I do not own these series, nor do I make any money off of this.

Warning: Spoilers for Kami-sama Hajimemashita's manga ending.

"talking"

'thinking'

Chapter 64: The Silence Between Them II: Nanami and Tomoe's Love

Naruto went with Mikage to see the other gods and see it they could learn anything about the bracelets and the power to move through worlds. Sasuke chose to stay behind, not wanting to be probed for information or touched. Naruto only agreed to leave the other behind since he knew that both of them needed time to think.

The silence between them spread throughout their time in this world. Neither spoke to the other for different reasons. Naruto was afraid that he'd say something to piss the Uchiha off, causing him to once again think about staying behind and making Naruto continue the journey alone. Part of Naruto believed that he'd stay with Sasuke even if the other chose to stay behind. But that wasn't what Naruto wanted. He wanted both of them to return to their Konoha. He knew Sasuke would have to face his crimes, but he believed they could overcome them together. He wanted Sasuke to find his happiness in Konoha. He want to be with Sasuke… he stopped that thought from continuing. Naruto knew that Sasuke hadn't yet changed his mind about Konoha. What the Elders and Danzo had done wasn't something Sasuke could just get over. Naruto knew this, but he still had hope that Sasuke would one day find it in his heart to forgive the darkness Konoha holds.

Sasuke on the other hand stayed silent because he was thinking back on the fight he had with Naruto back at the bookstore. He wonder what Naruto was going to say. He racked his brain for an answer but didn't get one. His mind went back to his own words. Sasuke looked down at his bracelet and wondered if he had really meant it. Would he ever chose to stay in one of the worlds they would be sent to? Could he see himself starting a new life in a new world? What scared himself was that he could see it. He could see himself working in that bookstore for the rest of his life, marrying a random girl and building a family. The only problem was that he couldn't tell if he'd be happy with such a life. He began to make a list of the pros and cons and picking a world and staying there. The biggest one was that he'd never get his revenge on Konoha if he stayed behind. But even this wasn't enough to make him want to return to his world. This made him wonder if the part of him that wanted to give up his revenge was becoming stronger then his desire for it. The possibility of this scared him. He had always called himself an avenger. If he was to lose his desire for revenge, then what was he? Who was he? He didn't know.

Tomoe began to warm up to Naruto as it became obvious that Naruto wasn't after Nanami. The two talked about foxes and demons, gaining an understanding of the other. Mizuki still didn't like Naruto. Kurama hadn't stayed long as he had his job to return to. It didn't take long for Naruto and Sasuke to find out that Tomoe was going to give up his Yokai life to become human with Nanami. Naruto and Sasuke were surprised at learning this. Both wanted to get to the bottom of why this decision was made.

Naruto was with Nanami while she was enjoying her lunch break at school. Naruto had followed her to see what her human life was like. Naruto was able to hide his appearance under a henge. With Nanami's help, Naruto blended right in, giving the excuse that he was Tomoe's cousin, staying in town for a few days. The teachers accepted him as a sit-in after finding out that Naruto was actually pretty smart.

Naruto took a sip of his juice. "So, why is Tomoe becoming human?"

"He wants to become human so that he can stay with me," Nanami said. She blushed. "We love each other and he doesn't want to lose me. You see, yokai live a long time. He's been alive for over six hundred years. But humans don't live long, usually seventy to eighty years. Tomoe wants to spend the rest of my life with me and die with me."

"Why can't he just continue being a yokai?" Naruto asked. "Why does he have to become human to live with you?"

"Because once I die, Tomoe will be left behind," Nanami said. "I don't want him to have to continue living alone. Being alone for so long isn't good."

"And you don't think he could move on after you die?" Naruto asked.

Nanami shook her head. "He told me that I was it for him. Tomoe will never love anyone but me."

"I see," Naruto said. "I think I understand. Shinobi don't usually live long so we tend to move quickly when it comes to love. I can understand not wanting to leave our loved ones behind. It is painful. When someone we love passes away we hurt. That pain may lessen as time goes by, but it never goes away."

Nanami nodded. "And I want to keep Tomoe from feeling that pain."

"Even if you have to feel that pain instead?" Naruto asked.

Nanami smiled. "Yes."

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Sasuke and Tomoe were stuck at the shrine while the others were gone. Nanami had offered to let Sasuke join her and Naruto, but Sasuke refused. Tomoe also told Nanami that he'd stay at the shrine for today to get things in order. This gave Sasuke the perfect opportunity to confront Tomoe alone.

"Why are you giving up your life as a yokai for a human?" Sasuke randomly blurted out. He blamed Naruto for this.

Tomoe just gave him a strange look before sighing. "I want to be human to live with Nanami."

"Because you love her?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes," Tomoe said. He began to walk away, but Sasuke wasn't done.

"So you want to live the rest of your lives together," Sasuke stated. Tomoe nodded. "Then why not turn Nanami into a yokai? You could live forever together and you wouldn't have to give up your current life."

Tomoe seemed surprised at this question before his eyes returned to normal and he smiled sadly. "I thought about asking her that. It is true that if Nanami became a yokai, we could live together forever."

"Then why not ask her?" Sasuke asked. Sasuke wasn't sure why he wanted to hear Tomoe's answer. May be Tomoe's answer would help him find his own.

"If Nanami became a yokai, she'd have to give up her own life," Tomoe said.

"So? You are willing to give up yours but she isn't willing to give up hers?"

"If I was to ask her, Nanami would be willing to become a yokai. But I can't ask her that. I can't ask her to give up on her dreams to live with me. Nanami has friends and people she cares about. Becoming a yokai means giving all of that up. We love each other, but I'd never ask her to do that."

"What about your dreams and the people you care about?"

"My dream is to spend the rest of my life with the woman I love. I have other people I care about, but I'm not really giving them up. I'm just choosing to live with Nanami. I know that it will be easier for me to adapt to a human life than for Nanami to be thrown into the yokai world. She wasn't born with the power of a god, but given if by a selfish person that wanted a vacation." Tomoe frowned at thinking about Mikage and how he basically abandoned the shrine. "This is the change to give her back her normal life."

"I don't understand. How can you just give up your own life for a love that may only last for half a century? What if she falls in love with someone else?"

"Nanami will only love me, just as I will only love her." Tomoe leaned the broom he'd been using against a nearby wall. "It is alright if no one understands our decision. It is our choice to make and together, we will find happiness." Without another word, Tomoe left Sasuke standing in the hall, alone.

Sasuke made his way back to his sleeping quarters. He sat down on his sleeping bag and just stared at the wall. Several different thoughts ran through his mind as he tried to take in Tomoe's words. He did his best to try and understand, but he just couldn't. How could anyone give up the life they know and their dreams for something as fleeting as love? It wasn't that Sasuke didn't believe in love, far from it. He loved his parents and his brother. Family love was something he knew and could understand. The love Nanami and Tomoe were so desperately fight for, was something beyond his comprehension. Because of this, he needed to find out what was behind this love.

He didn't even hear Naruto enter the room. The blond said nothing as he headed towards his own sleeping bag. He pulled his pack towards himself and began rummaging through it. He made a triumphant noise, allerting Sasuke to his presence. Sasuke glanced at Naruto as the other took out his headband. Naruto had stopped wearing it while at Hogwarts. Sasuke assumed that Naruto fit better in the worlds they've gone to without it. The blond stood up, headband in hand and left the room. Sasuke followed after him, a bit curious as to what Naruto was doing with the headband. Naruto handed the headband over to Nanami. "Here."

"Wow," Nanami said. Her fingers moved over the Leaf symbol. "So this is your village's symbol?"

"Yes," Naruto said. "The headband lets people know that I'm a ninja."

"Cool," Nanami smiled. She turned to Tomoe. "Tomoe!" The fox yokai made his way over to her. "What do you think?" She held up the headband.

Tomoe grabbed the headband and looked over it. "A bit dirty and it has been damaged. You may need a new one."

"Can you fix it?" Nanami asked.

"Sure," Tomoe said. "It will take a bit though."

"Thanks," Naruto said. "It is very precious to me." Tomoe nodded.

"Is dinner ready?" Mizuki asked, entering the room.

"It will be ready soon, Snake," Tomoe snarled.

"Nanami-chan!" Mizuki called before grabbing Nanami's arm and pulling her closer to himself. "Lets play a game while we wait!"

"Sure!" Nanami said. "Want to play Naruto? Sasuke?"

"Yeah!" Naruto said.

"No thanks," Sasuke said. He did however follow them into the other room. He watched the others start up a strange card game he'd never heard of. Despite this, he could tell that Naruto was winning. Tomoe brought out the food with Kotetsu and Onikiri's help. Sasuke remained quiet as the others took part in a conversation about yokai.

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Naruto left again with Mikage, leaving Sasuke to once again stare at the blank walls in his room. Getting bored of just waiting around, Sasuke decided to see if he could get some training done in the backyard. As he approached the door to the backyard, he overheard Nanami's voice. He moved against the wall and listened as her and Tomoe talked. He didn't really hear what they were saying but he managed to see them as they moved closer, Nanami putting her head on Tomoe's chest. The two fell silent as they looked up at the stars. Sasuke didn't waste time turning around and walking back to his room.

Naruto returned a few hours later. Sasuke was already wrapped up in his sleeping bag. Thinking he was asleep, Naruto moved quietly. He changed into his sleep wear before fluffing out his sleeping bag and crawling into it. Sasuke kept his eyes closed as Naruto finished getting ready for bed. He tried to pretend to be asleep.

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The forth morning found Naruto shaking Sasuke awake. It turned out that Naruto had awoken a few hours before to see Ookuninushi one last time. His bracelet had turned green, causing Ookuninushi to send Naruto back to Mikage Shrine. "It is time," Naruto said when he saw Sasuke's eye open. He then went back to his sleeping bag and began putting things away. Sasuke moved to do the same only to see that his bracelet was still red. He wondered if Naruto even noticed it. Not saying anything, he followed Naruto out of the shrine. They found Nanami, Tomoe, Mikage, and Mizuki already waiting for them.

"Hi guys," Naruto said.

"You're not leaving before saying goodbye are you?" Nanami asked.

"Of course not," Naruto grinned. He pulled Nanami into a hug, much to Mizuki's anger. Tomoe was now completely ok with Naruto. Nanami had given him reason to believe that Naruto would never try anything with her. Mizuki made his dislike of the situation obvious. He pushed Naruto away from Nanami and got in Naruto's face. Naruto just laughed it off.

"I thought you said both bracelets had to be green," Mikage suddenly said. Naruto turned to see that Sasuke's wasn't green yet. He frowned as he remembered Sasuke's words of possibility staying behind in a world. Naruto was about to voice this went the red jewel turned green. He left out a sigh of relief. Sasuke was still going with Naruto. "Interesting." Mikage took a step towards Sasuke. "I wish you could stay longer so that I could experiment a bit more on those bracelets."

"Sorry," Naruto said, though he didn't really have a reason to apologize.

"It's fine," Mikage said. "Maybe I'll get another chance someday."

"Naruto," Nanami called. She had managed to break out of Mizuki's hold with Tomoe's help. "I want you to have this." She handed him a bag containing some snacks. "Oh! And your headband." She pulled Naruto's headband out of her pocket and handed it to Naruto. "Tomoe did the best he could."

"It looks brand new," Naruto said. He smiled at Tomoe. "Thanks." The usual green light surround Naruto and Sasuke. "Bye everyone. Thanks for trying to help us, Mikage-san!"

"No problem Naruto-kun," Mikage said. "I wish you luck on your journey."

"Bye Naruto!" Nanami yelled. She began to wave. "I'll miss you!" Tomoe pulled her against himself as she continued to wave until Naruto and Sasuke were gone. No one noticed the sudden crack in stone of Naruto's bracelet.

Rant time!

So, the first thing I want to say is that I do love the Kami-sama Hajimemashita manga. But the one things that bothered me was that the last volume or so seemed rushed. I think what I find particularly annoying is the fact that none of the character even think about the possibility of Nanami becoming a yokai instead of Tomoe becoming human. I feel that if Nanami had been given this choice, it would have been better. In my opinion, she would probably live a better life as a yokai than as a human since she wouldn't have to give up anything. She'd be able to be with Tomoe and just like Kurama, she could live among the humans. I can also understand why Nanami wouldn't want to become a yokai since she'd have to live a very long life watching her human friends die. However, I still think she should have been given the option.