Looking for Home

Chapter 3: The Maelstrom and the Naga

A/N: Had Plums point out that I needed to put in a little more background info. This story starts at the beginning of WoW and will probably cross into the B.C. expansion at some point. I haven't played past Frozen Throne and don't want to try to research a decade of additional lore so expect possible drift as the story unfolds.

Naruto's mouth watered as the dino meat began to roast over the fire. He had eaten lizard before while he was in the Land of Water on his training trip with Jiraiya. It had tasted like an oily version of chicken, not all that appetizing but still good enough to ask for seconds from the sage. Apparently the diet that the dinos had here was a lot healthier because the scent was absolutely heavenly. A loud grunt from the other side of the rock startled him out of his hunger induced haze. Naruto jumped to his feet, landing in a crouch with a kunai in hand as he scanned for the intruder. He looked up, and up, finding a familiar face staring back at him. The one eyed giant blue humanoid that he had fought on the first day was back, staring at him curiously as it stood a few feet away. It had three raptor carcasses thrown over its shoulder, held there by it's strong arm while the other gripped it's club. The humanoid stared at him warily before it's eyes trailed towards the fire, examining the meal Naruto was preparing.

'Might as well give it another try' the blonde ninja thought as he stepped backwards towards the fire, not turning his back from the intruder. Placing the firepit between them, he cut off a large chunk of meat with his kunai before pocketing the weapon and picking up the stick that still had the rest of the leg stabbed on it. He slowly walked forward, stopping a few feet from his uninvited guest and offering the rest of his meal up to it. The giant raised it's eyebrow, a surprised expression appearing on its face before it took the offered food. Naruto returned to the other side of the fire, taking a seat and beginning to eat as he kept an eye on his company. The giant stared at him for a minute longer before grunting softly, dropping it's cargo and joining him on the other side of the fire. It carefully sniffed the meat before taking a large bite, it's eye rolling back as it groaned in pleasure at the taste. Naruto grinned as he began to enjoy his own meal more. It always felt nice to have his cooking complemented, however indirectly.

The meal continued in a more comfortable atmosphere, both of them enjoying the silence as they worked on sating their appetites. Finishing his meal, the ninja relaxed leaning backwards on his hands. A soft clink to his left drew his attention, showing that the newly acquired necklace had slid out of his pocket to the ground. Picking it up, he absentmindedly began to play with it as he stared at the center stone looped through it. It was bigger than the rest, light purple in color with carvings covering most of its surface. His curiosity peaked as he tried to make out what the writing said, holding it up eye level to catch the sunlight better.

Unfortunately he wasn't the only one interested in the jewelry. His guest's eye was drawn to the glint too, the being surging to his feet as his eye widened. Obviously it recognized the jewelry as well. "Bost nuk ren?" it asked as it pointed at the necklace. Quickly growing annoyed at the blonde's uncomprehending look it took a threatening step forward as it's hand moved towards it's club. "BOST NUK REN KIRSENT?!" it repeated almost frantically, it's eye zeroed in on the necklace. Naruto slowly stood up, holding out the jewelry to the angry humanoid. It was immediately snatched away as the blue giant began to examine it thoroughly, his agitated state not decreasing at all.

'Tell him how you got the jewelry dumbass' the blonde heard a familiar voice grumble in his head causing him to look around wildly.

"Kyuubi?" he asked out loud, looking for all the world like he was talking to himself.

'I'm in your head foolish ningen' the fox said in exasperation, constantly amazed at the new levels of stupidity his container was able to achieve. And just when it was looking like he might have been starting to wise up. 'Just think if you want to communicate. You're the one who had the seal altered after all. And I suggest you do something quick. You're running out of time.'

The fox was right, the big blue humanoid was looking like it was a second away from attacking its host. The blonde raised one hand in the air in a non-threatening way. He picked up a stick with his other hand, using it to begin drawing in the dirt on the ground. He drew three stick figures on the ground surrounded by circles, pointing at the confused being before gesturing to the figures. It's eyes lit up in understanding, leaning forward eagerly for the story to continue. The blonde drew a crude campfire with three more stick figures surrounding it, making sure to draw the tusks coming from their heads. A growl from his blue guest showing it understood the depiction. Naruto pointed at himself before slashing through the circles with the stick, drawing them upright again and heading away. Then he gestured at himself again before kicking the other image and destroying the picture of the cannibals. He indicated to the necklace before pointing at one of the running stick figures. The humanoid nodded once, tucking the jewelry into his waistband before walking back towards his cargo. He tore the remains of the meal off the stick before ripping a hind leg from the raptor carcass and skewering it. The new food was placed back over the fire before the creature took it's leave, taking the dead raptors back to the castle.

"Did I just make a friend?" the blonde asked himself as he watched the creature walk away.

'No' was the unwanted reply from his tenant, 'but you didn't get us killed either. That's more than I ever expected from you.'

XXXXX

The next day found the blonde shinobi sitting on a dock in the cove on the other side of the castle near the broken bridge. The previous night was used as cover for a team of ten clones to move along the cliff face in an attempt to avoid the blue giants in the castle and the lizard men in the ocean. The house on the shore of the cove had been stripped down to the frames and the beached ship looted for anything not nailed down. The original Naruto had quickly grown tired of 'supervising' the team of clones and had taken the opportunity to further explore the area.

There hadn't been any sign of the underwater lizard men for the entire night along the shore. It was a major disappointment Naruto who had been looking forward to seeing the friendly one again who had waved to him before. Grabbing an abandoned fishing pole that had been discovered on the ship, the blonde took a pot full of worms dug up by a helpful clone and moved to the end of the dock as the sun began to peek over the hillside behind him. The water was clear enough for him to spy the sea life as it swam around the coral a little farther out in the ocean. It was time to see if he could find something to eat besides raptor.

XXXXX

Skas slowly swam through the ocean, his movements borderline lazy as he had no particular place to be. His patrol shift had ended with the coming of dawn on the surface, signaling that he was free to enjoy life again until he was called to help defend the settlement. Not much happened in their part of the ocean, which was why the younger warriors were allowed to patrol without supervision. It allowed him more freedom than some of the other colonies would, but the good was leveled out by the crushing boredom. The only real excitement in weeks had been that strange spell used by the young human intruder who had teleported away after being captured. Rest sounded good right now, preferably back in his home on his nice, soft kelp bed. He had barely started moving towards his objective when his stomach gave a growl that could rival one of the snapdragon guardians that surrounded the village. He made a wide turn towards the shore, heading towards the local fishery.

The portion of the reef that housed one of the fish hatcheries was surprisingly calm as he swam towards it's boundary. There usually was one or two naga placed there to drive away the larger predators, allowing for fast growth of the fish population. Skas couldn't see another soul in sight though as he searched around the lookout station set up to house the guards. Chalking it down to laziness from his nest mates, he moved into the reef through a hole in the netting intent on finding his meal. His eyes were immediately drawn towards a school of black fish with yellow stripes, a group of smaller ones orbited around one of their kind that was almost the size of his head. The young naga shot off like a rocket towards his future dinner, jaws parting and arms outstretched in anticipation. His prey noticed his approach, quickly turning away and shooting off with a powerful swish of its tail. The chase was on, both participants leaving a large cloud of bubbles to mark their path as they shot around the enclosed area. Skas slowly bracketed the fish to the side of the cage, giving it less and less room to maneuver. The chase was almost over when the fish charged right at him, catching the young naga flat footed as it swam through the still open hatch to the ocean. The water lizard cursed his foolishness, quickly leaving the cage and closing the gate before continuing his pursuit.

He swiftly angled around the fish, cutting off it's escape into the open ocean and forcing it towards the shallow water of the cove. Skas could feel his mouth watering as he watched the tasty morsel frantically circle the pylons of the old pier, the fish unable to find a hiding spot from its attacker. The naga circled behind the rotting piece of wood, ceasing all movement to not give away his position as his prey swam by. He surged forward around the wood, the fish almost moving in slow motion as it tried to escape. He closed in, his claws almost grasping his prize when the sunlight reflected off something small and metallic, temporarily blinding him. He blinked hard to clear his eyes, quickly opening them to only find empty water with a hint of blood expanding into a cloud as it dispersed itself into the surrounding liquid. He turned in a quick circle, unable to find his future meal. A quick glance down revealed nothing and left only one direction remaining. He looked upwards just in time to see the fish as it was pulled out of the water. 'This isn't over!' he roared in his mind as he swam upwards, picking up more and more speed as he neared the surface.

"Ohhh! That's a pretty one!" Naruto exclaimed happily as he pulled a large black fish with yellow stripes off of his hook and throwing it into a bucket next to him that was already half full from his previous catches. 'I think that'll last me for the next few days' he reflected as he wound the fishing line around the pole for safekeeping before sealing it up in an open spot on his back. He slowly pushed himself to his feet and cracked his back, several hours sitting in the same position on the hard wood surface not doing his body any favors. The blonde nearly jumped out of his skin in fright as a huge shape surged up out of the water, flipping twice before landing in a crouch in the middle of the pier, blocking his way back to the beach.

Skas slowly rose to his full height until he was standing eye to eye with the blonde thief. Wait... he knew this human! It was the same one who had invaded naga territory only to disappear after being captured, leaving Skas to get berated by his leader for not being attentive enough to stop the escape. By the Titans! He would get his vengeance no matter what it took. He opened his mouth and displayed his fearsome teeth while drawing his trident from the sheath on his back. The fins on his shoulders, head, and neck all raised up as he hissed angrily, making him even more fearsome to his foe.

Unfortunately, the intimidation tactics were not having the intended effect on the blonde shinobi. Naruto's head tilted to the side as he regarded the being in front of him, this was the first good opportunity to see one that wasn't distorted by water. He compared it to Kisame in his shark form before quickly dropping the idea. This looked more like a cross between a dragon and a sea snake, its upper body bulkier than his own and covered in sharp looking green scales. The ninja's attempt to categorize the reptile was quickly interrupted as the enemy withdrew it's trident and brandished it at him. It hissed at him for a few seconds, angrily gesturing towards itself and the sea with its weapon only to grow even more agitated at the blonde's inability to understand it.

'Enough' Skas raged as he slithered towards the human, intent on impaling him. He had warned the worthless fool of his trespass and the consequences. It was not his fault that it's unevolved brain couldn't understand the glorious language of the naga. He would capture this human and take him back to the outpost to be tried for poaching their fish and attempting to infiltrate their territory. The only problem was that the little rat refused to comply with being caught. It dodged each swing of his trident as if he was attacking in slow motion, casually leaning just enough to dodge the attacks without actually moving from his spot. The human finally grew tired of being attacked, making a fist and reaching back as if to throw a bare handed punch. Skas couldn't help but be amused, feeling the opportunity to establish naga superiority was just too good to pass up. His smile was all teeth as he lowered his guard while simultaneously clenching his muscles and hardening his scales in preparation. His confidence lasted until right before the punch landed, the human giving him an equally fierce grin in return before his fist glowed blue and the punch doubled in speed as it flew towards him. "What did you.." he hissed before the blow landed in his solar plexus, driving the wind out of him and sending him rolling backwards twice.

He slowing pushed himself back upwards, wheezing for air as he re-evaluated the threat that this human represented. Standard naga tactics were to win with superior might, or if the opponent was stronger, use overwhelming numbers. Skas was alone, without another naga anywhere near him to his knowledge. This was a fight he was no longer confident of winning seeing as how the human was too fast to hit and too strong to outlast. Determined not to leave without at least claiming one victory, Skas roared loudly, making a show of preparing for another charge. The yellow-haired human crouched down in preparation just as he had hoped for. The naga drew his arm back before hurling his trident at his opponent.

Naruto jumped over the weapon, easily clearing the danger zone. Was this beast an idiot? It had just disarmed itself after the ninja had already proven he was too fast to be hit. Maybe the punch had scrambled it's brains more than he thought… As he reached the apex of the jump, the creature gave what could only be considered a draconic laugh before lunging for the basket of fish. Naruto was helpless to stop him, only able to glare in impotent rage as the dragon snake thing stole his prize fish before rolling off the dock into the water. The rest of the fish spilled out into the water as well, ruining his dinner plans adding insult to injury. This would not stand. He quickly jumped down onto the water before running along it in the direction the thief had made his escape.

Skas couldn't be prouder. He had retrieved his fish, made a fool of the trespasser, and even recovered his trident on the way back towards the reef. This story would be worth bragging about to his neighbors, as long as he omitted the embarrassing parts. He felt a change in the sunlight, causing him to look upwards. He frowned as he looked to the surface of the ocean. If he didn't know any better, it almost looked like something was standing on the water directly above him. But there was no way that could ever happen. A disturbance in the water caused him to instinctively dodge to the left, barely avoiding the blonde human from before as it shot past him and arced back towards surface as if he was being propelled by bubbles shooting from his legs. The naga dodged a second blonde, this time coming from a different direction. A third shot by, this time close enough to brush his skin! A forth came at him before the third could even leave, showing that there were multiple identical foes much to the naga's confusion. He was so busy fighting off the blonde attackers that he never noticed the loop of wire that circled around his neck, lowered by the figure still standing on the surface of the water. His eyes bulged as the wire tightened around his neck before he was pulled upwards as the world began to go dark and he knew no more.

XXXXXX

The crackling of the fire brought the naga back from unconsciousness. His nose picked up the scent of food prompting his mouth to begin salivating until he inhaled his own spit, causing him to choke as a foreign liquid entered his lungs. He growled softly in pain as he sat up, rubbing the tender section of his throat. He paused as his eyes took in the campfire that he was now sitting at, confusion causing him to try and recall what happened before it all came rushing back in an instant. He spun around in a quick circle, scanning for his enemy before he spotted the blonde menace standing at the edge of the cliff. Skas thanked the dark rift that the human hadn't taken the time to secure him after the capture, giving him the opportunity to overcome his attacker. He quietly slithered forward while preparing his claws for a quick strike, only for the blonde to look over his shoulder before he reached optimal striking distance. The blonde continued to do the unexpected, ignoring the imminent threat and signaling for the naga to come and look at what ever had gotten it's attention. Perplexed, Skas lowered his arms before slithering to the edge of the cliff, while making sure a safe distance from the man. The human spoke in gibberish before pointing to the base of the cliff. Dropping to his belly, the naga inched his head over the rock face before letting out a string of curses. It looked as if the human had done him a favor bringing him up to his camp instead of leaving him in the ocean.

Three sea giants were now wading through the ocean, directly on the border of his people's outpost. There was no love lost between the giants and naga, both attacking the other on sight as they were viewed as interlopers in the rightful owner's domain of the sea. He hissed in anger as he saw the warriors of his tribe rise from the ocean floor to meet the giants, the sea witches launching bolts of magic from range as the warriors and myrmidons moved in to engage in close combat. He knew one giant could be handled easily enough, but these three were working as a team and covering each other's blind spots. He winced as he watched one of the myrmidons take a brutal hit from a club, it's body clearing the water as it was knocked farther out to sea before it sank lifelessly below the waves again. The naga flexed his claws as he prepared to dive from the cliff, mentally preparing to quite possibly die with the rest of his people in a hopeless battle.

He was stopped by his own trident, now held against his chest by the human as it stood next to him. The human rapidly shook its head as it spouted more gibberish before gesturing for him to follow as it moved back towards the campfire. Skas wavered in place, the need to join his people warring with the desperation to see if the human had a plan to help. With an agitated hiss, he surged off after the blonde, catching up as they reached the hillside on the other side of the cooking fire. The human gibbered again before pointing at the pile of large boulders that ranged in size from small to as big as the naga himself. Skas stared in confusion, not understanding what the human was trying to tell him. The creature huffed in annoyance before creating five copies of himself. Positioning themselves behind the largest rocks, they began to push them slowly towards the cliff. The naga roared in excitement as he caught on to the plan, quickly positioning himself behind the largest rock and throwing his shoulder into it. The boulder quickly arrived at the edge, Skas positioned behind it while the human hung over the side of the cliff observing the battle. At the blonde's shout, Skas drove forward, hurling the boulder off the cliff's edge before quickly joining the blonde to watch. The boulder picked up speed as it fell, colliding with the hillside once and causing a mini avalanche before it bounced back into a freefall. It landed on the head of the lead giant with a sickening crack, it's cranium disintegrating from the force of the impact and spraying gore in a wide arc before it's body sank beneath the waves..

The remaining giants froze as bits of blood and brain matter dripped down their faces, unable to process what had caused the sudden death of their leader. Comprehension came a moment later as more large stones began to rain down around them. One landed on the shoulder of the younger giant, breaking the bones and rendering the arm useless. The uninjured one quickly moved to assist his brother, pulling him away from the battle as they retreated back up the coast from whence they came. Skas grabbed his trident from the ground and raised it in victory, roaring at the top of his lungs. The remaining naga all raised their voices in response, paying thanks to their savior as he watched over them from high on the cliff. They gathered their injured and dead before slowly moving back towards their outpost, dragging the body of the giant behind them.

Skas was beside himself, unable to believe that he had done something so heroic to save his people when he had only heard about it in stories before. He roared in thanks to the human who had gone back to his fire, getting a wave in return before holstering his trident and leaping from the cliff. Feeling full of himself, he added two somersaults and a half twist to the dive only to come up short on the landing as he ran out of time. He landed on his belly with a *Splat*, floating on top of the water for a moment before slowly sinking downwards. He held his belly while softly keening in pain, beyond grateful that he was alone in his humiliation. If he looked up, he would have noticed a head pull back from the cliff, the blonde chuckling to himself as he returned to the heat of the fire.

XXXXXX

It had been two days since the battle between the lizards and the giants. Naruto had spent the days building a small house with the supplies he had collected from the cove. The home was built directly into the hillside, making use of the large cave for added living and storage space. He had survived on raptor meat from his previous hunts, full yet unsatisfied. His palate was set on fish, craving it ever since the fishing disaster from two days ago. Unfortunately the blood from the dead giant had attracted packs of sharks to the area, turning the coast into a kill zone for anything remaining in the waters. The blonde had found an old trail down the side of the cliff, allowing him to reach the coast without moving all the way to the cove or wall walking. He perched on a large rock that jutted up out of the ocean, a perfect place to set his line as he prayed that the fish had returned. His patience was quickly rewarded as he felt a pull on the line, signaling that he should reel in his new meal.

Skas preened to himself as he lead his new patrol through the shallows along the cliff face. When he had returned to the outpost, the village leaders had immediately interrogated him on what he was doing on top of the cliff in the first place. He had quickly folded under their glares, giving a detailed summary of his encounter with the human earlier that day. His honesty and bravery had been rewarded, giving him command of his own patrol squad. This was a big deal in a matriarchal society where only exceedingly powerful or intelligent males ever rose up high in the ranks. He was well aware of this as he felt the glare from A'kas, the squad's former leader as well as magical support. The siren did not take kindly to being supplanted by a lowly male and took every opportunity presented to criticize what he was doing wrong.

The newly promoted leader grit his teeth as she stated in again, ignoring her expertly as his eyes scanned the water for any surprises. Wrapping up the patrol, he ordered the men to return to the outpost as he circled back for one final look. The giants had shattered his hope of a peaceful life, forcing him to confront the fact that his people's safety was his responsibility. He smelt blood in the water, catching sight of a fish struggling before it was yanked up to disappear above the waves. Slowly, he rose upwards until his head broke the water just far enough to allow his eyes to see. He grinned feraly as he spied a familiar human with his fishing pole sitting on a rock. He sank back down before swimming in a wide circle towards the rock, determined to stay out of the human's line of sight.

Naruto yawned to himself as he sat back down on the rock again. His fish bucket was almost full after he placed another large black fish with yellow stripes in it. 'I finally get to see what's so good about it' he mentally cheered, getting a mental snort from the Kyuubi for his inane commentary. The fox had spent the last two days instructing him on how to begin training in the elemental release for fire, earth, water, and lightning. Kyuubi had been around in the time of the Sage of the Six Paths, watching as the ninja arts were first developed. While the fox lacked the ability to perform the needed seals himself, he was great at instruction if you managed to ignore the constant mocking and blatant assholery that accompanied it. The shinobi had been spamming clones at an alarming rate to learn the skills as quickly as possible, while impressing the fox at the same time with only using his own chakra. Not once had he attempted to pull the fox's chakra, even making sure to keep his word of maintaining a constant flow to the fox to help him regenerate his tails. This left the blonde in a semi-permanent state of exhaustion, forcing him to run on almost sheer will power and making him eat almost constantly to keep up his chakra regeneration. Naruto may have caught a lot of fish, but they would all be consumed before the day was out.

The ninja was barely staying awake as he watched his line bob in the water, his body on autopilot as the higher functions of his brain shut down due to not being needed. Thus he was caught completely unaware when two scaly claws landed on his lower back, pushing hard enough to propel him off the rock and face first into the water. Naruto swam to the surface, coughing up water he had inhaled while screaming during his unexpected fall. Too his annoyance, the green dragon-snake man was now in his former spot. To add insult to injury, the reptile even had the audacity to rummage through his fish bucket while it sunned itself on the rock. 'Use your training fool' he heard his tenant mumble, as if waking up from a long nap. The ninja's hands flew into a familiar sign, holding it as he began to disperse chakra into the surrounding water. He lacked the finer control necessary for the more intricate ninjutsu after only a few days of clone training, but he could make a wave with no issues.

Skas found this out a moment later as his laughter died out at the strange human's actions. There had been no cursing or counter attack, the strange blonde just treaded water as he stared at something behind his foe. Turning to see what had the human's attention, the naga came face to face with a wall of water over nine feet high as it began to curl forwards toward him. Skas's fins collapsed against his body in shock before he braced against the wave that collided against him, the force of the water sending the naga flying over the human's head before crashing into the ocean. The naga surfaced a moment later, his ears picking up the sound of the human howling in laughter. His draconic grin grew as he swam forward. Two could play that game.

Naruto couldn't get ahold of himself. The expression on the reptiles face before the wave hit would give him warm fuzzy memories for months to come. It had been so long since he had been able to pull a good prank that he had almost forgotten the joy they could bring. His merriment was interrupted when the dragon-snake shot back out of the water in a graceful flip before crashing down with his tail out, creating a huge splash of water that nearly enveloped the ninja. Shaking water from his head as he swam in place, the ninja stared across at his newest pranking nemesis. Both pairs of eyes narrowed as they glared at each other.

XXXXXX

The shaman of the boulderfist clan sat on the cliff as he overlooked the ocean, a small fire blazing merrily at his side. The ogre elder found it calming outside of the human constructs, where it was easier to get attuned with the natural spirits. His meditation was interrupted by a commotion at the base of the cliff, tempting his curiosity enough to leverage his old bones to his feet to take a look. At first glance, it looked like an unfortunate human had fallen into the ocean and was set upon by a naga patrol. He was tempted to call some of his clan to finish off the fighters while they were distracted, but paused as he got a better look at the 'fight.' Both opponents were barely out of their juvenile stages, not above unnecessary posturing to prove dominance. The ogre grinned as he watched the human pick the naga up before throwing him through the air, only for the reptile to return the favor by wrapping the blonde in his tail before leaping out of the water and slamming his passenger down into the waves. "Play fight" the ogre mumbled to himself as he sat down to watch the show. Never in his long years had he seen two members of the species below tolerate each other to the point of actually having fun. Now that he thought about it, that youngster Thach had mentioned a strange human that had moved into the hills the day before…

A/N: Sometimes it's the little things that make a difference in friendships being formed. Just need to get past that damn language barrier…

On a different note, I'm not that well versed in WoW lore anymore. If anyone has suggestions or ideas I'm happy to consider them. Hope you enjoyed the holidays.