...see, I was telling the truth. I didn't post this as my 4th in a row. However, my muse called me, and seeing how college is starting, I needed to get this last one out while I still could. So...yeah. Have another chapter.

Also, all the current dragons (black dragon that'll be introduced included) are Japanese/Chinese style Eastern dragons. These are the main ones we'll be following. However, I do plan for there to be a few Western style dragons as well. For those lovely viewers at home, I pose you this question: What dragons do you want them to be based on? I won't say how many will show up, so go ahead and go nuts with your suggestions.

On another note for voting, there will be pairings in this story. However, just to throw this out there...the kids are like, thirteen. As such, the pairing with the most votes will be the 'main pairing' which will progress into more during the Shippuden Era. However, to help build up some characters as well as set up any potential pairings, there will be hints of things here and there until I tally the final votes; so VOTE AWAY~!

And now, here's the chapter!

Who Walks Among Dragons

He called to them from obscurity, and they replied like thunder. Both proved worthy of the others pride, and dreams. Now Naruto will grapple with a power none else had survived, and prove how his brand of unpredictability can change anyone.

Chapter 4

Haru and Raiu flew swiftly to the 'meeting plateau' where Shinryuu was waiting. As they approached, Musshu suddenly let out a frightened sound and he hid himself in Haru's hair. Haru and Raiu glanced back at him, and then back to the plateau curiously. As they circled around for a safer landing, they noted that Shinryuu was not alone; another, pitch black dragon, was standing not far from him with an eye of disdain at them.

They both rolled their eyes at the display, knowing that should this dragon act out what was likely going through its head, there were three dragons strong enough to more than overpower it. Musshu didn't count; his cowering at her mere presence was proof enough of that. Although why, they could only guess.

Finally pulling in to land, they allowed the wind to blow out below them as they hovered above the ground, equally spaced and glowing with the aura of their power. Raiu's was substantially larger, but Haru put on a good show, and with the stronger glow from his eyes he held his own in displaying his impressive power. It was an entrance worthy of a dragon.

Seeing their entrance, Shinryuu chuckled softly and allowed his own power to rise as well. His scales rattled with each breath he took, like the echo of an avalanche rolling through a canyon. Raising himself to his full, towering height, all watched as his power began to draw in dark clouds above them. The average day became one with the sun completely blocked out; only the power from each dragon illuminating the sky.

The final member grumbled at what equated to a power play, and slowly moved to their feet as well. Having gotten closer, they could see that this dragon was as plain as they stood out. Thinner, and more streamline then even Haru, the unpolished pitch black scales smoothly lay against them like fine silk rather than ridged armor. Encompassing its face, was an odd green coloration that extended mainly across its snout until it reached around its mouth. Both eyes had scales that took on the appearance of fire, giving the sharp look more edge, as well as red scales that ran down its chin across its underbelly. Two sets of single point horns stuck out behind its head, oddly shaped in a near ninety degree angle upwards in a way that, were the other dragons around without respect for the power each had, would likely be mocked for being rather silly in the eyes of other dragons.

Letting out a snort of contempt, it flared up its power as well, rearing back on its hind legs to get height advantage over even Shinryuu as the onyx claws glowed with the strong energy spiking around them. Once fully displayed before them, the black dragon threw back its head and let out a loud blast of energy. Each dragon there could feel the typhoon unleashed by the one blast as it washed over them, dispersing some of the clouds directly above their meeting point while sending violent winds in a dome-like manner before abruptly stopping and once more becoming gentle breezes as though nothing had happened. Staring down arrogantly at the other dragons, it slowly allowed itself to sink down onto its forepaws before laying before them lazily.

There was a respectful moment of silence as they all let their power recede with their introductions out of the way. Then, Haru chuckled. "…I give it a seven."

"You sure? That was a decent eight point five to me." Raiu blinked, glancing at the still dispersing clouds. To be able to dispel Shinryuu's clouds after they'd been drawn in by his power was rather impressive after all.

"I give it a seven point five myself." Shinryuu remarked, getting a glare from the black dragon. "You and I both know that we don't give our best efforts, but even you could've at least made the ground shake with a roar like that."

Snarling, the black dragon simply snorted in reply. "I'd have liked to see you do better."

"Perhaps next time Aku." Shinryuu replied with a full-teethed dragon's grin; a dragon's way of showing acceptance to a challenge. "However, I was not the last to share my introduction, so it was not me who was required to put on a full performance." Turning to the other two, he slowly glanced between Haru and Raiu, he let a gravelly chuckle escape as he noted the only one missing. "You can come out now Musshu. Aku will not harm you or your kind."

"For now." Aku added, not willing to allow such a prospect from escaping in the future.

Whimpering, Musshu slowly allowed himself to fall from Haru's hair. Bouncing off the ground, he scurried his was to the center of the group, wringing his hands slowly as he looked between them all. "Eheh, hey there everybody…what's good? Aku you're looking…evil as ever."

"Bite me ash breath." Aku muttered, leaning forward as though challenging him to actually do it.

"Uh…I'd rather not. You know how it is. Fire dragons have a bad rap as it is, and…I'm just gonna, gonna quit while I'm ahead." Musshu swallowed the lump growing in his throat as he noticed the way Aku slowly curled up while keeping eyes on him. He was the bottom of the food chain here, and Aku appeared to be looking for any reason to remind him of why.

"A wise decision." Haru said, intervening in time to keep Musshu from being eaten. "As humorous as I'm sure you find the idea of eating the young one to be, do not forget that he is a member of this council."

"Until a suitable replacement can be found." Aku hissed, raising up to challenge Haru.

Haru remained calm, unperturbed by Aku's remarks. "Until such a time though, you will respect him as a member of this council, else you yourself will be removed and it would then be your replacement we'd be seeking."

There was a silent stare down between the two, levels of killing intent rolling off Aku rising slowly at the clear threat. In a moment though, the intent disappeared and Aku slinked back to a more relaxed position; looking more bored then aggressive now that the 'argument' was over. Had Haru not experienced such attitude before, he would likely have stumbled a bit at the change in attitude.

"So! When do we see this summoner-dude-human-thing?"

Luckily, thing of a more surprising and –often literally – shocking nature happened quite often around Raiu which had helped prepare him long ago.

"Patience Raiu, we must once more wait for his presence to call upon us before we may meet him." Shinryuu said, he too slinking down to a more relaxed pose. Musshu flinched as the ground rumbled with each movement of the Shinryuu caused a small quake. "Hehehe, or rather, we must wait for him to call Musshu back. He is the only one who can be safely summoned, seeing how if he even attempted to do so with us…"

"He'd lose all his chakra even trying and likely die, if we didn't eat him first." Aku said with a smirk.

Raiu blinked, looking between the two of them. "…well that sucks. Are we gonna fix that? I wanna go see the human world too you know!"

"Oh, you'll love it Raiu!" Musshu said, remembering what the human world had looked like. "It's so…colorful! There's a lot of trees, and the humans are really fun to try and figure out." As he spoke, he felt killing intent slowly growing behind him. "It's really…really…um…hi?"

Aku glowered at Musshu, clearly disliking what was being said. "So…you've been there before? And yet we are still waiting for this summoner to summon you again? Next you'll be telling me you went in more than once." Seeing the way Musshu looked away, Aku growled, letting the stones around Musshu rattle in rage. "So you have."

"Uh, maybe?"

"Enough." Shinryuu rumbled, as his power spiked, the dark clouds rumbling above them as his eyes glowed harshly. This caused Aku to pause and glance at him. Coiled, and prepared to launch at him, only Shinryuu's stern warning kept Aku from doing so.

"Regardless of how many times he's been summoned, it is better that he was not brought here immediately. If he had been, we would not be able to look over our options." Haru said, moving behind Musshu to act as a pseudo-bodyguard. "We do not need a repeat of our last summoners…much less a repeat of the last summoner."

Each dragon present snarled. With a new focus for the prior anger, Aku relented and allowed Musshu some freedom from killing intent as new matters needed to be taken care of. "So, what should we do about him? If you'd let me, I can rip him apart before we even bother with worrying about such trivial matters. After all, he cannot do what cannot be undone if he doesn't live long enough to do anything."

"But he cannot prove his worth as a summoner either, like some we've known." Haru shot back.

Raiu looked between the two, sensing something between the two clashing between them. "…what did I miss?"

"…nothing Raiu." Haru replied after a moment more of tension. Raiu didn't need to know, not now at least. While Haru had no doubt that Raiu had the most power of them, beside Musshu Raiu was the youngest of them. Aku had skill and advantage in such a way that Raiu could not only be overpowered, but outright destroyed if Aku was feeling vindictive enough. With all that was happening, it was likely that Aku would do just that. "Just a difference of opinion that's all."

Musshu shook violently, the pressure between the two palpable and bearing down on him. Standing between two dragons hell bent on striking each other was not what he'd expected, and far from what he'd want to do in the near or far future. Luckily, a familiar pull on his chakra caught his attention as he was pulled away to the human realm.

The other dragons blinked as the sound of the summoning caught their attention. Slowly staring at one another, they collected themselves as quickly as they could. Unless Musshu was brain dead, the summoner would be there soon, and it would be good to make a good impression. All eyes were on Shinryuu to lead them in, seeing how he was the unofficial leader of their council. In a surprisingly short amount of time, Musshu returned with someone else clearly being unveiled from the smoke.

Raising himself up, Shinryuu spoke with his usual deep rumble. "Greetings Naruto-san, and welcome to the realm of dragons."

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

Silence.

With a bark of laughter, Raiu's laughter rattled through the air. "Oh! You were right Musshu, I do like him already!"

Shinryuu tilted his head slowly, staring down at Naruto with a slightly raised brow. Leaning closer, stared into Naruto's eyes with a stone cold look in his eyes. He inwardly chuckled at the look on the boy's face; Naruto clearly wasn't expecting to be dragged here, which meant Musshu had likely dragged him in without warning him. All the more amusing, but less productive for now.

Naruto stared back, eyes all but popping out as his brain began to function again. Pointing at Shinryuu, he shouted loudly. "Aah! Dragon!"

"Oh? And here I was under the impression that I was a fox." Shinryuu said one of his whiskers gently tapping Naruto on his head. For Shinryuu, 'gentle' almost made Naruto plow headfirst into the ground.

To all of their surprise, Naruto seemed to easily brush it off as he sat up. Rubbing his head, he gave it a gentle shake and stared up at Shinryuu. "Ow…what was that for?"

"…hm, how interesting. You're quite impressive for one so young Naruto." Shinryuu muttered, careful to not raise his voice to loud. With his size, he might actually blow the poor boy away.

Naruto stared up at Shinryuu, blinking as he processed what was said. Grinning embarrassedly, he laughed as he scratched the back of his neck. "Um, thanks! Uh…and who are you? And where am I?"

Shinryuu rose himself up, allowing his impressive stature to be shown to its full extent as his scale glowed. "I am Shinryuu, the great green dragon born from earth and stone of the mountains to the north. Wise as the long standing stone from which I was born, and gifted with rolling thunder. Elder of the Dragon Council, and strongest of those holding the earth element. And the dragons behind you, I will allow to introduce themselves."

Naruto completely froze at that, slowly turning around. Staring up slowly, he realized that he wasn't alone with just one – no wait Musshu was still with him – two dragons. Behind him, the three dragons stared down at him with varying looks that he couldn't quite read; then again, a human trying to read the expression of dragons he didn't know from a distance would be difficult for anyone. Slowly looking from one dragon to the next, he slowly blinked.

"…well…um, okay?" Naruto said, still processing everything that was going on.

Haru rose next, eyes glowing as he stared down at Naruto. "I am Haru, silver river dragon, born of the rapids and still waters of the eastern rivers. Although I have not the greatness of Shinryuu, I am powerful in my own right, and I look forward to serving with you young Naruto-san."

Finally having caught up, Naruto crossed his arms and hummed as his mind now began to crunch other things. Slowly standing up, he looked around at the world around him. "Um…where am I?"

"You are in the realm of the great summons, the dragons." Haru replied, smirking at the perplexed look Naruto's face. Clearly this was a lot for him to take in, but he had time to take it in…some time at least.

Nodding slowly, Naruto glanced at Raiu and Aku, then slowly to Musshu. Musshu blinked. "What?"

"Um, why didn't you tell me you were going to be bringing me here?" Naruto said slowly, motioning to the world around him.

"I thought you wouldn't mind." Musshu replied nonchalantly, trying to dismiss it. Seeing Naruto about to argue with him, he raised a claw to stop him. "I mean think about it, how awesome is it to see the dragons you'll eventually summon, standing right in front you? Huh? Come on tell me it's not cool."

Naruto's expression remained a flat stare for a moment as he had a silent stare down with the small red dragon. Then, a large grin grew on his face from ear to ear. "Alright yeah, it is pretty cool." Looking around between them, Naruto chuckled as he stood up to get a good look at the dragons. "I mean WOW. When I met Musshu I thought that was pretty neat, but you guys…I am so gonna hold this over Sasuke-teme's head one of these days."

Ignoring Naruto's maniacal laughter, Raiu turned to Haru and gently nudged him. Haru's eyes darted between the two, thinking over what to do before he sighed. "Naruto-san."

"Eh?" Naruto paused in mid laugh, much to the disappointment of Musshu who'd joined in at some point and was left alone for a second before it died down to a nervous chuckle. Once silence had resumed, Naruto spoke up again. "What's up…Haru right?"

Haru nodded. "You are correct. However, I do believe you cut us off in the middle of our introductions, and they would like to finish before we continue."

"Oh? Oh!" Naruto glanced to Musshu, remembering how the smaller dragon had scolded him on his technique. Looking up to Haru, then back to Shinryuu, he realized these dragons were likely who helped him get a good idea what 'good technique' was. Nodding sagely, as though he'd figured something very important out, he turned back to Raiu and gave a small nod. "Alright, go ahead."

Raiu smiled at this, small sparks of electricity filling the air as Raiu spoke. "I am Raiu! I was born on the mountains of clouds and thunder to the south, and taught in their ways. Mine is the element of lightning and I am the strongest cloud dragon of my generation. I bet we're going to have a lot of fun!"

Naruto slowly grinned back at Raiu when he saw the full display of teeth, but felt nothing but good natured from the dragon. It didn't seem like any of them wanted to hurt him or be mean to him yet; Raiu seemed to be rather playful in a way that he could relate to. Turning to Aku, he froze when his face almost brushed against the black and green scales that were suddenly right in front of him.

Snorting, both nostrils blasting the heated air in Naruto's face, Aku slowly raised to full height to bear down on him. Each word was spoken slowly and deliberately, and made Naruto feel as though his entire body was shaking with each syllable. "I am Aku, greatest of the black dragons to have walked these realms. I am lord over the eastern wind and high ruler of the secret word, wild and wicked as the winds of my birth. My teeth are swords, my claws are spears, and my fire is that which leaves none left in its wake." Slowly leaning till Naruto's nose met with Aku's snout, Aku growled. "And unlike my fellow dragons, you have not won me over with your mere presence. Should I find you unworthy, I will not hesitate to strike you down. Have I spoken clearly, boy?"

Naruto was having a difficult time focusing between Aku's threat and his back giving out as he was bending back at a somewhat awkward angle to allow Aku to continue to stare into his eyes. Swallowing heavily, Naruto slowly nodded. "Y-yeah. I understand."

Slowly slinking back to the shadows, Aku's expression remained flat and emotionless. The other dragons stared, unsure what to make of that. It was well within any of their rights to refuse the call of their summoner, but after how long it'd been since any dragon had been summoned each was somewhat eager to see how they could work this to their advantage. Dragons live a long time, but after even a few decades even they could get bored of the same old droll existence.

Of them, only Shinryuu could understand the subtle wordings of what Aku had said. Unlike the others, including himself, Aku had not said anything about wisdom or things that might be seen as trivial. Instead, Aku only spoke of the things that would leave an impression of a fierce, all-consuming dragon of death for the young boy to remember when thinking of Aku. In a way it was brilliant; the only time Naruto would now want to summon Aku would be when he wanted his opponents to disappear

No, disappear was to tame a word. He'd summon Aku to lay waste to the person, their family, anyone they'd ever sneezed at, right down to their last chicken if he felt vindictive enough. And Aku would happily do it if offered such a chance.

The only thing Aku would bow to was the very chaos of the world.

Soon, Aku would learn of the chaos that was Uzumaki Naruto.

The first taste they all got of this was when Naruto bounced back from Aku's warning threat. Most people, shinobi or not, would have needed a moment to catch up with their heartbeat and calm down. Naruto, still on an adrenaline high from being nose to nose with an incarnation of death, was suddenly all but bouncing on his toes as he glanced around at all of them. "So, uh…why am I here again? I mean, it's really awesome you all are introducing yourselves, but I kinda sorta was getting ready for bed before you called and I'm gonna need to sleep eventually."

Haru, the least disturbed of them, replied with an even tone. "We called you so that we could meet with our new summoner. Seeing how we've had some…difficulties with summoners in the past, we had figured some time ago that we'd need a different approach to helping train you. As such, we needed to see what manner of person you were, and figure out from there what we should do."

"Oh okay. So, did you guys figure out how awesome I am?" Naruto said with a grin, looking rather pleased with himself.

Each dragon felt a bead of sweat drop the back of their necks at how silly that statement sounded to them. In their eyes, Naruto might as well have been a small puppy would be to a human; small and harmless, even if it had a lot of bark in an attempt to make itself noticeable. There was possible potential with how easily he simply let things roll off his back and moved on, but beyond that they'd have to see more before they could do anything with him.

Raiu seemed to sum it up best though with something childish, and yet proclaimed everything that Naruto was. "You're orange!"

Naruto's face lit up at this, pulling on his jacket as he admired his favorite color. "Hehe, yeah I am. Do you like it?"

"It's so bright!" Raiu exclaimed. Head tilting slightly, there was mischievousness to the next words. "I know how to be brighter though!"

Before Haru could stop it, Raiu tilted back and unleashed a bolt of lightning into the sky. With the black clouds still overhead from Shinryuu's earlier display of power, the lightning bounced around within them as their natural electricity began bouncing around with the new chakra driven into it. Lightning arching around it, a bolt dropped down into the center of them all, so close to Naruto that he could smell the ozone it had dropped from.

"AAH! I'm blind!" Naruto shouted, blinking frantically as his vision became dotted with a stunning array of colors and bright lights.

"Why are there so many colors?!" Musshu shouted with him, having gotten caught up in the blast from not realizing just what kind of flashy maneuver Raiu was going to pull off before it exploded in their faces.

With slow, unnervingly flat stares, the other three dragons stared at Raiu. Blinking nervously, Raiu's head bowed submissively as realization that what had just happened was likely not the best thing. Which meant now they had to wait for Naruto to stop screaming and shouting about being blinded.

Joy.

After several minutes of calming Naruto and Musshu down, they finally had Naruto display some of the talents he had to the dragon council. Starting with his basic jutsu, then moving into actual combat, before finally they all absorbed the information and let it stew so that they could come to a conclusion. Fortunately for Naruto, the verdict was unanimous.

Naruto sucked.

Not in a bad way though; his jutsu list was limited, and his techniques in hand to hand were simple and unrefined with more similarities to a brawler then to a seasoned fighter. While his future looked dim if he stuck to these things, it left the dragons with a world of possibilities. There was so little to work with in terms of what needed to be broken down or beaten out of him that it was practically child's play.

His shadow clone jutsu was the only jutsu worth taking note of, but even then it was a supplementary technique. Naruto could focus all kinds of creativity with them, but in the end one could not say that the technique was initially designed for anything he did with them. He would be more then allowed to keep using it as he pleased. With their guidance, he'd make something out of it that would be even more feared and troublesome to opponents then before.

So, in a kinder manner then to blatantly put it out there that they were working with someone who needed to be whipped into shape, most of the dragons tried to put it a bit more tactfully. "We certainly have a lot to work with. If he were in any other shape, we may have had our work cut out for us, but Naruto's potential is manageable."

"I'll say. Naruto-kun has given us a rare opportunity that I don't think we've ever heard said about our previous summoners. It's like being handed raw ore." Haru remarked, having already realizing that making analogies was a great way to say things Naruto wouldn't understand. "With a bit of heat, a bit more added to it, and the proper application of pressure and he'll become something truly remarkable. I'd dare say he might even be a halfway decent shinobi too by the time we're done with him."

"I'm in favor of watching him squirm from the training at this point." Aku said, eyes on Naruto with a grin that promised pain in the future. "He bumbles around so much, it makes me think of a squirrel that's lost its way from home. Squirrels aren't nearly as fun as he seems though. I think I'd rather like having a new chew toy to play with."

"He was like an ocean of orange! It was just, poof, and then bam! I couldn't count them all before they started beating each other up." Raiu, the most legitimately impressed of the group remarked. Glancing around eagerly, small cracks of static bounced around Raiu's head. "He's got to have tons of chakra in him! Do you think he could summon one of us?"

That statement got them all to pause. He had made a large group of clones just then, and yet he still looked ready to go. If he had enough chakra to do something like that, how much chakra did the boy still have left? If he had enough to do it a few times over, did that imply that he had enough chakra to truly summon one of them to the human realm?

Naruto, oblivious to their shock, scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, everyone says that a lot. I have tons of chakra, which means I can do all kinds of awesome things!"

"Most of which you haven't learned yet." Aku remarked curtly, cutting off Naruto's 'happy moment'. "All you have is really one good jutsu, which can be outplayed or outmaneuvered by a smarter opponent or a foe who can overpower you. Face it, for all the power in the world you kinda suck when it comes to a good list of jutsu that you can use to counter enemies. And that fighting? I've watched children fighting better then you."

Naruto puffed out his cheeks and stomped his foot in anger. "Hey! I'll have you know I beat two people who were way better than me with this jutsu! And my fighting style isn't that bad!"

"You're right. It's worse." Aku, ever the blunt one, continued. "A brawler still has some manner of focus when he's fighting, but you are so disjointed that even your clones' look confused when you actually do something right that you then proceed to never try to do again. Yes, clearly you have a fighting form that should be respected."

The other dragons winced at Aku's true but painfully direct words. While it was clear that Naruto did need – a lot – of refining, he wasn't a lost cause. With how Aku was so bluntly putting it, Naruto sounded like Naruto was hardly worth their presence, let alone their time. While this had been obvious to them from the start, they'd figured that Aku would at least come around when the time for training was involved; the chew toy comment was supposed to be a step forward, and now they seemed to be left in square one.

Eyebrow twitching, Naruto made to give Aku a piece of his mind. No one dissed him like that without him getting his two cents in! Unfortunately for him, Musshu, realizing his hot-headed new friend was about to commit what would account as suicide, quickly scurried down his legs and tripped him.

Squawking in an undignified manner, Naruto hit the dirt for the third time that evening. Not perturbed by his face in the ground, he picked himself up to shout at Aku still. "Oh yeah! If you're so much better than me at fighting, then why don't you show me how it's done!?"

Aku glanced at Naruto slowly, brow raised with a faint trace of amusement as Musshu tried to crawl up to cover Naruto's mouth and stop him from digging a deeper hole. While he didn't know it, he was playing very close with a dangerous thing all dragons had; Aku's pride. "Why? It wouldn't be worth my time to even try." Aku muttered, looking away in disdain for Naruto and his actions.

Naruto, not really realizing just how much Musshu was trying to silence him, continued to yell back at Aku. "So you're saying you're scared I'll be too good for you? I thought your 'claws were swords' or stuff like that. Hmph, fine, I'll just ask someone else to teach me then!"

Sparingly, this innocent comment caused Aku's head whipped around. Any attempts at subtly getting Aku to teach him were now off the table. Pride grazed, Aku would not let a slight like this go unnoticed. Teeth bared and a growl causing Naruto to bounce slightly against the ground as it rumbled, Aku snorted before speaking. "You play a dangerous game brat. How dare you come to me, on your belly no less, crawling for my teachings and then just drop me in such a manner. I will not stand for it!"

Naruto scoffed at that. "Oh yeah? Well you can't really say that seeing how you don't wanna teach me. Why shouldn't I go to someone who'll actually teach me something decent huh? I thought you'd be the cool one to ask since you sounded like you had all kinds of awesome techniques, but I guess it was all hot air."

Final nail in the coffin.

"Tomorrow. Soon as you can. Be ready to bleed brat." Glancing at Shinryuu, Aku turned away. "I'm done here. I've seen enough."

With that Aku launched into the sky, flying away with such intensity that Naruto would've been knocked off his feet had he not already been prone. Staring at the retreating form of the black dragon, Shinryuu slowly glanced down at Naruto. Naruto, who had just enough sense to realize he'd missed something, chuckled nervously. Shinryuu on the other hand, laughed a bit more boisterously. "Well then, it seems you've made a friend…as well as a potential enemy, for your future Naruto-san."

"Um…yay?" Still a bit wound up, Naruto glanced between them all as he sat up again. "…what did I just do?"

"You played Aku's pride like a fiddle and wound up getting a sensei that's gonna try and maim you first chance." Raiu said, remarkably chipper for basically stating that the boy had written a death sentence for himself. Noting Naruto gawking a bit, Raiu sighed and waved him off. "Don't worry, we'll all be there and keep an eye on things. Like we're going to let the first summoner in…uh…however long it's been –"

"One hundred and thirty-three years."

"Right, that long! Anyways, we're not gonna let Aku eat you so soon after we got you." Raiu finished, still smiling brightly at the now worried blond.

Rubbing his head, Naruto sighed heavily. "…I really need some sleep." He muttered mostly to himself, though all the dragons present heard it quite clearly.

Musshu, not seeing how he could make things worse, scurried to Naruto with a slightly-uneasy smile on his face. "Don't worry about it Naruto. I mean really, you're going to be getting a lot of experience soon. Plus, you totally showed some shinobi smarts there!"

His attention caught, and his curiosity perking up, Naruto peaked out from behind his hands at Musshu. "…eh?"

"Well, think about it." Musshu said, now unsure about what he could say about the situation. "You showed Aku that you were serious, and that you could hold your own…and…um…Haru, help me out here man."

"You showed skill in manipulation beyond your comprehension of the art." Haru stated, now laying himself down near Naruto. For this part, it was time for him to educate the boy, and he wanted Naruto's full attention.

"I did what?" Naruto asked, eagerly staring at Haru as he leaned forward to listen better.

"Oh he's going to be a fantastic student." They all thought as they watched Naruto eagerly awaiting instruction. "You found out something about dragons that you did not before and unknowingly used it to your advantage to get Aku to listen to you."

"…um…I'm confused."

"It's alright Naruto, I'll explain." Haru said, using a gentle tone that seemed to make the boy more relaxed and attentive. "You see, everyone has something of a fault that can become their downfall if they do not remain attentive to it and prepare just in case. In Aku's case, that something is hubris. Hubris is like an oversized ego, otherwise known as extensively proud and arrogant. When you brought up something that Aku was proud of, and then said that you would just ask someone else, it was a challenge to that pride as well as an insult to it. You stood your ground on your belief that Aku was powerful though, but once more stated that one of us could teach you better. Calling Aku's words hot air may have been a bit over the top, but it certainly forced Aku to make a choice or be left out."

"…he's saying you made Aku mad, and then pushed until you got what you wanted."

"Oh, that makes sense."

Musshu snickered as Haru slowly shook his head at how Naruto seemed to take Raiu's words more easily than his own. Of course, it only made sense after he'd explained the big parts, which meant he'd be able to say it again and have Naruto get the basics of it. Nodding to himself, he grinned. "That also gave us a bit more about you Naruto, and your style as a shinobi."

Naruto blinked, scratching his cheek slowly. "Uh, how?"

"Most shinobi focus on stealth, on being sneaky and staying out of sight. However, there's a reason that techniques like the Henge (Transformation) involve smoke. For someone who's trying to sneak in somewhere, that wouldn't do at all since it'd give them away. However, if you were trying to get away, you could use that to your advantage to hide away in a crowd rather than waste energy running away." Staring at Naruto, he dumbed it down a bit more. "You're someone who's stealthy by using something loud to hide something subtle."

"Oh…wow." Naruto said, blinking as he thought that over. In hindsight, he could see how that was true. When he'd do pranks, he'd have people so focused on chasing him that he could hide using the often downplayed Kakuremino no Jutsu (Cloak of Invisibility Technique). Further proof could be seen by how Kakashi had been surprised when, after charging him with a team of clones, he'd gotten the jonin in a hold from behind with another clone he'd had swim downriver to get behind him. If he hadn't switched with another Naruto, he might've actually hit him. And then in Nami no Kuni, against Zabuza with the demon windmill shuriken he'd thrown to Sasuke. It all made sense now; he was born to be loud, but still sneaky.

"This of course means that you'll fit in with us only too well." Haru muttered, glancing between his fellow dragons. "We…tend to be a bit over the top, if you haven't notice."

"Oh come on, the lightning bolt wasn't that over the top." Raiu said with a pout.

"Considering your element, I don't doubt you." Shinryuu replied as Haru shivered. Both knew just how over the top and flashy Raiu could be when bored. "However, that doesn't make everything else you do less over the top."

"Whatever you say." Raiu said, shrugging nonchalantly.

"…it also means we'll be working with what you have." Haru continued, keeping pace with where he'd been at flawlessly. "We can help mold you a bit, to make you more suited to certain other techniques for the future, but in the end, we'll be focusing on getting your basics down first so that when we go into more advanced details you'll already be partway there. Is this acceptable to you?"

"…wait…does that mean I don't get to learn any super flashy jutsu until later?"

"Yes."

"Aw man~" Naruto moaned, flopping onto his back. "I was hoping for some really flashy jutsu to show off to my teammates."

Shinryuu shook his head slightly. "Naruto, it would be best if you kept your ability to summon us to yourself."

"Yeah, I kinda figured." He replied, shocking them a bit. "I mean, yeah I can summon you all, but the last time I was allowed to learn something cool the scroll was taken from me because it was full of kinjutsu…which really was way too easy come to think of it."

They all sighed at that, not sure if he was joking or if he was simply wandering off into his own little world. Raiu slowly leaned over Naruto, overshadowing him and causing him to blink as he stared back up.

"Naruto, what he means is your ability to summon us might be…exploited." Raiu said, sounding surprisingly somber for the first time since he'd met the dragons. "Due to the scroll being with us we can protect it, but even then you are the only one who can summon us…and may be the last summoner we'll ever have."

"…what do you mean?" Naruto slowly sat up, looking between the four dragons with a worried look in his eyes. There was a weight to what had been said, and for some reason, he felt a weight on his shoulders as Raiu said that last bit. "Why-why would I be the last? Can't you guys make another scroll?"

"If only it were that easy." Shinryuu remarked , sighing softly. "The scroll is not something of our making alone, and as such we only are capable of remaking half of the scroll. Our half. The half regarding what humans contribute to the contract is written in fuuinjutsu or sealing techniques that humans are fond of using. Unless you know how to read and recreate those seals, we will be without a new scroll. And if you or someone else cannot rewrite the human's agreement on the scroll…"

Each dragon's head slowly fell at that, the gravity of his words ever present. Even Naruto's head fell slightly at that. He'd felt a similar feeling before, this hopelessness and despair that permeated the air and suddenly clung to him as though attempting to choke him. The feeling was despair, and it reminded him of the people in Nami no Kuni.

Jumping to his feet, Naruto growled loudly. Much like in Nami, Naruto did not like this feeling, and he knew he had to act. Pointing his finger up at them, he loudly began his declaration. "Alright then, I've decided! I'm going to learn from Aku, become the best dragon summoner ever, and learn how to make the summoning scroll so that the world won't lose you when I'm gone. Besides, you're too awesome to go out quietly. If we're going down, we'll do it with a bang, dattebayo!" Slowly, he curled his finger into a tightly clenched fist as he resolutely stared up to them, determination etched into his brow. "I never go back on my word. That is my nindo, my way of the shinobi."

Naruto's words seemed to echo across the plateau after he'd spoken them, leaving a slight echo to his words that seemed to continue outwards. The dragons stared down at him, making Naruto feel somewhat nervous since they didn't say anything about his declaration immediately. Then, almost as one, they bowed their heads to him. Unlike before though where it was with sadness and pain, there was respect and hope, as each moved their right claw over their chest in a semblance of a bow.

After a moment of silence, Naruto flinched as a small yawn escaped his lips. All of the dragons smiled as Shinryuu addressed him. "Go home Naruto-kun. Get some sleep. When you want to come here tomorrow, perform the summoning, but focus the chakra into yourself by placing your hand on your chest. It will summon you here…and then we'll begin."

Nodding, Naruto sighed as Musshu hopped up and sent him back home. Staring at the empty space as the smoke cleared, Musshu slowly turned around to them. "…do you all really think he can do it?"

Sharing a look, the three dragons slowly sighed. In the end, Haru was the one who answered. "Musshu, he's our last hope. If he doesn't do it…there won't be anyone else who'll get the chance."

"No pressure." Raiu muttered, looking sadly where Naruto had once stood. They'd tried to keep just how important it was to them for their scroll to be remade, and Naruto's natural ignorance shown through to keep their worries secret still. Raiu did not wish for such a burden to be on Naruto's shoulders, none of them did.

With their fate at the end of their rope though, did they really have another choice?

Silence permeated the underground stronghold beneath Konoha as a ghost-like figure made his way down a hall to the control center of the base. More than half his body was covered in bandages, with short dark hair covered his head, and wrinkles across his face which defined his aging nature. Despite this, his lack of footsteps as well as lacking need for any form of walking instrument showed that the man was still skilled enough that he could perform well enough in shinobi arts to tangle with many who might cross his path.

He was Danzo, leader of Ne (Root), and today he was awaiting the arrival of his two agents to bring him news of their mission.

These particular two were not yet fully broken, something of which he knew would be remedied soon enough in the future. Their time to prove their full strength and unshakable loyalty would arrive soon enough. However, for now they still performed well enough that this mission would not be too difficult for them to accomplish.

His head lifted slightly as he heard the faintest of talking as someone approached him. Any other time he might've thought that those approaching were of lesser skill then those of his trained elites. Currently though, it was clear to him that the footsteps belonged to those wanting to be found. It was likely that whatever happened on the mission would not bear fruit in the desired manner, but he was a wise enough 'gardener' that he knew he could still 'cultivate' with whatever was placed before him.

Entering the room, the voices stopped as the two young men looked to him. The first boy was clearly older, with grey hair and light colored eyes, with a giant shuriken and a tanto strapped to his back. The other boy had black hair in a vaguely bowl cut shape, with a tanto on his back as well. Both wore the official Ne uniform, and were just distant enough in emotions to show that Danzo's program was beginning to have some effect with them.

"Report." There was no need for any greeting, or any kind of formalities. He was there for what they'd gathered; nothing more, nothing less.

The grey haired boy's eye twitched slightly, likely unnerved by Danzo's cold demeanor. They both already knew that his report would not be a pleasant one, so he simply sighed before speaking. "After performing the necessary recon of the area, we were unable to locate the scroll as per your instructions Danzo-sama."

Danzo nodded slowly, noting each mistake made for later reference. "I see. And what did you find out then?" Seeing the way the younger boy winced this time, it was clear that he too realized that they'd been caught. "Do not think that I am a fool boy. I have trained you better then to simply let something as fundamental and threatening to Konoha as this could potentially be slip past you. Now speak."

The young boy shivered, still not used to the tone Danzo would use. "After our investigation yesterday, we took it upon ourselves to sweep the homes of the genin. Were the jonin to have been the one to have taken the scroll, we would have been outmatched, and our identities compromised. After doing another sweep earlier tonight, we once more found nothing out of the ordinary."

Danzo exhaled sharply, a bare hint of annoyance in it before he spoke. "So the scroll truly was taken away then. A shame. To once more have that power under our control would have been a great boon to our forces." Staring down at the two for another moment, he pressed on. "What have you found in regards to the genin?"

The boys glanced at each other, the grey haired boy giving his younger companion a small nod before he spoke. Danzo would have to keep an eye on him; the way their closeness was could prove to be a downfall for them in the future were they, and he, not careful.

"We determined that all three of them are still safe, in regards to the safety of Konoha." He said slowly, thinking over all the information he'd obtained. Determining what was important and what wasn't would be something of a chore, were he not in Ne. Everything could be of use in Ne. "The girl in the group has not quite developed despite the account she gave on the mission to Nami just over a month ago. Much of her diary consisted of aggression towards her other teammate, as well as a pining for their final teammate. She also had dreams logged there as well, showing she's beginning to show some signs of PTSD, but only faintly. She was not in direct combat, so that's expected.

"The Uchiha on the other hand has PTSD. We confirmed that on both trips there. After finding his home barren of all but necessities, we noted him struggling in his sleep. We don't know what kind of foe he faced, but they left him with a clear impression, which likely added to the issues he's already had to deal with."

Danzo nodded, knowing much of this already. Sasuke was a wild card in regards to his loyalty, his potential, and how destructive he could be if he turned out to oppose him in the future.

"The final teammate…" He paused for a moment, his lips twitching upwards slightly in a smile before he spoke. "He certainly is the least of a threat to Konoha from what we could tell. From the light scribbles in his journal, to the plants he keeps in his backroom, everything was kept in an orderly manner that would defy expectation considering his nature. However, it's clear that he holds attachments to the village, and has taken up something he calls 'his nindo'. It appears that, so long as we keep his focus in the village to develop bonds, he will remain a strong supporter to Konoha and its future as he protects his 'precious people' as he calls them."

"A foolish notion from a foolish boy." Danzo stated plainly. He knew how the world worked, and there would be no remorse for those who dreamed such dreams. "However, this is useful information. Be diligent in following him for now; determine his habits, find out who these people are he's attaching himself to, and if needed direct him to people who we've determined will help in the defense of Konoha's future. If you can find a way, do the same with the Uchiha. If not, then report what you learn of him, and of whether he might become a threat to Konoha. You will do this for the next month unless I state otherwise. Am I understood?"

"Yes Danzo-sama." They both said, bowing their heads as they spoke.

"Good. You may retire for the evening. I need to think more on this." Danzo said, slowly making his way out of the room.

Neither boy moved from their position until Danzo was far enough away that they could speak freely again. Once he'd reached that point, the grey haired boy suddenly grinned widely. "Well, that was definitely way more interesting than any other espionage mission we've been on."

"Shin, you know we need to suppress our emotions more." The black haired boy said, trying to keep his voice and expression flat, but failing to hide the worry from both. "Danzo-sama noticed your reactions, which means that he'll likely reprimand us later for it. You need to be more careful."

"Yeah Sai, I know." Shin remarked, his face still grinning in a mischievous manner.

When Shin began rubbing his hands together, Sai's eyebrows began shooting up. Glancing between the two, he began piecing things together. "Shin, what are you planning? You know if we go against Danzo-sama and do anything outside of his regulation or directives we'll be punished."

"Oh but Sai, we won't have to break any rules to do this." Shin said, cackling quietly.

"…what is it?" Unable to help himself, Sai leaned forward to listen to what his adoptive brother had to say.

"Well, Danzo-sama said he wanted us to keep an eye on that Naruto boy, and even Sasuke." Shin said slowly, his grin growing slightly with each word. "He also said that if needed, we could…direct them to people who might be able to help build their loyalty to Konoha for the next month."

"…you aren't thinking of…" Sai's eyes widened as he thought of several different things Shin could do. "Shin, we –"

"It's a win-win Sai." Shin said, putting an arm over Sai's shoulder. "We win because we'll be able to report good things to Danzo-sama, as well as possibly get a good show of what all happens to them. And they'll win because we'll be able to introduce them to people they wouldn't have met before otherwise. And besides, this is like advanced espionage. Rather than just getting information, we're making it by causing things to happen from the shadows. It's perfect training for us!"

Sai shuffled nervously, mulling it over inwardly. Letting his inner battle slowly die down, he glanced to Shin nervously. "It would be good training."

"Uh-huh."

"And we would be able to…watch them interact with one another. Which would give Danzo-sama information on other people in the village as well."

Shin blinked. "Oh wow, you're right. That's a great idea Sai! See, this is why we work so well together; I think up the good stuff, and you make it even better."

Sai glanced away, still not used to the praise from his adoptive brother. "You're just saying that. I still have a long ways to go in terms of learning how to make my own plans to counter plans set up by my enemies."

"Don't worry, I'll help teach you like I promised I would." Shin said, patting Sai on the back. Pausing for a second, he grinned as another thought came to him. "You've still been drawing right?"

Not liking how alarm bells suddenly went off in his head, Sai nodded slowly. "Yes, I have. You told me to keep up the practice, as it was a good way of expressing myself. I've been looking to get a few books to sketch in, and have tried using them in conjunction with jutsu as well to justify my practice should Danzo-sama ever question me about it."

Shin whistled softly. "Wow Sai, that's some really deep thinking. Like, deep. The kind of thinking that you could almost call a plan or something like that." Chuckling when Sai gently elbowed him, he waved his arms defensively. "Hey, hey I'm just kidding with you. Seriously though, you're learning more than you think. Clearly you've planned that out, and it's a damn good one too."

Sai smiled slightly at this. "Thanks Shin." Raising an eyebrow, he continued. "So, what were you getting at with your question?"

"Huh? Oh that. Well I figured that we could use it for you to practice drawing the people we meet. You know, people, women, pets, girls, and other things."

"Three of those things are essentially the same." Sai pointed out, getting a sinking suspicion that he was figuring out what Shin was getting at.

"Well, yeah, but not really." Shin smiled as he patted Sai's back. "After all, you still can't draw girls or women, can you?"

"…their figure is rather difficult to determine." Sai admitted, silently remembering his failed attempts to draw female figures. Drawing figures like himself and Shin had been all too easy, and animals had come easier still. Women though, were a perplexing conundrum wrapped in an artistic riddle that continued to perplex him and give him artists block like no other drawing could.

Having caught Sai in his 'trap', Shin sprung it. "Well then, if Naruto or Sasuke happen to come across a girl or woman, I'll just have to have you draw them so that we can use that as another excuse for Danzo to allow your drawing skills to improve. After all, drawing people you've just met would help with later identifying them in our bingo book." A short pause. "Or for admiring their womanly curves."

"Shin!"

"Oh come on, I can't help it, it's a natural thing." Shin remarked, attempting to be dismissive.

"I won't draw them for your entertainment." Sai said flatly, not even needing Danzo's training to pull something like that off. While he could do something like that, it wouldn't be beneficial to him in the long run. On the other hand, if he did learn that, he would have the element of surprise as most male opponents would not be expecting their inked fantasy to come to life and attack them. "…however, I will consider it for later usage. The idea is not without merit."

"Score one for my team." Shin thought, not really caring what 'team' it was just so long as Sai was on it. "So we're agreed then?"

"…it is a good enough plan." Sai said after a moment.

"Good, because I wasn't really asking." Ruffling Sai's hair, he gave Sai a wave as he walked to his room. "Good night Sai, I'll see you bright and early."

Sai blinked, sighing softly as he too made his way to his room. "Goodnight Shin. I…sleep well."

Sai could indulge Shin a bit. After all…he knew what would soon come, and he wanted to enjoy the moments he had left.

AN: Yeah~ I'm awesome, even though that probably had a lot of confusing things in it. Thankfully, I can blame foreshadowing and whatnot.

The scenes with Naruto and the dragons were way to much fun to write, especially since I know what's going on with each of them. While a small part of me feels bad for putting another weight on Naruto's shoulders, the other part is waiting for Aku to turn Naruto into a chew toy. Ehehehehe~

Oh! And since I'm talking about Aku, who noticed what I've been doing with two of the dragons? It's been very specific, and it might be something over looked, but it's there. I ask because either in the next chapter or the one following will reveal why I've been going about it that way...if you can guess what 'that way' even is. Once it's revealed, you'll understand.

And~ the ending. Oh my gosh you have NO idea how improved the Sai and Shin scene was. I wanted to just end it, but I was short on words I then remembered a certain someone who happens to be lurking around who would notice things going on in Konoha such as~ a scroll that he'd want to determine if it existed or not. Which lead to Danzo saying something that'll make several things in the future so much easier since I now have someone I can use to point people where I need them to go! Plus, I've been away from fanfiction for a bit, but I have not yet seen any big stories out there that use the youthful (YOUTH *smack* Down Gai!) duo of Shin and Sai. Most of the time Sai is thrown into the mix to fill in a spot or do something-or-another, but then what about Shin? Well, here he is, and even with a terminal illness, he will be of use to me! Come Shin, to the plot cave! *abscond*

Thanks for reading! Follow, favorite, and leave a review on thing's you'd like to see. Till next time, Guru out!