Disclaimer: I Don't own Naruto/World of Warcraft and any characters copyrighted underneath them, nor am I being paid to produce this fiction, something I haven't actually said before in one of these disclaimers, which I know you guys are so fond of. This week's question: Why can't woodchucks chuck wood? Doesn't that bother anybody other than me?
Here's the next installment of The Legend of Uzumaki Naruto!
The Burning Steppes flew beneath them, underneath the dark, rocky layering of clouds that seemed another world suspended above the earth. It was what the Burning Steppes had once been; miles of rocky crags and crevasses and uneven terrain formed by glassy black, smattered with grey and reddish orange, but all clouds. The smell was different, but that might have been because of Lacurad's vicious stench of an ancient tomb filled with mildew and the slowly rotting flesh of a hundred men and women. It was impossible to feel at ease atop the beast; it's back and fur rippled in the blowing wind and each beat of its wings created tremors that kept everyone off their feet. They had to sit, congregated at the middle of the summoned beast's back where there was the least movement, despite Lacurad's insistent wails that they were too heavy to be sitting all in one place.
Naruto told him to shove it.
"You're really don't like him, do you?" Sakura said, frowning.
"Nah, I've never met him," Naruto said. "But if he's like every other thing I've tried to summon, he'll be annoying and difficult and try to do things his way unless I at least try to be forceful. I mean, at least Gamabunta listens to Jiraiya, and Boreagos—"
"Who?"
"Dragon, other boss of this summoning contract," Naruto said. "Used him against that demon, Balnazzar, so he's probably not too happy with me right now, and besides, every time I summon him I think I'm going to have to pay him a few sacrifices or something. Anyways, I've had too much difficulty with summons, so I'm putting my foot down on this one."
Sakura nodded a few times, glancing towards the beast's head. "Makes sense…you seem to have this one whipped."
"Hope so."
"Good thing he's not a girl, though."
Naruto frowned, turning to meet her playful gaze. "Eh? Why?"
"Because it'd be the other way around every time, then. Girls always whip boys."
Naruto opened his mouth to protest. Then, he thought better of it.
"Yeah," he said. "Probably true."
"Definitely true." Sakura turned away, and began to whistle to distract herself from the smell, and the growing sense of unease in her stomach as they neared the Spire. She was amazed she had the courage to joke at this time. It didn't feel right; they were not on a normal mission, where even though danger was always a factor, there were times to rest— times to joke. But they had no time left, now.
She turned to Shikamaru. The boy was sitting a few feet behind him, next to Neji, who's Byakugan was activated. His wide, moon-like eyes shimmered slightly in the sun, and his brow was knit in concentration as he attempted to discern where they were in relation to the Spire. They must be close, because Sakura saw that neither of the two boys looked as calm as they usually did. Shikamaru and Neji were not people who easily revealed how they truly felt about a mission—they were, like Naruto, leaders who thought it best to keep a calm face before danger, even if inside they were just as panicked and scared as the rest. But to see them like this—Neji with his brow's furrowed, and a reflective sheen of sweat on his brow even in the cool, wildly blowing wind, and Shikamaru with his grim face and downcast eyes like that of an old priest conducting a funeral during his last few days of life. She caught his eye, and he nodded. She returned it, and then turned her attention to the others.
Chouji sat next to Ino, with his eyes straight forward, his face set; it was an odd change for the normally expressive boy, whose emotions were more often than not draped across both sleeves like the anti-war protest banners that townsfolk had adopted in the Fire Country during the last Great Shinobi War. But the look proved tenuous—he too met Sakura's eyes, and gave her a nervous nod that was too quick to be natural, and then turned away.
Beside him, Ino was doing her best as well, but did not bother to hide the distress on her face. She looked anxious, and was playing with the stray lock of hair she usually let hang down in her front to give her the 'mysterious, sexy woman' look, which Sakura had last told her looked like something a prostitute would have. Her eyes, like Sakura's, were never in any one place at once, though they eventually met. Ino produced a weak smile, something Sakura had to match before moving on.
Lee sat beside Tenten, who sat beside Kakashi, all near the front where Naruto was sitting next to Undrig. Lee was doing some stretching exercises, and whispering things to himself, his doll-like wide eyes filled with a fire his former master would have wept at. He had taken Kakashi's words to heart, and was doing whatever he could to be useful, to prepare himself for the battle to come. He knew that a favorable outcome was unlikely, but he didn't let himself think over it. He wasn't a very good thinker, he told himself, he'd leave that to Sakura-chan and the rest. Sakura was impressed by his composure, though slightly disturbed when he winked at her, looking tempted to blow her a kiss. She turned away before he could.
Tenten was most nervous of all, or she seemed to be. She was polishing a blade she had produced from nowhere, and which probably didn't need polishing, as it shined with sunlight as if reflected from a mirror, and looked as deadly as the latest masterpiece of a master sword-smith. She sighed every few seconds, and kept her eyes tightly focused on the blade with the piercing gaze of a bird of prey. She was shaking very slightly, and did not notice Sakura's glance.
Kakashi was most difficult of all to figure out, because like always, he showed absolutely nothing on what little face he had exposed. His visible eye was droopy and bored-looking, as if he had been forced out into the early morning to teach a bunch of brats how to be shinobi, and there was nothing obviously visible beneath his mask. He was perfectly still, save for the swaying caused by Lacurad's flight. He met her gaze, but still offered nothing. She gave him a nod, which he returned, and then moved on to Naruto and Undrig, who sat just beside her.
The dwarf paladin looked prepared for battle. His hammer was unsheathed and lain across his lap, his armor looked freshly polished and glinted like new steel in the sun, his face was grim, hard, determined, as if he now stood on the battlefield with his comrades, waiting for the call to war to begin. He was whispering something as well, and when Sakura strained her ears, she could just hear the faint, foreign sounds of Dwarfish in a set rhythm that was wonderful to hear, even though she did not understand. It must have been a prayer, but it might have been poetry it sounded so beautiful. He kept his eyes fixed down in reverence to some unseen force, which Sakura could not understand.
Finally, her eyes settled on Naruto. The boy sat with his legs crossed, his eyes forward like Chouji's, but unlike him, it was with the absolute, nigh-limitless confidence that she knew him to possess, summoned from deep within him for just such a situation as this. His face was otherwise entirely blank, which was strange for Naruto, but his eyes reflected what his face did not; they brimmed with barely hidden emotion, determination at the forefront of them all, guiding his actions and thoughts in a way that, in the end, would probably lead them to victory. That was what usually happened, wasn't it? Naruto didn't think ahead, he just went with it, using that ferocious ambition within him to deal with what was thrown at him in a way that most shinobi would not be able to handle, but which Naruto reveled in it like a bird taking flight for the first time. She could almost see that cocky smile on his face, could almost feel what he felt, at that moment.
She smiled, and turned her gaze forwards again. Once again, Naruto's confidence proved infectious. They could do this. Naruto believed they could; even though he got so many other things wrong, faith in others was never something Naruto got wrong.
Never.
"Hey, Naruto," she said.
Naruto turned back, "Yeah?"
"We're fucking shinobi, aren't we?"
Naruto blinked.
"…Didn't know you could swear, Sakura-chan…"
She glared, and he laughed.
"Yep!" He called just loud enough for everyone to hear.
"We're fuckingshinobi!"
The Spire came upon them all at once. It was visible through the clouds.
For about a half a mile in each direction around it, the clouds had parted to reveal a hole as deep as the Molten Core far below them, but at the top of this hole the tip of the Spire grasped upwards towards the burning orange sky like a hideous claw ripping out of the womb of the earth. It was soullessly black, nothing but jagged rocks and glowing crevasses of flame and smoke, billowing out like those from an oilrig. Sulfur burnt the air and their eyes, blotting out even Lacurad's rotten smell. It was the sole dead tree at the heart of a wasteland, but it hummed with hidden life. There was a wildness to it, a danger that one felt from staring into the deepest forests, unknown of what lurked within.
It must have been miles in diameter, because it took them several minutes to fly past it, and then slowly descend. Neji's eyes blazed white. It was a few moments before he spoke.
"There are numerous dragons and…their kin…near the summit, but they do not appear to be doing anything involving the preparations of battle or even guard duty," he said, disgust evident in his soft voice.
"What are they doing?" Kakashi asked.
"…Do I have to say?"
"Yes."
"They're…" he swallowed, and sighed. "They're…copulating…vigorously…"
Despite themselves, Tenten, Ino and Sakura all began to snicker. Rosy from embarrassment, Neji continued quickly.
"There are a number of entrances, however, none of them seem feasible for a party of our size, and they bring us dangerously close to the…festivities."
"Keep looking," said Kakashi. "There must be something."
Neji nodded.
Lacurad descended lower, but only as far as Kakashi deemed it necessary. They were far too close as it was, despite being several miles away from the Spire itself, and still hidden within the noxious clouds that engulfed the Steppes. Kakashi did not know the limitations that these creature's senses had; in their world, dragons were things of legend, like gods, and there was no known limit to their power. In this world, dragons were very real, and from what it sounded like, they were still no different from gods.
What good did it do to hide from a god within a cloud?
Neji started verbally, somewhere in the smoky clouds. He had seen something.
"Towards the back, about three quarters of the way up the mountain. It's a passage that leads towards the top, and avoids the main halls where the dragons are."
"Convenient," said Kakashi, quietly. "Why didn't you see it before?"
"I don't know. But it is there, and I do not think it just appeared." Even as he said, it however, he lost confidence. There was definitely something wrong with the situation.
"A trap?" Sakura said aloud.
"Might be," said Kakashi. "Who knows? Do you see anything within, Neji?"
"No, nothing."
"Then we might have nothing to fear—perhaps your eyes are still recovering. Naruto, can you send something down to check it out? Perhaps a smaller bat?"
Naruto made a face. "I'll try, but dunno if they'll be any good at reporting. Guess I can always try." He bit his thumb and smeared the dollop of blood on his palm, making a few hand seals.
'Kuchiyose no jutsu'
A small bat, the size of Naruto's head, popped into existence and began to squeak, attacking Naruto's face. The boy snatched the creature out of the air before it could plant its greasy, stinky body in his face and sink its tiny, vicious teeth into his skin, and began shouting its orders at it.
"Stop moving you little bastard! Go down there and see if there's anything to see, got it? Hey, I'm talking to you! Hey! Bastard!"
"THE LITTLE ONES, THEY DO NOT SPEAK, NO!"
Naruto growled, letting go of the beast then banishing it as it tried to flutter away. He sourly shook his head, turning back to Kakashi and sighing with the air of knowledge someone has embarking on a venture hopeless from the beginning.
"Told you."
"Right," said Kakashi, his sigh laced with annoyed tolerance. "Then there's nothing much else we can do. We might have to risk it."
"And if it proves to be a trap?" said Neji, quietly.
Kakashi shrugged. His eye swept across the anxious group of young men and women no older than children and yet in a position that would likely take their lives with one false move, one bad decision. He sighed a final time, this time with regret that his moronic friend had to put these young, arrogant brats in this situation with his annoying, arrogant preaching, even when his regret only extended to them. He was not sorry he was here, not sorry that he might die; only dreading not being able to save their futures by giving his own. He knew he would've done the exact same thing in Gai's position, and if he had believed he could do it alone, he would've taken every one of their places in this suicide mission and fought the dragon alone.
And he couldn't deny that rush of anger he felt, deep within, buried beneath years of masterfully forged cool exterior, or that silent wish that the one who had killed his best friend was now going to die a thousand times more pointlessly than Gai had.
"If it's a trap," he said, "then we'll make do."
The mouth of the cave was too obvious, when they first saw it. It opened like a cancerous lesion on the mountain's gnarled back, an uneasy glow shining from somewhere deep within, a stream of smoke spilling like pus from the main hole, lava-lined crevasses forming the enflamed skin all around it, magma oozing like blood. But it was too inviting to pass up; it attracted them like disease would to a wound. They were like the gangrene, moving in a circular, swooping motion through the air, down until they were level with the gaping wound.
Lacurad took them about a hundred feet below the entrance, where it was best to perch and let them off. When they had, Naruto banished it as quickly as they could, not wanting to risk it causing a scene with its shrieking voice.
"Naruto, you, Lee and Chouji go first." Shikamaru pointed towards the cavern after stretching himself thoroughly. "Sakura, you're just after them." He looked at Kakashi, but the man was staring up towards the ledge, a visible frown beneath his mask. Seeing that he wasn't going to contradict, Shikamaru continued.
"You three are the main attackers—I say that because you're the only ones whose styles are tailored solely towards attacking. That means you guys are most likely going to suffer the most damage—I've chosen you as well because you guys seem to be able to handle it. Sakura, you'll be just behind them, as their primary healer. That'll only last for a while—when we're in the main fight, I want you in the back, so we can protect you and Ino and make sure you're fit to keep us as healthy as possible."
"There may not be much of a chance," said Sakura. "Naruto, you've fought dragons like this beforehand, right? What can we expect?"
"Lotsa fire. And don't expect any of your attacks to do much damage, either, guys," he said, looking at Chouji and Lee. "These guys are wicked strong, and most attacks just don't do much to pierce those scales; you hafta hit hard, but also be fast because even though they're big, they're very, very quick. The fire's the big thing, though—you probably know it, but it burns way hotter than normal fire, even shinobi fire, and its big enough to cover you entirely, so if you see it coming just get out of the way. Sakura-chan's good, but she probably can't heal a skeleton. But you've met this guy beforehand, right Shikamaru?"
"Briefly," said Shikamaru. "There's also something else. A power that you didn't describe."
"What?"
"It had something to do with what he said. Almost as if he was using jutsu by simply speaking words, rather than hand seals. I can't say how, though."
"No, it's something like that," said Ino. "He told me to stop, and I remember thinking that it was insane to stop, but my body just did—I couldn't move, almost like a paralyzing jutsu. It was too strong to break, but I suppose I can't really compare with a dragon, now can I?" Her sardonic grin faded as quickly as it came, her attempt at lightening the situation failing.
"So we gotta watch out for his words?" Naruto said, eyebrows up. "How's that possible?"
"Maybe," said Shikamaru. "It could be his words, or it could be that he could usejutsu without hand seals, which is probably more likely."
"Shikamaru, would it not be better if either Tenten or I went up with them?"
Shikamaru turned to Neji, shaking his head. "No, I need you two behind, with me, Undrig and Kakashi-san. Both of you have some skill in medical ninjutsu, which makes it likely that you'll need to help take over Sakura or Ino's duties should one of them get injured, or if they're already attending to someone else. We're going to be in the middle, doing what we can to help—all of our styles are more versatile, and better suited to support in a large battle like this than directly attacking. We also have long-distance support, at least from Tenten—"
"Oi, Tenten!" Naruto said. He jammed a hand into one of his pouches, and grinning, held out a scroll to the bewildered girl.
"What's this?"
"Special kunai," Naruto said, with pride. "I got 'em from Magni, a while back, after Undrig brought him some of the stone they found in Onyxia's cave. They should probably be able to do at least some damage."
Tenten took the scroll and nodded, with a small smile. "Thank you."
"Like I said," Shikamaru continued. "Long range support. As for Neji, you can provide some ample defense with your Kaiten, as well as attack long-range, if you've been learning anything from Hinata."
Neji had, though he would not admit it. He merely nodded, directing his attention above, without moving his head an inch from where it was, staring at Shikamaru with barely concealed annoyance.
"What of what happens after?" Kakashi then slowly said, drawing everyone's attention, though his never shifted from above. "Have we thought of that?"
"Assuming we're alive—"
"Assuming everything goes right during the battle, I agree, but I'm thinking before that. What if something goes wrong? Is there an escape plan, or is everyone committed to dying a slightly heroic, if mostly meaningless death, otherwise? There's no shame in abandoning this mission, is there?"
His brows knitted, Shikamaru didn't answer at first. He regarded Kakashi calmly. "Why bring that up now?"
"Why not? Seems as good a time as any. There may be someone among you that would prefer to live rather than die. I'm merely saying that there is always a choice, do you not agree, Shikamaru-kun?"
"Of course," said Shikamaru. His teeth were clenched, as were his fists, though he knew not why. "Are you suggesting something?"
"Nothing. Just experience taking precedence."
"I see."
Kakashi finally met his eyes. "No one will begrudge anybody who decides that live is better, will they? After all, is that not what Gai wanted for you all?"
"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said, quietly. "Please shut up."
Kakashi quickly glanced at Naruto. The boy was farthest away from him, glaring up at the mountain, his body tense and ready to move. He did not look at his teacher, or even speak to him again.
Kakashi nodded, and he spoke no more.
"Let's go," Naruto said.
They got into two groups; Naruto, Lee and Chouji stood at the front, Sakura just behind them, with Kakashi, Shikamaru, Undrig, Tenten and Neji in the back, with Ino last. Then they started upwards, the second group waiting several minutes before following the first group up. The climb was quick, their shinobi reflexes (Undrig required some help) taking them quickly to the top, where they could feel the infernal breath seeping from the cavern's jaws, and just hear a sample of what the mountain contained. It moved, like a living thing, making sounds that a mountain should not.
Naruto's group slowly made their way in. It was hot, but moist, like a swamp. A wide, uneven passage was before them, scaling up into darkness. The deep glow came from all around them, a fiery red, showing through cracks and crevasses but yielding nothing of what lay behind them. It could've been magma, but nothing gushed from them, nothing moved within them. When the second group arrived, Neji checked the entire room again, but saw nothing; yet they all felt something. Nothing in particular, just a general sense of unknowing, of wrongness. It might have been the mountain and their own fears rising to the top again. Kakashi didn't like the explanation, however, and told everyone to stay close, keep their eyes sharp, their senses trained. He did not mention how meaningless it might be; they were not facing humans, who made mistakes, but beasts that might be gods.
Could gods make mistakes?
They went up the sloping path, which led them into a high-ceilinged tunnel stretching upwards for what seemed like miles, crowded with jagged stalagmites sticking like teeth from the walls and ceiling and floor. It seemed to grow darker, more enclosed as they went, and the unnerving red light did not fade, pursuing them all the way up. Neji kept hisByakugan activated at all times, his eyes glowing in the darkness but seeing nothing but the raging life that the Spire contained, all around them. They were walking straight through it, at one point, and even though most of them couldn't see it, they certainly heard it through the walls, boiling wrath and passion charging against them with each step. But so long as it continued, they would be safe.
They finally reached a room with a flat surface of richly carved black stones set in cobbles on the floor. It was circular and very large, and had only one entrance, opposite where they emerged from. Shikamaru's eyes moved shifted as he passed into the room, noticing the jagged edges of the entrance of the tunnel they had just emerged from. Fresh rock lay scattered about it. It looked new.
Kakashi noticed this as well. He called for them to stop.
"Neji?"
"Nothing."
Kakashi narrowed his eye. Then, he lifted his hitai-ate, and was nearly blinded.
"GET BACK!"
Suddenly, there was movement, not quick, nor fierce, but startling nonetheless. The dark air was suddenly bright, flames exploding into being in the middle of the room; coiling blasts of fiery white light that burned into red and black and eventually formed a shape, first massive and draconic, then diminutive and human. A man emerged from the flames, stumbling like a drunk; he was handsome, though his red hair was matted with sweat, and he looked delirious. His red clothes so bright they seemed aflame; they flowed and rippled as immaterial as water blown by the wind, when there was none.
What the hell was that…? Kakashi thought, clutching his Sharingan, which burned as if he had stared into the sun. It had been so bright, so monstrous. What kind of creature had that type of power? It had not been the amount so much as the nature, so brightly burning, fierce, like a wildfire all around them, sunrays trapped deep within the endless blackness.
The man searched them all, but did not move. Everyone looked ready, their faces set and determined even against the fear that welled up within them at the sight of the man. His appearance was weak, but to anyone who'd ever been in a battle of any sort, the killing intent he radiated could've made a lesser man shit himself.
"You're here…!" he said, almost gasping. He was smiling, gratefully.
"Stay back," Kakashi warned. "You three, stay fast. Sakura, get to the back."
"I've been waiting," the man said. "I even made an entrance for you, you're hear to avenge him, right, avenge the man who fought against His Highne—Nefarian, aren't you? I recognize you, one of you…!" His desperate eyes sought out Shikamaru's. They were blood red, wet with black seeping in like bile to a chest wound.
"Don't attack, not yet," said Kakashi. "Keep calm. Wait for him to react first, especially you, Naruto."
"Thank you!" the man said, his smile weakening, his face contorting as if about to cry. "Thank you, so much, for coming! I never doubted it, but I was afraid, afraid that I'd have to give in, give up, but now I don't have to, because you can do it for me…please, that's all that I ask, I only ask one thing before you make your way to Nefarian. You'll find him behind me, he is not far; just seek the highest point, using all your speed, and you'll find him soon enough. He's weak, so you'll be able to do what I couldn't, what I failed so miserably to, to, to…" He trembled. "To do…by the Red, by the Red, it hurts! IT HURTS!"
He gave a hacking cough, and his body seemed to fade, just briefly. Tenten seized up in terror upon seeing what momentarily replaced it.
"You are strong…wonderfully strong…you can do it…you're humans…humans are weak but I've seen you…you're not normal ones, you could do this, you could do what I couldn't…! And you're not cowards like me…never cowards…you came back here, even ready to face death…I couldn't, I was too weak, even now, I am afraid…afraid of it…I could not do it myself…could not do what I must ask you do to…"
"What the hell is he talking about?" Naruto whispered, mostly to himself.
"Kill me…" he said. "KILL ME! YOU MUST KILL ME! I MUST DIE!" He stumbled back, and his hair began to catch fire. His red garments began to harden and cling to his body, sparks shooting off of him in great bursts.
"Please…that is all I ask…" the man said, less a man now, his face elongating, his teeth lengthening, his blood red eyes swelling ever larger.
"Kill you…?" Shikamaru whispered. "What…?"
"I am a coward…who must die…my body is no longer my own, my mind following. I cannot kill myself, cannot…cannot…" He was no longer human. Wings exploded from his back, spreading wider and wider with sickening cracks and great gouts of flame.
"His blood, his black, black blood, it hurts, so much…so much…I cannot bear it…this pain, this endless pain! I have to end it…you have to end it…please, PLEASE!"
"How…? How are we supposed to do that…?" Ino whispered.
"Endless…endless…" the red dragon said, "ENDLESS, ENDLESS…TOO MUCH PAIN…"
It was fully transformed now, huge and bloody red with claws that gleamed silver and scales shimmering like sparks, its wings nearly covering the diameter of the room. It's size forced everyone back, towards the entrance. But it stayed where it was, just breathing like a ragged old dog.
"PLEASE…ENDLESS…KILL ME…KILL…THIS ENDLESS…"
The creature gave another ragged cough, and then sucked in a huge breath of air, turning its head up.
"ENDLESS…END…ME…"
A flash of light burst from its mouth, exploding against the ceiling and dousing the room in coiling red smoke. It coursed towards them like the incoming tide, as fast as a tidal wave. Kakashi prepared to move back.
"Get away!"
But it was too late; the room was covered in the smoke, and before they could retreat down the tunnel it was upon them. It was not painful, though. It was warm and sweet but still seemed to possess the majesty of an erupting volcano. The obscuring smoke quickly faded, and Kakashi could see the shocked faces of his comrades all around him. Had it not been an attack? What was going—?
Then the beast moved. Lightning quick it charged, its red eyes now black, the despair gone from its voice and childish glee replacing it.
"END…ME…YOU…END ALL OF YOU…THE PAIN WILL STOP…ENDING YOU WILL STOP THE PAIN, WON'T IT? YES! YES! END YOU! THAT'S WHAT I'LL DO!"
The red dragon reared onto its hind legs and then struck the ground so that stone beneath seemed to liquefy; everyone had to scatter, only years of honed reflexes kept them from being crushed amidst the colliding stone. At once they were scattered about, surrounding the beast. The dragon twisted around, whipping its tail across the room, his onyx eyes shining against its fiery, rippling body.
Kakashi threw himself to the ground as the tail swept over him. He pushed himself up and then avoided a gleaming claw out of nowhere, faster than a flyingkunai. His hitai-ate was up, his Sharingan whirling but it did little good; there was too much chakra, he could hardly see anything!
Shikamaru regrouped with Tenten and Neji, but dared not shout to Kakashi; he couldn't see where the man was, probably behind the red dragon. Its attention was over there, but its tail seemed to have its own life, and the three shinobi had to avoid it each second as it swung in a storm behind the wrathful dragon. Shikamaru noticed the others surrounding the beast, but none of them had attacked, not yet. Sakura stood by Ino, both being protected by Chouji; on the very opposite side was Undrig by himself; Kakashi, Lee and Naruto must have been in front of the dragon.
Indeed, they were.
Shit, Kakashi thought, Naruto, don't you dare!
Naruto didn't hear Kakashi's silent plea. The boy had already drawn his sword.
Lee started his attack as well; the young man released his leg weights immediately—they shattered the floors with their fall, and Lee could no longer be classified as human by how fast he became; his body became blurred like an arrow, fluid as rushing waves. He perhaps did not match Naruto in speed but in mobility he more than surpassed Naruto's still slightly clumsy attempt at changing directions mid-way, without losing speed.
The red dragon saw them, opened its mouth—a white hot heat began to fill the air, drying it, making Kakashi's eyes itch and his lips dry. He grit his teeth, and began to form a few seals. Draw the water out, just enough, that's—
Both Naruto and Lee separated; they dodged to the side in almost perfect unison; a pair of fists lit up with power, riddling the creature's side with blow after blow of chakra-enhanced muscle and bone. They cracked scales and shook the dragon's foreleg with the series of brutal traumas. On it's left, Naruto's blade sawed straight through the layers of scales as if they were nothing, his blade glowing a faint blue tinged with red.
The red dragon wailed and stopped its attack, drawing back. Its eyes were no longer black, but now a mix of red and grey. The killing force it exuded did not lessen, but its demeanor was like a weakened animal separated from its comrades, lost in a forest's endless darkness.
Then it changed again, and Naruto had to throw himself to the ground to avoid the five, sword-like blades of its claws, and then scramble away to avoid their return trip. Naruto's blade gleamed with blood that was too dark to be normal, and once away from the beast he vanished into the shadows as if never there. Lee too retreated, but much more elegantly, doing a series of cartwheels until he landed by the wall.
'Suiton: Suigadan'
What few water molecules in the air converged besides Kakashi's head and rocketed towards the dragon, pressurize enough to shatter rock. They smacked against the dragon's front, but did not pierce its thick scales, instead drawing its wild attention towards him. The black returned to its eyes, and it roared like a fire newly born. Its mouth grew even wider, and before Kakashi could move, a stream of divinely white fire erupted forth. Kakashi leapt to the side, his hands flying up, another seal formed.
'Doton: Doryuheki'
The largest earthen wall Kakashi had ever created burst forth from the ground, using the ruined floor as well as the black, volcanic rock beneath as its base, rising up all the way to the ceiling. For a moment, the heat vanished, and Kakashi was obscured in darkness, but it bought him only enough time to keep running; not a second later his wall collapsed in flames and molten rock, a cone of fire streaming through it and melting the wall behind it. Even as fast as he moved, the flames were so hot that he felt his skin sear and bubble as he retreated. Fighting back the agony and a cry, he kept running, for the flames followed, as did the red dragon's gaze.
The others were regrouping. Chouji, Ino and Sakura moved steadily around the creature, now joined by Lee. Naruto was somewhere, though Shikamaru couldn't see where. Undrig was quickly heading for Shikamaru's group, his face dead set with worry.
"Gotta move," he growled in desperation. "Ain' gonna keep lookin' that way for long; stay outta its way, wait fer a chance."
Shikamaru nodded. The dragon was already turning, following Kakashi as he moved. The silver-haired man was constantly in motion, but did not attempt to circumvent the room, instead keeping the dragon's attention on himself alone. Shikamaru couldn't let him do it much longer.
But oddly, Kakashi felt quite pleasant. He did not understand it, but each movement he made was just as quick as the last, no matter how much chakra he placed in it. He did not feel the strain, the pain accompanied by prolonged chakra use in the limbs, the tightened muscles or the fatigue. Even with his Sharingan out, he felt no strain. By using his Sharingan he consumed more chakra than any of his jutsu in just one minute—but he was still limber, unmoved by the already large amount he had used.
What was going on?
"Chouji," Shikamaru hissed, "You, Neji, Undrig, start your attack. I'll try to hold it."
"You can't possibly—" Chouji began, then silenced himself and nodded, remembering whom he was speaking to.
"Ino, Sakura, stay back as well, keep yourselves ready to treat anybody who needs it."
"Don't talk, Shikamaru, just go," Ino snapped.
"Right. Go, now!"
Shikamaru pulled Asuma's trench knives from his vest, fitting his fingers through the holes; they were comfortable, and fit snugly over his fingers. He took a deep breath, and began to push his chakra into the blade, which took them like a bottle did water. The blades darkened, and a hazy smoke like flowing shadow covered both blades. Shikamaru took aim and then hurtled the blades so that they struck the ground just before the red dragon, sinking not into stone, but into the very darkness itself.
Suddenly, Shikamaru was aware that action had completely stopped. The entire room when death silent, but he couldn't understand—
Shit!
He glanced left and right; both Ino and Sakura had frozen, even their mouths remained open, but their eyes were still moving in wild astonishment. Chouji, Neji and Undrig stood just before him, as still as statues, each preparing for a dash towards the dragon.
Shikamaru was overwhelmed—since when did he have the chakra to freeze an entire room and keep them completely still, almost fully paralyzed, especially when one of them was a fucking dragon!
He put his hands together, reaching out into the darkness; tendrils of shadowy chakra connected him to almost everyone in the room, something only Neji could see but only Shikamaru could feel. The dragon's was the biggest, and the hardest to maintain; it was bucking as wildly as an enraged bull even though not a single part of its body was mobile. He kept that one going, and then one by one disconnected the others. Naruto's first—he was somewhere on the ceiling, preparing for a downwards cut, which might end the fight before it happened.
But Naruto's freedom was so sudden that the boy lost his footing. He tumbled out his obscurity, landing atop the dragon's rough back with a loud grunt. His sword flew from his hand, clattering atop the dark stone.
"Oi! Shikamaru!"
"Sorry…" Shikamaru grunted, but didn't know if Naruto could hear him. He was busily disconnecting everyone else, until all but him and the dragon were mobile, and very confused.
"Shikamaru—" Ino whispered, "how are you…?"
"Don't ask, no time, just hit him, now, NOW!"
Chouji reacted first. He charged at the red dragon, drawing back a fist.
'Bubun Baika no jutsu'
His left arm suddenly swelled a hundred times its size, until it extended the half the height of the ceiling and nearly the distance of the room. With a cry of battle-borne fury he swung all six tons of his arm forwards and though it was slow it struck so that all twelve tons of the dragon were taken off their feet and smashed into the wall. A spider's web of fissures exploded through the wall and ceiling, gushing steam and smoke and heat so much that whatever sound the dragon made was drowned out. Chouji heaved his rapidly shrinking arm back, his eyes wide.
"DON'T STOP!"
Naruto lunged forwards after his shout, Neji and Lee running on either side. While Naruto ran to retrieve his sword, Neji's hand slammed into the dragon's side, injecting chakra through his diamond-hard scales into its vulnerable organs. Lee stopped a few feet short of the creature, throwing out his hands.
'Hachimon: Shomon'
Raw chakra burst from Lee's body, encircling him like a shroud of smoke. His skin became as red with the fractured capillaries and thick with throbbing, snaky veins lining his neck and arms and face. His eyes rolled up into his head, but he didn't need them in the next second as he drove forwards and unleashed a two-handed palm-thrust into the dragon's side. The scales burst and shattered as fragile glass and drove the dragon again into the wall, sending more tributaries of cracks into the room's rapidly decaying structure. The red dragon thrashed, and then went still and made no sound, as Lee and Neji moved back, while Naruto pressed forwards for the final attack.
His blade glowed brightly, growing unmanageably long, enough to drive straight through the beast's body and tear through the other side; he held it laterally prepared a swing that would undoubtedly end the fight, but then the tail whipped to life and slammed into Naruto, thrusting him to the hard floor. Naruto cried out, spitting blood, his limbs momentarily lifeless.
The dragon reared up, born anew. Red, fiery light danced across its scales as it turned its void-like eyes upon Naruto, prostrate before him. The blonde heaved himself to his feet but the tail came again, hurtling him back across the room, his blade sailing from his grip.
Neji kept his distance, but fell into his Eight-Trigrams stance, but Lee was already attacking again.
'Hachimon: Shomon'
Power blazed again through him; Kakashi's eyes grew wide across the room, seeing Lee use the attack for the second time. What was that stupid boy thinking—?
Naruto stood up, stumbling a few times. Something was different. The pain was ebbing faster than normal, as if he had chakra to spare, and he felt no less drained than before. His pulse quickening, he glanced at himself. Whatever damage had been caused by the red dragon's tail was gone; the small lacerations from the beast's spines had already healed, without scars, and he felt no pain in his back.
It felt almost the same.
It was as if the Kyuubi was back, giving him its chakra, fully formed, endlessly supplied. So what did that—?
He shook himself. The red dragon had forced Lee to retreat, resisting every blow he gave it. Each attack ruined a few scales but did nothing to dislodge the dragon from its course. Neji was preparing one of his Eight-Trigrams attacks. The others were waiting for an opening, but seemed only to be able to stand in awe of the situation, which Naruto was finding to be increasingly annoying.
"Naruto."
Kakashi was by his side.
"What?"
"You feel it, right?"
"Yeah," Naruto said. "It's like…"
"You have endlesschakra, but you still have full control over it as well?"
"Right!"
"We do, or rather, it does."
Naruto shot a look at him. "What?"
"It's giving us itschakra. That red smoke earlier was a means of delivering it to all of us; its giving us pretty much a constantly regenerating stream of chakra, probably inhaled through our lungs—it's still on the air—and that's why we feel it."
"So that means…? We can pretty much…?"
"Yes," Kakashi said.
"OI!" Naruto bellowed. "GET BACK, NOW!"
Neji moved swiftly back, but Lee didn't hear Naruto's shout, still in the throes of his Gate activation. He did not let up his assault, and the red dragon no longer moved forwards, simply standing like a pillar against a violent storm. The creature's actions had changed. The red light returned, brighter than before, bathing the dragon in rosy flames. It lowered itself, as if to lie down, and then the light grew almost too bright and Naruto could feel an intense heat wash over him. He was running even before he could stop himself.
"GET BACK, LEE!"
He moved too fast for the eye, not even a blur, leaping up and catching Lee around the midriff before the boy could plant another punch, using his vastly increased speed to propel both himself and Lee back. He slammed Lee roughly into the wall, and then as they landed on solid ground he pushed Lee to the floor and crouched over him, hands over his head.
Behind him, the red dragon exploded.
Or more accurately, its body released a shockwave of fiery chakra so bright that day was lit within the cavern where the sun had never touched. There was an burst of sound and Naruto was almost deafened by the explosion, and then the heat came and the sound became the least of his problems.
It felt cold almost at first, so cold that he involuntarily shivered, but then it was just so hot that all sensation in his body was lost to pain, agonizing pain. He cried out, but didn't hear it, because he couldn't hear anything suddenly, or see or feel anything besides pain. Thoughts then began to fill his head, unbidden and unintelligible, and images of people he had known and loved but even their names fled from his head in the agony that rushed by him. He had hardened his body withKongou but not even that helped resist against the boiling agony of the dragon's attack.
Somewhere above him, somehow he could hear the dragon's voice. It was raucous, ever-changing, two minds in one.
"DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE! I WANT YOU ALL TO DIE! PLEASE, KILL ME! YOU MUST HURRY, YOU MUST, PLEASE, PLEASE, DIE! DIE AND KILL!"
The flames slowly ebbed, and the light and sound vanished.
Naruto knew none of this.
The pain did not leave him, and he lay senseless, his muscles still frozen in his protective position over Lee, by now whom was awake and fully conscious of himself despite the wringing and the agonizing pain in his hands and feet, where Naruto's body could not protect him.
"Naruto-kun…? Naruto-kun…!" Lee struggled out from under the blonde, but it was hard to move Naruto. He caught sight of Naruto's face, twisted in furious agony, slightly purple from his inability to fully breathe; but his eyes were still open, and he was silently mouthing something that Lee couldn't hear.
"Naruto-kun…what…why…?" Lee blustered. He stared in horror at Naruto's face, until he caught sight of the back of Naruto's head, and even though he was no stranger to the horrors of the battlefield he nearly choked on the contents of his own stomach.
All of the hair, skin and muscle had been completely burned from the back of Naruto's head and what little of his neck was visible over the collar of his black jacket. The bone was completely visible and had been burned charcoal black, even the tip of his spine where it connected to his head. Burns had mangled Naruto's ears and even crept around to his cheeks, oozing and gushing as Naruto shuddered in pain.
And yet Naruto was alive, clearly, and even as he watched, Lee could see the flesh healing.
"Get the fuck away…stupid…fuzzy-brows!" Naruto pushed himself away with a hacking cough, and Lee managed to scramble back, but did not get up. He glanced down, hissing when he saw nearly all of the skin had been burnt away, and beginning to shiver as the full pain hit him.
Wildly, he stared across the room. The dragon was moving again, shaking off a shower of sparks and biting out a snarl as it moved towards Naruto and Lee, who were unable to do much more than crawl back against the wall, Lee unable to use his hands or feet and Naruto only just beginning to regain feeling in his body as the damage to his spine began to heal. The dragon moved slowly, each step it took deliberate and powerful, yet somehow it gave the impression of restraint, as if it did not want to take those steps. Its black gaze had faded again, replaced with solemn grey. The snarls of rage died in its throat, but it continued to move.
That's when they hit it from behind, bursting from Undrig's chakra shield.
'Bubun Baika no jutsu'
'Kage Nui'
'Kyuukyoku Iku no jutsu'
'Hammer of Justice'
'Nouha Sayuu'
'Kaiten'
'Keikei Baiken no jutsu'
The seven point-blank, completely unexpected attacks hit in quick succession, hammering the dragon into the wall with Chouji's, fixing it there with Shikamaru's coiling shadows and Ino's mindless fear, weakening it with Undrig's golden hammer and delivering three extremely devastating blows with Sakura's deadly punch, Neji's swirlingchakra wall and Tenten's army of blades; the red dragon was left senseless, amidst the rubble of half the chamber, smoking and littered with weapons, and still it began to struggle, the rage returning, its body beginning to thrash much harder than before.
Then Kakashi stepped up. He crouched low, his eyes narrowed, his Sharingan beginning to change, becoming darker, the three points widening to form a shuriken-like blade, spinning as fast as a fan until his eye seemed almost solid block.
'Mangekyou Sharingan'
The air began to distort, warping like metal in an intense heat until the entire area became focused through a prism, one point visible with everything else blurred. The focal point grew smaller and smaller, the edges darkening, nothing escaping the sudden feeling of being pulled apart inch by inch, drawn towards that one point. Not even sound escaped it—all was bitterly silent, the dragon's roars of pain dragged into the void along with the rest of its body, until there was nothing left, no lingering cries of relief or pain, just endless silence. The wall behind it had been pinched inwards, smooth and conical, as if shaped by a delicate sculptor.
There was still perfect silence.
Soft, painless, silence.
"Where does that place end up?"
"I don't know. Nowhere, maybe," said Kakashi. "Maybe everywhere. Sakura, how're they doing?"
Sakura glanced up from where she was bent over Lee. "I don't know, Kakashi-sensei. Lee-kun's going to need some time to rest, but—"
"We don't have much time. Do you think he can heal on the move?"
She bit her lip. "Heal? Maybe—I don't know how much he'll be able to recover in the time it takes us to get there. But, Naruto, if you mind?" She glanced at him.
Naruto nodded. The wounds on his back were completely gone, and even the hair had grown back to its normal length; all that remained of the horrible burns was a layer of peeling, dead skin that Naruto was busily flaking off all over his pristine black coat, which looked as new as when he had first had it made.
"Did you know it was fire-resistant, Naruto?" Shikamaru said.
Naruto glanced at him. "Yeah. Looks like I gotta get a hood, though…." He grinned.
They had not moved from the chamber and its lingering silence, using the rest of the dragon's airborne chakra to replenish their own reserves. They had no idea how much time had passed, but the dragons, amazingly, seemed not to have noticed the disturbance. But, Kakashi wasn't daring to hope that they would never; if the Lord of Blackrock Spire was as powerful as everyone seemed to say, it would have certainly noticed the extraordinary amount of chakra released all at once, from the red dragon's attacks as well as their own. But so far, he was impressed at how well they were doing. They were lucky that the first dragon they had met, while not friendly, had at least made the fight as easy as it possibly could.
"Sad way fer a red ta' go…" Undrig muttered. He sat propped against a wall, frowning. "Did anyone know 'is name?"
"No," said Kakashi. "Why should that matter?"
"They aren' usually our enemies," said Undrig. "Smart 'uns, the reds are, friendly ta' all races, save the Blacks. I know it was cause o' Nefarian, but I just wanted ta' know, it seems like we shoulda known 'is name, 'e was that pitiful."
"Too late now." The dragon's final resting place caught Kakashi's eye again, however, and he felt compelled to look. "A prayer, perhaps?"
Undrig nodded, and stood up, waddling over to where the dragon had once stood. He bent down and began to mutter words in his throaty language, crossing himself thrice, before standing up again.
Naruto stood up, and shakily walked over to the ruined stonework that Undrig stood by. The boy stood up straight, clapped his hands together, and uttered a soft prayer. Then, he said:
"We'll makes this bastard pay for you as well, don't worry about that!"
"Naruto-kun…" Lee suddenly spoke up. He lay next to Sakura, biting his lip.
"Yeah?"
"Forgive me."
Naruto shrugged. "Nothing to forgive—just don't be stupid, okay?"
"I was angry," said Lee, softly. "I should not have been, not in such a situation as that. I would have killed me, had you not been—"
"So you're sorry for needing my help? We're part of a team, fuzzy brows. It's what friends do, isn't it?"
Lee gave a soft nod, keeping his eyes fixed on the floor. Naruto stared at him for a few seconds, then shook his head and got to his feet, brushing more dead skin from his scalp. He made a hand seal.
'Kage Bunshin no Jutsu'
The clones crowded around Lee, and lifted him gingerly up according to Sakura's whispered instructions, taking care not to disturb his arms or legs too much. When he was in a relatively comfortable position that allowed Sakura to work on him at the same time, Naruto turned to Neji.
"Which way?"
"As the dragon said," Neji said, "there is a passage that leads higher up the mountain—it passes a large room, that is now empty, which sits beside an open terrace, and then moves up a few hundred feet to a much larger room, with another, even larger terrace."
"Then let's go. We'll move slowly. If it's as empty as you say it is then we should have no trouble. Is there anybody on the second terrace?" Kakashi said, brushing some soot from his shoulder.
Neji squinted.
"Yes."
Kakashi blinked. "What is it?"
"A man, or perhaps not. I think it is our target…but, I can barely see him." Neji squinted again, and then shook his head, his eyes widening.
"It's too dark. He's…too dark."
What glorious, glorious pain.
Nefarian grinned; so he had died like a cur, had he? Died as he had lived, a slave to his weakness, nameless, and forgotten. First under the claw of the bitch in red, then under Nefarian's, and now dead at the hands of some filthy humans, begging for death? Was that how they lived, then?
Disgusting.
Nefarian hauled himself up. The wound did not hurt so much anymore, now more an ache than the fierce pain of the night before, still nothing compared to the pain in his veins, ever burning even though there was nothing left in him to burn, just hollow ruins. His bones began to crack, and his vision began to distort; suddenly, he now appeared a man again, dressed in black robes thrown over silver and black armor, his face wizened but regal, his smile as crooked as a broken skull's. He made his way slowly across the room, not daring to let himself falter, for the wound was great even in his illusionary form, and he dared not show weakness, not even to the wind or the earth. At the very back of his plateau, carved deep into the mountain, there was a throne forged of black iron, crude and simple, effective for his guise. After all, humans were but simple creatures, were they not? Simple forms, simple minds, simple dreams and beliefs; were the ones who had slain Vaelastrasz not here for one, simple thing?
He sat upon the throne, and felt momentary relief from the pain and exertion of living. It returned quickly, but that moment had been enough. Enough to prepare him for what was to come.
So Let Them Come, he thought. They Will Do Nothing…
One of them wore the skin of his sister, he could smell it. This would be interesting. A human who could match the strength of the Great Black Dragonflight? Or not? There was something different about that human…
But it yet made his veins boil to the point of eruption; smoke billowed from his mouth, the ground began to shake and crack. His smoldering orange eyes, the only thing he kept from his true form, began to blaze as furiously as if magma were boiling within him.
He'd Pay.
The Black Dragonflight—No, His Dragonflight, Was Invincible, And He Would Prove That. For Invincibility Was The Word That Suited Them, Suited Him, Because It, Like Pain, Was Perfect In Form, No Matter What It Looked Like. And It Was Always True To Those Who Deserved Its Blessing, And It Could Never Die.
He Was No God.
He Was A Dragon.
A Black Dragon, The Earthborn, Slayer Of Ragnaros, King Of The Earth And What It Held Beneath.
King Of Hell…
A shiver of power ran through his feet, felt throughout the mountain, maybe throughout the land, maybe beyond that to those that listened.
Wherever I Fly Is Hell…
Myself Am Hell…
The first room was empty; it was hardly furnished, a ruin made entirely of black stone with a single entrance that led onto a small terrace overlooking what remained of the Burning Steppes. Perhaps when the Dark Iron Dwarves had been absolute rulers of this place, they had used it to gaze upon their lands in triumph. It might have been a dining hall for the Emperor and Empress, but they must have had minimalist tastes because there was hardly any decoration at all. Several passages, most of them too small for a dragon to fit through, some of them even hard for a human to get through, branched off the room, which Neji said led into various other parts of the mountain, probably just as unused as this room.
Everyone was silent as they entered the room, but nobody was prepared. All of them were just beginning to realize how close they were. Some of their hearts boiled with determination and rage, but most felt fear, for they were still stepping into an unknown. For all they could plan, this was the most uncertain part. They were going to face a dragon, a thing of legend in their world, and it had already proved to be more than they could manage.
They said nothing, moving quickly through the chamber, towards the biggest, sloping path. It grew hotter, as if they were ascending towards the sun, and with each step their wings grew looser, more fragile as the wax melted, feathers tapering off with each step. Neji kept his eyes trained on the dark figure above them, his eyes squinted; it was strange to look at. He couldn't quite understand it, even now, as he got closer towards it.
How could one thing have so much darkness within it?
He didn't even understand the darkness—was it chakra? Or was the creature itself darkness? What made it look like that? As he got closer, he saw more definition to the figure that did not seem to be there. Eyes, for one thing. Those were the most prominent features. Orange like flames, lava flowing in a constant vortex, with a center of soulless black.
He could see nothing else.
Kakashi led them, Naruto right by his side and the other members of the main attack group behind him. Lee had already recovered enough to start moving—the wounds were healing far more quickly than normal, something Kakashi attributed to the red dragon's borrowed chakra.
"We're almost there," said Neji.
"Everyone in position," muttered Kakashi.
The group reorganized—Naruto, Chouji and Lee up front, Kakashi, Shikamaru, Undrig, Neji and Tenten ten feet behind them, and Ino and Sakura right behind them. The attackers went first, keeping their heads low but moving quickly. The others slowly followed, Neji's eyes trained on their opponent's unseen face.
At last, the passage leveled off, and they were standing in a small, circular antechamber. A cavernous tunnel, filled with the blowing wind, stood to their left so that the black-orange skies were visible. It led out onto a massive platform, bare of a ceiling so that the effect of being among the heavens was completed; there were no walls, no furniture, nothing but a few toppled pillars and the smell of sulfur. It was blank, yet dark and hot, even with the rushing wind.
Neji flitted to the head of the group.
"To your left. He sits upon a thrown embedded in the wall of the mountain, just as you come out onto the plateau."
Naruto nodded. "Right."
"Kakashi-sensei says to take it easy. When you see him, do not attack immediately. See what happens. When you think you have a chance, take it—he trusts your judgment."
"Right."
Neji turned to the other two. "You follow him."
They both nodded. Fear seemed nonexistent. They were about to plunge, and they could be no more ready than if the dragon was right in there in front of them.
Neji departed. Naruto started forwards.
The winds blew heavily on the plateau, attacking Naruto's jacket and hair in an attempt to lift them from his person, and making him sway slightly from the effort of standing up. He didn't stumble, though, as he, Chouji and Lee walked out a little ways, and abruptly turned, to face their opponent where he was buried in a separate chasm, to the left of the entrance. They could see nothing at first—vague forms that could have been more ruined pillars and debris, and a tall structure near the back, pyramid-shaped, so dark it could have been night contained.
Then Naruto felt it. Like a nightmare given life, the killing intent washed over them so suddenly that terror froze their bodies solid.
A figure stood upon the structure, now a throne made of simple black iron. It was an old, gaunt man, vaguely regal in appearance but haggard and sickly-looking, as if fighting internal agony and barely lucid because of it. Underneath his fiery eyes were deep black bags, and the black armor he wore was shabby and dented. His beard was untrimmed and wild and as he moved forwards, he did so with a slight limp.
But even with his awful appearance, his weak limp and his uncanny resemblance to a homeless wino buried in the junk of one of the smaller towns bordering Konoha, Naruto had never felt such killing power in someone's eyes. He couldn't breath. Terror nearly consumed him, nearly drove him back as far as the ledge, which he would've happily leapt from to escape the horror, but every muscle in his body had frozen and would not obey a single one of his conscious commands.
"So, It Is You?" His voice was strange, each word carrying more power than it should, like each one was a work of art that needed great care in being delivered.
Naruto did not find the words to answer.
"The Human Who Killed My Sister, And Now Wears Her Skin?" The man was not scowling; his face was wiped of emotion.
Naruto found his voice. He managed, "Yeah…"
"Good," the man said. "You Have Come To Kill Me Too? For The Death Of Your Friend? That Human? I Can Feel The Others That Were With Him, I Even See Two By Your Side. You Wish To End Me? Do You?"
Naruto was shaking.
"Do You?"
The words fell from Naruto's mouth.
"Fuck yes."
No two words could have carried more power. Movement returned, the fear driven away, and suddenly the man did not face three scared children but three determined young men, itching for a fight.
"Fuck?" The man tasted the word. He hadn't heard it before—a human word. Disgusting.
"If That Is The Case…" the man spat. It hissed on the ground, melting the rock it touched. The pallid, emotionless face then broke into an infernal smile. The ground began to shake, and then sound filled the air—rushing wings and snarling, crunching jaws—and the orange sky was blotted out by a mass of shadows, which Naruto just barely registered behind him.
"Then Let The Games Begin!"
I apologize for the lateness—I was laid low with an ague for the past two weeks and couldn't do much to get my thoughts together. It might show it in the chapter, but I'll try my best to perfect it.
Hope you enjoyed the Vaelastrasz battle. You'll realize why it's important soon enough.
I realize that I've been getting slower and slower with the updates, and that's true—but I've a lot of work to do this semester, and real-life always comes first. I'll continue to try and put them out every week, but I don't know if that'll be possible until summer hits…we'll see…
Hope you guys enjoy the chapter, and see you soon!
General Grievous
Scroll of Seals:
Suiton: Suigadan (Water Release: Water Fang Bullet)
Bubun Baika no jutsu (Partial Multi Size Technique)
Kage Nui (Shadow Sewing)
Kyuukyoku Iku no jutsu (Ultimate Fear Technique)
Nouha Sayuu (Brainwave Domination)
Keikei Baiken no jutsu (Piercing Multi Sword Technique)
Words Of Power
Bingo Book:
Vaelastrasz the Corrupt/ The Red (Dragonkin)(Boss): Doomed to a constant struggle between servitude and pain, Vaelastrasz serves his last days in the battle against Ragnaros, and then upon hearing of the humans' escape, resolves that they might end his pain and finish Nefarian for good. Not only does he possess an enormous body and nearly invincible scales, as well as fiery breath and chakra to spare, but he can generate a monstrous amount of heat and send it in all directions, clearing away his foes around him. But his mind is not totally lost, and thus he possesses a great technique for those that challenge him, to further help them end his own pain caused by the black, corrupt blood that flows through him. Slain (possibly?) by a combination of efforts of the shinobi team.
Nefarian (Dragonkin)(Boss): Lord of Blackrock, Destroyer of Ragnaros, Lord of the Chromatic and Black Flights. Ambitious, terrible, and hateful of all mortal races. Abilities unknown.
Black Flight (Dragonkin)(Elite): The remainders of the Black Fight, fresh from the battle with Ragnaros. Number in the hundreds.