Summary: Naruto has died to protect the village from Akatsuki's attempted seige. Now, the Kyuubi, stuck in limbo, found out a very interesting fact. Naruto has a son, and who else was better than to be the next container?

A 28-year Naruto glanced wearily from his perch on the statues of Hokages. It broke his heart to see Konoha in such destruction. His deep, set brilliant sapphire eyes swept the damage. His handsome face, enchanced by wisdom and kindness was set in fury.

"Akatsuki..." He murmured. He ran a hand through his sun-kissed golden locks as a foreboding wind rustled his Kage robes. There was a short silence before cold fire erupted in his eyes. "I'll kill you."

"Kit. You know better than that." Kyuubi said shortly. "Control your emotions, or they'll be your downfall." Over the years, Kyuubi has become Naruto's most trusted advisor. Contradictory from everyone's impression, Kyuubi was reasonably not bloodthirsty and a little too smart in Naruto's opinion. He had Naruto's complete trust, and lent him power whenever he felt the need. Sometimes, though, it was funnier to see Naruto struggle.

"I know." The reply was short, and still furious. "But I can't forgive them. They're all dead. All my friends. Hinata, Sakura, Tsunade, even that pervert Kakashi…" He ground his teeth. "I can't take it."

Kyuubi said nothing. There was nothing to be said. They watched the light of dusk slowly slink over the horizon. "Naruto… you need to end this." Naruto let out a hollow chuckle. "You think I don't know that? I knew that from the very beginning, when Hinata died from the suicide mission her father forced her to take. But I couldn't really do anything, could I?"

Kyuubi growled. "No, kit. You don't understand. You wanted to end this, but not the way I was thinking of. You wanted to end this the human way. With as little human sacrifices as possible with the most delicacy it could afford. A Biju like me would know the real way to end a sacrificial war like this." There was another silence as Kyuubi waited for Naruto to respond.

"Alright, fox." He said. "I'm all ears."

There was a mental smirk from Kyuubi. "Good." Came the voice that had struck utmost fear into the hearts of shinobi half a century ago, "You better be."

Naruto couldn't help but shiver lightly.

--

Naruto's head was drooping as he worked away in the Hokage mansion. It was amazing to him that this part of Konoha was still free from Akatsuki's grasp. Naruto didn't even know why the Akatsuki had suddenly had the urge to lay siege and attempt sabotage on Konoha. He knew it had something to do with him, but this time, the Akatsuki had sworn that it wasn't about the Kyuubi. Naruto had mulled over this day and night, and even had attempted peace talks. But it was clear to him that they wanted Konoha for some reason. They had managed to get on their side Waterfall, Rain, Rice, Dragonfly, Star, Grass, Mist, and even Cloud and Rock to send a portion of their ninjas to help in the siege of Konoha. Something in Konoha was of value to Akatsuki, but try as he might, Naruto couldn't figure out. If he could figure out, then he could strike a bargain and send Akatsuki on their merry way. But Akatsuki's secrecy was preventing that leverage.

Naruto scowled when he learned that nearly every shinobi country was after them. Just what had Akatuski bribed them with?

He shook himself out of his thoughts when Kyuubi's voice promised pain if he didn't continue working. Accepting the scolding, he continued to work, writing down the names and appearances of everyone that posed a true threat to Konoha. If Kyuubi was right, this was all that he was going to need. Then he could go, and meet Temari and the rest of his teammates in heaven. His heart fluttered when the thought of Temari entered his mind. Temari… He remembered her hot temper and amazing wits. The way her tough eyes softened when she looked at him, and her lovely heart shaped face loomed in his mind's eye.

"…Kit."

Naruto snapped out of his thoughts with a cough. "Yeah, I know, no time for idle thinking…"

He was done. He looked, slightly shocked at how long the list was. Who knew that Konoha had gotten so many major enemies is just a short month? He glanced over it critically. Leaders of the Cloud and Rock were mostly written. All the Akatsuki members were on the list, as well as the more prominent figures in the minor ninja villages. He sighed as he closed the scroll and sealed it with a speck of blood from his bitten thumb. He stood up. It was time. One look out the window showed that it the army was nearly at his doors. He grinned grimly before he closed the door to the Hokage mansion forever.

He stepped outside, and the harsh sun beat down on him. All around him, Ninja were falling. Cloud, Grass, Rock, Leaf… It didn't really matter where they were from. The bloodshed was unbelievable and the very ground seemed soaked with dark red blood.

The individual battles that he walked past ceased. They only managed to stare at him, mouth agape at the regal, calm, Hokage. Every bit of him radiated brilliance and power. His tanned face, incredibly handsome, was stoic, however. He stepped into a circle of killed men and set his calm gaze on the person who stood in the exact center of those killed. His vision saw Kiba, Hanabi, and Lee in the rubble, but his face didn't change. His attention was solely on the person in who was responsible for their deaths.

Uchiha Sasuke.

The traitor. The betrayer. Whatever he wanted to be called nowadays. Unconsciously, his fingers tightened around the scroll. It was Sasuke. His teammate and brother.

The said man smirked at him. "So you finally decided to come out of your shell? Typical Naruto, always the sacredly cat." The mocking that was dripping from his voice made Naruto relieve bittersweet memories of his first C-rank Mission. His heart clenched.

"Sasuke…" he whispered venomously. "Of course you'd stoop low to join forces with Akatsuki… Did you finally figure out that you couldn't kill Itachi and decided to join him instead?"

This riled Sasuke. His eyebrows narrowed thunderously. "Never." He scoffed. "But I thought it was in my better interests to cooperate with him until I erase this pathetic village and it's Hokage from existence. Don't you think it was clever, Golden Whirlwind?"

"Once an Avenger, always Avenger." Came the snort of amusement.

Naruto's face didn't betray anything he felt about the name. The name for his destructive power and bright golden hair. It had spread far and wide, dubbing him the most powerful ninja to walk the earth. Stronger than the 4th Hokage, someone who was in his own league, someone who was also his father.

"Sasuke… I'm going to end this." There was a tone of defeat and finality in his voice, but his face was an impassive and unyielding as ever.

The smirk grew on Sasuke's face. "Are you sure of that? You seem rather cornered. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, eh? And still making empty threats. You don't really change." He lifted his bloody sword. "I'm the one that's going to end this."

Now, the blonde allowed a small, sad smile to cross his lips. "No, Sasuke, the only thing that's empty is going to be your body. Empty of blood anyway."

He began to make seals. The scroll, clutched between his fingers, began to glow an eerie blue. For anyone with even half the brains Sasuke did, anyone could tell that the scroll meant business and it would be best to run away. Most trusted their instincts. Sasuke, whose instincts only composed of anger, rage, and sheer annoyance, didn't take the hint. He swung his katana, leaving a white comet trail as he homed in on Naruto's throat. Naruto didn't move.

Sasuke looked uneasy, but grinned when his sword came so close there was no escape.

Then, the most peculiar feeling entered Sasuke. With a sound that sounded like an intelligent, 'urk', he felt he body freeze over, his sword stopping an inch from Naruto's neck. He swore. He was so damn close! Why was everything always like this?

He noticed Naruto's eyes still closed in concentration. Suddenly, they snapped open, and the most brilliant pair of blue eyes shone. Sasuke couldn't even see his eyes. It was just a pure explosion of blinding light where Naruto's eyes should be. Sasuke'll be honest. It was downright creepy. It gave Naruto a look of invincibility, godliness, and supernatural. With mind-numbing speed, Naruto had brought his fingers into a single seal.

Chakra flared around him, enclosing the pair in a wide aura. Even though Sasuke was nearly blinded, he didn't miss that several flares of the chakra had taken to the sky and seemed to collide with select people. Others left his sharingon vision, presumably to track down someone else. Sasuke knew this technique. Well, he knew the version of the technique that was less scary. The way Naruto did it was downright scary. It was the technique the Third used on Orochimaru, his master.

Sasuke could tell that the bursts of chakra from Naruto had been sent to kill the others that had been written in the scroll. He knew this because the scroll had flown from Naruto's grasp, flurried open, and the words inside glowed for the world to see. Sasuke saw his name written boldly at the top.

Somehow, this made him feel incredibly annoyed.

Naruto wasn't feeling much. He was feeling an unbelievable amount of sadness. He was still young, still ready to tackle the world, but the war had taken everything from him. He didn't want to pass on to the afterlife, but he knew he had too. Temari would be waiting for him though, even though she'd bang him on the head for coming too early… The notion brought a smile to his face.

"Temari… I'm coming." He said quietly. Taking a balancing breath, he began to use the technique the Kyuubi had taught him. He felt Sasuke's spiritual arms slide from its earthly form.

"This is it, isn't it, Kit?" The fox's voice held an amount of regret in it. "I'll be reduced to a demon forever haunting limbo. But still… I'm glad I got to know one Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto's heart warmed. "Kyuubi… you have no idea how much it means to me that you taught me the technique knowing you'll go to limbo." He could feel the fox mentally shrug. "I knew what I was doing, Kit. I knew what the consequences would be. And… I'll take them."

Naruto smiled. "Nice knowing I won't be haunted by you for the rest of eternity…Thanks."

The fox smiled sadly, without humor. "See you, Kit." With that, Naruto felt the presence of Kyuubi leave forever. Kyuubi had lent all his chakra to Naruto, and had left before Naruto's time. Never before had he felt so alone. With Kyuubi gone, he felt the weight of what he was doing. He was killing hundreds of people at the same time, stealing their souls with the death god for the exchange of his own. Simply put, his power was weakening. He no longer had the strength to fully kill Sasuke, but he knew the other hundred were already dead.

He smiled again bitterly. "Well, Sasuke. I told you I'd hold you to your death. Just right now, I can't seem to do anymore. "

Sasuke was breathing hard, watching with surprise, as his arms seemed to be putting themselves back into his flesh arms. "Wh-what do you mean, dobe?"

Naruto felt dizzy at the reference to his old nickname. "I'd try harder to kill you, but I guess I just can't. You're still a brother to me. No matter what you did to Sakura and the rest of us. Besides… I owe you one from the time you spared my life in that Valley."

Sasuke was shocked beyond belief. Naruto was still willing to forgive him? Even at this point? Even though Naruto was literally on his deathbed because of him?

Naruto smirked. "Stop gaping like that, teme. Anyway, before I die, I'd like to ask a favor… T-Take care of Seikoujo. If you don't… there'll be hell to pay."

Sasuke stared. "Who's Seikoujo?"

Naruto shook his head. "You'll know… when you see him. But to do my village a favor, I have to do one more thing. I'll let you have your arms, but…"

Sasuke felt his leg slipping away. "I'm afraid I can't let you leave completely unscathed. Take care, Uchiha."

Then, the technique broke. Uzumaki Naruto, the greatest ninja of all time, fell. He fell for his village, as every Hokage had done in the past.