Naruto panics as he scrambles to catch Sasuke before he hits the ground. His knees scrape against the broken pieces of the street, but he's too focused on searching for Sasuke's pulse to notice the pain. Relaxing once he feels the steady beat, he checks that Sasuke's breathing is even and decides he should be alright for the moment.

Naruto is really confused right now, but it's not something he's unused to, so he shrugs and proceeds to drag his new friend into the house on a stretcher from the clinic.

Getting Sasuke up onto a bed is considerably harder, but Naruto manages in the end, so everything's okay. A small part of him wants to shake Sasuke awake and demand some answers, but Naruto pushes it back down and focuses on doing what he can for the moment.

After a moment of contemplation, and staring at Sasuke like a creep, Naruto decides to hook him up to the heart monitor just in case and because he needs something to do. Sasuke's wound wasn't deep, but all Naruto had done was perform some hasty first aid, so he needs his dad's help.

He also needs to go back outside to grab Sasuke's sword– Zankaputo?-thingy. It's probably important and Naruto had left his outside too.

Mind made up, Naruto speed dials his dad as he wanders back outside to pick through the rubble the street had been reduced to. A long, diagonal section of the street is broken up from his last swing. Naruto doesn't understand how that happened, so he's going to pretend it wasn't his fault unless someone asks.

Naruto nods to himself absently and listens as his phone beeps continuously. Dad was out for some fancy Doctor's Association meeting and he probably silenced his phone. Naruto glances at his screen and realizes it's still around 8:00, so his dad should be home soon. Good, because I have no idea what to do anymore.

Naruto fishes his super cool sword out of the line of bushes in front of their house. It's almost as long as he is tall, and it looks kind of similar to Sasuke's.

He glances down at the bushes and feels kind of bad because Dad had worked hard to trim them nicely and now Naruto and Sasuke had managed to shave off a large, awkwardly sized portion. Well, maybe just Naruto, but technically this was Sasuke's fault too. Hopefully Sasuke would apologize with him later. Dad is always very protective of his precious bushes.

Naruto blinks. Once. Twice. Oh, what's that? Is that me over there? Please, please tell me it's some dude who happens to have the same hair and clothes as me?

"Holy crap!" Naruto shouts, "What the heck am I doing over there when I'm over here?"

Naruto rushes back into the clinic, "Sasuke!" but the lazy jerk is still sleeping, so he hauls himself back outside to freak out next to his, his body?

Naruto peers at himself with avid fascination for a minute. Once he's had a bit to calm down, he realizes that maybe he didn't change clothes? Because he's wearing the same black outfit Sasuke had been, except Sasuke's wearing white now? What's going on? Why do their clothes keep changing? Was this some kind of out-of-body experience? But he had carried Sasuke into the clinic, so what is going on?

The glare of car headlights snaps Naruto from his thoughts. Naruto feels like crying all over again. His Dad is the best and has the best timing ever, oh, please save me, Dad!

Minato steps out after parallel parking the car carefully, "Naruto! What happened? Why is the driveway all cracked? What-" He stops as he gets close and notices Naruto, and the other Naruto on the ground.

His dad takes in the outfit and his body on the ground with surprising calm and gets a weird look Naruto can't decipher on his face.

Naruto wonders if he just hasn't noticed his body on the floor so he grabs his arm, well his body's arm and gives him a little wave.

"Dad I-"

Dad stops him with a soft "shhh" and a finger to his lips, "Naruto, let's take your body and go inside to talk, okay?"

Naruto nods quickly and his dad helps to carry his body back in the house. They deposit it on the couch in the living room.

His dad sits down for a second, opens his mouth, then gets up and starts digging through the cabinet for some tea leaves.

Naruto wonders for a second if he's mad, but his dad is the best dad ever and he wouldn't be like that, so he just pokes his body's cheek idly.

Suddenly, Naruto feels a pull in his stomach and when he blinks, he feels dizzy. He looks up and sees the ceiling. Sitting up, Naruto stares at his clothes, realizing he's back somehow.

Minato rushes back over, "Oh, so you got back in. That's good. Do you want some tea?"

"Oh, sure," Naruto replies, because tea is warm and generally nice. "So, before I explain what happened, can you help someone in the clinic first?"

His dad nods quickly and follows Naruto down the stairs. "Were you attacked? Was it a Hollow?"

Naruto nods and gestures at Sasuke, "He saved me, but I kind of got in his way a bit. He covered for me and now he's hurt." Naruto frowns because he hopes Sasuke will wake up soon. Also, if Sasuke wakes up, maybe he can explain some things. Wait, how did Dad know it was a Hollow? Why is he so calm? Does he know who Sasuke is?

His dad looks him over a few times, probably searching for any injuries. Satisfied, Minato turns to walk over to Sasuke's bed.

Minato and Naruto both stare at Sasuke for a few seconds. Naruto is thinking: it's strange that Sasuke's clothes changed from black to white, and Naruto has no idea what Dad is thinking.

"Okay," Minato finally says. "I think I have a general idea of what happened now. Has he had time to explain anything to you?"

Naruto shakes his head. "Is Sasuke going to be alright? Because I kind of told him earlier that he'd definitely be alright, and if he's not going to be then I'll be in trouble when he wakes up and–"

Minato smiles and nods, "Yeah, he'll most likely wake up soon. Shinigami and spirits tend to heal a little faster anyway."

Naruto processes this for a minute and thinks absently that this whole situation seems a lot like a movie where convenient things like characters healing really fast happen all the time, so who knows, maybe Sasuke will be all healed up tomorrow like a miracle and–

His dad sighs a little. "So, I think it's a good time to start explaining things." He leads them back to the living room.

Naruto nods, because he's been waiting for this, and he's hardly ever been this confused before.

"Your friend is a Shinigami. These beings live in Soul Society, a place where spirits dwell after death. Their duty is to maintain the balance between worlds and help spirits remaining in the material world, known as Pluses, to pass over. Does everything make sense so far?"

Naruto is confused why no one explained this to him before, because it seems kind of important. Kind of like one of those things everyone learns like how gravity pulls down, the Earth is a sphere, and everyone dies eventually, but he nods again, deciding to save that question for later.

"Good. The creature you faced was probably a Hollow. It had a mask and a hole in the center of its chest, right?" Naruto nods, and Minato continues, "Hollows are formed from Pluses who fall into depravity and lose their way. Hollows usually prey upon Pluses and rarely target spirits of the living. Shinigami are the only beings able to help Hollows revert to whole spirits and save the spirits they have devoured. The weapons they wield, known as Zanpakuto, have this unique ability." Minato pauses to take a sip of tea.

"I assume the Shinigami downstairs gave you his powers?"

Naruto nearly chokes on his tea in his eagerness to respond, "Yeah, but Sasuke said temporarily? Oh, I forgot to introduce him; his name is Uchiha Sasuke. Am I going to have to fight Hollows from now on too?"

Minato hesitates a little, "From what I can tell, hmm, Sasuke-kun has nearly no power left. I am not familiar with the theory behind transfers of power, so I'm not certain how long this will last. However, Naruto, you don't have to fight if you don't want to. I will make sure of that." His dad's eyes harden, and Naruto doesn't think he's ever seen him like this before.

"So, how come I've never seen a spirit or Shinigami before today?"

"Good question. I'm not sure, but I believe it could be due to your spiritual powers lying dormant in your body until you came into contact with beings of the other world. I never told you about these things because I thought you would live your life unaware of the spiritual world. I'm sorry Naruto. If I knew this would happen, I would not have hidden these things from you."

Naruto shakes his head quickly, "No, it's okay. I probably wouldn't have believed it anyway. But, why do you know these things?"

His dad blows on his tea softly and takes a slow sip before he responds. "I used to be a Shinigami too. I lost my powers, for a different reason from Sasuke-kun, and I've been living here since then."

Naruto nods and decides to change the subject. Dad sometimes got a really faraway look when he spoke about Mom and the past. Naruto wanted to know, but perhaps not today. His dad must have reasons for keeping this secret and Naruto believes in him. Also, he doesn't know if he can handle more information. "Okay, so what do we do about Sasuke? Can he stay here for a bit?"

Minato smiles quickly, "Yes, of course! If he wants to, he's welcome. I'll stay up and keep an eye on him. Naruto, you should go to bed. It's late and you have school tomorrow."

Naruto winces at how quickly his dad latches onto the subject change and resolves to give him a break. "Yeah, thanks! Good night!"

Minato smiles, "Good night, Naruto."

Naruto heads up to the bathroom and slowly goes through the motions of getting ready to sleep. Now that he's had most of his questions answered, he feels exhausted.

He doesn't want to go to school tomorrow. Naruto wants to talk to Sasuke; he wants to know more about Soul Society. He wants to know what he has gotten himself into. He–

Wait, I never found Sasuke's Zanpakuto!

Naruto spits out the mouthful of toothpaste and rushes to finish gargling.

"Dad! I need to go get Sasuke's Zanpakuto! What if someone finds it and–"

Minato jerks his head up from the book he's reading next to Sasuke and shushes Naruto quickly. "He's lost his power. I can tell from his shihakusho. All Shinigami wear this uniform and the black color is a measure of the level of their spiritual power." Naruto blinks. So that's why he's wearing white now? That seems kind of complicated and like another really convenient thing–

"He shouldn't be able to manifest his Zanpakuto right now. Don't worry. It's not out there anymore."

Naruto sags with relief and climbs back up the stairs to finish washing up. "Phew, okay. I was really scared for a minute."

He flops onto his bed and realizes he forgot to finish his homework.

Eh, whatever…

Except Naruto promised his dad he'd work hard in school and he doesn't want to fall behind. Okay, I'll finish, then sleep.

Only, Naruto can't focus because he's kind of anticipating getting to know Sasuke. Everything he knew about the world has changed today and suddenly life seems to be a hundred times more interesting. He got to know a hidden side of his dad and now he has a new friend. Not to mention, he has cool powers now! Well, maybe only temporarily.

But Naruto knows one thing for sure. He had promised to help Sasuke in any way he can. And he doesn't plan on ever going back on his word!

Notes:

Hi,

Again, thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. :)

- DreadnoughtAqf