Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Naruto or AoT.

The Nine.

If all the things that you have read to get to this point sound crazy to you, I suggest that you close the book and forget about this page. But I have a feeling that you will still go on.

The Nine are one of the most avoided topics in any village's curriculum. It's for good reason, I guess, and as a leader myself, I can see the reaction that would arise if any of this became publicly accessible and acceptable knowledge.

Throughout our world's history, forces of nature have always been there for as long as anyone can remember. The toads of Mount Myoboku, snakes from the Ryuchi Cave, the reclusive serpentine dragons of the Umibōzu Ocean, and more creatures are yet to be discovered.

Of course, I can't fail to mention the so-called misfits of nature, the Nephilim, who are said to be beings born of beasts and men.

The Nine, however, are at the top of the food chain. They are the actual natural disasters given physical form and sentience. They have been given different names over history, each fitting the forms they appeared in. The most accepted name given to them is the nine Tailed Beasts.

I hope you're ready to continue because this is where the crazy stuff begins.

Author: Minato Namikaze.

I want to talk about the cause for The Beasts' less popular name: The Nine Titans.

The Nine: Arc 1.

Chapter 2: Misfits.

"Um..."

Hearing that soft, unsure voice, Naruto closed his book after marking the page and looked up. Standing next to the empty desk was a person he liked to say he preferred the most in the entire class.

"What is it, Hinata?"

"Do you mind if I-I s-sit next to, um, y-you?" Hinata asked, her voice barely audible in the rising roar of the class.

Naruto heard it just fine. "Sure thing. I can't stop you even if I want to, can I?"

She ducked her head in what he assumed was a nod. "T-thanks."

He did not reply, turning his gaze to the clock. It was just a few minutes to the start of the lesson. Looking at the book, he realized that he would not gain any significant knowledge if he began to read it. He grumbled quietly and tucked the book into his dark green shorts pocket.

"N-natuto?" Hinata said quietly. Naruto turned to face her fully, and she flinched a little. "What w-were you... what were you reading ab-about?"

"Nothing that important," he answered, leaning back. "Just some really confidential stuff."

He did not doubt that Hinata would not tell on him. The girl could barely start a conversation without collapsing on her feet. Now that he was actively thinking about it, he realized how mean that sounded.

Naruto turned to Hinata. "Hey Hinata."

Hinata's reaction was almost frightening. She perked up so suddenly, her eyes still facing the blackboard, before turning to face him so slowly he heard creaks in her neck.

"Yes?"

"Would you like to have lunch with me?"

The red blush on Hinata's cheeks spread to the rest of her face. Steam poured out from her ears. Her lips spread out to a blissful smile, and with that, Hinata Hyuuga fell into unconsciousness.

"Hinata?" Naruto asked when he saw the vacant look on the girl's face. "Hey, Hinata!"

The girl recovered with a jolt. "Huh?"

"I asked if you'd like to have lunch with me."

Hinata let out a sound not unlike a steam train's. Naruto had thought it impossible, but her face grew redder until he became concerned. A shaky "Yeah" came from her lips before her head landed on her desk. She was already unconscious before Naruto cushioned her head's impact against the wood.

Before he could try waking her up, Iruka-sensei entered the class. He had his teacher's face on, a stern look pronounced even better by his facial scar. The class was called to order quickly enough.

"Today, I want us to focus on the current diplomatic relations between the nations that have a shinobi village and those that don't," Iruka began. "Can anyone start us off with an idea?"

Naruto lifted his hand. He took in the surprise on his teacher's face with satisfaction. Even if he was shocked, Iruka-sensei gave him a chance.

"Well, since the majority of the world's nations have some sort of shinobi influence on their lands, it's hard to get an accurate order to classify what can be called 'shinobi nations' — which thus far is taken to mean the Great Five — and what can be called non-shinobi nations." Naruto paused. The class was so quiet he was sure he heard a pin fall. "To solve this confusion, the previous leader of Snow, the late Lord Sosetsu Kazahana, formed the Non-Aligned Treaty. Any nation that is a member can be called a strictly non-shinobi nation. The Treaty has been signed by five of the most influential non-shinobi nations and is considered the strongest alliance that can rival the Land of Fire in anything that is not in the military field."

Iruka looked as if a whole potato had been shoved down his throat with how hard he was finding it to talk. After a heavy cough, he regained his voice and opened his book.

"That's correct, Naruto. Anyone else with an idea to follow that up?"

Two hands immediately shot up. Sakura Haruno was one of them, the other being Shikamaru Nara's, which Kiba Inuzuka was holding up.

"Let's start with you, Sakura," Iruka-sensei said. "And then—" He looked to get a good look at the owner of the other hand. "—Shikamaru will follow."

Naruto heard the latter groan into wakefulness, but he was more focused on Sakura as she began to speak.

The girl's voice never shook as she continued the idea Naruto had established. "The relationship between our Land of Fire and the NAM — The Non-Aligned Treaty nations – is considered cordial at best. There is trade between the two powers in anything that is not military equipment despite the rumored research and development of powerful military equipment conducted by the Land of Snow. Our Feudal Lord has an embassy in the Land of Snow, and Snow has a High Commissioner in the capital. With other ninja superpowers, the NAM is exploring the possibility of a stronger, strictly diplomatic tie with them even though there has been a long-running rumor since the late Son Era that there is a potential military alliance with the Land of Lightning."

Iruka smiled. "Now, Shikamaru, do you have anything to add?"

"How troublesome," Shikamaru muttered, but Naruto heard it and snickered quietly. "It's clear that the relationship between the strictly non-shinobi nations and nations like ours is not as good as any of us would prefer. However, with the nations that have started warming up to the shinobi system, our relationship can be said to be close. It's because they rely on us to send trainers for their greenhorn shinobi and..."

Shikamaru trailed off. It took seconds for anyone to realize that the boy had fallen asleep mid-sentence. Groans erupted across the classroom. The noise was enough to wake Hinata up. Naruto decided not to talk to her about anything lest she fainted. Again.

After that introduction, the lesson proceeded without being more eventful. He chose to pay little attention to whatever Iruka-sensei was teaching since he had studied the topic sometime in the past. Iruka-sensei seemed disappointed that Naruto did not make any further effort to be involved in the lesson as much as possible, but the teacher knew better than to point it out.

There were thirty-minute breaks between lessons, and Naruto used that time to plan his subsequent work, something he knew would get him in trouble if anyone who was not Hinata found him.

The lessons themselves were picked at random. He was sure that that would not have been the case had this been a civilian school. Being an institution for training ninja meant that the topics focused on had to help the ninja-in-training be prepared for their career.

The history topics were supposed to give them a better understanding of what awaited them outside the protective walls of their home village. If one knew the history between their home and a formerly hostile village, it would be easier for them to deal with people from that village when the time came.

There were other disciplines, too. A basic introduction to human anatomy in case any of them wanted to be medical ninja or for first aid administration (that was a whole different topic), what to look out for in the field(poisonous plants and venomous animals), what to look for in the field(medicinal herbs and cures for basic illnesses), a lot of focus on shinobi conduct and whatnot, knowledge on the structure of the shinobi system, weapons theory and a lot more than that.

The theories in taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu, shurikenjutsu, and kunai throwing skills would have been pointless if there was no actual practice of what they got from the books. Practice was usually held for ninety minutes after lunch, except for when there was an assessment of their skills.

In Naruto's opinion, time flew by fast. It was a Thursday, and he thought he had enough knowledge to help him get satisfactory marks on Friday's assessment. Iruka-sensei had kept a close eye on him throughout the day, and his interest in Naruto's effort in the classes was piqued.

Naruto tried not to be bothered by the closer watch kept on him.

The lesson before lunch happened to be a shurikenjutsu theory. The afternoon practice session was expected to focus on the same and anything related to it.

The bell rang, and Iruka-sensei dismissed them for lunch. For Naruto, since he was not sure whether Hinata had agreed to his proposal or not, lunch would mean going for a meal at Ichiraku's and returning a few minutes after the afternoon lesson had started. Today, however, he decided to practice more on his shuriken skills before the lesson began.

He was sure that it would give him an edge. He had been in the Academy since he was four and had received a lot of opportunities to grasp the basics in the time he had spent there. He knew he needed the physical training to do any of the exercises perfectly.

With that idea in mind, Naruto headed into the only training field on the Academy's property. It was an open space occupied by a grassy field. The field had a pond of water barely ten meters in diameter, thirteen logs for target practice, and a lot of trees surrounding it.

At first, he thought he was the only one heading to the field. That thought lasted until he heard a grunt. He emerged fully from the cover of trees. The field was bright due to the noon sun above it, and Naruto could see the other occupant.

It was a boy taller than him by a few centimeters, wearing white shorts and a blue high-collared shirt. His arms were covered up to the elbows by a white cloth. Even looking away from him, Naruto could tell that the boy was aware of his presence by how his shoulders squared a little.

Naruto smirked. "Sasuke."

The boy turned towards him, his coal-black eyes staring into Naruto's. "It's you, idiot."

"I didn't see you talk about the diplomatic relations between our nation and the NAM," Naruto said, resisting the urge to slug Sasuke.

"So what?" Sasuke grunted with a smirk. "You did all of that to gain my attention?"

The blonde snorted. "As if. Even if it wasn't my intention, I have piqued your interest, considering how chatty you are today."

Sasuke grunted. "I don't have time for this."

With a triumphant grin, Naruto said, "I'm right, aren't I? I got your attention!"

"You wish. You couldn't even get my attention with your aptitude in failing, loser."

"I guess that's because you are too focused on your nose to see anything else, bastard."

"At least I'm focused on something important. That's better than making yourself a nuisance to everyone else."

Naruto's face scrunched up. "Focused on something important? Don't kid yourself. The only remotely important thing about you is nothing."

Sasuke stepped forward threateningly. "You better watch that tongue of yours, loser."

"Don't tell me what to do."

"It's what the elites do: boss those beneath them."

"Only because they have their heads directed into their rear ends," Naruto said, raising an eyebrow, "like you."

"Mind your tongue, deadlast."

"Do something about it, Uchiha bastard."

Naruto and Sasuke stood so close that their faces were mere inches apart. Sasuke pulled back his left hand, curling his fingers into a fist. He then shot it forward, aiming for Naruto's face. The fist landed on the blonde's right palm, and he retaliated by shooting out his left fist. Sasuke took his blow into his palm as the shorter male had done.

Sasuke tried to free his hand while holding on to Naruto's. Naruto had a similar idea, leaving them in a stalemate. Naruto smirked before suddenly letting go of Sasuke's hand. For just a second, the Uchiha stumbled. Naruto took the opportunity to kick Sasuke in the stomach. Sasuke let go of his hand and skidded on the grass.

The blonde smirked. "What's the matter, elite? How can this... non-elite get the better of you?"

"Don't get cocky for that lucky shot!" Sasuke said and shot forward, leading with a more powerful fist.

Naruto flipped backward, the fist just barely missing him. Sasuke followed by a kick and an attempted leg sweep. Naruto stepped aside and back-flipped. The taller male followed up with a flurry of punches that his shorter counterpart defended against by placing his arms in front of his face.

When the blows became too much, Naruto stepped back. The next blow came, but he was prepared. He placed his right arm in front of his face at an angle such that when the fist landed, he would have a chance to turn just in time, leaving Sasuke's knuckle to brush against his skin. The blonde let out a burst of air from his mouth and took hold of the extended arm, forcefully overextending Sasuke until he lost his footing.

He let go of the arm and reached for Sasuke's neck. He got a good grip, just as he wanted, and lifted the boy by his neck. Before Sasuke could react, Naruto slammed him into the ground.

The result was Naruto standing over Sasuke as he lay on his back, glaring at the blonde, and before any further confrontation, Naruto walked away, smiling. He could feel Sasuke trying to cremate him through his glare, but he ignored it.

Because even though he had lost a few minutes, the remaining time was enough for him to at least grasp a thing or two on shurikenjutsu.

Just as he – and the keen students in his class – had expected, the practice lesson was focused on shurikenjutsu. It was handled by Iruka-sensei and a fellow chuunin of his who requested to be addressed as Suzume-sensei. Of course, there were a few more helpers to Iruka-sensei and Suzume-sensei, but they were chuunin from the village's reserves.

For an hour and a half, the two instructors drilled the basics of throwing the ninja stars into the students. Naruto found himself under the guidance of Iruka-sensei, who seemed intent on pointing out each flaw in his technique, including the ones for which Naruto did not need a revelation.

"Your feet are too close," Iruka-sensei said, and Naruto parted his feet a little.

He drew his arm back and threw a shuriken at the targets placed fifteen meters from him. The Uzumaki did not know why he was surprised when the kunai landed way too far from the target, ending up buried halfway through a tree behind the log.

On his next attempt, Iruka-sensei was right next to him.

"Your wrists are a tad too tense... loosen them up— just like that. Angle your body like this, elevate your elbow— yes. Lower your center of gravity a little, and yep, you're set to throw."

The shuriken Naruto threw landed outside the ring surrounding the bull's eye, but he was glad it landed on the target. He hurled another one, but it barely landed on the target.

"Looks like you need more practice," Iruka-sensei said, placing an arm on Naruto's shoulder. "With enough exercise, you can even throw upwards of eight shuriken at once and still hit the bull's eye."

He shrugged. That was Sasuke's specialty. "I guess."

"Don't look so down," the teacher said. "You still have six months before any meaningful tests on shurikenjutsu are taken. You'll be fine."

"How good is it to know I'll take six months to master such a basic skill?"

Naruto could hear the amusement in Iruka's voice. "Basic doesn't mean easy. I remember it took me longer to become any good at projectiles because I was too busy causing trouble... like you." The taller man placed his palm on Naruto's head, "I heard about your scuffle with Sasuke."

"I didn't start it, he did."

"I'm going to assume that each of you provoked the other enough, and since Sasuke shot the first blow, I guess— we'll be talking about this later."

The majority of the students had already departed for home after being deemed adequate in the exercise. The instructors were still there; those who had no students to attend gathered to chat. Naruto watched as Suzume-sensei gave final remarks to the girl she was dealing with.

"Anyway," Iruka-sensei began. "Let me finish here, and then we can go for a bowl of ramen or two. Afterwards, it's cleanup time."

"Sure."

An hour later, Naruto was cleaning the ANBU Headquarters under Iruka's supervision. The place was vacated following his work on it. The partially underground base had felt empty even when it had been occupied. Now that it was empty, he was sure there was no difference between it and an abandoned construction site in the Fire Capital. Or a similarly neglected cemetery.

Naruto scrubbed the floors, removing the now-dry slime. "I didn't know you had any skills in weapons, sensei."

"What makes you think that?"

"I've never seen you doing anything besides teaching us history and all the class lessons."

"Aha, I guess that can be quite misleading," Iruka said, helping the blonde move away the wooden furniture in the dining hall.

Naruto started scrubbing the floorboards. "So, what other skills are you hiding, sensei?"

"A lot."

Iruka-sensei was untying the ninja wire tied to the ceiling.

"With your 'a lot' of skills, don't you think it would be better if you took active missions instead of being stuck with us?"

Grunting as he tugged away at a tightly wound wire, Iruka-sensei laughed. "I used to think that way, too."

Naruto had a feeling that his teacher was not finished, and he did not interrupt.

"But I guess that I didn't have it in me."

The blonde paused. "Didn't have what?"

"Taking missions isn't really my style," Iruka said, folding the wire he had acquired into spools. "My team was never suited for missions outside the village. My jōnin superior was in the Intel Corps, and the other teammates joined the Barrier Corps."

At that, Iruka stopped talking. Naruto looked at the wistful smile on his teacher's face with a curious expression.

"What about you?" He asked.

"Huh?"

"Why did you choose to be an Academy Instructor?"

"Oh, that. I used to be good at understanding and explaining stuff to my fellow students when I was your age," the chuunin recalled. "After my team split up, I decided to try my luck at nurturing young talents."

"I see," Naruto said.

After that, the only sound that permeated the hall was water splashing on the floor and Naruto scrubbing. While he dealt with the actual cleaning, Iruka did the bare minimum by ensuring he had an endless water supply.

"What about you?" Iruka spoke up after what had felt like an eternity of silence.

"What about me?"

"What do you think you'll do after you leave the Academy?"

"I think I'll just keep moving forward, ya know?" Naruto took a moment to rest before continuing, "I'll focus on becoming chuunin, then a Special Jōnin, and then Hokage. And I'll make sure that my team climbs up right next to me, you know?"

"What if you're on the same team with someone you don't get along with?"

Naruto shifted, considering the thought for a few precious moments. "I don't believe it's possible for members of any team to hate each other for so long. Especially not if I'm on such a team— I'll just put aside our differences."

He could see the frown on the face of Iruka-sensei.

Naruto faced his teacher with a grin. "I guess I just want to make sure that I don't become Hokage whose teammates are not on an equal footing with me regarding rank and power. Maybe one of them— or even both- will become my right-hand man, my advisor when I take the hat from the old man. And then together we'll... we'll—"

The fountain of words in his mouth dried up, leaving Naruto at a loss for words. He would graduate from the Academy as a genin in three years, become chuunin, then Special Jōnin, and then Hokage. And then—

Just like his words, Naruto's thoughts came to a sudden halt. And then he heard a very soft voice from so far away, but he could feel the sneer and the breath of the mouth of the speaker tickling the base of his neck.

'And then what, boy? What will you do if you become Hokage?'

Naruto sighed as he walked out of his apartment's bathroom clad in orange shorts and with a towel around his neck. He changed into orange pants, barely reaching his shins, and a black T-shirt.

He looked at the clock on top of the stand beside his bed. He was already in the house at eleven minutes past nine o'clock in the night. He could not bring himself to sleep that early. With a resigned breath, Naruto picked up his favorite book – All You Need – and moved to sit on his couch in the living room.

The living room was a little bare. It had the couch he was sitting on and two more chairs facing each other across a coffee table. Across from him was another wooden table. He intended to put on it one of the most advertised assets from the Land of Snow, the television sets that never failed to appear in the daily newspaper.

His kitchen was behind him to the left; he used it sparingly. The bedroom was down to his right, with its bathroom. To his left was a room that was supposed to be a dining room. Since he could not have dinner by himself, it was occupied by a circular table with a few chairs around it— it was where he sat with whoever came to visit him, be it Iruka-sensei or the Hokage.

The apartment was all he had had ever since he was a child, back when he had a caretaker. Despite (and maybe because of) her strict nature, the caretaker had been a sweet woman who had always been there for him in everything. As he had increased in age, she had helped him organize the building according to his tastes. If she had agreed with him, that is.

When it was time for him to join the Academy at six, she deemed him old enough to care for himself and went on a journey.

He shook his head and flipped his book open. He let the pages fly by since he had not bookmarked where he had been. The page he stopped at was different from where he had been last, but it was a close substitute.

The Nephilim.

As you might already know from how the world outside is, the Nephilim are human beings who show beastly traits. It's unknown how they came to be, but a well-accepted theory is that they are half-castes of the sentient non-human beasts that roam our planet and humans themselves.

Scholars have suggested that everything in our world is connected to the Nine Titans in some way and that Nephilim are those whose Titan aspects conflict with their humanity.

Decades ago, the Nephilim were more beast-like than they were human. However, their beastly traits have slowly receded over years of breeding with humans. Nowadays, most Nephs are more human in appearance than even full-blooded humans themselves. The only thing giving them away is their absolutely humongous and admittedly unique chakra reserves. Some still show physical traits of the Nephilim, be it unique skin pigmentation, unique eyes that are not a kekkei genkai, shark fins, and even whiskers.

The recession of traits makes them more potent as their two sides come into sync.

Most of them have used this power, which I can only describe as a pseudo kekkei genkai, to get revenge for the long discrimination of their race. This, unfortunately, has led to them being treated as a threat to the stability of our world.

Oh, that's right. I failed to mention at the start that due to their inhuman appearance, the Nephilim face a lot of discrimination from 'normal' human beings. The Nephilim themselves have been scattered across the nations of the world, meaning that it is easier for the governments of such countries to suppress any attempt at retaliation by the Nephilim.

In a few nations, such as the Land of Fire and the Wind, ostracism has been reduced to more than isolation and many other forms of discrimination. I suggest you read The Nephilim: A Misunderstood Generation by Mifune.

Naruto snapped the book closed, looking at the newspaper on his table thoughtfully. He had taken it from Teuchi's as an afterthought, but looking at the main article, he knew he had picked an excellent time to read it. He took it in his hands and stared at the bold letters on the front paper.

The Nephilim: A Cry For Help From the World Beyond the Walls.

To be continued...

And we're on! Truth be told, I didn't expect this to pick up quickly but 6 follows and seven favourites is more than I could ever ask for and I'm glad for it.

I hope I don't lose my motivation before even reaching halfway.

All I ask of y'all is to Rate and gimme those reviews. In short, RnR.

Haraviel.