I'm still alive.

Chapter 10: Crouching Fox, Hidden Vampire

Yasaka found that she was nervous as she made her way to the shrine. She had been personally summoned by her goddess, which meant that whatever this was, it was important. It was funny to her, really. She was a mature nine-tails (the only one of her kind, as it were) and had been leading the youkai in Kyoto for centuries, but a simple meeting was bringing her to her knees. She didn't know who it was, or even why she felt like this, but she felt that something fateful could happen today.

As she got closer and the shrine came into view, she recoiled. There was a MASSIVE spike of spiritual energy inside that dwarfed the surroundings. She stretched out her senses, trying to see if she could feel anything else around her, but everything was drowned out by this all-consuming wave of energy. The sheer volume of it threatened to force her to her knees as she came to the entrance. She stepped into view of her goddess and the unknown assailant, wondering just who possessed such power.

"Yo!"

She froze up, not believing her own eyes. The person she had seen in her visions, in her dreams. The person that invaded her every thought and action over the centuries. The person whose mere visage had left her confused, yet happy at the same time. She rubbed her eyes, making sure that this wasn't some elaborate illusion or that her mind wasn't playing tricks on her from overwork.

It was him.

(2 hours earlier)

"Man, this place sure has changed a lot!" Naruto sat at the counter of a restaurant, gnawing away at a bowl of ramen. He couldn't believe it had taken the people that lived in this reality this long to come up with his favorite meal. He had visited just about every land, every dimension, and every corner of the world over the last few hundred years, but none of them had ramen (well, the Chinese people did, but their ramen was icky). Japan finally made his type of ramen, and as a bonus, he could officially say it was the "food of the gods" because he was a god.

"This rocks!", he exclaimed as he slurped down the noodles and the broth.

"Agreed", Lilith chimed up. She was seated beside him, chowing down on her own bowl of ramen. She had become quite different from her original counterpart. Whereas Ophis was often stoic but playful, Lilith was now almost hyperactive and easily excitable. She shared Naruto's love of ramen, training, and pranking people (something Naruto himself regretted passing onto her, as the pranks were often at his expense as her travel companion).

They finished slurping their bowls at the same time and put them down for the servers to come and pick them back up. Naruto motioned to the door of the restaurant, intending to leave.

"Let's go, Lilith-chan." Lilith nodded and got up. They made their way out of the restaurant after Naruto left a (rather generous) tip. Yes, Naruto had plenty of cash for a variety of reasons. Martial arts tournaments, collecting bounties on criminals he captured, and even publishing that old pervert's books he had preserved as a memento (this one really raked in the dough, leading him to believe that there was an abundance of perverts in this reality).

Why was a god doing all of this? Nobody knows. Why was he walking around in broad daylight and eating ramen? No one knew that either.

"So, where to now?" Lilith asked. Truthfully, Naruto hadn't given that much thought after coming back. He was low-key hoping that just revisiting the place would spark some ideas, like when he returned to Konoha all those years ago. He had been to many, many places, and did many, many things, but this place felt more like home than any of them. He supposed that was because it was the first place he had stayed in for any noticeable length of time, and the place where he rediscovered a purpose in life.

It also wasn't nearly as annoying as the other realms. Asgard, Mount Olympus, you name it, he had a pain-in-the-ass problem there. Over the last century, he had:

Punched a genie for refusing to grant him his wishes on account of them being "too stupid".

Arm-wrestled some guy named Hercules and caused a small earthquake.

Been approached by what felt like every single member of the devil race, trying to reincarnate him into a "member of their peerage", and finally…

Been attacked by all the goddesses of love. Aphrodite, Freya, and the like. At some point, all of them had tried their hand at him (or whatever else appendage they thrust at him). Something about his life energy drove them all mad. He was used to getting mobbed by random civilian women, but goddesses trying to get at you were an entirely different story.

Thankfully, since Lilith shared Ophis' visage, she was able to scare them all off. She might have pulled a prank or two on some of them as well (Freya might still be pulling the feathers out of her hair). Naruto chuckled at the thought, having taken a liking to his pupil-in-chief, so to speak. At first, he was against someone else being so similar to him, but then, as time went on, he found that having someone that thought like him was a gift.

"… I guess we'll go see Sasuke, then." He had sensed that Sasuke had returned here as well, with a new person in tow with him. This person had been following him around for eons, at that. He was a bit jealous that Sasuke had gotten such a devout follower. He had his own section of followers and admirers, but none of them had volunteered to come with him and spread the word.

Nevertheless, he was happy for his best friend. If that person was good enough to keep around, he hoped he'd meet them one day. That said, her energy was… weird. There were two signatures inside her, one dark and one… darker, constantly fighting for control. He didn't dwell on it, though. Sasuke had sharper intuition than him, so he would've noticed and can take care of himself.

By this point, he was just walking aimlessly, ducking in and out of alleys and side paths. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he almost didn't notice the shimmer of light appearing behind him.

Almost. Sages weren't that easy to sneak up on.

"Granny Sunshine, long time no see", he said without turning around. It was strange, her coming to see him in person. She never came to him like this if she could help it. Gods and goddesses roaming around willy-nilly in other deities' territories wasn't looked upon too favorably.

He could attest to that.

"Naruto-san, it has indeed been a long time. 900 years, if I'm not mistaken. I see you are still traveling with the Ouroboros dragon." She looked at Lilith, wondering just how he had managed to tame her for so long. Power truly did beget power, it seemed.

"You're not mistaken", he answered. "It really has been that long. I've done a lot, but I'm still at a crossroads." Amaterasu raised her dainty eyebrows, curious as to what such a powerful individual (with a just as powerful companion) could find so troubling. There aren't many beings that could stand up to either of them alone, let alone both. She waited for him to continue; curiosity now sparked.

She could wait a bit longer to say what she had to say.

"I mean, there's something crucial for my religion that I can't do. You know I'm a chakra-based being, right? I want to be able to share my chakra with my followers, but my brand of chakra is… different from here. I don't think the people here could handle it, either because it's too powerful or too different, like I said. I need to find a way to safely share it."

The sun goddess pursed her lips, having not thought the situation was so… unique. Not being able to share power with others was familiar, as divine beings were more powerful than most other forms of life in existence. This problem, however, was new to her. Being from a different dimension was nothing new, but a different reality? It stumped her.

"Have an heir", Lilith spoke up. This caught the attention of both deities, both of them sporting wildly different looks. Naruto's jaw nearly dropped to the floor, and Amaterasu raised an eyebrow in interest. She continued, ignoring Naruto leveling a glare at her.

"Having an heir ensures that their body will be able to handle and shelf your power. My original had this same idea in mind when she made me, though I do not know how the process goes with other beings." She watched Naruto's expression closely, amused at the disarray and obvious disappointment written on his face. She knew she had to drive it home with something even more outrageous, so she made up her mind. Sporting an almost devious smile, she said the rest of her peace.

"You could even have multiple partners."

"You're just fucking with me at this point", Naruto shot out. "You know good and well how I feel about that stuff." Naruto turned to Amaterasu, expecting her to be appalled by the thought. Instead, he found her deep in thought, a finger pressed to her chin. She wasn't being serious, was she?

"You're kidding me, right?"

"Well, it is not exactly a rarity for a deity to take multiple consorts. I myself don't do it, but there are numerous examples. You have met a few of them, I'm sure." She was right. Naruto had met more than his fair share of perverted, immoral deities who would put Pervy Sage to shame. He appreciated the female form as much as the next person, but…

She could see the look on his face, so she dropped it in favor of what she actually came here for.

"Never mind that, then. The reason I've come here personally is to retrieve you." That, once again, struck Naruto as odd. She could've just had one of her servants come get him, since he was back in Shinto territory. What was so important that she had to personally come out here?

"There's someone I would l like for you to meet. It'd be beneficial to both of you, I think."

'Someone to meet?' he thought. He thought about it for a second, pondering what he should do. He was going to go see Sasuke and meet that new follower of his, but this must be important since she decided to show up in person. She also said that it could be beneficial to both of them, so there's something for him to gain by doing this. He decided to go and see this new person. What's the worst that could happen?

"Heh, alright. I'll go along with you and meet this person, Granny Sunshine. What could go wrong?"

(Present time)

"I really should stop tempting fate-ttebayo." Why the hell had this fox woman passed out when he greeted her? Did he look that scary? Did he have BO? He sniffed himself, not smelling anything. Granny Sunshine and the dragon twerp hadn't said anything either, so he couldn't have, but…

"She might have seen the depths of your stupidity", Kurama chimed in from his mind.

"And how exactly would she have done that, furball?"

"It shoots out like a projectile with every word you say."

He cut off the mental link. "Granny Sunshine, does she do that with everyone?"

"No, not with specific people. She's passed out before, but never because of meeting someone." She told a partial lie, wanting them to naturally reconnect. She knew exactly who Yasaka used to be, and why she did what she did. Preventing a relapse was of high priority, but she had motives beyond that as well. She had come to see Yasaka as her own progeny, different from the way she sees the rest of her "children".

She wanted her to be happy.

"So she's anemic? That's kinda annoying, granny." Amaterasu's patience was wearing thin with this nickname he had thought up for her. 900 years of granny this, granny that. She'd need to set them up before he drove away her remaining sanity.

"No, she's not anemic, Naruto-san. She's perfectly healthy, she just sometimes has these visions that cause her intense pain. They might be able to help you with your… dilemma. If you can, could you rejuvenate her?" She left out that the visions were usually of him. Yes, Yasaka could help him in many ways. The Ouroboros Dragon had planted a seedling of an idea in Amaterasu's head, and she found it interesting to say the least.

Naruto turned to look at the downed fox woman. She reminded him of the last fox woman he came into contact with all those years ago. In all his years, he had never come across another nine-tails (apparently they were incredibly rare among an already rare species of youkai). Similar body shape, nine tails, the whole package, except a certain area was even larger than before. What did they feed these youkai to make their chests that big? Shaking his head of those thoughts, he entered sage mode. Natural energy was energy in it's purest form, and it could be used to do anything if one had enough skill. He wasn't a trained medical ninja, but he could heal even the most grievous of injuries and even reverse certain death if he wanted.

Even temporarily reviving the dead is possible, but that's a line he won't cross.

He placed a hand on the woman's shoulder, sending trace amounts of the chakra he gathered into her system to wake her up. He only used the part of the chakra that was native to this reality that he had gathered with sage mode, as anything else might cause her harm (he learned how to shelve his own chakra for another source's when he first took Kurama's all those years ago). She stirred, reaching out her hand and latching onto Naruto's wrist and opening her eyes.

"What is this… feeling?", she spoke out. It felt like something warm and soothing had blanketed her very soul. She felt protected, safe, and at ease. She squinted her eyes, trying to get them to adjust to whatever she was looking at. A head of blonde hair came into her vision, and she soon gathered what had happened. She had passed out again, probably because of another one of those visions she just couldn't figure out the meaning of. Angling her head, she made note of having grabbed the wrist of the mystery-man who usually appeared in her dreams.

Yes, this was another of her episodes.

Except her lady wasn't usually there, as she was now. Neither was the Ouroboros Dragon, who was also present. Her eyes widened and her pulse quickened as she began to panic. This couldn't be real, could it? She couldn't actually be hanging off this mystery-man while her goddess and the Dragon God were watching, could she?

"Oh, it's good to see you're awake, dattebayo!"

Apparently, life hadn't thrown her enough curveballs.

(Nearby)

A peculiar set of cats roamed nearby, one black and one white. They turned their heads in the direction of the shrine, seemingly having felt something. They changed course, heading towards the shrine.