AN: I added a small author's note to the start of the very first chapter. You may want to read it.

"No."

"Michael, I need you to stop being stubborn and listen."

"I am not being stubborn. I am simply not allowing myself to believe in such ludicrous claims."

"Michael, do not ac-"

"Enough, Raphael!" The archangel's voice boomed through the office, shutting the angel's mouth in an instant. The pleasant look on Michael's face had been tainted with a striking frown and a scowl. His eyes swept over his militant counterpart, meeting Raphael's eyes after several moments of tense silence.

"I'm not going to attempt to change your mind when you're already so steadfast. Just know of my warning." The angel of health spoke before giving a short bow of his head. He then turned on his heel and walked out of the room, leaving Michael alone in the room.

"Say what you're going to say." Michael said out loud despite how empty his office was. His audience became clear when Gabriel shimmered into existence next to him in a quick flash of white light. A frown marred her face while she stared at her brother's back.

"You should at least consider his advice." Michael rounded on the beautiful angel at her statement, his mouth parted open in preparation for a response. At the sight of the worry on his sister's voice, his mouth came to a slow close. A sigh instead slipped through his lips before his eyes came to a slow close.

"Even you, Gabriel." The female angel shook her head at his words before taking a step toward her brother. She reached out with her hand and placed it on the man's shoulder, making him open his eyes to look at her. Tired eyes met concerned ones as the siblings stared at each other.

"This is just as impactful on me, Michael." At the sound of his name, the man turned away, breaking eye contact while he strode across the room. Gabriel watched him walk around the office for several aimless, silent moments before he settled near its door.

"I can't accept it."

"You may have to. We can no longer ignore him. We have to accept this as a possibility." Her response was quick while she stepped out from behind his desk. Her eyes sparkled with concern while they traced the tired rising and falling of her brother's shoulders from behind. A sigh echoed along with his movements.

"It's a possibility that I never would've thought possible."

"Did you think father's death was possible?" Gabriel spoke, knowing the effect it would have on her brother. She wasn't surprised when he turned to her, hurt and disbelief in his eyes.

"We've grown past the point of the unimaginable," The angel pressed forward. She knew it was best for her to keep talking instead of letting her brother to have a word.

"This is a time of change, Michael. Father taught us to never let ignorance blind us. Do not let his teachings go to waste. He is still with us." With those words, Gabriel walked out of the office, brushing past Michael as she left. The Seraph watched her leave for a moment before the closing doors obscured his view, leaving him alone with his thoughts once more.

"Father." The angel thought before turning his back to the door. In times of trouble, his thoughts would always trail back to his father and now was no different. So, it was with a practiced ease that Michael did the one thing he could do at that moment.

"Our father, who art in Heaven. Hallowed by thy name…"

"Why didn't you kill him?"

"Killing isn't always the answer, Ophis."

"...Seemed like the answer in that situation."

Naruto rolled his eyes when the dragon's monotone reply echoed from his side. He cut his eyes down toward the girl and saw that she was sending him a dead eye look of her own.

"He … attacked and tried to kill you. Why shouldn't you kill him?" Ophis questioned.

"He was my friend."

"Do … friends try to kill each other? Is that why we're friends?" The girl's eyes lit up with curiosity at the question, causing Naruto to groan. That light meant she wanted an answer.

"No, no, no, no." He made sure to punctuate each word with a shake of his head. He didn't want to risk the chance of any crazy ideas getting inside the mind of the curious dragon god. Something like that could spell disaster for the entire universe.

"We're friends because we … get along." Naruto ended up blurting out the first thing that came to mind. An upset Ophis was not something he needed to deal with at the moment.

"Do … we?" Those once dead eyes were now filled with hope and were pointed right at him.

"Yes we do." He responded with little hesitation and, surprisingly, he could feel a bit of truth in his own words. The feeling brought a slight amount of ease to his mind and the small smile from Ophis following his words only added to it. The two descended back into silence, breaking eye contact with each other to focus on the world around them.

"Naruto," The silence didn't last for long. The blond looked at Ophis at the call of his name and saw that she was once again staring up at him.

"...What is love?" To his credit, the blond barely reacted to the question. In all honesty, he had become accustomed to the wild line of questioning from Ophis. This was nothing but the norm for her to him.

"Well," His hand moved to the back of his neck and began to rub at the area. He could feel the dragon's eyes on him while his own traveled upward to gaze at the sky, his mind searching for the best response to the question while his eyes traced the sky's waning colors.

"It's weird, y'know," The blond started before moving his eyes back down to Ophis. "Love isn't something you can see or hold." Naruto had to hold himself back from laughing when the dragon held her hands up in front of her face to examine them.

"Even people who are in love don't really know what it is." He continued on, bringing her attention back onto him.

"If I had to describe it … I would call it a strong attraction. You can't tell where it came from or how it got to where it is. It can make you feel weird like you never felt before. It's really confusing and frustrating and makes you want to tear out your hair at times but it also makes you really, really happy." He finished his statement off with a strong. He never imagined he would be attempting to explain love to a primordial dragon being yet here he was. Despite the odds, he thought he did a pretty good job. Going off the thoughtful expression on the dragon's face, he couldn't have done too bad.

"Love." Ophis repeated out loud. She took a brief glance down at the folds of her lap before looking back up to Naruto. The blond had decided to look back up at the sky, offering her the perfect opportunity to stare at him once more. Like before, the sight of her boy entranced her and she found the corners of her lips curling upward without command. She did not correct this unconscious movement. After what she had learned from the blond, smiling didn't seem too bad.

The shopkeep and the dragon sat in silence for awhile, enjoying each other's presence and the comfort that came with it. The original reason behind their visit to the dimensional gap faded from the forefront of their minds. The importance of their mission dimmed while the swirling sky of the gap occupied their thoughts.

A small tingling right above his eyes was Naruto's only warning before a rush of memory slammed into his preoccupied mind. His hands went up to clutch his head while his brain attempted to sort through the mass of memories left to him by one of his clones. A low groan began to leave his mouth as the visions of his clones grew more vivid.

"Are …. you okay?" Ophis asked with a hint of worry in her voice. Her focus had been so intently focused on the blond that his sudden change in demeanor had actually startled her into a small jump.

"I'm fine." Naruto groaned while moving his hands away from his head. His once bright and curious eyes now looked tired, almost as if he had lived a whole other lifetime within the course of a few seconds. He turned those tired eyes onto the dragon, and, for one of the few times in her lifetime, Ophis found herself troubled by the look she received.

"I found out what they did with your power."

There weren't many perks that came along with being a clone. Your existence could be summed up as cannon fodder, your physical being could he dispelled by a single hit and you weren't unique by any measure.

Yet, the knowledge of being a clone opened up a mental gateway in the mind of the creature. The physical restrictions and cautions that his creator loosely stuck to didn't exist for him. He was daring where the original was cautious. He was wild where the original had to be controlled.

So, when he had stumbled upon a stronghold in the middle of the dimensional gap, nothing but excitement had filled him. Covering several dozen acres of land, the thing was an intimidating sight. Large towers shot high into the sky, surrounded by long stone walkways. A massive wall surrounded the whole structure and the clone could spot various kinds of creatures patrolling the way. For all purposes, he should've dispelled himself at that moment so his creator would learn of the structure's location. Yet that wildness that the original had been known for as a child roared within him and demanded he put his short-lived existence into use.

So, he did something stupid. He decided to sneak into the fortress by himself. As a clone, an entity broken within a single hit, this was the stupidest waste of an existence he could've have done. He had reminded himself of this over and over while scaling the spiked walls of the structure. The thought traveled through his head while sneaking past dozens of different mythical creatures and magical humans. It was at its strongest when he had somehow managed to stumble upon what looked to be Cao Cao's personal chambers, guarded by a twin pair of magicians. The temptation to charge the room and put an end to the man had been strong but he managed to contain himself.

Now though, he knew he had reached his peak of stupidity. Staring at the creature in front of him, the clone knew it couldn't get much worse. For once in the total lifetime of all the Naruto's clone, sorrow for his creator filled him. The absolute headache that was going to be brought to the boy due to his discovery was something even the clone could empathize with.

"Hello…" His words came out slow and unsure while he looked at the creature in front of them. It had yet to show him any aggression yet the Naruto clone wasn't taking any chances. It had already taken enough of those in its limited lifetime.

"Hello." Its response was quick, curt and sent a chill up the clone's spine. It reminded him so much so of a certain dragon god. Everything about the creature in front of him reminded him of Ophis. Its long black hair, short stature, innocent female features and poorly concealed feeling of overwhelming power reeked of Ophis. It felt as if he was looking at a clone.

"So … who are you?" The Naruto clone questioned after several moments of silence. The small girl broke the silence with a small hum before looking into the blond's eyes.

"My name is Lilith."

"Why have I've been tasked with this?"

Apollo wasn't a man of arrogance. He did not think himself above his fellow god. He was a man of warmth, poetry and equality.

"But why me, though? Why couldn't Hestia do this? She's much nicer." The god thought to himself while he walked through the crowd of traveling of students. His ethereal body made him go unnoticed and untouched by the sea of chatty teenagers. Despite this, he found himself more annoyed than ever by their presences. He couldn't even find it within himself to admire the beauty of some of them while his feet carried him with great reluctance toward his target.

"I need this to be over quicker." The man muttered to himself before his form blurred into a single day of golden light. The light snaked it's way through the ocean of students within a matter of moments before shooting across the campus grounds. Its journey continued for a mere instant more before it shifted back into the Apollo's human form. He looked up at the somewhat decrepit door in front of him with a comforted smile on his face.

"That's better." The god muttered to himself before reaching out to open the door. His attempt came to a quick stop when an arc of electricity leapt from the doorknob and sunk into his skin. A loud yelp left his mouth while he jerked his arm backward. He clutched his stinging appendage with his uninjured hand while glaring down at the inconspicuous doorknob. Its clean, bronze surface reflected his disgruntled expression, seemingly mocking him with each passing moment.

Apollo quickly decided he didn't like this particular doorknob.

With a small huff, Apollo transformed into the singular beam of light before propelling himself toward the door. His form phased through its surface with ease and he popped out on the other side of it with a smug grin on his face. He turned to face the door, making sure to look down at its knob, while an air of self-satisfaction radiated from him.

"You can't keep out Apollo. No one can." The man spoke to the inanimate door before turning to observe the room. He took immediate notice of the various archaic and dark symbols hanging from its walls. The whole area was not well lit, adding to its bleak atmosphere. All in all, the god hated the room.

"Needs much more light." The man noted to himself before his ears picked up on the sound of running water. Before he could even begin to stop himself, he began to move toward the sound. His light and airy form cut through the darkness of the room with a swiftness he had become famous for as his ears guided him. The speed of his walking only increased when the subtle sound of humming reached his ears. The noise was nearly drowned out by the running water yet the god's enhanced senses allowed him to hear it.

"Is someone showering?" The god thought to himself while the sounds grew louder with each taken step. His question soon became answered when he was forced to stop lest he walk through an oddly placed curtain. The thing sat between two long spans of walls and its odd pink color contrasted with the rest of the room's interior.

He didn't ponder on the oddity for long before pushing his head past it with a caution filled curtain had done a mystical job in concealing the large amount of warm mist that hung in the air on the other side of it, leaving Apollo to find out the hard his face broke through the barrier, he was forced to suck in huge breath of water vapor. He choked down a strained cough, his face red with effort, while holding a hand to his mouth. Several muffled puffs of air left his lungs left his lips but nothing further past that.

With his slyness still in place, the god attempted to peer through the thick fog of the room. The sound of humming at hit the apex of its volume, alerting the god that it was a definite that someone was in the room. As he strained his eyes to catch a glimpse of the person, he missed the sinister presence behind him.

"Perverted god, is this how you want to die?" A voice cooed into his ear from behind him, startling the god into yelping. He moved to turn around to see who had managed to sneak up on him but the turn of his head was stopped when the bottom end of a metal tray slammed into his head. While the tray dented inward from the impact, his now stinging head was force backward. His assailant wasn't the merciful type, he learned when they then proceeded to slam the edge of the tray against the crown of his head. He was sent tumbling ass first into the mist-covered room while golden blood oozed from a small cut on his head.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Apollo shouted when the sound of the tray cutting through the air reached him. His pleading came a little too late as the late side of the tray met his cheek, forcing him to grab onto the ground lest he be thrown face first toward it. The sting left by the tray made the god decide that he did not want to get hit hit by that thing again.

"I'm here to learn about Naruto!" The god shouted, hoping that the knowledge of his mission would stop his assailant. Though, he still had his hands raised above his head.

You could never be too safe, he often told himself.

"Akeno, take him to the main room and then go get Koneko." Apollo heard a voice say from deeper into the room. He could only assume that this was the hummer he had been searching for before he was yanked up to his feet by a hand. The hand, gripping him by the his arm, then pulled him out of the mist room, restoring his full sight back to him.

"You're lucky Rias-sama is so nice. I would've loved to decorate the whole tray with your beautiful golden blood." Without the mist or a tray obscuring his vision, Apollo could now see the beautiful, black-haired girl standing by his side. He didn't get much time to admire his figure for he couldn't take his eyes off the sight of the bloodied tray the girl held. The look she was sending him combined with the protective way she was holding the dented tray made the god want to exit the building immediately.

Unfortunately he would not get the chance to do so. At least not at the moment for the devilish girl was guiding him to the room's couch. A hard push from the girl sent him off his feet and ass first onto the couch. Bewilderment filled the god at the act. He had been manhandled by the young girl for the past several minutes and by the joyed expression on her face, the girl knew it. Her grin all but screamed that at him before she turned and skipped out of the room. He had expected to run into a bit of oddity during his visit but nothing he could've imagined would have prepared him for this.

"I see you've met Akeno." A voice calling from the opposite end of the room beckoned the god to it. He turned his head and was greeted with a stunning and now clothed young beauty whose wet redhead laid spread out over her shoulder. The sight of her reminded him of his own coveted racle, so much so that he could imagine the white and golden robes of his servant hanging from the girl's body while she preached to the people about his grace.

"Akeno? Is that her name, huh?" Apollo paused to rub his chin. The thoughts running through his head was soon turning this waste of a visit into a golden opportunity.

"Apollo-san." The man's attention was brought away from his thoughts by the call of the redheaded girl. Half of her now sat hidden behind a desk. The other half revealed her idle gaze while her head sat supported by her clasped hands.

"Ah, you've heard of me." The god sat a little higher in his seat at this. It always stroked his ego to hear others, especially ones outside of his own pantheon, know of him. It served as a testament to how far the reach of the sun god stretched.

Let it be known that Apollo was not a modest man.

"I have heard of you." She responded before leaning back into her seat. "It hasn't been all pleasant but I have heard it."

That second comment served to deflate the god's inflated ego in a single moment, causing him to sink low into the couch. Before he could sink too low into his pit of depression, Rias stood up from her seat, bringing the god back to alertness.

"Apollo, son of Zeus and Leto, god poetry, music, the sun, and medicine, to name a few." With each uttered word, the god's deflated ego received a puff of confidence.

"You're also the same Apollo who is known as a disease bringer. A herald of the plague. The indirect murderer of Achilles. A killer of children. A houndish man whose advances have driven women to suicide. A rapist, a liar, a thief and a coward." And just like that, he was brought back down to his basest level. The intense gaze she was sending reminded him of the one his mother, Leto, used to send him when he did something to anger one of the gods.

"All of that was in the past. I am a changed person." The god's words seemed to fall on deaf ears if Rias' unchanging expression was anything to go by. Any hope of winning the girl over died in that instant as the god stared into the girl's apathetic eyes.

The tension within the room received a temporary pause when its door slid up with an audible creak. Both devil and god turned their head toward the sound and caught sight of Koneko entering the room with Akeno right behind him. The young girl looked less than pleased while she walked her way across the room to stand at her King's side.

"We came sprinting over." By the joyful tone on the Akeno's face and the stoic one of the Nekoshou's, Apollo felt as if he had entered into the lion's den. Even with his godly nature, he couldn't help but shrink down beneath the combined gazes of the three girls.

"Now, Apollo-san." The god's attention was focused back onto Rias. "You said you came here to talk about Naruto."

"Well, yes. I wished to discuss some thing-"

"What do you want with Naruto?" Koneko cut the god, forcing his attention back onto her. His baby blue eyes met her golden eyes and he was forced to bear the full weight of her silent passion.

"Well, we, the Greek Pantheon, merely wish to extend an olive branch out to him. We believe that a partnership between our two groups would result in a beneficial outcome for all." The god allowed his natural charisma to take hold and do the talking for him. The words leaving his mouth only served as a reminder on why he was chosen to come speak to the devil. If there was anyone among the Greeks who could woo a crowd to their side, it was going to be him.

"You're the worst." The dry voice coming from the Nekoshou was beginning to prove that god wrong. None of this was going the way he wanted it to go. This became even more clear to him when the smal girl began walking toward him. "You're a liar. I don't like liars. Naruto hates them." Each taken step by the girl made the god shrink down and down into his seat. A yelp almost left his mouth when she jabbed an angry finger into the middle of his chest.

"Do not lie about Naruto-kun or I'll kill you." She growled out, shocking the god and the other devils present. The shock continued to grow when a mist of black began to rise from the sole of her feet. The mist drifted up the length of her body, casting a long, dense shadow to fall over half of her features. Her visible goldeneye seemed to grow even brighter in the contrast as it peered down at Apollo.

"And, if I can't kill you, Naruto will."

Burning fires on top of Mount Olympus. His temple along with every other on the mountain had been rendered into a pile of rubble. The bodies of his fellow gods, his family members, laid cold and unmoving. Their golden blood painted the white limestone streets. Muted screams, some sounding all too familiar for his liking, tore away at his hearing. The grand street of Olympus, a road he traveled countless of times in his youth, laid in utter ruins. He saw hell on that street. And, sitting at its end was the blond he has come looking for.

"So, Apollo," At her words, the vision shattered, leaving the god face to face with Koneko. Any facade of confidence laid broken at his feet, shattered by the girl's gaze. "What do you want with Naruto?"

Apollo wanted to open his mouth to denounce the girl's word. He want to rise up and strike the girl down for her insolent behavior. For daring to threaten an Olympian! Yet, every time he willed himself to speak, a hand would grab at his throat. It held him close and tight, whispering to him the doom that would fall onto him if he followed through with his threat.

"I-I…" The meekness of his own voice forced him to stop. He swallowed hard, attempt to will any of his remaining confidence to the surface. His emotional well came up dry, leaving him only with the feeling of impending doom and grief.

"We … wish to recruit Naruto into unsealing the beast of Apocalypse to use to overthrow my father." Once the words left past his lips, the pressure around his throat faded away. He slumped down into the couch with a long sigh, missing the shared looks between the three girls. Rias released an almost silent sigh before running a hand through the red tresses of her hair.

"I need to call my brother."

Life, so far at least, has been interesting. She would've called it odd but she did not have anything else to compare it to. The short string of experiences that made up her existence didn't offer much variety…

Until now.

Her eyes swept over to the creature standing with its back to her. The spiky, yellow tuft of hair sat atop its head swayed back and forth with its movement. The sight reminded her of the man, Cao Cao if she remembered his name, who had been their at the beginning of her memories. The two seemed to made up of a similar material, though their behavior differed from one another.

"I can't believe this." Those same words were the only ones he had uttered in the past thirty minutes, excluding the small chat he had with a clone of his. She had been surprised when the boy had conjured up the copy and that feeling carried over when she watched the thing explode into smoke moments later. The 'death' of the clone brought her sadness. One's life should never be so short and fleeting.

She wished she had more memories. Life had only started weeks ago and her experiences had been mostly confined to this room. Every once in awhile, Cao Cao would visit along with others. They would question her, asking about her emotional and physical well-being. The physical questions she could understand since it had been explained to her that she would eventually serve in the role of a bodyguard. The questions dealing with her emotions troubled her. They brought about odd sensations and feelings within her. She didn't like them at all. Not one bit.

Like distant thunder rumbling from the horizon, the room began to shake, causing Lilith and the clone turned to one another. Their attention was turned upward when the shaking increased, sending bits and pieces of the ceiling falling to the ground.

"What is that?" She questioned while moving her attention over to the clone. By his loud proclamation of relief, she assumed he had some knowledge on what was causing the shaking.

"That should be the original me and Ophis. Probably more of her than him." He muttered out the second half but she managed to pick up on it. The 'original' part interested her. The way the blond said it made it seem as if he wasn't a person to begin with.

"Who is Ophis?" She asked. Her overall curiosity soared when she saw the boy cringe at her words. Her words had managed to trigger something within him, something painful if his reaction was anything to go by.

"She is…" The clone started before his mouth came to a close. It repeated this action several time, each time making Lilith's curiosity grow. The repeating pattern came to an end when a sigh slipped past the clone's lips. He turned to look at the girl with an exhausted quality to his eyes.

"It's a long story."

"You all will die."

Naruto was a bit conflicted at the moment. Floating high in the air, clothed in the golden chakra of the sage, his eyes cut between Ophis and the ground below. The dragon's face was set in a harsh mask while her corrosive dark energy surrounded her in the form of a massive dragon.

When his clone's memories had struck him, he knew he was in for a heap of trouble. He wanted so badly to dismiss the thoughts as mere illusions but he knew he couldn't. He also knew he couldn't hide the information from the dragon. This wasn't a minor detail that could be swept away, never to be spoken about again. Another being had been created using her power. He had to tell her.

"You all stole from me." He heard her say before simulating a downward punch. Her avatar followed her movement, bringing its massive clawed hand high through the air before bringing it down on the structure below. The condensed energy tore through one of the towers with ease, sending its bricks scattering and crashing across the ground. Ophis then sent her arm sweeping to her right side. Her avatar followed suit, it's ethereal arm plowing through entire sections of the structure.

"This may have been a mistake." Naruto mumbled to himself while watching the dragon tear through the building. Through his clone's memories, he knew that there were a large amount of living creatures within the fortress. Ophis' attacks were bound to have killed a small amount of them.

Yet, on the other hand, these people were responsible for lying, kidnapping her and stealing her powers. He could see the reasons behind her anger, and, for the life of him, couldn't not justify her actions.

"Cao Cao … you've lived too long." That, Naruto could agree with. And, despite his peaceful nature, he knew that to avoid destruction, you sometimes have to do things you didn't like. So, it was with those thoughts that Naruto manifested a clone and sent it diving toward the fortress, or what was left of it. He watched his copy disappeared through one of the newly created holes of the building before moving his attention back to Ophis. She looked to be in the process of charging up an attack, if the appearance of a large black orb in the mouth of the dragon was anything to go by.

"This is not going to be good."

"The moment we enter the room, you fill it with dimension lost and teleport us away. I don't care where just make sure you have Lilith. Do you understand, Georg?"

"Yes, Cao Cao."

The two Longinus users ran through the shaking hallways of the building. Distant screams could be heard over the sound of their pounding feet while they ran.

Hell had been unleashed upon the duo. It had come quick without warning. It had struck them when they least expected it. And now, it was threatening to ruin all their plans.

"I will not allow this beast to stop me." Cao Cao thought while making a sharp turn around a hallway corner, his feet slipping on the loose carpet of the hallway. He slammed his hand against a wall, recovering his balance before continuing his sprint. Georg didn't have as much luck in his turning. He found his face planted firmly on the ground while his leader stopped in front of one of the hallway's doors. He didn't hesitate in reaching out and pulling the door ajar, revealing its contents to him.

"Hello, Cao Cao." Lilith greeted the man with a lazy wave. Her greeting fell on deaf ears for the man's attention was on the other occupant of the room. His fellow blond looked sheepish as he stood next to the young girl. The clone offered up a bashful wave while inching toward Lilith. The man wouldn't dare attempt to hurt him if the dragon clone was in the way, right?

The clone was proven wrong when the man's hand began to emit a blinding light, forcing him to shield his eyes. Lilith seemed unaffected by the light as she stood staring at the hero descendant. The clone kept its eyes covered for several seconds before moving his hand out of the way, revealing a now spear wielding Cao Cao. He raised the weapon high into the air while taking aim at the blond

"I won't question how you got here. I'll simply dea-" His words became trapped in his throat when a large beam of energy blasted the hallway behind him out of existence, exposing the room to a view of the dimensional gap. The force from the attack sent him down to the ground while the room around him shook. The Naruto clone was in a similar position while Lilith didn't look the least bit bothered, if her bored expression was anything to go by.

The girl did raise an eyebrow when a black tendril shot through the air toward the downed Cao Cao. It wrapped around him slender waist before he could take notice of its presence. As he realized that he was within its grip, it retracted back through the air, pulling the man along with it and leaving the clone and Lilith alone once more.

"Was that Ophis?" Lilith turned to Naruto after several seconds of silence. During the silence, he had managed to climb back up to his feet and now stood facing her. Any sign of his worry was now gone from its face. In its place stood a mask of acceptance.

"Yeah. That was her."

Cao's tentacle-aided flight through the air lasted for a short few moments, moments in which he was able to gaze upon the wrecked ruins of his fortress. Half of it had fallen to black flames while the other half had turned to rubble. He didn't have much time to lament the loss of the base before he slammed against the ground. As his back met the ground, a scream attempted to worm its way out of his throat, but he managed to clench his jaw shut, stifling the sound. He wouldn't allow himself to fall to such a level, even in the of destruction. This grim determination allowed him to turn his gaze upward, meeting the angry gaze of Ophis. The girl sat several stories high in the air yet her eyes burned a hole straight down to the man. Cao Cao took note of the tendril of energy restraining him that came from her body before returning her glare with a slight upturn of his lips.

"Back so soon, Ophis? I'm surprised to see you still standing! We put your through the ringer rather well." The man shouted up to the girl. A slight narrowing of the dragon's eyes were the man's sign of how stupid his words were before he found himself lifted back up through the air. His journey carried him to entry-level of the dragon's avatar before he was sent rocketing back down to the ground. The force of the meeting cratered the earth beneath his body and forced a scream out of the man's lungs. The scream didn't last for too long when Cao bit deep into his lip, drawing blood but closing his mouth. With his lips covered in crimson, he directed his gaze, now much more shaky, up at Ophis.

"I will not succumb. I will not falter. My place is above you!" The man shouted before his spear appeared in his open hand. His clenched his fist around the weapon before thrusting it toward Ophis. The tip of the weapon began to glow a brilliant array of colors as Cao kept it focused on the dragon. The confident look on the man's face seemed to spell out his victory while the colors reached their peak brightness.

"Face the true power of human-" So consumed in his own attack, Cao Cao never saw a snake slither its way out of the dragon's foot toward him. He was caught completely off guard when the snake sunk its teeth deep into his arm, turning his words into a pained scream. His spear went falling from his hand and disappeared out of existence while he attempted to shake the creature off his body. His efforts proved fruitless as the creature kept its jaw locked.

"You … are pathetic." Ophis muttered while she watched the man flail his arm in an attempt to remove her snake. She stood staring at the scene for several moments, allowing it to burn itself in her memories before raising her arm. Her avatar followed her movements, it raising its arm massive arm an instant after her. She stopped her arm a little above her head before closing her fingers into a fist, her avatar copying her movements the whole way through. She allowed herself to stay still for a few moments before bringing her fist crashing downward. Her avatar's fist flew through the air before landing on her target, the downed Cao Cao. Any last words would be forever lost when the fist slammed through its body, obscuring it from view. Ophis made a twisting motion with her first, making her avatar grind the man's smeared body into the ground. She kept this up for several seconds before pulling her fist away, revealing that Cao Cao was now a red smear.

Naruto watched this all occur with grim acceptance. He wasn't happy watching the man be crushed into the ground, yet he couldn't find it within himself to stop the girl from doing so. After what the man had done, death wasn't the worst thing that could have been done to him.

The blond's attention was focused onto Ophis when he noticed the layers of her avatar beginning to fade away. He lowered himself down to the ground while the massive ethereal dragon grew shorter and shorter. It didn't take long for the construct to fade away completely, leaving Ophis standing in front of a chakra-cloaked Naruto. The girl's gaze was full of exhaustion as she stared at the blond.

"Killing him … was the answer." Ophis breathed out. The girl looked as if she was moments away from dropping yet her voice sounded more sure than ever. In all honesty, he wanted to laugh at her and was close to doing just that but stopped when the sound of a twin set of footsteps reached his ears. Ophis must've have heard the sound at the same instant because she turned with him to face the noise. The exhaustion on her face cleared up in an instant at the sight that greeted her.

"She's all safe and sound, boss." The Naruto clone said while walking next to Lilith. With a nod from his creator, the clone dispelled itself. The sudden arrival of smoke didn't seem to bother the young girl while she continued her walk toward Naruto and Ophis. She locked eyes with Ophis while each taken step brought her closer to the girl. Naruto watched the two with a held breath as Lilith stopped directly in front of Ophis. The two look-alikes stood in silence for several long moments with their eyes locked together. Worry began to build up within the blond's breast when the silence dragged on. He began to subtly inch away from the duo while keeping his attention locked on them. He didn't want to be anywhere near here if a fight broke out between the two.

"Hello, mother." Lilith broke the silence, forcing Ophis' eyes to widen in extreme shock. The girl didn't stop there as she turned toward Naruto. Before the words could leave her mouth, the blond could feel his own eyes widening. The pit of worry slammed down into his stomach while the girl's lips moved to talk.

"And, hello, father. Thank you both for rescuing me."

AN: Well, there's that chapter. One of the more interesting ones I've written, in my own opinion. Cao Cao is dead. Yup. I know some people may be a little disappointed with his death since it was a bit anti-climatic but I thought it was fitting for an encounter with Ophis. A lot of other stuff happened, some which have been resolved within the chapter by itself and some that will be exposed in future chapters. Of course, if you have any questions, feel free to PM me and I'll answer them all. I hope that you all enjoyed the chapter. Review or PM with any questions, concerns, comments, suggestions, etc.

P.S Is anyone upset at how I betrayed Apollo? Asking out of curisoity. I realized I made him very ... bitch-like. I found it funny, though I can see how fans of his could think otherwise.