Author's Note:Good response for this story! Yay!

Chapter Two: Till Death

Day One

Naruto stared down at the man on the ground. The two children had also dropped to their knees. "What?" he said, confused.

The man stood, but kept his head down. "It has been so long, Seifuku," he said. His voice seemed to be cracking with emotion. "I thought I had truly gone mad when I felt your presence during the war! It could not be you, but…! Here you are!" The man leaned forward and kissed Naruto on the cheek.

The boy shoved the man away and Minato and Shikamaru both reached for their weapons. "Who are you?" Naruto snapped, rubbing his cheek.

"You do not remember?" the man said, dejected. "No. Of course you wouldn't." He sighed and waved his hand. "This must all be confusing to you, Seifuku. My apologies. I sometimes forget that you all are not as unfortunate as I." He bowed deeply. "My name is Datenshi, and my children are Haka," he pointed to the boy, "and Kiga," he pointed to the girl. "I have waited an eternity for you, Seifuku."

"The name's Naruto."

"In this life," Datenshi muttered offhandedly.

Naruto turned to Minato, then to the trio, then Shikamaru. "Perhaps we should go visit Kakashi-sama," Shikamaru suggested.

"We need not speak with the leader of this village," Datenshi said quickly. "We have much work to do, Seifuku, and not much time to complete it!"

"My name is not Seifuku!" Naruto snapped. "What are you here for?"

Datenshi sighed deeply and bowed his head. "You truly are lost, my child," he muttered.

"That's my son you're talking about," Minato growled dangerously.

"Yes, yes, of course," Datenshi said.

"Have you had the vision…?" Haka whispered. His voice was dry and small. Naruto couldn't imagine that child ever yelling.

"The vision?"

"Yes. A hellish nightmare, so vivid you can feel it even when you wake."

Naruto's eyes widened, but he didn't answer verbally. His expression was all they needed. "You've had the vision?" Datenshi gasped. "We haven't much time at all! We must make haste!"

"What are you talking about?" Naruto snapped. His father was all but forgotten by that time.

"We should really see the Hokage," Shikamaru suggested, trying to move this odd reunion out of the street.

"Fine, fine, we will speak to your Hokage!" Datenshi snapped. Shikamaru nodded and started for the office. The trio followed silently and Naruto and his father filed in behind them.

"So, dad—"

"I died, didn't I?" Minato asked suddenly. Naruto jumped, then nodded. "I thought so. That's the only explanation. But this isn't an Edo Tensei."

"No, it's not. But I think those three have something to do with this."

"So you don't know them, then," Minato observed. Naruto nodded. "Kakashi's Hokage?"

"It's a long story," Naruto muttered.

"I see. How is your mother fairing?" Naruto bit his lip and bowed his head. His father truly remembered nothing about that day except his birth, it seemed. "I see…" Minato rested his hand on Naruto's back. "I'm so sorry, Naruto."

"It's okay." Naruto grumbled. He had already gone through the pain of his parents apologizing for leaving him, and he wasn't ready to go through it again. "I've learned to endure."

"You shouldn't have had to," Minato muttered. "Do you know how it happened?"

Yeah. Kakashi killed your old student's girlfriend and he went insane, so he ripped Kurama out of mom, then attacked the village with it, and you two died sealing the fox in your own son, Naruto thought, but he shook his head. "Can we talk about this later?" he asked.

Minato closed his eyes with a soft sigh. "Sure."

They lapsed into silence until they stepped into Kakashi's office. "Sensei?!" Kakashi gasped completely ignoring the three interlopers.

"Sensei!" a young girl called. She ran to Minato and hugged him tightly. Minato smiled and picked her up. Naruto blinked. He had seen the girl in Obito's memories.

"Rin?"

"This is pleasant and all, but I was brought up here to speak with you," Datenshi said quickly. "We haven't much time, Hokage-san."

Kakashi finally looked at the three strangers. He turned to Minato and Rin. "I'll be right with you two," he muttered. He turned to Datenshi. "Much time? For what?"

"The End, my dear man! The End!"

Naruto instantly stiffened. Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "The End of what?"

"The world! Goodness, man, must I spell everything out for you?"

The air in the room instantly changed from confusion to tension. All the Shinobi in the room froze and stared at the trio. "You aren't the first man to claim he's bringing about the end of the world," Kakashi growled.

"Yes, but I am the first who means it!" Datenshi said with a shrug. "Now that we four have come together, the end must begin!"

"'We four…?'" Kakashi repeated. "There's only three of you."

Datenshi pointed to Naruto. "Seifuku is the Fourth!" Naruto felt a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach. "He has already had the vision! There is not much time to prepare, Hokage-san! We must prepare the world for its demise!"

"Who is Seifuku?" Kakashi asked, holding up his hands.

Datenshi let out an exasperated sigh and pointed more forcefully at Naruto. "Seifuku, The Conqueror! He is what we have been waiting for this whole time!"

"Wait, what?" Naruto asked.

"We will explain everything, Seifuku," Datenshi said, annoyed. "But these mortals don't need to hear it."

"We mortals would love to hear it," Kakashi snapped.

"There's no point. There's no stopping it," Datenshi said with a shrug. The two children behind him nodded slowly… sadly.

"Stopping what?"

"The Revelation!" Datenshi announced, throwing his hand in the air. "It is finally time to return the world to its natural state! You humans have been judged and deemed unworthy. It is time judgment is passed on this wretched world."

"Great… Another one," Kakashi grumbled. Naruto blinked and turned slightly. An ANBU was standing in the doorway silently, his weapon drawn. Kakashi blinked and the man rush forward, driving the blade into Datenshi's chest. The man gasped and the two children back away, frightened.

"Don't hurt the kids," Naruto gasped quickly. He was certain that they were being forced to do this. The ANBU twisted the weapon in the man's chest. Bright red blood poured from the wound, staining to floor. A violent shudder passed through the man's body. He opened his mouth to speak, but blood gushed out instead. He let out a long sigh and then slumped onto the floor.

"Well," Kakashi muttered as he stepped cautiously over to the body. "Good job," he said to the ANBU. "You might have just prevented another international incident." He turned to the children. "Get those two to the interrogation squad and figure out who this man was working for and how many they have left."

"Yes sir!" The ANBU said. Before he moved away, laughter came from the dead body on the ground. In a flash of movement that would make Minato jealous, Datenshi was back on his feet and holding the ANBU member in the air by his throat.

"Don't!" Kakashi shouted, but a sickening crack echoed in the room and the ANBU stopped struggling. Datenshi released the man and watched him fall to the ground with satisfaction. He looked down at his own wound before pulled the sword out of his flesh. Blood oozed from the open wound, but after a moment, it stopped.

"Now," Datenshi started, "where were we?"

"You monster!" Naruto shouted. He ran at the man, but instead of ending up attacking, he was brought into an awkward embrace.

"I wish I had gotten to you sooner, my child," he said sweetly. Naruto could smell the man's blood and he felt it, hot and sticky, on his face. "You care too much for them. I needed more time to train you, boy, but we haven't the time for that now." Naruto punched the man and backed away, feeling physically sick at having been so close to the man. "You fight, Seifuku, but you cannot escape your destiny. You are one of the Four; the Conqueror. Together, we will bring an end to the suffering of this world. Can you not hear it crying for release?" Naruto narrowed his eyes. Datenshi turned to Kakashi, who was watching with a look mixed with disgust and horror. He opened his mouth and suddenly began speaking a language that had been dead for hundreds of years. Naruto narrowed his eyes, but then widened them as he realized he could understand the words.

"Four will rise and bring release to this world," the words said. "They will bring about the end… Everything with a beginning must have an ending. You cannot stop it. Struggle, mortals, but accept death's embrace when it comes for you. On the seventh hour of the seventh day, Rapture will happen, the Four will Ride and with them, the eternal night will follow. The sun sets on the human race in seven days!"

The language had a rhythm to it that was almost like music; both hypnotic and unsettling. Naruto looked around as he realized that Kakashi and Shikamaru seemed frozen in place, staring blankly ahead of them. Rin and Minato also seemed affected by the words. Datenshi turned to Naruto. "You will begin to understand soon, Seifuku," he assured the boy. "This is your destiny. Even if you do not believe that it is, you will rise with us. You cannot escape it." Datenshi walked up to Naruto. The boy stood there, shaking like a leaf. He wanted to shout, to yell; to do anything besides stand there as he was approached, but stand he did.

Datenshi put a hand on Naruto's chin and lifted it. He stooped down and kissed the young man. Naruto's eyes widened, but he didn't pull away until he was released. He fell back, feeling cold and sick inside. He dropped to his knees, coughing and spitting violently as if he had been poisoned.

The spell in the room was broken.

"Naruto!" Kakashi called, rushing to the boy's side. Datenshi, Haka and Kiga were gone. "Shikamaru, find them!" The Nara nodded and departed without a word. Naruto grabbed his throat, trying to rid himself of the coolness that filled his body, but it was only spreading. He collapsed on the floor, shaking uncontrollably. "Get a medic!" Kakashi screamed.

Minato knelt beside them and took Naruto into his arms. His father's warmth did nothing to stop his shaking. Naruto clung to his father desperately and Minato hugging him tightly, trying everything to comfort him. As the medics ran in, Naruto found himself drifting until he finally found warmth in unconsciousness.

Day Two: Midnight

The silence was deafening. He could hear nothing despite standing in the midst of a busy street. Naruto looked around him. He didn't recognize the city, but it was primitive. Each building rested several feet into the ground with stairs leading to the front door. The roofs were woven leaves and twigs. A chilly wind passed through the area, but only Naruto seemed to notice. He looked at the clothes of the people as they walked by. They were peasants' clothes; filthy and torn. The whole area seemed to predate anything he had ever seen, even in history books.

Naruto blinked and turned around slowly. The people were talking to each other and their lips moved in a way that he could not read them. It was another language that he had never heard before. It wasn't the same one that Datenshi had spoken earlier. Naruto started walking forward, bumping into people and muttering his awkward and silent apology to them.

Eventually Naruto came to a house that, oddly enough, seemed familiar to him, as if he had once seen it in a photo long forgotten. He walked down the steps to the front door and opened it without knocking. The floor was dirt and every piece of furniture was crudely hand-crafted. He shut the door behind him and then turned to look around.

He was not alone in the house. A brunette stood on the other side of the room, staring out of the window at the feet as they passed by. Naruto stepped towards the other person, but stopped when the other one turned. The person was a man with his long brown hair gathered near the end in a tie. Naruto blinked. The other man was handsome despite the slightly thin face due from either illness or lack of food. The man cocked his head at his visitor and reached out his hand. His lips moved, but again Naruto heard nothing and could not read the movements. He shook his head and stepped forward, reaching out his own hand to grab the other man's.

He pulled back, however, when he realized that the hand was stained in blood. Naruto gasped and looked up at the man's face. Blood leaked from his eyes, nose, mouth and ears, but he still smiled welcomingly. Naruto pulled back his hand and closed his eyes. When he opened them, the blood was gone and the hand was no longer outstretched. The brunette sighed deeply and shook his head. He waved his hand, motioning Naruto to leave.

Naruto blinked his eyes open. He recognized his own bedroom. He sighed and slowly sat up. Sakura was there, sleeping soundly in a chair with her head resting on his bed. He heard voices outside, but couldn't quite make them out. Silently, so not to wake Sakura, he moved out of the bed and over to the door.

"I don't get it either," Kakashi was saying. "They just vanished."

"They left no trace?" This voice belonged to Minato.

"None. Shikamaru had an entire patrol searching."

Naruto opened the door slowly. "Dad… Sensei?"

"Naruto! You should be in bed!" Minato gasped as he hurried over to the boy. "You look terrible. Are you still cold?"

"No," Naruto muttered, turning away. He wasn't used to being fussed over. Minato smiled down at his son. "I'm fine, dad," he grumbled. "We have to talk about these guys… They think I'm part of this somehow."

"I know," Kakashi said. "But you aren't."

"He thought he knew me," Naruto argued.

"He's clearly confused," Minato said. "We can't act like any of this is true. There's no way that man and those kids can just end the world like he said they can!"

"But," Naruto interrupted, "Rin-chan and you are alive again. What if they had something to do with that?" They had seen the man die and then rise up as if nothing had happened to him. There was clearly a reason why the dead were coming back to life, and Naruto didn't like it. "We have to find him before anything happens!"

"I agree," Kakashi answered with a nod. "However, I know they will come back for you. We need a guard on you at all times."

Naruto's eyes widened. He remembered vividly how quickly Datenshi had killed the ANBU member without hesitation. "No," he protested. "I don't want anyone else to get hurt! I'll be okay by myself!"

"No," Kakashi said quickly. "You're clearly important to them! Maybe they're after Kurama."

"Kurama?" Minato asked. Kakashi sighed and Naruto bowed his head. Apparently that subject hadn't been touched yet.

"We'll explain that later, sensei," Kakashi assured the man.

"I don't think it's Kurama they're after. He kept calling me "Seifuku" and mentioned something about Naruto being my name in this life."

Kakashi nodded. "It could be that he's mistaken you for someone else."

"He said he had felt my presence in the war," Naruto continued. "Not my chakra."

"And I felt no chakra signal in any of them," Minato quickly interjected.

"Not even when he rose up after being stabbed," Kakashi said with a nod. They obviously weren't dealing with a jutsu like Obito's. The weapon wouldn't have made him bleed if it was something like that, and Naruto had felt the man's hot blood on his face.

"But he did bleed," Naruto pointed out.

Kakashi sighed. "The only way to figure this out is to find him and interrogate him."

"He'll be back for me," Naruto said quietly. "Maybe we set up a trap?"

"No!" Minato snapped. "You won't use my son as bait!"

"Dad, please," Naruto groaned. Unfortunately for him, Minato still saw him as the helpless infant he had been. The man knew nothing about his power now. "I'll be fine. Tell him, sensei!"

"He really will," Kakashi agreed. "But we wouldn't let him go in alone, don't worry. We'll set up this trap in the morning."

"We don't have time," Naruto said. "He said that we had seven days until this end he keeps preaching about. I don't want to know what happens on the seventh day. We move now."

Kakashi and Minato looked at Naruto before nodded. "Move?" Sakura asked as she stepped outside, rubbing her eye to remove the sleep. "What's happening?"

"Naruto is going to help capture those strangers in the village," Kakashi explained. "I want you to stay here, Sakura."

The pinkette narrowed her eyes. "No," she said. "I won't let you use Naruto like that without me backing him up!"

Kakashi sighed deeply and Naruto smiled. The poor man never could make his students cooperate. "Fine. Meet me at the gates in an hour, all of you! I'll have a team ready to capture this man when he comes." Naruto nodded and watched the Hokage leave with a sigh. He turned to Minato. "You really don't have to worry about me, dad," he said with a smile. "I really can take care of myself. When we're finished with this guy, we're going to have to catch up, okay?"

Minato nodded and smiled. "I look forward to it. Is the ramen stand still opened?"

"You bet!"

"Good! Then we'll go get some ramen afterward!"

Naruto nodded and smiled. He turned to Sakura. "I would feel better if you didn't come. Sasuke would kill me if I let something happen to you." His sentence was greeted by a punch in the shoulder that stung, but didn't send him flying.

"I can handle myself, Hero," Sakura snapped playfully. "Should we gather our own team?"

"No," Naruto said quickly. "I don't want anyone else involved in this!"

Sakura sighed. "Always so willing to preach teamwork, but never willing to follow it," she muttered.

"I will acknowledge when I need help," Naruto protested, "and I don't need help right now. Let's go!"

An hour later Naruto stood at the gates. There were twelve ANBU in all, plus Minato, Kakashi and Sakura. Shikamaru had been sent home and Sakura was under strict orders that she was only to help if Naruto needed medical attention. They were all hidden and waiting. "Datenshi!" Naruto called out into the night.

As if he had been waiting, the man and the two children appeared before Naruto. "Have you come to your senses, Seifuku?" he asked.

"No. But I do have some questions."

"We haven't the time to explain everything! The sun rises on the second day in mere hours! We must hurry!"

"First you tell me what's happening, then we'll talk about me leaving with you." Naruto could imagine Kakashi's anger. He was only meant to lure them out, not have a conversation, but if anyone made a move, Naruto was sure more death would follow.

"Fine, fine! You were always so pushy," Datenshi said. He looked at Kiga and Haka. "You two keep an eye out for anyone else. I must speak alone with our comrade." The two children nodded and walked away. Naruto bit his lip. "I had hoped you would have regained your memories with the visions, as they had," Datenshi muttered, motioning to the children. "However, thus is not the case."

"Sorry," Naruto grumbled. "So, can you explain any of this?"

"Yes, of course. We are the Chosen Four meant to bring about the End of the World… The Revelation."

Naruto nodded. He had to keep him talking. "What is this "seventh day" stuff? What happens in a week?"

"Each day brings about a new plague," Datenshi explained. "On the seventh day, it will all end, and the world will end with it. All life will be stilled on this planet. It will be a blank slate to restart the world."

"How? If everyone's dead…"

"I don't pretend to understand the ramblings of a mad god," Datenshi muttered.

"Well, okay… Day one was what?"

"The dead will begin to rise," Datenshi said with a nod. "That would be Haka's doing."

Naruto blinked. Why raise the dead only to kill them again? It made no sense. "Day two?"

"The Blood Orb."

"Day Three?"

"The sun will burn human flesh," he sighed and waved his hand impatiently. "You just want this information to help your people."

"Yes," Naruto admitted.

"There's no point. They can't stop it, and they won't survive it. I could give them all the details, but they will still die. Why fight it?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Why are you doing this?" He didn't believe that they would be wiped out.

"We are merely servants to a much larger power. Destiny holds you, Seifuku. It would be best if you did not fight it."

"I have no intention of helping you," Naruto snapped.

"Fortunately for us, Seifuku, we don't need you until the seventh day, where you will fulfill your destiny."

"Then why do you need me at all?" Naruto asked.

"Because you are the missing piece… But I should not reveal your destiny now. No, when your memories return, you will understand. So if you want answers, all you must do is search inside yourself." He smiled devilishly and Naruto narrowed his eyes. His mind went back to the house and the brunette that he had encountered in his dream. He had been shooed away as if he wasn't supposed to be there.

Maybe that's who I need to talk to, he thought. But how do I get back to that house?

"You can tell your comrades that I will not go quietly if they wish to interrogate me," Datenshi said, breaking through Naruto's thoughts. "And I have no problem killing them all."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. He turned as Kiga and Haka returned behind him. The girl looked fierce, but the boy looked timid. Maybe I can get him alone, Naruto thought. He reached out and grabbed Haka's arm as he walked past. Pain suddenly erupted in his body. He opened his mouth to scream, but his mouth felt like it was full of dirt that was pushing its way into his lungs. He released the child and stumbled back, coughing.

"I am sorry," the boy whispered timidly. "Please, do not touch me."

Naruto held his chest as his mind tried to figure out why he had just been buried alive. By the time he had recovered, they trio was gone. Kakashi was by his side in an instant. "What happened?"

"Nothing. He told me enough information. He said that today is the "Blood Orb" and tomorrow the sun will burn flesh. He didn't go into a lot of detail."

"Can we trust his words?" Sakura asked.

"Can we afford not to?" Kakashi responded. "We have to get everyone underground! If what we says is true, we have a little more than twenty-four hours before whatever this is happens."

"We have to warn the other villages!" Naruto gasped. Suddenly he realized what this was going to mean. How could they warn everyone about this? They had made massive leaps in technology so they wouldn't be relying on messenger birds to bring the message, but they wouldn't be able to reach everyone, and that meant leaving people in the dark about this. He began to shake.

"We can't think about that right now, Naruto," Kakashi muttered. "We have to save our own."

"We have to warn the other villages!" Naruto growled. He wouldn't just sit on this information, even if he had to teleport to each village himself.

Kakashi relented. "Fine."

"And what about Sasuke?!" Naruto snapped suddenly. They had no idea where Sasuke was.

"I don't know," Kakashi muttered. "I don't know, Naruto, but we don't have a lot time!"

Naruto nodded and clenched his fists. He wouldn't let this world end.