JauneArc354 & Demon Bro the 14th: Aiz, when appeared, was 7, that's due to the massive time-skip that happened, how it happened and why exactly will be explained in later chapters, Naruto's age wasn't mentioned due to convenience because I need to think about the time-table of the events I want to take place so I postponed it till decided basically, there is much thought and planning I am putting into this, however, I am new to writing so this is not of higher quality yet, I hope through reviews and advice through you readers, it will improve.

Enumeaelish666: Naruto isn't joining any familias, he will have ties with them, but ultimately he is without one, I have plans for Aiz (not in a romantic sense though you people can tell me if you want it to happen), I also have plans for Freya and for Naruto's soul, I will not comment on the Juubi but rest assured there won't be any other characters, because what I am planning is already complicated and adding more characters will make it a tall order, Now about Naruto, I am a huge fan of psychology, I am learning it and read a lot of books about it, Naruto's character won't be 2D, he will be mature yet he will have his downright idiotic moments as a tribute to the original, this Naruto isn't an OC but not a carbon copy of the original.

trend breaker: It won't, I promise

To all the other reviewers, I am not disregarding you but I would like to make the AN small and contain the most important things I want to say, I have heard your positive reviews and it fills my heart with happiness and I hope I improve to make this even more enjoyable for you.

Last but not least, I as Titan think it would be amazing if I incorporate the lore of the Dark Souls series. I want to build an entire world that goes beyond Orario and the dungeon, Klauz is slightly hesitant about this idea being too much for us. so please let me know whether I should add said lore or not.

Now on to the chapter

Chapter 2: Reunion

In a whitish blue dim light Naruto and Maria appeared, Naruto looked around him and saw light green colored walls, and he noticed he was in the same place he died, so he was on floor 7.

"Where are we?" Maria asked confused and on guard.

"We are in the dungeon exactly where I died and entered the Dream," Naruto replied, to be honest, he was worried and straight-up scared, they were in a loop, there is no telling if time was only looped, what if time itself flowed differently, he could have been there for a night, days, weeks, or even years, that thought terrified him. his Baa-chan would be worried, the only woman who would give him kindness when no one would give him the time of day, the one who believed in him when everyone told him he wasn't worth it.

But he can't dwell on that, there are more important priorities, "Mari-chan" said the girl looked at him with a blush, she told him different times not to call her that because it was embarrassing but he simply did it anyway.

"We are going a little deeper in the dungeon, we need to kill monsters to get Magic stones"

Maria was confused by the term "What are Magic stones? are they like blood gems? We already have a lot of those"

Naruto shook his head lightly "No, they aren't like Bloodstone, Magic stones are cores that exist in the monster's chests, adventurers collect them and exchange them at the Guild or at the office in Babel, we need money to get food and residence."

Maria nodded that it was a good plan to follow "Yeah, that sounds like a plan, and while we are at it, we can see how good we are compared to those adventurers you told me about."

And So, Naruto and Maria went deeper into the dungeon and killed different monsters with relative ease, in fact, it was too easy for Naruto, he wasn't even winded. he wanted to test his physical strength, and so he fought a Minotaur barehanded, and he killed him easily.

After collecting what Naruto decided was a solid amount of Magic Stones, they started ascending the dungeon, the adventurers gave them weird looks while the male adventurers looked at Maria with lust in their eyes, 'Must be our different clothes, our attires don't have armor pieces on them.'

While Naruto took everything calmly, Maria was pissed and was on the verge of drawing Rakuyo, "How dare these filthy beasts look at me like that?"

Naruto chuckled "Well, you can't really blame them Mari-chan, you're definitely a looker" Maria blushed heavily and punched him in the arm "Stop it, idiot." And she stomped off

"Did I say something wrong?" Naruto said confusedly "Hey! Wait." He ran to catch up to her.

They went on to the office in Babel which was too crowded for Naruto's liking, so he decided to go to the guild and while he's at it, take in the changes and try to have a feel for how much time passed exactly.

So far Naruto's anxiety was increasing, the change wasn't much, but some buildings weren't there before, hopefully, not too much time has passed.

They arrived at the guild and they entered, Naruto noticed the lack of familiar faces, at this point, he was trying to act like he didn't care at all, there was no point in panicking, he went to the exchange and offered the gems, the woman at the exchange looked at him, she didn't recognize this adventurer maybe he's a new one "Name and Familia, please."

Naruto smiled at her "Naruto Uzumaki, I don't belong to a familia."

The girl was taken off guard "What do you mean you don't belong to a familia?"

Naruto sighed looks like this is gonna become unnecessarily complicated "Not to be rude, but I am quite sure it's exactly as it means, I don't belong to one."

The girl's little outburst has attracted the attention of other members of the Guild as well as adventures, she looked at him suspiciously "You wouldn't mind showing me your back, would you?"

Maria blushed furiously at the girl's shameless request "Sure" She was more shocked and blushed beet red when Naruto nonchalantly took off his coat and garb and just stood there with nothing but his pants on and showed her his back, Maria covered her eyes with her hands except she parted her fingers to peek, due to Naruto not having a Falna he needed to be stronger than the normal civilian, and Naruto did that through training his body, and he had achieved beak human performance before dying, his body was covered in muscles, they weren't bulging like those of bodybuilders, no, they were lean firm and compact muscles like those of athletes to create the perfect blend of speed and strength.

'My God, look at those abs' she had steam rising up from her head by now, something shared by a couple of the other females in the building.

The girl from the guild was also blushing from seeing Naruto's muscles but schooled her look, there was only a strange mark of dangling upside-down rune in the middle of his back, a mark she had never seen before, maybe it belongs to a new god, she retrieved a potion and dropped a drop on his back, but to her surprise, nothing happened.

"What is this mark on your back?" she asked him suspiciously.

"It's a mark shared by my family, all members of my family have this mark engraved, on them."

It wasn't a total lie, hunters are born by blood, though even then some may not have the mark.

"So, you are a normal civilian and why should I believe you didn't steal from other adventurers?"

'Here we go again.' "How will a civilian be able to steal from an adventurer, miss? I suggest you do the exchange and we get this over with since you are making a scene out of nothing." Naruto said while putting his shirt back on, he was going to put on his coat when he heard something that pissed him off and made him stop what he was doing.

"Hey stop lying and say the truth man, or we're going to beat you down and take your items ourselves."

Do these people not hear themselves? He just insinuated that they would rob him, right in the middle of the guild, and lo and behold because they are adventurers none of the guild members seemed to make a move to stop them.

"Hey, idiot we are talking to you."

He clicked his teeth, 'Ok wanna play tough let's play tough' he pushed the bag of magic stones, items, and cloak in Maria's hands "Manners" Maria was going to question him about what he was doing but she saw the look in his eyes and decided against it, 'Those idiots should have stayed out of this' she thought to herself.

He started rolling up his sleeves "Maketh" He turned to the adventurers and the look in his eyes stopped them dead on their feet, "Man" he was faster than any monster they fought, in a blur, Naruto was in front of the one that called him a liar, and punched him so hard in the face, everyone cringed at the wet crunching sound indicating the guy's nose was broken, he was thrown back, hitting the guild's door and laid outside, unconscious.

"No man with self-respect will allow people to call him a thief and a liar." He raised his hand making a come here hand motion "Come, show me how you were gonna take my items."

It was a massacre, those adventurers didn't stand a chance 15 level 2 and 5 level 3 adventurers with their weapons drawn and their armors on, none of them stood a chance, none of them was even able to lay a finger on him and what really hurt their pride was the fact that he did it by himself barehanded, by the time he was done with them, they laid on the ground broken. The seats and tables of the guild were broken as well, Naruto calmly walked up to Maria, flashing her a grateful smile, he took his coat and put it on, he looked at the girl and smiled a bit too sweetly "You gonna be a sweetheart and do the exchange, missy?"

Break*

Naruto walked with Maria, they were heading to the Hostess of Fertility to get food and for Naruto to check on his Baa-chan, Naruto was totally unaware that his actions at the guild had gotten him unwanted attention, from several gods, who were intrigued about a human that was able to beat all those High-level adventurers by himself.

Naruto had his Hunter's hat on which concealed, his face and hair, leaving only his eyes showing, he entered the bar with Maria not far behind him, he went to the main bar and sat on one of the stools before he ordered, he took a moment to look at the woman in front of him, she appeared to have aged and had some wrinkles showing, he couldn't tell if it's because he disappeared or because of how much time passed, after a while Naruto decided that enough was enough.

"Hey, there Baa-chan, can I have the usual, please." Naruto said happily, as soon as Mia heard him, she froze, her brain turned to mush, the familiar voice, the snarky comment on her age, followed by politeness unexpected from an adventurer especially one who just jabbed at her age.

The other people in the bar looked at him like he was a mad man all of them had the same thought 'Rest in peace, kid'

Mia refused to turn around, 'Am I finally going mad?', she questioned herself, it has been so long since she heard that voice, she longed for that kindness, he was her child, she may have never admitted it to him, but Mia has always seen Naruto as a son and truly loved him unconditionally, she turned slowly and looked to see a masked guy sitting on a stool beside him was a very beautiful girl that she has never seen before, she looked at the guy, she saw his eyes, bright blue eyes that could rival the beauty of the sky on the clearest of days, eyes filled with mirth and mischievousness, something she was so used to seeing in her surrogate son's eyes.

He started taking off his mask and Mia had to hold herself from openly crying, while most people would deny the return of a presumed dead person, she wasn't most people, she was a mother, she didn't give birth to him, but she still loved him as her child and right now her maternal instincts were going haywire telling her that this was real, it was no dream or illusion.

"Hello! Baa-chan, been a while, hasn't it?"

Mia took a sharp breath "Upstairs, Now!"

"Yes, Ma'am"

Mia left to go upstairs followed by Naruto and Maria, they entered one of the rooms, offered by the bar, she looked at him with narrowed eyes, her instincts might be telling her that he's back but better safe than sorry, "Are you Naruto?"

"Yes, the one and only, Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto replied, "Well then, Mr. Uzumaki, why not tell me something both of us know?"

"I was born on the 10th of October, you found me when I was 10, took me in, and showed me great kindness, you wanted me to stay with you, but I refused and told you I wouldn't take advantage of your kindness, asked you to show me to the guild, to which you did and introduced me to some of the members there and got me the rookie set they give out, oh! and I am terrified of ghosts."

The last one made Maria look at him in a deadpan, the same guy that entered the Hamlet without a hint of fear, the place that terrified her and many other hunters, a man that slew multiple great ones was afraid of GHOSTS, 'I don't even care anymore, there is nothing that can even surprise me at this point.'

Mia was visibly shaking, and Naruto was afraid he had angered her somehow, "Hey Baa-chan, are you-"

He was pulled into a very tight hug, his face was directly in her chest, he had missed this, he missed this warmth, but he didn't get to enjoy it.

sob*"Where the hell were you? Didn't you promise me to be careful? Did you even think how I would feel when the girl Ais came to me and told me you died?"

His heart was aching, he was in so much pain by those words, he would much rather face the orphan of kos again and again instead of seeing her like this.

Then she dropped the bomb that shattered his mind "What were you doing for the past 9 years?"

Naruto pulled out from the embrace a look of horror on his face "Wh-what are you talking about Baa-chan?"

"You have been gone for 9 years, Naruto, come to think of it, why don't you look any different?"

Naruto didn't answer, he just stood there shocked, Maria was quickly next to him, she pulled him, lightly and sat him down while rubbing circles on his back, 'I can't even begin to imagine what he is going through right now.'

Mia, looked at the two and realized that wherever Naruto has been, he didn't have a good perception of time, after a while Naruto had calmed down, and started telling her what exactly happened with him, Mia was skeptical but she knew Naruto wasn't a liar, and the fact Maria said the exact same thing.

Naruto looked at her with a face full of guilt and regret, "Baa-chan I am-" "I am proud of you."

Naruto was shell-shocked "H-huh?"

"I said I am proud of you son, you not only sacrificed yourself for the wellbeing of a child, but you kept pushing through all that madness and horrors and for that, I am proud of you."

Naruto didn't know what to be happier about, that she was proud of him, or that she called him her son, he clutched his heart, a grin on his face that threatened to split his face, tears at the corner of his eyes, that he refused to allow to fall, "Thank you, thank you, thank you" He kept muttering over and over.

"You are welcome, my child, but you owe me for worrying me for that."

"Yeah, whatever you need Baa-chan, I promise to be here for you no matter what."

"You better keep that promise" she looked outside the window, "the sun has gone down a while ago now, you don't have a place to stay, I'll let you have 2 rooms here tonight for the both of, I will make your food and have Anya bring it." She said with a smirk

Naruto shivered; Anya is gonna tear him a new one when she sees him "There is no need to Baa-chan."

"No, I insist, Anya will be happy to see you again after all."

Maria looked between the shivering Naruto and the smug-looking Mia; she could see how much they both cared for each other, the older woman, looked at Naruto like he was the most precious thing in the whole world, while Naruto looked at her with so much respect and care in his eyes.

Mia left the room leaving the two together, "You really care a lot about her, huh?"

"Yeah, she's one of my few precious people, one who I would give up my life for without a second thought, she was there for me when I had no-one, she has been nothing but loving and caring towards me, just like a mother."

Maria understood, just how much Naruto cared about the old woman, before, she could ask more about his past, the door was flung open, and through it flew a brown blur, and Naruto getting knocked down to the ground with, a crying girl on his chest who had brown, hair and eyes, she also cat ears and a tail.

Naruto rubbed Anya's back soothingly "Shhhhh, I am back, don't cry, I am not going anywhere."

Anya raised her face and looked at him with puffy red eyes indicating she has been crying since before entering the room, Anya moved her hand towards his face, then her fingernails became claws and started clawing at his face, "Where have you been nya? How could you just leave without telling me nya? Do you have any idea how worried I was nya?"

Naruto tried to push her gently off him "Ouch, stop it, Anya, Maria help me."

Syr who was standing at the entrance of the room with Ryuu, decided to help the boy, Syr was curious about him, since she rarely saw Mia react like that, and Anya didn't stop crying since he showed up, so she really wanted to know how he was related to those two, Ryuu was just there because Syr and Anya who both were her friends were with this stranger.

Syr was a human girl with light gray hair and light gray eyes, Ryuu was an elf with green hair and sky-blue eyes.

After pulling the girl off all the while Maria was standing on the side seemingly forgotten.

"Oi, why didn't you help me dattebayo?"

Maria smiled at him, a smile that was too innocent "You deserved it." That came out with anger, she didn't mean it, she was annoyed at how close that girl was to Naruto, and she was really angry because she didn't understand why that annoyed her that much.

"You didn't answer me nya." Came Anya's words stopping them from going further.

"Well, because you didn't give me a chance to answer nya." Came Naruto's snark reply even jabbing at her verbal tic.

Anya started growling at him but stopped abruptly when he subtly glanced at Syr and Ryuu, Anya was unthoughtful but not an idiot, she got the subtle message, that Naruto wanted to discuss that privately, Anya helped Naruto off the floor, and took a seat on the bed and pulled him in right next to her and started snuggling into his arm "I really missed you a lot nya."

Naruto smiled and scratched behind her ears eliciting a purr from the girl, something that surprised Syr, and the normally stoic Ryuu and annoyed Maria even more.

Anya then pointed at Maria "So, is she your girlfriend."

Maria blushed beet red "N-no, of course not."

Naruto looked at her shocked "You're not."

Maria looked at him "Of course not you idiot."

Naruto frowned "But you are my friend." Maria nodded to that.

"And you're a girl, doesn't that make you my girlfriend."

All 4 females in the room looked at him shocked by his words, Anya asked him "Naruto, have you been given the talk?"

Naruto was confused "What talk?"

Anya scratched her cheek slightly while looking at the others for support "You know the birds and the bees talk."

Naruto had a look of realization "Yeah, what does that have to do with anything?"

This time Syr was the one to speak, "Nothing Naruto-san, forget it."

Naruto was confused yet again "OoooK"

While Anya, Syr, and Ryuu looked at Naruto like he was some sort of idiot, Maria had a look of contemplating on her face, from small hints she got, and from the fact Naruto didn't mention his parents or siblings, he seemed to be alone it made her wonder how exactly was his childhood.

'Maybe he's an orphan, or maybe they are in another city, maybe just he didn't care about that sort of stuff so he doesn't know about it'

Little did Maria know that it was much worse than anything she could imagine.

A/n (Klauz): I Hoped you enjoyed the chapter, leave your thoughts on the review section and tell us if we should expand the world more. I kinda think that is a bit much but I'm thinking as if I'm working alone, which is not the case, I'm working with TitanT, So maybe it will work but who knows.

P.s: Join the Discord server, that's where you can find us most of the time. 7cqSa7pdh8 (if you are having trouble find the server or joining, PM me)

follow, favorite, and review (constructive criticism helps a lot)

-Klauz and TitanT out