Well... I'm pretty sure that the Japanese translation in the title's wrong... A friend of mine taking Japanese told me that it was right, but she's not in the advanced classes yet, so I'm not sure quite yet... D:

This is a stronger n smarter Naruto, yes, but not to excessive levels. His intelligence did rise drastically, and his strength is now up to par with an average, depending on whether its taijutsu, ninjutsu, or genjutsu, but that's pretty much tops. He does mantain hints and pieces of the oblivious Naruto that we've all grown to love, though, and I don't wanna give him an entire makeover...

Though I did make Naruto extremely petulant about shinobi - He does later re-take his ambition to become Hokage, but at the moment, he's interested with the sky. Though I admit that it sounds utterly absurd, it'll make sense after a while. And no. His infactuated ambition about the sky isn't literal. Well.. Not really, anyways. XD

Nonetheless - This is the bloodline fic promised via poll results. I hope you enjoy! :D

Dialogue Interpretations:

"Character Speech"

.:Character Thoughts:.

.:. Demonic Speech.:.

Disclaimer: I hold no possession, or any great love for that matter of, the ownership of Naruto, seeing all the twisty snarky bits of plot that I just know will kill me if I end up owning Naruto. Poor Kishimoto, though.

Sky (noun), skai-ii: (1) The expanse of air over any given point over the Earth, (2) the celestial regions surrounding the Earth, (3) the heavens.

.x Prologue x.

As a child, Uzumaki Naruto had always had a sole occupation in mind, an absurd notion that he had always been attached to, even in childhood.

Of course, this want of the occupation had grown out of fascination, of utter devotion with the subject.

After all, even as a child, Uzumaki Naruto had always harbored an odd, almost obsessive, fascination with the sky.

It had begun as a simple muted curiosity that was natural of children. He would stare occasionally out of a window at the sky in unabated curiosity and wonder, but that had been tops. Until his curiosity had grown to awe, at least. At that point in his life, he had scaled the Hokage Tower to get a better glimpse of the sky. But then, the awe had left and something else had morphed in him - some odd fascination, almost akin to devotion. To the sky. It was absurd, and his goal in life utterly improbable - but the Uzumaki was undeterred, occasionally calling out promises that he would become what he claimed to want to be and everyone else just wait, he'd show them.

The fascination, and odd interest in the profession that didn't exist - couldn't exist - survived his childhood, and continuing being a topic of interest to him even in adulthood, though at that point in his life, the goal was more metaphorical than literal. It was a topic that worried others, as the only way he could even remotely succeed in his goal was to negoticate with death, but that was a failed possibility with many, wasn't it?

Uzumaki Naruto had, after all, always, from childhood to adulthood, desired to become a function of the sky, a part of the expansive space above the various Nations and Countries populating the Earth.

It was a childish goal, created from the immaturity of a child. But even the Sandaime's gentle coaxing couldn't deter the child from musing idily about the sky in a clear desire to become a part of it.

But perhaps it was inevitable. Konohagaku, the village of the Leaf, the village in which was believed to grow as does a tree, may have only encouraged the child onto his goals.

Had it been only inevitable that a fledgling would take rest in the expansive branches of the branches of the village, and mature into a bird capable of flight away from the tree's capturing arms, and towards the sky to become one with it?

.x. Chapter I .x.

.x. The Creation of the Foundation .x.

The Sandaime, former mentor of the three legendary Sannin, known throughout the Nations as the 'God of Shinobi,' and current Hokage of Konohagaku no Sato, would never have imagined facing his most elegant verbal warfare with, who else?, but an 11-year-old child. The child, instrumental to Konoha's safety, which would go down less easily than the Council themselves. Who else would make such a worthy adversery?

Nevertheless, this particular child was different from the others, he mused. But still, this continued stubbornness was almost absurd, now. And yet...

Taking a new stance, the Sandaime tried tackling the subject once more.

"The Academy is open to all children of Konohogaku. It is the foundation of all shinobi. Without the education administered by the Academy, you cannot become a shinobi, Naruto." He was appealing to the child's bright side, though he had no idea if the child wanted to be a shinobi or a civilian. They'd never settled those differences, and now the backlash was getting to him. "The applications are due next week. I have the papers here. Do you wish to become a shinobi, the elite, of Konoha, Naruto?" He waited patiently.

"Can shinobi fly?" The blonde child, Uzumaki Naruto, asked, as he sat petulantly in the seat opposite the Hokage's in the Hokage Tower.

The Hokage sighed. The child had asked the same question on all the various occasions in which he, the Hokage, had practically implored that the petulant child enter the Academy. It was almost infuriating how the question vexed him and settled the argument all those years prior to this one. But, this year, he was determined to not give an inch.

"Shinobi cannot fly, unfortunately." The Hokage explained. "But neither can civilians, for that matter. Shinobi can, however, walk on water and other such unstable elements of nature."

"Then can shinobi walk on air?"

"No, they cannot, Naruto."

"Can shinobi walk on fire?"

"Well... They can make fire, but no. They cannot walk on it."

"Shinobi can't fly, can't walk on air, can't walk on fire..." Naruto listed vaguely. "It sounds like some regular civilian chore, really, Jiji."

The Sandaime would've have a heart-attack if it had been any other child disgracing the occupation of ninjas. But, seeing as it was Naruto... he selected his words with care.

"Civilians cannot walk on water, which is something that a shinobi can do. Surely, walking on water is an aspect of becoming... ah, what was it?... a part of the sky, was it, Naruto-kun?"

Something flashed in the Uzumaki's cerulean eyes. "It's not enough," he stated flatly. "And they don't teach you how to walk on water in the Academy. They teach you to trip other people with nin-wires there. I saw it once from a window. It's a waste of my time."

"I'll talk to the Academy about it. I strongly doubt that they were learning to trip others with wir -"

"The teacher was measuring the wire and a child ran up and tripped on it." Naruto interrupted. "It sounds like tripping to me."

"Let's talk about that at another time." The Sandaime explained tactfully. "I'll make sure to keep that particular... activity from continuing in the Academy, then. As for now, let's stay on the topic of my proposition to you to become a shinobi of Konohagaku."

This was the last year in which Naruto was able to become a shinobi of Konohagakure, since the age restrictions on the Academy were on the tender age of 11, and no later. And seeing how Naruto's 11th birthday had finally come along, and how otherwise the child would be sent to Danzo's ROOT, it was a rather testy proposition.

"I don't see the point." Naruto replied. "It's a very dangerous job with high mortality rates. I dunno about you, really, but I rather like staying alive, Jiji."

"Yes, yes, Naruto. We all do." The Hokage said patiently, even as his hands itched to just throttle something. "If you're a good enough ninja, you'll have less possibility of dying on the job. Dying is not something that we ninja wish for, after all."

"Really? I heard some went suicidal. Or crazy. I hear that there's a whole bunch of ninja in the infirmary. Am I right, Jiji?"

The Sandaime's shoulders slumped in the prospect of yet another defeat at the hands of this 11-year-old urchin. "It's not as bad as you make it out to be. There's always the possibility of retiring after living a nice long life as a ninja."

"Three years of being a Genin and retiring sounds just great, then. How about that, Jiji?" The blond's eyes twinkled with mischief. "D-rank missions all my ninja career... Sounds perfectly safe and harmless to me."

"Most shinobi don't retire until reaching Chuunin, at least."

"Genin seems tops for safety when being a ninja, though." Naruto frowned. "Civilian life sounds just magical compared to life as a shinobi..."

"You won't know until you actually try being a shinobi, Naruto." The Sandaime replied wearily.

The blond eyed the Hokage speculatively. "That's true... But it's still a very dangerous job, ne, Hokage-sama?"

"I won't deny that the profession is dangerous, but there are the benefits to be reaped, Naruto, upon becoming a shinobi."

"I don't know, Jiji..."

"I have a proposition for you." The Sandaime leaned forward to voice his last thoughts. "You won't die if you're powerful enough to counter the enemy's blows. And here, I can help you."

"And?" Naruto lifted an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed thus far.

"In exchange for joining the Academy and becoming a ninja of Konohogakure no Sato, you have my express permission to borrow any scrolls from my personal library pertaining to any jutsu of your level. Excluding those marked in red, which are trade secrets, surely you'd understand that. And..." he continued at Naruto's deadpan look. "You'll receive a reputable Jounin sensei for when you graduate the Academy, and you'll have my safety as Hokage over whatever idiocy you pull as Chuunin and higher." The Hokage paused speculatively. "Is it a deal?"

Cerulean eyes blinked up in mute agreement after a moment of hesitant pause. "It's a deal."

It went without saying that now, the Hokage felt not entirely at ease with the situation, especially considering how much he had given to accomodate Naruto, but he shook off the feeling. He was Hokage. What trivial matters could concern him?

"Have you had lunch yet, Naruto? I believe that the ramen-stand that you're so fond of is still open."

"You're treating me to ramen?"

"Yes, I am."

A second passed, and then Naruto's stiff demeanor cracked.

"Yatta!" The whooping cry was nearly enough to deafen the elderly Hokage. "Ramen! Ramen! Ramen!"

"I need to retire one of these days..." The Hokage mused, feeling a growing sense of dread as to the future of his wallet as the child continued shouting.

But it was all for good, he consoled himself. After all, even Naruto couldn't eat so much in one sitting... Could he?

"Ramen! My precious! And seeing how I didn't eat this morning... I'll get to eat more now! Mwahahaha! Ramen! My sweet! My precious!"

...Well, that was the chances of his wallet's survival going from .0001 to absolute zero. .: But it's all in the good of Konoha. :. He willed himself to believe the comforting eight words as he slowly trudged off to the impending demise of his wallet. The poor little wallet dear. Life had not been very nice to it thus far... Karma would be kinder to it in its next life.

.x. .x. .x.

"All cleared out! Although there wasn't very much ramen before you came, you've just finished clearing us out for the day." The ramen-vendor reported. "Congratulations, Naruto-san! You've broken your old record and made a new one! Fifty bowls in one sitting! Rather impressive, I'd say! We'll fix you up a special next time you come, alright?"

"Hai, hai!" Naruto smiled, feeling the contentment of a full meal settle comfortingly on his stomach. "Arigatou!"

"You should come by more often, Naruto-san. We have a wide variety of different ramen types that you'll probably like." The ramen-vendor paused before slipping a piece of paper towards the blond. "Ah... The bill, here."

"It's for you, Jiji." Naruto palmed the piece of paper to the Sandaime. "Your treat, right?"

"Since when did this become my treat?" The Hokage inquired, looking at the paper as if it'd explode and willing himself to not look at the amount due. Considering how much Naruto had eaten, he supposed that his concern went with merit.

"Since you offered to treat me." Naruto replied blandly. "Pay up, Jiji."

Sarutobi sighed, before carefully analysising the piece of paper. Two big fat zeros stared up forlornly at him. Accompanied, of course, with another fat three. 300. Blinking, he wondered if he was simple dreaming of one of the zeros... It would certainly diminish the payment due...

"Hurry up, Jiji!" The Naruto's voice called. "Teuchi-san's not going to pay himself, you know!"

.: Oh, I know that alright. Cheeky brat. :. Sarutobi wondered briefly if he should just pull a Kawarimi and have the blond pay for his own meal. After all, Sarutobi himself had only had one bowl of miso ramen. But, then again, that might caused the brat to think that the ninja techniques were used only as methods of stealing and cheating, which was never good.

Slowly, painfully, he retracted his hand to reach for his wallet which practically quivered with the fear of the ones knowing of their impending demise.

.: It's for the good of Konoha. :. But why did it feel like he was trying more to convince himself that it was true than anything else? Next week, the child would be the academy, he soothed his wallet. But there remained the chilling thought: How many more meals would the child eat at his cost in the meantime?

That day, sitting at a ramen stand, feeling the odors of ramen, now suddenly so repugnant to him, waft in front of him, and extracting the amount due from his wallet, Sarutobi felt a familiar want to throttle turned to want to kill directed at the blond, and for the first time in a long time, his tear glands watered up and tears wafted up in his eyes.

.x. .x. .x.

"The Henge no Jutsu is a ninjutsu that is often used to hide or conceal your identity from foreign or enemy nin. It is an E-class, but is highly useful in the field of battle."

Naruto yawned, feeling tears prick at his eyes in his want for slumber. The class was so exceedingly boring. He didn't know how anyone had survived these classes long enough to become ninja.

The boy nestled his head so that it was propped up to some degree on his arms, but hardly visible to the teacher.

"Naruto!" The teacher called. "Is the Henge a ninjutsu or a genjutsu technique?"

"Wait, what? Repeat that."

The class snickered as the teacher, Iruka, sighed.

"Which is the Henge: A ninjutsu or genjutsu technique?"

"I thought you said it was a ninjutsu." Naruto replied, snapping out of his semi-conscious daze of sleep long enough to focus on the question.

"Fair enough." The teacher turned away, satisfied, before calling on another unsuspecting student to answer a question on the Kawarimi Jutsu. And then he promptly launched into a lesson about the history of Snow Country. And following that, Earth Country and Fire Country as the class groaned.

Naruto simply slept on.

.x. .x. .x.

"...Naruto?"

"Hai, Iruka-sensei?" Naruto paused, mid-step from the threshold of the classroom door.

"Stay behind for a moment."

"Hai, sensei." Naruto obliged, waiting until the other students filtered out of the classroom. "What is it? Class just ended, didn't it?"

"It's not about classes, Naruto."

"It's pranks again, isn't it?" Naruto inquired before shouting. "I didn't pull any in the last week - I swear! That stunt with the falling chairs was Konohamaru! Konohamaru! I -"

Iruka sighed. "It's not pranks either, Naruto."

"Then... What is it, sensei?" Naruto blinked in confusion, his moment of acting gone as quickly as it had come and replaced with curious confusion.

"The Graduation exam."

"Ah." Naruto's eyes cleared. "What about them?"

"Hokage-sama told me that you're not exceptionally keen on becoming a ninja." The teacher turned his gaze away. "From that... I don't know if it's irrational or not... But I get the impression that you'll sabatoge your own participation in the Exams."

"That's all you wanted to talk to me about?"

"That's not all, Naruto. Well, actually, it is. But that doesn't mean that this is supposed to be taken lightly! Flunking intentionally is looked down on in the Academy. If I find that you didn't make a good effort -"

"Don't bother, Iruka-sensei. Hokage-jiji already drilled this in my head. I'll be fine. Don't worry." The blond waved off his concerns. "Just wait till tomorrow, sensei! I'll show you I can pass. Really!"

Iruka held his gaze a moment longer before relenting. "I bet you will, Naruto. Now... You can leave."

A brief moment later, the room was devoid of a certain mischief-making 11-year-old child, and the teacher, left behind as the sole occupant of the room, sighed.

.x. .x. .x.

"I never imagined that Jiji's library would be so helpful." Naruto mused quietly in speculation as he glanced down at the scroll with the information neccessary for the Bunshin. "It's like a mine full of info."

The past year, he'd been practically living here, soaking up the information that this vault of information had to offer. And it seldom disappointed him - often showing him a dazzling jutsu that was required for the Academy just in the nick of time. Who would concetrate in class when all the information he ever needed in life was here, anyways?

"Bunshin, Bunshin... Let's see..." Naruto scanned the contents of the scroll. "This is it? Seriously? A handseal and a dash of chakra. Wow. What a joke." Cerulean eyes speculatively eyed the scroll placed by the Bunshin. "Jiji should stock up more on useful jutsu than this stuff... Wonder what this scroll is, though..." He tipped the other scroll back from the shelf.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Naruto shrugged. "Well... 'S long as it's better than the regular Bunshin. Let's see what it says..."

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, is known for being almost exclusively contained in the Leaf village, Konohagaku no Sato. The jutsu allows solid clones to be made by the user, in contrast to the 'illusionary' clones created by the Bunshin no Jutsu. This jutsu is also almost exclusive in 'clone' jutsus in the regard that the clones allow the wielder to gain whatever information gained by the clones after they disperse. The clones can often be dispersed with a good solid hit. The jutsu requires extensive chakra and is a B-rank ninjutsu.

Naruto grinned at the prospects arisen from the nin-technique. A technique involving solid clones. What else could he have possibly asked for?

.x. .x. .x.

"Uzumaki Naruto." Iruka called from his position behind the mutually shared teacher's desk, adjusted for Graduation day - the day in question taking place at the moment. "The Bunshin no Jutsu. Six clones."

"Bunshin, Bunshin... Ah, that one! Let's see..." The words were muttered in a whisper as Naruto positioned his hands to accomodate for the proper handseals and six bursts of smoke poofed into existance.

Six clones, disarmingly perfect, bubbled into existance - all of them an exact replica of the actual Naruto.

"How are they, Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asked innocently.

"Perfect." Iruka snapped the gradebooks closed just as the clones faded from existance. "Done, Naruto. Grab a headband, will you?"

"Sure, sure." Naruto palmed the headband of his choice. "So I graduate?"

"Yes. You graduate. Congratulations, Naruto." Iruka turned to bring in the next potential graduate. "Step outside with the other graduates."

Naruto smiled disarmingly up at the teacher. "Thanks, sensei!" he called sweetly before leaving the room, cackling madly, leaving Iruka to wonder over what had just happened.

.x. .x. .x.

"He graduated. Him. I can't believe -"

"Everyone graduated. I d-"

"Still, I wouldn't have minded if that thing didn't pass."

"I'd rather he hadn't gotten any ninja training at all. Can you imagine how it'd be with him parading around like a ninja?"

"Shush. Remember Sandaime-sama's decree? We're not allowed to talk about it anymore than neccessary."

"I know. But still -"

"We don't need to spare words for demons."

Naruto flinched, recognizing the vebal abuse directed his way. It wasn't like the Third had ordered that he'd graduate - Naruto had done it on his own. Then why were they all so spitefully hateful of him? Almost as if he had physically taken the village in his hands and smashed it into his other hand. Absurd, and yet, the spiteful manner of speaking was degrading enough to bring on that assumption.

He wanted to escape to the sky. He had been told of the reprieve to be found there by the Sandaime himself. He'd always found it soothing... Why would it never allow him to get any closer? Why was he locked into this world of spite and hatred?

A flash of color flickered in his eyes before disappearing, as quickly as it had come - an exotic blue different from his cerulean ones in their lightness - almost as if in reply.

.x. .x. .x.

The Sandaime was, as always, in the Hokage Tower, bravely tackling the worst enemy known to man. Paperwork, of all things. But a lethal enemy, all the same.

For example, at the moment, Sarutobi was on the verge of tears. The stressful time constraint that had come with the new batch of paperwork hadn't helped, apparently.

Color-coded papers were splayed out on the desk in front of him - all with various pictures depicting the Academy students. He'd been deciding which teams would be which for the last half hour, and the event was stressful, if anything.

Team 7 was the particular dilmena here.

For one, the Uzumaki had graduated with fairly average grades. And Uchiha and Haruno had graduated with the top grades of the class. Setting the three in the same group was ideal. Sending Naruto to Kurenai's group wasn't the best idea, since Sarutobi had promised a 'magically wonderfully reputable' sensei for Naruto. And though Hatake didn't exactly fit in that particular standard, he made a better qualification for it than did Kurenai, simply because of their expontial differences in experience.

And yet, the dead last would have to be placed on Team 7 if the top rookie and kunoichi of the class were to be placed on it. But then, going back to Naruto's average score, that was entirely impossible.

Still.. He could entirely disregard the grades, but was that wise, even? After all... Only so many accomodations could be made before problems formed eventually from the rifts of logic that occasionally situated themselves in the present.

.: Nevertheless, there's a certain extractment that must be made to adjust the present for the future. :. The action was almost painful, and ridiculously slow, for that matter, but it was still within minutes that the team placements was finished and submitted to the Academy for briefing.

.x. .x. .x.

"Naruto! Move!" A loud obstrusive voice shattered Naruto's fragile slumber. Haruno Sakura stood in front of the blond, accompanied by Ino Yamanaka, both of their facial expressions amusedly portraying the expression customary of one who'd just been told to eat toilet paper.

"Sakura?" Naruto blinked. "What is it?"

"Move, Naruto! Get off that seat!"

"Why should I move, Sakura?"

"Because Sasuke-kun's sitting on the other side, baka!"

"Oh. Sasuke, huh?" Naruto briefly considered not moving, just to liven up the room, but decided against it in want of preserving his life, and standing up. "Full rein ahead, Sakura. Sit, then. I'll find another seat."

"Oi! I'm going to sit there!"

"As if, Ino-pig! Didn't you hear Naruto? The seat's mine!"

Walking dociely in his just-awakened slumber, Naruto turned to the seat besides Hyuuga Hinata.

"Ano... Hinata-san? Can I sit here?"

"You piece of pig shit, Ino! That seat is reserved for me!" Sakura's voice rung out, deafeningly loud, in the class.

"H-Hai, Naruto-kun." Hinata managed to force out the words, considerably quieter than Sakura, for which he was grateful.

"AAARRRGHH!" The sound of what had come to be recognized as friendly bantering between friends continued, even after Naruto's brief verbal exchange with Hinata.

"Quiet!" A new voice intruded. Iruka emerged from behind the door, clearly irritated. "You're all ninja! Did you forget? Anything you do now represents the shinobi populance!"

Silence filtered into the air after his words took meaning to the new Genin. The Yamanaka quietly took another seat after noticing the prescence of the teacher.

"I'll be calling team placements." Iruka stated. "Team 1 is currently on its third year together. Team 2..."

Naruto quit paying attention, staring at the ceiling instead.

"...Team 4 is on its second year."

The ceiling, Naruto noted, had tiles with sixty-two holes punched in it. It wasn't too much fun counting, but he was bored, so any method of passing time would be welcomed by him with open arms.

"Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto was snapped out of his idle dawdling. "Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke will make up Team 7." Sakura emitted a brief call of victory, unable to help herself, before settling down once more. "Kiba Inuzaku, Shino Aburame, and Hyuuga Hinata are Team 8. Team 9..."

Naruto set his head on the desk in defeat while the Uchiha remained the perfect picture of stoic calm. In the background, Sakura continued to emit warcries of victory.

.x. .x. .x.

"Where is he?" Sakura called in frustration well-merited from the three hours of waiting. "Our sensei's late."

"Unusually so, even for a teacher." Naruto noted.

"We've established that, idiot."

"I think his tardiness calls for drastic measures." Naruto continued. "Whaddaya you think, Sakura?

"What do you mean, idiot?" A pause ensued before the inevitable: "What the hell are you doing now, anyways, Naruto?"

"Drastic times call for drastic measures." Naruto called in a sickeningly sweet voice, even as he placed a chalkboard eraser on the top of the door. "Wouldn't you agree, Sakura?"

"I never said to try to pull a prank on our sensei!"

"Hn." The stoic Uchiha replied, either in agreement or disagreement, Naruto and Sakura both had no idea. They had yet to learn the ingenious Uchiha one-word coded speech.

...But they drew their assumptions from it, anyways.

"See! Even Sasuke-kun agrees with me!"

"Are you kidding? That was so completely a 'no, Naruto's right!' Uchiha here is actually smart, you know! He wouldn't agree with you! Didn't you just hear him? He said 'no' to you!"

"What are you, an idiot?"

"Maybe." Naruto considered, before firing back. "But at least I'm well-versed in Uchiha speech!"

"Liar! Sasuke-kun would never agree with you!"

"That's a bit of an exaggerat-"

"Exaggeration, yeah? Let me tell you what an exaggeration i-" Sakura paused mid-speech. "... Wait a minute... I just heard something."

Even as she spoke, the door squeaked open, and a figure, taller than the three of them and bearing a clear resemblence to Jounin, or a person of power, stood behind the door in frank boredom.

The figure bore a Jounin vest, a facemask, and unusual gravity-defying silver hair. That was as much as Naruto was able to process before the figure stepped into the room, at least.

...Only to have his hair caked in chalkboard dust as the eraser fell on his head.

"...Sensei?" Sakura called uncertainly, too surprised by the unexpected lack of movement to utter anything else. Blinking at the new stifling cloud of chalkboard eraser-induced smoke, she called, "Are you... okay?"

"Let's see... My first impression of you three..." The figure paused deliberately in thought. "...is that I hate you. Meet me on the roof." And then he disappeared in a poof of chakra-enhanced smoke.

Silence ensued and then Sakura turned on Naruto. "Look! Now he hates us! Gee, thanks a lot, Naruto!"

"Hey, hey, at least we know what he's like, don't we?" Naruto asked testily.

"Well..."

"See? No harm done. Come on, Sakura, Sasuke. He said the roof."

"Yeah. Guess so."

"Hn."

.x. .x. .x.

Not surprisingly, by the time that the three had gone up to the roof, their sensei was already there - perched on the edge of the building.

"Let's start with introductions, then." Their teacher stated once they had settled down. "Such as your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, and goals."

"Ano... Sensei?" Sakura called timidly, looking up at their potential teacher from under a veil of pink hair. "Could you start? To give us an example?"

The man nodded, unfazed. "My name is Hatake Kakashi. I have a few likes and dislikes, both of which are none of your business. I have quite a collection of hobbies. Dreams for the future...?" He trailed off thoughtfully before turning his attention to the others. "Start."

"My name's Haruno Sakura. I like..." Sakura stole a glance at the Uchiha. "My hobbies are..." Again, another furtive glance and her cheeks reddened in a blush. "My dreams..." And again, a quick turn to the Uchiha and she muffled a call of adoration between her hands. "...I dislike Ino-pig, though."

.: I can tell that this is going to be fun. :. Kakashi turned to Naruto. "And you?"

"My name's Uzumaki Naruto. I like... the sky, really. I dislike waiting the three minutes for packaged ramen to boil. My hobbies include gazing up at the sky. My dreams for the future is to become 'em. The skies." He smiled serenely at the Hatake.

.: Rather interesting character, despite the physical improbability of his dream. :. "And you?" He motioned deliberately towards Sasuke.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I have few likes and many dislikes. I have few hobbies, and my dream... No, ambition... for the future is to revive the Uchiha clan, and to kill a certain man."

.: As was only expected :. Hatake mused idily as Sakura stared at the Uchiha, profound awe in her gaze.

"Alright." A new briskness entered Hatake's voice as he stood against the rail placed conveniently at the far edge of the building. "Let me tell you three now about the true Genin test..."

.x. .x. .x.

The night was all but quiet as the insects outside chirped in a manner reminiscent of crickets. But for once, the noise was welcome to Naruto as a pleasant distraction.

His team was a source of profound mystery. Sakura with her crush on Sasuke and yet that timidity regarding her physical features, forehead especially. Though that mystery could be quickly deciphered, it was better to just wait for confirmation.

Sasuke was another thing altogether. He spent a majority of his time in the Academy brooding and sulking. And occasionally, his eyes hazed over with the gauze of the past, a painful past, apparently, according to the fifty-ninth book to the left side, Section A-B12 of the Sandaime's library about ocular abnormalities regarding emotions. A mysterious past. He was the type that girls swooned for, but he was far too wrapt up in his past to notice. And his words - his ambition was to kill a man. Depressingly mysterious, really. But he was his teammate. Naruto had to brace himself to endure it.

And then there was Kakashi. Mysterious and dark in a light similar to Sasuke's own, but having learned to put up a mask of indifference - perhaps integrating it into his personality, even. Perhaps. He had yet to know the full functions of the team, after all. It had only been their first day.

A dysfunctional group that couldn't operate a single day with all of them and him, as well. Much less survive as a team.

Glancing up at the sky above him, Naruto wondered how long his apparent team could survive with such stark differences. And, after musing idily over the matter and coming up with a solution, he smiled vaguely, satisfied, up at the night sky.

...This was definitely something different from what I'm used to doing. Well... It was fun, so I guess that it's all good. :D

Naruto in this story isn't the strongest or smartest person. Which is what I was going for, really. I've read a lot of fics with drastic changes in Naruto's personality, and I think that this is drastic enough. I'd rather him maintain some aspects of him that we just associate with Naruto so he doesn't come off as a completely different character whose only similarity with the real Naruto is his name.

Naruto isn't very romantically taken with Sakura, either, as you probably noted. Crushes on his behalf won't exist yet since I really have no idea as for the pairing and I dunno if someone who wants to become involved with the sky wants to be involved with someone else. That'd probably result in a bunch of heartache and tears. D: Though I'll take pairing requests and see what I can do. :D

And yes, I know that the transitions are kind of still rough and the scenes move abnormally fast, but I wanna get to the bloodline in the next chapter at least but still wanna lay out a foundation, so... wish me luck on that, then. XD

His whole fascination with the sky will be explained throughout the story and he'll receive his bloodline in the second or third chapter. I'm not sure how long I wanna make the 2nd chapter yet, so it could take a while.

I'm skipping Kakashi's introductionary 'bell test' though!!! D: The story takes as much space as it needs to, thank you very much. :D

Poll: Well, not exactly a poll, actually, but more like: Throw whatever pairings you want at me and I'll try to work it out... Maybe, anyways. Straight, shounen-ai, yuri, yaoi... Anything, really, and I'll see what I'll end up with. XD Just not NaruSaku and SasuNaru. There's enough of those pairings around and personally, I don't reckon that those pairings will work with this storyline.

About the fascination with the sky, go read my Team 7 fic 'Illustrations of the Sky,' for more details. I've been drawing back on that story in little bits so it could clarify quite a bit about this story. Just try to remember that at this point, his whole friendship theory doesn't exist yet because he has so little friends at the moment, so he's still at that childlike stage in which he wishes to (metaphorically) become the sky.

Drop a review off and have a nice day~! :D