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Over the course of the next day everyone in the group had made a lot of progress in getting away from Konoha, though not as much progress as Tsunade would have preferred. Two things had slowed them down a bit. The first being Moegi, who needed to be carried the whole time which slowed down her ride and thus the group. The second, being the more inconvenient, was someone Kushina had taken an interest in.
"Please tell me why exactly are we dragging her along? And don't give me that 'I'll explain later' crap." Tsunade insisted when they took a break in the evening.
"I was looking for my son and found her in the area. I had no way of knowing if she was an ally or an enemy but the only way to know was to take her with me and find out." Kushina answered.
The person in question was an unconscious woman with red hair wearing a tattered white and purple kimono held together by a thick purple robe acting as a belt. This whole time she had been covered up in medic wrap and carried by Kushina so no one had recognized her until now. Right now she was laying on her back, looking peacefully asleep.
"That woman's the enemy Mom. She works for Orochimaru." Naruto said. "Why did you bring her here?"
"Like I just said Son, I had no way of knowing if she was with Konoha or not. I didn't want to abandon her if she was one of your allies, and I figured if she was an enemy we could get information out of her." Kushina answered.
"Not a bad idea, but she must be close to death if she hasn't woken up yet." Shizune said.
"She was in a lot of pain, so I put her in a forced sleep. Considering half her body was crushed by a tree I'm not surprised." Kushina replied. "I'm not exactly a healer, so I thought maybe you Tsunade could take a look at her."
Tsunade frowned. "If she works for Orochimaru, the only healing I'm doing to to make her coherent enough to answer questions. After that, she can be in agonizing pain till she dies for all I care." Everyone looked at her weirdly for saying it, yet none of them could truly fault her for wanting such a thing.
"I take it you and your old teammate still aren't the best of terms?" Kushina asked.
"If anything things have only gotten worse in your absence. Speaking of which, you've yet to explain anything about that Kushina." The slug sannin stated.
Kushina looked down at Tayuya. "Why don't we wake her up and find out what we need to first?"
Tsunade got in front of the redhead. "No Kushina, enough stalling. I don't know why you're so hesitant to tell us your story, but we're not doing you any favors until you explain yourself."
Kushina sighed. "Fine, but you better sit down. It's a long story and I doubt you're going to believe me anyway."
Everyone sat down and looked at her expectantly, with a little bit of curiosity too in the younger members of the group. "I'm not exactly sure how to explain it, because for you all to truly understand where I was and why, I'd have to tell you something that would completely change your perspective of the world you live in. But that can probably wait, so I'll start with something simpler. Like maybe why Naruto has a tail."
"That would help to know." Ayame said.
"The answer is because Naruto, like me, isn't exactly human. We're a different race."
Naruto immediately paled. "I'm a demon? No, I can't be. I can't be! It's not true! You're lying!"
Hinata immediately hugged him, allowing him to quiet down. "It's okay Naruto-kun, we know you're not a demon."
"She's right Son, you're not. You have no connection to Makai. You're an incubus." Kushina stated.
"Incubus?" Shizune asked. "But... even if those creatures did exist, they're still considered demons."
"Only by human standards. People have gotten rather lazy when classifying the non-human sentients. The denizens of Makai, the Ayakashi, are better suited for being considered demons, though that's still not a completely accurate word. Incubi and succubi don't come from Makai, they come from Alfheim."
"Alfheim?" Everyone asked.
"One of the five realms. Maybe I should explain that part first after all." Kushina answered. When no one objected, she continued. "This world, the world of humans, is actually just one of five worlds. You call it Earth, but it does go by other names too, such as Middle Earth, Human Realm, World of Chakra, and Midgard."
"Midgard? Isn't that what you said to me when I saw you in that vision?" Naruto asked.
Kushina nodded. "Yes. You see, Midgard is considered the 'official' name of this realm to those that live outside it. Here, let me draw you a diagram." Using her finger Kushina drew a picture in the dirt. she drew five squares stacked on top of each other like a stone pillar, with a tree on top that had roots extending to all the squares. after that, she drew an X in the center square. "This is Midgard if one maps the realms in conjunction with the other realms." Kushina pointed out. "Starting from the top, the worlds go Asgard, Alfheim, Midgard, Makai, and Nilfheim, which are all connected by the Yggdrasil tree, which is sort of a realm in it of itself, but different from the others."
"The three central worlds are the mortal realms, the three Earths, where lifeforms like us live and die. The top and bottom realms are the two afterlife realms, where the dead go when they die. It is possible for the living to go there for a time, but it's not easy or recommended, especially if the deities there get offended by what happens."
"You mean those two places are Heaven and Hell?" Shizune asked.
Kushina nodded. "Yes, though it's not quite as simple as what you're picturing. Most Midgardians know little of the other worlds aside from what they hear in legend, which always distort some of the facts. Few Midgardians have ever even been to the other realms. To be honest, I only know of one person who's ever been to all of them."
"Who?" Naruto curiously asked.
"You know him best as the Sage of Six Paths."
"Who?" Naruto asked, looking confused.
Kushina saw he wasn't the only one. In fact, Tsunade looked like she was the only one who knew the title. "Tsunade, you mind explaining that one?"
"The Sage was the man who discovered how to use chakra and thus invited ninjutsu and pretty much the ninja way as it is today. He was said to be a very powerful man and is considered to be the father of the men who would later create the Senju and Uchiha clans. Very little about him as a person is known, but he was said to be a traveler and a peace-loving man." Tsunade told everyone else.
"Why was he called a sage of six paths? What were those paths supposed to be?" Sakura asked.
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