Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any idea that comes from any other show (xxxHolic, Mushishi) or movie (Studio Ghibli Films) that appear in this story.
Mitsutashi Yuki strutted through the streets of the Hidden Leaf, enjoying the smells of dinner rising from the restaurant stalls. The night sky above gleamed with millions of stars and the street was lit brightly by the orange glow of the paper lanterns. The animated discussions of people filled her ears and brought a smile to her flawless face. Her long black hair trailed behind her in a high ponytail and her heels made a small tapping noise as they struck the dirt road. The energy of the people of this village filled her and she could feel the strength of their will, burning as hot as a flame.
"I hate it here. When are we leaving?"
"Jiji! We just got here!" Yuki laughed at her familiar who sat on her shoulder. The black cat gave the older woman a glare and hmmphed.
"I don't like it here, there's something wrong with this village. Can't you feel it, Yuki?" And now that her faithful familiar had pointed it out, she did feel something off. Beneath the blazing will of the people she felt a darker presence. Hate. Hate so pure and unadulterated, that it made her stumble sending Jiji flying off his perch. This miasma of hatred seemed to be focused purely on one thing, though she had no idea what could cause this much discord.
"What was that for?" Jiji shrieked as he dusted himself off, "Did you have another klutz attack?"
A vein on Yuki's temple throbbed as she flicked the cat behind his ear, "I am NOT a KLUTZ!" People now stood and openly stared at the odd duo. Yuki taking notice picked up the cat by the scruff of his neck and marched down a alley looking for a good place to give her familiar a good tongue lashing. As she walked she ended up in a children's playground. It was abandoned at this time of night or at least it should have been.
Yuki's curiosity was piqued as she saw a group of obviously drunk men standing in a circle laughing and it looked like kicking something. Yuki immediately thought the victim to be a cat or a dog and placing Jiji back on her shoulder, she marched towards the group.
"Yuki, what are you doing? Where are you going? Yuki!" Jiji yelled at her, loudly, right in her ear.
"I'm teaching those drunkard's a lesson in animal cruelty," Yuki's face showed a dark grin. She would enjoy showing these buffoons the error in their ways. However when she got closer her heart immediately sank. The object of their torture was no cat or dog, but a small child near the age of 10 or 11. And by the way the child made no noise as it was relentlessly pommeled suggested that this was not the first time it had been beat. Fury rushed through her.
"Yuki, calm down. Don't do something you'll regret," Jiji spoke to her sensing her killer intent rise dramatically. He too wished to rip into these apes for daring to harm a child, but killing people in a foreign land was bound to lead to trouble.
"Oh don't worry, Jiji. I won't regret killing these assholes at all," And before Jiji could stop her, the witch raised one hand in front of her, with her palm facing the men and calmly spoke, "Fire Infusion: Kiss of Dragons!"
Immediately a glowing white pentagram formed in front of her hand, before turning a bright red and bursting into flames. From this flaming star burst five serpentine dragons of fire, one from each point. The dragons raced up into the sky before bearing down on the men. The men noticed the dragons just in time to scream and begin running before the dragons were upon them nipping at their heels with teeth of fire. Most of the men turned and escaped into a alley but one tripped and managed to let out a terrified scream before the dragons fell upon him and he was reduced to a pile of ashes.
Jiji shook his head as Yuki rushed to the side of the fallen child. Upon closer inspection, the child was revealed to have a unruly mop of golden blond hair and the brightest blue eyes that either Yuki or Jiji had ever saw. The child remained huddled in the fetal position, shaking and repeating the mantra of "Please stop. Please stop. Please stop." over and over again.
"Shh. It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." Yuki whispered to the small child as she pulled him into her lap, "I'm here to help. Do you want me to make your injuries go away?" The child nodded and Yuki placed her hand above the quivering mess. Small green sparks danced around her hand before moving on to the boy.
"Yuki, you should use a potion, healing spells can cause adverse effects-" He was cut off by a look from his partner. She turned down to the boy and gave him a warm smile.
"My name is Mitsutashi Yuki and my cat over there is Jiji. He's a grumpy little kitty," she stage whispered the last part causing Jiji to narrow his eyes at her. The boy gave a small chuckle, that seemed to hurt his chest as he cringed. The green sparkles immediately flocked to the area.
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto," he said in a small whisper.
"It's nice to meet you Naruto," Yuki said smiling. Yuki had noticed something weird about her healing spell. It was working perfectly but the boy was healing too fast for it to do anything. 'No on should have this fast of healing powers, unless...' And suddenly it made sense. The reason why his injuries healed so fast, the treatment of him by the drunks, and the pure hatred of the village that she realized with a start was focused directly on him. "A Jinchuriki," she whispered to herself. Jiji's ears popped up at this.
"A WHAT! That boy is a Jinchu-" he was cut off as the rock Yuki chucked at him struck him his head.
"Shhsh! Quite Jiji!" Yuki noticed the boy was falling asleep. With him having a possible concussion, Yuki knew she had to keep him up, "So Naruto, what's your dream in life?"
Naruto looked up with big eyes, "I'm going to become Hokage, and make everyone acknowledge and respect me! Believe it!" He spoke with such determination and finality that Yuki believed him for a second and then with depressing realization she knew that his dream was impossible. The people of this village hate was so pure that them ever accepting him was foolish fantasy. And so with this thought, Yuki made her decision.
"Naruto, I'm going to let you on to a little secret. I'm a witch," she said grinning. Naruto's eyes got even wider.
"A real witch? You're not going to eat me, are you?" Yuki sweatdropped at the question and Jiji giggled into his paws.
"No, I'm not going to eat you. Witches don't eat people."
"Oh okay."
"Now Naruto, I've got a deal for you. You see, I'm a witch and I think you'd make a very good witch too-"
"Wait! I don't want to become a girl!" Yuki sweatdropped again. 'What do these people tell these children?'
"Boys can become witches too, Naruto. Now as I was saying, I think you'd be a very good witch so here's my offer."
"Yuki," Jiji said cautiously, "your not actually considering, what I think your considering, are you?"
Completely ignoring Jiji, she continued, "So I want you to become my apprentice, Naruto."
Naruto looked shocked, "What? Me? You want me to become a witch? Will I be able to do that flaming dragon thing too? With that I could become Hokage with no problem!"
Yuki cringed, "Naruto, there are some conditions to becoming a witch though. If you become a witch, you must swear to never become a ninja and never use ninjutsu or even live in a ninja village. Witches and Ninjas don't get along very well."
Naruto got a very thoughtful look on his face, "So I can't become Hokage?" Yuki shook her head. Naruto considered his options, 'I've already failed the ninja academy three times, and most of the village hates me anyways. Maybe leaving and becoming a witch would be a good thing.' He then voiced a question, "Yuki, what do witches do anyways?"
"Witches heal and protect people from bad people and help people deal with the spirits of the world."
'So, I'd still be able to help people and get acknowledgment just not from the village. And plus I'd get to learn those cool attacks! All right let's do this!' He looked up at Yuki, "Okay, Yuki. I'll become a witch with you!" A wide smile lit up his face. Yuki smiled too. Jiji grumbled into his paws that this was a horrible idea.
"Okay, there is just one thing left to do." Yuki took a deep breath and took both of Naruto's hands into her own. "I, Mitsutashi Yuki, the teacher and the guider, the one who bears the title of Witch, mediator of the people and the spirits, healer of the sick, guard to the weak, and wielder of the five elements, do swear to guide you my apprentice on the path of the Witch, and protect you always on your Journey, I so solemnly swear." A pentagram flashed beneath them and a wind whipped around them. "Do you swear to follow the path of the Witch, to uphold our customs and rituals, and to forsake all other paths, Uzumaki Naruto?"
Naruto took a deep breath and when he spoke his voice carried the same magical sound that Yuki's had, "I do." The pentagram exploded with light before vanishing and Naruto felt a tingle run down his spine. "Very good, Naruto. We'll perform the Judgment of the Elements when we get back to my house. Now is there anything you need to get from your house?" Naruto shook his head no. He had nothing important. "Okay then let's get going! It's a perfect night to travel. The full moon and the stars are bright! And if we walk all night we should be there by noon!" She set Naruto down and brushed herself off, "Let's go!"
"Wait, Yuki! Are you sure this is a great idea? He is a you-know-what and I doubt that this village would just let him go!" Jiji said looking around anxiously as if some ninja were going to appear out of nowhere.
"Jiji, you worry too much. Naruto is a civilian and he is free to leave as he wishes and anyone who says otherwise can go through me!" She grinned.
In a swirl of leaves, 5 ANBU ninjas surrounded them. The one with a bird mask spoke, "We are under orders to bring the boy to the Hokage, please stand aside witch." He spoke the word "witch" with such disgust that Jiji actually hissed at him.
Yuki pulled Naruto closer to herself and narrowed her eyes at the ninja, "Very well. I will go with you then."
An ANBU with a bull mask snarled at them, "You aren't worthy to go near the Hokage, witch! That boy isn't either but we have our orders. Do not make us take him by force."
Yuki spoke calmly and coolly, "I will go with, Naruto," she stressed his name as to get her point across that the boy had a name, "His has chosen to be my apprentice and as such he is under my protection and your Hokage will have to accept that fact."
"Why you, bitch!" the bull mask lunged at her but was held back by the bird mask.
"Wait, attacking the witch could cause trouble! Let's just bring her with us." The bull mask reluctantly agreed.
Sarutobi Hiruzen felt every one of his years as he looked at the party sitting across his desk. The witch sat with perfect grace but held such fury and contempt in her eyes he was afraid she would attack him. Her familiar sat on her shoulder, his tail swishing back and forth. He too looked ready to attack. However his focus was solely on Naruto, who oddly sat quietly in front of him. He looked scared for some reason but another emotion gleamed in Naruto's eyes. Excitement. Naruto was excited about something. He had a pretty good guess as he noticed the way the witch kept glancing worriedly at Naruto out of the corner of her eye.
"So you've made Naruto your apprentice, haven't you?" he finally asked.
Yuki nodded, "Yes, the oath has been declared and accepted. He is my apprentice."
"You realize you killed a citizen of Konaha." Jiji put his head in his paws. 'I knew this would come back to haunt us.'
"I am aware of this," Yuki answered calmly.
"And what do you have to say for yourself?"
"Only that those who attack a child for any reason," Hiruzen realized that she knew about the Kyuubi or at least the fact that Naruto was a Jinchuriki, "are not worthy of the gift of life given to them by the Spirits."
Hiruzen sighed, "Very well. I am forced to agree with you on that fact and must offer my thanks for saving Naruto. Has the second ritual been performed?" Yuki shook her head. "Well," he continued, "I guess it is final then." He turned to Naruto, "Are you sure this is what you want? You realize you will be unable to become a ninja now."
Naruto looked straight at the Hokage and spoke confidently, "I'm sure. People...People hate me here anyways and this way I can still help and protect people. Believe it!"
Hiruzen shook his head chuckling, "Well then I wish you luck on your journey, Naruto!"
Naruto gave him a blinding grin and for a brief moment the Hokage saw a small grin flash across the witch's face. He turned to her, "You will protect him, won't you? Otherwise I will personally find you and kill you." Killer intent flooded the room causing Naruto's grin to slip and for the ANBU guards to stiffen.
Yuki gave no reaction. She looked the Hokage dead in the eye with no fear, "I swear." Her voice was filled with magic and power and caused a brief shiver to run through the room and its occupants. The Hokage nodded, and Yuki stood and with Naruto following in her wake left from the room.
Hiruzen sighed. He had a feeling that was the last time he would see that boy walk through those doors. 'Oh Konoha, see now what your hatred have wrought. We have lost what would have been a great contribution because we are to blind to see. I hope we are a happy with the seeds we have sown or I fear for us all."
A/N: Hello! So I guess I'm bad and started a story while I already have another story. Oh well. :P This story is just so much fun to write though. I'm going to have a lot of fun with Witch Naruto! Right! If you want to use any idea that belongs to me, please give a message saying you are. It's only polite and I won't mind at all. :)