Hey! Not being one to beat around the bush, I'm going to try to keep my Author's notes swift and concise.

First of all, this is my first MAJOR fanfiction project, so it may take a little time to achieve the universal rank of 'acceptable literature'. Coinciding with that fact, I'd appreciate reviews and such to get the respective consensus of all my readers and hopefully improve upon that information.

Penultimately, as of now, no pairings have been decided, though I do find any form of romance, be it hetero or yaoi, quite refreshing to read- seeing as my love life is duller than that of a spoon, or its rascal acquaintance the fork.

Finally, this is going to be a very OOC Naruto fic, for Naruto at least, and I've made it my personal goal to make sure the pompous twat of an Uchiha, Sasuke, gets absolutely no love whatsoever. There are so many nicer, more enjoyable to read about Uchiha that I'd much rather write about. Subsequently, this will affect one Haruno's importance in this story.

That should clear a few of the less comprehensive things up.

Now, without a further ado, I believe I should start this fic already

Chapter One: Horizon

Life in Konoha, The Village Hideen in The Leaves, was an abberent thing- what with the perculiar isolation of the Uchiha clan and the extensive amounts of off-their-rocker shinobis that roam the village freely, dispersing their mad scent all through the heart of it. Ever since the place had recuperated fully from the destruction caused by the Kyuubi, the infamous, world renown tailed beast, the place had been in high spirits.

The beast was a huge mass of dense chakra, the life force that flowed freely through all living things, so was impossible to kill. With that information you'd assume death to all who stood in its path of malicious intent, wouldn't you? Though it was unkillable, that certainly didn't mean it was undefeatable, proven by the Yondiame Hokage, as he sealed the light side of the Kyuubi into a newborn and the dark side into himself. Taking the dark side has its drawbacks however, one being the universally feared concept of deceasement. That night, arguably the greatest hero the world had ever seen perished, along side the greatest villain.

The child who bore the light side, however, was subjected to scrutiny and ostracism. At least that was until he was murdered, alongside the last living remains of the Kyuubi.

With both sides of the Kyuubi gone, life was a generous gift in Konoha. Though not all were happy, some were fully content- that was good enough for the populace as they embraced the blissful peacefulness.

Naruto was an intelligent soul. Being only eight years old, he was exceptionally gifted for his age. Though unlike all the other alleged 'genii' in the Uchiha clan, Naruto Uchiha was not one to boast. He was a modest, kind boy with a relationship with his brother that was close to, if not, unbreakable. He and Shisui occupied one of the less 'gloaty' houses on the outskirts of the Uchiha compound, one closer to the main village than most of the others. This didn't mean, however, he was poor. By no means were they poor, as their deceased parents, Yashihiro Uchiha and Tamiru Senju, one of the last Senju to have lived, made a fortune from their spoils of war. This didn't get to their heads though, as the two boys got slightly above average monthly paychecks, courtesy of Yashihiros post-death bank excursions.

On his way home from the academy one day, he held a most decisive expression as he robotically waltzed to his home, too deep in contemplation to be taking a leisurely stroll.

Soon enough, he reached his humble abode, to find Shisui ridding a few scrolls of their unessacery contents, possibly having just returned from his mission.

"Hey there, Shisui-nii." Naruto called out to him, though with a tad, or a lot, less zing than usual. Shisui seemed to easily pick up on that and gave Naruto a calculative gaze.

"What's eating ya, Naru?" He replied sceptically, though his tone held a lot of curiosity to it also.

"It's just, the academy teachers wish for me to graduate early, now even, but I really want to have you as a sensei, ya know, when you read jonin?"

The reply was certainly not what Shisui was accepting, but he chuckled nonetheless and gave Naruto some incredible news.

"Did you notice the cake on the counter?" Shisui queried as he pointed in the general direction of the kitchen counter, "I got the damn promotion today, Naruto! We were gonna celebrate with a few of my friends and possibly invite Nara over, you both seem to like each other a lot. So no need to worry about your dilemma, we'll go to the Hokage tomorrow, or after the party even, and ask for you to become my apprentice. How does that sound?"

Although Shisui saw the delighted expression on Naruto's face, he couldn't help but ask the question. It was so much more satisfying hearing the excitement over seeing it.

"YES, YES, YES!" Was the shouty response of the ecstatic child, and though it caused a bang on the wall and a screech of 'shut up!', neither boy could care less.

After a fantastic night if partying, Itachi and Shisui's antics and incessant mutters of 'troublesome', Naruto and Shisui headed out towards the Hokage tower, praying to kami above they'd get their wishes granted.

'Knock, knock, knock'

"Enter." Came the gruff reply to the knocking, one that belonged to one Sandaime Hokage, who when seeing his guests lightened up astronomically. He got to take a break from his paperwork AND see his favourite young prodigy! Score! "Ahh, Naruto-kun and Shisui-kun, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Hokage-sama," Shisui started, gaze locked onto the old Kage's own. "I wish to take Naru as an apprentice, seeing as his academy teachers want him graduating already."

"Hmm, quite the request. I believe I can make it happen. Consider yourself student and sensei." At this, Shisui broke into the largest grin imaginable and Naruto started doing a happy jig that consisted of shaking his behind and chanting mantras of 'oh yeah!' And 'VICTORY!'

Without even bothering to press the old Kage on the situation anymore, both euphoric boys strutted their way back home, thoroughly excited for the coming future.

In their blissful euphoria, staring into the horizon, they failed to notice a pair of deep-onyx eyes boring into their skulls.

"Damn outcast! Not even a full blooded Uchiha and he's being praised as a prodigy! I'm the best! The son of the clan head! I should be the damn Hokage by now!"

How naive.

That's a wrap! Sorry this one turned out to be so damn short, I wrote it on an IPad and only wished for it to be an epilogue of sorts. So, how was it? Feel free to R & R, the feedback is greatly appreciated.

Give me until the end of the week for the next update, I'll have it. It will probably be over 10k words, so keep an eye out. Till next time! Ja ne.