Title: Creatures of the night

Rating: M

Disclaimer: Characters are not mine.

AN: OMG I just notice something really cool. You know the elements in Naruto and how certain ninja's have an affinity for different elements? I think it's based on their zodiac signs =) Like you know Sasuke is a Leo and they have an affinity for fire. That's why he can use fire ninjutsu really well. Naruto is a Libra and they have an affinity for air which is maybe why he has wind chakra. Heehee anyone else think so too? So because of that I've changed their elements back in chp 3.

Chouji is now an earth element user so is Hinata, Shikamaru and Gaara.

Kiba is a water manipulator.

Sasuke remains a fire manipulator.

Naruto remains a young-one who can manipulate all elements but his more favourable affinity is wind.

Hope you don't get confused. If you do just ask=)

~o0o~

Chapter 6

Classes are in session

"Naruto you're doing it wrong," Uzumaki Naruto was currently sitting Indian style on his bed trying to summon wind to him like how he did that day in class when Ebisu-pervert antagonised him. His best friend and roommate –yes he can call the raven haired his best friend –Uchiha Sasuke was seated on his own bed opposite from the blond's. He had been trying for an hour to get the blond to bend wind to his will but unfortunately he couldn't do it. That's one of the disadvantages of starting to learn element manipulation really late. Most of the vampires in the academy already knew their affinity and had been training since they were toddlers to manipulate their element. Naruto didn't get that opportunity because he never knew he could manipulate any. So now the raven, being the good friend that he was, was doing his very best to help the blond with the basics.

It was currently ten in the morning and the two should have been in class but because of the blond's slip up the other day, class was halted till they found a new teacher for his class. Ebisu was fired and Naruto had mixed feelings about that. He was partly glad the pervert was fired because then he won't have to see him anymore. He was also partly guilty because he had hurt the teacher really badly. He comforted himself by thinking that it was an accident and that the pervert shouldn't have provoked him like that.

It was only for their year though. All the upper years continued with school as per normal. However the year ones' could have self training in the school's many training grounds. They were open for anyone to use at all times of the day.

"Urgh I can't summon it anymore. Why can't I do it like before? I remembered the class looked like it had been hit by a hurricane after I snapped out of it. So not fair," Naruto crossed his arms in front of his chest and refused to admit he was pouting. Pouting was for girls anyway and he was no girl. He had been trying for an hour now to get the wind to obey him but it didn't want to. He didn't know why. He was doing exactly as the raven thought him to, at least he hoped so. He looked up into exasperated yet amused eyes.

Sasuke could admit in his head that he was having fun watching the blond suffer. Yes he knew he was one sadistic bastard but who cares. He decided to rile the blond up a bit more by snapping his fingers and calling fire to him. Easy as pie. He played with the mini fireball in his hand, tossing it up and down like he would a real ball. He watched as the blond's eyes were trained on it. He could easily see the amazement and jealousy in them.

"You're not focused enough. Plus you're forcing yourself to manipulate it. You need to relax and let wind come to you and not the other way around," Sasuke was still bouncing the ball in his palm. It was really amusing and, dare he admit it, cute when the blond's eyes would follow its movement. It reminded him of a cat zeroing in on its prey.

"That's easy for you to say. You had loads of practice before this so it's still not fair," the blond finally tore his gaze away from the enchanting ball of fire in the raven's palm to look at his own hands. He flexed them, getting them to relax and concentrated on his breathing. He was going try again. He closed his eyes and pictured a weighing scale in his head. On one side it weighed his spiritual state. The other weighed his physical state. He tried to get them balanced.

Sasuke watched silently, his eyes trained on the other's face. He could see the other's eyes roving around behind closed eyelids. As he watched he couldn't help noticing that the other's face looked completely relaxed. Naruto trusted him enough to close his eyes. Before, he had just stared at his palm, willing wind to swirl in it. Now he sat unguarded before him. It was a real improvement to when they first met. They no longer felt awkward. He could silently admit that he was happy. He preferred the blond not watching apprehensively as though the raven was going to spill out all his secrets to the world. He preferred the blond not treating him like all the bullies in his past.

Naruto waited patiently for the scale in his mind to balance itself. He concentrated on his breathing, making sure it stabilised. When the weighing scale he pictured finally balanced, he opened his eyes. He almost jerked back and lost his balance he had so painstakingly waited for the right moment for when a pair of onyx eyes stared unblinkingly at him. He relaxed when he realised it was just Sasuke and not someone else. He trusted him now. He looked to his palm. Unfurling his fingers he looked at the various lines on his palm and concentrated on one. He waited again.

Sasuke felt the minute increase in temperature after the blond locked eyes with him within his body but didn't let the blood flow to his cheeks. After he had looked away he felt the noticeable drop in temperature surrounding him. He felt a soft breeze playing with his hair and looked back to Naruto's face. It was the epitome of concentration. His sky blue eyes squinted and his eyebrows furrowed. His nose was scrunched and his landed and stayed at his tongue that peeked out minutely at the corner of his mouth. He didn't notice the wind picking up.

Naruto was doing his best not to let his success inflate his ego and distract him. He was determined to summon a mini ball of wind just like Sasuke's ball of fire. He never took his eyes off his palm so he didn't see or feel the heated gaze directed at his face. 'Just a little more.' The ball was already the size of a tennis ball. Soon it would fill his whole hand. It was growing steadily by the second.

When the ball of wind stabilised at the size of a softball, Naruto stopped summoning and looked accomplished at his creation. He beamed up at Sasuke who snapped out of his staring enough to look at what the blond managed to do. He smirked and felt pride bubbling up in him. He didn't admit it out loud though. The blond didn't need a bigger ego.

"Look Sasuke! Heehee I did it," Naruto's eyes shined in delight and he was happily bouncing the ball up and down just like the raven did to his previously. It was easier to maintain the ball than he thought once he had the element's complete submission.

Sasuke snapped his fingers again and his ball of fire came back. It diminished when the wind picked up and he was too entranced by the blond's mouth to concentrate on maintaining it. 'Snap out of it Sasuke.'

"Now that you have its permission to continue summoning it you can do lots more than this small ball," the raven demonstrated by using his other hand that wasn't holding the ball to shape shift the ball into other forms. Naruto stared awed like a kid watching a magic show. He swore he saw the fire ball crackle like electricity at one time.

"Of course you don't need to learn how to shape shift into various shapes like what I'm doing but you can shape shift them to become weapons you can use to attack or defend. Like a wind shield, for example. Some vampires have an affinity for more than one element but not all like you. I can control lightning a bit but it's not as powerful as fire yet," he explained while still playing.

Naruto contemplated the question he wanted to ask then just asked it, "Sasuke you treat the elements like it's a living thing. Is it?"

Sasuke stopped playing for a while to look at the blond's earnest eyes. he was genuinely curious. He nodded his head then.

"I've always felt like the elements had a mind of their own so to speak but not actually living things. It makes sense when they don't listen to the summoner. They choose who they want to obey," he shrugged then continued, "That's what I feel anyway. It's not definite."

Naruto nodded. What Sasuke said makes sense to him. He was able to summon wind to him when he was more in control of himself. He guessed the elements needed a wielder who knows what exactly to do with it. He stopped his musings when he was hit on the head and his ball of wind disappeared. He looked up at Sasuke with pouty lips.

"What did you do that for?"

"Stop thinking unnecessary things," he stood up and walked to the door.

Naruto was confused, "Where are you going?"

"We're going to the training grounds," with that he opened it and walked out, leaving the door ajar. Naruto sat dumbfounded for a while before retrieving his set of keys, running to the door, closing and locking it behind him before calling after the slowly walking raven.

"Wait up teme!"

~o0o~

"Oh yeah! Who's the king of drop ball? I'M THE KING OF DROP BALL! WHOOO!" Kiba was jumping around cheering for himself unmindful of the disbelieving looks from his friends. He loved being himself. Not only does he have killer good looks but he had awesome powers that kick ass when he plays drop ball. Of course these are all his opinions. His fallen friends may think otherwise.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru was lying on the ground, enjoying his favourite pastime –cloud watching –while thinking. He was rudely brought back to reality when the loudmouth mutt began howling his victory at the top of his lungs. It didn't help when his pet and partner, Akamaru, started barking along. He could feel a headache coming on.

Hinata didn't mind the loudness. She thought Kiba was funny when he kept jumping around, up and down like a little child. The way Akamaru played with his master and partner was sweet too. She continued to watch the overjoyed young-one with a fond smile on her face as she slowly got up from the ground. She was one of the losers in the game.

Aburame Shino kept silent. No one knew how he was reacting to his lost because he wore a high collared shirt and a hoodie which covered majority of his face. It didn't help that he wore sunglasses which made it difficult to read his eyes.

Chouji just munched away at his chips. He didn't mind that he lost. He was just glad his chips didn't get crushed during the game. It would have been a waste and not as good to eat them like that.

Gaara was annoyed at the loudness and Kiba's boasting but he wasn't a sore loser so he kept quiet and let Kiba have his victory. If he got too noisy he could always just throw him a sand ball. He was making sand surround him to block out the noise Kiba was making right now so it was tolerable.

"Hm? Hey guys look it's Naruto! Hey come here," Kiba waved his hand trying to get the attention of the raven and the blond that just entered the training area. Naruto was surprised that they were calling him over after witnessing what he did the other in class. He thought they would stay clear of him from now on. He was glad he seemed to be wrong.

"Hello Naruto-kun. Did you come here to train?" Naruto had just realised what a small and soft voice Hinata had. He wondered how such a delicate sound managed to reach him in the loudly whistling gust he summoned. The others had started coming towards them when they were alerted of his presence, including Shikamaru although he complained it was troublesome the whole way.

"Ya I came here to train with Sasuke-teme," Naruto grinned, ignoring the not-so-threatening glare sent his way by the said raven. Hinata, Shikamaru and Kiba weren't in the same class as the Uchiha so they were only getting to know him. They exchanged names. Shino, Chouji and Gaara were in his class and knew who he was so they simply nodded or waved in greeting.

"Hey that's cool can we see you train? I really want to see how a young-one like you manipulates all the elements," Kiba had stars in his eyes from the excitement. Naruto felt bad because the shining was going to dim soon.

"Sorry Kiba but I can't manipulate them yet," he looked to Sasuke and scratched the back of his neck in a sheepish/embarrassed manner. He went on to say that he didn't have anyone to teach him how to manipulate them until now so that's why he wanted to train. The other's simply nodded in understanding. They didn't need to know why the blond didn't have anyone to teach him yet. They felt that Naruto would tell them when he was ready.

"Well we can help you with that. We have a bunch of different users here to teach you how to manipulate various elements," Kiba's enthusiasm didn't seem to die out.

Naruto was glad he had managed to make new and trustworthy friends. It made him feel like he was wanted, which was a feeling he had long since forgotten. He felt it with Iruka too but he was an adult. It wasn't the same as having friends the same age as him. He grinned and got hyped up for training.

Sasuke was watching the interaction with a passive face. He had hoped for the training grounds to be empty but he guessed it was too much to hope for. He had wanted to be the one to train the blond for some reason which he felt made sense because he knew how to control elements fairly well. He guessed that the others were tolerable enough for him and he was fine with just teaching the blond to control fire. He was the only fire user here anyway. At least his fan girls were not in sight.

"Naruto you can start with manipulating earth," Chouji spoke up for the first time and even put away his chips. He walked to the centre of the clearing together with Hinata and the red headed Gaara. Shikamaru chose to stay where he was, the lazy genius.

~o0o~

Uchiha Itachi was listening intently to his teacher talk when he felt a tremble. He looked towards the training grounds and was shocked, though he didn't let it show on his face, to see a large hill there. He had heard that the year ones' were having a short impromptu holiday from his younger brother. They were still allowed to train though and he guessed that was what someone was doing. He wondered who was powerful enough to summon that, although he had a really strong hunch he knew exactly who. He had quite a few earth friends and he knew they would be jealous when he told them someone from year one could manipulate earth a lot better than they ever could.

He smirked internally. He loved making others miserable.

~o0o~

Neji, Tenten and Lee were getting ready to change venues for class when the trio felt a tremor. They knew that the year ones' were not having lessons at the moment because Naruto –yes they knew who he was, who wouldn't –had accidentally created havoc in one of his class when he lost control. They turned their attention to the training grounds and Tenten almost fell when she saw a mini mountain. Lee was exclaiming something about youthful year ones' who had magnificent power while Neji looked bored. She wasn't fooled though. He saw awe in his eyes.

"Well, who do you think made that? I didn't think there were year ones powerful enough to summon that. This year is going to be interesting don't you think?" Tenten mused aloud, waiting for a reply.

Neji nodded his agreement, choosing to stay silent. Lee was already giving a list of earth manipulators who he thinks may have done that.

In their minds they already knew of only one young-one who could do that.

~o0o~

Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura were screaming and holding onto each other when they felt a tremor and a saw a giant hill from the toilet windows. They already knew the situation with the year ones and suspected this doing was from a group or possibly one of them. They were secretly awed and proud to have powerful juniors to take care of. They were from the care givers group in school anyway. It was their job to ensure the year ones felt at home living here from now on.

They smiled knowing this year's year ones would be the most eventful batch in decades.

~o0o~

"Man! I thought Chouji said an ant hill not a mountain, Naruto," Kiba was looking in awe at the towering block of earth right in front of him. His neck was getting sore from looking at the top too long. He finally brought his gaze to the stunned blond and stood up from where he had fallen when the earth was shaking so bad.

Naruto hadn't meant to summon such a huge thing. He didn't know he had so much power to spare. He laughed sheepishly and scratched the back of his head when disbelieving and awed eyes turned to him. He suspected even the students back in school could see and feel what they were doing out here.

Hinata, Chouji and Gaara who were out in the centre with Naruto felt accomplished when the blond managed to manipulate earth like they taught him. It may not have been the correct size but practise makes perfect. They slowly got up from the ground and Hinata even hugged the blond for his success. Chouji gave him a pat on the back and Gaara simply nodded his approval.

"At least he didn't make a giant crater. It would have been troublesome to climb out of it," Shikamaru didn't bother getting up from his position on the ground. He continued sky gazing.

Sasuke was shaking his head, making sure he didn't injure himself during his fall. He was again feeling pride bubbling in his stomach and he didn't hesitate this time to show the blond. Naruto froze when he locked gazes with Sasuke and saw the unguarded pride in them. He felt the pit of his stomach bubbling in happiness. 'Sasuke was proud of me.' He didn't know why that was so important at the moment but he didn't care. He would bask in his success right now. He deserved it.

All afternoon, the group took turns teaching Naruto elemental manipulation and he was slowly improving. He had managed to summon water and created a river surrounding the hill he made previously and a small lake when Kiba taught him water manipulation. He managed to improve the lake to become an outdoor hot spring when Sasuke taught him fire manipulation. Shino helped him improve on his wind techniques and he was glad to discover it was the easiest one out of the others he's tried to summon.

When they all lay on the grass, tired after an afternoon of fruitful training, Naruto finally commented, "Guess they can't this a training ground anymore because I think the new landscape is permanent." They laughed and finally moved indoors to wash up and hang out for dinner.

~o0o~

AN: Well told you I'll see you soon but unfortunately I have bad news. School starts tomorrow so I won't be able to update as regularly as I would have liked. I'm sorry. I just hope that you readers can be patient till the next update. Thanks for reading~