A/N: This is my first Naruto fan fiction. Unlike some others who clearly lack a spine (nothing against their writing in general) I shall not cower from flames. If I write a character horribly, or anything else, just say so. I flame back though if you have no point whatsoever and are being a jerk. Granted there are only two characters in this opening chapter and both are more or less molding clay in my hands given the lack of character in one and the situation the other one happens to be in.

Also for reference this more than likely will be a multi chaptered fic. The theme will be much the same as this chapter with the Naruto plot advancing, thus a new character happens to find their way into the damnable white space.

Skarm is my beta, although he couldn’t do much with this chapter because I wanted to post it quickly and he had to be somewhere. So if you think this chapter sucked in terms of grammar, blame me but don’t say I need a beta.

Oh, and no pairings directly. Some referenced later on if I get that far.

Edit: I had to upload this 4 times becuase of very crappy spacing issues. I apologize if I missed a spacing problem. It should be noted I changed a few lines to sound better in my first go of this but saved only the document on So... Way to start a fic, eh? Screw up's left and right! I recently went back and smoothed out every single spacing error. Hooray.

9/21/08 - I am going back and editing every chapter so that Arashi is no longer Arashi, mostly because I believe "Minato" is the superior name.

Chapter 1

Mr. White, welcome to the white room.

White.

It was a good color, no doubt. Stood for purity. It was very symbolic in that "deep" sort of way that most people could understand, but really don't care to. Seeing white around you was like starting anew. A clean slate!

Yeah, he really hated white.

In fairness to the color, or perhaps lack of color if you will, seeing only one color for any number of years would get on people’s nerves. No doubt, even Naruto’s beloved orange would eventually wear on him after 12 years of it.

Minato now worked for the Death God that he sacrificed his life and soul to summon to seal the nine tailed fox demon within a baby. He thought that by summoning the Shinigami he would simply be used as food; perhaps dessert given the time of day he had summoned it. Instead he had been put to work as judge of the after life. The Shinigami told him that it was a very important task and he should be honored to be chosen to do it. Frankly he was. He could find no grander job than to judge every single person who dies and choose what they do next.

Until he found out that he had other tasks related to the job. Mainly the paperwork related to people being sent on their merry way once he was done with them.

He would have thought that since files appeared out of thin air at his leisure reports would have done so as well. Upon inquiring about this, he got a rather rude awakening.

Flashback

Shortly after his first case, the Yondaime Hokage had walked up to his boss.

“Shinigami-sama, why didn’t another page appear on the person’s file once I judged them and opened a portal to the assigned plane. Isn’t it automated?”

“Well Hokage-kun(it seemed the Shinigami was obsessed with the fact that he now “owned” a Kage, and he made sure to reference it at any given time) it is fairly simple. You are dead but you still exist. Likewise this applies to everyone who has ever died. So wouldn’t it stand to reason that while you are doing your particular job another person is doing something different?”

Minato had nodded thinking it made sense. It was not in fact automated but done by a person instead. It had to be a lot of work.

“So how many people have to write out those reports? 5? 10?” Minato couldn’t really think of any symbolic number that they would use, and that seemed like a fair amount.

“More in the range of five thousand or so…” Minato was floored.

“Wow, that’s certainly a lot of people. So how many people are there to do reports on what happens to people after death?” The Death God seemed to almost chuckle at that point. Obviously he had heard wrong.

“Only one I am afraid.” The Yondaime let out a loud mirthful laugh at that.

“Who is the poor soul who has to do all of that work?”

“You.”

Minato stopped laughing at that point.

End flashback

The Death God had gone on to explain that he didn’t have the resources most did. Very few had the determination and skill level required to summon him to the mortal plain. So The Yondaime was one of a handful of souls he had possession of.

The paperwork wasn’t as simple as he had hoped for either. He had to give detailed analysis as to why he had chosen where to place a person. While he had complete discretion as to where a person would go no one wanted to see a guy who just asked “pick a number between 1 and 40 including 1 and 40.” That plan dashed, he had decided to take the job very seriously. Even so, if he knew he was going to get stuck with this job when he made the pact with the Death God maybe he would have just let Konoha be destroyed by the fearsome fox demon.

Nah, even if this job is hundreds of times more boring than the paper work that a Hokage must deal with daily… it was my duty.

Naruto…

He had often wondered what had befallen the boy. Many Konoha nins had passed through since he had gotten here. He could have asked any number of them how his heir was doing. However many were too shocked by their death, and Yondaime understood it the shock of death. Even if he had willingly chosen to give his life for the safety of his family, his village, it was still painful. He hadn’t had the heart to bring up a petty subject such as that to these recently killed nin, even if it was nagging him a bit. He probably hadn’t given in to temptation due to the fact that none of them had any direct connections to the boy.

I hope he is not too spoiled. After all, there is a line between being a hero and being coddled too much. Such a burden I gave him… but at the same time it was a chance for power. The Kyuubi is a dangerous double-edged sword ‘given’ to you for the village’s safety, Naruto. I hope you can forgive me and grasp that potential.

His musings were brought to an end when a young girl entered his respective place of work. Giving ‘her’ a harder look the Yondaime realized that it was in fact a boy. Wow, that would have been awkward if I spoke too soon. It didn’t take him much longer to realize the person was a nin as well. That was good since usually they were less likely to panic on him.

“Hello.” The boy looked at Yondaime for a moment, his eyes widened slightly, as if startled. Given a moment, the boy’s look turned more passive. He greeted the man before him.

“Hello. Not to be rude, but where exactly am I??” Minato was prepared for this question, as it was asked nearly every time someone passed on.

“You are in limbo. This where all dead souls go before they are placed in any number of places. What you did in your life will dictate what happens to you now. I am sorry if your death comes as a shock to you. Dying suddenly can often-” He was cut off by the boy shaking his head. A shadow of a smile appeared on his face.

“It is all right. I died protecting my precious person, even if it was only for a moment.” The boy’s bright eyes remained mostly stoic, but pride shone through clearly.

I probably won’t even have to read the case file to know this guy is going to someplace comfortable…

“Right. Anyway, please state your name clearly.” The boy nodded and cleared his throat, although he wouldn’t have had to since there was technically nothing there to be parched or itchy.

“Haku.”

The blond-haired man waited for a last name for a moment before a file appeared out of thin air. Usually for this to happen he needed to have both a first and a last name. Not caring about the particulars, he grabbed the case file and opened it.

Minato let out an appreciative whistle. The guy was good. Haku’s file had taken him by surprise. Usually people who had apprenticed under a person who was known very well to him due to his "work duties" didn’t retain such a purity of the soul. Of course, there was but one way Minato remembered a person when it came to his job: Bloody murder.

Killing a lot of people in a very messy way got his attention. Even the killers who did so cleanly and without pain didn’t stick in his mind. They were just a name on a piece of parchment. Those names came and went daily. However, when the deceased purpose curses your name for twenty minutes and hopes you die a painful death (like their own ironically) it is hard to forget.

Especially when this happened very often.

Yes, Momochi Zabuza, the renowned demon of the Mist was well known to this Hokage. He hadn’t believed head aches could follow you after death until he had people screaming about this man. Looking down a bit he saw Haku’s death count, a mere 38.

One who was not a ninja may have looked at the young boy’s dozens of deaths and be appalled. But Minato knew better than to judge by such a simple statistics, they could lie just as easily as words.. As a man who apparently had well over 1000 deaths on his record, he knew numbers meant garbage compared to the rational behind it. Or at least that is what allowed him to sleep at night.

The way of a nin is tough. True, by one country’s standards an assassination of an old man is cruel and terrible. But for the one who orders this mission, doing any less than 100 is treason and shows lack of loyalty to your village. Or in this case, master.

Yondaime’s eyes stopped reading when he recognized a name in the file.

“Killed by Hatake Kakashi”

So Kakashi is still active, good to hear. Although I guess it wasn’t so good for Haku here.

He finished reading the brief biography of Haku that summed up any important details he would need and closed the file shut.

“It appears you have led quite the harsh life. You are very loyal which is commendable. It is very rare someone I knew personally is mentioned in a person’s file. This is a good chance for me to catch up on a few things in the mortal world. If you don’t mind?” The Fourth smiled.

“My file? Who do you know on it? And it is no problem, I’d be glad to help.” Haku smiled a pretty smile at the man before him.

“The last person you ever saw, likely. Hatake Kakashi.” Haku’s eyes widened once more, this time they did not turn passive, his face etched in confusion.

“How do you know Kakashi-san?”

The blond-haired man scratched the back of his head and grinned. Most people who had died at Kakashi’s hands since he had gotten this job had recognized Minato on the spot and this very awkward moment never came to be. None of them had kind eyes, either.

“I taught the kid everything he knows about being a ninja!” Ok, so maybe I exaggerated slightly there.

“Kid? He looks older than you do.”

The Yondaime’s face twitched slightly. “So? You look like a girl. Appearances can be deceiving.” Haku rolled his eyes

"I suppose you have a point there. You are the second person in the past few days to openly comment about that.” Haku seemed genuinely amused at being thought a girl.

The Yondaime looked at a red light beeping on his wristband and nodded to himself before tapping it once, turning it off. Let the queue wait for a few minutes.

“Who was the other? I would have thought Kakashi might have a little more tact.” He scratched the back of his head again. Haku was reminded of a certain blonde-haired boy he had been doing battle with shortly before his death.

… Sensei of Kakashi…

… Same village…

… Same hair color…

… Same eyes…

… Same laid back attitude…

… Could it be…?

… No, that’d be a bit silly and convenient. Shaking his head, he spoke.

“It wasn’t Kakashi. It was one of his genin-“At this the blond flashed a huge grin, pleased with the mention of the words ‘his genin,” –he was sleeping when I went to pick some medicinal herbs. I woke him up and he said I was pretty. It was awkward when I had to correct him.”

Minato nodded sagely, remembering he had almost fallen into that trap.

“He seemed to have a lot of awkward moments. But in battle it cannot be said Uzumaki Naruto was not a fierce opponent.” As soon as Naruto’s name left Haku’s lips the Yondaime’s eyes showed an obvious look of interest that was not there before. The look did not go unnoticed.

“Did you know Naruto-kun in your lifetime?” Haku now was wondering about the connection between the two.

Minato's eyes misted over for a moment, as he spoke from the heart.

“Yes, very well. I am the one who held him first and he was the last thing I saw before my death. He is my legacy and the pride of my heart. He is my most precious person. He is my son.” Minato hadn’t meant to be so over the top, but it had been very long since he has talked with anyone at all about his son. He knew his choice that night was the correct one. It didn’t mean it didn’t hurt him badly. Haku simply smiled at him.

“He has turned out well. Not the smartest of battlers, very sloppy. His attitude is one of the best I’ve seen. His will to never give up… will take him far. The skill will come in time. He has a big heart.” Haku smiled despite himself. Naruto was head-strong, yes that is true. But given time Haku did not doubt for an instant he would realize his dream to become Hokage.

The Yondaime was very upbeat at this news. He knew Kakashi wouldn’t coddle Naruto but at the same time he also knew he’d give Naruto fair treatment. Kakashi’s skill with a good personality would take any ninja far. Sensing their unofficial business at an end, Minato decided to send Haku on his way.

“I have taken enough of your time Haku. I am ready to make my decision.” Haku’s eyes narrowed in confusion.

“Decision?”

Once again, the blonde scratched the back of his head and grinned nervously; embarrassed he forgot to tell Haku about procedure.

“Oops. Didn’t I tell you? I judge where you go in the afterlife after you leave limbo. Ah well, don’t worry about it. You are going to a very nice place; the details shouldn’t really concern you.” The fourth's hands went through hand seals faster than Haku could see and he finished with the monkey seal.

“Portal nineteen, appear.”

With those words a green door appeared to his left and he pulled it open. Nothing but darkness could be seen within the door.

“Just step on through.”

Minato motioned Haku towards the door. Haku nodded and walked towards it before hesitating for a moment.

“What is your name?” Haku Asked. The man in front of him put on a thoughtful expression.

“I have many. I was born Namikaze Minato. The name I was given in the last great ninja war was ‘Konoha’s Yellow Flash’. Although, the only name one as young as you would recognize me as the name I earned: Konoha’s Yondaime Hokage.” Haku only raised an eyebrow at the last name as indication he recognized him by that moniker.

Minato decided to ask Haku one final question before he left.

“Haku, why did you choose to tell me about Naruto? You don’t seem the type.” Minato peered at Haku, not getting a real good read on him.

Haku stopped just short of the door and spoke softly.

“Because he would have scolded me for not promoting the name of the future Hokage when given an opportunity to do so.” Minato cracked a grin at that.

With that Haku passed through the door and it faded from existence.

Silence was all that was left.

After a few moments Minato crashed to his knees, laughing a laugh nothing short of pure mirth.

“Man, I’ve still got it. That sounded SO cool. As if I didn’t earn my nickname of ‘The Yellow Flash’. Hah! Good thing I held my laughter until he left. Now he can go spread how awesome I am and maybe that quote will make my top ten quotes ever list. Man, I am such a cool guy!”

With a huge smile plastered on his face he signaled for the next person waiting to enter Limbo.

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed the beginning chapter of this. I didn’t think it was perfect but it was a good base for things I wish to do later on. It had a lot more explaining than I had originally planned, but I felt anything that I explained had to be done. Oh, and first reviewer who isn’t my beta gets a reference in Chapter 2 in some small, insignificant way. I will never ransom for reviews to keep any project going, so you won’t have to worry about that. But if you are reading this how hard is it to click review? Don’t even have to log in. But hey that’s up to you.

- Chris