Disclaimer- See Chapter 1
-BREAK-
When Kushina came limping into his office without Naruto, Minato was worried, and when he saw the expression on her face, that worry gave way to fear. It only took a moment for him to be brought up to speed, and he was ashamed to admit that the moment that Jutsu's name was mentioned, his mind ran in the same direction Kushina's had before he stopped and took the time to think.
It was just more proof that he knew nothing about his only son, and that thought made his heart ache, and he knew that it was their fault because of what they did when he was younger.
At the time, it had seemed like the most logical plan, don't get attached so when he died it wouldn't hurt so much, but looking back on it, Minato knew that was a lie. It wasn't the most logical, it was the easiest… for them. They had pushed their son away because they were afraid, they focused on Erza a Mito to distract themselves, and then they had tried to just act like nothing had happened one day and thought he would be happy.
Minato hadn't been able to look at his son since he was a baby without his thoughts going to his disease, without seeing his too skinny body and pale skin, and he hated that that was the only thing he could see. Even now, after finding out that he was the Jinchuriki of the Shinigami, the blonde Hokage still couldn't bring himself to really see Naruto. That was why he had focused on trying to examine and fix the Seal, to distract himself like he did with Erza and Mito…
He wanted nothing more than to spend time with his son and to be a real father to him, but until he could look at Naruto without thinking about how sick he always was, didn't feel he had any real right.
He was one of the strongest and most feared Ninja in the elemental Nations, had defeated Iwa's army with just two Jutsu, and was one of the only people to ever be given a 'Flee on Sight' notice in the bingo book. He was all these things, but inside, Minato knew he was a coward, and it ate away at him every day a little more.
But to think Naruto would be interested in that Jutsu…
The Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu was a black spot in Konoha's history, one that they had spent years trying to forget, and even to this day just the name was enough to make any Leaf-nin that knew about it flinch. He understood why the Second Hokage had created it, and at the time it had been a good idea, but in the end even he had been repulsed by what he'd created.
But Naruto was the Jinchuriki of Death itself, who knew what he might be able to accomplish, and maybe this was their chance to prove to him that they really wanted to make it up to him.
Kushina's reaction was unfortunate, but Minato had an idea of how they might be able to salvage the situation, and if it worked it was a start.
First things first, they needed to find him and fix the seal, then try and fix their relationship with their son. They had been all set to send out a search party to find Naruto when Mito burst into the room, yelling about Naruto talking to himself in the Forest of Death, and that Erza stayed behind to keep an eye on him.
Both he and Kushina, who was thankfully able to move normally again if a little stiffly, had run straight to the forest. Minato cursed himself inwardly for not having at least marked the fence, like he did for almost every other building and training ground in the village, and make a note to do it the first chance he got.
But just as they arrived, Erza and an oddly silent Naruto, were leaving through one of the gates. Minato didn't miss the large, triumphant grin on his daughter's face, or the annoyed but resigned expression on his son's. Deciding not to question what had happened until after they had the Seal fixed, or bring up what Kushina had told him, Minato put on a small and moved to stand with his kids.
"I'm glad you're ok, you really shouldn't be going into the Forest of Death like that, it's not safe."
"Shut the hell up, and take me to the stupid Seal room, I have nothing to say to any of you."
Without breaking his stride, Naruto walked passed Minato without a glance, his voice seeming to lack the usual venom it would normally have.
-BREAK-
The Sealing Room that Minato and Jiraiya had spent all night and morning setting up was just that, an empty room full of Seals on every surface. The white haired Toad Sage was waiting for them, and Minato could only sigh when his wife kicked the old perv between the legs for making a comment about her chest, how such a smart man couldn't learn from his past mistakes was beyond him.
He watched as, without a word or glance in Jiraiya's direction, Naruto took off his hoodie and lay in the circle in the middle of the room on the floor. They didn't let Mito or Erza follow them into the room, not wanting to risk their own Seals being effected, much to both girls irritation.
After sending a worried look to his sensei, who was now actually acting serious, Minato moved to his place as Kushina and Jiraiya did the same.
"The moment the Seal is activated, you will lose consciousness, and it should take anywhere from a few minutes to an hour for it to finish."
"Whatever, just do it already."
Letting out a sigh, Minato nodded to the others, and as one they started flashing through hand Seals. They finished on the same Seal at the same time, slamming their hands onto the ground at their feet.
"Sealing Art: Seal Realignment Jutsu!"
The Seals covering the room started to glow blue, the chakra quickly spreading long the Seals out from the three Seal Masters, before reaching Naruto in the middle of the room. The moment the chakra reached him, Naruto let out a gasp, his back arching slightly as his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he started floating about three feet off of the ground with a blue chakra sphere around him.
They each got to their feet and walked over so they could get a better look, being careful not to touch the sphere, Minato putting his arm around Kushina's shoulder and holding her close.
They watched for a moment as the Seal on Naruto's stomach and chest, which was now visible, started to light up and small parts move across his skin. It almost looked like ants were crawling over his skin, before they stopped and a different Seal would move.
"Well, this is an interesting development, tickles to."
Kushina, along with her husband and Jiraiya, practically jumped out of their skin in shock at the voice, their eyes widening as they shot to Naruto's face, or more specifically his pitch black eyes and small smirk.
"Y-you're-!"
"The Shinigami, yeah, but you can call me Shin, Shinigami is a bit long for my liking. Plus, it's more of a title then a name, you know. I mean who wants to just be called by what they are, would you like it if I just called you Humans all the time?"
Taking a step, Kushina took a moment to compose herself, remembering that he was currently trapped inside the Sealing sphere, before shaking her head and moving to stand next to his head.
"So you really are the Shinigami, and all these years I didn't think you existed…"
"Well, in my defence, before you two knuckleheads forced me into a physical existence and Sealed me inside Naruto, I didn't."
"…wait, what?"
Frowning slightly as the now identified 'Shin' chuckled at her confusion, Kushina was about to start arguing with him when Jiraiya stopped her by laying his hand on her shoulder, his face still set in one of his rare serious expressions.
"Death is neutral, the last fight all mortals must face, and the one that they can never win. Death cares not for wealth, age or innocence, and will take all that cross into his domain. Death is the one truth that all men fear, the one truth man cannot hide from, and the one truth all must meet…"
His eyes turning to the old Toad Sage, Kushina watched as Shin sent him a small smile, laughing lightly.
"Well said, where did you hear that, I don't recognise it?"
"A temple in Demon country, one of the monks was explaining their belief that Death could only be a force of nature with no consciousness, because nothing could exist with the burden of such a job. To always treat everyone the same, whether they be the greatest or evilest of men, it's a job no one should be forced to take."
"Clever monks, they were right by the way, I was created with no sense of self-awareness until 13 years ago. Being forced to stay in a solid form even in a human's mind, was enough for me to develop a consciousness."
Her mind spinning, Kushina shook her head at the two, before pushing herself in front of Jiraiya.
"Are we really going to talk about the nature of Death?! What did you do to Naruto-kun!"
"HA! What I do, there's gratitude for you, and here I was trying to get him to give you all a chance!"
All three ninja were shocked into silence at this declaration, not sure they were hearing things right, and even less sure what to say. Luckily, the tension was broken when Shin burst out laughing, his black eyes smiling at them.
"You should see your faces!"
Clearing her throat, Kushina locked her eyes on his, her face a mixture of confusion and curiosity.
"Why would you help us?"
"Who said anything about helping you?"
Seeing their confused expressions, Shin let out a sigh, turning his head as much as the sphere would allow so he could face them.
"Naruto needs something to ground him, something you should have been doing from the start I might add, but let's not go into that right now. My powers are his, we are one and the same, closer than any other Jinchuriki has ever been with their tenant. In fact, I am little more than a voice inside his head, I have no body nor wish to have one. He will grow stronger and stronger, and even I do not know when or even if he will ever reach a limit, but I do know for a fact he will break under the pressure. I have no family, at least to my knowledge, so I don't know if you really are the best choice or not. But I am willing to give you another chance."
Despite herself, Kushina felt tears falling from her eyes at Shin's words, a small smile on her face. Which was wiped off at his next words.
"Unfortunately, after I was finally able to…convince, Naruto into giving you a chance, you went and basically called him a murderer! Why, in the name of kami, would you assume your own son was doing Human sacrifice?"
"I-I panicked, The Impure Reincarnation Jutsu has a long and…terrifying history…"
"Well…you have a point there, but still, you blew it!"
"Does the fact we are having this conversation with the Embodiment of Death feel strange to anyone else, or is it just me?"
They all turned to look at Minato with blank expressions, watching as he seemed to shrink in on himself until he looked like a chibi version of himself, looking at the ground with anime tears streaming down his face.
"Never mind"
"Oh…seems we're out of time…"
Turning back to their currently possessed son, Kushina saw that the Seals on his body were moving faster and faster, the sphere getting more transparent by the second.
"Well, this was fun, hope we can do it again sometime! Tell Erza and Mito I said hello."
"Wait!"
Before Kushina could think of anything to say, his eyes closed again, the seals going into frenzy before suddenly stopping. Naruto's body slowly floated to the ground, his breathing even and eyes still closed, and the moment his back touched the floor, all the Seals inside the room went dark.
-BREAK-
When Naruto woke up, he was surprised to find himself lying in his own bed, the sky outside his closed curtains dark. He felt his stomach grumble, telling him it had been too long since he last ate, and every bone in his body ached and groaned in protest as he sat up. The last thing he remembered was a sharp pain in his stomach as the Seal activated, then nothing but darkness, he didn't even get sent to his Mindscape.
His head did feel clearer then it had ever been, but it was a little disorientating.
Groaning, he reached out with his right hand for the light switch next to his bed, even if he could see in the dark only seeing in black and white could be a little disconcerting at times, only for his hand to hit something that wasn't there before and knock it off.
Frowning, Naruto finally found the light switch, reaching down to pick up what he now saw was a scroll.
"Where the hell did this come from?"
"Your dad left it for you after they brought you here to rest, you should open it, see what it is."
His frown getting bigger, Naruto slowly opened the scroll, his eyes widening at what he was looking at.
"Is this…what I think it is?"
"Well, if you were thinking it was a copy of the perv's latest book, then no. If you were thinking it was instructions on The Impure Reincarnation Jutsu, complete with notes and details about how it was made, then yes."
"Why would they leave me this…?"
"Maybe this is their way of showing they trust you?"
His face going blank for a moment, Naruto lay the scroll on the bed next to him, before unzipping his hoodie and channelling chakra so that the Seal became visible. Naruto was no expert in Seals, but he was able to see the differences, and there didn't seem to have been anything knew added.
"So how do you feel, anything different, still want to pull your hair out every time something doesn't go to plan?"
"Note sure, I do still want to punch you, so at least some things are the same."
"Ha! Like you could even touch me flesh bag."
Letting a small smile spread across his lips Naruto slowly got up, grabbing the scroll as his feet hit the floor, before walking over to his door. He was about to open it, but stopped when something reached his ears from the other side, on each side of the door if he was hearing right. Slowly opening the door so that it didn't make any noise, Naruto poked his head out and looked to see both Mito and Erza sitting with their backs against the wall, asleep and snoring slightly.
Closing the door again, Naruto opened his window and jumped out without making a sound, running off towards the Forest of Death the moment he hit the ground.
-BREAK-
After he started spending so much time in the forest of death, Naruto realised that he needed a 'base camp', somewhere he could be safe. About a year ago he found the perfect pace to, a small cave under the roots of one of the giant trees, and made it bigger. Then he started digging deeper, finding more caves, and before long there were three different caves connected by tunnels.
He camouflaged the entrance and made it look like one of the Spider Hives, one of the most dangerous creators in the Forest of Death that could grow to the size of a full grown man, with paralytic poison in their fangs and webbing as strong as steel. Nothing went anywhere near a Hive, animal or human, even the spiders stayed away from other Hives.
Quickly making his way to what was currently the deepest cave in his little camp, where he had set up his study, Naruto took out the scroll and lay it on the desk he had cut out of the stone. Everything in this room was made out of stone, the chairs, the desk, the table with a giant gorilla seemingly asleep.
"So what's the plan here, still thinking about packing up and running away?"
"…no, too much trouble. Between Konoha and Iwa, even if I did find a village willing to take me, it would only be short lived."
"So what?"
Frowning, Naruto moved over to the Gorilla, taking notes as he checked to see if there had been any change.
"For now at least, I am staying, and now that I have the more specific details for the Impure World Reincarnation my progress should skyrocket."
"You do remember that for this Jutsu we are making to work, you need to eat the Soul of a ninja, preferable one we can trust not to try and kill you if it goes wrong."
"So maybe we don't start with a ninja, I'm sure that at some point my team will be sent on a Bandit clean-up mission, I can just use one of their Souls. That way if it goes wrong, I can just kill them before it gets out of hand."
"Wouldn't work, it needs to be a ninja with an activated chakra system, or it isn't going to work."
Letting out a sigh as he finished writing down the gorillas condition, Naruto moved to sit at his desk, his eyes closed as he thought.
"I guess you're right, and it could be years before I can get my hands on a Ninja's Soul unless war breaks out between the nations again, even I don't want that to happen. But at least it will give me time to prepare, and the more bodies I can collect, the more chances I will have."
Rubbing his eyes, Naruto opened the scroll and started reading, trying to memories every detail before burning it. After all, despite wanting to make his own version, Naruto found the original Jutsu just as disgusting as everyone else and the idea of it falling into the wrong hands worried him.
-BREAK-
The next day when Naruto arrived at the training ground, he was surprised to see that only Kushina was waiting for him, his sisters nowhere in sight. He was still about two hours early, and thought that the others would still be asleep, and if not that all three would have been waiting for him.
Another strange thing Naruto found was that he felt no need to glare at his mother like he normally would, no uncontrollable rage at the mere sight of her, and was able to ignore her with little problem. He still didn't forgive her, especially after finding out his parents 'reason' for pushing him away, but his hate seemed to have faded into a dull ache, easily ignored and not at the front of his mind.
Without looking at her, the blonde teen sat with his back against one of the training posts, his eyes closed and head tilted forward as if he was falling asleep.
"Naruto-kun…?"
Opening one of his eyes, Naruto saw Kushina kneeling on the ground in front of him, her eyes locked on his feet as she seemed to be preparing herself for something.
"Yes?"
"I-I just wanted to say I am sorry for what happened yesterday, I jumped to the worst conclusions, and I know that hurt you-"
"Yes, it did, but that doesn't matter anymore."
Looking up at him in clear shock, the redheaded Jounin was about to say something, only to be interrupted when Naruto continued to speak.
"I woke up after my Seal had been fixed with a clear head, clear then it has ever been, and came to a realisation. I took some time to think, to sort out my thoughts, and a discovered that I…don't think I care about you or dad anymore. I have no feelings towards you, good or bad, I don't think I can at this point. I know the Seal was messing with my head, making me think and act badly, but that still doesn't change anything."
By this point Kushina was crying, her eyes wide and hands covering her mouth, as her whole body shook.
"Naruto-kun-"
"You gave up on me, when the doctors told you I might die, you both gave up on me. You could have sort out other doctors, or at least made my life happy while I was alive, but instead you tried to forget me before I even passed. What would have happened if I did die, would you have even mourned? Or would you just have forgotten me completely and moved on with your lives?"
"We wouldn't-"
"But that is exactly what you were trying to do, you pushed me away so it would be easier to forget me after I died, and didn't even have the decency to tell me why you were doing it. I had to hear it from the Shinigami you unknowingly Sealed into my body, because you were both too scared to tell me the truth because you knew what you did to me was wrong, and telling me would mean admitting it out loud. What's more, despite everything else…you still never even said you were sorry for what you did…"
"But we a-"
"Don't, I don't want or need to hear it, I don't care anymore. I'm done being the scared little boy who wanted to try and prove he was worth his parents time…I don't care about either of you, I can't let myself care anymore."
They stayed like that for about an hour, Naruto looking on with a blank expression as Kushina continued to cry, until the jounin seemed to come to some kind of silent understanding, and looked at him in the eye for the first time that morning.
"What about Erza-chan and Mito-chan!"
"I…don't know yet, I'm still not sure about my feelings towards them…"
Nodding her head in understanding, Kushina stood back up, her face setting into one of determination as she looked down at him.
"I…I understand, Naruto-kun. But you should know that neither I nor your father will ever stop trying to make it up to you, no matter how long it takes…one day we will be a family again."
-BREAK-
When Mito and Erza arrived about thirty minutes later, they both sent worried looks at Naruto and their mum, half expecting them to be in some kind of fight. Although Kushina's eyes were still red from crying, she gave them both a smile, and Naruto didn't go out of his way to glare at them which was a little odd.
Without taking their eyes off of their brother, both girls moved to stand on either side of him so they were in front of Kushina, waiting to be told what they would be doing for the day.
"Right, now that we are all here, I can tell you what we will be doing. After yesterday, I know it will take some time for us all to get used to working as a team, so I have decided we will start taking D-rank missions to help. Now I know D-ranks are not the most exciting, but they are more important than most people realise. They promote positive relations between us and the civilian population, and gives genin a chance to work as a team in a mostly risk three setting before they start taking more important missions."
Nodding in understanding, Naruto stayed silent as Erza stepped forward to get Kushina's attention, not missing the fact that Mito was still giving him odd looks.
"What mission are we going to do first?"
"Well, we will have to go and get one to find out, so let's go!"
-BREAK-
"I hate D-rank missions…"
"Cheer up, it could always be worse."
Naruto gave an irritated grunt as he lifted another rock over his shoulder and tossed it into the wood cart along with the others, Mito and Erza doing the same. The mission they had been given was simple enough, a farmer on the edge of the village needed help digging the rocks out of his fields before he started planting, being too old to do it all himself.
They had spent the last two hours loading every stone onto the cart the farmer had gave them to take the rocks away when they were done, the sun beating down on them the whole time in the normal Land of Fire fashion, and despite it being good endurance and strength training all three were getting tired. Even the famous Uzumaki stamina was being put to the test.
"How, how could it be any worse?"
"Well…oh, I know! The field could be full of snakes!"
"It is full of snakes, I already killed three when they tried to bite me and eat their Souls, what else you got?"
"...the old farmer guy could be an asshole and comment on everything you are doing!"
"He was doing that for the first hour until Kaa-san started distracting him, he kept saying we were doing everything wrong."
"Ok…let me think on this and I'll get back to you."
"Take your time, I'll be here for a while, we still have two more fields to clear before we're done."
"…just out of curiosity, why don't you use a few spirits to help, I mean two or three gorillas would more than double your speed?"
At Shin's words, Naruto stopped mid lift, the rock in his hands twice the size of his head. Dropping the stone, Naruto slapped himself in the face, getting the attention of his sisters, before moving to stand next to the cart.
He closed his eyes in concentration, arms held out in front of him, and after a few seconds a ball of blue light formed between his hands.
"Multi Spirit Creation Jutsu!"
Pulling his hands further away from each other, the orb split into three smaller ones, which then floated forward and started to take the shape of two gorillas and what looked to be an ox. The moment they had finished forming, Naruto slumped back slightly against the cart, his breathing laboured and face a little paler than usual. Without needing to be told, the three Spirits moved to start working, the two gorillas hitching the cart to the oxen's back before picking up a stone each and started to throw them into it.
Letting himself slid down until he was sitting on the floor, Naruto took a moment to regain his breath, knowing that the dizziness would pass in a few minutes.
"Are you ok Oniichan?"
Looking up, Naruto saw Erza and Mito standing in front of him with worried expressions on their faces, both looking like they could use a rest themselves.
"…I'm fine, it just takes a bit out of me to create the bigger Spirits, especially more than one at once. It will pass in a moment, and the more I push myself the easier it gets."
Still not looking satisfied, the two redheads shared a look before falling down on either side of him, enjoying the shade from the chart. For about two minutes they sat in silence, the only sound coming from the rocks as they were thrown into the chart, until Mito looked from him to the Spirits and asked a question.
"You said that they were called Spirits right? And that you make them from the Souls you eat, but where did you find gorillas?"
For a moment, Naruto considered not saying anything, but decided to just talk. What harm could it do?
"The Forest of Death has a lot of different animals, most of which are mutated from the high level of chakra that surrounds it, I normally find something good."
"So you go into the Forest of Death often?"
"Like I said, it's full of animals with high levels of chakra, they are the most filling. Why do you think I have been putting on weight over the last few years, since I started eating Souls my body has been getting stronger."
Both girls turned to look at Naruto with wide, shock filled eyes at this information, reminding Naruto that he hadn't actually gotten round to telling anyone about his body needing Souls the same what it needed normal food. Before he could say anything, Erza grabbed his arm tightly, making him wince slightly.
"Are you saying that eating that eating Souls is curing you?"
"Not exactly, to me Souls are just as important as food for my body, I need a balanced diet of both."
"B-but that means you were never actually sick!"
Having had enough of the conversation, and recovered from summoning the three Spirits, Naruto got to his feet without a word and moved to grab a stone.
XXX