I do not own Naruto, Overlord (the game), or anything else that may or may not appear within the story. This story is for entertainment purposes only. Have we not long since established that?!

The one called the Overlord

Chapter Two: New path

Unknown lands

All things considered given all that had recently happened, he was no less unnerved by crossing a village of death like a thief with but one companion who peeked around each corner they came across as if there was some hidden enemy.

Thankfully there wasn't one within the entirety of the village proper... yet it wasn't without a measure of warrant.

Amongst the elegant mason work that made up each building, including the apparent temple they had originally skulked out of, withered bodies of the dead littered the streets and some of the alleyways; every now and then they would see a claw mark marring the stonework, the scorched remains of a blast staining once pristine marble-like stone, and arrows jutting out of the walls and ground. Most of the dead were armored, like they were soldiers, with strange canisters equipped on their backs that were either left intact or seemingly torn off of their subsequently rent armor. A few others seemingly affiliated with them were clothed from head-to-toe with carefully crafted suits as if to separated themselves from the world entirely, even the ports for their eyes were seemingly given goggles made purely of glass fastened from the inside; like their armored kin they bore similar fates. But what caught his eye the most, aside from their apparel, was that from what he could see of their skin. Exposed from the tearing of those canisters on their backs, they had blue skin from what he could see.

... They weren't the only ones amongst the dead however. Dying more vicious deaths, or at least far more explainable ones, along the outskirts that was the front of the village were decaying corpses of slain villagers that the carrion birds were picking clean of their blackened flesh. Whether or not it was blackened from rot or was their natural color, a black more genuine in color than any dark skinned person he knew of, he wasn't able to tell. What he was able to tell however was that many tried to run before they were ran through or shot down with arrows... a few appeared to have been set on fire, bludgeoned or else impaled with weaponry used with such force that they had to be abandoned when stuck to the ground or something else; they were the same weapons found in the loosened grasp of the fallen soldiers.

In the end though they essentially snuck out of the village without incident and escaped into the wilderness. Yet even then, even as they went deeper and deeper into the forest, neither deigned to speak. At least not until they, being led by the diminutive creature, came upon a cave hidden in the shade of a thicker set of trees dotting the area of a small hill. "Do be careful Master. I'm not sure how tall the ceiling is exactly between the darkness and our general heights, so you may have to duck," the creature said at last as he waddled into the cave, immediately descending down an unseen slope. Hesitantly Naruto followed him inside, finding him only by way of the lantern hanging above the creature's shoulder. Carefully he began to creep his way through the darkness as the already scant light of day quickly faded away into nothingness, his body hunched ever slightly in the event the ceiling was indeed low or else a stalactite that may scrape his head—"Ooof!"—or else smack him in the face.

"I did warn you!" the grayed creature chided.

Grumbling, Naruto rounded around the hanging and followed after the lantern.

XVX

"Oh good. I was actually a bit worried we may have lost this as well! Of course we would've found somewhere else to call lair, sweet lair but frankly I'm grateful that something went our way for a change, keeping you in mind of course Sire."

Thankfully save for the odd stalactite every now and then, all of which unwittingly avoided by the creature before him due to his height, they had made it to a large cavern poorly lit by torchlight and crudely made braziers strewn about the floor and various rises. In it was a gaggle of brown creatures like the ones who had abducted him before, albeit worse off in their armaments than the motley crew than before in that they were armed with nothing more than clubs and loincloths. The only one that was peculiarly dressed was yet another grayed creature wearing a funny hat that sported many tail-like ends, each garnished with a bell. In his hand was a cane-like object adorned with a small skull made of bone and a few other bones just beneath it. What also made him stand out more from the others was the peculiar blue eye in one socket. Squinting at it, it seemed it was made of glass, a prosthetic to replace a missing eye. Regardless, almost as soon as he had seen them they had likewise spotted him. More attention was drawn to himself as the gray before him started to bark orders at them.

"Someone fetch me our stock of potions! You louts, make sure there's a room available for the young master! Make it as private as possible! Giblet! Giblet! Blast that no good shoe chewer, where is he?" he grumbled as he wandered off in the direction of the back of the cavern where a good number of shacks were constructed.

From within a pile of looted oversized armor and weaponry one of the brown creature stuck its head out, displacing a few articles of armor and sending them clattering to the ground. "Oh good, you're already halfway there," Gnarl stated almost languidly before snapping his full ire on him. "Heat up that forge and kick that useless apprentice of yours into gear! We need some armor for the new master! At the very least have a crown and a gauntlet prepared for him! A bracelet if nothing else!"

With an audible giggle the creature ducked back inside the pile and reemerged with a welding mask equipped with a pair of built in goggles. Soon enough it scrambled out of the pile, taking with it a breastplate, and disappeared behind the pile.

"He tall!"

"New mastah?"

"Yay! Yay!"

"Oh ho! So we at last have a new Overlord! Welcome sire to our... current abode! Though we would've preferred to have received you in at least a decrepit castle or more preferably a tower but alas, we minions had fallen into hard times!" Naruto's attention jerked to the one in the weird hat who seemingly crept up on him without the blond realizing he had even moved. In fact he was surrounded by a number of the creatures who came to gawk and scrutinize him. Immediately he began to shift and squirm as he tried to back away as discreetly as he could. Unfortunately even he knew that was impossible given his situation, with so many eyes on him. Thankfully however the gray one with the cloak and lantern came back with a brown compatriot in tow, pushing a heavy crate from which its contents gave out a clink of glass each time the crate was disturbed in its transit. With a grumble the gray began to push and shove his way through the crowd.

"Make way! Make way you half-brained gnats!" the gray 'minion' barked as he forcibly made a clear path to the blond even as the others began to part before him and the crate that followed. Soon enough he came to stand before the blond and, as soon as the crate as no longer being pushed, turned around to rummage through the crate. With a contemplative hum he pulled out a small flask, a closed beaker really, filled nearly to the brim with a dark green liquid. He half turned to the side, undid the stopper on the bottle, held out his hand and carefully tilted the glass so as to drop a single droplet of the green fluid onto his hand. The second a droplet fell he held the flask upright as he intently watched the liquid splatter on his hand, observing it as if it were to do something for many a heartbeat. "Good. It's not acidic."

"I made that and those you know," the one in the hat grumbled. "After all this time you'd think I would make one for myself or the master that would be harmful?"

Promptly ignoring him, the grayed creature turned to the blond and offered him the flask. "Here Master," it offered, "this should help you recover from those nasty third degree burns."

Hesitantly Naruto took it with one hand and, after giving the crowd a sweeping glance at the crowd gathered around him, drank from it with a swift chug whilst expecting the worst of flavors to afflict him.

He was not disappointed.

The mere taste alone almost had him lurch completely forward to form a ball but he swallowed it anyway like bitter medicine he had to sample on rare occasions... oh how he wished it was bitter even as it slid down his throat with grateful ease; it was like drinking moldy moss laced with rancid socks, peppered with bad fish left out in the sun for far too long. The aftertaste of dung sprinkled with burning charcoal only made it worse, giving him a green hue despite his pale countenance.

"In my defense sire I don't think it would've help you any if I had warned you about that in advance. If it's any consolation however it's Quaver's fault since he makes the potions."

"Hey!" The other minions snickered at the puffing up of the indignant 'minion.' Yet he was completely ignored y the older one in the cloak. "It's not like you can do better!"

"Now be off with you, all of you! I'm sure the master could use some rest given the night he had," the gray one barked as he began to shoo and shove the more stubborn various counterparts away to widen the path for Naruto. "Besides, nothing prepares one better for a wholesome evil education than a goodnight's rest."

"Hey!" Jerking toward him, everyone's attention snapped to a disquieted Naruto who did everything he could to keep from flinching by glaring down at the curious grayed creature with slightly grit teeth. "You said you would explain to me what was going on!"

"And I will!" the so called 'minion' assured him once more in a placating tone. "But if I may, master, I think that before I cram into your head as to what you are, who we are and everything else, I think it would be best if you had time to digest what had happened thus far. Unwind a bit even— seldom as it had happened, stress has had gotten the better of your predecessors, especially when they didn't rest for a spell time from time."

The blond squinted at him and glanced to the creature's like him. He would've even tried to glance back to the exit behind him but didn't: Even assuming they had an axe to grind, so to speak, he was in an unknown territory possibly populated by different people altogether. Even if he was in just some part of the Elemental Nations that he simply either didn't learn of or simply ignored during his time in class, the Anbu back in his village made it clear enough that they weren't keen on letting him live since he stole the Forbidden Scroll... Reluctantly he began to step through the crowd, following the creature as it turned around and dutifully lead him to the back of the cave where the huts are.

"For what it's worth I apologize, sire. Some years ago we would've had at least a nice comfy bed to offer you," the minion noted as they ventured into the ramshackle collections of wood and bits of metal occasionally holding them together. "But alas, we've been kicked out of one place after another ever since the last substitute of a master died after this whole mess died. We're just lucky enough to scrounge up what could be considered luxuries amongst beggars for you now." Amongst the twists and turns of what now looked more liken to a misshapen city of shacks and huts they came upon the largest shack they evidently had available. What made stand out even more was that there were more of the brown creatures surrounding it, guarding it with a motley collection of nicked swords, scrounged up maces and woodcutter axes. They were also garbed in leather jerkins, chainmail and even plate armor looking to have been collected straight from a forgotten battlefield somewhere for armor. Upon seeing him they snapped into attention and saluted him as they passed the doorway into the hut without so much as a second glance from the gray one.

Spacious as it was and surprisingly shored up to ensure it didn't collapse onto itself, the shack didn't have much to it other than a makeshift fire pit in the center of the room, a stool right next to it and mattress laid out onto the ground against the back wall; covered with a ratty blanket, what looked to be straw stuck out of the mattress here and there where the blanket didn't cover it.

"Hard times indeed," Naruto noted.

XVX

Forest, Konoha

"Lord Hokage."

Hiruzen Sarutobi, an elderly man in red and white robes, wearing a broad shaped white hat with a red diamond bearing the symbol for "Fire" within it regarded the kneeling shinobi wearing a wooden mask of a badger. "Report."

The shinobi's already bowed head canted further. "Sir, we were not able to find either the intruder or Naruto Uzumaki. But new evidence has emerged: Whatever it was, it wasn't alone. Judging from cadavers left behind in an apparent struggle with yet another unknown group it appears that this being was accompanied by both men and women from across the sea, from where we are not certain as of yet. Likewise this other group, much like the original assailant of our tracker teams in search of the holder of the Nine Tails, had disappeared without a trace. But from what we gathered they had been here for some time in a previously undiscovered, manmade cavern system..."

The Third Hokage narrowed his eyes in scrutiny. "What else?"

The operative looked up only slightly to regard the Hokage as if debating on whether or not to tell him or else how phrase his wording before bowing his head once again. "My lord, with due respect the term "manmade" might be a misnomer of sorts. While we have not found any sign of the previous hosts, some of the rooms are incredibly small that even toddlers would need to duck their heads to enter. Furthermore on closer inspection on what appears to be some of the older rooms as well as an expansion in the process of being built, the almost the entirety of the cave system appears to be have dug out by claw. What's more, it seems that sometime during the skirmish Naruto Uzumaki had entered this system. Like the others he too is mysteriously missing; there is no evidence any of them left the cave system by conventional means or otherwise."

"I see..." Quietly, solemnly, he withdrew a smoking pipe from within his robes and a box of tobacco. With almost meticulous ease he filled the pipe, crushed the tobacco within it and replaced the box with a match. Yet he hesitated to light it. "... I don't suppose by some luck Naruto had left the scroll behind, did he?"

"No sir..."

"I see." He struck the match and lit the smoke pipe. He flicked his wrist and extinguished the match before taking a solemn drag from the pipe. "What was that boy thinking, taking breaking in and taking the scroll?"

"I do not know sir. Perhaps it has something to do with his latest failure to pass the exam?"

Hiruzen hummed rather dully in acknowledgement...

"Send for Jiraiya," he suddenly ordered. The Anbu, in response, snapped his head up with an unasked question. "Even if there is absolutely no chance in recovering either Naruto or the scroll, infiltrating the village to this extent alone is by no means a random and fortune favored act. This is especially true when there is quite literally a wall to cordon off the village from would be intruders on foot; either there are collaborators in our midst to coordinate their mission, or worse yet they have a means to slip past our defenses without our knowing, a method most likely unique to them. If by some means Jiraiya can identify these strangers then perhaps we can decipher their purpose in being here..." He took another drag and let loose a dense puff of smoke. "Let's hope that if they had done what they came to do then we can either recover or mitigate the damage done before it's recognized by the other villages."

"Yes Lord Hokage. We'll form a team and set out to find Lord Jiraiya immediately." The shinobi disappeared without missing a beat, leaving the older man of whitening hair as he continued to puff from his pipe. For several minutes he simply stood within the forest, smoking all the while...

XVX

Cavern, Unknown Lands, the next day (night?)

He didn't know how long he had slept, only that when he at last woke up he was soon presented with a veritable feast of sautéed chicken with mushrooms, small loaves of bread, some sort of dipping sauce, soup and just about anything else that could be scrounged up courtesy of the one in the odd hat. That and as he ate the one in the cloak and the strange crystal tied to a stick had what looked to have been a scavenged blackboard carefully laid against one of the walls by a set of minions that, when finished, went to the blond as if it were an expected but not minded duty. Regardless, as he finishing his breakfast and supped on a goblet of water, the apparently older gray was scribbling onto the board with a piece of white chalk. From what he could see from his bed it looked like the 'minion' had forgone any use of words and simply drawn simple yet crude images scribbled in half-minded haste. On occasion however he did take a minute to look at an image and with a grumble wipe it off only to etch a somewhat altered version of the image. When he was done he simply turned around, waiting for Naruto to finish and come to him if the blond had to guess. Seeing as he had nothing better to do, he obliged him by handing his plates and spent drink to the first brown he spotted who happily enough ran off with them, giggling like a loon for a short while.

Once he got up and approached the grayed creature and his blackboard, Naruto's curious glance quickly spotted out a vague depiction of the Elemental Nations scrawled on the surface. Along with it were what looked to be other continents and even some islands, all of which, including the Elemental Nations, were contained in the drawing of a white box to border it from the rest of the images that were drawn on the blackboard.

"Granted it's late to say this but allow me the honor to say "Welcome Sire to your new lair!" the gray announced once Naruto was close enough to avoid shouting at him. "I am Gnarl, Minion Master and humble servant to both you and the long line of predecessors you hail from, the Overlords."

"Overlords?" Naruto asked, Gnarl nodding in recognition.

"Yes, the Overlords, the often waxing and waning masters of the realms belonging to the continent of Hapvire which is right about..." The creature turned around and looked to the map he had drawn. Soon enough he slapped his gnarled digit along one of the continents near the edge, announcing "here!" as he does so. "Sadly though it's not much to look at now, what with it being a smoldering, burning hellfire thanks to those cultists!"

"Uh... was that thing that attacked me one of them?" Naruto asked in an uneasy guess.

"Yes, yes he was. Quite intuitive you are young master!" Gnarl chuckled as he waddled to face him once more. As he did so though his short lived good humor was lost to a severe frown. "Though really that 'thing' is in actuality one of their masters. A brutish one with a penchant for hunting down Overlords and those liken to them like the demonic bloodhound it is." The minion shuddered, audibly shivering as he does so. "He almost makes them preferable really. At least those mangy, flea bitten curs are courteous enough to ignore you if you toss them a juicy hambone or something." He shook his head. "But anyway..." He cleared his throat.

"Since the very first Overlord who had made us to the last, Overlords had often conquered and re-conquered the realms of Hapvire, beating those who would either try to kill or else subdue them into a bloody pulp, subsequently ruling their lands with an iron fist afterward if they so wanted." Gnarl then smirked a lopsided smirk. "The only time those so called "heroes" had ever gained them back was either when an Overlord died from something completely unrelated to these heroes, thus having no opposition, or," he lost his smirk, "though it was a bit rare in comparison, they teamed up and killed the Overlord at the time and took back their lands only to make themselves hypocrites instead."

"Huh? Wait... are the Overlords evil?" Naruto asked with a confused frown. In turn Gnarl gave out a dramatic sigh as the minions around them giggled.

"Master, please understand. Admittedly we minions do enjoy a good pillaging, maiming and ruining of things as well as anything else our current master bids of us, including literally sacrificing ourselves for their benefit if they so desire, we are but willing and eager servants and tools for our master. Even then "evil" can be quite relative, don't you think?" Naruto frowned as he tilted, again eliciting yet another dramatic sigh. "Say you, our new master, had ordered us to save a village of half-witted peasants who probably set their very own village on fire like the idiots they are, and they in turn worship you and give you tribute as opposed to whichever lord is suppose to be keeping them safe, and said lord comes to resent you for this in turn, does that make you evil?"

"No," Naruto answered him, though a bit cautiously.

"Again for saving those dim peasants and accepting their tribute to you and that lord whose tribute you took declares war on you, does that make you evil, sire?"

"No."

Nodding Gnarl continued. "And say you decide to lead us against this lord for not only your sake but the peasants as well. Let us say you had defeated him and spared him, but he in turn runs off to cry on the shoulder of a lord on friendly terms with him about a "ruthless invader" who not only defeated him but "seized his land" and "threatened his life", thus beginning yet another fight for you, does that, again, make you evil?"

"No!"

Gnarl nodded sagely. "Of course we could simply kill this imaginary lord if you so willed it, all for the sake of peace for you. But needless to say I think we both know where I'm getting with this, don't you?"

Reluctantly Naruto nodded.

"My point, master, is that while we had our share of masters who eagerly ordered us to serve their self-serving agendas, not all Overlords are ruthless killers and takers of domain and treasures. Some of them simply wanted to protect their family, friends, vassals, and beliefs to name a few. Even then, ironic as it is, even our most blood thirsty of masters ended up doing more good than the supposed "good guys." Oh the things I could tell you these "heroes" did to their subjects and their neighbors... my particular favorites were the seven heroes the father of our last true Overlord had to slay! Oh how I remember they eagerly abandoned their one of their almost dead comrades in a crumbling tower the second they killed the Overlord!" Gnarl dementedly giggled as he slightly turned away. Likewise a number of the minions also began to chortle and cackle as if they knew exactly what he was talking about. "Only that bleeding heart of an elf wanted to help but even he turned his back on what would be his own instrument of demise when the others thought it would be too much of a bother to bring back what they thought was a corpse. Didn't even realize he was still alive! Alive yet severely weakened thanks the final duel with our previous master! And yet the idea of glory and wenches was enough to have the band of seven heroes abandon who would later be the instrument of their demise, made a substitute by order of the Overlord he killed no less!" Smirking, Gnarl turned to Naruto who was scowling at the actions of the so called heroes. "Though a substitute, I admit he was one of my more favorite masters to serve."

He sighed once more. "He also serves as something of an example toward "lighter" Overlords if you will, sire. He wasn't much for proper evil admittedly, then again he was a hero before his ascension as the Overlord. He was simply content with raiding the villages of his enemies and smiting those so called heroes when they ironically became the very evils that plagued their lands years later, taking whatever they wanted and slaughtering innocents simply because they didn't like them. Incidentally the lands they hailed from became his domain since there simply wasn't anyone else around to boss those weak minded peasants around."

Naruto was quiet for a moment. "Uh..."

"Yes Master?"

"Just uh..." Naruto scratched his head. "What's the difference between a "true" overlord and a substitute?"

"Quite simply, sire, True Overlords are related by blood to the very first Overlord, our maker. As such they have a far more natural command over minions than others. A substitute is made so either by order of the previous Overlord for varying reasons: For example to act as a decoy so our previous master could recover their strength and eventually supplant their replacement, as weird as that sounds. But in more dire situations, taking this once hero of an Overlord for example..." He turned around and walked to the board. Once he reached it he held up a finger and pointed at one of several tri-horned helmets, most of which connected by a line. More specifically he pointed at one helmet that was being bypassed by a line in a semi-circle to connect two others. "Hiccups can occur where the previous overlord has been slain without naming an heir of sorts or that his biological successor isn't found. When that happens we make use of someone deemed to be "qualified" to lead us for a spell. Believe me, it's much harder than it sounds. Even our more crass masters couldn't simply pick a random peasant, give him a helmet and proclaim him to be an overlord..." Sighing, he tapped the unconnected helmet. "Thank the gods and evil that some of our masters just couldn't keep it in their pants. I'll admit though," he dragged his clawed digit down to the next helmet which was connected to the line, "I wouldn't have suspected that the Wizard was one of who knows how many bastards of the line of Overlords. I certainly wouldn't have expected his own spawn would be the mother to the last true Overlord either. Things like these certainly keeps things interesting now and then," he drawled as he was seemingly progressing onto a tangent train of thought.

"... Exactly what happened to... my predecessor?" When the minion didn't answer, he spoke up once again. "Gnarl?"

"Hm? What?" He was jolted out of his cogitation and returned his attention to the twelve year old boy who was frowning at him.

"What happened to the last overlord?"

"Oh yes..." He cleared his throat and turned around. "This is actually how you been involved really." Once again he jabbed his finger at the continent of Hapvire. "You see, during your predecessor's reign this cult quite literally shows up out of nowhere. At first we thought it was your run-of-the-mill "praise whatsit!" or "the word of our god!" sort of deal, raiding and razing villages, sacrificing peasants and slaves, building temples, the usual sort of thing. But unfortunately for them they not only encroached on our master's territory but they were raiding and razing OUR villages and killing off OUR peasants! If they were going to be killed off for sport or for some bloody ritual then we're the ones who are going to do it!" He immediately jerked his head back to give Naruto a cheesy grin, "only by order of the current master of course. Anyway!" He zipped his head back and tapped the nail of his claw against the board as if he were accusing it. "So to show these little ignorant rats of whose domain they were defiling, our master went in himself to bring them to heel..." He began to slowly tapped the board once more in meticulous thought. "Things only went downhill from there I'm afraid."

"We never did get a name out of them. Then again we didn't exactly stop hacking them to pieces to ask for names either. But whoever these cultists were... they were using the peasants as fuel to summon demons, and not the regular sort either. These weren't some rich nobles from other realms who got bored with conventional luxuries and turned to summoning and black magic to spice things up. These weren't even the regular sort of demons who came, wrecked havoc at their leisure and left when they got bored either. No, these demons came with an objective in mind: To corrupt and destroy the world! And they weren't taking too kindly to our efforts to stop them either! After losing some of their territory they began to hold the line. Worse yet they began to push back! Back all the way into our own domain where they began to take it for themselves! Before we knew it we were being overrun with demons who were only getting stronger and stronger as time passed by! Things were getting so bad that we had to resort to making alliances with dwarves, halflings, trolls, anything that had half a brain to pick up a weapon and fight... and worse of all, ELVES!" The minion shuddered. "The Empire was bad enough as it was! At least we got something out of it that time and practically killed two birds with one stone. But Never have we been in a situation so horrible that we had to work with those tree-hugging, lute playing, peace loving, caterwauling louts!" He drew his finger away from the board as if it were acid as he began to horribly shudder, slap at imaginary bugs and rubbed his arms in between. "Oh merely being reminded of it just puts me in a twist! I would rather be dipped in hot oil, stabbed with red hot iron swords and be hanged while being shot at by barbed arrows laced with acidic poison than be put through that again!" When the other minions began to cackle at his plight he turned and snapped a glare at them. Unfortunately for him his glare didn't curb their laughter one bit. Not even punching a nearby minion in the face work per se, yet it did divert their ridicule toward their unconscious comrade.

"At any rate that desperate alliance as a whole was a failure," Gnarl dourly muttered as he turned around to eye the map once more. "There were simply too many, and even their craven little lackeys that started this whole mess were wielding strange magic that helped overpower the toughest of our defenses and meanest of assaults. In the end the alliance employed a desperate gambit in hopes of stemming the tide of battle." He snorted. "It was almost as terrible as allying ourselves with elves really— they planned to make their own abyss gates and unleash the wrath and evil within the abyss on their enemies. With that in mind and knowing this could easily destroy them as much as these demons could, they began to pack up and ship off just about everything of relative importance that wasn't nailed down to the floor: Scrolls, books, weapons, relics, peasants, even the pregnant mistresses of our previous master and our minion hives too!" Gnarl hung his head, sighed and shook it. "Unfortunately the master sent us off as well to safeguard his mistresses, to help raise a new overlord and hopefully reclaim what was lost should they fail. And in a way they did, if one counts the opening of the gates that is..." He solemnly looked up and gently caressed the continent he was pointing at thus far. "While I'm not sure what exactly had happened but it would seem the sheer force necessary to open the gates had also turned the entire continent into a hellfire that burned for years! Years! But for what it's worth that cataclysm was enough to stop the invasion."

"Yet unfortunately it wasn't until years later when we were finally setting in that we learned that, like us, those cultists and demons weren't entirely dead. They were displaced just like us..." His hand drifted over to a set of continents closer to the Elemental Nations. "Like before, things were hell from there as they battered us with everything they had. They infiltrated countries and turned entire kingdoms against us. In the end we minions end up scattering in yet another retreat, losing one tribe after another and both the master's mistresses and offspring too." His hand began to move up and down the map in random direction. "It took me years to track any of them down with the dwindling resources we had, and thus far my search had led me to you, young master..."

"Of course now you're here, master!" He turned around and faced the child once more. "Granted far sooner than I expected... I personally even thought I would've have to wait for your own descendants, but that doesn't matter. But alas that can't be helped: I have no idea as to how they found you, though I may have an idea or two, but they know your face now! It's time for you to rise up and claim your heritage master! Remind them what is means to trifle with an overlord! Revive the legacy of your ancestors and show those cretins what true power is!"

Roused, the minions around Naruto began to excitedly cheer at the prospect of being led again. At the carnage they would reap and the battles to be fought.

"Of course," Gnarl pointedly interrupted, holding up a hand to silence the minions, "if you want you could name a stand-in like some of your predecessors. After all, why risk yourself when any fool could have their face hidden away by a helmet or a mask. You could stay here, rest yourself in the safety of your lair, surrounded by an army of your loyal minions as someone else waltzes about in your name as you read and reread that scroll you brought with you..." He began to saunter past Naruto and the minions that encircled the two so as to take a better look at the large scroll Naruto had so dearly clung to himself the day before, now lying against the side of the shack near the bed. "I suppose you could even go back to your village if you wanted sire. We would do our best to protect you after all but... if you pardon me saying so, sire, but from what I know of you before this awfulness happened, you weren't exactly well off. And that is one expensive looking scroll!" He brought his clawed hand up to his mouth and began to rub his chin, covering his mouth all the while as an evil grin began to form. "I certainly hope no one thinks ill of you for having something so out of place in your possession. Otherwise you may as well have more to worry about than otherworldly demons and their sycophantic pets..."

Cautiously he glanced over his shoulder as subtly as he could, his hand still in place under the pretense of still rubbing his chin, and with a devilish grin he spied on Naruto as he, with a faraway look on his face, began to rub a torn spot in his jumpsuit along his shoulder. On another note it seemed that the regenerative potion had done its job marvelously as the blonde's skin returned to a healthy tan rather than stay a sickening white.

"I... might... give this a... shot," Naruto hesitantly answer.

"Ah ha! Good! We'll begin as soon as your dressed and ready!" The minions began to cheer once more in even greater jubilation. Some of them even began to jump in joy. "Come, come! We'll get you fitted right away, Master..." Gnarl said as he practically dashed to the door, preceded only by the excited minions before him before he stopped and turned around to place a curious stare on the boy. "I'm sorry but now that I think about it, I don't believe I caught your name."

Naruto hesitated before looking up from the hole in his suit, his finger drawing away from it. "... It's Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki."

Gnarl in response gave a contemplate hum. "Naruto... Naruto... Certainly a good name," he muttered before slipping past the door.

Hesitating once more, Naruto eventually followed them out the door. The moment he crossed the threshold he beheld a mass gathering of brown skinned minions and red skinned minions who looked more demonic than their counterparts with ram horns growing from their heads and spindly tails growing from the end of their backs, all of whom occupying the once open space before his own shack as well as the rooftops and other architecture of the buildings that surrounded it.

"Behold! Our new Overlord! Naruto!"

"YAY!" The minions were already in a frenzy.

"WOO!" A grand many of the minions began to jump up and down, including the ones on the now swaying, rickety buildings.

"OVERLORD! OVERLORD! OVERLORD!" they chorused even as some of the shacks and towers began to topple or crumble onto themselves and some of the minions as well. Yet even as some of their friends were being buried in wood, steel and some amount of stone they didn't stop cheering Naruto. If anything only a few stopped to laugh at the predicament of their kin as they emerged a little worse for wear or else dug themselves out. In the meantime Gnarl groaned as he palmed his face, his eyes squinted shut.

"Welcome to your new life, master."

A/N: you know I was going to say something but, meh, I don't feel like it right now. So here's another post!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Monkeybandit2, making off with your attention! No refunds.