Naruto was tired. So tired in fact, that he could not conjure up the energy to even struggle.

He gave it his all in his fight with the dōjutsu wielders of the Akatsuki. Every jutsu he knew, any and all stances he'd learned over the years, all of his–and even the Kyūbi's chakra—in the end, all of it proved futile. The six purpled eyed orange heads knew a counter to anything he could throw at them, and even though he had successfully beaten three of them, their numbers and inhuman abilities overwhelmed him. They had even managed to subdue him in his Nine Tails Mode. How? he wasn't sure.

Not that he gave a shit.

"Ahhhh!"

The most excruciating pain he's ever felt in his sixteen year lifespan quickly spread itself through his body. This far surpassed any and all beatings he'd received as a kid while in the old village, any ass kicking he'd received during those missions that old crippled prick use to send him on, or just anything he'd experienced during his travels. It was as if his entire chakra system was being torn from his body.

Picture a weed being grabbed by the root and plucked wholly from underneath the ground. Which was exactly the method used to kill a weed. The burning sensation coming from what was likely the seal's disintegration wasn't helping either.

With half lidded eyes, he could see those six bastards once again surrounding his still body. One of them in particular had his hand in Naruto's abdomen, which meant that the bastard was the one responsible for the seal falling apart. The aching blonde realized something.

"H-he's that chakra absorbing douche! A seal like m-mine is far too advanced and w-would take time to create a key for, therefore he's got no choice but to straight up destroy it!"

For a tiny moment, a thought drifted to the other being that would also be directly affected by this.

"I d-don't think or know if you can h-hear me, b-but if you c-can, and for w-what it's worth, I-im sorry Nine Tails."

To the boy's surprise, the infamous fox actually responsed.

"My name is Kurama, brat."

Naruto eyes widened with whatever strength he could muster. The fox continued.

"I'll keep it short. Unlike my previous containers who always tried to justify themselves for their bullshit, you didn't. You knew you were wrong and you sought to fix that. You Naruto were the most understanding of any container I've ever had. Miles ahead. You're the only human being I've deemed worthy of knowing the name given to me by my father. Which in a way, you remind me of."

"W-who was he?"

As the millennia old creature watched his prison be destroyed, he gave a vulpine grin. Not the bloodthirsty or mocking one he'd occasionally give the blond as they got to know one another, but instead it was a proud and slightly content smirk.

"Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, aka the Sage of Six Paths. He was the greatest man who's ever lived."

Damn. For the first time in a long time, a tear slipped out of Naruto's eye.

"T-that's the k-kindest t-thing y-you've ever said to m-me. Thanks!"

"Goodbye Naruto, I wish we could've been better friends."

The being's tone was soft and sorrowful, certain that it was it would never see Naruto again, nor would he survive.

And then, all of the residue chakra left of the Ni–Kurama, was gone.

Instantly, a loud shrilling roar was heared, and the chakra of the fabled Nine Tailed Demon Fox became encompassesing. He couldn't see anything, he face looking up towards the rainy and dark sky above. Not to mention he didn't have the muscles to move anyway. As if he hadn't had enough surprises however, one of the most powerful chakras he's ever felt instantly disappeared.

The Akatsuki had captured the Nine Tails.

Not allowing him a second thought, the pain he was enduring throughout this experiment had suddenly subsided. His entire being was drenched in an unfamiliar numbness, one that brought about a serene feeling of calm and harmony. The now former jinchūriki couldn't help but crack a smile at the irony or rather obvious fact that only now made sense to him. It seemed as if the most peace he's ever felt only came about the moment the burden he's carried around his entire life was lifted.

Why hadn't he thought of that? A humorless chuckle would've escaped him; had he had the strength.

Then again, had he followed that path, he would've never gotten to meet Kurama.

Within the whiskered teen's limited range of vision, the orange headed pricks that were now just blurs began disappearing. Immediately, a spiraling warp spawned itself from nothing, and with it, a clearer image of a person in the same black and red cloaked garbs as before. The only major difference being that this mofo wore a strange orange mask with a spiral pattern focused around his right eyehole, within that eyehole. Naruto saw the only familiar thing he's seen throughout this entire ordeal, some he'd seen his entire life.

The Sharingan.

For what seemed like an eternity, the man stared down at Naruto. It wasn't the hateful stare that the people of that shit hole village thought he deserved, it wasn't that pitiful gaze those that heard his life story gave him, and nor was it the most common look he had received both in and out of that village. The look he hated the most. The apathetic and emotionless gaze that those that couldn't be bothered to give two shits about him. The look of hatred, the look of pity, and the look of apathy.

"How I hate that shit!"

It was a Sharingan look. Emotionless but powerful. He'd received them before. There was only three people who he'd received them from, one of which were probably dead and the other was also probably dead.

The stare was nothing like the looks he'd received his entire life from those he considered enemies. In a weird roundabout way, Naruto was grateful because this maybe-Uchiha man was the only enemy, who he could tell himself didn't probably hate him.

"At least it looks that way"

Then, he heard the man's deep emotionless voice. Once again, it was totally distinct.

"I win Yondaime."

"He won? Well, he did get what he wanted."

Yondaime though? Did he mean Yondaime as in one of the five Kages? If so, was he referring to the Yondaime Hokage? That was the only Kage he could possibly be associated with. The man did fuck his life up by sealing the Nine Tails in him. So if this masked man was indeed alluding to Minato Namikaze then...

"Ya know what, I'll take the loss on that then." The teen had a deep distaste for the dead Kage, so if he could somehow one-up the man by dying, then he'd take it.

"'Sides, it's not like I have a choice."

Funny how he did contemplate offing himself many times in the past before, long ago, when he had nothing to look forward to. These days though, he did. People who cared about him, loved him, laughed and cried with him. Hell, chicks who most definitely loved him in more than just a friend.

An unprecedented move later, and the blonde felt himself being carried. Closing his eyes, Naruto was left to wonder what else they could possibly want from him. He knew he was going to die, that was par for the course. If he wasn't aware that bijū removal was fatal, the sedate and prolonged feeling of waning in his chest should be the giveaway. As if on que, images of his lifetime began flashing in his eyes. Both the good and the bad.

A familiar gust of warm spring wind hit his hardly conscious person. As he was unceremoniously dropped onto the rough terrain, a familiar landscape with equally familiar features became visible to him. He didn't need a map to know exactly where he was.

For the first time in nine years, Naruto was on Fire Country soil.

His kidnapper stared at him, his look still impassive, but now there was a glint of compassion in his eyes. Naruto didn't know what to make of that. Though he was curious as to who this man was and what his intentions were. In the grand scheme of things it didn't matter because he was a death's door; the man's following words didn't help.

"When this world is gone and another one is born anew, I know we'll see each other again Naruto."

With that the mysterious masked man, that had chased Naruto all his life did the one thing the boy wanted every persecutor in this world to do, to leave him alone. In this case it was a strange and powerful looking space-time ninjutsu.

"Probably a Sharingan technique."

Moving his eyes to stare at the tall trees that were spread throughout Fire Country's landscape and which served to shield him for the sun's beaming rays, the teen was beginning to acknowledge just how beautiful the trees he ran away from really were. In fact, the lush greenery of the entire country itself made him feel healthy and welcomed.

Perhaps it was the fact that he was laying in this "deathbed" of sorts that allowed him to leave behind and forget about his troubles.

Tears began to pour relentlessly down his whiskered cheeks. They weren't that of sadness however, but of happiness.

To him, these beautiful and endless landscape of trees had nothing to with Konoha, HE had nothing to do with Konoha. The Nine Tailed Fo–Kurama was no longer in his gut, and the burden of the jinchūriki was no longer on his shoulders. The joy he felt was immeasurable, how could he not?

He was free

As the leaves of Fire Country rained down on him and the cold touch of the Shinigami blanketed his very being pushing him towards his end, the glee and joy made it so that even his descent into the eternal rest was meaningless. Now in death, he was beginning to feel alive.

With all of this newfound willpower, the boy that spent nine years seeking freedom and happiness closed his eyes and twitched his facial muscles upwards. The boy was leaving behind a lot of things. Lots of loved ones. But he knew they'd be ok.

"In fact, they'd be better off without me. I'd just be a burden to them"

His smile somehow widened.

Dressed in his normal outfit as described in the Bingo Books of various nations, measuring a fair height of five feet six inches, Naruto Uzumaki died at age sixteen in the middle of a forest situated only a few miles south of The Hidden Leaf Village with a small, happy and serene smile on his face.

A top a high reaching tree many meters away from the smiling blonde corpse, what could only be described as a black mass of chakra was looking downwards at said corpse. Turns out the smile was infectious because the creature did the same.

"You're not going anywhere just yet brat, you're going to be a powerful pawn in mother's revival."

AN: Just an idea spawned from two other fics I have in the back burner. This is probably canonically inaccurate, seeing as how Obito would probably prefer to use Naruto as a reanimation, but it isn't too farfetched; at least I think so. Any who, make of this what you will but...

AN: Months later...

AN: Well, turns out that after many hours of thought and consideration I decided to use something I've already made instead of going through the trouble of concocting something completely new. I don't like revealing the entire plot of a story in an author's note but I will say this, this ain't an evil Naruto story, but he's still a runaway. Oh! and if you still haven't figured it out, this ain't a OneShot! anymore.

Thanx fur reading! ;)