Winter and Summer Collide

Authors Note – I said I was going to write about Rhaella and C3 being somewhere they shouldn't. Well, I sort of lied. I will be writing about it in this chapter, but it won't fill up the entire chapter this time around.

Other than that, thank you all so much for allowing me the privilege of having this be my first story to break 25K+ views, nearly 500 Favorites and nearly 600 Follows, along with breaking the 100-review mark (it's currently sitting at 110 and counting). You guys honestly don't know how much it means to me seeing so many people enjoy my story to the point of wanting to favorite and follow it along with leave a review giving their constructive criticism or their compliments. Thank you all.

There were some questions that I'll get to answering at the end of this chapter, so for those of you who were curious about something, I'll be answering it down below. I would however like to point out one thing a reviewer mentioned, and that was Ashara falling in love with Naruto too fast.

Pokemonrot377 – The reason why it seems unrealistic is because I wanted it to be unrealistic. The reason why she thought it was love was because of a few factors:

Her near-death experience after attempting to jump off the Palestone Sword in order to end her life.

The only person she ever fancied was Eddard Stark and that was during the Tourney of Harrenhall so her views on what sort of feelings she has that could be equated to love are rather limited.

While it definitely isn't love she's feeling, she was too tired to think too deep on it to properly assess it. However, the attraction is there, it's just a matter of allowing it to develop between her and Naruto.

Hopefully that answers your observation and if it doesn't, I'm hoping my writing will do that for me. She isn't fully in love, or even in love with him to begin with, but she'll get there.

Now that's over and done with, enjoy the fifth chapter of Unchained Calamity.

Waking up to the familiar sound of drip, drip that was prevalent in his mindscape, Naruto allowed himself to merely lay in the ankle-deep water, knowing full well that the damp, soggy feeling of his clothes being soaked was only there in his head and not physically present.

Taking a moment to appreciate the fact that he was still able to visit his mindscape, Naruto stood up, looking towards the large sewer pipes that he knew would lead to his long-time tenant and companion. As he slowly trudged through the multitude of closed doors that were gateways to particular memories, Naruto was irked to find out that he had to re-do the entire landscape inside his head once again.

It was a neat little trick he picked up once he and Kurama were fully connected as partners, and not just as a warden and his tenant. With some help from Ino and various members of the Yamanaka clan, he was taught on various ways to both bolster his mental defenses along with changing the overall look of his head. Stopping for a moment and closing his eyes, he visualized what exactly he wanted to shape his mind into.

Slowly but surely, the dark, dank walls melted away to an open field underneath a radiantly sunny sky, with the stone path beneath his feet acting as both a guide and visual for his chakra pathways. The various signs that pointed in different directions would lead him to various cottages, ponds, lakes and other visual representations of a particular memory while the main path itself led to his nine-tailed companion.

Stopping beneath a grand oak tree, whose leaves touched each and every part of the sky Naruto's eyes could imagine, he saw a familiar shade of orange beneath the shade. The tree itself was reminiscent of the same one he laid under with his Godfather and Mentor, Jiraiya though the real-life comparison was definitely not as big. The tree itself served as a memory more than anything.

Seeing his friend asleep, Naruto stepped in closer to see if he could wake the furry old bastard up, only to stop and have his heart be seized as he could see the state his companion was in.

His fur coating, once a deep and rather striking color of orange was now less-so, fading within itself to give a dull almost lifeless color. The blond could also see the fox's labored, almost painful breathing coming out in short, irregular intervals. His ears were drooped, and the fox's nine mighty tails were wrapped around his body in a protective cocoon, almost as if his tails were the only thing protecting his fragile constitution.

Naruto slowly approached the fox and laid his forehead against the Fox's snout while his hand idly rubbed his ears, "I'll get you up soon buddy, don't you worry. Just hang in there." He pleaded to his friend hoping his words could be heard. Taking a few minutes to just revel in the fact that his friend was alive, very weakened but alive nonetheless, Naruto simply basked in Kurama's presence – his soul being calmed at seeing his companion alive.

Stepping away from the fox to allow him his isolation in order to heal, Naruto looked up towards the sky, realizing he needed to wake up soon so he and the lady could have a talk. With a deep breath and one last look towards Kurama, Naruto willed himself out of the mindscape and awakened.

Starfall, a room in the Palestone Sword

Waking up, Naruto caught himself stumbling out of the chair he made his bed last night and was just about to get out the room and meet his clone who was carrying Lyanna until he realized what his lone hand was doing and looked towards the offending appendage that held it in a vice-like grip.

Feeling a faint dusting of embarrassment hit his cheeks, the blond realized just the sort of awkward predicament he was in. On the one hand, if he forcibly removed himself, he ran the risk of waking the woman up, but on the other hand, if he didn't make her let go, his clone would be stuck outside with Lyanna on his back and might be forced to ask for instructions.

Let it be known that while Naruto did end up becoming one of the most badass (in his humble opinion) shinobi to grace the Elemental Nations, his contact with the opposite sex was… less than one would think a man of his line of work would be accustomed to. It didn't mean that he was wholly new to the mannerisms and behavior of a lady, but rather he still needed much to learn about their various habits and goings of life.

He decided that potentially waking the woman up was better than having his clone ask for instructions, considering the fact that while they were capable of semi-independent thoughts, they sometimes had the urge to ask and utter the most mundane and rather unintelligent things he's ever heard coming out of anyone's mouth – his included. Naruto decided to manipulate his chakra so that the muscles and tendons in her hand would be forced to relax for just a moment in order to get the lady to loosen her grip, he felt a bubble of satisfaction hit him as her hand loosened just enough for his own to slip through and allow him to head out the door.

Just as he was about to shut the door behind him, he took another look behind him in order to confirm she was still asleep. While his chakra manipulation had improved by leaps and bounds, there would be times where his manipulation of the energy would be a bit too hastily done and thus mistakes were bound to happen. Standing there and laying his eyes on her to see if he could discern any form of her body language signifying that the woman was soon to wake, he concluded that she was still fast asleep after staring at her for the better part of a minute.

'Wait, that sounded worse than it should have.' Naruto mumbled mentally to himself, having a distinct feeling that what he thought wasn't exactly… innocent. In fact, it could be likened to the sort of musings his perverted Godfather would do and knowing his tendency to be lured by beautiful women and their bountiful… ahem… assets had Naruto re-evaluating his purity.

Maybe he wasn't as innocent as he thought? 'Nah, there's no way I'd ever stoop to the perv's level.' Nodding to himself in satisfaction for his own answer, Naruto proceeded to softly close the door and navigate himself through the twists and tunnels of the castle to meet with his clone outside.

With C2

Finally arriving at Starfall, C2 with Lyanna on his back nearly dispelled then and there from an over usage of his meager chakra reserves pushing himself to get her here as soon as possible. While he could definitely dispel as he knew the original was coming towards them, C2 felt compelled to stay a bit longer as he still had something else to deliver to the original along with the woman on his back.

Seeing the familiar shade of blond hair, C2 sighed in relief and quickly walked towards the original, slowly shifting Lyanna from his back towards his front, he made sure she was comfortable enough in order to hand her off to the original. Realizing how that sounded in his head, C2 grimaced at himself for his particular use of words but decided to relay what transpired during the transport of Lyanna.

"Hey boss, I'm sure you know who this is. If not, you'll find out once I dispel." He gestured towards Lyanna, "I also found something you might find interesting." With that, he summoned a sword, its scabbard being badly damaged but still durable enough to carry it and the particular sheen of the blade coming off within the tattered edges of the scabbard itself.

"Huh, okay then. You wouldn't pick up any old sword, so… where'd you find this?" Naruto asked his clone, curious to see why exactly his clone had decided to pick up what seemed to be any other sword that he saw many of the men carry.

C2 shrugged, "It was on one of the bodies I found in the tower where she was," pointing at Lyanna, "I know looting dead bodies goes against everything we stand for, but this seemed way too valuable to be left on its own boss." Allowing the original to take the sword off C2's hand after making sure Lyanna was properly adjusted on his back, Naruto gestured C2 to help him draw it from its scabbard.

When fully released from its scabbard, both original and clone marveled at the craftsmanship the sword possessed in its entirety. The blade was as pale as some of the pottery he browsed during his training trip with Jiraiya (the woman at the shop called it 'milk glass'), and the grip, pommel and guard of said sword were beautifully handcrafted and they both could see it was made with care.

Naruto whistled at the blade, still marveling at how awesome it looked, "While I don't like the fact that you stripped this off a body, I do understand the necessity of it. This blade looks priceless and I'd rather dishonor myself than have a wandering bandit or mugger take the sword for themselves and sell it off."

C2 nodded, "Also, Lyanna's brother, Eddard, asked me to find a woman called Ashara Dayne. He seemed to know her by name, so I can only assume he and her were close. Have you managed to find her?"

Naruto shook his head in the negative, "No, but I'm sure I will if I ask around. For now, I'll ask Elia for help if she's willing." Not knowing what he was about to do would set off one of the most heated exchanges the blond would ever see between two members of royalty.

C2 simply nodded in agreement and before dispelling, offered to the original, "I also recommend you find someone to help appraise the sword. I know you're not gonna sell it boss, but it wouldn't hurt to know how it was made and if we could find the previous owner. If we manage to do both, we can hopefully get a katana, or some kunai made just like it." With his piece said, C2 dispelled and Naruto took in all of his memories with a sharp hiss and low growl.

Damn, even a few hours of information were enough to nearly give him a migraine. He seriously needed to start shaping himself up again. This definitely wasn't who he was or what he was capable of, considering in his best fighting shape, he'd be able to take a few hours of information from hundreds upon thousands of clones within one dispel. For him to nearly topple from just a singular clone? He seriously needed to get his chakra back.

'That is, if I can. As far as I can tell, chakra is practically non-existent here and Kurama's currently out for the count so depending on him to help bolster my reserves might end up killing him, and I'm not even sure if he'd be able to reform if he does die…' Naruto thought with a grimace, resolving to think on that particular notion at a later date. His focus was put back to finding a place for Lyanna to be hidden, but considering this was his first time ever being in Starfall, his sense of direction was all over the place and if it weren't for his ability to remain hidden even in the better-lit areas – a skill he honed and perfected during his young years pranking and mucking about in the village – he was sure he would've been caught by now.

After wandering aimlessly about in an attempt to find a vacant room that was hidden away from most of the people in the castle, Naruto simply decided to head back to his room and pray to whoever would be willing to listen to him that the crazy tower-jumping lady would have left by now.

Ha! As if. Knowing his penchant for stumbling across the unluckiest situations paired with Murphy's obvious desire to fuck him around every corner, Naruto knew something was bound to happen. He wasn't sure how, wasn't sure why it would happen, but he knew it would happen if he walked into his current lodgings.

Happen it did, though it definitely wasn't the situation Naruto expected nor planned for. Ironic considering as a shinobi, he was trained in adapting to every possible scenario that could occur at any given moment both on and off mission. For him to slip up and fail to come up with a viable solution with what little information he did have, it spoke volumes of his current state and mind and opened up a whole can of worms Naruto didn't want open.

Standing there, luckily – or unluckily depending on who you asked- wasn't the crazy tower-jumping lady, but instead Princess Elia Martell, who looked to be in a much better state than she was a few days prior to their arrival to Starfall. She looked positively royal (the dress she wore the day he found her that looked like it belonged more on a servant girl than it did the Princess of Drone being replaced by a simple beige summer dress), the hems of her dress billowing freely and stopping just below her knees. Her hair was loose, but styled into long, wavy curls and accentuated her sharp features even further by wrapping themselves around her face, but not to the point of obscuring her entirely.

All in all, she looked positively stunning. Though the look on her face after she saw the individual on his back was… positively less so.

Elia hissed, "Naruto, do not tell me that is who I think it is." If that was who Elia thought it was currently resting on the blonds broad back, not only did he manage to bring forth a tidal wave of emotions unbefitting of a Princess, he also managed to bring forth a slew of political troubles should people find out the gods-damned Princess of the North was not dead, but in fact very much alive, and very much in Starfall – the same Starfall that fell under her and her siblings' rule.

"Oh, hey Princess. Didn't think you'd be here – matter of fact, how'd you know where my room was?" Naruto was admittedly confused by Elia's reaction, until he realized who was on his back and maybe, just maybe the two ladies had some sort of bad history between them.

"That matter is irrelevant at the moment, right now, we've got more pressing issues to attend to. The main one being Lyanna Stark resting on your back." The way Elia spat her name with such venom and ferocity had Naruto definitely think that these two had some very, very bad blood between them. "Do you realize just what would happen if someone were to come to your room and find out that the Princess of the North was currently resting in your chambers? People think she's dead, Naruto!"

Naruto attempted to placate her by calmly replying, "She was about to."

That was clearly the wrong answer and Elia nearly screamed then and there, "Then why in the Seven Hells would you help her live? Do you even realize the magnitude of your actions? The magnitude of hers?!" By now, she was breathing heavily, her temperament getting the better of her.

It took a few awkward beats until Naruto pieced together what little pieces he was given during the entire ordeal, "She's the reason the land plunged into war, isn't she?"

Elia looked at him with a piercing glare, her temper rising back up in full swing, "Yes. And she is the reason my son is dead!"

Naruto, knowing things were about to get even worse should these two be in the same room, quickly deposited Lyanna onto his bed and covered her in his thick blanket. Afterwards, and without skipping a beat, he turned around to gently grab Elia by the wrist to lead her out of the room.

Realizing what was about to occur, Elia attempted to fight against it, her displeasure written against it, but she should've known better than to attempt to wriggle her way out of the grip of the man who bested the mountain with a flying kick.

Once they were out the door, Naruto spun around to face her and looked straight into her eyes, seeing a torrent of emotions flickering from rage to despair to grief. With a soft sigh, he gently guided her to sit onto one of the stone benches that lined the corridor of the hallway his room was situated in.

Once Elia was sat down, not without an indignant huff, Naruto kneeled and grabbed both her hands with his lone individual one, his large and calloused fingers encompassing hers in a firm but warm grip.

"Look, I don't know all of the details. I don't know what happened or why it happened. But I do know that Lyanna needed my help, and neither I nor my clone could ever fathom just simply sitting back and letting her die. Not when we had the power to save her. So, we did." He attempted to explain to her his reasons in a gentle and soothing manner.

Elia merely looked down at their joined hands (or rather, her joined hands with his lone one), her mind blank and her heart aching. She couldn't understand why she was being like this – in all honesty, she thought she got over the fact that her life was nearly torn asunder by the actions of the woman currently laying in her saviors bed and she thought she could grieve the death of her son at a later time, once everything settled.

Seeing her, however, merely allowed the emotions she so desperately tried to hold back until she could cope alone in the comfort of her own room back in Dorne to come flooding out like a flood. Before she even realized, her eyes started watering and droplets began to appear in her eyes. Attempting to stand up and go back to her room before the blond could notice the state she was in, she tried saving some part of her dignity by asking him if she could back to her room. The same room she knew she could let the floodgates break and her emotions to spill through.

In the most formal tone she could manage, she cursed herself inwardly when her voice hitched, "I-if you would allow me to retreat for the day. It seems that my body has still not gotten over everything that's occurred."

She underestimated, or rather, didn't realize the depths of which Naruto could sense ones emotion, as he immediately replied back with a soft, "Princess, you don't have to lie to me, ya know?"

"Lie to you about what?" She stated cheerily, a smile too false to be true plastered on her lips, "I simply wish to retreat back to my room and rest some more."

Knowing words wouldn't get to her, Naruto did the next best thing he was good at, action and before Elia could realize it, he had brought her towards his chest only to wrap his single arm around her, his chin resting against the crown of her head.

Stiffening at the sudden initiation of contact, Elia's body was rigid with shock and even a little bit of fear, but his steadfast and comforting aura encompassed hers like a shroud, comforting her and whispering to her that no matter what, it was all going to be okay. It was only a matter of time before she fully collapsed and began sobbing uncontrollably on his chest, her wails and cries racking with the untold guilt of having to witness her only son be murdered in front of her, of having to survive it and explaining to her daughter that the same fate would've awaited them were it not for the blond before her, saving them before anything more could've been done.

She let all of it out, every misgiving, every suffering, every piece of guilt she carried over the course of the rebellion. All of it into the chest of the one man responsible for steering her and her daughter away from greeting The Stranger far too soon. All while Naruto merely stood there and allowed her to cry, merely whispering sweet gentle encouragements into her ear, allowing her time to grieve and to accept the hole that was present in her heart.

Neither of the two knew how long it passed before her tears began to falter, and her sorrow began to close. All Elia knew was that – once again, her savior came in the form of the blond before her, who rescued her much like a knight in shining armor and she, the damsel in distress. She was grateful, perhaps even more-so now knowing that he would never allow her to be alone wit her sadness. Especially if she needed some measure of comfort, or some measure of relief. It was then she began to realize just how much she has begun to rely on him – from saving both her and her daughter, to taking her all the way to Starfall, to comforting her in her grief. She should be worried, after all, there was no guarantee that he would stay with her once they began their trip to Sunspear, and there was no guarantee that he would even stay before that.

Wanting to know the answer before it's too late, she shifted just enough to gather his attention, her large and brown doe-like eyes staring deep into his never-ending pools of cerulean-violet ones. He looked curiously at her; his arm still wrapped around the small of her back in a firm but gentle hold. She began to open her mouth to ask, only to close it soon after, a sudden bout of nerves hitting her before she could voice her thoughts to him.

She didn't know why she stopped herself from speaking when she clearly needed to know what his intentions were after Starfall. Perhaps it was an odd combination of her nerves and the fear of the unknown that held her back from asking, but she knew she had to push through those fears and swallowing down her trepidation, she began to ask him.

"Naruto, what will you do after this?" She considered the way she phrased her question as a success, seeing as there was no stutter in her voice. Or at the very least, none that she was acutely aware of. What she couldn't stop however was how small and pleading her voice came out, as her doubts came roaring back the instant she began to speak.

The blond, on the other hand, merely looked at her curiously, "Well. I did promise to stick by you and your daughter, Princess. So, wherever you go, I will too." He smiled gently at her, the corners of his lips exposing a minute part of his canines.

Elia was ecstatic to hear the words come out of his mouth, hugging him fiercely and shoving her head into his chest, and she began mumbling, "So will you come to Sunspear with me then?"

"Of course. But…" Naruto paused, unsure of how he should breach the subject.

While he did promise to go wherever she went and protect her and Rhaenys from all who seek to harm them, he had other problems on his hand. His main one being that C3 was all the way up in the North, near a massive castle though he wasn't aware of its name nor who was overseeing it. All he knew was that his clone was stranded with another person and he needed to go up there and see if they could find a place more permanent for them.

While Naruto was many things, ignorant wasn't one of them. He knew that saving what seemed to be some of the most influential figures in the Seven Kingdoms (speaking of, he seriously needed to look up this world's history in a library, he's been going in blind so far and it was only due to his extravagant amount of luck that allowed him to survive as long as he has) would come at a price. Not just for him, but for them as well. In order to properly safeguard them against anyone who wanted to kill them, he would need to find and fortify a location for them to be in.

There was also this nagging feeling in his gut, a sort of pull that was gravitating him towards the North. He didn't know how far this feeling went, or even if it ever ended, but the more he tried to ignore it, the stronger the feeling came back and he was not one to place doubts on his gut. Not when it saved him countless of times. The only thing that was stopping him from committing to the journey was Elia's reaction and if she would take it well.

"But?" Elia saw him pause and a thoughtful look enter his eyes, and she hoped that her voice would be enough to push him to continue speaking and as luck would have it, it did.

"You might not like this, but I think once we head to Sunspear, we should head up North. We can leave your daughter with your two brothers and you and I can venture up North with Lyanna. Maybe Ashara as well, if we can find her."

Schooling her emotions to prevent yet another outburst, Elia merely raised an eyebrow questioningly, "Why the North? And why are you saying that we should leave my daughter behind with my brothers? What do you intend on doing? And why is Ashara in all of this?"

Knowing he just set off a ticking time-bomb, Naruto tried his best to explain without digging himself a deeper hole for her to blow up in, "Because your daughter would be safer with them than she is with me. As it is right now, I'm too weak to protect all three of you should we head up North, and even now I'm having doubts if I can protect both you and Lyanna. I don't know much about this world, and certainly not much about the politics that rage amidst it all, but I do know that you and she are very important figures."

He paused, thinking on what to say, "If it weren't for the fact that I got to the three of you in time, I am absolutely sure your deaths would've sparked a spiral of events that would shake the foundations of this place. I don't know who this Ashara woman is, but Eddard Stark asked me to find her and help me with Lyanna."

Elia's eyes widened at the mention of the Warden in the North. So that was why he brought her all the way here, he was asked to. Even still, she knew he would've done so either way regardless of being asked. Though she hadn't known him for long, she did come to understand that his inability to stand by and do nothing was a core part of who he was – and in some cases, it endeared her to him. Though she would never admit that out loud.

"Is that why you brought her here? Because Ned Stark asked you to?"

Naruto nodded, "Not just that, but it allowed me to have the opportunity of not having to worry about whether or not I would be able to keep an eye on all of the people I've entrusted myself to protect. It seems strange, and oddly selfish to give myself these tasks, but I was never one for orthodox methods." He smiled a little bit at that admission, memories coming forth like a wave.

"But why the north? Surely you can bring her down south, to Sunspear?"

"And risk your brothers putting your hands on the woman responsible for this war and your misery in the first place?" Naruto asked rhetorically, an eyebrow raised.

Elia conceded that point to him, "That is true enough but even if we did go north, it would be a few months journey by horse, and a few weeks by sea. That is more than enough ample time to have the other houses or bandits stage an ambush if they were to spot us heading there. Not to mention, how would my daughter be protected from all of this?"

Naruto merely unwrapped his lone arm around her and drew blood on his finger, using the stump of his left arm to swipe alongside his right forearm and in a wisp of smoke – catching Elia by surprise and eliciting quite the cute squeak from her – a strange knife was presented to her.

It was of an unorthodox design, the Princess of Dorne mused, reminding her of the sketches of YiTish weapons she saw so often in the books teaching her about the lands in the far East, past Essos and Qarth. It was a tri-pronged design, reminiscent of pitchforks that the local farmers used to carry large amounts of hay, straw or leaves to one location to the other. Albeit, it was much smaller and contained only three prongs, and not four. A ring was present on the pommel, with the grip itself being wrapped by a strange paper with undecipherable symbols on it.

All in all, it was a strange looking weapon and Elia could not help but be fascinated by it.

"What is it?" She asked curiously, her eyes peering around every side of the weapon.

Naruto smiled at her, "This is a gift from my father. He used this weapon almost religiously during his lifetime and with it, he came to be known as one of the most dangerous men my world had ever seen." Pointing towards the symbols with his thumb, he continued explaining, "And this was the reason why he was so feared. The symbols here are what allowed him to gain the moniker of 'The Yellow Flash.' With these symbols, it allowed him to throw this at any one person or location and instantaneously teleport to it. He was also able to 'mark' his targets with these same symbols and do the same, with the mark only disappearing either upon his or his enemies' death, or when he willed it to."

To show a small demonstration, Naruto took a few steps back and making sure nobody, but Elia was present, threw the knife in the air, jumping back to allow it to freefall. Suddenly and without warning, he disappeared in a flash, catching the knife while it was still headed towards the ceiling and landing with a soft thud to the surprised eyes of Elia.

"That's what it does. Of course, when I finally got around to learning it, I promised myself to improve it to the point of not needing the kunai itself when wanting to teleport. But these days, I do it for the sentimental value. After all, it was a legacy of my late dad and I don't want to forget it anytime soon."

Elia said nothing, still too awestruck by the scene she bared witness to.

Naruto, knowing it would take her a while to process it, merely went up to her and continued explaining, making sure she caught every word he said, "I'll mark your daughter – and no, not in that sense. I'll merely mark the back of her neck so at any point, should she face danger or the threat of it that could pose a fatal threat to her life, I'll immediately teleport to her to take her out of it."

"A-alright…" Elia murmured, still trying to come to the reality of what her guardian was capable of. "I apologize, it's just – quite honestly, it's mind-numbing at seeing what powers you possess at your fingertips."

"I wouldn't say it like that." Naruto snorted. "For most of my life, I was unaware of the legacy my parents left behind. Of the impact they left to not just myself, but to my village, to her enemies, and to her allies. For the most part, I was too ignorant and naïve to see – truly see the gifts my parents left for me. It was only during the darkest moments of my life did I manage to finally come to that realization, and even then, it took the remnants of my parents' spirits to do so." He sighed mournfully at his last statement, for it was one of the biggest regrets he had.

While he couldn't fault his surrogate grandfather or godfather for not telling him of his parents, he still felt a tinge of resentment towards them for keeping such an important part of his legacy away from him. As time went on, and the course of the war continued to rage on, he understood bits and pieces as to why they did so. While it surely would've given the blond some closure, it would've also ensured that he would've met an ill end at a younger age. For as much as he wouldn't admit it back then, Naruto knew he wasn't the individual you would trust to be able to keep his mouth shut about something as monumental as the identity of his parents. After all, that's what he wished for his entire life.

Recognition. Acknowledgement. Happiness. Love.

If he were told that he was born as the result of the unification of two of the most powerful shinobi to grace the Elemental Nations, you could bet your entire stocks' worth of Ichiraku's Ramen he'd be shouting it from the top of the Hokage Monument as loud and as often as he could.

Still, he only wished his godfather and grandfather would've given him some semblance of his parents' legacy… even if it were only to tell him that they loved him even through death. Shaking his head to dispel such morbid thoughts, he focused his attention back to Elia, who was now a few paces away from him, her back facing towards him but her head turned to look at him and Naruto had to stifle a gulp.

In all his life, he didn't really put much stock into the beauty of women nor the allure of them. This wasn't to say that he was gay, but he wasn't his godfather – who sought the pleasure of female attention everywhere they went, whether it be through peeping in the bath houses, or going to the local brothel. He just didn't really see the point of romance, not when his 'supposed' crush was rejecting him at every turn, and the person who did harbor such feelings of affection was much too shy to do something about it to the point of having to sacrifice herself to get her confession across – which in hindsight, Naruto wished she never did (regardless of the fact that he may have died otherwise) as the guilt from that day still hangs over him like a shroud.

Suffice to say, Naruto never gave himself the opportunity, nor the space to think about such things. However, looking at what he could confidently say as one of the most beautiful women he came across, he could begin to understand just why his grandfather was so keen on them.

Elia was irradiant. Whether it was her large, doe-like eyes, or her sharp, elegant and slender features that accentuated every part of her body – even after having two children – but something about her just pulled Naruto towards her like a moth to a flame. He couldn't say whether the feelings of attraction he had were due to his lack of female interaction and experience with them or if she was simply too magnetic for him to resist.

She was beautiful. Too beautiful, in fact, that Naruto would've had a hard time believing such women like her could exist if not for the fact that she was standing before him. Her, Lyanna, and that crazy-jumping lady held looks akin to the females in the fantasy novels he was so keen on reading whenever he had the time to peruse such books in Konoha's Public Library. It was strange, he decided. While he wasn't as stupid as to not realize the beauty of women – evident from the fact that both Anko and Kurenai were the objects of his fantasies and dreams for an embarrassingly long amount of time – he was definitely lacking in that department.

'Well, can't say I'm lacking now.' He commented to himself, still trying to process the look Elia was giving him. It wasn't a look of seduction, nor temptation but rather a look of mere content. As if the worries that had plagued her for so long were now finally dealt with and he could be the one to thank for it. 'If only life were that easy.' He lamented to himself, banishing the thought and false hope that would've risen with that thought as he didn't wish to come to a conclusion that simply was not true.

If only he knew.

"Well? Are you coming Naruto? Rhaenys is looking for you after all. We can deal with Lyanna at a later time. For now, I believe you owe my daughter some of your time." Elia teased playfully, causing him to merely shake his head and chuckle.

"Very well, Princess. Lead the way!" He gestured for her to lead on, before yelping as he felt the firm tug of his lone hand being dragged by one of Elia's own softly slender ones.

'Kami, her hands are soft.' He thought in amazement, reveling in the feel of how dainty yet quaint her hand felt with his own.

Such thoughts were being reciprocated by the woman leading him, as she turned back to look forwards so that the blond wouldn't catch the cherry hue on her darkened skin. Even such simple actions had her resorting back to the ages of herself as a young maiden, one still unknowledgeable and ignorant in the ways of romance and love. She may have been from Dorne, and while their views of romance, intimacy and the like were rather skewed in comparisons to the rest of the Seven Kingdoms, her brothers would always attempt to steer her away from such perceptions as she was the esteemed first daughter and future Princess of Dorne and it would be uncouth of her to hold intimacy in the same breadth her people did.

Still, she couldn't help but smile as the murmurs of Naruto reached her ears – one, while of indignation, held an acceptance to them as he allowed her to freely lead him without a single complaint.

Yes, while her daughter did indeed ask for the blond, it wasn't such a stretch to say that both her daughter and her mother would like to spend time with him. If only for a while before Lyanna awoke.

'Indeed. I need to make sure that the Princess of North is aware just whom she was saved by and to whom her savior has aligned himself with.' She thought disdainfully, thinking of the woman currently resting in Naruto's chambers. Shaking herself from such dark thoughts, she merely allowed herself to relish in the company of the blond behind her, a feeling of warmth spreading from her chest throughout the rest of her body at the thought of spending some more individual time with him.

Yes, indeed. I am most happy with such thoughts.

Far away, in the heart of Kings Landing, The Red Keep

Robert Baratheon, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First men and the Protector of the Realm now sat upon his Iron Throne. After the success that came with the rebellion, he was then crowned as the Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, a title he did not want but one he received all the same for starting the rebellion and nearly ending the Targaryen Dynasty by killing Rhaegar Targaryen at the Battle of the Trident.

He looked towards his longtime guardian of him and his brother-in-arms, Eddard Stark, Jon Arryn, who was seen reading off the list of duties he was now responsible for and the order in which it should take priority.

"Bah! Enough of that. Let me have some time to recuperate my wounds and to accept my position. Not long before, I was merely a soldier and a warrior, but now I've got a stinking Kingdom to look after and the dead to tend to. We'll deal with the rest later, Jon. For now, just… just make preparations for my unification with that Cersei woman and straight afterwards, we'll be having a tourney. I'll be fucking damned if I don't get to at least celebrate my coronation and marriage. Even it is a fucking hassle." Robert grumbled, his annoyance and anger clearly visible with each word passing through his lips.

Jon Arryn could only look on and sigh. Even if he were to advise against it, he knew Robert would not budge. He was far too stubborn to listen to him – even in his younger days – and to attempt to dissuade him now from such an expensive endeavor would prove fruitless.

"Very well, your grace." Jon replied, his head inclining towards him in respect. "I shall make the preparations for the wedding and consult with the Master of Coin to adjust for the expenses for such an event along with the tourney."

Robert merely waved him off and began to sag in his chair, the aftermath of the Rebellion and the ensuing battles he participated in finally catching up to him. Jon merely looked on in resignation and allowed himself to leave to look for Petyr Baelish, the now-named Master of Coin.

'I only hope such hasty decisions will be tempered in time during his rule. Otherwise, I fear for the Kingdoms and its inhabitants should Robert allow the throne to be under the rule of the Lannisters, or even worse, the Iron Bank.' Jon thought to himself and resolved to keep such thoughts to himself as he feared the repercussions should anyone hear the traitorous words he speaks so soon after his wards coronation.

What he wouldn't expect, neither now or in his next lives, would be the presence of one singular individual who would enter the tourney and completely change the political landscape of Westeros as he knew it.

For if he knew, he would've prepared the Kingdoms for the oncoming maelstrom.

Authors Note – There we go. I lied again, when I said I would be doing C3 and Rhaella and I'm sorry for that. I know that this chapter seems like it's rushing to get to the next arc, but I just want to get some parts of the story out of the way asap so I can commence a time-skip and begin the next arc which is the canon start of Game of Thrones. Some of the ages will be bumped up, because to me it makes more sense narratively but other than that, you can expect everyone to be the same. As for how the time-skip will occur? Well, I'll leave it up to your imagination, but as a hint – it's different than what you might expect. I hope.

Now to answer reviews and questions:

Guest – If you can't take the 'edge' so to speak, please don't read this story. I've been putting in warnings that this story won't be everyone's cup of tea, so if you don't like it, you have no obligation to read it. Thanks for your time however!

Tarrangar – In essence, yes. I am. But then again, Naruto isn't in his world now, and the aftermath of the war (and subsequently, losing his arm and chakra) would definitely leave him jaded and I absolutely refuse to believe that nobody would be changed from such a chain of events happening so soon. Not to mention, I definitely don't agree that Naruto would've spared the mountain seeing as he was about to rape and kill a defenseless woman and her daughter after already killing their son.

Naruto is not ruthless; he won't kill unless its necessary and killing the Mountain he saw as a necessity because individuals like him would never allow other innocent bystanders to live in peace nor allow the to ever live without fear. That's my argument for it at least. Nagato may have killed all of Konoha and his friends, and he was indeed rewarded for it, but Naruto did harbor thoughts of killing Nagato. It was only because of the fact that he knew Jiraiya wouldn't have wanted it and that he knew it wasn't the way to peace that kept his hand.

The real character of Naruto is pathetically naïve, ignorant and outright fucking stupid. I love the manga, I love the anime, and I love the character, but even I know that Naruto had some serious issues when it came to character and plot development. However, I do appreciate your criticism and thank you for reading.

Mudo – Ese es el plan, gracias por leer!

DesuVult – I'm not planning on nerfing or hiding his skills, at the moment, he's just trying to conserve whatever chakra he has left and only using it when extremely necessary, however I do have a plan for getting both his arm and chakra back. It just requires a bit more plot development.

Helrio Uzugaku – He definitely won't get along with Robert. And I definitely won't be including just the canon enemies of Game of Thrones such as White Walkers, Dragons and the like. After all, they still do have their religions and mythologies to explore, so I may do something about that *winkwink*.

Naruto definitely can be harmed, just not by the people of Westeros. I plan on introducing a bunch of new things that the ASIOAF lore doesn't really delve into, or at the very least, the ones that GRRM doesn't explore in his current books and that the TV show doesn't explore to really spice the story up.

I definitely am planning on buffing the Night King because holy shit was he pathetic in the last season. Build his entire plotline from the beginning of Season 1 only to kill him off in 30 seconds? What a joke.

Crazybeasty – Thank you!

Lady Slytherin Phantomhive – Thank you for your review! Hopefully this chapter is likable too!

The Last Bullet – I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to disappoint you. It is a harem :( I'm a sucker for those and I really hope that doesn't dissuade you from reading as I intend on making it as realistically achievable as possible without making it seem like they're just jumping onto him.

Brady420 – That's actually a great idea, the whole T'Challa building a Wakandian-like nation in Essos or something. You've given me something to think about.

Guest – I definitely don't plan on nerfing him. I'm just having other entities capable of going toe to toe with him ;) If I wanted him to build his power up, I would've used pre-shippuden Naruto or the beginning of Naruto after his training trip.

RunDownLord – Yeah, I've got to fix some of my inconsistencies with my story, and hopefully I can do it chapter by chapter. Hopefully.

PriceTage – Thank you for loving it! I don't mean for Naruto to sound like some sort of lord, I'm not very good with formal sentence structures and how formal people sound but I do hope to fix it sometime during the progression of this chapter. I just hope I can get it fixed before people start losing interest because of it.

Surya25addanki – I don't plan on Naruto using any of his transformations for a while. But he will be using them, just not at the current moment in my head.

HolyKnight5 – And you'd be right ;)

Hawkeyestratos1996 – Not every woman, just the ones I want to pair him up with :P

Facebreaker17 – Thank you! And I wanted to make it subtle, but my romantic writing is about as subtle as a sledgehammer to the face.

MaksmoNero – I don't like using parentheses (the () you like mentioning) often either but sometimes I do it as a way to present an afterthought of the character. I will try and minimize such grammar slip-ups in the future thought. Thank you for you review!

Mark1 – Hopefully this chapter will answer your question about Kurama and yes, he will regrow his limb, just not in this chapter.

OneFallenLeaf21 – I'm planning on having that done the next chapter along with C3 and Rhaella ending up north so stay tuned for that. Thank you for your review!

LoDeTeR – Yeah, I forgot it was done for the sake of allowing people to know what Jutsu they were going to use, but I still use it cause it's pretty damn awesome hearing him shout it :P

To everyone who took time to read, review and enjoy this story, thank you so much! I seriously appreciate all of you and I hope I won't disappoint you! Next chapter might take a bit longer than usual as I'm rewriting Breaking Chains and wanting to post the first one or maybe two chapters of that before publishing the next chapter for this story.

Other than that, thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoy this chapter! I'll see you guys in the next one. Take care, stay safe, and stay beautiful.