A/N: EDIT: Yeesh, trolls really pounced on this chapter. Not sure why. T_T

Suppose I should end this soon, which is a shame, given that I had another arc all planned out.

*sigh* T_T

Please read this note, would you kindly?

Gotten a little delayed by the holidays, sorry about that.

As ever, we're still following the Ember's Rule here, folks.

If readers don't like this, it'll be deleted. Poof! Gone! Every bit of feedback helps. That's no joke. I simply can't write without it. That truth still holds true here. So by all means speak up! Make yourself heard! Your feedback matters! I cannae write without them!

No questions this time! I'll let the chapter to do the talking for me! Hell, it practically shouts!

AS EVER I own no quotes, references, memes or themes. Not a wit or a one!

Bit of a timeskip here of oh...three days or so. Don't mind me~!

"What need have we of Order? Let there be Chaos!"

Salem, no. Bad girl. Don't even think about it.

What will you do, spank me?"

...if that's what it takes."

"No! You wouldn't!"

"Try me!"

~?

Legacy

Naruto woke to tangled feet and satin sheets.

"Anybody get the number of that dragon? Feels like I got run over by one...?"

Bleary eyes blinked against the morning sunlight; struggling to make sense of where he was, much less how he'd wound up here. Memories trickled back through the haze of a hangover. Right. He remembered celebrating Salem's return. Three days and three nights of continuous revelry. Say what you would about the God of Darkness and his choice of decor, but the bastard threw wild parties.

"That's not the only thing that's been thrown...

Through the bleary haze of sleep he vaguely felt the warmth of a woman's body nestled against his. A quick glance confirmed pale hair and paler skin tucked into him. Still clothed, thank the Sage. That wasn't a leap he was ready to make quite yet. This was still too surreal for him. Since her unlikely revival, Salem was fixed on one thing, and one thing alone. It wasn't what one might think.

Cuddling.

He tried to move, only to find her arms wrapped firmly around his waist. Further attempts to extricate himself drew a weak wine from her.

"Noooo...don't leave me...

She'd not left his side since her resurrection; not that he could blame her. Death wasn't for the faint of heart, and while her memories were still intact, it quickly became quite clear that she hadn't emerged unscathed from the ordeal. He didn't want to call it clingy, but she certainly wasn't as timid now...

Heaving a sigh, he plopped back down among the pillows and resigned himself to his fate.

He'd been forced to admit that their relationship was...evolving. He'd raised Salem as his daughter to be sure, but with her relentless advances it was more and more difficult to see her as such. Like it or not, she'd grown up. Thing had changed.

So had he.

On a whim, the wayward warrior raised his right arm. Even days after his transformation, he still expected to see healthy, tan flesh. Instead he gazed upon a red riot of veins scrawling across his palm limb. He could see them now, pulsing in unison with his heart. A tiny shudder shook him, bu the didn't lower his limb. He knew the rest of him had been likewise changed and it...frightened him. More than he cared to admit.

"Its fine." he muttered, curling his fingers into a fist. "Everything is fine...

It was not. His time in the pool had changed him, and that change was more than skin deep. Devouring the God of Light only compounded it. There was a hunger inside him these days, a gnawing urge that hadn't existed before, an almost overpowering desire to do...something. He couldn't discern what it was, only its existence. Power coursed through him, more than he knew what to do with. Like he could unmake the world itself, bend time to his whims, do the impossible. How much power was too much power?

He would deal with it, just as he'd dealt with everything else. But the knowledge humbled him all the same.

His Humanity was a small price to pay for Salem's life. He'd happily give up his soul if it meant she could live in peace.

Kurama offered a low hum. "Oho?"

It was then that Naruto knew he'd truly lost.

If she had wormed her way into his heart before, then now she'd truly put down roots. He couldn't live without her. It frightened him.

"I am not me." he forced his fingers to unclench and let his arm fall back to his side. "But I have to be. I'll live with this if I have to."

Salem shifted against him. Just an inch. Just a hair. It was enough. Naruto's gaze narrowed.

"Oi." an elbow prodded her "I know you're awake. There's no point in pretending."

A blood red eye creaked open, framed by darkness. "Do you regret it?"

He frowned, puzzled. "Regret what?"

"Becoming this." she lifted her head and set her chin on his chest, the better to look him in the eye. "You made yourself a monster for my sake." her gaze flitted away. "If not for me you wouldn't be-

His hand flitted out to seize hers and reeled her back in. "Nope."

Now it was Salem's turn to blink. "I beg your pardon?"

"I said nope. As in negative. Don't regret a thing."

And that was the truth. He didn't regret the action that had led them to this month. These last few years had been the happiest he'd had in ages. Sure there were up and downs, but that was life. Nothing was perfect. You had to fight for what you wanted in this world.

"What do we do now, then?" she rolled over onto his chest and sprawled there. "Did we win? It feels like we've won."

Naruto's mouth went dry for all the wrong reasons. Heat hit his cheeks as her breasts pushed down within her gown. Worse, it wasn't even intentional on her part; Salem hadn't a clue. Purity was a powerful thing, even for someone who claimed to be anything but.

She stroked his arm. "Eternity is painful, isn't it?"

"Not if I spend it with you."

...The God of Light is gone, surely." she pressed, heat rising in her pale cheeks. "You slew him."

"Hey now," he protested, "We don't know that for sure...

"Even if he isn't, you ripped his power form him." a pale finger jabbed his chest. "You're a God now. Aren't you? The God of Darkness said so."

The words stung, even if he didn't care to admit it. "...don't much feel like a god."

"Is that so?" Her head butted against his, bringing the faint scent of lavender with it. "No fire and brimstone? " he caught the ghost of a smile playing on her lips. "No burning desire to preach to us mortals?"

His lips quirked in a faint smile. "You're hardly mortal. You came back from the dead."

"Smooth talker." she made a little girlish sound and rolled over again -thank the Sage!- to tuck herself into his side. "We can do whatever we want, now." she shivered a little against him. "We're finally free. The God of Darkness is our ally. Who can stop us?"

Naruto worried his lip, recalling the forlorn god and his words. "He's afraid of me."

"Good."

"Good?" His brow shot into his hairline. "How is that a good thing?"

"Maybe he should be afraid." she clicked her tongue, sounding every bit like the child she still was at heart. "He and his brother started all this nonsense, like two children squabbling over their toys. Maybe they needed someone, someone like you, to break them up." The weight of her words hit her a moment later and she deflated. "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. I suppose I'm just tired...

She snuggled into his side. For a moment, there was silence.

But only for a moment.

"I want to deal with my father."

"Him?" Naruto perked up. "The old man in the tower? He's been sending letters again. And men."

"Has he?" Salem looked up at him, idly twining one leg within his. "I was aware of the latter, we killed those, but the former...?"

He gained nothing by lying. "Ignored the first few missives, started burning the rest. "Something along the lines of, " he coughed and feigned a deep voice. "Return my daughter to me at once, or I shall see you suffer, or; return what is mine, lest ye be cursed. That sort of thing.

They both snickered.

"I suppose he could try to curse us...not that it would work." a ruby red eye regarded him. "We're already cursed."

Naruto rolled his own. "Oh yes, woe be unto us. Whatever will we do?"

"Ha!" Salem smacked his chest. "Such a burden." she tutted. "He still needs to be dealt with before he become a threat." She traced a finger on his ribs in slow circles. "Be it by words or violence. No doubt he thinks he can win me back now that I'm a dark priestess." her tone told him just what she thought of that. He felt her magic shift restlessly in the air, heralding a surge.

...you really do feel strongly about this, don't you-ow!" his laughter piqued as the tracing became a pinch. "Alright, alright! Calm down."

A growl pierced the air. "He made me feel like nothing before I met you. He dies."

"I get that...you just might not like the results."

"Then I will live with them." She muttered something and buried her head in his hair. "Don't move. You're warm." Silence stretched between them anew before she managed to marshal her courage. "Have you ever given thought to the future?"

His heart lurched.

"Sometimes. What did you have in mind."

"A family." Had she a tail, it would be wagging. "Four girls would be nice."

Naruto's mind ground to a screeching hat. "Isn't a little too soon ta' talk about that?!"

"Then just...just hold me for now."

Salem drew him down into her arms; at such close proximity he could feel her trembling.

...are you sure you want this? You don't have to-

"Yes," she spoke quickly, voice breaking a little. "This is what I want. More than anything."

He pulled her into his embrace.

(.0.0.0.)

Naruto wasn't much used -or suited!- to leading an army.

A silver tongue he might well have, but god or no, he wasn't a general. He wasn't a master tactician. And he certainly wasn't a leader of men.

Perhaps, had he stayed in his world, he might well have become some of these things in time. When he'd devoured Light, he had been gifted a glimpse of such a possible future. Hokage, leader of the Leaf, loving husband and father of two. It would have been a good life, for the most part. The vision had been faint, indistinct, blurry, but it felt like it would've been a good life...

.

..

...

Until Kurama died. That part came through crystal clear.

"Still can't believe that so-called God. Bastard got one last jab in at us. What was so bad that we had to use Baryon Mode?"

Naruto shivered a little.

He didn't know, and frankly, he didn't want to. Thankfully that future was long gone. Whatever came to pass in his world would do so without him. Besides, he'd never put much stock in prophecy. Never had. Never would in a million years. He believed in his friends. They could handle this.

You see, Naruto understood now.

Time -and parenthood!- had granted him a unique understanding. In the beginning he'd longed to return to his world. Not for his sake, but Salem's. He'd hoped for it, prayed for it, wished for it even. Back then, he longed to bring her to his world, to show her the wonders of his village and its people, in the hopes that she would be accepted there, just as he had been.

But in the end, that had proven a pipe dream. There was no way back. None he knew of, at any rate.

Salem needed him here, and Naruto knew could no sooner return to his world without her than he could cast off what he'd become.

He had a duty here now. Great power. And with great power, came great responsibility. He held to those words these days, even in his darker moments. Salem was his responsibility. Whatever happened to her, whoever she became, he would not forsake her. The pool of Darkenss might have done much to him, but he was still himself.

And he never went back on his word.

"Naruto?"

A pale hand tugged at his sleeve, as a little girl had done once, so long ago.

For a moment, just a moment, he saw that girl again. His little Devil. The outcast he'd taken under his wing, now a powerful sorceress in her own right. It filled his heart with pride. Even if she wasn't a child anymore, even if things didn't work out between them, he'd always look after her. And if that meant thrashing anyone who wanted to harm her? Well! He'd fought gods and monsters. He wasn't afraid of some cowardly king, let alone this so-called Father of Salem.

Now that he thought about it, he had a few choice words for the bastard...

His mount shifted restlessly beneath him, reminding him of another sacrifice he'd made. Why did he have to ride a blasted horse? Blasted black stallion. Salem insisted it would make him look regal before the troops, but it made him feel foolish all the same. He was dismounting this accursed beast first chance he got. But for now?

Naruto raised his staff. "Forward!"

An army roared behind him.

And they went to war.

A/N: And there we go.

As ever, we're following the Ember's Rule here.

If folks don't like this, it'll be deleted. Poof! Gone! Every bit of feedback helps. I simply can't write without it. That truth still holds true here. So by all means speak up! Make yourself heard! Your feedback matters! I cannae write without them! That's not a joke. Looking forward to your feedback/chatting with you all! No review is too large or too small! Thank you all! By all means, speak up!

Make yourself heard! Because silence, silence only hurts.

So In the Immortal Words of Atlas...

...Review, Would You Kindly?

BEWARE THE PREVIEWS!

(Preview)

"Are you seriously planning on leaving? You can't! Your people need you!"

"Perhaps they did, once." The God of Darkness was silent for a long moment. "But nothing lasts forever."

"Uh, hello? God, remember! You DO last forever! Its on the tin!"

"I will miss your wit, my night." he considered the sky. "There is blood on my hands, and guilt has gnawed at my heart for too long. I must atone for what I have done."

"My departure would not be eternal, and my gifts would remain. More than that, I would leave Relics to aid you, that which you might summon be back if the need arises...

"Bad idea! VERY bad idea!"

"What do you propose then? The world is at peace? What need has it of me?"

The King in the Broken Tower sent an envoy out to meet them, of course.

Foolish kings always do.

"You...can't...win!"

"I already have."

"Is there anything so undoing, as love?"

"Would you forsake her if it meant returning to your world?"

R&R~!