A/N: WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! Feels incoming!
EDIT: Well, damn. That's a lot of flames in the reviews. I'm tired of deleting them all; just going to let everyone see what I'm dealing with T_T
Still sick while writing this, sorry for the delay. Can't wait to reed your feedback later~!
That said, I do hope you're ready; because this is where the story truly takes off.
Now then, its time for the usual questions! Five ought to do for now:
Q: Which would you say is stronger? Chakra or magic?
A: That's the thing about magic; given enough time and creativity, it can do just about anything. The same could be said of chakra, but magic is more a matter of mind over matter. Its far easier to go and create a new spell than a jutsu. Unfortunately that makes magic far more dangerous in the realm of Remnant. Strictly speaking, one isn't more powerful than the other. But the chakra of a Tailed Beast and the Divine Power that Naruto's packing? That easily outclasses any spell.
Q: I caught that removing masks bit! Someone's a Bleach faaan~!
A: Yup. Naruto just might go and start a whole secondary race by accident. Seems like something he'd do.
Q: How many kids do Naruto and Salem have?! Wasn't sure if you clarified that or not.
A: Addendum, they have two daughters. You'll see the other momentarily.
Q: Oh, no. Will poor Ozma snap? Give up, maybe?
A: It could go either way, really.
Q: How would you describe the alignment of Salem and Naruto by this point? And what of Ozma?
A: Naruto and Salem could best be labelled as Neutral-Evil by this point. So long as the world leaves them be, so too will they let them be. But we all know such things seldom last. Humanity fears what they cannot understand. Ozma is of course, lawful good. Maybe a little too much...and that's his problem.
If you lived your life believing you're the hero...what happens when those around condemn you as a villain?
Now then, I think I've kept you all long enough. Lets get on with it!
As ever, I own no references, quotes, themes or memes.
"Beware a parent's wrath."
~Salem.
Kiss of Fury
No one moved.
Naruto watched Ozma like a hawk. Ozma gaped back at him, a fish out of water. Salem watched them both as she awaited the latter's answer, her serene visage reflecting none of the inner turmoil she felt within. And oh, was there turmoil. Naruto felt it as keenly as if it were his own. Every bit of it. He wished he couldn't. Things would've been better if he'd lost the ability to sense negative emotions. But he couldn't and he hadn't; even now he could feel the cloud of distress radiating off her like a physical thing.
Shock. Anger. And fear. So much fear. She was absolutely terrified.
Salem leaned into him, and he gave her a little nudge in return. It was enough to reactivate her.
"Well, don't just stand there gasping!" she put on a brave front, grabbed Ozma by the elbow, and reeled him into their home. "Come inside already!"
The resurrected man made a face and staggered after, but otherwise didn't offer much in the way of resistance. That was a good thing, right? And yet Naruto couldn't bring himself to lower his guard all the same. To his superior senses, Ozma was a teeming cauldron of roiling emotion, one threatening to boil over at any moment. There was shock of his own of course and relief, but anger as well. Most of it was directed at him.
A dark impulse stirred within Naruto's soul. If he kept glaring at him like that...!
"Papa? Why are you angry?"
Wienne wriggled in his arms, capturing his attention. Such a sweet girl. She'd always been sensitive to strong emotions.
"Daddy's't not angry. Why don't you run along and wake up your sister." Naruto set her down and nudged her toward the stairs. "We'll have dinner ready in a bit."
"Really?" Amber eyes lit up at the prospect of food. "Kay!" She hopped forward in a surprising display of dexterity for one so small and squeezed him with all her might. "Love you!" Slim arms folded around his right leg as her claws dug into him. Naruto bore with the pain patiently. Truly, it was like being grabbed by a baby dragon. Wienne didn't know her own strength.
...that girl is too pure for this world."
Naruto felt his mouth creased in a smile as he gazed down at her. "Love you, too."
The smile that followed nearly gave him a heart attack. Good girl. HIS girl. Must protect at all costs.
Some might have thought Wienne frightful given her unusual appearance. Her slitted eyes, pointed ears, azure hair, patches of grey-scaled skin and fangs clearly proved she wasn't human. Some people were fools. This was their child. Anyone who said otherwise could go suck a lemon. She wasn't normal? Who decided that? She was a monster? And who decided that? She couldn't have a happy life? Again, who decided that? He decided such things. If anyone laid hand on this little bundle of joy, the hand was coming off. And the arm besides!
She was the first of their children. And she wouldn't be the last; not if Salem had anything to say about it.
"Off you go, then." he tapped her forehead. "Chop-chop!"
"Be right back!"
Naruto risked a glance back to Salem as their daughter scampered up the stairs at a pell-mell pace, bare feet slamming against the wooden steps. By now his wife -and didn't he just love the ring to that- had since guided Ozma to the couch and a good thing too; because the poor man looked fit to collapse. His tan face was pallid, and one could see sweat on his brow.
"You look awful," she murmured. "Here. Have some water."
He accepted the clay cup with polite gratitude. "I will, thank you...
Well, no point in delaying it any longer. Schooling his face into an impassive mask, Naruto took his place on her right side. Salem leaned back into him almost immediately. Her right hand sought his and threaded her fingers through them. He felt her palm tremble within his and returned the gesture. Salem liked to touch, as if to remind herself that he was still here. Naruto loved her for her physicality. He did not, however, love the stress seeping from her thoughts right now.
"Right, then. Ozma, was it?" So he faced the bull in the room and gripped it by the horns. "How are you alive?"
To the naked eye, tge knight appeared to weigh his words words for a long ponderous moment. Naruto's senses stretched deeper. By now he'd had centuries to perfect the art of sensing negative emotions. As such, the moment he felt Ozma even consider the possibility of lying? He pounced. No. Nope. Nuh-uh. He wasn't having it. He was already wary of the man; any lie or attempt to mislead them wouldn't be tolerated. No falsehoods here!
"Tell the truth, would you kindly." he forced the words through a tight smile that had entirely too many teeth. It was intentional on his part. "I'll know if you're lying."
Ozma drew his own conclusion from that. Naruto let him. "Ah. You have magic, then? I wasn't aware there was a survivor. That's fortunate, I suppose."
"What's this, now?" Salem's gaze snapped to him, red eyes slitted. "You would lie to me? After all this time apart?"
"It wasn't not my intent to deceive." he hedged. "Merely that my story might be too fantastic to believe."
Salem arched an eyebrow.
"We live in an age of gods and monsters." her tone frosted over, the warmth of her words becoming bitter frost as she gazed at the man who had once been her beloved. "The former may have departed, but I wouldn't put it past them to try something. They are petty children, after all."
Naruto couldn't quite hold back his snort. "Children is putting it mildly. Buncha brats in need of a good spanking, more like."
Ozma made a hushing gesture. "You shouldn't speak ill of the Gods. They're always watching."
Salem's other brow rose to regard him in thinly veiled scorn.
"You do realize they cursed me, do you not?"
Ozma deflated. "That's fair, I suppose...
Naruto grinned. "Start talking."
Ozma told them his tale, haltingly at first, but with increasing confidence when neither interrupted him. And what a tale it was. Naruto found himself gritting his teeth by the end of it. Not from what the God of Light had done; now that initial shock had abated he realized it was something the horned bastard would do. No, it was Ozma that He was still hiding something. He didn't know what, but it was undoubtedly there, a kernel of fear among the truth. But what? He didn't know, and because he didn't know, he couldn't call him on it without seeming a jealous idiot.
Salem shook her head. "Hypocrites. They wouldn't revive you before, yet they did not now because it suited their needs."
"And what of you two?" once more, Ozma's gaze sought the rings on their intertwined hands. "When did this happen?"
Aaand there was the tension again. Thanks ever so much, Ozma.
Try as he might, Naruto couldn't hate the man. A part of him wanted to, but he just wasn't able to commit to it. Reincarnation was bad enough, but to come back and find that life had moved on without you? He wouldn't be quick to adjust either. Hell, he'd probably feel the same if the shoe was on the other foot. Unpleasant thought, that.
"Eons ago." Salem gushed, her fury forgotten. "He found me after I burned down a forest." her pale face flushed faintly and she looked away. "We...I suppose you could say we hit it off from there."
"That's putting it mildly." Kurama scoffed. "The two of you have been at it like rabbits. Honestly, its a miracle you don't have more children."
Naruto felt the tips of his ears burn pink, but Ozma persisted with his line of inquiry.
"And the Grimm outside?"
"Nothing to concern yourself." she clicked her tongue. "They obey us."
Ozma blinked. "Us...?"
Salem's gaze swept back to Naruto. "Its alright." she patted his hand. "You can show him. Ozma's a good man."
Would a good man keep secrets? Would a good man lie? Would a good man glare at him like that? Words bubbled in the back of his head, ready to leap to his tongue He bit back the retort and conceded the point. The sooner they got this over with, the sooner their lives could resume. With a long suffering he reached deep inside himself, releasing the ironclad control he held over his appearance. These days it became more and more difficult to force it back and appear human. His body was Grimm. It wanted to be Grimm...no matter how much he liked his old looks.
Kurama was lucky in that regard. Their little dip had only made him a bit snarkier. His physical form hadn't changed a bit.
By contrast, Naruto's change came quickly once he allowed it. In truth, he barely felt a thing. Blue eyes seared red and his skin turned pale as visible vermilion veins crawled through his whiskered cheeks. Gold faded from his hair, leaving it the color of chalk white ash, gone the color of ash. A faint itch at the back of his mind finally abated, as if he'd been clenching all the muscles in his body for the last hundred years and finally let go; like an old would finally being treated.
Salem preened a bit, happy to see him in his true form. "You really do look better that way, beloved."
"Maybe so," he groused, forcing the change to recede. "But I still don't like it. Feels weird."
Ozma hissed in surprise. "And the girl? Is she...?"
"Wienne is our daughter." Salem's voice cracked like a whip. "Speak of her in such a manner again and I'll have you thrown out."
Naruto preened. She'd taken the words right out of his mouth and delivered them with more venom than he could ever hope to muster. 'Heh. I love my wife. Salem best girl!'
Ozma recoiled, but managed to master himself.
"I'm sorry," he muttered, clutching the cup in his hands. "This is all so sudden." his fingers tightened around it, white-knuckles digging into the material." It feels like only yesterday we were wed, and now to find that you moved on...I will admit, it has rattled me somewhat." The cup came down as he raised his gaze while touching one tanned hand to his face. "I suppose I failed you, didn't I?"
"You didn't fail me, Ozoma." Salem smiled softly. "I cherished our time together. I always will."
The poor knight shivered in stoic silence. A pall of silence fell over the three of them.
Kurama sighed. "Is it wrong that I feel sorry for the poor bastard?"
Jealousy reared its ugly head in Naruto's heart. He balked at it and tried to stomp the feeling down, but it eeled away and threatening to rot him from the inside out. Guilt was all well and good, but when it held you back, kept you from living your best life, then it became something else. A ball and chain, dragging you down, a heavy weight that kept you in the past. Their vows were till death did them part. Ozma had been gone for hundreds of years. Salem shouldn't feel any guilt in seeking her own happiness. He certainly didn't and he was the one missing most of his memories!
Even after all these years, they still hadn't returned; not completely.
He remembered a great deal more than he had before, but there was still a gap somewhere in his head; a void that yet to be filled. He didn't know what disaster landed him here. Flashes of vision came at night, sights and sounds, smells he didn't understand. Sometimes he woke up and saw blood on his hands. At others...no. Best not dwell on that.
"You alright?"
...yeah." he muttered to himself. "I'm good."
He shook the thought off. It didn't matter now. Salem did.
Wrapping an arm around her waist, he pulled her close. His wife took the opportunity to pivot and press her breasts against his right arm. He stiffened, wondering if it was intentional on her part. The faintest smile at the corner of her mouth told him all he needed to know. She knew what she was doing to him, rather, the effect she was having upon him. Urk. Wicked woman. Perhaps it was petty of him but he tugged her that much closer. Envy wasn't a feeling he liked, but he knew how to silence it all the same.
"For what its worth, I understand where you're coming from." No, he didn't. Not at all. He lied to Ozma anyway, even as the knight stared him down. "Thank you for saving Salem from her tower. Your actions do you credit."
And he meant that. He really did. It not for Ozma, they never would have met. For that alone, he owed the man. But things had changed and it was time he made his position clear. Misguided mercy would only confused things here. Moreover, he wasn't about to give way to a dead man. Maybe if Ozma had returned shortly after his arrival, he might have done so. Eternity was a terrible thing to spend along, and he'd lived centuries with Salem. To give that up now, to simply make way for someone else? No. Not happening.
"They do, don't they?" Ozma blew out a weary breath. "I had hoped to reconcile with you and use the Relics to help mankind, but...
"Relics?" Salem perked up, eyes flashing. "What relics?"
Despite the distrust between the two of them, Ozma wasn't able to deny Salem. He told her what he knew, sparse though it was. These relics were four mystical items of great power that, when reunited, would summon the Brother Gods back to this world to judge humanity. It beggared belief. But the words rang true.
Naruto exchanged a long lingering look with Salem. He knew they were of the same mind and shared the same thought.
A way to drag the gods back to Remnant. Were the Brothers truly so arrogant as to make such a method? He supposed they knew the answer. The idea of humanity's second destruction was something to be feared, but only so long as the gods were allowed to enact it. Even the God of Darkness required several seconds before he wiped the world clean. Salem had told him her tale already. They could use that. These "Gods" were not so omnipotent nor omniscient as they seemed. They could be bested. Deceived. Naruto had seen it firsthand with the God of Light and Salem had done so before, tricking the God of Darkness.
'Whaddya think, Kurama?' Naruto shot a thought inward. 'We beat one before. Think we can take them both at the same time?'
"Hrmmph. Easily. The God of Light is likely still weak. Its only his brother we need concern ourselves of."
"Well, what are we waiting for?!" Salem slammed to her feet. "Lets gather them!"
Ozma balked. "Pardon? Surely, you jest. We cannot simply-
"What's a Relic?" All eyes turned as Wienne crept back into the living room. Once again, Ozma flinched at the sight of her and this time, she ignored him. "Is it a shiny thing? Can I have one?"
Naruto scooted to one side as she clambered over and tucked herself between them. Salem sat back down and made way for easily, idly running her fingers through the girly's bright blue hair. Wienne hummed happily and nestled herself deeper amidst their legs. Such a greedy girl. She was like a dragon in that regard, always wanting to hoard anything that glittered gold. A stray thought plucked at him as he looked down at her.
"Weren't you supposed to wake your sister up?"
"She's coming." Wienne answered. "But what's a Relic? Is it like the other shinies we have?"
Salem laughed and tickled her chin. "I should think not, little one.
"Others?" Ozma balked.
Only now did he deign to look around their cottage. Only now, did he see the strange trophies tacked to the walls. Bits of armor, the odd weapon here and there. Some of them recent, but others worn and pitted with age. They weren't for use; because they were trophies. Naruto saw the precise moment horror dawned in his eyes and hardened into realization. His right hand moved behind his back, touching the vambrace beneath his warm sleeve and the hidden blade within. Just in case.
"Salem," the knight croaked her name aloud. "Tell me you didn't."
"We defended ourselves against trespassers." She didn't bat an eyelash at his accusation. Why would she? Neither of them felt any guilt. "Some wanted our land. We refused. Others came back with torches and pitchforks. We drove them off. Some died, as all men do."
"But to kill them...!"
"You dare to judge me?" her voice sharpened, eyes glowing in the dim light. "You would have done the same if they threatened your home."
"Nay!" Ozma, ever the noble and naive knight, bridled at such an insinuation. "I would not! I would have found a better way! Spared them! Taught them the error of their ways!"
Salem pulled Wienne close. "Even if they threatened your child?"
He clammed up.
Naruto released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Salem was beginning to understand. She'd been a different person in Ozma's era. She had changed. Ozma had not. It wasn't his fault He was only recently reincarnated after all. Time held no meaning in the afterlife. He had not suffered the same as Salem and thus the blame didn't lie with him. But that didn't make him innocent, either. Morals were all well and good...'till you were bleeding out on the ground.
In vain, he tried to steer the conversation to safer waters. "About the relics...?"
Ozma's gaze zeroed in on him. "What do you intend to do with them?"
"Well, use them of course." he shrugged. "Isn't that obvious?"
The knight shook his head. "I'm afraid I must disagree-
"About what...?"
A faint yawn from the stairs caused all eyes to turn. One widened in shock. Two others narrowed with recognition. As they looked on a delicate girl of three years clad in a beige nightgown stumbled their way, scrubbing at her eyes with the back of pale hands. Poor thing looked half asleep; like a stiff breeze would send her tumbling right back into dreamland.
"Well, well." Kurama chortled softly in his mind. "Look who's here...
Wide red eyes regarded them, framed by bluish, off-white hair, messy and unkempt, parted in the middle of her forehead, almost reaching down to her waist. A tiny brown lone horn jutted from the right side of her forehead. When she noticed Naruto, those uncanny red orbs widened further still in delight. She blinked rapidly, as though she couldn't quite believe he was there.
"Papa!" she raced over to them, a dazzling smile flashing across her cherubic face. "You're back!"
"He's been home for hours, sleepyhead." Wienne concealed a grin behind her arm.
Their youngest stomped a bare foot against the floor. "Am not!"
"Girls," Salem chided softly, "Behave."
"Eh, let 'em fight-ow!" Naruto gasped as Salem's elbow hit his ribs. "Nevermind. Listen to your mother."
Wienne pouted. "Yes, daddy."
Eri didn't answer. She simply lifted her arms and hopped in place.
Naruto arched an eyebrow. "And what does my little princess want?"
"Up, up!"
With a laugh he swung her up into his arms and planted her in his lap. She looked up and over her shoulder to grin at him. Wienne pouted, only to yelp as Salem pulled the girl atop hers. Any protests were soon mollified as she began to stroke her scalp. The older girl's eyes fluttered shut in naked bliss.
Ozma's expression became noticeably stiff as he gazed at their little family. "Just how many children do you have?"
"Only two." Salem touched a hand to her stomach. "We're trying for a third." Abruptly, her expression hardened. "Come, lets not dance around this. The relics. We need to gather them and summon the gods. Surely you'll help us in this."
"You want to...?!" The knight jerked back in his seat, aghast. "You'll doom us all!"
"No, I won't." Naruto snapped, already irritated by Ozma's outburst. "I'll drag the gods down here, beat them and lift Salem's curse. This world is better off without them. Now where are the relics?"
"Madman!" Ozma burst from his chair and flung up his hands. "Even if I knew I'd not tell you! I won't let you risk humanity like this! You can't win against gods!"
Naruto shooed Eri off his lap and gently nudged her into Salem's arms. He stood slowly, uncaring as the couch creaked behind him. One of them murmured something, but he didn't hear them. He only had eyes for the knight before him. Ozma glared back at him, then up as the blond rose to his full, towering height.
"Can. Am. Have." he leaned forward, looming over him. "Where's your faith?"
He had none. "They were right about you...you're a monster...
"Oh?" Naruto cocked his head and pounced on the slip. "And what did the Gods say about little old me? No need for secrets now." a hand came down, clamping on the tan man's shoulder. "Did they tell you I pounded one of them into the ground?" When he only received a baffled look, his grin grew. "No? I thought not. They're playing you, Ozma. Wake up."
A hint of something flashed through the sage's eye. Naruto prayed that it was wisdom. They didn't have to do this. Surely he knew that.
Ozma batted his hand away and shattered that hope alongside so many others. The air boiled with tension.
Their children whimpered and sought shelter behind the couch. Something in Salem stirred.
"I think its best that you leave." she stood slowly. "Before you are made to leave."
Ozma flinched. "Salem, please...!"
"This is your last warning."
"You!" Naruto wasn't at all surprised when the knight's gaze sought him instead. "You've corrupted her! She was never like this before!"
"Corrupted?!" Anger stirred in his heart and the gloves came flying off. "Are you kidding me?! He stormed forward and Ozma mirrored the motion, no doubt fearing his intention. He was right to! The blond stormed forward to slam his forehead against the knight's own. "That's bullshit!" he roared in his face! "I saved her! You were gone! You were dead!"
"I got better!"
"As did I." Salem whispered.
Both men rounded on her at once. Serene red eyes gazed back at them. Naruto winced, knowing full well what was coming.
Even Kurama flinched within him. "This is going to end poorly, isn't it?"
'Yup. Best brace yourself.'
"I loved you, Ozma." his wife spoke calmly and clearly into the silence that followed without a glimmer of hesitation. "A part of me always will. But I will not abandon my children." He tried to speak, but she silenced him with a snarl. "Till death do us part. Those were our vows. You died. I couldn't follow you into the afterlife. I tried." her voice broke, but she reined herself in with a shake of the head. "I missed you. I mourned you. For nearly a thousand years I held vigil in your name. Every day I suffered. Would you have me continue to suffer? Would you deny me the end I seek?"
His anger faltered. "No, of course not-
"Then accept that I have moved on." Scarlet slits burned in the dark as she offered him her hand. "Join us. Help us. Find your own happiness...or continue to be a puppet of the gods."
Her words seemed to break the battered man. "I'm not their puppet! I am their champion!"
Definitely a puppet. And he didn't even realize it.
"So be it. We'll find the Relics on our own then." Salem turned away and pulled their daughters close. "Leave, Ozma. Now. You are no longer welcome here."
"I'll not let you do this!" he made a desperate for her, only to find his hand slapped away in turn.
"You cannot stop us." eyes like ice froze him where he stood. "Nor our army."
Naruto sighed. "Salem...no need to terrifying him."
"No. I've had enough."
She glared at him.
"Tell me, what happens to a Grimm when you remove its mask?" Ozma's brow quirked at the question, but still Salem barreled onward in spite of him. "What miracle occurs when you mix darkness with light and give it human form?" realization and horror dawned in his gaze as he gazed at Eri. "You might be surprised." While his jaw continued to work wordlessly, her smile was cold as black ice. "We already have an army in waiting. Soon, they will be a living, breathing, thinking army. We can create more at any time. We haven't yet because we didn't feel the need. Do you truly wish to test us?"
"This isn't happening." Ozma staggered back, eyes flitting between the two of them. "This a trick. A test. A dream of some sort! The gods revived me to bring order to this blighted world. As a hero!"
"You're not acting like a hero." Naruto warned. "And you're scaring the children. You heard her. Leave."
"You knave!"
Ozma's right hand flew to the sword at his waist and ripped it free from its scabbard with an angry rasp. Eri cried out in fear. Wienne dove forward and flung herself in front of her sibling. They needn't have worried, for they weren't the targets of his ire. Naruto stepped back to shield them regardless. He'd not take the chance.
Salem rolled her eyes. "Put that sword away, you silly man. I cannot die."
"You're right." Ozma's smile became tight, eyes narrow. "You cannot. Even if you could, I can't bring myself to harm you." Somehow those words only added to the tension. "And so I will save you. Once he's gone you will see the light. I know you will-
"Light?"
It was the worst thing he could have said.
Salem absolutely hissed. A dark miasma seared around her shoulders.
"LIGHT?!" the entire world blackened, her voice taking on an angry contralto. "You dare speak to me of light?!" she flung an arm outward, black light trailing from the limb. "Your so-called God of Light came to our doorstep and tried to slay me in my sleep!" she whirled, stabbing a thumb over her shoulder. "If it weren't for Naruto, I wouldn't be standing here now. Your precious gods are petty children who do naught but blunder about and cause disaster! And yet he fought him! He won! We can beat them! But you...
She swept forward in a rush of shadow, uncaring of the blade.
"You would cower out of fear." her forehead found his, red eyes blazing into his frightened face. "Of what might, or may be. Where is the gallant knight who saved me from my tower? Where has he gone? Did he ever exist?"
"Impossible." Ozma swept back, warding the blade before his face to stave off an attack. "The gods are absolute. They cannot be beaten! You've been tricked!"
A faint flash of pity burned in Naruto's heart. Ozma wanted to be the hero. To believe anything else would make him the villain. And that, his pride would not allow. Likewise, Salem wasn't about to abandon her crusade against the gods -rightfully so!- now that she'd been presented with a way to strike at them. An unstoppable force met an immovable object. It didn't take a genius to guess what would come of this encounter.
"Enough!" Salem slashed a hand through the air again, cutting his argument down even as it made one final, foolish stand. "If you're not with us, then you're against us."
Ozma's face fell. "Only a monster deals in absolutes."
"Then I am a monster." Salem spread her arms wide with a bitter laugh. "Look upon me and see what you have made."
His jaw set itself into a firm line. "I will do what I must."
She smiled. "You will try, my old friend."
In a single step the knight turned and surged past her, bringing the burnished iron edge of his blade up under Naruto's chin. A thin rivulet of blood ran down his throat. The blond barely batted an eye. He could think of a dozen different ways to snap that blade and bury it in Ozma's chest. Every path ended with the knight bleeding out at his feet. And this? This wasn't enough to kill him. Rather than attack he stood there, uncaring of the cruel bite of iron against his flesh. For there was another reason he stayed his hand.
Ozma was making the case against himself more than he ever could.
"Coward!" Salem howled at her former husband. "Your fight is with me, not him!"
"You were right." Ozma declared. "I cannot hurt you. But the same cannot be said of him. He was not cursed by the gods. He can die. I will save you, Salem. Even if it costs me this-
And that was enough. Ozma had made his point. There was no need for silence now.
"Wienne. Eri." Naruto raised his gaze, his eyes gone red once again, rimmed by black. "Close your eyes and cover your ears."
Salem flung out an arm. "NO!"
To his credit, Ozma reacted quickly. Even as the girl's responded, a bolt of light burst from the tip of his sword and burned into Naruto's body with all the force of a lightning storm. He didn't even have words for the pain that followed. Every muscle clamped down as one. Sparks snarled between his teeth and into his skull.
And in that instant.
He remembered.
Everything.
It all came rushing back. Who he was searching for. What he'd done to land himself here. When it all happened. Where he had fallen into this world. And most importantly. Why. A voice filled his ears, accompanied by an odd snatch of memory. He looked down at his hands, alarmed to find them bloodied, though he'd not moved an inch.
"You are cursed, Naruto Uzumaki." a woman's voice laughed at him. "You simply have yet to realize it. May misfortune follow your every step!"
The world snapped back with a rush, leaving him. Suddenly, the pain seemed distant. Muted. Closed off somehow. Red eyes narrowed. Slowly, painstakingly, he pried the sparking lade away from his throat, uncaring as it opened the palm of his hand. More of the high voltage current arced into his blood, but that only made the memories come harder. Faster. Stronger. A strange ringing roar filled his ears, deafening him to all else. Oh. His eardrums had burst. He willed a pulse of chakra to them and they healed, even as blood sluiced down his ears.
"That tickles." he scowled down at Ozma. "Sasuke hit harder."
The knight balked at him. "How-ack?!"
Clawed fingers slammed into the man's throat and sent him crashing over the chair, then through the door frame. From there he struck the floor, bounced once, and tumbled outside in an ungainly tangle of arms and legs. Just outside, Luna brayed angrily. Ozma cried out and a harsh bark of lightning filled the night once more...followed by an awful yep.
"Luna! Down!" Salem snarled, her voice gone warped and angry. "Keep away from him!"
"Stay with the girls!"
Naruto spared a glance for their faithful hound as he stormed outside, pausing just long enough to pat the beast's singed hide. The mighty beast pressed a wet snout against his palm. He looked down and saw that it was missing one of its forelegs. Something hardened inside of him. Grimm were Grimm, but this creature was loyal. It had protected his family through thick and thin.
"Easy, there." he crooned, stroking her hide. "Just hang on and leave this to me. I'll have your mask off in a jiff after this. You'll be good as new."
A faint "whuff" was the Grimm's only response as it lay down.
He patted its head. "Good girl."
Content that the Hound would live to fight another day, the blond stepped over the ruined porch and stepped out after the wizard into the night. Scarlet slits squinted harshly, adjusting to the sudden lack of light. The sun had long since set by now, leaving them with naught but the shattered moon to see by. He tasted rain on the wind and looked up to find dark clouds rolling in, threatening to blot out even that faint radiance. A storm was coming. Or perhaps that was some measure of Ozma's magic at work. Best wrap this up before someone really got hur-
A bolt of fire blazed at his face. He caught it in his right hand and snuffed it out like a blown candle, but it cost him his night vision.
"We don't have to do this, you know." He raised his hands and peered into the dark. "We can still talk things through. Just lay down your weapon and-
Razor ice slashed across his face from the darkness, annihilating his left eye. It regrew immediately, leaving a throbbing ache behind. A muscle jumped in his jaw and a spark of anger flared to life in him. He tried to stamp it down, to no avail. This wasn't right. Wasn't natural. Calm down. Calm down. Don't lose control...oh, screw it...!
"Congratulations!" His voice rose in a shout as the wind began to pick up. "You've made me angry. I hope it was worth it. Now lets just calm down and-
Kurama snarled a warning and he turned as his sixth sense shrieked.
"Monster! Demon! Abomination!" A shadow leaped from his peripheral vision. "This world has no need of you! Begone!"
Ozma dove at him with a snarl, sword weaving a web of iron about his body. Good swordsmanship. Downright admirable, really. It wasn't enough. Naruto dodged the first strike. Parried the second with a vambrace, and stepped into the third, ignoring it entirely as it slammed down into his shoulder. Oz must've reinforced his blade through magical means, because the crude iron held when he it slashed into his flesh. Blinded by pain, the jinchuuriki lashed out and slammed a fist forward.
Ozma was not sturdy. Not like Salem. No. Not at all like Salem.
He felt the awful moment in which flesh and bone gave way; felt his fist slam into the man's stomach and tear right through to the other side. Something in him balked. He hadn't meant to do that. He'd judged Ozma by Salem's standard of strength. That was a mistake. Aghast, he stepped back and ripped his bloodied hand free. He expected to feel something. And he did. Surprise. Shock. Even a hint of regret.
"Damnit, I didn't mean to...!"
Ozma swayed on his feet, eyes wide.
Just like that, the knight stumbled and fell onto his back with a wordless croak. It seemed an anticlimactic end all things considered. At the end of the day, Ozma was no god. He was just a man. A miserable pile of secrets, nothing more. Whatever magic he possessed, it wasn't enough to stop him.
"A thousand curses be upon you." he rasped, blood bubbling from his lips. "I will not...let you...destroy humanity...!"
Stupid, stupid, stupid. He didn't hate humanity. Far from it. Naruto shook his head, feeling a pang of regret. "I don't want to destroy them!"
"Lies and more lies." Ozma granted him a grin, teeth stained red with blood. It left him looking like a madman. "Monsters always lie. I will protect them...
"How? You can't even protect yourself! It didn't have to be this way!"
"You will...never know peace." still the knight continued to rave at him in his dying moments. "I will train others...teach them to fight against you and your monsters...they will be huntsmen...and scour the Grimm from the earth." Crazed eyes met his, wild and bloodshot. "I will find the Relics and seal them away...kill me now, if you wish. I...will return...reincarnate...
Return? What was he on about?"
A raspy breath. "Now you realize. You will never be rid of me...the light...will prevail...
Naruto hesitated. Could he really kill him in cold blood? He wanted to. He longed to. Did he deserve it?
A bolt of black light burst from the house, soared over his shoulder, and lanced through Ozma's chest to spear his still-beating heart. Blood burst from his lips. Bright eyes widened in surprise, then recognition. Now shock. Followed by horror. He balked at the hole in his chest, not quite comprehending what had happened at first. But then he knew. Naruto saw the moment the man's heart shattered, followed by what remained of his mind. A faint series of footsteps swelled in the night. He didn't have to look to know who it was.
Ozma rasped a lone word. "Sa...lem...?"
The Queen of the Grim stepped over his dying form and thrust a pale hand into his face. Baleful red eyes bored into him, brimming with intent. Her arm trembled.
"You fool." she spat at him, tears running down her face. "You absolute, bloody fool. We were finally free! Why do this?! This is all your fault!"
Here at last, something akin to regret flashed across Ozma's bloodied visage. It hardened into anger.
"Then you are lost-
He opened his mouth to speak further and black fire burst from Salem's palm to silence him forever. His upper torso vanished in a rush of napalm, obliterated before his lips could form the words. By rights, it was a quick death. He didn't even have time to scream. Salem blasted him again, a fresh surge of heat destroying his remains. She did so again. Yet again. Again. Until naught but ashes and charred remained.
Thus did Ozma, first of his name, perish. It was but a single, solitary death; the first of many more that were to come.
Salem sank to her knees and collapsed among those ashes with a sob.
"I killed him...I actually killed him...
She had. This was going to give her nightmares all over again.
Blank red eyes gazed right past him. "Why...why did it have to be this way...?"
Books tend to romanticize the art of crying. They call it a beautiful thing, wax poetic about endlessly.
Crying is not romantic. Nor is it beautiful. It is a painful, awful, heartbreaking thing. Most of all when you watch a loved one break down. Shoulders heaving, chest wracked with anguished breaths, Salem curled on herself. She screamed and shouted and shrieked, tearing at the ground with her hands, little bursts of magic shooting from her fingers to scare the landscape. Her lips moved, trying to form words, to offer some semblance of speech, but only a wail escaped her.
"Whyyy?!"
Salem wasn't merely weeping for Ozma or the past they'd shared.
After so long she'd been given hope in the form of the Relics, only to have it snatched away again. The pain was too much to bear. Remnant was a massive world with multiple continents. Oceans. Plains. Mountains. They could be anywhere. No one knew the exact location of the Relics. It could take centuries to find them. Millennia, even. Even if his shadow clones scoured every inch of the world, every nook and cranny...it would take time. Time in which they and their descendants would be harassed by Ozma and his ilk, time in which they were forced to fend off a nemesis would reincarnate endlessly...
It wasn't fair. Not a bit of it.
When Naruto dared to lay a hand on Salem's shoulder, she rounded on him with wild eyes. She didn't see him. In her madness, she looked right through him. Her hand lashed out. He caught her hand and drew her close, pulling her chin over his shoulder. She collapsed against him, fighting at first, then growling calm as he held tight to her.
"You're alright." he whispered, stroking the small of her back. "You're going to be alright...we'll find a way out of this."
She hiccuped softly. "Damn him...damn the gods...to give us hope, then snatch it away...
Naruto didn't trust himself to speak further. He simply held her, and she him.
Her tears stained his ruined jacket, and still, he didn't let go.
"I hate them, I hate them, I hate them...
"S'alright." he rasped. "I do, too...
Ozma's parting words also rankled Naruto's heart. By all rights this was a victory. They were alive. Ozma was likely reincarnating as an infant somewhere, if his threats were to be believed. He wouldn't be a real danger for some time. They were alive. The girls were alive, hiding inside under Luna's watchful gaze. So why did it feel like defeat?
"You will never know peace."
It left a bitter taste in his mouth for all the wrong reasons. Eri and Wienne were going to be terrified of humanity after this. He'd have to go back inside and console them in the vain hope that they wouldn't be scarred from this encounter. And then what would they do? Hide away in the woods again? Let the Gods steal away their happiness? Piss on that! Ozma wanted to find the relics? Hide them away? Turn the world against them?! Not happening!
Blue eyes flashed as he stood, pulling Salem with him.
"We won't let him win." the blond pinched the brow of his nose with a drawn out sigh. "If that's how he wants to play, let's play. We'll make something better." he gazed at his hand, saw something he didn't like there, and made a fist. "If he's going to make these "huntsmen" of his, then we'll show him. We've got centuries ahead of us. That's time enough to stop him."
"You...what? I know that look." Salem leaned against his side, her voice still hoarse from her tears. "What're you thinking?"
Naruto didn't answer her. Not at first.
"Wait, wait, wait." Kurama knew at once. "You're serious about this idea of yours? This isn't something you can't take back."
Was he? Not at all. He would've been happy living a quiet life in the countryside. Ozma -and the gods!- would never let that happen. He knew that now. It was time he took the initiative. Time he made changes of his own, for better or worse. They would need to be careful about this. Very careful indeed. It would take time. But then again, they had all the time in the world, didn't they? Remnant was broken and fractured, little more than a band of warring fools. Someone needed to bring order. Did he dare allow that order to be Ozma's? He knew his answer.
Naruto forced the trembling fingers of his hand into a fist. "I won't let him win. We'll find the Relics and I'll lift your curse. But first...we'll need help."
Salem's teary gaze sharpened upon his. "What kind of help?"
Naruto knew he had to choose his words carefully.
Very, very carefully.
Deep inside himself, he felt something begin to fray. He shoved it aside. They had a goal. Find the Relics, wherever they were. Gather the Relics. Drag the Brother Gods down to Remnant and beat them into submission, once and for all. It was a grand plan, and not at all the sort that could be accomplished in a day. They would need help of course, more than his shadow clones could provide. They needed allies. Not many, but enough to turn the tide in their favor. Enough to safeguard the future. They'd scour every blighted continent if they had to, so long as they found those Relics.
He made a promise after all. He had sworn to save Salem. At any cost. He would not break his word.
No matter what happened, he would keep it. Steeling himself, Naruto took a deep breath, and let go of his fears. They floated away on a cool winter breeze. Blue eyes rose to meet red. The former narrowed intently upon the later. Salem tensed in his arms, perhaps realizing what he was to suggest. He spoke before she could.
"How do you feel about teaching our children ninja arts...?"
A/N: GET READY FOR A TIMESKIP NEXT CHAPTER.
It won't be when or where you think, but you've been forewarned.
Did Naruto and Salem just accidentally a shadow war? Pretty much, yeah.
Thought this was going to be a short story, did you? Nope. We're in it for the long haul. Of course, some things are going to be drastically different...while others. Well. Some things just don't change, no matter the time or place. Hope you're ready, because the ride's about to begin!
In other news, Ozma's gone and cracked. Poor guy went and lost his mind, thinking he was in the right.
Right then, as ever, Reviews are love, Reviews are Life. Reviews keep me hopeful.
Without them, I just can't seem to write these days.
So in the immortal words of Atlas...
...review, Would You Kindly?
Every bit helps out!
As ever:
SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER!
PLOT DETAILS AHOY!
YE BE WARNED!
(Previews)
"Daddy! Teach us, teach us!"
Naruto grunted as Eri and Wienne slammed into his back. He slammed forward into the ground.
"Ouch, felt that one in my soul...
The tribe was burning.
Everything as afire, smoke and burning ash.
"There she is." a masked man pointed at her hiding place in the ruins. "Take her. She'll join her brother and the other children. For the dark lady."
A young Raven Brawnen barely had time to scream before a sack descended on her head.
She was only seven.
"My lady, I believe we found a Relic!"
Salem smiled.
Another mask came off.
"Rise."
The stone struck him in the face.
Naruto turned, uncaring of the blood running down his brow.
"That girl is not a monster. You're the monsters. Let he who is blameless throw the next stone!"
"You've had a hard life, haven't you, little one?"
A young Cinder looked up from scrubbing the floors and gazed into bright blue eyes. She was only eight years old. She saw a man. There was a woman with him.
"Its alright now." the latter offered a hand to her. Pale cheeks dimpled in a smile, warm as a sweet summer breeze. "Because WE are here."
~Nz.