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 Three: A life of training and... adventure

Liar, unknown lands

If there was one distinct advantage to accidentally destroying the homes of fellow minions as well as architecture built for no discernible reason then it was using the scrap they all left behind. In this particular case said scrap was being assembled and fashioned into crude dummies under Gnarl's supervision for later use. As of right now however he was being fitted in new garb with the aid of the one in the weird hat, Quaver.

"And there! It's not much, but you're far more intimidation than you once were, sire!"

His orange jumpsuit, goggles and undershirt had been replaced with clothes of cloth and leather for the sake of mobility. In their place were darkened leather trousers, a matching jerkin over a blue long sleeved shirt with heavily stitched yet discrete sidings to hideaway excess cloth for the time being, gloves to match the previous leather items, and metal bracer of tarnished metal adorned with a glowing gem in the middle. Last but not least was a crown-like helmet made of steel, bearing three small horns, that was placed upon his head. All of it was in some way scavenged and repurposed just for him, only a few didn't need any form of alteration just to fit him. Aside from that the only thing that remained of his old garb were his shinobi-style sandals, which Quaver had insisted on painting it black so they wouldn't stand out. Aside from his sandals there was only one other item in his current wardrobe that was his choice: a faded orange scarf they had managed to scrounge up that was now wrapped around his face, covering everything beneath the bridge of his nose; changing his clothes was one thing, he wasn't keen on doing anything without at least a smidgeon of orange to his person. Quaver, being the chief stylist, rather the only one since the other minions were content with bringing Naruto anything they thought he could use including arms and armor much too unwieldy for him, was not particularly thrilled about that...

"And now to the forge! Hopefully Giblet had crafted a weapon worthy of you by now in the forge by now. Please, follow me!"

From his personal shack Naruto followed Quaver out into the 'streets' of the minions' shanty town. Already a protective guard of ten "browns" as they were called formed around Naruto, each armed and armored with the mightiest of weapons and the best of armor they could fit upon themselves even if they were a little wanting. Regardless, only a few minions they passed waved at him or openly greeted him as he passed them as they scurried about to do their own duties. As they did so he couldn't help but notice how different they were from Quaver between the tone of their skin and their choice of armament, or lack thereof. But really what he was looking for was the thing he couldn't quite wrap his head around— the hat... From what he understood and observed thus far, minions were almost like happy –go-lucky dogs who didn't care much for advance thought in favor of bringing anything or doing anything he desired of them with little care for the details. In fact they didn't seem to have much in the way of thought beyond what was needed at the very moment. That's where Gnarl and Quaver stood out, at least in part: Rather than go out and do things themselves they had ordered others to do it, or at least Gnarl did without much dispute whereas Quaver had to struggle to have one of them even listen to him. Not only that but they distinctively dressed themselves differently than the other minions in that their choice of attire was not necessarily battle ready, nor meant for work per se.

"Hey, Quaver."

"Yes sire?" The minion wasted no time in stopping and turning to him, giving him his full attention. When he did so, Naruto shifted a tad uncomfortably as he considered how he wanted to ask him.

"I kind of get Gnarl dressing differently than the other minions because he's some sort of boss over them, but what are you suppose to be?"

"Ah! forgive me sire for not properly introducing my position!" The minion took a step back and bowed to him, the bone covered stick in his hand rattling as if there were coins or rings on it. "I am your royal jester sire! It is my duty to delight you with entertainment!" He stood straight and made a dramatic pose by lifting one arm up as if holding something up, intently looking at the 'object' in his hand as he twisted himself away to offer the newly proclaimed overlord a side view, "to recount the tales of your great deeds! And..." He suddenly slumped as he grumbled out the last part. In his sudden depression a rock came out from the corner of Naruto's eye which smacked Quaver in the back of his head. The young overlord looked to the side to see a cackling gaggle of minions scurry off just in time for Quaver to turn around and yell at them. "IT'S A THANKLESS JOB YOU CRETINS!"

"Are you alright?" Naruto asked in concern as he turned to him. In response the jester turned to him with a crooked smile.

"Why yes, master! Don't worry! Browns do not have the fragility of the blues or reds! Not only that but, thankfully," he muttered the last part almost too lowly for Naruto to hear, "every minion possesses an astounding regenerative power when not fighting! We'll be up and fighting in just a matter of moments between battles if you are ever caught in a sudden war my lord!"

"Yeah!" one of the bodyguards cheered, followed shortly other grunts or short cries of excitment.

"Ok then..." Naruto frowned un underneath his scarf as he looked at the strained, still crooked grin on the minion's face. "... what exactly did you say before you were attacked?"

The grin became more strained for just as a moment before it broke altogether in a defeated frown. With a sigh he slumped once more into place.

"Simply, sire, if you ever have need to say... test a weapon sire, a spell, or just simply want to relieve a bit of... aggression... we jester are more than 'happy' enough to sate your desires when there is a lack of enemies." He perked up for just a moment. "Do not get me wrong though! We're more than willing to do it sire, and I myself have been on the lighter end of such things." He twitched slightly however. "Though to be honest, there have been some... stories if you will about the previous jesters. Can't say I really blame them though," he muttered lowly once more as he looked to the ground as if lost in his own little world.

Naruto was silent for a moment as he watched the minion blankly stare off into space... In all honesty he couldn't help but see himself in the minion's shoes: Ostracized, alone, the butt of contempt or ill mischief, all the while trying to do his job with a smile. While things were not perfect in Konoha for him, even the worse of his days there were simply passive aggressive in nature by comparison what Quaver and his own predecessors most likely had to go through...

"Hey," the minion jerked his head up upon being addressed, "for minions, an overlord's word is law for the most part, right?"

"Oh yes! Yes! We would follow your orders to our dying breath!" the minion stated in renewed exuberance as if his depressive episode hadn't happened. "If you order us to slay a dragon by leaping into its mouth with nothing more than bombs strapped to our backs, we shall do so! If you wish us to infiltrate an enemy stronghold while dressed as ladies of the night, we'll do it with smiles on our faces! If—"

"I get it! I get it!" Naruto interrupted in mid-blanch. A second later he shook his head to clear his mind of the last image. "Right then..." he coughed. He then pointed at the minion with as much authority he could muster at the moment, yet was still a tad hesitant nevertheless with uncertainty. "you are no longer a jester then!" he announced. "From now on you're my..." he hesitated for a second as the thought of the Third Hokage's secretary came to mind. "... secretary from now on!"

The minion merely blinked at him in stunned silence. "... A question, sire?"

Naruto bit back a gulp as he lowered his hand. "What?"

"What's a secretary?"

It was Naruto's turn to blandly stare at him and blink. "Uh... basically," he reached up and began to scratch the back of his head, "schedule appointments, remind me of stuff I might forget and... get me stuff?" he added as he desperately tried to remember everything she did for the old man.

"So... I'm no longer the jester?" he asked.

"No."

"No hat?"

"No hat... unless you want wear it." He kept scratching his head.

"No rattle?"

"No?"

"... Can I still pursue my love in all things culture?"

"Yes...?"

"I see." Quietly and without emotion the grayed minion took off the jester's hat and half wrapped it around the decorated stick as he held both out as if to examine them, searching them and reminiscing for just a brief moment. His apparent apathy however was lost as, with a shout, he lobbed both items at a nearby hapless minion who, being caught by surprise, toppled over with a sharp "Gah!" leaving him just as Quaver ran off. "I'M FREE!" he madly cackled. "I'M NO LONGER THE JESTER! GO FIND SOMEONE ELSE TO PICK ON YOU BRUTES!"

"Aw... Quaver not jester no more?"

"Who we beat up now?"

"Lookie, lookie!"

"For me!"

Naruto jerked his head down from the retreating, overexcited minion who was now doing cartwheels to another minion just as he put on the hat and picked up the rattle, utterly ignoring the other unconcious minion on the ground. "I guess that solves that..." Naruto unsurely muttered to himself. He took only a moment to scratch his head again before departing at long last, leaving the new jester alone as he shook the rattle for his own amusement.

XVX

"Ah, master, you're looking quite like an Overlord now! Are you ready to learn the finer points of minion control?" Gnarl asked as he turned around atop a large, recently erected platform just as Naruto climbed the last few step leading to it. "By the way, you wouldn't have by chance seen Quaver have you...?"

At this Naruto scratched the back of his head. "I think he's still celebrating his promotion to my secretary."

Gnarl blinked at him. Hard. Several times in fact as he processed what was said. "Come again?" he asked in a stupefied fashion.

"Ugh..." His hand slowly dropped to his side. "I made him my secretary... my aide if that makes more sense." Gnarl continued to blink at him, as if amazed, making Naruto all the more uncomfortable. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Huh? Uh, no. Nothing sire," Gnarl assured him as he shook his head. "Just it's been awhile since anyone other than myself gave a minion a new position... In fact I can't recall the last time anyone other than myself had done something like that." He began to rub his chin in thought. "Well I suppose those menservants for the mistresses count," he soon grumbled to himself as he turned around to overlook the impromptu arena below. "Ah well, as long as Quaver doesn't get too big of a head from this then I suppose I won't have shove him down the first pit I find. Who knows, I might even catch up with some of my stories now."

As he mumbled to himself, Naruto walked up to Gnarl and stood beside him as he looked at a cleared out, rough floor space decorated with multiple dummies and piles of debris that just couldn't be cobbled into a dummy. In some spaces it looked like a minute, individual labyrinth of rickety fences had been erected and 'fortified' with a grand number of scavenged crates and barrels which sandwiched them between themselves. Within these mazes were flags atop of barrels as well. To his side he noticed there was a rather large ramp to the side connecting the platform to the ground before... It did not look sturdy however.

"Right then, where was I?" he muttered before perking up. "Oh yes! Minion training!" He cleared his throat as he turned to Naruto once more. "Since in essence you had learned how to order minions with a wave of the hand, we'll skip over that part. Keep in mind though that general intent, or lack thereof, can define what a minion will do when ordered to rush out before you: Like that boulder that was blocking the tunnel the other night; any obstacle before you will eagerly be moved on your behalf, with or without your direction! Moving objects out of the way, claiming them for yourself, or in the case of an enemy, give them a good smiting! Or even an ally if you wish, but that requires a bit of focus—as inept as minions can be on what isn't inherently obvious, even we're not so black hearted as to savage an ally on sight. Undoubtedly it creates quite a bit of bad blood for everyone involved. We don't need to be at arms with one another after all... At least not yet!" he giggled a tad manically, earning a derisive shake of the young overlord's head as well as a roll of his eyes.

"At any rate let's begin! Hold out your arm with a sweep command in mind milord! Form a path within your mind master and they will follow it! Be sure to try to keep your focus as you have your minions bash those dummies down there, if you let up then they will think that is the end of your current 'command' and will run back to you."

Doing as he said, Naruto held out his uplifted arm as he conjured the image of the minions' route down the ramp to the first barrel of a group of four in an open area of the arena below. Like a bolt of lightning they responded in a flash, rushing past him in a hurry down the ramp to the stone floor below. In seconds flat they were on the first dummy, stabbing it, clubbing it, just tearing it apart in even less time than it took to reach it. There were barely any pieces of it left as it scattered to the ground before they scrambled to the next target with a demented set of giggles. Before long all the dummies were demolished and from their remains the minions scavenged bits of armor for themselves, improvements over their previous equipment.

"Ah, that reminds me. When they find useful, or useless," he grumbled before resuming, "items they automatically equip themselves with it. Don't worry, we won't be giving you any old steal-me-downs if we can help it. It's bad enough as it is already. Now! Call your minions back! Just concentrate. It only takes a brief thought."

Acting on his advice Naruto barely did anything more than think "come" when a minion abandoned its still searching comrades to dash back to him. "Now master, a longer thought master to call them all back." Like before he thought of it in a more commanding 'tone' within his mind only to be briefly startled by the deep droning emitting from the gem, moaning like a horn of the deep. Hearing the sound, the rest of his entourage returned to him without fail, utterly abandoning their work without a second thought or a moment's hesitation.

"Good, good. You're catching on quite nicely." He turned to the browns. "Now off with you, you wretch lumps! It's the reds' turn now!"

"Aw!"

"We want to bash more!"

"Off with you!" Gnarl barked. Reluctantly they did as they were told, some literally dragging their feet as they somberly sauntered away. They were barely a meter away when they were replaced by their red skinned counterparts with the horns.

"As you may have guessed sire, browns are your fighters. In fact once they get started it gets a little difficult to stop them without having to plant a plate boot in their face. And as you can see their dedication to the fight allows them to use just about anything they can get their grubby little hands on in a fight. But the Reds..." One of them waved at him. "Reds on the other hand aren't quite as hardy. In fact it's highly recommended you keep them at the back of any fight if possible, such is their fragility. But what they lack in hardiness, they make up in firepower! Quite literally" he giggled before turning his attention to a walkway separate from the platform they stood on. "Now for something a little more advanced."

"Like before sire, sweep your minions to that end. Once there, imagine a marker or something for them to station themselves at. A guard marker if you will."

Looking out to at least survey his surroundings he easily found that there wasn't anything standing in the way between his reds and the platform. In fact they simply would've had to travel down the stairs they came from and scurry over to the ramp giving access to the other platform which was surrounded by irregular placed dummies. He could even jump the distance if he wished, but he may as well humor Gnarl with what he was expecting. Like the browns, the reds soon rushed to their destination and rallied around an imaginary banner bearing the overlord's tri-horned helmet on a field of orange. Immediately without orders they drew their arms back and began to hurl balls of fire at the dummies. Soon enough a fair number of the dummies began to catch fire, eliciting a dark chortle. "Oh it never gets old seeing reds get to work. Oh how the screams of that which is ablaze just warms my black heart so."

Again Naruto shook his head, rolling his eyes once more. Yet rather than come to a natural stop in his exasperation he stopped when he noticed the sudden scurrying of the minions, both red and brown, rushing toward the dummies, the ones on fire, with what appeared to be marshmallows on sticks.

"What are they... oh those clever little devils. I really should have thought of that... Right, if you would excuse me sire, I have a marshmallow with my name on it!"

"Uh... get me one too!"

"Yes master!"

Though he didn't move fast when compared to the other minions he still took off like a shot down the stairs to what he assumed was the nearest stash of marshmallows given the steady stream of minions that were coming from it, from behind a small row of shacks with chimneys sprouting from them. Regardless, having nothing better to do at the moment Naruto decided to watch his reds as they continued to lay waste to the dummies till the only ones left were the ones out of their range. On a hunch Naruto focused on the banner, held up his hand up and willed it to move. Sensing his command, a red picked up the flag and began to run to the other end of the walkway with the others following it, the entire group was moving in an almost perfect circle to their predetermined destination. Once they came to a halt they resumed their assault on the training dummies below.

XVX

Hours later

Directional control of objects in motion courtesy of the minions, in this case barrels, individually commanding the separate tribes of minions when having a mixed horde, mock battles, weapons training, even a little bit of overlord relevant history, they did everything Gnarl could think of with what they had on hand. Eventually they had exhausted all of their options and thoughts, thus bringing them to the "war room" as Gnarl had called it... really it was Naruto's shack. The only difference was that a large table low enough for the minion to peer down at it had been dragged into the room, on it a large map scrawled in an intelligible language, to Naruto at least, sat on the middle of the table. Gnarl himself was situated atop a stool with a croupier's stick in his clutches whereas Naruto was looking at the simple wooden blocks, cylinders, a rock and a coin that had been settled atop the map.

"As I've told you before we have been on the run and in hiding ever since the reemergence of that demon worshipping cult," Gnarl stated as he used the stick to navigate the blocks, herding them into a spot near the edge of the map evidently bordered by either a cliff or by the seaside... he wasn't able to tell thanks to how unclear the map was. "But that doesn't mean we've been idle and licking our wounds, or wallowing in self pity like those useless layabouts we were forced to ally ourselves with out of necessity. No. Crippled though we may be, evil always finds a way my lord. It took some time and it had been a pain to ensure the reds stayed with us rather than migrate like the others in our latest scattering, but we've been carefully selecting and using supplicants for expeditions into what was once Hapvire, now the Infernal Lands, to retrieve the artifacts we left behind, tools of the Overlords that were abandoned or else forgotten with time." Using the flat end of the stick the minion dragged the rock to him and held it up for emphasis and representation. "The Tower Heart is chief amongst these relics... and thanks to us, as well as a lack of an overlord to be in tune with, it had weakened considerably."

"Originally a tool to act as a reservoir of magical power for an overlord, and as a means empower more... automatic defenses for those times heroes either had the notion to sneak into our master's home while they're away or asleep, it had been with the overlords since its inception. And with time it only grew more powerful: soon enough we were able to teleport to distance lands with the construction of gates attuned with the energies of the Tower Heart, not to mention keep tabs on lands conquered by our masters amongst other things. Sadly however thanks to a no good elf, a failure of a one at that!" he exclaimed before continuing, "who slipped into the tower while we were away, awaiting a new overlord to lead us, it was shattered. Without a vessel to contain its awesome energies within it the surrounding land around the tower was destroyed, and from there a plague of magical origin emanated. This of course gave rise to a anti-magic sentiment that only grew worse over the years that followed even after the plague itself had died out, leading to the persecution of both the evil and the good alike if they could so much as conjure a spark between their fingertips or had even an iota of a mythic origin."

He placed the rock back on the table. "By the time our new master arrived this movement had turned into the so called "Glorious Empire", headed by that damn fool elf disguised as their emperor whose armies were trained to capture and kill beings of magic, forcing everyone into hiding..." Gnarl sighed. "As such by the time we had taken the fight to them we had reacquired the Tower Heart, recharged it, and used it against their capital to pierce their anti-magic defenses. I'll admit it was a bit of a waste of such an artifact of great power but such was the need at the time..." Taking a hold of the stick he began to push it toward the blocks. "But thankfully it survived just like last time. For years we've been scouring the ruins of the Empire's destroyed capital and piecing it back together piece by piece, but once again it was left powerless from its abuse."

He pushed the rock past the blocks and rearranged the items so the rock was directly behind the wooden objects. "When we first arrived in these lands we simply had the intent to build up a stronghold for our new master, in essence yourself when it was time at last... yet as you can see we weren't really successful in that. But our endeavors haven't been a complete waste, oh no! We've been watching the locals, those black skinned elves you saw lying dead in that village we arrived in." He hopped off the stool and rounded the table to where the rock was. Once he arrived however he turned back with a grumble however. He made it to his stool, grabbed it and dragged it to his newfound spot where he stood atop it once more. From his vantage point he jabbed his finger against the map at a spot right next to the rock. "Though it isn't the only one we have found within the lands, in this, the least guarded village we could find they had erected a mana vent! A fairly old one at that. And better yet they almost always leave it open! So in the dead of night we snuck the heart into the room where the mana vent is and hidden it as best we could in the shadows in the back. Though it would've been a long process, the ambient energies emitted by that vent would've recharged the heart eventually, making it ready for you or any of your own descendants if that was the case... At least that was the plan."

"Excuse me," Naruto interrupted. Gnarl canted his head in his direction. "Yes sire?"

"What's a mana vent?"

"Ah yes, I didn't get to that part yet... then again since we don't have the heart we can't jumpstart your own magical abilities." He cleared his throat as he fully turned to Naruto, stick in both hands. "I guess the best way to describe mana is to compare it to that energy those "shinobi" in your village use, that... chakra was it?" At Naruto's nod he continued. "While not everyone can use it, much less have it in the first place, mana would be the power in one's self to use magic to say cast a fireball, teleport one's self to different points of interest, or even," he giggled, "control the minds of weaker wills, forcing them to serve you whether they like it or not!"

"But those are just examples to the vast possibilities that comes with magic, much like those abilities that use chakra if I'm right."

Naruto frowned but otherwise didn't comment as he crossed his arms across his chest.

"At any rate, as awesome a power it is, one can only use so much of it at a given moment. As such it comes to no one's surprise that many people, regardless of race, have spent a great deal of time and effort to increase their own reserves. That or at least make what they have all the more formidable when used. Fruits of such labors include the Tower Heart itself and these vents! Still, to answer your question, mana vents are probably the oldest, crudest and sometimes the most effective means to transport mana from a naturally occurring source of magic to another location where the ambient energies can either help awaken or even bolster the power of mana users. But it comes with certain risks master, but let us cross that bridge when we get to it." Once more he returned his attention to the map and with the stick he dragged one of the cylinders to the blocks.

"As I was saying, some days ago we learned these "black elves" weren't the only ones within these lands when the ones with blue skins arrived and started to slaughter or enslave everyone they could find. What's worse was that when they were looting the place they not only found the Tower Heart but made off with it as well!" Gnarl grumbled to himself as he shuffled the rock, a pair of blocks and the cylinder away from the rest to where the rest of the cylinders were. When they reached the gathering of cylinders he stuck his tongue out and grunted as he reached over, his clawed feet threatening to leave the stool as he tried to push a number of the other cylinders away. Alas he overreached and lost his balance, causing the stick to lurch forward and knock the items he was pushing over as he himself had toppled off his stool with a "gah!", earning the chuckling of the nearby minions at his plight. Meanwhile just as one of the cylinder objects was about to fall off the table, a minion in a red golden button coat with golden filigrees along the cuffs and lapels, black pants, a poufy shirt underneath the coat, grabbed the item and placed it on the table. Atop his head was an odd red hat decorated with gold threading decorating it in various lines and borders, a red gem being the centerpiece of a golden band along the brow. Along the front of the hat was a parting outlined in gold to showcase a small gap within the cap to form two angular protrusions. It was only by spotting his grayed skin and his glass eye that Naruto was able to realize it was Quaver who had disappeared some time ago.

"As he was saying sire, we tracked those lousy brutes and thieves down to a small fort some distance away. And while it would normally be a problem for anyone other than at least an experienced overlord, while we were watching it we noticed what we could only assume to have been half the entire garrison leaving the premises for what we speculate to be a war with their black kin!"

"I was getting to that Quaver!" Gnarl barked once he stood up. In one deft stroke he reached over, grabbed a wooden block and chucked it at the minion before he realized he was being attacked. Like Gnarl, Quaver tumbled over with a sharp "gah!" of his own upon being struck by the block of wood, eliciting the impish chuckle of the minions by doing so. Grumbling to himself about "upstart" minions, Gnarl finally spoke up after a moment's worth of sulking. "What he said is correct however. While we may not know the true number garrisoned at their fort at this very moment, we suspect most had left, armed to the teeth and in marching order no less. In other words at the very least there should only be a token force left behind, enough to challenge any would be hero or..." he chuckled a tad darkly, "an aspiring Overlord in training."

"Regardless however, at any rate we would need the Tower Heart back if only to have a fighting chance. Even if it's still weakened, it should be enough to awaken your own latent powers my lord. Who knows? Maybe it'll go nicely with those chakra abilities, or at least give you a more diverse arsenal to rely on in a fight!"

Quaver in the meantime pulled himself up with the use of the table as leverage.

"So what say you, master? Shall we get started?"

Looking over to the older minion, he nodded. "Yeah. Let's do this."

XVX

Underground, half and hour later

With the coin Gnarl had shown on the map at least two routes to the fort. In one route they could easily slip in close to the fort through the forest. It was a matter of sneaking in that was the problem. Apparently the fort had been sealed off from the outside world by a roof and, worse yet, glass windows; he was no expert in breaking into places but even he knew that breaking through glass windows was a sure way to attract attention to one's self. But there was another way, the second route. Evidently discovered by a contemplative Gnarl on a walk as he was cogitating the issue at hand one day, there was an underground river that ran behind the cave where the minions have taken residence in. Not only was the tunnel wide enough to allow a party to walk beside the river itself, it was learned that this very river ran underneath the very fort they wanted to invade...

The best part was that it wasn't even guarded.

Old rusted bars of iron and decrepit doors had been rent apart by the browns with overseen care to keep them from utterly slamming the once barriers into the ground. Old crumbling passageways had been navigated with the help of the reds to light the way, and now they stood in what appeared to be the basement of the fort. Or, more accurately, its apparent dungeon...

The dead, the dying and the abused were chained to what walls that were still equipped with working shackles. On stretching racks and torture wheels were prisoners were some prisoners as well who had looked to have been freshly worked over and left unconscious on the implements. In cages hanging from the ceiling above him were even more, one for each at bare minimum just by counting the legs dangling out from the edge of one side. Some had as many as four... From all he could see in that one large room alone, the 'lucky' ones by relativity had been herded into a single large cell walled off from the rest of the room by a series of bars running from the ceiling to the ground. Fresh ones too, or at least well cared for given what they went through to get here... not that it helped with the smell of death, decay and feces any... Never had he so distinctly desired to vomit from smelling something so foul before; seeing maggots eat away at dead flesh and wounds fester on those who were still alive compounded the horror trying to overwhelm him.

"Jeune! (1)"

Snapping his head in the direction of the cell he saw one of the less roughed up "Dark elves", as Gnarl had taken to calling them, was beckoning him over whereas everyone else was either content with silently eying him from their spots, seeing what he would do, or backing away if they could. Battered as he was though, unlike most of his kin he stood stoically amongst the gloom, the darkness and the blood that surrounded him with what could be construed as a subconscious scowl on his lips, one not necessarily aimed at the overlord in his sights. In fact he kept gesturing for him to come to him much like a parent would for their child if they desired to talk to them. Glancing about to ensure they were alone, that a guard of some kind wasn't lying in wait or just entering the room, Naruto slowly made his way to the elf with his six browns and four reds dutifully following him. And though he was visible enough in the poorly lit room thanks to the sparse amount of lit torches, as the blond drew closer he was able to make out at least some the angular and sharp features of the bald elf's bruised face.

"Que faites-vous ici, jeune? (2)" the elf asked only for Naruto to blankly stare at him in confusion. He pursed his lips as if biting back a sigh. "Vous ne pouvez pas me comprendre, vous pouvez?(3)" At seeing Naruto's lack of a proper respond he sighed and knelt down. With both hands he pointed at the young teenager, then to the doorway he had come from, pausing only to disdainfully glance at the minions who blandly stared back at him the entirety of the time, then held up his hand in a flat gesture. With his free hand he pointed at the boy once more, tapped his palm and with wiggling fingers seemingly pantomimed the act of running away. At least that was what Naruto guessed what the elf wanted him to do, run away...

... Yet he just couldn't bring himself to even entertain the thought, not after seeing what he had seen already.

A lock audibly "thunked" from across the room and the craggy sound of rusted door hinges squeaked as said door was pushed open. The elf before him hissed at him and frantically waved at him in a shooing motion. Already the young overlord made for cover with his minions following suit. Yet with only so many places to hide they all crowded themselves underneath a nearby stretching rack. Wanting to at least know how many were coming that he had to deal with he crawled and practically shoved his minions out of the way so as to peek out from underneath the table to the now discernible staircase. Though he wasn't able to make out more than two, they didn't bother closing the door behind them. One appeared to be drinking what looked to be a bottle of liquor as he descended the stairs as well. Thanks to the greater brilliancy of the light from beyond the door it took him a moment to readjust to the abyss that was the poorly lit dungeon, and by then the two "blue elves" had reached the ground floor. And though he wasn't able to get a proper look at them from underneath the table, it was obvious enough their getup was at best lighter versions of the heavier armor he had already seen in the village, essentially just breastplates and leg guards at most. On their backs were canisters, lighter or at least smaller versions than the others he had seen thus far, and from what looked to be hosing fastened to the tanks, they were connected to a face mask covering the bottom half of their faces with the inclusion of their noses when it was properly fastened.

The one without his mask took another swig from the bottle in his hand and quickly pulled up the mask to take a quick breath of air through it as the other one head for a nearby wall to a previously unnoticed rack of torture implements. The one with the bottle lowered his mask and took yet another swig, tilting his head back as far as it could go. With his head still tilted back the bottle left his lips, his mouth wide open as he shook the bottle for what was probably the very last few drops. Whether he had successfully claimed the last few droplets of liquor, or wine now that he caught a good look at the shape of the bottle, he finally canted his head back down to its natural setting, albeit tilted to look at the equally lowered bottle. He then looked to the cell at the other side of the room. He then drew his arm back and hurled the bottle at them. It didn't reach them, instead crashing on the floor some feet away but it was enough to have those closest to the bars recoil or else flinch in the bald one's case. Regardless he let loose an uncouth, drunken laugh even as he shoved his masked back into place. Laughing still he shambled to the nearest stretching rack, stumbling into it as if he hadn't expected it there. He probably would've been still amazed from its 'sudden' appearance had its occupant not jerked against their bondage with a whimper. Yet for what it's worth he was dumbfounded enough to at least blink in confusion before reaching out to a turn wheel and pushing against it with a drunken laugh. It only got louder when the rack's victim screamed in pain. The other one in the meantime had long since found his own victim chained to the wall and had been whipping him with a lazy ease as if it were a chore onto itself that didn't bear even the slightest amount of interest beyond needing to be done...

In silent, perturbed outrage Naruto's hand clenched.

He looked to the prisoners, the ones he could readily see and then to the open door. He even spared the torturers a glance as he contemplated on what to do: If he struck out now there was no guarantee he could do so quietly. And if he learned anything from his minions they weren't exactly stealthy in their enthusiasm to carry out his orders either. He could very well call the remaining garrison down on himself if one of the jailers screamed loudly enough... Yet, as he thought of his other option of waiting them out, he know didn't have the heart to listen to the screams and pleading of the abused...

... Wellhe was going to get caught sooner or later. Might as well try to do something right before then.

With a wave of his hand the minions charged out from under the table at the drunken elf at the rack. Startled, both elves ceased what they were doing to at least discern what was happening when the one at the rack had been tackled to the ground and mobbed by the minions. In seconds flat he was murdered in the flurry of axes, swords, maces and fireballs. With another wave of the hand the minions turned their murderous sights on the other one who was too stunned to move. He didn't even spare Naruto a glance as he scrambled out from underneath the table, nor did he raise the whip he had equipped himself with at the minions as they set themselves upon him with brutal efficiency.

As the other one was being torn apart and looted, Naruto had made his way to the fresh corpse and bit forced down the bile climbing up his throat as he searched the murdered elf for some keys. Thankfully they were easy to find on his belt, a simple key ring with a sparse few rings. When he sensed movement he jerked his head up and was almost surprised at how silently the minions had returned to him. With only a little effort he snapped the ring of keys off the elf's belt and handed it to a minion who accepted it. With a sudden jutting of the overlord's hand to the side the sole minion with the keys ran off with a giggle as it held the keys up high as he made a b line for the bald elf at the cage. Naruto however didn't look, he didn't want to look at the dungeon any more than he had to as he made immediately headed straight for the stairs. He didn't even bother listening to the distinctive sound of one key after another being jammed into a cell's lock, nor the pitter patter of the clawed feet of the minion who returned to the obedient formation behind him.

He didn't even spare anyone or anything another glance as he ascended the stairs and rushed through the door.

A/N: I was hoping to get this out before Christmas or at least close to it but... reasons. Some good, some bad (by relativity), and some just not worth mentioning for a lack of interest. At least I got it done before the New Year! Also on a side note this might be the last time I try to go for three posts within a month outside the holiday (namely Christmas) season.I'm sorry but I have a project I'm trying to dedicate myself too. It's selfish I know but I at least want to take a shot at it for myself.

As for the use of French... Everything's sexier in French! Really though I was planning on making up a new language (and most likely fail horribly at it because it requires an amount of time and dedication I lack at the moment), but at this point it's me racing against the clock... Needless to say you may very well find other official languages in use within this story.

For the record I also use Google Translate since I do not speak any other language other than English. If anyone wants to take a crack at creating a unique language you're more than welcome to.The same could be said towards correcting languages that you feel Google Translate was inadequate in translating into another language.

(French) (1) "Young one!"

(2) "What are you doing here, young one?"

(3) "You can't understand me, can you?"

I hope you had a fun read (despite the darkening at the end there).

Monkeybandit2, making off with your attention. No refunds.