Chapter 2:
Years Later
The winds were rougher than usual for this time of season but one blond man disregarded his surroundings. The young blond looked no older than twenty five yet he had accomplished so much in life. He sat in the temple of a legendary man. Learning all he could.
What else is there for him to do but learn when he has eternity to do so?
Life was harsh for him but he made it work. He climbed through the ranks and stayed at the top for a long time. For so long in fact that many began to wonder why he didn't age a day since his twenties. He had wondered himself too. At thirty his friends began to show signs of grey hairs. At forty his friends began to wrinkle around the eyes. Yet he stayed young.
Many of his people began to spread rumors of sages and gods. He had begun to worry a lot by that time. His friends were also nervous. At first he was able to get away with it by proclaiming that it was his previous host's side effects that left him with amazing healing powers that had somehow slowed down his ageing. But a thorough examination from his pink haired teammate revealed something else.
It was his mother's blood but somewhat different.
Her clan was known for its stamina and longevity. But because they were a hidden village far away from civilization no one really knew much about them after they were all killed off during the second war. But he and his friends were stubborn. They found old scrolls and studied them. It seemed that having been born from the previous host, having the fox demon sealed in him minutes after birth, and his clan's blood had mutated him. His life span would be very long because the constant healing would be nearly impossible for him to age. The blond man had put those thoughts aside and decided to learn about his family. To honor them, he had become a master at their art: Sealing.
So just like his father, he learned diligently. After all, after growing up and going through war he had changed from being that young hyperactive kid. He became a prodigy.
Unsurprisingly by now. He was known to do the impossible.
After a while, his friends retired while he still held his post looking just as young as when he first started. He suddenly realized that the little brown haired boy who idolized him was a grown man. The blond wanted to retire too but the council stopped him. He realized that they wanted him to stay because that was where they could keep their eyes on the most powerful man in the Elemental nations. The civilians loved him too much to let him go and his soldiers didn't want anyone else but him to lead them.
It seemed to him that he will be their leader for a very, very, long time. They didn't mind. He was strong and just. No nation would dare to cross them as long as he stood there to protect them.
He was their guardian.
They felt safer with him as their leader. But they didn't realize that he had grown tired of their idolization, it was too worshiping for his taste. He tried to reason with them. He told them all that his position was not a dictatorship. Someone, preferably his grandfather figure's grandson, should take up his seat. They frowned and shook their heads. No, they wanted only him.
Ten years ago it had warmed his heart. Now, it made him uneasy. He spoke with his now retired friends but they saw no fault. Was this not what he had wanted since he was a child? To have his people's love and the seat he currently had. He explained to them that he didn't want to stay the leader forever. They laughed and waved away his worries. They told him to give it ten more years.
He did just that.
He voiced his desire to retire and hand over his seat to his grandfather figure's grandson but it was too late. He too was an old man now with grandchildren running around. The blond man's request was brushed off again. His old friends sighed when he came back to talk with them about his retirement. They told him that they too felt safe with him being their leader. It was then that the blond man saw them clearly. They had grown old and simply wanted their children and grandchildren to enjoy the current peace. They had grown so used to peace that they didn't want war anymore. They forgot that their blond haired friend was a man too. That he wasn't a god.
"Relax, enjoy the peace. Don't you think that the village deserves this?" His long time raven, now grey, haired friend said. The old man poured tea and watched his compound over run with his grandchildren. "This compound was once empty because of my father's greed. Now it flourishes with my children and their children. Soon the numbers will multiply and my clan will return. War will diminish and possibly wipe them out completely. We cannot afford a coup." His onyx eyes rested on crystal blue. "I'm pushing my pride aside. I am asking you to please hold on to your seat just a bit longer. I...I don't want them to fight for their lives just yet. Please." The blond gaped at his old friend. Never had the man before him ever begged.
"But what about me?" the blond asked sadly. "Don't I deserve happiness? I lost my chance to settle down. I lost my chance to have children because of all this. I want to retire. I want to at least find some form of peace."
"At the expense of this village's safety?" The onyx eyed man spat back.
"Our village hasn't been attacked since-"
"Before the war. Before you took the hat. Don't you see? No one dares to oppose you. Your friendship with the other four great nations guarantees that they will not fight with each other. You hold them united. Please, I am an old man now. In my youth I was blind and selfish. I see now why people wish for peace. I ask you to do this just a little longer as your friend." The once proud man now bowed down to the blond. "Please." He whispered. And so, the blond agreed.
It hurt him to see his friends have the same view as the rest of the village. They wanted peace and to enjoy their luxurious lives. The blond could not fault them for wanting their children to live in peaceful times. His life had come back to a full circle now. He had once again become the human sacrifice. Only this time it was not as a container to a demon. Once again, he was not human in their eyes. He was expected to give up his happiness for them and become their all-powerful protector.
He was the Lord of Light now.
It sickened him.
It down right frightened him.
The new, younger, councilmen no longer argued with him other than when he talked about retirement. They listened to his every word and marveled at him as if he was the most amazing thing they had ever seen in their lives. He saw the adoration in their eyes much like in the eyes of the civilians and his soldiers. He even caught a few of them whispering about his dazzling features.
The blond man now realized what his old teammate used to deal with in the academy. It really was freaky. Whenever he walked down the streets of his village he was greeted with bows and awed expressions. There was one time he heard a woman call him 'My Lord.'
Ever since then, everyone addressed him as such. No longer was he addressed as the title the previous five leaders had been given. It made him nervous to go outside his tower, or as everyone else called it as 'The Lord's Home.'
Suddenly, words his godfather had said to him rang in his ears: Be careful what you wish for.
Oh how careful he wished he should have been.
A decade passed and his friends began to pass away. Another decade and he was the only one from his generation left alive. The little boy who was like a little brother to him was now an old man on his deathbed. The blond came to visit and was surprised to hear his last words: You don't have to live like this, fake your death and be free.
He did just that.
He created a seal that made him look as though he was dead. No medic but his now deceased pink haired friend could have figured it out.
They didn't bury his body.
They laid him in a crystal coffin with anti-decay seals around it. He had discreetly switched bodies with a fake he made on the night that everyone mourned him. His coffin was placed in the center of the village. There were guards around it all the time and people never stopped bringing flowers every morning. It became a ritual. Every morning the people would wake up and place a banquet of flowers around the crystal coffin and pray to him. Many even stood to watch the body inside and marvel at its handsome face. The council said that he had died of grief for losing his last remaining friend. The public ate it up, after all he was the strongest throughout all the five great nations.
The blond man had watched from the shadows and frowned at what had become a tourist attraction sight. Even in 'death' he was not given human courtesy. What was left of the other nations after the war had come to visit the crystal coffin. They all mourned him at first. Then, they started to believe that he was now a true god. They began to pray to him like they would to a god. His village created a religion about him. It spread fast since there were barely any people who survived from the horrid fourth ninja war. The blond man grew tired and left the Elemental nations. He traveled far for what seemed like centuries.
Finally something had happened. He found an old temple. He found journals about a man who was just like him. The sage of the six paths was real. The blond read and read. He was truly fascinated to find evidence of someone who understood. That is where he was now. After months of analyzing and categorizing the place he found one odd scroll with a seal he was unfamiliar with. The moment he touch it everything went white.
"Hello young shinobi." A voice that was soft and warm greeted him in the whiteness.
"I'm not as young as I look." The blond replied without thinking.
"No, you are certainly not." The voice agreed.
"May I ask how I got here and who you are?" The blond looked around as he flowed in the air.
The voice chuckled. "You are currently between the world of the living and the dead."
"Oh," The blond said lamely.
"I think you already know who I am…"
"The sage of the six paths." The blond whispered.
"Yes, I am. You are the Lord of Light or at least that is what the world calls you now." The sage said and suddenly appeared before the blond who didn't have time to frown at the name. The sage smiled softly. He had white spiky hair and a white cloak. Horns were coming out of his head and the blond wondered if the sage was even human. In his hand he held an odd staff. His red rennigan eyes confirmed the identity. "Titles aside, I am Roku."
The blond blinked and smiled in return. "Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze."
"For a man who dislikes his new title, your name is quite a mouth full." Roku teased. Sky blue eyes blinked at the sage.
"Call me Naruto then." Tan skin turned red in embarrassment.
"Very well, Naruto." Roku smiled pleasantly. "The reason you are here is because I am here to give you a choice." Naruto straightened his shoulders and sobered up. "You can either move on to the next world and be reunited with your loved ones or be given a chance to fix your childhood and end the war differently." Naruto gaped at the wise sage.
"You can do that?" Roku smiled at the question.
"Yes, though before you make your choice I want to tell you a bit more about the second option." The blond hesitantly nodded. "I will send you back in time to the moment before Kurama was sealed within you but not into your body. Your soul will take your father's body instead. In all essence, you will still be you but your body will be that of your father's. This way you can stop your father from unknowingly making you immortal and make the younger 'you' grow up with a better life." Roku smirked at the stupefied expression that he was presented with.
"I-I don't think I understand what you are saying." Sky blue eyes looked into rennigan red eyes in bewilderment. "What about my father?"
"Minato would have already begun the death reaper sealing. His soul I will free once you take over." Roku explained.
"Free? You mean he is still in there?!" Naruto yelled looking horrified.
"Not anymore, since the time his soul was called out by impure world resurrection he had been free to move on but before that he was not." It finally dawned unto the blond what it all meant.
"I have a chance to free my dad's soul, save myself from this long existence, and possibly stop the fourth war from ever happening." Naruto whispered in awe. "I can save everyone."
"What is your choice?" Roku asked.
"I chose to save my father's soul and the rest of the world from Madara's schemes." Naruto said in a sure voice.
The sage smiled. "You truly are one of a kind. Good luck." Roku raised his staff and brought it down quickly. With a load 'bang' Naruto no longer saw the whiteness. When he opened his eyes he saw carnage and a very angry Kurama.
"Shit," he swore. Before him was Kurama looking crazed and chained. On his left a beautiful red head was panting heavily and bleeding out.
"M-Minato, w-what are y-y-you waiting for?" She stammered. Naruto felt his heart sink. He saw the chains she used to control the demon slowly start to weaken. She didn't have long.
"Mom." He said softly. The tired red head turned to him in confusion. "I'm Naruto, I took dad's place and freed him from the soul reaper." She blinked at him.
"W-what?" She asked.
"Mom, please believe me! It's me!" Naruto felt his tears fall. Seeing his mother in so much pain was killing him inside. He had only met her briefly once and those few moments were so precious.
"Naruto." She said lovingly. "Have you come to try and save us?" She tried to get up but Naruto stopped her by hugging tightly. For the first time he felt his mother's warmth.
"That masked man is in league with Uchiha Madara. The fourth ninja war will be brutal. The leaf will stand but not as strong as it used to be. Millions will die." He said sadly.
"M-my poor boy," She whimpered. "We w-will not be there for y-you." She said sadly.
"No, but my friends stood by me till the end. My godfather raised me along with my godmother." He lied; it suddenly became easy to do that now that he had his face buried in her red hair. "The village was very supportive too. Auntie Mikoto always visited with her sons and we became the best of friends. Kakashi was like a big brother that always looked out for me like you and dad asked him to. I had a very good childhood. I even became Hokage and had a few kids of my own. I named them after you and dad. After I retired my granddaughter became the next Hokage, Konoha's first female kage. She looks a lot like you and from what Kakashi said she has your temper. " He cried silently. This was the least he could do for her. Let her die in peace thinking that she had made the right choice.
"I-I'm s-so glad!" Her breath hitched. She was going to die soon, Naruto could feel it. "J-just know that Minato and I will always love you." The chains dropped and disappeared.
Kushina Uzumaki went limp in his arms.
"I love you too, mom."
Behind him, Kurama growled menacingly. Naruto put his mother down on the ground and took a look at his baby self that slept on the altar. It was time to change the future.
AN: Please understand that I have been extremely busy lately. I have other stories that I need to type up (Some Twilight bashing stories, Bella is a bitch story, Wizards of Waverly Place xover with Twilight Story, Charmed story, Percy Jackson is adopted by Poseidon's wife story...) and not to mention I have to redesign the ending to my story 'Heir of Potter and Black'. Also, Relive the Grief plotline felt a little too repetitive. I recently found out that Tender Sea is very close to my story (Sorry about that) so I have to change many key elements and plotlines aka lots of killing characters and so on, it will probably be like a 10 chapter story or something.
For those who are wondering why I changed the identity of the sage I want you to know that I have skimmed through the latest Naruto chapters and I found myself so disappointed. They ruined it big time! So I decided to change the outcome of the war. I got a little inspired by Avatar the last air bender and named the sage Roku to honor it (So no Naruto is his reincarnated son crap) . Anyway, see you guys next time.
Hope you liked it and give me some constructive criticism or any ideas. I'll incorporate them if they fit my plotline. See you guys next time!