Chapter two: Yugido

The Shinigami doesn't usually concern itself in the affairs of mortals enough to take a human form. But every once in awhile, there are things that have to be done that can't be done any other way.

So that's why the death god took on the form of a white haired girl on that particular night. Most people assume that the death god wouldn't be very social. Not really a people-anthropomorphic personification. But really, you have to be social if you're going to work with as many people as the shinigami does. So she kept smiling at people in a way that suggested she knew something. Something most people wouldn't be very happy to hear. And should anyone catch her eyes for long enough, she would mouth "twenty years", or "three months" or "next Tuesday" in response.

What with all the glares, unabashed stares, and terrified looks, she supposed that she was standing out a bit. No one had much of a reason to smile, anyways, the Nibi had been completely terrorizing the populace until tonight. But really, they could be more polite. Hadn't anyone ever told them to be courteous, especially to strangers, since you never knew if they might be a god? She supposed not. She shrugged and headed to the Raikage's tower in the center of town.

Without anyone asking her where she was going, or who she was, she made her way through town, straight in the front doors, and climbed the stairs to the office. She looked strode into the office. None of the four heads in the room turned towards her as she sat in the Raikage's favorite seat and listened.

The Nidaime shook his head. "So the beast has been sealed within this one, has it? She has a hard time ahead of her. And the Sandaime is now gone… what a burden that she must carry" he was aging, clearly. His brown hair was liberally streaked with grey, and he had worry lines carved deeply around his eyes.

The girl holding the new Jinchuuriki was clearly his daughter. She looked about sixteen, with the same iron gray eyes and deep brown hair. She was a good person (another requirement for being a death god is to be a good judge of character). She didn't shy away from the child she was holding, she held it close to her chest and gently. This girl had connections to another Jinchuuriki as well. Or would have them, anyways.

The Jinchuuriki itself was sleeping fitfully. It kept throwing one little arm out, again and again. The shinigami smiled to herself. Ah, for the good old days, before she'd been bound to Sarutobi, when she'd brought the Nekomata home for the fist time. How cute it had been then. It used to sleep twitchily too.

The last man in the room seethed an aura of power. The shinigami knew within one look that he was greedy, ambitious, and highly unstable. His mask of a face, though… if she hadn't been who she was, she would never have guessed the turbulence underneath his calm blue eyes, his perfectly composed features. She frowned. Everyone in the room shivered imperceptibly.

"So what are we going to do with her now, Raikage-sama?" the other man asked.

"Shoko will care for her until she leaves for Kirigakure in three years. Hopefully, the experience will prepare her for motherhood." The Nidaime nodded at his daughter. She blushed slightly and gave a nod of assent. "Afterwards, I will assign her a suitable guardian, and she will attend the academy at four. Perhaps she will become as great an asset to the village as the Nibi was a threat"

The man nodded assent as well, adding "Hai, Raikage-sama"

"Very good. I will come out of retirement for the time being. I will serve until my death, and then you, Bansho-san, will take on the full responsibilities of Yondaime Raikage. We'll announce it as soon as possible. For the time being, though, you are to keep to your duties on the battlefield. You are too valuable there to be in Kumogakure. When the war is over, I'll install you into my council and you'll take your rightful place. We'll rule jointly" the Nidaime said with a sigh.

"Very good, my lord" the man replied.

"Now let us go inform the council of my decisions. Shoko, stay here and watch her" the Nidaime commanded in the hardened tones of a war weary man.

"Hai, Otto-sama" Shoko responded. Both men nodded curtly at her bow (as polite as possible while holding a baby) and left the room. She sighed and sat down on the floor.

"Well, Yugido-chan, now we know what the future holds for the both of us. I'll take care of you for awhile, and then I leave to marry Raiji and help with his clan, and you become a shinobi. So that's alright then" she said cheerfully.

"So her name is Yugido, then?" a voice asked. Shoko looked up to see a white haired girl sitting in her father's chair. For some reason, she didn't question how the girl got in, or why she had been listening to her, or who she was, or how she dared to sit in the Nidaime's chair. Shoko just nodded.

"Can I hold her?" the girl asked.

"Hai. Are you a relative? Something about you looks similar to her. But I thought she was an orphan" Shoko asked curiously.

"No. But they do say that pets grow to resemble their owners, don't they? Or is it the other way around?"

"Who are you?"

"You can call me Rei, Shoko-chan" the girl grinned toothily. Shoko passed her the baby with a murmured warning about minding her head.

The Shinigami watched the baby's face carefully. As she did, Yugido's eyes flew open and looked into her own. There was a split second of a smile. This child would walk a twisted path indeed.

Good thing cats are known for their sense of balance.

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Wow. I was really, really excited about the Nibi coming in. And then she was captured one issue later. Something tells me that Kishimoto is trying to hurry along the Naruto II arch. Well, the mission to Kusa no Kuni took long enough… but I suppose it was that big emotional reunion. And then Sasuke was a total Ahole. So that sucked.

Anyways, the Nibi… Like I've said, I'm doing my best to stick to cannon. But I'll probably keep a couple of the Jinchuuriki I invented around simply because I don't want to have to totally rewrite the story line. So it's probable that this story will split off from canon eventually. Kishimoto is hurrying us little readers right along, so… well, anyways, please understand when that should happen. That's all.

And now it's time for learning! Just to clarify, the reason that the death god was wandering around Kumogakure was that the Nibi, the Nekomata (from the latest issues of the manga, I think we can pretty safely say that the Nibi is the Nekomata) is the pet of the death god.

And the Shinigami's reason for posing as a girl? This one is pretty simple folks- you're gonna be less scared of a random girl than you might be of a random guy. Sad but true. If a girl smiles at you and mouths at you how much longer you have to live, you'll feel slightly unnerved. And then mutter to yourself about how she's nuts and go on your merry way. But if a guy smiles at you and tells you how much longer you have to live, then you're gonna get more creeped out and wonder about the possibilities of this guy being the reason you're going to die next Tuesday. This is also judging from the fact that it seems like the hidden villages aren't as equal opportunity as they appear to be. We can surmise that there's about a 1:2 ratio of Kunoichi to male shinobi. Plus, when Orochimaru was attacking, it was the Kunoichi who were in charge of getting all the women and children to safety. There are lots of other hints to support this, so I operated under that theory. No offense was meant.

And Rei can mean "spirit" or "zero/overflow" (which is the kanji on the Akatsuki leader's ring) so I thought it fit.

Alright, people, review!