Chapter 2: Consequences and Stories

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

"Oh, Kami," Naruto sat up in his bed, clutching his throbbing head. "What hit me? A mountain?"

THUMP-THUMP-THUMP.

He shot a glare at the door to his new apartment. "Okay, I know that wasn't in my head." He muttered to himself.

Groaning and pushing himself off his bed, Naruto, shirtless, stumbled over to the door, and opened it.

Yuugao Uzuki was having a normal day. First, she met with Anko, Kurenai and Hana for some "girl-talk"; then she had been called by the Hokage to perform her ANBU duties, and now she found herself staring at a very muscular, very handsome shirtless blonde man. Or, to be more precise, his chest tattoo.

She slowly looked up into his face; a somewhat familiar face. Three whisker marks adorned each cheek, and deep blue eyes gave her a tired look. One she recognized.

"Naruto-kun?" Yuugao whispered breathlessly.

Naruto blinked and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, taking in the cat mask, the flowing purple hair, and the ANBU uniform. "Neko-chan?" He wondered aloud.

Yuugao screamed, "NARUTO-KUN!" And tackled the blonde boy to the ground, hugging him fiercely.

Naruto, surprised by the show if emotion by the normally stoic ANBU. He tentatively hugged her back. "Hey, Neko-chan. It's been a long time, huh?"

Yuugao looked at him with slightly teary eyes. "Yeah, it's been too long, Naruto-kun. I'm so glad you're alive." She hugged him tightly.

Naruto gave her a confused look. "Not to ruin the mood or anything, but, why are you here? Do you want to do something, is that why you found me? I'd love to go out and get some food, but I need to get dressed first."

Neko blushed, glad that Naruto couldn't see underneath her mask. She pushed herself up, and pulled Naruto up as well. "Um, I'd like to get something to eat later, but, right now, I'm kinda in the middle of ANBU duties." She straightened her back, and said tonelessly, "Naruto Uzumaki, you are wanted in a meeting with the Council."

Naruto laughed, and walked over to his armor stand. He buckled on his greaves, arm armor that went up to his shoulders, stepped into his boots, and shrugged his sleeveless cloak on. Naruto picked up his skull mask, and set it on his head, hiding his face from view. Grabbing his scythe, he twirled it expertly, and turned to face Yuugao.

"Alright, I'm ready." He said. Yuugao nodded, and set her hand on his forearm, blushing underneath her mask. Bad Yuugao! He's just a kid, he's juts a kid…

They disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

…

The council waited with barely held agitation. At least, the civilian side. The shinobi side of the council waited with just some excitement. Hiashi Hyuuga, in particular, waited for the boy who had saved his daughter from a fate worse than death at hands of the Kumo ambassador. And even better, since Naruto had done it, and had been pronounced dead afterward, Kumo couldn't ask for reparations for the killed ambassador.

Naruto was the reason Hizashi was still alive.

A vortex of leaves appeared in the middle of the council room, revealing Naruto and Yuugao, who shunshinned away after bowing to the Hokage.

The Sandaime smiled down at Naruto. "Hello, Naruto. It is good to see you again." The council gasped. This was the runt Naruto? He was so tall!

One of the civilians stood and boomed with as much authority as he could muster (Which wasn't much), "Remove your hood, so we can see your face!"

Naruto dropped his hood, showing his white skull mask to the room. The Sandaime chuckled at the horrified looks on the civilian's faces, and asked, "Could you remove your mask as well, Naruto?"

Naruto nodded and pulled his mask off. He smiled at the Hokage and bowed, tucking his mask under his arm. "Good day, Hokage-sama. I trust you are well?"

The Sandaime nodded. "Hai, I am well, Naruto. You have been called before the Council to answer these questions; first, where have you been these past years?"

Naruto thought for moment. Then, he spoke. "You all know of Kami and the Shinigami, right?" Getting nods of confirmation, he continued. "Kami watches over heaven, and the Shinigami judges souls to see if they are worthy to enter heaven, or if they are to be devoured. That is a lie." He held up a hand to stem the flood of protests, and spoke. "There are three Major deities. Their names are Kami, who watches over heaven. There is Shini, who watches over limbo, and judges souls. And then…there is Shin'en, who watches over the Abyss."

Shikaku Nara raised his head from the table and asked, "Excuse me, but what is 'the Abyss'?"

"The Abyss is the place where evil souls go to be destroyed. The Abyss is a void, a whirling, crushing, tearing, ripping maelstrom that tears evil souls into tiny pieces, purifying them and mixing them up, and creating new souls." Naruto explained.

The Third frowned. "This is all very interesting, Naruto, but what does this have to do with where you have been?"

Naruto smiled at the old man, and said, "Well, when I was beaten mostly to death and thrown into the river, I was carried very far by the currents, almost out into the sea. Luckily, I became wedged between two rocks, otherwise I would have died for sure. I ended up on the beach meant solely for the deities to relax. I was found by two of them, Kami and Shin'en. They healed me, and taught me all I needed to know to survive. They tested me constantly, Shinigami being busy most of the time. About a year ago, they gave me my armor, my cloak, my scythe, and this seal on my chest," he said, pointing to the kanji that read 'Reaper'. "And they let me roam, telling me to return to Konoha in a year for something important."

Koharu, the really old Council Elder spoke with disdain. "Are we supposed to believe that you were trained by the Gods'? That is pure foolishness!"

Naruto stared at the old woman. "Foolish it may seem, but you seem to forgotten one crucial detail."

"What?" Koharu snarled.

Naruto closed his eyes. The whole room felt a sense of foreboding descend on the room.

Naruto's eyes snapped open. "These."

There were no eyes, or so it seemed. There were only black voids were his eyes should be. The room shuddered as he looked every single one of them in the eye.

"This is my Shin'engan, my Abyss Eye. With it, I can access the very Abyss itself. But it carries a heavy price. To gain these eyes, I was thrown into the Abyss, and told to survive for a week. It was horrible. Hearing the screams of the damned being torn into pieces, feeling my body being ripped apart without moving, having to consume the soul of another to survive. The price was heavy. The soul I consumed became a part of me. A tainted part. When I activate these eyes, I become more open to suggestion from him. And it gets harder to resist the longer I have them on."

So saying, Naruto closed his eyes. The foreboding presence left the room, and Naruto's eyes went back to normal.

"Is that proof enough?" He asked, as the door to the council chambers opened, and in stepped a man wearing bandages and limping.

The Sandaime frowned at the man. "You're late, Dan-"

"Danzo Shimura!" All heads turned to Naruto, who looked ready to pounce on the man, his scythe held in a ready position, his eyes as black as the Abyss. "You were there! With Hanzo of the Salamander! You tried to kill my friends!"

Danzo's eye narrowed. "What are you talking about, boy?"

Naruto's scythe began to pulse, and images raced through everyone's head.

Rain poured down, drenching everything. An army surrounded two guys, one with red hair, and the other with yellow, spiky hair. Hanzo of the Salamander stood on top of the hill, arms crossed. Danzo stood across from him, on another hill. ANBU with blank masks surrounded him, and one held a blue-haired girl, kunai to her throat.

The yellow-haired guy was arguing with the red-haired guy, saying something about it 'being the only way'. The red-haired guy refused, and it looked like the yellow-haired guy would do something drastic, when his choice was taken away.

The blank-masked ANBU holding the girl hostage suddenly disappeared into a black hole that opened up beneath him. The girl was pushed forward, out of danger. Danzo pointed at the three and shouted, "Capture them!"

Something appeared next to Danzo, too late for him to react. He cried out in agony as his arm was separated from his shoulder. Blood sprayed from the stump of his arm, and two of the ANBU rushed in and grabbed him vanishing in a burst of smoke. But not before Danzo saw the one responsible. It was a boy, barely older than nine or ten, holding a scythe, his blue eyes burning into Danzo's one.

Naruto jumped down off the hill, landing next to the three. The yellow-haired one yelled, "Naruto! I told you to get out of here!"

Naruto retorted, "So you could die? I don't think so, Yahiko! We can discuss whether or not I should have stayed or not, but for right now, we need to get out of here!"

Yahiko nodded, turning to the red-haired one. "Nagato! Use it!"

Nagato smiled brightly, and shouted, "I've always wanted to try this! Chibaku Tensai!"

The ground shook as an orb of distortion appeared above them, sucking in loose rocks and trees, as well as the ninja around, crushing them together into a big ball. Hanzo shunshinned away, leaving the remaining ninja to their fate.

Underneath the ball, a wave of water washed around them. When it dropped, there was nothing left but a giant ball of debris and people, which fell to earth with a resounding crash.

…

The vision faded from their viewpoint, and when they could all see clearly, the Sandaime glowered at Danzo.

"So…Danzo. I told you to disband ROOT, and here I find that they have still been active, even years in the past? That is treason, Danzo!" The Sandaime raised a hand and called, "ANBU! Take Danzo to Ibiki for interrogation!"

Naruto's eyes flickered to the sides of Danzo, noticing the shadows. Naruto clapped his hands together on his scythe, and in a show of light, it morphed into two silver Kamas. Throwing them with deadly accuracy, the small scythes blurred through the air, impaling themselves into the facemasks and heads of two blank masked ANBU.

The two ROOT agents collapsed, dead, and two real ANBU, Neko and Tenzo, appeared next to Danzo, slapping chakra-containing cuffs onto his arm, and vanishing.

…

A/N: That is not the last we'll see of Danzo.

So, how'd you like it? It's my first completely AU story, that isn't a crossover!

Enjoy!

What would you like to see in this story? Tell me in a review!

Until Next Time,

Keep Being Awesome!

-Sol