A/N- Wow, I got a lot more response to this then I thought! W00t! Happy dance! Come on Serenity Maxwell, dance with me! (I do believe she has reviewed on all my plotted stories at one point, I say plotted 'cause my Hellsing one is just crack.)
Voting: Sasuke…?
In harem, initially uke (I submit to your will, Naruto-sama)
In harem, initially seme (Dobe, want to see my snake summon?)
In harem, don't care (Shikamaru can do what with his shadows?)
Not in harem- (So it was a kunai poking me in the back?) if so then is he straight (Ayame, my ramen goddess embrace me with your brothy goodness) or…? (Pakun, my love, let us howl at the moon!) I refuse to sex with Orochimaru, unless he's with his tongue. (I can itch my tongue with my tongue!)
Don't care (You are the author and therefore god! Enlighten us!)
RECAP:
"…whole."
With those words, the world seemed to turn into a painfully bright white, and a great pressure seemed to be released inside of Naruto's mind.
"You are the child, Naruto."
O0o0O0o0O0o0O
The being had been hanging their, growing with its other half through the years, living what he had been living, seeing what he had been seeing, always their, but never allowed to interfere. At first the being had struggled, trying to help himself, but the chains only grew more numerous, and the bindings harsher, and soon it had abandoned hope. But now it felt it, a deep rumbling within the chains. Luminescent eyes opened beneath the silk prison, casting a blue glow within the folds. Smiling for the first time in such a long time, the creature was happy.
He was becoming one with himself.
The chains broke.
The Sandaime Hokage watched in awe of the proceedings happening right in front of him. A glowing being had arisen from Naruto's prone body, like smoke from a fire. Just as the last tendrils of the bright white being broke off from Naruto, it seemed to meld with the boy.
Then…nothing.
Naruto groaned from his position of the floor, and slowly crawled to his hands and knees, pushing himself up. The slow motion was uncharacteristic of the boy, but when he lunged for the wastebasket and emptied his stomach, the Hokage understood the reasoning behind such delayed actions.
"Naruto?" The Hokage called softly, worry evident in his voice.
"Mrph" Naruto made a strange sound between a grunt and a sigh.
"Are you all right?"
Naruto proceeded to give his grandfather figure a look that said, 'Do I look alright?'
It took hours for Naruto to settle down from all he had learned. He looked outside and noticed the sun's position; it had to be well past noon now.
"Crap, Oji-san! I'm late for my exams, if they're not over already!"
"Ah, don't worry Naruto, school is canceled today, a downed power line. School won't resume for another day or so at least.
"Ano, Jiji, could you help me then? I can't do the bushin jutsu at all, and I really wanna pass! I will be the next Hokage, I promise! (A little, but not much better then that horrid catch phrase) Onegai?" Little Naruto was practically bouncing in his seat.
"Try to perform it for me, we'll see what's wrong." Anything to delay the paperwork that seemed to leer in his direction.
Performing a set of seals, the Hokage immediately noticed what was wrong.
"Naruto, the seals you're doing are formed wrong. Look, watch my hands. See? Your fingers go like that, ah, almost got it, move your pinky a little, yes there, perfect. Now try." The Hokage wondered how Naruto had managed to mutilate a simple set of seals so much.
"Naruto, who taught you hand seals?"
"Taught me? Ano RandomAssWholeTeacher-sensei told me we were supposed to learn them on our own by watching elite ninja to improve our stealth. Ano, whenever we reviewed sensei always gave me an errand…"
The Hokage, an infinitely patient man, wanted to reach out and touch that teacher…hard, with a closed fist.
"I see, Naruto, why don't you take these scrolls? They have hand signs on them, much easier, ne? Try relearning them and then try your jutsus, all right? Come see me before your exam if you're still having trouble, my door is always open for you."
Smiling happily, Naruto quickly made to leave, but hesitated just at the door.
"Ano, Jiji, do you know anything about the people who left me here?"
"Naruto, you were found just outside the gate in a woven bamboo basket. I'm sorry."
"Ah, it's fine jiji…jiji, what's gonna happen now?"
"…. I don't know Naruto, I don't know."
A few days latter Naruto found himself standing before the Academy, lost in thoughts. He had been successful in both of his jutsu related endeavors, and had never felt more whole in his entire existence. He found himself to be smarter, more in control of himself, able to learn and retain things quicker, and he felt happier.
His appearance hadn't changed much, save for the glow-like quality of his eyes and the lengthening on his hands and fingers. He looked more delicate, but still masculine somehow. All in all, he liked the changes, imcomplete as they were. But somewhere, deep inside of himself, he had a gnawing hunger, and it wasn't for Ramen.
Dismissing his thoughts, he entered his school, anticipating the end of the day when they would be tested. He was impatient and the hunger was growing stronger.
Students came filtering in, chatting about their unscheduled vacation from school, and he wasn't surprised when they steered clear of him, but at least now he knew why. The class was almost full when Nara Shikamaru came lazing in, not doubt just having been woken up. He swaggered up the stairs and sat in the only available seat, right next to Naruto, in front of Shino and just behind Sakura.
The hunger was even more persistent now; only his instinct telling him this wasn't the place stopped him from acting on that hunger.
At lunch he followed his gut, and instead of trying to sit with Sakura, and therefore eating by himself, he sat with someone who usually sat by themselves too: Shino.
Naruto and Shino weren't very close, but they weren't strangers either. Nodding in greeting, Naruto sat next the Shino who nodded back. A brief period of silence passed, Naruto watching Shino's bugs eat of portion of his bento.
The hunger was louder now, making him loose his regular appetite. Realizing he was no longer hungery, he did something he had never done before.
"Here," Naruto thrusted out his bento box, "have this."
Shino looked perplexed…we assume he looked perplexed. He lifted a single eyebrow in question, slightly tilting his head.
"I'm too nervous to eat. Take it, I don't want it to go to waste." Accepting the answer and the bento, Shino opened to gaudy orange container that had little frogs leaping around the lid. Opening the box, he was surprised to find a wonderful looking meal. Ninja shaped Onigiri, cherries, pickled radish and yakisoba stared back at him. Mechanically he seperated each portion in half thus finding out that the onigiri was stuffed with fish, he gave half to his bugs, and ate the other half.
Taking the first bite, he looked up almost fell backwards when he realized that Naruto was staring right at him, face only inches from his own.
"Ano…do you like it?" Shino had a hard time swallowing. Not because the food was bad, actually it was rather good (even his bugs were enjoying it) but because of Naruto. Naruto was blushing, his eyelashes lowered and his mouth was in a slight pout.
'Cute' the bugger user thought to himself, glad his high collar hid his blush.
"Aa." However he was delayed from taking another bite when something else was placed on his mouth instead.
When the Aburame had blushed, Naruto had felt the spike of arousal. Smelling that smell, and being hungry for just that, Naruto decided enough was enough. He was hungry, and he be damned if he didn't satisfy that hunger.
Naruto had never kissed, but he was rather good at it, if Shino's reaction was anything to go by. At first the other boy had frozen, then a sweet, hot feeling had emerged and moaned into the wonderful embrace.
Sitting on the grass under a tree, away from prying eyes, Naruto and Shino kissed. Lips on lips, Naruto's hunger intensified. Spurred by his need, Naruto ran his tongue along the seam of Shino's lips, more then pleased when the other boy opened his mouth for the questing organ. Their tongues touched, and both moaned into each other's mouths, playing with the other's slick muscle. They didn't care how sloppy the kiss was, saliva from their joined mouths trailing down Shino's chins.
Wanting to taste Shino deeper still, Naruto moved and stratled Shino's lap, tangling his hands in the boy's thick hair. Tilting Shino's head back further, Naruto plunged his tongue deeper inside the other's mouth, mimicking more intimate actions.
Realizing that breathing was necessary if they didn't want to pass out, Naruto withdrew his tongue, smug when Shino made a whining protest at the loss. In order to sooth his partner, Naruto's tongue follow the trail of saliva, enjoying the mixed taste of flesh and fluid.
Finding a lovely little place where Shino's neck met shoulder, Naruto nipped at it. Shino's breathing hitched slightly at the sharp pain in such a sensitive spot. Grinning a seductive grin, Naruto sucked at the spot, unconsciously pushing his chakra into the bite, marking Shino as his own.
Reluctantly, Naruto pulled away from that lovely neck, moving back to Shino's red lips. Placing smaller and lighter kisses on each other's mouths, knowing that soon they would have to return to the Academy.
"You taste good, little dragon fly. Can I taste you again?" Naruto purred into Shino's ear, causing him to shiver as Naruto found yet another sensitive spot on his body. Panting from the pleasure, Shino just nodded.
Giggling happily, Naruto licked and nibbled the ear in thanks, making Shino even more aroused.
"Later I want to taste more of you, little dragon fly. I want to make you fly higher." Shino could only moan.
Walking back into the classroom, Naruto chatted with a seemingly mute Shino. Iruka raised his eyebrow at the sight. Sighing, he decided to continue and ask the boy latter.
"Now for the exams, the packets on your desk are your written portion, when I say begin, you have half an hour to complete this portion of the test. Ready? Begin."
When Naruto looked at his desk, he noticed something funny. The words were blurry, like when you first woke up a there was a film covering everything. Concentrating, Naruto realized the source of the problem. Underneath his desk, Iruka's assistant Mizuki was holding a common hand sign for a low-grade genjustu. Sighing, he re-wrote each question on the sheet, and then answered them. At the bottom, he scribbled a note to Iruka-sensei, telling him about the current problem.
The 30 minutes were up, and Iruka collected the papers.
"Genma will be grading your tests, so that no favoritism will be shown. Now, the physical parts of the exam will be divided. The first half is basic weapons, while the second is basic taijutsu. Follow me." Iruka led his students outside. Dummies lined one side of the courtyard, while a platform stood on the opposite side.
Going through the students, Naruto's turn was up. He was to stand in the middle to the dummies and try to hit as many vital points as possible. Naruto had not practiced his aim, instead focusing more on the jutsus, causing Naruto to only have a 75 percent accuracy rate. Still, it was a passing grade. The taijutsu portion was different, they had to fight Iruka's clone and manage to dispel it without the use of chakra.
Naruto had ball tapped to clone seconds into the match, causing every male in the group to cringe at the clone's pained yelp.
"P-pass." Iruka-sensei sounded more then a little pained, that had been his clone after all.
Leading his students back into the Academy, told them to take their seats.
"I will now pass back your graded written exam, you can look over it while others take the ninjutsu portion of their exam. Come into the back room as I call your name. Aburame Shino, you're first."
Genma stood up and began passing back the papers, leaving Naruto last.
"Uzumaki-san, may I speak with you outside?" It wasn't really a question, but Naruto nodded his head in acceptance and followed Genma outside.
"Uzumaki-san, I have a mission for you from the Hokage. I reported what you wrote to me to Hokage-sama. According to our records, Mizuki has tried to do something of this caliber once before: he forced a student to fail and then told them he would pass them if they did something for him. He tried to get them to steal a scroll. Last time, all charges were dropped; the Hokage believes he's trying the same trick again. Your mission is to fail the exam and get solid evidence of such a plan. Since you're not a genin, we cannot pay you however, in reward for protecting the scroll you will be allowed to learn one jutsu from it. Do you accept?" During the whole speech Naruto had been transfixed by the senbon that moved with Genma's mouth. Unable to help himself, Naruto lifted himself up onto his tiptoes and grabbed the senbon with his teeth, transferring it to his own mouth.
"I accept."