Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Alternative Ending

Naruto sighed as he leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms out. Looking down towards the mess of paperwork on his desk, he scratched his cheek. After all the adventures he had had, this was where he had ended up. Oh well. It did have its perks. Like, owning a multi-billion corporation did give him a lot of luxuries. Traveling all over the world, seeing sights other people couldn't. Of course, he supposed he did enjoy these times much more given everything that had led up to him being here. Mainly, the many troubled times through human history that he had witnessed.

After he had destroyed Konoha and the shinobi world had begun to collapse, Naruto and the others had hidden themselves away from the rest of the world. Even after humanity had gone back to forgetting about chakra once the shinobi culture died out, they didn't reveal themselves. They merely walked throughout time like normal, but powerfully rich, humans. Naruto could still recall the many things that he had seen. The glorious Egyptians, the intellectual Greeks, the powerful Romans, the extravagant Chinese. Those were just to name a few of the ancient worlds that he had lived in. Thankfully, he and his family had been able to survive all the dark aspects of time as well. The biggest two that came to mind being the Dark Ages after the Roman empire collapsed and the Black Plague. Due to the chakra of the Juubi resonating within them all, they had never once acquired that awful disease. Of course, Naruto knew that his Uzumaki genes played a big part as well.

But now, he was in the present day where technology was supreme. And his company, Uzumaki Inc., was one of the biggest ones in the world today. His company dealt with pretty much everything, but mainly with stocks and the like. Naruto really didn't handle much with that prospect. He left such things to Kushina since the woman just loved the "action" that came along with the job. Naruto really didn't see the appeal. Then again, business wasn't something that he had ever wanted to partake in. But such was life. One ended up doing the most unlikely of things in the end.

'Maybe I should have joined Anko in America with the CIA,' he thought. The former interrogator just couldn't get away from that way of life. As such, she always ended up joining some sort of military group that caught her interest. He still remembered how she had become the only woman general in the Roman empire before she had faked her own death when she got bored with the job. After all, there wasn't much action after the empire had stopped expanding. Of course, many other men hadn't been too pleased with her when she had been there. After they had expressed their displeasure to her in person, she had silenced them pretty quickly. She did a pretty good job of hiding her mark on history as well. She had gone back to destroy any records that existed about her. She didn't want the world to know about her. But that was a whole different story altogether.

Hell, he wouldn't mind being with Fuka in her worldwide model tour either. Even that sounded much more fun than being stuck here.

'Seems like giving up on my dream to become the Hokage didn't matter either way,' Naruto thought in slight amusement. 'I still ended up being behind a desk doing paperwork. Just fantastic.'

"You look just like a Hokage now, don't you?"

Using instincts and muscles that he had not used in centuries, Naruto was instantly on his feet in a defensive stance, his eyes scanning the office. But there was no one there. Nor did he sense any chakra anywhere. While humans in this age weren't able to access chakra anymore, they did possess it. Albeit, at low civilian levels. That was why, when he had been targeted for assassination in days past, he had still been able to pick up on that.

That wasn't the case at the moment. At least, until a humanoid figure suddenly appeared before his desk. When Naruto's eyes caught sight of the being, he instantly knew whom it was. Even after all these years, he had not forgotten about this person. And how could he? He had been the one to give him the Rinnegan to begin with.

"It's you….."

The being, wearing the same robes from when he had first appeared before the Rikudo Sennin, tilted his head in appraisal. "It seems you still remember me. That does save me some trouble."

Naruto t'ched, his hands clenching at his side. "Yeah, you're not exactly someone I can forget. Even though I still have no idea who the hell you are. You're not Kami, that's for sure."

"Very astute for you," he said. "But in order to simplify things, I'm Kami's messenger. I watch over everything that he does. Hence, you may call me the Watcher."

Naruto scoffed. "Right. Now that that's out of the way, mind telling me what you're doing here? Don't tell me your boss is planning on starting another world changing event?"

The Watcher shook his head. "No. Although the Juubi's release was through man's work. Not his. He never intended for the Juubi to ever be released. His plan was different altogether. But even through difficulties, he has ways to work around that. That's where the Rinnegan comes into the picture. And you."

Naruto relaxed. "So, you're here to tell me all of this?"

The Watcher walked around the desk towards the window, gazing out towards the busy downtown area of Tokyo. "Yes. Things have settled down enough now. And it's apparent that you have no plans to try and take over this world. Even though with your power it would be like taking candy from a baby."

Naruto grinned a little. "Heh. I never thought someone so close to Kami would ever say something like that." The grin then vanished. "But I have no reason to change things now. It's obvious to me that humans don't want to change. Not only that, but I'm not exactly guilt free either. I had my revenge. Now, I'm only planning on living my quiet life with my family. No matter what you say, that's not going to change my mind."

"Don't worry about that. Kami has decided to allow things to flow freely. To only observe. That's where free will can truly be practice."

Naruto sighed. Some part of him actually thought that that was a bad idea. But he knew the others. They were happy with their lives. There was no way he was going to drag them down back to that life again. Especially considering just how much he had lost last time that he did.

"So," Naruto began, crossing his arms in front of him. "Tell me: just what did your master hope to achieve by starting all that he did?"

"A new world of course," the Watcher answered without hesitation. "All of this was designed to make his creations, humanity, part of the bigger world. Of the gods. That's why he gave you all the power of chakra, the same power as the gods."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at that. "What?"

"There once was a war among the gods," the Watcher began. "The one to start this war was none other than the Juubi, whom God had created before humanity. It was his first test to see how well he could do in that aspect. The Juubi was too good of a success. He was powerful. And the only one that could injure Kami since he possessed the same powers as him. But he started to abuse his powers. The other gods didn't take too well to this. The Juubi didn't care, however. It wasn't long before things escalated even further, leading to a war between them. Having no other choice, Kami had to step in. This plane was beginning to be affected as well. I'm sure you've heard of Noah's Ark?" At Naruto's nod, he continued, "That was a result of one of the battles. Given that the Juubi was created through Kami's powers, the battle was difficult. But in the end, Kami managed to seal him here on Earth, stripping him away from his ability to reason. Given that this is his domain, no other gods can do anything without his permission. Nor are they strong enough to oppose him. So it was the perfect place. But then your father in your past life interfered."

"Interfered?" Naruto repeated. "Your boss was the one that gave him-"

"Yes, he did attain his powers from Kami," the Watcher agreed. "But he didn't suspect that the dear doctor would be able to hone in on his power enough to free the Juubi from his imprisonment. And you're very much aware of what occurs after that."

"Yeah. The world turned to hell," Naruto said with a sigh. "So now I know of the events that led to the Juubi's imprisonment. But then why did Kami give humans chakra? What was his goal?"

"Like I told you: the ability to stand on equal terms with gods," the Watcher stated. Seeing Naruto look at him with a look of confusion, he elaborated, "Ever since Kami created humanity, he was ridiculed for given them free will. They only saw humans as a waste of time. So Kami came up with a plan to prove them wrong since he loves his creations to his very core. That's why he gave them the power to use chakra. Not all at once of course. He wanted it to be a slow process. And he chose the doctor as the one to lead this from the moment he was conceived. But when the Juubi was released, he changed his plans to you. You weren't able to achieve this in your first lifetime, however. That was where Madara and the Shinigami came in. They were the ones to pave the way for your reincarnated self to achieve it at long last. But then you yourself decided to go a different path. And that is what has led to this imperfect world."

"Then let me guess: the perfect world is a combination of both this world and the shinobi world," Naruto said.

"That is correct," the Watcher replied with a nod. "Humans would be aware of the world beyond. They would accept it. They would understand it. They would thrive in it. And you would be its head."

"Sounds appealing honestly," Naruto admitted. "But it sounds just as appealing to prove Kami wrong. He's messed up with all of our lives too much. Although some good did come out of it. I am where I am today because of what Madara did. And he wouldn't have done all that he did if he hadn't discovered that his original plan was doomed to fail."

"Kami is very much aware of this," the Watcher said. "That is why he no longer plans on meddling with you or the others. You are fit to live however you want and for as long as you want. Consider that his gift for everything that you have lost to get here."

"Well, I appreciate it," Naruto said with some sarcasm. "But I guess I should thank you for telling me this. That's one less loose end. Or the last one really."

"You haven't dwelt on it either, so it makes no difference," the Watcher stated, turning to face him once more. "But at the very least, you now have your answers. Which means that there is no more meaning for me being here."

"Huh. I hope we never see each other again," Naruto commented as the being vanished just as he had appeared. "You can also come out, Zetsu."

"And here I thought we had hid ourselves pretty well this time."

"And that's why you're an idiot."

Naruto chuckled as the two attached "brothers" surfaced from the floor. "You two are getting along nicely as usual."

Black Zetsu sighed. "It's my punishment for everything that I've done, I guess. Especially since Kami sounds like a prankster considering that he even manipulated Madara."

"We were all manipulated," Naruto said as he sat back down. "It's just like you once told Mikoto. The only difference was that we didn't know who the grand puppeteer was. But even then, everyone chose what they wanted to do. Mikoto, Mito, Obito, Sasuke, Itachi, and Neji. They did what they wanted. Just like we did. Even if it did coincide with Kami's plan. Or maybe I'm just trying to offer myself some sort of condolence."

Before Zetsu could respond, Kushina walked into the office with an Ipad in hand, scanning through it. "Naruto-kun, there are some papers I need for you to sign-"

The redhead stopped midway when she noticed that they weren't alone. "Zetsu? What are you doing here? You rarely come out!"

That was true. Zetsu had pretty much become a hermit by this point. According to Black Zetsu, the world had become a dull place. There was only petty arguments here and there. And thus, he didn't feel the need to observe anything. Especially since Naruto didn't need their services anymore. On the other hand, White Zetsu only wanted to spy on important world meetings for the hell of it. Which they did from time to time just to alleviate some boredom.

"We just thought we should pay the old boss a visit," White Zetsu answered with a grin. "For a reminder of the good old days."

'He finally said something smart for a change,' Black Zetsu thought to himself.

Kushina nodded. Although she felt there was more to it than that, she didn't comment. She could ask Naruto later when they were alone.

"Anyway, Naruto-kun, I need-"

She stopped short as Naruto was in front of her in an instant, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her close before kissing her.

"Tch, he gets all the good stuff," White Zetsu grumbled while Black Zetsu sighed.

'And we're back to being an idiot.'

"Not that I'm complaining, but what brought this on?" Kushina asked after they had parted.

"Nothing. I just want to let you know that I love you and that I'm happy to be with you," Naruto said with a smile.

Kushina returned the smile. It wasn't everyday that Naruto did stuff like this out of the blue. "Well, thank you. But you're still not getting away from finishing your work. So hop to it, mister."

Rolling his eyes, Naruto did just that nevertheless. Hey, it was his life. And no matter how dull it got, he was content with it.

And thus, it was just another day in the life of the Uzumakis.

So I just felt like doing this in order to give all those who didn't read Ascension a closing on everything that transpired. Of course, a few things were missing here that did happen in Ascension. But that was only because a different course of events happened in that story. The explanation is still the same, though.

Once more, I would like to thank all those that read this story, my very first one. And I hope this was enjoyable.

Thanks!