'Uh, Naruto?'

Naruko's voice echoed in his head. Naruto, who had been watching his baby daughter sleep, closed his eyes and responded.

'Yes?'

'We have a problem. Mom's on the warpath at Natsu for slacking and she's telling me, by extension you, to get your ass here and kick him into order.' Oh dammit Natsu.

'I'm on my way up.'

Naruto created a Shadow Clone and left it with his 10 month year old daughter in the instance she woke up. Walking to the exit, he hovered his hand over the panel to open to open the secret door. No one was on the other side. Good. He pressed his hand to it and with the customary silver glow, the door opened. Exiting his secret little room, Naruto walked for the stairs, the secret door closing the moment he left. Inside, all light died and the room was plunged into darkness.

Not even the others who returned with him knew about his daughter. Only Naruko did, and it would stay that way. Not even Kushina could know. Not even his own mother. Making his way through the house, he fully recalled Mitsuko's birth and Yugito's subsequent death.

Flashback

"Come on Yugito, push. Easy does it." Naruto tried to reassure his lover as she breathed deeply, midway through childbirth.

"Easy... for you... to say..." She panted. "You wanna… swap places?"

"If I could I would but I can't so I'm just here for support. That and maintaining your mood." He smiled, holding one of her hands in his right, his left was laid on top of her stomach.

"You are... impossible. Ahhh!"

As she pushed again, a small cry split the air. Naruto was grinning away like an idiot.

"You here that? That's our little baby." Yugito smiled weakly, as the doctor removed this child. Naruto was given a medical instrument and cut the umbilical cord, the rest being tied up as the baby's belly button. The doctor cleaned the little child off and gave it, wrapped in a blanket Naruto and Yugito had brought and a little baby hat, to its mother, who cradled it.

"You now a have a little girl to take care of." The doctor said. "I know you have some questions and I will do my best to answer them all. Ask away."

"You said.. the baby was premature… Will she… be okay?" Yugito asked, holding her newborn in her arms, affectionately letting her grasp at her fingers.

"She'll be fine, maybe a little small until she hit her major growth spurts as a teen but I'm only speculating." Was the answer given to the worried mother. "But I can guarantee your baby is perfectly healthy."

"Could we have a little time alone with her?"

"Certainly, I have to do some paperwork for her birth certificate anyway." The paid were left alone with their baby.

"So… what should she be called?" Naruto asked. "I know we talked about names but this one is up to you since we decided if she was a girl, you would decide her name."

Yugito looked down at the baby who was now curling up against her chest. She thought for a bit through the names she had considered and spoke. "I want to call her Mitsuko. *cough* A child of light."

"That's fine. We have to do some paperwork, stay a night maybe, then we can go home."

Naruto stroked Mitsuko's little cheek.

"She's so tiny. And cute. She definitely has your good looks. But I think she had my eyes."

"Which *cough* ones?" Yugito asked.

"My normal eyes, before I first became a Dragon Slayer. Dark but full of possibilities for her future." He ran the back of his finger across the two whisker marks on her cheeks.

"She even has your *cough* whiskers. That's *cough* so cute!" The former Two Tails Jinchuriki exclaimed softly, coughing. Mitsuko opened her eyes and sure enough, there were Naruto's dark, stormy blue eyes, staring innocently up at her. "Who's *cough* a little cutie? You are! Yes *cough* you are!"

The Dragon Slayer smiled at the sight of Yugito playing with the baby. She coughed now and again but he was sure she be fine.

She laid back on the pillows, her strength gone from giving birth. After a load of paperwork had been filled in, the family left the clinic and went home. Yugito went to bed and Naruto cradled the baby until she went to sleep.

But that didn't happen. How he wished it could of. But, fate was not so kind.

The beep that was Yugito's heartbeat began to pause even more between blips. It was confusing so Naruto had a look at the monitor.

'No! Oh please no!' He thought frantically. His lover had also noticed and was falling asleep.

"Doctor! We need a doctor in here!"

The doctor that had overseen Mitsuko's birth and others rushed into the room and Naruto took Mitsuko, stepping back. They attended her and, after a few moments, the doctor that attended the baby's birth came up to him.

"I'm afraid... she's dying. I'm sorry, there's nothing we can do, the stress on her body was too much."

Those words turned his blood cold. The love of his life was passing away and there was no way he could stop it.

"Dammit! How did this happen?! How long does she have?" The doctor seemed to be fighting himself. Naruto grabbed him by the collar and shook him. "Tell me!"

"At this rate of decline, a few minutes, 10 at the very most. Now please let me go."

Naruto shoved him aside.

"Get out."

"Pardon sir?" One of the nurses asked. "We can't just…"

"I SAID GET OUT! THIS IS NONE OF YOUR CONCERN! If you don't leave in the next five seconds, I will get very angry! I want to have privacy for our last moments together at the very least." Everyone ran out.

His Mangekyō blazed and all cameras and recording devices were burnt to ash by the black flames of the Amaterasu.

"Yugito. Can you hear me?"

"Please… don't use your Mangekyō anymore. I can't stand seeing you lose sight of the light. Let me see your eyes as they were when I fell in love with you." The Mangekyō faded and his turbulent blue eyes reappeared. The tears of blood ran down from his left eye. Normal tears fell from his right.

Yugito's hand found its way to his face as her eyes slowly opened, staring into his draconic eyes.

"I loved you since we were 15... in our last life. I never said anything because I didn't know that I would die so soon. Otherwise I would have looked you on the eyes and said 'I love you'. I wouldn't have cared if anyone else heard. What happened to you this time? What changed you?"

"Time… It turned me into this… monster."

"No… it made you darker. It tainted you and closed your heart." Her tears fell, for him. "Please… if you love me… don't close your heart again… I worked so hard... to get you back… the boy who never gave up… who was so pure… who wore his heart on his sleeve…"

"I'm sorry… I'm not him anymore. I've tried to be. Truly I have. But it never worked. I can't deny my true nature in the end. I'm just an incarnation of darkness, trying to be a hero."

"You… still are… You just can't accept it. You blind yourself... and shut out everyone… even when they just want to help… I love you… so much… Don't… Please, stop... you're breaking my heart… you're hurting me…"

What kind of monster was he? Here he was, hurting the one who loved him the most.

"I'm so sorry. I… have no excuse. I knew what I was becoming, Kurami told me, but I still went on. I have never known… where do I go? Who am I meant to be? What is my purpose?"

"... True love… is never ending… unconditional… unwavering… But not many find it… I think I found it in you… did you… find it in me?"

"... Yes… in this moment, just before it's about to disappear. Without you, I'm lost. Where can I go? Without you, I don't know who I am. Who should I be? Your love is the only one I have ever truly known. What will I do without it?"

"... Go where your heart tells you… My love is yours forever… I'm not the only one who loves you… end the war… go find your sister… your friends… your comrades… and… be the boy I love… be… Naruto Atlas Uzumaki Uchiha Flame… and Naruko… take care of him… help him do what he has to… and don't deny yourself happiness… out of respect for me… I know what you want… because I wanted it too… so cherish it…"

Giving birth to Mitsuko… had killed Yugito! That was why she'd been coughing! Certainly, her immune system and body had much, much weaker since the baby was conceived but he hadn't thought it was this bad! Matatabi was turbulently expelled from Yugito's body and her eyes fully closed.

"Naruto… I have loved you… for all of this life… but I'm done running after you… you see… you've been in the darkness so long… on the surface I don't even recognise you… but I fought through your darkness to bring you back… to show you but a single ray of the light… and now I pass that torch to Mitsuko… so that she will be your anchor… and that your anchor will hold within the darkness…"

"Yugito…" Naruto started, crying again from his right eye.

"No… you have to understand… I never wanted you to find this out… but I'm dying so I want to die with no regrets." Her hand touched his face and she caressed his cheek lovingly, the pain in her eyes contradicting that love."I hated to see you walk away all those time you went into the dark… because every time… you hurt me…"

He couldn't believe he was hearing this from Yugito. But what she said next drove a sword into his heart.

"Loving you… is torture… it always has been…"

His heart broke as his world shattered. The words were mortal injuries. After that he seemed to go deaf. Her lips moved but he didn't hear it.

The last of her life force… faded. Naruto watched her eyes close. He felt the dark power erupt from him, leaving only her, Naruko, Matatabi and Mitsuko untouched. He watched himself shattered the walls with the sheer amount of power released. The 4th Generation Dragon Slayer and the second youngest Tailed Beast looked on, feeling only sorrow for him.

Then the explosion went off.

The ward they were in was lit up with a powerful explosion. Naruto barely had time to conjure a barrier of the black flames around them before he, Yugito, Naruko, Matatabi and Mitsuko were engulfed. The fire didn't even scratch his shield. Above, Obito watched from Deidara's bird.

"As expected Naruto, your prowess is sharper than ever. Summoning that barrier that quickly and at that size is a feat even I can't pull off, even with my power." So he was still pretending to be Madara huh?

"You just killed everyone in this hospital except us! Have you no heart?!" Naruto kept his barrier up. His left eye bled again.

The Amaterasu ignited on the clay bird, melting it from the intense heat produced by the pinnacle of Fire Manipulation. Sadly, the masked man dropped down with Deidara, unharmed.

"Sticking to the Mangekyō are we? That can't be good for your health." Obito commented.

"I'll show you good for your health bastard!"

Then he changed.

The magic of the dragon that broke out of Hell roared into life, fueled by vengeance and the deepest and darkest power was unleashed. Malevolent black scales formed. They grew from the fingertips of his left, and only, hand and ended halfway across his face, surrounding his left eye like in Dragon Force and faded into skin across his nose and the line it drew down his face. His dragon pupils became barely visible slits, his left sclera turned black, the iris burned an evil red. His nails grew into claws the same crimson. Scaled, leathery wings tore through his shirt, ripping it off. Dragon wings. The scales were black and the leathery web between them crimson like the claws. From between the scales, an evil red glow came. Dragon Rage.

Naruto… Dragonised.

"Please forgive me Yugito… should I encounter Madara I won't be able to stop myself. But, unless that happens, this is the last time."

"Last time? For what?"

"The last time.. I give into my hatred!"

With one beat of his wings, he was upon Obito. It was said the burnt hand taught best. Naruto disagreed. The burnt face taught the best in his opinion.

A blade of midnight flames pierced straight through the masked man's chest, unstoppable. Grabbing the mask, making sure his hand was over the eyehole, Naruto let off a massive amount of black flames. Red danced inside the black, like the core of the flame. Naruko hurled a lance of jagged ice into Deidara's back as he tried to send bombs at Naruto from behind. The massive icicle grew sharply, more spikes jutting out of his sides and his organs were all pierced. He died with a pitiful set of last words.

"Art… is… an explosion… hn…"

He blew up, Naruko erecting a clear wall of ice between her and the blast. From behind it, she watched Naruto burn Obito to blackened cinders. The Uchiha screamed as all of his garments and skin was burnt away by the sheer inferno Naruto summoned from his anger. As a killing blow, Naruto used Benzaiten, his second eye ability, to rend Obito apart, shredding him into nothing. Blood drenched the ground in pools and Naruto let his powers of hatred fade away. Now there was only… pain and anguish from his end of the bond he and Naruko shared.

Flashback End

How that had been the worst day of his life was clear. By there was one that came close. A few days later when he found out his daughter had a dangerous condition.

Flashback

"What?!" Naruto staggered against the wall, tears rolling down his face. "What did you say?"

"I'm sorry sir. Your baby has… immune deficiency. She has almost no immune system whatsoever. She will not be able to live outside of this isolator."

"No! No! No! No! No! How did this happen? Yugito and I both had practically impenetrable immune systems, how can Mitsuko not have inherited that?!"

"There are four possible explanations. One, your lover's fragile condition may have been passed on to the child. Two, her immune system might have been late in developing and not have been complete when she was prematurely born. Three, the typical way, a gene. But, you were both Jinchuuriki were you not?"

That was a fragile subject.

"Yes."

"It is known to doctors that Jinchuuriki get their immense physical healing and immunity from their Tailed Beasts. A theory that popped up is that Jinchuuriki are directly using their Tailed Beast's immune system, leaving their own unused and unable to fight off infection. This seems likely."

Pounding the wall with his fist, Naruto left a hole in it. "So… you're saying… because Yugito and I didn't have our own immune systems… Mitsuko doesn't have one?"

"More or less yes."

"Is there any way to fix this?"

"Normally we would have to find a person with genetically matching bone marrow and do a transplant. However, there is one way only you and you alone can fix it."

"Yes?"

Killer Bee beat the doctor to it. "You could seal Two Tails into your kid and give her Mata's immunity like Yugito had."

"Make Mitsuko… a Jinchuuriki? Are you mad?! Condemn my own baby, my flesh and blood to the same fate you, I and her mother shared?! I… I can't do it. I can't take away her future like that."

Bee gave him a big hug as Naruto began to break down. Patting the young man on the back, Bee tried to calm him down.

"I know. I know. You can't let someone else do it either. No one ever said this would be easy champ, it never is. But unless you know another way it's the only real option you got."

Flashback End

And so he had. With no other choice, he'd taken Matatabi and sealed her into his own flesh and blood. Then, when they annihilated the last of Akatsuki, he took the Gedo Statue and put it in his void dimension, where it was unreachable except by him. Not even the Rinnegan Summoning could pull it from there, Madara had tried. He had made sure that Mitsuko had been sustained by the statue during the war, given Madara didn't exactly run a daycare for babies during battle.

He had made Naruko, the only person who knew about Mitsuko, swear that she wouldn't tell anyone. And if there was one thing Naruko could do without doubt, it was keep her promises.

Flashback

With great sadness, Naruto tore open a rip to his void dimension. Taking Mitsuko from Naruko, he stepped into the rip and placed her in the crib. She had become Matatabi's Jinchuuriki a few months ago and now that he had the Gedo Statue in his dimension, he could attach her to it. And he did. Stepping out the void through the rip, his dying eyes cried. Slowly, the tear sealed and he turned to his twin. Raising his hand while sobbing at what he'd had to do, he pointed at her.

"No one… can know…"

Flashback End

And no one but the twins knew. Not even now that the war was over. Now actually consciously moving, he found he'd reached the back door and was standing in the doorway, listening to his mother chew out Natsu. Clearing his throat, he caught the attention of Kushina.

"I'll take him from here."

Kushina nodded, unseen by him, and went up to the porch where Naruko was was overseeing the girls. "Knock some sense into him would you?"

Walking down the wooden steps, Naruto stood opposite Natsu.

"What's Mother so mad at you for Natsu?"

The Fire Dragon Slayer shrugged. "Said I wasn't giving my all."

"And are you?"

A sad tone entered Natsu's voice. "No. I just can't get Lisanna out of my thoughts since she died."

"When was that?"

"Two years ago. On an S Class mission with Mirajane and Elfman."

He didn't need to see the look on Natsu's face to know what he was feeling, nor using any of his sensory abilities. He knew those thoughts and feelings all too well. All too well. Turning away, he spoke over his shoulder.

"Stop blaming yourself."

At that, Natsu looked up at him, a hint of anger in his voice. "What?"

"Stop torturing yourself with all the 'what-if's' and 'if only's'. It only makes the pain worse. I know that all too well because to this day, I am constantly reminded of all the times where I didn't save a person when I could've and I have only deepened the pain by thinking of what I could of done, what I should of done, to save all those people who I let die. I have been stuck in this cycle of guilt for so long, I don't even remember what I was before it all happened."

"What the hell does all that…"

"Twenty-one." His abrupt statement cut Natsu off. "21 years I have lived in this life, killing myself with the same questions over and over. Why? Why me? What is so wrong with me that I deserve all this pain?

"Life has never been fair. I was not even a day old when I suffered my first loss. It wasn't a person or a thing I lost but it still hurt more than anything. I was robbed of my chance at life, my childhood was stolen away and I was dehumanised to the point where I wasn't even a living being by the man who was supposed to be my father. I hated him for so long, 14 years I wanted so badly to take everything from him, just as he had taken everything from me. And when I finally had that opportunity, I didn't feel satisfaction, pleasure or even closure, I only felt empty and dead. And I realised what I had been living for was a lie, because I hadn't been living at all. At best, it was a half life, a cursed life. I didn't live, I simply moved. That is what wanting revenge and wallowing in guilt does to you.

"Since then I have lost even more, but I found something to cling to, a reason to keep fighting. You need to wake up and find yours Natsu, before you become even a fraction of what I am now." Removing his shirt with Requip, Naruto showed Natsu his missing arm and scars. "Those 'what if's' and 'if only's' are the reason I ended up like this. But, through all that pain I learnt a lesson that I will take to my grave."

"What's that?" Natsu asked as Naruto walked away, putting his shirt back on.

"Shi wa watashitachi no subete no tame ni kite, wareware wa, sore ga sō nagaku kaihi suru koto ga dekimasu."

He spoke in Dragon Tongue fluently, Natsu unable to understand him. The only other other of the remaining First Generation Dragon Slayers who could understand Dragon Tongue was Wendy, although she was fairly limited. She only knew basic communication. Levy had flipped out when she learned that dragons had their own language, wanting to learn it. He'd politely refused to teach her.

Regardless, he repeated the sentence in English.

"Death comes for us all, we can only evade it so long."

Going up to the his twin's group, he spoke to the younger ones. "Alright, personal training time. The usual groupings, Atsuko and Naruko, Wendy and Sasuke, Fuu and Mother, etc."

The pairs split off, Natsu getting a pass for today so he headed to the Guild Hall. Tsuki slipped her arms around Naruto's middle affectionately. Crouching down in front of her, Naruto smiled, even though he couldn't see her smiling too. "You know Tsuki, those five years I was away, I missed this."

"Consistency right?" Being his Time Remnant, Tsukiko knew him almost as well as Naruko did. Almost.

"Partially, just the idea of being able to do this on a regular basis with you." Her smiled grew widen and she closed her eyes, cocking her head to the side. Tilting her head up, Naruto kissed Tsukiko on her forehead like he always did. "Anyways, let's get started. What kind of scene do you want for this?"

The blonde thought about it, flicking her long hair back. Over the five years they were gone, Tsukiko had come to resemble a young Kushina, just blonde with whisker marks, her hair reaching mid-thigh, having gone straight. She had come to take after Naruko's colour choice in clothes but more like Naruto's style-wise. Tsukiko wore an orange short sleeved kimono with a thick dark brown trim at the bottom, lines of the same colour looking like a 'cut here's line around the bottom of the sleeves and around the collar down to the dark brown obi that secured it, a red Uzumaki spiral on the lower front under the obi. Also, she wore thigh high stockings of the same dark brown, like the ones Naruko wore, skin-tight orange shorts, not really seen under the lower part of her kimono top, and knee tall dark brown sandals like boots, another thing taken from Naruko's fashion choice. Her Fairy Tail mark, acquired a year ago, was in the same place Naruto had his, on the right side right her upper chest. Unlike his, Tsukiko's was white with a deep sapphire outline.

"Hm, how about snow day?"

"Sure." Using his trusted Requip, such a handy magic, Naruto pulled the magical powder (NOT DRUGS!) used for Season Creation Magic and activated the barrier around their training ground, which everyone else had vacated to go to their own spots, and turned it into a snowfield. In a word, brisk. If that wasn't enough for cold training, the pair used their own Requips to change clothes to the minimal.

Naruto shed his outfit, changing into a pair of workout pants without a shirt or footwear of any kind. The bandages around his eyes remained, simply because Naruto valued his life. He knew not to anger Hinata.

Tsukiko changed into a pair of yoga pants and a sports bra, no footwear either. Some would consider this inappropriate clothing for an eleven year old but in their family, so long as the outfit didn't leave training it was perfectly fine given they were doing cold combat training.

"What're the rules?" Tsukiko asked. Naruto thought about it for a moment then replied.

"Taijutsu only, no magic but you can use supplements to your attacks like extra sensory abilities."

"Okay then." Tsukiko shrugged

"Let's dance." Both of them said simultaneously. So similar. What Naruto was not expecting was what Tsuki did next.

She raised one hand, her right, and made a half Tiger, drawing chakra to her eyes. Blue became red and a single tomoe span into existence in each eye. Naruto felt the familiar power and his surprise grew when Tsukiko announced it.

"Sharingan!"

Still standing straight up, Naruto smiled at her achievement. "By the feel of your chakra, you've only got the first stage but it's as powerful as mine was at that age."

The pair began to circle each other, not noticing Levy, Lucy and Alicya on the porch with Natsu.

"Aren't you going to use yours Big Brother?"

"I can't, my eyes are still recovering from the strain that's been put on them. Add to that they were only transplanted a few weeks before they advanced again and I pushed them beyond the limit, it means I'm blind for a bit. But, if I could, I would to test you." He responded to his little sister's inquiry. "But even if I wanted to, Hinata put a seal drawn with blood on my forehead so that I don't activate them out of reflex. In any case, let's go."

They both charged at high speeds, Naruto not actually showing any restraint given he was blind and needed all the skill he could use. And he was right. Tsukiko wasn't making any sloppy moves so he couldn't hold back. It would be insulting.

Catching a slashing kick with his forearm, Naruto flicked his arm out swiftly, using his superior strength and speed to repel his little sister's blow. Not even a moment later he crouched slightly, ducking the kick coming from the other direction.

Tsukiko hit the snow so to speak, dropping to the ground and sliding between his legs and punching him in the groin on her way, twisting around as she got back up. If it wasn't for his physical conditioning, Naruto would of actually curled up and whined like a dog. So she wasn't afraid to hit men where the sun didn't shine. Smart tactic. Natsu actually winced when he saw the punch.

With a lightning fast sweep, Tsukiko was on her back in the snow and looking up at his larger form. "You're a cheeky one."

"Bite me." She retorted cheekily, flipping up and leapfrogged using Naruto's head, driving a kick into the back of it as she made the best use of her small form to twist around him. The two girls on the porch didn't get how Naruto was just shrugging off those hits.

Changing direction, he revolved around and got her with a decent kick to the stomach. There was a distinct sound of flesh hitting flesh and a wince. Deciding to change it up, he went on the attack, slashing and battering the air with kicks and punches Tsukiko weaved and twisted around like a snake, using her full range of flexibility.

Stealthily he had brought his leg back after a kick that slide past her shoulder, aiming to hit her in the back of the was no way she could know the attack was coming.

But somehow she did.

Taking advantage of his missing arm, she latched onto his right side and started spinning and kicking, using his own body against him. It proved quite hard to get her off but possible.

Naruto fell on his right side, causing his little sister to dive away and whirl around with a kick that nearly connected with his face but he caught her small foot. Being pulled fiercely, Tsukiko found herself in a hold which she didn't dare try to move from. One move and Naruto could kill her by breaking her neck, even if one usually needed both arms for the hold.

"Dead."

He released his sister and let her get back onto her own stance. A smile painted his face and he congratulated her. "Good job, you made me go all out on you. Well, as far as we go in training. Not bad work with the Sharingan either, despite you only awakening it recently."

She was surprised. "How did you…"

"Please." He interrupted. "I know a beginner with the Sharingan when I fight one. You're not get used to the predictive sight, thus you react only slightly faster than you usually would. It took me the best of a month or two to get used to it, but you learn faster than I did, so you'll have it down in a few weeks. Now, again, this time with weapons."

The younger Flame Requiped a pair of wakizashi swords, but hesitated to attack him. "You're unarmed."

Flicking his hair out of habit, Naruto replied in an amused tone. "I will take your blades once you are through with them."

Still she didn't attack.

Lashing out faster than Tsukiko could react, he struck her in the shoulder with his knuckles, making her turn with the impact of the blow. That got her moving. Jolting into action, she tried two consecutive slashes. Naruto evaded them easily. He simply leaned away from them, the following attacks too, stabs, slashes and twirls. Her swordsmanship was good, clearly Erza had taught her. The choice of blades was from the Shinobi World however.

Catching Tsukiko's left wrist, he twisted it sharply and stole the wakizashi from her hand, hitting her in the side of the head with the hilt.

Clangs echoed across the snow covered training area. Now the dance of blades sped up, the pair whirling about, countering each others strikes according to their styles. Tsuki redirected the attacking strikes, Naruto endured them, absorbing the resulting vibrations from the clashes instead of redirecting them.

Roll. Drop. Single slash at Naruto. Duck. Stab. Jump away. Swing down with left. Block. Switch to reverse grip. Hard block, right side. Right slash to the right. Left slash to the right. Double slash. Double swing down. A few feints mixed in with more slashes. Releasing the sword, Tsuki switched grip back to the normal grip and blocked again.

'Gotta go faster!'

Slash. Slash. Stab. Kick. Stab. Punch. Stab. Leg sweep. Slash. Stab. Headbutt. Slash. He was relentless, raining attacks on Tsukiko, who was hard pressed to keep up. Slash. Stab. Upward swing. Downward slash. Getting his sister trapped, he pointed the blade at her throat.

"Better, but still dead."

A glint was in her eye.

"Nope!"

Tsukiko knocked his sword aside and twisted his wrist hard, taking back the sword and throwing it away, mindful of where it went. Bring her blade up, she brought it down at his neck as he fell on one knee before her.

Naruto caught the sword, not even flinching when it cut into into his hand.

Closing his fingers around the sharp blade of the wakizashi, he pulled Tsukiko's arm down and elbowed her in the throat, just enough to make her let go of the sword, bringing her hands to her neck and gasping for air. Gracefully, he flipped the sword, caught it by the hilt, twirled around and let it tap his little sister's side.

"Dead."

Spinning again, he stood before her for a moment then thrust the blade at her heart, tapping her chest with the tip.

"Twice dead."

Walking over to the other wakizashi, Naruto kicked it up with his foot, catching it. When he returned to Tsukiko, he handed both swords back and she put them away. Sighing, the younger sibling nursed her throat while groaning. "There's still such a huge gap between us. Atarashī me ka dō ka wa, watashi wa mada subete no korera no nengo ni chōdo muryokuna shōjodesu."

"Anata wa mada tsuyoku naru tame ni nan-nen mo motte iru, mada kodomodesu. You have nothing to be ashamed of watashi no kichōna imōto." Naruto assured her.

Steam rose from the rapidly closing cut in his hand and within 10 seconds it was as if it had never been there. Crouching down, he washed his hand in the snow then got up. He pulled Tsukiko closer and kissed her forehead, making the 11 year old close her eyes and smile contentedly.

There was no word for Sharingan in Dragon Tongue, which Tsukiko had just slipped into without noticing. Like him and Naruko, she was completely fluent and, uniquely, would sometimes switch languages when stressed, annoyed or angry without noticing the change until someone pointed it out to her.

Meanwhile Lucy and Alicya were having trouble believing what they heard. The blonde turned to Levy and asked, "Do they always do that?"

"All the time." The orange wearing bluenette nodded. "They can speak the language of dragons, Dragon Tongue. I thought Naruto was the only one who could fluently speak it until Tsukiko began switching between English and Dragon Tongue when she was annoyed. No one understands what they're saying unless they translate."

"And I have no plans to be hosting Dragon Tongue lessons for anyone, nor doing any seminars so you can forget any dreams of learning it." Naruto's voice reached them as he noticed the four on the porch.

"And he refused to teach me when I asked 5 years ago." A pout crossed Levy's face.

"Why?" Alicya asked him. Naruto turned as if to regard her, eerily managing to perfectly face her without being able to see her. "And how do you do that?"

"As a Dragon Slayer, pride is a general trait I have and I don't like the idea of humans being able to speak the language of dragons." He explained. "And as to why I can know exactly where you are, it's simple enough. I can hear your breathing, your heartbeat, even the sounds your muscles make when you move, plus I can smell you, and sense your magic. True Ice God Slayer, powerful to be sure. Enhanced senses come in useful while I'm temporarily blind."

With that, he turned back to training. Tsuki ignited her hands and started using her magic in conjunction with physical attacks and weapon do he could get a gauge for her overall skill level. Naruto was quite surprised to see that she had managed to recreate his Detonating Hell Edge, albeit more elegant than his, calling it Sapphire Inferno: Dragon Wing Explosion. He was massively proud of her.

By the time their three hour training session ended, including the hour spent in the outdoor gym (they had two, one indoors, one outside), the pair were covered in sweat. As such, they took a bath. Tsuki, even after 5 years, still loved splashing him with water. Suffice to say, washing her back was one of Naruto's lesser concerns. (AN:Erza had to have gotten her team bath idea from somewhere, i.e. Kushina)

Before going into the bathroom, Naruto had removed the bandages around his eyes but still kept them closed. He had to change them every morning. When they finished with the bath, the pair Requiped their clothes back on. Tsukiko took a minute to wrap new bandages around Naruto's eyes given he was unable to do it himself. The elder sibling fell his twin return with Atsuko so they waited. A few minutes later, everyone was back. After about 30 minutes of showering and changing clothes, all but those able to use chakra, minus Fuu, had gone to the Guild Hall.

"Why are we waiting here?" Hinata asked.

Neither of the twins answered, simply opting to lead the group down to the basement. Naruto's clone dispelled while they were walking down the stairs. Naruko placed her left hand on the hidden plate and spoke the password.

"Watashi wa eien ni, omachi shite orimasu."

The usual silver outline glowed and the hidden door swung open. The room within was dark. Jaws dropped, eyes widened and silence hung in the air like a wall. Tsukiko recovered first and broke the silence.

"I thought you said there were no secrets between us."

Naruto turned his head to her, portraying his feelings of guilt and regret without his eyes.

"I lied."

With that, he stepped into the blackness, Naruko following. The others wandered into the dark room cautiously. The light from the basement was the only source of visibility in the secret room. Naruto's form was faintly seen moving to the back of the room and he knelt down. Naruko stopped them before they could follow. He had something in his arm, as if he was cradling it.

"I have lied to all of you, but for Naruko simply for the reason I am unable to lie to her. For almost year I have lied to all of you but her because I was simply too afraid to tell the truth. And the sad truth is, I would have lied to you, all of you, if it would have made the pain any easier. I would have carried on tell the same deceptions I have all this time but I can't."

"Why not?"

Kushina's question resounded within his skull as Naruto released a burst of chakra, undoing the bandages around his eyes and opened them.

"Because it wouldn't be true. And I have dishonoured Yugito's memory enough as it is. I threw myself back into a life of lies and deceit the moment Naruko and I returned after we split to hunt Akatsuki.

"I told you Obito killed Yugito, that was the second worst lie I told you. The worst is directly connected to the previous one."

Suddenly the room lit up at full brightness and they saw the incredible guilt in his pitch black eyes. Satsuki's eyes. But then they saw the sleeping baby cradled in his arm, saw how she looked almost identical to Yugito but for the whisker marks on her cheeks.

"Yugito died giving birth, not in battle. The birth was premature, and Yugito was in a fragile condition. The strain was too great for her body to withstand and Matatabi was released, killing her. Deidara blew up the hospital after she died on Obito's orders so I killed him and Naruko killed Deidara. The Gedo Statue is what kept our daughter alive and healthy while I was unable to care for her, like when I was in battle.

"I will never expect you to forgive me for this, but leave Mitsuko out of it. She is too pure, too innocent to ever be allowed to be corrupted by my darkness. Go, take some time, think about it, just don't tell anyone else. It's not like I have any other place important to be. Mitsuko already lost one parent, her mother, I will not let her lose her father too. If you tell anyone else about her, she will become a target and I will have no other choice. If the world finds out, I will protect her the only way I know how. I will leave Fairy Tail if I must, but I will always defend her because I don't want her to ever hear her mother's last words."

Everyone left the room to think it over, to let it sink in. All but Tsukiko who hovered in he doorway.

"What did Yugito say that was so terrible that Mitsuko can never know?"

Naruto's cold, draconic midnight eyes bore into her sky blue ones.

"That loving me was torture."