And here you go. Chapter 9 for you to enjoy.

Also an important note:In accordance with the suggestion from dbzsotrum9 Kimimaro's magic is now called Skeletal Magic and no longer Bone Make. Aside from the name being different the magic essentially does the same.


Almost two weeks had passed since his talk with the King about his daughter and Hisui's shaping training.

Since then he had her practice progressively more difficult designs. The young princess had progressed at an astonishing rate under his tutelage.

Although he couldn't quite tell if it was because her innate talent for magic was simply that high, because he was such a good teacher or a combination of the two.

At the same time he made quite some progress with Hisui in regards to their relationship. She actively sought his praise and was incredible happy when she ended up getting it. Hisui also responded very well to physical signs of affection so much that intermingled it with words of praise and spurned her on to work harder in exchange for hugs among other similar things.

Perhaps that was another factor in her rapid developement, the added incentive of impressing him. She was completely earnest in her attempt of getting closer to him.

He honestly thought that was quite cute, nevermind the fact that it perfectly played into his hands as far as his own goals went.

The best part was that her father was absolutely okay with it. With the approval of the King there was no way he could fail.

While his search for new information on Zeref had slowed down considerably the single piece of information that told him of the connection between the dragon Acnologia and Zeref was more than enough as he was concerned but he might be fortunate enough to find more than that. Another reason he wasn't as bothered with that fact was that as soon as Orochimaru sent his next lackey to get him he would hopefully find out where the snake hid. Then all he would have to do is barge into snakeface's hideout and take care of the mage in person. He doubted that it would be an easy battle against such a formidable enemy as Orochimaru but he was confidence in his own power to beat the man and then he would get more information on the Balam Alliance which in turn would get him a step closer to finding Zeref.

However the single piece of information that he had found on the Black Wizard had him worried quite a bit. There were lots of legends and rumors about Zeref's evil deeds and atrocious acts but very few actually mentioned any kind of magic the man actually used. While it was known from the various demons that were sealed, destroyed or still roamed the land that Zeref used Living Magic and was a master of the Black Arts. But there was actually very little, that is to say nothing at all, that detailed the mans exact magic prowess. All the legends were more concerned with painting the man as dark and black as the deepest abyss, like a void. An evil and vile scoundrel who would eat the hearts of babies for the sheer joy of it. Not any of them actually focused on the more intricate aspects of the mans strength.

Now that Naruto had one piece of information that gave him an inkling as to how strong the Black Wizard actually was he knew he had to grow even stronger.

Dragons didn't rule the world four hundred years ago for nothing. It was no mere coincidence that the humans back then were only able to claw their way to the top of the totempole when dragons that were sympathetic to humanity betrayed their brethren and taught them Dragon Slayer Magic. Only through this act of treason were the vast majority of dragons killed and humans managed to become the dominant species.

Even then if a mere human had the capability to transform a single human dragonslayer, talented as he might be, into a dragon that surpassed the power of the original dragons and of the dragon slayers of that time...

Naruto gulped as a lump formed in his throat. He didn't want to imagine what kind of hidden powers Zeref actually had to be able to do that.

There was a fleeting moment of fear at the thought before he pushed that aside. He could not afford to cower and run like a coward. No matter how strong Zeref was the man was just a human. He would bleed like one and die like one.

The blonde mage released a deep breath. He had not realized that he had held his breath like that.

His finger traced across the back of the books that stood inside the vast shelves of the archive. He still had a bit before Hisui would meet him for their daily training session and thus he had resolved to find a new book for himself to read.

Eventually he plucked a single leatherbound book from the shelf and tucked it away.

The old woman had glared at him while he had chosen his book.

"I don't want you loitering around here." she spat with venom

Arika still didn't like that he had been granted access to the archive or that he took books out of the room to read them outside of it.

"Just take the book and go. Shoo." she made a dismissive hand motion to tell him that he was not welcome much longer

While she originally had tolerated his presence she had resolved to be as annoying as possible in the past week. She had purposely bumped into him multiple times, dusted shelves while he stood in front of them and many other things that had him questioning which one of the two of them was the adult.

The King had certainly been nice when he had described her as eccentric because Naruto would certainly say she was an absolute pain in the ass.

She certainly topped the list as the most vexing individual he had the misfortune to know, even topping some of the pompous fops he had met in Narcissus who were very hard to top with their condescending, holier than thou attitude but at least those people tended to leave you alone very quick, Arika didn't.

"Quit yanking my chain." Naruto grumbled in annoyance as he walked through the ornate gate that would lead him out of the vast room. As the gate closed behind him he released a heavy sigh. How any single person, old person, could be so headache inducing he would never be able to fathom. If she wasn't as old he would have guessed that she was having her period.

"Is the old coot in one of her moods again?" one of the guards that was stationed outside of the archive asked with a sympathetic smile

"Yes." Naruto pursed his lips and gave a curt nod causing the guard to sigh

"I just hope that-" he never got to finish his sentence as the sound of something crashing to the ground, followed by mangled screaming got through to them "Never mind." the guard grumbled as the old woman screamed.

"Get in here you stupid guards and help me." the two guards grimaced "Honestly this is the worst job in the castle..." he gave Naruto a look and waggled his eyebrows suggestively "Have fun with the princess."

Naruto surpressed the urge to roll his eyes at the guards antics. It was no surprise that word of Hisui's and his relationship had spread among the guards with them trading rumors about the details of their relationship.

Some insisted that the story about Naruto rescuing the Princess from getting raped was just a cover and the truth was that Naruto was her secret fiancé. Others claimed that the blonde mage had gotten her pregnant and that was why he was being allowed or rather was forced to stay in the castle.

And again others completely disregarded either of those theories and instead took the initial story as the truth.

Furthermore there was a betting pool running on how far along their relationship was.

It was pretty much ridiculous but with nothing much to do the occupants of Mercurius tended to come up with all sorts of things to occupy themselves with.

"Of course." Naruto's answer was dry and his voice completely neutral but nevertheless the guards interpreted it more ambiguous as they let out a giggle that reminded him of a certain white haired super pervert.

Naruto would guess that they were without a doubt fans of the man's novels.


Without any more interruptions he arrived at his and Hisui's meeting place. His student was aleady eagerly awaiting him. She held a cute smile on her lips and her cheeks held a faint blush.

"Good afternoon, Sensei." she greeted him with a respectful bow, something she had started to do not long after their first sessions together.

"Good afternoon, Hisui-chan." he returned her greeting with a small smile gracing his lips, which managed to intensify her faint blush.

"What will we be doing today? More shape manipulation training?" she asked with a hint of dread. While she enjoyed the time she got to spend with Naruto the repetitiveness of the different shapes he had her create was more than just a little boring at this point.

"No. I think you got that down pretty well by now." he answered her and Hisui sighed in relief "Thank god." she muttered

"What was that? You want to do some more shape manipulation training?" he asked with a big smirk on his face

"No,no, no." she desperately waved her arms in front of her face a look of panic on her face "I didn't say anything."

The blonde released a short laugh "That's what I thought." he said mirthfully "All joking aside, today you will be learning to actually make your creations dynamic. Previously everything you created was static, which makes up the basis of molding magic and now you will learn to impart simple commands into your creations."

Happiness welled up inside Hisui. Finally, the thing she had been working towards, Dynamic Molding.

"But first." she saw Naruto wave his hands and compared to the first few days she could now feel the soft feel of his magic blanketing the area in an illusion. Whereas at first she had been completely unable to tell if he used magic unless it manifested itself in some way she could now tell when magic was being used even if there was nothing affecting the physical world.

"Now then. The basis of Dynamic Molding is that you impart your creations with a command and the magic power to move on their own. These commands however can never exceed a certain complexity. At most they can be move, attack, protect and then certain specifics. Like a certain person in the vicinity or a certain distance. That is all they are capable of doing but they will do so to the best of their ability." Naruto explained imparting the knowledge to Hisui "The reason for this is that your constructs do no possess sentience. They have no brain with which they are able to interpret words or think of a way to respond. All they do is follow the will of your spirit from the point of their creation."

Hisui nodded in understanding. Her magic was not able to create life only animate constructs to follow certain instructions. Without any form of higher brain function the constructs could only interpret very basic concepts.

"Were you able to follow?" Naruto asked, even though it was a nonsensical question. So far there had never been an explanation Hisui was unable to understand which spoke of her natural talent for magic or so Naruto supposed.

"Yes." the green haired mage in training responded curtly

"Good." Naruto knew that Hisui was simply waiting for his instructions "Now, I want you to create a small construct. Something very simple and then have it move."

Hisui accepted her instructions and gathered her magic power.

"Crystal Make: Jade Marionette." slowly the green crystal formed from the ground and began to take shape. It was a small puppet without many features. It had a small cylindrical body with many edges. At it's sides were a pair of green arms and connected to the legs were two flat, rectangular surfaces as feet. On top of the body sat the head. It had no eyes, mouth or nose. The surface was completely smooth except for the occasional edges. After the spell had finished the construct stood upright. Hisui stared at it expectantly, as she was expecting the small puppet to move. The construct however was not doing anything. It was simply standing there, doing nothing.

"Come on. Move." Hisui urged her creation but the small figure didn't respond. It simply stood there, almost as if to mock her efforts.

"Try again." Naruto ordered and Hisui flared her magic "Shatter." the created puppet shattered into tiny pieces of crystal before they were blown away.

When Naruto had started her on larger creations he had taught her how to Shatter. Usually this spell was used to launch the resulting shrapnel at someone but by adjusting the shatterpoints the construct would shatter into much smaller particles that would then be swept away. This way they did not have to hide any of the larger constructs she created and her secret was safe.

"Crystal Make: Jade Marionette." she spoke as she gathered her magic, forming the small puppet once more. Again the crystal creation refused to move.

She shattered the construct and began to repeat the process. She just knew that this would be a long day.


Undisclosed Location

"So the boy is still in Crocus?" Orochimaru inquired from his right hand man Kabuto.

The grey haired mage responded with a yes.

"The boy has not changed his location. He still is in Crocus, in the palace Mercurius." Kabuto affirmed

"Excellent." Orochimaru noted with a big grin on his face "And you were saying that Kimimaro's recovery was progressing much better than you had anticipated, correct?"

The medical expert pushed up his glasses as they glinted in the shine of the torches "Yes, perhaps it is his Unique Skeletal Magic or simply his extraordinary tenacity to serve you to the best of his abilities, Orochimaru-sama but he is almost at the same level he was before he was afflicted with his disease." the grey haired mage commented with some surprise "He took only half as much time to make a full recovery as I had initially estimated. His constitution is truly incredible."

Orochimaru was giddy with anticipation. These news were music to his ears.

"You there!" Orochimaru hissed towards one of the guards at the door

The dark mage stepped up, quivering in fright "Y-yes, Orochimaru-sama?" he stuttered as he gave the man a sloppy salute

"Go and fetch Kimimaro from his quarters for me." the pale faced man ordered and the guard hurried away as fast as he could "Quality help is so difficult to find." he commented with a frown

While he didn't tolerate failure he had to admit that the six people he had lost to Naruto Namikaze were leagues above all the other trash that hung around but most dark mages of sufficient power usually tended to do their own thing or already belonged to other organizations.

Soon enough the guard returned with the Skeletal Mage at his side. Compared to the last time Orochimaru had seen the boy he looked much healthier.

While there was no difference in Kimimaro's appearance it was the way he carried himself. More upright, less burdened by his weak body.

"You called for me, Orochimaru-sama?" the white haired boy kneeled in front of the man's 'throne'

"Indeed. I did call for you Kimimaro." the snake like man affirmed with a dark smile gracing his lips "I have a task for you and I believe you know already what needs to be done."

The pale young man nodded "Yes. I will defeat and capture the Crimson Reaper." he assured his master "I will not fail to bring the Crimson Reaper to you."

"I expect nothing less from you."

Kabuto stepped forward and Kimimaro gave him a glare.

He didn't like Kabuto, he didn't have the required loyalty to be Orochimaru's second in command. He respected the man's strength in combat but he did not respect him as a person.

"Don't glare at me like that, Kimimaro-kun." the bespectacled boy commented with amusement "I merely wish to tell you the current position of your target and what to look out for."

Kimimaro's glare was still trained on Kabuto as he responded with silence.

The grey haired man chuckled at Kimimaro's behaviour "Your target is currently in Crocus, the capital, to be precise in the palace Mercurius. It will be difficult if not nigh impossible to safely infiltrate the palace, especially since stealth is not your forte. But it should be possible for you to lure him out of the palace. Naruto-kun has an interest in some information that Orochimaru-sama possesses thus if you somehow let him know that you are in his service he he will certainly follow you." Kimimaro gave a slow, almost forceful nod "He is able to freely make use of multiple types of Magic. So far we have seen him use Chain Magic, Earth Magic, Light Magic, Sound Magic and a very unique magic, comparable to your own, Blood Magic." Kimimaro perked up at the mention of that.

His Skeletal Magic allowed him to manipulated his own bone structure so that led him to the conclusion that Blood Magic would allow the Reaper to mold his own Blood in a similar manner "He can form his blood into various types of weapons but one of his most dangerous techniques is his ability to completely liquify his body into a puddle of blood. In the fight against Tayuya, Kidomaru, Jirobo, Sakon and Ukon he used this ability two times to escape dire situations. He lulls you into a false sense of security and uses the element of surprise to land a lethal blow. However this ability seems to severely weaken him. If you can force him to use this ability you will be able to gain the upper hand against him."

Kimimaro processed the information. The Crimson Reaper seemed like a tricky opponent to him but he didn't sound very strong, using subterfuge and surprise to beat his opponents. To Kimimaro he was just another piece of trash.

Kimimaro raised himself from his position without saying a word.

"What? No thanks? How mean, Kimimaro-kun." Kabuto mocked the Skeletal Mage who had a long bone spike protruding from his palm, resting centimetres from Kabuto's face

"Hold your tongue, trash."

"Enough you two." Orochimaru commanded coldly and the bone spike retracted back into Kimimaro's hand "Go and fulfil your mission, Kimimaro."

"As you command, Orochimaru-sama." the white haired mage gave a deep bow before he turned around and left without uttering another syllable


It had taken Kimimaro roughly two days to get to Crocus from Orochimaru's hideout.

He was walking through the busy streets of the capital. His face was stony and impassive as he didn't even dare to waste a single thought on the kind of trash that was walking past him.

In the distance he could see the palace, Mercurius, tower above everything else. He made his way towards the palace.

He could already feel the faintest traces of magic coming from the palace which he attributed to his target.

He pulled out a small, white envelope out of his long sleeved robes.

It was a letter of 'challenge' meant to rouse the Reapers interest and pull him out of the confines of his hideout.

He was confident that by tomorrow the Reaper would lay broken in front of him, beaten and ready to be dragged in front of Orochimaru-sama.

He walked up to the castle gates where two guards were standing guard. As they saw him get closer they crossed their two halberds, stopping his advance.

"Halt! You have no business here." they stated in unison and Kimimaro merely gave them an impassive gaze.

"I have been told a certain Naruto is currently residing in this castle." Kimimaro stated and handed one of them his letter "Hand him this letter. He will know what it means."

Without waiting for a response Kimimaro turned on his heels and left the two pieces of trash behind him.

"What a strange guy." one of the guard commented "Wonder what kind of beef he has with Naruto?"

"Who knows." the person holding the latter shrugged dismissively "Lets just see that he gets the letter and be done with it. Georg and Joshua are going to replace us soon and I'm really itching to call it a day and get a good mug of beer."

His companion laughed "That's soooo you."


Blue eyes snapped open to take in the new day. He pulled himself up from the soft confines of his bed and got dressed. As he was close to being finished he heard a soft knock on his door.

"Come in." he answered and the door opened. The person that had entered his room was Alfred his personal butler for the duration of his stay in the palace.

"I am sorry to disturb you Lord Naruto but a letter has been delivered for you." the butler pulled out the corresponding piece of paper and held it out for Naruto to take

"A letter?" the blonde repeated in confusion "Who is it from? There is no sender on the envelope."

"Ahh, it was handed in personally. Quite strange." the butler noted "The guards never got his name but it was a pale young man with white hair. He wore some kind of light lavender tunic. But that is everything they could note." Alfred informed his charge "Do you, perchance, know this person Lord Naruto?"

"No, I have never met anyone like that." he opened the envelope and began to read the letter which had been adressed to him

'Greetings Trash,

your time has finally come.

Meet me outside of the city.

This time your defiance of my master, Orochimaru, will be punished.'

Naruto's lips twisted into a victorious smirk. Finally the snakeface had sent his next lackey. Hopefully this time he would get some reliable information as to Orochimaru's whereabouts.

Naruto pocketed the letter and turned towards Alfred "Please inform the Princess that I can not keep her company today. I have some urgent business I need to take care of. I should be back before dinner."

"As you wish." the butler gave a quick bow as Naruto made his way towards his 'business'.


It didn't take long for the blonde to get beyond the city limits into the surrounding outside area.

It was quiet, much too quiet for his tastes. It almost smelled like an ambush.

"I see you finally arrived, trash." he heard a cold voice say and Naruto swiveled around towards the origin of the voice. The voice had originated from the pale, white haired man that had been described to him. He wore a long sleeved light lavender tunic. Another very noteworthy feature were the two red dots above his eyebrows which the guards apparently had not noticed.

"So snakeface finally decided to send his next guy off the deep end." Naruto mocked his opponent in the hopes of getting him angry but the guy remained composed if not for the harshness of his voice.

"Be silent trash. That is no way to adress Orochimaru-sama." he spat in the same cold tone that he had first adressed him with "Clearly your impudence needs to be rectified."

Naruto rolled his eyes at the guys attitude "Light Beam." in record time light had gathered in his palm only to be shot at the white haired guy who didn't even react to his attack. He just stared impassively at the incoming attack. The beam of light impacted and destroyed the persons tunic but didn't seem to do any more damage than that and Naruto saw why.

The guy's upper body was covered in a hard white substance 'Marble?' the blonde asked himself

"I knew you were trash but an attack like that wont even scratch me in a hundred years." his opponent declared and he picked up speed as the white haired man charged at him.

"Golem's double fist." two stone hands rose from the ground and flew towards Naruto's target and he followed it up with another spell "Mudslide." the ground under Naruto's opponent softened into soggy mud and began to push his opponent away from him.


Kimimaro jumped into the air and forced himself out of the mudslipe. He used the two hands to vault further towards his target.

'If that is the extent of his abilities he is sorely disappointing.' Kimimaro noted with disdain as he was going to land in front of his target.

Suddenly a larger stone golem rose up in front of him "Bone Blades." his skin ripped open as two sharp blades pushed through the sides of his arms. The steel like bones cut easily through the stone protector as if he wasn't even there. He landed in front of his blonde target "Bone Gauntlets." hard bone encased his fists which he intended to bring down on his target only to have them crashing through the blonde who faded into thin air 'An Illusion.' he realized just before a large, bright yellow, wolf barreled into him and began to gnaw and tear at his body.

"Bone Armor." the bone plates which had covered his chest pushed through every part of his skin until he looked like a his skeleton had been turned inside out. Even with light magics enhanced piercing ability the wolf's fangs were unable to penetrate Kimimaro's tough skeleton. With a straight punch to the constructs gut, the wolf dispersed into particles of light. The skeletal armor crumbled to reveal Kimimaro's pale skin once more.

Kimimaro backflipped over another incoming Golem's fist, cutting it in half with his pair of Bone Blades while he was in the air, over the stone spell.

"Bone Spike." a highspeed spike of the bone mages bone shot out of his palm. He began to litter the ground in his attempt to hit the blonde. Despite his inability to hit the boys flesh he tore through the Reaper's clothes "What kind of trash are you? You don't even use your Blood Magic, Crimson Reaper!"

"Tch." Naruto was annoyed; that Bone Magic was pretty annoying. The bones were incredible hard. As hard or even harder than steel, if Naruto had to guess. It was no surprise that his attacks were unable to punch through the stuff. At least his light magic and earth magic had seemed incapable of doing so.

Also Blood Magic was out of the question here. His Blood Weapons wouldn't penetrate the Bone either and for Transfusion he needed to be in close proximity... and now he had to dodge fucking bone spikes!

"Chain Lightning. Chain Lightning." he chained two chain lightnings together sending the homing projectiles towards the Skeleman.

"Your tricks won't work." more bone spikes were shot at him as the guy nimbly dodged out of the way of his chain lightning 'Hehe.' Naruto laughed since his oppponent didn't seem to expect the two bolts to rapidly turn around and home back on him. Only razor sharp reflexes let the bone mage avoid the crackling bolts of energy which then homed in on Naruto who ended up deflecting them away from him, into the ground, sending a mass of debris and dust into the air.

He had severely misjudged Kimimaro's speed or maybe Kimimaro had been holding back, either way two sharp blades of bone whizzed through the air. As he felt the force of the displaced air hit him it was too late as both of the blades had deeply cut into his shoulders. He suspected Kimimaro held back from cutting him apart because he was needed as a whole.

But this close proximity would give him a chance. He grinned darkly and grabbed the man's arms "Transfusion." his deep red magic began to work as he felt Kimimaro's blood stir beneath his skin but evidently Kimimaro had noticed the same.

"Bone Barbs." thick and pointy barbs pushed through the pale mage's skin and pierced into the blonde's, now bloody, hands, lifting them from Kimimaro's body while causing Naruto pain.

'Fuck. Now I know how Erza must have felt when I did that to her.' he grumbled inwardly as his plan had been foiled.

The white haired man pulled his two blades out of Naruto's shoulders, coating the ground in his blood while some dripped from the two weapons themselves.

His shoulders hurt like hell but he wouldn't let this guy beat him. He needed to get some space between him and the Bone user, quickly, to formulate a new plan.

"Blinding Flash." Naruto emitted a bright light and Kimimaro closed his eyes too late to shield them from the intense light.

Naruto needed the time this had bought him to think. He ran away and hid behind nearby trees. However he forgot that a trail of blood would tell Kimimaro his position. The irony of being betrayed by blood of all things wasn't lost on Naruto.


"Hiding wont help you." Kimimaro said in his usual cold voice. He saw the trail of blood the blonde had left, leading towards the trees "Bone Bullets." he raised his hands and from his finger tips shot small bone projectiles which pierced straight through one of the tree elicting a yelp of pain from Naruto "Run as much as you want, trash."


'Come on, Naruto think. What kind of Magic do you have that can get around that impenetrable bone armor of his.' he racked his brain as he retreated further away from his opponent, who seemed to be expecting the magic he used the most often.

He felt a sudden rush of wind as the tree behind him was cut in half, revealing the pale face of his aggressor.

Damn it, he still needed more time.

"Blinding Flash." another bright flash attempted to blind Kimimaro who was prepared for it and closed his eyes in time "Protector Golem. Protector Golem." two golems rose from the ground and charged at his attacker "Your pathetic toys wont safe you." Kimimaro declared as the ground under him once more turned into mud which he avoided with similar ease "Your stalling games begin to annoy me." he spoke with the barest amounts of emotion in his voice "I tire of this game. I thought you would have more worth than that if Orochimaru-sama was interested in you."

Maybe fire would work. Even if he protected himself with his Bone Armor the guy would still feel some of the heat. "Well lets see how you handle some heat." Naruto grumbled as he gathered his magic "Fire Storm." a ranging inferno of fire surrounded his opponent "Flame Strike." the ground beyond the inferno glowed bright orange as a pillar of flames erupted from the marked ground enveloping the Bonemancer in a nigh inescapable torrent of flames.

Naruto enjoyed the grunts of pair that came from the cage of flames and thought he had him, only for Kimimaro to shoot out of the flames. He was singed and his body was covered in some burns but he was still largely undamaged.

'You've got to be kidding me.' Naruto thought with a frown. The guy had survived that too! His dismay was met with a bone covered fist that impacted with his body and then sent him flying into and through a tree.

All the pain was certainly not helping him think of a way to defeat Kimimaro who was edging closer and closer. Maybe if he tried tricking him with Sanguine Pool? No, Kimimaro seemed to be well informed about his abilites. It was unlikely he would fall for that. One of the reasons he did not like using that technique more than once per fight. The second time usually left him wide open.

'No, pervert to bail me out this time.' Naruto realized with a wry smile before he knew that, that was the solution. The pervert or rather one of the magics the old man had taught the pervert.

First of all he needed to make sure the guys hands were occupied. "Banshee's Howl." a high pitched wave of sound rang through the surrounding area. Naruto's ears rang in pain but Kimimaro had done exactly as he had expected he would. He had covered his ears with his hands to dampen the sound. He would rely on his Bone armor to defend him while his hands were occupied.

"Solid Script: Oil!" Naruto called out and with his finger he drew the word Oil into the air. The letters changed from magic to viscuous oil and flew towards Kimimaro who, inches away from Naruto, was unable to dodge the liquid.

"Now let's try this again." a burning flame ignited in his hand "Fire Ball." he used one of the most simple Firespells to ignite the oil, instead of trying to attack Kimimaro directly. Which was why he didn't need to use any high powered spell in this case.

The thick oil which clung to the pale man's body ignited immediately. Kimimaro released cries of pain as the burning oil ate at his body.


"I. WILL. NOT. FAIL!" the Bonemancer cried out "FOREST OF BONES!" despite the intense amount of pain he was in he forced himself to cast one of his most powerful spells. Hundreds of bone spikes shot from the ground and littered the area like a forest. Kimimaro melded into one of the bones, smothering the fire. Naruto had barely avoided getting impaled by resorting to his Sanguine Pool. The blood has coalesced at the ground and slowly Naruto reformed, severly weakened, outside of the forest of bones. His hair had a slight, white tint to it. Suddenly Kimimaro emerged from one of the many bone spikes his arm encased in a drill like bone structure. The Skeletal Mage's skin was heavily burnt as residue of the oil clung to the skin. A disgusting odor that alerted Naruto in time to the surprise attack. He rolled out of the way "Grappling Hook." a glowing chain with a hook shot from his hand and buried itself into the dark mages burnt skin. Naruto gave a sharp tug and pulled Kimimaro from his half submerged state out into the open air and next to him. Kimimaro didn't shout as he had been ripped out of the bone construct. He grabbed Kimimaro's head and once again used his Transfusion spell. Once again pointy barbs emerged from Kimimaro's skin, this time from his head, like some kind of demented crown but this time Naruto's hands remained fiercely wrapped around his target and he forcefully ripped every last piece of blood from his body and absorbed it into himself.

His head ached from the pain of assimilating Kimimaro's knowledge before his wounds and exhaustion caught up to him and he keeled over in unconscious.


Naruto opened his eyes as he took in a familiar sight. It was his room in the palace. He groaned as he noticed the pain he was in. He pulled himself upright into a sitting position as another groan of pain escaped him. He saw that his body was wrapped in bandages.

"Careful there my boy. Your wounds are still quite fresh." a familiar voice said to him and he saw that it was Toma Fiore, the King of Fiore "The doctors did a great job patching you up but you still should rest."

Naruto nodded wordlessly as he asked himself how he had gotten here.

"That was quite some battle you were in going by the damage you took and by the damage to the area. You were lucky some of the guards stationed in the city noticed a section of the forest on fire and came to investigate. If they hadn't found you, you would have probably died, like the other guy we found." Toma shook his head "Completely burnt like coals. That's how we found him." the King then glanced up at the silent blonde "Would you mind filling me in what happened between you two... killing is illegal unless in self defence."

Naruto cleared his throat and began to speak "I..." he began but his voice was raspy and his throat hurt. He saw that a glass of water stood on his bedside table. He picked the glass up and emptied it in one shot.

"I..." he began once more, his voice was less raspy but his throat still stung with mild discomfort "I received a letter."

"A letter?" the King raised an eyebrow in question and Naruto nodded.

"Alfred gave me a letter which had been given to the guards by the one that's now a corpse." the blonde elaborated despite the pain in his throat "Inside of it was a challenge from him to me."

"A challenge huh..." the King looked thoughtful before his eyes narrowed "That's no reason to kill someone."

"I know." Naruto nodded while inwardly rolling his eyes "He was a Dark Mage though, he had been sent by Orochimaru to apprehend me."

"Orochimaru?!" Toma repeated in shock. He had of course heard of the dark mage that had once been part of a legendary trio "How did that happen?"

"By chance I stumbled upon one of Orochimaru's operations and I stopped it from going as he intended." this wasn't a completele lie. Orochimaru had planned to kill someone that day when he got into his abandoned hideout and he prevented that by surviving "Apparently he took a certain interest in me for doing so and has since been trying to pay me back for it."

"What a valiant effort." the King praised "So the corpse we found belonged to one of Orochimaru's followers?"

"Yes. His name was Kimimaro and used Skeletal Magic." Naruto confirmed "He was very dangerous, I might have died had I not taken...extreme measures... to defend myself."

The King gave a sad sigh "Yes, I can imagine. Sometimes it's just unavoidable. I am just glad that you are allive and not a murderer." Toma stated with a smile "Well the Newspapers will want a statement as to what happened, I better give them what they want."

The small King was about to leave the room when Naruto called out "Wait!"

Toma stopped in his tracks "Could you leave my name out of this, sir? Say it was someone that does not wish to be named?"

Toma seemed to be surprised by that request "I certainly can do that yes. Any reason why?"

"I...don't want to get known just because I killed someone, even if it was a dark mage." the blonde lied flawlessly. In actuality he just wanted to prevent Erza from finding out he was still alive.

The King nodded sagely "Yes, I can understand that sentiment. That is truly something nobody would like to be known for." the King pulled down the handle of the door "Oh and you have one more visitor." he chuckled "One very worried visitor."


Once the King had stepped outside of the room a frantic, teary eyed, green haired, girl rushed inside and sprinted up to his bed before engulfing him in a hug.

"Y-you idiot." she sobbed as tears freely flowed down her face. He held her close and stroked her long, green hair to calm her down.

"Do you know how worried I was?" she asked him angrily in spite of the tears going down her face "First Alfred tells me you can't see me that day and then later that day your bleeding and broken body gets carried into the palace." she kept crying into his bandages "I thought I had lost you."

Naruto was the first friend her age and also the object of her romantic interest. She would have been heart broken had she lost him.

"It's okay. I'm here."

Silence. Nobody said anything. He simply held Hisui in his arms. Her green eyes finally looked up into his blue ones. She lifted her face up to his.

"Naruto, I..." she didn't finish her sentence as she captured his lips with her own, savouring the kiss she had forced upon him and much to her happiness he reciprocated the kiss "I think I love you." she finished after they broke apart. With hopeful eyes she looked at him "Do you...?" she left the last part of question hanging, waiting for his response

She saw him avert his eyes for a second.

"There is something I have to tell you, Hisui-chan." he said and her mind started racing

Did he already have a girlfriend? Was he gay? Or was he simply going to reject her? She didn't think she would be able to live with any of those answers.

"It's about why I actually came here." she couldn't speak, her voice refused to work and so she settled for a confused look "I wanted to look through the archive not simply because I want to further my own knowledge. There is a purpose behind it." he paused for a moment to let her process what he had said

He had lied about his reason for being here? For some reason that was something she found herself caring very little about.

"You see recently I have come across a certain piece of information. Something very unsetteling. I have learned that the Black Wizard, Zeref, is still alive."

Hisui gasped even among non mages the tales of terror about the man were legendary "But that is impossible he should be dead." she croaked out

"I don't know how but he somehow survived all this time." Naruto stated his voice grave "I have been looking for pieces and snippets of information that would help me unfold the mystery and help me to stop him once he starts another reign of terror."

"We should tell everyone about this!" Hisui exclaimed instantly, such important information could not be kept secret

"No, we can't."

"But why not?" she asked in confusion

"For one nobody would believe you. Everyone thinks Zeref died centuries ago even then... Suppose they do believe you. People will panic and the countless of supporters among Dark Mages that revere the man will rise leading to a wave of uncontrolled crime that capitalizes on the terror of the masses." Naruto shook his head "No, it's better if this is kept secret."

Hisui lowered her head. Her sensei was right. This information was too sensitive to share outside of a controlled environment.

"But you can help me, Hisui-chan. You are my student and I trust you. That is why I shared this with you." he looked into her emerald pools, causing a small blush to cover her face "I know I can count on you." he gently raised her face up to his and caputered her lips in another kiss.

Hisui melted into the gentle and loving kiss. She enjoyed the warmth of his lips on hers and when they parted to catch their breath she snuggled into his bandaged body.

Naruto was filled with satisfaction. Not only did he now have Orochimaru's whereabouts but Hisui was firmly in his grasp as well.


-Spell Grimoire-

Fire Ball, Elemental Magic(Fire), Caster Type, Offensive, D-Rank

A simple ball of fire appears in the useres hands which then can be thrown at their target.

Flamestrike, Elemental Magic(Fire), Caster Type, Offensive B+ -Rank

The caster marks and area on the ground which after a short period of time erupts in a pillar of flames.

Skeletal Magic, Body Enhancement Magic, Caster Type

Skeletal Magic is a unique form of magic that allows the caster to manipulate their own skeletal structure in ways that allows it to be used as a weapon. A necessary side effect is that the density of the users bones exceeds that of steel.

Bone Blades, Caster Type, Body Enhancement Magic, Offensive ?-Rank

The caster manipulates the skeletal structure of his arms and has a blade emerge.

Bone Bullets, Caster Type, Body Enhancement Magic, Offensive ?-Rank

The mage fires the bones in the tip of his fingers at his target piercing through most obstacles.

Bone Spike, Caster Type, Body Enhancement Magic, Offensive ?-Rank

From the palm of the users hands a sharp spike will emerge which can be used to stab or shot at a target.

Bone Armor, Caster Type, Body Enhancement Magic, Defensive ?-Rank

The Mage covers their body in a thick layer of their bone.

Bone Barbs, Caster Type, Body Enhancement Magic, Offensive, Defensive ?-Rank

Sharp barbs sprout from the casters body piercing through anybody grabbing a hold of the mage.

Bone Gauntlets, Caster Type, Body Enhancement Magic, Offensive, Supplementary ?-Rank

The users fists are encased in thick bone increasing the striking power of the users hits.

It also allows the user to touch and pick up things he normally would not be able to.

Forest of Bones, Caster Type, Body Enhancement Magic Offensive, Defensive, Supplementary S-Rank

The mage increases their bone production to a high enough level that they are capable of filling a reasonable large area with bone spikes that emerge from the ground.

The caster is then able to enter and move among the 'Forest of Bones' according to their will.

Banshee's Howl, Caster Type, Sound Magic, Offensive, Defensive C+ -Rank

The mage creates a loud high pitched howl of sound that will cause great amounts of pain to anyone within hearing range. Those with an increased sense of hearing will likely be deaf for quite some time.

The downside of this spell is that it does not distinguish between friend and foe.

Golem's Double Fist, Caster Type, Elemental Magic(Earth), Offensive, Defensive, Supplementary B+ -Rank

A variation of the Golem's Fist Spell. Instead of a signle fist being summoned two are summoned, mimicking the golems right and left hand.

Mudslide, Caster Type, Elemental Magic(Earth), Defensive C-Rank

The mage turns an area in front of them into soft mud which will then rapidly flow away from the caster attempting to drag anyone caught in it away.