==[The Wisdom of the Old]==
"Naruto. Naruto, keep your eyes open."
The sky was bathed in orange. The sun looked like it was sinking into the horizon.
He felt a voice echoing inside his soul. He could sense a mixture of emotion in that voice; there was the subtle hint of sadness and the bitter taste of regret… though perhaps what was most prominent was the feeling of resignation.
He couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. There was a time when that voice was filled with nothing but rage and hatred... Now, the very same voice that had brought him nothing but fear and worry in his childhood was what gave him comfort.
"Kurama…"
His voice was weary. The same could be said for his body, heart, mind, and soul.
He looked at Konoha, tears starting to form in his eyes. Atop the head of the fourth Hokage, his father, he could see his village in its entirety.
The village started to light up as night as sky became darker. He marvelled at it as it stood tall and proud, having been rebuilt from the ground up. It had seen wars, monstrosities, and calamities, yet the village and its people had always remained strong.
Even now he could sense every single one of them. A result of having achieved the Six Paths and his mastery over the Sage Arts. It had been instrumental in his time as the leader of the village and had brought him countless joys and sorrows.
"Don't close your eyes."
He could feel anger, one born out of worry, as his partner outright commanded him. It made him feel nostalgic, bringing back to the days when he was still active on the field, fighting the countless enemies that threatened the village, leading his people to the best future he could give them.
He wanted to do as his partner wished but right now he knew that there wasn't anything that could be done.
"Kurama, it doesn't work like that."
"It does. You have the most powerful existence in this world inside you. You're the direct reincarnation of Asura. You've achieved the Six Paths! Time means nothing to me so it shall mean nothing to you either!"
"Now you're just being petulant. Despite all that, I'm still human… and unfortunately that means time affects me just like everybody else."
He was already 138 years old, a few months shy of getting to 139. It was a testament to his lineage; a combination of the fact that he had been the reincarnation of Asura Otsutsuki and an Uzumaki. Both traits afforded him an extended life along with a slew of other abilities.
He was always told that he aged well, easily looking like he was still in his fifties, a fact that would have probably made a certain legendary medic rather indignant.
Despite the youthful appearance however, wrinkles were apparent on his face. His hair, which had once been a sunny blonde colour, had already turned completely grey.
Time truly was the cruellest kindness.
"Hey Kurama… do you think I'll actually get to see them?"
In all honesty, he was rather hopeful. He was perfectly aware of the cycle of reincarnation yet there was never any knowledge that pertained to an afterlife. The concept of death and life was difficult thing to understand, especially when things like the Impure World Resurrection technique existed.
Do souls reincarnate the moment they leave their original bodies? Do they go somewhere else before they find a chance to do so?
Personally, he preferred the latter as he liked the thought of the souls of the departed being reunited with their loved one.
The idea of seeing all his friends and family was a dream that always haunted his sleep in the century he had lived.
"We bijuu are true eternal entities so it was never something that mattered to us."
"Is that so? Hah… I wonder what Sasuke and Sakura would tell me if we met in the afterlife…"
He missed them dearly. His old teammates, his teachers, the friends he had graduated along with him back in the Academy.
If there was one thing he regretted, more than anything else, was the fact that he couldn't find a way to save them. The majority of them had all died in the Fourth Great War.
Sasuke, Sakura, and his teacher Kakashi had died during the final battle with Kaguya Otsutsuki. The others, Hinata, Shino, Lee, Chouji, and countless other shinobis had their lives taken as well.
He had been the one to land the final strike that ended the insanity. He could remember the feeling of overwhelming relief that washed over him as he lost consciousness when Kaguya and the Ten-tails were finally defeated… the feeling of crushing despair that followed when he had woken up to be informed of their passing.
The funeral that had been held to honour each and every single one of them was moment he had burned to the very core of his soul.
"So I guess this really is the end of the line, huh?"
"Yes… it was a long journey but… this really is where we part ways."
The sun had almost completely disappeared.
He had lived for so long. Mentoring, caring, and nurturing several generations.
He had done his best. He kept living, kept going with all his might in order to honour the death of his friends and family.
He had countless regrets but in the end…
"Naruto…"
He could sense the hesitation in his partner's words. There were many things they could say to each other, having lived for a century and a half together.
"Thank you."
However his partner settled for those words. It was short and simple. Two words that truly expressed everything that needed to be said. No explanation was needed. They've never hidden anything from each other after they had connected and made peace so there was nothing left to say.
He smiled as he found himself inside his mindscape.
He felt a gentle and comfortable warmth envelop him as Kurama lay beside him, curling his giant tails and surrounding him.
"Kurama…."
His could feel himself fade.
"Thank you."
His eyes closed and his body relaxed against his partner's as the sun fully sank into the horizon.
So ends the story of the former Rokudaime. One of the greatest heroes of Konoha history.
He had been instrumental in the conclusion of the Fourth Great War and the unification of the different villages in the years after.
He had been a strong leader, with a will and passion that could never be matched.
He was a wise and caring mentor, having guided several generations of shinobi in his long life.
Every village will celebrate his life and his countless achievements and forever mourn his death.
May his soul forever rest in peace.
==[The Wisdom of the Old]==
'Hmmmm….?'
It was a world filled with light.
In front of him was a tree large enough that it would need an entire continent to hold it.
'Those are…'
He could feel it, a large amount of souls surrounding him.
There were hundreds, thousands, millions of them; moving together like a never ending stream of water. Where the flow would start and end was beyond him.
He didn't recognize any of them. There were a few instances where he felt a familiar one but the sheer number of souls surrounding him made it difficult to isolate and identify.
He attempted to move his body but felt no response, as if there was nothing there to move. In fact, he felt like he was suspended in mid-air.
"Truly, you are unique."
'Who is…?'
He could feel someone speaking to him and the next moment the figure of a woman phased out of the tree. Compared to the souls around him, she had a distinct form, one that was he very familiar with.
'… Kaguya?'
"Yes, I speak through your soul as you do not possess a body that would allow you to speak. You are nothing more than a soul without a vessel."
She drew closer to him, and despite the appearance of his old enemy, he didn't feel any sort of tension or worry.
There was no hostility in her eyes.
"A world of peace. It was a dream I once had..."
Her face bore no expression but he could feel the strong emotions from her soul.
"For it, I had attained power befitting of god. One that had consumed me."
She reached out, enveloping me in a warm embrace.
"My defeat at your hands had finally sent me to this place, the resting place of souls."
He couldn't sense any falsehood in her words.
"I had watched over you from this place, to see what you would set out to do with the power you've obtained as one of my descendants. I had thought that loss would drive you to despair. I had thought that darkness of humanity would lead you to ruin, yet both had simply made you stronger."
She released him from the embrace and drew back.
He could see a bitter smile form on her face.
"Perhaps my children were right, that humanity truly does deserve more. If I had understood the words of my son in the past, do you think things would have changed for the better?"
Remorse. Regret. A strong need to make amends, to change something from a time long past.
"Hmm… yes, it is about time. Know that I am grateful for what you've done and would like to reward you."
He could feel himself being pulled towards the sky.
"There are many worlds in existence. There are worlds where different choices were made and different actions were taken… You will be reborn in one of them, your memories intact. Take it as a chance to live the life that had only existed in your dreams."
He tried to understand the words but his consciousness was already fading.
"Ah yes… do not worry. I shall make sure you have one to accompany you."
Right before he truly faded, he felt something coming close to him.
"Now go… show me what you can and will do."
==[The Wisdom of the Old]==
"Hokage-sama, we found him."
From the corner of the room, without making a sound, a man donning a white porcelain mask in the likeness of a dog appeared.
"Oh, where did that kid managed to get to this time?"
Without looking up, he continued to peruse the documents on the table, most of which were missions that required his approval. He quickly skimmed through lower priority ones, reading through the source of the mission, the location, the intended rewards, and the requirements.
Taking the stamp, he approved and sorted them by rank. The majority were D-rank missions involving standard civilian community service and C-rank delivery missions.
"He was with the Uchiha clan again an hour ago… playing Shogi with Fugaku-sama. He was winning for the most part but Fugaku-sama had managed to take the victory in the end. From what I saw, it seems like Naruto-kun threw the match. From Fugaku-sama's face, he knew it as well."
"Hahaha! Barely eight years old and already beating Fugaku's ass in shogi? Kushina's gonna have a field day with this!"
Fugaku was fairly decent at the game according to one Shikaku Nara, so his skills were nothing to scoff at.
However, as he had found time and again, his son was something of a genius. He had stopped getting surprised after the kid learned how to create a custom storage seal after only a few days of basic fuinjutus lessons and proceeded to use said seals to store and automatically launch water balloons at shinobi when certain conditions are met.
He had to deal with an entire week's worth of complaints from his elite shinobi force getting randomly hit by water balloons.
Creating a custom storage seal at such a young age was already amazing in itself. However it was the fact that the kid was able to set such specific conditions to ensure that not only will the water balloon be launched when certain actions were done but also always land a hit against experienced and trained veterans that really made it outstanding.
He felt a mixture of pride and amusement when he had found out what Naruto had done.
Kushina on the other hand had almost actually died from laughter when she found out.
"Currently, Naruto-kun is playing with Anko in her favourite dango shop. He's currently being blessed by, and I quote, 'Tales of the Great Anko' as we speak."
"I see. Thank you Kakashi, you're dismissed. Oh, by the way, Obito and Rin wanted you to know that the three of you will be having dinner at Yakinuki Q."
"Probably another attempt to set me up with someone… well I'll be seeing you sensei."
Just like the way he appeared, Kakashi disappeared without any sound or hint of movement.
"Letting the adult way so he can save face… really now, that kid's a bit too mature for his age."
He felt a stab of guilt every time he was reminded of that fact.
His son was mature and wise for his age. To a point where there were times when he felt like he was the younger one when they were talking to each other.
He could remember his son, when he was five, helping his sensei, Jiraiya, and the head of the hospital, Tsunade, make up after an argument by getting the two to meet at a ramen stand and threaten to cry if they don't talk things out.
There was also the time when his son gently patted Orochimaru's head when he turned seven, staring one of the strongest shinobi of village, looking the man straight in the eye and calling him the pride of Konoha.
That was probably the only time he had seen the man so utterly gobsmacked. The snake summoner had stood there speechless for several minutes, unable to speak a single word.
Ever since then, Orochimaru had been rather close to his son, taking the time to teach the kid in his spare time along with Jiraiya and Tsunade. He was actually rather sure that the three were competing for the chance to actually teach the Naruto.
"I should get him checked with Inoichi again. The ANBU haven't reported any signs of nightmares like before but he might be struggling with something else."
It was only two years ago when he had found out the cruel truth.
One of his ANBU operatives that were assigned to guard Naruto during night time had been giving reports about the kid struggling during sleep.
At first they had discounted it as simple nightmares that would go away, however as the issue increased in frequency and severity, they finally decided to go to Inoichi to look into Naruto's mindscape.
Mass death and destruction. The image of faceless people suffering and crying out for help repeated endlessly.
He and Kushina were in tears as Inoichi had painfully described the images that plagued their son's sleep. Even worse, when they had talked to their son regarding the nightmares, the boy had admitted to always having them and thought that they were normal.
They had done everything they could to determine the cause. From outside interference, seals, curses, and every jutsu that could possibly cause the nightmares, they explored every possibility. However, when everything else had failed to bring results, they determined that there was only one possible cause left.
The bijuu was sealed inside the boy, something that was never supposed to happen.
"Even now, eight years of investigating, and we still don't know who the culprit was..."
Kushina was supposed to remain as the jinchuriki of the Kyuubi. They had predicted her seal growing weaker when she would give birth and had prepared accordingly.
With the sannin, his former genin team, and the third to assist, Kushina had safely given birth to Naruto. He had been able to properly maintain the seal during the process, but as he was about to finish checking the seal, it began breaking down completely.
Before any of them could take action, a woman in white appeared then a surge of light blinded every single one of them. When it dissipated, both his wife and his newly born son had already disappeared from the area.
Utter chaos followed as they had deployed every force available to track down his family.
The perpetrator had left no traces and it was only the release of a strong source of chakra that even clued them to the possible location of his wife and son.
The two were found safe and alive. Kushina was in tatters and unconscious. Naruto was crying.
There was no trace of the perpetrator with the only proof of the woman's existence being the seal on his son's stomach.
Even after dedicating a significant amount of resources to investigating what happened, they couldn't determine the identity of the woman or the motive behind her actions.
To this day, he considered it his greatest failure.
"Haaah… need to get focused."
He shook his head to stop himself from focusing on what ifs.
He couldn't take back what happened in the past so he had to focus on the present and he would make damn sure that nothing like that would ever happen again.
==[The Wisdom of the Old]==
'What do you think?'
Sensing that he was alone and that his current ANBU guard was far enough, he relaxed himself.
He sat on top of the Fourth's head on the Hokage monument, one of his favourite spots. It had become a habit for him to watch the sunset here before going home.
"There isn't much we can accomplish in your state. You have no freedom until you at least become a proper ninja."
'So we play the waiting game… do you think Kaguya had anything planned when she did this?'
Even after being given several years to grow accustomed to the situation, he still couldn't get used to hearing his own voice. For that matter, he still had problems having such a small body.
"Can't say. Regardless of what she planned however, it's best to be cautious and observe how things go."
'We can make more progress after I finish the isolation seal. It looks like Ero-sennin, Baa-chan, and Oro-jii have all practiced the sage arts in this world. It's a bit risky to use the Six Paths or even just the Sage arts without being questioned.'
Though he had yet to make an attempt, he felt that he could use both. It seemed Kaguya had been thorough when he was reincarnated into this new world, even making sure that Kurama had been sealed into him and given the memories of the Kurama from his original world.
This was likely the 'gift' that the woman had referred to.
"Do you think the snake can be trusted?"
'I can say that the Orochimaru seems to be loyal here but it's debatable. After all, it's a different world where apparently the Uchihas had never become separated with the Senju. Where Obito never became Tobi. It's entirely possible that Madara had well and truly died as well.'
In summary, it was what he could consider to be the 'perfect world' for him.
A world where all the correct choices was made.
A world where his family was complete.
A world where all his friends and their respective families where alive as well.
A world that was far too good to be true.
He imagined that if he was ever trapped in an Infinite Tsukiyomi, this was probably the world that he would find.
"We have a few years. It'll be boring as hell. What do you plan to do to at least keep us sane?"
'Aside from the occasional prank, smothering my family and friends with love and affection, making sure that Orochimaru and Danzo don't do stupid things, seal and jutsu research, and establishing a realistic progression of our skills, there's nothing much we can do…'
Watching and observing the development of the world and detecting any potential problems didn't need to be said. Even if he felt that Kaguya had been truthful, they were both still suspicious of her intentions.
From personal experience, when something felt too good to be true, he knew that it was definitely too good to be true.
'…Ah. Actually, there is something we can try."
"Hmmm?"
He smiled. He had already lived for a century and a half.
In that time, he had mentored several generations of ninjas.
However he always felt that when it comes down to it, his generation was the one with the greatest potential. Though that sentiment was likely due to an extreme bias on his part and the fact that his generation was born in a time where peace between the major hidden villages had yet to be achieved.
'Hey Kurama… what do you think about raising the greatest generation of ninjas in history?'
==[The Wisdom of the Old]==
==[Author's notes]==
A short reincarnation story that was requested by a friend.
Will remain a one-shot for now.
You can check out my other fanfic stories in my profile page.
You can check out my other original stories and story status updates at my blog at nukokon_word press_com
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Thank you for reading!