Chapter One
Ryuujin Kori
The sun was shining brightly. It shone down on a village, the shinobi village of Konoha. Within this village lived a girl, and the ever brightening sun filtered through her window. The window led to a small, comfortable room. It was fairly neat. Clothing was piled in neat stacks and a few weapon pouches were hanging off a small chair in the corner of the room. The shower was running in the bathroom the girl shared with her caretaker.
The futon held a cover that was dark blue, and there was a small creature sleeping in the middle of the neatly made mess. That small creature was the girl's animal companion, and partner in life. They were tied together in a way that nobody else understood. Her family didn't pride themselves by partnering with dogs, like the Inuzuka family. They didn't summon slugs, toads, or snakes. No, the animal that partnered with the Ryuujin family was the dragon. The dragon that was sleeping on the futon's cover was fairly young. He was as big as the kunoichi's forearm, and he was of the ice variety. His name was Saiki and his scales were a pearly white color. The strip of scales along his stomach was a very light blue, similar to the color you would think of when thinking of ice. Saiki's eyes were coal black and so were the four horns protruding from his head. He had two little patches of grey scales right below his eyes.
Unlike the other dragons of his kind, the ice dragons, Saiki had fur. He had a strip of grey fur under his bottom lip, a long strip of fur between his eyes to his horns, and a strip of fur all along his back to the tip of his tail. Unlike other dragons, he also had wings. It was a genetic mutation, but he didn't care. He liked his wings. Saiki had four fingers on his hands and feet, each toe ending with a deadly claw.
Saiki's wings were lined with the same light grey fur. The feathers were shaped like shards of ice. In fact, they actually were ice, but they never melted due to the dragon's element being ice. Saiki was an unusual dragon, but he didn't mind. His head perked up as he heard the shower stop. A few moments later, his kunoichi, Ryuujin Kori, made her way into the room.
Forget to bring your clothes to the bathroom again, Kori? He laughed, breath coming out in a hiss. The girl he was talking to was only twelve years old. She was almost thirteen, but she was also mature for her age. Kori had been orphaned at a young age, so she was forced to become mature. Growing up, she only had Saiki and her caretaker, Umino Iruka. He was one of the Shinobi Instructors at the Academy. Iruka took her in when her parents died even though he had been living on his own. He had a small income, but decided he couldn't let her float through the system. Or end up like another young orphaned shinobi he knew very well.
Kori was average. She wasn't very tall, and she wasn't short. She was in between chubby and thin. She had very light, ice blue eyes, which were nice, but the one feature she was the most proud of was her hair. It was long, falling past her waist in neat waves. She usually kept her hair styled in a coiled braid at the top of her head. She used two chopsticks with hidden knives in the end to keep the braid in place. Though, she sometimes let her hair fall free when she wasn't at the Academy. Her bangs framed her face, coming to rest at her collar bone, and the reason why she loved her hair so much was because of its color. Corresponding to her dragon's element, she had icy white-blue hair and pale blue bangs. She loved the color of her hair and Iruka often commented on it, along with the other girls in her class.
"What do you think?" Kori questioned her dragon. "I can't help it sometimes. I was up late last night reviewing our homework." She explained as she dressed. Kori was so used to the little dragon in the room with her that she didn't mind dressing in front of him. Iruka gave her enough privacy for that. It was a weekend, which meant that there were no lessons at the Academy. But that also meant that Iruka was on a mission, which also meant that Kori was left to do all of the chores. This included grocery shopping.
But, if she hurried, there was a little time for training before the shops opened. Otherwise, she would never have gotten up so early. Nobody else was up this early. As she dressed she thought about her training for the day. She was wearing a typical pre-graduation outfit for her clan. This outfit included a sleeveless black kimono that reached her knees, an ice blue obi to hold it closed, and a silver dragon embroidered on the back. When she graduated from the Academy, she would be presented with a new kimono with corresponding colors. There were two slits on either side, reaching from the hem to her waist. To cover her skin, she wore long tan pants that ended in soft fishnet when it reached her calves.
Open black shinobi sandals were on her feet and she never travelled anywhere without her weapon pouch. Iruka didn't know she carried it with her. She wasn't supposed to be wearing the pouch since she was not a graduate yet. Kori picked up Saiki and let him climb around her arm so that he was situated on her shoulder. She locked the apartment and then jumped off the balcony of the apartment she shared with Iruka. In no time, she was on her way to the training grounds.
Kori trained for two hours, resisting the strong urge to use any of her special techniques. She had been forbidden by the Hokage to use her most powerful ones, mostly because of the fact that she hadn't completely mastered them yet. They were familial techniques and had been passed down her line for generations. Through the entire training session, Kori couldn't help but feel two distinct pairs of eyes on her. Although she could sense the people easily, she didn't want to cause a fuss by chasing the owners of the chakra. She ignored the feeling of someone watching her. If they wanted to hurt her, they would have done so when she was distracted. Kori collected her used shuriken and kunai, testing their dull edges. She would have to get them sharpened soon. She replaced the miniature kunai in her hair sticks and turned to look at the trees. One was fairly familiar, but she couldn't place the other one. She had sensed it before, but she couldn't recognize it.
Calling Saiki, she turned to go to the marketplace in order to do her grocery shopping. Then, she would go home and take a much needed bath. She didn't notice that one of the people who had watched her train follow her to the market. The other one stayed hidden in the leaves. This shinobi was wearing a tight green spandex suit and orange leg warmers. His eyes were like dark pieces of coal and his black hair was shaped in a bowl-cut. He had already graduated from the Academy one year prior. He was wearing a red clothed head plate – a hitai-ate – around the waist of his jumpsuit. He had been watching Kori with a curious expression on his face.
He was not surprised when a much larger and identically clad figure landed on the branch next to him.
"Lee!" he addressed the small figure. "I am pleased to see that you are expressing your youthfulness by observing your fellow shinobi in training!" the older figure shouted, striking a unique pose, and grinning. The older figure gave his student a thumbs up, truly pleased that the student, Rock Lee, had taken an interest in someone. A girl no less.
"Sensei!" Lee cried, standing from his crouch. "Who was that youthful girl? The one with the dragon? Is she still a student in the Academy? I do not see a hitai-ate anywhere on her person!" he perked up, resting his attention solely on his teacher.
"Lee!" his sensei shouted. "How youthful for you to ask!" he continued with tears sparkling in his eyes. The older man opened his arms wide, grinning as his pupil launched himself within his arms.
"Sensei!"
"Lee!"
"Sensei!"
"Lee!"
"Sensei!" they continued back and forth for the better of ten minutes. Finally, when the two of them broke apart, did the sensei, Maito Gai, answer his pupil's question.
"Lee! You must become more youthful by following this girl! Then, you can find the answer for yourself! Only then can you become a fine shinobi!" Gai exclaimed, striking another odd pose as a sunset filled with a myriad of colors appeared behind him.
"Yosh!" Lee shouted. "I will do my best, Sensei!"
Meanwhile, the second shinobi that had been spying on Kori had followed her to the market. Unlike Lee, this shinobi had not graduated from the Academy. He was in Kori's class, and they were friends. They weren't the best of friends, but they were friends nonetheless. Most people would recognize him as the number one troublemaker in Konoha, but Kori thought otherwise. She just thought he was lonely. He wore an orange jumpsuit with a black tee shirt underneath his jacket. He wore shinobi sandals on his feet and a pair of dark goggles was sitting on his forehead.
Uzumaki Naruto was following Kori out of simple curiosity. He wanted to get to know her, but he was intimidated by the fact that she lived with their teacher. If he was intimidated by anyone it was their teacher – Umino Iruka. It wasn't because of the fact that Iruka was an authority figure. Naruto actually loved breaking the rules. It was because of the fact that Naruto looked up to him like an older brother.
Naruto flipped through the trees as he followed his target. He had met Kori a few times, but had admired her from a distance. No, not for her good looks. He liked Sakura because she was pretty. He liked Kori because he felt a bond with her. They were both orphans. She was often ridiculed in class for her hair color, but never around Iruka. Not much was known about her family in Konoha. Her clan disowned her father when he married her mother. They were killed a long time ago, when Kori was a baby. She was chosen by an ice dragon and because of that her hair changed from brown to white and blue. Naruto also admired her because she found a way to be acknowledged for her skills. She was one of the most skilled kunoichi in her class. What she lacked in tactics, she made up with speed and techniques. Kori didn't try to earn acknowledgment by playing pranks. Instead, she was kind to those who insulted her. It was like she didn't understand that they were making fun of her.
Naruto followed Kori with her dragon as she completed her grocery shopping. He knew what he was doing could be qualified as stalking, but he was curious about her. Unfortunately, the grocery list Kori had was too long for her to gather by herself. She had four bags in her hands and Saiki was flying beside her, carrying two smaller bags. He had one gripped in his hands and the other was held by his coiled hand. Naruto had no doubt that she was a skilled kunoichi, but even she couldn't avoid the inevitable. Saiki let out a hiss of warning, but she couldn't dodge the kids that bumped into her from behind.
Kori, watch out for the children! Saiki hissed a warning, fluttering his wings as he tried to balance the bag of groceries he was carrying. Kori dodged to the side, but, because of her overstuffed arms, she lost her grip on one of the bags. Naruto didn't want her groceries to be soiled so he lunged forward, catching the bag of groceries in his arms. Kori was startled, but she was even more startled when she realized it was Naruto.
"Oh," she gasped in surprise. "Naruto." She said before smiling. She tried to balance the third bag of groceries she still had in her arms. Naruto grinned as he took the third bag that was in Kori's arms. Her cheeks were dusted in a faint blush, not that Naruto noticed, and she bit her lip.
"Thank you," she quietly said as he adjusted the bags in his arms. It took two children to carry all of the groceries this time. Iruka could have handled all four, and maybe the two smaller bags, with ease.
"No problem," he said. Now was his chance. "What was your name?" he thought long and hard, but he just couldn't remember her name. Kori's cheeks burned red once again as he realized that Naruto didn't know her name.
"I'm Kori, remember?" she asked, hoping that he would remember when she gave him her name. After he thought for a moment, his expression seemed to change. He was sure that her name was something along those lines. Naruto grinned, and they were on their way before suddenly stopping short. Another child had almost run into the two of them. After they made sure they were in a child-free zone, the two wandered back to Kori's apartment. For some reason he was acting extremely docile. Naruto wasn't acting like the rambunctious prankster he was notorious for being.
"So," she began, "why are you helping me and not pulling some sort of prank?" Kori asked, looking sideways at Naruto. He was startled out of his thoughts, but he managed to maintain his grin.
"I dunno," he said. "I just seem calmer with you around. I like it." He continued, shifting the bags he was holding so he could scratch his cheek. He looked the other way, missing the blush that was once again present on Kori's face.
He must be attracted to your calming chakra. It's present in most of the women of our clan. Saiki explained to Kori. All Naruto heard were strange hissing noises, but Kori could understand him perfectly. Soon enough, the two were at the apartment. Kori let Naruto in, but as soon as he set down the bags of groceries he was gone. Kori darted to the front door, calling his name.
"Naruto," she called, catching him right when he was about to leap off the railing. She caught him off guard and planted a kiss on his cheek, right where his whisker-markings were.
"Thanks for helping me today," she said. "See you at the Academy tomorrow." She smiled at his grinning face. Naruto nodded before yelling and jumping off the railing, leaving her to unpack the groceries. She finished the day with dinner, leaving some for Iruka to eat when he got home, and went to sleep, but her dreams were disturbed by a larger than life dragon.
A dragon god named Seiryu.
