Into the Darkness Chapter 1, a Naruto + Mass Effect Crossover fanfic

Alright. I decided to write this story quite some time ago when I was browsing through the Mass Effect crossover section with Naruto. I realized that the main story that is told in that particular section is one where a post war Naruto is essentially brought up into space by Shepard to battle a war. Or alternatively the shinobi's were a hidden branch of humanity, and Naruto who is immortal has survived to their current state and finally decides to fight.

I felt some of these stories were good, but then the stories started to copy each other. My frown increased. My disappointment rose. This story is not those things. The simple vision I had for the main character of this story was the idea of a character that realized there was a greater world out there beyond his planet, and his unyielding drive to get out there will take him down a path that is not easily walked. A path full of triumph, sacrifice, betrayal, cunning, and most of all ambition.

Then by the time you see Naruto actually arrive in the Galaxy that we know and love, he isn't just some outsider conscripted to fall in love with Shepard or "Insert author's favorite mass effect female romance here" and save humanity. It will be a person that has earned their spot among the stars, and all of the reputation, power, and whatever else may come with him being up there was built by him and him alone. There was no shortcuts to his arrival. When it comes time where Reapers may invade and, Naruto isn't going to just be some pit stop or Dossier for Shepard like every other story out there. Naruto will have his own place and motivations in the galaxy.

So with that said if you would be interested in the journey a young 12 year old boy soldier will take to one day touch the stars, keep reading. If you are looking for Shepard's introduction in the first chapter, find another story, there are plenty.

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500 BCE (Before founding of the Citadel Council)

As a gesture of openness with their newfound Asari allies, the Salarian Union opens the records of The League of One. The League of One was one of the Salarian covert intelligence services at the time the Salarians discovered the Citadel. Their primary purpose was in espionage and assassination. Never more than a dozen members strong, the team was adept at infiltrating the tightest defenses and eliminating all necessary obstacles.

With the League's documents now exposed to the public, the entire League found themselves under threat. Yet before harm could be done the League mysteriously disappeared. Most assumed that their disappearance was a convenient lie told to protect them. Yet months later the inner cabinet was murdered. While no evidence was found at the scene of the crime, it was clear who was responsible.

With the two allied races now realizing the threat posed by this rogue outfit, the Special Tasks Group dispatched a team of hunters. Yet when these hunters didn't return, the STG dispatched ten of its brightest military operators with broad discretionary powers, resembling the deployment of the first Spectres. Only two returned; they reported no evidence of the League.

Decades later with no further incidents reported, it was assumed the League was wiped out, or died out due to Salarian's short lifespans. Yet some recent documents have suggested there may have been a thirteenth member, an apprentice who eluded the Salarian Military.

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CE 2158

Naruto sat quietly amongst his small group of friends from academy, flipping through the pages of a small handwritten book. A round boy with brown hair sat munching on a bag of chips beside a dark pineapple haired boy. Beside him the young boy from the Inuzuka clan sat with his dog resting upon his head, his characteristic red face paint almost glowing in the sun.

"So what tests did you guys have to do in order to pass as a team?" Kiba, the Inuzuka clan member asked with a grin as he leaned forward, his dog Akamaru hopping onto the table before everyone.

"Kakashi had us go through teamwork exercises developed by past Hokages who took teams." Chouji said in between munching on his bag of chips. "He said we were rusty but that there was talent between us before he decided to pass us."

The pineapple haired boy merely groaned at the memory. "Asuma said that our training would be a team building exercise. He told us to go home the other day and pack up all of our things we can't live without. He told us that he would pass us for now, but our life as a team will be dependent on how the next few days unfold in our team building exercise. It wouldn't surprise me if it is some form of camping or bonding trip. After that he said he wants us down at the training ground every day except for a couple where we will run missions practically all day."

"Ha! Well I didn't have to go through any of that. Our teacher saw the talent in me right away." Kiba proclaimed as he jabbed his finger to his chest with a grin.

"That isn't quite what I recall Kiba." A voice said from behind the group as he approached.

"Shino!" Kiba said nearly jumping out of his skin, so focused on boasting that he didn't even sense the bug user of the Aburame clan coming up behind him.

A round of introductions were briefly given to the bug wielder as he moved to sit down, "I quite seem to recall a rather specific genjutsu test employed by Miss Yuhi, one that you weren't able to escape on your own." the stoic bug wielder addressed much to the frustration of the Inuzuka clan member.

"Yeah, whatever." Kiba grumbled as he crossed his arms over his chest, remembering the ridiculous genjutsu all too fondly. His eyes scanned the group before falling on Naruto's amused features as he briefly glanced up from his journal. "What are you looking at?"

"Your makeup." The blonde fired back without delay as he turned back to the journal in his hands.

"Why are you even here?" Kiba asked with a scowl at the insult, "What did you even do to make it to genin? I thought you failed." Kiba said in frustration, the barb rubbing him the wrong way.

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"Nice job finding the moron!" The bandana wearing white haired academy teacher yelled with a mocking laugh after having let loose a hail of shuriken.

"I see... so that's what's going on here." Iruka, the scarred dark haired chunin muttered to himself as his eyes wandered over to his student.

"Naruto! Give me the scroll!" Mizuki yelled from the tree's overhanging branch. Yet before anything could be done, Iruka's bellowing voice followed.

"Naruto! Whatever you do, don't let Mizuki get his hands on that scroll!"

"Wha... What the hell is going on!" Naruto yelled his head shaking back and forth between the two, the situation completely lost on him.

"Naruto! That's a dangerous scroll that has the most destructive ninjutsu in the village within it. Mizuki used you to get his hands on it." Iruka continued desperately, straining from his wounds.

"So you're going to be like that then Iruka?" Mizuki mocked as he hopped down gracefully to the forest floor. "Fine then. Naruto, there's no point in you having it anyways. I'll tell you the truth."

"No! Don't!" Iruka yelled to no avail.

"Twelve years ago... You know about the demon fox being defeated right? A special rule was created for the village. But this rule was never meant to be told to you."

"Mizuki!" Iruka yelled.

"What... what kind of rule?" Naruto muttered in utter confusion with a hint of fear.

"The rule that nobody is allowed to talk about is the fact that your mother Uzumaki Kushina killed our Hokage Namikaze Minato as he attempted to defeat the nine tailed fox. His blood is on your hands. You are the reason the Fourth Hokage is dead! Your mother killed Konoha's savior, it is no wonder that even Iruka hates you. Your mother killing the man that could have protected Iruka's parents. There is a reason you entered the academy years before your classmates, yet you have never been allowed to become a ninja. No one wants you Naruto." Mizuki taunted as he began spinning the large shuriken on his hand.

"Your mother killed the Hokage you admire so much. Your entire life, you have been lied to by everyone. Didn't you find it odd how everyone hates you? Even Iruka has told me, he can't stand the sight of you..." Mizuki said as he let loose the shuriken.

"Shut up!" Naruto yelled as blue chakra exploded out around him before he caught the heavy shuriken mid flight before swinging it violently around him, taking swipes at both Mizuki and Iruka. "You stay away from me!" Naruto yelled as tears poured down his cheeks.

"Naruto! Mizuki is lying! It's not true! I do care about you!" Iruka yelled as with his injuries he barely dodged Naruto's swipe, unlike Mizuki who was busy sauntering with a casual arrogance. However Iruka's desperate plea fell on deaf ears as Naruto ran off into the night.

"You can run, but you can't hide Naruto!" Mizuki yelled through the forest as Naruto took off into the treeline. "I will find you!" He continued before leveling an even and deathly still glare at the man who was formerly his partner in the academy, "I will find him..." he said almost tauntingly to the fallen scarred academy teacher.

Naruto rushed from tree to tree. Between hopping from branch to branch through the dense woodland of the forest, tumbling through the mass of shrubbery while vaulting over large boulders and fallen trees.

"Are you afraid Naruto?" Mizuki's voice yelled echoing through the darkness.

The blonde's heart raced at the sound as he pushed his body further, moving faster and harder than he had ever had to before. This wasn't some small prank he had pulled on the village. This wasn't mere paint on the faces of a Hokage monument which would net him a small collection of community service that he likely wouldn't show up to do. This was his life.

Naruto's thoughts however were stopped in an instant as a vicious punch went across his face sending him sprawling through the air and impacting on the cold hard ground.

"Afraid that I will make you join your mother early in the afterlife?" Mizuki taunted as he twirled a tomahawk, yet another one of Mizuki's seemingly endless and unique supply of throwing weapons. With a quick spin in his hand, he let the tomahawk loose soaring through the air at the blonde.

Naruto scrambled quickly from his position on the forest floor, his feet digging into the dirt and kicking up leaves. The tomahawk landed uncomfortably close to his groin as it went on to split his pants open mid thigh on his right leg.

"I nearly did the world a service with that throw!" Mizuki mocked, laughing at the blonde's expense. "Imagine, the heir to the demon unable to have children! I suppose it won't matter anyway when I'm through with you."

Naruto scowled as his own temper was starting to get the best of him. He quickly grabbed the tomahawk between his legs as he darted off into the forest once again.

"We've been over this Naruto-kun. You can't run!" Mizuki yelled before leaping off after the blonde with speeds that could far surpass any freshly failed genin.

Although it was this arrogance that nearly cost him his life.

Naruto spun around with the tomahawk out which almost served to split his throat open. If it weren't for years of experience, and he hadn't used the momentum he had propelling him to duck, it would have surely been a desperate but fatal blow.

However Mizuki hadn't been anticipating anything remotely close to strategy or planning, or even skill from the academy failure.

In a classic reverse grip taught to all the young academy students for it's defensive capabilities, Naruto wielded his kunai. Whipping it around with his offhand, he gave his academy teacher gone rogue a deep gash right across the abdomen.

Crying out in pain, Mizuki dropped yet another one of his throwing weapons he had been shuffling through during his chase. Yet Naruto had no intention of sticking around for the man to recover.

The blonde took off deeper into the forest, the wind at his back. Fear and relief plagued his senses. Leaves kicked up behind him and branches broke as he rushed past them on the forest floor.

Every rustle of leaves, and breaking of branches had the blonde looking over his shoulder for the injured chunin instructor.

He broke into the clearing with a mighty leap as he came across a steep cliff that looked like a great abyss under the night sky.

A whirlwind of leaves beside him immediately caught him off guard as a vicious punch immediately impacted into his gut knocking the wind out of him as he doubled over spitting and sputtering. The act had him drop his kunai clattering to the hard rock ground, and nearly lost his tomahawk as well.

Behind him stood Mizuki, his eyes no longer carrying the taunting look they once held. The silver haired chunin quickly grasped the blonde's throat and lifted him off the ground, while grabbing the arm that refused to let go of the tomahawk in it's grasp, and held it out to the side.

"No more games." The man said slowly through the silence. The only faint sounds under the light of the moon were the rustling of leaves, and the time drops of blood dripping off his clothes onto the ground below them. "The scroll." the man said as he twisted the blonde's arm behind his back, the blade of the sharpened tomahawk slicing right through the strap that allowed to scroll to cling to the academy student's body.

The scroll clattered to the ground a rolled about a foot behind the blonde before getting caught on a small protruding rock.

Mizuki's grip went on to tighten, quickly closing off all the airflow to the blonde as his vision began to fade.

Desperately the blonde kicked forward making perfect contact between the legs with the chunin who nearly dropped the blonde as he doubled over in pain himself.

In their collapse, and Naruto backpedaling the scroll was gently kicked by his heel sending it rolling towards the deep abyss.

"The scroll!" Mizuki said as he reached out from the ground cupping his abdomen and squeezing his legs together. Yet his words were in vain as the inanimate object casually rolled off the cliff as Naruto rushed after it to try and reach it to no avail.

Naruto stared down regrettably as what was supposedly Konoha's most treasure artifact was lost into the abyss.

"Fucking little... shit!" Mizuki yelled as he dove towards blonde to tackle him, his hands outward as he shoved the blonde academy failure over the edge.

Mizuki scowled as he took Naruto's former spot, looking deeply into the abyss. Now all he needed to do was walk down the cliff and collect the scroll.

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Naruto tumbled through the abyss, spiralling through the air at a rapid pace, each second wondering if it was going to be his last. Occasionally his body, bouncing off the jagged rocks wondering if the pit was going to quickly close up and impale him on the spikes below, never to be found again.

Naruto in his tumbling fall was whipping out constantly with the spiked back of his tomahawk, and a kunai he withdrew from his pouch in his other hand. Attempting valiantly to dig into the cliff face and halt his descent into darkness.

Yet each time he appeared close enough to the wall and made contact with it, his blades would bounce off with an echoing clang that served to make his stomach turn.

And then there was a splash. Feet first he dropped into the water quickly submerging his entire body in the dark depths below. And it was only at that time he saw it. Light.

Naruto silently told himself not to journey to the light. That it was a bad idea. Any story he had heard as a child that even mentioned about a light at an end of a tunnel during near death experiences always said to never walk towards it. Yet at this point, he couldn't help but feel it was his only option.

The scroll was slowly beginning to sink down into the water before the blonde, drifting to the bottom of the black deeps. He silently hoped that there wasn't any creatures lurking in the water as it was nearly impossible to see anything more than a few feet away from the source of light.

Breaching the surface only to take in a breath of air, and reassess his grip on the trusted tomahawk like it was his only lifeline, he submerged. A slow breaststroke underwater propelled Naruto through the cold deeps as he grabbed hold of the slowly sinking scroll and bundled it under his arm on the journey to the blue radiant light.

Positioning himself directly under the light revealed it to be almost a shimmering translucent blue light fixture. The blonde couldn't even truly process what he was seeing. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before.

Yet quickly finding himself in need of air, the blonde wasted no time in surging through to the blue shimmering image. It was a strange sensation, almost like going through a bubble. The shimmering blue screen stuck to him briefly as he found himself almost getting sucked through into the dry area above him.

Yet it was cold, and dark. It surprised him that such a place with such a unique light fixture below it could be so dark.

The floors were the first thing he could make note of, even through the darkness. They were ice cold to the touch, made of metal. Yet it wasn't the kind of metal he would find typical in a kunai. No the metal on the floor was smooth and finely crafted almost like the old famous samurai swords of legend from the Land of Iron.

Although as lights seemed to flicker on overhead, Naruto realized he would no longer need to just rely on his sense of touch to get by. The illuminated room revealed large metal doorways that seemingly led into the blackness of other rooms. The walls were coated in the same sleek metal that coated the floor. A sudden humming overhead began to resound around him as warm air began to envelop him in a comforting heat.

Grabbing onto his few possessions, Naruto began to trek the metal floors into the closest area of blackness, dragging the wet scroll on the ground behind him. Going into the room to his left, the lights behind him flickered off into blackness as the room he stood in illuminated itself as if it felt his presence.

"Hello there."

Naruto nearly jumped out of his skin at the foreign feminine voice. It was soft, but had a distinct vibration and echo to it. He didn't even understand what it said. Looking around the room quickly for anyone that possibly lived here, the owner of the voice.

"There is no need to look around, I am not something you can see, I am a part of the ship, The Uprising. I am her Artificial Intelligence, Solana."

This voice only served to cause the blonde more distress as he dropped the scroll and spun around, tomahawk twirled in his grasp ready for a fight with an invisible foe.

Naruto took in the area around him, his eyes wide and alert despite the pain in his body. His breathing was ragged yet rampant with adrenaline pumping through his veins.

The room was filled with tame but intriguing work benches. Shavings of metal resided on one of the tables in particular. In the center of the room a large chest with numerous tools protruding from it's casing, some of which he recognized easily, others which were completely and utterly foreign to him.

A blue light shot out from the ceiling and quickly scanned over Naruto's body, causing him to attempt to dive out of the way, but the light was gone far quicker than that.

The lights abruptly turned off in the room he was in, as another light flickered on alongside a big blue arrow pointing to the right just beside an entryway.

Naruto clenched his teeth, not wanting to stay in the darkness as his pain slowly consumed him. He slung the scroll over his shoulder with effort and followed the designated arrows.

He stepped into a room that had a large blue imaging screen of a big circular map that continually rotated. Although the blonde had no idea what it was a map of. Parts of the map looked familiar, but others looked undoubtedly foreign.

Yet he paid it little mind as he continued to follow the arrows that guided him.

It was here that he found himself in the largest room as of yet. A portion of it actually vaguely reminded him of the academy's mess hall. A counter with stools in one corner, coupled with a large circular table for larger groups surrounded by a cushioned chair.

Although that didn't stop the area from being completely foreign to him in other ways. The large console in the center of the room that seemingly flickered with blue energy that felt alive, almost like chakra. The far wall also had a huge blue screen, easily his height.

However as he continued to look around, the lit up screens seemed to lose power gradually as they all formed into small blue arrows pointing him in one single direction.

"This way."

Was the short utterance of the sound that clung to the metallic walls, something he couldn't truly understand. The voice could very well be leading him to his death, and he wouldn't even know. Yet he also knew that in the grand scheme of things, he didn't really have much of a choice. It was either go back out there, and pray that Mizuki didn't choose to climb down the cliff face for the scroll, or to keep on walking.

The room was strangely barren and plain in contrast to other rooms in the large building that seemed to change dramatically in appearance from room to room. Yet each room held their own elegance.

This room had a sleeker gray tone to the walls that surrounded them. Two large suspended planks with lit up surfaces. It almost remin-

The doors shut abruptly behind him with a sliding hiss. Truth be told, he didn't even know this building had doors. He thought it was just entryway after entryway, and that everything was merely interconnected.

The lights in the room dimmed above as the last remaining sources of illumination were the glowing blue plank, and the large tank in the corner filled with seemingly bioluminescent water.

Projected onto the ceiling was a casual display of a almost humanoid figure, but strangely alien image of a person laying themselves down onto the bed.

"Please lay down on the bed before you to continue our medical examination."

Naruto scowled at the imaging above him, the woman's voice taunting him. He wasn't going to lay down and just die here. He went back over to the doors that slid closed on him, and kicked one with his foot.

The lights above him briefly flashed red as if in annoyance.

There was a standoff between the two entities, one that Naruto knew he was shortly going to lose. He knew that he wouldn't be able to stand forever at this rate. Either he could continue going through with this, or he could fall to the floor in a few minutes after stubbornly standing by the unmoving metal doors.

"Fine." The blonde muttered as he pulled himself up onto the table, laying down flat just as the projected images above him 'politely suggested'.

The moment the blonde laid flat, metal cuffs shot up from beneath the platform, wrapping tightly around him.

"Commencing operating table routine analysis." the feminine voice sounded in calm tone before several beeps went off in quick succession.

"Species unknown. No known entries into citadel codex or joint Salarian STG - League of One archives. Physiological appearance similar to Asari. Yet actual characteristics uncertain. Requires more testing."

Naruto laid there silently as the voice continued on it's rant. Machines circled around him, and needles punctured his skin like he was some kind of lab rat. If he was being honest with himself, at this point he probably was. Yet he had no room to panic, frankly he didn't want to. Whatever the machines were doing was helping. His pain was leaving his body.

"Medical operations halted, unknown entity aboard The Uprising."

"Why did you stop?" Naruto asked allowed as the metal straps that had been pinning him down unhinged, and his door slid open while the lights overhead turned red. A loud blaring alarm started to resound repeatedly over and over which took the blonde by surprise as he quickly brought his hands to his ears.

He hopped off the operating table by swinging his legs over to the side, his feet touching the cold metal surface. The warm heating from vents served to do little to warm his body that now merely had the tattered remains of his clothing clinging to him desperately.

Stepping out of the small medical room he peered through the darkness. Red lights overhead flashed with purpose as they reflected off the floor and walls into a world of dark red light.

He walked over to the large console that resided in the center of what he initially assumed was a cafeteria-like room. The only source of light other than red in the entire room. The centerpiece was beyond his understanding as he stood there gazing at numerous keys on a screen like pad that reminded him of the most modern computers showcased in Konoha, but something far more advanced. It was completely alien to him. Just as alien as the strange metal 'L' shaped block that resided on the panel.

They were all just pieces to a puzzle he had no answer to.

The lights proceeded to flicker on behind him, banishing the red away as a voice he was hoping to never hear again made it's presence known.

"I will find you Naruto." Mizuki's raggedly breathed out, his eyes half lidded, his body rocking back and forth on the edge of consciousness. Blood and mud was spilling off his form dirtying the otherwise pristine metal floors beneath him.

Yet it was a true testament of a warrior that Mizuki withdrew one last kunai from his pouch, ready to fight to the end as he sluggishly prepared to throw it.

Immediately another blue holographic image appeared above the doorframe of the hallway outside of Mizuki's field of vision right in front of Naruto. It was a fast video of an incredibly skinny and frail creature with a big head picking up the strange 'L' shaped object similar to the one on the table beside him.

The thought that this would be one of the only mysteries solved this day would prove to be the sole factor that would save Naruto's life in these next few moments.

The large headed, skinny limbed creature pulled the hook on the 'L' shaped object and a metal shaving was fired off at incredible speeds, piercing through a block of steel.

As Mizuki lobbed the shinobi kunai at sluggish speeds sending the kunai spiralling through the air like a dagger, Naruto reached behind him and grabbed the 'L'.

Pulling the hook like was shown in the incredibly fast video, Naruto pointed it at the oncoming kunai. In an instant with a loud crack, and to the amazement of the two shinobi that were present, the kunai exploded clattering against the metallic walls like glass. The sheer force of pulling the hook sent the weapon clattering back onto the console beside him.

Naruto was left standing across from Mizuki whose gaze was one of equally stunned amazement. Yet Mizuki's amazement slowly turned to fear as the blonde picked up the object once again, this time settling two hands firmly around the weapon and aiming it directly at the former academy instructor.

With another crack, faster than either of them could see, blood spurted from the chunin's chest before he looked down at the hole that had formed. His eyes went back up Naruto's form hazily as he gradually fell backwards, his head impacting on the floor, his body lifeless.

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"Iruka realized he made a mistake, and he passed me." Naruto finally answered the question all of the gazing towards him were asking.

"What!" Kiba all but yelled in outrage, "So it's true, you didn't even pass your test? How is that even fair? You didn't even really graduate the academy! Now you are getting a free ride on Ino and Shikamaru. And Ino is one of the smartest in our class.

Naruto smiled weakly as he closed the journal in his hands, "I guess I'm just living the life then eh?" The blonde mockingly answered as he stood up from the table.

"So it would seem." Shikamaru muttered as his body sank down to rest his chin on his folded arms.

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The Hokage sighed as he took a long drag on his pipe, only shinobi he trusted were gathered around as they peered into the cloudy crystal ball.

Asuma Sarutobi stood directly behind his father in one of the rare few moments you would see him without the presence of a cigarette between his lips.

On his right stood the elegant and beautiful genjutsu mistress Kurenai Yuhi, her body wrapped tightly in bandages, fishnet, and flowing cloths. Her red eyes were gazing deeply into the crystal ball as if she was seeing through the object itself and into something far greater.

The last member of the group was a tall silver haired jounin, the youngest of the group and also likely the most skilled. His headband rested firmly over one eye, the other eye appeared to be firmly focused on his new favorite "book" which was really just a poor excuse for smutty literature. Yet despite his apparent lack of focus, those who knew the man knew very well that he was probably never more focused in these past few moments.

"What is the problem? The boy returned the scroll, and we all know that it was Mizuki who was the thief. He played on Naruto's insecurities. I have no opinion of the boy, but I don't see why he is under such scrutiny." Yuhi Kurenai, the genjutsu mistress asked as she watched the young boy leave his group of friends in the crystal ball.

"Did you find a body?" The Hokage muttered as he rested his pipe down on the desk, his gaze falling on the scroll that was wet, soggy, and bloody resting on the chair in front of him. It would likely need to be replaced by the time the night was done.

"No." Asuma's deep voice reported reluctantly to the village leader after several seconds, the weight of the Hokage's presence slowly pressing down on them.

"Then there in lies the problem." The Hokage addressed as he turned to the three shinobi that were soon to be full time sensei's.

"Mizuki was a chunin rank ninja. While he may have been a thief, it wouldn't be possible for his body to contain secrets that other villages frankly don't already know." Kurenai summarized in a rather non-committal tone.

"You're missing the point Kurenai." Kakashi said in a low tone, his gaze focused on the ball. "We know that Mizuki made contact with Naruto through Umino Iruka's report. Yet it was Naruto who ended up returning the scroll to the village. So the question hanging in the air is not in regards to Mizuki, but how Naruto was able to defeat him." Kakashi explained as his gaze continued to follow the young blonde as he made his way through the village.

"You think he had help?" Kurenai muttered in a sudden realization of the topic that nearly flew over her head.

"How else would a boy who failed the academy defeat a chunin that was on the cusp of a jounin promotion?" Asuma said reluctantly, not wanting to believe the scenario, but also finding it unlikely of anything but.

A silence fell over the group as Kurenai quietly provided another alternative, "Unless he somehow fooled even us..."

The prospect left the high ranking shinobi in silent reflection as they watched the blonde make his way to the library.

"Asuma, I want you to take the boy." The Hokage said breaking the silence as they watched the young boy enter the library, with some initial effort at the front desk.

"Hokage-sama?" Hatake Kakashi began in confusion.

"I was under the impression I was to take the next Ino-shika-cho team?" Asuma asked as he shifted on his feet crossing his arms over his chest, "Kakashi would take the recurring Team Seven."

"You were." The Hokage admitted, "But I want to break the mold on this one. While I have no need to question either of your skills, it is the teams that no longer sit right with me after this incident. If Shikaku's son is even a third as bright as himself, then there may be a chance that with him being on Naruto's team, he will figure out this mystery for us. Anything that Naruto is hiding, those two will eventually know... or have the ability to find out." The Hokage finished rather coldly at the thought of the Nara-Yamanaka portion of the team.

Asuma scowled at the actions of his father, "You want two kids, teammates to spy on their third member? This isn't going to be any way to build a team. It's going to build a disaster."

"It is that option, or we drag Naruto in right now and put him through mental interrogation with Yamanaka Inoichi or physical interrogation with Ib-"

"Fine I get it." Asuma said in disgust, waving off his father. "Spend years away from the village and I come back to this shit." The guardian ninja muttered distastefully.

The Hokage ignored the comment as he continued to focus his gaze on the crystal ball depicting the young blonde haired boy making his way through the library like a person on a mission. With minimal resistance at the door, he was already pulling several books off the shelves as he passed by.

"I thought Naruto wasn't a fan or history or writing. He seemed to skip or walk out of every classroom session on the subject." Asuma asked as he reached for the small file on the genin resting on the Hokage's desk.

The Hokage let out a deep breath as he watched the young blonde walk up to the library's checkout with a stack of books in hand.

Rise of the Shinobi

Lord of the Clans

The Heart of War

The Elemental Language

"He isn't." The Hokage admitted as a frown grew on his features, his suspicions increasing every fleeting moment.

Asuma sighed as he ran a hand through his hair and resting it behind his neck. "Alright, fine. I'll look into it myself. I'm not going to put the entire team at risk just because of your suspicion Dad."

"I turned a blind eye to a young boy's questionable actions in the past. Never again." The Hokage announced, his eyes gaining an icy look that wasn't often seen on his grandfatherly features. "I expect your teams to be entering the exams within the next year. You're all dismissed."

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Hope you have enjoyed the first chapter here. Like my other story I just released: Desperation Attracts Vultures. I didn't want to release anything without having a leg to stand on. This story has around 100 pages written for it. So there is a few chapters on the burner. That said, I don't know how quickly I will be releasing them as I feel there is still work to be done to make the story flow better. However I do believe this first chapter will sum up the atmosphere of the story I wanted to convey, perhaps better than any other first pilot chapter for any story I have written so far.

Now as I say on all my stories. Feel free to review, I do read all of them. I also respond to everybody who asks a question. Even if some people are quite rude.