Jinchuriki of the World-Eater.

Smoke rose over the mountains of Sovngarde, covering the beautiful constellations and the Borealis that decorated the sky in a smothering blanket of ill-intent. Rocks wreathed in fire fell from the clouds like deadly rain, hitting the ground and exploding into shards of red-hot stone.

A great black dragon, covered blacks scales that were curved and sharp as blades, gave one last roar from its' bloodied maw and collapsed in a heap of limps and blood. With a small crack and a great explosion, the scales exploded off of its' body, peppering the area with fragments.

Mira, Dragonborn Nord and Thane of Whiterun, raised her shield reflexively, the sharp shards bouncing off of the metal with small ping noises. When the danger had passed, she lowered her shield, and prepared for the onrush of memories that came with absorbing a dragon's soul. When nothing was forthcoming, Mira stared at the slain corpse of Alduin, waiting for it to burst into flames like all the others.

Wind, colored orange and red with hints of purple streamed from the body as it disintegrated into dust, but instead of heading towards the Dragonborn, it flew off into the distance, joining with the vortex in the sky until it faded.

Her companion, an old hero, answered Mira's questioning gaze in his solemn voice. "Perhaps Alduin isn't truly dead. This defeat may have only banished him, and when the time finally comes, he will rise once again, to fulfill his destiny."

Mira shook her head, glancing once more at area Alduin's body had occupied. "Whenever Alduin returns, maybe the world will need to be ended. It is of no matter to us any longer, simply time."

…

Red pupil-less eyes snapped open; flickering inside their sockets; taking in everything about the surroundings the Great Dragon suddenly found himself in.

Ankle-high water lapped at his talons. The ceiling was smooth stone, with weak, thin blue metal pipes running through it. Wherever he had ended up, it was not the time he occupied previously.

A roar drew Alduin's attention to a large cage, with bars so tall they disappeared into the darkness of the ceiling; a large, red and decidedly furious nine-tailed fox thrashed and raged, slamming its' body against the cage, which was held shut by single piece of paper with a strange markings on it.

Alduin arched a scaly eyebrow at the cautiously, sniffing it cautiously. Strange. This little paper holds a fraction of Arkay's power. Why would he seal a Daedra inside a cage? And in such a strange place?

"You!"

Alduin gave the nine tailed demon a bored look as it shouted at him, arching a scaly eyebrow in an oddly human fashion. "What do you want, Daedra?" He asked, forsaking his native tongue in irritation.

The fox roared and snapped at him through the bars, "Release me from this prison at once, and I will grant you the mercy of a quick death!" It shouted at him.

Alduin snorted and laughed darkly. "You, a Daedra weak enough to be locked behind a scrap of paper, believe you can slay me, the first-born of Akatosh?"

He snorted, blowing a cloud of smoke at the foxes' muzzle. "Such folly. I could destroy you with minimal effort, a waste of my power. A human would present more of a challenge. You, however, are not worthy of my time, infinite that it may be."

With his piece said, Alduin turned away from the cage, showing the vulpine Daedra his back. The fox roared and thrashed some more, screaming and threatening while trying to reach through the bars to seize his tail.

The Dragon's face showed irritation and he spun around to face the caged creature. "Nahlot!" Alduin shouted, a wave of energy flying from his mouth and to slam into the fox, bowling it over with force of his Voice. When it recovered and stood, the fox opened its' mouth to speak and threaten again; but found that no sound would issue from it.

The great dragon sniffed contemptuously. "Weak."

A cry sounded from below the Dragon, one out of place in the water-laden pipes. Looking down curiously, Alduin found a child, no more than a day old, floating in the water near his taloned feet. The baby had his hands out, grasping at his legs as if he wanted to touch the mighty beast, showing no fear at the menacing visage hovering over him.

Alduin lowered his snout to the baby and sniffed, ignoring the way the child giggled as his breath tickled his stomach. "You smell of Arkay, child." His red eyes fell on the seal holding the raging fox shut, recalling the similar scent.

"You must be the container for the deadra." He narrowed his eyes on the child, who just clapped his hands and giggled. "Though why the Death God would do such a thing is beyond my comprehension."

He lowered his snout again, softly nudging the babe with his nose. The child reached out, and clumsily patted the great dragon on the snout, feeling the smooth scales with a tiny hand. Alduin hummed with curiosity. "Interesting…you do not fear me, do you?" He lowered his head further, so that one red eye was looking at the child's face. "Many strong men and Daedra alike have been consumed by the power of my voice, little Jul."

The child simply giggled and patted Alduin on the snout again. However, when the babe took his hand from the dragon, a single small black scale stuck to his to the palm of his hand, seemingly without cause. The child stared curiously at the foreign object attached to him and blinked curiously when black lines began to crawl across his skin, up his arm and to his face, forming into four closely-spaced fang-like markings. Black ink bled out of his skin, forming a mask-like tattoo upon his visage. The babe's eyes changed slightly, the previous black pupils lightening into a familiar reddish-orange that contrasted greatly with the cerulean irises.

Alduin tilted his head, looking at the face of the child. "Hm. Yet even more oddity about you, child. A blessing from my father, Akatosh." The dragon tapped his chin with a talon in a surprisingly human fashion. "He rarely interferes with the lives of humans except for the worst of crises." Air swirled around Alduin, concealing his form and stirring up the water which rocked the floating child.

When the air cleared, there stood a tall man in place of a dragon. With long black hair, black robes with red runes running the length of the cloth and smaller horns on his head, the aristocratic shape of his face, and the cunning glimmer in his red-orange eyes, he looked every bit a regal being.

Alduin bent and picked the child from the water, cradling him in his arms. The baby giggled and clapped excitedly, a wide, toothless smile on his pudgy face.

"Now, child, what do you know about the Deities?" Alduin looked at the baby expectantly, then shook his head. "You don't know anything, right. It's a child. How could it know anything?" The last part was muttered to himself. Waving a hand carelessly, he created a chair from the water and sat down, settling the child in his lap. "Well now. How about I teach you some words? At the very least, you would be a better conversationalist."

"Ab-a!"

"…What does that mean? Is that some kind name?"

"Ab-a!"

"Seriously, child. Stop talking nonsense."

"Ab-a?"

"Is that all you can say?"

"Ab-a."

"…I'll take that as a yes."

…

Years later…

Suffice to say, life for Uzumaki Naruto was…rather strange. His first word, when he finally spoke, was, "Dovah!" That confused the hell out of the matron of the orphanage, having a strange child speak to her in a guttural language. Especially when he began to talk at people who already viewed him in with wary countenances.

He was a rather cheerful child, despite his situation and even when no one understood what he was saying.

The only problem was there were many who did not like him, or were openly hostile despite his outlook. The matron and other caretakers at the orphanage were indifferent to him, as they were with the other children, only talking to him when they had to. Most of the other kids stayed away from him; most thought he was weird, talking in a made-up language with his weird, scary face paint that never came off.

When he was six years old, a drunken chunin crept into Naruto's room with the intent to kill the Kyuubi jinchuriki, believing him to be demonically possessed in his inebriated stupor. The ANBU posted around the clock to watch Naruto were able to stop the chunin before he made it more than three feet into the child's room, but the matron deemed Naruto a danger to the other children and escorted him to the Hokage, who gave the child an apartment and a monthly stipend, with watchers who would make sure he survived.

Later that very same day, Naruto was out wandering the village at night, his strange new home foreign and uncomfortable, when he stumbled across a man fully dressed in black carrying a bundle over his shoulder. Naruto heard the bundle softly crying and narrowed his eyes in determination.

After the Hyuuga heiress had gone missing in the middle of the night, the whole of Konoha's ninja forces searched high and low for the little girl. When her father finally found his little girl, Hinata was chatting quite happily with Naruto as the man from Kumo was lying unconscious on the ground, curled up in the fetal position in a puddle of his own vomit.

When asked what happened, Naruto simply explained to them that he followed the example of several women he had seen by the hotsprings when a man peeked on them; mainly, hitting the older man in between the legs with a stick, hard enough that the man vomited and collapsed.

From that day forward, Naruto was always welcomed into the Hyuuga compound with open arms and smiles, especially from Hinata and her twin sister, Hanabi.

Not even a year later, Naruto, once again wandering the village at night, this time from simple insomnia, slipped away from the ANBU that watched over him and came across a terrible sight.

The door to the Uchiha compound had been left ajar, something that never happened due to the Clans' paranoia. Curious, Naruto took a look inside and nearly retched. What he found were corpses decorating the ground, blood that ran in rivers and streams and even more red liquid splashed everywhere.

Gathering his courage, he stepped inside the compound, he heard screams that made him dash through the blood-soaked streets, regardless of his safety. He found Itachi Uchiha, covered in the blood of his clansmen, standing over his mother, ready to strike her down with his kodachi, the Uchiha patriarch already dead on the floor.

Ignoring the shock of his peaceful watcher, who enjoyed playing games with the young blond, being the one who slaughtered his clan, Naruto dashed into the room and slammed himself against Itachi's leg, making the ANBU captain stumble off-balance and miss his mother.

Taking his chance, Naruto channeled Alduins' power and let loose a piercing shout that echoed across the entire village, waking the sleeping people and alarming the ninja population.

Itachi fell to one knee, clutching his bleeding ears and grimacing in pain. With his plan compromised by one he was unwilling to kill, the Uchiha heir looked into Naruto's eyes, his Sharingan twisting into a different form. "Tsukiyomi!"

Naruto suddenly found himself in a world that was bathed in blood red light coming from the red moon above him. Itachi appeared before him, his face sad, tears running down his cheeks. "Naruto-kun, I'm afraid that I won't be able to watch after you any more. This is something that I must do."

Naruto gazed at Itachi with a confusion and sadness warring on his face. "Why are you doing this, onii-san?" He asked.

Itachi knelt and set a hand and Naruto's shoulder and told him about what the Uchiha had been planning to do, how he was forced to massacre his family to keep everyone else safe, and how important it was that no one knew his reasons.

Naruto understood, but wished things could have been different.

The effects of being under a genjutsu that strong took a toll on Naruto's mind, and when it was released the strain hit him quickly and he collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

…

When Naruto awoke, it was to the sounds of a girl crying. Blinking groggily, he rolled over in the hospital bed and peered over the railing. In the bed next to his, there was a shaking form covered by a thin blanket, curled into a ball and sobbing, with small sniffles echoing around the empty room.

A girl's voice, just loud enough that the blond could hear it, if only barely, mumbled thickly, "Why, onii-san? Why?" in between sobs.

Naruto pulled himself over the railing, dropping down to the floor quietly. He made his way over to the other bed and climbed up onto mattress. Sitting on his knees, he shook the figure's shoulder gently.

"Hey, are you alright?" He asked with quiet worry.

The figure quickly turned over, face illuminated by the moonlight streaming through the window. It was a girl with teary onyx eyes, straight black hair and a heart-shaped face that was streaked with tears. Her eyes were red from crying, as well as wide from the fact that another person was in her bed.

"W-who are you?" She whispered quietly, subtly trying to back away from the stranger.

"I'm Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki." He introduced, holding his hands up to show he meant no harm. He found himself pulled into a sudden embrace, the quick action taking him by surprise. The girl began to cry harder, wetting his shirt with her tears.

Naruto panicked, thinking that he had done something wrong. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do anything!" He whispered frantically, wrapping his arms around the girl.

The girl hiccupped and spoke quietly into his shoulder. "Sometimes, when Itachi-nii tucked me in to bed, he-he would tell me stories about you. He said that you were the nicest boy he'd ever met, happy all the time and cheerful."

Naruto said nothing, not having anything to say, and the girl continued.

"He was so nice to me…why did he do it? Why did he kill them?" Naruto tightened his arms around her as she began to sob again. Taking a leap of faith, He told the girl everything that her brother had relayed to him in the Tsukiyomi World.

At the end, she stared at him in disbelief. "My dad…was plotting to overthrow the Hokage?" Naruto nodded seriously. She blinked. "But…why did Itachi have to kill them all? Couldn't he have just killed the leaders?"

Naruto shrugged and shook his head. "He said that he didn't kill every one. He had help from someone else, but he wouldn't say who. Just told me that he wore a weird mask."

The girl, still holding onto Naruto, looked down, thinking hard. Deciding to lighten the mood, Naruto smiled encouragingly at the girl and asked, "What's your name? I told you mine, but never got yours."

The girl smiled slightly, glad for the distraction. "I'm Suki, Suki Uchiha."

"Well, Suki, we should probably go back to sleep. The moon is still out." He made to let go and return to his bed

Suki gained a panicked look and clutched Naruto tighter. "Please don't make me…" She whispered fearfully, "I don't want to see all the bodies and the blood again!"

He stroked her back soothingly and slowly lay down on the pillow. "Don't worry, Suki-chan. I'll be here to keep the nightmares away, alright?"

She nodded tentatively, and laid her head down, Naruto holding onto her comfortingly. Eventually she relaxed, and slipped into a restful slumber, followed shortly by her bed companion.

…

From that day forth, Naruto and Suki were best friends. The only surviving members of the Uchiha, her and her mother Mikoto, moved out of the now abandoned and blood-stained Uchiha compound and moved into the apartment complex where Naruto lived, wanting to stay close to Suki's new friend.

Eventually, Naruto introduced the Uchiha heiress to Hinata and her twin sister. When they first met, The Uchiha and Hyuuga Heiresses had a three-way stare-off with each other, eyes narrowed and glaring.

Suki had grabbed Naruto's right arm tightly and held it to her chest; Hinata grabbed his left and enfolded it in her arms and Hanabi had latched onto his torso like a limpet.

The blonde blinked confusedly, glancing at the girls who were holding onto him possessively. It would not be the last time such actions would elude his understanding.

Through the years, Naruto grew under Alduin's tutelage, as the Ageless Dragon knew much. He learned about the deities, or the Aedra: Akatosh, Arkay, Mara, Talos, Stendarr, Zenithar, Kynareth, Dibella and Julianos, benign beings who watched over the world. Alduin in particular paid a lot of attention to Akatosh, seeing as he was his father.

Naruto also learned of the Deadric Lords, such as Mehrunes Dagon, Nocturnal, and Azura, the chaotic, dangerous and occasionally good deities, opposite of the Aedra.

It was during Naruto's academy years that Alduin began to teach the blonde container magic, fighting styles and swordsmanship lost to time and space.

When asked how he knew all that he did of human abilities, Alduin replied, "Just because my job is to remake the world, doesn't mean I don't like to get up and about every once in a while."

He elaborated at Naruto's confused look. "Every once in awhile I like to get out into the world and look around, living a lifetime or two as a different race, learning how to fight like they do. With that in mind, I've been alive for thousands of years, so I have a lot of experience in these things." With that, an evil, toothy grin grew on the dragons face. "Of course, I will be teaching you everything I know. And that means training worthy of a Dragon. And Dragons do not hold back."

From then on, life was hard, but very worth the constant pain and exhaustion. In the mornings, Naruto worked his body extensively with stretches, weights and running to build muscles and stamina.

It was also during that time that the young blond learned of Magic. Not the Jutsu ninjas used, but an entirely separate system with different mechanics and effects. There were similarities of course. The most destructive spells used Fire, Ice and Lightning; but there were many more for almost everything, including healing abilities and transmuting ore into something more valuable.

These abilities Naruto hid from all but the most important of people, which included his friends and the Hokage. His predisposition for fire spells was noted as a slight indication of pyromania, natural for a dragon.

And, naturally, when his body was capable of handling them, Alduin taught him of the Thu'um, the Dragon's Voice. And, equally naturally, Naruto took to it like a true Dragon, his voice becoming one of his deadliest weapons in his arsenal. And with his father-figure's power flowing through him, his Thu'um was far more powerful by far than even the ancient Greybeards.

Later, with help from a girl a year older than him and a friend from the orphanage, Naruto got a job working at a weapons supply shop, carrying heavy pallets of metal and other materials for forging. Over time, Tenten, who helped run the shop, taught him how to use the forge with permission from her father. With help from Alduin, Naruto was able to find an ebony ore vein in the basement underneath his apartment, and forge it into a sword and dagger.

Tenten, having an appreciation for all things sharp, deadly and exotic, begged for weapons made from ebony. Naruto could not resist his first friend nor her puppy-dog eyes, and made her sets of kunai and shuriken with the black metal.

There was now a fourth girl in the staring contests, much to Naruto's chagrin.

During the academy, Naruto was an average student. It was through no fault of his own, despite the rumors. Even after he talked to the Hokage about teachers sabotaging his work, and the subsequent firing of said teachers, the rest grew to resent Naruto, and so the cycle continued.

Some blame lay with Alduin, who insisted on teaching and training him long into the night, leaving him tired and sore for the next day.

The class he learned in was divided in opinions when it came to young Dragon. A good many of the civilian-born ninja-in-training found his eyes, tattoos and tendency to grumble in a strange, guttural language disturbing, and therefore avoided him as best they could.

The clan-born ninja had very little problem with him, as he was simply another ninja, like them. However, one Kiba Inuzuka seemed very put-out over his preferred company, namely the many female clan-born students and one civilian-born.

This was not exactly a problem for Naruto. The ladies and Shino, while quiet and seemed to get too close for his comfort on occasion, were just perfect to hang out with, and they treated him like any other kid, partaking in childish games and playful teasing.

Tenten graduated a year before the new class, joining a genin team with a Hyuuga named Nejiko, Hinata and Hanabi's cousin from their uncle, Hizashi, and Rock Lee under the Jonin Might Gai. Naruto remained friends with Tenten, and even made more with her team, training and sparring together when they weren't on a mission; sometimes working in the forge and helping Tenten run the store when she was available.

…

Naruto awoke the day of graduation with a tingling sense of excitement and determination in his mind, quickly throwing on his ensemble of black-colored clothing, as such as a way for him to pay respect to his father-figure and teacher, Alduin. He called out a goodbye to a cleaning Mikoto and left his building, ready to join the ninja population.

…

The door to the classroom slid open, and the familiar face of Naruto entered, his cerulean/red eyes glanced around the room, searching for his friends. Spotting Suki, Hinata and Hanabi sitting together near the back, Naruto smiled and made his way over to them.

Kiba Inuzuka, feral-looking boy with a dog on his head, snarled at Naruto and cut him off. "What do you think you're doing, jackass? I would've thought you'd be home, cowering under your bed!"

Naruto sighed, his lips turning down into a scowl. "Kiba, this macho posturing was all well and good when we were kids, but we're on the precipice of becoming fully-fledged ninja for our village. What would your mother think?"

Kiba growled leaned forward until they were nearly face-to-face. "I don't care! You strut around the village, all full of yourself, it pisses me off! And stop bringing my mother into this!"

"You need to grow up, Kiba. And I bring her up because she seems to be the only one who can get through to you." Naruto pushed Kiba away and continued walking towards his friends. Kiba growled and sat down with his arms crossed, infuriated by the blond's countenance.

"Hey, girls!"

The three heiresses looked up and greeted the jinchuriki happily. "Good morning, Naruto-kun. Are you ready for the test?" Hinata asked with a gentle smile.

Naruto scoffed slightly. "All we have to do is Henge, Kawarimi and a Bunshin. That's something most of us could do in our sleep."

Any further conversation was cut off by the appearance of Iruka and Mizuki, the two chunin instructors.

"Alright class, settle down!" Iruka called out, taking his place at the stand. "I know you're all excited about taking the genin test, so settle down and we'll begin shortly."

Mizuki quickly passed out papers along the rows and then came back to the front, carefully watching the students. Iruka started a timer and set it on his desk, announcing, "Begin!"

An hour later, the timer went off, and the chunin collected the booklets.

"Everyone, it's time to head outside for the practical examination!" Iruka led the way down to the target range, where three humanoid targets sat at different ranges, bull's-eyes painted on vital areas.

The test went by rather quickly, as shuriken were designed for quick strikes. Most students scored well above average. When it was Naruto's turn, he threw his kunai and shuriken, getting eight out of eight for both. Before Iruka could call them over to the sparring arena, Naruto raised his hand.

"Yes, Naruto?"

The blonde lowered his hand. "Is it possible to receive extra credit for demonstrating use of other weaponry?"

Iruka tapped his chin in thought, then nodded. "Yes, it's possible. What are you going to use, senbon?"

Naruto smiled mischievously. "No. A bow, actually."

Kiba, somewhere in the background, scoffed. "A bow? Really? What are you, a samurai?"

Iruka glared at Kiba, but shook his head. "As Kiba so kindly pointed out, bows aren't exactly shinobi weapons."

The blonde pulled a scroll from his belt and unfurled it; with a puff of smoke, a silvery- black curved bow with swirls on it appeared in his hands, as well as a quiver stocked full of arrows. He slung the quiver over his shoulder and readied the bow.

"Sensei, if you would, please throw a shuriken in front of the target please." He asked politely.

Iruka shrugged and flicked a throwing star across the target.

Quickly, Naruto knocked an arrow to the bow and pulled the string back before releasing, with the arrow hitting the bottom of the shuriken, sending it flipping into the air. The blond quickly pulled three more arrows from his quiver and set them against the string as the shuriken fell down. He released, and the three arrows pinned the shuriken to the target's head, one through the center, the others on the top and bottom respectively.

Naruto lowered the bow and smiled innocently at the scarred chunin. "Good enough?"

Iruka seemed to be struck silent, if the slightly gaping mouth was any indication.

Mizuki blinked before shaking it off and stepped forward, pulling three more stars from his pouch. "Not bad Naruto. Let's see you do it some more."

He threw the shuriken at varying speeds and heights, only for the black tipped arrows to pin them to the targets, all in lethal spots.

Mizuki nodded. "Okay! Well, I think some extra credit is deserved, right Iruka?"

Iruka blinked. "Y-yeah…"

They moved onto the next segment of the test, taijutsu spars. The chunin would call a genin from the list, then observed as they challenged and fought a student of their choosing, grading both them on their performance.

When it came to Kiba Inuzuka, he, predictably, called Naruto as his challenge.

Facing each other at the opposite ends of the ring, Kiba fell into his family's stance, snarling. "You should just quit, dead-last! I can beat you with one hand tied behind my back!"

Naruto arched an eyebrow at the Inuzuka, and said, "Again, with the 'dead-last'? When are you going to realize that I outrank you in class?"

Kiba shouted, "Shut up! Stop acting so damn cool, you bastard!"

The blonde arched the other eyebrow at Kiba. "I'm not acting cool, Kiba, I just don't find your rivalry with me worth my time. There are more important things than you disliking me to concern myself with."

The Inuzuka snorted. "And there you go again! Stop ignoring me!"

Naruto's eyebrows fell into a glare, and he scowled. "I'm ignoring you because you're being an idiot! I don't know what I did to piss you off, but I've had enough of it!"

Kiba's eyes widened at the angry tone, suddenly worried that he had pushed the tattooed blond too far.

Naruto had been trained in eight different fighting styles since he could throw a punch, all from the time of the eight races. His favorite, and the style he was most experienced with was Orsinium Love-Taps, which naturally included breaking every bone in a enemy's body and turning them into a pile of red jelly with their bare hands and feet.

His next favorites were the Elsweyr Ballroom and Bosmer Nerve-Jab, both lighter and less damaging. The Ballroom style involved kicking the shit out of and enemy with rapid spins, looking similar to break-dancing, while Nerve-Jab was thought to be a predecessor to the Jyuuken used by the Hyuuga.

Now, Naruto was not a big, burly Orc. His muscles were wiry and lean, meant more for agility and acrobatics, which suited the blonde just fine. But, hidden underneath Naruto's lean frame, was a strength that would have surprised Might Gai. And he was willing to break it out in this spar, just to knock some sense into his 'rival'.

Deciding to end this bout quickly, possibly feeling the violent intent in the air, Kiba darted forward, nails out to swipe at Naruto in an animalistic fashion. The blonde reacted swiftly, blocking the swipe with a forearm then twisting his arm around Kiba's and pulling forward sharply, head-butting the Inuzuka's nose.

The snap of cartilage and the howl of pain made Naruto smile grimly, before he twisted the arm behind Kiba's back and pushed, sending Kiba stumbling as he clutched his nose. Naruto didn't let him recover; he kicked the back of Kiba's knee, rolled over his back and wrapped his arm around the other male's throat before tossing him out of the ring.

Kiba hit the ground and bounced, rolling to a stop on the verge of becoming unconscious.

Several eyebrows rose at the beating that had been unleashed upon the Inuzuka, who was definitely not the worst when it came to hand-to-hand, with the top spots taken by Suki, Hinata and Naruto, respectively. The surprise was more for how quick the fight had been.

After the last round of fighting, which was between the friendly rivals Haruno Sakura and Ino Yamanaka, they all headed inside to take the last test.

The test consisted of demonstrating three jutsu, known as 'The Academy Three', and the techniques had been drilled into their heads by the instructors over and over again. It was no surprise when most passed with relatively high scores.

Iruka congratulated the class of graduating genin, telling them to meet back in the same room in a day for team assignments.

As the freshly-minted and newly-adorned genin exited the classroom, Naruto, the Hyuuga twins and Suki walked over to were Hiashi Hyuuga, Hinata and Hanabi's father, as well as Mikoto waited, proud smiles on their faces.

"Suki-chan, Naruto-kun!" The older woman rushed over to the two, embracing them in a tight and loving hug. "You guys are one step closer to your dreams! Oh, I'm so excited!"

Suki blushed in embarrassment at the open show of affection, while Naruto laughed and hugged the woman back.

Hiashi stepped forward and laid his hands on both of his daughter's shoulders, a small but proud smile on his face. "Hinata-chan, Hanabi-chan…I am very proud of you two. As a graduation gift, I will teach you both the Kaiten whenever you wish."

Hizashi slapped his twin on the back. "Don't be such a stick in the mud, bro!" He turned to the group of genin with a wide grin. "We're having a party in the Hyuuga Compound to celebrate, and all of your friends are invited as well!"

The Hyuuga had definitely come pretty far when it came to the remaining Uchiha. Seven years ago, they would have rather committed seppuku than invite them into their compound. But now, since Suki and Mikoto were the last of the Uchiha, and not pricks or arrogant, the Hyuuga enjoyed having them around.

…

The party was in full swing when Naruto spotted a girl about a year older then himself, with long brown tresses, pale white eyes and a Konoha headband around her forehead, sitting at a table by herself, sipping from a cup of tea.

He approached the table and sat by her, a smile on his face. "Hey, Nejiko-chan. How come you're not enjoying the party?"

Nejiko Hyuuga, cousin to the Hyuuga twins and Hizashi's daughter, smiled softly at Naruto.

"I am not one to enjoy parties, Naruto-kun, you know that. It's all very boring to me." She sighed heavily and finished off her tea. "I would much rather be out on a mission, or training, or something productive."

The blonde jinchuriki glanced around, and finding that no one was watching them, stood up and grabbed Nejiko's hand. She gave him a confused look as he pulled her to her feet, pulled her to the door, and, taking one last glance around, took her out of party.

"Where are we going?" She asked calmly as he dragged her through the halls of the Hyuuga compound. As she voced her question, Nejiko recognized the hallway as the way to the training rooms.

Naruto pushed the door open and stopped just inside the room, gazing around the empty training hall. He reached out and flicked a light switch, bathing the area in dim light.

"Why are we here, Naruto-kun?" She asked, an inkling of his intent in her mind.

"Well, you said that you would rather be training, so here we are!" Naruto replied cheerfully, gesturing to the room. He turned his bright smile on Nejiko, who blushed lightly. "Why don't we spar? You won't be bored any longer."

She smirked slightly, challenge glimmering in her eyes. "You know very well that I'm a prodigy of the Jyuuken, Naruto-kun. Are you sure that you want to face me?"

Naruto dropped her hand and, still smiling but with an edge to it, backed away about ten paces before falling into a low ready stance, bouncing lightly on his feet.

"I'm always ready, Nejiko-chan. Come on, or is Fate telling you that I'm ordained to win?" He beckoned with his right hand, amusement in his tone.

Nejiko's smirk grew into a challenging smile and she darted forward suddenly, Byakugan flared.

…

Hizashi slowly walked through the halls of his compound, looking for his daughter. He had meant to talk to her when she first showed up to the party, but he was distracted by Inochi Yamanaka telling a tale about his latest case in the T&I Division.

He peered into every room he passed, quietly calling her name, until a distant yell drew his attention. He jogged down the halls, arriving at the door to a training room, where the noise was emanating from, and slid it open a fraction to peek inside.

Naruto and Nejiko rolled around on the floor, their serious spar having devolved into wrestling for dominance, laughing the entire time.

They rolled to a stop, Nejiko on top, straddling his waist, both of them panting heavily, sweating and smiling. They peered deeply into each other's eyes, white into blue-red. The smiles fell and slowly, she lowered her face closer to Naruto's. Their lips touched tentatively, and they separated, eyes wide.

Then, Nejiko darted forward and slammed her lips onto his, her hands going around his neck and threading through his hair, while his hands went to her hips.

Hizashi smiled slightly at the sight, before sliding the door closed quietly. He snuck away, leaving his daughter and her crush alone. He could embarrass them later, as was his right as the father.

He just hoped that Hiashi didn't catch wind of it until Hizashi could make fun of him.

…

...

...

*Nahlot, in this case, is used as "Be Silent!", and literally means "Silenced" in Dragon Tongue.

A/N: Well, as you can see, I've gone back and updated and partially rewritten parts of this story as of April 22, 2015. I've added some more details in general and removed Kiba's womanizing personality, as I found that too cliché for me. I remember looking back on this opening chapter and being embarrassed by how my writing style was when I started this, and this helps with that.

Hopefully, you like it, and maybe returning fans can find some new enjoyment out of it.

Read, Review, and Enjoy.

Stay Awesome.

~Soleneus

P.S.: It's my intention to rewrite/update all of the chapters up to 11 and 12, and possibly them as well. I actually planned on scrapping the whole story and retrying, but I took a good look at it and found good parts weighed down by not-so-good parts. It just needs some polishing and TLC and I think it'll be good. Or better, at least.

It's also my intention to tell people about the update after the next chapter drops, so, hello, future viewers! I've been waiting for you!

Stay Awesome Some More.

~still Soleneus.