Hinata, Kiba, Shino, and Kurenai were sitting around the campfire watching as the flames swayed back and forth in the breeze. They had taken up camp about 5 hours away from Konoha after completing a mission.

"Hinata, would you go get some fire wood, please?" Kurenai asked softly.

"Y-yes, K-Kurenai sensei," she stuttered softly as she stood up. She quietly scurried into the woods.

------- 10 minutes later-------

"OH, IT'S SOOO CUTE!" came a naturally soft, but high pitched squeal.

"What is it, Hinata?" Kiba called out, quickly standing up.

Hinata came out of a clearing with a bundle of fire wood on her back and something in her arms.

"Hinata… what is that? It sorta has a fox scent to it… but it's weird…" Kiba said quietly.

"I-it is a f-fox! But, it's o-only a baby. Kurenai s-sensei, do you t-think we could f-feed it?" she stuttered quietly again.

"I suppose, but you probably won't be able to keep it," she replied.

"It's sorta s-strange for a fox, t-though…" Hinata muttered.

"How so?" Kurenai asked softly.

"Well, n-normally foxes a-are completely o-orange… this one h-has black tipped e-ears and a black t-tipped tail, and it's f-fur is almost r-red."

"Really?!? Let me see that for a second," she commanded softly.

Hinata handed the bundle over to Kurenai. The fox was just beginning to wake up, and apparently had been asleep when Hinata found it. Kurenai studied over it carefully before giving the now shivering kit to Hinata.

"I'll be God damned…" Kurenai muttered quietly.

'Kurenai sensei just swore!!!!!!' raced through everyone's minds at the exact same time. Kurenai was never one to cuss unless she was EXTREMELY mad or incredibly surprised.

"W-what is i-it Kurenai s-sensei?" Hinata asked after barely getting over her shock.

"Well, Hinata… you've got yourself a demon fox…" she whispered quietly, "It's young, about twelve from the looks of it… it's really rare to find one now-a-days…"

"Why is it so rare?" Kiba asked.

"Honestly, all I know is that the Inuzukas hunted them to near extinction… your mom is the only surviving person in the entirety of Konoha that knows what happened… even Lady Tsunade doesn't know," Kurenai explained.

Kiba looked over at the fox who was studying its surroundings. It looked around before its eyes fell directly on him. It stared for a moment before vigorously trying to get out of Hinata's arms. It jumped down and started backing as far away from Kiba as possible, before running into a tree. It sat there shaking and Kiba was afraid it was dying.

"What's wrong little fella?" he said as he approached it. The fox just looked at him with fear and continued trying to back up. He looked as if he was hoping the tree would pull him in if he pushed hard enough.

Kiba saw how scared he was and slowly backed away. He carefully reached his hand out and showed the poor thing that he wasn't going to hurt it. It very reluctantly sniffed his hand before crawling to Kiba. Kiba reached out carefully and picked up the fox and rested it on his lap, he could feel it purring as he rubbed its ears.

"Kurenai sensei, I thought demon foxes could turn into human forms… why hasn't this one?" Shino asked.

"Most demon foxes can't turn to their human form until they are thirteen, soon after that they go into heat and look for a mate," she replied calmly.

"We'll take him with us to Tsunade tomorrow. I'm sure she'll have no objections in him staying in the village."

Kiba, Hinata, Shino, and Kurenai all went into their respective tents, the fox going with Kiba. They all soon fell asleep.

----------------Next day----------------------

Kiba awoke with a start at Akamaru's growling. He shot up and blinked the sleep out of his eyes before focusing on Akamaru. He followed the little pup's gaze before his own eyes rested upon a boy, about his age, with blonde spiky hair and an orange jump suit on. He had a pair of fox ears and a tail, and was stretching and yawning like a cat.

"W-who are you?" Kiba asked as he grabbed a kunai.

"H-he-hello I-I'm Nar-Naruto," he said with struggle.

"How d-did you get in here?" Kiba asked slowly.

"T-that's a si-silly q-question… I've be-been h-here a-all ni-night," the boy replied still struggling with his voice.

"… Wait so that means… you're the demon fox?"

Naruto just shook his head.

"Not very good with your voice, are you?" Kiba asked, with a know-it-all voice.

"I-I've n-never h-had to use my v-voice much. I-It'll g-get b-better as I use i-it some m-more," Naruto explained.

"Kiba, what's with all the noise?" came Kurenai's voice through the tent.

"Nothing, Kurenai sensei, but there's someone I would like you to meet," Kiba said as he exited the tent, with Naruto following.

"Kiba what are you talking about?"

"Kurenai sensei, this is Naruto, the demon fox," as Naruto stepped out Kurenai just continued to stare.

"…wait, but if he's in human form, then that means…" Kurenai trailed off.

"T-today is m-my t-thirteenth b-birthday," Naruto struggled to say.

"Kurenai sensei, do you suppose we should ask Naruto if he wants to come to Konoha, now that he can answer for himself?" Shino said quietly.

"I suppose so… Naruto, would you like to come with us to Konoha?"

Naruto just shook his head yes and his tail wagged behind him happily.

--------------Konoha gates------------

As Naruto, Kiba, Hinata, Shino, and Kurenai walked through the gate, all of the guards could be seen staring at Naruto the entire time he was in their sight.

"Alright, Kiba, take Naruto to the Hokage's mansion, I want Tsunade to know about him. Hinata and Shino will be coming with me to the training grounds, meet us there when you are finished, Naruto can come with us if he is aloud," she began walking away as the team plus Naruto nodded, Hinata and Shino following.

"So Naruto, what happened to your parents?" Kiba asked.

"… I'm not sure… All I know is that the Inuzukas destroyed our pack… most likely they were killed… I wouldn't know though, I was only an infant at the time," Naruto said quietly, before breaking into a false grin.

"Hey, your voice is better!" Kiba said happily, trying to lift the depressing aura.

Naruto grinned a foxy smile before noticing a large red building, shaped like a tower in front of them. "What's that?" he asked, pointing to the mansion.

"That's where we're headed, the Hokage's mansion," Kiba said as they approached the building.

Immediately two guards stepped in Naruto's path, and he took a look of fear.

"He's alright, he's here to see Lady Tsunade," Kiba said with a grin.

As they moved out of his way, Kiba heard those whispering things like 'Don't trust a filthy demon,' and his blood began to boil. He let it subside as he knocked on the door to the Hokage's office and upon hearing a strong but feminine voice, he entered, Naruto right behind him.

"Hello, Kiba how was the mission? Was it successful?" came the blonde lady's voice.

"Yes, Lady Tsunade the scroll was delivered; there is also someone else you should meet. We found him in the forest and Kurenai sensei said you might be interested in meeting him," with that Kiba stepped out of the way leaving Naruto in the spotlight.

"I'll be God damned… a real fox demon…" Tsunade muttered. "I haven't seen a fox demon since I was in the village thirteen years ago…"

"I'm going to ask my mom about that later… but anyways, do you think Naruto could become a citizen of Konoha?" Kiba asked hopefully.

"I don't see why not… although the citizens aren't going to take a liking to this, I'm sure… He won't be able to do anything for a couple of days though, that's how long it takes to find the citizenship papers… and sign them all… He'll probably need to stay with someone until then, so I'm going to leave him under the protection of the Inuzukas… If your mom refuses, tell her it's by order of the Hokage," Tsunade turned to Naruto. "Does that sound alright to you?" Naruto nodded. "Now, Kiba there is something I need to discuss with Naruto, would you leave us alone for a moment?" Kiba nodded slightly and reluctantly before leaving the door.

As soon as he was outside he pressed his ear to the door.

"Now Naruto, exactly when did you become of age?" Tsunade asked calmly.

"I turned thirteen today, ma'am," he said, obviously nervous.

"You, of course, should know of the mating season, correct?"

"I know what it entails, and I know it will happen soon… but I don't know when I'll go into heat, or how I'll find a mate…"

"You are aware that a demon fox can mate with both sexes, right?" Tsunade asked sternly.

"Yes, ma'am… although honestly it doesn't matter, I'll still be the one to bear kits… Honestly I'd prefer a male mate…" Naruto said very nervously.

Kiba was shocked and amused all at the same time. Shocked that Naruto would be the one to bear children and amused because he was so open with Tsunade about it.

"Well then, are you going to attempt to find a fox demon or are you going to look for a human?" Tsunade said the last part rather reluctantly in Kiba's view.

"Honestly, ma'am, a human… there aren't any fox demons left around here now, I've checked…" Naruto replied sadly.

"… well considering that the Inuzukas aren't a partial family either and considering their mating season starts with yours… I suggest you look there…" Tsunade informed Kiba, who silently gasped.

'My family goes into heat? WAIT! What does she mean we aren't partial?????' Kiba's thoughts whirled around in his head and he almost missed Tsunade calling him back in. He entered slowly and stood beside Naruto.

"Kiba, I know you were listening." Kiba lost all color immediately, and Naruto turned a light pink.

"You will have to ask Tsume on the issues considering your family. As for Naruto, I would like you to help him in the mating season, which your mom will also have to explain," she said in an amused voice as she watched both boys turn magenta.

"Stupid old bat…" Kiba muttered under his breath… sadly for him Tsunade heard him.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY, BRAT?!?!?" Tsunade yelled as a chair flew at the retreating boys.

-------Outside---------

"Whew, that was close, eh Naruto?" Kiba said with amusement.

"Does she get mad like that often?" Naruto yelled through ragged breaths.

"Yeah, especially if you comment on her age! You see she uses a jutsu that lasts forever to keep herself looking young, she's actually like fifty-something!" Kiba started laughing and Naruto just chuckled.

Kiba laughed a few more seconds before noticing that Naruto wasn't really laughing, "What's wrong, Naruto?"

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing important…" Naruto mumbled the last part, and if it hadn't been for Kiba's extra good hearing, he wouldn't have even caught it.

"Oh! I almost forgot, we have to meet Kurenai and the team for training let's go!" Kiba yelled enthusiastically. Naruto, stuck in deep thought trudged after him with a sad face.

--------At training ground 8--------

"Hey, Kurenai-sensei!" Kiba yelled loudly as he and Naruto approached. Naruto just followed him slowly, ears pressed to his head deep in thought.

He was so rapped up in thought that he didn't notice when Hinata called his name, and Kiba stopped in front of him. He continued walking and ran smack into Kiba, throwing both of them to the ground in an awkward position.

"What the hell, Naruto!?" Kiba yelled shoving the blonde off of him. "Watch where you're going, that hurt!"

Naruto whimpered softly and crawled away from Kiba. Kiba immediately regretted yelling when he saw the tears forming in Naruto's eyes as he drew his knees to himself.

"Kiba! That was mean! Apologize!" Kurenai yelled.

"I'm going, I'm going," he muttered, more worried about Naruto than her.

He approached Naruto from behind and gave him a hug. He bent down and whispered into his ear, "I'm sorry Naruto, I didn't mean to lash out at you like that… I'm just hot-headed is all…" Naruto looked up at him with big blue oceans, he nodded quietly before speaking.

"I wasn't sad because of that… I just remembered why that lady in tower was so familiar… I couldn't think of it before, and it wasn't until we fell that I remembered who she was…" He said slowly, his voice quavering.

"As a demon fox, I have memories of most things,, even from birth… I remembered seeing her when I was about 3 weeks old… My parents showed me to her and she took care of me whenever my parents were gone away to get things or buy groceries…" He started tearing up now.

"You d-don't have t-to tell us i-if you d-don't want to, N-Naruto." Hinata stuttered out.

"No, I'll tell you… then, one day when my parents were out, I remember Lady Tsunade sitting by the window taking care of me… when an explosion was heard in the distance, I remember her looking out into the village of foxes with the most horrible expression, she quickly gathered me up and fled…." He was close to tears again.

"I'm guessing that was the attack by the Inuzukas… anyways, she fled into the woods trying her hardest to protect me, when someone attacked her from behind, I fell into the nook of a tree and watched as she beat the living daylights out of them… then she started looking for me… she was forced to give up when more ninja came… so I lived the rest of my life up until now in the woods…" Naruto looked somewhat relieved to have the thought shared and looked throughout the group.

Kiba looked horrified, probably that his clan had caused this. Hinata looked extremely sympathetic. Shino and Kurenai held no expressions, Kurenai mainly because she was in thought.

Finally realizing the tension growing from the silence, Kurenai started talking cheerfully, "Well, let's get to training, shall we?" The team just nodded and took positions, Naruto walked over to a tree and leaned against it, ready to watch.

Hinata and Kiba were the opponents, and Shino wandered off after a rare butterfly.

"Begin!" Came the clear, high-pitched voice of Kurenai.

Naruto watched in amazement, completely engrossed in the fight. He didn't even notice the two kunai flying, seemingly out of nowhere, until it was too late.

Kiba, Hinata, and Kurenai all noticed the kunai at about the same time Naruto did… a foot away from hitting him.

A pained cry could be heard as the kunai made contact and smoke erupted from where Naruto was, red and swirling around like a twister.

All eyes remained on where Naruto had been standing, waiting for the smoke to clear… finally a breeze picked it up and carried it away. All three gasped… Naruto wasn't there.