"I was waiting, Orochimaru," Sarutobi stated, cracking his neck. "I was wondering how long it'd take for you to reveal that ugly face of yours. You used to be pretty, you know?"
"I dunno, old man, he's kinda pretty…" Naruko said, tilting her head. "In a really weird sort of way, too…"
"Naruko-chan, we're about to have a battle to the death here," Orochimaru said, smiling somewhat sinisterly. "I have no interest in killing you and doing so would make me very dead, very fast. But please, refrain from insulting me nonetheless. That's mean."
"We are not seriously having this conversation," Sarutobi muttered.
"Yes, we are," Orochimaru said. "Now, since I don't want to be killed horribly, I would say that we'd have to remove Naruko from the equation, wouldn't you say?" Orochimaru asked, turning towards Sarutobi.
"Well, yes, I'm sure my knights would—"
"While I'm sure they'd be angry, there are… others who have a vested interest in your survival, and I've already angered them enough as is," Orochimaru said, evenly.
"I'm surprised you're showing even this much forethought. You've always been the most reckless of my students," Sarutobi said, cracking his neck.
"Aren't you thinking of Jiraiya?" Orochimaru wondered, raising a delicate eyebrow.
"No, no. Jiraiya's problem is that he knows that what he's doing is stupid. He just does it anyway. He's less reckless and more, well, an idiot," Sarutobi said. "You, though? You're not an idiot. Or you wouldn't be, if you'd just stop to think."
"Uhm… you're gonna have a really epic fight, right?" Naruko asked. "That means I should get out of here, probably…"
"No. That'd be unnecessary," Orochimaru said. "What do you say we move this fight elsewhere?"
"Mistress, it's chaos outside, we have to move!"
Vita had crashed through the wall. Right next to the window. Given everything that had happened, Naruko wasn't sure if she was even in the real world anymore, or if this was just a really bizarre dream.
Shamal accompanied Vita. "Signum and Zafira have already cleared out a path. We'll have to avoid the skies, we can't fly very fast if we're carrying Naruko, and we're easy targets!"
Vita grabbed onto Naruko, causing her to squeak. "Sorry, but we don't have time!" she said, as the two knights retreated with their mistress.
"Well well, now that we are alone, shall we get started?"
To be fair, they didn't remain in the Kage Box for much longer, anyway.
A mere minute after they'd taken to the air, the two of the Wolkenritter tasked with guard duty saw a massive purple box surround the upper half of the building the Hokage had been in. The uppermost floor exploded, showing the Hokage, out of his robes, and Orochimaru, in the same outfit Signum had described him in, staring down each other.
"You guys… you have to help him! I know the old man's badass, but he's not invincible!" Naruko yelled, trying to squirm out of Vita's grip. "I'll be fine, go ahead and help him!"
Shamal shook her head. "I know how to help him quickly. Vita, go ahead, I'll catch up later."
Vita nodded. "Let's go, mistress, Shamal's got this!"
Naruko nodded. "Don't you dare let anyone lay a finger on you, okay?" she asked, glaring determinedly at Shamal. Her fellow blonde merely nodded with a smile. Naruko was forced to take in a sharp intake of breath when Vita accelerated them down, trying to avoid the skies where they were easily visible.
***
Signum and Zafira had cleared a workable path and seen Vita through it, though Naruko had insisted on covering several civilians as they too tried to find shelter from the chaotic fighting. They had to stick to less travelled roads, but eventually, they joined up with a bigger contingent, being herded by several chunin and teams of genin.
Zafira's animal features were out, and quite a few people were surprised long enough to be taken down without fuss.
Now that their mistress was away in safety, it was time to join the fighting for her home. While they held no loyalty for Konoha, nor did they truly wish to defend it for themselves, it was their mistress's home, and it was the place which she had once dreamed of ruling. Therefore, it was the place that the Knights of the Cloud would defend with their lives.
Provided, of course, that it didn't go against their prime directive, for obvious reasons.
That was why Signum and Zafira began cutting a path through the enemy shinobi in a vicious and bloody fashion. This… this was their element. The kind of carnage they unleashed was not foreign to them.
Deep down, on some level, they were tools of war. Made to protect, but just as able to destroy. And it showed. Whereas others hesitated or grew weary, the Wolkenritter managed to shine. Their allies around them seemed to gain new morale as they saw the tide of a fight that had caught them by surprise be turned. Little by little, Konoha had begun to repel the attackers.
The already well known legends or legends in the making began to shine.
Even old monsters in retirement came forth.
Weakened by age as they were, the Sandaime's old teammates were tempered by experience and honed by wisdom into a peerless edge, and they cut through the enemy like a wind jutsu through wheat. Even the old and crippled warhawk, Shimura Danzo, had made it clear why he was once considered Hiruzen's only rival.
The Hokage's own son had taken leadership of a sizable band of chunin and had actually managed to retake several of the key points that the invaders had taken at the start of the invasion, including the communications office, which re-established communications for the Konoha shinobi.
Maito Gai was making his name as Konoha's Azure Beast, well known and feared, blazing through the battlefield at ridiculous speeds and leaving nothing behind.
Even at the lowest level, the genin showed the famous Will of Fire, working in tandem to overpower dangerous opponents, with the Genin Teams that had participated in the exam displaying why they were chosen as worthy to represent Konoha in a different kind of battlefield than that of the Exams.
While Signum would never love this village, she could understand and respect her mistress's, as she saw it react to an attack. However, even if she believed they'd be fine without her help, she couldn't just return to her mistress and wait until the invasion was over, much as she wished to. She would not forgive herself if she did nothing while others fought around her.
"The enemy has summoned great beasts," Zafira mentioned through telepathy.
Signum nodded, closing her eyes. "I will take care of things on this side. Go help with that," she said.
Zafira nodded, and the two separated.