Hello everyone. I am not new in the fanfiction world, far from it, but this one is my first in English as it is not my native language. I tried to minimize the mistakes, but hey, bear with me.

I watched Game of Thrones not too long ago, and as I am fan of Naruto (the character), well, here we are. This story was supposed to be in French at first, but I could not make a good enough translation from the Game of Thrones Universe.

My reason for this fiction? Until now, I am still unsure if I am a huge fan of Game of Thrones or if I hate the show because it keeps frustrating me. So, I decided to take the Game of Thrones' elements I liked and venture this frustration away with this fanfiction.

If someone is interested in becoming my Beta Reader, why not? I never required such a thing before, but this is my first fiction in English so… You can recommend yourself, but I am still not sure if I am going to pick someone or not.

Disclaimer (and I am writing it only once, no more) : I do not own Naruto or Game of Thrones. This story is the seed of my imagination.

Chapter 1

****** Neither God nor Demon ******

There is no force stronger than Death. Death consumes and annihilates us all. Only Time might be an equal force, but even of that I am not sure. And both are so intimately linked that I wouldn't be able to clearly distinguished one from the other.

Death is impartial. Everyone must one day meet her. Be peasant, heir prince, blacksmith son or even king. Sooner or later, your turn will come.

I'd like to think that there is not a more absolute truth. That Death is permanent and unavoidable. I wouldn't wish for a better, truer, verity. And I would like to believe that even me, one day, I will have to face Death. I would gladly throw away all my thoughts to believe with all my heart that Death is the greatest force of all.

But surely, sadly, ultimately, I know the truth.

We keep saying that to make sense of Death, you have to consider Life. That one cannot exist without the other.

What do you do, I beg of you, when even the force of Death cannot end you? When Death's arms are powerless against an even greater force?

If you cannot die… does it mean that you cannot live?

****** Neither God nor Demon ******

Calendar of the Seven Kingdoms, Year 282, Westeros.

The Robert Baratheon's rebellion kept going with promise of a brief but no less bloody contest. Some among the Seven families already chose their side. Others were still in the gray area, allying in the shadow to one or the other side, sometimes both. Among them was the Lannister House presently ruled by Tywin Lannister and current Hand of the King. For sure, none of those Families would hold back anything to get their piece of the pie in the end of the war.

Or so was the logical reason Cersei could think about in order to explain her current captivity. She did not believe in the bandit show that those men performed in order to lock her in this cell in… in fact, where was it exactly? In a dungeon? A cave?

She found out that she did not really care in the end. For all that matters, she could even be in Essos for all she knew.

One sure thing was that the bandits who took her were not some random second swords. Were they working for the Mad King to prevent the rebellion of his Hand? Or for the rebellion to have a leverage in the war? There could even be a third party that she did not know about. In the end, she could only trust her family to help her out of here. At fifteen, nearly sixteen, she was already well aware of how the world she was living in was working.

More precisely, she could only trust Jaime to come and rescue her. And maybe her father… even if she doubted that it would be out of kindness of his heart.

So, during her captivity, she waited in the darkness of her cell. At least, she thought, it could have been far worse than what she was living. The men who took her could have raped her, hit her or cut a leg or some fingers as proof of her captivity. They did not even damage a single of her beautiful blond hair. They only chose to put her in this cell before going doing whatever they could have been doing. Only two guards stayed to keep an eye on her. She tried once or twice to speak to them and learn some piece of information, but all she received were a glare and silence.

Once she was rescued, she would order to have them all killed swiftly. Some sort of reward for their behavior at least.

She turned around on the floor where she was laying on and came to face a pair of mesmerizing sky blue eyes.

She nearly let out a scream. She stared wide-eyed at the stranger who was sitting on the floor in her cell, a small smile on his lips.

What the hell?

She moved back away from the man until she was hitting the wall. A pointless reaction, no doubt, but it was more some sort of impulse than anything else.

How had this man succeeded in entering her cell without her noticing? She had not really been focused on her surrounding but she thought she would have at least noted his entrance. There was only one door, and she had been staring at it the whole time. And she was sure that there was no one in her cell before that.

Well, almost sure, she mentally corrected.

She shakily sent a look to her guards outside of her cell. They seemed both asleep on their wooden chair.

Strange.

She took a hold on her breath to calm down before inspecting with a critical eye the stranger. Without a doubt, his appearance only was particularly interesting. He possessed the blue eyes of the House Tully. Blond hairs that was not without recalling a curious blending between Lannister and Targaryen. The face of a Stark and a body midway between Martell and Arryn.

No forgetting the three strange marks on each of his cheeks, like some kind of scratch.

He wore black fur boots and brown leather gloves. The rest of his body was kept hidden under a very large dark green winter cloak made in a material she could not precisely identify. It looked like an amalgam of leaves, fur and even bird feathers.

His face seemed to indicate that he was maybe four or five years her elder.

Who was this man?

"Who are you?" she said, vocalizing her thoughts.

He smiled at her to the point that she could see his clean white teeth. He had to come from a noble family then.

"You can call me Naruto little girl. Still I thought it was common courtesy to introduce yourself first during this kind of presentation, ne?

She eyed at him critically. If he was with her kidnappers, no doubt he already knew about her.

"I am Cersei Lannister".

He chuckled a bit in response to the tone she was using. A mighty princess no doubt.

"Ah… the name sounds kinda familiar? Have we already met each other?"

She stared at him. He had to be joking, right?

"I am the daughter of Tywin Lannister, Hand of the king, Head of House Lannister, Lord of Casterly Rock, Warden of the West, Lord Paramount of the Westerland and Protector of the Realm."

Naruto eyed at her, slightly amused.

"Whoa, so many titles for some duch. Although I didn't ask for your father, only you, you know. What can I do with the name of some guy who is not even here?"

Cersei thought that she might as well have grown a second head. She sent him a glare that could have frozen the tundra.

"… Why are you here?"

"Mmh… good question. I am not entirely sure myself. My first answer would be to meet with a pretty girl. Maybe the o almighty gods wanted me to come here. Maybe I just followed a black cat and lost my way. Or maybe I couldn't keep myself from meeting the Princess in distress. It was always one of my fantasies when I was young. To rescue the o so beautiful princess while riding on my white horse. Kinda pathetic, don't you think?"

He chuckled, and despite herself, Cersei couldn't hold a hollow smile. She frowned immediately when she noticed it. What in the name of the Seven was happening to her? The man in front of her was probably one of her kidnappers. A little bit crazy though but a kidnapper nonetheless.

You do not make friend with your kidnapper, unless it was a plot to get out of his grip. It was an unwritten and logical rule based on common sense. But her smile, during one second, she couldn't retain it.

Who was that man?

"What do you want from me? Are you working with my abductors?"

He stared at her and let a small smile light his face before letting it fade away.

"I am not working with anyone. The day I receive order from someone will be the day the world ends".

He kept himself from smiling at that particular idea.

"I am not with the men who kidnapped you. I'm just interested in talking to you, little one".

For a reason unknown to her, the title made her frown unhappily. It was not that she appreciated the label, far from it. But ordinarily, she would not let such petty things bother her to the point to show a physical reaction. Especially in front of someone as doubtful as this man.

She let loose her arms, seeing that he was not on the edge to approach her. Even if he was, there was little she could have done. He did not seem to carry any weapon or armor but his body was built in the warrior way, showing his well-developed muscles even under his large clothes.

"What do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know yet. You can say I was sort of guided here so… at present, I would just like to know with who I'm dealing with."

"… What do you want to talk about?" she repeated.

A pause. Naruto blinked as his mind registered the question. He seemed to think it over several seconds, his head tilting left, then right, before smiling.

"What is your dream, sweetheart?"

She eyed at him dangerously. She was beginning to have a pretty accurate idea of who she was dealing with so she decided to totally ignore the question.

"…Are you some kind of wizard or magician? I met someone who claimed to be a witch before. She pretended being able to foresee future events."

She paused for a moment. A nasty smile distorted her face.

"I ordered to have her killed after telling me my future".

To her slight surprise, Naruto did not event flinch. He just stared at her in thought, like he lost himself into another world someway.

He did not know that this particular magic had already been activated… how long had it been since the last time? Eight hundred years or something like that, he thought. He was glad to learn that Shion's power was not totally lost after all. But it meant that magic had already reappeared in the world… was he too late?

In any case, was it the reason why his avatar beyond the wall had pointed his attention toward this young woman? To show him that magic already had arisen?

It seemed a little bit overacted and pointless. Why not just lead him to a current magic user? Was there something else special about this girl?

"An interesting story" he simply commented, thoughtful.

Cersei did not let his stoic answer stopped her in her reasoning. This behavior change was more a proof to her theory than anything else.

"So, what's your power o great wizard then? You can foresee things too? Or fly in the sky? Breath under water?"

He chuckled in a way that Cersei found strangely irritating. Was he mocking her? Again, she was remembered the fact that ordinarily, those kinds of reaction did not even force her to bat an eye.

"Mmh, no, nothing like that".

Well, not anymore, he mentally corrected. But he was certainly not going to let her know about that.

He plunged his hand into his coat and pull out a tiny brown sphere. After further inspection, Cersei reached the conclusion that it was in fact a plant seed.

"Behold, little one!" Naruto ordered while approaching his hand to her sight.

In front of her eyes wide-open, the plant seed grew in no time. Less than a second later, a wonderful white rose stood in the man's hand. Naruto reached out for her to take the flower. She grabbed it delicately and stared at it in awe. Even in King's Landing gardens, she had not seen such wonderful blossom.

"I can stimulate the energy within living beings", he told her. "It comes from growing plants to heal animals and even people".

At its fullest capacity, he could even create trees or plants. But he did not really need to tell her about that for the moment. Mokuton and all chakra related subjects were lost a long time ago anyway.

The next question she asked him was not exactly the one he had expected. Nonetheless, it was not totally unexpected either.

"Can you bring back the dead?"

A pause. Ten seconds passed before he answered.

"No".

Cersei glanced at him. She had to have felt his slight hesitation. Fortunately, she did not push him for further information on the matter.

Smart kid.

He decided to answer in a more honest way.

"Not in the way you would like. The result would not be pretty, believe me".

She did with a frown.

He mentally confirmed his previous thought. Smart kid indeed. He decided to investigate a little bit more. It was not like he had better things to do at present.

"Who did you lost?"

She hesitated, without surprise, but decided to tell him even so. After all, he just shared something that she considered a tremendous secret with her. A little bit of honesty could allow her to learn a bit more about this strange person. Growing up, she made the principle "there is always a plot within the plot" a familiar notion to her understanding. She learnt to manipulate and use emotion, people and even herself as a mean to an end.

However, no matter how hard she tried to suppress it, it was only an excuse here. She wanted to tell him the truth, and she did not know why. It was like if some gods above were guiding her mind, telling her to trust this man.

"My mom".

Naruto did not respond immediately. He observed calmly the turmoil of emotion behind those emerald eyes. He did not really notice it at first, but the girl was surely an astonishing beauty in the making. She was still young but he could already see signs of a stunning beauty.

He sighed and approached her slowly in order to not frighten her. He sat on the stone bed in the cell next to the sitting form of Cersei still on the floor. He then gently put his hand on top of her head with a small smile.

This time, Cersei did not back down. She still eyed at him carefully on every move he made though.

"Sorry about that" he finally said.

"Did you lost someone too?" she asked, curious in the emotions that were floating in his eyes. She could also use that as a leverage in order to establish a connection between them.

She had quickly noticed that the man in front of her was a really bad liar. More than that, he could not even keep in check his emotion. His face was like an open book for her to read. For her who had grown up in an atmosphere of liar, manipulation, secret and conspiracy, it was a golden opportunity to exploit. Inwardly, she felt bad about that.

This man was so different from all the others. He did not seem to have any scheme in mind. He was like the gentle mother she never knew and the caring father she dreamt to have as a child.

Unfortunately for him, she was not a child anymore. She was fifteen. People could underestimate her because of her age but she took that as an opportunity to better use them. And if necessary, she would use that man. He could help her out of here. She could use his power to help her obtain the Iron Throne.

She would crush anything standing in her way, be it this man or anyone else. He was probably around twenty years old… if necessary, she would gladly use her body to make him her puppet. The fact that she never met more handsome man before was icing on the cake.

Naruto smiled sadly at her question. She immediately crushed the guilt she felt rising within her chest.

"I lost a lot of people, little one. More than you could count. Those who were once close to me are no more".

He gently petted her head and looked away from her. Cersei felt butterfly in her lungs and heat melting her cheeks. Her resolve seemed to melt like snow in summer, but she forced herself out of the feeling.

"I never knew my parents" he said. "They died the day I was born. But even without meeting them, I knew they both loved me very much".

He turned his head to face her. Sky blue eyes met emerald ones and Cersei felt her heart miss a beat.

"You do not need to mourn for the lost loved ones. In their own way, they always keep a keen eye on you. The only thing you can do for them is to not forget their memory and keep going on life as if they were still here watching over you".

Caring. Loving. Wholehearted.

No matter how hard she tried to justify it, Cersei knew that she was fighting a lost battle. She would never persuade this man to be some sort of puppet in her plot. He was too gentle to be a part of some dark scheme she could be planning.

His words and voice were strong and captivating. No doubt he could convince people in the blink of an eye if he wanted to. It was a quality she was particularly fond of. She knew that she needed that in order to achieve her dream.

His voice, his charisma, his tender authority… for her, this was without a doubt more appealing and frightening than anything else. In this case, even she was falling for it.

The worst part was that she was almost glad she did.

Almost.

He was way too naïve.

"What about the ones responsible for their death?" she murmured slowly. "Do you not want to see them dead? Or would you rather let them walk free unpunished for their crimes?"

He remained silent for ten seconds and seemed to think carefully for his answer.

"I don't really know. I suppose it's really up to the person. I was always the one to provide second chance. I would confront the person and ask him his reasons for doing what he did. I always discovered that they were not particularly different than I. I killed some, true, but I always came to understand part of their choice".

"So, you let some of the ones who wronged you walk away. It's a coward and weak apology for the dead" she summed up somewhat disgusted. She would never embrace this way of thinking.

"The dead are dead. You can avenge them but in reality, it doesn't change anything for them. You can only prevent others for feeling the same way you felt by killing the ones eager to murder again".

There. A lost battle, she knew it. She did not even know why she tried to persuade him. She would better think of some way to convince him to help her get out of here.

Before she could change the topic, he came up with another question.

"Your mother was killed by someone?" he demanded.

"…She died giving birth to my younger brother. A dwarf" she informed matter-of-factly. No point in conveying her revulsion for the imp. She was growing tired of those debates. There was nothing for her to gain from him. He was way too convinced in his own belief.

"I see" Naruto said simply.

A dwarf, huh? Interesting. Maybe he could pay him a visit someday. For reasons still unknown to him, dwarves were often bearer of magic, be it spectacular or invisible to the naked eye. The fact that he was a member of one of the seven great families was also a genetic predisposition.

"By the way, you didn't answer my question earlier. What's your dream?"

She immediately knew the response. It was not really a secret. She did not cry it out loud, but most members in her family already had an idea.

"I want to be queen of Westeros. Have the power and give birth to children that I could trust with my life and cherish more than anything".

He sent her a tired smile that she did not comprehend.

For Naruto, it was particularly sad to consider what the world became through the eyes of this young girl. Did she need children to finally be able to trust someone?

The Game of Thrones was truly worrisome. Was it time to end it? He lost a lot of his former power, but it should be achievable for him.

"Well… I think that will be all for now" he concluded as he stood up.

Cersei went all sharp. She stood up too and grabbed him by the arm.

"Wait! You can't leave me in here! I don't even know where I am!" she shot him.

Naruto smiled brightly at her. He plunged his arm into his coat and pull out another plant seed.

"Your brother is on his way here as we speak. Don't worry too much sweetheart. He will be there in a couple of minutes".

She eyed at him carefully, trying to determine on whether or not she could trust his words and let the hope fill her up. Finding no clue to prove he was lying, she let go his arm off her grip.

He then took the seed in his hand. Like for the flower, it transformed into a wood bracelet of beautiful shape. Naruto felt her curious glance and smiled before giving it to her.

"This seed bracelet is a little bit more special than the flower one. If you think of me while holding it, I will know about it no matter how far I am".

He paused for a second.

"If your life or the life of one of your most precious people is in danger and you have no way to save it, use this and I will come. I make no guarantee, but I swear to at least come and try to help you sweetheart".

Cersei widened her eyes, realizing what a promise this man just made to her. The gesture was wholehearted and so pure… She did not even doubt him. He was really one of a kind.

While she tried to reach and thank him, maybe stop him, clatter suddenly filled the room. She turned her head and was transported of delight with the sight of her twin brother. Jaime Lannister had just finished killing the last of the two men who were guarding her before turning his head in her direction.

When Cersei turned back to search for Naruto who was here less than ten seconds ago, in her one-door cell, all she grasped was thin air.

****** Neither God nor Demon ******

Naruto walked along the road toward the North. His goal for now was far beyond the wall, where his avatar took residence. It was time to have a short talk with him. On his way, he mentally cursed for the absence of dragons in those trouble eras. How long had it been since he did not see one of them? Some centuries at least, he calculated. Despite the problems they caused, they were still his favorite way of travelling long distance back in the day. Now, he had to spend at least several months just to go from one point in Westeros to another.

It was beyond troublesome.

The road he was following was one outside of the main ones. He wasn't particularly fond of people in crowd. This was even truer in these periods of war. In his opinion, one person was more perceptive and intelligent alone than when he was surrounded by others. He was then susceptible to adhere to the public majority and its opinion. And this opinion was often stupid. Team spirit? More like one spirit split between the team's members. Small groups of people were ok in his book and he even welcomed other judgment. But crowds were just stupid and misguided by two or three persons. Like some flock led by ranchers to slaughter.

To get back to the subject, he was following a narrow path deep in the forest. It had to be some kind of farmer road. He could only perceive sound of nature and nothing else.

It felt good.

Of course, it was not meant to last.

This serenity was soon broken by a scream… a woman's scream to be more specific.

He frowned.

The shout came from a different direction than the one he was following but he decided to go take a look anyway. It was not like he was in any kind of hurry. He deviated from the road and crossed some part of the forest. After a couple of minutes, he finally came out to see in front of him a medium-sized house. Some kind of tavern he guessed.

He did not hear any other scream since the first one and decided to go check inside. He opened the door, some giggles reaching his ears as he did so.

The sight he came onto was not a pleasant one.

He did not even blink but his eyes hardened.

A fat man was laying in a bloodbath on the floor. Probably the innkeeper, he guessed. Two others young men were near him, their throat cut. A middle-aged woman was on a table lifeless with legs apart and naked. Three young women, the youngest one no older than twelve, were stuck naked to the wall. They were obviously dead and had been raped before murdered.

Finally, eleven men in armor and uniform were giggling and talking loudly in the hall. One just finished buttoning his pants when Naruto rested his gaze on him.

The blond did not know who these men were. He could speculate that they were probably from one side or the other in the rebellion. But he did not really care for now.

Why would he? For him, those eleven men were already dead. They were just not aware of it yet.

From under his large dark green coat, he took out a stick of wood no more than two feet long. The staff was thin and did not seem to be capable of enduring the slightest breeze.

Naruto seized it in his right hand and slowly approached the first standing man among the eleven. His left hand stayed hidden inside the cloak.

The eleven men noticed him several meters before he reached his first target. They nearly broke into laughter when they noticed the stick of wood in his hand and the shady look over his eyes.

"Hey kid! You missed your chance here! We just finished the last one of them. Too bad for you cherry boy!"

The one who spoke was his first target. From the corner of his eye, Naruto noticed that all of his companions were laughing hard at his comment.

In consequence, none of them saw what happened.

Naruto bypassed his first target without another glance in his direction. To all the others in the room, their companion had suddenly stopped chortling. His face was now dead blank and his body still.

Without a sound, his head felt from his shoulders.

One down.

When the ten men finally came to the conclusion that their comrade was dead, Naruto's hand already ended his swift motion near the head of his second target. Soundlessly, a second head joined the one already on the floor.

The sounds of swords put out of their sheath echoed in the tavern. But already, the head of a third man felt down.

Naruto moved like a death ripper, his face blank and eyes lifeless. Another one felt before he could even raise his blade.

Four down. Seven more to go.

Seeing the slaughter taking place in front of their terrified eyes, the remaining seven men decided to gather themselves in a corner of the hall. Naruto approached them without the slightest hesitation. His steps were calm and his breath under control.

Two men were brave enough to make a move forward. Their sword raised in the air went down toward his head. Naruto raised his stick and block them both. Only one hand was enough to contain the strength from the two grown men. His stick did not falter.

From under his cloak, he pulled out his left hand with another stick in it. He promptly pierced the heart of the man on his right with it. As soon as the pressure lessened on his stick holding both swords away, he tilted it sideways.

The remaining sword slipped on the staff while the man lost balance. Immediately, Naruto decapitated him with his left stick.

Six down. Five more to go.

For the five remaining soldiers, the blond appeared as an unmovable force. With two sticks, deadly moves and without batting an eye, he took care of six men in full armor with blades. He did not even seem to have put any effort in it. It was like watching him walking calmly toward them. There just happened to be a bloody road after passing.

In a desperate action, four men suddenly ran toward him. Two were attacking him. The other two wanted to take advantage of the distraction and bypass him toward the exit.

The last one of the five men stepped back until his back was hitting the wall.

He was probably cleverer than the others, Naruto simply guessed.

One sword came from above while the other one sliced the air from his left side. Naruto sidestepped to avoid the first one and jumped above the second one. In the air, he carefully eyed at the two men who were trying to bypass him. He completed one full revolution on himself and carved in the process the two flying men.

Without a sound, their heads fell down.

Then, Naruto let the gravity bring him back to the ground. While doing it, he smashed under his feet both swords belonging to the attacking men.

Immediately, each of his sticks were piercing the heart of one soldier. The two of them quickly joined their dead comrades lying down on the floor.

Ten down. One more to go.

Naruto approached the last remaining soldier inside the hall. This one had let go of his sword and was wetting himself, begging for life on his knees. With one look, the blond immortal separated his head from his body.

All down.

Naruto sighed. He stared at the living room that was probably not too long ago full of joy. Now, it was a bloody mess.

Without another sound, he decided to bury all of the corpses.

There were lots of things he could tolerate. Rape and torture for fun were not among them. He could understand murder. He would be a hypocrite if he did not. He was probably the one in all history, past, present and surely future, who had killed the most.

But enjoying the suffering of others and taking advantage of their weakness was not something he was willing to accept. It was the reason why he would always try to end a person life in the quickest way. No fancy move needed. He would not torture even the worst man on earth for fun. To prove an important point or obtain some information, yes. But not for fun. If not by pity for the man, at least by pity toward himself.

He took comfort in thinking that he was not a total monster.

Not yet.

****** Neither God nor Demon ******

Naruto eyed at the direwolf with a raised eyebrow.

He had just crossed the wall and was now spending his first night in the middle of the woods. He brought with him a huge package of food. He knew how difficult it was to find something to eat in those lands under snow. Not that it would kill him to not eat anything, but he preferred to have a full stomach. So, he had started a fire and had put some meat to grill. He could have built a full house with his Mokuton, but he had not wanted to be spotted by just anyone. The probability was small but still existent.

And just as he was going to pull his meal out of the fire and eat it, a grown-sized gray direwolf had suddenly appeared from the forest. Now, he was just sitting still, his hand holding a piece of meat suspended just in front of his wide-open mouth. A piece of meat that the newcomer seemed to find particularly interesting apparently.

Strangely, the direwolf did not seem to want to move. She, because it was a she, was just staring at him without breaking a nerve.

Naruto had to admit, he just met a strange new companion.

Slowly, Naruto closed his mouth before holding out the food. He eyed at the direwolf, then the meat, and then again the direwolf. He moved the meat to the left. The direwolf eyes followed the food. He moved it to the right. The predator's eyes kept following.

Naruto sighed and threw away the piece of meat. The direwolf reached for it while it was still in midair and ate it with a quick shift.

"Hum, impressive" He commented wryly.

He took another piece of meat packed in paper from underneath his cloak. He eyed at the direwolf who returned serenely his stare. He sighed again and took another pack. He removed the container and threw it in the flames. He then eyed at both pieces of meat in his hands, then the direwolf.

"You prefer it cooked or not?" He demanded with a raised eyebrow. The mammal eyed at him, the piece of meat, the fire and then back at him. Naruto nodded and put both pieces on the fire.

"Whoa. You have some yummy taste, ne? Never met a direwolf who prefers cooked meat before. I suppose it was bound to happen one day or another".

He waited patiently and turned the meat. In front of him, the direwolf approached and stretched out on the other side of the fire. A couple of minutes later, Naruto pull the meat out of the fire. He threw one piece to the female direwolf who immediately swallowed it like a snack. She then turned her head in his direction, staring at the remaining piece of meat in Naruto's hand.

The blond twitched.

"Ah no! This one is mine! I am a young man in the springtime of his youth! I deserve some meat at least!"

The direwolf seemed to raise an inexistent eyebrow. A vein popped on Naruto forehead.

"Of course I am a youthful young man! Don't you see my handsome face and perfect built?

The direwolf did not move, but Naruto could swear having seen her rolled her eyes.

"Tch, cheeky brat! No respect for their elders I see" he muttered darkly.

Naruto then bitted his meat under the wary eye of the direwolf. While eating, the animal never took her eyes off him. She stared at him until his last bit and then lost all interest in the blond. She unbent herself before closing her eyes. All the while, Naruto never stopped muttering under his breath about "disrespectful puppies who think of already being grown-up and should learn to show some proper respect".

****** Neither God nor Demon ******

"What about Snow White?" Naruto asked while walking across some deserted lands covered by snow.

A growl was his answer.

He was now far in the North, a long way from all lands covered in anything other than snow and rocks. It had been two months since he crossed the wall and since then, the female direwolf who he met on his first day had kept following him.

It was not a problem for him. He could grow trees and so have fruits or vegetable anytime. It was not like it was compulsory for him to eat anyway. He was dealing with the cold rather well and was sleeping like a baby every night in a house of wood that he would destroy the next day. He was far enough from the human territory beyond the wall to not be spotted, or so he hoped. He lost himself once or twice already, but it was just because he wanted to do his trip in the adventurous way. In a nutshell, he was not using anything but stars to help him travel.

On a side note, he quickly found out that in a land where the sky was always cloudy, astrology was not very helpful.

The direwolf seemed fine too. She sometimes disappeared from his line of sight for a day or two but would always come back with a dear, a rabbit or some other food. Apparently, she could also eat fruits and vegetables even if it was not her favorite dish.

The only problem that they had encountered so far, in Naruto's opinion, was to find a name for the female direwolf. He came up with quite a lot, something that seemed to bother the proud animal for a reason way past over his head. Was it his fault that she did not like 'Cheeky Brat', 'Rox Buster' or 'Emo Wolf'?

"Well, like it or not, but we need to find you a name. I can't call you 'direwolf' or 'you' all the time you know".

Naruto ignored the growl that probably meant something along the line of 'not until you find a fitting name for my royal majesty'. He quickly learnt that because he met her when she was just about to end her growth, she was quite the prideful one. Well, it was not like he did not know the type. In retrospective, she was particularly enjoyable to be around even if she was lacking a good sense of humor.

She never laughed to his jokes damn it! They were good ones though.

Naruto looked forward onto the road they were following. They were close, he could sense it. Just beyond that cliff, he thought. Or maybe the next one. Unless it was the one they bypassed three days ago… Well, no better adventure than the one whose you do not know the end.

When they reached the top of their ascent, a bright smile lightened his face. By his side, even the direwolf could not suppress a look of awe.

In front of them was the biggest Weirwood tree ever on top of a mountain. Its red leaves were shining brightly thanks to a ray of the sun that was especially focused on the spot. Its white wood was unaffected by elements or time. At the bottom of the tree was a large cave dug in the mountain that Naruto knew was overfilled with roots.

"Aha! I told you it was here! And you, you were like 'Naruto, we are so lost' or 'you have no idea where we are, right?' But I knew it was right here since the beginning!"

The female direwolf completely ignored him and began walking toward the Weirwood tree. Naruto twitched but said nothing, following her in her tract. After crossing a flat ground without incident, they came in front of the cave. Naruto entered without hesitation but the direwolf seemed uncertain at first. She finally settled down to follow when she saw Naruto send her a mocking wink. She was in no way afraid! Cautious, yes. Afraid, certainly not.

After passing the entrance, they came in what seemed like a labyrinth of roots and rocks. Naruto made his way without a pause, the direwolf following diligently behind him. They kept going for about five minutes before finally coming to a stop in a larger room.

A small smile enlightened Naruto's face as he was staring at the mass of roots in front of him. The direwolf tensed, sensing a faint presence in here other than herself and her annoying companion. But no matter how hard she looked, she could not pinpoint it.

The roots moved suddenly around, revealing the figure of an old man who seemed to be directly connected to the roots. His face was the epitome of oldness. He wore a brown pall and a cane was resting in his hand.

Naruto coolly approached him to sit down on a root next to the old man.

Wait. Did he have to call him an old man who looked old? Because he was way older than this kid of an old man.

"Hello Raven! How are you? Still busy taking root, ne?" Naruto teased.

"…Please, stop it dad. It's still not funny".

He paused and sighed aloud. He eyed at Naruto before staring at the direwolf who was accompanying him.

"I see you have met some pleasant company. What is your name, young one?"

The animal eyed at him warily but with evident curiosity. After ten seconds, she let out a growl.

Raven chuckled.

"I see. You don't have a name, ne? So, what about I give you one? For instance, what do you think about… Storm Flake?"

The direwolf seemed to widen her eyes slightly before contemplating the name. She then sent him another growl, seeming rather happy.

"Storm Flake it is" Raven smiled softly.

All the while, Naruto eyed at the event ongoing with apparent dejection. He went in a corner to trace some imaginary circle in the dirt, calling upon the total unyouthfulness of life.

"Dad, please. Stop your mourning! We have more important matters to discuss" the old man who looked old criticized.

Naruto sighed before standing fully. His piercing sky blue eyes did not show of any mischief. They were focused and filled with graveness that the now named Storm Flakes had not seen once during the two months she had been patronizing the blond man.