Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did then...Well I'm not sure what I'd do! Something to think about...hmm.
"People talking"
"People thinking"
#Ghosts talking#
#Shinigami talking#
"Kyuubi talking"
The Shinigami, God of Death, Lord of Doom and Gloom, and Absolute Controller of the Only Complete Destiny, had a headache. It wasn't unlike the headache many Kages got when they had an excess of paperwork. Only, in the Shinigami's case, it was an excess of souls. Cursing all shinobi, who seemed to take particular pleasure in sending him more souls everyday than the average life-span allowed, he rifled through his paperwork. Not only did he have to gather all the souls that died of natural causes, but he also had to govern limbo, or purgatory, until the souls who had been killed or done horrible sins in life worked off their debt or just waited to get out.
Even for a god, that was too much. He was hoping against hope that he might be able to shirk off one of his duties off to some poor mortal, preferably one that wouldn't die anytime soon so he could finally catch up on his work. Then one file caught the Shinigami's eye. He smiled evilly, as only the bearer of doom can.
#Yukia,# he said to a impassive ghost at his side. She looked up questioningly from he mountain of paperwork in front of her.
#I think its time to make good on that deal I made with the Yondaime Hokage#
Uzumaki Naruto was sitting up in bed, listening to the rowdy crowd outside of his apartment building. He held a rusty kunai in a loose defensive stance, and hoped that they would not break in like last year. The natives were restless, so to speak, and what's worse it was at him, though he couldn't for the life of him figure out why. Suddenly there was a rush of air, and a slight chill and a great transparent being appeared in front of Naruto.
Naruto, being five years old, instantly yelped. The figure in front of him laughed, which of course did nothing to sate his fear. But for a five year old, he was remarkably resourceful. Naruto launched the kunai at the figure which it passed right through it. At this point Naruto instantly backed up to the wall, searching for his small stash of explosive tags.
Throwing as many as he could find, Naruto used the following chaos to escape out the window. Running through the village, he dodged angry villagers, instinctually heading for the forest, the place he always went to escape the hate of the the villagers.
Back at Naruto's now smoking apartment, the Shinigami scowled. Here he was trying to cut down on his workload, and all he found was a scrawny kid who had the audacity to throw thing at him. Running off in the direction that he had seen Naruto disappear, he silently cursed all blondes.
Reaching the forest clearing where Naruto was hiding, the Shinigami called out so as not to frighten him like before.
#Hey, kid, come out, I'm not going to hurt you!#
There was a slight rustling in one of the bushes, and a scornful voice answered his.
"Yeah, well you better not! Old Man Hokage said that he'd hurt anyone who so much as laid a finger on me!"
The Shinigami almost laughed at Naruto's false bravado before realizing that if he did, then Naruto might run away again. He walked out from behind a tree, letting himself fall directly into Naruto's view. At the sight of all of the Shinigami's full 7 foot tall glory, Naruto turned to run again with out a second thought.
Sighing, and not wanting another chase, the Shinigami just signaled to one of his minions, who poked Naruto on the back of the head, sending him into unconsciousness.
The Shinigami, grumbling all the time about troublesome brats, touched Naruto on the forehead, giving him power over purgatory, and all the ghosts in it. A small swirl appeared for a few seconds where the had Shinigami touched him before fading away.
Too annoyed at the brat to actually wait until he woke up to explain all the rules, he just dropped a scroll containing all the rules of limbo next to him, and gestured at random ghost to make sure that he didn't get eaten or anything. It be very frustrating to have to find another unsuspecting mortal because he had let the first one die within hours of instating him.
Pausing for a second, he bent down and touched Naruto's seal, burning a hole through the fabric, feeling for the demon he knew was down there. Carefully, he slowly released the pressure on the kitsune, until his cage was much larger without any danger of him escaping.
Kyuubi mumbled something like gratitude. #Heh, just go easy on the kid, Kyuubi.# Again Kyuubi mumbled something which might have been assent, and the Shinigami left it at that.
#Yukia,# he directed towards the faithful ghost at his side. #I only gave him a little of the power at first, so he'll need someone to help him figure everything out.#
#I understand,# she replied, sitting down next to the sleeping five year old. The Shinigami nodded once, and disappeared, already dreading the build up of work waiting for him.
The next morning, Naruto woke up in the middle of the forest, wondering how he got all the way out here. Looking round for a stream to take a bath in, he nearly tripped over his own feet when he heard a voice speak to him in his head.
"Hey kid!" Turning around and nearly rolling over in midair, he looked around for the source of the voice.
"Testing, testing. 1, 2, 3, can anybody hear me?"
"Who's there?" Naruto yelled, thoroughly spooked.
"Hey, cotton-ears brat. I was wondering when you were going to wake up," the disembodied voice said cheerfully.
"Who...who are you?" Naruto asked, suddenly remembering a bad dream about a twenty foot floating monster, and getting very nervous.
"I'm the Kyuubi! All-powerful fire demon!" (A/N I confess, I borrowed this from Howl's Moving Castle).
"Why in the world are you talking to me?" Naruto didn't know much about demons. He had people call him a demon before, but every time he had asked the Hokage the old man had skillfully turned his attention toward ramen. Maybe if this kyuubi-demon-person-whatever and Naruto were both demons, he wouldn't be mean to him.
"Um, well, lets just say I'm interested in your welfare. Every time you have a problem, just ask me in your head. I'll listen, and try to help you." There, that should make the old Shinigami happy, Kyuubi grumbled.
"Ahh, you can read minds?" Naruto shouted, loudly enough that a few birds flew from some near-by trees.
"Um, not really, only yours. But don't worry, I'll only read your mind when you ask me to," the Kyuubi replied, sweatdropping.
"Am I a demon too? Is that why you're being nice to me?" Naruto asked, and started walking towards a brook he heard in the distance. He was thirsty and amazingly practical for a five year old.
"Not really. If anything, you're a hanyou, a half-demon." Naruto nodded, sitting next to the edge of the stream, taking off his shoes and dangling them in the water. Well, that explains why the villagers hate me so much. Half-demon, huh? That's not so bad. I just wish people were nicer about it... He thought, is mind drifting.
#Hiya!# a strange voice right next to his ear. Naruto promptly fell into the stream in surprise. He turned, soaking, to see a person standing in front of him. It was a girl, about twelve or so, in a green kimono with dark brown armor over it. She had long black hair tied in a braid that hung all the way down her back, and had a konoha hitae-ate (A/N You know, the headbands.) The weirdest thing about her, though, was the fact that he could see through her.
"What the hell?" Naruto yelled, thinking that if he had anymore surprises today, he was going to have a heart attack.
#I said hi!# said the see-through girl. #Oh of course! I haven't introduced myself! My name is Yukia!#
"Why the hell are you see-through?" asked Naruto, loudly.
"Cuz she's a ghost, kid," Kyuubi said nonchalantly, trying to be helpful.
"A ghost?" Naruto gulped, sitting down in the middle of the stream, his brain going into overdrive. Its not everyday that you learn you're a half-demon, hear voices and see dead people, after all.
"Whatever it is, I didn't do it!" Naruto said, suddenly thinking of a reason why a ghost would be talking to him. He had somehow offended Kami and he had sent a ghost to tell him off. At least, hopefully only to tell him off...
#What do you mean? Do what?# The girl turned around, as though trying to find Naruto's mistake painted on the landscape. Apparently she didn't find anything of interest because she turned back to Naruto and explained, #Anyway, I'm here because you're the new Ruler of Ghosts,# the girl, Yukia, said, puzzled by Naruto's strange behavior.
"Eh? Nani? What do you mean, 'Ruler of Ghosts'?" Naruto asked cautiously, on guard for a trick.
#Well, the Shinigami, God of Death, and normally Ruler of Ghosts, has decided to bestow that power on you,# Yukia replied.
"What power?" asked Naruto looking at his hand as though he expected to see a sign that said "Ghostly Powers Here!".
#Um, well, you get order ghosts around, but you're the only one who can see us, and you have to help ghosts adjust to purgatory,# Yukia said.
"You mean there are more of you?" Naruto asked, looking around, this time searching for more freaky transparent people.
#Yes, but you can't see us now. You can only see me because you have to start somewhere. It just takes a few days before the powers to take full effect. You should be happy, its a great honor,# she concluded, a little snobbishly.
"Whatever," Naruto groaned through a full-blown headache, heading instinctually towards the one place that would make him feel better. "I'll deal with this later." Protesting, Yukia followed him all the way to a small ramen shop in the middle of Konoha. In a deep-thought-induced-haze, Naruto made way through five bowls before feeling good enough to talk. By this time Yukia had stopped complaining and was just watching in open mouthed amazement as the little kid in front of her ate and ate and ate.
"So, King of Purgatory, huh?" Naruto smiled at the owner of the restaurant, paying his bill with more than a little regret at how much it cost. "What does that mean?" Naruto instantly regretted the question, as Yukia launched into full lecture mode. All Naruto really got out of it was that the Shinigami was so loaded up with paper work that he had dumped Naruto with all the dead people in the world. He supposed it wasn't that bad, a least someone would talk to him other than Old Man Hokage and the owner of the ramen restaurant and his daughter.
"We're here," Naruto announced, walking into small and admittedly dirty apartment.
#Already? Anyway, tomorrow I'll start teaching you about your duties as King of Purgatory. You should go to sleep,# Yukia said bossily.
"But I'm not tired!" yawned Naruto, right before he fell over, asleep. Yukia sweatdropped, and dragged him to his bed, mumbling about troublesome brats.
(A/N) Hey, I hope you liked the story! I know its short, but its just the first chapter. I tried to write Naruto believably as a five year old, but I think I need to exercise my writing muscles more before its perfect. ::sigh:: Anyway, I won't agonize over it now. Let me know if I made any mistakes, constructive criticism is always welcome. Flames will be used to test fire extinguishers. Oh, and thanks to my beta Squirrelbait the Third. If you have complaints about the grammar or spelling, tell me and I'll tell her. ::Evil laugh::