I do not own anything.

POISON DOVE & MAELSTROM FOX

Chapter 2 - Impressions and Negotiations

It was a little surprising how easily Naruto was able to go to sleep that night in spite of everything that had happened. Even by his standards, the day had been somewhat wild. Just before going to sleep, he'd given his left hand one last look to make sure the three "Command Seals" as Semiramis had called them were still there. There were proof that the pair were bound to each other into the foreseeable future and that thought both frightened and amazed him. In a way, he felt like he was staring back at the seal on his stomach. That said, between her and the Nine Tails he definitely preferred Semiramis. The fox had grumbled something about hormones before resigning himself to another so-called nap. That made two immensely powerful beings that were now tethered to him. In all honesty Naruto didn't really know how to feel about that, hell, he was still trying to process everything Semiramis had told him about Servants and this Holy Grail War thing.

Deep down, a part of him was honestly frightened by the notion of fighting in a war as he already had enough things to worry about. Not to mention a war would divert his attention from getting stronger, and that was one thing he desperately needed to do. If he had any luck maybe meeting the long-haired woman would help him do that.

He awoke with a yawn, stretching his arms upwards before rolling over again in his bed. Dedicated as he was to his training, he still wanted to enjoy the precious moments of peace and quiet he could get. Having a self-proclaimed super-pervert for a mentor often deprived him of such moments. Either that or he woke up and found his wallet was a few coins lighter or worse. After a moment or two of continued resting, the blond arose attempting to wipe his eyes clear. Sunlight flooded the room momentarily blinding him and strengthening the urge to crawl back under the covers.

"Did you sleep well?" A female voice called out.

"Yeah, actually pretty good." Still with his eyes shut, he swung his feet over the mattress and stretched his body again. "Definitely beats sleeping out in the woods, not that I don't like camping. Semiramis, that isn't going to…be…a…" The minute his eyes fell over his black-haired Servant, Naruto's mind ceased to function for the image before him was hard for his thirteen year-old brain to process completely.

When Semiramis had said she'd make do with what he brought her, she hadn't been joking. The original clothes he'd brought her had someone been altered into a pitch-black skirt with gold accents that stopped just short at her knees. Fishnet leggings extended down from her thighs almost to her ankles. A pair of black high-heeled sandals reminisce of those worn by Tsunade and Shizune had replaced the golden spiked high-heeled shoes she'd previously worn. Ebony ribbons wrapped around both her forearms extending to her palms and stopping just past her elbows. Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto caught small golden circles centered on each palm; there was little doubt in his mind if Semiramis wanted to she could expand those circles into the spikes he'd previously seen.

Draped over her was an onyx haori with golden scrollwork decorating the sleeves and continuing onto the back. Beneath it Naruto could faintly make out blouse similar to his grandmother's figure, except the color was black as well with gold lining. Fasten around Semiramis' waist was a scarlet sash that reminded the blond Uzumaki almost uncomfortably of blood. A gleaming gold choker around her neck brilliantly reflected the rays of light coming off the morning sun. Lastly, there was her hair, though still as long as ever Naruto took notice of how it had been fashioned into something of a high pony tail, or most of it had. Two flowing strands of ebony black hair still framed her face retaining the regal but enchanting beauty that he'd immediately taken notice of when he accidentally summoned her.

"Semi…ramis…you look…I didn't buy all that, did I?" Of course he didn't, but at the moment the blond was so dumbstruck he couldn't think of anything else to say that wouldn't make himself look like an idiot. In an effort to avert his eyes, he searched the room finding he and the Assyrian were completely alone. "Where's Pervy Sage? How doing some more of his 'research'?"

"I honestly don't know and I couldn't care less. He simply told me there were some things he needed to go check on this morning and told me to watch over you. Beyond that, he said we're leaving at twelve o'clock." Semiramis paused for a moment. "It's half past eleven-thirty now, Master."

"HUH?! Why didn't you wake me sooner?!"

"You looked so peaceful sleeping the morning away, I decided best to let you sleep in until absolutely necessary." She responded with an outright venomous smile. No sooner had she spoken the words did her Master begin scrambling to find his belongings then his clothes in full view of her. Semiramis quietly chuckled to herself before manifesting a glass of wine-colored liquid then reaching for it.

Spying the glass on the table, Naruto moved with lightning fast speed. "Thanks, I need a morning drink!" In one swoop, he downed the liquid before Semiramis' wide eyes then slammed the glass back down and went back to dressing himself.

"Fool!" She thundered, shooting up and freezing Naruto in his tracks. Slowly the blond turned to face the angered queen, not at all liking being on the receiving end of her focused golden eyes. "Do you know what you've just done? What you've just drank?! That was poison!"

"W-W-What?! P-Poison?! What do you mean poison?! Why the hell would you summon something like that for a morning drink?! Haven't you ever heard of coffee or something?!" He shouted back, feeling panic rising in his chest.

"That's not the point! For me, that's what a morning drink is, better that than hard liquor before noon!" Okay, that wasn't quite true, her rule against liquor simply was steeped in the fact she'd woken up too many times to the smell of alcohol. Four times too many to be exact courtesy of her second husband. Marching over, she grabbed her Master's babyish face and looked him over for any signs of the poison taking its affect. It wasn't much, only a little cocktail she created for herself that posed no harm to herself or anyone with a fairly strong magical immune system. Still, she couldn't take that risk with her Master, or so she thought. "Why…Master, do you feel…strange?"

Despite the discomfort he felt in being so close and having his face held down Naruto answer, "Uh, no, not really. Why? Should I be worried?"

You should be on the ground convulsing as your stomach turns inwards on itself before resolving and leaving you with a stomach ache for the rest of the day. Reaching out with her mental senses, she found her poisoned wine had…already dissolved within the boy's stomach. Mentally speaking, her eyes widened in surprise. Exactly what is this child? He downed that cocktail as if it were…wait, this could be useful for me. "Master, try focusing your…chakra."

"For what?"

"Anything."

Stepping away, she watched a thin blue outline trace itself over Naruto's body and remain there. Placing a hand to her chin, Semiramis realized she possibly hadn't given the boy enough credit. The cocktail he'd downed would have had a normal magus clawing at the ground then feeling the side effects for the next several hours, potentially going into the next morning. Obviously Naruto was stronger than the average magus, and perhaps then some. Slowly, her eyes drifted downwards towards his half-exposed stomach. He caught her piercing gaze and shuffled a little under it, causing Semiramis to end her examination.

"Go finish packing up. You have to be out of this room by twelve o'clock less then ten minutes from now. Your master will be waiting for you up front so get going." She stated in a dry voice, dissolving away into spiritual particles leaving a still baffled Naruto in her wake.

"Why do I have a feeling my life is going to get a whole lot crazier." Naruto sighed as he began to gather his things.

Women have a tendency to do that to you. It's part of growing up.

Oh yeah, and I suppose you know all about girls, eh?

A feral growl proceeded the answer that came, Brat, I've lived far longer and seen more things than you can fathom, so when I offer you some advice, be smart for once and take it.

So you offering me advice, gee, I didn't know you were starting to warm up to me, fuzzy.

Within his cage the Nine-Tailed Fox, embodiment of wrath and hatred, roared and raged at the unflattering nickname his jinchūriki host had given it and the indignity of turning his words back on him. Stewing in his rage he vowed to get the blond back, one way or another. Perhaps next time when he ingested some of that woman's poison he wouldn't neutralize it and just let the boy suffer. Yes, that would give him a good laugh.

Provided the poison wasn't too strong, if then that would be a problem.

Through his seal he saw Semiramis' bewilderment when Naruto ingested her supposed drink and showed no side effects from doing so. He saw the gears in her head turning as if he were viewing them through a magnifying glass. The woman now had an idea that Naruto was resist to poisons, not just because of his own cursed Uzumaki heritage but because of his influence. Growling deep in his throat, he realized his human host had just unknowingly made himself a test subject for his Servant. He could try telling Naruto that, but something told him he'd have to go through hell to get him to believe him. That fight wasn't worth the effort, nor did he believe Semiramis would be stupid enough to poison the blond brat just for the hell of it. While the woman may have radiating a type of wickedness similar to his own, she wasn't stupid.

Lightly banging one of his tails against the prison bars, he seethed at the fact his attempts at freedom were about to become much harder.

During her life Semiramis had never been able to travel much, at least not for her own personal enjoyment often. Being summoned as a Servant, at least granted her the opportunity to see new places and sights. Having been born and raised and primarily in an arid land she was somewhat unaccustomed to the likes of roving forests, seas of greenery that stretched onward seemingly without end. The smell of flowers in bloom and a warm breeze that kissed the skin, these were small pleasures she took in pleasure in whenever she was summoned.

In spirit form she did little more than listen in to the master and student pair as they made semi-idle conversation on their way. Listening in on their conversation gave her the chance to collect more information on them which she could use in the future.

Naruto was the typical youngster, full of life and energy ready to tackle anything that life through at him, and yet…Semiramis couldn't help but feel there was more to the boy. He spoke of past battles and adventures with names she didn't recognize with fondness. These Kakashi-sensei, Sakura, Hinata, Kiba, Shikamaru, Chōji, Bush-Brow, and Sasuke. The last name she took notice of, Sasuke, who was he? Since becoming spiritually attuned to the boy she'd learned how to sense slight uptakes and shifts in his emotions. Any mentioning of this Sasuke brought a spike in his feelings, not totally positive or negative, just large enough for Semiramis to deduce whoever this person was must have meant a great deal to her new Master. Arguably the second closest emotional spike was the mentioning of this Hinata girl. Those two seemed to draw out the greatest reaction in him.

His near boundless energy bounced well off that of his perverted instructor, or so Semiramis believed. Jiraiya spoke to him with the patience and wisdom one would have expected from a teacher. She supposed her original guess had been correct-there was more to the man than meets the eye.

They do seem like an odd yet fitting pair. A fool and a pervert of a teacher, still not exactly what I asked for. She mused.

Eventually, they came upon another clearing where Jiraiya decided to have Naruto practice the Summoning Jutsu again. Since the last time, he'd done so things had…gone array he was hoping to get in some honest practice here and now.

"Sure you don't want me to practice so I can summon another girl for you to ogle at?" The whisker-faced child asked.

"Hey now! We talked about this, didn't we?!"

Materializing before the pair, Semiramis made her annoyance with the pair vocal. "For Anu's sake, get on with it! I'm sure that meddling bastard will leave you alone so feel free to summon a demon from Irkalla for all I care."

"Irk-what?" Naruto questioned before shutting up under the fierce glare of the Assyrian woman. "G-Got it, heading out now."

Getting some fair distance between them, the woman joined the toad sage on the sidelines. "So, you mentioned this Summoning Jutsu before, I assume they are similar to familiars, yes?"

"You could say that, you use doves, correct?"

"How'd you know?"

"Oh, while we were traveling I noticed a dove or two flying overhead, quite strange to find them around these parts, don't you think." He said, grinning.

"Noted," There was a puff of smoke followed by the sound of croaking. "Of all the beasts for you to summon…why toads? You two do realize how low those creatures are on the food chain, right?"

At her statement, Jiraiya broke out into a fit of thinly controlled laughter. "Oh, you haven't met many toads I take it, at least not the kind that inhabitant Mount Myōboku. Believe me, they're all the muscle you'd need in a fight, and then some." To ethnize his point, he jabbed his thumb black symbol painted on his headband. Semiramis had noticed early on that despite being allied with Konoha he did not wear the village's headband, instead opting for one of his own. "You think I'd go around wearing their banner if they weren't up to stuff?"

Flashing him one of her trademark smiles, Semiramis took the bait he'd so foolish laid for her. "Oh, I'm not quite sure. From what I've gathered, you're a lecherous man who can probably be mesmerized into doing anything with the right…motivation so to speak. Fools like that make for good pawns."

His many years of rejection had taught Jiraiya to reign in his emotions whenever his antics were called out; however, something in the way Semiramis said it simply made the white-haired hermit hang his head in shame. "If I gave you a demonstration of what toads are capably of would you change your opinion?" He half-heartedly whined.

"Perhaps, though I doubt anything you can show me will impress-"

This time she was on the receiving end of a taunting smile, and she didn't realize it until Jiraiya had vanished in a burst of air. Wide-eyed she searched the surrounding area for the Sannin, half-expecting him to be peeking at her from some hidden location.

"Summoning: Bring Down the House Jutsu!"

From the title alone Semiramis knew she'd invited trouble upon herself and was promptly proven right when a massive wave of dust, rock and leaves showered her, temporarily blinding the queen. From his spot, Naruto yelped in sharp surprise then began cursing. He sounds almost used to this. Quickly the dust began to settle and Semiramis turned her eyes to the source of the massive tremor, and promptly went-slack jawed at what she saw.

"Well? Still think toads aren't all that, your highness?" Bellowed grandiose sage from the back of what was without a doubt the largest amphibian she'd ever seen. Also, it was the first time she'd ever seen a toad wearing…clothing? The toad's massive rusty red body was primarily covered by a dark blue vest and an old smoking pipe hang hung from some bright red lips. Simply looking at the creature, Semiramis was given the impression not of beast of battle similar to the live mounts of Riders but of a human being. "Pretty spectacular, huh?" He shouted again.

A cloud of smoke rose from the pipe, then Semiramis heard the toad speak. "Summoning me for demonstration again, Jiraiya? Didn't I tell you I had better things to do? I was actually on my way to a meeting with some associates of mine."

"It talks?" Semiramis asked in open shock, causing the gigantic beast to swing his chariot-sized yellow eyes toward her. In those eyes Semiramis saw things she expected to see in a human, more precisely an elder: age, wisdom, and most of all annoyance at having to lower itself. "So…I take it you're with this child was attempting to summon?" She asked, jabbing a thumb towards Naruto.

"Hey! I kept calling for you all day yesterday and all I got were tadpoles and Gamakichi! What gives!?" The gennin shouted, making his built-up displeasure known.

Gamabunta removed his pipe and breathed out a thick cloud of translucent smoke. His eyes never once fell on his still green henchman. "I already told you, kid, unless it's a life or death emergency, you can call someone else. Besides, why on earth would I take time out of my life to answer the call of my least capable subordinate?"

"Subordinate?" Semiramis repeated, turning an accusing glance towards Naruto. "Master," She began in somewhat threatening yet sweet voice that turned Naruto's blood to ice. "If I didn't know any better, it almost sounds as if this creature is your…superior."

Naruto knew what excuse of a reputation he had was about to be flushed down the toilet at the hands of his grumpy toad summon. He couldn't let that happen, especially in front of the person who he was apparently going to be partnering up with. "I-uh, well, you see it's sorta like this, he and I are-"

Sadly, Gamabunta had other ideas.

"That boy is my subordinate, miss." The old toad breathed out, eying Naruto with annoyance. "Then again, considering how much trouble he gives me I've lately been rethinking the relationship. Speaking of which, I don't think we've been properly introduced." Turning his full attention towards Semiramis, she stood up straight projecting her magical power as a silent force that sent a foul-smelling gust through the clearing. "Gamabunta, chief of the toads of Mount Myōkobu, and you would be…"

Rather than give her full title, Semiramis felt it was best to give only her name. She sensed little harm from this giant amphibian, not to mention of all the people she'd met he seemed the sanest. "Semiramis, through circumstances best left unsaid, I've been bound to serve…that boy over there."

A heavy silence punctuated by the inhalation and release of smoke followed. Slowly, the toad boss' eyes traveled upwards to his summoner.

"It never ends with you, does it, Jiraiya?"

"Hey! I had nothing to do with this one! Really, it was the fault of…what was this…vampire's name again?"

Just the mere mentioning of Zelretch was enough to make the Assassin's eyebrows twitch in annoyance. "His name is of no concern. Just know that that blond child standing over there is my Master until further notice."

"Master, huh?" If only for the sake of his pride, Naruto wished the toad boss took more effort to disguise his laughter. "Good luck then, you're gonna need it."

"I'm standing right here, ya' stupid toad!"

"Is that any way to talk to your boss, flunky?"

At least Naruto didn't back down from the toad's glare, Semiramis felt she should have given him some credit for that.

"All I want to do is be able to summon you when I need you! Not either of your sons who can only provide comic relief!" Naruto shouted, growing angrier by the second. "It's not like I'm asking for you to fight Shukaku again!"

"Fair enough," The rusty-red toad admitted, breathed out another puff of smoke. "However, if you want to summon some of the bigger toads such as myself you're going to have to build up some respect amongst the big guys like us."

"How do I do that?" Rather than look at Gamabunta, Naruto instead looked towards Jiraiya who quickly began to sweat under his student's piercing glare. This did not go unnoticed by Semiramis.

"Perhaps there can be a compromise here." Though she really didn't want to Semiramis felt it was time to step in, if only to end this sad excuse of a comedy while she still had the patience for it. "My Master requires the aid of stronger summons, if not you then surely as the chief of toads you can 'loan' one of your lieutenants to him if only for a trial run. Have that toad report back to you for daily reports and that way you can get a feel of if the boy is worthy enough to call you when asked. Is that acceptable, Gamabunta-san?"

All three males took notice of the honorific that was attached to the end of the chief toad's name. Naruto stared in amazement at his Servant while the two veteran battlers realized this woman was smarter than they first gave her credit for.

Removing his pipe, the scar-faced summon swung his eyes over to Naruto. "Heh, it seems fate's awarded you with an intelligent partner, knucklehead. As for you Jiraiya, since you summoned me I'm taking you back with me."

"Why? Did something happen or my name come up?" He asked, putting on his serious face.

"You could say that. Let's get going, we should be back before sunset if all goes accordingly." The toad explained.

"Alright then, better get going." Down below, the Servant and jinchūriki got simultaneously shivers from the way the Toad Sage grinned at them. "You two play nice until I get back, and try not to have too much fun."

Decades of careful politicking and negotiation had taught Semiramis how to maintain a good poker face. Her Master had no such experience as he erupted into a string of profanities even as the smoke from the summoning faded.

"Master," She quietly shouted, catching his attention. "I believe your energies are best directed towards your training."

"Yeah, guess you sorta have a point." Placing both hands behind his head, Naruto turned to her and gave the black-haired woman a bright smile. "Thanks for striking that deal with Chief Toad, it's really gonna help me in the long run. You know, Semiramis, you're not as scary as I thought you were."

"That is simply because you haven't seen my bad side yet, Master." She chuckled, allowing his praise to go uncontested. "With all due respect, Master, you don't seem to garner much respect. I must say though, I've seen many beasts of battle, but those toads are…different. I'll admit, I never would have thought an amphibian could grow that big." They'd almost make for good snack for my Bašmu.

"Um, Semiramis, can I ask you a question?"

"That depends, is it a stupid question?"

Heh, this woman may actually be the one to force you to grow a brain.

Shut up, fuzzy. Blocking out the resulting rant, Naruto thought of his question and eventually deemed it safe enough to ask. "Um, yesterday you said in addition to an Assassin you were some kind of magician, can you…um perform magic?"

Semiramis knew the train of thought her Master had latched onto, but out of courtesy she decided she'd let it slid. "The technical term is magecraft, but generally speaking, yes. I am a fairly seasoned magician, far superior to most of the magi in my old world."

"So, um, I hear some of what you and Pervy Sage were talking about earlier, and I heard that word again, 'familiar'. That's the word you used to describe yourself. I gotta ask, what's a familiar?"

Tired of verbally explaining things, Semiramis decided a physical presentation. Holding up her left hand, she called forth one of her many doves to her side. The air above her head shimmered before a golden rift into pitch-black darkness opened up. From the darkness came a white-feathered dove of average height and appearance. If Naruto hadn't seen it with his eyes, he would have hardly believed it. His eyes more than spoke of his amazement at the magical ability.

"So it's like a Summoning Jutsu, right?" He reasoned.

"In a manner of speaking, yes. Familiars come in all shapes and sizes, they don't even have to be organic like animals. Familiars can serve a wide variety of purposes from combat to surveillance to simply domestic work. As you can see, my precious doves are ill-suited for battle so I find other uses for them."

Choosing to humor him she directed her dove to Naruto, who somewhat jumped when the bird closed the short distance between them. Clearly it was the closest he'd ever been to a bird, or at least one that wasn't trying to kill him. Almost immediately the white avian took a shine to the boy, affectionately rubbing his cheek and allowing him to pat it in return. Semiramis was tempted to say her familiars were always gentle and nonviolent, but the scene was blissful and welcome relief from her meeting with Gamabunta.

"Yesterday you called yourself a familiar, you were…joking, right?" He spoke up, somewhat surprising her.

"No, Master, I was serious." Recalling her dove, she faced the thirteen year-old with fully serious eyes he froze before. "We Servants, while far more powerful and intelligent, most of the time, are still ultimately familiars summoned from the Throne of Heroes. In a sense, I'm no better than this dove or that giant toad. A being called forth to fight and bleed, and nothing more."

"But that's not true!"

Slightly wide-eyed, Semiramis dismissed her dove. She…honestly hadn't been expecting such a reaction from her Master, hell, any Master worth their salt would never consider arguing with her statement. The mere fact he seemed opposed to it was…startling to say the least.

"Sure, Chief Toad may be bossy and a pain, but I'd never summon him just to watch him get whaled on, and…" Their eyes met and Semiramis saw something that both repulsed and fascinated her-honesty. Pure and genuine honesty. There was no way, was he…concerned for her? She was a Servant, a weapon, an instrument of her summoner to be used as he or she saw fit. Or at least that's how things were supposed to be. His eyes when to the set of fox-like tails imprinted on his left hand. "You called these Command Seals…can I…force you to do something using them?"

It was a risky gamble but Naruto felt he had to clear the air between him and the poison expert. The hard look she shot him told him he'd broached a topic she'd been trying to avoid.

"Yes," Her voice was short and somewhat cold. "As long as you have those Command Seals, a Master can force their Servant to do…almost anything such as attack, remain on standby, or often kill themselves."

"What?!" He shouted, going bug-eyed. "What do ya' mean kill themselves? Why would any Master do that?!"

"Oh, a number of reasons." She said in a matter-of-fact tone. "From time to time it happens to the winner of a Holy Grail War. The point is, we Servants are ultimately tools of our summoners, to be used and discarded when needed." She would have liked it if she could maintain the charade a little longer, but now that her Master knew of his Command Seals she knew her manipulations were about to become much harder from here on out.

At least that's what she thought before seeing the look of…depression on Naruto's face.

In the span of a second, the sunny demeanor of the boy did a complete one-eighty. Looking down on him, Semiramis couldn't help but notice how he seemed almost…older, wearier. The once shimmering shine in his eyes was replaced by a cold hollowness. He's remembering something, something tragic no doubt. She deduced. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw his fists tighten. Did my words really upset him that much? Keeping her confusion carefully masked, she waited and watched until Naruto brought his left hand up then began to furiously scratch at his Command Seals as if trying hard enough would rid him of them. That was where Semiramis put her foot down. "Stop! Stop it, you foolish boy, do you have any idea what you're doing!" She shouted, roughly grabbing his wrist.

"I don't want these Command Seals if all they're doing is shackling you to me! Besides, you're not some toad or bird, you're a person!" He shouted back.

Once again, Semiramis was thrown for a loop in the passionate in which he spoke with. The look in his eyes, it was concern, worry for her. He was…This boy is a…a fool, an honest-to-Gods fool. Wait, I can use that. Internally inhaling, she relaxed her grip and glare. "Master, those Command Seals, they are not without their benefits. Using them to have me fulfil specific orders can endow me with a considerable power boost that may be needed in the future; so please, don't be so hasty to be rid of them, nor should you use them recklessly."

"What kind of specific orders?" The blond questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Orders such as attack a certain enemy, protect something, or hold the line, battle orders if you will. Such things may be needed in the future."

Her words stuck enough that Naruto withdrew his right hand, though the overcast look in his eyes remained. "Okay, I'll take your word for it, but," Looking up, Semiramis was once again stunned by the genuine honesty his sky-blue eyes held. "We're partners, I don't care about this Holy Grail or Throne of Heroes stuff, as far as I'm concerned, we're equals, alright?"

In all of her summons, no, in all her life, no one had ever said those words to Semiramis. For the first time in what must have been centuries the Wise Queen was stunned, simply stunned. What…kind of…child is this? Zelretch…what the hell did you set me up with? Echoing in her head was the letter he'd written for her telling her to watch over this boy. Why? Because a child this honest and outgoing is going to end up getting himself killed? Do the gods of this world have some sort of plan in store for him? There were so many questions wheeling about in her head, yet there was little time for her to dwell on them. Her Master was still staring at her with those damn eyes. Try as she might, Semiramis couldn't find any hints of deceit in his blue orbs. "F…fine, as you wish, Master."

"You can drop the 'Master' stuff, it's kinda creepy and I think it's going to freak some people out. Just call me Naruto."

Squinting, she tried hard to find some deceit or villainy in those eyes; sadly luck wasn't on her side. "Very well…Naruto." Resigning herself, she lightly gripped his bloodied right hand with her finger tips. The young ninja's lips parted in awe at the warm light that engulfed his palm. Quickly as it came it faded, revealing his thumb to be completely healed. "While poisoning is my specialty, I do know a few things regarding healing magecraft." Though what I used it for wasn't really for healing. Her dark side thought back with a malicious smirk. "Now get to practicing, if that old fool comes back I won't be hearing of it for distracting you."

"Yes ma'am!" He exclaimed flashing her a grateful smile.

Ahem, there's chapter two in which we had some meetings and good and not-so-good first impressions. Cool as Semiramis' outfit is it's a little…much for her to go around in so I swapped it out for something that would help her blend into the Naruto world, at least for a little while until she does another wardrobe change.

The next couple of chapters are going to be focused our fox and dove interacting and building up a positive relationship, kind of like the ones that happen between Fate heroes and their love interests, only this one is going to be a little more twisted since the love interest is a scheming manipulative queen.