The Ashbringer: Shinobi of the Light

Chapter 25: Burn

OMAKE ADDED!

Kakashi's Raikiri clashed against Frostmourne, said blade not even bending at the penetrating force of the ninja's attack. Arthas pushed him back, raising his blade to parry the hammer Gorley shot at him, and then the downward slash that followed right after. The ground actually broke under his feet, creating a small crater from the sheer might of the blow. The Lich King didn't even grunt.

And while Gorley fell back, a massive fireball the size of a large rock came rushing for his head. Arthas rose one hand, creating a shield of snow and ice, which nullified the attack, swallowing and diminishing the fire.

"Is that all?" he said as the winds around him subsided. The three combatants stood ready, preparing for another attack.

"Then it's my turn." Arthas pointed the tip of Frostmourne at them, and the runes on the blade began to glow with power.

"Annihilation…!" streams of ice sharp as a razor cut through the air and straight at them. They all jumped out of the way to avoid the deadly barrage which, despite their effort, kept on.

Naruto and his teammates watched in amazement as the battle went on, with the Lich king fighting them unfazed, struck by a few attacks but not bent in the slightest, while the warriors had a hard time keeping themselves alive against his own attacks, which devastated the land and froze the world around them.

With the Lich King distracted in his fight, Richard found the chance to send some of the minions against him, but it was to little avail as the prudent ghouls and abominations couldn't withstand even one blow from Arthas, who could shatter them with a single hand or freeze and cleave them with Frostmourne.

Gorley charged in once again, the Ashbringer and Frostmourne clashing, their two powers struggling against each other.

The dwarf looked into the lich king's deathly eyes, and all he saw in them was death, destruction, the void…

"Countless souls you have brought in agony, you damn bastard. The moment you were born was a disgrace to all life!" Gorley pushed, hatred fueling his strength.

"Complementing me won't save you, dwarf." Arthas pushed him back, slashing at him with Frostmourne. Gorley avoided the strike, but the tip of the blade managed to chip him shoulder, creating a small cut.

He could immediately feel that spot going sore, then numb, and after a few moments, he couldn't feel his shoulder at all. Gorley fell back to heal his shoulder, and with the help of the Light the wound healed and quickly disappeared, along with its effects.

"This is no time to sit back and enjoy the view mate!" Poll reprimanded him, and then blinked away to avoid a vicious strike from Artha's blade. Gorley raised his sword at the last moment to parry the following blow, saving his own life.

"Surrender, to the chill of the grave!" Arthas pushed, making the dwarf bend to his knees. Gorley grunted as he fought with every inch of his body to keep the Lich King at bay.

Lighting and thunder cracked behind them.

"Double Lighting Blade!" Kakashi charged in with both hands wielding a Raikiri in each, striking at Arthas's defenseless back. The Lich King howled in pain as the attacks found home and the lighting surged through his body, but even the excessive penetrating power of a lighting blade wasn't enough to go through his armor.

Both Gorley and Kakashi jumped back, panting and winded. It was Kakashi's strongest move, and there had been little to no real damage done. Gorley took a moment to steady his trembling hands, numb from the parry.

Arthas straightened himself and grunted, his merciless eyes glaring at his opponents. "You mortals have been entertaining… but I have little time for your pathetic games."

And with that he took a step back, brought Frostmourn to his waist and began channeling a spell. Anything alive within range could feel the surge of power that was building up rapidly, a power far exceeding any that Arthas had displayed in the whole fight. Gorley's eyes opened wide in terror.

"EVERYONE! Take cover! Hide! NOW!" he yelled and as fast as his short legs could take him, he run for dear life at the chapel. Kakashi and Poll quickly followed, and the civilians, already fleeing in terror, were like little more than headless chicken trying to hide from a predator.

"Close the door! Move!" Kakashi yelled as the Lich king rose his blade to the sky. Finishing a devastating spell known as 'Frostmourn's Wrath', Arthas unleashed all the power that he had built up to relinquish the world around him of all warmth and life, killing anyone and anything within a large radius around him instantly. Many civilians died on the spot, their bodies pale like a bloodless corpse before they even hit the ground. Kakashi and his team, along with their companions, had already fled inside the chapel, barely escaping death.

"What are we going to do? He'll kill us all!" A civilian yelled, his expression one of pure terror, very much like all the rest of them in there.

Sakura finally let her knees give way. She had been standing as tall and strong as she could up until now, but that overwhelming presence, that coldness, that power…

She couldn't handle it.

Sasuke and Naruto were both sweating profoundly, scared beyond measure at the likely outcome of this fight. Kakashi hid his Sharingan, trying to conserve what little chakra he could, while Gorley called upon the Light to heal their injuries, slowly, as he too was tired.

"It will take him a few minutes to recover from that spell and attack. The holy ground of this chapel can only stall his recuperation for a mere minute or two." Gorley spoke as he healed a scratch over Poll's arm, were his robes had been torn.

"More than enough time I say." Kakashi spoke, reaching into his pouch.

"This one will be dangerous, and I need all of us, I mean ALL of us, to co-operate." He pointedly shot a look at Richard, who, for once, seemed pretty serious as he glared back, not moving an inch from his throne.

"I already have my hands full keeping those stupid pieces of flesh out of your way. Don't ask for more, or I'll feed you to Skel." He glared even harder.

"Who's Skel?" Poll asked curiously despite the moment.

"My undead pug!" Richard said happily as he procured out of nowhere a bony animation of a pug.

The little thing woofed and wagged its tail happily.

XxxxX

Outside the small chapel, Arthas was once again rising to his feet after the attack he unleashed. It always took a lot out of him to complete this spell, but the results were quite to his liking.

A large number of corpses littered the area around him, undead and human alike…

In silence his gaze washed over the carnage and for a few silent moments he contemplated his next course of action. Within him though, a far more loud conversation was taking place…

…

….

"Silence, you fool!" Ner'zhul grunted as he paced back and forth within his own mindscape, the orc's spirit shimmering in hate and malice.

Before him, in the most corner of his mind, was the Menethil prince, or rather, a small blonde child.

"What… what madness have I wrought…" he sobbed to himself and continued his cries. Ner'zhul, annoyed, pointed a finger at the boy, but a small shield made of light repelled his spell.

The spirit grunted once again in utter annoyance. How could he ever have known that a small, tiny, innocent part of Arthas could still be alive within him? Frostmourne should have had corrupted the prince from head to the very last toe!

But Ner'zhul always underestimated the power of the Light. Even this monster of hell that he had created in the body of Arthas, a small part of his soul still resisted him, still denied him full control, otherwise he would have already wrought devastation to the whole of this world and Azeroth too was he not held back by this tiny conscience.

And to make this even more aggravating, the Light still protected him! He could not harm this stupidly small part of Arthas and neither corrupt it because of that damned Light shield!...

In the end, Ner'zhul understood that, even with using the most powerful force in the universe, the Light would never bend. Such was its power.

He discarded that small stupid part of Arthas and returned to the front of their/his mind, where darkness, malice and a need for destruction only existed…

XxxxX

The chapel door opened and through the flames a shadow leapt outside, drawing Arthas' attention who rapidly turned to face his foe.

Naruto stood as tall as his young frame allowed, the Ashbringer in hand.

The Lich King squinted at the boy, then laughed a malevolent laughter.

"I just wish that it would be worth killing you, boy."

"Oh you'll be surprised…" Naruto smirked as he charged forward, clashing his blade against Arthas' Frostmourne. To little avail though, as the lord of the dead didn't seem to even put any effort into blocking the attack.

'Maybe with a small burst…' Naruto thought as he channeled the Light through his blade, making it blaze in its might.

It was then that Arthas grunted against the weight of justice.

In the following seconds the two swordsmen exchanged rapid strikes, clashing their swords again and again. Both of them always relied more on the power of their weapon rather than speed, so if one on-looked from afar all he could see was a dance of light and darkness flickering among the ruins.

Frostmourne couldn't cut through the Ashbringer and the latter couldn't shatter the first. As the stalemate continued, Naruto finally gathered the courage to look up into his opponent's eyes. What he saw there shocked him.

In between the flickers of light and fiery steel their weapons made as they clashed, Naruto, if only for a brief, fragile moment, behind the crown of the Lich King saw a pair of sad eyes, sad blue eyes like his, shattered in tragedy, swallowed in darkness.

And in the next moment the cruelty, the hate, the malice that seemed to eternally burn in his eyes returned ten-fold.

With a vicious strike Arthas sent the blonde boy backwards. Naruto parried the attack and his feet dragged against the ground, barely holding him steady.

"To think that someone so young could become the next Ashbringer… Tirion was a bigger fool than I previously thought. What a shame…" he bantered with himself, barely noticing the hateful glare Naruto gave him from behind the Ashbringer, or rather, not registering it as a threat.

"Tirion-sensei…" Naruto began and the Light within his sword flickered.

"Was the only light in a world filled to the brim with the darkness of solitude… I don't expect you to understand that, Arthas." It was the first time that Naruto used the Menethil's name.

"Were you ever alone? Were you ever unable to trust your own shadow, fearing its hateful glares?" Surprisingly, Arthas said nothing as the boy continued.

"You think you know how to hate, but you are weak. Succumbing to the darkness, that alluring darkness for a purpose not your own… merely a pawn in the game."

"He may seem like an all-mighty emperor of evil, and he truly is such a monster, but in reality Arthas himself was just a weak-willed human, who fell to the charming promises of darkness." Tirion sighed heavily, as memories filled his eyes.

"I… have lost much in my life, kid. My own son…" He didn't elaborate.

"If there is one thing I have learned…"

"Why don't you flee, boy? How can you think that you will ever be a match, for the king of the dead?" Arthas taunted, pointing Frostmourne at Naruto.

"Honor, you scumbag, no matter how dire the battle is…" his eyes turned feral.

"NEVER!" a blast of power filled his blade, red and gold mixed to create a vivid orange that reverberated to the very ground, causing it to quake.

"FORSAKE IT!" and like a blast of Light Naruto charged Arthas, who gathered his own power to parry the blow.

"If you think loneliness is enough pain…" Arthas finally pushed Naruto back, who skittered away and touched down, breathing heavily, sweat forming on his features.

"Try some agony, taste some fear, bear the burden of a thousand souls, the whole world on your shoulders!" It sounded more like he was proud of himself.

Or rather enjoyed it.

"Oh the agony and the darkness! When I am done with this world, it will be a primary production stage for my Scourge armies. Even in death boy, there can be only one. True. KING!" Pointing Frostmourne at Naruto, now Arthas sent a chain of energy towards the boy. Stunned by the unexpected attack and the strain of his previous own, Naruto could do little to nothing to dodge. He took the strike, and the chains immediately went for his neck, chocking him. The Ashbringer dropped to the ground.

"In the end, taking your soul might be worth something." Naruto screamed in pain as his very essence was drawn into the sword…

And then Arthas stopped, stunned on his own. He immediately dropped the chain and clutched at his chest, grunting in pain and breathing heavily.

"What is this… demonic… energies…?" he was practically also made from demonic energies, but taking on their corruption could make him lose control of his minions, his armies, draining demonic powers would unbalance all of his strength.

That was the moment everyone had waited for.

Arthas, while being stunned by the demonic energies he had absorbed, was helpless to avoid Kakashi as the ninja dived in for the kill. With a lone sharingan spinning wildly, his Raikiri wielding hand struck straight for the Lich King's heart. Without the fear of being struck down by the blade, Kakashi pushed hard on that advantage, denting and piercing Arthas' armor while he could only grunt and take the damage.

But not being able to keep the technique alive for long, Kakashi's attack didn't pierce Arthas himself and so he fell back, leaving room for his two companion's and getting to tend on his student, Naruto.

As he was preparing to stand back on his feet and grant his assailants a miserable and torturous death, Gorley rushed in with a hammer of Light in his hands, smashing it on the still recovering Arthas. A second too late had he been and he would have been slashed by Frostmourne.

With the weakened Lich King stunned for a few vital seconds, Poll and Sasuke popped in the scene, nodding to each other.

Together they began their respective techniques, Poll mumbling magic words while Sasuke went through seals.

"Katon: Gokakyou no Jutsu!" Sasuke exclaimed as from his mouth flew a massive fireball two times Arthas' size, while a fireball of much smaller scale but packed with concentrated power shot from Poll's hands.

Arthas mustered his power to block the attacks with his gauntlet, yet the force of them both was enough to let him fly above the ground.

Sakura then dived in, right underneath Arthas and gathered all the power she could muster in her right hand. Runes and purple circles of arcane energy adorned her skin, a courtesy of Poll, empowering her following attack.

"Sanarooo!" she cried and slammed her fist on Arthas' back, him howling in pain as he was shot to the sky.

Kakashi shot up for the final strike, gathering chakra in his feet to boost himself from atop a roof up to the sky, right above Arthas. Both of his hands crackled with the illuminating light of a Raikiri.

"Double Lighting Quake!" and with both hands outstretched he pierced straight through Arthas' form like a blur, landing gracefully without a scratch on the ground while the Lich King crashed like thunder, kicking up dust and debris, the land quaking from the force.

Kakashi's demeanor faltered and he nearly fell on his face, but managed to keep himself on one knee. He hastily hid his sharingan, trying to conserve any and all energy, panting heavily from the consecutive strikes he had to deal. So many lighting blades in one day took a heavy toll on him.

Gorley emerged with Naruto clinging on the dwarf's shoulders, soon followed by Sakura, Poll and Sasuke. Even Richard, strangely silent for once, stood among them.

Kakashi smiled "Well… glad this one's over…" he panted out. Richard raised an invisible eyebrow at him.

"On the contrary, oh so frivolous friend, I think you've pissed him so much he is now bent on raping your whole family tree."

They heard a grunt from the debris and everyone turned with wide, fearful eyes towards the site. Arthas, clinging to Frostmourne, slowly stood to one knee, grunting.

"It's been… a long time… since lowly vermin such as you managed to go this far…" he was obviously shaken by the previous barrage, but he didn't seem nowhere near being dead.

Arthas rose from the debris, the glowing coldness of his eyes the first visible thing.

"It is time to end this charade."

Kakashi made an effort to stand in a battle stance, but it was futile as his knees buckled underneath him, spent. Gorley looked at the Ashbringer, but the blade was firmly clasped in Naruto's hands, so the dwarf went for his own trusty mace, even if he knew that it would be to little avail.

"The Lich King is crude and reckless in all his viciousness. Be ready for an opening." The dwarf spoke and Poll nodded, he and Sasuke having much fight in them still.

Icy tendrils formed on Frostmourne's tip.

"Die." And as if a verdict was to be executed, lances of ice shot towards the group like a blizzard.

Poll was quick to raise a wall of fire to protect his friends, making the lances melt and drop as harmless water.

Even though impressed, Arthas didn't relent as his power rose. Snow and chilling winds started to kick up around him, as if the air itself was freezing at his presence. As a maelstrom of coldness he approached them.

"Naruto! Kakashi! Fall back! We'll handle the rest!" Gorley shouted but when he turned to his right to address Naruto, the boy was already gone.

"What the… that fool!" he yelled as he saw Naruto charging at Arthas.

With a fierce yell the blonde poised his sword to strike, a beacon of fierce light as he striked Arthas with all his might.

Yet he was swatted like a candle in a snowstorm…

Arthas parried the blow and with one swift movement sent the blonde boy flying sideways. Not sparing a second glance, Arthas kept on towards the group of mortals that dared defy him.

"Even here the glorious Light haunts me… how pathetic." He chimed, reffering to the paladin-hood that Gorley and Naruto shared.

"No matter, you, the last of your kind, shall perish here on this very ground, and rise once again to serve me!" he laughed, and that hollow laughter froze their hearts.

Kakashi, his eyebrows forming a visible scowl, eyed towards his student, who was lying apparently unconscious on one side, ignored by the Lich King. Maybe that was the chance they needed…

But would Naruto recover in time?

XxxxX

"Tazuna-san, it's a little quiet don't you think…" Hinata asked warily as she and her team stepped down the path, the usual sounds of nature around them silent, with no sign of life whatsoever. Even the sun up in the sky didn't seem to move, like the whole world had frozen, even though it was ridiculous for that to be.

"Indeed, usually the birds make quite the ruckus at such an hour." Tazuna said, eyeing his surroundings warily.

Kurenai was frigid, preparing herself mentally and bodily for combat, fearing for an ambush at any moment, yet trying hard not to be paranoid about it. This could be a genjutsu, but it had to be a really powerful one for her and Hinata's byakugan to not be able to dispel.

"Hey, I see someone in the distance!" Kiba exclaimed loudly and they all turned their attention down the road. Hinata activated her bloodline and squinted towards the figures.

She gasped.

"What's the matter? Hinata, what do you see?" Kurenai implored, as the girl in question quickly deactivated her Byakugan.

"It's… people, running away, terrified…" she said, but her tongue seemed strained, as if she was forcing the words out of her mouth. Kurenai scowled.

Hinata glanced at her teacher.

"They're being hunted down… by monsters… they seem… alive but… they have no chakra… sensei… they are dead…" she spoke fearfully, this being her first time that she saw an actual undead.

"I confirm that statement. My bugs sense no chakra from the assailants whatsoever." Shino spoke up. Then he paused.

"Plus they taste horribly."

Kiba put on a ridiculous face "Well, it's not like I'd eat a zombie or something even if you forced me…"

"Enough chatter, these people need help! Shino, stay and protect Tazuna at all costs!" Kurenai spoke and the Aburame nodded, taking position in front of the bridge-builder.

As Team 8 rushed to the rescue, Hinata couldn't help the feeling of dread that was building up inside her as if something… someone… was in danger. In perish.

"RUN! Run for your life!" a village yelled as he sprinted beyond Team 8. Kurenai made haste to grab one of the runners for questioning, before he could escape.

"Answer me! What's going on here? What are those things?" The terrorized villager glanced between the woman and the undead.

"Those things? I don't know! I was soundly taking a nap and next thing I know these monsters are gutting my whole family! Please! My daughter is all I have left! Let me get to her!" he pleaded desperately, and Kurenai grunted as she let him go, displeased at the lack of information.

"Looks like we'll have to make do with just killing them…" she spoke.

"Team! Scattered formation! Our objective is to protect the remainder of the villagers! Watch your backs… and stay alive." She touched both their shoulders, and even though scared and sweating, her students prepared themselves for combat.

She had to admit though, even she couldn't help the urge to vomit as these monsters humans in half…

XxxxX

"Shall I call in the troops, sir?" an orc asked Thassarian, who watched the carnage at the Waves village from atop a hill. He shook his head.

"No, not yet. It is not the time for the world to know our presence yet, brother." He spoke, watching with careful, calculating eyes the carnage bellow.

"Sir, if I may, but lord Darion has already sent messengers to this world's leaders, hasn't he?" the orc continued, his voice unsure.

Thassarian sighed "Indeed he has, but only to the leaders. Very few denizens of this world know of our presence, and most of these few work for us. Now go, dispatch a group of our warriors to the northern side of this village, tell them to kill all scourge in sight, ignore the humans. The rest shall be on stand-by. Oh, and bring me the new guy." He ordered.

The orc nodded "Suffer well." He saluted, and left Thassarian alone.

The death knight sighed, grasping a locket within his pocket, an image of his sister flashing within his mind…

"Suffer well…"

Thassarian grabbed his runeblade, and with it in hand departed from the hill silently.

XxxxX

"I think… this is the last of them." Kurenai said, panting. Her students nodded as they all jumped away from the small field of battle, greatly unnerved by the gruesome corpses of the undead.

Kiba had to block his nose, above all, for the stench was overwhelming.

On the other hand, Hinata still couldn't shake the feeling of uneasiness from her heart. Something… terrible was happening within this village. Something dark and evil was stirring and churning in there. And she could feel it… if only very distinctly, she could feel a couple of beacons of light within that darkness.

As she rose her eyes to the sky, an illusion of shorts took over here as shadows crept through every crevice of fire and smoke and any visible patch of blue. That shadow devoured everything, leaving only a void behind.

And the source of it all was at the center of the village.

Then she felt it, that so familiar warmth that washed over her whenever Naruto used the Light, a feeling of security that bathed her in comfort from the beacon of the blonde's powers.

Yet the darkness she was feeling rose and devoured Naruto's light, extinguishing it. In a moment, all the warmth in the world faded, and Hinata's calming mind was now blank with one terrible idea.

With his light put out so suddenly…

Could Naruto be dead…?

"Hinata!" Kurenai could do little to stop the girl as she sprinted into the burning village, not a care for corpses, undead, fleeing villagers, fire or debris, shadows or demons, all that she cared about on that particular moment, maybe the first moment in her life that was her actually following her heart to the fullest, was to find, and help Naruto.

If he was still alive.

She prayed with all her heart, to any Kami or Light that may be hearing her.

XxxxX

Gorley was clever enough to avoid parrying or any other contact with Frostmourne, for he knew that his mace could never withstand a direct hit. Only two blades in the world could stand up to this sword, the one, was held in the hands of the fallen blonde, and the second…

No one knew the whereabouts of Shadowmourne after the fall of Icecrown Citadel. The blade, along with its wielder, was lost.

Still, in the heat of battle, it was hard to not parry a blow purely by instinct, thus ending his life.

Not one to be held back by such fears though, Gorley's battle-hardened mind kept up against the Lich King, if only barely, and only because Poll and the child named Sasuke were there to assist him.

Even though he could read the Lich King's movements though, his body was taking the whole tax. Soon he began to move slower, more clumsily, while Arthas' assault was relentless.

"Poll…!" he yelled in desperation as one of the strikes nearly gutted him.

Knowing what that call heralded, Poll quickly turned to Sasuke.

"Kid, fall back! Now! Or else you'll get caught in it!" he yelled and Sasuke, even though reluctantly, obliged, not knowing what kind of powers these two still had in store.

Poll began chanting a spell, and soon a fireball the size of a human head began to form between his hands. Quickly the ball gained in size and Sasuke, far away from the two, could feel its heat even at this distance.

"Gorley!" Poll yelled as he finished his incantation and shot the gigantic fireball, now the size of a Gokakyou but packed with the destructive force of chaotic magic, shot towards the duelers like a bullet.

Gorley, already knowing how to move in this encounter, quickly arose a shield around himself that provided immunity to the outside world for a few brief seconds.

Yet a few brief seconds were all that he needed.

Falling back, The Lich King stopped his pursuit, knowing that hitting a paladin warped in a Divine Shield was futile. Yet a little too late did he notice the gigantic sphere of power that was shooting towards him.

In the last moment the snowstorm around the Lich King rose to his aid and the two powers clashed with a thunderous roar as the fire burned the snow, creating thick mist around the Lich King, obscuring his vision.

The "Relentless Winter" around the Lich King was defeated from the might of the fireball, but he himself was unharmed.

Yet the purpose of that attack was to stall, not to kill.

Gorley, graced with the amount of time his friend had bought for him, was chanting a long, powerful hymn. Golden wings had formed on his back and the Light danced around him like a wild tornado.

Arthas knew this spell…

In years past, when he was just a boy, he had witnessed something that few mortals probably had. When the Crusade of the scarlet's was still pure, Uther the Lightbringer, first human paladin and his slaughtered by his own hand mentor, had used the very same spell.

The user amassed a tremendous amount of Holy Light within him, which with the help of "Avenging Wrath", the two wings of vengeance that were fueled from feelings of retribution, was boosted even higher.

It was the highest possible Exorcism spell in the fact that it could banish a Pit Lord to oblivion.

But the Paladin using it would be crippled for days.

Arthas gathered power in his arm, intent on stopping that spell from being cast. It reminded him… of what he once was.

And he loathed it.

A hand of power shot of his arm, going like a bullet for the paladin. Gorley opened his eyes, filled with Light and power and with a singular movement, all the pent up energy within him shot towards the Lich King, obliterating the death grip, hitting him with humongous force.

An explosion that shook the very earth commenced and everything, if only for a brief, fragile moment, was bathed in the glory of the light, a brief moment that resounded in eternity.

Naruto, shaken out of his unconsciousness a few moments before Gorley cast the spell, slowly sat up, rubbing his aching head and his sore body. He opened his eyes widely now, to clearly see that there was… nothing at all around him.

Everything was white.

Startled and a bit fearful, the blonde quickly stood up, yet quickly lost balance as there was no ground, no air, no nothing for his senses to navigate him.

Soon he stood up straight again, using the sight of his own body to guide his movements and the feeling of unseen earth under his feet.

"Where… am I?"

"… am I?"

"… am I…?"

"…I…..?"

His voice seemed to echo endlessly.

"You… are… Ashbringer…" a voice spoke, but he couldn't determine location, distance, not even if the words were spoken in that order or if it was just a jumble of noise. It felt as if it spoke directly into his mind.

"Who are you?" he yelled to nothing, looking around the whiteness, confused. The disorienting emptiness made him fall again.

"I am... I… Light… guide you… Descent… into darkness…"

"Darkness? Light? Guide me? What the hell are you talking about?" he yelled, now angered, at the eerie voice that didn't seem to be in a mood to make sense.

"You… must fight… persevere… Lich King… Ashbringer…" the voice seemed to become a little clearer, but it's hushed tone remained unchanged.

"Only… you… can kill… Arthas… End… his reign…" Naruto, frantically trying to absorb the small pieces of information the voice gave him, was shocked. Him? To kill that monster?

"I… can't do that! Haven't you seen him? We all fought together against him, and yet he keeps crushing us! He's… he's invincible…" shocked at his very self, Naruto fell to his knees as he realized what his words just now implied.

He was giving up. He was losing his determination. The icy chill of the Lich King's eyes was slowly burning away his very heart…

"Remember them… when in hope you doubt…" his eyes shot wide open and before him stood a creature of uncountable power. A body formed of crystals and a steady, rhythmic yet very calming humming where it's main characteristics as it floated before him, it's crystals all of a jagged style but still perfect and smooth in every way possible.

It didn't speak its name. It was as if Naruto instinctively knew. The Light was talking to him through his soul.

This was A'dal. Leader of the Naaru, the children of the light, powerful creatures blessed in its glory, harbingers of its will and devastators of evil, the very blade of the Ashbringer was crafted by a crystal that contained the very essence of a powerful Naaru. The soul of that Naaru existed in the glowing gem that floated near the tip of the blade and was the core of the sword's power.

Yet, like all Naaru, it had two aspects. The Naaru were Light but they could also be darkness. If the blade was corrupted by a dark soul then it would take on another, darker form than the blessed one it now had.

A'dal's presence though made Naruto forget all about… anything. Possibilities, life, death, love, compassion, hate, nothing of these mattered in the arms of the light. Heaven was bliss… literarily. It was warm and comforting and all worries and fears just washed away as a feeling of euphoria took over his whole being. Naruto forgot all about the hardships of his life, the prospects of his future, the love of his friends, the hate of his enemies. He forgot his very name.

No, the light didn't force all these away from him. It was his choice. He wanted to forget. For him, this childish arrogance of the world was bliss.

"…!" a ring, like the soft whistling of the wind. Naruto didn't open his eyes, lost in the comforting warmth of the Naaru.

"…to…!" that voice… he knew that voice… in all of this void that voice made sense where madness conquered, it brought light in the shadows of the day, it guided him…

"NARUTO!" he knew this voice… how could he ever forget anyhow? The voice of the one person in the world aside from Tirion to believe, trust, and love him…

Hinata…

XxxxX

"NARUTO!" Hinata yelled in desperation as she saw her fellow paladin and also her crush lie on the ground at the Lich King's feet. Hinata had no idea who that man was, but that didn't matter. The aura of evil that she was feeling to pulsate outwards of this village, the suffocating darkness that haunted her the moment she stepped in this area…

He was the source of it all.

"Let me go, shrimp! I have to save my student damn it! DAMN IT!" Kakashi shouted in outrage as Gorley wrestled to keep him down. With his previous attack they had bought themselves enough time to fall back towards the chapel. Using the behind door, they would escape. It was the best course of action considering their opponent and the circumstances.

The only flaw was that, with Naruto's current position, anyone who would go to grab and save him would end up morning food for Frostmourne.

And to put the cherry on the top, Team 8 had arrived on the battlefield. Kiba and Kurenai looked flabbergasted, if not disgusted too, at the sight before them, as countless corpses, undead and once living, littered the area. Guts, limbs, heads and generally scattered body parts lied everywhere and the corpses that were still intact weren't an eye candy either.

But Hinata paid those things no mind. Naruto, who lied unmoving at the feet of the Lich King, was her main concern.

Arthas was extremely weakened by that attack, but he would not let that show. A few sacrifices from his minions and he would recover somewhat. A couple of ghouls then fell to the ground, lifeless, as he absorbed their dark energy. Most of his troops in this area where already destroyed by either him or his enemies, but he cared little.

Before him lied the Ashbringer and its chosen champion. If he could put his hand on that blade, if he could claim that boy for his army…

Then any pitiful resistance that still remained would be forever vanquished. Any hope that these fools might have had nurtured would be snuffed out.

And then he felt it, a new presence, an annoying pest that stung like a thorn on his side.

"What do we have here?" menacingly, like a predator sizing his prey, he turned towards her with calculating cold eyes, spelling doom and curiosity. "Another harbinger of the Light? Another fire to extinguish." All patience decimated, the Lich King didn't waste a moment to shoot a haze of ice lances at Hinata.

With nerves ready for battle and a steeled resolve, Hinatas' flexible body had ilittle problem with dodging the projectiles.

Aside from a paladin, she was a shinobi. And shinobi are flexible. Cunning.

She had to lure him in melee combat, away from Naruto. It proved harder than anticipated, for he wouldn't budge an inch. Even so closing in on melee proved to be a disadvantage in the long run. The Lich Kings' armor rendered her Jyuuken useless. The enchanted metal let no chakra through and every slice from Frostmourne chilled the very air it cut. The very coldness around the Lich king made her body numb and the continued dodging was tiring her out.

Steadily she tried to absorb him into her own pace, falling back. He didn't seem to follow, keeping his wits about him, wary of trickery. She decided to go another way. Anger.

"Is that all the lord of the dead can muster?" her words didn't shake and her voice did not waver, but Arthas remained unresponsive. He simply reached out one hand, pulling her towards him with unseen force, poising Frostmourne in her trajectory. Hinata, in a small version of the Kaiten pushed chakra out of one side of her body to alter her course, barely missing being impaled but crashing on the Lich Kings' armor. With a yell and a thud she crashed before his feet, helpless in that stunned and dazed moment.

"to sacrifise your life for the one you love…" Arthas caressed Frostmourne's cold, runed surface as one of his boots came down on her side, immobilizing her. Hinata yelled in agony as her ribs broke under the weight.

"How foolish… how humane… it sickens me." Out of any sweet memory of gore and into reality, his blade came down to end her life.

XxxxX

"Are you going to… sit and watch as your mate gets butchered?" The Kyuubi asked with a fanged grin. Naruto looked down sadly.

"I can't… he's too strong… I have failed…"

Self accusation was another human thing that Kyuubi loathed. But it was still heavily amused and satisfied with his jailor's suffering. Naruto with only half a consciousness watched Hinata fight, putting her life on the line to protect him. Fear, anxiety, rage, hatred, sadness, all those feelings stirred and warped inside him like a maelstrom.

"Open your eyes kit. Watch. Her. DIE!" Kyuubi commanded with vicious glee and Naruto helplessly obliged. The Lich King was crushing her under his boot. His blade was ready to claim her soul. Images flew through his mind, her smiling, laughing face, her shy gestures, the kind, helpful demeanor, the lightweight wings of her soul that helped his own clipped ones soar once again…

Hinata was there, in many parts of his life, in many times of need. She cooked when he was penniless and hungered, she consolated him in earlier years when he got bullied, cheered him on his training, shared her problems as he shared his. She was a part of his life, more than a friend or a lover, a deep bond tied their souls, one of destiny. Her laugh and her tears… he loved them all.

So he clang on that resolve, made of love and tears, filled with the sands of time. With it he grasped his emotions and forged them into a single determination.

His eyes and will where no longer helpless.

Kyuubi looked satisfied as he saw his characteristic crimson chakra seep heavily into the blonde. Yet, even while enveloped in dark energies, the Light of his heart shone brightly.

XxxxX

A wave of red energy crashed into Arthas with his blade inches away from Hinata. He was sent flying, crashing into a house, decimating it.

Naruto stood with eyes full of murder. A cloak of red energy enveloped him, creating the shape of a fox with two tails. The Ashbringer in his hand had gained a jagged look similar to a chainsaw, while the golden hand orb was now a blood-red fox head.

Arthas rose from the debris and red and blue clashed, the fury of rage with the chill of the grave.

Naruto took a battle stance and grasped his sword with both hands, while Arthas poised Frostmourne. The enraged teen then shot out in a red haze, intent on brutally killing his opponent for touching the woman he loved and cherished.

They clashed and Naruto fought with all the valiance of his existence.

For Hinata.

XxxxX

I didn't have any ideas for an Omake, but thankfuly after a few days I came up with something that might be entertaining for some, boring for others :P Hope you enjoy.

WARNING: The following bollsheet are all meant for commical purposes and may/will/shall/shouldn't reflect the author's feelings or ideas over certain characters and circumstances. (M content)

When NARUTO eats ramen, a kitten somewhere in the world dies. Stop the agony!

HINATA is the first Hyuuga ever to develop a new doujutsu, the Stalk-u-gan (Trans: All-Stalking-Eye)

SASUKE isn't Emo nor Gay. It's called an Emotional Homosexual. (On a side-note, Gay in english literrarily means happy. No idea how it ever connected with homos.)

JIRAIYAS' research is ALL about WOMEN, while it refers to a MALE audience. Twisted logic.

PAIN is the cousin of KAIN from C&C.

FACT: A normal forest can sometimes cast Chidori. A thousand chirping birds.

CHOUJI is the reason the tailed beasts began to hide in jinchuuriki. Someone once told him they are tasty.

Nobody knows that INO is secretly cultivating man-eating plants. Nobody that's alive at least.

LEES' flying kisses aren't illusions, but real bombs meant for terrorism. Against females.

If you see GAI running around in his green spandex, hide your children. Presserve their innocence for at least a minute longer.

Everyone thinks that KAKASHI has a boner while reading Icha Icha in public, yet that boner is exactly like his face. No one has ever seen it.

KAKASHI (x2) is so fast at applying his mask, not even the nurse that helped give birth to him managed to see his face before he hid it.

ANKO loves Dango.

In deduction of that, ANKO loves balls.

NEJI sings the 'What a wonderful world' song in his mind everytime he goes 'Kaiten!' (Imagine that in slow motion and please tell me it's not hillarious.)

TENTEN loves weapons. Especialy the ones that kill.

SHIKAMARU is so lazy, his shadow is faster than him.

GAARA accidentanly once ate a bit of his sand. It tasted like chicken.

KANKURO wears completely black clothing in the middle of the desert. 'Nuff said.

TEMARI doesn't hate windy days. She MAKES them.

MADARA usually dreams of puppies, kittens, butterflies, ponies, unicorns, rainbows, and generaly all that kind of crap that he's gonna butcher and extinquish when he dominates the world.

When people called DEIDARA a cyclops, he called them 'You-have-5-seconds-to-run'.

SASORI has a multiple personality disorder. Hence the many puppets.

When ITACHI stares at you in the eye, you know you're in deep shit. You know you're in deeper shit if when he keeps staring.

When HONDER writes these kinds of shit, you will kindly leave a review stating at how horrendous this experience has been as it bit by bit scarred you for life and seared your very soul. Or made you do this face - -.-