What's up people? I'm just a little bastard of a person aren't I? I mean, I left you guys with this massive cliff hanger and then I got sucked into the biggest part of the semester and I haven't even been able to look at any of my stories for the last couple of months. Either way. The semester is over and now I have some (less than I would like but more than before) time to get back into writing since now I'm fully moved into my new place, moving is an absolute bitch. Hopefully the wait will be worth it. We'll be moving pretty quickly with the story now and I think in the timeline we are just at the point where Lucy joins Fairy Tail, just for reference for those that were curious.

Edit: Months turned into a year and a half really fast. I'm incredibly sorry about this guys and at the end of the chapter I have a more detailed apology to all of my fans that have stuck with me, over 2,000 of you magnificent bastards are still with me. I cannot tell you how much that means to me that so many of you have enjoyed my story so much that you've stuck around. Hopefully having this story being updated again and more frequently will be a suitable apology to you all.

Quick recap since this story has been on an unofficial hiatus: Naruto came to Earthland after a clash with Sasuke at the Valley of the End. He was trained by a wind dragon and eventually killed the dragon. Naruto then roamed Earthland doing random odd jobs and meeting familiar faces along the way before he ended up at the Castle of Fiore. During his stay he traveled to Bosco to help them with a vampire threat and once he returned he gathered dangerous magical lacrima and learned a taste of what the real world was like through the shady doors of background politics. The last chapter had him fighting his master who had staged a secret revolt against the King at the Kingdom's darkest hour. Now enjoy the chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Fairy Tail in any way, shape and or form and this will not change since the legal rights to these manga's are wrapped up tighter than Fort Knox.


Chapter 18: A Lesson Learned

(Mercurius: Main Hall)

"Did you feel that Hisui-hime?"

Hisui looked down at her father and gave him a slight nod as she looked around the massive hall of her home. It almost felt like aftershocks from an earthquake but that was impossible, there had never been an earthquake near Mercurius in the history of Fiore. "I'm sure it was nothing father. What did you want to talk with me about?"

While it wasn't uncommon for her father to seek her out randomly in the day to speak with her, the timing of this particular meeting seemed rather poor. With everything going on it didn't really seem appropriate that she should be taking time away from her father, there must have been far more important things that he could be doing with his time.

The short man sighed heavily before he started speaking. "Are you aware where this country stands at this very moment?" Receiving a small nod from the girl, the King continued. "We are a hair's breadth from open conflict between the castle and the peasant class. At this point it merely comes down to whenever the rebel army decides to begin the conflict."

Hisui knew her father, even the idea of open conflict with his own people was enough to make him sick. He had tried everything to calm the masses but to no avail. But despite all of that and all of his councilors' advice, he refused to be the one that started the bloodshed. He would exhaust every single option as long as the fragile peace remained intact and every second that passed was precious to Toma. Which was preciously why Hisui didn't understand him wasting time idly chatting with her. "From what Naruto-kun tells me there is nothing that we can do but weather the storm for now until a better solution reveals itself. But I must ask father, why are you here with me? Not that I mind, it's just that I'm sure you are needed elsewhere."

Toma turned and gave his daughter a smile. So young but so bright, given time she would no doubt become a great ruler. Being able to give her that time though was precisely the thing he was worried about and the reason he was here, to give her every chance she could get at receiving that time. "You would be surprised Hisui-chan, there is not much left to do except wait for more news. But more importantly, there is something that you can do to aid the Kingdom in this upcoming conflict."

Hisui looked at her father with curiosity, not at all aware of anything of value that she could contribute. Seeing her interest, Toma continued. "Appearances are everything in this world, especially in the world of politics. You know this well my dear. We need to appear as powerful of a dynasty as any other that will most certainly be able to weather the storm that is coming. Unfortunately, a rather diminutive in stature King with no male heir does not inspire much confidence at home or abroad for the survival of this dynasty. We need to fix that."

Hisui gave a weak nod of understanding as she swallowed a lump in her throat. She had always been subconsciously aware that as a King, having only a daughter was problematic to say the very least. Now one of the many reasons why this was problematic was slapping them in the face. A political marriage was far from uncommon among royalty, she had even expected it for a long time. But that was before Naruto had arrived at the castle, now… she couldn't even fathom a political marriage to someone she didn't know.

Toma pushed on with the topic, either not seeing Hisui's discomfort or completely ignoring it. "Believe me when I say this, I am as opposed to this more than anyone but we have little choice, Fiore needs to have a clear heir to the throne, especially during a civil war. Preferably one that is strong in mind and combat and someone that the people can one day trust."

Hisui lowered her head as she gave a quiet confirmation to her father that she was still listening to him. The pain in her chest felt like it was going to tear her to pieces if she didn't let it out somehow. But she knew she couldn't. She was the princess of Fiore, the only heir to the throne by blood and she had to do her duty for her family and her country, no matter the personal pain she would have to suffer.

"It will have to be done quickly as well to cement it, we won't have time once the war begins, within a fortnight to be safe."

So soon? What was she going to tell Naruto? How could she even look him in the eye and tell him what was about to happen? The thought of the look of betrayal he would give her was enough to make her want to die.

"Boruto said he was busy with some last minute defensive measures for the castle so he was unable to tell Naruto ahead of time. I do not believe that you will have any issues telling Naruto yourself of your betrothal? He will have to learn the ceremony quickly so to not make a complete fool of himself."

Hisui's heart plunged deeper at that, she would have to be the one to tell him? Did her father not even realize how cruel he was being? Did his years of being alone deprive him of any basic sense of decen- wait, why would Naruto have to learn any of the parts of the ceremony? "Umm, father, why would Naruto-kun have to learn the ceremony?"

Toma looked at his little girl in surprise for asking what he saw as a foolish question. "You can't very well have the groom not understand how to act during a royal wedding, it would be a complete embarrassment if that happened."

Hisui's mind shut down temporarily as she processed her father's words. Groom? Naruto was meant to be the groom at her wedding? She was almost afraid to verify if she heard her father correctly but she had to make sure. "Father, are you saying Naruto is meant to be my husband?"

"Of course, who else could I possibly mean? I am certainly not ecstatic about it and you certainly won't be consummating the marriage any time soon. But the boy has proven his loyalty and strength more than a dozen times over. The overall populace adores him. the story of essentially a bastard child from an unknown land being taken in by the Kingdom, taught under one of the most powerful mages of Fiore, falling in love with the princess who returns his love, it almost writes itself. But more importantly, they trust him. They see him as one of their own, he has proven to care for them over this last year, more so than anyone else in this castle I'm sad to say. He not only has the strength of character and will to see us through this civil war but he might be the key to bridge the differences between us and the rebels. As far as the political world is concerned, marrying him is a no brainer, and I have it on good authority that the princess may have a crush on the lad."

That wasn't all of the reasons but Hisui didn't need to know about some of the other things stewing behind the scenes, this outcome was far more favorable than the other proposed option, at least for her. More importantly however was the fact that if Naruto would marry Hisui it would be all but impossible to separate them during the war. There were only a few people that he trusted to keep his daughter safe from what was about to happen and Naruto was on the top of that list and to Toma, keeping Hisui safe was all that mattered.

"OUT OF THE WAY! CLEAR A PATH! MOVE!"

Hisui and her father turned around to look at the commotion and saw one of the members on Naruto's team, Doranbolt, holding what appeared to be a bloody mass in his arms.

Hisui's eyes widened in horror as she recognized the bleeding mass in Doranbolt's arms as none other than the man her father and herself were discussing only moments ago. Her mouth opened in an attempt to scream but no sound came out, it was as if she were a petrified statue locked in a pose of terror.

Next to her the King was in a similar state, shocked into a state of silence. But unlike his daughter, the King did not have a look of fear on his face but one of pure anger. The possibilities flying through his mind of what this could mean. Did the rebels already attack and if so, how did they manage to do this kind of damage to someone of Naruto's ability? They were only supposed to be ragtag group of the lowest classes banding together, there wasn't supposed to be anyone of this caliber among their forces.

Doranbolt made a quick scan of the room as he tried to catch his breath, this many jumps in quick succession while dragging another person behind him took a massive drain on his already lower than average reserves. Before he braced himself for his next jump, his eyes landed on the King and the princess, both of them staring at him with different expressions.

Doranbolt grit his teeth and turned away as he made the jump, he couldn't waste any time trying to explain what had happened, he could feel Naruto fading with each passing second. But that look that princess had given him, that look of pure horror. If Naruto didn't pull through that look would haunt him till the end of his days.

The room seemed to be frozen as Doranbolt left just as quickly as he came. No one moved until Hisui took a hesitant step forward. Then another and another until she reached the spot that Doranbolt had been before he had left. Hisui hesitantly knelt down and her shaky hand hovered above the pool of blood that had gathered on the floor.

Doranbolt had only been holding Naruto there for three seconds max but there was so much blood. How could there be so much blood? What had happened to him?

"Hisui-hime…" a soft voice came behind her.

Hisui didn't turn around to look at her father, she just continued staring at the pool of blood with an undiscernible look of disbelief on her face. "How can there be so much blood? He was only here for a few seconds but there's still so much…"

Hisui's voice grew soft as her sentence trailed off to the point that Toma could not hear her any longer. His expression grew soft as he realized that the poor girl was going into shock at what she just witnessed. She was a sweet girl but strong at the same time, she knew what the real world was capable of but knowing and seeing were two very different things. Toma had tried to do his absolute best to keep her sheltered from the horrors that this world was capable of. But if Naruto was to be the first casualty of this war he certainly wouldn't be the last, she would have to grow accustomed to this sort of sight, as depressing as that thought was.

"Hisui-hime".

The girl didn't respond to her father as she mumbled to herself. Toma raised his voice slightly to try and stir the girl from her self-induced shock. "Hisui-hime".

Still nothing, it appeared being gentle would not work on her. "Hisui-hime!" He all but shouted at her.

That got her attention as she visibly jumped at the shout and turned to look at her father with tears in her eyes. The sight nearly broke his heart but Toma pushed forward. "Doranbolt-kun was taking Naruto-kun to the infirmary, I would not lose hope too quickly, the lad is strong, and I would be surprised if something like this was capable of killing him. Go to the infirmary, he'll need you soon enough, I'll handle things here."

Fighting back a sob, Hisui gave her father a short nod before she took off towards the infirmary, her lithe form carrying her as fast as it could.

Toma watched her leave with a frown on his face. While the boy was strong, the wounds he had seen were grievous. A hole in his chest and nearly missing all of the skin on his body from what he could see. Did he even want to know what the boy had been put through to receive that extensive of damage?

The King stood in that spot in the hall contemplating what he would do next, he needed to find Boruto and let him know what had happened. He would gather the council as well, it appeared the timetable had been pushed up by a significant amount.

The murmurs around the halls by the bystanders turned to gasps one by one until Toma finally took notice of the change in his surroundings. Muttering to himself about what else could happen today he turned around to see the one sight he never thought he would see.

His longtime advisor and best friend in chains being escorted by the rest of Naruto's team and Arcadios. The man had seen better days as his form was battered and bruised all over, his clothes were tattered and torn and he too was bleeding, but what seemed to be more superficial wounds compared to the life threatening ones that Naruto had.

Anger welled up in Toma's small form for the second time today as he looked at the small procession. The group walked up to the King and stopped just in front of him and waited for the small man to speak. Through gritted teeth, Toma barely growled out a question. "What is the meaning of this!?"

Arcadios seemed unfazed by the King's anger as he answered the question. "By the power given to me by his majesty, I have placed Boruto Raitoningu under arrest for the crimes of high treason, conspiracy against the crown and in the attempt of murder of a member of the Royal Court."

Sweat rolled down Toma's face as Arcadios listed off each count of criminal activity that his best friend had supposedly committed. High treason? Conspiracy? Attempted murder of a member of the Royal Court? Naruto… Boruto did that to Naruto. Oh no…

Still, he needed to hear it from Boruto himself, he had to give the man at least the chance to defend himself. "Boruto-kun, please tell me he is horribly mistaken."

Boruto in turn stared into Toma's eyes with a look the short man had never seen before, pure contempt and disdain. "Toma, your stupidity and weak-willed nature has run this country into the ground and it's about to break. My plan was the only possible way to prevent this civil war from escalating but that fool of an apprentice I have was too blinded by his love for your miserable brat to see it. Now this country will be bathed in the blood of its citizens. Their blood is on your hands your majesty."

Toma wanted to scream, he wanted to shout and above all he wanted attack his advisor. The implications of what he was saying were vast and all but confirmed his guilt in the King's eyes. But regardless of the anger that was in his system he couldn't let himself be blinded. He needed to be rid of Boruto until he could calm down enough to figure this out. There was still a way to use this, he just needed to figure out how. "Take this traitor out of my sight, I want him guarded around the clock, no one is to see him except for myself, am I clear?"

A series of nods came from Lahar and Kama before they began hauling Boruto off to the prison quarter of the castle. Toma turned to Arcadios and all but snapped at the knight who was still standing in front of him. "Well, what is it? What else do you want?"

Arcadios's voice was calm and collected, not at all letting the events of the day interfere with his duties to the Kingdom. "There is something that I must show you, it involved Boruto's plan to overthrow the Crown."

Toma closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As much as he didn't want to do this right now, this was something that had to be dealt with immediately. "Very well, lead the way."


(Abyss Palace)

Toma followed Arcadios through the winding tunnels that were known as the Abyss Palace until they came to a large cavern that served as Boruto's command center. Toma scanned the area and was shocked at the devastation that was before him. A battle between two top tier mages was certainly something to fear, to think humans were capable of such power.

Then Toma's eyes landed on a large monitor connected to what appeared to be a pulsating power source. The scale of this machine was huge and even he could feel the power radiating off of this machine. How Boruto had managed to complete something this massive in scale and was able to hide its very existence this entire time was baffling. He had given the man far too much freedom it appeared, the problem with friendship he supposed. "So this was Boruto's master plan then?"

Arcadios gave a nod before turning towards his king. "Yes, he planned to use this device to remotely control the Magic Council's super weapon and use it to destroy the castle, killing everyone not within this chamber."

Toma had a grim look on his as he digested that bit of information. If Boruto had succeeded everyone would have been wiped out and there wouldn't have been a damn thing they could have done about it. "Did you manage to get a recording of any of the parts before they fought?"

Once again Arcadios nodded before he grabbed a small gem on the front of his armor that was actually a recording lacrima. The small device had become standard issue for any active duty knight in an attempt to bridge the gap between the common folk by making the knights of the Kingdom more accountable for their actions. "I arrived with Naruto-san's team just as they were beginning their conversation, I believe I recorded the entire encounter."

"Good, play it. I want to see this before anyone else."

And Arcadios did play the footage. Toma watched with a straight face as Boruto discussed the motivation for this planned rebellion. As the conversation continued, it seemed more and more likely that Naruto would join his former master as the young man seemingly agreed with everything the elder mage said.

Then everything became clear to the King as Boruto told Naruto he would have to let Hisui die. No matter what he thought of the boy, the one thing he could not deny was that he truly loved his little girl and would do anything to protect her. As it turned out, his love for the princess was the only thing that had stopped this coup from taking place. "That's enough Arcadios, I've seen everything I need to."

Arcadios nodded and put the small lacrima away before looking back at his king. "What now my liege?"

Toma took a deep breath as he stared at the machine that nearly killed him and everyone else in the castle. "There will be a trial held within the day. We will send out every courier that we have and get word to every corner of the Kingdom of Boruto's treachery. It will be an open trial, everyone will be allowed to witness. Make sure the guild masters of every guild are present, as well as the Magic Council. We can still salvage this situation, perhaps we can prevent this civil war yet, if only barely."

Arcadios gave a stiff nod of acknowledgement before he too turned to the machine. "And what of this abomination?"

"Have it guarded 24/7 until the Magic Council arrives. I want them to examine the machine and make sure nothing like this can be built again. We can't have rouges being able to take control of our most powerful weapons on a whim. Once they fix the errors in the weapon I want this thing dismantled and destroyed."

After giving his orders, Toma turned to go back into the main parts of the castle, he needed to coordinate with the rest of his advisors to try and make the best of this situation.

"Your Majesty, wait!"

Toma turned around to look at Arcadios who for the first time since this all happened had apprehension on his face. "What is it Arcadios-kun?"

Arcadios hesitated before he eventually steeled himself and brought out the recording lacrima once again. "During the fight… there's something that you should see before anyone else gets ahold of this. It is… disturbing to say the least."

Toma had a horrible feeling in his stomach as Arcadios held out the lacrima with uncertainty. If everything else today wasn't disturbing for the young knight, then whatever was within that lacrima must have been downright demonic to get this type of reaction from the young man. With a nod, Toma gave his approval to play it. "Go ahead then, get this over with."


(Mercurius: Medical Wing)

Hisui stopped to catch her breath just outside the doors of the infirmary. Taking a few deep breaths, Hisui pushed on the doors and made her way into the waiting room where she saw Doranbolt sitting on one of the benches, his face in his hands. He was still wearing the same clothes she had seen him in when he was carrying Naruto, the front of the outfit now turned completely red from the dried blood.

"Doranbolt-san… how is Naruto?"

Her gentle voice seemingly snapped the young man out of his own thoughts as he turned and whipped his head up and looked at the beautiful young woman. Hisui looked at Doranbolt's face and saw the mix of emotions. Worry was the prominent feature but something that Hisui didn't expect was there, an abundance of guilt resided over his face. Why would he feel any sort of guilt? What had happened to Naruto?

Doranbolt seemed to collect himself and tried to speak with an even voice, well, as even as he could muster after just rushing his team leader to the infirmary with life threatening injuries. "I… I don't know. The doctors and medical mages have him now, they're doing everything they can. They said we'll know in a few hours."

Hisui gave a meek nod as she searched for more words. Despite Naruto's best efforts, Hisui was still incredibly shy around Naruto's teammates and wasn't exactly sure how to speak with them without him there. "Can… can I go see him?"

Doranbolt shook his head in the negative while giving the girl an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, he's in surgery and probably will be for quite some time. No one can see him until they're done."

Hisui's heart dropped a little at that, expecting the answer but still hoping regardless. Knowing she wouldn't be leaving until she saw Naruto, Hisui carefully sat down on one of the benches a small distance away from Doranbolt. Not so she was out of talking distance but far enough away to preserve her comfort bubble.

Looking back at Doranbolt, Hisui couldn't help but stare at his shirt that was completely soaked with her love's blood. "Doranbolt-san, tell me, what happened to Naruto-kun?"

He looked at the girl for a moment, debating with himself as to what he should all tell her. Eventually he decided on the entire truth since Naruto would tell her when he recovered. Because he would most certainly recover. He had to recover. That's what Doranbolt kept telling himself or else he wouldn't be able to live with the guilt of not jumping in and helping Naruto when he needed him the most.

"He was fighting Raitoningu. That bastard betrayed us, all of us. He planned on using the Magic Council's superweapon to kill everyone within Mercurius. Raitoningu tried to recruit Naruto to aid him but Naruto refused and the two fought. It was leagues above anything we were capable of so we just watched. I never knew Naruto was so strong when he fully cut loose."

Hisui took the information, finding it hard to believe that someone as kind as Boruto was planning on killing everyone at the castle, including herself. Then Hisui caught attention of one word in particular that didn't make much sense to her. "We?"

"Ah, yea. Myself, Kama, Lahar and Arcadios were looking for Naruto and we eventually found him when he was confronting Raitoningu."

Hisui stored that tiny bit of information away for later before he refocused on Doranbolt. "I see, please continue."

Doranbolt shrugged at her request as he spoke. "There really isn't much else to say. The two of them fought and in the end Raitoningu won. Naruto had him dead to rights but couldn't bring himself to deliver the killing blow. Raitoningu had no issues with it and put a bolt of lightning into Naruto's chest. That's when we stepped in and arrested him and I brought Naruto here."

The thought of Naruto nearly being killed brought tears to Hisui's eyes. She wasn't that familiar with magic but she knew enough to know that a bolt of lightning being shot through someone's chest was more than enough to kill someone. But even with Doranbolt's explanation she couldn't figure out how he had lost all of his skin. That kind of damage would come from burns, not electricity. The only time she had seen something like that was when used it's power…

"Doranbolt-san, tell me. Did Naruto-kun use his demon's power?"

Shock washed over Doranbolt's face as he looked at the innocent princess ask him something that in all other circumstances should have been absurd. But she was dead serious with her question, she had somehow found out about something that he had only recently stumbled onto. "You know?" He choked out.

Hisui gave a nod and a small smile came to her face despite the situation. "Mmhmm. I've known for a long time now. He told me just before we officially got together. I've been helping him try to control it ever since. Whenever he tries to use too much of its power it burns him like now. But before he only used that much power for a few seconds, I cannot imagine how long he had to use it for it to do that much damage. He didn't have any skin left."

Doranbolt looked at the floor as guilt hit him full force once again. Maybe if they had stepped in before it got to that point he wouldn't have had to go to such lengths. No matter how illogical it was, he would always blame himself for everything that happened to Naruto.

Hisui read the look on Doranbolt's face in a much different context and nearly shouted at him as she tried to amend what she had implied. "Naruto didn't choose this power!" The moment she said it she instantly covered her mouth as her cheeks became flush with embarrassment.

Doranbolt looked up at the usually reserved princess with surprise in his eyes, not at all expecting the outburst. "What?"

Realizing that she couldn't exactly backpedal now, Hisui explained as much as she could without telling too much of Naruto's past, it was his story to tell after all, and that right didn't belong to her. In a much calmer voice, Hisui explained. "Naruto-kun didn't choose to have that demon placed within him. It was sealed there when he was only a baby. The village he was born in turned him into a weapon for their own reasons, he had no say in the matter. Don't blame Naruto for something that he had no control over, all he can do is try and maintain control of the demon so it doesn't control him."

Doranbolt didn't say anything at the new information, merely taking it in and becoming lost in his thoughts. Hisui as well decided not to continue the conversation and turned to her internal thoughts as the minutes ticked past. Her thoughts moving from Naruto's well-being to Boruto's betrayal and what all of this would mean in the bigger picture as the strenuous peace teetered on a needle tip.

Minutes turned to hours as Hisui and Doranbolt sat in silence and waited for the medical staff to work their magic. Eventually Kama and Lahar made their way to the Medical Wing and took up spots next to Doranbolt, informing him of what had passed in his absence. Even Arcadios made an appearance to express his regret over the situation before quickly leaving.

Six hours went by before one of the medical mages made their way into the waiting room with an exhausted look on his face. Seeing the mage there, Hisui quickly left her seat and made her way over to him. "How is Naruto-kun?"

With a heavy sigh the man began pulling off his gloves before speaking. "He's stable now. It was touch and go for a while but we believe he'll pull through. He'll be bedridden for some time as to not aggravate his wounds but he should make a full recovery. I have to say though, if it wasn't for that natural healing ability of his he wouldn't have even made it to the operating table. If it was anyone else he wouldn't have made it. You can see him now."

Hisui's eyes lit up at the doctor's words and rushed past him. When she made it to his room, she saw that he was covered in bandages from head to toe, the only thing that she could distinguish that let her know it was her Naruto was the spikey blond hair that was jutting out between the bandages and his bright blue eyes that were staring at the wall.

"Oh Naruto-kun…"

Naruto's head slowly shifted towards the door and looked at the stunning girl in the door frame and even with everything that had happened, all of his injuries and internal struggles aside, just looking at her, standing there safe and unhurt, reinforced in his mind that he had made the right decision. He regretted nothing. "Hisui-hime…"

Hisui wanted to jump over to him and crush him in a hug, hours of worrying and pent up emotions threatened to spill over but she held it back in fear of hurting him more if she just jumped on him. Instead she walked over to his bed and gently brushed her fingers against his bandaged hand. "I was so worried about you. When I saw you in Doranbolt-san's arms… you were bleeding so much… I've never seen someone bleed that much."

Naruto felt a wetness on his arm and looked up to see Hisui's face, tears freely falling as if the dam had finally been broken. There was nothing holding back the flood gates as the tears continued to flow from her eyes. "I… I thought you were going to die. You were in surgery for so long, Doranbolt was covered in so much blood. I was so scared."

It was hard for him to see her like this as she spoke through the sobs. She was crying because of him and that wasn't something that he ever wanted. But another part of him was happy. It was a deeply selfish part of him and he knew that but it still made him happy. Seeing just how much she cared about him made all the difference in the world.

"Shh Hisui-hime, you don't need to cry. I'm here, I'm alive. Please don't be sad. I don't want to see your tears because of me."

The tears continued to fall from the beautiful girl's face but now a smile showed through the tears. A smile that was directed at him. Tentatively, Naruto reached one of his bandaged hands up to massage her cheek, hers tears soaking into the white cloth. "You mean everything to me. I promise you, no matter what, I'll always come back to you. Come hell or high water, no matter how long it takes or what I have to do, I will always come back to you."

With his other hand, he gently intertwined it with hers' and brought her slowly onto the bed. Not removing his hand from her glistening cheek, he guided the greenette into his still healing body, not caring for the pain that danced across his skin at the touch of her body against the thin bandages wrapped around his damaged skin. The pain that his body felt was nothing compared to the pain that was inflicted upon his heart when he watched the woman he loved cry.

Nothing else was said as the two sat in each other's embrace. Naruto felt the girl nestle the crown of her head into the crook of his neck. He still felt the girl sob, the vibrations wracking his body with tiny tremors of pain. He ignored the pain in favor of the damp feeling running down his cheeks. He made no motion wipe away his own tears, opting to draw the girl closer to himself while resting his chin atop her head.

With the weight of the previous day's events and the emotional weight that came from the girl in his lap, Naruto let his eyes shut, a small stream still coming from his now closed eyes. He could feel the heat coming from his love in his arms, the only source of comfort that he could take in anything that had happened.

His grip tightened around her as he swore to himself. He would never let anything happen to her. He would do anything and everything to keep her safe. It didn't matter what he had to do, what he needed to become, she would be safe. He swore it on his very soul.


(Mercurius: Barracks)

Doranbolt had to stifle the groan that threatened to slip from his throat. Normally it would be due to the fact that he was being forced to be a part of an impromptu meeting between his fellow teammates and a not so friendly knight. The notion crossed his mind and he wished that could have been the cause of his distress.

The bitter idea was quickly crushed as he pushed down his own anger. He had plenty to be angry about, he truly did. Anger over his failures, anger over his leader and friend coming within an inch of deaths door, anger over his own inability to do a damn thing to stop it, but most of all his anger of not knowing what to do now.

The feeling of a hand coming to his shoulder forced the teleportation mage to snap his attention to his left, his eyes focusing on the immaculate white glove of his best friend. Lahar gave him what the man could only assume was a comforting gesture but it only caused the anger to well up inside him once again. He didn't need pity on top of everything else! He needed to figure things out, he needed to somehow make things right! He couldn't well do that while he was feeling sorry for himself.

The sound of metal on stone brought his attention to the door as Arcadios walked into the room, his armor dull and worn. Gone was the shine that was normally there, replaced by dirt and grime. "I see everyone is here, that is good. We can now finally discuss what we are going to do next." The tall man said as he made his way over to the last remaining seat.

Three pairs of eyes followed him, a mix of emotions coming from the three mages present. A quick glance to his left revealed that Lahar had a mix of trepidation and exhaustion that marred his face. Looking to his right revealed much the same from the usual stoic face of Kama, that should have belied the seriousness of the situation itself to get any type of visible emotion from the man.

Doranbolt's eyes fell back to Arcadios as the man all but crashed back onto the seat. He had no doubt that the knight was as tired as the rest of them if not more so with how he had been running about the rest of the day organizing the castles' forces. Boruto and Naruto were the two that had been primarily in charge of the Kingdom's forces given their own power and battle instincts. With the first in chains and the latter bleeding out in the medical wing it fell to the King's personal guard to take over with the aid of the remaining councilors.

A tense silence permeated through the room as no one spoke, no one wanting to bring up the elephant in the castle. Unsurprisingly, it was Arcadios that broke the silence. "There's no point in beating around the bush. What are we going to do about the problem concerning Naruto?"

Eyes shot back and forth throughout the room but it was Kama of all people that answered the man. "There is no problem as far as I am concerned. Naruto-taicho fought bravely to defend this castle and succeeded. The methods he employed to accomplish this should not be a factor."

Doranbolt couldn't help but mumble his own agreement with the sentiment. Unsurprisingly his best friend had other reservations. "But it is concerning to see that Naruto-taicho is capable of using a Demon's curse so effectively. We are all aware of the law."

"Lahar-san is correct. While everyone is grateful that Naruto-san was able to stop the traitor and protect the castle, we cannot nor should not ignore the law of the land. No one is above it, not even members of the royal court."

Doranbolt's eyes snapped to the iron clad knight with unrestrained annoyance. Technically the pointy nosed man was correct, the law strictly forbids any meddling in the Demon arts that were known as Curses. But he knew it was weak excuse to bring down any type of punishment possible on Naruto, the knight's disdain for the blond mage was widely known throughout the castle. "I think given the circumstances we can give him a pass or at the very least wait until he's out of the medical bay so we can talk to him ourselves. This can stay quiet until at least then."

He idly noticed the nods he had received from his teammates out of the corner of his eyes, instead his focus remained solely on the black haired knight. His gaze was met with a frosty edge as Arcadios refused to back down. "Don't you agree Arcadios-san?"

A grunt of disapproval rose from the man's throat and he leaned back in his chair. "I do not. With everything that has occurred I believe that 100% transparency is needed. We cannot hide anything from his majesty."

Before he could respond, Lahar jumped into the conversation, his knuckles rapping against the wooden table with a soft thump as he spoke. "Doranbolt wasn't implying that we hide this from anyone, merely that we hold off on telling the world until we can get Naruto's side of the story. I'm sure that Naruto-taicho has a very legitimate reason for being able to use the Demon Arts."

A loud bang resonated through the room as Arcadios's fist smashed into the table, the metal gauntlets splintering wood beneath the force of the strike. "There is no legitimate excuse! You all know the laws of our Kingdom, anyone caught having access to that dark power is sentenced to death. Hiding that information, even for a short amount of time could be seen as harboring him and we would suffer the same fate. There is no question as to what needs to be done!"

The tension in the room was thick as the four men stared at one another. The not so hidden threat against the three mage's captain was laid clear to see on the table. There was no doubt where Arcadios was getting at, his intentions clear as day. He wanted Naruto executed, preferably publicly if he had his way. "I'm well aware of your personal attachments to him and I can understand your hesitance in acting on this matter. But the law is the law. You have to set your personal biases aside and do what is right, you know what needs to be done. I will not ask any of you to do the deed yourself, all I ask is that you do not interfere in my attempt at bringing about justice."

None of the mages present made a move to stop the larger man as he stood from his chair and made his way to the exit. As he passed Doranbolt, the mage flared his magic just enough to get the knight's attention. The look on Doranbolt's face was hard but it was directed straight ahead instead of at the knight at his side. "You speak of setting aside biases but I've never seen someone so willing to act on their own with complete disregard to the possible outcomes. Do what you feel you need to do. Just know that you have no one to blame but yourself for what happens after."

Arcadios stood for a few moments, staring intently at Doranbolt's rigid visage, the look betraying absolutely nothing. It almost seemed like he was going to say something before he steeled himself and walked out of the room. His face was hard and his foot fells were heavy with purpose as he moved. He knew what needed to be done.


(Mercurius: Throne Room)

"We need to gather the troops and fortify the castle! Once the rebels get wind of what has happened they will be drawn to us like moths to a flame!"

"No you fool, we can't allow the fighting to happen within the capital at all. We need to fan out our forces and cut off the attack before it begins!"

"And how do you propose we do that? We don't know where the enemy is coming from let alone when. And if you haven't noticed, we just lost two of our heaviest hitters. How can we spearhead an attack when the tip of the spear is fractured!?"

Toma massaged his temples as his three remaining advisors squabbled amongst themselves over how to respond to the matter at hand. No one could seem to agree and the fighting that ensued was near enough to drive him mad. The sound of a goblet hitting the floor and the yell that came with it was the straw that broke the camel's back and the short in stature King rose from his seat and unleashed a bellow far larger than a man his size should be capable of. "I HAVE HEARD ENOUGH. YOU WILL ALL BE SILENT!"

The room was deathly silent; the only noise being made by the goblet that was still rolling on the cobblestone. "Thank you. Never in my days did I foresee these events coming to pass. My Kingdom on the brink of civil war, my most trusted allies plotting behind my back. My own soldiers being cut down by their leaders. Bloody hell what am I supposed to do with all of this?"

The advisors looked between themselves, unsure of how to respond to the King's question. Unsurprisingly to Toma however, it was the Minister of Defense who spoke first, Darton. "Your Grace, I understand your frustrations, believe me when I say this. Despite our open hostilities towards one another I never would have thought that Boruto would become a traitor. It is a shock to us all."

Toma grumbled at the man's response. He didn't need people agreeing with him right now, he needed solutions, preferably a peaceful one. "Indeed. We cannot dwell on that however. We need to figure out how to turn this to our advantage. There has to be some way to spin this."

No one spoke as they all tried to think of something that could somehow turn this horrible situation on its head. Not an easy task, even for the brightest of individuals. Boruto's betrayal did more than just remove him from the equation. Sure, the loss of his fighting power and knowledge would surely be a detriment but there was more to it than that.

Of everyone within the public eye, Boruto and Naruto were seen as the most sympathetic to the common people. They listened to them when no one else would, help them whenever they could, regardless of what was needed. The public relations that those two did in their outreach for the Kingdom was one of the few things that had staved off the war for as long as it had.

To then have that man openly rebel against the Crown was as powerful a rallying cry as any to those still on the fence. It could perhaps be stemmed off by Naruto's actions but it would certainly sway some. Not to mention it would severely damage the morale of the troops to lose someone as powerful as Boruto. Even more to that point, if the battles started soon they were also out Naruto's fighting ability as well. He had a good look at the boy earlier, even if he managed to pull through there would be no chance that he would be back into fighting shape any time soon, the damage was far too extensive.

"A public trial, held as soon as possible. We will invite all of the Guild Masters and the Magic Council as well as anyone that is anyone within the Kingdom. Everyone that comes will be allowed to hear the proceedings. We can still swing this to our favor, maybe even stop this damn war before it begins."

A small murmuring spread through the Throne Room as those present absorbed the King's idea. It was the Minister of Finance who spoke first. He was a rather rotund man with average height. His clothes were made of the finest silks that did little to take away from the balding spot on top of his head. His thick brown mustache wiggled slightly as the man spoke. "I do not believe this is a good idea my liege. There is nothing that can be done to avert this war at this point. Those filthy peasants don't understand any form of logic. Their ignorance of how the world works is what is putting us in the position. Trying to reason with them through a public trial would be a waste of time and resources. We should handle this quietly and discreetly."

"That is precisely the attitude that has the lower classes chomping at the bit to shake things up." All eyes turned to the lone female in the room. He hair was grayed from age and deep wrinkles ran across her skin. Liver spots were common among her complexion, belaying her true age more than anything else. Despite her age, her amber eyes were just as sharp as anyone's in the room as she gave the Minister of Finance a glare. "You are the very definition of out of touch Nicholas."

The larger man nearly growled at the Minister of Agriculture at the dressing down before turning to the third Minister in the room. Darton gave a sigh as he closed his own eyes to avoid the gazes in the room. Opening them again, he looked straight at his King, not bothering with the other two. "As your Minister of Defense I can safely say that this took a significant toll on our standing power. We are by no means weak but losing two of our strongest mages before open conflict was nearly worst case scenario. As hard as it may be to believe, the best course of action is to try and resolve this peacefully. I agree with the open trial. At the very least it will give us time to prepare. The rebels would never be bold enough to attack while the castle is filled to the brim with S-rank Mages from all of the Kingdom's guilds. Not with the impending threat of drawing every guild in the Kingdom into the conflict when many have declared neutrality."

Toma nodded at the man. He honestly believed that this was the best course of action, it just helped that at least two of his remaining advisors agreed. "Good. We should hold it as soon as possible. In the next few days, just enough time for the Lords and Guild Masters to arrive. That should also give us enough time to go through Boruto's labs and notes. The more evidence we can find the better."

The others in the room nodded in agreement, content at the current course of action despite some misgivings. Though there were still things to discuss even with the course of action agreed upon.

"We should hold off on the trial until Young Master Naruto is well enough to testify. It would be good for both our morale and our enemies to hear his testimony directly. The common people respect Naruto, if we play it right we could use him to perhaps sway those still on the fence to our side."

The King looked at Agatha and bobbed his head in agreement even with a small grimace on his face. "Yes, Naruto's testimony will be the focal point of the trial as well as the footage that Arcadios was able to gather. But that does lead into one other problem."

All of his councilors looked at him strangely at the mention of the problem. The King felt every moment of his age as he pinched his brow with his hand. The open trial was one thing and one he was fairly certain of. The next piece of information he was about to share was going to be much harder to come to agreement on for even he didn't know what to do with it.

"During the fight, Naruto showed a very concerning power…"


And we are done. I know, a shorter chapter than what I usually put out but this was a set up chapter to the fallout of what happened over the last few chapters. As we can see there are still problems galore and things need to be resolved. We will also be setting up the next story arc next chapter so there's that.

Now onto the apology. I am so very sorry about this guys. It was never my intention to up and leave this story as long as I did. I could give any number of excuses but the biggest one was simply writers block. The hospital scene literally stumped me for over a year and then one thing led to another and I just kept putting it off. Started another story and everything to try and get the creative juices going and it worked for the most part, still took me longer than it should have to get this chapter out though. If any of you are interested in a Naruto/RWBY crossover go check out my other story, A Different Kind of Hunter.

Shameless self-promotion aside. I am very sorry and it will not happen again. I've always been irregular with my updates as life sucks and I can't spend all my time writing Fanfiction even if I wanted to. Bills to pay and what not. But I will promise that this story will not be left unattended like this ever again. I still have plans to finish this story, I've already planned it out all the way to the end and I don't leave things unfinished. Till next time everyone.