Disclaimer - I don't own Naruto or Warcraft

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Grug'Narr Azure'eye was having a bad month. Disillusioned with the Horde. Sentenced to die in a way not befitting a Kor'Kron warrior. Saved by a child, who he is now indebted to by the laws of his ancestors. Forced to trek across the entirety of Azeroth with a member of the Alliance and into a Forsaken occupied city for the off chance that a Deathstalker and by extension Sylvanas are not loyal to Garrosh Hellscream. Oh yes, a very bad month indeed.

His mood was exacerbated by Naruto. The boy didn't boast of his skill, but the orc could see it in his eyes, in his posture. The blonde believed himself to be the superior warrior out of the group. Grug longed to test his skills against the child, ever since the quilboar ambush a few weeks ago. He saw how Naruto treated the whole ordeal as an afterthought. He saw that the boy was observing their skills, judging them against his own. If he was not honorbound to protect the ninja, he would have challenged him to a duel by now. Alas he would have to wait until Naruto initiated any kind of combat.

The orc looked over to their youngest companion and snorted humorously. There were small victories of course. When the party went to purchase mounts they realized they only had enough for one if they were to purchase food and water for the journey. Elizabeth helpfully suggested sharing her horse with Naruto, since Grug was far too large for them both to fit. The blonde begrudgingly agreed and now found himself with his back pressed into the priest's chest. She had one arm holding the reins, while her other was wrapped around the boy in front of her to keep him steady as they rode.

The young ANBU sent a glare to the orc when he heard him laugh, his face flushing red from embarrassment. Grug merely smirked and urged his new wolf mount forward in a run. Small victories indeed.

XXXXX

Naruto was incredibly uncomfortable. Not from the saddle, but from the woman who was practically hugging him against herself. In all his years of life he had never been this close to anyone, especially for this long. Having a reputation as a bloodthirsty monster helped in that regard. But the people of this world don't know what he's capable of, yet.

Another thing that had been puzzling the shinobi was the absence of the voice constantly in his mind. The fox had been unusually quiet since they had gotten to Booty Bay. Any attempt to communicate was met with silence. It was eerie, but also comforting. The blonde would be lying if he said he missed the demon's insults. Perhaps when he slept tonight he would pay Kyuubi a visit.

The party had been traveling for a while along the worn road through Stranglethorn Vale. Naruto did his best to ignore his riding companion, busying himself with sightseeing. However his plan was cut short when Erlok pulled up beside them atop his Raptor, Nazda.

"So, what brings a priest of Stormwind ta Booty Bay?" The troll asked curiously. His tone was conversational, merely wanting to pass the time with small talk. The woman in question smiled brightly at the chance to share more about herself.

"I was doing missionary work for the church. Spreading the values of the Light to any that would listen. However, I was sent a letter by my mentor in Stormwind. I am to make a pilgrimage to Light's Hope Chapel, and give aid to the brave heroes that are fighting the undead." She said this last part with conviction, clearly proud to be sent on such a mission.

The troll let out a low whistle, "Da Plaguelands be very dangerous. Ya mentor musta trained ya well Elizabeth."

The woman laughed, lightly jostling Naruto, causing him to grunt in annoyance. "Please call me Beth, we'll be traveling together for quite some time after all."

Beth took on a thoughtful look, "That reminds me, where is your group heading? I'll need to know so I can navigate effectively."

Erlok shot a glance at Naruto, a questioning look in his eyes. The blonde merely shrugged, surely the destination wasn't as important as the mission itself.

The troll paused for a moment longer before speaking again, "We be heading to da Kingdom of Gilneas."

Whatever reaction they were expecting was not the one they received.

"Oh! Why didnt you say so? I know a man in Westfall that can take us to Gilneas by boat. He owes me a favor anyways. It'll allow us to skip the most grueling parts of the journey. The Burning Steppes or Dun Morogh to name a couple!"

Erlok looked like he had heard the best news of his life, he cheered happily before pushing Nazda to catch up with Grug so he could share the news. Naruto kept silent throughout the exchange, merely listening to the conversation. When she mentioned the man with the boat owing her a favor her heart rate quickened. She was lying, but about what he wasn't sure.

It could be innocent, or it could be malicious. Naruto would keep his eyes trained on her for the duration of the journey, ready to pounce once a wrong move was made. His dark thoughts evaporated when she gave him a squeeze with her arm, causing him to sigh uncomfortably. This would be a very long journey.

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Erlok halted the party when they came upon a lone orc, sitting on a felled tree blocking the road. He was idly sharpening a long curved sword whilst humming a tune. He stopped humming as the group approached, yet didn't stop sharpening his blade.

"Ya be blocking da road, move so we can continue." The troll's tone was terse, he knew something was wrong and didn't want to stick around to find out what.

The orc smirked as he finally stopped caring for his weapon, placing it on his shoulder. "Do you know the reward for your heads? For enlisted Horde soldiers it's a big promotion, for mercenaries it's a thousand gold per head."

"Which are you?" Grug shouted, his axe already out and gripped tightly in his gloved fist.

The orc chuckled, "Does it matter? Warlord Azure'eye wants your head most of all Grug'Narr."

Grug scowled in anger, "He should've come to collect it himself, now I'll have to deprive him of his lapdog!"

The orc raised his sword, and suddenly there were two dozen more warriors surrounding them, appearing out of the underbrush. Naruto noted that some of them carried strange metal tubes, which they aimed at him and his companions. Blow darts? But where was the mouthpiece? Curious.

They were boxed in, with no escape. It would be a fight that they would ultimately lose. If Naruto wasn't there.

Twelve perfect clones of the blonde fell from the canopy and began fighting the Kor'Kron.

"What in the hells?!" Grug shouted in alarm.

"Later! Now fight!" Naruto yelled as he jumped from the horse and began attacking the ambushers. His companions followed suit. The raptor and wolf mounts aiding in the melee, now the odds were better.

Erlok stayed mounted on Nazda, firing arrows into the crowd of attacking orcs. Grug jumped from his wolf, giving the beast a whistle to attack the closest ambusher. The ex-Kor'Kron then rushed the enemy leader, clashing his axe against the orc's long sword. Beth climbed off her horse quickly before giving it a slap on the behind making it gallop away from the fighting. She then began channeling her light magic to smite an orc that got too close.

Grug pushed against the Kor'Kron with his shield, trying to open his opponents defense. The orc leader jumped away with surprising agility before twirling his blade. "Savagery won't help you in this fight, you Bleeding Hollow traitor."

Grug snarled at the orc, noticing at last the blademaster stones around his neck, "Traitor?! That's rich coming from a clan of demon worshippers, Burning Blade!"

This seemed to get under the blademaster's skin. His expression became furious as he bellowed a war cry and charged Grug.

Naruto had just pulled his blade from the neck of an ambusher when he felt one of his shadow clones dispel. The young shinobi turned to see an orc woman waving the smoke away before she noticed him. With a grin she aimed her strange dart gun in his direction.

The ninja smirked, he could easily dodge a dart! He readied a kunai that he would use to counter attack once the dart missed.

His smirk fell when he heard the sound of thunder, a cloud of smoke emanated from the end of the tube as he felt blinding pain in his shoulder. Without looking he quickly threw the kunai which embedded itself through the she orc's skull.

He had a fairly large hole in his shoulder that began bleeding profusely. Naruto grimaced while stumbling over to the body of the dead orc. He kneeled next to her and pulled the strange weapon from her hands.

He was in awe. The sound. The smell. The power. It was not a weapon of subtlety but he wanted it nonetheless. A bit big though. His clones began dispelling themselves when the majority of the fighting had concluded. Naruto slung the boom stick over his good shoulder and began moving back to the road.

When he returned he was pleased to see his comrades were alive. A little scuffed up but alive. As was the leader of the ambushers. Grug stood over his wounded form, the orc kneeling on both knees before the ex-Kor'Kron.

"Have you any last words, Burning Blade?" Grug asked as he hefted the defeated orcs sword ready to bring it down in a deathblow.

"For the Horde." The orc said while looking into the blue eyes of his enemy.

Grug nodded solemnly. "For the Horde."

The same phrase but when uttered by them had wildly different meanings. Grug brought the blade down separating the kneeling orc's head from his shoulders.

Beth turned to look at Naruto as he approached the group before gasping, "You're hurt!"

She rushed over and began healing him with her magic. Naruto watched amazed as the magic pushed out the metal ball and closed his wound. After a few seconds all that was left was some blood and his torn clothes.

"Thank you Elizabeth." The young boy said quietly, ignoring her admonishment for not calling her Beth. He unslung the weapon and held it in both hands for all to see.

"What is this?" he asked with the same tone as a child demanding candy.

Erlok grinned as he stepped up to Naruto, taking the weapon as he kneeled. "Dis here be a firearm. A gun."

Naruto looked down at the gun with wide eyes before glaring up at his companions. "I want one!"

XXXXX

His dreams were different that night. After they had set up camp Naruto had tried to contact the Kyuubi directly, but no matter how hard he concentrated he couldn't get into his mindscape. After an hour he gave up and decided to sleep before it was his turn to watchover the camp.

Instead of his village, he was in a ruined landscape. The soil was black, with no life in sight. The ruins of some civilization surrounded him. Instead of the screams of past victims he was bombarded by innumerable whispers that he couldn't decipher. He found himself kneeling before a set of black stairs, at the top was a black throne made of twisted writhing flesh. Sat atop it was a man in black armor. He was bald with tattoos covering his face. Weapons were laid at his feet, and when he looked at them the voices in the wind whispered names. Doomhammer, Gorehowl, Shallamayne, and many others. He knew not their significance but felt a chill run up his spine nonetheless. The man rose from his throne and began descending the steps towards Naruto.

With every step the whispers became louder, until they were almost deafening. His eyes widened when he recognized the markings on his cheeks. His whiskers. The voices were chanting now and with growing horror realized they were shouting his name.

"UZU-MAKI…UZU-MAKI…UZU-MAKI!"

He awoke with a gasp, cold sweat dripping from his face. Beth was crouched near him. Her face was as blank as the dead. She placed a hand on his chest. "It's alright Naruto, you're safe."

He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and when he opened them Beth had her signature warm smile plastered on her face. She rose and slowly made her way to her own bedroll. Naruto felt his heart beating out of his chest and vowed to never sleep again while Beth was on watch.