AN: No double/triple chapter yesterday again hahaha
This chapter starts earlier, before the latter ones!
Here goes.
Uzumaki II
Months earlier, right after Uzushiogakure's destruction.
He thought he saw six lights, floating around him.
He lost consciousness and his body burned away entirely, consumed by the Storm.
Uzumaki Naruto died.
"He had Father's eyes."
"Hmpf. But none of his wisdom."
"Do not be so dismissive, Kurama. He saved us, after all."
"Only because he was bound to a promise. His selfish interests always prevailed."
"It is true. He was closer to Father's first son."
"Are you blind…? He was him."
"Does it matter…?"
"I guess not. He's dead, anyway."
"He won't be for long."
"It will take his chakra a long while to reform."
"Only a long time in human years."
"…Shall we help him along?"
"What…?"
"He helped us as well... and he seems to have learned his lesson, this time. I can't picture the man Indra was… doing something so… selfless."
"Perhaps that man was looking for accolades."
"What use would he have for accolades, once dead…? Foolish as ever, you are."
"He will come back."
"We could stop him, couldn't we? Before he perfects his methods."
"Perhaps it would be for the best."
"…Maybe it would be."
"…He has made a promise to Matatabi."
"And just how would you know this…?"
"Not everybody is as bad of a brother as you are, my dear."
"…Let me show you just what I think of brotherly love."
"Enough quarreling."
"Shukaku, Matatabi and Chōmei are still imprisoned, aren't they…?"
"They are."
"Humans won't let go of them. And they will come after us, as ever."
"Let them come!"
"Humans are crafty. They will find new ways. I thought you would know. But he could prevent that. And he is inclined to do so, as we now know."
"Bah. Why should we rely on any of them? We can simply leave this world altogether."
"Kurama is right. Humans are —"
"I am still sorry to hear not all of you got along so well with your humans as I did with my fool."
"Bragging about your prison again, Gyūki…? How pathetic."
"No wonder you would think that way. You've always been the hardest of us to get along with, besides Kurama of course."
"Don't compare me to him."
"I should say that."
"…There is another matter at hand, please keep it in mind."
"Our brothers and our sister…?"
"He shall free them, soon enough."
"Him…?"
"Yes."
"He will be dead for a long time. Do you not understand that…?"
"Not necessarily."
A pause.
"…Do you trust his word, then?"
"Yes."
"Matatabi does."
"…"
"What do you think, Kurama…?"
"Bah. What does it matter…?"
"You are the one who has the most direct connection to his chakra."
"Indeed. If anyone can help him, it is you. He is closer to being one of us than ever. He will reform on his own, but a small piece of your chakra would go a long way."
"And we shall share our chakra along with you, if that is what you decide."
"Hmpf. What makes you believe I need you…? Or that I want to help him, in the first place…?"
"You don't. Everybody here knows you're the strongest, smartest, most beautiful of us, Kurama."
"Is it sarcasm I hear?!"
"I wouldn't dare, brother."
"…"
"What do you choose, Kurama…?"
Deep rumbling.
"I will ask you to cover your eyes and ears for a moment." Kurama said at last. "Only because he didn't go back on his promise. After this—"
"So we shall. We wouldn't want to witness you being compassionate, after all."
"You may take a small part of our chakra, too."
"I believe I already told you there wouldn't be any need for this. My previous… jailer. His… mother's remnant, the one that was bound to his soul and is now fading, will bind all of it together."
"Even then. Let us call it gratitude. And it may prove to be useful for all of us in the future."
"There's only so much we can do anyway. After this… he's on his own."
"Bah. Do I care…? He lives, he lives… He dies, he dies."
"He will manage, Kurama."
"Is there… anything that makes you think this way?"
"Well, he is Father's son, after all. And… one of us now, in a way."
A soft whisper.
"My sweet boy. I'm sorry we couldn't meet. I'm sorry that you — that you died even younger than Minato and I did. Sorry that I will never really get to know you. But… I have no regrets. To — To think you've gotten so big. So... strong. That you were that chubby little baby, just… a moment ago. It must have been so hard. And you've been so brave. I am… proud of you, of course, but… Some of the things you did, though… — Such terrible actions… Kakashi, oh… poor Kakashi. I… I — No matter, I shall see him soon. And the women in your life… Four women, really…? If I had been around, I would have found you… — Well… Maybe that's on me. No matter. It is… your life. And I have no right to — And it is time for you to live, Naruto—"
"Bah! Enough blathering, Kushina. He's dead. He can't hear you anyway. Get on with it."
"…Oh, shut it, you grumpy ass. Let's go and rescue my son, 'ya know."
Alive…?
Dead…?
Cold. Numb. Where…?
He was tired. So tired.
Had his anchor worked…?
He felt cold. Colder than he ever had felt in his whole life. And it was a different sort of cold; nothing that could be explained with mere words.
He was weightless and staring into blackness. Impenetrable darkness. No hope. No light.
Where was he…?
Was this outer space…? Where were the mysterious galaxies, the stars…? Besides the ever-burning sun, too bright to stare at…
Nothing. He could see nothing but terrifying darkness. And he realized how small he was, how immeasurably… negligible a human life was.
He wanted to sleep. Forever.
And…
And he could see a sheet of blue.
Earth.
He felt as though he had snapped awake. Everything came back to him.
It had worked, despite all of his fears.
He needed to get back.
To Earth.
To Earth.
Naruto, or rather his chakra, to which his soul was bound, drifted back to earth slowly.
He spent a lot of time staring in the darkness, thinking.
He reflected on his mistakes.
And what he needed to do.
The void of space had been terrifying. Soon he couldn't remember why it had been so.
Time was nothing. He had lived for hundreds of years already.
What was a little more of waiting?
It took Naruto five days to come back to Earth.
It took Naruto five weeks for his perfected anchors to pull the other remnants of his chakra to them and then back to him.
It took Naruto five months for his body to reform.
Naruto woke slowly.
The first sign that he was alive again was pain. Everything hurt. Or maybe everything just seemed to be tuned up too much, compared to the strangeness of having no body. It was like being born again.
The second sign that he was alive was that he was breathing again. How strange that felt.
The third sign that he was alive was that he was in a room he didn't recognize.
According to the bleariness, he must have slept for a long time. There was a soft smell in the air, something that made him feel at home right away. Something that was familiar.
Even the smells felt overpowering.
All the same, he knew he was not in Umi.
And he knew he had slept for a long time. He pushed his worry aside.
Naruto fell asleep again.
How long he did so, he didn't know.
He woke up again.
His body felt… mostly fine.
Healthy, even. Strong but weak, so weak at the same time.
Once more, it felt as though he had slept for way too long.
Naruto's hand was the first thing he managed to move.
Naruto stretched slowly, before sitting up carefully. Through the window, he could see waves, lazily rolling toward the horizon.
It felt loud.
He could see with his own eyes again. And he knew right away he still held the Rinnegan, too. It was tied to his soul and chakra, and was what had allowed him to come back to life into his own recreated body.
(Maybe there truly was something godly about these eyes, in the end.)
There was food on the bedside table, and Naruto knew it was way too early, not to mention unsafe to eat now.
All the same, he wolfed down the fish and rice, like a man who had never heard of the concept of patience or prudence before.
Naruto managed to stand up, and he walked slowly toward the door.
As he had known already, he was on an island. His senses extended, almost automatically.
It was a large island surrounded by clear emerald blue ocean, its waters filled with live coral, schools of tropical fish and manta rays.
The land was home to different sorts of animals, it seemed, most that he could simply not recognize.
With a grunt of effort, he climbed on the rooftop, the long, boring way. Just to see more of it. Naruto knew this architecture style, these pristine white walls. It was the same as Uzushiogakure. But then again, he had guessed where he was as soon as he had extended his senses.
Waterfalls, forests and natural pools were connected by small dirt roads throughout the island. There was sunshine and clear skies, and it was warm, too.
"I would be careful, exerting yourself that much, so shortly after being bedridden."
Naruto had felt her presence, the very moment she had arrived.
"You can say dead, Shachi." He greeted evenly. "So it was you who brought me here."
"But of course, Indra-sama."
Naruto blinked.
"What…?"
"I couldn't afford to have you risk your life again by recovering from dying… out in the open. You were so vulnerable."
Naruto let out a long suffering sigh. "That's not the part — Well. Whatever. I owe you my thanks."
The woman just smiled slightly.
"My life is yours, after all."
Naruto felt like palming his face.
"I am not who you think I am." Naruto said.
"Are you not Indra-sama, then…?" She asked neutrally.
"Yes — Fuck… Whatever. I was Indra."
"Then it is you." She shrugged her shoulders. "Rest, you haven't recovered fully yet."
She turned away, heading toward the inner part of the forest.
"Wait." Naruto called.
He went down the house, slowly, feeling the rush of physical sensations going through his body.
"Do you mind if I come with you…?" He asked. "I'm… going to be a bit slow, though."
They walked through the lush forest in silence.
"…May I ask you something?" Naruto began.
As Indra, he had never really bothered with politeness, and she knew it.
"Of course." Shachi nodded.
"How did you find me…?"
"I kept track of the battle, of course. And your chakra, after that." She said. "I tend to know where you are."
Naruto blinked. She watched it…? She was strong and could possibly have made a difference.
"And… you didn't intervene before…?" He asked. "Not for the fate of the world…?"
"You commanded me to help bring you back to life, and not to interfere - much. Giving you a chance to fight back by taking you to Uzushio in the first place was already too much." She said evenly. "It was a battle you handled, didn't you…?"
Naruto gave her the side eye. He had fought both Indra and Nagato.
He hadn't seen Indra's full power, true, but from what he estimated, the man would have had trouble against Nagato, at the very least - if he could have won at all. She likely had too much faith in Indra.
"I didn't even know how to reach you." He said.
"And do you now…?" She asked, something like a smile twitching on her lips.
Naruto sighed.
"No, not really."
"Then I'm afraid there's not that much we could have done about it." Her golden eyes briefly gleamed with amusement. "Of course, I could have reached you."
"Thank you." He said dryly. "For helping."
"You're welcome."
Naruto closed his eyes.
"Why did you bring me to Uzushiogakure in the first place…?"
She gave him a wistful smile.
"There are not so many Uzumaki left, and I felt that you and your friend were the one most suited to carry on their legacy."
"Sentimentality…?" Naruto blinked.
"I am not heartless." She laughed.
He knew it.
"Well. It did give me a fighting chance, no matter how neutral you try to make it seem. And you did watch over my body." He finally said. "For this you have my thanks. My honest ones."
She waved it off, looking to be a bit uncomfortable.
"You've already said that. Gratefulness is a strange look on you, Indra-sama."
"Please don't call me that."
"Of course, Indra-sama."
A vein popped on Naruto's forehead. She disregarded it, picking a few herbs and fruits with an expert eye.
It was hard to say which season it was. It didn't feel like Winter. Despite the light breeze, the sun above them was warm.
They spent the morning walking through the forest; Naruto spent most of it stretching, rolling limbs that were too stiff from his long sleep.
His body, despite its tightness, felt almost glad to be moving again.
"Shachi." Naruto called.
"Yes…?" She asked, drawing closer to the shore of the lake she was lazily floating in.
"…How much time has it been…?"
She gave him a long look. "Has it been since what…? Since your body reformed… or since the battle…?"
The last moments after it had been very blurry. He had freed the Bijū, sealed Nagato's eye inside him. His jutsu had destroyed everything.
And burned through his body.
Naruto held back a shiver.
Naruto could remember dying quickly in the middle of the inverted thunderstorm.
He also thought he could remember feeling… protected, guided… by something that felt so familiar… But that was probably his mind playing tricks on him.
He was already dead, back then, after all.
Then he had returned to something… he could hesitantly call consciousness.
He could remember drifting in the void of space.
He could remember floating away, and back to Earth.
(And he would really have to refine his own soul anchors, too. Because this — having to drag himself back and wait — was such a stupid mistake.)
Then… nothing.
And he woke up in Shachi's home.
"…Both." Naruto said. "Tell me about both."
"Well, it was not that long ago." Shachi shrugged. "Six months or so since you—"
"Six months?!"
"Yes." She nodded. "Since you used the jutsu. It took you five weeks to start reforming. And five months for you to complete the process. And then you were bedridden for the better part of two weeks."
Naruto's eyes closed in consternation.
Well…
It still beat three years and a half, that time he had used the Hiraishin to escape. He thanked himself for not having done so, that time. Who knew how bad it would have been…?
"I can't make sense of the traces of Bijū chakra in your system, though." She said.
"Bijū…?"
Naruto scanned himself.
He blinked.
It was true, and he hadn't noticed. The Nine-Tails' chakra; one tails' worth of it, of the entire Bijū. Regenerating as though it had a mind of its own.
Something permanent, then.
And small traces of five of the others, mixed with it.
What the hell…?
"I see you don't know much more about it, then."
"…Not really, no."
The Gedō Mazō had faded away as well. But it wasn't destroyed permanently. Naruto knew he could call upon it if needed, though. What for, he couldn't say for sure.
"Then I need to get back home." Naruto said.
"As you wish." Shachi nodded. "I would still suggest you rest first. Stay here for as long as you want."
Naruto nodded in thanks.
"I don't think I will stay for long." He said. "…What do you intend to do…?"
"That will depend on our plans, my Lord."
He felt the same irritation come back up.
"I am not your lord, Yoisen."
Something flashed across her eyes, and it was quickly hidden.
"Uzumaki Yoisen is long since gone."
"And I do not want a servant."
"Then perhaps you shouldn't have made me one." She hissed.
Naruto felt like pulling his hair at its roots.
"…This is not something any sort of apology will fix." Naruto acknowledged. "All the same, I am sorry."
It was a strange thing, to actually speak with someone whom his actions as Indra had affected directly.
(Madara had been the usual culprit, when it came to messing things and people up.)
She smiled wryly. "You're about a thousand years too late for that."
"Maybe I am." Naruto nodded. He paused."And despite how hypocritical of me this may be… There is one thing I will require of you."
Nagato had reached his father's soul, inside the Shinigami's belly… and pulled half of the Nine-Tails out.
Naruto would do better.
Shachi bowed, with not even the slightest touch of mockery in the gesture.
"Do tell, my Lord."
"Help me reach Hell."
"Leaving early, my Lord…?"
He snorted. So she had kept her sharp tongue.
"You could say that."
The fact that she didn't question the nature of Hell made him wonder how much she knew, exactly. Because Indra had never really bothered with it. And why would he, if he was going to live on?
He also knew that Shachi wouldn't tell him that much if she didn't want to, as her only obligations were to help him and to not lie to him.
He told her what he thought could work, using the Naraka Path, and after a few days of planning, they had something workable.
Naruto summoned the King of Hell and went to meet the real one for the first time, if unknowingly.
It worked.
Present day.
Naruto finally climbed out of the King of Hell.
It had felt so long, almost… He had no idea, really.
And man, was he pissed.
(Of course he couldn't find Toru.)
"Did... something go wrong?" Shachi asked.
Naruto growled. "I wasted so much fucking time in there because Enma didn't-"
"...I'm not quite sure I follow." She frowned.
(It was payback for the shit he had pulled. Of course Enma wasn't about to help him along that much afterward.)
He shook his head and found his composure again. No matter.
"It is done." He breathed out. "Karin and Sakura will live. I will just have to figure out how to get them out."
He was not that great at using the King of Hell creature yet.
"So it is, then." Shachi nodded, her face betraying none of her thoughts. "What shall we do, now…?"
Looking at her, at all the knowledge she held, the power she possessed, he knew she could be his most useful ally.
Looking at her, he also remembered the young woman who had loved him; who loved a shade of him, still.
Using people he cared about had been Indra's way. Not even Madara, who could never himself to actually do it to people he loved. As Naruto, he didn't truly care for Shachi… Yoisen… but he still had memories of once having done so.
Naruto found he couldn't do things that way. Not now, not anymore.
"You said I was too late, last time." Naruto began.
It had a few hours ago for her, if even that… a bit longer for him.
"My Lord…?" She tilted her head.
"But now is better than never, isn't it…?" Naruto smiled softly.
All bonds shall break before the Rinnegan.
All bonds shall break before the Rinnegan.
All bonds shall break before the Rinnegan.
"What are you—" She began, an almost fearful look in her eyes.
The bond of subservience Indra had established faded to nothingness.
Naruto breathed out.
"What have you done…?" Shachi asked.
"You know what I've done." He said evenly.
"Why?!"
"I told you what I would do once I got my hands on the Rinnegan, didn't I…?"
"And I told you I didn't—" She began, voice rising quickly.
Shachi blinked.
Once. Then twice.
Realization.
"…You really are not Indra." She breathed out, horrified. And there was a touch of relief there, as well. "He would never have…"
"I've only told you ten times, by now." Naruto shook his head, bemused. "I was him, then. I am Naruto."
She didn't answer.
"And he won't come back the way you thought he would. We are one soul."
There was a long silence, and something that felt like grief, coming from her.
"…I kept waiting for Indra." She said quietly. "All these centuries. He never came back the way I thought he would. I thought that you could…"
Naruto shook his head.
"The Indra you knew might as well be dead. And never coming back, either." He repeated.
She looked away, closing her eyes.
"And yet… part of me is him."
Her golden eyes were fixed onto his again.
"We were never two different men, 'he' and 'I'." Naruto admitted with a small laugh. "It took me way too long to realize. I remember… everything."
"…Everything?" Shachi asked, lowering her eyes toward the floor.
"Yes." Naruto nodded slowly. "I remember just as well as you do. You know what happened. As Indra, I did not want to hear the truth. That… I was the one to strike down Yasu."
Her eyes widened.
"I should never have blamed you for it. You and I had a fight. I lost control. And then she lay dead in my arms."
He could still recall it, as though it were yesterday.
His hands, coated in fresh, thick blood.
No light.
Why was he crying…? It was so long ago.
And for that matter, why was she crying…?
"I am sorry, Shachi… Yoisen. Whichever you prefer." Naruto continued. "I never learned to live with my guilt. My grief. And when I killed Asura…"
Naruto breathed out.
"I… lost my mind entirely."
Another silence.
They sat in it for a long time.
Shachi dabbed at her eyes.
"I… I know." She said. "Thank you."
"I also remember you… The cruelty I inflicted upon you."
She looked away.
"Not all of it was that bad." She said quietly.
"But most of it was."
"…"
"I remember the name I gave you. divine-grace." Naruto smiled, the words of an old, forgotten language easily slipping out of his lips.
Her breath caught.
"That's…? …Then?" She went to kneel, an habit so deeply ingrained that she could not shake it off entirely.
He really had messed up with her mind.
"Do not kneel for me." Naruto shook his head. "And I do remember. All of it. I have been Indra in the past, and I still am now, in a way… but I am Naruto, first and foremost. I remember lives, dozens of them. But I also remember… wishing for happiness and peace and hope. And I have all of this, now."
She stayed silent.
"I have been terrible to you." Naruto said again.
"You—"
"I showed you kindness and hope when you were sick. Then I took almost all of it away, twisted your loyalty into something terrible… for my own selfish purposes."
She just shook silently.
"But… I like to believe I have changed. Nothing like this will happen again."
"I believe you." She said quietly. "And even then… I just — I wanted to see you again. Maybe the person you had once been, before… everything. What's so wrong with that?" She asked, sounding desperate.
Naruto gave her a sad smile. He understood the feeling quite well.
In several incarnations, he never got over knowing that there was something out there that could bring what he had lost back to him.
Indra had never been able to come back to life fully.
And the Rinnegan had only been rediscovered by Madara.
Even now… It didn't seem as though he had learned to let go fully.
Especially now that he didn't have to.
But he would try to learn.
"It doesn't make my actions right." Naruto said.
"…No." She admitted.
"And all the same…" He hesitated, unsure if this was a wise thing to say. "I remember... caring about you."
Her eyes were wistful.
"You… never — I…"
"For the better." He said firmly. "This was the worst kind of love." He let out a quiet chuckle. "Something that I wouldn't wish on anyone. And on you, even less."
She didn't say anything for a while.
"…And now…?" She asked quietly.
He was not the same person. Naruto hesitated again.
"Ah. A long time has passed… and I am surrounded by people who love me and that I love back. I am sorry."
Her face fell, if only slightly.
"I see." She simply said. She had seen it already, and hadn't quite known what to make of it.
Naruto's mouth felt dry.
"I see…" She repeated.
"…I have loved you once. Perhaps in time…? I can't say. Maybe we will, maybe we won't." Naruto said. "I don't think we can force this sort of thing."
Of course, all these pretty words assumed that Ino didn't kill him way before that.
Naruto turned to leave.
"Goodbye. I know we will meet again. This time… without anything like this bond of servitude. You can decide what to make of me then. Friends or enemies or whatever." Naruto smiled. "I will look forward to it, in this life or the next."
Not that he had any intention of dying for good anytime soon.
"…Wait."
Naruto turned around, lifting an eyebrow. She could only smile, seeing his expression.
(She had seen it so many times before.)
"You really mean it, don't you?" She asked.
"Of course. That's my ninja wa—" He cut himself off, embarrassed. "Uh… That's the way I do things."
She threw something at him.
"This is just a little something for you, then. It was for Indra, originally. With the way you kept on growing… You would have achieved the same soon enough anyway. If your Uzumaki friend can't do it already."
"What is…" Naruto looked down.
A reddish, bulbous looking pod. A piece of the fruit held inside had been cut out already.
'A fruit…? One that someone has already taken a piece of…?'
Naruto blinked.
He looked at her white hair. He remembered Yoisen's bright red hair.
He gasped and almost dropped the pod. "It's… a chakra fruit? But… why?"
"A lesser one." She corrected.
"…Are you giving this to me?"
"I get the feeling you don't really need it, with your Naraka jutsu." She simply said. "But then again… I really don't need it either. It is yours."
It was the truth. Aging was something he was sure Karin would find a way around soon enough.
They had already been looking for ways around that particular problem and had stumbled upon a few that looked promising.
She gave him a look that made his stomach flutter.
"And why would I wait for your next life? I have all of eternity ahead of me." She said. "And so have you, I know."
"Are… you sure..?" He asked. "I am not a good man. Far from it. I am selfish, greedy and well… pretty unrepentant about it most of the time."
The things he had done… And the things he would still do…
"You will find…" She began with a smile. "Compared to me… Compared to how you used to be, and how I thought you would be by now… You are a decent man. There is some kindness in you, still." She paused, chuckling. "Not that it means much, coming from me. Perspective is a double-edged sword, and I have lived for long."
Feeling a bit weak in the knees, Naruto could only shake his head.
"I…" Naruto began. "Thanks…? Can this be shared…?"
She smiled slightly.
(Of course he would ask about that.)
"For longevity…? If it's not pure power you are after… It should be just fine. There might be a limit to it, of course. But it should last you… all of you a long few hundred years, at the very least."
More than enough time to find alternatives… or craft another one.
(Surely there were enough uninhabited planets floating around in space.)
Gods. His lips were so dry. Naruto had thought nothing could truly surprise him anymore, at this point. Immortality… he had planned for.
(And hadn't been too sure whether or not it would work in the first place.)
Eternal youth…?
For him and the people he cared about?
He had hoped they would get there, before. He hadn't expected it so soon, though.
As far as he and his friends were concerned, Death would be a choice.
(It had only taken him centuries.)
"We will meet in time, then. Come find me when you are ready." She said, with a small smile. "I will be… looking forward to meeting the others properly. Introductions are on you."
Her hand moved, and a golden rift opened.
"Oh… and by the way… I'll allow it." She turned to face him, and gave him a cheeky grin, one that brought him back a thousand years ago. "You can call me Yoisen… Naruto."
And with that said, she disappeared.
They would not speak face to face again for a few years. But by that point, a few years were just raindrops in the ocean.