Disclaimer: I hold no rights to Naruto or anything else besides the OC's that might appear in my story.

Naruto & Arashi

Prologue

The battlefield was heavily scarred. Trees were destroyed, earth was scorched and worn out of its green, and countless bloody bodies were scattered around as far as the eye can see. Whether it was half-eaten or crushed, the Shinobi bodies across the scarred outskirts of Leaf ninja village Konoha were all dead. Over a hundred lives lost, as well as Konoha's pride…

But the greatest loss would be that of the Yondaime Hokage, who risked his life to 'slay' the Kyuubi no Yoko, the Ninetailed Fox Demon, who killed nearly all the shinobi on the battlefield, and almost Konoha itself. As to why it did, no one knows.

Nor did anyone know what it really was; a creature whose heart was tightly closed, letting its dark nature reach dangerous heights. The source of this effect is also unknown, but despite this, it wasn't the fox's fault in attacking the village.

The only one aware of this was the leader of the village himself, the Fourth Hokage, or Yondaime. Because of this he didn't 'kill' it, but rather seal it into a newborn, in hopes to reopen its heart. While nobody knew why the Yondaime didn't kill it, a selected few didknow it was sealed; those few being the Sandaime, Sarutobi, the village council, and the survivors of the battle at the outskirts. The now re-appointed Hokage believed that the fewer people who knew of the boy's fate, the better.

However, word of the mouth always has a way of slipping out…

Chapter 1: Eggs and Berries

Several years passed since the Kyuubi attacked, and old grudges die hard. Not everyone who knew about the fox could sleep peacefully knowing that it nearly killed them was still alive in some shape or form. It wasn't until 6 years after the Kyuubi attacked that villagers decided to revolt and end the vessel's life; a young orphan who the Yondaime sealed the fox into.

While the Hokage refused to tell anyone of the demon but the survivors, they told others in the village (friends, family, co-workers). This, of course, was kept hidden by the Hokage who they think was foolish enough to believe the child was innocent. To them, it was a tainted being lost to the fox. They thought to save themselves, and the boy, was to kill it.

It was fairly simple to ambush a child and beat him up. However, the action itself wasn't unfound by the 3rd Hokage, who immediately send ANBU to break up the fighting. While some of them were aware of the fox, the Hokage held better authority over them.

The skirmish was broken up, and the Hokage believed it was best for the boy's sake to establish a new law (with approval from the council of course). No one, as of that night, was allowed to speak a word of the Kyuubi being sealed within Naruto. Those who do would face torture from the head interrogator and/or solitary confinement. Even death, if necessary.

While no more beatings occurred, that didn't stop the people from avoiding him and talking ill of him behind his back. The boy didn't let this bother him, or at least let others know that it did. Through some trial and error, he learned it was best sometimes when people don't know of your true emotions.

Said boy, now 11 years of age, was walking back to his apartment after a long day in the Ninja Academy. It was nothing out of the ordinary; he skipped morning role-call to pull a prank, which involved wrecking a food store. Water and milk was spilled, fruits and vegetables were thrown and squashed, and junk food graffiti was found all over the aisles. The only food assortment that was spared was ramen cups.

His little destination took a sidetrack, however, to his favorite, and Konoha's only, Ramen stand; Ichiraku.

"Hey, old man!" He called to the chef. "A bowl of miso stew ramen, please!"

"Coming right up," he replied, noting the kid's usual order. When he first came to the stand, it was also the first time he tried ramen and instantly got hooked into it. It was the only place he knew where to find ramen (besides ramen cups). He usually lets Iruka pay for the ramen and eats all he can, bringing the poor Chuunin Sensei to bankruptcy every time.

After his meal, he paid and continued home. His stomach growled again as he made a few steps. He didn't have much money with him, and Iruka had to stay after for 'parent-teacher conferences', so he only ate what he could afford, which was 2 bowls. He could eat up to 7 and still have room for dessert, and it was hard to get money when you aren't a ninja or have no family to rely on. Growling in frustration and hunger, he kicked an empty can in front of him at a trashcan. The impact rattled it and the boy could swear he saw something move, something round…

Curiosity got the better of him as he stepped closer to check it, where it was well hidden behind three trashcans set up in a triangle form. He moved aside the one in front, and enduring the smell of fish, sauce and other waste the whole time, reached to grab it. He stopped midway when he got a better glimpse of it.

"That's the biggest egg I've seen in my life!" He exclaimed to no one in particular. Indeed it was a big egg, approximately six times bigger than a chicken egg. It was a grayish white color with patches of green spread around it. It could have been one of the prehistoric eggs Iruka once talked about, but he couldn't be too sure.

He leaned closer to pick it up, amazed how something like this managed to stay unscratched for so long, with no parent of the sort. Then again, being protected by a trash circle is bound to lure away predators who like eggs.

"HEY!" the boy, Uzumaki Naruto, froze in mid-thought. The man who shouted at him was an Inuzuka; he could tell from the light blue face paint on his face. The man was actually a midget; he was obviously older but not much taller than Naruto, who was the shortest kid in the academy. His attire was like a Jounin; an open green vest and black pants with a weapon pouch tied to his side. His face was long and black, reaching to his butt, and the two lines of face paint that crossed through his eyes and nose in an irregular 'Y' shape, meeting above his upper lip, only added to his rebel look. His brown eyes glared at Naruto; but not like the other villagers who hated just him; this guy seem to hate everyone.

"Who the hell are ye, trespassin' in me property?" He demanded, his grunt voice sounding like some hermit farmer. Funny thing is he was just that; he may be an Inuzuka, but his horse was away from the clan grounds and there were vegetables growing in the dirt just across the trash where the two were standing. Naruto was so caught in his hunger that he didn't even notice he wandered near someone's own two-story home!

"Uh, sorry! Just passing through!" said Naruto, scratching the back of his head while hiding the egg behind himself. "I'll be leaving now."

He started walking backwards out but didn't make more than five steps when he bumped into something pointy and wet. He slowly turned around to find the largest dog he's ever seen in his life. It had a grayish tint of fur, towered both Naruto and the Inuzuka, and had a cute little red ribbon on the top of its head. Naruto knew that the Inuzuka clan was known for raising fierce fighting canines. Frankly, he's never seen a full grown Inuzuka dog so he had no clue that all of them grow to be about 3-5 ft when they're old enough.

"Uh…nice doggie?" Naruto tried to calm it down as he reached to pet it, only to get barked at and flinch. The dog was anything but nice. In fact, it was probably as crazy as this Inuzuka hermit.

"Inju-chaaaaaan!"(1) The Inuzuka shouted. "We got or'selves a trespasser!"

Naruto immediately screamed and ran the opposite direction of the dog, leaping over fences as he did so. Inju-chan leaped towards him but only as a warning, since it landed on where he once was, and gave off a few loud barks. The Inuzuka climbed up onto his dog, and dramatically pointed towards the retreating form of his target.

"Sick him, Inju-chan!" He commanded.

The dog howled, then leaped over the fence and chased after one Uzumaki Naruto.

--

"Oh Sasuke-kun! You look soooo cute!"

Uchiha Sasuke sighed; again as he walks home, he is stalked by two girls the "Sasuke Fan-girl Club", which was founded around the time he first came to the academy. At first, he was kind of flattered by all the attention, but it soon became annoying when they always follow you whenever you go and they always fight amongst themselves to see who can 'win his heart'.

Coincidentally, they were two of the most stubborn fan-girls he's ever met; Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka. As usual, the two of them are attempting to ask him out on a 'date' (which he would never agree to since none of them haven't even reached puberty yet), and the former was starting off trying to flatter him with compliments. It would have worked, but something was very wrong with that statement.

"I'm not cute, Sakura," He snorted. He then mumbled something that sounded like "I'm handsome."

"I agree, Sasuke-kun!" said Ino. "You are indeed more handsome than cute."

The last Uchiha groaned; he had it worse enough when his older brother killed his entire clan instead of him, but now he had to be tortured by these fan-girls who try too hard to understand him when they have no idea what he could be going through. Now he realized why his brother loathed his fangirl club with every fiber in his being. They were so annoying! Do they even have personal lives?!

"Now that that's settled, can I go home now, without you two following me again?" Sasuke asked. The three of them were walking back to the Uchiha manor, with the two girls following behind. This is a daily ritual that, unless by some miracle he is able to outwit and/or lose the girls following him, happens every time after they get let out the academy.

"But Sasuke-kun," said Sakura. "Our parents won't be home until 8:00, being parent-teacher conference and all, so we're free for three whole hours!"

"Which gives us every reason to make the most of it!" Ino pointed out. Sakura gasped.

"You mean…?" Ino nodded as the two of them grinned.

"SLEEPOVER!!" The two girls squealed, completely ignoring Sasuke as he shuttered in fear. There was no WAY he would get stuck with these two for the whole night. Of course, it occurred to him that Sakura and Ino weren't best of friends anymore; just bitter rivals to win him; not that he cared. They must have planned this so they would get to know him more and overall try harder in their date requests. Cleaver little witches.

Then, he was struck by inspiration, and smirked. "Heh, alright, I'll go." The girls gasped. That sure got their attention.

"But I need some stuff back at my house, and I don't think it would best for a sleepover, being old and dusty and all…" The girls were practically drooling now. He never played girls like this before, and he didn't care if they would hate him if he lied to them. In fact, he was hoping that would be the case. Perhaps those flirting tips his brother taught him would actually be of use after all.

"So if you two would go prepare at your house; any house would be fine; I'll come around in…" He glanced at the sky, as if judging its position. "10 minutes or so. Feel free to do anything before then to prepare." He smirked. That did it; hook, line, sinker.

"YAAAAAAY!! SASUKE-KUN LOVES ME!!" The two girls squealed. Finally, their Sasuke was spending quality time with them! As they walked away, arguing where to hold the sleepover, Sasuke breathed with relief. He didn't think it would actually work, and he was never one to lie. He would have to come up with a big excuse for this one when they found out he lied to them.

"Ah well, at least I'm free for tonight." He smiled as he started walking again, eyes closed. He didn't make much distance as a blur of yellowish white (2) bashed into him at his right side, tumbling them both to the ground.

"N-naruto! What the hell are you doing here?!" Sasuke shouted brushing the dirt of his clothes. He was not in the mood to put up with Naruto after he was just guaranteed a fangirl-less night.

Naruto looked at his egg before answering. "Sorry, Sas-wait a minute, no I'm not sorry, you stuck up jerk! I don't even have time to explain because some lunatic Inuzuka is chasing me and-"

"What Inuzuka? Did you tick off Kiba again?!" Sasuke knew that he Naruto didn't have good reputation with their classmate, Inuzuka Kiba, but he didn't think he would get another one of Kiba's clan ticked off at him. Before Naruto could explain, a shuriken whizzed right between them, striking on the ground. The two of them stared at the weapon, starked white at the fact that the weapon almost hit them.

"HEY!" The voice boomed. Naruto and Sasuke both turned towards the voice to find the hermit and his dog glaring down, with a hand twirling a kunai knife. The man pointed his free-hand thumb behind him.

"Get yer ass back to me property so I can criticize ye being in me property!" He sneered.

"What the hell is the point in that?!" Naruto shouted.

"And who are you?" asked Sasuke. He was curious who would be the man that Naruto got chasing him.

The hermit grunted. "Name's Inuzuka Takeo(3), and the point is that no one gave ye the right to leave me property!"

"You never said I can stay or leave!" Naruto shouted in his defense.

"That doesn't matter! I'll drag yer l'il ass back if I have to!" Takeo thrust his finger at him. "And I'll be takin' that l'il egg you stole from me too!"

"You idiot!" Sasuke growled at Naruto. "You stole it from him?! Are you just trying to get on everyone's bad side?!"

"Hey! He threw this egg away in the trash!" said Naruto. "So like the saying goes, you trash is my treasure! So BLEH!" He kept a firm hug on the egg while sticking his tongue out at Takeo, which only irritated him more.

"I'll teach you not to make a monkey out of this old dog! Get that egg back, Inju-chan!" The dog barked at his command.

Just as the dog was about to lunge, Sasuke pointed out behind him. "Look, someone's in your property!" he said.

"WHAT?!" Takeo shouted as he and he dog turned around to see their house, indeed, had someone walking on the lawn. "HEY! GET YER SORRY L'IL ASS OFF ME PROPERTY! Charge, Inju-chan! CHAAAARGE!" The Inuzuka dog leaped off the road and hurried along to the house, leaving the two boys staring at it.

"How did you know someone was his, uh, 'property'?" asked Naruto.

"I didn't…" Sasuke answered. "I just said that so we could use a distraction and run off."

"Oh…" An uneasy silence passed between them, with the only sound being the wind.

"So uh, thanks for the help, Sasuke." Sasuke gave him a look that clearly stated 'You owe me'.

And with that said, the two of them parted ways, Sasuke briefly wondered what kind of egg it was that Naruto found, before remembering to enjoy his free, peaceful night.

--

Naruto made sure that Takeo or anyone else wasn't chasing him again before entering his apartment. Then he wasted no time in preparing his meal. The stove was on, burning just under the frying pan. Naruto licked his lips thinking on what to make it; scrambled, sunny-side up, or perhaps an omelet? It was while since he had anything related to an egg, so he had no idea what to go for.

He decided to wing it and come up with an idea as he cooked the egg. He picked it up, not noticing that it shaking a bit. Just as he was about to crack it open, expecting the yolk to come out, the egg hatched. And it wasn't a chicken.

He didn't even know what to call it. It was small, bright yellow, and looked like some kind of humanoid dog. The arms and legs were surprisingly tiny, as its green body, with the legs painted in light green as well. The arms shined yellow, and had some metal spikes rising on the flat surface of the wrist. The tail it had was long and soft, but also sensitive like its tiny frame. The only body part that was big was its head, with surprisingly two sets of ears; two lumps on the top and long floppy ears on its sides. It sat there, on the hot frying pan, staring at Naruto with its wide red eyes. The boy could only stare back at awe, at what seemed to be one of the most amazing things he's seen in his life.

Of course, this experience was short lived as the sizzling on the frying pan grew louder and it started to process in both minds that the creature's bum was burning.

'Riiiiiiiii!' It cried as it leaped in the air with its rear end on fire.

"!!" Naruto cursed, quickly turning off the stove. He then rushed over to the sink and turned on the water, and brought the creature over to sit in it, drenching the fire and sighing in relief as it did so. After some breaths of relief, Naruto forced a laugh, hoping to release some tension from earlier.

"Well, you're no chicken, that's for sure!"

'Ri-o?'

--

Thankfully, the burn on the creature's butt wasn't very fatal. Naruto felt guilty of even thinking about eating it, so he set it on a bowl of cold water, to help ease it a bit. It was during which that experience that he got a good look at it. It was indeed male.

That thing must be some sort of super-dog…I wonder what he eats. Luckily, Naruto had a month-time supply of cup ramen to eat, with plenty enough to share with the little dog. In no time, he cooked and prepared two home-cooked cups of ramen; one for him, and the other for the dog.

'Lu?'

"Dig in, little guy!" said Naruto, and he handed the yellow dog a fork. He used his own and happily scooped and chewed the food he claimed to be god's food. His newfound, uh, 'pet', after watching him eat a few mouthfuls, started to follow suit of his eating form, (albeit fidgeting with the utensils) and ate some of the ramen, expecting something very delicious.

He was very disappointed.

Naruto stopped eating, after noticing the creature's bulging eyes and bloated mouth. He assumed he loved the stuff, considered most people would freeze mid-eating when they figure out they love something. However, that thought was immediately dismissed as the dog turned and spat the noodles onto Naruto's face.

It then occurred to him that people freeze mid-eating not when they like something that they're eating, but hate it as well.

"AAAAAHH! HOT NOODLES! HOT NOODLES!" Naruto screamed, feeling the stinging sensation of hot noodles and broth all over his face. He ran for the sink, tripping on his chair doing so, and hurriedly washed his face to relief the hot ramen spit from his face. All the while, the dog watched as his clumsy antics, more interested in him than his food.

After the blonde academy student finished washing off the broth, he turned to see the dog staring at him. It made him very uncomfortable, being watched like that. It was different though. The staring he usually gets from strangers are ones of scorn, hate, and sometimes nothing, because some people would rather completely ignore him then do anything. This look this dog was given was different. Like a sort of admiration. Hell, he thought he could him smiling.

What a minute, dogs don't smile! Then again, it's not really normal, and Inuzuka dogs do smile, but…it's still weird…

--

Through some baby talk at constant feeding, Naruto could see that the little guy could only say five letters, in the form of some word, Riolu. Since he didn't have any better ideas for names (Super Ramen hating dog, Shiny, Tanuki, and even Lucky were all declined to the dog's favor), he just decided to call him Riolu for the time being. They soon left the apartment after many failed attempts to eat the ramen. Nothing worked; tickling, force feeding, bribing, he even tried the choo-choo train! Nothing would change this dog's mind about his distaste for ramen. Of course, the dog was still hungry and with nothing but ramen in his apartment, Naruto thought the only logical choice was to go out and buy some dog food or something he can eat.

That was much easier said then done though. Every food or general store he entered in the past half hour refused to give him service, which is no surprise to him, and some of them even literally kicked him out, shouting stuff about 'no more pranks!'. It was also no surprise since he destroyed one of the food stores earlier.

Naruto didn't let it get to him; after years of getting treated that way, you sort of get use to it. It doesn't mean he wouldn't rather wish that he was treated better around here. What seemed to worry him most was how down his dog was. Everyone stared at him, confused as to how Naruto would have gotten such a creature following him. This brought about more attention than usual, but not the good kind that he wanted.

But what Naruto didn't notice, since he wasn't very good at the academy, was Rioru was admitting a strong aura around it, getting stronger the more stores declined them, which brought the interest of even expert Shinobi. The ninja sensing that aura left the scene quickly, hurrying to inform the Hokage about this.

Just when Naruto was about to give up this food search, Rioru stopped walking and its rising aura seemed to vanish. It sniffed into the air a few seconds, and then dashed along to find the source of the scent.

"W-wait! Little Riolu!" Naruto called off to it, following the dog.

--

When Naruto caught up with the dog, panting, he didn't bother to look around until he started scolding him. "Now, (pant), I know that (pant), that you're hungry (pant), and all, but (pant), you can't…(pant), …just…"

Naruto stopped ranting and panting as he looked around the landscape. It was a forest clearing, one of the largest he's ever seen; peaceful, tranquil, and filled with tall plant-like trees. The trees had patches of berries growing on them, varying in size, shape, and color.

The dog wasted no time in rushing over to one tree and jumping up, trying to reach one of the two pink berries. After a few failed attempts, it rushed back to Naruto.

'Ri! Ri!' It squeaked, tugging on Naruto's hand.

"Wh-what? Ok, ok! I'll get you some!"

Naruto walked to the tree and plucked one of the berries hanging there. He tossed it to Rioru, which stared at it like Naruto would at ramen before eating it. It took one more big sniff, to savor its scent, and started eating it.

"That good, huh?" asked Naruto, and the dog merely nodded before continuing to consume the fruit. Being the curious boy he was, the blonde also picked a berry, examining it up close. It was an odd shape; starting from where it was plucked off, it has curve pointing down, forming a sort of mini-crescent. Kinda like a banana. It is pink in color, with a hint of yellow at the tip of the curve. He tries a bit, feeling a very sweet, citrus taste.

"Wow! This is the best fruit I've ever tasted!" He shouted, with much surprise in his statement. It was a while since he's eaten fruit, mostly because he could never find/buy fruit without getting caught or declined service, so this was a big first for him.

The two of them continued to eat peacefully, unaware of everything else as a woman came into the clearing. She was old; about in her 70's or 80's. Despite that, her body didn't seem to show any weakness of old age. Her old blonde hair was tied behind her back, shoulder height, topped with a hat scarf on her head. She wore a red vest over a white long sleeved shirt, along with a pair of long navy blue pants.

"What are you doing here?" She demanded rather than asked. Her voice was a little raspy, but still hold demeanor. Naruto and the Riolu, surprised by her sudden appearance, nearly chocked on the food before answering.

"Wh-when you get here?" Naruto asked, surprised someone found him here. This place looked so secluded to everyone, even himself!

"Just now." She answered patiently. Her face wasn't scary or showed any negativity, but impassiveness. "This is my secret berry orchard, which I put a lot of time and effort into. I don't really like the fact of people just waltzing in and eating whatever they like."

"Oh…" said Naruto. He had to admit, he too would get peeved if someone would ruin something he put a lot of effort into. Eating an egg from nowhere, picking berries from someone else's orchard; it wasn't a prank, so he had no real reason to be bothering Takeo or this woman.

"I'll just be going now then." he said quietly, picking up his dog-thing and made his way to leave, only to realize he isn't moving. He tried moving more, and more, until he was running frantically, which he was actually being held at the end of his shirt by the old woman. His frantic legs did move but just make a dust cloud on the dirt below.

"You're not going anywhere yet." she told him.

"W-why not?" asked Naruto. The woman turned his body around to the tree in front of him, and he watched as it was slowly, but surely, withering and shrinking into the soil it was planted in.

"What happened?" he asked again, as he watched the tree shrink to the bottom of the dirt.

"That tree had two Mago berries on it, and you and your dog went up and plucked them both. This is what happens to a berry tree when you pluck out all its berries. I'm just thankful that I'm already growing other Mago plants, because it would have been a terrible shame to loose a quantity of berries and not being able to plant them again."

"Oh. Uh…sorry."

The woman didn't seem to care about the apology, but she heard it. "You should be; it's hard enough as it is doing this day in and day out, alone most of the time." She started walking around the orchard, all the while dragging Naruto, much to his displeasure.

"I want you to water, fertilize, and replant when I say so." said the woman. "It's a tough job for only one person to handle, and this might help you learn the hardship of gardening."

"Wait, gardening is hard work?!" Naruto said. "How is it so hard to take care of a few little plants?!"

"I assure you, young man, it's very hard. Just like you, me, and that dog, plants are living creatures too; just don't move as much and need us to help them benefit them. Think of it like taking care of pets.

"You have to remember all sorts of things when taking care of pets; when to walk them, when to give them water, when to feed, or what to feed them. Berries such as these are no different; they need plenty of water and sunshine to help make sweet, succulent fruit, or for this case; sometimes spicy, dry, sour, or bitter. Berries are divided into those five taste groups."

"Wait a minute; there are berries that are actually spicy?!"

The woman saw Naruto's fearful expression and felt a smile cross her lips. "Small word, isn't it, young man?"

--

Two hours later, Naruto found himself apologizing to the slightly injured old woman. "Uh, sorry old lady, for the plants…and the fertilizer…and your head."

It took a while, but the woman, who introduced herself as Azami(4), was able to ingrain in Naruto's mind the basics of gardening. His efforts were lacking a bit in all of them though; he either watered too little or too much for some trees, ruined a good bag of fertilizer when trying to bring it over, and nearly knocked the old woman unconscious with a hoe (by accident of course, she was hit by the handle). He was later deducted use of any gardening tool bigger than a hand shovel.

The Rioru merely gave berries so they could plant them. He tried eating some of them, but it turned out that he hated dry berries, and once he toke a bit of that Chesto, he spat it right back out, afraid to try anything that could actually be dry. It amazed Naruto greatly that just planting one of these berries can create a tree of berries. It could be endless multiplying of berries that way.

Azami merely chuckled. "Don't worry yourself, young man. I've seen worse attempts at gardening." Her chuckling seemed to grow louder, but not so much as a full blown laughter. "Much, much, worse."

"I-I see…" said Naruto, trying to chuckle himself but failed. It was…weird. This woman, whom he met as recently as that crazy Takeo, wasn't as strict as the other villagers. He knew there were still good people in Konoha, despite what they usually say/do to him, but he never really imagined it would happen so soon. What if Azami was just using him like everyone else? Hell, she didn't get all mad that he was calling her 'old lady'. Some body guards once pointed all their weapons at him and threatened him to 'show respect' when they first heard him call the Hokage 'old man Hokage'.

"Uh, obaasan, why aren't you mad at me?"

Azami seemed a bit taken by this. "Pardon me?"

"I-I'm not saying I don't like you, it's just…" He sighed. "A lot of people seem to hate me or just completely ignore for some reason. I don't know why though..."

The Riolu stared at him with its sad, red eyes, its presence almost unknown to Naruto. Azami stared too, feeling ashamed, but for what, Naruto wasn't sure. This eerily silence dragged on, until Azami spoke with a soft smile.

"Why of course not, lad." Naruto and Rioru looked up with surprise and hope. "You may have made a mistake when entering my orchard and eating berries for the fun of it, but you immediately apologize when others in your postition could of just run off. You had every opportunity to run but didn't and helped do your part."

"But I didn't have a choice for that matter!" Naruto interrupted. "I tried to walk away, like you said, but you grabbed me!"

Azami's smile grew wider. "I said run, young man, not walk." Naruto flushed in embarrassment, while Riolu chuckled, or at least that's what it sounded like.

"Nevertheless," she continued. "You've shown that you can be responsible for your own actions and that's ideal for any uprising ninja. Remember that."

Naruto, getting praise and acceptance from someone other than the Hokage for the first time, was speechless. He had to resist the urge to hug her, if somehow ruining the moment. "Thanks, obaasan." He smiled. "And, if it's not too much trouble, maybe me and my Riolu here, can, you know, help out with the orchard. If that's ok…"

Azami smiled. "Anytime lad, I'd appreciate it. Now, you better get going. It must be way past your bedtime."

Indeed, it was. Now in the clearing, where it was bright and peaceful, it was almost completely covered in shadow. Usually, Konoha is a beautiful place to look at in nighttime than at daytime, where the lights in the village can be seen for as far as the eye can see. Naruto grew excited at the thought to see Konoha after-dark with his golden-clad Riolu, and then noticed that it was getting rather sleepy.

"And it would seem your little friend needs some sleep too." said Azami. "What's his name?"

"Name?" Naruto chorused.

"Name," Azami repeated. "It seems rather inappropriate to keep calling him 'dog,' 'the Riolu', or even a 'pet'. You do know what to call him, right?"

Naruto was really stumped as he switched in his 'critical thinking' face. He was so worked up on feeding the little guy that he didn't have time to come up with a good name, then one thing led to another in gardening and it just slipped his mind completely. The old lady was right; it did seem inappropriate to call it, uh, him, those things. It didn't take long to think of one though; he had the perfect name.

"Arashi."

"Pardon?" Azami asked.

Naruto grinned. "That's his name. Arashi, for one day he's going to become a great typhoon that beats up anything in its way!" He emphasized the point by raising his arm in the air.

The old gardener smiled. A cute name to call the Riolu; Uzumaki and Arashi. Whirlpool and Tempest. Go figure. "That's a splendid name for him, young man." she nodded.

Naruto picked the Riolu up the armpits and up high. "It is offical! You are now named Arashi! And together, we're going to become legends, just like the 4th!"

'Riiiiiii!' Arashi cheered, but soon got confused as to why it was cheering. 'Oou?'

Naruto gasped at Arashi's confusion, and stared at him with huge, white eyes. "YOU'RE MEANING TO TELL ME YOU DON'T KNOW WHO THE 4TH HOKAGE IS?!"

'Riiiii-lu?' said Arashi.

"HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW HIM?! HE'S THE GREATEST NINJA EVER IN KONOHA! LIKE, LIKE ONE TIME HE FOUGHT OFF THESE IWA-NIN IN THE LAST GREAT WAR, AND ALL THOSE MOVES HE DID! HE TELEPORTS, HE SUMMONS, AND HE BEAT THE KYUUBI! HE'S AWESOME!"

Naruto kept rambling on about the 4th's accomplishments, with the newly named Arashi listening with awe, as he walked back to the village. Azami could only chuckle at his positive demeanor. Once his form was out of view, she finally spoke.

"That boy has a good heart." She admitted to no one; A little loud and impulsive, maybe, but still good at heart.

"And to think," she continued, raising her head to stare at the waning crescent moon. "I've been so lucky to see a Rioru again.

"And that young man is lucky to have one."

End Chapter

A/N: Yep; it's a Naruto/Pokemon Crossover. And a different take on one if you've noticed. If you don't like it, tough.

No, Naruto doesn't get a Vulpix on this one. I get the reference, but 1) its getting old, and 2) He won't learn much from a Vulpix in being a good ninja since, unlike the Riolu here, it can't fist fight.

P.S. I am not 100 percent sure that Arashi is REALLY the name of the 4th Hokage, but I might as well go with it. Naruto would know because the 4th is obviously his role model, so he would have done research on what else made him so great and try to start from there.

EDIT: SO SORRY for taking so long. 6 months is impressively long for a break, isn't it? Anyway, I saw some errors in this story which have been driving me crazy lately, so I decided to fix any spelling errors I've come across, and also gave a better reason as to name the Riolu Arashi rather than the fake identity given out and found on this website.

1.) Inju means 'Ribbon'
2) This is still before Naruto got his orange jumpsuit, as he wore a white t-shirt in his regular academy days. Unless of course you've forgetten…
3) Takeo means 'Warrior'
4) Azami means 'thistle flower'

Now for something different.

Naruto & Arashi! Omake! #1

"You really should be playing around there…" Inuzuka Kiba warned, leaning against a fence board. He had nothing else better to do other than put up with his sister back at home, so he thought that he could get a kick at teasing some kids. He found it amusing he found three of them playing around his place.

"Why not?" One of the kids asks, pausing from their game of tag.

"You mean you don't know?" None of the kids answered. "Well, you didn't here this from me, but that's the house of…" he looked around as if he was about to speak an omen. "…Inuzuka Takeo."

The kids didn't seem threatened. "Who's Takeo?"

"Only one of the best Shinobi, much less Inuzuka, around Konoha." He answered, starting to pace onto the lawn, with his puppy, Akamaru, following. "He's very paranoid, short, and has a bad temper. Some people think he's just insane! And he is; in a way, never trusting anyone with his property; let it be house, dog, or equipment.

"He decided that he couldn't put up with it anymore, and moved out from the Inuzuka housing grounds, and ultimately retired ninja status. It was no skin off our backs though; the Jounin and Inuzukas wanted him gone for a long while now, since he was so loud and would chase everyone around the village."

He started to note the kids getting a little fidgety and showed plenty of fear. Man, he didn't think scaring little kids would be so fun! Of course, he was so boastful that he didn't notice Akamaru whimpering; or why for that matter.

"He's very intimidating; despite his small size, he looks very scary, has this big dog, and before you know it, he come to ya when you're not looking and say-"

"What the hell do you think you're doing in me property?!" Kiba froze; that was definitely the voice of Inuzuka Takeo, the hermit. Immediately, the kids all screamed and ran off; one of them bumping into a light pole before running again.

"Uh...hi, Takeo. Long time, no see…" said Kiba quietly. The older Inuzuka just glared at him, as if wondering if he's worth it to chase. Even if they were from the same clan, this guy won't hesitate in chasing someone down, for being on his property. Kiba quickly remembered this and leaped out of the lawn, quickly picking up Akamaru as he did so.

"Uh…see ya!" and with that, Kiba ran off, too scared to see if Takeo was chasing him or not. He wasn't.

The old Inuzuka smirked; it was true what that kid said about him being paranoid, and he wasn't ashamed to admit it. He didn't understand, however, was that people would still 'accidentally' play or walk on his lawn.

"You'd think everyone would steer clear if you were a crazy old ninja with a big scary dog, eh Inju-chan?" He asked.

Inju-chan replied with a loud affirmative bark.