I was bored so I decided to post this. As in completely bored and also since 'Kakashi Reborn' is in a complete mess. This was just to take my mind off things.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, would I be here? By the way is Kishimoto-sama here? I mean he could be one of the thousands of Naruto authors under some random name. Your favorite or your worst writer could be the man himself. Maybe he comes here to get ideas for Naruto. This is going to eat me alive for a while.

Chapter one

Uzumaki Naruto looked around him, a big grin gracing his features. In front of him to his right, lay the so called second of the six paths, Uchiha Madara. Konoha's founder lay on his back with a nice clean hole on the left side of his chest, courtesy of Uchiha Sasuke. Madara's descendant had cut through his aorta with a perfectly aimed blade made of lightning chakra.

It was just too bad that that was the last thing Sasuke did.

Numerous third degree burns covered his body. In some places it was so bad you could almost see bone. Somehow his face and the Uchiha fan insignia remained unmarred which made him, even when dead, look cool. Naruto smirked at that. He knew he would get no answer but he had to ask how the teme had managed to do that. He tried to form the words but found himself incapable.

Naruto was not the last man standing of the most epic spectacular battle, he was far from it. If anyone was asked they would say that Naruto had the most gruesome injury. He was the big winner in that situation. His blood stained hands pressed onto his stomach in a futile attempt to hold the blood and other organs in.

That's what happens when you have a kunai shoved into your gut, with the hand holding the kunai following it.

He had lost a tremendous amount of blood. The only reason he was still alive was the Uzumaki vitality he had inherited from his mother. But even that was starting to lose its effect. Naruto could feel his heart beat slowing down. With every passing second his lungs grew weaker. His eyes were slowly losing that bright light that shone so prominently within them. He couldn't even cough out the blood that was slowly filling his lungs.

Madara was dead. Akatsuki had been destroyed. The shortest war in history was over. But Naruto wasn't ready to die yet. The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path had been destroyed and the chakra of the ten tailed beast within it had been dispersed. But it would collect again and the results would be catastrophic.

'I can't die here! I have to prevent the chakra of the Juubi from collecting because…because…'

'There's no one to do it for me.'

On the previous day, in one carefully calculated and planned move, Madara had wiped out the Allied Shinobi forces. A devastating blast of the ten-tailed beast's chakra was all it took. With the force of a nuclear bomb, more than half of the Elemental Nations would never be the same again. Anyone who had miraculously survived died five minutes later due to the highly toxic nature of the Juubi's chakra that still lingered.

There had been only four survivors: Madara, Sasuke, Naruto and one Haruno Sakura. Well Naruto wasn't technically a survivor since he had been dead throughout it because the Kyuubi had been extracted from him. Sakura had been lucky enough to find Naruto and with the use of Lady Chiyo's jutsu, she revived Naruto at the cost of her own life.

Naruto would never be able to describe waking up to see his friend over him. The girl had obviously cried while she had been doing it. The pain dug deeper than Madara's kunai. Still grieving, Naruto turned his sorrow into Madara's despair when he showed up in time to destroy the statue thus wrecking Madara's plans beyond repair.

What followed was the most epic battle Naruto had ever been in. Him versus Madara and Sasuke. Halfway through the battle it became Naruto and Sasuke versus Madara. They had beaten the shit out of each other, well mostly Madara had beaten the shit out of them and although it was two on one, Madara was so close to destroying them. The rest was obvious.

Naruto's job was still not done. He couldn't die yet but death's embrace was unrelenting and Naruto's vision began to dim. How he had let it come to this, he did not know. His friends, family and comrades were all dead and their friends, families and comrades were also dead. Even worse was that the Juubi would be back with a vengeance.

But worst of all was that Naruto realized that he was going to die, all alone without ever having found the answer to peace.

That was Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto's last living thought.

As soon as Naruto's eyes closed he opened them again immediately. He realized he was still in the field where he had fought Madara but something was obviously different.

For one, Madara's and Sasuke's bodies were gone. Another difference was that the wind was far much stronger here, enough to mess up his hair even more. He was completely surprised when he saw no trace of blood on his clothes. In fact there was no big hole in his body any more. Naruto was in his unblemished black and orange outfit.

Perhaps the most surprising of all was that when he looked up to the sky he saw no bright shining sun. Also there were no clouds. The sky wasn't even blue anymore.

Instead it was like the sky was one huge white screen. It was so bright Naruto couldn't bear to look at it. It sort of made everything look paler. He walked forward through the tall grass as his ocean blue eyes scanned the area for a sign of life.

It wasn't long before he saw one. A man in dark clothing stood a little way from him. As soon as he noticed him the man made a 'come hither' gesture with his index and middle finger. Naruto decided to just go to him because he wanted some information on this new world.

Soon he was standing across from the man, Naruto with his hands in his pockets in a slouched posture and the man with his arms folded above his chest. The ocean blue eyes and dark coal eyes never left each other.

'He kind of looks like Sasuke, but with much cooler hair' Naruto thought. Indeed, while the man had bangs on either side of his face, the jet black hair did not have Sasuke's duck butt end. (Just think of Jin Kazama from Tekken in his suit)

The man broke the silence with a deep authoritative voice. "Do you know why you're here?"

Naruto ventured a guess. "Because I'm dead?"

He nodded, and then there was another stretch of silence. 'Well his conversation skills are on par with Sasuke's. That I'm sure of'

"It is not wise to compare me with a mortal."

"Ookaay" 'How the hell did he know that?'

The man apparently finished with his observation of Naruto got right down to business. "You want another chance, don't you?"

Naruto's eyes widened. "Can you do that! Oh man! Please let me go back! There's still so much to do!"

The man's hard expression did not falter. "It's too late for that."

"What do you mean it's too late!"

"That world is already doomed. Its fate has already been sealed."

Naruto got into the man's personal space with an enraged expression. "Listen pal, I don't know you but I know a guy just like you. Throwing around all this fate nonsense. If you go on like that, then I'll show you the light just like I showed him: by kicking. Your. Ass."

As soon as Naruto finished speaking Naruto noticed something. The man he was currently bitching to suddenly looked taller and more ominous. How the hell he accomplished that, he did not know. His expression clearly told Naruto that he should back off or bad things would happen. So he did.

The man carried on as if that little blow out had not occurred. "That world cannot be saved as of now. You would accomplish nothing."

"I would!"

"And even though it wasn't doomed. You cannot go back. You already died once and you went back. You cannot return once more."

"The hell?"

"There is always a first chance, rarely a second but never a third."

Naruto stared coldly at the man. "I see. So I'm supposed to give up, let everyone's hard work, risks and sacrifices mean nothing?"

The man's eyes narrowed. "You've already used that tone with me once mortal. I don't give second chances."

The two regarded each other for several seconds leading to another tense silence. Honestly, Naruto felt he could cut through it with a knife.

"Fine, but I'm not gonna take this lying down. I'm not gonna rest in peace knowing that I've failed. So I'm gonna have to ask for another option pal." Naruto demanded.

There was a gleam in the man's eyes as he spoke his next words. "She was right. Truly you're will and determination knows no bounds, Uzumaki. I see now why you are a pure soul. And as a pure soul you have been presented with another choice."

"A pure soul?"

"An incorruptible soul."

"Oooooh"

The man's eye twitched.

"But I can't be a pure soul. I mean I've killed and I've lied and everything-"

The man held up a hand. "Spare me Uzumaki. You pure souls are always the same. In regards of your other option will you take it?"

"Tell me what it is first."

"You can't save this world but you can save another. Will you take that option?"

"Another world?"

"A world where things happened differently. Think of it as an alternate reality."

"So this world is similar?"

"In a sense. Your goal in this world can be accomplished."

"I can save my friends? My comrades?"

"By taking this option, they can be saved."

Naruto had a feeling that this guy wasn't being entirely upfront but he had heard enough. He would be able to save them. Naruto bowed his head and clenched his fists. He was going to do this for them.

"I accept."

As soon as he said this the wind seemed to blow more strongly. The cool air that washed over them tickled Naruto's neck but he didn't react to it.

So what am I doing? What's the option? Am I going to this new world?"

The man held out his right hand. "You are not going anywhere Uzumaki." This was followed by the snapping of his fingers. "He is." With his index finger he pointed to behind Naruto. The former Jinchuriki mouthed "Who" before turning round swiftly.

There was another man standing behind him with his back to them. He was obviously lost or confused shown by the fact that his head was swiveling round as if trying to identify where he was. Naruto found that he couldn't breathe.

The new arrival had blond hair, a bright blonde, just as bright as his own though it appeared longer. He also had a white short-sleeved coat and since the man's back was turned to them the kanji for Fourth Hokage on the back of his coat stood out as clear as day. The coat swayed in the wind, making the flame-like motifs on the edges look like they were alive.

"D-Dad!"

The Fourth Hokage turned round just as swiftly before freezing at the sight of Naruto. The two ocean blue eyes locked onto each other before Minato took notice of Naruto's whisker marks on his cheeks. "N-Naruto?"

In less than a second the two were already hugging. The man had to admit that it was very fast. Father and son embraced each other for a long time, each of them shedding their tears so that the other would not see.

Finally Minato drew back but his hands remained on Naruto's shoulders. "Look at you. You're all big. Almost as tall as me." Minato stopped there in order to hold back a sniff. Naruto had no qualms about that so he sniffed while rubbing his eyes.

Minato was speechless. Minato was speechless. He had been in the belly of the Shinigami a minute ago and now he was holding his son in his arms. It was too good to be true. He said the first thing that came to mind. "How have you been?"

It wasn't really the right question for the moment but Naruto didn't seem to mind. "I've been fine dad. Just…just been hanging in there, you know *sniff*."

Minato nodded before just hugging Naruto again. "You've grown so much. Kushina would love to see this."

Deciding that it was enough the dark-haired man ruined the father-son moment. "Uzumaki, Namikaze."

Minato finally noticed him and drew back from Minato once more. "Naruto, who is this?"

The former Jinchuriki sniffed once more. "Oh this is the guy who brought you here. I don't know how. He just snapped his fingers."

"Really?"

"Yeah and there's something I need you to do for me."

"Hmmm? What?" Minato turned his eyes back to his son.

Naruto took in a deep breath."You see, Uchiha Madara, the guy you wanted me to kill declared war against every ninja and then I managed to control the Kyuubi's chakra and then this guy Kabuto raised like everyone from the dead and then we had to fight those zombie people and then I had to fight the Raikage and then I had to beat so many Zetsu and then I had to-"

Minato who was unable to keep track of what Naruto was saying decided to stop him there, besides the dark-haired guy appeared to be increasingly irritated by every single word and Minato did not want to get on the bad side of someone who could actually take him from the Shinigami. "Hold on Naruto. Just sum it all down for me."

Naruto ran a hand through his hair as he sighed. "Basically dad I need you to go and save this other world so that what happened in our world doesn't happen there."

Minato glanced at the dark-haired man before returning his gaze to Naruto. His expression was serious. "I see. What did happen anyway?"

"Madara used the chakra of the ten-tailed beast, you know it? The story of the Rikudo Sennin"

"Yeah ,yeah. Jiraiya-sensei told me."

"Ok so he used its chakra to destroy an entire army and more than half the elemental nations. He killed everyone, everyone I ever knew and cared about. So dad, please I need you to go and save them."

Minato began to look conflicted and Naruto knew he was close. "Why won't you go?"

Naruto grimaced. "He," he pointed to the dark-haired man, "won't let me go because I already died and was brought back to life. So apparently I don't have a third chance." He finished with a glare at the man who stared back impassively.

Minato looked between the two of them. He knew saying yes was the selfless and the right thing to do but the choice of staying here with Naruto and possibly Kushina was so much more appealing. Minato inwardly cursed. Why did he always have to choose?

"Please dad, do it for our friends, family, our comrades, the people of Konoha. Basically this is for humanity." Naruto pleaded. Now, Naruto was giving him the puppy-eyed look. It was surprisingly effective.

The dark-haired man decided to speak up. "Namikaze Minato, know that you were only taken from the Shinigami so that you could accept. If you don't I have no choice but to return you from whence you came."

Well that settled it. There was no way Minato was going back to that place if he could help it.

The yellow flash returned his gaze to Naruto and looked him straight in the eye. "I accept."

The wind became even fiercer now as it picked up dust from the ground. Naruto and his father both had to shield their eyes with their arms while the man didn't even flinch. Since the two could barely hear anything over the roar of the wind Naruto had to shout. "Dad! I'm sorry but it's you who has to find the answer now!"

"What!" Minato yelled back.

"You have to find the answer!"

"The answer!" Minato could barely see his son now. The wind tugged at him, but he refused to budge. He dug his feet into the ground.

"Yes! The answer to peace! Thanks Dad and good luck!"

Minato's feet gave way under the might of what was now a hurricane and he was flung into the air. Those were the last words he heard his son say.

…An undeterminable amount of time later…

When Minato woke up, he immediately knew he was in a hospital. He was too familiar with the white walls and ceilings and the strong smell of antiseptic. Groggily he sat up in his bed and placed his head in the palms of his hands.

'Is it me or do my hands seem smaller' was his first thought. 'Come to think of it, everything seems bigger and I feel smaller.'

He looked down at his hands and indeed they were smaller than he remembered. Under close scrutiny he realized that these were definitely not his hands. Immediately he ran his hands over his body as he patted himself here and there. This was definitely not his body. Everything felt completely different.

This was a child's body in fact, a very young child. His hands went to his hair and he pulled down a strand. It was blonde, exactly like his but his bangs were no longer there.

'Oh Kami! Am I a child again?'

The door opened and a nurse walked in carrying some sheets. Minato followed her movement. She acted as though he wasn't there. Maybe she hadn't noticed him yet?

"Excuse me. Could you-"

As soon as he spoke the first two words, the brown haired nurse had a mini-heart attack. She dropped the sheets he was carrying as she jumped back. Her hand immediately went to her chest, right over her heart as she tried to calm her breathing.

Minato just stared at her confusedly.

The gravity of the situation hit her at that exact moment. "Oh my God! He's awake." She then took off out of the room yelling, "Hokage-sama! He's awake! He woke up!"

Minato started scratching his head trying to figure this all out.

Approximately five seconds later, Sarutobi Hiruzen rushed into the room, decked out in his Hokage robes. He looked Minato dead in the eye and froze. Minato frowned. Was it him or did the old man look older than the last time he saw him?

The Third Hokage began to take slow steps toward him as if he couldn't believe the situation. When they were within an inch of each other Sarutobi flung out his arms and wrapped them around Minato. No sooner had he done that than he began muttering things like "Thank Kami"

Minato was now starting to get irritated. He could not for the life of him figure out what the hell was going on!

It was annoying.

Sarutobi drew back and once again looked Minato in the eye. He spoke, "Naruto, are you ok?"

Time seemed to freeze at that point. Minato's eyes went wide and he looked to the nearest window. In the faint reflection he could see a round face, with azure blue eyes, wild untamed blonde hair and three whisker marks on each cheek.

There was only one thing he could say.

"Whaa?"

…Back in that place…

Naruto was walking beside the dark-haired man to an unknown destination.

"Hey, why'd you give me that other option?" Naruto suddenly asked.

Staring ahead, the man answered. "I did not give you that option Uzumaki. If It were my choice we wouldn't be having this conversation. Someone asked me for a favor and I had to comply."

"Well then, why did this person who you owed a favor give me that option?"

"You were pure, you both were."

It's weird what I do when I'm bored huh?