A/N: New Chapter, hope you enjoy!

Reappearing in Winterfell in Bran's room was quite amusing for Naruto.

If seeing Ned hunch over and almost throw up from the way they had traveled was pretty funny, then seeing Catelyn shriek and jump nearly five feet in the air was hilarious.

But then the blond caught a look of Bran, who was lying on the bed and hadn't even twitched at their sudden arrival. One last clone looked up from where he'd been sitting and dispelled, giving Naruto the memories of the situation.

Walking over, he smiled down at the the second youngest Stark boy. "Hey, kid. How ya doin'?"

Bran almost didn't bother looking at him. "...My legs hurt."

"That's to be expected," Naruto said, grinning widely. "That's just the nerves below your waist telling the rest of your body that they're cranky. You'll be climbing like a lunatic again in no time."

That was finally enough for the boy to crack a smile, but Cat interjected almost immediately.

"My son will not be climbing again and that is final."

Naruto's eye flicked over to her almost lazily, and he raised an eyebrow. "I would hope that what Bran does with his time is up to him, wouldn't you?"

Coloring in anger at his flippant remark, Catelyn was about to lay into him before Ned stepped in to head off any argument. "That's enough! Right now I just want to spend time with my son, you two can argue later!"

Seeing the red-haired woman look away in a huff, Naruto snorted in amusement. "Yeah, sure. I'll step outside for a minute. Find a clone when you're done, and he'll take you back to the procession." Turning to the youngest in the room, the blond grinned down at him. "Glad to see you awake, kiddo. I'll talk to you later."

A small smile was response enough for him, so he turned and walked outside, leaving the family to enjoy catching up.

Leaning against the wall outside, Naruto sighed a little and looked around at the hallway he found himself in. It was almost a month since he'd seen this place in person. Seeing it through the eyes, or eye, rather, of a clone just wasn't quite the same.

He glanced over at a pale scratch that stood out against the dark stone of the wall.

No one but him knew exactly what had made it, as he'd told Ned that he was playing with his knives one night and fumbled with one. Naruto could tell that the man didn't quite believe him, but figured that even he could mess up sometimes.

The smile slowly slid from his face as he laid a hand against the wall and remembered his Blood Clone's memories of what had actually happened.

-Flashback-

It was a few weeks after they had left. The castle was almost empty, several dozen household guards having gone with the Lord of Winterfell.

A strange man walked through the corridors, feeling like his heart was about to burst out of his chest.

The number of the freakish copies seemed to be dwindling, and the young brat of a lord had finally convinced his mother to leave his brother's room.

There would be no better time than this.

He crept along as quickly as he could without alerting anyone who would be there. The hallway was spacious and well lit by dozens of torches, not his preferred place to be on any given day, least of all now.

Merely a few steps away from the door, and he could barely move. He knew the tales of the beast that lived within these walls, and the consequences of his action tonight would ignite its fury like nothing else.

But with some luck... a MASSIVE amount of luck... he might be able to slip away before anyone noticed.

Greed warred with fear in his mind. The amount he was being paid was indeed substantial, but the risk he was taking was equally massive.

"Hey there," someone said into his ear.

Barely stopping a startled yelp, he swung around, the dagger in his hand hitting nothing but air until the end of his swing, whereupon it bit into the rock, leaving a long, pale scratch.

There was no one there.

Holding the trembling blade in front of him, he scanned the hallway, seeing nothing. There was no cover to be seen, no shadow big enough to hide in.

Then, from right behind him came another whisper. "Hoping to start some trouble?"

The assassin spun around again, swinging wildly. "Come out and face me like a man!" he shouted.

Naruto raised an eyebrow from where he was sticking from his hands and feet to the ceiling, wondering how long he could mess with the guy before he finally looked up.

Silently skittering back around, he leaned his head down. "Why should I?"

Quickly pulling back up, he watched the man spin around again, swinging the knife like a lunatic at empty air as he tried to find someone that wasn't there.

He slowly stepped back, rallying what little courage he had left. Finally, with a voice that was half hysterical, he gave up and yelled into the corridor.

"WHERE ARE YOU!?"

Naruto grinned darkly and leaned down right behind him, not moving an inch this time.

"Here."

The man turned around and saw him hanging upside down from the ceiling, letting out a terrified shout. He wasn't fast enough to get away, as a punch from Naruto broke his nose and flung him almost six meters, down to the end of the hall.

Just as well the ninja had taken the precaution of sealing this part of the castle against sound, else they might have drawn some attention by now.

The man managed to sit up and groped around his face for a while, tears in his eyes as blood streamed from his nose.

Then he slowly looked up, and was suddenly incapable of breathing.

Like a monster straight out of his worst nightmares, the Demon of the North skittered slowly across the ceiling, his clawed hands digging into the stone, his one dark eye narrowed to a slit. A mad grin adorned his face, far too wide to be natural, shining teeth lengthened to fangs. Every torch that he passed was snuffed out, bringing the darkness closer and closer.

The man shuffled backwards, tears of sheer terror running down his face as he tried to escape.

But then, his back hit the wall, and the last torches were extinguished.

The moon in the window over his head gave just enough light for him to see the demon drop from the ceiling, landing on his hands and toes without a sound. Then he slowly stood up.

The feral grin on his face never left, and the assassin knew in that moment that he was looking at pure evil.

Naruto slowly raised a hand, wagging his finger. "...Shouldn't have come here."

The man knew that there was only one way to avoid the pain that was coming. The ninja could outfight him and outsmart him. There was no amount of money that could save him, no bargain that could be made for his life.

So without hesitation, he took hold of the dagger still within his hand and stabbed it up into his brain.

And the last thing the failed assassin felt was relief.

Naruto, on the other hand, was shocked, his eye going wide as he saw the man casually commit suicide. "Uh... wow. That escalated quickly." Scratching his head and blushing in embarrassment, he looked around to see if anyone was there.

He hadn't meant to scare him THAT much.

Even still, he thought, returning to being serious, the only regret he felt at that moment was that he hadn't found out who had sent him.

All those with power or money enough to try wouldn't have dared. Tywin and Baelish were wary enough to be more subtle in their attempts, Pycelle was a pussy, and Varys didn't have the inclination. And they all knew him well enough by now to know that one only targeted those close to him if they were hoping for complete and utter annihilation.

That left a few Kingdom's worth of suspects, but most of them feared him to much to try anything.

So it would have been someone he didn't know personally, with lots of money, few morals and fewer brain cells.

Not exactly a narrow list.

Reaching down, he removed the rather unique dagger, thoroughly wiping the blood on the man's clothes. Summoning a few clones to dispose of the body, he tapped the tip of the handle on his chin.

No need to tell the Starks until he had something to report. Cat was being protective enough as it was, and if he told her what had happened, he'd never hear the end of it.

-Flashback End-

He'd been looking around for the guilty party for quite a while. His legion of transformed clones spread throughout every city in the Kingdoms were working on this and a dozen other problems, and were getting closer.

But he was tired from the events of the day, and decided to put it off for now.

He faded from Winterfell without a sound, the torches snuffing out at his exit.

XXXXXXX

Reappearing in his city, he stared up at the main building in the center where Elia and Ashara were staying. It was three stories tall and very expansive, with everything from a hot-spring pool to a shaded garden.

They'd taken the largest room with the softest, fluffiest bed, which the two ladies had affectionately dubbed the 'Snuggling Fox', which he protested to no avail.

Naruto walked through the door, making his way upstairs to where he could feel two familiar presences.

As he walked into the dimly lit room, his exhaustion slowly draining away as he caught sight of the two women he cared so much about.

Both were sitting on the bed with their eyes closed, their quiet breathing the only sound in the room.

Elia and Ashara were both fast asleep, breathing softly as they leaned into each other, the former Princess' head on her friends shoulder.

Just seeing them there was enough to quell whatever anger he'd been feeling over the long, emotional day.

Sitting gently on the edge of the bed so as not to wake them, he smiled softly. "...How the hell did I get so lucky?"

And he really was. It was amazing to think of the way the two of them had changed from when they had first met to this very moment.

Before he could think anymore, he was suddenly seized by a raging headache as memories not his own surged through his mind.

'Well', he thought ruefully. 'Not entirely my own, at least."

A clone had just dispelled, one that had been around for quite a long time now, at least a month.

As for where it had dispelled from...

Naruto sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Reaching forward, he gently stroked Elia's cheek, watching as her eyes screwed shut, before finally fluttering open. "Mm...? Naruto? What's...?"

"I need to go to Dorne for a little while," he said quietly, and watched as her eyes widened in recognition.

"Does she need me to...?"

"No, Elia," he whispered quietly, leaning forward and stealing a quick kiss, tasting hints of vanilla and mint on her lips. "Stay. Sleep. I'll tell you everything once I'm back."

She smiled and sat up to kiss him in return. "...Don't be gone long. You still have a lot to do."

"Don't have to tell me," he said, running a hand through his shaggy hair, before he slowly faded away. "See ya soon."

XXXXXXX

He reappeared over two thousand miles away and nearly caused the man he'd teleported to to leap out of his skin.

"Shuddering sand-hills, boy, how do you always do that?"

"Nice to see you too, grouchy."

Doran Martell glared at the young boy that had just popped up by his elbow in an orange-colored flash, and waved off a few guards that had pulled out their swords. He'd rather not have the patio of the Water Gardens stained with blood, especially so early in the morning.

"Where is she?"

Doran stilled, and motioned to a side passage. "That way."

Naruto nodded and walked in the direction that had been pointed to without another word. Seemed that the Prince of Dorne was still upset with him, for reasons he could easily guess.

But there would be time enough for that later.

He stopped short outside of one intricately carved door, that he knew would be locked, and so knocked once, paused, and then knocked twice more.

A soft voice carried from inside the room. "...Naruto? Is that you?"

"Yep."

A short pause, and then the sound of several bolts being turned, and the door opened.

A beautiful young woman stood in front of him, dark hair a mess, wearing a thin gown to cover her modesty. A young woman he recognized.

"Morning, Arianne. Have a good sleep?"

The young Princess of Dorne glared at him, her dark eyes, so similar to her aunt's, glittering in the firelight. "Shut up and get in here."

He did so promptly, and his gaze fell on the second person in the room.

Rhaenys Martell, for she had adamantly refused to use her father's name, sat huddled on the cool tiles with her knees drawn up, staring into the fireplace.

He walked over and sat down next to her, enjoying the heat. Contrary to popular belief, it wasn't always hot in the desert, especially at night. But even though he could feel Rhaenys shivering, he knew it wasn't because of the cold.

Arianne quietly sat on her cousin's other side, leaning into her shoulder.

They all sat there for a while, not speaking.

Then Rhaenys shifted slightly. "...Bah. What the hell are you doing here?"

He didn't respond for a long moment, simply staring at the flame as if he was one of those moronic Red Priests.

"...Just decided to drop by."

"Hmph," she grunted disbelievingly. "I been telling Mom over and over not to worry. It's not a big deal."

"She's not the one who sent me, Rhae," he said gently. "...But I agree with the second thing."

She turned towards him, amethyst eyes alight with surprise. "Really?"

He could see Arianne staring too out of the corner of his eye, and smiled at them both in the way that only he could.

"You're really tough, kiddo," he said simply, as though he was simply stating a fact. "Even more than you realize. But this world is big and dangerous, and you never know who might be aiming for your head, hoping to take you out of the game before you ever have the chance to play. So I'll always be supporting that tiny back of yours, and I'll keep you safe for as long as you need me to."

They were both quiet for quite a while.

Arianne could barely begin to process all the emotions she suddenly felt at that moment, and his words hadn't even been aimed at her!

Rhaenys herself would fervently deny that her eyes grew a little misty, and turned away only to wipe something out of them. "...Idiot."

Grinning widely, he stood up and dusted off his pant legs. "C'mon. It's too early to go back to sleep, let's go have breakfast!"

And before either could say a word, he was already bouncing out the door.

Neither young woman moved for a while.

"...That's the man who brought half of Westeros to heel? Sometimes I still have trouble believing it," Arianne muttered, and Rhaenys glanced over at her cousin with a smile on her face.

"Liar."

A/N: Sorry it's so late.

Hope you enjoyed.

Wolf out.