Disclaimer: I don’t own Naruto. If I did I wouldn’t bewriting a fanfic on it. Heck, even the original partof this story is my friend’s idea and I’m writing with it.

“Come on guys. It’s just a quick trip through subspace. Wewon’t make it on time if we don’t go this way.” shouted James as he stared downhis five friends. All of them were looking as if he had just grown a secondhead. The reason behind this was due to the fact that traveling throughsubspace could be unpredictable. James had made longer trips than their currentone but never with more than two people.

“You can’t be serious James.” Responded Jugiko as she gaveher friend an incredulous look. When he nodded his head she sighed beforesaying, “Let me guess you’re going to bug us until we give in right?” He just nodded in response. Jugiko let outanother sigh before replying.

“Fine, you know what will happen if you screw up.” She letthe threat hang as James nervously scratched a spot below the left side of hisrib cage.

“Don’t worry I’ve already gone over the calculations tentimes.” This didn’t make his friends any less nervous. Each stepped up to the tear James had formedand warily strode into it. The place was like a white twilight zone. Variousobjects from appliances to guns and ammunition floated around an area thatotherwise resembled the matrix loading program.

They only received an, “Aw fuck” as a warning before theywere suddenly pulled into a rift. A second later the six were dumpedunceremoniously, into a grassy clearing. Almost instantly James jumped to hisfeet grabbing a stick and began a complex equation, oblivious to the fact thathis friends were pointing various firearms at him.

“-ħ/2Φ 1/rsinΩ…” he muttered as he continuedwriting in the dirt much to his friend’s ire. Soon the patch of dirt wascovered with an equation that would give even Einstein a headache. Somewhere inthe center was an empty bracket that James looked at for a moment beforewriting Deus/Morningstar. He shookhis head slightly before looking back at his friends, completely ignoring theguns.

“Malachi your bore is dirty.” He said calmly before turningback to the equation. Malachi began cleaning his gun while still managing tolevel another at James. After a few more moments of examining the equation forany possible flaws he looked both relieved and worried at the same time.

“I didn’t screw up, but if my calculations are correct we’rein anoth-fuck.” James began to let loose with astring of curses that would have made a marine drill instructor blush. Theothers saw this and became worried because James usually didn’t curse, unlesshe and Malachi got bored and started cursing at each other for fun. For Jamesto be cursing this much things couldn’t be good. After he calmed down he turnedto his friends with apologetic smile.

“I have some not so good news and some bad news.” The otherswith firearms still in hand gestured for him to go on. “First this wasn’t myfault. The problem is that I can’t get us back.” At Jugiko’s glare he nervouslystuttered. “There are too many variables involved in Trans-dimensional travel.If one variable in one million is incorrect we all die.”

“Ok so, if it isn’t your fault, whose is it?” demandedJugiko. James merely sighed before pointing at the sky and sign or pointing atthe ground. The guns were slowly lowered, except for Malachi’s, and the otherssighed slightly. James, knowing what Malachi’s gripe would be, pulled out acouple packages of sushi from subspace before handing them to Malachi. Malachiwas soon found eating said sushi with gusto. ‘You’re forgiven’ was implied soonafter as the oversized handgun was no longer pointed at him.

“Crystal can you ask D to come down here?” Crystaldidn’t hesitate as her powers began to manifest. After a moment the air beganto still and a bright light went through the forest. When the light dimmedthere stood a woman of other worldly beauty. She had raven hair that reachedmidway down her back and eyes that slowly changed colors. She was built similarto a dancer or swimmer, tall and slender. She looked at them with a slightlyamused expression on her face especially James, who was writing a new equationwhile rubbing one of his temples, and Malachi, who was still enthralled withhis sushi.

“So James figured it out did he?” she asked a slight smirkon her lips. This was more of a statement than a question, after all God seesand knows all right? Yes, the woman in front of them was God.

“Yes he did. Now could you please explain why we are here?”Jugiko asked. “Couldn’t this have waited?” she added in a slightly agitatedtone. D just smiled slightly as if that answered the question. James, cursingthe equation, had started beating his head against a nearby tree, causingcracks to form along said tree.

“Actually no, this couldn’t wait.” Looking at theirexpectant faces she continued. “The possible futures of this dimension worryme. They are centered on a village by the name of Konoha. Your job is to go andset up residence in the village. What you need to do from there I cannot tell you.”The retinue sighed and nearly cursed how far divine intervention actually went.

“Oh by the way I took the liberty of exchanging some of yourcurrency into Ryo, the local currency, and most of your equipment has beentransferred into subspace for after you build your house.” She handed James apaper with a series of numbers and conversions on it. His eyes widened slightlyat the amount but that was his only reaction. D then pointed in the directionof Konoha before disappearing.

“How much damage?” asked Malachi looking at the paper Jamesheld.

“About sixty percent of our hard currency.” replied Jamesright before collapsing onto his knees. The others could only watch as hegripped his head, a silent scream on his lips. After a few minutes he seemed toregain control. He calmly stood up, walked behind a tree, and began retching.The reason behind his actions was obvious to the others. They knew that D musthave just forced a lot of info into his already abused mind. After regaininghis composure, he returned to the group.

“Well, it looks as if it will take about a week to get tothe leaf village, and D has given me a bunch of info on culture, countries,hierarchy, and the like. She especially wants me to teach you all something shelabeled as chakra manipulation and techniques.” At their dumbfounded looks helet out a sigh. Spying several puddles near the group he made a quick handseal.

“Mizu Bunshin noJutsu,” he whispered softly. Suddenly, ten clones were standing in front ofhim. He walked over to a clone and the two exchanged nods before he pulled outa knife and stabbed it. Instead of seeing blood pouring from the wound a slowtrickle of water exited the clone before it burst like a water balloon. Theretinue stared at the spectacle as James dispelled the remaining clones.Finally, Alex opened his mouth and asked the question that James had beenexpecting, but not from him.

“Wait, does this mean they only speak Japanese here?” Jamesreplied with a nod. He looked at his friends for a moment before sayingsomething else.

“Guys, you might want to look in a mirror.” Everyone lookedat him for a moment before realizing what he was talking about. While the fourhumans of the group normally appeared to be in their thirties, their actualages were around sixty, they now appeared to be twenty five. James had retainedhis scar that ran across his left eye (think Kakashi without the sharingan, but he had none of the grey in his hair). Jugikoand Malachi still looked to be in their late teens, their actual ages are inthe mid-fifth century; after all, they were part-demons; half-wolf to bespecific.

Their most notable change had been that the facial makeupappeared more human, even without Jugiko’s illusion (they originally lookedsimilar to Inuyasha) Malachi had black hair with three white streaks and Jugikohad raven colored hair. The group sighed and looked toward the sky.

“So, how about we get to that training?” Malachi asked andseveral groans were heard.

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It took just over a week for them to make it to the village.During that time James had begun teaching his friends the art of these ninjas.Malachi had scoffed the idea of them truly being ninja. They each had several middleand high end techniques at their disposal. They even had the basics so thatthey could pass as shinobi. As they journeyed to the village Jugiko had toldJames that he would speak for the group since he had all the info in his brain. Another change that occurred was theirclothing. It was more conservative than what they usually wore. The onlyexception to this was James who almost always wore conservative clothing.

As they approached the gate of Konoha each began to assessthe village’s defense and were only slightly impressed. This was mostly Jamesexamining the masonry and evaluating how hard it would be to break it. Theywarily approached the guards at the gate.

“State your name and purpose for coming to our village.” Theguard, a chuunin if James guessed correctly, statedin what would normally be considered an intimidating fashion. To the retinue itwas rather funny. After all facing 40:1 odds and surviving made a threateningposter seem so…childish.

“We are here to request the Hokage make us citizens ofKonoha.” James replied calmly.

“And why do you think the Hokage would even consider it.What do you have to offer?” James looked over to Jugiko and saw her nod. Reachinginto his combat subspace he drew a Buck™ knife and closed the distance betweenhimself and the guard. The man nearly wet himself as he felt the killer intentJames radiated along with the cold steel against his neck.

“Does that answer your question?” The man nodded slightlybefore calling out for someone to escort the group to the Hokage’s office.Their escort turned out to be a young lady, and compared to the retinue membersshe is young, with Raven hair and…red eyes? The only other person he knew withthose was Malachi. James also couldn’t explain the sudden lurch in his stomachas he looked at her.

The young lady was introduced as Yuuhi Kurenai. She greetedthem politely before guiding them to the Hokage tower. As they entered theythought ‘poor-old-man’ after seeing he was barely visible due to a pile ofpapers. James stood beside his friends and waited patiently to be acknowledged.After a few moments the Hokage lift his head to look at them.

“Ah, welcome to Konoha. May I ask why you are here?” Jameslooked at the man in front of him gauging how he should proceed. The old manseemed to appreciate someone who didn’t dance around the issue.

“Actually, we are here to request citizenship in Konoha.”James stated carefully. Sarutobi looked at the group and smiled slightly.

“I would like to but I have to ask why, and what do you haveto offer?” James sighed once before responding.

“We were displaced from our homes. I do not wish to say more.”The Hokage’s eyes flashed with sympathy. “As to what we can offer…I am acompetent weapons smith and all of us are competent shinobi. I know that youwould not trust a new member in your ranks without an escort and we are willingto submit to that.” The Hokage looked at each member of the group looking forany hint at deception. After a few more moments he sat back in his chair andsmiled.

“If this is truly what you want so be it. Since you are tooold for the academy, you’ll be tested on training field six. If you pass you’llbe on probationary status until we are convinced you are not a threat. Here arethe directions to the training field; your tests will occur at seven am. You will also need to divide into twogroups to take this test. Oh and I need to give you the normal warning. Don’teat because you’ll throw up.” The retinue had suppressed a grimace at the worddivide and the urge to laugh at the throw up comment.

James looked at him for a moment before asking, “I was justwondering if there was any land for sale in Konoha. After all we are going toneed a place to live and paying rent is just foolish if you can buy.” TheHokage looked and him for a few minutes before asking Kurenai to show them tothe realtor’s officer. There they managed to purchase a rather sizable, atleast in town, stretch of land. It was a six acre plot located near one theforested areas of Konoha. After that they were guided to a hotel they couldstay at until they had built their house. When they arrived James on impulseturned to Kurenai.

“Um Kurenai-san.” she turned to him with a small smile. “Iwas wondering if perhaps, after the exam, you would like to have dinner withme.” The other members of the retinue, with the exception of Jugiko whose eyesjust widened, stumbled on the carpet before catching themselves. A thoughtflashed through their minds simultaneously.

‘Did James just ask someone out?’ James was the most logicalperson in their group. His brain thanks to the Magius powers he had receivedwould put most super computers to shame. He had more doctorates than some couldcount earned through sheer knowledge. This James who was nervously asking agirl, who was 40 years younger than him, out, on a date, was unfathomable. Justwhen you thought that you knew someone they go out and surprise you.

“S-sure,” Kurenai slowly stuttered with a light blush. Theyquickly set a time to meet and Kurenai departed as another guard arrivedoutside their rooms. The group met in one of the rooms and began to discuss whowould be teamed with whom.

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The retinue, after eating a hearty breakfast, made their wayto the meeting spot, guided by their most recent guard. They had divided intothe following groups: Jugiko, Crystal, and Alex and Malachi, James, andDomonique. They entered the grounds and found themselves facing The Hokage,Kakashi, Gai, Asuma, and Genma. Malachi stared at Gai’s eyebrows with a ratherdumbfounded expression.

“This will be a Genin and Chuuninexam. Your objectives are for you to discover. Pass one and you’ll be a genin,pass both and you’ll be a chuunin, fail and well do Ireally need to say?” Jugiko’s team was set against Gai and Asuma. Malachi’steam was led, by their guard, off of the training grounds until it was theirturn.

Each of the two had something the team had to retrieve fromthem. The team was told that the one who did not retrieve one of the objectswould not pass and miss lunch. The match started but instead of diving off tothe side in an attempt to find cover they stood their ground.

“Jishin Bunshin no Justu/Kori Bunshin no Justu.”(Earth clone/Ice Clone) Alex and Crystal whispered simultaneously. The groundrippled and out of it rose ten duplicates of Alex. Atthe same time water condensed from the air molecules and formed eight seethrough duplicates of Crystalbefore freezing. Jugiko watched their two opponents, gauging them based ontheir reactions. Even Kakashi was dumbfounded when he saw the techniques used.

“Kage Kakusu no Justu,” (Shadow Cloak) she said and a thick sheet ofblack began to cover the field. She enhanced the genjutsuwith her own illusion powers before nodding to the other two. The menagerie ofclones and their summoners tore into the blackness. Theonly thing that could be discerned from the black mass was sounds of fleshbeing hit and metal on metal.

Inside the black cloud Crystal and Alex alone with theirmany doppelgangers could see and move quite easily. The technique required alot of chakra, concentration, and control. This was because it was a selectiveenemy genjutsu, it only blinded those labeled an enemy by the user. Thetwo closed on their pray and drew their kunai. They quickly set about tobeating the two senseless. Several minutes later after the sounds had ceasedJugiko lifted the shadow and the three spectators had to clench their jaws tokeep them shut. Gai was the only one conscious out of the two Jounin and he was currently avoiding several clones’ attacks.

They also noticed that the clones were all still there, wellthere were still eighteen of them anyway. Only two of the clones were unharmed.The others were in various states of disrepair, as in missing an arm or part ofthe body. This shocked the group because they had never seen any solid clonesthat could take a hit and still maintain its form.

Jugiko’s lips twitched into and an almost smirk before shetore off at Gai. The clones gathered into a group on the side. He blocked thekick she sent his way but felt something get yanked off his belt. Then he felta kick across his face thanks to his momentary lapse in concentration. This wasfollowed by several more from the clones. Gai surprised them by standing evenafter the beating he took, but what was more surprising was when he stated.

“I concede the match.” After that he picked up Asuma andcarried him toward the spectators, where Kakashi woke him with a water jutsu tothe face. He then began to do handstand push ups while facing the field. A fewminutes later the second team arrived. They were given the same set ofinstructions as the others only this time the other team got to watch. Kakashi,after seeing techniques even he did not know carefully and how the first groupemployed them, raised his forehead protector unveiling his sharingan.

“Oh, so you areCopy-nin Kakashi, copier of a thousand Justu or so it is said.” Malachi stated as James hadinformed them the night before about the different doujustus(eye techniques) they could expect and about the copy nin. Kakashi merely nodded while Genma began to feelnervous though thanks to his training he didn’t show it.

“I’m honored. After all, they say that you only reveal thatto those you think a serious threat. Well it won’t do you much good againstus.” He nodded toward James who grimaced. The five Konoha ninja looked confuseduntil James formed a hand seal none of them had ever seen before.

“Doujutsu Konran Saseru no Jutsu.”(Eye technique disruption) James stated firmly. His brown eyes faded into amilky white and he appeared to be staring at nothing. Kakashi, at first,believed that nothing had happened, but then realized that he did not have thetechniques knowledge even if it was just a simple henge.He then watched as James drew the Katana that was strapped to his back. Theblade itself was the most impressive part as it appeared to have two edges andan altered Psalms 23:4 written in Kanji form down the blade. He took up adefensive Kendo stance and waited for Malachi’s next move. Malachi, meanwhile,bit his thumb and performed two quick hand seals and Domonique drew out twostiletto daggers.

“ChiBunshin no Jutsu.” (Blood Clones) Thewater that had been used for Crystal’sice clones gathered into see through duplicates of Malachi before turning bloodred and then forming twenty exact duplicates of Malachi. The Hokage started atseeing this technique. It was, like the kage bunshin, a kinjutsu whose originwas located in the village hidden in the mists. The reason it was forbidden wasthat if a flaw occurred in the making the clones would try to form purely outof their creator’s blood. No human could survive that happening thus theforbidden stamp on the technique. This was also why the hidden mist began usingmizu bunshin even if theywere fare weaker than the blood clones. It was safer that way.

Kakashi, noticing James’s apparent blindness and the threatof his technique, figured he would be the best target. He sent a message inhand signs toward Genma. The message basically called for Genma to attack Jameswhile Kakashi distracted the others. Kakashi then formed a single seal.

“Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.” Eighteen clones formed aroundKakashi before dispersing and attacking Malachi and Domonique. They lead offwith a barrage of Kage Shuriken (Shadow shuriken).Domonique put and end to that with a technique of her own.

“Hono’o Hogo Sochi no Jutsu.”(Flame shield) red flames erupted out from her in a similar fashion to the Hyuuga Kaiten and took a handfulof clones with it. Malachi’s clones sprang into action after that, and soonKakashi was again on his own facing fourteen opponents including the originaland Domonique.

In the meantime James wondered what was happening. Thetechnique did what Kakashi believed in that it blinded his eyes; however, itdid not block his other sense, or his esoteric ones for that matter. He couldfeel the attack due to his powers but it was making him wonder. So far only thecopy nin had attacked andnot who he thought he would. James figured with the loss of his sharingan and his opponents apparent blindness would makehim, in their minds at least, the best target. It was then he felt the second Jounin, Genma he thought, move toward him. James waited forthe other to draw closer luring him into a false sense of security.

Genma let out a flurry of kunai and James carefullydeflected all but one of the projectiles. Instead James caught the weapon andsent it back toward Genma along with one of his own hidden in its shadow. Genmajumped to the side only to feel a searing pain as a second blade hit him in thearm.

“All warfare is based on deception. My eyes may be blind butI have other ways of seeing.” James stated. He then moved in with startlingspeed and proceeded to show the Jounin how much theflat of his blade could hurt.

Kakashi, meanwhile, was in a bit of a spot. To his credit hestill had his bell. He was surrounded by eight clones, their creator, andDomonique who unleashed yet another fire attack at him.

“Katon:Housenka no Jutsu.” (Flame Type:Mythical Fire Flower) Several balls of fire began to pelt him as Malachi wentin to make his move. Increasing the flow of chakra tohis legs he became little more than a blur heading in Kakashi’s direction. Hestopped behind Kakashi, yanked the bell from his belt, and then kicked himtoward a clone that finished the fight with a thrust kick to the stomach. Theywent to help James only to find him leaning against a tree holding the piece ofgrass Genma always had in his mouth with a blank look on his none seeing eyes.At the sound of approaching feet he turned his head toward the noise. Sensingwho it was he smiled as his eyes returned to their normal color.

He took a steptoward the two only to stumble before they caught him. The jutsu had beendeveloped by James during their weeks travel to Konoha. It had one majordrawback due to the fact that it blinded the user. The blindness lasted duringthe techniques use and for several minutes after. This was why only James,Jugiko and Malachi were the only ones allowed by the group to use it. They hadthe easiest time coping with temporary blindness. The two led carefully led himaround obstacles toward the Hokage while Gai and Asuma grabbed the unconscious Jounins.

When they arrived Crystal used a healing jutsu to speed up the eyes’recovery process. After a few moments James’ eyesight was back and they turnedto face the Hokage.

Sarutobi smiledslightly before saying, “Congratulations you all pass both exams. I can tellyou all figured out the purpose of the genin exam, andhow well you worked together as well as the level of jutsu’syou employed proves you have what it takes to be chuunin.”He moved behind a tree, picking up an object once he got to it. He slowly movedtoward the group and presented a hitai-ate andvest to each. They were now officially Konoha shinobi.

…

One month had passed since the retinue had arrived at thosegates they now protected. They were still observed but they didn’t blame theHokage for being cautious. They had gone on a handful of missions as a set ofteams. James and Kurenai had become an item and well, James was constantlyteased by his friends. He didn’t mind the teasing as long as it didn’t go tofar. He was still startled that he had fallen for someone one a third his age.The teasing had ended when both Alex and Domonique had started dating someonefrom the village.

Alex was dating some girl named Anko. About the only thinghe knew about her was that she freaked him out. Domonique was secretly dating agirl by the name of Nikko Inuzuka. The reason for thesecrecy was that homosexuality was about as accepted there as it was in thenineteen fifties back home. James was currently walking through the marketdistrict of Konoha. He was well aware of his shadow and was glad it wasn’t Gaithis time. As he passed by a shop he heard something disturbing.

“Get out of my shop Demon.” James grew angry as he saw thatinstead of a demon, or even an adult, a child of no more than five was thrownbodily from the shop. The kid stood wiped a few tears away and ran in thedirection of the Hokage monument. James knew the kids story do to histelepathic powers but he did not sense even an ounce of malice inside the kidjust sadness and determination.

His blood began to boil and even his friends would havebacked away from the look of anger on his face. It wasn’t often he got angrybut god have mercy on who raised his ire for he would have none. James took ina deep breath before putting on a mask of calm and then walked into the shop.Inside the shop he saw only a few people plus the owner.

“Who the FUCK threw that child into the streets?” his voicewas barely above a whisper but killing intent rolled off of him in waves. Theshoppers in the store soiled themselves for they lacked the conditioning toresist the fear they were feeling. The shop keeper, a former shinobi, was ableto bare it without showing much fear.

“What of it?” he replied trying to sound confident.Suddenly, the killing intent doubled and James whispered one word.

“Out.” The shoppers didn’t need to be told twice as theynearly took the door off its hinges trying to escape. He then walked over tothe shop keeper and began to show him the error of his ways. (The following scenewas too violent to write; please use your imaginations)

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Ten minutes later James stepped out of the store yawningslightly as he dusted off his hands. After a moment Kakashi appeared and gaveJames an eye smile. Normally, beating up a civilian in his shop would havegotten James in a serious mess, but Kakashi had seen what had led up to it andshrugged it off. After all, beating up a kid too young to defend himself wasfar worse on his trash list.

“Kakashi, did you happen to see where the kid ran off to?”Kakashi, a pensive look on his face, thought about it.

“I’ve heard from Hokage-sama, thatthe kid likes the view from on top of the Yondaime’shead.” James’ empathic senses detected the twinge of sorrow from the copyninja. He knew that Kakashi had been the fourth’s student and what became ofhis team and sensei. He nodded his thanks and tore off in the direction of theHokage monument. Kakashi merely sighed before following.

When James approached the Yondaime’shead he noticed that the kid’s back was to him. He could tell even from adistance that the kid was talking to himself. His empathic senses also told himthat the kid was trying to keep himself from crying. He knew that lonelinessbecause he had seen worse thanks to his powers. If you can imagine he hadhorrible memories from it was like to be branded, to living in an institution,and even a rape toy. Believe it or not that was just memories from his friends.

“I’ll show them! I’ll become Hokage and get everyone toacknowledge me!” James smiled when he heard the declaration made by the kid. Thekid had spirit and determination, or was bullheaded. Either way this intriguedJames and he slowly approached. When he was about fifteen feet away the kid quicklyturned to face him.

“WHY ARE YOU HERE?!” Naruto shouted while James winced.‘Damn this kid can be loud.’

“I saw what happened at the shop.” James replied and watchedthe kid shrink back.

“You gonna beat me up too?”Naruto’s response was more a statement than a question.

“No kid I don’t plan on beating you up. Although that baka at the shop is wishing he hadn’t.” At Naruto’squestioning look he continued. “I hate seeing people treat others like crap;especially people who abuse children. I showed him the error of his ways. As inI decided to beat him within an inch of his life.” Naruto looked at him with anastonished expression on his face. He had never met anyone other than theHokage who hadn’t hated him on sight. It was then he was struck by an idea.

“Hey kid, do you like Okonomiyaki?”Naruto looked at him for a moment before replying.

“Don’t know, never tried it. Is it anything like ramen?”James looked at the kid for a moment longer before realizing what was hidden inthat statement. The kid, from what he had been told lived on his own with verylittle money being provided for him to live on.

“Well no, not really unless you count the yakisoba noodlesas being ramen-like. Anyway, I wanted to know if you would like to join me andmy family for dinner.” At the kid’s skeptical look he added. “You don’t have toworry about this being a trick as the Hokage will be there.” It didn’t takelong for Naruto to agree after that statement. The two went back to the marketso James could buy the supplies he needed for the dinner that night.

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Naruto found out that the reason the Hokage would be at theretinue’s house for dinner was to celebrate the house’s completion. They had togo about building the thing slowly due to how the villagers might react totheir powers. However it was amazing what an army of earth clones could do. Thesize and complexity of the building was the reason it took so long. After all,the house had three stories a lot of bedrooms and a basement bigger than thehouse in terms of length and width.

Naruto’s jaw was sitting on the floor as he saw the house. Hehad never seen one this large before. James guided him inside toward thekitchen where they dropped the groceries and then he led Naruto to the livingroom. Inside the living room they found the Hokage, Jugiko, Malachi, Domonique,Nikko, Alex, Anko, Crystal and Kurenai sitting in the room chatting. James sawGai and Kakashi having another of their “duels,” a game of fifty-two pick up.

“Hey everyone, we have another guest I’d like you to meet.”James interjected as Gai was about to go off on a rant about beating hiseternal rival. They all turned to James and saw an amusing sight before them.They saw a small child with blonde hair trying to hide behind his leg and Jamestrying to dislodge said child from said leg. After a minute of tugging Jamesmanaged to pull the kid loose and placed the blonde in front of him.

“This is Uzumaki Naruto. Naruto From your left is Kakashi,Gai, Jugiko, Malachi, Domonique, Nikko,Alex, Anko, Crystal, Kurenai-chan, and you already know Hokage-sama.”As the Naruto’s name was said many expressions were seen from those present.The retinue members, not knowing much about Naruto, smiled slightly at the kidor, like Anko, looked at him indifferently. The Hokage smiled slightly glad thekid had found someone, besides himself of course, who did look at him and onlysaw the Kyuubi.

Nikko looked atthe kid with a small amount of contempt but stayed silent. Kakashi and Gaismiled slightly and broadly respectively. Kurenai looked at Naruto with a smallbit of fear but after looking at James she knew the kid couldn’t be all bad.Besides if the kid really was the Kyuubi, why was thevillage still standing?

‘I need to ask you all something.’ James sent telepathicallyto his friends. When he felt each of them acknowledge his message he continued.‘The kid’s life has been poor at best. He has no one to care for him and thecontempt of most of the village.’ His friends figuring out where this was goingsighed internally.

‘I wanted to know if you all would mind if I adopted him.’Suppressing another sigh they sent back their consent. Leaving the kid to getto know everybody James turned to the Hokage.

“Sarutobi-san may I speak to you in the kitchen?” The Hokagelooked at him for a moment before following him into the kitchen. Once insideJames donned a black apron and began preparing the food to be cooked. He hadalready found out what each wanted on their okonomiyakiand began to pull out the necessary ingredients. As he began to mix the batterhe turned to face the Hokage with a serious expression.

“Sarutobi-san I need to know something.” When the old mannodded he went on. “Why is it that Naruto has no one but an overworked Hokagewilling to look after him?” Sarutobi nearly winced at James’ sharp tone.

“I’m sorry James but I cannot reveal that.” James noddedslightly before asking the something that shook the Hokage to the core.

“Is it because of Kyuubi no Kitsune?” The Hokage blanched as James continued to mix thebatter. Before the Hokage could voice his question James pressed on. “It wasrather easy to put two-and-two together. After all the Kyuubiattacked Konoha around when Naruto was born and people keep calling the kid ademon.” James began going over the information D had uploaded to his brain andcame across something.

“Is he a Jinchuuriki?” James askedscaring the Hokage at just how fast he put the pieces of the puzzle together.Admitting defeat the Hokage merely nodded in response.

“How did someone manage to seal the Kyuubiaway?” James whispered softly.

“The Yondaime made a contract withthe Death god to seal the Kyuubi inside Naruto.”stated Sarutobi. “He gave up his life with the belief that Naruto would behailed as a hero for he keeps this village safe by keeping the fox sealed.”James, currently grilling the pizza like pancakes, nodded but also thought thatthe Yondaime’s faith was misplaced. Creating a Kage Bunshin to work on thegrill, he turned to face the Hokage. The Hokage looked at the clone and shookhis head. This group never ceased in surprising him.

“Sarutobi-san, I know that my friends and I are still underwatch but I was hoping you would grant me a request.” He waited until he sawthe Hokage nod. “Today I saw Naruto thrown, literally, out of a store. I’veseen what the kid is going through and I don’t want him to have to bare italone. I would, with your permission, like to adopt Naruto into my family.” Theold man stared at James. He had met very few people will to take Naruto inafter they knew who he housed. This caused him to get suspicious until helooked at his friend again. During the entire conversation he had not detectedany indications of hostile intent or deception. A smile formed on his wizenedfeatures as he spoke.

“You have my permission but you must get Naruto’s. If hesays yes then I will have the proper paperworkdrawn up tomorrow.” Both James and the Hokage winced at the word.

“Would you consider taking on an assistant Sarutobi-san?”The Hokage looked at him questioningly. “As much as I don’t like the work I amgood with paperwork and could assist you…once our probationary status is liftedof course.” Sarutobi looked at the ‘young’ man in front of him as if judginghis abilities and then remembered that even some of his friends reports almostlooked as if they had been written or at least proofread by him.

“Actually, I would like that very much. I may even get to goout and check on the village rather than reading about it.” They both shared asmall chuckle at that. Their conversation varied from there as James spokewhile helping his clone cook.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

The dinner went well and Nikko’sscowl slowly disappeared as she watched Naruto interact with the group. She hadeven laughed when Naruto called Gai fuzzy eyebrows as he left. James was gladto see that the others were beginning to accept Naruto. The group plus theHokage and Naruto watched as each of the guests departed. Soon only Kurenai wasstill at the house and James asked her to stay as what he was about to askNaruto would have an impact on her as well. When he had everyone’s attentionJames knelt down beside Naruto.

“Naruto I going to ask you a question and I want you tothink really hard before you give me an answer, ok?” Naruto nodded. “How wouldyou feel about living here instead of on your own?” Naruto sat there puzzlingout James’ question and even Kurenai thought the expression was beyond cute.

“Why?” Naruto asked after a moment. “Why are you asking methis? Why do you care?” James looked at the kid with a sad smile.

“I care because I know what it feels like to be alone. Inever knew my father and because of my uncle’s profession I had few friends.I’m asking you this because I’ve asked the Hokage about adopting you as my son.It is your decision though, so what do you say?” The retinue looked a littlesurprised at James’ words to Naruto. He may not know the same loneliness asNaruto from his own experience, but due to memories from them he knew what itfelt like. Kurenai looked at Naruto and a small smile played across her face asshe watched his face begin to split into a wide smile.

“When can I move in…’Tousan?”James’ smile soon matched Naruto’s much to everyone’s surprise.

“How about I show you your room?”

To be continued…

(A/N): This story is based on one my friend is currentlyworking on called Magius. You might be able to find an older copy of the storyon fiction press but don’t take my word for it. For clarification each of thecharacters controls a domain or domains with their powers.

Jugiko Shienjeru,Magius (Leader) Illusionist and Steel Mage.

Malachi Shienjeru, Magier (Second) Necromancer.

James Richards, mage of the mind. Powers includeclairvoyance, telepathy, and telekinesis.

Alex Gonzales, Nature and Lightning Mage

Domonique Antonio, Pyro Mage

Crystal Thakstes,Ice and Holy Mage

Who should Naruto be paired with?My options are:

A) Sakura

B) Tenten

C) Ino

D) Multi(top two girls)

This fic will not be a Naruto/Hinata or Sasuke/Sakura fic. In my opinion these two matches have become cliché andrather boring to read. Mind you, if you don’t vote don’t complain and I won’tbe continuing this story if I don’t have a direction to go in. Please reviewit!!!!!