Hey there everyone, here is another chapter.

More than half of this chapter is a flashback, so don't be surprise when you don't think its good. Cause I'm still new to writing.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or MLP, they go to their rightful owners.

Chapter 4: Shadows Part 2: Familial knowledge

They finally arrive at the Crystal Empire, sure it took them a few days to get there but in the end. They were glad that they took the long way. Cadence proposed we take the scenic route, and bonded throughout the trip. When they finally got to the Crystal Empire, Twilight couldn't help but marvel at the sheer magnificence of the kingdom. Everything is made of crystals, even the crystal ponies had coats to make them look like crystals.

The place is buzzing with activity. Ponies of all kind are going on with their daily lives, occasionally stealing glances at the carriage as it makes its way toward the tower.

The crystal guards are also eyeing them carefully still slightly unconvinced that they were safe from potential enemies. They have to be ready for anything. Call them crazy, paranoid even. But can you really blame them? They have been slaves to a maniacal tyrant, so its kind of justified for them to be even a little bit suspicious of newcomers.

Cadence sighs knowing reason of the crystal ponies' constant staring. Sure she understands for the ponies' paranoia, but it couldn't hurt to at least put some level of trust in the princess's abilities.

'Couldn't they have at least not keep staring at us it's starting to get very uncomfortable.' she thinks as she sees one of the guards eyeing her suspiciously.

Turning her attention to her two charge, she couldn't help but sigh. Twilight at least has been excited about going to the Crystal Empire, so was Naruto but it seems that something has been on his mind the past few days. If his silence was any indication to it. It is worrying her, a pony as young as him shouldn't be silent for long as it is unhealthy. He should be full of life like the first time she met him.

While Twilight was at awe of the place, Naruto is sitting at the far corner of the carriage contemplating about the events upon encountering Kurama the day of their departure to the Crystal Empire.

-XXXX-

(Flashback-Naruto's room-Night time)

Naruto had just managed to pack everything inside a saddle-pack that the guards provided him.(1) Which wasn't much considering that he hasn't been long in Equestria in the first place. Added to the fact that he didn't have much to begin with.

All he had in the pack was snacks for the trip, and the three scrolls given to him by the princess, which she said that was given to her by the village leader of his old world.

He knew that she was talking about Old Man Hokage, because he was the only one that cared for Naruto in the village. (AN: He hasn't met Ichiraku, so that means no ramen-loving Naruto.(2))

The door opened and Princess Celestia walked towards Naruto. He was progressively becoming more comfortable in her presence, albeit slower than she wanted, but it was to the point where he doesn't jerk whenever she suddenly pops up out of nowhere.

"Sorry to intrude this late at night, but I just hope that you are well for the travel tomorrow." She said.

Naruto shook his head. "No, I was just thinking of the Old Man." he said.

Celestia's expression grew solemn. "Do you miss it? The village, I mean."

He shook his head in a negative manner. "No, nobody really cares about me there. Only the Old Man, but he's always so busy with leading the village that he can't spend much time with me."

Her ears went down upon bringing up old wounds. But went back up promising to herself that she would do what ever it took to make him no longer fear adults and get him to trust her like a son should to his mother.

"Well, I should probably head back to my quarters now seeing as you are probably tired." With that, she made her way out the door.

"Thank you," Celestia stopped at what she heard. She turned around to face Naruto and saw him giving her a small smile.

"For what?" she asked, confused. She appreciated that he was thanking her but didn't know what for.

"I realized that I never got to thank you for last night. Usually when I have a nightmare, I would have to stay awake so that I don't have to experience it, but last night I slept. I wanted to thank you for that." Naruto explained. He never saw Celestia walk up to as he averted his attention to the wall on his right, finding it more fascinating at the moment.

Celestia embraced him as she did the night before. It didn't escape her when he mentioned the word nightmare. It brought back painful memories of her sister. But she couldn't dwell on the past, she has a duty to protect her foal as of now.

"Do not worry, my child. You are safe with me and in these lands." she said.

He nodded before breaking the hug. Celestia nodded as well as a smile before heading back to her sleeping chambers with slight spring in each step she took.

As soon as the door closed, Naruto went over to his own bed and laid down on it. He closed his eyes to sleep for tomorrow morning.

(Mind-scape)

Naruto woke up with a start. He familiarized himself with his surroundings, and found that he was back in his mind-scape.

Naruto couldn't wait to tell Kurama all about Twilight, Cadence and Celestia. He galloped toward the giant gates that Kurama resides in.

"Kurama! Kurama! You're not gonna believe it! I made new friends today. Their names are Twilight and Cadence, Twilight my adoptive mother's, or should I say biological mother now, huh? Anyway, Cadence is my new cousin. Can you believe it? I finally have a family!" Naruto said to the giant gates, before realizing the one he was talking to wasn't answering.

"Kurama, are you in there?" He asked. Not receiving an answer, he started to worry. He walked up to the gate to look for Kurama.

"Kurama!" Naruto shouted.

He heard a light grunting sound and went to the other side. For some reason, the light of the mind scape is following him. He put that thought in the back of his head. Heh, it was pretty ironic to think that since he's in his head. (3)

"Naruto," Kurama in a tired voice. "Come here I need to tell you something."

Naruto walked forward to Kurama. He could tell something was wrong with his friend, and he did not like it one bit.

Kurama looked at the human-turned-pony. He sighed as he didn't know how to break it to the boy. Looking at the seven tails it has left, he decided to be blunt. It knew things would only get worse if it tried to sugar-coat it.

"Naruto, I don't know how else to say this, but I'm dying." Kurama said dejectedly.

"What?" Naruto whispered, not believing what he just heard.

Kurama sighed again at seeing Naruto in denial. "I'm very sorry Naruto."

"Sorry...YOU'RE SORRY!" He shouted. "You tell me that you'll always be there to help me whenever I'm in trouble. Now you're that you are leaving!"

"Do you think I want this?" Kurama shouted as it started to waited for a few moments for Naruto to calm down before continuing. "It wouldn't be long before I disappear from existence completely."

"My already miniscule chakra got depleted when I had to do the blood ritual to keep you alive."

Naruto was getting angry and started yelling at the fox. "Why didn't you just leave me to die? After all, you said you are just a being made of chakra, you would've just reformed somewhere and get on with your life!"

Having calmed down a little he waited for Naruto to finish, for it knew that shouting isn't going to get them anywhere other than more shouting. "Even if I didn't help you, both of us would've died. Either way it was a lose-lose situation for me. The seal was designed so that my life is tied to yours: You die first, I die. I die first, you live." It said calmly, albeit with a sad tone.

Naruto was surprised with the information. Kurama had never told him this during the year they spent together.

He just stood there, not knowing what to do. He knew that this was going to happen eventually and tried hard prepare for it, but when it comes to it, he just wasn't ready. He just couldn't accept it!

"How long... till you know." He didn't even want to say the word. His eyes were flowing with tears.

"About a week I suppose. In real world terms, not mind-scape." The fox replied. "As long as nothing else happens that will require me to use much energy, be it moving or chakra related I'll be fine and last longer. That's why I haven't talked to you for a while, I've been sleeping to conserve energy as it is depleting rapidly."

Kurama just watched as Naruto let out all of the sadness he ha collected over the four years of his life. If it was going to die, it might as well tell him. "Naruto there is something I have to tell you. It's about your parents."

Naruto wiped away his tears with a hoof. "What do you mean?" He said.

"I know your father and mother's names."

Naruto froze, he slowly looked up at the fox with pleading eyes. "Who were they Kurama?"

"Your mother's name was Kushina Uzumaki, she was my previous host. That's how I know you're her child." Naruto knew that she is dead when Kurama used her name in a past then its' left eye twitched in irritation on what was going to be said next. "She wouldn't shut up about you. It was getting on my nerves and the people around her. I mean, come on! I thought people can only talk so much about one subject but your mother proved me wrong by talking about you nonstop for NINE WHOLE MONTHS!"

Naruto chuckled at the fox's misfortune. He was very happy that his mom loved him very much before she least now the horrible mood a moment ago was gone.

Kurama gained a tick mark on its head at Naruto laughing at him, but but quickly smirked. "Hey, I don't know what you are laughing about considering this is about you. If I remember correctly, she would've paraded you around in PJs on your fifth birthday. And take embarrassing pictures of you and hang them on every door in the village to show how proud she is of you."

Naruto wisely shut his mouth to prevent another embarrassing assault on his dignity. 'That's what you get. Even if you are my friend, no one gets to make of the great Nine-Tails.' it though.It may like Naruto, but that didn't mean it was going to let anybody ruin it's pride. Friend or foe, no one gets to ruin it's pride.

Before Kurama continue thinking about keeping it's pride intact, Naruto asked a question.

"What did she look like?" he said trying to change the subject, but also trying to learn more about his deceased mother.

"She had fiery red hair with violet eyes." Kurama stopped for a moment as it was still tired. "In her childhood, she was a tomboy that attacks people who insults her hair. Mainly for calling her a tomato. As she grew older she became more level-headed and calm, but she did keep some of her very short temper and would occasionally lash out on people that gets on her nerves. She was also very fearless and would go out of her way to help out a friend in need."

Naruto couldn't help but smile at the personality his mother. Kurama smiled too at seeing Naruto smile.

"Her favorite thing to do was pulling pranks which fortunately or unfortunately, depending on someone's perspective, you inherited from her. Minato Namikaze was her favorite pranking target. She also like to eat ramen." Kurama thought for a moment. "If I remember correctly, she liked salt ramen above all else and doesn't like coffee or anything bitter for that matter."

Naruto was happy that he gets to find out about his mother, now raises the question on his father. He was sure he heard that name before, but doesn't know where.

"Minato Namikaze, who was he?" that took Kurama by surprise. It was sure that Naruto would be able to connect the dots, but then again he still is just a child.

"You know him very well actually." It said with a smirk.

Naruto sat down on the floor. He closed his eyes to think on who his father might be. No matter how much he tried to guess his father, his mind was drawing blanks. He was thinking so hard that his face was turning red-orange.

"Whoa, Naruto." Kurama interrupted his thinking, "Don't think too hard, or else you'll hurt yourself!"

Stopping Naruto made his face return to its natural orange color. The giant fox didn't know if the boy was all right or still experiencing some mild headache.

"Are you all right?" The fox squinted its' eyes to see better if the boy didn't hurt himself.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and grinned at the fox. "I'm okay." He waited for a moment before going back to business."So who is my father Kurama?"

"Your father's name was the one that sealed me in you, the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze." Naruto couldn't believe it. Never in a million years would he ever thought of the village hero being his father. The Fourth Hokage his father!

"As you know, he's the fourth hokage. He was famous for killing an entire battalion of Rock/Stone Ninjas in a matter of seconds. That's how he earned his moniker the Yellow Flash." Kurama explained.

"You actually inherited his appearance mostly, but had your mother's roundish face instead of your father's angular one. He was calm, a lot more calm than your mother ever was in her whole life." The two of them shared a small laugh.

They would have laughed some more if not for Kurama having a coughing fit. It started to scare Naruto as he didn't know what to do. Kurama started leaking chakra from its mouth before coughing harder.

Kurama looked at Naruto sadly. "I'm sorry Naruto, but I won't be able to tell you more about your parents as I am growing weaker. Now I only have about 3 or 4 days left to live. The next time we see each other would be the day I die."

With that Kurama fell asleep on the floor, its' breathing started to stabilize. He was sad and happy at watching Kurama sleep soundly. Sad, because it shorten its life span when they were talking and Naruto kept talking with him even after finding out that it was draining the fox's energy just to stay awake. Happy, because he finally got some information on his parents. Even though Kurama knew that it would shorten its life span, it still gave him the information rather than later where wouldn't even have time. For that he was forever grateful.

"Thank you Kurama." Naruto whispered. Leaving the fox to rest and get ready for the road ahead that was to come tomorrow.

Upon disappearing from the mind-scape, he never noticed the smile etched on the fox's face and the lone tear escaping.

(Flashback End)

-XXXX-

"Na...to, ...ruto. Naruto!" Realizing that he was being called, he turned to Cadence who is looking at him with a worried expression written all over her face.

Feeling something wet on his face, he brings his hoof up and finds out that he's been crying.

"Are you all right?" He turns to face Cadence and looks to Twilight to see her also worrying.

Naruto silently curses himself for worrying them so much. He wipes away his tears with his right hoof and gives them a bright smile. "I'm fine. Just glad that you guys are my friends."

It warms their hearts to hear him say that about them. Twilight drops the subject completely, but Cadence, while dropping the subject, couldn't help but be skeptical on why he was crying a second ago.

'If it was about us, then he should have been smiling throughout the trip. But he wasn't, it looked like somepony close to him died.' she thought. She didn't know how close she was to the truth.

Before she could think more, the carriage comes to an abrupt stop. "We're here."

"Ms. Cadence and company." They turn towards a Crystal guard with multiple medals.

'The Captain perhaps?' Cadence thinks while raising a delicate eyebrow.

The guard didn't give out any outward expression that he saw what she did. 'Or not.'

"If you would so kindly follow me. We shall meet with the Captain and the council." he says before turning away and proceeds to the conference room, not giving her the time to reply.

'How rude.' she scowls before turning to the filly and colt with a smile. "Well, you heard the stallion. Let's go!"

She stops for a moment and turns to a pony that was unloading their stuff. "Bring them up to the room, if you'd be so kind."

With that they face forward again and followed the guard. Cadence quickly anticipating on how the meeting will go.

Nopony noticed a hooded figure in a dark alley watching the royals and royal's student. The figure recedes into the ground creating a black circle on the ground. It zooms out of the kingdom so fast that ponies didn't even realize it was there to begin with.

-XXXX-

(With the shadow-10 miles form the Crystal Empire)

The shadow stops at the outskirts of the forest near the Empire. It rises from the ground and looks around to see if it was followed, seeing that it wasn't.

It walks towards a tree and puts its' hoof on the trunk. Checking once more just to make sure it wasn't followed, it didn't see anypony.

The hooded figure presses on the trunk and it sinks in. There is a sound of a door unlatching to the figure's right and sees an underground passage.

It quickly heads down the passage and the entrance closes as soon as it entered.

It took little time for the figure to come across a wide room. The room is filled with torches, but has a few dark spots on various places because the flames couldn't reach it.

In the center of the room is another pony, this is King Sombra. He is a unicorn with dark gray coat and black spiky mane and tail. His horn is curved, smooth, sharp at the tip and gradients from dark gray to red. He has sharp teeth with two visible fangs. He has red irises and green sclera with purple mist emanating from them. He wears silver armor only covering his legs and neck, a crown with horn-like points on his head, and a red cape covering his flank.

The hooded figure walks in front of the pony and bows.

"My lord, the targets have arrived." The hooded figure said.

King Sombra looks at the hooded figure and nods, "You may take off your hood now." though it was more of a demand rather than a suggestion.

The figure took of its hood and faces the former ruler. The once hooded figure is a unicorn stallion. He has brown eyes with Russet mane and tail. His coat is a taupe color, his cutie mark still hidden from view.

"You have done well, Shadow Storm." Shadow Storm bows again to the former ruler of the Crystal Empire.

"Thank you, my lord." Sombra orders him to bring in a "The chest".

Shadow Storm leaves and returns in a few minutes. Hovering beside him is a medium-size chest.

Shadow Storm opens the chest and emanating from it is a light gold light that lights up the room.

"MWAHAHAHA! With this the crystal ponies doesn't stand a chance." Off to the side, Shadow Storm watch as his lord laugh menacingly. With the room now lighting up, you could see his brown eyes glaring maliciously at nothing.

Done Done Dooooonnnnneeee! With this chapter

OK, I'll admit. This is probably not my best chapter. But not entirely my fault. I have to do a bunch of testing this month at school. First was the STAR TESTING, a week after that came the Smarter Balanced Assessment thing. And you know what we get to do next week? Even MORE testing. I hate this year of my life.

Good news: I'm half way done with chapter 5! All right~

Bad news: I won't be able work on it much until school lets out. So update would be slow. Also the fact that I'm moving adds to that. :(

1: Naruto has spent his time trying to get the saddle-pack on his back without any help from the guards or the princess. Of course it would take a while for him to adjust to his new body. That's why it took him til night to get everything ready.

2: Ramen-loving Naruto is not needed. And it slightly overused. Writing Naruto be all depressed about not having ramen, don't get me wrong I like does types of scenes. It's just overused.

3: I'm going by canon mind scape. You know how the gates doesn't have any source of light inside. I'm making it follow Naruto around when he goes to Kurama's side of the cage.