Good Evening everybody!
...
Yea...Lets just say life can be a b*#&$ and get on with the chapter :D
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Naruto stumbled through the portal nearly tripping on air as he got into the room. Medivh came through next, though he did it with much more grace. Naruto had his hands on his knees and was breathing heavily, he wasn't tired but the adrenaline running through his system was slowly starting to dissipate.
"Well my dear boy...we did it." Naruto let out a little laugh
"I hope we did, for our sakes."
"Don't worry, with what I did to that curse there should be no trace left."
"Thank Kami for that, so what happens now?" finally standing back up Medivh looked him in the eye
"Well now you must get back to your village and stay there for a while. With what just happened they may think it was an inside job." Naruto got it from there.
"Ok I'll do that, when will I know when I can go back to Karazhan?" Medivh just smiled
"I'll let you know boy."
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Hanabi Hyuuga had been walking down the street along with her sister Hinata. After another morning lesson from her father she was given some time off until the next session, which would probably be that afternoon. The lessons themselves were grueling as she had to spar with her father most of the time to learn through combat, but they weren't nothing she couldn't handle. That didn't mean they weren't exhausting though. And since Hinata was in the village for the time being, she decided they should go and have lunch, meaning she was dragged out of the estate.
Hanabi wasn't exactly the most sociable person since she had basically been raised her whole life in the estate while Hinata was naturally shy. This combination didn't exactly lead to many conversations between the two. Hanabi did love her sister and she knew that Hinata loved her, but their relationship had been a bit off from ideal. Hinata had, at first, been the one that seemed to be next in line for clan head. But when her training hadn't advanced at the pace that was set before her by her father she had basically become a stepping stone for Hanabi. Everything Hinata did had been in comparison to Hanabi to see how strong she was becoming. Unlike her sister however, Hanabi was not insecure about herself in the slightest. This allowed her to show more of her true strength than her sister.
So anyway the two of them were walking along a street that ran parallel to the village wall and were getting close to the front gate when Hanabi spoke up.
"Neji-niisan refuses to stay in bed, he won't stop trying to find some way to train." Hanabi was one of the few people Hinata talked rather openly too, though still in her quiet tone.
"Well you know how he is, especially after that fight with Naruto-kun."
"If he keeps it up at this rate he'll be back in the hospital for some new injury." Hinata was about to respond when an orange blur came running into the village through the gate they were about to pass. As both of them realized it was Naruto Hinata blushed and Hanabi's curiosity was piqued
"Speak of the devil." Hanabi looked towards Hinata to see her watching him jump off across the village. She sighed as she watched her sister stare at her crush rush off to wherever he was headed.
"You know if you don't say something to him sooner or later he will forget you exist." Even with her blunt tone Hinata seemed to be in her own little world. Getting tired really quickly Hanabi snapped her fingers in front of her sisters face and watched her come back to her senses.
"Huh wha?" Hanabi sighed before gesturing to her sister
"Come on let's go we don't have all day." Hinata walked faster to catch up to her little sister as they both went on their way.
XXXX
For the most part Naruto just went through the motions with his D Missions, though he would continually imagine something happening where he would suddenly be surrounded and arrested. However, nothing had happened for the rest of the day. It had actually been a bit of an easier day for him and so after they had finished their mission Naruto decided it was time to go relax a bit.
Getting his usual bowls of ramen from Ichiraku then heading back to his apartment Naruto got a bath ready and just soaked in it glad be relaxing, training really does take a toll after all, and so enjoying every second of his bath Naruto then got in his PJ's and hit the hay.
XXXX
Tsunade was sitting back in her office with the leader of the investigation into the prison. The man was not a ninja at all when it came to physical ability, but his mind more then made up for that as a criminal investigator. Tsunade had assigned him to find out whatever he could about the break in and give a report, now was the time for that report.
"Report." The investigator fidgeted a little under her gaze
"Of course Hokage-sama, at exactly 0927 hours chakra from the curse seal had been detected by one of the seals installed in the cell. Guards moved in almost immediately to restrain the prisoner only to be barred at the door. The window had been blocked somehow making visibility into the cell from the window impossible. And until you showed up no matter of technique was able to open the door."
"I've got that already, what progress have you made to find out who did it?"
"Well ma'am we know two things, there was no visible entry or exit and that they removed the curse seal. There was one clue left behind at the scene however." he held up a paper bag and inside was a brush and ink container." Tsunade raised her eyebrow at the items commonly used in the sealing area.
"As you no doubt have guessed by now we are assuming that the culprit used seals of some magnitude in order to prevent our entry, though with ice in the room as well that could possibly prove it wrong." Tsunade sighed
"Have that piece of evidence examined and any information whatsoever found out and reported at once."
XXXX
It had been a few days since the break-in and Naruto was set back in his usual routine. Get up go do missions for most of the day, train for the rest of the afternoon, eat dinner and go to bed. Falling back into a routine made the days pass quickly for Naruto while he and Sakura continued to be like strangers to each other.
It had been almost a week since then and Naruto was waking up for another day of manual la.. I mean D-ranked missions. After getting out of the shower and getting dressed Naruto walked back through his bedroom door into the kitchen. Yawning Naruto passed his table.
"Good Morning dear child."
"'yawn' Good morning Bird-Man." opening the ramen cup he stopped halfway and realized what was up now. He would have freaked out but realizing who it was he relaxed.
"So what's up Bird-man is it safe to go back yet? It is getting really boring around here since Granny still refuses to send me on higher ranked missions." Medivh laughed in his chair at the table.
"Yes my boy it is now suitably safe, I have been able to find that they have finished the investigation into the break in for now. I would be careful this time around, many things have changed back in your area of Azeroth." This should have gotten Naruto interested but instead it got him angsty about what he could possibly mean.
"You know I can sort of get how you know information about my world what with your magic and all but how do you know what's going on in your world since you said you left it for good."
"I have to give you information from time to time somehow don't I? Lets just say it's my little secret. So be ready for anything out there." Nodding Naruto sent out a clone to go to Tsunade while he took his time finishing his meal. The two made some small talk while Naruto finished, then afterwards Medivh ported both of them to the cavern and Naruto was through.
On the other side Naruto got to work making the most of his time. Making alot of clones to make up for not being there for a couple of days he sent them out to the various residents of the valley. On the other hand he started his usual training with some different techniques along with his physical training. He had just gotten started when he got a memory from one of his clones, squinting Naruto went outside the tower and walked to the ogre compound. One thing he noticed was that there were actually some of the Harpies in the camp. Not alot in comparison to the ogres but enough to be noticeable. Walking up to Gurunk, who he recognized because of the flail on his back, Naruto spoke up.
"What's goin on Gurunk?" Hearing the voice Gurunk turned around and grinned
"Oi' boss it's you! We was worried that you wouldn't be back." Naruto grinned slightly
"Let's just say I hit a snag for a little while."
"You should enlighten us sometime then human." hearing that familiar voice Naruto leaned to the side looked past Gurunk's bulk to notice that Podarge was there too.
"Nice to see you too Podarge." she let out a meh before speaking up again.
"Well human it seems it took you a while but you were correct in your deal, I am surprised at your magic though, multiples of you is quite a feat." Naruto grinned at the praise
"So how did all of this?" he gestured to several mixed species groups."Happen?" Podarge glanced at Gurunk before continuing
"Well Human I decided that if we are going to share this home than we might as well come to an understanding, you did not show up for the last few days when we needed your help." Naruto had the decency to blush
"Uhhh yea, sorry about that but I had something important to do and I couldn't be here."
"Luckily your...chieftan was nice enough to help out when he felt like it." Naruto looked surprised at Gurunk only to see him shrug.
"Well boss said he would help you so I do what the boss does..." Naruto was honestly surprised, but there were so many more things that would probably surprise him later so he shrugged.
"Well yea anyway I'm sorry about not showing up, but don't worry I should be able to help from now on." Podarge accepted that with a nod
"So other than you guys getting along is there anything else that happened?"
"Actually you might be interested to know about the humans in the land next over." Naruto raised an eyebrow
"What about them?"
"Well my sisters that have flown over have witnessed humans fighting other humans quite often, perhaps something has happened?" Naruto looked concerned and decided that would be the first thing that he would do.
"Well I'll go see what is up then, you need anything?" Podarge's eyes lit up for a split second
"I'm sure I could find something for you to do." Naruto shuddered before making his clones and heading out along the trail towards Duskwood.
As he walked he marveled at how peaceful the valley looked, with new vegetation growing at a remarkable rate, from grass to bushes and trees he wasn't sure what would come next. Then came the odd part, it seemed that whenever deadwind pass ended and Duskwood began the clouds covered Duskwood onward. As he walked down the trail and into town he noticed something odd. One was the lack of guards, there were usually alot more than he could see at the moment. That and some of them were no more than civilians with improvised weapons. Looking at them as they maneuvered around to do whatever he went into town and walked up to the nearest person.
"Hey what's going on?" The person turned and immediately recognized the boy
"Hey Naruto it is you, thank the light! The Defias Brotherhood are trying to move their operation into Duskwood. I don't know much but all the Night Watch were gathered and are now attempting to push them back." Naruto didn't know what this Brotherhood was but he guessed it was bad news.
"Where is Ebonlocke?"
"She and the rest of the Night watch are down the trail you should see if you can help."
"What about you guys?" The civilan shrugged and lofted his sword
"We are not as frail as we seem. We've been living here for most of our lives so the weak are quickly toughened up or weeded out." The harshness of the woods suddenly sank in and he had a new found respect for these people.
"So yea go ask one of the guards to take you to the commander and she should have something for you." Naruto nodded and walked up to a guard
"Hey can you take me to the commander?" The guard's eyes widened in recognition as he looked at Naruto
"Of course, the commander could use all the help she can get. Follow me and we'll try to make good time."
The man started jogging out of the village with Naruto close on his heels, he could have gone faster but decided to stick with the man just in case.
XXXX
He and his unit had been sent ahead to cause as much havoc as they could while their main force was held up by those pathetic Night Watch. As they moved along the side of the forest road in the shadows. Quickly holding up his hand his unit halted and took cover behind trees that were facing the road. Looking out past the tree he could see one of those guards making their way down the path towards the front, along side him was a kid...odd.
But that didn't matter anyhow, both were targets of opportunity and with reinforcements occupied ahead of them how could they mess this up...
XXXX
Naruto and the guard had gone along the trail for a couple minutes when he sensed something in the forest. Looking back and forth Naruto suddenly heard something unnatural.
"Fwoosh!"
Reacting on instinct Naruto raised his hand towards the direction of the sound and his barrier popped into place. Feeling a couple of heavy impacts bounce off his shield Naruto turned to the guard to see that he had blocked with his shield. Looking in the direction of the forest Naruto saw someone move back around the trunk of a tree. Quickly thinking Naruto made two clones and grabbed an arm of each before spinning once and throwing one into the branches of the tree and the other towards opening next to the tree. The clone had landed and taken two steps when was nearly taken off at the head by a sword. Thanks to his quick reflexes though, he was able to duck under the swing and avoid damage. Doing a 180 Naruto managed to sweep the attacker off his feet, following through Naruto brought his hand up in an open palmed strike to the gut and let out a wave of kinetic force as he made contact with flesh.
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The plan didn't work as she suddenly saw the boy multiply and move to engage them. The shots should have hit their mark but the boy had quick reflexes along with magic. As soon as they had gone back in cover the boy was on them. She had just put the one in the trees in the sight of her crossbow when she heard a scream and a loud crunch. Quickly glancing to her right she saw that her captain had been catapulted into a tree.
Putting her eyes back on her opponents she took aim at the one at the tree. Letting lose a bolt the boy dodged with agility that would made other rogues look like elephants in comparison, quickly she made an attempt to reload her crossbow. After dodging the boy was now making his way towards her with surprising speed. Forgoing her crossbow she took out her twin daggers from her belt and waiting for the boy to get in range.
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Naruto had dodged the attacks that were fired at him and was now moving to engage the one female of the group. Before he could engage her however she had pulled out two curved daggers and was waiting for him. Not one to keep people waiting he rushed in and attempted a spinning roundhouse kick.
Trying to intercept his attack with her daggers she succeeded in deflecting his attack and turning the force to her side, but as she went to backstab him he suddenly ducked and spun around causing her to miss but at the same give him an opportunity to attack. Throwing a punch into her gut the air was forced from her lungs, grimacing she attempted to stab the target that was now right in front of her face but was slow as the target suddenly disappeared. Feeling a grip on her waist she was suddenly flung spinning through the air until she hit the ground hard nearly knocking her unconcious
Naruto did not like to hit girls, but when it was either him or them he would usually choose him any day of the week. He did not have time to gloat however as the three other members of the group started to engage him.
A little green creature with pointed ears and wielding a mace along with a dagger was now upon him. He was dodging the little guys attacks but he had agility for one so small and scrawny, he was constantly kept on the defensive until the other clone came into play. Speaking a few words the clone pulled his hands back and thrust them forward as if pushing something. Out of the hands came a fierce wind that blew one of the other humans across the forest, the other one barely holding his ground. The goblin became distracted enough however for Naruto to make a move. Moving fast, Naruto reared his leg back and punted the little guy with all of his might. He nearly laughed at how hilarious it was as the goblin flew through the air and landed quite a distance away. He looked back to the last human that was getting up, but before he could make a move his clone beat him to it.
This was not supposed to be happening, one guard and a kid should have been easy pickings but instead now they were getting their asses kicked. Trying to get up and hopefully get away the man looked up in time to see one of the kids do a fancy kick to nothing in front of him. He was about to think about how stupid this kid was when all of a sudden he was sent flying into the air and smashing head first into a tree.
Naruto panted as he finished off the last of the group. Looking at the damage Naruto commanded his clones to get the bodies and made 3 more to help out. As he watched his clones go about their work he saw the guard looking on in awe.
"Wow...I know that you beat Patches and those Worgen but seeing what you did now...puts you on a whole other level." Naruto grinned at the praise and watched as the last of the attackers was gathered.
"That was probably an advanced party, the brotherhood are managing to get past the main force. We should hurry and get there quick." Agreeing, Naruto and the man made their way towards the front.
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Arriving at the front Naruto looked around at all the activity. The Night Watch were set up at a 3 way intersection with 2 barricades set up, though one was more heavily manned than the other. Back towards Duskwood off the road to the side was what looked like a barracks of tents and many other tents which he guessed played different functions such as armorers and the such. Seeing Althea at the center of the intersection at what looked like a table was pointing at what he guessed was a map.
" I'm guessing you've already seen the commander over there, I would go and check in to see if there's something you can do." with clones behind him Naruto walked up to the table and waited for her to stop talking.
"The Ogre mages are going to be a major obstacle for any team we try to infiltrate into the ogre mound, I don't need to remind you all that with the Ogres now in cohorts with the Brotherhood we have a much steeper task in pushing them back. But with them occupied at Raven Hill for the foreseeable future we may find an opportunity soon. For now all we can do is hold out until we get word from any of the missives we sent out. You all have your orders, dismissed." all of the people at the table nodded before walking to their respective places.
Seeing that the meeting was over Naruto decided now was a good time.
"It's good to see you again Commander." Althea turned towards the voice and her eyes widened
"Naruto? is that you?"
"In the flesh, would be nice to say it was at a better time but..."
"Ah yes...a while after you left the Defias Brotherhood began another attempt to extend themselves into Duskwood."
"How are they doing?" Althea sighed before responding
"Honestly the only reason we haven't been overrun yet is because the undead at Raven hill and the Sorcerer that command them are putting up a fight."
"Why would they want to move in here anyway? It's not like there is alot here...no offfense."
"None taken, though clearly you don't know about the mines in the south. If they get access to those they will be able to produce alot more goods and weapons. We can't let them do that or else who knows what else they would be able to accomplish. Though without reinforcements I fear that even with your help we wont be able to push them all back."
"How many are there?"
"From our estimates we guess that the enemy numbers around two thousand roughly, though with the ogres now on their side their numbers are more like three thousand now." The numbers danced in Naruto's head and he nodded
"What about your forces?" Althea looked off towards where he guessed the enemy was and kept talking.
"Right now with casualties and all, I'm estimating we have about seven hundred in fighting condition, not anywhere near enough to be able to push them back." Naruto raised an eyebrow
"What was that about pushing them out of duskwood then?" she laughed slightly
"Humans tend to fight better if you give them hope don't you think?" Naruto thought for a second and had to agree, given motivation humans could do a many number of things, but against those numbers he wasn't sure they could do it without suffering massive, if not total casualties. Thinking for a second Naruto thought of something, anything he could do, until it suddenly clicked and he smiled. Althea noticed and wasn't sure whether to be happy or scared
"So I'm guessing you have something in mind then Naruto?" Naruto nodded but then remembered how the ogres and humans hadn't necessarily gotten along before.
"I do...but I'm not sure how it'll work..." Althea however looked hopeful
"If you any ideas whatsoever I'm all ears." Naruto sighed before going into an explanation
"You see I was made chieftan of the ogres of Deadwind Pass..." going from there Naruto explained the situation with his clan and the possiblity of them helping...or at least fighting something other than the Night Watch.
"With my clan as more reinforcements we should be able to bolster your ranks even more."
"I'm not sure Naruto, the fact that you were able to become chieftan of the ogres is quite a feat in itself, however getting them to fight alongside humans...I don't see how it could last."
"Well they have been itching for a fight lately so they will be jumping for a chance at battle, if all else fails we could get them by themselves and say attack everything in front of you." Althea nodded, the idea of ogres fighting with humans was quite an odd one but at this point she wasn't one to be picky
"Well...ok, but I'll need to talk to them first." Naruto smiled and nodded before holding out his hand and opening up a portal.
"One second Naruto." running off she suddenly dragged a man wearing a purple robe and questioning her the whole time.
"Commander what am I doing? Where are we going?"
"We, Marcus, are going somewhere and I need you around in case something happens." she didn't say what but Naruto guessed it was something to do with a quick escape, him being a mage and all.
Althea pushed Marcus through the portal and followed suite. Walking in after her Naruto watched as Althea looked slightly disoriented while the mage looked just fine. After waiting around for a bit she finally took note of her surroundings along with her new companion.
"Where are we Naruto?" Naruto started walking towards the door in response. Unsure of what to do Althea looked to the mage who looked back at her. Shrugging she followed Naruto out the door, with the mage hurrying to catch up.
Naruto watched as they both shielded their eyes from the sunlight, looking around Althea seemed confused at first but when she looked up at where they just came out of it suddenly clicked
"We were in Karazhan weren't we..." Naruto nodded
"Bingo, now lets hurry, the Defias won't wait forever." Walking off towards the entrance to the ogre camp Naruto saw Althea and the mage looking in awe at the surroundings around them.
"Hey Naruto how did..." when two guards sitting there saw Althea and the mage they yelled a battle cry before charging at them.
Althea drew her sword and shield while the mage grabbed his staff, sighing Naruto thrust his hands towards the two guards. Both suddenly crashed into the wall behind them and were dazed for a second. Naruto began walking towards them
"They are with me you two..." both got the point as they nodded and stood there eyeing the two strangers next to their boss. Looking back at his companions Naruto noticed expressions of awe from the mage and Althea.
"You coming guys?" snapping out of it they both warily walked past the guards who eyed them the whole way.
They moved towards the main tent which had been claimed to be Naruto's, but he let Gurunk use it. Naruto looked around until he saw an ogre with an eye patch.
"Hey Gurunk I'm back." turning from some of his comrades and a couple of his clones Gurunk smiled before looking at the others who were with him
"Hey boss who are da udder humies?"
"This one, can finally get you guys a good fight you haven been wanting." Naruto smiled as all the ogres within hearing range turned towards her with hopeful looks. Suddenly getting a bit nervous Althea walked forward towards Gurunk.
"Uhh yes well, The Defias Brotherhood have began an invasion of Duskwood and we are not going to be able to beat them back without some help so..."
"Uhh Commander?"
"Ya?" Naruto pointed to Gurunk who was rallying the ogres into a frenzy
"I think they agree..."
"Wow...and I even had a speech...talk about anti-climactic."
"And what about us human? Do you plan on asking us too?" Naruto looked behind him and saw Podarge land with a quick flap from her wings to slow her descent. Althea and the mage had looked nervous for a second before going wide eyed again at what this kid had pulled off.
"Well the Ogres kind of live for a fight so I figured I could get them to help out, but you guys don't really do that, so I won't force you into it." Podarge laughed at the kid's gesture of kindness
"I must say if you think we will not take this opportunity for some spoils human, you don't know much about us at all." Naruto smiled and nodded while turning back to Althea.
"Well you got your reinforcements..."
XXXX
Naruto looked over the tactical map again and was thinking of possibilities to put into action. Around him Althea, Gurunk, and Podarge, along with their respective retinues were discussing what they thought they could do. Even with the Ogres and the Harpys as their allies Naruto knew they were still outnumbered quite a bit. But with his clones he figured that would even it out a bit more. From what he learned from skirmishes and ambushes they had put into place, they were in for no simple task. Going into battle with him against a couple dozen or even a hundred enemies was something he was used to planning for, but this was a whole new scale for him. There were hundreds of lives at stake and thousands of enemies that wanted to kill them. Even with his clones Naruto had never been in a fight like this before. He would have to have a whole different mind set for this kind of battle.
"Gah why don't we jus go attack dose humies already! Sitting around here is borin!" Althea sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time, which to be honest was actually quite close.
"We've been over this ogre, even with all of you we are still outnumbered, a charge at this moment would not drive them out and would likely backfire."
"We can't just sit here either though..." Naruto had finally decided to join the conversation
"If we give them too long they may overwhelm the undead and then move onto us." She would say something against him but she knew he was right too.
"What do you suggest we do then?" Naruto pointed at the map where the enemy ogre mound was.
"Before we do anything we have to remove this obstacle, the ogres will make any attempt to make an actual assault on the Brotherhood that much harder. If we can remove them as a threat we could move from there."
"But to remove them would cost way too many men, and even after that we would have to mount an assault immediately on the brotherhoods flank, or else they would find out and reform their flank."
"Why not just beat dere boss, boss?" Naruto looked at Gurunk for a second wondering what he meant but then it dawned him and looked at Althea, who seemed confused.
"Althea! We've got our way around the obstacle!" She looked at him for a second before he went into his explanation
XXXX
Today had been a boring day, no humies to kill and he was forced to stay in the camp all day. He was about to go crazy when all of a sudden a small humie approached the road, Finally! He had found his distraction, letting out a war cry and charging he went for an overhead smash but before he could finish a great force hit his head knocking him over and making him see stars. Looking back up slowly he saw that the humey was gone. Checking around again he was about to give up when he heard yelling.
Naruto made his way towards the back of the camp where the cave was, according to reports this was where the leader was. Landing at the edge of the cave Naruto took a big breath.
"I CHALLENGE DA LEADER OF DIS CLAN TO A FIGHT! UNLESS HE'S A SCARED LITTLE HUMEY!" Naruto cleared his throat after the declaration. Ogres all around him were moving closer and drawing within striking range until a voice stopped them.
"OI' WHO'S DA GIT DAT CHALLENGES GLUBTOK! I'LL BURN DA FLESH FROM YUR BONES!"
Out of the cave an ogre, obviously the chieftan, walked into the fray. However he noticed a few different things different than the other ogres. One he was dressed differently with red cloth appendages acting as clothes instead of armor, the other was he possessed two heads instead of one.
Naruto would have retorted again but was stopped as he felt a build up of energy, leaping to the left Naruto dodged a wall of fire that rushed past. Reacting, Naruto created half a dozen clones and sent them at Glubtok before throwing two handfuls of kunai at him.
Glubtok reacted quicker than he thought by pulling up a barrier similar to his which knocked away all the kunai, while all around him the clones spread out and began to attack only for one of them to be punched by Glubtok, not just a regular fist either. His fists were covered in fire which seemed to flare after each punch. As the clones attempted to attack in what ways they could Glubtok began to viciously punch anything in range of him already taking down two more clones. Naruto spoke a few words while gathering his chakra, in between his hands a ball of fire formed forcing the fire to condense and spin Naruto then threw the attack at Glubtok. As said Ogre looked at the technique he pulled up a barrier enough to intercept it before it hit. An explosion of fire energy burst forward enveloping the ogre and a couple of the clones in the process.
Waiting for the smoke to clear Naruto tensed up waiting for the shape of the ogre to reveal itself, and it did not disappoint. Out of the smoke the Chieftan appeared intact, but not totally unharmed. Burns covered alot of his midsection, but from what Naruto knew from personal experience, that would not hinder the ogre enough to notice. Suddenly both heads of the Ogre grimaced, instead of fire now enveloping his hands it seemed ice now enveloped them. Naruto made a couple more clones before reciting another spell to use. As the clones got closer Glubtok released a cone of that frost energy colliding with several of the new clones dispersing them.
Naruto, not to be outdone, waved his hands around in a flourish before thrusting his right hand out towards the chieftan around his hand shot out water tendrils shooting out in a ever spinning double heelix pattern without being interconnected. Glubtok, repeating the same action from before, thrust one hand out and released a cone of ice energy freezing the water in mid-air, that did not stop however as the ice heelix continued on and latched onto Glubtok's arm. Naruto, moving quickly, wove a spell and released it. As the spell took effect the ice on Glubtok's arm began to grow and expand.
Suddenly seeing the threat Glubtok began to claw at the ice, but it just continued to grow not matter how much he hit it. Thinking fast Glubtok made his left hand covered in fire and then started to bash away at it. It took a few hits but he finally got it off his arm. Looking back to the fight Glubtok only had a second to see Naruto land before it was over.
Naruto, using the ice as a distraction, rushed forward gathered fire energy into his hand increasing it and condensing it. Landing in front of Glubtok Naruto saw that the Ogre had just noticed him, pity him. Naruto thrust his hand forward and stopped a couple of feet from Glubtok. Releasing the fire energy in a forward cone similar to Glubtok's ice attack Naruto could feel the heat come off his technique as it incinerated the chieftan's body. Glubtok didn't even have time to scream as his body was all but charred remains after Naruto released his technique. The charred remains of the former chieftan fell backwards at the mouth of the cave and landed with a thud.
The sound of searing flesh in the background, Naruto turned and surveyed the camp.
"I'm the boss now! Anyone got a problem with that, step forward!..." Ogres looked around at eachother in shock, none knowing what to do.
One brave ogre had taken half a step before Naruto unleashed a wave of kinetic energy that collided with said Ogre's head, knocking him off his feet.
"Anyone else?" None of the ogres moved. Nodding Naruto created a clone before rushing off to set their plan in motion before a response could be mustered.
Glancing into the treeline surrounding the ogre pit Naruto saw several shadows quickly make their way away from the scene.
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Fast-walking around the lines three distinct groups could be seen gathering their strength. The Night Watch, which consisted of humans, were making sure their weapons, armor, and shields were all in good condition. The Ogres, which outnumbered the Night Watch slightly, were getting restless just sitting around. Some were fiddling with their weapons while others were looking around curiously, considering the Ogres didn't have the quality weapons and armor of the more civilized races, they did not have much to maintain, which was probably something Naruto could attempt to change later. And lastly were the Harpies, which were the least numerous of the group, but with their ability to fly and some of them able to use magic Naruto knew they would be able to hold their own.
The plan so far had revolved around getting the ogres out of the way, once that was done they could set their real plan into motion. The enemy had been split up into tree distinct groups, the main base at the town of raven hill, the cemetery where the main battlefield was, and a small perimeter keeping the road between the two safe. The plan that had been established was quite simple, it was the distribution of forces that was going to be different. The two flanking groups for the main base and the graveyard were going to be the most reinforced of the groups. Attempting to evenly split up the numbers among three distinct groups was a challenge but more emphasis was placed on the flanks than the center, after all the main battlefield was where most of the brotherhood was occupied and the main camp was in distance of reinforcements from down the road.
Scouting done by Naruto had revealed that the forest line along the graveyard was the perfect place to go if they hurried.
"Althea, he's dead! Move now!"
Signalling to various sargents and leaders of the various races they began to move towards the various Narutos that had portals up to specific places around the battlefield. As human squads, Ogre mobs, and Harpies moved through the portals a storm seemed to brew overhead as if preparing for the upcoming battle.
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He had been assigned a guard position over the supply line which basically meant he was to watch over the nonexistent enemy that would attempt to attack. A rain drop hit his knee as he sat there. Slowly but surely it began to rain harder and harder until he was sopping wet. He had been bored out of his mind fiddling with his crossbow when he thought he saw something move in the tree line. Looking carefully he squinted through the rain making sure he didn't see anything, a few more seconds he didn't see anything and he went back to his position of relaxation. Again he heard more rustling and thought he saw a figure or two moving on the edge of the forest.
Not taking a chance he was about to call on his sergeant when an arrow came flying through the storm and impacted the crate used as a temporary wall. Bringing up his shield quickly he felt more arrows pang off his shield and all around him. Looking at the other outposts he could see the same treatment for them too, some were going down but thanks to forewarning now most were getting behind cover of some kind.
A couple more barrages and suddenly it all stopped. Carefully peeking across the barrier he stepped out slowly and was about to go contact somebody when a couple dozen shadows were launched into the air at each of the supply outposts. From those shadows a bunch of shuriken were thrown at targets in the outposts. The others hadn't noticed as soon as him because they went down under the barrage. Thanks to his shield he was able to avoid any going into anything vital but one went into his left thigh.
As he was about to pull it out until he heard a cry from across the field.
His blood went cold as a line of Ogres and Humans were slowly made visible through the rain. The three outposts along the road tried to orient themselves only for the humans flying through the air to land in the camps, some doing a spell of some sort causing explosive force upon landing. Others landed on other brotherhood members skidding across the ground. The camps were then starting to fight back when the battle line crashed into the camps.
Humans climbed over the barricades and Ogres crashed through them attempting to get through the defenders behind them. Harpies flew low and fast picking up defenders and flying even further before dropping them. The defenders attempted to fight back the combination force only to be disoriented and destroyed in a matter of minutes.
As Ogres and Harpies began running around collecting loot and prisoners the Humans began orienting themselves in preparation for the next phase of the plan.
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On the right flank of the allied forces the main battle between the undead under Morbant Fel and the Defias Brotherhood raged on as the undead still managed to find more bodies to throw at the Defias line. The Defias moved towards the center of the Graveyard where the cabin on top of the hill was home to Morbant Fel. Each step into the Graveyard,however, always cost more casualties for the Brotherhood.
The Brotherhood were in the middle of the biggest push by the undead so far, not far off was the cabin and if they pushed through this offensive than they could assault the center of the undead occupation. It was a scene of absolute slaughter, various species of the brotherhood were having trouble forcing back the undead. A human squad of defias unleashed bolt after bolt of crossbow ammo into the undead force only for a couple undead skeleton hands to grab each foot of the squad and drag the bodies attached to them out of the ground. Panic followed as each member of the squad futiley attempted to get rid of the undead now attached to them. Those attempts didn't last long as the undead ripped them apart. Further down the line towards the main road warriors were wading their way through undead while mages and ranged fighters continued to bombard the undead with all matter of spells and ammunition.
As the Defias kept pushing back a massive roar came from the graveyard and the biggest push by the undead had gone up in intensity. Corpses of humans and defias brothers were thrown into the assault. As the wave of undead crashed into the line of Defias ground soldiers a whistle sounded through the air. Ignored by the combatants they kept fighting until a wave of projectiles suddenly hit the mass of fighters. Undead and living went down alike as the projectles pierced flesh and bone, some of the arrows even exploding upon impact with either magic or explosives causing further casualties.
A second wave of projectiles came in with a devastating but slightly lesser effect due to the fighters becoming aware of it now. After the second wave however a line of figures appeared charging out of the treeline and directly towards the right flank. With this sudden development and projectiles still flying Defias commanders were dumbstruck as the allied battleline crashed into the flank with a crash of thunder going off overhead. They weren't just consolidating their forces to fighting the brotherhood either, as far as one could see the battle line managed to reach to well across the whole of the Undead line too.
With Ogres bashing in Defias skull, humans decapitating undead and Harpies picking off random ones at will the battle was beginning to turn. The charge had devastating results as the brotherhood were not doing well at regrouping, meanwhile the undead were attacking everything that moved.
Behind the lines however Naruto moved quickly to fulfill another part of the plan. Launching himself, with the help of his clones, up and over the battle line Naruto managed to land right in front of the undead headquarters. Looking around at the undead guarding the surprisingly nice cottage Naruto went over the plan in his head again.
Flashback
"Now there is something else to consider in this attack too, the leader of the undead is a man by the name of Morbent Fel." Naruto listened closely as Althea described the situation
"Morbant Fel has leadership over all the undead of Raven Hill, maybe even all of duskwood, therefore we need to eliminate him as a factor during the attack. With him gone the undead will be leaderless and some may even be released."
"I'll take care of him." Naruto spoke with his usual enthusiasm.
Althea eyed him carefully before responding.
"Be very careful when going up against him, he has managed to last this long and he has only gotten stronger over time."
End Flashback
Naruto began the grisly work of removing the outer guards from the equation, which didn't last but a minute. Walking into the cabin Naruto was surprised by the lack of guards inside the house. Sensing something upstairs Naruto slowly made his way up keeping his senses open. As he approached the top of the stairs he heard a snivley voice speak up.
"Yeess they are finally here." Naruto rushed into the room only to stop as he saw a figure step of some sort of summoning portal. Moving quickly Naruto moved to take out who he presumed to be Morbent Fel, only to be suddenly stunned by a sudden high pitched shriek of the figure summoned. Naruto had to stop and hold his head as the scream seemed to pierce his skull and batter his brain. This left an opening easily exploited however as a plate gauntleted hand backhanded Naruto out of the room and through the window.
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The battle for Raven Hill was slowly but surely progressing towards it's end. As the allies continued to press through the flanks of both armies a second attack came from the main road that the forts were on. Again not expecting this the defias lines were thrown into further disarray and chaos as they were assaulted on two fronts.
Gurunk, in the middle of the chaos, was given a wide berth as he wildly swung his flail, crushing anything that dared get in his way. The only thing going through his and all the other ogre's minds was something boss had told them before the battle.
"Kill the ones with the red bandanas." and boy were there many of them. Oddly enough before the battle all members of the Night Watch made sure they weren't wearing red.
Letting loose with a horizontal swing, he was rewarded with the sight of two humans being sent flying.
Podarge and her sisters did not stand idle either, while in a prolonged melee contest harpies were at a disadvantage they did make up for it by being fast agile flyers. Using their hunting tactics multiple sisters would swoop in low and fast before grabbing an enemy with their claws and flying away fast. If their claws didn't kill them than the drop from the sheer heights that they went too did.
Podarge let loose lightning into both hordes and watched as they were shocked while her sisters continued to prowl the battlefield.
The humans, also holding their own, were cutting through the center of the battleline. Defias,undead, it did not matter both were foes that threatened their livelihood and needed to be rid of. The battle continued on with both the undead and defias lines collapsing when all of a sudden a shriek caused the whole battlefield to stop in unison.
Podarge and Gurunk were slightly intimidated but Althea had a look of horror on her face.
"It couldn't be..."
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Landing hard Naruto slowly got up to see the summoned figure land on his feet. Naruto inspected the figure. Clad in a black robe with the hood covering every facial feature and only the armored hands and feet visible, Naruto was intimidated. A slash and then a cry was heard from above and Naruto noticed another of the wraith like figures descending with a sword drawn. Even without trying he could sense great magic coming from the sword. Seemingly not to be outdone the other wraithlike figure unsheathed a similar sword and both began advancing on Naruto.
Scrambling up Naruto took a kunai in each hand, which at this point seemed woefully inadequate. Both advanced on him until one was suddenly hit by a glowing hammer stunning it and forcing it back. A battlecry soon followed and a human wielding a a shield ran up to the wraith, not losing momentum the paladin charged and bashed the wraith with his shield.
"You take care of the other one kid!" Naruto watched as suddenly many humanoid figures followed the human, including dwarves a gnome a night elf and even a draenai.
Naruto was left to stare down the other cloaked figure alone, this one hadn't seemed to notice the others trouble with the group of heroes. The black rider let out shrill and charged at Naruto. Better prepared to brace himself Naruto was not caught offguard but still flinched visibly none the less. Naruto was able to dodge a slash that would have relieved him of his head all the while getting within the enemy's guard and getting a slash in on the right side of the riders body.
However this rider proved to be quick on his feet as he stepped out of the way and attempted an overhead slash. Jumping to the left Naruto managed to evade the attack. Speaking quickly Naruto then turned around and stuck out his right hand. Lashes of light blue energy streamed from Naruto's fingers and made their way towards the rider, the energy behaved exactly like that, like energy. Going at random angles ultimately towards the rider, the earth was trenched where his attack had hit and carved along the ground.
The rider made no attempt to dodge as the energy collided with him, waving his hand to the right the riders body was sent flying through the trunk of a thick tree making smoke and debris cloud the vision of his opponent. Naruto had the kunai in his left hand and waited with baited breath for his opponent to reemerge. He was not disappointed as the rider charged through the debris doing his mind shattering shriek. Naruto grimaced and tried again, this time however his opponent did do something.
Sticking out his sword, Black energy tendrils emerged and intercepted their equivilant. The collision of energies was a battle of wills as Naruto pushed more power into his technique hoping to overpower his enemy. The energy collided with eachother at seemingly random places and when they did it always met with destructive results. New craters were created, trees were destroyed and a chunk of the house was suddenly hit, causing an explosion of debris.
As both fighters struggled the dark figure was suddenly hit in the back by something and stumble forward. Stumbling caused the rider to lose focus and cease his energy attack. As the rider was about to check what hit him from behind he was hit from the front by Naruto's energy attack. Sent flying again was more controlled this time as the rider landed on his feet and skidded to a stop.
Naruto watched as the spell that his clone had hit the figure in the back went to work expanding chains of energy across the cloaked figure's body in an attempt to restrain him. However as he was about to engage again his enemy thrust his sword through the center of the spell work and it collapsed. After ridding itself of his restraint the rider rushed forward and lashed out again in an attempt to bisect him. Trying to parry the blow Naruto brought up his kunai quickly in an attempt to push the force of the blow upwards over his head. The wraith's blade, however, cut clean through his kunai and bit into his chest, leaving a gash. Naruto stumbled back as the pain suddenly hit him. He remembered the time he stabbed himself to rid his body of poison, how much that had hurt. This pain was beyond that to a whole other level. Gritting his teeth Naruto spun around and got into a position preparing another spell.
Before he could do it however Naruto heard someone calling him.
"Hey kid!" Looking over Naruto barely had enough time to register the weapon flying through the air towards him. Reacting quickly he managed to snag it out of mid-air. Recognition dawned as he realized he was tossed a sword to fight with, it appeared to be a plain longsword but Naruto's senses told him otherwise.
About to thank whoever threw him the weapon he was nearly blindsided by the wraith. Shrieking again, which thankfully announced his charge, the rider attempted the same slash again, only for Naruto to bring up the sword and parry the blow.
'Huh, never fought with a sword before.' Naruto glanced from the sword to the rider.
'Well now's as good a time as ever.' Flourishing a bit Naruto charged in and the battle recommenced, the pain of his injury focusing his abilities quite well.
Sparks flew as both Naruto and his opponent slashed, stabbed, parried, and otherwise fought it out. While the rider had plenty of battlefield experience when it came to using a sword, Naruto was proving himself adept at learning on the fly and what to do and not to do when using a sword. Both continued this dance until both blades suddenly collided with both their respective wielders attemping to push the other back.
Naruto's physical strength had gone up leaps and bounds but against an opponent like this it seemed as if it's strength were increased by magical means. Neither side was willing to give an inch as they stared into eachother's eyes, or lack thereof as Naruto discovered. Looking into the hood Naruto could not see anything, no flesh, no face, his senses however told him something was there.
Wanting to get control back Naruto enhanced his muscles with chakra instantly allowing him to push the riders blade back in a show of force, using that momentum Naruto did a turn and with his other hand made a rasengan, he was not sure if it would work but he would have to try, putting all his willpower, all his force, and all his concentration into this attack Naruto spun the rest of the way and brought the Rasengan slamming into the figure. Colliding with what he assumed to be flesh Naruto felt surprised when he impacted the body.
Dark energy sprouted where he made contact as if trying to force the Rasengan away, Naruto held firm under the barrage of energy pushing harder and harder. The harder he pushed it seemed the more resistance he encountered until he got it to sink all the way into the so called body. An ensuing explosion tore through the area as trees were uprooted and earth was flying.
Naruto had his hand held out as if he still had the Rasengan in the dark figure's gut. Breathing heavily Naruto saw that the Dark Rider was gone, with a trench behind where he stood from the explosion.
Realizing that the fight was over the pain chose that particular moment to rear it's ugly head. Naruto fell to his knees as the pain in his chest bloomed. That wasn't all that was injured either, he looked down at his arm and saw that his hand seemed to be burned, however it hurt alot more than a normal burn did. As he slowly used the sword to get up a memory suddenly passed his awareness causing him to nearly stumble. Reviewing it Naruto cursed out loud.
"Shit! I gotta get back fast." Naruto had two clones grab under each of his arms and take him back to the main army camp, sword in hand. On his way back he saw the battle going on from the distance and also from the memories of his clones. One particular memory disturbed him, it appeared that the brotherhood had indeed called for and got reinforcements which were now battering Raven Hill, which their forces had taken. With the rest of their forces still occupied finishing off the right flank of the brotherhood and the undead Naruto quickly made as many clones as he could for backup, which amounted to a hundred at that moment. With that they all headed out. Though he did send some of them back to the cabin to find Morbent Fel.
Arriving back at the main army camp Naruto saw the officer in charge and headed over to him.
Quickly explaining his situation Naruto didn't leave any room for response and left the sword with him, quickly making their way through Duskwood and back through Deadwind pass, Naruto quickly made a portal and had all of them run through. When he got through he was surprised to see Medivh not there, but instead of looking for him Naruto opened the passage, and made his way back to the village. Managing to draw attention away from himself the whole time through the village Naruto realized that his jacket was a wreck. Making a quick detour to his apartment Naruto ran inside and unloaded his pockets before throwing his clothes down on his bed. Changing quickly Naruto winced as the chest wound slowly closed, the odd thing though was that nasty looking puss oozed out every so often. The wounds on his hand didn't hurt as bad but they were annoying none the less. Now that his chest was covered in bandages and his hand was almost fully healed Naruto tried walking by himself, with effort Naruto was able to push through the pain and slowly make his way out.
Getting constant reports, via clones, of where he currently was Naruto made his way to the main street and found him and Sakura going to the tower. Carefully running along the rooftops Naruto scouted out and managed to distract all people at once, subtley slipping himself into his clones place. The reason Naruto had come back at that moments notice was it had concerned Sasuke and his fate.
Both were admitted into the Hokage's office no problem and soon they stood there as Tsunade stared back at them. She had her hands interlocked in front of her face in deep thought, Naruto was about to ask what was up but Tsunade spoke first.
"Sasuke has spent time in prison, but apparently he recieved an uninvited visitor the other day." Sakura and Naruto both raised their eyebrows though Naruto did it more to appear innocent.
"He has been relieved of the curse placed upon him by Orochimaru, and now the council is trying to decide what to do."
"What does that have to do with us?" Tsunade glanced at Naruto
"The council has decided to call you two as witnesses in hopes of getting more information of how Sasuke acted before and during the Curse Seal. With your help you'll make our decision making alot more closer to the truth." Glad that they were finally getting somewhere Naruto was grinning from ear to ear.
"If you too will follow me we will go ahead to the meeting chamber." Getting up from her desk she walked through the door and down the hall with both Naruto and Sakura in tow.
Naruto was holding in the pain from both his hand and his chest rather well but every other step his eye or lip would twitch. Naruto didn't notice that Tsunade's eyes narrowed at him. Going through a double door that was down the hall before the stairs Naruto saw that most heads of the various clans of Konoha were there, that and a very few civilian members were present. All present turned and looked at them as they entered Tsunade told them to stand at the center of the room and she went to the head of the semi circular table.
"This meeting to decide the fate of Sasuke Uchiha is now in session, today we have brought in his teamates from team 7 to give personal testimonies on various situations that he was in, Sakura the first question goes to you, how did Sasuke Uchiha get marked with the curse seal." Sakura stepped forward
"Well Hokage-sama we were in the forest of death competing in the second phase of the Chunin exams when we were attacked by a grass ninja, later revealed to be Orochimaru. Naruto and Sasuke fought him only for Orochimaru to do some seal on Naruto, than when he finally finished with Sasuke he extended his neck and bit Sasuke on the shoulder." Most members nodded going through the information that was already known to them.
"Ok Sakura when was the first time Sasuke used the energy of the curse seal?"
"After Orochimaru left I took both Naruto and Sasuke somewhere they could recover, however I was then attacked by sound ninjas that had been sent to kill Sasuke, but before they could finish the job Sasuke finally awoke with the curse seals energy, using it he managed to beat the sound ninjas and cause them to retreat."
"Was his behavior different after the curse seal activated?"
"It was like he was a completely different person honestly, he had enough recognition to recognize me and even asked who hurt me, however I think that was just an excuse to be able to test his power."
"So you're saying that his behavior was possibly influenced by the curse seal?"
"If I were to guess, I would say yes Hokage-same." Tsunade nodded.
"After Kakashi had the curse sealed did he return to normal?"
"Somewhat, I could tell that he was fighting against the seal though, he would be in pain and sometimes rub the area." Tsunade and a couple other heads nodded in acknowledgement.
"Ok Naruto you're turn, could you describe when you finally found Sasuke during the retrieval mission?" Naruto stepped forward then.
"Sure." Going back into his memory Naruto told them how Sasuke was sealed into some kind of container but then broke out of it before heading to the border, and once there Naruto told them how the curse seal had gotten even worse, along with what Sasuke said to him directly.
"So due to the sound four's tampering the curse spread even more, and with it's ability to influence his personality, do you think it could have influenced his thinking?" Naruto thought about it for a moment before responding
"I guess it could have been that way..."
"I have a feeling you're not totally convinced though..."
"Well I remember him saying that one of his only goals in life was to kill his brother, it is possible that he was influenced but I wouldn't put it past him to have gone semi-willingly." Tsunade raised an eyebrow while the rest of the council remained quiet. Danzo continued to eye Naruto, though for what reason he wasn't sure.
"So from both of these testimonies and the reports on your desk from various other incidents and witnesses we will now render a punishment. Naruto and Sakura, step outside please." Slightly pissed they were being left out Naruto and Sakura walked back out the door and closed it. Outside the door Sakura found her voice.
"Do you think they will kill Sasuke?" Naruto shook his head
"From the sound of it, no...but I don't think he's getting out unscathed either." Sakura nodded sounding somewhat reassured
"Just think Sakura, he's back. It may not be the same it may not be perfect. But he's back where he belongs." Sakura nodded and smiled
"Thanks Naruto." Naruto grinned in return.
They expected to be waiting there for a while only to be there a couple minutes when the doors suddenly opened and Tsunade walked out.
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Again people sorry for the delay in the story but summer with no computer and somewhat of a writers block kind of hindered my ability to update. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.
