Morning rose over the clouds over the isle of Besaid, Naruto opened his eyes and sat up on the bed. He found that Wakka was missing, figuring he was probably doing something extremely important. The white haired male patted his stomach in content with the memory of eating so much put a small smile on his lips as he remembered that the leader of the Aurochs told him that he could have all he could eat.

Though they miscalculated his very voracious appetite, so he, Lulu, Yuna and the villagers were rather alarmed that their 'guest' had practically eaten over eighty dishes of food in one sitting. Naruto knew that he could have eaten more, but he pulled away from the table and wanted to talk with the new summoner; Yuna. He could tell that she was going to be something special, and he got a good feeling about her.

After stretching his stiffened muscles and spine, and headed for the door leading out to the village. On the way out his hand reached out and grabbed his sword that was resting near the door, and walked underneath the flaps to head outside.

The teen stood in the village square where he had been speaking to Yuna last night, but he didn't hear the usual chatter of villagers or even children in the vicinity. So he chocked it up that the villagers were somewhere else for the moment, and decided to head to an empty forest close by. Not far enough that fiends would disturb him, but far enough where he wouldn't cause no heavy damage to valuable buildings and landscapes.

He looked at his surroundings and gave a small nod to himself, and closed his eyes. "Hmm, well this is a good as place as any to get some work done," Slowly and meticulously he pulled the sword from its leather sheathe, and held it pointing at the ground. His back was straight as he sucked in a low, steadying breath.

An exhale left his lips, and that was his moment to strike. His eyes flashed open and he struck much faster than the human eye was capable of keeping up with, his knees were bent and his eyes were shadowed by his hair. He opened his eyes and let his sword fall back in place into the leather makeshift sheathe.

Suddenly trees, wood and even stone had suddenly exploded in a flurry of dust and debris. The ground and at least a good portion of the forest around him was completely and utterly mutilated, it was as if an epic battle had been fought here and the landscape was struck hundreds of times over to get the result it was in.

A reverie came to his mind, causing his eye to simply quake in his sockets.

"If you think that shitty flailing around you call swordsmanship is enough to beat me, then your poorly mistaken" The voice of a woman resonated in his mind. "You think you can beat me, even when you couldn't even save—

"SHUT UP!!!" Naruto shouted, his face was flushed in complete anger and rage. His body was racked in pain and exhaustion, hundreds and cuts and lacerations adorned his body as he fought to keep standing. Blood spilt heavily across the grass turning it into a dark shade of red, but yet again he charged. Even as he felt his bones simply creak and shatter from the very strain of the activity in itself he still charged and made to swipe at her midsection, the need of wanting to slice his opponent in half for what she did meant more to him than his own health.

The action was easily sidestepped and the boy was rewarded for his efforts with a vicious chop to the back of his neck. He fell to the ground, his sword skittered across the ground away from his person. Naruto looked through his bloody, wavering vision as he tried in vain to reach the weapon. His body jerked sharply where it laid, and a blood curdling scream left his throat, his hands gripped the dirt for what it was worth from the very pain of it all.

Several inches of bloodied steel were protruding from him, pinning him down into the earth itself. He felt a hand grab a fistful of his hair, pulling back so hard that he could feel it ripping from his very scalp, forcing him to look ahead of him. "Look, damn you, look. This is what you've done boy. This is what happens when you don't listen to me, and when I give perfectly clear instructions for you not to create other attachments besides us I mean it. When I say kill, you kill. When I say do something, you obey. No doubts. No hesitation. No questions. Obedience. Do you understand the word? You know nothing. You are nothing. I gave you life and by the all powerful I'll take it away from you if I must. This is what you are. You are weakness. You are filth. You are the blood bubbling from that girl's mouth!

Naruto looked across the grass he laid in and the sight before him broke his heart. Angry sobs left his throat. He thrashed about even when his body was impaled into the ground, doing his best to look away. But the woman's grip was like steel, and the sword slid further down to the point where the guard was pressing into the back. Agony, pain and loss ripped through him unlike anything else he'd ever known. "No! Look! This is what you've done! This is your failure! This is what your feelings do to others! Do you understand!?"

"Whoa!" a voice said in complete surprise.

Naruto was pulled from the dark memory that had been dredged in his mind, and he turned around found a very shocked and surprised Wakka staring at him with complete astonishment. His hand brushed his hair out of his face, and he simply looked at the older man. "I apologize Wakka, did I happen to disturb you by any chance?"

Wakka shook his head. "No bruddah nothing like that, but… did you do all of this? So what were you before you became a blitzer?" he asked in pure awe and curiosity.

Naruto gave a nod. "Yea, I needed to get some exercise done before we left to go on our little adventure, and I was trained as a Shinobis before I became a blitzer." He brushed some dirt off of his shoulder and began to stretch his cramped muscles again. Using that technique was mainly designed for the use of a katana, and since he didn't have one at the moment it wasn't as powerful as he had intended it to be.

"Shinobis huh?" Wakka tapped his chin, and seemed to nod his head in acknowledgement. " Never heard of that before, but you must be something extraordinary with a sword where you come from, ya?" Wakka moved towards Naruto who simply shrugged.

You have no idea. Naruto thought and nodded , but remembered to ask. "So, where are we headed for exactly?"

"Oh, well, first we're going on a boat to get to Killika. There Yuna will pray to the Fayth to achieve her Aeon. From there we'll go to Luca and I hope we can find somebody that know or recognize you there, sounds good ya?"

"I suppose so," He said to himself. The idea in itself was pretty sound, and it was better being sticking around in a place where nobody knew him. Besides that, he was up for a little adventure. He followed the islander back into the village, in front of the temple. "So, who are we waiting for exactly?"

"Yuna, she'll be out in a few minutes" Lulu spoke, coming up from behind him. She realized that his eyes were staring at her intently, and a very big smile came to his lips.

"Is something the matter, Naruto?" she asked.

"Oh nothing, just that I'm not use to seeing an alluring woman so bright and early" He spoke out honestly as he scratched his head sheepishly, though he didn't realize that Lulu's face suddenly felt hot at his words and she wasn't to sure how to respond to that."

"Hey, don't you get no funny ideas" Wakka grabbed Naruto's head, placing him into a headlock, while burying his other fist into his skull.

"Ahh! Ahh! Complete invasion of personal space!" Naruto let out. His hand opened and he pinched the man's side sharply, not enough to kill a person mind you. But enough to cause some mild discomfort and release him from the hold.

Wakka suddenly remembered the reason he had been looking for the teenager since he wasn't back at his house. He snapped his finger. "Oh yea, before I forget. I got something I want to give ya,"

Naruto and Lulu watched as the older man ran inside of his house, and moment later came back with a treasure chest. He could tell right away that it had seen better days, given all of the dust and cobwebs that practically covered it. Wakka rested it down on the ground and simply pulled out a small gold key, which he used to open the box.

Naruto watched in complete and utter surprise as Wakka seemed to slightly struggle with what appeared to be a katana he pulled out from its resting place. The sheathe was purely black and seemed to shone brilliantly in the sunlight. The teen was greatly surprised when Wakka laid it in his hands.

He quickly pulled the blade from its scabbard and was rewarded with one of the most beautiful blades he'd ever laid eyes on. The blade of the katana was black as night, with trails of crimson on the side from the hilt up to the blades edge, and its handguard had flower like edges.

"Whoa… you're giving this… to me? Are you sure?" Naruto asked in complete surprise, he noted that just by feeling the handle that the blade itself was obscenely and incredibly heavy, but the quality of it was simply magnificent.

"Yea, I'm pretty sure that you would have better use for it than me." Wakka watched as Naruto simply tested it out before his very eyes, he saw the appreciation and excitement burn in his eyes and inwardly he felt happy.

Though Lulu on the other hand was simply and utterly stunned at what had just happened in front of her. "Isn't that the sword you gave Chappu?"

"He never got around to use it, and it makes sense to give it to someone that's able to use it rather than for it to simply rust away underneath my bed" Wakka gave a shrug.

Naruto placed the sword in it's sheathe and he turned towards Wakka. He saw a faraway look in the man's eyes, as if he was remembering a memory from long ago. "It's been ten years huh? Ten years since Yuna came here and the last calm started."

"The… calm?" Naruto asked, puzzled.

"Since then she's been like a little sister to Lulu and I," Wakka turned to Naruto. "But she always had the talent… she became an apprentice"

Though something in the way he said it seemed to puzzle the snowy haired boy. Something in the way he spoke struck him as odd, but he didn't know why.

"Now… today she leaves as a full grown Summoner" Wakka said with a smile.

"This is our journey, and as such we will all leave together" Lulu spoke finally.

Something hard struck the ground, causing everyone to spin around towards the temple, sparing the sight of Yuna panting slightly from carrying a rather large suitcase. Which was roughly three times her entire body weight and half her height in total comparison.

Lulu couldn't help but shake her head at the younger woman. "You really don't need all of that luggage Yuna."

"But they're not all my things," Yuna said, she poked her index fingers together feeling sheepish and simply out of habit. "Th… they're gifts for the temples we're going to visit"

"Yuna you should know better than that," Wakka folded his arms and gave her a look that seemed to make her shrink slightly. "This isn't a vacation Yuna, you have to remember that"

"I… guess" Yuna started, though she felt downtrodden.

.

"Oh come off of it guys!" Naruto spoke out loud, which caused Yuna to jump in surprise. But the teen simply placed his palm on her shoulder, and gave her an assuring look. "If Yuna wants to bring a few extra things along with her, then I really don't see the big deal and it's not like its going to kill anybody."

Wait, wasn't he just in front of me? Wakka thought as he blinked, and so did Lulu. They watched as he knelt down and made to pick up the luggage with a hand and slung it over his shoulder like it was a sack of potatoes. "I'll carry it for you Yuna, no sweat" he offered a confident and assuring smile to her.

Her face felt hot and shook her head. "No, no it alright, I don't wish to trouble you or anything," she said.

"Don't worry yourself so much, it is what you desire so its but a small thing to me," he stepped forward, followed shortly by the group of three.

They made it towards the half way mark when Yuna turned around, and her mismatched took in the details of the small, quaint village she known just about all of her life. This very place had so many memories, and she was a bit sad to leave it, but gave what Naruto recognized as the symbol for victory back in Zanarkand. Yuna turned towards the shinobis and gave a small smile and they continued to proceed out of the village.

The small group of four walked out of the village and proceeded to wander the gravel like trail, when suddenly a brown wolf shot out of the bushes. A look of hunger and primal instinct was on its face as it snarled viciously at the humans in front of it. Wakka pulled out his ball, while Naruto simply held his sheathed katana in his hand with his knees slightly bent.

"Here's a fiend for ya Naruto, why don't you try out that sword I gave ya?" Wakka asked.

Naruto nodded and turned his eyes towards the wolf, already the being cleared up some serious distance in such a short amount of time. It jumped from its position and made to tear out Naruto's throat, but its eyes widened in shock as its tasty treaty blurred out of its line of sight at the last moment and the last thing it was able to hear was a slight clinking sound of a sword entering its scabbard before it burst into a stream of light.

Hmm, the blade itself is massively heavy but allows the user to unleash their true damage potential. It throws my control off a bit, but with some practice I can do some serious damage with this thing Naruto gave a small smile before spinning the entire sword and nestling against his waist.

Holy Yevon, I thought only ronso's could move that fast. It was so fast that I was barely able to keep up with it, he keeps fighting like that and he'll be a guardian in no time. Wakka looked up and saw a that a flying fiend suddenly came out of nowhere, and a devilish smirk came to his lips. "Alright, my kind of customer!" He gave an exuberated whoop, with accurate aim he threw his blitzball. Hitting it squarely in the head, and with a boomerang effect it went back towards its owner and the bird creature also burst into a slew of lights.

"Nice shot" Naruto spoke with a grin.

"Thanks," They continued forward again, all the while they were simply ever vigilant and kept an eye out. Just as they made there up the steep, stony path a jelly like creature appeared out of nowhere. It was short, clear and blue with yell beady eyes in the midst of its darker blue, and had veins inside of its body type.

"Hmm, I don't think I've ever seen that monster before" Naruto noted out loud.

"It's a water flan. Which could spell… trouble"

'Alright, let's get this over with" Wakka tried to warn him, but was too late. Naruto had jumped ahead and landed two successful cuts against the beast, though it was harmed considering its haggard appearance but frankly it did not die.

"Damn, should I have put more force in my swing?" Naruto asked Wakka, who in turn shook his head.

"If you can't beat them down physically then you'll have to use magic against an element they don't like, get it?"

"Hmm, I think I understand what you're saying. But why don't I just finish it off now?" he replied adamantly, but Wakka gave him a look and rolled his eyes.

"Why don't we just let our black mage handle it" Wakka said, and Lulu simply stepped up.

"Clueless boys," She spoke and clarified. "There are four types of magic elements. Fire, Ice, Thunder and Water, these four elements can be used against fiends. However, each can be used as a strength and a weakness for different fiends. For example Fire spells are strong against ice fiends as are ice spells against fire fiends. Do you follow Naruto?"

"Yea I get it, but can the same be said about for water and lightning?"

"Water and lightning are opposed as well. Since this is a water fiend then that means…" Lulu let on and watched as Naruto's body shrunk to that of a chibi and his eyes simply took the shine of a school child who was given yummy piece of candy.

"Oh! Oh! Oh! I know! It's lightning right?"

"That's very correct Naruto," She petted him on the head, though that was before she gave the water flan a vicious look. The fiend felt a large amount of murderous intent sent its way and made to run away, but Lulu simply raised her hand into the air. A blue flow of energy was visible in her fingers and was present for the Zanarkadian to see.

'Hmm, so that's what magical energy looks like, it sort of feel like chakra but yet it doesn't. In a way you could say that it's chakra's sister' Naruto thought, and watched with immense interest as she swung her hand down. A medium sized lightning blot came down from the sky and struck the fiend before it was able to jump into the bushes, instantly turning into a flash of lights.

"Now that was just awesome!" Naruto said.

A smirk came to the lips of Lulu and she dusted her dress off, her braids delicately spilled over her shoulder blades as she looked behind her. "Shall we go?" Naruto grinned and everyone continued their slightly long trek, and finally came up to what appeared to be a cliff that showed an absolutely stunning and amazing view of the entire village.

Lulu glanced over at her charge, and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Take your time Yuna"

Yuna glanced over the village with her mismatched eyes, and she felt a slight ache in her chest. Deep down she felt that she was going to miss the very place that she called home, but she took a steadying breath and took one final look before she turned to Wakka who asked. "Are you alright?"

Yuna gave a small nod, Lulu pressed her hands on the younger woman's shoulder and led her to the away. Naruto took one final look at the village before he spun around and found that Wakka was on his knees in front a rather large stone with three green stones in separate places as he placed the bag down next to him. He scratched the back of his head and asked. "So, what's going on?"

"It's an ancient custom. People leaving the island pray here for a safe trip or journey," Wakka said on his knees in front of the stone, and a look of sadness came over his face. "Chappu didn't pray that day, said he'd miss his boat"

He watched as Lulu, Yuna and Wakka perform the motion with their arms before bowing down. The snowy haired teen simply shrugged and performed the same motions as did the others, believing that it would have been disrespectful otherwise had he not done so. Though Wakka, Yuna and Lulu were curious when he pulled a piece of paper from his coat pocket, and nicked his thumb on his canine. He pressed it against the paper with his eyes closed in concentration, and different symbols and kanji's magically began to appear.

His eyes widened and he held the paper over Yuna's suitcase and shouted. "Seal!"

The command slightly surprised everyone and right before their very eyes, her suitcase disappeared in a plume of smoke. The paper that Naruto held in his hand rolled up automatically and he simply tied a ribbon around the middle, and fastened it and put away in his coat pocket.

"See, what did I tell ya Yuna, no worries right? Lulu isn't the only one who knows a few tricks" Naruto grinned with his hands behind his head, Yuna gave him a surprised glance before looking at Lulu who gave him puzzled look before shaking her head. She would ask him about it once they set sail.

Wakka seeing that everyone was ready simply shrugged his shoulders, chocking it up to another of his 'shinobis' secrets. "All right, while we got daylight let's go."

The group left the large monument and continued on down the path, which was the quickest way of getting to the Beach. All the while Naruto simply took in the nature of everything that was around him, enjoying everything seemed to look so absolutely green and lush. Though he looked up and seemed surprised.

Above him were what appeared to be metallic ruins of old, if by the indication of moss and rust was a pure sign. He followed it despite the fact that the others were much farther ahead of him, and something seemed to catch his eye. It looked to be a blue panel.

The markings were a bit familiar to him. Not exactly the same symbols, but the writing style was very familiar, but he couldn't make anything of it so he left it alone.

"Damn," He jogged down the path and underneath the metal structure, when suddenly he felt something grab his attention. A familiar tingling sensation came from the back of his skull, and forced him to look up to see a blue, giant, furry monster display acrobatic capabilities that were beyond anything human and seemed to land in front him on it's hands and feet. The creature looked at him with utter anger and something raw, something primal.

He saw its claws dig through the very earth itself and gave the white haired teen a ferocious animalistic roar. Naruto noted that it was at least eight or nine feet tall in height alone with white hair tied in a small ponytail flowing down his back. On his forehead was a horn that appeared to have the tip of it either broken or cut off. The beast also had white hair on its chin forming a small gotee with braids folded up to make a thick braid on both sides of his head, and a yellow necklace around his neck,

He had on black straps on his chest with a skull on the center and was dressed rather weirdly in Naruto's opinion but he didn't seem to voice it. Especially when he saw it pull out a large battle javelin, and took an unfamiliar stance that put him on edge. Though the grip on his scabbard tightened considerably when he disappeared out of sight only to appear moments later at its unprotected back, ready and willing to deal a blow that would have rendered his weapon arm useless.

But it dodged skillfully, though not before losing bits of his hair from a slice that had been meant for his head. It drew his javelin back and moved in a circular motion, wanting to knock both sword and sheathe out of his hand or simply shake his sword arm a bit. The beast was simply and utterly surprised. He could feel the javelin in his hand trembling when both weapons clashed so violently against one another.

It swung counterclockwise, causing Naruto to block and skid back several paces. But it didn't stop him from closing the distance between them, even though his enemy was obviously trying to get him to give him some room to maneuver his pole arm weapon. Though what he hadn't expected was for Naruto to be so tenacious and relentless in his attack, and as far as he remembered he'd never seen a human this fierce.

Naruto sliced at his midsection, but the beast simply blocked and was pushed backwards several feet, and the teen made to clear the distance once more and tire him out. But his opponent was not going to give him the advantage of a close range battle, and at the rare this was all going this kid was definitely pushing him to his limits and maybe even beyond what he had expected from the beginning. Though he surprised Naruto greatly when he jumped back several feet, only for him to run forward while stabbing the ground with his javelin and simply used it to catapult him into the air.

Naruto looked up and flared before sheathing his sword and bending his knees for what was to come. The beast closed the distance between them and his javelin glinted evilly as it made skewer his opponent, but again he'd been caught off guard. An unknown unknown had occurred and the blue furred monster couldn't help but be surprised once again. Right at the last moment he had made to stab Naruto, he used the power he'd built from unsheathing his sword and his knees to cushion the recoil the damage that was meant for him.

The most harm that was done was that the action simply caused the young man to sink several inches into the ground, and a shockwave hit the area. Not once did his sword arm waver or falter from the strain, or even when he felt himself get pushed into the ground. Though the same couldn't have been said for his opponent as Naruto was able to land a vicious kick into his midsection, which was enough to lift the blue monster up into the air and smash against the mountainside.

Debris and rocks shook from the place as he landed on all fours, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. It felt that nothing inside of him was broken, though calculated that a blow like that against a normal person would have killed them the moment they had hit the ground from the height he had fell from.

A slight whirring sound caught it's attention and it's eyes widened and he leapt out of the way, just in time to avoid the whipped air blade projectile that had been sent his way. Though not before it cleaved beautifully through a part of the metallic ruin like a hot knife through butter, leaving a huge gash where it laid. Naruto cursed himself for missing and had intended for it to sever his weapon arm off in one swift go.

Naruto took the time to rush in, his eyes dead serious and his grip on the katana held. His opponent was panting, minutely, but panting nonetheless and he made to finish him off with one blow that he would have never seen coming.

"That's enough" A voice called out of nowhere causing Naruto to look up, and found that Wakka was right behind him. The beast got out of his stance and brought the back of his hand up to wipe the blood that was slowly dribbling down the side of his gashed lip. Wakka was walked up and touched the big guy on his shoulder, and a silent message of some sort passed through the two.

The blue, furry monster turned around and started walking away, though not before he looked over his shoulder at Naruto. A look of acceptance and respect shone in his eyes before he made to leave.

"So who exactly is he?" Naruto asked as he stepped towards Wakka and Lulu.

"His name is Kimarhi Ronso, of the Ronso tribe. He learned the fiend's way of fighting." Lulu replied, getting a confused look from the white haired teenager.

"He's another of Yuna's guardians" Wakka finished.

"Really," Naruto tapped his chin in thought, and said. "Weird guy"

At that Yuna simply giggled at the funny expression that was practically lit up on his face. "Sometimes we don't understand him either. He doesn't really talk much anyway," Yuna held a smile while placing her hands behind her back. "But he has always protected, even when I was simply a child." She moved aside of the Naruto as they began walking down the path.

"So, him jumping me out of nowhere was like a test or something? He asked, causing Wakka to nod at him. The boy ran his hand through his hair and gave Wakka such a cold look that it merely left him frozen in place and an involuntary shiver ran down his spine. "Had I not known recognized him from being present inside of the temple when Yuna nearly fainted, you my friend would have cost him serious injury. I won't ask twice, but, don't make that mistake twice, otherwise it will be on your head."

Wakka quickly nodded his head so fast that Lulu thought he would have had a whiplash if hadn't stopped. The answer seemed to satisfy him and they continued walking along the group, and the air of hostility seemed to simply vanish between Wakka and Naruto and they continued their walk.

Though Yuna was a bit curious about how Naruto's unique fighting style and simply by the way he carried himself. Her head tilted as she looked at Naruto's sword arm. "Where did you learn to fight like that, Naruto?"

"I learned by training under my master ever since I was born, though it has been a long while since I've been able to get my hand on an O katana. But I guess she was right after all, once you've learned the way of the sword you can never forget" Naruto said, thumbing the handle lightly

"She?" Lulu asked.

"My master… the one who taught me everything I know… was the woman who gave me life, her name was Rogue," He stated, though Lulu noticed by the way his eyes shifted, and figured that the topic was a sore one for him, judging by the way he seemed to shift uncomfortably.

But Wakka, not being one to catch things quite as quickly couldn't help but ask. "You said was, so she's dead?"

The teen gave a simple nod of the head. "Yea she's dead. Been dead for a while now, though I learned did learn a great deal from her during the time she was alive. She was a tough person, impossibly hard to please and wouldn't accept anything less than perfection, but that's to be expected I guess," his voice was calm, much too calm even for him and forced.

"How did she die?" Wakka asked.

"I'd rather not talk about if that is alright with you Wakka, I'd rather let sleeping dogs lie," He replied simply, his voice was void of emotion and his grip on the handle nearly turned it to splinters in his hand. The memory that had plagued his mind earlier made to surface in his mind, but Naruto shook his head. Pushing it away and he smiled. "Anyway, let's get going before we miss out boat, hmm?"

They turned back towards the path, and came up what appeared to be three separate, connecting bridges that lead across a vast and beautiful waterfall. They were about to make their way across when a weird sound came to Naruto's ears, causing him to look up. He tilted his head to the side and spoke up. "Umm, guys,… I don't think we're alone"

Everyone looked up at the giant bird like fiend, and watched as drool seemed to drain down its hungry, vicious looking fangs as it flapped over their heads.

"Hmm, it would appear to be a condor" Lulu gathered, easily recognizing the creature.

"Should I kill it?" Naruto asked, already thumbing the blade from it's resting place, but Wakka shook his head.

"Nah, why don't we let our summoner have a go" Wakka turned to Yuna who simply stepped up besides him. "Well Yuna the shows all yours, now, why don't you show us your style."

"Let's see what your training has taught you" Lulu encouraged.

"Okay" Yuna straightened her shoulders, and drew her staff. But Naruto felt a bit uneasy to leave such a huge threat to the younger woman, and he made to take care of it himself.

But Wakka placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. "Just watch, Yuna's got this"

Yuna gave a nod and stepped in front of everyone, and watched as the Condor gave a terrifying shriek. But the young woman remained unmoved, and she gave a final look at Naruto before a surge of confidence welled up inside of her.

"Father… guide and give me strength!" Yuna held her staff in the back of one of her hands, and gradually four green spheres of light from a seal that appeared underneath her feet and slam into the sky.

Instantly a booming sound was heard, and a small object rocketed out of the air and rocketed towards Yuna. It spun at the last moment and spread its wings before touching the ground in a slide. The Aeon stopped next to Yuna who simply ran her hand through its mane of red hair, and he instantly recognized it as the bird like creature that she had summoned yesterday.

Gently she asked. "Please, fight for us!" It gave a nod and stood in front of her protectively, and gave a screech that seemed to intimidate the Condor. But it wasn't enough to cause the fiend to turn tail, instead it seemed to provoke it all the less. It zipped through the air and made to peck its eyes out, but Valefor flew around and dodged the hit entirely.

Though not before it slammed its talon like feet across the Condor's face with its razor sharp talons, which were definitely not just for foot decorations. Valefor screeched, and liked the wind maneuvered easily and swiftly across its blind spot and seemed to motion its wings at its enemy.

The action caused an invisible force of wind to slam directly into its back, causing it to fall to the floor. It tried to but another pained screech left its throat as Valefor had sliced easily through one its wings, handicapping the being from flying and causing blood to splash across the ground. The fiend realized how close it was to the summoner and even though it couldn't fly, it didn't mean that it was useless altogether.

It reared its head back and made to bite at her, but just like that it simply froze in place. Yuna saw that its face was morphed in a mixture of pain and horror as it turned into a plume of lights. She looked up and saw that Naruto was several inches from where the Condor was, and he promptly placed his sword away and gave Yuna a smile. "That was really something Yuna, though I hope you don't mind me interfering at the last moment,"

Yuna shook her head, and she too smiled albeit a bit shyly. "No, not at all and I thank you for saving me," She looked at her summon and gave a small thank you, causing Valefor to nod and disappear into the unknown.

The blue eyed teen simply laughed sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head. "Aww shucks Yuna, if you keep talking like that you're going to make me blush!"

"Yea yea, blush all you want while we walk" Wakka gripped Naruto in a headlock, while burying his fist into his skull, again. A large grin was on the older man's face.

"Dude, get your pit out of my face! I was just giving Yuna a compliment" Naruto complained as he was pulled away by Wakka. Yuna felt her face grow hot as she smiled shyly, and Lulu couldn't help but shake her head at his antics.

He finally got himself free from Wakka's headlock, only to come face to face with another Condor that came out of nowhere.

"Hmm another one huh," Wakka mused to himself while pulling his ball out its confine. "Look's like I'm up!"

"So what are you going to do?" Naruto asked, not at all drawing his sword at the large creature.

"I got something special for you," Wakka's hands took on a small glow and he tossed his ball at the Condor with all of his might. The blow wasn't enough to kill it like it did the other bird fiend from earlier, but the end result was that smoke seemed to cover its eyes. Effectively blinding it in the process, since it tried to strike at Naruto but he easily sidestepped the thing.

"It's my dark strike attack, it blinds my enemies for while by the moment it makes contact with my opponent. Wakka said with a smile.

"Well then, guess it's my turn now," Naruto steadied himself on one hand and began to rotate, while at the same time gaining speed and power. Kicking up dust in the process, he looked at the condor that was still aimlessly hitting pure air, not at all was it aware of its impending demise.

Finally he stopped gathering power, and spun one final time before shouting. "Rankyaku!" A large air blade projectile shot out as from his leg and smashed into the Condor's wing, slicing cleanly through flesh and bone and sending it smashing into the ground. Seeing his opponent felled, he made a single seal and sucked in a huge breath. "Katon: Gōkakyū No Jutsu!!!"

Naruto formed a ring with his thumb and index finger, and blew heavily threw it causing him to spew out a very large fireball at his enemy. The condor turned in time to roar in pain as it was enveloped in a giant plume of flames, and in a miniature explosion.

"Whoa!" Wakka shouted out loud, nearly being blow away from the very force since he was the closest. Multi colored lights flew into the air, and the teen finally let up on the giant fireball and brushed himself with a slight frown. You would think that I would forget a technique like that after all these years, I guess Rogue was right after all.

"What… in dear Yevon was that" Lulu walked up to him. "That was as powerful as one of my more advance fire spells"

"Oh, well that was just a basic Ninjutsu technique, nothing to get so worked up about" Naruto shrugged.

Yuna seemed to purse her lips, and tilted her head to the side in a rather cute and childish manner. "Nin-jut-su?"

"Yea, though the basic term would be ninja techniques. Though to short end of it is that allows the user to do something that they normally wouldn't be capable of by using chakra. It's a bit complicated to explain really, and I should still a have a few more left in my head somewhere,"

"YOU HAVE MORE!!!" Wakka all but shouted, his eyes nearly bulged out of there sockets at the small claim. He knew the guy was strong in his own right considering he was able to gain Kimarhi's respect, but if what he said was true then they had a really valuable asset on their hands.

"Well yea, but to be honest I had hoped I would have forgotten how to use them. But I guess when you're placed in a sticky situation; some things just seem to come back to you I suppose."

"Why did you want to forget?" Lulu asked.

"Because people look at you funny like a freak when you perform feats that aren't classed or considered normal in their eyes and the more serious ones that I remember were capable of large heavy damage to the landscape and were known to seriously injure other people. So I just only resorted to using them when nobody was around, or when I'm fighting one of the more tougher and nastier garden variety fiends." Naruto looked away with another shrug and the group slowly continued their journey to the boat.

Yuna felt deep down inside that there was more to his words than he was truly letting on, but she couldn't help but feel worried about. She didn't know why she felt so strongly about this, but she was just really worried about him. Yuna didn't like to see people said and she something inside of her yearning to help him, she wanted the opportunity to get to know him more deeply.

After several more minutes of walking along the sandy path that was an indication that they were getting much closer to their destination. Yuna was greeted by the farewells and goodbyes that came from the village's children and the majorities of the elders. Wakka, Lulu and Kimarhi weren't too far behind from her, but the snow haired male couldn't help but feel that someone was calling him.

He turned around and was greeted by a man, on his back was a fairly large green and brown backpack. "Hey! Your going travelling with Lady Yuna right?"

"I suppose so, but why did you ask?"

"Well since your going to be accompanying Lady Yuna, I'd be honored if you would be able to give her these supplies I was able to gather. It's not much but it's the thought that counts, right?" The man pressed the pack into his fingers, and finished. "I want to help Lady Yuna, even I am not able to fight by her side I feel like I can count on you to fight in my stead. Please protect Lady Yuna!"

With that the man left, and slowly more and more people began to gather round placing similar gifts and offerings in his arms, while expressively encouraging him to protect their Lady Summoner. He could tell that these very people loved her with all their hearts and it moved him, when they finally gathered around the boat along with Wakka, Lulu, Kimarhi and Yuna.

He watched sadly as a small boy cried in Yuna's arms as she told him goodbye. Something about they way these people weep and cry for this young woman, made something fierce churn inside of him. A desire to protect her from danger and all that would stand in their way on their journey burned in his visible eye and he promised internally that he would let nothing bad happen to her so long as he lived.

Lady Yuna looked at the masses and masses and people that had gathered out to see her off, and she mentally reminded herself to be strong. She needed to be strong for her people and for the future to come, and it wouldn't do for her to burst into tears in front of them. But Yuna was after all a woman, a strong willed woman that stood tall and proud for her people and for their dreams.

She swept them a bow, and bid them goodbye.

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Good day folks, this is your host with he most Dark Spidey and to just let you all know that I am NOT dead. Though there is something I will have to share with you all and I know deep down some of you will be extremely and highly upset, and I hope you can understand my plight.

I have here, good news, bad news, and terrible news. So first I'll start with the good news, the good news is that I'm still writing, and I haven't given up on any of my fanfictions. So just because they haven't been update in a long while doesn't mean I have given up on them so hear me out.

The bad news is the jump drive that had just about all of my new chapters to my stories that I was suppose to update with has been completely and utterly destroyed. Meaning that even though I do have some of the saved files on my laptop, there not the finished ones that I toiled to make for you guys, which means I'll have to work on them as soon as I possibly can.

The terrible news is that the reason I wasn't able to update in a relatively long time is as I had told Yami I think a weak or so ago. I got into a terrible car accident somewhere in July when I had hoped to update my fics. I got mangled pretty badly and my favorite typing arm, which is my right arm has been so badly damaged that I've been forced to do therapy to get it back in working order again. I was really thankful that I didn't have to get it amputated or I really would have a hollering fit.

So typing with my bad arm, which is my left has been extremely difficult and painstakingly slow, you guys have no idea. Then there's the fact that these stupid nurses keep telling me that I shouldn't be typing in my condition just outright infuriated me, not the mention that they keep taking it away from me. Cutting my updating time to almost practically nil, and the fact that my jump drive was completely manhandled in the crash made me feel like I was a complete and total failure. Gave me a real bad case of depression, but another author who I simply call Yami encouraged me in my plight to not give up and I took his/her words to heart. You know who you are and I really appreciate your words my friend, I really do.

So I decided that I would continue updating my stories nonetheless, since I'm just about three quarters of the way done with both Rosario Kitsune and Claymore Number 48, so please just bear it with me just a bit longer guys, okay?

And again I apologize to everyone for not being able to update as quickly as possible as I am use to doing in the past. Though I implore all of you to just please bare this with me, and that I pray and hope I'll be still be able to give you the chapters to the stories you all hold near and dear in your computer files and hearts. In both length and quality.

Anyway please leave me your thoughts and suggestions and I'll try to be able to get back to you as soon as possible. Though I feel that in this fic I will definitely have to make some changes in the previous chapters though not before I update Rosario Kitsune and Claymore Number 48 since they seem the two fics that have seemed to garner the most attention.

Thank you all so much for encouraging and believing in my stories, and I hope that this arm really does heal. It's a really bother to use an arm your not totally familiar with, but I refuse to let it discourage me from doing what I love to do.

Your faithful writer, encourager and reader of all that is fanfiction

Dark Spidey