A metric fuck-ton of you let me know that last chapter was wonky in the way it was spaced. I was trying a new writing software since my MS Word expired, and it turned out horrible. Therefore, I scrounged up the cash to renew my MS Word subscription (my wallets gonna be hurting for a while, lol). Enjoy the story!

Chapter 2: The Name is Power

Naruto and Sasuke found themselves waking up from perhaps the best sleep they had enjoyed in centuries. No one back in the elemental nations even knew of their existence, so it's not like they were attacked frequently, but the beds and hammocks they slept in paled in comparison to this soft texture they were experiencing now. It was fluffy, comfortable, and seemed to cater to their every whim.

Naruto arched open an eye, feeling the fluffy, white substance between his hands and feeling satisfied.

"I've gotta get this stuff for my normal beds", Naruto jovially bellowed out in his waking tone.

Even the normally hyper aware Sasuke found himself just letting the feel of the substance alleviate all of his worries.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say this was heaven. We didn't die, did we? It'd suck if we did and didn't have any recollection of it."

"No, you didn't", a voice, as silky as it was soft, called out to them. Naruto immediately stiffened, even floating on the clouds that formerly soothed him. The voice was undoubtedly a woman's. He turned towards the source and saw a woman that was as beautiful as her voice let on. Her features were soft and alluring, her curly blonde hair perfectly framing her face. Her figure was nothing short of perfection. To Naruto, the only other person he had ever thought was this beautiful at first glance was Hinata.

Mentally berating himself for comparing another to his beloved wife, he sat up from the comfort of the clouds and found himself failing to formulate a sentence. He had gotten much better at dealing with women after marriage, but all of his losses made him close his heart. Yet, for some odd reason, he found himself compelled to speak to this woman. He could sense nary a negative emotion, only concern was etched across her face and… sorrow?

"Don't worry, he won't bite, he's just shy around women", Sasuke spoke up. Naruto was glaring daggers at him, but Sasuke knew exactly how his friend worked when it came to women then and now.

"Oh, no, I had no such thoughts of your friend. He does look rather feral, but I can feel that he's a kind soul. Oh, my name is Gabriel, nice to meet you, Indra and Asura-san."

Naruto and Sasuke stood up, having not been called those names since they defeated Kaguya. They pondered what this meant. Either this woman knew of their distant past, there were an Indra and Asura present in this reality, or…

"Of course I didn't tell them your real names, idiots", Kurama spoke through Naruto's mind. "It's not exactly easy to come up with new names on the spot, and any similarities can be explained away with a bit of cunning."

"I know, I know, ttebayo. I just wanted confirmation, if it was you who gave that woman those names, we can trust your judgement."

"When have you ever not trusted me?"

"You tried to kill me or take over my body exactly 37 times before I turned 15", Naruto said over his mental link. He liked to mess with Kurama about his ultra-violent temper from eons passed, knowing that their relationship was rock solid now.

"… Point taken."

Naruto turned back to Sasuke and held out his fist. Sasuke immediately noticed what this meant, and fist bumped Naruto back. A link not unlike the one between Naruto and his tailed beast was created between them, and they transitioned to floating in an empty, almost pinkish space. Gabriel was perplexed at the two deities' activities, but nonetheless, waited patiently for them to finish whatever they were doing. It's not everyday that you're suddenly asked to be the commander and chief of Heaven's army, so she figured she wouldn't rush them if they wanted to do something else for the meantime.

"So, Kurama gave me the lowdown. Basically, we're now known as what our ancestors were known as back in our reality, and we're considered a new breed of gods here."

"I honestly have no intention of being pampered and playing God like I did back in the elemental nations", Sasuke said, though he wouldn't mind testing himself here. War wasn't that big a deal.

"That's just it. We won't be playing god if we don't wanna blow our cover, we will actually be gods." Naruto was no stranger to the responsibilities of being a leadership figure, or the authority that comes with it, but he had never been viewed as a deity, at least not directly to his face. He had been dubbed the 4th "God of shinobi", but the title hardly meant he'd be worshipped. The thought of people worshipping him and doing things in his name was an odd one, to say the least.

As the two stood there, perfectly still with their fist bump link, another figure floated gracefully to the scene.

"What are they doing, if I may ask?" Michael was puzzled by the strange customs of these outer deities.

"Ahh, I'm not sure, brother, but if I had to hazard a guess, I'd say it's a form of communication from the pantheon they originate from."

Before the conversation between the two archangels could get any further, Naruto and Sasuke broke their link and separated fists. They adopted a set of poker faces, though Sasuke's was still far better than Naruto's. After about 10 seconds of awkward silence, Gabriel decided to break the noise vacuum.

"Ahem, are you both finished, Indra and Asura-san?" Both men nodded, though they kept their poker faces up. Centuries of experience had told them not to immediately trust anyone they did not know intimately. It was ingrained in their very being from the time they were just genin, and it had saved their lives too many times to count before they became powerful enough to take anyone on.

"Pardon me, where are my manners? My name is Michael, pleased to meet you two." The archangel held out his hand, but the gesture was not immediately returned. Instead, Naruto and Sasuke took to examining him for any hidden agendas, weapons, or poisons. When they found nothing, aside from his seemingly perpetual sad-faced look, they each extended their hands individually.

"This guy looks like he's uptight. Just what I need, another person with a stick up his ass about the rules and formality", Naruto thought.

"I don't mind the manners, it's a nice change of pace from that blonde doofus of a friend I have", Sasuke thought simultaneously. Naruto felt the sudden urge to belt Sasuke across the face with his fist, but ignored it, at least for now. They both shook Michael's hand, with varying results. When Sasuke shook it, Michael's brow twitched for the briefest of durations. Sasuke noticed this, but he didn't make a scene about it. He could see the energies in Michael swirl around for that brief moment with his sharingan.

When Naruto shook his hand, it was as if Michael was standing in the presence of his father once more. He could sense the warm, soothing energy flooding from Naruto's aura. It wasn't exactly like his father's, but the sheer volume of it was comparable. He could also sense the beast inside of him, but the energy was rather subdued and laid-back, almost like the beast was too lazy to even put up a menacing front. The Heavenly Dragons they had sealed would never allow their energy to be felt like this, their pride wouldn't allow it. Thinking back, it almost brought him to tears. Their father had predicted his own death, and he had made it his last action to tell himself and Gabriel personally what to do. This was not the place for sulking, however.

"One again, I'm Gabriel", the female archangel said, extending her hand out just the same as her brother. Naruto turned to stone at the sight of this, not knowing what to do. He wanted to be cordial, but he just couldn't quite bring himself to even look her in the eye. This perplexed Gabriel, but nonetheless, she offered her winning smile until her hand was shook. Sasuke took the opportunity, not wanting to offend their benefactors.

Don't get him wrong, he could likely win if there were to be a fight, but he didn't believe in fighting without a purpose. He spent the better part of his younger years being played like a fiddle by various people and factions for one reason or another. Always wandering around without a true purpose, without a true end goal. He had once thought that killing his brother would bring him closure, but then he found out that his entire life was a manufactured lie. He thought that smiting Konoha would satisfy him after that, but he was just deluding himself. No, the first time in his life he had found a goal he was willing to fight for on his own, as much as it pained him to say it, was during the war.

"Revolution…", A small whisper in the back of his head reminded him.

Gabriel, ever the courteous beauty, accepted Sasuke's gesture. Upon touching his hand, she recoiled instinctively, leaving Sasuke with a curious look on his face.

She had felt no malice behind his guise, yet still, there had been this emotion that frightened her. It was like a raging inferno that wanted to burn everything away, not out of rage or evil, but rather, from the need to start the world it singed anew, not unlike the event her father had referred to as "Ragnorok" in the distant future for the Norse faction. Straightening herself out, she offered up an endearing smile, and attempted to placate any worries Sasuke had by stretching out her hand once more. Sasuke simply returned the favor, but with a suspicious gleam in his differently-colored eyes.

Gabriel quickly made up a lie for her panic-stricken behavior. She turned towards her brother, both of them having already made up their minds on who they were going to ask to become the new ruler of Heaven. After all, it had been quite some time since these two had gotten here. 4000 years, in fact, they had slept.

"My apologies, Indra-san, but you see, there's another named Indra in a different pantheon. He's quite the warmonger, and I was wondering if you knew him, was all." Gabriel felt horrible. She had never lied in her life, and it showed, but the thought of angering Sasuke after what she had seen in the Great War all those years ago terrified her. Not just his display of power that was on par with the Heavenly Dragons, but his violent, all-consuming energies as well.

"I can't say I do".

"Well then, we'll leave it at that", Michael spoke up, clearly seeing the distress in his sister's strained smile. He steered the conversation away from war and all it meant, materializing red and white gauntlets in his hands.

"I believe you two are already familiar with these two." Naruto and Sasuke could feel the energies from the gauntlets, instantly recognizing them as the dragons they had defeated before they went to sleep to recover their energies.

"I hope this isn't going in the direction I think it's going", Kurama belched out in Naruto's mind. "There's no way I'm sharing space with those beltway pansies you guys beat up".

"Can it, furball", Naruto shot back.

"I'll shut up when you get some pussy, haven't had any in a millenia".

"It's not like you were exactly a regular Casanova back home either".

"I can only come out when you manifest me, dipshit, but I guess you were too afraid of me stealing your thunder".

"Why you—"

Naruto was cut off from whatever insult he was about to hurl by Michael giving him the red gauntlet, and then giving Sasuke the white gauntlet.

"So, you want us to bond with these or something? If you haven't noticed, I've already got a sleep-in resident", Naruto said, lazily pointing to his stomach.

"Oh, heavens no, I don't mean for you to bond with them, you two are plenty strong already. I am simply giving them to you to take care of, as was our father's decree. They are rightfully yours, as you defeated the spirits sealed inside of them to begin with. I simply ask that you bestow them upon whom you see fit to wield their power".

"Oh, that makes more sense".

"It was pretty obvious, dobe".

"Teme".

Michael coughed in his hand, reigniting the conversation.

"Now, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to ask you a question, Naruto-san". Gabriel shifted to the side of her brother, making Naruto slightly more uncomfortable, but he could put up with it for the scant few seconds the question would take. Sasuke simply deigned to stand there with his eyes closed and thinking, seeing as how he wasn't being addressed. Michael spoke again.

"Would you like to become the new—"

"No associate of mine would accept that offer you are about to make, Michael-san", a new, unknown voice spoke out. The group of archangels and ninja turned around to see a woman with the utmost beauty, rivaling Gabriel's. She was tall, brunette with slender facial features, and seemed to glow a heavenly radiance. The most striking thing about her were the nine tails that jutted out from behind her, swishing back and forth manically as if she were nervous.

Wait, tails?

"Ahh, my manners. I am Amaterasu, Shinto goddess of the sun, newcomers. These tails aren't mine either". She turned around in her puffy yukata, karate-chopping something (or maybe someone) that made the tails curl inwards in pain. From behind her came a 3rd buxom beauty in a yukata, golden-haired and quite tall for a female.

"Her name's Yasaka, and should you two accept my invitation, you'll be first in line to wed her", the eccentric goddess bellowed out, causing said fox hybrid to make a pouting face.

Sasuke was… used to this, quite frankly. It wouldn't be the first time he'd been bribed with woman in international affairs. He had stayed fateful to his wife, though, and even after she died, he just never had any interest in any other women. Sakura understood him in a way that no one else did. Naruto, on the other hand, seemed to be having convulsions. The situation reminded him too much of the priestess he rescued back when he was a teen (Shion, if he remembers correctly), and Kurama was…

"NOW THAT'S A HOT BITCH", Kurama yelled out, vigorously swiping his tails in Naruto's mindscape.

"LET ME OUT, I'LL FUCK HER UNTIL MY DICK FALLS OFF RIGHT HERE AND NOW!"

Meanwhile, Gabriel was busy inspecting Yasaka as she hid behind Amaterasu, and Michael was frowning as the situation went to shit faster than the speed of light. He hastily grabbed Naruto and ran, ran to the furthest corner of Heaven he could. Naruto was too shellshocked to notice, and Sasuke just let it happen since he was used to weird shit by now.

"Alright, now, Naruto-san. Would you like to become the new God?", he hastily said. There was no time to waste.

Naruto, after calming down Kurama and his raging boner, stood motionlessly, trying to take in what just happened. He concluded that life simply would not let him live normally.

"Why does this always happen to me?"