A Second Chance, A Second Life Chapter 10: clouds, memories and catty fangirls, a naruto fanfic

Alright

Alright! This is not the second part, but I feel it's necessary to introduce a vital character. You'll see who later.

Disclaimer: why do I even bother? I could never own Naruto; too many people would mob my apartment for spoilers if I did. Troublesome…

Naruto yawned in exhaustion. He had stayed up far late than a three-year old was physically allowed to. And yet, it was completely worth it. He grinned. They had completely reversed the kidnapping! The Hokage had seen, the ANBU had seen, the entire Hyuuga clan had seen, hell, even some of the villagers saw! The raikage couldn't do squat for recompense against so many high-trust witnesses! And besides, they hadn't even killed him! He couldn't even think of asking for anything! They'd more than likely get something out of it, instead!

Itachi burst into his room, grinning like a loon. "Naruto!" he gripped him in a bear hug. "Naruto, you'll never believe it! I just got my Sharingan! Tou-san says that I'm the youngest Uchiha to have it manifest! Whatever that means…"

"Itachi! How did you get in?" Naruto grinned and hugged Itachi's leg. "I'm happy that you got the Sharingan! How did you get it?"

"Well…" his bright mood immediately disappeared. "I just got back from this one mission… there was a kiri missing-nin, and he had taken over a fire country village, and we were sent to take him out. It was supposed to be just a bandit, so, it was labeled as a c-rank mission, but then he sent his missing-nin buddies at us, and my sensei said that it was at least a b-rank, contrary to what the client told us." Naruto froze, shocked at the similarities between the Sharingan-inducing missions of Sasuke and Itachi. "We got to the village, and then there were a bunch of the missing Nin. One of them got to me, and… he was going to kill me…" here Itachi sounded scared. "He said… he said that he was going to enjoy watching me bleed… he took a stab at me with a kunai, and… he just suddenly slowed down. It was like he was moving in slow motion. I dodged, and then…" here he shuddered. "Sensei… he saw what he was doing, and… he came up behind him and… he…" he shuddered.

"It's okay… you don't have to talk about it, I'll understand…" Naruto comforted. Itachi shook his head furiously.

"No, it's okay… I have to get over this. That is what a good ninja does. My sensei came up behind him, and…" he shuddered. "He cut off his head with a kunai."

Naruto winced. "Ouch. That's a pretty gruesome death right there. And you were a kid. Ouch again."

"yeah." He perked up considerably. "But we got the missing Nin in the end! And the Hokage just paid us for an A-rank mission! Isn't that cool!"

"Yeah, it is!" agreed Naruto, grinning.

"And you know what? Last night, the kumo diplomat tried to kidnap one of the Hyuugas! He was running away, and he almost got to the border, and then the ghost of the Yondaime appeared, and he said, "Give me the girl." And then the diplomat's like, "no!" and then he beats the diplomat up, and he instantly teleported the Hokage there like it was nothing! It's true! One of the villagers told me!" Naruto scratched his head at how big it was getting blown out of proportions.

"Really?"

"Yeah! They say that if he wanted to, the Hokage could declare war on kumo for trying that! Father says that he hates the Hyuugas, but he has a grudging respect for them and he would do the same if it happened to the Uchihas!" he stopped. "Naruto, what does grudging mean?"

He grinned. "It means that he doesn't like them, but he respects their power, even if he doesn't like the people."

"oh." Itachi deadpanned. "Hey Naruto, you want to go play in the park?"

"Yeah!" Naruto jumped up and raced off, Itachi laughing and chasing his heels.

"And then the Yondaime waved his hand and the Hokage appeared before him, and he said, "The man is a traitor, and I have spared his life. Do as you will." And then, he disappears, see? No smoke or light tricks or anything, just, blink and he's gone!" gato said at a group of awestruck civilians at the bar.

"Hey gato!" Naruto waved at the bartender before sitting down on a stool and ordering 'his usual.'

"Hey there! I'll be right with ya!" he embellished the story just a little bit more before heading over to the blonde. "Hey, have you heard the news? The Yondaime's ghost has returned!"

"Yeah, I heard you talking about it over there. Stopped a Hyuuga getting kidnapped, did he?" Naruto questioned, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah! And let's keep this between you and me, since it may'n't go down with the others so well, but a pair of ANBU say that this isn't his first appearance either!"

"Oh?" Naruto leaned in, curiosity piqued.

"Yeah, they say that he appeared in an orphanage, too!" he said, wiping the insides of a glass mug. "Coincidentally, it's the one the Jinchuuriki kid was in before he got adopted by a ninja, can't remember his name right now. Imagine? One of the ninja actually had the balls of bronze to adopt him! I salute his bravery!" he did a mock salute into the air. "The villagers all hate him, now. Well, they didn't really like him anyways. His father, the white fang, you know him, right? Anyways, the white fang was his father, and we all know how that turned out!" he laughed sadly before shaking his head. "Right, back on track. The owner of the place, he was a bad man, see? Tax dodging, child abuse, black market dealings, the works. Now, he was in the middle of beating a child who was smart-mouthing him, see? I think that kid got adopted by the white fang's son, too. Anyway, he's about to start, when all of a sudden, this hand grabs his stick, and breaks it. He's about to scream at whoever it was, when lo and behold, there's the Yondaime! He's telling him to repent and to do all these things to repent, see? Like, get the kids good food, sell all his luxuries, put his heart and soul into finding them all a home, the works. Now he don't like that last bit, see? He says that nobody would take in the demon brat." Naruto bristled.

"Hey, I'm just repeating what he said! Now, the Yondaime says even the Jinchuuriki kid. The guy, he gets desperate, and he pulls out the 'he killed you' thing. Now, that gets the Yondaime mad, see? Gives him an ultimatum. Says, would he rather have him live and the entire village die or he die and the village be saved, or something along those lines. And then – here's the shocking part – he blesses him! A blessing! A blessing from a ghost is one thing, but a blessing from the Yondaime! Just imagine all the things he'll do with that!"

"What do you mean, 'the things he'll do with it!'?"

Gato gaped. "What do I- what do I mean- were you born under a rock!? Have you not heard all of the stories of people who were blessed by supernatural beings and went on to do extraordinary things!? By Kami, you are a cultural infidel!" gato palmed his face with his hand.

"Oh, heheh, those stories, right… I heard of them…" Naruto chuckled nervously, lying through his teeth. "Kakashi! What stories are there about people being blessed by ghosts and doing amazing things?"

"I dunno, I never heard of 'em. I've never been a story person."

"Damn!" he swore before turning back to gato. "Sorry."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Say, when are you going to take me up on that offer of a job? The deal still stands…" Naruto shrugged.

"I don't know. Maybe I'll take the job, maybe I won't. Who knows? What I do know is that I'm leaving. I want to ask the Hokage what he's going to do about the diplomat problem." With that, he paid his bill and walked out, leaving a silent gato.

"This is an outrage! The kumo village is on dangerous ground as it is, and they try to steal a Hyuuga! They should be destroyed by our hand!" Homura yelled over the loudly shouting voices at the council meeting. The third merely clasped his hands over his on ears to block out the sound and shouted.

"ENOUGH!!" the council went silent. "I will not declare war on another ninja village! Though they may not be allied with us, they aren't opposed to us like Iwa is! Now. I will send a messenger bird to kumo, demanding an explanation and compensation for the attempt. No doubt they would have done the same to us, had we killed the ambassador like some of you wanted!" he sent a pointed glare at his two former teammates, who had the decency to look ashamed. "If they do not give a satisfactory answer or refuse to pay us, then we shall…" he sighed. "Declare war on kumogakure no sato."

"Hokage-sama, ain't that a little rash? I mean, we're still recovering from the Kyuubi attack! Wouldn't a war so close after be… ill-thought out?" Inuzuka Tsume questioned.

"That is why I pray that they go along with the demands. If we declare war on kumo, the other villages may perceive a weakness in either of our villages and attack, and it would be the fourth great ninja war." The council shuddered at the thought. "Now, this emergency council is dismissed." With that, the council filed out of the room. After a minute of everybody being gone, Naruto faded back into existence.

"Compensation, huh? We'll see…" he shunshined away.

Naruto watched as the Hokage tied a scroll to a long-distance messenger bird and let it fly. The hawk soared away. Running after it, he jumped on a rooftop and grabbed it out of the air.

"Shhh! Shush, bird! I am not intercepting your message!" he tried to calm the furious winged predator. "I have something for you." With that, the bird remembered it's training and immediately became pacified. He took out a small circle with complex seals on it. 'Good thing I remember how Jiraiya made these.' "Take this." With that, he cleared a spot on it's breast and placed it there. With a small push of chakra, it adhered to the open skin and activated. "Now, fly." He tossed the bird up and watched it wing it's way to the sky.

"And now, we wait." He spoke into the air.

A week later…

Naruto ran around the house, chasing after Kakashi with a squirt gun. "Yahh! I'll get you this time!"

"No you won't! No you won't! No you won't!" he replied, sticking his tongue out childishly. He spoke too soon, as he soon got an eyeful of water from the toy. "Arrgh!" he fell to the ground comically, clutching his chest. You got me… in the heart… I'm dieing… tell my fangirls… I'm… not gay…" he said in a fake whispery voice. "bleh." He lolled out his tongue and went limp.

"You're not dead!" Naruto giggled and poked him in the side.

"Yes I am! And that hurt!" Kakashi responded from a different part of the room without moving his mouth. Naruto gaped.

"You're a ventriloquist!? Cool! You gotta teach me that! I wanna-" he froze.

"You wanna what?" said Kakashi, getting up and brushing himself off.

"The messenger bird I tagged is back. I gotta go!" and with that, he Henge'd into his older self and shunshined away.

"Hokage-sama! The messenger bird to kumo has returned!" his secretary burst into the room, waving a scroll in the air.

"Really! Call a council meeting, they will no doubt want to hear what is in it!" he ordered to the excitable man.

"Yes, Hokage-sama!" with that, he bowed and called for an ANBU.

Within minutes, the entire council of ninjas and civilians was assembled. Sarutobi took a quick head count, before noticing something odd. "You! You are not the Aburame clan head! Who are you?"

"Shibi sends his apologies to the council, but he regrets to inform you that he cannot be here today. His son is getting his first hive, and he must be there to attend. Things can get… difficult, with the first hive." In reality, it was Naruto had waylaid the representative and taken his form. The reason for Shibi being gone was true though. He had managed to extract that bit of knowledge before he knocked him out.

The ninja portion took it in stride while the civilian council shuddered at the thought. Sarutobi nodded. "Very well. We shall continue without him. I have called this meeting for an important reason. The messenger bird from kumo has returned with a scroll from the raikage." The council began muttering amongst itself. "Now, I have not yet read it yet, as I assumed you would wish to be here for it's opening." He broke the seal, rolled it open, and began reading. "To Sarutobi Sasuke, third Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, from hong cai, fourth raikage of kumogakure no sato.

"it is with great sadness and shame that I account for my subordinates actions. His attempt on the Hyuuga clan heir was out of our scope of power. He was acting on no order of kumo." The council muttered angrily as Naruto remained silent. "we are deeply shamed with what he attempted to do on what was a diplomatic mission for a non-aggression treaty. Therefore, we will comply with your demands for compensation for our ninja's actions. Rest assured that when he returns, we will be punished to the full extent.

"the compensation for his actions is being brought to you by our elite ninjas. It should arrive slightly after this messenger bird. May it serve to cement the treaty that our ambassador was sent to do. May your clouds always be peaceful." He snapped the scroll shut. All at once the council began talking.

"are they going to hold to the treaty?" "what is the compensation?" "what are they going to do about the ambassador?" Naruto sighed and turned to Kyuubi.

"hey, fuzzy! What do you think of all this mess?"

"why should I care about you human matters? You deal with it." Suddenly, Kyuubi stiffened before pacing in his cage. "someone is arriving in this territory that does not belong here. Two grown men, and a girl… there is something familiar about the girl. I feel something familiar about her essence… the essence frightens me, somehow…" Naruto nodded, and spoke up.

"my kikai sense someone arriving in the village." And with that, conversation stopped. "they say it is two men, and a girl. They say there is something about the girl that frightens them. They do not get close to her." The council stiffened before turning to the third, who had gone white as a sheet.

"Shibi said the same thing about Naruto… can it be that they…?" he turned to the ANBU. "escort the three up here. I wish to see what they have brought us." They nodded before disappearing in a swirl of leaves. Shikaku spoke up.

"something troubles you about what the Aburame said." It wasn't a question. The Hokage turned to the group.

"yes, it does. Shibi used to say that his kikai were frightened of Naruto, that his essence scared them ad would not go near him. we all know why." Naruto's eye's shot open as everybody muttered amongst themselves.

One of the civilians spoke up. "but what does the de… boy have to do with this?"

"the kikai are scared of this newcomer too. Use your imagination." They went silent. "yes. I think that the raikage has sent us yet another Jinchuuriki."

The council exploded into sound as many called for it to be sent back. Naruto frantically called the Kyuubi. "fuzzy! Are you hearing this!?"

"yes, I heard fleshbag. And now that the old fleshbag has said this, I know it to be true. Now I need to know what Bijuu it is." The Kyuubi was silent before speaking up, voice trembling. "oh no. OH, no. oh, no no no no no no! No! It can't be! Not her! Anybody but her! Please, anybody but her!"

"anybody but who??" Naruto questioned before a door opened, drawing him back to his senses.

"ah, the guests are here. Please, come in." Sarutobi spoke cordially, waving towards open seats. The kumo-nin declined.

"we are just here to deliver the girl. We will be leaving now." With that, a crack of thunder was heard and they disappeared in lightning. A nine-year old girl stepped up from where they used to be and stood shyly in front of the assembly.

Sarutobi smiled. "hello, little girl. What's your name?" the girl squeaked and hid behind a potted plant. Sarutobi chuckled. "oh, come now. Surely you can tell your name to an old man? Please? What is your name?"

"…Yugito…" she mumbled. "you're not going to hurt me, are you?" she looked up, frightened. Sarutobi stood up from his chair and squatted down in front f the potted plant she was hiding behind. He held out his arms for a hug. She slowly walked out and shyly embraced the Hokage.

"we wouldn't dream of hurting such a sweet little girl like you! Isn't that right?" he looked over the now snuggling girl and glared at the council, daring them do say otherwise. They quickly agreed to his sentiments. "who would hurt such a nice little girl like you?"

She snuggled into his robes. "all the mean people back home! They'd throw things at me and call me names! Nee-Chan says that they are shallow and mindless, and they are evil!" she snuggled further in.

"who is your sister? She sounds very nice." Naruto asked, already having a hunch.

"she is really nice to me! She calls me kitten all the time and helps me a lot with my ninja training! I want to go to the academy, you know! Nee-Chan says that I have to rise above the people and ignore them, and become powerful! Then she says that they'll be sorry they were ever mean to me!" she snuggled into his robes even further. "you're really warm, you know that?"

"you're sister calls you kitten? Can I talk to her?" Naruto asked as the council looked strangely at the social butterfly of an Aburame. (pardon the pun.)

"nee-Chan says that she doesn't want to talk to anybody right now." She stopped talking as several emotions flitted across her face. She pointed at Naruto. "nee-Chan says you smell funny. Like there's… something inside you?"

"yep, definitely a Jinchuuriki. She can sense you, fuzzy." He spoke as the council passed it off as him being an Aburame. The third extracted the girl from his robes and had two ANBU lead her out of the room.

He turned to the council. "well, there's no doubt about it. The girl we got out of the trade is a Jinchuuriki. The question is, which one is she?"

"she smells sorta like a cat." Tsume growled, hackles raised. "I don't like cats."

"a cat, you say?" Sarutobi stroked his goatee before speaking. "I think that the girl is the Jinchuuriki of the Nibi no Nekomata. Now, I am going to accept this offer. This is not up for debate." The civilians started shouting. "quiet! If we refuse her, it will cause a political nightmare, and they will be able to take something of ours for spiting their gift! And besides, you have dealt with one for three years. What more damage will two do?" this quieted them down somewhat, while the more bigoted ones continued to grumble.

"this council is adjourned." And with that, he stood up and left. The council members talked a little longer before leaving as well. Naruto stood up, walked out and crouched down in front of Yugito.

"hello. Nee-Chan says you smell like a fox. She says…" she then clutched her head before starting again. "Nee-Chan says she wants your babies… Kyuu-kun?"

NOOOO!! IT'S HER!! IT'S REALLY HER!! NOOOOOOOO!!" Kyuubi screamed before fainting. Naruto grinned.

"Kyuu says he loves Nibi-Chan too." Yugito clutched her head again.

"nee-Chan is getting really loud." Naruto thought for a moment before touching her forehead. Yugito squeaked and jumped a bit. "owee! That hurt! Why'd you shock me?"

"so that I can do this." Naruto spoke into her mind. Yugito's eyes widened.

"wow! Now you're just like nee-Chan! Cool!" he grinned before taking her by the hand, dropping the Henge as an Aburame back to his regular grown-up form. "hey, you look different now!"

"it's just a little thing I learned. If you want, I can teach you too! But first, I want to introduce you to some friends…"

"you're going to do WHAT to her!?" Kakashi asked incredulously as he stared at Naruto, Yugito on his shoulders in a piggy-back ride.

"I want to induct her into our little group."

"we don't even know her! Give me one good reason why we should let her join!" Yugito looked back and forth between the two arguing adults, confused.

"she's exactly like me. She's just like Gaara. She's just like Lee. Get what I'm getting at?" Kakashi gaped.

"you mean… she's a…?"

"yep!" Naruto grinned. "now, I think I just gave you three good reasons why she should join. Whaddaya say?" Kakashi sighed.

"okay." He grabbed Naruto's shoulder and poked Yugito in the forehead. She yelped again.

"owee! that hurt! Naruto-nii, what's going on?"

Naruto grinned at his new nickname. "Just wait, Yugi-Chan. We gotta do that two more times before you get to join our little club." Yugito perked up at this.

"I've never been in a club before! What's yours about?"

Naruto grinned. "you'll see. But I will say, it's the most awesomest club ever!"

She giggled. "Yay!"

Rock Lee sighed. "fine." He grabbed the crouching Naruto's shoulder and poked Yugito's forehead.

"owee! That hurt again! Naruto-nii, when is this going to stop?"

"Just one more time, Yugi-Chan." With that, he flowed into the mindscape and called to the others. "Chouji! Shika! Kiba! Either of you three at the park right now?"

"I'm going there right now with my dad. Why?" Chouji asked.

"Sweet! Just wait there! I've found the newest member of our little band…" and he flowed back into his body. "Come on, Yugi-Chan! We're going to the park!"

She giggled. "Yay!"

"she's… like you?" Chouji stared at the little girl, dumbstruck. Yugito looked down at the three-year old curiously.

"you're short." She stated. Chouji snorted at this.

"hehe. Fine." He grabbed Naruto's elbow and jumped up and poked Yugito's forehead.

"owee! That hurt! Is that all, Naruto-nii?"

"yep, that's it!" Naruto grinned. "now, talk to your nee-Chan. I think she might have found something interesting…" he grinned at her. She nodded before going into a trance. "Chouji. Let's go to the mindscape. I think she's going to go a little crazy once she gets there…" and with that, Naruto passed his mind into the imagi-Konoha.

Naruto materialized in Konoha. He looked around. He spotted an eighth consciousness door. He stared at it for a little bit before Yugito took a tentative step in. her eyes widened.

"what is this…?" she gasped as a fourth door appeared in the air. The door creaked open as a foot stepped out into the air.

Black leather. Everything she was wearing was black leather. Her leather skirt, her leather jacket, her leather shirt which was cut low enough to make it seem like her ample assets were going to pop out of her top, the whole works. She made black leather look fine. 'then again, that's sort of the image of a woman who controls death. Leather is king!' Naruto pondered, thinking of how Jiraiya would react to the sight and grinning.

Nibi looked around curiously in the air. "well! This is certainly interesting. Where is this? Where did Naruto-san take us?" she then spotted Yugito, who was staring at Nibi. "kitten! Oh my god, it is so good to see you!" she ran over to Yugito and hugged her. "you are turning into one pretty young lady!"

"nee-Chan…? You're nee-Chan?" she stared at Nibi before giggling. "you look funny."

Nibi scoffed before smiling. "well, I guess I deserve that, since you've only talked to me." She then saw Naruto standing back a ways. "well! Here's the gentleman that brought us here! Interesting place you got! By the way, where are we?"

"in a mindscape given to me by the gods." Nibi quirked an eyebrow.

"the gods? Sure, pull the other one. The gods don't do squat for regular people. Maybe for those who really deserve it, or those who pray a lot, but you don't look like either. So seriously, where is this?"

"I am being serious. This was granted to me by Shinigami on the day of my birth. If you don't believe it, Thoth's our librarian." Nibi looked shocked.

"well! I'm surprised you even know about Thoth! But it's irrelevant. The gods wouldn't have anything to do with you." Naruto sighed.

"father time? She's not believing me."

"yes, I can see that. you always were a bit adamant in your beliefs, Nibi." Father time said as he stepped out of the shadows. Nibi gaped.

"time? Is that really you?" she looked back and forth between time and Naruto. "but- but- then- you-"

Yes. Shinigami did grant him this mindscape. He did it so they could train to stop the end of the world." Nibi flopped down on the ground.

"well! This is… interesting." She kneaded her forehead. "what did I miss when I got sealed?"

"you missed us traveling back in time from an apocalyptic future." Naruto deadpanned. Nibi froze.

"you… traveled back… in time?"

"yep!" Naruto grinned.

"But… that takes an insane amount of chakra! The only ones to have done it before were us, the Bijuu!" she protested.

"Well, when you have two Kages, a Jinchuuriki and an ex-Jinchuuriki in the mix, you generally can scrape through those kinds of things!" Naruto joked as he helped her onto her feet.

"ex… Jinchuuriki?"

"Yeah, in the future, there was this organization, called Akatsuki, they were collecting all the Bijuu for an end-of-zee-world killing device, and they were extracting Bijuu from the jinchuurikis if they were sealed. Of course, that killed the Jinchuuriki, but we revived Gaara, so, he was doing fine without Shukaku until we traveled back!"

"wait, Shukaku's here!?" she asked, startled at the idea of another Jinchuuriki.

"yep! There's also Kuma! And- I think you'll like this- nah, I won't tell you." He grinned at the disappointed face she made.

"who? Which other Bijuu is here!?"

"your beloved Kyuu-kun."

Silence.

A cricket chirped.

A pin dropped.

"SQUEEEEE!! KYUU-KUN! I AM COMING, MY LOVE!" and with that, she charged off into Konoha, leaving a dust trail in her wake. A few minutes later, a strangled cry for help and a loud 'SQUEEE!!" were heard as some glomping noises were heard. Father time chuckled.

"she's head over heels for him. y'know, if Kyuu hadn't been sealed, he might've responded to her advances."

"yeah, but then we'd have to deal with a whole bunch of little fox-cat half breeds running around!" they laughed at the thought.

"so, you going to restore her memories?" he pointed at Yugito, who was gaping like a fish.

"you… traveled back in time?"

"yep! And Yugi-Chan, I need to ask you to look into this." Naruto held out a mirror in front of her. She nodded uncertainly and walked cautiously up to the mirror. Instantly, she gasped.

"it's me! Only I'm older! And I'm-" a female hand reached out of the mirror and took hold of Yugito's hair. With one swift motion, a spectral something pulled itself out of the mirror and phased right into her before she even had the chance to scream. Her body spasmed before her eyes rolled up and fell to the ground, limp.

"Well. That was… unexpected. Father time, please watch her while I go hunting for Nibi. She ran off before I restored hers." Naruto walked off from an unconscious Yugito and a worried god.

Naruto found the demon cat nuzzling her head into the side of Kyuubi, who was struggling with all his might against her iron grip. "Kyuu-kun! I missed you so much! I want to have your babies!"

"Somebody help me here!! Get this woman off me!" he flailed his arm around in the air, only for her so stay firmly attached to the much-loved limb. Naruto guffawed at his dire luck.

"Nibi, get off of fuzzy. I think he's gay, so you won't get anywhere with him." Kyuubi opened his mouth to retort, but Nibi was faster.

"How dare you!" she slapped him in the face. Naruto rubbed his face before holding up the mirror. She growled at him, but looked in anyway. She didn't even have time to say anything before her other spirit found an anchor and pulled itself through. She screeched before going into wild seizures.

Naruto looked down with passive interest. "Glad that gay comment got her off you. You owe me, fuzzy!" Kyuubi had a look that alternated between gratefulness for his service and alarm at Nibi's condition. Kuma, who had been watching on the sidelines, jumped to her side.

"What the hell's going on!?" he yelled. Naruto shrugged.

"I don't know. I think it has to do with her being a demon, and that demons are the ones usually doing the possessing, not being possessed themselves." Kuma glared.

"Well, then what's she being possessed BY!?"

"Her other spirit." Kuma froze, so he continued. "I had father time get one of the gods to custom make it. It's a go-between between the two souls, pre-jump and post-jump. If I hadn't had this made, it would have taken a hell of a lot of energy just to get one set done. I can only use this in the mindscape, though, so… yeah." By now, Nibi had stopped spasming and had fallen asleep. Kyuubi stepped up, an abashed look on his face.

"Fleshbag, I don't know how to say this without losing dignity, but… thank you so much! She does that every time I see her! I keep telling her I have high standards, but she doesn't stop!" he stopped for a moment, before straightening up. "You may ask one favor of me. Be grateful, for I rarely do this."

"Wow. All I have to do is save you from your fangirl and you do stuff for me? Sweet!" he thought for a moment before snapping his fingers. "Get Thoth to make a complete list of all the gods and what they're gods of. Thoth says he's the Egyptian god of wisdom and father time is just god of time, period. Other than that, I know nothing. Fix that."

"Why do you need me to do this?"

"Because he says he's too busy with moving his library down. He has a lot of respect for the gods, and you're as close to a god as a demon can get."

"Why?"

"Because Shinigami said that most of the gods would give me gifts to help me, and yet not one has even spoken to me. I think I need to call on them for it or something." Kyuubi blinked before laughing. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing. It's just that, if I know the gods, then they haven't forgotten about you at all. It's just that, time flows differently in the heavens than on earth. A week for us might be a blink of an eye to them. And they've probably been bickering this whole time too. So no, they haven't forgotten about you. But, you used your favor, and you can't take it back, so off I go!" Kyuubi cackled at naruto's misfortune and walked off, whistling away. Naruto shook his head.

"He thinks he's robbing me, but it still helps me." Naruto looked down at Nibi, who was still out cold. "Hey! Wake up!" he imagined a bucket of water and sprayed her in the face with it. She sputtered for air. "Good, you're up! Now, do you remember?"

"I.. got sealed in a statue? Kitten died?" Nibi asked, shocked.

Naruto nodded. "That's what we deduced after Jiraiya… defeated Akatsuki." He sighed. He missed his pervy Ero-sennin. He never got over how he defeated Akatsuki single-handedly, at the cost of his life. "Damn you Ero-sennin!" he screamed. They all looked at him funny.

"Are you okay?" Shukaku asked, who had just arrived and not yet seen Nibi.

"I'm fine, I just… I just need to be alone." And with that, he ran off. The past had caught up with him, and it would not leave without tears shed.

Flashback no jutsu!

Jiraiya panted, feeling the strain of battle with his six-bodied student. Feeling more and more pain coming out of his severed arm, he grunted. "I don't think I'm getting out of this one, elders. Might as well go out with a bang, yeah?" he grinned.

fukasaku gasped. "You can still do it! You just gotta, try harder…" his false hope fading away.

"Good thing I had a sealing tattoo done!" he bit his thumb and swiped it on a tattoo on his unsevered arm. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!" a huge poof of smoke appeared, and Gamabunta appeared.

"Jiraiya! What have you summoned me for!?" he roared. The toad Sannin panted, feeling the chakra exhaustion setting in.

"Douse… this whole village… in oil." He wheezed. Gamabunta, seeing his injuries, immediately did as he asked. "Good. Now, get out… of here… before the bang. This… is going to… be seen for miles."

"Jiraiya! No!" the elders cried. He sighed before dispelling the two.

"Jiraiya. Are you sure about this?"

"Positive. Now… tell Naruto… what happened. Tell him… that his sensei… didn't die in vain!" he dispelled the boss toad before dropping to the ground. Pein quirked his eyebrow at the display.

"You summon your boss just to douse the town in oil? Not to fight?"

"No need. I've got all… I need… to destroy you now!" he coughed up blood.

"Please. You can barely walk. How can you fight me?" Pein scoffed.

"I cover all my bases. 'Cough' before the fight… I sent out shadow clones… all through the village. I can take you out… with one blow!"

Pein's twelve eyes widened. "NO! STOP HIM!!"

He grinned a bloody grin. "Good bye, Nagato, Konan, Yahiko. Bunshin Daibakuha!" all his many clones throughout the village exploded, catching the oil and creating a great fireball, completely engulfing Amegakure.

Flashback no jutsu, kai!

"Damn you, Ero-sennin! Why did you do something so stupid!? I would have helped you! Damn you! Damn you…" he broke down into a sobbing wreck. "…damn you…" at once, the rest of the deaths came flooding back.

Flashback no jutsu!

"Hokage-sama. What are the casualties?" Shikamaru questioned, deadly serious. Tsunade sighed and took another swig of sake.

"During the iwagakure raid, there were seventeen fatalities and 46 casualties. In the fatalities, there were sixteen civilian deaths and one ninja death." the Konoha eleven stiffened. "I'm sorry Neji. Tenten was killed when a stray earth dragon hit her home.

Neji froze. "no. no. no, no, no, no, NO! She can't be dead! Not Tenten! Not… my wife…" he sank to the ground while Rock Lee ran out of the room screaming. Naruto ran after his friend as Neji whispered, "she was seven months pregnant… our child…"

Rock Lee stumbled through the village as he searched for her house. "Tenten! Tenten! Tenten!" he cried as he raced to the rubble, with her arm sticking out. He grabbed the rafter beam covering her body and shoved it away like a twig. He cried as he saw her corpse. "No… you can't be dead… not now… we need you… I need you…" he held onto her arm like a lifeline. "I always loved you… even after you got engaged to Neji, I loved you… even after you said your vows, I loved you… even after you announced that you were with his child, I loved you… you can't die… not now… Tenten…" he cried as he rocked back and forth. Naruto watched from the sidelines, crying for his best friend's loss.

Naruto ran into the ruined otogakure encampment, yelling. "Neji! Neji! Where are you!?" he ran past the still warm corpses as he spotted the man he was looking for. Neji was lying in a large crater, surrounded by a circular ring of dead bodies. "Neji! What the hell were you thinking, going into an encampment on your own! You could die now!"

Neji chuckled before coughing up blood from his crushed voice box. He traced a message on the ground as Naruto read it out loud. "I wanted to take them all with me before I see Tenten again? You idiot! Tenten would have wanted you to live! As it is, you'll probably never be a ninja again!" Neji wrote on the dirt some more. "I'm not going to live? I've lost too much blood? Bullshit! You're a Konoha ninja, we take care of our own! You're going to be alright! You hear me, jackass!? You're going to be alright!!" he wrote another message, and breathed his last. "No. no, you asshole, NO! NO! You can't die, what about Rock Lee!? What's he going to do!? He'll be all alone now…" he held the body close while reading his last words through tear-ridden eyes. "He'll be more broken up about you! You were a brother to him, Neji! A brother!" he cried while rain washed away the words of Neji.

"Tell Rock Lee I'm sorry. I knew he loved Tenten so much."

Gaara stumbled into the Hokage's office, bleeding from multiple wounds and supported by two ANBU guards. Tsunade looked up before gasping and running to his side, green chakra already surrounding her hands. "Gaara! What happened?"

"Orochimaru… he… he attacked Suna… all the cursed seals… they completely destroyed it. Temari and Kankurou, they…" he broke down crying, much to the shock of everybody in the room. "My home is gone. My family is gone. I don't know what to do anymore. My life is gone…" he sobbed. Tsunade merely took a leaf hitai-ite from inside her desk and wrapped it around his head.

"Old man! Ayame!" Naruto screamed as the burning ramen stand came into view. Naruto scrambled into the burning rubble, desperate to find life. Ayame stumbled out from the back, coughing fiercely.

"Naruto! Stay back!" she yelled over the blaze before a flaming beam fell and smashed into her skull. Naruto screamed and rushed to her. He felt her wrist for a pulse.

There was none.

"DAMN YOU, OROCHIMARU!" he roared as Konoha burned around him.

"Very good. I haven't had this much fun killing anyone in a long time!" Kabuto grinned maniacally as he stabbed with a chakra scalpel at Sai. Sai merely jumped out of the way and drew two tigers into existence.

"You must have a very small dick, thinking you can kill me." Sai said deadpan as the ink tigers rushed him. Kabuto grinned as he stabbed them with the chakra scalpel. They burst into puddles of ink as he stepped in them.

"Really?" in a second, he was at the ROOT member's side, whispering in his ear. "I think not." he jabbed his scalpel into his chest. "I think you just died."

"So did you." Kabuto looked at him, puzzled. "Look at your chest." He looked down, and there, lodged between his ribs, was Sai's namesake. Sai grinned his fake grin. "So long, dickless." And with that, he shoved it further in, puncturing his heart. Kabuto died instantly. He slumped to the ground. "Damn…" Sai expired.

Kurenai roared, maternal instincts raging as the cloud Nin held a kunai to her son shunin's neck. "Let him go, you bastard!"

"I think not!" he pressed the kunai deeper, causing a dribble of blood to flow. "I think I might just 'ave found a new toy! I think I might keep it!" he paused, before leering at her. "Unless you offer to trade places?"

Kurenai froze. "If I did, would you let him go?"

"Cross me 'eart an' 'ope to die!" he leered. "Now, walk over 'ere, nice an' easy, no need to rush." Kurenai slowly did as he said. He grabbed her neck and shoved the boy away. "Good! I'm going to 'ave more fun with you than 'im, anyway!" and with that, he slit open her shirt and started fondling her breasts. Kurenai growled.

"Shunin! Get out of here!" but her son was rushing at the ninja.

"Stop doing that to my mom, you big meanie!" he pounded on his leg with his fists. With a growl, he kicked the boy away.

"Ah, shaddup, you little blighter! I'm 'having some fun 'ere!" he lowered his mouth to her-

"You bastard!" Kurenai shoved a kunai through his chest and out through his back. He barfed up blood before speaking a word.

"kai." And the explosive tag strapped to his back detonated, destroying the whole house.

Flashback no jutsu, kai!

Yugito found Naruto curled up in the fetal position, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet, crying as he hugged his knees. "Naruto? Are you okay?" Naruto didn't respond. "Naruto? Everybody's looking for you." she poked him. No response. "Naruto, you're scaring me. Naruto, please stop." She went down on her knees and shook the older man.

'Sniff' "wha?" Naruto looked up into Yugito's worried face and sank back down. "Yugito. Could you just 'sniff' leave me alone right now?"

"Everybody's looking for you. They're all worried. They want you to come back."

"Well, damn them! I don't give a flying fuck what they want! It's always been give, give, give my entire life! Why can't I be allowed to be selfish this once!?" he shuddered as Yugito said nothing. She kneeled down and hugged his body, rocking with him.

It went on like this for a time that neither knew before Naruto gave a loud sniff and stood up. "Thank you. I needed that. Do you know what you looked like in the future?" Yugito nodded. "Picture that in your mind." She nodded again and scrunched her eyes up. He smiled and flicked her forehead. A bright light engulfed her, and there she was, in her twenty-two year old body. She gasped and looked at her hands. "My thanks for comforting me. Now, shall we head back?" he held out his arm. Giggling like the nine-year old she was, she took it. And they walked back to Konoha, arm in arm.

"So, what do you know about the raikage?" Naruto asked, breaking the companionable silence.

"Well, he's a manipulative bastard. He's the one who ordered Nibi sealed in me. He died when I was about twelve from a heart attack-" Naruto snorted. Yugito grinned. "I know, the most un-ninja death there is. He's a spaz. And if I know him, he probably sent me as a gift thinking that you would send me back, causing an international incident."

"Well, we already know that's not going to happen, don't we?" he grinned, causing her to giggle. "Now, knowing Sarutobi, he's going to make the reply as politically correct as possible to stop said incident. But he could write whatever he wanted and still get away with it, if he doesn't send you back. So, I think we send the raikage a little message…"

"You say that you were ambushed?" Sarutobi questioned the Aburame representative, both in the interrogation cell with Ibiki. He nodded.

"Yes, Hokage-sama. He asked why I was going instead of Shibi. I didn't want to tell him, but… he had these eyes. They went red, and I was enveloped in a haze of fear."

"A haze of fear? Describe it." Ibiki commanded, standing off to the side.

"I felt… as if I was going to die. It felt like KI, but so much more potent. It felt… like when the Kyuubi attacked." At this, Ibiki started, but remained silent.

"When the Kyuubi attacked?" Sarutobi asked, disbelievingly.

"Yes. I told him, and he thanked me, and then knocked me out. I woke up in an alley, my wallet and my clothes intact. That is all I remember." The Hokage nodded.

"That is all. You may go." The Aburame nodded before standing up and leaving. "Well, Ibiki?"

"I think that there is something going on. Forgive me, Hokage-sama, but there were certain… events that I have withheld from you until I could confirm them."

"Oh?"

"Yes. I had forgotten them, but recent events, such as that, have brought these memories to the front. First of all, the day after the Kyuubi attack…"

A th-th-th-th-that's all, folks!

I've decided to try and cut down on author's notes, because nobody likes 'em, and I doubt anybody reads them, so, yeah.

Yes, Jiraiya's death isn't canon, but you know what? I don't give a damn. I like the pervy ol' coot. He's probably my second-favorite character, with the first being Naruto. I didn't like what bakamoto did to him, so I changed it. Got a problem with it? Don't read the story.

RANT CORNER!!

Naruhina. Personally, this is my second favorite naruXfemale pairing. But y'know, it gets so damn hard to trudge through all the slop that is upchucked from all the half assed people who think they can write to find anything worthwhile. I mean, seriously, would it kill you to get a plotline, people!? I am so sick of people just typing whatever they want, and then just throwing it onto the website! I mean, come on! You people are bogging the site down! At least use spell check! And the grammar, don't get me started on the grammar! It rapes my eyes! My eyes! My precious eyes!

Now, I'm not saying that naruhina is bad. Far from it. There are the few, the mighty, the bold who gleam like a gem from all the dirt and other nasties. Have any of you read Team 8 by s'tarkan? It's the highest reviewed story in Naruto fanfiction. And there are others like it. Read them. It won't kill you. if you're a diehard narusaku fan, read a good naruhina. If you're a naruhina, read a good hinakiba. It's about broadening your horizons. That's what fanfiction is essentially about.

Wow, that wasn't much of a rant, was it?

OMAKE!!

Jiraiya is TNT

Jiraiya grinned a bloody grin. "goodbye, nagato, konan, yahiko… Naruto. Bunshin dai-"

Gamakichi poofed into existence, wielding a giant boombox. "sorry, but I heard what you were going to do, and I thought some music would help the mood." And with that, he punched play.

Oi! Oi! Oi! Oi! Oi! Oi! Oi! Oi!

Oi! Oi! Oi! Oi! Oi! Oi! Oi!

See me ride out of that sunset,

On your color TV screen

Out for all that I can get

If you know what I mean

There's women to the left of me,

Women to the right.

Ain't got no gun

Got no knife

Don't you start no fight!

Jiraiya was headbanging to the song, with Pein and his six bodies doing an odd little dance to the side. As one, they screamed the chorus.

'Cause I'm

TNT, I'm dynamite!

TNT! And I'll win that fight!

TNT, I'm a power load!

TNT! Now watch me explode!

Jiraiya summoned a toad up, with a guitar in hand, and the toad started playing the guitar section, with Jiraiya on one-handed air guitar. Pein pulled a microphone out of questionable regions and started singing into it.

I'm dirty, mean, and mighty unclean!

I'm a wanted man!

Public enemy number one,

Understand?

So lock up your daughter, and lock up your wife!

Lock up your back door, and run for your life!

The man is back in town!

So don't you mess me 'round!

'Cause I'm

TNT! I'm dynamite!

TNT! And I'll win that fight!

TNT! I'm a powerload!

TNT! Now watch me explode!

TNT! Oi! Oi! Oi!

TNT! I'm dynamite!

TNT! And I'll win that fight!

TNT! I'm a powerload!

TNT! Now watch me explode!

With that, the guitar-toad went into a fit of spasms while still being able to play a thirty-second solo. The toad jumped in the air and threw the guitar down, which, for some odd reason, had an exploding tag on it. Gamakichi, Jiraiya and Pein looked at each other for a second before speaking together.

"Aw, crap."

BOOM!

Sorry, had to get the AC/DC out of my system.

Okay, I'm laying down a ground rule right now. From this moment on, I am not updating any chapter of this story until I get at least twenty reviews for the new chapter. Get it? Got it? Good.

Bye!

P.S. for certain special interest parties 'coughgnosismastercough' naruto is going to meet sakura next chapter, no matter what.