K well here is the final beta-edited version of chapter 2. (as you can see it has a new title, previously called questionable sacrifice.
Well this chapter holds a treasure troll of information with the story thus it is CRUCIAL for EVERYONE to read this. If you don't you will have a tough time understanding the rest of the plot.
(a/n oniouja- demon king; Urusai- shut up)
'What's this feeling, a burning sensation? No… maybe a tickling feeling… nope. It's more like it… it itches… Yeah my faces really itches' thought the blonde, as he existed motionless. He was still unaware if he even had a body to be in any position considering he's dead. Then again, why did his face itch?
"Ugh… wait… I can… feel?" said the blue-eyed male. Slowly his eyes opened revealing darkness. He wasn't sure if he'd even opened his eyes, but he could feel his eyelids open and close.
Next to move was his head, and with it some light. After motioning his limbs away from the trunk of his body, more light entered his view, but not much of it. To his immediate sight was first, black dirt. No, it wasn't soil, but hard dirt as dark as coal. Slowly pulling himself up, he took a glimpse of what seemed to be gray-colored grass. Tall strands of gray shot up from the ebony floor. For a moment he felt as if he'd become color blind. That would make sense to why the ground and the grass lacked any hue, but was soon proved wrong when his gaze fell upon the blood red sky. Two words escaped his lips at the sight, "Not… good," the young Uzumaki whispered.
Quickly jumping to his feet, he searched his surroundings. On all sides were gray stalks of grass, and red hued skies. It was then that he remembered the last pieces of memories he had before the boy fell into the deep slumber of death. "I'm… dead…" and it was true. He was in fact dead, but even in the after life, his thought fell upon those who were precious to him.
"Sasuke… Sakura… Yamato-sensei… and even you… Hinata… gomen. Gomen nasai for not being strong enough to protect you all. Thanks to me you're all probably d-dead too" he said solemnly, choking at the sounds of the word 'dead'. He knew very well that he is dead, but also had an odd sense that where ever he was, it wasn't the same place his friends was. "Of course… I'm a murderer and a demon. I am no fit to have a seat up there," tears began to stream down his cheek knowing that he'd never see his friends again. For a long time he'd kept himself from crying, only allowing himself tears of joy. It may have been a decade since he'd cry for such selfish reasons, then again, could one blame him?
For what seemed to be like hours, Naruto wondered aimlessly across the vast stretch of land, thinking about each of his friends and how he'd let them down. Bits and pieces of memories flashed in front of him helping him recollect his times with each person. A drop fell from his cheek for each precious person he'd indeed lost. He hadn't realized how much precious people he truly had until it was too late, but he wasn't done. There was one last person to pop in his vision.
"Hinata…" he mouthed, not even audible enough to hear as a whisper. From the first day of the academy to the time they became friends during the Chunin Exams till the last moments he spent with her before the early death of his precious person, all came flooding back into a long slideshow of visions and dreams.
"You were there weren't you Hinata. Why were you there for me? Why were you looking out for me when I hadn't even acknowledged your presence? Six years you've looked out for me before I even returned even the littlest favor. Ten years you've known and accepted me. Half a second, it took you to accept who I bare and what I really am. Why? What have I done to deserve such a gift?" he kept asking himself as he began to sob, not even showing the slightest of restraint knowing no one was there to comfort him anyways. Suddenly, something caused his sob to halt
A soft whisper hung in the air, "You've inspired me… you gave me something to admire" the wind spoke.
Naruto instantly snapped his clouded red eyes open, scanning his surroundings in hope to find a living person in sight. "Hinata?" he exhaled. As the name escaped his lips, the rest of his body froze in what he saw. It was as if he was yanked back into the past, in which he held a dying Hyuga in his hands. He looked on as a spectator in the eyes of his former self. Those few seconds lasted longer to him, as he replayed the thoughts over and over again.
One shaking hand calmed enough to slightly rise up towards his face. Two fingers brushed up against his lips in the remembrance of her actions. 'She died protecting me… she gave her life because she cared… she took my safety beyond her own because she cared' the blonde teen chanted in his head before finally speaking, "You did care didn't you? You… you cared… no, you care more than anyone else I know… and yet I was so blind to see it. Did you l-like me… no I don't need to know that. You cared about me that much, a-and that's all I really counts" he said wiping the remaining tears in his eyes.
He took a few steps before turning his head around to the spot where he had his vision of the lavender-eyed heiress. "Onegai Hinata-chan. Forgive me… a-and if there is any thing I can do, anything at all to ease this pain, ease your pain, I'll do it all" Naruto spoke with determination for the first time so far, tightening his fist the whole time, "and… this time… for Hinata… I'll do it all for you. Because I care too… I care for all of you…" the boy expressed vocally, taking off into a sprint towards the setting sun.
In true fact, he didn't really have a certain direction to run to, but going along to where there would be the most light seemed like a decent idea, all the while enhancing his senses. Though it was found unnecessary when a familiar presence let itself be known. The blonde was quick on his feet and jerked his body towards the parting gray shoots to see… red fur.
From just above the rim of the gray crops, nine red tails swished in the air. With eyes completely wide, Naruto watched the wolf-sized Kyuubi approach him. "W-what the hell?" he stuttered out of shock.
The age-old fox eyed the boy before grinning at his dumb-founded features, "Not quite, more like limbo," said the bijou. And it was true. He was in a place somewhere between heaven and hell.
The teen stood there for a moment. He wasn't sure what to do, right in front of him stood the kyuubi and this time, there was no gate to keep him safe. "W-what the hell are you doing here then?" Naruto questioned, with a hint of fear.
The fox lord chuckled to himself watching the once bold young teen begin to cower before him. "What's wrong gaki? Loose your nerve? Well if you haven't figured it out already, were dead. Pathetic weakling, you should have let me help you kill the whelp… now there's nothing left but to wait for… obliteration" that last word held both anger and… fear. What could cause the almighty Kyuubi no Yoko to shake in his fur coat? That was exactly what the blonde wanted to know
"Obliteration? What do mean obliteration?" he really did want to know now. Somehow, the sound of obliteration just didn't sound too appealing. The earlier fear of the Kyuubi was quickly transferred back to his or rather their predicament.
The demon lord let out a soft chuckle, "Haven't you wondered what will happen when we die? Surely you didn't think they'd send me back to hell, a place in where I have nearly limitless control. Kit my soul will face obliteration… my existence erased… as will yours," he said with an evil smirk. Was he happy with his future? Hell no! But at least he would get to drag down the idiot that got him here.
'Nani? Why am I getting… obliterated?' the blonde shook himself back to reality, or as close as reality he could get and stared at the fox. "Nande?" yes why? Why him? He wasn't the ruler of the ninth level of hell so why should his soul die as well?
Left paw after right, slowly the red bundle of fur approached Naruto. Its smirk disappeared and was replaced by a scowl. "Our souls are connected. Tied by that blasted seal" he took another step towards the dead nin until he was merely a foot apart. "Demons don't die… we are erased and since that seal bound us together… you share my fate… Kuso… that smell" his eyebrows furrowed even more as the demon sniffed the air to confirm his thoughts.
Never in his life had Naruto ever felt more confused, afraid, angry, worried, and even more confused in his life. He was confused why the hell their souls were bound together, he was afraid that his soul would be destroyed, he was angry that the damn fur ball messed up his life, and he was even more confused at the troubled look on the Kyuubi's face. But instincts told him it had little to do with being obliterated. "The hell's up Kyuubi? Is it… starting?" he asked almost choking on his words.
The fox was silent. He was right, it was them. Damn how much he hated them. They were unnatural, went against the laws of chaos. Yes Hell had some order, though it wasn't much. Why else were the Bijuu created? Who were they to think that power should be handed to the undeserving few instead of the highly powerful Bijuus. "Onioujas" the true hell's king whispered.
"Oniouja? What the hell is a Oniouja?" being in limbo, facing the almighty fox, and facing obliteration, Naruto was able to let go of his fears for the Kyuubi, feeling that he was no threat, or at least no threat compared to Obliteration.
"Evil souls from earth. Scum that think they should rule the nine levels of hell instead of we Bijuus. They lure in other lower demons and drain their power to match ours. If anyone should face obliteration, it's them… ruining the order I created" his voice was drugged with poison. Who ever these guys were, they certainly had it in for the Kyuubi.
Oh… that definitely didn't sound good. "So these guys want you gone? Well they got it don't they? I mean we're here and you say we face 'Obliteration'… well I say bullshit. I don't know about you but I'm getting out of this place." He said with complete determination. Funny how you could go through so many soul-crushing emotions just to end up strong-willed.
'Just how did this brat get so hopeful all of the sudden? He's stuck with me in one of death's worst situations and he stands there thinking of a way out? He's worse here then before' the demon thought. Just as he began to open his mouth to shut his former jailor up, the sounds of leaves rustling caught his elongated ears.
"Now look what we have here," a hooded man said. He simple black a thick red line in the back and the Kanji for one embedded.
Seven others walked forward all with different numbers of red streaks correlating to the Kanji on their backs. Number eight walked forward then spoke to the two limbo wonderers, "So finally the almighty Kyuubi no Yoko get struck down. Oh how long have we waited for this moment." The hooded figure sneered.
It was then that the blonde jumped ahead to confront their visitors. "Look, I don't know who you are nor do I give a damn. You want him dead right? Well your gonna get it so get me the hell out of here!" he said glaring at all directions, trying but failing to intimidate all eight members.
Number three began chuckling at the nuisance. "We're not here just to kill the fox… we're here to take its power," the man bellowed. He soon added, "And you are connected to him. Now we can't have you getting away now can we?" at this all eight members jumped to surround the two victims.
The demon lord began attempting to summon fire while the blonde raised his hands to a familiar ox seal. To their disappointment, both attempts failed. "Damn this accursed place. We're its target so we're powerless here" the Kyuubi growled. Underneath them, the ground began to rise, surrounding the two as it picked them up and trapped them similar to Gaara's Sabaku Kyuu.
"You can't do anything here. Powerless are the victims of Limbo" cried number seven. To the teen's vision, it seemed like all eight were doing a series of hand seals in perfect synchrony. "First we break the seal, that will probably kill you, then the demon lord kitsune is up for soul suction," the hooded figure added. All eight felt victorious. How could things possibly go wrong?
Ironically Naruto thought the opposite, 'How can things get any worse?' then a surge of pain shot throughout his body. It felt like a Chidori was running its electricity through his abdomen. 'Crap is this it? Is it… gonna end like this… no… kuso! No way in hell am I gonna die!' he thought trying to fight back the pain. It was oblivious to only him that his necklace began to emit a bright emerald light.
First his upper body, then the entire space occupying him and the Kyuubi, and soon everything went white. "Kuso… is this obliteration…?" he whispered as the boy fell into a blissful state of unconsciousness.
To the left… white, to the right… more white. Up, down, forward and back, all around was just white. "Gah this is worse then a fucking hospital!" the irritated teen shouted. Unknown to him, a red-furred demon animal appeared next to him
"Urusai gaki" the even more annoyed fox grumbled.
Naruto shook at the sudden voice. "Nani…? Kyuubi! You're here too? Where the hell are we?" questioned the boy. Then a shocking thought occurred, "Have we been… obliterated?" he asked, more to himself then the fox.
Then a new voice shook him worse then the demon, "No young Naruto. You are safe in this realm,"said the ominous speaker. As powerful as it sounded, it didn't feel threatening at the least. It was more comforting then anything else.
"Ne… who's this? Kyuubi, do you know what's going on?" The teen turned his head towards the red-furred beast, a bit baffled to why it seemed so drawn back.
At a closer observation, one could see that the fox was actually shivering. It wasn't too cold where they… floated, seeing that there wasn't really a floor, but never the less he shook due to what could only be assumed as… fright. "K-kami-sama…" he spoke with a shaky voice.
Great, more complications for the boy. This really wasn't his day in which within a day, or what seemed like a day, he watched his best friend hurt his captain, his former crush, his newest and possibly most precious person, the kill both of them. Then following that he threatened with obliteration then nearly killed of again by eight Oniouja, who ever they are, and now he faced God him self. "Nani!? Y-you're Kami?" Naruto asked dumbfounded.
From all angles, the calming voice spoke, "Yes, some call me that. I also refer to several other names," the sound echoed, though it really didn't have anything to echo back from. But being here for a short amount of time, Naruto could tell physics didn't really apply here.
The blonde stuffed a hand under his chin and continued, "So… why are we here Kami-sama" he asked, ignorant of any examples of formal respect.
Even without a physical body, the entity seemed to smile at his casualness. "I brought both of you here because I have a favor to ask both of you." This got the Kyuubi out of his frozen state remembering that he too was in the room, for lack of better words. "But first, step forward Nikawa"
"Nikawa? Who's Nika-… Kyuubi?" He didn't realize that Kyuubi had a name this whole time. Sure why didn't he have a name? The Ichibi, Shukaku was his name, so why hadn't he ever thought Kyuubi was his name?
"Hai Kami-sama" the fox said shakily. Step by step, he inched closer until a shady figure began to form.
"Why is it that you are so hesitant?" the ominous voice inquired.
The demon's head continued to hang low in shame. "I've failed. I let my purpose corrupt me, I've sinned a thousand soul's sins, and I've become… a demon," he said solemnly. For the first time in ages, he had at least shown some of his regret
None of this made sense to the young blonde. What did he mean he's become a demon? He was the Kyuubi! Of course he's a demon! But that just show's how ignorant the Naruto truly was, "You have let your self be tainted by hell. It would be a difficult task to let stay pure while controlling such places, thus I gave you the power to roam freely between realms… you abused that power… but you can redeem you self,"this brought hope to the fox.
"I can… be forgiven?" with that said, he was soon enveloped in a soft golden light. The shady figure in front of the thought-to-be-demon was its source. The light soon faded and Nikawa was still standing on all fours… but something seemed different. His eyes lost the dark lining that made him look more feral, and the pupil softened into a more stable brown rather then crimson red. Other than his fur seeming to look less wild, he was still the same fox in appearance.
"Whoa! Kyu-… er I mean Nikawa… what happened?" he asked. Oh how he longed for answers. It seemed like every time he'd get enough information to formulate an answer, five hundred more questions erupted. It possibly impossible to know everything, he supposed.
Being Kami, he knew how the young teen felt having little answers, "He has been cleansed" the voice stated. His eyebrows alone can tell you that more explanation was needed. "Bijuus, like Nikawa here, are of my creation, and are made of my own chakra. Somewhere after his creation, he let himself become tainted with evil. It soon manifested itself into the demonic chakra you know now. I have reestablished his chakra and purified it," he said, making his miraculous act seem so simple and easy. If it weren't Kami, it would be completely unimaginable to do so.
"It's gone… the bloodlust, the anger, the pain… it's all gone" Nikawa said amazed. And he truly was, he'd been cleansed of all his demonic energy, he'd been restored to his original being. The almighty Kyuubi bowed at the shady figure, "Arigato Kami-sama" he said in a soft and polite voice, very new to the awestruck blonde.
Naruto looked at the new Kyuubi then back towards the fading shadow then spoke, "Wow… ok so you cleaned up Kyu-… Nikawa right? So what do you want us to do? Do I get something of it too?" the teen asked pretty bluntly, receiving a noticeable growl of disapproval from the Kyuubi and a soft chuckle from Kami himself.
"Yes Naruto. But before that, can you tell me what you know of that necklace you are wearing?"Now there was the possibility of telling him straight away about the predicament and what the favor was, but Kami saw this as a learning experience and knew this was the best way to instill information on the boy.
Naruto glanced at his necklace, picking it up carefully to admire its shine. "I got this from Obaa-chan. Said she got it from Shodai Hokage. Yamato-taicho also said he could use it to help suppress the Kyuubi's chakra" the teen said in a matter-of-fact tone, while a single finger wafted through the air.
"Good. Now let me tell you more about it. That necklace was indeed originally from your Shodai Hokage, but it also has the powers to suppress and control bijuus of all tails. It was a time where all nine ran rampant, thus I gave that to him for a general purpose. But setting order to the bijuus wasn't exactly that. When I gave it to him, it was soon after his battle with Uchiha Madara. After his 'death' I soon learned that the Onioujas were planning a coup de tat in hell. The Oniouja of the ninth level manifested himself upon Madara and planned to take control of the rest of the bijuus. And he continues to do so in the time you just left." he said with the typical godly voice.
All this came to a shock to him, especially that last part about Madara. "Nani!? Wait if Madara was the guy who fought the Shodai for the ruler ship of Konoha and you said he was still alive before I died… then he must be really old!" Naruto blurted out.
If Nikawa had a legitimate hand, he would be rubbing the bridge of his nose at the blonde's stupidity, "Yes Kit, he's old. He's a demon so limitless age comes as a perk." The former demon answered.
The young teen again crinkled his nose in confusion. "So if he's alive, where is he? I haven't heard of any Uchihas after Jinchuurikis like me… well except Itachi… and I guess Sasuke was after me… wait is Itachi Madara in disguise!?" The very thought baffled him. But he hadn't thought ahead to think that Sasuke knew Itachi since he was born so he'd know if Itachi was a four hundred or so year old demon incarnate.
The almighty being suppressed a chuckle, and yes, though he wasn't a human, he too has emotions, which includes laughter. "No, Itachi is not Madara, but he did take on a disguise. Though you may not know of him personally, his group you should be aware of, especially since you are aware of Itachi" the voice said.
"ne… AKATSUKI! Madara must be the leader of Akatsuki! Ok… so Madara was err is err whatever, he's alive somewhere. Does this have something to do with your favor?" He really was trying to get to the point.
"Yes. I'll explain this quickly. You've just encountered eight members of the Onioujas. The ninth is not within Madara. He betrayed the others and found a way to manifest himself onto the dying Uchiha. Now he seeks the power of all nine bijuus and does so with Akatsuki. The other eight members in the other hand just want them gone. But they are still holding a grudge against the ninth. This is why they seek you out. Only the guardian of the deepest hell can defeat one sent there. The Onioujas want your power to kill the ninth"after his speech there was a moderately long pause. It would take awhile for both the Kyuubi, but mostly Naruto, to truly grasp the situation at hand.
Surprisingly, he managed to completely understand. "Ok got it. But that sounds kinda dumb if you ask me," the blonde said. If Kami manifested himself to have eyebrows, one would be raised with curiosity. "I mean, the ninth is pretty much doing the work for the rest of the Oni-whatever but their so pissed off that they want to complicate things by trying to get my err I mean Kyuubi's power just out of revenge? That's pretty petty if you ask me," he huffed as two arms crossed over his chest.
No matter what the situation was, Naruto was always able to surprise the Kyuubi. "Heh, well demons get pretty at times. It comes along with several other unwanted traits." He said half smirking.
"Well I'm glad you see it this way. Now you said you wanted a way to fix things correct? How about I give you that chance, to send you back to your world?" You didn't need to be Kami to know the outcome of this question. Shoot, even Tsunade can bet all she's got in guessing his answer and come out winning.
"Hell Yeah… demo… I'm dead. Won't it be kinda weird if I came back dead?" Naruto being Konoha's… no the entire world's most unpredictable knuckleheaded ninja, could be so odd by being smart at times, then dropping his IQ to barely under Kiba.
Suddenly, a whole began to form from above, or what one would call it as above, and an image fizzed into view. "Not if I send you back before you died. This favor fulfills both our wants. You get to go back and fix whatever it is you needed, but in return you must also find a way to stop the slaughter of the Bijuus. Currently there are four, including yourself, which have kept themselves from being slaughtered. Those would be the Ichibi, the Nibi, the Hachibi, and the Kyuubi, one, two, eight and nine. Gather them when the time comes and defeat the Onioujas. It is to my knowledge that they are formulating a way to manifest themselves in the way the ninth did with Madara. This path will also lead you to battle with Akatsuki, but I presume that you were going to be in battle with them anyways. So Uzumaki Naruto, do you accept?" And surely his answer was expressed by a wide grin and a fist thrown high in the air followed by a loud 'YOSH!', one that would make both Gai and Lee proud.
Finally after he calmed down, to the great relief of his soul attached accomplice, he went back to his slightly serious mode, "Well I'll do it… but how is it all gonna work? I mean are they gonna be chasing me around everyday now? Do I get to pick what time I get to go back to? Will I keep my memories? And what about my power, will I get to keep those too? I'm still stuck with fur ball huh?" that last remark got a low growl from the enlightened kitsune.
"To answer them in order, No, the Oniouja are still figuring out how to project themselves to your realm, but during you encounter with the four, they managed to get some information to actually give them the possibility to do so. Even with this knowledge it will take time for them to cross dimensions then find an applicable host. Next, the answer is no. I have found the most efficient time, and I am sure you will have little arguments. Also I am only sending you soul back in time, so you keep you memories but the physical body, which includes your chakra, will remain the way it was in that time. Finally, yes, Nikawa will be there with you, but he will be much more of helpful than before. Now there is one final thing I must do before I send you off,"the emerald around his neck began to emit a bright golden light. After it died down, its golden color remained.
Naruto took the jewel in his hand and stared at it. It looks like a golden crystal rather than gold itself. "I have altered the contents of your necklace. Use it to access Nikawa's chakra. You also need it to purify the three other bijuus when the time comes. You cannot do this alone so make sure to seek their help," the ominous voice warned.
"Ok got it. I'll make sure to defeat the Akatsuki and the Onioujas. I swear over my Nindo that I will or my name isn't Uzumaki Naruto, Future Hokage, and savior of the world!" he said with so much pride. Indeed he would be the savior of the world… in a way at least. The world may not be threatened as of yet, but who knew what would happen if Akatsuki got the power of the other eight bijuus, then what would happen if the Onioujas took over hell? Well what ever those crappy ending might deal he didn't want to know.
After giving a thumbs up to the fading figure, Naruto turned his head towards the Kyuubi, "So Nikawa, you ready?" he asked. Either way he'd go, but Kami told him he'll need the fox, and it's not like he's a bad guy now.
"Time's a wasting Kit, and If I remember correctly, there's some girl named Hinata you need to woo" the nine-tailed kitsune half chuckled.
The blonde's eyes went wide for a moment. "That's right! I get to see Hinata-chan again. And Sakura-chan and Sasuke-teme and Iruka-sensei and Tsunade-baa-chan and everyone. C'mon fur ball you're wasting time!" the boy was filled to the brim with excitement. He'd actually get a second chance at life… this time he was sure not to mess it up.
And just like that, he and his new cooperating tenant jumped through the portal above, awaiting their new and most difficult journey.
Soo? how didja like that? For those who have already read the story, how'd you like the change? adds on to the originality, plus gives meaning to why the heck he went back in time. But DON'T Worry, i'm making sure things won't get complicated, or too overwhelming. That was my biggest fear into introducing this plot but i won't make the Oniouji thing too big of a deal right now, it'll get major later in the series, possibly in the next arc.
Remember... REVIEW!!