"Death ends a life, not a relationship."

― Mitch Albom,

"Where am I, I don't understand," said Naruto as he tried to open his eyes but found that he couldn't even move a single finger.

"Don't try to move, I'm having a hard enough time keeping you here," said the original Naruto while he focused on preventing the Earth-bender from leaving for the afterlife, before he could have a chance to finish his job.

"What are you doing?" asked Naruto, his voice tired and his body in constant pain.

"If you had listened to me then you would have been able to finish your job but since you died, I have to keep you around for a few more months. You see, without you there then the war would be lost and Vaatu would be one-step closer to being free. You need to be there to help the Avatar in his final battle, against the Fire Lord, so I'm trying to keep you in spirit from for as long as I can," explained the original, with annoyance clear in his voice.

"Can I ask you something?"

"I doubt saying "no" would stop you anyway," said Naruto,

"Did the girls make it?" asked Naruto while one of his eyes managed to open just a little, revealing a bright blue eye.

"Yea, you managed to give them enough time to escape and they made it to Ba Sing Se," Naruto responded as the two blonds just stared at each other.

"Good, I'm glad they were able to make it back alive… that makes me happy," said Naruto before he closed his eye and let the other Naruto continue to do whatever he was doing.

"You know, I wasn't always like this. I use to be really happy, all the time, but I guess I'm just out of practice when it comes to dealing with normal people. You see, I fought Vaatu alongside Avatar Wan but I ended up paying a price. When Avatar Wan sealed Vaatu away, I knew that the prison wouldn't hold him as long as he needed to be held. So I decided to stay behind and make sure the prison kept him in. Because I stayed in the spirit world, I was doomed to never age and haven't seen another human in the last almost nine-thousand years," said Naruto, his tone filled with something else besides indifference.

"Why are you tell me this?" asked the Earth-bending Naruto, who didn't even bother to open his eyes again.

"I tell every one of my other selves this little story. I tell them what happened, why they even exist, and even their connection with Vaatu. Some of them find peace from the answers, other get angry and just insult me, and there are even some who thank me because of what they were able to do in their lives. I don't expect anything more than anger but that is the sacrifice that must be made."

"I'm guessing we have some time, so why don't you tell me?"

"It should be best to tell you our connection to the Avatar. You see, during that last battle with Vaatu, the spirit managed to infect Wan before he could completely merge with Raava, the Avatar spirit. So, to make sure Vaatu wouldn't win, Kurama and I used some of our own energy to suppress that darkness but it would require more energy as time went on. I however, decided that Vaatu's prison needed more attention but also knew that the darkness would corrupt the future Avatars, if nothing was done about it. So I, with the help of Wan and Kurama, managed to bond a part of my own soul to Raava but something happened," the original Naruto began, as he tried harder to keep this Naruto from fading before he could complete his destiny.

"What happened?" asked Naruto who could feel his own body grow weaker as the afterlife continued to call his name.

"I didn't know it but the first time I fought Vaatu, he managed to infect me with some of his own darkness and it was only doubled when a piece of my soul touched the Avatar's darkness. I knew then that Vaatu would have an influence on any of the rebirths, so I had Kurama seal a piece of himself as well, if only to make sure Vaatu wouldn't be able to completely influence any of you. It turns out that he found a way to corrupt the different elements you would all receive and each time you used them, he would grow in strength and influence. That's why I warned you to never use his power again," Naruto explained.

"Where did we originally come from?" the clone asked, making Naruto's eyes widen a fraction.

"I've never been asked that before. We came from a world drastically different yet nearly the same as this one. Our people were strong and I eventually rose to become the strongest in all recorded history but with that strength came an ego. I believed I couldn't be defeated and that's what caused me to be tricked and sent here. However, I'm not sad that we came to a place that we could help people try and live peaceful lives."

"What's going to happen to me once my purpose is fulfilled?" asked Naruto.

"You'll be sent to the afterlife and once the people you've met died, they will join you there as well. This is the case with all of your brothers but I highly doubt you will ever meet any of them. I hear that the afterlife is a big place," Naruto joked, his first joke in several thousand years.

"Do you know what's going on down there, can you tell me what's happening?" asked Naruto.

"Yea, it's been several months since you died, to them, and they are now preparing for their last fight against the Fire Nation. They missed the day when the Fire-benders would lose their power and now must fight them on the day they are at their strongest. Aang is preparing himself to face the Fire Lord, Zuko, the Fire Lord's son, is preparing to save his nation from his sister, Katara plans to help Zuko, and Sokka along with Toph and Suki are trying to find a way to bring down a group of Fire Nation war blimps," said Naruto, his voice back to being calm and neutral while the Earth-bender's eyes snapped open and he suddenly sat up.

"Then what are we waiting for, we have to help them!" yelled Naruto but the original just stared at him.

"You're dead, there's not much you can do. In fact, all you can do is wait for you time to help Aang and just hope that the others survive," said Naruto only for his element bending clone to punch him right in the face.

"There's no way that you're me! I'd never just lay down and wait just to help when I'm told! My job is to protect the ones I care about and not even death can stop me from doing that!" Naruto roared while the original just whipped the blood off his face.

"There's a possible chance that they could die even if you went to help," he said but that only made the fire, in Naruto's eyes, glow even brighter.

"Then, at least, I could say that I tried to save them. I don't care if I have to crawl my way out of this place, I'm going to protect them!" yelled Naruto but, just as he was about to take off, the original placed his hand on his shoulder and gave him a smile.

"Looks like you're the one who inherited it after all. All the past versions have accepted that they died and simply believed everything would work out. You seem to have inherited my determination to never give up," said Naruto, only to receive a confused look from his clone.

"What?" he asked.

"No time to explain but I'm going to give you a second chance."

"But didn't you say I was dead?"

"You'll live but once you die again, no one will remember anything about your time with them. Anything you do during this time will be a haze in their memory. If you get this second chance, can you live with knowing you will be forgotten?" asked Naruto.

"If it means that I can protect Toph again then yes," was the clone's response.

"Then get ready because coming back to life is much more painful than dying," and with that, the clone was consumed in a white light and vanished.

(Middle of Earth Kingdom: Field of Death)

Down at the same field he died in, Naruto's decayed hand seemed to shoot up, out of the ground, from where he was buried. Slowly skin formed around the decayed appendage and, a moment later, a fully revived Naruto shot up out of the ground. The markings on his, fully healed, chest began to glow once again. Naruto's bright blue eyes and he took his first breath of his new life. That's also when Naruto saw the massive comet carving a firy path through the once bright blue sky.

"Alright, time to get started," said Naruto before he shot forward, towards the strange machines currently flying towards the Earth Kingdom.

As Naruto ran, he saw monstrous jets of fire shoot from shoot from the first machine to reach the Earth Kingdom. Seeing this only made Naruto push his living body even further, to the point he was, once again, carving a path through the very ground itself. His sights were set on the one place Toph might be and there was no way he would let anything bad happen to her. As Naruto neared the first machine, he saw a slightly older Aang launch several chunks of rock at the flying machine before taking it down with a powerful blast of fire.

'I guess Toph isn't on that one, better get some momentum if I'm going to make it to the others,' thought Naruto, who was oblivious to the fight between the Avatar and the, self-proclaimed, Phoenix King.

"Come on. Come ON. COME ON!" yelled Naruto, who was trying to build up even more momentum, then he leapt into the air using everything he had.

This would be next to impossible for any normal bender, even for one such as Naruto, but he had a feeling someone was giving him a little boost. As Naruto sailed through the air, he noticed that one of the flying machines actually slammed into the one next to it, which gave Naruto the idea that Sokka was driving for some reason.

"Go get her," the original Naruto whispered in Naruto's mind.

"Toph, here I come!" Naruto yelled before, on pure instinct, he used his Earth-bending to actually make a ramp over to the side of the next airship.

Not even focusing on the fact he had just bent metal like he would earth, Naruto kept moving and even noticed Sokka and Toph leap off one of the, nearly destroyed, airships. Naruto found that he couldn't breathe when he saw them miss and slam into the side of the airship instead of landing on top of it. Not thinking past saving Sokka and Toph, Naruto dove off the edge only to find two Fire-benders about to fry his friends alive. Being perhaps overly aggressive, Naruto landed behind one of the Fire-benders, grabbed him by his armor, before throwing him over the shocked Sokka and into the other Fire-bender.

"Y-You're supposed to be dead," said Sokka, not really believing his own eyes, while Naruto leapt over to them and helped both of them up.

"Sokka, who is it?" asked Toph, only to feel the familiar sensation of Naruto placing his hand on her head.

"Good to see you again Toph," said Naruto right before Toph promptly passed out, only for Naruto to catch her before she could fall of the airship.

"How are you alive?" asked Sokka, but was interrupted by another airship crashing into them, which was being flown by Suki of all people.

"Come on, we have to get back to Aang," said Naruto before he jumped onto the other airship followed by a limping Sokka, who somehow managed to face-plant his landing.

As they made their way back to where Aang was fighting the ex-Fire Lord, they all saw blue and red light shoot up into the sky. Naruto knew that this was the moment his original self was talking about, this was the moment he was meant for, and this was the moment he would prove himself. It was then that Naruto found himself suddenly floating next to Aang and the man who he had been fighting. Naruto didn't know what Aang was trying to do but the read creeping onto Aang's blue arms wasn't a good sign.

"You must help him, if he fails then this world will fall under a veil of eternal darkness," Naruto said to his clone.

"Alright," was all Naruto said before he placed his hand on Aang's shoulder and his body turned a bright yellow, which seemed to strengthen Aang's blue.

With the combined might of the Avatar and Naruto, this warmonger stood no chance of victory. While the man's will was strong, and he put up a good fight, both teenagers managed to overwhelm him, which caused a beam of blue energy to be shot up into the sky. When the light died down, the man was on the ground while Naruto and Aang stood tall.

"Naruto, you're back," said Aang, not even seeming phased by the fact that Naruto was alive again.

"You don't seem surprised I'm alive."

"I met someone who could fill me in, I'm glad your back," said Aang, while the airship from before landed next to them.

"How, in the name of the spirits, did you get all the way over here?!" were the first word out of Sokka's mouth the moment him, Suki, and, a now awake, Toph got off the airship.

"That's going to take a while to explain," said Naruto as Toph took several steps forward and just stopped right in front of him.

"Is it really you?" asked Toph.

"Yea Toph, it's me," said Naruto and, a moment later, Toph was firmly wrapped in Naruto's arms while listening to a sound she never thought she would hear again… his heart.

(Several years later)

"Come on Naruto, we're going to be late!" yelled a now nineteen year old Toph who was dragging a twenty two year old Naruto down the streets of the vastly growing Republic City.

"Slow down Toph, you're going to tear my arm off!" Naruto laughed as he admired his, newly publically realized, blind girlfriend.

Over the almost six years since the end of the one-hundred war, Toph has grown both as an Earth-bender and as a woman. While Naruto had grown to about a little over six foot, Toph had grown to be about five-foot ten. Both of them had powerful bodies, like all Earth-benders, but there was a difference in them. While Naruto was built for power, Toph built herself for as much speed. Under her armor, Toph was well toned and had the body most women could only dream of.

"Oh suck it up, I don't want us to be late for our first day on the job!" the blind Earth-bender yelled, clearly not knowing all the paperwork he would be forced to do for her.

"Toph, we live just around the corner, we could have slept in," Naruto wined as they arrived at the newly created Republic City Police station.

"Early bird gets the worm," Toph quoted while Naruto groaned slightly.

"I can't believe you're using my own advice against me," he said as they passed the new members of the police force.

"Oh you're just mad that I'm your boss now," Toph teased as she let go of his almost crushed hand and instead looped her arm around his.

"Please, I'll be stuck doing the paperwork while you get to play out in the field. There is something really wrong about this set up," Naruto practically cried as they walked through the police station and into their shared office.

Once inside, Toph quickly slammed the metal door closed, while Naruto sat down at the desk. What Naruto didn't expect was for Toph to Metal-bend the chair away from the desk before she straddled Naruto's lap, with his face level with her armor covered chest. The grin she was giving him was the one she usually wore after beating the living shit out of a criminal resisting arrest.

"Toph, you do know that anyone could walk in on us at any moment, right?" asked Naruto but Toph just trailed her fingers down Naruto's own armor covered chest.

"Not if I bent the metal into the doorframe so we won't be disturbed," she teased, somehow knowing where to trace her fingers, despite the fact that she was blind.

Naruto was about to say something else but Toph silenced him with her lips. Say what you want about the tomboy but she is very good at kissing and Naruto would be damned if he stopped her. So what he did do is suddenly stand up, make her sit down on top of their desk, and deepened their kiss. Toph moaned slightly from Naruto taking control, which is something he's only ever done once, and she hated it and loved it all at the same time.

"No fare," she gasped, her cheeks a deep red from the kiss, while her blind eyes seemed to be glazed over slightly.

"You're the boss at work; I make you hot all over. Seems fare to me," Naruto teased as he used his honed Metal-bending to undo the clamps holding her armor together and began to kiss her neck ever so softly.

"N-Not fair," Toph whispered again but now she was the one pulling Naruto's head closer into her neck.

"Naruto, Toph why is the door wedged into the wall?" asked the familiar voice of Aang, who was just outside the door.

"Dammit," Toph hissed but Naruto just stopped attacking her neck and instead moved up next to her ear.

"If we're really quiet then maybe he'll go away," he whispered while his breath tickled her hear and sent a shiver half way up her spine.

"I can here you guys whispering in there," Aang commented before Toph roughly got out from under Naruto, marched over to the door, and nearly ripped it off the wall when she opened it.

"What!?" she hissed, right in Aang's face, before she noticed that Katara, Sokka, and Suki were also with him.

"Um, we came over to congratulate you on become the first Chief of the Republic City police department," Aang said rather nervously, proving that an angry Top could even scare the great Avatar.

"Oh, um just a second," Toph said, her anger gone and replaced by nervousness, before she slowly closed the door.

When she turned back to where Naruto was supposed to be, she found him sitting at the desk, doing paperwork, as if he hadn't just left a hickey on her neck. She could almost imagine the grin he was shooting her way and so she gave him the best glare a blind girl could give someone she had just made out with.

"Where did you put my armor?" she asked, considering the only thing she wore under the armor was a skintight thin black shirt.

"What, you should show off your figure more often," Naruto teased again.

"Naruto," she warned.

"Oh fine," said Naruto before he tossed her the dark grey armor he had hidden under the desk, on his lap.

(Later that day)

Naruto let out a deep sigh as he entered the apartment he and Toph shared in the upper district of Republic City. It had been a long day of doing nothing but paperwork and his hand felt like it was about to fall off. So he removed his armor, removed his shirt, and walked into the decent sized kitchen to find something to eat. Just as Naruto sat down on his comfortable couch, the door was all but kicked down and a miffed Toph stormed in before slamming the door with enough force to shake the wall.

"You!" Toph hissed menacingly as she marched up to a surprised Naruto, while her armor all but shot off her body.

"Me?" Naruto asked, looking dumbly at her with a piece of chicken in his right hand only for Toph to smack it away the moment she got close to him.

By the look in her blind eyes, Naruto half expected to be sent through their apartment wall, but was surprised when she kissed him instead. Well "kiss" wasn't the right word for what Toph was doing to Naruto. It was more like she was ravishing his mouth, with her tongue, with as much ferocity as she does when fighting crime. Naruto was even a little shocked, to the point where she was able to lay him flat on the couch before climbing on top of him, but he soon snapped out of it and kissed her back.

"You bastard," she growled before she actually grabbed the back of his head, by his hair, and pulled back before she attacked his neck.

"Shit!" Naruto hissed, though he was rather turned on by how aggressive Toph was being, and even gasped slightly when Toph nipped at the skin where his neck and shoulder collarbone met.

"You are going to finish what you started in the office," she demanded, leaving no room for argument, while she began to kiss down his bare chest.

"I have no objections," Naruto managed to say before Toph sat up and teasingly took off her shirt, exposing her own impressive upper body to the world, well Naruto at least.

"Oh, what's this?" asked Toph, having noticed Naruto's growing erection through the thin material that covered both their lower bodies.

"I must be very happy to see you," was Naruto response while Toph slowly grinded herself against his crotch, feeling just how big he was getting.

Toph didn't want to wait a second more and neither could Naruto, if his racing heart was anything to go by. She was so happy that she was blind because she would feel even more embarrassed if she could see the intensity of Naruto's gaze, whereas at the moment she could only feel it. Then she felt something soft, and wet, wrap around her right nipple, making her eyes widen slightly and a gasp escape her lip. Naruto's left hand soon found its way to Toph's left breast, which he began to massage smoothly, and Toph was left to wonder what happened to Naruto's right hand.

'W-What is he doing?' she thought before she felt something slip between the thin fabric of her pants and her smooth skin.

Toph would have asked him what he was doing had his mouth not left her nipple and claimed her mouth instead. The sensation of Naruto's warm mouth leaving her, now hard and wet, nipple made her want to groan in disappointment but she was too caught up in what Naruto was doing with his right hand. The way his fingers would glide against her folds, never going any deeper, would make her hips buck as if trying to make them slip inside her. Toph then found her ass in the air because Naruto pulled them both back down, with his hand behind her head, and this made it much harder for her to get what she wanted from his magic fingers.

"Fuck," she cursed, still not able to slip those damn fingers inside her wet folds, while her juices soaked his fingers and even began to soak through the fabric of her pants.

Naruto, on the other hand, could practically smell just how excited his little Earth-bender was becoming. The thin line of sweat forming on the edges of her short hair was making his heart pound while that damn needy look on her face made his mouth water in anticipation. It felt like dangling a nice big piece of meat in front of a starving man chained to a wall. However, his devious mind demanded he play with her a little more, no matter how much he wanted to just dive into the main course. So he decided to give her a little of what she wanted and slipped his index finger inside Toph's soaked pussy. Her back arched as the foreign object invaded her body but the low moan said she liked it.

"Add another," she whispered into his ear, nibbling on it slight, before she felt his middle finger join his index inside the warmth of her body.

"You're going to have to do the next part yourself," Naruto whispered back as he stopped moving his two fingers, leaving Toph to figure out the rest.

"You damn sadist," Toph cursed, feeling almost embarrassed for the way she was practically humping Naruto's fingers, but if felt so damn good!

Naruto could tell she was coming closer and closer to her edge. Toph's breaths were becoming short and labored, her mouth slightly hung open, and her hip movements were becoming much faster than they had before. Toph was even using Naruto's chest for support as she tried to drive herself over the edge, as fast as her hips would allow. Sadly, the more she bucked, the farther away her climax seemed to be.

"Not enough," Toph said before suddenly reaching down and literally ripping the thin fabric that represented Naruto's pants.

Naruto was surprised by Toph's sudden action but knew what she wanted and planned to give it to her. So he rolled them over, which ended up with both of them on the ground, and slowly pulled down Top's pants with his free left hand. Once free of the black fabric, Naruto pulled his two fingers free from Toph's drenched folds, before he lined his fully erected rod with her sex and made sure she could tell what he was about to do.

"What are you waiting for, shove it in so I can get over the pain faster!" Toph demanded, with that sexy aggression she always has.

"Damn Toph, so forceful," said Naruto, before quickly sheathing himself all the way inside of her, making Toph's back arch, her eyes widen, and her mouth open in a silent scream.

Toph's nails raked his back, rather painfully, while she let out the breath she had found herself holding. No matter how much pain she had ever felt during a fight, losing her virginity was both the most painful and happiest moment of her life. Toph knew that Naruto was above average when it came to his lower regions but, to Toph, she felt like a damn airship was suddenly shoved inside her. Naruto himself was pleasantly surprised when he felt just how tight, not to mention warm, Toph was and had to stop himself from moving before she was ready for him to. Restraint was a total bitch in these kinds of situations.

"O-Ok, I think I'm ready," Toph whispered, although not completely sure she was.

"I'll take it slow," Naruto said softly as he wiped away the tears that formed in the corner of her pale green eyes.

And Naruto did take it slow, he took it slow to the point that Toph knew he was just trying to torture her. In fact, he had been deliberately torturing her for the last five minutes and she was a second away from just flipping them over and riding him until she was satisfied. However, he train of thought was suddenly interrupted by the amazing feeling of Naruto suddenly thrusting inside of her. Now that was a sensation she wanted to feel again.

"Do that again," Toph demanded and he did do it again, in fact, he did it several more amazing times.

Along the amazing pleasure ride, they were both experiencing, both of them somehow made it to the wall, where Naruto was thrusting into Toph's sex with all he had. Toph, on the other hand, was practically on cloud nine from all the new sensations her body was feeling. Because of her blindness, everything Toph felt was practically doubled and so sex was mind-blowing to her. She could practically feel every part of her pussy tighten when Naruto's rod tried to leave her. She felt how her sex expanded and greedily swallowed him up again. Naruto's heart was like a drum pounding in her head and that musky smell, he was producing, was practically making her eyes roll into the back of her head.

The next thing both of them knew is that they were in their bedroom and still going strong. This time Naruto was on his back and Toph was bouncing up and down on him without a care in the world. Her hair had fallen out of its usual style, showing it really went down to her bid back; they were both covered in a thin layer of sweat, and even their muscles began to burn. Naruto knew his end was coming, and fast, and Toph had already reached her end at least once. Hell, she was most likely already about to be thrown over the edge again and this time he planned to join her.

"Toph, slow down," Naruto somehow managed to say but Toph just shook her head.

"No, so close!" she exclaimed while never letting up.

"Damn it Toph, if I don't pull out then!" Naruto was then silenced by Toph with a lava hot kiss, which could have melted solid stone.

"Inside," was all she had to say before both of them were sent into a blissful blinding numbness.

As their muscles tensed, both of them were left momentarily frozen in time. Everything around them seemed to be ten times greater than normal. Toph's senses could feel everything around her, she could smell every scent that filled their home, and she was left almost breathless. For Naruto, he could see everything clearer than ever before. When he looked at Toph, it was as if he was seeing her for the first time and was left in awe. The way she practically glowed, made his eyes widen and, just like that, they were brought crashing back down to earth.

"Holly shit," was all Toph could say as her entire body rested on top of Naruto's, with her head right over his beating heart.

"Agreed," said Naruto while he tried to get his harsh breathing under control.

Now both Earth-benders just laid there, without a care in the world, and simply basked in the afterglow of their first night together. Naruto knew he had just, most likely, impregnated the Chief of Police and Toph knew it to. However, she couldn't help but smile at the warm feeling she got when the thought, about actually being a mother, entered her mind.

"Heh, I'm probably going to get pregnant now," Toph whispered, a slight laugh in her voice.

"Yep, the big bad Toph might actually be a mommy," Naruto teased, making Toph smile.

"I wouldn't even know how to take care of the little brat," the blind Earth-bender admitted while Naruto covered them both in their bed's blanket.

"Me neither," Naruto admitted himself.

"Maybe I'm just being all over dramatic but what would we name her?" asked Toph, while Naruto gave her a look.

"Her?" he asked, making Toph grin.

"Oh we both know it would be a kick ass girl, just like her mom!" said Toph, who was really beginning to like the idea of a kid to pass on her awesomeness.

"How about… Lin?" asked Naruto.

"Who's last name would Lin have?"

"Well I don't know my own last name. So I would say her full name would be, Lin Beifong," said Naruto, who received a small kiss from his smiling girlfriend.

"Lin Beifong, you are going to be a total badass."

Well this is it for this little prequel to my originally intended crossover. At first I wanted to end it with Naruto just saying goodbye to his friends before just moving one but then I realized "Hey, the real Naruto would just give death the finger before going back to kick a little more ass!". So I decided to end it on a happier note and make Naruto the official father of Lin Beifong, also the Lemon was just a little gift considering I rarely wrote one in this small story. So I will post up a notice when I have the sequil out to read! REVIEW!