As he heard this question the smile finally slipped from the now identified You's face, his lips slipping into a hard line as his eyes hardened slightly.
"Until nine years ago I didn't exist, what I was before that even I don't know. What I do know though is that I came into being on the same day you did, but unlike you I was not born into the natural world, I was born in you.
From what I have been able to theorize I owe my existence to whatever your father Minato Namikaze did on the day the Kyuubi attacked. I gained form at the same time the Kyuubi was sealed into your sisters, and the form I gained was yours, what I was before that I don't know. But from what little I do know there was another being present on the night your father sealed the Kyuubi into your sisters.
To defeat the beast your father used the Death Reaper Seal, a technique that was designed by the Uzumaki Clan centuries ago.
It was a seal that was supposed to summon the form of the Shinigami into being, now if things had gone as they should your father would have had his own soul taken as collateral for sealing away the Kyuubi. But yet he didn't, " You said a frown on his face as he spoke.
This was all just theories he had put together from the fractured knowledge he was born into being in possession of. Whether his theory was right or wrong, the boy did not know at this stage.
It was then that You rolled his eyes and turned to face Naruto, before letting out a sigh.
"This is all of course just a conclusion I have come to based off of my knowledge and memories, but I believe that I was never meant to be self-aware or even exist, I think that when the Shinigami was summoned that night, something unexpected happen, something which led to me being created.
I believe something was different about the seal he used, and that somehow a fragment of Death's power was split off from the source, and instead of dispersing it clung to the closest available host, you. This led to the creation of me, a piece of foreign energy that gained sentience and was given life.
It is a strange thought isn't it that from death there came life. Which I guess means you could say that I'm like a Tailed Beasts, a sentient mass of chakra, single piece torn from the whole. Which by the way would technically make you my Jinchuuriki"
Hearing that explanation Naruto couldn't help but frown, it sounded bizarre, but thinking on it more he began to think that the boy may be right.
After all had he not devoured what he had come to believe was a soul just the other night, and also wasn't the art of Fuinjutsu very finicky, a single line even a millimetre out of place could drastic change the end result, and wouldn't his father have been in a hurry when he was drawing the seal he used to defeat the Kyuubi.
That being said though he was making a very strong effort to put the whole Jinchuuriki of Death thing aside for the moment, he could freak out about that later. He had other things he wanted to find out first.
"So you're really the Shinigami? You're not exactly what I was expecting…" Naruto trailed off, deciding to embrace the explanation You had given him, after all it was the only one he had heard, and the boy seemed sincere in his belief.
This comment seemed to snap You out of his contemplative mood, a small smirk appearing on his face instead as he let out a slight chuckle.
"Well technically if I am right, which I believe I am, then I am just a fragment of the Shinigami, and am a whole other being entirely now, thanks in part to you Naruto."
You said a grin on his face as he saw the frown of confusion on Naruto's face.
"Besides, I am probably more similar to you then the Shinigami, I did after all grow up experiencing the same things as you did, only I had other memories on top of that... oh and I was also better looking."
"We look pretty much exactly the same."
"True, true, except I have badass white hair and cool eyes." As You said this Naruto once again looked at the boy's eyes, barely stopping himself from shivering as the two ominous red and black orbs looked at him. They were the eyes of a predator, an apex one at that.
"The white hair makes you look like an old man." Naruto managed to get out as he tore his gaze away from his counterparts eyes, Naruto finally giving into his childish side, he had only just turned ten after all.
"You're just jealous." You replied a calm expression on his face as he did so.
They were able to hold straight faces for all of five seconds before both burst out laughing at the same time, the situation so…odd that it was hilarious. By the time they had calmed down Naruto had completely forgotten his fear of You, and was using his shoulder to hold himself up and keep his balance.
It was then that something Naruto had heard his parents telling Mito and Erza came to him, something important about Jinchuuriki
"Wait, if I'm technically a Jinchuuriki then why am I always sick. I thought Jinchuuriki didn't get sick…" Naruto asked a frown on his face as he took a step away, his eyes taking in how his counterparts body looked just as frail and gaunt as his own,
"Because you're not actually sick, at least not in the way everyone thinks." You replied confidently, knowing that what he said now was absolute fact.
"B-but the doctors-"
"Naruto I am not normal, I don't eat human food and because of the way the Seal that sucked me into you works we are one, just as I took on your form and characteristics so too did you take on some of my traits.
Your body needs a mix of human food and, what you humans call Souls. Like that thing you found floating above the hawk. Chakra is life energy, and when something or someone dies it forms into a mass invisible to the normal eye.
When you were a baby, your parents realised something was wrong, and you were diagnosed with that genetic disorder thing. The doctors didn't know about me so they came to the only conclusion they could.
It's all bullshit of course, you just needed to unlock our chakra so you could see the Souls and eat them. That's why I helped you find it last time you were here."
"So the more Souls I eat the healthier I get?"
"Basically yes, and just like in nature your body and abilities have adapted in order to help you survive."
You turned to look out over the side of the wall filled with life. Just as Naruto turned he saw the first sign of animal life, a hawk braking cover from the tops of the trees before diving back down and out of sight again.
"Look familiar? It should. Your mindscape is the afterlife for the Souls you eat and imprisons them here, their energy feeding both of us while they continue to live on. That is why it's split in half, the light is the Pure world and the dark is the Impure world.
That hawk we just saw was the one you saw when you unlocked your chakra. But animals don't have the same awareness as a human, meaning they cannot be good or evil unlike humans who are responsible for their actions."
Naruto found himself silently listening as You continued to speak, ideally watching as the hawk reappeared only to disappear again several times.
"I can see the life of the Souls when they come, when you eat a human Soul it is me who processes them.
The wall is the border between the two lands, a barrier that only we can cross. To put it more simply you are the 'outer Naruto' whilst I am the 'inner Naruto' together we are one.
Unlike the Jinchuuriki though we are a symbiotic life form, we cannot survive without working together, and if one of us dies the other will quickly follow. As for all my claimsI am not the true Shinigami, I am not immortal nor do I have absolute control over death."
You said as he looked his counterpart in the eye willing him to understand what he was saying, what he knew himself to be absolute fact.
Nodding his head as Naruto once again met You's gaze, this time easily resisting the need to flinch. As he did so Naruto knew what You said was true, he didn't know why and so would never be able to explain it, but deep down he knew.
Seeming to have finished his explanation, You turned away from Naruto and once again looked out at the scenery as the blonde did the same.
"Naruto…you need to leave the Hidden Leaf."
Naruto could actually feel his mind stop, all thoughts hitting an invisible wall as his eyes widened.
"W-what? But why?"
Letting out a sigh You walked over to the edge of the wall facing what Naruto now knew to be called 'Pure world', sitting on the edge and fingering the hilt of his knife.
"Naruto do you know what Jinchuuriki are used for, besides containing Tailed Beasts?" You finally spoke up, still looking over the peaceful forests and glades that made up the 'Pure world'.
Naruto could only shake his head in the negative as he slowly moved to sit beside You, the white haired boy letting out another sigh.
Turning to face Naruto, You gave him a conflicted look, they might be the same age, but You unlike Naruto had fragments of memories and knowledge far beyond his counterpart.
This made him more world wearied, more experienced then Naruto, who in You's eyes was still so young and naive.
"They are weapons Naruto, used both as a deterrent and when necessary tools of war. Your status as the son of the Hokage is enough to protect your sisters and maybe even you from the worst of it, but the fact is you are one of a kind even among other Jinchuuriki.
There has never been a Jinchuuriki for anything other than the Tailed Beasts, let alone one with the abilities you possess.
You are unique and have the potential to be very powerful, and even in the Leaf there are people that would try and use you for their own gain."
"But my family-"
"Would probably fight and die to protect you, at first, but the fact is they also have the interests of the Village to look out for.
Why do you think it is so important for Mito and Erza to learn to control the Nine Tail's chakra, not suppress it? Whilst it is in their best interests anyway it is also in the interest of the village to have them strong.
And more than that Naruto, in the eyes of many you would be an abomination, a being who needs to feast on the souls of others to survive. I doubt even our family could do much against the backlash and fear that that knowledge if it got out would cause.
But that is working of the fact that they themselves wouldn't fear us, we are unnatural Naruto, and a fact of the world is that people fear that which is alien to them."
Naruto found himself unable to look at You at this point, his eyes slowly becoming hollow as he thought of how his family would react.
A part of them hoped that they would accept him, but that part was overshadowed by the fear that they wouldn't, Naruto had after all seen the reactions some of the villagers of Konoha had when they thought that people weren't looking. The civilians, they looked at his sisters with fear, and in some cases hate, and those two were the prized children of the beloved Hokage.
Naruto he was the black sheep of the family, already his presence unnerved people, that discomfort would be made a thousand times worse if people found out the truth. And in Naruto's young mind, his parents who had already proven themselves untrustworthy by lying to him, they too might turn on him if they found out the truth.
When he did look up again the fear of abandonment and isolation on his face, he felt You lay a gentle hand on his shoulder. Turning to the boy he say a kind and understanding look on his face.
"Naruto I am not telling you this to hurt you, and if you want to stay in the village I will never say anything about this again. But you needed to hear this.
People have been looking for a way to control or avoid death since man first understood the concept, you are a five course meal placed in front of a starving pack of wolves.
At the moment they don't know you are there, but when they do they will fight each other and eat you alive. And nothing and no one will be able to protect us, not even ourselves, not unless we get stronger."
Tears began to fall now, and the grip on his shoulder tightened slightly as his shoulder started to shake with suppressed sobs.
"I-I understand…we have to leave, it is not safe for us here anymore, a-and I don't know if mum or dad would support us. I- I just can't trust them anymore. "
"Then we need to go Naruto, carve our own path in this world. Become so powerful that we will never have to rely on others to protect ourselves." You said fiercely watching as a fire seemed to start to burn in Naruto, a slight smile on his face as he did so.
Deep down Naruto knew You was right, and as he stood there in one that wall between light and dark he made his decision. He would become strong, he would become powerful and never again will he have to feel as weak and powerless as he did now.
===========================
Okay so I know some of you may have found bits of this chapter a bit weird, let me just assure you it will all make sense in the end. Also for those of you thinking Naruto is acting wimpy do bare in mind that he has only just turned ten and has had all his trust in parents ripped away from him in a rather brutal fashion. Which for a child no matter what age is pretty shocking.
A point of reference to is that in this story children join the academy at the age of ten, where they are given three years of experience before graduating. Why? Because when I was watch Naruto I noticed that the only techniques any of them knew were the three basic ones and there clan ones.
And there is no way it would take more than three years to learn those three, and all the theory etc. and even then three years is quite generous.
Also the name I have picked for the remnant of death in Naruto, I did choose the name 'You' for a reason. As the way I see it death is not an actual being in Naruto it is a force of nature, which can be called to take a corporeal form but doesn't have any personality or real existence. It is more omnipresent.
Therefore You is a piece of that power that was accidentally sealed inside Naruto, who was a powerful Uzumaki baby who was in the stage of development, so You kind of unconsciously tagged along. So a better way of looking at it would be that You is the same as Naruto in the same way Yami was the same as Naruto in canon.
So they are basically the same person sharing the same body and soul, but with different personalities and minds. It will all be explained as the story continues. I do have a pretty concrete plan worked out.
...
If you're too impatient to wait for updates, the story's already at chapter 96 on P atreon.
p atreon.com/sybife