Disclaimer: I do not own any of this. The vast majority of this is from mythological stories created a while ago or is owned by someone else.

Chapter 1

Ireland, 1500 BCE

'Stupid ass water...'

It was all the waters fault.

Had it not been raining that day; he could have avoided all of this that was going to happen. He could be on to the next town, doing what he did best nowadays, stealing. Albeit, most of the houses he robbed were practically asking for it. Some left a window open, or the back door unlocked, and it wasn't all that unusual for Naruto to be able to walk right through the front door and take what he wanted.

But that day, it had been raining, and rain was good, at least for Naruto. It meant early bedtimes and people staying inside their houses all day. Normally, thieves would be seething at this. An empty house was easier to rob, right? In most cases, yes, but whenever it rained nobody left their rooms. It was so easy to sneak inside and simply take whatever he wanted, and when they realized it was gone, they would blame each other.

Genius.

Today was his final day for this town. He had robbed 19 of the 20 houses, and all had been made from wood. Wood was better for rainy days, as the wood absorbed the water instead of letting it slide along the surface. The wood would then become softer and have better traction, making it easy for him to run along the roofs of the houses at night.

He had just robbed the 19th house last night and watching them argue in the morning was priceless entertainment. Everyone would blame someone, no one would take credit, and they would all leave unsatisfied. The people were simply too proud to believe that they could have been stolen from, it was honestly pitiful.

Now, it was time for house 20.

The crescent moon shined brightly in the streets while the cover of darkness settled in, like a morning fog that impeded vision. The woods ominously shifted in warning, frightening the people that were still outside, who booked it towards their respective homes. Naruto didn't believe in fairy tales. There were no lycanthropes in the woods. Nor were there vampires or evil walking trees, but he wouldn't take a gift situation for granted.

The town was empty, now was the perfect time to strike.

And then it started raining.

'Perfect.'

This was the best weather he could've asked for. The rain plopped onto the street and the houses, going plop, plop, plop, plop. Thunder grumbled and lightning flashed, or was it the other way around? Naruto didn't know, nor did he really care. His foot contacted the roof of a house, the wood under his feet groaning in the short effort it took to hold him up before he took off again, moving towards his final victim of the town, the 20th house.

He stopped at the 19th, the house he had just robbed. The ran continued to plop onto the groudn and the roof of the houses, which helped tremendously in stealth, as his footsteps could be easily mistaken for raindrops. He looked towards the 20th house.

Naruto bit his lip in frustration. He could only vaguely see the outline of the house through the pouring rain. He looked down towards his hand briefly, before biting the inside of his cheek and looking back towards the 20th house.

'Should I...? I can't really tell what it's made out of...'

His mind made up, he looked back towards his right hand and opened the palm up. On his hand there was a marking that looked like the letter C except with only straight lines. He traced it with his hand, before chanting softly, his voice lost in the downpour of rain. Suddenly, his hand lit up as if on fire, and glowed an eerie orange color. He directed his hand towards the last house, hoping the light would guide his eyes.

It didn't.

The downpour of rain was too strong, and Naruto didn't truly know what he was doing when he traced his palm. All that he really knew was that he had done it before, and that it worked every time he did it.

SIGH

'I guess I'll have to make the jump blind. Too bad I couldn't tell the material it was made out of. Well, considering 19 of the 20 houses were made of wood, it wouldn't be that bad of a guess to think that this one is made of wood as well.'

His leg muscles tensed as he prepared to jump, coiling in an effort to produce a springing power strong enough to propel Naruto onto the next house. The tension released, and Naruto flung into the air, legs aimed straight for the roof of the other house, and he landed with a thud on the soft wood.

Only it wasn't wood.

It was stone.

He slipped as he landed on the roof of the house, the pouring rain mixing with the dirt on the house to create a thin, slippery oil film that he had landed on. His hands reached out, searching for any object to grasp onto that would stop his fall. The water guided him down the house and pulled him off of the roof. His hand grasped something, a ledge at the end of the roof of the house. He hung there, slightly swaying in the downpour.

'Crap! This is all the water's fault! If it hadn't rained, I could've seen the stone, and it wouldn't have been slippery!'

As of now, the rain had lost standing with Naruto. Slipping and almost falling to a broken bone or serious concussion can do that to someone. Naruto pulled himself up with moderate effort, his elbows up on the edge of the roof. His right leg lifted—

"Whatcha doing, kid?"

[!]

Naruto froze. He wasn't alone. It was an adult. They lived at this house. He was screwed. His hand was still glowing. His left hand slid closer to his right, desperately trying to cancel the source of energy that was being transmitted to maintain his hand's eerie glow.

"There's no need to hide it. I can recognize rune magic from a mile away," The man said.

'So that's what this is, rune magic...'

Having given up at this point, Naruto sat himself up on the ledge, feet dangling over the edge, the pouring rain slightly obscuring his image of the man that had caught him. From what Naruto could see, the man was dressed quite richly in purple robes and brightly colored clothes, a sure sign of either royalty or importance. Considering Naruto had never heard of royalty in the area, the man was probably someone of importance, a member of the ruling class. The rain continued to come down hard.

"What can I do for you, kid?" the man asked.

Despite his thick beard, the man wasn't all too intimidating, especially since Naruto was sitting on a roof, and had the high ground. Taking the safe approach, Naruto responded.

"I was just looking around town, and slipped on top of your roof," Naruto said

"And why, pray tell, were you on my roof of all things?" The man rhetorically asked. He was smart enough to know what Naruto was trying to do.

"Don't answer that question, I know what you were trying to do," The man said.

Naruto just sat on the ledge, watching the man as he stroked his beard. Naruto said nothing and waited for the man to continue anxiously.

"You don't really seem like a bad kid, and I'd hate to simply send you off to the orphanage..." The man said.

"Don't bother, I'd just run away like I did the last one,"

The man pondered on that. "Well, if you won't go to the orphanage, I can't just leave you alone on my conscious. I suppose I'll have to adopt you,"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Adopt me? Do you even know how to raise a kid?"

The man feigned looking hurt. "I'll have you know I have two beautiful daughters and a lovely wife. I think I know how to raise a kid,"

STARE

Naruto bought none of it. "...Well, I'm not just going to go with you. You could be lying for all I know,"

"You're right, I could be lying. But wouldn't you want to know how to use all the runes, and not just the one on your hand?" That was a dirty move, and both knew it. Adoption had nothing to do with runes but knowing how to use them would be a great boon for Naruto.

"I'll tell you what. You look like a smart kid, so how about we play a little game of riddles, and the winner gets what they want. Deal?" The man proposed.

Naruto didn't buy into it. "You have to be at least 30 years older than me; you would most definitely win. Instead, let me ask you 3 riddles, and if you get all three right, I'll go with you," Naruto said.

"Ok. I'm good with that."

Naruto had briefly heard this first riddle from a stranger, and thought it was a good one. "Ok, first one. What is greater than a god, more evil than the a devil, the poor have it, the rich need it, and if you eat it, you'll die?"

The man laughed. "A good riddle, I suppose," He thought on it a little more, before answering the riddle. "The first two give it away. The answer is nothing. Nothing is greater than a god. Next one, please."

Naruto growled in frustration. That was one of the best ones he had, the man must have heard it before. "Fine, number two. Which creature walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening?"

Once again, the man laughed. "Everyone knows the Sphinx's riddle. The answer would be human. You have any better ones?"

Now Naruto was being mocked. He knew from the beginning that he didn't have a very good chance of winning at all, the man simply had more life experience than him, but he wouldn't give up. "What belongs to you yet everyone else uses it?"

The man paused in thought, and a victorious smile appeared on his face. "My name's Árd-Greimne by the way," He said, and then snapped his fingers.

Naruto lost consciousness.

Unknown

Naruto's eyes snapped open.

Thunder roared is his ears, and lightning flashed from the heavens above. Rain fell harder than ever before, each drop slamming against the ground. His eyes wandered from his spot.

He was currently on a beach, a very nice beach, in fact, if it hadn't been for the awful weather. Behind him seemed to be a cliff, and on that cliff lay a fortress. The dream corrected him.

Not a fortress, a portal. To the Land of Shadows, wherein there lies a fortress.

To everyone but its rulers, the Land of Shadows was not accessible by normal means, considering it lied in a dimension separate from this one. The fortress was merely a portal for outsiders to enter the Land of Shadows if they dared.

The ground shook beneath him, and Naruto's head swung back to the rising sea.

From beneath the waves rose two sea monsters, monsters of unrivaled power who terrorized the sea for ages, and they were about to face off in a bloody showdown.

The monster on the left was a big monster, around the size of fifty blue whales. Its arms were that of a human, but its fingers were webbed for swimming. Its lower half was that of a monster. It had the tail of a leviathan, long and serpent-like, with two dorsal fins on the bottom, quarantining a third of its area. And its head screamed killer with its large, bloodshot eyes and teeth the size of Roman artillery. Its very presence caused the wind to howl like wolves and storm clouds to thunder in fear. The monster was known as the Coinchenn.

And then the opponent appeared.

Having a very different take on 'sea monster,' this monster was much more octopus-like. One large green eye stood at the center of its round shell of a head. Its tentacles were numerous in number, each one the size of a building and having ends as sharp as any spear in existence. Each 'limb' was covered in spikes, to make it very deadly used as a slashing weapon or a piercing weapon. It roared, showing off its razor-sharp teeth at the bottom of its head. The roar shook the heavens themselves, and lightning refused to flash in fear of encountering this creature. The monster was known as the Curruid.

(Yes, they are actually two monsters. Just in case you were wondering.)

Naruto stared in wonder as the two stared each other down as if they were each sea gods going to war over territory. The sea fell, as if it was trying to escape the conflict, as the monsters sized each other up, looking for openings to exploit, and strengths to avoid.

It was deathly quiet.

And then, one moved.

The Coinchenn leaped forward, its muscular arm drew back, hands clenched tightly, muscles bulging. Its upper body left the water as it came crashing down like lightning towards its opponent.

The Curruid wasn't slacking behind though. Its razor-sharp tentacles had been lifted in defense, and others arced around the Coichenn, trying to take away its exit routes, but the Coichenn had no interest in retreating.

Naruto watched in awe as the two fought each other, the Coichenn's fist crashing into the wall of tentacles the Curruid created, and breaking through, though not without injury. Its tentacles had created enough slices on the Coichenn's fist, and the flanking tentacles had pierced somewhat into its torso.

But the Coichenn's fist struck true, smashing against the Curruid's skull, and sending it flying backward. The Coichenn surged forward as the Curruid recovered, and they engaged once more.

Naruto's eyes moved back and forth as the two fought each other. Each attack met with defense; injuries sustained by both sides as they fought.

The Coichenn's arms went back, both bleeding from an immeasurable number of cuts, and were sent forward towards the Curruid's head. Tentacle's met arms and hands, and the Coichenn's right arm was successfully cut off, but not the left. The left broke through the tentacles and crushed the Curruid's skull. The Curruid instantaneously died as bone fragments penetrated its brain. The Coichenn wasn't fairing much better.

Gallons of blood gushed from its stump of a right arm and the cuts littering its body. Its movements became sluggish as it bled out, having no way to stop the bleeding. Within a minute, it too had died.

Naruto watched as time flew by, years became seconds, centuries minutes. Each of the monster's respective skulls had washed up on the beach, the skin and fleshed decaying until all that remained was the bones.

His perspective changed when he saw a figure working with the bones of each monster, shaping the bones into a shaft and a blade. As the unknown artisan spoke, Naruto only caught two words.

Gáe Bolg. The spear of mortal death.

Naruto watched on as the artisan took the spear, and melted into the shadows, as if becoming a part of them.

His body lurched, and he was back on the beach, flying up the rocky cliff towards the looming fortress.

His body moved over the bucking bridge and through the front gate, up and down stairs until it reached the center wall of the back of the fortress.

His body melted into the shadow of the wall, and he was gone.

His consciousness drifted in the pitch black of the night. Souls roamed the plains, and the land seemed to be made from shadows. Naruto approached the upcoming fortress—no, palace—and the souls paid him no mind.

His body slowed and he entered the front gate, the looming yet beautiful dark purple walls of the palace were enchanting, and he drifted up the stairs. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught millisecond view of an unknown person, who looked strikingly like the creator of the spear, Gáe Bolg, enter a room.

Naruto followed, his body moving according to his will, yet at the same time against it. He opened the door, and the figure turned around.

She was strikingly beautiful, her long, silky hair, a mixture of a wine-red color and purple, although the red was clearly dominant, went down past her slim waist and wide hips and ended at her plump bottom, which seemed to disobey gravity. Her skin was a pale white, yet not too pale, and seemed to be completely untainted. Her breasts were of the larger size and seemed to be barely contained by the tight-fitting bodysuit that she wore, which accentuated her curves. Her gorgeous red eyes stared into his, as a soft smile graced her features.

"Welcome home, my husband," She walked towards him. She stood in front of him, arms lightly crossed under her chest. A playful glower overtook her features.

"You've been neglected your duty as my husband. I'll have you know that I can be very needy, and your absence his left me wholly...unsatisfied." Her arms encircled his neck, and her body pressed against his. Her lips turned into a sultry smirk. "Why don't you... remind me, of why I'm your woman."

Naruto spoke, yet he didn't. The voice that came out was his voice, yet it originated from the dream.

"And you can remind me of why I'm your man."

Her face approached his, and their lips met in a soft, passionate, and loving kiss.

Naruto woke up.

Ireland

"How'd your meeting go, dear?" A woman spoke. This was Lethra, the wife of Árd-Greimne, and mother of Scáthach and Aífe. She was a beautiful woman in her early forties, with waist length black hair, a sizable bust, and curves that belonged on a younger woman.

Árd-Greimne sighed. "It went pretty well, actually. Scáthach and Aífe were pretty excited to see their new brother."

Scáthach and Aífe were the daughters of Árd-Greimne and Lethra, and both were aspiring warriors.

Scáthach had waist length crimson hair that had tints of purple and was considered to be a very beautiful girl when she would grow up. She was a proud girl that understood her position as a member of the ruling class, and as such wasn't a very exaggerative person.

Aífe had black hair that was just as long as Scáthach's, and she too would become very beautiful when she grew up. Aífe was much more laid back than Scáthch was and acted like a young girl more as well. Aífe was a regular young girl, excitable and giggly, but she too understood her position as a member of the ruling class.

The three kids were currently outside getting to know each other, with Naruto accepting the fact that he had lost pretty quickly but was still wary of Árd-Greimne for the stunt he pulled by snapping his fingers.

"Aífe was excited to get a new brother. If you looked at the two now, it would be hard to believe that Aífe had just met him today," Árd-Greimne said.

Lethra smiled. "I'm glad Aífe is getting along with him, but not that surprised. How about Scáthach? Is she getting along with him?" Lethra asked.

Árd-Greimne nodded. "Yeah, Scáthach is getting along with him. He even got Scáthach to act her age!"

[!]

Lethra stood up, stunned. "How!?"

Árd-Greimne shook his head, laughing. "All he did was ask her to train him, and she immediately started getting along with him."

Lethra looked astonished. "He got Scáthach to train him by just asking?! That girl can see potential in people, so for her to accept him as a student, and so readily... she must see great promise for him in the future."

"Indeed. I also do as well."

"That's right. You're teaching him rune magic, aren't you? How'd that go?" Lethra asked.

"Better than I could have hoped for. Naruto has a talent for rune magic I don't even see in Scáthach and Aífe, and they picked up on in very quickly," Árd-Greimne said.

"How? Scáthach and Aífe picked up on it in record times. How could he learn faster?" Lethra questioned, surprised.

"I never said he learned it faster than them, did I?" Árd-Greimne said.

"No... you didn't. What are trying to get at, Árd-Greimne?"

[QUIET]

He looked towards Lethra, a serious look on his face. Upon seeing his look, Lethra mimicked it. "Naruto has a knack for creativity using rune magic. I just taught him Berkano, the nature rune."

"The one that causes growth?"

"That same one. He cast the spell the traditional way, but instead of causing growth in the soil, he cast the rune onto his arm, and his arm became encased in roots. I told him to test it out, and a single punch was strong enough to destroy one of our dummies. A steel dummy," Árd-Greimne said.

"That shouldn't be possible... you shouldn't be able to change a runes usage..." Lethra shockingly spoke.

"I thought that same thing, but perhaps the rules don't apply to Naruto."

"Mother, father."

Scáthach entered the room, a determined look on her face as she approached her parents. Lethra greeted her with a warm, loving smile.

"What is it, sweetie?"

"I've decided to take Naruto as my student, and I promise—" Scáthach said.

Árd-Greimne interrupted her. "I know, Scáthach. I hope you don't neglect your own studies, though, you'll need them in the future."

Scáthach nodded. "I know, father. I expect Naruto to learn very quickly, and I would like to stay ahead of him as his teacher."

Lethra giggled. "Scáthach, you and Naruto are the same age, you're peers, and it's important that you remember that."

Scáthach lightly blushed in embarrassment. "Right, Mother."

Árd-Greimne chimed in. "Besides, I think Naruto has already surpassed you in rune magic. You better get working on your spearmanship."

"Right!"

Scáthach ran out and almost bumped into her sister, Aífe, who was entering the room.

Lethra acknowledged her daughter. "Do you need something, Aífe?"

Aífe simply looked down, her face unhappy and drooping. This broke both her mother and father's hearts, and Lethra couldn't help but gather up her little girl in her arms and cuddle with her. Aífe buried her face in her mother's chest as Lethra hummed to her.

"Is there something wrong, my little warrior?" Lethra asked her daughter. Aífe mumbled incoherently into her mother's bosom, and Lethra lightly giggled at that. "Aífe, you can't talk if your head is in my chest. Rais your chin and speak to me," Lethra said.

Aífe followed her mother's directions. "Mother..."

"Yes, sweetie?"

"I don't want Naruto to go..."

Lethra blinked at that. Naruto was going to leave? She and Árd-Greimne had adopted the boy, he wouldn't be leaving anytime soon. A quick glance towards her husband and Lethra could tell that he was just as confused as she was.

"What do you mean by that, Aífe?" Lethra asked.

"Scáthach said that Naruto had to go on a trip for a while and that he wouldn't return... I don't want him to go..."

Now Lethra understood. Aífe must have been eavesdropping on Naruto and Scáthach's conversation before joining in. Truth was, the only trip Naruto was going on was back to his orphanage, which was a few towns over, to get what he had left behind. Naruto would then be staying a while at their house, where Aífe would see him every day. Feeling slightly mischievous, Lethra teased her daughter.

"That's so sad Aífe... I know. If you cling to him for the rest of the day, he might not leave."

Aífe perked up at that. "Really mother?" She asked.

"Really," Lethra said.

Aífe hopped out of her mother's lap and was already partly out the door. "I'll make sure he doesn't leave, mother!"

Lethra giggled and Árd-Greimne sighed. "You didn't have to tease her, you know? Aífe doesn't know the difference between teasing and being serious. You should apologize to her, Lethra."

"Come now, how much harm can it cause? Aífe's not hurting anyone, and she'll stop once she realizes that Naruto isn't leaving," Lethra said.

"I sure hope so, for his sake..." Árd-Greimne said.

The two of them enjoyed the silence as the heard their now three kids playing outside, enjoying themselves. Lethra smiled at her husband. "What other runes have you taught him so far, dear?"

Árd-Greimne stroked his beard. "Well, you already know that I've taught him Berkano., and he already knew how to use Kenaz, he just didn't know what it was or what it meant."

"That's the torch one, right?" Lethra asked.

Árd-Greimne nodded. "Yep, Kenaz is the torch one. I've also taught him Sowilo, the fire rune, and Ansuz."

"Really? Ansuz? That's a very complicated rune," Lethra said.

"But he picked up on it very quickly. He knows about all the ways to use it. Naruto knows it's used as an attack rune, and how as an attack rune it's very unoriginal yet powerful. Naruto picked up on using it as a supporting rune even more, as he quickly came to understand how useful it could be in both combat and normal life. Ansuz can be used to make anything godly. Do you have a broken chair? Ansuz, and it's fixed. The fires that Sowilo produces aren't hot enough or concentrated enough. Ansuz, and now it's Godfire and it even hotter than it needs to be. He even came up with uses that I had never heard of," Árd-Greimne said.

"Really?" Lethra sounded doubtful. "I know you might not be the best practitioner of rune magic, but I was under the assumption that you knew most, if not all of the theoretical parts."

"Nope. This kid stumped me. After discussion, he came to realize that since Ansuz can make anything godly. It can increase your speed, strength, hearing, durability, stamina, and more to a godly level. Not only that, but Ansuz can make you sound louder, hear softer things, and look farther than any normal human. It can increase your muscle and bone density. With practice and careful application, Ansuz can give you wings, or the ability to breathe underwater. In truth, the rune is only limited to the user's imagination and mana capacity, and this boy has more mana than an average grown man. Mixed with his imagination, he could end up becoming unstoppable," Árd-Greimne said.

Lethra shook her head in disbelief. "We had two children, both of which are on the road to becoming masters in martial arts and prominent rune users, and we adopt a genius boy, who can use runes to levels that grown men had deemed impossible. I don't even know what to say..."

"Then don't. We can just watch them grow up into master warriors, parallel only to each other. I just hope they don't pull too far away from Aífe, she isn't into her training as much as Naruto and Scáthach are, and with Scáthach teaching Naruto, they'll be on the same level soon, even if Scáthach wants to forever recognize him as her student, she'll come to learn that for some students, you get closer to them when you finally realize that you're truly equals."

End Chapter 1

Chapter was Rewritten

Hello again.

Sorry about the other story that I deleted, certain...circumstances came up and I thought that it would be the best thing to do.

Anyways, this is basically the same story idea just put a lot better in my opinion.

I wasn't sure whether this should be a mythological fanfic or a fate series fanfic. I think I'm gonna go way fate series since some future characters come from fate.

This chapter was, unfortunately, a lot of plot setup and not a lot of action, but next chapter I'll probably have a few years' time-skip to where everyone's kind of at the same level. So I apologize if the personalities are a little weird, but do well to remember that they are only 10 years old, and much more childish than I would usually want to write them. Hopefully I'll have their personalities down after the time-skip next chapter.

Be kind with your reviews please, and don't feel obligated to leave a review. I do not appreciate flaming at all. Also, updates will most likely happen every two-three weeks.

Bye.