Chapter four

Written by: DarthPel

Beta'ed by: FreelanceroftheTriforceKeyblade, Slayst.

Word count: 4,500

Naruto stretched in his seat as he stared at the piece of parchment, the Hiraishin formula was a brilliant piece of sealing Tobirama had come up with, but unfortunately, his prototype was just that, a prototype.

Even for someone such as Naruto, who while having trained by Jiraiya was not especially a genius seal master like his father, was still able to quickly break the formula down into its individual components. Which had allowed him to roughly alter the Senju formula into being responsive to his chakra.

But it still wasn't what his father's jutsu had been.

Now Naruto knew very well he'd never be able to decipher the Yellow flash shiki formula. The man had created his own sealing method, and sadly the only two people with such knowledge died on the day of his birth.

So, he'd have to invent his own way of improving the technique. As he stared at his father's kunai which sat in a stand in his desk he contemplated the very first part of his new shiki. Matching Minato's teleportation speed.

There was a knock on his door, he looked out his window and saw it was morning already. Knowing who was the one seeking entrance into his room.

"Come in." He yelled out, "It's open."

The door opened to reveal a shy Artoria, who quickly stepped in and closed the door behind her. He took in her sight, fresh in a new set of clothes, sporting a light blush on her cheeks.

"Morning." She whispered as she made her way over to him.

The whiskered teen acknowledged her, motioning for her to come over to him, "How was your night?"

"It was pleasant." The green eyed girl answered as a pleased smile formed on her lips. She slowly walked over to him, and noticed several diagrams on his desk, along a strange tri-bladed knife on the edge.

"What's that?" She asked curiously.

"My father's Hiraishin Kunai." He answered as he pushed his chair back a bit, he had been working on the formula all night long with little progress.

"Father." Artoria whispered, it was the first time she had heard him say anything about his past other than that everyone he had loved was dead, and that he blamed himself for it.

"Yeah, they called him the Yellow Flash. Man was legendary, feared and revered through the five great nations." Naruto continued, lausing for a moment, "Legends say he wiped out a thousand Iwa ninja in the blink of an eye, at the battle of Kannabi bridge. Turning what was almost certain defeat for my village into victory that was respected even after his death."

Artoria blinked, to kill so many people in a moment it overturned the direction of a war.

"But he was beyond legendary," Naruto's voice broke her out of her thoughts, "He was a prodigy that came only once in a generation. He was such a genius that he created his own sealing method, becoming the youngest Hokage to ever reign. I wanted to be like him growing up, he was the opposite of everything I was."

There was a mirthful laughter, as his smile became bitter, "To think that he was my father, the hero of the village, greatest Hokage to ever grace the hidden leaf. The man who sacrificed his life for his people, versus a clanless loser who nobody wanted."

Naruto took the Kunai into his hand, and began twirling it around, "But, thanks to his own genius and later the aid of an unexpected ally. I got to meet him, and my mom, despite them dying on the day of my birth. It was the happiest i ever was, i was so happy i forgot to ask if they left note on his stupid sealing method."

That drew laughter from Artoria as he tapped on his thigh, a signal for her to sit down on it, as he wrapped an arm around her waist and used his free hand to bring up a complex diagram, "This is the original formula of the technique, created by the second Hokage, Tobirama Senju. The sealing here is genius, but outdated and very basic."

Bringing up his father's kunai once more, he motioned towards the weird symbol on it, "My father was able to condense that," the blond paused to point at the blueprint, before bringing up the hiraishin knife once again, "Into this. This is far too complex for me, and I'll likely never figure it out."

Setting the knife down, the blue eyed teen brang up a parchment paper with some weird lines on it, "These are the individual components to my version of the technique… Now I have to figure out how to put it together, so not only will I be faster. I will also sense whenever you are in danger, i don't want to leave it up to chance again."

Artoria grabbed each of his cheeks, so they made eye contact, "You saved my life, that's all I care about."

"8 months since I came to this world. Two months since I met you." Naruto started, "I'm physically attracted to you, I like you. But I'm very much afraid. That I'll slip up like my Sensei, Kakashi, and end with your blood in my hands. I'm afraid that allowing myself to have these feelings for you will get you killed."

There it was, Artoria noted, the fear in his eyes was real. She could see the build up of tears that he tried to hold back, she summoned her bravery, which seemed to have fled her and kissed him.

When she pulled back, the future Queen held him dearly as she told him, "I'm not going to die. Much less by your hands, I know that I can never understand what you're going through, what pain you must be carrying. But I promise you I will always be here."

"And I promise I won't fail you," Naruto promised as well, holding onto her. He wasn't sure if he loved her yet, but he had strong feelings of attraction to the beauty he was holding onto, and affection. They hugged for a while, until Artoria lifted her head to ask, "How long have you been working on this?"

"All night." Naruto answered, a yawn escaping his lips.

The knightly girl frowned, "That's not good for your health. Come, you need sleep."

"I don't need sleep. Sleep if for the weak, and for beautiful people such as you." Naruto stated jokingly only to receive a glare.

Pausing for a moment to think, Artoria asked, "Naruto… are you suffering from night terrors?"

The silence he gave her was all she needed as she sat up and pulled him from his chair. The two fell onto the bed, as she hugged him, "Sleep. I'll drive the terrors away."

"What if your father or brother walk in?" Naruto asked, shifting his position so he was spooning her.

"This is not as if we are unclothed, besides, we are married are we not? It is only a wife's duty to protect the husband from his woe, and to share a bed." The Knight answered.

"I guess you're right… 妻 (Wife)" the ninja finally relented.

Four years later

Disguised over inside a winery, Naruto took a sip as he listened to the people of Lancaster speak and go on their Merry way.

It had been a year since Artoria finally brought Voltringen's rule to heel. The combined might of her prowess and his own crushing army after army in every battle was unstoppable. It had also been three years since the construction of Camelot began after the expulsion of the saxons from England.

They had after a few battles settled english disputes with the welsh, though the barbarians known as the scottish up in the Northern highlands really seemed to want an Uzumaki style beating with how often the tribes and clans seemed to clash with the english.

As he set the glass down he let out a nostalgic sigh, the civil war had been swift. So had the campaign against the saxons. Camelot was coming along nicely, Artoria threw herself into her role as a leader. Leading the Britannians through thick and thin.

Their relationship had also blossomed, many nights spent sleeping together in the same tent while the campaign season went on, allowing them a level of intimacy Naruto had neither expected nor complained for. As he grew to appreciate and love his precious wife.

Right now, he was doing a favor for her. Personally checking up on the northern settlements, making sure no people were neglected or left behind.

Of course few people knew who he really was, aside a few Knights of the inner circle. All that people believed he was, was that he is the kind husband of their liberator queen, an image crafted as he spent time helping those less fortunate and orphaned children.

But there was also his dark side, as in all things. The reason Voltringen's men never stood a chance was because as the night descended, so did he, sabotaging, assassinating, and many times annihilating armies under the cover of darkness.

Of course there had been the shocking news that Morgana Le Fay was a person. But aside coming out to make a little noise every now and again, she wasn't much of a problem.

Taking a last gulp from his glass, he stood up and tossed a sack of coin at the bar keeper of the winery.

"Get the settlement locked down, evacuate if there's too much noise." Naruto spoke loudly for everyone present to hear, as he walked out.

As soon as he walked outside of the establishment, he used a body flicker to move himself outside the borders of the settlement and walked deeper into the wilderness, sharingan eyes active as he strolled through the forests that belonged to his dearly beloved.

Swoosh

And there it was, he immediately used a substitution Jutsu, for the first time since the end of the ninja war.

As soon as he did, the wood exploded into debris.

Clang

As Katana and Tanto clashed, Naruto's eyes grew wide as his enemy was revealed.

Madara Uchiha.

In his shocked state the blind shinobi was kicked by the Uchiha in the stomach, knocking him off his feet. He recovered quickly and parried a sword strike, jumping away to put some distance between himself and the enemy.

Jumping into the foliage the Uzumaki created a number of clones to distract Madara Uchiha. While the Uchiha invader was distracted, Naruto went deeper into the forest and chose a spot to hide, while he called out to his long time partner.

Camelot

Kurama shifted as he looked at Artoria, announcing, "Naruto's is in trouble."

The blond haired queen nodded, her face looking troubled, "Is he still in Lancaster?"

"Yes, very much so." The fox said before he disappeared.

Madara grasped the last of the clones, choking him as he asked, "Where's the real Uzumaki Naruto?"

The clone struggled as he answered, "Burn… ack… in hell."

The Uchiha's eyes took on a surprised hint as he let go, immediately, the last of the clones exploded violently. As he looked up, another army of blond clones and their leader, the real Uzumaki stood looking down at him, sharingan active in a challenging manner, "Tell me, Madara, how are you here?"

"Uzumaki Naruto, thief of the Sharingan." The uchiha greeted casually, causing the blond to scowl, "My eyes are not stolen you neutered puppet. They were a gift from my brother, whose death you caused."

"No Uchiha would gift away their eyes." Madara scoffed, causing Naruto to snort, "No Uchiha in their right mind would think to challenge the God of Shinobi, yet you did so, betraying your friend, and lost too."

They narrowed their eyes at each other, before the hostilities began anew. Naruto and his army descended, an explosion of techniques followed as the Intruder exposed his susanoo, wiping a number of clones at once.

But Naruto wasn't one to be denied, as he became engulfed in a familiar gold cloaked, "You better not have gotten soft on me Kurama."

"Heh, in your dreams. Now let's show this bastard our power " the fox answered as they looked at their opponent. Naruto bent his knees, as he built up chakra. The massive amount of energy he was gathering, reactivating all of his system at once caused the earth to crack. Chunks of dirt began floating up against gravity, and finally, the blond re-engaged, dismissing most of his clones.

One that had hidden underneath the leg grabbed the Uchiha ancestor by the leg and threw him from the safety of his Susanoo, and the two opponents engaged in a taijutsu melee. Madara showed why he was once referred to as the God of War, despite not having any of his Edo-Tensei counterpart amp ups, still kept up with Naruto, who was synced with his bijuu.

Throughout it all, he still maintained a calm posture. Whereas the Uzumaki threw years of resentment and hatred behind his every move.

His face was hard as Naruto finally scored a hit, a knee to his opponent's chest. It was Madara's turn to tumble, as Naruto followed up with a Rasengan. Unfortunately the Uzumaki missed entirely, but the momentum allowed him another knee to the stomach.

Madara retaliated by sending a punch that landed on the blond's right cheek followed by an uppercut.

The two separated briefly as Naruto teleported to his weapon, and Madara brought out his gunbai. The tornadoes of wind that the Uchiha let loose were quickly brought to an end by a wind jutsu of Naruto's own, which allowed him to cancel the wide area technique out of existence.

The blond followed that by spewing a water jet from his mouth, the jutsu was fine tuned and cut through the trees behind Madara once the Uchiha dodged out of the way.

Madara tilted his head to the side as he dodge a kunai, but quickly realized his mistake as Naruto appeared above him. A wind style Rasengan met Susanoo, the defensive armor of the ethereal warrior won out.

Naruto surrounded himself with a similar construct, Sasuke's Susanoo surrounded him as well, as he paused to look at his opponent, "Regardless of how you came to be here. Know that you will die."

The Susano'o continued to grow until they reached their peaks, Naruto's being much larger as his was more of a complementary battlearmor for Kurama.

There was a smirk on the Uchiha's face, the blue susanoo fell around him as he looked up, "It seems I'm subject to your strongest. So, now, you are subject to my strongest."

Flipping through familiar hand signs, Madara slammed his palm on the ground, as he summoned another gigantic nine tailed fox, "Do you like him?"

Naruto's eyes narrowed, as his Kurama was only half of his power thanks to Minato, the other bijuu was twice their size.

And because it was under the Uchiha's control, it meant Madara was playing a risky game. But that fit the Uchiha just fine, Naruto noted. It would be a hard and difficult battle, his own survival was in question.

But as Madara finished armoring his own Kyuubi, Naruto's resolve did not waiver. Even if he died, he would kill Madara, for his wife's sake.

For his pregnant wife's sake.

He closed his eyes, taking in the sounds of the battlefield. Quelling his hatred for the Uchiha, and cleared his mind.

At the roar of the second beast two men sprang into action. The bijuu and the armored avatar fought for Supremacy as they wrestled each other.

It would seem they were evenly matched.

Naruto created a clone to maintain the technique and teleported to the outside world where one of his marked kunai lay forgotten, and began a long sequence of seals.

The battle had truly begun

Artoria rode as hard as she could. It was the first time she had ever heard Kurama say Naruto was in serious trouble. She couldn't fathom who in Britain outside of Merlin and the magician Zelretch whenever he was in town could give her husband trouble.

Still, Lancaster was a long journey, she wondered the farther north she went, if maybe she should have gathered the knights to assist her. In hindsight, she was still somewhat foolish and young. Guided by her emotions.

But she was still a wife, who loved her husband beyond what she had even originally believed to be humanly possible. She whipped the lashes of her loyal mare, riding even faster. Desperation gripping her soul.

Maybe it would all be fine, maybe she was overreacting. But she couldn't leave it up to chance, she would never forgive herself, and for their child's sake, she would not leave it up to chance.

"Naruto, please be okay."

The landscape had been turned black and grey, fires rose all over the landscape, the earth was broken, mountains were ruptured. The battle had dragged on well onto the night, and when sunrise came neither opponent was willing to let up the assault on the other.

'Kurama, do you think you could absorb that bijuu?" Naruto asked, finding himself within his mind as he stared at his old friend.

"I might, but there's no telling what you might need to do… perhaps, perhaps you should prepare to seal him and I both." The tailed beast answered, causing Naruto to frown.

The blond closed his eyes. It would weaken him significantly, but it would also weaken Madara, meaning they would stand in equal terms.

The blond focused on his movements, their Susanoo, along with that of the enemy was cracked. All he would need to do was find a way to remove Madara from his, and use the contract seal to remove Madara's control over the alternate Kyuubi, and then he could seal it inside himself.

The Jinchuuriki paused, taking a deep breath, as he let go of the Susano'o and the bijuu mode. The gold cloak around his body flickered and dance like a flame as he fell towards the ground

Correcting his orientation the blond landed on his feet and created a new batch of shadow clones. Each with their orders to perform a specific suicide task to tear down the beasts armor. While he himself would immobilize it.

The clones disperse leaving him alone, as nine thick beams of chakra shot out from his back and tied the bijuu down. That got the attention of Madara, who after looking around decided to abandon that plan, once explosions of all sorts started rocking the bijuu, who roared in pain, "He's managing to break the Susanoo?"

Jumping down to engage Naruto, the Uchiha saw that his opponent had been waiting for him, and smirked, "I see you managed to break through the armor. But can you handle both me and a rabid Bijuu?"

"I won't be handling you two for long," the blond said as he bit his thumb, and charged at his opponent. The two engaged in a battle of taijutsu, the proximity suited naruto just nicely. The refined and perfected style of Madara was a sight to behold up close vs his own less refined but tankier style allowed him to take more hits.

Which was exactly what he was counting on. As soon as Madara landed a hit on his stomach, the Uzumaki grasped his hand to keep the Uchiha in place and used the hand he had bitten and slammed it into the uchiha, as he spoke, "Contract: Seal!"

Immediately the effect was felt, as the wild Kyuubi stopped thrashing around for a moment, and pointed it's slitted eyes at the two opponents. It's roar was magnificent, and deafening. And the two enemies looked at each other, as Madara asked, "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"Yeah, I set my friend free from your hatred." Naruto answered with a cocky smile, to which he took a knee to the face. The fight resumed, and he was caught between two opponents, but that was okay with Naruto, he just needed a bit more time to distract Madara afterall.

It was her second day of riding, Artoria fought through the wave of morning sickness that had hit her, and continued up the road north. Praying to whichever deity would hear her plea that she would make it on time.

She tried to stop as little as possible, only at settlements along the way for the mare she rode to rest and eat, or at a river when she felt her war horse too fatigued to continue. With every moment that passed, her paranoia increased. She didn't want to fail him, the love he had shown her was too great. She feared what would happen not just to her but the kingdom as a whole should he disappear and die.

The farther north she made it, the more and more rumors she heard of a cataclysm happening. Of large waves and rivers rising over the horizon where there wasn't supposed to be any, mountains falling and rising. And two armored beasts the size of mountains fighting against each other.

"Naruto, I'm ready!" Kurama yelled out in his mind, and Naruto nodded, as he created ten shadow clones. It was time to seal the wild bijuu. One by one they engaged Madara, who in his tired state, as the sun finally fell over the horizon became easier to manage, while the real Naruto jumped off to deal with the bijuu.

Using his bijuu mode, the Uzumaki engaged the alternate Kurama. He quickly pinned down the bijuu, and using one of his avatar's tails, he grasped his opponent's chakra, as he Extended his hand. The seal key of the Torii seal key appeared, afterall as these years. He began fighting against the other Kurama.

The Bijuu's hatred was potent. It brought back all his horrible memories that he stopped thinking about, the feeling of loneliness returned in full force, drowning him in his failures, the people he failed, it all came to mind crashing down on him.

He closed his eyes, trying to rid himself of those images. He thought about Artoria, their successes, the happiest moment of his life.

"Naruto, I'm with child."

Those words revirtebrated in his mind, as he smiled. Remembering hearing those words not a week prior, filled him with joy and hope.

Having the beast firm within his grasp, he sealed both bijuu within himself. It was painful to put Kurama behind bars, but it had to be done for the time being.

Madara fought with the last trio of clones, his eyes shifted over the treeline as he noted the distinct lack of bijuu over the horizon, "So you've sealed the beast."

Artoria walked around the huddled masses that moved south. She could see pillars of smoke and fire rising over the night sky, it was still some miles in the distance, and she could tell they had moved further by the path of destruction left over the horizon. The rumors were true after all, but her horse was completely fatigued. She left her relaxing in a camp as she left to investigate where her missing love was, on foot.

The destruction was appalling. And from what the locals had said there was no stopping, no ceasefire. The two alien titans fought night and day, people had even begun to fear it was the wrath of god.

As she passed through a valley that was slowly burning out she took in the horrible sight. There was a lot of malice and hatred in the air, it was nauseating and dizzying. Whatever was happening, it was truly horrible.

Artoria looked at the night sky, thunderclouds had gathered. Were things truly so bad? Had the clouds been there before?

She witnessed a Dragon made out of lightning descended from said clouds, and the roar of thunder that followed caused the ground below her to vibrate.

The Queen of Knights tumbled for a moment, but she stood back up. Determined to not fail her shadow.

The sun was rising over the battlefield bringing the colors of dawn with it. The two opponents were tired, fatigued, hungry. They tumbled with each step they took, but they were determined to end each other.

There was blood trailing down his split lips. One eye was closed due to how damaged it was, his vision was blurred. Naruto could barely stand, as it was, and his left shoulder hung useless.

He spat some blood from his mouth. It wasn't like his opponent was in any better condition. The two were running very low on chakra, a strong wind would knock them over.

Determined to end the threat to the one he loved, he tossed the kunai at his enemy haphazardly. But it missed, falling short several feet causing the Uchiha to chuckle, scythe in hand. He dashed, as he watched the Uzumaki form lightning in his hand. A pitiful last ditch effort.

Naruto closed his eyes, as he let go of everything. He felt around as Madara dashed towards him, and smiled as he held Kakashi's chidori. He didn't know if he was imagining it, a delusion from his starved, exhausted state. But he could feel Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura surrounding him. He could feel his parents giving him a final push, the Konoha 12, the five kage. The alliance, the past Hokage. He could feel everyone, driving him to change the future of the world that wretched vampire had dragged the Uchiha from.

Madara's eyes flew wide as his body exploded in pain. The Uzumaki drove his technique into the back of his enemy, having used the Hiraishin to bait out his opponent. He looked down at his chest where a hand coated in lightning pierced it.

"I almost used a Rasengan…" the Uchiha heard from behind him, "It's what I would've done… if I believed you could be saved. But the world you destroyed, the oaths you broke. They are all witnesses to your sins. Kakashi taught this technique to us in order to protect the ones we loved most."

"I see." The Uchiha answered, "You're no fool, like Hashirama."

"No, I failed where he succeeded." Naruto admitted, "But I won't fail again. Not her."

Madara fell to the ground, his corpse was lifeless. His blood stained the gravel below him. Eyes closed in resigned defeat.

Naruto fell to his knees next to him, lightning fizzing out of existence. Exhaustion overcame him, as he too, fell face first into the ground, as unconsciousness took him.