A/N: Happy Sunday~!
I really do appreciate all the feedback the story is getting~! It's really motivating me to update, and this rate it might move to a double update each week!
Once more, I wanted to say, thank you all! More feedback means faster updates! It's especially important, in these trying times, with the main site notifications down and the chapters/new stories glitching out on occasion. Every word counts and all these reviews really keep me inspired! Looking forward to hearing from you~!
Advent helped immeasurably with this chapter, massive kudos to him.
I wanted this to feel like an actual House of the Dragon episode. Hopefully I succeeded on that front.
As ever, I own no references, quotes, themes or memes. They're tributes to legends far greater than little 'ol me.
I'm just a humble author trying to make his way in this wild world, one word at a time.
Time and feedback will determine if this remains a story. Simple as that.
In other words...its up to YOU, the reader. Do let me know~!
Brace yourself. This IS Game of Thrones, after all...
Fallout reference near the middle is obvious.
"Do you know what leadership is?
It means the person in charge gets second-guessed by every clever little brat with a mouth.
But if he starts second-guessing himself? That's the end. For him, for the clever little brats, for everyone.
And this is not the end. Not for us.
Not if we do our duty."
~?
Lord of the Stepstones
Otto Hightower did not enjoy these secret meetings.
Skulking about in cloaks and shadows; such was unseemly for the Hand of the King.
He recognized such secrecy as a necessary evil of course; one done or the good of the Realm...but he liked it not.
Now more than ever, his heart sank into the pit of his stomach as he relayed the news to his fellow conspirator.
They'd secured the back room of a small tavern for the purpose of tonight's meeting, a dingy den set apart from prying eyes...or so he hoped. Few could hope to hear them over the clamor the smallfolk were making. A play of some sort, no doubt. He didn't care for it. There were more important matters to which they ought to attend, least of all the thoughts of these dingy peasants.
"In conclusion, matters have become...complicated." he summarized for the man before him, clutching a flagon of ale tight between in his fists.
He didn't dare drink such swill.
The bartender had likely spat in it.
"How so, Lord Hightower?" Maester Melllos questioned curiously, "Surely there is some way we can overwhelm the boy?"
"Unlikely. Viserys has proven...less than pliable as of late." he all but growled the last word, "And as much as I dislike Daemon, as much as I disdain this so called House of the Dragon, I have my respect for it. These so called 'gods' can be manipulated, molded to our needs." he stated with a huff of annoyance towards House Targaryen. " But the boy...
A grimace stole over his bearded visage. The boy, the boy, the boy! He was ruining everything! Years of planning, decades of preparation, all now nearly for naught!
Turning his hooded head aside, he turned and spat upon the dirt floor. "Hes as wise as he is dense in the ways of the world we call home. He has no fears, no weaknesses to account for, can quell the rage of dragons, and holds no loyalties other than to those whom he explicitly trusts. Worse, I am not among those as he can somehow sense my intentions before I even make them known to him. And Alicent...!
He'd chided her for biting her nails and in rare retaliation, she'd locked herself in her room for the last day, refusing to speak with him!
HIM! The gall of it all!
Did she not realize how important she was in the grand scheme of things? He suspected she might, but she had seemingly hardened her heart to him as of late for some reason.
He couldn't even begin to fathom why. The language of young girls remained a mystery, even to him.
Here at last, anger got the better of him, and he downed his mug with a grimace.
Urk. It tasted even worse than he'd feared.
Choking it down, the Hand of the King mastered himself, wiped his mouth and glared into the dark liquid within. "The King has found his spine now, of all times. He has no desire to divorce his wife, much less take another."
The Grand Maester made a noncommittal noise. "Did you suggest...?"
"Do you think me a fool?" Otto fixed the lesser man with a glower until he capitulated. "I pushed as best as I could without outright making demands of him. And still the doppelgangers of that boy watch my every move in the Red Keep. He is either considerably well trained, his magic grants him such abilities, or the gods have blessed him." he muttered the last bit under his breath. darkly, "And we cannot allow such power to be taken from or used against us and our plans."
"What does it matter?" The Maester hummed and sampled his own drink, "In the end, this changes nothing. The boy will die, one way or another." he shrugged when Otto made to protest. "The war against the Crabfeeder has already begun, with the Crown Princess already en route to fight alongside him, we can continue to weaken the king's hold on the realm, perhaps push for one of the Velaryon boys to be made heir in the meantime, as Daemon is unfit to rule, pester his Grace to marry your Alicent and-
Another drink came and went, causing him to fall silent. Neither spoke until the serving girl scurried away.
"Our agenda will continue as it always has, my lord all we need to do is plan around the boy and his reactions to what we employ to fight in our ultimate goal." he told Otto.
Bah! As though it were so simple! The man's hatred of dragons and magic blinded him to the greater threat here.
"So you say, but his magic is incredibly powerful, we have nothing in our grasp that can overcome the kind of power he wields." Otto reaffirmed, "Immunity to flame, body enhancement, speed, agility, hearing, smell, flight, transformation, conjuration, elemental manipulation, emotional sensory, familiar conjuring and who knows what else his can perform. Not even the mages of Qarth are capable of such advanced powers for all their capabilities and magics. He far outstrips them and supersedes their powers by infinitesimal limitations!"
His fist thumped down, rattling the table.
"Almost as if he were some sort of God made flesh!"
Oh, if only they truly knew.
Maester Mellos merely chuckled, "Setting your blasphemy aside...every man has a weakness, a chink in the armor. All we need to do, is to find his." he hummed darkly, "And when we do... we expose it, and strike..."
"Yes, patience is key to this." Otto silently agreed, then paused, as a thought occurred to him. "Though there may be another way to...expedite matters."
Mellos considered him for a long moment, his aged visage inscrutable. "What did you have in mind?"
Otto told him in no uncertain terms.
The older man hummed once. "A risky venture."
"Yet if it successful, it would drive a wedge between Daemon and his grace."
A weathered brow rose. "For the good of the realm, of course."
"Yes, but of course. Will you see it done?"
"...I shall make the necessary preparations. Until then, I must be off, the Citadel awaits, and our plans must be altered to evade the boy's prowess." Mellos considered his mug for a moment, grimaced, then pushed it back to stand. "We will meet one another in three moons, yes?" he asked.
"Of course, until then." Otto nodded.
With their farewells said, the men pulled their cloaks back over their heads and went their separate ways.
Neither noticed a slender figure in a white gown lurking nearby.
How the tables would turn.
(.0.0.0.)
Fire and blood.
Blood and sweat.
Sweat and screams.
Screams and death, death, and more death. Piles of great reeking corpses and the stink of scorched flesh all around, miles and miles of bloody beachhead for the eye to see.
The campaign in the Stepstones marched ever onward, but Naruto found he took little joy in it. That's the thing about fighting a battle, y'see. Everyone tells you about the glory gained, and the honors won, but they don't tell you about the mess.
A wise man once said: when you pray for rain you gotta deal with the mud, too. That's a part of it.
The mud, blood, the flash of steel, a dying man begging for mercy when he already has one foot in the grave.
It was war. War never changed. He was just more proactive about it now, more aggressive, killing anyone who didn't wear the colors of the king or the sea snake.
In a word, war was messy. Not like riding on dragon back, burning your enemies from above, you were down there in the thick of the things. And make no mistake, he was in the thick of things fighting on the front lines, no, he was the front lines, smashing through enemy and placements, decimating squads of men, all with no effort at all.
There were fourteen major islands in the Stepstones, and countless other minor islands, most little more than small outcrops in the Narrow Sea. They aimed to conquer them all. Lady Rhaenys had even mentioned paying a visit to the Free City of Tyrosh to...encourage their assistance, lest they make themselves a problem.
A flicker of movement in his peripherals brought him back to the bloody blender of battle.
He ducked an arrow, splintered a shield, kicked a man's chest in sent seven more flying with a single punch, swayed aside now as Rhaenyra swooped low and bathed the sands in dragon fire. Syrax herself was forced soon forced to dodge as Kurama's titanic form smashed past, crushing a squad of men underfoot and sweeping aside a score more with his tails. What those didn't decimated his jaws made short work of.
Showoff.
Rolling his eyes, he snapped a man's neck like a twig and crested a sand hill, launching himself at another beleagured battalion.
They were doing good here, wiping out evil. He held to that notion. It sustained him in some of his darker moments, seeing the horrors of war up close.
"With me now!" He slammed a bloody fist into the air to rally his fellows, utterly unaware of how terrifying he appeared in that instant. "Whatever you do, don't die! I can heal grievous wounds, grow back eyes and limbs, but I can't save you if you die! So do your best to stay alive! With me now! Into the breach! CHARGE!"
Those would become the words of his House.
And with them, another battle was won.
Into the breach.
(.0.0.0.)
The darkness of night filled the air, clouds covered the sky slightly, just shy of blottingout the moon overhead.
Tents had been set up, the forces of the Crabfeeder had fled into another set of caverns, allowing the dragons to rest near their masters.
Naruto wouldn't lie, he was admittedly once drawn to the beautiful scales of Seasmoke, until the damn thing tried to cuddle and bury him under its body and sand at the same time-which gained a laugh from Princess Rhaenys and her husband as well as their son... Rhaenyra didn't help either, she encouraged the damn lizard like he was a dog.
What was it about him that drew dragons to him...?
Now that he'd managed to escape-having to look over his shoulder once and a while to make sure the eager dragon wasn't following-he stood well aways from camp in quiet meditation.
They were winning this war, there could be no doubt about that, but it was still taking too long. Far too long. He'd said they'd been done in a week.
Already it had been a day, and they weren't even half done.
Perhaps that was arrogant of him, but he wanted to smash these pirates and be done with it.
Leaving some shadow clones with Viserys was all well and good, but he preferred to be there in person.
And so he began experimenting with his Six Paths abilities to expedite things, going from Kekkei Genkai to Kekkei Genkai. Possessing the knowledge of all forms of Chakra manipulation and elemental mastery of all elements was something he was certainly glad to have-he'd chucked a few Lava Rasenshuriken into a few caves and collapsed them the other day-and he was curious about trying more than the standard two elemental bloodlines.
If he remembered correctly, the old Tsuchikage Ji-chan could mix three, but it was supposedly incredibly rare to even be able to do so.
Belatedly, he'd then thought about how Madara had mixed Lightning and Water Chakra to make the Storm Bloodline Limit. he'd fought against that Hiroku guy who held multiple Kekkei Genkai and remembered how he had literally manipulated the weather. That wasn't a normal bloodline ability, no, that had to have been something more.
As though he were reading his very mind-which the furball probably was-a snort echoed through his head, "You idiot, of course it wasn't a normal Kekkei Genkai. That fool used three elements to produce an actual element from nothing. You remember how that Darui guy could manipulate electrical currents by mixing Water and Lightning like Madara when you awakened the power of the Six Paths, now add in the power of Wind Style, it is a pseudo-Kekkei Tota, the absolute destructive prowess of Nature itself. It's the same as the Ten Tail's own Cataclysm when it ripped the world apart with that damn storm back in the war."
"Is that all it was?" Naruto asked.
"Ugh, you're an idiot through and through sometimes." Kurama despaired.
Naruto thumbed his chin, "I wonder..." he hummed silently to himself.
Closing his eyes, he slowly absorbed the Senjutsu chakra of the world.
Kurama raised a brow, "What are you doing now?"
"I think I have an idea or two." he replied swiftly.
"...am I gonna like this idea of yours?"
"I'm not going to do any-oi?!
Without warning his mind was overwhelmed; a thousand voices crudely bombarded his psyche, overwhelming Kurama and pushing his voice to the further reaches of his mind. All the while the voices pressed closer against his mind, demanding to be heard. What were they people? No, not quite. That wasn't the right word for it. He'd opened a conduit to them, to the very Powers that were this world, because they were-
Gods.
His chakra spiked viciously, rocks began floating into the air, the air sharpened around him and the world shuddered under the might of his power, so much so that the dragons raised their heads up to gaze toward's him in idle curiosity.
Naruto felt himself suddenly lift off into the air, his Six Paths energy never once awakening from its slumber, but he flew none the less, an avatar of a higher power as they sensed his desires, his situation... and they complied. He flew away, over the hills and caves and isles to a point he could discern the location of his enemies and allies alike.
And he just floated... never once moving to attack or defend. He was too high for arrows or lance, and likewise too far to strike with bare hands and clones.
Then, something changed.
The air screeched in terror as Naruto's Chakra cut it apart from the Jutsu's activation, a menacing red glow filling the air in which he floated in. He looked down upon the world before the very skies erupt as electricity roared out from the energy surrounding his body, crashing across the ground as clouds begin to rapidly begin to whip up around him.
The release of energy had rattled the land, the observing populace in the distance shaking as the island was nearly ripped apart, several finding it wise to immediately drop weapons and run to safety while others cried out in panic; the sheer force of power was equal to that of a force of nature, not unlike that of the dragons themselves.
Powerful storm-clouds quickly built up from the sheer potency of his energy churned in a circular motion, bringing with it a quick and powerful downpour that covered the battlefield, all sides looking up in shock and awe as the all powerful hurricane was born from nothing. The whirlwind grew and drew in even more air, and a small tornado formed.
These two cyclones combined and created an even greater distortion in the air, all of this was drawn and compressed further than before. A bolt of red lightning shot across the sky as it arced through the clouds with a rumble, the storm increasing in power as he fully grasped strength that was nearly denied in this dimension.
Even now his chakra snarled hungrily as sparks of crimson electricity spark around his body, the air thrummed as lightning sparked and the thunder born from it would crash through the sky as it turns to grow even further. The earth beneath was being pulled apart, cracking to pieces as the strength of the cyclone grew as the speed of the winds above increase vastly with each passing second. Rain begun to ;ance down from the heavens, flooding the arena grounds further beneath as it continued falling with unrelenting force as Naruto began to ready himself for the inevitable unleashing of a unstoppable force unto his enemy.
Crimson lightning roared as it exploded across the skies, contained for only a moment within the clouds overhead as the storm continued to grow. The heavens shook, the earth rippled as chakra speared through the air and across the land. The wind grew in ferocity, he raised both arms, widely spread as he fully immersed himself where he was free to embrace his power, his chakra gleefully pulsating as he accepted the call for battle.
When he spoke, his voice was that of a legion, a thousand calls not his own as his voice echoed across the world:
"Let's see how serious you are, about fighting me, about staking your claim to this land..." he stated as rain continued to fall in sheers from the high heavens, "To put it in simpler terms...we are going show you all what we can do...Crabfeeder..."
Droplets of rain hovered in the air as an unspeakable and even more unfathomable power flexed itself. The unbridled power unleashed shook the heaven's and rendered the earth... From the past to the future. From the future to eternity. It would link the land and sea to the heavens. Terror was etched in the karmic endeavor of Life. Thus, with time humanity would rewrite it down to its genes. Both a weapon and a tool, a spirit that had once been without form.
Now freed from its shackles, it would show the world what all it was capable of. White lightning flashed through the sky as the chakra from the blond Uzumaki was unleashed in full capacity. Crimson electricity raced through the clouds and crashed down as the energy of the Reincarnated Sage filled the air. Red Lightning surged through the clouds before it ultimately fell from the heavens as golden lightning crashed through the air and fell out of the clouds to meet the world below it in challenge. The world waged war with itself, a massive surge of power unlike anything ever seen.
The storm above the battlefield was now glowing as the energies within clashed time and again with one another, a massive funnel of wind began whirling down to the earth to birth a massive typhoon. The clouds rotated with immense speeds, churning and coiling around the superstorm between with no limits, the world heeded the power of the blond's chakra and granted it all it had to heed his call, the Sage's rage powering his chakra and in turn the storm that grew. The power of the Kekkei Tota unveiling a new level of power not once seen in all of Planetos, a power that would not be matched by god or demon.
BOOM~ CRASH~ BOOM~ ZAP~ KA-BOOM~ CRASH ~KRAKABOOM~
Strike after strike, bolt after bolt, crash upon crash, one explosion after the other; the heavens reigned ultimately supreme as they unleashed their wroth down upon the splintered realm. Lightning crashed through the air with explosive force, lighting up the dark sky with frightening strength.
Under the brunt of all this power, the heavens growled, the earth quaked, and the whole of the Stepstones shook as red and gold lightning flashed through the air. The clouds continued to gather, growing darker and darker each second and expanding to become one massive hurricane of raw unconstrained power. Tornadoes swirled down from the storm cloud's and struck the earth, ripping the land apart.
As this unfathomable power escalated further a voice filled the air, a voice demanding that each and every person heed it, and all listened as commanded, "I am the song of storms that rips the land apart, the heaven's wrath beckons me to bring destruction upon all who see." while he spoke, his once beautiful blue eyes now glowed with other worldly powers as the unknown powers circulated through his veins. The ground began shaking under his might as the unfathomable power once again peaked higher and higher, his strength ripping the isle apart at the seams as his jutsu neared its zenith.
"Heaven and Earth shall split and allow nothingness to embrace the gift of Creation once again~" the voices declared, a flash of red electricity shooting past him, his face void of emotion, his powers spreading beyond his initial control, "The millstone of the stars-the celestial inferno- the rapturous celebration before the eve of creation will undo all this devastation!" he chanted out loudly, "Stars fall upon those who seek to destroy, Heaven shall embrace the worthy, as the Hells drag away the undying!" His very voiced declared loudly, his voice echoing through the storm as the clashing of primordial forces begin ripping the world in which he stood apart as cracks appeared around the epicenter of his growing strength, bolts of crimson lightning crashing around him as the eye of the storm swelled with power.
The layers of wind grew even denser and exceeded the physical laws, quickly turning into a lethal weapon that ripped apart all of Creation, and began condensing into a fissure in space itself, the Kekkei Tota no longer containable even with the strength of Naruto's willpower. It was time to make a statement, and a declaration...
The God's of the World-Old and New alike, Valyrian, Dothraki...that mankind was on the brink...
...and that a herald had finally been chosen.
He became the wrath of the storm.
(.0.0.0.)
Wake up.
In hindsight, Daemon wasn't quite sure what it was that caused him to stir.
Instinct?
A sixth sense?
Or something darker?
Regardless, he was quite awake and aware when someone kicked down his door.
Four men dressed in black stormed in, vagabond and ruffians all. He had a split second to notice their ramshackle weapons; one held a spear, the other, an axe, the third a flail, and the fourth a sword. There was nothing to suggest any sort of uniformity about them at all, nor did they bear any relation to one another. His mind whirled as time slowed to a crawl. How had they penetrated this deep into the Red Keep? No, that didn't matter.
Only one thing did.
He thrashed to his feet, grabbed Dark Sister from beneath his pillow and unsheathed her with a savage flourish.
He was no mewling milkmaid to scream for the guards. He would deal with this himself.
And then, shock was swept away by scalding rage, "You dare attack your prince...?"
The first brandished their spear at him with a sneer. "Submit and live."
With an almost lazy swipe of his hand, Daemon batted the spear away, and taking a trick from his nephew-in-law, leapt in and struck out with a roundhouse, "Not today."
The spearman never had a chance to retort; the last thing the fool heard was the song of valyrian steel before he lopped his head clean off. Kicking his corpse forward, he sneered at the remaining trio.
"Well, then?" he beckoned them with his free hand. "Come and die."
Credit where it was due, they stood their ground.
Rather than retreat, he lunged at them.
He was awake, healthy, and not at all caught unawares as they had planned. Instead of a sick, dying man, they found themselves facing a Targaryen in his prime. He was the blood of the Dragon, and this Dagon was wroth. The man with the flail swung for his head -he seemed decently trained- and subsequently lost his arm for his foolishness. He'd learned his lesson from fighting Ser Criston. Dark sister cleaved neatly through his attacker's chest, putting an end to his miserable life.
The axeman rushed him with a roar, only for him to step back and hew his legs out from under him, sending him sprawling to the floor. Down came Dark Sister, stabbing between his shoulders to find his heart. Not missing a beat, he ducked low and kicked back, keenly aware of steel scraping against his cheek, just shy of taking his head. He touched a hand to the bloody cut on his right cheek and chuckled once.
Well, well, well. This one was better than the others. A shame he had to die.
Another graceful dodge carried him into his opponent's guard, where they clashed blades.
A so-called knight of the seven kingdoms would've braved the blade with both hands and sought to overpower him.
Not so Daemon.
His foe was so fixated on his gut that he never noticed the hidden dagger until it was to late.
It slid from his sleeve, into his hand, and punched upward into the assassins' gut. Once. Twice. Thrice. On the fourth, he gave the blade a wrenching twist that killed any sort of fight left in the man. They crumbled with a rasping gasp, clutching their brutalized belly. His attacker fell to the ground. A kick to the chin made certain he wouldn't rise again.
Planting a boot on the dying man's chest, he set Dark Sister to his throat. "Tell me who sent you, and I'll make it quick."
"Certainly, my prince." The last living assassin grinned at him through bloody teeth, the smile of man who wished only to cause pain. "The king sends his regards."
Shock ripped through Daemon. "What?"
"You have...become a nuisance, a hindrance to the crown. Is it any wonder he would seek...to supplant you?
Before he could think to inquire further, the vagabond bit down on something.
He shuddered once, convulsed, and died at his feet.
A false tooth no doubt, filled with poison.
But what he'd said to him just now...
"The king sends his regards."
Daemon reeled back.
His brother? No, Viserys would never...
.
..
...would he?
"No," he muttered, palming his face. "No, no, he wouldn't...
All his old fears came roaring back to the surface. He'd only ever sent him away, hadn't he? To the Vale, to the city watch...
But to have him killed? Why? Did he seek to make Rhaenyra his heir after all? Even when she didn't wish to be?
Such thoughts were far from logical, indeed a man of logic would've been given proper pause by now.
Daemon had never been a man of logic and here, now, in this moment, his blood was up.
They would have words about this.
A/N: And so it continues~!
The stepstones arc continues next chapter, we're not done quite yet, but it's going to be a doozy!
Just wanted to say, I appreciate you all! More feedback means faster updates! It's especially important, in these, trying times, with the main site notifications down. Every word counts and i appreciate you all! All these reviews really keep me inspired! Looking forward to hearing from you~!
Update next Sunday or EARLIER, time and health permitting.
Weeeell? What did you think? Would you like weekly updates? Yay or nay? Really need to hear from you, here.
As stated, this has a high chance of being upgraded to M later down the line, but I need to know if folks want to see that.
So by all means, speak up! Your voice matters! Make yourself heard! As ever, reviews are the fuel that sustain me.
So in the Immortal Words of Atlas…
...Review...Would You Kindly?
And enjoy the Previews!
As ever:
SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!
PLOT DETAILS AHOY!
YE BE WARNED!
Read at your own risk!
As ever, these are from the far flung future...or are they~?!
Previews are mostly the same, wouldn't want to spoil things now.
(Previews!)
The Crabfeeder
Cragas Drahar wore many titles.
He commanded his men.
Golden e
Tens of thousands of men separated them.
And yet.
He stepped back into the cave.
The beast gave chase.
Grayscale! He's got grey scale! Don't let him touch you!
He backhanded the Crabfeede and sent him sprawling.
They will never stop hunting you.
I know:
His sword came crashing down.
If you fail to plan you plan to fail. This world is cold and cruel, and there are a few in it, who are steadfast. You, I think, our steadfast.
"Lord commander."
Ser Harold Westerling was a surprisingly noble man, defending his comrades despite the stain on their honor. "Cole is a good lad, he just needs to get his head screwed on straight."
Naruto clicked his tongue. "Think he needs more than that...
The white worm wishes an audience with you, my lord."
Naruto's brow shot into his hair.
"Me?"
"Is the safety and security of the realm not worth one life?"
"You'll never stop at one!" he righted himself with a grunt, turned his head, and spat out a bloody tooth. "I'll take you all on!"
Otto's heart sank into the pit of his stomach. "This...complicates matters."
"You think this hurts? Compared to what I went through, being forced to watch you hurt innocent people, and even my own blood! This is NOTHING! Well? How does it feel? To be utterly hopeless and not being able to do a damn thing about it? Fools! How do you think they felt when you ganged up on them in the rain and they had no way out? Well now it's your turn. I hope you enjoy it. Do you feel defenseless? Scared? Good, now you know how they felt before you killed them!
"If you do this you will make enemies. There will be nowhere left for you to run!
"Run?" he tilted his head to look back at them. "Who's running?" Blue eyes bled into red, snapping into furious scarlet slits. "Where?" Golden radiance flashed around him. "And why?!"
The world burst into light.
Visenya whooped, leaned back in the saddle, and flung up her arms. "Dracarys~!"
Her dragon answered in a rush of fire. The girl grinned.
Riding on dragonback was the best!
Naruto crashed into the wall a second later, ripping the blade out with his left hand while smashing his fist into the man's face, "That's for Daemon!" he roared as he spun around and slammed the hilt of his blade into the mans face-ripping the wall of the castle apart.
"Faster, papa! Faster!"
His daughter bounced on his back, grinning from ear to ear as she tugged at his hair.
Naruto smiled despite himself. "Feisty as your mother, I swear..."
EDIT: Hope you enjoyed! Have a great day!
Warm regards,
~Nz.
R ~!