Hidden in the Night Sky

Chapter 21: Experiments in Audacity

"You're taking a girl to a deserted forest outside the city? People could talk, you know," Naruto absent mindedly noted as she leaned against the bark of some tree she couldn't recognize on sight. It was one of the smaller ones, though, since she reckoned she could climb, unlike the completely flat, tough as nails and gigantic trees that usually dominated Konoha's forest.

"Just a little further north," her silver haired companion said, pushing his glasses up. "And as for what they might say... Well, Naruto-chan, they say many things about me. Several of the nurses at the hospital think I'm gay, and there's at least one doctor who is trying to set me up with his actually gay son," he commented, clasping both hands behind his back. "Shall we resume?" he asked.

"Sure. Hm... Shamal never told me much about you, Kabuto-kun. She just said that you were a model medic nin student," Naruto added, idly. "But you're not just that, are you?"

"Perceptive, aren't you? Of course I am not," Kabuto said, turning to smile at her. "Over everything else, I suppose I'd consider myself a scientist. The pursuit of knowledge is my one true passion."

And yet he was delivering his every line with an extreme lack of it. "You're boring," Naruto commented. "If you're gonna be a scientist, you might as well ham it up a little! Be a little mad, have fun with life, dammit!"

"I do!" Kabuto said, smiling at her, "though if you prefer me as a giggling lunatic, it could always be arranged," he said, doing exactly that. However, his giggle was terribly fake, probably intentionally.

"Let's not do that again," Naruto said. "And, why aren't we flying there, again? I really do need to get back before dinner, you know."

"Because your flight is extremely eye catching and my teacher demands subtlety," Kabuto said. He frowned. "Would you kindly dispose of the wolves that think we are their next meal?"

Naruto gave him a shrug. "If they attack," she said. "They won't, though."

"Are you so certain? Scared animals are dangerous animals. We might be wandering into their territory, they could consider us a threat to their young pups... Or perhaps, hm, yes, they do recognize us as superior predators, hm? Do they perhaps know of your abilities?" Kabuto commented. "Although, I suppose your odd jutsu would send a beacon to your allies, mhm?"

"It wouldn't matter, I left a note anyway," Naruto said. "What, did you think I'd come here without telling anyone I'm going out?"

"Naruto-chan, I did ask you to come alone and not tell anyone, did I not?" a silky smooth, suave voice interrupted.

"Orochimaru-sama... so odd, to see you cross the border so brazenly," Kabuto instantly said.

Naruto turned to a tree and, lo and behold, Orochimaru seemed to grow out of it like a particularly effeminate pimple. "I don't know whether that's cool or kinda gross," she commented. "Also, I didn't tell them where I was going. I didn't know where he would take me," Naruto said, shrugging.

"That's not very smart, wandering off on your own with an unknown boy..." Orochimaru commented, pulling himself free of the tree entirely. "Some would say it is... suicidally stupid."

"Can either of you fly faster than sound? Because I can," Naruto said, deadpan. "And my knights are a mind shout away. Plus, you've already shown a reluctance to harm me... reluctance is the right word for when you don't want to do something right?"

"It is, yes," Kabuto confirmed.

"Smarter than you look, hm?" Orochimaru asked. "Or did you just now think of that, just to justify your own actions?"

"Maybe," Naruto confessed. "... I should punch you. You tried to kill the old man."

"Oh, yes, and if we recount the list of people who have tried to kill him, we'd run out of numbers before long," Orochimaru commented. "And in all fairness, we were at war."

"A war that you started. 'Cuz you wanted to kill him," Naruto said, flatly. "Not making a good point in your defense here."

"She does have a point, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto admitted, turning to Orochimaru.

"Well, she does, that I will admit. However, this is not what we are here to discuss, is it Naruto-chan? You want information I have, and I want a favor from you," Orochimaru commented. "Well, several favors, but who's counting?"

"I am," Kabuto chirped. "You pay me to do exactly that."

Orochimaru just gave him a flat stare before turning back to Naruto. She seemed to be holding back her giggles. "You are my assistant, Kabuto, I have an accountant and it is not you," Orochimaru commented snidely, causing Naruto to erupt into full blown laughter. It was always nice to be appreciated. He did, however, clear his throat to catch her attention once more. "I trust you are curious, Naruto-chan, about what I have to tell you.."

"Well, of course I am! Who wouldn't be?" Naruto said, shaking her head. "But you said the one favor."

"Well, yes, one favor for one piece of information. Are you interested?" Orochimaru asked, tilting his head.

"... Whatever. I don't really care. Yes, I am interested," Naruto said, waving her hand as if dispelling her own doubts. "Let's get to the point. I've got loads of things I want from you!"

"Very well, then. I shall start our trade, then. Do you know of the Akatsuki, perchance?" Orochimaru asked.

"... Red moon?" Naruto guessed.

"Nice try, but no, Red Dawn actually," Kabuto said.

"Well, I'd like to see you try to learn Belkan, you jerk," Naruto said, glaring at him.

"I don't even know what that is," Kabuto said. "But it sounds complicated."

"Leaving aside the pointless bickering from my assistant who will from now on at least try to keep himself in check, this is the first morsel of information for you. The Akatsuki is a group of ten S rank missing nin, all on a level with myself or capable of defeating me in one on one combat. They are all hunting for the nine Jinchuuriki, including yourself, and are extracting their bijuu and placing them in a statue, for purposes that I am not entirely certain of. The leader appears to be trying to weaponize them, but I have yet to see what exactly he intends to do."

"Huh. That's surprisingly clear and to the point. I half expected you to give me some vague bullshit," Naruto admitted, looking at him in askance.

"I could, but that'd be damaging to our professional exchange. I cannot expect you to be honest and truthful in your deals with myself if I do not give you the same courtesy," Orochimaru explained, nodding at her. "The Akatsuki have as much reason to kill me as many others, and as such, seeing them defeated and killed would favor me quite a bit. I believe you will be capable of doing so, given time, and as such I am offering you my help to do so."

"Okay. So long as you know I'm gonna beat them all up just because they're trying to kill me, not for you," Naruto said.

"Oh, I do not expect you to be grateful to me and swear to defend me, that'd be very dumb. No, what I do expect from you is something of equal value to this scroll," he said, a quick, almost snake-like movement of his arm revealing a scroll from his oversized sleeve, which he presented to Naruto. "It contains all the information I've managed to dig up on the Akatsuki and its members."

"I can see the Old Man liking that. Maybe I'll give it to him as a birthday present or something. And... in return, what exactly do you want?" Naruto asked.

"It's rather simple, really. A vial of your blood," Orochimaru said.

"... Why?" Naruto asked, tilting her head.

"Multiple purposes. But mostly, because I know the location of several ruins of former Uzumaki enclaves and temples, some of which have still functioning security seals. Most are linked to the blood of an Uzumaki, such as yourself," Orochimaru explained, idly. "I trust that you have no problem with me finding and researching the ruins of your ancestors' work."

"Eh, I don't care about that stuff," Naruto said, shrugging. "I live in the present!" she added. "Anyway, sure, whatever. I don't care. You want it now, or..?"

Kabuto smiled. "We'll wait until the end of our conversation. The procedure is quick, simple and painless, I assure you."

Naruto shrugged.

Orochimaru smiled beatifically. "That's great to know. If I find anything of special importance to yourself, I will endeavor to find a way to make it reach your ears," Orochimaru said, nodding and bowing theatrically. "However..."

"There's more you want, and more you know that I want," Naruto said, closing her eyes and glaring at him. "And you know that I know that you know."

"Confusing as that would get, yes, I do," Orochimaru said. "Would you have any particular requests?"

"Yes! Your hair's really, really pretty. How do you get your hair to be that pretty? I've tried all sorts of hair care products, and I can't get anywhere near that shiny even on my best days! And it looks so silky, too," Naruto gushed, looking at the long and flowing curtain of dark hair that followed Orochimaru's movements.

Both of the traitor ninja felt their faces make the shocked expressions, but they were a bit too surprised to even notice the lapse in their poker faces. "... I... what. You seriously... no, what?" Kabuto seemed confused.

"... I can give you that as a freebie," Orochimaru said, somewhat idly. "I have to admit, it's somewhat surprising a request."

"What? Can't a girl just want to be pretty?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow and pouting at the same time.

"... I suppose it's your prerogative as a girl," Orochimaru admitted. "I admit, I do like my hair," he added. "The formula is rather simple, actually. Any chemist worth your time should be able to make it..."

"Cool!" Naruto said, grinning, "okay, now that we've got the important stuff out of the way," Naruto said, causing both of them to just shake their heads. "You said you had stuff for me."

"You are no doubt wondering who your parents were, am I correct?"

"... not really," Naruto admitted, nonchalantly. "They're dead, that's all that matters."

"That's very harsh," Orochimaru said, shaking his head. "Poor Minato-kun," he said, laughing softly, "to know that his daughter thinks him such an unimportant, minor detail..."

"He shouldn't have left me all alone if he wanted me to love him," Naruto said, her eyes narrowing. "I've got my knights, I don't need parents."

"I suppose it's not that surprising. Her position is understandable," Kabuto said, evenly. "And you are not one to talk about our parental figures being less than... shall we say, dear to us. I suppose that is one thing all three of us appear to have in common. How odd."

"Quiet, Kabuto," Orochimaru said. "Personal details are personal. Not all of us can be like yourself and lack any emotional attachment to our prior existence. Regardless... I suppose you are not interested in your mother, either."

"Nope. She lived, she died, that's all I care to know," Naruto said, shrugging. "If she was secretly an alien invader, that might be more interesting, though... she wasn't an alien, was she?"

"Depends on your definition," Orochimaru said, shaking his head. "But if you mean if she was from outside of this world... then no. Though where such an idea comes from, I would not-"

"I'm pretty much half alien at this point. I mean, I'm sharing head space with a computer program. I'm not even kidding. Also, my knights? Aliens too. And there's a whole alien civilization spanning loads upon loads of worlds that I invited to a pool party the other day," Naruto said, completely deadpan. "Aliens. They are a thing that exists."

"... That is... interesting," Orochimaru said, blinking slowly. "Perhaps... even more interesting than it might seem at first glance. Then... That book that was so often with you when you were a child... it comes from off planet? Curious, oh so very curious..."

"Whatever, it's not that important," Naruto said, waving her hand.

"Only you, Naruto-chan, could wave off something as huge as the discovery of the fact that we are not alone in the universe," Kabuto said, a bemused frown on his face.

"Yes, but this exchange has become that much more interesting, all of a sudden," Orochimaru said. "It appears I've struck gold."

Naruto shrugged.

"But I did make you a particular offer, didn't I, Naruto-chan?"

"Yep. You did. And as much as I'm interested in the secret behind your flawless complexion..."

Both Kabuto and Orochimaru seemed to smile a bit more widely. "That can be arranged. Again, it's not very difficult, the concoction is quite simple to make," Orochimaru explained.

"You know what I really came here for."

Orochimaru laughed once more. "Of course I do, Naruto-chan. Of course I do. And you have just proven yourself much, much more valuable than I initially expected. Why, this could be a deliciously and mutually profitable relationship..."

"Give me a moment... It appears that my knights are dumb and can't read."

"I think she might have just wandered off because she's more upset than she let on," Shamal said, sighing. "But... this is bad. I didn't think she'd be this badly affected..."

"I should have noticed," Signum said, her fist clenching. "I... wasn't paying the attention I should have!"

"You couldn't have noticed," Zafira said, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "Mistress... Mistress is an expert in hiding her emotions."

Vita raised an eyebrow and gave the guardian beast a questioning glance. "Mistress didn't-"

"Yes, she did," Zafira insisted. "Think about it. Can you honestly think of a time in which she was genuinelly upset? She always masked her real emotions. She was always either happy and upbeat... even when she was angry with us, she used that anger to hide what she really felt."

Signum looked at him. "She was only ever upset..."

"When we were hurt," Shamal said. "It was the only time she'd be upset enough to lose her tight lid on her emotions... and even then..."

"Naruto always got angry whenever I returned with so much as a scratch," Vita commented, frowning as she remembered several punishments she'd suffered for the act of returning home with a thin red line that came from dodging a kunai an instant too late. Looking back on it, she mused, she'd never used pain to get her point across. Hell, she actually flat out told them not to do things that would cause them pain. Of course, they went on to do them anyway, which led to more punishments.

While she'd never come so far as to actually hurt them, Vita had to admit that the punishments hurt in other ways.

"Fear," Shamal muttered.

The other three knights looked at her.

"The most frequent way to mask fear is anger," Shamal explained. "You see it in the hospital a lot. When they're deathly afraid, people become angry. It's also why people hate what they fear, their fear makes them angry, and they recognize the object they fear as the reason for their anger, and so begin to hate it," she noted. "Mistress... was afraid, but... why? She should know... we're just programs, we can be revived by the book... she knows it, so why-"

"I doubt it's conscious," Zafira said, shaking his head. "I very much doubt it."

Vita blinked. "... She can't think we're going to... Ugh, that idiot," she muttered to herself, shaking her head. "Well, we have to find her, I guess, so that we can-"

"Sit tight and do absolutely nothing."

Naruto's voice crashed through their conversation, causing them all to instantly jerk to attention.

"I gave you an order," Naruto said, her voice cold and anger evident. "Why are you not following it right now? Are you done?"

"We are almost do-" Signum began, however, she felt a cold shiver run down her spine, stopping her from continuing.

"I'll take that as a no. As soon as I get back, you'll ALL be punished!"

"Mistress!" Vita interrupted, "Where are yo-"

"I am having an important talk with the pale snakey guy, and I have no time for this. Now, for talking about me behind my back, I want all of you to complete the mission I gave you... and... I'll think of something else to punish you with later!"

The four knights looked at each other, feeling uneasy.

"Go get back to work!"

"... Pale snakey guy?" Orochimaru asked, flatly.

Kabuto smiled at him. "Well, you kinda do," he confirmed.

Orochimaru frowned. "It's the eyes, isn't it? I knew they were a bad idea."

"Oh, no, the eyes look lovely Orochimaru-sama, it's just that-"

Naruto looked at Orochimaru. "Well, that should get them off my case for a while. It's almost like they forget that I can listen in on their conversations."

"You can do that?" Kabuto asked, blinking.

"I'm their Master. I can read their minds if I want to. Though I need the book to do that, since I do literally read their minds," Naruto said, shrugging. "Huh. I just thought- I have a new way of deciding their punishments. I'll just ask them what they don't want to do, and then they'll think of it, and I'll do that," she said, nodding to herself. "That's genius!"

"... You are a rather cruel person. I like you," Orochimaru said, nodding. "Now, I do have a lab close by in which we can conduct the procedure I promised, and where our exchange can be complete. You should be coming home by dinner, Naruto-chan."

"She's a civilian. I can't legally do anything to reclaim her," Sarutobi said.

"Well it's a good thing we're ninja and not samurai, then, isn't it?" Jiraiya said with a grin.

Sarutobi shook his head. "It'd be less than productive. Naruto can take care of herself. Enough to run away, if she feels threatened. And it's clear that she doesn't, so... There has to be something here that we're not aware of. What does she want Orochimaru, and why would he be willing to meet with her?"

"I really have no idea. Maybe he wants her as a peace offering for the Akatsuki?" Jiraiya asked, frowning.

"I doubt it. He's afraid of them, yes, but he'd rather see them dead than ally with them again. Perhaps he intends to give her some sort of helping hand in an effort to get her to destroy his enemies..?" Sarutobi replied, punctuating the sentence by puffing up smoke from his pipe. "I don't know what we should do... If he is keeping her against her will, then he might hold her hostage. We can't let her get hurt. We'd be dealing with... well, I doubt the knights would take it well."

"Shit, this situation is a mess. Naruto keeps getting into one after another. Maybe we should tie her down with a leash or something, so she stops giving us so much trouble," Jiraiya said, a note of humor and amusement in his voice. "But... Nah, I don't think Orochimaru's holding her against her will."

"What makes you say that?" Sarutobi asked, his fingers intertwining.

"I have reasons to believe Orochimaru wouldn't hurt her. Amongst them, well, the Akatsuki, but there's another one," Jiraiya muttered. "I didn't think it could've been true, but... Before Uzushio was destroyed, Orochimaru was sent on a diplomatic mission there."

"Yes, I remember. He finalized the deal that would get us an Uzumaki to become our Jinchuuriki. I'd always wondered how he managed to secure their princess, of all people," Sarutobi said, closing his eyes for a moment.

"That was also the mission in which Orochimaru lost his virginity. I remember, 'cause I spent the entire week ribbing him about being a virgin before that."

"Merciful gods, you cannot be serious," Sarutobi said. "That boy, with his looks, was a virgin!?" he answered.

"You know how he was, half the village trying to get into his pants and he was just denying everyone. Would've thought he was gay if he wasn't also rejecting loads of men, too," Jiraiya said, waving his hand. "Anyway, you know where I'm going."

Sarutobi brought his hand up. "Well this does certainly change things," he said, grabbing his pipe and pulling it out of his mouth. "Do you think he..?"

"Almost certainly. And if not, he was our premier DNA specialist. I'm sure he can figure it out."

"... We need to inform the knights."

Naruto frowned. "Couldn't you have used a syringe? It would've been less painful!" she muttered, rubbing her arm.

"We could have, yes, but this is cleaner," Kabuto said, simply, waving about the container with the blood he'd just extracted. "Hm hm, despite your claims of being half alien, your blood looks just like mine. Let's see if a deeper analysis reveals anything more interesting."

Orochimaru chuckled and shook his head. "Limit yourself, Kabuto, there'll be time for deeper experimentation later. Now, however, we have a more... interesting procedure to engage in, to say the least."

"Just get it over with," Naruto said, rolling her eyes.

"I'm afraid we will not be using anesthesia, since it'd ruin the procedure, so here," Orochimaru said, handing Naruto a block of wood, "bite into this. It'll stop you from biting your tongue off."

"That's... not inspiring safety," Naruto muttered.

"If it makes you feel better, I've done this twice before, and they were both successes. I would never attempt this procedure on someone as important and valuable as yourself, without being certain it'd work. Mostly because there are several people willing and able to kill me who would be very, very angry if something happened to you," Orochimaru explained. "I can take Sensei if he's still hesitating to kill me. I won't survive if he's furious."

"I thought you could take the old man?" Naruto asked, frowning.

"I'm a scientist, primarily. I am also a ninja. I can take him if I cheat, a lot," Orochimaru said, "and part of that involves exploiting the fact that I know that, deep down, he still can't bring himself to truly kill me."

"Huh. That's really mean," Naruto said, glaring at him and the wooden block in her hand.

"I have my reasons. Now, I will be running a number of procedures, all of which would bore you extremely if I stopped to describe them. Much of it is pointless technical information that would fly straight over the layman's head, and the only other interested person in this room is Kabuto, who already knows everything he needs to," Orochimaru explained, nodding as he gestured towards a bed in the center of the pristine white lab.

"You know, I half expected a dirty, dank, dingy and drab dormitory or something similar," Naruto muttered, looking around at the perfectly maintained equipment that surrounded her.

"Dirty labs result in poor results," Kabuto said. "And, nice use of alliteration. However..."

"Yes, it's about time. In order to make you not be afraid and squirming, I will need you to cover your eyes. We'll kill two birds with one stone, pull your shirt over your head and use it to cover your face. That way, you won't see the procedure and it will be out of the way."

"... This is starting to sound like a stranger danger lecture," Kabuto muttered, shaking his head.

Naruto nodded and sat on the surprisingly comfy bed. She brought the block of wood to her mouth and bit on it, then grabbed the hem of her shirt with her hands and lifted it up over her head.

"Why does everyone keep assuming I'm a pedophile? And also, why does everyone keep assuming I'm gay?" Orochimaru asked, frowning at Kabuto.

"... Did you seriously just ask that- you know what, nevermind, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto said, shaking his head.

"This isn't over..."

"Mistress appears to be in intense pain, but..." Zafira began, frowning.

"She's still sensible enough to order us to stay put," Shamal said, shaking her head. "Are you certain that-"

"Orochimaru is a perverse animal, but he knows that hurting Naruto would be suicidal. If nothing else, he fears death supremely, and he will not take such a gigantic risk as it'd be. He's afraid of me, he knows I can take him, and he knows I can make it permanent, or damn near close to anyway," Jiraiya said, scowling. "I don't like it any better, but at this point, all we've got to go on is Naruto's word. We'll just have to wait."

Lindy frowned. The Hokage's office felt quite a bit more stuffy than it had mere moments ago. "The book, is it-"

"It's complete, yes. It's awaiting Naruto's command to awaken fully," Signum said, simply.

"Then... the corruption truly is gone. In all other instances, the book would activate on its own," Lindy said, "it's a silver lining on dark clouds, at the very least."

"The corruption now resides within our mistress, eating away at her from the inside," Zafira said, solemnly.

"Excuse me if I'm not jumping for joy," Vita added, dryly.

"It was 'leaping'," Zafira said, shaking his head. "You really do need to work on the punchline," he said, shaking his head.

"Finding humor in dark times is difficult," Lindy commented. "I'd say give her a pass just for that."

"So long as the joke isn't in poor taste, for obvious reasons," Sarutobi said. "Then, should we-"

The four knights instantly leaped to their feet, all gathering together, standing at attention. "Mistress..!"

The Hokage changed from the kindly old man that he usually portrayed to Konohagakure's military leader. "Something went wrong."

"Something went very, very wrong," Lindy added, looking at the Wolkenritter's faces.

"She's... angry," Shamal said, shaking her head.

"That wasn't angry. She's gone berserk," Zafira said, frowning. "Something went very wrong."

"That's not important right now. She's heading here," Signum said. "We have to..."

They all paused.

"If she's furious... then we'll provide her a way to calm her temper. Get her anger out of her system. When she winds down, we'll talk," Sarutobi said.

The others nodded.

"Do you know where she's-" Lindy began, turning to the others.

"She's coming for Nanoha," Vita said.

"... No. She's not," Lindy said, a frown on her face. "Nanoha contacted me just now. She's already here."

"Hello, Nanoha-chan!" Naruto said, brightly, grinning widely and closing her eyes. She floated idly in the sky, moving slowly, almost as if the wind was carrying her. "How are you? Are you tired? Hungry? Do you feel a bit under the weather at all?"

"Not at all," Nanoha replied. "How are you, Naruto-chan? We were all a bit worried."

"I was with a friend!" Naruto said, grinning. "He helped me lots!" she added.

"Really?" Nanoha asked, tilting her head. "What did he help you with?"

"Well, he helped remind me of a few things. But that's not important, or fun," Naruto said, shaking her head. "You wouldn't happen to be busy, right now, would you?"

Nanoha frowned a little. "I think I am free for the rest of the day. Raising Heart, did I log anything for today?"

"No Master," the device replied.

"Well, I'm free," Nanoha said, grinning just as widely as Naruto. "Do you want to go get ice cream?" she asked.

"Actually, Nanoha-chan, I was wondering if you'd like to have a rematch," Naruto said, opening her eyes finally and locking gazes with Nanoha.

"Uhm... Naruto-chan, why are your eyes red?" Nanoha asked, somewhat unsettled by the reminder of Fate's appearance.

"My eyes? My eyes are blue, Nanoha-chan! Just like the sky!" Naruto said, shaking her head vigorously and smiling. "Well, what do you say?"

Nanoha shrugged. "I guess I can. Let's go to the Asu-"

"Right here, right now. I will show you. I'm not that weak little girl anymore. I'll show everyone. And I'll start with you, Nanoha-chan... I'll surpass you. I'll show everyone that I'm the strongest."

Feeling an odd and uncomfortable sensation rooting into her stomach, Nanoha raised Raising Heart and held it diagonally in front of her, in a simple stance meant to parry weaponry. "Ready when you are, Naruto-chan," Nanoha said.

There was something deeply wrong. Naruto, while enthusiastic, was never like this. This wasn't enthusiasm. This wasn't even a fighting or training nut's idea of it.

No...

Nanoha felt something very, very different coming from Naruto.

She reeked of something else.

"NachtWal," Naruto commanded, holding her right hand out. A flash of light heralded the appearance of a long spear, ornate in design, silver in color. A pair of black wings adorned the head, which was that of a simple pike. The spear was as long as Naruto was tall, making it technically a short spear.

"Heisse?" the spear answered.

"Barrier," Naruto commandered.

"Das ich soil," the spear replied.

The world changed. "The battlefield is set," Naruto said, looking at Nanoha. "It's just you and me now."

Nanoha's grip on Raising Heart tightened. She had a bad feeling.

Heisse? = Orders?

Das Ich Soil = That I Shall.

It's a combination of middle and high Old German. Thought it more appropriate for Ancient Belkan than modern German. Incidentally, the Knights' Belkan is still modern German. It's because NachtWal and Reinforce predate the Guardian Knight System and use an even older dialect of Ancient Belkan.

And yes, that IS what the germanic civilizations of Age of Empires say. NachtWal is gonna be quoting your Teutons for a while.