Chapter 6

Location: ?

Naruto silently followed his friend as they walked to the door that had appeared in the darkness. Once past, the blonde was shocked to see what was held behind.

Where there had been nothing but void before, there was now a room with revolving stairways. Shelves filled with books towered over them, and scrolls lay spread over multiple tables around the room. He did not know the number of books there were, but he knew there were a lot. Enough to nearly fill the entire Ninja Academy.

"I see you're impressed." Sothis stated amusingly, turning to smirk down at the blonde taking in the room. "Your mindscape is vast. Since we are one, I have taken the liberty of forming somewhat of an archive of both my and your memories. Though my thoughts will remain my own, you are more than welcome to visit and partake in any knowledge I've already gathered from your lands."

Naruto nodded absentmindedly before going to the nearest shelf. Under each row of books were titles in a pen he'd never seen before. Next to them were even larger shelves, and further down, he could see more of the foreign language scribbled along every edge.

"You are not quite ready for anything on this side, Child." Sothis spoke behind him, garnering his attention. The Divine suddenly raised a hand in the air, and Naruto bore witness to a book flying from somewhere upstairs and into the awaiting hand. He still couldn't read the title, but he knew his nation's language when he saw it. "In order to build you from the ground up, we must first plant the seed of your foundation. All the knowledge I've gained throughout my life is stored in this place. It shall be where I impart your education for the foreseeable future. You shall also be free to come here and learn whenever you see fit. You'll need to work harder than your peers to catch up, so impudence will not be tolerated. Am I understood?"

Sothis waited for a reply but got none. Looking down at the boy, she found him deeply engrossed in his palm.
Moments later, he raised it high, much like she had not long before. There was an instant reaction as something from her side once again glowed bright before flying off the shelf and into his awaiting hand.

Naruto brought the book down to eye level and wasn't really surprised he couldn't read it. What did surprise him were the images that suddenly filled his head.

A pillar of light descending to the land. A tall, parakeet-haired woman walking the land while passing down her blessings. Multiple people dressed in white robes now kneeled before the woman on a throne. The people with slightly lighter hair laughed alongside the woman, praises being given in a language he could not understand. All these memories and more invaded the youth's mind in uncontrollable waves before the book was promptly snatched from his grasp.

He looked to his friend, who was now standing expectantly with a frown on her face and a hand on her hip. "What did I just say?" Naruto gulped, his attention span getting him into trouble once again. Shaking her hand, she let one of the books in her hand go, letting go and allowing it to float back to where it came from. "If you can't even follow the simplest of instructions, then I won't even bother wasting my time with you."

Inwardly, the boy panicked before grabbing a hold of the Divine's hand! "No! I'll listen! I'll listen!" He pleaded, trying to convey an emotion he couldn't show. Sothis's eyes narrowed further, but relented.

"Very well. Then come. There is much for you to learn, and little time to be wasted." Turning on her heel, she made her way deeper into the labyrinth of books, Naruto hurrying to keep pace.

As she said, he had much to learn.

One Week Later

Konoha: Hokage Tower

Naruto stood before the towering structure known as 'Hokage Tower'. He's been here before, multiple times actually, yet unlike those times, he was here for more nefarious reasons.

Specifically, because his friend all but demanded he come here and commit a crime that would likely have him captured, or worse.

"Are you sure this is OK, Onee-san?" He asked for the umpteenth time, the nervousness of what he was asked to do refusing to go away.

"Uuuuuugh! I shan't repeat myself again! Do as I say, or I shall wash my hands of you here and now!"

Not wishing to anger his friend, he did as she asked and reached within himself as she'd taught him. A feeling, much like putting a key into a lock, could be felt deep within him. He couldn't put it into better detail, but he knew it was what he was looking for. Grabbing hold of the metaphorical key in the lock, he twisted and-

*CRASH*

The sound of glass shattering echoed around him. Peaking an eye open, both eyes soon widened at what he was seeing.

The world had turned violet. A silence unlike any he had ever known surrounded him, giving him a sense of unease. Checking his surroundings, he made sure the coast was clear before he froze.

Standing just yards away was a woman. Her expression was uncaring, the complete antithesis of how his inner thoughts currently were. She was taking a step forward, heading somewhere only she knew.

Yet the leg never touched the ground.

She was frozen, along with her expression. Not a bit of life could be seen in her, and it both fascinated and terrified him. What exactly had he done?

Looking around further answered that question.

It wasn't just the woman who was frozen, but everyone around them. The birds, the people, the animals, the leaves, the trees, and even the smoke from a nearby chimney were all motionless, as if something had turned off a switch.

He had truly stopped time itself!

"Well? How long are you going to stand there with your jaw on the ground?" The voice did not come from within him, but from next to him. Turning, he was dumbstruck further. There stood his Onee-san, in the flesh, walking in his world. Upon seeing his widened eyes, the Divine smirked. "If you've nothing to say, then just follow." With that, the Divine walked inside the Hokage Tower, with Naruto quickly stumbling behind.

...

The duo walked through the main hallway towards their destination. Through their short trek through the lobby, they have gone completely unimpeded. Everyone they passed—Shinobi, clerk, Anbu, man, and child—all were frozen in place, either sitting or in mid-stride. It was truly fascinating, and it was he who was gifted such a power. Thoughts of how he could use this played in his head before Sothis brought him out of his reverie.

"We are here." She stated, standing before a door the blonde knew all too well. Before he could say anything, though, his friend was walking forward.

Instead of opening the door as he expected, the woman continued her stride toward the structure before passing through it all together. Naruto blinked at where she had disappeared, not exactly believing what he'd just seen. Lifting a hand, he placed it on the door, yet he did not phase through it like his friend had. Not willing to test his curiosity, the blonde pushed the door open to follow his friend. He found her already searching the room.

And sitting behind a desk that held a clear view of the village behind it was none other than the Third Hokage himself, looking right at him.

The sight of the man made the boy freeze up. Suddenly, he was all too aware of where he was and what he had been caught doing. Whatever excitement he held had all but vanished, being replaced with fear and shame—like the child he was.

"What are you still standing there for? Help me look for it!" His friend suddenly yelled at him, yet he couldn't remove his eyes from the man who seemed to be glaring him down. Frustrated with his inaction, his friend floated over to tower over him, breaking his staredown with the Hokage and forcing him to look up to her instead. A frown twisted her features, the Divine pulling off the look only mothers could give their children. "What is it now? Did I not warn you that time is of the essence?"

"H-Hokage-jiji." He stuttered. Turning her head towards where his eyes had been glued moments ago. Her eyes met the stern gaze of the Hokage before a sigh left her, a hand reaching up to massage her brow.

"I swear, humans only understand the simplest of things when a demonstration is had." Turning from him, his friend floated away to hover near the Hokage. His heart practically went to his feet as he watched his friend hover right in front of the old man, yet he still remained unmoved.

"As I've said before, no one other than you and I are capable of thought or movement while the flow of time is halted. We are one, so your body is capable of withstanding the distortion of time, but without my blessing, all have no choice but to adhere to my power or have their bodies torn asunder. That also means he," she pointed a thumb towards the frozen geezer, "does not currently know what is happening before him. Now that I've repeated myself for the LAST time, get to searching before we lose our chance for the day!"

Fears put to rest, the blonde stepped forward, yet his eyes never leaving the Hokage. Only when he was out of the Hokage's line of sight did he seem to finally believe his friend, to which she rolled her eyes and continued her search. It took them nearly an hour of searching through files, scrolls, and other useless papers that meant nothing to them, but they finally found what they were looking for.

Under files upon files was a key. A key that would get them to where they needed to be.

Smiling at their success, she motioned for the blonde to follow her out of the room and to where they needed to be. They were nearly back in the hall when the blonde stopped. Feeling her ward was no longer following her, Sothis peered over her shoulder at the boy, who seemed fixated on something on the wall. Floating over until she was next to the blonde, her gaze stopped on what he was looking at.

It was a picture. A picture of a blonde man with spikey blonde hair similar to her ward's and a Leaf head protector strapped to his forehead. He wore the typical Jonin vest, yet over that was a cloak of white. She couldn't see more, seeing that the picture only captured everything slightly above the chest, but it was enough to raise suspicions within the Divine.

The similarities between him and the blonde were almost uncanny. He was but a boy, yet if the boy shared his blue eyes and erased the whiskers, he would be a younger carbon copy of the man.

"How peculiar." The words escaped her, a hand coming to her chin in thought. "You two are nearly the spitting image of each other."

Naruto looked at his friend.

"Who?"

Sothis looked back at the boy, trying not to let her frustration show as she pointed at the picture. "Are you blind? Him. The blonde." Naruto looked to where she was pointing. Long and hard he stared, yet his eyes never wavered in any form of recognition or acknowledgement. Instead, he had a question.

"What picture?"

The Divine turned to her ward, staring right into his eyes. They showed not even a hint of deceit or mischievousness. The boy was being genuine, and for the first time since her awakening within the boy, she felt dumbfounded. Turning back to the picture, she inspected it further than she had before. To the best of her knowledge, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It was simply a picture in a frame. Reaching out to it, she felt her mana rub along the edges.

Nothing changed. The glass, the frame—nothing about what she was seeing altered it even the slightest. She looked back at her ward inquisitively. "Child, what is it that you see me doing?"

Naruto blinked before tilting his head to the side. "You're, touching something? I think?"

Sothis looked at the picture before looking back at the boy. "And can you see what I am holding?" An immediate shake of the head was her answer. A frown marred her face as she glared at the picture. She knew the boy was telling the truth, yet she did not understand why he couldn't see what she was seeing. It was plain as day, and anyone could see it. The Hokage wouldn't put something like this up if people couldn't-

Her eyes suddenly widened. Closing them shortly after, she allowed the mana to flow from her hand and into the picture.

The effect was immediate.

The picture began to distort before melting away like a mirage. In its place was a square hole at least four times the size of the picture frame, and inside the hole was a large scroll.

Sothis, the Progenitor God of Fodlan, was stunned speechless.

An illusion. An illusion, of all things, had fooled her; a Divine?

But how? How was something so simple able to fool her senses? Was the illusion simply that powerful? Or were her powers still so weak that such a simple trick was enough to get past her? Was she still prone to falling for such things? It was a worrying thought. She could feel her divine power coursing through her, a power foreign to this land. Yet, despite her ability to manipulate time, she was still this weak? How? How could she miss such a thing when the could easily-

Her eyes widened as her head suddenly turned to the boy, the confusion still in his eyes. "Tell me, Child, what have you been seeing on this wall?"

His brow raised, but he replied, "A hole? And a scroll...? Do you, not see it, Onee-san?"

Her suspicions were confirmed. Somehow, someway, he had seen through the illusion from the beginning when she, a Divine, could not—and from his words, he had done it inadvertently. Just...just what was her ward?

"Is there something wrong, Nee-san?" Said ward spoke, breaking her from her thoughts.

"It's...nothing, Child." She diverted, opting to turn back to his discovery. With a wave of her hand, the scroll levitated from the hole and to the ground. Its length was taller than Naruto himself, its weight likely overtaking them both.

"'Scroll of Seals'?" Sothis read the cover out loud, getting a curious look from the blonde.

"What's a 'Seal'?"

"We're about to find out." With no further preamble, they unwrapped the scroll until it was open completely. The sheer length of the thing was too much for even the room, forcing the blonde to push the remainder of it out of the room and down the hall. By the time they were done, they bore witness to rows upon rows of information written in characters not even Sothis could translate. Some characters were easy enough, like 'explosion' and 'clone', yet without the rest of the information and whatever 'hand-signs' meant, they couldn't use anything within the scroll...yet.

Making sure she and her ward got a full scan of the scroll, she nodded to herself before heading towards the door. With the key, the boy could get into the storage room, where they could gain all the information they needed to start his real training.

"Onee-san..." Naruto called out to her before she could reach the door, sounding weaker than she expected. "I... don't feel so good..." Sothis floated back to the boy, who she now noticed was pale and breathing heavily—immediately understanding the cause without an analysis.

"It would seem you have reached your limit... No matter. We've gained valuable knowledge this day. We'll just have to complete our task another time. Brace yourself, Child. I shall now return time to its proper flow."

"B-but what about the scroll?" The blonde said nervously, looking at the unsealed scroll still stretching to the hall.

"Worry not, Child. It shall return to its proper place once the pulse resets. All you need to worry about is your footing upon our return. Now, brace yourself." Not arguing further, he did as his friend asked and braced himself.

The world around him shifted, a feeling of vertigo hitting him before the world as he knew it began to fade away. It lasted for but a moment, and the next, he was standing in front of the Hokage's Tower once more. The eerie silence of the frozen space had now been filled with lively chatter once more, the sounds oddly sounding louder now that they had returned to the blonde's senses. The feeling of needing to throw up had subsided, yet the feeling of weakness still remained. He was all too aware of how tired he was and could only think about how much he now needed his bed.

"You've done well this day, Child. Now, head home and rest your mind. Tomorrow, I shall have the scroll translated—then we get back to our original goal and your training can truly begin."

The words brought joy to his being. He didn't know what they had found in that scroll, but if it could help him achieve his goals, then he couldn't wait to know what was inside.

He was one step closer to becoming Hokage.

Fodlan

Location: ?

Byleth stared up at iron bars.

The structure, standing taller than any building she'd ever seen, towered ominously over her as she peaked through the opening and into the dark abyss. From an outside point of view, most would think the cage was empty. There was no clear sign of life to be found, and whatever beast it could possibly contain left no evidence of their stay.

But Byleth knew.

She knew that, in the darkness, something dark lay in waiting. She knew from the way the hairs on her neck rose that nothing but death lay ahead. She knew that just one step closer would be enough for just one claw to impale her.

So she did not move forward. Instead, she waited. Waited to be acknowledged. Waiting for the beast to open its eyes so she could finally take a good look at the thing that had terrified her since that day nearly six years ago.

Her patience was rewarded.

In the darkness, two eyes opened. Bright, crimson-red slits looked down on her, the pressure around her suddenly increasing and making her legs buckle. Yet Byleth stood through it. Bullets of sweat dropped down her face, she glared defiantly up at the demon who smiled down on her cockily.

"So, my warden finally deems me worthy of her presence." The voice was deep, truly living up to the 'demonic' image she had held of the thing for so long.

Gulping her saliva, she steadied her voice enough to give a reply. "I'm here for answers." Despite her efforts, her words still came out shaky, but she could be forgiven, seeing that a being that could very well be the Devil stood before her with killing intent far greater than anything Fodlan had to offer.

The demon's smile widened, causing Byleth's heart to quicken. "And what makes you so sure I'm willing to answer? I owe you nothing, and what I want, you can't offer. You've wasted your time if you thought to seek answers from me."

Despite the clear dismissal, Byleth pushed forward. She needed answers, and even if she was terrified, she would get them. "What, are you?"

"It matters not what I am. What matters is what I'm going to do once I'm finally free." The words made Byleth feel cold. Her eye dilated, and the fear she felt increased tenfold—the demon's grin widening at her despair. "Did you honestly believe I would be held here for long, human? This cage is temporary. Though not as fragile as I may like, it can only remain as long as you live. Once your death is assured, I will know freedom once more. Be it soon or a hundred years from now, I will know freedom, and you, along with everyone you love, shall know my wrath."

Byleth took a step back, the fear and hopelessness of her situation truly settling in. A chuckle came from the fox as he watched the girl tremble in her boots.

"Now run. Run along, little one, and live with the fear of knowing that my freedom will one day be at hand."

Byleth vanished from the mindscape.

...

A breath escaped Byleth's throat as she shot up from her bedroll. Heavy breaths left her lungs with sweat accompanied by trembling limbs following shortly after. Looking around, she found herself back in her tent, no demon or cage in sight. The relief she felt at that moment had her breaths steadying and the rapid beating of her heart slowly subsiding. Looking to her left, she noticed the empty bedroll belonging to her father, knowing he was likely taking care of other business before joining her for sleep.

The thought of her father, alive and well, immediately soured her mood once again.

Knowing she would get no more sleep this night, the bluenette stood from her bedroll and made her way toward and out of her tent. As expected, it was still dark out. Stars covered the sky, not a cloud to be seen blocking the view. Wind blew against her skin, yet she felt cool with the cold sweat covering her body. Making sure no one was around, she headed towards the nearest training grounds. Arriving, she immediately took hold of a nearby training sword and began going through the swings and thrusts her father had shown her so many times before. Soon she fell into a rhythm, sweat building once more as she tried to forget her dreams.

"Once you are dead, I will know freedom once more."

The words echoed in her head like warning bells.

Her swings increased in speed and ferocity as she attempted to drown out the demon's words through exhaustion.

"Be it soon, or a hundred years from now, I will know freedom, and you, along with everyone you love, shall know my wrath."

Her muscles screamed, the pain doing its best to dull the fear. In its place, anger quickly rose.

"Now run. Run along, little one, and live with the fear of knowing that my freedom will one day be at hand."

The training weapon was launched from her hand, splintering a nearby tree on impact. The girl was heaving again, her breaths coming out quick and uncontrolled.

Yet despite her exhaustion, anger boiled within herself. Anger at the Gods for putting her in this unjust situation, anger at the demon for wanting to destroy everything she loved, anger at a future she knew held nothing more than bloodshed and unhappiness.

But most importantly, anger with herself. Anger that she couldn't think of a way to solve this and anger that she always put those around her at risk simply by existing. It infuriated her more that she couldn't even take her own life lest she doom her friends, her father, and the rest of the world.

What exactly could she do to stop what she now knew would come in the future? What exactly was out there that should could use to quell this demon inside of her?

"Live with the fear of knowing that my freedom will one day be at-"

"NO!" Byleth shouted to the heavens, a foot stomping to the ground, and likely waking everyone within an 800-yard radius. Unknown to her until she was discovered, her nails had elongated, piercing into her skin and drawing blood from how hard her fists were tightened. Her teeth sharpened, and crimson-red eyes stared through the camp as the demon's words continued to plat through her head.

"You, along with everyone you love, shall know my wrath."

She wouldn't let that happen.

She swore-

The glow of orange suddenly had her looking skyward. Arcing lights soar above the treeline, brightening the already dazzling view of the night sky.

Byleth was nearly too late to react when the lights suddenly descended on the camp. Jumping out of the way of an orange, she kept moving, making herself a harder target to hit. Stopping behind a tree, she waited for the rain to cease. They did, but the flames they brought with their arrival caused the forest around her to rise into a blaze. The clashing of steel followed closely afterwards, causing Byleth to resort to instinct and grab any steel she could find.

They were under attack, but they would not find her wanting.

A/N: The next chapter is dedicated souly to Byleth, so no Naruto. It was originally 10k, but trying to get away from those huge chapters because it typically takes a whole month to write. Would rather get a chapter out every week than every month like the other Re-write. Think you're gonna like it, but at the same time you may not.

Also, thanks to everyone who pointed out that Naruto was never in a class with Neji or the others. Confused me and thought he had at some point. However, I've already written the story and is too late to correct it.

We are about 6 chapters away till the childhood arc is finished. After that arc is the 'Genin' arc for Naruto and the 'Survival' arc for the rest of Fodlan... you'll know what I mean when you see the first chapter of the time skip.

Thank you all for the follows and favorites. If you like this story, consider giving my other work 'The Fate We Have Chosen' a try. Reviews, both good and bad, give me motivation to write, so please keep them coming, and I hope you all have a damn good day.

Current Age in Scene:

Byleth: 12

Naruto: 5