A/N: Wow that's more response than I anticipated for one measly chapter. Thank you!, y'all deserve a big hug and your reviews made my day!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 2: The Void

Darkness. Complete and utter darkness.

It's not even black, it's something inherently deeper... something ineffable. Like all the light has been sucked into it, never to return. I even try to rub my eyes so I can see trippy specks in the corners.

Nope. Nothing.

Hello, darkness my old friend. I hum.

This isn't right. Why am here? What have I done to deserve this? Why do I feel like I'm floating in something more viscous than water but less so than air? Am I in suspended animation?

I'm not entirely sure, as I can't even see myself, but I feel like I may be going into shock. My heart rate is off the roof and I am definitely hyperventilating. Hold on just a fucking moment. Where is my body?!

I try to find purchase. I try to find my damn hands. I find nothing.

Yeah, never mind. Back to hyperventilating.

Why am I in absolute and complete isolation? Do they want me to succumb to psychosis? Is this some kind of punishment? Well that's fucking counterproductive, isn't it? I can't hear anything, see anything, smell anything. I won't come out sane after this, will I? This can't be a punishment though. I try to think back.

Man.. at least I was dreaming, wasn't I? That at least made an ounce of sense. I am nothing, if not rational. I can't imagine me dreaming of nothing, all the while having a conscience within it. There's a difference in being knocked out cold or sleeping out of exhaustion and… whatever the fuck this was. Even in absolute coma, I can't imagine myself to be this unimaginative. I have a busy brain, I like thinking. That is more fact than not. So why. Why am I thinking of nothing?

Is my sub-conscience trying to tell me something? What is the last thing I remember? Before heading to the mart?

Memories of sitting at our usual pub, with the boys to watch the match. Cheers-ing happily.. getting half drunk to my car to get back home to…

I snap back. Okay.

Okay, okay, okay..

That's good, I can work with this. My name is Mark Taylor, 25 year old, who was having a good night with the boys at our pub and then I was going home to my girlfriend. But then what? What happened?
Why is everything such a blur? Am I even capable of speech?

'Why am I here?' I whisper out loud and immediately let out a strangled noise of surprise.

And the void… the void seems to be laughing at me. I swear it didn't say anything back, I can't even see it. But it is definitely laughing.

'Well fuck you too' I say smartly and the darkness..? Yeah, definitely calling it The void.

The void spanks my ass to admonish me, which is ridiculous seeing I don't have an ass!

'Ow!' I cry. 'What in the world? Why can't I see anything?'

The Void doesn't respond but continues to be amused. I'm tripping balls, right? I barely even do drugs? Did I accidentally do some and overdose?

'Yo, Mister Void!' I might as well ask, though I'm half joking. 'Am I dead?'

The Void is silent. As always. How much time has passed in here? It silently caresses me in agreement.

What.

What?!

My brain screeches to halt, my body is numb. I.. died?

'Is this.. life after death?' I manage to stutter out.

The Void caresses me again. A negative.

An image flashes in my brain. Another. Then another.

Oh…

Oh.

I fucked up. I fucked up big. Turns out. Oh my fucking god, I- I take a deep breath.

Remember that queue I was in? Yeah, that was everybody waiting for judgment from the fucking cashier. THE CASHIER. I don't even- And they go right if they go to heaven and left if they are sent to purgatory, and I… I just bounced.

I giggle hysterically. Lucid dreaming, my ass. Though I'm still not sure if this isn't a fantastical prank. I mean, it's such a good one. Such a shame if it's real.

'Are you sure this isn't a prank?' A negative. Not sure how my voice is so steady, to be honest.

'Are you God?' There's a pause. As if the Being is running through a dictionary to understand the terminology. An Affirmative. Fuck.

FUCK.

Breathe Mark. Breathe. You have no body but BREATHE.

Lonely.. I'm Mr. Lonely… I have no bod-

NO, STOP THAT. BAD MARK.

'Where am I?' I ask finally. And a single word turns up in my mind like a flash.

Limbo. I'm in a Limbo.

'But why?' I ask, confused.

A very familiar image flashes in my head and I let out a string of litany that no child should ever hear.

The fire exit. I broke the queue, and I'm here for my penance. This is my punishment.

'How long is my sentence?' I ask quietly.

I float there for lord alone knows how long, before I have to admit to myself that my correspondence with our Lord and Savior is over. He undoubtedly has better things to do. Like, I dunno, run the universe. But I got the message, I'm here for as long as it take to absolve myself. I mean, I'm not even sure if this should be counted, it's not like I did it on purpose! I thought I was lucid dreaming, and I decided to take charge of life! In most cases, that would be considered a good thing!, I snorted.

Time passes slowly in here, I still don't know how long it's been. Turns out I don't have any human needs, but I do have human wants. I miss my family, my friends, my job, my girlfriend. I hope they're doing ok without me. I never thought I would be in the position to question this. How do I have a consciousness when I am dead? Is it because I broke the rules?

Sometimes I think of my parents and break down into hot, noisy tears. I want to see them one more time and hug them. I want to play ball with my brother one more time. I want to tell my girlfriend to live a happy life. I was going to propose to her. I was going to get a new car. I was going to leave my shady side business for good. Now, all I have is regrets.

Soon, my tears dry up, I have no more tears to cry. My emotions bleed into apathy. Why am I still here?

'How much longer?' I call out.

There isn't any answer. What happened? Did I imagine The Void?

Yeah, right.. The Void is all around me. The Void is right here.

Is The Void really god? Or is it an all powerful being in control of the universe?

How messed up is it that I'm dead and I still don't know the answers?

I wish there were stars around me. I wish I could see the cosmos. The Void would look prettier then.

There's a flash of amusement.

'Void!' I call out. 'How much longer? Please! I think I'm going mad!'

There's another pulse.

'Void!'

And Another, a flash of lightening zips across the void. White. Blue. Electric, and Alive.

'What's happening?' I cry out, afraid of this development after an eternity of nothingness.

The pulses are rapid now, and I feel like I am being squeezed through a tunnel.

'Am I absolved of my crime that is the fire exit?' I try, I can see a light.

It's painful but I manage to squeeze out and prevail. I fall out into the light and begin crying out of pain.

Oh. I think. The colors are blurry, but those are definitely humanoid beings lifting me up and cleaning me.

Oh. I think numbly as they swaddle me. I'm a baby. I've been given a second chance.

I am deposited into the arms of someone I instinctively trust. She is familiar and I can only feel love.

My mother. My eyes widen in amazement. The feeling is strong; and after the apathy of lord alone knows how long I spent in the limbo, I cannot begin to comprehend it.

I am so out of sync that I begin crying. I don't… I can't… I don't know how to deal with this, I am utterly overwhelmed.

So I cry. I cry for my lost family, friends and lover. I cry for my lost life, as I am being welcomed in to a new one.