~Escape!~

'Holy Shit!!!!!' Deidara thought, there was a huge massive fucking demon towering above him and it looked pissed.

"Stay in your places!" Nagato yelled from his chair "If none of us move then it can't attack!" he ordered them.

Unfortunately he was quite mistaken, one of the Kyuubi's giant tail smashed him to bits, while the other 8 were sent flying towards the other members of Akatsuki. Deidara managed to dodge the one sent his towards him but only by trying to blow the tail off which failed miserably and the result explosion fortunately by luck blew him out of harms way. Itachi used his bone defense to escape certain death which was crushed only moments later, moments that had allowed him time to move out of the tail's path.

Tobi was desperately trying to make eye contact with the Kyuubi, he did, but it was to little to late, and a giant paw smashed into the raised hand of the statue, killing him and Kisame, but missing Hidan and Kakuzu who were sent tumbling off the statue and eaten by the Kyuubi in mid air.

'So much for their immortality.' Itachi thought as he was finally able to make the eye contact with the Kyuubi.

"Deidara! Use your explosives to blow a hole in the entrance!" Itachi shouted.

BOOM!

'That didn't take long at all!'

"Way ahead of you Itachi!" He said as his clay bird grabbed the Uchiha by the talons and headed for the large hole.

Konan, Zetsu, Itachi, and Deideira all made for the hole in the entrance however, the two zetsu and Konan were furthest behind when a surge of chakra was sent by the Kyuubi who was still under the influence of the Sharingan the chakra appeared to be and probably were flames similar to the amerutsu burning them in a fraction of a second. Deidara immediately went as high in the sky as he could from the former 'akatsuki's' burrow, by then though the Kyuubi's chakra had vanished.

"Maybe we should go back and see if anyone else survived..." Itachi suggested

"LIKE HELL! WE ARE GETTING AS FAR AWAY AS POSSIBLE!!!" excalimed the one eyed blond his body frozen in fear like that of a glacier

"Did you see that thing! How the hell did that even happen!? I thought the god statue was supposed to prevent the bijuu from taking form!" Deidara said hysterically.

Itachi was scared to you know, but not nearly as much as his blond associate... maybe he should try calming him down? "Pain underestimated the Kyuubi's true strength. Without someone to fill in for Orochimaru, he couldn't even begin to hope containing the nine tails."

"Man I knew there was something up when that blond just walked in and gave himself up!" Even though Deideira had experienced bijuu chakra before the Kyuubi's wasn't anywhere near what he felt with them, it was the essence of pure evil "he probably planned this whole thing out!" he said clutching both his arms. 'my arms'

Now was his chance "Hey Deidara-san I know you're really eager to run away and everything but could you perhaps lower the altitude and land that way you don't accidentally drop me?" the now one of the only two Uchiha still alive questioned.

~Shattered Hearts, Broken Promises~

(Jyraiya)

Jyraiya was looking at the scroll laid out in front of him along with the headband and necklace that belonged to Naruto. Tsunade was looking at him expectantly what was he supposed to say to her? That Naruto was dead? He was glad they were alone.

"Well Jyraiya? This message is to you, obviously Naruto thought you'd know what it meant." the beautiful blond said

Jyraiya really didn't want to crush her heart again, she already had lost her younger brother and her boyfriend. He did know what it meant, when he was training Naruto and the fourth tail of the Kyuubi had grown and nearly killed him, he had told Naruto of the possible dangers that using the Kyuubi's chakra would pose. Naruto in turn said in reply to one of the possible dangers said he'd leave the village to and find Orochimaru, not to join him like Sasuke but to unleash the Nine-tailed beast on him before he died.

"This song Naruto wrote..."

Jyraiya of course told Naruto that if he did go off without telling anyone then they wouldn't know who to thank for killing the wretch.

"He always use to sing it..."

Naruto had then been unresponsive for about half an hour, Jyraiya really knew he wasn't very good at saying good-byes, the boy was just to pure at heart to be able to worry or trouble his loved ones.

"After he gained the fourth tail from the Kyuubi..."

He had been promised by Naruto that he would leave a message behind with the song inside so that he would be able to acknowledge who had killed Orochimaru. Jyraiya had just laughed it off then never believing for a moment that it would ever happen, and now here he was.

"He said he would write this song... in the event of his inevitable death." he looked up at Tsunade, this whole time he'd been staring at the floor.

(Tsunade)

This couldn't be true, there was no way Naruto could die. She looked at him in the eyes and asked "Are you sure of this?"

"Yes." he said and she saw a few tear drops starting to fall from his chin.

"Very well" the hokage said "That is all."

She had to be strong, she was the Hokage, Sakura and all the ninja's looked to her for strength. She couldn't allow herself to cry. Jyraiya made his way towards her.

"You are dismissed." her voice sounded venemous

He didn't stop though, he kept walking, and before she knew it he was beside her. "Tsunade, just let it out." Jyraiya said

"I said leave!" she stood up and slammed both hands on her desk, then she felt a hand on her shoulder 'Jyraiya...' she swung around in desparation and punched him in the stomach, the man though remained unmoving.

He pulled her into a loose hug and it was in that moment that her facade as hokage disappeared. Naruto had been like a grandson to her, why did this have to happen? Her heart shattered when she remembered all the warm smiles he used to give her, smiles she'd never see again. How he had that look of determination in his eyes that had inspired her to accept the offer of becoming Hokage, she became Hokage because of him, she took an oath that she would die protecting the people precious to her. But all her life it had been the other way around, with Dan and her little brother, now Naruto!

she poured her tears and soul into Jyraiya's chest, the pain was unbearable, she clutched her heart to try and ease that pain, but it did nothing to help it. "Why did Naruto have to die?" she choaked as the tears ran down her cheeks "Why does everyone important to me have to die?"

All that she had strived for, everything that she had become, and she still wasn't able to save everyone close to her, it had all been for nothing.

~Sacrifice~

Kakashi had been the one chosen to break the news to Sakura, seeing as how he had spent the most time with Naruto and Sakura when they were together. She hadn't believed him at first thinking it was just another trick like the one he used on her when she was still a genin. She had managed to keep her cool around Kakashi, and she made it through the entire funeral service without crying. It wasn't until she was alone by Naruto's grave did she cry.

They were not fearful as they had once been, but they were the tears that had built up in her heart over the years. The tears she had wanted to shed for so long, the tears for Naruto. The memories that were filled with joy, came to her first.

Flashbacks

"Hey Sakura-chan! You're really pretty!" a huge grinned Naruto said

"I won't let you lay a hand on her!"

"Don't worry Sakura... I'll bring Sasuke back for you!"

Then it was all the times she had been mean to him.

"Stay away from me Naruto! I don't even like you!" she had said as she spead off towards the way Sasuke was going.

"Naruto you're such an idiot!" was what she usually said to him as she pumbled him.

"You Monster!"

That's right... the last thing she had said to Naruto, she had punched him hard, and called him a monster.

"Hi my name is Sakura what's your name?" a little pink haired girl said to a small blond boy.

The boy just stood there for a long while as if no one had ever spoken to him before. "M-my name is Naruto Uzumaki..." the boy said shyly as a small blush appeared on his face.

"Really? Like the little white things in Ramen? That's really cool!" the little girl said enthusiastically

"Yeah... but... what are you doing over here? Shouldn't you be playing with all the other kids?" the boy asked

The girl's heart then sank, she knew she shouldn't have bothered. "They won't let me play with them." she began as she rubbed her eyes trying to prevent them from leaking.

The boy didn't know what to do so he tried to cheer her up, "Well then you and I can play together!" he said grabbing her hand and taking her to an open field just beyond the treeline.

They played together for a little while and then talked about stuff, he sure did like asking her a lot of questions, and she was more than happy to answer them.

"Say, why weren't you playing with all the other kids?" the little girl was curious, in fact come to think of it she had always seen him alone on the playground.

He looked a little reluctant to talk about it, "Everyone's to scared of me to play with me." he said looking down.

"I'm not scared of you, I like you!." said the innocent girl "but what about me, aren't you going to make fun of my forehead like all the other kids?"

She wouldn't have imagined what happened next, the cute boy leaned in and gave her a kiss on her forehead.

"Wh-why did you do that?!" she blushed feverently as she held the spot where she had kissed him with both hands.

"I-I don't know I just..."

"Sakura!" her mother and father yelled.

"I'm sorry I have to go now." she said as she rushed to her mother

The lady was glad to see her daughter but she quickly dashed the boy's joy at gaining his first friend with a vengeful glare "What were you doing by that boy? I thought I told you not to go near him!" she scolded the pink haired girl who began to protest. "But mommy he's rea-"

"No buts, I don't want to see you near him again!"

End of Flashbacks

She hadn't realized it before now, but she had been Naruto's first friend. That's the reason why he was always around her, he had still considered her a friend even though she had completely forgotten about that time. Coming to this realization whatever tears she was trying to restrain fell in full force. Her stomache felt empty and she began to feel light headed, all that Naruto had ever wanted was for her to accept him and finally when she had began to do that she had betrayed his trust and broken his heart.

"Naruto!!!" she cried in anguish over the cold stone grave "Naruto! I'm so sorry, please come back!" the weather had mirrored the mood of the village perfectly that day, for rain and thunder mixed in with her tears and yelling. She knew that ultimately, Naruto sacrificed himself for her.

~Heaven's Gate, Chambers of hell~

This feeling? What was this feeling? He wasn't supposed to be filling anything, he was supposed to be dead, then why was he still feeling something? Could he not be dead, Or was he just not dead yet?

"You are dead." he heard a man's voice "Open your eyes, Naruto Uzumaki."

Doing as the man bidded him he opened his eyes for a moment, before he was blinded with a flash of light.

"Who are you?" Naruto demanded

"I am the shinigami." the man said

What? Shinigami? wasn't he the death god? Well this was certainly awkward, he didn't know a thing other than that about the shinigami.

"Ok... so what happens now?" he asked getting a little uncomfortable

"Well, now you go to heaven." the shinigami explained

Naruto looked down in disappointment, there was so much he still wanted to do. 'What about becoming the Hokage? Getting people to acknowledge me? My never give up nuindo...' this was his first chance to feel sorry for himself but before he could the shinigami started speaking again.

"If you'll come right this way, you ca-"

"NO! I'm not going." Naruto said taking a defensive stance.

The Shinigami looked at Naruto with closed eyes and a scrunched up face 'is he an idiot?'

"GAAAAAAAH! I'll Kill you ALLL!!!" the kyuubi said coming out from no where, which absolutely scared the living shit out of Naruto

Shinigami spoke to the Kyuubi as she transformed from the huge demon fox to the beautiful goddess, "It's a real pity you had to come in second place Kyuubi-san."

"Well it's not really my fault that I had been sealed inside the belly of a mortal." she glared at Naruto

"You're right it wasn't." said the shinigami

"huh?"

"Naruto, he was right for the better of the part. Someone did corrupt the bijuu, however, that person wasn't in the Akatsuki when he did. Make no mistake, he did join Akatsuki later on and he was present the night you killed nearly all of the top Akatsuki members." The shinigami explained.

"What do you mean... 'nearly all'?" asked Naruto putting emphasis on the 'nearly all'

"Well it was kind of hard not to stare in their eyes when I'm 1,000 times bigger then them! That damned Uchiha and the weird looking one got away!" sobbed the poor goddess

Ok now that was just confusing, they were all weird looking to Naruto. "Shark face?" he took a shot

the goddess sighed "no... the one that looks like it might be a boy or a girl."

"Deidara? But he's supposed to be dead!" exclaimed the blonde "I killed him."

"Listen I haven't got all day so would the two of you mind getting a move on?" even the shinigami had his moments.

"There's no way I'm going!" yelled Naruto

"The only way to get reincarnated is through hell. If you choose that route then Kyuubi will have to go with you." the shinigami pointed to a distance behind them

"h-huh... but..." It was out of the question for Naruto, he couldn't let anyone suffer on his behalf. "Why?"

"Because when she was sealed inside of you your souls merged together, that is the fundamentals of sealing the living inside the living. If you died she died, if you go to hell she goes to hell, if you go to heaven she gets to go to heaven, if you stay here and horse around for all eternity, so does she." Why was he even explaining this to the son of the Yondaime and pupil of the toad sannin? If the boy was supposed to be an expert in something it should have been sealing jutsus of all the things.

"Are you telling me the mighty death god can't break his own rules?" Kyuubi asked smiling at the shinigami and getting involved in the turmoil

The shinigami pondered on this idea. 'I could let the brat suffer, but I don't have the authority to send the Kyuubi to hell alone. However someone should suffer for the pain caused by the Kyuubi. If the boy was willing to take her place I could make it worth his while when he gets reincarnated.'

"Naturally Kyuubi you should go straight to hell for the destruction you've caused in the land of the living." he took it all in as the semi-goddess looked ashamed and distasteful. "I would strip you of all your powers and you'd be sent back to Earth to be reincarnated." he stated

"However, since it was not entirely your fault and was the doing of a mere mortal, I'm willing to let a mortal suffer for your actions if he should only agree." the shinigami then looked at Naruto. "In addition, should that pest agree he would be given your power and knowledge which would then enable him replace you in the world of the living to balance the current absence of your power."

Naruto wondered for a moment, just how bad could hell really be? 'That's a steep bribe he's willing to give me if I accept, it's probably pretty bad. Then again it does give me a chance to go back and finish what I wanted.'

"Exactly how long would I be in hell?" Naruto asked

"Oh just a few hundred years..." he said as if it weren't a big deal

That did kind of diminish his spirits, in a few hundred years all of his friends would be dead, but with the full power of the Kyuubi at his disposal he could do great good in the world... or great evil, how would hell effect his personality after a few hundred years?

"Naruto don't you dare accept his offer!" the goddess pleaded with the blond.

"Well if you don't accept my offer I could just send the both of you to hell. And the deal would be off." he teased

Without warning a powerful force came across the white landscape they were standing in and an entity of pure light showed up beside the shinigami.

"Takeshi! What is the meaning of this? There is a huge line building up, why are you still speaking with these two?!" the light flared

Shinigami/Takeshi turned pail as a ghost when he heard the voice "Ah, very very sorry Ko! But the blond doesn't want to go to heaven, and I can't send them both to hell because the of the blond's good karma, in the same sense I can't just send them both to heaven because of the Kyuubi's bad karma."

"So?" the light said a little ticked off "Send them both to purgatory!"

"bu-"

"I don't care what kind of grudge you have against Sora. Do you know when people die and they see the 'light' that's ME!And do you know the type of complaints they have when they aren't getting anywhere?! Just do it!" Ko shouted at the incredibly smaller form of Takeshi

Well this was confusing "Ko-sama?" Naruto began "Takeshi-san said that I could go to heaven and the Kyuubi to."

"Their souls are merged! Their souls are merged!" The shinigami tried desperately to explain himself.

"If that's the case even if Naruto did go to hell and 'suffer' for my sins wouldn't that mean I would go to hell anyways?" Kyuubi asked innocently "Takeshi-kun you know you aren't supposed to break the rules."

The shinigami took a few steps back 'she did this on purpose! for a semi-goddess she sure is a real bitch, even if she isn't a demon anymore' his eyebrows twitched 'oh man I'm really in for it now, damn bijuu's and their loopholes.' Takeshi already had enough troubles with the other jinchuuriki and demons that were killed by Akatsuki.

"Takeshi, the master won't be very keen to hear this, not at all" the ball of light jested "for this I'll have to send the two of you up to Ma'al, you can settle this case there and I'm sure Takeshi here WON'T be stalling anymore... unless he wants the master to hear about this certain incident."

"Y-yes right away." the shinigami quivered.

~Ma'al the divine judge~

"Aaah Kyuubi, it's been a long time..." Ma'al said and then continued "For the first three thousand years you spent in the world of the living you managed to remain in your goddess form, but after Rei and Shimizu turned into the two demons of the two tailed cat and the five tailed dog, you began to lose faith in your purpose and slowly began turning into the Kyuubi..."

"Wait you mean Kyuubi isn't her real name?"Asked Naruto

Ma'al simply looked up at Naruto and then back to his book that contained the history of all the living and the dead. "Now then, you spent the next five thousand years as the nine-tailed fox demon which caused great destruction in the land of the living. Normally for that you should have been sent to hell immediately but since the only way a bijuu can die is through sealing and the death of their jinchuuriki it would seem that you can't since your souls are attached and his contains only good karma. Normally in such a case you'd be sent to purgatory but... now since Takeshi tried to break the laws and bribe you the rules clearly states that you are to be repremended for his actions."

Naruto looked at the goddess who was until recently called Kyuubi and asked "What's your real name?"

Before she could answer though Ma'al began to speak again. He was a man of law and principal not of idle conversation. "Although when the master created the book of the afterlife and reincarnation, it does say you have to spend a minimum of 200 years in purgatory or hell before getting a chance of being reincarnated. The results are supposed to fit the races so you'd end up as the same species you were in the previous life, and you are not supposed to have any memories of your previous lives unless you become enlightened." he paused for a moment letting the blond take in the information.

"My real name is Izumi." she replied during the briefness of silence.

"Now then, according to the terms..."

"That's a nice name." Naruto said

"ACCORDING TO THE TERMS!" Ma'al shouted so the two would come back to his attention "You are to receive part of the bribe Takeshi Shinigami offered while the other reparations from wergild are to grant you the immediate ability to return to the land of the living in a physical form after serving time in purgatory, and last but not least the master himself will grant you a blessing that he chooses."

'The afterlife is really colorful.' Naruto thought sarcasticly 'Everything here is white and void! Some Nirvana this is.'

"Case dismissed... Next!"

~Purgatory~

Naruto was really starting to hate the afterlife, every time a God or Deity ended their conversation without warning he'd be transported somewhere, He couldn't really complain though... this place wasn't like the previous two which were nothing but grey voids with a death god who held grudges or a zealot in divine law who sat up on his humongous stand that dwarfed him and Izumi. Purgatory didn't seem all that bad, it sort of mimicked the land of the living, except for there was hardly anyone here. In fact ever since they arrived here he hadn't seen anyone else besides Izumi.

The grass was green, there were trees, and a lake nearby. The lack of a human presence is probably what made this place purgatory.

"So I have to spend two hundred years alone with you?" Naruto asked a little pervertedly.

"Oh don't get your hopes up love is forbidden between gods and mortals." Izumi chirped "I guess you'll just have to keep using your clones!"

Naruto's jaw nearly dropped to the ground, that had been a one time thing only, and just as an experiment. Although it had been shameful, he had to admit the effects of a shadow clone combined with sexy no jutsu were very stimulating.

The goddess then put her hands together and then slammed her palms on the ground. Out of no where a large building came up made of wood... wood... how was that even possible? Yamato was the only one who was supposedly able to do that!

"How'd you-" stuttered Naruto.

"Goddess" was all she said.

The friggen place was a palace! "Are we going to be training in here?" Naruto asked

"What makes you think I'll train with you?" was her reply.

"Well we're going to be stuck together for 200 years..."

"Not really, this place is just as big as your world." she said coldly "I'd enjoy myself more without your company. Which reminds me, don't think I've forgotten about our agreement... and go find your own place to sleep." she huffed stepping into her large palace.

Until recently Naruto had thought that the Kyuubi was a goddess days before she attacked Konoha, but he had just been told by Ma'al that she had been a demon for 5 millennia... this could be a long time spent in purgatory.

- To Be Continued -