Chapter 2
An Unexpected Offering
Naruto strained this way and that to get out of Martin's sword but nothing seemed to work in his attempts of escape. He couldn't summon his chakra or punch through the sword. His spirit felt cramped within the small space. He was aware of what was going on outside the sword and could even see outside but couldn't interact physically. He could make his voice heard though with an occasional mutter on a choice word or two about swords and weirdos who had no right to trap him. Martin ignored his mutterings and proceeded up a path that lead to a huge building. Naruto ceased his struggles as he caught a glimpse of the building that Martin was walking towards.
The building was a poor choice of words since the structure before him was more akin to a castle than some administration office. It looked to be built of jade for the walls and had gold plating for the roof. There was arches, towers, buttresses, and even turrets. If Naruto knew about architecture, he would say the building had a mixture of East meets West. It towered high above the plain it was built on. Martin walked through the enormous silver doors that stood for the main entrance. Inside was utter chaos.
Several beings of oni descent were rushing this way and that in what looked like an office of sorts. They looked vaguely human but with horns and odd colored skin in shades of blue and green. The males wore button up shirts, ties, and slacks while the females wore business dresses. Some were carrying huge stacks of papers while others were busy typing away on computer terminals. Sometimes a voice could be heard yelling at them to hurry up or to get some file. Martin remained calm in all of this and neatly dodged an oni rushing by.
He weaved through it all and came right up to a desk where a female oni with green skin and blue hair was busy typing away. She wore gold rimmed glasses and gave Martin a friendly smile as he came up. She stopped typing, straighten up herself and motioned Martin to sit down while saying:
"Well hello there Martin. It's nice to see you drop by. Are you here for business or for a chat?"
"Business Shari. I need you to release a spirit from my sword and make sure he doesn't run away. He didn't seem to take it too well with dying." Martin replied as he showed Shari the sword.
Shari studied the sword before her and made Naruto feel a little embarrass. How else was he suppose to take death? It didn't feel fair to him that he had to die before he achieved his dream. Also, he really wanted to get back at Sasuke for killing him. Naruto began to plot various ways to escape and get his revenge. Shari stopped his mental rambling by saying:
"This is the one that Upstairs wanted to see? He seems to be a little too weak for what they want."
Why that ignorant, no good… hag! How dare she underestimate him! He already had enough of that back home. Naruto voiced his thoughts:
"Hey there hag! I am not weak.! I can do anything Upstairs wants me to accomplish! Don't underestimate me! Now let me out of here or I'll kick your oni butt!"
Shari stared amusingly at the sword that contain Naruto. She chuckled a little before saying:
"Strong words for someone that got caught in this sword and can't get out without my permission. You've made a mess in paperwork since Upstairs wanted to see you before you were processed. Why shouldn't I leave you in there and get Martin a new sword?"
Naruto got nervous with this question before he finally remembered something Martin said.
"Hey! You can't leave me in here since Upstairs wanted to see me. So you have to let me out of this sword or you'll get into trouble! Otherwise I will find a way out of this sword and beat you up for this offense."
Shari sighed from this statement and shook her head with a small smile. Martin chuckled a bit and stepped back from Shari's desk as she made a few motions over the sword containing Naruto. With a cracking sound, Naruto found himself to be standing on Shari's Desk. He decided to dismiss Shari for the moment and turned himself to face Martin while yelling:
"Don't ever put me back in that sword again! Next time you try, I will kick your butt and put you inside the sword. That's a promise and I never break my promises cause that's my ninja way!"
Martin put his hands before him in a placating way to calm Naruto down while saying:
"Now, now. I'm only doing my job. You refused to come with me and I did warn you that you would face the consequences if you didn't comply with me. I at least got you out of the sword before presenting you to Upstairs."
Naruto calmed down a bit with these words and jumped off of Shari's desk. He walked up to Martin and stared into his glowing blue eyes and said evenly:
"Very well, I understand that you were doing your job but if you try to do that again; you won't like the results." Naruto then put on a happy face and asked: "So, do you know why Upstairs wants to meet me? Better yet, what is or who is Upstairs?"
Martin, glad that Naruto seemed to be thinking rationally, quickly replied:
"To your first question, I don't know. I'm only a delivery guy and don't have the status to know. Second question, Upstairs is name of the council of people who run the afterlife. You could consider them to be a combination of your Hokage and the council that run your old village. The council is made up of the several deities and souls who have proven themselves of leadership quality before they died. They're the ones who decide if you go to hell or heaven or even if your soul needs to be reincarnated. If you want to come to life, you have to talk to them about it. Understand?"
Naruto nodded his head. It made sense. He wondered what would be the best way to convince the council to let him live again. He turned to face Shari to say a few words to her but Shari, at this time, saw that Naruto wasn't trying to escape to the living world and had resumed back to her typing. Naruto, miffed with her apparent dismissal of him, prepared to holler a few choice words but Martin stopped him.
"She's very busy right now and usually I have to do a bunch of paperwork to get a spirit released from my sword. It's best that you leave her alone to her work and thank her later for releasing you without having to go through all the red tape. If she didn't do it, you would've been stuck in that sword for a much longer period of time, ranging from a week to a year."
That stopped Naruto cold stone dead in his tracks and he gave Martin a look of horror. Riiight, definitely thank her later. He could always prove that he wasn't a weakling at some other time. He briefly wondered what he was suppose to do next, now that he was released from that friggin sword. He saw Martin beckoning him to follow.
Since he wanted to see Upstairs on the matter of coming to life again or possible be allowed to haunt his enemies, Naruto willing complied as he followed Martin out of the chaotic office and into the halls. Martin lead him down several decorated halls filled with tapestries and murals on the various exploits of souls who have come before him. Martin pointed out to Naruto that to get onto the walls, a soul had to do something really magnanimous for the greater good of all. Naruto, right then and there, vowed that if he came to life; he would try his best to do a deed that amounted to such worthiness.
He was lead up innumerable stairs that continuously climbed higher and higher. Naruto thought that it would never end. Finally, after some fourscore flights of stairs, Martin lead Naruto to a long hallway that ended with a polish door of gold and silver. Somehow, Martin was able to push the doors open to a room that reminded Naruto of the stadium for the chunin exams. He ushered Naruto in and then left the room, closing the doors behind him. Naruto nervously gazed at the beings in front of him.
Various figures sat in the seats above him. Some of them were human while some of them were of races he didn't recognize, while others.. Wasn't that the Fourth and Old man Hokage sitting near the front?
Naruto eyes opened widely at the sight of two prominent figures in his life. The Fourth, who sealed that damn fox in his gut yet admired for his brave deeds, and Old man Hokage, who looked after him. A grin lit Naruto's face and he beamed happily as he yelled:
"Hey there Old man Hokage! I'm happy to see that there's a face I recognize here. Been a while since I saw you last. It's good to know you aren't in the belly of the death god anymore!"
The Third gave Naruto a small smile around his ever present pipe but soon turned into a serious face and said:
"While I would like to say that it is good to see you too, Naruto; you've been brought here for a serious matter. You have been brought here so that some things could be explained to you and a possible offer."
Naruto, ever hopeful, said: "Is that offer that of coming back to life?"
"Maybe Naruto, but first we need to rid you of that fox entwined with your soul."
This confused Naruto a little. The fox was still trapped in his gut? He thought that when he died, so did the Kyuubi; but then again, how come he never saw the fox's spirit after he died? Was he always to remain bound to that accursed spirit forever? Wait a moment there, did he just use the word accursed in a sentence? What was with that? In his old life, he never used such words or grammar. Before his mind could totally become off track with that subject; an imposing figure appeared in front of Naruto and stuck his hand into his gut.
The man, (or should he say thing since he couldn't tell the gender) was covered in markings on every available space of skin showing. He wore a grey robe of sorts and a thick prayer bead necklace around his neck. His face was twisted in a horrifying grimace and bared his fangs for all to see. Horns stuck out of his long mane of white hair and he towered over Naruto in height. Naruto was curious to know how that mans ridiculously large arms fit into his stomach.
Truth be, Naruto felt no pain as the arm entered in but he was dead so maybe that's why he doesn't. He could feel the spirit grab onto the fox and pull him out. Now it hurt. He could feel the fox slowly being pulled away from him. It felt like the fox was fighting tooth and nail to stay inside him which he found odd since he figured the fox would jump at a chance to escape from its' cell. Naruto nearly doubled over in pain as the figure before him brought out the fox's head by the scruff of its' neck. He could hear the fox screaming to be put back into his cage and that it didn't want to go to hell as more of its' body was pulled out of him. Finally, the whole fox spirit was out of him and writhing in the grip of the man. The man nodded his head in acknowledgement to Naruto and disappeared with Kyuubi. The fox's screams were still echoing in the room.
Naruto, rather shakily, straighten himself out. His mind was awhirl with questions and confusion on the whole matter and so asked:
"What the hell is going on? First I find that I'm using words I never used before in ways I've never thought of and now I find out that the fox was still in me after death. Why is that? What is it you guys want from me? Was it only for the Kyuubi? You said you would explain things to me and I would like the answers now!"
"Please stay calm Naruto" The Third said placating. "Everything will be explained to you." He made a motion and a chair popped right by Naruto. He gestured for him to sit and Naruto did so with an eager look on his face. Finally, some answers! The Third adjusted himself in his seat for a more comfortable position and then explained:
"Now please bear with me Naruto, for I must explain a few things historically before I can go into why you're here. Keep in mind that what I say does affect you significantly.
In the beginning, there has always been two opposing factions, the gods and the demons. They have been fighting each other for years over how the world is run and nearly destroyed this world and universe from that fighting. Neither of them wanted that and so drew up a deal between them. Both of them would not hold any battles on the mortal plane or even appear on the mortal plane. Unfortunately, the mortal plane is in a perfect position to upstage either heaven or hell.
Because of this, some of the lower level demons sneak onto the mortal plane and cause havoc everywhere. They would teach humans forbidden arts of raising the dead and how to destroy souls. Destroying souls causes a big imbalance between the afterlife and mortal life and hurts the universe. Heaven stuck to the treaty since they know that if they break treaty, the higher level demons would retaliate and the universe would be destroyed. Heaven decided that to take care of the demons, they would create avatars to work through and help humans in times of suffering. Thus, the summons and the nine biju were created.
Now before you ask, the biju actually started out as good beings and were not demons themselves but high ranking summons. Various spirits were chosen to become the heads of certain summons and nine special spirits became the biji. They also were heads of certain summons. Nine were created as a balance and each biju had its' specialty for different situations. Taknuka was a defensive specialist; Cat was the medical specialist; Turtle was genjutsu specialist; Shark was a seal specialist; Lion was a Tiajutsu specialist; Phoenix was Ninjutsu specialist; Dragon was both Ninjutsu and Genjutsu specialist; Serpent was a combative specialist; and finally Fox was a specialist in all things. Each were used for different situations but I will focus more on the Fox since his job was to be the assassin for the afterlife.
If there was a mortal using forbidden arts that was too strong for regular mortals to kill, then we would send in the Fox. If there was a demon who wouldn't leave the mortal plane, we sent in him. Fox was to be a countermeasure against demon forbidden arts. You could say he was Death's Ninja. In fact, Kyuubi was only called Kyuubi because of his nine tails when to us, his name was simply Fox since he was the head summon of the Foxes. This brings us up to the matter on biju tails.
Now I'm sure you know what tails meant; the tails indicated the power level they had and of course you know that the more tails they have, the more powerful they were. Now I'm sure your wondering why the biju were in perfect order from one to nine tails when in fact they all use be at the same level. The truth of the matter is that they only got the name biju after they were corrupted.
A demon has been causing havoc everywhere in the home universe for the last couple of centuries. We've first sent in Tanuka to get rid of it but the demon hit the poor fellow with a very strong seal that has cause Tanuka to have an incredible blood thirst and go insane. This seal also made it so that Tanuka couldn't return go to the afterlife or even be taken to the afterlife. Shark had to devised a way to seal up the biju and gave the means to the humans through dreams until we could find a way around that seal. We first thought that if we defeated the demon, then the seal would disappear and Tanuka could return back to the afterlife.
We decided that we needed to send in a stronger biji, so we gave Cat another tail and sent her off but the demon put the same seal on her too. We did the same thing with each following biju by giving them one tail more than the previous but each time the demon would manage to defeat them and put the same seal on them. Finally we had to send in Fox who now was made a Kyuubi.
We didn't understand how the demon manage to defeat our avatars and so we sent in a spy to see if they could find out why. To our horror, Fox was a traitor. He was the one who told the demon the weaknesses of the avatars and helped him fight against his brethren so that each would be defeated. It was his idea that we should give more power to the avatars so that it when it came to be his turn, he would end up with the most power. Of course, as soon as he got that power and was sent to the plane, the demon turned on him and gave him that same seal. This lead to the attack on our village though I think Fox went along with it.
Now it was decided that no more avatars would be created until a means to destroy the demon and defeat its' seal was found. We didn't want anymore avatars to suffer the same fate as the others and we thought that the demon would be using the biju to help spread destuction. Also we wanted to make sure that our new avatar wasn't going to betray us. So we've been waiting for your return Naruto since Fox was sealed within you with a special seal that actually countered the demon's seal enough that the Fox could be taken to the afterlife. We're hoping that we can get the information from Fox on how to counteract the demon's seal and use that info to put a stop to it all."
That satisfied some of Naruto's questions but he wanted to know. He asked:
"So this is only about getting Kyuubi back to get some answers on a demon seal?"
"Patience Naruto." The Third said. "There is more but that was one of the main points you were brought here for. Part of the reason we called you here is that you were not suppose to die and so no place was ready for you yet."
"What!?" Naruto yelled and jumped out of his chair. "What do you mean I wasn't suppose to die! I wasn't even trying to get myself killed!"
"I know that Naruto but it brings up an opportunity for yourself if your willing to take it."
"Is this about that offer you were talking about earlier?" Naruto asked eagerly.
"Indeed it is. Because you have never turned on the village despite its' treatment of you, helped those around you, and for bringing the Fox to use without abusing its' powers; it was deemed that you were a perfect candidate to become the next Fox."
Naruto opened his mouth in amazement. They wanted to make HIM the next Fox? Become the next Death's Ninja! This was nothing like he was expecting for the offer. He thought it would be to come to life again. This was even better. He would become powerful and know some kick butt jutsu. Take that Sasuke! Naruto started to do a celebratory song and impromptu dance along with it.
The Third let it go for a while but then tried to stop Naruto to say a few things.
"Naruto, there is some more things to talk about."
Naruto kept dancing and singing a second verse on being the new fox.
"Naruto." said in a warning tone. He still kept going. The Third got fed up and threw his pipe accurately at Naruto's head.
"Ow! What was that for?" Naruto yelled while rubbing his noggin. How the heck did he felt that when he's dead and has no body?
"Pay attention Naruto. There is still more to discuss before we sent you on your way." The Third said as he motioned Naruto to sit back down again on the chair. Naruto huffed a little on the Third's killjoy attitude on his celebration. He sat down and crossed his arms in front of him. The Third ignored him and continued on:
"Now, just as I said you've been considered to become the next Fox. Let me elaborate on what's going to happen to you if you accept this position so you know fully what you are getting yourself into." The Third looked at Naruto carefully as he said this like he was gauging Naruto's attentiveness.
Naruto quickly nodded his head to the Third to go on.
"If you accept this position, you will automatically become the head fox for the fox summons. You would be in charge of who signs the summons contract and whether or not the foxes would follow that signer's orders. Right now, you would be the only fox summons there is since all foxes who where under the previous Kyuubi were release from the contract to make sure that none of them would help him. Things will be explain later to you when you're older on how to add foxes to the summons contract.
You will not automatically get all nine tails worth of power. In fact, you will receive only one tail. To get more tails, you will have to undergo a series of tests and missions to prove your worth and loyalty to the afterlife. We do want you to take out that demon in your homeworld but right now it is decided that you would have to go through several tests, training, and missions before we let you do that job. We want you to have a lot of experience before taking on that demon so it was decided that your training take place in other dimensions to get plenty of experience. You will actually not see you home dimension for many years while doing all of this. I am forewarning you that these tests, training, and missions will take several years, maybe even centuries to accomplish before we feel you're ready for that.
You are to be loyal to us foremost in missions. Occasionally, it is expected that in your undercover work you will have to have loyalties to other people. An example would be that we sent you to the Konoha. You would be loyal with that village but it is expected that you answer to us so that if there is conflict between our interests and Konoha, ours comes first. Any questions Naruto?"
"Yeah, I've got one. What about Orochimaru?" Naruto asked
"What do you mean?" The Third asked puzzled with that out of the blue question.
Naruto explained:
"You said that training and such would take several years and in other dimensions and I wanted to know what was going to happen to Orochimaru since he is practicing forbidden arts that you said that destroyed souls and cause a huge problem in balancing the afterlife with the mortal plane. Isn't it going to be my job to take care of him and if I'm away, won't he continue to practice such arts and making the imbalance worse?"
The Third was impressed with Naruto's forethought on that matter and smiled at the boy's eagerness to start on the job. He replied:
"Do not worry about that Naruto. What we plan on doing is to slow down the time rate on that dimension so that you could be gone for a century and only a year will pass by in your home dimension. We have taken that in account when we decided that you have to go through training and missions before confronting the demon."
Naruto sighed in relief over that. His friends and precious people will not grow old and die before he came home after gaining the necessary power to do his job. He hoped that it wouldn't take too long in finishing up the requirements before returning home. Another thought popped in his head and he said curiously:
"Umm… I've got another one Old man if you don't mind. Why is it that I'm thinking and talking…smarter? I find myself using words and grammar that I have never used previously in life."
The Third gave a chuckle on that and said:
"That is alright Naruto but this will have to be the last question. Why you are finding yourself to be more sophisticated is that you are not burden with a brain anymore. The mind and the brain are two separate things that work together in adjusting to new ideas, accepting, or coming up with new ideas. The brain was used as a focus point for your mind and maintain the body functions. The brain in your old body didn't align well with your mind and so you couldn't focus enough on some matters to get the right ideas through or accepting some. Only when something seemed to really matter to you did your mind and brain worked together. That is why you find yourself doing stupid things."
Naruto thought that over. It did explain with some of his more dumber ideas and why he had a hard time understanding some concepts. He knew he wasn't an idiot. Before he could continue on with his musings, The Third continued on by asking:
"Though it is easy to see what your answer is going to be, we still must have it down in record by asking you Naruto: Will you be willing to become the next Fox and take up his duties and undergo the training?"
Naruto thought for a moment. Become the head summons for foxes? Take out Orochimaru? Fight demons? Get special training to do it all? What did the Third take him for, of course he would do it. Naruto replied:
"You know me Old man. My answer is yes!"
The Third smiled at this and stood up from his position. He suddenly appeared in front of Naruto and laid a hand on his head and said:
"Then by the power invested in me by Upstairs: I welcome you, Naruto Kitsune, our new head of fox summons and Death's ninja."
Author's notes: Wow! I never thought I could write that much for one chapter. Don't expect all my chapters to be around this same length. It's hard to decide what details to add in and what to leave out. The Thirds explanations were hard to make up and The one on Naruto's new speech patterns were the best I could come up with since I find it difficult to write Naruto using simple words. I always find myself using words that most people don't use a lot.
I have decided to skip Naruto's training and missions for gaining tails since my brain refuses to work with me in coming up with a decent plotline. I figure most people will be interested in what happens when Naruto returns to his home dimension after learning some new moves. There maybe some flashbacks on his journey but I don't have enough for a plotline. I was thinking that there could be a little bit of a crossover since I am having Naruto visit other dimensions for training.I am willing to accept ideas on what happens to him and will credit where it's due if I use it in a flashback.
On another note, I decided that moves will be done in English since my knowledge of Japanesse is null, nada, zilch.
Notice!! I am looking for a beta reader!
Please review! Critisisms accepted and flames ignored. Thankyou!
Savanor