Kasek: Good news, and bad news. Good news, I redid this chapter so it's MUCH better- some people complained about the quality, and I had to agree with them. Bad news? My laptop broke, and this desktop isn't much better.

This takes place at the beginning of Shippuuden, by the way. I apologize to those who were looking forward to Academy chapters.

Also, ignore my usage of honorifics. Please. They come, and they go, and they stick in the wrong places sometimes. Also, report any typos and stuff to me, please. Too lazy to check for the umpteenth time.

Read, enjoy, and review if you feel like it- especially if you like this version more than the old one.

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 4

The old man sighed contently inside the main chamber of the monastery, the incense burning, the statues of their gods standing guard around the perimeter of the chamber, the statue of Buddha's massive presence not intimidating him one bit. However, there certainly was something bothering him; he was stroking his long beard- the only hair left on his head- hurriedly, obviously concerned about something. The air seemed heavy, weighted down by an obviously evil presence.

He did not bother glancing behind him as several other monks came in, obviously feeling the pressure from the evil presence. They, too, sat in front of the Buddha statue, trying to meditate and get their minds off of the bloodlust in the air. However, not all the monks came to the meditation chamber- the guards did not leave their posts, and were even more concerned than their more peaceful brethren within the walls of the monastery. They could not merely sit still, and constantly shifted their weight from one foot to the other in anxiousness.

The guards were thrown into a panic when they heard the roar of a monster come from inside the monastery- alarm bells were rung, and they all ran as quickly as they could towards the main building's door. They pushed it open as quickly as they could, and were horrified at the sight that they beheld- a large, dragon-like creature, with its skeleton apparently on the outside, faced them, the upper half of their leader hanging from its mouth. All of the other monks had been knocked into the far walls, many of them with bone-like spears sticking from their still-warm corpses. What made things far worse for them was that above every monk, the guards could visibly see the spirits of the departed, all very much frightened at the prospect of being dead.

The head monk used the last of his strength to lift his head up to face the guards. "Run... away…. before its-" He was silenced when the dragon lifted up its head and swallowed the rest of the old man whole, and then it glared directly at the guards- they flinched when red lights glowed in its eyes sockets. It spread its bony wings and let out another otherworldly roar. Most ignored the old man's dying wish, as the majority of them were former shinobi- some of them even having been Jonin. However, there were a few who did run- and they could not help but flinch every time they heard the screams of their fellow monks, both dying and deceased.

Naruto couldn't help but smirk as he looked at himself- he was now wearing the official shinigami uniform, his zanpakuto at his side, as he had finally graduated from the Academy two-and-a-half years after he had joined. It was a knowing smirk, because he knew that he would never have to face the bane of his existence that was homework ever again. He sighed contently as he saw what stood before him- the gates to the 13th Division compound, the squad to which he had been assigned- and his father's squad. Just as he was about to open the door, however, it swung open, and swept him to the side. He rubbed his face- thankfully, there was no blood- and glowered at the figure standing in the open gate- his father.

Said man was stretching. "Ah, what a day to go visit the world of the living!" Naruto quickly got up. "Oi! Is that anyway to greet your son after two-and-a-half years?!"

Minato looked to the side. "Oh, I thought that was your reiatsu I felt! You're just on time, too!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Just on time for what?" And then, the realization hit him. "Wait a sec, you swung that gate open knowing I was on the other side?!"

Minato scratched the back of his head. "Uhh… maybe? Look, I have a mission to carry out- and it just so happens that you're perfectly qualified to join me, Naruto."

Naruto was obviously confused. "Huh? But I'm the shinigami equivalent of a Genin- what the heck makes me better than anyone else in this division?"

Minato seemed to teleport right next to Naruto and picked him up by the waist, tucking him under his arm- an obviously embarrassing position. "Because you, Naruto were a shinobi in life- that's what makes you qualified for this mission."

---

All was quiet at the Hero's Memorial in the early morning, but the place was not deserted- Uzumaki Naruto, or, as he had taken to calling himself, Namikaze Naruto, currently stood in front of it, gazing at the large stone he was facing. He smiled when he spotted his name on the stone- at least he had gotten that part of his life right. He heard a rustling of leaves, and was slightly surprised to see Kakashi- but was not surprised when Kakashi did not see him. Kakashi stood in front of the stone.

"Obito... Minato-sensei… Rin... Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura... sorry I haven't been around lately... I had another run of S-Ranked missions. I don't think I'm going to be on any more- Tsunade-sama thinks it's time I hang up the ninja gear and do something pleasant like gardening. I don't see why I should- I'm the best ninja she has right now, and she knows it. But... she's worried about my mental health more than anything. Apparently, the more time I spend away from here, the more my heart seems to fade... but on the other hand, it's only on the field of battle that I can honor your memories... quite the paradox, huh? So, what do you think I should do?"

Naruto smirked, and took out his cell phone. After pressing a button, he put it away, and his smirk grew wider. "I don't know. Depends on how good of a gardener you are."

Kakashi's eye widened, and he slowly turned to face Naruto. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Tsunade-sama's right, maybe I should take it easy... I'm starting to hallucinate."

Naruto growled. "Geez, I spend two and a half years trying to get back here from the afterlife, and that's the welcome I get? Betcha Tsunade-baachan would've at least tested me to see if I was real, first."

Kakashi glared at 'Naruto'. "Alright, smarty-pants, tell me everything you know about the boy Uzumaki Naruto. Now."

Naruto sweatdropped. "Umm... see, that's gonna take a while... I mean, come on, who knows me better than myself, right?"

Kakashi eyed him. "Hmmm... although that's the kind of answer he would give, you're going to have to be more specific."

Naruto frowned. "Fine, fine, be that way! Let's see... I was born on October 10th to Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina-" Kakashi stopped him right there. "And just how do you know about Kushina? Minato-sensei's name was revealed to the public, but not hers." Naruto smirked. "Hey, I'm dead, they're dead, any of that ring a bell?"

Kakashi sighed. "Alright, you hallucination, continue."

Naruto smirked. "Aaaanyways, I don't know about Mom- guess she died giving birth to me or something like that- but Dad died sealing the Kyuubi into me, and thus I was an orphan."

Kakashi growled. "Kushina didn't die giving birth to you- she was too close to you during the sealing, and since she was so weak from having just given birth to you, the force of the Kyuubi's chakra being placed into your body killed her."

Naruto froze- Kakashi could see what was obviously sadness in his eyes. "…you should keep that to yourself, Kaka-sensei. If Dad found out about that, he'd have a heart attack."

Kakashi's hard-eyed gaze softened a little. He had seen that look on Naruto's face once before- it was the look on his face that he had held when Kakashi had found his corpse. "…alright, then. Continue your little story."

Naruto's cheery tone disappeared from his story. "I was named Uzumaki to protect my identity, and I had a pretty miserable childhood, with Iruka-sensei, the Sandaime, Teuchi-ojiisan, and Ayame-chan as my only friends. I had a major crush on Haruno Sakura, and I hated Uchiha Sasuke's guts- at least until the three of us got on the same team, anyways. Your team, I'm sure you remember. Then me and Sasuke became good friends/rivals. We were practically brothers."

Kakashi nodded- so far, so good- however, that still was pretty common knowledge.

"While on that team, we had 1 C-ranked mission to the Land of Waves, where we fought Momochi Zabuza and Haku, and where I first accessed the Kyuubi no Kitsune's power- not to mention where I first formed my nindo."

Kakashi stiffened slightly- the possibility of this guy being some enemy ninja or someone's idea of a prank was getting smaller and smaller.

"Afterwards, there was the Chuunin Exams, where I fought with Orochimaru, Kiba, Neji, and Gaara. Orochimaru killed Sandaime-ojiisan, so ero-sennin- Jiraiya- took me with him to get Tsunade-baachan to become Hokage, and taught me the Rasengan on the way. We fought Akatsuki and Orochimaru, fended them off, and baachan became Hokage."

Kakashi's body stiffened even more- 'Naruto's' knowledge was beginning to be knowledge that even he wasn't aware of- such as Naruto having faced both Akatsuki and Orochimaru within the small timeframe that he had been out of the village.

"Then, Sasuke left with those Sound ninja to go to Orochimaru, we fought, we killed each other, and that's the end of the story. Well, the part in the living world, anyways."

Kakashi sighed. "Fine then, why don't you tell me what happened in the afterlife, hmm?"

Naruto faltered. "Well, umm… you see, that is kind of top-secret info…" Kakashi glared at him. "Alright, alright, I'll tell you, geez. After I died, I met up with Dad and Sandaime-ojiisan, and they sent me to the Shinigami Academy, where I met up with Sakura. We graduated from the Academy, and poof, here we are."

Kakashi faltered. "We?"

Naruto grinned. "Yep! Which means that you'll need to convince yourself that the person behind you is real, too."

Kakashi groaned and turned around, and standing there was none other than Sakura. "Hey, sensei! Long time no see!"

Kakashi was ready to just run to the Hokage and have himself declared insane. However, he decided to take a different course- he took the cover off of his left eye, and was shocked at what lay before him- whoever these two were, real or not, they had no chakra at all- yet they weren't genjutsu either, or his Sharingan would've seen right through them.

"Alright, alright, considering that you both are wearing outfits I've never seen before, aside from your headbands, and the fact that my Sharingan registers you as here, but, well, not alive, there's a chance this is all real. Now, tell me, what's with the outfits and the swords? Don't tell me all dead people get them..."

Naruto grinned. "Nope! Like I said, we're shinigami! Cool, huh?"

Kakashi pinched himself- the pain said this was real. "And why're you here? Don't tell me that I dropped dead from exhaustion on my last mission..."

Naruto snickered. "No, no… you'd know if you were dead, trust me. We happened to be in the village, and decided that this would be the best spot to catch you."

Kakashi sighed, and drooped his shoulders. "Just happened to be here, huh?"

Sakura smiled knowingly. "Well... not exactly... we got picked from a small group of shinigami to come and warn Konoha of impending doom, and we decided that it would be nice to bring you to the Hokage's office for the briefing."

Kakashi shook his head. "So, I just head down there, then...?"

Sakura nodded. "Yep! We're gonna go down there ahead of you- don't want other people seeing us. Not yet, anyways."

The two of them took out their cell phones, pressed a button, and they disappeared. Kakashi heard a slight rustling of leaves, and he could no longer feel their presence. He took out a coin from his pocket. "Heads, this never happened, tails, I go down to the Hokage's office to double-check that this is reality."

The coin flipped in the air, and it landed on tails. "Alright then... guess I should get going." He turned back to the memorial. "Well... if this turns out to be real, I might be seeing you guys sooner than I thought I would..."

Kakashi knocked on the door to the Hokage's office. When asked who he was, he replied, and he was let in. Kakashi nearly had the wind knocked out of him by the mere sight of who was in the room- Naruto, Sakura, both the Yondaime and the Sandaime, heck, even Haku and Zabuza were in there- he decided that he wasn't hallucinating, because he hadn't put any thought to them in quite a while. Kakashi looked at Tsunade. "So, I'm NOT dreaming, then...?"

Tsunade sighed, and Kakashi saw signs that she had been crying recently. "Well, I thought it was MY dream, but seeing as how I don't normally dream, and how I've never even MET Zabuza and Haku before, I've put my disbelief on hold right now."

Minato grinned- Kakashi noted that he had a badge that said "13th Division Vice-Captain" on his left arm, and that he had two katana at his waist. "Hey, Kakashi! My, you've certainly gained some height since I last saw you..."

Kakashi was about ready to burst into tears himself. "Y-yeah... fifteen years will do that to a guy..."

Zabuza smirked, his shark teeth showing- he wasn't wearing any bandages, but he still had a gigantic sword on his back, though this one looked more like a gigantic katana than a zanbato. "Hey, Kakashi. Don't tell me that you've gone soft since we last met."

Kakashi regained his composure. "Heh... anything but."

Tsunade coughed to gain their attention. "Alright then... may I please know about this impending doom that's so bad that the higher-ups saw fit to let the dead roam the earth and let the living know of it?"

Minato deferred to Hiruzen. "You see, Tsunade... this world has been... connected, with others."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "And?"

Hiruzen continued. "As a result, more and more spirit particles have been leaking into this world, and now, spirits are able to manifest themselves in this world."

Tsunade nodded. "So, now people can interact with the dead?"

Hiruzen frowned grimly. "It's more serious than that. In the first place, spirits don't normally exist in this world- because our worlds are now connected, the people who die here become spirits and move around, instead of… well, whatever happened in the old system. It certainly wasn't direct reincarnation, or else Orochimaru couldn't have resurrected the first two Hokages in our battle."

Tsunade conceded that point- that made a little bit of sense.

"It wasn't so bad, at first- even those with spiritual awareness couldn't really see the spirits, and the spirits couldn't interact with the living. However, now… well, you can see for yourself. Just within the past few days, we've had reports of there being… attacks on the living."

Tsunade frowned. "Let me guess. Human souls aren't the only spirits in this universe."

Hiruzen nodded. "That is correct- and I don't mean that like I would say, Kitsyuu or Gamabunta have souls. There exists a type of soul called a Hollow- they are souls that have lost their heart, and have become twisted, man-eating monsters. In particularly, they are attracted to beings that have the ability to see them- an indication of spiritual abilities."

Tsunade's frown deepened. "I see where this is going... you think that these monsters are going to begin attacking us, right?"

Minato nodded. "Right. We've already had reports of them attacking monasteries. We're sure that the Hidden Villages are next- after all, spiritual power is one-half of what allows us to make chakra."

Tsunade pinched her forehead. "So, you want ME to break the news to my village that the dead are walking among us, and that they bring news of a virtual apocalypse?"

Naruto grinned. "That's one way to put it. We're here to patrol the area, see to it that if these monsters DO show up, that they get taken care of rather quickly."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Wait, wait, let me figure it out... only shinigami can kill them."

Sakura stood up. "Not just shinigami, but... we would certainly prefer if you didn't kill them yourself, shisou. If killed by any other means than a shinigami's sword, a Hollow ceases to exist. If we kill them, they become purified, and go to live in heaven or hell like they should've done at first."

Tsunade sighed in frustration. Why was being Hokage never easy? "Alright, fine. But I'm curious- WHY is our world connected to these other worlds when it wasn't before?"

Minato coughed. "Ummm... yeah. Sorry, my bad. It was because of the technique I used to seal the Kyuubi no Kitsune. It wasn't TOO bad- only I was affected by it at first."

Haku spoke up. "Later on, when Zabuza-sama and myself died, we had been bathed in the reiatsu of the shinigami that had sealed the Kyuubi, and since both of us accepted our deaths without question, we went straight to Soul Society, so there was no conncection to be made."

Hiruzen nodded. "However, when I used it, the shinigami were ready and made the connection permanent- apparently, Minato, Haku, and Zabuza had made a good impression on them, and they wanted more shinobi-shinigami. I swear, the Chamber of Fourty-Six is even worse than the Council here in Konoha..."

Tsunade closed her eyes, and a vein in her forhead pulsed. "So, you're saying that you guys have upset the balance of the world- no, wait, the universe- and now we're the ones who have to pay for it?"

Minato rubbed the back of his head nervously when she cracked her knuckles. "Aw, come on, Tsunade-obaasan! You make it sound so much worse than it really is!"

Tsunade sighed- at least Minato didn't call her 'baachan' like Naruto did. "Well, in any case, this certainly explains why I've been getting a lot of missions asking to investigate monster sightings... I assume you've sent some other shinigami to the other villages, as well?"

Zabuza nodded. "Yeah, we're making sure that all of the places where shinobi and monks gather are covered. We were offered the chance to go to Kiri, but we decided that we'd be more welcome here. They don't forgive assassination attempts on the Mizukage so easily, you know."

Kakashi frowned. "Speaking of not welcome..." All eyes turned to Naruto. He immediately noticed the tension in the room. He grinned. "Hey, if they don't like it, too bad! I'm already dead- they can't kill me! Well, they CAN, but then I would just get reincarnated- and I doubt they want me back on their hands so soon. Especially if I end up in some other village, then they'd be in BIG trouble."

Tsunade took out a jug of sake and had a few gulps. "Look, it will take a little while for all of the important shinobi to get back from their missions- why don't you walk around town, see how many astonished looks you get or something... Also..."

She was interrupted by a loud explosion- down towards the Academy, she saw a large dust cloud, and a large creature emerged from it. It looked similar to a frog, but it was mostly white, and its face seemed almost… skull-like. Minato smirked. "We'll finish this later- time for Konoha's Yellow Flash to make a triumphant return!" In an instant, he was gone, as were Hiruzen, Zabuza, and Haku.

Naruto grinned. "One of these days, I hae GOT to get him to teach me how to do that..."

He and Sakura then proceeded to jump out the window. Tsunade took another swig of her sake. "As I was saying- how long are you going to stand there, Jiraiya?"

Jiraiya came inside through the same window Naruto and Sakura had left through. He sighed, though a smirk remained on his face. "We'll never be rid of that Naruto, will we?"

Tsunade grinned. "I'm gonna have to get the security tapes from this... I want to see the looks on people's faces when they see Naruto, and I'm gonna frame the pictures."

Jiraiya laughed. "Don't forget to get Danzo's when he sees Sarutobi-sensei, now." He extended a hand to Tsunade. "Well, shall we go and watch the show?"

Tsunade chuckled. "Fine... I'll go with you. Just this once."

As they jumped out the window tigether, Kakashi scratched the back of his head. "This day is only going to get weirder from here on, I know it..."

The frog smirked as kunai after kunai went straight through him as he cornered his prey- several children, their sensei, Iruka, knocked unconscious. The beast grinned. "Oh, I haven't had a feast like this in ages... I'll eat you and get out of here before anybody can do anything about it..." He opened his maw, and a large tongue stretched out from it and wrapped around the children.

However, when he pulled it back, he was surprised to note that the children were not in his mouth- not to mention that his tongue was significantly shorter than it had been. Looking down, he saw the end of his tongue on the ground, the children safe, and more importantly, a group of shinigami. The children watched in awe as the blond one jumped into the air and sliced the frog in half, causing it to disappear. He turned to the children. "You kids alright?" They nodded, not a one daring to speak.

Iruka got up, rubbing his head. "Oh... what hit me...?"

Minato patted him on the back. "You alright? That frog looked like it packed a nasty punch..."

Iruka looked confused for a second, and then his eyes widened in panic. "The children! They're-" Minato stepped aside, and Iruka sighed. "-just... fine. Um, thanks. You are...?"

Minato smiled. "My name is-"

"Aww, come on, dad! You just HAD to finish it before we even got here, didn't you..." Iruka froze- he'd recognize that voice ANYWHERE. Iruka gulped, and turned around slowly- there, standing behind him, was Uzumaki Naruto himself, Haruno Sakura right behind him.

Naruto froze as well- his reunions with Kakashi and Tsunade had been planned, but Naruto really had no idea what to do in this case. He took in Iruka's appearance- he was the same, and yet... not. The biggest difference Naruto beheld was that his nose-scar had been lengthened severely- Naruto did not want to know how that had happened. A more subtle difference was that his eyes had less cheer in them before. Naruto decided to speak up. "Umm... hey, Iruka-sensei. Fancy meeting you here."

Iruka sighed, and Naruto could see Iruka's eyes spring to life. He turned to the children. "Alright class, school's ending early today. Go on home, shoo!" All of the children gladly obliged, and Iruka turned back to Naruto. "Geez, Naruto... this IS where I work."

Naruto grinned, but it faltered as Iruka glared. "Now... care to tell me why you took two-and-a-half years to show yourself? I'm sure there are several people who would've preferred it if you had come back sooner."

Haku giggled in his creepily girlish way- his near-sleeveless uniform did not augment any masculinity he had. "You make it sound like you actually expected him to come back from the dead."

Zabuza snorted. "You're forgetting who you're talking about, Haku. That kid never stays down- ever."

Iruka scratched the back of his head, and it was obvious he was fighting back tears. "Yeah, well… it's kind of hard to explain, really…" He walked over to Naruto, and hugged him- a bit too tightly. Naruto gasped for air. "I-Iruka-sensei! I may be dead, but…" His sentence was interrupted by another cough. "…I need to breathe, too!"

Iruka loosened his grip a little. "Naruto… even if you are dead, I'm glad that I could see you again… I never got to say goodbye to you…"

Minato smiled, and walked over to Hiruzen. "Not every day you get to see scenes like this…"

Hiruzen scratched the back of his head. "It's all well and good that we at least have one person who can accept reality so easily, but what about the rest of the village? They'd be more than happy to see me and Minato, but what about Naruto?"

Iruka gave a wry smile when he heard Hiruzen's words. "That won't be much of a problem... I'm pretty sure that people will want to MORE than make it up to him, considering who his father is..."

Minato sighed. "Geez, I really wished Kushina hadn't died... but on the other hand, I have some choice words to give Naruto's godfather."

Naruto looked confused. "Godfather? You've never mentioned this guy before... what's he like?"

They were interrupted by the appearance of Tsunade and Jiraiya. Jiraiya smirked. "Hey, Minato! Glad to see that you're looking well."

Minato gave a growl. "Speak of the devil..."

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. "Hey, what'd your old sensei do to deserve that kind of greeting after all these years?"

Minato growled again. "Absolutely. Nothing."

Jiraiya just stared at his student, whose eyes were now on Naruto. Jiraiya followed his gaze, and looked back at Minato. After a moment, realization dawned on his face, followed closely by horror, and his face was soon hidden by his hands. "Oh... THAT nothing..."

He looked up at Minato. "Look, I was out of town when that... disaster... struck. I thought that all three of you had died! I had no idea for years that Naruto was alive. Didn't find out until he blackmailed-slash-bribed me into training him for the Chuunin Exams. I was actually planning on taking Naruto away from the village for training so I could fulfill at least part of my duty to you! Honest!"

Minato sighed. "Alright, I believe you. You may be the world's biggest pervert, but you're no liar."

Naruto looked nearly shocked. "Wait- Ero-sennin's my godfather?"

Sakura giggled. "Hey, you should be glad he didn't know you were alive. Can you imagine having been raised by him?"

Naruto gulped, and shook his head. "Sakura- never bring this up again- EVER."

Tsunade laughed. "Alright, look, knowing ANBU, they're just waiting for my signal to show themselves, so get ready for a questioning. Alright guys, show yourselves!"

Sure enough, several ANBU and other various shinobi appeared. Naruto noted that there was nobody he really knew there, although he spotted Morino Ibiki at the front of the crowd. "Hokage-sama, are you sure these people are who they say they are? I'm sure I can pry out their secrets if need be..."

Tsunade cut him off. "No, I'm sure they are who they say they are. After all, it's pretty hard to fake being as stupid as Naruto, especially since he's been dead for about 30 months." Tsunade heard Naruto yell at her and smirked. He was just too easy to get to.

Ibiki smirked also. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Want us to round up the council?"

Tsunade nodded. "Tell them to meet us in my office at the Hokage Tower."

All of the ANBU immediately disappeared, leaving several confused shinobi still standing there, curious about the black-robed specters before them. Tsunade tried to shoo them off, but there was one Chuunin who remained- Naruto immediately recognized him as Shikamaru, and mentally slapped himself for not noticing him earlier. Shikamaru walked up to Naruto, and sighed, looking down at one of the few he had called 'friend'. "Geez, Naruto... you have got to be the most troublesome creature in all of existence, you know that?"

Naruto gave his signature combination grin/smirk. "I'll take that as a compliment."

Shikamaru nodded. "You're the only person I know that would... anyways, sorry to burst any hopes you might have, but I'm the only member of the old gang around right now. Everyone else is on missions."

Naruto frowned. "Go figure..."

Sakura walked up. "Hey, Shikamaru. How's Ino been?"

Shikamaru frowned. "She took even more damage from your death than Sasuke's, but she recovered... mostly, anyways. She'll probably have one of those girly fits of tears and hugs when she sees you. This whole ordeal is troublesome... I certainly wouldn't mind knowing what's going on, but I can wait- this looks like one of those things that they'd announce to the whole village."

Sakura nodded. "Yeah... you seem kind of calm, though. You ARE talking to dead people you know."

Shikamaru stared up at the clouds. "Hey, if I'm insane, oh well. Better to just go with the flow, if you ask me. Anything else is-"

He was cut off by a dual cry of "Too troublesome" from the two shinigami. Naruto snickered. "You haven't changed a bit, Shikamaru." Minato called out to them. Naruto sighed. "Look, I'll catch you later. Have a stupid meeting to attend."

Shikamaru nodded. "Yeah, bureaucracy's too troublesome for my tastes. Try not to fall asleep, alright?" Naruto nodded, and after giving Iruka a hug goodbye- and promising to come see him again and go out for ramen before he left for Soul Society again- he followed the Sannin back to the tower with the rest of the shinigami.

Surprisingly, the council took it rather well. They were actually pretty enthusiastic at the prospect of having the Sandaime and the Yondaime Hokages back with them, even if they were spirits. They weren't too happy with the fact that the shinigami refused to fight for them, insisting on only fighting Hollows, as their normal operating code was to not even let the living know that they existed. The council was also concerned with the fact that shinigami that were apparently equal in power to their Hokages were going to be sent to the other villages, although the announcement of this news was softened by the that there was only one other 'shinobi-shinigami', and they had chosen to remain in Soul Society for the time being.

Tsunade sighed. "So, that's EVERYTHING we ought to know, right?"

Minato's cell phone rang, and he held up a finger to Tsunade as he answered it. "Hello? Oh, Ukitake-taichou! Yeah, so far, so good... they seem to be taking to it rather well... oh, no... they didn't... but that's political suicide! Look, can I call you back? I've got to defuse this bomb before it goes off." Minato snapped the cell phone shut.

Tsunade frowned. "Minato, care to explain?"

Minato pinched the bridge of his nose. "Despite the fact that we have a vice-captain, a third-seat , and two fourth seats here, they want to send both a captain and a vice-captain to check up on us..."

Naruto frowned. "Let me guess- it's the Second Division."

Minato nodded. "Second. So you know what that means..." All of the Konoha shinigami frowned and stared at the floor.

Tsunade chuckled. "Who could possibly be so bad that the thought of them coming here has even you down, Naruto?"

Naruto didn't look up. "...Uchiha..."

A door materialized in the middle of the room before Naruto could finish stating who it was, and two figures stepped out- a fierce but grim looking woman with a white haori over her uniform, and none other than Uchiha Itachi, a badge saying "Second Division Vice-Captain" on his left arm. The mere presence of the woman nearly paralyzed some of the younger council members. Those who could move did so and had their kunai to Itachi's throat in an instant. Itachi chuckled, and merely walked through the knives. "That won't work, you know."

Tsunade growled. "Itachi... how dare you show your face here after what you did..."

Itachi smiled. "Asuma said that same thing to me once...You do realize that I'm dead, right? Killed by my own little brother..."

He made an obviously fake sob. "Oh, the tragedy of it all... brother against brother, the last of their clan..."

He resumed his usual demeanor- everyone who had ever met him was slightly creeped out by the display. "We are merely here to make sure everything is running smoothly before we attempt to do the same thing with another village, that is all. Also, Soifon-taichou wished to meet living shinobi- she is the commander of our special forces, which aside from the obvious differences in powers, are exactly like our shinobi."

A faint smile appeared on Soifon's lips. "At the very least, you have good reaction times, and the ability to function in the presence of a captain. You should be glad that shinigami aren't allowed to kill the living- I can think of a shinigami or two who would gladly kill you just to see what makes you so different than a regular human. After all, all of our shinigami who were once shinobi have shown extreme promise, whether in the areas of combat, kido, or healing.

"Of course, it will be a while yet before even Namikaze-kun or Uchiha-kun could hope to become shinigami captains such as myself- it normally takes hundreds of years to come close, although Uchiha-kun has advanced to the position of vice-captain within two-and-a-half-years, and with but a bit more experience, Sarutobi-san looks to become the next vice-captain of our First Division."

Tsunade frowned. "And how did Itachi reach a position in less time than Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was considered a god among shinobi in life?"

Itachi gave a slight smirk. "I will admit, the last vice-captain of our division was rather... incompetent. He had achieved his status through his clan rather than through his own ability. I will say, though, he has improved greatly since having been usurped from his chair by a brat of but 20 years. The right motivation does wonders for personal growth."

Tsunade growled. "Like the motivation you gave Sasuke?"

Soifon frowned. "And what did Uchiha-kun ever do to you?"

Naruto growled. "He turned his back on our village and murdered his entire family- distant cousins, aunts and uncles, even his own parents!"

Soifon glared at Itachi- it became obvious that even he feared this woman's wrath. "Itachi, you know I don't like traitors… however, it was something that you did in life… so, it's not something that you'll be executed for. However, just to make sure you don't get any ideas, we'll discuss this matter later. Am I clear?"

Itachi nodded stiffly, and his lips were slightly parted, revealing how clenched his teeth were. Soifon turned back to Tsunade. "I doubt any punishment I can come up with would satisfy your village, but seeing as he's already left the mortal plane, further punishment isn't so bad, right?" Everyone present smirked in agreement. "So, then. I assume you have no objections to our presence on this village?"

Tsunade smirked, her eyes on Itachi. "As long as you never station Itachi here, I think that we won't have any objections. We don't, do we?" All of the council nodded in consent while glaring at Itachi- Soifon had restrained her reiatsu soon after she had arrived, so those that didn't move before now could.

Soifon nodded as well. "Thank you. We'll be taking our leave now." They walked back through the door, and they disappeared, the door doing the same.

Tsunade frowned. "What's this about Sasuke killing Itachi? He had been killed by a bolt of lightning... not to mention that Sasuke was killed by Naruto's Rasengan."

Naruto could feel a lot of glares coming his way. "What? He killed me too, remember?"

Sakura sighed. "Sasuke... is one of the Hollows."

Tsunade's frown deepened considerably. "I see..."

An ANBU appeared and whispered in Tsunade's ear- her frown reached maximum deepness. Hiruzen spoke up. "Anything concerning us?"

She gave a half-hearted nod. "Sort of... Akatsuki has kidnapped the Kazekage. Looks like you guys are getting another Kage to your ranks."

Naruto grew terrified- he wished his deductive reasoning was wrong. "K-Kazekage? As in, Sunakagure? As in, Gaara?"

Tsunade nodded. "Sabaku no Gaara, the Godaime Kazekage."

Naruto looked ready to cry, and Minato put his hand on his son's shoulders. "We have a duty to perform here- and part of that duty is to not interfere with the affairs of the living."

Naruto growled at his own father. "If that's the way it is, then fine- I'll go and just make sure he doesn't turn into a Hollow. That's one of our duties too, remember?"

A smirk slowly grew on Hiruzen's face. "You know... just being here means interfering with their lives. I think that the higher-ups are going to need to write a whole new rulebook for this world... so, I say we take advantage of this situation and get on Suna's good side- since my captain's stiff about the rules, I'll stay here and defend the village while you guys go off and have fun, alright?"

Minato took a quick look around himself and saw that he was clearly outvoted. He scratched the back of his head and sighed. "Fine, but you're taking responsibility for this, Sarutobi. And Naruto, I'm only letting you tag along because you know Gaara- Sakura's coming because she knows how to heal us better than any medic-nin. Stay hidden if we come across anything remotely dangerous, understood?"

Naruto growled, but nodded slowly anyways.

Hiruzen's smirk widened. "Good. So, who's going on this little expedition?"

All of the shinigami besides Hiruzen himself raised their hands. Tsunade sighed. "Guess I'll have to wait for your introduction to the village, then... I'll send Kakashi with you. Temari too, while I'm thinking about it- she's in the village, and I doubt she'd want to miss out on a rescue attempt for her little brother. Team Gai is set to come back soon, so I'll send them when they do."

Zabuza spoke up for the first time during the meeting. "Me and Haku will stay here and wait for them- better for them to see us with their own eyes before they go looking for us. Plus, Haku's pretty skilled in detecting reiatsu, so we'll be able to find the others without a problem."

Tsunade nodded. "Alright, then- I'll inform Kakashi and Temari. Meet them at the gates as soon as possible. You should head to Sunakagure first, to gather information, and then head out and rescue Gaara."

Minato shook his head. "Geez, Tsunade... you sound like you're in charge of us."

Naruto smirked. "Makes me feel alive again!"

A tear threatened to come out of Tsunade's eye as they left, a single thought in her mind- I wish that was true, Naruto... I wish that it was true.

Kasek: This is among the longest chapters I've ever written- 15 pages, from first AN to the right before this one. Which is kind sad, really. Anyhoo, if you're wondering about the shinobi's placings within the Gotei 13:

Hiruzen: 1st Division, 3rd seat.

Itachi: 2nd Division, 2nd seat (vice-captain/fukutaichou)

Sakura: 4th Division, unseated member of the 14th Advanced Relief Team

Haku: 6th Division, 4th seat

Zabuza: 11th Division, 4th seat

Minato: 13th Division, 2nd seat (vice-captain/fukutaichou)

Naruto: 13th Division, unseated

Naruto and Sakura are unseated because they only recently graduated from the Academy- however, their abilities outrank those of other Shinigami their rank due to their lives as shinobi, and Sakura graduated sooner than Naruto did, so she's actually a bit stronger than him right now.

ALL of the placements have importance.

I got some negative reviews for this one, I knew it. I messed up Soifon's personality, I have yet to reveal the method of Sakura's demise, and there was a general lack of emotion (which I hope I fixed). As for Sakura, after the Gaara arc, alright?

So, review, and talk about anything besides my next update. BTW, the plot will move into the BLEACH-verse later on.