The tundra was melting.
Naruto watched it happen, since there was nothing else to do. His body was still enveloped in golden light, including the edges of his long coat flickering and emitting flakes. The truth-seeking balls floated behind his back. Right now, Naruto was strong enough to blow up a mountain like it was child's play, or decimate entire forests, or—with help—seal a god.
He knew the last one for sure, because he'd just done it, heh heh.
But despite all of this, he was powerless.
"It's quieter than I thought it'd be," Naruto said.
"Brat…" Kurama said.
"Well, it's the death of a whole dimension!" Naruto said. "I never really thought too hard about it before today, but it'd make sense if it was full of bangs and booms. Instead… It's like this."
As far as the eye could see, including the hill Naruto was reclining on with his trusty passenger, was an expanse of ice and snow. Fissures were spreading in the ice, cracking and breaking apart, while the snow rapidly turned to water and flowed into the newly formed cracks.
When enough ice fell away, it would plummet into a void of inky blackness. That nothingness was coming closer to Naruto at a fast rate, though the space was big enough that he still had time.
So much time.
Naruto chuckled. "So this is what it looks like when a dimension breaks. Neat!"
Kaguya Ōtsutsuki had basically been a goddess. Among her many powers was the ability to freely teleport between a multitude of dimensions. Apparently, they were connected to her personally in some way.
Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi had all gotten out. Naruto was hit by a final attack, sending him hurtling to here, a dimension of barren ice. Now it was breaking, the destruction creeping up on him, and for all his power there was nothing he could do.
"Why are you smiling?" Kurama asked.
"Because we won!" Naruto said. "Kaguya is sealed and Zetsu has been banished. The countries are safe again."
"We aren't," Kurama said.
Naruto smiled, tapping his feet together.
"If we win, then me dying isn't a big price!" he said. "You know me! This is how I've always been. I am sorry to drag you down with me, though…"
"Whatever," Kurama grunted.
The fissures came closer to them, the dimension beginning to break apart, though they still had a few minutes. Naruto dug his fingers into the snow.
"What do you think it's like?" he asked. "You know, like, what is there after death?"
"Who knows what'll happen to you. Not even the sage could answer that," Kurama said. "But I'll live again. It's just a matter of time. I'm chakra, remember? I'll just… Reform."
"Right!" Naruto laughed. "How could I forget!"
"Of course, where I reform is a different matter."
It was entirely possible that he'd come back here. Or, since this dimension was dying in front of them, Kurama might reform in the nothing that was left behind. Frankly, this was outside of what either of them really knew. They were just tossing out guesses and hoping.
Naruto stood up, stretching.
"I guess I'll find out," Naruto said. "What happens after you die… Alright, I'm pumped to find out the answer! My name's Naruto Uzumaki, and I'll learn all your secrets!"
He pointed at the blackness rushing toward him as if it was death itself.
"Y'know, if we're dying, at least we're doing it with good company," Naruto grinned.
"Brat. I told you, I'm not dying," Kurama said.
Naruto had started to walk forward. "Oops. My bad."
"What are you doing now?"
Naruto's grin widened, growing feral. "I've never been good at sitting around OR waiting. So I'm thinking, why should I go out doing either of those things? I should die the way I lived!"
He got down, getting in a sprinter's position, before lifting his head, the light of a dying dimension glinting off his canines.
"On MY terms!" Naruto said.
He exploded into motion, moving faster than any other shinobi alive. Six Paths Senjutsu empowered his body, wrapped up with Bijuu chakra, until he was traveling faster than sound.
Naruto shot across the landscape, barely touching the ground, before taking a flying leap off of the final lip. His body hung in the air for what might have been miles. What was left of the icy dimension faded behind him, and he kept flying deeper into the dark.
Naruto whooped. "Death, here I come!"
"You crazy motherfucker," Kurama said. "I'll miss you."
The darkness swallowed them and Naruto (and presumably Kurama) knew no more.
LINE BREAK
Death was wetter than Naruto expected.
Seriously. There were a lot of things he thought death might be like, but "moist" wasn't one of them.
His whole body felt slick. Plus, it wasn't moving the way he wanted it to. You'd think being reduced to just your mortal soul would make you zippy, able to travel really fast in any way you wanted!
Instead, it was like Naruto was piloting one big stick of butter, the vessel to which his soul was now the unlucky beneficiary.
For a while it was all dark, and then it was super bright. Slowly, his vision distilled. He realized that his eyes had been closed.
He had eyes?
Blinking (he DEFINITELY had eyes) he stared into the face of death.
Death was pretty. And blond, like him.
"Oh, my!" Death touched her cheeks with her hands, speaking in a high pitched voice. "You're just the cutest!"
Naruto was turned around by giant hands, which were attached to equally giant people. There were three blond men, a blond boy half their height, and a second baby who was just as wrinkly as Naruto must have been. Two of the men grinned, while the third one gave him a smaller smile. The boy squinted at Naruto. The other baby, who was presumably his twin, sniffled quietly.
It was gradually dawning on Naruto that this… This might not have been death. Contrary to popular opinion growing up, he wasn't actually slow on the uptake. Reincarnation was a decently common belief in various religions around the Elemental Nations.
Which would mean that these people weren't giants. They were regular sized, and HE was the small one. Naruto looked down at the hands that wouldn't obey him and DID find hands, but pudgy ones with fingers so short they couldn't even hold a kunai. He was… He was…
A BABY!
His shock and dissatisfaction translated itself to a bout of crying and wailing, which only made him extra embarrassed, which only made him cry harder. It was a feedback loop.
"Finally!" said one of the blond men. "I was starting to wonder if something was wrong, the way he wasn't crying!"
"I didn't cry when I was born," said the blond boy.
"You sure did!" said another one of the men, ruffling the boy's hair. "Like this: Waaaaah! Waaaaaaah! Waaaaaaaah!"
"Shut up!" the boy said. Maybe Naruto was going extra crazy, but it looked like for a second his body caught on fire.
"Stop, both of you! You're upsetting him!" said the woman he'd mistaken for death. She picked Naruto up, cradling him in her arms.
If he was right… And this situation was what he thought it was… Then that made her…!
His mom.
Naruto was starting to lose it. He was naked, a foot and a half tall, and surrounded by strangers that were (apparently?) his new family. Can you blame him for getting a little emotional?
He wanted to clear his head. To do that, he had to get away. Except he could barely even move his limbs, let alone run from the room. His desperation and frustration clashed until he heard his "mom" gasp.
He'd gotten out of her hands, doing so by going straight up. Naruto blinked as he rose into the air, traveling up until he was above everyone, even the men who were all over 182 centimeters.
Was this how Onoki felt, flying over the head of everyone who was taller than him?
Naruto wondered if he'd somehow mastered the Earth Element from birth, since that was the main way he knew of to fly, until he noticed that it was something completely different.
So natural that he hadn't even noticed them, two tiny wings of fire had sprouted from his pudgy lower back. They were flapping rapidly to keep his little body aloft. For a second Naruto was sure he'd be burned, but the pain never came.
"No fair! I didn't get my wings until I was five!" said the blond boy, who seemed to be the family's second youngest child.
His head was pushed down by the oldest of the three blond men. Presumably, Naruto's 'father'. "Don't whine, Riser. Welcome your new brother to the family."
The mother sat up in bed. The men stepped apart slightly, giving themselves room. Naruto didn't understand what was happening, until abruptly, everyone in the room sprouted massive wings of fire, like the ones he had only far, far larger.
"Today, the Phenex Clan, 37th of the Underworld's 72 Pillars, welcomes its newest member! By the blood of Lilith, and the legacy of our tears, we welcome you, adding one more flame to our brazier!" The man grinned. "On my title as Lord Phenex, I predict you'll burn brightly for centuries!"
His wife, presumably Lady Phenex, gasped and laughed. She was in perfect health despite giving birth today. In fact, she kicked the blanket off of her legs and shot into the air, wrapping Naruto in a hug that felt like it might warp his little spine.
"Who's mommy's cutest little devil? You are! You are!"
Naruto's head spun.
Lillith? Pillars? Tears? Underworld? DEVIL?
"What the fuck?" Naruto tried to say.
Unfortunately for him, it came out as baby babble, which only made lady Phenex cuddle him even harder.
This was going to take some getting used to.