"Naruto" Normal Speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

"Acnologia" Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other being's speech

'Kurama' Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other being's thoughts

"Rasengan" Techniques/Spells/Jutsus/Terms

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Fairy Tail or any other franchise in any source of way; they belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Hiro Mashima and their respective owners

AN: This chapter had yet to be beta-read

Chapter 23

A Shift in the Game

Naruto woke up slowly, the pounding headache that had just assaulted his head now gone, for which the blonde was definitely grateful.

But in all honestly he was still tired. He didn't know what had tired him like this but the only thing he wanted right now was to go back to sleep in his bead and not wake up for what was left of the day.

And Naruto would have gladly done so if it wasn't for the fact that he was no longer in his hospital room.

What?!

With his sleepiness completely forgotten Naruto jumped from where he was, his body tensed, his eyes wide looking at everywhere, trying to figure out how he had gotten here in the first place.

The wind howled around the place, dark clouds completely hiding the sun from Naruto's eyes. He was in some sort of mountain, of that he was sure, but how he got him still eluded him.

The ground beneath him was rocky, and every time he moved the sound of the rocks below him could be heard. He was at the side of the biggest mountain he could see, with the face of said mountain also holding a gigantic hole that could easily fill a Bijuu or even a dragon.

On the other side there was an endless view of many other mountains, some big and some small, but all of them tiny if you were to compare them with the one in which he was right now. The mage moved closer to the opposite side of the hole in order to see just how high he was from the ground.

And boy was he high. He couldn't even see the base of the mountain. A thick mist hide everything from the blonde's eyes, not even letting him know just how high he was from the ground.

A sudden sound quickly made the blonde look up in the sky, at the black clouds that filled his vision. Just like before a sudden array of lightning appeared from them, each one hitting all the other mountains that he was able to watch

Unlike many people that would be nervous at the danger of being struck by a lightning, Naruto kept himself calm, knowing that such a thing wouldn't harm him, but his mind was still a mess with unanswered question about his new location

The mage released a sigh before turning around. At least he was in a rather big place. The whole terrain was incredible big, with the big hole that was one side of the mountain in front of him. He looked up in order to see the peak of the mountain, and just like he had thought said peak was at an altitude that would put the Hokage's Monument to shame

The blonde ended up turning around again and looking down, the mist still hiding what was at the base of the mountain from his eyes. Even if he couldn't see he knew that he couldn't just stay here. He didn't even know how he got here but he wasn't one to just wait and do nothing, so a quick decision was made on his head.

He would have to climb down. With his chakra it shouldn't be that difficult, even if he didn't know exactly how far he was from the ground. His magic would help him too if he actually found himself in an emergency while climbing down.

However before the blonde even started his journey down the mountain a powerful roar was heard just from inside the cave that was behind him. Of course this made Naruto to turn around immediately, more than ready to react to whatever had made that sound.

He couldn't have predicted what came off the hole though.

An actual person shot out the whole almost as if something had thrown him out of it, said person spinning in the air just before hitting the ground with a hard impact. Even then the individual kept rolling in the ground until he finally stopped just a few inches away from Naruto, allowing for the blonde to look at this person, his eyes widening in shock at who he was seeing.

It was a face that he would never forget.

"Whoever said that lightning never strikes twice at the same place was a lying bastard" the person said, his hand rubbing his face. Then he opened his eyes, his golden yellow eyes orbs looking straight at Naruto's blue ones, a expression of deep shock, which was then mirrored by his voice.

"Well shit…"

"You!" Naruto growled, his eyes narrowed at the being that he easily recognized as his own shadow. It was quite easy, after all he practically looked like his lost twin, except for his eyes which were golden yellow and his clothes which were completely white.

Naruto would have moved backwards to make more space between them but that would mean falling of the mountain. Instead he simply put his guard up, more than ready to kill his look-alike if he even tried something.

Said shadow simply stood up slowly while dusting some imaginary dirt from his clothes, his previous expression turned into a smirk.

"Yep, it's me alright… or is it you? Don't forget we're one and the same, boy!" for a moment it looked like the shadow would continue with his rant, however the next thing he did was to release a tired sigh, his previous smirk turning into a defeated expression, which Naruto simply found weird on the being.

"You know what?" the shadow said, a hand massaging the bridge of his nose, his voice sounding both irritated and tired "Fuck it, I'm not in the humor for this, we'll deal with our existential problems later, right now let's just clean this mess before that overgrown lizard finally decides to eat me alive"

Naruto's face turned from angry and suspicious to pure confuse, not understanding a word of what the shadow had just said. How could he even exist anyway? Didn't he destroy this being a while ago?!

"And he finally decides to make presence…" said the shadow once again while turning around and looking straight at the hole he just came from, prompting Naruto to do the same. That action was followed by another might roar just before a gigantic figure appeared out of the mountain, making Naruto's eyes to go wide in shock.

He recognized this being, how could he not? The first time he saw him had left an impression on him that only Acnologia had been able to match. Blue scales, yellow eyes, a maw filled with razor-sharp fangs, a massive body, gigantic wings and of course a presence that spoke of power beyond human reach.

The being roared to the sky once again, his wings flipping open, his body completely filling the area, leaving just a small space for Naruto and his shadow. The sky itself reacted to the roar, releasing an incredible amount of lightning.

Such was the might of a dragon.

The dragon's yellow eyes looked down at the shadow's golden ones for just a second before looking at Naruto and releasing a low, menacing growl that honestly made Naruto more than a little nervous.

Lucky for him said dragon's anger was directed at someone else.

"You fool!" the dragon's voice was deep and strong, showing obvious anger and it was all directed at Naruto's shadow "Look at what your actions have caused! He could have died!"

"Excuse me?!" Naruto's shadow snarled while pointing at the dragon "If someone is to blame here is you! We would have been fine if you hadn't gotten in the way!"

Naruto on the other hand had no idea what was going on, and the only thing that was stopping him from asking question was the feeling that getting between these two would be a really bad idea.

Which was proven correct since the next thing the dragon did was to grab his look-alike with one of his frontal claws. The movement had been too quick for the Shadow to react, and the only thing he could do now was to struggle in vain while the dragon brought him close to his head.

"If you think I will let you corrupt him then you are terribly mistaken" the dragon growled out, slowly squishing the shadows with its claw.

"The fact that you think you can stop me just proves how little you know you fucking gecko!" the shadow managed to yell, prompting another growl from the dragon. It definitely looked like the dragon would squish the life out of the Shadow, but a yell stopped it on its track.

"Wait! Stop!" Naruto yelled, trying to get the attention of the dragon. He needed some answers as soon as possible, or else he might go crazy.

It looked like the mighty being actually heard him since the next thing he did was to focus on the small frame off the blonde. Then without warning the beast smashed the shadow to the ground, his claw then simply pressing said shadow to the ground below them.

"Sorry about that, I got a little side-tracked" the dragon spoke, sounding a lot friendlier than before. The beast notices how Naruto's eyes were no focused on the claw that was still keeping the shadow in the ground. Said claw was even stopping the shadow from speaking "Don't worry, if that was enough to kill that thing he wouldn't be such a hassle"

"Damn straight!" somehow the shadow was still able to talk even though the beast's massive claw was squishing the life out of him. In response the dragon simply lifted his paw a little bit before slamming it down once again; honestly hoping to vanquish the shadow to a place that it wouldn't bother them.

"Raijin… is that really you?" the blonde asked, bewildered by the situation that he was in, his eyes looking up at the dragon he easily recognized .

"The one and only, little fishcake" Raijin answered while lowering his head in order to get to the same level as Naruto, while also making sure that the shadow was still kept under his claw.

"B-but how?!" Naruto asked, more than confused about his whole situation. Where was he? How could Raijin and his shadow of all beings be here with then?

The dragon released what looked like a sigh before lowering his body to the ground, still making sure that the shadow was trapped under him. Naruto took advantage of this and moved to the dragon's side, his face still showing how much he needed an answer.

He was so confused that he didn't even caught on the fact that he was called by that terrible nickname.

"It's tricky to explain little fishcake" the dragon said in a deep voice, his yellow eyes looking down at the human that had his powers "However I'll do my best to explain… even though this kind of stuff were never my thing… she would enjoy this though…" Raijin continued, although that last bit was barely above a whisper, confusing Naruto even more. Who was he talking about?

"The first thing you need to understand is that this place is actually inside of you…" the dragon said, noticing how the blonde now looked even more confused than before, prompting the dragon to release what looked like a sigh "Look I really don't get it either, I don't even know what this place is supposed to be. I thought that my soul would disappear after you gained my powers, but instead I appeared here" Raijin then went from looking at Naruto to look at his right claw, which was the limb that was keeping the shadow trapped "And then this thing appeared too…"

"I have a name you know?" the shadow suddenly spoke, however the voice didn't come from under Raijin's claw, but from just behind Naruto, prompting said mage to quickly stand up and turn around, his eyes now glaring at the smirking face of his look-alike.

"How can you be here?" Naruto asked, his guard up just in case the shadow tried something "I defeated you… you shouldn't exist anymore!"

"Damn… Zeref should really teach you more shit if you actually believe that's what happened" the shadow said with a chuckle while shaking his head, a grin quickly forming on his face "That's the problem with you, boy! Even now you still think of me as someone different from you, even though we are one and the same!

His words simply prompted a growl from Naruto, his fist clenching tightly. Just the sight if the shadow was more than enough to simply make him angry. Meanwhile Raijin simply observed the interaction between the two look-alikes, deciding that this was a conversation long overdue.

"You are a part of me, I have accepted that already" the blonde said through gritted teeth. He might have come to accept this thing as a part of himself that he kept hidden and under control as much as he could, but that didn't mean that he was proud of having it or anything.

"Exactly! I am a part of you; at least you got that right" the shadow said while crossing his arms over his chest "However you keep repressing me! It's not enough to just accept me, boy! I know what you really want in your heart, and the fact that you keep ignoring what we want annoys the hell out of me! So basically I ain't leaving until you stop being a pussy"

Naruto just looked at his shadow for a few more seconds before simply turning around, deciding that ignoring it was the best thing to do in order to keep his sanity intact. If that thing really thought he would do that sort of things then it was crazier than he thought.

"But why am I here then?" there were still plenty of other questions in Naruto's head, but considering that Raijin looked like he didn't have that much information and that he would rather ignore his shadow completely the blonde decided to ask something that he believed the dragon could answer.

In response to his question the king of lightning actually growled loudly and for a moment Naruto thought that the dragon was glaring at him, but instead he was glaring at the being just behind him.

"That would be that bastard's fault!" the dragon roared, prompting Naruto to turn around again in order to look at his shadow, who was in turn glaring at the mighty beast "He took advantage of the moment in which your emotions were running high in order to take over your mind!"

At his words Naruto's eyes went wide before he focused his attention on his shadow with a glare, said shadow just looking back with his arms crossed over his chest, a small frown and an eyebrow raised, his gaze also centered on the blonde.

"Oh please stop overreacting so much! I just tried to do a little tweaking, that's all" the shadow's words felt in deft hears since the next thing that Naruto did was to grab him by the collar of his jacket.

"What did you do to me?" Naruto hissed with a glare, his face right in front of the shadow. Said shadow simply smirked back in response.

"I just tried to make your mind more compatible with our magic. You should be thanking me, you know?" the shadow explained calmly "You might be able to use dark magic, but as long as you keep denying me subconsciously we will never reach our full potential! I was honestly hoping for little old Zeref to say something but either he thinks you aren't ready or he has something else planed"

"Don't let him fool you, Naruto" Raijin growled while glaring at the shadow "You should keep this thing as controlled as you can…"

"Hey why don't you go and fuck yourself already?! I was here first you glorified battery, and I'm definitely not leaving" the shadow yelled at the dragon with rage, tired of someone he considered an intruder to order him around like that.

"Don't worry boy, you'll definitely like what I did… Or you might hate it… we'll see!" those were the last words that the shadow said before disappearing out of thin air, leaving Naruto glaring at nothing, little sparks going off his fists, a small growl escaping his mouth.

"Beings like that should be kept as controlled as possible, Naruto" the lightning king said seriously, his yellow eyes looking down at Naruto "If not then…well you already met that bastard Acnologia, didn't you?"

The mage just nodded, his mind still thinking of what the shadow might have done. Just the thought of that thing messing up with his head sent a shiver down his spine. Sure he felt normal right now, but would he be the same when he wakes up?

With a tired sigh the blonde simply turned around, his gaze on the towering form of the dragon, a few different ideas and questions passing through his head.

He might hate this situation but it didn't mean that he couldn't get something out of it.

NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC

Meanwhile with Zeref

"Well I have to admit you're a lot more resistant than I thought you would be… anyone else would be dead already" the dark mage spoke, his form sitting in the middle of the hidden room he used to train Naruto.

His words were directed at none other than the white-haired servant of the Shinigami, Alcor. However instead of the witty comment the servant would normally make the only thing he could do was to cough up a glob of blood, his eyes looking directly at Zeref with a gaze full of pain and hatred.

The reason for this was the position in which Alcor found himself in. The servant was now hanging over the floor; multiple black chains coming out from the walls were holding his limbs and stirring them as much as they could. That was the kind part though, since there were also multiple other chains going through the body of the servant, piercing one part of his body and coming out from the opposite side.

Some of them were going through his extended limbs, while others simply went through his torso. Blood leaked out from each wound, with a puddle of the crimson liquid being formed just under the tormented being.

"I…told you…what you…wanted to know…" the servant managed to say between breaths, more blood coming out from his mouth. Just the simple act of speaking was a painful task for the man "Release me…now"

Zeref just watched at the red-eyed man before him with an almost boring gaze, his head moving a little bit to the side, almost as if he was really thinking about Alcor's request. It was true what he had said, Alcor had told him everything he wanted to know, and even some more. He had proved strong at the beginning but after a while he simply started talking just to make the pain away.

They always do.

"I don't believe you are in any position to demand things, Alcor…" and with that said the mage simply snapped his fingers. The result of that were waves of black electricity appearing in each chain, all of them reaching the servant that they held.

The servant's whole body felt nothing but pain. He opened his mouth to scream but not sound came out of it. The waves of electricity kept coming for a whole minute before finally stopping, smoke now coming out of the white-haired servant, now looking more defeated than ever.

Alcor now truly regretted telling Zeref everything. From the current conflict between the Gods to his participation in Naruto's childhood. He had thought that if he did the man would stop the torture, but instead the dark mage had made honor to his name as a monster and simply kept torturing him for the fun of it.

That wasn't all though. He still didn't know how Zeref had managed to find a way to block his powers, but Alcor still knew that there was no way the dark mage could block his Lord's control over him. However when no punishment came to the mage for torturing him the servant came to a grim conclusion.

This was his punishment. He had been a fool to believe that his Master would let him go with just a warning and a little bit of pain. His Lord must have planned this. The fact that he had been allowed to tell Zeref what he knew without his Lord intervening just made itmore obvious. He had used this situation to both punish him and share information with Zeref.

It was in moments like these in which Alcor understood just how little the Shinigami valued him.

For his part Zeref was deep in his thoughts, his mind replaying everything that the servant had told him so far. It looked like his suspicion has been correct and Alcor had been the one messing around with anyone that could have been close to his apprentice since he was nothing but a baby.

Not only that but now he finally understood what the situation was. Of course he had known that there were two other gods besides the Shinigami, but to hear that one of those gods was the actual enemy? And that his servants were probably already in this world manipulating everything from the shadows? It made the situation a lot more urgent for the dark mage.

He would have to move his plan faster than he thought. He just hoped Naruto would be ready. He wasn't done interrogating the white-haired man though; there were still some questions that hadn't been answered.

"You haven't told me everything though" Zeref spoke, receiving nothing but a cough from Alcor in response "You tried to isolate Naruto-kun to the point that you made people attack him. Just for that I should kill you Alcor… but first tell me, what about the Uchiha girl?"

If the Shinigami's plan was to have the boy isolated then why let him to make a relationship with that Uchiha girl? It didn't really add up to the plan in Zeref's head.

"She was… to be used as a last resource… after all… betrayal hurts the most when the person is close to you… doesn't it?" that was Alcor's response, which just made the mage to narrow his eyes.

"And all of this just to have Naruto be loyal and dependant of me?"

"Yes… and in turn you had to be loyal to my Lord…but you proved to be too independent…" another wave of black lightning hit Alcor after that, courtesy Zeref of course.

He would have to teach Naruto that soon enough. With enough control over darkness a mage could easily use it to emulate other elements like fire or lightning. It was a really good weapon against dragon that believed were immune to that, but since the technique itself was of darkness it was definitely effective.

A ball of pure magical energy formed itself in the dark lord's hand, growing until it became as big as his head. Alcor did his best to raise his head and look t the black sphere, a sudden feeling of dread overcoming his body.

"I think it's time to take you out of your torment Alcor; however you must also understand that your actions have consequences…"

"Shinigami-sama won't let you get away from this!" Alcor yelled with the little strength he had left, but those yells feel in deft ears.

"I think your God has abandoned you, Alcor" and with those words Zeref was just a second away from turning Alcor into ashes, but a sudden presence followed by a voice had never heard before stopped him, his eyes now looking for the intruder.

"I can't allow you to do that, Dragneel-san" the voice was followed by the sudden apparition of a teenager just besides Alcor, making Zeref to frown, his eyes watching the newcomer like a hawk while Alcor actually chuckled a little bit, even though it was obvious that the action hurt him.

This boy could not be older than eighteen years old, and his appearance honestly made Zeref wonder if the Shinigami had a thing for silver-haired young men. He had messy, straight, silver hair and purple eyes with a few bangs hanging over his right eye, while his clothes consisted of some sort of black uniform that he didn't recognized, alongside white gloves on his hands, a black heavy trench coat, black baggy trousers, and black leather boots.

The other thing that the dark mage noticed was the sword that this young man had strapped on his waist, and how cold his purple eyes looked. Even though he looked young the boy had an imposing presence. The mage wondered how strong this person was, after all with how things were he might have to fight him if he proved to be hostile.

"You don't need to worry, Dragneel-san" the purple-eyed man spoke, his eyes going from Zeref to Alcor while he crossed his arms over his chest "I simply came to pick up Alcor here, not to fight you"

"So you're another one of the Shinigami's dogs?" the mage asked.

"The only dog here is Alcor, but yes, I also work for Shinigami-sama" the new servant answered smoothly, a cold expression present on his face, perfectly mirroring Zeref's "While I understand that you might have resentment against Alcor my Lord still needs him alive, so for now your fun must come to an end"

Zeref just looked at both servants for a few seconds, his mind trying to decide in a course of action. Even though there was a cold fury inside of him that wanted to just kill Alcor once and for all, he knew he couldn't openly oppose the Shinigami. At least not while he was still under his control.

So with a flick of his wrist all the chains that were keeping Alcor lifted on the air disappeared, the white-haired servant falling directly into a pool of his own blood, prompting the new servant to move in order to help him.

"Tell your master that if he really wants to conserve his dog to never send him to me again" Zeref said with a glare, which just received a nod from the siver-haired servant.

"I will pass on your message" was the only thing he said before lifting up Alcor, not caring if his clothes got blood all over them.

"Thank you for coming… old friend…" Alcor managed to mutter, low enough for only his fellow servant to hear him.

"I only came here because I was ordered to" he answered coldly "Don't forget that you only had one friend Alcor… and he died a long time ago"

Zeref couldn't hear what both servant were saying, however he easily saw how Alcor's relieved smile suddenly turned into a frown, a glint that Zeref both recognized and confused him appearing in the servant's red eyes.

"I guess… you're right about that"

And with that both servants disappeared, leaving the mage alone, his mind simply going through everything he had just learned.

NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC

Next day, Hokage's office

The only thing that could be heard in the room was the sound of paper being written on; an action that not only the current Hokage but every other before him always believed was tedious and boring.

Such thing was known as the dreaded paperwork.

However for the first time in his life Namikaze Minato found himself actually appreciating said paperwork. He thought something like that would never happen, but after everything that had happened in the last few days he was really grateful of the paperwork for distracting him.

Then again even with all the distraction in the world there was no way Minato could ignore what he had learned from the man known as Zeref.

He refused to believe him though. It had to be a lie! There was no way in hell that the people he had sworn to protect, that the people that he had protected every since he was a child, that he had been willing to sacrifice his soul in order to protect would harm his own flesh and blood!

He refused to believe that. It was already like a mantra on his head. It's a lie, he kept repeating himself in his mind. How could he not? Just the mere thought of anyone on this village harming his son was enough to make him sick to the stomach.

And yet he couldn't help but to be tormented by what Zeref had revealed to him yesterday. If he was to be believed then Naruto had been attacked by villagers every since he was a kid!

Such a thing, even though he truly believed was false, had affected everyone that had heard it. His sensei Jiraiya had said it was a lie, and that no one in Konoha would dare to do such a thing, while Kakashi had simply stood there, almost as if he had been petrified.

However the biggest reaction had been from Kushina herself. As soon as Zeref had spoken she had grabbed the man by the throat and easily lifted him from the ground, and Minato could swore that the killing intent irradiating from his wife had been as strong as the Kyubi itself.

He will give Zeref credit though. The dark-haired man had been able to act calm even though Kushina had been from one wrong sentence to snapping his neck. He could still remember clearly what Zeref said next to his wife, almost as if he was challenging her.

Is the truth too much for you to handle? Why don't investigate a little bit and see exactly what kind of people you're protecting

It had taken both Jiraiya and his own help but they were able to separate Kushina from Zeref long enough for the man to leave, saying that he would make sure Naruto was attended properly.

No one knew what to do after that, their minds being in a state of confusion, shock, denial and anger. It was a few minutes later that he had ordered Kakashi to follow Zeref and to report him back later, an order that the Jounin simply accepted with a nod before leaving.

It was then that he had been able to finally focusing on his wife, knowing that hearing stuff like this would affecter her most. However instead of a sad woman what he saw almost made him shiver

The look Kushina gave him had been so cold, so devoid of any emotions except pure and simple cold fury that he had actually been forced to give a step back. That had been followed by Kushina ordering Jiraiya to investigate everything that Zeref had said, and that if he wasted her time by fooling around she would rip his testicles and then forced them down his throat.

He had never seen his sensei moving so fast in his life.

He had tried to talk to the former Jinchuriki but it was almost as if she was in a trance. The last thing she told him was that she wanted to know the minute either Naruto or Menma woke up. He had tried calming her down but the only thing he got was another blast of killing intent that rooted him to the place.

A frustrated sigh escaped the blonde's lips, his hand stopping writing. He couldn't help but to wonder what would his sensei find out. Zeref had even given a few names, and while he wanted to believe that all of this was nothing but a sick joke another part of him wondered what he would do in what Zeref said was true…

With that thought his blank stare suddenly sharpened. He knew exactly what he would do; he just hoped things didn't get out of control.

"I'm surprised you aren't using a clone for this, Hokage-sama" Minato's attention suddenly went to the man that had just entered his office, one that he recognized immediately.

"Sometimes you just need a distraction, Hiashi" the blonde said, his eyes focused in the white eyes of the Hyuga leader, who simply responded with a nod and a small smile.

"Ahh yes, while some might hate it others find such a task relaxing…sadly I have to admit I'm in the first group though" the Hyuga said while taking a seat in the other side of the desk, his eyes looking at the amount of papers that were in the desk.

"So what was it that you wanted to talk about, Hiashi?" the blonde asked, putting down the document he was about to sign and focusing on the man in front of him.

"It's about the council meeting we had yesterday" Hiashi said seriously, gaining a raised eye-brow from the blonde Kage.

Of course Minato knew of what meeting the Hyuga was talking about. Yesterday there had been a meeting between what could be called the Council of the village, which was formed by the clan leaders, and himself, the Hokage, to talk about the results of the Chuning Exams.

Meetings like those were of normal occurrence. He made sure to have those at least twice a month, to make sure that the situation in the village was as good as it could be. They even discussed some decisions that would affect the village as a whole; after all he needed to know how his decision would affect each clan individually.

He also had some small, more private meetings with some high-regarded civilians of the village just to have all the information he could.

Of course in the end it was him the one that took every decision. Those meetings only functioned as his way of getting every fact straight before deciding something, but as the Hokage the final call was his and his alone, and while he tried he knew it was impossible to agree with everyone.

Yesterday there had been one of those meetings, this one focusing of the results of the Chunin Exams. While Minato himself already had an idea of which Genins deserved the promotion and which didn't, he liked to hear the opinion of each clan leader, who of course were all great Shinobi and Kunoichi who he had fought alongside with many times in the past, so of course he liked to hear their opinions, even if sometimes it was plainly obvious that they weren't being objective enough, specially went it came to members of their own clan.

This meeting was even more chaotic because of the amount of clan heirs participating, but the blonde Kage had already come to a final decision. Now he only needed for both his sons to get better so he could announce it.

"Hiashi if this if about Neji-kun…" the blonde started immediately, knowing that some last minute begging or complaining about his decision could happen, although he never expected it coming from Hiashi, who had been pretty silent through the meeting yesterday.

"Don't worry my friend" however Hiashi stopped with a shake of his head "I understand that my nephew is not ready to ascend through the ranks, even if he had the status of a prodigy… sadly that is consequence of my actions so only I can be held responsible for Neji's mental stability…" The Hyuga leader finished with a sad and tired sigh, knowing just how much he had failed to his dead brother. He just hoped he could make amends now, or else he won't be able to look at his brother's eyes in the next life.

"What is it then?" now Minato was truly curious about what Hiashi wanted since he couldn't think of any other reason for him to be here.

"It's about Naruto-kun" as soon as his son's name escaped the Hyuga's lips Minato couldn't help but to tense, his eyes narrowing at the man in front of him. What did he want with his son? Of course he knew that Naruto's action during the final battle had created more than a little controversy, but he didn't expect for Hiashi of all people to come and talk to him.

This just made him remember how in the meeting between the Clan heads everyone had been more than a little interested in Naruto's summon, after all a Genin being able to summon anything like that was already incredible, but the beast had also destroyed a Bijuu by itself.

He knew how many of them were worried about such a power being let loose, so the only thing that he had been able to do was to guarantee them that Naruto was not a danger to the village.

However he had been forced to lie to them when they asked from where Naruto had gotten that summon. Clan secret he had been forced to say, since he couldn't really reveal that the summon belonged to a mysterious man that had trained Naruto from years under everyone's noses and that was not affiliated with any village.

That would certainly make a ruckus.

"What about him?" the Hokage simply asked, making the Hyuga to released a sigh.

"Let's face it Minato, after Naruto-kun's little stunt in the finals his popularity with most of the village has become quite…bad to put simple" Hiashi said, deciding to be direct with his old friend "While me and many others are thankful of him for stopping the Bijuu, many others, both Shinobi and civilian, are more than a little worried of a Genin having so much power, even if he is your son…"

Minato could only release a small sigh at hearing the man's words. It was sadly true. His ANBU had told him that much already, about the chaos that Naruto's actions had caused.

And that was only inside the village. Kami knows what Kumo and Iwa would do if they considered Naruto a threat, which they most certainly will do in Minato's opinion, which is why he had his best ANBU looking over his son right now until both A and Onoki finally returned to their village, which should happen tomorrow.

"Yes I know that Hiashi, but I'm guessing you didn't came here to tell me the obvious" Minato answered, now even more interested in what Hiashi had to say.

In response the Hyuga leader simply took a scroll from the inside of his robes before handing it to Minato, who looked at it with interest.

"Please read that, it should answer your questions" was the only thing Hiashi said, earning a raised-eyebrow from the Kage, who then started reading the document on his hand.

For a few minutes no sound could be heard in the room. Hiashi simple let his old friend and leader read, knowing the importance that this meeting could have for the future of his clan. He watched carefully how Minato reacted to the words in the scroll, looking at how Minato went from curios and interested to shocked beyond believe in a second. Then once he stopped reading Hiashi was greeted with a fierce and cold stare that honestly made him swallow unconsciously.

"What is the meaning of this, Hiashi?" Minato asked with an edge to his voice, which was no surprise considering the contents of the scroll he had just read.

"A deal that would benefit us all, Hokage-sama" Hiashi said while trying his best to not sound intimidated, knowing that he was now truly dealing not with his old friend, but with one of the strongest Shinobi that the world had ever seen.

Minato just stared hard at Hiashi for a few seconds before his eyes felt on the text once again, his gaze doing a quick once-over, the content of it still putting him on edge.

A formal request to create marriage contract between the next head of the Hyuga clan and a member of the Uzumaki-Namikaze clan

Or to be more precise between Hyuga Hanabi and Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto.

"You know very damn well how I feel about this kind of things, Hiashi…" the Kage said, his piercing blue eyes glaring at the Hyuga head "I thought I had left quite clear that I wouldn't accept such a thing when it comes to my children"

He had. This wasn't the first time someone had tried something like this, after all arranged marriages, while rare, were still a used practice. He still remember how not even a week after the Kyubi attack some of the Clan heads had tried to make one between their own heirs and his kids.

Heck, Fugaku had tried to do it twice. If it was by him then Mito would have been married of to Itachi while Sasuki and Menma enjoyed their own marriage life.

A shiver went down his spine just by thinking of that one.

So he had made quite clear to everyone that under no circumstance he would do such a thing to his kids. First because he himself hated the idea of taking away something so important out of them, and second because he was sure that Kushina would literally murder him if he even thought of doing something like that.

"Yes I understand that" Hiashi answered "However I believe that the situation has changed a little bit Hokage-sama, and while I know your stand on this type of things could you at least hear me out? I wouldn't have come here just to make you waste your time after all.

Minato just looked straight at Hiashi's eyes for a few seconds, trying to decipher what was the man's intention, however after a few seconds of it he couldn't do anything except release a sigh, a hand going to his face and massaging his temple.

"Explain then…" he finally said.

In response Hiashi also sighed back, a tired gaze appearing on his eyes, which honestly surprised Minato allot, after all if there was someone that knew how to remain stoic was Hyuga Hiashi.

"Things are… not going very well within my clan, Minato" the Hyuga spoke, a little bit of reluctance coming from his voice. Revealing these types of things was definitely not something he liked to do, but if he wanted to get Minato's help he would have to come clean, even if it hurt his pride.

"The relationship between the Main House and the Branch House are now worst than ever my friend… While I still am the Clan head the Elders in the clan have gained too much power, something that my own carelessness allowed" with another sigh Hiashi continued "While before there was a tense peace inside the Clan now… I fear for the future of the Hyuga, Minato"

"The Elders were not happy with Neji's abilities in the Chunin Exams… while one might think they would be proud of clansman showing such a promise they were actually disgusted that a member of Branch House had done so much better than any member of the Main House had ever done… meanwhile every member of the Branch House sees Neji as a hero, a model to look up to, someone that showed them that even member of the Branch House could carry and use the power of the Byakugan with pride… even if he lost the fight my nephew really left an impression on them.

"It's because of this that things between the two Houses are worst than ever, and I'm afraid there's nothing I can do about it" Hiashi's voice was filled with shame at revealing that "Like I said the Elders have too much power inside the Clan, and even the slightest provocation against them could cause a civil war to start between both Houses" Hiashi finally ended, his eyes down, silently lamenting the current state of the Hyuga's.

For his part Minato showed no reaction to Hiashi's words, but on the inside he was quite shocked. He always let Clan heads to deal with the matters of their own clan. He only saw it fair, but he was always more than ready to act if the situation ever got out of control.

The last problem that Minato had to deal with had been just after the Kyubi attack. The regular population had started mistrusting the Uchiha clan as a whole after rumors about them being able of controlling the Kyubi had started. Tension had quickly grown between the Uchihas and everyone else and it had been only his own intervention that had stopped a major crisis from happening.

Shimura Danzo's sudden death had helped too though.

"I understand your situation Hiashi, and while I'm glad for you to share this with me I still don't understand how my son marrying with your daughter has anything to do with"

A sudden fire appeared in the Hyuga's eyes, prompting Minato to remember those times in which he and Hiashi had fought in the war. Now that was the look he preferred in his friend's face instead of that defeated one.

"I might not be able to do much anymore Minato, but I refuse to let the Hyuga clan to destroy itself" Hiashi spoke with conviction, his eyes looking directly at Minato "I want you to understand that I love both my daughters, Minato, but while I know that the title of heir is something that Hinata deserves as her birthright, I believe she is too… kind for it" Hiashi explained, however he didn't sound disappointed at all when he talked about Hinata, in fact it was pride what escaped his voice as soon as his daughter's name was mentioned

How could he not be proud of her? She was the living clone of his deceased wife, someone that he respected and loved above all things

"Which is why I have chosen Hanabi as my heir" now this was the hard part, Hiashi knew, after all it was now that he convinced Minato of how much he needed his help "But the cracks in the clan are too many… Hanabi won't be able to do it alone… and I refuse to leave her to deal with this alone… she will need someone by her side, someone strong enough to help her put the Hyuga clan back in his former glory… and I think that someone could be Naruto-kun"

"But why?" Minato asked with a sharp tone, wondering why Hiashi would want to drag Naruto into such a problem "If it is because of what he did in the Exams then…"

"I won't lie" Hiashi interrupted him, not wanting to make any misunderstandings "That is part of the reason… just like the others I thought that Naruto-kun would always live in the shadow of your family Minato… but apparently we all never gave him the credit he deserved"

'That's putting it lightly' was the first thing that came to Minato's mind.

"But I also want to help him" the Hyuga declared .

"Explain" Minato shot back, wondering exactly how Naruto had gotten the attention of the Hyuga clan.

"We both know how people are acting now, Minato…" Hiashi said solemnly "It's basically like what happened years ago with the Uchihas… we both know that if something isn't done Naruto-kun's life in the village might become a living hell"

'You have no idea…' was another sad thought that went through the Kage's head, knowing how true Hiashi's words were. If he didn't do something to address the issue the population in Konoha might never trust his son.

However revealing the origin of his summon was out of the question, and doing a public announcement could easily do more harm than good, especially if what Zeref had said was true.

Kami he so hoped it wasn't.

"But with this" Hiashi said while signaling the scroll "Naruto-kun would have the backing of the Hyuga clan. I don't see many people questioning him with that. Hidden hostility might still be there but that can always be fixed with the right decisions. The Elders of the clan won't oppose the marriage, after all not only Naruto-kun proved his strength, but he also comes from a prestigious clan, even if he isn't a Hyuga they will accept it"

"And you daughter?" Minato suddenly asked "Are you truly ready to throw away her freedom so easily?!"

"Believe me Minato I wouldn't ask for this if I had any other choice…" the black-haired said with an own edge of his voice, not liking someone questioning his love for his daughters, even if it was his Kage "Hanabi is more than willing to accept, and while it might be hard at the beginning I'm sure they can grow to respect each other, and who knows? They might even find love between themselves… just like I did"

Both men ended up staring directly at one another, doing their best to read their fellow Konoha nin. In the end it was Minato the one that released a sigh while leaning back into his chair, a headache already forming itself in his head.

"You say you want to help Naruto-kun…why?"

"I owe him" was Hiashi's answer, surprising Minato quite a lot "Like I said I didn't care about the boy before… but one way or another that kid found a way to push Hinata to become stronger, something that I wasn't able to do… I don't know how he did it, hell he might not even had done it on purpose…but he still did… not only that but his fight against Neji somehow changed him… he now no longer walks a path of hate" the Hyuga answered with a small smile, glad that he could now fix his relationship with his nephew.

"Besides" he then continued "I also owe both you and Kushina a lot… you saved me more than once in the war… and Kushina was there when my wife died… she stopped me from failing into despair and that is a debt I will never be able to repay… but I can at least try by helping your son"

Minato's former resolution of denying the proposal actually faltered a little bit at hearing all of that, but in the end he simply shook his head, knowing what such a decision could cause. While one part of him knew that something like this could actually be really good for Naruto, specially considering his current state and the fact that it would also help not only a friend but a Clan of his village, another part simply thought that if he did something like this he would be destroying any chance that he had of fixing the situation with his son.

In the end Minato could only frown, knowing that this wasn't just something that he could discard, but that while he could take the decision by himself it wasn't something that he should do.

He was sure of something though .

Kushina was going to kill him as soon as he brought the subject.

I hate this job.

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Meanwhile, Training Area 7

Currently the training ground used by Team 7 had only one member of said team using it, said person being one of the Jinchurikis of the team: Mito.

The red-head was doing her best to distract herself by training with her sword, the conversation she had with Naruto still fresh on her mind. Not only that but there were so many things going on in her head that she felt she was going to explode.

A good example would be her mother's sudden change in attitude. It had started yesterday and while she was sure that Natsumi hadn't noticed she could practically feel how her mother was on edge… almost as if she was inside the enemy territory or something.

More than once she had caught her with such a cold look on her eyes that it honestly made her shiver. She had never seen her like that and it worried her a lot, but a part of her told her that asking her about it would only make it worse.

Another thing was that she couldn't properly visit any of her brothers. Sure she had already gone to check on them but with both being asleep it wasn't as if she could do a lot with them. She really wanted to talk with Naruto and to ask Menma just what the hell was the thinking when he used the Kyubi's chakra like that.

And last there were the results of the Chunin Exams. While she was confident on her skills she was really worried about not making the cut. Now that would be a real disappointment, especially considering that she was sure that her Naruto-nii would become a Chunin.

'If someone deserves the promotion it's definitely him' thought the girl, her hand swinging the sword the way her mother had taught her ever since she was a child, her mind being swarmed by so many things that she didn't notice the new presence that was watching her training until said person spoke.

"Training is a great way to release some stress, isn't it?" as soon as she heard that Mito turned towards were the voice was, mentally cursing herself for not paying more attention to her surroundings. With her sword at hand the red-head looked up at the branch of one of the trees, her eyes narrowing at the person sitting there.

Said person was definitely a woman. A beautiful one at that in Mito's eyes, probably on her mid twenties. The woman had long, straight, blonde, hair bound with taut bandages and dark eyes. She wore a short-sleeved black and purple blouse and black pants, both of which had a design similar to clouds on them, purple fingerless gloves and a chain of blue beads wound around her left hand. She also wore bandages around her arms and legs as well as a red belt around her waist. However what had caught Mito's immediate attention was the Kumogakure forehead protector that the woman had, which unconsciously put the red-head in even more of an edge.

It looked like the Kumo nin saw through her though, since the next thing she did was to chuckle before jumping from the tree and landing quite gracefully a few feet in front of her, the woman's eyes never leaving Mito's violet ones.

"You don't need to worry little miss, I'm not here to cause any trouble" the blonde said with her arms raised, a small smile appearing on her face "I just wanted to talk"

"Why would a Kumo nin want to talk to me?" Mito asked suspicion obvious on her voice. While she wasn't as paranoid as Menma when it came to people from Kumo and Iwa she still found the situation weird. Not only that but there was something off about this woman. She didn't know what but it sure made her nervous.

"That's because we have something in common, Namikaze-san" the blonde said, however before Mito could ask about it the woman herself answered "After all we both have some furry little things sealed inside of us… well mine is more fire than fur though" that last part was practically whispered, but in all honesty Mito wasn't really paying much attention there.

The red-head's eyes widened almost comically, definitely not expecting to hear something like that. Sure she knew that a few Jinchurikis of other villages have come for the exams, her dad had told her that much, but she definitely didn't expect for one of them to come talk to her like that.

"Let me introduce myself this time" the revealed Jinchuriki said with a cough, her former carefree expression now turning in a serious one "My name is Nii Yugito, Jonin of Kumogakure and Jinchuriki of the Nibi no Bakeneko (Two-Tailed Monster Cat)"

Now Mito was looking at the now revealed Yugito under a new light, after all she had been told how both Jinchuriki had managed to completely control the power of their Bijuus, something that she knew neither her nor Menma could do at all.

Not that she had any interest in using that bastard's power, not after what he had done to her.

"I understand that you might not trust me, but there was something I had to talk with you about… well more than one thing to be honest" Yugito said with a friendly smile, ignoring the voice on certain cat that was telling her to do this faster.

"What do you want to talk about, Yugito-san" the Uzumaki said respectfully, deciding to see what this was all about. However the smile that appeared on the older Jinchuriki's almost made her regret her decision as soon as she said it.

"Why don't we talk about your brothers first then?"

And just like that Mito knew that her day would be a lot longer than she would like.

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Finally finished this thing! The only thing I can say guys is that I apologize for taking so long. Like before college took most of my time, and what free time I had didn't allow me to do much.

Not my favorite chapter. Quite honestly I had to rewrite this way too many times. The finished product is not the best but at this point I just wanted to move along

Thank you all for your patience. I promise next chapters will be better. We're reaching the final chapters of this part of the fic. Plenty of action for those that want that will come very soon

Next Chapter: From Fire to Snow

I do have something special here though. A little preview of one of the next chapters… it's the least I can do for taking so long in updating

So here it is (if you don't want to be spoiled of anything then just don't read)

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He knew he couldn't win. His opponent was simply too much. He had thrown everything he knew at him and he just ignored all of it, all with the same sadistic smirk that told him he wasn't going to have a quick death

No! He refused to die here. Even if his enemy was on a completely different level he wouldn't die. He wouldn't lose!

Shakily he managed to stand up, even though his body was screaming at him to just rest. Well one part was, the other one was telling him to run as fast as he could. It was the same part that had made him freeze once he understood just how weak he was compared to this guy

To put it simple it was the part of him that was afraid

"Huh, I guess you aren't that much of a bitch if you managed to survive this far" the blonde man known as Zancrow said, a smirk on his face and a crazy glint on his red eyes. Black flames danced all around him, burning and destroying everything they touched

In response Naruto could only glare at the blonde man, his right hand leaving the bloody side of his body as he was now on his fighting stance, a glare of defiance still on his face

Zancrow just smiled wider before breaking into a laugh, his hands holding both sides of his body while the black flames that covered him suddenly disappeared. Heck even the threatening atmosphere had vanished too, and for that one second a little bit of hope finally set itself in the dragon slayer's heart…

But as soon as it appeared it was crushed, fur not a second later Zancrow's body exploded in black flames, covering him completely. You could barely see his body with the flames blocking him, but Naruto could clearly see the crimson red eyes of the man that promised nothing but suffering

Then he started laughing, a sound that made Naruto tremble. It was almost like the sound of a deranged beast. Acnologia had scared him too, but then he had his sensei on his side.

But now he was alone

"Let me burn you in the flames of Tartarus!" was the only warning Naruto had before the flames moved to engulf him, something that the blonde knew would only end in one way

Death