Masters of the Blades

Okay, time for something different. After seeing a couple of crossovers, I decided to give it a shot. The main paring is going to be strictly Naruto x Masane. Once again, I own nothing!

M.o.t.B.

Prologue

He didn't know how exactly he had gotten into his current situation, or what caused it for that matter. At the time, sixteen-year-old Naruto Uzumaki was with his mentor, Jiraiya the Gama Sennin, heading towards Konohagakure after being away on a training trip for nearly three years in order to prepare for Akatsuki. One moment, it was a beautiful day: the sun was shining brightly, and there was a small gentle breeze that occasionally flew through their hair. The next, total pandemonium. At least, that was what it felt like for the blonde. Out of no where, several dark storm clouds appeared in the sky, covering the sun and engulfing everything in a complete overcast. The wind became unbelievably strong, kicking up dirt at blinding speeds, and pulling trees out from the ground. Lightning struck at a rapid pace, almost coming close to frying the two shinobi on several occasions, followed with loud deafening blasts of thunder.

"Ero-sennin! What the hell is going on?" shouted Naruto, trying to project his voice over the loud commotion.

"Your guess is as good as mine, Naruto!" Jiraiya yelled back. "But that's not important right now! We need to find shelter from this freak calamity before we can even think of what could have caused this mess!"

But that was easier said than done. With winds that were almost as strong as a hurricane, combined with the chain lightning shooting towards the ground at random intervals, the two shinobi were hard pressed to maneuver around the dangers that were thrown at them. They had been trekking through the horrible weather for what seemed like an eternity, when Jiraiya spotted a cave that was dug into a cliff side.

"Naruto, let's head inside that cave over there! It'll be much better than trying to make it thr-" Jiraiya was abruptly cut off when a bolt of lightning struck the spot where he was about step forward. A great geyser of earth exploded upwards, sending the Gama Sennin flying back as the earthen shrapnel and stray sparks from the bolt rendered him unconscious before he hit the ground.

"Ero-sennin!" exclaimed Naruto, quickly running to his sensei's side. The man had mild bruises and electric burns all over his body. Locks of his white, spiky mane were rigidly sticking out like some sort of porcupine, and Naruto could have sworn that he saw the occasional electric spark dart between two strands. His appearance would have looked comical, if it weren't for the dire situation they were in.

Another flash of lightning and boom of thunder quickly got Naruto's attention back on track. Not wasting a moment, Naruto threw one of Jiraiya's arms over his shoulder, and proceeded to make his way to the cave. Once he had gotten the both of them out of the storm, the blonde gently placed the sennin down in order to get a better idea of his current condition. Placing his index and middle fingers on his jawline, Naruto let out a sigh of relief once he found out that his teacher still had a steady pulse. He then withdrew a kunai and positioned it in front of the man's nostrils, happy to see its metal surface get fogged up, indicating that Jiraiya was indeed breathing.

"This is just great. We're about a half day's travel from the village before this freak storm hit us, and there's no way that we can head back to the town we just passed. Plus, there's no way that we can travel with this apocalyptic storm going on. Tch, Ero-sennin's right, I am a magnet for trouble." Naruto muttered to himself. Since he had no training in medical ninjutsu, he tried to patch up his mentor as best as he could using the medical supplies that he had on hand. Once he was satisfied with his work, he summoned a messenger toad named Kōsuke, and asked him to relay their current predicament back to the Hokage. He made sure that he emphasized to the toad that Jiraiya was alright, but would still need a professional medic to examine him once they had returned to the village. As soon as Kōsuke left, Naruto was left alone with his unconscious teacher, all the while listening to the storm howl outside. In an attempt to alleviate his stress, he began to let his eyes wander around their temporary shelter. He had to admit that he found the cave a bit unsettling for some reason, as if there was something supernatural hidden within it. His wandering eyes soon took notice of how the walls of the cave seemed to have some type of runes carved into them, and they weren't like any kanji that he'd ever seen before. Seeing this as an opportunity to help take his mind off things, he withdrew a glow stick from his pouch, and cracked it on to get a better view of the mysterious characters. From the green glow, he was able to see that the runes ran deeper into the cave, all the way to the very end.

"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to have a little look around." Naruto murmured to himself. But as he walked deeper into the cave, he noticed that there were a few hieroglyphics that appeared in the middle of the runes sporadically. They depicted of what seemed like an armored man, wielding a sword, that fought off and defeated several monstrous creatures. They also depicted the man and a sword-wielding armored woman fighting off a horde of demonic, feminine-looking creatures as well. But the last one was what really perplexed him, as it depicted the man and woman suspended in mid-air, their swords crossed together, and what seemed to be light encompassing them. All and all, it just made Naruto more curious, and perhaps a bit wary of the cave. For all that he knew, this very cave could have been the tomb of an ancient warrior. That thought soon gave way to fear, as he thought about how tombs that looked similar to this cave had several superstitions of being cursed or haunted. Despite all of the changes that he went through, his fear of the supernatural and spirits still seemed to stay with him. His mind was so preoccupied with his little haunted tomb freak-out session, that he didn't notice the patch of unsettled gravel in front of him. The moment Naruto's foot landed on that specific spot, the ground immediately gave way, sending the blonde hurtling down a large tunnel. The only piece of evidence that he was even with Jiraiya was his glow stick laying on the ground in front of the hole.

Naruto, on the other hand, was scared out his mind. Gruesome and horrific scenarios played through his mind as he continued his downward descent, twisting and turning to the point that it felt like he was on some deranged playground slide. But he didn't have to wait long for the dreadful experience to end when he finally hurtled out the tunnel and into a large underground cavern that was filled with about four inches of water. Sputtering from the sudden intake of water, Naruto clambered up on top of the water's surface to get a better look of his surroundings. The interior was completely dark, which prompted Naruto to take out another glow stick and crack it open, flushing the entire area with its green florescence. Water covered the entire area, leaving no trace of visible land. But what really stood out was a large stalagmite that was jutting out smack dab in the middle of the small pool. And as he peered closer, it seemed as if there was something carved into it.

"Huh, well that's not peculiar at all." was Naruto's sarcastic remark. Yet, he couldn't help but let his curiosity sway him into investigating the earthen construct anyway. As he approached closer, he noticed that the carving was that of a gauntlet-clad arm, holding a long double-edged sword pointed toward the ceiling. The sword had a cross-shaped hilt, with an orange-yellow jewel molded into the pommel. Strange tentacle markings that looked similar to tree roots were coiled around the gauntlet and reached up to the swords hilt, giving off the appearance of what a cross section diagram of a normal tree would look like.

"Okay, this is just weird. Still, whoever crafted this little number sure knows his stuff." He inched his face closer to the stone sculpture, but was surprised when the gemstone seemed to glow for a brief moment. Leaning back in surprise, he saw it glow again for a slightly longer moment.

"What the hell?" Then without warning, the gemstone shone with great intensity, as if it were the sun itself. Naruto clenched his eyes shut from the sudden bright onslaught, trying to put as much distance between himself and the bizarre light show. But then it all took a drastic turn for the worse, as the light that seemed to be contained within the gemstone slowly phased out of its container, expanding until it was large enough for a giant boulder to easily fit through it. Things went further south for the boy when he felt himself being pulled towards strange phenomenon, like water being sucked down a drain. He tried to get out of the glowing orb's path, but he discovered to his horror that the pull on him was drastically hampering on his mobility. It felt like gravity resistance seals were placed on his limbs, and on their highest setting. Gradually, Naruto found himself being pulled closer and closer towards the orb until he was about a centimeter away from touching it. The moment he made contact with the strange sphere of light, his vision was assaulted by a bright flash of white.

M.o.t.B.

After what seemed like hours of being in a bright incoherent limbo, Naruto was able to make sense of his surrounding environment. But what he saw once his vision cleared wasn't what he had expected. Gone was the mysterious cave that he and Jiraiya had taken cover in, and in its place was what looked like a massive city. But, it was no city that he had ever seen, and it looked as if it went through a massive catastrophe. Wrecked and dilapidated buildings surrounded him, whilst the ground that he was sitting on was severely ruptured and up-heaved, hinting that a massive earthquake had occurred. Rubble was strewn everywhere, mainly consisting of pieces from the buildings. But the clincher for the blonde was the massive flooded area that engulfed what he assumed to be another part of the devastated city. The dead silence throughout the derelict area only added to Naruto's steadily growing dread.

"Dear Kami, what happened to this place?" whispered Naruto, as he got up to better survey the damage. "Then again, I don't have a clue as to where I am exactly. But I guess the more important question I should be worried about is how the hell did I even get here in the first place?"

Suddenly, a woman's scream pierced through the silence. It was close, and seemed to have come from within a ruined building to his right. Wasting no time, Naruto raced into the structure through the gaping hole that was on its side. Maneuvering around inside, however, was more difficult than he had first imagined, as the interior was just as jumbled up and destroyed as the streets were. The jagged piles of rumble that littered the ground gave off the illusion of a large labyrinth that scientists used to test lab rats, except instead of a piece of cheese that was waiting for him on the end, there was a frightened and distressed woman.

"HELP ME! PLEASE, SOMEBODY HELP Mmmmmph!"

And from the sound of things, she didn't have much time left. Straining himself to his fastest speed possible, he leaped over the last rubble pile and was met with a sight that made him shudder. There before him was a young woman sprawled on the ground, wearing some sort of clawed gauntlet on her right arm that had a red jewel on the dorsal side of her hand. But the most alarming part was that several thin red tentacles were emerging from the gauntlet, and they were already coiled around the woman's body from her her legs to her head. The tentacles were waving around as if they were alive, and looked as if they were going to continue coiling around her until she resembled a mummy.

"Hold on!" shouted Naruto, as he ran towards the woman, withdrawing a kunai from his pouch. His hand shot towards the strands that were obstructing her mouth and nose, and pulled as hard as he could. The tentacles had a cold metallic feel to them, and he felt small barbs dig into his palms, but he kept his grip strong. When he brought up his kunai up to cut them off, the woman's muffled screams and struggling renewed in vigor, which in turn made the tentacles move more erratically.

"Hey, hey, hey! Calm down! I'm trying to help you! Just keep still, and I'll get these things off you!" he shouted, his blue eyes gazing into her hazel ones determinedly. Without waiting any longer, he pulled the bound tentacles far enough to allow for his kunai to safely cut away the obstruction, before he grabbed another mass coiled around her neck and chest and hacked it off as well before he repeated the action again and again.

"Thank you! Oh, thank you! Oh, thank you!" exclaimed the hysterical woman in between frightened sobs. Yet despite her fright, she saw a small glimmer of hope as she watched Naruto hack away at her binds. But that glimmer was immediately extinguished once she spotted a stray tentacle snake its way behind her savior and poise itself similar to a king cobra that was about to strike.

"LOOK OUmmph!" was all that she managed to say before a fresh group of tentacles coiled around her mouth to prevent her from warning the blonde of the danger. The muffled noise did, however, alert Naruto of the woman's predicament.

"Oh shit, not again! Just bare with me, I'll get it off ya!" Naruto's right hand made to rip the thin strand-like tentacles of the woman's face once again, which was exactly the moment that the poised tentacle was waiting for. Without a sound, it struck at surprisingly high speeds, the spear-tipped end piercing through Naruto's wrist before it ripped through the other side and coiled itself around his arm, just stopping beneath his elbow.

"ARGH! Son of a bitch!" His arm felt as if it had been submerged in molten steel. Naruto tried to pull the foreign red substance off, but before he could even touch it another tentacle coiled itself around his other hand, keeping it away from his arm. Soon enough, the tentacles began to wrap around the blonde's body at a rapid pace, until he was in a similar situation as the woman he was trying to save. Naruto could barely move as more and more tentacles encompassed his entire body, the pain increasing exponentially with each passing second. The last thing that he recalled before he lost consciousness was looking into the woman's frightened eyes and faintly hearing a baby crying behind him. Neither of the two victims noticed the red gemstone on the woman's arm crack and a fragment broke away from the gauntlet, before the stone restored itself to its original pristine condition. Nor did they notice the free fragment morph into orange-yellow orb, before it placed itself on Naruto's own wrist.

M.o.t.B.

'Wh-What the hell? What caused me to black out?' where the first thoughts of the whiskered blonde as he slowly regained consciousness and his vision slowly cleared itself. 'But whatever it was, it obviously wasn't strong enough to take me out,-...wait a minute, just who am I? I can't...I can't remember! Oh shit, I've forgotten my own name!' That thought alone got the blonde reinvigorated as he quickly shot up in an upright position. But in doing so, he unintentionally flexed his right arm, sending a sharp jolt of pain through the limb. Looking down to see what was the cause of the mild discomfort, he was shocked to see blood slowly dripping from wounds on both sides of his wrist. It looked as if the injury was nearly healed, but it still pained him whenever he moved his hand.

"OW! Damn it, how did this happen?" He was about to try and apply pressure to the injury to try and lessen the pain when he felt something fall off his forehead and land on the ground with a clatter. Looking down, he saw that it was some sort of long black cloth. In the center of it was a rectangular metal plate that had a spiral-like leaf design etched into it. Picking it up and turning it around in his hands, he noticed that there was a small message inscribed on the back of the cloth, where the leaf pattern would be on the front side of plate.

"If found, please return this to Naruto Uzumaki, the future Hokage of Konohagakure. Naruto Uzumaki? Is that my name?" the now identified Naruto wondered aloud. 'And just what the hell is a fire shadow anyways?' All the same, he pocketed the weird trinket, considering that it was currently the only clue he had to his identity. As he stood up to get a better idea of where exactly he was, he got a better look at his outward appearance for the first time. 'Open-ended sandals, a dirty black T-shirt, a battered orange and black jacket, and orange pants? Why in the world am I wearing orange pants? And-what the, a shuriken holster? Just what the hell am I? And what was...I...doing...here?' Naruto's thoughts ground to a halt the moment he saw the area surrounding him. From the way the walls of rubble were strewn around him, to the fact that the ground he was standing on was the floor of a small crater, the entire scene gave off the impression that he was at ground zero from where a bomb had went off. But that couldn't have been what had happened, otherwise he wouldn't be alive.

As he continued to theorize on what had happened, he heard the sound of a baby crying somewhere close to his position. For reasons he couldn't understand, it seemed faintly familiar. Racing towards the origin of the sound, he saw there was indeed a crying baby laying on the ground. From the pink blanket that was wrapped around its body, it was easy enough to determine the baby's gender. A few feet away from the infant was a young, brown haired woman that was face down on the ground. Already fearing the worst possible outcome, Naruto was quickly by the woman's side, his index and middle fingers pressed against the spot where her jugular vein was. He gave a small sigh of relief when he felt a slow and steady pulse push against his fingers. That relief was short lived, as the baby's cries continued.

"Hey. Hey, miss." He nudged her shoulder to try and stir the woman awake. "Miss, are you alright? Can you hear me?" His efforts were rewarded with a murmur from the woman, and he saw that her eyelids began to twitch. "Miss, you have to wake up! Your baby needs y-"

Almost instantly, the young woman shot up and raced towards the crying babe, knocking Naruto to the ground in the process. Whilst she was attempting to calm the distressed infant, Naruto managed to get a better look at the woman. She seemed to be about an inch shorter than him, and looked about seventeen or eighteen years old. Her brown hair was in a short cut style with bangs that framed her face, but he noticed that the hair on the back of her head was long enough that it reached the middle of her neck. He found it odd how the two strands of hair stood out on the top, making them look like a seagull flying in the horizon. She had the very definition of an "hourglass figure": large B/mid C cup breasts, a thin waist, and well-rounded hips. Her sleeveless blouse and mini-skirt were just as ragged and weathered as his own clothes were, which made him realize that she was possibly with him at ground zero of whatever disaster had struck. Deciding to hold off on asking if she knew what had happened for a later date, his attention refocused on the woman that was trying in vain to soothe the baby's crying. From her expression, it looked as if she was becoming more frantic by each passing second.

"Um, excuse me, miss?" The woman's attention quickly turned towards him, her hazel eyes locking onto him. Her stance shifted slightly, as if she were preparing to run off at any moment.

"W-who are you? What do you want?" she asked with an edge. She unconsciously pressed the wailing babe closer to herself in a protective manner.

Naruto placed his hands in front of him in a placating manner, just to show her that he wasn't going to hurt them. "Hey now, I mean you two no harm, miss. If I wanted to, I could have ended your life whilst you were still unconscious." The fearful look the young mother displayed made Naruto realize that he probably shouldn't have said that last statement.

"That doesn't answer my questions. Who are you, and what do you want?" she repeated.

"Well, first of all, my name is Naruto Uzumaki, or at least I think it is. And secondly, I couldn't help but notice that you were having some trouble with your baby, and I thought that you might want some help?"

The woman's eyes narrowed at him. "Why would you want to help me? I've never seen or heard of you until now, and you just so happen to be around here? How do I know that you're not going to try and pull something the moment I hand you this baby?"

Naruto's expression turned somber. He didn't understand why, but hearing the baby's cries brought up a torrent of emotions within him. Brief, but blurry images bombarded his mind, all of them depicting a large crowd gathered in front of a small boy with blonde hair. He couldn't see their faces clearly, but he could tell that the group of adults were glaring hateful at the boy, who was crying pitifully by himself. The vision felt so familiar, but he couldn't think of a reason why.

"I can't explain why, but I just can't bear to hear a child cry. To me, it's the saddest sound ever imaginable." he answered solemnly, the woman's gaze softening somewhat. "Besides, I can tell from your posture and your tone that you could use a little break right about now." And like magic, the scrutinizing gaze was back. "Look, I just want to help the two of you out. I swear on my life that I will not cause any harm to the baby, alright?" The mother gazed intently at Naruto, as if she were trying to stare into his soul and search for any trace of ill-intent. Yet with each passing second of listening to the fussy baby cry, she could literally feel her already frazzled endurance and patience grinding away. Finally, with a sigh of defeat, she slowly approached the blonde. When she was about an inch away from him, she slowly and carefully held the baby out for him. Naruto moved in cautiously to take the baby girl into his own arms, but was surprised when he felt the woman grasp his jacket sleeve in a strong grip and jerk him closer to her.

"I'll be watching you the whole time you're holding her. If I see you doing anything to hurt her, I'll make sure that the rescue teams never find your body, got it?" Her low tone promised pain and suffering, making Naurto involuntarily shudder.

"I-I understand." said Naruto, trying to be as calm as possible so as not to upset the baby even further. Satisfied with his answer, the woman reluctantly released her hold.

"Shhh, it's okay, little one. Don't cry, don't cry. Everything's going to be alright." he said as softly as he could, whilst slowly rocking the babe back and forth in calm, gentle sways. At first the woman was unimpressed with Naruto's actions, as she watched him continue his soft whisperings and gentle rocking. She was about to demand that he give her back the baby, when she noticed the infant's cries began to quell, until gradually they stopped completely.

"There, that's a lot better, isn't it?" cooed Naruto, to which the baby just giggled in response.

"How did you do that?" asked the woman, disbelievingly. "I was doing the exact same thing you were doing, and yet you managed to calm her in mere seconds! What's your secret?"

Naruto adopted a thoughtful expression before he finally shrugged. "I dunno, exactly. I guess I have a way with kids, or something like that? Or, maybe this little one could tell how stressed you were. I mean, from what I've seen from you, you seem like your a kind person, and it looked like you were doing everything right. I guess the reason she was so fussy was because she was really spooked by what happened here, and your panicked state just made here feel more stressed. But she seems fine now, do you want her back?"

The woman nodded. As she walked back towards Naruto to take the baby back into her arms, with Naruto reminding her to keep calm so as not to distress the infant, she was soon cradling the new life in her arms once again. Except this time, the baby girl wasn't crying. Instead, she was gazing curiously up at the young woman.

"Thank you for your help, Naruto. And, I'm sorry that I came off as a bit antagonistic earlier." she said sincerely.

Naurto just smiled. "Hey, don't worry about it. You were just being a good mother, looking out for your baby. I was happy to help, Ms...Ms...oh geez, this is embarrassing. I don't think that I got your name, or your baby's name for that matter." said Naruto sheepishly.

The woman's expression quickly turned depressed, instantly catching Naruto's attention. "I...I...I can't remember my name. I don't even know how I got here, let alone this baby's name. Hell, I don't even know if she's even mine."

Naruto was about to apologize for bringing the matter up, when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. It was near the same exact spot that he had first seen the baby, and it was covered by chunks of rocks and concrete. Knocking away the rubble, the object was revealed to be small, pink notebook.

"What's this?" Naruto said to himself. The woman, having overheard Naruto, looked at what the blonde was holding before something clicked in her mind.

"That looks like a maternity diary! Maybe it belongs to this little girl." she suggested, as she stepped closer to look over his shoulder. His curiosity stoked, he opened the book and read its contents aloud.

"According to what's written, this diary is for a Rihoko Amaha." said Naruto, as he briefly gazed at the baby. "And it also says that Rihoko's mother is Masane Amaha. Huh, that's strange, it doesn't list who her father is. "

"Masane...Amaha...that sounds so familiar. Is...is that my name? And does that make Rihoko...my daughter?"

"Well,...maybe. You and Rihoko were about a few feet away from each other when I came here. And when you woke up, your very first action was to check and see if Rihoko was alright, just like any parent would."

"But, shouldn't I at least remember Rihoko's name if I'm her mother? I can't even remember my own name, and I'm not sure if it's even Masane!" the woman said, almost scaring the Rihoko once again.

"Hey, hey, settle down! I wasn't saying that you are Masane Amaha, I'm just saying that the current situation heavily hints that you are. I mean, I can't think of any other reason why Rihoko would be out here all on her own. Unless,...you don't think that her real mother,...just abandoned her, do you?"

The face the woman made showed him what she thought of that idea. "I don't even want to think about that! Just the thought of a parent leaving their baby to die, it's...it's just too cruel! I want to believe that I'm Rihoko's mother, but at the same time I don't think that I can be the mother that she needs. I mean, look at me! I do I really look like I'm cut out to be a mother?" The woman's voice was growing increasingly desperate, and she looked as if she were close to tears.

"I do." said Naruto, making her eyes snap to him. "I think that you would make a great mother. You've already proven that you're dedicated, loving, and protective over little Rihoko. I believe those are qualities that every mother should have."

"But...but what if Rihoko's real mother is still out there? What if-"

"Then to hell with her!" interrupted Naruto, surprising the woman. "If she allowed herself to become separated from Rihoko, especially during this disaster, then she doesn't deserve to be her mother! Parents should always put the safety and needs of their children before their own, only leaving them when it's the only way to protect them. And if this woman thought that leaving Rihoko out in this wasteland would protect her, then she's got no right to be a parent! All that I know is that right now, you are the only one that Rihoko can depend on." Naruto cupped the woman's cheek, making the woman look into his eyes as he gently brushed his finger underneath her eye to wipe away the lone tear. "As far as I'm concerned, you are Rihoko's real mother. You are Masane Amaha. So don't be so quick to doubt yourself, alright?"

Masane just stood there, stunned at hearing Naruto speak so passionately. She didn't know what to say. After all, she had just met this Naruto character only a minute ago. And if that wasn't enough, it seemed that he too had lost nearly all his old memories, with his name being the only exception. But at the same time, she couldn't help but feel drawn to him like a moth to a flame. It was as if he were radiating with confidence, and just being around him brightened her outlook on things. In the end, she just couldn't help but smile.

"Thank you, Naruto. I guess I needed that pep talk to get me thinking straight." said Masane.

He smiled in return, making Masane think of a fox. "Don't worry about it. We amnesiacs have to stick together, right?" A sudden noise brought their attention to the bundle Masane held in her arms. The day's events seemed to have been too much for Rihoko to handle, as she yawned and promptly fell asleep. Her actions were just so adorable that both Naruto and Masane couldn't help but let out a quiet "aaawwwww" at the baby's actions. As Masane readjusted her grip on Rihoko, Naruto took notice of the bleeding injury that was on her right wrist, and the small trickle of blood that ran down her forehead.

"Hey, Masane, what happened to you? How did you get those injuries?" he asked, while gesturing to the bleeding areas using his own body. Shifting Rihoko so that she could free her right arm, she gingerly touched her forehead and felt something wet and sticky making contact with her finger. Pulling back the digit, she saw that blood was smeared on her fingertip. It also gave her a chance to notice the bleeding wound that was on her wrist. She was surprised that she hadn't noticed them earlier, and wondered just how she had gotten them. She was quickly brought out of her thoughts when she heard the sound of tearing fabric in front of her. Looking up, she saw that Naruto had ripped off one the sleeves of his T-shirt into three strips, before he wrapped one around her wounded wrist, securing it with a simple knot.

"Wait, Naruto, you don't need to do that!" protested Masane. Naruto just ignored her as he used the second strip to wipe the trail of blood off her forehead.

"Look, don't worry about it. This thing's already ripped up, so it might as well be used for more important things." he said, before he used the last cloth to wrap around his own bleeding wrist. Masane just stared at the cloth on her wrist, before she smiled once again.

'Well, he certainly knows how to treat a lady. Not to mention he's kinda cute, especially with those whisker marks.' she thought, blushing slightly once she realized that she thought a person she had just met was cute. 'I guess I'm pretty lucky that I came across Naruto.' Suddenly, they heard a loud commotion from up in the sky, growing louder and louder with each second. A sudden gust of wind blew through the area, followed by a bright light that shined down on them. As soon as Masane's eyes refocused from the sudden burst of light, she saw to her relief that it was a rescue chopper that was undoubtedly looking for survivors. She looked towards her fellow survivor, but was perplexed as to why Naruto looked panicked, as if he were seeing something horrible.

"What the hell is that thing?" he shouted, pointing a shaking a finger at the flying vehicle. Masane looked from Naruto, to the helicopter in the air, then back at Naruto.

"You mean the helicopter?" she asked, innocently.

"Helicopter?! Is that what it's called? How the hell is it staying the air like that?!" His tone was more panic-stricken than what she had expected, and he even began to tremble as the copter began to descend to a lower altitude.

'He doesn't know what a helicopter is? Man, his amnesia must be even worse than mine.' thought Masane, as she led the frightened Naruto closer to the helicopter, all the while assuring him that the vehicle wasn't going to hurt him in any way.

M.o.t.B.

After an embarrassing helicopter ride, in which Masane had held his hand in order to help put him at ease, Naruto found himself at a large relief center that was teaming with medical and rescue personnel, as well as survivors. From what he gathered, a massive earthquake had struck in the middle of this country called Japan, killing several thousands of people as well as injuring several hundreds more and causing massive property damage everywhere. The very relief center that he was staying with Masane was actually a large shopping center, as the hospital in the area wasn't big enough to fit the scores of people that needed medical attention.

Currently, Masane and Rihoko were be attending to by one of the many doctors that were bustling about. They were in a little room that was part of the building structure, which had been set up specifically for women to have physical examinations and to address any injuries that they might have sustained. Naruto, who already had a doctor examine him, was leaning up against one of the room's outer walls, waiting for Masane and Rihoko to be cleared. As he waited, his mind kept replaying the scenes of total devastation that he had seen from the helicopter, and the sight of seeing so many people with more severe injuries when he had first entered. It just seemed too surreal to the blonde, almost like a massive war had recently taken place.

The sound of footsteps brought him back to reality and saw two stern looking policemen, the same two he had seen earlier when he and Masane were first interviewed by the head of the center, making their way towards him. But judging by their strides and the scowls on their face, he had a feeling that they weren't coming to have a friendly chat with him.

"You, come with us." said the lead officer.

Naruto blinked in surprise, not expecting the policemen to be so straight forward. "Um, excuse me?"

The guard's frown deepened. "Didn't you hear me? I said come with us, now."

"...Did I do something wrong, sir?"

This time it was the second officer that spoke up. "Don't ask stupid questions! Just come with us, right now!"

Warning bells began to go off inside Naruto's head. Something didn't seem right with the way the guards were acting. "Well, you can you at least tell me why I'm being called away? I want to at least let my friend in there know that the police need me for something." he said, as he gestured to where Masane was.

The head officer scowled, an action which was mirrored by his fellow policeman. "As if you have the right to even speak to her."

"What was that?" growled Naruto, his mood souring greatly, and his patience with the two wearing dangerously thin.

"You heard me, punk! Japan has experienced a natural disaster from which we've never seen before. Our medics and emergency provisions are already being pushed to the limit, and there could be hundreds more survivors out there, waiting to be helped. We don't need some damn, free-loading gaijin wasting our valuable time and resources that could be used to help other people that truly deserve it!"

"What?" roared Naruto. He didn't understand what a "gaijin" was, but he had a feeling that it was meant to be an insult.

The second officer marched up to him, a sneer plastered on his face as he looked at Naruto with disdain. "Don't bullshit us, gaijin. Tanned skin, blonde hair, blue eyes? Why, you're practically the poster boy for gaijins everywhere. Judging on your appearance I'd wager that you're either some alcoholic, self-righteous German, or an arrogant American pig! Hell, I bet you came all the way from America just because of your manga or hentai addiction, since according to you Americans, those are the only good things that our country produce! Kami, you damn weeaboos all make me sick, prancing about in your cosplay outfits, reenacting fight scenes from video games in front of company buildings, thinking that you're embracing our culture or some other bullshit!"

Naruto's anger finally snapped. He already had enough on his plate, what with the loss of his memories, and he did not need to deal with these two bigoted officers as well. "Now you listen here, you asshole! I am not a gaijin, or weeaboo, or whatever you think I am! You have no right to waltz up here to yell in my face and treat me like shit just because of my looks. And if you two really cared about helping the citizens, then why the fucking hell are you two wasting time trying to accuse me of being something I'm not, when you could be out assisting others that truly need help?"

That seemed to only make the officers angrier, as the one in front of him grabbed him roughly by the front of his shirt. "Don't you dare lecture us on how to do our jobs, gaijin! You shouldn't even be here, you damn parasite! And if you are Japanese, then where's your identification? You know, like a driver's license, student I.D card, the sort of things that show that you belong here? Oh, that's right! You conveniently lost them, as well as most of your memories! Do you really expect us to believe that sort of crap?!" snarled the officer.

The other policeman just smirked darkly at the blonde, as he took out a pair of handcuffs and showed them to Naruto in a taunting manner. "Well, don't worry, we're going to take care of you, personally. We got a nice little cell bunker with your name on it, down at the station, gaijin. So if I were you, I'd get re-"

"HEY! JUST WHAT THE HELL DO YOU TWO THINK YOU'RE DOING?" interrupted an enraged, feminine voice. Looking towards the entrance of the enclosed section, they saw one Masane Amaha, looking extremely pissed off. She had a swath of bandages wrapped around her injured wrist, and a square cloth patch held against her forehead by adhesive medical tape. Rihoko was in her arms, miraculously still asleep despite Masane's shouting. Behind her stood the physician, looking very displeased at the police officers. "Well, answer me! What the hell are you two doing to him?"

The officer holding the handcuffs stepped in front of his partner, obstructing Masane's view of Naruto, and smiled at the young woman in friendly manner. "Ma'am, this is a matter of national security, nothing for you to worry about. Please, go back inside, my partner and I-"

"Actually, I too would like an explanation." interrupted a cool monotone voice from behind the amassed group. Turning to his right, Naruto saw a tall man with graying hair and dark brown eyes standing before them. He wore dead serious expression on his face, and was clad in a formal police uniform. The imposing front that this man gave off made Naruto tense, but the two policemen seemed to be outright terrified at the mere sight of the newcomer.

"S-S-S-Superintendent! What are you doing here?" asked the officer that was still holding onto Naruto's jacket. He flinched when the superintendent's gaze shot towards him and his partner, making their trembling increase.

"I was making my rounds, inspecting how my men are handling the security of this relief center, when I heard a loud and unruly commotion. Yet when I went to investigate, I end up finding you two at the center of the disturbance, yet again! So I am only going to ask you two once: what the hell is going on here?"

"I'll tell you what's going on!" interjected Masane, before the either of the officers could utter a word. "These two racist pigs were harassing this man whilst I was being treated. I heard everything through the door, they were calling him a gaijin and other racial slurs just because he had blonde hair and blue eyes! The were planning on arresting him on the grounds of being in this country illegally, all because he doesn't look like the stereotypical Japanese man!"

"It's true, sir. I was treating Ms. Amaha when I heard these two scoundrels trying to apprehend this man. Their behavior has been absolutely despicable." added the female doctor.

"Is that so?" said the superintendent, his eyes focusing onto the two cops once again, who were quaking in their shoes. His eyes quickly shifted over to Naruto, taking in his appearance, before he turned his attention back to Masane. "To be honest, he doesn't exactly look like he's from around here at first glance. Tell me, do you know this man on a personal level, ma'am?"

"Of course I do. His name his Naruto Uzumaki, he was with me the entire time from when we were lost at the damaged East sector, to when we were rescued. He's also the father of my daughter, Rihoko." she finished with the utmost certainty. Naruto was surprised with Masane's declaration, but decided not to voice his uncertainty about his relation to Rihoko when he caught the slight twitch of her head, a subtle message telling him to go along with her story. Fortunately for the duo, the superintendent missed their little interaction, as his focus was centered on the two officers. Said cops looked as if they were going to piss themselves from the fierce look their superior officer was shooting them.

"Officer Saizo, release Mr. Uzumaki at once." The man's tone was cold and emotionless, yet was able to convey how infuriated he was at the same time.

Saizo's partner, however, still didn't fully understand the amount trouble they were in. "B-but sir, you can't honestly b-"

"Shut your mouth, Katanabe, before I permanently shut it for you! You and your partner have brought nothing but dishonor to our precinct with your constant racism! The both of you were transferred from your old precinct because you falsely imprisoned an American tourist under the allegations of being a spy! A SPY! Do you know bad that makes our country's police force look? Or how that affects Japan's international relationships as a whole?! Do you?! And yet here you two are, trying to arrest yet another innocent person just because he fits your despicable racial profile!" The uniformed officer's smoldering glare then shot back to Saizo. "Saizo! Why are you still clutching at Mr. Uzumaki's shirt?! Get your filthy hands off of him before I have you incarcerated for abuse of authoritative power and insubordination!"

Saizo's hands quickly released Naruto's shirt as if he were touching hot coals, before he fell in line with Katanabe. By now, both officers were standing ramrod straight at attention as their superior continued to glare at them. He turned away from them briefly to give a deep bow to Naruto. "I apologize profusely for what my subordinates have put you through, Mr. Uzumaki. Please do not think that these fools speak for the entire police force of Japan, nor that we condone such hateful beliefs. I assure you, these two will be punished severely for their actions."

"I'll be sure to hold you to that." said Naruto tightly. He could tell that the superintendent meant every word, but he was still angry with how the country's public servants had treated him. So instead, he allowed Masane to lead him away, as the superintendent began to give Katanabe and Saizo a verbal tongue lashing they would never forget.

"Are you alright? Those two didn't hurt you, did they?" asked Masane, once she was sure that they were far away from the police.

Naruto just sent her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I'm fine. You actually came in right on time before that prick-"

"Hey, watch the language! Don't curse in front of the baby!" interjected Masane, giving his ear a quick flick.

"Ow! But she's asleep!"

"Doesn't matter! I don't want Rihoko picking up those kinds of words from your potty mouth!"

"Right, sorry, sorry. You came in right on time before that jerk could cuff me. Are the police here really this aggressive, or I'm just a special case? They seemed to be really out to get me for some reason."

Masane just stared at him incredulously for a moment, before she had to remind herself that some cases of amnesia were more severe than others. "Well, it may be because of the color of your hair and eyes, Naruto. I hate to be the one to tell you this, but the average Japanese man doesn't naturally have blue eyes or blonde hair. In fact, if it weren't for your dialect, I would have guessed that you were an American. Not that it's a bad thing or anything! It's just that the Japanese have a strong sense of patriotism, and some of them aren't that open-minded to people that are of a different nationality or at least look like they are, especially when it comes to marriage. If a Japanese person were to marry someone from a different country, for example, then the couple would sometimes be looked down upon by their peers."

"Wow, that sounds pretty racist if you ask me. So, where do you stand on the matter?"

"Well, personally, I could really care less about a person's nationality, just so long as they're kind and friendly people. And if two people with differing national backgrounds marry each other, I say that as long it's two people that care about each other, more power to them. Ethnicity shouldn't be the deciding factor on whom you fall in love with. " she said with total conviction.

"Nice to know that you're not one of those traditional stick-in-the-muds." said Naruto, before a short awkward silence settled in between them. "So, uh, what was deal back there?"

"What are you talking about?"

Naruto just quirked an eyebrow as he looked at Masane. "I'm talking about when you said to that superintendent that I was your baby's daddy." He had to admit, seeing Masane blush and act all flustered made her look really cute. And for some reason, her behavior seemed to remind him of someone else that acted in a similar manner.

"Well, you see...I mean...that is...I had to come up with something convincing so that they would back off. And I just figured that if I told them that you were Rihoko's father, then they wouldn't really look into your case." she explained.

Naruto just gazed at her, surprised that she would willingly go to such lengths to help him. "Well, thank you for helping me back there. To tell you the truth, I never took you as the type person that would willingly lie to the police."

Masane suddenly looked down at her feet, confusing the blonde. "Um, well, would it really be a bad thing if you were Rihoko's father?" she said, her voice almost a whisper. That immediately got Naruto's full attention, his eyes widening at what he heard .

"Wh-What did you say?"

"I said, would you really be against being Rihoko's father?" she asked again, looking into his eyes in a pleading manner. Before he could answer, she spoke again. "I know that I'm sounding very demanding asking you this, and that I'm practically dropping this huge responsibility on you without any warning, but I could really use your help. Even though I'm her mother, there's only so much that I can do. She needs a father in her life. I mean, you don't really have any idea on what you're going to do now, especially since you've lost most of your memories, right? Well, why not stay with us? Who knows, maybe you'll be able to regain what you've lost if you stay. And besides, if the cops see that you're with a family, then they won't think that you're some sort of illegal immigrant or some lost tourist. Please, I know that I have no right asking all of this from you, but could you at the very least consider the possibility?"

Naruto was stunned into silence. Sure, what Masane was asking of him seemed demanding, but for reasons unexplainable, he couldn't find the will to be angry with her. And once again, visions of the small boy being shunned and glared at by the mob of adults and older kids flooded his mind. But then, those images were replaced by one that showed the same boy watching at a distance as families celebrated some sort of ceremony outside of what looked like a school building. Again, he felt a strong sense of nostalgia from the mental image, but he couldn't understand why. Maybe what Masane suggested could be true, maybe if he stayed with them, he could get back the memories that he had lost. But then, doubt began to claw its way into his mind. He didn't know anything about being parent, let alone if he even had any when he was a kid. How could someone like him be capable of raising a child, especially if he hardly had any grasp of his own identity.

"But why me?" he asked in a small voice that must have sounded completely out of character for him. "Out of all the people here, Masane, why would you want me to be Rihoko's father? I mean, I practically have no memory of what my life was like before I met you. Aside from my own name, I don't know which city I was born in, the type of people I was friends with, or whether or not I even had parents to begin with. For Kami's sake, I thought that the helicopter was some kind of monster! I could be some sort of insane psychopath for all I know! There are so many other guys better suited than me to help you and Rihoko, so why would you even want me of all people to be your baby's father?"

Masane just gazed at him for a brief moment, before she smiled. "Because you were the only one that was there when we needed help. You calmed down Rihoko when I couldn't. You kept me from losing my head when I was about to have a panic attack. You gave me the confidence to be Rihoko's mother, when I was still thinking about giving her to the orphanage the first chance I got. A real psychopath wouldn't have bothered helping us. Naruto, despite what you may think of yourself, I can tell that you're a kind person."

"But what if that's just the amnesia affecting me? This Mr. Nice Guy personality could be just some false persona that I-OW!" Naruto really didn't expect that finger flick to his forehead, nor for her to be that fast.

"Are you even listening to yourself? It's like you can't take a compliment or something! Stop beating yourself up over nothing! I can tell that you're a good person, and so can Rihoko. IF you were as bad as you say you are, then she would have been bawling her eyes out like crazy. Plus, she already seems to have taken a liking to you, and you wouldn't want to just leave after making such an impression on her, would you? And it's like you said before, we amnesiacs have to stick together, right?"

Naruto was taken aback at having his own words used on him. He could feel the barriers that he had put up gradually deteriorate from Masane's constant verbal bombardments. And it didn't really help him keep his resolve that he just seemed to get caught in those deep pools of hazel that were her eyes. Truth be told, he actually felt at ease whenever he was around her, as if his resolve was strengthened ten fold, and he could face anything that he encountered with her by his side. But, he thought he should still give her one last warning before he made his decision.

"You know, you could be taking a very huge risk with me, one that you might later regret." he said solemnly.

Masane only smiled, as she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "There are always risks in life, it's all a matter of finding those that are worth taking. And from what I've seen, you're definitely worth the risk." Before Naruto could reply, a small yawn was heard coming from Masane's arm. Looking down at the where the source of the noise came from, Naruto saw that Rihoko had finally woken up, and was staring at him owlishly. Smiling, Naruto bent down so that he was closer to the baby's face.

"Hey there, little Rihoko. Looks like I'm going to be your new daddy! What do you think about that, hm?" he asked softly, to which Rihoko merely giggled. Naruto smiled as he got back to his feet, facing a smiling Masane once again. "So, it look likes I'll be sticking around with the two of you from now on, huh?"

Masane smirked playfully at the blonde. "It sure does, whiskers." Naruto frowned slightly at the nickname, before he broke into a small chuckle at Masane's choice of a nickname. So what if he couldn't remember his old life? At least he wouldn't have to recover from his amnesia alone.

To Be Continued...

M.o.t.B.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY! Okay, the prologue is finally done. I really didn't think that it would be this hard to write. You all may ask why I had decided to start yet another series, when I barely update my other ones at all? Well, the idea sorta really popped up in my head after I saw a couple of episodes of the WITCHBLADE series. And while I liked the series as a whole, I was still upset at the main heroine's fate, as well as a few other characters. I had read a few good Naruto x Witchblade crossovers, such as "Clashing Blades", "Witchblade Sakura", "Witchblade Arrival of the Jinchuriki Adopted", Blade of the Kitsune", and "The Blades Acension". But after reading "Sword of the King and Queen" by author Forgottenwriter, the first crossover of these two series that I've ever read, it left a strong impression on me, both good and bad. I mean, I'm sure that this crossover is an unusual one to write about, and that he tried his best, but the way FW wrote was just too painful to read. Calling the toad summons frogs and then reptiles, the horrible grammar, the jumbled up phrases, it was just too much.

So, I decided to try my hand at it, and see what I could do. I was mainly influenced by Forgottenwriter's stories, but this is my own spin on this crossover. So, take it as you the readers see it. Don't forget to Read and Review!