Flipping through some of the various tomes he'd purchased over the years Naruto began to consider the most recent information in The Inderdimensional Digest for Wizards (Volume XIII, platinum edition of course) and the article on various wizards making their marks in siege warfare after scribing a divination spell into one of his stored spellbooks.

"Snowcasting and Flash Frost seem like quite handy additions it seems," he mused while wondering just how he could cause some major damage with it as using the list that seemed most effective wasn't something he'd want to use without some other help to get out of the devastation alive, "Adding those to Energy Substitution and Born of Three Thunders would make it most excellent with an Explosive Spell."

Sitting the book aside as he finished and grabbing one of the smaller spellbooks for the mission his team had gotten.

Briefly he mused if it was such a good idea to threaten Iruka with Baleful Polymorph, but it had worked in the end.

He also began to muse over what equipment to wear on this quest they'd been given, though his newest toy would be a given since he wanted to at least try it out.

Eventually he made his way to the meeting place for his team.

Sakura had, at first, believed that Naruto was trying to copy their new teacher until she caught a glimpse of what Naruto was flipping through.

She had started mumbling about eyes and living walls for the next couple hours until Naruto took pity on her to some extent and released the defensive enchantment on the book.

"You know," he stated slowly to her after watching her chase after Sasuke, "I could give you something to help with the boy brooder in exchange for a favor."

She blinked and turned to face Naruto as he slipped a small vial of liquid from his pocket.

"What help could you give?" she asked, a mix between annoyance and bewilderment at the offer.

"A simple drink of this elixir," the wizard whispered in her ear, "And the next one his eyes see will have control of him..."

A brief moment of musing and a conspiratorial wink, "Think about it for a moment, he'll do whatever you say."

"And this favor?"

"Not sure right now, but emo-boy's attitude problem is aggravating enough to sacrifice a weeks work at brewing the potion."

"If it works," came the answer.

"If it doesn't work, then you have nothing to lose."

"Deal."

For some reason, at that precise instant, both Kakashi and Sasuke got chills down their spine and the bridge builder began to wonder if he should have brought heavier clothes.

A glance at the puddles on the road gave him a moments pause before he slipped a small copper coin, engraved on one side with a feather and an oak tree on the other.

It was one of the cheaper items he had, and he carried a couple dozen of the feather tokens with him because of their handiness.

Casually he flipped it into the air, a personal challenge with aim to land dead center between the pools and trigger with a bang.

The ground shook for an instance as a deep jade glow erupted from the coin, ethereal branches and roots extended with eldritch power to slam deep into the ground and rise high above.

A handful of emerald leaves drifted calmly to the ground amidst the stunned looks of his companions when the token completed its job, becoming a tree that now draped its boughs across the path.

It was only then that the screams began as the puddles vanished to reveal two screaming ninjas trapped beneath the newly grown oak that the young wizard was pretty damn sure weren't there before and no other token that he knew of left people behind.

Calmly, Naruto picked up the small rabbit and blinked as he moved to the animals reaction, narrowly missing the massive blade that would have taken his head clean off.

"Alrighty then," he muttered as an idea came to him on how to start things while tuning out the new ninjas condescending speech about killing them.

He instinctively unleashed a spell of his own to counter the jutsu, increasing the wind speed to start it clearing while working out the rest of his plan.

"You know," the mage stated calmly as the windstorm errupted around him, driving the mists back and away while trapping people, leaving them incapable of moving against the jetstream.

Two more spells flowed quickly, centering on the bunny as the wizard cackled madly.

Arcane energy gave it an eerie glow before it deformed, growing massive while claws and teeth grew larger and sharper.

Zabuza reacted by ignoring the caster and charging for his target and Kakashi, cleaver singing in the air.

"I give you Bunny-Kong!" Naruto chimed followed by what sounded like a feral roar from someones nightmares.

All eyes locked on the fifteen foot beast that Naruto had created in the few moments out of the pathetic one he'd found.

"Bunny-Kong?" Sakura mumbled to herself as one of her worst fears came to life.

White fur, massive muscles, fangs, claws, enraged eyes, and lots of drool as it leaped after Zabuza in a mighty leap that cleared a dozen yards with each motion.

"Oh shit!"

Sakura remembered one of her earliest memories.

She'd found a bunny in her backyard and tried to pet it.

The next part of the memory was intense pain and a trip to the hospital for rabies shots.

Now the nightmares that incident had spawned seemed to come to life amidst the chaos of a monster rabbit rampaging through the fight with the long teeth that looked cute on a bunny now looking like yard long razor blades that dripped with sizzling saliva.

Sasuke tried to keep himself from cackling like a madman.

Now he knew he was better than Itachi. The murdering asshole had spent weeks trying to explain why bunnies didn't make good minions for a wanna-be evil overlord. However, he hadn't yet realized that part of Itachi's psychotic break had come when Sasuke made the "bunny-brand" to mark his evil minions, starting with the gift of a stuffed, pastel bunny Itachi bought his girlfriend.

All he had to do now was figure out how to control his new, rabid minions to take over the world.

Zabuza fled with the deranged beast in hot pursuit just as Kakashi was about to reveal his Sharingan.

He took in a deep breath before turning to stare at Sasuke who seemed to be practicing an evil laugh.

Kakashi had ended up far more confused than he had thought.

At first he'd believed that Naruto was simply being secretive about his jutsu, but now it seemed different. The hand motions a few of them had were almost unnatural in their movement, more akin to what one would see a person tracing a carving with a finger than a proper handsign for a jutsu.

The fact that his Sharingan didn't seem able to pick them up at all, was another part of it that left him scratching his head in confusion.

Hell, the brief note from the academy teacher about an "Evil Jutsu" and avoid annoying him left him wondering. The bell test had turned out humiliating with illusory undead monsters and a jutsu that seemed like something a mad Uchiha had developed called Fireball.

The tree thing was even weirder, no chakra and that had the appearance of one of the First's legendary Mokuton, but far different at the same time.

Then there was that goddamned rabbit monster that the boy had unleashed to deal with a Jounin that gave him trouble.

Again, it was possible that it was a summon that a deranged ninja had created only for Naruto to find, but it just didn't seem likely. Nothing he'd heard of could cause an animal to be able to leave tooth marks in a sword, especially not one as heavy and thick as Zabuza's Cleaver. After all, he would have loved to give the ability to Pakkun and his pack.

Naruto's answer that is was simply magic was starting to aggravate him, and eventually he would find out the brats secret if for no other reason than to keep from going bald due to all the hair he wanted to rip out in trying to understand the insanity of Uzumaki Naruto.

Naruto grinned he watched Sakura use the potion he'd given her, pausing only to slide the "modified" belt of Giants Strength he'd handed Sasuke the night before causing the boy to pick it up and walk out with the cup now laced with the potion.

After Sakura followed to trigger the other portion of the potions effect, he made sure to trigger the recoding sphere he'd hidden in the room and create a minor illusion to watch the effects as they happened.

Now what was he forgetting, the wizard mused before he remembered.

"Ah, yes," he stated while drawing on the magic to conjure a big bucket of what he lacked, "Popcorn."

The blond arcanist was engrossed in watching the effects of the two spells that he hadn't noticed Kakashi plop down next to him with his eye wide.

"Just two questions," he asked his student, "Is that Sakura and Sasuke? And if so where the hell did Sasuke get the whip?"

"Well yes to the first," the mage replied after shaking his head, "And for the second, your guess is as good as mine, neither spell should have conjured one up."

"Why is Sasuke female?"

"Let's just say that when he demanded that I give him my power," the wizard chuckled, "I made sure to include a little penalty for the 'gift' he got."

Spiderclimb was such a nice spell, Naruto mused as he flipped through one of his various spellbooks.

Kakashi had apparently gotten the "bright" idea of teaching them how to climb trees, and after Naruto had performed his own version he got the rest of the day watching the workers.

The wizard wouldn't complain about that, he had far better things to do than play with trees like an inept druid.

He did, however, find it amusing that Sasuke was once more female.

Kakashi had bribed him into letting the Uchiha out of the curse, but it had been simple enough to just modify the device that it would work when worn. It was somewhat disturbing that the boy, or should he say girl, preferred the extra strength more than his natural form.

Sakura wasn't speaking to him after that night, but then who knew that Sasuke was somehow a closet dominatrix...the origin of the whips and leather were still a mystery to the blond caster though.

Sasuke had muttered something about Mommy and Auntie which made him wonder if they were a family jutsu or something.

A fluttering of feathers drew his attention to one of the beings he had called forth to aid in watching the area.

"Yes," he whispered to the silver-feathered eagle that radiated a calm light, "I see, watch them for me then."

It half bowed and took to the air with a cry that seemed to lighten the mood of the workers while it circled before winging off across the woods.

He leaned back against the railing on a completed segment of the bridge.

"Gato," Naruto whispered, "I believe that an object lesson is needed if you don't learn soon enough."

While he had several extremely destructive spells available, most of them also were a pain to use and it's wasn't conducive to educating someone previously at ground zero of a blast crater.

To show the local megalomaniac exactly why it was a bad idea to plot the death of a wizard would take finesse and planning, not mention letting his vengeful streak out to play for a bit. Of course, after the one deal he'd made with a powerful being, that meant things got frozen or blasted to pieces.

His current connection to the dragons came through that same deal, and with it he gained several powerful allies as well as training in a few spells connected to one of his closest friends, if he could call her that. Of course, with the female mind, and especially the female dragon's mind, he was in the dark as to her motivations.

In this world, the power gained was still but a trickle. Enough to allow him easy access to some of the higher powered spells as well as the weaker spells the Silver Lady granted those under her.

It was most amusing when he'd figured out just what was trapped within him, and it had taken some time to work out the benefits of the demonic fox within him. And those gifts gave him an affinity with the fiendish planes in summoning. Stronger and longer lasting, able to take far more damage without being returned from whence they came.

Now it was that power he called on as the sun sank beneath the horizon, the sky the color of freshly spilt blood.

His plan was a simple one, shock and awe while showing that he was not one to be trifled with. It would be a difficult to time chain of spells and other actions that should leave the effect he wanted upon his enemies.

The heavy cloak, silver lined, swirled as he gripped one of the many staves he had in his possession, a product of one of Evan's lessons about a Wizard should always have a cloak and a staff or they should stop calling themselves wizards.

And then he was gone in a burst of shadow that dissipated an instant later.

Gato froze as he heard the fluttering of seemingly countless wings.

He walked to the balcony he had to overlook the small fortress he'd taken as his base of operations, only to freeze in shock at the sight.

Thousands of black forms that seemed to be hawks but twisted and vicious as they swarmed over the battlements. Guards seemed to vanish into the cloud that enveloped them until their screams were cut short.

Streams of what seemed like frozen lightning cascaded through those trying to escape leaving bodies encased in the frost.

"What the devil," he managed to stammer, and unfortunately for him his question received a response.

"Not quite," came Naruto's voice, the prompt causing the man to spin to face the rising shadows slowly forming themselves into the wizards form before vanishing around the cloaked boy.

The hood hid his face, revealing only silvery flashes in the darkness concealing his face. The magic released giving his eyes a burning silver glow beneath the folds.

"This is but a warning," the wizard stated, "Leave this place and never return."

He spun, raising the staff from its place before him and bringing it down to resound a seemingly deafening drumbeat across the fortress.

And then he was gone, dead silence filling the all but empty fortress as the summoned fiendish hawks vanished and all of his spells ended with his hop back into the plane of shadows.

As the caster walked away, one last comment seemed to eerily brush Gato's ears.

"Or I'll be back."

The stench of brimstone filled the air in the skies above Wave.

The storms spoke of darkness as the shadows and lightning converged with a roar that seemed to make the world itself shudder in fearful anticipation.

A beast made of fire and shadow roared in cruel anger at the skies while the moon seemed to grow as red as blood. Razor talons stretched wide, the winds singing a cruel tragedy.

Diving low it roared another bellow that seemed to carry the cries of countless damned souls while screaming to the world about a monster that had managed to pierce the barriers.

The dark form, scaled in darkness greater than any night, and eyes that blazed with the fires of hell, swooped low while the blood moon gave the lands and seas the appearance of a charnel house, a grim omen of the plans this monstrosity had in store for those it faced.

The spawn of the dragon queen had arrived in the Elemental Countries.

Naruto watched the sunrise as he closed his book.

A brief shudder went through him as he glanced at the small divination spell he'd cast before preparing spells for the new day.

It seemed that the game was afoot.

Sakura cringed as she awoke besides the, still female, Sasuke.

Whatever the hell was in that vial Naruto gave her had worked, just not quite how she wanted it to work.

The sounds of a distant siren shook her the rest of the way awake while Sasuke's eyes snapped open. A deafening roar erupted in the distance and both were on their feet and dressing in an instant while terrified screams reached them.

Both Genin darted out of the house to pause at the sight of two Samurai staring as if transfixed at something in the distance.

Sakura followed their gaze and her jaw dropped, what appeared to be an honest to god dragon had descended upon the village and was in the process of ripping through buildings and causing havoc.

"Holy...," she muttered out loud.

"...Shit," Sasuke unconsciously finished.

Naruto grinned as he watched the fog come rushing across the bridge from the woods.

"If nothing else," he stated to himself, "He's consistent."

"Who?" he heard one of the workers ask while Kakashi seemed to freeze in his own watch position.

"The demon of the mists," the wizard stated with a flare and a quick wind spell that cleared away the fog to reveal his foe, complete with masked backup, "Hello Zabuza..."

The missing nin's eyes widened at the comments from someone who hadn't even been looking in his direction.

"I believe that this time you're in for a bit more than you expect," Naruto continued as he gathered his energy.

The symbol of his bond with someone far greater than himself, a device hanging on a chain wrapped around his wrist, he let it slide loose and the device land in his hand.

Zabuza lunged blade in hand as light flared from the pendant.

Sasuke dove, pulling Sakura to the ground as the dragon attacked.

Talons piercing through one of the two swordsmen before the entire weight of the beast came down on that foot to crush the man, the other died a fraction of a second later when it bit down leaving pieces of the man behind after the crunch of the bite.

Sakura grimaced as the blood spatter sprayed over her when the thing went airborn again after firing an energy stream that holed a two story apartment building.

Sakura flashed through the contingencies trained for in the academy, only after searching for anything remotely applicable did she realize that it wasn't something taught. The closest were the stories she'd heard about the Kyuubi attack, but that didn't involve flying monsters with energy attacks.

Zabuza gasped as his cleaver stopped dead in midair, the roar of metal on metal singing angrily as the light dimmed enough to see.

He followed his blade to the gauntlet of some silvery metal that had grabbed the tip. The armor vanished into a black cloak marked with silver patterns that danced in the wind.

The new entrant to the fight had at least a foot on him in height, that much he could tell from what was hidden by the swirling, silken cloth, and was heavily built.

The being moved, shifting the blade with him in another direction.

"I can't let you do that," came a gruff and almost taunting voice.

Zabuza whirled, pulling his sword back towards him while the figure simply released his grip.

"Who are you?" the missing-nin asked as he prepared himself.

"Me?" the being laughed before tossing aside the cloak to watch it flutter between them for an instant.

The cloth fell to reveal a face unlike any he had ever seen, it seemed almost like that of a dog, and yet different, and almost glowing with an inner light. Fur somewhere between silver and grey shimmered as his opponent moved in armor of the same metal as the gauntlet.

One armored hand gripped the hilt of a sword that seemed larger than his cleaver.

"I am called Argent, the First Crusader of the Silver Lady," it stated, "Wielder of one of the blades crafted from a granted scale of Her Mercy."

The massive sword cleared its sheath in a flash as Zabuza lunged again, metal burning like the light of the sun while crashing into the cleaver.

The wind swirled around them and the faint whisps of an almost holy song touched those who watched, the music just slightly less that understandable, but still majestic in tone.

Sasuke snatched up the sheathed swords of the samurai that was largely intact, drawing both blades with a flick of the wrist that sent the sheaths flying into the air.

The dragons whirled in the air, preparing for another pass.

"Sakura," she stated slowly, "Get the people out of here."

She saw her start to run with the crowd.

"Looks like it's just you and me," she whispered softly as the world seemed to slow to a crawl around her.

Kakashi watched carefully as the swordsmen, or at least one of them was a swordsman anyway, clashed across the bridge.

The Jounin saw Naruto roll to his feet while the tome that had been in his lap vanished into thin air.

More screams brought their attention away from their unengaged foe to the villagers swarming past with screams about a dragon.

"This can't be good," Kakashi deadpanned as he watched the smoke plume rising in the distance.

"One of yours?" the wizard asked the masked ninja as he turned back to his opponent.

A shake of the head signaled both him and the opponent to prepare for the fight.

"Kakashi," Naruto commented, "Go, help the others, I'll handle this."

"You sure?"

"You betcha," the arcanist chuckled, "Go try to slay the dragon, I'll deal with the mere mortals."

Kakashi paused for a moment before nodding in agreement and took off.

"Now," Naruto chuckled darkly, "Where were we..."

A moments break in the speech was darkened by two energy spheres materializing, one in each of his hands.

"Ah yes," he stated, "What shall I butcher you with Fire or Cold?"

Sasuke moved in a flash as he struck with first one blade and then the other while spinning in midair like a top.

The katana shattered on impact before the remains caught between scales and wrenched the hilt from her grasp before the second slashed the trailing edge of the wingtip.

Dark blood dripped down the wakizashi as she landed in a crouch while the dragon roared in fury, locking its eyes on the nuisance that had dared to harm it.

"Ah fuck," Sasuke muttered to herself as he bolted from the arcing path of the airborn leviathan and dove away from its breath weapon an instant before it ripped through the supports of the village water tower.

"I wonder if Itachi's ever had to slay a dragon?" she asked himself while readying for another attack.

In her head Sasuke's mind was frantic as he saw the red eyes.

The last time she'd seen eyes of a similar shade, though not glowing, had been the night of Itachi's slaughter of the rest of their family.

A connection tripped, this thing had to be connected to Itachi in some way.

Raw anger and fear boiled up in her thoughts.

Sasuke was an avenger, and this thing had to be one of the demonic minions of the one she had sworn to slay.

Rage flooded through her as a decision was made, Itachi must die.

This thing was sent by Itachi and, therefore, must also die.

And then the power surged forth in a torrent, mixing with the power given from the strength Naruto had given her.

Kakashi reached the village in time to spot one of his male, though currently female, student start laughing maniacally while chanting three words over and over.

"Crush...kill...destroy...crush...kill...destroy..."

The dragon swooped in and the Genin Uchiha charged as well with a manic laughter that seemed more unnerving that the monsters roar.

"Well," the Jounin muttered to himself, "That can't be good!"

Naruto paused for a moment with a grin as he tossed both elemental orbs at the masked foe before vanishing into a cloud of mists.

Haku paused while the mists swirled and danced while laughter echoed from them.

The ninja spun trying to see where he went when it happened and the fog vanished to reveal Naruto a mere inch away.

"Tag," Naruto chuckled as he reached out a hand, "Balefull Polymorph, bitch!"

A flash of orange light blinded everyone on the bridge for a moment before fading to reveal a white rabbit dangling from Naruto's hands by its ears.

Sasuke lunged with the blade, driving it in with all of the strength she could muster right at the wing joint, implanting the short sword up to its guard in the flesh of the monster before the tail struck her, sending the genin tumbling aside like a swatted fly.

A scream escaped his lungs as she smashed through a storefront and crashed through shelves of various foods before skidding to a halt against the back wall.

Crawling out of the debris, Sasuke climbed to her feet with a defiant grin.

"Is that all you've got," she snarked while drawing a kunai with each hand, "Bring it on fucker!"

The snakelike head darted into the building as the ninja moved.

She leaped, landing atop its head and charged on before driving both knives between ribs of the monster and hung on for dear life.

The head reared back with a horrific roar before a blast seemed to all but vaporize the ruined shop, sending the bits of wreckage into the air to raid down with the ferocity of the worst hailstorms.

It was then that Kakashi entered the fight with a Chidori into the left knee of the beast, diverting its attention to the one who had just pierced its armored hide.

"You fight well," Argent commented as he deflected an attack with a casual ease, a grin crossing his lips, "For a mortal."

"Mortal?"

"For one who claims to be a demon," the hound archon retorted, "You are quite ignorant of those who come from other than the mortal planes."

Argent was relying on the familiar style he had honed for millennia, ever since he had first held a blade the style had been the one he preferred.

Most of his brethren looked down upon his particular form of devotion, most walked the path of the paladin. But not Argent, he found his talents in what mortals called Blade Magic, the styles that had developed beyond an art form, something magnificent and in perfecting it, he found the hope to serve as he had.

He was not known as Argent the Stone Dragon for nothing, the style was so ingrained into his essence that not even a Balor had a chance against his blade.

The fight was just about over, the crusader realized as he readied himself for two attacks of his chosen discipline.

He lashed out after twirling the blade and a moments focus, the flat of the blade bypassed Zabuza's defenses and sent the ninja rocketing backwards, skipping thrice before sliding further, the Cleaver clattering in another direction.

"It's over child," Argent stated as he raised his own blade, "Perhaps you could try again some other time."

And then he brought his sword down to strike the bridge itself.

Stone and steel shattered like glass as a wave of power tore down it towards the former member of the seven swordsmen, the roar of the earth screaming as the water beneath hammered outwards from the shockwave, revealing the bed beneath for a moment as even the muck was reshaped.

Zabuza screamed as he was thrown aside like a ragdoll into the raging waters below.

"And that as they say is that," the archon retorted as he wiped his weapon clean with a rag and resheathed it.

The instant of sheathing, the water rushed back in to fill the void below.

"Okay," Sakura stated as she double checked the village for anyone still there, "Everyone's out."

She paused to catch her breath

"Okay, now what?"

A roar brought her attention back to what people were running from.

"Oh yes," the pink haired genin muttered, "That..."

The dragon roared as Kakashi staggered back a few steps, watching the wound start to seal before his eyes.

"Alright then," the jounin growled as he charged up a second one, "Let's see if I can hit someplace more damaging."

Sasuke grunted as one of the kunai tore loose from the beast flesh, sending her spinning and dangling from one side as the weapon fell to crash to the earth below.

"Not good," she muttered while reaching for another from one of the pouches only for the beast to start shaking like a wet dog.

The kunai pouch slipped from his grasp as her hands hurriedly grasped the remaining handhold tightly.

Argent and Naruto paused when they caught sight of the monster.

"Wyvern," Argent commented as he gazed skywards at the dark figure against the billowing plumes of smoke and fire, "And not just any."

"Not him again," Naruto groaned, "And how the hell did that psycho get here anyway?"

"He doesn't have the power signature of his parents, but Dirge is still a powerhouse even while trapped in that form," the hound archon responded, "If it's not all but instantly fatal, he'll just get back up."

"Looks like we've got work to do," Naruto muttered as they dashed on, "As usual."

"Do you happen to have a plan this time?" Argent asked as they closed in.

"Well, we could do this the normal way," Naruto stated as his eyes seemed to gleam, "Or we could do it the flashy way."

"Please tell me that's a question this time rather than reminding me that there was a sane option," the hound archon commented.

"You should know the answer to that my friend."

"Just like Manifest all over again," the celestial muttered to himself.

"Well," Naruto commented, "The best way to deal with a hostile dragon is with one of your own."

"Please leave your personal wacko's out of this, one insane dragon is more than enough to deal with."

"Torashenazath is not a wacko," Naruto shot back, "Besides, he's fun to have around."

"Oh fuck no," Argent yelled while Naruto started cackling.

Sasuke lost her grip and went tumbling through a partially intact, second story window while the monster they fought rose higher into the sky.

Then a distant light seemed to burn bright above the water of the small harbor the village maintained for fishing boats.

The light seemed to spiral and dance in the air, leaving a trail of a vibrant, orange light in its wake. A loud roar billowed as the light dove beneath the wave and the water seemed to explode into a rolling boil as growls and snarls making eerie music as if by a deranged whale.

Kakashi turned and spotted the familiar cloak of his student standing atop the visible effect his name could imply, and the Jounin wondered for an instant when and where the boy learned water walking.

Then the maelstrom began to surge closer, faster than any ship he could think of as it neared the land with the calmly standing genin atop it, cloak swirling in the wind.

His sharp eyes caught a glimpse of what he first thought to be a sail and then realized it couldn't be a boat.

It was then that the water exploded upwards and a form followed with a roar of challenge.

Scale of brilliant orange encased something similar in form to perhaps a crocodile, but no reptile of that sort could reach the mass, or held the sheer power this creature did as its wings spread wide against the light of the sun when it reared.

Jaws spread wide to reveal the gaping maw of the beast as it lumbered onto land, and then Kakashi realized.

Another dragon had joined the fight.

The spray of salty water showered the battlefield like a sudden spring rain as the Orange Dragon reared up, before throwing its tremendous bulk forwards and adding that motion to the momentum of a spin to hammer its foe with the armored tail with a deafening crack while debris blasted backwards.

"Easy kid," Sasuke heard the ever-calm tones of the hound archon dragged her out of the building before it collapsed, "With Torashenazath here, staying nearby is not a healthy option."

She blinked in response as Torash unleashed a blast of what, at first, appeared to be water that doused Dirge and several of the intact buildings a moment before it burst into white hot flame with an acrid stench that washed over those watching the battle.

Kakashi dove for cover as the flaming monster they'd been fighting dropped to the ground and rolled through several homes while attempting to put out the flames engulfing it.

Dirge went skywards a moment later, the still smoking and blackened flesh seeming to recover from the damage with a slower pace than when Kakashi drove his hand through the leg.

An energy beam surged back towards Torash and Naruto, causing the duo to be temporarily concealed from sight by the others followed by a wave of steam that burst outwards in all directions.

"What the..." Sakura stammered as she saw the crystalline dome of solid ice surrounding both the dragon and wizard, with a web of cracks at the point of impact.

"He used the Wall of Ice spell," the celestial explained to his current allies, "The use there was rather simple, just place something in the path of a dragons breath weapon, means the attack can't hit you."

"So a shield of ice?" Kakashi asked a moment later.

"Precisely," Argent answered, "Though he does like to show off..."

A pause as Dirge glanced in their direction.

"...and that, ladies and Gent is the reason we need to get back to work here."

Torash was a brawler by nature, and even then several other dragons viewed him as more of a force of nature rather than they would any other dragon. That was a reputation that had even a Radiant take measures to keep away from the areas he wandered over the millenia.

He'd faced just about every type of dragon there was in single combat, or even with multiples of them attacking him.

As one of the few dragons that were hunted by both sides of the blood feud between Tiamat and Bahamut, the coalition of the brother dragons had formed from the few who managed to run and hide. They had even attempted to gain aid from Sardior if for no other reason than to prevent their own extinction.

If nothing else, they accepted Sardior's rejects into their own numbers after the Ruby Dragon claimed that his own neutrality would be violated by taking in the victims of the other dragon dieties.

Fighting for ones very survival for an entire lifetime created the raw strength of the exiled dragons, but in the end they had been given a new path by the hand of one that, for now, was but a mortal, though now gifted with the Silver Lady's blessings as well as their own mothers strength, stolen directly from the murderous bitch herself.

It was an irony he had appreciated now, though it felt strange working with those serving the Silver Lady, though of the accepted types the Silvers were among the least hostile to them.

Now he faced an old enemy, though this time he was not alone in the fight. The wizard savior of his kin had called for aid, and he was the one who volunteered to be summoned when their new master summoned one of them.

Dirge had been an enemy faced before, the bastard spawn of two of the darkest dragons ever to spread their wings.

Sakura stopped to watch as the two leviathans collided before them in a crashing roar.

Shocked awe and a healthy respect for the beings involved in this insanity while two mountains of muscle and scale sought to slay each other.

Then she watched as the armored form of Argent moved forwards like a rocket, leaping high with sword in both hands. The flash of reflected light was blinding when the hound archon exited the shadows and into the light of day.

"Argent," Dirge snarled as its eyes locked on the latest addition to the brawl, "So Tamara sends her pets swordsman to this world?"

The heavy blade sliced clean through the hide of the monster before the dragons separated.

"You know her," the crusader answered, "Always ready to help a friend."

Dirge jerked backwards as the spray of liquid from Torash washed over the monstrous wyvern for an instant before exploding into white flame.

"You know," Naruto commented as he touched ground once more, "You made quite a mess, even for you Dirge."

Sapphire energy coalesced in each hand as the wizard prepared his own spells, "And I figure it ought to take some beating to get that into your skull."

Mist seemed to form as the young caster collected power and frost formed on his clothes and the ground.

"Twin frostballs," he chuckled darkly, "One of my favorites, even made 'em explosive, just for you Dirge!"

Ice seemed to erupt around him as the light grew brighter, snow spiraling while dark clouds coiled in the sky.

"Playtime has officially ended."

The snapping jaws of Dirge almost snagged the wizard only to receive two spheres of energy that crystallized into orbs of ice down his throat as the mage went airborne above his own dragon. Spreading to ensnare the beasts jaws, the ice held the abominations mouth sealed as it grew to entrap his face.

Naruto cast feather fall an instant later, allowing him to land easily while his allies rejoined the fight.

Argent spun his blade twice as he flipped through the air, blade shining as if it were a replica of the sun held in his armored hands, before lashing out with the momentum of the swing and his jump added to his own power for the strike.

Dirge screamed as the blade sliced cleanly through his tail, letting the part fall while the wound seemed to burn with white-silver flames before the hound archon vanished into thin air to reappear high overhead with the blade ready for a second strike, having teleported clear of the razor sharp claws and boiling blood.

"Die mutt," the wounded monstrosity roared as the casing of ice shattered and eyes burning with hate gazed at the archon.

"Sorry dragonspawn," the silver crusader retorted, "But you've managed to forget something."

The grin turned almost predatory as a wave of silver light erupted to wash over those fighting with him.

"You can't regenerate from weapons with the power of good," he continued as he landed on the sole remaining strut of the destroyed water tower, "And by paying attention to me, you missed Naruto giving the humans their trump card for this fight."

"WHAT!" the monster screamed, whirling as pain tore through his wings.

"I just used the power that my friend gave me to bless their weapons temporarily," Naruto stated as he landed behind the other members of the team while another wave of Kunai soared at the wounded spawn of Tiamat and Garyx.

"And I still have a few bones to pick with you as well," came the deep, earth-shaking rumble of Torash, "Eggsmasher!"

Dirge roared in defiance as his wings spread wide, and he took to the sky once more.

"You forget yourself, mutt," the vile lizard snarled, "I am no mere wyrm that you could slay."

A dark and horrifying laugh erupted from his damned lips as the sky seemed to swirl and darken.

"For I am the child of the gods themselves, my father is Garyx the All-Destroyer and my mother is none other than Tiamat the Dragon Queen," a moments pause as lightning seemed to roar with each peal of unholy laughter, "So, mortals, who are you to believe that you can slay one such as I?"

The shocked horror ended with an unusual pause as a series of harsh claps brought everyones attention back to the wizard.

"Bravo, Dirge," Naruto stated with a positively twisted smirk on his otherwise impassive face, "You believe you have a chance, or at least..."

A brief pause as the smirk grew wider.

"You may have had one if you hadn't given me some time by the fact that you're more of a loudmouth than a copper that had a silence spell cast on it expire."

"You mock me?"

"Of course I mock you, Dirge," came the answer in an annoyed and long suffering tone of voice, "Your're an arrogant blow hard who doesn't know when to just shut up."

A deafening roar of sheer rage erupted from the monstrous wyverns throat as the boy turned away from him.

"Oh," the wizard added as the winged horror rushed at him, "Just look up and you'll see why."

All eyes turned skywards as the clouds split to reveal something large floating above the monster.

"What?" Dirge roared as he froze in mid flight.

"I don't like to brag, but..." Naruto stated before pausing, "Oh, who am I kidding, I just love to brag. Your little cloud trick allowed me to start freezing the water in the environment while keeping it up there, I just needed enough time to make it into a decent weapon."

A pause as Naruto slowly raised his hand and snapped his fingers allowing the mass of ice to fall.

"And I figure a sphere of ice a few hundred feet across with spikes ought to be enough to end this conflict."

The crash was deafening as the ice impacted with both its target and the earth below amidst a frantic screech by the wyvern before his current form was smashed.

Laughter came from the orange wizard as he rolled back his head to look skywards while the dust cloud surged over him.

"Wouldn't you agree."

The booming laugh of Torash brought their attention to the orange dragon.

"With Dirge gone for the foreseeable future," he stated, "I believe that it is time that I return to my lair."

Naruto nodded, "Thanks for the help."

"Anytime," came the response as the dragons scales seemed to grow brighter, encompassing the mighty creature, bright enough to conceal his form as a ball of orange light before that sphere collapsed into itself and shot skywards with a flash, leaving the place where the mighty drake stood empty.

Argent grinned as the humans glanced towards him.

"I'll remain for now," the crusader commented, "At least until some of this mess is cleaned up."

A brief pause as he shrugged, "Not to mention that I still need to retrieve my cloak."