(Hybrid Chapter 1)

(I don't own Naruto or Inheritance Cycle so don't sue me)

Naruto sat in his father's throne room looking at his father's shade that had been called to the throne room to do Naruto's father's wishes. Naruto usually would have felt bad for anyone who had to stand before his father as things never seemed to end well for them, but Durza was a bastard to say the least and him always calling him an abomination didn't really help his cause.

Naruto was a unique and one of a kind child. He had hair that jutted out in all directions with two bangs that hung down framing his aristocratic looking face. His hair was soft and smooth as silk, but a dark red that looked like fresh blood. His eyes were a smooth deep cherry red color that was full of emotion with a black slit for pupils inside of them. His skin was a flawless alabaster white color that worked well with his red hair and eyes. Naruto was the average height for a sixteen year old boy though his muscles were much more defined than others with a stream line look to them.

Naruto's outfit was custom made just like everything else he owned. His tunic was a deep black color trimmed in gold with the symbol of the empire on it. He wore faded leather riding pants that were made of a tough material that kept them from stretching while he rode horses. He had a platinum ring with the his father's personal crest in the center cut from pure jet and a silver necklace that hung loosely around his with an elongated emerald at the bottom of it. All in all Naruto was a very handsome young man and had been told so many times by the ladies of the castle.

"My lord you called for me" asked Durza in his grave and evil voice. He was a creature of evil that wasn't up for debate and it almost made Naruto cringe to think about him that way since Naruto's mother had been a shade, which made Naruto a hybrid.

"Yes we have received information regarding the object that was taken from my personal vaults. I want you to track down these elves, teach them a lesson, and bring me back my egg" spoke the king in a smooth and silky voice that he was known for but at the end his voice turned cruel and dangerous revealing just how angry he was that the egg had been taken.

It was a bad day to be alive when Naruto's father found out one of his precious dragon eggs had been stolen. Many people lost their lives, typically the guards who were supposed to be guarding the eggs but there were a few pore bastards who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time and got in the kings way and lost their lives.

"Yes my lord" spoke Durza as he stood up and swept he cloak in a dramatic way before strutting out of the king's grand hall to do as he master had instructed. Naruto knew as did many others that Durza hated the king but the king held absolute power over him so there wasn't much he could do about it.

"Naruto" called out the king shocking Naruto greatly. His father wasn't very loving towards him and he almost never acknowledged his existence after he found out none of the eggs had hatched for him. When Naruto was younger he had held out the hope that if the other egg was found and recovered he would be able to hold it and it would hatch for him and that his father would love him like other kids parents did. After years he had learned that it was a fools dream and had given up on it.

"Yes father" asked Naruto as he stepped out from behind a pillar that he had been watching the king from just like he had been told. He was standing before his father and his mountain of a dragon Shruikan.

Shruikan looked at him with nothing but hatred in his eyes just like he had always done, but just for a second Naruto saw something he hadn't ever seen before. For the briefest of seconds Naruto saw pain, anguish, and if he was not mistaken longing. Naruto was almost positive he saw it but it was hard to believe since all he had ever felt from Shruikan was madness and hatred. Maybe there was more to Shruikan than he had thought. He was obviously much smarter than Morzan's dragon.

"How has your training been coming along" asked the king in a silky voice. Naruto was instantly on guard. The king didn't care about him, at least as a son, so why was he being so nice, and invasive.

"They are going well father. Murtagh and I have been training day and night to hone our skills. I have also been studying magic just as you instructed me" spoke Naruto as he stood in front of his father and stood as straight as possible so his father wouldn't become angry for slouching like he had seen him do countless times in the past.

"Good. Soon you will be strong enough to lead my armies into battle. When you are ready you will be able to march my armies into Surda to crush any and all of the rebellion" spoke the king with glee in his voice. Naruto could already see why his father had called him today. He was to become his father's soldier and he didn't have a choice.

"It is an honor father. I await the day I may serve you in any way possible. Will Murtagh be allowed to become my second in command, or will you choose him for me" asked Naruto as he looked up at his father. Those black eyes were something to fear and inside of them was nothing short of pure darkness.

"If you wish Murtagh to be your second in command I see no reason for him not to be other than he cannot use magic, though he does have a powerful mind so it should be fine, now leave me. I have business to take care of and you cannot be here when it happens" spoke the king as he waved his hand in a shooing manner. Naruto bowed his head and left the throne room right as three people walked in with cloaks covering their bodies entered the room. Naruto could smell the scent of rotting humans on them and wrinkled his nose. He had smelt these people before, though he had never really seen them. His father had kept him away from them as much as possible though for what reason he didn't know.

XXX

As Naruto was walking down the hallway he saw a familiar mop of black hair that he knew to belong to his best friend. Naruto slowed down his pace and crept quietly behind Murtagh. He was thankful for many reasons for being half shade; one was being able to move without making a sound. Shades were creatures of death and destruction as well as the night so moving silently was a given.

"Boo" shouted Naruto causing Murtagh to jump into the air and clutch his heart. Naruto started to laugh though it came out a little creepy. There were ups and downs to having a shade for a mother and one of the down sides was he sometimes creeped people out.

"Damn it Naruto you nearly gave me a heart attack" shouted Murtagh as he followed Naruto outside. His face was read with either anger of embarrassment though judging by their friendship Naruto knew Murtagh wouldn't be that mad with him unless he really did something bad so it must have been embarrassment.

"I never would have thought the great Murtagh would scream like a little girl" laughed Naruto as he walked out to the armory at the side of the castle. He wanted to start his training as soon as possible to attempt to survive whatever he father had planned for him.

"Fuck you, you bastard" shouted Murtagh as his face got redder than Naruto's hair. Naruto smirked but his smirk revealed an elongated fang that made his face look dark and scary though Murtagh was used to it so it didn't really affect him.

"No thanks I am interested in women but hey it's whatever you're into" spoke Naruto with a shrug of his shoulders as he continued to walk away. When he looked back he saw that Murtagh's face got even redder, turning a purple color which made Naruto laugh.

"You bastard I'm not gay" shouted Murtagh as he shot Naruto a glare that could kill if looks could kill.

"Hey there is not anything wrong with being gay, and you know I won't judge you, so you can finally come out of the closet without feeling self-conscience" spoke Naruto as he continued to walk. He was having a hard time standing as his insides were all twisted up from trying not to laugh at his best friend's bewildered face.

"I hate you" was all Murtagh could say. He knew that no matter what he said Naruto would find some way to turn his words back around on him and make his position worse than it had previously been. It was something that he had been taught since he was a young boy by politicians and scholars his father had hired to teach him.

"So I have been told on numerous occasions before, but besides that do you want to practice archery with me today" asked Naruto as he grabbed a yew bow from the armory and a quiver full of arrows. He slung them on his back and began walking towards the archery range.

"Sure but I can't stay for long. I need to talk to Tornac later today about some things. By the way what did the king want with you today? I heard he called you in to the throne room and that you were in there for hours" spoke Murtagh though when he saw the way Naruto deflated he couldn't help but feel bad for him. He knew unlike other people that being the son of the king was far from the glamorous life that others envisioned.

"He dragged me into that boring ass throne room for six hours making me watch as he lorded his power over others from the shadows like I was some kind of thief in hiding and only addressed me after he no longer could feel smug about making me wait he called me out and told me that he would be making me the leading general of his army not so long into the future and said that I could make you my number two though I'm sure you're not interested" spoke Naruto as he pulled back on the bow and aimed the arrow down the sights. He unleashed it with a lough Twang sound and watched as he got a bull's eye on the target.

"Nice shot" spoke Murtagh as he watched Naruto pull back another arrow and unleash it. This time it hit dead center in the head of the target. Naruto was a pro archer and with his shade blood it was almost too easy for him. "But you are right I don't want anything to do with the king's army. My father may have willingly fought for him but that doesn't mean I will."

"You know you won't be able to stay here if you don't become a soldier. You refuse to take up your father's wealth and titles so you have either the money, political power, or the rank to stay here" spoke Naruto as he looked over at Murtagh and saw a strange look in his eyes like he was caught in the act of something that honestly Naruto knew nothing about.

"I will think of something" said Murtagh as he walked away to go see Tornac, probably for swordsman training. Naruto watched him walk away with squinted eyes. He could feel something was going on with his friend but what it was he couldn't be sure. There was just something in the back of his mind telling him that he should watch him from here on out.

XXX

Naruto was walking around during the night with nothing to do. He had inherited his mother's ability to not sleep if he didn't want to. It wouldn't negatively affect him like it would a human but he did always feel better after a good night's rest.

As he was walking through the hallways he could hear heavy breathing coming from his father's throne room. He decided to enter the throne room since his father was probably off with a group of his concubines doing god knows what and wouldn't pay no mind to him looking at his monstrous dragon.

When Naruto opened the door he looked into the dark room with no problems. Like all shades the darkness didn't bother him and he could see as clearly in the dark as he could in the day but even with his eye sight the sight of the giant light blue almost grey eye the just opened up out of nowhere with a dark slit down the center looking down on him was shocking.

Now that Naruto actually looked Shruikan over he was truly impressed by what he saw. Normally he was too occupied by what his father wanted or was trying to avoid offending Shruikan who always kept his eyes on Naruto for some reason to truly marvel at the magnificence of Shruikan.

The smallest scale on his body had to be the size of a Kull sized shield. His back spikes were thicker than most trees Naruto had ever seen. The size of Shruikan was just unimaginable and Naruto wondered just how far back the room went to encompass something the size of this dragon. His scales were a beautiful black color, the same color as the jet in his ring; the only gift Naruto's father had ever given him. It really reflected the torch lights wonderfully. The last thing Naruto wondered was just how his father kept something on this size fed. He must have eaten tons of food in one sitting which was mind boggling to Naruto.

When Naruto walked up to the giant dragon it began to growl at him. Naruto stopped instantly and looked up at the dragon. Its eyes held so much hatred yet Naruto could see the pain and loneliness that he had seen earlier in his eyes as well. Naruto wanted to help him for some reason. Growing up as the son of the king in a hostile world such as this was far from easy and Naruto had to learn to defend himself with both words and weapons.

"I don't know if you can understand me, but I mean you no harm. I was just walking through the castle when I heard you" spoke Naruto as he looked up at the giant of a dragon hoping it wouldn't eat him.

The dragon looked down on Naruto; its eye was much larger than Naruto was tall, with an intense glare. It was like the dragon didn't trust Naruto to keep his word about not hurting him which caused Naruto to truly feel bad for him. He had been forced to live with his dad for sixteen years while this dragon had been forced to lie for hundreds of years.

"I know how you feel, I hate him to" spoke Naruto. This caused the dragon to whirl around on him and get within an inch of him with its massive jaws. Naruto took a step back in fear but kept his cool for the most part.

Naruto felt something slam into his mind and he instantly put up his mental shields. He was very good at this having both a natural ability at it and being trained to use it from a very young age had insured Naruto was a master of the mind arts but not even these things would keep the ancient mind of the dragon out of his head.

The dragon broke through Naruto's mental shields but instead of looking around his mind it started showing Naruto flashes of his own past. Naruto could see the cruel thins Galbatorix had forced him to do and the cruel things that Galbatorix had done to him. The countless years of enslavement to the mad man as well as always being forced to stay in this room away from the freedom of the sky that all dragons loved unless the king needed a means of transportation.

Tears rushed out of Naruto's eyes as he fell to the ground and gripped the stone floors. He realized now just how wrong he was. He had no idea how bad things had been for Shruikan nor did he know how Shruikan felt, but there was one thing that they both could agree on. They both hated Galbatorix with a burning passion.

"I promise you I will free you someday" spoke Naruto as he stood up and walked out of the room. He didn't see the hopeful look that was inside of Shruikan's eyes that disappeared almost as fast as it appeared.

XXX

The next day Naruto got out of bed and almost ran to the library. He had been focused solely on what had happened last night and what he had promised Shruikan. He realized that developing a spell of incantation to release Shruikan from his father's grasp would be very difficult if he didn't know what spells were used to bind him.

Naruto damn near beat his head against the wall when he realized he couldn't ask his father something like that or he would get suspicious. He would have to search through books and hope to come across something that would be able to help him.

'Well looks like I will be spending lots of time in the library' thought Naruto as he got out of bed and walked down to the giant library inside of the castle that was reserved only for the highest ranking officials.

XXX

For three months Naruto power read as much as he could find inside of the library. He found nothing that was relevant to what he was looking for and his father had been looking at him funny ever since that night like he suspected something but wasn't really worried about it.

"Damn it what can it be" shouted Naruto into the library. There was almost never anyone inside of the library so he wasn't worried about disturbing anyone and unless his father walked in or the undead Morzan he knew he would be able to hold his own against them.

"You should be a bit quitter you little abomination or you might lose the ability to speak at all" came an eerie voice from behind Naruto. When Naruto turned around he saw the monstrous face of Durza as he looked down on him with dark eyes full of hatred.

"What are you doing here Durza" asked Naruto as he stood up to look Durza in the eyes. He wasn't as tall as Durza yet but he wasn't about to back down to the shade either. He may be a hybrid but in his opinion that was better than being a pure blooded human or shade.

"I can read boy" spoke Durza with a hiss to his voice. Naruto just squinted his eyes knowing that there was more of a reason than that. "I was also sent here by your father to collect you. It seems he wishes for you to view the proceeding of his rule today" spoke Durza as he began to walk away. As he was walking away Naruto had a brilliant idea.

"Hey Durza just how long have you and my father known each other" asked Naruto as he followed Durza to the throne room.

"Far too long" spoke Durza with hatred in his voice.

"Did you know him before he did whatever it is he did to make Shruikan his dragon" asked Naruto though he thought he might have spoken too much when Durza stopped and looked at him with a calculating stare. After a few minutes Durza began to speak in a slow yet inquisitive tone.

"Yes I knew him before he enslaved Shruikan. Back when he was a young rider his first dragon was killed by Urgals because he was being foolish. When the council refused to give him another dragon he stole an egg but needed a bit more power and more insight to the dark arts so he found me out in the Hadarac Desert and asked me to help him create an artificial bond with a dragon. It interested me so I helped him though nearly at the cost of the dragon's sanity" spoke Durza as he looked down at Naruto. A creepy smile started to form on his face as the gears began to turn in his mind.

"Could you tell me specifically how this ritual to create this bond works? I have been curious about it for some time and haven't been able to sate my curiosity" spoke Naruto as he examined the ring on his hand acting like he was only half interested in their conversation.

"I can do better than that" spoke Durza as he disappeared and then reappeared a few moments later with a tan book in his hands. When he handed it to Naruto, Naruto grimaced. The cover of the book was obviously made of human skin as the freckles were a dead giveaway. Other than that and the cold aura around the book it was pretty normal.

"That is a book on some of the blackest magic in the world. You will find everything you are looking for in there" spoke Durza as he disappeared, though that crazy smile on his face didn't disappear.

"I really hope he doesn't tell my dad" spoke Naruto as he ran and put the book in his room before running off to his father's throne room. He crept inside of the throne room hoping to not be noticed but it seemed his father had other plans.

"It took you quite a while to get here son" spoke Galbatorix with mirth in his voice. His eyes were curious like he had finally found something that interested him but wanted to watch and see how it played out.

"Yea I was so focused on a book I had just read that I walked down the wrong hallway which caused me to be a bit late" spoke Naruto with a small smile on his face as he scratched the back of his head. His father was smiling as well but there was darkness in that smile.

"Just don't let it happen again" spoke Galbatorix as he looked back at the other nobles in the room. To anyone else that was a father covering up for his son, but Naruto knew better. That was a threat if he had ever heard one.

"Yes father" spoke Naruto as he stood off to the side of his father and watched on with a bored look on his face. He didn't care too much for politics like most of these greedy bastards or torture like some of the other more sadistic members of the nobility.

He could hear the steady breathing from behind him and couldn't wait to get ahold of that book. It was the only thing on his mind as he watched the nobles bicker back and forth. He could only imagine how mad his father would be when Shruikan went wild and hopefully killed him.

"Well that wraps up another day" spoke one of the nobles as he walked off followed by a crowed of other nobles. Some of the nobles were smiling knowing that they got some kind of great deal while others were scowling knowing that they had been screwed.

"Durza did you get me my egg" asked the king as he looked to his left where Durza was standing. Durza lost that evil look and took on a much more stressed out look that Naruto hadn't ever seen him with before.

"My apologies my king, I was able to kill the elven guards and was about to ascertain the egg when the last of the elves used a teleportation spell and sent it away thus out of my grasp" spoke Durza but then he started to shake and wither in pain. This lasted for a while until Galbatorix released whatever magic he had over Durza allowing Durza to pant and breathe a bit.

"Find me that egg or I will find me a new shade" spoke the king as he released Durza. Durza quickly got up and left the room as fast as he could looking a crazy man to regular humans.

"Now Naruto why don't you tell me about this book you have been reading? It must have been very interesting if it caused you to be late to one of my meeting" spoke Galbatorix as he looked at Naruto. Naruto gulped knowing he was in the king's spotlight, not somewhere you wanted to be, and had to think quickly.

"Yes father I have been studying the bond between rider and dragon hoping to find some way to convince a dragon to bond with me. The book I had been reading was about familiars and sorcerers and I thought that I might be able to apply it to one of the eggs though it is still just a thought" spoke Naruto mentally praising himself for coming up with such a great lie right on the spot.

"Hmmm that is very interesting. If you can figure out how to do it I will let you have your own dragon egg do use this spell on, but until then I suggest you pay more attentions to your surroundings" spoke Galbatorix as he got up and left the throne room. When he was gone Naruto looked over at Shruikan and began to talk.

"Tonight I will free you I am sure of it" spoke Naruto as he to left the room with great haste. He couldn't afford to mess around the king was onto him and he was only a matter of time before he figured out what he was trying to do either by accident or by breaking into Durza's head.

When Naruto got to his room he quickly grabbed the book and opened it up. Inside were gruesome arcane rituals that Naruto wasn't even sure their purpose besides horribly disfiguring oneself of another, but eventually he got to the section that described binding and torture rituals. He found out that his father had used this black magic to bind Shruikan to his him via his gedwëy ignasia that he had gotten from his first dragon. This link was established using dark magic and through breaking a dragon's mind to suit one's needs.

As Naruto was reading through the book and making notes on a piece of paper to create a reversal spell to fix the damage his father had created Murtagh entered the room looking really paranoid. Naruto looked at him for a second trying to figure out what was going on since Murtagh never came this deep into the castle.

"Can we talk" asked Murtagh as he stood in front of Naruto. Now that Naruto looked at him closely he saw that he wasn't wearing his noble clothing. He was dressed more as a hoarse rider or something else like that.

"Yea, are you going somewhere" asked Naruto trying to wrap his head around what was going on. His friend had been antsy a lot these last three months and he knew something was up but he hadn't been able to get Murtagh to tell him.

"I am leaving" was the only thing Murtagh said as he looked down on his friend. He didn't want to leave his only friend here all by himself so he had come to invite him along but he knew things wouldn't be easy for them.

"Were to" asked Naruto like it was a casual conversation as he continued to make notes.

"I don't know, but anywhere is better than here" spoke Murtagh as he looked at Naruto wondering what he was doing. He knew Naruto was a natural when it came to magic but even without reading what that book held he could feel the darkness in it.

"So you just came to tell me goodbye or what" asked Naruto with a smile. The counter spell was much easier than he thought it would be and releasing Shruikan tonight would very well be possible.

"No I came to offer you a place alongside me. We could do anything we wanted, we could finally be free, but our only chance is tonight. I bribed off the guards and me and Tornac are going to make a break for it" spoke Murtagh as he watched Naruto close his book and roll up a piece of parchment.

"It sounds like a dream Murtagh but there is something I have to do tonight so I can't come with you but I will try to catch up if I can" spoke Naruto as he left the room. Murtagh was left standing there with confusion written all over his face but he quickly broke out of his shock and ran towards where his horse and master were.

XXX

As Naruto snuck into the throne room he saw Shruikan's eye open up and look at him. He felt so small and insignificant under that gaze but he swallowed his fear and pulled out a large hoarse leg that he had taken off of a hoarse that he had slain a few moments ago and began drawing runes and symbols on the ground all the while chanting in the ancient language. When he was done he tossed the hoarse leg out of the room and looked over at Shruikan.

"I promise you I won't hurt you. If you step into the circle I can free you from my father" spoke Naruto. He heard Shruikan growl lowly but there was that glimmer of hope in his eyes again. It seemed that even after all these years he hadn't given up hope and slowly and quickly he moved until his head was lying on the center of the transmutation circle.

Naruto started to speak a few words in the ancient language and then slammed his hands on the runes. He watched in amazement as Shruikan started to glow in a dark light. Naruto thought he had done it but then Shruikan started to thrash around destroying everything around him and then he started to shrink. Naruto watched as Shruikan started to shrink more and more and more until he was the size or Naruto's hand, then a blinding white light over took him causing him to shield his eyes. When he opened them again there was a giant black dragon egg in his arms.

"Oh crap" was all Naruto could say. When he heard the guards coming he grabbed the egg and hauled ass out of the castle.