Chapter 6

Subaru stared at the hours of work in front of him. Naruto had him doing field work and various other chores some of which required heavy lifting. It had been 2 weeks and the probe had reported back with good news; the planet had been found. The bad news was that that there was some kind of barrier around it, the probe had gotten and from what had been seen, time had somehow stopped; they suspected magic. Thankfully this meant that everyone was safe from what the video had showed. Naruto's inventions and upgrades were amazing. Add his magic and chakra with Liara's ingenuity and genius; the duo were perfect to say the least. Subaru was being worked to the bone with chores and harsh near brutal training, Naruto wasn't taking it easy on him.

Subaru's physical abilities were now much better than before and he'd learned quite a bit from Naruto.

"I'm not going to tell you to change yourself, but try to learn from your mistakes and grow as a person."

The blonde cared quite a bit although he showed it in a rather unique way when it came to Subaru. "Damn I'm sore." He rubbed his shoulders. "He's working me to the bone, but at least the results are pretty good."

"Fight like your life depends on it!" Naruto exclaimed as 6 clones attacked Subaru. The student was equipped with a blade, specifically the blade that once belonged to Naruto's best friend, Sasuke Uchiha who died in the war. Subaru blocked as best he could and tried to counterattack. The clones were using only 1% of Naruto's power and from what Subaru could gather, it was definitely above Rem's physical abilities when she went on a rampage against the horde of demon beasts and the witch cult in the loop where he died.

"Fireball Jutsu!"

"Uzumaki Style: Chakra Chains!"

These were the last words he heard before he was completely overwhelmed.

"It's a good thing Liara scolded him so now he only uses two clones." He yawned. "Then there's her." He touched his chest.

"I recognize the seal, but I'm not sure how it got on you or who put it on you, but that's definitely a seal made for sealing Tailed beasts inside of people; someone made you a jinchuriki like me." Naruto stated. "A modified Uzumaki seal, but who could've done this kind of intricate work, it's like it was specifically made for you and whatever is inside of you."

"You don't know anyone?"

"The Sage of Six Paths, my mom according to her notes, and from what the really old records show there were two Uzumaki Clan members who were seal masters with techniques so dangerous that they were erased from history; the techniques not the masters." He explained. "Anyway, you don't have to worry about being possessed or anything so don't worry too much."

"She's really sealed inside of me now, but how?" Someone had sent him here and sealed the Witch of Envy inside of him, someone with a lot of power. "I better get back to work before Naruto sees me slacking off again." He stood up. His gaze went to the sword; Naruto had given it to him to keep. "Why does he have so much faith in me?" this was a question that he asked him for a while now, and even asked Naruto but the blonde only gave him vague answers. "I hope that we'll be able to stay in contact when—" the sudden sight of ten massive chakra hands shooting into the sky caught his attention. Looking up his eyes widened at the sight of a massive ship that was half the size of the Civilian Ship. "What the hell?" the ship was smoking and was damaged in various places.

Subaru ran to Naruto who was quite a ways away. The blonde was in his Cosmic Fox Mode, Subaru hadn't seen this form, but Liara had told him about it. "Come on slow down!" the engines fell off and Naruto was able to stop the ship. "Damn this is heavy." He said before turning and setting it down as gently as he could. "Damnit." He fell onto his left knee in pain. "How did that ship come out of an FTL jump so close to the planet?!" he wasn't happy about this one bit.

"Let's ask them." Liara said. The woman had come out to see what the commotion was about, plus the ship coming down had caught her attention. "To think a space faring race would literally come to us."

Before anything else could be said. A door on the left side of the ship opened up; this put the trio on guard with each ready to fight if need be. From the ship came a woman with pale blue skin, glowing blue eyes, and shoulder length silver hair. She looked human but wasn't, they had no idea what she was. The woman had both her hands up. "Who are you?" Naruto questioned.

"Mara Sov the Queen of the Awoken." She stated. "You're the one who saved the lives of my people, those large golden hands were yours?" Naruto nodded. "It would seem that my crew and I owe you our lives."

"It was no problem really." The blonde said. "It looks like you were attacked."

"Yes, someone or something suddenly fired on our fleet, this is the only one that survived if only barely." She said. "We're all that's left of our race."

"The last of your race, how does that even happen?" Subaru asked.

"Our Homeworld was attacked by whatever destroyed the fleet, all we found was a lifeless planet unable to support life " she explained. "We were lucky to survive this long, and now we've made it to safety; what is the name of this planet?"

"Uzushiogakure…I named it after my peoples homeland." Naruto said. "We have plenty of food to spare and I can get to building homes for your people if you're comfortable with that." He said. "How many are on that ship?"

"537 people, 46 are children, and 200 are young adults while the rest are adults or older." Mara said before taking Naruto's hand. "Your kindness is more than we could hope for and I will find a way to repay you for this, I swear it on my honor as queen." She was dead serious. "Whether you need me to be your sword or shield I shall do so without hesitation, if you require an heir then…" the blonde was immediately taken back by this. 'Not if I need an heir, if she requires an heir to take over for her if she were to fall.' His power must've impressed her quite a bit. 'There's some kind of energy flowing through her, it's insanely powerful so she must have some kind of amazing abilities.' Add his own power even a small amount, then any child he produces would likely be incredibly powerful. "I'll keep that in mind."

It was time to build and mine for more resources, it was going to take a while to build the homes by scratch while accounting for infants and children. Things were going to get hectic from here on out. The sudden sound of his phone ringing caught his attention. "Hmm?" his eyes widened upon seeing who it was.

6 Months Later – Uzushiogakure – Nighttime

She was here with him, finally they were together. At the moment however, he was going through the reports that had been sent to him. "Winter is coming in a few weeks so stocking food is going to be a definite, warm clothes and blanket can be easily produced along with heating units, the snow will be thick so shoveling is a must; not sure how cold the night will become though." He said. "Your botanical garden will be protected since it also produces medicinal herbs and plants with various uses aside from being pleasant to look at." There were a few in Subaru's room, and to be honest Naruto did appreciate anything that could make something feel more homey. "I really don't like the winter, I've had enough of the cold to last a lifetime."

"Don't plan on going outside?" Haru asked, she definitely was going out once it got cold.

"No, I'll have my clones do most of the work, I'd rather not stay out to long if I don't have to." He stated. "Thankfully, Jane Shepard was a really big movie fan and a secret otaku, she downloaded a bunch of TV series and movies that we've been able to safely recover." They would have something to do while hold up inside at least.

"It's weird seeing you do desk work, you look miserable to be honest."

"I'm bored out of my mind but the importance isn't lost on me, thankfully Mara does her job as well." He finished up and got into bed. Haru shifted a bit upon hearing Maras name. "Is she giving you trouble or something?"

"No, in fact she's very helpful and curious about me and my home planet; she even taught me about how the Awoken physiology work, specifically how her people age extremely slow." She said. "You know she's like 98 and has a crush on you."

"I know, but I think that what she desires most is an heir to take over if she dies or decides to retire; a powerful heir and I'm the perfect one to impregnate her." There was a chance that she was willing to wait until Haru died of old age or something happened. Mara was patient and he doubted that she would do anything to harm Haru, she didn't seem like the kind of woman to do that. The duo would go to sleep 20 minutes later.

In Subaru's home, which was made for a single person, he lay on his bed staring at the ceiling. 'Rem, I wonder if Naruto can bring you back?'

"Waking her up might be the easy part, but bringing memories back may take time especially if they've been sealed." He explained. "I'll try my best but I won't make any promises."

'Hopefully he can.' He gripped his chest, he didn't know how much longer he could go without his friends. He didn't want to forget what they looked like. If he did then he'd never be able to forgive himself. Then there was Satella, he could sometimes hear her speaking plainly, they were closer than he thought. Then there was Return By Death, he still had it, but he didn't plan on dying anymore. Not to mention the slight effect it had on the timeline. When time was rewound the timeline he was in ended up being erased completely, as in it no longer existed; only in his memories. Meaning that billions of people were basically killed because of his inability to stay alive. This would haunt him for the rest of his life.

2 Weeks Later – Uzushiogakure

Subaru stared at the snow outside, the sky was heavily clouded and the snow was still falling. It reminded him of Sanctuary, specifically when he was eaten alive. "Please no flesh eating rabbits." He then looked to the awoken housing. They had air conditioning and were more than likely very warm. Of course he had air conditioning too. "Mom really loves snow." He muttered. "She would sometimes get a bucketful and pour it on dad and me just for laughs." That wasn't something he missed.

The sight of Naruto's close shoveling snow made him pity them, but not enough to go out in the cold and help them. Being frozen to death wasn't a pleasant experience, but it was better than being eaten alive. The only way he was stepping out there was if it was absolutely necessary.

The teen went back to bed and got under both his blankets. "I really wish I could hibernate like a bear or a deer."

The deer on this planet hibernated apparently and it was odd to see. As did the birds, but certain plants flourished in the cold. Certain animals came out as well, animals that wandered into the settlement through curiosity, but left after a while. The largest had been 12 meters tall with white fur. It had walked on four legs and it's shape reminded him of Puck, but on all fours with four glowing yellow eyes. Winter Beast, that's what everyone called it despite never seeing it clearly. It had eaten the dead trees and then left.

"I wonder what else there is to see on this planet?" he wished his friends could be here to see this place. It could be a second chance for everyone, kami knows they needed and deserved one. "Would they even accept it?" he wondered. "Emelia has her own goal and Roswell has his schemes with that book, I doubt they would accept…none of them would." He sighed. "Not unless their lives are at risk or there's no other choice." At least when he went back, he would be stronger than he was before. If Naruto could fix Rem then everything would be perfect.

Unknown to him nothing would be perfect, and something terrible was coming. Something worse than any of the Archbishops of Sin.

Chapter 6 End