Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Familiar of Zero.

Familiars of the Void

Chapter11: Gauntlet

Tristain-Gallia Border

The rescue party had kept moving towards the border even as the sun came up and fatigue had started to set in. They'd only had a few hours of sleep before they had started moving again and the lack of rest had finally caught up with them. Thankfully most were allowed to sleep in the carriage as the horses pulled it towards the border. It may not have been comfortable but it certainly allowed for them to catch up on some sleep, especially Tabitha.

"Hey guys, take a look at this," Guichi spoke up from the front.

"What is it?" Saito asked.

"It's the border," Guichi replied as they spotted a large chasm ahead with a wooden bridge connecting both sides. "We'll be in Tristain once we're across the bridge."

"Heads up, we got company!" Naruto shouted as he snapped his gaze up at the darkening sky.

"Turn!" Saito yelled as he pulled on the reigns and the horse quickly pulled the carriage to the side as a large curtain-covered thing fell from the sky in front of them.

"What was that?" Louise coughed as the smoke began to clear.

"It's a lie, right?" Saito asked in disbelief. "Why did it turn out this way?"

"Just our luck," Naruto growled out as he hopped out of the carriage and looked up. In front of them stood a large fifty-foot tall metal golem with a huge steal sword and two red eyes.

"What is this guy?" Saito asked the question.

"Long time no see Gandalfr," Sheffield's voice rang out as she appeared on the golem's shoulder. "You didn't think that it'd be this easy to escape, did you?"

"Slyphid," Tabitha said over her shoulder.

"I've got it," Slyphid said smiling as she jumped out and transformed into her dragon form.

"Their target is me," Tabitha said as she jumped out too and levelled her staff at Sheffield herself.

"Your Highness, thank goodness you're alright," Sheffield said mockingly. "Daring to fight the Jormungandr; what admirable courage."

"Jormungandr?" Saito muttered.

"Glacies Pilum!" Tabitha exclaimed as a large javelin of ice formed above her and shot at Sheffield. The ice javelin soared through the air until it slammed into a rippling blue barrier across the front of the golem before crumbling to the ground.

"It's unfortunate but I'm not here for you," Sheffield sneered. "You're a hindrance."

"Enough of this already!" Naruto shouted as he finished gathering natural energy into his body and his eyes shifted into his sage mode. He jumped up above the golem and formed a spinning ball of chakra in his hand. The ball kept growing bigger and bigger until it was a good five times the size of his own body. "Senpo: Cho Oodama Rasengan!" he exclaimed as he struck down and slammed the massive sphere into the golem's blue barrier.

"Lapidibus Scutum!" Guichi's voice range out as a large wall of rock shot up and covered the group as the chakra ball exploded with ground shaking force.

"Did he get them?" Montmorencyasked from behind his arms.

"That wasn't enough," Naruto himself replied. "We need to get across the border now."

"Malicorne, get us out of here!" Saito yelled as he pulled Louise back into the carriage. Those that had jumped out earlier quickly got back in as the carriage took off and rushed across the bridge to the other side of the border.

"There's the Ostland!" Tiffa yelled as she pointed ahead. The Ostland had landed on a desert hill in front of them and they could see the airship's crew, the rest of the group waiting for them as they approached.

"You won't escape!" Sheffield's voice echoed with anger and everyone immediately turned their attention back towards the bridge. The golem had jumped across the gorge and was chasing after them.

"She's persistent, I'll give her that," Louise snorted.

"I'll deal with this," Naruto said as he hopped out of the back and landed on the road.

"Naruto! What are you doing?" Tiffa shouted after him.

Naruto bit his thumb, drawing blood and quickly formed a series of seals. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" he slammed his hand down on the ground and seals sprang out. A massive explosion of smoke signified the summoning of a huge toad with a wipe in its mouth, a coat over its upper body and a blade at its side.

"Bro, what the hell are you doing, summoning me?" Gamakichi questioned.

"Gamakichi? When the hell did you get so big?" Naruto shot back. "I was trying to summon the boss toad, your dad!"

"I am the boss toad now bro," Gamakichi replied. "Who are we fighting?" he then spotted the large golem in front of him and scoffed. "You're having trouble with this piece of scrap metal?"

"What the fuck are you?" Sheffield demanded. In all her years she had never seen or heard of someone being able to summon a creature of that size, even for a mage it was ridiculous.

"What kind of battle is this turning into?" Louise asked.

"It's like something out of one of my old video games," Saito commented as he watched on.

"Light her up!" Naruto shouted as he formed several hand-seals.

"You got it,"Gamakichi grinned before taking a deep breath and expelling a wave of oil at the golem.

"Katon: Endan!" Naruto exclaimed as he breathed flames down into the stream of oil.

"Katon: Gamayu Endan!" Gamakichi echoed as the oil caught fire and covered the golem's form. The oiled burned for several long seconds before the golem swung with its sword and a massive shockwave snuffed out the flames. "It didn't work, huh? Well let's try this instead," Gamakichi quickly dashed forward and drew his blade.

"I don't know what you are but you can't defeat the Jormungandr so easily!" Sheffield shouted as the giant toad drew close.

Gamakichi swung to the side and thrust forward with his sword towards the golem's shoulder. Jormungandr turned quickly despite its size and narrowly parried the blow to his left before turning into a spin and backhanding the giant toad away. Gamakichi skidded for a moment before leaping into the air and forming a hand-seal of his own.

"Suiton: Teppodama!"Gamakichi exclaimed as he belched out three massive blasts of water. The water balls struck the golem in the chest, knocking it back as its barrier quickly absorbed the impacts. Gamakichi dropped back down the ground as Sheffield's laughter echoed across the battlefield.

"Your spells are useless!" Sheffield shouted with a smirk on her face. "It doesn't matter how hard you try you'll never be able to defeat the Jormungandr."

"You like the sound of your own voice, don't you?" Naruto shot back as he stood atop Gamakichi's head and his coat waved in the wind. "I've got a question for you though, how come that last attack my terrific friend here just did seem to have made your little toy stagger?"

"What are you talking about?" Sheffield sneered.

"It's an interesting barrier you've got around that thing but it's not invincible," Naruto grinned. "It can clearly absorb any kind of elemental attacks and to a limited effect, physical ones too. But...if I hit that thing with enough force I'll bet that it shatters like glass."

"There is no single spell in existence that can damage Jormungandr," Sheffield scoffed.

"We'll see," Naruto kept grinning as his hands formed a familiar seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" two clones popped into existence at his side. "Now Gamakichi!" he shouted as he and his clones jumped high above them.

"I got you, you Biju wannabe!" Gamakichi roared as he shot forward and jumped at the golem. Despite the barrier around the golem it was tackled to the ground and Sheffield was thrown from its shoulder onto the ground near the gorge.

"You'll pay for that!" Sheffield yelled. Suddenly a bell-like screech started to fill the air as the sky itself began to spin into the shape of a blue four-point star. "W-what is that?" she asked clutching her ears.

"There!" Tiffa shouted as he pointed up.

"Naruto," Tabitha muttered as they looked up and saw the blond shinobi hovering above the ground with spinning white chakra shuriken held above his head.

"Is that a spell?" Kirche asked with a wince.

"I think it's a wind spell," Louise suggested.

"Futon: Rasenshuriken!" Naruto exclaimed as he hurled the chakra shuriken down at golem.

"No!" Sheffield shouted in horror as the attack struck the golem in its chest.

A deafening boom was heard as the Rasengan in the center of the chakra shuriken expanded and engulfed half of the golem in a sphere of wind. Its barrier shattered after being sliced and ripped apart from all directions as the ball continued to compress in on itself. It exploded a few moments later sending broken and battered pieces of its frame in all directions as Naruto landed back on solid ground in front of the Ostland.

"Naruto!" Tiffa shouted in worry as she ran up to him He collapsed forward and groaned as he fell into her arms.

"Damn, I must be getting rusty," Naruto grunted obviously tired. "It's been awhile since I last had a decent fight...I need to get back into shape."

"Let's go home," Tiffa said as she hoisted one arm over her shoulder and Tabitha wordlessly did the same with his other arm.

"Thanks for the help Gamakichi," Naruto said to his summon. "I owe you one."

"It was good to see you again Naruto," Gamakichi nodded before disappearing in an explosion of smoke.

"Sheffield is gone," Saito sighed as they entered the Ostland.

"We'll get her next time," Louise nodded as the Ostland started to take off.

"This is unprecedented," King Joseph Gaul, ruler of the Kingdom of Gallia said as he watched the airship Ostland take flight and head deeper into Tristain. "This is unacceptable...who is this boy? I was expecting trouble from the Void Mages, not some upstart kid with the ability to use wandless magic!"

"I'm sorry milord," Sheffield apologized. "He was capable of summoning some kind of frog knight and I believe he is able to do so whenever he pleases. Not only that but he seems very proficient in elemental combat...he was capable of both fire and wind elemental magic."

"This changes things," Joseph said coldly. "With someone like that protecting not only the Void Mages but also my niece, we'll need an army just to capture them."

"Your orders, milord?" Sheffield inquired.

"Start assembling the other Jormungandr," Joseph gave the order. "I want them and the army prepared for battle within six months...we are going to war."

Tristain / Airship Ostland

"Is something wrong Saito?" Siesta asked as she approached the blue-clad swordsman. They were at the front of the ship looking out at the clouds around them like a normal ship would the sea.

"...I couldn't do anything other than stand back and wait for Naruto to save Tabitha," Saito sighed. "It made me realise that even after all of this time I'm still only one man."

"You can't do everything," Siesta spoke softly.

"I hate feeling powerless to do anything when my friends are out fighting," Saito confessed. "During that last battle...no...even before that at Al Hambra, I wasn't able to do anything to help."

"Is that so bad? Don't you trust the rest of us?" Siesta asked him.

"I trust everyone on this ship with my life," Saito nodded. "But if I had a choice between staying on the sidelines and fighting to protect Louise and you then I'd choose to fight."

"...Thank you Saito," Siesta smiled as she looked up into his eyes. "In any case I will continue to serve you, my master."

"Hey," Louise spoke up appeared from behind them. "Saito is no longer a chevalier, so he doesn't need a personal maid and besides he is my husband."

"Being a chevalier has nothing to do with this," Siesta shot back. "Besides you're no longer an aristocrat either and I remember you said back before the Sleipner Ball that I couldn't be his mistress as long as you were an aristocrat. So I don't want a 'peasant' bossing me around."

"I...I...I..." Louise huffed and turned away.

"Enough, both of you," Saito said forcefully surprising the two. "You can do this later but for now I need time to think."

"But Saito..." Louise trailed off.

"Why don't you two go back inside and get some sleep," Saito said more as an order more than a suggestion. "It'll be morning soon and we'll be back at the palace by then."

"...Alright," Louise conceded and turned away.

"Saito..." Siesta muttered as she too headed back inside the airship.

Saito then turned his attention back to the clouds as the Ostland sailed through them.

'I need to get stronger...and I need to put my past behind me completely...maybe...what I really need...is to go back to my homeworld.'

Tristain Royal Palace

"Your Majesty, by defying your orders and acting on our own," Louise spoke clearly as she and the others kneeled before Queen Henrietta. "We are already prepared to accept any punishment."

"Please rise, Louise," Henrietta ordered and the pinkette did so. "I will now mete you the punishment for trespassing into Gallia," she held open a large purple robe engraved with several symbols.

"This is..." Louise trailed off at the sight.

"The Royal Mantle," Henrietta confirmed and placed the cloak over the pinkette's shoulders. "With this, you are now my sister and the second successor to the throne. As a user of the Void and rendering your services to Tristain," she proclaimed.

"Your Majesty," Louise muttered softly.

"Saito," Henrietta said as she turned her gaze to him. "I'll return the chevalier mantle to you and you're not allowed to let go of it again, understood?" she said as she handed him his cloak back.

"Yes your Majesty," Saito bowed.

"Now Tabitha," Henrietta said as she turned her attention to the blue-haired girl that was still kneeling. "No...Princess Charlotte," she corrected as she kneeled next to her. "Welcome back to Tristain," she smiled.

"Thank you Queen Henrietta," Tabitha...Charlotte bowed her head slightly as everyone in the room started cheering. She turned and pulled Naruto into a hug. "Thank you for everything," she whispered in his ear.

"I promise I'll always protect you for as long as I'm able," Naruto told her.

Just a normal day in Halkeginia...

Author's Notes:

For the record the reason I concentrated more on Naruto during this story is because Saito needed a push towards getting stronger in order to protect Louise instead of relying solely on his powers as a familiar and the minimal training he's had. Remember that when the series started, Saito was just a human civilian with no real combat experience or training. Most of the time he's succeeded with nothing more than power and dumb luck. At least Naruto was trained as a ninja back in Konoha and has already fought a lot of strong opponents over the course of his Shinobi career.

That being said, I have decided to conclude this story two arcs from now instead of three. My reason for this is because of the events in the recent Naruto manga, which I unfortunately cannot adapt for use in this story and I don't want to discard them. The remaining chapters for this story are pretty much already written out and waiting to be posted except the epilogue that I will write some time in the near future for full closure.

Translation

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu = Shadow Clone Technique
Kuchiyose no Jutsu = Summoning Technique
Futon: Rasenshuriken = Wind Release: Spiraling Shuriken
Katon: Endan = Fire Release: Flame Bullet
Katon: Gamayu Endan = Fire Release: Fire Bullet
Suiton: Teppodama = Water Release: Gunshot
Sempo: Cho Oodama Rasengan = Sage Art: Super Great Ball Spiraling Sphere
Glacies Pilum = Ice Javelin
Lapidibus Scutum = Stone Shield

Please Read and Review.

See Ya Later…