I got this from the Naruto the Abyss Walker challenge by Zenko13, and I thought it would be interesting, especially considering that these are my two favorite franchises ever. So I'm going to give this a try, and if you guys like it, I'll put it in the schedule I finally made. Now that I think about it, I really dove headfirst into writing on this site without doing anything, like I didn't make a plot line or anything, I've been winging it since the beginning. That's it, enjoy.

This is about the life of a broken man, hiding behind the mask of a child, as he tries to show shut the wounds of hardship. The story of a man finding himself, a story of companionship, and a story of trust.

Darkness couldn't begin to describe what he saw, yet his mind only comprehended that he was being smothered in seemingly solid darkness, he had trouble breathing but his deep breaths had no problem coming to him, everything seemed so wrong with the situation he found himself in, he could feel his sanity slipping, his very being leaving him, and it felt so horrendous, so very vile, and as he found himself in this, he held tightly to his last memory, his last piece of his cracking mind, he found a perfect sense of clarity, and suddenly, it all came back to him, and he saw light. And he smiled.

And that is how the legendary knight Artorias the Abyss Walker died, he did not die a warrior's death, he died alone, but he went out when he wanted to, he kept his sanity, and by doing this, and not becoming a slave to the monstrous Abyss, he helped himself become a better man. But not in this life, but in the next.

(10,000 years later)

'So this is how I die? Impaled and alone? Always thought it would be more glorious than this, maybe in a war, but this? This is rather insulting.'

These were the thoughts of Uzumaki Naruto, the container of the Great Chakra Beast, Kyuubi, the Nine Tailed Demon Fox. How did he end up in this situation? It's rather simple, a pervert through him off a cliff.

(Flashback)

"Naruto are you listening to me?"

"What did you say Ero-Sennin?"

"You damn brat! I was saying I want you to access Kyuubi's chakra."

"Why would I want to do that!? I don't want to use anything that has to do with that damn Fox!"

This was the conversation between Naruto Uzumaki and Jiraiya of the Sannin. Jiraiya was a tall man, with spiky white hair in a ponytail, he had a headband with two small horns with the kanji for 'Oil' on it. He has two red lines going down his face from under his eyes onward. He wears a green short shirt kimono with a mesh shirt underneath and a red haori on top of it, he also wears arm guards and has wooden ninja sandals, and he has a large scroll across his back horizontally.

Naruto was a 13 year old boy with golden blond hair that was unmanageably spiky, he had blue eyes and he wore an obnoxious orange and blue jumpsuit with pants to match, and he had three symmetrical lines on each cheek that were reminiscent of whisker marks.

Naruto gazed at Jiraiya in annoyance, he might not be super strong yet, but he refused to rely on something else for his survival, he had learned that lesson plenty of times.

'If he won't do it willingly, I'll just trick him, that'll be rather easy' "Fine gaki, then let's work on your Kuchiyose no Jutsu, I want you to be able to summon something better than a tadpole."

"Fine Ero-Sennin, I'll master this jutsu, or my name isn't Uzumaki Naruto!" "Okay gaki, let's go to different area then this, some of the toads are huge and this forest isn't going to cut it for their size."

And with that, they headed to a clearing with a ravine near it.

"So Ero-Sennin, what am I doing wrong with the Kuchiyose no Jutsu?" "You're not putting enough chakra into it."

"But I already tried using more chakra! Is there anything else?" "Weeeeeellllll, there is one thing I can do to help you, but I don't think you can do it." "No way Ero-Sennin, I can do it!" Jiraiya smirked 'It's working.' "Okay gaki, this is a secret learning technique, so I need you to come closer." Naruto didn't argue and he walked over to him. "Okay Ero-Senn- WOAH!" and he was promptly grabbed by Jiraiya and thrown into the ravine that had loomed behind them since they arrived in the clearing.

"WHAT THE FUCK!"

Naruto was silenced from his screaming as his hand hit the sharp edge of the ravine, tearing a finger off and insuring that jutsu would not be used. So he fell, he fell in agony, and he fell to his death, he fell to his rebirth.

(Flashback over)

Naruto reflected over his life up to that point, and as he felt the life drain from his body, he saw his flaws, and he felt embarrassed by his actions up until that point, and he had one last thought, 'I wish.. I wish I could try again.' and the life finally drained from his eyes.

(Inside the seal)

Kyuubi had never felt fear, he had felt sadness, greed, hate, lust, love, and happiness, but never fear, for who could even challenge him after the death of the Sage of Six Paths? But now, as the lights in the sewer mindscape of one Uzumaki Naruto shut off one by one, Kyuubi felt fear. In any of his previous containers he wouldn't have cared if they died, but this seal was made by the Shinigami, the God of Death, if Naruto died, he died. He looked over his options and realized that there was only one, he had to try to pull Naruto's soul back before it crossed over to the Pure World.

So, he pulled, he used his chakra, tails, claws, and maw to pull the soul back. But even the Kyuubi himself didn't have the chakra for a full revival of a person, that power lies only with the wielder of the Rinnegan. So as he pulled Naruto's soul back, he didn't feel his own leaving him until it was too late, because after all, a soul of a Bijuu is equal to the soul of the Child of Prophecy, and the Shinigami was all too quick to agree. But a unforeseen circumstance that neither entity could have predicted occurred, a part of Naruto's soul that was never meant to come back to the Living World was brought back, his soul ancestor's soul was brought back, but Artorias had long since stopped having a true consciousness, so all that came back was a soul of memories, not an aware person, so the seal absorbed it, and it tried to do what it had for the Kyuubi's chakra, filter it into Naruto's chakra system, but because of the properties of the Great Soul, it was merged with Naruto, and finally, Naruto was revived.

Naruto's body appeared in the middle of the Mindscape, submerged in water, and the Shinigami looked on in interest, his game of Soul-Tug-of-War with the Kyuubi over, the Kyuubi being in his stomach, fully complete as it combined with its Yin half.

Naruto's body started to leak foul black chakra, so thick it parted the water around him for over 100 meters. He was slowly raised onto his feet by the chakra, and he was placed gently on the floor, slouched as if he carried a large burden. The black chakra started to cocoon around the former Jinchuuriki's body until it made a pitch black shell, and the pressure around the boy was increasing rapidly, cracks were spreading across the room and the Shinigami found himself surprised by the amount of chakra being thrown around, this easily matched the Nibi's chakra levels, a feat heard of only by the oldest of Uzumakis.

The shell slowly started to crack, letting a vile purple chakra leak from the cracks. It gained thousands of lines of cracks, and then it slowly started to chip away, piece by piece the cocoon opened. And there Naruto stood, but he was vastly different, he was wearing a suit of armor and had a greatsword and greatshield to match. He stood tall, the armor catching the light and he cast an intimidating figure. The armor was many plates with intricate designs on them, with a tattered blue cloak slung across his back. The last piece to the armor was a helmet in the shape of an eagle's head with a black plume in a high ponytail design. The blonde regained himself and he shook his head to get rid of the cobwebs, and he looked at his armored hands and he flexed his fingers, trying to regain feeling in them. Coming back from the dead with another soul is quite the confusing experience.

"Where…. am I?"

"You are in your mind mortal, where the Kyuubi used to reside."

"The Shinigami? What are you doing here, and what do you mean used to?"

"Yes I am the Death God, I am here because the Kyuubi tried to bring you back from the dead, so I took his soul and gave you yours back, but he was so focused on getting all of you back, he brought back a piece of you from long ago, your soul ancestor, Artorias the Abyss Walker."

"Soul ancestor? I've never heard of that before, what is it?"

"When there is a very powerful soul, it is split over time so it can be reincarnated, but this is the first time one had fully merged, but you won't have to worry about arguing over your body, Artorias has long since lost consciousness, so I'd imagine the soul just gave you his memory, and from the looks of it, his armor and weapons. I'd imagine Artorias had the armor become a piece of him, as that is the only explanation for it coming back, because it was destroyed centuries ago."

"Well that answers most of my questions, and the others I can get from the Hokage when I get out of the ravine the pervert through me in. Can I go now Shinigami? I need to get back to my training."

"Why certainly, I hope you don't die anytime soon, you are far too interesting and it's been boring for years, I hope you live up to my expectations." And with that the God of Death faded from view until he was gone.

Naruto turned to look at the cage that once held the Kyuubi, its gates now open as it registered the disappearance of the entity it once held. "Well I guess the perv can't rag on me about using its chakra, considering that it's gone." He turned to look for a way out, and he came to a sight that he certainly didn't expect, behind him, in a sphere about as big as his head was the last of the Kyuubi's chakra. "I take back my statement." 'I wonder if it will regenerate, as much as I would like to think I don't need it, it will have its uses if it can come back, a trump card if I will.' "Where should I put you? I don't think the seal is good, it would just prevent me from using it, so let's see." Naruto started imagining a place to put it in a sewer. 'A large room would be nice, in case it expands so I won't worry about mental damage, I don't want to see if damage in the mindscape hurts my mind, so I need to explore.' He was about to go out the small door in the beginning of the seal, but then a door appeared on the wall to his left. 'There's no way.' The knight thought in disbelief, and it was, he opened the door and there was an empty room, almost as large as the Kyuubi's seal. His face showed mild surprise before he shrugged, it was his mind after all. He commanded the chakra to move and it floated into the doorway and hung in the center of the room. "I need to connect you to my chakra system somehow, so let's see if this will work." Because his mind was a sewer, he imagined a pipe leading from his chakra system to the chakra, and voila, one appeared. He imagined it with a valve, and set it to open when he clapped his hands in a prayer motion and called upon the chakra. "Now, time to get back outside." He faded from view, and the chakra increased in size by a few inches, and feeling of nature saturated the room.

Naruto opened his eyes and smirked, he was back, and was ready to kick ass at the Chunin Exams.

Sorry about how much explaining went on, but that's how much stuff needed to be explained. So as much as I want this to be a thing I add to my schedule, I want to know what you guys think, should I keep going? Think of this as a pilot chapter. Also, this is a harem, because why not. That should be all. WAIT! Who do you guys want for the harem if this continues? ALSO, REVIEW! IT INSPIRES MY FLAMES OF YOUTH! I mean it gives me inspiration to write.

Ja Ne, Ten-Tailed Dragon