A/N - Alrighty, used the ol' RNG (Random Number Generator) and it chose this fic to be updated next. So voila! Another chapter for this story already! lol.

Anyways, a lot happens in this chapter. I think it turned out pretty darn well and I rather enjoyed writing it. There's some pretty big changes in this chapter, and it also hints at something that'll be happening sometime soon/in the future for this fic. You'll understand as you read through the chapter.

Anywho, I have a massive headache, I'm really congested, and I'm in dire need of sleep. So I'll just end this here. Enjoy!

Chapter 17 – Shinigami's Boon

The team that had assaulted the Southern Hideout made it back to Konoha in a record time of just over three days. Upon arrival, Naruto told the others to go and inform Tsunade of what had happened. Meanwhile, he left for the Konoha Torture & Interrogation building. Upon arriving, he ignored everyone that tried to stop him and proceeded to the room Kabuto was in, slamming open the door and staring coldly at the man. "Sorry Kabuto, but it's time you disappeared. I don't care if they've extracted information from you yet or not. You see, your precious master did something very foolish and it's got me feeling pretty pissed off."

Unrolling a sealing scroll, he unsealed Karin's body and laid her gently on the floor. Then he summoned forth the mask and grinned sinisterly at the four-eyed bastard. "Farewell, Kabuto Yakushi." He said as he put the mask on his face.

In an instant, the Shinigami had appeared before the occupants of the room, staring coldly down at Kabuto. "Shinigami-sama, here is the other soul you were promised: Kabuto Yakushi. Please, in exchange for his soul, return Karin to life. That is all I ask of you."

The Shinigami hummed in thought for a moment before he reached out and devoured Kabuto, soul and all. Afterwards, he did as requested and restored Karin's life. Looking down into Naruto's eyes, he thought over the boon he would give the young man. After a time, he spoke. "Naruto Uzumaki, I promised you a boon. But I also have a request to make of you. So I will strike a deal with you. First, however, allow me to grant you my boon."

Reaching down, the Shinigami placed his hand atop Naruto's head and flooded him with some of his power. When Naruto looked up into his eyes, the boy's eyes had an ethereal, almost ghostly aura to them. "I have given you some of my power. Your eyes can now see the souls of the dead and of the living. Everything around you that has a soul is now visible to you. Pure souls will be white and glow magnificently. Souls that are neither good, nor evil, will simply be gray. Finally, evil souls will glow a dark red and it will look as if lightning is shooting from their core."

"I have also given you the ability to harvest souls for me. You can do this by simply placing your hand upon your opponent's body and pulling on their souls. This will, of course, kill the target. Afterwards, crush it in the palm of your hand and the soul will be sent to me. If you find that you cannot get close enough to reap their souls using your hands, you have the ability to manifest a scythe that can be used to the same effect."

"Finally, as I have made you my avatar in this world, you will never die. After all, I cannot permit my chosen one to perish, now can I? Should you wish it, you can grant this boon to your mates. I do not mind. Just know that while this is a blessing, it can be a curse as well. You and your mates will live forever more, never to die, never to age past a certain point. You will witness the deaths of those you care for. You could very well grow cold to the world around you and even become apathetic to what becomes of the world. I want you to remain strong and persevere. Never give in and give up on love. That is part of what makes you so interesting, after all."

"Now for the deal." the Shinigami said, smirking as he looked into the teen's now silver eyes. "I want you to reap the souls of the evil for me. Some of them have been in this world for far too long and it's time they faced the reaper, so to speak. I know you had hoped to revive your mother, Kushina Uzumaki. If you gather 100 evil souls for me, I will restore her to life. Or, if you'd prefer an alternative to that, I request that you reap the soul of the one that unleashed the Kyuubi upon Konoha those 15 years ago. He may call himself Madara Uchiha, but that is simply a farce. His real name is Obito Uchiha, former student of your father: Minato Namikaze. If you can get his soul for me, Kushina Uzumaki will be returned to life without question."

Naruto took some time to think on it before he closed his eyes and nodded. "Of course, Shinigami-sama. I'll get you the souls you require. Thank you very much."

"You are welcome. If you do exceptionally good work, I may even throw in another soul. An Uzumaki of great skill, one that would be able to teach you a great deal more than even Kushina. I feel you would benefit greatly from her guidance." the Shinigami explained.

Naruto raised a brow in curiosity for a moment before it hit him. "You mean Mito Uzumaki-sama? She was an absolute genius in the art of fuinjutsu!"

The Shinigami chuckled and said, "Yes. I do, indeed, mean Mito Uzumaki. I have a strong feeling she would be rather fond of you. Now, if we have a deal, I must be off. I am a busy god, after all."

The blonde nodded and said, "Of course, Shinigami-sama. It was a pleasure doing business with you."

The Shinigami simply chuckled for a moment more before he disappeared. As soon as he was gone, Naruto removed the mask and sealed it away. Releasing a heavy sigh, he looked towards Ibiki and said, "I apologize, Ibiki-san. But I was not in a waiting mood. And by the way, your soul is an interesting color. It seems to be fluctuating between white and grey, with little sparks of lightning shooting off of it. How interesting."

It was at this point that Karin began to stir. Looking at her, Naruto helped her to her feet and allowed her to lean on him for support. "It's okay Karin-chan. Everything's okay now."

Karin blinked and rubbed her eyes for a moment. Peering into Naruto's face, she frowned slightly and asked, "Umm, do you happen to have my glasses? I can barely see anything without them. I'm sorry."

Naruto chuckled a bit and pulled her glasses out of his pocket, handing them to her. When she put them on, he hugged her gently and said, "I'm so sorry I didn't get there in time to save you. But you're alive again and everything's going to be okay. You'll never be alone again. You'll never have to hurt again. You're safe here."

The redhead could sense Naruto's chakra seemed to be fluctuating wildly. His chakra reserves were massive and it felt so inviting, but at the same time, it was as if something new was trying to merge with his chakra network. Frowning slightly, she looked into his silver eyes and asked, "What…happened exactly?"

The blonde frowned sadly and said, "Orochimaru killed you before we could reach you. I…had to summon the Shinigami to revive you. I traded Kabuto for you. Because…because you deserve to live, Karin-chan. We Uzumaki need to stick together. We're family."

Karin blinked a couple of times and asked, "W-We're family? I…I died?! I remember Orochimaru stabbing me, but after that…nothing. Just this empty blackness. No light at the end of the tunnel, no fire and brimstone, no nothing. Just…darkness. I felt like crying. It was the loneliest I've ever felt before. Thank you. You're Naruto-kun, aren't you? Orochimaru said you were coming for me. Thank you so much."

Naruto simply smiled when she hugged him tight. Holding her close, he began to gently comb his fingers through her hair. "Yes. I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I don't know our exact relation, but we're part of the same clan. I'm…well…I'll tell you later, when we're in the safety of my home. Okay?"

Karin simply smiled at him and nodded her head. "Let's get going. It's cold down here. I've got so much I want to ask you! You really need to show me around your home and tell me all about yourself. And in exchange, I'll tell you everything you could ever want to know about me. Deal?"

Chuckling softly, Naruto took her hand in his and said, "Of course, Karin-chan. That sounds wonderful."

As they walked off, Ibiki looked at Kabuto's dead body and sighed heavily. "Asshole barely gave up any useful information. Not sure how Hokage-sama will react to this news."

Hokage's Office

Tsunade scowled as Team Dragoon gave the last of their report. "So you're telling me the mission was a failure? After all that work?! And where's Naruto-kun? He came back with you, didn't he?"

Kiyoko nodded, but when she went to reply, an Anbu suddenly appeared and began whispering something into the Hokage's ear. When her eyes widened a moment later, she dismissed the Anbu quickly before looking at the others. "Tell me everything. NOW!"

Rose nodded and decided to explain. "We couldn't risk the chance of Kabuto escaping. Shinigami-sama wanted Kabuto's soul in exchange for Karin Uzumaki's. But…the Shinigami also wanted to give Naruto a blessing of some kind. I don't know what he has in mind, but it's bound to be something big. Whatever it is, I'm sure it's going to be life-changing. A deal with a god like that…? Something's going to be different, I'm sure of it."

Tsunade nodded and said, "Follow me. We're going home to get the truth straight from Naruto-kun's mouth. I want to hear EVERYTHING that's happened straight from him. Shizune!"

Shizune rushed into the room and asked, "Yes, Tsunade-sama?!"

"Take care of things for me while I'm gone. I have something I need to investigate. I'll return when I'm done."

Shizune quickly nodded and proceeded to sit in Tsunade's chair, getting to work on filing certain papers and examining others, sorting them into separate piles: one for forms she should approve of, the other for ones she should decline. Naturally, the decline pile was piling up much quicker.

Seeing Shizune hard at work, Tsunade left with Team Dragoon and they made their way back home to the Uzumaki compound. Stepping inside, they saw Karin sitting beside Naruto, chatting happily with him and giggling at something he said. Kin was currently cooking in the kitchen, humming a happy tune to herself all the while.

Tsunade and the others sat down in the various chairs, couches, and the like, each of them looking into Naruto's eyes carefully. They each noticed that his eyes were different. They were silver now for one thing, and they were glowing as well. Rose decided to start things off. "Naruto…what exactly did the Shinigami do to you?"

Naruto frowned slightly as he thought over how best to explain everything to them. Glancing off to the side, he said, "You guys might want to get Ino, Tenten, Sakura, and Koyuki. They need to hear this too."

Rose nodded to Hinata, who quickly rushed off to gather the listed people. When they arrived moments later and took their seats around the room, Naruto sighed softly and looked around at everyone. "As some of you know, Shinigami-sama said that he would grant me a boon upon delivering Kabuto Yakushi's soul to him. Well, the first thing you need to know is that he's, erm…made me immortal. I literally cannot die."

Everyone's eyes widened at this. None of them knew how to take this particular piece of news. However, before they could question it, Naruto held up a hand and continued speaking. "He has also given me the ability to see the souls of the living and the dead. He wants me to deliver the souls of the evil to him. I can do this by reaping them. I can quite literally kill someone by ripping their souls from their bodies and feeding said souls to the Shinigami."

Running his fingers through his hair, smoothing it back some, he continued on. "I struck a deal with Shinigami-sama. If I reap 100 evil souls for him, or the soul of the one that unleashed Kiyoko-chan on Konoha, the one claiming to be Madara Uchiha, then he'll restore Kushina Uzumaki to life. And if I do an exceptional job and please him, he'll restore Mito Uzumaki to life. Slowly, but surely, we'll be able to restore the Uzumaki clan to its former glory."

Haku frowned sadly at him and said, "That's all well and good, Naruto-kun, but…" Sighing, she decided to just come out and ask the question on everybody's mind. "What do we do about this 'being immortal' thing? You'll outlive all of us. We'll die and you'll be left all alone again."

Naruto simply smiled at his loved ones and said, "Shinigami-sama said I could grant all of you this boon as well. But…it's entirely up to you if you want to live together with me for the rest of time. For as long as this world exists. I love you. All of you. You're all very dear to my heart. I honestly can't imagine life without you in it. But…this is a big decision and I can't ask you to make it lightly. So…take your time and think on it for a while. When you're made your decision, please let me know. If you accept, I'll make you like me. If you don't…just know that I'll always love you and we'll be together until the end, I promise."

Rose smirked at him and said, "I don't even need to think about it. Make me like you, sweetheart. Right now."

The blonde chuckled softly and nodded as he walked up to Rose and placed his hand on her cheek. Focusing his power, he proceeded to envelop her in the energy, transforming her and making her like him. When it was over, she opened her eyes and looked herself over. "I feel better than I have in a long time. I feel incredible. This is the kind of power he's given you? It's amazing!"

Naruto then looked at her belly and frowned for a moment. "When our child is born, I don't know if he or she will inherit these powers. We'll simply have to check. In the meantime…" Looking around at everyone else, he smiled and said, "Like I said, take your time. It's entirely up to you."

Haku and Meru both smirked at him as they sauntered up to him, the two of them placing kisses on his cheeks. "We don't even need to think on it sweetheart. We're ready."

Smiling at the both of them, Naruto proceeded to do for them what he did for Rose. When it was done, Meru grinned and exclaimed, "Holy crap! This feeling is freaking orgasmic! I feel awesome! How about you Haku-chan? Feelin' good?"

Haku nodded and said, "I'm feeling better than good. I feel fantastic! I could definitely get used to this."

Hinata frowned slightly and said, "I need to talk with my father about this. I can't just jump right into this without consulting him first. Believe me, I want to just say yes right now and join you for eternity, but it's sadly not that simple."

Ino nodded. "Same here. I need to talk to Daddy and Mommy about this. I'll have to get back to you on this later, Naruto-kun. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. There's really no rush. It's not like I'm going anywhere." he said, smiling kindly at the both of them.

Sakura frowned in thought for a time before nodding. "Naruto-kun…you're the only person I really have left in this world besides my future sister wives. We're family. And…I want to be with you forever. So…I'm ready. I'll become like you."

Naruto nodded and proceeded to transform Sakura as well. When he was done, he turned to the others. "What about the rest of you?"

Kurotsuchi shook her head and said, "I need to talk to Grandpa about it first. I'll explain everything to him and see what he has to say about it. Might take a while, so you might be waiting for a while. I hope that's okay."

Naruto nodded in understanding. "Of course that's okay sweetheart."

Tsunade decided to speak up at this point. "Naruto-kun…if I go through with this, will it revert my age so I'm back in the prime of my life?"

"It should, yeah. From the way it was explained to me, we'll age until we've hit the point we're at the prime of our lives, then we'll stop aging. I'm pretty sure the reverse will hold true as well." Naruto explained with a casual shrug of his shoulders.

The Hokage nodded and stepped up to him, kissing him lovingly on the lips. "Then do it. Make me like you. I don't want you to have to suffer through what I've been through before. The loss of a loved one…it's hard. Harder than anything you should ever have to deal with. I love you too much to leave you someday."

Kissing his beloved Tsunade-chan again, he proceeded to make her like him, his power doing exactly as he had theorized. As her body reverted to the point in time at which she was at her absolute best, she let out an orgasmic moan and fondled her breasts for a moment. "Oh yes, this is perfect." she said before grabbing Naruto's package. "I'm looking forward to getting you alone later. You're going to take this new body of mine for a ride."

Blushing, Naruto chuckled softly and said, "Sure thing, Tsunade-chan."

Koyuki looked at him and shook her head. "I need time to think on it, Naruto-kun. I love you, I really do, but I need to be absolutely sure that I want to live that long, you know? I'm pretty sure I know what my answer will be, but I need to take some time to think on it. Okay sweetheart?"

Nodding in understanding, he turned to the last of his beloved girlfriends. "Ten-chan? What do you think?"

Tenten blushed as she slowly approached him. Placing a hand on his chest, she said, "I love you dearly, Naruto-kun. My parents…they don't believe in me like you do. They don't treat me like I'm beautiful. You do. I don't even need to question it. Make me like you. I'm yours now and forever. Besides, you promised to be with me forever, and I refuse to let you break your promise."

Placing a hand on her cheek, Naruto poured some of his power into her and changed her as well. When it was over, he kissed her lovingly on the lips and said, "I love you, Ten-chan."

"I love you more." she said, giggling happily afterwards.

Taking a seat again, Naruto breathed out an exhausted sigh and looked at the ceiling. "With all of that out of the way for the time being…I honestly don't know what to do right now. I just know I'm exhausted. More mentally and spiritually than I am physically. I just want to take some time off to relax and take it easy for a while. I don't want to worry about any potential wars, false peace talks, psychotic assholes, traitors, any of that crazy stuff. I just want some peace for a while. Maybe some sleep as well."

Tsunade smiled at him and kissed him on the forehead. "Then I'll give Team Dragoon some time off. You've all been so busy lately. You deserve the chance to rest every now and again. I need to get back to the office for now and relieve Shizune. Boy won't she be shocked when she sees the new me?" she said with a giggle.

As Tsunade left, Naruto slowly stood up and reached up, rubbing at his eyes tiredly. "I'm going to go and get some rest. Good night everybody." he said before walking off towards the master bedroom without waiting to be fed by the lovely Kin Tsuchi.

As soon as he was gone, Karin frowned sadly and asked, "He's been through a lot lately…hasn't he?"

Rose frowned and decided to explain. "Naruto's been suffering for a while now. Months, almost a full year now. He was forced to kill Sasuke Uchiha, his own teammate, as well as Kiba Inuzuka. Both kills were within a short time of one another, taking place during the Chunin Exams. He suffered PTSD after those events, and it was only made worse as time went on. Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, betrayed us, as did Kakashi Hatake, who used to be the Violet Dragoon. Naruto also has the Akatsuki organization hunting for him because he houses, or used to house the Kyuubi no Yoko. We also nearly ended up in a war with Kumogakure because of the Raikage's arrogance, and we were forced to take his life as well. Then…we failed to save you from Orochimaru. It doesn't help that Orochimaru was Naruto's godfather. So…all of this just keeps piling onto him and making his PTSD worse. He needs to visit Inoichi more often and get more therapy for his problems. He hasn't really had much time to do so for a while now, unfortunately. And sadly, we can only do so much for him."

Karin and Kin both looked at her in astonishment at hearing all of this. "How the hell is he even still functioning after going through so much?!" Karin exclaimed, honestly dumbfounded by what she had just heard.

Tayuya shrugged and said, "Naruto-kun's made of pretty stern stuff. He can take it all and still keep on fighting. Still, it's hard not to worry about the guy. Thankfully, he's surrounded by people that love him, so that helps."

Kin smirked at the redhead and asked, "Does that include you Tayuya-chan? Does the big, bad Tayuya love our wonderful Naruto-sama?"

Tayuya narrowed her eyes into a glare and said, "Don't make me hurt you, Kin. I may love you like a sister, but I'm not above beating the crap out of you for making fun of me. And for your information, I don't know how I feel about him. I care about him, that's for sure, but I don't know how deep my feelings for him go."

What nobody seemed to notice is that Karin had snuck off at some point during their discussion. By the time they noticed she was gone, Rose sighed and palmed her face. "She's cuddling with him…isn't she?"

Meru giggled and stood up, staring at Rose. "Let's go see. I wanna see if she's cuddled up next to our handsome Naru-kun."

Rose, Meru, and Hinata walked off towards the master bedroom to check while Ino left to go and speak with her family. Koyuki simply returned to her room to think over the offer presented to her. The others each went to do their own thing as well, though they couldn't help but wonder just what Karin was planning.

When the three women peeked into the master bedroom, they weren't surprised to see Karin underneath the blankets with her arms wrapped around Naruto. She was cuddling with him with her body pressed against his back. They could see that her clothes were neatly piled on top of the nearby dresser, though it was obvious she still had on her bra and panties.

Sighing at this, Rose said, "We should just leave them be. I doubt anything will happen between them."

Hinata nodded in agreement. "She just seems to be worried about him, just like we are. We'll wake them up for dinner later. Can't let them starve, after all."

Meru pouted cutely before she followed her fellow Naru lovers. Never know, she might end up seducing him. Oh how fun that would be.

Hours later

About three hours later, a few of the girls came into the master bedroom and woke the sleeping Uzumaki's. Naruto, upon seeing Karin in bed with him, blushed a bit, but soon smiled and said, "Thank you, Karin-chan." before placing a kiss on her forehead. Afterwards, they each returned to the dining area to eat the food that Kin had cooked for everyone.

As they ate, Naruto couldn't help but notice that a number of the girls and other houseguests were missing. "Where'd everybody go?" he questioned curiously.

Kin smiled and said, "Ino went to go and talk with her father a few hours ago. She hasn't returned yet. Koyuki is out having dinner with her movie producer, discussing future film projects that he has in mind for her. I doubt she'll accept any of them right now, though. Not until you're feeling better, at least. Zabuza took Haku out for some father/daughter bonding time. Naturally, Tsunade-sama is busy with her duties as Hokage, so she can't be here, I'm afraid. As for Kiyoko…she wanted to go and spook the villagers for the hell of it."

Naruto chuckled a bit and said, "Yeah, that sounds like Kiyoko-chan all right. It's a shame that they all couldn't be here with us, but what can you do?" Shrugging, he resumed eating his meal, thanking Kin for making such a delicious meal as well.

After they had finished their meal, they were sitting down to watch some TV or simply relax when they heard the door open. Glancing towards it, they saw Ino entering with her father and mother. Walking up to Naruto, they took a seat on the couch nearest him. "Naruto-kun, I know you'd usually come over to my place and talk to Daddy, but we kind of figured that this time, we'd do a type of group therapy. Having people around to support you might help."

The whiskered teen smiled in thanks before looking Inoichi in the eyes. "I have a feeling you're here for another reason as well. Which would you like to get out of the way first, Inoichi-san?"

Setsuna spoke up in place of her husband. "Naruto-kun, Ino-chan told us about your new circumstances. We trust you with our daughter. We love you as if you are our son. We told Ino that it is up to her. This is her decision and she has our blessing either way. So Ino, have you decided yet what you're going to do?"

The perky blonde smirked and said, "Of course I have!" Pouncing on Naruto, she hugged him tight and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "I'm ready cutie, make me like you." Leaning in close, she whispered to him, "Then I want you to take me in your bedroom. I want you so bad right now."

Whispering back, Naruto said, "Sweetheart, therapy first. Then I'll rock your world. Okay?"

Seeing Ino pouting at him, he chuckled softly and proceeded to place his hand on her cheek, turning her like he did the others. Feeling his pants growing a bit damp, he looked down to see she had orgasmed and was now panting as she snuggled up against him. "Ino-chan? You okay there?"

Ino giggled happily and said, "Oh that felt wonderful. Just…let me sit right here for a while. You guys go ahead and do your therapy session."

Inoichi sighed and shook his head in exasperation. Seeing Naruto move Ino to his side so she could snuggle against him that way, he thanked the whiskered teen. Afterwards, he began. "Naruto, I'm going to start with a few simple questions. I want you to answer me honestly. It's been a while since we last talked and we have a lot to catch up on. First, tell me how you feel about Sasuke and Kiba. How do you feel about what you had to do to them?"

Naruto sighed and looked calmly into Inoichi's eyes. "Honestly? I just don't care anymore. Sasuke was a flight risk and would have betrayed the village the very moment somebody offered him the kind of power he needed to kill his brother. I did what I had to do in service to the village."

"Kiba, on the other hand? I wish it didn't have to happen, but it did. I still have no clues as to who could have leaked such information to him, but I'm fairly confident it's someone on the civilian council. Or rather what used to be the civilian council before Hokage-sama disbanded them. I just can't figure out who the hell it was. In the end, I realize that I had no choice. Kiba broke a very important law and, as per the punishment decreed by the Hokage at the time, he was sentenced to death. Again, I did what I had to do in service to the village, no matter how much I dislike having to do such a thing."

Sighing softly, Naruto looked sadly into Inoichi's eyes and said, "I'll never relish in taking another's life. I do not regret my actions, as I have no reason to. I just wish it didn't have to happen in the first place."

The mindwalker nodded as he jotted down some notes in a notebook he had brought with him. "All right, Naruto, here is my next question. When Hiruzen Sarutobi betrayed you, how did you feel?"

Naruto scowled and clenched his fists tight. "He had already betrayed my trust once before by refusing to tell me about my parents and about my burden. My trust in him when I learned the truth was strained, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt and tried to give him a chance to make it all up to me. Then, when he betrayed me again…" Shaking his head, he unclenched his fists and said, "I guess part of me expected it to happen. More like I knew it would. The betrayal still hurt and it still pissed me off, but I knew it was coming. So at the time, I guess I was pretty fucking pissed off."

"A natural reaction." Inoichi said. "What about Jiraiya? What are your thoughts on him and what you and Rose-sama had to do?"

The silver-eyed teen scowled more at the mere mentioning of Jiraiya. Releasing a heavy sigh, he took a moment to compose himself before he began to speak. "Jiraiya was a scumbag. He had no respect for women. Not a single bit of it. He peeped on women in their most private moments. Whether they were simply bathing or making love with their significant other, it didn't matter to him. Jiraiya would peep on them for 'inspiration'. And he didn't feel an ounce of shame for his perversions either!"

Clenching his fists tight, he took a moment to calm himself once more before he continued. "Why my father ever chose him to be my godfather is beyond me. The point stands though that Jiraiya was a scumbag that was obsessed with some prophecy. He wanted to control things and make everything play out how he wanted it to go, like it was one big play or game to him. He tried to remove Rose-chan from my life and all that did was infuriate me. When he attempted to deal with us a second time, after apparently not learning his lesson the first time, we made sure to end his life. Jiraiya deserved to die. That's how I feel about him, Inoichi-san."

"A very normal reaction when thinking about someone that has wronged you on such a deep level. And it seems you don't take kindly to perverts such as him. Thank you for that." Inoichi said calmly. "Now, as I understand it, you and your fellow Dragoons had a nasty encounter with the Raikage of Kumo. Would you mind walking me through that particular scenario?"

Naruto sighed and began to recount his tale. "At some point a number of months ago, the Fourth Raikage of Kumogakure contacted Hokage-sama about meeting so they could discuss a possible peace treaty between our villages. We were to meet on neutral ground, in this case Otogakure, Orochimaru's lair. As I'm sure you're aware, Kakashi Hatake betrayed us in favor of following the Third Hokage. As a result, we were in search of a new Violet Dragoon. At the meeting, the Raikage offered to return Hizashi Hyuga's body as a sign of good faith. However, this was a ploy of his in order to get Hinata-chan to marry into his village. When we declined, he grew angry."

Frowning, Naruto shook his head and continued. "I interrupted at that point and explained the purpose of the Dragoons and how one among them, them being his guards, was the Dragoon we were searching for. Words were said and things escalated into violence before A stormed out of there, declaring war on Konohagakure."

"Anyways, fast forward a bit and Team Dragoon is given the mission to infiltrate Kumogakure, recover Hizashi Hyuga's body, and deal with the Raikage how we saw fit. We did our job well. Team Dragoon killed the Raikage, recovered Hizashi's body, and returned home to rest and recuperate."

Sighing frustratedly, Naruto ruffled up his hair slightly and said, "Another life wasted. All because of his own arrogance. All because nobody ever wants to fucking listen. The cycle never ends, I swear."

Inoichi frowned sadly, but nodded in understanding. "This last part might be difficult for you, Naruto, but I need you to bear with me. When you went to rescue Karin Uzumaki…what went through your head? I want to know what you were thinking every step of the way until you managed to revive her and accepted Shinigami-sama's blessing."

"Before we even began the mission, I wished we could have made our move much sooner. I hated having to wait to rescue her. I knew she was in danger, but at the same time, we had to make a choice and we chose to wait and bide our time until the moment was right to strike." Naruto explained.

"When we infiltrated the Southern Hideout, everything seemed fine at first…then Kiyoko sensed something terrible happening with Orochimaru and Karin-chan. I started to panic, and when we found them…when I saw that sword in her gut…when she dropped to the ground…everything just went blank. I couldn't think. I couldn't breathe. I don't know how to describe that experience. I knew I had failed as soon as Hinata-chan gave me that look."

Sighing heavily, Naruto massaged his forehead and continued on. "After that, I awoke my mother's chakra chains and pinned Orochimaru to the ground before beating him to within an inch of his life. Afterwards, I summoned the Shinigami…and before I knew it, I was threatening him. I was literally threatening a god."

Inoichi chuckled softly and said, "Somehow, that isn't all that hard for me to imagine." Setsuna simply giggled in response.

Once they had finished, Naruto continued. "I made the trade for Kiyoko-chan's other half…and then made a deal with Shinigami-sama. Kabuto's soul for Karin's life. The entire time we were making our way back home, all I could think about was 'Kabuto had better not have escaped.' over and over again. Rather than meeting with the Hokage upon our return, I went straight to T & I and summoned the Shinigami once more. As agreed, we made the trade. Shinigami-sama also gave me his boon, which I'm sure Ino-chan has already explained to you in detail." Seeing them both nod, Naruto nodded as well. "Good. Anyways, I made another deal with Shinigami-sama in exchange for this boon. However, I think I'll keep that to myself for the time being unless I absolutely need to discuss it with you for whatever reason."

"I see. And how do you feel now, Naruto?" Inoichi questioned.

Naruto chuckled dryly and said, "Exhausted. Frustrated. Depressed. Angry. And a little relieved. I just need a break for a while. I just can't keep this up any longer."

Inoichi frowned sadly as he finished jotting down notes in his notebook. Looking into Naruto's eyes calmly, he said, "Naruto-kun, I'm going to prescribe you some antidepressants and some sleeping medication. With the antidepressants I'll be prescribing you, I want you to start off taking half a pill for a week and see how that works for you. If you don't notice a difference, then start taking a whole pill once daily for another week. Again, if you do not notice a difference in your mood, up the dosage to a pill and a half per day. Finally, if there's no change after a week of that, go up to the recommended dosage of two pills once a day. These pills may make you slightly drowsy for a time until you get used to taking them, but I assure you that they will help in the long run."

"Now, the sleeping pills are different. Take one pill at night and it should knock you out for the majority of the night. If that fails, then you can take two pills at night and see if that helps. But I'm warning you now: do NOT attempt to take more than two pills at a time. I don't want you overdosing on either of these medications. That can have very serious consequences and I don't want to see you hurting because you misused the medication I've prescribed you." Inoichi explained.

Naruto nodded in understanding and watched as Inoichi filled out a couple slips of paper before handing them to him. "I'll inform the pharmacy to prepare the medication for you. All you need to do is hand over those slips of paper, pay for the medicine, and then you can return home and take them as needed. And Naruto? I want you to come see me more often for therapy. It may not seem like it at first, but talking to someone about your problems can help. Even if all you do is vent to me, I'll listen and give you whatever advice I can. Okay?"

The whiskered blonde nodded again. "Of course. Thank you, Inoichi-san. I really hope this helps."

Setsuna smiled kindly at him and said, "I'm sure I will. Now, Inoichi and I will leave now. I expect you to pick up your meds first thing in the morning Naruto. Do you understand me?"

Naruto chuckled softly and nodded his head. "Of course, Setsuna-san. Thank you."

As soon as they were gone, Ino smashed her lips against her lover's and snaked her hand down towards his pants. Before she could reach her prize, however, Tayuya smacked her hand. "Behave Ino. If you want to do something like that, do it behind closed doors and with some damn silencing seals in place. Nobody wants to hear you screaming out Naruto's name for hours on end."

Ino smirked at Tayuya and said, "You mean you don't want to hear it. Whenever you imagine Naruto-kun doing that with one of us, it turns you on, doesn't it?"

The redhead scowled and said, "Like I said, I don't know how I feel about him. Okay? I care about him, but I don't know how much. I don't need you all teasing me about feelings I might or might not have."

The blonde simply shrugged before standing up and taking Naruto's hand in hers. "Come on Naruto-kun, let's go have some 'fun'."

Naruto chuckled and followed after his girlfriend. He was very much looking forward to rocking her world and making her cry out his name in ecstasy.

As soon as they were gone, Tayuya looked at Rose and asked, "So how are you doing Rose-sama? Still combatting morning sickness?"

Rose shook her head as she rubbed her growing belly. "It's getting better. Don't get me wrong, I still have to contend with it, but it's not as persistent anymore. Tsunade's got it just as bad though. And then there's Tenten here. She's suffering the worst part of it right now. After she and Naruto made love that first night, he knocked her up too. At least she's happy."

Tenten giggled happily and nodded her head. "Oh, I'm VERY happy. I know we're still young, but I don't care. I can't wait to raise a family together with him. It'll be wonderful!"

Sakura giggled and said, "I'm sure. I still haven't, erm…had sex with him yet. I'm still a little nervous about it. Does…does it hurt as much as I've heard?"

Rose shook her head and said, "No, not really. Once you get used to his size and shape, it starts to feel really good. He's gentle when he needs to be, and when you want him to give it to you harder, he gives you exactly what you want. Naruto's a wonderful lover."

Sakura blushed and nodded slowly. "I-I see. That sounds wonderful. I'm looking forward to it." she said with a giggle.

It was at this point that Meru came to the realization that they wouldn't be seeing Naruto or Ino for the rest of the night. Pouting at this, she asked, "When the hell is it gonna be my turn? I'd like to go for a ride too dammit!"

Tayuya facepalmed while Rose simply smacked Meru in the back of the head. "Behave yourself dammit." Rose said.

The Wingly pouted at her old friend and said, "Come on, you've had your fun time with him. What's the problem with letting me have some fun too?"

Rose sighed and shook her head. "I just don't want to hear about it. Okay Meru? Now hush."

Suddenly they heard perverted giggling. Glancing towards Hinata, they saw her snacking on some cinnamon buns. They found that odd because she didn't have them a second ago. Ignoring that, they soon turned to the new addition to the household: Karin Uzumaki. Looking at her, they saw that she was slowly creeping down the hallway, a perverted grin on her face.

Facepalming, Rose grabbed her by the back of her shirt and asked, "And what do you think you're doing?"

Karin pouted and said, "Busted. I was just curious. That's all."

"Uh-huh. You've known him for not even a full day yet. I don't need you getting any ideas in that head of yours." Rose stressed. "Now behave."

Karin sighed and nodded her head. "Yes ma'am. What are we supposed to do in the meantime? Think we can pick up Naruto-kun's prescriptions for him? Maybe?"

Rose shook her head and said, "It's best if we go along with him when he goes to purchase them, just in case they try to overcharge him. Can't trust the damn civilians, after all."

"True." Sakura said. "I…actually have a question, Rose-sama."

Raising an eyebrow, the Dark Dragoon asked, "Oh? What's this question you've got on your mind?"

Sakura looked around at the others in the room for a moment before she looked into Rose's eyes. "I know Naruto-kun, you, and Kiyoko have been discussing it for some time, but…are you planning to leave Konohagakure to move to Uzushiogakure? You want to rebuild it, right?"

Rose sighed and nodded her head in confirmation. "Yes. We are still not welcome in Konohagakure, Sakura. There are people here that care for us, and we care for them, that's true. However, this is a toxic environment and we need to get away from it. We can make a home for ourselves in Uzushiogakure, away from all the hatred and the pain. We could be happy together."

The pinkette looked into her eyes and asked, "Will you take all of us with you? The ones that love Naruto-kun, your fellow Dragoons, etc. Please?"

Rose simply smiled as she said, "We had already planned on bringing you all with us. Of course, some of you will need to talk with your parents and loved ones first, before making such a big decision. Just like you did when deciding if you wanted to become like Naruto-kun."

Tenten frowned in thought for a moment. "I…should talk to my parents and my team about this, but…I really don't want to. I'd prefer to just leave with you. Guy-sensei would be upset with me, claiming I'm being unyouthful for abandoning the village. Neji would just be an asshole about it. Kami knows what Lee would do. And I'm still upset with my parents. So I'd rather just leave with you guys."

Sakura shrugged and said, "I have nothing tying me down here. I'm free to go anytime."

Hinata sighed sadly and shook her head. "Just like with the immortality thing, I need to discuss this with my father as well. I'm not entirely sure how he'll react, unfortunately."

Rose simply nodded and listened as everyone gave their answers. Sighing, she looked towards the end of the hallway at the master bedroom. Naruto…are you ready for something like this? I know we've discussed it for quite some time, but you're so exhausted now. I just don't know if you're up for a move this big.

The Next Day

Naruto and Karin were having a good time just walking around the village of Konoha. They were chatting away happily with one another, discussing a variety of things and generally getting to know one another better. One thing they found that they had in common was their love of ramen. While Naruto simply viewed this as a day out on the town with a family member, Karin chose to view it as a little something more.

Ever since Naruto had brought her back to life, she knew she had developed a sort of hero worship for him. She also knew that it was dangerous of her to cling to him so quickly and to follow such feelings without really getting to know him first. However, between his calming chakra, his kindness, his power, and everything else about him, she was finding it INCREDIBLY hard to resist him and her swirling emotions.

Right now they were eating some dango as they walked through the streets, happy smiles on their faces. Sadly, their moment was interrupted by an angry Neji Hyuga. Glaring into Naruto's eyes, he said, "You took Tenten away from me. I want her back, Naruto."

Naruto sighed before he popped the last of the dango into his mouth, chewing it slowly before he flicked the skewer at the angry Hyuga. Watching as Neji smacked it away from him, the blonde simply shrugged and stared at him apathetically. "Tenten-chan isn't some possession you can claim ownership over, Neji-baka. Besides, didn't I already smack some sense into you? Do I really need to do it again?"

Neji scowled further and proceeded to activate his Byakugan. As he got a good look at Naruto's chakra coils, he frowned in confusion. "What the hell happened to you?"

Naruto frowned slightly before he realized what Neji must be talking about. Shrugging it off, he said, "Got a new power-up. No biggie. Now, I suggest you humble up, shut up, and leave, Neji Hyuga. This is your last warning."

"Such arrogance will be your undoing, Uzumaki." Neji said before he took the starting stance of the Gentle Fist taijutsu style.

Sighing heavily, Naruto activated his Tamashigan (Soul Eye) as he called them and got a good look at Neji's soul. Frowning heavily at what he saw, he said, "Neji, your soul is dark and twisted. It's turning darker every second we stand here talking. Just how demented are you?"

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about, but it's time for you to die, Naruto Uzumaki! Tenten will be MINE!" Neji exclaimed as he went on the attack.

Dammit Neji. I don't think I can spare you this time… Naruto thought to himself sadly. I don't want to kill again. Why do things like this have to keep happening? Why can't it all just stop?! These thoughts and more plagued Naruto as he dodged attack after attack. He knew he should fight back, but his thoughts were conflicted and he just couldn't focus. Dammit! What the hell am I supposed to do?!

A/N - And that's the chapter! I know, not a nice place to end it, but I couldn't resist. :P

Anywho, like I said before, there were some BIG changes in this chapter. The first thing I'd like to say is that even though Naruto is technically immortal now, that does NOT make him invincible. He can still get his ass kicked, he can still be wounded pretty severely, hell, he can even be put on the brink of death without actually dying! The same can be said for the others he turned. Immortal, but NOT invincible. Big difference.

As for Karin's infatuation with Naruto? As mentioned in the fic, it's a case of hero worship combined with a few other factors. Will she eventually truly fall in love with him? Maybe. Hell if I know. But right now, it's a big case of hero worship and she's not even trying to fight it.

Also, as you no doubt picked up on it, yes, Team Dragoon and their loved ones WILL be moving to Uzushiogakure at some point. Konohagakure is just too toxic an environment for them and it's only getting worse instead of better. So they're going to be moving away sometime soonish...probably. Depends on how things go. lol.

Can't remember if there's anything else I needed to say. This damn headache is driving me nuts. . So I'll just say this: I hope you enjoyed the chapter and are looking forward to whatever comes next. Ciao!