AN: So this is a bit of a tester chapter really. Recently I have been getting back into writing Naruto fanfics after having worked on my story 'Dead Man Walking'. This comes after I was beginning to lose interest due to a number of reasons. Luckily though I regained my enthusiasm and put aside some time to work on my stories. It was as I was working on them that I reread a story called 'Dawn's Sage' by 'Panory Bro' which I read a year or so ago. (Which by the way is a very entertaining read and something I recommend.)

After reading that I found myself inspired. So after sending the author 'Panory Bro' a message, and seeing his challenge to do your own version of his story. I decided to take him up on the offer, using his story as an influence as I wrote the first chapter for my new story; 'The Sage of the Hunt'. Whether anything comes of this I am not sure, this is more a tester chapter, to get peoples reactions as a sounding board.

At the moment I have a number of ongoing stories and a couple on permanent hiatus, but as always when the mood strikes you sometimes can't resist. That being said I will regularly update the stories I have ongoing, though I really do need to work out a proper schedule or just decide whether to focus only on a select few. I think it is worth some thought.

For this story Naruto will be two years older than he was in canon.

But anyway here is the first chapter of my story and I hope you all like it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

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Chapter 1

( - )

(In the Village Hidden in the Leaves, with Minato Namikaze)

Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage and leader of the Village Hidden in the Leaves was having a distinctly mixed day. The day had started out fine, just like any other. That was until Kushina Uzumaki, his secretly pregnant wife, had gone into labour, and October tenth had gone from a day like any other to a wonderful day, a day he would never forget, the day he became a father to his precious son, Naruto.

That had been the good part of his day, the bad part. Well the bad part of his day came in the form of some masked Shinobi claiming to be Madara Uchiha, a legendary and supposedly dead Shinobi from the Leaf Village, who had not only found out that Kushina had gone into labour. But had also found the secret, ANBU guarded cave where his son was born, a supposedly safe place where young Naruto could be brought into the world without Minato and Kushina's many enemies finding out.

Somehow this person claiming to be Madara Uchiha had not only gotten past the ANBU guards, all of them elite Shinobi. But he had also killed Minato's predecessor, Hirazun Sarutobi's wife, who was acting as Kushina's midwife. He had then kidnapped his son, a distraction he had used to lure Minato away from the tired and weakened Kushina. As Minato had gone to rescue Naruto, the masked man had taken Kushina, taking advantage of her weakened state he had released the Nine Tailed Demon Fox, a power and deadly entity called a Bijuu which had previous been sealed inside Kushina

With the Nine Tails released, the masked man had then gone on to unleash it in the middle of the Leaf Village, causing untold damage as the Demon Fox rampaged through the village killing and maiming hundreds. The masked man had then turned to managed to escape form Minato, just when the Fourth Hokage had had him too. If Minato lived through today, a feat getting less and less likely considering the despite the masked man having escaped, the Nine Tails still ran amuck, he would forever look upon October the tenth with mixed feelings.

However, Minato had to prioritize. And right now the biggest priority was dealing with the Nine Tails. The beast had so many legends spread about it and its fearsome power, and as far as he could see it lived up to every single one. Killing this kind of beast was beyond even the First Hokage, one of the most legendary and powerful Shinobi to have ever existed, as such it was definitely beyond his own skills. But while Minato might not have the Tailed Beast suppressing Wood Style that the First Hokage had had, he did have something the First didn't. Minato was a master at Sealing. All he had to do was keep the Nine Tails occupied long enough for him to finish his preparations to Seal the beast away.

Minato glanced warily at the nine raging tails which easily tore through anything that got in their way, giving up any hope of holding the Nin Tails down himself. Minato instead bit his thumb and rapidly ran through a number of the hand signs. He jumped above the Nine Tails and slammed his palm down. And in a puff of smoke the great beast was gone.

"Not quite gone yet," Minato reminded himself. Using the Flying Thunder God on two targets of such size was straining even for him. And he still had to get Kushina and… the container for the Nine Tails. "Gamabunta! I need you to hold this thing down while I prepare… the seal!" Minato shouted as he turned to look over at his colossal summon from the Toad Clan, one of the most powerful of the many Summoning Clans there were in existence.

"No promises, I might finish him off before you get back!" Gamabunta the large chief of the Toads replied. As it turned out, the new chief despite standing at close to fifty feet tall, still had a lot of growing to do, mentally. In the scarce minute that Minato was gone the Nine Tails had managed to slice his stomach despite the toad playing a careful defense. Any wounds inflicted by the toad's blade seemed to disappear within seconds. Gamabunta stuck to firing off Water Bullets from a distance after almost having his gut spilled over the forest.

Minato returned, now with a small crying baby and his dying wife. Landing on the ground near to Gamabunta, Minato carefully laid both his son and wife down, before he got to work on setting up and drawing the sealing matrix he would need to stop the Nine Tails.

( - )

(With Kushina)

As Minato got to work, the dying Kushina looked over and made to protest. Knowing as she did that Minato was going to seal the Nine Tails in their son Naruto, making him the new Jinchuuriki of the Nine Tails, an act that would no doubt cost Minato his life and leave Naruto alone. Living in the Village containing within him the monster that had caused so much destruction and death this night, she knew now that things wouldn't end well.

Still though she knew the Nine Tails had to be stopped, just as she knew Minato would forge on regardless. For all she loved the man she knew he would put the wellbeing of the Village over that of himself, Kushina and their son. This is why instead of wasting her strength protesting, she instead began to make her own plans. Drawing on her diminished chakra, an act that caused her unimaginable pain due to the damage the Nine Tails' release had caused. Kushina slowly began to go through her own plan to make sure her son would be safe and protected.

Minato's actions were not just noticed by Gamabunta and Kushina though, the Nine Tails also seemed to realise what into was up to, showing a surprising amount of intelligent for what many thought was just a raging, monstrous beast. Roaring in anger the Nine Tails began to charge towards their position, tearing through buildings and Shinobi as it forged onwards attempting ass it did so to interrupt the sealing.

( - )

(With Gamabunta the Leader of the Toad Summons)

Minato shouted something as he saw the Nine Tails charge, and though it was drowned out by the Nine Tails' fury, Gamabunta could guess what it was he had to do. Just as the Nine Tails neared him, the toad leapt into the air and stabbed the Nine Tails' reaching paw into the ground with his sword. Minato finished whatever he had been doing, a large sealing matrix now being present on the baby Naruto's stomach. What happened next almost made the blood in Gamabunta's veins freeze as he suddenly felt the pressing feeling of death overtake the area. The Nine Tails roared again, not in rage this time, but something more akin to fear or annoyance.

Then the beast shrunk. Gamabunta couldn't find any other way to explain it. The Nine Tails went from a healthy looking, if enormous and nine-tailed, fox to a scrawny, laughable facsimile of the terrifying beast it was. But the Nine Tails was anything but weak, even in its diluted state. Gamabunta's eyes widened as the Nine Tails lunged forward with its claws, threatening to impale what Gamabunta presumed was the new Jinchuuriki. Seeing this Gamabunta threw himself forward, intercepting the Nine Tails as he did so. Gamabunta succeeded in defending his summoner and his family from the Nine Tailed fox, but dong so had caused him to suffer serious damage as one of the Nine Tails' claws nearly tore out his eye, and several of its tails impaled his body. The damage ended up being too much, so much so that Gamabunta knew he would need to return to his summoning realm Mount Myobokuzan in order to recover.

Just before he did return to his summoning realm though, Gamabunta saw another unfamiliar summon appear. He only saw it for an instant, but the summon was huge wolf, with sleek silver fur and piercing amber eyes, upon appearing the summon leapt towards the charging Nine Tailed Fox, its fangs bared as it smashed into the diminished Nine Tails sending it staggering backwards. The feeling of death came on seemingly twice as strong as before, and the Nine Tails roared in absolute fury as it began to be entirely sealed into the newborn baby.

The last thing Gamabunta saw before he returned to his summoning realm was Minato Namikaze, the Yellow Flash, the Fourth Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, fall to the forest floor alongside his wife, Kushina Uzumaki. His summoner dead, Gamabunta returned to, his last image before he disappeared was that of the large silver wolf glancing at him for a moment before it two vanished in a cloud of smoke.

( - )

(In the Black Forest, with Akela the Leader of the Wolf Summons)

Akela silently appeared in the centre of a colossal forest which was filled with trees almost one hundred feet high. This was the Black Forest, the home to the Direwolf Clan, one of the many Summoning Clans in existence. Prowling forward Akela began to make her way deeper into the forest, her amber eyes gleaming in the darkened forest. Her heightened sense picking up the scent and sound of all the prey that scurried around her, not the Akela was interesting in hunting right now. No instead she began to make her way through the huge forest, heading for the spot that the Direwolf Clan called home.

It did not take long for Akela to reach it, a massive clearing in the centre of the forest which was nearly a mile in diameter and was covered with dozens of large rocky outcrops. As she entered the clearing she quickly drew the attention of the rest of her Pack. There were nearly thirty of them in total, a small number when compared with other Summoning Clans. But they made up for it with ferocity and power.

"Akela, what news of our summoner, what news of Kushina?" Fenrir, her mate and a large grey Direwolf that stood at almost twenty feet tall said as he moved forward. Around him the other wolves began to pay attention, some of them shifting around so they were partially sat up as they looked over at their leader curiously.

"Kushina is dead." Akela replied bluntly, not seeing the need to sugarcoat things. Before any of the others could speak she continued on, not giving them the chance. "Something went wrong with the pregnancy and the Nine Tails escaped. Her mate, Minato, gave up his life to save the Village Hidden in the Leaves by sealing the beast inside Kushina's son, Naruto. Kushina was dying when she summoned me, all she asked was that I save her son and raised him like he was my own, away from any of the prejudice he might face as a Jinchuuriki."

"So she has become one with the eternal hunt." Fenrir spoke up his tone soft as he mentioned the afterlife the Direwolves believed in. "It is a shame, she was a strong fighter and a good woman."

"She was, and as such I agreed to her request and brought her son Naruto back with me." Akela replied, shifting slightly as shifted her head back, gently pulling the now sleeping baby Naruto from where he had been previously been nestled safely and comfortably in her fur. Before she lay the sleeping babe gently on the ground in front of her, in full view of the Pack.

Looking down at the sleeping baby, Fenrir's golden eyes narrowed slightly before. "We will raise the boy as Kushina asked, but if he is to be one of the Pack, then he will be treated like any other pup."

"I agree." Akela replied before she closed her eyes, drawing on her chakra as she shifted her form. Her body shifted, becoming more anthropomorphic as she reared up so she was now standing on two legs, her clawed hands at her side as she shrank down from her usual thirty foot tall four legged form, to her nine foot tall two legged form.

Standing at nine foot tall, with sleek silver fur, clawed hands and feet and a lupine head, Akela stretched uncomfortably. This secondary form that Direwolves were capable of taking, was not a form she enjoyed, but it would make dealing with the baby easier, as soon as he grew up though she would revert back. Standing on two legs just felt unnatural to her.

Seeing what Akela did Fenrir nodded his head. "I will leave it to you then, young Naruto can grow up along the other pups his age."

Akela rolled her eyes as she heard that, before she looked down to the sleeping Naruto. Carefully scooping him up, making sure not to cut him with her claws, Akela looked at the boy curiously. She would be interested to see what human boy raised by wolves would be like.

( - )

(Four Years Later)

It had been just over four years since that day and Naruto as all babies do, had grown up. His time in the Black Forest had been for the most part normal, or as normal as it can be for a child being raised by Direwolves….

The wolf summons had done what they could to raise Naruto as one of their own, a member of their pack, trying to honour the dying wish of their previous Summoner, Kushina Uzumaki. But the fact of the matter was that Naruto was different, he was a human and the rest of them were wolves. No matter how hard Akela, the Leader of the Pack and the Sage of the Black Forest tried, Naruto was a human and not a wolf, and so was often treated differently.

It was because of this, despite having been fully accepted and welcomed into the Pack that he still thought and sometimes acted a bit like a lone wolf. Even at the age of four this trait was becoming noticeable as he broke away from those his own age and instead spent his time exploring the forest or picking fights with those bigger than him, be they fellow wolves or the other animals that call the Black Forest home.

This wasn't really surprising considering the fact that wolves grow and mature faster than humans, this included wolf summons despite them having a greater life span than normal humans. This is why even the Summons his own age were now much bigger than him, often making him feel weak and prompting him to get in to fights to prove he was just as strong as the others.

It was not helped by the fact that those few wolves who were around the same age as Naruto were now much more mature in body, if not in mind. This disparity in size often led to the others around his own age mocking Naruto, to which he would respond by throwing himself at them and getting into a fight, ignoring the differences in size and strength. More often than not he lost, but it did succeed in stopping the others from mocking him and the very young boy had begun to earn himself some respect, for his guts if for nothing else.

This was all well and good for now as young wolves often fought, either for dominance or for respect, or just because it was fun and was in their nature. But now the other pups of Naruto's age group were much bigger and stronger than him which meant the chances of someone getting seriously hurt in these fights was growing.

It was for this reason why Akela had told Naruto to meet her here, on the large rock out cropping in the centre of the Black Forest, the clearing the outcropping sat in was large, a couple of miles away from the area the wolves slept in. This clearing was unique in that is was not only the very centre of the Dirwolves Summoning Realm, but it was their most sacred area, and dotted around the clearing were close to a dozen lupine statues. Effigies of wolves who had attempted to harness the might power that was Senjustu, but who had failed. These effigies were left here as a warning to those who decided to walk the path of a Sage.

Letting out a soft sigh as she surveyed the area, Akela knew It was time, in her mind at least, that Naruto learnt to be a summoner of the Direwolves like his mother was before him. Just as it was time that Naruto embrace both his origins and his upbringing so he could learn how to fight, hunt and kill like both a Direwolf and a Shinobi.

"Naruto!" Akela called turning her head to the side, her amber lupine eyes locking on the mop of spiky blonde hair that was Naruto. The boy having been attempting to sneak up on her, unsuccessfully.

"Aww how did you know I was here!" The four year old replied irritably, as he came out from where he was hiding behind the trunk of one of the very large trees in the Black Forest.

A very slight smile spread across Akela's face as she saw the petulant expression on Naruto's face, very much amused that a four year old pup thought that he could sneak up on the one hundred and sixty four year old pack leader.

Focusing in on Naruto as he slowly approached her, dragging his feet as he did so, Akela smiled again. Naruto had grown up to be a strong, sturdy child, with deep, aquamarine blue eyes, spiky yellow hair and three distinct whisker like birthmarks on each of his cheeks. Currently stood at a little less than four feet tall, and was wearing a only a simple white T-shirt with the Uzumaki Swirl on it and a pair of orange shorts, his feet were left bare.

His clothing had been scavenged from an old den that Kushina had taken to storing some of her belongings in, a couple of years ago. These belongings consisted of anything from her Shinobi equipment, to her old Academy work books, to the trinkets she had picked up during her time as a Shinobi. After all what better place to store your excess belongings then in a summoning realm that only you have access to. Not that Akela appreciated Kushina storing her crap in their realm, but the red head was stubborn and Akela had always had a soft spot for her.

"Naruto," Akela began softly, looking down at the little boy as he approached her. The smile still gracing her features, as she saw how small the four year old was, especially when compared to her colossal thirty foot form. "Do you know why I have called you here?"

"Is it because I have been fighting again?" Naruto replied, idly kicking the ground and avoiding looking at his mother figure. Honestly she would not have known if he had been, it appeared that due to Naruto being both an Uzumaki and the Jinchuuriki of the Nine Tails, that he had developed a powerful healing factor, this meant that he rapidly healed form all but the most serious of injuries. That being said though considering his age and the size difference between those he was now fighting, the injuries from such fights might start getting serious, even if they were not meant to be.

"Partly…" Akela began, gaining Naruto's full attention as she did so. His eyes now locked on her cautiously, he had come here expecting the usual reprimand about how he shouldn't fight so much with his brothers and sisters, followed by a lecture on how they were a pack and should act like it.

"The reason I have called you here is because I think it is time you learn how to truly fight, and become the new Summoner of the Direwolves and harness everything that comes with that." Akela continued calmly, seeing a lot of young Kushina in Naruto as she saw the excited grin pass across his face.

Kushina had already been a full grown woman and a fulltime Shinobi when she had first summoned Akela and later became the Direwolves Summoner, she had become pregnant with Naruto only a year later, as such although she had been able to Summon Wolves and Reverse Summon herself to the Black Forest she never had the chance to learn all of their secrets. She had never learnt Senjutsu from Akela, or any of the Direwolves techniques, there had never been the time to fully teach her.

Naruto though was still a child, they had all the time in the world to teach him everything they knew and turn him into both a Shinobi and a wolf that both they and his mother would be proud of.

Akela grinned fiercely to herself at this thought. The Toad Summoning Clan, the Slug Summoning Clan and the Snake Summoning Clan, they were all so arrogant and so high and mighty about their Summoners. Often acting like they were the most powerful Clans of Summons, that arrogance pissed her off, just as it pissed off a lot of the other Summoning Clans. Well she would love to see their faces when they see her Naruto in action, especially considering his colossal chakra reserves, natural talent, and born stubbornness no doubt thanks to both his Uzumaki heritage and his being the Jinchuuriki of the Nine Tails.

"That sounds so cool!" Naruto said excitedly, a grin now prominent on his face at the thought of being taught how to not just fight and hunt, but how to summon other wolves and whatever other secret techniques Akela had up her nonexistent sleeve. No more would the other pups his age call him a hairless runt, now he would be able to stand tall, the strongest of them all. "So when do we start?"

"We will start now, but first off you also need to learn utilize your chakra. Now before you ask," Akela began cutting off the question she could feel coming from Naruto, instead fixing her amber eyes on him, giving him a look that said 'listen don't talk', "Chakra is an energy used by both Shinobi and Summons to do many things, from manipulating the elements to summoning wolves. All living beings produce chakra, including you, me, your brother and sisters and countless others. Now since you contain this chakra in your body, you can only have so much of it at a time, and if you run out, you die. The first thing I'll be teaching you is how to access and control your chakra, then we will move on to how to use it. It'll be hard, but if you're not up for it I could always take you to your mother's old Shinobi Village, the Hidden Leaf Village…"

"No way, I want to learn from you. I want to become as strong as you, Fenrir and the others. I want to become the strongest I can be!" Naruto said fiercely, a burning desire showing in his eyes. This forest was his home, and the wolves were his family, he didn't care about this Village his mother called home, he had never set foot in the place. As far as Naruto concerned this was her true home, just like it was his.

Akela grinned at that, delighted by the passionate desire to grow stronger that she could sense from Naruto. He truly was as much her son as he was Kushina's.

"Good, I hoped you would say that. First off we will start off with meditation, working on your senses and your chakra, and then we will put it to good use by going on a hunt." Akela said as she began to go over the basics Naruto would need if he ever wanted to become a true Sage.

Naruto scowled at the sound of having to mediate, he didn't like sitting still. He wanted to run free, to become one with the wilds, to hunt his prey. Still though, Akela didn't do things for no reason, if she said he needed to 'meditate' then he would meditate. He didn't want to get her pissed off with him, after all if he did she would be the one hunting him.

( - )

(Four Years Later)

"I'm impressed. Getting a grasp on Sage Mode at such a young age is an incredible feat! You've become an awful lot stronger Naruto, more than a match for your brothers and sisters." Akela said her teeth bared as she looked down at Naruto, the eight year old boy standing taller and broader than when he had first started his training. He was still much smaller than his brothers and sisters though, barely coming up to the shoulder of even the smallest adult wolf. His appearance was deceptive though, as hidden within that small body were chakra reserves that would put a full grown Jounin Shinobi to shame, and a skill and ferocity that had at first even taken Akela aback.

Still though the effects of his becoming the Summoner of the Wolves and becoming a Sage had shown. His teeth had begun to sharpen, his sharp pearly white canines now stuck out under his lip, his hair had begun to darken and had become shaggier, his nails had also thickened and sharpened, becoming similar to claws.

"No need to sound so surprised." Naruto replied glibly from where he was lounging on the rock outcropping. Enjoying the compliments Akela was giving him. She had been a harsh and ruthless taskmaster over the years, accepting nothing but his best and often pushing him far beyond his limits. She didn't give out compliment easily.

"Take it for what it is brat, a compliment." Akela replied back in amusement, lowering herself to the ground as she did so, so that she could look Naruto in the eye. "You are the first human that we have ever taught this art to, you're mother Kushina was only able to learn how summon us, already you have surpassed her. That being said you are by no means a master of Senjustu. You're fighting skills although fast and deadly, lack the ferocity, speed and accuracy of a true wolf. You've become strong my son, but there is still much for you to learn about being a Sage."

Naruto scowled as he heard that.

"I thought I was already strong enough to be a Sage. Besides, I've mastered Sage Mode, so there's no way I can't be a Sage." Naruto relied, a scowl on his face as he looked up at Akela. He always found it amusing how the definition of Sage changed depending on Summoning Clan. For the wolves their version of a Sage revolved around not only being one with nature in general, but becoming one with their own lupine nature, and the nature of wolves was distinctly different to the nature of Slugs and Toads.

"Mastered? You have a ways to go before you've 'mastered' Sage Mode Naruto. What kind of enemy would let his opponent sit there and charge up energy for ten minutes? As it is now, your Sage Mode is useless in combat." Akela replied an amused look on her face. "And if you want to become stronger you will need to find a way around that."

"Well what else can I do, huh? You said it yourself, 'One must be absolutely still when gathering Natural Energy, or risk losing control and joining these poor fools who tried and failed.'" Naruto said, gesturing to the surrounding stone statues of Direwolves who had failed their Sage Mode training and paid the price. Not many Direwolves were taught the art, and even fewer ever succeeded. Most learned the basics and left it at that. So far in the Pack only Naruto, Akela and Fenrir could use Sage Mode, and of them only Akela could be called an undisputed master.

"To become a Sage you must become one with nature, that is why I regularly took you on hunts, so that you can become one with your surroundings and with your inner wolf." Akela began to lecture as she looked down at Naruto. "There is a way around your problem, you just have to figure out how to do it."

"Can't you teach me?" Naruto asked with a frown. She had taught him everything else after all, how to fight in hand to hand, how to manipulate the elements, how to wield his chakra and merge it with Natural Energy. She had also sparred against him, pushing him beyond his limits as she made him think outside the box in order to defeat her. Thus far he hadn't even come close. But he had learnt to use weapons, alongside his Sage Mode and claws, and every day he lasted just that little bit longer.

Akela looked at him for a few seconds as she heard this, before she sighed. "I can't teach you because I don't know the answer yet, even if I did though I would want you to work it out on your own. The ability to draw in Natural Energy whilst moving comes naturally to us wolves, and despite you being born a human you grew up a member of the Pack, as such I expect you to learn how to use Sage Mode like a member of the Pack. I started you off by having you mediate so you could feel out the Natural Energy, then I had you merge it with your own body. It is up to you to figure out how you can do this whilst moving."

Naruto frowned as he heard that, concentrating hard as he tried to work out how he could do what Akela wanted him to. He could see her point, and although annoying, he also knew that it would be best if he figured this out on his own.

Closing his eyes Naruto took a deep breath, as he drew on the Natural Energy in the area, merging it with his own chakra. Opening his eyes, Naruto's blue eyes turned amber, his hair turning completely silver, his feet and hands becoming more claw like. In this mode not only were his senses and physical abilities massively heightened, but his skin became as hard as rock, his claws became as sharp as knives and his ability to sense chakra was on a whole other level. Flexing his arms, Naruto reveled in the strength he could now feel flowing through him. He could do it, if Akela and Fenrir could do it, then so could he.

( - )

(Four Years Later)

"So you think you are ready to leave the Black Forest and venture out on your own? Even though you're still a little runt who just recently learned to use Sage Mode efficiently." Fenrir said mockingly, the colossal grey wolf currently standing up on all fours, towering over the twelve year old Naruto. A snarl on his face as his ferocious golden eyes locked on the silver haired boy in front of him.

"More than ready." Naruto replied bluntly, fearlessly meeting Fenrir's gaze as he looked up at the wolf, which stood at almost twenty feet tall, a towering mass of muscle and ferocity and one of the most powerful members of the Pack. "I may have just mastered Sage Mode, but you know that I'm better at it than you. I can't learn any more here, I want to see the world, I want to test myself against the strongest there are. To do that I need to go out on my own, go on my own hunts and form my own Pack."

Four years had passed since he had first learned to absorb Natural Energy and enter Sage Mode. In those four years Naruto had changed a lot, his hair was now permanently silver, and his eyes were a glowing amber colour. His hands and feet had become like claws, the nails harder than steel and able to tear through solid rock. His frame had also bulked up, making him look closer to sixteen than twelve, his growth having been accelerated due to his use of Natural Energy from such a young and the constant fights he engaged in with the other wolves.

Currently he stood at just under five foot ten inches, with broad shoulder and heavily muscled arms and legs. The only thing he was wearing was a simple baggy, black T-shirt and a pair of Shinobi pants. His feet as always remained bare, Naruto seeing no need to wear sandals as they would only get in the way.

Strapped to his back was a simple sword, his mother's old blade, a nameless sword that she had salvaged from the long since destroyed Village Hidden in the Whirlpool the former home of the Uzumaki Clan, in her youth. The blade was a simple four foot long, straight sword, with an unadorned guard and a black leather sheath and handle, the only decoration it held were the Kanji that were finely etched onto the blade, having obviously been put there by the blacksmith when it was forged. Naruto had found the sword among the rest of the crap his mother stored in a small cave in the Black Forest, when he had mentioned it to Akela she had encouraged him to take it. Probably because she wanted him to clear out his other's clutter, but also because she knew he might find a use for it.

"He's right you know Fenrir. He's surpassed you in using the technique, he's probably surpassed me too. Despite that though he's still too inexperienced to be a true 'Sage', to be a true Alpha. Real world experience is the only way to fix that." Akela spoke up softly as she walked forwards, coming to a stop next to her mate Fenrir. As she stood next to Fenrir, Naruto couldn't help but note in amusement that Akela towered over Fenrir, standing nearly ten feet taller than him.

Fenrir grunted at that, shifting his head to look at Akela, before turning back to Naruto. "Well I suppose as long as he summons us whenever he gets in over his head, and doesn't forget that he is a member of our family then it is fine."

An amused look passed across Akela's face as she heard that. For all of Fenrir's apparent ferocity he was a marshmallow at heart. He placed his concern for the Pack above everything else, and since Naruto was a member of their family, well Fenrir had an almost fatherly concern for the boy.

A smirk passed across Naruto's face to as he also understood that Fenrir was only concerned for him. Turning away from the large grey wolf, Naruto instead turned to Akela. "So you have no problem with me leaving."

"Follow your own path Naruto, we will always be here if you want to come back." Akela replied softly as she looked down at Naruto.

"Then that's what I will do." Naruto said with a nod of his head, knowing as he did that the road ahead would be hard. He would no doubt face multiple powerful enemies as he tried to find this way in the world of Shinobi. If he was honest with himself though, he was very much looking forward to it, the Black Forest although a place he considered home, was only so big. He was more than ready to venture out into the real world to test his mettle.

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AN: So what do you all think? I decided that instead of using the Toads or a known summon I would make one up. One which is not as overpowered as a dragon summon or something and is not as cliché as kitsunes or some bollocks like that. Instead I decided wolves, partly because I have always found the folk lore surrounding werewolves fascinating. So the Direwolf Clan will be of my own creation, and their Senjutsu will be similar to canon version but with a few differences.

Now the Naruto in this story will have a very distinct personality. He will retain the loyalty to those he considered precious that canon Naruto had, but he is nowhere near as naive or soft. In fact I would go as far to say he is a killer and a battle fanatic. But at the same time though he is not some dark psychopath nor some savage. He will be a distinctly neutral character who is disassociated from all Shinobi Villages and so will not hold a particular love or hate for any of them. So this won't be a raging revenge story, nor will it be an 'only hero in the village' story.

He will hold a bit of animosity towards other Summoning Clans. Often deeming himself above them. This Naruto won't be a loner as his main focuses are on not only becoming strong and hunting worthy prey, but on creating his own 'Pack'. I think that he will be quite and interesting character to play around with. The story will at first follow the same basic storyline as 'Dawn's Sage' but as the story progresses it will become rapidly different. I have an idea for how I want the story to end and which pairings may be involved and I think people may be surprised.

So yes other than that I hope people all like the tester chapter and leave a comment or a review. For those interested my next update will either be my Road to Hell story or my Dead Man Walking story depending on how I am feeling. As I said I need to work out a proper schedule.

See you all later.

Seagate.