Naruto was stretching in the courtyard as he as he finished his jog, taking a moment to enjoy the cold air, he looked up at the cloudless day. Today was a good day, and just after a couple days of being in a funk due to his findings of Kaguya being alive but sealed somehow, he found himself having a true friend in Blake.
He didn't see that coming, nor her telling the secret to him.
It hurt in a way because he was scared to tell her about himself, because she may end up blabbing to Ruby and the others by accident. Taking time to look up at her team's window, he smiled and got ready for his next round of jogging.
It was the day before he was going to Mistral, and he had been reading up on their laws, culture even. He found that their culture was much closer to his former world's than Vale's was, despite Vale being the most likely home of what used to be The Land of Fire.
His thoughts were clouded, between Kaguya, the future, Matatabi's strange words, the dreams, and now Blake.
He didn't know why Blake was on his mind, perhaps he was worried, perhaps he was developing something for her somehow. He didn't want to dive in, he never was one to dive into love, and besides, he had a chance to go back home sooner or later.
Still had a chance at telling Hinata how he felt.
He began to jog, allowing his mind to meditate as he did.
Naruto ended up in another area beside the forest inside of his mind, he looked around, taking the rockier terrain. He took a deep breath, looking at Matatabi as she landed on the ground, the two-tailed cat was massive, but nowhere near as massive as Kurama.
The Tailed Beast looked at Naruto, she laid her head on the ground, a soft purr emanated from her. "Kitten, welcome to my domain, I created it to remind myself of the mountains of Kumogakure."
Naruto looked around, and smiled, "I guess Gyuki will be going in here as well, perhaps toward a waterier scene just near here."
"Perhaps," Matatabi purrs as she looked at Naruto, "I still have no idea on what to believe."
He looked at her before reaching out and touching her face, he gently stroked the giant nose, smiling. "I missed you, Matatabi-Chan, I owe you one for helping me by giving me chakra so Kurama and I could live past the sphere."
"That's the thing, Naruto, the sphere never killed you. From my memories, perhaps corrupted by Kaguya herself, you survived while she was obliterated." Matatabi replies as she purred into the gentle rub.
Naruto looked at her, that was puzzling, "yeah…and I dropped into a river."
"No, ironically, you dropped right into Konoha after floating in a void. You barely survived the fall, Tsunade Senju was able to keep you from dying as they stabilized you, and from I remember…you woke up a few days later." Matatabi told her of the false memory and then watched as Naruto clutched his head.
"Kitten?" She inquires in concern as he held his head.
Suddenly he had memories from Matatabi flashing inside of his mind, as he wanted to see what she had seen and what was talking about.
Passionate kissing sounded throughout the room as Naruto and Hinata held each other tight, the blonde was still hurting from his battle wounds. She slowly laid down on him, cuddling next to him, and snuggling closer to him.
She placed her face into his shoulder, "I've been waiting to do that for years, Naruto-Kun."
"Hinata," Naruto looked at her and spoke with a smile, "I'm so sorry…"
"Don't be," she says as she intertwined her fingers with his gently to keep from hurting him, "what matters now is that we have time."
"Yeah, time, and with Kaguya gone…and Akatsuki…no more fear." Naruto tells her as he leaned on his pillow.
She nodded, "no more fears, and no more worries."
The blonde sighed as he looked at her, smiling, "I finally got my happy ending."
"You deserved it, Naruto-Kun, for all the things you've done. So, does this mean we're together…" She asks, shyly as well.
Naruto kissed her nose, "what do you think, Hinata-Chan?"
She nodded, snuggling closer to him, "I don't think I can't stop smiling anytime soon…I'm just glad to have you home."
She soon fell asleep in his arms, and he didn't take too long before joining her.
Naruto and Sasuke sparred as he soon as he got out of the hospital, Sasuke was stunned at Naruto's recovery and power. He had been training for the last few months, but Naruto still stood equal to him, despite being fresh out of the hospital.
The blonde was taken down by The Last Uchiha, and raised his hands up, "I surrender."
Sasuke rolled his eyes, helping Naruto up as he spoke with a curt attitude. "You need to stop being so soft around me, what makes you think we have settled our differences?"
Naruto looked at Sasuke with and raises his eyebrow incredulously, "I'll kick your ass, bastard."
"Heh, well then, probably the reason why you're going to end up Hokage." Sasuke reasons as he laid back and looked at the sun and clouds while laying on top of the Hokage Monument.
"I don't want it." Naruto watches as Sasuke snapped his head over to look at him, "Hokage…you can have it."
Sasuke looked at Naruto, "who are you, and what have you done to Uzumaki Naruto?"
"I am Uzumaki Naruto, and I said I don't want to be Hokage, I want you to be Hokage, Sasuke. Think about it, Uchiha Sasuke, The Seventh Hokage. You'd be better at leadership than me, and it'll give me time to focus on furthering peace between the world, and just like the leaves that blow all around us…" Naruto watches as several leaves blew around them, "we can scatter the seeds of peace."
Sasuke frowned, "what changed?"
"I had a very long time to think about it, floating around in that void, Sasuke. The Uchiha never got their due, your clan got betrayed by my village, the one I loved and proclaimed my home because of fear. I want to do something to stop that from ever happening again, so, I need to step away from a chair and into the robes." Naruto reasons to Sasuke.
"I need to become The Second Sage of Six Paths, teach the core foundation of peace, Ninshu." Naruto finished as he looked at Sasuke, "and you can be someone that proves a lot of critics of The Uchiha Clan wrong."
He sighed, watching as clouds rolled by, "peace will be a very interesting, foreign, time for everyone."
"That's why someone who has seen the worst of it all, the corruption, the darkness, needs to lead so that their followers never fall into the same paths. I need to be the one to scatter the seeds, while you help the forest grow, and The Will of Fire will shine brighter than any star or flame." Naruto passionately proclaims as he sits up.
"Who already knows, you wouldn't have told me if you didn't tell anyone else?" Sasuke inquires as he looked at Naruto.
Naruto chuckled, "Grandma, Sakura-chan, Hinata-chan, and a couple of other people like Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-sensei."
"So pretty much," Sasuke gives him a flat look, "you saved me for last?"
"Always save the best for last," Naruto told Sasuke as he got up and dusted himself off, "also you know that I wasn't giving it my all back there…given where we're at."
Sasuke laughed, sitting up and dusting himself off, he turned toward Naruto and held out his fist. "One for the road idiot, I have a mission tomorrow."
Naruto nodded and bumped his fist against Sasuke's.
Naruto wore a white robe as he trained Konohamaru's team in elemental manipulation, he looked at Moegi and Udon as they managed to conjure flame and water, while Konohamaru managed to get the wind to form in his hands.
The blonde nodded, "now, I want you to think of each other, share the power through thought."
Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon nodded. Slowly all of them focused their chakra on each other, watching as Konohamaru's wind moved to Udon, Udon's flame moving Moegi, and Moegi's water moving to Konohamaru.
They passed around their elements, despite neither of them being able to conjure that element separately, they then turned to Naruto as he smirked. He was wearing a headband that was designed in The United Shinobi Alliance Symbol.
However, the headband was in a style like Jiraiya's with the horns near the ends, he smirks as all of them got their elements back.
"Very good guys," Naruto said as he ruffled their hair when he walks around them.
He then turned around, "alright, that'll be it for today. Moegi, I want you to work on your bloodline, Udon and Konohamaru, work on your teamwork."
"Big brother Naruto," Konohamaru watched as Naruto turned to him, "are you really leaving with Hinata?"
"Yeah, she and I are going to take a trip through the Shinobi Nations and teach Ninshu. Just remember, Ninjutsu and Ninshu are different things. Ninshu is about being able to feel someone through their spirit, interconnecting yours with them, sharing power and thought. It is meant to help, not harm, understand everyone?" Naruto questioned them.
"Yes, sir!" All three saluted before scattering.
Naruto just chuckled as he watched them, turning toward the clearing's entranceway, seeing Hinata in her own white robe. The navy-haired beauty walked over toward her fiancé, smiling.
"Everything is packed up, where are we heading first, Naruto-Kun?" Hinata inquires as she wraps her arms around him.
The blonde chuckled, "call it prideful, but I want to head to The Land of Waves. It's a poorly defended nation, a year there could give us a chance to give them some Shinobi to fight with as well as teach the populace about Ninshu to live better with the hostile animals that live there."
She giggled, "and give us a chance to be alone, all by ourselves."
He turned to her, giving her a chaste kiss, "you bet."
Naruto stopped holding his head, he looked down at the ground, breathing slightly hard as he got his composure before looking up at Matatabi.
"It was like I was there, I could feel her, Matatabi-Chan. Hinata, I could see her…smell the lavender in her hair and remember the kiss…everything. I remember even going to The Land of Waves, showing people how to use Ninshu and Ninjutsu with my own new age method I developed while talking to Sasuke." Naruto shook his head, "but that's impossible because I never was there."
Matatabi watches as Naruto paced around, grabbing his hair and trying to think, he then looked around the rocky mountainlike terrain. He sighed, turning back to Matatabi, and then nodded as he walked back up to her.
"Matatabi-chan, you and Kurama work on trying to pinpoint Old Man Sage's location, and I'll work on working with the current Indra incarnate Ozpin Snowberry. If Kaguya is coming back from a seal she was placed in, then we'll need to be ready, meaning I need the rest of you." Naruto tells her as he took a deep breath.
"We will be ready to fight beside you, no matter what, come heaven or hell Kitten." Matatabi reassures Naruto with a nod, "can you try remembering anything else besides what you just did?"
"I can try, but to me its all hazy still, I guess it'll come back over time. I don't know, but, what is important right now is that we find a way home…with no distractions." Naruto warns her as he gave a damning look.
"Oh, these distractions?" Suddenly a rather less than innocent Blake appeared around Naruto in various poses.
Naruto's right eye twitched, blood trickling out of his nose, "you idiot!"
Naruto slammed his fist into Matatabi's head, eliciting a loud bell-like noise, a very large red lump to grow over her head.
Matatabi chuckled, "Kurama is right, worth it."
Naruto opened his eyes from his jog, they widened as he almost ran into Blake, "you all almost made run into her!"
"Hehehe, part two almost worked Matatabi."
"Shoot, oh well, let the teenage hormones begin."
"Hmm, I wonder, will it be today…or ever?"
"Our Jinchuuriki is a little on the shy side, despite…"
Naruto blushed madly at their conversation, "Okaa-aaa-y, you can calm down now you two. We're gonna cross into pervert territory, besides, I'm not looking for love."
"Naruto," Blake waved her hand in front of his face, "your eyes are changing color."
Naruto blinked, his eyes going from red to a deep almost violet-like blue, to his normal oceanic eyes. He then focused on Blake, how close she was, and jumped back a few feet and rubbed the back of his head while laughing nervously.
"Oh, s-sorry, I am practicing something with my aura. Anyway, Blake, how are you doing today?" Naruto chatters as he nervously rubbed the back of his head.
The girl looked at him, "I'm doing fine, what are you doing out in the cold?"
"Jogging, and trust me, like I already said I've been in colder places." Naruto reminds her with a large smile.
She chuckled, "well, see you around then."
He waved to her as she walked away, and she waved back. Naruto chuckled, blushing slightly as he turned away, and looked toward Emerald Forest.
Emerald Forest covered in snow was a magical place, the blonde ran through the snow-covered bushes and trees. He hopped along the trees, enjoying the nice cold air, and looked around at the various wildlife below him.
Despite Grimm being in the area, for some reason, nature tended to flourish against these creatures more than humans did. Grimm didn't really pay much attention to animals, save to feed on them, which was peculiar given the fact that they never needed to eat.
Being a mass of Dark Chakra meant they were nigh immortal and immune to age, but not immune to death or injury.
Naruto took a leap of a downed tree, looking at the forest below him, smiling as he saw some blue jays flying past him. He landed on the snow-covered ground, near the lake he had scouted out over the course of the month and nearly half of being in Beacon.
Looking at the waters, he smiled, it reminded him a lot of Lake Akahana, a lake near Konoha's western gate. He looked at the iced over shoreline waters, taking a deep breath as he looked out into the lakes waters.
However, as he entered Sage Mode, he then felt a huge dark presence near the lake. He looked toward a destitute part of the forest. Taking out his scroll, looking at it, it said that the forest was called Deadwood.
Naruto took a deep breath, placing his scroll back into his pocket, the blonde walked toward the forest. He was confident he could take on anything inside of it, even the mightiest of Grimm in all of Emerald if need be.
Coming near the dark presence, the blonde looked and saw that there was a massive pool a black oily substance. Coming closer to it, he watched it bubble, and then his eyes widened when a splatter from a bubble slowly formed a Grimm.
It was Beringel, it turned toward him, roaring. The blonde watched as it charged toward him, only for it to get obliterated by the blonde with a single, lackluster punch while in Sage Mode. He looked at the massive pool of what he could only describe as oily chakra.
All it was, was pure chakra, pure Dark Chakra to be exact. Suddenly the pool began to bubble as he approached it, and a King Taijitu emerged from it. It lunged at Naruto as he then sliced the air in front of him, and the beast began to fall to pieces from The Wind Blade Jutsu Naruto just used without hand seals.
It then stopped bubbling, Naruto took a deep breath and approached it. He watched as it began to react to his presence, slowly forming bubbles once more, but this time the liquid began to form into a humanoid shape.
Slowly, the humanoid stepped out from the pool of liquid, the black falling off to reveal a pale-skinned woman with ornate white hair.
Salem!
She looked at him, chuckling, "seems like you found a spawning pool from my pocket dimension…hello Uzumaki Naruto."
"I know you're not actually Salem, you're just writhing mass of chakra formed from the pool. I can see that the pool is drying up as it flows into you, making you some sort of clone." Naruto summarized as he looked at "Salem" and crossed his arms.
"If it's anything like a Shadow Clone then I have nothing to worry about, this Salem's power isn't even a Tailed Beast…let alone near me." Naruto muses as he observed her.
Salem's Dark Chakra Clone looked at Naruto, she giggled, "I have to say you've been putting quite a show since arriving back."
Naruto growls as his hands gripped themselves into a fist. "Cut the bullshit, where are you at Kaguya, and where are the other Tailed Beast so I can finish what we started."
"Well, for starters the last time we fought was when you were a much older adult…and as for being purely Kaguya, bah. The Old Goddess's power was wasted, she was always thinking she was above everyone else, and never trained it. I am Salem, but if you're wondering, yes I am an Otsutsuki…perhaps Kaguya reborn?" She shrugged as she looked at Naruto.
"Aren't you going to fight me?" Naruto questioned, dropping his stance.
She shook her head, "there is no point, this Dark Chakra Clone is only five percent of my power. You're leagues above that, and after one hundred feet away…I can't move from here."
"Cry me a river," Naruto insulted as he spat at the ground, "you're a monster."
"Yes, I know, but I am a monster with a goal in mind. You see, Naruto, power like this only should belong to the Gods of men. Kaguya was right about one thing, humanity doesn't deserve chakra, nor do Faunus. It was meant for The Otsutsuki and their descendants. The Uchiha Clan, The Senju, The Hyuuga, The Kaguya, and your clan…The Uzumaki. Interbreeding with these vermin have produced the worst of the worst in your history, our history, I'm merely playing exterminator." Salem explains as she walked toward him.
She looked right at him, "and in order to complete what I must do, I need your soul."
"You'll die trying to get it." Naruto warns her as he crossed his arms, "just give up, and get off this planet entirely."
"But, Naruto, this is my world…and we're much closer than you may realize." Salem curtly tells him as she looked right into his eyes, "I killed Kaguya Otsutsuki."
"Killing a God, Naruto Uzumaki grants you a cursed power. The mark on my forehead is a sign of my destiny, a destiny bestowed on me for the divine purpose of eradicating all undesirable life as I see fit. Every man, every woman, and every child I deem impure and not worthy." Salem continues as she took a deep breath.
She watches him, and then hears him, "if you killed Kaguya Otsutsuki…then why do the Tailed Beasts continue to say you are Kaguya Otsutsuki."
"Oh, Naruto, there is more than one way to skin a cat as they say. I may have been born the reincarnate of that useless Otsutsuki, but I assure you, I don't make the same mistakes." Salem licked her lips and looked at him.
She chuckled, but the chuckle ended when he hit her low. "Yeah, and why you sealed then?"
"Oh, thanks to you, right before I killed you." She shrugs and then watches him look at her with a puzzled look.
She gasped, shocked, but amused. "You don't remember?"
Naruto growls his question out. "Remember what?"
Salem teases him cruelly as she walked around him. "All in due time I suppose, wouldn't want to spoil the surprise, too soon and early. Just know that you were the greatest example, a human becoming God, now…still a God but Faunus. You don't realize it yet, but you've become what you feared the most, a God…"
She then stopped, turning to him, "and for the record…Kaguya was so gleeful when her followers in Kara killed your pregnant wife, she was so anxious to tell you to your face."
"She ordered it," and Salem then got behind Naruto and whispered into his ear, "I relished it."
Naruto suddenly roars and grabs Salem's throat and slams the Dark Chakra Clone into the ground, "you lie!"
"Naruto!"
"Kitten, calm down!"
Naruto didn't listen as he merely kept choking the clone with one hand, he then formed a Rasengan in his left hand, "you can tell the actual Kaguya I'm coming for her. When I do, I will bring down the skies, I will make the waters of her realm boil…and I will make her suffer."
"You may not…remember it, but that…anger…the rage…I can see it in you. Hehehe, ooh, th-this is good. Be-because, when…we meet…I want you…to hate…me…" Salem's Clone closed her eyes as Naruto slammed the Rasengan into its head.
Obliterating it and splattering the black substance across the ground as it then turned to black steam and slowly rise. Slowly, but surely Naruto watched as something happened. The woods began to shift, slowly, the trees began to grow from their petrified color to a healthy brown.
Naruto held his head as he fell to his knees, growling in pain.
"Uncle! Uncle Help me!"
"Naruko!"
"Uncle!"
The sudden sound of a knife stabbing into flesh sounded throughout his mind.
"For blood shall be paid with blood, and with this sacrifice, the lamb shall give rise to her holiness. Arise Oh Goddess, arise Kaguya Otsutsuki and bring forth your promise and wrath in the name of The Kara!"
"Kitten, kitten, are you okay?"
"What's happening…to…me."
"What do you mean?"
"I feel like something is stabbing me in the chest!"
"Naruto, there's nothing there, look down!"
Naruto looked down, not seeing what could possibly be causing the pain, and took a deep breath as it went away. However, the screams of Naruko and the sound of a knife piercing flesh made him shiver as he felt the cold winds around him.
He didn't know what to think.
Salem was sitting in her throne room, smirking as her eyes glowed, Dark Chakra returning to her. She looked up at the mural in her throne room, a giant ten tailed fox battling a giant ten tailed rabbit, both clawing at each other.
She chuckles as she sips on her wine, brought to her by a silver-eyed slave woman, the slave woman looked like she was being starved slowly. However, Salem knew of torture and made sure to keep her alive by giving her food every so often.
Tyrian, Luna, and Emerald knelt in front of her.
"You summoned us, Goddess?" Tyrian bowed, especially more submissive just for her.
She chuckled, "yes, you'll be fox hunting this weekend…happy hunting."