Hello everyone. Long time no see. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year. I enjoyed my time with my family and friends, and I hope everyone else did as well. I know this is a late update, but I have been rather preoccupied with job hunting and training which takes priority over any hobby I have, including this one as I need to focus on being able to provide for myself.
I have recently gotten a new job, so don't expect another update for some time. However, one of my resolutions is to attempt to update my stories more frequently. Hopefully, I will be able to manage this, but everyone knows how life can get in the way of enjoyment.
Another resolution is that I want to write other stories that are not about Naruto. Now I am not burned out, but I just want to try out with other series that I enjoy such as Gundam, Eureka Seven, Pokemon, Rwby, Justice League, Young Justice, Spiderman (NWH helped spark some ideas), etc. I want to try my hands weaving stories from what I have done so far. I will still work on my current stories, but this is just a heads up for future story ideas. I do still have other Naruto stories that I plan to work on in the future, but I want to avoid getting burnout and try different series.
We finally get to the next update of RDK! It has been a LONG time since I have touched this and it took even longer to update this story. Not due to disinterest. Just generally finding time to sit down and work on the chapter. Not to mention being a bit rusty with writing for this story which just caused this story to take even longer. This chapter was originally was sixty-plus pages! But with how limited my time for working on the chapter was very low, I decided to split this chapter in two and hopefully, it would give me more breathing room to work on the other half when I get the chance when I get out of work.
Now this chapter and the next one will be prologues to what the next arc is going to be and some set up for several future conflicts in the story. We will also be seeing the beginning glimpses of when Naruto first came to Earthland. Hope you enjoy the chapter!
"Gah!" Natsu grunted as he skidded across the ground of the makai. He quickly looked to see his fellow dragon slayers also be sent flying back and land hard on the ground around. They groaned in pain as they got up to glare at their opponent.
Naruto smirked at the looks his students are sending him. "Come now, children. You can do better than that!" he said in a mocking tone.
[Flashback]
"WHAT?!" Natsu and several shouted as they stared at Naruto in disbelief.
Naruto rolled his eyes at the fools gawking at him. "You heard me."
Gajeel was the first to speak up. "You want to train us?"
Naruto nodded. "That's right."
Laxus's raised an eyebrow. "Why?" Why the offer was tempting, what was Naruto's end goal in this? His fellow blonde shrugged.
"Because I don't have much to do now. One thing I can do is get all of you up to snuff. Your performance during the invasion was very average. All of you should have been able to kill at least one dragon but none of you did. Some were close. However, being close is not good enough. Close enough will just get you killed in the battles we will have in the future."
"So, what will you be teaching us?" Sting asked.
Naruto got a thoughtful look as he replied. "For one thing, I will personally work on Laxus and Cobra since there are no lightning or poison dragons available now. The other slayers will have their dragons to complete their training and I will have you master your powers to new heights. Erza will start her training on the basic spells for her crystal slaying arts."
He then turned to Lucy and the other mages that share her magic. "The stellar mages will work on their magic with Anna."
Anna gave her fellow stellar mages a playful wink. For some reason, all of the aforementioned mages felt a shiver go down their spines.
"Irene will have her own set as well." Cue a similar reaction by the collected mages that were at the receiving ends of Irene's playful, but sinister smile.
"Ultear!" Naruto called out.
The time mage flinches in shock before replying, "Y-Yes."
"You will be working with Lyon and Gray on your ice magic. Your time magic is impressive but very limited in its capabilities, so we need to improve your other abilities to fall back on," Naruto explained. Ultear nodded at the suggestion. Ice magic was her second-best magic ability as she inherited it from her mother. Plus, she would get time to know her pseudo siblings. This should be interesting.
'Plus, spending time with my new…. father.' Ultear said mentally. This is still all VERY weird for her to think about. Then again this was fairy tail. They were experts at the weirdness.
Naruto turned his attention to the ace of the fairies. "Gildarts, I will be working with you as well. Jura and Cana will be joining as well. I am putting you both through the grind. I am hoping you can make our next fight enjoyable." He explained with a grin that sent shivers down everyone's spine for various reasons.
'Good Luck, you two.' nearly everyone mentally prayed for their safety.
Cana raised her hand in confusion. "Wait, why me?"
"Because you have potential to wield Gildart's magic so it's only appropriate to cultivate that potential and build up your current magic arsenal," Naruto explained.
"Mira. You and Seilah will be working together under me. Gray and Natsu will join you two on occasion."
"Wait. Why us?" the fire and ice mages asked in unison. Naruto waved off the question. "That will be explained another time. I will let you know when to join."
His two queens and the dragons knew exactly why he wanted Natsu to join and he had explained Gray's predicament. They trusted Naruto will be able to handle this well.
"What about us?" Anna asked as he gestured to herself, Irene, and the other dragons.
"You two, when not training your groups, along with the dragons will get separate sessions in farther locations to avoid destruction reaching the other camps. They all need to get used to their new bodies and I want to help you two catch up to me."
'Plus, it gives time to resolve lingering issues between the three of us.' Naruto thought to himself. While he was happy his wives accepted him back, he knew damn well that does not bury all the issues they may have. These spars will hopefully clear the air between the three. Especially the tensions that involve their daughters.
"Camps?" Levy asked in confusion.
Naruto nodded. "We will be camping in Makai for three weeks."
"THREE WEEKS?!" Everyone shouted again. Naruto grumbled at all the bloody shouting.
"Wait isn't time faster in makai? Wouldn't that mean that three weeks would be three months in the makai?" Makarov asked.
"Correct," Naruto confirmed. He then gave everyone a sinister smile. "And trust me when I say if you thought the training, I gave Wendy was rough. You haven't seen anything yet."
Everyone gulped and took a step back. 'We're all going to die!'
[End of Flashback]
"I knew this would be hard, but this is ridiculous," Gajeel grunted.
"Now you know how I felt while training with him." Wendy retorted.
"Enough, everyone." Erza barked. "Getting frustrated will get us nowhere."
"Well, what can we do? Everything we tried, he's been able to nullify or workaround." Sting replied.
Erza gave everyone a once over as she looked back at her father. "I have an idea. We need to find a way to leave him vulnerable for just long enough for all of us to hit him with everything we can." The group quickly and quietly gave different suggestions and reached a plan they could agree on. They turned back to see Naruto simply smiling and standing there.
"Ah, the wondrous joy of childhood naivety. How I miss it. If you're all done planning, may we continue?"
"You won't be smiling for long, you arrogant smug bastard," Natsu promised as his fists were engulfed in flames.
Naruto chuckled. "Smug? Maybe. Bastard? Nope. Arrogant. Dead wrong. Pride as its place but arrogance will get you killed."
Now then since you want to try to make me vulnerable, it's fitting I do the same to you.
"What the hell was that?" Natsu asked.
"No sé?" Wendy replied (1).
"O que você disse?" Gajeel asked (2).
"Cosa c'è che non va in te, idiota!" Cobra said (3).
Pourquoi ne puis-je comprendre aucun d'entre vous! Erza demanded (4).
"He aha ka mea e hana nei?!" Natsu shouted in confusion (5).
"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" everyone shouted at Naruto who was too busy laughing his ass off.
"HA*…HA*…I'm sorry." Naruto finally said as he calmed down. "It's just really fun to see people reacting to that spell. It never gets old." He looked at his training dummies (victims) in amusement.
"Now to answer why you can't understand each other, but still understand me. It's quite simple, Sound."
Cobra growled in annoyance. "Of course. That's what you did."
Everyone turned to Cobra in confusion, unable to understand what he said. "What?"
Naruto nodded. "Yes, Cobra. To educate you all, sound moves through air molecules by vibrations. What I did with my clap is skewer the sound waves when you speak. So once the sound waves leave your mouth, how the sounds are skewered are different for each of you. So, each one of you will have a unique hearing experience." He gave them a cheeky grin.
"To simplify it for you all. I used sound magic to screw with your hearing and speaking. Every time you each speak, no one will be able to understand."
He clapped his hands together. "Now then. With the inability to speak, how will you use your plan to incapacitate me? Not even Wendy's winds or Cobra's sound magics can nullify it at the moment. What shall you do? Will you continue?" he asked with a cheeky grin.
The slayers looked at one another before turning back to Naruto with determined looks. The blonde king smirked. "Good. It would be a shame if it ended too soon."
Rogue was the first to rush forward as he created a column of shadows to wrap around Naruto, but he created his own shadows to grab Rogue's and rip them to pieces. Naruto turns to see Natsu hurling a point-blank brilliant flame. He quickly killed the flame away and prepared to send Natsu flying away. But instead of the fire mage, he found his daughter, Wendy, glaring at him defiantly with her bow and a unique arrow notched. She smirked at her father's slight surprise as she launched the arrow. Naruto barely had enough time to tilt his head but as the arrow passed his cheek, it exploded.
"ARGH!" Naruto grunted in pain as his ears rang in pain as all other noise was obscured. He tried to look for Wendy, but his vision was jumbled and unfocused. Just taking a simple step caused everything to spin.
'Sonic arrows. Maybe I went overboard with those trick arrows.'
Before Naruto regained some semblance of stability, he felt his feet step on something slimy. He looked around to see himself surrounded by a large purple puddle.
'Poison!' He quickly jumped in the air, only to be met by Sting and Laxus as they put their hands together as a brilliant flash illuminated from their palms and right into Naruto's eyes.
The dragon king grunted in pain at his eyes being blinded again as he then felt two of the slayers approaching him to attack. He grabbed the wrists of his two attackers and quickly identified them by their scents as Erza and Gajeel. Naruto had little time to react as another presence approached him and landed a solid hit to his face. Naruto grunted as he let go of Erza and Gajeel as he skidded back.
Suddenly, Natsu and Rogue both appeared behind him to sneak attack him, but Naruto quickly grabbed them and slammed their heads together, and hurl them back to the rest of the group.
Naruto shook his head as his sight and hearing were still not back to normal. His eyesight was blurry but somewhat manageable. The ringing of his ears had gone to just a muted white silence that muffled everything. However, he discovered a new problem as he tried to smell the scents of his students to track them. He could not smell them; hell he could not smell anything! He wondered what caused his change as he then felt something off within his mouth and spat out a violet blob onto the ground. Though his vision was impaired, Naruto could see what was in his mouth and realized what happened.
'Poison. Cobra injected poison into my mouth and nose and took away my smell and taste. The effect must have been delayed and I was forced to focus on my more immediate impairments. Hehehe. Looks like they have taken to their studies well.'
Wendy looked at her comrades as she pointed at Erza and Laxus; then to her father. Immediately the two understood. "Right!" The fairy queen in her black wing armor and the lightning dragon slayer launched themselves towards Naruto.
"Rairyu no Hoken!"
"Night slash!"
Naruto smirked as he felt the attacks approaching him. 'So you hindered my senses. But when all else fails for a dragon, they fall back to their last option. Their instincts!'
At the last moment, Naruto caught Erza's slash and Laxus's fist.
"What?!" everyone shouted in shock. How in the hell could anyone still be able to fight with all their senses hindered like they were with Naruto?!
However, it seems the slayers had forgotten a crucial detail. Never underestimate Naruto.
Naruto quickly threw the two back as the other slayers encircled him.
Wendy gave a handsign and everyone understood the signal. All of the slayers took a deep breath and roared,
"Karyu no Hoko!"
"Tetsuryu no Houko!"
"Tenryu no Hoko!"
"Dokuryu no Hoko!"
"Hakuryu no Houko!"
"Eiryu no Hoko!"
"Hakairyu no Hoko!"
Erza's blade took a white and crimson glow. She turned to Wendy, who gave her sister a quick nod. The redhead nodded to his sibling and rushed right above her father's head.
"Crimson Sky Slash!" Erza roared as brought her massive blade down on her father's head.
BOOM!
A massive, multi-color explosion envelopes Naruto as everyone skidded across the ground due to the force of the explosion. The group looks up as a dust cloud has obscured the area Naruto was in. They couldn't sense Naruto but knew those attacks would not be enough to finish him and quickly focused all their senses (impaired or not) to find out where Naruto is. Suddenly, the group feels a spike in mana from the center of the smoking crater.
"Not bad. Not bad at all. But still not enough." A familiar blonde said.
Naruto appeared with several knicks, scratches, and injuries, but he was still standing. He delivered a fierce gut punch to Erza that knocked her down hard. He quickly used a roundhouse kick on Laxus to send him to the ground as well.
"Dead." He told the two.
The other slayers tried to help their comrades, but Naruto quickly brought five of the six slayers down. "Dead." He told them.
Natsu tried to land one final hit, but Naruto grabbed him by his hair and slammed him to the ground as he pushed his knee onto Natsu's gut and summoned two ethereal blades pointed them at the fire slayer's neck "Super dead." Naruto said with a smirk. Natsu growled but relented as he knew it was over.
Naruto nodded as he stood up and surveyed his class (victims) "Alright, class is over…. for now." he said.
Everyone sighed from the ground. "Damn that was intense." Sting began.
"We're completely spent, and you barely have a scratch on you." Rogue continued.
"That's pretty pathetic," Cobra concluded.
Naruto shook his head. "You're wrong. You all did well. Even after a few weeks or months in the makai, you have all done well in improving." He looked at all of them with a proud look.
"Before none of you were rather good at coordinating attacks. But here? Despite me taking away your ability to speak, you all managed to coordinate a plan with one another. So don't sell yourself so short. You all have grown well in this short amount of time."
"We still couldn't injure you." Gajeel insisted.
Naruto rolled his eyes. "I will admit the plan was good, but this was not the first time I had to deal with my senses being hindered or outright taken away. And I was trained to deal with such handicaps. You just had bad luck. But don't worry; I will pass those teachings to all of you in due time."
He gave all of them a nod of respect. "This was one of many lessons, and I will say you pass quite well. Only improvements can be made from here. So, take a break, because once we're all back to normal, we will get back to work soon afterward."
All the slayers gave him a determined glare. "Hai!"
[Training Group 2]
"Gravity Pressure x100!"
"All Crush!"
"Iron-rock Titan fist!"
"Card Magic: Thunderbolt!"
"Buster Slash!"
Naruto smirked "Impressive power." With one swing of his arm, with an ether blade, sliced the magic attacks to pieces. "But still not enough." Not even the gravity pressure seems to be affecting him.
Suddenly, Naruto felt a huge source of mana from below him. He quickly jumped to the side as a massive geyser of energy erupted from the area, he was in.
"Don't forget. I am here beloved." Irene teased from a few feet away.
Naruto turned to her and gave her a cheeky grin. "I have not forgotten anything."
Kagura's eye twitched a bit. "Flirt later you two." She groaned.
Irene looked at her subordinated in amusement. "Aw. Are you jealous of us, Kagura?"
Kagura's face developed a full blush. "W-What?! NO!"
"Don't worry Kagura. I have plans for a date once we leave Makai." Naruto said.
Kagura perked up. "Wait, really?" she paused and quickly coughed into her fist. "I don't mind. I just need to check my schedule." She said awkwardly.
Everyone looked at the sword mage in amusement. "You are such a schoolgirl, Kagura." Dimaria teased.
Kagura's blush returned with a vengeance. "Shut up, Dimaria."
"As entertaining as your love life is, Naruto. We should get back to work." Gildarts said as he tried to get everything back on track.
Naruto shrugged. "Alright."
[Training Group 3]
"Ice-Make: Cannon!" Gray shouted.
"Ice-Make: Serpents!" Lyon summoned several giant ice serpents.
"Ice-Make: Rosen Krone!" Ultear cries out as ice rose vines fly from the glyph behind her.
"Water Slicer!" Juvia called out as summoned several water sickles.
"Spirit Blades!" Meredy sent several blades of mana.
Naruto smirked as he took a deep breath and roared, "Karyu no Hoko!" A massive column of flames erupted from his lips. The great blaze melted all the ice attacks, Juvia's water evaporated almost instantly, even the spirit blades (made entirely of pure ethernano) also melted.
Everyone's eyes widen in horror. "Shit!" they all shouted as they quickly jumped out of the way as the flames passed by them. They had to turn their heads away from the sheer heat of the flames and covered their eyes from the blinding light of the inferno.
"Gah!" Grey grunted, "Natsu's flames could never melt my ice so quickly."
"Yeah well, his flames were never blue, either," Lyon replied.
"And Natsu's definitely NOT the king of dragons," Ultear concluded.
Naruto smirked as he decided to tease the new additions to his family. "Come on Ultear. Show your dear papa what you're made of. Same to you, Meredy, my precious granddaughter."
The pair felt several veins pulse on their heads as their anger and embarrassment rose. "Oh, I am going to show you." Ultear growled, "When I have you torn to shreds!" several Rose Krones appeared and attempted to pierce Naruto and rip him into pieces.
"Tear him apart!" Meredy roared with equal ferocity as several dozen spirit blades appeared flew towards her grandfather.
Grey, Juvia, and Lyon sweatdropped as they saw Naruto laugh as he dodges his adopted daughter's and granddaughter's attacks.
"Naruto just loves pissing those two off." Lyon began.
"I am starting to think he has a kink for it," Grey replied.
Lyon blushed a bit seeing the fire in Meredy's eyes. "She really is quite lovely when she's pissed."
Grey patted him on the back. "Just watch it or else Naruto and Ultear will gut you."
"Don't remind me."
"Love is so nice.~" Juvia gushed.
[Training Group 4]
"Hmmm." hummed all the stellar mages as they meditated with their mana swirling around their bodies.
"That's it, breathe. Let the mana flow throughout you. Let your connection to the celestial spirit world fill you." Anna advised. The group sighed deeply as they all slowly got up.
"Now unleash it!" Anna called out.
"Lightning Bolt!" Jellal called out as a bolt of lightning flew from his fist.
"Pegasus Sui-sei-ken!" Lucy called as several blasts of stellar mana fired from her fists.
"Diamond Dust!" Yukino cried as a blast of cold air flew from her dominant fist.
"Thunder Claw!" Sorano roared as electricity erupted from her dominant hand in the shape of a vicious cobra.
"Nebula Chain!" Katja called as several chains erupted from her back and palms
Anna clapped. "That's it you're progressing marvelously!" she praised.
"Still nothing compared to you and Jellal, we are pretty far behind." Sorano huffed.
Jellal shook his head. "You shouldn't think so lowly of yourselves. It took me years to get some of these spells. The fact you have gotten even one down is an outstanding amount of progress." He explained.
Anna nodded. "He's right. Don't be so hard on yourselves. While it's good to push yourselves if you don't know when to stop you will cause more than good to your body."
"Speaking from experience?" Yukino asked. Anna gave a slight giggle.
"You don't want to know how many times I had that conversation with my dear husband."
"Every day?" Lucy asked.
Anna giggled again. "Not exactly, but close enough."
[Training Group 5]
"Breathe," Naruto told his current student.
Éclair took a deep breath and exhaled as her mana flowed out of her body. The mana mixed with the ethernano in the air and ignited into a glorious golden flame that danced around her body.
"That's it. Let the power flow through you and out your palms. This power is yours, but it's very volatile, and only with discipline will you be able to use it willingly and not in highly emotional situations."
Sweat began to build up on Éclair's forehead as she tries to concertante her flames into the palms of her hand. She continues to struggle until the flames explode out of her hands as she falls to the ground.
Éclair released a frustrated groan. "Damn."
Naruto offered her a hand that she graciously took. "Don't beat yourself too much. That was amazing for a novice. You shall learn soon enough with time and patience. A power that will be yours alone."
Éclair snorted. "What shall we call it then? Phoenix slaying magic?"
Naruto gave her a smirk. "Well, there has never been a phoenix slayer in the past. So, I look forward to seeing how you will develop with your magic."
'Hopefully, this will also lead to you telling me more about my past.'
[Training Group 6]
"Soul Extinction!" Satan Soul Mira shouted.
"Moonblast!" a transformed Seilah shouted.
Naruto breathes in and fires a destruction roar that rips through the two attacks and forces Mira and Seilah to dodge their attacks. Naruto gives them a teasing smirk. "Come now. Show me more of your demonic sides."
Mira smirked as she went into her Sitri Soul form. "You'll regret that." She said with Seilah nodding.
The demon duo jumped as their teacher merely smirked in anticipation.
[Training Group 7]
BOOM!
Several people are sent flying in the air before landing hard on the ground. The injured individuals groaned as they looked up to their diabolical taskmaster.
"Come on you scaly bastards. You need to get back into shape from that 14-year hibernation." Naruto called.
"No thanks to you," Skiadrum said as he and the other humanoid dragons began getting up.
Igneel smirked. "My blood is boiling with excitement."
"I really want to knock him down a peg or two," Grandeeney growled.
"Get in line, Gran. You're not the only one that wants some pounds of flesh from him." Metalicana replied.
Weisslogia grunted as he got up. "I may be old, but I have plenty of life left in me."
Naruto smirked. "Then quit talking about age and let's get to work."
He waved them forward. "Come get me!"
The dragon group charged.
[Training Group 8]
Naruto grunted as he was slammed through several boulders before skidding to halt by crashing through the ground of the makai soil.
"AND BRINGING HER TO THE MAKAI OF ALL PLACES?! I UNDERSTAND YOU WANTING TO TRAIN HER IN SUCH A SHORT AMOUNT BUT YOU COULDN'T HAVE THOUGHT OF A DIFFERENT LOCATION!"
Naruto grunted as he got up to see his two wives glaring at him as their mana erupted from their bodies in powerful auras and causing the area around to shake.
'I knew things could get ugly, but I should have expected how much these two bottled up towards me for all these years. My training methods for Wendy just pushed it all out.'
"Look I understand your disagreement, but Wendy needed to get stronger to compete with the strong mages in the GMG. Three months would not have been enough. Even if she had a second origin and I unlocked it for her that alone would not have been enough. She needed proper training! And I needed a place to give the time to do so." Naruto said.
Anna glared at her husband. "You could have created a pocket dimension if you were really crunched for time."
Naruto glared right back at his wives. "You both know that creating a pocket dimension is a lengthy process that could take months to complete properly. And you know as well as I do those mini dimensions can cause immeasurable psychological damage to a person's psyche. Many of our allies lost their minds to the endless voids that were created during that time! The Makai was the safer option!"
That response seem to anger both women even more as Irene enchanted the air to cause a massive fireball to fall towards Naruto. The blonde quickly jumped away but was forced to block a sword slash from Anna who looked absolutely furious.
"Safer option?! HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN HOW DEMENTED THE MAKAI CAN BE TO SOMEONE?! HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN THE TRAUMA THAT THE FOREST OF ILLUSIONS DID TO US AND MANY OF OUR ALLIES! OR WHAT THAT DAMN CASTLE AT THE CENTER DID TO YOU AND YOUR OWN FAILING SANITY AT THE TIME?!" Anna roared as mana exploded out of her body in a beautiful rainbow aura.
Naruto gritted as he fought off the force of his wife's attack when an equally angry joined in and slammed her staff against Naruto's blades. The black dragon roared as an azure aura of mana erupted from him and easily matched the size and pressure that the combined auras of his wives were emitting.
"I have forgotten NOTHING! I'm aware of how damaging that place could be to a person. It's why I made sure we were nowhere near that place. It was dangerous, but we handled it, so I had faith that Wendy could do the same!" Naruto growled.
Anna felt tears prickling her eyes as she and Irene tried to push Naruto away as they poured more mana into their attacks. "Dammit Naruto, Wendy is not like us! She shouldn't be treated like some facsimile!"
Naruto finally had reached his breaking point. "I KNOW!" he shouted at his two wives as he easily blasted them away with an overwhelming shockwave of his mana as they crashed into the ground. The two ladies of the apocalypse groaned as they looked up to see Naruto landed above them breathing heavily with a glare which they returned with equal ferocity. After taking several deep breaths, he begins to calm down. He looks back to his wives as the pair continues to glare at him. "I know." He said with a heavy sigh as he looked at the two of them.
"Look I am not going to say what I did was right. Hell, even I am willing to admit that I may have gone too far with a lot of my methods to make prepare Wendy. However, we both know how vulnerable Wendy and the others were during the war. I didn't want to risk anything happening to her like it almost happened back then. In the end, she proved she could handle the place and so far, everyone else has shown they can as well." He sighed as he stood up and looked at the two.
"I know I crossed a line, but I honestly thought I was doing the right thing."
"You said that as well when you go deeper into your dragonfication." Anna retorted.
Naruto nodded. "I am aware, that's why I was always worried I went too far and made it clear to her that she was to tell me if I did. But despite everything, she took it all and rose from that pain. Plus, with who we will have to face, we need to push everyone to their limits and beyond."
"Still…" Irene began but Naruto interrupted her.
"I won't deny that I may have taken it too far. I am still getting adjusted to this new status quo of mine which has been shaken up again with all this. But it does not excuse anything. So, I am sorry, and I will apologize to Wendy as well."
For some time, the three stayed in comfortable silence as Anna and Irene looked at one another before they turned back to him. "It's fine." They said in unison.
"I was angry but hearing your point of view puts things into a more understandable perspective," Anna said.
"You're still not off the hook. Your methods will still need some adjustments, but it's not all that bad." Irene poked Naruto's chest.
The blonde just chuckled at the red head's words, which made her pout. "Thank you."
Naruto flinched as he got up. "Urgh. I forgot how rough you two can get when you're pissed and motivated. Dragons forbid anyone else is foolish enough to do the same."
Naruto offered his hand to both. "Well unlike others you actually can regenerate, which means you can the pain from the beatings," Irene grunted as she got up.
Naruto grinned at the two. "Sometimes I wish I was more like you two." Sometimes instant regeneration was not all that it's cracked up to be.
"The feelings mutual." The two replied.
[Later in the Evening]
A large bonfire was erected with all the mages around the flames as several pots of food were around the larger one. The smell was salivating as everyone took a plate and filled it with as much "This is amazing!" everyone cheered as they devoured their large dinner.
"It's like the feast in the palace but different at the same time!" Meredy exclaimed.
"Hey, don't hog all the fish Happy!" Carla scolded.
Happy flinched as he mumbled, "Sorry."
"Natsu stay the fuck away from my chicken cutlets!" Gajeel warned when he saw the pinkette try to grab one from his plate. "You've had three already. Wait for another one!" Laxus admonished.
BAM!
"OW!" Natsu grunted as Erza glared at the fire mage. "Natsu keep your hands to your plate! You can get thirds after the current ones are done, understood?!"
Natsu fearfully nodded. "Yes ma'am."
"Mmmm, the food has such a rich taste and flavor to it." Mira complimented.
"I can't stop eating. I want more." Lucy sighed in content.
"Seriously, is there anything you can't do?" Natsu asked in excitement.
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Trust me when I say yes. You have only seen and known me for a few weeks. You haven't seen a lot of my flaws."
"So? Have you seen the people around you? Everyone has flaws. Hell, all of the members of Fairy Tail have their own quirks that can jell or collide with someone. But we somehow make it work. So, you'd fit right in without any difficulty." Natsu replied.
"I feel like you're being a bit too optimistic about me." Naruto retorted with a sweatdrop.
Natsu shook his head. "Nah. You're just like the rest of us. A flawed, but a sadistic human being."
Naruto snorted as he barked a laugh. After a few minutes, he managed to calm himself as he looked up to the skies of the Makai. "Human huh? I have not thought about being human in a very long time." He said in a nostalgic tone.
"Over 400 years have passed for. Nearly 500 for you, honey." Anna continued.
"Yet it feels like all that was a lifetime ago." Irene sighed.
"What was it like when you first came to Earthland?" Natsu asked.
Naruto sighed as he looked at his audience. "That is quite a long story, but I guess I can give you some details in pieces." He closed his eyes as he recalled when he first came to Earthland. "It all began in the year x363."
[Flashback]
"Argh. Blegh! Ha. Ha. Ha."
"Am I alive? I have my flesh on me. Nothing is melted or missing. Ow! I can feel pain. I'm alive.
I'M ALIVE! EAT THAT YOU BASTARDS! I PULLED A FAST ON YOU! NOBODY CAN STOP NARUTO UZ-!" The young Naruto paused as he closed his mouth and his face curled into disgust.
"No, I refuse to use that name. That is not who I am anymore." He took a deep breath. "I am simply Naruto. This is a new life. A new beginning. Thank you, Shinigami. Thanks, Kurama, I wish we had become close sooner. And most of all thank you Hinata, for loving me and I will carry our greatest creation until I find the right one."
He took a deep breath of the air around him. "Time to set out."
Naruto looked around at his environment in wonder. "This place is amazing. So many trees, not as many as Konoha, but still. And the animals are so diverse. This is all amazing." His mind wanders to an indigo-haired Hyuuga. "I wish you could see all this."
Naruto stops as he heard something. "What was that?" He slowly walks forwards and sees an opening in the forest to see an old man being harassed by a large bandit.
"Hand over all your belongings old man!" the bandit threatens.
The old man merely scoffed in disdain. "Never. I will not give my belongings to a despicable child like you!"
The bandit glared at the old man. "That's it." However, before he could strike the old man, he was hit with a flying kick from Naruto.
The bandit stood and glared at the blonde teen. "Drop your weapons and leave the old man alone."
"Who are you?!" the bandit demanded.
Naruto scoffed. "None of your concern. Just leave and never bother this old man again."
"Like hell, I will. Let's see how a boy like you handles a mage." The bandit condenses his mana into his fist. "Now fall!"
Naruto focuses his chakra….no his mana into his palm and creates something he only recently learn how to do before the Sasuke Retrieval Mission. A one-handed Rasengan. "We'll see about that. RASENGAN!" Naruto roared as he slammed his sphere of ethernano into the bandit as he was sent flying into a tree, screaming in agony. Naruto sighed as he saw the bandit falls to the ground. He turned to see the old man looking at him in awe.
"Are you alright?" Naruto asked.
The old man nodded. "Yes. Thank you, young man."
"No problem. Who was this guy?"
"A simple bandit that enjoyed taking advantage of the elderly."
"Maybe I should stay with you until we get to a safe location?"
The old man shook his head. "Oh no, I could not ask this of you."
"I don't have anywhere to go, so going with you is kind of my only option." Naruto joked.
"Don't you have any family?"
Naruto shook his head. "Sadly, I do not. They are all dead."
"I see. I apologize for bringing up bad memories." He said in a regretful tone.
Naruto shook his head. "Don't worry about it. It was a long time ago."
"So do you mind having some company?"
"Not at all. I welcome it and I am sure my village will welcome you with open arms." The old man said with a kind smile. The two then began the journey to the old man's destination.
"So, what is your name, old man?" Naruto asked.
The old man laughed. "Ha. Roubaul. Roubaul Marvell (6)."
"I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship," Naruto said with a smile.
Roubaul chuckled. "You know something. I am thinking the same thing."
[Flashback End]
"Wait so that's how you met Roubaul?" several of the mages asked as Naruto nodded.
"Huh, so that's where Marvell came from. I always wondered where it came from." Erza said aloud.
"I wasn't that surprised when he retold his tale. The list of people that both of us were close to was rather small so it was easy to figure out." Wendy said.
"What happens next?" Gray asked.
Naruto shook his head. "Sorry, we will have to cut this short."
Nearly everyone groaned in disappointment, which caused Naruto to roll his eyes in amusement. "Why?" asked someone.
"We may have somewhere to go tomorrow. So, you should all get a good night's sleep. This goes especially to the slayers." Everyone looked disappointed but compiled with the older Marvell's wishes.
Naruto sighed as he sat in his large tent and contemplates what he felt earlier today. He turns to see both of his wives looking at him in worry. "Is everything alright?" Anna asked.
"Did you feel something from the crystal?" Irene followed up.
Naruto nodded. "Yeah. I think it's trying to tell me something."
"A warning? A message from the previous kings or the primordials?" Anna asked.
"I think it's the latter. And if I am right, it means it's time to start the second half of my plan." He replied.
"You mean the plan that you have been keeping tight on." Irene teased.
Naruto chuckled. "That's right."
Anna raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "I have a sneaking suspicion of what it is. But I want to wait and see what it is."
Naruto sighed as he laid down on his sleeping mat with Anna and Irene taking the sides next to him.
"Training is going well," Naruto said after breaking the comfortable silence.
Anna hummed. "Yeah. They are making great progress in such a short amount of time."
"Yes, they are. They remind me of the three when we trained with the girls." Irene said before flinching realizing this may make Naruto uncomfortable. She quickly said, "Sorry."
Naruto shook his head. "No, it's alright. I don't mind talking about it."
Anna and Irene looked at one another. "Are you sure?" Anna asked.
Naruto nodded. "I am. And you're right. They do remind me of them."
Irene smirked. "Who resembles who?"
Naruto chuckled. "Mira and Seilah are definitely Kazehana."
Anna and Irene giggled. "Absolutely. Those two could be her disciples or relatives and I would believe it."
"Same with Tsukimi and Kagura." Naruto replied.
Anna rolled her eyes. "That girl is just too easy to tease once you know where she cracks."
Naruto smirked. "Same with our daughters. And my granddaughter."
Irene giggled. "It really is too much fun to tease them. They always have the most adorable reactions."
Anna looked at her husband seriously. "Naruto, you have been rather hesitant with Eclair."
Irene nodded. "You know that you will have to tell her whatever you're hiding."
Naruto sighed. "I know. It's just I am afraid that what I tell her will crush her."
Both laid their dominant hands on their husband's chest. "We know. But you have a responsibility to tell her truth." Irene said.
"We will be with you no matter what happens or what you decide." Anna followed up.
Naruto sighed in appreciation. "Thank you." The three closed their eyes as they allowed sleep to overtake them.
[Unknown Realm]
Naruto opened his eyes to see himself on a large gray platform. "Hmm. What is this?" He could see that was nothing around, but a dark blue space as his skies. He walks to the edge of the platform and looks down to see nothing but a misty void with no end in sight. He turns when he hears an odd moaning that resembles a whale's cry. He sees some weird creatures that resembled whales floating through the starless skies. There also seems to be blue transparent jellyfish floating about and what looked like some kind of serpentine creature with horns on the sides of its head and on top its head swimming in the void (7).
What a strange place he mused to himself. He has an idea of where he was, and his suspicions were confirmed when a familiar voice spoke to him. "Naruto."
Naruto looked around to laser in on the voice, but it seems to be coming from everywhere. "Lady Giratina."
"Follow my voice." She commanded. Naruto looked back and walked to the center of the platform. "Is this the realm of dreams?" he asked. It had been some time since he came into a conscious dream like this.
"Yes. Or to be more precise, this is your portion of your dream realm. Reality does not follow the same logic as the physical world. You can change it to whatever you may wish if you have mastery over your realm and even travel to other's dreams if you know where to look."
Naruto took a deep breath and looked to the void of his dream. "What is this calling for, my lady?"
"Naruto the time has come for you to fulfill your promise to us."
Naruto hummed. "I see."
"You know that they will not be the same, correct?" Giratina asked in a regretful tone.
Naruto bit his lip before nodding. "Yes, they may have the same appearance, but they will not be the same comrades I once knew. This is the burden I will carry to atone for the sins I have committed against our pantheon."
"Very well. We shall see you soon Naruto." With that, a bright flash illuminated the dark skies and blinded Naruto as everything went white.
[Real world]
Naruto groaned as he woke up in his tent. He looked around to see that he was alone. A warm and inviting aroma filled his nostrils and he instantly recognized what it was. Anna and Irene are making breakfast for everyone. Oh, how he wished he could just go out, greet everyone, and enjoy his wives' cooking after being denied it for centuries. Unfortunately, time was of the essence, and he needed to get everyone ready as soon as possible. So, with great reluctance, Naruto took a quick shower and with a new set of clothes, he went out to the sight of everyone enjoying a very large and delicious morning feast. Everyone was enjoying the food as Naruto came to join them.
Before anyone could him, they could tell something was off by the sober look on Naruto's face.
"Did something happen, Naruto?" Anna asked as she set another plate of food down.
Naruto tilted his head before shaking his head. "Everyone. We will be having a short session today. The dragon slayers, my daughters, and the dragons will be coming with me for something important." he announced. A majority looked at him in confusion while the rest recognized what he may be alluding to.
"Wait. Did something happen?" Natsu asked.
"I had a message. It's time I fulfill an agreement I made with my…I guess you can call them my superiors. We must go to a specific location to speak with them."
This made several heads turn to him. "Where exactly are we going?"
Naruto looked at the group with a serious look. "We are heading to Mount Zonia."
[Several Hours Later]
"So, this is the mythical mountain of Zonia." Laxus mused as he looked around the largest mountain in Fiore.
"I always wanted to see what this place looked like. Not as overwhelming as I expected it to be." Wendy said.
"So, this was where the clash of the ace and king took place. I must admit, this feels fitting." Erza said.
"I don't know if it feels a bit empty." Gajeel retorted.
"Eh, could be worse. Though this is your lair or something?" Natsu asked.
Naruto shook his head. "No, I would not say it's my lair. Just a place that I like to visit from time to time."
Everyone, except Anna, Irene, and Wendy looked at him curiously. "What exactly draws you to this place?" Lucy asked.
"This place is connected to the dragons. It's so mysterious yet mesmerizing. Due to this weird connection, the dragons decided to do something productive with it."
Naruto began walking to the entrance of the cave. "Come. Let me show you the point of this journey."
Anna, Irene, and Wendy followed without any hesitation. The rest looked at each other with some confusion but shrugged it off as they followed the four. The group continued for several minutes before reaching what seems to be a dead end. In front of them stood a large circular gold gate with two pedestals at its sides. The group could also see two-horned dragon statues just a few feet away from them.
"Here we are," Naruto said.
"Wow, what a blast from the past," Irene said in a nostalgic tone.
Anna nodded. "Yup."
"Um, what exactly is this?" Lucy asked.
"This is known as a dragon gate. It was used by our pantheon as a means of travel to connect to far-off locations to make travel much easier." Anna explained.
"So, you can just use them to go anywhere you want?" Cobra asked.
Igneel made a sort-of gesture. "Not exactly. The gate must exist where you are going. It's like the Eclipse Gate. Though there are some exceptions to this, they need to have a connection to our pantheon."
"Why are we showing us this now?" Laxus asked.
"Because the last time I tried to use them I was rejected. The gates listen to the wills of the dragons. And what they see as an enemy will not be allowed in."
Everyone flinched at that. "Ouch. That had to hurt." Gajeel muttered.
Naruto nodded. "It did but I deserved it at the time. I hope recent events have caused a slight change of opinion." The blonde sighed as he stretched his arms out and partially closed his hands. The two dragon statues slowly levitated off the ground before being placed into the pedestals.
Naruto walked to the front of the gate and performed several hand signs and made a silent mantra in an unknown language.
"We are not enemies to the dragons. Please open your doors and let us through."
For a few seconds, nothing happened until the gate began to glow with something in Naruto's chest began to glow as well. The gate slowly opened and revealed a white glow. Naruto turned to his companions and gestured to the gate. He began walking into the light with everyone (minus Wendy, Irene, and Anna) hesitating before following behind him.
[Unknown Location]
When the light faded from everyone's eyes; they now found themselves in a massive desert. All around them was nothing but miles of sand. The only structure for miles is a large stone monument of a serpentine dragon that coiled around the group. Not a single sign of life could be seen. It was like the entire area was devoid of all life except for the mages currently in the middle of the lifeless desert.
"Now where the hell are we?" Lucy asked.
"From a beautiful mountain range to a barren desert." Ultear grimaced from the intense heat she and everyone else was being bombarded with.
"With a giant stone dragon surrounding us," Meredy said.
Naruto ignored the childish complaining. "These are the Desolated Lands."
Most of the group looked confused by the name, but some recognized it. "I think I have heard of this place. A wasteland where there is absolutely no life here. No animal or plant has been able to survive or grow here in centuries. Yet no one knows why." Ultear explained.
Naruto nodded as he turned to the group. "Do you remember what made me infamous in all of Earthland?"
Lucy looked confused. "Yeah. You destroyed an entire country in...a…..single….night….Oh shit." Her eyes widen, along with everyone else that did not know the truth.
"You mean…." Sting asked with wide eyes.
"Yeah, this is the country I destroyed that gave me the infamous title of the Apocalypse Dragon," Naruto replied in a somber tone, yet one could hear the hint of nostalgia within it as he looked at the remains of the fallen country, perhaps remembering what was here once upon a time.
"So, what is this?" Natsu asked as he gestured to the structure around them.
"This is the Ring of Ouroboros. The most sacred of all the ancient dragon temples. And one of the last ones still standing. For the most part anyway." Naruto explained.
The dragon slayers that recognized the name looked around in shock. "Wait, this is THE TEMPLE?! The one only the dragon king can access."
Naruto smirked. "That's right. And to activate it, we need this." The blonde king stretched his arm up with his hand open and palm facing the sandy ground. Many wondered what they were waiting for. However, their questions were answered when an emerald glow enveloped Naruto's limb. The glow continued to grow brighter as it rose from his palm. Finally, the object fully came out of Naruto's palm. It was a gem the size of an eggplant. It was mostly a golden yellow that radiated a brilliant emerald light.
Immediately, everyone felt a change as soon as the crystal appeared. Serenity seems to overpass all of them. For Anna and Irene, they felt a sense of nostalgia wash over them as they looked upon something they had not seen in four centuries.
"What is that?" Rogue asked.
"I feel so calm. And at peace." Gajeel said.
"It's like a piece I have been missing just suddenly came back to me," Laxus commented with Cobra nodding in agreement. In fact, the dragon slayers felt the same as the other mages feeling the peaceful nature coming from the crystal.
Naruto presented the large gem to his audience. "The Dragon King Crystal. The Dragon Matrix. The Perfect Core. Code Eve. The Genesis Crystal. The Greatest of all Dragon Crystals. The Soul Dew. It has many names, but the one you may be familiar with is the Aurathon. The proof of one being the Dragon King."
"Woah." That was all anyone could say as they gazed at the gem. Naruto gave them a nod to follow him to the center of the ring. Once they reached the epicenter of the ancient, the group saw several pedestals placed in a circle with each one shaped to hold a unique item.
"What kind of altar is this and what's up with the pedestals?" Natsu asked in confusion. The one in the center seems to be made for the Aurathon, but what the others were meant to hold was a mystery for him and most of the group.
Naruto shook his head. "Those are a story for another time, but let's just say they would usually hold the other relics of our pantheon." Before anyone could ask another question, he raised his hand to cease any more questions for now. Naruto placed his gem onto the center pedestal. The gem glowed for a few seconds before shrinking to the size of a large round crystal.
For a second, nothing happened until the crystal began to glow a brilliant shade of emerald. The shine continued to glow brightly that it was becoming difficult for anyone to gaze at the crystal. Finally, the gem's shining reached its apex as a massive pillar of light erupted from the gem and flew into the skies. Nearly everyone had to cover their eyes from the blinding light. Several shockwaves rippled across the arena and blowing the countless pounds of sand out of the temple and leaving a marble ground. The stone statue of the temple glowed a deep emerald similar to the gem as a dome began to rise out the structure until it enveloped the entire temple.
Everyone looked around to see themselves trapped in a dome area. Before anyone could speak, everyone paused as everything went still and silent. Suddenly an immeasurable amount of mana began pushing down on them. The sheer force and size of the mana being sensed was indescribable as nearly everyone was pushed to the ground.
"What's going on?" Sting asked.
"T-This pressure," Gajeel muttered.
"It's immeasurable. Not even Naruto made us feel like this." Laxus said.
Irene, Anna, Wendy, and the dragons smirked. "As expected from the four of them."
Suddenly four large portals appeared before the group. They were each around 100 meters tall which towered over the group even over those he could become a dragon. The pressure seems to double with the four silhouettes coming from the portals. Then four beings came out of the portals.
From the blue portal came a quadrupedal blue scaled beast with silver accents on its legs and chest with a blue gem in the center of its chest.
From the pink portal came a bipedal beast with a mostly grey body, long neck, pink accents, and two pearls on its shoulder.
From the black portal came a familiar black and grey serpentine dragon with gold accents.
Finally, from the golden portal came a quadrupedal white fured beast with a golden crown around its abdomen.
Everyone looked at the four beasts in reverence.
"I present you all to Giratina, Palkia, Dialga, and finally Arceus. The four primordials of our pantheon and the creators of this universe we all reside in." Naruto announced.
1) Spanish - I don't know.
2) Portuguese - What did you say?
3) Italian - What's wrong with you, you idiot!
4) French - Why can't I understand any of you!
5) Hawaiian - What's going on?!
6) Yeah, Naruto got his new surname from Roubaul. This may seem a bit anti-climatic, but there wasn't a big mystery about where he got it from. It's the how and why he got the surname that will really be the focus of this story when it comes up.
7) Think of the creatures in the final level of the Legend of Spyro (LOS): A New Beginning mixed with the Dream sequence of LOS: The Eternal Night
And that is it for now. I know it was not a lot, but hopefully, I can get the other half completed as soon as possible. Hope I you don't mind any grammatical errors. Hopefully. So Naruto has been training everyone to new feats of power. Now I did not show what they had learned as that would be spoilers. But we will see the results of this training in the next arc. Natsu and Gray are slowly being pushed to learn about their demon abilities (devil slayer in Gray's case). Naruto and Igneel will tell Natsu of his family very soon. Earliest would be by the end of this upcoming arc. Naruto is just preparing him for the bombshells he is going to be dropping on him and it will act as a prologue to the next section of the story that will encompass a few arcs with the theme of it being characters facing their past and Naruto's arc will be the last in this section and will set up for the last few arcs before we get to the Tartaros Arc as the next big event to build up. Hope you are all excited about what is to come to this story as I have A LOT of plans for it.
The next stories to probably be updated are Golden King, Legacy of the Quincy King, Glimpse, and maybe two or more, depending on my schedule. I have some outlines/drafts written. I just need to type and edit them. Again this is me being optimistic with my free time, so take these possible updates with a grain of salt. As to when I can get these stories updated. I am unsure, I will post them when I get the chance. Hope everyone stays and I will see you at the next update. Please Read, Favorite, and Review!
