Finally, the new chapter. Most of what I want to say will be in the end note, so I'll just leave you with the advice to read the note at the bottom, and try to enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor do I own Magic: The Gathering.

Naruto wandered the forest by himself. The night had come, and the Nalaar family had all fallen into peaceful slumber. Not the blonde, however. He had been roused once more by his strange, fragmented dream, and rather than fall back asleep, the genin had opted to take a walk through the surrounding wilderness. The place had a peaceful air about it at night, and Naruto idly noted how much shorter and thinner the trees were here than back at home. However, things weren't as calm as they seemed, and Naruto clutched a Kunai, charging it with mana. He wasn't really sure what it could do, but it was for some reason the only thing he could think to do.

Hearing a twig snap, Naruto threw the weapon into the shadows of the thickets. The moment it left his hands, aglow with a bright green hue. As it faded from view, Naruto waited for telltale sound of the throwing-knife hitting...anything. However, no such sound resonated, and from the darkness, someone emerged, his kunai knife in her hand.

This new woman was as pale as the moon, with long, dark hair as black as the night itself. She was garbed in an ornate dress, trimmed in black and gold, and her face was framed by a golden headpiece. Despite her beauty, Naruto felt a chill. Something in his mind that told him to be weary. The newcomer stuck her lips out in a pout as she held his weapon up to view it in the moonlight. "Oh dear," she said, a dark miasma - saturating the air with what Naruto instinctively knew to be black mana - forming around her hand and the clutched kunai. "What's a sweet young thing like yourself doing wandering these woods at night, armed with a weapon like this." Her voice was melodic, almost to the point of being hypnotic, but Naruto still held his guard.

Reacting to her black mana in a far different way than it had to the green mana Naruto had called through it, the kunai began to corrode, rusting and withering away in her grip. Squeezing a bit tighter, the woman ground the throwing-knife into so-much dust, before allowing it to blow away in the breeze. "It's not safe out here," he replied, trying to settle into his fighting stance without drawing too much attention. "You never know when you could be attacked by a wild beast, or a dark enchantress crosses your path." The woman smiled, sauntering over to the tense Naruto.

"I'd prefer the term, Goddess, but I suppose Enchantress will do," she announced, circling Naruto much the same way a predator would encircle their prey. But despite himself, Naruto couldn't bring himself to leave, no matter how dark of a vibe this person was putting out. "I'm known as Liliana Vess. My friends - few though they are - call me Lili. Are you my friend, Naruto?" Now Naruto was screaming in his mind for his body to move, but some force was keeping him rooted to his spot. He did, however, shiver as the now-named Liliana gently stroked his whiskered cheek.

Who the hell was this woman? How did she know his name? Did she have a connection to the Consuls? Had she come to arrest the Nalaar family and himself? Or worse, assassinate them? "Don't worry," she continued. "Your little friend and her family don't concern me. My one, simple reason for being here tonight, is you, little Planeswalker..."

"Planeswalker?" Naruto demanded. "I don't know what the hell you're talking about, Lady!"

"Clearly," she giggled. Unlike Chandra, this laugh was icy cold, and seemed to sting Naruto with its sound. "You, child, are a remarkable creature. Born with a gift that on your own you can never understand." For a moment, Naruto thought she meant his status as a Jinchuriki. However, such was not the case as Liliana continued. "This place, Kaladesh, is not your original home. You were born on a different plane of existence. And when your gift made itself known, your spark igniting, you walked to this plane." His mind going miles a minute, Naruto could only manage to say one thing.

"How do you know me?" he demanded. Liliana smiled, bending down slightly to look the younger boy in the eye.

"A...friend of mine...has an interest in you. I owe him a favor, and the sooner I give this to you, the sooner I can get back to my own life." Gripping his hand in hers, Naruto felt more than saw her slip something into it. "In time, he'll make himself known. But for now, I give you this." Still frozen in place, Naruto kept his eyes glued to the Lady Vess as she stepped back into the shadows. Once she had left - taking her malicious presence with her - Naruto was once more able to move. Looking at the simple, brown-paper package, he at first debated opening it. That woman, Liliana, was obviously bad news. But she also knew things. Things about who, and maybe what he was.

Removing the strings binding the wrapping, he slowly uncovered a circular piece of metal. It was a medallion of some kind, etched with a symbol in its center. He wasn't really sure what the emblem was. It kind of looked to him like a bean, being picked up with a pair of tweezers or tongs. Slowly, he brought his other hand up and brushed the etching with his fingers.

And in an instant, his mind was assaulted by images, numerous brief and wickedly painful. Each vision, however, shared a commonality. What Naruto could only describe as a massive dragon, winged and terrifying, with a pair of massive horns adorning his head like a crown, and an orb of some kind floating evenly between the two. Unsure of what the images were, he could only think of one word, a strange word. The word was 'Bolas.'

The things he felt filling his mind and soul were akin to the what he felt when using mana. He didn't just see the dragon, he felt it. Could touch its mana alignment. The blue mana - as Naruto possessed that alignment as well - was familiar. As was the red mana, as while it felt much more raw in the beastly figure, he recognized the feeling of it from his time with Chandra. But the last felt alien to the blonde, offering the same feeling as Liliana had moments ago. This was black mana. The energy of shadow, death, and decay. And the draconic being, this 'Bolas,' was absolutely saturated in it.

But there was something beyond the images. Beyond the overwhelming feeling of power that this dragon, Bolas, exuded. His own memories - as though being pulled forth by the medallion - were drawn to the forefront of his thoughts. His battle with Sasuke, the retrieval mission, seeking out Tsunade, the Chuunin exam finals, they all hit him one after another, going back further and further into his history. By this time, Naruto was on his knees, the strain on his mind beginning to show physically. He tried desperately to discard the coin, but his body would not respond with his mind being forced into overload. Thankfully, he was not the only thing in his mind.

The Kyuubi - like his host - could sense the power behind the dragon, and the name confirmed the Tailed-Beast's fears. He had thought that Nicol Bolas was a myth, a storied creature spoken of by his father as a parable, to sway he and his brethren away from the monstrosities that they would ultimately go on to commit anyway. This power ripping into Naruto's thoughts was a mere fraction of Bolas' as a whole, and even then, the Nine-tails realized he would be hard-pressed to combat such an enemy in the mental realm. Physically, he could perhaps match the dragon, but bound in a child, there was no way. He needed to end this mental assault before this fragment of Bolas reached the place where Naruto's mind connected to the seal.

Luckily, with Naruto's mind locked-in - and in monumental distress - the fox entity could directly circumvent the seal to protect him, and with a forceful push of his chakra, took control of the arm that clung to the medallion. The arm snapped out and tossed the coin, which shimmered in the moonlight as it morphed from a round metal into a more oval-like shape. Through Naruto's eyes, the fox saw this and scowled. One of the Elder Dragon's scales. Apparently just coming into contact with the bastard lizard was enough to peel away at the minds of others. Luckily, without prolonged contact, the damage could be healed easily enough.

As the scale piece flew from Naruto's hand, the images and feelings of the dragon began to fade, becoming shadows. Echoes of what they had been moments prior. His ears rung from an unheard cacophony of voices. Not wanting his host to fall into unconsciousness alone in a forest filled with wild beasts, the old Fox usurped control from the blonde. While this would normally be viewed as a major victory for the tailed-beast, the realization that not only was Nicol Bolas very real, but a very real threat - and that he had set his sights on his host - was much more interesting to the Kyuubi. Interesting enough for him to not even care about his taking control, nor did he care if he returned it to Naruto. He needed the boy now. It was no longer a case of simple 'you die, I die.'

As he walked Naruto's body back to the small home the Nalaar family were occupying for the time-being, he began to question the things he knew - or at least once knew - about his existence. His father had never mentioned magic, or other planes of reality, but must have somehow either known about them, or was oblivious to them and had still heard of Bolas and his atrocities. The latter was arguably worse.

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Pia, Chandra, and Naruto shuffled through the street to the numerous shops they needed to visit that day. They would be leaving for the next village that night, and sadly were out of supplies for the road. Naruto had wished to go with Kiran, who was performing a few odd-jobs around the small town to earn any extra money that he could. However, Pia - concerned over Naruto's bloodshot and baggy eyes - decided that he was too tired, and made the rather forceful suggestion that he take it easy and go shopping with the girls. The blonde didn't even have the energy to argue after the previous night. And besides, there was something about the doting Nalaar Matriarch that made it hard to disagree.

Still, Naruto's head still hurt from last night's psychic assault, and he wasn't sure how he made it back to his bed. And from the corner of his eyes, flickering in his already hampered peripheral vision, he swore he kept seeing Liliana around every corner. Following him. Watching him. He couldn't really remember anything after she had left him. He definitely didn't remember returning home last night. But he definitely remembered the unease she inspired, despite being quite cordial and polite. A strange sound entered his ear. It took him a moment to realize that they were words. His name. Someone was speaking to him. "Hmm?" he questioned, seeing Chandra offering him a bite of the mango she had apparently acquired sometime during his tired mind-wandering.

Naruto took the offered fruit with a grateful nod, biting into it on the opposite side than Chandra herself. While Naruto normally wasn't one for fruits and vegetables, he couldn't deny that the Kaledesh Mango was growing on him. The juice dripped from his lips as he let the flavor linger within his mouth. They had a bit of a bite to them, but also a tangy sweetness that was hard to match. Probably why Chandra loved them herself.

"Are you sure nothing's bothering you?" Pia asked, concerned with Naruto's absentmindedness as of late. "You seem preoccupied lately."

"It's nothing," denied the blonde. "Just having trouble sleeping, I guess." While Pia knew in her gut that there was more to it than that, she just gave the boy an appraising look and a nod. She could ask him about it again later. Hearing the telltale sound of a thopter, she pulled her cloak hood up, ushering Naruto and Chandra beneath the shade of the awning. The thopter was soaring high within the air - likely collecting the ambient Æther - and wasn't likely to spot the small group in the crowd. However, Pia wasn't about to take such a chance. She had heard rumors that the Consuls were preparing to call off the manhunt for them, but she didn't believe it for a moment.

Likely, the rumors were being put out by the Consul soldiers as a way to make the family let down their guard. Instinctively, she moved close to her daughter and Naruto, absently wiping a bit of mango juice from Chandra's chin as she watched the device pass overhead, soaring off into the distance. Naruto chuckled as Chandra tried to swat her mother's hand away, only to get a punch in the shoulder for the trouble.

Once Pia was sure the thopter was far enough away that it would not be looping around, she hurried the children along. Whether an Æther collector or a patrol, she didn't want to be in any area after spotting a thopter, so the sooner they had their supplies and could leave town, the better. She had no idea that they were being followed. Not by the soldiers or the thopters. From a distance, Liliana watched as the small group hurriedly went about their business in the market, every-so-often making her presence known to the young planeswalker that Bolas had his sights on. She wasn't sure what the Dragon found so interesting regarding the boy. He had only the barest understanding of magic, and from his reactions the night previous, had no idea what a planeswalker was or how to perform the act of passing from one realm to another.

That wasn't to say he was without skill in his native arts. But from what Liliana could gleam from watching the two little mages, Naruto relied heavily on making copies of himself - copies that were easily dismissed and much weaker than the original - as well as pure physical ability. The dark enchantress raised an eyebrow as something crossed her vision. She was not the only one tailing Naruto and the Nalaar ladies. While the boy - looking only a few years older than Naruto and Chandra themselves - would have gone unnoticed to most, Liliana was much more experienced than the mortals in the market, and knew she was the only one seeing the cloaked young man. A slight shimmer hazed around his form and she felt compelled to look the other way, to not see him. It was only her own experience with illusion magic that allowed her to look past the rippled air and see the mage directly.

"And just who are you?" she wondered, barely above a whisper. She shook her head, deciding that not only did she not need to know the identity of the illusionist, but she didn't even need to be on Kaladesh at all, now that her favor owed to Bolas had been repaid. Backing into the shadows, she envisioned a new location, and unnoticed to passerby, she planeswalked away.

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He was having the dream again. That out of order memory splintered within his mind. But there was more now. He had a word to put to the phenomenon. Planeswalking. "Naruto." Eyes opening, Naruto rocketed up, looking for the source of the strange voice. For a moment, he was confused. Not only was there nobody who could have spoken - the only other occupant of the room being the snoring Chandra in the cot on the opposite wall- but he also didn't recognize the room he was in. Blinking the sleep from his eyes, his mind came into focus and he remembered that he and the family had traveled to this village yesterday.

Not finding anyone, Naruto once again tried to settle back into sleep, before the voice spoke again. "I'm outside the window..." Quirking a brow, Naruto snuck slowly to the dirty glass panes, looking out into the dark alley below. Waiting for him was a cloaked figure, and Naruto flinched when the young man looked up to him, eyes glowing a bright blue. "Don't say anything. We're speaking telepathically, so as not to disturb anyone. However, if you would prefer, you may come down here and we can speak directly."

"Who are you?" Naruto thought back, a little creeped out speaking to someone solely through the mind. "Why are you here?"

"Call me Jace," replied the figure, motioning for Naruto to come down to meet him. He continued speaking as Naruto carefully opened the window, sneaking out and dropping from the second story. "And I'm here tracking someone."

"Tracking someone?" the Blonde asked, wary, but Jace raised his hands defensively.

"Not you or your family," he offered, trying to reassure Naruto, but the ninja didn't let down his guard. "You recently came into contact with someone who matches the description of a women who brutality killed an angel on Ravnica."

"Ravnica?" Naruto thought, confused, before images of a large city, both like and unlike Ghirapur, entered his mind. Given Jace's once-more glowing eyes, it was apparent that he was directly supplying Naruto with the information rather than try to explain it. "Ok, stop that!" Naruto announced. "It'd be less of headache if you gave me the long explanation." As though to emphasize his point, Naruto began to rub his temples.

Jace took note of Naruto's eyes flashing red for a split second, but decided it didn't concern him for now. "Sorry," he said. "But time is of the essence. Yesterday, I heard you thinking about some Planeswalker who called herself Liliana. As I said, she matches the description of the culprit almost perfectly based on your recollection." Now Naruto was even more confused. Angels that not only exist, but could be killed. Possibly by the dark woman from the other night? A multitude of different planes of existence open for him? It was all becoming too much to handle.

"Yeah," Naruto replied. "She gave me something. A small package. I don't remember what was inside, and it wasn't on me when I woke up the next morning. But I suppose you know that too, if you've been digging around in my head."

The older boy clicked his tongue in semi-annoyance. Indeed, he had already tried to glean what Liliana had done to the boy, but everything after her departure had seemingly been wiped from Naruto's memory. At least to the shallow glances into his mind. But that was why Jace wished to see him in person. Raising his hands, he assured Naruto that he meant no harm. "It's ok. Looking into your mind is much less harsh than putting information into it." Naruto still looked unsure, but all the same nodded, letting Jace rest his fingers on the side of his head, his thumbs gently placed upon his forehead.

Neither of the two boys really understood what happened next. Jace quickly reached the memory he sought, getting a much clearer view of Liliana than he had glanced previously. He had to admit, her description - particularly the ones given by the enraged angelic hoards - didn't truly do the lady justice. He watched Liliana hand Naruto a little brown package. Before he could discover what had been put in the wrapped bundle, he was thrown from the blonde's mind so forcefully that his physical body actually was knocked over.

"Whoa, you okay?" Naruto asked, moving to the groaning Telepath's side so as to help him back to his feet.

"Yeah," moaned Jace, taking the offered hand. "I don't think I've ever had that happen to me before..."

"Do you want to try again?" Jace shook his head at Naruto's inquiry.

"Whatever that was doesn't want me seeing what you saw the other night. This wasn't a one-time fluke, I'm certain." His tone was adamant, and for a moment, Naruto worried over what, or who, could have thrown the cloaked-boy from his mind so powerfully. Unbidden, the word 'Bolas' floated to the top of his mind, but it was gone before Naruto could process what it meant, and so subtly that Jace didn't even notice it. "I have to return to Ravnica. The library there might be able to provide an answer to why and how my spell backfired. I'll return when I can, but if you need me, you at least know where to find me."

"Hey, Wait-" Naruto flinched and turned from the dust that was blown from the ground as Jace planeswalked. "I don't know how to get there..." he finished, pathetically. For someone who's power was essentially his mind, he got the impression that Jace might be a tad...absent-minded.

Crawling back up the wall and into the window, he moved silently back to his bed. And just when he was about to get back to sleep, was when she spoke.

"Naruto?" Whispered Chandra, drawing the aforementioned ninja's attention. "Is everything ok? I know mother asked earlier, but I just want to be sure..." Naruto sighed a bit.

"Just some bad dreams. Make it hard to sleep," he replied.

"It's not because of me...is it?" Naruto now raised a brow, turning to the pyromancer. She however continued to stare at the ceiling. "I mean, if it wasn't for me, we'd still be back home, in Ghirapur. We wouldn't be running and hiding all the time. I miss the sounds of the city. I miss waiting for you to get home to tell me about your day."

"I miss those things too, Chandra. I also miss the Leaf. I miss my friends. But here we are. The past is over and done with. And to be honest, I was more worried about you blaming me." Chandra looked to him now at the declaration. "I should have jumped in sooner. I was distracted, and didn't pay attention which direction you were going. I could have ended everything before it started. There's a lot on my mind, Chandra. But blaming you for anything is not one of those things."

Chandra looked relieved, like a weight had been lifted from her. And in a way, there was. She couldn't bear the thought of Naruto holding some resentment toward her, and hearing otherwise eased her mind greatly. She rolled over, turning away from him, and Naruto - thinking the conversation over - settled back into a relaxed position. "But you'd tell me if I was the problem, right?" Naruto cracked his eye open with a soft smile.

"You are a lot of things, Chandra. Not one of them is a problem. But yes, I would tell you." In the dark, Naruto couldn't see the burning blush that consumed the cheeks of the Pyromancer at his words.

"You're not a problem either," she whispered. It was meant to be under her breath, but Naruto's sharper hearing caught every word.

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"Captain."

Baral looked to his Lieutenant, who saluted him respectfully.

"Report?" The young woman nodded.

"The Vent packs are as ready as they will ever be, and the watch has the Nalaars and Uzumaki hiding out in the small town of Bunarat," she announced. "The troops await your order to move out, and we can be there by sunrise."

Baral stared at the flickering candle on his desk grimly, before snuffing the withering flame between his fingers.

"Take them."

Chapter end.

Sorry if the story felt jumpy or rushed, but we are nearing the end of this glorified prologue.

As I said previously, I'm using the Origins retcon of the PW backstories, and as of now, Jace has yet to join the Consortium, and thus has never met Liliana, who yes, has a tendency to slaughter Angels. In fact, her golden headdress was one she stole from an angel she killed. Also, it is implied that just being around Nicol Bolas can drive a person insane, so I figured a scale of his, saturated in magic, could produce a similar effect. As for Bolas' psychic ability, remember, Jace, who is one of the most powerful mind-mages in existence...lasted three seconds total against Nicol Bolas' mental powers, and that was considered to be a great feat.

Just don't want people to think I'm making Bolas out as more powerful than I should.

Peace to all my Fans

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