Hello everyone. Welcome to a new chapter of What Makes Us Strong_Echo.

Thank you a lot people for the support again.

I thank you for the critics too. I went back to all the chapters before this one and tried to fix and improve them. At least, I hope I did. That's why I took longer to post this new chapter.

Anyways, I hope this new chapter is up to par.

Disclaimer: Any Naruto, High School DxD, or X-anime franchise character that appears, or will appear in this story is not my property. They belong to their corresponding authors, companies, etc. I only own the plot of the story and some invented things. Some things will be inspired by different things. My mother language is Spanish, not English, as I am from South America.

Warning: Some parts will suddenly depict character deaths, deep introspection, erotic things, limes, smut, or full-blown-out sex. If these things are not your cup of tea or can't stand them, please do not proceed to read this story.

"Normal talking"

"Internal Thinking/talking"

"Summons/ Bijuu/ Sealed entities talking"

"Summons/Bijuu/ Sealed entities thinking"

'Attacks/Spells/Jutsus'

Remember. If you see a (º), this means there will be an explanation on the notifications at the end. If you see a (#) around or in the sentences, this means, you should (not obliged to) hear the song posted as a recommendation while reading such part until you see the (#) again.
Regarding the music too. To try not to break too much of the flow of the story. If you see a song and no number, then you should play the song suggested from the beginning.

"WHAT MAKES US STRONG - ECHO"

Chapter 5: Welcome.
Factor Eight - The Beginning (1)
Future World Music - New Beginnings (2)
Eternal Eclipse - Hidden Machinations (3)
Eternal Eclipse - The Ritual (4)

(1)

He jolted awake. The sudden movement made him feel a little disoriented.

"Ugh?!"

Then, his whole brain throbbed so hard that it felt like he was dying. It hurt a lot.

"What… The heck?... Dattebayo!"

The short-cut blond-haired male exclaimed loudly while he grabbed his head with both arms, trying vainly to soothe the pain and pressure on his head.

"Wha...?"

Suddenly, his eyesight felt blurry, and a wave of dizziness hit him so hard that it felt like Grandma Tsunade had just hit him with one of her famous enhanced punches. He tumbled over the female body resting by his side and got some distance away.

"Bwaaargh!"

It wasn't pretty. His stomach contents fell on top of the stone floor in a weird mix of purple and green and other things he couldn't nor wanted to recognize. It felt like an eternity in which he thought his whole body was having a seizure, but only 30 seconds had passed.

Finally, sweet relief reached him when the pain, dizziness, and everything else stopped. He felt so weak. He laid down a little far away from his puke allowing his sight to take in the pretty vision above him.

"Wait… Is the sky supposed to be…?"

His enquire stopped when he heard his female companion gasp and go through the same thing he just went through some seconds ago.

"Yeah, I'm too tired to even glance in that direction."

His eyes were closed as he took slow deep breaths.

"Na-Naruto-kun?"

The single sentence made him open his eyes wide and jolt in her direction.

"Hinata!"

His arms circled her in a protective hug. He just appeared by her side. He knew that single word. After all, being married to the person you love the most for more than ten years allows you to understand the simple things.

"Wait…Married for… more than ten years?"

Something… Something… What was it? He… wasn't able to remember. His head was spinning again. He shook his head a little, making the headache soothe some.

"Meh… Mustn't be that important if I forgot it that easily."

"Na-Naruto-kun… It hurts…"

"Shh, baby, shh. I know, but it will stop."

Her whimpers were so soft. She looked up at him with pale lavender doe eyes.

"Promise?"

"Of a lifetime."

The soft and confident smile on his whiskered cheeks was all the reassurance she needed. She leaned closer to his side and took a small deep breath. Thanks to that, she felt her body relax. His arms circled protectively around her, and they had their eyes closed. Nothing could make them feel safer.

"Naruto-kun…"

"Yeah, Hinata?"

After some seconds, doubt filled her voice. He knew what was coming next.

"Where…"

"Where are we?"

Finishing the question for her, they looked at their surroundings. The area was vast and pitch black.

No.

Not pitch black, but more like.

"A void…"

Their whisper carried a heavy feeling. They didn't know what was happening. Why were they there? How did they get there? Too many questions, so few answers.

"Well… The bright side is that… This place is 'cheerful'?"

There existed a myriad of colours all around them. Up, middle, down. Everywhere. They didn't know how to react. At least the ground they were sitting and hugging on was solid enough to allow them to 'rest'.

Such was the perplexion felt that they didn't notice the wedding rings they carried were glowing softly. A soft transparent dome of ametrine chakra was covering them. It was so thin that no one could see it.

"Naruto-Kun."

"Yeah…"

"I wonder…" (1)(2)

"Huh?!"

They heard it. The flapping of massive wings made them turn their heads in the direction where they thought the sound came from. They saw nothing.

"Hinata…"

"Hai!"

"Byakugan!"

"If what I sense in my Sennin mode is right. Then, I think you are seeing what I'm sensing, Right?"

"Yes, Naruto-Kun."

"It's a 100-metre-long giant red dragon…"

"Wait…"

"Why the heck is it coming towards us?"

"Naruto-Kun! It's coming to us fast!"

"I know! I can see it now!"

"Stand back, Hinata!"

"Yes!"

Some seconds after that simple exchange of words between them, the dragon slammed against Naruto. He held his ground while he put his arms in front of himself.

"UNGFFH!"

"KYAAAH!"

"HINATA!"

Naruto felt himself be pushed back, and the ground made a trail while he held the 'nose' of the dragon. The floor could not stand the force of the collision, and how Naruto kept pumping chakra on his legs to keep himself from tumbling over their sudden clash.

"YOU! DAMN OVERFED LIZARD!"

Getting a sound footing with his sandal-covered feet. He grabbed the 'nose' of the dragon better with his hands while a colossal crater formed around him. He flexed his arms while he rounded on himself and threw the dragon over his right shoulder. The throw made it fly very fast and far away without control.

"Okay... I wasn't expecting that… Then again… I was expecting not to expect something, so it doesn't count…"

The dragon was still rolling uncontrollably in the air. Then, it got a hold of itself and right its body while it opened its wings to their max span. It looked at them attentively.

"HINATA! ARE YOU OKAY?!"

"Yes, Naruto-Kun! I was taken by surprise because its tail tried to hit me while it crashed against you. But, I was able to jump over it without much trouble."

"Good."

Turning his face sideways, he glared at the flying dragon with his toad-like right eye. It was circling them from above now. Its massive size would have petrified any lesser being. True, it was majestic in its way.

But for them, the size of the dragon was nothing. Where they came from, a summoned entity could be twice the size of the overfed lizard.

"It looks like it wants to attack us. Not just you Naruto-Kun."

"Yeah, I noticed that."

"It is interesting though."

"What is?"

"Despite its size, this dragon sure is nimble."

"I see."

The roar of the dragon made them look up. Their eyesight became a little blurry again, and they wobbled on their feet.

"Dang, it!"

"Our bodies… They are still recovering from whatever happened to us."

"Get ready!"

The dragon dove at them with frightening speed.

"Hinata!"

"Naruto-kun!"

Her right hand was by his left one without much prompting. As one, their chakra mixed, and a transparent lion-covered Rasengan appeared on top of their co-joined palms. The colour was beautiful.

"Ametrine Rasengan." (°)

They called the technique together. Their marriage rings glowed with the same intensity as the technique. They poured copious amounts of chakra into the jutsu. So much so, that the area around them glowed brighter in the void.

"I WILL DEFEAT YOU!"

"WE WILL SURVIVE YOU!"

They thought as they raised their arms in synchronicity and looked up. The technique roared to life while they gritted their teeth. The dragon let one last roar.

The collision between both sides happened and it was not a thunderous explosion. The whole area lit up in a mixture of blinding white colours. The wind in a huge radius was blown away and after some seconds it was sucked back in. (2)(1)

"Haaa… Haaa… Haaa…"

Their breathing was deep while they lay there, sprawled on the top of the stone-cold ground. The massive dragon was immobile some metres away from them.

"Haha!"

"Hehe!"

"Hahahaahhaahehahaeeheha!"

They couldn't contain it. They hugged each other while their laughs escaped from them uncontrollably. Tears formed in the corner of their eyes while they held each other tightly. Their bodies kept shaking while the laughing never ceased from their soring throats uncontrollably.

"That was so close!"

Their shaky hug got even tighter while their laughing got muffled thanks to the other's clothes on their mouths.

"I, don't know what I would do without you!"

Finally, after what felt like an hour of non-stop laughing their bodies couldn't stand the pressure any more, and they passed out while holding each other.

"I'm glad you are okay."

The sound of feet landing on the ground did nothing to wake them from their fatigue-induced slumber. Such was their fatigue that they were at the mercy of whoever landed near them.

"Well, this isn't a sight you just get to see daily."

The white-haired young male's voice mused while it looked at the passed-out hugging couple and then at the unmoving great dragon.

"I know, nya!"

"To be able to defeat Great Red, just by themselves…" Incredulity laced the blonde-haired young woman's voice.

"They couldn't be older than us, but to be able to do this. I want some babies, nya!"

That single last phrase made the group of persons deadpan at the black-haired golden-eyed bodacious woman. They knew that she was going to nag the male of the duo without restraints to get her pregnant. She has tried with the males of their rag-tag group multiple times with no luck.

The black-haired woman got closer to them and leaned over them, inspecting them with mirthful eyes.

First, she noticed the unconscious young woman. She looked no older than 18 - 19 years old and had indigo-black hair that was styled in a short princess haircut. Her attire consisted of a light purple short-sleeved jacket with a long-sleeved white shirt underneath, light brown shorts, and purple open-toed boots. She also has a necklace with the Uzumaki symbol on top of it.

"Cute." The cat-ears woman thought while looking at the young woman.

She felt a little
"Just a tiny little, mind you."
Conscious of her breasts when she saw the unconscious woman's chest hidden by her clothes.
"So this is what this kind of envy feels like."

Then, her gaze turned and zoomed in on the other person. More specifically on his pant's covered crotch while a little trail of saliva fell from the corner of her mouth.
"Hello, babies!"

Oh, how she was tempted to kneel and give a soft kiss there. Then, she shook her head regaining her bearings.
"Ok, note to self. First, look the eyes then go for the prize. Yes! Nya!"

Regaining control of herself, she looked up at the face of the unconscious young man. He looked no older than 18 - 19 years old too and had short blond hair. Three whiskers adorned each of his cheeks. His attire consisted of an orange sweatshirt with black stripes, black pants, and sandals. He has the Uzumaki symbol emblazoned in red on the back of his sweatshirt.

"Wait a second… Now that I look closer, both have the same spiral symbol on the back of their respective attires. Are they part of a clan or something? Huh? Isn't this..."

She muttered to herself when suddenly a pitch-black portal opened by the group's side, shortening the cat-eared woman's enquiry.

She got away from them and stood by her group. They watched how the petite leg landed first, followed by a lean torso coming outside of the portal, and finally, the face of the young girl appeared.

"Ophis-Sama."

The sound of knees colliding against the ground in reverence in front of her didn't faze her at all. Instead, she turned her gaze to the surprising sight. Her dark eyes widened for a fraction of a second before they regained their neutrality. She turned her head to the black-haired woman.

"Report…"

"We came to this place as soon as we felt the massive output of energies. What we witnessed left us speechless. We saw Great Red collide with something in the distance. Then, a massive explosion of blinding light followed by a wave of air hit us."

She looked at the white-haired young man by her side who only nodded, confirming her tale.

"I see… names?"

"We have no idea who they are Ophis-Sama. When we regained our bearings… Great Red was taken down and the two subjects here have been passed out since then." The red-headed male expressed.

"…"

"Ophis-Sama!"

Turning her head to the blonde-haired woman, she kept her impassive gaze on her.

"Great Red isn't dead. It has been taken down, yes. But, it is just unconscious!"

"Really?! Nya!"

"Ophis-Sama, it's your opportunity to get rid of Great Red." The 'mechanical' voice of the other member expressed. (1)(3)

The infinite dragon tilted her head and then nodded. She walked to the downed dragon's head, lifted her hand and transformed it to give the final blow to Great Red. Mere inches from completing her objective she felt her hand and whole being freeze in something she never felt before. Sweat started trailing down the right side of her forehead.

"Ophis-Sama?"

She turned her cold gaze to the unconscious couple. All the members of team Vali doing the same.

They saw it. The couple's marriage rings were glowing crimson red.

"Good decision, infinite dragon…"

That single sentence was laced with so much... They didn't know how to describe it. One second they were standing, the next, they found themselves on their hands and knees trying desperately to keep their consciousness.

The infinite dragon jumped away from her objective when she saw a tendril of crimson energy emerge from the glowing rings and latch itself on the unconscious dragon. Her eyes were wide and felt herself shiver when she saw how the tendril started sucking the energy out of Great Red.

Team Vali activated their respective powers to the max output possible. But, the only thing they could do in their current state was allow themselves to stand on their knees.

Their eyes widened in horror when they saw how the couple now had their backs arched at an impossible angle while their faces were set into a silent scream of pain that never left their mouths. His left hand was gripping her right one tightly.

Tears formed in the corner of the eyes of the blonde and black-haired women of their group when they heard how the couple's bodies cracked as their bodies were 'transformed' due to the crimson energy surrounding them.

It felt like an eternity. Then, as it suddenly happened, it finished. The pressure, the squeamish sound and everything else stopped. Like, it never happened in the first place.

"Evolution... Complete."
"Entities acceptance in new dimension… Confirmed."
"Adverse effects… 0%"
"Passive recover mode… Confirmed"

Finally, the rings stopped glowing while the unconscious couple landed on top of the floor with a quiet thud. They looked so peaceful on the cold floor as his left hand gripped her right hand so softly. Their breathing was soft. It was like everything that just happened didn't happen at all.

The silence that permeated the ambience was so thick that none of them knew how to even utter a single word. Their perplexed minds tried to process what happened in front of them.

"What..."

"The hell…"

"WAS THAT?! NYA!"

They fell on their butts. Ophis on her part was taking deep breaths trying to regain control of her body. She still couldn't comprehend it. It was like her whole being was telling her to run from the unconscious couple in front of her. No part of her body wanted to answer her.

"Move… Move… MOVE… MOVE!"
No matter how much she prompted herself internally. She felt herself rooted to where she was standing. Then it happened again, this time no glowing warned them at all. No, a single thin thread of the same energy appeared and impaled itself in the middle of Ophis' chest.

Their eyes and mind couldn't believe what they were witnessing. Their leader was trapped. They felt their bodies freeze in terror when they saw Ophis gasp and fall to her knees while she tried vainly to rip the tendril away from her.

"GAKH!"

Spit left Ophis' mouth while she felt the tendril search for something inside her. She didn't know what. Just that, it burned, a lot.

"DAMMIT, YOU!"

The white-haired team leader shouted while it jumped towards the unconscious couple with his full armour activated. He didn't reach very far. An invisible force stopped him and shattered him out of his armour while his eyes rolled to the back of his head. He fell back on the floor beside the terrified group.

One of her eyes closed and her teeth gritted because of the massive amount of pain she was going through. Ophis felt weak, so weak. But, this thing wasn't taking her energy. No, it was looking for something inside her. Whatever it was, she wouldn't allow herself to be a simple experiment. (3)(4)

She stood up and started walking backwards, trying to get as far away as possible from the unconscious dangerous beings. She didn't reach far away when her legs gave up on her. She was falling.

"OPHIS-SAMA!"

She saw Kuroka's visage appear in front of her. No, not only her. The rest of the conscious Vali team was by her side trying to help her. They grabbed her and pulled back, but the tendril didn't break, it didn't budge an inch.

Then, other tendrils spawned from the main one and restrained each of them. The tendrils pushed them away every single one of them falling unconscious. After some seconds, the tendrils returned to the main one and continued searching inside Ophis slowly.

The corners of her vision were starting to get darker by the second. When her head started tilting to one side, she saw them. A dark-cloaked individual in the distance smiling at her and behind it, a crimson-cloaked one who looked on impassive at what was happening to her.

"Who…"

"Please…"

Seconds before darkness claimed her she saw the final visage of a young female with the same hair colour as the unconscious woman, blue eyes, and 2 whisker marks like the unconscious male on each of her cheeks appear alongside another blue-haired with pink accents woman.

Her body fell backwards, sweet darkness finally claimed her visage and let her rest. (4)

-WMUS_E-
Dreaming Together (Dan Thiessen)

Her jade eyes looked around the forest in wonder, her beautiful lustrous golden hair following along with the movements of her head. Finally, she was able to have some time to herself. It's not that she didn't like her job as a saint for the church. On the contrary, she loves helping people and seeing their happy faces after helping them was such a blessing for her.

Her simple leather brown boots crunched on top of the fallen leaves as she looked around in wonder. This was the first time she was allowed to truly enjoy herself.

"Asia-Sama be careful to not get too far away"

"Yes, Asia-Sama. Remember that we have only some time, and then we have to return."

Ok, she wasn't alone. Two of the best church exorcists were her 'bodyguards' on this little trip as some information reached the higher-ups that some weird plot was going to happen to make her be exiled in some way. She didn't believe such false claims one bit.

Turning around, her dark teal nun outfit with light blue accents alongside her white veil with light blue accents over her head fluttered in the wind.

"Don't worry Irina-chan, Xenovia-chan. I'm not going to get too far away."

She turned back and started humming a happy tune while she continued exploring in wonder at all the things around her.

After some time, she decided that a rest was due. She allowed her soft butt to land on top of some tree roots underneath a big tree that gave a very good shade.

She looked up. It was a very good tree. Very tall, and very wide. Perfect to rest.

"Asia-Sama. Well, this place does look nice to rest."

"Yeah, I like this place. Let's rest some and maybe eat some food."

"Oh, I'd like that."

She clapped her hands in happiness. When they started preparing everything, they heard it.

"Eh? What's that?"

"Mmm… It sounds like soft snoring?"

"Is it… Coming from the other side of the tree?"

Standing up, they walked around the tree and there they saw them.

(°) The technique exists; it just does not have an official name. We can see the technique in the games and of course in THE LAST Naruto the movie. Or, maybe it does have a name and I just haven't seen it.

Anyways! I hope the wait was worth it! I took longer to post this chapter because I reviewed the older chapters and tried to fix them. Hopefully, I did a good job on them. I'm not perfect when it comes to writing in English. That's another reason why I took so much time to post this new chapter.

Well! See you in the next chapter. I'll try to make longer chapters, but lack of time takes the cake regarding this. Don't forget to comment, criticism is welcomed. Flaming is meh.

RickVT out.