A/N: Hey there! This story is a semi-crossover as quite a few themes will show up, but with which anime/manga you ask? My answer is it will be better for you to find out while reading through the story, so you can learn it as well as Naruto and co. will at the same time! It's one of the most popular anime, so that should help you narrow it down until the end, then it'll be really obvious. I will eventually reveal what it is crossed with officially, but if you want the authentic experience of reading while learning at the same time as the characters, than get reading sooner rather then later! Imagine it like a little journey you and the gang will go through together, now won't that just be sweet?

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in regards to this story, including its characters and all else entailed within it... unfortunately.

Italics: A character's thoughts, or Kyuubi's (Nine-tails') dialogue. Also used for emphasis in some cases.

Bold: An emphasis on something or the name of an important object.


Prologue

Her footsteps sounded off the walls of the alley. The sharp clacks of her Waraji sandals against the pavement somehow conveyed a hurried sort of nervousness, but she didn't know why she was so anxious. Yes, she wasn't used to being on such patrols, but it was barely after dark—far earlier than usual. Her captain had instructed her there was going to be no threat in the area, but still, something tonight had made her skin crawl. She shuddered against the cold wind and picked up the pace, her black garb swaying in the wind. The woman was grateful she only had a few more streets to patrol before heading back to her warm yet ethereal home.

The mouth of the alley opened up just a few more steps away; she hurried her pace to a jog, feeling just a little foolish. She was in the safest and only Shinobi Village in the country; she had little reason to be so paranoid. But why did she feel like she was being watched? Silly, silly girl. Nothing ever happened to anyone patrolling in this place, or so she thought.

When she reached the end of the alley she stopped, looking around and breathing a sigh of relief. That was her mistake. She felt huge spiritual energy and before she knew it, that was the last breath she ever took.


...

It was an overcast day in Konoha, The village hidden in the leaves. A few months after the Invasion of Pain and the reconstruction was already almost finished, largely due to the huge effort of everyone who lived there wishing for it to return to normality once again. The people were friendly, kind and proud of living in such a prestigious shinobi village, as shown in their defense of it during the Invasion of Pain and all Great Wars of the past.

The layout of the village remained largely the same, except that the Hokage tower was now central to the village, compared to its previous spot at being near the Hokage mountain. A large apartment complex also in the center of the village is where our budding Ninja resides, and who is that you ask?

Naruto Uzumaki: "The Number One Hyperactive Knucklehead Ninja "of Konoha - or better known as the "Hero of the Hidden Leaf" - wearily gazed out his window to the picturesque view of his Village. He barely willed himself to wake up; it was 11am, which was incredible early for him considering it was Sunday. He rubbed his tired eyes and looked down at the streets below him.

The village truly was the best of community life, with buzzing streets, markets and businesses flourishing; Shinobi making up a large proportion of the population. He saw the new Hokage tower surrounded with visitors and Shinobi alike, admiring its beauty as a Village landmark. Overall, there was much for the eye to see in this newly Iconic Village.

However, there was one Shinobi in particular that caught Naruto's scrutinizing eye:

Kiba Inuzuka.

He was often called "dog-boy" or "dog breath" jokingly, but his chocolate-brown hair, well-toned body and handsomely toothy grin could certainly elicit far more complementary nicknames... at least that's what Naruto thought.

Naruto had previously been in denial to whether he had emotional feelings of any kind for Kiba, as he had always thought Sakura was the 'Apple of his eye'. Yet after spending more time with the dog-nin after the Invasion of Pain, he had come to realize that he had far more in common with him then he first thought, such as their ideals, morals and sense of humor, especially when it came to pranks.

Kiba had become his best friend over the last few months, actively supporting and encouraging Naruto's dream of becoming Hokage through mutual training and always being there for him when needed, which Naruto would never take for granted. Naruto was fast becoming attached to the other boy, and secretly yearned for more than their friendship already offered.

The blonde, however, had many trust issues with people. He knew full well that he was before scowled and shunned for being the jinchuuriki, the host, of the nine-tailed fox; which had caused him to have a constant defensive aura about him, making him keep many secrets to himself.

However the nine-tailed fox, or Kyuubi, was in fact a surprisingly compassionate being - contrary to what most people assume - as she had always treated Naruto like her son since she was first sealed within him. This led to a familial kind of bond between them both, which actually gave Naruto the proper mental and emotional upbringing that he needed to cope in the harsh Shinobi world. Due to this she was the only one who he trusted with secrets such as his like of Kiba, no one else.

But when concerning such types of relationships, Naruto didn't categorized himself as Gay, Straight or any other sexuality, as truth be told he rarely had any true sexual urges for other people. Yes, he used to be madly infatuated with Sakura in the academy days, but he never had many explicit thoughts about the pink-haired teammate.

He did however have a brief relationship with his other team-mate, Sasuke Uchiha: but he'd rather not remember it in all honesty, partly due to it being too painful to do so. Only Kiba now makes Naruto feel woozy, nervous and experience a feeling he's never had with anyone before: so in a way Naruto thought of himself as a "Kibasexual", however silly it may sound.

Naruto returned to reality from his reflective thoughts, and he saw Kiba stroll across the street walking towards his apartment complex.

"He's probably going to the market under the complex..." Naruto sighed, resisting any thoughts of Kiba visiting him.

The blonde got up unenthusiastically from his double-bed and walked to his en-suite bathroom, ready to wash away the grime and dirt that covered his otherwise striking body. He arrived in the small bathroom and took a look in the mirror.

His yellow hair was messy as always, but he thought it looked fine as it was. He brushed his teeth and grinned into the mirror to see his now squeaky-clean smile, which looked presentable and attractive to match. He looked pretty good considering he's just woke up. He did however suffer from mild acne from time to time, like many other teens his age. Luckily he looked pretty clear today, so he proceeded to jump in the shower and got on with cleaning himself.

After he'd finished his bathroom ritual he wandered into the Kitchen and took a look in his cupboards to see what he could devour for Brunch. He didn't get much money for his missions, so he had a minimal supply of food, except for his bountiful supply of Ramen, however, which was of great importance in his food budget.

"Raaamen! Raaamen!" he beamed, making a song for his beloved food while opening the cupboard in front of him.

He reached for an instant miso ramen pot at the top of his cupboard with ease, then pulled the lid off and took the sachet out. He flipped the Kettle on and jumped onto his springy-sofa humming and singing to help pass the time. He thought about how the day was going to play out, which wasn't too spectacular in his mind as it was just lazing about at home, or maybe getting some training done at best.

*Click* The kettle finished boiling the water, causing Naruto to shoot up from his sofa to the kitchen as fast as lightning, in seconds he was already pouring the boiled water into the holy ramen pot. He added the contents of the sachet and waited another few minutes for it to cook, humming to himself as usual.

It had finally finished cooking after about three minutes, the savory smell of Miso was heavenly to his nose.

"Come here, my love." he whispered, trying to seduce the beautiful meal. He lifted the bowl of Ramen to his face, and took a deep breath from his nose to fully smell the Ramen, when-

*KNOCK* *KNOCK*

- unfortunately for him, he dropped the bowl in fright as the last thing he expected was someone knocking at his door, especially while he was about to consume his godly brunch. The blonde was, to say the least, incredibly pissed off at this rude awakening, largely because it cost him his beautiful Ramen.

He stormed over to the door, opening it with enough force to put the Hokage to shame. He didn't look to see who was at the door, but still shouted at them with absolute disgust, owing to his melodramatic response.

"Now who the hell do you think you are causing me to drop my…?!" He barked, but his eyes were no longer consumed with the raging flames of hell, but instead surprise after he took in who his visitor was.

"Oh, hi there K-Kiba… w-what brings you here?" The blonde said apprehensively, completely forgetting the now-cold, abandoned Ramen on the floor that caused his earlier outrage.

"Uh hey Naruto, I was just wondering if you wanted to train with me for a bit?" Kiba said with self-assurance, not at all phased by Naruto's rage beforehand.

"Y-Yeah that'd be great! I need to get changed though, so I'll meet you at the grounds in an hour or so?"

"Sure thing, I'll see you there then!" Kiba winked goodbye then dashed off, leaving a flustered and blushing Naruto left standing at the door feeling ready to faint.

'Damn, I'm starting to turn into Hinata!' Horror took hold of him, as although he found her to be a great friend and Shinobi, she did not have the most desirable of social skills, namely her constant stutter.

Naruto hastily gathered his training gear and got changed within record time, which was not surprising considering it was Kiba who he was about to train with. After a lot of running between bathroom to bedroom, then back to the bathroom and so on, he finally deemed himself acceptable for the outside world to see. He was wearing his normal orange and black outfit, as he couldn't afford to dilly-dally over his apparel when he was trying to rush out of the door. He did however take the time to put on his new Amulet given to him by Tsunade, which replaced the First Hokage's Necklace that was destroyed in the Invasion of Pain, successfully completing his outfit.

"Oh Kami, Kami, Kami! How am I going to spar with Kiba if I can't even talk to him for 5 minutes?!" Naruto groaned, hoping to find some way of overcoming his new Hinata-like illness when he was around the Inuzuka.

"I was never like this before, right Kyuubi? So why have I gotten so jittery around him?!"

'Kami knows, but you've got to snap outta this Kit, you was fine with him recently before you started over-thinking it all! it's really starting to get me wondering if you've spent too much time with that Hyuga girl!' Kyuubi replied with disdain.

"But how Kyuubi? I'm starting to turn into mush when ever I see him... It's as if I worry that I'll say something stupid and turn him away."

'What?! You're a loud-mouthed annoying brat, so he obviously must like you for it, so if that was the case he would have left by now, baka!'

"Well... I guess."

He finished talking with Kyuubi and put on his ninja-belt around his waist, checking that it had the Kunai and Shuriken he'd need for a spar.

"I think I got everything then... I better get moving!"

Naruto left the complex and made his way across the street whilst beginning to walk slower, as he actually rushed a little too fast, forgetting he said he would be there in an hour or so. It was a cloudy day in Konoha, something which wasn't too common, as usually it was brilliantly sunny. He took this extra time in trying to figure out his approach to sorting his new Hinata-illness out, as he didn't want to look a fool in front of his best-friend and slight crush.

He continued to think about it when he finally saw the training grounds: A large, open expanse of greenery, waterfalls and prairies that seemed to stretch as far as the eye can see. Naruto adored open areas such as this, which made him feel less anxious about meeting with Kiba. He saw the area which him and the brunette used to train when they were both still Genin, which had a few trees and a small river. He decided that it'd be nostalgic to train there, so he made his way there in a slow walk again.

Naruto arrived and chose to sit by an old oak tree waiting for the Inuzuka. The oak tree was symbolic for great vitality and life, which Naruto didn't take for granted in the cruel world of the Ninja. But his reflective thinking turned to thinking about Kiba, as he was excited yet definitely nervous of training with his best-friend, yet secretive crush.

"It bugs me how stupid I've being around him... we're best-friends, so why have I been so scared to be around him?"

'We've already established this Kit, you've got the hots for him, but you're right, you have been stupid!'

"You're not helping Kyu..."

'Look, just ignore those other feelings you have for him, this is a spar between two good friends, that's all!'

"Heh, I guess you're right..."

The blondes mood lifted, as he saw Kyuubi's advice as pretty smart. He was glad he had Kyuubi who was always there for him, even if it was in a "tough love" kind of way at times. Coincidentally, he saw a figure appear over the hills nearest to the village: it was tall, striking and looked handsome even from afar.

"That must be Kiba then."

The blonde stood up to greet his friend, but felt a cold wind nip at his skin from behind, along with some metal clanking that sounded like ninja tools, 'Probably other some other ninja training.' he thought.

"Kiba, over here!" he yelled, beckoning Kiba to his location.

Kiba jogged over to Naruto; with that look like a big toothy grin on his face. Naruto was battling between both sides that he saw Kiba in: his friend and crush, but told himself 'This is a friendly spar between friends, that's it!' , which thankfully worked to great effect. Kiba stopped in front of Naruto with his grin intact, but the blonde noticed that Kiba's eyes looked almost... green, which he never noticed before.

"Ready for some training then Naruto? I've been developing a new technique, and I was wondering if you'd help me refine it since you're a sage and all!" Kiba chirped with his toothy grin, Naruto almost blushing now.

"D-Definitely! But don't you agree it's best If we done that in a spar?." Naruto smirked, becoming more confident the more he spoke, as the setting and conversation reminded him of their rivalry childhood days.

"Hell yeah! Get ready Naruto, It's going to hurt!" Kiba snarled with a mischievous grin.

"Heh, don't get too cocky dog-breath." Naruto thundered in response, ready to relive those old days of rival-spars between them.

They both took up their fighting stances; a cold wind blew once again, and the spar had begun.

But, Naruto couldn't help but think that something was wrong, yet before he could act on his suspicions, Kiba began to charge.