27 I shall be Released

Location: Alfheim

-x-

The sound of rolling thunder echoed high, lightning splitting up into the air in a fundamental breaking of the law of nature. Birds broke out into a flock of panic, swooping outwards from the white petaled trees and flying into the violet colored sky.

Another blast of lightning scorched upwards, splitting apart any clouds who dared to get in its way.

As the thunder that followed subsided, a voice could be heard screaming, "To the left!"

Thor, God of Thunder, looked to his left, only to see no one coming.

"Not your left, my left!" Screamed the irritated voice several yards away.

Grunting in annoyance, Thor turned his attention towards that direction, spinning the hammer Mjolnir, channeled lightning before using his hammer to direct it into the cluster of Dark Elves dashing towards him and his companion.

While the lightning blasted the Dark Elves, Thor said, "Maybe be specific then?"

His companion, a Light Elf with long bleach blonde hair and a face made for royalty, scoffed as he pointed his blasters towards a duo of Dark Elves, "Oh shut up."

As Thor threw his lightning incased hammer towards the surviving elves, he said, "You know, for an elf named Honeypot, you're really sour in the personality department."

"Honeyshot," The elf corrected as he blasted another group of Dark Elves, "It's Ivory Honeyshot."

"Same difference." Thor muttered as he summoned Mjolnir back to him.

"You know the stories I've heard about you never included just how agitating you are." Ivory said, ducking beneath a sword swing.

"And the stories I have heard about you…oh wait, there are no stories." The God of Thunder shot back, thrusting his hammer into the cranium of an unlucky Dark Elf, decapitating him on impact.

As the Dark Elves' numbers began to dwindle further and further, Ivory said to himself, "I can't believe the All-Mother forced me to help a buffoon like you. Why she fears you and the Raven King, I'll never know."

Thor, hearing that, smirked as he saw the Dark Elves had gathered together and were charging towards him. Channeling lightning into Mjolnir, he spun the hammer in his hand at an incredible pace, the hammer thwooming mightily before swinging up, his body being lifted off the ground at an incredible speed. Eventually, several hundred feet above the trees they'd been fighting in, he came to a stop. Entering his freefall, he positioned the Mjolnir in front of him as he dropped down on the group of Dark Elves.

Ivory watched in awe as Thor landed, the ground exploding as though he were a meteor made of pure lightning and thunder, breaking the Alfheimian earth with ease.

Stepping out of the crater he'd created, Thor still had his smirk in place as he looked to Ivory, "That's why."

The elf could only sigh, accepting the show of force as he looked around for any survivors, "These terrorists were foolish to think they could hole themselves off here."

Thor hefted his hammer onto his shoulder as he said, "They lost any kind of leadership with Malekith. I doubt they sincerely thought they would succeed."

"Right." Ivory sighed, "I wonder if there are any more of these Dark Elves out there. I'd hate to think I'd participated in exterminating a race of people."

"Likewise." Thor admitted somberly.

"Well, let's return to the palace-"

"Wow, this place sure is beautiful. For a battleground, anyway."

Thor and Ivory both took battle positions as the voice suddenly spoke up behind them. Thor, seeing who it was, relaxed his swinging arm, "Naruto?"

Naruto, scratching the back of his head, laughed as he said, "How's it going, Thor?"

Ivory looked back and forth between the two before finally landing on Thor, "You know this person?"

"Yes, this is Naruto Uzumaki. He is a warrior from space…or something." The prince introduced, "He is mighty, I assure you."

Raising an eyebrow as, Ivory looked Naruto up and down as he asked, "How did you get here? You're not of the Nine Realms, so you can't have access to the Bifrost."

"Oh that? Yeah, I tagged Thor with a Hiraishin tag." Naruto explain flippantly.

"A what-"

Naruto's playful manner fell away as he looked at Thor with slight trepidation, "Thor…how long have you been away from Earth?"

Thor raised an eyebrow, "It's been a year or so, why do you ask friend?"

"Well…well, I don't really know how to tell you this. All I know is that I wouldn't be a friend to you if I didn't." Naruto muttered softly, his eyes squinted shut in thought.

"Tell me what?" Thor demanded, "Is Earth in danger?"

"No…well, sorta…maybe." Naruto stuttered, "It's about your father."

"My father?" Thor asked, surprised.

The shinobi nodded slowly, "They implied they didn't want me to tell you…but like I said I don't like the idea."

The Prince of Asgard's face scrunched up in worry, "What is going on with my father?"

"It's a long story."

-x-

A fire crackled loudly with a small stone laden hut, warming the small home and its occupants. Said occupants sat at a small table, enjoying the warm homeliness their fire gave off. Odin, leaning in his chair, waited patiently as Amora finally finished preparing their tea.

Amora sighed as she poured tea into Odin's cup, "You know he's going to tell your son, sooner or later. He's not the kind of man to lie to his friends, ordered to or not."

Odin nodded as he took a sip of Amora's tea, "I am aware of his beliefs. And if he tells my son the truth, then that is simply a biproduct of my own actions. I only have myself to blame."

The Enchantress sighed as she said, "Still, I feel like it could've been avoided."

Laughing, Odin muttered passed his cup, "My son would've found out eventually. Despite how he acts, despite his brutish fighting style, he is an intelligent warrior."

"He'll demand to fight her." Amora predicted confidently.

"Oh, I'm sure he will." Odin laughed wholeheartedly, "Right, my boy?"

Amora jumped at the sudden presence of Thor and Naruto.

The God of Thunder did not look pleased, "So, it is true."

Nodding slowly, Odin said, "Indeed."

Before Amora could react, Thor was in Odin's face as he pulled at his father's collar, "How could you…how could you lie?! Lying all this time, all these years. When were you going to tell me?" He demanded.

"Likely before I'd died." The Raven King answered truthfully, somberly.

"How…could you…" Thor began, but seemingly couldn't muster the question he needed to ask.

Odin sighed as he placed his hands on his son's, "I am not going to lie and say I did it for the greater good. I lied for me. It is as simple as that."

The son released his father roughly, "Tell me where she's imprisoned."

"Why?" Odin asked slowly, "What do you seek to achieve with that information?"

"I am going to talk to my sister." Thor answered confidently, "I'll decide what to do after I talk to her."

"She'll kill you." Amora answered. When Thor didn't seem to react to her statement, she decided to explain Hela's situation, "She's being kept inside of Hel, a sub-world within Niffleheim. Inside of Hel is a realm known as Nastrond. Nastrond is a place designed to cut off its occupants from the outside world. No one can escape or enter without Odin's permission. And once you enter Nastrond, you might as well cease to exist."

Thor didn't look at Amora as she explained Hela's prison, glaring at Odin the entire time, "So, give me permission then."

"I can't do that." Odin said, "I've already given Naruto the key. Only one can exist at a time, and only the holder can decide who goes."

"Fine then." Thor said as he made to leave, "Come Naruto, we have a quest to complete-"

"No."

Thor stopped, glaring at his father, "What do you mean no? I'm going-"

"I will not send you off to Valhalla!" Odin bellowed, "Not you! Not like your mother! This is my mistake, and I refuse to pay it off with your blood-"

With a sudden jolt, Odin gasped in pain, clutching his chest as he wretched forward. Thor and Amora were quickly at his side, with Amora doing her best to ease his pain with her magic.

Thor, deep worry on his face, could only watch as his usually strong father's body fail in front of his eyes. His eyes landed on Amora, the woman running her magically covered hands over Odin's chest.

Glaring down at her, Thor took a threatening step towards her, "What are you doing? What have you done to my father!"

Before Thor could pry her off of Odin, he was stopped by a hand clasping onto his shoulder.

"Thor, stop." Naruto ordered firmly.

Thor was immediately in Naruto's face, "She's a witch. She could be bewitching him, weakening him!" She-"

"She's helping him, Thor. He's dying." Naruto said, his voice growing soft.

The son of Odin took a step back in shock, "…What?" He asked softly.

"It's true." Amora said, most of her attention on Odin, "Loki's banishment hastened it, but he's been on limited time for decades now."

"Loki." Thor muttered, finding a chair as his legs seemed to lose their strength, "I'm going to kill him." He muttered with rage. Closing his eyes, he tried to calm his building anger, lightning running along his hands.

His eyes flew open when he felt a hand grasp onto his chest plate tightly.

Odin, kneeling before his own son, wheezed, "Please, Thor, please. Don't go to her. I can't let her do it again. Not like before. I barely survived it. And now…now with my life flittering away, I know I can't survive it if she took you too."

"Father." Thor breathed out. Seeing his father in such a state, his frown deepened, "Okay. I won't."

The All-Father's grip loosened, "Good…good."

"Tell me everything." The God of Thunder demanded.

-x-

Naruto sighed as he stood outside the hut, allowing Odin and Thor privacy. Sitting cross legged on the rock Odin had been sitting on when they'd first met, the blonde looked up at the full moon that was sitting clearly in the night sky.

"So, when are we doing this?" Kurama asked.

Closing his eyes, Naruto thought, "As soon as Thor is done talking to Odin."

"So soon?" The Biju asked.

Naruto shrugged, "I'd like to get this over with, then I can handle everything here. My clone can take care of anything that might pop up in the time I'm gone anyway."

Kurama nodded from within the seal, "Makes sense. I'd suggest doing it as quickly as possible. According to that witch, time moves way slower in Hel. A few hours over there could be days here, get it?"

"Yeah, I got it." Naruto thought with agitation.

"Well, you've never been known for understanding complex things like time displacement and the such." Kurama said smugly, "I'd hate for you to come back and a month has gone by."

"Yeah, that would suck." Admitted Naruto, "But things should go smoothly…should."

Then, after a moment, an idea struck the blonde.

"I'll be right back, Kurama." The blonde said smoothly as he focused his mind.

Kurama blinked in confusion, but quickly realized what his partner was talking about, "Oh, going to talk to Lady Death huh?"

"Her name is Freyja." Naruto corrected before he was sucked into his mindscape, going directly into the corner of his seal where Freyja was housed.

Opening his eyes, Naruto found himself in front of Freyja's campfire. Looking over he smiled at the beautiful woman who sat directly next to him.

"Hello, beloved." Freyja said with a delicate smile.

"Freyja." The blonde said kindly, leaning back as he said, "So, I'm sure you know what's happening."

The embodiment of death nodded, "I have. I never expected you'd be taking on someone who's used my name in their campaign of power. It's a little ironic, in a way."

"Any advice?" Naruto asked.

"Her moniker is one deserved." Freyja started, "It was given to her by the Light Elves of Alfheim, after she slaughtered and executed every single member of their royal family during the Asgardian invasion. Originally, she was the Goddess of War. But her bloodlust led to her new title, the Goddess of Death. She was born and raised to be the ultimate weapon. That was her purpose. She is both the sharpest sword and sturdiest shield. She can kill anyone and killed by no one."

"She sounds tough." Naruto admitted, "She has no weaknesses?"

"None. Your fight will be one of attrition." Freyja advised.

"Right." The blonde muttered thoughtfully, "So, I'll need a battle strategy."

"And we both know how bad you are at those." Freyja said lightly, "I'd suggest sticking to your strong suit, and work on the fly."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, "Probably. Meh, I'll think of something either way."

"No." Freyja said with surprising firmness, "You can't take this so carelessly. You need to approach this as seriously as you can, okay?"

Seeing the worry on her face, Naruto smiled, "I'll be careful."

Lady Death sighed, looking away from the blonde with a huff, "No you won't."

Chuckling, Naruto said, "It would be strange if you thought I would. You know me better than most, right?"

"I do." Freyja confirmed softly, "And I know that you're going to try and talk to her, to understand her and get her to understand you. You've done it before, several times. Neji Hyuga, Gaara of the Sand, Nagato Uzumaki, Obito Uchiha. You saved these people from themselves. Your talk-no-jutsu, as your friends later called it."

Laughing again, Naruto muttered, "I guess-"

"Don't do that this time." Freyja advised, "She isn't someone to change. She'll kill you if you give her a chance, understand?"

This time, his laugh grew bigger. Getting up, he summoned a door to exit the mindscape, "You forget that my talk-no-jutsu doesn't ever really rely on my words, at first anyway. About three-fourths of it revolves around me beating them senseless. I leave the talking for when that's all I can muster."

"Why do you insist on making things more difficult than they have to be?" Freyja persisted with a small scoff. Her face relaxing, she said, "I know that there's no convincing you otherwise, you fool."

His smile growing bigger, Naruto stepped through the door towards consciousness.

Opening his eyes, the blonde found Amora standing in front of him.

"So, how're things inside?" Naruto asked.

Amora smiled softly, "Good."

Within the hut, Thor and Odin sat in silence, the only sound in the room was the crackling of the fire.

Thor proved unable to stand the silence, "Make me stronger."

Odin blinked, "What?"

Thor, his face hard as stone, said, "You told me that I'm not strong enough. Well then Father, make me strong enough. Show me how to be strong in the short time you have left."

Staring at his son in shock, Odin eventually smiled, "On one condition."

"Name it." Thor demanded confidently.

"Leave Loki be. That is the condition. Until my death, Loki is to be left alone." Odin said firmly.

The prince seemed to want to argue against his father, but stopped midway. Eventually, he could only nod in acceptance, "Agreed."

Odin placed his hand firmly on Thor's shoulder, "I will make you realize the strength you never knew you had, my son."

The door creaked open, Naruto peeking his head. His eyes squinted shut and a wide smile on his face, he said, "You guys good? Cause if it's okay, I'd like to get on with my quest now."

Thor sighed, "Fine then. Father, send him to Hel."

Amora, who was behind Naruto, said, "I'll be in charge of that. I'll drop you off in Hel, then you'll have to travel on foot to Nastrond. The key should guide you to your destination."

Naruto looked down at his open palm where Odin had placed the key, a golden symbol Amora called a Lasabrjotur. Closing his fist, the blonde said, "This thing hurts like a bitch by the way."

"The pain will relieve itself the closer you get to Nastrond." Amora informed.

Nodding, a thought came to Naruto, "Why don't you just drop me off right in front of the place I need to go, Nostradamus…or whatever."

"Nastrond." The Enchantress corrected, "And sadly I can't, Hel is a…strange place. I'll try and get you as close as possible, but there's no promises that it'll be right around the corner."

Rubbing the back of his head, Naruto muttered, "Okay, let's do this I guess."

Odin stepped forward, resting his hand on Naruto's shoulder, "All I can do is wish upon you the strength you will need. My daughter…she needs peace. She's never known it. So…please help her get that."

Naruto looked Odin in the eye as he nodded solemnly. Giving Thor a nod goodbye, he then watched as Amora opened a portal using her magic.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped into what awaited on the other side.

-x-

"For the Sage's sake, why is it so fucking cold!"

His arms wrapped around his torso, Naruto's entire body vibrated in an attempt to get warm. His teeth clattering, he continued his train of thought, "I thought hell was supposed to be hot! Lakes of fire, pillars of lava, demon babies, the works! Not this bullshit!"

"Demon babies?" Kurama questioned from the seal.

"Shu-shu-shu-shut up!" Naruto demanded, holding himself tighter as his shivering got worse.

As soon as he stepped through the portal, the frosted wind blasted him in the face. The wave of falling snow soon came after, along with Naruto noticing that he seemed to be in a dead forest, the black trees looking like they'd been burned a long time ago. Their black bodies and bony limbs stuck out like haunted figures against the pure white snow that surrounded them. Naruto couldn't tell what time it was, night or day, all he could see was white.

He pushed forward, the pain from Odin's key dimming slightly the further he walked.

An idea suddenly came to Naruto, the blonde smirking in satisfaction as he summoned a small scroll from the seal situated on his wrist. Opening it, he quickly summoned out its contents. Pulling on the thick brown trench coat with fur lining the insides, he sighed in content at the warmth it gave him. Fitting the gloves to his hand and a red scarf around his neck, he quickly realized these added lairs only helped a little, as he was already shivering again.

"You know…you coulda just activated one of the cloaks to block out the cold."

That stopped Naruto in his tracks, his body freezing from the realization, "…Dammit." He cursed as he activated the base Nine Tails Cloak.

Kurama chuckled as he said, "You're welcome, brat."

Naruto had no idea how long he'd been walking for, his only solace being the continuous diminishing of pain coming from the key. What was once a scorching burn was now an intensely throbbing pain. As he walked further and further into the dead forest, the trees started to dwindle down, leaving a cold field in its wake. The field seemed to go on and on, there didn't seem to be any kind of horizon.

It was as the trees disappeared that mounds of snow took their place. Each step, each crunch of the snow, echoed along the cold hellscape. Suddenly, Naruto stopped in his tracks.

Kurama looked up from within the seal, his ears twitching with interest, "Naruto?"

Said blonde remained quiet, only to then rear his head back before giving a might sneeze. Wiping his nose, he chuckled to himself, "I had that sneeze in the back of my throat for like two minutes."

The Biju rolled his eyes as he laid his head back down, "Idiot."

As Naruto took another step forward, the sound of shifting snow echoes around. Freezing, the blonde raised his arms in preparation as he thought, "You hear that, partner?"

Kurama's ears twitched, "Yeah. Six o'clock."

Naruto quickly ducked down, just in time to avoid a giant fist from plowing into the back of his head. Rolling forward, he turned around to get a good look at his attacker.

The man was large, both in muscle and stature, his flesh frozen over and turned a decayed purple and blue. His glaring eyes shined an eerie blue, his teeth clenched together as he growled like an animal. Dashing towards Naruto the man raised his hands up over his head to deliver a punishing hammer fist.

Raising one hand up, Naruto easily caught the fist. The enemy caught in his grip and his torso wide open, the shinobi quickly took advantage of the situation and shoved his fist into the man's abdomen. Dropping the now limp man to the snow beneath them, Naruto raised his hands up.

The palm he'd used to block the attack and the knuckles of his punching hand were glazed in a thick ice.

"What the hell?" Naruto asked aloud, only to jump to the side to avoid several projectiles. Quickly realizing they were arrows, he looked for their shooter. Quickly spotting another frozen man off in the distance, Naruto was quick to get into his space and deliver a devastating spin kick to his neck, snapping it in two.

As he landed, his leg buckled. Looking down, Naruto was shocked to see the area he'd kicked with was frozen like his hands. Quickly, the blonde added some of Matatabi's signature flames to where the ice had collected around his limbs. The ice was quick to melt off.

He was unable to celebrate this small victory, as the sound of shifting snow once again entered the area, only much more numbered. His eyes then widened in horror, as the mounds surrounding him suddenly began to shift and break away, revealing frozen men in their place.

"The snow fall must have covered them." Kurama observed.

Naruto, who was busy swerving away from a surprisingly quick sword slice, thought, "Do you think they only move and attack when people not from Hel show up? Not very neighborly."

The Biju shook his head, "No, no I don't think it's that. I think it's because you're alive."

"Alive?" Naruto thought, a sudden realization hitting him. He couldn't feel them. These things, whatever they were, were walking dead men.

Applying Matatabi's flames to his hands, Naruto quickly killed the zombie swordsman who'd been attacking him. Taking stock of the situation, Naruto noticed that these men weren't uniform. All of them differed from the other. All were warriors, all of which appeared to be from different timeframes. Most prominently were various kinds of Viking like warriors that Naruto eventually recognized to be Asgardians. But in between that were some light and dark elves, giants, dwarves, hell he recognized some Earth military uniforms in the crowd.

He was completely surrounded by a never-ending wave of frozen zombies. Great.

A frozen Nazi officer then suddenly broke from the crowd, charging towards him with a bayonet in hand. Naruto didn't let him get too close, quickly incinerating him mid-run.

Not far behind him, the rest of them charged in.

Naruto was quickly suffocated by the three-hundred and sixty-degree charge, quickly activating his Six Path's Sage Mode to help keep him at a constant advantage. Knowing Matatabi's chakra was his best bet, Naruto quickly summoned an insane amount and pushed it out around him, blowing away any of the zombies that were too close for comfort.

Now able to move freely, Naruto was quickly on the assault. His limbs encased in his trusty blue flames, Naruto was unencumbered enough to flail his arms and legs in precise strikes and attacks, doing his best to get only one hit kills to hasten the fight.

One after the other, after zombie Nazi, after zombie Asgardian, after zombie Mongolian, after zombie dentist strangely enough, Naruto continued his onslaught.

Huge columns of azure flames scorched Hel's earth, blasting and incinerating countless warrior zombies.

Tremendous waves of cobalt inferno, bombatious bursts of sapphire explosions, and blazing walls of devouring hellfire kept the zombies at bay.

And yet, they still kept coming.

For each he killed, it seemed like five more took their place. It was maddening.

His breath growing heavy from slight fatigue but mainly annoyance, Naruto killed another squadron of Hel's soldiers, "This is ridiculous."

Quickly avoiding a sneak attack, Naruto went on the move. Running and attacking at the same time, he attempted to cover some ground and fight at the same time. The quicker he got to Nastrond, the better.

It was as he was running that he came head to head with an open circle the zombies seemed to be avoiding. And in the center of that circle, stood a single hooded figure.

His cloak appeared to be made entirely of darkness, his face hidden by the deep shadow of his hood.

Now face to face with the figure, Naruto quickly realized that the zombies had stopped attacking.

While his guard was still up, Naruto made sure to keep within the circle that was apparently out of bounds. His attention halved between the hooded figure and the countless zombies surrounding them, Naruto used this time to catch his breath.

And then, the figure moved. Shifting his stance so he and Naruto were facing the same direction, his blue, partially frozen, hands then flew up and began to weave hand signs at a shocking speed.

Before Naruto could react, the figure took a mighty heave before releasing their breath. That breath was a humongous bellow of fire, the fiery element almost instantly disintegrating anything in its path. This path made a wide hallway through the zombie crowd.

A path now made, the figure began to walk through the wide path he'd made. Realizing Naruto was too busy staring after him in confusion and wonder, the figure motioned his head to follow him.

Naruto, blinking rapidly, could only follow after the hooded figure stiffly.

Walking through the path and exiting the crowd, the blonde stopped. Looking back at the crowd, he raised an eyebrow at the site of the countless zombies facing the two of them, their blank faces glaring at them harshly.

Turning sharply to the hooded figure, Naruto asked, "Who the fuck are you?"

The figure shifted to partially face Naruto, a voice peeking out from beneath the hood, "I suppose it's been a long time since the last time we spoke."

His eyes glaring, Naruto said, "You used fire ninjutsu. A powerful one. Who are you." He insisted again.

Pulling the hood down, the figure finally turned fully to the blonde, "I'm glad you don't think my skills have dwindled after all this time. It's good to see you again, Naruto."

Naruto immediately recognized the man behind the hood, the man's long jet-black hair flowed down his face smoothly, his pale complexion mixed in with the frozen purple and blue the rest of the Hel zombies shared, and a single red cloth was wrapped tightly around his eyes.

"Itachi?"

Itachi smiled, "Hello, Naruto."

"Wha…what?" Naruto stuttered, "How? What?"

"Follow me, they won't be like that for much longer." Itachi said, referencing the zombies, continuing to walk in the direction they'd been going in.

Itachi, who'd gone from a mild walk to a blitzing sprint, zipped along the frozen tundra. Naruto, now left behind, yelled after him, "He-hey, wait for me!"

With his Six Paths Sage Mode activated, it didn't take long for him to catch up. His eyes still looking ahead, Itachi said, "What are you doing here, Naruto?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Naruto shot back in disbelief.

The Uchiha nodded, "I suppose that is fair. It can wait until we get to my camp."

"Right." Naruto drawled out, "Lead the way…I guess."

Eventually, thanks to the speed they'd been going, the snowing field they'd been running through began to fade away, replaced by chunks of brick tiles littered in a way that may have once resembled a road. The field ended at a vast cliff side, a crumbled stone bridge leading to the other side of the cliff. And on the other side? A massive, practically destroyed tower that sat on a small yet lean island.

Itachi's run came to a calm walk, the Uchiha leading Naruto into the tower, a small camp fire burning in the center of the bottom floor. His shoes creaking against the old wood that made up the floor, Naruto raised an eyebrow at Itachi's "camp."

"We will be safe in here, this is an Asgardian outpost long abandoned." Itachi said in his usually stoic tone.

Naruto, standing next to the flames, said, "Itachi…what the hell?"

The Uchiha sighed before saying, "I am sorry for being so discreet, but the Helwalkers will only stay away for so long before their impatience overrides their instincts. It was for the best we get away as soon as possible."

"What? What do you mean? Is that why they didn't attack us? Their instincts told them not to?" Naruto asked, confusion plaguing his face.

Itachi nodded slowly, "In a way. I am…special. I have been touched by a being they fear, and I suppose that touch has left a residue they know to avoid. But it only lasts so long. Eventually, they attack out of pure impatience."

Naruto plopped down on the ground next to the fire, scratching his head frantically in thought, "You need to explain everything. Now. Please."

Taking a seat next to him, Itachi said, "I'm here because this is a part of my punishment."

"Punishment?" Naruto asked.

"Yes." The Uchiha said with a small smile, "The punishment for my crimes."

"But…but you." Naruto started, "But everything you did, you did for the greater good. You did what you thought was right. You were a hero-"

"When I died, nothing happened." The deceased Uchiha interrupted, "It was like I had been asleep, woken up by Kabuto's jutsu. And when that jutsu finally ended, I was presented to…a judge. She told me that for my sacrifice, I could go to any afterlife I wished. I had the pick of any dimension or reality, whichever I wanted was mine to have. So, I chose here. A cold hell where I was to walk alone for all eternity. And when I got here, I was forced to go through another judgement. This time, they weighed my sins and decided on what to take from me accordingly." Itachi paused, lifting his hand up to pull up the cloth around his eyes.

Naruto could clearly see that his eyes sockets were empty, "The judge deemed my eyes were enough to even the scale. So now, here I am. A blind man walking alone through Hel. A fitting punishment."

As Itachi put the cloth back into place, Naruto could only shake his head, "Itachi…why?"

"It is what I deserve. I could not bear facing the people I hurt. My comrades, my family. Sasuke. I could not dream of seeing them again. That would've been selfish of me. I think I had been selfish enough in the time I was alive."

Naruto could only sit there, listening to the fire crackle.

"Tell me why you are here. Did you…did you die?"

"No." Naruto eventually answered, raising an eyebrow when Itachi seemed to relax, "I've been sent here on a quest from a guy named Odin. I'm looking for a place called Nastrond."

"Nastrond?" Itachi asked.

"Yeah, you know it?" Naruto asked hopefully.

Itachi nodded, "Yes, it's not far from here."

"Awesome." Naruto said with a smile.

Itachi seemed to be struggling with his next line of questioning, his forehead scrunched up in thought, "Naruto…why are you all the way here, performing a quest for a god that is not of our pantheon? Your being here is…confusing."

It was then that Naruto realized that Itachi had no idea what happened. Swallowing the massive lump in his throat, the blonde said softly, "I failed."

"What?" Itachi asked, turning his fully to Naruto in astonishment.

"Madara, he was betrayed by Zetsu. Kaguya Otsutsuki was brought back to life using your forefather as a medium. Sasuke and I tried to fight her, we really tried. But I was nearly killed. And so, Sasuke used this jutsu he'd just learned, and well…he sent me to another planet nearly 70 years into the future. By the time I got back everyone was long dead and gone." Naruto explained, too ashamed to even look at Itachi.

"I see."

Closing his eyes in frustration, Naruto said, "I'm sorry. Because of me all of your sacrifices were for nothing. I'm so, so sorry-"

"You are not responsible." The Uchiha interrupted firmly.

Naruto stopped, eyes wide as he stared at Itachi in shock, "What?"

"The blame lays on this Kaguya woman, on Zetsu and Madara. On Obito, Nagato. The blame lies on me. We are the ones responsible. I am responsible. I can only imagine the pain you've been through. Because of me. Do not ever apologize to me." Itachi said, somehow looking straight at Naruto as he said this.

All the blonde could do was laugh, "We're both just a bunch of broken fools, huh?"

Itachi smiled at that, "You'd have made a grand Hokage, Naruto."

"You too, Itachi."

Smiling at that, Itachi got up as he said, "Come. I will take you to Nastrond."

"Oh, right." Naruto muttered, getting up and following after the Uchiha. Taking notice of the key, he noticed that the pain had dulled quite a bit, now only a slight throb, "Wait, what about the zombie things?"

"The Helwalkers stay clear of Nastrond. Whatever is in there…it frightens them to their core. The few times I have gotten close I felt incredibly uneasy. It was the kind of feeling I'd get when I was around Pain and Tobi." The Uchiha explained, "We should still hurry. Your presence is an unknown variable, and they attack anything in that category without prejudice. I would know."

"Okay." The Uzumaki muttered, "Let's go then."

As they walked out of the tower, Itachi looked back over his shoulder, "Keep up if you can."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Are you challenging me to a foot race?"

"I don't challenge." The Uchiha muttered softly, "Let's move."

With that, he burst off in a blur of motion. Naruto smiled as he watched the man speed away, "He doesn't challenge huh."

"I think you should catch up, brat." Kurama muttered.

Taking time to stretch his legs as Kurama talked, the blonde said, "I'm going, I'm going."

Getting in a runner's stance, Naruto waited another second before blitzing forward. Several seconds later, he was now parallel with Itachi, giving the raven-haired man a large smile and full salute.

Itachi didn't seem to want to speak, in fact he barely acknowledged Naruto at all. Instead, he kept pushing forward, taking the lead as the two sprinted towards their destination.

Their terrain began to change once again, this time becoming more mountainous. Jagged iced over rocks jutted out of the ground, all leading up to a mountain range shaped like an 'M.' And there, in the center of the two peaks, sat what Naruto at first assumed was a star peeking out and shining through. But as they got closer, he eventually realized that it wasn't a star, but a door.

"Is that it?" Naruto asked.

Itachi, his eyebrows knitted close together, nodded, "Yes."

"It's not what I expected…well, I didn't really know what I was expecting." Naruto mumbled as they continued their trek towards the door.

"Naruto…why are you here?" Itachi asked.

Jumping over a large boulder that was in his way, Naruto said, "I was asked to by this guy, a king. He's the ruler of this planet or realm called Asgard. He's dying, and the power that holds the thing in Nastrond at bay is connected to him in some way. As soon as he dies, she gets free."

"She?"

Naruto nodded, "His daughter, Hela."

After a second of thought, Itachi asked, "What do you get out of this?"

"A powerful object called the Reality Stone. There's this guy named Thanos who's after it and five others just like it, each one holds the power to control an aspect of the universe. Space, power, mind, reality, soul, and time. So, I'm trying to find as many of them as I can before he does. I've got three right now, this'll be my fourth." Naruto explained.

"And what will you do with the Stones?" Itachi asked, "Once this Thanos is dealt with, what happens with the Stones you've collected?"

"I dunno." Naruto shrugged half-heartedly.

Another second of thought passed, "And if you were to have all six…you could control all aspects of the universe?"

"Yes."

"Including the power to control life?"

"…Yes."

Several moments passed between them as they continued to run towards the door. Finally, Itachi asked, "Have you ever been told the story of The Two Tigers and a Strawberry?"

Naruto looked at the man curiously, "What? No."

"I suppose you wouldn't have, not being an Uchiha. My father told it to me many times as a child." Itachi muttered as they avoided a pillar of ice and rock, "A lone man travels along a field, stumbling across a hungry tiger. The man flees, followed closely by the salivating predator. Coming to a precipice, the man uses a lone vine to swing himself over the edge. From above, the tiger sniffs. Trembling, the man looks down below to find another tiger, waiting patiently. Only the vine saved him. The man looks around, spotting a fresh strawberry near him. Grasping the vine with one hand, he uses the other to reach for the luscious fruit. And oh, how sweet it tasted."

Waiting for the man to continue, Naruto eventually realized he had finished his story, "That's it?" He asked lamely.

"My father told me that the story explains that you have to enjoy the present moment, that suffering is unavoidable and that you must be grateful for what's in front of you." Itachi lectured softly.

Sighing, Naruto said, "I know what you're trying to say-"

"My father believed this interpretation was wrong." Itachi said firmly, looking Naruto in the eye, "He believed that the man on the vine was a fool who was too busy enjoying the fruits of life to see that he was in danger. He prioritized the pleasures of life over survival."

Naruto looked away as he asked, "Is that what you believe then?"

"Yes, for the longest time." Itachi admitted, "I have always thought that the story was cut off to short. I believe the man used the strawberry to feed the tiger below and climbed the safety. But I think that kind of thinking is what led me to here, what led me down my path of familicide. To spying on Akatsuki. To fighting Sasuke instead of simply talking to him like I should have."

Before Naruto could continue, he realized the pain coming from his key had faded completely.

"We're here." Naruto said, spotting the door as they entered a plateau, a glowing doorway lighting the area in a golden hue.

Itachi stopped, his blue complexion noticeably paler do to the proximity of Nastrond, "This is where I leave you then."

Stopping as well, Naruto sighed as he looked Itachi in the eye. Or well…as much as he could with the cloth covering the man's eyes, "Thank you, Itachi."

Smiling softly, Itachi bowed, "Goodbye, Naruto Uzumaki-"

The man found himself cut off, enveloped in a tight hug by the now shaking Naruto.

Ignoring the ice that was building around him as he held onto Itachi, Naruto muttered, "Goodbye."

Without looking back, Naruto let go of the fallen piece of his home, marching towards the door. Pressing the key on his palm onto the door, he watched as the light faded to reveal an ordinary looking wooden door.

Turning the nob, Naruto took one last look back, barely catching Itachi turn away as he began his trek back down the mountain side.

As the door opened and closed, Itachi Uchiha slowly walked away from the door of Nastrond, ignoring the frozen tear streaks along his face, accepting them as the symbol of his eternal anguish.

-x-

"How do you think he is doing?"

Odin hummed from his seat, staring into the fire as he answered his son, "It's hard to tell."

The Shadow Clone that Naruto had left behind with the Asgardians shrugged, "I'm sure that the boss is doing fine."

Amora looked to the clone, "Is there any way for you to know if he isn't?"

"Oh, well uh if he makes a clone and said clone pops, I'll get those memories. So, I'll get the gist of what's going on." The Shadow Clone explained, "And the boss likes to throw us around during a fight, so I should be able to relay what's happening."

After a moment of silence, Amora turned to her king, "My King, I've been wondering, just how powerful is Hela?"

"Hmm." Odin hummed, running his fingers through his beard as he continued to look into the fire, "It is hard to say. She was a prodigy in all forms of Asgardian combat and having lived her entire life in war she is a battle-hardened warrior. She can summon any weapon and survive any attack. In battle, she would slaughter half of her opponents, resurrect them with her magic, and then have our enemies fighting each other until no one was left. Without her, we would have never been able to have Nine Realms under our banner."

"What was she like, my sister?" Thor asked.

His eyes slowly left the flames, Odin gave a sad smile as he said, "She was a complicated creature. She was hateful, cruel, and belligerent towards our enemies, and of those we had many." Taking a shaky breath, he continued, "I met her mother when I was a young prince, during our first invasion of Jotunheiem. She was a giantress, a peasant girl who was unlucky enough to live in a village near the battlefield. It was a bloody war, with both sides losing. We took solace in each other, ignoring our race and prestige in a bid for comfort. From that, Hela was born. A bastard of highborn and lowborn, of god and giant. A child born of war. After the war, I agreed to take her into my house, knowing my people to be more accepting than hers ever would be. It didn't take long for us to realize she was special. Battle ran through her veins. She craved it, even if she didn't understand that at first. The only thing she loved more than a fight, was Asgard. But the people…they weren't so enthused. After her banishment, after what she did, they were all too welcome to forget about the hellish half-breed. They etched her out of our history."

"What did she do?" The Shadow Clone asked, "What was so horrible that her own people would willingly push her out of their memory?"

Odin kept his eye contact with Thor, "Have you ever wondered, my son, why it is your mother and I took so long to have you, after I had secured all the Realms?"

Blinking in confusion, Thor said, "No, I never have."

"It is because you weren't our first born."

Both Naruto and Thor looked at Odin as though he'd grown anther head.

"What?" Thor forced out.

"Frigga and I had a son before you, my son." Odin elaborated, "His name was Baldur."

Thor slowly began to process this, "I had an older brother?"

"Yes." Odin answered softly, "Baldur was born just as the Nine Realms had been unified. He was a beautiful child, so gracious and cheerful he gave a light that warmed you to your core when you neared it. Many believed him to be the symbol of Asgard's future. Your mother was so fearful that this light would fade, that she used her magic to persuade every object in the Nine Realms to vow to never hurt the Light of Asgard. The only one who refused this vow was Hela."

Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

"Why?" Naruto asked.

The All-Father released a slow breath, "Since his inception, she was plagued with nightmares of a man made of light bringing about Ragnarok. Every night she watched him tear Asgard asunder, plaguing our lands with fire and brimstone. After Baldur was born, she believed that he was the one she saw, that Baldur was to be the catalyst of Ragnarok. She persisted her nightmares to be visions, and that it was her duty to save Asgard at all costs. And when the nightmares became too much…she strangled the boy in his sleep."

The room grew quiet after that for a long moment, no one knowing what to say as they swallowed the All-Father's story. That silence was eventually interrupted when the Shadow Clone suddenly exploded in a puff of smoke.

Amora shot up from her chair, "What happened?"

Following soon after her, Thor said, "It popped."

The Enchantress gave the prince a side glace that essentially said, 'No shit.'

"It's as I feared then." Odin muttered as he stared at the place the clone had been.

Realizing what the king was saying, Amora said, "You think Nastrond's enchantments have cut off the connection between the Shadow Clone and the Maelstrom?"

"I was not sure if the boy's ability lay within the enchantment's guidelines, but it seems Frigga's spell is more powerful than I thought." Odin said thoughtfully, "More than likely any others he has left behind have popped away as well."

"Do you think he knows?" Thor asked, "He is supposed to know what they know, the clone said."

"More than likely he won't know until he leaves Nastrond." Amora answered, "If he leaves."

Odin remained silent, too preoccupied with staring into the fire, watching as figures danced in the flames.

-x-

Naruto raised his hands up over his eyes as he stared out over the vast mountain range he found himself in. The sun, if there was one, seemed to be permanently hidden by the wall of clouds that hung in the sky, leaving the air with a grey hue.

Jumping down the mountain side, he used Magnet Release to push him off of the ground and fly off in search of his query.

Flying at top speed for several minutes, Naruto almost missed the cabin that sat on a large plateau. Hovering directly above it, he raised an eyebrow when he realized the building looked to be made of some kind of black metal or stone. Obsidian? Yeah, sure he'd go with that.

He was about to begin descending when a large slab of said obsidian shot out from the ground, the tip fashioned into a sharp edge.

It came up so fast and suddenly Naruto almost didn't dodge it, shouting in surprise as he contorted his body to avoid the attack.

"Well, this is a surprise. A visitor? My, has father finally sent someone new for me to play with? What was the name of the last one…Hermod? I hope you're more entertaining than that fool was."

The origin of the voice came from inside the cabin, her strong drawl muffled by the thick stone walls of her abode.

Dropping down to the ground, Naruto quickly ascended to his Six Paths Sage Mode in preparation. Tightening his muscles in anticipation, he waited as the door to the cabin slowly opened.

With steady grace, a lithe figure stepped out of the darkness, her form covered by a loose long-sleeved dress that was same color as her obsidian constructs. Her raven hair long and unkept, she looked wild as she smiled at him with a hungry tint in her eye.

Her bare feet padding against the stone floor, she took several steps closer before stopping just out of arm's length.

Raising her chin up in an attempt to look down at him, her smile grew as she asked confidently, "I'll admit I'm a little rusty, but isn't it customary for an Asgardian warrior to bow to their Queen?"

Naruto gave an apologetic smile, "I'm no Asgardian, sorry."

"Oh?" Hela asked, looking him up and down curiously, "What are you then? You're not pretty enough to be an elf, and you're too handsome to be a giant or dwarf."

Blinking, Naruto rubbed the back of his head as he said, "Oh, well I never really thought of a name for what I am now that I think about it. I guess we can go with calling me an Elemental for now."

"An Elemental?" Hela tested the word, "Never heard of you. Though, that would explain you being on fire."

"You're Hela, right?" Naruto asked.

Raising her arms out in a grandiose fashion, she exclaimed, "I am Hela Odinsdottir, Conqueror of the Nine Realms, Asgard's Executioner, The Raven King's War Dog. I am the Goddess of Death-"

Hela's introduction was halted by Naruto charging into her, grabbing her by the throat as he slammed her into her cabin. The Goddess of Death didn't seem to mind all that much, looking at the blonde with amusement.

"Name's Naruto." He introduced, "I think you know why I'm here."

"Of course." Hela returned enthusiastically, "Let me indulge you, Boy."

Out of thin air, an obsidian hammer appeared in her hand with a loud 'thwang.' Naruto barely had time to raise his arms up to block before she swung it up into his torso with a shocking amount of strength.

Naruto was sent skidding back from the hit, shaking his arms to fend of the ringing that was currently vibrating through his bones.

"She hits hard, brat."

"No shit." Naruto thought back, "Way harder than I thought she could."

Quickly, Naruto summoned a pair of Truth-Seeking Balls, shaping them into staffs before giving them a testing twirl.

"Going all out from the get go huh?" Kurama asked.

"She's not someone to underestimate." Naruto said aloud before charging in.

As he had been recovering, Hela had converted her dress into a tight body suit, running her hands through her hair and transforming it into a strange antler like headpiece. Summoning an obsidian sword to go with her hammer, she smiled gleefully as she charged in to meet the blonde.

Her smirk would fall as her hammer was vaporized by one of the Truth-Seeking Staffs, her instincts screaming at her to dodge the incoming jab from the second staff. A wall of obsidian shot out from the ground, intercepting the Naruto's attack just in time.

As Hela jumped she raised an eyebrow when she saw that the staff had completely vaporized the area it had struck her construct.

"What kind of magic is that?" She asked herself.

Naruto charged in, doing his best to get in a good hit with his highly destructive constructs. Hela proved more agile than the blonde could've thought, dodging and swerving around the staffs with a royal grace.

Taking a hit to the arm, she frowned as she felt the spot disappear, leaving a hole in her bicep. Her healing factor taking over in an instant, Hela jumped back to avoid any more of those blasted staffs.

Twirling her sword, she closed her eyes as she began to draw on her reserves. Naruto raised an eyebrow as what looked like black mascara suddenly appeared around her eyes. He quickly recognized what she was doing.

"She can draw on Natural Energy?" Naruto asked in wonder.

Opening her eyes, Hela looked at the blonde with predatory eyes. Her sword now covered in a dark green aura, she charged forward with an increased speed.

Quickly ducking to avoid the horizontal slash, he felt her cleave off a chunk of his hair. Realizing she was going for a vertical downward cut, Naruto raised up one of his staffs on instinct, cranking up its capability for destruction as high as he could.

He could only watch in horror as her blade sliced through his staffs like butter, the sword coming down on him with the promise of death.

Hela smirked in satisfaction as she cut through his weapon and then him soon after, only to frown as he exploded in a puff of smoke.

"What?" She wondered aloud, looking around the area for the blonde.

Naruto, who was hiding behind a pillar of stone, was going over recent events in his head, "Of course she can use Natural Energy. Odin said she drew her power from Asgard, I should've known he was being literal. All-Father's aren't metaphorical about this kinda shit."

"As long as she can draw from this planet…or whatever it is this place is, she can negate the Truth-Seeking Balls. That's one of your big plays brat, what's the plan now?" Kurama asked.

"I don't know." He admitted with frustration, "From what Odin said she can heal from any wound, which is why my plan was to use the Truth-Seeking Balls as a get around. Now I'll have to go with plan b."

"Battle of attrition?"

"Battle of attrition." He confirmed.

His strategy session was interrupted by an obsidian slab erupting in front of him, driving into the wall behind him with the tip spearing the area right next to Naruto's head.

"That was a warning shot, Boy." Hela called out, "Don't make this boring for me, I'd hate to have to send my father's sacrifices after you."

Walking out into the open, Naruto eyed Hela carefully from across the plateau, "I never thought I'd meet someone who could use Sage Mode like I can."

"Sage Mode?" Hela questioned, "What a silly name."

"What do you call yours then?" The blonde asked.

"Strength." Hela answered.

Summoning his chokuto, Naruto flipped it in a reverse grip as he channeled Lightning Chakra into the blade. As he shot off towards her, he quickly created three Shadow Clones who followed after him on the war path.

His blade clashed with Hela's, the blonde grunting as he felt the energy from her blade nearly break though his lightning. The sword lock wasn't allowed to last for long, as one of his clones dived in with a vertical slash towards the crown of her skull.

The clone's life was cut to shreds by an obsidian spear that ejected from the ground into his neck. The two others managed to deflect the spears she'd sent their way, coming in for a slash at her neck and knees respectively.

Blocking the strike at her neck with her other sword, she then summoned another obsidian wall to deflect the slash at her knee, a loud double clang echoing around them.

From the wall, a spike shot out and lodged itself into the clone's stomach.

The expected puff of smoke was replaced by a massive explosion that swallowed Hela and the two Narutos.

"Storm Release: Laser Circus!" Naruto thought as he went through the necessary hand seals. Shoving his hands in front of him, a ball of light soon surrounded his conjoined fists before multiple laser beams shot forward towards the cloud of smoke his clone had left behind.

The force from the beams cleared the smoke in their path, revealing a perfectly fine Hela who was quickly drilled into by the jutsu.

Flying through her cabin, Hela was carried over the plateau and sent careening into to rocky slopes below.

Following after her, Naruto quickly appeared right in her personal space.

"Rasenmori!" Channeling chakra into his arm, Naruto grunted as he quickly summoned his attack before shoving it forward. The spiraling spear of chakra drove cleanly through Hela's torso, the woman grunting in pain as the attack sent her flying into a stone pillar.

Landing next to her crater, Naruto didn't let up as steam began to build along his arm, "Boiling Release: Erupting Propulsion Fist." He called out loud as Hela tried to pick herself up. The steam now built up to its boiling point, Naruto finally released the buildup and fired his arm into Hela's face.

The pillar Hela had been lodged in was obliterated, with Hela being sent flying once again.

Pushing herself up, Hela heard the blonde's voice call out, "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

Summoning a sword and driving it into the ground, she managed to keep herself from being sent flying any more than she already had.

As the wind finally died down, his voice could be heard once again, "Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu!"

Immediately deducing that the attack would be coming from the ground, Hela jumped up into the air to avoid whatever the blonde had in store. She would be disappointed though when instead of an earth-based attack, Naruto instead appeared just above her, a disk of energy in his hand.

Smirking in satisfaction from the surprised look on her face, Naruto heaved his Rasenshuriken into the Hela's direction. With the close distance between them, it only took a second for the attack to make contact, exploding on impact. Due to their close-proximity, Naruto was hit by the wave of wind, popping in a puff of smoke.

Naruto, who'd been watching his Shadow Clone from the ground below, smiled at the successful combo.

As Hera's smoking form descended to Naruto's level, Kurama spoke from within the seal, "I'll admit, that was a pretty smart move, shouting the names of your techniques out loud so she'd think she knew what was coming only, to pull her into a trap with a fake out. Never thought you'd have it in you."

"Yeah well-"

"Are you done yet?"

Picking herself up, Hela looked the blonde with annoyance. Patting away the dust and debris that had accumulated around her person, the Goddess of Death asked again, "Are you done yet?"

"Uh, well-"

Naruto gagged as Hela grabbed him by the throat, slamming him down in the ground with enough force to crater the earth with a sick crack.

Pressing her heel up against his chest with an incredible amount of strength, she said, "Where's the key, Boy?" Before he could grunt out an answer, she spotted it on the palm of his hand, "Ah there it is. Hold still while I take that off your hand."

Summoning a sword with a thwang, she said, "This'll hurt."

As she went to cut off his hand, Naruto quickly summoned a hand made out of chakra from his cloak, grabbing the blade in time. Summoning another hand, he drove it into her chest to separate the two of them long enough for him to get up.

"You're not getting this key. You're dying today." Naruto said softly as he allowed his chakra arms to recede back to him.

Hela scowled at him, "I'm getting out of here, Boy. Now that I have a way to get out of this hellscape, there's nothing in the universe that's going to stop me."

"I don't know why you're here, hell I don't know why I'mhere. But all I know is that I can't let someone like you out into the world. I've dealt with enough of that before, I'm not really in the mood for a sequel." Naruto said.

"We're here for the same reason." Hela drawled, "We're here because of that old fool I called my father."

Naruto and Hela began circling one another, watching for any sign of attack, "Why did he send you here? You're his daughter, why would he banish you here? What did you do to Asgard that was so terrible?"

Hela summoned an obsidian sword and hammer into her hands, "I didn't do anything to Asgard. I did it for Asgard. If that fool can't see that, then fine. But I'm getting out of here. When I'm free, Asgard will welcome me back with open arms, Odin be damned. I know it. I'm the reason they're what they are now. I saved them from Ragnarok! I am their Queen!" The Goddess of Death exclaimed with true conviction, "They'll love me, they'll have to have missed me. And knowing that…knowing that I can't stay here a secondlonger."

Both at once, they charged into each other.

Naruto did his best to avoid the flurry of blades that came his way, all while trying to get in a good hit himself. For every punishing hit he gave, she returned the favor with a deep cut. Both fought through the pain, the blonde knowing that any sign of slowing down would mean a debilitating blow, and because nothing he did gave her any lasting damage.

As their brawl grew in intensity, time seemed to slow down as each of them found an opening in the other's guard.

With a roar, Naruto shoved a Rasengan into Hela's face.

With a battle cry, Hela drove her energy encased hammer into Naruto's stomach.

The following explosion ripped through the mountain range.

-x-

"You're not doing so good, brat."

"Shu…shut up."

As he said this aloud, Naruto grunted as he got up from the crater Hela had sent him in. His chakra cloak having faded, his clothes were torn to shreds, blood dripping heavily down the side of his face, and a red pool had begun to form along his abdomen running down into his pants.

Stumbling as he got up, he flinched as he heard his blood begin to drip down onto the ground.

"Fuck." He cursed, gingerly feeling his wound. A few of his ribs were poking out of the skin, though luckily Kurama had already begun the healing process.

Stepping forward, the blonde ripped his shirt off his person out of annoyance, grunting as his healing ribs grinded roughly in their partially broken state, "I'm sure she's perfectly fine…which is just fucking great for me."

"She can keep up with you in Six Paths Sage Mode, she can negate what's probably your most destructive technique, and anything else you throw at her she can shrug off. She's a doozy, brat." Kurama observed, "You've still got Cosmic Sage Mode though."

Naruto sighed, "Yeah, yeah I guess. I think I'm gonna tire her out a bit before I pull that out."

"And how do you plan on tiring her out, exactly?" Kurama wondered.

"That Natural Energy of hers has to run out eventually, she'll be too tired to heal herself like she does. Then that'll give me the opening I need." Naruto explained tiredly, though admittedly he was feeling better with Kurama's healing.

Climbing up and over a rocky slope, Naruto looked out over the mountain range in search of Hela. Quickly spotting her sitting lackadaisically down below him. Giving him a lazy wave and smile, she said, "You survived. Congratulations."

"Thanks." Naruto said back, squinting his eyes as he scratched the back of his head, "You're a tough customer, lady."

Hela laughed, crossing her legs daintily, "You're not so bad yourself, what's your name again?"

"Naruto Uzumaki."

"Naruto Uzumaki." Hela said, testing the name, "A strange title, I think I'll stick with Boy."

His eyebrow twitching, Naruto growled out, "I'd come up with a nickname of my own, but I don't know you good enough to really come up with anything with enough bite to make us even."

"Hmph." Hela huffed pompously, "Perhaps I hit you a little too hard. I've been told I have trouble holding back. But, then again, those were the words of losers. And I have never lost."

"Never?" The shinobi asked, "You're here, aren't you?"

"I'm alive, aren't I?" She shot back.

"Right." Naruto drawled out slowly as his Six Paths Sage Mode reactivated.

Hela was about to respond when she found a fist lodged in her face, with a crippling kick coming not far behind into her abdomen. Her body sent up momentarily into the air, she was then hit with several jabs all over her person, each hit keeping her in the air long enough for Naruto to send another punishing strike.

At first Hela ignored the pain, as she healed herself almost as soon as she was hit, but as the barrage continued, she couldn't help but flinch as the strikes seemed to hit harder and harder. Eventually she grew tired of the onslaught and sent a barrage of her own.

Naruto jumped back as several spikes of obsidian shot out of the ground, sweating nervously as spikes seemed to sprout from the originals, this trend continuing as the wall of sharp obsidian tried to skewer him to death.

Shooting his hands out as he tried to use his Magnet Release to stop the slabs from getting any closer, only to curse when they continued unabated.

"Obsidian isn't magnetic you damned fool!" Kurama shouted, "Use something else before you get us both killed!"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Naruto thought violently before chanting in his head, "Lava Release: Kagutsuchi's Wrath!" Slamming his hands together he did a quick set of dodges before slapping them down onto the ground.

Hightailing it out of the way, he smirked as the ground began to shake violently before a massive plume of lave burst out of the ground, melting the obsidian spikes on contact. The wall of lava easily kept the rest of the spikes at bay.

Flipping through another set of hand seals, Naruto thought, "Haven't tested this one out in a fight yet, but here goes nothing. Storm Release: Light Fang!"

Puckering his lips together, he watched as a thin beam of purple energy shot out of his mouth with an impressive speed. Cutting through the wall of lava and any spikes that got in its way, the thin laser beam locked on to Hela with clear prejudice.

Quickly summoning a sword, Hela raised her sword that was quickly incased in Natural Energy and intercepted the attack, the woman being sent skidding back but still managing to keep her ground.

"Damn." Naruto thought, "That should've cut right through her Natural Energy, why the hell do I still suck at this? Complete mastery of chakra my ass."

Jumping back, he covered his face with his arms as Hela decimated the ground in front of him with her sword slash. Quickly finding himself on the backfoot, he summoned a kunai and added Natural Energy of his own as he did his best to deflect her strikes.

Reaching out with his Magnet Release, he summoned his chokuto towards him. Hela, seeing the sharp sword come flying towards her blade first, summoned another sword before deflecting it.

Hela now found herself on the backfoot, with Naruto attacking from the front while having his Magnet Release embodied chokuto attack from behind.

But the Goddess of Death proved to be a better swordsman than he'd ever be, easily fighting off his strategy with pure skill. Their swords clanging with a vibrating harshness, Naruto pushed her back with his superior strength.

Quickly blowing a stream of fire in her face to get some distance, Naruto followed through by summoning an earth dragon that attempted to swallow her whole, but the woman proved too fast, giving an evasive maneuver before coming in with her own attack.

Green energy covering her obsidian blades, Naruto knew better than to get hit by an attack like that.

Dodging the attacks, he then created a Rasengan in each hand. As a sword swung in for a decapitating strike, Naruto deflected it with a Rasengan, the spinning orb holding off the Natural Energy long enough for Naruto to shove the remaining one into her chest.

The explosion of pure chakra blasted the Goddess off into the dirt.

Coughing as dust managed to get in her lungs, Hela attempted to get up as best she could with a hole in her torso, only to find a pair of hands pressing into her shoulders from behind. Looking up, she found Naruto smirking down at her.

"Magnet Release: Journey to the Center of the Earth!"

In that instant, it felt as though the weight of the world had landed on Hela's person. The weight proved too heavy for even the earth to handle, pushing her into the dirt as though it were water.

She could only scream as she descended into the depths of Nastrond.

Falling on his ass, Naruto caught his breath as he looked down at the Hela shaped hole he'd created.

"Damn brat, that was brutal. How far do you'll think she'll go?"

"Who knows." Naruto thought with a shrug. Sitting down cross-legged, he closed his eyes in concentration, "I had to have sent her dozens of miles down, that's a shit ton of weight to get by. When she stops herself, and she will, it'll take a lot of effort to dig herself out. She should be tired enough for me to use Cosmic Sage Mode safely."

The sound of the ground shattering filled Naruto's ears, with a massive mountain of obsidian emerging from the earth soon afterwards. Not long after, several arms shot out of the loosened ground. Slowly, several women dressed in white and gold armor emerged stiffly. Leading the pack was a man wearing what Naruto recognized as Asgardian armor, a battle axe in his hand.

Raising an eyebrow, Naruto realized these women were undead, going off the fact their flesh had begun to peel and rot away, their sunken eyes glowing a dangerous green.

"She got out of that pretty quick." Kurama observed as Hela emerged behind her platoon of revived soldiers.

Grunting with clear exertion, Hela emerged with assistance from her obsidian mountain, her once pristine body suit torn and ruined, her head piece gone leaving her wild hair to flutter in the wind.

Glaring murderously at the blonde, the Goddess of Death growled, "End him."

The undead needed nothing else to be said, charging forward as they drew the weapons.

"Shit." Naruto cursed as he shot up to his feet, his chokuto flying back to his hand just in time to deflect one of the women's blades from beheading him. Their blades locked, Naruto couldn't help but take the time to admire the woman's emerald double-edged blade.

Pushing her off of him, he withdrew a kunai to block another strike, only for his eyes to widen in shock as the emerald blade cut through his kunai with ease. Jumping back, he gripped the slash he'd gotten, blood caking along his fingers.

"That's a Dragon Fang, Boy." Hela warned with a sadistic glint in her eye, "I hope these Valkyries of mine leave enough of you for me."

"Valkyries?" Naruto questioned aloud as he quickly dodged a triple attack from three separate Valkyrie, the women doing their best to surround and overwhelm him.

Doing a quick head count, Naruto counted nine of these Valkyries, meaning he had ten of these undead Asgardians to fight including the man who hadn't jumped in yet.

Growling as he continued to dodge nine different razor-sharp Dragon Fangs from cutting into him any more than they already had, he flinched as a few lucky pot shots managed to get into his guard.

"Fuck this." He growled, pushing his hands out, he thought, "Magnet Release: Involuntary Suicide!"

With a jolt, all nine Valkyrie stopped mid swing, their blades frozen in place. Slowly, their blades began to move on their own, turning on their masters as the tips of their blades began to point towards their necks. The blades rattled as the Valkyrie did their best to keep from killing themselves, knowing better than to let go of the sword.

But this gave Naruto enough times to form nine hands made of chakra, each hand summoning a Rasengan before shooting off into a predisposed Valkyrie, carefully aiming the Rasengans into the hands that were holding their swords. Taking both their Dragon Fangs and Rasengans to the throats, the undead Valkyrie were blown off their feet.

Naruto was unable to take a celebratory break, instead maneuvering his body around the axe that tried to split him in half like a banana peel. The ground exploded open with the axe's impact, the blonde throwing his hands up to avoid getting hit by debris.

This proved fatal, as the blunt end of the axe found itself lodged in his abdomen. Spitting up blood and spittle, Naruto was sent flying by the brutal attack. Landing on his back, the blonde was thankful he had enough awareness to roll over, missing the axe head that wanted to open his chest up.

Slamming a hand on the ground, the Asgardian was grabbed by a hand made from the earth, a Hiraishin Seal in middle of its earthen palm. Using his Asgardian strength, the man broke free from the grip.

The man looking around wildly, he searched for the now missing Naruto. Hearing a whistle from above, the Asgardian looked up to find Naruto hovering up above him, a mass of black energy in his hands. But, almost as soon as his eyes landed on the blonde, he was gone in a flash.

Grinning viciously as his feet hit the ground, Naruto stood right within the Asgardian's personal space, the man still looking up at where he'd been while in the air. He didn't give him the time to realize what was going on, instead shooting his hands out and unleashing his Tailed Beast Bomb pointblank.

Hela's eyes narrowed as a massive burst of energy exploded from where Naruto had taken his fight with the Valkyrie and the Asgardian warrior once named Hermod.

"Damned boy." She cursed as the wounds Naruto had given her with that last attack finally healed. She'd wasted a good bit of energy resurrecting those Valkyrie and Hermod.

Running her hands through her hair, she molded her head piece into place.

"I'm getting really tired of you calling me that."

Turning, she narrowed her eyes when she saw the blonde walking towards her at a lazy pace. He was no longer on fire, his torn clothes and beaten person in full view. Though, there was something different.

His presence was…deafening.

As he walked closer, she realized that he had markings on his similar to hers. Only the color around his eyes was gold with a matching dot in the middle of his forehead, his eyes now royal purple.

"What did you do?" Hela asked, almost warily.

"This is Cosmic Energy. I think people like to call it the Power Cosmic." Naruto informed as he gave his arms some testing stretches.

Hela seemed floored by this news, "You can control the Power Cosmic? What are you, some kind of Celestial?"

"Some would think so." Naruto offered with a large smile.

Giving him another once over, Hela asked softly, "What is your name?" She asked again.

"Naruto." He answered helpfully.

"Well then, Naruto, let's see who dies first, hmm?" Hela offered enthusiastically.

Swinging her arm out, a sword appeared with a resounding thwang. Charging forward, she took a might swing into his neck. And just as the razor-sharp blade was about to slice into his neck, it burst into a clutter of butterflies.

Hela blinked, "Wha-"

A fist lodged itself into her chin.

She'd never been hit so hard in her life.

Blood flew from her mouth, her body in the beginning motions of stumbling back when another fist came and hit her in the face again, followed by another into her stomach that landed so hard a sonic boom echoed through the mountain range.

As Hela was mid-bounce when Naruto seemingly teleported above her, his hands enveloped in a thick purple energy. Thrusting his hands forward, he released the energy into a powerful blast wave.

Somehow, the Goddess of Death managed to dodge the attack, sending a wave reactionary obsidian spears right for the still air born Naruto.

A quick wave of his hand, and the spears were turned into dust.

Following after her, the sage threw around more of his Cosmic Energy to try and vaporizer her. Though he managed to get a few good pot shots in, Hela had managed to do her best in avoiding his powerful attacks.

Flinching, Naruto cursed as he felt Cosmic Energy he'd gathered begin to slip away.

"You know transmutation drains your reserves, brat." Kurama chastised, "Now you're going to be wiped out until you can gather some more, idiot."

"Shut up, Kurama." Naruto muttered aloud, "I didn't think it would be so short."

"It wasn't helpful that you've fired off one large wave of Cosmic Energy after another. Cosmic Energy that she's managed to dodge, by the way." The Biju grunted irritably.

Sweat began to build along his brow, his breath getting heavier as the last of his Cosmic Energy left him. Quickly creating a Shadow Clone, he didn't bother ordering it to go and gather more, the clone sprinting away from the battlefield with gusto.

Once again, the two stood across from each other. This time though, they didn't say a word, simply glaring at each other as they regained some footing.

Without warning, both charged into each other. Fists, knees, elbows, anything they could use to hurt the other they used it, beating the life out of each other with every ground shattering blow.

Both seemed to lack the energy to do anything other than throw themselves together in a flurry of combos, their vicious and desperate attacks hiding the fact that they couldn't afford to throw anything else for fear of further exhaustion.

Catching an elbow that would've caved her head in, Hela scowled in effort to keep the appendage at bay. Dropping a fist into Naruto side, she smirked in satisfaction as blood shot from his lips onto her face. Wanting to feel that satisfaction again, she drove her fist into his side again and again, nearly laughing as each hit pained him more and more.

Finally swatting away one of her punches, Naruto drove his forehead into her nose, hearing her nose crack from the force. As she stumbled back, her nose reknitting itself slower than it might have at the beginning of the fight, Hela spat out the blood that spilled from her nose into her mouth with an unladylike forcefulness.

Giving off battle cries filled with frustration, anger, and exhaustion, the rushed each other with a murderous abandon. Their hands connecting in the middle, the two engaged in a duel of strength as they tried to force the other into submission.

As Naruto began to push Hela down into herself, he felt the memories of his clone come flooding in. Giving an exaggerated grunt, Naruto muttered, "Fuck this."

Like an explosion, energy began to emit from Naruto's person, his Six Paths Sage Cloak flickering to life. Only this time, the flames of his cloak weren't golden, but purple. The markings of his seal now glowing gold, his eyes shined a dangerous red.

Nastrond quaked as his Cosmic Sage Cloak took hold, the ground beneath him splintering from the force of his chakra. The once dark mountain range seemed to find daylight, as the purple sun that was Naruto lit up area around them.

Eventually, the light around Naruto dimmed, the ground was allowed to rest, and the pressure Hela felt submitted enough for her to breath.

Lifting his hand up, Naruto quickly formed a Tailed Beast Bomb in the palm of his hand. Three additional, but smaller ones, followed after, rotating around the center sphere like planets would a sun.

"Survive this." Naruto challenged.

BOOM!

A viciously blinding light overtook Nastrond, washing away the mountain they'd been fighting on like a wave from the ocean would a sand castle. Lightning swirled, fires raged, rocks cracked and crumbled.

As the explosion of light faded, the sound of pure ozone took its place.

Hovering over the canyon his Planetary Tailed Beast Bomb had created, the blonde searched for any sign of the Asgardian Executioner.

Spotting movement in the distance, Naruto quickly flew down to get a closer look.

At the edge of the canyon, pulling herself out of the rubble with her remaining arm, Hela screamed in rage as she freed herself from the obstructing boulders. Panting as she dragged herself along the ground, she glared up at the glowing presence above her. The longer she stared, the look of anger was slowly replaced by frightened realization.

Raising an eyebrow, he frowned as he looked at the bisected woman, her missing arm slowly worming its way back to its full-grown state, her lower half growing back at a much slower pace than before.

Slowly, Naruto descended to the ground below, landing gracefully in front of the Goddess of Death, the woman starring up at him as she tried to come to terms with what she'd realized.

"I don't have long before this form begins to take its toll, so I guess I should end this now." Raising his hand up, Naruto summoned a Rasengan in his hand, the sphere of spinning chakra mixed heavily with Cosmic Energy.

"If it's any consolation, I'm sorry."

Pulling back, he frowned as he readied the finishing blow-

"It's you."

Only to stop at her whispered final words.

Blinking, he asked, "What?"

Naruto could truly say he was shocked, as tears began to build along Hela's eyes, her Natural Energy finally fading away, "You're the one. The one from my visions. You are the one I saw. Not...not…"

His arm lowering, Naruto watched as the Goddess of Death began to wretch, fighting for her words. His face devolving into pity, he asked, "Not who?"

Collapsing in on herself, Hela managed to fight off unconsciousness long enough to mutter, "Not him."

As his Rasengan faded away, the purple fire that enveloped him disappeared, and the Power Cosmic that flowed through him left him, Naruto realized his legs seemed to think they were made of jelly.

Dropping onto the ground, he grunted as an overwhelming wave of exhaustion flooded his body. Sweat dripping down his face, his breathing ragged, and his clothes in tatters, Naruto cursed when he realized he wasn't going anywhere for a while.

"So much for making this quick." Kurama said with a low sigh.

"Mhmm." Naruto thought, too tired to speak.

-x-

The crackling of fire eating away wood was what woke her up. The smell of cooking food is what got her attention.

Shooting upright, Hela looked around frantically in an attempt to understand her new situation.

It was night, well more cloudy than usual. A camp fire was burning just a few feet away from her, and Naruto Uzumaki was sitting directly across from her, holding a cup of noodles over the fire with a hungry look on his face.

"When was the last time you've eaten?"

Blinking, Hela made to speak, only to realize her throat was incredibly dry, forcing her voice into a hoarse wheeze, "What?"

"When was the last time you ate?" Naruto repeated, "Or drank?"

"Fifteen hundred years, give or take." Hela offered with a blasé flip of the wrist, only to wince as she realized she'd used her recently regrown arm, the fresh arm still incredibly sore from the rabid regrowth.

Sighing, he reached over to his side and tossed her a bottle of water.

Watching as it bounced in front of her, she raised a questioning eyebrow towards the blonde.

Sighing again, he muttered, "If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't poison you. I'd just kill you."

"Then why haven't you?" She demanded with force, "Why didn't you end it, why don't you now?"

"Because I want to know what you did." Naruto answered truthfully, "Your dad didn't bother to share with me before I left, but I managed to gather that it was something big. I'd like to know if you're really so evil that I need to preemptively deal with you before you get released from this hellhole. That there was no saving you from yourself. That you're a lost cause who needs to be wiped away. In my experience, very few are unredeemable. Give me time, and I'd break through to them if I really tried. But if you're just another Madara, or Kaguya, then I'm gonna do what needs to be done."

Hela looked at him for a long time, her eyes narrowed with clear hesitance. Grabbing the water bottle gingerly, she slowly unscrewed the cap before taking a tentative sip. Tasting nothing extra other than the blood in her mouth, she tipped her head back and downed more of the water.

Smiling as she finished off the bottle, Naruto looked back to his ramen cup. Pulling it away from the fire, he slowly pealed the lid away before adding the seasoning packet to the noodles.

"What is that?"

Looking up from his noodles, he spotted the Goddess of Death eyeing his ramen with a critical look.

"This?" Naruto asked as he raised his cup. When she nodded, he continued, "It's called ramen. They have this kina thing in Asgard?"

"I wouldn't know."

"Huh, yeah I suppose you wouldn't."

Sipping at the broth, Naruto smiled at the familiar taste. As he began to dig it, his eyes would flicker up to see Hela looking at him curiously.

Halfway through with the cup, Naruto lowered it from his lips as he asked, "You want the rest?"

"Yes." She said softly after several seconds of hesitance.

Getting up, he knelt down next to her and handed her the still warm cup.

Handling it gently, she brought it up to her lips and began to slurp on remaining noodles and broth.

As she slurped away, Naruto asked, "Do you like it?"

"It's fine." She answered with a mouthful.

"Fine?" Naruto tested, shaking his head in defeat as he sat down next to her.

Looking at him from her peripheral, Hela asked, "Do you think it's smart to sit so close?"

With just a few feet between them, Naruto shrugged, "Maybe not for you."

"Hmph." Hela scoffed, her eyes narrowing dangerously as she said, "Is my life really hanging on my origin? Do you really think something like that matters?"

"For me? Yes." Naruto answered matter of factly, "I need to decide if I'm going to eat the strawberry or try and fight the tiger."

Hela raised an eyebrow at the blonde's strange sentence. Turning her attention to the ramen cup in her hands, she stared into the nearly empty cup in thought.

"By all accounts, I am the bastard child of Odin Borson. My mother was a lowly giantress who wanted nothing to do with me. My father took me into his house, wanting to use me as a weapon to further Asgard's ambition of manifest destiny. I trained for Asgard. I fought for Asgard. I killed for Asgard. I tortured, betrayed, and decimated for my realm. I lovedAsgard. But I wasn't a part of their world, not fully. I knew it, they knew it. Eventually, after we'd conquered our ninth realm, my father found true love. King Odin and Queen Frigga began to dream of peace, of ending my campaign of war and conquest. And as their dreams came true, they deemed it time to sire a child. By the time peace was brought to the realms, she gave birth to a true Odinson, a boy named Baldur." Hela paused as she took another sip from the ramen cup.

Naruto watched as she collected herself, allowing her to continue her story.

"He is beautiful, they'd say." Hela recalled, "A babe so glorious he shines of pure Asgardian light, a royal purple that emulates his stature. But I refused to see him. Why should I have? This brat had taken my right to rule, he was the symbol of everything I wasn't. Every day, Frigga's handmaidens would request my presence in her chambers, with me giving an excuse to avoid it every time. Eventually, Odin came to me himself, ordering me to see my sibling. So, as any good soldier does, I obeyed. I came up to her chambers, I walked up to his crib, and I took that babe in my arms. I held him and came to a quick conclusion. I was whelmed. I wasn't impressed, nor disappointed. All I saw was a baby. A weak, fragile creature who happened to glow a fun, if inconvenient, color. Then, Frigga told me why she really wanted me there. She informed me that she had cast a spell, asking all objects within the Nine Realms to never harm her precious Baldur and the light he gave off until he was strong enough to defend himself. She told me that due to my strength, she needed to ask me in person. I refused."

"Why?" Naruto asked, truly curious.

"She asked me the same question." Hela admitted in thought, "And I asked her who could possibly be able to hurt such an innocent creature? What kind of monster would do such a thing? I told her that I'd make sure he was strong enough that she'd never have to worry. She banished me from her chambers."

Swirling the ramen around in the cup, The Goddess of Death continued, "Then the visions came. I saw Asgard, the place I'd trained, fought, killed, tortured, betrayed, and decimated for, set on fire. I watched every night as my home was destroyed by an unholy force of nature. I watched as a man covered in a purple light stood amongst the flames, letting them consume the realm in its entirety. It didn't take long for me to realize that Baldur was who I was seeing, who could mistake that light for anyone else? I told Odin of my visions, but he scoffed at me, claiming them to be silly nightmares. I held my tongue, hoping he was right. But every night the visions grew longer, more intense. Every night I watched my brother become a monster. I, as Asgard's guardian and executioner, knew something needed to be done to prevent this horrible occurrence. But I needed to be sure. I needed to know for a fact that Baldur was the monster I needed to slay."

"Was he?" The Jinchuriki asked softly.

"I snuck into Frigga's chambers, came upon the crib, and took him into my arms. But I no longer saw an innocent baby. All I saw was fire and brimstone, pain and suffering, death and despair. So, I wrapped my hand around his neck and strangled the life out of him."

Naruto could only watch as she set the cup down, lifting her head up in his direction. Clearly on the verge of tears, Hela said, "But I was wrong. I killed that boy for nothing. I'm not a monster slayer, I'm not the wronged hero. I've spent the past fifteen hundred years thinking what I'd done was worth it, that Asgard would know I'd saved them. That they wouldn't let my sacrifice go to waste. But now I know that if I return, I'd return as the monster who killed a defenseless child."

It was then that Naruto realized what she'd meant at the end of their fight. Leaning forward he asked, "You think you saw me, don't you? That I'm the one in your visions."

"Yes. But my track record doesn't impart confidence." Hela muttered softly, her eyes still on Naruto as she said, "Though with that power you showed, I guess you could if you wanted to."

"Yeah, maybe." Naruto admitted.

Fiddling with the ramen cup in her hands, Hela asked, "Do you want this back, you know, before you kill me?"

"No, I think I'll let you keep it." The blonde said as he got up with a grunt, "As a memento, I guess."

Hela was floored as she watched Naruto begin to limp away, "You're not going to kill me? After everything I just told you? Why? Why won't you just do what everyone wants you to do and end me?! I deserve it, don't I?"

Naruto stopped, turning his head towards her as he frowned softly.

Frowning from her spot near the fire, Hela asked, "Don't I?"

Turning to her fully, Naruto gave her one of his trademark smiles.

-x-

Sitting within Odin's cabin, the All-Father himself and Amora sipped at their tea in a comfortable silence. That silence was interrupted by a flash of light and a pair of boots landing on the ground.

Amora was out of her seat in a heartbeat as she watched Naruto appear in their cabin, stumbling as he nearly collapsed onto the floor. Clearly suffering from exhaustion, she rubbed his back soothingly as he caught his breath.

"How long…was I gone?" Naruto demanded.

"A month." Amora answered softly, "28 days, to be exact."

"I was gone that long?" Naruto demanded, cursing himself in his head.

"How did it go? Is she…?" The Enchantress asked as she helped Naruto to his chair.

Sighing in relief as he took a seat, Naruto muttered, "I fought her, I beat her."

Odin, taking a sip of his tea, muttered passed his cup, "You let her live."

"Yeah, yeah I did."

Amora, a horrified look on her face, asked, "You let the Goddess of Death live? Why would you-"

"I gave her a choice. She knows I can beat her, I know I can beat her. She's either gonna eat the strawberry or confront the tiger." Naruto said softly, "Sage, I'm worse off than I thought if that Hiraishin took this much out of me."

Odin stared at him with his lone eye, a hard gaze boring into Naruto's soul. Letting up, he took another sip from his tea, "The Reality Stone is on Knowhere, under the protection of The Collector."

Raising an eyebrow, Naruto asked, "You'd follow through with your end, even though I refused to fulfil mine?"

"I see no reason not to." The All-Father reasoned, though his tone held a cryptic tone that made Naruto uneasy.

Shrugging the forbidding feeling away, Naruto looked to Amora, "So, did I miss anything?"

A nervous look suddenly reached The Enchantress's face, "Well..."

"Well what?"