Thank you

[derpivity]

Who: Uzumaki Naruto, Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato
What: The Uzumaki family's arrival!
When: May 10
Where: Somewhere in the forest
Summary: Sometimes, Luceti is kind. Sometimes, it gives families dealt with a heavy hand a second chance.
Rating: G for all the famiry fluff!


Minato's very certain the pain won't end.

So when it faded into an oblivion of nothingness, it surprises him. Maybe this is what being in the afterlife entails - the empty sensation that he can never be able to fathom. What's one supposed to feel in the afterlife, anyway? Are they supposed to feel endless anguish? Undying happiness? Eternal suffering? None of those can fit what he's currently feeling, though. Should he feel content by that? Should he feel anything at all?

There's a few minutes of nothing but void, or maybe an hour, he couldn't tell. Time seemed to have refused existence.

Then, lazy sunlight caressing bare skin.

It's the first sensation after the blankness and it almost felt foreign to Minato. Is he supposed to feel warmth in the afterlife? Is he also supposed to feel the cold hard ground against his naked back while something itches fierce that he's laying on?

Is he also supposed to feel familiar tresses against his fingertips?

Then, he remembers. Kushina.

Minato snaps his eyes open. The expanse of wide clear blue sky greets him with a bright glare that he squints and shields his eyes with the back of his free hand. That doesn't deter him from glancing around, however. Trees as far as his eyes can see and then his wife sleeping soundly beside him.

His wife that also breathed her last just moments ago with him.

And in his fingers, her red thread of fate.

He takes a satisfied breath, inhaling the scent of the forest and the crisp, clean aroma that is uniquely Kushina. Instantly, though, Minato's eyes went wide. Breath? How can he be breathing? With haste, he examines himself with one hand, palming his chest where a deep wound should be. He found nothing but the constant beating of his heart as if it didn't stop earlier.

His head whips to the side. There's Kushina's slumbering form yet Minato can hear someone else's breath on the other side that he sits up, albeit with her hair still in his fingers.

It can't be.

"Naruto...?" A soft murmur of disbelief, ocean blue eyes widening as he drinks in the sight of his son, now a teenager of sixteen. He looks the same, shirtless as the day he and Kushina left him, but with the blueprint of the young man he didn't have the chance to see grow up.

This can't be.

He can't be here. The faith he held for Naruto saving the ninja world can't be false. Was his decision wrong in the first place? Was it a complete mistake to seal the Kyuubi within him? What is he doing here, in the afterlife, where the only ones permitted to enter are the ones who have met their demise? Questions after questions are flooding within Minato and yet the poignant image before him, his wife and son sleeping soundly next to each other, can't help but grip something inside him. It's the very image he lost to evil.

How many birthdays did he spend without them? How many trips to Ichiraku where he had to pay for his own meals and eat in solitude? How many successful missions did he do where no parent congratulated him upon return?

Minato wants to ruffle his hair and tell him that he grew up to be a fine young man he and Kushina are proud of and yet the same old questions that plagued him earlier came rushing in. He wants to know the answers to them because Naruto can't be here even if it means breaking this image he had so yearned for.

"Kushina. Kushina, wake up."

Comments

[fervidity]

[There's a voice calling her name past the steady rise and fall of her chest, the peaceful expression on her face, and one arm draping protectively over the chest of the third person who looks too much like the red-headed woman in question. The voice sounds familiar, like she's heard it almost every day of her life saying those same three words. Saying her name. Familiar, gentle, and eliciting a warmth that reaches her heart and reaches through unconciousness. There's a small smile as it finds her in that same dark, empty, nothing place and pulls her into crisp air and some semblance of being more alert.

Her name is muffled and sounds like it's coming from very far away, but it eases her much more gently than Minato's sudden jerk into reality. Being alive. Yet something was different. Where...was she? There's no soft bed or warm blankets or even the hard surface of a table coupled with the ache of her elbow from falling asleep there. Yet it's just like waking up from a dream.

Or a nightmare.

Childbirth. Kyuubi. Masked man. Konoha. Minato. Memories come rushing back and she realizes the difference. She isn't in her bed, asleep at the dinner table, because they don't exist in this world anymore. She doesn't exist. Her life in exchange for one, small, new life she would give a thousand lives for instead. The warmth in her chest is replaced by a pressure, a squeeze, a painful throb that makes the soreness on her back remote.

Naruto...

She wouldn't be able to see him until he was older, until much later, Minato had said. It had felt like she was just there, trying to tell him everything he needed to know but still having so much more to give, so much more to say. The desperate need to stay, to watch, to scold, to love above all else had been the breaking point and the need remains, perhaps stronger now.

Kushina still doesn't open her eyes. They remained closed until she slowly sits up and faces the voice and finally looks a bit alarmed.]

Minato. What--?

[Confused eyes glance around quickly but lock on immediately to the body her hand still attempts to guard; almost as if it has a mind of its own, second-nature. Whatever questions she might have had about where she was, why he was here, where the Kyuubi might be, why she still feels alive, where the giant hole in her stomach might have gone... all of it is replaced by one thing.

One person.

She can't help but stare for a long moment in disbelief and her free hand comes up, shaking, and presses to her heart because it throbs so harshly. With a wide-eyed, amazed, startled, jarred expression to turns to Minato again for an answer. Does she really need one? With the way she already feels overwhelming protectiveness over this boy. Instead of waiting (she was never patient) she turns back around and the hand on her heart that's trying to keep herself together lowers to blond hair. Though every emotion that she could possibly feel is overwhelming her, she smiles. Softly, carefully, still trembling, her hands brush through blond hair and she feels her eyes close.

Softly;]

Naruto... it's nice to finally see you again...

[believeit]

[There is movement around him, though it is the soft sound of voices that finally begin to stir him from his slumber. Voices that he can't quite place, though he knows them, voices that were important enough he made damn sure to memorize them last time they spoke. He can't make out what they are saying though one word stands out. Naruto. His name. Someone is calling him, he needs to wake up.]

Mmm..

[An incoherent mumble, followed by another that sounded oddly like 'extra pork' before he rolls onto his side, towards whoever's hand is gently brushing through his hair. He's not ready to wake up yet, not when it's this quiet. It's peaceful, warm and the soft breeze carries the scent of trees and life, it's everything that war is not. The battlefield is cold, loud, violent and-

Blue eyes snap open as he remembers where he was. Madara. Obito. The Juubi. Friends injured, friends dying. How the hell had he fallen asleep at a time like this?! Had he been knocked out?

Suddenly sitting up, the boy is about to scramble to his feet once again when what he is seeing finally registers with him. He is no longer surrounded by shinobi but trees, with two others sat beside him. Two very important people, the most important, though ones he never expected to see again.]

Mom..Dad...? How-?

[He didn't understand any of it, but the words to voice his questions were simply not coming as he stared at the two, eyes wide in disbelief. Why were they here? And where was 'here' anyway? He'd been in the middle of a battle, had he died..? It didn't feel like he had, he'd always assumed he'd know it for certain if that had happened. Besides he couldn't die, not yet, not when he still had things to do and there were so many people counting on him... though this didn't feel like those other times he'd gotten to speak to them either, this all felt too entirely real. ]

What's going on? How are you here? How am I here?

[He had to get back again, he knew it, but...not yet. Not when he'd somehow been given a chance to meet his parents again. Together.]

[derpivity]

That's exactly what I want to know.

[Though Minato wants to know more about why his son is here. It's perfectly normal for he and Kushina to be here, but Naruto? No, it's still isn't his time.

Although, something doesn't seem right. How come Naruto's a teenager and yet they didn't age when they all arrived at the same time? This also doesn't feel like the time when they should be seeing him again because this, wherever this is, feels very much real.

For someone who knows so much, Minato is at a loss and he dislikes it.

Even so, he can't help but watch his family as he steals furtive glances from Kushina then to Naruto. To have them both here, it feels entirely surreal that he can't believe it. It's almost as if he's dreaming, or he just woke up from a nightmare and this is the reality he should have been given. He's just as happy as Kushina to see his own flesh and blood, to see them all together. However, Minato knows something doesn't sit well with this situation.

Minato takes a deep breath and lets it out. The air seems real too, so are his sensations. Is it possible they're in an elaborate genjutsu? But how can he even fall into one when he was just killed?

That leaves him with his earlier assumption. Minato will stick to it for now unless otherwise proven. Turning to Kushina, he places a hand on her shoulder.]

Kushina, he can't be here. If this place is what I think it is, he can't be here.

[fervidity]

[Kushina jerks back in surprise at the sudden movement and to avoid a forehead collision with her son, hands hovering mid-air and face a little baffled. She manages a small smile at being called 'mom' to reassure but then furrows her brow slowly. Now that she wasn't completely overwhelmed (though she's still very) by the sight of her son, so grown up, she turns to Minato. This was his doing, wasn't it? The intention was to meet their older son and help him with Kyuubi, for her to tell Naruto things that Minato couldn't.

Apparently, that was her job as a mother.

But it felt wrong. She shouldn't feel so alive and vibrant with energy; like nothing had ever happened. What stands out the most is the lack of the Kyuubi. Minato had made it clear she would appear when Naruto needed help controlling the Kyuubi. And with Naruto confused as much as they are and Minato at such a loss too, Kushina needs to be the go-between. She can't lose it here too. There's a deep breath.

Her expression hardens, voice firm and directed at Minato. Her son wasn't dead.

No. She'd rather them be alive somehow than accept that possibility.]

We'll figure it out.

[Had something gone wrong with the Eight Signed Seal? Naruto might have tried to control the Kyuubi but something went wrong. She didn't know.]

A lot was going on ... maybe something happened with the seal.

[She turns to Naruto, is hit with another wave of emotions at his face but buries it. Somehow.]

Naruto, were you just trying to control the Kyuubi's chakra?

[believeit]

The Kyuubi's chakra? Eh?

[This time it was his turn to frown. Why would she think that when she'd already been there to help him once before?]

I already controlled the Kyuubi's chakra. You were there, remember? I can controll it just fine now, what's more we're actually working together!

[Naruto shuffles, sitting up on his knees. Brow still furrowed though the look in his eyes is hopeful- You do remember, right Mom?]

That happened like..a while ago, you helped me with it then you told me all about what happened, y'know, on the day I was born, with you and Dad and the masked guy. You remember it right?

[His head turns, this time towards Minato.]

And Dad appeared another time before that, back when Pein attacked and the seal almost broke. You fixed it for me, you remember, right?

[Though the looks on their faces wasn't giving him much confidence. Just what the hell was going on?]

[derpivity]

[Trust his wife to be the mediator in times like these, trust her to catch both of them in these situations, that he gives Kushina a small grateful smile. This is all still very overwhelming and Minato was fleetingly amused on how they're working as a family right now, together.

But there are still so many questions right now and Naruto's words aren't helping the confusion any. If anything, things are getting even more baffling. Apparently, by his inquiries, they already appeared in his consciousness and since he has immense faith that Naruto's telling the truth, Minato instantly rules out the fact this is that time they have promised.

Although, how can he not remember that time ever passing? Even Kushina can't remember. It seems like they are both from the time they were killed, Minato can gather as much, even with the lack of traces to actually prove it.

Then, how can he explain Naruto being a teenager? Is it possible this place - whatever this place is because Minato's beginning to believe this isn't Konoha in the likeliest - tampers with time? He's still not sure and he gives Naruto a slow shake of his head.]

I fear I don't remember that ever happening, Naruto. [And somehow, he hopes he does because then things will make a little more sense. Turning to Kushina, with his hand still on her shoulder, his gaze tries to mask his worry but to no avail.] Kushina, do you?

[Minato is starting to think this isn't about the Kyuubi but something bigger than all of them. At least, he's also beginning to think this isn't the afterlife, somehow. The afterlife can't be this real and he refuses to think Naruto died.]

[fervidity]

[Kushina gasps, wide-eyed and just as baffled.

She was...there? No, she would have remembered that! A reunion with her son isn't a memory she would ever allow herself to forget. It's too precious. She looks stricken, not only at the fact that she doesn't remember any this, but that Naruto could actually already control the Kyuubi's chakra. He's still just a teenage boy.

The last memory she possesses is dying, sealing the Kyuubi into their newborn son, and the hope they carry that somehow, some way he would be happy.

Not only that, but he says it's happened a while ago. Then this isn't a matter of the seal being done wrong. Allegedly, everything had gone right (or as right as they had planned during their last moments). Naruto had controlled the Kyuubi with her help, she had told him what had happened... but she doesn't remember.

Why doesn't she remember! How can that be? Is he playing a trick on them? No...how could he? He's says everything that had been planned from the start. It's too elaborate to be a prank of any sort.

Still, Kushina is at a loss for words and such a thing isn't a common occurance. Her eyes trail to Minato at his askance and then back to Naruto. Nothing, not a flicker of any sort of memory; not a reunion or her helping Naruto or talking with him besides her words to him as a newborn. Minato doesn't remember either. But Naruto did.

Is it memory tampering? Did someone seal that memory from her? Then the question would be 'why?' It's her turn to be overwhelmed, at any rate.]

Why ...? Why don't we remember that? Minato ...

[Since Minato's face isn't quite as debilitating as Naruto's there's something she notices. For one, Minato is shirtless.

Two, he has wings. Her eyes flash back to Naruto. Orange wings. And now her own back. Wings too.

Finally, her temper snaps. It's about time, honestly.]

Wh-What's going on! This is really weird and confusing, ya know!

[believeit]

[Neither of them seemed to remember anything which made Naruto more confused, which in turn made him more frustrated.]

I dunno! I don't even know how I ended up here! I was with Kaka-sensei and everyone else and we were fighting-- and the Juubi-- and I don't even remember closing my eyes but then I woke up here, and you're here, and we have wings, and someone took our clothes, why did they take our clothes?!

[A pause for breath finally as he looked at Kushina, though she seemed to be just as miffed as he was. Turning towards Minato for an answer instead, he hoped that at least one of them had some sort of idea about what was going on.]

I mean I'm glad I get to see my Mom and Dad, I didn't think it would happen ever again, but I dunno why we're here!

[derpivity]

[Kaka-sensei. Juubi.

Minato takes note of those things first because he knows they're vital. What's happening to his son's future? If he's still believing this is the afterlife, he would have jumped to the conclusion that he must have been killed during the fighting, but Minato doesn't want to think that anymore. Even if surmising this is the afterlife would be the easiest conclusion, how can one explain the gaps in memory and the fact this is real?

Naruto can't arrive with them at the same time. That's not how it's supposed to work. He will stick to that.

Ruling that one out, Minato's left with nothing. Brows furrowing, he gives Kushina's shoulder a soft squeeze of reassurance. He got this. He'll be the wall of this family; he'll support them.]

There has to be an explanation regarding all this. Things rarely happen without no reason. [His steady gaze turns from Kushina to Naruto and vice versa while he speaks in a tone that doesn't reveal how lost he is too.] That said, wherever this place might be, there must be something or someone who will do the exposition for us.

[Then, with a small smile, he tries to be more reassuring.] The important thing is, we are together.

[fervidity]

[Nobody knows how they managed to wind up here, Naruto.

Kushina's line of thought isn't too far from Minato's. Minato's words, the prophecy of world upheaval seems to actually be happening to Naruto, wherever he was before now. Jiraiya-sensei was right. But still, for that sort of responsibility to be on Naruto's shoulders...

It didn't matter if he's the Child of Prophecy, she doesn't want him to have to handle it on his own and without them. At least, she had wanted him to know that they COULD be there for him even if he didn't need it. The support, the pillar of a parent she never got to be until now.

As for Kushina, she doesn't believe this is the afterlife. Maybe this is a dream or an illusion. She didn't think of that. A very thorough illusion but one all the same. She can't bring herself to release it though. Not yet.

The question remains: where are they? And what's with the wings? And yeah...where the heck are her clothes? Did some weird pervert undress them for some reason!

Minato's squeeze jerks her out of her stray thoughts and she sighs, calming down slightly. The wings are no less weird, however.

Together. He's right. That's the important thing. Carefully and cautiously, she reaches for Naruto's hands and holds them in hers. She's glad, too. No matter how much it hurts to think that Naruto wasn't supposed to see them again if he had already controlled the Kyuubi's chakra, she's glad.]

We'll figure it out. Everything.

[For what seems like too long, one of her usual grins spreads across her face.] Even if it's just some weirdo who decided to undress us and put wings on our back, ya know?

[believeit]

[Oddly enough, even though the fact that neither of his parents seemed to have any better idea as to what was going on, Naruto felt himself feeling relieved. They were both right, they were together right now and that is what mattered, and he honestly believed that they would be able to make sense of it.]

[Though at the mention of some weirdo he suddenly begins to look around suspiciously, searching for any movement between the trees. Not even Ero-sennin went to those lengths, and he was a super-pervert! Even if it wasn't just that, he couldn't think of a single valid reason as to why their clothes had been taken.]

When I find out who snatched our clothes, I'm gonna punch them!

[derpivity]

[Minato was so preoccupied with his family that he momentarily forgot all about the wings attached to his back even when they were itching. The same reason can also be said by him almost ignoring the fact he's also shirtless. He knows these facts are present but his family took precedence. Now that they have called them out, he addresses them too.]

Ah, we will have time for that later. We should focus more on actually finding whoever's responsible, though I do admit having unexpected wings and suddenly missing some clothes is really unsettling.

[Save your temper for later, famiry. Also, like Naruto, Minato will look around too but for something equally suspicious, if not a clue, something off, that will somehow guide them. The more this went on, the more Minato's starting to get convinced that his earlier assumptions of afterlife and genjutsu are false. If his hunch is correct, this is an alien situation different from everything else he had encountered.

As he continues his search, Minato spots something amiss laying on the ground a few meters from them.]

Hm, is that... a book?

[fervidity]

[Punching random people probably isn't a good idea, but Kushina can't argue that she really wants to teach a lesson to the person who stole their clothes, tampered with their memories, glued wings on their back, and put them in this place without explaining a damn thing.

Then again, she wants to thank them too. For this chance to realize an image of a happy family. With the addition of wings.

Since Kushina is the adult here, even with her temper, and a mother, this is what comes from her mouth;]

Naruto! We need to find out why we're here before we punch anybody. [And she would do the punching, thanks. Punching Naruto later lol.

At the mention of a book, Kushina glances over and spots it. What? What is a book doing out in the middle of the forest? Shuffling over to investigate, she picks up the new object and weighs it in her hands before either Minato or Naruto can decide they want to do it. It turns this way and that, head tilting under so she can see it at all angles.]

It looks like a normal book. I don't sense any traps or see any strange seals on it so I think it's safe. And there's two more over here that look exactly the same. Did someone just leave books out here too?

This place just gets more strange. Books don't belong outside in a forest. Geez! Next thing you know there isn't going to be any ram-!

[As she speaks she's flipping the book open and stops mid-sentence in surprise.]

[believeit]

[He is still pretty pissed off, and once they find out who is responsible for this the urge to yell and/or punch them may come back, bu as it stands he knows they have no clue right now.

Instead he will shuffle over, closer to Kushina. They're right- a book like this in the middle of nowhere is suspicious. It isn't his and neither parents seems to recognize it either.]

Maybe whoever put is here dropped it or something..

[However once it was opened.. that was no normal book.]

What's all that weird writing and pictures on it?

[derpivity]

[It doesn't take that much for Minato to be by his family's side. He had half a mind to stop Kushina from even opening the book because who knows might happen but even before he does, she already picked it up and nothing seemed to be wrong with it.

Although, the shock she expressed and Naruto's question prompted him to give his own scrutiny. Adjusting his vision to what's inside the book, Minato's own ocean blue eyes go wide.]

It's not an ordinary book. It almost seems like... [Could it be? But how can it even be possible?] ... some form of communication. [That's all he can conclude and if there's three of them here, could it be that...?]

[fervidity]

[She doesn't answer Naruto, not knowing what the writings or pictures are either. She only frowns at the text and then over to her son. The fact that she doesn't know bothers her -- she wishes she could tell Naruto the answer.

Minato knows though. Communication? This didn't look like any sort of walkie talkie or something resembling the long-range communications they had in Konoha.]

We can talk to people through a book?

[She shoots Minato a disbelieving look. It sounds...ridiculous, to be honest. But with wings on their back, Minato and Kushina alive, books laying around for no reason, perhaps it wasn't so far-fetched.]

Well, I guess we're just going to have to test and see.

[This, directed at the journal without pressing any buttons or turning on any sort of fuction. Just...talking at it.]

Hello? Anybody out there? Hello?! [She feels dumb.]

Minato, this is stupid.

[believeit]

[Looking over the book some more, he really doesn't understand it. Kushina tried speaking to it with no response so he edged back, letting out a frustrated sigh.

However, idly glancing around, something caught his eye.]

Hey-- look. There's another one of them over here.

[Hopping to his feet and walking the short distance to it, he returns to sit on the ground, opening up the second book.]

It looks the same..

[derpivity]

["Minato, this is stupid."

The only response Kushina will get from her with that kind of remark is a lopsided smile. It's not his fault the thing won't act as it is, but this can be the only explanation when there are three of them here and it has weird texts all over the place that seemed like a network.

Naruto seems to have noticed the journals' number too that he nods towards his son.]

The fact that there seems to be three of them almost indicate that there's one for each of us. [Sort of how they give communication devices during missions. Turning to Kushina, this time, he keeps his smile on.]

We probably haven't figured out how to operate them yet, but these texts and pictures tell us of some broad network here.

[Minato, fully knowing the confusion all this might be bringing to his family, goes to take one of Kushina's hands in his as some form of assurance while he continues to smile at Naruto. He'll act like the sturdy wall he's supposed to be in this family.]

We'll figure this out, alright?

[fervidity]

[Two of the same books. She would bet if she talked at that one too she would feel equally as ridiculous. So the two Uzumaki will stare into the contents of the journals with no idea how to go about communicating to anyone.

Okay, she can agree there's one for each of them and she can also agree that they're used for something. Maybe she went about using it in the wrong way and it took a lot more investigating than just judging it by it's cover. Badum tsh.

She makes a frustrated sound but trusts her husband's judgement. Her eyes widen slightly in surprise at the gentle hand-holding but it's enough to calm her frayed nerves and she finally returns the smile with one of her own, her gaze loving.

He's right. He's just reiterating her words too. Then she turns to Naruto too, mirroring his smile.]

So let's get to figuring it out.

[The book is slammed down on the ground in her fervor and she flips open the pages, eyes scanning its contents for anything that might give them a clue.]

If we're not the only ones here, maybe someone will tell us what's going on and where we are.

[And why they're half naked and stuff.]

[believeit]

[Naruto stares at the book for a little while longer before looking over to his parents, listening to everything they have to say. They've all seemed to have come to the same conclusion- there is one book for each of them, and he has to agree that it looks like some weird form of communication.

In that case, the simplest thing would be:]

So we've just got to figure out how these works, then we can ask whoever's here what's going on.