Disclaimer: I certainly don't own Naruto, Disney or any of its affiliated properties. If I did, I wouldn't be writing this now would I?
"The connection of our hearts…" : Speech (Bold for yelling ,Bijuu, or massive creatures)
'The connection of our hearts…' : Thought
King Stefan's Castle, Princess' Chambers – One Month after Aurora's marriage…
Naruto grew up as a street urchin until he was taken in by Snow's father – in his time on the streets, he quickly learned that men liked to have 'affairs' with women but shied away from the dreaded topic of commitment. The feared ball and chain, the signal that the conquering man had been reduced to a mere provider for children and a wife was something the drunkards deep in their cups talked about in hushed tones in the late hours of the night. He honestly didn't know what the fuss was all about – he was enjoying every moment of his newfound status and closeness with his wives (to the public, he had one wife but those in the know knew that he had married all his lovers), although he could have done with less royal drama to be honest.
After his marriage to Aurora, he had been dealing with the familiar song and dance of dealing with nobles and royalty (however, unlike what he had expected, the many years he spent away from his home world seemed to have softened the court drama somewhat). He had settled into his new role with practiced ease – the lovely ladies in his group also became ladies of the court and part of the princess' retinue, each with their own particular role to play (they weren't some random noble ladies who were more trophies than actual humans, no sir…). He had nothing to really complain about – his moms still showed up every now and then (although he missed Maleficent – they had separated on amicable terms but he hadn't seen hide nor hair of the dark fairy since his wedding…) and Philip took on the role of an ambassador of his kingdom, visiting the kingdom to spar with Naruto and chat with Aurora. The man was a breath of fresh air among the traditionalists Naruto and his group found themselves with.
However, this period of peace was not meant to last, and like all dreams, had to come to an end. Aurora already had her affairs in order – she was worried that her family and the kingdom would fall into chaos if she suddenly disappeared but Ella was quick to assure her that the universe 'cleaned' up after itself quite handily. Basically, since Aurora was the linchpin of this particular world in their current instance of time, her leaving would force the world to 'nullify' her presence in the world – no one would remember her unless she decided to return (combined with the variable time flow between worlds, which meant that dimensional travel was super convenient).
This all led to this moment – Naruto and the women were all waiting in Aurora's room, waiting to travel to yet another world. Some of them were excited – Alice was busy hyping up the whole situation to Wendy and Aurora while Audrey tried to keep her mischievous sister in check. Others were a little wary about the whole ordeal – moving between world was no simple business after all (namely Grimhilde and Tiger Lily). The process began as usual, with Ella concentrating her mind on the magic of her wand, listening for the faint whispers that guided her magic portals. Closing her eyes, she began casting her magic, Naruto's hand on her back boosting her power to the point where her wand began to glow a fierce white.
However, this time the job wasn't as simple as it looked, as the point of light on her wand suddenly petered out, leaving Ella exhausted and Naruto confused. Unbeknownst to the group of adventurers, the Grimm Lords hadn't picked Maleficent just because she had a lot of dark magic and a link to the netherworld. They had picked up on the faint link between the fairy and Naruto – while they didn't understand the full implications and function of said link, they did use it to siphon the massive amounts of chakra that Naruto channeled into Ella into the void between worlds. While they couldn't use the power themselves (to their great chagrin), any chance to weaken the greatest thorn in their sides in all of Creation was welcome. This also came with the additional benefit that with every world he visited, the chances that he would fall to its denizens increased, something that would be further boosted by the augmentations that Maleficent's dark magic would give to the 'villains' of the new worlds(whether she liked it or not).
Back with our group though, we find Naruto quickly sending a burst of energy through Ella to rejuvenate her before looking at her questioningly.
"Hey, are you okay? You took a lot more chakra than I thought you would and got tired really fast. Do you want to take a short rest and talk about it?" Naruto said as he caught Ella before she fell to her knees.
"Perhaps that would be wise – my magic seems to be reaching its limits with every new companion we get it seems…that or the new world we will travel to is more mundane than I expected…" Ella said, rubbing her head in confusion as she took a closer look at her wand, the magic fizzling out with a muted shower of sparks.
"What's going on? Is Ella's magic acting strange now? I thought we had enough of that stuff in Wonderland?" Alice said as the group moved closer to her, Grimhilde's eyes narrowing in understanding when she probed Ella with her powers.
"There's something interfering with the flow of your magic my dear – methinks that our multiversal gallivanting has finally caught the attention of those monsters…what did you call them Naruto?" She said as Naruto snapped his fingers, an irate look on his face.
"Grimm Lords Grimhilde. They loved rubbing the fact that they were the stewards of all worlds when we fought so it would make sense that they would follow up on their threat to stop me from helping as many people as I can…" Naruto said as the group looked a little saddened, thinking that their adventures had been halted for good this time.
Just before they fully gave up though, Naruto took another glance at Ella's wand, which still had some residual magic coming off of it.
'So those bastards are trying to stop Ella from using my chakra to traverse worlds huh? Well, if they used a dam to hold back her magic, all I have to do is provide a flood!' Naruto thought as he crouched in front of Ella, who looked at him with an inquisitive look.
"What is it Naruto? Have you figured out something to help?" She said as Naruto snickered impishly before nodding as Alice guffawed in the background, to Audrey's amused look and the shared giggles of the other ladies.
"Yeah – I can overpower the Grimm Lords in a straight fight so all I have to do is channel even more chakra into you – it won't harm you if it is directed to the magic block they put in your wand after all. Only downside I can think of is that depending on the world we go to, it might take longer than I anticipate now to recover all of my chakra…especially with the increasing number of our merry band!" Naruto said, scratching the back of his head in thought as Ella looked at him in shock.
"You don't have to put yourself through so much strain though – tell you what- how about I use the extra energy you give me to get a better idea of what world we can visit and then decide who would be best suited to come with you. You don't have to shoulder such a big and risky burden all by yourself…isn't that right ladies?" Ella said as Snow squealed in delight before glomping the flabbergasted Ella, knocking her onto the crouched Naruto, who only grunted in surprise before rearranging the flailing women on his lap.
"Oh Ella, you've come a long way since that shy girl we took care of so long ago! I think that is a splendid idea – our shared beloved can always find his way back home with your help and his unique power and with my inherent ability to connect to the hearts of everyone in our little family, this idea of select 'field trip groups' is a marvelous one indeed!" Snow said as Ella nodded mutely before standing up, waving her wand again as memories played before her eyes for a few seconds.
What was revealed to her was a mundane world, devoid of any magic and complex civilization, inferior to even the world they found themselves in. She saw tropical forests, with ancient temples and small villages interspersed in the dense foliage, the traces of human settlement lost in the majesty of nature.
Coming out of her visions, she turned to her group and relayed her findings. The next world wouldn't play well with conventional magic, which would rule out Ella, Grimhilde and Tinker Bell. It also was pretty primitive, which meant that the women unused to the primal lifestyle would also be unsuited to the environs – eliminating Snow, Alice, Audrey, Madonna , Wendy and Aurora. The women were quick to understand this as well, turning to the only woman who could follow Naruto to his new destination, Tiger Lily.
"Alright Tiger, you ready to join me for an adventure? It looks like the next world is akin to a more mundane Neverland – should be right up your alley!" Naruto said, stretching his hand out to the Native American woman, who grasped it strongly before smiling at him warmly.
"A new odyssey with my teacher turned husband? How could I refuse? I only hope Wendy can help calm Tinker Bell down – I can feel her fearsome pout all the way over here!" She said, jokingly pointing toward the fairy in question, who was indeed pouting at the duo.
"Haha…I guess some things will never change. She has nothing to worry about – we'll have our own adventures soon enough anyway!" Naruto said as he pulled her over to Ella before charging her up with his chakra, with more power this time.
It wasn't long before the familiar rainbow colors of the void were visible as the portal opened before them. Naruto wasted no time, leaping into it with an excited whoop. Tiger on the other hand turned to regard Ella for a second, a silent message passing between the two.
'While our darling is nigh invincible, please do your best to look out for him.' Ella eyes seemed to convey as Tiger nodded at her with a comforting look before entering the portal herself, after which it closed, leaving the girls alone. There was a brief period of silence before Alice decided to pipe up.
"Well, at least this way Aurora won't have to worry about her kingdom for a while! Poor girl's been feeling guilty about the whole erased presence thing ever since she heard about it!" She said, smirking cattishly at Aurora, who looked away sheepishly.
Meanwhile, back with Naruto and Tiger…
The portal spat the two out in the depths of a jungle. Looking around to get their bearings, their brief period of peace was broken as they heard a piercing scream rend through the muggy tropical air as a ferocious roar soon followed.
"Hey – someone's in danger! Follow me Tiger, and be careful!" Naruto said, flexing his hands before breaking out into a sprint (he felt weaker than ever – he was at the level of a peak human right now…he could push out some borderline superhuman feats but he was on the same level as his child self before he re-discovered his chakra).
"Don't you worry about that Beloved – I am a warrior. It just so happens that I am a competent huntress as well!" Tiger said as the two of them delved deeper into the jungle, where a certain woman and baby boy were being chased by a tiger. Little did they know though, by intervening with this event, the destiny of the victims(particularly the baby boy) would be changed irrevocably, altering the flow of events in ways hitherto unseen…
And that was chapter 44! Naruto and Tiger will save Mowgli and his mom – but will this have repercussions later down the line? Who knows? Some people will die and yet more might live – the age old tale of the Jungle Book is about to change in ways you can't predict!
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