Disclaimer: Firstly, I don't own Naruto. Secondly, this story is not meant to be religious or have any religious affiliations in any way. All references to Heaven and Hell are purely based on fiction and have been used to promote the plot of this story and thus are in no way are meant to reflect or refer to any particular religious notions of the same.
Author's Note: Thank you all for your support! Special thanks to Xan, kuramaove, spartan1802, Toni Boloni, Maelynae and Kiyumi Arashi for your kind words. Loved reading what you had to say and your own theories on this entire business, my darlings!
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Saving Minato's Soul
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Arrival into the Afterlife
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Kushina Uzumaki soared upwards, a smile on her face and joy in her heart.
She had just reunited with Naruto, and the boy had been everything and more than she had hoped for.
Her heart had panged looking at him though; Naruto resembled Minato in many ways, with the same golden hair, the same clear blue eyes and the same sunshiny smile, though his features had been more like her own and not as angled as Minato's.
"Minato…" she murmured, a blush alighting her cheeks.
She hadn't seen him in years, and she yearned for him.
She longed for the feel of his strong arms around her, for his gentle voice, for his tender gaze, his smile, his laugh.
"I'm coming Minato!"
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Her soul ascended through the clouds, and then into a large white space.
It was blank and seemingly endless, the overwhelming whiteness, but Kushina didn't stop there, feeling the inexorable upwards tug.
Her head spun, and then with a thud, she was out of the white ocean, and had landed somewhere, on hard ground.
Kushina blinked a few times, and then looked around.
Heaven looked surprisingly familiar.
She was in a forest, amidst a clearing of trees, and she had the nagging feeling that she had been there before.
Dancing blue eyes.
His hands, tight on her waist, pushing her gently.
The bark rough against her back.
'Minato!'
A smile, and then golden bangs brush against her forehead.
'We'll be late for-mmph!'
She is silenced by his soft lips covering her own.
Yes, she defnitely knew that clearing, and Kushina blushed, recalling a particularly favorite memory of hers.
Minato had kissed her against one of those very trees, on their way back from a mission. She wouldn't forget what it looked like.
She dashed out of the forest, almost instinctively knowing what path to take, which way to turn, as she made her way through hauntingly familiar landscape.
'Could it be?'Kushina didn't dare to hope.
But then the familiar green gates loomed up ahead, and a bright smile broke across her face.
She was home.
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Kushina hadn't expected the afterlife to have its own Konoha, but the village was there, just as she had remembered it.
Charming and quaint, the streets bustling with activity, familiar buildings and stalls, the Hokage Monument carved with the heads of the first four leaders, watching over the village.
Kushina gazed at Minato's large, imposing head jutting out of the stone, and smiled to herself.
She'd see him soon enough!
She ambled through Konoha, unsure of where to find him, and decided to take the path towards the Hokage Tower.
She passed many people, both civilians and shinobi, but she didn't meet anyone she recognized. She surmised that they had been citizens of Konoha who had died before she had been born.
Konoha was largely the same, though it seemed a lot more pristine than she remembered it. There were no dilapidated buildings, nothing littering the roads.
Konoha had always been relatively wealthy, and clean, but this – this paradise Konoha was unblemished and perfect.
A village at its peak, exactly how Kushina imagined the founders had wished it to be when they first built it.
"Kushina?"
A familiar, delighted female voice filled her ears.
"Kushina! It's you – finally!"
The voice wavered slightly, and Kushina whirled around, lighting up.
The slender, dark-haired Uchiha beauty looked just the same.
"Mikoto!"
She embraced the girl, a friend from over a decade ago, hugging her tightly.
"You're finally here," Mikoto was overjoyed, looking over Kushina a few times, her onyx eyes sparkling, "I've been waiting for you! I knew what happened with the Kyuubi, but then you weren't here when I came, so I guessed that your soul had been sealed or something."
"Minato had sealed my chakra into Naruto," Kushina confirmed, "So I could meet him when he grew up for awhile. But – I can't believe this is happening!"
Kushina pulled away, and gestured to the village around them.
"All this – it's surreal! It's just like – it's just like back down on earth!"
"It is, isn't it?" Mikoto beamed, "The Senju clan rebuilt Konoha, except since this is Heaven, it's always peacetime and there are never any conflicts! It's like an idea village, this place."
"That's amazing," Kushina grinned, "I'm going to the Hokage Tower, will you walk with me there?"
"Come on," Mikoto looped an arm through Kushina's, "I have so much to tell you! And you silly girl, dying on me like that! Do you know how much I cried?"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! But I did what I had to. How come you're here, by the way? I mean, I'm glad to see you, but – you died pretty early," Kushina trailed off, uncertain how to put it.
Mikoto's face dropped slightly.
"It's a long story," she sighed, "The Uchiha were planning a coup and Itachi – look, why don't we talk about that later. How's Naruto doing? Itachi told me that him and Sasuke are best friends, just like we'd hoped!"
"They are, Naruto said the same," Kushina said happily, "They fight a lot though, apparently. A lot."
"Sasuke's just stubborn," Mikoto rolled her eyes, "Itachi told me everything he knew. Sasuke's really lucky to have someone like Naruto in his life."
They chattered on their way to the Hokage Tower, and Kushina saw several familiar faces.
However, the village seemed a lot less crowded than she would have imagined, and on a closer look, Kushina noticed that Mikoto actually seemed quite tense beneath her cheerful façade.
"What's wrong?" Kushina asked.
"The war," Mikoto bit her lip, "On earth. Orochimaru's apprentice used Edo Tensei. A lot of our best have been called back to fight, and he's controlling their souls."
"That – that's monstrous!" Kushina gaped, "What will happen to them?"
"They'll eventually come back, once Edo Tensei is released," Mikoto said sadly, "Oh, but Kushina – you haven't seen what he's doing! He's using them against the Konoha shinobi, and the others! He took back Dan-san, Hizashi-san, Asuma-kun… he even took Itachi…"
Her voice trailed off at this part, and Kushina put an arm around her.
"I'm so worried about him Kushina!" Mikoto confessed, "He's gone through so much already, with the massacre and with Sasuke! He doesn't deserve this. He just needs to be allowed to rest in peace, at least after his death!"
"Don't worry," Kushina assured her, though she was quite shocked with this recent development, "Itachi-kun was always a little genius. If anyone can break through a technique like that, it's him."
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After taking her leave of Mikoto, Kushina raced to the familiar building, though her eyes kept flicking to the side for a sight of golden hair and blue eyes.
She glimpsed a few familiar faces on the way, but the one who she wanted to reunite with most of all was her precious Minato.
She burst into the Hokage Tower, fully expecting him to be there.
He wasn't.
"I'm so sorry," Kushina began hastily, before her mouth dropped.
The woman looked up from a scroll she was reading, her hazel eyes widening slightly in recognition.
"Mito-obaa-san!"
"Kushina-chan!" Mito rose from the Hokage's chair, her face overjoyed.
"I've missed you!" Kushina embraced her.
"As have I, Kushina-chan. Now, let me take a good look at you," Mito pulled away, patting her head, "You've become so beautiful, my dear. Also, I've heard a lot from the other shinobi about some of the phenomenal things you've done. I'm so proud of you."
Kushina flushed at the praise, before noticing something.
Mito's skin was smooth and unwrinkled. Her hair was bright red, unfaded, the same color as Kushina's. She was beautiful, but moreover, she was young.
"We're restored up here," Mito smiled, reading her thoughts, "To how we were at our peaks, our how we would be. All sicknesses, all injuries, any deterioration or ageing – it just disappears, for eternity."
"Oh, wow," Kushina was impressed, "That's pretty neat! But Mito-obaa-san, why are you in the Hokage's seat? Where's Hashirama-sama? Shouldn't he be here if you are?"
At this, Mito's smile faded, and an indescribable sorrow filling her hazel eyes.
"Kushina-chan," she said softly, "Hashirama had to leave a few years ago… the Sandaime Hokage sealed him and Tobirama into the Death God's stomach... and none of them came back... they're trapped there forever."
"…oh," Kushina said in a small voice, and suddenly, something felt terribly wrong.
Her heart clenched, and a wave of dizziness overcame her, as memories flashed through her head.
'Why must you sacrifice yourself for me?!
'I'm not doing this just for you. I'm doing this for Naruto. I will gladly die for my son.
"N-no," she gasped, feeling all the breath leave her body, "N-no – it can't be."
Determined blue eyes. Hands swiftly moving through seals.
"I – I have to go," Kushina muttered, "Have to find – Minato…"
Roars split the air, as the Kyuubi chakra was pulled out by an invisible hand.
"Kushina-chan," Mito began, "Wait-"
But Kushina didn't, and she dashed out, her heart pounding.
"Minato!" she cried, racing through the village, "Minato?!"
Kushina… it's because of you that I'm the Fourth Hokage! You made me a man! And yo made me this baby's father!
"Where are you?!" her pleas grew more frantic as she leapt over rooftops, eyes searching desperately, "MINATO?!"
A soft, loving gaze. A faint smile pulling at chapped, bleeding lips.
Warmth, as his dying hand found hers.
"Minato," Kushina choked, her knees buckling.
'I love you.'
Tears filled her eyes as realization hit her.
'I didn't want to lose you.'
"Liar," she whispered brokenly, "Minato-"
'See you – in a few years.'
"LIAR!" she screamed, tears streaming down her face, her heart cracking.
Warm blue eyes, a tender smile, a loving touch.
"MINATO! NO! NO! NO! COME BACK! NO!"
She hadn't realized before, but it hit her now, as Mito's words echoed in her head.
Minato was in there too, with his predecessors.
Minato was trapped in the stomach of the Death God.
Forever. For eternity.
"NO!"
She would never see him again. She would never see his beautiful smile, or hear his voice teasing her.
He would never wrap his arms around her and hold her, he would never play with her hair, he would never kiss her.
"MINATO!" Kushina screamed, as sobs were ripped from her throat, "Minato – Minato – Minato…"
She shook, and her heart clenched and she couldn't say she'd rather die, because death was nothing but torture without him, and Heaven was nothing but the deepest Hell.
Tears continued to pour down her cheeks, tears which only his hands could wipe away.
She wanted him to hold her close to him.
She wanted his soft voice in her ear, reassuring her that it would be alright.
She wanted his fingers to stroke her hair.
He had always been there for her, always been there with her. He had always made anything, everything better.
But now… now he was suffering in the worst place a soul could suffer, despite being the most kind and sacrificing soul that had ever existed.
If anyone deserved Heaven, it was Minato.
The worst thing was that, unlike with life on earth, where death was an escape – there was no escaping Heaven.
The prospect that she could never see him again – it was too much to bear.
She would forever be alone, ripped apart from the love of her life, from her soulmate, for eternity.
"Minato! Minato –" Kushina gasped, "No! No no no no no no…"
Kushina's heart shattered like it never had when she had been alive and she screamed out in agony.
"MINATO! NO!"
Her cry was pained and terrible, a cry which was never heard in a sacred paradise, a cry which was not meant to wrack the peace and calm of Heaven.
And sitting in the Hokage Tower, Mito Uzumaki wiped away a tear, because she knew that cry and she knew that pain.
She faced it every single day.
Kushina clenched at her hair, tearing out a few strands in her agony.
Sky-blue eyes crinkled at the corners.
"NO!"
'I'll always find you.'
"HOW WILL YOU FIND ME NOW, MINATO?! How – will – you – find – me – now?"
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Author's Note: I know that was excessively angsty, and I'm sorry, but please don't be disheartened. This story will get lighter. I've already written the ending, because writing this just made me so upset that I had to. Now what's left is the middle bits.
Please review and let me know your thoughts! I'm super busy right now with an internship and a bunch of things, so your words truly are a motivation for me right now.
Also, if that depressed you and you want to read some happy, pointless MinaKushi!fluff to take your mind off it - go check my fic 'orange sparks', you might be inclined to hate me less for this chapter! :P
Till next time!
xx
HighQueen