Chapter 1
New Pup in the Pack
Five Years Ago
"Alright, class, settle down. Next up is Uzumaki Naruto. Please come forward and introduce yourself, Naruto."- Iruka called out from the front of the blackboard, effectively silencing the entire class. Even the fangirls who were hellbent on getting a word from Sasuke put their missions on hold as the lonely, blond boy walked to the teacher.
Not much was known about Uzumaki Naruto, except that every grown-up hated him, even if he was still a seven years old child. Now, just like any other capable kid in Konoha, he was joining the Shinobi Academy.
"H-Hey. My name is Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm seven years old. I really like ramen and training, but hate people who make fun of me or hit me with no reason."- he introduced himself, sheepishly scratching the back of his head and a shy smile on his face.
"Alright! Thank you for sharing, Naruto. You may go to the back of the class. Next up, Akimichi Choji."
He quickly hurried back to the last row of seats in the large classroom, receiving interrogating, curious looks from some of his peers, but mostly just indifference, as they payed attention to the next student, the chubby, brown-haired boy.
Naruto sat down, not really listening to Choji's introduction as he sighed. The first class he had in all of his life and he was already bored to death. Why couldn't they just skip the stupid introductions?
"Yo, you're Naruto, right?"- a voice asked him. He quickly turned his head to the right to finally take a look at the one who shared the table with him.
The boy that sat beside him had dark-brown, spiky hair and slitted, black eyes. His canine teeth were long enough to be considered fangs, and he had two red fang marks on his face, one on each cheek.
He wore a black hoodie and dark cargo pants, finishing his outfit with grey sneakers. Naruto politely nodded towards the boy, who smiled.
"Most adults say to stay away from you, and tell their children to not play any kind of game with you. They say you're evil and a demon and that nothing good can come from even talking to you."- he said. The blond jinchuuriki lowered his head, realizing this was going to be yet another insulting conversation.
"But my mom says it's all bullcrap and that you're just like any other kid. Hell, she wants me to become friends with you. Not like I give a crap about what people think of me or what the elders say, so what do you say? Friends?"- he finished, raising his right hand, inviting the blond boy for a handshake.
At first, Naruto was dumbfounded that someone actually wanted to be friends with him, but quickly accepted the boy's offer, and shook his hand with a smile on his face.
"Cool. I'm Inuzuka Kiba, by the way. So, what do you like doing?"
And so went on a conversation that lasted throughout the whole class day. Both boys received many glares from villagers who were merely passing by the playground, but the two shinobi wannabes didn't pay them much attention. They were too engrossed in their discussions about how cool dogs were.
But all good things have to end. The school-day was finished, and everyone was leaving. Many students were greeted by their parents on the way out, and quickly ran off, excitedly reporting the day's events. Others simply walked home with a smile on their faces, knowing the rewards for their first day in the Academy would probably be hot chocolate or a cake.
Kiba was one of the students who had their parents pick them up. Two women waited for him, both wore the regular Chuunin vest and ninja pants, and both had the red fang markings on each cheek.
The younger one, who had the appearance of a teenager, had long, brown hair tied into a ponytail while leaving two locks framing her face, and large, black eyes.
The older one had Kiba's characteristic spiky, brown hair and black slitted pupils. Both gave the boy warm smiles.
Kiba ran off to them, and they immediately engaged on a nice conversation, with the older lady, who was probably his mother, ruffling his hair even more while giving off a loud laugh.
Naruto didn't want to see anymore, since he'd probably cry himself to sleep that night if he did, and so, he just walked off. Why couldn't he have a family? Why couldn't he have someone pick him up from the Academy and ask how the day went?
But before he had the chance to dwell on it further and walk out of sight, a hand grasped his right shoulder and turned him around, showing him Kiba and the two women.
"Where are you going, man? I have to show you my family!"- he said, turning around and pointing first to the older woman, and then to the teenager.- "That's my mom, Tsume, and that's my older sister, Hana."
"Hey, what's up?"- Hana asked, giving off a light smile and trying to make the boy feel comfortable. Tsume laughed a bit.
"So you are the terrible and dangerous Naruto Uzumaki? The one the villagers are always going on about how much of a demon you are? I'll tell you kid, you look even kind of cute with those fangs. You look like an Inuzuka! As my son said, I'm Tsume, but you can call me aunt or some crap like that."- she blurted out. Naruto immediately liked her. She was straightforward, and not afraid of stating what she felt. Plus, she liked him!
"H-hey. Nice to meet you."- he responded, not sure as to what to say. Kiba caught on to that, and quickly made up for it.
"He's really cool, mom. You were right, he's just like a regular kid. He loves dogs too, but he said that the only dog he had ran away. Anyway, can he?"- Kiba asked. After an approving nod from his mother, he quickly turned around.- "Alright, you're coming for dinner tonight."
"..."- Naruto didn't even say anything for a couple of moments. No one, and that means no one had ever invited him in anywhere. He was like the epitome of bad luck to them.- "I-I don't want to intrude or be a bother."
"Don't be so humble with us, kid. Show your claws, be confident. Believe me, that'll get you a long way in life. Anyway, let's go. I've got to make dinner."
Naruto followed the three dog-like people to their house. To his surprise, it was a rather big compound in the Clan Estate section of the village. It was composed of around fifty buildings, and the only ones that rivalled it in size or overall beauty were the Hyuuga and Uchiha compounds.
The whole place was decorated with ninken statues, trees and long, wide fields for all of them, both humans and dogs to train. It felt like a safe haven to Naruto, and that's exactly what he needed at the moment.
Tsume leaded them into the main building, which was another way to say the largest one. She was the clan's Alpha, even if she was a female, and every other Inuzuka revered her as their leader, not hesitating to follow any kind of orders.
Even though the building was large, two floors were occupied by ninken, and two more by the library and the clan's Vault, which was always guarded by at least two Inuzuka, leaving only one floor for Tsume, Hana and Kiba to live in. When asked about it, Tsume simply responded: "Three rooms, a kitchen, a living room and two bathrooms. What else could I need?"
They seemed to follow a rather normal way of life, and apparently didn't let riches get to them, trait that Naruto liked. He had a huge fortune left to him by his own family, even though he had no idea who they were, and he only spent just enough to keep a small apartment and buy food.
Speaking of food, Tsume was already preparing meat for the day's dinner: Medium-Rare, bloody steaks accompanied by gravy and rice. The Inuzuka's, and soon-to-be, Naruto's favorite dish.
As his mother prepared the food and his sister fed the ninken, Kiba led Naruto to his own room, showing him a rather admirable collection of movie posters and music, even though he was just a seven year old.
They both played Pokemon Fire Red on the two Game Boy Advance consoles that Kiba owned, and time just seemed to fly by as the two boys yapped about all kinds of things.
Dinner arrived and went as fast as the afternoon. Naruto loved it. Jokes shot at each other, old war stories from Tsume, pictures of cute puppies that Hana had treated, and they even talked about the girls in Naruto and Kiba's class, though oddly, the boys were the only ones that didn't like that part of the conversation. "Girls are annoying!" They both proclaimed, making the two women laugh.
After they cleared the table, each went on their own ways, but not before Naruto left.
"Thank you so much for the dinner, Miss Tsume. Thank you Miss Hana. And see you, Kiba!"- he said, opening their door, and receiving warm smiles from each of the three.
"No worries, kid. You can come whenever you want. We need someone with your appetite!"- Tsume responded.
"If you come tomorrow, there's this really cute puppy I found that I can show you!"- Hana followed with a huge smile on her face. The boy was adorable himself.
"See you tomorrow Naruto, but don't you want any of us to go with you? It's dark as crap outside, and you still don't know any ninja techniques."- Kiba proposed, but Naruto quickly shook his head with a hint of desperation on it.
"No, no! It's ok, I can go by myself. Thanks again! See you!"- and with that, he banged the door close, quickly hurrying to his house.
The three Inuzuka were left dumbfounded with their mouths open, but Tsume quickly regained her posture and went to do the dishes.
"What the hell was that?"- Kiba asked.
"I don't know, but I'm going to find out. Kuromaru!"- Tsume called out as she washed a plate. A black-furred dog with a white underside came out of the shadows, where he was unnoticed before.
"I'm on it."
…...
As the ninken's mission ended, his mouth was open with indignation. I must report this to Tsume right away! He thought to himself as he literally galloped to the Inuzuka clan compound.
His owner and partner was already by the door, waiting. His mouth must still have been open, for Tsume rose an eyebrow.
"That bad, huh?"- she asked.
"You have no idea. Remember that raid that we were ordered to do in the Land of Waves?"- he replied, making her raise an eyebrow.
"Ten years ago?"
"Yeah. The kid's home reminded me of what we saw there. He owns an entire building, but there's not an inch of the building's outside walls that's not covered in insulting graffiti or eggs. Fresh eggs, I can tell. Every window he owns is cracked apart, and all doors inside the building are on the ground, off of their hinges."- he described what he saw. Now, Tsume and himself weren't any noobies, they had seen things in war that would shock most, but they had never seen so much hatred aimed at anyone.
"What the fuck?"
"I know, right? But it doesn't stop there. I followed the kid through the hallways, making sure he wouldn't notice me, and saw many piss puddles everywhere, more graffiti and shattered glass on the floor. I followed him into his room, an empty place that only had a wardrobe and a bed. The kid layed down and started whimpering."
"Whimpering?"
"Yeah, or so I thought. When I approached, I could hear that he was singing. He was singing "Happy Birthday" to himself."
After the dog's last words struck hard, Tsume's shocked face turned into an angry frown and quickly put her night cloak on.
"Come on Kuromaru, we've got things to do."
…...
The Next Day
The following school day went by rather quickly, as neither Naruto nor Kiba had any idea of what had happened the night before, and Naruto was pretty much used to spending his birthdays by himself, so the dinner completely obfuscated the fact that he was sleeping alone in his crappy apartment.
They were taught the easiest of the academy jutsu, Henge no jutsu. Contrary to popular belief, Naruto was actually the best one at learning it, surpassing even the prodigy, Uchiha Sasuke, by performing the technique perfectly at the first try.
Kiba, who only did it at the second time, quickly said he was cheating, which brought up an angry yet friendly argument between the two, and ending in two bruised boys walking beside each other, happy as can be.
But again, all good things must end, and the bell quickly announced the closing of the school day. Other kids still disliked Naruto, but some of the fangirls seemed hesitant between chasing after Sasuke or himself.
Kiba said goodbye and hurried to the two women who, yet again, were there, waiting for him. Naruto said goodbye too, and turned around, going for his home. Best not to push his luck by asking to have dinner with them again.
However, as he turned the first corner, a black-furred dog with white fur on his underside blocked his way, and without a sound, made Naruto walk back.
As he backed up, Naruto collided with something tall and strong. He turned around to see Tsume looking down at him with a smile on her face. Kiba, who stood by her side, kept chuckling and seemed pretty excited about something, but ignored Naruto's questioning looks.
"That's enough, Kuromaru. Good job. Where do you think you're going, Naruto?"- she asked, petting Kuromaru. Hana joined them, three dogs following her. They all looked at Naruto, menacingly, as if saying "One wrong move and you'll find yourself in a world of pain."
"I was going home! What are you doing?"- he replied. Tsume laughed before taking a file from Hana's hands, opening it and showing it to Naruto. Pictures of his apartment resided in the first page.
"You mean this shithole? This isn't a home. Hell, from what I know, it doesn't even have electricity, for Kami's sake."- she said, making Naruto lower his head.
"The villagers cut the wires every time I ask for the men to put them up again."- he confessed. Tsume wasn't surprised. So she just threw the file at Hana again and took a sheet of paper out of one of her pockets, unfolded it, and showed it to Naruto. On the title, it read "Adoption Form"
"I don't think that hell could ever be considered a home, and I think you're a pretty stand up kid, so, as a late birthday gift, I'm offering you a home, a caring family, and a childhood. What do you say?"
Naruto's mouth was shaped into a perfect O, and you could literally fit a coffee plate through it without touching the lips. Tsume laughed out loud again and was quickly followed by Hana and Kiba, who slapped the blond's back.
"Come on, brother. Let's go home!"
…...
Present Times
"Hey, bro. Get up from the bed! Today is the day we graduate! Come on!"- Kiba shook him awake, half-naked. Naruto quickly blinked his slitted, blue eyes and shook his head to wake himself up before jumping off the bed.
"Alright, alright! I'm up!"- he quickly washed his face, brushed his teeth and threw on a hoodie identical to Kiba's, only his was black. He finished his outfit with black trousers and sneakers and quickly headed for the front door of their house.
"Naruto! Kiba! What about breakfast?"- Tsume called out.
"We'll get something on the way. See you later, mum."- the blond replied, opening the door and spotting Kiba standing on another house's roof. The look on his eyes said everything.
"Race ya."
Naruto jumped onto the same roof, chasing Kiba down as he galloped, not ran, galloped after him, his red fang marks on each cheek shining in the sunlight.
Apparently, the two boys had mixed the clan's style of running on all-fours with the art of freerunning, scaling buildings with their claws.
The jinchuuriki jumped over Kiba. The Inuzuka Heir had never been able to outrun Naruto in any way, and so, it was the blond who won the race, landing right in front of the Academy's door a second before his brother did.
"I win. You suck."
"Yeah, yeah. Keep bragging and karma will make it so you get Sakura in your team."- Kiba responded, sending chills through Naruto's spine, who shook, making the brown-haired boy laugh.
"Don't say that, man. It might come true."- Naruto replied, making Kiba laugh louder as they entered the classroom.
The class hadn't changed in those five years, and the two Inuzuka (Naruto had replaced Uzumaki with Inuzuka the same day that Tsume adopted him) always sat by each other.
They were pestered a few times by the increasing number of fangirls that their animalistic, yet attractive features and more than impressive skills in jutsu or theory brought to them, but they quickly learned how to handle it.
"Now that you two have arrived, we can finally start."
(And that was Chapter 1, mates! This was a story I've been wanting to write for a long time now, and never really had the chance to do so. I hope you enjoy it, and the reason why I left it in an awkward cliffhanger is because I'm still not sure what team Naruto will be in. So I'll let you guys decide in a PM or Review! Thanks a lot, and as always, Favorite or Follow!)
