Chapter Twenty One – Resurrections

He had made a mistake - a terrible, terrible mistake.

Namikaze Minato, Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, dead at the age of twenty-four, could only sit back and watch the years go by. He had figured that when the Shinigami removed his soul from his body, his life on earth would be over. Sure, his life had been over, but he remained earth-bound - forever separated from his beloved Kushina and unable to affect the life of his son.

This was hi self-bought purgatory. No one could see him, not even his fellow ghosts. He watched them all; like Obito following Kakashi around, and sometimes managing to give the stoic young pervert a scare. This was one of the drawbacks of having sacrificed his soul to the Shinigami. His had refused him entrance to Heaven, and even interaction with the rest of the earth-bound dead. In a way, it was a fitting penance for what he had done to his poor sweet musuko.

Kaji, Naruto…

His poor son.

It didn't matter what he did. He would follow his tiny son like a shadow, feeling double the pain that the small blonde felt whenever the villager and shinobi alike would shoot him hateful glares, whisper hateful thing, throw stones, and take every chance they got to abuse him.

It broke his heart to see his child in so much pain - he was only a baby for Kami's sake! But more then that, it infuriated Minato to the point of madness.

He had sacrificed everything for his people - his life, his soul… and his son. And how was he repaid? Sarutobi-sama did nothing and said nothing. The people hated his child, believing that the sweet innocent boy was the Kyuubi's evil incarnate. To them, Naruto was the representation of all that they hated, their scapegoat when they needed someone to blame when they had only had themselves to blame. How could he have been so stupid as to think that the village would see his son as a hero? He had been there that day when the council was lobbying to have the newborn Naruto executed.

They had, no matter how much he cared for them, proven countless times that their prejudice was like a second nature. After all, human nature was in the worst of them all. And he vowed that if he were ever given the second chance, he would make sure that they all paid.

But today? Today couldn't be any worse. It was October 10th - they very day that had become the worst day of his life/afterlife. For the blonde haired spirit, it was the first anniversary of his death, Kushina-koi's death, the Kyuubi's attack, and most importantly, Naruto's birthday. If there was one thing the ghostly young Hokage hated, it was being useless.

All he could only sit back and act as a guardian angel for the filthy underfed blonde toddler that lay curled up on a battered cot, trying to muffle the heartrending sobs within his ratty pillow. He had been unable to do a thing as the caretakers took it upon themselves to beat Naruto, bashing the one year old around like a rag doll until he was blue and could move no more. He had been thankful for Obito though, and he wished he could have thanked his ghostly former student, when the dark haired Uchiha stepped in to scare the bastards away.

As any big brother protecting their younger sibling, Obito had done for Naruto whatever he could.

'Hush musuko' he whispered as he sat down on the cot next to him, knowing that the tiny boy was unable to hear him. "Kaa-chan watches over you, and Tou-chan is here for you, even though you can't see him"

Naruto whimpered, but surprisingly calmed.

Minato smiled. Maybe he was of some use after all. Even if he wasn't able to affect the living world, he would still focus all his love towards his son, and his son would feel it. Reaching out, he brushed his fingers lightly over Naruto's blonde locks, smiling as the boy relaxed further and feel asleep thanks to his father's calming presence.

It stayed that way for an hour, until Naruto began to talk in his sleep.

"Soon…" the child mumbled sleepily.

The ghostly blonde perked.

'What is it musuko? What's soon?' he urged silently.

"Kijutsu…"

Magic?

What did he mean by that?

And so over the years Minato continued to watch, taking Naruto's sleep spoken words to heart. He had done whatever he could to learn more about magic. It had taken years, enough time in which he was watched his child grow from a tiny baby into scrawny pre-teen. Naruto had worked hard, fighting against the biases of everyone to become strong. It wasn't until after his son's first Chuunin Exam, did the resourceful Yondaime manage to glean the information from old Sarutobi-sama.

He was shocked beyond words when he discovered what his child had prophesied. Apparently the old geezer was in contact with the wizards! Wizards of all people - the sworn enemies of all shinobi! He only heard of wizards, and their magic, in stories. But this was all too real.

As he listened in, he discovered that Naruto had dreamed of a mighty wizarding tyrant. A baby boy had defeated the beast no more then three weeks after the dream. But like the Kyuubi, this Dark Lord remained within the world. But what shocked Minato even more was when he found out that the Sandaime was going to send Naruto and two teammates away from Konoha, and accept the wizard boy and two friends in they're place.

He would have thought the old man mad, his brains addled in his old age, if it hadn't been for what happened two months later. Ron, the redheaded wizard child had awoken one of wizarding bloodlines. He turned to be Spirit Speaker, and had, although unknowingly at the time, unlocked the doors between the spiritual plains and had allow him to cross over to become like any other ghost. And in befriending the boy, he found out that there was a chance that he could be brought back to life.

Something like this couldn't be ignored.

Not when this was his was his second chance.

Namikaze Minato, Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, dead at the age of twenty-four - would live again…

Naruto cried out as a turbulent shockwave of energy washed through the Konohagakure so hard that it knocked anyone standing off they're feet and sent then fly backwards. He gasped, his sides paining him so badly he could barely breath. But it seemed that the whole thing had positive side effects as well.

For the first time in his whole life, he felt totally energized and although he didn't know it at this time, the side effects had also left all the wounded healed; the sick well; and the old feeling young again for more then ten miles. Along with the force of the revitalization, a blinding flash of ultraviolet light had lit up the night sky brighter then the sun. While it slowly faded, eyes began to readjust. Sitting up, Naruto found that everyone that had going in on making the resurrection a reality were currently looking like collapsed dominos, all of them panting as though they had just partook in a marathon.

While the rest of the spectators were still in shock, Naruto crawled over to Hinata's side and shock the indigo haired out of her own stupor.

"N-Naruto-kun?" she blinked. "Did it work?"

The blonde fox-boy could only shrug. "Don't know yet. Look!"

He pointed towards a big cloud of sulfuric smoke that billowed from the place where Ron had been standing.

"Y-you don't think he sp-spontaneously combusted d-do you?"

Naruto couldn't help but burst out laughing at that one. He heard someone else laughing as well, and looked up to see a couple of figures stumble out of cloud of smoke.

"Too much sulfur Ron" a dark haired man in his late twenties teased, his voice containing a slight wheeze.

"Sh - shut up you, you bastard" the redheaded wizard snarled. That only served to enact another coughing fit. "I hate wiseasses"

"Then that means you hate yourself!"

The young man could only be one person - Uchiha Obito.

The two pre-teens, along with many other people, gapped. He looked so much older, so much that they barely tell him apart from the ghostly boy he had been only minutes go. His whole outfit, which had looked fine on his teenage body, mocked his handsome adult appearance now. His dark hair was scraggly mess, as if it hadn't been brushed in years; his pair of childish florescent orange goggles where pushed up to his forehead; and the cloths he was dressed looked as though they suited someone ten years younger, which he had been moments earlier.

He paused, looking around at the staring people. He paused in that to look down at his clothes, and then blushed crimson with embracement, his cheeks looking like a new breed of tomato.

"Too childish?" he asked Ron, getting a sardonic smirk from the red haired boy.

"Yah think?"

Then another voice suddenly caught their attention.

"Sheesh! How does a man find his way out here?"

Obito started laughing.

"The greatest shinobi Konoha has ever seen and you get lost in a little cloud of smoke, ne sensei?"

Naruto froze.

Sensei? But Obito and Kakashi's sensei was -

"Geeze brat! At least you could've helped me out too," Namikaze Minato pouted as he stepped out of the smoke.

For all those that he thought this was a hoax, everything suddenly changed the moment the Yondaime, alive and twelve years older, stepped out of the smoke. The uproar it caused was enough to level streets if it made of chakra. There was no doubt at all who he was, as he didn't look much different from the last time they had saw him.

He still sported the shaggy shoulder length sunshine hair that fell over brilliant blue eyes and was dressed in ensemble of white and red flamed cloak that he was famous for. Currently, his eyes were watering thanks to the smoke, and he was pounding on his chest as blew smoke rings to banish the fumes that he had inhaled.

Three people most of all were gapping at him in speechless shock. The first was Ron Weasley; one of the resident wizards and possessor of the wizarding bloodline limit the Seireimegan. He was beyond shocked to discover that not only had he brought Uchiha Obito back to life, but he had also brought the Yondaime - his best friend Naruto's father - back as well! He was absolutely befuddled, having never guessed the identity of spirit friend beforehand only to find out now that he happened to be some so famous.

The second was Hatake Kakashi; one of the Yondaime's students and infamously known as the Copy Nin thanks to the one Sharingan eye that he best friend and teammate, Obito - now currently back from the dead - had given. He was so shocked to see that the spirit that Ron had been hanging out with since Halloween, the one that had mercilessly teased him via the redhead, was his own sensei! Only his mask was keeping his jaw from coming unhinged and rolling away.

The third was none other Namikaze Naruto, the blonde Hokage's own son. The foxy boy was currently having trouble breathing again while Hinata panicked and babbled with incoherent alarm by his side. His mouth, normally spewing all sorts of incredibly loud nonsense was flapping like a fish's out of water. And what kid that suddenly found themselves' looking at their own father back from the dead wouldn't?

He stood, his body moving on its own accord. Trembling slightly, he couldn't even find is own voice, his emotions an utter muddle in this moment of shock. He would have kept going, however, if it weren't for the suddenly shattering sensation exploding through his head.

And in wave of red haze, he collapsed into darkness.

"What the hell…?"

Naruto's eyes snapped open and his hands flew to the back of his head. He sifted through his spiky blonde locks, but found nothing. There was no source as to what had caused the pain he had only seconds ago experienced. Looking up, he noticed with a gasp that he was no longer staring at his newly resurrected father, nor was he even in Konoha at all.

Instead an oddly familiar perpetual white mist surrounded him. Then he remembered. This was the same place that he and Harry had met during their joint dream all those months ago. But it was strange this time, with no one for company.

"Oh great… I must be dead…" he muttered dryly.

And from behind him, a soft chuckle answered. "Don't worry darling, its not that bad - a concussion at worst"

Whirling around, the blonde boy found himself staring at a beautiful woman. She wore a long pale green robe, with flaming auburn hair that fell to mid-back and her eyes, her eyes were like sparking emeralds. He had seen those eyes before…

"Are… are you Lily Potter?"

The woman smiled.

"Yes dear, I am"

"Wow… Harry never told his okaa-san was so pretty!"

"Such flattery" she smirked. "You know, James might get jealous!"

The blonde blushed crimson and began to sputter.

With a laugh, Lily waved it off. "Don't worry dear, that buffoon gets jealous no matter what. But never you mind that, I only have a few minutes to talk and I don't want to waste a second of it. Its quite imperative that you listen closely to what I am about to tell you. While it's technically against the rules to give unauthorized 'divine intervention', I have something to give you"

She paused, and gave him a once over. With a nod, she reached into her robes and withdrew a large silver mirror. "Okay, this is what I brought you here for" she smiled, and handed it to him.

Naruto took it from her delicate hands and stared down at it. The mirror was a beautiful work of artistry; the handle was molded to look like branch of ivy growing around a pool of water. The glass held in place by four leaves. The odd thing about it was that the glass was frosty, yielding no reflection of the one that looked into it.

"Umm… I think it's broken" he commented, looking back up.

That only caused Lily to laugh again. "All men are same - they need a manual for everything!"

"Hey!"

"Oh, take no offence sweetie, but it's the curse of the male species. Anyway, the mirror isn't broken. Do you remember what my Harry told you about the Mirror of Erised?"

With a frown, Naruto chewed on his lip. "It was the one that guarded the Philosopher's Stone from Voldemort last year wasn't it? It shows you your heart's desire - Erised is Desire spelt backwards right?"

The red haired woman clapped.

"And people have the nerve to call such a smart child an idiot? What a shame" she sighed, causing Naruto to blush at the offhanded comment. "Good. The mirror in your hands is very similar to the Mirror of Erised. It is called the Looking Glass of Detraped - the Looking Glass of the Departed. With this mirror, you can call upon the dead. It will allow you free some innocent people, one of them being Harry's godfather that was sent to prison of my and James' deaths"

"Thanks…"

She smiled again.

"Don't mention it - it was the most that we could do for you"

"We?" he frowned.

"Yes. Getting the mirror to you was the work of not only myself, but also two good friends. Kushina says she wishes she could have been there for you, as does Makoto say the same for Sasuke. But you must be waking up now, your father is frantic," she winced, then added "He's currently giving the whole village an earful for their treatment of you these last thirteen years"

Naruto shock turned into a malicious grin. "You have no idea how long I've waiting for someone to do that, and it makes it all the sweeter that it's my otou-san doing it too!"

He waved goodbye to her as the mists began to fade, causing the red haired witch to begin vanishing with them. And it was only as he began to feel himself returning to his body, he vaguely heard the sound of Lily Potter's voice say.

"Oh, and just remember; Beware of Deceptions that Lies in Secrets"

- Five Minutes Earlier -

Minato coughed, very much alive. All around him was smoke - what a way to be brought back from the dead with a bang! He stumbled, his eyes watering. "Sheesh! How does a man find his way out here?"

Then the sound of sound of laughter met his ears.

"The greatest shinobi Konoha has ever seen and you get lost in a little cloud of smoke, ne sensei?"

The blonde man growled inwardly, following the sound of Obito's jovial voice. It was an act that promised pain for his insolent pupil, a pain that he would remember till the day he died - again. The smoke thinned as he neared the edge of the cloud, and when he finally spotted the boy, or young man would have been more accurate, he glowered at him.

"Geeze brat! At least you could've helped me out too," Minato whined, stepped out of the smoke and pounding on his chest in order to expel what he had inhaled, tiny smoke rings wafting up into the air. However, all thoughts of punishing the brat vanished when he saw his son, the boy was on his feet with his jaw hanging slightly slack and his eyes wide at the sight of him.

'He didn't expect this! Kakashi too! I have enough blackmail material to last me forever!' he thought with a mental snicker.

He was about to take a step forward, but before he could move Naruto let out a sharp gasp of pain and crumpled forward. Instinct took over instantly, and he used the Shunshin to move as fast as he could to catch the boy before he hit the ground. Minato couldn't help but visibly shudder as blood from a deep jagged wound began to color Naruto's blonde hair red. Looking down he noticed that a fist-sized rock lie no more then a 'striking and falling' distance away.

Someone had tried to kill his son - and before his very eyes at that!

Snarling, he looked up and everyone flinched at the steel in his eyes.

"I demand that whoever did that steps forward - now!"

He was surprised when an older woman, at least in her early to mid sixties, stepped forward. His recognition of the woman was instantaneous. It was Pirittokuru Hikari.

Hikari was a civilian woman and had been the mother of many children, more then half of them shinobi. She had been the one that had taken Kushina like her own when his wife had gained asylum in Konoha, becoming just another one of her brood. Sadly, every one of Hikari's children had died - the ninja and civilian alike - leaving the mother a burnt out shell of her former self. Without a family to take care of any longer, she had left the village a few months after the attack, and had only returned slightly over a year ago. But these thirteen years had done a number on the woman. It saddened him to see that her once kind and caring features where now a brutal mask of hard lines and a pervasive scowl.

She wasn't looking at him, but rather at his inert son - as were many furious onlookers.

"I missed," she growled, and spat on the ground next to her feet. "Should have been a little more to left, and then we would have been ridden of that filthy monster for good!"

There was unanimous shouts of approval from nearly everyone present, and the louder it got, the more Minato begin to feel his blood begin to boil.

"That thing's a demon!"

"It has no right to live!"

"It slaughtered my family!"

"Vile wretch!"

"Its a blight within our village!"

"The Sandaime should have killed it when he had the chance!"

"Slimy little creature has foiled my ever attempt to kill it - five times already!"

"It will kill us all!"

"Monster!"

"Demon-spawn!"

"ENOUGH!"

Dead silence filled the air. Of all the younger generation that had know the truth about Naruto and Kyuubi before had were currently on their feet, their backs rigid and radiating such killing intent that could level a mountain.

"You don't even know Naruto-kun" Hyuuga Hinata said icily. "He is ten times the person any of you will ever be"

Standing defiant, Minato was pleased to see that the girl was soon joined by her teammates. It wasn't long and then Sasuke, Sakura, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were also standing at her side. It the rest of the rookies of their age group joined them soon after that, even though they didn't know the whole story.

"Why do feel the need to hate the innocent?" she continued. "You are all so bigoted, believing immediately that anything you fear or don't understand is evil. If Naruto-kun was really a demon like you say, would be have risked his life to keep me safe? To help me fight against the cruelties of my own clan? People say I'm weak, but here I am - a chuunin in my own right. And whom do I have to thank for this? I thank Naruto-kun, because if it weren't for him, then I would still believe all the lies my otou-san has spewing all these years that was spineless ingrate and a stain on the Hyuuga name. I don't care anymore, because I am strong and it was thanks to the boy I love that helped me recognize it!"

Although Hinata's speech was more then convincing, that wasn't enough to sway the once Pirittokuru matriarch.

"I don't see why you're so adamant about protecting that thing?" she nearly screamed. "There is nothing human about it. Because of the demon all my children are dead. It was the reason so many people died, it was even the reason why my sweet Kushina died too! Because of the creature, my life was ruined! You should let me kill the vermin now!"

With deadly calm, Minato pasted Naruto into Hinata's waiting arms, and walked forward.

His voice acidic, he said, "You of all people have the right to say such a thing. Kushina was never your child, but she did love you as a mother. I'm sure she would be furious right know to know that the woman she saw as a second mother wants to murder child that she gave her own life to bring into this world"

"Lies! Demon's trickery!" Hikari cried. "You've all been bewitched! Everyone knows that Kushina's baby died that day!"

"It was what you were all made to think. Sandaime thought it would keep him safe, but he was wrong. It only served to make matters worse. All of you have been tormenting an innocent boy all his life"

"LIAR! THAT THING'S A DEMON AND ALL DEMONS ARE HEARTLESS, MURDERING MONSTERS!"

"Foolish woman. You know as well as I do those words so speak are false"

Silence feel as over the crowd, and Minato turned around to find himself looking at the white-haired friend and the ashen haired girl that had returned to Konoha with his son.

"Until recently," the boy continued. "I was the vessel of the Gobi no Houkou" there were gasps and a few screams following that announcement, and the people nearest to him began to move away as though he had some kind of contagious disease.

He glared at them all.

"Contrary to popular belief, Gobi was nevera raging, mindless monster. The baka was annoying and a prideful chauvinist at times, but what do expect from a demon? Its logically simple to point out that they are not human like we are, and thus do not partial to the moral rules. But who are we to talk? Humans can be just as cruel. The Tsukiaoi clan of Yukigakure is completely to blame for 'unleashed' the Gobi. For their own selfish reasons, they were determined to usurp the demon its ancient resting grounds. They fought a useless battle, many of them dieing because they were too stupid to realize it. After generations of pointless slaughter, Gobi did the one thing it hoped would end 'war', and it sealed its into the clan's year old heir - me"

He fixed a hard gaze on them all. The whispering continued, furious like a nest of hornets.

"Only filth like you would - "

The speaker, a young man in his mid twenties, suddenly rose into the air and came crashing down into a group of Anbu, bringing them down like dominos.

"Why don't you just shut the hell up?" standing before them now another boy, a pale blonde with his fine aristocratic features twist in fury. "In my experience, humans are worse then demons. And I should know because I was once exactly like you - hell, I'm still like you! But filth? You should be happy that the real monsters of the world don't bother with pathedic beings like you!"

Standing strait, he unlaced the ties that held a balky clock around him, and let it drop. The blonde Hokage and everyone else that had not seen what he looked like were now witnessing to a terrible sight. Unlike the first boy, the second boy really did look like a monster. Like something brought to life from a nightmare, his had hands that were knurled hooks with claws; his teeth like razors; hard gossamer, scaly skin; and thick spikes that trailed down his arms.

"Call me a demon all you like, because it will be a refreshing change from they the other names I've been called these last few months. I have been punished for my misdeeds a hundred times over, and I live with it still. It was because of people like you - people how saw the chance in molding a dangerous weapon - which is why I look this way"

He snorted, a trail of smoke leaving his nostrils. "So sure, I may look like a demon, but the difference between being a demon and looking like a demon is that I refuse the act on its instincts. But I must say, even though I'd like nothing more then to slaughter you all, I've tasted enough blood to last a lifetime"

He turned on his heal and stomped through crowd, the terrified civilians and shinobi parting like the Red Sea.

"Because of the Eight-headed Dragon inside me, I ate my own father. And believe me, you can't even fathom what that sort of thing does to a person"

Minato watched the boy leave, knowing with a secret smile that he had just pulled the linchpin.

"Yo, Harry…"

Gasping, all eyes returning Naruto. The boy's eyes were open now and he was swaying drunkenly from a concussion. But strangely enough the boy was holding a large silver mirror in his hand that hadn't been there a minute ago.

Naruto grinned foxily, waving his newly procured mirror about.

"'… Your mom's a looker!"