Summary: Bits and pieces from early canon, re-imagined. Naruto grew up as an adopted member of a Pack of ninken. He has a different perspective on the world – and he has learnt to trust his nose.

Warnings: I don't feel like writing a future story for this verse, but bits and pieces dripped out of my brain anyway, so here they are. TWT, AU, a little bit of hinted shounen-ai here and there but nothing explicit, very little continuity or storyline, mostly just some really good bits of alt-canon that you seemed to want to read. Switching POV with unreliable narrators all around. And, in deference to canon, some violence and minor character deaths.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I don't get money for writing fanfiction.

A/N: Fun fact: I imagine Shiriyuusu-sama as a Pyrenean mountain dog.

x

Chapter One: Becoming a Shinobi

x

"Naruto," Kana-san said quietly, with an odd tension in her shoulders, "if they don't let you become a ninja, you will come to our land and live with our Pack."

"Is that… is that even possible?" Naruto couldn't really imagine it – leaving Konoha behind and going to a place where everyone was a dog, but where all the dogs were his family and treated him like it. It sounded like a really weird dream. Neat, but really weird.

"It hasn't been done before," Kana-san admitted, "but then, we never had a summoner who wasn't a ninja. You are a precedent. And we would all rather see you happy among those who appreciate you."

Naruto hugged her. He wondered if he should start calling her 'Mum' one of these days, but he thought that wouldn't really be fair to Juuji and Annai. They were Pack, and Kana-san was Kana-san, and Naruto was a human. Most days he would prefer to be a dog, but he didn't need to.

He was happy anyway.

Okay, he was not happy right now – damn Bunshin Jutsu, grrr, what kind of ninja would even use that cheap trick? – but once the sting of failing the Exams for the third time would pass, he was sure the happiness would come back.

"Thank you…" he said, patting Kana-san's paw. "But I'm not giving up yet."

After all, Mizuki had given him a mission. He was lying – Naruto knew to trust his nose – but he had offered Naruto the perfect opportunity to expose the kind of poohead he was. Maybe that wouldn't be worth a hitai-ate in the Old Man's eyes, but Naruto hoped it would at least be worth a review of his results.

x

Naruto's nose picked up on two people coming to him from the direction of the village center. He rolled up the Scroll and fastened it to his back. He had sort-of hoped that this would, against all odds, help him graduate, but going by the way Mizuki-sensei had hated him since day one, and the waves of excitement and glee that wafted from him today after the test, he hadn't counted on it.

In the end, it turned out profitable. At least now he could make a clone. In six months, that hitai-ate was his. The Old Man would have to let Naruto have another try, after he had decided to ignore Naruto's second attempt at graduation – which he had to do, or else he would have had to retire half of the Academy teachers on the spot. With a kunai.

"There you are, Naruto!" Mizuki called out, and then things went crazy for a while.

Shinobi crazy.

Naruto pulled out all his pranking experience and managed to evade Mizuki-bastard completely.

And then, just to prove that he was a bigger poohead than anyone would have guessed, the bastard picked up a fuuma shuriken and made the mistake of his life.

Naruto struggled to collect his jaw from the grass.

"Holy tailwag, Mizuki-sensei! Did you really just attack Iruka-sensei?" The teacher had dodged the heavy-handed blow, of course, but in this case it was definitely the thought that counted. "His boyfriend will kick your arse so bad. And then some."

"His what?!"

Iruka-sensei rubbed the back of his neck. "M-my… heh… heheh… Naruto, stop making up stuff."

"Are you queer, Iruka?" Mizuki jeered. "Is that why you can't seem to keep your damn nose out of my life?!"

"Bullshit!" Naruto yelled before Iruka blew a gasket. The vein in Iruka's forehead was pulsing with alarming frequency. Naruto knew when to cower from it.

Mizuki, apparently, didn't. What an idiot. If he survived Iruka, he would have to deal with Iruka's boyfriend, and that guy had to be made of awesome judging by the way Iruka-sensei was gone on him. Iruka-sensei was pretty awesome himself, so that guy had to be something totally else.

There wouldn't be enough of Mizuki left to fill a matchbox.

"You could have just asked," Mizuki oozed with a slimy smirk. "I'm not into it, but I'd have let you down easy-"

"Not if you were the last man in the Land of Fire," Iruka-sensei muttered under his breath, but Naruto had good ears.

Bastard Mizuki laughed it off. "Ha! Naruto, want to know why everyone hates you?"

Fifteen minutes later Naruto was looking down at the twitching body of his former teacher and wondering if killing him would be considered an act of vengeance or an unwarranted mercy. If Iruka's boyfriend wasn't here yet, he was probably off on a mission… it would be sporting to leave this bastard at least a little bit alive… huh, Hato-san from T&I would surely make a good enough job of it to satisfy any revenge fantasies… never mind then.

He bent down and ripped Mizuki's hitai-ate from his head. A traitor like that didn't deserve to wear Konoha's symbol.

"Naruto…" Iruka-sensei said quietly. His eyes moved from his ex-colleague to Naruto's face, and then to Naruto's hand. He nodded to himself. "Keep that. You've deserved it."

Naruto blinked. "But… you said I could only have one once I'm a ninja…?"

Iruka grinned. "That's right."

x

Rikku woke up to a scrabbling sound some time after midnight.

He blinked and turned around; Kana's claws found purchase in the ground and she braked just short of his porch. She stank of worry and rage.

Kana stank of worry and rage often enough since Rikku came to know her better than just as the puppy Shiryuu was so damn proud of (not that the old mutt would say so out loud). The reasons for her worry and rage were not exactly varied.

"Naruto?" Rikku asked.

Kana jerked her head. A string of saliva hit the dirt path. "He said he was going to get the results of his Exam, but hasn't come back yet. I tried to track him, but someone set off a scent bomb at the Academy and-"

"I can go to him directly," Rikku filled in – and answered her implied question at the same time. "Catch a breath, Kana-kun. And go for a run once in a while. You're out of shape."

He pretended not to notice her flinch. Honestly, what was she expecting? Simply not being on active duty was no reason to let oneself go completely. Rikku had gone on runs even half-blind and officially retired. Nowadays he trained daily, driven by the knowledge that one day soon Naruto's survival might depend on Rikku's speed and stamina.

He wouldn't disappoint another hunt-mate.

He crouched.

He activated the seal.

Arriving on top of the Hokage Mountain was a bit of a surprise; Rikku found immediately that aside from Naruto the only presence was that one ex-ANBU that either had a serious stalking problem or suffered the fixed idea that ensuring Naruto's well-being was his solemn duty. The man now lurked just at the edge of smelling distance.

There were no enemies here.

Naruto wasn't injured. He smelled very upset, but also proud and happy, and the cocktail of emotion was enough to make Rikku a little dizzy.

"I'll eat you all! Grrr!" yelled Naruto's voice, in a ridiculously melodramatic faux-ominous tone.

Rikku huffed a laugh. Then he spotted the boy and abruptly stopped laughing.

Naruto had Henge'd – no, that was not a Henge, it was one of his weird physical transformations – into a shape that made even Rikku's hackles rise. The body itself resembled a fox, although it was roughly human sized… unless one added the abundance of flowing tails behind it.

"For Inari's sake…" Rikku grumbled. He had known that this moment would come sooner or later. At least, he assumed that this was Naruto's reaction to finding out about the demon sealed within him. Could this be the result of anything else?

Rikku had attempted to steel himself for various possible reactions, and in the end was wholly unsurprised that Naruto reacted in a way Rikku couldn't have predicted even on magic mushrooms.

"Rikku!" Naruto exclaimed, raising himself on his hind-legs like a squirrel rather than a fox. "I have the best idea for a prank on the villagers!"

Yes, Rikku could see that. The faces of those morons down below them would have been memorable. On the other hand, the prank would end with Naruto in the morgue, so that was a no go.

"You do realise that those people fear and hate the Nine-tails?" he pointed out.

That wiped fox-Naruto's smile off his face. Not that the smile had been anything but a mask in the first place. "I know. Even Iruka-sensei gets all sad and angry. I guess this falls under Ya-san's rule of femur."

Rikku tilted his head, curious. "…what rule is that?"

Naruto grinned brightly – baring a lot of sharp fox-like teeth in his maw before he released the transformation and turned into a boy in a washed-out orange t-shirt again. "Making people feel the way they do when I bite them is not nice, and should be reserved for those that really deserve it," he announced proudly.

Yes, Rikku agreed, that did have Ya's paw-prints all over it.

"So," Naruto continued, taking tiny, shy steps forward, "you don't mind that I've got a demon sealed in me?"

Rikku, honest-to-Inari, rolled his eye.

Naruto threw himself onto the ground next to Rikku, grabbed clumps of his fur and burst into loud bawls.

Rikku nodded to himself and settled down to wait it out. This part of Naruto's reaction proceeded exactly as expected.

x

"Kana-san! Kana-san!" echoed from the corridor.

Finally, Kana thought. At least he's alright.

The door to Naruto's apartment burst open and slammed into the wall. Naruto stood on the doorstep, breathing hard, smelling sweaty but excited.

Kana looked up from the stack of homework she should have been correcting (her focus was shot), eyes narrowed with suspicion. Ya had snooped out that Naruto had failed to graduate yesterday, so he shouldn't have been that happy. Unless, of course, the waste heap that was the Academy had caught on fire with all the teachers except Umino-san still inside.

"What is it, Naruto-kun?" she asked, forcing herself to remain calm.

He lifted his hand and shook it, showing off his price. "I got a hitai-ate! I am a ninja!"

Kana's heart skipped a beat.

For a moment she didn't believe it. Oh, she didn't think Naruto was lying to her – she knew the pup far too well to be taken in by his fibs – but she was firmly convinced that someone had lied to Naruto. Probably that pool of catpee that went by Mizuki. This fear was further compounded by the stink of Mizuki that was left behind on the forehead protector.

But then, Naruto himself carried the fainter odours of blood and Umino Iruka under the stronger ones of tears and Rikku-san; Kana was inclined to at least entertain the idea that someone had finally gotten fed up with the atrocities committed on Naruto and decided to take matters into his own hands.

"Congratulations, Naruto-kun," she said, and promised herself that she and Ya would make sure Umino would get what he deserved – whether that would be a reward or a retribution. "We will have your Presentation the day after tomorrow."

"Eh? Presentation? What do I present? Or, oh, is it about getting presents? I like presents!"

"You will be the one presented," Kana explained, valiantly suppressing a sigh. It had been a long day, but it had been longer yet for Naruto, and he had done nothing that deserved a short-tempered response (that she knew of).

Naruto visibly deflated. He shuffled in and closed the door behind him.

"Like… to somebody else? You're giving me away?" His lower lip wobbled. "Can you even do that with people?"

Do not sigh, Kana reminded herself. Do not – he genuinely just does not understand. "Theoretically," she said, "but then it's called slavery, and it's a bad thing. No, Naruto-kun, no one is giving you away. We are introducing you to the rest of our Pack. In two days, all dogs from our valley will know you."

x

Naruto hadn't quite mastered the Shunshin yet, and he definitely wouldn't have been able to cross dimensions on his own, so he hitched a ride on Ya-san's back. Not literally – he was a little too big for that nowadays, and definitely too heavy – but he had sort of glomped onto Ya-san and let himself be dragged through the swirl of chakra.

They appeared on soft, green grass. Kana-san, Juuji and Annai were waiting for them, with another smaller dog that was definitely family – she looked completely like them, floofy off-white like Ya-san, but with Kana-san's face.

Naruto had never even heard of any other family members, so he was stumped.

Kana-san stepped forward and licked his jaw. Then she turned to the new dog. "Naruto-kun, this is Chou. She is Annai's twin."

"Hi, Chou-chan," Naruto said politely. "You've got a pretty bow there." It was blue and a little glittery in the sunlight. It looked really good on her.

The little girl-dog turned to Kana and growled. "I don't like him. He smells."

Naruto let his smile fall, but he didn't much take the comment to heart. All sorts of people disliked him before they even met him, and if he let every rejection bother him, he would never stop crying.

"He smells like a human, dear," Ya-san said with infinite patience.

Chou huffed and ostentatiously flounced away, swinging her bushy tail as if trying to blow Naruto far away from her.

Kana-san sighed.

Ya-san disentangled himself, stood closer to Naruto and quietly explained: "Chou did not wish to be trained as a ninken. She does not get summoned, and has only met a human once before. I doubt she remembers it, though – she was very little."

"She reminds me of Sakura," Naruto muttered back. Only, he had to admit, Sakura at least graduated the Shinobi Academy. Chou was more like Ruri, who had given up and gone back to civilian school, but still met up with the girls for Sasuke-watching.

"Sometimes I feel we shelter her too much," admitted Ya-san, "but it was her choice. We try to respect it."

Naruto didn't understand how anyone could not want to be a ninja. He also didn't want to make Kana-san or Ya-san mad, but most of his encounters with civilians hadn't gone well, and he still thought that it was weird that no one – not even Annai when she was a puppy – had ever talked about Chou, so in the end he just nodded and hoped that it was enough for an answer.

In any case, no one said anything more, and Naruto followed when they set out. Annai trotted along by his side, looking as excited as if it was her own Presentation. Naruto felt like his belly was full of butterflies, and sort of maybe wished he could skip the whole thing, but then he touched the steel plate of the hitai-ate covering his forehead and decided that it was definitely worth it.

He was, finally, a real ninja.

x

The Presentation ceremony was held in a natural amphitheatre wide enough to comfortably seat the entire Pack. Attendees sat on grassy slopes grouped by immediate family or cliques of hunt-mates.

A Presentation was only ever tense for the newly minted ninja, so the atmosphere remained relaxed. Most of the audience took the opportunity to have a picnic. No one cared to even try quieting the smaller puppies.

Naruto-kun was practically jumping up and down by Kana's side, trying to take in everything at once, too busy soaking it all up to even babble.

"So…" spoke a voice that could be heard all across the amphitheatre despite not being raised at all, "…this is him."

Kana drew herself a couple of inches taller and met the eye of their leader. "Yes, Otou-sama. This is Uzumaki Naruto-kun, friend to my family and partner to Rikku. Naruto, meet the honourable Shiriyuusu-sama."

"Hello!" Naruto called out, nervous but excited at the same time. His original fright had transformed into awe, and he ceased staring at the rows of dogs surrounding the little arena because he was too preoccupied with gaping at the Honourable Head of the Pack. "It's nice you meetcha, 'ttebayo!"

Mostly shielded behind the unflappable Ya, Kana put her paw over her eyes. Only her adopted pup.

"I see," Kana's Otou-sama replied once his original startle abated and left behind wary amusement. Outwardly he seemed displeased, perhaps even irritated, but Kana had known him for too long to fall for his bark. "You wish to be a member of this Pack, Uzumaki Naruto?"

Naruto's face scrunched up. "I thought I already was?"

Kana added another paw and a soft whine, falling quiet when Ya nudged her shoulder with his.

The Honourable Head didn't reply. He instead turned to Naruto's companion. "Do you wish to take this human as your partner, Rikku?"

Rikku gave a single affirmative bark and went back to staring at the mockingbirds in the trees.

Most of those present knew it was all a show, that of course Naruto was a member of the Pack and of course Rikku wasn't going to abandon him, but traditions were important.

In a few years, Naruto too would look back and laugh.

Kana's Otou-sama grumbled. He made a show of stepping closer, sniffing Naruto and looking him up-and-down, as if he had not received regular reports about the human pup from Kana for years. Finally, once Naruto was beginning to vibrate with restrained energy, he grinned.

"Welcome to the Pack, Naruto-kun."