Author's Notes: Oh oops… it was originally an idea, I thought I removed it already… I'll find a way to compensate for it then I guess, you're right, I can't just leave it hanging, thanks for brining it up. Its either that or redo chapter… 2 or 4 or 5?

Btw, OC's going to appear in this chapter

Disclaimer: Naruto's still not here yet… neither is Jaina, Lina, nor Sylvanas… Oh well, everyone knows the drills, right? Start!
"Hi Roy."…
"I'm not a Blood Mage! I don't mind being a blood mage though…"

Chapter 8: Approaching Threats

Four Days after the previous chapter

Naruto stepped off the boat, and looked around to find a place to safely hide the boat. He spotted a bush, and, satisfied that it was large enough to hide the boat, he dragged it over and hid it, covering the outsides with fallen leaves. After securing the boat, he trekked out to the desert, towards the location the scout team had reported in from. Along the way, he noticed several carcasses, and moved over to check. As he neared, he noted that the group of corpses belonged to harpies. The harpies were killed through slashes across their bodies – slashes that couldn't belong to any Ghoul or any normal swordsman, as the cuts were too clean, too precise – in fact, it was so precise, that Naruto was quite certain that it was Sasuke's at the very least, though he couldn't verify. Sasuke… thought Naruto as he sighed, What have you done now?

With that estimation, he tried to guess where Sasuke might have gone next, to no avail. Despite being smarter now, having trained with Kakashi, ANBU, and various other ninjas who told him to 'look underneath the underneath', he still couldn't track his elusive friend, or rather enemy. He sighed as he recalled his previous years. Having the time to really reflect on his past missions over the years, he just realized something.

This was the first time he encountered Sasuke in the whole three years, which was quite strange as he had specifically asked Tsunade to allow him to battle Sasuke, and that Sasuke had also tried to track him down. While the elemental countries were large, comparatively to the more powerful ninjas, it was actually not that large. Thus, the question remained as to why he didn't encounter Sasuke earlier. What he didn't know, and Sasuke suspected correctly, was that Madara was ordering Sasuke to take missions that would lead him far away from Naruto, and the last was but a mistake, in order to ensure that their resulting clash would not kill Naruto, and by extension, Kyubi.

Naruto placed those thoughts behind him as he dashed forward again, intent on meeting Sasuke to get the answers he needed, hopefully soon. As he began to dash, however, he quickly stopped and created five clones.

"Start gathering Senjutsu chakra. I'm going to need it to fight Sasuke and win," Naruto instructed his clones as they complied and sat down, beginning to gather. Naruto looked back at the clones as they gathered. Although he could've created one more, he didn't want to risk encountering any enemy that would suddenly require an extra clone, thus he left one slot open. The other clone would dispel itself after it finished gathering, to boost Naruto instantly and give him yet another clone to call upon during combat. He hoped that it would be enough

As the new war dragged on, he revisited Myobokuzan, and trained once again in the Senjutsu arts, hoping to perfect it. He was successful at focusing more energy into gathering, and was able to, as a consequence, create two more clones when there were others gathering senjutsu chakra, making a total of 7 clones in a fight with senjutsu. As he ran forward, he suddenly felt nature energy charge into his coils, and his eyes turned into the eyes of the toads. Naruto was now ready for all out combat as he dashed forward even faster while releasing his energy out to search for Sasuke. (A/N: No Rasenshuriken yet! Naruto will face Sasuke soon though… just not this chapter yet, but there will be a variant of Rasengan here)

As he rushed forward, he jumped right over an outcropping of rocks and followed up with yet another leap as the walls began to scale. As Naruto landed, he began to run right up the wall as fast as he could, before seeing the top and flipped himself right over. He found himself in the company of several Orcs, the leader of which he recognized.

"Thrall! What are you doing here?" Naruto exclaimed as Thrall looked back in shock, many of the Orcs readied their weapons.

"Stand down! He's an ally!" Thrall barked to the soldiers as they lowered their weapons, before turning back with what was equivalent of a smile, "Whoa, Naruto, what happened to you?"

"This is another technique – ahh, spell – that I know of, to increase my abilities. But never mind that, what are you doing here anyways? I thought you were going to find a more suitable place to live?"

"I could ask the same as you Naruto, though I was actually asked to investigate here by Cairne – he sensed the loss of life here recently and wanted to investigate himself, but he needs to secure the Tauren's defenses first. Because I would be passing here to rebuild, I decided to help as well."

"Oh, it's the same as me, in fact, Jaina-chan ordered me to investigate, then report my findings. In that case, how do you think we could do if we shared information?"

"We really don't have a lot to go on, except one – the presence of decay and dead ground would certainly suggest that the undead is involved in this. What about you? What have you found?" Thrall asked Naruto.

"I think I know who did this, but as to the dead ground, I'm not sure if I have a very good explanation about that," Naruto said. Thrall thought for a moment, "I'm all ears, Naruto."

"I think its… a former friend of mine turned traitor – Sasuke Uchiha," Naruto said as Thrall narrowed his eyes.

"This… Sasuke, is he powerful?" Thrall asked. Naruto nodded, "He's about the same level in terms of power as me, but faster. I, on the other hand, have more… mana to spare."

"How do you propose we handle him, if we ever meet him then?" Thrall asked.

"If you're alone, run, and unless you have very powerful spellcasters with you at that point, preferably two or three, then unleash your most powerful spells at once, and whatever you do, don't look into his eyes. He can generate extremely powerful illusions with his eyes, enough to trap you and cripple you," Naruto said, "If I happen to be with you when he attacks, leave him to me. I've staked off the responsibility long enough. He's mine to take down."

Thrall nodded, "In that case, then let's search already. I'm sorry I can't help you right now, for my first concern is my people. I can, however, spare some of my men if you require manpower, although with your clones I highly doubt it."

"A couple men would be fine, Thrall, thanks," Naruto said, before becoming serious as dictated, "I bid you good day, Warchief."

"And good day to you too, Naruto," Thrall said as he rode away, the majority following. A few men were left as Naruto looked at them.

"We are here on Warchief's orders, sir, is there anything you need of us?" a grunt said as Naruto nodded, before ordering them to fan out and search, as well as giving them a kunai each. Although he wasn't too keen on letting others handle the kunai, in any emergency or if they found anything then at least he could get there faster. Naruto stretched a bit, before leaping off again, searching for Sasuke. Moments later, he managed to find yet another pile of corpse as he squatted down to examine them.

They were a pack of furblogs, and all of the corpses had burn marks on them, some erratic, yet some sharp – burn marks from fire release techniques and lightning release techniques. As he looked, however, he also saw the patch of ground a little ways away, as well as decaying corpses. Naruto walked over, examining the ground in detail for the first time. He noted the state of the soil as he scrounged up his nose – the smell was horrifying.

His sense of danger suddenly went off as the air, charged with Senjutsu chakra, displaced. Naruto rolled forward as twin paws slammed into the ground he was on previously, creating a crater. Naruto looked behind, and was startled by what he saw. A furblog that looked like a corpse stood upright again, its paws dusted with the dead soil. It had a small green glow that surrounded the body from what Naruto could see, or rather, sense, and it charged again, intent of finishing Naruto off, but Naruto was faster as he ducked and unleashed a punch that knocked the undead furblog away, before unleashing a gust of wind that slammed into the furblog, blowing it back into the trunk of a tree, splintering the tree. The furblog wasn't down yet, however, as it stood back up, slightly deformed, before it jumped, attempting to crush Naruto with its weight, but Naruto punched the furblog again knocking it back, before jumping on it and creating two clones who swung under the furblog, as the original jumped. They each kicked up at the furblog, knocking it even higher, before helping the other go higher, and as each clone kicked, they each shouted out a syllable of the word.

"U!"

"Zu!"

"Ma!"

"Ki!" At that, Naruto flipped down with as much force as he can, shouting the name of the combo as his heel slammed into the chest of the furblog.

"Naruto Rendan!" Naruto shouted as the undead, or rather, definitely dead animal plowed into the ground, completely obliterated from the impact. Naruto sighed, before looking at the ground and sweatdropping. He was still in the air – a long way from the ground.

"Whoaaaa!" Naruto shouted as he, too, plummeted to the ground.

"Owww… even with Sage mode that hurts…" Naruto groaned as he stood back up, popping his bones back into place. Despite changing his last name, he still decided to leave the name of the Rendan as it is, but that's beside the point right now, as Naruto suddenly sensed something amiss before dashing forward.

He sensed death and decay just about identical to the one that was produced from the soil and hurried to catch up, but before he could do so, he sensed one of his kunai dropping, and instantly teleported over. He saw the dead grunt first, before he was suddenly assaulted by dozens of ghouls, who were, strangely enough, protecting the ground for some reason. Naruto neither cared nor wanted to know why as he weaved through the ghouls, slashing his way out to freedom, though suddenly a shadow fell over him, forcing him to roll back. An Abomination slashed the ground he was previously on, a shockwave emanating and throwing Naruto up, but Naruto quickly recovered and charged forward, chakra swirling around his hands. He had only one shot before Senjutsu chakra was exhausted, and he made sure to pump as much of it out as possible.

"Senpo: Odama Rasengan!" Naruto shouted as he slammed the ball into the Abomination, tearing it apart, as well as the grounds and enemies behind it for several dozen meters, and a dust cloud rose up to obscure the vision. For Naruto, that wasn't a problem, as he quickly summoned several clones to launch at the enemy. When Naruto himself was not in Sage Mode, he could summon his clones in greater quantity as he had no connection with the gathering clones, and made use of it when he ran out, as he quickly made another clone who began to gather Nature Energy in the midst of battle, as his clones and the enemy battled out with dozens of techniques flying about. He was about to dispel them, when they were all suddenly struck down by a large sheet of ice, which Naruto manage to break out of. His clones, on the other hand, weren't so lucky, as they were struck and dispelled, including the clone that just managed to gather the chakra. Naruto felt his energy rushing forward, as he sensed the largest concentration of decay he every felt, and turned around, seeing a Lich for the first time.

"… This, is so goddamn ridiculous…" Naruto muttered to himself, "A freaking skeleton is staring at me… Seriously, these guys may be undead, but this is just beyond the scale." He quickly decided on a course of action to take.

"Who the fucking hell are you?" Naruto asked bluntly as the Lich drew back slightly in surprise, not expecting the child to be so blunt.

"Brave words for a young child. You should have ran when you summoned all those illusions rather than stayed and fight. Now, you shall join us in undead," the Lich rasped out as it launched a large blast of ice. Naruto barely had time to make his seals.

"Doton: Doryuuheki!" Naruto shouted as a slab of wall rose in front of his, blocking the majority of the freezing blast, but the wall soon shattered by a blast from the Lich as he ducked and rolled.

"Who, or rather, what the hell is that thing…" Naruto asked himself, though the Lich answered.

"Seeing as you're going to die, I may as well as tell you. I am Coldreaver, Lich and servant to the Lich King, Ner'zhul!" the newly named Lich declared as Naruto stared at him.

"Ewwww… so you're the bugs that hide in people's hair?" Naruto asked as the Lich just looked at the human. "Oh well, if there's one thing that I am, it's that I'm unpredictable, and I can't die right now; I promised others that I would be back for them, and Namikaze Naruto never goes back on his promises!" Naruto said, and before the Lich could respond he felt a powerful shock to his system as a clone of Naruto managed to attack the Lich from behind.

"Hehe, idiot. Chidori can be silent when it needs, and all it needs is for the opponent to lose concentration. Now, you die," Naruto said, but he never got the change to finish his handseals as the Lich suddenly froze him completely in an ice block.

"And I am not as weak as you presume, human," the Lich managed to gasp out despite having no lungs. The ice shattered, and Naruto was impaled with many spikes of ice, but he managed to deflect most of it away with a blast of chakra out his system, before he focused on the Lich with his Rinnegan. What he saw was unsettling, as the mana capacity was large, and when he meant large, he really did mean it. Naruto sweated slightly as he pulsed his own chakra and formed his killing intent, but the Lich, being just about undead, felt very little of it. That said, it was still impressed that such a technique actually affected him at all.

"You are powerful, boy. It will be a mistake on my part today, if I don't kill you and turn you," the Lich said as it concentrated its mana into a single attack, and Naruto focused his chakra into the most powerful fire attack he knew. A sphere of chakra formed in his hands as the Lich chuckled, and Naruto created one clone.

"That will not work against this spell, young boy," the Lich said before it was abruptly silenced as the sphere gained a tint of red, before expanding to cover it. Wisps of flame erupted from the sides, similar to solar flares, as Naruto finally completed his most powerful fire technique, and prepared to throw it using senjutsu chakra. The Rasengan was the result of trying to combine his other newly acquired affinities with Rasengan, and although there had been no progress with Suiton nor Doton, there had been good progress with Raiton, and in particular, the element he was using right now, Katon. However, he could not make it go farther just yet like he had done with Futon: Rasenshuriken. The Lich fired a huge blast of frost air directly at Naruto.

"Katon: Rasengan!" Naruto shouted as he threw the ball of spinning fire at the storm of frost, and the two attacks connected. The flaming Rasengan managed to burn its way through to the center after a while of dominance, but it was halted there, before it was compressed by the air that was pressing against it. There was a pause as the sphere was compressed, and it started glowing white. Naruto, spotting something with his eyes, could only say one thing.

"Shit."

The Rasengan blew up, shattering both techniques in a maelstrom of fire, heating the place up considerably as Naruto tumbled end over end and smashed into a rock, as the Lich was propelled backwards while trying to hold its ground. Naruto stood up, unsteadily as he glared at the Lich, blood running down his head and a ringing in his head, yet already healing. Ugh… that took out the last of my senjutsu chakra, and I don't think I have the energy to move anymore… How the hell is that Lich still standing?

The Lich just stared at Naruto, amused. The skeletal frame was not without damage, however; cracks had appeared around the outer frame, and the cloak was slightly torn and burnt at the edges.

"You are indeed powerful…" the Lich murmured to itself as something made its way to the Lich and… well all Naruto could describe it was communicating in gibberish, as the Lich turned back to Naruto. Naruto, by this point, was standing on pure will, as the edges of his vision darkened. Naruto prepared himself for one more fight, in case the Lich decided to finish him off. Fortunately, luck was on Naruto's side.

"Much as I enjoyed this fight, I have other more important things to do. Farewell, boy," the Lich said as its entourage disappeared. Naruto just stared that way, uncomprehending, before finding his kunai. Being too tired to move, he simply pointed his hand at the kunai.

"Bansho Te'nin," Naruto said tiredly as the technique drew the kunai over, before finally falling unconscious from the blast. The three clones he left continued to gather nature energy, unaware of its creator's status.

Theramore Isles, Finished Castle

Jaina, Lina, and Sylvanas were just finishing off the final spell to fully power up the new well when a footman approached the group of 3.

"Ma'am, we have a messenger from the frontline who came to update on the activities," the footman said as Jaina nodded before dismissing him. "So, what do you think has happened?"

"I'm not sure, but I don't think its very good in any case. I just hope that it won't be too… disastrous," Sylvanas replied as they marched down the recently built corridor to the main hall, where we received the emissary. The instant Jaina saw the emissary, her eyes widened.

"Ricky!" Jaina exclaimed as the emissary looked up in shock.

"Jaina? You're our leader!" the emissary, now identified as Ricky, exclaimed as he rushed up to hug her lightly. "It's good to see you again Jaina, I thought you were… well lost when Lordaeron was taken down, but thank the Gods that you're alright."

"What happened to you, anyhow?" Jaina asked as she separated from Ricky.

"I'm… I'm not sure, actually. I was ordered by Antonidas to investigate the plague as well, only earlier than you are. I arrived at Stratholme, but it hasn't been hit by the plague yet so I left to search for more clues, only to hit a dead end after seeing those… Scourge…" Ricky began but couldn't continue. Jaina could only empathize with him knowing the horror of the undead.

"What brings you here, now of all times, anyways?" Jaina asked, remembering that he was sent as an emissary. Ricky looked up, startled.

"Wha…? Oh right, the message," Ricky stopped at that and cleared his throat a bit, "We have managed to defeat the Scourge inside Ashenvale Forest, but we have suffered quite a bit of casualty. What was surprising about this though, was that they retreated from the words of those… living skeletons which ordered them to regroup and retreat. We're still finding out why this has happened, however. Once the general has found clues, he will send another emissary to tell you why. But, its sort of weird that it's the skeleton that was commanding the army rather than the old commander…"

"Old commander? Explain," Sylvanas ordered as Ricky nodded.

"Previously, the army was led by this huge winged demon who called himself 'Aramachus'. Arrogant, as well; he hollered out that he would be the one who will crush the Alliance," Ricky said with disdain as Jaina held her hand to her chin, thinking. "Jaina? What do you suppose is happening?"

"Shhh, I'm trying to think here," Jaina said as Ricky couldn't resist sniggering a bit. Sylvanas and Lina looked at him curiously as he reigned in his smirk.

"Sorry, just remembering how she always say that when we were in Antonidas' classes whenever someone asks her something," Ricky said as Jaina glared mockingly at him. "If it's not too much trouble, is there somewhere I can rest for a bit before returning to the frontline?"

"There should be a spare room or two here if you wish to stay, but stay for a while. The troops I've left there has been fighting for months, and really deserves a good rest. I'll send another battalion to stay there as soon as I can," Jaina said as Ricky nodded his thanks and left. As he went by the door frame, he looked back.

"It's good to see you again, Jaina, and for what it's worth, I'm sorry Arthas turned out that way," Ricky said as he left, the three women staring after him.

"So… who the heck is he?" Lina asked after he was out of hearing range. Jaina replied with a faint smile, "He's a fellow mage like I am, pretty talented, and he has this giant crush on me that everybody knows. Nice guy, but not my kind of guy."

"So who's your type of guy then Jaina?" Lina asked teasingly as Jaina blushed and looked away.

"None of your business."

"Touche." The three women talked as they left the main hall, back to overseeing the well again. None of them noticed the blood red eyes that peeked out of the shadows of the curtains – blood-red eyes with three tomoes spinning rapidly. Madara frowned as he observed the Alliance camp, hoping to find Naruto, yet that was not to be. It seemed that the jinchuriki isn't in here... Perhaps I should do a bit more reconnaissance to find my target, and find Sasuke as well, the partially mad man thought to himself, before exiting the main chamber. He stealthily sneaked past the various guards, until he reached the barracks. There, he considered his next move, though he suddenly stopped as he heard voices. Two guards were patrolling around the newly made castle.

"Hey, do you know who the new kid is?" One footman asked another.

"What, you mean that blond haired kid? He's pretty young like Lady Proudmoore, but otherwise I don't have much of a clue," the other soldier replied as Madara smiled. Bingo.

"I don't really get our leadership now… I mean, I understand that Lady Proudmoore trained under Antonidas and has worked with Arthas and the army before, but that kid, that… what is his name anyways?"

"I think his name was Naruto or something, strange name for a strange guy. Got to admit that he is a very strong fighter though."

"Well, I don't know about how strong he is, but what's he doing suddenly taking the lead?"

"Its not our decision to make, anyways. Let's keep patrolling, or our commander isn't going to be happy."

"Fine, fine. Where did he go, anyways? He skipped out on the work, didn't he? That cheap bastard."

"Actually, I overheard Lady Proudmoore ordering him back to mainland Kalimdor to find out more on the current situation, as well as strange deaths from local animals."

"Feh, isn't that the job of a Rogue?"

"Who cares, let's just go, we've wasted enough time," and with that the two walked away, leaving Madara with a lot to think about – or maybe not, as Madara activated his teleporting technique, and warped away. No one ever realized he was in the soon-to-be Theramore. Well, none except for Jaina anyways, as she sensed the teleporting technique.

"What the… Who teleported?" Jaina wondered to herself as she immersed herself into her mana and weaved a spell that would erect the conductors for the well. Although intrigued, she couldn't spare her concentration now, though she would certainly look for that person when she's finished with the conductor, provided that she could still find him/her.

Madara pondered about this as he henged himself into a normal civilian as he walked out into the sun. He had absolutely no idea where he was, or rather, where he was in this Kalimdor place. He collected his thoughts, and before anyone found out, he disappeared quietly into the construction section, walked behind some engineers, and approached the outcropping that Lina led Naruto to previously. He watched the skies as well as searching for the land mass that they spoke of. It wasn't very hard to find it at all, and soon, Madara disappeared into the ground. This time, no one noticed his departure.

Several kilometers away, on the shores, Madara emerged out of the ground, and spotted, almost instantly, that something was out of place. More specifically, he noted that a bush had been removed. He checked the bush, to find a boat underneath. Now, all Madara had to do, was trace the signature that Naruto left behind. He looked up, and, sensing a source of chakra that was slightly tainted, he followed it, unaware that he was tracking Sasuke rather than Naruto and by extension, Kyubi. However, for Madara, either was fine.

A few kilometers away, a clone stiffened as it suddenly detected a malevolent chakra source, but played it off as nothing for now, as the source moved farther away. Had Naruto's clone focused more, he would've noticed how it behaved like Madara, and in fact is his chakra signature.

Konoha

Kakashi jolted from his meditation as he sensed the disturbance in Kamui's current, and he tried to pinpoint the exact location. He wasn't disappointed, yet he was now very, very scared as he rushed to the Hokage Tower. He barged in, heedless of the warnings by Iruka and various other ninjas, and saw the council with Tsunade. Tsunade looked at him, irritated.

"What is it, Kakashi? I'm sort of busy here," Tsunade said as Kakashi caught his breath.

"Hokage-sama, I've found Naruto, but that's because of a disturbance in Kamui's flow. I think that Madara has locked on to Naruto and Kyubi's chakra," Kakashi panted out as Tsunade and the councilors widened their eyes, before Tsuande stood up.

"How many people do you think you can… transport over then?" Tsunade asked, but Kakashi shook his head.

"No idea, I'm not sure how Kamui could work like that in the first place. Its equally likely that we either end up on the same place as Naruto, we got caught and are sent to another dimension close to where Naruto is right now, or we get caught in the current and ripped apart, literally, piece by piece," Kakashi said. Tsunade paused for a moment.

"You said that Madara's chakra signature was there, right?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

"That probably meant he made it through safely. If that's the case, I'm willing to bet that he could summon the statue there as well, and I'm not taking that chance. Kakashi, lead a squad through. I don't care who it is… actually, bring Yamato, Sakura, and Kiba at the very least," Tsunade ordered as Kakashi nodded.

"Just one question, though: why Kiba?"

"He can help track Naruto down if needed be in case the team end up on different areas," Tsuande said as Kakashi coughed a bit and made the handseals for the Kuchiyose. Tsuande looked down with a blush, "Fine, Kakashi, but Yamato and Sakura must go."

"Understood, Hokage-sama," Kakashi said as he disappeared in a whirl of leaves to gather the teams. He idly wondered who else he would get. Knowing that Naruto somehow got himself slightly involved with the fifth Mizukage, he briefly entertained the thought of sending a message, but decided against it, as he didn't know how long he could hold the portal open, and how long the clue will last. He finally decided, and quickly decided who he was going to pick. He rushed off to find them all, starting with Yamato, then Sakura, before finding the rest. Whatever happened, he hoped that he wouldn't be too late to help his student against Madara, or help him back.

Far away, in the Warcraft universe, Naruto woke up, sneezing.

Right, so now I have a couple choices, or maybe more than a couple:

Bring Mei into the mini-harem

Kill her off (I'm not too sure about this, being that she's still a kage-level kunoichi and stuff, and killing her is just… anyways you get the point)

Try and get her together with another guy

Forget about her completely

Try to make it so that she doesn't seem too interested in Naruto anymore (kinda hard…)

Not to mention jealously issues that will arise from Mei seeing Naruto with Jaina and/or Lina and/or Sylvanas.

Now, please, there is a button in the middle at the bottom of the page with a speech bubble beside it that says 'Review this Chapter'. Please click on it and write some comments. As before, no flames, even if I'm called Pyro - should have named myself Cryo instead.