Hello everyone, this is Fan of Fanfics21 here with a new chapter of the Naruto-Fabula Nova Chrysalis saga. You heard me, a saga. I won't go into details, but I was initially inspired by the first Final Fantasy XIII game to write this and end it all years ago, but with the sequels, it inspired me to expand this. Today is day 12 after Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII was released, and the same day I finished the main story. Tomorrow (which is the day I post this new chapter) will be the 13th Day.

So here it is, the prelude to the Bloodline Purge Arc!

Disclaimer: Fan of Fanfics21 does not own anything, just the imagination at work.

Naruto twisted and turned in his bed, his dreams were in disarray as he delved into his own mind.

Naruto looked around in his dream, seeing nothing but the blackness of the void as he proceeded to walk towards nothing.

There was no color

There was no sound

There was no smell

There was no feeling

It was truly the empty Void he wandered in as then he stopped, as he heard something.

"-ab…r?"

He turned to where the source was at, but found nothing. It was like it was all around him. "Who are you?" he asked quietly as the voice repeated itself several times, until it was finally clear.

"Saber, is that you?" a female voice asked as Naruto froze and his eyes widened as he turned to the source. "…Master?" he spoke in shock as he realized the girl standing before him was.

Serah Farron, Master of the Fourth Holy Grail War of Cocoon and current rank of Seraph.

Naruto remembered that voice quite well, and he saw that Serah, his former Master that had summoned him to battle, had grown into a real beauty over the years. He still faintly recalled how much of a frightened cat and lonely girl she was when they first met. But her eyes, they were more mature than at that final battle with her, more so, than he could even remember. "The little angel has grown into a goddess." He mentally mused as Serah ran over and gave the young boy a bone crushing hug.

"-And she's still got that brutal grip as well!" he added as he heard something in his bones pop as she released him. "I did not expect to see you after all of these years! I heard you got married, congrats!" Naruto had a wry smile on his expression. "Guess who I married." He told her. "Um…Sakura?" Serah guessed as Naruto shook his head. "Lightning," he told her straight-out, getting a surprised, speechless face from Serah who truly didn't see that one coming.

"Though truth be told, we were drugged and tricked into getting married, but I'm willing to divorce her if she wants to. I don't marry a girl unless I love her and she loves me back." Naruto added with second thoughts as Serah shook her head. "No, I think you should try and build a relationship with her." She said, catching Naruto off-guard with that comment. "Even before; during the war, when you tend to get an unwanted harem of girls, you were always alone on the inside. Since you're incarnated as a human, I think you should try living like a person instead of a warrior." Serah told him as her eyes were as hard as adamantine as Naruto sighed in defeat.

Serah Farron never backs down and has the glare in her eyes that can pierce even the toughest hides of a Behemoth and send them running to their makers. "Alright, alright! I'll do it, but if Lightning's not interested, then I'll divorce her." He replied as Serah smiled sweetly as she was beginning to fade out. "Looks like I'm out of time take; care Naruto! Shana says 'Hi,' and tell Lightning that I'm on my way back to her along with Snow and the others!" she exclaimed as she faded away and the dream ended.

Naruto slowly opened his eyes and yawned, rubbing them childishly as he got up and began stretching his body as he felt the stiffness in his body fade away. It was dark in this new 'home' of his, what was once Orochimaru's lair was now his. He checked the clock, 2:04 in the morning. He had 26 more minutes before the long and dangerous mission before him was to begin. To stop the Bloodline Purge of Kiri and end the civil war in there.

*6 minutes later*

Naruto, fully clothed, armed, and ready to go, ran towards what would be the kitchen and prepare himself a light meal, only to see Kushina in the kitchen already and Lightning already finished eating. "Morning Naruto, are you ready for one of the biggest things in your life?" she asked with a smile as Naruto was surprised how early his mom was up. Lightning he could understand, but his mother who loved to sleep in? "I must be catching a cold." He mentally decided as he sat down across Lightning. It was quite at the table as Kushina hummed a tune while she was cooking.

…

…

…

The tension at the table was so heavy that Kushina was certain she could cut it out with a knife right now as she began feeling it from behind her.

"I'm sorry," Naruto spoke up, surprising Lightning and Kushina with that sudden apology. "I'm sorry for the way I've been talking to the both of you as of late. My old 'King' personality is starting to take over again." He apologized again as Lightning and Kushina knew what he meant with the way he was talking. He was referring to the disrespect he had given them back in the hospital, and had somehow convinced them to do some missions in his stead while he was incapacitated. But-

"'King' personality?" Kushina asked from the stove as a pancake soared onto Naruto's plate. "Yes, it's a Cypher thing, because back in my prime, I was a king, and I had a personality that made me…unpleasant to be around." He admitted as Lightning crossed her arms and shook her head. "That could explain how a good natured boy like you turned into someone whose rudeness levels are on the point of wanting to kill you." She said, adding her own cents as Naruto chuckled bitterly.

"Well, that's because I'm merely 'borrowing' this body." He replied as the sound of metal hitting something was heard as Kushina had the stove off as she turned to the Shinobi L'Cie. "What do you mean by 'borrow' exactly son?" she asked as Naruto merely eyed her. "You see mom, I'm merely a foreign being inside of who should be labeled as 'Naruto Uzumaki', yet I'm not the one who originally inhabited this body. I am merely the spirit of Cypher Naruto Uzumaki that had just 'taken over' the body of the Naruto of this world." He explained in a calm way as Kushina was left speechless.

"Don't worry; this world's Naruto is in a trance of sorts. His conscious is subdued and cannot awaken until I am done, and by then, history will be corrected." Naruto told her as Kushina walked up to him, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Even now, you are still my son, and no matter what, I'd still love you. For some reason…I just feel a great sadness in my heart when I look at you." She told him as Naruto paused and then looked away. Lightning saw that face he had, it was of loss.

"He must have remembered something to have that expression, I won't ask about it. There are some things that must come out on their own accord. No need to push in on it." She thought.

The atmosphere in the kitchen was oppressive for the rest of the meal.

*10 minutes later*

"Thank you ladies and gentlemen for being here today." Naruto spoke up as he walked in a military fashion with his arms behind him as Lightning, Kushina, the Sound Five, and Kabuto were in uniform as Naruto began briefing. "Strange how it's the kids giving military orders instead of adults. Funny how times change things." Lightning mentally mused as Naruto continued on. "For the record, I'm not sure if any of us will survive this mission I have created, a Rank-S one at that, so if any of you want to chicken out and preserve your own lives, speak up and you will be dismissed." Naruto spoke firmly as no one spoke or budged an inch.

"This S-Rank mission is to end the Bloodline Purge and civil war of Kiri, with a catch-"Naruto continued as he looked at every last one of them. "I want little to no casualties in taking down people. This is a stealth mission. Or should I say…a Ghost Mission." Naruto told them as everyone's eyes widened. A Ghost mission is where stealth is at its most importance. Do not be detected by anyone and take care of the assigned target. Knocking out or killing any potential threats in reaching said target is required to not be seen or alert any security.

"Our target is the Mizukage Yagura," Naruto continued as a projector revealed a young man who looked like a kid. "He is the source of this conflict and is responsible for numerous deaths of innocents with his prejudice against bloodline limits. We are to take out certain key people and then take down the Mizukage Yagura himself." Naruto explained as he looked at Kabuto. "Kabuto here will explain which targets we have to eliminate first," he finished with a nod as Kabuto took stage as he bowed.

"So the viper lives, and why is he allying with us, after Naruto took down Orochimaru?" Lightning thought as Kabuto was preparing his own briefing. "Thank you for having me here, and I'm going to cut to the chase since I know all of the Sound Five whom I know won't fail Lord Naruto." He said as said team were immediate and on utmost attention. "First off, is to eliminate the strategist of Yagura's army: Tomoya Fushimi. Professional at Kenjutsu as per usual for Mizu ninja, he has been through the Third Shinobi War as a simple Chūnin but when his skills as a strategist was revealed, he became one of the higher ups in five years. Even now, his reputation precedes him as the leaders of the rebellion are having a hard time dealing with his impressive defensive strategies." Kabuto told them while pushing his glasses back.

"He has solidified his security quite well to make sure an attempt at sneaking in and assassinate him are rendered useless, and using force is nearly suicide with the patrols and archers up on this fortress of his. Apparently he's got a knack of being very dangerously genre savvy as he's already eliminated virtually every possible spy in his ranks and assassins. But there is one way to kill him, and that's where you come in Kidōmaru." Kabuto explained as his glasses gleamed as he eyed the boy. "Your skills as an archer are one that has made Orochimaru proud of, as your sniping skills are top notch." Kidōmaru looked away from the phrase as Naruto eyed him. "The plan is simple, using very powerful arrows at certain key locations, will weaken the defenses of the base, as the rebels will do the dirty work for us and eliminate Tomoya." With a snap of his fingers, several men walked in with suit cases in hand as they opened up and showed the contents to Kidōmaru.

"These are crystal arrows infused with my wind nature chakra," Naruto spoke up, gaining the boy's attention. "When it makes contact with any surface, the natural cutting nature will pierce through stone like butter and explode, releasing that chakra into a bomb of cutting devastation. You must use these arrows at the designated spots to weaken the fortress as the rebels will be tipped off by a hidden ally of the situation. I trust you can fulfill this, can't you Kidōmaru?" Naruto asked as said boy gulped at that look in Naruto's eye. "I won't fail you, Lord Naruto." He spoke with finality in his tone. Yet, his eyes were slightly unnerved at such a task, yes he was confident in his skills, but something about Naruto gave him the chills. He had a bad feeling that if he failed, something very terrible will happen.

"Next on the list is the funding for Yagura's supplies. A man named Jigen helps funds Yagura's men with money, food, and other necessities to help keep their moral. Tayuya, your job is to send him packing, which should break Yagura's men's moral." Kabuto continued without pause as he flipped through the next picture as Tayuya grinned at the newest victim. She was so going to have fun breaking his mind when she found the fucker.

"Jirōbō, yours is the easiest one of all. Capture every student at the academy and lock 'em up nice and tight till the civil war and purge ends. Enjoy your 'feast.'" Kabuto grinned as the big one remained stoic as usual. As Naruto spoke up, "Sakon and Udon, Kimimaro, Jūgo, and Karin, the five of you are with me, my mother, Lightning and Kabuto as we give the Mizukage a visit." He told them as they saluted him. "But before that, I have masks for us to wear, for absolutely no one must ever find out who we are, or risk having our village attacked. They will be handed out accordingly."

Kidōmaru was given the mask of a spider, which he gingerly placed on his face with a smile. Jirōbō was given that of an elephant as he politely bowed his head in thanks as he placed it on. Tayuya was given that of a tiger, as she smiled at the resemblance of her personality. Sakon and Udon (Naruto did not learn of the other brother until he checked the profiles on his subordinates) and gave him a unique pair of oni masks that had horns on opposite sides to show the difference in the twins as both brothers politely accepted their masks.

Walking towards Jūgo, Naruto handed him a mask of a wolf to describe the man perfectly. While he is calm, his viciousness in battle is likening that to a wolf. As he walked towards Kimimaro, Naruto smiled. "You fight with grace and power, like a sacred wyrm of old; I give you this mask to reflect on what you are." Naruto said, handing Kimimaro the mask of a dragon as the man accepted the gift and donned it. Naruto walked up to Karin and felt something nostalgic about the girl, almost familiar as he handed her the mask of a priestess as she donned it as Naruto merely tossed Kabuto the mask of a snake before walking up to Lightning and Kushina.

"These two masks I had been personally involved in making, to help keep in touch with you two in case we get separated." Naruto told them, handing Kushina the mask of a kitsune as she smiled at her son's humor at the irony of the mask as her past had returned while Lightning was handed a mask of an animal Lightning did not know of. "It's a Kirin, a legendary chimeric creature that's sacredness surpasses even the dragons and phoenixes themselves in certain lore. You are my mentor who's still fighting besides me even if I'm not the perfect kid or student, and one of the few to actually gain the trust of Cypher Naruto. This mask is my way of saying thank you; for all that you've done for me." He told her sincerely as Lightning felt a spiritual weight from the mask as she turned it to the back and raised it to her face.

Trust, one thing she knows she cannot betray in this world, they were connected to this fate, they were fighting destiny, and no matter what, they will survive this ordeal no matter what.

I met Serah in a dream last night…She wanted me to tell you that she and the others are on their way back to you.

It was Naruto's voice whispering in her mind; that was good news as she donned the mask, and from behind the eyeholes of the mask, Lightning's eyes glowed with power from her Cypher counterpart dwelling within her.

*Konoha*

Jiraiya finished his briefing with Tsunade as the Hokage shook her head and chugged down a bottle of sake in one gulp as the door to her office opened up. "Just the few people that I need; I'm assigning you on an S-ranked mission into Kiri."