Chapter Thirty-Eight - A Perfect Future

Day 2

Naruto woke up in his room given by the queen.

Last night, he had been given a tour of the citadel that she calls home. She doesn't really leave it because her minister, Anrokuzan, claims that it was foreign assassins that had her mother killed and they may try to get to her too. Since all of her guards are puppets controlled by the minister himself, she would be safest in her citadel where no one can reach her.

Naruto understood the main goal of why the man kept her so close, but he also understood the affects it would have on her standing with the citizens. They would see her as haughty and seclusive from her people, and this would antagonise the more struggling members of Roran's society. It would boil to the point that they may even rise against her, or destroy the city outright in some extreme case.

Naruto got changed in a change of clothes he kept in a seal on his body in case he ever had to go on sudden long term missions. Despite being Prince of Uzushio and handling mostly diplomatic requests or the managing of his nation, he liked to go on the occasional adventure or mission that could involve hands-on involvement. It was just more fun than being stuck in an office twiddling his thumbs since most of the paperwork is handled by his many divisions' secretaries.

As he entered the main hall on the floor, he found Sara reading a book. It didn't have a title or noticeable binding, being a bland grey with a black spine, but he could see her invested in her reading so decided not to interrupt her. He took a seat on a loveseat next to her but a bit away so as to not hover over her shoulder and make her uncomfortable.

"How did you sleep, Uzumaki-dono?"

Naruto smiled as the girl spoke without looking up from her book. "My night was well, I had no issues resting. How was yours, Naga-hime?"

Sara's ears burned at the honorific but said nothing otherwise to indicate she paid attention to his voice. "Unrestful but that is nothing new."

Naruto noted the girl's tone and he already knew she was suffering from the sudden death of her mother. He said nothing, though, as his perception into her life will come off suspicious to her no matter how much goodwill he presents with it. He won't risk scaring her away when she will be giving him a tour of the city that day.

"Your majesty-"

Naruto's eyes turned to the new but familiar voice and his eyes brightened in amusement to see the man he was looking for. He may be fatter than his future self but he can tell that the man is his target.

"Minister Anrokuzan!" Sara got to her feet with a bright smile at the man's appearance. "It's good to see you!"

The man stared back at Naruto and his right eye twitched but the calm smile remained on his face. "It is good to see you safe, your majesty. Who is this guest?"

"My name is Prince Naruto Uzumaki, Minister," Naruto bowed slightly but his eyes remained locked on the man. "I came to visit the beautiful queendom and I met her majesty by saving her from the nasty fall she almost had. I suggest checking other various infrastructure for any possible weakness that may threaten the life of not just the queen but of the lives of the citizens."

"I appreciate the suggestion, Uzumaki-dono, I will make sure to relay that to the worker puppets," Anrokuzon bowed before turning to his queen. "I hope you have a great rest of your day, your majesty, I will be out of the city for a while to check on our outlying villages. Please stay in the citadel until I return."

Day 4

So to understand what is going on, I must understand the circumstances of the future.

Naruto knew that what he does now has already happened and impacted the future that he comes from. No matter what he does, even this line of thinking, has already happened and is destined to happen to the timeline. His appearance in this time and place has been destiny, even if it is confusing to look further into it. The only person to have control of time and space to the degree of changing destiny is Father and Mother, as they are the ones who created it. Laws are enforced and even his life has some predetermined events that he has to endure and affect.

I clearly am the reason for the sealing formula. That means Mukade was there when I did it. This means that, for one, he is a citizen of the queendom and he had an idea to control the Ley Line and would come to the past. We will fight and he dies in the past, I will make sure of that. Or it's the second, he escapes dying here only to come back in twenty years to do it again, meaning he is in a constant loop of revenge and control. But the latter is improbable because that doesn't stop his ageing.

Naruto sighed and looked into the sky where numerous bright stars were shining in a sea of black. His knowledge of the Laws, thanks to his Divinity, has always made him feel so small and insignificant and it only amplified when he looked at the numerous stars in the sky that held aliens that are his family. A family that threatens the continued existence of life. A family that follows a self-proclaimed god. But that's a thought for another time.

Damn, it's times like these that I wish I never left her behind, Naruto groaned at the thought of the young platinum blonde that wormed her way into his and Ciri's hearts. But she has three strong protectors now and I left plenty of puppets across the continent to watch over her.

For a time, Naruto has been spending much of his time with Sara and trying to slowly convince her against Mukade's ideas. He hasn't outright said anything about the man, knowing she still holds him in high regard because he has served her mother and is the only person she's had constant in her life since then, but he made sure to turn her away from the man's grip. He was even able to get her to take more walks through the city to see her people and interact with them.

It was during these walks that he learned that the puppet humans he kept seeing are meant to be servants and manual labor puppets. They did the stuff that her people didn't want to do; cleaning the sewers, especially of any blockage, climbing to high and dangerous places, cleaning the sides of the many towering spires, and other activities. But Naruto could notice the apprehension the people had against these puppets, the kids even feared them.

"Uzumaki-dono?"

Naruto looked over when Sara called his name hesitantly, and he saw her standing at the balcony's entrance. "Hello, Naga-hime!"

The woman smiled as she was beginning to grow fond of the man's choice of honorific and of the man himself, even though she would not admit to the latter out loud in the man's presence. "I would like to invite you to sit in on me greeting a foreign delegation from a neighbouring nation. You have inspired me to accept trade with other nations after what happened to my mother and I feel that you would be a good advisor."

Naruto smiled and bowed to the woman. "I will humbly accept your invite and escort you to your throne hall."

He extended his arm and she looped hers into his and they walked through the halls in the direction of her reception room. She barely used it after her mother died, finding it hard to look at the place she spent her childhood watching her mother manage the queendom. But it seems that with Naruto's constant involvement, she is slowly working out of the cage that she found herself in and becoming the queen her mother would be proud of.

"Stand next to me, Uzumaki-dono," Sara gripped his hand nervously before sitting on her throne. She took a deep and calming breath before looking up intently. "Send them in!"

It was a few moments before the doors were slowly opened to reveal the delegation that appeared. Once revealed, Naruto couldn't help the smirk that made it to his face.

Walking into the room are three shinobi and one very familiar white and red robe. The three shinobi are his father, Shibi and Chouza. They still wore their masks on their face but he can feel the surprise wafting off of them when they noticed him close to the queen. The last man is a very young version of Hiruzen Sarutobi but he is still smoking his tobacco pipe.

"Greetings, Hokage-dono, Konoha-nin," Sara smiled as she stood up to greet the four men. "I'm glad you arrived on such short notice. I almost feared you would never come."

Naruto glanced at the woman as she spoke the last part so softly and under her breath that he knew no one but he heard her. He leaned over and whispered to her softly, "Don't let them see weakness. Remain strong and steadfast in front of others. Be confident and speak from your chest."

She smiled softly at him and nodded her head. "Thank you." She then turned to the Hokage when the man cleared his throat.

"I am actually relieved you seek an audience with Konoha," Sarutobi started with an even tone and with the subtle power that the Professor of Shinobi can project. "I was personally glad to hear from you once more after such a sudden stop to our trade and alliance agreements."

"I am sorry for how that seems, I was grieving and left much of such matters to my Minister," Sara apologised without fully putting herself at fault. "I'm sure you can understand what it means to lose someone so close to you. But I am working on taking my position as Queen seriously."

Hiruzen nodded his head and now turned to look at Naruto. "Who is the guest, Naga-dono? I thought this would be a private matter?"

"This is Uzumaki-dono," Sara introduced her friend to the delegation, not noticing the reaction on the elder man's face. "He has been visiting my queendom for a few days and has even saved my life. He is acting as my advisor while I learn the motions of being queen."

Naruto grinned and bowed to the group. "It is nice to meet such esteemed guests. I hope we can get along in the future."

"Indeed," Hiruzen said before moving on in the conversation, but never truly letting the blonde man out of his sight.

Day 5

"You do know that interacting with the queen will affect the future."

Naruto looked at his father as the man came over and took a seat on the vacant chair next to him. The Hokage was preparing to leave that day and would be going back to Konoha with a newly signed trade and alliance agreements. It would be a bit more beneficial for Roran than the last one but it seemed that Hiruzen was willing to do so as losing such an esteemed manufacturing partner had hit them too much and too suddenly. Especially since the Third Shinobi War had ended only a year ago.

"You may have perfected the Hiraishin that was started by Tobirama but you do not understand space-time nearly as much as I do," Naruto told his father with an even and unbothered tone. "There are Laws in place to prevent such time disruption. Everything that happens right now, from our conversation right now to my involvement in this era, has been meant to happen and will not affect the future."

"So if I fight you and you somehow kill me-?"

"But you won't fight your own son," Naruto interrupted the man suddenly. "Will you, father?"

Minato sighed and leaned back in his chair. "No, I will not."

"Exactly. Everything that happens right now is meant to happen. If it didn't, I would cease to exist as time will get rid of the problem before it can occur."

Minato sat up at the end and he looked at his son. "What do you mean by that?"

"Time and space is managed by divine beings who created it. If it were to be threatened, there are Laws in place to remove the problem. That means that I will cease to exist the moment I begin to affect things I am not supposed to."

"How would you know you're doing that? Is there a warning?"

"No, I would immediately die the moment I decide to go through with such a disruption to time."

It is quiet at that, Minato more shocked silent at such a dangerous threat on his son's shoulders but Naruto is calm about it all. He knows what he has to do and what not to do to affect his future. Granted, because he is still alive, he will not be doing anything that would cause the Laws to get rid of him. Maybe.

"I wanted to bring something else up," Minato said slowly to get his son's attention. "I noticed how tense you were when we first met. And the first reaction you had when meeting me, knowing I'm your father, was to punch me. Why?"

Naruto didn't answer immediately, instead staring forward despite not focusing on anything but his innter feelings. It took him a bit but he was finally able to get the words out. "I had a rough upbringing. A lot was pushed onto me and I had to grow up fast. You and mom were not there for me, but I have always blamed you more than her so I reacted as such upon hearing your voice."

Naruto put his hand on his father's and silently transferred the Uzumaki Mark to the man's hand; Minato didn't notice or didn't react. He continued speaking either way. "Try to be a good person for my mother and I. That's all I can say."

The Mark seal pulsed a light blue before disappearing, never notifying Minato of its existence.

When I am going back to the future, I will activate this seal. He won't remember anything about me being here. The future… will remain the same.

It hurt that being this close to his father, he can't let the man be prepared for what will happen in the future. He can't make himself have the loving family he always wanted. Deep down, though, he knows that without the events of the future he would not be the person he is now. He wouldn't be with Itami-chan with two beautiful children like he is now. He wouldn't have Retsu-baachan or Ginrei-jijisan, or Isane-chan, or anyone in Uzushio right now.

He knows that even for all of the future's flaws, it all works out in the end and he knows that he is grateful for the family he has now. A family he made himself.

Day 6

Naruto grinned as Anrokuzon stormed out of the meeting room, barely sending a glance at him, and continued until he rounded a corner and out of sight. The blonde moved forward and slowly entered the room, finding Sara crossing her arms and gripping her body tightly, something he noticed she did when she is very anxious and upset. She had a scowl on her face and her eyes glared at the wall as she breathed rapidly, proving how erratic her emotions were at the moment.

"I'm guessing the conversation went well," he joked softly with a soft chuckle.

"Why won't he trust me?!" Sara seethed as she shouted her question. "I'm doing what I think is right for my queendom! I respect his opinion and know of his loyalty, but my people can't survive alone! I noticed it, my people are suffering ever since my mother's death. Why can't he respect my choices and support me?"

Anrokuzan had stormed into the citadel and began questioning Sara about her decision to resume trade with Konoha and her trying to schedule a meeting with Suna as well. He called her foolish and naive, claiming that this will give the villages a chance to kill her like they did her mother. It devolved into a closed-door shouting match until the Minister stormed from the room.

Naruto moved forward and hugged the girl as she began shuddering from her intense feelings. He shushed her softly as he held her, rubbing circles on her back. "It's okay. I think you're doing a good job. You have your people in mind and for that you are being a great queen. Your mother would be proud."

"Thank you, Naruto-kun."

Naruto's eyes widened as he heard the girl say his name and he was sure from her lack of reaction that she did not realise what she said. He decided not to point it out and instead smiled softly and hugged her more. "Anything for you, Sara-hime."

That Night

Naruto rushed down the halls in the direction that he could feel the Uzumaki Mark pulsing. He had convinced the queen to let him Mark her to make sure he could always be nearby whenever she needed help, and whenever she was in trouble she would just have to pulse some chakra into the mark. She had been relieved that he cared so much about her and gladly let him Mark her, although she was blushing intensely when he worded it like that.

Rounding a corner, he found the door that the Mark is originating from and, without stopping, her rammed his shoulder into the door and sent it slamming around and into the wall. He noticed the large group of hooded and masked individuals standing with farm tools raised and threatening Sara, but the only unarmed one being the woman at the front. They were all surprised by his intrusion, but Sara had tears welling in her eyes at the sight of him.

Seeing this, Naruto summoned Khahrahk and unsheathed him. "Step away from the queen before I consume your souls with Khahrahk."

All of the hooded people took a few steps back until they were up against the wall, finding the lick of death coming from the long blade to be almost unbearable for their senses.

"I-I don't want to die!"

Naruto paused as he noticed how young the person sounded and he looked at the one in question. His eyes narrowed at the cowering person before turning back to the hesitant and scared leader. His face turned into a sneer before using Khahrahk's length to reach the lightswitch and flipped the lights on. "Take off your hoods and masks, show me who you are right now."

Everyone proceeded to do so, lowering their weapons in a way that showed they were inexperienced with what they were doing in the first place, and his eyes narrowed at what he found. Half of the people are either very elderly or just kids. The only one that seemed to be in their prime was the leading woman. "What in the fuck are all of you doing?! You're threatening the queen when all of you are just farmers! Not only that, but you're either too old or too young to fight!"

"M-my name is Sarai," the one who was cowering introduced herself. "I'm not a bad guy, I swear."

"My name is Masako, I'm the leader of this group," the woman in the front said as she seemed to have recovered. "Please forgive our actions but we are desperate."

Naruto tilted his head, but remained in front of the queen protectively. "Desperate? Why?"

""The men of our villages have been stolen," Masako said without hesitation, and her honesty shocked both Naruto and Sara. "It was carried out on your orders, Queen Sara."

Naruto felt the shock increase tenfold at being told she was the reason for this happening and he knew from there that this was all Mukade's fault. "Let me guess, the order was relayed by Minister Anrokuzon?"

"Yes, he said that the people will be taken on orders of the queen!"

Sarai's shout seemed to be what it took for Sara to snap out of her stupor. "But I never ordered such a thing! I- I've only just started taking my position as queen seriously and have not made any decisions before then! This has to be a lie."

"They're not lying, Sara-hime," Naruto shook his head. "I have a special sensing ability to feel peoples emotions and because of that I know whether someone lies or not. Your Minister has carried this out in your name."

"No," Sara gripped her head as she reeled in shock. "How- how could he kidnap the families of my people? He will answer for his actions! We will… we will capture him and have him stand trial! I will get to the bottom of this!"

Naruto nodded his head, now liking that she is not completely out of the man's control. "But first we must save the people he has kidnapped."

"Yes!" Sara turned to Masako and bowed. "Please forgive my inaction that has caused all of you to lose your family. Please, show me where you think your people are being held and I will do everything within my power to save them."

"I think it is best if you stay here while I handle everything, Sara-hime," Naruto told the woman but as soon as he finished she had rounded on him with a determined stare.

"As queen I can sense and control the chakra of the Ley Line! If I can lead us to where the Ley Line pipes go, I'm sure we will find something!"

Naruto blinked owlishly at the woman's sudden determination but he smiled and chuckled under his breath. "Then I promise to protect you with my life, Sara-hime."

"We will lead you to the plaza and we can go from there," Masako told the two before turning to her group. "Hide for now, Sarai and I will go with the queen to find our people."

"Actually," Naruto shook his head, "it would be best if you stay out of sight. The puppets are under Anrokuzan's control and if they see that you are with us then it is very likely he will try to destroy the evidence. That includes your kidnapped families."

Sarai whimpered and Masako winced at that but she nodded her head in understanding. "Okay. We will stay here and out of sight. Please, save our people."

"I promise," Naruto nodded in return and turned to Sara. "I follow you, Sara-hime."

The woman smiled and nodded her head. "Let's go."

It wasn't long for the duo to make it to the plaza and around the many puppets that surrounded the parade floats. They followed the pipes further into the city until they found where they all bundled together and descended further into the city.

Naruto could feel a surge of power coming from all of the pipes in a single location and he approached the grates to find a ladder descending down. "This is a way down."

"Good, then we should see where it leads," Sara helped him lift the grates.

Naruto looked down and something in his gut is telling him it will be very dangerous. He glanced at the woman next to him and he grasped her hand with his.

"Naruto?"

"I promised I would protect you even at the cost of my life," he told her before leaning over and kissed her cheek. "I plan to do so, but this will be very dangerous. I will grant you a protective power to keep you safe from harm for a few hours."

Sara smiled and this time she kissed his lips, surprising the blonde and herself. "Thank you, Naruto-kun. I don't know if I would have been able to do this without you. If we survive this, I want to know if you would marry me?"

Naruto is surprised by the question and his eyes widened. "We've only known each other for a week. Why would you want to marry me?"

"My mother told me that I should marry a man that would sacrifice everything for me, like my father would for my mother," her eyes downcast as it seems that her father had indeed sacrificed everything for them. "And you have shown that you care a lot for me, so I know that you are the type of man my mother was talking about."

Naruto smiled and rested his forehead against her head. "I will give you an answer when we finish this. Not if, when."

What Naruto did not want to tell her is that the power he gave her would send her to her citadel the moment the power was running out or her life was in extreme danger. He knows that he can survive anything thrown his way, but he doesn't want her to get hurt for him or because of him.

"Okay, Naruto-kun."

Naruto let Sara go first, making sure to cover the great as he followed behind her. It took quite a while to descend the entire ladder, and Naruto surmised they were at least a few hundred feet below the surface of the city. If I knew there was something like this below the city…

"Naruto-kun!"

Naruto looked down to see Sara standing near a closed grate. He dropped the rest of the way, landing softly in a crouch, and he looked through the grate lines to see another larger room below. This is clearly where they need to go. "Okay, Sara-hime, I'm going to open this and drop down first. When I give a thumbs up, just drop down and I will catch you."

Sara nodded her head. "Understood. Be careful, Naruto-kun."

Naruto grinned and ripped off the grate and dropped down. He landed and looked around, finding a lot of steam clouding the room, but he could see a large amount of Ley Line chakra flowing through all of the industrial machines. On top of that, he saw a few dozen people around the room powering and working the machines while being watched by the golems. He looked up and gave a thumbs up.

Sara jumped down and Naruto caught her in his arms, grinned as she winced upon landing. "Don't worry, your majesty, I will always be here to catch your fall."

He set her down and pointed down at the largest group of missing civilians working. "There are a lot of kidnapped people here working on these machines creating more golems. Most of them are over there but they are being watched by the golems. Is there any way to stop the floor of the Ley Line through here?"

"Yes," Sara looked around until she found the Ley Line seal array. "Over there, that's where the Ley Line is allowed to flow from. If we stop it, that should also disconnect all of the golems and the machines."

"Good, let's go," Naruto grabbed her hand and began leading her toward the array.

The golems were easy to avoid, having little awareness beyond a certain range directly in front of their face, and were slow and loud with their steps. It would be a wonder how they would be useful in sand, river, or swamp terrains as those would just bog down their movements. Naruto grimaced as he waved Sara through the last stretch to the Ley Line array. There has to be something else about them that makes them useful. If their flight is tied directly to the Ley Line chakra, then they will not be able to expand beyond this queendom to begin with. What is Mukade's plan?

"Okay, Naruto-kun," Sara turned to him and stopped him just outside the boundary. "Stay here, only I am allowed inside when closing the array."

Naruto nodded his head. "Understood, I will stay on lookout to make sure the golems don't notice you."

Sara smiled brightly before turning around swiftly and made her way to the centre of the array.

Can't wait for the chakra to not saturate this place and I can find that bastard, Naruto thought to himself, making sure to cover all areas around them in case any golems may ambush them.

He only vaguely heard the chant and chakra channeled into the eye that is at the center of the Ley Line before the seal array disappeared and the Ley Line chakra ceased flowing through the machines. He noticed that the golems that were guarding the kidnapped civilians had also powered down and crumpled apart on the floor.

"It's done," Sara said as she ran up to him, getting close to his side. "We should be able to free the people now."

Naruto nodded his head and pointed at the largest group on their level. "Go get them, I and my Souls will handle the others."

Sara nodded and ran to complete what she was told.

Naruto raised his hand and summoned five souls to the surface, releasing them. "Each of you take a different group to release. Kidomaru, get a vantage point and support us with your arrows."

Five figures materialised before dashing off nearly immediately, their orders clear and understood the moment they were given form. Maya Kazagumo and Jirobu took the second floor, Maya took the southmost group while Jirobu took the northeast group. Hidan and Kakuzu made it to the third floor, separating to take their opposite groups that were chained to the tracks holding metal materials for production. Kidomaru, however, made it to a corner of the room at the highest point he could reach and created his bow out of spidersilk notched a chakra-enhanced silk arrow.

Naruto made his way for Sara, knowing that his orders were being carried out easily, and made sure to keep close as she released the civilians.

"It's okay, I'm here to save you! Your families are waiting for you up-!"

"Queen Sara," a familiar voice interrupted her.

Mukade approaching from the north, Kidomaru warned telepathically.

Naruto and Sara looked up to see the man stop at the railing and look down at them. Naruto smirked upon seeing the man, pulling Sara behind him as he did so, and chuckled loudly at the man. "Good to see you again, Minister Anrokuzan! I think it's time you and I go home, don't you think?"

The man grunted but his face remained smug. "It's been six years since you tried stopping me in the future. Six years since I had outwitted you. What makes you think you can stop me now?"

Naruto hummed sarcastically, tapping his chin as if thinking. "Hmm, good question, what will be different this time? Maybe because I have you cornered this time? Maybe because I am no longer satisfied with ruining your plans. I want to see you dead."

"Hahaha!" Mukade laughed hysterically at the proclamation. "You are still naive! Do you think I sat here twiddling my thumbs for six years? How ignorant."

"Oh, I have no doubt you did everything you thought you could to prevent your death," Naruto shrugged his shoulders but noticed that the puppets were rising once more. "But will it be enough?"

Before the deranged man could answer, explosions rocked the facilities around them - even taking out quite a swath of the golems. The blonde took the time to create nearly twenty clones before turning to Sara. "Sara, please lead your people to safety. My clones will protect you and them for enough until you get to safety. Let me handle Mukade, err- Anrokuzan. I promise to return to you."

The redhead nodded with determination before kissing him again. She pulled away and immediately set about getting the attention of the civilians, all of them as the Souls had been able to gather them and brought them down as well.

Kidomaru, pierce that bastard's back.

At Naruto's command, a hardened silk arrow as long and thick as a pipe had pierced Mukade's chest from behind. However, it wasn't blood and viscera that exploded out from the wound like a normal man but metal and wood pieces of another puppet. The gasp and raspy grunt was all too human for just another normal puppet and Naruto knew that this was Mukade but in human form.

Suna had always experimented with puppets, this must be that forbidden technique, Naruto thought to himself as he watched the man fall and collapse on the ground. If that's the case, his soul and chakra is tied to a specific part of his body. I don't see strings so it's not at an external location.

"Ha ha ha," the slow laughing from Mukade was warped and distorted as if speaking from a speakerbox. "Nice try but I am much more powerful than I was in the future."

Mukade slowly got to his feet and ripped the arrow from his chest. Suddenly, a purple chakra exploded from the central spire and into his body. This began repairing his body into it's original state as if he was never injured and Naruto was subtly surprised to see this happen. He did nothing as it happened, instead, looking at where the purple chakra beam was originating from and tried to discern the weakness.

"Are you afraid now, Prince," Mukade asked smugly before raising his hands and began summoning the scattered pieces of the golems to him. "But let me show you a true form for you to fear!"

Naruto didn't bother to wait for the man to finish whatever form he was building. He created a Rasenringu in his hand, but then pumped twice the amount into the technique to create three more smaller Rasenringu to orbit the original. The Orbiting Rasenringu.

He slammed his hand forward, watching as the power of the spheres shredded Mukade's body apart and ever disintegrated some of the other conjoining parts.

"A-Aaaah! What are you doing!"

"Killing you! What does it look like, you bastard!"

Naruto used Wind chakra to dash backward and away from the shuffling puppet body, also avoiding a bladed swipe of one of the many hands. More purple chakra shot down on Mukade's body and it began repairing and speeding up the building process to turn the man into some kind of praying mantis. Even his frontmost arms didn't have hands but scythe-like blades.

"You are one ugly bastard, and I've seen many," Naruto said aloud as the puppet-man groaned. "Come on, you can't be too tired already. I want you to suffer before I finally kill you."

Mukage growled before he looked around frantically. "Sara. Where's Sara?"

Naruto narrowed his hands before raising his hand. Kidomaru, his head this time.

An arrow followed immediately and Mukade screamed in pain as half of his face was obliterated from the intruding projectile. "You son of a whore! I will kill you!"

Naruto moved to the side as the man tried stabbing him with one of his scythes, but he did notice that the purple chakra did not come this time. "Ooh, is there a cooldown for the Ley Line chakra? That would be quite unfortunate for you-"

The chakra immediately shot down and covered Mukade again. Hm, if there is a delay then it is not very long.

"Partial Expansion Technique!"

A large fist came from the side and punched Mukade, sending the puppet-man flying away as if he was hit by a train.

Naruto watched as Chouza came into vision, followed by Shibi and Minato landing from a higher platform. "Looks like the cavalry arrived."

Minato landed next to his son and eyed the target of his mission. "What happened to him?"

"Forbidden puppet technique," Naruto answered simply with a shrug. "So I'm guessing you guys are the reason for the explosions?"

"No, that's Kakashi," Minato pointed above to where a teenage Kakashi can be seen standing.

"You're welcome, by the way!"

Naruto rolled his eyes at the smug shout. "I miss your quiet, perverted future self." Without letting that statement hang for too long he turned back at the weakly standing puppet. "Let's kill him and be done with this."

"There's a problem with that," Minato said, getting his son's attention. "So long as he has a connection to the Ley Line, he will always regenerate even if we destroy his body."

"Hmm," Naruto hummed as he thought about that.

He knew that already, as the purple chakra that kept regenerating him is tied to the Ley Line, but he had enough techniques that could burn the man's body to ash. That, and if he shuts down the Ley immediately he will be sent to the future and it was too soon to do that. He was not ready to do that. He had plans that he will put into action.

"I can destroy his entire body and send his remains to a place the Ley Line can't reach." Naruto began levitating as he said that and raised his hand. "I suggest you leave, however, because no one will survive this explosion."

He also made sure to relay that message to Maya and the others that were guarding Sara and her civilians. With that thought in mind, he began gathering divine energy into his hand in the same process he would with the Rasenringu but this did not swirl in such a way. No, the way he did it was like creating a miniature star in his hand. It was bright and hot, melting a few metal beams above it from the intense heat.

Collapsing Star.

Naruto launched himself forward, still holding the technique, and collided with Mukade's body which was covered in purple Ley Line chakra.

Day Nine

It has been three days since Sara saved her people from fueling Anrokuzan's desire for world domination. There have been repairs underway for the repairs of the district destroyed by Naruto's fight with the former minister. According to the Konoha ninja, he had used a powerful technique to make sure the Ley Line chakra could not be called upon again. However, his body could not be found and he disappeared.

She knew that he was alive, as all of his Souls were still around to protect her and her people. They listened to her every word, as that was Naruto's last command before disappearing, but she was growing restless. She didn't like how long he had been gone and she was starting to give up on him coming back. Did he go back to the future? Did he return to the future and his Souls would remain with her?

She really wanted to know the answer to her question.

"Naga-dono."

Sara looked over to see Minato entering the room with Shibi and Chouza. The three men have been staying in the city to keep her safe until Naruto returned so they can help him get back to his time. She wasn't sure if she wanted them to succeed, as that meant she would not see him until she is in her mid to later forties.

"Kazagumo-san wants to see you in the courtyard."

Sara tilted her head at the man's bright smile and her heart fluttered at what it meant. "Is- is he back?"

"I think you should go see for yourself, your majesty," was the man's simple answer before she began sprinting for the door.

She ran through her citadel and down three flights of stairs before she made it to the ground floor and to the doors leading into the courtyard. Even from the landing of the stairs she can hear the shouting and loud cheers and she began grinning as it only meant one thing to her. He barrelled into the door, sending the large doors swinging open and into the walls, and she stopped short of the people standing in her way.

The people began turning to see her, even Sarai and Masako and their families were there, and they all grinned upon seeing her heavily breathing appearance. They began moving to the side slowly but it was at the first sight of spiky blonde hair that Sara began running once more.

"Naruto-kun!" Sara shouted as she threw herself at the blonde man that has returned to her. Tears of joy slowly fell down her cheeks as she grasped the man tightly in fear of him being an elaborate illusion.

"I'm back, Sara-hime," Naruto told her with a soft smile and kissed her head. "I'm back. I'm sorry it took so long. I had made a whoopsy in my fight with Mukade."

"I don't care about any of that, so long as you're back none of that matters," Sara shook her head.

Naruto smiled softly at her but his smile was one of exhaustion. He had just returned from a martial trial with other gods with Father and Mother being the Judges.

His attack had completely destroyed Mukade, but his triumph was not in the way they had foretold. He was to also stop the Ley Line and, in doing so, see to the destruction of Roran as well. But surprisingly, according to Father and Mother, his actions did not actually disrupt the future as he was also taking caution against such a thing. He was given a warning by Father and sent back here.

"Marry me."

It was no longer a question or even a request; Naruto understood a demand when he hears one and it made him laugh out loud. "I accept, your majesty. Shall we consummate our marriage after our vows?"

Sara shook her head and kissed him. "We can have a proper marriage when I see you in the future, but I think it best we have my heir before I lose the ability to."

Naruto shook his head in return. "Do not worry about that, your majesty, I have a plan for us to be together. But I won't say no to accompanying you into your bed."

And that's the second part done. Next chapter we head back home and it seems like things are escalating. Aizen is on a warpath in Gaal, Akatsuki is on the move, and it seems that there is a darker force at work behind the scenes. Naruto must handle all of these but he is just one person, even if he is a divine being. Prophecy Child or not, the blonde will have his hands full.

Since the next chapter is going home I will explain things now. The Mark Seals appearing on Chouza and Shibi is a "fix" in the timeline. Roran is supposed to be destroyed, and Naruto was not supposed to be as involved as he was here. Naruto was planning these things from the beginning, as a permanent erasure of the events that happened, but during the trial with the gods it was found that so long as they don't remember enough to impact the timeline it would be fine. You will also notice that nothing happened with Hiruzen, who has appeared and met Naruto, so what will that impact in the timeline?

WindCitySlayer1: Since Roran has not been destroyed like in canon, you can probably see where I'm going with this lol. Minato got the watered-down version of the future from Naruto, even though he will not remember it with the seal on his hand.

Primarx: Thank ya :D

WhateverPlus: Thank you :)

TigrezzTail: It seems that no matter what he must act like royalty especially since he has a streak of meeting and charming other royals :c

agnar: Not lazy. First time he was out of the village and he was confident in his abilities but not in that of his teammates. As for the barrier seals, he didn't reinstate them because no one was to know how to get past the whirlpools let alone know the islands are occupied.

Krieger Techpriest: The memories being sealed were tied to the sealing of the Ley Line - which is why Shibi and Chouza remembered when Mukade released the seal barrier. The memory seal would be tied to the Ley Line chakra so it would not be disrupted by Naruto's space-time travel back and forth. Since, the moment Naruto goes back to the future, he is no longer technically "alive" to manage the power of the seal.