Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto or most of the things you will read in this story.

Chapter 1 – Options

"Naruto, Naruto, Naruto" called out a voice to a young boy who lay unconscious before it.

"Huh, w-wh-who's there?" said a 5 year old Naruto Uzumaki.

"I'm the guardian of the gate" said the voice in an emotionless manner.

"What … guardian of the gate?" said the blonde haired boy who now started to open his eyes. As he opened his eyes all he saw was white and a large figure that neither seemed masculine or feminine with a robe that seemed to be of both light and darkness.

"Wha..wha...where am I?" Naruto asked now afraid and wondering if he had died.

The last thing Naruto remembered was being chased by another mob led by a silver haired ninja that had odd mismatched eyes like one didn't belong to him. Then he felt like something pierced him in his back and then being electrocuted before it pierced his heart.

"There is no need to be afraid Naruto " the guardian said beckoning Naruto to sit in a comfy looking chair that suddenly appeared.

Naruto got up and sat down figuring that nothing worse can happen to him than what's already happened.

"Umm Mr. Gate Guardian person aren't you going to have a seat too?" Naruto asked starting to feel more sure of himself.

The guardian started to laugh which only made Naruto look at it questioningly.

"Ha, ha, ha…no Naruto I'll be fine, but feel free to get comfortable as we have a lot to discuss" the guardian said now with a slight smile.

Naruto once again looked quizzically at the guardian.

"Umm what would you have to talk about with me?" Naruto asked now more curious then afraid.

"Well, my bosses feel that your life has been an unfair hardship. There are few in the history of time that can compare to the sheer torture and pain that you've had to endure in such a short time span" the guardian said.

Naruto said nothing only looked down remembering what was going on just before he ended up here.

"Well Naruto, as I said my bosses feel you deserve a second chance at life. The truth is you are a very special boy Naruto and you were meant to be a great hero in your world, perhaps the greatest. Unfortunately even the best of plans can be ruined, but we are going to fix that" the guardian said as he studied Naruto's reaction.

Naruto looked up again trying to see if this was all a lie, but sensing nothing decided to hear the rest of this.

"First is there anything you would like to ask me about?" The guardian said.

"Like what?" Naruto asked.

"Well how about we start with why the villagers hated you Naruto. I know you have wanted the answer to that question for some time now" the guardian said waiting on a response.

"Why do they hate me Guardian-sama?" Naruto asked as the guardian was right about this being one of the things he constantly wondered about.

"Well, it starts on the day of your birth" it said.

'I've been hated since the day I was born. So no one ever loved me' Naruto thought.

Naruto was on the verge of tears when he saw the guardian was preparing to speak again.

"Naruto on the day you were born a great man the leader of your village sealed a demon inside of you to stop it from further attacking and destroying your village" it said pausing to let this bit of info sink in.

'So I am the demon everyone says I am…no wonder they all hate me' Naruto thought.

"Naruto this is the reason they do all the terrible things to you, but you are not the demon. You are or were before your death what are known as a Jinchūriki. It simply means the power of human sacrifice, which is what most jinchūriki are made through sacrifice either their own or the person who seals the entity into them. Although it is inside you it is not apart of you although a bit of it's chakra was meant to leak into you and helps heal you" the guardian chose this moment to pause again.

'So then they are all wrong about me. I'm not a demon. Then why do the keep hurting me? Naruto wondered.

"The villagers take out their frustrations on you, because they choose not to see you for what you really are and instead see you as the very demon you protect them from every day you existed. They see you as the source of their pain and thus chose to take out their frustration and pain on you. However, that is to simple an explanation as they know the truth but choose to see you as Kyūbi, because Kyūbi was very strong while you are weak. They choose to hurt you in an attempt to get at the real source of their pain the Kyūbi no Yōko, because they couldn't hurt it but they can hurt you" taking another pause he sees Naurto is beginning to understand.

"Thank you for explaining this to me Guardian-sama, but if I'm here where is the Kyūbi?" Naruto asked.

As soon as Naruto said this a bubbling red ooze seeped from him. The ooze grew until it formed a giant red fox with 9 tails swishing behind it. The fox looked down on it's container and sneered with malice as it now had the chance to end the Uzumaki line once and for all, but was interrupted before it could do anything to the boy.

"Rina, behave" the Guardian bellows to the larger fox .

The fox looked down to see the other figure standing in front of it's former jailer and began to chuckle.

"If it isn't little Mao. What are you doing here?" The nine-tailed fox now known as Rina asks.

"Shinigami-sama instructed me to help young Naruto here after those villagers messed up Kami's plan" The gate guardian now known as Mao says.

"Since when does Kami involve herself with the lower realms?" the fox inquired.

"She doesn't, but for some reason this world you and the boy are from intrigues her and she sees it going down a bad path. This boy is the key to fixing it, which is the only reason why the both of you aren't in Hell" Mao informs them.

"What? I was going to be sent to Hell! I didn't do anything wrong!" Naruto shouts.

'Shit, Hell. Makai is one thing, but Hell is inescapable even for demons like me. The only way to get out of hell is to truly repent for all of the evil deeds you have done, but until then you are forced to endure an endless cycle of torture the likes of which even the Jūbai was afraid of' Rina thought.

"Calm down Naruto. Like I said that was what was supposed to happen, but it's not now so don't worry okay" Mao says.

Naruto and Rina both gave a sigh of relief and then nodded.

"Then what's going to happen to us?" Naruto asked.

"First, Rina is going back to Makai. I am sure her mate and children will be happy to see her again" Mao says.

"What? I thought they were all killed by that bastard Uchiha" Rina says in shock.

"That was just a genjutsu he used to get you to lower your defenses so he could control you again Rina. I assure you your family is happy and safe waiting for you to return home" Mao informs the demonic entity.

"Well, what are you waiting for! Open a portal and send me back now!"Kyūbi shouts.

Mao frowns at the amount of disrespect it was being shown, but knew the fox was just wanting to see her family that she thought had been taken from her. Opening the portal to the demon world the guardian didn't even get to blink before Kyūbi had jumped through the portal. Naruto and Mao watched as Rina was reunited with her family before the portal closed and once again Naruto and the guardian were alone.

"Now what?" Naruto asked. He was a little jealous at seeing the Kyūbi get to have a family while he didn't.

"Well, I was told to give you a choice between 3 different options?" Mao began.

"What kind of choices?" Naruto asked.

"My bosses have decided to send you back to the human world. However, without the Kyūbi you lack the power needed to do what you are destined to do" Mao says

"What am I supposed to do exactly?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Stop all wars and bring peace to the world" Mao says.

"Is that even possible?" Naruto asks.

"No, that was just some silly prophesy made by an old toad drunk out of his skull" Mao says with a chuckle.

"Okay then what am I really supposed to do?" Naruto asked.

"We want you to become a shining light in an other wise dark world Naruto" Mao says.

Naruto just looked at the guardian with a confused expression. His face was scrunched up as he thought about what that meant. Frankly, it was giving him a headache. Mao took pity on the young spirit before him.

"The world you come from Naruto is shrouded in darkness. It knows nothing, but war and violence. The strong prey on the weak and use them to fulfill whatever sick desire they have rather it be world domination or some misguided quest for immortality. What we want you to do is show that you can be strong while showing compassion, humility, and honesty to those that deserve it. We want you to lead a once destroyed nation and become … a King" Mao says.

"What's a king?" Naruto asked.

"A King Naruto is like a combination of a Daimyo and a Kage. They don't just lead a village, but a nation. Unlike a Daimyo though they don't rule from afar instead a King is involved in every aspect of their nation it's military, economy, educational system etc. A true King doesn't just rule from behind a desk unaware of his people they lead it in every way" Mao says.

"T-that sounds like a big job for one person" Naruto says worriedly.

"It is, but do not worry Naruto even Kings need help. You can appoint people to positions of leadership and even create your own council to help guide you" Mao says.

This made Naruto feel better and alleviated some of the worry he felt. Although he still felt some worry over being tasked with such a big project. He always yelled about becoming Hokage, but he thought that would happen later like when he was jiji's age. Well, maybe not quite that old.

"Now a leader especially a King needs to be powerful. No one would follow a weak leader even if he would be good for them." the guardian says then paused.

'That makes sense, even as old as jiji was he is still very strong possibly the strongest in the village' Naruto thinks.

"How do I become strong?" Naruto asked.

"My bosses like you Naruto. They have decided to give you the option of becoming an Angel, a Demon, or to stay Human and receive a special bloodline and a few other items" Mao says.

"It doesn't sound like much of a choice, but what is the drawback to each choice?" Naruto asked. As dumb as he acted he wasn't that dumb and knew everything had a price or drawback as power just wasn't freely given.

"You are correct Naruto there are both positives and negatives to each choice. As an Angel you would be stronger than most demons and all humans as a warrior of Kami, but you would lose your emotions and ability to reason" Mao says.

'Wow, I'd be stronger than jiji but I don't like the idea of losing my emotions. That would make me nothing more than tool like those Ne guys that old cripple orders around' Naruto thought.

"As a demon you would be stronger than any humans, but you would lose the very thing we want you to display. You would lose your compassion, your empathy for others, the ability to care for or love someone else. You would be ruled by your hate and become an evil entity that most likely would want nothing except to destroy everything or absolute rule and domination over everyone" Mao says.

It wasn't an option the Gods wanted to give Naruto, but seeing his life they wouldn't blame him if he wanted to go back and destroy everything. As a demon he would have that power and they could always restore everything when he was done. Hopefully he would get it out of his system and become what they wanted him to demon or not.

'I don't want to be a demon or destroy things. I know I will have to kill to protect my kingdom, but senseless bloodshed is wrong no matter the provocation' Naruto thinks.

"Lastly, as I said you could stay human and Kami will bless you with a bloodline that I personally will give to you. The only downside to this is that you won't become powerful overnight and will have to work for it. It will be up to you to become strong enough to protect your nation" Mao says.

'So I stay human and keep my emotions good and bad, but I will have to work to become stronger instead of being given strength that could help me protect everyone I care about instantly' Naruto thought.

A few minutes went by before the guardian of the gate spoke up again.

"Naruto what is your decision?" Mao asks.

"It's a hard decision Guardian-sama, but there is only one true choice. I choose to …." Naruto starts to say.

Hello everyone! I have decided that choices needed an overhaul and I know some of you may hate me for doing this. I know I hate it when authors stop a story just as it was getting somewhere I liked, but it had to be done.

In that vain I am revamping Choices. I went way too fast with the original version. It was my second creation, but the first story I posted and really worked on. There were just too many mistakes and issues that needed to be fixed. I'm hoping you will all understand and bear with me as I try to get this story up and running.

I would like to think I have evolved as a writer and through writing other stories including several challenges I really felt the need to change this story. That said this story will be a hodgepodge of sorts as it's involves several story lines I really want to work with that I have read and includes my own desires and a few story lines from my own creations and challenge stories some I have yet to post.

The story will have a CrossOver feel to it as I plan to add characters from other stories to this one. However, it's still based in the Naruto world so I won't put it in that section. The pairing has also changed and I apologize to fans of Hinata, because even if this turns into a harem (which is likely) no Konoha girls will be in this story either. I love the girl, but she doesn't fit with the changes I'm making to the story.

I hope the authors of the stories that have inspired me to change this won't be upset by what I do in this story and I will acknowledge any that feel they deserve it.

That said please read and enjoy the repurposed 'Choices'. I look forward to hearing from all of you.

For anyone looking for a great challenge look up, Narutoenthusiast, Challenger, and Dracohalo117.