Writer's Note I: Hello everyone, I wanted to get this chapter out on December 25th, like it was a Christmas present, but holiday times are too chaotic. Speaking of which, I hope you all had a good holiday, whichever one you choose to celebrate. So I did the next best thing and got it out for New Years. It's thematic with where we are in the story. I hope you all enjoy, and welcome to 2020!

Disclaimer: It's been some time, but I still don't own anything about these two fantastic properties. I'd sit here and say that I can dream, but I feel it's more likely I am hit by a meteor at this point.

A New Game

Chapter Ten: Stormborn

Year 283 AC

Duskendale sat on Blackwater Bay literally. The entire city warped to the geography of the bay, designed around the geographic curl of the harbor. King's Landing remained the largest port city in the Crownlands, but Naruto preferred Duskendale over King's Landing because Duskendale didn't smell like shit. The clean air that filled his lungs and the consistent sounds of the sea helped Naruto keep himself centered and his mind clear of unnecessary things.

Sitting on a sept's downward sloping spire, Naruto looked out at Duskendale with a smile warming his face. Light started breaking through the clouds, the sun's warm presence filtered through the pearl-glass windows of the other septs in Duskendale, making the city light up with a natural radiance. Another thing Naruto couldn't get in the Crownlands' great city, not with the Red Keep dominating everything.

Naruto knew not everyone saw things the way he did, and that was a shame. So many people get stuck to the ground, stuck to their lives, and can't see the world around them. Maybe they weren't looking, or perhaps they couldn't see. The result was the same in both instances. "I can't imagine so many people going to a sept service in Dorne. The people are too busy being hungover in the mornings."

It started as a wry smirk and evolved into full-blown laughter when he put those words through the wringer of his imagination. He couldn't even begin to imagine a crooked Oberyn stumbling into a sept, the scent of alcohol and sex clinging to him. Oberyn's head would be set straight by Elia, no doubt.

Thinking about the Viper Princess left Naruto cringing like someone who got bitten by a snake. He reacted in such a way because of how he chose to leave Sunspear, a poor choice in hindsight. "I have to hope that Elia won't skin me for leaving her with a note. I also need to bring back a present for Rhae, or she won't speak to me." Daughter like mother in that regard.

Naruto put those thoughts in the back of his mind for now. His weight carried him down to the precipice of the roof after jumping to his feet. "These are things I can worry about after I've done what I came here to do." Being one who worked by himself, Naruto often found himself talking to himself. People probably thought he was insane. He blamed his teacher for that particular quirk.

He looked at the tendrils of darkness encroaching on his flanks, a difference in the light created by the sturdy Dun Fort at his back. Luckily for the fort, Naruto had no interest in what was inside of it. His wants took him away from the land to the sea. That's why he needed to find himself a boat of some kind. "If I wanted to get a boat with no questions asked, where do I go?"

A few moments passed, then a spark of realization jolted through the young man's cerulean pools. Slapping his fist into an open palm, he looked to the west with a smirk. "I think there are a few gambling dens by the docks. I'm sure I can swindle something of use down there."

Stepping off the sept's hallowed roof, the blonde-haired man dropped like a stone. Small wisps of blue circulated his fingertips as he reached to his left. Naruto grasped the massive ledge beneath the crystal glass window with his Chakra strengthened grip. Letting himself dangle, he swung himself back and forth. Once his feet hit the sept's stone structure, he pushed Chakra to his feet hence sticking himself to the building.

Naruto stood against gravity casually for a handful of seconds. The muscles beneath his pants slowly prepared for what came next. A light blue ring pulsated around his feet, and off Naruto went. He shot through the air high enough to be out of sight when it came to the people walking Duskendale's streets.

His slow loss of altitude proved that Naruto wasn't flying, but it did what he wants it to do. After covering a decent chunk of the traveling distance, Naruto skipped off a roof and went feet first into a stack of hay next to a stable housing a herd of six goats. The pile of golden straw shuddered before Naruto's head forced itself out.

It didn't take Naruto long to emerge from the pile of hay. He swept the farming essential from his golden mane while the grouping of animals kept their chattering sounds. "That definitely wasn't my smoothest move, but it worked." He'd work on his landings later when he didn't have a set idea in mind. For now, he had a boat to track down.

Stepping out into the main walkways of Duskendale with the grace of someone who didn't crash land, Naruto quickly integrated himself with the men and women moving throughout the common area. His burning, dark orange, and muted gold threads drew some attention, but nothing more than a precursory glance from interested parties.

Fortunately, with the end of the year quickly approaching, all sorts of people were out and about preparing for parties and such. This fluid string of festive feelings made it easy for a skilled infiltrator like Naruto to blend in. 'Only one place should smell like booze this early in the morning, a place where people waste money and spill alcohol.'

Following that thought process, Naruto trailed after the faint hint of alcohol that got blown at him thanks to the light ocean winds. He used that stimulus of his senses as the guide to help him navigate an unknown location. Naruto didn't need long to find one of the establishments on his mind.

He went to enter the gambling den when the man posted outside of the building halted him by shoving him back. Gathering his feet, Naruto didn't even lose balance as he stared at the man placidly. "Excuse me?"

"Git out of here; you ain't welcomed, boy." The man's tone was inherently vulgar. It nearly offended Naruto more than the shove itself. "I've had enough of you dumb shits. Get out of here before I mess up your face, pretty boy."

Naruto rolled his blue eyes, blue, not green. Uneducated and filled with blind hatred, the assassin already found this man wanting. Naruto was the standard-bearer for opposing Lannisters. That did not equate to making an enemy of every blonde person he met. He'd save that for fools like the one standing in front of him.

"Listen, I've had a good morning, so I'll ask nicely. Please move out of my way, or else."

The challenge in his request triggered the man and his malicious smile. "Or else what?" He asked as a small whistle flooded through the slight gap between his front teeth.

"This..." The thug understood what came next, but he couldn't get to his weapon fast enough to stop Naruto. His blonde hair was a blur in the side of the man's eyes before a vein of pain crashed on the man. That pain can find its trace back to Naruto's glowing blue hand, specifically the back of his hand.

Naruto knocked the man unconscious before he even rolled back around to land on his head. Glancing back, Naruto smirked at the red mark burned onto the man's already scarred cheek. "And a good morning to you too." The assassin said quietly as the people whispered, and street urchins rushed over to take the money that spilled from the man's pockets.

Leaving no concern for the man out on the road, a chuckling Naruto moved into the quiet gambling den. There weren't that many people in the establishment. Naruto was free to go for the bar of the building because of this. Ringing the small bell, the blue-eyed traveler tried to summon some service.

He felt the eyes on his back but ignored them in favor of looking ahead at the options lined up on the bar's shelves. A shimmer on top of a black bottle had Naruto glancing to his left. Duskendale's visitor discovered someone courageous enough to sit on the stool next to him.

It was a man wearing a confident smirk on his tan face. Taken aback momentarily by the lopsided mohawk that covered only the left side of the man's head, Naruto blinked hesitantly. "Do you need a drink too?"

His unnamed companion looked at Naruto for a second of silence before bursting into raspy laughter. The stranger's body shook, causing his scarred fingers and damaged knuckles to strike the bar's countertop. "Aye, that's rich, sunshine! There aren't any bar keeps on duty at this time of the day!"

Naruto let his confusion filter to the expression on his face. Why would there ever be a bar that didn't have someone watching over it? "Isn't that a terrible, stupid idea?"

Spinning in his seat, the man in the know braced himself against the bar so that he could purposefully stare at a certain man waiting in the shadows of the den. Naruto found the man easy enough. How could he overlook someone comparable in size to the Mountain?

"You see the lug with the big belly? He and his brother are the guards of this place. The brother, he's just as big and scary as that one. People don't mess with them anymore, not since they busted this one guy's head open with a walking stick."

If he meant to threaten Naruto with the story, then he failed in doing so. The only thing the words accomplished was satisfying the blonde. Knowing someone or multiple people can keep things in order pleased Naruto. "Nasty, but good to know."

Naruto could tell by the man's smirk that he enjoyed it whenever someone was dumb enough to challenge the den's protectors. That same man also stuck his hand out. "Name's Darion Pyke. What's someone like you doing in a place like this?"

Ignoring what sounded like a modified pick up line, the blonde cocked an eyebrow at the Iron Islands' bastard. "What do you mean by that?"

Darion followed up with a bit of elaboration. "Clean. You're way too clean to be in a questionable place like this." To further drive home his point, the Pyke gestured to the drunken, passed out men at some of the tables, with nothing but steins for company.

His chuckle also served as an admission of sorts, a confession that told Darion he was right. Though he agreed with Darion, Naruto didn't trust the man, not one bit. "I typically keep my plans to myself. Fewer people can track me that way."

"What about a friend? You'd share with a friend, wouldn't you?"

"I wouldn't go that far, Darion." Naruto replied quickly, keeping an eye on the bastard with every rejection uttered. He seemed friendly enough, but that didn't mean anything in the long run.

"Seriously, I'm not your enemy, and that makes me a friend." The islander's casual disposition might have helped with the common man, but Naruto wasn't normal.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders flippantly. "Bad luck, I don't need a friend."

"What do you need, then?"

The blonde had a kunai fall out of his other sleeve and into his hand. His other hand busied with pinching the bridge of his nose. Stabbing the blade down into the wood in front of him, Naruto turned to his company at the bar. "You're not letting this go, are you?"

Darion's mix of green and brown colored eyes took a measure of the blade before he looked at Naruto. His stern expression slowly melted into a grin that made the assassin sigh with exasperation. "Nope, holding on for dear life."

'I can end his life before the big bad can even get his hand around his hammer.' If Naruto needed to tell Darion no a few more times, than his thought might gain enough traction to become a reality.

Clairvoyant or just perceptive, the man with Pyke attached to him said something that dissuaded Naruto from letting his kunai taste blood. "I wager it'd be easier to tell me what you want. If you did, this could be over already."

Naruto's fingers wrapped around the taped handle of his kunai, one digit at a time until he had the proper grip. He yanked it out of the wood, but sighed and sheathed the knife back on his person. "I need a boat."

"A boat, you say?" There was a gleam in the Iron Islands, native's eye at the mention of boats. Darion's interest got renewed and then some as he pawed at the small patch of coarse hair on his chin. "Are you looking to buy, build, or steal?"

"Buy" He had all of the prize money from winning the Melee and Joust, no need to complicate things when he could spend a portion of his endless riches. Or it may as well be endless with how little Naruto needed to purchase. Whores? No. Kunai? Occasionally.

Some of Darion's enthusiasm left his body as it deflated in front of Naruto's eyes. That reaction made it painfully clear he hoped for the opposite. He wanted Naruto to steal one, no doubt. "Stick in the mud. You looking for anything specific?"

For all the knowledge Naruto did have, none of it could be considered naval. Thanks to that, the blonde gave a shrug dripping with a carelessness that came from ignorance. "I need something that won't sink and is larger than something dumb like a raft."

An undignified combination of a laugh and a bellowing snort escaped from Darion's opened mouth. If Naruto hadn't amused him with that, then Darion might worry about being embarrassed that he made such a noise. Holding a finger up, he gathered himself with a deep breath.

"I just so happen to own an additional vessel, a gift from one of my more affluent lovers here in Duskendale. She isn't anything impressive- the ship I mean. My lover, well, she's another story altogether. One sail and a wooden bunk room on deck big enough for one person, it ain't glorious, but it doesn't have any problems." Standing up from his slouched seat, Darion smirked at a curious Naruto. "She can be yours if you want her?"

Naruto felt his gold weighing down his pocket and a chance waving in front of his face. "How much?"

"Since we're friends, how about you give me a hundred dragons for my bar tab, and we'll call it square?"

He needed every bit of restraint inside of himself to stop his hand from slapping his forehead. Darion had to bring up the whole friend thing again. Naruto let it go for the sake of his health. Reaching near his waist, he dropped a heavy pouch in Darion's hand. "You're in luck, Darion. I only carry sums of a thousand. Keep the change."

Darion didn't need to count the coin. He felt that the weight was right in his hand. "You'll find the deed in a set of lockers within a half-collapsed building outside of the eastern port. If you show that to the authorities, you're good to go."

"A pleasure doing business with you. If this is a trick, I will find you and make you pay more than a measly thousand dragons."

Waving off the insult, the Pyke sailor turned to Naruto with another proposition. "You know, you can hire me to-" Darion found himself speechless. "Where'd he go?"

Sunspear

"Of all the stupid things you could've done, you pick this one, Naruto?"

Days to digest what happened didn't temper any of the Viper Princess's anger. She had to find out that Naruto left Dorne from a letter he left rolled up on top of his pillows. At first, she worried that something happened to him after the attack at the party. After she read the parchment, her worry turned into indignant anger. Who did he think he was, up and taking off like that?

Only one thing saved Naruto from the woman's unholy rage, and that was what he left in the letter for her daughter. Had Naruto not included a whole section explaining things vaguely to her daughter, then he'd have been hunted down by now. Rhaenys was just happy to be getting the gift Naruto promised upon returning.

Elia knew that part of her frustrations came from personal matters left unresolved with the errant blonde. She thought that she'd have time to talk with Naruto about King's Landing after the party that came with his new lordship. That never happened, because the world once again proved that nothing was guaranteed. Her brown hair fanned out behind her as she fell backward onto Naruto's bed with a long sigh.

Leaving the letter text down on her stomach, the princess looked up at the dark ceiling wistfully. "When was the last time I missed someone like this?" Elia knew better than to compare this feeling to the longing she had for her family from months ago. Maybe when she first married Rhaegar, she felt this way? But that was a maybe at best.

She ran her fingertips over the back of the parchment, grazing against the slightly abrasive material as her thoughts continued to swirl around in her head. The young mother couldn't help but think of that night with Naruto, and not just the kissing. She remembered the heartfelt words that he poured out to her, how they made her heart come to life.

"Not to mention the amazing body he hides under his clothes..." The Martell woman stifled a breath. Blushing, she tried to come to terms with what she just said. "Gods, I sound just like Ashara." Her friend had no shame talking about Naruto's impressive physique when the blonde came up in their discussions.

Bringing up her friend's name reminded Elia that she had another issue to resolve before Naruto returned to her, to Dorne. She and Ashara needed to talk regarding their relationships with the blonde. Elia knew that Ashara had an interest in Naruto from the moment they left Starfall, but after he saved her at the party, Ashara's affection for their mutual friend only grew.

It felt wrong having this discussion without Naruto's input because he was just as much a part of this as her and Ashara. However, Elia didn't want something ugly to grow in her unintentionally. The thought of jealousy made her shake her head vigorously. "I already have the Stark bitch to hate. I won't let the same thing happen with my best friend. I refuse to see it happen again!"

A fire burned valiantly behind her mocha-brown hues. She didn't know what to expect from the conversation. What she did know was that this talk between her and Ashara needed to happen.

"I won't bow, I won't bend to expectations. I will not break!" She promised herself, smiling at the liberating feeling of having her confidence back.

The door to Naruto's room flung open, and a voice followed in with the same enthusiasm laced into it. "Momma!" Elia sat up just as her darling daughter came rushing into the room. "Ha! I knew I could find you! What are you doing in Naruto's room?" She asked with a childish tilt of her head.

Smiling, Elia leaned forward until her forehead bumped against Rhaenys' forehead. Rhaenys giggled for a moment, smiling up at her mother, who mirrored the expression. "I was taking a breath, Rhae."

"Why? Are you sick, Momma?" Rhaenys asked, confused by what her mother was doing.

Quickly patting Rhaenys' head, Elia did her best to push those troublesome thoughts out of her beautiful daughter. "No dear, not at all."

Taking her mother for her word, Rhaenys followed that with a beaming smile. She grabbed her mother's free hand and began to pull her with all the might her childish frame could create. "Come on then, Momma! You promised you'd play with Ari and me!"

Elia giggled merrily at the enthusiasm jumping off her daughter. Shaking her head, Elia held onto Naruto's note tightly. There'd be time for talking later, but for now, she needed to enjoy life, a life with her daughter. 'Thank you, Naruto.'

Day One of Year 284 AC

"Naruto, this is by far the craziest idea you've ever tried, and I've seen them all first hand." Naruto insulted himself, not shy in laying on the blame for the predicament he found himself trying to navigate. Yanking down on the ropes to keep the sail steady, the green sea goer did his best to keep his boat afloat.

The storm that settled above the Narrow Sea came with such ferocity that the after-effects of the massive waves and sharp winds trickled down into the Blackwater Bay, making it that much more difficult for Naruto to reach Dragonstone. Headwinds and large waves nearly toppled him several times already. He was sure dumb luck was the only reason he hadn't drowned in the black waters.

He couldn't use Chakra, less he risked ripping the sail, so all he had to rely on was his balance and natural strength. Naruto didn't like how the boat quivered under his feet, nor did he like the water splashing over his feet, but he had more important things to focus on, like staying alive. Spitting out a mouthful of sea spray, Naruto grumbled at the storm. "Where did this fucking thing come from?"

Nature responded to his lip with a sharp crack of lightning that struck the choppy waters off the port side. The soaked blonde spat out some sailor language and tried his best to ignore the rope burns on his palms. "Am I even on track anymore?"

Naruto's vision slowly sharpened thanks to the growing amount of life force amassing in them. The dark of the night abated some thanks to this handy application of Chakra. Now he saw the stars that the storm tried to conceal. One at a time, the shining beacons popped up, painting a picture through addition.

The one thing Naruto went out of his way to read about before this trip was the stars. He needed those stars to guide his hand because they were his map to Dragonstone. "Follow the smallest star in the night sky to reach the Stone of Dragon's Blood." He muttered to himself, pulling the sail to turn his boat to the east.

Naruto took a breath. For a moment, his clenched hands eased their crushing grip on the ropes of control. It proved to be a mistake on his part.

As soon as he dropped his guard, the weather took a sudden change. Out on the open water, it sounded like the planet itself howled as the wind changed directions from blowing inward to going out. The entire vessel jerked forward, sending Naruto tumbling down onto the sloshing deck of the boat. Blackwater's wet embrace welcomed Naruto after his fall. Thankfully, the water proved an effective way to snap Naruto out of his stupor.

The assassin hurriedly looked to the sail and breathed out in relief once he hopped back onto his feet. His ship's sail pushed out to its limit, but there wasn't a single rip for Naruto to worry over. He did worry about the weather patterns, however. "None of this makes any sense."

'What I know about the world is that a phenomenon of this level only happens when something extraordinary has come into being. Who or what has just changed everything?'

Time didn't amount to much on the open sea. He could have been behind that sail for a minute or an hour, and he wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. In the end, Naruto kept one foot stuck to the mast with Chakra and held onto the ropes until his small boat approached the ancestral home of this generation of Targaryen blood, Dragonstone.

An abrupt jolt of latent energy shot through Naruto's body, causing the blonde's head to throw beads of water in every direction as he looked around for the source of his reaction. He quickly realized that only one thing could've made him feel that way, Dragonstone, the home of the dragonlords.

'I can feel the Valyrian magic in the air. It's like a bubble amplifying everything around the island. It's not a pretty place, but that doesn't make this island any less incredible. When men and women want to make something, they can come up with some breath-taking things.' Too many people cared about things like physical beauty, but not Naruto. Dragonstone was a grim place, of that there is no doubt. However, the assassin saw beauty in that. He saw something authentic to itself, a place conveying the genuine feelings of its people. The Targaryens and their dragons were fierce, and so was Dragonstone.

The knowledge that Dragonstone got shaped by Valyrian magic made it something of a pariah in Westeros. Aerys II didn't do his family any favors, but the Targaryen's blatant use of magic ended up giving magic a bad name through association. He didn't believe that magic was-

Naruto's admiration for the dark backdrop of the draconic land came to an end when an excessive chunk of stone slammed into the water beside his boat. He quickly stuck his arms out for balance as a cross-sectioned wave pounded into the hull of his ship, making it rock to the left. When the geyser of salt-laced water crashed on him, the drenched assassin looked bleakly at his dripping hands. "I need to dock this somewhere that I can hide it."

The last thing he wanted was for a Baratheon ship to find his.

It took Naruto some time to locate suitable land. His searching paid off when it turned out an inlet cut in the island just large enough to fit his one-sail boat. The last rope landed on the rock structure to keep the ship in place when Naruto heard a loud crash from deeper within the island.

It was the last battle of the war. The final clash between dragon and stag was playing out on Dragonstone.

"Ser, what do we do? Without the royal fleet, we do not have the numbers needed to keep the Usurper's army in the Blackwater!" A man wearing gold armor and a dragon's talon on his breastplate screamed over the sound of their main gate getting hammered by a ram.

The commander that the royal bannerman looked to for guidance said nothing at first. His dark eyes stayed staunchly on the red and white griffins on his round buckler. Jon Connington gazed up into the rainstorm that found its way through the slits in his helmet. Everyone knew that the fleet was their only chance at victory.

The knight's golden cape whipped against the wind, dripping with raindrops fresh from the angry sky. Pulling the straps tighter on his shield, he set his steely gaze upon the choke point into the small square in front of the Stone Drum. "We'll fight to protect our Queen, even if it takes our lives! That is our oath, and unlike the Usurper, we honor our vows!"

Like the storm above, Jon's thundering words rippled through the forces gathered around him. Boosting them with promises of honor proved to be the right move. It didn't take long for the men to start a chant that combated the pounding of the invaders at their door.

Smiling at the courage displayed by his brothers in arms, Jon looked to the man who reported the demise of the fleet. "You, go find Ser Darry and have him ready the secondary defenses around Stone Drum! We must protect Queen Rhaella at all costs!"

The junior guard saluted before running off to relay the orders from the front line. As Jon Connington stood at the back of the defensive formation, he saw the determination of his troops. Their strength reinforced the smile of the man from the Stormlands. 'If these men can stand strong, then I will not dishonor them by bringing any less.'

Water flowed freely down the rounded edges of his white armor while the man's right hand moved to rest on the winged pommel of his blade. The gesture provided him with as much comfort as it did strength. Jon marched to the front with a newfound desire burning within him.

At the very front of the braced barrier of men, the griffin knight saw how the thick gate shuddered with every intrusive thrust of the Baratheon battering ram. Taking a deep breath, he put his head down and started a silent prayer. 'Dear Seven, if this is to be my last night, all I ask is that you reward my family for the loyalty I have shown to my King and Queen.'

A final nod of his helmeted head sealed his plea. Ready for anything, the son of the Stormlands stared through the broken trail of falling rain. Targaryen forces stared into the hungry faces of the Baratheon invaders when the gate finally fell amidst their hoarse cheering.

First through the gate was a tall man with thick shoulders. His large frame covered in a knight's armor and a brown pelt soaked with rain. On both sides of the helmet, antlers sprouted outward, giving his allegiances to the Baratheon away. Jon knew better; this wasn't any ordinary bannermen. He stood across from the Usurper's brother, Stannis Baratheon.

Lord Connington's son tried to stay calm, yet his tightening hands gave away his true feelings. He kept his hand up to ensure that the antsy men behind him stayed in their position. It required discipline if they wanted a chance against the superior numbers Stannis commanded.

Stannis Baratheon met the equally stern glare of Jon Connington with an impassive glower. The space between the two men never felt any more vast than in this moment of tension.

"Your brother killed my best friend. I will kill you and send your head back to the Usurper, Stannis." Jon promised with a pointed gesture from his silver steel.

"You and your House will pay for your treachery. Men, bring me the dragonspawn!" Stannis' call to action was equivalent to letting the war beasts off their leashes. Thunder shattered the cry of man, and a wave of bloodthirsty humanity poured into battle.

Jon's muscles curled beneath his armor. He anchored the bottom edge of his dripping sword on his buckler, ready to face the wave coming for them. "Show these dogs what real men look like!" He cried out to his fellow loyalists.

A trifecta of avid lightning bolts danced down from the sky as the unbridled fury of the Baratheon charge made the Dragonstone defense buckle back. In an uncontrollable moment of chaos, swords threw around both water and blood as they sought out the closest enemy.

They needed some time to do so, but the entrenched position helped the royal supporters fend off the fierceness of new King's forces. The push back created enough space for the Dragonstone army to fight back with bloody retaliation.

Death and blood quickly piled up on both sides as men slaughtered each other for their Lord, and Lady respectively. This courting of death turned into a dance that had no winners in the end but got readily completed by brave men.

Jon pushed through the bloody carnage one body at a time. The heat of battle didn't give him much time to look around, but what he saw gave him hope. His men were killing more Baratheon than the other way around.

He instinctually lifted his buckler and stopped a sword slash before it came down. Jon didn't waste any time in stabbing his blade through the man's unprotected stomach, granting the man a quick death.

Ripping his sword free, he tried to lunge to his left and save one of his knights. Jon didn't get there in time and had to watch a sword behead one of his own. The killer didn't have the chance to turn to his next opponent before Jon's sword punched through the front of the bloody man's throat.

"Scum..." His voice came out sharp like the sword that spilled the dead man's blood. Jon put his foot on the man's back and kicked him forward, sending the dead man to the ground and freeing the sword in a splash of red gore.

"Attacking from behind? Have you no honor, just like your friend Rapist Rhaegar?" A cold fury brewed in Stannis' voice as he stepped up to Dragonstone's front line leader. His antlers dripped rain onto his waterlogged pelt, but the weight didn't hinder Stannis in the slightest.

Turning around to face his adversary, Jon didn't hide the hateful scowl sketched beneath his helmet. "You speak of honor, and yet you're here to kidnap innocent children? I'd call you a man, but you're more of a dog following orders at the end of a leash!"

Stannis' face flashed with the fury so intimately connected with his family's name. "Watch your mouth, boy. You know nothing about-"

"All I hear are the words from your brother's mouth. It smells like the same shit too! When were you last your own man, errand boy?" The knight of griffins continued to demean and diminish the jealous brother with great success.

So angry that he couldn't even dispute his foe, Stannis charged at Jon with a guttural roar storming from his mouth. The power of the Baratheon's wild hacking met the fluidity of the Connington's graceful swordplay. At the point of impact, Stannis won with his superior strength. However, as the standoff of blades continued, Jon's technical skill showed as he gradually maneuvered himself into a position of advantage.

Stannis broke the tie by powering his shoulder into Jon's chest. His bigger frame knocked the smaller man off balance. He followed up that advantage with a violent slash that nearly bit into Jon, who hastily redirected the slash with his trusted steel.

Snarling with each attack, Robert's older brother barreled ahead with anger powering the savage, overhead sword strikes he rained down on Jon. The smaller Ser buckled numerous times, his body shying away from the pale metal that slowly encroached into his personal space. At this rate, the power of Stannis Baratheon would spell Jon's doom.

Jon was smart enough to see that and reacted accordingly. Panting sharply, he waited for the next of Stannis' boorish strikes. Stannis relied on power more than skill, which left him with openings for those resilient enough to take his sword. Jon was one such person.

He bolted forward and buried the rounded top of his buckler deep into the larger man's stomach. Stannis' armor ate most of the damage, but the force pushed him back and cut off his downward stroke. Jon quickly cut up, his sword slicing through the brown pelt and cutting into the armor underneath.

"GRAH!" Stannis howled like a beast, lashing out as he took the damage. His non-sword arm whipped to the side to slam the shield in his hand into Jon's helmet. Metal creaked as it twisted inward, cutting into the griffin's left cheek.

His feet continually shuffled until another person stopped Jon's momentum. Instinct demanded Jon spin around and attack, so he whirled around and cleaved through a Baratheon bannerman's neck, cutting clean through the spinal cord.

Shaking away the daze, Jon dug under his helmet and threw the damaged piece off to the side. Cold was the rain, and it made Jon sigh softly in relief as it fell on his sweaty skin. Ready for the fight, he turned back to Stannis to see the man stabbing his sword in a man trying to crawl away from him.

Jon saw someone different below the heel of the Baratheon brood. Who he saw was his dead best friend, Rhaegar. Red covered up everything else as his base instinct called for the sweet taste of revenge. "STANNIS!"

That scream signaled the second round of combat between the two leaders. It also served as a signal for the men around them who poured all they had into the battle.

It didn't take long before Naruto found himself severely regretting his choice to climb up the side of Stone Drum. He made it around fifty feet when regret settled in. At that height, he got an accurate feel for how bitter the cold wind could be when in drenched clothing. Long story short, he was miserable the entire way up.

Now at the top of the Stone Drum, Naruto and his dripping cloak stood in the raging winds and cold rain. From up here, he could see it all. He saw the faint glow of orange where the battle was taking place. Blue eyes also found the ships out in the distance, specks only given away by the lights on them. This high up everything looked small, but the consequences of this fledgling day were anything but small.

'I picked one hell of a way to start the new year.'

The curious blonde wandered down into the depths of the Sea Dragon watchtower, taking the stairs down from the top of said tower. There wasn't much light apart from the square patch at the foot of the steps. Fortunately, Naruto didn't need the light. Like he did out at sea, he used Chakra to pierce the dark.

"What in the world?"

Naruto's words of surprise jumbled through the darkness, creating an echo that spread freely through the tower's vast innards. Inadvertently stumbling into a storeroom left Naruto with a discovery that left even the confident assassin unsure of what to do. He got down low, almost on his knees, before he inched forward with his hand stretched out. Placing his hand against the cold surface of a bone, the magical potency of the item caused Naruto's Chakra to go haywire.

"A dragon's skull, amazing." Forget about the magical properties in the bone, here he was, with an actual dragon's skeletal head staring back at him. The tender touch of his finger tracing the outline of the dead dragon's orbital socket didn't make it any more real in Naruto's mind. "Dragons disappeared so long ago. It's difficult to imagine them ever existing. What else are you hiding, Dragonstone?"

Naruto had a feeling in his bones that he could spend years trying to unravel this place of the past, and not even scratch the surface of its potential. Most people would try to steal something like this, or at the very least destroy it but not Naruto. He wanted to preserve it. He desired to see this last well-past his time.

A thought filtered through his mind, and with it, a dark look of anger settled on Naruto's face. The Baratheon would destroy this. There was no if in that statement. "I can't take this whole thing. I wish that I could, but I just can't."

Making a choice, the killer's hand glowed a faint blue as he wrapped it around the only horn left on the skull. With a flick of his wrist, Naruto snapped the horn off the rest of the dead dragon's bone head. Even broken, the horn was about as long as Naruto's thigh. "Sorry, I had to do this, but at least this way, part of you will survive the night."

Storing the bone horn safely on his person, the Mountain Slayer left the dragon remains with a lingering gaze, one rife with remorse. The faint musings of a whisper drew Naruto's attention away from the remains of the legendary beast. He drifted after the sound. His progress came to an abrupt end at the western wall.

"I have to hurry!"

Closer to the whispers this time, it was easier for Naruto to pin down the sound. He heard the hurried gasp of an out of breath man directly beneath him. 'What's with the Targaryens and making secret hatches?' Shaking off his curiosity, he kept an ear out for the sounds of shuffling below.

It wasn't until he heard a door slam that Naruto decided to act. Chakra flared up around the sole of his foot, and with a stomp, the floor beneath Naruto collapsed.

Naruto gracefully dropped in through a rain of stone-dust and debris. He waved away the particles of dust and stone and gazed out at the room around him. Potion bottles gleamed under a coating of orange torchlight, and a desk of scattered papers filled Naruto's sight.

Reading a paper left on the desk, Naruto came to a quick conclusion. "This is the Maester's room." He narrowed his eyes on the closed door. "Where was he going in such a hurry?"

The damp, bottom lip of Naruto's cloak left a trail of small puddles on his way to the door. Pulling the door open, one of Naruto's blue eyes forced itself shut when a gust of rain-carrying wind blasted him.

One eye stared into the rain to find a short tunnel structure that emptied onto a long bridge, hundreds of feet over Dragonstone soil. The whole bridge swayed with the direction of the wind, a hazard distance that only went two ways, there and here.

"Would it kill one of these people to make a simple way to access a castle?" It became a reoccurring theme to make stupidly elaborate ways to make it into these royal dwelling places. Thunder's booming escalation reset Naruto's attention to the problem at hand. "It might not have killed them, but it can kill me for sure."

Shaking his head and throwing his hood over it, Naruto marched out onto the death bridge. Every step reminded him that no amount of metal bolting could make something like drenched wood safe. Let alone when that wood got thrown from left to right by an uncontrollable wind that never stopped howling.

Chains and stone support structures stopped the bridge from capsizing, but even with all that and his Chakra, Naruto nearly slipped off the sides several times. Bounding across the final third of the bridge in one exceptional leap, Naruto landed in front of Stone Drum's entrance, hood down.

Two lungs inflated with the distinct sea air due to a deep breath Naruto took as he prepared himself. 'Here goes nothing.' He front kicked the door, shooting the wooden barrier off its hinges and into the opposite wall with a shattering crack.

Naruto rolled into one of Stone Drum's many halls. Once there, the assassin sat on a knee with a pair of tightly clasped kunai in his hands. He left his arms crossed in a position of alert, but all he found was silence. The sound of nothing made his head do up in confusion.

Expecting a swarm of guards and getting nothing, left Naruto bewildered. Still weary, he took back to his feet and checked the hallways on both ends. "Anyone home?"

Again, he didn't get a response, not even one that his finely tuned senses could pick up.

With no one to use them on, the whiskered blonde slid his twin blades up the cover of his sleeves. Scratching the side of his nose with his thumb, Naruto tried to think of some way to decide where he'd go next. His deliberations got put on pause when another flash of lightning bathed the corridor in white light.

Through the casting of ivory light, Naruto saw something that he missed in his initial entrance, a facet he overlooked when he burst in expecting resistance. In front of him, there was a tapestry, a beautiful one at that.

While exquisite, it wasn't the beauty that left Naruto staring. The assassin found himself interested in the long shadow stretching out from below the tapestry. The wall should be too close to make that long of a shadow, in his opinion.

His curious fingers slid against the side of the decorative banner. Naruto got to the middle point when he stopped suddenly with a smirk. "I thought so."

Ripping the silk banner from the wall, he exposed a third corridor. "This must be important if they went through the trouble of hiding it, and it doesn't have stairs."

His silent steps approached the slightly ajar door with caution. The door's wooden frame creaked loudly as the whole thing swung open slowly under Naruto's hand. He saw two things in the center of the room, and only had one word.

"Fuck."

Naruto found the body of Queen Rhaella Targaryen at rest under a thick covering of blankets. Her body clammy and enveloped in a stagnant sweat, she didn't even remotely resemble a Queen. Another curse flowed off his lips when he saw the barren crib next to her body but no baby.

Naruto positioned himself next to Rhaella and her bed. Up close, he saw the terrible state of the dowager Queen, and he didn't mean the sweat and pale skin. What little he saw of her arms and hands were blemished by terrible scars. As a man of many talents, Naruto saw them all.

He took note of cuts made by both arrowheads and blades. There were burn marks and even something similar to a kitchen knife wound on her body.

The worst part? These wounds were at least a decade old.

"Who did this to you? Who let something so inhumane happen to you?" Dropping her arm with a shake of his head, he gazed upon the look of anguish on her face. The sorrow on his face was clear to see. "Let me show you some ounce of respect, my lady."

Halfway up with the sheet that he planned on covering the former Queen with, Naruto dipped his head in respect. Knowing he couldn't do more, he did something that he very rarely did. He sent a prayer out on behalf of the silver-haired woman in front of him.

The smooth shadow of the sheet reached her chin before Naruto paused again. "I promise that I won't let Robert's forces anywhere near you."

'Not after what they did with Aegon's body, never again.'

THUMP!

His deep blue irises expanded, and his pupils shrunk down to two tiny dots. Hastily tossing aside the sheet, Naruto dropped his head and stuck an ear against the woman's chest. Every bit of himself got poured into straining his senses in a desperate gambit to see if he could hear that single sound once more.

Under any other set of circumstances, Naruto might find himself embarrassed to be like this. Having his head pushed against a woman's chest this way was just asking for misunderstanding, but if she was alive-

"Come on, give me something! Anything!" Being aware that his voice might not reach her didn't stop the blonde from funneling conviction into his plea. He didn't get anything from her for so long that he stopped breathing so that even that slight sound couldn't cause interference.

THUMP!

The entirety of Naruto's body recoiled from Rhaella like a taut spring finally freed. "She's alive, but that pulse is way too slow to keep her alive. Dying, she's dying." Biting on his lower lip, a mad scramble to think of something ensued in his head.

Swiping the sticky threads of silver hair from her face and forehead, Naruto physically tried to psyche himself up. He leaned forward and whispered to the worn-down woman on the verge of death. "You're a dragon, right? Then fight like one, Rhaella! Fight!"

With his voice left for her to fight towards, Naruto could prepare himself for something he never tried on warning from his mentor. He tossed his cloak to the side and slapped his hands together in front of him. With a look of great focus, his entire body glowed bright blue.

"I who have been blessed by this Earth with the power of life, call for help to cure strife." The shielding of energy burned twice as brightly around Naruto. His presence encompassed all, but while the stonework started to falter, Rhaella was unharmed. "By those of the Old World and free from the confines of magic, I mend these times most tragic. There is no room to mourn, by my hands, you will be reborn!"

Naruto's spell ended with the energy inside of him starting to bubble as the chant took effect. Groaning at the pain of being burnt from the inside, he bit roughly on his lip. His teeth drew blood, but it was the pain he chased. Making use of his pain as a tool of focus, he began to force all of his Chakra into his throbbing hands.

A shockwave that knocked the room's walls down spread with Naruto and Rhaella as its focal point. The recognizable azure hue turned into a lively green as blood dripped from the corner of Naruto's mouth. 'I need more!'

His muscles already fought to rip through his skin, but Naruto wanted more. No, he demanded more. Veins and muscles alike bulged as the assassin turned healer forced his screaming cells to pour even more of his life force to the surface. The toll on Naruto's body was obvious, but so were the results.

The pure power generated by Naruto and his Chakra left the entire room alive with a low humming sound. His hands went from a light gleam to a pair of green glowing suns. Quickly putting his hands over Rhaella's sternum, he willed his life force to wrap around her fading body.

A coating of green energy formed around Rhaella's body, the sphere of power gradually sunk into the former Queen's frame. 'W-work already!' Naruto said something of plea to himself. His thoughts came to an end when his body coughed up blood. The blonde looked through the sweat in his eyes at his patient, panting deeply but smiling.

He saw them, all of the scars on her skin starting to fill in one by one with natural, healthy flesh. His Chakra came with even more benefits than the concoctions of potions or even magic. Because he commanded raw life force, his energy not only healed the damage done, but it also started to reverse the effects of aging.

The affect the spell had on him? Well, Naruto chose to ignore that part.

The gaunt woman filled out to a healthier state, gaining around ten pounds. Next, her pale skin started to get back its fair complexion. Rhaella's last scars healed up beneath her right eye. Four minutes of agonizing pain and his healing of Rhaella Targaryen was complete.

Any chance at celebrating crashed like Naruto did when his body gave out and sent him to the floor. Barely avoiding the side of the bed with his head, Naruto sat on his knees, spitting up blood. Now it was Naruto who looked half dead. The clarity of his blue eyes turned milky, and his blonde hair was one step from pale like a sheet.

But he'd live, Rhaella wouldn't be so lucky without him risking his health to heal her.

Hacking up some more globs, the depleted man lifted his trembling limb. With the back of his hand, he smeared the blood across his mouth, giving him a wicked, mock smirk. The expression left in blood no way matched how Naruto felt, but it was what it was.

"I have to get up. I have to get h-her out of here before-" Naruto traded out speaking for a massive cry of agony that followed him, all the way up to his feet. Stirring up what little Chakra he had left, the energy got fed to the muscles in his limbs. "I hope I c-can hold out."

His body didn't agree with the choice to pick Rhaella up, but that's what Naruto did. The athletic frame on the assassin may as well be a wet noodle with Rhaella there to add to his physical burden. Ignoring the prevailing scent of sweat on Rhaella's body, he kept the blankets tight, which kept her modesty safely guarded.

One step out of the room and Naruto heard the sounds of swords clashing. Two of his possible escape roots were gone. That meant he only had one way out, the bridge of death.

'No more goofing around.' Glassy from the healing process or not, the determination couldn't be denied from Naruto's eyes. His head went down, and Rhaella's unconscious body got pulled into his chest. A moment later at the stone under Naruto's feet shattered as a mixed blur of yellow and silver raced out into the rain.

Crossing the bridge in less than a second, Naruto felt his slick soles slipping when he tried to stop himself. He cursed and turned so that it was his back crashing against the wall in the Maester's room. Stifling a grunt with colorful words, he forced down a mouthful of blood by swallowing it.

"Chakra's too low to focus on healing," Naruto advised himself through a haze of pain. It only felt worst because he couldn't get full breathes through his burning chest. With a limp in his stride, Naruto carried the Queen to the hole he left in the ceiling.

Jumping up into the storeroom of oddities, the fatigued male didn't even spare the dragon skull he took from a glance this time. This time around, he didn't have any time to spend on the dead. Naruto needed to put all of his waning focus on making sure that he and Rhaella escaped Dragonstone. If only the Baratheon weren't following out a bloody crusade against the defeated dragons. Maybe it was too much to ask that King Robert Baratheon learn mercy, or at the very least restraint.

He cringed softly at the weight of the stormy wind blasting his aching body. It wasn't the kind of greeting he wanted at the top of the tower. Vacant blue eyes dropped down on Rhaella's unaware person.

He chuckled wryly with a matching smirk as he stared at the dragon sleeping in his arms. "You haven't said a word to me, and you might be the death of me. Elia would have my head for this, b-but I can't bring myself to leave you here."

Carefully limping to the edge of the Sea Dragon Tower, Naruto experienced a strong case of tunnel vision, which almost sent him tumbling over the precipice. He stared down into the choppy waters waiting for them below. His gathered sigh carried one last message. "Only one way down."

And then, Naruto took a step off the tower.

END

Writer's Note II: Was the ending I chose a bit cruel? Most definitely yes, but I haven't done a solid cliff hanger in some time. I think that I can sneak one in here or there since I don't put one in every other chapter. Besides, unlike most writers, I think that the length of my chapters gives a cliff hanger ending more credibility as a plot device. Any who, enough rambling on my part, I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. Read, review, and most of all, I want you to have fun! I'll see you guys and gals next time.