Yo, sorry for the wait but here is the next chapter. Also before the next chapter I'd just like to address something. Most of y'all enjoy the story and I appreciate it, I'll do my best to continue.

To KissShot, I'm not sure if it's the actual user or not since there was no link on the name but just in case. If it's not you and just someone using your name then why don't you stop reading and go 'self insert' yourself into some bitches?

If it really is the author, don't you have a story where Naruto is a white haired, horned deity but you complaining that mine is an oc?

Anyways, to the rest of you, feel free to pull up to the server and just chill. cUB8Ah4A

It didn't take long to reach the Vermillion estate from Julius's office. He only took about five minutes or so to find their estate. He'd heard from Leopold that their home was rather large but seeing the main compound in person, their description didn't do it justice. He wondered just how many people lived and worked there for it to be properly maintained.

He shook his head, that didn't matter. The Crimson Lion's needed a suitable captain and they would be getting one.

He took a deep breath and knocked. "Ok, how hard could this be?" He said to himself. "Julius wouldn't send me here for no good reason."

The door was opened by a regal looking older woman that had the family's trademark vermillion colored hair. There was a slight difference as hers was nowhere near as vibrant as Leopold or Fuegoleon but the similarities in their facial features was enough for him to know this was their mother.

"Good afternoon young man." She greeted before looking him up and down, noticing his Crimson Lions uniform. "Oh. You're part of my son's squad."

Naruto nodded. "Yes ma'am. Vice Captain Naruto." He introduced himself.

Lady Vermillion stepped aside and motioned for him to step in. "Fuegoleon has spoken about you. It's nice to finally put a face to the name." Naruto couldn't help but notice the sadness in her voice as she said her comatose's son's name.

"Good things I hope." He jokes to try and lighten the somber mood. Seeing that it didn't really have much effect he spoke again. "Captain Fuegoleon is resilient. I'm sure he'll be up in no time at all. It'll take more than an ambush to kill a man of his caliber."

The older woman smiled slightly and nodded at his words, lightly rubbing her eyes as she did so.

"I'm sorry. You're right. Captain or not I still worry about him, all of my children for that matter. Speaking of which young man, am I correct to assume you're here looking for my daughter." She asked.

Naruto's eyes lit up.

'Good old Julius probably had this set up from the beginning.' He thought to himself not knowing that he was both right and wrong.

Lady Vermillion slowly paced around him, looking him up and down while nodding every now and then. She lifted his arms, lightly feeling his biceps before standing in front of him with her arms crossed.

"Hmmm. I approve but I do have to ask. Does her age not bother you? From what Fuegoleon has told us you're barely in your mid twenties, twenty five if I recall correctly."

Naruto blinked twice in slight confusion at her question. What did that have to do with anything? "Of course not. Her age doesn't matter. There's no one else I'd rather ask." He answered truthfully. His confusion only grew as the woman seemed to beam in happiness at his words.

Lady Vermillion clapped her hands together "Excellent. Though just so you know it is customary to show up dressed a little more appropriately."

He looked down at himself and frowned. What was wrong with his uniform?

"What's going on here?" Naruto turned to see an older looking man step into the room. He looked like an older version of his Captain, though this man had some slight grey in his hair. The clothing he wore was similar as well except he didn't have any Crimson Lion sigils anywhere on his person. It wasn't hard to deduce that this was Fuegoleon's father.

"Oh, dear, this is Naruto." She said introducing him. The older man's face changed slightly, letting him know he'd also heard of him. "He's here looking for Mereoleona."

At the mention of his daughter, the man stood up straighter and like his wife before him, began inspecting him. After a few tense seconds the man nodded, seemingly satisfied.

"I've heard from Leo that you're a Spade Kingdom native." He commented.

Naruto nodded. "I am." He briefly wondered if the man was going to begin telling him something about being a foreigner but to his delight he didn't.

"I can sense very powerful magic from you. Can I assume that burst of power we felt earlier today was you?" He asked.

Naruto scratched the back of his head in slight embarrassment, still remembering how he'd partially destroyed part of the room. "Yeah, I had to put on a display for some of the Captains at the meeting."

Lord Vermillion nodded "An impressive display if we were able to feel it that strongly even from here. Very well, let us head elsewhere to discuss the terms while I call for my daughter." He said, motioning him to follow.

'Terms?' He thought to himself. This was getting more and more bizarre as time went on. He didn't think he needed her parents permission to lead the squad. 'Maybe noble families did things differently.' He added afterwards.

He followed the man to his study and was offered a seat in front of the desk. Naruto watched as the man searched through his drawers, quickly going through papers until he found the one he was looking for.

It was a small stack, maybe seven or eight pages in total that was placed in front of him.

"So this is the basic contract, but before we sign these we'll need to negotiate the dowry amount." The man told him. "I believe 12 million Yul should be sufficient, don't you think?"

Naruto's eyes widened as the realization of what was happening finally dawned on him. Before he could counter however, there was a knock on the door.

"Enter." Lord Vermillion called out.

The door opened and in walked the very person he'd been looking for. This was the first time he'd seen her and he couldn't lie, he definitely liked what he saw. Like the rest of her family she had long vermillion colored hair. She wore a white tunic like shirt that displayed some impressive cleavage underneath a long sleeve, high collar blue shirt. She wore white pants and around her waist had a pinkish sash that kept her shirt tight.

Similar to Leopold she had one canine-like tooth on display and similar to both of her brothers had red marks around her eyes. She crossed her arms and looked down at the blond seated in front of her father.

Naruto stared back and could immediately tell this woman had a temper. He wasn't sure why but that was actually kind of attractive.

"Good you're here." The older Vermillion commented. "I thought it wouldn't happen after the last one all those years ago but it seems I was mistaken."

Mereoleona glanced down at the desk and recognized the papers immediately. She looked back at Naruto with narrowed eyes. "Is that right?" She asked out loud.

The blond, seeing that things had gotten way out of hand, stood up and cleared his throat.

"Ok it seems like there's a giant misunderstanding." He said trying to do some damage control. Unfortunately for him, Lady Vermillion took that chance to step into the room with them. The look of happiness on her face told him things weren't going to be getting any better.

"Leona. This fine young man has been speaking nothing but good things about you since he got here. Your age doesn't matter to him and he said there's nobody else he'd rather ask. Quite the charmer if you ask me." She commented.

Naruto had to resist the urge to cup his face in his hands as things seemed to just get progressively worse.

"Right…" Mereoleona trailed off. "Why don't we let him speak for a second." She nodded her head to Naruto. It seemed she had picked up on what was clearly a misunderstanding, something he was grateful for.

Naruto coughed into his hand. "I'm sorry but this whole thing is a giant misunderstanding. Yes, I did come here looking for your daughter but not for marriage purposes."

Now it was Lady Vermillion's turn to look confused. "Wait, but only people looking to propose come directly to the familial home of their intended bride."

Naruto's eyes widened as he realized Julius had indeed set this up. He'd set him up knowing he'd be stuck in a mess like this. He knew that the man must be somewhere laughing at what he was currently going through. Naruto made a mental note to get the man back for this.

"I'm sorry to say I wasn't aware of this custom. Fuegoleon never told me about noble customs and some of the nobles I have met made me not want to know at all." He said, referring to the Silva's.

Part of him felt a little bad for the older woman as he saw her happiness disappear in an instant at his words.

Mereoleona shook her head in disbelief. "Well now that that's been cleared up, you follow me." She ordered Naruto.

The two walked out of the room and made their way deeper into the house. As they walked, the blond couldn't help but shake his head at all the very expensive looking art and furniture that decorated their home. They had maids and butlers walking around the place, each doing something different

"Naruto" He heard from behind him. The two mages stopped and turned around to see Leopold running up to them with a somewhat angry look in his eyes.

"Yo." The blond greeted back happily.

"You never said you planned to marry my sister." He shot back somewhat angrily. Looks like word had gotten around the compound quicker than he thought. Just as he was going to explain everything he was beaten to the punch.

He'd been correct in his assumption that the woman had a temper. In a split second, her grimoire was out and a large appendage made of fire gripped the young mage's head. She lifted him off the ground and continued making her way outside, not at all bothered by his futile attempts to free himself.

Once the three of them were in their very large back yard she tossed the boy off into the distance. He wasn't sure where she'd flung him to but he figured she'd probably done it enough times to not hurt him too bad.

"This way." She said. He followed her for another minute or so, his eyes briefly looking down to take in her form. He did stop rather quickly as an older woman in a maid's outfit smirked at him, no doubt catching him checking the firstborn daughter out.

Mereoleona stopped at a small bench that was far enough from anyone else and sat down, crossing one leg over the other.

"So you're the one everyone's been talking about." She began "The mage from Spade Kingdom, and if Leo told anyone else you should expect people congratulating you on your coming engagement soon." She added with clear amusement.

He sighed. "I hope he didn't tell anyone. Anyway, I'd really love to have spoken to you for the first time under more pleasant circumstances but I don't have that luxury unfortunately. I'm sure you're aware of your brother's condition."

"I've heard. He'll be alright, I'm sure of it." She said confidently.

"He will." Naruto agreed. "The Crimson Lions need a new Captain." He said, getting straight to the point.

She chuckled. "So you came to me? They didn't tell you I've turned down the offer for becoming a Captainc every time? You're powerful and the squad already seems to trust you a great deal from what I've heard. I don't see the issue with you leading." She said, crossing her arms.

"I'm sure some don't mind but I know not everyone trusts me the way they did before. Some no doubt feel like I didn't trust them enough to tell them I was from Spade. Not only that but I'm also not what a Captain should be."

Mereoleona raised an eyebrow at his statement. "Explain."

"A Captain should have the Kingdom and its citizen's best interests at heart. Fuegoleon was the perfect person for the job. Me?" He said pointing to himself. "I have another Kingdom's future that I'm worried about."

"You plan to go back to the Spade Kingdom." She deduced. "Does the Wizard King know about this?"

He nodded. "When the time is right I'll have his support." He replied cryptically.

Mereoleona studied him for a second, her face void of emotion. Finally, after what felt like hours she sighed. "I'll think about it. I'll stop by your office in a few days with an answer."

"If it helps persuade you, it would be a temporary position until your brother wakes up." He added trying to talk her into it.

The woman laughed and motioned him away with her hand. Seeing the dismissal, he made his way back towards the front door. He bowed once to Lord and Lady Vermillion and apologized once more for the confusion before making his way out.

As he made his way back to the Crimson Lions headquarters he ran a hand through his hair. He really hoped that she would take him up on the offer. If not he'd have to find someone else, and he wasn't sure there was anyone else who was Captain material.

Three days passed and Naruto hadn't heard back from Fuegoleon's older sister. He had thought about going to their home but decided against it, not wanting another encounter with the family. Leopold was also out of the question to ask because even though he'd explained the situation, the young man still didn't believe him. Asking if his sister had spoken about him in any way would only make it worse so he decided to sit patiently.

Just as he was half way through reading a memo from the Wizard King there was a knock on his door. The head of one of the newer squad members peeked in and locked eyes with him.

"Sorry to intrude but there's a woman here to see you." He perked up. Naruto was going to answer but saw the top of the young man's head grabbed by a fire claw before he was lifted and moved out of the way.

The door opened fully to reveal Mereoleona making her way in. She at least had the courtesy of gently placing the young magic knight back on the ground and letting him scamper off. Closing the door behind her, the older woman took a seat and crossed her arms.

"I assume you've made a decision." He started.

She nodded. "Normally I'd decline but seeing the condition my younger brother is in, I feel the need to at least cover for him until he decides to wake up." Naruto sighed in relief, glad that the woman had come around. "However…" She continued. "If I'm going to be that Captain of the squad things will run my way."

It wasn't an unreasonable request. As long as she was fair to everyone and continued helping the squad earn stars from the Wizard King he wouldn't complain.

Mereoleona shot him a challenging smirk, clearly going to enjoy what she was going to say next. "That means if you want to be my Vice Captain, you're going to have to prove yourself."

Prove himself? "I think I've done a pretty good job all these years." He shot back.

"From what I've heard from my brother you're very capable. Your use of 'Spatial' magic was incredible is what he would tell me." She made sure to make quotation marks with her hands at the word 'spatial', letting him know she was aware of his magic.

"I trust him but I want to be sure. If you're going to be watching my back I need to make sure I know what you're really capable of. I want to see you using your real magic." She told him in a serious tone.

"How would you like to do this?" He asked.

The woman smiled fiercely and a small shiver ran down his spine. She was looking at him like prey as she stood up and motioned him to follow her with a single finger. He stood up and made his way out the door, making sure to stay close behind. Feeling his pants ride down just a tad he quickly tugged at his belt to tighten it up some.

Unfortunately, at that moment, Leopold saw them and quickly appeared in front of him.

"Leo" Mereoleona called happily. "I hope you're keeping up with your training because if not things are going to get rough for you soon."

The youngest Vermillion sibling in the squad looked perplexed. Usually Mereoleona wasn't in such a happy mood when she was in the capital.

Meanwhile, Naruto continued tugging at his belt when something told him to look up. He saw Leopold narrow his eyes at him and glance back at his sister who still had a smirk on her face. His eyes then dropped down to Naruto's hands who were still in the process of fixing the tightness of the belt.

The young man's eyes widened slowly as he seemingly figured out the cause of his sister's good mood. He was wrong in his assumption of course but the events over the past few days didn't make him see it that way.

"We can't chat now Leo." Mereoleona cut him off right as he opened his mouth. "Naruto and I are going to train at my spot for a while. We'll be back soon to whip you all into shape." She said, once again motioning for the blond to follow.

Naruto internally groaned as he passed by the young man who was still glaring at him. He knew the older Vermillion didn't mean to, but she'd just made her brother believe they were going to be doing a different sort of training. It would be tough to convince Leo otherwise after this.

He followed her to a grand magic zone that had a large volcano erupting. The area around was hot, immensely so. As the two walked further up the mountain, the air became hotter, making it that much more difficult to breathe. In response to the change in the environment, his body began to glow a light red as he covered himself in a thin layer of mana to prevent himself from feeling the effects of the area.

He caught a glimpse of Mereoleona glancing back at him with an approving look on her face. Like him, she'd also covered her body in a thin layer of mana to prevent any side effects of the area. They steadily climbed higher and higher until they made it to an area with a rather unique platform. They were surrounded by jagged rocks and large cliff faces on either side of them and two small rocks just big enough for them to stand on were in a smaller volcano.

The woman jumped across the gap and landed safely on the ground and motioned him to follow.

He did so and landed on the other rock. He looked down to see the lava below them occasionally spewing out balls of fire every now and then.

"Here's how it's going to work." She began "We're going to fight until I've seen enough. We're not limited to this area, anywhere you want to fight we'll go. Don't hold back." She added afterward.

Naruto cracked his neck and summoned his grimoire to his side. Like everyone else, he saw her glance at his grimoire, taking in every detail of the foreign book.

Mereoleona looked back at him and shot him another one of her animalistic smirks as her magic flared around her. "That look on your face…You look like you're ready to be devoured by a lion." She commented happily.

In the time it took him to blink, the woman was on him. He jumped in the air just as a large blast of fire engulfed the area where he'd stood. His eyes darted to the side as a blinding light quickly made its way towards him. Similar to when he fought Licht, he waited until the fire was just about to touch him before acting.

The flames instantly changed into a harmless mist in seconds. He smirked at the woman's surprised face as she appeared through the mist and quickly shot his leg out.

Mereoleona reacted quickly and brought a hand up to block and was mostly successful. Though she managed to block, the force behind the blow did send her soaring down towards the lava below.

It wouldn't be that easy however, as she simply stood in mid air and began charging at him again. The woman pulled her arm back and began punching rapidly, sending multiple large bursts of fire in his direction.

He could've easily turned them into mist as well, or even made them disappear all together but that wouldn't help him out. She wanted to test him to see what he was capable of, to see if she could trust him to cover her in battle. Knowing they'd inevitably face the Eye of the Midnight Sun again, he changed his strategy up.

"Reality Magic: Attribute change" He called out. The woman tilted her head ever so slightly and her eyes darted to his grimoire. The book changed from a bright red with black lines to a bright pink, with only the spine staying red.

Naruto's body also took on a pink hue as the color of his mana skin changed in conjunction with his grimoire.

He made a slashing motion with his hand at the fireball making its way toward him, easily cutting the projectile in half. Two more slashed and Mereoleona was forced to move from her spot as well. The rock faces behind her had deep slices in them.

"Oh? Cutting magic?" She wondered.

"Not exactly." He responded as he landed in mid air. Well, not exactly in the air. Mereoleona could see a very thin white line stretching from one side of the rock to the other beneath him.

The two didn't speak again, instead Naruto flexed three of his fingers. The woman had but split seconds to move before deep cuts began appearing all around her. A small tear in her sleeve followed by a thin line of blood appearing on her arm told her she hadn't been fast enough to completely dodge.

Though she'd been slightly caught off guard she was quickly back in attack mode. The speed of her punches increased and Naruto had to begin maneuvering through the air to avoid being hit.

"Not bad!" She yelled from behind him, a red fist already cocked back. The blond put a hand up in front of him and quickly formed what looked like a spider web in front of him that met the attack head on.

The spider web held on long enough for the fire to die down but he didn't plan on her having another attack ready while one was dying out. A large beasts head made of fire easily broke through the web, making its way towards him. Thinking quickly he quickly flexed two fingers and disappeared from his position.

"Fullbright." He called out from high in the air. His hand swiped downwards towards the soon to be Captain and five white strings shot down at breakneck speeds. Unsurprisingly, she managed to evade the strings. The rock below her where the strings had hit was easily sliced into pieces.

The two went back and forth, one shooting fireballs in rapid succession while the other swiped and hacked at the air, cutting everything in sight.

Mereoleona's smile never left her face as the two battled and even Naruto found that he'd begun enjoying himself slightly. Spars with Fuegoleon were always very strict, never getting too out of control. The man's sister however, had none of those restraints.

"Calidos Brachium!" Mereoleona called out as the magic around her flared.

The blond could feel the immense amount of power behind that attack and put up two hands, creating two spider webs above one another. Unfortunately the attack was far stronger than he'd anticipated and easily broke through the string defense. For the first time since their battle started, he took a direct hit.

He barely had time to register the pain as his back crashed into the rock face. Mereoleona however wasn't idle and continued her charge. Another large fireball was making its way toward him and as he jumped to avoid it, he saw the woman waiting for him in the air.

'She knew I'd jump.' He thought to himself as she got closer. Just as she sent another fiery punch at him, he raised his hand, palm facing her. A dark red ball quickly formed before stretching out, looking like a large whip. The 'whip' made contact with her arm and easily pushed her back.

He took a few deep breaths and swiped at his mouth, using the back of his hand to wipe some blood off. That punch had really done a number on him. He tried not to smirk as he thought of his next move. Woman or not, he was going to do a number on her. She did want to know what he was capable of, right?

Mereoleona quickly got herself airborne again and pulled her hand back for another attack. Just as she went to punch however, she stopped. Her eyes narrowed at him and began trying to look around, only for her head not to move either.

"What did you do?" She asked, her tone wasn't angry but rather both curious and frustrated.

"I attached one of the strings to you during that last attack. They're thin enough to not be sensed if moved slowly enough or if you're distracted enough not to notice." He flexed two of his fingers and smirked when he saw her body begin to move according to his whim.

In a flash he appeared in front of her, his face only an inch or so away from hers and delivered a strong upper cut to the woman's chin. Not allowing her to get away he swiped his hand down and forced her back towards him.

He spun in mid air, using the string below him as a spring and kicked her aside into the rock face. The rock broke both because of the initial impact and because the woman's body caught fire moments after hitting.

He could feel the string that held her body hostage disappear due to the immense heat the woman was radiating and knew they'd have to end things quickly.

"Mana zone Calidos Brachium" She called out. Now he could see why this was her place to fight. The immense amount of mana in the area resonated well with her attribute and easily amplified her attacks. This version was far stronger than the last one he'd taken.

She was in front of him in the blink of an eye. The area began to glow white as the attack connected and exploded, emanating a bright light that could be seen from miles away.

Mereoleona stood atop one of the only remaining rocks in the pit taking deep breaths. She looked down at herself and saw many more slices on her body and could feel a pain in her ribs whenever she took a breath. Her chin was also slightly tinted blue from that attack he'd landed on her when she was unable to move.

The smoke cleared and the only expression that appeared on her face was confusion.

Naruto's body was missing from the waist up, but rather than guts or any blood, only strings were present. The body shimmered for a second before falling apart into a white clump on the ground.

"Goshikito" She heard from behind her.

Naruto swiped one hand at her leg and five strings, all different colors, easily began tearing into her. He saw the woman grit her teeth as she was forced down to a knee, the strings having cut some of her muscle. He'd made sure to not cut enough to amputate or leave permanent damage. Something told him the woman probably wouldn't care and would rather continue that battle but he wasn't going to do that.

Blood quickly began pouring down the woman's leg and he knew this was his chance.

"Reality Magic: Attribute change" His grimoire changed from pink to a bright red, mimicking the womans and he knew he only had a split second to attack. Now that he changed magics, the string holding her in place would disappear.

"Let's see how this goes. Calidos Brachium" He called out as his fist made contact with her cheek. The attack wasn't as grandiose as hers, mostly due to the amount of mana he's spent up until now. Changing to string magic had lessened the drain but it was still reality magic, and took up an immense amount of mana.

Mereoleona was sent upwards, her body crashing into part of the rocks before landing on one leg on the surface above.

Naruto was amazed that she was still sending him a challenging smirk. Her body was now littered with cuts and bruises.

"I haven't had this much fun with someone from the squad in a long time" She said loudly. "I'd love to continue this but I think I've seen enough."

Naruto nodded and forced his grimoire to change back to its pink form once again. Not letting her ask anything he moved his fingers and began stitching up her clothes until they looked good as new. He'd have done her body too but that sometimes interfered with the healers and he didn't feel like dealing with the paperwork.

"Does that mean I passed?" He asked jokingly. He chuckled and grabbed his abdomen in pain, the feeling of that one attack finally kicking in. Though he wasn't as cut up as she was, he was definitely bruised from where she had managed to land hits.

"Absolutely." She said as she walked over to him. She had a slight limp in her step which was amazing considering she shouldn't even be able to walk. "Let's go inform the squad." She added as she passed by him.

The two made their way back down the mountain, talking about what they would have to do to whip the squad into shape. It was much faster going down than it was going up and the two made it back to the headquarters in record time.

They walked in through the front door and everyone stopped what they were doing and stood at attention.

"Everyone listen up!" The woman yelled, authority clear in her voice. "From now until my brother wakes up I will be taking the position of Captain of this squad. Enjoy the rest of your day because starting tomorrow, your training regimen is going to change."

Everyone put up the three finger salute and nodded to her. Happy having settled that, the woman made her way into what used to be her brother's office.

"Naruto."

Said man turned around to see Leopold once again looking at him with suspicion clear in his eyes.

"Yeah?"

"Why is my sister limping?"

Naruto was going to ask if he didn't see the bruise on her and turned to look at said woman. She was looking right at them and he realized if she was looking straight you couldn't see the bruise since it was directly under her chin.

"Leopold! Leave Naruto alone. We have important matters to discuss." She ordered.

The blond really wanted to hold his head in exasperation as everything she said only seemed to egg her younger brother on. The young man walked away but not before promising to keep an eye on him.

He sighed and made his way into the office. He hoped the boy would see it was just a huge misunderstanding.

Despite that though, he smiled. He'd finally gotten a Captain for his squad and he had a good feeling about her.