NARUTO © 岸本 斉史

Naruto's never held regrets, even in the after life. So he's confused as to why he's gotten a "second chance", when he's not confident there's anything that needs to be redone in the first place. Well since he's apparently wrong, this time he's going to make sure he dies with no regrets. Someone's going to pay a third time around if it's something stupid like "Oh fuck, did I remember to file Tsunade's paperwork?" Only a story that's been written a thousand times before.

A Single Regret

[The End]

"But O, how bitter a thing it is to look into happiness through another man's eyes"

—William Shakespeare

Ch1 – Naruto and Kurama share an insightful conversation about the meaning of life and then death. Which makes sense, seeing as they're dead.

Death is a peculiar thing.

You expect yourself to maybe come upon a swirling vortex, where a man issues you a new life. Or maybe sparkling pearl gates and fluffy clouds, an angel guiding you through. Or even the possibility of just plain death. What if death was actually the ultimate end?

What most didn't expect though, was to be kept conscious and aware, even when there was, in all practical terms, nothing.

You can imagine how quickly minutes felt like years.

"You know, it's funny."

A surprisingly natural-sized russet fox sneered."Tragic."

The boy next to said fox smiled. "No, funny. Like ha ha, ho ho."

"Brat." The fox spat condescendingly.

"Of course. But let me finish," The boy eyed his companion to make sure it was listening, "it's funny because, you've been with me through everything, even when we both hated each other. You've always been there. Even in the after life. In a way, you've been my closest friend."

"But not the best."

Naruto grinned. "No, not the best. But the closest, that's just as good."

This time the fox gave him a small smile in return. "You're crazy, telling a monster he's your closest friend."

Naruto thought he was being witty, giving the fox a smirk, "I'm dead, Kurama. Things like pride and past seem rather irrelevant in the afterlife."

Said fox sighed, "Not that you ever really cared for them in the first place."

"True." He smiled.

Naruto was surrounded by so much white that there was little he wouldn't give to find just some color. Even the hues of his orange jumpsuit were pallid in comparison to what they had been while alive. And Kurama, who's fur he remembered being the darkest shade of muddy rust he had ever seen, seemed more like a blinding pink in this light.

Naruto wasn't very smart, or bright, or clever. But he had never been so sure of one singular fact as he was as he sat in this eternal abyss; he was dead. As dead as a fish in the desert.

And death seemed to outwit him even as he sat there dead himself.

It didn't matter too much, he thought. He had been verging on the age of twenty, which was young, yes, but meant he had lived long enough for meaning. For purpose. Everything he had wanted had been achieved one way or another. Sasuke's return, the end of the Fourth Shinobi War, and becoming the sixth Hokage.

Well, that was a white lie, really. He was a sixth Hokage in training. Meaning he would be assured appointment once either his predecessor died or resigned. Which had been more then enough for him at the time. Once he got to be about eighteen, and Tsunade began keeping him close with everything an upcoming Hokage needed to know, he decided he could wait until he got more senile before he inherited the position from the old hag. He had only wanted to be a Hokage originally for the recognition, but being a war hero, more famous than the current village leader herself, it became something simply to look forward to. An assured future.

So no, he didn't regret that either. Naruto was proud in being a humble man, who didn't want much from life. He even had the luxury of an honorable death.

Naruto remembered his death, with clarity and without distaste. He had been out on a rather important mission, taking with him his most trusted ANBU(being himself, famous Fourth Ninja War hero and Hokage-in-training, made him need escorts rather than a normal three squadron team), Sasuke included. He had seen Sasuke in danger, from some suspicious looking man in suspicious looking robes. Naruto had thoughtsomething along the lines of his rival's life belonging to him, as he had been the one to bring the prick back, and only he could kill the Uchiha, not any sub-par shinobi.

Of course he hadn't expected to be impaled through the heart. There was little to help a gaping hole in the chest.

And he was out. Like a light. And in the next moment he was in the light. Too much light.

Well, at least he had an honorable death. Lackluster, sure, and surprisingly quick(something he was sure was a gift from Kurama), but sacrificing himself for another—nothing could really out do that. Even if it was for Sasuke, the bastard. He couldn't even say a sentence without mentioning his bitter distaste for the current to-be Hokage, who forced him to stay in a shitty village. One too many revenge missions had made him far too cold.

Of course, even through all his whining, Sasuke had been entirely devoted to his forced internment. Most people never saw him away from the Uchiha compound. And when he would leave, it was only ever with Naruto, be it missions or simple grocery shopping. Not even Sakura could coax him to leave the premise, threats of bodily harm aside. It wasn't ideal or enough, and completely bothersome in the long run, but Naruto figured he had a lifetime to work on Sasuke's lack of personality and lack of independence.

Oops.

He wondered if Sasuke would be glad to know it was a painless death, at least.

All in all, his life was very much all he had ever wanted it to be. He and Sasuke had some semblance of a bond, he had been recognized, there was peace in the world, and even he was at peace. No grudge against sealed demons, and no worry for the struggle of survival against impending foes out to suck said demon from your belly.

Yet now he, and Kurama, were dead, floating in a white abyss. Certainly, if there was an after life, as he and his companion had now seen there was, it couldn't have been so—so boring.

"Even after experiencing war and adulthood, you're still as childish as ever, Brat." The fox's laughter echoed into the emptiness around them.

Okay, so maybe he was just naturally a bit immature. That wasn't a viable reason to hold it over him.

"It's annoying."

Naruto laughed, hearing no contempt in the other's voice.

So what now? Were they trapped together for an eternity in this white abyss? Would he spend his entire existence stuck to a demon fox just as he had while living? Was some higher power giggling at the irony of it all? Sitting them there so they could reflect on their lives for some greater purpose?

At least there wasn't a waterfall and two young genin going at it for "friendship" and "bonds" in front of them.

That would have taken the cake. All of it.

"You don't know much, do you?" Kurama's booming voice said to him, and Naruto turned to his companion with a curious gaze.

Naruto's brows knit together. "I hope that wasn't an insult, because no, I don't know much about anything after death. Do you?"

When Kurama didn't answer, his gaze shifting in distraction, Naruto was going to continue speaking, thinking of something he no doubt thought was clever. But then he noticed what had caught his demon companion's attention: silence.

The white abyss was suddenly deathly silent. Although he had not registered any kind of sound before. It was difficult to explain, for he really didn't hear anything, yet he knew there was a difference now that hadn't been so the past countless days or years or however long they'd been there. There was tension, incredibly thick, like being crushed by the full weight of a falling building, and he—

"Do you feel that?"

Yes, Naruto felt something. It was practically intangible but it was there.

Unusual it was. Almost a sensation of being drawn away, if such a thing could be felt by senses. He was being sucked out. By the air, by the white, by whatever there was, and it was like he was being brought back.

"Reincarnation?" Naruto mused after a moment longer.

"We both feel it. So certainly nothing like that, not together."

Naruto considered that briefly. It was true that they weren't bonded by their souls or anything, so certainly something like reincarnation wouldn't have had their seal last through lifetimes. He only imagined they were together now because they had died together while alive. How unbelievable it would be to be reincarnated with a demon still sealed on your stomach.

"But if it's not that, then what is—"

"Naruto," Again, he was stopped by Kurama's voice, "Are you sure you don't have any regrets?"

Yes. He was positively sure he had nothing to regret, therefore he had no regrets. Was his whole inner monologue lost to his mind-sharing companion?

Kurama sighed, "Well, I'm not sure."

They both looked up again, the sensation lulling to a stop, and the tension was gone with it. The room was filled with noise once again, or that's what it felt like?

"I satisfied everyone of my goals." Naruto relaxed, but was no less put off by the fox's words. "I had friends, met my parents, had people who loved me. I brought Sasuke back, and gained everyone's respect. I lived a life worth living."

Kurama nodded, although his voice was apathetic. "You did."

Suddenly Naruto wasn't so calm. "Yes, I did! So why are you telling me I have regrets? I have nothing to be regretful about!"

"And you said I was your closest friend. If anyone understands you, it's me, right?" Damn Kurama and that foxy grin.

Naruto scoffed, and looked away. "Fine, 'closest friend', what is it that my life was missing?"

"Happiness."

For a moment, Naruto was too shocked. What kind of nonsense was this fox spouting? After a few hard chuckles, Naruto glared. "I—"

"Were you truly happy, Naruto?"

The sincerity in the fox's tone caught Naruto off guard as much as it's first initial accusation. But he was being stubborn, didn't want to hear what the wisest demon he had ever known had to say.

Kurama still held an expression too serious for his foxy demeanor. "I've watched you. Even when I hated you, I never looked away. And there's always been that one thing..." Naruto's eyes looked away from his companion, another frown spreading over his features. "...I don't think you've ever been truly happy, Naruto."

Naruto didn't know what to say.

On the one hand, he could see what Kurama had meant to say. Naruto had spent his whole life, trying to gain recognition, for people to accept him as he was. And in the process of achieving his goal, he had learned that the best way to go about it was to make other people happy. And yet throughout it all, he had never realized that in the process of granting happiness to those around him, he had to sacrifice his own. It was a sobering thing to realize amidst the afterlife.

And yet, he had become such a giver, that he had gained happiness by simply giving. He didn't need anything in return. Someone else's smile gave him more than enough reason to smile himself.

"Forgive me for saying, but—" The fox mused, "Another man's happiness is not you own. All you've been doing is glimpsing, trying to gain a little of your own contentment through others."

"That's not something I can agree with, Kurama. Some things can only be gained from others." Naruto said, not meeting his companion's eyes, "Friendship, Family, Love... Those are all basic recipes for happiness."

"Then maybe—" Kurama looked towards Naruto, "I've never died before, so you have to understand that this is as new to me as it is to you, as unbelievable as the concept might be."

Naruto glared.

"But," Kurama continued, "I've heard many tales of the passing of life from our world into the next. They differ between cultures, but there seems to be a reoccurring pattern. An amount of time after death, where the soul is stuck in the median between the two worlds. Sometimes forty days, sometimes an eternity. Normally, the soul passes on after the set time, but..."

"But?"

The fox had an expression that oddly reminded Naruto of pursing lips. "If the soul has lingering ties to it's previous life, anything between regrets, revenge, or even simply disdain for leaving, the soul has a tendency to...return."

Naruto raised a fine blonde brow.

"I've heard everything from flesh-eating zombies to blood sucking vampires. I'm quite well versed."

A look of contempt crossed the boy. "I don't want to be a vampire."

"I'm doubtful if even any of it is true." Kurama sighed. "But I've learned that things never happen without cause, without effect. No higher deity is harping to his buddies how he enjoys watching a boy and a fox die from boredom in the afterlife.

No, we're waiting. And our wait holds purpose."

"But waiting for what?"

The fox shook it's head, "I don't know."

"Maybe there's..." And this was not as much of a long shot as he wanted to think it was. He vaguely recalled a few sealing techniques involving reincarnation and immortality among the many he had studied. There had been some Orochimaru had also looked into, but required such impossible amount of chakra and "sacrifice" that neither he nor Naruto could be asked to bother with them.

"Plausible." Kurama didn't even give him the chance to voice his opinion. "Souls will live in a state of limbo until they're either brought a sort of contentment, if you will, or come upon it themselves. Since we've both found neither, it's plausible that someone could revive you, me, or us both."

—Eve O. Reina

Hello. Right, well then. I shall leave this here, and you may peruse it to your heart's desires. I'll be updating it sporadically over the summer. And if September rolls by and it's not done (and it probably won't be), then it's all up in the air after that. This is just for chuckles and giggles on my part, because I think it's fun to screw Naruto over. So it won't have good grammar, won't be well written, and Naruto's probably out of character, but gosh darn it, I'm going to post it. I'm determined. Progress, Eve, progress!

Enjoy. Un-beta'd.