He hated the sensation of falling, there was no solid ground beneath your feet and most of the time, when one would land it would just be as a bloody mess on the ground. Swallowing once more he placed his hands together as he ran through a series of seals trying just to get a grasp of what he needed now. The moment he closed his eyes he felt the sensation of crashing into a pool of water. Snapping his eyes open and he only saw darkness. He didn't spend any time trying to figure it how he survived the fall instead he swam upwards and quickly surfaced, gasping for air. Shaking the water out of his hair he looked around the room. It was definitely an ancient ruin, but just how long was it here? How did it end up at the bottom of the ravine? He wished he paid just a little bit more attention in class, and then maybe he would know.

Shedding his soaked jacket, he dumped it on the ground beside the pool as he looked upwards, there was a small windowless sunlight in the roof, while light in the room was being generated by some unknown source he knew it was pure luck that he fell through the roof and not on the roof.

"Well it looks like I don't have much of a choice now, do I?" he asked out loud as he looked around the ruin. One archway was blocked by fallen stone and a statue of a woman, a goddess maybe. The other way was a large metal door. Taking no chances he walked to the door and pushed on it. It didn't move. Frowning he looked upwards and saw a gap in the wall. Looking around him he took a running start at the wall, the moment he took three steps up the flat surface he fell backwards onto his back with a groan. It looked like his usual techniques didn't work in this unusual building. Sighing he knew he had to use the old fashion way. He ran up the wall again this time trying to keep his body parallel to the wall. Just as he footing started to slip he threw his hands out and caught a rocky ledge. Exhaling slightly he moved his feet to catch another ledge before pulling himself up further against the wall. Eventually he made it up to the hole and pulling himself onto the ledge. There he could see the next room flawlessly. A glyph or a ruin, he knew it wasn't a seal, took up most of the floor there it held another six ruins on it's perimeter each had a unique symbol he couldn't make out.

"Maker's breath... it's a shinobi..." A soft whisper echoed throughout the room, or his head, he wasn't sure. "He is not of our brethren."

"Who's there?" He cried out as he jumped down from the ledge and walked forward to the center of the room. "Show yourself!"

"I feel it." the voice sounded like a young child. "Etro's blood... the ninth demon." He didn't say anything as he stood in the center of the room, the glyph underneath his feet began to glow as he shielded his eyes. "Four will fit..."

The light got brighter as he was forced to close his eyes as he heard the sounds of something heavy locking into place. After a moment he opened his eyes and realized that the six ruins were actually pillars, only know did they rise from the ground.

"The Beast of Despair... The Destroyer... Ragnarok." the moment the voice disappeared four of the six pillars released a bright light, within them weapons formed and floated above the stone as the light died away just slightly. He looked around at the other two that had didn't react, just waiting for them to do something, they never did.

"Pick one of the four..." the voice whispered, biting his lower lip he moved forward to take a better look. A blood red lance, a curious device, an elaborate boomerang and a horned rod floated before him. "Two of these... tainted with Ragnarok's blood."

"Ragnarok?" he asked, maybe there was a relation to the other demons, he wasn't too sure and he knew that there wasn't anyone he could really ask. He hesitated for a moment and as if sensing it, the voice spoke again. "Choose boy... the power to protect, the power to destroy, or the power to create?"

"If your creation means healing, I can tell you this, I'm no good with that." He muttered, the disembodied voice chuckled; the horned rod and boomerang disappeared before his eyes.

"So you forfeit the power to heal. So... boy... what do you chose? The power to protect? Or to destroy?"

Clearly one weapon meant one thing and the other meant something else. He bit his bottom lip as he moved towards the lance, every Black Op had a weapon, so that had to belong to the protector, right?

"So you choose the path of destruction?"

'No! I don't!" he blurted out right away before stopping himself, biting his lower lip, deep down, he knew, he wanted both. What good was protecting those you love if you didn't have the power to defeat the evil?

"The Maker smiles upon you, child" the disembodied voice whispered. "Work together and the path of righteousness will become yours."

He didn't say anything as the two weapons disappeared in a flash of light; the Bladed Lance reappeared in his left hand. He took a couple steps backwards in surprise as the floor began to rumble. The stone cracked and before he knew it, he was falling once more.

When he opened his eyes again he could instantly feel the damp ground against his cheek. It confused him, he knew if he was in near the demon's cage the floor was usually flooded, something, something had to be damming the water. Pulling himself up onto his feet he grabbed the lance that was on the floor and looked around, he wasn't where he thought he was.

"Looks like our Noble one isn't in a real happy mood eh? Then again, she never liked what the Maker did to her." A new, deep accented voice spoke to him; it wasn't like the disembodied voice speaking to him or the demon kept within him. 'Let's keep going eh? Hopefully she won't decide to run yeh through like she did the others."

"Run me through?" he asked, confused, a fair chuckle met his ears as he moved in deeper, taking the time to marvel at the metalwork of the building. The stone had given away to metalwork not too long ago and he couldn't help but be amazed. Every building he had seen or grown up it was made of wood and stone. No blacksmith he knew would be able to replicate this work.

"Aye, keep goin' and ye'll see. If we're lucky, maybe Sunshine will come and help us." a pause "I see it in you. You'll save her, if she comes to."

He bit his lip and looked at the lance in his hand. Even disembodied voices were asking him to save those he can't? Shaking his head he ran his hand through his hair, hitting the headband fastened on his forehead, he had forgotten he was wearing it. Pulling it off he took a look at it, the material was worn and torn, but the metal plate was still there.

"Come on lad, best not keep her waitin'" the voice spoke again, he nodded, pocketing the headband he pushed forward. He opened the door that lead into the next room and was nearly blinded by the sudden change.

All the other rooms were dark and dingy; this here was a hall so bright, so white, that it looked like a part of a royal palace. Slowly he walked forward, stopping before he broke the threshold of the room. There was something about this room, the new voice in his head just pushed him on, slowly he walked forward, and there he saw it.

Sitting on a white chair under a window off to the side of the white room was a suit of armour he had never seen before. It was bulky at some parts and glowed in others. Most of it was steely silver but parts were painted a blood red. The gold mirrored visor stared blankly ahead as he approached it.

"Just as I thought, oh Lightnin'. I can't believe the Maker did this to you." the voice whispered softly, clearly depressed. He didn't say anything back to the voice as he moved to stand in front of the armour. Raising his hand he brushed a layer of dust off the helmet as he looked into the gold visor, he saw his reflection and that of two women, standing on either side of him. Surprised he turned around quickly and saw nothing.

"Lightning eh?" he whispered. "What did you do to deserve this?" he looked over the metal prison that held the warrior in place. Frowning slightly he took a couple steps back and crossed his arms as best he could with the lance in his hands. Turning around to leave he heard a groan. Stopping he turned around again, the warrior was standing head downwards. He frowned but the voice in his head didn't seem too pleased.

"Light..." the voice whispered, maybe the warrior before him was the lover of the voice in his head? Well the voice was female and the suit of armour looked somewhat male, so maybe. He watched as Lightning's armour slowly raised its hand, with another flash of light an unusual sword appeared in its right hand. Right afterwards the armour shifted, taking a battle stance, holding the weapon above its head. "All of this, just cuz you lead us to the life we had..."

The armour didn't react to the voice as it charged him, unable to react in time; he threw up the lance in front of him to block the attack. The sword struck down and his legs buckled under the force. How was he supposed to fight this? The armour towered over him by nearly a foot and the strength was inhuman.

"Let me..." the voice whispered in his head, he didn't have a chance to say anything as he was struck across the face and launched into the wall; he collapsed on the ground and cried out when his left shoulder started to burn. Groaning he pulled at the sleeve of his shirt and lifted it up, a black tattoo of some kind of animal head was burned into his arm. Looking at it for a second he quickly became super aware of what was going on around him. Looking up he saw the armour towering above him as he brought the lance up to block the next attack.

"Oi, kid, what's yer name?" the voice asked, he blinked as he somehow mustered the strength to throw Lightning off.

"Naruto... Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto whispered as he fell into a stance that was unfamiliar to him, but yet, felt right. He watched as the armour stood up slowly, shaking its head.

"Oerba Yun Fang, but you can jus' call me Fang mate." Fang whispered to him. "Fighting us is our leader... and someone special to me, Lightning." Fang explained as Naruto continued his defensive stance against the armour. "When the time came for us, Lightning resisted the Maker, and in turn the Maker made Lightning our Guardian; damned forever into that bloody suit of armour, testing those who dare to take on our legacy."

"So I gotta beat him?" Naruto asked, confused, Fang chuckled lightly.

"Remove the helmet, or take her gunblade, if she knows it's me, she'll come to us."

"Wait she?" he paused, shaking his head. "Ambush her then, right." Naruto whispered as he placed his hand into a cross seal, instantly two more clones of him appeared and flanked his sides. The moment he threw the lance over to one of his clones, Fang's presence in his mind disappeared. He looked back at the dammed soldier before he and his clones charged, to his surprise the soldier was able to react in time, she flipped up into the air and kicked his clones out of his way, the one that held onto Fang's lance was killed just as fast as he was summoned leaving Naruto standing there, alone.

"Not good." He whispered as the soldier walked over to the weapon, sheathed the gunblade and picked up the lance. To his surprise the soldier looked curious of the weapon, confused on what it was, the way the head moved, it was like she was seeing it for the first time, then it clued in for the Uzumaki.

"Did the Maker... wipe you of your memories?" he asked slowly, the gold visor turned to look at him; he couldn't see an expression because it was mirrored so he only saw his own scared face.

Lightning didn't move right away she looked at Naruto as he slowly walked towards her. He held his hand out trying to make a peace offering; instead the soldier tossed the lance back at the boy. Naruto just dropped it back on the ground and watched her. Slowly the soldier moved closer to him, pulling out her gunblade. He didn't move until she stood right before him, he closed his eyes until he heard the metal armour move slightly, opening his eyes he saw that she was holding the gunblade out to him. He held out his own hands as she pulled it back and held it in front of her vertically, as if she was about to say an oath.

"I will join you and Fang." the woman whispered as she pulled the leather case that was strapped to her back and folded the gunblade before him, the advanced technology of that weapon was amazing. She slid it into the case as it glowed a slight pink for a second, he took it from her and watched as the suit of armour walk robotically back to the chair in the room and sit down before becoming lifeless once more.

"Thank you." Lightning's voice echoed in his head as he strapped the weapon to his back. "Boy, can you do me a favour?" Naruto soon found himself looking at the discarded lance on the ground. "Fang..."

Naruto didn't say anything, biting his lower lip he walked forward and picked up the lance, instantly he could feel Fang's presence return to him.

"Lightning..."

He felt Lightning's tension disappear suddenly; he knew he did the right thing. While the whole idea was just odd to him, two women, sealed into their weapons, who were past lovers, using him as a medium to be together... that needed to be fixed, now.

He could feel the flooding sensation of being relieved as he continued onward, happy that the two inhabiting his mind currently were sparing him on whatever they were speaking to each other, but he still couldn't get that unspeakable emotion out. Making it to the next room he pushed open the door, and timed seemed to have stopped.

"Anima..." Fang's voice exhaled slowly, Naruto pushed forward, closer to the large metal and organic being in the room before him.

"Wait... didn't we – I – kill Anima?" Lightning muttered, confused, neither Fang or Naruto responded, instead he kept moving, placing his hand on the cold metal shell that was recently dubbed as 'Anima

"Well clearly Anima is still alive!" Fang retorted, Naruto fell into a battle stance, holding the lance in his left hand he took a proper stance against the Fal'Cie. Anima moved slowly, revealing itself to the young boy as church bells boomed in the background.

"Etro's Blood." Lightning whispered as the ground began to shake under the boy's feet, cracks ran across the stone before giving away throwing him into free fall once more. He cried out, the two presences in his mind disappeared as a green tendril of chakra-like energy whipped out and wrapped around his right forearm. A searing pain shot through his system and he couldn't believe what he saw next.

A massive beast with ten tails whipping around behind it roaring out as a dragon knight, as tall as three men, attacked it with two hooked blades.

When he opened his eyes again he found himself lying on a beach, a beach he didn't recognize. Sitting up in a panic he winced at the sudden head rush, clapping his hand on his forehead he moaned slightly. Looking around he didn't see anyone beside or near him, he was alone.

"Oh Ero-Sennin is gonna hate me." he groaned rubbing his eyes, that's when he spotted the weird black brand on his forearm. Frowning he looked at his left shoulder, the beast head tattoo was still there.

"It's always Ragnarok with that bloody Fal'Cie." a familiar voice spoke behind him. Turning around on the sand he saw a tall tanned woman standing behind him, she was dressed in a royal blue sari and her wild hair was not quite a pure brown. Standing a distance away from her was a slightly shorter woman with petal pink hair draped over one shoulder. She was wearing a uniform of some sort, he guessed, he could spy the red cape fluttering in the wind. He stood up and dusted off his orange pants, he saw the pink haired woman grimace slightly. "Bloody hell, third Focus with that bastard and he wants Ragnarok again."

"At least, from the looks of it, we're killing another beast, not tearing Cocoon out of the sky." the soldier muttered, arms crossed, Naruto stared.

"Fang? Lightning?" he asked, slightly hesitant, when hearing those names he was expecting something different, not two beautiful women. "You... are you?"

"Yeah, we're yer partners fer this mess." Fang started placing her hands on her hip, Lightning slowly walked forward to stand beside Fang. Naruto couldn't get it out of his head, these two... they are together? "I dun know why the Maker decided to do this, maybe cuz we're the only L'Cie to make a difference?"

"What does it matter now anyway?" Lightning muttered in a rather clipped tone. "The boy is in trouble if we don't figure out what that other beast is first."

When they looked at him for an explanation Naruto only held his hands up in his defence. As lame as it was, it was the only thing he had.

"Maybe we should see if bein' a L'Cie messed up with his rather messed up system." Fang leaned in slightly, Naruto flinched back slightly, how tall was this woman?

"You noticed that to?" Lightning muttered, "It's a system, but not like ours."

"You guys don't have chakra?" Naruto blurted out before clapping his hand over his mouth when the soldier stared at him. "Well this 'system' I have is called chakra, Kakashi-sensei or Sakura could explain it better than I could."

Fang crossed her arms and straightened up. "Well then kid, show me what you can do with this 'chakra' of yer's" she asked, waiting to be impressed, the boy grinned as he clapped his hands together, he tried to pull up his energy but he came up dry.

"What?" he asked aloud as he tried again, still nothing; Lightning chuckled like she knew something.

"The Crystanium network has replaced your chakra one." she answered, pointing to the brand on his arm. "My memory might be splotchy right now, but I remember duelling a shinobi who was just branded, he was so confused on why he couldn't use his techniques. He didn't live long."

"You're evil." Fang grinned. "I like that."

"Wait! So I can't use any Jutsu? How am I supposed to be a ninja if I can't use them?"

"We L'Cie have Magic." Lightning answered for him, she held out her hand and a ball of fire formed momentarily before it disappeared when she closed her hand. Naruto watched with amazement when the soldier then went to make both hands crackle with energy, much like Kakashi's Lightning Blade. "Now, you're going to figure out what magic you have, now." She charged him and struck out with her hands. Naruto jumped back out of the way as Fang started to laugh. Naruto rolled across the sand and pulled out a kunai from his holster.

"What's the deal?" he shouted back, Lightning had ripped her gunblade from her holster and casted an Enthunder on it. She smirked.

"Better you learn now in the Fade rather than on the job, we don't want you dying on us."