Hey there kids! How are you all doing!? Good, I hope! So, I got another chapter for this story! As you may have noticed, I haven't posted a new chapter for Shattering Lies, mainly because, as I said before, I want the Manga to advance a little more. The next chapter will be next month. For now, enjoy this story and the others!

Now, to answer some of your questions:

One, Naruto will not be using Knightmare for the most part. He literally has Kurama sealed inside of him and when he unleashes Kurama for the first time, it's going to absolutely annihilate Knightmares.

Second, I'm going with a NarutoxC.C. pairing. It'll be a single pairing. Maybe I might change my mind later, but for now, that's it.

Third, Naruto's interactions with people like Cornelia, Kallen, Nunnally, and Euphemia will be explored later, but the bottom line is, for the most part, he'd be unable to understand their reasons for fighting for what they believe.

For example, Euphemia wants to end the conflict so that no more of her loved ones die. How does this Naruto comprehend that? For the better part of his life, he has been taught to eliminate threats to the village, not end conflicts with diplomacy. How will he react to Cornelia's single-track mind for revenge against Zero and the killer of her half-siblings and their mother? Naruto never had a family growing up, heck, the idea of a family would be a foreign concept for him. The only concept that Naruto understands, somewhat, is friendship and even then it's a very narrow understanding.

However, with all that said, I will say that all these interactions will allow Naruto to grow as a character, and to become what he was truly meant to be. For now, enjoy it as is.

A Week later:

Lord Jeremiah Gottwald was a man of honor and duty. And he prided himself in that reputation he had gained over the course of his service to the crown. However, that sense of honor and duty was severely humbled and shattered when his Idol, the woman who had inspired him to such lengths, the late Empress Marianne vi Britannia, was no less assassinated within the Imperial Palace. But what stung more than her loss was that it was under his watch that she had been killed.

"One of my greatest failures…" Jeremiah lamented as he went through paperwork after paperwork. His hold on the pen tightened as his second failure came to the forefront of his mind; not being able to save either of the vi Britannia siblings. After the death of their mother, the two siblings had been exiled to Japan, by their father, the emperor, no less. Jeremiah hated it. He felt his duty, honor, and loyalty constrained and destroyed by the emperor. He wanted to redeem himself by keeping the two children safe from this cruel world.

"Traitors everywhere I look." He furrowed his brows. When the invasion of Japan was first detailed in the many secret talks within the military branches, it was his hope that he could locate the two, save them, and fulfill his purpose once more. His hopes were shattered when news of their death was announced, those shattered hopes turned into anger and rage directed at the Japanese. He held them responsible for their deaths and he made it his mission to make these people suffer for that single crime they committed.

And now here he was, purging people within his own staff and administration. Ironically enough, many of those he was purging were pure Britannians. Apparently, systematic corruption was rife within the lower echelons of the occupation government, so great that it had spilled over to the higher levels and even within the military. Local officials were skirting the laws and regulations for short-term gains, while higher officials were actively collaborating with several Eleven hostile groups for profits. And after that whole fiasco on the bridge a week ago, his own inner circle was in his crosshairs. No one could be trusted it seems.

"Lord Jeremiah, this madness has gone too far! You cannot just purge everyone you suspect of treason!" Villetta tried to reason with him as he looked up from his paperwork with a sharp glare. No one could be trusted at the moment, not even someone like Villetta. If a man like Kewell was an enemy operative, something the man profusely denied, then who else could be one? No, he must keep his eyes sharp and his head on a swivel.

"Don't assume to tell me what I need to do, Villetta. If they could turn Kewell into a traitor, then the level of the conspiracy must run deep. Which reminds me…" Jeremiah spoke harshly as he brought up a file causing Villetta to gulp at seeing her name on it.

"During the battle of Shinjiku Ghetto, you were without your Knightmare before terrorists began to mount organized resistance." He started reading, his words cold as ice causing Villetta to sweat. How would she explain that?

"However, your Knightmare was later retrieved and was the one confirmed to be engaged by the Lancelot before he disengaged to save an…Eleven." Jeremiah spoke. As much as he hated to say it, he could somewhat respect Suzaku for saving civilians, even if they were Eleven, in the middle of battle. Shaking his head, he put down the file and leveled a glare at her.

"So, care to explain how your Knightmare ended up in the hands of the enemy? Because you didn't look like you were captured or tortured. Almost like you…handed it over willingly." Jeremiah accused causing Villette's eyes to widen at what he was implying.

"I…I…don't remember how…" She answered, gritting. Her mind was foggy as if some sort of heavy mist had settled upon it as she tried to remember. How did she end up surrendering her Knightmare?

"Same excuse as Kewell? It seems I really cannot trust no one." Jeremiah muttered out as he pressed a button on his desk and no sooner did he do that two guards walked in, armed and ready. Villette looked at him, betrayal itched on her face.

"Lord Jeremiah!" She had come here to reason, to make the man see with some form of clarity and instead, she found herself detained. Jeremiah looked at her with an impassive face. He hated traitors, despised them even.

"I'm sorry, Villette, but you will be detained indefinitely until I can ascertain your loyalties." He spoke with finality as the guards dragged her off, the look of shock still etched on her face as the door closed once she had been taken out of the room. With a heavy sigh, Jeremiah retook his position in the seat.

"Bold move to detain your entire inner circle." Jeremiah's eyes widened as he found a blade on his neck as a voice spoke from behind him. He knew this voice! He schooled his features as he calmed himself.

"Here to finish the job from a week ago?" He questioned the assassin. If this assassin could breach the Viceroy Palace security, then it all but confirmed that there were traitors within the administration here.

"I had one hundred and eighty-seven opportunities to kill you throughout this week. If I wanted to kill you, you would be dead by now." The assassin boldly claimed mush to Jeremiah's distaste. If that was true, then he wasn't as safe as he assumed he was.

"What do you want?" Was he going to ask for the release of all those he had detained? Finally, to release their turn-coat comrades?

"Work with me." The assassin stated causing the interim Viceroy's eyes to widen. Work with the man who worked with Zero. Fat chance!

"As if I'd work with someone who works for Zero, who killed our Viceroy!" He said in defiance while the assassin said nothing, and that bothered Jeremiah. At this point, someone in the assassin's position would laugh and go on a random tangent on how his life was in their hands.

"I do not work for Zero. I merely provided him with assistance." The assassin responded much to Jeremiah's growing distaste. He was dealing with someone who had no allegiances, no honor, no position, only his own greed clearly.

"And why would I trust someone who is willing to betray the ones he works with?" Jeremiah questioned him as the assassin gave away no emotions.

"You misunderstand. My offer is that I help you root out the corruption and the conspiracy against you and the occupation government. What Zero does is none of my business. If he asks for my services, then he'll have to pay for them." The assassin stated causing the man to frown. A mercenary and an assassin? Zero had found a dangerous person it seems.

"And what do you have to gain from helping me?" Jeremiah questioned. It seems like the conspiracy against the occupation government was in fact a real threat if this assassin was to be trusted.

"Helping you gives me a favor from you. After all, an honor-bound man such as yourself would no doubt like to know who the traitors within your ranks are. And I'm also sure that you will uphold the favor when the time comes." The assassin spoke, much to Jeremiah's annoyance. He could deny the assassin's offer right here and now, but then hunting down the enemies of the state would take much longer, and with the new Viceroy heading here soon, he'd have to get everything in order before he incurred her wrath.

"…Fine…" Jeremiah accepted reluctantly. If the assassin was indeed not aligned with that masked criminal, then maybe he could eventually turn the assassin into giving away valuable information about Zero.

"I'll contact you later with more information." And with that, the blade was lifted from his throat. Jeremiah waited for a minute before he turned around to find…nothing. He blinked at that. How? How was the assassin able to sneak in and out without so much as a sound?

"He is dangerous." Jeremiah reasoned. He'd have to up his guard and security detail. Or rather, he'd need to figure out who he can trust and not. And that was the great dilemma that Jeremiah had found himself in. He couldn't trust anyone, at least, not within the current administration.

Later with Naruto:

"I don't get it. Why help Jeremiah?" Kurama questioned him from within the seal as Naruto sat atop a large skyscraper, his eyes scanning the massive city below him. Technology might be far ahead in this world, but human nature is very much the same.

"Because Jeremiah is vulnerable right now. After the incident on the bridge, his reputation is being called into question by higher authorities outside Area Eleven. Jeremiah now rightfully so perceives enemies in the shadows." Naruto explained blankly. The week had passed without anything of interest happening. Lelouch hadn't really done much, staying rather quite for now.

"I get that, but what's the point in egging him on if he's already on a path of self-destruction?" Kurama questioned him as Naruto simply vanished and reappeared within a dark alley.

"Because helping him, even if it's giving him fake reports, make's in believe that I am a potential ally with a backdoor to Zero." Naruto elaborated as he leaned back onto the wall, his mind working out plans, against both Lelouch and Jeremiah.

"You don't trust Lelouch?" Kurama questioned him as Naruto's face remained stoic. He'd yet to get an idea of Lelouch character, but he did know that Lelouch was a tactical and strategic genius. He bet that his intelligence rivaled that of the Nara Clan but minus the laziness.

"Lelouch is of the belief that he has dominion over me, despite knowing that I hold his life in the palm of my hands. In the event that Lelouch seeks to move against me, I'll have him silenced; permanently." He went on as his hand glided over to his most beloved weapon; his Tantō.

"Ah, if that's the case, then you'll give Zero's head on a silver platter to Jeremiah and his superiors." Kurama reasoned as Naruto slightly nodded. No matter what happens, he must prevail. He'd no longer be the one controlled and used.

"And if Zero somehow prevails against the odds, you can hand Jeremiah over to him, further gaining his trust. Gotta say Kit, you really are putting that bastard Danzo's teachings to the test." Kurama praised. Naruto was young, very young. And the fact that he could manipulate people twice or three times his age was just amazing. Naruto nodded at that, before he frowned.

"And hopefully I can get that incessant witch off my back." He mumbled, with the smallest hints of annoyance in his voice, something that Kurama picked up on.

"Oh ho? Is that…emotion I hear in your voice?" Kurama questioned him with a chuckle as his host rolled his eyes in retaliation.

"She talks too much." Naruto almost complained. C.C. was rather… persistent in knowing more about him and of course, trying to get him to accept her power of Geass.

"But she is your friend?" Kurama questioned him as Naruto stopped at that. Friend. What a simple word, but to Naruto it meant everything. It brought so many memories, so many…emotions that he had thought were long dead.

"I…suppose…" Naruto reasoned. Because of C.C.'s constant advances in trying to learn more about him, she had managed to somewhat chip away at his walls. But it was ultimately he himself who had to sort his own emotions out.

"Then I suppose, you are on the right track," Kurama commented as Naruto didn't respond. The right path…was there such a path going forward for someone like him? Shaking his head, he vanished once more, Lelouch would no doubt have more information for him.

Later that night:

"So, when will you show me your face?" C.C. questioned him as Naruto sat with his arms folded across his chest. Show his face? Why should he? But Kurama's words rang back in his mind. C.C. was a…friend…but…

"Why should I?" Naruto questioned her. The two had been confined to Lelouch's room for over a week and the main interactions between to two were C.C. starting the conversations, while Naruto simply listened. He didn't admit it, but it reminded him of the days when he and Hinata would spend hours talking with their own cells.

"Hmm, why you ask? Well, should a friend ask for such a thing?" She questioned him as Naruto stiffened slightly at that.

"And what makes us…friends?" Naruto questioned carefully as C.C. shrugged her shoulders.

"And what makes us not friends?" She countered as Naruto mulled over that. Well, she had a point, but…

"You wouldn't like my face." He simply stated as C.C. raised an eyebrow as she sat up, walked over to him, and sat down next to him.

"I wouldn't know unless I see." She flashed him a grin as she leaned back and looked towards him.

"I'm a monster." He whispered to himself, but C.C. heard him as she neared her face to his mask, mere inches away.

"Why do you say that?" She questioned him as she slowly brought her hands up to his mask. Naruto made no attempt to stop her as he simply stared back at her.

"Because it is the truth. My face is the proof of it." He explained as C.C. was slightly taken back by that but pressed on.

"I've lived for a long time you know. I have seen it all. The best of humanity and it's worse. So, let me be the judge of whether you are a monster or not." She reasoned logically as Naruto said nothing to that, her hands finally made it to the mask and her fingers caressed it gently. It felt…rough. She had assumed that the mask would be smooth, but rather it was rough and jagged at points.

"So, will you allow me to see your face?" She questioned him as Naruto couldn't find his words. Taking that as a sign, she gently began to lift the mask from his face. Naruto's breath slightly hitched at that before he calmed himself. This was his choice…he'd allow her to see his face.

As the mask was slowly lifted, it was now C.C.'s turn to be surprised. Her eyes scanned and took in every detail of his face. His face was marked with three whiskers on each cheek, his blond hair spilled over his forehead, and formed bangs just above his eyes. And his eyes…She brought her hand up and gently her fingers across the side of his face.

"These aren't your eyes, are they?" She questioned him gently as Naruto said nothing but looked at her blankly. The scarring around his eyes, their unnatural color…but what took her by surprise was just how dead they looked to her. The Levander color was dulled, but underneath the deadness of the, she could see it; pain.

She had seen so much in her long life, she had seen war, death, poverty, and on and on the list went. But she had never seen someone so…broken other than herself. And she had developed her nature over the course of her very long life. But this boy, no, a man was young, barely a child compared to her.

"I don't see what makes you such a monster that you think you are." She spoke as Naruto's eyes slightly widened, a twinkle of emotions running through him. She was the only other person ever to say that to him…

"You…you don't?" He questioned her, wanting to confirm what he had heard. C.C. nodded at him as she gave him a smile.

"I've seen monsters before, and you Sunflower, are no monster. A killer, yes, but I do not know the circumstances that led you to where you are now, but tell me, do you enjoy all the killing that you do?" She questioned him as Naruto looked at her, his eyes already giving her an answer.

"Killing is all I know. It is what I was trained for. For the Hokage knows best, ours is to obey." He spoke, almost like he was in a trance. His ROOT training automatically kicked in, despite his newfound freedom.

"Hokage?" C.C. questioned with a tilt of her head in confusion. Fire Shadow? Was this Hokage some sort of leader of an organization that Sunflower had been part of? If so, how did such a person and organization go unnoticed by her or Britannia? Things weren't adding up, but she reasoned she could get more information out of him.

"…" When he didn't respond she sighed. His face gave away no emotions, the twinkle of emotion in his eyes was gone, returning them back to the dead eyes. She had seen that kind of face before, the so-called thousand-yard stare. Soldiers who suffered immensely from PTSD showed such features. She wondered what exactly led him to this point.

"You know, Sunflower, you should show your face more, outside that is." She advised him as his hands twitched before he grabbed his mask from her and slowly put it back on.

"Why?" He questioned her as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Because, unlike me, Britannia doesn't know what you look like. You have far more freedom in terms of mobility in the public." Freedom. Yes, he was free, free from his former masters. But he didn't know what to do with his freedom other than find a place for himself in this world.

"But I'm a…" He began but she shook her head.

"A monster? Unlikely. Like I said before, I have seen monsters before, and you are not one." She stated, her voice layered with finality as Naruto opened his mouth to speak but stopped and closed it. The memories of his first friend flashed before him.

"You are not a monster, Naruto-Kun. To me, you are a kind person. To me, you are a hero." Hinata's words echoed in his head, her blood-stained smile, her eyes showing just how much she cared for him, even in the end. And now, someone else believed as she did…

"Thank you…C.C." He spoke after what seemed like an eternity. C.C. was taken aback by his words but smiled and nodded. She hadn't expected that, but she was…happy.

"I've never seen someone so broken…like me…" She thought to herself. In a way, Sunflower reminded her of herself, when she was nothing but a slave, and even after her freedom, after she gained the power of Geass, she felt even more alone. In a way, she felt sympathy for him. Because like her, he had been scared too.

"And C.C….thank you…for being my friend…" He muttered causing her to blink before he vanished from her sight. Looking around, she saw that he was not in the room. Sighing, she laid back on the bed as she smiled.

"Sunflower, let's – where is Sunflower?" Lelouch stopped and questioned as he entered the room and looked around, not finding the assassin, only C.C.

"I don't know, guess you better mobilize your little gang of resistance fighters to find him." C.C. joked with a coy smile causing Lelouch to roll his eyes.

"This isn't the time to joke. I need to get into contact with him fast." He stated much to her amusement, but she was curious as to why he wanted to see Sunflower.

"And why is that?" She questioned him as he smirked, well, a smirk would be an understating it. Lelouch wore a smirk of absolute smugness. As if he was so sure of his superiority and coming victories.

"Because the new Britannian Viceroy Cornelia Li Britannia will be arriving in Japan soon and I think it's time that the so-called 'Goddess of Victory' is humbled and humiliated with defeat," Lelouch answered, his smirk growing with every word. He'd make Cornelia kneel in defeat before he asks his question and his ace, Sunflower, will be a valuable asset in the coming confrontation.

And that's it! Short chapter, I know, but I hope you enjoyed the interactions between Naruto and C.C. and Naruto at least showing his face to C.C. And how did you like Naruto trying to manipulate Jeremiah for his own benefit? Bet you didn't see that coming! Well, see you all next chapter!