Chapter 1: The Story Begins

"The Sage does not accumulate for himself. The more he uses for others, the more he has himself. The more he gives to others. the more he possesses of himself. The way of the sage is to act but not to compete."

- Lou Tzu

Scotland, 994 A.D. was a land ruled by wars, bandits, and other types of evils roaming the lands. Among all of the battles fought, one in particular stood above the rest, for it would change history forever. An army had formed just outside of Castle Wyvern and was looking to take it over for themselves. They had followed the refugees, that the castle had taken then not one night ago, and were now determined to take the castle for themselves. Hundreds of men stood just outside the castle walls, catapults were firing large stones, and the leader among them was just crazy enough to try and do this at sunset. He believed that the night we give his men the advantage to sneak in, but little did he know what would happen when the sun finally went down.

Another large rock was launched at the castle, this time breaking off a large chunk of it and sending several archers to their deaths. High above the raging battle, as if glaring down at the unsuspecting prey, were no less than thirty stone gargoyles. Yet while most wore a fierce look, the one at the top war expression as cold as the stone he was made of.

"Stand fast men, we can hold them back!" yelled the Captain of the Guard, an iron mace held in one hand and a steel sword held in the other.

Yet, as the men defending bickered among themselves on how outnumbered they were, one of the main doors to the castle opened and out stepped a man. Dressed in pure white ropes, with a Buddhist ring staff in hand, and I so old that they would be mistaken for an old man's eyes. Yet this person was young, but the way the men hushed around him gave a small sign of his importance. His spiky blond hair was like the rising sun, his skin was tan showing that he spent much time outside, and animallike whisker marks adorned his cheeks. He was Naruto Uzumaki and he was a man like no other.

"What's taking you so long, they have nearly tore down the castle itself!" the captain of the guard shouted, only for Naruto to suddenly appear right next to him as if he had always been there from beginning.

"Relax, my friend, I will go down and greet our guests until the rest of our friends wake up. It shouldn't be much longer now, so just have a bit more patience," it was simply amazing how commie could be in the face of such odds, yet men and steel were no threat to Naruto for he had a power unlike any other.

By now the enemy was beginning to climb the castle walls, leading them was their mad King and he was headed right for were in the leader of the Gargoyles slept. Naruto ignored those men, it was a larger army that he was more concerned about, and he would drive them way just like he had every other want to be conquerors. Holding his staff high into the air, six balls of violently rotating energy formed in the center of each of the six rings. Simply by pointing his staff at the Army, the six balls of energy shot off like demons, and slammed into the invading army.

Loud shrieks could be heard as Naruto's attack sent men flying into the air, but soon enough the sun had set and the fun was about to begin. As if called by some great hunt, thirty roars consume the night sky, the Gargoyles had awakened once more and had found men threatening their home. Naruto saw their leader, a massive grey skinned Gargoyle, holding up the enemy king by his arm.

"You're trespassing," the massive Gargoyle growled, his eyes narrowing at the man he held looked on in fright, causing him to swing his sword out of a sense of survival.

Without even hesitating, the massive winged monster caughted the sword, with his clawed hand, and let out another primal growl. Yet a trail of blood slipped down the steel blade, showing that the Gargoyles could be harmed.

"They are not invincible, men attack!" just like that the battle was back on and the clan of Gargoyles took to the sky.

Naruto continued to use the swirling orbs to rip apart the enemy army by the dozens, with each one rendering armor to nothing more than scrap metal. Having enough of such a long ranged fight, not to mention that they had managed to get inside the walls, Naruto opted for a more physical approach. Without even thinking twice, Naruto jumped off the very walls of the castle and into the swarming army. The fall alone would have killed a man, but Naruto landed with almost inhuman grace. The moment his staff touched the ground, a shock wave lashed out at the army before him, sending many men flying back.

Naruto then jabbed his staff into a man's chest, only for the man to literally turn to dust upon contact. Every time the tip of his staff touched a person that person turned to dust upon contact, leaving many to openly try and dodge him. It was only when the king himself sounded the retreat that they actually began to run for their lives. The archers continued to fire upon the retreating army until they were completely out of sight and Naruto simply watched from the foot of the castle. With no other reason to remain outside the castle, the blonde Uzumaki simply walked back up the castle walls, as if he was walking on flat ground. This wasn't an unusual sight, if the non interested looks of the soldiers were anything to go by.

"Well done, my friend, if it wasn't for you and the Gargoyles then we wouldn't have survived an army of that size," said the Captain of the Guard, patting Naruto on his shoulder while the grey skinned Gargoyle wrapped his injured hand in a white bandage.

"Goliath, have a good day's sleep?" Naruto asked the now name Goliath, who smiled at the shorter human.

"Indeed, although I had wished to not wake up to our home being under attack," Goliath said, a smile on his face as he placed his clawed hand on his mate's shoulder, giving her the same loving smile that he had whenever he looked at her.

"And you, Sage, what of your work today?" the female Gargoyle asked the young Uzumaki, having been intrigued by Naruto's strange power ever since he had first arrived at their home's front steps, half dead no less.

"My power is slowly returning, but I fear that I'm far from what I once was. Still, thank you for asking."

"Come, we have a victory feast to attend to and you lot shall be the guests of honor!" the Captain proclaimed, although deep down they all knew that their arrival would be would not be greeted with cheers from the other human's that occupied the castle.

The dining hall was filled with the laughter and cheers of those nobles that occupied the castle walls. At the head of the table was Princess Katharine herself, the beautiful gem of the castle, and possibly the most beautiful woman that any man had ever laid eyes upon. Seated to her right was the wizard known as Magus, who had long white hair, slender features, and sharp eyes. Naruto himself was seated on the right of the princess, having been given the position of her right hand after many years of helping when she needed it the most.

Naruto didn't fancy most of the foods at the table and was appalled at how most of those here lack the proper manners that such a dining hall deserves. As the Captain of the Guard took his seat, next to Naruto of course, Katharine herself turned to speak with the two of them.

"Our thanks for a battle well fought, good Captain," Katharine thanked, her words soft and almost angelic to everyone in the room, but Naruto knew that would change far too soon.

"The credit is not mine to take, your highness, for without Goliath and his Gargoyles our defences would have proven useless," it was the truth of course, but the shocked looks on Katharine's and Magus's faces told Naruto that they didn't approve of the Gargoyles being mentioned at all.

"Please, don't mention that monster's name in my presence," at the word "monster" Naruto's eyes hardened ever so slightly and, just when he was about to protest to such things, the doors to the dining hall swung open with an almost dramatic flair.

Standing in the doorway was Goliath and his "Angle of the Night", both of which caused quite the stir, if the hushed whispers were anything to go by. It was no secret that everyone was afraid of the Gargoyles and, what most fear, they ended up hating them as well. Naruto, on the other hand, knew what it was like to be different and embraced them as fellow children of the Earth. Too bad not everyone was as understanding.

"Forgive me, your highness, I asked them to appear and be recognized for their bravery," the Captain explained, but even he could see what was going to happen next and braced himself for it.

"Captain, we are very much displeased, to allow beasts into the dining hall!"

"You speak wisely princess, these are unnatural creatures, no good can come from associating with them," ah Magus, the ever present ass kisser.

"Can either of you even hear yourselves, so afraid of the unknown that you would damn them even when they help save their lives?!" Naruto shouted, slamming his hands onto the wooden table, with enough force to make it crack, while he glared up at the princess and the mage.

Titles aside, both the princess and the mage knew the power Naruto held at his fingertips and were not foolish enough to make an enemy of him. Speaking his mind was one of the reason's Katharine had chosen Naruto to be her right hand and also one of her biggest obstacles when his opinion went against her own. Yet, after Goliath had reached just a few feet from the young woman, he surprised everyone by tucking his wings around his neck and giving her a proper bow of respect.

"Goliath, I see we named you well, you're as good a soldier as the one who fought David!" the Captain laughed, placing his hand on Goliath's shoulder.

"You do well to remember that the Biblical Goliath was a bully and a savage!" Katharine pointed out, which only proved to provoke Goliath's mate, who hissed at the human woman and had her eyes turn a fiery red.

"If you will excuse us, your highness," was all Goliath said, after making sure his mate wouldn't attack the princess, before turning around and walking away, followed closely by Naruto himself.

As they walked through the stone hallways, Naruto could practically see the negative emotions radiating off of the female Gargoyle, who wouldn't have thought twice about maiming Katherine's face to the point that she wouldn't even be recognisable. This only proved to make her hate for human's to grow that much more and it was beginning to worry both Naruto and Goliath. However, soon enough the Captain caught up with them, since not even he felt welcome it the dining hall any longer.

"My apologies for this Goliath, you all deserved more than that," said the Captain, who fell into step next to Naruto.

"No apologies necessary, we are what we are and her opinion won't change that fact," what he said was true, that much Naruto was sure of, but not all among their group shared his opinion on the matter, namely his mate.

"Have you not pride, these hills belonged to us long before those humans built their stone fortress! They should be bowing to us!" she hissed, her eyes flashing red once more.

"Would you have us bow along with them, would you make all humans bow before you just because a few of them are frightened of you?" Naruto inquired, his voice as soft as a whisper but as sharp as any blade, and that caused the female Gargoyle to pause and her rage to vanish.

"No, I do not wish for either of you too bow to us. Sigh, I'm sorry Sage," she apologized, only for Naruto to give her a kind smile and a few words of wisdom.

"Freedom and justice are the rights of all sentient beings. That is something I have come to believe above everything else."

"Wise words, my friend, but the night grows late and the two of you deserve your rest. Fear not for we shall not let the castle fall while you slumber," Goliath promised and his word was his bond, as was the way of every Gargoyle.

"Yes, I fear I may have overworked myself this night and am in need of much rest."

Well I figured that, since I'm finally back from my overly long trip, I should bring back one of my old stories. Since the Naruto manga has finally ended, there won't be any more surprises and I can finally work my magic. So leave a review, if you please, telling me what you think and if you have any ideas for the next chapter. Also the chapters will be longer but this was just a little preview.