DON'T KILL ME FOR THIS CHAPTER. This, I am sad to say, was intentional since the beginning. Orochimaru is NOT the main villain - the Neo-Akatsuki are, obviously - but Orochimaru DOES play a big role in this story. Um, all I can say is I'm really sorry that this character had to go out like this.
Seriously, PLEASE DON'T KILL ME. Don't flame me, either - I don't accept flames.
~:~
Kiana had simply been watching the Kages to make sure they didn't sabotage anything, especially not her adopted daughters. She'd had no idea that this was going to happen.
Naruto... Kiana finished painting the last of the symbols onto her body. I don't think that losing the Sandaime for sealing Orochimaru's arms - when he could have them healed - is a good idea. I'm sorry. Orochimaru has his hands on dangerous information. She prayed that her adopted daughter was listening in the back of her mind.
She was making a deal.
The Shinigami looked at her. She hadn't fully summoned him - she would give her soul for the Shinigami to curse Orochimaru with the inability to use chakra. Ever. No more switches.
Her Kage Bunshin popped, and she gasped. Her father! Her father was alive.
He'd take care of Naruto. He'd guide her.
She finished the deal.
She walked out, the symbols on her skin standing out.
Orochimaru's mind was clinical. He remembered everything.
Kiana looked at Naruto and tapped her mind.
Naruto looked confused and lost as the chakra cloak around her began to fade.
Kiana smiled reassuringly at her.
The two kages before her stilled as her power pulsated off of her.
Slowly, they returned to their sarcophagus, and Kiana turned to Orochimaru and brought up the first two fingers of her left hand.
"Shinigami-sama, I call you."
And, like the Shiki Fujin, her soul appeared. It was payment to the Shinigami.
"The deal has been struck," the Uzumaki woman said, wincing a little as the shinigami's tug hurt her. "Shinigami, I implore you: Seal off his chakra network for the rest of his natural life and take my soul as recompense."
The Shinigami paused.
"Oh, it's not enough," the woman laughed breathily. "Hokage-sama, arms or legs?"
The Hokage seemed to immediately understand.
"Arms," he said after a moment.
His legs, instead were taken. He fell to the ground.
The Shinigami floated to the terrified Orochimaru, and one single touch to the forehead -
Kiana's soul was swallowed.
Her body fell to the ground, no longer in the land of the living.
~:~
Naruto didn't wait before darting over to her adopted mother.
She had to be alive. She had to be.
The ANBU jumped to the Hokage, but Naruto could only hug Kiana's body to her.
"Mother!" Nagato jumped up, not prepared for Naruto's tear-drenched face.
"Kaa-san..." she whimpered.
"Mom..." Nagato knelt next to Naruto. "Grandfather!" he bellowed. "Grandfather, come!"
Naruto hugged her closer to her body.
~:~
It was a grim day.
Uzumaki tradition demanded that the body be carried to Uzushio, and the Uzumakis in Konoha, adopted and otherwise, started to make their way there.
Kiana's body was in a coffin. Each of the handles was taken up by her closest relatives - AKA Naruto, Nagato, Tayuya, Karin, and Sasuke (who had explained that Kiana had adopted him) and Yahiko (who had actually adopted Nagato as a brother). Even Konan helped. Two people to a handle, because the coffin was made of sturdy, solid wood and metal. Chiota, her father, walked along beside it.
And even Archie the little grasshopper sang sad songs.
The citizens of Konoha watched as the newly-arrived Uzumakis left with the children of Kiana, and when they saw Sasuke among them, they whispered.
Behind them, as moral support, Hinata was allowed to join the procession, standing next to Haku, Kakashi, and Zabuza. The group was grim-faced.
The procession continued through Hi no Kuni, gathering attention.
Uzumakis, they whispered. They're carrying a body. They look so sad.
Kiana had been loved.
~:~
Naruto watched dirt pile upon her adopted mother's coffin.
Naruto knew she had to say something, so she stood up when the kidnapped Fire Temple monk (Naruto didn't care about the possibly humorous way they'd kidnapped him) asked the gathered for speakers.
The Uzumaki assembly hushed.
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto," the blonde said. "I'm part Hyuuga, part Uchiha, a lot Senju, and mostly Uzumaki." She paused. "And my mother, Uzumaki Kiana, was not my blood mother. My blood mother was Uzumaki Kushina. And she died when I was born."
Naruto took a couple minutes.
"About ten years ago - probably less - I met the Kyuubi that's held inside me. And I learned that despite his hard exterior and how pissy he could be, he was a great man - er, bijuu."
That got a couple weak chuckles.
Naruto sniffed a little.
"So, a few more years down the road, I was trying to make an alliance and the Kyuubi was like, 'gee, Naruto, let me have your body so I can sniff out some Uzumakis!'. Karin and Tayuya are still frightened whenever I bring up that time, but I know he couldn't have done anything too horrendous."
"How do you know that?!"
"Because you're still alive," Naruto deadpanned to Tayuya. Then she readdressed the crowd. "Then, after we got to Konoha, we had some ramen - Karin and Tayuya for the first time - and we were arguing outside the Holy Food place. Ichiraku Ramen."
Nods of agreement came around the sniffling crowd.
"And then this weird, redheaded lady comes up, bops us on the head, and yells at us to stop arguing in front of the Holy Food place."
This got some laughs.
"I love Kiana, with all of my heart. She gave me something - and it was all of you." Naruto gestured to the crowd. "I may not know all of your names, and I'm thinking of you as the Redheads, because most of you are redheads, but you are Uzumakis if you're sitting here today. Thank you all, and Kiana, thank you for everything."
Quiet applause.
Chiota stood up, and Naruto sat down.
"I am Uzumaki Chiota," he said in a deep voice. "I should be dead now, but I'm not. My daughter is." He paused. "We have not been assembled like this since before the Second Shinobi World War. All of us Uzumakis, Uzushio natives, red hair, blonde hair, dark hair, adopted, or friends of the Uzumakis... All of us were called here again. In the ruins of our once great nation, with our leader once again among us - the reincarnation of Asura one of us - destiny has led us here."
Hinata choked, Sasuke quietly snorting.
Those that got it all fought to keep their amusement hidden.
"Kiana sacrificed herself to keep an evil man from finding out that Uzumakis do exist now. He may have slipped away, but we will eventually have our vengeance. Wait for him to die, and those of us still living can recall that and laugh and point a finger at him. But for now, we can grieve."
Nagato stepped up.
"The last time I saw Uzushio was when I was a child," he rumbled. "My aunt Nemi took me to Amegakure, where we were supposed to be safe. Instead, Aunt Nemi and her husband were killed. Imagine my surprise a few decades later when a blonde chick shows up in my mind, and I find my mother." He paused. "And I get to know her, and I get to know all of my clan. Something I longed for." He paused again. "Thank you, Naruto, for giving me my mother. And thank you, Mother, for asking her to see if I was dead."
He stepped off.
Tayuya was next, then Karin. All of them had their speeches, and Nina sobbed her way through her story about how she and Kiana were Kazama's stalkers, and how Kiana hadn't even known Kazama was married.
Jenny spoke of her, though less so than Nina, because Jenny hadn't known Kiana that long.
And finally, when the last pile of dust hit her coffin, Naruto stepped forward and began drawing a seal. It was to make the grave remained undisturbed by unnatural forces. Nobody would be able to revive her.
~:~
How Kiana summoned the Shinigami: The Uzumakis do not have to use the Shiki Fuujin in this story. The Shiki Fuujin was mostly designed for (again, only in this universe) non-Uzumakis who had the chakra, willpower, and a good enough soul to use. Ergo, Minato died using it because he had the chakra, a good soul, and the willpower to give his own soul up for eternal torment in the Shinigami's stomach.
The Uzumakis (ONLY IN THIS UNIVERSE) can summon the Shinigami using symbols painted on their body and the first finger and middle finger pointed toward the sky (like half of the Kage Bunshin sign that points to the sky) directly over their heart. Using the symbols, the Uzumakis can make a deal with the Shinigami. Uzumaki souls in this universe, if they're good enough, can warrant a deal and a request.As for the Shinigami taking the Sandaime's use of his legs away, this is the Shinigami's slight morbid sense of humor coming into play. The Shinigami took the Sandaime's legs knowing he was going to chose a successor, but Sarutobi was going to have to do paperwork in the mean time. No way out for him.
Like I said at the beginning: I was planning this. You'll see why later. My sincere apologies to those who liked Kiana's character.
