Hi all: Been a long time I know since I published anything. That's mainly because all the little plot bunnies that are driving me nuts right now are really weird. And I mean really weird. Pink with purple polka dots and red stripes weird. They look more like something Sakura would find attractive than me. I mean she does find herself to be attractive until someone mentions her forehead size. Which did anyone ever notice she makes no attempt to disguise or hide? If she's so sensitive about it why the hell does she broadcast it like she does? Anyhow those plot bunnies I've been killing are just too freaking weird to touch.

Like always Naruto, Kakashi and crew do not belong to me. Neither does the Akatsuki. Thank goodness on that group though. They're almost as weird as those plot bunnies I been killing. But this idea is all mine and I'd really like to know what you all think. There are some similarities to another of my stories but this is different from that story so do give it a chance.

Until I sleep

Part One:

Monday:

Hello. My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I am told I am twenty years old now and I am finally going to die. I'm not really sure that's true. The being twenty now I mean. But that's what my precious people tell me so I guess it is. The dying part, yeah that's true and I know it is. But no. People aren't really telling me that.

This is . . .a project one of my former Sensei suggested I do to help me prepare for it. Well, he suggested it once he faced the truth that nothing I do will advert my end now. It's kind of funny in a sad way but when I was younger I truly believed I was doomed to live forever. I never told anyone but . . .I did really believe it. I know most kids think they'll live forever. But that's only because they don't really know what death is yet. They always think it only happens to the other guy. For me though, it was different. I actually had reason to think I couldn't die. Probably why I was so reckless when I finally became a ninja. I mean why not be an in-your-face-and-never-getting-out-of-it-until-you-give-it-up-ninja when you know whatever they do to you, in a day or two you'll be fine and nobody'll ever be able to tell you weren't for a day or two? My Sensei at the time didn't like my combat style but he had his reasons for not liking it and I won't say they weren't good ones.

But you see, from my earliest days, there have always been people trying their hardest to kill me. So many people had tried so many different times and different ways to kill me. They were really creative and definitely in earnest about it, too. But no matter how creative or inventive they got, I survived and I really should have died more than once. In fact, more than a few times I honestly think I came really close to dying back then. But I always survived. So you see I did have reason for my belief.

Most the time I only woke to more torment and torture but . . . Sometimes I'd wake to see the face of a precious person next to my bed watching over me as I slept and healed from whatever they'd tried this time. I always woke up and there was never any kind of a mark on my body to show for what I had gone through. No evidence to support Jijii's wish for punishment of those who were trying their hardest to kill me. Because there was never any scarring or bruises to back his claims, the council always denied him the right to punish the people for hurting me. Oh, they knew he was telling the truth but they didn't feel it was right to punish a mere human for beating on something like me. They never felt I was as human as everyone else and they resented me because I was stronger than they were; faster than they were and because I healed. I healed without scarring and they could not. My mind was more resilient too and quicker to grasp the truths they didn't want anyone to know. For all of this they hated me. Bad enough they knew who's son I was but all these other gifts on top of having those two as parents was, to them, a slap in the face they could not ignore.

But now. . .now I know. I am not Immortal. I can die and I am. In a way, it's a relief to know my end is finally near but in a way, it terrifies me as well. A part of me welcomes it but a part of me can't ever feel grateful. That part of me knows when I die, so will many others as Kyuubi is freed from the seal Yondaime inscribed on me. And Kyuubi will go free when I die. I did not live long enough to do as Yondaime wished me to do. But then even if I lived a hundred years I would not have lived that long. I'll speak more of that later, I guess. Right now, that. . . hurts too much to even think about.

When Kyuubi is free of the seal, horror will run rampant in the streets of the village. Kyuubi has sworn to me, whether I want her to or not, she will take my revenge. She says it is not the way of the demon to let any action taken towards them on the part of another to go unrewarded. Whether that action be good or bad, a demon can not allow the act to stand. They must pay their debts. And Konoha has perpetrated a lot of acts against her and against me. Since she is a part of me, any action taken against me because of her is an action against her. She would lose standing with her own kind if she did not answer those actions and since I am dying I can not stop her now. She did say if they had not hurt me in their attempts to hurt her, what will happen to them when I die would probably not be as severe. . .but they did. They couldn't get to her without going through me and so I suffered for what they wanted to do to her. And others. . .well they honestly thought I needed to suffer. The Council. . .I do not envy them when I die. They thought they were so clever. . so smart but they were stupid to try to play a demon's game with the Queen of the Demons. How arrogant can you get? But when I die. . .They'll discover just what I have protected them from for the last twenty years. And knowing them, they will die cursing my name.

Naruto set his pen down and closed the book where he was beginning the recording of his life for people to read when he was finally gone. He was trying to keep his thoughts organized and only write the honest truth in the pages of the book but what was truth to one was quite often fiction or outright lies to another. He knew chances of anyone believing what he wrote were slim at best but. . .that wasn't really the purpose of the journal. All he hoped to do was leave a message for the people in the vain and slender hope that the next jinchuuriki would be treated better than he had been. But there was only so long he could stand to sit still before the need for sleep would over take him and make his pen waver on the page. His handwriting was bad enough without trying to write in his sleep.

Moving to his bedroom floor he assumed the lotus position and meditated the way Gaara had shown him when he came to the village to retrieve Shukaku. An examination had shown Naruto's seal was in really bad shape now. Tsunade had tried to make Jiraiya fix it for him and even the council had rallied around trying to bully him into fixing the seal. For Tsunade, she didn't want Naruto to die but the Council was more concerned with losing their weapon than they were with anything to do with the human being Naruto was.

But Jiraiya would not consent to fix it (he was unwilling to sacrifice his own life to do so) and Naruto could no longer afford the luxury of sleeping like normal people. According to Jiraiya, Naruto should be made to stand sentry over the village while the normal people slept as real people need to do. His not being able to sleep only served as further proof to Jiraiya that Naruto was not the human he wanted everyone to believe he was. For that matter, the fact that he had survived to return to the village at all was just concrete proof to Jiraiya of his inhumanity and he didn't get why everyone was so worked up over the fact tha he was being revealed in his true colors now. But then Jiraiya hated Naruto with a passion he reserved for nothing and no one else in his life. He felt Naruto made a mockery of the Yondaime and the infant boy who had been born that unforgettable day twenty years ago. He refused to believe Naruto was that boy in every way. And the exposure of his true thoughts regarding Naruto had cost the man a lot. Tsunade now hated him as did Iruka and Kakashi. All Naruto's real friends and precious people held a special dislike of the Toad Sennin for what he had done and was refusing to do to set things right.

After four hours of meditating Naruto felt better and decided to try and eat something before he grew too tired again. Eating anything was so difficult now. But he did try. Usually Kakashi was here and did the cooking for him, knowing and understanding that if Naruto cooked the food he would usually not have the energy to also eat it. But Kakashi had left a small pot of the nutritional broth Tsunade had come up with for him and all Naruto had to do was heat it a little bit.

When Naruto had returned to the village about half a year ago and the consequences of his training trip were discovered, she assigned Kakashi to helping him survive while everyone else who cared for Naruto were given the task of finding a solution. She took care of his medical needs, refusing to let anyone else do it for fear of how the villagers would react should they know how bad off her Gaki was now. Kakashi took care of his physical needs and helped him to stay awake. Iruka took care of giving him things to do though he didn't come by too often. It hurt him to see what Jiraiya had done to Naruto. But they were the only three outside of the council and Jiraiya who actually knew what was going on with Naruto. And all three were fiercely protective of his privacy.

Kakashi had first requested permission to beat the shit out of Jiraiya for beginning the end of Naruto's life for him and she had reluctantly turned down his request pointing out Naruto was his student and needed Kakashi healthy and whole. Not recovering in the hospital. Instead he went home and destroyed everything he had that came from Jiraiya or had anything to do with him. His entire Icha Icha collection got destroyed with a fury he normally would not show inside the village walls. The ninja he was known as outside the walls came home that day and he let everyone know just how worthless he found the so-called great Sennin to be as a person.

After he destroyed his Icha Icha collection he was still furious. So he went and found Gai for a spar. Maito Gai hadn't even attempted to turn it into a friendly competition. He'd taken one look at Kakashi and correctly deduced this was not the time for the masks they both wore as a matter of habit within the village and around simple civilians who did not know or need to know exactly what kind of men they really were. He simply nodded his agreement and led the way to a training ground where they would not be disturbed. Once there he made Kakashi leave his weapons on the sidelines knowing the man was beyond pissed and would use them if they were within reach of his hands. He had to actually call in Anko and Ibiki to make sure Kakashi was disarmed but in the end a badly twitching Kakashi got his spar. Gai still needed the aid of Shizune before Kakashi's anger was spent but there had been a reason he chose Gai to spar against and, even as angry as he was, he knew the difference between friend and foe.

Their spar destroyed the training ground they held it in and they attracted quite a crowd of spectators while they were exhausting themselves but Anko and Ibiki kept those who were not Anbu rank or better away knowing neither man would wish for those of lower rank to see them in their serious modes. It was one thing to drop the masks on a mission of extreme importance. But it was something else entirely to drop it within the village itself. Those who held Anbu or higher rank already knew the two men wore masks and so the level of power and expertise they were displaying now was not a shock to them. Well, as much of one as it would have been to anyone else. There was a reason why both Kakashi and Gai were listed as elite ninja and anyone who saw that spar that day, knew exactly why they had achieved that ranking.

However, Tsunade did agree with Kakashi that Jiraiya needed to be punished and she knew exactly how to get him where it would hurt the most. She even got the Council to agree with her idea of how to punish the Sennin for what he had done. She let them know she was none to pleased with them either since it was their hair-brained idea to send Naruto out with a guy who had already tried to kill him once alone. And she held nothing of her scorn for them back as she let them know in her eyes this whole situation was their fault. They wanted Jiraiya to erase the human from Naruto and he had. They wanted Naruto to be nothing more than a demon chakra weapon toy for their amusement and power-hungry dreams and he had made them exactly the puppet they thought they wanted. Because of their stupidity, Naruto was dying and it was their fault. They, she insisted, had no one to blame but themselves. But she would punish Jiraiya for his part in this and they would not get in her way unless they wished to join him on her black list. The fury in her eyes and body language had the individual members who usually fought her no matter what she wished for, gulping and sitting quietly in their seat, not daring to so much as sneeze or fart in case it drew her attention. Quietly and in the total privacy of their thoughts they reminded themselves 'the scariest creature Kami ever made was an angry and defensive Mother defending one she saw as her youngling from those who would hurt it.'

She hired Kakashi and the Hyuuga Seal Master to design and develop a new seal just for the Pervert of the Century. And she told them exactly what the seal should do to make sure Jiraiya got the message. Never again would her old teammate write a dirty book. Never again would he steal a child's money and go spend it on loose women and booze. Never again would he peep on young women and girls bathing or swimming whether in the privacy of their own homes or in a public area. They were to make a brand new type of seal that would prohibit his favorite form of entertainment and relaxation. A seal that would not only prohibit it but would punish him should he try to entertain himself anyway.

The men grinned a purely evil grin as they agreed to make the seal. What they came up with was a seal no one had ever seen before and therefore was not something Jiraiya was likely to know a way to get rid of or around. They designed for him a Purity Seal of the truest form. This seal was non-removable too. He would wear it for the rest of his days and always remember exactly what it was for and why he had been the recipient of it. It did not take away any of his memories of his life or how he liked to spend his free time. Nor did it alter his personality in any way. It just punished him for stepping across the line of proper social behavior.

The Purity Seal was designed to prevent Jiraiya from peeping on the females as they bathed in the rivers, lakes and streams as well as the hotsprings. And was not limited to only those in Konoha or the Fire Country. Since the seal was on him it was effective in any and every place in the world. Jiraiya could try to peep on the girls but any improper thoughts he entertained would be punished immediately. First, he would find his eye sight dimming until he looked away. If he turned back to look again, hives would break out on his exposed skin and his eye sight would get even dimmer than it had been the first time. If he still persisted, the hives would turn into boils and then into warts and moles or other unsightly growths. And with every attempt his eye sight would continue to fade away. The more persistent he was the longer the growths would take to fade away and the longer it would be until he could see again. Since his maladies were seal created, they would not be affected by normal medication or chakra treatments. If he still did not desist he would get a massively blinding headache that would not go away for twenty-four hours or more and would also be unaffected by medication. So long as he had that headache he would find every noise to be too loud and every movement a nightmare. Even the smallest bit of light would pierce from his eye straight inot his brain with the strength of a laser beam.

The same punishments held true if he was trying to write a new book or read a pornographic novel. Even non-pornographic novels could have severe consequences for Jiraiya once the seal was in place upon his person. Tsunade wanted him to have no recourse to get around the punishment for what he had done to Naruto. Naruto could not escape the consequence of what Jiraiya had done so she saw no reason why Jiraiya should have an out either.

And both Kakashi and the Hyuuga Seal Master agreed with her. Because they both knew Jiraiya was an equal opportunity pervert, they included the nude form of males in the prohibitions of the seal. Both of them knew once he discovered the truth of his seal he would not only seek to get it removed or at least modified but that he would blame Naruto for it. They knew he would try and exact revenge against Naruto for his punishment and there was only one way Jiraiya would even think of punishing Naruto for the sealing. So they made sure it would not be possible for him to carry it out. Even thinking of punishing Naruto for the seal he received would put the Pervert on his knees with a blinding and crippling headache.

To Tsunade, since he had destroyed Naruto's life because the boy wore a seal it was appropriate that Jiraiya should find out exactly how restrictive life could be when you had to live with a seal upon your person. If it also gave the womenfolk of the world a little relief from his perving on them all the time, well, that could only be seen as a bonus. Jiraiya tried to get the council to speak up for him but found he didn't have a lot of support there. Not only had the Council got Tsunade's message loud and clear but a lot of them had womenfolk in their lives who had made it very clear what they would do to their men should said men be stupid enough to take Jiraiya's side on this issue. Men might run things in public but no real man ever had any doubts who ran things for real in their lives. And even if the only woman in your life was technically your own daughter, that was still one woman to many to defy if it could be avoided. They all decided this issue was one of those circumstances where ticking off their womenfolk was avoidable. So all the men of the council had discovered a very good reason not to stand up for him and protest the punishment and the women themselves could not see anything wrong with a seal that did not affect his ninja abilities at all but finally gave them a measure of security when they went to get a bath or change their clothing. It did not take long for Jiraiya to discover the cause and effects of his seal and to begin a nationwide rant against Tsunade, Naruto, Kakashi and the Hyuuga Seal Master for the deviousness of the seal.

But he couldn't even find sympathy with the Daimyo when he went to him to try and get a writ to force Tsunade to remove it or at least modify it so he could continue to write his novels. Instead, the Daimyo pointed out Jiraiya had been told many a time to modify his behavior or there would come a day when he would regret his actions. Now that day had come and whining and complaining about it wasn't going to accomplish anything. Besides, the Daimyo pointed out, he had a wife as well and Jiraiya had been caught peeping on her and his daughters more than a time or two. He point blank asked the old pervert how stupid he thought he was if he'd honestly thought the Daimyo would cross the women on this issue. He told Jiraiya as vicious as Tora the cat was to the genin teams that chased her around, she wasn't really any nicer to him when his wife was upset and he kind of liked having all his delicate parts uninjured thank you very much. A cat scratch there took forever to heal.

So Jiraiya went to Toad Mountain to see if they could help get rid of it. He tried to tell the Sage Toad the seal would interfere with his ability to contact them or enter into Sage Mode but the toads simply laughed at him since he had not had a problem coming to them for help in removing a seal he didn't want. The head Toad told him the Seal had been pre-ordained and they would not interfere with destiny in such a way. Because Jiraiya was a well-known pervert who had ruined many lives with his perversion and done nothing to fix those lives he had trashed his punishment by his fellow man was justified. The old toad had looked at Jiraiya sadly and told him if he had less hate in his heart he could have avoided his seal. Not only did he hate on an innocent child who had done him no wrong but his well known hatred of women that he had never made any attempt to disguise, had led to the type of seal he had received. Because of his hatred and lack of foresight, in regard to Naruto, he had destroyed the boy who's life had been anything but easy to begin with. Now the world stood on the brink of annihilation and he had yet to feel any remorse for his actions. The Head Toad had even warned him it would be his choice that determined the fate of the world but Jiraiya had not listened to him. He had told him he would meet the young man who had the power to change the world and his choice of how and when to train the boy would determine the path the boy would take. He made his choice and every choice has consequences. This seal was the consequence of his choice because he had made the wrong choice.