Chapter I

Hello, ZuttoAragi here with a brand new story. This has been mulling in my head for a while now. I've read several stories based on Naruto and Sekirei, but only a few take place in the Narutoverse, and the few that do are a little, loose to reality for my tastes. So I've decided to write my own. And yes I realize the Sekirei don't even apear in this chapter much but, I tried to cover the first episode of Naruto, and it took alot more words than I expected. I had originally planned on 3,000 but it obviously went beyond that. I also tried to keep Sasuke and Sakura in tune with their canon personalities but not portray them nearly as hatefully as seemingly everyone else does.

Now that the massive A/N is out of the way let's get to the story, don't forget to review and tell me what you think too.

And one more thing, I've decided to take the chapters of this story and consolidate them to fit in with my new chapter length that is the universal length for chapters now within my stories. This will have the effect of lowering the number of chapters but I am going to do the necessary alterations so nothing is missing. That is all.

It was a warm and happy summer day in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Around the village's local shinobi academy, parents stood with their children; congratulating them, praising them, or just carrying on merry conversation. This was the genin graduation exam, a test made to determine who would become ninja and who would join the backup fighters.

It was an all-around auspicious day, except for one blonde teenage boy with tanned skin, blue eyes, an orange track suit, and three whisker like marks on both of his cheeks.

He was sitting alone on a wooden swing attached to a tree. His eyes didn't display happiness or glee, but neither sadness nor rage; all could be seen was that he alone in this world. This boy was Naruto Uzumaki, his sadness wasn't the result of failing mind you, as he had passed with flying colors. His sadness was the result of loneliness. This sadness was two-fold.

First, he was alone; his celebrations at passing were solely his, for he had no parents to celebrate with. They had died when a monster attacked the village fifteen years ago. Also, most of the fellow students hated him, as a result of deterrence from their parents. The ones that didn't hate him either didn't care or were too scared of being punished for associating with him to pursue a friendship.

Second, most didn't even accept his success. Why you ask? He spent most of his academy years as the school's dead last, the loser. He barely coasted along with mediocre grades.

However, this state wasn't entirely his fault, nor was he entirely innocent. He was often given improper instructions, thrown out of class during important lessons for flimsy reasons, and most of his tests had genjutsus cast on them so he was forced to give incorrect answers.

But none of that stopped him from learning. He had a special sensei when he was younger, though few knew of this and even fewer knew who it was. This sensei taught him all of the basics of ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu, including a special jutsu that increased his learning speed to exponential rates.

In reality he was far more talented, more skilled, and more intelligent than the majority of his peers, only out classed by a select few. This fact was hidden however, because there were a select few friends he had that he wanted to protect; because there were those in the village who saw Naruto as little more than a monster or demon. They did everything in their power to hold him back, to hurt him, and even kill him. As a result, he had to keep himself low key, which meant keeping his talents and skills mostly hidden; because if it got out he was as skilled as he was, then his friendships with them would be discovered thus putting them in danger.

All of his guards disappeared, however, when graduation day rolled around. He aced the written exam, horrifying all but one instructor. His ninjutsu test was near flawless, surprising everyone, aside from one part of the test.

Naruto sat in his seat with a small smirk staring at Mizuki, the assistant instructor; who currently had Naruto's written test in his hand, dumbfounded that the dead last had aced it. Looking at him, Mizuki's face contorted in rage at Naruto's smirk. The primary instructor, Iruka Umino and one of the few people Naruto trusted, had a proud smile.

Naruto ignored the majority of the other students taking their ninjutsu tests. He paid attention to a few but ignored the rest. He stood up and walked down the aisle to the front when his name was called.

"Alright Naruto, perform a Transformation Jutsu. Transform into the Hokage." Iruka said as he looked at Naruto in the eye and held back a sigh.

Naruto nodded and did as he was instructed, his chosen form surprised most and confused Iruka. Iruka gulped lightly and cocked an eyebrow before continuing.

"The Fourth Hokage huh? An…interesting choice, but well done" he said as he finished writing in his book. Naruto released the transformation grinning as Iruka continued speaking.

"Okay next is the Substitution Jutsu, target whatever is in the room that you please," Iruka told him as Naruto panned around the room.

His eyes landing on his target unaware he gave a devilish grin and performed the hand signs. He performed the jutsu with a puff of smoke, resulting in Mizuki tumbling out of the smoke and falling on his ass. This caused raucous laughter among the students, even Iruka himself had to force himself not laugh as his face twitched. Mizuki rubbed his sore backside then glared at Naruto in his chair.

"Ahem, Naruto, go ahead and return to your…previous position." Iruka said as he cleared his throat.

Naruto walked around the table receiving a shoulder bump from the irritated Mizuki, he was surprised however that Naruto didn't even budge, not even a bit. Naruto just gave him a tired look; after calming himself and the class down, he looked at Naruto and sighed.

"Okay, up next is the Clone Jutsu, whenever you're ready." Iruka said.

Naruto looked at Iruka then to Mizuki, who had a devious smirk while looking at him. Iruka cocked an eyebrow when the blonde raised his hand.

"Iruka-sensei, because my chakra reserves are too big I can't do the Clone Jutsu, can I do something similar?" Naruto asked.

Iruka looked at him puzzled and just nodded dumbly.

Naruto grinned and then made a hand sign, extending his index and middle fingers but curling his ring and pinky, then crossed his hands with the middle of his fingers being the axis. Iruka gaped at him.

'Impossible, there's no way he could do that! It's the-'Iruka thought.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto declared, puzzling everyone in the class, including Iruka this time. Suddenly four puffs of smoke appeared in the room. Naruto and his clones looked at the teachers chuckling, until someone interrupted.

"Seriously loser, what's so special about them? They're just clones." Someone arrogantly said.

Naruto and co. looked at the interloper, the local brooder and class star, Sasuke Uchiha. He wore a blue high-collared T-shirt with white shorts and white arm bands extending from his wrist to his elbow. He also had chin-length black hair that spiked in the back.

"Hmph, what'd ya say jerk?!" Naruto bellowed, resulting in Sasuke's self-proclaimed 'biggest admirer' screaming at him.

"Hey stupid! Don't insult Sasuke, he's way better than you'll ever be!" someone screamed.

Naruto's eyebrow just twitched as he squinted at Sakura Haruno before sighing. Then he looked to Iruka and grinned; unsure of his meaning at first, Iruka's eyes then widened somewhat in recognition as he nodded.

One of Naruto's clones walked up to Sasuke and grinned a grin so wide its eyes closed, giving it a fox-like appearance.

"What's this, trying to intimidate me with your-hey!" he yelled as the clone bumped his shoulder. "Hn, you'll regret that loser," he said before punching what he 'thought' was Naruto, until the clone burst into smoke. Sasuke looked at him in surprise before smirking again.

"Hn, nice try loser, I can spot a substitution anywhere" Sasuke said

His smirk disappeared when he heard what Iruka said, "No Sasuke, it's an advanced form of the Clone Jutsu that splits the user's chakra into even chunks, creating solid clones."

Sasuke's eyes widened before narrowing in annoyance, giving out one last 'hn' before returning to his seat and staring out the window.

"Well if it isn't obvious already, you pass the ninjutsu section of the exam perfectly" Iruka said with glee.

Naruto sat in his swing chuckling as he looked at his black Leaf headband. His chuckling ended when he noticed a presence behind him. He turned and looked in surprise to see Sasuke standing behind him. He huffed and asked, "What do you want jerk?"

Sasuke glared at him until he seemed to swallow something fowl and asked, much to Naruto's surprise, "He loser, where'd you learn that jutsu?"

Naruto looked confused for a second before narrowing his eyes skeptically, and asked mockingly, "Why're you askin' me? You're the great Sasuke Uchiha, don't you know everything?"

"Yes he does stupid!" Sakura yelled before knocking him in the head. She then smirked and though, "Cha! I totally defended Sasuke's honor!"

Sasuke glared at her and then looked back to Naruto and said, "Answer me Naruto."

Naruto sighed, rubbed his head and then answered, "Look jer-ow! Damn that hurts!" he stopped, getting hit again.

"Grr, anyway Sasuke, I can't tell you who it was because it's a secret. But if you want, I could teach it to you" Naruto said. Both Sasuke and Sakura looked ready to strike until Sasuke clenched his fists and tried to calm down.

Seeing Sasuke next to her, Sakura became worried and said, "S-Sasuke, are you alright?" in a tone she hoped sounded worried when she really thought, "Alright! Finally I can help Sasuke, clock Naruto and…and…CHA!"

Sasuke then thought back to their match during the taijutsu test.

All of the students stood outside the school, some excited, some worried, some not caring at all. Sasuke was part of the last group.

Iruka called out the matches between different students. Sasuke decided to pay little attention, only noting the results. Shikamaru and Choji matched up to a draw, because neither wanted to fight much to Iruka's irritation. Sakura and Ino fought, yet again to a draw, as both knocked the other out of the ring. Next up was Kiba against Shino, with Kiba embarrassingly losing when Shino's bugs inundated him, again to Iruka's chagrin.

Sasuke finally perked up when Iruka called the next match, "Sasuke Uchiha vs. Naruto Uzumaki!"

Sasuke smirked as he and the loser walked into the ring. Sasuke was internally taken aback but hid it well when he looked at Naruto's eyes. They weren't the eyes of some hyper-active idiot or moronic prankster. He saw the same eyes he remembered seeing in most chunin, someone who thought their opponent was worthless. Seeing this made his blood boil as the visage of his brother appeared in his mind.

"Hn, what's with that look, loser?" Sasuke asked hoping to irritate the blonde. Much to his surprise, Naruto didn't respond, just popped his neck and got into a taijutsu stance.

"Riiiiggght, anyway, get ready to start!" Iruka called as pointed his hand in the air. He then chopped downward through the air and said, "Begin!" then jumped away from the fight.

Everyone stood with anticipation as neither one moved. Sasuke stood with his face still confident and ready for a quick win, Naruto's, however, lacked any emotion, simply still as the surface of a lake.

This stalemate lasted for several minutes until Sasuke became impatient and then lunged forward, "Fine. If you won't make the first move, I will!"

He rushed at Naruto and swung with a roundhouse kick, hoping to get a one hit knockout. He smirked seeing the blonde stand still, until he caught Sasuke's foot and just looked at him.

Naruto then pulled back on Sasuke's foot and prepared to punch his face. Sasuke blocked the strike and cringed when the hit hurt more than he expected. 'What the hell!? The loser hasn't been this strong before, when did this happen? When did he get so damn good!?' he yelled in his mind.

Using the momentum from the strike, he twisted his body around and tried to strike Naruto from the top of the head, which Naruto effortlessly dodged and then came around with a roundhouse kick, by pivoting nearly three-hundred sixty degrees on one foot.

Sasuke dodged by jumping back and then did the same move, his connected. He smirked at his small victory, but glared again when his target burst into smoke. He then thought, 'Where is he? Where'd he go!?'he received his answer when Naruto suddenly appeared behind him, his first two fingers extended and glowing with chakra.

Sasuke tried to turn and block but felt something akin to a hammer hit the back of his neck, followed by his body going numb as he slumped over, unable to move.

The entire class plus the teachers gasped, the dead last just dominated the Rookie of the Year with little effort. Iruka looked at the group imitating a fish before shaking his head free of cobwebs and declaring ecstatically, "N-Naruto Uzumaki is the winner!"

Everyone gasped until one pink-haired girl screamed, "NO WAY! THERE'S NO WAY HE COULD BEAT SASUKE! HE CHEATED!"

Most of the other girls, except one, joined in her declaration of downplaying the blonde's victory. Naruto just glared back at them angrily, Sasuke sat on the ground trying to move; glaring at Naruto until he noticed the crowd's reaction.

Sasuke let go of a heavy sigh and said, "Naruto, I don't like you."

"Tch, really well the feelings mutual bastard," Naruto said, finally having enough catching Sakura's fist.

"Would you stop hitting me dammit!" Naruto yelled.

"But," both teens then looked at Sasuke and blinked, "I need power. If you can give me power, I'm willing to let it go, a little."

Naruto looked genuinely amazed when Sakura yelled, "WHAAAT!? Did you really just say that Sasuke! Hey idiot!" she screamed, pointing to Naruto, "What'd you do to Sasuke!?"

Naruto found himself still amazed and unable to answer, finally blurting out, "Uh…ah…um, n…nothing."

Sasuke looked at him annoyed and then exhaled deeply, "Look loser, you're still a loser, but I want your power, so I'm asking you to teach it to me."

That snapped Naruto out of his daze as he glared at Sasuke, "Humph, just ask our sensei to teach you. I'm not interested."

Sakura seethed externally while Sasuke merely narrowed his eyes and trembled while boiling inside.

"Hey stupid! Sasuke just asked you to train him! You should feel honored!" Sakura screamed again.

"Why, because some stuck up jerk demanded I give him my secrets? Not a chance in hell," Naruto said with finality, he stood up and walked away.

"HEY!" Sakura screamed before turning and chasing after Sasuke for dates.

Naruto looked back and sighed heavily, "Dammit. What made me think he would actually recognize my strength," he then looked at the sky and became contemplative, "And why do I even have a crush on her?"

"Hey Naruto," a voice spoke up behind Naruto, triggering his senses to turn around ready fight. He eased up slightly when he recognized who it was.

"Mizuki sensei. What do you need?" he asked, looking at the silver-haired chunin.

"Ya know Naruto, there is a way for you to get Sasuke's recognition, and Sakura's affection," he said with a silvery tone.

Outwardly, Naruto looked ecstatic, in his mind though, he thought, 'He's up to something. It might cause trouble, so it couldn't hurt to play along.' Naruto then looked at Mizuki with the biggest grin he could muster and yelled, "Ooh, ooh, what is it Mizuki sensei!? I really wanna know, ya know!"

Mizuki put his hand behind his head and thought, 'I can't believe how dumb this brat is, guess those skills were just reflex. Figures.' "Well, it's a secret. You see…" he said, giving Naruto his orders.

Watching this exchange, a cloaked figure stood in the shadows of one of the buildings and looked on with concern and said, "This is getting bad, should keep my eye on him," the figure said with a sigh followed by nervously scratching at its chest.

Several hours later, Naruto was jumping through the forest with a large scroll on his back and a serious expression.

He then dropped down next to a small shack and said, "This is where he said to meet. I know I'm gonna get the drop on him, but it wouldn't hurt to learn a couple things from this scroll," he chuckled mischievously as he opened the large Forbidden Scroll of Sealing. The first thing he saw was the shadow clone.

"Well, next then. Ohhh Exploding Shadow Clone jutsu huh, that could be fun," he said as he started practicing the jutsu.

After about half an hour, Naruto felt a presence coming closer and pumped some chakra into his ears to hear the sound of someone tree hopping at a high speed from the west.

"Huh, Mizuki said he'd be coming from the south, gotta keep my guard up."

As soon as he finished speaking Iruka landed behind him.

"Woah, Iruka sensei, I didn't expect you to come here!" Naruto said with glee.

"Naruto, do you have any idea what you've done?" Iruka asked with seriousness, causing the blonde to flinch.

Several minutes later, Mizuki landed on a nearby branch to see Iruka standing over Naruto and scolding him. He sneered at the sight and cursed, "Damn, didn't think Iruka was that fast," he then chuckled with slight insanity and finished, "guess I'll just kill him too!"

With a heavy sigh, Iruka looked at Naruto and said, "Jeez Naruto, you're hopeless."

"Isn't that the truth!" someone said.

Both Naruto and Iruka looked up at Mizuki on a tree and gasped.

"Mizuki sensei! What took you so long!" he accused, pointing at the insane chunin.

"Sorry Naruto, I got held up, cuz' Iruka tried to stop me," he said, leering at the scarred chunin.

"What!? Mizuki, you're just making that up!" Iruka called, motioning angrily at him.

"Oh really, you were just doing the same thing as everyone else! Hey Naruto!" The blonde looked attentively, "Wanna know a secret!?"

Iruka paled and then proceeded to yell, "No Mizuki, don't!"

"You wanna know why everyone hates you? Why you're despised and seen as a monster!?" Mizuki said as Naruto's eyes got wide as he sat captivated.

"You know fifteen years ago when the Fourth 'killed' the Nine-tails? The truth is he didn't!" Mizuki yelled.

Naruto's face filled with despair as Iruka charged for Mizuki.

"Mizukiii! Shut! Up!" he then threw several kunai as Mizuki pulled out a Fuma shuriken and blocked them, then jumped over Iruka and landed near Naruto.

"The truth is," he paused, narrowing his eyes, then widening them as he said, "he sealed it! Inside of you!" Naruto's face became crestfallen as the realization appeared to hit him.

"That's right Naruto! You are the Nine-tailed Fox!"

"No Naruto ignore him!" Iruka yelled trying to save him from his depression.

Both chunin's became confused when Naruto started laughing.

"What's so funny? You finally lost it?!" Mizuki leered.

Naruto rubbed the bridge of his nose with a big grin and said, "That's it? That's your big plan to get the scroll? Mizuki sen-no, just Mizuki," he said standing, no longer exuding despair but confidence, causing both chunin to become confused.

"Your plan was to tell me something I already knew?" Naruto said

"What!?" the two yelled confused.

Naruto just gave confident 'hmph' and asked, "You really think I didn't know he was already in there?"

Mizuki glared at the blonde and spoke with disbelief, "How-how did you know?"

Naruto became much serious, though a smirk still present as he spoke, "My Sensei told me, I even met the fox. He's not that bad, he's just pissed."

"Tch, doesn't matter, TIME TO DIE!" Mizuki bellowed as he tossed the shuriken.

"NARUTO!" Iruka yelled as he dove in front of Naruto to protect him.

Naruto, who was now on his back on the ground with Iruka above him. "Ir-Iruka sensei! Why!?" Naruto yelled in disbelief.

"Because Naruto, you're my student, I can't let you get hurt because of me. I couldn't live with myself if I did, urgh," Iruka grunted in pain as the large shuriken dug into his back.

"Awww, isn't this sweet? You're commiserating with the demon brat. How sickening," Mizuki chortled as he pulled another shuriken.

"This just makes my job that much easier. All I need to do is kill you two and then take the Scroll to Lord Orochimaru." Mizuki said revealing his plan.

"O-Orochimaru!? Mizuki…I, I had no idea you would betray the village so gravely!" Iruka said in disbelief.

"Oh please. I'm nothing more than a lowly chunin here. But, if I go with Lord Orochimaru, he'll give me power beyond my wildest dreams! So of course I'm not gonna stay with some backwater village just because 'it's my home'," Mizuki said mockingly, he then shrunk back at the intense glare he was getting from Naruto.

"You bastard. Sensei sacrificed everything for this village!" Naruto yelled, surprising both chunins with his rage and conviction.

Naruto then dashed out from under Iruka and bolted for Mizuki, ready to strike, "I won't let you tarnish…his sacrifice!" he yelled as he slammed his foot down, trying to smash Mizuki.

Mizuki barely managed to dodge the strike, feeling the wind rush by with the kick and eyes wide when he saw the hole it left. 'Damn, how did this brat get so strong,' he thought, preparing to fight, until something hit him, 'Wait, it couldn't be that…he's always been this strong?' Mizuki thought with growing horror.

His surprise would have to wait as Naruto came in with another punch from the left, trying to hit Mizuki's chest, only to feint and bring a knee to his gut, hard.

Mizuki coughed up blood as the blow struck him hard, he finally thought, 'Damn, so...the brat's been hiding his strength, huh?' His thoughts continued as his now limp body went over a gorge, 'Makes sense, can't believe this little shit's gonna be my end', "huh?" he finished out loud, feeling something grab his ankle. He yelled as his body swung downwards at an arc and slammed into the rock wall. Using the little strength he had left, he looked up in shock as he saw Naruto holding onto him. "What the hell brat!? Why're you saving me?!"

"Because, not only is it what sensei would've done, but you need to be punished," then he smirked and finished, "Plus, I don't want my first kill to be a Leaf shinobi, that wouldn't go over well." He then gave a big, bright smile that seemed to steal all of Mizuki's strength as he went limp.

"Whatever, just, if you're gonna pull me up, pull me up!" Mizuki said in panic.

"Yeah, yeah, hold on smartass," he grunted as he hoisted the silver-haired chunin.

Moments later, multiple shinobi arrived in the clearing to see Iruka injured, Mizuki tied up and Naruto standing triumphantly. Naturally, they all got ready to attack.

"Wait!" Iruka called weakly, getting their attention, "he didn't do this. Well, not to me at least."

One ninja walked forward, a lazy looking man with a face-mask, levitating silver hair, and his headband worn as an eyepatch. He looked at the group and asked in an equally lazy tone, "Then who did?"

"Jerkface over here," Naruto said, accentuating it by knocking Mizuki in the head, the latter trying to bite him in return, "he tried to trick me into giving him the Forbidden Scroll. I saw through it all though and the old man gave me the scroll to spring the trap," he finished confidently.

One of the other ninja simply scowled and said, "Likely story brat! Like we'd believe yo-" he was stopped by glares from both Iruka and the masked man.

Said man then sighed and said, "Well Iruka?"

Iruka just nodded weakly.

"I see. Well, good work Naruto," he said with a thumbs up, though no less energy than before. "Now, as for you," he said menacingly while walking over to Mizuki, "What you did is treason, and that's just stealing the scroll. Not to mention trying to kill not one, but two Leaf shinobi. Anything to add?"

The chunin shivered under the man's gaze and just shook his head wildly.

The man gave an eye-smile and said, "Good, ANBU, take him," he made a hand motion as several masked shinobi in ANBU gear appeared and made off with the traitor. He sighed and then turned to Naruto and Iruka, "Why don't you two go home, it's been a long night and I bet you're tired."

"Hold up Kakashi!" one of the other shinobi said in anger and disbelief, "You're not really just letting the de-err brat go, are you?"

The now named Kakashi looked at the man seriously, releasing some killer intent and said, "He just saved the life of one of the academy instructors, stopped an attempted stealing of the Forbidden Scroll and not only fought, defeated, and bound a shinobi far above his rank, he also caught a traitor. Now, if it were you, wouldn't you be at least allowed to just go on your way?" he asked with a deceivingly sweet eye smile.

"But he's-"

"He's a shinobi of the Leaf, period. Now, off with you, everyone!" he commanded.

They all responded simultaneously, "Yes sir," and vanished.

Up in the trees, the cloaked figure stood wide-eyed having watched the whole exchange, astonished that a kid had that kind of skill. "This is going to be trouble. Hopefully he's not a problem later," it said before scratching its chest again and heading out

Standing the Hokage's office, Naruto felt a little downcast as the old man stared steadfast at him, Iruka, and Kakashi. He then let out a tired sigh.

"Naruto, I'm glad I trusted you enough with the scroll, though I never would've believed that Mizuki had actually turned traitor," the old man said, taking a drag from his pipe.

"Well it's true Lord Hokage. If it hadn't been for Naruto, I'd probably be dead right now," Iruka said with a small smile on his face.

Hiruzen, the Hokage, smiled at this and looked at Naruto and said, "Listen Naruto, since you not only exposed, but defeated and captured a traitor I'm making this your first B-rank mission. So, here you are," Hiruzen said, handing a small envelope of money to an ecstatic Naruto.

Naruto jumped in the air several times cheering. With one final chuckle he looked at the old Hokage and yelled, "Thanks old man, I reall-oomph," he was cut off by Iruka slamming his palm on the blonde's head.

"Dammit Naruto, have some respect would ya?" Iruka chided the hyperactive blonde.

Hiruzen waved the chunin off and said, "It's quite alright Iruka, it's simply a term of endearment."

Iruka sighed and said with a small content smile, "You were always too soft on him Lord Hokage."

The old Hokage simply chuckled while Kakashi eye-smiled.

"Now Naruto, I have meeting to attend, so why don't you head home."

"You got it gramps!" Naruto exclaimed as he ran out the door.

Iruka just glared at the retreating boy as he spoke to the Hokage.

Naruto was merrily walking down the road humming to himself, much to the displeasure and some downright anger of the citizens.

Naruto stopped humming and smiling when he picked up some of the conversations.

"There's the demon brat."

"What's he so happy about?"

"He probably cursed someone."

"I heard he attacked several chunin."

Naruto had to resist the urge to yell at them but had long since learnt to suppress the feeling since it did little good.

So instead, he started talking to himself.

'Hey, you in there?' He asked his mind.

'Of course brat, what do you want?'his mind seemed to respond, in a deep bellowing tone laced with anger.

'I just want to focus on something other than those fools' Naruto said.

'Understandable, what're your plans with the money?'the voice in his mind replied back.

'Dunno, can't really do much since most people won't sell to the 'demon brat'.' Naruto said with disgust.

'It's amazing how anyone could mistake someone as pathetic as you for someone as great as me,' it said with pride.

'Tooting your own horn a little there aren't you?' Naruto said teasingly.

'I'm agreeing with you brat, be glad I don't just take over your body,' it replied with irritation coming off its voice.

'Yeah, yeah I get it fuzzy,' he thought while his eyes narrowed in annoyance outwardly.

'I already told you it's Kurama, not fuzzy Sage dammit!' the now the identified Kurama yelled from within Naruto's mind.

Naruto was brought from his internal discussion by a voice calling out to him.

"Watch out!" someone yelled from above.

Curious, Naruto looked up just in time to see someone land on him, pinning him to the ground as dust kicked up. Naruto, who was lying on his back groaned as the person on top of him coughed.

"Damn that hurt. Are you…o…kay…" Naruto trailed off as he saw the figure that landed on him.

A girl around his age with waist length brown hair tied into a ponytail just below her neck. She had her bangs in a hime cut with a single cowlick hanging off the top of her head like an antenna. Her face seemed to show a severe degree of immaturity but was so cute it should be illegal to be on a body like that.

'Speaking of which,' he thought, unconsciously trailing his eyes down her body. Her outfit consisted of a heavily modified miko outfit with a white top that had long bell like sleeves wrapped with a pink sash around her waist leading to a skirt that was barely even there. She also had brown boots that went up to the middle of her lower leg with long white stockings that went up to the middle of her thighs. Lastly she wore pink combat gloves.

What drew most of Naruto's attention however, was her rather large…assets.

Naruto's face became severely annoyed as Kurama was currently laughing his ass off.

"Umm, are you okay?" she asked, getting the blonde to immediately jump up and become extremely flustered as he starting spouting nonsense.

"Um, well, I mean, wait, err, aaahhhh DAMMIT!" he finally yelled. He then looked at the girl who had one finger on her chin and her head tilted to the side with a severely confused expression. 'By the Sage, damn she's cute. Wait, focus Naruto, focus. Facts, info, gather it,' he thought to himself and calmed down. He then looked the girl in the eyes and asked, "Who the hell are you?"

The girl seemed to perk up at the recognition and was about speak when she was interrupted.

"Hey bitch! Where the hell do you think you're going!?" Naruto and the mysterious girl looked up on top of a building to see two equally attractive women with varying busts, long green hair that splayed like the tail of a crow and very tight, very skimpy, S&M outfits.

Naruto just looked disgruntled and deadpanned, "Seriously, what the hell is going on recently, first I get attacked by a traitor, a pretty girl falls on me and now this. If sensei were here he'd probably be laughing his ass off. Well whatever!" he declared, grabbing the weird girl and said, "Look, I don't know what's going on but I do know we need to go, now!" he said and ran off with the girl.

She blushed lightly at his heroism as the bondage twins chased after them and landed in front of the duo.

"Oh come on, the one time I wish the jerk was around and he's nowhere in sight." Naruto said.

Within the Uchiha compound, Sasuke was walking through the abandoned streets when he sneezed. He rubbed his nose and got a puzzled look, before shrugging and kept walking.

"Now what?" he said nervously as the girl he was holding on to started running, dragging Naruto with her flapping like a limp flag.

"Damn it not again. Hikari let's go," the one in purple ordered as her sister nodded.

After running for what felt like hours but was only a few minutes, Naruto and the strange girl stopped and panted as Naruto finally wrenched his hand free and gave her an accusatory glare.

Seeing his expression, said girl melted under his gaze and gave scared puppy-dog eyes.

Naruto tried to continue glaring but his eyebrow and the edge of his lip twitched until he sighed and said, "Damn, why can't I ever resist those damn eyes? Whatever, hey crazy girl," he said bluntly.

Said girl gave a puzzled look and pointed at herself and cocked her head to the side.

'So. Damn. Cute. Focus, Naruto, focus.' He sighed again and pointed at her, "Yes, you. Do you mind telling me what's going on and just who you are?"

She nodded ecstatically and said, "I'm No. 88 Musubi!" she said hopping on the balls of her feet, doing interesting things to her…assets, which didn't go unnoticed by the blonde. "Um, mister are you alright?" she asked bending down to get a better look at his with a worried look and one finger pressed against her lips.

Naruto blushed and sweat dropped thinking, 'I must be dreaming, Kurama pinch me if I am.'

'I'm in your mind remember I can't,' he responded in a bored tone.

'Oh, yeah, good point.' He thought as he realized this fact.

"Wait, you said you were number 'eighty-eight', what's that mean?" Naruto asked.

"That's my number," she answered as though it were obvious.

Still with a blank expression Naruto asked, "Okay, I get that. But why are you numbered?"

"I don't know, I just am. We all are." She said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I'm not." Naruto said with a deadpan expression.

"You're not a Sekirei." She replied.

"Oh, right, right. Wait, what's a Sekirei?" Naruto asked.

"Me." She said innocently.

Naruto's eyebrow gained a slight twitch, "Okay, but what is a Sekirei?"

"You know, I'm not really sure. I just know there're one hundred and eight of us. We were released in the village and we need to find our Ashikabis."

His eyebrow now twitched a little more, "Okay, so what's that?"

"What's what?" She asked.

Now they both twitched, "What's an Ashikabi?"

"The one person all Sekirei are bonded to on the deepest emotional level. The one person we're all destined to find and protect so we live together forever," she said emphatically with her head down and her eyes closed and her hands cupped together against her chest.

Naruto just rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and said, "Wow, finding this Ashikabi must be really important then."

"Yes, it's the most important thing to a Sekirei."

"I think I get it, probably don't but whatever," he pointed behind him with his thumb and asked, "So why were those two Lightning Style users after you?"

Musubi cocked her head to the side and scrunched her eyebrow in confusion and asked, "Lightning Style?"

Naruto's feverish twitch was back as he thought, 'Okay God, I know you're testing me here. Just thought I'd let you know, I'm only a C student.' He thought while sighing yet again.

"Yeah, the two women shooting lightning everywhere?" he said in exasperation.

"Oh, you mean the lightning elementals," Musubi said, plopping her fist into her palm in understanding.

Naruto simply scrunched his eyes and said, "Yeah whatever, look, it's really late and I'm busy tomorrow so, Musubi was it? How about we meet up tomorrow or, maybe never and I'll go home, bye," he waved as he walked off.

"Wait!" she called, causing him to stop and think, 'I am so gonna regret this.'

He turned around was taken aback at how her puppy-dog eyes seemed to have intensified, 'This, this is just too much!' he thought to himself. Still trying to guard himself from his one weakness, besides ramen, he asked with trepidation, "Y-yeah?"

"I don't have anywhere to go…" she said pathetically with a finger up to her lips.

Naruto finally had enough and face palmed, releasing a massive sigh he didn't realize he was holding he said, "I'm going to really regret this but, do you wanna stay at my place?" The folly of his decision was immediately apparent as her face lit up and she lunged at him like a rhino tackling him to the ground. With a sickening crack he was certain was his back, muttering 'thank you' over and over.

Finally back at his house, Naruto shut his door with another sigh and said, "Well, here we are. My humble abode," he said, dead tired physically, mentally, and emotionally. He looked at Musubi and started again seeing the dreamy look in her eyes.

"It's so wonderful, and clean!" she exclaimed.

"Aheheh, it's nothing really, sensei just beat cleanliness into me and boy did he," he finished with yet another sigh. "Anyway, the bed's over in the corner, why don't you take it while…I…Musubi? Musubi, are you alright?" he asked, worried how she looked almost sick.

Her face was flushed red from her hairline to her neck, her eyes were half lidded and she was breathing quite heavily. Suddenly, she fell to her knees.

"Musubi!" he cried going to her side as she looked at him and gave a weak smile.

"It's you," she said through heavy panting.

"Hah?" he asked.

"You, you're my, Ashikabi," she said, placing her hands on his cheeks and pulling him closer.

"Huh, huh?" he asked, his vocabulary down to a single sound. His mind immediately shut down at the next occurrence.

She pulled his face to hers and their lips met, and a deep passionate kiss, on Musubi's side at least, ensued.

Naruto was just confused, but quickly calmed down and fell into the role.

He wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her closer, one on her head to support it. His eyes almost completely closed but snapped open when two things hit him.

First, she was absorbing a large amount of chakra from his body, enough that he would have been exhausted had he been a normal genin. The second thing he noticed, and the thing that truly caught his attention, were bright, glowing, large pink wings of light that sprouted from her back.

Finally the two came up for air and pulled apart, both coughing slightly at the lack of oxygen. Naruto then noticed another change; he could almost 'feel' the change in his mind as it seemed to alter, to shift and take a new shape. He could then hear Kurama speaking in his mind.

'Brat, the emotional part of her mind just connected with yours. I can feel calming and soothing emotions radiating from this new connection, it's sickening.' Kurama said in disgust.

'You would say that,' he thought with a content smile.

Feeling his contentedness along with her own, Musubi gave him a sweet smile and said, "I finally found you, my Ashikabi."

It was then that Naruto's brain just stopped working; his face became blank, as did his mind. He then proceed to scream, "WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED!?"

Outside, multiple light from multiple apartments flickered on. Soon enough, the landlady rushed up to Naruto's room and kicked open the door fuming.

He then looked at the scene before him. Naruto and Musubi collapsed on the floor, both beet red and covered sweat. The landlord gave fake twitching smile and then yelled, "GET! OUT!"

Naruto just hung his head and said, "Dammit."

"Alright brat, you've got enough time to gather up your shit and get out!"

Naruto was currently gathering up his possessions and putting them in storage scrolls. Musubi was standing nearby with a depressed and guilty expression. There was also a thick, tangible tension in the room.

Musubi, unaware, was the first to break it, "Naruto, I'm so sorry," she said with a deep bow.

"Sorry? For what?" Naruto asked as he quirked an eyebrow.

She looked at him quizzically, though still guilty and said, "Because I'm the reason why you got kicked out,"

Naruto sighed and then chuckled. Then he looked at Musubi and said, "Don't worry, it's not your fault in the least Musubi."

"But-" She was cut off when Naruto put up a hand to stop her.

Then he shook his head and said, "No, that cranky old bastard's been trying to find a reason to kick me out for years. The only reason he hasn't is because gramps would fry his ass."

"Gramps?" she asked in her quizzical posture.

Naruto tried and failed to keep a straight face, with an eyebrow twitching to boot. 'You're kidding me, how can anyone be that cute!?' he yelled in his mind.

'I pity you brat.' Kurama said.

'For once, we agree,' Naruto replied.

"Um Naruto" Musubi try to ask.

Her words snapped him out of his stupor and he looked right at her said, "Yes?"

"I think you should know about us," she said with a little emphasis on 'us'.

"Us? You mean the Sekirei?" Naruto asked.

She was about to answer when Naruto's phone rang.

"A phone call, at two in the morning?" he said in disbelief. He picked up the phone and answered, only to pull away as the voice on the other line yelled.

"Hello Naruto!" an annoying voice said.

Naruto ignored the voice momentarily while cleaning out his ear with his pinky, then pulled it back and asked, "Why does everyone insist on yelling at me?"

"My apologies, I'll try and keep my excitement down," the other voice said while audibly bouncing like a four year old.

"Yeah sure," Naruto deadpanned, "Anyway, who the hell are you anyway?"

"So rude. Very well, I am Minaka Hiroto, the game master!" Minaka declared proudly.

Naruto stood still for several moments before he said, "What?"

Minaka immediately fell over then cleared his throat and asked, "Hasn't she told you yet?"

"She was about to when you interrupted."

Musubi looked confused and asked, "Naruto, who is that?"

Naruto put his hand on the phone's microphone and said, "Some crazy guy named Minaka."

Musubi lit up immediately, "Ah! Professor!"

"Professor?" he asked with a confused blink.

Minaka coughed to get the blonde's attention, "Yes, I am the head M.B.I."

Naruto adopted a thoughtful expression and tried remember where he'd heard that.

'Damn, no good, hey Kurama.' Naruto asked his fuzzy companion.

'Remember that newspaper that mask seller hit you with a couple days ago?' Kurama said reminding Naruto.

'Yeah, oh wait, the report was about Minaka buying the majority of public sales of shinobi gear. Why would anyone do that?' Naruto asked himself.

'Ask him, not me.'Kurama replied.

'You're no help.' Naruto commented.

"Hey, crazy man," Naruto deadpanned.

"It's Minaka you nitwit!" he yelled in response.

"Yeah whatever, so just tell me, what's all this about. Sekirei, Ashikabi, and why they're fighting." Naruto said wanting to know.

"Of course, now listen closely. This is the Sekirei Plan! The greatest game ever devised! One hundred and eight Sekirei have been released into the Leaf Village! They must search high and low to find their Ashikabi and join them in mortal combat! Then, once each Sekirei has been winged, all of the Ashikabi plus their Sekirei will fight until one Ashikabi stands victorious above them all. This victor will receive the ultimate prize! Which is a secret by the way," Minaka said like a madman announcing his manifesto.

Naruto by this point was seething, his feelings felt by Musubi who was incredibly frightened. "You," he said flatly.

"Hm?" Minaka wondered.

"Do you really think that they're nothing more than weapons!? You're sending them out here to fight to the death and you call this a game!? They're people dammit! They're not tools to be used you bastard!" Naruto shouted in a mixture of pure rage and sheer disbelief.

Musubi's face was flushed at Naruto's adamant declaration.

Minaka on the other hand, was laughing like the madman he said, "Good! Good! Your powerful feelings will make this even more interesting. Oh, one more thing Naruto."

"What?" Naruto asked, not even attempting to hide his anger.

"This plan is a total secret, so don't reveal it to anyone or else."

"Or else what, you think I'm afraid of you?"

Minaka chuckled again and said, "Tell, and your Sekirei will be taken and you will be punished."

Naruto slammed the receiver down, nearly breaking the phone, and said seething with rage, "Just try it you bastard."

"N-Naruto?" Musubi asked worriedly.

"What?" he snapped. His features softened when he noticed the fear on Musubi's face. Now he felt really crappy. "Hey Musubi, look I'm…I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to snap like that," he said with self-loathing.

Musubi shook her head gently and said, "No it's okay. You were just mad that's all."

"Huh?" he asked dumbly.

"You were worried about my safety and the fact it was endangered made you angry. In fact, it makes me really happy," she said calmly.

"Um, o…kay."

"Now, let's finish packing up," she said bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Seeing the…effects it had, Naruto thought to himself, 'That's it. She's gonna kill me, either from blood loss and slapping my own hand through my head.' With a final sigh, he got back to work.

The next day found Naruto and Musubi collapsed on a bench together. Naruto, who had been peacefully dreaming, awoke due to noticing a new presence. His eyes opened slightly and then promptly shut in the bright morning light.

After adjusting a bit, he opened them and finally took in who was standing in front of him, and went white as a ghost.

Standing above him with sun shining ominously behind him, was Iruka Umino, his hands on his hips and a fake grin on his face twitching and threatening to crack with rage.

Naruto shook wildly and looked at Iruka and said, "Hehehe, hey Iruka sensei fancy seeing you…here," he uttered those last words trying to put his hand behind his head, but found it securely sandwiched in Musubi's impressive bust. This caused Naruto lose all color to his entire body.

"NARUTO! What the hell is going on!?" Iruka demanded, not sure what to feel at seeing his prized student collapsed on a bench in the middle of town with some skimpily dressed floozy hanging off of him.

Musubi moaned slightly as she stretched and yawned, then rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, kind of, then looked at Naruto and said sleepily, "Naruto? What's going on, keep it down I'm trying to sleep."

Iruka's face broke into a full frown with a twitching eyebrow, while Naruto looked like an ink painting.

Iruka pointed to the Hokage's tower and said, "Hokage's office, NOW!"

"Yes sir!" Naruto stood immediately, grabbed Musubi by the arm and took off like a rocket.

Inside his office, Hiruzen was looking at the two in front of him, or more precisely one of them.

He was looking at Musubi and trying desperately to hold back a nosebleed. He looked at Naruto and released a heavy sigh. "Alright Naruto, care to explain?"

Naruto stood, awkwardly shifting under the old Hokage's gaze, "I would…I can't really, not with everyone in here at least."

Hiruzen cocked an eyebrow and then understood his meaning. With a single motion, he signaled the ANBU hiding in the room to leave.

"Oh wow, I didn't even know they were there!" Musubi said with amazement, causing everyone to face fault.

"Th-that's kinda the idea Musubi," Naruto then looked lightly confused, "Him too," he said, pointing to a section of the wall.

Hiruzen looked and then called the ANBU back.

Who immediately found and apprehended the intruder.

Upon seeing the plain white mask, Hiruzen grit his teeth, 'Damn Danzo, even now he's trying to get at Naruto.' He thought as he turned back to Naruto and asked, "What about Iruka?"

Naruto shook his head and said, "No, I trust him."

Naruto's words gave Iruka a small smile.

"Right, now, please explain what's going on."

Naruto took several breaths to calm himself and thought, 'To hell with M.B.I., the old man needs to here this.' "Alright gramps, there's something going on in the village called the Sekirei plan. It's basically a-"

He was stopped by Hiruzen putting up his hand, "I already know that, that's what I thought she was but I wanted to be sure."

At this point, everyone, including Naruto, was amazed.

Seeing their expressions, Hiruzen chuckled, took a drag of his pipe and said, "Come now, I'm the Hokage. You didn't really think something this big could happen without my knowledge did you?"

Naruto's face lit up with a smile that threatened to split it in half. "That's incredible old man! But wait, how come you didn't stop it?"

With a big sigh, Hiruzen said, "Because this is not only a civilian matter, but it extends far beyond just our village. So unfortunately I have little authority. Not to mention Minaka would've just gone to a different hidden village if we refused. Imagine the results if another village had the Sekirei, they would be treated no better than the jinchuriki and be little more than weapons of the state."

Clenching his fists, Naruto nodded in agreement.

"However, all the same," he said, getting everyone's attention, "since this is such a big matter, I'd like you to keep it quiet if you can. Unless you meet another Ashikabi or Sekirei, you are to tell no one. The last thing I'd want is Danzo getting word of this."

Naruto nodded in certainty and said, "I remember him from that one council meeting I attended, even Kurama said that guy's bad news.

"Kurama?" Iruka and Musubi asked simultaneously.

Naruto paled again, "I just said that out loud didn't I?"

Musubi adopted her confused pose again while Iruka narrowed his eyes with a frown.

In a cage inside of a large room filled with water, a large orange fox smacked its head against a set of iron bars several times.

Hiruzen looked at Naruto with narrowed eyes and asked seriously, "Naruto, who is this Kurama?"

Naruto sighed and thought, 'I guess I can't hide it anymore, I hope you're nottoomad.'

The voice in his mind huffed and answered, "I honestly couldn't care less who knows of me, but my name is important. But I trust the old man enough, do this again however and you will know what pain is."

Naruto gulped and thought back, 'U-understood!'.

Hiruzen and the others watched in confusion as Naruto's expressions went through uncertainty, complacency, irritation, and fear.

"Naruto, are you okay?" Musubi asked with a hand pressed to her heart in concern.

Naruto gave her a confident smile and said, "Yup! Just fine!" ending with a thumb up.

This reassured Musubi, Iruka wasn't convinced but decided to leave it alone.

"Right, now, Naruto, who is this Kurama?" the Third asked with narrowed eyes.

Naruto sighed and rubbed the back of his head then answered, "Well gramps, there's no easy way to say this but…Kurama, is the Nine-tails."

Hiruzen just looked at him with mild surprise, and then he sighed. His features then hardened.

Naruto cringed and closed his eyes, expecting the verbal beating of a lifetime. He was both surprised and confused however, when he felt a hand land softly on his head.

He looked up to see Hiruzen looking at him with a grandfatherly smile. He looked at Naruto and said, "You don't need to be so scared, Naruto. I'm not foolish enough to think that you getting friendly with the Nine-tails makes the two of you one and the same. I simply hope that you will be careful and try not to get your will overridden by his."

Naruto looked at Hiruzen in shock, his eyes then filled with tears as he wrapped Hiruzen in a big hug and said 'thank you' over and over.

Inside the seal, Kurama laid his head on the butt of his hand with a small smile.

Musubi had a truly contently happy smile.

Wiping the last of his happy tears away, Naruto looked at Hiruzen and said, "Thanks old man!"

Hiruzen just chuckled when a knock rapped against the door.

Gently pushing Naruto aside as he sat in his seat, Hiruzen said, "Come in!"

In walked Asuma Sarutobi, Hiruzen's son. Asuma was tall with short spiky black hair, brown eyes, and a short beard. He also wore the standard jonin outfit with one difference, a light blue sash around his waist with a black circle that had a red symbol for 'fire' in it.

Asuma, who had a cigarette in his mouth, noticed Naruto and gave a puzzled look before looking at his father and said, "Pops, we just got info from one of the border guards, a few strange characters were spotted. One of them was odd though."

Hiruzen sighed, looked at Asuma and said, "I'm the Hokage first, your father second. Next, what was the report?"

Naruto noticed a small wince from Asuma who answered, "They captured one of the intruders, he wore a village symbol we didn't recognize."

Hiruzen nodded, "Thank you for the information Asuma. Oh, mind if I ask you a question?"

Puzzled, Asuma just nodded, "Sure, shoot."

"Naruto was just evicted on flimsy charges, unfortunately there's little I can do. Do you know anywhere he can stay?"

"Hmm," Asuma thought while stroking his beard, "I've got a few ideas. Get back to me after team assignments and I should have an answer."

Hiruzen nodded then looked at Naruto, "That reminds me, don't you have somewhere to be?"

Naruto looked at him confused until his eyes widened and his hair stood on end, "OH CRAP!" he shouted, choosing to bolt out the window instead of the door, leaving a dust cloud in his wake as he ran.

"Wow," Musubi said in amazement and prepared to go as well when she felt something grab her sleeve. She looked back to see Hiruzen shaking his head. "Oooohhhh," she said irritated.

Naruto stood outside the academy holding his knees and huffing and panting. Looking at his watch he said, "Good…I…just barely…made it," in between pants.

Walking into the room he looked for a clear seat and saw there were only three, so he weighed his options. 'Hmmm, one next to Shikamaru, nah I wanna stay awake this time. Next is Sasuke's left, nope. Last is, the jerk's right. Damn, this sucks.' With a sigh, Naruto took a seat on Sasuke's right.

Sasuke glared at him ready to give his clan's usual taunt when he noticed something…different, about him. Deciding to investigate it later, he left him alone.

Naruto sat calmly reading some scrolls when he, along with the rest of the class, heard a stampede heading their way.

The entire class, including Shikamaru oddly enough, looked at the door as the room as the sound increased in volume.

Pretty soon two people burst through the open door, or rather, tried to. The two in question were Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno, the two of the trying to get through the door, stuck between it and each other.

"Back off billboard brow, that spot's mine!" Ino screeched, trying to squeeze past Sakura.

"No way Ino-Pig, it's mine!" Sakura similarly screeched, similarly trying to squeeze through the door.

After several seconds of fighting the two burst through the door; they both face-planted on the floor while sliding several feet. Leaving them flustered and the class giggling; both girls turned around with death glares, until they saw who opened the door.

Standing by the door holding it open was Sasuke, with an irritated expression. Muttering his usual 'hn' he went back to his seat next to Naruto.

Seeing where Naruto sat, Sakura yelled, "Hey stupid, that's my seat! Move!"

Naruto just narrowed his eyes in annoyance and pointed to the seat on Sasuke's other side.

Seeing her mistake, she huffed, flipped her hair and sauntered over to the seat and sat down. She tried to look graceful; though the blush and irritated look undermined this act.

It was then Ino's turn to yell, "Hey move it Naruto!" pointing at her fellow blonde.

Naruto narrowed his eyes again and pointed to the seat next to Shikamaru.

"What!? No way, I wanna sit next to Sasuke not him!" Ino screamed.

Naruto huffed and noticed Sasuke had a well hidden pleading expression. Noticing it, Naruto crossed his arms and huffed, turning his head up from Ino.

Her only response being to clench her fists at her sides and glare daggers, she then begrudgingly sat next to Shikamaru.

Naruto looked at Sasuke and grinned, who gave a microscopic smirk in response.

"Hey idiot, stop looking at Sasuke!" Sakura yelled.

Naruto just looked at disgruntled and thought, 'Why did I have a crush on her again?'

"Because you're a teenage human with raging hormones,"Kurama replied to his comment.

'No one asked you!'Naruto said.

Seeing Naruto's frustrated face she huffed in satisfaction.

Moments later, Iruka walked in with a stack of papers. "Alright class I have…" he trailed off as they ignored him."Hey. Hey!"

Knowing what Iruka planned to do, Naruto shut his eyes and covered his ears, nudging Sasuke's elbow. He looked at Iruka and did the same.

"I SAID QUIET!" Iruka bellowed with his infamous Big Head Jutsu.

After it passed, both Sasuke and Naruto sighed in relief.

Seeing his jutsu taking effect, Iruka nodded happily and continued in a level tone, "Alright then. Now, I have your team assignments. I'll start with team one and move down the line."

Noticing none of the teams included him, Naruto unconsciously zoned out until.

"Team Seven is Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno-"

"YAY!" Sakura yelled with volition.

Sighing, Iruka continued, "and Naruto Uzumaki."

"WHAT!?" all three yelled at once.

"Did I stutter?" Iruka asked the newly formed Team 7.

Narrowing his eyes into squints, Naruto said, "Sensei, why am I paired with him?"

"Balance" Iruka simply said.

"How is that balanced?" Naruto asked.

Iruka shrugged and said, "Because your scores are consistently the lowest, and Sasuke's the highest, you're paired for balance. While Sakura's are right in the middle."

Sakura let out a defeated sigh, Sasuke went 'hn', and Naruto growled, and then gave a subtle smile.

Sighing, Iruka continued, "Anyway, Team Seven's sensei is Kakashi Hatake."

This caused Naruto to perk up slightly in confusion.

"Team Eight is Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame, with Kurenai Yuhi."

"Yes!" Kiba, a teenage boy with short spiky brown hair, black feral eyes, and red triangular marks, bellowed. He also wore a black leather jacket, and black pants, receiving an eraser to the forehead. "Hey! Who did that!?"

Naruto chuckled with a hand over his mouth, Kiba just growled.

Shino, a teenager with a long grey hooded coat, another darker coat underneath with a high collar covering his mouth, dark pants and dark round sunglasses, sat silently, with a buzzing noise.

Hinata, a girl with long blue black hair down to her waist, a baggy purple jacket, hiding a mild bust, and baggy blue capri pants that tightened at the bottom, looked down cast that she wasn't placed with a certain someone.

Sighing again, Iruka said, "Since Team Nine is still in circulation, we'll finish with Team Ten. They're Ino Yamanaka, Choji Akimichi, and Shikamaru Nara under Asuma Sarutobi."

Ino, who had bleach blonde hair tied in a long high ponytail with one heavy bang over her right eye, her eyes were pale blue, she wore a sleeveless, high neck, purple button down belly shirt, a short black skirt with a purple open front apron on top, and mesh knee and elbow warmers, sighed at not being with Sasuke.

Shikamaru, a teen with a lazy and somewhat irritated expression wearing a mesh shirt with a beige coat lined in green, his headband on the left bicep, and dark pants, muttered, "What a drag."

Choji, a pudgy teen with long brown spiky hair, red swirls on his cheeks, a red two piece suit with armor plates sewn in, the chest piece having the symbol for 'food' drawn on it, simply ignored the proceedings while eating.

"Right, that's all the teams. Your senseis will be here shortly to pick you up," Iruka said leaving the room.

After nearly two hours, soon-to-be team seven were the only ones left.

Sakura was fuming, Sasuke was annoyed, and Naruto wasn't paying attention, reading a scroll on sealing jutsu.

Glancing to his left, Sasuke noticed Naruto's chosen reading material and quirked an eyebrow. After a few more minutes, Naruto got an irritated look and peered up from his book. Getting a devious grin, Naruto wrote on a piece of paper, making a seal.

Seeing this, Sasuke's curiosity peaked beyond suppression, "What are you doing loser?"

Looking at Sasuke with narrowed eyes, Naruto grinned, "Preparing a 'present' for our late sensei, since he's usually late anyway."

Sasuke was too confused to examine his statement and said, "I see…wait a second," he said in imperceptible surprise, "How do you know that?"

Naruto placed the piece of paper on the frame and slid the door over it. Then he grinned at Sasuke and said, "A little birdy told me."

On a rooftop in the Leaf village, a woman in a brown trenchcoat and mesh shirt sneezed, tossing her dango to the ground. Her face darkened, her eyes glinted, and she raised her fist, grinding out, "Whoever's talking about me, you're dead!"

Naruto stood ramrod stiff and shivered.

"What's wrong stupid? You speechless at my beauty?" Sakura asked brazenly.

Naruto crossed his arms and scoffed under his breath, "As if."

Sakura, hearing him speak and assuming, unknowingly correctly, it was an insult, yelled, "What was that!?"

Naruto got frightful and thought, 'How'd she hear me!?' He then bolted to his seat as the door opened slowly.

Naruto grinned, Sasuke cocked an eyebrow, and Sakura looked constipated.

The door opened slowly as a single tuft of silver hair poked through. Once the door opened, the piece of paper on the floor emitted a weak glow as a jet of water shot up, hard. Through the jet a single dinner plate-sized eye was visible.

While this happened, Naruto nearly fell out of his chair laughing, Sasuke barely suppressed a smile as his mouth twitched, and Sakura looked angry, but though, 'Cha! Serves ya right ya stupid jerk, Cha!'

The now soaking wet form of Kakashi stood there, a lazy expression and looked at the group he cringed as Sakura yelled, "You're late!"

Giving an eye smile, he rubbed the back of his head and lied pathetically, "Sorry, I got lost on the road of life."

Simultaneously, all three genin thought, 'That sucked.'

Eyeing the group, Kakashi thought, 'Let's see we got a fan girl with a poorly hidden sadistic side, an emo who fails at even being that, and Naruto. Oi this is going to be hard.' "Meet me on the roof." He disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Well I'm off!" Naruto said with a salute.

Sakura grumbled as Sasuke sat up. She looked back at Naruto and said, "Hey, you comin?"

Naruto waved her off and said with a grin, "I'll be there."

"Whatever," she shrugged while leaving.

After they left, Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke.

On the roof, Kakashi sat reading a small orange book while giggling perversely. He looked up and his eye got wide when Naruto appeared in a puff of smoke. 'The Teleportation Jutsu? How?' He though in surprise.

His surprise was ended by screeching when Sakura yelled, "How'd you get up here so fast!?" pointing at Naruto.

He just grinned at her and adjusted his headband, "I'm just awesome like that."

Grumbling some more she and Sasuke sat down next to Naruto.

Snapping his book shut and stuffing it away, Kakashi looked at them and said, "Well, since we're meeting for the first time, introduce yourselves."

Sakura looked at him slightly confused and said, "But what should we say sensei?"

Sighing he said, "Okay, how about your likes, dislikes, dreams, and hobbies. I'll go first. My name is Kakashi Hatake. My likes, well I like a lot of things. I don't really dislike very much. Hmm, my dreams, never really thought about it. Hobbies, I have lots."

Twitching an eyebrow, Naruto thought, 'All he told us was his name.'

"What did you expect?" Kurama asked.

'A little more than that.'Naruto replied.

"Okay, pinkie, you're next," he said, pointing to Sakura.

She yelled in response, "My name's not pinkie!"

"So tell us what it is."

Blushing she said, "Oh, right, ha ha. *cough cough* My name is Sakura Haruno. What I like is, or rather whoI like is…" she trailed off blushing and staring at Sasuke. "My dreams are…" she looked at Sasuke again and squealed, "my hobby is…" staring at Sasuke again.

Sighing Kakashi said, "How about what you don't like?"

All features becoming angry, she said, "I hate Naruto!"

Both Naruto and Kakashi became slightly unbalanced and nearly fell over, with Kakashi flailing so as to not become a stain on the road, then sighing in relief. "Okay broody, you're up."

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I don't particularly like anything, and I hate a lot of things. What I have isn't a dream, because dreams are unobtainable goals people set knowing they will never reach. What I have is an ambition, because I will make it a reality."

Sakura pulled her hands up in front of her face and squealed in her mind 'Sasuke is so awesome!'

Sweat dropping, Kakashi persisted uneasily, "And that is?"

"To restore my clan and kill a certain, someone" Sasuke said with anger at the end.

'This can't end well. Let's just hope Naruto can bring him out of this negative focus soon enough,' Kakashi thought seriously. Lastly he looked at Naruto and said, "Okay smart aleck, your turn."

Adjusting his headband with a confident grin, Naruto said, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I like ramen, training, and Musubi. Oops!" he said realizing what he just.

Confused, Sakura asked, "What's Musubi?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and laughed sheepishly, "Noothiing, hehehehehe, eehh," he finished with a sigh, then coughed to get back on track. "Anyway, I dislike a lot of things, but traitors and people who can't distinguish a kunai from a storage scroll most of all."

Hearing this made Kakashi give a small smile under his mask.

"My hobbies are training, learning new jutsu, and following sensei's legacy."

"Sensei, you mean me?" Kakashi asked slightly confused, pointing to himself.

"No not you, my old sensei!" Naruto snapped like it was an insult.

"Who was that?" Kakashi asked while a little disappointed.

"Can't tell you" Naruto said.

"Okay, how about your dream?" Kakashi asked.

"To become recognized by everyone for who I really am, protect the people precious to me, and become Hokage, ya know!" Naruto yelled at the end.

Kakashi's smile became much wider, though still unnoticeable under his mask and he said, "Great. My first impression, I hate you. Meet me at training ground seven tomorrow at five for your genin test."

"EEEHHH! What do you mean, we already took it Kakashi sensei!" Sakura yelled, getting agreeing nods from Sasuke and Naruto for once.

"Actually that was just the basic test, used to weed out undesirables. This test is what really determines whether you become shinobi or not. Oh, one more thing, don't eat breakfast, you'll just throw it up," he said in a far too cheery tone. "Dismissed," he said and vanished in a teleportation.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Sakura yelled, "So all that was for nothing that sucks."

"Quit screeching would you?" Naruto said with growing annoyance as cleaned out his ear with his pinky, "It makes sense really."

"Oh, and how do you figure stupid?"

"Because, the passing parameters for the academy test are way too low. Having this be the real test makes more sense," he said matter of fact.

Irritated at how right he was, Sakura did the only thing she could; change the subject, "Okay then, what about not eating breakfast?"

"Probably just mind games, though it doesn't matter for you either way does Sakura?" Naruto said in a teasing voice.

Sakura gave a triumphant humph and said, "Somebody has watch my figure."

Naruto narrow his eyes into slits in irritation and thought, 'Okay, any remaining crush I had just got crushed.' He then thought with a perverted giggle he didn't know he had, 'Sure am glad I have Musubi,' imagining said Sekirei in multiple layers of undress.

"Hey, are you thinking perverted thoughts about me idiot!?" Sakura accused with a pointing finger.

Narrowing his eyes again with a grumble he said, "Fat chance."

"What was that!?" she said dangerously.

His danger sense kicking into overdrive, Naruto quickly teleported away leaving nothing but a puff of smoke. Crossing her arms with another huff, Sakura said defeated, "Perv ran off," then seeing Sasuke walk away, she gave chase pestering him for dates.

Hiruzen sat in his office with Musubi on the couch playing with a little ball when there was a puff of smoke in the room, surprising Hiruzen and astonishing Musubi, even more so when they saw who it was.

"Naruto! You're back!" Musubi said as she leapt at him, burying his head in her chest.

'Lucky bastard' thought the jealous aging Hokage. After several seconds of their roughhousing Hiruzen coughed into his hand, which got their attention.

Naruto immediately stood up, knocking Musubi on her backside, with a blush on his face.

Sighing Hiruzen said, "Something you need Naruto?"

Laughing sheepishly, Naruto said, "Just something troublesome I had to get away from, that's all."

"Right, well you're just on time," the old Hokage said.

"Really, why?" he asked now confused.

Hiruzen handed him a slip of paper and said, "I just got directions from Asuma for an inn you can stay at."

Naruto's face lit up, then became downcast, "Are sure they'll…let me stay there?" he asked quietly.

Seeing his surrogate grandson's trepidation, Hiruzen tried to comfort him, "Actually, the owner of the inn is an old friend of Kakashi's."

"That's great! Though why wouldn't they let him stay grampy?" Musubi asked excitedly.

'Grampy?' Naruto deadpanned in his mind.

Sighing at her nickname, Hiruzen looked at Naruto, who shook his head, the old Hokage then said, "That's something for you and Naruto to discuss, not me."

"Okay," she nodded, seemingly placated.

Naruto then looked at the slip and said aloud, "Izumo Inn, huh? Sounds nice."

After leaving the Hokage tower, Naruto and Musubi made their way to the inn. However, shortly before arriving, they decided to cut through a park. What they saw worried Musubi and concerned Naruto.

What they saw was a young woman with short, messy reddish orange hair, pale skin, and dull grey eyes, lying down on the ground with only a bloody lab coat covering her.

What caught Naruto's eye most of all was the mark on her forehead. It was a red symbol made of a bird, with a yin yang symbol below it, with six tomoe on the bottom. Naruto snapped awake when he heard Musubi gasp. "What's wrong Musubi?"

She pointed to the mark and said, "That mark," horror dripping from her voice.

"What about it?" he asked, feeling her despair.

"It's the mark of a scrapped number," she said somberly.

"A…scrapped number?" he asked rather puzzled.

Suddenly the woman spoke up, in a weak, tremulous voice, "I am…broken…unwanted. I am nothing more than a wasted specimen."

Hearing this, Naruto instinctively got to his knees and said, "Look, I don't know what a scrapped number is, but I do know you're a person, not some tool that had its head broken."

"But she…she…" Musubi said, clutching her chest about to cry.

Naruto turned to her, his eyes alight with a kind of fury she's never seen, the sight causing heat to rise in the 'scrapped number's' face and chest. "She's what?"

"A scrapped number, they…they can't be winged," she said, tears rolling down her face.

"I…I see," Naruto said, closing his eyes and clenching his fist. 'Damn Minaka, damn him and his forsaken game, this woman sees herself as nothing more than damaged goods because of him.' He stood up certainty in his eyes, appearing as grand blue orbs of hope to the 'scrapped number'. "Hey, what's your name, I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

"Akitsu, it's Akitsu," she said weakly and with emotion rising.

Smiling his trademark foxy grin, he extended his hand and said, "Well Akitsu, wanna come with us? I don't know if I can grant your wish of being winged, but I can give you someplace warm to stay. At least for a few days."

A smile broke Akitsu's sullen features when a pompous voice spoke up. "Sorry, but she's going to be part of my collection, not yours."

Naruto turned and glared, seeing a short, blonde teenager in a fancy white suit with two people beside him.

One was a man with short, messy, silver haired, man with brown eyes. He wore a black, open front, long-sleeved shirt with an 'x' pattern across his midsection. He wore black combat gloves and long black pants, topped with a long orange scarf.

The other was a woman with long brown hair and matching eyes, a red bow around her neck and in her hair, she wore a white and black dress with long matching boots and short gloves. Her most notable feature was the long red scythe she had, which she held like a baby.

'This is bad,' Naruto thought.

"Naruto," Musubi said seriously, getting his attention.

"What?" he asked, not taking his attention from the other group.

"They're Sekirei."

Standing with a sigh and scratching his head, he said, "Thought so. Sure could use those Lightning Twins right about now."

"Say no more," a lazy voice said.

Suddenly, three puffs of smoke appeared.

When it cleared, Naruto gaped at what he saw.

In the middle was Kakashi, holding his usual perverted, orange book. Flanking him however, were Hikari and Hibiki.

"Wait, Sensei, you're an Ashikabi too?!" Naruto asked in disbelief.

Kakashi turned around an eye smile and nodded.

Standing with more confidence, Naruto pumped a fist forward and declared, "Yeah, now it gets good!"

"No," Kakashi said simply.

"What!? Why!?" the blonde asked defiantly.

"Ashikabi or not, you're still my student," he said, he then thought, 'and my surrogate little brother.' "As such, I cannot let you fight a battle I can prevent," 'even though I've failed so much in the past.' "So sit back, hold onto Musubi, and let me fight them."

Amazed, all Naruto could do was nod dumbly and calm Musubi, who was bouncing with excitement.

Snapping his book shut, Kakashi said, "Shall we get to work ladies?"

Standing ready to fight, both girls said in unison, "Yeah!"

And there goes the first chapter. I know it's long but it kinda had to be since I wanted to keep this contained to one chapter. The first episode events of Sekirei shouldn't take nearly as long so I should be able to keep it below three thousand words and have room to spare.

Well now that that's out of the way, that brings this to a close, don't forget to tell me what you think and any suggestions since I'm truly winging this one unlike Fullmetal Shinobi. Also, if anyone out there knows where I can find someone to help with romance plots, since I've never done and more than likely suck at it but hey won't know til I try right. There'll be a few changes to the overall story too, naturally. One example is that Seo doesn't exist since someone else'll be getting the Lightning Twins and it won't be Naruto. If anyone wants to guess who it is I might be able to come up with some kind of reward, like maybe choosing a Naruto girl that turns out to be Sekirei, hmm, that could work yeah. I'll PM on the unlikely chance someone does guess and get it right.

ALRIGHT, now that I seem to finally have nothing left to say, see ya later.