I'm a God, Ok? (Naruto/God-SI)

Kazuo was sitting alone in his small home, going through all the scrolls Ayumu had given to them a couple of nights ago. All of which detailed everything Ayumu knew about The Watcher, information that he had collected during his travels around the world before settling down here in Wave Country for good.

While reading through it all once more, Kazuo couldn't help but marvel at how thorough this boy truly was when gathering knowledge regarding this ancient entity known only as "The Watcher."

It wasn't just facts or stories written within these pages either; there were also detailed accounts of various rituals used by those who worshiped The Watcher long ago, prayers they would recite daily while offering sacrifices unto their god every day without fail...

All things considered, he must have been quite diligent when researching such matters! And yet despite spending years doing so... Ayumu died far too soon.

His mind drifted back towards yesterday, where he watched helplessly alongside everyone else present as Gatō burned him alive right in front of them all. He couldn't do anything except watch on silently from afar while praying desperately inside his heart for some kind miracle to occur somehow...

And then suddenly...

The sky turned dark, day turning to night as the sun was devoured by a sea of stars. A familiar visage gazing down at Ayumu burning beneath it and gently plucking out his soul. He hoped Ayumu was happy, knowing that he had achieved his goal.

"Old man..." A voice called out softly behind him, causing Kazuo to jump slightly before turning around quickly.

Standing there in front of him stood Haruka looking visibly tired after everything that happened.

"Don't scare me like that! You'll give this old heart a shock!"

"Ah... But you were the one who told us to be sneaky..." She pouted cutely.

Kazuo grumbled something under his breath about young people being cheeky these days.

Haruka glanced at what he was reading before speaking again. "Did you already go through all of it?"

"Yes." He replied curtly without hesitation whatsoever.

"Do you think we can do it?" Haruka asked hesitantly after another silent moment passed between.

Kazuo paused briefly before nodding slowly. "Yes, I believe so."

She smiled brightly upon hearing those words from him, which caused Kazuo's lips to twitch upward slightly too.

He thought this girl really was too easy, going from sad to happy within seconds, but a part of him hoped she never lost that spark of hers.

After all, when things get tough later on down the line... That same spark might be what keeps everyone else going.

Unlike the other 3 youngsters Ayumu chose, Kazuo knows that what Wave is going through right now is not the worst-case scenario. He remembers back then, during the Second Shinobi World War, countless dead bodies, most of them young, their corpses filling the air with a thick miasma of death and decay...

The nightmares from back then still haunted him every night without fail, even now, after so many years had passed by since he left active duty as a Medic-Nin. But thanks to his old age and lack of connections, he managed to avoid being labeled a Missing-Nin when he chose to retire early.

It took him quite some time before he finally settled down here in the Land of Waves, where he has lived ever since, trying to forget all about his past life as a Shinobi serving the Bloody Mist.

Kazuo didn't believe Ayumu's preaching at first. What did this boy know about suffering? About loss and pain and sorrow? To him, everything Ayumu said sounded like empty words from someone who never truly experienced any of those things firsthand...

But... day by day, he kept seeing people around him getting better, finding solace in prayer, in hopes of something better after enduring another harsh day under Gatō's tyranny.

At some point along the way though... Kazuo found himself praying alongside everyone else too, not because he wanted anything specific out of it or expected miracles to happen simply by doing so, but rather just because it felt good, comforting almost.

And then Ayumu decided to upend Kazuo's views of the world by summoning a God.

Guess even an old dog like him can learn new tricks... Heh.

Who thought he of all people would become a priest.

Before he could slip further into his thoughts, he was snapped back to reality when the sound of a thud coming from another room in the house caught his attention instead.

He tensed up and slowly rose out of his seat before quietly making his way over towards where the noise had come from earlier, motioning to Haruka to be quiet.

Upon entering one of the bedrooms, however... 

"Hikari?" He asked softly upon seeing her lying face down on the floor next to an open window. The girl groaned weakly as she tried to push herself back up onto her feet once more but failed miserably at doing so due to her being entangled in the window curtains.

"Hehe? Could I get a bit of help here?" She giggled awkwardly while glancing between him and Haruka nervously.

Both Kazuo and Haruka sighed loudly before helping this foolish girl get untangled from everything around her.

"Thank you..." She muttered quietly after they were done with that task. Her cheeks flushed bright red with embarrassment over what just happened here today.

"Why did you come through the window?" Kazuo questioned sternly without hesitation whatsoever as he stared intently at her still blushing face now.

"Umm... You said to be sneaky..." Hikari mumbled under her breath while avoiding eye contact with him entirely during their conversation thus far.

He sighed again, rubbing his temples tiredly as he tried to calm down some more. Was he the one in the wrong here? He couldn't tell anymore...

"You two are going to kill me one of these days." Kazuo muttered darkly to himself before speaking up again. "Just don't do anything else that will make me die early, please."

After making sure Hikari wasn't injured anywhere besides her pride, they moved back into the living room where all three sat together comfortably once more.

"So..." Hikari began slowly after taking a deep breath first. "Where's Kenji?"

"He should be on his way soon enough," Kazuo replied. "Hopefully, he doesn't go overboard like you two."

"Hey, you said, 'We can't afford any attention coming towards us, so be sneaky when we meet up from now on.' I just took your words seriously." Haruka pouted again.

"That doesn't mean sneaking up on me like that! I meant that you should be careful about coming here!" He exclaimed angrily.

Kazuo took a deep breath, calming down slightly before continuing further, "And you... You broke into my home through an open window!"

"I thought it would be safer if no one saw me coming in..." She trailed off quietly.

He needed to calm down, he was a doctor first, and he knew stress wasn't good for someone his age. Otherwise, he might really die early.

Before Kazuo could say anything else though, a loud knock sounded throughout the entire house, causing everyone else present to jump.

"KAZUO-SEMPAI!!! I HAVE ARRIVED!!!" A young man yelled outside loudly before bursting through the front door without waiting for anyone inside to respond back at him.

And thus, in his first genuine prayer since becoming a priest...

'Dear Watcher Above, please give this old man the patience to survive these fools.'

***

Hmmm... Rejected. My DP is far too precious for my priests' antics.

Sadly the insane speed of 12 DP per minute slowed down soon after, still, with the amount thats being generated right now I could go back to what I had before in just a week or two.

I wonder if I should guide my priest's more directly?

Nah, I'll let them figure out things themselves for now.

I needed to know as soon as possible how much my intervention was necessary, and this was a good test to see if I chose correctly in picking them. In the meantime, I had another problem to deal with. Namely, a dead guy.

One of my followers had imitated Ayumu's prayer and killed himself, hoping that The Watcher would accept his soul like he did with Ayumu.

Honestly, it wasn't surprising, but I didn't think one of them would do it so fast.

I wanted to boot into the Pure Land immediately, but I made the mistake of reviewing his memories first. A simple life, born in Wave, worked hard as a rice farmer, got married, had kids. Pretty normal up to that point, but then...

He got crippled by failing down a hillside, breaking his spine and losing sensation below the waist. The bones were too fragmented for any doctor to fix, even Kazuo couldn't heal him. He was unable to work anymore, his children died of disease within weeks of each other, and his wife disappeared, everybody assuming she ran away with some other man.

But he knew her better than that, he knew exactly where she went, she loved her children dearly after all.

He was too much of a coward to follow her, he wallowed in his misery for years, only living by the pity of others around him. 

My sermons as Ayumu gave him hope, he truly believed that The Watcher cared, that The Watcher would reward everyone's efforts eventually. But in the end, Ayumu's death confirmed that he didn't need to fear death, and so he commited ritual suicide.

In my previous life, it would have been so easy to dismiss this man as just another case of someone being fucked over by random chance, but now? Now I could feel his despair, I felt how hopeless and miserable he was. And he only wanted an end to his suffering...

I had a thought as I finished reviewing his memories, 'I don't want to be responsible for people like this.'

Because now it isn't easy to just shrug my shoulders and move on with things. Because I can empathize with people on a level that goes beyond words, because now... I am a God.

But that ship has sailed, I chose to give hope to these people, so now I have to keep my word.

What is a God if he cannot save one soul?

I gathered every scrap of DP left I still had after everything yesterday, 400 and some change, and shaped into a blessing. One that would help him find his way through the Pure Land.

I weaved the blessing into his soul and sent him off towards the Pure Land, one final message carried by my blessing.

'Enjoy paradise with your family.'