Howdy! Me no own -Man nor Naruto. This is for crazyrubsoff, my very first reviewer. (Oh by the way, your name is so very true…)

"Speak"

"Demon Speak"

'Thoughts'

'Demon Thoughts'

English

(Japanese)

«Elvish»

'Wake up, pup. Daylight is awasting!'

Was the first thing I had heard when I found myself in a really beautiful forest. However, I knew that beauty can conceal many ugly things. So while it was still light out, I tasked myself with finding shelter that would serve me as a safe house for the year that I would be here. I found a cave near a small brook and a grove of cherry and apple trees. However something was not quite right.

"Hmm... this place is a little too perfect..."

'What do you mean, pup?' Kaasan questioned.

'Here is a nice cave, with water and a food source. So why, given these perfect living conditions, are there no people or animals crowded around this place? It just doesn't make any sense...' I looked carefully, but I could not see the reason why I had such a bad feeling about this place.

I took a step back, and stumbled on a sizeable rock. "Hmmm..." I picked the rock up and threw it into the cave. No sooner as the rock touched the floor of the cave when it closed onto itself. "Well! That wasn't entirely unexpected!" I said cheerfully. I was about to say more when movement in grove caught my attention. It was a gaunt doe with her two fawns, lured in by the promise of shelter, food and water.

"Ah, hell no!" I muttered. I quickly found another rock and threw it carefully at the fawns. The rock startled the group and they fled. I let out a sigh of relief.

'Why did you throw that rock, pup?' Kaasan asked.

'I threw it because I didn't want them to get eaten. That and I kinda moved without thinking...'

Kaasan was silent for a moment before the wolf demon started, quite literally, howling with laughter. 'I told her that you would ace this test! But no, she said that, like all mortals that come here, that you would fail and either get eaten or killed! Ha! Take that mother!'

"Huh? What? Wait... MOTHER?"

"I believe that Yui-chan is talking about me." A voice sounded off right behind me. I yelled in surprise, jumped 5 feet into the air and landed on a cherry tree. I looked around wildly and saw the culprit, a tallish woman with golden hair and black eyes.

"GAHHH! (DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN! YOU GAVE ME A NEAR HEART ATTACK)!" I was so angry and surprised that I slipped back into my native tongue, Japanese. After I calmed down and jumped off my perch, I started my flow of questions.

"Whoa, whoa, WHOA! Shut up for a minute and ask one question at a time, please! Baka-gaki..." The mysterious woman grumbled the last part, but I heard it all the same.

"(What was that you said just now? I'm afraid that I could not quite hear you...)" I slowly turned to the older woman, with a smile on my face.

"(I said 'damn brat'. Do you have a problem with that?)" Mystery woman stated.

"(Actually, I don't! Most people would have told me that they had said something else. Those are the people who I distrust the most. But since you said to me exactly what you said, I trust you. Only Rinari-chan, Rabi-kun, Kanda-san, Kaasan, most of the science division, and now you, past this test.)"

"Yui-chan, you were right. She is ready for the test." She turned to me, "(My name is Amaterasu, mother to all women, and mother to all Inner and Tailed Demons.)"

I gasp and bowed deeply, "(Forgive me, my Goddess Amaterasu, for the way that I talked to you earlier. If I had only known-)" I was interrupted.

"(Stand my daughter. I was never one for all those court customs. My heavenly brothers, on the other hand, will strike a man down for stumbling on their 'heavenly' names.)" The goddess smirked "(But enough about me. Uzumaki-Namikaze Nerra, daughter of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina, and adoptive daughter of Juubi no Ōkami. Do you believe, at the end of this year, that you will be worthy of taking the test to become a hanyou?)"

I was speechless once again, but I managed to find my voice. "(Amaterasu-sama, I will never be worthy for such a test. What have I done to deserve this honor?)"

Amaterasu-sama raised a slim eyebrow, "(My, aren't you humble...)"

I raised my eyes, "(Forgive me if I speak out of turn, but I'm not being humble, my goddess Amaterasu. I truly believe that I have done nothing to deserve the honor of become a hanyou.)"

The eyebrow went down again, "(I sense you tell the truth, daughter. You have passed the final test. Now,)" Amaterasu-sama spoke with a regal tone, "(Show me the seal that your father placed upon you when Juubi no Ōkami was sealed.)"

Hearing the commanding tone, I hurried to obey. With my mouth holding my shirt up, I formed the ram hand seal and concentrated on my chakra. As the containment seal slowly appeared, Amaterasu-sama formed hand signs so fast that I had no idea what was about to happen. The goddess jabbed my stomach with a gold-outlined hand. I felt my life slipping away, but I held on. Once or twice I almost lost my grip, but I kept hearing Naru's voice in my head, yelling that I wasn't allowed to die until I'm an old hag. Her voice was the only thing that kept me still clinging to life. I never heard Kaasan yelling at me, nor did I hear Amaterasu-sama telling me that it was almost done. All I heard was my sister.

Finally, Amaterasu-sama's voice got through to me. "(Hush, child. You may rest now...)"