thanks to Obsidian for beta reading.
Screams filled his ears, his sight was black, and his sense of touch seemed to have disappeared with them. The first two made sense to the Uzumaki, but not the last one. He should've at least felt some pain, even with the adrenaline.
As his eyes adjusted, the teen found himself standing beside the collapsed building. Also, he didn't see a soul that would've produced the screams he heard, but that wasn't important. Checking over his body, he looked perfectly fine. That was when confusion set in, how was he outside of the building? And how the hell wasn't he injured?
The quickest way to figure that out was to retrace the events. They entered the hallway, split for a pincer movement, and then a bright light. It didn't take long to realize what that bright light was and who was near it.
Another shot of adrenaline kicked in as he ran towards the building. Norowe was in the debris, somewhere. Maybe she got out as he did. When he got to the pile of stone, he jumped, expecting to land on it, only to sink through it.
"This is some brittle stone. No wonder it collapsed so easily." Only when he brought his foot up without resistance did he notice that the stone didn't break under his weight, his feet went through it like it was a genjutsu.
That was impossible though, Kyuubi's chakra was always shocking his system so no genjutsu could work on him. While he was trying to figure it out, Sakura and Jiraiya came running toward him.
He quickly set up a response and walked toward them. "I don't know what happened in there, but…" Chills ran through him as his old sensei ran through him. The Uzumaki spun around and saw a man in a black and white uniform walk through Sakura.
The man walked up to Naruto and pulled a sword from his waist. Naruto's first instinct was to reach for his sword only for it to be missing. "Calm down, I'm not going to hurt you. Hell, you're already dead."
Naruto's brain shut down for a moment. In that moment of vulnerability, the man hit his sword's kashira against the teen's forehead. Said forehead began to glow brightly as Naruto was sucked into the ground.
'Ah, so I am going to hell.' It was weird, he kind of embraced it even though he'd miss those in the human world. As he sunk, his vision began to vanish again while going to what he thought was hell.
*A few minutes later*
The teen's eyes adjusted as he felt a presence behind him. He half expected to see the shinigami but was surprised to see an older man with a line of people behind him. "C'mon kid, we're all trying to get our tickets. Get up and grab yours."
Naruto found himself in what seemed like a village with a table in front of him. Sitting at that table was another person dressed in black and white clothing. He seemed very mad as he started shouting.
"Hurry up! Grab your ticket and get going!" Walking forward, a small piece of paper was placed in his palm and he watched as information was etched into it. It included his name, a year, and a number on the bottom.
He was unable to read the number in time as he was covered in a blinding light. When the light died down, he found himself in a hallway of sorts. It was quite clean and completely white. The teen tried to walk away but he was stopped by another person in white and black.
At least that one looked nice. "Excuse me, may I see your ticket?" Naruto shook his head. "Can you tell me where I am first?" The woman facepalmed. "I take it the guys at the ticket stand forgot to tell you?"
The Uzumaki shook his head once again, it was more like they chose not to but it didn't matter. "Alright, so right now you are in the soul society, a place where spirits go once they die. To be more specific, you are in the Northern third Rukongai district.
The ticket you got earlier rates your previous life and sends you to a proper district. For example, let's say you were a spoiled prince that lived his whole life in comfort, you'd be sent to district 80. As the district numbers go up, the quality of life lowers."
Naruto looked her dead in the eyes. "So this is it? My life is over and I'll never see anyone I care about again?" She gave a bittersweet smile. "Pretty much. You can gain a purpose by becoming a shinigami like me though."
The teen put two and two together. "A shinigami is allowed into the real world to guide dead souls here, right?" She nodded. "There's a little bit more than that but yeah."
A grin grew onto Naruto's face, a grin he hadn't worn in a while. It was the grin that marked a plan. If he became a shinigami, what stopped him from seeing those he cared for in the real world? "So, how do I become a shinigami?" The woman turned around and opened her arm to the side.
"Follow me and you'll figure it out" The woman saw his confused face and whispered to him. "I'll explain on the way." Naruto smiled a little bit and started following her out onto the road as she explained.
"Considering your outfit, you were a shinobi, yes?" The teen looked at himself and noticed he was still in the Iwa shinobi uniform. Holding in the puke, he nodded.
"Well, whenever you die, your chakra splits into its two components. The physical energy part of your chakra stays with your body and slowly seeps into the world over the years while your spiritual energy comes with you, becoming spiritual pressure." The teen was starting to understand.
"Does it work the same as letting chakra out?" The woman shook her head. "No, spiritual pressure exits through vents on your wrists and you have to guide it with the spiritual energy within the air. It's complicated but you'll get it."
Naruto was going to ask some more questions but the woman stopped and he noticed a shadow covered him. Looking up, he saw a giant of a man with long white hair and piercing red eyes, he couldn't see much more because the sun was right behind him but the man was massive.
"7th seat of the 4th division, Miki Yokota. I'm taking this soul to the academy to be tested." The giant man leaned down to look at the wooden badge Miki held up before standing back up to his full stature and stepping to the side.
"Go ahead." The two quickly went through a door within the massive gate and once they were on the other side, Miki moved her arms in an opening gesture. "This is the Seireitei, the home of shinigami. You can think of it as a massive hidden village where all shinigami not on missions stay, along with the nobles."
Naruto sighed. "So even in the afterlife, nobles are still above the rest." Miki shrugged. "Not really, the nobles here are born in the soul society. Actually, a good chunk of the population is born here."
'People get born in the afterlife? What a strange world.' Miki continued explaining things as Naruto just studied his surroundings, the place was massive and quite frankly, it could hold several villages in it.
"You never did tell me how I'd become a shinigami." Miki stopped her explanation about the rankings and blushed a bit. "Sorry, I get carried away sometimes. Becoming a shinigami is a lot like becoming a shinobi. You show that you possess spiritual energy and then go through an academy. Speaking of the academy."
Naruto looked up and found himself in front of a building maybe twice the size of the Konoha academy, and the design was immaculate compared to its Konoha counterpart. "This is the spiritual arts academy. I'll guide you to the testing room."
Miki led the teen inside and down a flight of stairs into a room filled with machines. Sitting on one of the machines was a man with glasses reading a magazine. "Hey, I got one!" Miki shouted, making the man jump a little.
"Dammit Miki, I told you to just leave them with the office instead of bringing them here. Now I have to put him in the system." His tone was very annoyed, it obviously wasn't the first time Miki had done it. The woman failed at holding her smile and waved over her shoulder as she went back upstairs.
The man grumbled his way over before grabbing Naruto and pushing him down onto a seat in front of a machine. "Put your hands in the holes until your fingers hit the back." He commanded before walking behind a glass wall and starting to mess with a machine
"To release your spiritual pressure, just act like you're trying to push out all of your chakra through your wrist tenketsu." Naruto did as he was told with his arms in the machine up to his elbows.
He didn't try and release all of it, he still didn't want to stand out too much. Once he felt it leave his wrist, he knew he failed as he felt drained. A curse exited his mouth as he heard the man mutter a faint "Holy shit". He ran out from in front of the glass wall and began to run up the stairs only to stop and turn to Naruto.
"You wait here, I'm going to get my captain." Whenever he turned to start running again, he was stopped by a feeling of great despair. Looking back, he found Naruto walking toward him, stumbling but walking, with glowing pink eyes and a manifestation of spiritual pressure in the form of an orange fox with a pink hue standing behind him.
The spiritual pressure that the man felt just confirmed what the machine had told him. This boy was a level 5, maybe even a level 4. Either way, he was hopeless at winning.
Unless… the thought of resisting gave him a phantom pain of a sword cutting through his neck. It was like telepathy as Naruto got close, he began hearing a voice in his head. "Despair, die, kneel, suffer in eternal hell."
The voice wasn't Naruto's, but a much more demonic voice. This was proved when Naruto started talking. "Stop right there and tell me what you're going to get your captain for."
The man's eyes started bleeding when Naruto spoke, his voice was sharp, almost literally. The man tried to respond but was frozen under the pressure, of which the teen quickly realized and fixed.
Naruto led the shaking man to a chair and sat him down. "Go ahead and explain to me the situation." His voice was back to normal, it almost made the man grateful but it didn't stop him from gulping before responding. "The test you took measures your spiritual pressure's density, and it ranges from one to twenty, with one being the densest.
You scored a 5, which is equal to a lieutenant." Naruto took a seat beside him. "What is the average?" The man thought for a second. "The average is 15, although it can range between ten to twenty for new souls such as yourself."
The Uzumaki nodded. "I'm trying to go through this academy thing as soon as possible so set it at something you believe will achieve that." The man scooted back in his chair so much that if he tried to move anymore, he would sink into himself. "I can put you at 12 which will put you in the first class."
Naruto stood and patted the man on the head. "Very good, is there anything you need to put me in the system?" The man nodded, albeit shakily. "I need your name, time of death, and district." Naruto slipped out his ticket and motioned for the man to go to his computer.
After he pulled up a new profile, Naruto read off the information for him. "Masao Nari, 3 BG, and Northern District 3." The man finished typing it up and added the other information before saving it to the system.
"Good job. Remember not to tell anyone or else…" With the threat in the air, Naruto left back up the stairs and stopped once he was out of the man's sight. He started gasping and coughing up a bit of blood. He wheezed a bit too loud as Miki came running down.
"Take a seat." She quite literally kicked out his legs since he couldn't sit down himself. Once on the ground, he saw Miki's hands glow green through blurry vision. A few moments passed and he felt better.
Miki held an embarrassed face as she helped him up. "I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you that after you first die. Your spiritual pressure being released too soon will break open the pathways." Naruto waved her off as he coughed up some more blood.
They got into the hallway where Naruto got some water from a water fountain. The water was quite nice as it stopped his throat from being so itchy. "I'm sorry I have to leave you like this but I can't leave my post for more than 10 minutes."
Naruto shakily stood up and gave his best bow. "Thank you for your help." Miki just smiled a nervous smile. "It was my fault so I had to. The office is just down the hall and to the left." Another thanks was given before the woman left. Whenever he was alone, the teen walked to a window and looked at himself in the reflection as he propped against the wall for support.
'What was that?' Sure, he had threatened some people in his previous life but he wanted to kill that guy once his spiritual pressure was released. There was another feeling along with the bloodlust, a hunger, an unending hunger that filled his stomach.
'Maybe, it's a thing that happens when spiritual pressure gets low?' He questioned himself. The question was kept in his mind for a few minutes as he regained his strength before starting a walk down the hall. Little did he know, there was a small hole growing within his navel right where some people would believe the soul to be.
The feeling in his stomach was misinterpreted as hunger as pictures of ramen entered his mind. 'I could use some ramen about right now. I wonder if I could get some after going to the office.' A little pep came to his step at the idea and was soon in the office. The lady at the front desk looked up when he entered.
"Masao Nari?" A nod was given. "Head to that room right there." She pointed to a room on her right and Naruto walked to it. He gave a knock on the door out of courtesy, even though it was open, before entering.
It was a cozy little room but what Naruto took notice of was a plaque on the desk that read "Head Master Ason Kuchiki." Behind the desk was the supposed headmaster who was a young-looking man with long black hair held up with a Kenseikan, dull blue eyes, and a sharp face.
"Please take a seat and we'll get right into it." Naruto took a seat in the leather chair and almost melted into it. "So, Masao Nari, recently deceased, northern district 3, and a score of 12 on the spirit class test."
Ason looked him up and down. "What rank were you in Iwa?" Naruto avoided eye contact. "I was a chunin." He didn't need to know that he wasn't a real Iwa shinobi, it didn't change anything.
The headmaster typed it into his computer before more questions were given. "Did you ever study swordsmanship?" Naruto nodded. "Yes, sir. I used a wakizashi as my main weapon."
More typing proceeded to the next question. "Taijutsu?" Naruto held his hand flat and shook it a bit. "It can be iffy at times but it isn't a weakness." The headmaster nodded and finished typing before looking up.
"Your schedule will be figured out later, and you'll receive them on the day of orientation, along with the tour of campus. Here's just a basic schedule to show you how the days will go."
Turning his monitor to the teen, he showed him a schedule. "You will be living in the dorms with your fellow students. The day begins at 7 am, breakfast until 8, and then your first class. Your first class will last an hour and a half before you go to your second class of the same length.
You'll have an hour of lunch and study period before your fourth and fifth classes. The day ends at 3 pm, and you have 5 hours to go out but the curfew to get back to the dorms is 8 o'clock. Get here any later and you won't be allowed in unless you have express permission." Naruto nodded along, it was a nice schedule, and he didn't have to find a place to stay so that was a plus.
The man turned his monitor back and was about to send Naruto off when he remembered something.
"Oh yes, your study period will be a history class for the first two weeks, the first 30 minutes are lunch and you go to the class for the other 30." Ason rubbed his chin for a moment to make sure he did everything before speaking again.
"I believe that is all so please go wait in the front, I will have a student come to bring you to the dorms." Naruto stood but was confused. "Why're there students here already?" The headmaster pointed to a picture on the wall that said, "Student Council" under it.
"The student council of the previous year arrives two weeks early to help set up and give teachers ideas on how to make their classes more enjoyable. Some students are from outer rukongai and we allow them to live in their dorms if they get a job during the summer."
The Uzumaki was impressed, the academy was quite hospitable compared to what he thought it would be like. Even in his short time there, he'd seen some questionable things within the soul society but the academy didn't seem to follow that trend.
"Thank you, have a nice day," Naruto said in a bow before going to sit in the front of the office. While waiting, he grabbed a magazine that sat on the table. "Seiretei monthly. I wonder what happened this month."
Ignoring the store ads, he went straight to the main story. 'Captain Namikaze and his wife help rukongai districts 15-30 on all sides.' Naruto kept staring at the headline for a while, he actually had the chance to meet his parents.
Tears started to well up in his eyes and he almost started crying if it wasn't for the bell of the office door opening. The tears were quickly sucked back up and a stoic face was back in place as he saw a busty woman enter.
Aside from the very obvious two details that stood on her chest, proudly almost, she had long white hair, black eyes, and an oval-shaped face. Her black eyes soon locked to his and she made a motion with her head out the door.
Naruto quickly stood and extended his hand. A firm handshake was given along with their greetings. "Masao? I'm Tsuna, the student council president. A pleasure to meet you." The Uzumaki nodded.
"Likewise." The girl, almost a woman, led him out into the hall where a group of kids ranging in age were waiting. "These are the other students that stay in the dorms right now. I'll introduce you."
She pointed at a tall teen with short brown hair, blue eyes, and a diamond-shaped face. "That's our Vice-pres Esper. The short one with an oval face, dark short hair, and green eyes is our treasurer, Ryoga."
Before she could introduce the next person, they cut her off. "I'm Raian, the historian." The male had slate gray eyes, long black hair, and a sharp jaw that complimented his heart-shaped face. "Don't mind Raian, he's from the Kuchiki clan so he's a douche sometimes."
Naruto just chuckled, the guy reminded him of Sasuke. Before he started reminiscing, he tried to listen to the president. "The one with short light brown hair, red eyes, and a block face is Kenta, he's from Rukongai 59. Last but certainly not least is our favorite redhead, Korren."
Korren had long palish red hair tied into two buns, red eyes, and a heart-shaped face. She looked like she had a small attitude on her as well. Naruto didn't mean to but when he saw her, it just slipped out.
"Uzumaki." Tsuna nodded and reached out to pat the girl's head. "Yeah, this one is our little Uzumaki. There's a lot of them here because of their downfall in the human realm." Said red-head shot a piercing gaze at the president.
"Yes, yes, we're going. Masao, you don't mind going to get some food, do you?" Naruto shook his head before he got yanked into the group and outside. "So, how did you die?" Raian asked, only to get slapped by Tsuna.
"He has no manners, ignore him." Naruto just waved it off. "It's fine. Although I haven't been dead for long, it doesn't bother me." An idea came to his mind, he was going to make an elaborate story to tell.
"You see, I was just a chunin but I had the potential to be drafted into the ANBU so I was brought on an assassination mission as a small test. Our target was in the hallway of a hotel and we were forming a pincer maneuver with three on both of his sides.
One on each side were preparing poison senbon while the other two had weapons out since we couldn't use chakra." The group seemed invested. "Why?" Kenta questioned. "The target's sensei was just a few minutes away and he was someone we could not handle. He was the great Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku."
Naruto stopped himself as he almost did the ridiculous pose that Jiraiya forced him to learn. A blush crossed over his face before shaking it away.
"Back to the story, as we crept closer, inch by inch, we all felt a sudden flare in chakra and we were covered in a bright light." Naruto stopped leaning in and watched all their eyes trail him. "Well? What happened?" Korren asked, her earlier aggression gone but replaced with curiosity.
"The target was just a clone that was covered in explosive tags. We were blown to bits and crushed by the building." The teens were shocked, that was not something they expected. It was… gruesome to say the least.
"I regret asking," Raian said in a small tone. The others seemed to agree with him as no more conversation was made. The lack of conversation led to Naruto having a singular thought for the rest of the walk, had he gone too far already and spoiled a possible future friendship? He was going to apologize to them and make things right.
"Hey guys, I'm sorry if I said something wrong. I didn't exactly have many friends back at home." Tensa gave him a sad look. "Don't worry about it. Ryoga was a little weird too." Esper burst out in laughter. "A little? He was worse."
Before poor Ryoga could defend himself, they entered a restaurant. Their student president just waved at the greeter and went to a corner booth. It was a massive corner as all of them fit within it comfortably.
"Masao, whenever we come here we order the sampler because it's plenty to feed all of us. It's better price-wise too." That reminded Naruto. He heard Miki talk about some other money type but forgot.
"What is the money in the seireitei?" Tensa pulled out some small gray coins. "They're called Kan, they're equal to 2 ryo. I thought it was weird to create a different money type as well but it's a precaution so shinigami have to earn it instead of stealing from the human world." Naruto nodded.
It made sense, it seemed like he'd been thinking that a lot recently. "Why don't you tell us about your life?," Tensa asked, sipping on her drink and eyeing him. The Uzumaki shrugged. "There isn't much to know, my life was pretty simple and not really exciting. I was orphaned at birth and was raised in the orphanage."
Ryoga leaned toward him, wanting to change the somber mood. "What about a love life?" Naruto's expression died down and turned sour. "She died in the explosion with me." Ryoga looked down and cursed himself in his mind for ruining the mood even more. "Sorry man." The Uzumaki just waved him off.
"I liked her but I didn't know her for that long." Ryoga nodded. "How about we move on to something else? Is there anything you like?" Naruto rubbed his chin. "I quite liked playing pranks back when I was younger."
Everyone's face turned pale except for Raian's, who now held a cheeky smile. "Pranks, you say?" Esper didn't let the Kuchiki say anything else as he covered his mouth with his hand. "Anyways, what have you thought about the soul society so far?"
Naruto shook his hand in an iffy manner. "It isn't bad but I do find the outer district thing to be a problem. There's gotta be lots of crime out there, right?" This sparked a whole conversation that lasted until their food arrived.
Whenever the giant platter hit the table, Ryoga grabbed an onigiri and handed it to Naruto. "You gotta taste the onigiri, it's divine, man."
*Shinigami Academy, Ason's office*
Ason sat in his chair as a man stood in front of him. Said man had a buzzcut, green eyes, and a square face. His outfit consisted of the normal shinigami attire with the addition of one thing, a captain's coat.
The symbol sitting on its back told that he was the Division 11 captain. "I'm sorry about what my subordinate did." The captain said, looking at the headmaster and bowing slightly. "It isn't that big of a deal but you're lucky that a Division 4 member was present. You should teach your subordinate a lesson."
The captain nodded. "You've been teaching for a lot longer than I've been alive so I believe you should be the one to teach him." Ason shook his head. "Just make sure your subordinate doesn't do this again."
Another nod was given and the captain exited with a shunpo. Once gone, he gave Ason some time to think about the situation more and one question remained unanswered. "What the hell was a Division 11 shinigami doing in the testing room?"
A sigh exited as he pinched his nose. It seemed he needed to monitor the proctor for the testing to make sure no division was doing early scouting. Especially ones that hadn't had the proper training. The headmaster sunk into his chair as he glared at the picture of the captains on the wall.
"Kids these days have no manners."
*Konoha*
The council room, which was hardly used anymore, was filled with the clan heads and their heirs. They were confused about why their presence was needed and it grew even bigger whenever they saw the ANBU commander enter.
Shortly behind him was Tsunade, to which they all bowed until she sat at the end of the table. "I know you are wondering why you were summoned here on such short notice."
They all nodded and watched as she pulled a small scroll from her pocket. Opening it, she started speaking. "This scroll was sent to me by Jiraiya's messenger toad. It says that during his stay in a town near Iwagakure, which is allowed because he is no longer a registered shinobi of Konoha, Naruto was attacked by several Iwgakure shinobi and killed in the battle that proceeded."
Putting their personal feelings for the boy to the side, the council was enraged. "This is an act of war!" Hiashi shouted. Losing the student of a legendary shinobi such as the sannin was equal to killing a hundred young genin.
Tsunade held up her hand. "I am not finished. The Tsuchikage seemed to have planned this as he sent Sakura on the mission to distract Jiraiya under the guise of leading him out of Stone country while his shinobi attacked Naruto.
The blame has already been pinned on the Bounty Hunter Association because their hunters were present in Iwagakure for their cleansing. We have not confirmed if the hunters were a part of the strike team since the bodies were so badly deformed."
Shikamaru held up his hand to speak while his eyes burned. "How did he die?" Tsunade sighed and placed the scroll on the table while running her hand over her face. "Jiraiya believes that they attacked, and were unable to kill him via combat so they used explosives. The building he was staying in was completely leveled with no explosive residue."
The lack of residue told them all they needed to know, it was done by Iwa shinobi who cleaned up their tracks. "We shall take a vote," Danzo said, looking at all the shinobi with his one eye.
"Before we do any voting, keep in mind that we might be on the verge of the Fourth Great Shinobi War, the consequences of which could be detrimental," Tsunade said. "If we do nothing then our enemies will think of us as weak," Homura said, getting a little hot-headed.
Shikaku decided to voice his opinion. "In the end, will we care about others taking us for weak whenever we have lost almost all of our forces along with those we care about?"
Danzo sneered at the Nara. "This is an act of war so keep that in mind. Those in favor?" Hands went up but quite a few were hesitant. Hiashi had his hand up along with Danzo's, Homura's, Koharu's, Tsume's, and Choza's.
"Six in favor, those against?" Tsunade questioned, raising her hand. The Aburame head raised his hand along with the Yamanaka and the ANBU commander that was present. Shikaku also raised his hand, as much as his son cherished Naruto as a friend, war wasn't the way to go.
"Six to Five, Ma'am." Tsunade took a deep breath. "We will start preparing, tell no one of what happened within this chamber." The woman got up and left for her office with her ANBU guards following.
Once in the hall, she turned her head to them. "Seal my office, I want absolutely nothing getting in or out for the next 15 minutes." The Senju entered her office and found Jiraiya leaned over in a chair with his face in his palms.
"I never expected the fence-sitter to make a move such as this." She said, sitting in her chair. "What are we going to do about this? I don't want to scar this generation with war like we were." Jiraiya said, looking up.
"It's out of my hands now," Tsunade said, taking a shot of sake. Jiraiya stretched his hand out and got a cup full of the liquor. It burned as it went down his throat but it was just numb for him. Everything had been numb since his decision to use the clone to keep up Naruto's appearances.
He never expected it to backfire like it did but a part of him was happy that Naruto was safe.
*Iwa, Tsuchikage's office*
Ohnoki sat in his chair with a devilish smile on his face. His plan had worked perfectly, or so he thought. He had gotten rid of the Namikaze's brat and the evidence along with it. Even if Konoha did declare war, he had all of his routes covered.
A treaty was already created with Kumo, Kusa, and Taki. The moment the declaration of war was out, their forces were moving in. With the jinchuuriki as their spearheads, they'd rip through Konoha and their allies like a hot knife through butter.
All he had to do was find the bastards, he knew they lived in the mountains north of Iwa but he hadn't contacted them in a while. Sure, he had a security team on them to make sure they didn't run away but their monthly report was handled by his assistant.
Said assistant was knocking on his door. "Come in." The woman walked in and bowed. "Sir, your granddaughter is requesting you at her training grounds. She believes her jutsu has been completed."
The old man floated up. "Very well, handle everything until I return."
*Hirakori*
Deidara was in her brother's shop helping him with an order when she felt her ring begin to shock her hand a bit. It was the signal that she was needed for a meeting. Turning to Sasori, he nodded and they both sent chakra to the ring, bringing their consciousness to the statue.
Once in her hologram form, she looked to see everyone present. Nagato stood in his position and cleared his throat. "A few hours ago, Naruto was sent on a bounty mission that resulted in his death."
Deidara felt her hearing fade away but the snapping of Sasori's fingers brought it back. "I know you are sad but we have more pressing matters. The bounty mission has caused Konoha to bare its fangs. Our man within the council tells us that they are going to declare war against Iwa once they are set up.
As you know, Ame is in between the nations and often used as a battlefield. To prevent that, all of you are to report there immediately for defense, except for Hidan and Kakuzu. You two will go to Suna and get Gaara to communicate with the other jinchuuriki and bring them to Ame as well.
As for the rest of you, more information will be given whenever you arrive at Ame."
The holograms quickly disappeared, leaving Nagato there with Itachi. "You found his body?" The Uchiha nodded. "It looks like a husk with no soul within it but it is healing. I believe he's in a coma of sorts, but I do not know if or when he'll wake."
Nagato thought about it for a moment. "Take his body with you and in the meantime, I'll contact Orochimaru about it." The Uchiha nodded one last time before his hologram disappeared with the Uzumaki's.
*With Deidara*
The girl ran through the snowy town toward her home to pack while the little number of memories that she had with Naruto stuck in her head. She hated how easily she gained crushes on people but that crush was different, it felt like Naruto had become a part of her.
"I know it's the last thing you want to hear right now, but holding onto those thoughts about Naruto and not moving on will only cause you more pain," Sasori said. "You want me to just forget about him?"
Noticing the aggressiveness of her voice, Sasori changed his tone. "You should never forget and you most likely never will but you should learn that those memories will become a handicap."
Whenever he saw her glare intensify, he sighed. "Look, I've never been good with feelings and all that stuff, but those feelings will get you killed one day if you let them control you." Deidara gave a somber smile toward the man. She knew he was just trying to help her, even if it was trash advice.
"Thanks, it's a little too soon but thanks anyways." Sasori gave a thumbs up and a cheesy smile, which only made her crack one as well. Whenever she looked back at him, she saw another person for a second.
It was a smaller boy with an oval face, dark short hair, green eyes, and the same cheesy smile. The person she saw was her late brother, Ryoga. He died a few days after his 5th birthday, leaving her 4-year-old self alone with her uncle.
There wasn't a day she didn't miss him. Her vision of him faded when Sasori spoke. "Go to my closest and grab the green box, put on what's within then grab my cloak and the red box. I'll meet you on the way to the south gate, I've got something to do before we leave." The former redhead turned and started going in a different direction.
Deidara simply nodded and soon arrived at their home. Outside, she found one of the girls she had 'befriended'. While rushing to the door, she quickly unlocked it and went inside while talking to the girl.
"Not a good time, I've got some stuff to do." The girl followed her friend up the stairs and watched as she entered Sasori's room. "What's so urgent, Ahma?" Deidara cringed at the name, she should've never let Sasori choose her name.
"I've got to quickly get some of Kiyoko's tools, he's in the middle of a project and needs them quickly." The Akatsuki member said, acting like she was rummaging through Sasori's stuff. The girl left with an "I'll be back." Once the door closed, Deidara opened the green box Sasori told her about. Inside, she found a headband with four vertical lines.
She strapped it on her forehead quickly and went to her room to pack but first, she had to change into something comfortable for their trip. The outfit consisted of a blue sleeveless V-neck with a little midriff showing and mesh armor underneath it. Below that were blue pants that had white stirrups and blue sandals that were connected.
Sitting on her hips were two gray pouches for her clay. Over it all was the black cloak with red clouds. It was quite the hassle to put on with her arm being in a sling but she did it. The necessities were soon packed and she moved onto Sasori's room.
First, she grabbed the red box from the closet and his cloak which she threw onto the bed. Under the said bed was his necessity pack, it contained everything he needed except for the puppet workstation within the closet. The station was cheaply produced so she didn't need to worry about grabbing it.
His tools however weren't so she shoved them into his tool bag and then a storage scroll along with the projects he had been working on, he'd put many hours into them and would kill her if they were left. Everything was soon packed up and placed in a storage scroll she strapped to her lower back, just as she heard a knock on her front door.
Running down the stairs, she was met with a mailman. She took the mail, thanking him before leaving the house and heading south. Once she was halfway to the gate, Sasori appeared at her side.
Throwing him the cloak, he slipped it on before taking the headband from the box. It was soon tied around his forehead and they were on their way. "What'd you have to go do?" Sasori just shook his head at her question.
"Don't worry about it." With a little nudging and prodding, Deidara successfully got an answer. "I was giving the orphanage the dolls I was working on, okay?" The girl smiled. "I guess you do have a heart somewhere."
The former Suna shinobi ignored her until they got out the gates. "Go ahead and make your dragon." Deidara looked at him while gesturing towards the sling. Sasori sighed, "Can't you make it with one hand?"
She shook her head in the negative. "Just grab some of the clay from my pouch and put it in my hand." Sasori as the girl suggested and gagged a little when he saw the clay go into the mouth. He'd never get used to that.
Soon enough, the dragon was formed in the snow. They both jumped on and the clay formed around their legs, securing them in place. "Ame is to our south-west." Sasori reminded the girl, passing a compass over her shoulder.
She implanted the compass into the clay right in front of her to keep track of their route before the dragon took off. Once they were at a good height, she pulled out the mail she stashed into her sling. Scrolling through it, she found nothing but junk mail until she found one addressed to Sasori's fake name.
She turned to him with a smirk. "So, when did you sign up for Ninja Bunny Monthly?" Despite him being a puppet, she could've sworn a blush was visible. "Give me that," Sasori shouted, reaching for the magazine, only for Deidara to hold it away from him. The smirk grew larger as she watched him struggle.
Oh, the ride to Ame was going to be so much fun.
*Rice Country*
The pale-skinned criminal known as Orochimaru sat upon his throne in a dimly lit concrete room while a black-haired teen rested against a wall beside the door. "Are you ever going to tell me why I'm here?" Said teen asked.
The snake-like shinobi merely held up his hand. A few seconds later, a man with gray hair walked in. "Kabuto, what did you learn?" The Yakushi knelt before his lord. "Lord Nagato has confirmed the death of Naruto Uzumaki. In addition, he wishes for us to reinforce our borders as Konoha will soon declare war upon Iwagakure."
The black-haired teen in the corner grabbed Kabuto from the ground and pulled him up to head level. "There is no one who could kill that dobe but the gods. I don't believe you."
The venom in his voice almost made Orochimaru shed a tear of joy, they learn so fast. "Put him down and let him explain the details. Kabuto?" Said man fixed his collar after being let go and spoke.
"He was put on a strike team to kill himself, which was just a clone that Jiraiya created for appearances' sake. We don't know all the details but there were several explosions and the building they were in collapsed. The believed cause of death is either the rubble crushing him or the blast of the explosive."
Sasuke crossed his arms, there was no way Naruto would go out like that. The Uzumaki had taken a Chidori to the chest and survived to tell the tale, then got in a fight with Kabuto and Orochimaru, only to survive again.
Getting crushed by a building? There was no way, the gods themselves would have to weaken him first. "No, there's no way at all." He mumbled to himself while leaving the room. Kabuto looked at his lord.
"I don't remember him being that close to the Uzumaki. What's with his reaction?" The snake sannin just shrugged. "Even I don't know that, the only one that does is Sasuke himself." They looked at each other for a couple of seconds.
"Do you think he's gay? He did ignore all the girls in Konoha." Orochimaru nodded at his subject's assessment. "It would make sense but then you have his relationship with Karin. I think he was just close to the kid, as much as he denies it."
They never did and probably never would understand the emotions of the emo Uchiha. "Lord Nagato said something else that I didn't want to say in front of Sasuke. It seems that Naruto's body is healing on its own even though there is no life in his eyes. He wishes to know why."
Orochimaru nodded. "Whenever a jinchuuriki dies, the leftover chakra from the bijuu heals the wounds but the soul is already gone. I witnessed it myself when Kushina died, as I was in charge of the preparation of her body since Tsunade was out of the village and sensei didn't want just anyone preparing their bodies."
The gray-haired man gave a bow. "I shall go deliver this information to Lord Nagato." When he got to the door, Orochimaru spoke. "Tell him to give Naruto a proper burial and send Sasuke to Ame, he'd want to send off his only friend."
Kabuto gave a solemn nod as he walked out, leaving Orochimaru alone. The sannin rolled his head back and looked at the ceiling. He had to agree with Sasuke, it didn't seem like Naruto would die in such a way.
Him fighting to the death with an army of shinobi sounded much more likely. Hell, even that seemed like something he could escape from. He was the son of two very powerful shinobi and the jinchuuriki of the strongest bijuu, he had more potential than all of the nations put together.
The sannin gave a regretful sigh. He regretted following Obito's advice to leave Naruto in Konoha instead of taking him with him. They knew what the village would do to him and he would regret not taking him for the rest of his life.
*Seireitei*
Naruto sat with a satisfied look on his face, he sat within the lounge of the Shinigami academy along with the rest of the students he met earlier. They were just gossiping about things they'd witnessed while Naruto gained information. It was mainly Tsuna giving out gossip though.
The reason behind his satisfaction was not only the good food that filled his stomach but it seemed like the group was accepting him. "I saw Lieutenant Umino buying some spicy magazines yesterday." Naruto had to cut in on this conversation. "Umino? What's his first name?" The white-haired girl shrugged. "I can't remember. It starts with an I, I think."
Naruto ran through his memory of Iruka-sensei's conversation about family until he remembered his father's name. "Ikkaku?" The girl nodded, it sounded right. "Why? You know him?"
The Uzumaki nodded. "Yeah, his son was my shinobi academy teacher." Korren started starring. "That's weird, Lieutenant Umino was a Konoha shinobi, not an Iwa shinobi." Naruto shrugged. "People have the same names all over the nation. Must've been a coincidence."
That didn't relieve any of Korren's suspicion. "Yeah, a real coincidence it must be." Detecting the sudden aggressiveness, Esper stepped in. "C'mon Korren, what point would he have in lying?" The girl narrowed her eyes at Naruto.
"Yeah, what point do you have in lying?" Naruto stood up and began to walk away. "I stayed in hopes of gaining some friends. If I'm only going to be treated with suspicion then I'm leaving." The former blonde had to stop himself from smiling as all the suspicion on him disappeared and turned into anger towards Korren.
As he walked, her stare felt hot on the back of his head but he was used to stares, they meant nothing to him. The Uzumaki turned a corner and kept up his pace until he found a map of the school placed on the wall.
Stopping to read it turned out to be a small mistake as Ryoga caught up to him. "Hey man, I'm sorry about what Korren said, but the staff hates it when we roam around the school. We can go up to the dorms if you want."
Naruto shrugged. "As long as the flaming redhead isn't there." Ryoga cracked a smile. "The dorms are split between male and female so we'll be just fine. I can explain some of the structurings here while we go up if you don't mind?"
Naruto shook his head. "Go ahead, I need any knowledge I can get." Ryoga chuckled. "Ain't that the truth. Anyways, the campus is split into four buildings. I'll just explain the buildings one by one."
They reached a pair of stairs and started climbing. "The main building is the one we're in now. The first floor is the office and the Hakuda classrooms. The second floor is the common area with the lounge, cafeteria, computer room, and the gym where you can play some sports.
The third and fourth floors are female and male dorms respectively. Although we do have to take one more flight than the girls to get to any class, we get easier access to the roof which is the best part of the building."
Naruto got an idea. "How about you hold off the explaining until we get to the roof and you can show me the buildings as well?" Ryoga nodded. "Good idea." After two more floors, they were at the roof, which was a giant garden on one side and full of chairs on the other.
"Lounging up here was so common that the headmaster put some chairs, we're supposed to get a pool sometime soon as well." The boy said as he closed the door behind them and jumped on top of the little concrete box that covered the stairs.
He looked down to see Naruto trying to jump. "Using Chakra and Spiritual energy is a bit different. Instead of trying to fill your muscles with chakra, try and feel the spiritual energy in the air to start off."
The Uzumaki tried and started to feel little specks around him. "Alright, what now?" Ryoga sat down and looked over the edge. "Release a little bit of spiritual energy as you did earlier with the test but try to guide it under your feet."
Naruto released the energy and could see it form a cloud that followed his control. It went under his feet but dissipated a few seconds later. "I got it but it dissipated." Ryoga blushed a bit. "Sorry, I forgot to tell you it dissipates in a few seconds. Once it's under your feet, try to jump while pushing it up."
It took a few tries but he managed to jump up enough to get on the ledge. After being pulled safely up by Ryoga, the Uzumaki took a look at the view. It was beautiful, to say the least. A couple of things caught his eye though. Mostly, the giant hill and the tower in the distance.
"What's that?" Ryoga looked where he was pointing. "Ah, that building is the Senzaikyū, where prisoners are held before their execution. The hill is Sōkyoku Hill, where the prisoners are executed." Naruto looked at the giant building and hill, it was like a constant reminder of what would happen if you broke the rules.
"Back to your little tour, you see that building right there with the big field? That's the Kido training field and kido building. To the left and up some of that is the white building, that's the zanjutsu training hall. To the left and lower of that is the Hoho building, it's just a giant obstacle course."
The Uzumaki analyzed the campus, it was like a giant rhombus with the main building as the bottom-most corner. In the very middle was a smaller rhombus surrounded by paths to the other buildings.
"What's that in the middle there?" Ryoga looked at where he was pointing before responding. "It's a multiuse stage, each class uses it to figure out rankings most of the time. It's hard to see but there's a small red circle in the center that's used as an arena."
Naruto took one more glance but turned to Ryoga. "So, is there anywhere else I need to see?" The teen shook his head. "Not outside of the dorm-related stuff, you'll see the rest whenever orientation comes around. Let me show you to your dorm."
They jumped down and went down the flight of stairs to the male floor, which Naruto found kind of bland. "Your room has a couple of sets of basic clothes in it, so you don't have to worry about buying any. There should be a package of soaps, toothpaste, toothbrush, and deodorant sitting on the bed. The bathrooms and showers are that way." He pointed down the hall, opposite the way they were walking.
"Look out for room 73, that's yours." Looking at the door they were beside, the Uzumaki saw they were in the 50s. While they were walking, Naruto decided to ask a question. "So, what was your spiritual density?"
Ryoga scratched his head. "I can't remember, I think it was 13 or something during my first year. Why do you ask?" Naruto shrugged. "Just curious is all." Once that escaped his mouth, Ryoga stopped and produced a key from his pocket.
Opening the door, he stepped to the side and directed Naruto within. "This is room 73. Here's your key and I'm in room 104 if you need me." With a mock salute, Ryoga walked away to his room.
Naruto entered and closed the door as he looked at the small room. It was symmetrical, that's what he first noticed. On each side of him was a closet door, followed by the wall going out which sat a desk, a bed, then the opposite wall. Right across from the door was a small window with a view of Sōkyoku Hill.
"That's not creepy at all." Ignoring the execution hill through his window, he jumped onto the left bed. It was comfortable, very comfortable as his body melted into it. The Uzumaki never noticed himself dozing off as he fell asleep, nor did he notice that he never asked Ryoga what those classes were.