Author Note: N/A

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

-Prologue-

Naruto stares out the small window in his prison cell, looking at the few stars still shining in the early morning just before sunrise. In his heart, he wonders if his friends are looking down at him from the heavens, waiting for him to join them with open arms.

All his friends were all killed in the many battles that enveloped Konoha since the last part of Tsunade's reign as Godaime. The Hokage, along with her assistant Shizune were the first to fall in the war against Oto, and all they have to show for their death was the fact they managed to take Yakushi Kabuto with them. Jiraiya was the next to go, falling in battle against the Akatsuki's Zetsu while trying to gather information on the organization. Team eight and team ten all fell in battle against Iwa and Kumo along with Temari and most of the Suna reinforcement. Gaara, Kankurou, Lee, and Gai all died fighting against the Akatsuki, who tried to attack Naruto after Konoha barely survived the war, even if they were able to take most of the Akatsuki with them. The rest of the more able ninjas all perished when Kiri, taking advantage of the other villages' weakened state after the drawn out war, decides to attack the four villages. The village survived, barely, but the only people close to him and managed to remain alive were Kakashi and Sakura. That is, until they died at the hands of Sasuke who had decided to seek a new goal after killing the weakened Itachi after the Akatsuki attacked Konoha. Under his command, Oto had already taken over Kumo, Kiri, and Iwa. Leaving the conquest of Suna to his underlings, he personally led the campaign against Konoha. Enraged at the death of his two surviving friends, Naruto killed Sasuke and his entire army with the power of the Kyuubi. Years of constant warfare took a heavy toll on every shinobi nation, devastating the countryside and flattening villages. The Daimyos eventually decided to banish any surviving shinobi, and imprison the only surviving kage, Uzumaki Naruto, the Rokudaime Hokage.

Naruto had already spent six months in this small cell with nothing beside a few made up charges. However, the Daimyos decided that they will use Naruto as an example to warn any surviving shinobi by charging him with treason and sentencing him to death. During the hearings, Naruto never uttered a word to defend himself or admit to the offense, having long known that it wouldn't make a difference. Instead, he spends most of his time staring at the sky or communicating with the Kyuubi. The execution will take place at noon today and the guards outside are running about, preparing to carry out the order of their superiors.

'Kit,' Kyuubi says from the seal.

'What do you want now Kyuubi?'

'It's almost time.'

'I know that.'

'I assume you know what you do.'

'Yes. You only told me two hundred and thirty-eight times.'

'I'm only being repetitive because the timing has to be perfect or it won't work.'

'If it doesn't work then you get to have your fun terrorizing the world, I don't see any problem.'

'I'm not doing this for my own good you ungrateful kit!'

'Don't worry Kyuubi, I'll be fine.'

'There is something about the technique that I haven't mentioned to you.'

'Well, then go ahead.'

'It's not time for that yet. You'll find out in due time. Besides, we have visitors kit.'

"What do you guys want?" Naruto asks without turning around to face the guards.

"Be grateful that we're even bringing you your last meal punk."

'I'm sure that adding a few counts of murder doesn't change much,' Kyuubi interjects from the seal.

'Cut it out Kyuubi.'

'Why? If it doesn't make a difference to the fools handing down the sentence and it makes us feel better, why can't we do it.'

'You're forgetting something in between: these fools' families. I'll be damned if I give them any reason to hate me when I die.'

'Che, you're no fun. Like they don't feel that way about you already. If they don't hate you, you won't be sitting here.'

'I thought you had enough fun when you wreck havoc on the Oto army a few months ago.'

'I did, but more fun never hurts.'

"If you ain't going to eat then I'm going to take the plates with me," the guard yells after getting no response.

"Go ahead, I won't be needing it in a few hours. Beside, it's against my policy to take poison right before being executed."

"Why you punk!"

Naruto releases a spike of chakra to push the guard out of his cell and closes the door behind him. Closing his eyes, Naruto goes through all the procedure in his head once again so Kyuubi will stop bothering him about it. Eventually, a larger group of guards enters the cell to escort him to the execution ground. As Naruto stands up, all the guards back up a couple of steps as the Rokudaime easily towers over them by at least six inches. Scaring them even more are the blood red eyes that stares back at them when Naruto turns around, the last reminder of what Naruto contains in his body. Gulping, the leader of the guards put the cuffs on Naruto's wrists and leads him out of the cell. On their way, not a single person came to see the last Hokage off on his final journey, being forbidden by the Daimyos to so much as to weep for him.

"Your time has finally come," the official witnessing the execution says.

The entire execution ground is empty beside Naruto, the official, the executioner, and a few guards. Kyuubi scoffs at the amount of defense at the ground. If Naruto has any desire to flee, he can do it easily with this pathetic amount of people watching him. If not for the fact that Naruto needs to "die" for the plan to work, he is certain that Naruto would've been miles away by now.

"Any last words, you monster? …On second thought, I don't even want to hear it. Executioner, do you job."

Nodding his head, the executioner approaches Naruto. No one notices that a small bit of red chakra is coming out of Naruto's hand or that he is going through a long series of hand seal. Raising his blade, the executioner swings his arms down just as Naruto completes the sequence. A large burst of chakra erupts the moment the blade goes through Naruto's neck and the executioner is killed immediately. The official and the guards barely have enough time to register what is happening before they are also engulfed by the chakra. If anyone looks toward the sky, they would be able to see a large column of red chakra shooting up to before slowly dissipating.

When Naruto opens his eyes again, he finds himself being held by someone as they travel at a high speed. Trying to struggle out of the person's arms, Naruto finds that he doesn't have nearly enough strength to get away. When the pair finally stops, Naruto sees the Kyuubi standing in front of him and the person holding him standing on top of Gamabunta. Finally realizing where he is, Naruto tries to reach out and grab the person's arm before he can complete the last seal but is powerless to do so and he finds himself in the presence of the Shinigami. Instead of doing what the person intends for it to do, the Shinigami reaches past the person and Naruto directly at the Kyuubi.

"What… what's going on?"

"Namikaze. Normally I should take your soul away for bringing me to this realm. You should be glad that your child and his companion have given me a sacrifice to save your life," the Shinigami says, "now Kyuubi, be gone. Go back to your resting place. The time for your awakening will come, but for now, recuperate and be prepared to fulfill your purpose."

"Very well Shinigami-sama."

"What is happening?" Yondaime asks again.

"You will find your answer in due time as well," the Shinigami says before disappearing with the Kyuubi.

As soon as the Kyuubi disappears, a silver-haired ninja appears next to Yondaime. He casts a confused glance at how the baby is staring at him in a disturbing way, but ignores it and turns toward the Hokage.

"Sensei, is the Kyuubi gone? I thought that your technique would… not that I'm unhappy with you being alive."

"I understand Kakashi. Even though I'm not entirely sure myself, the Kyuubi is indeed gone."

"I will deliver the news to Sandaime-sama and the rest of the village."

"Go ahead," the Yondaime says before turning toward the child in his arm, "Naruto, you are a very special child aren't you."

If he doesn't know any better, Yondaime Hokage can almost swear that he can see a hint of pride in his son's eyes and a smirk on his face. Sighing, Namikaze Minato heads back toward the village with what is left of the ninja squads that were sent out to contain the Kyuubi. As soon as he steps into his office, he is bombarded with questions from everyone present, which includes his predecessor, the council elders and the various clan heads.

"Is the sealing unsuccessful?" Sandaime asks.

"No. I never managed to get to the sealing procedure. The Shinigami simply says something about my child offering sacrifices and orders the Kyuubi to leave."

"But how?" one of the councilmen asks.

"The Shinigami only tells me that I will find my answer in due time."

"It's been a long few days. I think it's time for us to return to our homes and rest," Sandaime says before anyone else can raise any questions.

"Yes, I think it would be best."

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