Skyfire

A/N: How's it going everyone? Good? Good... Anyways, I think I threw myself a challenge with the multitude of storylines that this fic opens up with. I swear that I'll try to keep it comprehensive and fill all the plot holes.

For the record, a reviewer mentioned that Alduin couldn't really be sealed since he's not made of chakra. My answer is this: Seals are different in Tamriel and the Narutoverse, and while the Hakke no Fuin Shiki wasn't explicitly designed to hold anything physical, it will in this story. Plus, storage seals exist, don't they? Either way, his advice will come into play later in the story (it'll be kinda a surprise). Man, I'm confusing myself... let's just get on with the story.

Meh, the opening to this chapter is a bit long, but it'll be the only thing with Kyuubi for a while. No action there though, sorry. Just wait till later.

Thanks for the reviews! Keep 'em coming! They're fantastic for inspiration and throwing me some advice!

Ch2: Trapped

Kurama, the mightiest of Bijuu, legendary nine-tailed fox, and bringer of disaster everywhere, was trapped. Completely and utterly. There was absolutely no other way to put it, though the beast might not have been able to admit the stupid fact himself. It was in Sovngarde, a small heaven-like place that housed souls of Nordic (he had no clue what that meant) heroes, that he found himself spending his days. Not only were they living peacefully in the afterlife, but a few of them tried to kill him, stabbing their long swords like small splinters into his feet. Needless to say, there was no lasting impact, but it irritated him, and they stopped when they figured that Kurama meant no harm. They were lucky he couldn't devour their souls or smack them with his great tails. For the time before the Nords calmed down, he couldn't sleep under that beautiful sky.

To say it pissed him off was an exaggeration. For the first year of his entrapment, he was blissfully free and spent most of the time lying in sleep next to the large bone bridge that connected the mainland of Sovengarde to the Hall of Valor. Honestly, it probably scared off some of the incoming souls, though Kyuubi likely guessed that they weren't worthy if they couldn't stand the sight of a five-story tall fox. If it were one of many of the other nine bijuu in this situation, they'd never have figured out what he had discovered only a year into his predicament. It made him grow a huge smirk on his face, one that liked to taunt the guardian of the bridge, Tsun.

Kurama would have said that they were 'friends' if he ever considered a mortal worthy of such a title. Well, the guard of the bridge wasn't exactly 'mortal,' Tsun was considered a minor god (Kurama didn't buy it), so he wasn't afraid to admit that that they were friends. Tsun had taken it as his secondary agenda (after testing the worth of dead Nords) to try to give the fox some knowledge of their language. It wasn't like he had anything other to do... What surprised him more than anything else since Alduin's vanishing, for many were worried he still lived, was how quickly the giant fox learned. Who'd have thought?

It was after two years at Sovengarde that Kyuubi felt the need to explore the place again. He kind of wished for that humorous mortal (in his perspective at least) who he called 'Alduin.'At least now he knew why the Nord Dragonborn was so reluctant of the title, and it only sufficed to provide him with more endless amusement. Alas, the sleep and lame jokes were getting jaded, making him leave his normal resting place to 'adventure.'

As he walked, he noticed how grassy and untainted the landscape was now as opposed to when he arrived, but the air still felt cold, and there was some type of eternal twilight feel to the place. That only made it homier to the bijuu. He always hated being stuck around a molten sphere in Kushina's mindscape, stabbed to it by large spikes. No, compared to that, this was truly heaven.

While he wandered, taking note of the apparent edges of the place, he came upon a human, Nord presumably, who was sitting down on the top of a small hill, meditating. A large black cloak was situated on his back under his spiky grey hair which protruded over the top of his head into two horn-like points. Kurama raised a metaphorical eyebrow at that observation. The man also had his hands clasped together, unmoving. Trotting around to face him from the front, the fox saw his eyes were closed and his breathing was so slow that it appeared nonexistent. 'That can't be him!'

"Have you been shown a righteous path yet..." The man asked, eyes closed, nothing moving save his mouth, "Kurama?" He finished, opening his eyes to see the fox. They were metallic blue, four black rings rippling out from the center. Filled with power. Such was the might of the Sage of Six Paths, the one who stood down the Juubi and won.

"Old man?" Kurama gasped. Yes, he was officially speechless. From what he was able to glean, this place was only for Nords and the like to come after their death, not an ancient milenium-old sage from the Elemental Countries.

"I have missed you," he unclasped his hands and looked up to give the fox a smile. "My, how you've grown."

Kurama gave him a wide smirk. "Jiji... the one you told me about, the one to unite us, he hasn't come."

The sage chuckled softly in amusement. "Then it means that there has not been disaster yet. I would have thought a thousand years would go by slower, and with many more world-threatening calamities. I guess I'm paranoid in my old age."

"Nonsense," the fox snorted, "you're the only mortal out there with sense."

He received a deliberate frown. "You don't seem to like humans too much. I always thought you to be the caring one out of your siblings, the one who accepts man."

"Things change," the fox sighed, deciding to try and sit down next to the sage. It was like a normal father-son conversation on a hill, both staring into the sunset. Only the son was a giant fox over a hundred times the weight of the father.

"Hmm... Wise words indeed. I'm not proud that I had to leave my homeland, nor am I happy that I remained a spirit in this land for longer than I should be able to remember."

Kurama tried to put a humanoid frown on his face, though it still looked like an evil glare. The sage held a chuckle, closing his ringed eyes in a wide smile. "How did you end up here, Jiji?"

"Well," he began as if telling a story to a wonderous child, "it appeared as if my life force was too powerful for whatever afterlife remained for me. You could say that when you and your siblings were removed from the seal that I gained immortality. Or you could say that I was no longer a true person in the common sense of the word." The fox tried a look of confusion this time. "Oh, forget that. I wasn't welcome any longer among the land of the living, so I roamed far and wide across dimensions and what not, until I found this peaceful place. What's even worse is I've been mistaken for a god..."

"The past repeating itself?" Kurama wondered aloud.

"Nah. More like the universe really wants me to know something." He brushed off the comment with a silly wave of his hand. "What I'm more concerned about is how you ended up here."

That only brought back unsavory memories for the fox. He wanted nothing more than to be left alone, but that bastard Madara had to summon him to help him attack Konoha, only to be sealed in the Uchiha's rival's, Hashirama Senju's, wife. Then he was passed along like a family heirloom until Kushina had her son, only for the damned Madara (how was he still alive?) to rip out the bijuu and subjugate him again. "I was about to be sealed again," he said aloud, "but it appeared as if the seal didn't work properly and I wound up here. I'm not familiar with the language here, but it sounds like I switched places with a dragon."

The sage frowned. "Would that dragon happen to be named Alduin?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, well, shit." He shook his head. "A monk such as I was shouldn't say such profanity, but there is a reason."

"Reason?"

"Long before the Juubi, there were dragons in our world too. Much like how they used to rule men here, they played a part in the formation of our world. How they came to be, I can only speculate, but eventually their species died out naturally over many many years. If Alduin finds them and resurrects them... the world I left behind might get even violenter."

"So?" Kyuubi wondered. This didn't impact him or the other bijuu at all. It sounded like a problem for mortals. Besides, if dragons there were anything like the weak fools here, there would be no problem for chuunin and jounin teams to kill the beasts.

"They are only part of the problem. A few may approach Alduin in might, but the World Eater himself can set half a town on fire with one word. Plus, our world doesn't have Dragonborn like Skyrim does, meaning Alduin could resurrect them over and over again as he sees fit. I personally don't know a way to kill the black dragon short of devouring his soul here in Sovengarde."

This gave the Kyuubi a little more to think about. Still, from the small amount he was able to understand about this land, it didn't seem like much of a threat. "You said you were a god here? Can't you travel back the other way?"

"No, and even if I could, this is more of my home now. I am a Nord God now, Julianos. Even though the dang monasteries can't depict me anywhere close to right, I still think of Nords as my people. The chakra-filled world I left behind is just that, in the past." For some reason, for the first time in centuries, Kyuubi felt an emptiness creep into his nonexistent heart. A void that wanted the man to return to his home, even if it was impossible.

"Kurama?" The sage interrupted his thoughts, placing a small hand on the beast's enormous paw. "I have to be going now, Akatosh calls. Since I am the God of Wisdom and Logic, I will offer you one piece of advice." The fox looked at him intently. "When the time comes, and you will know when it does, find your way back to your world. Oh, and teach that Dragonborn."

"Wait! Don't go!" Kurama shouted as the man started fading away with a grin plastered on his face.

"Keep Shukaku in line for me..." and he was gone, vanished without a trace.

"Teach the Dragonborn what?" The fox sighed into space, prodding back to his space by the bridge. He was torn, ripped apart inside, and for all the chakra in his body, none of it seemed to be able to fill his empty heart.

Skyrim- Five years later (Seven after sealing)

He was pacing, again. Couped up here in this... gods damned monestary, High Hrothgar, he was disconnected from the world. No, he wasn't hiding from the world that he so dutifully saved, the truth was quite the opposite. He was shielding the world from himself.

At first, all he wanted to do was go back to the farm, now void of life and family, and try to go back to life as it once was. For three months after defeating the Thalmor and getting Ulfric the throne, he lived his days without his ebony armor or sword. For a time he felt so normal, a feeling the last year hadn't granted him. Ever since that fateful day in Sovngarde, his life felt like it wasn't complete, like he had far more to do. Sure, the fox beast could not harm anyone from that realm, but Alduin was somewhere. Alduin was somewhere, and he was living on a farm. What a heroic person he was.

So, after those three months, he left his farm, left his past, his home, the memories of his family. Like the dragon he was on the inside, he Shouted flames onto it, burning it from his life. He was Dovahkiin, yet that title hardly seemed to describe him then. It was at that farm, and through two years of searching for Alduin, that he discovered that he wasn't satisfied. He could control Skyrim much better than Ulfric could. He could stop the foolish Nords from their petty arguments and make everything... perfect.

Dominance, control. Power. It called to him more and more as he and Odahviing searched for a clue on Alduin's location, only to find themselves walking in circles. After he finally became beyond restless, agitated, the red Dovah, his only true fried these days, had advised him to go to High Hrothgar. At the time, he was near Solitude, so he travelled back through Whiterun, meeting up with Lydia again. He missed her, honestly, and that was the one thing that he held to be his feeling as a human. She was not a part of his empty vandetta, or his newfound urge to control.

Maybe they could get back together, one day. He'd like that, to feel normal again.

But, first the monks at High Hrothgar had sent him to Paarthurnax for counseling on his predicament. With no small amount of help from the wise dragon, he was able to fight back his nature that tore at him from his very soul.

These days, he restlessly paced the interior of the building, searching for something. Four years he had stayed here, and he was once again losing his patience. Not that he had much to begin with anyways, but as they say, patience is a virtue, and it was one of the first things the Greybeards taught him. He wasn't quite sure what he wanted now, power, influence, peace, closure, to find Alduin, an explanation. Really, anything since not much ever happened in High Hrothgar.

"Something bothering you, Dragonborn?" A monk asked, walking to him. The Nord stopped pacing and turned to the only Greybeard he'd ever spoken a conversation with, Arngeir.

"To put it bluntly, I'm bored and clueless."

"Aren't we all?" The monk replied with an amused smirk.

"I'm serious. I have so many questions about Alduin, the fox, and life in general, but I have yet to find some of the answers after four years. Four da... four long years," he corrected.

Arngeir let his amusement wash out from his face. "It is true that you may not have found what you seek in regards to life, morals, and what you should do, but those questions are not often ment to have comprehensive answers. As for the fox, I believe I can help you."

"Wait, really? You're not joking?" The Nord replied quickly. Well, the monk hardly ever joked to begin with...

"I have been looking into our predicament, and I think there is a way to find out where Alduin went."

"So you know where?"

"No," the monk deadpanned, putting off the anxious Dovahkiin, "but I know where to look for your answers." After a few silent seconds, Arngeir got the hint that the Dovahkiin wanted him to elaborate. "Hmm, it is a tablet that you may or may not find useful. Give me a moment, I'll fetch it from our storage."

A few impatient minutes later, the monk returned at what seemed to be a deliberately slow walk. It was as if he wanted the Dovahkiin to feel the pain of anxiety. "Well, where is this tablet?"

"Here," the Greybeard handed him an old, thin stone that seemed worn around the edges. "It was found in an old shrine to Julianos, and none of those who traveled here can decipher its meaning."

At the very top there was a circle surrounded by what seemed to be three arcs, each under the circle. The symbol, whatever it was, was outlined in six commas, each exceedingly large. It read 羽衣一族 under the symbol, gibberish lines that made even less sense than Dovahzul. The rest of the tablet was filled with similar scrawl, though parts of it were too faded to determined properly.

"I can't read this," he stated irritatedly.

"No, but there is a fox out there who can."

Konoha- Seven years after sealing

He sat atop a wall covered in words, glaring at the three humans who dared defy him. Him! Alduin! He beat his wings down, taking advantage of the skies to obliterate the insolent whelps from the face of the earth. Then one of them began to shout.

"Joor Zah Frull!" A Nord shouted, a blue light flying towards him and impacting his chest like an oversized hammer. A sharp pain ensued, his body felt like it was burning from the inside out. His leathery wings felt like stones as he desperately tried to ascend.

Suddenly, he dropped like a rock, the great dragon falling to crash in front of the damned humans. "What have you done?!" He roared, "What twisted Words have you created?! Tahrodiis Paarthurnax! My teeth to his neck!" He turned his head towards them, an evil grin on his face if there was such an expression for a Dovah. "But first, dir ko maar! (die in terror)! Knowing your final fate, to feed my power in Sovngarde!"

"If I die today, it will not be in terror!" The woman swung her swird at him, cold metal barely cutting under his scales. They Shouted at him, they struck him with their metal tools, and that damned Dragonrend kept him subjugated on the ground. He lashed out, smacking the humans with his tail, even biting the girl in two.

Alduin faced the other warrior. "Yol Toor SHUUUUUUL!" A stream of fire bathed the human, but he refused to die. How dare they still defy him when all was lost for them and their precious war.

"Its no use! Use the scroll Felldir!" The one on fire yelled. The monk scrambled to remove the scroll from his back, swinging it in front of himself to unroll it.

Then, he began to chant. "Begone, World-Eater! By words with bones older than your own we break your perch on this age and send you out!"

Alduin had barely finished with the second human in time to see a green light envelope him."You are banished Alduin!"

"Naruto!" An eraser crashed into his head, startling him from his dream. He shot up, looking around for any sign that he was in trouble, a frightened expression briefly plaguing his features, eyes widened.

"Zu'u drey ni emtiin tol Zu'u mah enlaag..." he replied, rubbing his head where the eraser hit him. Everyone in the class was staring at him. "Fos?" If anything that got everyone else to look at him with even weirder looks. Iruka walked up to him and picked the eraser up from the ground, concern on his face.

"What did you say?"

"I didn't realize that I fall asleep," Naruto repeated, yawning. Geeze, it was like these people didn't even understand Japanese. "What? Kami, you guys are all quiet and creepy today! Shikamaru sleeps more than I do, it's not like that is some mystical occurance for this boring class."

Iruka facepalmed. "Naruto, you say how you want to be a great shinobi, but you aren't paying attention. Besides, when I woke you up, you weren't even speaking words, just growling really."

"Huh, odd. But Iruka-sensei, you can't expect the Lightning Daimyo's middle name to impact our future at all..." A smirking Sasuke from the seat next to him nudged him on the shoulder to compliment the joke.

Sasuke had befriended Naruto a few weeks back, after they were both a few months into school. While the blond was a little below average in his grades, not due to his intelligence but lack of effort he put into history and geography, Sasuke was top of the class in all elements. Naruto met his older brother, Itachi, once, and he could have sworn that the guy reminded him of an ANBU that he'd seen in his Jiji's office. Then again, the guy couldn't have been ANBU, since he was, what, twelve?

Apart from Sasuke, other aspects of the blond's life changed slightly. Naruto's whisker marks were now completely gone, and it served wonders to dissociate people like Iruka and some civilians from the Kyuubi that attacked seven years ago. His eyes had also changed from sky blue to a purplier indigo. The sclera, white of the eye, also seemed to gain a barely decipherable red tint. Aside from that, only his height had increased, and his clothing changed. For some reason, he liked wearing all black all the sudden.

"Please, just pay attention..." Iruka paced back to the board with a sigh and continued their lesson on the geography of the Lightning Country that in no way benefited the next five years of their life.

Meanwhile, in the middle row with Naruto and Sasuke, the Uchiha tapped him on the shoulder again. "Are you going to tell me what that was?"

"Seriously," an exasperated blond replied back, "I have no idea what you're talking about." That was the end of the conversation for now, considering that Sasuke's mind wandered back to his mystery of an older brother (who he adored), while Naruto stared out the window. Why did he have such an odd dream? Alduin was a dragon, not him, yet he saw the fight as if he was a giant lizard with wings. And what did they mean when they said World Eater? Alduin wasn't that bad, at least he was nicer than that one woman at the orphanage.

"Joor," a voice rumbled in his mind. "los hi ful hinskaal tol hi nis mindok vein tinvok hi tinvaak ko?" (Are you so stupid that you cannot know which language you talk in?)

'Alduin, you mean I was speaking Dovahzul? Is that connected to the weird dreams I've been having?'

"You mortals truly do need 'guidance,'" Alduin pointed out, seemingly to himself, as if the blond boy was unimportant. Everything would work so much better for everyone, in his opinion, if he could lead everything. Humans wouldn't go starting wars, and the Dov, specifically Alduin, will be where they belong, in control. "They are not dreams, joor. They are saad, real."

'So, humans were actually mean to Alduin and tried to trap him in a scroll?' He thought to himself, making sure Alduin didn't hear. Though this was the most frequent, he also had other 'memories' that surfaced every now and then, but they made little sense.

"NARUTO! Are you paying attention?"

"Sorry Iruka-sensei. I'm tired, that's all."

Their sensei pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. Why had he got stuck with this year's class, not the one ahead that was relatively void of any sleeping kids. "If that's the case, then you're all getting a test friday."

The class was reduced from uninterested to groaning and complaining in less than three seconds. Everyone but Shikamaru seemed on the verge of either screaming at Naruto or slamming their head on the desk repeatedly. The Nara was a heavy sleeper, and the students had stopped trying to wake him up many weeks ago.

"Mey joor."

'Oi! I'm not a fool, and my name's Naruto!'

"Fine!" Iruka threw down his hands in exasperation. "You guys win! There'll still be a test friday," they groaned again, "but today we're going to start learning how to throw kunai." The moans turned into cheers, and the blond gave a wide smile.

"...And throw forward like this," Iruka finished as he released the kunai from his fingertips. It sailed straight towards the target dummy with impressive speed and little arc, imbedding itself in the very center. A few of the civilian kids, including Naruto, widened their eyes at such precision from twenty feet, but the clan kids were used to this by now. Sasuke was unimpressed, considering that his brother could make kunai hit other kunai to hit a blind spot behind a rock. And Itachi was dead accurate too!

"Seem simple enough?" Iruka looked towards them all. "I want everyone to partner up, and I'll give each group a kunai. There are eleven dummies set up and 22 people, so I expect everyone to get a chance." Math? He was just begging for problems, wasn't he. Kids never managed to get into perfect groups, and he knew it, but he decided to ignore logic and push his luck. Fortunately, each of the kids found a partner, a few with people they didn't know, and each group found a target without issue.

He passed out the kunai and waited expectantly for something bad to happen. There was only one way to learn that sharp things were sharp for little kids, and they had absolutely no caution. No, he didn't wish them harm whatsoever, he just wanted to give them more useful lessons than what the cirriculum suggested for seven year olds.

Sasuke whipped his arm forward, nailing the target almost perfectly in the center. He turned to Naruto with a proud grin on his face. "One day, I'm going to beat Niisan!" He walked up to the target and grabbed the kunai out, handing it to Naruto. "Your turn," he added with a small smile.

"Alright! I got this!" Naruto declared.

"What have I told you about those foolish proclaimations?" The World Eater growled menacingly.

'Sorry.' The sincere tone almost made the dragon second guess his evaluation of mortals, then he remembered why the idiot had to apologize in the first place. Maybe this one did not deserve to die, yet many others back on his homeland, namely the infernal Dovahkiin, shouldn't live. His goal was not to rule this world, there weren't any Dov here anyways. Hmm, that actually didn't sound like too bad an idea, ruling this place. Still, no Dov. If only Paarthunax hadn't betrayed him; the wise dovah could figure out a way to bring his brethren here.

Naruto, oblivious to the world domination thoughts of the being inside him, grabbed the kuai by the grip, pointing it towards the dummy. He brought his arm back way too much and lurched forward, only for the kunai to slip and fly in an arc towards the dummy's shoulder. Without a direct impact or much speed, the kunai hit it and appeared to bounce off the shoulder. The blond frowned.

"Hey, you hit it," Sasuke commented with a grunt. Sighing, Naruto hung his head. He'd have to ask Jiji for the money to buy some kunai so that he could practice. No matter what, he couldn't let the Uchiha beat him, and Alduin always treated him like a weakling. He'd prove both the dovah and the villagers wrong!

"Yeah, I guess," he replied, putting his normal wide grin back on. He wandered towards the target and plucked the metal object off the ground. Frowning, he ran his finger along the edge and found it to be way dull.

"Oi Sasuke, why is the kunai so dull?" He handed it to the raven-haired boy who poked the tip. It tore the skin and a small amount of blood dripped out from his finger.

He raised an eyebrow. "You're kidding me Naruto, it's new and extremely sharp. See?" As if to prove his point, he poked his friend's arm with it, only Naruto didn't feel the sharp pain. Instead, the ninja tool bounced off and refused to cut the skin on his arm. Acting like an idiotic seven year old, Sasuke put most of his weight on the blade just so that it could draw a small lick of blood and prove his baka of a friend wrong. The two had a rivalry going, even if it was kind of one sided, and a good deal of it relied on winning simple arguments.

"I told you it was dull," he said, crossing his arms. Sasuke sighed. To prove his friend wrong, the Uchiha took it and pushed it at his own arm, only for it to cut into his skin immediately before he realized what he was doing.

"Oww!" He exclaimed, dropping the kunai and placing his other hand over the lightly bleeding cut.

"Haha! You've got soft skin, Sasuke-chan!" The Uchiha actually growled, an action Naruto knew far too well, and it made the young blond giggle even more.

Suddenly, there was a presence behind them, and both of the academy students turned to see an upset Iruka towering over them. The man was not happy that he gave them the chance to do some real life training, and the class clown and his friend blew it off. "Why can't you follow the instructions and practice, Naruto," their teacher sighed.

"Eh... Sorry, Iruka-sensei, but I was helping Sasuke with this cut he got trying to throw a kunai," he replied, an evil grin on his face.

"You might want to bandage that," Iruka let out a jaded groan and pointed at Sasuke's bleeding arm. He took some white wrapping from his pouch and tied it around the rather reluctant Uchiha's arm. 'Remind me why I accepted this job in the first place...' Whoever he asked the question to refused to answer him, and the sensei just let out another sigh and walked away to deal with more troublesome kids.

After the teacher walked back away, Naruto rubbed the back of his head, a sheepish grin on his face. "Sorry Sasuke."

"Lets get back to practicing, otherwise Kiba and Shikamaru will pass you and you'll be dead last."

Alduin saw glimpses of their training, deciding that it didn't interest him enough to waste his time on. The World Eater was busy wondering whether he'd meet up with his dwindling amount of followers, though he couldn't admit such, and make his way back to Tamriel. Then, a thought struck him, albeit a ridiculous one. He could live here and not worry about world domination or placing the dov above mortals, and he could just have a relatively normal life. Mere seconds after considering that, he nearly chuckled at the thought of a God such as himself reduced to being satisfied while stuck inside some idiotic, naive mortal.

One day, either the joor would free him or he'd escape on his own. Then, that Dovahkiin would be dead.

Meanwhile, in the Land of Earth

"O-Orochimaru-sama," a light grey haired boy, only 15 years of age, stuttered, surprised at the sudden visit of his new master. The teen wore round glasses that covered most of his face, his silvery-white hair falling messily down the sides of his forehead in two bangs.

He had begun working for the Sannin less than six months prior after Orochimaru discovered the Root ANBU's plot to kill the teen and his foster mother. They were too talented as spies for Danzo's liking, and Orochimaru found that his catch had much more talent that he could have anticipated.

"Kabuto, your experiments are going well, yes?" At the teen's nod, Orochimaru gave a quiet, evil-sounding chuckle. The man looked like a snake, pale skin, yellow slitted eyes, and purple marks along his eyes. Apart from his age, which was nearing 50, he had the face of a young man, a result of a forbidden technique granting him a form of immortality.

"Of course, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto replied, pushing his glasses higher on his face, "this laboratory is amazing!"

Kabuto proceeded to tour his new leader around the base showing him various things he had recently designed. There were test tubes full of different colored liquid and larger tubes mostly filled with snakes and failed experiments. In addition, there were the holding cells that remained empty and large tubes filled with liquid to preserve dead bodies. Some of the recent experiments, a chakra doubling pill for example, proved to be failures, while he was able to create useful toxins and enhancers from what was available. The Sannin was impressed, once again remarking to himself that he had an amazing eye for potential, and Kabuto displayed every bit of it.

"There is a reason to your visit, Orochimaru-sama, correct?"

"Always the curious one, Kabuto," he chuckled. "You have good reason, as I seem to have found a useful jutsu with no drawbacks."

"No drawbacks?" Replied the skeptical assistant.

Orochimaru merely gave him a creepy smile. "It is called Edo Tensei. Tobirama Senju created it, and now I seek to prefect it, but I need your help."

"Why need my help at all?" Kabuto wondered aloud.

The snake Sannin replied by laying a scroll on the table with multiple storage seals drawn on it. Channeling some chakra to the first seal, an air-tight jar popped into existence in a poof of smoke. Inside appeared to be a small bone."The Edo Tensei allows its user to reanimate dead corpses, provided a sample of DNA is available, at the cost of a sacrifice. No, it wont be you," he laughed. "You're a very useful asset, Kabuto. I have no reason to dispose of you."

"I assume there's a way to control them?"

"After the reanimation, the user can control it through use of a special tag."

"So we can reanimate whoever we want? I know for a fact there are cells of the Shodaime Hokage that we can use! If this is true than there is nothing stopping us. Wait, why would you need help with it Orochimaru-sama?" He pushed his glasses back on his nose again. It was a perpetual habbit of his, and he hardly noticed the action any more. Usually, he'd only do it when he was worried, stressed, or exited.

"I only have some of Tobirama's notes on the jutsu, and I seek to prefect it far past his accomplishments. For the next year we will work exclusively on this jutsu while you accompany to my other bases and help recruit followers for Otogakure." Kabuto nodded, not willing to disagree with the man. Not that he disagreed anyways. Either way, he owed Orochimaru everything since the man had given him back his purpose, a home, and trust.

"Who's bones are they, then?" He pointed at the jar.

"Not who. What. They are from Ryuuchi Cave, the home of the white snakes."

"Like your summoning contract?" He supplied. The legendary Ryuuchi Cave, a place that was said to only exist in myth and home of dragons thousands of years ago, if anyone believed the myths.

"Precisely." Orochimaru licked his lips in anticipation of the jutsu. No drawbacks, millions of potential minions, endless possibilities. Next to his immortality, perfect body, and village, this was the most important project to him. "This is a bone of a thousand year old dragon, and there are more in the scroll. With them and the Edo Tensei, I will be unstoppable."

A/N: Geeze, talk about a few plotlines. There's whatever's going on with Naruto and Alduin, the Dovahkiin going to Sovngarde again, Orochimaru with the dragons and evil stuffs, and whatever the Akatsuki is up to. Yeah, I think this'll be fun ;). Man, I spent too much of this setting up events so I didn't have to go rediculously slow before things get more interesting. Hopefully next chapter will be able to be more show than tell. For those of you who don't like the Sage of Six Paths as Julianos, deal with it. He's a minor character that doesn't impact the rest of the story too much. But I do love writing monks. There will be some Lydia, Odahviing, and Dovahkiin stuff in next chapter.

The reason this update took so long was that I spent time writing various seens later in the story.

Please, don't forget to review!