Hello, people!

Here it is, the newest instalment in the 'Glimpse' series! After 'Glimpse', after 'Home', after 'You', this is 'The Path'. This will be a multi-chapter story that will be the last part of my 'Glimpse' Universe. The chapters will be posted slowly so be patient. They will also greatly vary in length.

This takes place straight after the ending of 'Glimpse', which you absolutely need to read if you want to understand this. You will also need to have read 'You'. It was written recently but completely disregards the end of cannon: I decided it would be easier for me to keep things the way they were when I wrote 'Glimpse'. That being said, there might be a few elements from more recent cannon (but still Naruto, not new gen) that will sneak in because I like them.

General warnings for the story are as follows : it is a slow story, with lots of character development and exploration. It is an adult story, with mentions of violence, death, drama, tragedy, lots of swearing when Naruto is in a mood, and there might even be some skin later on (minor references, more like). Also, and I think this is the most important warning of all (from the feedback I'm getting): there are a lot of FEELS in this story. We'll be getting right into them. I'm going to make you emotional. You've now been warned.

You will be able to find this on AO3 as well, same username as here, but not for a while as I post things here first.

Once again, thanks a lot to White-Witch-Sakura, who's an amazing person to discuss stories with and who helps me a lot with organizing my ideas into coherent units.

Hope you enjoy this!

Celohei~~

The Path

Chapter 1

Naruto was walking, vaguely aware of the not-quite silence surrounding him. There was wind in the leaves of the trees around him, and a few insects clicking away, undisturbed by his massive presence. There were birds further away, but those tended to feel uneasy around him for now, and they preferred flying out whenever he would get close.

The forest was quiet, but Naruto took a brief and distant pleasure in the not-quite silence. There was life around him. And even if it was subdued, it was a balm to the despair, anger, anguish and sadness that coursed through his body.

Naruto kept walking, stomach constantly burning, and skin covered in goosebumps. He shivered at the utter wrongness that his whole being had become. He knew what was happening, but it didn't take away the grinding pain he'd been feeling every second of every day.

He was alone, and he knew it was hurting Sakura, but he knew she understood. They didn't know what they were going to find at the end of the walk. They knew what they most likely would find, but not really. Ruins and rubble, broken lives and broken people. War.

They had left the war behind them, crying and unbelieving. It was over. But the war had been raging for a long time, and it reached far into the hearts of the villages. Or what was left of them.

Naruto had been alone for about a day now. The soldiers walking (limping) home were injured and the going was slow. The group had stopped on the plain just bordering the forest. Where their path would separate once more. Most of them had already left, both impatient and reluctant to get back to what used to be home. Kiri, Suna, Iwa. No one knew what they would find.

The troops from Kumo had stuck around longer, not minding the detour on their own way home. There hadn't really been a question. A, the last Kage standing – alive - from the five who had been the pillars of the Forces, was just a man. And if he needed to stay around them a little longer before finding the courage to head back to a village that would never truly be home again, no one said anything.

The group of soldiers was camping next to the forest, saying their goodbyes to strangers who had become brothers and sisters, keeping them alive, keeping them sane, or as sane as one could be when fighting dead loved ones. Promises to visit were exchanged, offers, pleads to come live with me.

Naruto had been unable to stay. Too much pain, too many eyes on him, full of too many emotions. Thank you, Savior, pillar, hope. Everyone knew he had singlehandedly ended the war. And they loved him for it. But Naruto couldn't handle it. Not when he had lost so much. Not when they had lost so much. Not when it was taking everything he had not to fall apart, to break at the seams, to let himself be shredded by the vile chakra that was doing its best to smash him into smithereens.

So Naruto had looked at Sakura, he had looked at A, eyes unwavering, mouth silent and a world of words unpronounced yet understood. And he had walked away. One feet in front of the other, stopping only when the pain was too much, occasionally holding himself up against a tree as he emptied his stomach one more time. His throat was raw, his voice broken from the bile burning its way up. Each step was a needle twisting in his marrow, a kunai grating his bones, a jolt of electricity frying his organs. He had been in so much pain since destroying Tobi that he couldn't even remember not being in pain.

Naruto had kept on walking, pushed forward by the need to know. He needed to know what was at the end of the walk, at the end of the war. He needed to know if anything had changed. He hoped that nothing had and that everything had at the same time.

"-Naruto.

-Hey Kurama. How are you?

-Could be better."

The fox's voice was strained, and Naruto could feel how tired he was.

"-Almost there?

-Yeah.

-You're afraid."

Naruto didn't answer. There was no point. Kurama could feel his emotions.

"-Remember what your teammate said.

-Hm?

-That everything has already happened. Whatever might or might not have changed, it's all already happened. There is nothing to do about it.

-I know.

-But it's not enough for you, is it?

-No. I… What if I've changed things?

-What about it?

-What happens to us if I've changed things?

-To us? I don't know.

-And to the others?

-I don't know. My guess is that things will remain the same for them.

-As if nothing had changed?

-You don't know if anything has. But yes, things will remain the same for them.

-But you don't know for us?

-I wish I knew, brat, I wish I knew."

Naruto kept walking. One step he was surrounded by the forest, the next found him in overwhelming white. And silence, utter silence. The pain was gone. So was his body. He was just floating in the void, weightless in the absolute peace that surrounded him.

He instinctually reached within himself, looking for Kurama's chakra and presence. The moment he did so, he took conscience of his body being there, devoid of any trace of his friend. Before he could process it, he realized the giant fox was just there, next to him, as if he'd always been there. Naruto could feel his warmth on his skin, barely distinguishable from the pleasantness of the not-air around them. The place, if it could be called such a thing, resonated with the vibrancy of serenity and rightness.

"-Where are we, Kurama?"

Naruto's voice was muffled in this enclosing nothingness, yet it echoed around them in the gigantic empty space. The moment the sound of his voice ceased to exist, vibrant silent replaced it.

A presence appeared, shapeless but undeniably there. Naruto frowned, trying to pierce the whiteness in front of him.

"-I know you."

The blonde's voice was firm and soft, holding no trace of doubt or question, for Naruto was absolutely certain of himself. He knew who that was. There was a feeling of familiarity, of knowledge, of peace growing in him.

"-You do."

The voice, deep as the ocean, resounded from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

"-You're the Rikudo Sennin."

As if conjured by Naruto's affirmation, the Sage of the Six Paths now stood in front of him, detached from the white background but still part of it at the same time.

"-Father." Kurama's voice vibrated with reverence, respect and love.

"-Kurama, my boy."

The Sage's face remained impassive but Naruto felt a wave of love and happiness pulsing from the legend and enveloping them in a warm cocoon.

"-Father, what is this place?"

It was Naruto who answered, once more absolutely certain of his knowledge.

"-It's Time, but it isn't.

-You can feel it," the Sage responded.

"-Yes. But I don't quite understand it.

-But you know it, deep down.

-Yes, I know this place but I've never been here before.

-Ah.

-But this is not a place, and there is no 'before'. We are outside of Time, aren't we?

-In a way, yes.

-How can it be possible?

-Who are you?"

Naruto frowned at the Sage's question, reaching within himself for the answer. He replied slowly, letting the words come to him as he spoke them.

"-I am Naruto… But not only. I am more than just Naruto. I'm part of you. I'm Ashura."

Once again, as if his words were shaping reality, Naruto felt the change. He felt complete in a way he never knew hadn't been there before.

"-Brother.

-Kurama." The blonde smiled at the fox, love and belonging coursing through him. He turned back to the Sage. "Father. How is this possible? How can I be Ashura and yet not? How can I be Ashura and remain Naruto?

-You are Naruto. You are also my son. But he is not you.

-How?

-Your soul has taken a path that led you to become him. His soul followed another path, one that could have made him become you but didn't.

-I don't understand, Father.

-Souls are unique yet they all exist together. Naruto's path has led his, your soul to become one with Ashura's yet both souls exist separately. Ashura's path led him somewhere else, somewhere this possibility of becoming one with Naruto existed. Naruto made it a reality when he decided that he was one with Ashura, just now. For now, you are one. Naruto and Ashura.

-What does it mean?

-It means that you are part of me, and part of this world like you had never been but could always have been before. Your path has led you here, in-between possibilities, in-between things that can be.

-Why am I here?

-Because your path led you here. And it leads you somewhere else.

-So I have to leave?

-Yes. You're here because you've reached a crossing of paths. Every moment of one's life, the soul is building and following a path that comes into existence through one's choices, whether conscious or not. Every moment exists in an infinity of possibilities. Only one possibility comes into existence as it is lived, but until then, all other possibilities exists just as much, together. All the possibilities are as many different paths that a soul can take. These paths form a web inside which each soul, each human lives, all connected yet distinct. This web of paths both exists inside and outside of Time. Or rather, each soul exists through Time but each path exists in Time. Do you understand?

-I think so. So my path, Naruto's path, has aligned with Ashura's, making us one for now?

-Yes.

-And Time is irrelevant for souls but not paths… Does that mean, in a way, that I jumped from one path to another instead of going through time, into the past? Is that why I could go back and forth?

-In a way, yes. But your soul didn't exist in 'the past'. There was no Naruto there that could or would exist as a possibility to jump to. What you did was traveling through time. By going through time you created a path where this was a possibility. This should not have been possible to you, not as you were. Only I have that power.

-This is very confusing. How come I managed to do that if I was not Ashura until now? I wasn't part of you then.

-Indeed. During your fight I became one of your paths. You somehow managed to walk both your path and mine without renouncing or accepting either. You used powers that brought you onto my path yet your soul remained entirely on yours.

-What powers? I only used what I used before, just more of it. This never happened before. Did it?

-No, it did not. The combination of those powers, together with your feelings, brought your path to me. You used Kurama's chakra, which still had traces of his siblings's. You combined it with nature chakra."

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise.

"-Sage mode.

-Yes. You were using my abilities with natural energy. Mind you, you're hardly the first one to use this chakra, and using Sage chakra usually doesn't bring one onto my path. The human body, and very often soul, cannot sustain the amount of natural chakra that would bring them anywhere close to a true Sage.

-Usually?

-Senju Hashirama.

-The Mokuton!

-Ah. The Mokuton. Hashirama-chan possessed power over life itself. It showed as an ability to use plants, but it was so much more than wood release. He was a true Sage, like you. His powers went even beyond his own understanding, even if he did suspect it. Part of him always feared himself.

-Does that mean that Yamato-taichou is a Sage too?

-No. Like you, Hashirama's soul took a path that brought him to one of the Paths of the Sage. He was also one of my son's transients. By extension, one of yours, or more precisely, you are one of theirs. By using natural chakra while fighting your opponent, who also had some sort of power over life, if a pale imitation of it, and also over death, you accomplished something not even Hashirama did: walking a path of life outside of the time you should have been able to exist.

-Okay… I'm sorry?

-No need to be sorry, my boy. Although highly improbable, one could argue that it must somehow have been a possibility. After all, it did happen."

A feeling of amusement emanated from the Sage despite his serious face.

"-Did Shodaime-sama know of this?

-Of the Paths and his place in it? No. He never knew about being Ashura's transient. I think the part of him that feared his powers prevented him from fully accomplishing them the way you did.

-But I was not aware that I was doing anything.

-You were not but you didn't stop yourself from doing it. Hashirama, for all his strength and courage, never let himself just be, never pushed himself to his very limits and beyond. He feared these limits too much. His soul went on another path. A great one, to be sure, but not one of the Sage."

Naruto didn't speak for a few moments, digesting the information.

Kurama had stayed silent during the conversation, enthralled by the explanations, soothed by his creator's voice and presence.

After a moment that could have lasted an eternity, Naruto's voice rose again in the white emptiness.

"-Father, why am I here? I appreciate the explanation. I can feel the truth of it in my core, in my soul. I am both Naruto and Ashura. I am Hashirama. This is simply how it is. But why tell me all of this? Why not let me simply continuing with my life, the way I did when I was Hashirama?

-I miss my sons. When your path brought you here, I could not not come and see you. You might not be the form of Ashura that I raised but you are a version of him. For allowing me to cross your path again, I thank you. You also brought me my dear Kurama."

As he said that, the Sage turned and moved to gently pet Kurama, who closed his eyes in pleasure.

"-Father, I've missed you," came the fox's unusually soft voice.

"-And I, you, little one. I am so sorry for all the pain you and your siblings had to go through. I did not intend for any of this to happen."

Kurama opened his eyes again, locking his burning gaze onto his creator. Naruto silently observed the two, knowing how emotional a moment this was for his friend, for his brother. He could see pain and sadness flash in the big red eyes, lifetimes of memories when he and his family had been cut off from each other, forced into confinement and pain. Kurama's posture relaxed under the Sage's caresses, and his face softened.

"-It's okay, Father. I have forgiven some of them. I know how much you love them. And I found Naruto. He… he loves me, he loves us, Father."

Naruto could not help but blush at the happiness and sheer wonder in his friend's voice. The Sage's unmoving face smiled, happiness blanketing the space around them.

"-I'm glad. He is a beautiful soul. I'm glad you found him and allowed him to see you, the real you. You deserve to be loved, Kurama-chan. You and all your siblings.

-Father, he's hurting.

-He is. He is dealing with a great deal of pain indeed. His body and his soul. I'm sorry, my boy, there is nothing I can do about that. It is the path you both are on."

The Sage tunred back to Naruto without removing his hand from Kurama's fur.

"-You will have to choose which path to take from now. Every soul forges its own path through the possible realities. Yours is no different. It will lead you on a particular path. Which one, I do not know yet, and neither will you until you are on it. As my son, I can however offer you the choice of knowledge.

-Knowledge?

-Yes. Because you are a descendant of mine, your soul transcends paths and Time. I can give you the ability to retain that knowledge if you decide to explore the different paths.

-But I won't consciously know if that is the case until I'm on that path?

-Exactly. The choice is this: you remain on your current path and your soul follows it until it becomes another path. Your soul remains one but this is Naruto's path. As such, you will only ever be Naruto. You will have the knowledge of this meeting, but you will live the rest of your life as Naruto. I cannot tell you if you will remain on Ashura's path for I do not know the answer. Or you can remain Naruto of the Paths, my son, and walk different paths. You will live a different life, one that I do not know yet either. You will know it as you walk it.

-What will happen to the other path? The one where I'm Naruto? Will I die, or stop to exist if my soul takes the other path?

-No, your soul will follow both paths as two possibilities. Should you take the diverging path, the one you created, you will keep my powers to exist on distinct paths simultaneously, as you did during your fight. But it will not be your body that will exist on both paths, it is your soul. Naruto will live his life as himself and not as a descendant of the Six Paths. You, as Ashura, will live yours as my descendant, aware of your path but not of your soul's other path. You will only become one again when both paths have ended and become a new one.

-So I can continue my life as it is and that's it. Or I can choose whichever path I ended up on during my fight, live a life there, aware of it being only just one path while another version of my soul keeps on living my other life, unaware of me. And I will get that soul's memories back after we both die, is that it?

-Simply put, yes. Although it's not so much memories as it is truly your life. You will be the same soul as the one following that path.

-I see. So is that my choice? Which path to take?

-No. You will not make that choice. Not consciously. That is for your soul, your deepest desires and dreams, and who you are at your very core to forge the path. Your choice now is whether you wish to keep the knowledge of the Paths should your soul take the diverging one.

-That seems awfully easy. What is the catch?

-There is no catch. This is not a deal or a test. Simply a possibility that exists. But knowledge can be a terrible burden to carry. You will not be able to jump between paths again. Knowing there is another path and being unable to live it until it has already unfolded and passed is a hard thing to live with. I can take that knowledge away by separating your paths.

-Will I become one with that soul again at the end of the path then?

-No, the paths will forever be separate if you choose not to keep the knowledge, as you will cease to be a Sage of the Six Paths, but neither will you fully be Naruto. You will become another.

-Do I have to choose now?

-You can take a moment, there is no Time here."

Naruto nodded and walked towards Kurama. He sat down next to the fox's head, legs crossed in a meditative position, head bent forward so that his forehead rested on his friend's. Naruto closed his eyes and slowly breathed the non-air of this timeless place.

He was so confused by the conversation. All this stuff about souls and paths was ridiculous. Yet it all made sense. He knew in his heart that this was all real, that it was the truth. He knew it as part of him. He was Naruto and yet so much more. He could feel it in his soul. He was Ashura, son of the Sage of the Six Paths, one soul with multiple paths, past, present and future.

After a lifetime of silent stillness, Kurama talked.

"-Brother?

-Yeah?

-You have decided." It was not a question.

"-Yeah.

-You're taking it, the knowledge.

-You know me.

-If we go there, it'll hurt. No turning back. You might never see them again.

-I will. One way or another, they will be on my path, even if it's as part of another life.

-It might not be another life. We might yet stay on the same path.

-We?

-I'll go wherever you go, you know that.

-I wouldn't have it any other way, whichever path we end up on."

Naruto opened his eyes and smiled at Kurama, who grinned right back at him. The Rikudo Sennin's voice rose once more around them, full of pride.

"-My sons." Both Naruto and Kurama turned to him, still smiling. "Very well. Live well, Naruto of the Paths."

The white eternity vanished, and Naruto finished the step he had taken lifetimes ago, foot coming into contact with the soft forest floor.

Pain slammed back into him, numbing his mind and blurring his surroundings. Yet he felt complete, aware of himself like he'd never felt before. He could feel Kurama's chakra fighting Tobi's, the fox a silent presence that pulsed through him. Naruto was aware of each step he took. He could almost feel the tiles of his soul path coming into existence at each contact of his feet with the ground, resonating with all the possibilities existing on top of one another.

Soon the feeling faded and nothing resonated in him but the sound of his pained breathing, He was simply walking, oblivious of the path he was on.

After a few more hours of slowly walking, he stopped. In front of him he could feel a barrier, a wall of barely perceptible chakra. He did not know this barrier. It had never been there before. From the reports he had received while on the front, the barriers surrounding Konoha had all been shattered through years of war. The truth was that Pain had destroyed all the protective constructs when he leveled the village. The barriers that had been put into place after his invasion had never been as strong as the original ones. And none of them had survived the repeated waves of destructive chakra radiating from the front lines, as far away as they had been. Naruto was the only person in the village who could have created such a barrier as the one he could feel a few feet in front of him. No one else had the knowledge necessary.

But Naruto hadn't set foot in Konoha in years. Shikamaru had been the one taking care of the village while Naruto, who had become Hokage after Tsunade's death, had been commanding the troops. Naruto had refused to put the village at risk by simply being there. Pain had made sure he was aware of what risk this would create.

Naruto closed his eyes and let pain wash over him. He knew which path he was on.

He couldn't say he was surprised. It had always been his deepest wish, to have a family. It made sense for his soul to have taken the path of maybe. The path where his father might have been able to do things differently from his own. He knew that things might not be all that different from what he had left behind him. But here, there was a possibility, a chance, that he would have a different life waiting for him.

Naruto felt the loss settle deep inside him, feeding the almost overwhelming ache caused by Tobi's lingering energy. Images flashed through his mind. Loved ones long gone that he would forever miss. But more prominent were the images of the loved ones he will not get to see again before this life was over. People who had become precious to him through the war and who had survived it. Ino, A, Sakura, Shikamaru… People from Naruto's life. Even though he knew his soul would live with them, he wouldn't. They were lost to him for now, just as surely as if they were dead. When he would be reunited with them again, they would be part of a life spent, a life passed, and barely more than memories despite the Rikudo's insurance that it would be more than that.

Naruto would never be there for them again.

He would have to trust his soul to help them reconstruct their world after the war. They would be all right. They were strong. The strongest of them all. They had survived horror and despair.

Naruto slowly inhaled and held his breath. He closed his eyes. He could feel it in him. This Naruto's life, seeping into him, settling into his bones, as if it had always belonged there. The physical pain and the anguish in his heart prevented him from looking into that life. He did not want to know. So he pushed that life away, simply accepting it as a part of his soul coming back to him. It came to him easily. After all, he had years of practice with his Kage Bunshin. He had gotten used to instinctually disregarding any irrelevant or non-vital information.

Right now, he had to focus on his surroundings. The barrier was somewhat familiar. He could feel it humming with power, only detectable to him because it used natural chakra.

Naruto stepped forward, straightening his back. He was Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto, Supreme Commander of the Allied Shinobis Forces, Sixth Hokage of Konoha, Jinchuriki of the Kyubi, friend of Kurama, Ashura of the Six Paths, and he was walking into unknown territory.

He raised his hand and placed it on the barrier. It pulsed once then vibrated, slightly resisting his push before accepting him and letting him through. Once he was on the other side, Naruto stopped and waited, unsure how to proceed. He didn't have to wait for long.