(Half Breed Chapter 1)

(Naruto/Inheritance Crossover)

(Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Inheritance Cycle so don't sue me)

Horst was known by all in Carvahall as a kind man who would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. He was the village's blacksmith and was very good at his job which was lucky since he really enjoyed what he did. He was a loving father to his two sons and a great husband to his wife Elain.

Horst was a giant of a man standing roughly six foot five at the most but maybe he was a few inches shorter than that. His muscles were big and burly from working in the forges all day along with tan from working outside all day. He had a thick long mane of black hair that matched his two coal black eyes. Horst wore the usual attire for a black smith which involved a special apron to keep bits of hot metal off of his hairy chest though he wore short sleeved shirts and long legged pants with leather boots on his feet.

Horst was doing something right now that most in Carvahall wouldn't do. He was hiking through the spine trying to find his old logging cabin that he had made when he was a younger man so that he could make a new crib for his wife, who had insisted that their six year old son wasn't too big for a crib. Honestly sometimes the things that that woman said just mind boggled him, but hey he loved her so he would deal with it.

Many people thought that the Spine was cursed or some other nonsense like that. Horst knew differently though. He may look like all brawn and no brain but that was far from the truth, in fact Horst was one of the minorities in Carvahall that could both read and write. The rumors were really started by that idiot Sloan after his wife fell off one of the cliffs in the spine and died. It was tragic yes but that was more than likely an accident on her part that made her fall. It was spring when it happened which meant the ice was melting making thing far more slippery. The stories about an entire legion of empire troops' disappearing in there was also a bunch of bull in Horst's opinion. If there really were an entire legion of empire troop coming all the way out to the boonies for gods knew what then they probably froze to death choosing to pack armor and spears over thick clothing and food like they should have during winter.

As Horst marched up the snow covered mountain he could faintly see the cabin in his sights. He sighed in relief but then he saw something that worried him. There was a light on in the cabin and unless he forgot to put out the candle six years ago that meant that there was someone inside of his cabin. Horst wasn't one to jump to conclusions to fast though he knew that whoever it was could be dangerous or just someone trying to get out of the cold before he or she froze to death. Regardless he had a family and couldn't afford to take the chance on if they were friendly so he grabbed the knife at his hip just in case.

Horst slowly moved in towards the cabin straining his ears to pick up any sounds but the wind, though not bad, was still blocking his hearing, so he got closer to try and peer through the wind. He had been a hunter for a short period in his life when he was just starting up his forge to help feed his wife and two young children so he tried to use the same stealth he had when he was younger to sneak up to the house.

When Horst got to the house he rested his back to the wall. His heart was beating a million miles per hour and his imagination was running wild with him. He knew that half the things he was expecting were not even possible but in stressful situations the mind could be a double edged sword.

Horst was by no means uneducated, he knew how to read and write and although many of the other people of Carvahall didn't really believe in elves, dwarves, or even the dragons of legend Horst had lived in one of the larger cities at the base of the mountains for a year and had seen magicians practicing their art in broad day light like it wasn't no big thing. That was enough to cause Horst to believe in any fairytale so the possibility whoever minimal that there was an elf or dwarf in his cabin was possible.

Horst steadied his breathing and slowly opened the door. He was holding his dagger so tight that his fingers were turning white and his eyes were darting back and forth at quick speeds trying to find the person who lit the candle. What Horst out of all his delusions was not expecting was the sound of a faint cry.

Horst wheeled around so fast he thought his neck would snap from the momentum. When he turned around he saw a lithe figure lying on the ground holding a black bundle in her arms. Horst slowly approached them and looked at them. He instantly fell on his ass and scooted back as quickly as possible.

The grown one was a woman of beauty unheard of in any fairytale he had ever heard. Her face was angular and her skin a perfect pail white color. Her body was built like that of a runner but her body was clothed in rags. That was odd but so were the scars around her wrists and ankles. The thing that really surprised him was her ears. They were elongated and had a point at the end of them. There was only one creature Horst knew of that looked like that and it was an elf.

Horst would have continued to freak out about what he was seeing but the faint weak cry started up again. Horst looked from the elf woman to the bundle that she had wrapped around her arms and pulled deeply into her embrace. He expected the woman to wake up to feed the child or something but she never moved. That was when Horst noticed something that broke his heart. The woman was lying on her side revealing her ribbed side, but the part that saddened him the most was it wasn't moving meaning she wasn't breathing. The elf woman was dead and that meant the child would surely not survive.

Horst was a good man, nobody could deny that, so seeing an innocent child faintly crying with steaks of tears running down the one eye that Horst could see in that blanket he or she was in made it feel like Horst's heart had shattered into a thousand pieces. Horst did the only thing he knew he could do as a good human being and that was gently take the child from the woman cold embrace and to hold him close to his own warm body causing the baby to stop shivering and stop crying a bit as well.

Horst looked down on the woman; she looked perfect in every way to him, and felt sad that she would never know the joys of raising her own child. As he was about to leave he saw a shovel in the side of the room and sighed. There wasn't anything in the cabin, besides a few tools that he used since he never stored any wood in the cabin since when he actually used it he was strapped for cash and had to sell everything inside of the cabin to support his family, so there wasn't anything to burn that wasn't made of steel in the cabin which made Horst feel guilty, but he sucked it up and took off his shirt and wrapped the child in it as well.

"I am going to take care of your mom and then I will bring you back to Carvahall where you can get something to eat" spoke Horst as he looked down on the little guy. He felt sorry for him losing his mother so early, something Horst could relate to.

The babies golden eyes drooped a bit and he let out a tired yet cute yawn before looking back up at Horst with a small baby smile. Horst's heart instantly lit up with happiness. He gave the newborn a small hug and then put him down in a corner where he could stay as warm as possible before picking up the shovel and the woman and walking out of the room.

Horst really didn't know where to bury her but he felt almost compelled to bury her in a small clearing out beside of his cabin. It wasn't easy to say the least. The permafrost had already made the ground hard and the snow that was in his way really got on his nerves, but he felt he needed to do this for the small boy. After all he was sure the boy would want to see where his mother was buried so he could get some kind of closer one day so this was needed. Horst powered on for hours breaking through the frozen ground to get to the softer deeper earth beneath. When he thought he was deep enough Horst grabbed the elf woman and laid her in the dirt and said a few words.

He was about to cover her up when out of the corner of his eyes he saw an old oak tree with one single acorn hanging from its branches that looked like it was ready to fall. Horst would have sworn that the acorn had called out to him as he picked it from the tree and carried it over to the elf woman's body. He took her hands and placed the acorn in between them and smiled. A weird though came to his mind as he began to bury her.

'From death comes new life' thought Horst but he was sure that these thoughts were not his. He was kind of freaked out because even though he was an opened minded person starting to have thoughts that were not you own still scared him so when he was done burring her he said a quick prayer and went back to the house.

When horst returned to the cabin he saw the baby was asleep so he quickly scooped him up and began to trek back down the mountain towards his house. He knew he would have a lot of explaining to do when he got to his home mainly with his wife but just like him his wife had a heart of gold and he knew she wouldn't put the child out to die even if he wasn't human.

The one thing that did worry Horst was the way the rest of Carvahall would react to the infant. They were more superstitious than most people and their stories about the elves were not so nice. He feared that they might try to hurt or even kill the boy though with the weight he carried in the village he was sure they would be very cautious if they did try and the other thing is even if they didn't try and harm him he would still be the village pariah. He was different and that wasn't good when around narrow minded people. The people of Carvahall were good strong willed people but they were ignorant too much of the world and that was dangerous. He could only try and talk to them and hope that they would grow to accept him.

On the thoughts of danger what they did know about the empire was it wasn't allies with the elves and was in fact enemies. Horst stopped in his tracks and thought back to the scars around the woman's wrists and ankles. He was starting to think that she wasn't just in a bad place at the wrong time but in fact was on the run from the empire, but if that were true then why would she have a child?

The thoughts on that subject were to crew and evil for him to even think on and he shed a tear knowing just how evil some people truly could be. He looked down at the child and swore to always protect him. It was the least he could do if what he believed was true.

There was of course the problem of people telling others of the child which would undoubtedly get back to the empire which would mean occupation by empire solders looking for the boy. He didn't want that for the ones he loved and definitely not on a new born baby so secrecy would also be a factor. That meant he wouldn't be allowed to see the traders, one of the few highlights of their small town, which would definitely sadden him.

The more he thought about it the more sorry he felt for the boy. He was an innocent new born who was an enemy of the empire just because he was, part or full elf Horst still wasn't sure, inside of the empire. Growing up would be rough to say the least.

As Horst entered the village he got the usual hey how are you from the locals, who he returned with a strained smile, but when he saw them looking at the bundle in his arms he would try and cover the child up even more with his large muscles so nobody would accidently see his 'abnormal' features.

As he was walking he saw an old friend of his walking through the village with a sad look on his face and a bundle much like the one he had in his arms. Horst could see his friend needed someone to talk to so he walked up to him and greeted him like he always did.

"Hello Garrow what's with the long face" asked Horst as he walked up to Garrow. When Garrow looked up and saw it was Horst he gave him a strained smile and a nod of the head in acknowledgement.

"Hello Horst it's nothing really" spoke Garrow as he was about to turn around and walk away when he stopped in his tracks and looked back at the bundle in Horst's hands.

"Where did that come from" asked Garrow. Garrow wasn't the gossip type but he knew Horst and his family well and he knew that his wife Elain wasn't pregnant so the child was a mystery to him.

"I'll tell you about mine if you tell me about yours" spoke Horst as he pointed to the wrapped baby in Garrow's arms. Garrow was one of the few people Horst trusted enough to tell the truth about the baby to, even though Garrow himself was a simple and somewhat narrow minded man, he was still one of Horst's best friends and someone he knew would have his back regardless of how strange it was.

Garrow seemed to hesitate for a moment which surprised Horst. It seemed that the child was a touchy subject to Garrow right now but it seemed that Garrow was also very interested in the child his best friend had in his arms.

"This is my sister Selena's son, Eragon" spoke Garrow as he moved some of the wrapping to show the face of a newborn child no older than a week with bright blue eyes and dark hair. His cheeks were full of baby fat giving his face a round look. He looked so fragile and cute all at once.

"Oh Selena is back in Carvahall, I didn't know that" spoke Horst but as soon as the words came out of his mouth he could see that they had an adverse effect on Garrow if the flinch was anything to go by.

"She isn't exactly in Carvahall" spoke Garrow as a look of both sadness and shame washed over him. Horst was really starting to feel bad for his friend.

"So what she just stopped by to say high, dropped off her new born, and then left" asked Horst as he looked at Garrow with a shocked look. He never would have thought little Selena would be capable of such a thing back when she lived in Carvahall, but that was before she fell in love with the Morzan so he figured anything was possible.

"No that's not it, let me start from the beginning" spoke Garrow as he began to recount how his sister had shown up on his doorstep on day out of the blue nine months with child only to beg him after she gave birth with tears in her eyes to watch over him right before she left. Horst found it odd but didn't mention it as he comforted his friend.

"So what is the story with your little one? I doubt his mother just dropped him off at your door step like mine" joke Garrow but there was sorrow in his voice that couldn't be hidden. "Also why don't you have a shirt on?"

"Not exactly" spoke Horst as he looked around. When he saw that the street that they were on was empty, he was sure they were safe and moved the cloth out of the way of the child's face revealing his entire face along with his long pointed ears. Horst wasn't surprised to hear the gasp come from Garrow.

"What is that" asked Garrow as he got a closer look at the child. Its face was angular and smooth, the opposite of the round chubby face of his nephew's face. The ears were elongated and pointed instead of the usual rounded and wide ears that humans had. The baby opened his eyes and Garrow gasped as he saw the golden eyes with the black slits in them for pupils.

"I think he is a baby elf, or maybe a half elf, that if found out in my cabin earlier when I went for wood" spoke Horst as he covered the babies face back up so nobody accidently saw him. He would need time to slowly introduce the boy to the community so people could get more used to seeing him.

"How in the world did you come into possession of a baby elf" asked Garrow his sadness at his sister's abandonment of her child all but evaporated in his curiosity.

"Well it happened like this" spoke Horst as he recounted how he found baby Naruto and his mother in his cabin, about burying the mother and taking the child, about his plans on raising the boy as his own.

"Well it looks like neither of us have it easy do we, though my sympathies go out to you when you tell Elain about this new child" joke Garrow as he slapped Horst on his big muscular back.

"That is true, she might just kill me where I stand, but anyways could you do me a favor" asked Horst as he looked down at Garrow with a small smile on his face.

"Anything my friend, though I won't be the one to tell Elain about your new elf child" spoke Garrow who was in a much better mood than he had been earlier.

"Next time you talk to someone could you mention the elves and try and put a better spin on them. Introducing him will be hard enough without the rumors flying around about how elves kidnap young children and such" spoke Horst as he shuttered a bit. It was cold out but he didn't want to take back his shirt for fear of the baby getting to cold or something. He didn't know anything about raising an elven child so this was kind of hit and miss for him right now.

"I promise" spoke Garrow as he turned around and started walking to his farm where his wife and son were waiting on him. He had gone into town to get some supplies and had taken Eragon with him for the hell of it, though now he was happy he did.

Horst watched as Garrow walked way into the fast approaching night and then looked in the direction of his own home. It was a giant two story house that he had made himself using all of the skills he had acquired thought his life. It was beautiful and was made even homelier by the fact that Horst had made it himself. On the second floor there was a balcony that extended from a tall window. Water spouts in the shape of gargoyles were all around. The doors and windows were framed by carvings of ravens, serpents, harts, and vines. A big, curved, stair case leads to the second floor. The walls are the color of honey. There is a fireplace, and at the top of the stair a long hallway. There is a kitchen and guest rooms as well. All it all Horst was proud of it though after talking with Garrow he was kind of dreading going home to tell his wife about his 'discovery'. He didn't want her thinking he would love this new child more than their own children.

Finally when Horst got to his house he took a deep breath and opened the door. The first thing he realized were that two fast moving objects had clung to his legs like snakes and were squeezing them. When Horst looked down he saw it was his two sons Albriech, and Baldor.

"Daddy's home" shouted Baldor as he hugged his father's giant leg.

"Daddy what took you so long" shouted Albriech as he to held onto his father's giant muscular leg.

"Oh dear your finally home. I was getting worried and was about to round up a posy to go look….." but that was as far as Elain got when she came out from the kitchen and saw her husband holding a bundle wrapped in her husband's shirt and other dirty cloths. She did notice her husband was shivering a bit and his skin was slightly blue but nothing sitting beside their fireplace couldn't fix.

"Hey honey, hey kids how was you guys day" asked Horst trying to buy some time from the obvious questions that were forming in his wife's head.

"I shot a rabbit with my bow today" spoke Baldor as he puffed up his chest. Baldor was two years older than his six year old brother Albriech and was a great hunter. He already had some muscles starting to form and was a fair deal taller than normal children thus leaving others to believe he would become a giant like his father.

"You did? That's great! I think I will need to make my big strong hunter man some new arrows" spoke Horst as he plopped down on the couch closest to the fire place. He subtly moved the baby closer to the fire as well, just in case.

"Really? Horary" shouted Baldor as he started to jump up and down pumping his fist up and down all the way.

"Hey what about me? I shot a quail" spoke Albriech as he crossed his arms with a pout on his face. He was the only boy in Carvahall that had blonde hair. Everyone else had brown or black hair besides his mother Elain.

"Then you will need some new arrows as well" spoke Horst trying to keep the mood as positive as possible. She shot a subtle look over at his wife to see her reaction. No good she looked pissed off and he knew she wouldn't stay quite forever but so long as the kids were close she would kill him.

"Hooray" shouted Albriech as he started jumping up and down beside his brother Baldor pumping his fist up and down alongside him. Horst was about to continue talking to them but it seemed Elain wouldn't be ignored any longer.

"Horst dear what is that in your arms" asked Elain with a neutral voice. She didn't see why Horst was trying to hide it, it wasn't like she couldn't see so what was the point? Was it his? Did he steal it? She just couldn't figure it out and she wasn't about to be kept in the dark.

"Oh this, well he is a baby" spoke Horst trying to figure out the best way to tell her and their kids about just what kind of baby this was.

"I guessed that much but where did you get it" asked Elain as she stared down at Horst. Even when he was sitting down she was barely taller than him so her looking down on him was a rarity indeed. By now the kids had shut up feeling the tension in the air.

"Up in the cabin where I was going to chop some wood. There was a woman in the cabin with this little guy, but unfortunately the woman was already dead when I got there so I only took the child with me" spoke Horst as he fumbled a bit with his large hands as he held the small child. He could feel the climax coming on quick and wasn't sure if Elain was ready for it.

"Oh that's awful. What did you do with her? You were gone for a long time" spoke Elain feeling like something big was coming up but she just couldn't figure it out.

"I buried her in a clearing close to the cabin. I didn't think she would want to be buried in one of our grave yards. I felt she would have been happier in the forest than around a lot of other dead people" spoke Horst as he held the baby tightly in his arms.

"Why would you think that? Did you know her" asked Elain not getting what her husband was getting at. She could see he looked uneasy and felt herself getting uneasy. 'Horst would never cheat on me' she kept repeating in her head.

"Because she was an elf" spoke Horst as he waited for someone to say something.

Silence was the only thing that permeated their house. His wife and children were shocked into complete silence as they stared at Horst with both shock and confusion. Elain was used to her husband's love for fairytales and since he didn't go overboard with the subject she just ignored it slightly thinking it was cute he still had such a childish side but now she thought he had gone off the deep end. The two boys were shocked thinking their father had finally found a magical creature like he had told them about all their lives. They had always believed he would find one and show them but even though they had expected it they were still shocked.

"Dear how do you know she was an elf? She could have just looked oddly because of hunger or some other cause" spoke Elain trying to recover from the mind blowing info her husband had just put down.

"Because of him" spoke Horst as he opened the wraps to reveal a completely naked little boy with perfect white skin, a lithe body, an angular face, elongated ears, and a faint glow about him.

"Oh my gods" spoke Elain as she looked at the child. This child was unlike anything she had ever seen. He was perfect was the only way she could explain the way he looked. His skin was flawless and there wasn't any of that baby fat other babies had. His golden blond hair matched his beautiful golden eyes. The only thing about him she found odd was his eyes. Those slits were a bit scary to her and she couldn't imagine what they would look like when he got older.

"That's so cool" shouted Baldor as he ran up to his father and sat beside him to get a better look at the small baby in his father's hands. He hadn't ever seen someone who looked like in his entire life and though he looked awesome.

"Hey let me see to" shouted Albriech as he climbed up the back of the couch to look over his father's shoulder to see the smiling face of the little baby. He could actually feel the happiness radiating off the child as he held onto one of Horst's fingers with his small hands.

"Is that really a" but that was as far as Elain got as she looked down at the baby. Her heart melted a bit when he rose up one of his hands and started making grabbing motions towards of her while making slobber bubbles with his mouth.

Elain didn't know what compelled her but she leaned down and picked up the baby and started to coo to him as she gently started swinging him back and forth in her arms. He was so cure and that smiling face was just irresistible to Elain. As she held him she didn't want to put him down until she felt his little belly grumble a bit.

"Ah are you hungry? Oh you pore thing here let me feed you" spoke Elain as she pulled out one of her breasts away from the view of her children of course and then started to let the baby elf suckle from her breast. She had acted as a wet nurse to some of the other babies in the village here and there which meant she could still produce breast milk.

"So what do you think we should do with him" asked Horst hoping she would say that they could keep him. He honestly didn't know where he would be able to leave the baby if she said they had to get rid of him.

"We are going to keep him honestly Horst you don't think sometimes" spoke Elain as she walked up the flight of stairs to start turning one of the guest rooms into her new baby's room.

"What are we going to name him" asked Horst with a smile on his face.

"Naruto" was all she said as she disappeared up the stairs.

"Naruto? Ha I guess she does listen to my fairytales every now and then" spoke Horst as he leaned back and started to talk to his children about what elves were and what they did.