"SASUKE!"

"NARUTO!"

Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha's screamed each other's name as their ferocious attacks collided into one massive explosion. The collision between the biju and curse augmented attacks caused an orb of dense, and dark chakra to form around them. The Valley of the End's lake thrashing violently from the pressure given off by the orb.

Within the orb, both young shinobi could not see, nor hear or feel; as if their senses had been shut off. All they could see was blinding white light. Then as quick as it came, the whiteness left, leaving utter blackness in its wake. Sasuke groaned as he opened his eyes, realizing the aforementioned darkness was the back of his eyelids. Sitting up, he quickly realized he was still at the Valley of the End, the landscape ruined by his battle earlier with Naruto.

Naruto!

Twisting his head around in frantic motion looking around for the idiot shinobi, but he was nowhere in sight. Not wasting any time, Sasuke immediately started running in the direction of Orochimaru's compound. If Naruto had survived, he was likely unconscious and he didn't want to be there when he woke up.

Little did Sasuke know, there was no trace of the blond gaki anywhere. Even Kakashi, who arrived mere minutes after Sasuke vacated the Valley, could not find hide or tail of Naruto Uzumaki. It was if the blond had disappeared.

*Black Void*

The body of the last Uzumaki floated in absolute darkness. The only evidence of the earlier battle was his tattered clothes that loosely hung around his body. Naruto floated there, undisturbed and unmoving, oblivious to the vast void around him. Even if he had been awake, he would not have seen the giant dragon before it clutched him in its claws.

*Pantheon of the Divines*

In an elegant, massive circular room resembling a court house, nine beings watched with growing anxiety and eagerness at the battered body of the young boy lying in the middle. On an enormous pedestal, sat Akatosh in his dragon form. The Chief Deity of the Nine looked on with sympathy and sadness at the dead boy.

Arching his head up, he spoke to his fellow divines. "The time has come. Alduin is returning and his brothers will soon follow in his wake. We have chosen our champion, the world's Dragonborn."

"It seems so cruel." Stendaar, the god of mercy said in melancholy. "His former life had so much pain and so little love, is it really right to force him back into a world of even more bloodshed?"

"We have already chosen our champion, it is to be him." Julianos, god of wisdom, answered. "He will know love, hate, pain, sadness and happiness. But there is no one else better suited, it's was the boys destiny to fight Alduin."

Stendaar's expression tightened, "I know, but it seems so…cruel."

A tall Imperial dressed in a black robe with a coffin set on the torso, walked from his seat and placed his hand over the boy's face. "Where shall we place him, Akatosh?" asked Arkay, god of funerals and rebirth.

Akatosh looked at Julianos then back at Arkay. "After much consideration with Julianos and Talos, we want to place him…"

*The College of Winterhold*

Savos Aren, Arch-Mage of the College of Winterhold, was a master of the arcane. In his many years of dedicated study here in this fine college, he had learned much, and seen much. He'd seen this college when it was in its golden years. He had witnessed the great collapse of Winterhold. And he'd seen many of his die in the Labirynthian.

After so many years of casting spells, summoning creatures from Oblivion, and causing his friends to become enthralled to prevent a dragon priest from wreaking havoc upon Skyrim, he'd thought there was nothing left in the world that would surprise him.

But it was on this day that found that had yet to see it all.

Aren was currently exiting the Hall of the Elements after finishing an argument with the accursed Thalmor agent, Ancano. The Altmer had been criticizing some of the remaining students for not sharing the results of their research, and Savos had to remind the "stick up his ass" bastard that he was here at the Arch-Mages pleasure. The argument had left Savos infuriated and stressed, and had decided some time outside would be good for him.

It was the moment he closed the gate when he heard the crying. Lying there in the central magicka fountain was a bawling baby.

The Dunmer stared in utter confusion for a moment, before realizing the danger the infant was in. Exposure to such a large amount of pure magicka could be fatal to men and mer alike. Quickly retrieving the baby, he wrapped it in a blanket and then rushed inside the Hall of Elements.

"Tolfdir!" Savos said as he rushed into the chamber.

The old Alteration instructor turned his head at hearing the unmistakable voice of his Arch-Mage. He was about what Savos was yelling when he saw the child Savos's arms.

"Savos! You didn't tell me you were married! And look you've already got a little one. I'm so happy for you!" Tolfdir said delighted, arms raised to sweep Savos into a hug, but the deadly glare made him reconsider.

"This is not my child." Savos said in a no-nonsense tone. Savos Aren's temper was legendary at the college.

"What's all the commotion for!" shouted Faralda as she entered the chamber. Then she saw the baby. "And why is there a child in the College? I thought we didn't allow them." She finished, crossing her arms.

"I didn't bring him in, I found him!" Savos shouted over the baby's excessive cries.

Faralda simply, not able to stand it anymore, took the Savos and began rocking it in her arms, her maternal instincts coming into play. "Hush, now." She whispered as the baby stopped crying, and stared at her with brilliant blue eyes. It only took few seconds before it finally fell asleep.

Sighing in relief, Faralda shot Savos a hard look. "Shall we take this to your private quarters, where we can talk on private?"

Savos nodded and led both Faralda and Tolfdir to his quarters. They laid the mysterious newborn on a table, gently so it would not wake up.

The destruction user turned to the Arch-Mage, her scowl evident. "Now, would you mind telling us what the hell is going on!" she hissed quietly.

"Yes, I would also very much like to know who that child is, and why is it here." Tolfdir said his expression neutral.

The Dunmer looked at the child before looking back at his inquiring colleagues. His arms sagged as he sighed in defeat. "I…don't know. I found him outside, dumped in the main magicka pool."

Faralda looked at Savos with a disbelieving expression. Tolfdir was now staring wide-eyed at the sleeping child.

"What?" Faralda demanded, disbelieving of such an outlandish idea. Prolonged exposure to magicka could prove damaging to men and mer alike. It could even someone if their magicka reserves were small enough. "Impossible!"

Savos crossed his arms, "It's the truth."

"Well what are we supposed to do about it then?" the destruction trainer asked, arms spread wide. "It's not like we can keep it!"

While Savos and Faralda were busy arguing, Tolfdir took advantage of the moment to examine the mysterious infant. It looked about a year old, with a tuft of…white hair? Tolfdir looked closer, ignoring the infant as it played with his beard. Now he was getting on in years, but the child did in fact have white hair.

White hair was not uncommon for people these days. That is, if Altmer counted as "people". The infant that was giggling as it played with the old man's beard was a human. Difficult to tell whether or not it was a Breton, Nord, or Imperial, but it was a human. And the child was most definitely a BOY. (A/N: Seriously, as I write this, I am getting SICK of using IT to describe Naruto.)

Astounded at the boy's odd hair color (and dismissing the possibility that he might be an albino) casually took out a small device that resembled a pocket watch with a strip of green silk hanging by a hook on the bottom part of the rim. A Nullam Mensor, a small machine used to measure the amount of magicka within a person. Tolfdir kept this thing handy when he measured the magicka reserves in prospective students hoping to enter the college. The golden years behind them, he rarely used this little gizmo anymore with the lack of students coming in anymore.

The Alteration trainer wrapped the golden chain around the infant's wrist. Almost immediately, the green silk turned from green, to red, and then to blue, a dark blue. The watch part, which was designed to measure magicka numerically, broke as several gears popped out in an almost comical way.

For the second time that day, Tolfdir's eyes widened. Blue? That was the color that labeled those with only the highest amount of magicka in their bodies. Infact, only Altmer with their inborn advanced magicka reserves could achieve this level.

When Tolfdir turned to tell Savos and Faralda what had happened, he found the Altmer and Dunmer still arguing like an old married couple.

"I say we give it to Winterhold, let the Jarl figure it out!" Faralda exclaimed.

"You know we can't do that! The Jarl would never accept anything from the College of Winterhold-

"SILENCE!" Tolfdir yelled, using alteration magic to make his voice louder. Startled, Faralda and Savos gave Tolfdir their attention.

"Thank you. Now while you two were arguing, I took the moment analyze are mysterious guest here." He explained, gesturing to the baby he was holding, who giggled again at being called "mysterious guest". "I made some remarkable discoveries. First, it's a boy. Second, he has white hair and is human, which is highly irregular for humans. But that's not even half as unusual as to what I discovered next." He held up the broken Nullam Mensor. "This is my personal Nullam Mensor. I've had it ever since I began my career as a magister. So there for I've tuned it to perfection and never once did I have to repair it. Until I measured this boy's magicka supply." then he showed them the dark blue silk.

Savos and Faralda exchanged glances, dumbfounded. Tolfdir let a small smile tug at his lips. "This boy has magicka reserves that exceed my own."

Savos was at a loss for words, as was Faralda. "So what do purpose we do now?" Savos asked after a long period of silence.

"We let the college adopt him." Tolfdir said simply. Before the Arch-Mage and the Destruction trainer could let out a protest, Tolfdir interrupted again, "Listen to me for just a moment please." The two elves relaxed. "Thank you. As you two know, the College has seen better days." He turned and spread his arms, using the Arch-Mage's quarters as an example. He turned back to them, "and our golden years have long since passed. But I see much potential in this boy, in fact, I'd say it's a blessing that he showed up at our doorstep, and with his potential, I'd say it's also a blessing for him as this is the best place in Tamriel for humans to learn magic." Since the dissolution of the Mages Guild 200 years ago, the Arcane University had been occupied by an order called the Synod, a group of incompetent magisters that were more skilled in the field of politics than in the field of magic. They had even renamed the Arcane University; "The College of Whispers". Go figure.

The two elves exchanged looks again, like they were contacting through telepathy. "May I see the Nullam Mensor? Or at least what's left of it." Asked Savos. Tolfdir tossed him the now blue silk. Savos examined, twisting it in his fingers, examining it from every angle. It was 100 percent genuine.

"So, what? Are you saying that we should adopt and enroll this boy in the College?" asked Faralda, her voice a little softer than her normally strict tone.

Tolfdir nodded, "That is exactly what I'm saying"

Savos, who had handed the cloth to Faralda for her to examine, had a stare off with the older mage for a fraction of a second, then nodding in understanding of what the old was conveying through his eyes. "Very well, but what do we tell the rest of the College? It's not like they'll accept the fact that we found the child in the Magicka Well, they'll think he's a risk, or worse."

Tolfdir cradled the toddler, who again tried to grab his beard, "Then I'll adopt him and raise him here. We'll say he's my grandson, and that his parents died and he was sent her to me. Who knows, maybe that's what actually happened."

Savos and Faralda nodded in agreement, liking the idea. No one really knew about Tolfdir's family and it was for the best that they say the child was related to Tolfdir; less suspicious that way. "Alright, but what shall we name him? The infant came with nothing at all, not even wrapped in a cloth." Faralda asked curios to how they were going to make this work.

Tolfdir gazed down at the baby, a certain gleam in his eye that only Grandparents got when they were cradling their newborn grandchild. He brushed the tuft white hair on the child's forehead with his hands, noticing how much it reminded him of the common snow in Winterhold. Then Tolfdir looked up at them, his eyes glowing-

"Niveus Spiritus."