Naruto, Once Again
A/N: I just wanted to start by saying that I am extremely sorry for not updating in almost a month. I hate it when someone starts a great sounding story and then just never updates it, so I assume that you guys do too. After I started the story and posted the first chapter, I had finals week, and then my parents immediately whisked me and my wife off to Oregon for a three-week vacation. I am writing this from some run-down, sketchy, middle of Montana motel with so much writers block that i can't even think straight. I even had to go back and re-read what I had already wrote, but enough rambling, without further adieu, I present chapter 2 of NOA. (And as always, I don't own Naruto).
"Normal Talking"
"Thoughts/Flashback"
"Demon/Bijuu"
Chapter 2: Kami
With a flash, Karama and Naruto were teleported away from Shinigami's domain, into a much brighter area. Naruto, still fuming over Shinigami's trickery, didn't immediatley notice the change of scenery. Karama, however, knew that he needed to assess their surroundings before anything else and took a quick look around. The first thing he noticed was how many analog clocks were hanging on the wall, they were all over the white room (hallway, he corrected himself mentally), spaced apart about two inches on all sides around them. Glancing at the clock closest to them, he noticed a bronzed plaque that was placed beneath it. "Shimari Takaru, is this a name?" He looked at another clock, and noticed that it had a name on it as well, but this plaque was plated with what seemed to be silver. Confounded by the plaques, Kurama decided to pay more attention to the clocks themselves. By this time Naruto had finished his groveling and had moved over to where his nine-tailed friend was.
"Kurama, what are you doing?"
"Nothing, kit. Just taking in the surroundings", Kyubbi smirked "and, if you were any sort of ninja, you would have done that first instead of fussing over something that you no longer have control of."
"Tsch, whatever. What are all these clock hanging on the wall for anyway?", Naruto questioned, finally taking notice, "and why do they all seem to be counting backwards, do you think they're bombs?"
"Bombs? Really Naruto? We're already dead, what in the world would they need bombs for in the afterlife?" Naruto shrugged sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.
"Anyway, we should probably follow this hallway and see where it leads, we're accomplishing nothing by just waiting around here."
The blonde nodded and followed Kurama down the wide passageway. After following the corridor for what seemed like forever, it began to twist and turn sharply. Feeling like he was getting nowhere, Naruto growled in frustration. His patience had gotten better since becoming Hokage in his life, but this was just ridiculous. "This is stupid, what do they need a hallway for anyway?"
"It's obviously not for them, just be quiet and start concentrating on what you're going to say to convince Kami to give you a second chance. Both of our chances hinge on what you say." Kyubbi replied curtly.
Naruto grew quiet and seemed to finally notice the seriousness of the task. Kurama obviously couldn't go back by himself, so he needed Naruto to succeed in convincing Kami. If he failed, that was it.
They continued walking in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Naruto glance up and his eye caught something way up in the distance of one of the straight patches.
Naruto nudged the Kyubbi "Kurama, do you see that too?"
"I do, kit. It seems to be a door of some kind."
"Finally!", Naruto cried out, "A way out of this place"
He took off towards the door, with Kurama right behind him. As they got nearer, the door got bigger, and bigger, until the finally reached it. Naruto, excited to leave the hallway, looked for the handle. Not finding one, he began to push on the giant door, but it wouldn't budge. Frustrated he beat on it. Surprisingly, the door slid open slowly. They were greeted by a man dressed in a white tree-piece suit.
"No need to be so loud Naruto," the man spoke in a deep baritone voice, "come in and be seated, you too Kurama." he said as he walked toward an oak desk.
"How do you know our names?" Naruto asked, bewildered.
"I am the keeper of the books, I know everyone. Now please have a seat, you're already late." the man said making it sound like a command. He then turned and walked behind the desk centered in the room and sat down, flipping through pages of an unknown book.
Naruto entered and found a chair to the left of the entrance, which he sat in. Kurama padded over and took a seat in front of him.
After fidgeting around for awhile, Naruto took the time to look around the room. He noticed that there were clocks all over this room too. Unlike the hallway though, the clocks in this room were three times as big.
"Hey Mr. suit guy, what's the purpose of all the clocks in the room?"
The man in the white suit paused in the middle of turning a page and glanced up, but then continued what he was doing. "I have a name Naruto, although I doubt a mortal such as yourself could pronounce it. You may call me Nic, and you'll have to be patient,even though that's very hard for you to do," Naruto glared and opened his mouth to retort, but was interrupted, "you'll have to wait for master to show up, he will tell you all you need to know".
Naruto shut his mouth and sat back in the chair, irritation pooling from his demeanor. Crossing his arms he decided that he'd show this Nic that he could be patient if he chose. Kurama just chuckled at the situation and rested his head on his paws, closing his eyes as if to take a nap.
As time wore on, the genin Hokage found it more and more difficult to sit in his chair. As he was about to get up and move around, a blinding white light stopped him, causing him to cover his eyes.
When the white spots in his vision disappeared, he noticed that there was no longer only three people in the room. Standing a few feet behind the desk was a tall man clothed in a brilliant white robe. He had a snow white beard (think the first Dumbledore in Harry Potter) and a grimace was plastered on his face. In his hand was a scale. He leaned over to place it on the ground and turned towards Nic.
"Sorry I'm late Niçolañdrøphy, I had another stubborn one. I hate it when they can't just accept that they're dead and let me help them move on."
"No offense taken Master, I have already brought in your next appointment." After saying this Nic glanced over at Naruto and Kurama, who stood. The grimace disappeared from the taller man's face, but he still didn't look happy. The man glanced over at them and sighed.
"Already?" He sighed once more "It can't be helped. Naruto, Kurama, please follow me".
They complied and followed him as her turned and opened a door that Naruto didn't remember being there before.
"Have a seat young ones, I'll be with you in a moment"
Naruto walked into a room that was almost identical as the previous, except this one had what appeared to be a dining table with mats around it. He felt the need to take off his sandals, but when he looked down they were already off. Confused, he looked up as the man came back in, carrying a kettle and some dinner plates. He sat them down on the table and kneeled on one of the mats.
"Come, come have a seat", he urged them "you must have so many questions. I'll answer as many as I can over dinner and then we'll get to serious matters later."
Naruto nodded and did as he was told. Thoughts were racing through his mind.
"Is it okay for me to start now Mr. uhh..."
"Kami, and yes you may." The man answered. Naruto's eyes widened almost comically.
"Wait! You're Kami?! The Kami?"
Kami's eyes crinkled as he chuckled at Naruto's reaction. Kurama, though, wasn't surprised about who this man was. He could sense the power radiating from him, stronger than even himself, but there was no fear that came with it, just peace.
"Yes Naruto, I am him."
Naruto was speechless. From his conversation with Shinigami, he knew that he would meet Kami eventually, he was just surprised that it was this old man. He expected someone with huge bulging muscles, or some sort of giant weapon, but this? This man didn't seem intimidating at all. He tried not to be rude, but after a few more moments he couldn't contain himself any longer.
"I thought you would be more powerful than this" he blurted out.
"Just because I chose this form Naruto, doesn't mean i am any less powerful. You yourself should know that power isn't based on how someone looks." Naruto nodded accepting the answer.
Kami smiled, glad that he could process the information without a show of his power. Then, without any warning, it seemed like Naruto couldn't contain himself any longer and the questions started pouring out.
"Ne, Kami what are all the clocks for, who was that guy at the desk, why wasn't there a doorknob on the door, where did the door to this room come from, what were those scales for, why do we have to eat if we're already dead...?" The questions kept coming out of him like there was no end to them, so Kami did the only thing he could think of to shut Naruto up. With a snap of his fingers, a giant bowl appeared on the table, and just like that, the questions stopped.
"RAMEN!" Naruto dug into the food like he was a 12 year old genin again.
Now that he was preoccupied, Kami prepared to answer all of Naruto's questions.
"Naruto," he started, and the blue eyes came up, but he didn't stop stuffing his face, "I'm sure you can come up with the answers to most of your questions, so I'll just answer the important ones for now." Blonde hair shook as Naruto nodded, and he concentrated on his food once more, but Kami could tell that he still held enough of his attention.
"I'll start with Nic. He is my book-keeper, something like your Hokage's assistant. He keeps track of everybodys lives and lets me know when someone has passed on. He pretty much keeps things running by letting me know when I have an appointment." Seeing that Naruto understood, he moved on.
"The scales that I had with me when I showed up are my judgement scales, the are used to judge the lives of the deceased to see wether they can move on into the afterlife or if they get sent to Shinigami for punishment." Kurama nodded, already guessing most of what Kami was telling them.
After saying this, Kami stood and snapped his fingers again, causing the food and tea to disappear. Naruto, although disappointed at the loss of his beloved food, understood that Kami wanted his full attention.
"Now, on to the most important question, and the main reason why you're here, the clocks." Kami snapped his fingers and two clocks that had the same appearance as the last room flashed on to the wall behind him.
"Although I have Nic, these clocks are used to monitor the lives of every being in existence. Instead of counting forward, they count backwards. Once the timer reaches zero, it is time for that person to pass on and meet me. The plate on the bottom of the clocks have the name of the being that they are tied to. The plates themselves are used to identify the impact that the person will have on others in his lif, be it good or bad." Kami stepped aside and waved at the two clock on the wall, which were stopped at numbers that weren't zero.
"These, are your clocks." Naruto stepped forward to inspect his clock, as did Kurama.
Naruto was surprised to find that his plate was almost see through, with his name in gold lettering. He glanced at Kurama's and was saddened. Kurama's clock was bent on the edges and looked extremely rusted, but the middle was a lot like his own. Kurama's name Faded from black to gold to black as it went across the nameplate.
"You have made a huge impact on others lives Naruto, you are a very important person to others. Your plate is made our of translucent gold. Kurama, you were once heralded as one of the worst demons in existence, hence the rusted edges, but by your choices late in life, your plate began to become more beuatiful." Naruto smiled and noticed that Kurama did too, though someone who didn't know the demon would never be able to tell. Naruto glanced back at the clocks.
"Hey Kami, if we're dead, then why are our clock not at zero?" Naruto asked with a scrunched up face, almost as if he was disgusted.
"Ah, I was hoping that you would notice that. This is the reason why our meeting is so important. You see, you both have been taken well before your time."
A/N Sorry to end this here, but my mind is just way too exhausted to keep typing. I pushed this thing out in like three hours. I love typing this story but I need a break. Even though it was rushed, I hope you guys enjoy the new chapter. The new one will be out by next Wednesday. R&R please!