Diclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the story line is mine though.

-Two weeks after being discharged from the hospital-

Atrum had been putting his new life together for a few days now. With a new identity, came many responsibilities. Some more important than others, one thing in particular, was habits. Atrum had been working hard on breaking some rather bad habits, like eating wrong, not sleeping enough, being self-sufficient. He had never had the chance to make these good habits in his previous life. The store owners would only sell him rotten fruit and dried out vegetables, which more often than not, was worse than not eating at all. So, he had been forced to rely on food that was pre-packaged, such as instant ramen. Sleep had been a big factor; he missed his first day at the academy as Atrum, just from catching up on sleep. He had been so vexed by the villagers, it began to make him lose sleep, and whatever sleep he did get was very light, making it hard to concentrate on anything anyone was saying during the day.

Atrum was also working on his personality; he had been attempting to play an idiot before, so people would just ignore him as a threat, and give him some attention, most of the time it worked, but times like when Breger insulted him during shuriken throwing...the mask slipped and showed his true self. So, he decided he'd just be himself for his new attitude; it was almost like turning a complete one-eighty. He wasn't loud and obnoxious anymore, but quiet and attentive on what people were saying and doing. He paid more attention to how people did things and why, teaching himself important lessons, and paying attention to Iruka's lectures.

A week ago Sarutobi had taken Atrum's plans to eliminate his previous life up quite a big step...

- Flash back-

The whole village had gathered at the center of town for a public event. An execution. Naruto Uzumaki A.K.A. The Kyuubi container had tried to attack his adoptive mother, Anko, in a ' blind fit of bloodlust' capable of only a demon. A convict, found guilty of murder, treason, rape, and a number of other heinous crimes was used for the execution. He was forced into a Henge of Naruto, and given a strong sedative to keep him from blabbing about who he was. After the execution, the villagers decided to throw a party, in which most everyone was involved. Some of the few who did not celebrate were those who knew the truth, Such as Hinata, Iruka, Anko, and the Third. Others, were Naruto's friends, like Shikamaru and Choji, who were already missing their friend dearly.

- End flashback-

Atrum shook himself from his musings as he realized the time, if he wanted to get to the academy on time, then he was going to have to get moving. He went inside after his morning exercise and took a shower, paying special attention to his tail. After a few days of having it, much to his dismay, he found that fleas and ticks took a liking to it as much as he did. Stepping out of the shower, he put on the new outfit Anko had gotten him. He grabbed an apple and was out the door, running for the academy.

- In the village

Atrum was running as fast as he could on two legs, thinking he might make it to the academy on time. None of the villagers paid him any attention; no one cared who he was now. He was just another student headed for the academy...even if he did have wolf ears and a tail. The fact that 'The demon brat was dead' was more than enough to appease the villagers, letting things like REAL half-demons slip past them. The academy came into view just up ahead and he put on an extra burst of speed, anyone watching from the side would have seen a gray blur before he passed them. Atrum was rounding the gate when he heard Hinata talking to Shino. "LOOK OUT!" He yelled. As he was about to run into the pair he crouched down and leapt up high, jumping over them. He flipped in the air and landed on his feet.

Hinata was asking Shino how he was doing this morning as she heard a surprised. "LOOK OUT!" She turned in time to see a gray blur rushing towards her. She let out an "Eep!" of surprise before closing her eyes, waiting for pain, but it didn't come. She opened her eyes to see no one in front of her. Instead she felt a finger tap her shoulder. She whirled around and smiled, seeing Atrum standing there with an apologetic smile on his face.

"Sorry about that Hinata, Shino." Atrum apologized, giving each a small bow. Shino nodded in return. "How are you this morning Atrum-kun?" Hinata asked. "Great!" Atrum replied, giving a wolfish smile. "How are you two this morning?" He asked. "I'm fine, Atrum-san." Shino said. "Same here." Hinata said. Atrum opened his mouth to say that they should probably head for class, but all that came out was a loud, almost whining sound. Shino raised an eyebrow at him while Hinata looked slightly worried. "Are you alright Atrum-kun?" Hinata asked. Atrum gave a dry cough to clear his throat and said. " Yeah, I'm fine, we should probably head to class though. And he turned around and walked away.

Hinata was worried about her friend. Atrum hadn't been having a good day. At first he seemed fine, but as the day progressed he seemed to be getting more distant. She caught him staring out the window, looking towards the forest more than once. He kept making strange noises and uttering strange growls and whines. At one point, one of Atrum's newly acquired fan girls tried to touch his tail. He turned around and started uttering a deep, guttural growl at her, scaring her away. This didn't go unnoticed by Iruka, either, who more than once, stopped class to ask if Atrum was feeling okay. He'd simply nod his head and go back to staring out the window. Finally, the day came to an end and class was dismissed. Atrum leapt from his desk and ran out the door, and right past his friends, headed for the forest.

"Hinata-San... Did Atrum-San seem...off today?" Shino asked. "Yes, I'm worried about him, I was going to walk with him and make sure he got home, but he's already gone." Hinata answered. "If you wish to accompany me, you may, I'm going to follow Atrum-San and make sure he's all right." Shino said, surprising Hinata. "Anou...no offense Shino-kun, but, why do you care?" Hinata asked. "...He is one of the few people who did not judge me before they knew me, much like you, Hinata-San, and as such, I consider him a friend." Shino answered before moving forward, his male bugs following the scent of the female bug Shino had placed on Atrum.

Atrum was running fast, deep into the forest of Kumori; he wasn't sure why, but it was like he was being pulled to a place by his Ookami instincts. After running himself well past exhaustion, Atrum finally came to a stop in an un-familiar clearing. There wasn't much to look at, a fallen tree, some scattered bunches of rather scraggly looking flowers here and there. However, in the middle of the clearing was, what Atrum at first thought, was a small boulder, seeing a rather bulky shape on his chakra radar. Walking up to it, he got a better look at it.

Channeling a massive amount of chakra to his eyes, he quickly scanned the boulder. What he saw reminded him of a plaque someone would see outside a resident home. In big, bold letters, 'Ookami Clan' was engraved on the stone. Under that, there was a paw imprint, it looked to be the size and shape of a big dog, or possibly, a wolf. Under that, a scene of a man transforming into a wolf was displayed. Atrum was slightly confused, his Ookami instincts told him he was in the right place...but he didn't know why he was there. He sat on the ground in the lotus position...clearing his head and meditating. After a few minutes or so, his head was completely void of all thought, and he concentrated on the problem at hand.

As he concentrated, he began to hear whispers, not from his mind, but from around him. He opened his eyes, looking around, but he didn't see anyone, the voices faded away. Atrum frowned, slightly perplexed. 'Hey, Kaa-San.' He asked, thinking to the Kyuubi. 'Yes Atrum-kun?'Kyuubi answered, showing she was listening to her son. 'Do you know what's going on? My Ookami instincts pulled me to this spot in the forest, but I'm not sure what I'm doing here.' Atrum explained. 'I'm afraid your on your own here son, I'm a fox, not a wolf. I'm sure you can figure it out on your own.' Kyuubi replied, laughing slightly at the pout that was on her son's face.

Atrum decided to try meditating again, since his mother didn't know what was going on. He once again, cleared his mind of everything but the problems at hand. He heard the voices again; they were faint, distant, almost as if he were trying to hear them through a storm. So, he tried to focus on the voices rather than the bewildering Ookami problem. He could hear the voices a little more clearly now, there were many of them, they sounded happy, if not slightly eager. 'For what?' Atrum wondered to himself. He focused more, putting every ounce of his concentration into hearing the voices. Just as he thought the voices were becoming clearer he heard a twig snap.

Hinata and Shino came to an opening into the woods. The first thing they saw was some small boulder sitting in the middle of the clearing, the second thing they saw was Atrum sitting in the lotus position meditating. Hinata took a step forward, stepping on a small twig. One of Atrum's ears flickered, then a nostril flared, smelling who was here his tail started to wag happily behind him like he did whenever his friends were around, particularly her.

"Hey guys." Atrum said, standing up to greet his friends with a warm smile. "Why are you here?" He asked, a curious look on his face. Hinata looked down at her feet feeling slightly guilty. What if this was Atrum's special place and they were intruding on it. Hinata was saved from divulging on that thought as Shino spoke up. "Hinata-San and I were worried about you Atrum-San. You were acting strangely all day today, so we wanted to make sure you were ok." Shino said. Hinata nodded in agreement.

Atrum was touched; here were two people who actually cared for them. As Atrum opened his mouth to speak a loud crash was heard as Iruka stumbled into the clearing, looking as though he'd fallen out of a tree. He groaned slightly, standing and rubbing his lower back. He turned around to see his students looking at him like he had two heads and gave a sheepish grin. "I assumed Hinata and Shino were following you so I decided to tag along as well." Iruka said, smiling slightly. Quicker than Iruka could think, Hinata could "Eep", or Shino could act, Atrum pulled them all into a hug, happy tears flowing down his face as Iruka and Hinata hugged him back while Shino was trying to keep himself from twitching, Aburames did NOT like physical contact.

As the group broke apart Atrum decided he could let Shino in on his secret of being half-wolf. Iruka asked why he was there and so he explained how all day his Ookami instincts had been driving him nuts to get to this spot. When Atrum had mentioned being a half-demon, Shino raised an eyebrow, but that was the only sign he showed of surprise. Atrum finished the story off with when he was trying to focus on the voices and when the three had entered the clearing.

"Interesting." Shino said, after hearing the story, pretty much summing up all of everyone's thoughts in one word. "So you're having trouble hearing these voices?" Iruka asked. Atrum nodded, not really sure what to do at this point. "Anou...Atrum-Kun, do you possibly have an animal form?" Hinata asked. Atrum sat there for a moment; dumbfounded he hadn't thought to ask the Kyuubi. "Err...I don't know." Atrum answered. 'Hey, Kaa-San, do I have an animal form as a half-demon?' Atrum asked. 'Yes, you do Atrum-chan. Kyuubi replied. '...NANI!?!?!, WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?!?!' Atrum bellowed, causing his mother to laugh. 'You never asked.' she replied, giving him a foxy smile. 'Oh...and tell your girlfriend she is rather smart for her age.' Kyuubi said, watching her son turn bright red.

Atrum had been quiet for about five minutes now; Hinata liked it when this happened, because she knew Atrum was talking to the Kyuubi, and it was just so funny because of all the facial expressions he made. She giggled slightly as she saw an especially betrayed look coming over his face, followed soon by one of exasperation, then his face turned bright red as he muttered a few un-intelligible words. Shino raised his eyebrow slightly at this, while Iruka was wondering what the Kyuubi was saying to Atrum.

After he recovered from his embarrassment, which took a few minutes, Atrum was ready to find out how to change shape. 'So, how do I change shape?' He asked. 'Simply mold your Ookami chakra, and think wolf.' Kyuubi replied, closing the mental connection with her son to let him figure the rest out on his own.

Atrum's head shot up, causing Iruka and Hinata to jump slightly. "I know how to transform!" He yelled, quickly getting to his feet to try it out. Atrum brought his hands together in the ram sign, and molded some of his Ookami chakra. When he had a sizeable portion formed, he focused his thoughts on the picture of a wolf.

Hinata, Iruka, and Shino were watching Atrum expectantly. He had been standing there molding chakra for at least a minute now. Suddenly they heard a loud "POP!" come from Atrum. The 'pop' was followed by more noises as Atrum's body began to transform; bones popped out of place and reconfigured themselves while certain ligaments de and re-attached themselves. His gray hair grew out, becoming thicker, and spreading all over his body. Atrum was on all fours now, his hands and feet turning into paws, his mouth elongating into a muzzle, full of sharp, pointed teeth.

Finally, after a few minutes, the changes stopped. Before them stood a wolf pup and it looked like it was about a year old. Before anyone could say anything, Hinata let out a loud squeal of "KAWAI!" And started strangling Atrum in a hug.

Atrum was slightly confused and dizzy. His animal form wasn't ANYTHING like he'd expected. He thought he would be a big, fully matured wolf...not a pup. Before he could even attempt to stand, a loud cry of "KAWAI!" pierced his ears, stunning him. The next thing he new he was gasping for air in Hinata's death-by-hug grip. Iruka looked at Shino, who in turn looked at Iruka. In an unspoken agreement, they both turned back to Atrum's predicament and burst out laughing. Working his muzzle over Hinata's shoulder, he began to wheeze out "NEED...AIR..." Hinata let out an "OH!" of embarrassment and put Atrum back on the ground, blushing a deep crimson. Atrum inhaled as deeply as he could, sucking in the fresh, sweet oxygen.

"Note to self: DO NOT transform in class." Atrum said aloud, shivering from a sudden mental image of a horde of fan girls. Shino and Iruka continued to laugh as Atrum sat by sullenly and muttered "Traitors..." Hinata still looked down embarrassedly. Atrum noticed this and said. "I don't care if you hug me Hinata-chan, just don't put me in a death grip." Hinata perked up and laid Atrum on her lap, scratching his ears slightly. "I have to wonder why I'm only a pup though." Atrum said, ears drooping sadly. Hinata pulled him into a not-quite-so-deadly hug to comfort him.

"Aww...Isn't that cute?" He heard a woman say. Turning toward the direction of where he thought he heard the voice. "Who said that?" He asked, listening. "Who said what Atrum-kun?" Hinata asked. "I Did." the voice answered again. "He's not to bright is he?" Another voice piped in, smaller, more of a squeak than an actual voice. "No, he doesn't seem to smart, but then again, you have to give him credit for figuring out how to talk to us on his own." Another voice replied, deeper, slightly burly voice. "WHO THE HELL IS TALKING?!?!" Atrum roared, causing the three voices to laugh and his friends to look at him oddly.

"Pardon our manners, we are the tree's in the clearing." The woman voice said. "I'm talking to trees?" Atrum asked. "Yep, but don't let that bother you, now that you're part of the clan, you're going to see even more confusing stuff." The male voice replied. Atrum groaned slightly. "Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to like this?" He asked. "Well, regardless of whether you will like it or not, your part of the clan now, and we can tell you how to summon someone who can help explain things to you." The burly one sounded again "All right, what do I do?" "Just look at the bottom of the stone in the clearing." The male voice replied.

-Meanwhile-

'Who is he talking too?' His friends wondered, seriously beginning to worry about his mental health.

Atrum suddenly remembered the plaque and the paw print that was on it. He leapt out of Hinata's arms and hurried over to the small boulder. He fit his paw into the paw print, and looked down at the pictures again. The first was a man transforming. There were two more under it, having been hidden by the tall grass. One showed a wolf, placing its paw into the paw print, and a swirl effect Atrum took to be chakra swirling up to the wolf's head from the stone. The second picture showed the wolf howling in the same position. As the others approached, Naruto started to push chakra into the paw print

As soon as chakra touched the stone, it activated, a series of complex and intricate looking lines traveling away from Atrum's paw. The lines suddenly turned a bright yellow, traveling back up to Atrum and swirling under his paw. Atrum then lifted his head toward the sky and let loose a long, spine tingling howl. The howl was long, almost as if he was singing. Hinata thought it was beautiful while Iruka and Shino thought he was just showing off. A few moments later as Atrum was still howling, a lone wolf crashed into the clearing, looking around wildly. Atrum stopped howling to look at the newcomer. The wolf locked eyes with Atrum as Atrum himself seemed to stare just past the wolf.

"Who are you?" The wolf asked. Still staring into Atrum's eyes. "I'm, Atrum." he replied. Unlike him, this wolf was fully mature, a bit on the lanky side, but it's teeth and claws were by no means just for show. It had shaggy gray hair, lighter than Atrum's. "And your name?" Atrum asked. The wolf seemed to hesitate for a moment, before saying. "I am called Aturu." "Are you an Ookami?" The wolf asked uncertainly. Atrum gave Aturu a confused look before asking. "What's an Ookami?" "The Ookami Clan was a clan of half-demons that perished long ago. They could speak with nature, were allies with wolves, and were an all around great people, just to name a few distinctions. Unfortunately, the clan was wiped out by some unknown cause, but that's beside the point. Only an Ookami could have brought me here." Aturu explained.

"Why could only an Ookami bring you here?" Atrum asked. "As I said before, wolves were allied with the clan. Each half-wolf demon would have a pack of actual wolves for partners through out life. The clan gave us these special seals on our paws." Aturu said, holding out his paw so that Atrum could see it. "The rare points in time when we weren't around, and a Ookami needed us, all they would have to do is howl. However, if we were too far away to hear, they would use the plaques, or a toenail the wolf gave them with the same symbol to call us. And we would feel the symbol tingle." The wolf explained. "Why a toenail?" Atrum asked. "They grow back". Aturu replied simply. "Likewise, us wolves could call on our partner." "I see"...Atrum said. "Well, I'm not sure how it happened, but it looks like I'm part of the clan." Atrum said, giving a wolfish grin. Aturu relaxed slightly at this and returned the grin. "Looks like it." he replied.

Meanwhile...

Hinata, Shino, and Iruka watched as Atrum carried on a conversation with the other wolf. Barking, growling, whining and yipping. Shino and Iruka had no idea what was going on, nor did Hinata, but she was too distracted by the thought of it being cute. The way the wolves' tails swayed back and forth lazily, or how they talked with their paws, waving them around in the air to prove a point. Right down to the wolfish facial expressions.

With Atrum and Aturu...

"Well, I'm glad the clan is going to be restored, it's been boring without them around!" Aturu said, giving a slight chuckle. "Well, do you think you could tell me a little about the clan? What they were like, what they did, where they lived?" Atrum asked, truly curious. "Oh they were some of the best people around, hard working folks too, and they knew how to have fun..."Aturu said, a slight reminiscent look on his face. "Wait...I thought you said the clan perished a long time ago; how old are you?" Atrum asked. "I turned two hundred and seven this spring." The wolf replied proudly. Atrum gaped slightly at that. "Two hundred and seven?" Atrum asked. Aturu saw the look on Atrum's face and began to explain. "Half-demons live longer lives than humans do Atrum, so, when a pack of wolves ally with a particular member of the clan, a blood ritual is held that gives the wolves the same life span as the clan member." Aturu said. "No one truly knows how long a half-demon lives before dying of old age because most die in battle, disease, and other causes." Aturu explained. "So...I'm going to outlive my human friends?" Atrum asked sadly. "Well, yes and no...Yes, you could outlive them, but, if they joined the clan and became a half demon, they would have the same life span." Aturu explained.

"Wow...this is a lot to take in." Atrum said. "Oh, you were wanting to know where your clan lived weren't you?" Aturu asked. "Oh, yes, I was." Atrum replied. "That's an easy one, all you have to do is put your paw one on top of the other, and push your human and Ookami chakra into the plaque while thinking 'Home'." Aturu said. The wolf looked past Atrum at the other three, who were standing there, looking slightly left out. "Who are they?" Aturu asked. Atrum turned around, feeling slightly guilty about forgetting his friends for a moment. "I'm sorry, this is Hinata Hyuuga, Shino Aburame, and Iruka Umino." Atrum replied, nodding to each of his friends in turn. Aturu gave them a wolfish grin and bowed his head to them slightly. "This is Aturu." Atrum said, introducing the wolf.

"A pleasure to meet you Aturu." Hinata said, bowing to the wolf. Iruka followed Hinata's action, while Shino gave the wolf a slight nod. "Well guys, I just found out that I'm part of a really old clan that was formed of half demons; I'm the heir to the clan, but I'm still not certain how, but I have a clan house!" Atrum exclaimed. The shocked look on Iruka and Hinata's faces caused Atrum and Aturu to snicker in what could only be seen as 'Wolfish laughter'.

"Anou… does Aturu know how you became the heir to the clan, Atrum?" Hinata asked, curious. "Would you happen to know how I became the heir to the clan Aturu?" Atrum asked. "Well, from what I understand, there were only four ways to become part of the clan. The first, and most obvious way was to be born into it." Aturu explained. "Second, you could be adopted into it, as long as you were a half demon. Third, you could marry into it, in which case the spouse became the same type of demon as their partner through a similar blood ritual the wolves had. And last, is the way I think you became heir." Aturu said, his voice slightly grim.

"If you couldn't become part of the clan in any of the previous ways, there was one more way to become part of the clan, with two outcomes." Aturu said, no sound of humor in his voice. "The way is more of a trial than anything. You can ask to be given half-demon powers by the demon lords of the clan, if they find you worthy, they will accept. They each give you a small bit of there power and your own soul reflects what type of half-demon you would become. Now, that was common, but there were risks in doing this. Becoming a half-demon for some was bad, because of the personality changes that came with some of the transformations. For example, if you became a half-demon snake, and had a neutral personality, you would become evil, usually most people who became snakes died right after it was confirmed." Aturu said, a serious tone in his voice. "Others, became half-demons of other animals and were perfectly happy joining the clan. That was the first outcome, the second, is what made you heir."

"You see, wolves were the strongest amongst the clan, because of the life you had to endure before your soul reflected that of a wolf." Aturu explained, giving Atrum a sympathetic look, knowing he must have had a difficult life. "The wolves being the strongest of the clan, and the ones who began the clan, were the clan heads. I'll get into the council and inner workings later, but for now, to tell you why your heir." Aturu said. "Normally, position of Clan Head was handed down through battle, if anyone thought they were stronger than the clan head, they could challenge him for the position. Since you are the only person in the clan at the moment, and not to mention the only half-wolf, that automatically gives you the position of clan head, since you are technically the strongest, but since you're not of age to be clan head, that makes you the clan heir." Aturu said, stopping for a moment to let Atrum collect his thoughts and let him take a breather.

"Wow..." Was all Atrum could say. He relayed the information he had just received to his friends, telling them how he had become clan head. Needless to say, they found it interesting. "I guess this means I'm going to have to rebuild the clan then?" It was more of a statement than a question. Aturu nodded, and then pointed out. "It looks like you're off to an early start." He said, nodding towards Hinata and snickered slightly.

Atrum scowled and gave a good-natured bark at the wolf. The wolf was about to tackle Atrum when he noticed that, once again Atrum was looking just past him, a vacant, glazed look in his eye. Aturu thought for a moment, then asked. "Atrum...are you blind?" Atrum just gave a sad nod in return. "How did it happen?" Aturu asked, not seeing any scars indicating a fight. Atrum retold the story of how he lost his eyesight five years back because of the villagers' attacks. Aturu gained a saddened look on his face and let out a long, mournful howl for his new friends loss. Atrum gave Aturu a small smile of thanks before turning to his friends, explaining why he was howling. Shino raised an eyebrow and asked. "You're blind?" "Oops, he-he..." Atrum said, slightly put off. "Yes I am, I would prefer we keep it between us." Atrum said. Shino simply nodded.

"Anou, just out of curiosity, can you speak human?" Atrum asked. Aturu shook his head and replied. "I can understand human speech, but I myself cannot use the language." He explained. ""Would you mind if I just spoke human so I don't have to keep explaining everything to them? Atrum asked. "Not at all." Aturu replied. "Thanks Aturu, well let's go check out the family home." Atrum said. Atrum walked over to the plaque, and placed both paws over the paw print spot, in one paw, he pushed his human chakra into the plaque, and in the other, he pushed his wolf chakra in.

As Atrum forced his chakra into the small boulder, The intricate pattern of lines once again traveled down the rock, but this time, instead of coming back up, the lines spiraled out across the ground in a ten foot radius, the lines then began to rotate, faster and faster until all that could be seen was a circle, half blue and half yellow. As the chakra spun, the ground pulled up and away, revealing a stone floor. The lines worked across the face of the stones, making odd seals and more patterns before a loud 'POOF' was heard and the group was enveloped in smoke. The lines began to slow down, then stopping completely as the lines receded to the stone plaque, vanishing. Atrum stood slowly, tired from using so much chakra, and found that he'd revealed a staircase that led underground. "Not exactly what I expected, but still pretty cool." Atrum said, the others, the only exception being Aturu who had seen it before, nodded.

Atrum started down the stairs, and noticed that just inside the staircase, there was another plaque like the one outside... 'Must be a way of closing off the passage." Atrum thought to himself. Going down the staircase on four legs was a lot different than on two legs, Atrum found out. He got down three steps before loosing his balance and tumbling the rest of the way down the stairs. Everyone ran after the tumbling form of Atrum, eventually using a Katon jutsu for light. After what seemed like forever, the group finally reached the bottom of the stairs, finding a slightly dazed and ruffled looking Atrum. Looking around, they seemed to be in a room with a high ceiling, but it was too dark to see much. Standing back up, Atrum noticed another plaque on the wall, thanks to his chakra radar, but, this time for a human hand, set on the wall. He transformed back into his human form, losing his fur and wolfish features and thought there was a bit of a draft... Hinata took one good look at him in his birthday suit before she passed out, a huge blush on her face still present. Aturu was howling with laughter, quite literally as, he ran back to the surface to get Atrum his clothes.

Atrum stepped out of the darkness, fully clothed this time. He realized Hinata was now conscious by the sound of her breathing. "Sorry about that guys, I kind of forgot." She and the others just nodded their heads. Atrum decided to mess with them and said. "Apology accepted?" they nodded again. Atrum allowed his head to drop, to hide his grin, and said. "I understand if you don't want to be friends anymore." The girl looked horrified, while Iruka and Shino were trying to figure out why he was acting so weird. Meanwhile Aturu had reached around to 'chew an itch off his tail', but what the others didn't know is that he had stuffed his tail into his mouth to keep from breaking out laughing, his whole body quaking with stifled laughter.

"But I nodded my head that I accepted you apology!" Hinata exclaimed, near tears. "Oh, you did?" Atrum looked up after having plastered a hopeful smile over his grin. "YES!" they all three shouted, Iruka and Shino with annoyance and Hinata with despair. " Okay, okay, Jeeze, I'm sorry, I can't see your heads shaking, ya' know?" Hinata and Iruka looked horrified that they had forgot Naruto was blind...again, while Shino had just raised an eyebrow...as usual. At this point Aturu couldn't hold it anymore and burst out laughing. When the wolf started his laughing the corners of Atrum's lips started to curl up into a smile before he was caught in full blown laughter. Hinata pouted while Iruka had an anger vein going. Shino just shook his head.

Atrum straightened up as he stopped laughing and saw the pouting Hinata and angry Iruka and said. "Oh come on guys, Ya' Know I love ya." He said. Iruka just sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, uttering a "Baka." Hinata on the other hand... 'He said he loves me...' she thought, and then was blissfully unconscious as she hit the grown, a small smile adorning her face. "I think you just made her day Atrum." Aturu chuckled. "I aim to please." Atrum replied. "Now let's take a look at this plaque..." Atrum said, placing his hands on the plaque.

Once again, Atrum pushed both his chakra s into the plaque, this time however; the yellow took over the blue chakra as it raced up the wall, spidering out along the wall, then the ceiling, revealing it to look like a rather large dome. The chakra raced along the ceiling and walls, bathing the entire place in a golden, yellowish hue. It looked like a small town. (Imagine the Uchiha district, only bigger.) As the town lit up, Atrum could see multiple buildings and districts, there were at least twelve different districts that he could see, all having they're own unique symbols and crests. The ceiling, which was now fully imbued with the hair thin chakra lines, portrayed a picture of the sky, lighting the town. It was a bright golden sun, in the middle of a baby blue sky, with a few clouds passing lazily by.

"I've got a lot to learn about this place and my clan, haven't I?" Atrum asked Aturu. The wolf nodded and Atrum sighed. Things just got a lot more interesting, for better or for worst, he couldn't decide...

(Explanation as to why Atrum (Naruto) felt the urge to go to the clan house so suddenly in the next chapter, along with the voices he was hearing before Shino and the others arrived. Also, why the Kyuubi attacked. Didn't want to make this chapter too long. (Second pairing introduced in the next chapter.) Sorry about all the chapters explaining everything being boring, but I'd rather have a boring story beginning than have an action-packed story that makes no sense what so ever. The story is just at the tip of the proverbial ice burg; I plan for it to be a long one.

Atrum- if anyone can tell me what the name stands for and in what language, I'll do a one shot on any topic said person wants EXCEPT yaoi.

Forest of Kumori- forest of shadow

Ookami - wolf