Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. To be honest, I don't own anything. :P

This Fanfic is for my good acquaintance Carrie. She is the only reason I am writing it. If anyone else reads it and doesn't like it, I am sorry for wasting your time XD.

Chapter 1: An Easy Dream

Inumaru Misukasha sat at his desk starring at his text book. There was so much to know and so little time. His head started to feel heavy as he felt it bobbing forward. "Not yet" He thought, "just a few more chapters..." The world became dimmer and his thoughts became incoherent. If I sleep now, then I will never become…

His body jerked from the sound of his door sliding opening. "Inu, dear. How come you haven't gone to bed yet? Tomorrow is such a big day for you. You don't want to fall asleep during the ceremony, do you?"
"I'm fine mom. I was just doing some studying." He said with annoyance. "And besides even if I didn't have any sleep, I wouldn't fall asleep tomorrow. Tomorrow is the day I become a ninja!" Inumaru beamed. "The day I waited for my whole life."
His mother touched his shoulder, "That's fine dear, but will you at least call it a night? You will be able to stay up tomorrow." Inumaru gave out a loud sigh and closed his text book. "Tomorrow, isn't just the day you become a ninja Inu, it is also the day you become a man." Inumaru smiled, and looked up his mother, she was smiling too, but her eyes were sad.
"What's wrong mother?" She shook her head. "It's nothing. You and Isia are growing up so fast and it's just hard for a parent sometimes to accept that. Now take off your glasses and get to bed."
His mother ushered him over to his bed, tucked him in, and kissed his forehead. "You shouldn't do that mushy stuff mother! What will all the other ninjas think?" She grinned, "Good night, Inuy" As he protested being called that name, she turned off the light. Her figure stood at the door for a moment, blackened from the light behind her. Then she closed the door and was gone. Inumaru's room was completely dark. He waited for his mother's footsteps to fade before reaching around in the dark to find his night table. He opened it up and found what he was looking for. "Ah, this will be the last night I need you, Shingno-san." Plugging in his action figure nightlight the room suddenly lit up. "After tonight, I won't be afraid anymore." Ninjas can't be afraid.

The bed made a loud creek as he flopped back in it. His eyes stared at the ceiling for a moment but drifted to the poster hanging above his bed. It was a poster of Shingo, his favorite ninja of all time. He was so famous in the Village Hidden the Hills that there was a movie made about him. It had been Inumaru's dream since he had heard of Shingo, to become a ninja just like him. The weight of sleep suddenly returned. In order to become like Shingo he would have to master countless jutsus. And so far he hadn't mastered a single one. So much to learn and so little time… His eyes closed and darkness took him.

Inumaru stood at the edge of a pond. A cliff on the other side had a waterfall cascading down making a low rumbling sound when the moving water hit the pond. He knew this place; it was a place he regularly visited to study by himself. A girl sat on a rock close to him looking out across the water. It was his older sister, Isia. Her long brown hair was put up in pony tail. She didn't seem to notice he was there.

"Sis, what are you doing here?" She didn't seem to hear him. On her headband was the Village Hidden in the Hills symbol two arches beside each other. What is going on? Isia suddenly tensed up and drew a kuknife out of her ninja pouch "What are you doing here?" She wasn't looking at him. Inumaru followed her gaze to a man standing on top of the water. That's so cool! How is he doing that? But the admiration suddenly vanished when the man drew a large sword resting on his back. His clothes were black and torn. On his forehead was a headband Inumaru couldn't recognize. A wicked smile came to his face and his eyes glared, "I finally found both of you."

Inumaru looked around but there wasn't a second person. Is he talking about me? The man stuck his large sword into the water and the sword stuck in it as if it were solid ground. He started to make hand signs in a rapid blur and quickly uttering the ancient ninja language. "Ninja Art: Water Style. Water Dragon jutsu." A water dragon's head rose from the pond and hovered in the air. "Your father was a fool to think he could hide you here."

Inumaru fell to his knees, his whole body was shaking. What do I do? Should I try to run? Can I out run him?

"Earth Style: Rock Wall Jutsu" He heard his sister say in a firm voice. She didn't seem scared at all. Her legs were planted on the rock and her eyes were focused. Suddenly, two walls of mud and rock by the shore exploded upwards to make a wall in front of her and Inumaru. This time she turned to him, "Run Inu, go back and tell dad what is happening here. I will be ok." Before he could think his legs started to carry him away into the forest. I can't leave her. I can't leave her. But no matter how much he said it in his mind, his legs would not stop running in the opposite direction. There was a loud roar from behind him and an explosion. There was a moment of silence that made him freeze. A loud scream rose from where he had just come. Everything in his body felt cold. The trees behind him began to break and fall. That ninja was coming for him. Just before the shadow broke the tree line, he woke up.

Inumaru sat up in his bed looking around his room. It was still dark outside.It was just a dream. He reassured himself. Was he really such a coward? "When the time comes will I run…?" He slowly murmured to himself. Inumaru felt hopeless. Shingo probably would have beaten him no problem. "Who am I kidding? I will never be like Shingo." Pulling the covers over his shoulder he stared at his nightlight. This time, sleep came slowly.