this, Bruce headed out of the office to head home with the ever present smile on his features. Though if he were to look back in the hallway, Bruce would've seen Naruto drop down from the ceiling with a frown on his face. Clearly hearing the whole conversation taking place.

"Seems this finally confirms things, more than I would've liked." The publisher muttered as he made his way out of the building. "Now I need to get Bruce out of this dream or he'll be trapped here, with me in it."

-Wayne Manor-

Going through the hallway as the happiest he'd ever been in years, Bruce made it to his father's office. Standing by his desk was the man who helped raise him for years alongside his mother. Going up to him, Bruce tapped his shoulder, causing Thomas to turn around before he was assaulted by a hug.

"...Not that I mind this Bruce. What brought this on?" Questioned the Wayne patriarch.

"Nothing dad, nothing at all." Separating from the embrace, Bruce spoke to his father. "Though I was wondering if you and mom would like to join Selina and I out for dinner."

"Heh. Seems that you're in your old self Bruce. And as for dinner, I'll have to check with your mother."

"That's fine dad and yeah… I've never felt better."

Leaving the office, Bruce searched for the family butler. It did take some time, but he found Alfred cleaning the library near one of one of the 'supposed' entrances to the batcave. "So did you find that cave yet Alfred?"

Turning towards the source, the Wayne butler merely shook his head. "I'm afraid not Bruce."

"Good because if you did then both of us would've been crazy." Bruce responded with a grander smile.

The Pennyworth smiled at his young charge at his better spirits. "It's good to see you in best of moods Master Bruce."

"Why not Alfred, my life is a dream. Practically the best I've ever had."

"Then if you'll excuse me, I'll need to prepare dinner." Alfred said as he made his way out of the room.

"Check with my parents though since I think they'll want to go out with Selina and I."

Turning back, the butler nodded before going to search for the patriarch and matriarch of the household.

Bruce merely looked back at Alfred exiting the room, leaving him all by himself. Wanting to finally treat himself, the man made his way towards the nearby coffee table where a book laid there. Knowing it being one of the books he wanted to finally finish reading, yet delayed himself because of his supposed life as Batman.

"Now where I was I?" He questioned himself as he opened the book at it's bookmarked page. Bruce was about to sit down and read, but something odd occurred as he gazed at it's pages. "What the hell?"

Before him were jumbled up words, in various fonts and designs, that didn't make any sense to Bruce at all. He rubbed his eyes from what he was seeing and gazed back. Bruce didn't know what to make of this now as he started to flip through the pages. Each and every one of them were practically the same of the jumbled mess. His heart was starting to beat louder and louder with his eyes widening.

"N-No… I-It can't be." Needing to find if this was true, Bruce made his way towards the other books in his library and opened them up. Each and every one in his frantic state saw the same mess as before. "No. No. NO! This isn't making sense!"

"Bruce? Is something wrong?" Came the voice of his mother. Turning around with widened eyes, Bruce saw her alongside his father with concerned looks on their faces.

"...You're not real."

"What?"

"You two… You're not real." He said as he backed away from them. "None of this is real! It's all a lie!"

Running out of the library, not seeing the worried looks of his parents, Bruce made it to the living room to see the TV set was on.

"...And in latest news, Batman has once again captured the criminals before fleeing-" Sounds of the TV set were destroyed as Bruce threw the lamp at the screen.

"Batman… Always Batman!" He yelled out in rage.

"Bruce! What the hell is the matter with you?!" Thomas yelled out as he came close to his son.

"It's him! He's behind all of this!" Bruce cried out as he moved out of the way from his father's grasp. "And I'm gonna find out why!"

Running towards the garage, he hoped into one of the nearby cars and drove out of the manor grounds. Bruce did not see the concerned looks of his parents as he made his way off the area. Though if he did look back slightly in his current pursuit, he would've seen Naruto's car drive near the family grounds.

"The hell?" Muttered the Uzumaki. "Was that Bruce?" Turning around his car, Naruto made his way to follow his friend.

-Streets of Gotham-

It took a bit of time to catch up to his target since Naruto ended up hitting some red lights along the way. Though by the time the publisher saw Bruce's car, which was in front of a sport's shop, there was a police car right next to it. The billionaire was clearly talking to a pair of officers with a grappling hook and rope around his shoulder. And before Naruto knew it, Bruce ran away from the officers into the nearby alleyways.

Not wanting to lose track of his friend again, Naruto drove around the block to hopefully find him. Though after several minutes, Naruto saw him running once dropping down from a fire escape. The Uzumaki stopped his car at the alley's entrance and opened the passenger door.

"Get in Bruce!"

"Naruto?"

"Get in the fucking car Bruce!" Naruto called out. "Right now!"

In the heat of the moment, Bruce complied and entered before Naruto drove them through the streets.

"What are you doing here Naruto?"

"I can ask the same thing. What the hell did you do to piss off the cops? And while I'm at it, what were you doing as you drove off from home like someone on a mission?"

"You saw that?"

"Yeah, I did. So mind telling me what's going on?"

"I… I don't know if you'll believe me. Hell I don't even know if you're really there." Bruce said from his seat.

"Like I'm not even real? Like everything around us is merely a dream?" Naruto questioned in a serious tone, getting his friend to look at him.

"Wait… How do you-"

"I know since I'm stuck in here with you Bruce." Naruto stated as he mentally slapped himself of revealing this without doing it in a proper way doing so. Things were getting nowhere and Naruto needed to do his part now. "I know since none of this was right when I woke up this morning."

"...Tell me something only I would know."

"Excuse me?"

"If what you're proclaiming to be true Naruto, then tell me something only I know that isn't from here."

Naruto gave Bruce a look for a brief moment since he needed to keep his eyes on the road to… wherever really. The publisher was just merely driving without a proper destination in mind. "You really want one or would you like several?"

"Just tell me already." Bruce growled out as his patience was wearing thin.

"Alright sheesh. Okay so here are a few things: Selina is a thief that has a criminal record. There's Pam who definitely isn't pregnant and my wife and doesn't work for Star Labs anymore since she currently works at the Botanical Gardens. Harley has her skin bleached because of the Joker and works at Arkham. And there's also the fact I tried asking about Dick Grayson earlier if he was going to the wedding and no one knows who he is."

Hearing these facts made Bruce call down a little. They were indeed true to his memory and not from this… dream he was experiencing. Though there was one question that came to mind.

"But if you're in this dream, then how did you get in here?"

"I'd like to know as well Bruce, but I have no idea how exactly." Lied the publisher since he didn't want to give out that part out of the Lord of Dreams being the one to get him in here. "I thought things were odd when I woke up but you seemed to really confirm you weren't from here when you asked Selina earlier if she was supposedly Catwoman."

"Then I'm not the only one in here." Bruce sighed out. "But why did you try and find me earlier and not ask me back at the office?"

"Call it a guess, but I read a lot of sci-fi and fantasy books pertaining to dreams. In this kind of scenario, if you start to talk about it around those that are apart of the dream, instead of in private with those not apart of it, then it's defenses will eventually start kicking in to make the dreamer feel more convinced it's real instead of being fake. It's either that or possibly whoever did this whole mess is gonna go through many lengths to keep this going."

Hearing this made Bruce nod a little on the explanation. It wasn't the best but it gave him the general idea. Looking out of the window, he noted some of the areas and asked his friend.

"So where are you taking me?"

"Nowhere in particular since I have no idea where to go exactly." Answered the publisher. "Though do you have an idea on where to head off to? You clearly have some gear on you that you need to get somewhere."

"You're right. Now I really can't explain it, but I need you to take me to the cemetery. It might help lead to who is behind all this."

Nodding at this, Naruto spun his car around the corner and made their way towards the cemetery in question.

-Gotham Cemetery-

"This is it Bruce." Naruto said as he pulled up to the land's gates. "Are you sure you don't need me with you?"

"I'm sure." Replied the billionaire as he got out of the car. If what he guesses is true, then he doesn't want Naruto to know what he might possibly say. "You stay here and wait for me in case of anything."

"...If you say so Bruce." Seeing the man back up onto the road, Bruce took a sprint and jumped onto the cemetery wall before climbing the rest of the way up. "Though I don't know if I plan on waiting in here for you to get back." Just as Naruto got out of his car, he saw a police car pull up from behind before one of cops walked towards him. "Is there something wrong officers?"

"Yeah, we're wondering if you spotted Bruce Wayne around here."

Naruto shook his head as he lied to the officer. "No I have not sir. Is something wrong with him?"

"Nothing that you should be concern about."

"If you say so."

"Though why are you here so late at night?" The officer asked as his eyes narrowed the whiskered man.

"Oh, no reason." The publisher said with a shrug. "Just driving around to clear my head."

The second officer got out of the car, pulled his partner back and whispered something into the first officer's ear. Not long after, the man pulled back before both had a narrowed glance across their features. "I think you're lying."

"And why's that?"

"Because one of our guys saw from the security footage from one of the intersections and reported it in."

"Wow~ That is really fast." Was all Naruto said before he ran in close and knocked the two officers out. "And that was a really stupid excuse for a dream defense. Not long after, additional cars started to arrive onto the scene. "Yeah… This is gonna be an annoying way to buy Bruce time to get things done."

Back with said billionaire, Bruce made it to the cemetery's center as he eyed the small church located here. Pulling out his grappling hook, he swung it high enough to help him climb up the wall. It wasn't a great process, having grown used to using his grappling gun for so long, but this had to be done. Having to repeat this process a few times to get to the very top of the church's bell tower, Bruce rested for a little moment as the rain started to pour from the sky.

"HERE I AM!" He cried out to the heavens as the thunder roared. "I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU! YOU DID THIS TO ME SO COME ON OUT!"

Bruce waited not that very long as he soon saw a figure glide through the thunderous skies. It flew closer and closer to the bell tower until it slowed itself down once close enough. In a quick movement, the figure landed a few feet away from Bruce as it revealed itself to be Batman… or something else posing as the Dark Knight.

Wanting to let out his frustrations, Bruce lunged at his opponent and swung his fist. 'Batman' caught ahold of it and tossed Wayne aside, who landed as he recovered in the air. Bruce went back towards his assault as he slid on the ground to sweep the 'hero' from below. Though this wouldn't work at 'Batman' jumped out of the way from the strike. Getting back up, Bruce was about to attack when the 'Dark Knight' walked towards him.

"You're not well Mr. Wayne." 'Batman' stated as he held out his hand. "You need professional help. Please, let me help you."

"LIAR!" Bruce growled out as he pointed at the man in front of him. "You know what's going on! This is a dream! A very elaborate dream and you're the one responsible for all of this!"

"A dream? Why would you think that?"

"I suspected something was really off from the start as I started asking questions. Though this dream was really convincing me otherwise and I was about to cave in. But things started to become clear when I tried reading a book at my library. The print didn't make any sense."

"And what of it?" Questioned the 'Bat' as he walked closer to the billionaire.

"Because reading is a function on the right side of the brain while dreams come from the left side. And it's impossible to read in a dream." He explained as his adversary advanced his movements, making Bruce back away.

"Granted that's true, but how is it my fault."

"I don't know, but I know that you're the key to all of this. I just know it. Just like I know that you'd be here. This tower is apart of my nightly patrols." As 'Batman' got close enough, Bruce grabbed ahold of the man's costume in a fierce grip. "NOW TELL ME WHO YOU ARE!"

Soon a spotlight was shone onto the tower, making Bruce squint his eyes as he heard something from a megaphone.

"We don't want to hurt you Mr. Wayne, we just want to talk." An officer spoke through the speaker. "Though it's hard to do so with your friend cooperating."

"This guy's crazy!" An officer cried out as he was smacked to the side. "We can't seem to stop him!"

"Then keep him down-GAH!" The megaphone officer cried out as one of the other officers landed ontop of him.

"Yeah that's not gonna happen." Naruto stated as he twirled around a pair of tonfa batons he acquired from the officers. "I can possibly do this all night assholes!"

As the publisher readied himself, more and more officers seemed to appear into the cemetery to take care of the situation at hand. In real life, this would've been too much but it seemed the dream defenses were really starting to go haywire to stop the publisher from ending the dream.

'Naruto.' Bruce thought as he peered at the scene below with several piles of officers lying on the ground with his friend fending them off all on his own.

This distraction costed him as 'Batman' kneed him in the stomach, causing him to hunch over before he was smacked around at the top of the tower. Getting tired of the hits, Bruce grabbed ahold of one of Batman's arms before punching the man across the face several times. On the last punch, the 'hero' grabbed the offending arm and headbutted the billionaire before kicking his side.

Before Bruce could recover, 'Batman' lunged at him as they tumbled to the ground. They rolled around the room and punched at each other as they tried to gain dominance over the other. It was a difficult process for the billionaire as he was able to get on top, with both of them evenly matched. Though to let go of some of his frustrations, he did kick Batman across the head several times for good measure.

"Now let's see who you are!" Bruce growled out as he reached for his opponent's mask. Pulling it off, the billionaire gasped as he saw the one behind all of this. "The Mad Hatter?"

Jervis Tetch could only cackle at Bruce's face as he backed away from the unmasked man. "Congratulations are in order I suppose. And you are indeed right Mr. Wayne. This is a dream, a very special dream."

"Then… Then you know everything about me."

Jervis shook his head as he pulled off his Batman costume as his Mad Hatter attire appeared to be worn underneath. Once pulling out his signature hat from the discarded cowl, the former Wayne scientist spoke. "Indeed I do, but I think I should clear this up Mr. Wayne. I am merely a figment of this dream, representing the real Jervis Tetch from the outside as he toils away to keep you locked in here."

"What do you mean Tetch?!" Bruce growled out as he stared down his former employee.

"The real Hatter had to acquire tech from Star Labs at various locations around the country to build the Dream Apparatus so that he can place it onto you to keep everything locked in so nothing can interfere." Explained the Hatter as he pointed his finger at the billionaire. "At the cost of not revealing anything to the outside world, it's purpose is to create an ideal world for you and you alone."

"But how is Naruto in here in the first place?" Bruce demanded as he smacked Jervis' hand away. "He clearly knows that he's stuck in here just like me."

"You mean your friend down there?" Jervis stated as he pointed towards the scene below. "That I do not know for sure. He could be apart of your subconscious represented to remind you of who you really are. A form of defense that came into being to help you on this endeavor."

"And what of you Jervis? You're not real."

"Ah but I could be real, just as real as everything else in this world." His answer was not met well as he was punched across the face several times. "FUCK THAT HURT!"

"Then end this Tetch! End this now!"

Holding onto his bleeding nose, Jervis waved over it to have it mended before glaring at his former boss. "I'm hurt that you're not appreciating the world I created."

"But it's not real!"

"Ah~ But it can be, once you accept it." The Hatter said in a sinister tone. "Though I must ask: Are you the dreamer or merely a part of someone else's dream?" Jervis cackled as he smiled. "That was the question Twiddle Dee told to Alice in Looking throu-"

"THIS ISN'T SOME STORYBOOK JERVIS!"

The Hatter ignored the outburst as he walked around the dream trapped man before him. "But it is Mr. Wayne. A beautiful story to fill your heart's content. A world where your parents never died, a world where you got all the love you ever wanted and friends just as happy as you are. Your very own Wonderland to do as you see fit."

Bruce gritted his teeth as he hotly glared at the criminal before lunging at the man and punched him several more times. "WILL YOU SHUT UP FOR ONCE!" Once he stopped punching the man, Bruce spoke once again. "I will not live a lie, no matter how attractive you make it to be!"

Jervis was in a sour mood at this point as he glared back as he mended his injuries. "It's a moot point yet there's no way out of this."

"Tell me how to get out of this Tetch!"

"I don't know and even if I did, I'd never tell it to you." Soon the sounds of doors being blown in were heard all from above, causing Tetch to gleefully smile. "Seems that your friend wasn't able to take care of all of them. And in a moment, the police will be here to take you in. But do you want to spend the rest of your dream life in Arkham?"

Additional sounds could be heard at the doorway in the bell room as the officers were trying to make their way through. "Open up Mr. Wayne! We just want to help!"

Bruce looked onto the side and saw more people arrive onto the scene as he gazed at Naruto's form being outnumbered with the police rushing in all at once. The billionaire tightened his fists in anger as several throughts arrived. Though one thought seemed of most interest as he smiled, which caused Hatter to become quite nervous.

"There is a way out." He said as he walked back to the edge of the room.

"J-Just wait a damn minute Mr. Wayne." Tetch warned as he tried to stop him. "Don't do anything foolish! This isn't an ordinary dream! And what if you're wrong?!"

As the sounds of the door were giving way, Bruce glanced at Jervis and growled out a simple response. "Then I'll see you in your nightmares."

Taking off into a sprint, the door was finally opened as the police came through. But it appeared to be too late as they saw Bruce about to leap through the room's gap.

"No Mr. Wayne! Don't do it!"

He ignored them as he jumped. Falling down from up high as he saw the shocked faces from down below. Plummeting down towards the earth, heads first and not for his safety, he awaited death. But the last thing he saw before he met his demise was seeing Naruto's shocked appearance as he cried out to him.

"BRUCE!"

-Waking World-

Waking up with a gasp, Naruto panted as he tried to calm his beating heart. It was truly hard to picture on what he just saw before being forcefully ripped out of the Dreaming. Once calming down, Naruto gazed onto the sides of his bed and saw his girlfriends were still asleep.

"How… How did they sleep through me yelling?!"

"Because I put them into a deeper sleep than usual Naruto." Looking at the far side of the room, the publisher spotted the Lord of Dreams sitting in one of the chairs of the room as he sipped some tea from one Naruto's cups. "I didn't want them to hear this conversation once you woke up."

"Why didn't you tell me I was going into Bruce's dream?" Questioned the publisher as he got out of bed and walked towards Morpheus.

"Because it was not my place to say. You needed to figure things out on your own and you needed to help him out once you did so." Morpheus explained as he placed the cup down. "Though I at least have to say good job on what you did to get him out."

"All I did was hold off the police as I saw one of my friends commit suicide off the side of the bell tower!" Naruto growled out as he hotly glared at dream lord before him. "How is that a good job?! He could've died!"

"And yet, he didn't. He's currently awake, dealing with his assailant as we speak." Dream said in a reassuring tone. "Though the method of killing himself was the only way his mind can release him from his confinement. And as drastic said method was, it proved to be the most effective in that situation."

All that Naruto could do was tightening his fists as he walked around his room for several moments. "Mind telling me who trapped Bruce inside of his dream at least."

"Does it matter?"

"No, since he as Batman is already taking care of it. But I just wanna at least know and why the man did this."

If Dream's eyes were visible, he would've rolled them. "He goes by the name Jervis Tetch, otherwise known as Mad Hatter, and he wanted to trap Batman so Bruce would not meddle in his life anymore."

Groaning out, Naruto massaged his temples as he remembered the escaped Arkham inmate. "Great… Him again… At least he's back in jail again. But… But does he know Bruce's secret?"

"He does not. The machine used could not allow him to remove his cowl as the harness was fastened around your friend's head and Tetch was too impatient on putting on the device that he forgot to check on his adversary's identity."

This earned Naruto a relieved sigh. "That's a relief." Looking back at the man in his bedroom, he wondered why Morpheus was still here. "Is there something else you need to talk to me about?"

"Yes I do. Since you've helped out in this endeavor, I want to gift you with something."

Blinking at this, Naruto was surprised to hear this. Him being gifted by a primordial like being. Someone that dwarfs gods?

"Are you sure you want to give me something Dream? I mean I did yell at you earlier."

"I know that, but I've grown used to it that it doesn't really bother me."

"...Okay… So what's this gift you want to give me?"

"You'll see your reward once you fall back asleep." Blinking in confusion once more, Morpheus elaborated. "It's something my youngest sibling and I had made in a joint project years ago before her 'change' to help spread the influence of pleasant dreams among the mortals. And their appearances being cute and cuddly helps on such a thing… My sister's words not mine."

"Then thanks?"

"You're welcome." As Dream started to fade into the darkness of the night, he spoke one last thing. "Have a pleasant sleep Naruto. You earned it."

Seeing the Lord of Dreams no longer in his room, Naruto looked at the teacup left behind. Not wanting it lying around, he took it and exited his room to get it cleaned up before properly storing it away. As he did so, Naruto reflected back on the dream he had and what he saw exactly.

'I'm gonna need to talk to Harley when I see her next.' He thought as he washed the cup and plate. 'She might help me out on this in a psychologist's standpoint. And even then… I don't know how to properly talk to Selina and Pam about what I saw in there.' Placing the wet dishes onto the side to air dry, Naruto leaned against the counter as he pondered further. 'And there's the fact that I interacted with the real Bruce in there and me knowing he's Batman. What the hell am I gonna do with that?'

Feeling too tired to think on this now, the publisher walked back to bed as he wanted to rest his mind from what he had to deal with. Hoping that Morpheus will give him a pleasant sleep like he promised. Though he did wonder what Dream gifted him with that'll make his sleeping experience enjoyable.

All that he could do at this point was lie back and dream a pleasant dream and deal with his worries in the morning