July 3, 2013, A/N: More update! We're still in 'old chapter 1' here, I've extended it by almost 8,000 words and hopefully made its pace a bit easier to follow.
Skippy, all other confused/concerned readers: Sorry about the discontinuity between the old chapters and the new; While I can use much of the old content, I'm trying to fix up the writing a bit. As such, until I get back to where I currently am, story-wise, the chapters will not line up. I'm at 6 now, and still not quite done revising the old 'Chapter 1', fic-wise.

"Normal Speech"
'Normal Thought'
'"Talking within mindscape"'

"Tenant Speech"
'Tenant Thought (rare?)'
*"Tenant Outside Speech (probably never, just setting precedent)"*

The Next Day; Late Evening

Naruto spent most of the day being settled into the Inuzuka compound. The boy had been granted a temporary cot in one of the small dorm rooms, on the outer ring of Tsume's ramshackle mansion, while they looked for a more permanent space to situate him. After a small tour, led by Kiba and his older sister, Tsume returned with an armful of clothing. "Naruto, why don't you try these on? I tried to match your... imaginative taste in colors." Indeed, there were white shirts with orange swirls, orange shorts with blue swirls, black shirts and shorts with orange and blue flames, curling into swirls; when the boy's jaw dropped in surprise and his eyes lit up with gratitude, the Inuzuka matron knew she had him pegged.

After getting acquainted with the guards, his roommates, and a few other notables - most importantly, the cooks - Naruto had some free time. Since he wouldn't be training until the next morning - with Kiba as his partner, none the less! - he decided that it was time to make his new home a bit less alien. He dumped out his small sack - courtesy of the Hokage - and took stock of his belongings. 'At least I've got one of Bull-sensei's books; I'll have to get all my other stuff tomorrow, after training.' It wouldn't do to go tonight, when the looters would be swarming around, ruining everything that wasn't well-hidden.

His thoughts turned to the room he'd be sharing with so many friendly scents and happy faces - there was no hatred here. He settled into his cot, and before he knew it, fell into sleep untroubled.

Because of their schedules, and Naruto's ridiculous regenerative abilities, Kiba and our story's hero sparred only once or twice a week over the remaining days of summer. Even though Naruto was now staying as a well-settled resident at the Inuzuka compound, Kiba just didn't have enough time for recovery to keep up with both training, and his other duties. Most of which involved kennels, and a shovel. It built strength, if nothing else, and the results showed in each of the Inuzuka's strikes.

The two began their days together, regardless. Waking early, they performed a few necessary chores and duties - making their own beds, grabbing eggs and milk for breakfast, running various tasks for their elders - Naruto had quickly fell into the rhythm and habit of Inuzuka life. It was simple and rustic, but the structure and familial values struck a deep chord within him. It felt like home.

After chores, Naruto himself was free to roam the compounds. He got warm, if busy responses from most of the people he talked to there - usually short explanations after he'd asked about their activities. Mostly, he spent his free time at the park - when he had any, that is. Normally he'd be training, and today was no exception. 'Today, I'll finally fulfill my promise to Bull! I'll finish this entire damned book in one lap around Konoha!' It was no easy feat, that's for sure. For one, Naruto was fast - faster than a lot of the clan children twice his age, though the Academy students he liked to prank could still trounce him (when they could find him, that was. No easy task, despite the famous Inuzuka nose!). Secondly, Konoha - though large - was not as massive a village as its reputation made it out to be.

The task, then, was a trade-off between Naruto's speed and his reading ability. If he ran full tilt - as was the terms of his and Bull's agreement - he could finish Konoha's 10-kilometer track in a little under 15 minutes. A month ago, he couldn't have done it given twice that time - Back then, both of his Chunin teachers had continually assured him that his speed would drastically improve, if he tried to work on his physical training instead of relying on Chakra so much - Naruto, of course, had complained liberally.

'But it's so hard! And sure, I know I'll have to get stronger without Chakra eventually...' The blonde didn't tend to dwell on the thought of doing things the hard way. He'd seen how little his Chakra reserves meant to an experienced opponent, but that didn't mean he was ready to start from the ground up. He enjoyed running with his Chakra - it made him feel alive... something Bull had mentioned as Chakra Addiction in passing, before slapping a half-dozen Repressing seals on his body and telling him to suck it up.

With paltry access to his normally oceanic reserves, Naruto's control had begun to resemble that of any other child's. It showed, when sticking leaves to his forehead - using the proper technique, instead of simply sponging them there - began to make sense. 'I've gotta flatten it out in a leaf shape, and then squish it overthe leaf, back into my face!'

Unfortunately, his reserves - fit for a Kage - had been cut to that of a Genin; abnormally large for a six-year-old, sure... But after a test run on the treadmill, forcing the blonde to go all-out, everyone had been surprised again at how much the boy relied on his internal energy to fuel both his stamina and his power. The blonde had been utterly exhausted - physically and spiritually - at the end of a short hour's time, barely clocking in a civilian's sprint for his top speed. Naruto's teachers had had to reign Kiba in during their spars for the first week, and the Inuzuka heir was definitely not comfortable with fighting his friend in such a state.

Naruto's rate of recovery was untouched by the seals, however, and his weakness and low stamina had been slowly disappearing over the first week, gone after the second. Subject to grueling forced-marches, Inuzuka chores, and fights against both his best-friend-and-rival, and his two hard-assed teachers, Naruto quickly went from civilian stock to something that might pass the Academy Entrance Exams.

Of course, not all of the boy's progress - or training - happened to coincide with his teachers' administrations. Naruto would rest once the Chunin left, waiting for the sun's heat to dissipate in the evening, before starting in on his own training. Bull's visits were few and far between, so he always wanted to be ready with something to show the ANBU. Even if it was just a new kata from the book he'd been given, Bull's slightest praise meant almost as much to Naruto as the Hokage's.

This had put the ANBU in a peculiar spot, caught between his own feelings about the boy and the will of the Hokage - the responsibility it put on him to ensure Naruto's loyalty, to know and report everything about the boy, while at the same time keeping distant enough to remove him if he showed signs of turning on his village. 'At this point, the possibility is token, at best. The fear-mongering of a war-crazed deserter.' Bull was certain of where Naruto's ties lay.

Currently, Naruto was sweating bullets - not from the run, though it was certainly both taxing enough to warrant it - but from how close he was cutting it with his book. 'Aw crap! I must have gotten faster, at this rate...' He didn't know the maths involved, but a gut feeling, instinct and experience combined, told him he wouldn't make it to the last page before he rounded on his starting point. He put the book under his arm, and sprinted the final kilometer to his starting point. Winding down slightly, he opened the book to its first page, and started again. Passing the Hokage Monument, he noted by the sunlight that he had another two laps - 'Two more chances!' - before the morning's training began.

He forced himself to read slowly through the first few pages, knowing the words almost by rote. 'It would be cheating to skip the words I know just because I've read them already - And Hokage-jiji said there were no shortcuts to taking his hat!' Besides, the story was one Naruto enjoyed - It had a princess, and dinosaurs, and a brave hero who used a jutsu that let him fly anywhere he wanted - which was to save the princess from a dinosaur, in this case. 'One day, I'm gonna go everywhere! First Konoha, then, the world!' Still, the ending was sad. 'Why not make friends with the dinosaurs instead of killing them?' He was sure there were a few in the forest outside of Konoha's walls - maybe he'd do just that when he was a real ninja.

Iruka knew something was up when Naruto's grin practically split the blonde's face in half. The boy was early - a dangerous sign - and happy - another mental check beside the 'We are going to be pranked today' list. In Naruto's arms lay a pristine book. A sheen of perspiration was still drying on the blonde's face, and his pant legs were dusty. Before he had time to draw any conclusions, the boy noticed him. "Oh, hey Iruka-sensei! What are we gonna do today?" It was his customary greeting - even when the two teachers told him the night before, Naruto always managed to forget. 'Or maybe he just knows it gets under our skin?' Either way, the next question was easy enough to cut off - "Sorry Naruto, no jutsu today. We'll work on your hand-seals, however, and if you can get all twelve perfect then we'll start on Kawarimi next week, guaranteed!" He chuckled at the boy's disappointment.

Seeing Mizuki without any big stacks of paper was a pretty big deal for Naruto - it perked him right up, because it meant that today, they'd only be doing one thing, and then Kiba would show up for a spar! 'I'll show you just how far I've come, fleabag! Bring it!' His prediction turned out to be correct, and true to Iruka's words, they practiced hand-seals for nearly six hours. Of course, they practiced them while running, both on the treadmill and off, as well as while jumping, rolling, and dodging beanbags.

"These are all scenarios you might find yourself in, Naruto - if your opponent can stop you from creating jutsus just by forcing you to move, you've already lost the battle!" Mizuki sent a "tch" at Iruka's freely offered advice and encouragement. 'Damnit Iruka, you've really fallen for his tricks so easily? Can't you see it's just using you to make it stronger? You won't get me, Demon...' Regardless, the silver-haired Chunin was forced to at least participate in Naruto's continued advancement, and so offered a common mnemonic device to help the blonde remember his seals under stress - at least until they became muscle-memory.

After they finished with their sealing - Naruto had finally gotten the full sequence correct in all scenarios, after memorizing Mizuki's little rhyme - the trio were met by Hana and Kiba, as well as her three growing pups. By way of greeting, Kiba and Naruto had already begun scuffling - a remark at the Inuzuka's breath keeping any partners away setting Kiba off. "Oh yeah blondie? I don't even need a ninken to take your ass down!" Naruto ran, "Just don't breathe on me! I surrender, I surrender for a breath mint!"

The real spar between them was much less vicious, at least to begin with. The two boys began slowly, flowing with the Academy's flexible kata, complementing each other as their senseis called out which form to use, which stance to take. Before long, however, they were given free reign. Naruto was forced to improvise with the Academy kata - he hadn't had time to go over the book of forms that Bull had given him yet, and he didn't even know how well he'd learn them on his own in any case.

Kiba, however, heeded no such boundaries - the Inuzuka taijutsu style was vicious and brutal, intended both to inspire fear in enemies, and end fights through blood-loss and gaping wounds, rather than finesse or powerful blows. The Inuzuka bloodline caused increased Chakra flow to nails, teeth, and sensory organs - especially the nose and ears - meaning that by four, their claws and fangs were stronger than steel. By puberty, it took Chakra scalpels to properly file and maintain their weapons of choice, and a large part of Inuzuka economy was based on the remains of their fallen comrades and ancestors.

Healing almost as fast as he was scratched - a good ability to know about before one went on any ninja missions where enemies might have claws or sharp weapons, such as the Demon Brothers of the Hidden Mist - and nearly as fast as an Inuzuka, Kiba had no more qualms going all-out on his blonde query, especially after that last comment. "What's wrong, Kiba, cat got your tongue?" Naruto pulled his eyelid down, ducking low under a swipe and forcing his feral foe to block an upward kick that would have set him on his ass if he'd been a moment slower. Growling, the Inuzuka heir began another kata, Hana making note of any flaws to correct when they got home. It was a particularly violent combo of slashing jabs and rending grabs, some of which Naruto managed to punch or slap away, others which sprayed blood, briefly, before scabbing over, and then disappearing.

Despite his healing, the blonde still went down, howling in pain. "Alright! You win already, let up!" He bit back tears, gratefully accepting protein bars and a large chocolatey smoothie from Iruka, and less gratefully, a towel from Mizuki. 'I don't like how he looks at me when I get hurt,' the blonde shuddered. 'Maybe I should start learning something better than this Academy crap, it's not even good in a fight.' He stowed the thought for later. Hana was taking Kiba back to the compounds. Naruto looked around for Bull, but the ANBU's flashing signal - a secret between the two - was nowhere to be found. "I'll come too! Hey, wait up!" Waving goodbye to his teachers - before they could task him with cleaning up - he hurried after his family, laughing.