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Summary: When Naruto found himself in a new world after his death, he thought he had been given a second chance to live, but not everything is as it appears. However, Naruto isn't just a normal human: he is a god walking amongst men.

Link: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/11024643/1/A-God-Amongst-Men

Word count:428k

Chapters:40

Prologue

Mei looked at the back of Naruto, who was standing tall in one of the ruined buildings in the island of Uzushiogakure, his ancestral home. His entire rear was hidden by a black coat that reached down his ankles. A kanji for ''Kami'' was written on the back of the coat; it also had high collars that reached above his ears. Two swords were strapped on his back; one with a red hilt was peering from his right shoulder and the one with a black hilt was on the left side.

The symbol of Kami said it all; he was a god in the Shinobi world. He was a SSS-rank international criminal who made fun of the power of kages. He was a shinobi who beat kages like a Jonin beating the lights out of the fresh academy graduates. Many people called him by many names, some despicable, but to her, he was none other than Uzumaki Naruto, her lover, her dream world husband.

Mei had no atom of doubt in her mind that it was warranted for people to call him names and infamously rank him as a god amongst man, despite being branded an international criminal. He was the first man to be ranked SSS-rank after all. In a more demonstration of his power, he used all five elements to godly level. He was also a master of Fuinjutsu, capable of doing with seals. Some even rumored that there was no seal he couldn't analyze.

Sharingan no Kakashi was hailed for copying over 1000 jutsus, Naruto didn't copy anything - he invented over 1000 jutsus, in each of the five main elements. He was the only to have more than 100 S-rank jutsus under his belt. He could make it rain lightning bolts, or fire, he could control the storms. His control of chakra and the elements was so refined that he controlled natural disasters.

This was Uzumaki Naruto, the notorious SSS-rank criminal, but not everything was as it appeared.

For more than 5 years he's been her Naruto, and though she would never say it to anyone for fear of her own safety, it has been the best five years of her unmarried life. It would have been a dream comes true if they didn't have to hide from the eyes of the world each time they met, it would be the story of her life she could walk around the streets of Kiri flaunting him like he was her playboy. But even if their relationship was a secret, it didn't mean spending time with him wasn't any fun.

It was loads of fun and she enjoyed every moment. She was the only person Naruto showed his smile after all.

Association with Naruto was punished with death, no questions asked. It was a law that was handed down by Kages of the Great Five Hidden Villages. This is why she had to keep it a secret from everyone, even someone like Ao. No soul knew of their relationship. Uzumaki was cursed everywhere and said to be the cause of all sorts of trouble, it was even taboo to mention his name, and hence he was usually revered as ''The Demon God.''

Naruto was a menace after all. He had brought chaos and death to each major village; he'd beat down the twin heroes of Kumogakure singlehandedly, inside Kumogakure, in broad daylight while the shinobi of the village watched. He had beat the Raikage in a battle of speed by a large margin that left the whole of Kumo standing still trying to comprehend the situation. It seemed unbelievable, one man, defeated two Jinchurikis with full access to the powers of their Bijuus, and the Raikage, but Naruto had done it, without an army: he was only using Lightning, Fuinjutsu, and Genjutsu, as well as kenjutsu and taijutsu.

The former loud and unpredictable teen was now the most wanted men in the world, with a record bounty of 1 and 9 zeros. The amount was funded by a total number of 13 shinobi villages, with the Great Villages contributing the most amounts. So many lives had been lost in his ''killing sprees,'' or ''rampages.'' Each of the great village was affected as well as some small villages.

Within the shinobi world, Naruto was the devil, feared more than the Akatsuki, and loathed more than Orochimaru, or any menace that has ever graced the land. They feared him just as much as Konoha's civilians wet themselves when they think of the Kyuubi's rampage years go. He is after all the only man to have directly and singlehandedly attack each of the great nations without losing a foot or a toe.

The attacks began with Konoha, where he assassinated some of its high ranking officials before fleeing, and the rest followed. It was an outrage in Konoha when they actually learned of his actions, and Tsunade had refused to believe it, neither did Jiraiya. They believed there was an explanation for it and Jiraiya started to search for him looking for answers. But Naruto disappeared from the face of the world for a few years.

The nations were left bewildered, and in a standstill as a single human had been able to enter a village like Kumogakure with the purpose of ''killing'' and actually succeed in doing it, after defeating the Kage and the twin protectors, the hailed perfect Jinchurikis of Kumogakure. Naruto crushed them while the residents of Kumogakure watched, and left with his hands inside his pockets.

He wasn't running away when he left the village, he was walking at a leisurely pace.

They couldn't chase after him, not after everything. Besides, they had bigger things to worry about than chasing the criminal. Their leaders were down the ground, bleeding and unconscious. They had to tend to them before anything else could be done. Stability and healing the wounded came first to chasing him.

Yes, the great Kumogakure which boasted two Jinchurikis, the fastest man in the elemental nations, allowed Naruto to leave after defeating the aforementioned shinobi.

When Onoki was laughing at Kumo's misfortune, with hidden intent to elevate his village higher as the rivals were taking knocks, it didn't take long for Naruto to walk straight into Iwagakure, through the gates. By then he was already a wanted man in the Lightning country with a bounty on his head.

Naruto went on another rampage in Iwagakure - a rampage that left Onoki hospitalized, near death. He was only saved by the best medic within the shinobi world, Tsunade. Naturally, when he healed, he ordered for Naruto's head to be delivered before his desk in a silver platter. But the only delivery he received was the heads of his own men.

The reaction was a mutual agreement with A to raise Naruto's level to SS-rank.

It was somewhat amusing to Mei that Naruto wasn't only hated by those villages he'd attacked, no, even other criminals loathed him. He did after all remove any bandits, missing-nin he came across. His actions were also forcing the great villages to be very stern when it came to criminals. It became very difficult for criminals to live because shinobi were all over, searching for Naruto.

Naturally, the real criminals blamed Naruto.

Naruto turned around to face the Mizukage; the look on his face grim, a very, very sad smile was plastered across his face. He had embarked on this journey a few years ago, and he'd known that a day would come.

The day he had to leave her, and that day was within his eyesight.

For the past three years he's been running around the elemental nations causing nothing but chaos and destruction. All he ever told these people was that he was merely testing their powers, or that he was bored. He'd killed so many people, he'd embarrassed the kages so many times, and he'd committed all sorts of crimes against the major villages. He'd sought to control them all. One of those days, he'd told them he wanted to rule all great villages since he was superior to any Kage.

''A Kage is the strongest shinobi in a village. The strongest is always selected to demonstrate strength and control. If a weak man is selected to rule people, how will he lead them without the power to enforce a few things? Shinobi respect power. Authority in the Shinobi world doesn't cut it, but you must have the strength to enforce that authority you have.

Over the past years, I have defeated everyone who you call the strongest, I have embarrassed you all. Thinking of fighting you again even bores me. You're not a challenge to me anymore. Every shinobi fears my name. I have eliminated the likes of Orochimaru, and one by one I dealt with the members of Akatsuki, you should be thanking me for eliminating such peasants,'' Naruto had said those words to the gathered Kages in one of their Kage summit as they were discussing strategies of how to handle him.

''There only reason you eliminated Akatsuki is because they opposed you, and eventually would've clashed with them because you were a threat to their plans.'' It was the kind of response he received. But Naruto merely shrugged.

''Reasons aside, the fact is that I have eliminated the nuisances in this world. Yes, I have dealt with all the threats. As I have said, I am stronger than all you Kages combined, and I control the power of the strongest Bijuu. If those with power rule over a village don't you think I who have gained the title of God should rule all over you?''

''Bastard!'' A, the Raikage had exploded as soon as those words left his mouth. ''This was your plan all along. You want us to play humble slaves to you!'' The big man was this close to ramming his fist to Naruto's gut at that time. Well, he could try to do so.

''You Great Villages have demonstrated that the strong do what they want and get away with anything. Konoha is a prime example of this - you cannot deny this Tsunade.'' Naruto had said in a steel tone. ''You people call me a demon, a God, that means I am no longer human to you. You have enslaved Bijuus because you believe you're superior to them. I, a demon, a god, have proven that I am superior to you in power, and I want to put you under my rule, what reason do you have to complain if you do the same to those things we see lesser of?''

''In simple words; you see us as lesser beings because you're stronger than us, hence you feel it is only right that you rule over us'' Gaara had summed it up quite perfectly.

''You underestimate our power, Naruto!'' Tsunade had exclaimed smashing the table in her anger. ''We're not that weak that we will bend over your will. You'll regret underestimating the power of the Great Five Villages! One of these days, you will pay, I swear in the name of my grandfather!''

His response back then came fast. ''You'd need him in your corner to defeat me Tsunade,'' Naruto said. ''But I have no problem in testing that now. If you feel so powerful and actually believe that you can defeat me, we can have a match right here and now.'' The reaction of the Kages was almost amusing. No one wanted to fight him at that time. He had already defeated them one on one, and then when they were all gathered.

''I will be waiting for your answers soon enough. If it doesn't come soon, I will be forced to give you a choice, death or become a puppet,'' a flash of black followed then as he disappeared from the presence of the Kages.

Since then, the Kages have been striving hard to strengthen their forces while he was patient. Villages were on lockdown as battle grounds, and strategies were drawn. It was clear to him and he'd known it from the beginning that they wouldn't agree to his proposal. They would rather die trying than kneel before him.

The world saw the villain in him, but it wasn't the entire truth. His actions were a mere illusion that hid his true motives. He wasn't after the power of the five kages; he had no desire to rule over anyone. He just wanted everyone to hate him, he wanted to carry the hatred of all the people in the Elemental Nations and die along with it, freeing the world from the cycle of hatred.

The thing that led him to the notion was when Jiraiya started talking about peace.

''Peace''

Jiraiya had often brought about the concept when they were wondering around the elemental nations during their 2 and half year training trip. Naruto didn't quite understand the concept, but when the Sannin spoke so passionately about it like he was a monk from the first generation of humans to have graced this land, Naruto found himself intrigued by the idea, the more he listened to Jiraiya, the more he became interested in it.

He may have held a big heart, gullible in many ways, but he never thought of the notion of peace. With Jiraiya, the idea became invested inside of him, and it grew rapidly. So much that he started loving to read - an activity he found to be a chore to be done by old farts that are locked up in a home with nothing better to do.

He wanted to find more about this concept of peace, how it could be achieved. Jiraiya said he wanted it to the world, even the Yondaime Hokage wanted it, even the Shodai Hokage wanted, but none of them have ever found the answer to it.

''Don't worry erro-sennin, I will find the answer,'' Naruto had so happily proclaimed with a huge grin on his face when Jiraiya was as he often did, speaking so passionately about peace.

What was the answer to peace?

To understand this more, he had to understand the shinobi world. It was digging deep that brought Naruto to his knees. The shinobi world was a flawed and cruel world. Konoha may be painted ''pure happy'', but it wasn't like that. His desire to Read meant he entered into places he wasn't supposed to, just so he could look at those closed records. The records in the library gave him a highlighted picture, edited crap that painted shit with honey.

The first thing that Naruto discovered was that no one was perfect, no one was as good as they claimed to be. Adults were liars. Two-faced liars who told them, children, lies decorated in vanilla cream to make it taste sweet while they kept the truth to themselves.

Tsunade was a liar, the man he had come to see as his savior, as his father-figure was a liar. His beloved Jiji was a shit-faced liar. Everybody was liar. The whole shinobi world was flawed and crawling with blatant corruption.

Then he was forced to answer the question: what was the way to find peace in such a cruel world? This was his answer...

Through his experiences with Konoha, he came to understand the harsh reality; it was only naivety that made a man think that humans in the Elemental Nations would come to understand each other through love. Konoha didn't understand him, hence their hatred of him for being the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi. But those people agreed to with each other in their hatred of him.

If he'd died, they would be free of their hatred, but there was a possibility that they might just find something else to hate.

The choice he made was to eliminate all evil that people could hate. Orochimaru and the Akatsuki were such evil that needed to be eliminated. They couldn't think that he was doing it for them. No, they thought he was just eliminating competition. They were all evil after all. An empire didn't need two kings - it only needed one. For his plan to work, he needed to draw their utmost hatred out. All his actions were for this purpose,

''Are you sure about this?'' Mei asked, walking over to him. Her hands went behind him, engulfing him in a tight, warm hug. ''You can always postpone. We can always runaway together to other lands who have no connection with shinobi.''

Naruto smiled, holding her too. ''You don't mean that, Mei,'' he said. ''I can't live with myself anymore in this world. Watching the looks my friends give me tears me apart, even if what I am doing is to bring peace to this world. Dying in those people's hands, no matter how brutal it is, it is my atonement for all those people I have sacrificed.''

Yes, if he died carrying the hatred of all the shinobi on his shoulders, then the Shinobi world would be free from hatred. Right now, they were united in an effort to purge him from this world. Mutual hatred was the only strong feeling that could unite shinobi, and he has done it. He held all evil, the other menace in the shinobi world were dead by his hands. With his death, this hatred would turn into joy.

All nations will be joyful knowing that the enemy has gone. Their joy will then turn into harmony, and peace will be within the grasp. Of course there was a chance that they could go back to hating each other after killing him. But he trusted Mei, and believed that a person like Gaara couldn't be consumed by hatred, not after everything.

With these two, Mei especially, he believed she could maintain the temporary peace his death would bring and turn it over to lasting peace. After his death, new kages were surely to be elected, and a new era would start. He counted on Mei to be the pioneer of a new peaceful era.

''It will sound a bit selfish from me, but I don't want you to die. I don't want to spend the next years without you. We've been in a relationship for these past years, and I can't imagine my life without you. I can't bear to watch you die, not in the way they plan to murder you,'' the Mizukage whispered down at Naruto's left ear, her tone sad, all kinds of depressing emotions bluntly uncensored from her voice.

Naruto didn't like the sound of her voice. He knew it would be painful for her to watch, but he had to do this, and she had promised him that when the time came, she would accept his choice. ''Mei, the hatred on the Elemental Nations is on my shoulders. I'm struggling to even stand straight under the weight, only you keep me from being consumed by this hatred. So please...''

He was begging, pleading for her to let him go. Naruto allowed Mei's grasp to leave him, before he placed both his hands on her shoulders, just so she could see how broken he was.

Mei bit her lip, and placed her right hand on her belly. She couldn't say it. No matter how much she wanted him to know, no matter how much she wanted him to stay. If she said it, it would break him. No doubt she wanted him to stay with her, but if she brought it out, it would kill him, his dreams, literally and she wouldn't be able to live with herself.

The feelings she felt were overwhelming; it felt like she was being crushed under a heavy torrent waves of a furious sea. The waves were slapping her in all directions, she wanted to cry, and she wanted to beg the gods to give another alternative. She'd thought she could handle this, but after falling in love with him, and the only person who he showered with affection, she couldn't, but she had to.

…for Naruto's sake.

Mei forced a smile. ''The unified forces will reach your hideout in four days, at least let me have you to myself for the next three days...''

Her smile was forced, Naruto knew it, but he couldn't point it out. She was trying, for his sake. He could at least try, for her sake. He pulled her closer to him, and held her tightly, like he was giving her one of those goodbye hugs. ''I'd like that.''

A few days later

The hideout Naruto called his hiding ground, the Holy Grail, he used wasn't anything special, but it was underground, deep within the green forest of the Fire Country, where people rarely crossed. Even if shinobi did come across such a place, they couldn't see his hideout unless one had the Byakugan. The Sharingan couldn't see through the barrier Naruto had set up.

Naruto looked from the tallest tree around the area near his underground hideout - the den of the Demon God: Five small armies were coming in all directions. He didn't have to guess that the army was composed from the mightiest shinobi of all Great Hidden Villages. They'd supplied their strongest shinobi to fight him, and all the Jinchurikis had gathered within the army. It wasn't just the Jinchurikis that packed heavy muscles; the Kages were also present with renewed strength and confidence.

This was what you called the perfect elite force to eliminate the Demon God. The strongest gathered, even with some who he could call criminals were gathered. All in the name of killing him, all in the name of dealing with the common enemy, Uzumaki Naruto, the demon God.

The intention was clear around the air; they wanted nothing but to see him suffer then watch the great demon die, by their own hands.

He was ready though. Honestly, he hadn't lived long enough to say that he was tired of living, but he had seen and experienced in this corrupted Shinobi world. Everything was corrupt, 1/3 of the shinobi were corrupt. Friends betrayed each other in the name of greed, the stronger bully the weak all in the name of excising their power as the strongest.

For now, even though the atmosphere was pregnant with the stinking scent of underrated hatred that oozed from almost every shinobi, nations were unified. He had done enough to ensure that their hatred of him wasn't eclipsed by any person. The nations had one common goal, they share the same desire, and this desire has brought them together. The kages have spent much time together in meetings over the past years, by now, they know each other well.

A Kage like Tsunade would seek to do everything in her power to insure that another incident like this doesn't happen again. Yes, all leaders will agree to methods of insuring that another ''Naruto'' wasn't born in this world to avoid what they had to go through. Methods against criminals would surely be implemented to insure a stable world that wasn't prone to have another demon God who sought nothing but tyranny.

'It looks like this is going to be our last battle together, Kurama,' Naruto said in thought to the Bijuu sealed inside of him. He didn't know how it happened, but he had grown to like the Bijuu. It was even puzzling to think that the Bijuu would be so willing to work with him without demanding anything in return.

Being that the Kyuubi was known as a Bijuu of nothing but mass hatred, people started suggesting that it was the Bijuu that had turned a kind-hearted Naruto into a cold blooded murderer. But to people of Konoha who still held some loathing towards him, his actions were only a confirmation of what they'd believed all along. They felt their actions were justified, and could happily say ''we told you he was a demon.''

Perhaps it was why they chose to brand him as the Demon God. He had a demon sealed inside of him, as they said. Kurama wasn't a demon, but they chose to believe such nonsense just so they could justify their actions towards Bijuus. Naruto also had godly powers, so the name was befitting to him.

With all that he has been doing, it meant that the Kyuubi was hated more than it had been and it couldn't live in this world freely. First, it would've to be reborn. Since he was going to die, it would also die with him. Its death was only temporary though. Perhaps the Bijuu saw it fit to die just so it could be away from lowly humans for a while. It never for once praised a human other than the legendary sage of six paths. Then again, that man wasn't exactly what you call a human; his mother wasn't precisely human either.

'It doesn't just look that way, it is that way. Isn't it that you plan on dying for these humans?' Kurama asked quietly, head rested on his paws, inside the seal. 'Are you second guessing your choice?'

'What makes you say that, Kurama?' Naruto asked.

'Just a feeling and your hands are shaking...'

Naruto looked at both his heads - they were indeed shaking, a cold sweat was also running loose on his forehead. 'My only regret is that I never had the chance to have a family of my own with Mei. Although my heart has been torn apart, I do not regret my choices. I believe that this was the only way.' He looked above the heavens as the enemies neared him in all directions. 'Perhaps it is the excitement that is making my body shake...'

'Pft,' Kurama was not the least amused. 'I know you better than anyone, Naruto. Maybe you have no regrets of your choice of path, but you're far away from being excited right now. You're actually crying right now, isn't it why you won't even face me?'

Naruto smiled sadly. 'Did you have to say it, Kurama?' he asked. 'Well, I can say nothing but thank you for everything you've done for me, Kurama. I can say that you've been the best friend I've ever had. There were many times I was nearly consumed by darkness, but I kept going because of you. Aside from Mei, you were my one true friend.'

Naruto then appeared within his mindscape. He gave Kurama one of his old wide grin, left hand on the back of his head, and his right held out straight with his fist faced the giant Tailed-beast. 'Will you bump your fist with me for the last time?'

Kurama stared him for a few moments before he rose up. A toothy grin formed in his face, and their fists bumped. No word was said, as Naruto disappeared from his mindscape.

Naruto closed his eyes for a full minute, when he opened them; the whole forest was surrounded by more than 100 strong shinobi, almost half of them ranking S-rank. There was no one in the group that couldn't hold his own, even if for a few minutes, against an S-ranked Shinobi. The only ones who didn't meet that category were the medics, who were behind the front-liners.

Eyes filled with nothing but pure hatred stared at his figure within burning fire and confidence in his defeat. The hatred that was being directed at him was almost sickening. Some looked at him like he was a real demon; some had malicious grins that promised nothing but sadism. Naruto almost felt like digging a hole just so he could hide under those stares.

These people look nothing like the people he wanted to save; these shinobi looked like people who were lost in their hatred. He wasn't faced with shinobi who wanted to rid of evil; it looked like it was evil against evil. Could it be that they'd chosen to be evil just so they could fight against the real evil?

Naruto shook his head: it wasn't time for such thoughts.

Naruto jumped down to the ground, but no one made a move. The hardened gazes of the Kages all just followed his movements silently without a word. He held both his hands together before speaking, ''I require some space,'' that was all the warning he gave.

''Wind Explosion!''

The surrounding Shinobi quickly fled from all areas. It was just one jutsu, one powerful jutsu. In a manner of speaking, it was a Shinra Tensei. Naruto had developed the jutsu after he had battled Nagato. Depending on the amount of chakra he put behind the jutsu, it could just be as disastrous as a Shinra Tensei, but its scale of destruction was a little low, depending on the strength of wind blowing around the atmosphere.

In the release of the jutsu, an explosion occurred around him and spread in all directions destroying everything that stood in the way. What made it dangerous was that it was mainly made up of hundreds of thousands sharp wind blades that were capable of shredding anything. The destructive power of the blades was in the same level as the Rasenshuriken.

Every tree within a 120m radios disappeared in a flash, leaving a barren ground with Naruto standing tall in the middle, not minding the small amount of dust that was still settling down.

Not a few seconds passed, and every shinobi appeared again, after they'd retreated to avoid getting caught in the range of Naruto's jutsu. It was no surprise to anyone to see him throw an S-rank jutsu just like that. He was a specialist of S-rank jutsu after all.

The kages stepped forward from around the forces. Naruto ignored the presence of Mei - he couldn't face her - and looked at Tsunade who was on his right. He faced the Godaime Hokage; she didn't look too happy. Perhaps it was because he'd hurt Jiraiya so badly that he wasn't able to fight anymore. The Sannin was just a civilian right now.

Naruto had no choice in the matter but to end Jiraiya's career as a shinobi. The Sannin kept chasing after him, never giving up in trying to make him to change his ways and return to Konoha. For many times he'd just told the Sannin to hit the road, but the last time they met, Jiraiya brought up the Minato card and he was honestly tired of it. Another was that if he ended the man's career as a shinobi, then he wouldn't have to kill him.

Perhaps another reason was just to punish him for abandoning him. Jiraiya did abandon him and his reason was he had duties to fulfill as a shinobi. With his career over, he could stay grounded.

For old time's sake, Naruto smiled like he did when he was at Konoha, and used the same happy tone he always did. ''Don't look like that, Baa-Chan, it isn't good for your health.'' If more than anything, he wanted to calm his nerves, and the tension all over his body. He was going to face death, he could feel the breath of the death licking his skin right now, and it wasn't making him comfortable.

Tsunade's look twisted into that of pure anger. ''Don't you dare act like him! You're nothing like him!'' the Fifth Hokage snarled furiously. She couldn't accept that it was really him so she chose to believe that it wasn't the Naruto she knew. The one she was seeing was imposter.

Humans had different ways of coping; even he had his own methods. But he didn't discard the harsh reality just because he couldn't handle it. No, he always accepted the reality, no matter how painful it was. He wouldn't even have walked in this path if he couldn't deal with the truth. Accepting and matching on was what he has been doing.

Naruto shook his head, but chose not to say anything - he didn't want her to experience pain more than this. Besides, if he kept talking, it would only antagonize her further, and she would no doubt lash out at him with all her might.

A part of the reality he had to accept was that his friends, no former friends, were hurt because of his actions. To them, he had betrayed them, their friendship. Truly speaking, Naruto felt like he had betrayed them, the handful of people who'd accepted him. Sakura couldn't even look at him without cursing him - he was responsible for the death of her beloved Sasuke.

He shouldered all the curses, he accepted them. He couldn't leave Sasuke alive anyway. The day he killed Itachi, was the day the Uchiha made him promise he would take care of his brother. Sasuke was a menace, a corrupted child who roamed around the Elemental Nations with a fake Madara. If he wasn't like that, he would've left him alive.

Sakura could hate him, but he did what he believed was right.

''Calm down, Hokage,'' Ai said in a firm tone. ''It won't do us any good if you get worked up before we even start fighting,'' the man for once wasn't being led by his emotions.

''Sorry,'' Tsunade apologized quickly before calming her nerves.

''Let us do this already,'' Onoki said impatiently. ''I'm not getting any younger and I have to see his death before I too die.''

The shinobi around the clearing nodded in agreement. The common thought was the death of Naruto, nothing less. If they couldn't do that today, if they were defeated, then they would be forced to live under his rule. No one wanted a tyrant, not in this world.

''We will not ask you to surrender, for we know you will not do that,'' Gaara started flatly. ''I can only hope that you're prepared for this.''

Naruto forced a smile. A massive wave of chakra exploded, forcing everyone to step back a little and cover their eyes, shielding them from the debris that had picked up. The chakra he'd released was rather frightening, but they were prepared for it. If they weren't, they would have hit the ground just by seeing that small power up.

When it cleared, Naruto was holding both his blades, still standing comfortably. ''I too hope that you're ready to face the consequence of your defeat. If I kill everyone here, taking over your villages will be quite easy,'' Naruto said looking straight at the blank stare of Gaara.

''Then we can't afford to lose here,'' Mei said, looking up, avoiding facing Naruto directly. Neither could she look at him without breaking. He was her lover, and she had to fight him to death.

There was something in her tone that Tsunade caught. ''Are you okay, Mizukage-dono?''

''Yes,'' Mei forced a smile. ''It is just a shame that we have to waste such a fine man,'' she said rather dryly. She steeled her resolver. If she broke down, Naruto would be forced to act, and that would ruin everything.

''Shall we get this over with already?'' Naruto asked, looking a bit impatient.

''The battle has already started,'' Gaara said. A wave of sand burst forth from the ground, forcing Naruto to jump to avoid being caught. His evasion was predictable; Kakashi and another shinobi from Iwa were right above him, waiting.

''Earth Style: Twin Mud Dragon!'' Both yelled out simultaneously. They former a a large two headed dragon that sped down towards the blond in a fast speed, looking to slam him down the ground.

Gaara's sand also charged from the ground, moving towards Naruto.

Naruto merely smiled as both attacks engulfed him, for a moment that is. Everything was blown away from him by pure wind, sending chunks of earth all over the terrain. Naruto then hit the ground, unharmed. ''I expect better from you people.''

''We were merely testing you...''

Then it happened, attacks from angles came flying towards him in a heap. The Kages, excluding Gaara, didn't tangle with their forces; they waited, with the Jinchurikis. This was just a preparation; the main event was soon to arrive.

The battle waged on around the place in blurry images as Naruto clashed with the forces of the Unified Nations. Naruto cleaned the numbers one by one. It didn't take long for the Kages to step into the fray to challenge him. Those still remaining still continued to fight him. Their coordinated attacks forced him into the defensive. Once he was made to defend, the Jinchurikis stepped in, in their Bijuu forms.

Naruto battled seven Jinchurikis, and the Kages. Their combined efforts proved to be overwhelming, even for him. But combining his chakra and Kurama's gave him more speed and power to battle a full grown Bijuu. Naruto didn't exactly need to battle the Bijuus, yes, after some time, seeing that they were relentless, he did what he did best; contact with them and seal away the Bijuus, making the Jinchuriki normal.

The real turning point of the battle was when Kakashi took out his right arm with Kamui, and the result became inevitable from then. He was already prepared to die; he just wasn't going to make it so obvious to them. With one of his hand missing, their confidence grew back after he had dismantled it by cleaving through their numbers.

In the end, he gave up and multiple blades pierced through his body from the back and the front. His clothes were already tattered, and his blood was leaking all over due to the many wounds he'd received throughout the battle. To cap it up, a large spear was put through his chest, and then imbedded down the ground to hold him up.

'This is the end...' Naruto thought mildly as he could vividly make the images and sounds of the rejoicing remaining shinobi out there. Only less than 20 remained though, including the Kages and the Bijuus.

Still, he held no regrets, even when they staked his body on a pole for everyone to watch. Even when they held the pole and took away his body to their homes, carrying it like a trophy.

Well, he was dead.

Fiore, Earthland

Naruto found himself surrounded by an unfamiliar forest, and he was in no doubt in a high altitude. He could very well feel the atmosphere within his surrounding that this was a mountain. The forest looked new; it wasn't the Elemental Nations, he had travelled throughout that world looking for good spots he could make his home. This was new.

He expected himself to be rotting in a pit somewhere in hell for all his sins. He was after all willing to see hell just for the sake of the shinobi world. He was dead, he had died. He couldn't deny that after seeing his body through a glass of window while his soul left it. But everything had just gone haywire after that, and he couldn't make of what had happened.

This wasn't hell. It led him to question, ''Is this heaven?'' he asked, particularly to no one since he was all alone.

'You wish,' an amused but strained voice of his old friend rang through his head.

'Kurama, is that you?' Naruto sounded a bit happy since he'd thought that he would never ever again hear the deep voice of the Bijuu. He couldn't feel the presence of the Bijuu inside of him and even when he tried entering his mindscape, he couldn't. It felt like he was trying to go through a door that didn't exist.

'It is me,' Kurama said, still his voice was strained. 'I don't have much time, but I will explain a few things to you and don't interrupt me,' the tone was stern. 'This is not heaven or hell, I don't even think such worlds exists. This is a new world; it is either an alternate world, or the distant future of your world. It could also be a parallel universe. I'm not certain. You will have to find the answers on your own.'

Naruto was a little puzzled. 'What do you mean by that Kurama?'

'Your soul may have left your body, signaling your death, but I took over your body, keeping it alive just to see what those humans would do to it. But I imagine that things must not have gone well for you because your body wasn't ''dead'', so technically, you were still alive. Your soul must have sought to return since your body was calling it, but since I was occupying it, it couldn't return and it was involved in a struggle between entering its body, and moving to the afterlife. I assume both forces were pulling it, causing you some discomfort.

Anyway, those humans considered burning your body after they had paraded it. But some argued that your ashes might stain their world. In the end, Kakashi used that Kamui.'

Despite it all being overwhelming, Naruto still found a conclusion. 'If I wasn't dead, then they would have noticed with the beating of my heart that I wasn't dead. The fact that my soul left my body only meant that my heart had stopped beating. I can only speculate that since you didn't die with me like you're supposed to, my connection with you was the problem. But I know that my heart stopped beating, I felt it.

Even though we used to hate it, you and I were eternally bound by that seal. What happened after Kakashi used Kamui?'

'This,' Kurama said.

'What do you mean ''this?'''

'I don't actually recall what happened. But your soul and body were warped in the Kamui. But since your soul was already being pulled into the afterlife, while still connected with your body, I assume that you didn't end up in Kakashi's dimension, but the friction between Kamui and the world of the afterlife may have caused a new portal to open that sent you here.'

Naruto blinked a couple of times. 'That doesn't make sense; did you just make that up, Kurama?'

'Would you believe it if I told you that you were given a second chance to live by kami?'

'Well, this isn't an illusion, otherwise, I would have noticed already. My hand was missing when I died, but now I'm perfectly fine. The only problem is that I'm completely naked though and look a bit young. Still, I am alive, and well, I don't think I have any choice than to believe something.'

If he was alive when he knew that he was dead, then he had to believe that some great natural force worked wonders to make this reality because it was sure as hell wasn't an illusion.

'Maybe I should've chosen that explanation first,' Kurama mused mildly. 'Naruto...'

'I can't hear you Kurama. Oi, Kyuubi, can you hear me?'