Chapter 3: The Realm of the Dead

-Jiraiya

We instantly knew someone else was inside the spirit realm. I stood up and went to go investigate. As I got closer to the place were the other presence was felt, I realized two things. First, it was the battlefield of the yearly ninja battles. Secondly, there wasn't just one presence, there were two.

I looked around from the tree I was standing on and found the newcomers, but they weren't who I expected them to be. Naruto and the Nine-tails, they had died together. Naruto looked like he was about to burst into tears and the Fox looked strange. Was he trying to comfort him? No, that would be crazy. The Nine-tails was an evil demon that the Forth had sealed inside Naruto because he thought he could use the power. When had the Fox's attitude changed so dramatically?

I hopped down and approached the two of them, ready for anything. The Fox looked up, gave me a cold-hearted glare, and I stopped for a second. He certainly was acting weird.

"Kyuubi…" I heard Naruto mumble, "I'm fine, you really don't have to be doing this for me…"

"Don't worry about it, I'm dead too so it doesn't really matter much to me."

To my surprise, Naruto broke a smile and wiped his tears away. He looked up, came eye-to-eye with me, and the smile instantly disappeared. "P-Pervy Sage? Am I starting to see things now?!"

"No," I told him, "You're in the realm of the dead. Everyone who is dead is here." His facial expression didn't convince me that he understood a word I said. How could I get through to him? "In other words, you are dead and so is the Nine-tails. The place you are in right now is the place where dead people live."

"B-But…I'm dead." Apparently I had chosen the wrong words because he just hung his head down and started crying. What was wrong with him? "S-So that means, I never got to tell Sakura that I love her too…" I was shocked. He was crying because of that?

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find a way to tell her…" the Fox told him.

"Naruto!" someone exclaimed from behind me. I turned around and saw him: Minato. I would've said something but I knew Naruto would be happy to see him and I couldn't deny him the right to see his father.

"Dad…" he said, tears welling up again in his eyes. They had seen each other before? Naruto stood up and embraced his father, tears rolling down his cheeks. "I never saw you again after that…"

"I know, it was only a one time deal. But now that you're here…"

Naruto unlocked himself from his father's arms and looked up at him. "I never got to tell Hinata…"

Understanding became the dominant emotion across Minato's face. "I'm sure we can find a way to tell her…"

Another exclamation containing Naruto's name came from behind me. I once again turned around to see her: Kushina.

"W-Who's that?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto…" she said, embracing him.

-Naruto

I didn't know who it was that so kindly embraced me but something told me that I knew her so I hugged her back. Once we had separated I asked her for her name.

"Kushina," she told me and I went through my mind to try to find a match to that name.

"I'm sorry," I told her, "I can't remember…" To my surprise, she smiled.

"No one would expect you to; after all, you were only a newborn…" That's when it struck me, and everything became clear. Why I had instinctively hugged her, why I thought her face was familiar; she was my mother.

"Mom!" I exclaimed and went to wrap my arms around her again. She laughed and hugged me back.

"Oh, Naruto…It's been so long…"

For the first time in my life, everything seemed right. I had a family, I wasn't alone, and I had friends. I had found the place that I could be the true Naruto Uzumaki.

-Sakura

I had done it. Naruto had a pulse and he was breathing. News had leaked out to the villagers and the crowd around me and Hinata kept getting bigger and bigger. When was Naruto going to become conscious again?

But something else was wrong. From my past experiences in healing Naruto, there had always been another chakra there, working with me. But that chakra was gone. Which means something was either wrong with the seal or… no that would never happen. I looked at the Fourth's seal which seemed to be holding. What was going on?

-Kakashi

Sakura knew something was wrong and, although she tried to hide it, I knew something was wrong as well. I couldn't feel any trace of Fox chakra and I was starting to worry. The seal looked completely fine. So what was wrong?

Tsunade came through the crowd and got down next to Naruto. "What's the situation?" she asked Sakura.

"He has a pulse and he's breathing, we're waiting for him to regain consciousness," she told the Hokage.

"What about the villagers? Have you informed them of the situation?"

"We were waiting for your word Sensei."
She looked down at Naruto, slowly moving her hand to check his breathing. Surprise flashed across her face. "Where is the Fox?" she whispered to Sakura in an almost inaudible tone.

"That's the problem Sensei; I can't feel its chakra either."

Tsunade stared at his body and bit her fingernail. "We might have to do something to the seal…" Almost as if to answer to her comment, Naruto's eyes fluttered open and he sat up.

"Ugh," he groaned, "It feels like I just got hit by a train."

The two healers sat still, stunned. "Naruto…" Sakura growled, curling her hand into a fist.

"S-Sakura…Wait before you take any measures that are too extreme…"

Tsunade touched his shoulder. "Can I talk to you real quick?" she asked him in a hurried tone.

"S-Sure…" and the two of them disappeared in a gust of wind.

-Tsunade

I brought Naruto to a secluded area and sat down next to him. His condition didn't look too good and I could tell he was trying to hide his pain. "Naruto, what happened when you blacked out?"

My question obviously surprised him. "Uh, I don't really know. I think I was seeing things…Why do you ask?"

"Because there was no trace of Fox chakra in your body." That response surprised him too. "Were you-"

"Dead?" he interrupted. "I was told I was…Look, can you keep a secret?"

"Y-Yeah, of course I can."

"Okay, I was dead. I had totally left my body…"

"That was when you had no pulse…"

"Right, and something else." He looked around and then leaned closer to my ear. "I saw dead people," he whispered.

I couldn't believe it. Was he pulling my leg? "Are you joking?"

"No, I'm not. You see, I saw the Pervy Sage and he told me that I was in 'the realm of the dead' or something like that. I didn't believe him until I saw my father and my mother."

"What?!"

"Yeah, they seemed pretty happy to me…" His face lit up with a smile and I couldn't help but remember Minato's face when he went to fight the fox. He never did come back…

"But that doesn't explain why the Fox chakra was gone…"

"Oh, but it does. You see, when I died, the Nine-tails came with me."

"You mean…"

"Yeah, the Fox was dead too."

"Wait you said 'was'…"

"Yeah, now he's alive again, just like me." So Naruto's and the Fox's lives were linked. To kill one, you had to kill the other, and to save one, you had to save the other. What an interesting seal…

-Naruto

I went to Ichiraku's for breakfast the next morning, and tried to forget the disturbing fact that I had been dead. I slid into the stool and gave my order to the old man. I stared at the bar and tried to remember what had happened between me and my parents. All I could remember was how happy I was to see everyone again. Then I was dragged away and found myself in Kyuubi's realm for a short while before I woke up. I shook my head and gave up trying to remember; it was just too confusing.

"One order of ramen the way you like it," he told me, setting the bowl down in front of me.

"Thanks," I told him trying to sound cheerful.

"Is something wrong Naruto?" Ayame asked.

"Uh, no, nothing's wrong."

"Okay, well, enjoy your ramen then."

"Thanks, I will." I pulled a pair of chopsticks from the cup and tore them apart. Today, I was going to forget about everything that'd happened yesterday and go where fate was going to take me. And then I dug into my ramen.