Good god I can't stop writing these… SEND HELP!


The atmosphere in The Rising Stones was uncomfortably silent. The Scions stared at the two that were squaring off in the centre of the room, alongside them were Yugiri who was staring at the scene in concern and Gosetsu who had a look of mild shock on his face.

Closest to the entrance was Naruko who was glaring at the woman before her with no small amount of fury. Said woman had come with Gosetsu from Doma to retrieve Yugiri, however that was not her only goal.

She was garbed in the attire of a master Shinobi. Her appearance was similar to Naruko's own, the only differences being that she was older, taller and with purple eyes instead of blue, and that she lacked some of Naruko's more defining features.

"N-Naruko? Musume.. is.. is that truly you?" The older woman asked as she gingerly approached the furious girl.

Tataru watched the scene play out as she lazily ate a sandwich 'I wouldn't do that lady.' She thought as she looked back at her work, yet again she was working on her day off though this time of her own volition seeing as The Scions finances went to shit in the last seven months.

The woman gently placed her hand on Naruko's cheek "Oh.. Oh by the Kami! My baby girl. I've found you at la- urk!" the woman's eyes widened as a gauntleted fist found its way into her gut, launching her back several feet.

Yugiri rushed to the woman's aid "Lady Kushina! By the Kami Naruko, why would you strike your own mother like this!" She said as she picked the downed woman up.

The others stared at the scene in shock. That was Naruko's mother!? Why would she attack her?

"That… That filth has no right to call herself my mother! Hell if anything she is lucky I didn't carve her in two!" Naruko roared in anger.

The other's sans Tataru recoiled in shock.

Kushina shakily stood up "N-Naruko please. You must understand I…I only-" She was cut off by Naruko "Save it. I have no desire to speak to you any further. So do what you came here to do and then leave, because when I return and if you are still here I will kill you. And that, you vile wretch, is a promise." Naruko said as she turned heel and stormed out.

Shortly afterwards Kushina was seated at one of the tables. Yugiri sat next to her with a frown "Sensei.. I don't understand. Years ago you said that your oldest ran away from home due to a misunderstanding. Why would she react so… violently to your presence?"

Kushina was silent.

"And to think she has the gall to call me a selfish brat." Alphinaud said angrily. In his opinion, Naruko was a hypocrite. Sure he had made a mistake with the Crystal Braves, but this was in his opinion, far worse. Alisae gave her brother a sideways look in disappointment. Ever since Naruko had torn into the lot of them(Minus herself, Tataru and Urianger) after Nanamo had been revealed to have survived her poisoning(if barely) he has been rather standoffish with her. Whether it was because he was hiding his shame at what he had indirectly caused, or he was nursing his battered pride she didn't know.

"Alphinaud." The young Elezen looked over towards Tataru "Shut up before I jam that tome of yours up your ass." She said as she continued to eat her lunch. Y'Shtola pinched the bridge of her nose at the harsh language.

Alphinaud rolled his eyes "Of course you take her side Tataru. She attacked her mother for no good reason and here you are defending her."

Tataru stopped eating and looked over at Alphinaud. The room suddenly got rather cold "Or perhaps you should consider that the vile excuse of a woman deserves far more than a punch to the gut. Hells if I were in Naruko's position I likely would have just gutted her there and then." She hissed.

Yugiri shot up from her seat "Sensei loves both of her daughters. If anything it is Naruko who is just ungrateful!"

Tataru just scoffed "Yes, because throwing your own daughter off a cliff is truly a sign of love. That psychopath tried to murder her own daughter because of some supposed prophecy!" Tataru said much to the horror/surprise of the others.

Yugiri scowled "You lie!" She growled angrily as she approached the smaller woman. But before things could get worse Krile stood between them "Now now. Let's just calm down. We won't get anywhere if you two-" She began only to stop when a familiar pain shot through her head. Her vision began to blur as the others voiced concern as she collapsed.

(Vision)

A much younger Naruko stood at a cliff side clutching her mother's hand. The sun was setting, casting a beautiful shade of orange and purple on the horizon. Beneath the cliff was a large forest with several buildings in the distance.

"Naruko come now, you are ten years old. Are you still afraid of heights?" Kushina asked her daughter playfully.

Naruko nodded slightly "Y-yes Mom. I-I don't like heights all that much."

Kushina smiled and gently squeezed her daughter's hand. However her face soon turned stone like.

Naruko seemingly noticed the change "Mom… what's wrong?"

Kushina let out a sigh before picking up her daughter. "It's hard y'know. Having to make difficult choices… I.. I never wanted to neglect you in favour of your sister…" She whispered as she hugged Naruko close.

"D-does this mean I can start training with You, Dad and Mito?" Naruko asked excitedly.

Kushina shook her head much to Naruko's confusion.

Kushina started to walk closer to the cliff "I.. I never wanted to choose between the two of you. But sometimes… sometimes hard choices must be made for the good of many."

Naruko now looked both confused and scared.

"Your godfather, Jiraiya… learned of a prophecy shortly after Mito's birth. It was said that a young woman with hair of crimson, blessed by light and a master of many arts would save our world from the darkness. He and your father deduced that she will grow into that woman… However, she can't learn with you constantly asking to be trained. As well as you constantly getting in her way or distracting her." Kushina came to a stop just shy of the cliff's edge.

Naruko's eyes slowly widened as she realised what was about to happen

"M-mom wait please!" She cried as she struggled in her mother's grip.

"Please… please don't make this any harder my dear child."

Naruko struggle even more as tears slid down her cheeks "Mom *sob* Momma please! I'll *sob* I'll stop asking you to*sob* train me! I'll stop being a nuisance! Momma!" Naruko cried as she stopped struggling and latched onto Kushina tightly.

Kushina stopped for a moment, as if pondering what to do. Only to tear Naruko from her "*sob* Momma!"

Kushina closed her eyes, a lone tear escaping one "I pray you can forgive me in the next life… I'm sorry my precious little Maelstrom." She whispered as she flung her child from the cliff

"Mommaaaa!"

(Vision end)

When Krile came to she felt sick 'Oh gods.. And all because some stupid prophecy.' She thought as she slowly moved to the edge of the bed she was on and got to her feet. Tears welled up in her eyes as the events of the vision played back in her mind. She noticed that she was no longer in the main room but in her quarters and that someone(probably Tataru) had taken the liberty of removing her robe, leaving her in her blue underdress and with her hair out of its usual ponytail.

Krile's mind was going a mile a minute. Was this the reason behind Naruko's odd shifts in personality?

Now that she thought about it, she did remember Tataru telling her that when Naruko was training as a Dark Knight she was extremely prone to violent outbursts… It made sense, Naruko was usually a fun loving person, the kind to crack a joke during a serious situation to lighten the mood.. But now, after seeing what she has Krile deduced, that may have just been for show and that in truth Naruko hid behind a mask of jovialness to hide her fear and self doubt… as well as no small amount of anger.

Now that she thought about it Tataru did mention that there was a specific incident in Ishgard where Naruko had almost completely snapped... however the pink wearing Lalafell refused to say what had happened.

However that was neither here nor there as a vile anger bubbled within her as she made her way to the main room. While she saw herself as a reasonable person, one that preferred to hear both sides of a story before judging, yet right now all that was going through her mind right now was anger… anger directed at that horrid woman.

As she approached the door to the main hall she saw that the wall clock showed it was nearly midnight… meaning she had been unconscious for over twelve hours. As she reached for the door a loud voice could be heard from the other side.

"Tataru, Naruko is clearly unhinged! God's, she set those members of the Masks she cornered near Baelsar's Wall on fire damn it!"

Krile blinked at that. What the hell had happened when she was unconscious?

"And? Those four scum deserved it after what they did. Or did you forget that they were once part of Naruko's Free Company only for them to turn on their fellow members and murder several of them because they remained loyal to Naruko!?"

"Yes but-"

"Or maybe you are forgetting the fact that one of the members they killed was on leave due to being pregnant! Gods above they burned them alive Alphinaud! They barricaded them in the Company Hall after stealing everything of worth that wasn't bolted down and then set the fucking place alight! With people still inside!"

The main hall went rather quiet after that.

"It still isn't right she-"

"I'll be setting you on fire if you keep going you pretentious little cunt! There were fucking children at the Company Hall when they burned it down!"

Wow… she never expected to hear Tataru use such harsh language, it felt kind of wrong to hear the usually cheerful receptionist tear into someone like that.

It was at that point Krile decided to enter the room. And not a moment too soon because it looked like Tataru was about to make good on her threat.

With a glance, Krile saw that the hall was emptier than it was earlier. However off to the side was Kushina who stared at what she assumed was a small bowl of soup that was placed in front of her.

The Lalafell woman leveled a fierce glare at the redheaded woman before walking to the bar and taking a seat. Krile scanned the counter top and then reached for the nearest bottle, not bothering to read what it was she ignored Tataru's frantic warnings to not drink the contents of the bottle, uncorked it and took a long swig from it. Much to the surprise of those that knew her seeing as she wasn't much for drinking and causing her fellow Lalafell to give her an exasperated look.

She then broke into a fit of coughs as the strong alcohol burned her throat. Good gods why did it burn so much!

"You do realise that is Bozjan Vodka? That stuff'll knock you on your ass if you just swig it like that." Tataru scolded as she moved the bottle of potent alcohol away from her fellow Lalafell.

Krile ignored her in favour of hacking up her lungs, gods above it was like drinking fire. It was kind of embarrassing to watch honestly, and also a bit funny. Tataru shook her head and walked over to Krile "Here," The pink clad Lalafell said as she poured her a glass of water "And next time don't just swig it like some idiot. You take moderate sips. Or use a shot glass."

After a few minutes of Krile downing several glasses of water on top of Tataru scolding her for her 'mistake' the hall was back to the awkward silence from earlier.

"So… I take it the Echo showed you something?" Tataru cautiously asked.

Krile only nodded.

"Do you… Do you want to talk about it?"

With a sigh Krile looked at Tataru "I believe you already have an inkling as to what I saw…"

Tataru winced at the sharp tone before sitting next to her "I take it that is as bad as she described to me then…"

"Probably.. How did she describe it?"

Tataru sighed sadly "Like it was the most painful and heartbreaking moment in her entire life. When she told me about that incident, it was like she wasn't even there.. We ended up going through several bottles of alcohol that night, and trust me when I say that, that incident… her mother getting rid of her while they were on a trip through Werlyt damn near broke her."

Krile nodded her head sadly.

Straightening herself up she turned her head to Kushina "Tell me this Lady Kushina, was it worth it? To listen to this Jiraiya person? Because from the sound of that apparent prophecy, it seems to accurately describe Naruko."

Kushina's eyes widened "H-how do you know about Jiraiya?" She asked in shock.

"A woman with hair of crimson, blessed by light and a master of many arts… Sounds familiar, no?" Krile spat.

Kushina shot to her feet "Do you honestly think that I don't regret believing him!?"

Alphinaud's eyes widened at the admission. Tataru had been indeed telling the truth… God was he truly being so petty as to not hear out his comrades? By the Twelve… Naruko and Tataru were right..

He is just a spoiled brat. 'I… I have to apologise to her.. to the both of them… If she'll even hear me out that is.' He thought to himself. And while yes he was still quite… unnerved by what Naruko did to those Masks, he still felt guilt.

Today was truly an eye opening one for him.

However while Alphinaud was lost in thought, Kushina continued on with her tirade

"I have regretted what I did for the last ten years! I… I made a horrible decision, I chose Mito over Naruko when I could have chosen them both. But no! I listened to that fucking old toad and my bastard of a husband!" Kushina yelled as tears slid down her cheeks." I-I tried to kill my baby… My little girl.. all because they said that Mito was some child of prophecy.. And I believed them.. I FUCKING BELIEVED THEM!" She screamed as a sob escaped her throat.

Tataru scoffed at the scene playing out in front of them "Oh sure, now you feel bad. Well I'm sorry to inform Kushina but there is no chance in hell that Naruko will forgive you for what you did." And with that Tataru walked past the crying woman and towards the entrance only to jump out of the way when the door burst open due to Naruko flying through it.

Those in the hall watched wide eyed as Naruko was sent flying down the centre of the hall landing unceremoniously on her back. Her armour had fist sized dent in the torso and her face was slightly bloody.

"How could you do something like that!" An unmasked Yda yelled at her as she charged after her, she was also looking rather worse for wear.

However the moment she was close, Naruko shot up and delivered a wicked haymaker to her face "Go fuck yourself Yda.. Lyse whatever you're calling yourself! They had it fucking coming!" Yda.. or really Lyse then attempted to kick Naruko in the head, only for her to catch her leg and use the momentum to throw her across the hall and into a stack of crates "Try that again and I'll break your damn leg."

Lyse pulled herself out of the wreckage and went to lunge at Naruko again.

"Enough!"

Everyone's gaze turned to the entrance.

Standing there was Raubahn who had decided to follow the Scions to The Rising Stones to discuss the events that had recently played out.

"The both of you are acting like children." Raubahn scolded as he walked towards the two women.

"But Flame General, She-" Raubahn held his hand up "I know."

"Why lass.. Why'd you do it?" The Flame General asked as he turned his gaze to Naruko. Though in truth he had a feeling he knew the reason.

Only to receive a shrug "I had my reasons." She answered flippantly. Much to Lyse's anger.

"Captain Uzumaki, I to would prefer if you would answer Raubahns question." a new voice spoke. Gods now who was it?

At the entrance(Yet again) surprisingly this time was Jenlyns and an unknown Lalafell who had a more ornate and lighter looking version of the Sultansworn armour with a hood over their head.

Naruko gave a curt nod to the Captain of the Sultansworn who did so in turn before turning her attention to the smaller of the two.

"I'll ask you again Naruko. Answer Raubahns question." the hooded Lalafell ordered.

Naruko gave the hooded woman with a fake smile "Oh? Last I recalled I was discharged from the Flames. So it's just Warrior of Light now." the Lalafell woman flinched at the harsh tone.

The smile dropped from Naruko's face and was replaced with a scowl "That also means I don't take orders from you, Lady Sultana." She spat.

A pin drop could be heard through the stunned silence.

The hooded Lalafell sighed slightly as she lowered her hood revealing that it was indeed Nanamo "Naruko, You can't still be mad at me… right? I said I'm sorry." The small woman tried to reason but to no avail.

Naruko just scoffed and began to walk towards the living quarters "Fucking hell. First my pathetic excuse of a mother shows up, followed by that shit with those bastards and now this?" stopping, She looked back "Honestly, I am far too gods damn tired to deal with your shit right now Nanamo. Besides, I'm sure you'd prefer having this conversation without me smelling like burnt mutt."

"Oh that's it!" Lyse charged at Naruko again only for her to move out of the way and wrap her arm around her neck when she got close enough "Wanna know something interesting Lyse?"

"Those bastards I incinerated were nothing more than a bunch of murdering, thieving savages." With that Naruko pushed Lyse towards the bar.

"Naruko.. While I can understand wanting to avenge those that they had murdered. Beating them bloody and then lighting them on fire after you covered them in Airship fuel was going over the line. If anything you should have handed them over for punishment seeing as they were a part of the Immortal Flames before their defection." Raubahn said as he moved towards her.

Naruko rolled her eyes and shrugged at the one armed man."And? They killed three children, Raubahn. Three fucking children. Besides… you should know where I picked that little punishment up."

Raubahn let out a sigh "The XIVth."

"Exactly. Heh.. y'know, I still think it's pathetic that the whole reason I got turned on by my so called comrades was because I didn't tell them I was conscripted into the XIVth back when I was fifteen." Naruko spat.

"Naruko..*sigh* we have been over this already we-" Y'shtola attempted to explain only for Naruko to scoff at her.

"Got some intel from a member of the Braves who got it from an unnamed source which in the end turned out to be that bastard Adeledji. Said Intel implied not confirmed but implied I was possibly a Garlean plant as well as some highly embellished documents on my time in service? Funny how I only served for two years before going AWOL. Not that it fucking mattered to you lot!"

"Well maybe if you had told us earlier we would have asked you about it directly. But no, you hid the fact that you once served in the XIVth legion. How in the hells did you think it would go?" Thancred exclaimed from his seat. To be honest he would be lying if he said he couldn't see where she was coming from, but the fact remains that she should have mentioned it.

"Oh? Tell me then Thancred. Did you perhaps think that maybe, maybe I was forcibly conscripted or that perhaps I had no better choice? I did live in Werlyt for five fucking years after that piece of shit over there tried to kill me via throwing me of a damn cliff!" The room quieted down again after that.

"So please, do tell me Thancred, seeing as you were also a thief at one point in your life what would you do in my situation. Seeing as I got caught stealing off Gaius himself, I was given an option. Lose a hand or join the XIVth as a cadet of sorts. I think the choice is obvious."

With a sigh Naruko turned and continued towards the living quarters. "Now if you excuse me, I'm going to go to my room and get out of this tight as fuck armour, have a shower and go to bed." only for her to stop one more time and look towards Kushina "Oh and if you haven't left Eorzea in three days, I will hunt you down. Got that Kaa-san."

And with that Naruko finally left the room.

"Well… that was a clusterfuck and a half." Tataru said as she sat back down on her chair. Only to get up again to stop Nanamo from following Naruko "Nanamo, I wouldn't if I were you."

"And why not?"

Tataru sighed "Just let her get some rest. She's had a really, really long day."

Nanamo looked as if she wanted to argue but in the end her shoulders slumped and she gave a small nod before turning back to Raubahn and Jenlyns "I suppose we should return to Ul'dah then." turning back to Tataru, Nanamo handed her a small envelope "Please give this to her tomorrow… I..I hope it will help her understand why I made that decision."

And with that the party from Ul'dah left.

Tataru glared at the envelope. So what? Nanamo was too afraid to ask Naruko to sit down with her and talk about what had happened? Was she scared that Naruko wouldn't listen or perhaps wouldn't forgive her?

In all honesty she had half a mind to just burn the envelope. But she wouldn't, no she would do as Nanamo asked but after that the Sultana was on her own.

Letting out another sigh she tucked the envelope into her pocket.

This really was a clusterfuck wasn't it?


Hoo boy… That was a lot to take in.

Now I know what you're thinking and yes I'll try to explain some of it here.

1, Yes there will be some characters from Naruto in this and no the Elemental Nations don't exist. Instead the Ninja Villages existed in both Othard and Hingashi with Konoha being a Doman Shinobi village for example.

2, Naruko was a former soldier of the XIVth Legion and was conscripted when she was caught stealing off Gaius van Baelsar during one of his trips to Werlyt. She was placed as a cadet in a Recon unit and defected around a year before the calamity. Why she was given the choice to be conscripted instead of out right punishment is because Gaius was impressed that she was able to steal from him without he or his retinue noticing, as well as the fact that he has a soft spot for kids apparently.

3, Naruko burned four people alive… Yeeah that was kinda out of left field. The reason why she did so is because they were part of a group of ten former members of her Free Company that were Ala Mhigan and they decided to steal the valuables from the Foxes Den. Why they did so is because after the 'Assassination' it was revealed that she was a former soldier of the XIVth and they did it out of revenge. Suffice to say things escalated and it ended with them killing a few of their former comrades as well as three children. Why Naruko set them on fire with Airship Fuel is because I would assume Gaius would've had a pretty harsh punishment for soldiers of the XIVth that needlessly murdered civilians/comrades/children. She essentially decided to amp it up to a hundred.

4, As to the situation with Nanamo and why she was dressed as a member of the Sultansworn it's simple. Listening to Naruko's stories inspired her to learn how to defend herself out of a desire to both one day go on an adventure with Naruko as well as to be more active in her position in the Alliance, in other words she was tired of being 'useless' in her opinion and asked/demanded Papashan to train her in the ways of the Paladin so she could fight alongside her fellow Eorzeans instead of taking the back seat. But that being said there is also another reason as to why she will insist on learning how to fight, what that reason is will be revealed later but trust me, it's... well it's gonna make thinks interesting and let's leave it at that.

So yes she will be at the Seige of Ala Mhigo and the Battle of the Ghimlyt Dark with a unit or two of the Sultansworn. As well as a few more battles during the Stormblood arc *hint hint*

And as for Naruko's apparent anger towards her… well, let's just say she made a decision that put her at odds with her. And while they are still very much together their relationship is strained because of it. Though something I have planned will make a certain part of the Stormblood arc more... interesting.

And with that I'm done. Stay safe people.