"I need a vacation."

The thought was a simple impulse, a fantastically whimsical idea born out of his current misfortune, yet it stuck with him. It had landed and dug its trench in him. And with every word spoken by the angel, it became a little less than a thought and little more of a necessity.

"Just a week or two. I can have Kuroka man the shop along with a couple of clone. Koneko can come and Ophis…"

He sent a glance over toward the dragon. His heart nearly leapt out of his throat when their eyes met. She had been staring at him. He had no idea for how long but she had been staring. His eyes met hers for a brief moment before he tore them away.

"God, she looked like she was reading my mind."

The thought that the dragon had the ability to do anything involving his inner thoughts was terrifying. He pushed the idea from the foreground of his mind with a quick shake of his head.

"I could maybe convince her to stay with a clone."

Maybe was a strong word in this case. The god could sense the difference between himself and his clones and whatever that difference may be, she did not like it. A clone would only be able to satisfy her for so long. She would grow tired and agitated of its presence and the lack of his.

An agitated Ophis was not what he wanted to deal with.

A sigh slipped out of his lips. This is what he had been lowered to. Planning his vacation around an easily agitated God. He reasoned that he shouldn't feel too bad about it. She was a God, after all. Even in her weakened state, she was still a god.

And he was just a simple guy.

"Naruto?" The call of his name snapped him out of his inner monologue. His eyes widened in attention while he turned his head toward the sound. When his eyes met with the angels green one's, their previous conversation came rushing back to the forefront of his mind.

"Oh I'm sorry. Just a lot to take in."

There was a bit of truth in his rushed words. What the woman had started off with was an overwhelming idea. So overwhelming that he had stopped listening halfway through the explanation. His excuse seemed to appease the angel as she leaned back into her seat with a placid smile on her lips.

"I understand that it can be overwhelming but do realize that my father was the God. You may not understand his actions but know that his will his ultimate and good."

"What is the difference between your dad and Ophis? She's a god, y'know?" Kuroka chimed in. Naruto watched as the smile on Gabriel's face shifted into a frown. The angel turned to shoot the dragon a glare, or at least her best attempt at one. The expression didn't look quite right on her cherubic face. The look didn't last for too long before fading away when she turned to address Kuroka.

"My father was perfect. He was being of unlimited will, strength and power."

"That would explain why he is dead now."

If looks could, Naruto was sure that Koneko would be dead in his lap. The Nekoshou's comment hadn't amused the angel one bit.

"My father is not dead." Gabriel said in response while glaring at the girl. Koneko didn't seem the least bit bothered by look sent her way, prompting the angel to shift her focus onto Naruto. Her green eyes seemed to shine in the ambient light of the room as she began to speak again, her tone a lot less agitated than before.

"He is alive. His spirit lives on in you."

Silence filled the room after her statement. Every eye in the room was aimed at the angel. Her face shone with sincerity while she stared at the blond. Gradually the attention in the room shifted over to Naruto. His drooped eyes and the dark lines of his face seemed to belay nothing but his exhaustion.

"No."

"Wha-"

"I said no. I'm sorry but whatever you're thinking isn't true."

He was a lot of things. He was a shinobi, he was a boyfriend, he was a shopkeeper and apparently a father. But he was not God. He had adamantly fighting against being called a god, so he would be damned if people started to thinking of him as THE God.

"But I know it is." The angel pleaded as she leaned toward him. "I can feel his grace within you. This is no mistake. His rebirth will lead the world to peace and salvation! It was prophesied!"

Prophecy. He just couldn't escape them, could he? All the way in another dimension and that word still followed him like the plague.

"In the bible, it is said that my father will return to the mortal plane! Revelation 21 verse 4, 'He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.'"

With each word spoke by the angel, the shaking of Naruto's head grew stronger. There was no amount of scripture Gabriel could throw at him to convince him of what she was saying.

"Your defeat of Hades! Isaiah 25 verse 8, 'He will swallow up death in victory; the Lord God will wipe away tear from off all faces.'"

"No."

"Daniel 2 verse 21, 'It is He who changed the time and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men and knowledge to men of understanding.'"

"That one doesn't even fit."

"Job 19 verse 25, 'For I know that my redeemer lives, and at last he will be upon the earth.' I know, my Lord. I throw myself down at your feet."

The angel punctuated her words by throwing herself down onto the boy's floor. She met eyes with him for an instant before the crown of her head kissed the hardwood floor.

"I celebrate your return, father. Praise be thy name! Praise be thy name! Praise by thy na-"

The woman's chanting was interrupted by several loud knocks. At the sound, Naruto shot up from his seat, displacing Koneko on the seat next to him.

Any break from Gabriel was a welcome one at the moment. He was at the door in an instant. He didn't bother looking through the peephole before swinging the door open.

"We have come to avenge the death of Master Ha-"

The three women standing at his doorstep didn't get the chance to finish their shared statement before the door was slammed in their face. The remainder of the words died in their mouths at the gesture. Crammed together on the top stair to the home, they exchanged looks of disbelief between one another.

"He is bold."

"Ignorant is more like it."

"Do we knock again?"

"I say we charge in and take back what he has stolen."

"He is dangerous. Charging in could prove to be foolish."

On the other side of the door Naruto stood twitching. The three women watched with concern while he attempted to take in a deep breath. The action looked far more laborious than it was meant to be to the girls as it left the blond shaking.

"Who are those women?"

His eyes cut a sharp toward the sole angel in the room. The boy's gaze left her squirming in her seat. She was forced to take in several breaths to steel herself before she began to speak.

"I didn't get the best look at them-" That had not been the right thing to say. She felt an actual pressure land on her shoulders as the words left her mouth. It reminded him so much of her time beneath her father that she found herself naturally rushing to appease his irritation.

"B-But I believe they are Furies, primordial spirits of vengeance and servants of Hades."

He sighed. He wasn't surprised. This was the crux of every one of his victory. You defeat one opponent and two more stood waiting to avenge that defeat. That had been the law of the land back in the Elemental Nations and he had no doubt that it was no different here. The fact that he had killed a God only made things worse.

"I wouldn't want to be you in a couple of days." Anubis' words echoed in his head. He sucked in a deep breath at the thought. Those words never seemed clear until now. Standing with his back against his door, debating on whether to be angry, scared or just plain old tired, he definitely didn't want to be him.

"How important are those three?"

"Wha-"

"How much would me kicking their ass into dust affect this world?" His crass language brought a blush to her face but got the message across nonetheless.

"Not very much. They've grown obsolete in the world. They serve as mere tormentors for Hades than anything else nowadays."

"You heard that, Kurama?"

"Yeah. Good enough for you?"

"Banging on my door was good enough for me."

With those words, Naruto allowed the golden strength of the Sage of Six Paths to wash over him. His form became ablaze with the translucent chakra, filling the room with its bright yellow light. As he turned to confront the Furies, Gabriel stood to stare. Her eyes shined with the same light of Naruto's cloak while the blond began to pull the door ajar.

"Your glory has never been brighter, father. I see it now. I see it."

Her words were followed by Naruto's disappearance along that of the Furies. The five women, one angel, two dragons and two Nekoshou, could only stare at the gaping door that the blond had flashed out of.

"The Lord has returned to earth."

He had needed this so badly.

The Furies left the grasp of his golden fingers and rocketed down toward earth. Their bodies cut through the air, twisting and stumbling as they attempted to regain some sort of control, before crashing into the ground below. They hit the ground and traveled in a rolling heap of limbs, wings, and hair.

A slow breath left his lips. A small smile began to stretch across his lips while he floated. He didn't know if it was the satisfaction of sending the three hag-like creatures tumbling across the ground or the Sage's chakra but right now he felt happy.

The trio of women did not speak as they rose from the ground. For creatures as old as they were, words were of no use in the heat of combat.

The first one launched herself up into the air with a single flap of her wings. The dual mass of silver feathers brought her within striking distance of the boy.

She struck out with her fist. The clawed appendage soared toward his face, bending and breaking the air around it as it moved.

Her attack would not land. His hands closed around her wrist, stopping her in place. He took a moment to enjoy the shocked look on her face before he yanked on her arm. The rest of her body followed along with the pull, sending her headfirst at Naruto. A smile stood on his head as he sent his head launching forward. His head met hers with a tremendous impact that left the Fury in a spiraling descent.

His next attacker wasn't so straightforward. He became aware of her nature when the tips of her claws raked against his back. He spun around and struck out with his fist. He made contact but not much progress. The fist seemed to barely faze the woman if the calm expression on her face was anything to go by.

"Death awaits you, child."

His eyes were forced open when two limbs crashed around his midsection. He looked down to see a pair of black wings pinning his arms against the side. The sudden lurch in his stomach and the blurring landscape alerted him that the forces keeping him afloat began to lose the battle against gravity.

The fury kept her tight hold on him while she forced her body to spin. Naruto was forced to spin with her as the two fell toward the earth. She could feel the boy struggling in her grip. The closer they grew to the earth, the more he struggled. Every failed attempt to break free from her grip was met with failure.

Before the duo could hit the ground, the Fury released her hold on the boy and allowed her wings to flair out behind him, lifting her high into the air and allowing her to avoid crashing into the ground.

Her opponent wasn't as lucky. His descent into the ground wasn't a pleasant one. He slammed head first, breaking the ground on impact while throwing up a cloud of smoke. His attacker flew high into the air where she was joined by her fellow Furies while the smoke dispersed from beneath them.

"Be weary. He is alive and well, sister."

"You're damn right, I am."

The shout was followed by a deafening crack that echoed through the clearing. A trio of eyes tore through the clearing in an attempt to find its source.

Their discovery would come just a little too late.

A black blur slammed into the middle of the Furies. The woman's body was forced upward, climbing through the air at a ridiculous pace. The remaining Furies could do nothing but turn and watch while their sister flew farther out of reach. The shock of watching one of their sisters be whisked away was nothing compared to the feeling of watching the creature began to disintegrate. Despite the distance between them, the two sisters could see the Fury's body breaking apart.

"What is happening to her?" One of the remaining Furies asked while turning to look at her sister. She managed to catch a small glance of her confused counterpart before the heel of a golden shoe slammed into the crown of her head. The primordial was sent careening down toward the ground, leaving the remaining airborne fury face to face with Naruto.

She was the first to strike. Unlike her sister, she didn't bother with a physical attack. She instead propelled herself backward with a flap of her wings while holding her hands out in front of her. A dark substance boiled around her finger for a single moment before it leaped from her fingers. The darkness cut through the air with a deafening roar toward Naruto.

The beam managed to cross the distance between the duo in an instant. It looked to be on its way to piercing the boy's midsection … before one of his truth-seeking balls interjected itself in its way. The beam slammed and was promptly absorbed into the black orb, leaving behind a shocked Fury.

"How?" The creature questioned while looking at the blond. Those would be her last word as Naruto decided then to send one of his orbs toward the woman. She attempted to dodge the sphere but it slammed into her forehead before she could get away. Her head offered little resistance against the power of the attack, it instantly disintegrating into nothing. Her body soon followed the disappearance of the head under the effects of the orb. After only a moment after impact, another fury had been wiped from existence.

"You're being pretty vicious today." Kurama's words played through his head while the truth-seeking ball floated back toward him.

"I've had a pretty long day." That had been an understatement. His hour long nap hadn't been enough to recharge him from his misadventures in the dimensional gap. With Gaea, Lilith and now the Furies' sudden intrusion into his life, he had little to not patience in taking it easy on anyone.

"You will fall, boy." The remaining Fury hissed from below him. He took a glance down at the ground to see the woman slowly flying upward toward him. His kick had caved her skull inward yet whatever mythical energy she contained was fixing that damage.

"Zeus knows of you and the treachery of his children. He will throw down the same might he used to slay his father. The gods of this world will remove your blighted existence." The woman screeched out at him before giving a massive flap of her wings. The action propelled her upward toward the blond at breakneck speeds. Her claws were aimed at his neck as she closed in on his position.

Her attack would never reach. As she flew at him, one of the orbs shifted into the shape of a stave. The weapon floated by his head for a brief moment before shooting down toward the Fury.

At the speed the weapon was traveling, she had no hope in dodging it. The black stave slammed into her forehead before she was able to see it take off. Before the weapon began to eat away at her existence, she was able to catch a brief glance at Naruto. With him floating high in the air above her, his body shining while enveloped in the golden, fiery energy, the goddess found it difficult to deny his godliness. That grim acceptance was her last thought before the destructive nature of the truth-seeking ball wiped her from existence.

"The problems just keep building up, don't they?"

"Yeah, they do."

He allowed himself only a single moment of rest before taking off toward his house. Hopefully, the angel wouldn't still be there. He didn't think he could deal with her obsessive worshipping of him. As he flew, a single thought flew through his head.

"I really need a vacation."

He had awoken the next morning feeling rejuvenated. Gabriel hasn't been at his house when he returned from his fight with the Furies, allowing him to get some rest. Though, the woman's message of a swift return hadn't been reassuring. He didn't allow that to stop him from getting a full night's rest.

Waking up to his own bed next to his girlfriend had been a pleasant experience. Opening the door to his bedroom to see Lilith standing there wasn't as pleasant. He had to spend ten minutes to explain to her that standing guard all night wasn't necessary. With the ever-present blank look in her eyes, he wasn't quite sure she had received his message.

Even now, her hawk-like stare could be felt on the back of his head. When she had heard that her father was venturing into the forest alone for his purification routine, she had decided to tag along. Now surrounded, by nothing more than trees, the clone had little else to occupy herself other than the mediating blond.

"Just ignore it. You've dealt with worse." Being stared at was nothing compared to balancing on a thin slab of stone that sat on top if a spike that jutted a hundred feet into the air out of a lake. He gave himself a quick reminder of such before he allowed his complete focus to shift onto his meditation.

Within moments, he could feel the flow of nature's energy connect with his own. The harsh taint associated with it was a mere afterthought to him. With a shallow breath, he allowed it to flow into his own chakra system to begin purifying it.

Silence reigned over the small clearing for several minutes as the boy meditated. At first, Lilith was the singular witness to her father, a fact that brought her much joy. That joy was shattered by the soft chirp of distant birds. Their chirping grew louder as time dragged on; The voices of others animals joined them along the way. The first creature to pop into the dragon's sight was one covered in fur. It stopped at the edge of the clear, rising up onto its high legs to observe the stationary blond. It's black eyes stayed set for several seconds before it began sprinting toward him. The creature managed to get halfway to the blond before a snake rose up from the ground and swallowed it whole.

"Leave the animals alone." Naruto's words brought a frown to her face. The creature's mad sprint toward her father had alarmed her. She figured it meant him harm. And any creature that meant her father harm should die. Though, she would calm that urge for the moment at her father's behest.

More animals came flooding out of the forest and they all flocked toward Naruto. It pained the dragon to watch the creatures perch themselves along his body. When an odd looking bird settled itself on his shoulders, it's razor sharp claws inches away from his throat, she nearly ran to the boy herself. Only the blond's words managed to keep her grounded.

While Lilith attempting to curb the temptation of exterminating every creature that dared laid their filthy paws on her father, Naruto was in a different world, one much different than the one the dragon was experiencing. While Lilith sat in turmoil, the blond laid unbothered in peace. It was the first real peace he had been able to experience in the past 48 hours. It was a peace filled with silence, a silence that filled the boy with comfort.

The soft hum of natural energy was the only thing that served as a connection to the outside world yet even that faded into the background. The ground beneath split apart and faded into nothingness yet he did not fall. He sat floating, surrounded by nothing, hearing nothing, seeing nothing and feeling nothing.

"You're really good at this meditation thing."

The first assault on his hearing since he reached his meditative state came from right in front of him in the form of a jovial voice, a voice that sounded nothing like Lilith's. He wanted so badly to believe it didn't exist but he knew he could not avoid reality. With great reluctance, the blond allowed his eyes to creak open.

"Welcome to Nirvana."

The speaker sat cross-legged in the seemingly infinite space. His brown skin was a new sight to Naruto. He hadn't encountered many people with that shade of skin. Half of his upper body sat uncovered while the other half laid beneath an orange robe. An array of pink roses surrounded the man's hair that sat in a black bun.

"Have a seat, young dove." The man patted the space next to him. Naruto could do nothing but stare at the stranger. The man returned the stare with no hesitation, his face stuck in a large smile while his hand repeated the patting movement.

"This is odd." Naruto couldn't help but agree with his partner's assessment. Things grew even odder for the boy when the man erupted into a fit of laughter.

"Your partner is right. I was just messing with you a bit." The man said before pushing himself up to his feet. Naruto watched him straighten out his cloak, making sure the legs of his pants covered the entirety of his lower body, before making his way toward him. The lack of an actual surface to walk on didn't stop him as he crossed the distance between them in a few short steps. He stopped about arm's length away from Naruto, shooting the confused boy a quick smile before thrusting his arm out.

"The name is Siddhartha Gautama. Most people call me Buddha, though."

Buddha. The enlightened one. The leader of the Buddhist religion. One of the original sages and leaders of the age of meditation.

More importantly to Naruto, he was another God.

"Hello." He managed to force out with some level of enthusiasm while grasping the man's hand. The two stood shaking hands for several moments before they separated.

"Would you believe me if I told you that I didn't want anything from you?" The Buddha asked while raising an eyebrow. The look he received in return spoke of a man who was nowhere near ready to trust a stranger.

"I'll take that as a no." He let loose a small laugh while taking a step away from Naruto. In one smooth movement, he jumped into the air and tucked his feet beneath. Instead of gravity bringing him back down, the man stayed floating in his signature lotus position.

"Join me."

At this point, what did he have to lose? That was his thought as he took his own step backwards before attempting to replicate the god's actions. Surprisingly, he didn't end up flat on his face. Gravity decided to show him the same mercy it showed Siddhartha, allowing him to stay afloat. He quickly adjusted himself into a comfortable position before shifting his full attention onto the man in front of him.

"So, you're a god now?"

He groaned. He couldn't help himself. He was so tired of that word. God. It haunted him like a ghost. No matter where he went, it hung in the air. Even during the most peaceful moments of his life, his meditation cycles, it still assaulted him.

"Ah, that look." Buddha's words raised the blond slightly out of his internal crisis. "I know it well."

"What do you mean by that?" He couldn't help but voice the question. The god's words implied a sense of empathy … or it could be a hint that he had another stalker on his hands.

He was hoping for the former.

"Well, to be completely honest with you, I'm not a God either. I'm just a guy who starved himself for a while then went and sat under a tree."

That had been unexpected. Against his own will, he felt his jaw loosen a bit at the man's words. Disbelief ran rampant through his head while Siddhartha sat in front of him.

"That makes no sense." He couldn't help but he'll the words. "You're Buddha. You have a whole religion based off of you!"

"Buddhism is less of a religion and more of a way of life." The robed man corrected with a wave of his hand. Naruto wanted to reach out and slap the hand away but Siddhartha put it away before he could.

"Plus, just like you, I didn't ask for any of this. I asked for the exact opposite." The man paused to groan.

"I told them! I told them! Don't revere me as a god. I'm a man just like the rest of you. I was dying! You don't get any more human than that!" The Buddha stopped to release a pause. The serene look on his face had been wiped away and a mask of defeat had taken its place. "I guess it was sort of my fault for expecting anything different. You get a couple hundred thousand people to listen to every word you say and you should probably expect them to treat you like a God after you die, right?"

The defeat on the man's face was matched only by the disbelief on Naruto's. He couldn't be hearing this right? This guy accidentally started a religion? How ridiculous was that?

"You're one to talk." Naruto promptly pushed Kurama's words to the side while Siddhartha began to speak.

"What I'm getting at is that I get your struggle." The man clapped his hands together. "I died expecting to experience true peace for the first time and instead I get sucked into this mess called godhood. It's been nothing but chaos for the past two millenniums."

"So, you're not a god?" Naruto couldn't help but question. The curious side of him demanded an answer after hearing the man's story.

"I don't know." The Buddha's shrug was met with a defeated head drop from the blond.

"After a couple of thousand of years, I'm not sure what I am. A human? A ghost? A god? A force of nature? Who knows? I don't."

This conversation had taken the turn from interesting to frustrating for Naruto. Just as soon as he thought he found a reliable source for answers and sensibility, his hopes had been dashed.

"What point are you trying to make?" Naruto blurted out as his frustration took hold of him.

"The point I'm trying to make is that no matter how hard you try, people are going to believe what they want to believe. One of the keys to my teachings was to not revere me as a god. Instead, they built statues of me, a lot more fat than I actually am, and use my words as scripture. Totally not a god!"

"This guy sounds pretty bitter for reaching Nirvana." Naruto couldn't help but agree with his partner's observation. He had expected a lot more serenity and a little less frustration for the Buddha.

"You tell people to do one thing and they go do the other. There's no winning. My advice would be to embrace it and make the best out of it."

"But I-"

"Ah!" Siddhartha waved his hand across his face, silencing the blond. Quite literally, Naruto found his lips sealed together, leaving him completely mute.

"I've interrupted my nirvana enough with you. Remember my words: Just as a snake shed its skin, we must shed our past and begin anew. I think it was something like that?" The man looked down briefly at his lap before waving away his own question. He raised his head to shoot his sagacious counterpart a smile before poking the blond in the forehead.

Just as suddenly as he appeared in Nirvana, he was out. His eyes shot open, revealing the midday glow surrounding the forest clearing and the expectant eyes of Lilith inches away from his own. He stared into those wide, brown eyes for several moments without saying a single word. They stared back, an unhidden intensity present at their surfaces.

"You've awakened, father."

He still felt amazement at how a dead voice like Lilith's could convey emotion. Her words mimicked that of a spoiled child to a frightening degree. He shook his head free of such thoughts before opening his mouth to speak.

"I am. I sat for a bit longer than expected." He let loose a grunt while standing up to his feet. While the conversation with the Buddha felt like it lasted for less than five minutes, time had advanced far past that. The sun hung high above him, heating the cool morning air into a warm, humid haze.

"I have to go open up the shop." The words slipped out of his mouth with little enthusiasm. His newly found passion for his shop seemed more like a burden than anything else in his current mindset.

"Are you sure, father?" The blond looked down at the small dragon at her question. "Do you not need more rest? I don't want you to grow exhausted."

Was he sure? He definitely didn't want to go into work today. He had started the day off refreshed but it was only halfway through and he was already feeling the effects of the day settling upon his shoulders. The dragon's words made him hesitate. Did he really want to work today? Staring down into the clone's mocha eyes, he was pretty sure he found his answer.

"You know what? I think a little more rest sounds like a great idea." A genuine smile spread across his lips while his hand moved to ruffle the dragon's hair. Due to the placement of his hand, he couldn't see the massive grin that popped up on Lilith's face. As soon as the hand left her, the smile was gone, replaced by her usual apathetic mask.

"Let's head home." The dragon gave a prompt nod at his words before reaching out her hand to the boy. Naruto looked down at the outstretched appendage. Hesitation sat at the forefront of his mind as he stared at the child-like fingers of the dragon. Only weeks prior, he wouldn't have even considered the thought of grabbing the girl's hand. But after everything he had been through, the random encounter with gods; his adventure in the dimensional gap; his apparent rising into godhood, holding the girl's hand seemed like an ant hill to his valley of mountains he called problem.

So, with hesitation wiped clear from his mind, he reached out and grasped Lilith's hand. This time he was able to see the bright smile on the girl's face, a smile he couldn't help but match.

"Embrace and make the best out of it, eh?"

That didn't sound like such a bad idea anymore.

AN: Another chapter down and another chapter closer to the end. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. As usual, leave me a PM or a review with any questions, concerns, comments, etc. I'll try to respond to as many as I can. Hope you all have a wonderful rest of the day.

Side Note: I've been meaning to do this for a while but I always get distracted. If you're a fan of Naruto crossovers, check out the stories by Reain and Trollerbear. Amazingly well-written, compelling and very entertaining! I'll be highlighting more authors in the upcoming author's note so be on the lookout. Peace!

Edit: Had to delete and reupload chapter due to fanfiction breaking temporarily.