Blonde is Blond: Chapter One

Naruto gazed sightlessly into the empty void. Everything was wrong, he felt like he was drifting, falling, and staying absolutely still at the same time. The sensory deprivation was beginning to get to him, he would have to do something quick before madness set in. He relaxed his grip on consciousness and drifted into the back of his mind.

A grand hallway opened before his eyes, many locked doors holding his greatest secrets and hidden memories branched off from the hallway. This is the deepest part of his mind, and it's said that accepting that you are the worst of yourself as well as the best is the first step towards enlightenment, but Naruto wasn't in the mood for self reflection. He came here to speak with his special friend.

Reaching the end of the hallway, he saw a huge door with no obvious way of opening. He boldly approached it, and knocked on it. The door swung open with a searing crimson wind, the angry and hot chakra lingering in the air fouled his lungs. He stepped through the gate to find a dank cave lined with crude smelling torches, he walked the now familiar way into the dark part of his soul.

The shadows around him gurgled, and the rocks groaned and pulsed. It felt more like crawling up an intestine than waking down a tunnel. When he finally arrived in the Kyuubi's room Naruto was in no mood to deal with the Fox's showboating. "I know you can't kill me, why even try anymore?"

The red eyes behind the rusty bars narrowed. "I can, and should kill you. You are the one who damned us to this miserable existence in the first place! Still, you should be proud. Not many mortals can claim the title of Destroyer of Worlds, and not even the Ancients have succeed in destroying an entire UNIVERSE!" Naruto scowled. "It's not my fault, how was I supposed to know that draining the Statue would do that!" The Kyuubi glared at him. "Oh I don't know, because I told you that it would!"

Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "He he, I thought you were using reverse psychology on me!" The Kyuubi had a flat look in his eyes. "Reverse psychology... I am a DEMON, if I want something I don't beat around the bush, I just say what I want! It should be obvious, even to a feeble mind such as yours. The amount of chakra sealed in that statue was immense, and the moment you brought it into your body you doomed us. USING ALL THAT CHAKRA TO MAKE A RASENGAN DOOMED EVERYONE THAT HAS, AND WILL HAVE HAVE EVER EXISTED IN THAT UNIVERSE!" Naruto winced. "I still don't understand..."

The Kyuubi rammed into the cage. "What you did was essentially take the power of a billion suns, and compacted it into the size of a pebble! You literally set the fabric of reality on fire! We're lucky that the Greater Kami were on the ball enough to sever the ties between our universe and the greater bulk of universes!" Naruto nodded. "If the universe is gone... then where are we?" The Kyuubi waved his tails in irritation. "My best guess would be the outer planes, the space between universes, or some other sort of nullspace." Naruto raised his eyebrows. "So... What do we do now?"

The Kyuubi hummed to himself, which put Naruto on edge. "I can send you to another universe, but that still doesn't solve your little being dead problem. I still have six tails, that will be enough chakra to rip two portals in this nullspace, and still leave me with two tails." Naruto frowned. "You're not coming with me?" The Kyuubi slumped. "What do you think? I gave up three tails to save myself, the only reason your soul hasn't crossed over is becaus it's bound to mine and I can't kill you without damning myself in the process. What you need is a universe like our old one, except without any direct relatives of yours and a brain dead body for you to inhabit." Naruto watched as the Kyuubi was looking through his notes. "Why can't I have any relatives?" The Kyuubi answered him as he was looking. "Because then your soul would seek them out, and merge with theirs. Without any relatives you'd seek out the next closest compatible match, if their will is weak enough you'd displace them entirely."

The Kyuubi closed the last scroll, and then began rummaging in the pile of scrolls he'd already read. "Ah yes, here we go. A lovely little place that is a near exact match in terms of rules, history, and expected future." Naruto smiled at that. The Kyuubi waved his tails in a hypnotic circular arc, and a portal opened up on either side of the room. Mine's on the left, release the seal before you leave." Naruto frowned again, but did as he said... And immediately ran into the portal before the now two tailed fox could get him. A flash filled Naruto's entire being, and he closed his eyes.

When he opened them he saw a man he vaguely remembered meeting a few times looking over him with a concerned expression. "Are you okay princess? You've been out for a few weeks now, I was starting think that you'd never wake up!" Naruto balked at being called princess, but answered him. His voice sounded strange.

Naruto tried to get up, but all he could manage was moving his arms. The blond man hugged him. "Don't try to move Ino, you still need to recover." Naruto's eyes shot open at being called THAT. Looking down on his, or rather her, body confirmed that he was indeed Ino Yamanaka. Specifically six year old Ino, right after her first attempt at using the Mind Transfer Jutsu.

Her soul was lost on that day, but the body now had a new occupant: Naruto Uzumaki, Slayer of Infinity.