AN: Ever since reading Shinobi of the Ebon Blade (CaptainPrice) and Transient Guest are We ( 1sniperwolf) I have had this idea running around in my skull for a while now and in order to see if it is a good idea or not I'm going to have to put it down on paper and let everyone else judge for themselves. This also marks my first attempt at a crossover. The time period is set after the time skip while the world is a mixture of both Naruto and Warcraft worlds.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Warcraft. They are the property of people far more skilled then myself (and as a side effect, richer then me too). I write this because I wanted to have fun, waste a little time and hopefully get some god damn reviews. While I'm glad you like my stories and add them to the alert list, I need reviews to make me feel good about myself.

Death Knight: We speak like this.

Lich: We speak like this, mortal.

Under New Banners: Book of the Scourge.

Chapter One: Betrayal.

Why was this happening? Wasn't I good enough? Wasn't I loyal enough?

Weakly, Naruto tried to raise his head high enough to look at the blood covered pieces of metal that were poking out of his chest. Despite the fact that his own blood was coating the blades in a sickening fashion, he could make out the dried blood of those who had suffered this fate before him. Every time he saw the bloodstained metal he tried to reach for it in a vain attempt to force the blades out, but his body wouldn't respond.

He couldn't feel anything below his neck. He was pretty sure one of the blades had gone through his spine. The one plus sign to this was that he couldn't feel the pain that the three well sharpened weapons was no doubt causing him. Sadly, instead of pain he just felt...cold. Freezing cold. He really wanted to shiver or at least make some attempt at warming himself up but he just couldn't do it no matter how much he tried.

He was dying.

Truthfully, he had never really thought about his own death before. Even with the threat of Akatsuki coming after him he had been more worried about Konoha and everyone he had come to care about then himself.

Thinking about those he cared about, he wondered if they were safe right now. Sakura, Kiba and Shino had broken off from the group a few miles back in order to stop one of the enemy vanguard conveys from attacking a town that was miles away from here.. He wondered if they were still alright? The idea that they were suffering a fate like his own, to be stabbed in the back by the people who were meant to be allies, scared him greatly.

If they had been here, maybe things would have been different?

As his vision started to black out and the cold numbness started to crawl up and lay claim to the rest of his body, Naruto thought he overheard someone nearby say something about 'Burning the bodies'... He suspected he might have been hearing voices. He couldn't even hear his own heart beat anymore. While a part of him was.. well, angry that these bastards were going to get away with this, another part of him just wanted the coldness to stop.

As his time on earth drew to a end, Naruto's last thoughts drifted to someone who's appearance in his minds eye caught him somewhat off guard. The image of a teenage girl with somewhat creamy pale skin, black hair that almost seemed blue and eyes that gave the impression of blindness flashed before his minds eye. The image confused him a little. Not because he didn't know who it was, but more with why he was seeing her just before he died.

Hinata... I'm sorry but... I don't really know that much about you... I kind of wished I got to know you before now... I have a feeling I missed out on something wonderful...

With deep regret, Naruto looked up at the sky with his eyes wide open as his life reached its end.

Naruto Uzumaki was dead.

...

One hour earlier: Northern edge of the Forests of Konoha

No one knew where the plague started exactly. By the time Konoha had been called in to investigate the matter most of the towns, villages and cities throughout Northern Fire County had been infected by it. People were dying in mass. But that wasn't the worst of it.

The worst part about all these people dying was the fact that they didn't stay dead.

Many of the undead horde were little more then mindless zombies, only dangerous because they attacked in mass, swarming the living. Your average genin team was more then able to deal with such groups of creatures, clearing them out of areas being considered a low C ranked mission. However, after the first few days reports started coming in of different creatures within the undead horde.

Things like walking skeletons and creatures that had been given the title of 'Ghoul' for the ghoulish appearance started to make appearances among the undead tides. The skeletons were slightly harder to kill the the normal zombies, but it was the fact that they had been confirmed wielding basic weapons such as swords, knives, spears and even bows successfully that drew attention to them. There was even a rumor of some using basic fire jutsu, but such a thing had yet to be confirmed.

The Ghouls however were slightly more worrying then the lesser undead and it wasn't just because of their freakish looks and horrible smell. They tended to be much harder to kill, could inflict a surprising amount of damage when they managed to get a hit in, could tunnel through the earth with scary determination (They did this with neither skill nor ease, but they still managed to do it) and worst of all, they were reportedly able to think.

While the heart of all their plans seemed to be nothing more advanced then 'Swarm them', unlike their mindless brothers and sisters in arms they could pick out and target threats during battle. They had even been known to set up simple ambushes and guide the rest of the horde to try and aid them in battle.

But it was the most recent of rumors that had caught the attention of Konoha and thus why a four man team of three chuunin and one genin were currently heading north.

"Sakura-chan, why exactly are we checking this farm out anyway? Wouldn't our skills be better suited elsewhere?" Naruto whined, annoyed that he had been called away from not only a potential bowl of free ramen, but also from being the center of positive attention.

Since the outbreak had began, Naruto had proven himself to be one of Konoha's best zombie killers. His usage of shadow clones and his near limitless energy allowed him to purge whole regions filled with zombies or stopping whole raids of the undead by himself, a fact that was starting to earn him a great deal of respect in Konoha.

Sakura sighed as she answered " Naruto, I've already gone though this with you. After examining the remains of some those who have fallen victim to this plague of undeath, it's become clear that it was manufactured by someone. After examining the contents of the stomachs of some of the older victims, we discovered traces of a plant that is rare in Fire Country. The only place it is found here is at the farm we are heading too. Combined with the fact that it is near where the outbreaks began and this seems like the best place to start looking for whatever started this whole mess."

"I get that, but I want to know why it's us having to do it. Aren't there better units for this sort of thing?"

Before Sakura had a chance to lose her temper, Shino spoke first in his emotionless, coldly logical voice. " Naruto, the reason we are doing this is because the evidence suggests that someone created this virus and might possibly be controlling the undead creatures it creates. We are here to track this man down and deal with him as we see fit."

"So... We're here to find and kill the big zombie boss man?"

There was silence for a few seconds before Shino answered, sweat dropping as he did so " That...is one of putting it, yes."

"Sweet! If someone was willing to pay for a bowl of ramen just because I was dealing with the worthless mook, imagine what I'll get for the boss man's head! Maybe someone will pay for an all you can eat meal!"

Sakura and Kiba almost face-planted into the ground at the announcement while Shino maintained his cold logical front. Sure Naruto had grown over the years he had been away, but some things never changed.

...

Twenty Minutes Earlier.

Kiba raised his hand into the air in a fist, stopping the team at a seemingly random branch. Sakura was the first to asked "What is it?"

" Looks like a raid of the undead bastards just went through here. A really big one too. Since it appears to have come from the direction we are going, it's a good bet that the farm's emptied out of defenders. Do we know what's to the east of here?"

While only two members of the team were trained tracking ninja, the tracks left by the undead host were hard to miss. It had almost made a makeshift road due to the sheer number marching in it that came from the north then turned east. Looking closer, Shino stated "It appears that a wagon may have passed through here too. Wither or not it came with the undead, I can't tell."

"There is a town east of here. It has a town wall so it's better defended then your normal town, but against these sorts of numbers I doubt they would hold out for long" Sakura supplied, not liking the decision that was quickly raising up to meet them.

"So, do we keep going or deal with this new threat?" Kiba asked, getting it out in the open.

There was silence for a few seconds before Naruto spoke up.

"You three stop the raiding party. I'll keep going to the farm."

Kiba and Sakura were shocked by the statement while Shino appeared to think about what Naruto had suggested.

"Naruto, stop being a baka. You don't honestly think we would let you go off alone. I don't care if you want to be viewed as a hero back home, such pointless heroics are just going to get you killed." Sakura began.

"Yeah moron. Pack mates don't split up for no good reason." Kiba added, Akamaru barking his agreement.

"I dislike it, but it seems to be the most logical arrangement." Shino stated, drawing the shock of Sakura and Kiba while getting Naruto's nod of approval.

"What do you mean the most logical arrangement?" Sakura demanded, shock quickly turning to anger.

" If the undead horde is being controlled by a central figure, then the sooner we can remove them the better. The removal of the leader would, in theory, return the undead to an uncoordinated mindless state. However, the horde would still need to be dealt with to ensure that it is no longer a threat. Out of all of us, Naruto is the best suited to face a horde on his own due to his abilities and his experience in this field of combat. While he could easily go in either direction, since we can guess the size of the force heading for the town he would be better suited to face the unknown defenses at the farm. He would also be highly motivated to get the job done as quickly as possible since finishing his task would aid us greatly." Shino explained.

After the silence that ruled the four of them for almost a minute, Sakura grudgingly gave her consent for the plan. "Naruto, I swear to Kami if you get yourself killed..."

"You will bring me back to life just so you can kill me again. I'll meet up with you as soon as I'm done at the farm." Naruto finished, darting off north before another word could be said.

As the rest of the team went east, Sakura feared that she would never see Naruto again. Kiba on the other hand feared that they might, but under less friendly circumstances. One of them was wiser then the other.

...

Ten Minutes Earlier.

Standing on a tree overlooking the farm, Naruto could tell that there had been a lot of activity had happened here in the past few hours. The makeshift road from which he had split up from everyone else had lead him right to the farm they were heading for. The place seemed deserted. Not just in an 'It's been deserted for a long time' way either. More of an 'Everyone left in a rush ten minutes ago' kind of thing.

However, just as he was about to leave the tree to have a closer look something left a storage shed that was disconnected from the house. It looked like a heavily armed and armored human from a distance, but some gut feeling told him that there was more to this man then met the eye.

Waiting until the man had entered the farm house itself, Naruto leapt from the tree he had been perched in a darted across the open ground, quietly climbing up the farm house wall and sliding in as silently as he could through an open window a little bit of distance away from the front door.

It was only the clink of armor that gave Naruto the split second warning to duck, saving himself from decapitation as a sword that was almost two thirds his size flew over his head, only to have the side of his face meet the metal covered knee that followed the sword strike. The sheer force of the impact threw Naruto across the room and thought a rotten wooden wall before sliding to a stop on the stone floor in the next barren room.

Getting back to his feet, Naruto shook his head a little to clear away the dizziness before grabbing his jaw and pushing it back into place with a slight wince. Turning towards the wall he had just been put through, Naruto was surprised to see that the armored man hadn't moved at all. Despite the helmet that covered everything but a pair of unnatural glowing blue eyes, the blond could almost physically feel the sense of amusement that the man was giving off.

" So you are the blond haired nitwit that has been causing the fodder so much trouble? I always knew those ghouls were worthless but to be beaten by such a poor assassin just proves how correct I was."

The man's voice seemed to echo off itself, supporting the unnatural feeling surrounding the man. But there was something about the way that the man carried himself that annoyed Naruto greatly. He had seen it before back in Konoha years ago, normally from the Hyuuga clan but anyone who was richer or better connected then everyone else did it too. That sense that they believed themselves to be better then everyone else really pissed him off.

" I take it you are the bastard who caused all this meaningless death to take place. Just who the hell are you so I know what name to put on your gravestone, you murdering piece of shit!" Naruto growled, his hands already twitching to go for a weapon of some kind.

The armored man merely laughed at the threat, making Naruto slightly angrier at the arrogance that man was showing by not even considering him a threat.

"You honestly believe that a low born piece of trash like you could kill someone like me? Oh that is rich. But I guess I should educate you a little before your passing. I am Baron Bloodbane, Death Knight and trusted servant of the one true King of the world. I have been sent to be the vanguard of his Will here in your pathetic excuse of a land. But do not worry foolish one, you will enjoy serving the masters bidding soon enough."

Finally too angry to stop himself anymore, Naruto grabbed the first two kunai he could get his hands on and threw them right at the self proclaimed Baron. The twin kunai simply bounced off of Bloodbane's armor without even marking the metal.

The Baron laughed at the feeble attempt at an attack, mockingly taunting the blond haired little bastard "Is that the best you have to offer me little worm? I guess I will have to show you a real attack then!" Holding his large sword over his shoulder with one hand, the Baron pointed his free hand towards the blond.

Before Naruto knew what had hit him, a purple claw that seemed to be made completely of something like chaka had appeared out of nowhere and grabbed him tightly around his chest. Before he even had the chance to try and free himself he was suddenly pulled off the ground and sent flying towards Bloodbane, who swung his sword to meet him just as he got in range. Naruto's upper and lower halves were separated by the strike. The surprise on Naruto's face lasted for a moment before both halves exploded into a cloud of white smoke.

Bloodbane was caught off guard by the turn of events, even going as far as mutter "What the.." before a loud, high pitched screeching sound from behind him caught his attention. Turning around in time to hear a cry of "Wind Release: Rasengan!" Bloodbane barely had time to widen his eyes in horror as what could only be called a bright light with four sharp points slammed into his chest, sending him flying through a nearby wooden wall and into the outside world before he was engulfed in a burning bright light.

Gripping his right forearm tightly at the burning sensation soaring tearing through his right arm, Naruto couldn't help but smile at himself as he watched his attack expand and engulf the bastard who called himself a Baron, or whatever the hell he claimed to be. While some might have called such a measure over the top, his memories from his clone suggested otherwise. In this case, it was better to take him down as quickly as he possibly could and that was the only attack he could think of that had the raw power needed to pierce the man's strange but powerful armor.

As his attack started to die down, Naruto started to walk carefully over to the crater that had been left behind in order to peer down at what should have been a man who was fit for a death bed. The fact that Bloodbane was standing up scared the crap out of him to say the least, although it was easy to see that damage had been done. All over the Baron's armor was cracked horribly and a few pieces of his chest plate was missing. His right arm dangled dead at his side and his left leg didn't seem able to support any weight on it.

As the man raised his left arm and pointed it towards him, Naruto felt something grip his throat tightly, cutting the air off completely. Grabbing at his own throat in an attempt to get rid of whatever was choking him, all he found was his own skin and air.

Rationally thinking that all it was just a genjutsu, Naruto seized the first kunai he got his left hand on and stabbed it into his right arm. Other then causing himself a lot of pain, he was still being choked to death by something he couldn't see or touch. Panicking now, Naruto threw the kunai at the man, hoping to break whatever attack he was using. He didn't even notice the tag wrapped around the handle until it was in the air.

Flying true, the kunai stuck into the weak point at the joint that connected the Baron's armor at the left shoulder, piecing the metal and flesh. With a slight wince as acknowledgement of the damage he had suffered, Bloodbane ignored the pathetic attempt at a counter attack, only to puzzle a moment later when it felt like his shoulder was burning.

BOOM

As the tag went off, Bloodbane's left arm was disconnected from his body, hitting the ground at the same time that Naruto dropped to his knees. With whatever the attack had been stopped at the source, Naruto had found himself able to breath again. Falling to his knees out of breath, the blond quickly lost his balance and fell into the crater, rolling down while getting what little wind he had left in him knocked out of him as well as gaining a few cracked rips.

Rolling to a stop as he reached the bottom, Naruto started coughing in a fit of pain, blood and the need to get fresh air into his lungs. When the coughing subsided after a few moments, Naruto laid there for just a few seconds. It was when he heard the scraping of metal across stone that he forced himself to sit back up, eyes widening in horror at the sight coming towards him.

The Baron was not only back on his feet, but very slowly dragging himself over to where Naruto lay. The man's left arm was missing completely and laying somewhere on the ground behind him while his seemingly dead right arm was dragging the massive weapon along the ground.

Despite the nightmarish amount of pain he most have no doubt been in, all Naruto saw was pure engaged murder in the man's eyes.

"You...You will pay for this indignity against me! I will make you suffer an eternity of torment and it will STILL not be enough! I will hunt down everyone you've ever loved or cared about and make you watch as they twist and scream in pain for your crimes, you low born piece of fucking FILTH!"

Despite the injuries that seemed to cripple his form, the man still raised his weapon with a frightening amount of speed. Diving to the side to avoid the strike, Naruto's eyes bulged in shock as a large fissure opened up in the ground starting from where the blow began. Not getting time to think about capitalizing, the freakishly large sword almost broke the sound barrier as the weapon was pulled from the ground in an upwards slash.

The blond was barely able to jump backwards fast enough to dodge the bulk of the strike but he didn't get away completely unharmed. There was a long, thankfully shallow cut starting just above his right hip and ending level to his left elbow. Wincing slightly to the pain, Naruto was forced to duck as the blade came around for a third strike, this time trying to take his head off at the neck.

Almost sensing the weak spot that had been exposed due to Bloodbane extending his attack too far, Naruto leased out a kick towards the side of man's right knee with all the force he could muster. Connecting with bone shattering force, Naruto felt the bone give way to his attack. With the bones in his right knee broken and unable to support any weight on his left one Bloodbane's legs gave out underneath him, causing the leader of the undead in Fire County to fall onto his back heavily, screaming and swearing vengeance at the 'low born scum' all the way.

Clearly breathless, injured and in pain, Naruto was almost willing to wait a few moments before planning his next course of action before an idea suddenly entered his head. Almost in a trace like state, Naruto reached into his kunai holder one last time and grabbed hold of his very last one. Also seizing hold of his final explosive paper tag, it was just a small matter of work to wrap the tag around the blade tightly.

Standing up, Naruto forced himself to walk towards the still screaming Baron, who was trying to claw his way over to the sword he had dropped when he had fallen by his almost completely dead remaining arm. Stopping by the man's head, Naruto almost felt like he was watching himself act as he jammed his weapon into the man's left eye, causing him to scream in pain loudly. These screams only got worse as the tag caught fire inside of his skull. Making the attempt to jump back, Naruto's injuries clearly prevented him from getting far enough away to escape injury...

BOOM

...Yet, somehow he did?

Landing on his feet with only the slightly wince of pain coursing through his body, Naruto looked back at what should have been nothing more then smoking wreckage and charred bone only to stare as it appeared that the man's head was still somehow there.

Looking at it closer however, Naruto noticed the plume of smoke that was coming out of the cracks and gaps in the helmet. Taking a few steps closer, he could smell the burned human remains that had once been the Baron's head. The helmet itself had not only survived but had completely contained the blast, trapping it on the inside.

What the hell is that stuff made from?

Looking at the now definitely deceased body of Baron Bloodbane, which was a rather stupid name now that he thought of it, Naruto was about to start thinking about heading off and meeting up with the rest of his team when he suddenly felt...cold. Finding himself unable to move his body below his neck, Naruto looked down and spotted three rather sharp looking pieces of blood covered metal sticking out of his chest in different areas.

Already finding it impossible to move or breath, Naruto couldn't stop himself from falling onto his back when a slight breeze that made its way into the crater pushed him backwards. It was only then, as he laid there at the bottom of a crater he had created laying next to a man that he had killed, did Naruto see the two men at the top of the crater... two men wearing the headbands of Konoha...

...

In the end, nothing mattered but the continued domination of Konoha over the rest of the shinobi world.

It was the creed that all those who served Root lived and died by. They were the most loyal and most obedient of all servants of Konoha, as all tools should be. They neither questioned nor discarded their orders, succumbed to their emotions or even thought of betraying their village.

They had sacrificed everything they owned, their own emotions and even their names in order to serve their homeland, as all loyal tools should. But today was special. Today was the day that would mark Konoha's rebirth as a world power.

Naruto Uzumaki, genin of Konoha, student of the Toad Sage, unofficial son of the Forth Hokage and container of the nine tailed demon fox. By all accounts he was almost as loyal to Konoha as any member of Root was, a rare feat for a non member. But in the end he was still a tool of Konoha and Lord Danzo had wisely judged that he would be able to serve his village better dead then alive.

While it was standard for Root members to rid themselves of such silly things as Want or Regret, both men still felt a small but weird sense of longing to inform the now dead jinchuuriki that he hadn't just been discarded just like any tool that had outlived its usefulness. That his death would be what forced Konoha to become more militant , to rally those who would normally object to such a thing to the cause. That Konoha would truly become great once more without the pathetic teachings of the Third weakening it anymore.

They didn't though, for they were trained better then that.

Silently jumping into the crater, they went about doing their secondary objective: Recovery.

While they wouldn't be able to take the bodies of either Naruto or this so called 'Baron' back to Konoha in order to ensure that they were found by more legally acknowledged sources, they would be more then able to salvage certain items of interest. Namely, some pieces of the 'Baron's' armor and his weapon. Having witnesses the attacks that the armor had gone through, the fact that it was still mostly intact was surprising to say the least while the weapon hadn't even suffered any damage despite undergoing the same treatment.

One of the two went to pick up the sword while the other went to work on removing the dead man's helmet.

Just as the helmet man placed his hands on the bottom of the piece of armor, planning to remove it with ease, the suddenly clanging of metal on the ground caught his attention. Turning his head towards his partner, he was almost surprised to find a block of ice completely encasing his fellow Root member completely, the sword having slipped from its grasp when the ice that made up the block had overtaken the nameless man's hands.

Suddenly turning towards the top of the crater with a kunai in his hand, the last thing he saw was a creature that seemed to be made of bone dressed in a rich looking purple robe of unknown design as a ball of blue entered his chest, freezing his heart and the blood running too and from it in his veins, killing him instantly.

...

Back in his days amongst the living, Amal'thazad had always known that life sometimes gave you lemons. The fact that all life seemed to have for him was lemons had been what had lamentably driven him to the arts of Necromancy and the Scourge in the first place.

Sadly, even undeath had its hidden little pains in the ass and the one that bothered him the most was one Baron Orbaz Bloodbane, loyal servant of the Lich King and all around jackass. When the new land had been discovered the King had wisely decided to send in a small scouting force in order to get an idea of what was waiting for them there, as well as enough plague in order to raise an army if need be. Out of all the Lich's that had tried to get their metaphorical foot in the door with this opportunity, Amal'thazad was thrilled when he was selected for the task of gathering information.

Much to his misfortune, Bloodbane was selected to be in charge of security.

This was a problem because, once they had arrived and set themselves up in an abandoned farm in the middle of nowhere, it became apparent that Bloodbane's idea of 'defense' was to take the offensive. Stealing the samples of the plague they had brought with them without telling him, Bloodbane unleashed it on a number of towns and villages, mostly raising zombies, skeletons and a couple of hundred or so ghouls.

To make things worse, the man couldn't lead the army he had created out of a wet paper bag. He was as incompetent as he was arrogant and for a Death Knight or anyone who served the King of the Frozen Throne, incompetence was a crime that wasn't forgiven. Thankfully for himself, Amal'thazad had made sure that he would not share the Death Knight's fate when their master discovered his many blunders.

It had taken much effort, but the Lich had been able to recruit a dozen or so members of the local population to the Cult of the Damned, giving him at least a small spy network to use. And what information he received! Within the first few days he had learned so much of these 'Elemental Nations' and he knew he had only touched the surface.

But his most important discovery was the reason why Bloodbane's stupid attempts at taking the land through force had failed: The Shinobi.

They were better fighters then most Warriors, capable of feats of stealth greater then any mere Rogue, could heal injuries and illnesses as well if not better then a Priest, could twist creation and the elements like a Shaman or Mage and according to some rumors some of them could summon and control powerful demons better then any Warlock could dream of. Most amazing of all was the fact that any single one of them could do all of this! And those were only fringe benefits for joining the club.

He had tried to get some test subjects or the remains of Shinobi in order to discover just why they could do all these things, but once again Bloodbane failed to deliver. Oh sure, he was able to give him a corpse every once in a while but they were normally the low ranked acolytes called 'Genin' and thanks to Bloodbane and his horde there normally wasn't enough left intact to discover anything at all.

But things had suddenly turned for the better. Suddenly, he had three nearly perfectly intact bodies of Shinobi that were clearly higher grade stuff then mere Genin and one of them had even KILLED Bloodbane! It was a joyous day! If he had still have legs he might have danced he was so happy. But he didn't and he had an audience of ghouls and the few Cult of the Damned members he had been able to enlighten... He might just do a twirl later, when no one was looking.

"Lord Amal'thazad, what do you wish us to do with the bodies of the shinobi and former Baron Bloodbane?" the current head of his little branch of the cult asked respectfully, as was proper.

"Gather the remains of the shinobi and the fool together. We will be taking them back to Northrend with us. Afterwards, destroy all evidence that we were even here to begin with."

" Why are we taking back the remains of Bloodbane? Hasn't his constant failures earned him the punishment of final death?"

" The fool's parts might still be useful for the Lich King's designs, even if only to return Bloodbane from the grave long enough so he might have the pleasure of putting the fool there himself. Besides, his armor is far too useful to simply throw away. Another Death Knight will need armaments after all."

" Of course Lord Amal'thazad. But are you sure you wish to go to the effort of repairing such a damaged suit of armor? At this point it might be easier to just melt it down and forge a whole new set."

"What are you talking about? The armor shouldn't be..." Making a closer examination of the fallen Bloodbane's armor, Amal'thazad was honestly surprised by the fact that it had been damaged at all, let alone so badly. Each piece seemed to have dozen of large cracks running through it while chunks of the metal in the right arm, left leg and chest plate were completely missing, adding even more cracks in what remained. "That... is interesting."

Interesting didn't even cover half of what the Lich was feeling right now. It was no secret that Bloodbane's armor had been made almost completely from Saronite, a dark and twisted metal that was infamous for being next to impossible to damage, let alone destroy. When he had seen the fool's dead body he had assumed (quite correctly) that the blond had taken advantage of the gaps in the armor where the metal didn't cover, like the connection between the joints or the eye holes to land the death blow.

He had ensured that this happened when he...suggested to the blond that the best course of action was to finish the death knight off. He was that worn from the battle he didn't notice that the idea wasn't his own.

But to be able to damage Saronite armor like this... it was unheard of. Many had tried to do such a thing before but this was the first time he had ever seen or heard of anyone succeeding.

The lich turned his attention back to the Blond haired boy who had not only been a thorn in the side of Bloodbane's plans, but had also ended the arrogant fools life. The boy was powerful, that was certain. Not as powerful as the fool had been though; Despite his flaws when it came down to leading others into battle, Bloodbane was a rather high ranked member of the Scourge for a reason. If he had taken his battle with the blond seriously from the start, the boy would not have lasted long against the onslaught that the death knight could've unleashed for long.

But the dice had already been cast... and there was much potential here...

"Your orders Lord Amal'thazad?"

"Gather the remains of the fallen and prepare them for the trip through the portal to Icecrown. The two unknown shinobi are to be handed over to the research and development department. Bloodbane and the blond are to be presented to the Lich King himself. Take extra care of both of them. Anyone who fails in such a simple task will feel the full extent of my wrath. Once we are ready to leave, all remaining evidence we were even here is to be destroyed. Understood?"

"Yes Lord Amal'thazad. We will get on it right away."

With a low bow, the leader of the cultists started to shout orders to the other cultists, getting the mob running about to perform the tasks given of them.

Amal'thazad simply continued to examine the remains of the blond shinobi who had freed him from the fool of a death knight he had been forced to listen too. While his cultists heard his voice when he spoke, he was speaking only to himself, his powers over the arcane and his experience with the dark arts of necromancy giving him a rare gift of foresight.

"From this defeat, will come many victories."

...

Three hours later.

When Sakura, Shino, Kiba and Akamaru arrived at the farm that had been there target from the beginning, they were scared of what they might find. Naruto had promised to join up with them once he was finished here and he never came. Either he had broken his promise or something had gone really wrong.

When all they found at the farm was burning rubble and a large crater in the ground, they all somehow knew it was the latter. There was no body. Not Naruto's, not a zombies... it was just... empty.

"Kiba, can you smell Naruto anywhere?" Sakura was clearly trying to keep the fear out of her voice, but she was quickly failing in her task.

Kiba sniffed the air and sighed in a defeated manner. "There's nothing here. It's as if someone completely purged all the possible scents that were here. All I can smell is us, smoke and ash."

"Shino, please tell me that you planted one of your bugs on him!" Sakura demanded, but the underling pleading tone in her voice was easy to hear.

Shino was silent for a few seconds as he listened to his hive before pushing his glasses up, his eyebrows pointed downwards. The hive buzzed loudly for a few seconds before returning to a barely heard buzz. "While I planted a female on Naruto, I am afraid that none of my males are able to pick up her scent. This could either mean that she is dead or something happened to prevent them from smelling her. If it is the latter, I will admit that I have never heard of something strong enough to block out the scent of a female kikaichū before."

Sakura was clearly starting to freak out at the news. Naruto was missing and suddenly there is no way to track him down! This happened far too professionally to have been the undead rotting bodies they had been killing for the last week or so.

Trying to calm Sakura down, it was surprisingly Kiba who said "Look, I know it looks bad. But maybe if go a little distance away from the farm and sniff around we might be able to catch his scent? Maybe the guys who did this forgot to cover their tracks completely?" it was a pathetic hope, but it was all they currently had. It did calm Sakura down a little though. "What are we waiting for? Naruto needs our help!"

They searched for a solid four hours, trying to catch a single whiff of either Naruto of Shino's missing female kikaichū over a solid four miles away from the farm. All they found was the overpowering smell of rotten flesh.

In silence, they turned back to Konoha defeated. They didn't say a word to each other on the way back, but the silence was broken every now and then by a sob from Sakura.

Naruto was gone.

AN: This is now officially my longest single submission ever. It is also my first attack at a battle scene (In this case, Naruto verses Orbaz Bloodbane). I will confess, I wasn't planning on using Bloodbane at first. I was going to use a completely OC Death Knight but whenever I thought of the word Arrogant Bloodbane kept popping into my mind. I hope it turned out well.

I also tried to keep things as realistic as possible, such as the strength of Saronite.

If you are reading this and would like me to continue, I currently have a poll set up on my profile that I would like you to use. This would be considered 'Other Projects'.

Please review it. I cannot stress this enough. Without your input I won't know if this was any good or not. So if you like it, tell me and everyone who is on the fence about reading this story so by leaving a positive review.

I am currently debating just what I want Naruto to become. While a Death Knight is the clear cut answer, there are other things in the Scourge army that the blond could be shaped into as well, along with the 'Experimental' creations made all the time. Suggestions?

Other then that, thank you for taking the time to read all twelve pages of this.

Goodnight everybody!