Chapter 2: The Change of Heart
"Betrayal can often come from the most unexpected of places, often places you never thought possible."
- ?
As Naruto awoke, he was greeting by the sight of the rising sun and the sound of birds chirping off in the distance. For a moment, just a single breathtaking moment, the sky itself looked as if it had been lit on fire. As Naruto got up and opened his rooms window, he could feel the sun's heat washing over his bare chest, warming him almost instantly. The morning air smelled like heaven, the bright blue sky gave hope to all those that would look up at it, and the morning had always spoken of new beginnings. With a satisfying sigh, the young Sage put on his robes, grabbed his staff, and walked out of his chambers.
Now most people would go down to the dining hall, to get some food before it was all gone, but Naruto's first stop was actually the very top of the castle. Standing there, taking a frightening and watchful pose, was the stone covered Goliath, the watchful protector of the castle. As Naruto placed a hand on Goliath's shoulder, he couldn't help but with the Gargoyle the best of dreams. Jumping over the stone edge, of where Goliath stood, Naruto landed next to the equally frightening form of Goliath's mate. Looking upon her threatening form, the young Sage couldn't help but recall the first time he had ever laid eyes upon them.
It was close to five years ago, even though it felt like five thousand years ago, and it had been a rather interesting experience. It had been in the morning when Naruto had been found, half dead, at the castle steps and night had befallen them by the time he awoke. It was Magus who had been told to look after him, to make sure that he survived his life threatening injuries, and it was Princess Katharine who had ordered it so.
"Lie still, your injuries have yet to fully heal and my potions can only do so much," the much young Magus ordered, placing his hand on Naruto's chest the moment he tried to sit up from his bed.
"Where am I, what is this place?" Naruto managed to croak out, his voice raspy and his throat completely dry from the lack of proper liquids in his body.
"You are in Castle Wyvern, good sir, the guards found you almost dead just beyond the front gate. I dare say that you would not still be alive if their attentions had been elsewear. Tell me, if you would, how you came to bear such strange injuries. They resemble that of sword cuts but i know of no blades so wide that cut so smoothly," said the white haired mage, who found that closing such large wounds was much harder than normal sword wounds.
"I can't remember… one moment I was fighting in a war and the next I was here, in this bed. Still, thanks for healing me," Naruto thanked, his connection with Kurama giving him the ability to sense negative emotions and he felt none coming from this man.
"No thanks are needed, Princess Katharine ordered that you live and I simply made her wish a reality. Now please, you must rest for another hour before attempting to move around too much, I don't want you to reopen your wounds," Magus advice as he got up and left the chambers, but the moment he was gone was the moment Naruto got to his feet.
'Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! How the hell did I end up here?!' Naruto thought to himself as he moved about the room, doing his best not to aggravate his wounds any more than walking around already did.
Not being one to stay in one spot, especially since he had no idea who had found him, Naruto opened the wooden door and poked his head out. Having been greeted by an empty hallway, Naruto decided that his next objective should be the stairs and that meant trying to get around without anyone noticing him. However, just as Naruto stepped out into the hallway, someone rounded the corner and spotted him.
"What do you think your are doing human, how did you get in here," said the person, who was clearly a woman if her voice was anything to go by.
However, the person before him looked like something Naruto had never seen in his entire life. The creature before him had blue grey skin, razor sharp claws, had bat like wings sporting out of her back, and wore two simple pieces of cloth to cover her modesty. It also didn't help that her eyes flashed red as she slowly approached him, apparently perceiving him as a threat, despite his injured state.
Now Naruto's first reaction to a threat was to wipe it off the face of the earth, but he couldn't seem to mold his chakra as well as he could before. This left him with only one logical option...run for his life! In the blink of an eye, Naruto took off in the opposite direction to the strange woman and her menacing shreek was proof that she was hot on his heels.
"Bad day, bad day, bad day!"
Oh what a pleasant day that turned out to be, considering it could have turned out so much worse. In looking for a place to hide, Naruto had accidently barged into the dining hall, with the female Gargoyle still coming right after him, and was tackled to the ground in front of everyone there. Naruto would have laughed if he wasn't afraid Goliath's mate would have ripped him to pieces at the time. Now here he stands, admiring the creature that had tried to kill him on his first day to the castle, and couldn't imagine a life where the entire Gargoyle clan wasn't around.
"Why do you stand among the Gargoyles so, are your own kind so different that you would stand among stone instead of flesh and blood?" asked Princess Katharine, who had been watching Naruto from the doorway ever since he had first gone to see Goliath.
"Despite what you all may think of them, Goliath and his clan are not evil creatures, born from black wombs and set upon the world to do evil. They are mighty protectors that have pledged to guard those that fear and hate them. So yes, I often enjoy their company more than that of other humans," Naruto admitted, turning to face the princess as he spoke, only to find her giving him a soft look.
"We are right to fear them, they could kill us all if they wished. I wouldn't put my people in harms way by letting them stab us in the back," Katharine explained, her fears of the Gargoyles no doubt stretching back to when she was not but a young girl.
"Then you miss out on a friendship that could last a thousand lifetimes. I pitty you, that you have only taken the words of others as your truth, instead of looking for the truth yourselves. Try speaking to Goliath, not in front of your fellows but up here among the stars, and you may find they aren't the monsters you thought them to be," they were wise words, words to be taken to the heart, but words alone could not set aside fear.
"Then teach me, Sage, teach me to see them the way you do. Teach me to understand them like you do," Katharine commanded, having taken several steps forward until she had back Naruto up to the edge of the walls, leaving only a deadly drop for any chance of escape.
"What brought about this change of heart, why do you wish to understand them now of all times?" Naruto inquired, not completely sure as to what to do about Princess Katharine's closeness.
"When you gazed upon me last night, your eyes were hard and unkind. My heart clenches when you look at me like that and I cannot change who I am without help, yet I do not like that look either."
Her explanation caught Naruto off guard, none had ever requested his help because they wanted him to approve of them. Usually they would not care what he thought and continue doing what they wish to do, often leading to Naruto butting heads we a few people that he should and should antagonize. Yet he was asked to help bring understanding and who was he not to try?
"Very well, your majesty, come with me tonight when the Gargoyles awaken. Greet them as you would greet another human and then I shall help you understand," Naruto said, managing to still past the princess, before walking back into the stone castle..
As Naruto walked through the castle's corridors, he greeted both servant and soldier alike. Naruto was well liked among the fortresses occupants, for both his kind words, good deeds, and wise advice for anyone who needed it. Those injured in battle were by the young sage and were able to be back on their feet not an hour after he treated them. Some believed it was magic, like what Magus used some of the time, but Naruto would simply tell them it was his own power, not magic.
"Ah, Captain, making your rounds so early in the morning?" asked Naruto as he approached the Captain of the Guard, who greeted Naruto firmly.
"Ai, I don't want to be caught by surprise again and that mad bastard just might be crazy enough to attack us again. I fear what would happen if they attacked during the day, without Goliath and his clan here to help us," said the Captain as he took a drink from his wooden cup.
"Indeed, it would be best for us to run them off while they are still weak from last nights battle. I'll talk to Goliath when he awakens and see if we can't get rid of them for good. Now, if you'll excuse me, there are still more injured soldiers that need tending to and I will not prolong their suffering," and, just like that, Naruto was gone.
It was no mystery that Naruto spent most of the day trying to regain some of his previously unlimited power. He often dazzled the children with tales of his his past adventures, saying how he defeated men and women of unimaginable power but never without the help of his trusted friends. There was often a lesson to each adventure, telling of how important it was to never give up and to always forge your own path through life. Even some of the Gargoyles listened to his stories, Naruto had even caught Goliath's mate listening from the shadows.
He had already attained his Sennin Modo again, after finally being able to sense natural chakra once more. Now the trick was trying to stabilize it so he doesn't turn into a stone frog and accidentally kill himself in the process. It was a difficult process that required an immense amount of both concentration and patients, not to mention sitting completely still for several hours at a time. Although it was much easier this time that it was when Kurama had kept messing it up because he believed that Naruto should only use his power and his alone.
'Come on dammit, I don't remember it being this hard to master natural chakra!' Naruto cursed as he once again failed to maintain Sennin Modo. It was almost as if something was blocking him from completely accessing his old power, as if it was just out of his grasp and he was mere inches away from attaining it once more.
Looking out over the land, from his spot atop the castle, Naruto could remember the many times he tried to gain back all of his old power and how many times he failed in doing so. Over the last several years, Naruto has come to the conclusion that he was probably never going to return to his home and that he just had to place his faith in Sasuke to finish saving their world. It wasn't something he was proud of doing, but he had very little choice in the matter and he just didn't have the power to help fight even if he could.
When he had first arrived, the young sage found he had the chakra reserves of a Genin, something of which he never had before. However, less power meant that he was able to focus it more and the more he gained in power the more he was able to improve his chakra control. That's how he was able to enhance his strength, just like what Tsunade did to give herself monstrous strength. His staff was also made from the six Gudodama that had come through to this dimension with him. It turns out that they had become almost like the chakra rods that Nagato had used and so they could act like a conduit for Naruto's chakra. They were melted down and turned into a six ringed staff, better known as a Khakkhara, for Naruto to use in battle. Sure they could have made it into a sword, or any other weapon in general, but Naruto felt like having a Khakkhara instead.
"Now who could that be?" Naruto asked himself as he saw a cloaked rider take off into the wilds, headed right for where the enemy army had run off to the previous night.
This was slightly worrying, for if they had a traitor in their midst then the enemy would know when to strike. Now it was extremely necessary to run those barbarians of before they could use such information. Then, once the main threat was out of the way, Naruto himself would track down this possible traitor and bring them to justice. Seeing as he wouldn't get any further in his training today, Naruto found himself walking through the castle's courtyard, where the refugees had taken shelter. Most shot him strange looks, no doubt having never seen someone like him before, and that caused them to be wary of him.
Then, just as Naruto reached where all of the various foods were kept, for anyone to take, he felt something ram into his right leg. Looking down, the young sage found an even younger blond haired boy staring up at him from his spot on the ground. Standing a few feet away were two more children that had stopped their laughing and were now looking just as nervous as the boy on the ground.
"S-Sorry mister," the boy apologized, quickly getting to his feet, before Naruto knelt down to be eye to eye with him.
"No need to apologize, having fun is part of being your age. Now run along before your parents get worried about you," Naruto said in a happy tone, earning grateful smiles from the three children, before they ran off back to their group.
Later that night, Naruto and princess Katharine could be found standing atop the tallest tower in the castle, watching as the sun slowly set on the horizon. Despite being the ruler of the fortress, Katharine found herself standing behind Naruto, waiting for the sun to finish setting and for the Gargoyles to wake from their stone slumber.
"You should relax your highness, they won't harm you," Naruto told the princess, who decided to still remained partially concealed behind his larger form.
"I-Indeed," Katharine stuttered out, but she still refused to move from her spot.
The sun finally set, stone began to crack, a multiple roars tore through the night sky as an entire clan of Gargoyles awoke. Katharine actually jumped a little when the stone exploded off of Goliath's body, but the large grey skinned Gargoyle instantly turned around and gave Naruto a friendly smile.
"Have a good day's rest, Goliath?" Naruto asked, a bit of humor in his tone, as Goliath began to unwrap the bandage around his hand.
"Indeed and I see the castle still stands, I am relieved that we haven't been attacked again," said the mighty Gargoyle just as he noticed who else was up on the tower with them.
"Ah, her highness wished to greet you as you awoke, although I'm afraid that her first time seeing you wake has caused her some fright," Naruto said in a light hearted tone as he moved out of the way and allowed Katharine to cautiously approach the towering giant.
"Your highness," Goliath greeted, folding his wings over his shoulders like a cape before bowing to the princess, much to her own surprise.
"Sir Goliath," Katharine greeted back, doing her best not to let her fear show, but a reassuring look from Naruto helped soothe her nerves.
"Goliath, I need to discu-what is she doing here," growled Goliath's mate as she reached the top of the castle as well, growling menacingly at the princess, to which Naruto stepped between them and met the Gargoyle's gaze without so much as flinching.
"The princess wished to greet us as she woke, there is no need for such hostilities," Naruto stated in an even tone and he actually managed to stare down Goliath's mate, something of which Katharine was grateful for.
"I believe we have more pressing matters to attend to."
Well here is my second chapter.