"No."

"Naruto, you haven't even sat down and listened."

"I said no. There is nothing you can say that can change my mind."

"I told you this wasn't going to go well." Artemis turned toward her uncle. In the background, Naruto could be seen marching away from the group of giants.

"Let me talk to him." The earthshaker spoke before striding over toward the boy. His massive form had him within the blond's range in a few short steps.

"Hello, Naruto. It is pleasure to meet you. I am Poseidon. To the Greeks, I am the god of the sea." The god greeted in the most cheerful voice he could muster. With his height advantage, he could clearly see the disgruntled look on his face. If he wanted his plans to work out, he needed the boy to be amicable, not disgruntled.

When Naruto continued to walk, Poseidon knew that getting the boy to be happy wasn't going to be an easy task. Drastic measures would have to be taken if this went on for too long.

This time, when Poseidon's foot came slamming down only a few feet in front of him, Naruto didn't hold the sage's chakra back. He allowed the golden, euphoric energy to flow from out of him, covering him in his cloak in an instant. Poseidon raised an eyebrow at the sudden transformation while Naruto settled into a defensive stance.

"I'm sorry if I startled you." The god spoke out. Naruto said nothing in response while keeping his eyes locked onto the giant. Behind him, the beginnings of his truth-seeking orbs were taking shape as he prepared to strike.

"Let me conform to something more fitting for this conversation." The Greek god said out loud before closing his eyes. Naruto tensed up when he felt a physical weight settle upon his shoulders. Whatever the god was doing was making him emit a large amount of energy that saturated the air around him. The blond could feel the ground begin to shake underneath him as the energy grew more abundant.

As the energy output seemed to reach its apex, Poseidon began to morph. It was a subtle change at first, it almost managing to escape Naruto's sharp eyes, yet as it carried on, its effects became much more noticeable. The giant began to shrink. The transformation wasn't instant nor was it slow. Gradually, every aspect of its being grew smaller until he stood at a height that put him only a few inches taller than Naruto. The blond was grateful that the man's clothes had followed his lead in the shrinking process and provided the god with the same amount of modesty he had started with. After the day he had, the last thing he wanted to see was a naked Poseidon.

"I haven't been this small in years." The man chuckled out while giving his limbs a much needed stretch. Compacting the full might of his power to such a small form was a bit of a struggle for him. Naruto remained in his crouch positioned, his eyes still focused on the god. At any moment, he was prepared to send one of the truth-seeking balls blasting forward at the man and wipe away any sign of his existence.

...He had had a bad day.

"I hope we can have a conversation now. I'm not the best talker so Im not sure I can convince you but let me at least explain some things."

"No." Naruto stated while standing back up to his full height. He made to move forward but stopped when Poseidon placed himself in his pathway. Deciding that he didn't want to immediately confront the man, Naruto ignored the blatant blocking attempt and stepped to his right. His brow furrowed when the earthshaker moved in the way to block his path once again.

"Get out of my way." Naruto grunted out at the man. His patience had run out and if the god knew better, he would do the smart thing and move out of the way.

Unfortunately for Naruto, Poseidon wasn't exactly known for his intelligence or his mind reading. The sea god stood firm in his spot, returning Naruto's glare with a gaze that he thought was calming but, in actuality, only served to piss the boy off even further.

"Look, we can talk about this." The man said while holding his hands above his head. He was hoping the gesture would be seen a non-threatening one by the blond and would help get their interaction onto a good route. When the golden boy sighed, closed his eyes and relaxed in his stance, Poseidon thought he had managed to accomplish that.

He soon discovered that his line of thinking was completely wrong when the blond disappeared out of his sight. One moment, he was there and the next, he was gone, a golden flash the only proof that he had been there in the first place. Poseidon could only blink at his sudden departure before a loud sigh left his lips.

"That didn't go well, Uncle."

"I know, I know. We mustn't give up, though. He is the key to our victory."

This was starting to become a pattern, he noted. He had once again arrived home late and almost every occupant of the house was asleep. The only one who seemed to be awake was Ophis who had decided to wait for him by the door once more.

"...Hello." At the sound of the dragon's soft voice, Naruto felt the exhaustion of the day, particularly his most recent conversation, settle onto his shoulders. He wanted nothing more than to brush past the girl, push her issues and the promise he made her away, lock himself in his room and block out the rest of the world. The temptation was high, enough to nearly push him to do it. But, once again, the moral side of him decided to hijack control of his body and speak despite the fact that it was in the minority.

"How was your day?" The blond questioned while moving toward the couch. If he wasn't able to convince himself to go jump into his bed, he would at least indulge himself in taking a seat. He deserved that, right? At least, that was what he told himself as he flopped down onto the piece of furniture with a low groan.

"...It was fine." The dragon responded after following after the blond. She sat across from him and watched as he sank deep down into the couch. Despite her limited knowledge of humans, even she could spot the exhaustion eating at the blond's face. A part of her wished to speak up, spurring him to go get some rest. Yet, she did not know how to express this. Every time she opened her mouth to talk all she heard was silence. The words that she desperately wanted to speak were trapped within her throat. The feeling was frustrating beyond belief to the young girl.

"Hey, Ophis." Naruto's sleepy voice cut through the dragon's inner conflict. A questioning hum was her reply as she saw the blond focus what little bit of his attention he had left on to her through his half-lidded eyes.

"You want to head to the dimensional gap tomorrow and see if we can find Cao Cao? I need a break from the shop and I made you wait far enough." Once more, Ophis was unable to keep hold of her emotions as her eyes widened in shock. The words became jumbled in her mouth yet again, but this time she forced them out.

"...Yes. I would like this." The dragon did her very best to ignore the heightened pitch of her voice as it left her mouth. She couldn't help it. How could she when the blond was around her? When it came to her, almost every single thing the blond did surprise her. It was all pleasant in an odd sort of way. She didn't usually like surprises but Naruto was changing that. Though she hadn't yet learned to cope with the blond's unselfish kindness and with the way he acting, she wasn't sure if she ever would.

"Good, good," A yawn forced the blond's mouth open wide as he gave his limbs a long stretch. The yawn ended with the teen curling his legs up onto the couch while laying his head down on his hands.

"We can start first thing in the morning." Naruto mumbled out before his eyes came to a steady close. Ophis watched as the twin orbs disappeared beneath the boy's eyelids. He remained conscious for a few moments afterward but the gentle and repetitive movements of his chest a minute later showed he hadn't managed to stave off unconsciousness.

"..." Ophis was silent as she watched the blond's chest rise and fall. It was at this moment that the dragon realized just how defenseless Naruto was. One of the few beings, a human at that, who had managed to challenge her now laid unconscious only a few feet from where she sat. Even now in her weakened form, it would take little more than a thought from her to snuff out his life.

The dragon pushed herself off the couch. Her landing made little noise as her feet began to carry her. Her eyes stayed focused on the sleeping boy while she made her way toward the couch. Each step was quiet, close to completely silent, as she grew closer to the boy. Within seconds, she stood at his side. Due to her height and the height of the couch, the blond's resting head stood at her head level, offering her the perfect view of his resting face.

As his soft snores met her ears, Ophis noted to herself that this was the first time she had gotten such a close look at her 'caretaker'. Through their various bouts, encounters, and talks, she had never taken the chance to fully observe the boy's feature. Now, though, with him being so still and herself being so close, she could see it all.

She could see the slight flaring of his nose with every breath he took. She could see how his whiskers would grow and shrink along with his snores. She could see the smallest edge of his teeth behind his thin lips. She could see the subtle twitching of his nose and the creasing of his brow as he fell deeper and deeper into sleep.

She stood at his side, absorbing every single little detail with her eyes. She found the minute details fascinating yet she did not know why. They were insignificant details. They held no importance or uniqueness. Every single human in existence made them at one point in their sleep. The dragon was sure that if she willed herself to sleep, she too would look similar to how the blond looked. Yet those same bland features, when placed on the sleeping blond, suddenly became interesting. They grew meaning. They made her feel … something.

She still didn't know what that something was and that frustrated her. Emotions were frustrating in general. A part of her yearned to return to a point in time where the only worry in her life was the maintenance of her home. Those days had been filled with silence and comfort, two things she didn't receive very often nowadays. She missed those days.

But now, staring down at the sleeping, she wasn't quite sure if she would exchange her present for the past. Her past had been filled with silence but it had lacked the intrigue that the boy brought. It felt oddly pleasant to be curious about something. It made her days feel a lot more purposeful than before.

A particularly loud snore tore her from her thoughts and forced her attention back onto the boy. The sight of his sleeping face brought forth a new feeling within her. It was an odd thing, more odd than her new set of unknown feeling.

For once, she decided to give in to the feeling. Her hand rose up before she could think twice to stop herself. Its journey through the air lasted for only a few brief seconds before it arrived at its target.

His skin was surprisingly soft considering how much she had heard how humans were hairy and dumb creatures. It sunk in at her touch yet flapped back to its original shape when she pulled back. She stared at her fingers with a sense of wonder before she pushed it back toward his face. This time, its target was the whisker marks on his face.

Once more, she was surprised at the sensation that met her. Where the boy's skin was soft, the marks on his cheek was rough to the touch. It felt like she was rubbing soft pieces of bark as she dragged her fingers across his cheek.

When the blond released a particularly loud snore, Ophis pulled her hand back as if she had touched a flame. She was admittedly a little anxious when the boy's facial features scrunched up in some unseen agitation. Her anxiety grew when he lifted his arm from his stomach to scratch at the cheek she had been petting. But other than that, he did not stir. Which left her plenty more time to continue her examination of him.

"What are you doing?" That time was cut down to zero when a voice spoke out from behind her. With a slow nature to her movements, Ophis turned away from the dragon to face the new arrival, Koneko.

"...I was examining." There was no shame in the dragon's words as she spoke. She had been caught in the act yet, to her, she did nothing wrong. There was nothing to be bashful about.

Koneko hummed in response to the god's words but said nothing in response. Her arms remained folded across her chest as she stood across the room from her sleeping boyfriend and the curious dragon.

"...What is love?" Koneko's arm came uncrossed at the sudden question from the dragon. That was something she hadn't been expecting.

"Why do you ask?" The Nekoshou gathered her composure. With how erratic Ophis had been lately, it wouldn't bode well for her to be off her A game. Though, she didn't think it would matter much. She had a good idea on why the girl was asking her this question.

Ophis didn't respond immediately. Instead, she broke eye contact with the Nekoshou to look down at the sleeping Naruto. Even though Koneko couldn't see the dragon's face, she could spot the inherent struggle within her body as she moved. Even from the back, it looked as if the dragon was fighting the urge to jump the blond.

"...I don't understand it." The dragon finally spoke while remaining staring down at Naruto. "He … says he cares about me. But … not like you. He says he loves you … and does stuff with you."

Koneko couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the somber tone that the dragon's voice had taken. The god sounded upset as she spoke. If the Nekoshou was being completely fair, the dragon sounded like a sad child at that moment.

There was also another emotion clear in the dragon's voice.

Confusion.

The Nekoshou released a silent sigh to herself. She was beginning to see why Naruto found dealing with the girl so exhausting. Not even a hundred words into their conversation and she was already regretting starting it. It felt as if she was trying to explain metaphysics to a child. A child with world ending capabilities but still a child.

"Is this still about sex?" Koneko decided to be straightforward in her questioning. If the dragon was going to be so blunt in her questioning, so would she.

"...No," Ophis admitted while turning to face Koneko. Her steady eyes had been rendered unsure as she stared at the Nekoshou.

"He…" The dragon paused once more to look back at the blond. A quiver ran through her body before she swung her body back toward a curious Koneko.

"He … makes me feel odd." Koneko nodded in understanding before taking a step toward the girl. Ophis whirled around at the sudden movement but did not move past that. She instead aimed a pointed look at the Nekoshou, a look that Koneko managed to return with ease.

"Does it feel like a mixture of curiosity and frustration?" Ophis found herself nodding along to Koneko's words without much thought to her actions. Surprisingly to her, the Nekoshou had managed to sum up her current emotion state with her words.

"What do you want to do when you look at him?" This question threw the dragon for a loop. What did she want to do when she looked at the blond? She risked a glance away from Koneko to do a live demonstration.

"He …" Ophis paused as her eyes swept over Naruto. "He makes me curious."

"I want to know him." The second set of words came rushing out of her mouth without any thought. It was the first time in her life that her mind spoke for her without her having to tell it to do so. It was an odd feeling yet one she didn't find too horrible.

"Then talk to him." Ophis' attention shot back over Koneko. "If you want to know him all you have to do is talk. He does it all the time."

Talking. That was an idea she never put much thought into. As a being who embraced silence and everything that came with it, talking, up until a few months prior, had been a taboo thing. The only talking she did prior to that was with the Great Red, and she found that experience very unpleasant.

Though, the idea of talking to Naruto, now that Koneko had planted it in her head, didn't seem nearly as unpleasant. From the times when she would sit in his shop, she knew the blond to be excitable, energetic, talkative and always bursting with happiness, all traits that she found unbearable. Yet, she didn't grow annoyed with him. The sound of his voice wasn't grating to her. Half of the time, she found herself straining against the capabilities of her headphones just to listen to the teen.

Listening was half the battle, right?

But would she be able to provide the other half? For the first time in a long time, Ophis found herself doubting herself and her ability to talk. She wasn't a talkative person and the world knew that.

"Talking is hard…" Ophis found herself talking unconsciously once more. As the words left her mouth, the dragon noted to herself to fix that.

"Not with Naruto. If you don't talk, he will. If you talk, he'll talk twice as much." Koneko's words were blunt but true. Her boyfriend had a motor mouth that never seemed to stop.

Unless he was interacting with a god, of course.

The dragon remained silent for a moment. Could she really do this? Talking was supposed to be simple but could she really find it within her to subject herself to it.

"...Ok." Ophis relented to the young lioness. She would give 'talking' a try. If it would help calm the raging swirl of emotion within her, she would be a fool not to.

"Have fun. I'm going to sleep." Ophis blinked owlishly as she watched the Nekoshou perform a swift turn and disappear down the house's hallway. The soft sound of feet landing against carpet carried for several seconds before the sound of a door closing alerted the dragon that she was once again alone with the sleeping blond.

"..." With a silence that she had become all too accustomed to, Ophis turned to face Naruto once more. This time, however, the silence wasn't so comforting. It felt odd, especially after the conversation she just had. She felt the need to break it. So, she did the wrong thing she could to do just that.

She began talking.

"He flies around … always shouting … always annoying. He does those tricks … he looks like an idiot." Those soft spoken words were what Naruto woke up to. His eyes fluttered open with great effort on his part while the words floated through the air. He vaguely processed their meaning and who exactly they were coming from as he began to rise up from the couch. His ascension stopped midway through when a stab of pain cut through his spine. His hand shot up to support the stiff structure while he hissed loudly.

"Never sleeping on the couch again." The blond mumbled to himself while holding his spine. What had been soft and comfortable last night during his bout of tiredness had come back to bite him in the ass.

"Hello." Naruto nearly launched himself off of the couch at the sound of the voice. Ignoring the pain plaguing his spine, he turned to see Ophis sat directly next to him. Silence filled the air as the duo met eyes. Blue clashed with gray as both beings waited for one another to speak.

"Good … morning." Surprisingly, at least for the blond, Ophis was the one to break silence, albeit with a little bit of difficulty. A night of talking to herself and an unconscious Naruto hadn't made her a natural conversationalist.

"Morning." The blond replied while taking a subtle glance around the room. The last thing he remembered was having an exhaustion filled conversation with Ophis before succumbing to the whim of sleep. Any distrust between the two had completely left the boy's mind in that moment of exhaustion. Looking at the dragon staring up at him with such large and trusting eyes made it difficult for him to regurgitate that same mistrust.

"How long have you been up?" Naruto asked, attempting to spur the conversation forward. If Ophis was the first thing be woke up to, he would at least attempt to speak with her.

"All night." Out came the dragon's response. At her words, Naruto turned back to her with a raised eyebrow.

"All night?" He echoed, not entirely believing her. Though, when she nodded a moment later, he couldn't find any reason to not believe. Those eyes just seemed too innocent to lie to him right now. He knew the dragon was anything but innocent but those eyes made him briefly believe otherwise.

"Why were you up all night?"

"I was talking to you." Before Naruto could even begin to question that statement, five knocks echoed off the front door. Both occupants of the room turned their head toward the sound before looking back at each other.

"Ah … I'll get it." The blond scurried off the couch and up to his feet before striding across the length of his living room. He quickly arrived at his front door where he unlocked it without a second thought and let it swing open.

"Hello!" It took only a brief look over at the practically glowing blond mad for Naruto to deduce that the person standing at his front step was a god. He reacted in the only way he could've reacted.

He slammed the door shut in the god's face.

"Well, that was rude." Apollo ran a hand through his golden hair while staring at the wooden door in front of him. Artemis and Poseidon had warned him that Naruto wasn't very fond of the divine yet he hadn't expected such a rude response.

"Time to up the charisma!" The god said while clapping his hands together. The golden glow surrounding him grew brighter as he reached out to knock at Naruto's door. When his knuckles met the door's wooden surface, speckles of gold flakes fell from his skin and attached to the door. With each tap, the gold grew larger and brighter until the whole entire door was encompassed by the strange energy. Apollo was about to knock once more but stopped himself when the door swung open. A frown appeared on his face as he watched the golden flakes disperse from the door. His sadness lasted only for a moment before returned his attention to the grumpy looking blond who had answered the door.

"Hello!" Apollo greeted the teen with a bright smile and a wave of his hand. The prominent frown on Naruto's face told the god everything he needed to know about his current mood. The boy radiated agitation. That wouldn't stop the god, though. If the teen was going to radiate irritation, he was going to radiate happiness.

"I've been told to tell you to go away." The blond grunted out in a monotone voice. Apollo raised a single eyebrow at the odd phrasing of his words but carried on nonetheless.

"I'm not goi-"

"I'm not real Naruto ." Apollo's planned spiel came to a screeching halt at his words. He tilted his head to the side a small amount while his mind attempted to process the blond's words.

"What do you mean by that?" The god questioned, hoping that some clarification would be able to clear up his confusion. As a god of knowledge, not knowing something was a thing he did not enjoy.

"I'm a clone. The real Naruto left a couple of seconds ago." This was something he did not expect. Apollo tilted his head to the side while staring at the apathetic supposed clone. He had come to talk to the real teen, not some grumpy copy.

"Well, can you leave a message for me?"

"No." Those were the clone's parting words before he shut the door, leaving the god standing alone on the doorstep. Apollo's face was blank for several long moments while he remained staring forward at the door. Slowly, a frown began to form against the god's lips while his usual golden glow faded to a dull shine.

"This is going to be difficult."

Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine he would reach a stage like this within his lifetime. Chance encounters with gods, escape visits from the deepest parts of Heaven or the accidental creation of his own religion hadn't managed to lead him to this wild conclusion.

But, he was here. Despite the minuscule probability of the situation ever occurring, he found himself hiding out from a group of gods in a dimension that existed between dimensions with an exhausted dragon laid across his legs.

"Why can't things just be simple?" Naruto thought to himself while looking down at his legs which were currently trapped beneath the weight of an exhausted dragon. The girl had forsaken any sense of her usual properness as her whole body sat stretched across his legs. For the first time since their fated meeting, he could hear short gasps exiting the girl. It was one of the few signs of exhaustion he had ever seen from Ophis. The action served to disturb him more than their current position as he found himself awkwardly awaiting its end.

"Maybe try comforting her?" The idea, which would make perfect sense in the context of any other normal being, would make perfect sense. Unfortunately, Ophis was nowhere near normal. Just months prior, the dragon had wanted to kill him. That intent to kill had turned into an apparent want of sex within moments which, in the blond's own honest, was more troublesome than her wanting to kill him.

Though, at this point in his life, he was willing to try anything. So, with slight hesitation, Naruto reached an arm down to the dragon's back. A light frown appeared on his lips when he felt her stiffen up. The sensible part of him demanded that he pull his hand away immediately yet he ignored it. For a reason unknown even to him, he continued to rub.

Surprisingly, at least to the blond, his actions didn't result in him getting blasted away by the girl. The small ministrations given by him actually did their part in comforting the tired girl. Ever so slowly, her sharp breaths began to smooth out. The rise and fall of her chest settled into an almost unnoticeable rhythm. The pained expression, even though Naruto couldn't see it, morphed into one of content as Ophis closed her eyes and allowed herself to enjoy his touch.

"Ophis?" The dragon's eyes snapped open at the boy's words. His hand came to a torturously slow stop on her back while his questioning tone hung in the air. With a reluctance Ophis wasn't use to showing, she pushed herself off of the boy's legs and onto her own butt.

"I apologize." Naruto's eyebrows shot up at the apology. The look on the dragon's face as she rose her head to meet his eyes were of pure sincerity as she sat across from him.

"Portals … have become difficult since … that." Naruto nodded along to her words, silencing her attempts to verbalize her interaction with Cao Cao. She offered him a nod in thanks before looking around herself.

"I … have returned," Ophis muttered to herself while attempting to rise up to her feet. Her attempt landed in failure when her legs gave out beneath her. A fall back to the ground was eliminated when Naruto reached his arms out and grabbed her. She found herself deposited back onto the blond's lap once more as he kept her from falling.

"I'm … more tired than I thought." Ophis blinked owlishly before looking back at Naruto.

"I … apologize again. I … am halting us." The blond immediately began to shake his head before clasping his hands together.

"No worries!" With those words, several clouds of smoke surrounded the two. Ophis watched the smoke clear out several moments later, revealing a small squadron of blond clones. With a quick salute to their creator, the clones turned from them and dashed away in different directions.

"While you recover for a bit, I'll have my clones go out and search for us." Naruto let loose a bright smile at Ophis while his clones disappeared into the distance. The dragon watched the copies go for a while before moving her attention back onto the smiling blond. A surge of admiration flew through her aa she sent him a small nod.

"...Thank you." The dragon said, earning her a nod from Naruto. With that exchange, the two descended into silence. With the silence in place, both parties soon became aware of their current positions.

"Naruto." As the blond started to grow a bit anxious with Ophis sitting in his lap, she called out to him. He was forced to crane his neck downward to meet her gaze.

"Huh?"

"I … want to talk." If it wasn't for the slowness of the words, Naruto would've thought he had misheard the girl. Ophis wanting to talk? That went against everything he thought about the dragon. But, after listening to her words while staring down into her eyes, Naruto found himself hard pressed to deny her words.

"Talk?" Naruto found himself questioning her anyway. She nodded again, giving him the confirmation he needed. It was an odd request yet one that he didn't have any problems fulfilling.

"I can do that." His enthusiasm came flowing back through him with those words. "What would you like to talk about out?"

That threw the dragon for a bit of a spin. She hadn't prepared for that question. So, she allowed her desires to speak for herself.

"You."

"Me?"

"Yes."

This decision threw Naruto for a bit of a loop. He hadn't exactly shared much of his history with anyone here, excluding Koneko. The thought of sharing his past with the dragon made him hesitate with his response.

Looking down at her, though, made that hesitation fade away. Her wide, gray eyes made her seem so innocent in his eyes. After their morning interactions and the past week between the two, he had been finding it harder and harder to NOT look past the facade of the dragon god. A god? No, she wasn't nothing like that. He had met gods. Compared to them, she was nothing but a simply curious girl.

"Sure." Naruto replied with a soft sigh. The decision had been hard for him. Yet, when he saw the tiniest of smiles appear on the dragon's face, he couldn't find it within himself to complain. Since he couldn't complain, he did the one thing he could:

He started talking.

AN:Thank you all for reading. I hope you all enjoyed. PM or Review with any questions, comments, concerns, etc. Have a wonderful night.

As a side note, I want to thank you all for making this the most reviewed fic, second in follows and third in favorites. Everytime I refresh those numbers, I'm shocked at how they continue to grow and how they even got to this point. Thank you all so much for reading. I really hope you have enjoyed the story so far and will continue to enjoy it to and past its end.