Author's Note: Hello everyone! I welcome you to the 1st chapter of The Village Dragon. Whether you are a fan of my first story "The True Child of Light" or a new reader, I hope that you enjoy this new story. It is very different from my other story in many ways. First of all, the Naruto in this story will be sort of OP sometimes. If any of you have read "A Big Problem" by Vaguely Defined Entity, it is somewhat like that in a way. Naruto has a power that he cannot control at first, and it is certainly OP. However it does have some downsides, so don't worry too much. This story is meant to be a little bit more relaxed of a story as opposed to The True Child of Light, so things that I wouldn't let slide in my other story, I might in this one.

Disclaimer: Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto. Please support the official release. If Kishimoto-sensei would like to give me the rights though, I would not be opposed. My fics would probably get a lot more attention.

Important Notes:

• Fair Warning: I listened to all 8 of the Jojo's Bizarre Adventure openings on loop while writing part of this. If you haven't watched that, do it. Start with Phantom Blood. 10/10 anime. Also read the manga.

• In this story the Hokage will not be in his office when Naruto attempts to steal the scroll. I never believed that a man titled "The God of Shinobi" would be so easily tricked by something like the sexy jutsu. Even if he was sure that it was Naruto, I doubt that he would fall for something like that in case of a real breach. Anyone attempting to steal something like the scroll of seals would be taken seriously.

• The academy in this story is much more competent. It teaches the students more than in canon, and they aren't entirely ignorant of everything. They know more general purpose jutsu and simple E and D rank jutsu than in canon. I always found it weird that a school in one of the most powerful villages in the world that teaches children how to become powerhouse killing machines would be so utterly useless in supplying the students with worthwhile skills other than the substitution and transformation.

• Dragons exist in this universe. They just stay away from the elemental nations. This will be touched on later

• Oh and there will be random comedy that only the readers will get. There may be references to some abridged series, and there could be some references to other shows. It is purely for comedy reasons and does not in any way hint at any sort of crossover element.

Without further ado, I present to you the 1st chapter of The Village Dragon

Chapter 1: This Is a Thing Now

The Academy, Konohagakure no Sato, 12:00 AM

"I apologize Naruto, but I can't pass you this year either."

Naruto was horrified. Even after three years of attempting to pass the graduation exam, he still wasn't able to make the cut. All because of that one stupid clone jutsu.

"Come on Iruka-sensei! It's just that one jutsu! I even managed to pass the written part this year and my substitution and transformation jutsu are perfect!" Naruto pleaded.

Iruka shook his head. "Naruto I know that you try hard, but those are the requirements to become a genin. I would be willing to help you with the clone jutsu later today. I'm free for the month long break before the new school year as well, so I can help you all you want."

"No! No matter how much I try, it won't work. I already do what you say for it and it's impossible! No matter how much chakra I push into it, the clone jutsu fails every time! Can't you just pass me anyway? You know that I can do it. I won't even need the clone jutsu outside of the academy, it isn't even useful for fighting and they're just illusions!"

Iruka actually agreed with Naruto. The clone jutsu was almost completely useless in battle as anything other than a distraction, and Naruto would never be the type to use distractions in a fight. Or so he thought. Naruto could actually be quite stealthy and quiet when he was serious about it. Regardless, he was a true teacher of Konoha, and as such he would uphold its rules. Even if he disagreed with some of them.

"I really am sorry Naruto. I have to test the other students now. My offer for tutoring is still there if you change your mind." Iruka said as he directed Naruto out of the testing room and closed the door.

"Stupid Iruka-sensei with his stupid rules. I'll be a better ninja than him one day, then I'll make him take a bunch of tests and see how he likes it." Naruto muttered as he kicked the ground.

Naruto turned around when he heard the door slide open. Mizuki came out of the testing room and was walking towards him. "Hey Naruto. Sorry to hear that you didn't pass. However there is another way to pass if you think that you're good enough."

Naruto's eyes lit up again. "Really? What is it?"

"Well it is an alternative test for people with a higher skill level. In fact, the fourth hokage himself actually took this test as well because he was so skilled."

At this Naruto was on his toes and getting extremely excited. "The fourth took it?! What is it?"

"It's actually quite simple. What you have to do is sneak into the Hokage's office and take the scroll of seals. It is a large scroll that should be in the cabinet behind the Hokage's desk. It's called the scroll of seals. After that you need to go to the forested area with the old abandoned shack. You know the one right?"

Naruto nodded.

"Alright good. After you get there, you have to learn one jutsu from the scroll by the time I get there. If you can do that, you can be promoted to the rank of genin." Mizuki explained. "A little bit of advice. If you go when it gets dark, there is a higher chance of success."

"Thanks Mizuki-sensei! I'll go prepare now." Naruto exclaimed as he ran off.

A Few Hours Later, Hokage Tower, Konohagakure no Sato, 10:00 PM

Naruto had silently snuck in right before the receptionist locked the doors and left for the night. The only people left in the tower now were the guards and Naruto. Naruto had come in about five minutes before and walked behind a large plant and used the Cloak of Invisibility technique to blend into the wall behind it.

Naruto was good at stealth, most likely the most talented in the entire academy since Itachi Uchiha. However just being good at stealth wasn't enough for a task like this. It wasn't as simple as sneaking into a house. This was a highly guarded area with talented ninja scouring the floors for anything irregular whatsoever. It wasn't going to be easy. Luckily he was now dressed in all black and gray clothing with a half facemask covering his mouth.

He was also wearing soft bottomed shoes to limit the sound that his steps made. He may like the color orange, but he liked it because it drew people's attention, not the other way around. He knew very well that a puffy orange jumpsuit was horrible for sneaking, Iruka had made sure that Naruto at least payed attention in those classes.

Naruto slowly tiptoed in a crouched position over to the receptionist desk after casting the sneak jutsu on himself to help blend in with the shadows and found the drawer with the keys. He carefully raised the drawer before bringing it out so that no one would hear the sliding of the wood. He set it back down before looking into the drawer to find the one for the Hokage's office.

Once he found it, he swiftly picked it out of the foam fitting and quietly closed the drawer. Naruto never like the receptionist, but he was sure grateful for her extremely organized tendencies that made it easy to find the key.

Naruto pocketed the key and looked around to see if there were any guards. There was only one next to the foot of the stairs to the next floor. Luckily most of the security was focused on higher levels.

Naruto had picked up a few pebbles from outside for situations just like this. He took one in his hand and lowered it to the ground. With a flick of his wrist, the pebble flew only slightly above the floor through the shadows before dropping off near the other end of the room and causing a slight sound.

This sound immediately caught the attention of the guard and he whipped his head towards the direction of the pebble and began to slowly approach the area with caution.

As soon as the ninja passed the desk, Naruto silently sprang towards the stairs and began creeping up them. He was sure thankful for the fact that people spent plenty of money making sure that the Hokage tower was constantly in top condition. The stairs in the tower didn't creak whatsoever which made it much easier to silently step up them.

When Naruto neared the second floor, he lowered his body and slowly surveyed the area. There was a guard next to the stairs once again and a guard pacing back and forth in front of the windows on the left of the room. The one by the stairs was particularly annoying. If Naruto tried to come out of the stairs and onto the next flight, he would be seen. The pebble trick wouldn't work this time because there were two people in the room.

Naruto took out a length of rope and performed the cloth binding technique on the guard at the stairs. It wasn't the actual sealing cloth and he wasn't actually using the seal, so all it would do was bind up the target. The guard made quite a bit of noise which alerted, but was effectively tied up for a few seconds before he would be able to regain his sense and escape.

Naruto threw a large instant smoke bomb in the room and bolted up the stairs. Now the guards would know that there was an intruder in the tower, but he would have time to actually get somewhere fast. There was no way that he was going to keep hiding from multiple highly trained ninja.

Now there were only two floors to go. The third floor and the floor with the Hokage's office.

Luckily for Naruto, the third and fourth floors weren't like the first two. Instead of a large circular room, they consisted of many rooms with a circular hallway around them on both floors and the Hokage's office was on the outside of the circular hallway on the fourth floor.

Naruto sprinted around the stairway turn and flew up the stairs to the fourth floor. He could hear the ninja on the second floor yelling that there was an intruder.

The Hokage's office was directly next to the stairs, and the guards in the hallway were in a different section at the moment. He inserted the key and turned it. Quickly but silently he opened the door and closed it behind him.

'Alright. Behind the desk.'

Naruto opened the cabinet and looked through it for the scroll. Quickly he saw a scroll about waist height among smaller scrolls. He grabbed it and closed the cabinet. He could hear the guards finally gathering.

"Where did they go? Check the Hokage's office."

"Oh shit. Dammit. I can't fit the scroll in the vents, so hiding in there is out. They'll check every inch of the room if it's unlocked when they check.'

Naruto frantically whipped around the room to look for a solution. 'Dammit! The room doesn't lock from the inside!"

'Hold on. That's it! Iruka sensei taught us this a few weeks back!'

Naruto ran up to the door handle and performed the rat hand seal. After focusing his chakra he put his hand on the door handle and released his chakra in a specific way for the jutsu.

"Locking Jutsu." He whispered silently, still needing the verbal command for the jutsu. If he was more experienced with it, he could do it with no command.

Naruto then sprinted around and under Hiruzen's desk to hide.

Several seconds later, a guard came by and jiggled the handle. "It's still locked! I'm going to look inside real quick!" The guard communicated to his fellow ninja.

The guard unlocked the door and opened it up. He quickly surveyed the room and found nothing out of the ordinary. "All clear! The intruder isn't in the Hokage's office!" He said as he closed the door and relocked it.

Naruto slowly released a breath that he didn't know he was holding. 'That was close. Now what to do?'

Naruto looked to the window and saw the tight key lock on it. 'I guess I could use the unlocking jutsu now that I'm clear.'

Naruto did so and pushed open the window slowly. He climbed out and closed and locked it once again.

'Stage one complete. Stage two, get away without being noticed and reach the forest.'

Naruto jumped across the rooftops of Konoha. He faintly recognized the figures of ninjas jumping towards the Hokage tower.

3 Hours Later, Abandoned Shack, Past Konoha Gates, 1:40 AM

Iruka jumped into the clearing and saw Naruto laying on the ground with scratches all over and his chest rapidly pumping up and down from exhaustion.

"Naruto! What are you doing?!"

Naruto jerked up. "Oh hey Iruka-sensei! Did Mizuki-sensei send you for the test?"

Iruka's eyebrow raised. "What test are you talking about Naruto?"

"You know, the secret graduation exam. Mizuki-sensei said that if I stole this scroll and learned a jutsu from it, I would still be allowed to be a genin!"

Iruka faltered at this. "Mizuki? Why would he do that?"

All of a sudden, Mizuki burst into the clearing and stopped on a tree branch. "Good job Naruto! Now give me the scroll!"

Iruka whipped around and looked at Naruto. "Don't give it to him Naruto! He tricked you! There is no secret test!"

"There isn't? Then why did Mizuki-sensei say that there is?"

Mizuki laughed. "You really haven't noticed yet?! I told you to get that scroll for me! Just give it to me! Iruka just wants the scroll for himself! He really hates you!"

"Don't listen to him Naruto! You need to protect the scroll!"

Mizuki continued to laugh. "Do you know why everyone hates you Naruto?!"

Iruka stepped forward. "Don't Mizuki! You know it's forbidden!"

Naruto stepped back. "W-What? Why everyone hates me? Why?"

Mizuki smirked. "Because Naruto, YOU ARE THE NINE-TAILED FOX!"

"I-I'm what?"

"The fourth Hokage could never kill the nine-tails so he sealed it in a boy! That boy is you Naruto! Now DIE!" Mizuki yelled as he hurled a fuma shuriken at Naruto.

Naruto closed his eyes and flinched in anticipation of the attack, but it never came.

He opened his eyes to see Iruka covering him with a large fuma shuriken stuck in his back. "A-Are you alright Naruto?" Iruka asked as he ripped out the shuriken and rolled over onto his back.

"I-Iruka-sensei? Why?"

Iruka coughed up some blood. "Because we're the same Naruto. I lost my parents during the nine-tails attack just like you. I grew up as an orphan, always goofing off and seeking attention from other people. You may not be the most innocent kid, but I can tell you one thing Naruto. You are not the Nine-tails. It is just sealed inside of you. You are one of the brightest students that I have ever taught. You always brought light into my day. Just run Naruto. Mizuki is too strong for you right now. Just take the scroll and run as fast as you can to the Hokage."

Naruto shook his head. "I can't leave you here! I still have to ask you so many-" Naruto was cut off.

Iruka's eyes closed and his body went limp.

"Iruka-sensei? Iruka-sensei?! COME ON! DON'T DIE ON ME! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE!" Naruto yelled as tears flew across his face. "YOU CAN'T DIE YET! YOU STILL HAVE TO TEACH ME STUFF RIGHT? IRUKA-SENSEI!"

Mizuki laughed. "HAHAHA! The pathetic demon can't even save his own pathetic teacher! Serves him right for protecting you all these years!"

Naruto stood up. "Shut up Mizuki."

"Or what?!"

Naruto's chest puffed up and he shot out a blob of…lava? Molten rock shot straight towards Mizuki, who barely dodged it. The edge of his shit was still extremely seared though.

'Lava release?! How the hell does this kid have a powerful Kekkei Genkai like that?!'

A red bubbling chakra began to form around Naruto. His eyes became slitted and red, his nails and teeth grew, and all of his scratches disappeared.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Naruto let out with a primal roar.

Mizuki jumped back as the oppressive feeling of the nine-tails chakra saturated the air. "Finally using your power demon brat?! Well I'll still kill you!"

Naruto leapt towards Mizuki at extreme speeds and punched him through multiple trees.

Naruto then shot out another series of molten rock blobs at Mizuki, although he still successfully dodged these.

"Fine brat! I'll get serious!"

Mizuki pulled out a vial and drank the contents inside. He soon began to grow much larger and more muscular. He also began to take on features of a tiger such as fur, stripes, and tiger ears.

"Take this demon brat!" Mizuki said as he seemingly disappeared and reappeared behind Naruto. Much like Naruto had done before, Mizuki punched him straight through multiple trees. Unlike Naruto however, he didn't stop there. He continuously sped to Naruto's location and was bouncing him around like a ball. They had travelled fairly far from the Konoha walls and Iruka's body was far out of sight. They were now in a large clearing that was nothing but plains.

Naruto was taking heavy damage, some of which was being healed quickly by the nine-tails chakra. However the intense pain and pummeling still disoriented Naruto enough that he couldn't respond.

'Dammit! What do I do? This power isn't enough!'

Naruto heard a deep voice resound in his head. "I will give you more power boy. Destroy your enemies. Rip them limb from limb and make them plead for mercy."

Naruto was suddenly inside of a dark and dank sewer with a large gate in front of him. "Are you the nine-tails?!"

"You catch on quick boy. So what will it be? More power, or would you like to die here and let your teacher's death be in vain?"

"Hell yeah I want more power! I'm gonna pummel this asshole into the ground for what he did to Iruka-sensei!" Naruto yelled back.

"I see. Very well then. I cannot give you much more power than this for now due to this insufferable seal, but it should be enough to deal with this weakling." The nine-tails said as red chakra leaked through the gates and flowed into Naruto.

On the outside, Mizuki had just let up on beating Naruto into a pulp when the red chakra around Naruto began to bubble even more and he sprouted one full tail. Mizuki jumped back far away from Naruto now. The chakra cloak itself was bad enough, but having a tail of power was bad. Mizuki needed to get out of there now. "Stay away you monster!"

"I TOLD YOU THAT I'LL KILL YOU! AND I'M NO MONSTER!" Naruto yelled once again.

However something was wrong. Something about Naruto's chakra didn't feel right. It felt like it was being distorted and changed quickly.

Naruto heard the nine-tails inside of his head again. "Oh shit! Stop taking the chakra! Stop taking it now! Cut it off! If you keep using my chakra you'll-"

The nine-tails was cut off when Naruto was enveloped in a monstrously sized blast of chakra smoke.

Mizuki screamed as he was drowned in glowing orange lava that dripped down onto him in a huge mass.

Hiruzen and ten anbu agents arrived and stopped on the branches of the surrounding trees.

Hiruzen's eyes widened. "Impossible. One hasn't been seen in decades. They stay far away from the elemental nations. I've never even heard of one like this."

The anbu were also immensely shocked.

Currently laying in the clearing was a 300 foot tall lava dragon. A four legged dragon covered in jet black scales across its back, legs, and the top of its head that looked like smooth cooled lava giant wings spanning across its back were similar to the body except they seemed to be made of muscle and fiber, rather than scales. It had pure liquid lava dripping from its mouth and onto the plains, causing the landscape to be severely charred.

The anbu with a cat mask next to Hiruzen spoke. "L-Lord Hokage, have you ever seen a dragon before?"

Hiruzen shook his head. "No I have not. I have only ever seen illustrations of them from people who had seen one by pure chance hundreds of years ago, and I have never even read any reference about any type of lava dragon. Dragons stay extremely far away from the elemental nations, so why would one come here now? And why one so rare? Just what does it want with Konoha now?"

Another anbu came up behind them. "Lord Hokage. Iruka Umino was found west of here a few miles. He is still alive, but just barely. I had him sent to the hospital immediately. I believe that he should live."

"Very good. I'm glad that Iruka is still alive, but what to do with this situation? And we still need to find Naruto as well."

At that moment, the lava dragon reared its head and looked directly at the group and opened its maw, showing a massive glowing red inside.

"Jiji?" The dragon spoke in an extremely deep and booming voice that echoed throughout the night without moving its mouth any further.

Hiruzen blinked. What? "Neko…..was that the dragon?"

"I-I believe so Lord Hokage."

Hiruzen yelled out. "Naruto? Are you there?!"

The dragon once again opened its mouth. "Jiji? Why are you so small? Why is there lava everywhere?"

Hiruzen yelled again. "NARUTO! LOOK DOWN AT YOUR FEET!"

The dragon obeyed and looked down to see huge claws and lava flowing through its cooled lava rock legs. "What the hell?! Why am I so big? How did this happen?!"

A call was heard from an anbu agent in the back of the group. "How much did you eat at breakfast today?!"

A stick was thrown at the anbu agent from the cat mask wearing anbu. "Shut up Tengu! This is serious!"

Hiruzen sighed before looking up again. "Naruto! Tell us what happened!"

"Mizuki-sensei told me that if I stole the scroll of seals and learned a jutsu from it, I could still be a genin. I did that and learned the Shadow Clone jutsu. Then Mizuki-sensei showed up and tried to attack me after telling me about the nine-tails. Iruka-sensei blocked it and saved me….IRUKA-SENSEI! Where is Iruka-sensei's body?!" Naruto yelled as he whipped around with his large body.

Hiruzen jumped to a higher point on the tree. "Iruka is currently in the hospital! An anbu agent found him on the brink of death, but they said that he should live! What else happened after that Naruto?!"

"Iruka-sensei is OK? Awesome! After that, I used some weird lava power and spit some lava at him. Then I ended up using some of the nine-tails chakra, but Mizuki-sensei used some stupid tiger transformation thing to get stronger than me. Then the nine-tails spoke to me and gave me more power. The chakra cloak that I had sprouted a tail and this happened. I got covered in a ton of smoke and now I'm like this!" Naruto explained.

Hiruzen rubbed his chin. "You used a lava power you say? That sounds like lava release. Anyway, are you able to change back?!"

"How?"

Hiruzen faltered. "I-I do not know Naruto. I have never seen anything like this. As you should know from your classes, no one has seen a dragon in an extremely long time! They stay far away from the elemental nations on separate continents, so I don't know why you would change into one of them! Did the nine-tails say why this happened?!"

"Uhhh… It told me to not use its chakra before I transformed. I can ask it why."

"Yes please do!" Hiruzen requested.

Naruto focused on the feeling that he had before, which proved to not be very difficult at all. Apparently this transformation gave Naruto a bigger connection with the nine-tails.

Naruto appeared in the sewer once again, except now he was back in his normal human form. "Hey nine-tails, do you know why I got transformed into a dragon? If this is your fault I swear I'm gonna come in there myself!"

The nine-tails walked up to the bars of the cage. "Yeah I know why it happened. Your powerful affinity for your lava release Kekkei Genkai got mixed with my chakra and mutated you. I guess you have some dragon blood somewhere in your heritage because that's the only reason that you would turn into a dragon. The latent genes were probably enhanced and magnified to an insane level and mixed with your lava release."

"So am I gonna stay like this forever?!"

The nine-tails waited a moment to think before responding. "I think that it's temporary. It's gonna take you a while to learn to control it to a point where you can turn back into a human though."

Naruto sighed. He could work with that. "Thanks!" Naruto said as he disappeared back into the real world.

"The nine-tails said that it's temporary. It said that it'll take a while for me to learn how to control it so that I can be a human again though."

Hiruzen also sighed in relief. At least it was reversible. "And did it say why it happened?!"

"Well it said that my lava release got mixed with its chakra and ended up mutating me. It said that the only reason that I would turn into a dragon though is if I had dragon blood in my heritage."

"Dragon blood? You mean that at some point in your heritage you are related to a dragon?"

"Uhhh, yes? I don't know Jiji, but what do I do until I can learn to control this?!" Naruto roared unintentionally.

"Naruto please attempt to keep your speaking at a normal level. When you yell it almost sends out a shockwave." Hiruzen said as he clamped his hands to his ears.

Somehow even in his Dragon form, Naruto managed to look slightly ashamed. "Sorry Jiji. I'll try to be quiet, but what do we do now?" He said in a quiet tone which wasn't really quiet, but it was a significant step down from the earlier volume.

Hiruzen pondered the options for a minute before speaking. "Well it is clear that you still need to get used to this body, so the first thing to do is figure that out. While you do that, I will have the most powerful earth users in Konoha to clear out the inside of one of the Dravass Mountains." He explained quickly. "They are rather close to Konoha, but not too far away. Given your sudden change in size, you will need a place to live. I believe that one of the Dravass Mountains would suit your needs well. No one really crosses through that territory anyway, so there shouldn't be much danger in it."

Dragon Naruto sighed. "That's good. It would suck for the villagers to see me like this. I hope I can get this under control fast enough."

Hiruzen shifted uncomfortably. "Well Naruto….almost everyone in Konoha has already seen you. They can most likely see you right now. Don't worry, they don't know that it is you yet. Although I imagine that word will spread quickly. No matter how tight I make security, secrets like that always get out rather fast. Would you like me to inform them of your identity?"

Naruto lowered his large head to the ground and pouted for a moment, which was somewhat comical for a giant dragon with lava dripping out of its mouth. "Yeah I guess if you think that it'll get out pretty fast then there's no reason to try to hide it, and I suppose that a mountain sounds cool. How long would I live there?"

The Hokage looked to an anbu for help, but the nearest anbu simply shook his head and indicated that it was his problem. 'Damn all of you. You're all supposed to be elite ninja, but outside of actual assigned missions you're all just a bunch of eccentric goofballs.'

"Naruto I honestly don't know how to put this in a good way. You may have to live in the Dravass Mountains for the rest of your life. Even if you are able to get this under control, if it is not entirely reversible we could never be sure that it would be safe for you to live in Konoha long-term. Unless you find a way to completely restrain the power and only activate it exactly when you want to, we can't risk something like you transforming during sleep."

Naruto roared loudly in sadness. "You mean that I'll never be allowed into Konoha again?!"

"No! If you are able to control your power, you will be allowed into Konoha whenever you would like."

Naruto calmed down for a moment before wailing again. "Wait that means that I'll never be Hokage since I won't be a ninja!"

Hiruzen sweat slightly. Partially because of the situation and also because of the intense heat emanating from Naruto at the moment. "Well actually we may be able to come up with a solution for that. I can't be sure yet, but I may be able to hold a spot for you on a certain genin squad while you practice gaining control. Now let's attempt to have you move your body. Just try slowly standing up."

The dragon nodded and attempted to push itself up with its back two legs. It was actually looking fairly promising at first until Naruto attempted to straighten out too much and began to fall backwards. He landed on his back and wings, crushing immense amounts of forest.

"Owwww. Note to self, don't try being that straight ever again." Naruto groaned.

"You are no longer in a humanoid body Naruto! You will have to adjust your posture significantly if you want this to work. Also, I recommend trying to support yourself with all four of your limbs. Using your wings as well may increase stability!" Hiruzen yelled while in the midst of giving orders to anbu.

Naruto rolled over onto his belly to get ready to try again, which ended up destroying even more forestry. He then attempted to push himself up with his front two claws this time before slowly rising with his hind legs. It was certainly a literal shaky attempt, but it was at least standing.

"Well at least you have no deficiency in muscle mass now Naruto." Hiruzen mused with a slight chuckle. "For now let us continue to get this down. You will have to sleep outside in this area for at least tonight. Tomorrow I will make the announcement about your true identity and get many high ranking earth jutsu users to begin creating your new home. I suppose that I will have to reveal most of the events of the night to protect your social integrity."

The Next Day, Outside The Hokage Tower, Konohagakure no Sato

Almost every single villager in the hidden leaf had come to hear whatever announcement the Hokage was going to make. Everyone from the young children to the elderly.

Other than a few people, no one in Konoha got any sleep the previous night after the incident. Especially those who could still see the sleeping form of a giant dragon off in the distance. It reminded most people too much of the nine-tails attack to stay still.

Hiruzen stepped out to the edge of the balcony and pushed chakra into his throat to project his voice across the crowd. It also helped that there were speakers placed in certain places.

"Ahem….Greetings people of Konoha. I am sure that you are all wondering about the incident that happened last night. I am here to tell you that you needn't have fear of the dragon currently residing in the forest. In fact, he is allied with Konoha long-term."

Murmurs spread throughout the crowd. Many people knew of the existence of dragons on faraway continents but they never expected one to show up here, much less one that was willing to ally with Konoha.

"However, this dragon is not just any type of dragon. He is actually a ninja of Konoha that discovered his ability to transform into the form of a supposed lava dragon. He unlocked this ability last night while apprehending a traitor to Konoha named Mizuki Toji."

The crowd got fairly loud at this, especially the parents of the academy students and the students themselves. Hiruzen hadn't even gotten to the surprising part yet.

After waiting for the crowd to calm down, he took a deep breath and continued. "You may be wondering who this ninja is. The ninja capable of transforming into a dragon is…Naruto Uzumaki."

Now the crowd turned from murmurs and light talking to shouts of disbelief and slight anger.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!"

"That's bullshit!"

"No way! That brat couldn't have all that power!"

Naruto's classmates in particular were shocked. They had all been rallied together and placed slightly to the side by the request of Hiruzen earlier so that if any whispers of the nine-tails occurred, they would be much less likely to hear them.

Kiba ruffled his hair violently in confusion. "The dobe can do that?! What the hell is happening?! This is bullshit!"

"Troublesome. Leave it to Naruto for this to be the one time it isn't a prank."

Ino shook Shikamaru's shoulders in panic. "How can you be so calm about this Shikamaru?! This is huge! Bigger than huge! This is gossip the size of…..the size of….a dragon! This can't be happening! The dobe of the academy can't have that much power!" Ino yelled, falling into a slump on the ground from gossip overload™.

Choji had stopped munching on chips entirely. "N-Naruto can do something like this?"

Hinata had also fainted along with Ino.

Shino stood in silence while processing all of the information.

Sakura was banging her head against the wall. "How? How? How? How? How can the dobe do something like that? Sasuke-kun is better. Sasuke-kun is better. Sasuke-kun is better." She chanted as she began to make a slight indent in the wall with her forehead.

Sasuke was standing next to Sakura punching the same wall. "I'm better than him. I'm better than him. I'm better than him. I'm better than him."

The rest of the irrelevant students that won't be named were also in a panic. The thought of Naruto of all people having such a power was…..terrifying. They were imagining the pranks, and it was not good.

Iruka watched the scene from his wheelchair with an IV pole hooked up to him and sighed. The Hokage had informed him of the situation when he woke up.

Hiruzen coughed loudly to get everyone's attention. "As I am sure that you would all like the full story, I will tell you the events of the night. Late last night Mizuki approached Naruto and told him that he could graduate and become a genin if he stole the scroll of seals, which is a highly important scroll of powerful jutsu that should not be given to anyone other than myself."

A sharp intake of breath.

"Naruto found this odd, and so he approached me about the topic. I told him to go along with the plan as if there were nothing wrong and steal the scroll. After he did so, he met up with the traitor in the forest. I had chunin Iruka Umino follow Naruto to intercept Mizuki. Unfortunately, he was somewhat stronger than anticipated and was able to pierce Iruka's back with a fuma shuriken. In his anger, Naruto lashed out at the traitor with his newly discovered lava release." He lied. He hadn't actually known that Naruto was stealing the scroll, and he hadn't told them that Naruto learned a jutsu from the scroll. But they didn't need to know that.

A faint "That's such bullshit!" was heard from Kiba in the back.

"Well as I was saying, Naruto attacked the traitor with his lava release. Mizuki was able to use an unknown concoction to power himself up. This was when Naruto's transformation was triggered through certain circumstances and the result was what you have witnessed. When we arrived and discovered that the dragon was indeed Naruto, we spoke about the plans for the future. He should be able to learn to control his power and revert back into his normal human form eventually. As a result of all of this, Naruto will be living inside of one of the Dravass Mountains until further notice. I would advise all of you to stay away from the area unless permitted by me." Hiruzen finished. "Any questions?"

One of the academy students spoke up from the academy area. "How big is he?!"

Hiruzen sweatdropped. 'An academy student would ask that.'

"Well we can't be entirely sure yet due to the fact that we have not measured him yet as I'm sure that you can understand, however we estimate that he is about 100 meters tall standing." He explained.

"How will he live in one of the Dravass Mountains?! They aren't exactly hollow!"

The elderly Hokage nodded. "Indeed. That is why I have tasked some of my finest earth style users in Konoha with the assignment of doing so and readying one of the mountains for living."

A large man called out from the crowd. "Is he full size?!"

"Most likely not. Seeing as Naruto is still a child and has not hit his human growth spurt yet, we can assume that his dragon form will grow much larger as well." He replied calmly with a continuous nod and a tap on the railing.

"How does that brat have lava release?!"

A sigh emanated from Hiruzen. "Are you even aware of how elemental Kekkei Genkai work?"

A collective nod came from the ninja and some of the civilians.

"Well then you should know that it is most likely due to a simple combination of Naruto having two affinities, Fire and Earth. It could also be through direct heritage, however we have very solid reason to believe that this is false. So it is most likely just the luck of the draw." He said with closed eyes.

"Was the scroll of seals retrieved?!" Yelled a concerned chunin in the crowd.

Hiruzen stopped for a moment to think before speaking. "Well we actually don't know where it is. It is possible that it was melded with Naruto when he transformed. I would assume that when he is able to transform back into his normal form he will still have it with him."

Some sighs of relief came from the ninja population while some were still worried about 'The Demon Brat' having the scroll of seals.

"Are we safe?!"

A nod. "Of course. Naruto is entirely loyal to Konoha, and he has been promoted to the rank of Genin due to his technical completion of his mission. Could he prank all of Konoha with his new power? Possibly. That isn't my fault though. You all should have paid more attention to him before this." He said with a slight smirk.

A shiver went down the spines of many villagers in the crowd.

A loud roar was heard rumbling through the air coming all the way from Naruto's large figure off in the distance. Of course he couldn't hear the conversation, but the villagers didn't know that and the timing was all too perfect.

"It seems that Naruto agrees. If you would excuse me, I believe that I have a dragon to speak to."

A Few Minutes Later, Konoha Plains

Hiruzen jumped onto the peak of the highest tree around the clearing. "Naruto what are you roaring about?!"

"I'm booooooooooooooooored!" Naruto revealed with an irritated tone.

The Hokage sweatdropped. "I-I see. I suppose that is understandable given your current condition. I think that you would be interested to know that I have just revealed the situation to the people of Konoha. I twisted the truth slightly just like we planned. You're safe from ridicule. If anything, you look even better in the eyes of the villagers."

Naruto relaxed. "Oh good. What did my friends say?"

"The academy students? Well I couldn't entirely hear them, however they all seemed fairly shocked and panicked. I think that you will be pleased to know that Sasuke in particular did not take the news well. I also remember vividly young Kiba's use of the word "bullshit" multiple times." Hiruzen laughed.

Naruto stuck his head in the air and laughed, which was quite terrifying actually. "HAHAHA! I wish I could have been there! I bet Sakura was in awe."

"Well there would have been numerous problems with that, but I agree that it would have been amusing. Even the Hokage can appreciate a good laugh every once and a while. Although on the topic of the Haruno girl, I believe that she was chanting something about Sasuke being better." Hiruzen revealed with a chuckle.

He had begun calling Sakura "the Haruno girl" after he really heard how she acted and treated Naruto. He had even swung by for a visit to the classroom to check up on them and give a short speech somewhat meant for her. Either she chose to ignore it or she didn't get the not so subtle hints at her. Brightest kunoichi of her generation apparently didn't mean much anymore, or at least not when it came down to Sasuke Uchiha.

Naruto's head fell back down as he pouted once again. "Awww. All she ever does is talk about him. What's so good about him that I don't have?!" Naruto questioned.

Hiruzen coughed. He supposed that it was a good time to crush Naruto's dreams about the girl.

"Well Naruto, you have many good points but I think that I know why she is so much more interested in Sasuke. After all, he is relatively handsome, he is the top of his class in combat and is only second to her in academics, and unfortunately girls tend to attract to the broody types. Meanwhile you don't put much work into your presentation, you were the bottom of the academic scale, and you are bright mannered and outgoing." He explained.

Naruto dug his head into the ground even further. "Aww. That sucks."

"Although, there is one thing that females gravitate towards even more than the broody and secluded boys."

Once again, Naruto shot his head up and looked at Hiruzen at eye level. Or….treetop level in general. "What is it?!"

"Well, the one thing that girls like more than the Sasuke type is a strong and dependable leader. Someone who can present themselves as a powerful leader who trusts in the people and will lead them to peace. Coincidentally these are also some of the traits of a Hokage."

The dragon somewhat humorously nodded it's with fervor.

"I get it! So I need to be strong and smart right?"

Hiruzen sweatdropped. 'Well I suppose that there isn't any danger of Naruto becoming secluded and emo even if he follows that plan.'

"Yes Naruto. That just about sums it up."

"Awesome! I'll get this power working and be super strong!"

The Hokage put on a more serious tone. "Although I think that I should point something out to you Naruto."

He tilted his head questioningly.

"I don't think that the Haruno girl is worth your time and effort."

'I can't believe that I'm about to have a girl talk with a giant dragon.'

"What?!" He exclaimed in surprise. "What do you mean Sakura isn't worth it?! She's awesome!"

"Well what does she have that you like?"

"She's super smart! And she's pretty!"

"Is that all?" Hiruzen deadpanned.

"What else is there?"

"I can agree that she is a bright child, but only in academics. In situational awareness and strategic planning in stressful and unexpected situations she is average."

Naruto lowered.

"As for her appearance she may be attractive, but do you believe that a person should be judged based off of their appearance? That a person should be seen as an object for how they look?"

"Of course not! That's terrible!"

"Well then how is this any different? From what I hear, Ino Yamanaka is also quite the looker in your age group. In addition, she is the top kunoichi of your year as well and is only beaten by Sakura in pure academic grades. Why do you not lust after her?" He harshly questioned.

Naruto flinched. "I don't know. She's just cool."

Hiruzen's gaze intensified. "Cool how? Is she strong?"

"…..No."

"Is she average at fighting then?"

"No. She's in the lower tiers in combat." Naruto said flinchingly.

"So she is only smart in one type of way, she is rivalled in beauty, and she is not strong. Is she fast?"

"No."

"Is she stealthy?"

"No."

"Is she loyal to her causes?"

"Of course!"

"So would you say that she is not fickle?"

"Yeah!"

"Then let's say that she has an opinion that is similar to yours. Now imagine that Sasuke Uchiha comes up and presents a different opinion. What would she do?"

"….She would agree with him."

"Even if she agreed with an opposite opinion a moment ago?"

"Yeah." Naruto said sadly.

"So is she independent?"

"No."

"Do you think that she has a healthy mindset for a ninja?"

"Sure!"

"So then does she always devote herself to her training?"

"…..No. She always stands back and does the least that she can."

"I see. Well the final question is…Is Sakura Haruno kind?"

"Yeah!"

"She treats you well? This is news to me Naruto. I have always observed her hitting you and berating you for everything you do, even if you are in the right. She ridicules you and thinks of you as less. She believes herself to be a superior person to you because of her academic ranking. She looks down on everyone else and is not unwilling to hurt someone who disagrees with her or Sasuke. Does that sound like a kind person to you? Someone who would beat another in every instance and never consider the other person's situation or life? Who would judge someone based off of assumptions and rumors?" Hiruzen rapid-fire questioned.

"….No. I guess she is pretty mean."

Hiruzen nodded in satisfaction. "So then tell me her good points. Why do you like her?"

….

"I don't know." Naruto said with a whisper.

"I'm sorry?"

"I SAID I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW WHY! SHE'S A TERRIBLE PERSON AND SHE ISN'T EVEN STRONG!"

….

Hiruzen nodded sadly. It wasn't like he wanted to crush the boy's dreams, but if Naruto was going to become a ninja he needed to have the right mindset about people.

"Very well Naruto. I would like for you to think about that for a while. However for now we will have your practice transforming back into your normal form. Your space in the mountain will be done in a few days, so until then we will practice here."

Naruto looked down sadly. "OK. How do I start?"

"I want you to close your eyes and imagine your normal form as best as you can. Whatever your form was before your transformation, I want you to clearly imagine it in your mind. Imagine every detail. Your height, weight, build, the clothes you were wearing, the texture of those clothes, the scroll of seals on your back, any large cuts or bruises, and anything else that you can think of." Hiruzen requested.

"Alright. I guess I'll try."

6 Hours Later, Konoha Plains

Naruto had been attempting to change back for six hours. Hiruzen had long since left, having to attend to his duties as Hokage. Luckily he was able to put more time into speaking with Naruto since he could just file it under official business now, but he still had work to do.

Even after six hours of attempting to change back, Naruto had barely made any progress at all. Actually he technically hadn't made any actual progress, he was just able to envision his own form and focus on his chakra slightly better. It sucked.

"Agh. This is going to be a long trip." He complained tiredly.

The Hokage had warned him that it would be difficult and that he probably wouldn't get it down at first, but this was absurd. It was going to take forever to master it.

6 Days Later, Dravass Mountains

Naruto was currently standing in front of one of the Dravass Mountains curiously. The past few days he had effectively learned to maneuver in his new form and he had even started to learn how to fly. He wasn't far with it yet, but he had started.

He had just travelled by land to get to the Dravass Mountains instead, which left a considerable line of broken trees and trampled land behind him in a straight line.

He could see multiple shinobi milling in and out of the middle mountain of the 7 mountains. He could see effects of multiple jutsu having been formed and currently being formed. There was now an entrance that would allow him to enter and exit the mountain at will, and there was supposedly a large hollowed out area with multiple different hallways and rooms.

Hiruzen landed next to Naruto. "They should be finished with the final touches soon today and you should be able to move in."

"Cool. I've always kind of wanted to live in a mountain, so I guess that this is sort of a dream come true."

They spotted a Jounin sprinting towards the Hokage. "Hm. That may be them now to tell us that they are done."

The Jounin arrived and kneeled in front of Hiruzen after doing a small bow to the monstrous dragon right next to him out of respect and partial fear.

"Lord Hokage there is somewhat of a complication."

Hiruzen frowned. Of course there would be a problem at the last second. "Report."

"Well we were doing the last bit of excavation on one of the walls when we noticed something odd. There were gems and other rare stones inside of the wall. We checked through our already removed rock and found some more as well. We speculate that there will be much more later on if we continue to dig further in the direction of the gems."

The elderly Hokage put his hand on his chin and pondered. "Hmm. Well what to do, what to d-"

"Gems?! I want them!" Naruto cut off Hiruzen.

"Naruto? You've never shown any interest in the valuable before, so why now?"

"I…..I don't know. I want em though. Can I have them?!"

Hiruzen thought back to his studies on dragons momentarily and sighed. "I see. I have read about this in scrolls and books about dragon behavior. Once a dragon reaches the young stage of its life past a wyrmling, it begins to develop a need to start collecting a hoard of treasures." He explained. "Based off of your size, I would say that you are about the size of a very fresh adult dragon or a young dragon on the far end of the spectrum. If it is your supposed dragon blood that was enhanced and magnified, I suppose that the greedy natural instinct would also kick in."

Naruto nodded. "Alright. So can I have em then?"

The Jounin looked at Hiruzen as well.

"I…..I suppose so. They could be valuable, but I suppose that feeding your instincts may be one of the best things that we can do right now. Should we remove them and clean them to gather in a pile?"

"Yeah!" Naruto exclaimed happily as he…..wagged his tail slightly? What was he, a dog?

"I see…Well then Jounin, you heard the dragon. Have your men gather up all of the already mined gems and remove the rock and dirt from them. Also dig out any readily available gems without messing up the work that has already been done." He ordered.

"Yes Lord Hokage." The Jounin jumped away to inform his men of the new plans.

Hiruzen sighed. "You really are too much sometimes Naruto. Even in dragon form you still have that insane luck of yours. I do hope that this is the only dragon tendency that you develop. At least you still have your own personality which counteracts that a bit. Otherwise you may have been demanding the gems instead of asking."

Naruto whipped his head away from intensely watching the ninja clean the gems.

"What'd you say Jiji?"

Hiruzen sighed with a smile. "Nothing Naruto."

Author's Note: Hey guys! Thanks for reading the first chapter of my new story. I really do appreciate the time that you took to give it a chance. I know that it has a concept that is a bit more out there, but I hope that you can bear with me for now.

Expect future chapters at least 10k words like my other story. Depending on where I am at in the plot and how I am feeling, I may put more as well. If I fall short, it is because I felt that the end was a good place to end off the chapter, but I won't just get lazy and make it shorter. For this one, I felt like this was a good place to end off, plus the first chapter gets a little bit of leeway.

If you have any suggestions, I would be absolutely happy to hear them and talk about them.

And as always, thanks for reading.