"Victory is mine Yondaime!"

A cold red eye met vibrant blues as it waited for the inevitable end of its foe. Hands stretched out, chains dangling on each side, it was undoubtedly the final blow; Obito could sense it.

"Huh!"

A gasp of air passed through his lips when the man in front of him vanished from sight, leaving no trail.

"Rasengan!"

It started as a minor sensation on his back. So insignificant he could have ignored it had it not been for the explosion of pain that followed. He grunted in pain as the ground beneath him shattered from the force that the assault brought with itself.

"You are as fast as ever," he managed to articulate. His words were full of disrespect for the man in front of him.

Flash.

His heart stopped for a moment when his opponent vanished yet again. His bright blond hair being the only indication that he had reappeared in front of him.

"Madara."

Behind the mask, a small smile made its way onto Obito's face. He rose to his full height and stared at his opponent.

"I will not let you destroy my village, and I will do everything in my power to make sure it remains safe." Minato, the Yondaime Hokage, whispered. His voice, full of authority and confidence.

"Haha" Obito cackled as he adjusted the mask properly on his face. "You cannot do anything now Yondaime. Your village will be destroyed, whether by me or the Kyū-"

~Squelch~

"Not anymore..."

A lone red eye widened in shock as an ominous spiral of pain began to immobilize his body. Obito tried to speak but instead of words, only deluges of red rain departed his mouth. "Haa…" his heartbeats rose to unimaginable levels when his opponent, the fabled Namikaze Minato, impaled his kunai deep into his chest.

"It's over..."

For the first time in his life, Obito truly felt terrified at the words that came out of his teacher's mouth. They were hollow, even more than his own. So the rumors were true after all. Composed as he might look to others, his teacher would do everything necessary when it came to protecting what he loves.

Groaning in pain, Obito fell to the ground when his teacher withdrew the weapon out of his chest. "No", a whisper fled his lips as he rapidly placed his hand above the critical wound. It was not supposed to end like this. He was supposed to kill Minato, not vice versa.

His red eye widened slightly when he saw his teacher leave the area. 'No!' Obito could not let him leave like this. He still had to hurt him, make him pay for what he caused to Rin.

"Minato sen-" He tried to enunciate, wanting to at least damage the man emotionally for the last time, but his teacher beat him even in that.

"Goodbye, Obito..."

Obito's heart stopped, a rare smile etched on his bruised face as his lifeless eye stared at the white clouds above, illuminated by the stars and the moon in the night sky. Soon those clouds vanished as a storm of red began to envelop the whole area, causing Minato to look up grimly. He knew that he would be in for the toughest fight of his life.

Muttering a curse and a prayer, he flashed towards the red tempest, while the bright lights of multiple explosions deluged the silent atmosphere.

- Outside Konoha -

Debris.

Fire.

Rain.

Destruction was all his eyes could see. Burnt trees, decimated mountains, and massive amounts of rubble lay awry on the ground as he struggled to keep his breath in check. This was not supposed to happen. This was not how he and his wife planned to celebrate this night.

He was supposed to be holding their son in his arms with his wife lying on the bed beside them, smiling at the soft giggles of their baby boy.

'I'm going to spoil my baby boy. He will be the biggest mama's boy in all of Konoha!'

Another stream of hot tears trickled down his cheeks. His hollow blue eyes that were gazing at nothing veered over to the dead body of his wife.

Lying on the cold ground of his village, his wife's body was covered with countless bruises, blood, soil, and a giant gash going all the way through her abdomen. "Kushina", he murmured in a faint voice, barely holding the hand sign needed for the completion of his jutsu.

"Why did everything turn out to be like this? What did we do wrong? All we wanted was a small family of our own" his whispers had no effect on the dead woman as she remained lifeless on the ground with a small smile on her face. He could still see her tears. "You can act tough, but you can't fool me. So wake up! Wake up for your son! At least say something to him". His body trembled as a fit of sobs left his mouth, blood immediately following the cries.

"She is already dead, mortal."

A cold shiver scampered down Minato's spine when he heard the plain words of the Shinigami, spoken in that ghastly and hollow voice. They were harsh, ruthless even but most importantly, they were true. Kushina was dead and there was nothing he could do to bring her back. "I know", he bitterly acknowledged.

The Shinigami scowled at the absence of conviction in his summoner's voice. In every other reality, his summoner had always sealed the beast with a confident smile on his face. "You are different from your other resemblances, Namikaze" the Death God whispered, sharp teeth glimmering brightly in the dark night.

"Other… resemblances?"

"Did you truly believe this is the only reality to exist? ? There are infinite worlds, some like yours, others different. Some alive, others dead. You and your counterparts from these worlds happen to be mere afterthoughts when seeing the bigger picture."

That took Minato by surprise. To find out he wasn't the only 'him' and there were a lot more of 'him' from the reaper itself , was something he never expected would happen to him. He could by no means predict this tidbit, but still to have this knowledge bestowed on him in his last moments, was surreal so to say, but so was this whole situation.

"How?"

He could have asked a multitude of questions, questions that would have eaten away his sanity if he were to survive, but this one question was at the forefront of his mind.

"The love you have for your family surpasses your resemblances. You are an anomaly. Every other resemblance sealed the beast without another thought. Here you stand, reluctant to do what you have done countless times before.

A sliver of a smile appeared on the bruised face of the Hokage. "Why wouldn't I hesitate? They are my family after all."

The Shinigami frowned upon hearing the unusual answer. Now, the Death God was even more interested in this rendition of its summoner. "You amuse me," a hollow chuckle escaped the cold purple lips. "You do not want to seal the beast in your child."

"No."

"Then do not."

Now that caught Minato off guard. "W-what?" Slowly he turned his head to the direction where the being who ruled over death was standing. Perplexed and confused, he blinked at the powerful entity. "What do you mean by that?"

"Do not seal the beast. Stop the ritual", theShinigami glanced at the Kyūbi, or at least the last remaining reminiscent of the beast. It was almost sealed into the boy, only a snap of his finger was needed to finalize the ritual.

"I can't do that. It will put the village in danger!"

"It will not, Namikaze. I will ensure it."

Minato remained silent for a while, trying his best to decipher the motive of the God behind that absurd proposal. "Why?" He began. "Why are you doing this? What will you get from it?"

The Death God smiled. "Change. For eons, you and I have done this ritual. I wish to see something different this time, something very different."

"Different?"

"Yes" the Death God nodded its head, confirming the suspicion of its summoner. "So, tell me Namikaze, what do you want? A happy life with your wife and your child? Will you do as your resemblances have done and leave your child all alone to suffer in this tragic world, where even your beloved student turned into a mindless fool?"

The jab did its work as Minato recoiled at the mention of Obito. 'Why did you do this, Obito?' His heart broke into a thousand pieces again, unable to handle the fact that his own student would do something like this to his family. His thoughts were interrupted when the Shinigami spoke again, this time rather impatiently.

"Choose."

He didn't know whether it was his own will to live or the yearning to have a family beside him, Minato didn't even think about it for a second before nodding his head. "I want my family back" Pathetic and selfish as he might sound, he still wanted a family of his own over everything else.

"Very well." The Death God whispered as the temperature dropped down in a matter of seconds. Soon, the cold and marred hands of the Death touched its summoner's skin and brought out the object it desired.

"Hahahaha"

Precarious giggles of the Shinigami deluged the clearing with the madness they possessed.

- oOo -

The Shinigami chuckled, his vacant eyes staring at the child with mild amusement and enthusiasm. "You are very unique young Namikaze" cold words left the mouth of the powerful entity. "You have not even completed a day in this world, but you have already started challenging powerful beings huh?" the death smiled at his own lame statement.

Sharp yellow eyes glanced down at the abdomen of the child. "Let it go, Naruto" the entity groaned, realizing how difficult this simple work could be. This child, this small bundle of flesh and bones in front of him refused to let go of the beast's chakra. It was like he had absorbed all of it within his small body.

"No. I cannot extract the remaining chakra. It is impossible now." The depleted God finally accepted defeat, totally distraught with the fact that a mere child was able to overpower his most powerful seals. Well, it was wrong to say that he 'couldn't', rather, he wasn't willing to. The child's body and soul had, in a matter of minutes, made the beast's chakra his own. Removing it would have damaged both his chakra coils as well as his soul.

"It's amusing to see you accept your defeat like this, Shinigami."

Shinigami froze as soon as he heard a familiar melodious voice. It was her; he was sure of it and that mere thought was enough to place fear in his mind. Slowly, he turned around, making sure to not look into her eyes. "Amaterasu", the Death God whispered; his voice as fragile as the child sleeping peacefully on the altar behind him.

Amaterasu, the Goddess of Universe, smiled, coal-black eyes regarding him with curiosity and amusement. "You summoned me?" She asked and at the confirming nod of his head continued. "Why?" A straightforward question fled her mouth.

"Ehhh" Shinigami paused, his mouth closed due to the lack of an appropriate answer. 'What should I tell her?' The poor God thought silently. Never had he summoned Amaterasu like this, especially in this dimension. She never liked it for some reason. "I-", the absence of words and confidence was palpable on his eerie face, something that the beauty in front didn't fail to notice.

"Why are you shaking, Shinigami?" The beautiful woman whispered. "If you are afraid of me, then you are worrying about nothing. I will not do anything to you. I'm actually happy that you summoned me here. My brother was being restless and stupid again." The irritation in her voice, clear and obvious to hear.

"Haha," The Death God chuckled, an uncomfortable smile plastered on his face. "Susano'o can be stubborn sometimes" he whispered and had to hold back a giggle when the woman groaned, doing nothing to hide the disdain she held for her sibling. "As for the reason why I called you here…" he trailed off as he slowly moved his attention back to the child.

Amaterasu was fast to follow him. "A child?" She blinked, eyeing the concealed little bundle with scrutiny and confusion. "Did you summon me, the Goddess of the universe, to take care of a mere child?" Her exclamation earned a surprised look from the Death God, who immediately began to shake his head in fear.

"No! I didn't call you for that, Amaterasu. That would be very disrespectful from my side." The translucent face of Shinigami took a serious shift when he looked back at the boy. "I want you to take this child and two other souls to your primary realm."

"Why?"

"I want to watch my summoner's life."

"Huh? What type of request is that, Shinigami?" Amaterasu asked, flicking a few strands of black hair behind her ear.

Shinigami kept his calm, abstaining fromannoying the Goddess any further. "It's strange, I know. Something like this has never been done before and that is why I want to do it this time. My summoner, Namikaze Minato is a very powerful individual, Amaterasu. He is once in a generation born prodigy with unparalleled potential, but sadly, he never gets an opportunity to showcase his talent. In every dimension that I oversee, my summoner dies before he can get what he truly desires."

"What does he desire?"

"A family. My summoner yearns for a family. He will do anything to get a chance to live a happy life with his wife and his child. Anything." Shinigami intentionally emphasized that one particular word because even he knew what the deity in front of him wanted.

Amaterasu didn't say anything as her mind was busy assessing the words she had just heard from the mouth of her associate. He might be cunning, evil, and even ruthless but her subordinate was not a liar. Shinigami was a very honest being, so whatever he had just told her was bound to be true, and if that was the case...

"Even though I respect you and your judgment, I think you are over exaggerating the skills of this individual. I don't think -"

"My summoner is far more powerful than any of your followers." The seriousness on his face doubled as an aura of death surrounded his body.

"Excuse me?"

Shinigami didn't even blink at her silent threat. "My summoner is far more powerful than any of your followers, even Yasaka," he whispered again, not intimidated by the lady now. If there was one thing he absolutely detested, it was the questioning of his judgment. It was insulting.

Amaterasu didn't agree with Shinigami. She had seen Yasaka go all-out before, and she had to admit, it was somewhat terrifying. She had never seen Mt. Fuji act up so violently, and she had to run some major interference that day. However, she didn't argue any further. It would end up nowhere, and they would each insist that their summoner was stronger. She also saw something she had never seen in the eyes of her ally before. It was there, hidden behind the hollowness of his yellow eyes. "You admire this summoner of yours. Don't you Shinigami?" She smiled.

"I-I… Yes. He is truly a hero, Amaterasu."

After a brief moment of contemplation, the Goddess nodded her head. "Then I will take him to my world."

"Really?"

"Yes. I will also permit you to make periodic arrivals there. You are no longer prohibited from traveling to my realm."

Shinigami was at the loss of words. Never ever in his wildest dreams had he thought this day would come where he would be allowed to visit the true realm of Shinto. It was surreal. "T-Thank you, Ama-"

"Give me the child. I want to see it."

Just like that, the surprise vanished from his face and was replaced by panic and worry. 'Naruto…' he lamented as gently picked up a child with his astral hands and hovered him over to the Goddess, who, for some unknown reason, was looking absolutely thrilled to see the child.

"Here."

Amaterasu carefully grabbed the child from her ally's hands. "Ahh" she smiled as he brought the concealed bundle close to her bosom. "Now, ow… let me see your cute-" whatever she was about to say perished on her lips as soon as her eyes landed on the child's face.

He was beautiful no, outright gorgeous, and cute. His blonde tresses were as bright as her Sun, while his deep violet eyes were as stunning as her coal black orbs. He was perfect and the small smile he had on his cute little face only made him more fascinating in her eyes.

"Aww", she giggled when the boy tried to reach her face with his small hands. "Do you want to touch my face?" She asked, lowering her head a little so that the child could touch her cheeks. She cooed when she saw little Naruto making grabby motions at her face, and giggled when she felt his tiny hands pinch her cheeks.

"There, now you can touch me, my dear-" she paused and turned over to an utterly shocked Shinigami, whose mouth was comically hanging open at the sight. "What is his name?"

"N-Na… Naruto!"

She nodded and veered around.

"Naruto…" her eyes blazed with happiness as she uttered his name.

What was not commonly known about Amaterasu, is the fact that she had always wanted a child of her own to pamper and spoil. A desire which only grew stronger over time after that bastard Susano'o killed Suki Fujiwara, her favorite attendant, in a fit of rage.

She had found Suki and raised her from a baby into a fine young woman. The joy she felt, seeing someone who was effectively her daughter in all but flesh and blood, grow up and succeed was indescribable. The pain she felt after her death was soul crushing, and she would never forget that feeling. Even now, her heart still clenches in pain whenever she recalls what happened.

But now?

As she gazed upon Naruto's happy face, she could feel that pain fading away. She could feel her heart grow lighter with each second spent with this little bundle of joy. She felt like this was a second chance for her. Another chance for her to experience the joy of raising a child from infancy.

She gently kissed the infant on the head and lovingly whispered to herself.

"My dear little Naruto."

Shinigami didn't want to ruin her mood, but he felt that it was his duty to inform her about something very important. "Amaterasu… Naruto already has a mother. You can't take her place." He whispered timidly, fearing that he might anger the most influential figure of the Shinto faction.

Amaterasu blinked. "Already has a mother?" Her voice decreased to a soft murmur as she glanced back at the child who surprisingly was still smiling at her. "You already have a mother, my child", the desperation in her voice was palpable but to Shinigami's utter surprise and relief, the sadness didn't last long. Soon her lips curved up, eyes again flooded with love and affection.

"No problem, I will be your wife then."

Shinigami was once again, rendered speechless. This… This was completely out of the blue! They had literally just met, and she is proclaiming to be his wife? Even if one overlooked the suddenness of things, they could not possibly disregard the sheer differences between the two.

'What? How? Huh?' Shinigami's mind struggled to reboot as he heard Amaterasu's declaration. He couldn't comprehend what was going on. Amaterasu was known to be a cruel and cold goddess to those she didn't see as family, and at best, disinterested and distant to everyone else. Yet right now, one could never associate the borderline-evil goddess to the woman who was playfully poking at the cheeks of a happy, giggling infant.

'This…. This is just… This does not make sense! One is a mortal, the other is a god! Their energies are completely incompatible, and they just wouldn't match! Amaterasu could accidentally erase Naruto from existence with a sneeze!'

Shinigami's mind was so engrossed in this inner turmoil that he didn't notice everything suddenly falling silent and the air going cold.

'Putting the incompatibility in powers aside, they are far too different in age for each other! Amaterasu is thousands of years old, yet Naruto would be so little compared to her! Wait… Could she possibly be a shotac-.

His thoughts were cut off as his brain rebooted and his danger senses kicked into overdrive. He frantically looked around to see what was emitting so much killing intent and froze up in shock when he saw a shadowed Amaterasu with glowing eyes grinning dementedly at him.

"I said that out loud didn't I?" Shinigami squeaked out, his voice a complete contrast to earlier.

Amaterasu did not respond; her grin only stretched wider as she slowly started to advance, her arms raised as if going to strangle someone.

He wondered if this was what death felt like. Shinigami started backing away as Amaterasu slowly crept towards him, maintaining that deranged smile. As he backed away, he idly noted the irony of a god of death, feeling what it's like to be on the verge of death.

He gazed towards his only hope of not dying permanently and was surprised to see little Naruto looking curiously at them. Realizing that this was his only chance, he quickly pointed at Naruto and yelled out, "Amaterasu! Your pressure is making Naruto uncomfortable!"

With that single sentence, the pressure vanished completely, and the air returned to normal as Amaterasu seemingly teleported towards Naruto's side and started cooing at him once again, causing him to start waving his tiny arms around while gurgling cheerfully.

Shinigami let out a sigh of relief and prepared to get away from the insane goddess before she noticed, but a cold voice made him freeze up again.

"Shinigami, you live this time. But don't think that I will forget about everything you said… You now owe me a favor for sparing your life."

As Shinigami started sputtering at the unfairness, Amaterasu's voice cut him off.

"Shut up, or I'll kill you."

- Elsewhere, a certain redheaded woman with a lock of hair over her right eye, wearing a blue dress sneezed. -

Deciding to escape before the situation deteriorated, he quickly vanished into nothingness, leaving behind a baby Naruto in the arms of the Goddess of the Sun.

- oOo -

It was surreal. No, that did not quite fit the situation given what had happened. Reality shattering would have sounded much better. Minato went from seeing his wife dead by his side, and his son's future unknown to becoming a celebrated businessman in a new world with a goddess telling him that she had provided him and his family a new life here, on the request of Shinigami.

A world where Gods, Devils, Angels, Yōkai, Vampires, and even ghosts existed no less. A place where the stuff of legends and myths were reality. It made him wonder if something like this was present in his homeworld too. What if they were just unaware of the-

"Yowch!" His thoughts were cut short by a kick to his shin, courtesy of the grinning blonde boy standing in front of him.

"HAHA! Got you dad. Mom was right, it is so easy to catch you when you are thinking about dumb things." The five-year-old smirked at his father, his big violet eyes glittering mischievously as he sprinted around the older man in order to assert himself as an energetic freak. However, the baby size orange tracksuit he had on his body only made him look cuter rather than an athlete.

"Oh, Naruto. What will I ever do with you?" Shaking his head slightly with a small smile on his face, he bent down to ruffle the boy's hair, making him mock pout at being treated like a kid, while internally enjoying the affectionate display. "Naruto, the things that I think about are not dumb or meaningless. They all are a part of the bi- OUCH! OK stop. I get it. Boring topic. I'll stop."

Getting your cheek suddenly being pinched by a bored 5-year-old hurt apparently. It hurt a lot. This boy really did inherit his mother's attention span, one that would make a goldfish jealous. Naruto could not listen to his dad for even a few minutes.

"Moving on, we should be getting back now son unless you want your mom to chew us both out for being late for breakfast." The cursed words. Ones that should not be uttered. Ones that stirred memories of a terrifying memory, were what Minato had just mentioned. Naruto still had a tiny bump on his head that had yet to heal from the ten days ago when he was 15 minutes late to dinner.

"Ye-Yeh, let's go back. Quick, quick. Don't want to get another bump before this one heals." Rubbing the little bump on his head, Naruto grumbled, looking thoroughly displeased with the fact that his mom hit him so hard for a minor mistake but then again, she was famous for her fiery temperament.

- EnD-

A.N: Here it is. The long awaited Ishi. The first upload got removed because I published a lot of stories in a very short period and so from now on, I'll make sure to not get false warnings for spam and plagiarism for publishing my own stories from the old account ffs.

I will upload more chapters as soon as I'm finished proofreading them with my friends. They have a lot of errors that need to be corrected.

Moving on, I hope you will support this story as much as you did on the other account. Drop a review and tell me what would you like to see changed this time.

Thanks.

Remain safe.

P.S - Amaterasu looks like the black haired lady on the cover image of the story.