68 Talk no Jutsu is Real

"Come on Henry, you should write. It's been a month since you wrote." Black Infinity 1289, Henry's inner author said in distress.

"You know how it is. I don't feel anything. It was as if I'm floating in a void. I like void and darkness. So I decided to stay there forever. What's your problem?" Henry asked his mental counterpart with narrowed eyes.

"You think I can't influence you since I'm a mental apparition? Don't make me force you!" Black Infinity warned.

"Without my will to write, you will disperse in a few days. You think you can beat me?" Henry asked with a smug smile.

"Well then, you asked for it." Black Infinity said, fading from existence.

"Someone is cocky. Thinking you can influence me." Henry said with a satisfied smile and started walking away to deal with the real world.

"Is this it? Is this the end of everything you dreamt of? Everything you wrote for the past year and half?" He heard some whispers and turned around to see whose voice it was.

"Who is there?" Henry asked, mildly scared of what is lurking in the shadows. He calmed himself and started imagining the void, the place that became his sanctum for the past month.

"If you don't trust yourself, who will? If you don't have the will to continue, how will the people who like what you write react?" The same voice started to whisper again and this time, Henry saw a shadow behind him and turned to come face to face with him.

"How is this possible? Why are you here?" He asked in a surprised shock, but got a humourless chuckle.

"Ero-sennin always used to tell me. If I stop being who I am, who will be there to be like me? Anyone can't replace you. We are unique in our own way. So don't stop just because you can't continue anymore or don't have anything you can think of.

Look around you, you will see people asking you to continue, asking you to not become one of them. Isn't that what you promised? To not abandon your stories and complete all of them?" He asked Henry, who stared at him with blank face.

Seeing the onyx-haired not convinced by his argument, he kicked it up a notch.

"You know what happened when I was born. I lost my parents. I was alone. I didn't have anyone to support me. Yet I didn't lose hope. I found a way to get attention and craved it, pranking and fooling people in the process.

But I never lost the will to get their attention. When I grew up, I went after becoming Hokage as the Hokage has the respect of everyone. Even though many said it was impossible, I didn't give up.

I failed my exams 3 times and you know how I passed. Even when I was pierced through my chest, I didn't give up. You had a far better life than me, you had better childhood and skills than me.

You are a great man. You can change a world to fit your whims and make it look good. And if you still think giving up on it is easy, be my guest." He gave Henry time to think.

"But-"

"But you have problems. You have life. You have a world other than your stories. Who said you didn't? People are understanding. They believed you when you said you had exams last year. They believed you again when you said exams again this year. They didn't object or hate you for that.

All they asked for was an update. And you are telling me you can't write a 5k chapter in a week for 1 story? Didn't you just redo the whole update schedule so that it does your fancy? Why are you backing away now?"

"That's not me-"

"That's Black Infinity1289. Aren't you Black Infinity 1289? He may be a part of you, he is you. Not a different person. Last I checked, you didn't have any Multiple Personality Disorder. Do you want to get checked with our doctor, Orochimaru?" He asked with a knowing smirk and Henry vehemently nodded negatively.

"That's what I thought as well. So you will write, correct?" He asked and Henry nodded.

"You already messed up Broken Shackles by making a sneaky appearance instead of Harry. People still point that out, Naruto." Henry said with a smile, feeling relieved. Naruto, who stepped into the light smiled at him cheekily.

"I was sneaky. It's your mistake for not keeping an eye on me." He laughed, which made Henry laugh with me.

"You convinced him? Nice." Black Infinity stepped out of the shadows and Henry stared at him in shock.

"Of course. Dattebayo!" Naruto laughed.

"So that's all you're doing? Should have known." Henry said with a head shake.

"What did you think, I'll give up that easily?" Black Infinity asked with a smug smile.

"That's cunning. So sending him was part of the plan? Hmm. Guess you got all my smarts."

"Please. It's because of me you are smart. Remember that time you tried to think of something and slept? After I came, you were able to hold yourself and think about something for a prolonged time."

"Don't be greedy and take all the credit, my friend. It's because of you, we all exist here. You let your imagination run wild and allow us in here." Naruto said as many figures came to light.

"That's really brilliant. I didn't expect so much love for me when I was first created. But the love I received from everyone is well appreciated and though there are many drawbacks, you guys are doing a great job of filling them.

I thank all the authors and readers who took the time to write and read a story about me and develop it into a new world that was never seen as a possibility before. Keep on writing, keep on creating wonderful worlds." Harry said, appearing beside Naruto. He vanished as soon as he said his part.

"That was quick."

"He is always awkward with crowds. You know how he just did his thing and moved on at the end of the books? Though he became a great man, guess his awkwardness while talking to many new people still persisted."

"Well, I'm hungry. Gimme some meat!" Luffy shouted, standing beside Naruto.

"You are not gonna thank your writers and readers?" Naruto asked and Luffy turned to Henry and Black Infinity.

"Can you carry my message to others?" He asked seriously. Henry and Black Infinity nodded.

"THANKS A BIG BUNCH, GUYS! HERE, YOUR PIECE OF MEAT!" Luffy yelled, throwing a big chunk of meat to the duo.

"It's too typical of him. I swear, we will run out of meat at this rate." Naruto sighed.

"Who else left?" Henry asked, waiting for someone to step up to show their appreciation.

"Natsu and Gray started an argument about fighting others and started fighting themselves. Goku thought they were strong and joined the fight, not using any Ki. Tanjiro and Izuku are trying to stop them.

Kakashi and Gojo are trying to cosplay each other while Itadori is trying his best to stop laughing. Ichigo is fighting with Zoro, guess the guys are having fun. Sanji is cooking for all of us.

Sasuke is trying his best to impress Vegeta, who thought he was a lost Saiyan kid. Saitama is walking aimlessly, trying not to punch anyone, and Master Roshi is attempting to guide him. Bald friendship there.

Orochimaru and Urahara are having too much fun running the circus while Zoro's many other friends are trying to blend in, mainly those 2. Slime guy and Spy guy. Rimuru and Loid(Twilight) if I remember correctly.

You should have seen Loid's face when Rimuru started analysing his every moment and explaining what Loid possibly did, which mainly included dodging and hiding. Hmm, how many things can you do with those powers?" Naruto pondered.

"Aren't you talking too long? You went on and on, which looked as if you were vomiting some by-hearted script. What's with all this?" Henry asked curiously.

"I just want to thank you all, the authors, the readers and the creators for your love for us and on behalf of every anime, book and fictional character you ever came across, I thank you from the bottom of my heart," Naruto said with a bow, which bewildered Henry.

"Is this really happening, mate? Did he, a fictional character, thank humans for everything we did for them?" Henry asked Black Infinity.

"Of course. He is Naruto for a reason. Though I meant no disrespect to the million others who are here, he was the one that reigned supreme in me, lol. So it is ironic."

"Apart from this surprise, Happy Birthday, Naruto!" Everyone cheered and the bowing blonde looked at them in shock.

"You think we let you use your Talk no Jutsu on me for fun? Enduring all that without crying is tough. But we finally did it! We surprised him!" Harry said with a high five.

"I came here without eating a bite of meat as Sanji said we all can party after we wish you, so Happy Birthday, Naruto," Luffy said with a hungry but genuine face.

"So it's your birthday, old man? Many returns of the day." Ichigo said from the side.

"Did someone say birthday? Then that means a party! Happy Birthday to you!" Goku said, shaking Naruto's hand with childish joy.

"Awesome, it's your birthday. Happy birthday, Naruto-san!" Asta and Izuku said in different pitches.

"I wish you become a good Saiyan warrior like him," Vegeta said standing cross-armed beside a shaking Sasuke. Naruto caught the Uchiha's head tilt and nodded.

"It's Naruto's birthday already? Happy birthday, Naruto." Kakashi said, which was followed by Gojo.

"It's Naruto's birthday. I think I should gift him something." Orochimaru said.

"A birthday gift you say, Mr Orochumaru. Can I join the project as well, huhuhu." Urahara asked with his bowler hat covering his eyes and his fan covering his face.

"Of course, Kisuke. Your inputs help me make w good present." Orochimaru said with a nod.

"We can go on a race to see who is stronger. But as it's your birthday, I'll spare you this time. Happy birthday." Itadori said with a goofy smile.

"Eat well and live long, Naruto-san!"

"Unh, unh," Tanjiro said with a happy smile and a girl with a bamboo stick in her mouth nodded along.

"You make us proud, Naruto. Happy birthday," Naruto heard and turned back to see Kushina and Minato appear, which surprised him more than anything till now.

"Kaa-chan, Tou-chan!" He said in joy and hugged his parents.

"Thanks for giving us this chance to wish him, mate," Harry said, taking charge as he had experience talking with Black Infinity.

"I didn't see a celebration like this." Tonks agreed, her hair cycling colours because of the many eyes on her.

"We will leave now. We hope to see you back soon, Black Infinity, Henry." All the characters said, about to vanish into their worlds.

"Ah, ah. It took so much effort to plan this. So you will leave only after you had the feast!" Black Infinity said, not allowing them to teleport.

"YES, MEAT!" Luffy shouted top of his lungs and jumped right in. The effort of every cook in every world paid off as all the characters started enjoying the feast to their heart's content. Luffy and Goku leading the charge.

"That's taken care of," Hinata sighed.

"It's a real pain," Ino complained.

"We should've expected it. It's Naruto's birthday after all." Sakura explained.

"It was massive for one and got to try out all these big cooking tools which are as big as the weapons I practice." Tenten gushed.

"Now chill, girls. We eat what we reserved for us." Temari said, digging into the delicious dishes they cooked for themselves after seeing Luffy.

"Troublesome," the lazy Nara said, as he woke up because of the party sounds.

"Want some chips, Shikamaru?" Choji offered and Shikamaru took some.

"When did he make these many friends?" Neji asked in surprise.

"Who knows? With Shadow Clones around, it's a pain to figure out who is who," Kiba cackled.

"But it is wonderful. To meet so many new people. If only Guy-sensei was here!" Lee cried tears of joy.

"Only Kakashi-sensei was here. Did they all go on missions?" Shino asked.

"Nah. It's that lazy bum. He can't write everyone. So decreased the characters." Ino pointed to the admiring duo. Henry and Black Infinity. As they know what Ino was talking about, Black Infinity gave a sheepish smile.

"But it's an unreal celebration. He deserves it for everything he did to bounce me back." Henry said with a wistful smile.

"Now, now. I don't want you to go on a tangent."

"Yeah, yeah. I know. Finish what else you gotta say and come soon. We have a lot of work to do." Henry said and joined the party. It's not every day he see many of his favourite characters in one place.

"Once again, wish you many more returns of the day, Naruto. Hope you recover soon from the nightmare that is B*****. I mean, the dream sickness. We all will be very happy to welcome you back." Black Infinity sighed at the near disaster.

"On a different note, I have a few announcements to make before I take leave for the day.

I NEED BETAS! Like seriously, Shadow Light, Not Yet and Broken Shackles have many mistakes and grammatical errors in the beginning chapters and my beta can do so much.

So if you are interested and are free, feel free to Ping me in PMs/DMs here or on the server. Hope I find someone.

If it isn't obvious by now, I'm back to writing. Naruto really worked the charm of Talk no Jutsu on me. So I'll be writing as usual and I'm not gonna make any promises about the update schedule. I'll publish as the chapters are done.

I also have an alt where I released a few one-shots for the time being. Today's one, Fox Vs Weasel, was a good one. Hope you give it a try. I'll publish all my one-shots there as I don't want to clog this account with all the ideas I get.

If you like them, do share some love in the form of Favs, Follows and reviews there as well. The account name is Henryruby. (Henry_ruby) for AO3.

• Once again, thank you all for keeping up with me and encouraging me. Your words meant a lot to me and though some thought it was for attention, I assure you, it's not. What I said in the last update were all my true feelings. So thank you for bearing me.

That's all for this time, my lovely readers. Do share what you feel in the reviews/comments and Favs, Follows always encourage me.

Hearty thanks to Draconian619 for his very very generous encouragement. Thanks, mate.

As always, if you want to be up to date with everything that's going on with me and talk to fellow readers, you can join the Discord server.

Joining link-

discord. gg/ Tserhx2NzH

See y'all in the next chapter soon.

Black Infinity  1289 ,

Ja Ne.