75 Duty and Love

Perk Added: Resurrection Specialization!

You've been taught by the god of death to bring people back to life! You can now bring souls back from the pure world to mortality.

As the vault door closed behind my two-house guests, I let out a sigh.

Never have I ever thought that I'd have to entertain house-guests. But it happened, so now what?

First thing's first.

Resurrect Uzumaki Kushina…and Sensei's old teammates. Because I can't think of a reason not too before I run off to Amegakure and take on the Akatsuki to grab whatever samples they possess of this dimensional traveler. I mean, I could just do that for this soul that I've got right now, but they seemed very insistent that I grab those samples from the Akatsuki to make it easier.

Which I guess makes sense. The soul that Shinigami gave me? Felt somewhat incomplete compared to the dummy souls that Shinigami used to teach me resurrection. It wouldn't be good to bring whoever this is back in fragmented state.

First off, launch my probe into the pure world.

Resurrection Technique: A Simple Choice.

I placed my hand through a glowing, white circular portal and waited.

It was a very simple thing, just an invitation to return to mortality. One they can either reply yes or no to. I got no other feeling beyond a yes or no confirmation. No glimpse into the pure world, no ability to actually meet and speak to these people. Just a simply yes or no question that they answer and I act on their answer.

Ping.

That's a yes.

Alrighty, Kushina.

I pulled her soul out of the portal and this is the part where I really got to work. With creation release, I needed to reconstitute her body and bind it to her soul with neutral chakra. Thankfully, the Shinigami taught me how to include clothes in this procedure or this would be really awkward. Well, more so than it already would be, since she wouldn't have any memory of the pure world itself, a quirk of the resurrective jutsu to prevent the recently returned from committing suicide to return there.

And so, the one known as Uzumaki Kushina materialized before me.

Long, red hair. Blue eyes, fair skin. A beautiful woman, truly. She appeared with a Kimono and under-wrappings, of course, both colored white. Her eyes blinked rapidly as they got used to the lighting in my vault, and then she gasped.

"What happened?" Kushina looked around my vault, looking increasingly nervous. "Where am I? Where's my son? Where's Minato?"

"In order, you've been dead for twelve years," I ticked off my fingers as I listed them off. "You're in my home, Naruto is in Konoha having been raised as an orphan and Minato is currently swimming around the stomach of Shinigami."

"Wait, what?" Kushina asked, looking even more frantic. Then she gave me an angry glare. "You better explain exactly what happened right now! Who are you?"

"I'm Shimoda Daisuke and I just brought you back from the Pure World since you've been dead for twelve years," I replied, then my brow furrowed in irritation. "…that feels like there should be more to it than that, but that's really just it, put succinctly."

"Uh, no!" Kushina shouted, throwing a fist at me.

You know, it's been a long time since I've had a female rage-punch thrown at me.

I watched as the punch was being thrown at my face, her expression one of rage and frustration.

Given how many people I've ticked off, you'd think I'd have gotten more than I did.

I caught the fist, sticking to it with tree-walking and brought a knife-hand down, stopping just above the bridge of her nose. "Unless you want an actual fight, don't do that again."

That's probably why it didn't happen very often; getting punched was an invitation to fight and no one wanted to get punched by me.

Kushina's rage immediately faded, her face draining of color. She gulped. "I-I'm sorry. I really am. Please let me go, I'm sorry. I'm just really confused."

"I understand," I replied, letting her fist go and resting my hands behind my back.

"You said I was dead." Kushina placed her hands in front of her like she was placing a box down.

"For twelve years."

She looked like I had actually struck her. "For twelve years. I remember…I remember…wait."

Kushina got a shocked expression on her face. "The Kyuubi! This man in black robes came and kidnapped me and extracted the Kyuubi!"

"Black robes with a red cloud imprint on them?" I asked quickly.

"I...I don't remember." Kushina frowned, looking off to the side to think. Then she returned to looking at me.. "You know him?"

"I think so, he's part of an organization," I replied with a frown. If that was an Akatsuki member, that raises question. Why would a member of the Akatsuki release a tailed beast instead of capture it? "He didn't by chance have a swirly, orange mask, did he? With one eye?"

Kushina slowly shook her head. "No, but his mask had swirl patterns on it. But I remember that it did have one eye and that he had a Sharingan!"

"That one I've met personally," I explained, nodding with a fond smile. "He calls himself Tobi and he acts like an idiot but clearly that's a façade. So, what else do you remember?"

"Namikaze-sama came to rescue me," Kushina said, regaining some semblance of your control. "And together we sealed the Kyuubi again, at the cost of our own lives."

"Your husband saved you and you sealed half of the Kyuubi in your son Naruto and the other half with Minato," I clarified with a raised eyebrow. "I wouldn't worry about it, it's kind of an open secret at this point."

"Why is it an open secret?" She asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Because I told Naruto with dozens of eavesdroppers." I shrugged. "Seriously, the guy grew up without knowing his parentage or his duty and that had to be rectified."

"He grew up without knowing – and you told him –" She was sputtering. "Who are you?"

"Shimoda Daisuke," I replied, trying to remember who Kakashi-sensei's team was. "No one of consequence."

"You have to tell me," Kushina barked, her expression shifting to anger again.

"No, I don't." I shook my head with an amused smirk and she steamed impotently. "By the way, who was Kakashi-sensei's Genin team, again?"

"Why should I tell you?" Kushina snapped. Then her expression shifted to one of confusion. "Wait, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Yeah, Hatake Kakashi," I replied in confirmation. "He was my jounin sensei. I'm trying to bring back his old Genin team."

"You're a Konoha-nin," Kushina said, not really listening to my explanation.

"Was a Konoha-nin," I corrected with a frown.

"You're a missing nin," Kushina pointed out, starting to get angry. "Then why did you bring me back?"

I looked her dead in the eyes. "Because Naruto was my only friend for years and I owe him a debt. Now tell me who Kakashi's team was so I can pay off my other debt."

"Wait, if you still think Naruto's your friend, why did you leave?" Kushina asked with a glare.

"No more questions until you answer mine," I replied irritably. I had all the time in the world, but I needed this taken care of as quickly as possible. For my sanity, mostly.

Kushina continued to glare at me, suspicious of my motives as she looked at me through the corner of her eye. "Their names were Nohara Rin and Uchiha Obito."

Obito rang alarm bells. Why did it ring alarm bells? That makes no sense.

Well, actually it's one letter off from Tobi.

…nah. There's no way. Even if it was, there is no way he'd be dumb enough to just keep using his name, just one letter off.

"Alright, first Nohara-chan and then Uchiha-kun." I rolled my shoulders in preparation to cast the jutsu. "You might want to stand back for this one."

Kushina looked surprised, then backed away from me as I got started casting the jutsu.

Resurrection Technique: A Simple Choice.

So, Rin? Wanna come back to the land of the living?

Ping.

That's a yes.

I never saw Rin before, not even a photograph. So, I wasn't sure what to expect. What I got was a fairly average, though very attractive, kunoichi. Brown hair cut into a bob, purple tattoos on her cheeks that reminded me of the fang tattoos that the Inuzuka received at a young age. Again, white kimono and under wraps.

Like Kushina, she immediately started hyperventilating, looking around, staring at me in between looking around.

"Kai!" Kushina called, trying to dispel the Genjutsu. That didn't work, and at first, she looked confused, then shocked. "…you actually did it…"

"Uzumaki-san!" She chirped, immediately running to her. "What's going on?"

"Well, Rin," Kushina tried to assure her with a kind smile that came out as stressed and forced. "We apparently have been dead."

"Dead?" Rin asked, thoroughly aghast.

"For many, many years," Kushina replied. "And this…missing nin brought us both back."

"Hi there." I waved at her.

"Who are you?" Rin asked.

"Shimoda Daisuke," I replied with a smile. "No one of consequence, otherwise."

"I was dead…" Rin's eyes got a faraway quality to them, as she slowly remembered what happened when she died. "I remember. I was kidnapped by Ninja from Kirigakure and they sealed the Sanbi into me…then sealed my ability to talk about it. I had to throw myself on Kakashi's Chidori to stop it from reaching the village, and now I'm here."

"That would explain sensei's anti-social tendencies." Well, crap. Yeah, it really does.

"Sensei?" Rin asked.

"Yeah, I was on Kakashi-sensei's Genin team." I nodded.

"Kakashi has a Genin team?" Rin looked shocked. Happy, but shocked. Then she got an angry and shocked look on her face. "And you went missing nin?"

"Actually, I think Kakashi-sensei is on his second team," I replied with a nod. "The rest of us made Chunin these past exams."

"His second team," Kushina shook her head with a smile. "Minato would be so proud."

"Wait," Rin turned to stare at Kushina. "You died…and the Hokage died too?"

Kushina took in a deep breath. "Yes. We died after having to reseal the Kyuubi after a man in black robes abducted me and unleashed it."

"Abducted you?" Rin asked, nonplussed. "What do you have to do with the Kyuubi?"

"I was the Jinchūriki for the Kyuubi," Kushina replied. "Whoever it was that abducted me knew who I was, and knew to kidnap me after I had finished giving birth."

"Wait!" Rin shouted. "You were pregnant?"

"Yes," Kushina said, her smile becoming more serene. "Minato was the father."

"That's amazing!" Rin gushed with a wide smile on her face. "I'm so happy for you! Congratulations!"

"Thank you," Kushina replied. Her smile, and good mood then died immediately. "Of course, since I've been dead for twelve years, that means he's been an orphan. He won't even recognize me."

"You'll figure it out." Rin nodded quickly, taking Kushina's hands in her own. "Don't worry, things will work out great."

Rin then looked at me. "Okay, you need to resurrect the Hokage. Now."

"Can't."

"Why not?" Kushina suddenly looked really mad. This time, however, she kept her fists to herself. Wise of her. Not even disappointed since this wouldn't even be a real fight.

"Because the soul of the Fourth is currently swimming around in Shinigami's gullet," I answered with a frown. "And Shinigami won't cough him up."

Kushina then looked pale. "…he never went to the Pure World?"

"Apparently not." Huh. In order to seal the Kyuubi again, Minato doomed himself to an eternity in the closest thing this world has to Hell. That's dedication right there. "I haven't given up on getting the man's soul, it's just going to take some time."

"Oh, Minato," Kushina…she was crying. Wow, she loved him a lot.

"Then can you try resurrecting Obito?" Rin asked softly.

"I was going too after we had finished talking," I answered with a smile, holding in a sigh.

Man, thinking about getting into a fight with Kushina made me think about getting into fights in general. Which brought the Kaiju back to my mind. It hasn't even been a whole day I already miss the mile-high lug.

"Oh! Okay," Rin backed up. "Whenever you're ready, Shimoda-sama."

Sama?

Well. Okay then, I mean, I did bring her back to life and this is my house.

"Anyway, one Uchiha resurrection coming up," I said, rolling my shoulders. Then I paused. "I wonder what Sasuke's going to think once he's got another Uchiha to pal around with."

"What do you mean?" Kushina asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Oh. The Uchiha's nearly got wiped out to a man about five years ago or so," I replied to their horrified expressions.

"What?" Rin shouted; her eyes wide in shock.

"Yeah. The only survivors were the killer, Itachi Uchiha and his brother, Sasuke," I continued with a nod. "Anyway: Obito."

"I don't believe it," Rin said quietly, looking up at Kushina.

"Things have changed since we've been gone," Kushina replied unhappily.

Resurrection Technique: A Simple Choice.

Alrighty, Uchiha Obito. Come on, buddy. A yes or a no is all I need.

…Obito?

Obito.

Come on.

"Something's wrong," I said, my eyes narrowing as I examined the jutsu and then the portal to the pure world.

"What's wrong?" Rin asked in distress.

Is there an Uchiha Obito in the pure world that was Hatake Kakashi and Nohara Rin's teammate?

No?

"There isn't an Obito in the pure world," I said, sounding confused. I looked dead at Rin. "How did Obito die?"

"We were on a mission to destroy a bridge," Rin recounted. "We were fighting some Iwa Nin in a cave and there was a rockslide…he died there after asking me to give Kakashi one of his Sharingan to replace Kakashi's damaged eye."

"Well, this can only mean one thing," I said, canceling the jutsu. "Uchiha Obito never died."

Actually, hold on a second.

Tobi has a Sharingan. But he only has one. He abducted Kushina following her giving birth to Naruto and then, according to what I learned from why the Uchiha were segregated into a compound, was able to use his Sharingan to control the Kyuubi to go nutso on Konoha. But in order for him to have pulled this off, he'd have needed a way through the Defense Seal, an understanding of how Konoha is laid out and he would've had to know where the Fourth and Kushina lived.

"What do you mean he never died?" Rin was outraged and more than a little afraid. Tears were falling from her eyes. "I watched the rocks fall! I saw his blood! He was dying! He did die! And he was a hero!"

...Obito would've had all of that. He 'died' so they never took him off the Defense Seal, meaning it didn't know he was an intruder. Obito was Minato's student, so he'd know where he lived if they were close and he'd know that Kushina was pregnant if he was even the least bit observant.

"Minato thought he failed Obito," Kushina said, her eyes also wide. "Because he didn't get there in time with reinforcements. Are you really saying that Obito isn't dead?"

And I just remembered that I knew that Obito was Tobi from skimming a wiki article from years ago and thinking it was stupid.

I'm not going to tell either of them this right now. Their world's already been rocked enough.

"I'm saying that he's not in the Pure World." I folded my hands behind my back, and walked forward. "Since he didn't perform the Reaper Death Seal and get swallowed by Shinigami, I can only assume that someone saved his life and that he never died."

Rin looked at the floor, still crying. "I failed him. He could've been saved and I left him for dead."

"Well, for all we know the person who saved his life had access to super special healing jutsu that you didn't know," I pointed out. "So it's not that you failed him, it's that someone with greater medical jutsu came along and did what you could not."

"And what if it was Iwa?" Rin barked at me. "What if he spent all these years in Iwa's T&I because I wasn't enough to save him?"

"It wasn't Iwa, though," I replied. "I went through their records myself and they never took any prisoners named Obito or at least anyone with one Sharingan eye."

"How did you go through the records of an enemy village?" Kushina asked, looking confused.

"The same way I brought you back." I let out a sigh. "By being me."

"And who are you?" Rin asked.

"No one of consequence," I replied. "Now, I've got one last guy to bring back, then we can decide what to do with the two of you."

I think that came out a little more ominously than I would've liked, because Rin gulped and Kushina adopted an expression of determined resilience.

Alright.

Satoru?

When we were in the academy, I accidentally pushed you to suicide through one too many thoughtless barbs. Now I need to make this right. For you and for me. Then I'm going to bring your parents back and I'm going to give them the talking-too of their lives. Killing Intent at one-hundred percent.

But I have to bring you back.

Resurrection Technique: A Simple Choice.

Please say yes.

Please say yes, please say yes.

Ping.

…no?

No.

You don't want to come back.

Are you kidding me right now?

I'm trying to apologize! Let me make this right!

Come on!

Resurrection Technique: A Simple Choice.

Ping.

Another no.

Please!

I'm begging you here!

Resurrection Technique: A Simple Choice.

Ping.

Another no.

And this time it actually felt hostile.

…but…

I don't…

I want to apologize. I didn't mean to make you commit suicide!

I need to explain that!

Just…fine.

Fine.

I stopped trying with a heavy breath.

"What's wrong?" Rin asked.

"He said no," I replied with a frown. "I just want to apologize to the guy and he said no."

"Oh," Rin said. "Well…maybe he forgives you but just doesn't want to come back to the Impure World?"

"I guess," I sighed. "Alright, so. My job today is to get the two of you back into Konoha without being killed or being recipient of T&I's tender hospitalities. Any suggestions?"

"We aren't getting out of a visit to T&I," Kushina said with a shake of her head. "But we could make it relatively painless if we cooperate and show how we have nothing to hide."

"Okay, but either way, I'm tagging along to make sure you aren't executed for whatever reason," I argued back with narrowed eyes. "Your husband had enemies in the village, I'm sure and I'd hate for them to learn about you before anyone else. Same as you, Rin."

"How are you expecting to get into Konoha?" Kushina asked incredulously.

"Same way I snuck into Iwa and looked through all of their records," I replied with a smirk. "By being me. Oh, and if you can get away with it, I would try to avoid mentioning me."

"Why?" Rin asked, her own eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Let's just say that the Third and I have some very bad blood between us and leave it at that."

"So, you think this memory is the key to solving Daisuke's self-hatred?" Naruto asked, holding the piece of paper in one hand, a pair of chopsticks in the other.

"It's the source of all of it," Ino nodded profoundly. "So, since you're trying to bring him back, and I want him to come back, it would be good to pool our resources."

They were sitting at Ichiraku ramen, at the counter with steaming bowls of ramen in front of both of them. Ino had drawn up another paper with the memory that she had pulled from Daisuke, made after she had destroyed the first one.

Naruto stared at the picture intently, scooping a clump of noodles into his mouth. He rubbed his temples in thought, trying to decipher what it was. "And these wagons are self-driving? They don't need oxen?"

"From what I saw." Ino brushed a blonde hair out of her eyes. "I've never seen anything like them."

Naruto hummed, and laid the picture down. "Alright. Did you get anything else from him?"

Ino took a deep breath and looked around. "I saw him level up to thirty."

"You saw him fix his social issues?" Naruto asked for clarification.

"Yes, I did." Ino nodded, and turned to look into her ramen bowl. "When I look at the memory, I can feel his worldview changing. His desperation for fights, battle and experience points turning to shame that he had been so desperate to cause murder and mayhem. His frustration at how people treat him terribly turning to horror at how he had treated other people. His desire to make the Hokage happy turning to rage at how the Hokage tried to manipulate him."

"They both made mistakes," Naruto replied with a frown. "They can both forgive each other."

"Naruto, Daisuke hates the Hokage." Ino looked at him with an incredulous expression. "Hates him. Both for what the Hokage did and for what he allowed others to get away with. But I can't talk about a lot of the stuff I saw in there. S-class doesn't begin to describe some of the things Daisuke uncovered."

"Like what?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto," Ino snarled.

"Sorry," Naruto replied sheepishly.

"The thing that truly makes Daisuke angry is that he hates the entire village system," Ino said, sucking in a clump of noodles into her mouth as she thought. "The whole thing."

"But if it wasn't for the villages, the whole world would be at war all the time," Naruto pointed out with a serious frown.

"I know, Naruto," Ino replied. "But Konoha enabled the behaviors he now finds shameful. He hates himself for deliberately designing himself to be a murder machine. He hate's Konoha for letting him be a murder machine. But you know what else? He is against how Jutsu is restricted to the villages."

"Wait, really?" Naruto shook his head in disbelief. Then, as he thought about it, he started nodding. "Oh, yeah. That makes sense. He really didn't care about keeping what he knew about Jutsu a secret."

"He thinks everyone in the Elemental Countries should be able to cast jutsu," Ino said. "But do you know how dangerous that is? Any time a Shinobi goes out to do a mission, the chances of meeting someone Kage level that we don't know about just being a random civilian would skyrocket?"

"Missions would be super dangerous then." Naruto's eyes went wide as he connected the dots. "Anyone could stand in our way if they thought we were doing something wrong."

"Exactly," Ino said. "But Daisuke thinks they'd just join hands, keep to themselves and build their own lives out without much interference. At least, he hopes that's the case."

"He's a smart guy, he'd figure out how bad it could be if he just shared things freely like that," Naruto pointed out, folding his arms. Then his expression fell. "Or he could twist himself into knots to make himself believe he's got the moral high-ground."

Ino sighed. "I love him, but I know for a fact that he does that a lot."

Naruto stopped short. Then he sighed. "You love him. Really."

Ino nodded. "I do. I don't care if you don't believe me. Daisuke saved my life, kept trying to make things work for everyone even when it was impossible for him and is still trying to make things right with the wrong's he thinks he's responsible for. So yeah, I love him."

He looked into her eyes for a long while. Then he frowned. "Alright, well, I guess you can't really be taking advantage of his social blind-spot anymore so whatever. You can date him."

Ino smirked. "Well, I'm glad I have your permission. But we'll have to bring him back, first."

"Good luck trying to get him to like you back, though," Naruto said nonchalantly, eating a clump of noodles.

She just started stirring her ramen, leaning her hand against her free hand. "That's the thing. He did like me back."

"He did not," Naruto shook his head. "Hisako-senpai has been trying for ages to get him to return her feelings and he shut you both down."

"Hisako wants Daisuke because she feels like he's the only one who can fill the void left when her parents abandoned her," Ino said with a glare. "It's about her, not about what they share, and Daisuke liked me back, not her."

Naruto put his sticks down and gave Ino a frustrated expression. "Why do I believe you?"

"Because I'm telling the truth," Ino replied with an annoyed expression. "Why do you think that believing me is a bad thing?"

"I don't know," Naruto grumbled to himself, rubbing his forehead. "I'm sorry, I'm trying to get over your rivalry with Sakura."

"You really like her, huh?" Ino asked with a small smile. "She's lucky you were so persistent."

"Thanks," Naruto said quietly. "Let's see if I can keep her."

"You will," Ino nodded. "Just keep getting better as a person and as a Shinobi and she wouldn't dream of leaving you."

"Makes sense." Naruto grabbed his chopsticks and pulled another clump of noodles out of the bowl. "It must've been heartbreaking, learning that he liked you back as he was turning himself into a missing Nin."

"No, it wasn't," Ino answered, sounding thoroughly depressed.

Naruto hummed inquisitively.

"The heartbreaking thing was how his crush on me made him hate himself more," Ino continued quietly. "How he shouldn't have felt that way about me, how it was wrong of him to like me back. I don't think he believes he should be loved."

"Well," Naruto started. "Looks like I need to become Hokage and pardon him, and you need to talk to him to tell him that its not wrong if he's loved. Alright?"

"Alright," Ino sighed. "Thanks, Naruto."