"Speaking"

'Thinking'

'Kyuubi'

Chapter 4: Friendship and… What the hell?!

Over the past month Naruto trained with Kaito after he was released from class and every day he would meet Kaito at the arch. He was becoming stronger, faster and… somewhat smarter. Naruto was progressing faster than Kaito thought. Unfortunately Naruto found a snag in his training; when it came to chakra control his progress moved at a snail's pace.

"Again" said Kaito as he sat in the shade of the cherry blossom tree. Naruto was on all fours trying to catch his breath as he looked up and glared at his sensei. Naruto gripped the kunai in his hand.

"I got it!" shouted Naruto as he looked back to the tree in front of him; focusing chakra to his feet. He took off in full sprint and began running up the tree.

'Come on Naruto' thought Kaito.

Naruto noticed he was losing traction, but before he jumped off, he made a cut into the tree. Naruto landed on his feet and fell to one knee in exhaustion. Kaito looked at the tree that was riddled with cuts and sighed.

"Again" said Kaito as he took a sip from his tea. Naruto glared at him; sweat dripping off his face. He turned his glare towards the tree.

'This time for sure!" thought Naruto. He gathered chakra to his feet once more and began to sprint up the tree. Unfortunately for Naruto, he gathered too much and only made it halfway up the tree before he was blown off from the chakra. Naruto landed on his head and was knocked unconscious; sliding to a stop. Kaito sighed once more and stood up.

"Time for some more tea." Kaito said. He stood up and began to make his way to the estate. It was a few minutes before Naruto opened his eyes again.

"Damn! Why can't I get this!" Naruto shouted, slamming his fist into the ground. He sat up and threw the kunai into tree. He sighed and lied back down on the soft grass. That was when he saw a boy carrying a hunk of raw meat as large as his head, walking towards him. The boy in question was wearing black ninja pants with a dark grey stripe running up the right side and a matching dark grey jacket cut at the elbows with holsters on the arms that held a few scrolls. On his right hand was a black glove with metal guards on the knuckles and underneath the jacket was a black armored mesh shirt. He had silver hair that slightly fell over his leaf headband and bright red eyes. He also had a sword strapped to his waist, it had a red and white braided hilt and at the end was a large emerald that looked to be held in place by gold. Naruto stood up and waived to the silver haired boy. In all his time spent at the estate, he was convinced that Kaito lived alone.

"Hey there, I'm-"

"Don't care." interrupted the silver haired boy. Naruto's waive turned into a fist and lowered his arm.

"Well excuse me for being friendly." Naruto said as he walked to the tree and grabbed the kunai.

"Whatever" replied the silver haired boy as he brought his free hand to his mouth and made a whistling sound. Naruto stared at the boy before he heard a weird roar off in the distance.

"What was that?" asked Naruto, but the boy only ignored him. The sound of flapping wings could be heard and it was gradually getting louder. The young boy turned towards Naruto and smiled. Naruto gave the boy a confused look and turned around. That's when he saw a large green dragon come barreling just over the top of the cherry blossom tree; scattering it's petals in the air. It banked left around the large body of water before slowing down and landing in front of the young boy. The dragon had emerald green scales and the same red eyes as the boy, only the dragon's pupils were slitted. It stood on four legs and tucked its massive wings to its sides. It stood at eight feet high with one horn protruding from the top of its head and on its tail was a massive axe-like club. Naruto stared in awe of the creature and was visibly shaking.

"T-T-That's a-"

"Dragon? Yeah." The boy interrupted again and scratched the underside of its massive jaw. He picked up the slab of raw meat and threw it up in the air. The dragon lifted its head and snatched it. It brought its head back down to the boy and growled.

"Yeah we can go flying if you want." The boy said as he pulled a scroll from its holster. He opened the scroll and placed his hand on a seal. He focused a little bit of chakra to his hand and smoke exploded from the seal. When the smoke cleared, a saddle could be seen. Naruto gawked at the boy and when he saw the saddle his mind started to put two and two together.

"You're going to ride that thing!?" blurted Naruto. The dragon turned its head to Naruto and snarled. The boy placed his hand on its snout trying to calm the beast.

"No, you can't kill him and her name is Melra, got it." Said the boy as he glared at Naruto, who quickly nodded his head. The boy picked up the saddle and started to strap it into place. Naruto turned back to the tree and began focusing chakra to his feet. Once again Naruto was running full sprint up the tree. The boy tightened another strap and looked to see Naruto fall on his back. His glanced at the tree that was covered in cuts that didn't even make it halfway up. The boy chuckled.

"Wow, you really suck at that don't you." The boy said as he tightened another strap.

"No! I just… haven't quite… figured it out yet." Replied Naruto, as he began another try up the tree, only to fall back down to the ground.

"Dammit!" shouted Naruto. The boy turned to his dragon. Melra stared right back at him and nodded.

"Why should I?" The dragon growled and motioned her head towards Naruto.

"It's not my fault he's an idiot" said the boy as he crossed his arms. The dragon snarled bearing its teeth. The boy glared at Melra before sighing.

"Fine, I'll help him" the boy said as he made his way over to Naruto, who was lying on his back once more. The red eyed boy stared down at Naruto.

"You're trying too hard."

"What do you mean?" asked Naruto. The boy walked over to the tree and placed his hand on it.

"Even though you may not be able to feel it or see it, Chakra is everywhere. Even this tree has its own source of chakra. The trick is not to try and over power it, but connect with it. Get it?"

"What do you think I've been doing for the past four hours." replied Naruto.

"I know that you've been looking at this tree with the mentality like you are learning a new jutsu." The boy said as he turned to the tree and calmly began to walk on it until he was standing on the underside of a low branch.

"Your chakra flow is erratic and unstable. It's all in concentration. Focus your chakra so its flow is smooth and calm. Only then will you be able to control your chakra better and perform jutsu to their highest potential" the boy said as he dropped from the branch and flipped, landing on his feet. Naruto stared at the boy as he climbed up onto the saddle.

"Naruto Uzumaki" said Naruto as he looked at the boy.

"Jiro Draconiz" said Jiro as he smiled slightly.

"Well I see you two have met." Said Kaito as he made his way down the hill.

"Evening Jiro, Melra." Kaito said with a smile.

"Hey Uncle." Replied Jiro as Melra bowed her head slightly to Kaito.

"Going out?" asked Kaito as he sipped tea from his cup. Jiro nodded and grabbed the handle of the saddle.

"Just be back before dinner, you know how your mom gets when you're late."

"Got it" said Jiro. Melra roared and stretched her wings. She flapped her massive wings and soared into the sky. Naruto just stared at Kaito with an open mouth and a blank stare.

"That was a dragon… a huge dragon…" muttered Naruto.

"Yes, my clan specializes in them." Kaito replied and finished his tea.

"Anything else?" asked Naruto. Kaito looked at Naruto and smiled.

"Sorry, clan secrets." Kaito smirked as Naruto glared at him.

"Alright then Naruto, I think were done for today. I want you to practice this at home for a while."

"Where are you going?"

"Classified, but when I get back I expect you to be able to walk on that tree with nothing but your toes." Kaito said and glared. Naruto shivered slightly under his gaze.

"Y-Yes Sensei." Naruto mustered out. Kaito's face softened and he smiled.

"Well then get going." Naruto started walking up the hill that broke out into a run.

"See ya later sensei!" shouted Naruto as he disappeared over the hill. Kaito shook his head and laughed.

The sun was starting to set upon the leaf as the village began to glow with the city lights. Naruto was aimlessly walking around the village taking in the sights.

"Now what do I do?" Naruto asked himself. It was at that moment Naruto's stomach gave a loud rumble.

"Ramen time!" Naruto laughed as he began making his way to Ichiraku's. As Naruto was walking; thinking of what kind of ramen to get and ignoring the glares of the villagers, he rounded a corner and as fate would have it, ran straight into Hinata; knocking them both to the ground.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" Naruto said as he rubbed his forehead.

"I'm s-sorry N-Naruto-kun." Naruto's eyes popped wide open as he heard the soft voice.

"Oh I'm sorry Hinata; I didn't realize it was you. Are you ok?

"Y-yes I'm o-ok, what a-about you?"

"I'm good" Naruto stood on his feet then helped her up. As soon as she was on her feet Kaito's voice sounded in his head.

'Remember your manners Naruto' Naruto mentally nodded to himself and looked at Hinata.

"Hey I was just on my way to get ramen, want to come with me?" asked Naruto. Hinata stared at Naruto as her face turned a deep shade of red.

'Like a date? No, I think he's just being nice. Ok Hinata, don't faint, focus. It's just ramen with Naruto-kun.'

Hinata opened her mouth to say yes, but nothing came out. With her words failing her she simply nodded. Naruto smiled at Hinata and began walking again, Hinata falling in sync. They arrived at Ichiraku and ordered their ramen. They talked made small talk, with Naruto mostly talking about his training with Kaito.

Hidden away across the street in a Dango stand, sat Kaito. He casually sipped his tea as he watched Naruto and Hinata talk.

"Keeping an eye on your student?" said the third hokage as he sat down across from Kaito.

"Something like that" Kaito smirked. The third turned his head to look at the two. He saw Naruto making some very animated hand motions and Hinata sat there and giggled with the tell-tale blush on her face. Hiruzen smiled at this.

"That's the happiest I've seen him in a long time, He has a good friend in the young Hyuuga." Said the third as he lit his pipe. He took a long drag from the pipe and placed a closed envelope on the table. Kaito gave one last smile before he turned to Hiruzen.

"Those are my coordinates?" Kaito said, his tone becoming serious. The hokage nodded as smoke escaped from his mouth.

"Correct, he's somewhere in the land of Birds." Hiruzen said as Kaito nodded. He then grabbed the envelope and slipped it into a pocket on the inside of his jacket.

"I should be back in a week or two." Kaito stood and placed some money on the table.

"Did you get my request?" asked Kaito. The third looked up to him and nodded; frowning slightly.

"Are you sure, I could really use you in ANBU." Kaito looked back to Naruto and saw the two children leaving the ramen stand.

"Yeah, my mind is made up."

"I'll have the forms ready for when you get back." Kaito nodded and gave a slight bow before exiting the stand; leaving the third to his thoughts.

"And then this huge green dragon comes flying at me and almost takes my head off! It was crazy!" shouted Naruto. Hinata stared at him with wide eyes.

"T-That must have b-been scary"

"Eh… A little. Nothing I couldn't handle though. I'm going to be hokage after all" Naruto said as he crossed his arms behind his head; his face split into a wide grin. Hinata blushed and giggled slightly. They continued their walk in relative silence until they arrived at the gates of the Hyuuga compound.

"T-Thank you for w-walking me h-home, N-Naruto-kun" Hinata said as she smiled and blushed a light pink. As soon as she did the last rays of sun were just hitting over the horizon, illuminating Hinata's lavender eyes.

'Wow' Naruto thought. A small blush creeping across his face. Hinata saw this and her blush turned deeper.

'Why am I just staring? Talk dammit!' Naruto mentally shouted to himself.

"No problem Hinata-chan, I'll see you in class tomorrow. Goodnight" Naruto said. He turned around and started to make his way back to his apartment. Hinata stood there and watched him leave, too shocked to move.

'He just called me Hinata-chan!' Hinata thought to herself and almost fainted right there. She quickly shook her head and ran straight to her room. A huge smile plastered across her face for all of the clan to see.

Fires rolled across the rooftops like an ever burning inferno. Bodies littered the streets and the scent of blood filled the air. The village hidden in the leaves… destroyed. Naruto looked at the burning village; his eyes filled with fear.

"Naruto-kun" came a voice from behind him. Naruto whipped his head around and saw Hinata standing in the middle of the road.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto tried to call out, but no sound came from his mouth. That was when he saw it. Standing behind Hinata was the outline of a huge beast; shrouded in flames and smoke. Nine tails lashed out across the city and its eyes glowed a sinister red. Naruto was shaking at the sight of the monster. The beast opened its mouth as flames flew out; engulfing Hinata.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto screamed, but again there was no sound.

'Pathetic human.' Came a deep voice. The flames then rushed towards Naruto and consumed him as well.

"No!" Naruto shouted as he sat up in his bed. He was covered in sweat as a single tear rolled down his cheek.

"What was that…?" Naruto said as he tried to catch his breath. When he calmed down he laid back in his bed and stared at his ceiling.

'What in the world was that thing' Naruto thought to himself. He didn't get much time to think about it as the allure of sleep was too strong. Shutting his eyes he let sleep take over once more, hoping the nightmare would not return.

Well here's another chapter, sorry its so late. I've been super busy lately, but now im able to focus on GD for awhile. Chapter 5 is currently in progress! Thanks for reading!- Spirit

(P.S.- The dragons I picture the Draconiz Clan riding are similar to the dragons in Eragon.)