Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or World of Warcraft, but the Lixherians of Lixheria have quite a claim on both, but I am fiercely contesting them and have so far destroyed their supply lines and raped and pillaged many of their villages, and enslaved many of their people, for the purpose of turning them into mindless slaves to my will. Eventually all of Lixheria will be under my power, and Naruto and World of Warcraft shall be mine! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Here's the next installment of The Legend of Uzumaki Naruto!

'How long is mommy going away?' little Kira asked, rubbing one of her eyes sleepily. She had awoken up as early as possible to see her mother off. Next to her, equally tired but trying to hide it more, her new handmaiden Kylia stood. Kira liked Kylia a lot and they had a lot in common. She was a bit quiet, but laughed at all of Kira's jokes, and had some good ideas for games, and was very good at hide and seek, and loved her mother just as much as Kira did. Kira was therefore quite happy that her mother had brought Kylia to play, as before she hadn't had anybody but some of the servant's children to talk to, and sometimes they weren't very nice.

'Only a few weeks,' Lady Demi said, bending over and touching Kira on the brow, smiling. 'I promise.'

Kira smiled back. She loved her mother's smile. It was beautiful like a pretty stone and shined like one too, but was sweet like the candy that her father bought on occasion when she had been exceptionally good. There were several different ones as well, but Kira always got the one that was just for her. It was like a present that Kira could get any time of the day, every day, whenever she wanted. It was always just for her, it was "Kira's smile".

'You be good for your father, and help Kylia get used to the castle, alright? I don't want to return and here that you've been sneaking out of sight, and wandering around the castle again. Kylia,' she turned her sweet smile to Kylia, but Kira saw that it changed slightly, and was glad. She liked Kylia, but not even Kylia could have her smile. It just wasn't right. 'Keep her out of trouble. You're older, so she should listen to you. And protect her as well. She can be quite the scaredy-cat.'

Kylia nodded, blushing intensely, as Kira puffed out her cheeks and vociferously denied the accusation. She had never had a person smile at her like that before. She liked it a lot. She would do anything for this woman, even if she had only known her for a few short days. She was the nicest person Kylia had ever met. She must be the nicest person in the world, Kylia thought. To take in somebody as useless as her, it only made sense. And she wasn't going to fail this nice woman. She was going to protect Kira forever!

'Thank you,' Demi said, ruffling the girl's dark hair. 'I'll miss you both very much. I want you both to know that I love you, very, very much. Kira, you're my most precious daughter, the light of my life—I cannot wait to come back, and see your smiling face.'

Kira preened, and she hugged her mother with everything she had. Demi smiled and returned the hug, and planted a few kisses on the girl's scalp, and stroked her hair lovingly. Kylia stood, a little awkwardly, to the side, trying to avoid staring. Demi noticed this, chuckled, and gathered the other girl into her arms, hugging her too.

'You too are so very precious to me. I love you both so much.'

'Love you too mommy,' Kira said, her face planted in Demi's robes, soaking them with tears. 'Miss you.'

'I'll miss you too, Kira. Be a good girl, and a good princess. I know you'll be the best.'

Kira nodded tearfully again, and she buried her head in deeper to the woman's warm body. She clutched tightly, suddenly not wanting her mother to go at all. She wanted her to stay and be with her, and not with that scary big man. She wanted her to stay with Kylia, too.

Kylia wanted the same. She couldn't bear to lose her goddess so soon. She wanted Demi to stay, and smile at her more. She had to.

Both girls broke into crying fits, clutching every tighter to the priestess. Demi smiled sadly, and continued to hug them until their sobs died away, becoming sniffles and hiccups, and then she slowly set them down, and looked into both of their faces.

'You mean the world to me. I will not rest until I am back here with the two of you. But your mother has to do this. She has to.' She smiled at each of them individually. They could not help but smile back. Demi's smile was highly infectious.

'Do you understand?' she asked softly. They both nodded, Kylia at once, and Kira more slowly and stubbornly.

'Don't go, mommy,' Kira said.

'I have to, little princess,' Demi said, stroking Kira's hair again. 'I must. I am sorry. But I will come back. I know you. You are strong. I will only be gone for a few weeks. Then I will be back, forever. You'll never have to worry again.'

Kira stared back into her mother's eyes. The woman was kneeling right down next to her, so their eyes were level. It was something that Demi had never done before, and Kira didn't really like it. She quailed below her mother, and looked up into her eyes.

'O-okay,' Kira said. 'Promise?'

Demi smiled, and kissed her daughter on the forehead.

'Promise.'

"Mistress…is she really Lady Demi?" Kylia asked softly, after almost half and hour's silence within Kira's well-furnished room. "Is she really your mother?" Kylia, though desperate to know, asked the question in a barely audible whisper, not wanting to offend her mistress. Though Lady Demi had only been in her life for a few short days, Kylia had come to worship the woman, or at least her memory, and thought of her as fondly as she did Kira. And after seeing Lady Demetria commit such cruel acts, she could not believe that the Scarlet Oracle looked so much like her.

"No," Kira said, firmly. "That isn't my mother. She just looks like her, but she isn't. My mother…" She shook her head. "Wouldn't do something like that. She wouldn't join the Scarlet Crusade."

Kylia nodded, appearing slightly relieved. She began to absently scratch Tsuwabuki's ears, who lay on the bed next to her, apparently asleep. She suddenly looked at Kira. "K-Kira, do you think we can contact Naruto using Tsuwabuki's bond?"

Kira glanced at her. "Tsuwabuki would've already thought of that, but I don't believe she can. Though I can't understand her like Naruto, she told me that she can't get in contact with him—something's blocking the bond. It must be that woman again—or perhaps even the Grand Crusader, himself."

"What is he…?" Kylia asked. "You said something to him, and he believed you'd figured something out. What was it about him that you saw?"

"He is not human, and that is strange enough as it is. An inhuman that is leading the Scarlet Crusade?" She shook her head. "Quite ironic, isn't it? All of those people are following the very thing that they despise most. But other than that, I don't know what he is. I feel like I've felt something very similar to him, but I can't say what or when." Rubbing her head, and then running a hand through her hair, she sat down in one of the comfortable leather chairs near her bed. "It feels so familiar…"

"But it explains everything, doesn't it?" Kylia asked.

"Yes," Kira said, nodding. "We now know why the Scarlet Crusade is like it is. He has something to do with it—I know it! Whatever he is, he's responsible for the corruption—he's responsible for everything that the Scarlet Crusade has done—for the genocide, the slaving, even the death of my father! I know it's him. It's both of them…it has to be."

"So what do we do?" Kylia began fiddling with the chain around her neck, which she still hadn't been able to remove. She looked desperately at the girl. "How do we escape?"

Kira shook her head. "I don't know. We'd have to fight our way through all of those Crusaders, as well as the Grand Crusader, Lady Demetria, and that man—Highlord Fordragon. Then we'd have to get through the city and the Plaguelands alive." She clutched her head and groaned, putting her head in her hands. "What do we do? I can't think of anything other than just doing all of that. But that seems impossible, doesn't it?"

Kylia didn't say anything. "Perhaps if we find Miss Sakura…?"

"We'll have to do that, yes," Kira said. "But she could be anywhere."

"The dungeons…?" Kylia asked. "They wanted something from her…perhaps that was where she was taken?"

"Maybe," Kira said, "but we don't know for sure. Maybe we can get Lady Demetria to tell us when she comes back. She seems to treat me better. She also likes to talk. She's smart, but she'll let something slip, especially because she seems insane enough. Besides, she'd probably enjoy seeing us try to escape."

"So," Kylia said. "We wait? Is t-that all we can do?"

Kira nodded, not meeting her handmaiden's eyes.

"For now, yes. We'll wait and see."

Ramstein liked taking walks.

Even with its simple mind, a walk could be enjoyed, and allowed the creature to find annoying little things that ran and screamed and gave it a chance to swing its cleaver. Anything that allowed it to swing its cleaver was alright in Ramstein's book, and simply staying inside the city sometimes didn't allow that. Besides, when out, Ramstein could sometimes go against its master's wishes (something that gave it a guilty sense of pleasure) by using its cleaver on anything that moved, even if it were its own comrades (a term used loosely, as Scourge had no concept of camaraderie).

Ramstein was quite pleased when it not only found a bunch of things that were not its comrades but that moved and even screamed! Ramstein would have clapped its hands in childish delight had all three of them not been occupied by some sort of weapon. The two attached to its shoulders, where arms should be, held a large cleaver and a big wooden mallet covered in spikes, a ghastly perversion of a meat tenderizer. The one attached to the middle of the abomination's upper back held a hook and chain, and was useful in gutting people as well as scratching Ramstein's back. All three weapons were heavily laden with gore, as it never bothered to clean them off, and probably didn't have the mental faculty to do so, anyways. He lumbered towards his new prey, very slowly—experience had taught it that moving fast made the screamy things scatter quicker, and made them harder to catch. Ramstein was also hungry, and if it killed them quicker, preferably in one or two blows, it'd be able to eat quicker, even if it wouldn't be as much fun.

For Ramstein valued, like all Scourge, its food over its fun.

What a great walk this had turned out to be!

Fen took a few steps back from the beast as it slowly clomped towards them, its mouth hanging open in a stupid, dog-like grin expressing two simplest emotions of joy and hunger. He shivered at the sight of the metal rod sticking from its head, glittering with electricity. It gave the creature's identity away instantly, as almost no abominations possessed such a unique adornment. But its style of speech and its announcement of its own name also gave it away as something of a legend among the Forsaken.

Ramstein the Gorger was responsible for thousands of deaths of Forsaken when they had still been human. It was solely responsible for creating at least a fifth of the current population of the Undercity. But it was also responsible for destroying many of Sylvanas' forces as well, on failed attempts to conquer Stratholme. This beast had even slain Myrdraxxis' former teacher, the human Ranger, Nathanos Blightcaller, before he had become the Champion of the Forsaken.

How were they expected to face one of the strongest Scourge at the entrance? If they got past this, what would be in store for them next? The Lich King himself, come to pay a visit?

He glanced at Naruto and Sai, both of which knew nothing of Ramstein's history with the Forsaken, and saw that Naruto (as Sai had only two emotions—happiness and apathy) was staring with not only horror and disgust, but confusion as well.

"What language is that thing speaking?" Naruto wondered aloud, even as Ramstein blundered closer and closer.

"Old Common, from a northern tribe of humans," said Fen, quickly, as he dug into his robes and fished out some of his knives—gleaming thorium blades that had cost him a fortune but had served him well enough since. "Before the languages converged. Now, before that thing gets any closer, got any more fun facts you wanna know?"

Naruto blushed a little. "Sorry." He turned back, set his face, and drew his sword while Fen shook his head.

"I wouldn't do that. See all that electricity? It's going to hurt if you hit that thing with your metal sword."

Naruto grinned. "Maybe. We'll see."

Fen frowned at him, but said nothing, as Ramstein was almost on top of them.

Rearing back, the abomination threw the hook and chain aglow with electricity, at the three companions. It swung—and missed—all three by a hair's breadth, as they ducked beneath it simultaneously. The hum of the electrified blade still ringing in his ears, Naruto took off, throwing himself at the beast with all his speed. Long before the abomination had apparently realized Naruto was not with the two other screamy flesh bags, the boy was by its left leg, his sword humming with light, almost clear, blue chakra. But even as he swung it he did not hear Fen shouting from behind, or see Ramstein's foot, which in a blur of motion came and up slammed into him before he could finish one swing. The jarring force, combined with a shock of nearly 500,000 volts, blasted Naruto back a dozen yards, his body rigid and motionless. He rolled twice, finally resting on his back, his body shaking a little, paralyzed by the shock.

"Shit!" Fen snapped. "That idiot! Go get him," he roared to Sai. "And make sure he's alive!" The boy nodded, and ran back to where Naruto lay, as Ramstein howled in delight at its first victory.

"ZERSTÖREN" it roared. It grinned and moved towards Fen, much faster than before. Fen suddenly knew why this thing had been able to kill even Nathanos Blightcaller—it was fast, and very good at hiding it. Crackling with energy, Ramstein's cleaver sliced the air before Fen, who dodged by using Blink, teleporting himself back to where Sai and a slowly recovering Naruto were. No longer deciding to be careful, Ramstein followed, taking three huge strides to nearly cover the distance. The hook and chain came again, with Ramstein bellowing as it did. The hook gouged a large chunk of earth from the ground where it struck; but it hit nobody, Sai having dragged Naruto out of the way and Fen having moved himself, while throwing all of the knives he held, making a seal as he did.

'Arcane Enchant!'

The knives bored into Ramstein's flesh, and then exploded in a quick succession of purple flashes, engulfing the abomination and making it rear back, howling. "MEIN HERZ BRENNT!"

Fen shook Naruto's body. "Naruto! You alright?"

"Fine," the boy mumbled, finally managing to sit up, breathing heavily. His body still shook, and was painfully stiff. He had never been electrocuted quite that powerfully before. He checked himself over, finding that his sword was missing. He glanced around in the gloom, but could find nothing near him. He must have dropped it after being struck. He cursed, and looked at Fen. "You didn't tell me that thing was so fast!"

"I didn't know," Fen said, watching, eternally breathless, as Ramstein recovered, its body hardly damaged at all. "You can't treat him lightly, kid. He's a lot stronger than you think, and is a seasoned pro at killing things. I don't expect we'll be able to fully destroy him right now, and I don't want to try."

"What? Why not?"

"Unless I'm mistaken, we're supposed to get in and destroy something else. If we stick around here, it's going to be a lot longer before we can stop this thing for good. We should probably just distract it and—"

"No way!" Naruto snapped. "I'm not going to let that bastard get away with kicking me, and it'll be much easier if we beat him now, anyways! He'll probably follow us, and if he does, he'll bring the whole city after us!"

"So what do you suggest?" Fen snapped. "That doesn't involve summoning something bigger, that is? That won't work, and will just bring the city after us anyways!"

The thought hadn't occurred to him, but Fen was right, so Naruto shook it away. "We gotta find my sword!" he said, glaring into the darkness. "I'll take care of the rest! You guys distract it!"

"No!" Fen shouted, but Naruto was already moving. So was Ramstein.

"SPIEL MIT MIR!" Ramstein thundered, its third arm beginning to swing the hook and chain around and around, making a halo of lightning above it. Ramstein looked up, grinning like a deformed child at its creation, before glaring at Fen and Sai, the only ones left to glare at. The crackling electricity, which sparkled through its clouded, multicolored eyes as much as in the air above it, enhanced the evident delight in the abomination's face. Ramstein then released the chain, which took the storm with it.

"FEUER FREI!"

Fen raised his hands, after going through a long series of hand seals, creating a bubble of chakra around him and Sai. The boy had calmly removed his sketchbook and a single brush from his pouch, and seemed oblivious to the danger they were now in. While Sai flipped the pages of his book to locate what sketch he wanted, Ramstein howled in fury as his chain ricocheted off Fen's bubble, and fell harmlessly to the ground, not noticing that it had taken all of Fen's strength to keep the bubble intact. So Ramstein jerked it back, and prepared to try again. Sai then made a hand seal and released a cloud of black ink into the already black world.

The artistry that Sai had unleashed swallowed Ramstein's lower half in a sea of living sketched outlines, stopping it from its second attempt. It took Fen a moment to recognize what Sai had drawn.

"You're pretty ironic for somebody with no sense of humor." Fen unconsciously nodded his approval.

"Thank you," Sai said. He was still smiling.

The black swarm—really a horde of expertly painted zombies, created from Sai's constant attention to his environment—bit and slashed and tore away chunks of Ramstein's leg flesh, making him roar and kick and swipe with its hammer and its cleaver and its hook. But because, like Fen, it couldn't see them, only feel when they struck, it couldn't attack accurately.

The damage they did was almost negligible, however—the layers of borrowed flesh that made up Ramstein's body, the finest of Kel'Thuzad's stock, made from warriors of all types: orc, human, tauren, ogre and even elf, was not easily pierced. It could absorb intense amounts of damage, making it easily one of Ramstein's most dangerous traits. Nothing had ever pierced its flesh beyond the first three or four layers, and there were eight in total before they reached its muscles, vitals and bones. Each layer was also heavily saturated with electricity, which became more and more intense as one traveled inwards, towards the source of its power—a living battery that was essentially the abomination's heart, which could be anywhere in the creature's body, as it was nothing more than a tapestry of body parts not its own. Nothing that created an abomination was its own. That was what made them the most difficult Scourge to kill—they had little attachment to any of it. Some seemed to exhibit pain, like Ramstein himself, but they didn't really feel it, though it wasn't clear why they pretended to.

Perhaps they felt more real when they showed pain. Nobody could really say, not even their creator.

Kicking at its attackers wildly, its feet stained in black ink, Ramstein then charged at Fen and Sai again, deciding to go for the source and abandon its play-acting. Fen emitted a burst of flame from his mouth, but Ramstein swung its cleaver through the flames, and would have chopped Fen in two had he not Blinked away. Ramstein swung its mallet at Sai this time; but Sai nimbly dodged, sailing above the incapacitating tremor caused by the impact of the mallet on the ground, his brush working furiously again. Fen prepared another jutsu from behind, and noticing this, Ramstein went for Sai, recognizing—a truly remarkable feat for an abomination, but expected of one of the best—that the shinobi would find it difficult to dodge in mid-air. It aimed the hook at Sai, and threw it upwards in a flash of electricity. Sai made a seal, making the ink leap from his page and form a wide, thick shield in front of him; but Ramstein's hook broke through almost instantly, just as Fen finished his jutsu.

As if snatched by some invisible hand, Sai was wrenched to the side at the last second, avoiding instant death. But Ramstein, burbling with laughter, whipped the chain into Sai's stomach and propelling him with extra force into Fen, sending both into the ground.

Ramstein turned and grinned at them, saying and proving that abominations were not below joking: "MANN GEGEN MANN!"

Sai heaved some blood from his mouth, as he rolled off Fen and clutched his stomach. He could barely move the pain was so immense. Fen was already getting to his feet, as Ramstein moved to attack again. Fen grabbed Sai by the arm, and Blinked backwards and away. Ramstein followed like a loyal dog with rabies.

"Shit," Fen said aloud. "Where the hell is he?" He looked around, but could see nothing in the gloom, and smelling Naruto was impossible, with the deodorant slime he had consumed. "Sai," he said. "Get up, we're making a run for it."

The shinobi was already standing, his smile back firmly in place on his lips. "Are you sure? Naruto-kun may get mad."

"I'm not worried about that," Fen snapped. "I'm more worried about my un-life."

"Oh," said Sai. "How sad." But he continued smiling. "Perhaps Naruto-kun isn't as I expected him to be."

Ramstein attacked. Fen and Sai were already running as the hook whipped past them, tearing away a massive chunk of earth. Ramstein followed, easily keeping up with his massive strides and relentless pursuit of food and fun. It began to swing the chain around again, calling forth another storm above its head, while it raised both its other arms in preparations for two mighty swings, grinning with stupid finality.

Sai suddenly pivoted, turning around to face the charging abomination. His sketchbook was out. Fen didn't even know he had stopped running, for his sockets caught sight of a blur of motion from the side, part of which glowed a pale blue. He spun as well.

Sai had begun making seals, still clutching the sketchbook, staring at the abomination as one of its arms swung down. He was almost finished. If he—

Something passed by his ear—a swift gust of air, with the hum of metal moving through it. For a brief instant, a figure barred his path, his back to Sai, clutching a glowing kodachi. Uzumaki Naruto leapt up and carved a streak of blue through Ramstein's elbow, severing it cleanly through, and then kicked off the falling arm, driving the blade into the abomination's chest. Ramstein howled, and thrust his other arm down at Naruto, as the boy cut a swath across Ramstein's chest, all the way up to its right shoulder, where the blade burst from the flesh, Naruto roaring in triumph.

"Take that, bastard!" he shouted. "That's for kicking me!"

Ramstein snarled, and threw the hook at Naruto, who cut it in half with one strike, hissing as the lightning arced painfully around him burning his arms, before fizzling out as the blade hit the ground. Naruto sped forwards, taking two steps along the abomination's shoulder, using one cut to remove its third arm as easy as a knife cutting pie. The second blow—one clean cut—sliced through eight layers of flesh, then bone, and finally grey matter, to apparently destroy one of the greatest abominations ever created with a makeshift lobotomy.

Ichor streamed from the four wounds on Ramstein's body, and the abomination, quite perplexed for a moment as to why it no longer had the ability to move, as most of its brain lay strewn across its back and the dark ground beneath it, remarked stupidly, "MUTTER?"

It then slumped, and fell like a severed tree, creating a loud but final thump on the wet ground, spilling the rest of its borrowed brains in a gooey puddle of dark green.

Naruto let out a breath, and he nearly dropped his sword as he released the technique, his sword fading back to its normal luster. His hand quivered from built up excitement—as if he couldn't believe it was over already—and from the control it had taken to keep the blade formed. But it was over, and awash with pride in his victory—something he hadn't felt in a while— he felt the need to comment to the lifeless sack of meat, bones and ichor on his win.

"That's what you get when you mess with me."

"I haven't heard that one before," Fen said, walking over, quite stunned. "You do know that you just destroyed one of the strongest abominations ever, don't you? And that it was completely anticlimactically done."

Naruto puffed out his cheeks in annoyance. "Whaddya want me to do? Do it over? It's dead, isn't that good?"

Fen nodded, and shook himself. "I suppose. I just wished it were a little more…tactfully done. It could've done without the stupid cheesy one-liner afterwards. It could've been less like a crappy action story, I suppose. As much as I like Mikhail Cryton, it just doesn't seem right in real life, you know?"

"But I like those," Naruto said. "Those are the best part of winning."

"Can't you make them more creative?"

Naruto shook his head, annoyed. "You're just jealous."

Fen shrugged, and looked again at Ramstein. He couldn't believe it. He knew Naruto was good, but do have a technique that devastating in his arsenal was incredible. If he was able to cut through layers of hardened flesh and electricity with such ease, this might go well enough after all. He grinned at the boy. "Nice trick, though. Looks like those days of training paid off, eh?"

"Yep," Naruto said, swelling again with pride. He sheathed his sword, which had long stopped glowing. What he didn't want to say was how much effort it had taken him to keep that technique going. Control, as ever, was not his best trait. It was like tensing a muscle, and trying to do that for too long was impossible.

"Well done," said Sai, smiling. "You're just like I expected you to be in a proper fight."

Naruto stared at him. "How'd you expect me to be?"

"Dashing," the smiling shinobi said. "Perhaps we should get on with the mission."

"Yeah," said Fen. "Come on fairy-boy. Let's go."

They left with Naruto protesting that he was anything but a fairy boy. The darkness closed in on them again, as they went towards the now awfully close city, which seemed even brighter than before—as if pleased with their actions.

The night went deathly quiet for a while.

Ramstein lay motionless, until long after they were gone, when its eyes opened, and its intact battery-heart began to beat again. That was the remarkable thing about abominations—because their bodies were entirely borrowed, they felt no qualms in getting as injured as possible, because it didn't hurt. The only way to destroy an abomination—especially one as powerful as Ramstein—was to destroy its battery, which Naruto had not. The hulk got to its feet, slowly, scooping up a handful of its brains (which it didn't particularly need any longer) and slopping it back into its skull. It was grinning at the city, now thoroughly enthralled by its most recent visitors. Its master was going to be as happy as he, soon enough.

It grinned again, and then shouted, shattering the quiet forevermore.

"IST DOCH DIE SCHONSTE STADT DER WELT!"

Somewhere within that beautiful city, Sakura turned at the sound of a door opening, and so did Interrogator Alcond. The creepy man's eyes grew wide with delight, while Sakura's closed with despair, as the woman walked into the room. Lady Demetria's gaze had settled on switching from amusement to arousal as she stared at Sakura, walking until she was but inches from Sakura's naked body. She looked at the girl for a long time, continuing to stare until Sakura grew uncomfortable enough to speak, which wasn't long.

"Can I help you?"

"Well I don't know," said Demetria. "Probably, but I'll have to look a bit longer to ascertain that. You're quite cute when you're helpless you know that? I can almost forget how much pain you caused me."

"I hope it was a lot," Sakura said. She wondered why, in God's name, she was acting like Naruto in this situation. Why didn't she just shut up and take it? Being around Naruto had reawakened that little side of her that liked to act on impulse, even if it was detrimental to her health. She suddenly hated her inner desires. They had probably got her into this situation anyways.

"Quite," said Demetria, no longer smiling. Her eyes switched to annoyance, bordering on murderous rage. "So I'll pay that back a million fold. Interrogator, dear, bring me one of those tools on the table."

The man, who had been looking torn between speaking up in Sakura's defense and grinning delightedly at her impending torture, blinked and looked at the one of the tables, laden with nearly every violent tool one could imagine, of which nearly all had yet to be washed from their previous uses.

"Which one, milady, mistress, demonic bitch?" He asked, kneading his hands together and half-grinning and half-sneering at the woman.

Unfazed by the man's insult, Demetria smiled again, quite innocently. "A stabby thing, first. We'll move on to crushy and screwy things later."

The man whooped in joy, and grabbed the first thing within his reach—a nail as big as his own forearm, about as thick as his thumb. He handed it to the woman, who rammed it into Sakura's thigh.

Sakura screamed so loud it must have been heard throughout the bastion. The pain was excruciating, particularly because Demetria had rammed the nail on a particularly sensitive bundle of nerves, a pressure point, on the inside of the upper thigh. She nearly passed out, her entire body convulsing in pain and then seizing up as if she were paralyzed. She couldn't see straight; her vision bucked and twisted in every direction, and the only thing that she could see properly was Demetria herself, sometimes upright sometimes tilted in one direction, sometimes split into several identical images, each one smiling with cruel satisfaction.

"Oh dear," said Demetria. "Did that hurt? I'm sorry, but not really. Would you like another?"

Sakura's vision returned slowly, and though her leg still roared with pain, she began to adapt. A horrible smell entered her nose, and she realized she had vomited. Demetria was already holding another tool in her hand, a bone saw. Sakura suddenly wished she didn't have comprehensive knowledge of nearly every surgical tool in existence in her world. She swallowed.

"S-stop," she whispered.

"No," said Demetria, holding the saw against Sakura's right arm and took two powerful strokes, cutting all the way to the bone, flooding her hands with Sakura's hot, sticky blood. This time Sakura did pass out. She was awoken just a second later with a touch from Demetria, which made Sakura feel as awake and alert as if she had been sleeping for hours. Demetria greeted her with a smile, stepping back, and leaving the bone saw in Sakura's shoulder.

"Hurt?" she asked, in a sing-song.

"Y-yes," Sakura said closing her eyes, not wanting to picture the saw or the nail.

"I'm glad," said Demetria. "Do you know what I just did?"

"N-no."

"I used a special ability of mine. I call it a shadow pulse. It's a tiny bit of chakra that I can use to gain control of your entire body, and all its functions—isn't that amazing?"

"Yes," Sakura said. She didn't want to speak, but nodding would cause the saw to move, and bring more pain.

"It's only effective for one time, though," Demetria continued, and touched Sakura again. "But its effects are almost always permanent. You probably won't be able to go to sleep for a while, if ever again. This one I just put into you took away the pain in your arm and leg, didn't it? The brain's amazing! I can do this with anything—I can make even the smallest desire in somebody grow big and strong. Do you see?"

"Yes."

"Do you?" Demetria asked, and touched Sakura one more time. "This one is going to be the clincher. I'm going to magnify that tiny little impulse you have—that tiny, tiny impulse way in the bottom of your subconscious—which you may not even know you have—that admires me. Almost everyone has it, you know. On some level, you do admire me, especially for my power, or perhaps my beauty or something else. So I'm going to make that big until it completely governs everything else you do. You will admire me so much that everything I say you will do without question. How does that sound?"

Sakura didn't answer.

"I like that answer," Demetria said. "Welcome."

It was not like what Sakura had expected. It came as a simple thought. She's not that bad, is she? It was an annoying thought, one that Sakura immediately shoved out of the way. But it came back. She's beautiful, and powerful. No she isn't, Sakura thought, shaking her head, glad to be free of the pain. Focus on that. The pain. Dammit, no wonder she had taken it away! Look at those breasts! I wish I had those. Then maybe he'd pay attention. That hair too! God, if she had that hair, nobody would be able to look away. It was silky and smooth and unbelievable. Who cared about hair, though? She didn't. She was proud of her hair and her body. Her breasts were small, but they were easy to deal with, and she had long ago (having accepted they would never get much bigger) decided that big breasts would just be a hassle. But what about those lips, and that figure? No man would be able to resist those lips, or that butt, or the way she walked. God, she was really beautiful, wasn't she? Gorgeous beyond belief, and she wasn't that bad, either. She was actually kind of engaging, and kind of funny, as well. And smart—she had to be smart, didn't she? Smart enough to come up with a technique like that. I mean you had to be a genius to think of a technique that gave you control over a person's bodily functions, right?

Wait. Of course you did. She herself was such a genius, wasn't she? She began to pool her chakra. Though she could not form her hand seals, that didn't matter. She had enough control to just visualize the hand seals—it would take longer, but it would work, and she only had to do one thing. She began to recognize what it was doing. Though it was assaulting several places in her brain, it primarily affected the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex managed selection and execution of actions, and differentiation of good and bad. What Demetria's shadow pulse was doing was distorting those differences, and attributing Demetria as the "best" possible thing within her memory stores. Demetria was doing nothing but distorting how Sakura's mind worked. It was simple. But it was mind control on a totally different level from what Sakura could imagine—almost like the jutsu Sasori had used on Yura.

It would be permanent too.

But Sakura fought it. Even with all of the thoughts flying through her head, Sakura was able to activate her Nouha Sayuu jutsu with excruciating difficulty. But she could not keep it active for long. She lost her grip on it in her joy of getting it, and had a hard time getting it back, as desperation and fear arose in her. Demetria's chakra was gradually fading, as the changes began to stop.

Sakura almost felt like stopping. Why bother?

Demetria's golden hair caught her eyes. It was beautiful, wasn't it? Shiny like solidified sunshine, something that you could stroke for hours in pure bliss.

Like his.

YOU IDIOT! STOP THAT BITCH!

She seized the gathered chakra and activated the jutsu, and removed Demetria's offending chakra before it could distort anything else. Her mind went totally blank, and in that moment of clarity, she attempted to rectify the damage Demetria had done. She did it without thinking, knowing that if she did, she would feel horrified that she was tampering with her own emotions, that she was rewriting her own personality and beliefs. She would vomit later, but she didn't care. She had to stop it.

She had to.

The thoughts ebbed. She really wasn't all that pretty after all. Her breasts were, at best, too big, and probably fake as well. Her hair was too smooth and shiny, and it looked like Ino's after a trip to the beauty parlor. Her figure was too stereotypical, and her lips were too red. She was a bitch, too. She had put a nail through Sakura's thigh! She had put a saw into her shoulder!

That bitch! What kind of person did that?

She looked up at Demetria's face. The woman was smiling happily, and looking quite pleased with herself. "Welcome! Are you better now?"

"Yes," Sakura wheezed.

"Excellent," she said. "But you're lying, aren't you?" Demetria's smile had changed.

"Yes," Sakura said again.

Demetria leaned forwards. "How did it not work? This is the first time. Did you do something?"

"Yes."

"What?"

"I realized your breasts were really fake," said Sakura. "And I wondered how I could admire somebody like that."

Demetria dislodged one of Sakura's teeth with a punch, and Sakura vomited once again, but this time took half a second to aim properly and did it all over Demetria. The woman stepped back, roaring in fury.

"YOU!" she roared. "You little bitch! I'll fucking kill you!"

Though feeling slightly better, Sakura didn't look up. She breathed heavily, and watching the ground as her blood dripped onto it. She had to prepare herself if Demetria tried to take her over again.

And she did, twice.

Both times, however, Sakura was ready, and stopped the pulses from doing anything. Her mind grew clearer and faster each time, but she knew that if Demetria kept it up, she wouldn't be able to do it any more. If she used it any more in this distressed state, she might risk a seizure. She used the time it took Demetria to realize that nothing was working to recover and prepare. Each time, she was punched or brutalized for it, but for some reason, the pain didn't bother her. It was actually kind of fun, to see Demetria get so riled up.

I should stop thinking like that, she thought. I knew this side would get me into trouble, which is why I never acted on it. No wonder Naruto was the class clown, though.

"Why isn't it working?" Demetria screamed, infuriated. "Why isn't she admiring me?"

Alcond quailed beneath Demetria's tyranny. "I do not know m-m-m-m-mistress! P-p-p-p-p-p-p-please forgive me!"

Demetria snarled at him again, and kicked him too. She then turned and snarled at Sakura.

"It doesn't matter, anyways. I have another way."

Sakura looked briefly into her eyes. The rage now existed in harmony with the earlier joy she had displayed. "You'll see. I'll make you mine yet."

She stomped away, into the gloom, ignoring Alcond, who still lay shivering on the ground. Sakura hung her head, exhausted. She couldn't sleep because of what Demetria had done to, but too tired to fix it, and in too much pain. She was glad that Alcond was attending to himself for a while.

Clear drops mixed in with the pool of blood on the floor.

She wanted someone to save her. She couldn't do it alone anymore. She needed someone to save her.

Yamato glanced up at the tall, stark white building before him. The windows, he saw, looked to be the only likely option of entering. He could see sentries in nearly all of them, but that didn't matter too much to him. Chances are there wouldn't be that many in any given room, and they'd be able to kill at least one or more of them before they were found out, and the alarm was raised. Hopefully by then, they'd be well within the confines of the bastion, and somewhere near the Grand Crusader's room. Lord Maxwell had provided them with a basic blueprint of the building; before the Scarlet Crusade had taken it over it had been a citadel of the Church of Holy Light. Maxwell had been within the confines of the Bastion before the Crusade had become corrupted, and so he had given Yamato an idea of where to go. The chamber would be the dead center of the building and be one of the biggest and probably the most heavily guarded. It would have no windows or entrances aside from the main one.

But he was thinking too far ahead. They had yet to even enter. He motioned to Myrdraxxis and Hisari, and they came closer.

"Myrdraxxis, I want you to kill the sentry in the window closest to us as quickly as you can. Hisari, do the next one down from him. I'll take the final one. It should lead into a single hall, where we'll meet back up. Any questions?"

Both just shook their heads.

They hopped to the building nearest them and dashed towards the bastion. They dipped into the alleyways between the houses, breaking up halfway through and taking slightly different routes to their goal. They wove in between houses and in alleyways, but kept their eyes trained on the building that rose above everything. But they kept their eyes sharp for Scourge too.

Yamato reached the bottom of the wall first, just below his window. He flattened himself against the wall, breathing slowly. After a few hand seals, he placed his hand against the wall, and closed both of his eyes. He breathed deeply, gathering the chakra into his center, and then willed it into his fingertips.

'Mokuton: Kankaku Tsuru no jutsu'

They grew long and wooden, and crept like snakes up the wall, weaving in between the miniscule cracks in the seemingly perfect walls. He felt it all. He felt every vibration in the wall, no matter how miniscule. He felt Hisari and Myrdraxxis' rigid backs pressed against it, and the heavy but soft banners that hung midway between the ground and the windows, and the heavy footsteps of armored men walking in the hallways and rooms beside the wall. They crept closer and closer to his window, and soon he received more than just feelings, he heard sounds and smelt smells—the steady heartbeats of several Crusaders and also their loud breathing, and distantly some muffled speech, and the smell of the old stone and the unclean rooms beyond. Just below the window, vision blossomed behind his eyes, and he saw the stolid face of a burly Crusader who hadn't shaved in some time. He stared forwards, rarely blinked, and stunk of sweat and fire and blood.

Yamato made a seal with one hand. The vision became more intensely focused on the man's face, and everything else stretched out as his vine became spear-sharp. He sent a pulse of chakra, and made it move. The vision was suddenly red, and the smell of coppery blood became overwhelming, and then it all went dark. Yamato released the jutsu and scaled the wall in quick strides at the same time the Crusader hit the ground, blood gushing from one ruined eye.

Hisari moved into position at about the same time. Right beneath her own window, she took a few breaths and looked up. She was not good at quiet. She was not some rogue. But she also knew that provoking a large-scale battle at this point would be foolish and likely get one of them killed. The faced the wall, glancing briefly to the side where Myrdraxxis was. The Forsaken was crawling up like a spider, pulling himself using only his chakra and arms, and was nearly halfway up already. To her left, Yamato was still on the ground, but even as she watched, quickly turned and mounted the wall, running upwards on two feet.

She gazed up at her own window.

Her climbing was not nearly as dexterous as Myrdraxxis', nor as quick as Yamato's, but she moved as quickly and silently as she could. The banner got in her way when she neared it, so she quickly circumvented it, and continued up alongside it, her eyes steadily fixed on her goal. Yamato had already entered his room, and Myrdraxxis was nearing his. She sped up, breathing heavily, feeling the weight of her armor and her sword, dragging her down and straining against her body painfully. But she didn't stop, and kept her frustration controlled. She kept everything that she would normally think tucked away behind her, like why wasn't this easy, or why had they chosen such a stupid way to go in? She kept it reigned in the back of her mind. Not now, she thought. Not now!

She reached her goal so suddenly it took her a moment to realize she had. She kept herself hidden just below the edge, until she regained control of her breathing, and had a firm grip on her sword.

The next seconds blurred together. She wrenched herself up and drew her monstrous sword as quickly as a hidden dagger, and swung it with one hand, removing the Crusader's head in a single blow before he could even open his mouth to scream. She stepped onto the drenched carpet, and took a moment to compose herself. Some of the fire returned to her eyes as she gazed over her victim in triumph, as her heart beat wildly from the adrenaline.

Perhaps the boy had been right.

"This is a city of the dead, isn't it?" Sai said, perched atop a roof, gazing over Stratholme's streets. "You an almost imagine them setting up shops, can you not?"

"Shut up," Naruto said. It was too hot. It was too loud. It was a city of the dead, to be sure, but the dead didn't want to shut up here. The sounds he had heard before were just louder now. He found himself glancing often at the streets, towards a shout he thought he had heard from somebody selling fresh vegetables and fruit, or small trinkets, only to see a ghoul shambling out from a building, sniffing and moaning. He could see movement in all directions, like a true city, but he saw only death when he looked.

The streets were covered in layers of gore, like the floors of a slaughterhouse. Bodies in every state of decay flooded the streets, some of them still moving. Each house looked like a skeletal face, moaning in despair, illuminated by a hidden flame that came from everywhere. But nothing was clear, either. The bodies would constantly warp and shift—at points becoming fresh, their blood standing out against the fresh white cobbles—before turning back to the rotten cadavers they had once been. The buildings would become whole at one point, and then return to their burnt appearance. He couldn't distinguish between the past and the present, for it seemed to be both at once. He saw the Scourge that walked it as living humans with a blink, and then back to being zombies in the next. It was as if the city didn't want to give up its past, and continued to drown in its despair.

Now, Naruto realized what Fen had been talking about. Stratholme's soul still burned. He stood now not in a city, but a gigantic corpse, among thousands of flies and maggots trying to pick it clean.

"Why do you always snap at me? Aren't we now friends?" Sai asked, smiling. "You saved my life, after all."

"I did?" Naruto asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Yes," said Sai. "Friends save each other's lives, do they not?"

"Do you even know what a friend is?" Naruto asked.

"Yes. It is a 'person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard.'"

"So no," Naruto said, rolling his eyes. "We can't be friends until you know what one is, and I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon."

"Why not?"

"Quiet, kids," Fen said. "We don't want to draw their attention anymore than we have to." He walked along the roof, hopping to the next and constantly checking the streets. Naruto and Sai abandoned their argument and followed. "Though there isn't much a chance of that, now. Since Ramstein's dead, the one who runs this show isn't going to be happy."

"Who's that? The lich you keep mentioning?"

"By proxy," said Fen. "But he's probably not here, or we'd know. From what I've heard, it's a Death Knight."

"What's that?"

"A knight that's dead, and has a bunch of nasty powers that won't be fun to encounter. No, we should stick straight to heading towards the Bastion." He pointed, to where they could see the gigantic white stone building among the sea of skeleton houses, like a monolithic headstone. "That way." He glanced back at his two teammates. "Stick to the roofs, and make sure you aren't seen by any of the bigger ones, or the ones with armor. And keep your heads straight, as well." He looked particularly hard at Naruto. The boy nodded darkly.

Progress was immeasurably slow. There were crowds of Scourge in the streets, some of them as big as Ramstein, others smaller, though no less deformed. Fen told them to listen for the clopping of a horse, and twice Naruto thought he heard one; but it was simply the past interfering once more. The images of the past came and went at random—sometimes they occurred within seconds of each other, and other times they came in half an hour. The images grew ever more disturbing, and so did the contrast between the past and present. This place disgusted him.

The Scarlet Bastion loomed above them as they made their way towards it. The building fit perfectly among the city, for it seemed just as lively, for similarly wrong reasons. It was too perfectly white, too beautiful to exist in such a place as this. Inside, Naruto knew he'd find things that were as twisted as what lay in the streets. Just looking at it made him sick to his stomach, for the many banners and streamers that hung from the walls and spires of the bastion, ruffled by the wind, gave it the appearance of being wounded, of it gushing blood onto the already bloody streets. He must have commented on this aloud, because Fen snorted, and nodded. "Fits, doesn't it?" He rubbed his head, and scoffed. "These two are really peas in a pod, aren't they? They get along great, too, for mortal enemies."

Naruto couldn't agree more.

They had to change roofs frequently, even needing to leap across the wide streets—waiting for just the right chance when no abominations and the fewest Scourge possible were around. The jumps were simple—Naruto had done harder ones in training to become a shinobi as a child—but each one took more dedication and precision than Naruto had ever thought about. He recalled during his second jump a game he had played as a child (by himself) where he had to jump over certain areas as he had designated them lava. It had helped him improve his jumping skill, but he had never imagined it would come in useful in any other way, much less jumping over a street full of the living dead. Each jump brought them closer to the Bastion, but it also brought them deeper into the city.

Soon Naruto heard the telltale sounds of battle. It took him several minutes to realize that he wasn't simply hearing the past again, and realized that something was happening up ahead, near the entrance to the Scarlet Bastion. He strained his ears, filtering out the excess moans of the present and past, hearing the cling of swords and the shouts of real men as they struck out at the zombie Scourge. About that time, Naruto began to see that many of the Scourge were quickly moving in that direction. He looked at Fen.

"They're fighting, right? How are we going to get in now?"

"Wait a bit—we'll see what it's like. It won't be a big skirmish. It's probably one of their daily tussles. Let's get a bit closer," he added. "We'll have to be quick, but if they're busy enough, we could slip in unnoticed."

Naruto frowned. "You sure?"

"Not in the least. But it's better than nothing."

"No," said Sai, smiling. "It is not. Perhaps Naruto-kun could be of assistance here again."

Naruto looked at him, frowning. "How?"

"You can use Kage Bunshin no jutsu, can you not?" Sai asked. He smiled wider. "Then perhaps a simple clone could tell us if it is worth going or not. That is, after all, what the technique was made for—gathering information." There was something strange about Sai's smile (more than usual), but he couldn't deny that it was a good idea. He glanced at Fen.

"It's fine with me," said Fen. "Go ahead."

Naruto summoned the clone, which proceeded to leap across the street again, and follow the houses along the street, turning right at the next road, and then hoping across the street again, until it came to a large courtyard, which housed the entrance to the bastion. It was largely unimpressive—it was squashed between two rickety houses, nothing but a monstrous door made pincushion from all the spears, swords and gashes it bore. The rest of the building loomed over the courtyard, casting it in permanent shadow. But out of all of Stratholme so far, it bore the most evidence of decay and destruction.

If Naruto had thought the streets were a slaughterhouse, it was nothing compared to this. Bodies upon bodies were stacked up against the edges of the courtyard, overflowing the buildings surrounding it, and forming a barricade in the small street that led into it. The ground was so covered in black and green, from the blood of Scourge and Crusader, that it was almost a swamp. Fumes of decay were almost visible from the rotting graveyard of bodies, which were indistinguishable from each other. It was impossible to tell which was Crusader and which was Scourge. But of course, it was almost true of the living as well.

Around twenty Crusaders, men and women both, crowded before the entrance, bodies slick with ichor to the point where their armor was no longer red. Bodies lay at their feet; they stood in a lake of ichor, and like children playing at the beach, reveled in it. They laughed and whooped and screamed, moaning in ecstatic, almost orgiastic pleasure, as they ripped and killed and crushed. Some had abandoned weapons all together, and fought the Scourge with their bare, bloody hands, tearing at rotting flesh until their own began to strip away. They didn't even care for their fellow Crusaders, and like wild dogs scrounging for the last bit of meat on a carcass, beat each other away to get at new prey, to be the first to rip that one's head off, or to gut another, or to crush the skull of a fallen zombie. The ones that died did not care, either. They died with morbid smiles on their faces, as if dying from pleasure itself, and fought until their bodies were nothing but scraps of bone and meat and blood, and even then they continued twitching long after their eyes had glazed over and their hearts had stopped.

The fought, and fought, and laughed and laughed, and the longer the clone watched, the more its sight became distorted. When it was dispelled, and Naruto was filled with what it had seen, he could no longer decide if there had been any humans within the courtyard, as he struggled to report through his nausea and disgust.

Just monsters.

"Crap," said Fen. "Then we need to find another way in. Any suggestions?"

"Why not just use the front door?" Sai asked, smiling.

Naruto frowned at him. "What are you talking about? Didn't you just here what I said? And that doesn't sound like a plan to come from you!"

Sai tilted his head to the side, and looked with the same smile, though for some reason, Naruto thought it was more condescending than before. It was like he was smiling to a child who had just said something obviously wrong, and was about to correct him. "You didn't let me finish, Naruto-kun. Perhaps we should disguise ourselves. If they are as you say…it shall not be hard."

Naruto looked to Fen. "Can you do it?"

"Myrdraxxis had taught me a few things," said Fen. "But nothing like what you guys can do."

"It will not work," said Sai, "if it is not perfect." He motioned with his hands, and in a puff of smoke, he became an exact duplicate of Fen, right down to the pseudo-smile. Even Naruto, who had used the jutsu all his life, couldn't tell the difference between the two. Sai returned a moment later. "You cannot perform something like that, can you?"

"Can't say I can," said Fen.

"Then you must stay behind, and cover us," said Sai. "As it is, you are already something that will draw attention. You will need to stay out here, and be our eyes."

"How do we—oh, with the earpiece things, right?" Fen looked troubled, and scratched his chin, making a few bits of skin flake off. He finally shrugged. "I can't think of anything better. How are you going to slip in?"

Sai smiled. "You are familiar with the behavior of predators, are you not? They would not have fought and remained unharmed. We take the weakest, and replace them."

"Won't that cause problems?"

"Only if they notice. But they do not seem to me to be so…observant."

Fen looked at Naruto, who was still trying to recover from the earlier shock. The boy wiped sweat from his forehead, and kept his eyes trained on the floor. He didn't like the idea, but it was the best they had, and they needed to get through and into the bastion somehow. It would take some time before they were discovered, if they were careful. But he couldn't help but feel needles of worry in his stomach. It wasn't like him.

Finally, he looked up and nodded once, before digging around in his pouch and handing Fen the earpiece.

"That's all said and done, I suppose. I'll stay here. Contact me when you're inside, and out of earshot of anybody else."

"Good luck, Mr. Rotten," said Sai, before leaping across the street.

Fen's brows knitted vaguely together. "Mr. Rotten? What is that? A nickname?"

Naruto shrugged. "Don't ask me."

"He's a strange one. Are you going to be okay?"

"I don't know," said Naruto. "That guy…I don't know what he's thinking half the time. I don't know anything about him, other than that he openly admits he's a spy for somebody who could be an enemy to our village."

"I see," said Fen. "Bit odder than I had previously thought, then. Keep your eye on him. I don't know if I can trust him that much. It's that smile, I suppose."

"Yeah." Naruto's brow knitted. "It isn't it?" He sighed. "Good luck."

"You'll need it more than me," said Fen. "Go on. Be quick about it, too. Saying that I don't like this place is a vast understatement, but it's all that time will allow me. And don't forget what Lady Sylvanas told you, eh?"

Naruto flashed him a smile, and then took off after Sai. Upon rejoining the boy, they quickly hurried across the roofs and streets to get to the courtyard, Naruto keeping a wary eye on the streets as he did. The fighting had not yet ceased when they arrived, and indeed, had just entered a new stage. Two abominations had entered the courtyard, and smashed their way through the smaller Scourge to get to the group of Crusaders, which had dwindled to less than ten by this time, so all that remained were the maddened dregs of once amazing warriors, now just monstrous dogs.

"We must get nearer to them," said Sai, almost pleasantly, as if he were enjoying it. Naruto nodded despite his disgust, and they went along the roofs towards the bastion, keeping their eyes trained on the ground below. The abominations were nowhere near the quality of Ramstein, it appeared, as they saw one of them go down, mobbed by the group of Crusaders.

By this time, they had reached the very side of the bastion, and kept themselves hidden against the railing of the building. Just below them the Crusaders fought, their wild howls echoing.

"Are you ready, Naruto-kun?" Sai slowly raised himself into a standing position, so he smiled down at Naruto.

"Yeah." He tried to force out the sounds behind him and concentrate on his goal. He stood up, and took a deep breath.

"Do you have the one you wish to duplicate?"

"Yeah."

"Then shall we go?"

Naruto made a seal.

"Yeah."

They plunged downwards, into the bloody, maddening abyss.

The hall was silent, almost terribly so. Hisari soon became conscious of the fact that she among her companions was the only one making any noise with her steps, and slowed down a bit. She tried to ignore this as long as she could, as they left the corridor, and descended a cramped spiral staircase into another corridor that had several branches. Yamato quickly glanced in each direction, and then motioned to the right. They needed to get down. The Grand Crusader's chamber was on the first floor, and they were nowhere near that.

Yamato jumped at every noise made, every distant footstep, every clatter or clink the bastion made on its own. Hisari's earlier resolve slowly faded, and she became as demure as before. The air was oppressive and hot, and it smelt no cleaner inside than it did out, despite its impeccable appearance. It did not help that every moment they imagined being discovered by the Crusade, which added to the stifling air, and urged her to go faster with each step, even when Yamato kept the same, slow, methodical pace.

Yamato stopped her once from going on, and froze his body completely. A second later, a pair of Crusaders emerged from a door just beyond the corner, where Hisari could see, and walked in the direction opposite of them. They were rigid and silent and walked like the automatons that guarded her city. Yamato waited until they were completely out of sight before moving, this time with uncharacteristic swiftness, down the hall and through another door, into a wide staircase different from the rest. It did not spiral, and was far more exposed than the previous ones had been, which Yamato seemed put off by.

Hisari's heart beat wildly. It was something she had never felt before. It was tremendously agonizing. She felt anxious with all this sneaking around. She had always confronted her enemy head on, previously. That allowed her to fight more. But she couldn't fight here. Not with this human— this man—in charge, with the deadly seed he had implanted in her body and his sharp and cold demeanor; or that boy with his stupid, empty words and his off-balancing personality.

But each step brought them closer to their goal. Hisari found herself even more anxious with each step. She should feel thrilled, but she did not and that was disturbing. What was wrong with her? Had the boy's words affected her that much?

Yamato led them down the staircase but not through the door at the bottom. Footsteps and other sounds of mobile life could be heard behind it, though it was the only door in the area. Yamato swore to himself silently.

"We're only on the fourth floor," he whispered. "I don't remember there being many large rooms in between the windows and the chamber."

"There is no other way?" Myrdraxxis whispered.

"There might. But we don't have the time to check."

"Then it is obvious what we should do."

"Which is why I don't like this. We'll be discovered too soon."

"There are plenty of places to hide." Myrdraxxis unsheathed one dagger, the obsidian black one on his left side, Tuska.

Yamato nodded. That there were. He looked at Hisari. "Can you control yourself?"

Hisari did not ask how he knew. He was too smart, she decided, for his own good. "Yes."

"Good. Stay close and don't go out of your way to fight. We'll cut a path through, and cause as much confusion as possible. Follow me, and keep vigilant. This is only the first of many, and not even the most important fight we'll have here." He looked at them both, received their nods, and then turned back to the door.

He took a breath, and kicked it open, leaping into the room.

What he found, he did not expect.

It was empty.

Save, of course, for the Scarlet Ghost, and twenty of his Crusader brethren, all facing Yamato, Hisari and Myrdraxxis, and all dressed for battle. The Ghost stepped forwards in the dim light, and beckoned Yamato into the room.

"Well, walker-in-the-night, have I surprised thee?"

"Your Holiness," Lady Demetria said in a delicate purr, leaning forwards to fully expose her body's most compelling assets. "May I have but a moment of your most glorious time?"

"What is it, Demetria?" He was brooding, as he often did. His warriors had stopped their battle for the day, and had returned, and he was not happy because of it. The Baron hadn't even shown himself today. "I am not in the mood."

She snaked across the room, and laid her head against his thigh, and began to stroke it, purring every so sweetly, with a smile affixed that most men could only dream of seeing on a woman's face. Her eyes never left his, and he was rigid as rock.

"I need you to give one of those nasty pets the initiation."

Dathrohan raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because," she said, pouting. "She won't fall under my ability. It is most odd."

"That is impossible."

"But it isn't," she insisted, her eyes aglow with both anger and wonder. "She has some ability that prevents her; I have never seen anything like it. But with your initiation, she would be ours within seconds."

"But it would be far too obvious."

"It only need be a little." She ran her fingers along the inside of his thigh, making a coy face and filling her words with poisoned honey. "Only a drop, perhaps. Enough to make her ours. I could reduce the amount of rage she feels with my ability. Would that not be proper? And then, in time, she would be able to spread your influence far faster, wouldn't you say?" She licked her lips and grinned. "Wouldn't you, Holiest of Holies?"

Dathrohan made no response. He drummed his fingers along the arm of his throne, creating a deep, reverberating thrum throughout the chamber. He was not looking at her.

She smiled.

"Fine," he finally said. "Bring her to me. She will be baptized into the fold, properly. She shall become one of the Crimson Legion."

Demetria stepped away almost immediately, and turned on her heel. She glided back towards the door, only turning briefly to blow him a small kiss, her eyes and demeanor completely changing as she turned. Her smile became wolfish, and her eyes stopped on cruel in their slot-reel emotions. She would be hers soon enough. Everything always, sooner or later, was.

I'm sorry for that. I don't think that was a super-terrific chapter. I had hoped for a little bit more action, but I realized that I'd just be cramming in unnecessary battles, and that wouldn't be fun for you guys, either—just tedious. Next one will have more, I know.

This is the last chapter before I go on vacation. I'll be back in a month, and expect a new chapter in mid-July.

Please review this one, as well. I want to make it better, and your input would help immensely.

Now, in any case, here are (for those not well-versed in German) the translations Ramstein's lines.

"ZERSTOREN" means "DESTROY"

"MEIN HERZ BRENNT" means "MY HEART BURNS."

"SPIEL MIT MIR" means "PLAY WITH ME"

"FEUER FREI" means "FIRE AT WILL" or literally "FIRE FREE"

"MANN GEGEN MANN" is a rather stupid joke, which is remarkably clever for Ramstein. It means "MAN AGAINST MAN".

"MUTTER" means "MOTHER"

and finally "IST DOCH DIE SCHONST STADT DER WELT" means "IT'S STILL THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CITY IN THE WORLD"

Hope that all helps. Again, please review, particularly on this chapter, as I am not happy with it.

Thanks, and see you guys in a month! I'll be back, fresh and ready to write! Don't worry about that! The next few chapters I have planned are going to be lots of fun, I hope.

Have a good June! See you in July!

General Grievous

Scroll of Seals:

Mokuton: Kankaku Tsuru no jutsu (Sense Vine technique): Releases a vine which can effectively extend the senses of a human for a considerable distance. The person cannot perceive anything in his immediate surroundings, however, as long as the jutsu is activated.

Hien (Flying Swallow) Kodachi: Surrounds a kodachi in cutting wind elemental chakra which vastly enhances its ability to pierce and slash, and thus making it an extremely deadly weapon, that could even cut steel with ease. It also extends the range of the weapon.

Feuer Frei (Fire Free or Fire at Will): Generates and intensely powerful lightning storm above the user, who constantly supplies it with energy, and then releases it in an extra-powerful attack alongside a weapon. Can be vastly damaging, but can be blocked easily by earth techniques, and dispelled by wind techniques.