Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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Chapter One - Dealing with Death

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Life in the Shinigami's stomach wasn't as bad as the books and scrolls had made it out to be, Minato realised. It wasn't quite a never-ending darkness as much as it was a space of nothingness in which you floated aimlessly around in, and you were never really alone. Minato had during some point in non-existent time befriended the head of a Suna-nin who called himself Akihiko the Awe-Inspiring, and had shaken hands with a half-chewed arm. One never really felt hungry either, or cold or anything much beyond the general range of human emotions, and as such Minato had never really been tempted to try any one of the several hundred onigiri floating about the nothingness. Besides, the thought of eating something that the Shinigami had gotten to first was just disgusting, considering that his diet usually consisted of human souls and not human food. Though who knew that the Shinigami had an appetite for rice balls?

Time in the Shinigami's stomach was fluid, but whenever the Shinigami needed to guide someone into the afterlife (logically, Minato knew that this had to happen fairly often), the contents of its stomach would get treated to a view of the human realm. Minato usually wandered off to watch Naruto, and what he saw always made his heart break. Naruto (his boy, his son!) beaten and abused by the very villagers Minato had given his life for. The more idealistic part of him had wanted Naruto to be seen as a hero for his sacrifice – the other part, the part that allowed him to decimate Iwa's armies and kill women and children without being torn apart by guilt, knew that that was impossible. Still, it didn't stop him from being incredibly disappointed in Konoha. He'd thought that they'd respect his dying wish, at least. And wasn't the resemblance between him and Naruto fairly obvious? Not that this was in any way a good thing, though Minato had been hoping that they'd recognise Naruto as his son. Instead, the villagers had jumped to the conclusion that the Kyuubi (reputation for being a cruel and crafty fox and all) was taking the image of their precious Yondaime to mock them. Idiots, Minato scoffed. He often wished that the Kyuubi had been a nine-tailed turtle, or something.

Currently, as he watched Naruto getting hit over the head by a glass bottle, Minato realised that he really wanted to kill the villagers. And he would have too, if being dead (and the fact that he'd died for this stupid village) hadn't been such an inconvenient thing. Minato's clenched his fists uselessly against his sides, and aimed a kick at the approximate location of a passing onigiri.

The Shinigami's stomach rumbled then, Minato felt the connection to the outside world fade, and once again, he found himself standing in nothingness watching junk-filled nothingness (briefly, he pondered the contradictory nature of these two statements). Akihiko the Awe-Inspiring Head floated gently over.

'I think Suna's Jinchuuriki got it worse,' he said in what Minato supposed was meant to be a comforting voice. 'I mean, the seal's pretty crappy, Shukaku doesn't let the poor boy sleep, and the kid's on the verge of going insane.' He paused, tilting his head slightly. 'He has gone insane, actually.'

'And you're telling me this, why?' Minato knew very well the state of Suna's Jinchuuriki, having studied the seals and found them completely worthless.

'What I mean to say is,' Akihiko the Awe-Inspiring Head said, 'you've done the best you can for your kid, and it really isn't your fault that the villagers can't see that.' He bumped Minato's shoulder lightly with his chin, and Minato resisted the urge to push him away. Akihiko the Awe-Inspiring head was only trying to make him feel better, after all, and even though he was really making Minato feel a lot worse, the effort wasn't unappreciated.

'It does make you wonder though,' Akihiko the Awe-Inspiring Head continued, his voice soft, 'with how ugly the world is, if there really is anything in the world truly worth dying for.'

Your friends, Minato thought, your village, your son…?

'Ramen,' Minato finally said, ' Ramen is nice.'

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Minato knew something was wrong the next time the Shinigami's stomach quivered and flared with the lights and colours of the human realm. For one, Naruto's bleeding and broken body was the first thing he saw. That had never happened before, and it drove a stake of fear and worry into his heart. He'd never really felt afraid for Naruto's life, having been confident that the fox wouldn't let him die. Worried yes, guilty definitely, along with copious amounts of anger directed at the villagers, but never truly afraid.

And then he saw the Shinigami's bony fingers reach directly for Naruto and he understood, and his world shattered.

Naruto, dead? How could that have happened? It couldn't happen, not because of a few drunken villagers, it just wasn't possible. The fox was supposed to heal him – the fox had to heal him. If Naruto died, so did Kyuubi, and Minato knew for a fact that the fox loved being alive too much to allow itself to die. He couldn't have failed Naruto!

Minato pressed forwards against what he thought was perhaps the lining of the Shinigami's stomach, fingers clenched and eyes wide, because maybe if he pushed hard enough he could go down and help –

He was almost surprised to see Sarutobi rushing towards Naruto's body (his boy, his son! Naruto couldn't be dead), shoulders tense with worry and fear and panic, gesturing madly at the medics speeding along behind him. He hoped almost that the medics would be able to save his son, but the grip that the Shinigami had upon Naruto's soul was tight and unrelenting.

'Let him go!' Minato roared, pounding his fists against the Shinigami's stomach. Where the hell was Jiraiya when you needed him? Just because Jiraiya had a spy network to take care of didn't mean that he had the right to abandon Minato's son! He'd trusted the Toad Sage to watch out for Naruto, named him his godfather, and now Naruto was dead. Minato was going to murder Jiraiya if he ever got the chance to.

The Shinigami pulled Naruto's soul free from his body and immediately, the connection to the human realm began to fade. No, no! Minato lunged at his son, fingers grasping, reaching… He'd failed Naruto, he'd failed Kushina, and he'd failed his family. And Kakashi, oh, Kakashi, the boy was going to tear himself apart from the guilt of having let his Sensei's last living legacy die. Minato crumpled to his knees and buried his head in his hands, eyes still wide with shock. He hadn't been able to protect his son. For all his rankings and all his knowledge and power, he hadn't been able to protect his son.

The Shinigami, having sent Naruto off to heaven, was now in a bit of a pickle. Naruto had been the Child of Prophecy after all, the only one left since Namikaze Minato's death, and now there was no one to save the Shinobi world from certain doom. The Toads weren't going to be very happy. But Kami had insisted that Uzumaki Naruto be allowed to carry on to the afterlife. She didn't want him to suffer anymore, etcetera, etcetera, too naïve, too trusting, haven't you been following the News of the Future? The Shinigami hadn't really been listening. In any case, Naruto was now out of the Shinigami's jurisdiction, and he needed to find someone to replace the Child of Prophecy. That someone was currently stewing away in his stomach. This was going to be difficult.

Getting into the Shinigami's stomach was the easy part, really. You summoned, you got eaten, and that was pretty much it. Getting out was difficult. Not only did you need the consent of the person you were trying to, for lack of a better term, regurgitate, it also caused a rather horrible case of indigestion. Also, you needed an empty body. The Shinigami sighed. The faster he got this done, the better. Uzumaki Naruto's body was currently being kept functional by the Shinigami's power, but the Kyuubi was proving to be quite an annoyance, what with the way it kept smashing itself against the bars of its cage.

'Namikaze Minato,' the Shinigami said, feeling somewhat uncomfortable. Truth be told, this was the first time he had ever communicated with the contents of his stomach. Already he could feel the first signs of indigestion.

Minato started at the voice and looked around. 'Um, yes?'

Now, how best to go about doing this? The Shinigami decided not to waffle. 'Your son did not die because of the failure of your seal,' he said. 'Kami decided that he's suffered enough. He's too naïve, too trusting, and he would have gotten hurt had he gone down living. She told me to grant him passage to heaven.'

Minato was silent, and his head was bowed. His confusion was giving the Shinigami a stomachache. 'You are the only one who can take your son's place as the Child of Prophecy.'

Minato's head snapped up. 'Take his place? What do you –'

'You will be allowed to live again, as Naruto, and die again, as Naruto, as though the contract never existed. That means you get to go on to the proper afterlife to meet your friends and uh, family.'

Minato frowned. The deal was sweet, but he couldn't just take his son's body like that, not after he'd just been killed.

'I can't –'

'You'll be able to change the villagers' opinion of your son.'

'But I –'

'You'll be able to help your son achieve his goal.'

Minato had seen just how much Naruto had wanted to be Hokage, to gain the respect and love of Konoha. Despite the fact that living in his son's body sounded vaguely gross, and that Naruto wouldn't actually be the one achieving the goal, Minato couldn't just let his son die hated by the village, not when he had a chance to change that.

'I accept, Shinigami-sama.'

Minato heard something that sounded vaguely like a sigh of relief. 'Good,' the Shinigami said. 'Don't forget, by the way, that you can't tell anyone who you really are, unless you haven't any choice but to do so. That'd take the fun out of things…'

'Shinigami-sama?'

And then there was a brilliant flash of white light and the feeling of a hand around his middle before everything went black.

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A/N: My first Naruto fic, inspired by something I read a couple of years ago that I really can't remember the title of. Anyway, I do hope you enjoy this! Personally, Minato!Naruto has always been a favourite of mine :) Reviews and/or constructive criticisms are appreciated!