Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, at all. If I did, this would be fiction and not fanfiction. I do own my OCs, and most importantly, my very original bloodlines, especially the Tenshigan and the *static* as well.

I add the little dialogue key because it seems like it should be there. This is a revised idea that I liked and managed to find a song to inspire me to get it written. Enjoy!

"Speech"

"Demon speech"

Thought

Demon thought


Blessing from a Curse

Chapter 1: The Cursed and the Blessed

Darkness was wrapping tightly around the concrete jungle below with the stars being the only source of light. Starlight was a blessing to many a stargazer and couple, illuminating their lives and loved ones as they walked through a small quaint park. However, for one young soul, the night sky had a different effect on them. Please leave me alone, please! The day had started off well, though anyone else would have just labeled the day as one of the thousands of ordinary ones they already had experienced. But for the young soul, it had been a blessing to have a day where he seemed to have avoided the usual hatred and glares from the villagers. Uzumaki Naruto was overjoyed throughout the day as he woke up to a rare breakfast of cereal with actual non-expired milk.

Why are they always chasing me? I saved Hime, I didn't hurt her! He had actually managed to make a friend today, a small girl about his age with pale skin, lavender color eyes, and dark blue hair. She was being picked on by a couple of older boys, and Naruto had heroically scared them off by beating up the bigger boy. No one expected a three year old to pound the snot out of a seven year old. After the two ran off, he introduced himself as plain Naruto to the girl who immediately began blushing with teary eyes. Teary eyes which automatically touched Naruto's little heart and he wiped them away as he had seen many a mother do.

His thoughts however focused back on his predicament, a pair of off duty shinobi guards chasing him with the intent to kill. They had spotted him heading home after playing with his new friend he dubbed 'Hime', and decided to get even with the 'demon'.

Naruto of course had no idea why they called him a demon. He was a normal blond haired blue eyed orphan with whisker marks. That was all there was to him. Even though he tried talking to them, all they wanted was nothing more than to see him suffer, and suffer he would.

"Please leave me alone!" But his desperate plea did more harm than good. At the same moment he had turned to shouted, Naruto stumbled and fell flat onto his face, hitting the alleyway wall hard. He tried to get up quickly only to scream as the hard edge of a tobi connected with his small stomach.

Naruto's vision was nothing but a flash of blue, red, and black as the two chunin began kicking him mercilessly. Why do they beat me? Why me? WHY? Tears of pain and sadness fell from his cheeks to mingle with blood as one of the attackers buried a kunai into his stomach. Pain shot up through the boy's small body even into his still developing mind. The pain also reached his stomach as the other chunin followed suit and stabbed Naruto in his stomach, biting into organs that the boy had no idea existed.

One of the men laughed wickedly as he gave another kick to Naruto. "You have a lot to pay for demon," he stabbed Naruto again, smiling at the young boy's scream. "I lost friends because of you," the man picked Naruto up and slammed him against the wall.

"I lost my family because of you demon," the other chunin added in as he kicked Naruto in the face. The poor boy was bleeding all over as he stabbed his kunai into Naruto's stomach again. "How does it feel to go through my family's pain?"

Please stop it, please stop! Naruto's thoughts did not go unheard as he let out a heartbreaking scream. "Please stop!" The two men snarled and they both lifted up their kunai to finish of the demon once and for all.

He has lost too much blood…Inside of Naruto's mind, a pair of dark eyes slowly opened. A sliver of red peered out at the darkening waters as the lights began to flicker out. There is only one choice if we are both to survive. The first sliver seemed to glow as the eyes flickered over the pipes leading out from the cell into the halls. I will not die here like some primordial insect…not like this… I AM THE KYUUBI, LORD OF KITSUNES! Both eyes snapped open wide to reveal blazing dark crimson eyes as emblems began to brightly glow on the pipes. Fiery red-orange chakra began surging through the pipes as the entire cell lit up from the mighty aura. The darkening water began to change as the chakra mingled with the waters, and the being let out an earth-trembling roar. WE SHALL NOT DIE SO EASILY!

Blood began pumping through Naruto's veins to replace the blood he was losing. The younger of the chunin attackers wiped off his kunai as they both eyed their work with satisfaction. His companion turned to leave while he looked at the bloodied mess that was Naruto and frowned. "It's still alive…" A quick look at the assumed corpse told the older chunin that his friend was right. Naruto was still bleeding and weakly whimpering as the new blood leaking from his quickly fading wounds fell onto the ground.

Both men shared a sinister smile and advanced on Naruto as a figure approached them, and they looked up to the newcomer. "Looks like we need to finish him off then," The newcomer looked from Naruto to the chunin, until they noticed the whisker marks on Naruto's cheeks. "Care to join us?" one of the chunin asked, recognizing the figure as one of the jonin assigned to guard duty.

"Gladly, the demon took away my sight," The jonin, one of the few kunoichi of the rank, pointed to her cloudy eyes with a frown. "Time to return the favor," she pulled out a pair of her own kunai, and began advancing on Naruto.

All the while he was being prepared for his newest torture, the blood from Naruto begin to glow a dark red color. None of the shinobi noticed the strange glow of chakra in the blood, or the figure that was standing on the rooftops above them. Whisker marks on each cheek, blond hair like the sun, and blue eyes…The figure's eyes narrowed as they noted the glowing chakra in Naruto's blood and his slowly mending wounds. "Return the favor on a child? Only trash would try to kill a child,"

The three shinobi looked to the source of the dark feminine voice as the figure vanished in a blurry after-image. She reappearing in front of the older chunin with blazing dark green eyes burning holes into the man's very soul as the fellow kunoichi smirked. "You're just in time to join us Hai-Fuschichou in-," the kunoichi words were cut off as the chunin before the new person was sent crashing into the wall. "What are you doing?"

In a blur of speed, the other chunin was soon sprawled out on the ground screaming in pain from his now broken legs. Before the kunoichi could react, she was pinned to the wall by the shorter woman who glared up at her as the blind woman felt intense pain around her neck. "Consider yourself warned, on probation, and under arrest,"

"On what grounds Hai-," She was cut off by a fierce punch to the jaw, breaking it with a loud crack. Naruto weakly opened his eyes to find one of his attackers slowly trying to crawl over to him with a kunai in hand. He began to whimper softly as the chunin grinned evilly at the frightened blond and began pulling himself over to Naruto.

In a flash of fire, the chunin was now like his younger friend only his arms were bent at odd angles that were impossible without pain being involved. "For assaulting a ward of the Hokage," A large crash was heard as the blind kunoichi was knocked out with a trickle of blood coming from inside her mouth. "And for being the poor bastards and bitch to get me pissed off tonight," The woman glared at the two screaming men before hauling both up to their feet, and in a feat of strength that was very reminiscent of the ancient Amazons of the west, clashed the two men together like cymbals.

Naruto stared in a mix of awe and horror at the fierce kunoichi as she spat on ground angrily. Please don't see me, please don't see me…The young woman turned around to Naruto, and he broke out into a new set of tears. I'm sorry I'm sorry…He whimpered weakly as the woman walked over to him. "Gomen nasai, gomen nasai…"

To his surprise, the woman picked him up tenderly in a complete reverse of the kunoichi who had just turned three trained shinobi into broken unconscious heaps. She took ripped off the other kunoichi's shirt into several strips, and began bandaging his wounds. "Forget about the trash kid, do you have place to stay?" The scared boy slowly shook his head, causing the woman to shoot a glare at the three fallen shinobi. Naruto began to slowly overcome his fear as he looked over the woman who turned back to him and did the same in return.

She was not that much taller than the nice daughter of the Ichiraku owner. In fact, the daughter was probably just a few inches shorter than the kunoichi. Naruto looked at her dark violet hair and found it was spiky like his, but in a more wild fashion that matched her aggressive behavior. He noticed she didn't wear a flak vest like the chunin and jonin did but a compact version that barely reached past her breasts. Now Naruto wasn't a pervert, he was just observing his savior and taking notes on her appearance. Knowing what his savior looked like meant he knew who could protect him again.

The boy's investigation continued as the young woman took the chance to look over Naruto, aware that he was doing the same thing to her. If this is the first time he's ever been this close to an adult without being hurt, I'm ripping the next bastard or bitch to shreds!She frowned when she noticed how skinny he was, and the sign of malnutrition judging by his small size and poor condition. Her instincts were demanding that someone be killed for this treatment of a child that was just a year older than her own daughter, and she whole heartedly agreed. The woman stopped her investigation before she decided to go on a rampage, and finished bandaging Naruto up.

Naruto was still looking over her as she followed his gaze to the pair of kanji that seemed to be tattooed into the back of her hands. With his curiosity overriding his fear, Naruto took one skinny finger and began tracing the kanji slowly. "R-y-u-u…wyuu?" he looked up at the woman to see her smiling and he whimpered. "Gomen nasai…"

"No need Naruto-chan," At the sound of his voice coupled with the word chan, Naruto began to get teary eyed in a mix of shock and surprise. She called me Naruto-chan…She didn't call me a demon.... Inside of the young boy's mind, the dark red eyes looked at the young woman carefully. Kyuubi was impressed by the young kunoichi's abilities, and his eyes lit up wildly when he detected the hidden fury and anger in her voice. She would make a fine demon with her maternal fury and bloodlust… He mused as he took note of the kanji for a moment before Naruto's eyes were filled with tears. What a wonderful twist of fate for my vessel if she is connected to that clan by blood or marriage…

While Kyuubi was making plans and ponderings, Naruto was still crying though now he was resting his head against the tough material of the young woman's vest. He didn't notice that he had left the alleyway and was now heading to the Hokage's tower. Even the fact his savior's arm was glued around his small body like a shield and she was carrying him was lost on Naruto. All that mattered to him was that someone cared enough to call him Naruto-chan, other than the nice Ramen man and his daughter.

The young woman was moving across the rooftops at a speed that only the truly elite of the jonin were capable of. If any villager caught sight of her, it wouldn't matter if they could recognize her passenger or not. She was nothing more than a shadow that moved across the rooftops, one that only a shinobi of equal skill could detect.

"You can stop the shadowing now Gai," The woman's voice brought Naruto out of his crying as he turned his head to look at his savoir. "Or do you really want to piss me off like the two bastards I dealt with earlier?" she seemed to be talking to herself until a young man much taller than her with a bowl haircut appeared at her side with a big smile and wearing a bright green jumpsuit.

"My fiery friend Reihitsu, it is wonderful to see your flames of youth tonight!" Naruto shrank back from the mere energy and enthusiasm the man seemed to exude. If anyone who had seen the boy before saw him now, they would actually spare a second of pity for the usually energetic child. Then they would go back to hating him. Luck however, was on Naruto's side as the young man noticed the whisker marks and bandages, and his smile turned to a frown. "I wish I could have been there…"

The woman gave him a dark smile that was full of satisfaction at her work. "Help me take Naruto-chan to the old monkey's house and I'll have Ibiki-kun give you the names," Naruto watched in fascination as the man smiled and they both put on a burst of insane speed. All the buildings and windows looked like distorted blurs to Naruto as he shot past them in seconds.

********************************************************

He wasn't sure when his savior and her friend had stopped running, or when he arrived at the home of the Hokage. The dazed child didn't even know when he had been placed on the couch in the Sarutobi clan's second floor living room. For Naruto, there had been the meeting of the energetic man and then boom, he found himself looking into the eyes of a young man with side burns and a growing goatee. Both males looked at each other for a moment, and then Naruto did what came natural to him when faced with a stranger. He screamed bloody murder.

"HHHHHEEEELLLLPPPP!"

"Now wait a second!"

"Ryuu Pinwa!"

CRASH!!!

Sarutobi Hiruzen ran into his living room as soon as he heard the shouting with a young five year old boy already on his heels in front of Gai. That sounded like my musuko Asuma…I hope he isn't here because of what has happened. Thinking about rift that had grown between the two Sarutobi brought other memories to surface. Memories that he couldn't spare the time to think about if he wanted to protect Naruto. He frowned seriously and narrowed his eyes. Better hope that Reihitsu-kun has calmed down some…Who am I kidding? She's never calm.

With that thought in mind, Hiruzen, most commonly addressed as Sarutobi, along with Gai and the boy, surveyed the living room carefully and found an interesting sight to behold. If both men hadn't known Reihitsu as well as they did, they would have picked their jaws up from the ground.

As the case was, the two ANBU assigned to guard duty for the Hokage and his family arrived last, and their masks almost fell off in shock. Sarutobi Asuma, one of the twelve guardians of the Fire Country's Daimyo, a powerful chunin in his own right, was currently pinned underneath the foot of a young woman one year his junior and shorter than him. To further dumbfound the ANBU guards, Naruto was clapping happily at Reihitsu who was smirking down at Asuma from where she stood.

Naruto had no idea what was going on other than Reihitsu had once again saved him. To him, all that mattered was Reihitsu had protected and nothing else. He had no idea who Reihitsu had just pinned with only a single taijutsu as well as sheer speed and power. Sadly, the moment ended when Sarutobi cleared his throat and Reihitsu looked over to the small audience. "Reihitsu-kun, while I appre-,"

"Kousei-chan, I want you to meet someone!" Reihitsu completely ignored the Hokage and the five year old immediately walked over to her. She smiled down at the boy who returned the smile then turned to Naruto with a simple sweeping hand gesture. "Kousei-chan, meet Naruto-chan. Naruto-chan, meet my son Kousei-chan." The two boys looked at each other and Naruto gulped.

He was definitely shorter than the older boy in front of him, though both shared the same type of appearance; hard to miss. The young boy had the normal standard black hair of a civilian, but the eyes were a shocking dark ash color. Combined with the fact that the boy was wearing black wrappings on his arms and legs from his dark red shirt and midnight blue pants were enough to make Naruto shrink away from him.

The boy looked at Naruto's cheeks, then up to his eyes and then to his hair before finally speaking. "Shohou Kousei," he held out his hand to Naruto who stared at his hand and sniffed it. Kousei made no other action than to patiently wait as Naruto took the hand and blinked. "Koose-kun…?"

"Kousei-ani ototo," Sarutobi's eyes widened while Naruto began to shake with joy from the simple statement. The older boy gave a small smile, and helped Naruto off the couch. That's my little Kousei…Sarutobi snapped out of his trance and gave Reihitsu a tired look, only for the young woman to pick up both boys in her arms, still pinning Asuma down with her foot.

Gai chuckled at the scene of Reihitsu hugging the two boys happily while the ANBU were still standing in shock at the scene. "Surely you didn't think Reihitsu-kun would let Naruto-kun's flames of youth be subject to any more storms Hokage-sama," Though his energy was back, Sarutobi knew that Gai was being completely serious. Even Asuma could tell that Gai was barely holding back his anger about the treatment of the blond in question.

"Of course not, but I would like to see my musuko before he dies of humiliation," Reihitsu rolled her eyes and removed her foot from Asuma's chest. "Thank you, now as for-,"

"Kaa-san will adopt my ototo Hokage-sama," The ANBU stared at Kousei in surprise at his suddenly cold tone along with his fierce glare. One thumb was already in his mouth and resting underneath one of his notably sharp canine teeth. An ANBU moved to intercept but was blocked off by Gai who shook his head at the other ANBU.

While it seemed impossible for a child to have the strength or jutsu to take on even an older shinobi such as his dad, Asuma eyed Kousei wearily. Even though he was only five, Kousei was a Shohou, and as his friend Kakashi had once put it "For Shohou, blood means life. Mess with them, and they will take your life," Asuma carefully placed himself between his father and Reihitsu, keeping an eye on Kousei's entire body in case he decided to really act.

"That's my little Kousei-chan…now let oji-sama speak," The two ANBU were now officially confused about the mother and son who went from motherly to serious within a second. "If it's something stupid, then you may use it," Reihitsu's offer was accepted and Kousei lowered his hand as Naruto looked at the older boy's finger curiously.

Sarutobi shook his head and signaled the all clear to his ANBU who nodded slowly, then left. He went through a long string of handseals and a barrier was put up around the entire house so no sound could get out. "First of all, Ibiki and Anko have already picked up your…present…"

Reihitsu snickered at the word while Naruto quietly listened to the conversation. He remembered hearing the word Ibiki before, but he couldn't remember where. "Good, and what about that prick I dealt with?" she asked, her tone changing with the word to Naruto's confusion but Kousei just gave him a reassuring look as if the word was normal. "…And what's wrong with me adopting Naruto-chan as my musuko?"

"Mitarashi Anko has also wished to adopt him, as well as Hyuuga Hikaru just as you have Reihitsu-kun," This made said kunoichi pause for a moment in thought. Naruto-chan is like Anko-kun in a lot of ways, and Hikaru-kun already has experience…Kousei watched his mother tilt her head to one side and then back to the other side. He noticed Naruto also watching Reihitsu's head tilting, though with more curiosity than the older boy. Sarutobi also watched the fiery kunoichi as she stopped tilting her head after a few minutes of thinking. She's reached a decision though I do think she has made the right decision…

Gai on the other hand saw the glint in Reihitsu's eyes as well as the smile on her face and braced himself for the result. "Gai-kun, find Anko-chan and tell her to pack her bags up! She's moving into the compound tonight," Sarutobi's jaw hit the floor in surprise as Gai nodded and left in a puff of smoke. The reaction from Sarutobi was enough to make Naruto laugh happily at the Sandaime's antics while Kousei settled for a knowing smirk. "No little chunin of mine is going to try raising a kid solo and Hikaru-kun can just visit with Hinata-chan anytime she wants," The Hyuuga Heiress' name caused Naruto to perk up with surprise. Hime can visit me…Hime…

The Hokage just sputtered in disbelief while Asuma just stared at Reihitsu completely dumbfounded by her plan. Naruto looked from Reihitsu to Kousei excitedly since he had heard his friend's name. "Hime-chan can visit?"

"Of course she can visit Naruto-chan! Our house is just a few blocks from her house musuko," Small blue eyes widened as Reihitsu gave him a big smile. The two words 'our' and 'house' were never together in same sentence as his name like that before. The meaning of such a simple pair of sentences hit Naruto like an Akimichi at a buffet table. He actually had a home that he could go to instead of sleeping underneath the park benches or underneath the slides. For a child who had been ostracized and only just recently began enduring beatings, a house was a fairytale dream.

Naruto's eyes began tearing up as a smile broke out onto his face and he buried his head into Reihitsu's shoulders. No, not Reihitsu-san...Kaa-san…He corrected himself as Reihitsu began humming a little lullaby to help him fall asleep. All the events had already taken their toll on the three year old and the adults in the room found it incredible that Naruto wasn't asleep sooner. Sarutobi broke out of his stupor and gave the family-to-be a gentle smile as his eyes drifted over to Asuma. Sometimes we need to see the happiness of another before we realize what we ourselves might miss. The Hokage gave a deep sigh while Reihitsu quietly set her son down and he quickly ran over to balcony and jumped up onto the rail. Perhaps the Shohou clan is the family that Naruto-kun needs the most right now…

"…I see there is nothing I can do to stop you, is there?" The aged Hokage gave a wrinkled smile to the kunoichi who shook her head. "Very well, I will come by tomorrow with the adoption papers," His smile widened a bit when he heard Reihitsu groan at the idea of paperwork.

"Whatever… See ya' oji-sama, smokes," With a nod to her son, she joined him on the rail as he gathered his chakra again and together they took off across the village rooftops. The father and son watched as the trio faded away into the distance before Sarutobi turned to Asuma. Both men looked at each other for a moment before heading down stairs to mend their own wounds with each other…

************************************************************

A couple of hours later, Naruto woke up from his nap to find himself in a well lit room on top of a comfy cushion. He panicked for a moment when he didn't see Reihitsu. But the panic quickly left him when Kousei came into view with a familiar face walking beside him. It took Naruto a few minutes to identify the teenager's face at Kousei's side until his eyes locked onto the woman's, and his face broke out into a smile.

"Ane-chan!" He shouted as he jumped into the air and the young teenage woman caught him. Olive green eyes meet cerulean blue eyes before the two shared a warm hug while Kousei smiled at them. "Look ani-chan, ane-chan!"

The five year old nodded and Naruto noticed something was off about Kousei. He looked him over once, twice, and thrice before he scratched his head in bewilderment. "What's wrong ototo?" the teenager asked while tracing Naruto's gaze over to Kousei. Naruto suddenly let out a gasp and pointed at Kousei with astonishment.

"Ani-chan has marks like kaa-san!" He had finally noticed what was different about Kousei. He no longer had his bandages on his legs or his arms. Without them on, Kousei's arms and legs were visible with a slightly paler skin color than his mother's tanned skin. As his mother had the same kanji on each hand, so did Kousei have a pair of marks on his hands. Unlike Reihitsu's though, his symbol was a simple line connecting to an empty half circle near each set of knuckles with one small dash going through the line. "Sugoi, he has tattoos!"Naruto looked for any more of the marks and found a pair of twin jagged lines above Kousei's ankle.

The older boy chuckled and shook his head at Naruto's claim. "Not tattoos, hyoushou," Kousei corrected while pointing to one of the marks on his hands. Before he could continue, there was a knock at the door which was promptly swung open to reveal a smiling Reihitsu. "Ohayo kaa-san," She looked at Kousei with a smile before turning to Naruto. "Anko-ane-chan is settled now," he added calmly to Reihitsu's joy.

"Good, then we can get Nearuto's welcome ceremony over with and get to the food!" The kunoichi exclaimed, already having staked out what her children were going to have. She turned around and began walking down the hallway until she ran back to the room. Both Anko and Naruto were staring at her in confusion while Kousei cleared his throat loudly. "Come on you two, the ceremony is for both of you," Reihitsu disappeared from sight again while Kousei motioned for Anko and Naruto to follow him.

Now that he was awake and Anko was walking at a steady pace behind Kousei, Naruto took the opportunity to look around the Shohou compound. Anko began to follow suit only for Kousei to lead them through a past a couple of large doors to the outside. Shortly after that, they were now inside a new building and both Anko and Naruto stared in surprise at the number of Shohou that turned to them.

Almost half of the group consisted of young adults just a few years older than Reihitsu with a couple being more than five years older. The rest consisted of small children ranging from just two years older than Kousei to two newborns who oddly silent. I wonder where kaa-san is. She should be here somewhere…

While Naruto looked around for Reihitsu, Anko focused on four elderly Shohou standing in front of a small section of the building. Each of them wore dark clothes and as they approached them, Anko caught a glimpse of violet hair as well as a flash of white hair behind the four elders. Kousei indicated for them to stop and Anko lowered Naruto to the ground before turning to the elders. Their young guide walked past the elders towards his mother while the line of elders opened to let Kousei past. Naruto nervously took a hold of Anko's hand and squeezed while looking from each elder with a gulp.

"Uzumaki Naruto, come forward," A fifth elder walked towards them from behind the line of dark clothes with Kousei in tow, followed by Reihitsu. The young boy nodded and Anko set him down on the ground before the elder. He didn't know if the man or the rest of the Shohou liked him or not, but a single look at Reihitsu in the large black jacket she wore and Kousei's bandages washed away any fears he had. I'm not a demon, I'm Uzumaki Naruto. With that in mind, he took a few steps forward until he was standing in front of the elder as he gazed down at small blond three year old before him.

The man's hazel eyes seemed to look straight through him as if peering into his soul. He seemed to pause for a moment at finding what he was searching for, and looked at the adults and children waiting for him to speak. "I am Uzumaki Nawuto," he lowered his head in shame yet no one laughed at him.

Instead, Naruto felt someone placed a hand on his shoulder, and he looked to see a scarred tanned hand resting there. "Lift your head up strong Uzumaki Naruto and show me your eyes," He gathered as much courage as he could muster and lifted his head up to look at the man straight in his eye. I am Uzumaki Naruto. I am Uzumaki Naruto! The man seemed to read his thoughts as he gave him a brief smile before moving his hand up to the edge of his black kimono. "I can see in your eyes that many have tried to hurt you for what is inside of you," Naruto looked a little confused at him as Anko began to worry for Naruto. "They wish to hurt you because of the burden the Yondaime has given you as the prison of the fox king Kyuubi,"

Anko stiffened in shock at the man's blunt statement while Naruto began shaking in disbelief. He didn't notice the lack of glares shot at him or that many of the Shohou were beginning to slowly kneel on the floor. Kyuubi is inside of me? The memories of the three shinobi calling him a demon flashed in his mind. …Then I am a demon…I am the Kyuubi…

Naruto began softly crying at the man's words as he slowly accepted what the villagers had called him. He gave out a heartbreaking sob as Kousei's eyes narrowed at Naruto, but not at him. Not at the boy who could barely pronounce his name properly. Kousei held no hate for Uzumaki Naruto, and he felt himself growing angrier as Naruto continued to sob.

In a single moment, the elder pulled the material off his shoulder followed by the other. Naruto was still sobbing and did not hear the gasp from Anko as she looked at the aged man's chest. "Do not shed your tears over the lies you have been told. Look at me Uzumaki Naruto, jailor and prison of the Kyuubi!"

Naruto stopped in mid-sob at the sound of his name, not the name of the demon inside of him. The man called him by his name and the demon by another a name. Wait…he called me Naruto…the demon is Kyuubi, and I'm Naruto. Slowly as the real meaning of the man's words broke through the memories, Naruto lifted up his head and gazed upon the man with wide eyes. The sight before him dispelled what few lies tried to linger in his head from the villagers as the other four elders kneeled to Naruto one by one.

So many scars, he's been hurt a lot. The man's entire upper body was covered in scars that ranged in size and shape as well as appearance. A few looked as if they were quite old while others looked as if they had only begun to heal. His left arm bore a large jagged scar from his shoulder blade to his elbow while his right arm had several crisscross scars as if a beast had clawed him. Naruto's eyes moved from the scars to the 'tattoos' he also had, two of which looked like Kousei's own 'tattoos' but more intricate and intimidating. Both looked like small anchors but with a line connecting from the bottom semi-circle to the middle dash. He stood there in awe at the man as he knelt down before Naruto and with one scarred hand, gently wiped away Naruto's tears.

"I know your pain better than all but the others like you do. You are young, yet you have endured as much pain as I have…" The man placed his hand on Naruto's shoulders and looked him straight in the eye. A small part of Naruto was unsure if the man was right or not, but he felt that somehow this man did know pain like his own. "Our blood is feared for what we can do with it. I have been tortured and refused treatment by enemies outside, and within our village because of what is inside of me, inside of my clan and my own grandchildren," He gestured to Kousei and then gently turned Naruto around, and found the entire clan of Shohou, with the exception of Reihitsu and her son, kneeling before him.

All of the children gave Naruto a look of great respect even though they couldn't fully express why, and the two newborns still slept in reverence of the moment. They respect me, they know who I am. And they don't hate me. The dumbfounded child turned around to the man and found him smiling down at him with understanding of his surprise. "….I…I…arigatou…"

"No Naruto-kun…arigatou," He nodded his head at the man and the two bowed to each other in respect as Anko smiled through her tears. The two slowly rose up to face the crowd together and the man lifted Naruto up in his arms. "My fellow clansmen, I, Shohou Han, accept Uzumaki Naruto into our clan as my grandson, Shohou Uzumaki Naruto. Who else will accept him?"

One of the new mothers stood up with her newborn in her arms and spoke. "I, Shohou Togu accept Uzumaki Naruto into our clan as my cousin and my daughter's godfather, Shohou Uzumaki Naruto."

A pair of men stood up. "We, Shohou Chizu and Chizu-cho accept Uzumaki Naruto into our clan as our cousin, Shohou Uzumaki Naruto."

Anko smiled and stepped forward proudly. "I, Shohou Mitarashi Anko accept Uzumaki Naruto into our clan as my little brother, Shohou Uzumaki Naruto!"

Every adult and every child that could speak did and proudly claimed Naruto as a relative, and a member of the clan. The young blond could only smile and cry with joy at each member of his clan. My clan…my family…As the last of the elders finished accepting Naruto, Reihitsu and Kousei stepped forward while Naruto noticed a small violet haired girl with gray eyes staring at him.

The trio smiled at Naruto including the two year old and she tugged on Kousei's sleeve. He nodded to her and stepped forward with the little girl holding onto his hand. "I, Shohou Kousei, with my sister's permission to speak for her, accept Uzumaki Naruto into our clan as our brother, Shohou Uzumaki Naruto."

Reihitsu smiled at her two children before walking up Naruto and Han proudly, and gave Han a wide grin. With little effort, she took Naruto in her arms, holding him as if he were her own flesh and blood, and addressed the entire clan.

"I, Shohou Kagami Reihitsu, matriarch of our clan the Shohou, on behalf of my husband Shohou Toan and as a Kagami," she put her free thumb to a canine and with one swift motion, cut her thumb and began to make a mark on Naruto's shoulder. "Do hereby adopt as my own flesh and blood, Uzumaki Naruto," The young woman finished the mark and showed the mark to the rest of the clan. A pair of curved lines pointed in on a single dot with a small line in between the top parts seemed to glow in the light of the room as Naruto smiled. "As my son, brother to my children, godfather to my cousin, cousin to my cousins, and grandson of my father-in-law," Everyone seemed to tense up as Reihitsu gave Naruto a heartwarming smile before she turned to the clan. "Shohou Uzumaki Naruto, a scion of the Kagami, and one of the Shohou!"

The entire room exploded into cheers and applause as Naruto cried in joy at his new family. Even the children were happily whistling and clapping in celebration for Naruto who didn't even bother to wipe away his tears.

So the child is now one of the Shohou and Kagami as well, interesting....Dark red eyes flickered in the sewer light as Kyuubi watched Han cut his own thumb and added his own mark onto Naruto's other arm. The aged man placed his finger in a small vial that one of the other elders provided while he began to speak to Naruto about the mark. Perhaps I will stay awake to see what is to come, Shohou Uzumaki Naruto.

Naruto didn't hear the laughter coming from the cell of his tenant as he listened to Han's words while the rest of the clan began bringing in tables and chairs. He nodded in understanding and then his eyes widened in surprise as food was brought in along with drinks and plates. The young boy was distracted from Han for a minute, only for his new grandfather to urge him to eat to his heart's content. Naruto's new brother and sister lead him to his cousin Togu and introduced him to his new goddaughter. She was too young to see yet, but she immediately made a happy little noise at his presence that caused everyone within earshot to brighten up even more.

There was no hatred in the room for Naruto, even when he accidently bumped into one of the elders; the aged woman simply guided him back to Kousei and his sister, advising him to stay near the walls for his first party. Within an hour, Naruto had forgotten all about the attack and was happily letting his little sister trace the Hyoushou that Han had drawn onto his forearm.

It is one of the many enhancement type Hyoushou that only we Shohou can create. This is part of our life and now part of your life, we call…Naruto smiled at the memory as his little sister began to doze off while the adults continued to talk and warmly speak with Anko as well as Reihitsu. His life had been hell, and in one single night, he had been given a new one in his own family, his own clan, and his own heritage that he could be proud of and respect.

"Ketsueki Fude…"

*smiles* At last, the first chapter of my new Naruto Fanfic, and hopefully one of my best works so far. Heavy in OCs, but crucial to the storyline and Naruto will get back to being the star of the fanfic. Can't have a star without his support.

Names will be translated next time, and the next chapter will feature the Ketsueki Fude and a twist for Naruto as well as the timeskip to the major event to come soon...The Uchiha Massacre!

Translations:

Hai - (when used as a noun) ash

Fuschichou - phoenix, literally; firebird

Ryuu - dragon

Pinwa - pin wheel

Hyoushou - emblem or mark

Hime - Princess

ani, ane - older brother, older sister

ototo - younger brother

Ketsueki Fude - Blood Writing Brush

Read and review please, and I will read and reply back, thank you!