Warning: AU, OOC, with light yaoi elements (Anubituf/Guragief).
Revised: 05/05/2013
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Simoun
It has been raining for several days...
As if the sky is crying for the lives lost in this war...
I've cried my share of tears when I lost people dear to me...
But now, I'm too tired to even cry...
I just want this war to end...
[At the Fourth Shinobi War]
A man was walking amidst the heavy rain. He was walking for hours, checking the bodies on the ground, looking for people who might still be alive. The man's name was Toru Kohaku. He was a member of the Shinobi Alliance Medic Team.
'This is such a waste of time...' he thought with a sigh after examining one. He has not found anyone alive yet and as time passes, he was losing hope if there was even one among hundreds of bodies scattered around.
Suddenly, a roaring sound was heard from afar, interrupting Toru from his mission. He turned to the source of the sound with sudden hope in his eyes.
'Man... They are still fighting. Do your best Naruto-san. Not just for Konoha. But for the rest of the shinobi world...'
The war neared its culmination as the battle against Madara Uchiha and Obito Uchiha was about to reach its end.
"Oodama Rasengan!" Naruto shouted as he pushed the large spiral energy towards Madara using his right hand.
"Too easy..." Madara muttered as he used his Rinnegan to absorb the attack before he caught Naruto's wrist and spun him upwards before slamming him to the ground.
'Damn...' Naruto cursed as he coughed up blood from the impact.
"Hnn?" Madara glanced to his left before he immediately jumped away from Naruto as a lightning sword almost pierced his head.
"Stop randomly attacking him..." Sasuke said as he landed beside Naruto and helped him to his feet. "You're just wasting your chakra..."
Naruto turned to Sasuke, distress is evident in his face. "Can you feel Kakashi's chakra?" he asked as he felt their sensei's chakra disappeared just a moment ago.
Sasuke did not answer immediately. "Not anymore... that Tobi's chakra is gone too..." he answered softly as he noticed Naruto's hand trembling.
"Damn it..." Naruto cursed aloud as he tried his best to control his raging emotions. "I don't think we'll be able to get out of this alive, Sasuke..." Naruto said, his voice reflecting all his emotions as he looked at his friend.
"Well... it doesn't matter if we're to live or die. This is the only way to protect Konoha and this world... And even just for this moment, I will follow my brother's will..." Sasuke said with conviction as he activated his Sharingan.
The battle then continued as neither side was giving up. Blows after blows were exchanged. The once scenic terrain was completely transformed. Trees were ripped from the ground. Deep fissures were everywhere. Boulders that were once part of the mountains were thrown in all directions.
'Dobe... You do understand, right? We have to win this war... no matter what the sacrifice is...' Sasuke thought as he watches Naruto landing a kick on Madara's face.
'My chakra is dangerously low...' Sasuke smiled bitterly as he looked at Naruto. 'And it looks like you too, Naruto. Madara absorbed most of the nine-tailed beast's chakra with the Wood Dragon after all... No matter...' Sasuke thought as he looked at the thunder clouds above. 'This should give you a chance to defeat the bastard...'
Sasuke body flickered into a nearby boulder. He performed the hand seals required for his last jutsu and just seconds after completing the seals, the lightning in the sky seems to gather above him.
'It appears that we are not the only ones getting weak...' Sasuke smirked lightly as he eyed Madara and noticed the enemy's weakening chakra.
As though predicting Sasuke's next move, Naruto jumped backwards, away from Sasuke's attack.
"Go Sasuke!" Naruto shouted.
"Raiton Kirin" Sasuke shouted as the massive lightning energy took the shape of a dragon before he hurled it down at Madara.
Madara body flickered to escape the attack but it was a futile effort as Sasuke's lightning jutsu caught up with him quickly.
'How did this happen? I am more powerful than them... ' Madara thought with shock as Sasuke's lightning technique hit him on his back and pushed him forcefully on the ground, creating a large crater with his body at the center.
Seeing the opportunity to strike at Madara while he is deeply weakened, Naruto created two shadow clones.
'I'll lend you more chakra Naruto...' Kurama, the nine-tailed beast sealed within Naruto, said as he transferred his chakra into Naruto's body.
'Thanks Kurama…Let's do this... we'll defeat Madara...' Naruto exclaimed.
With great determination, he and his clones performed a series of hand seals.
"Fuuton Rasenshuriken" Naruto shouted as he jumped upwards and throw what looked like a large wind shuriken towards Madara.
The jutsu expanded as it approached Madara and in his weakened state, he cannot avoid the thrown attack. All he can do is watch the raging wind chakra as it draws near him.
A deafening sound was heard throughout the battle field as Naruto's attack made impact and created a big explosion. The crater that was initially formed from Sasuke's Kirin doubled in size as the force of the attack sent fragments flying in all directions.
Naruto himself did not escape unscathed as the explosion sent him flying away from the impact zone before his body hit the ground with a crashing sound.
'You did it Naruto...' Kurama said softly as even he was exhausted from the battle.
Naruto smiled bitterly. 'Yes... I think we did...' He knows that the war ended but he lost many of his friends.
Naruto looked at the now clear blue sky as tears silently roll down from his eyes. 'The rain has finally stopped... Sasuke's jutsu has cleared the sky... Where the hell is that teme...'
He tried to stand up but realized that he could not move his body.
"Sasuke..." he called out but even shouting seems difficult for him. He closed his eyes to search for Sasuke's chakra.
He could feel the faint chakra of his friend but it is getting weaker and weaker.
Feeling a bit of panick, he called out again and tried louder this time.
"Sasuke..."
Still, Sasuke did not answer back.
'Damn it... It's not supposed to end like this. Sasuke... we're supposed to go home together... to Konoha… together...as Team Seven…' he thought before darkness took over him.
Sasuke's POV
"Sasuke..."
"Sasuke..."
Sasuke heard Naruto calling him weakly as he lies on the ground.
He can feel the faint chakra of his friend who is trying desperately to call him.
But he is too weak to answer his desperate calls. He can't move his body and breathing seems like a difficult task for him.
'I can hear you, dobe...' Sasuke thought as he painfully tried to move. 'It's hopeless... This is it for me, I guess... This is it for the Uchiha clan...' He closed his eyes, willing the pain in his body to go away as he felt Naruto's chakra getting weaker as well.
'I haven't been a good friend to you Naruto... In this lifetime, that is...But I promise next time we meet again... I'll be a better person...' Sasuke opened his eyes to look at the blue sky. 'In the end, you weren't able to become Hokage after all...' Sasuke thought bitterly before he closed his eyes for the last time.
'It's cold...' Naruto shivered as he felt the chill air hit his body. He slowly opened his eyes and found out that he is surrounded by darkness. He could not even see his own hands. He tried to feel his surroundings but he could not touch anything near him. It is like being suspended in air.
'Where am I', he asked himself and tried to remember what happened.
'The battle ended. Then I-' Naruto stopped as he remembered what happened. 'I died... My chakra level was very low after executing the Futon Rasenshuriken technique and to add to that, I also got blasted away by the resulting explosion... Geez... If Sasuke is here, he'll call me idiot for getting caught by my own technique. That teme... ' Naruto closed his eyes as he remembered his friend. 'He died as well... Even Kakashi-sensei... Are they here as well?'
"Sasuke! Kakashi-sensei! Are you there! Anyone? Please... anyone..." he called out desperately.
"You're late young warrior. They had already moved on to their next life..." a man told him.
Naruto turned around and covered his eyes immediately with both hands as light appeared not far from him. He tried to look at where the light is coming from through the gap of his fingers and discerned a silhouette of a man.
"Who are you? Where am I?" Naruto asked suspiciously.
The man just chuckled before answering, "I am known by many names. But your people call me Izanagi... "
"Izanagi? The GOD IZANAGI? " Naruto asked as he thought, 'What a cliché. Appearing in a blinding light and all... Geez...'
"Cliché indeed..." Izanagi said with amusement in his voice.
"WHAA! YOU'RE READING MY MIND!" Naruto shouted indignantly as he pointed an accusing finger at the God before him.
"I can hear everything... Even what you're thinking... So, you might as well speak your mind freely" Izanagi said casually as he seems to approach Naruto. But due to the light that envelopes him, Naruto could only make out his silhouette.
"Well, what do you mean by 'They had already moved on to their next life' old man?" Naruto asked in his usual brash manner as he placed his left hand partially over his eyes to protect them from the light.
"Their soul had already been sent to another world..." Izanagi replied before continuing. "Do you want to meet them again, Naruto? You know I can help you with such a simple thing…"
Naruto did not reply immediately, sensing a catch to Izanagi's offer.
"Of course there is a catch to my offer..." Izanagi said as he once again voiced out Naruto's thoughts. "Daikuuriku..." he added softly.
"What?" Naruto asked, clearly confused.
"That's the world where your friends will be born. The souls of your friend Sasuke and your sensei Kakashi are already sent there... And also the souls of your other friends..." Izanagi said before the blinding light surrounded Naruto as well.
Naruto scrunched his eyes and covered them with both hands. When he sensed that the light that enveloped him has disappeared, he removed his hands from his face as he slowly opened his eyes.
The first thing he immediately realized is that he is floating in the sky. He looked at the view below him and he could not stop admiring it serenely as it has to be one of the most beautiful sceneries he has seen. A great lake, mountain ranges, green forests and the birds flying freely in the sky... And a number of what looked like aircraft. The aircraft as Naruto observed, leave a trail of light as they fly.
"Beautiful isn't it?" Izanagi said as he appeared beside Naruto. The light emitting from him a while back had finally disappeared.
The god looks like a human in his twenties. He has a pale skin, long black hair that is tied back, and black eyes.
'He looks like Sasuke with longer hair...' Naruto thought. And if someone from Konoha would see the God Izanagi, they would surely mistake him for an Uchiha because of his physical appearance.
Naruto looked at Izanagi's clothes and realized that he is wearing a set of clothes similar to kamishimo and is holding a spear on his right hand.
'If I am from a different world with a different culture, would he have appeared in a different set of clothes?' Naruto wondered. If the God Izanagi heard what Naruto thinks of his appearance, he seems not to mind it as he looked at the world below them.
"This is Daikuriku and this is Simuclarum, a country in this world... This place will soon be consumed by war..." Izanagi said sadly as he watched the group of aircraft maneuver and formed a pattern with their light trails.
"What are those? I haven't seen anything like them…" Naruto asked with curiosity.
"Simoun... the Chariots of God as the people of Simulacrum call them" Izanagi replied as he continues watching them create another pattern.
"Are they? I mean, well. You're a god and all... Are they really Chariots of God?" Naruto asked hesitantly.
There was a long silence as both watches the group of Simoun aircraft flies before Izanagi continued. "Life energy or chakra, as you call it in the ninja world, is abundant in Daikuuriku, particularly in Simulacrum. It is far more potent and powerful here. But unlike you and your people, people in this world have almost no ability to manipulate chakra. Thus, at one point in this world's history, to help civilization flourish, I provided my descendants in this world with knowledge to make use of the free energy around them. They used a type of gem and metal to manipulate chakra to suit their needs. As a result, they were able to create machines and equipment that somehow made their life easier. The Simoun is a product of that knowledge. There were different types of Simoun before but they were lost in history. All that remained are these" he said as he gestured towards the group of Simoun, which are forming a complicated pattern in the sky.
"What happened to the other types of Simoun?" Naruto asked, becoming more interested in the flying machines.
"My descendants became arrogant. War broke among them and the civilization that once flourished fell. With their civilization in ruins, most of what they created were either destroyed or forgotten. That includes the Simoun."
"What type of Simoun are those anyway? What are they for?" Naruto inquired as he watched another pattern formed.
"They are the holiest of all Simoun. The people of Simulacrum use them in their religious rituals offered to their god Tempus Spatium..." Izanagi added.
"The god Tempus Spatium? Are you related to him, perhaps? And Religious rituals you said? How can you use an aircraft in a religious ritual? Geez... That is kinda, I don't know... Weird, I guess..." Naruto remarked as he scratched his chin and regarded the Simoun more attentively.
Izanagi chuckled. "Tempus Spatium is just one of my many names... And as for those Simoun... Well, they use them to create Ri Maajon in the sky, which is an equivalent of saying an elaborate prayer in your former world..."
"Ri Maajon?"
"The patterns the Simoun form when they fly..."
"Oh... that" Naruto exclaimed as he pointed at another pattern that the group of aircraft had just created.
Both fell silent as Naruto seems to process everything that the God has told him. He scrunched his eyes, put a hand to his chin and appeared like thinking deeply before he asked, "Hmmm... Why are we here again? Haha..." he asked awkwardly as he scratched his head in embarrassment.
Izanagi chuckled once more. "You really are something, Naruto... I've watched you since you were a kid... You've come so far from the prankster you once were. You saved your world. You have gained power that other humans would have coveted to have. And yet... You are still the same." Izanagi smiled warmly before continuing seriously. "A war is about to break in years. For now, the people of Simulacrum are using the ritual Simoun for prayers... But when the war will come, they won't have any choice but to use them in battle... "
Izanagi was once again silent. Naruto, on his part, becomes serious as he knows what war could bring.
"Blood will rain in this place... as it has in that world..." Naruto said as he remembered the war that had just ended.
"Yes… I'm asking you then Naruto... If you could bring peace to this land..." Izanagi said sadly.
"I don't know what to say... I just died recently because of war and I don't know if I'm ready to see another..." Naruto replied truthfully.
"Don't you want to see them again, Naruto? Don't you want to fight alongside them again?" Izanagi asked Naruto who was deeply considering the offer.
"If I will be born here, will I lose all my memories of Konoha?" Naruto asked back.
"You would eventually remember them... Your abilities as well... Your friends will be the same as you... A time will come when all of you would be able to remember your past as shinobis..." the god said
Naruto was silent for a while before a smile slowly formed on his lips. "I would be able to see them again, huh? Fine... I'm in!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly as he gave Izanagi a thumbs up with his usual grin.
"That's good to hear." Izanagi said with relief before their surrounding slowly fades into darkness and all Naruto can see now is Izanagi's silhouette through the light like before.
"There is one thing I need to tell you about that world though..."
"Wha-what is it?" Naruto asked, feeling nervous that Izanagi left out some information before he agreed to his offer.
"Well... all people in Daikuriku are born female..." Izanagi said, waiting for Naruto's reaction as he was sure Naruto would react animatedly. He is not disappointed.
"WHA-WHAT! HOW DO THEY CREATE BABIES THEN? DOES THIS MEAN THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE BORN FEMALE? Then I can't do my Oiroke No Jutsu anymore! Doing it would hurt my womanly honor!" Naruto exclaimed indignantly with his hands flailing left and right as Izanagi chuckled before addressing Naruto's dilemma.
"The Simulacrum society considers their young ones genderless, although they are born physically female. When they reach the age of seventeen, they can then choose a permanent gender. In Simulacrum, choosing your permanent gender means becoming an adult... But that's not what it only means. The whole ritual is sacred. The chance to choose your gender, in their opinion, is a gift of Tempus Spatium that they are proud of. Therefore, those who don't have that ability are looked down and have no place in their society... which means that if you will be born male and with a permanent gender already, expect people to treat you differently... "
"I'm used to that treatment… I'll just make them realize that there's more to me than meets the eye… It just doesn't feel right if I become female permanently..." Naruto cringed at the thought.
"If that's really what you want…" Izanagi conceded.
"By the way, where is Kurama?" Naruto asked suddenly.
"He is still within you… He's just recuperating after that battle… Are you ready then?" Izanagi asked.
"YOU BET!" Naruto exclaimed with his usual exuberant self.
"Alright then…But before you leave… As a parting gift..." Izanagi said with a smile as he appeared right in front of Naruto and held out his hand on Naruto's eyes.
'What the - ' Naruto thought with a shock before Izanagi put him to sleep.
"Good luck Naruto... Your next adventure will soon begin…" the god said softly like a parent seeing his son before embarking on a long journey.
Light suddenly engulfed the sleeping form of Naruto before completely disappearing.
Nine months later in an orphanage in Simulacrum…
Nana, the orphanage caretaker, was roused from her sleep by a loud knocking at their front door.
"I'll be there in a minute…" she called out.
'Who can that be at this time of the night and with this weather outside…' Nana thought as she looked at the raging storm outside her window. The clock at the orphanage hall had chimed midnight several minutes ago.
When she made it to the front door, she opened it only to see a bundle of clothes left on the porch. As she went to investigate, she heard a baby crying from the bundle.
"May Tempus Spatium forgive whoever did this to an innocent child…" she murmured as she looked at the bundle to see a blonde and blue-eyed male baby. A red-winged pillar icon of Tempus Spatium is tattooed on the left arm of the child.
To say that she was surprised is an understatement. For in a world where everyone is born female, seeing a male infant is not a normal occurrence. She almost dropped the baby who cried even louder.
"Tempus Spatium..." she said softly as one hand went to her necklace and held her winged pillar pendant. 'What could be the meaning of this...'
End of Chapter
