Hello. This is my first fic. Just hope you enjoy my first attempt at striking out into the confusing world of writing fan fictions. I know the theme has been used a thousand times, but I hope you love it anyway.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, though I wish I did.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Kyuubi"

'Kyuubi thoughts'

Chapter 1

Naruto looked with pure fear at the angry mob that stood before him, craving his blood. Sure, they were drunk, but that didn't mean they still couldn't hurt the poor 4-year old.

Said boy sat cowering down on the ground, wondering how his life had gone from moderately bad to down right hell on earth.

(Flashback)

"And stay out!" yelled the head of the orphanage of Konohagakure. Naruto just looked up at her with a mixed expression of sadness, confusion, and hurt.

Today was The Festival of Heroes, in honor of the Yondaime's defeating of the great bijuu, the Kyuubi no Kitsune. It was also the day of Naruto's birthday.

It was around 6:00, and all Naruto had asked for was a second helping of the admittedly horrible food.

And that was what led the blond boy to find himself kicked out of his only home. Unbeknownst to him, the old lady had been looking for an excuse to throw out the "demon child" since he took his first steps.

After about 5 minutes of staring at the door, Naruto picked himself up and walked away.

He paid no heed to the celebrations, or the by-now normal whisperings of "demon brat…" and other such names.

He just wandered the streets, thinking of his predicament. 'Maybe I can find someone to take me in.' Naruto thought, but even the thought sounded doubtful. The runner of the orphanage couldn't wait to get rid of Naruto, and it was her job to take care of orphans.

What villager would take him in? He'd probably be chased away by rocks.

'Maybe I could stay with Old Man Hokage.' The young boy thought next. From the few times he'd talked with him, Naruto knew the 80-something village leader didn't hate him like the others. He was actually rather kind to the boy.

Naruto decided to go with it, and started toward the Hokage Tower. And that was when he was confronted by the mob.

"Listen, you twice-damned fox, we're tired of you living and reminding us of our losses. So, for the greater good of the village, we're gonna KILL YOU!" shouted a man at the front of the crowd.

This was granted with cheers from the whole crowd… and a pair of cerulean eyes that could have drawn mercy from Orochimaru.

"What are you talking about? What have I ever done to you? Why do you want me dead?" cried out the boy too scared to cry.

"You insolent demon! You've done everything to us. We want you dead 'cause you've already caused so much death, we might as well return the favor" yelled a particularly drunk woman near the back.

The sun was going down, and the blood-red corona cast the villagers in a frightening light.

Naruto just lay on the ground in terror as the drunk, armed, and bloodthirsty crowd walked toward him.

Never had he felt such fear. It was… it was as if the only thing that stopped his body from freezing into the world's coldest ice sculpture from the mind-numbing terror was the flames of fury radiating off the men and woman assembled.

The ANBU up on the roof watching Naruto just giggled a little. Over his already masked face was a dog mask that did nothing to mess up his gravity-defying silver hair.

"Hey, it's that kid, Minato-sensei's son. Look's like those villagers are about to kill him. Wait, aren't I supposed to protect him?" said the ANBU as he looked down at the crowd, giving a little hiccup.

"Wait, it's because of him Minato-sensei died. I should watch. Go angry mob!" proclaimed the tipsy ANBU on the rooftop. (To those particularly slow, it's Kakashi.)

The villagers were upon Naruto. With a roar of "DIE DEMON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" the group attacked the defenseless and petrified form of Naruto Uzumaki.

At first they threw anything they had on hand at the shaking boy, even a pitch fork from a farmer.

Then, empty-handed, they proceeded to beat every inch of skin on the malnourished body of the blond jinchuriki.

They jumped up and down on his hands and feet, kicked his rib cage until even a blind man could see each rib was broken, and punched everything else with a single-minded intensity, even a well placed kick right in Naruto's manhood.

"Hey, what's going on here?" yelled out a commanding voice. Every villager turned to see who interrupted their vengeance over the demon fox.

Even Naruto, who by now was a bloody mass of quivering flesh, made the herculean effort to turn his head.

Standing before them all was a full platoon of assorted Chuunin and Jonin, even a few ANBU. For all of 3 seconds the mob worried they were about to be thrown in prison.

"You forgot to invite us. That's bad manners. What are ya, a bunch of foxes? HA, HA, HA!" shouted the leader of the group.

Every one within 50 yards gave a grin full of malice. "Go ahead." They said in almost perfect unison, while Naruto resumed trembling so much you couldn't even see his outline.

Phase 2 of beating the shit out of Naruto consisted of him being hit by so many kunai and shurikan that he resembled a training log.

Naruto's world was one of endless agony. At least the villagers only hit the exterior. The hundreds of metal implements not only tore skin, but tore muscle and arteries, with the occasional organ.

Naruto was literally soaking in his own blood. But the worst was yet to come.

"Hey, let's see if this fire jutsu of mine is working yet!" screamed a chuunin near the back. Jumping into the air, he quickly made some hand seals and then yelled out "Fire style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"

He then blew out a stream of white-hot flames that took the form of a dragon at Naruto. It was a whole new level of pain. The parts of his body that weren't being charred to a crisp were being melted through where the kunai and shurikan were implanted. He couldn't even scream.

The bystanders watched on with a ghoulish pleasure. Finally, their "demon" was off their hands.

They had started to congratulate each other before a voice pierced through the air. "WHAT IN SEVEN LAYERS OF HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO NARUTO?" screamed the Sondaime Hokage.

Every head turned to see a VERY angry Hokage with a squad of ANBU behind him. If the villagers had been sober they would have started being afraid.

But as it was they only greeted him in the worst possible way. "We killed the demon curse of Konoha, that's what's going on here Hokage-sama. Are you going to give us an award?" asked the leader of the group.

He had an actual smile on his face, as if he was proud of what he'd done. Big mistake.

In the blink of an eye, the Sondaime rushed forward and decapitated the man. That got everyone's attention.

"That's your reward! How could you do this to an innocent boy? I half wish Orochimaru was still in the village so I could have him torture each and every one of you. But I guess I'll have to settle for each of you seeing Ibiki and Anko before I have you executed before the whole village!" yelled the aging Hokage at the top of his lungs.

Everyone was shaking in their sandals. They had all heard about the torture experts of Konohagakure.

"But he was just an ugly demon." protested a random villager. His head joined the leader's.

"How could you? He's not a demon; he's a boy who's lived through nothing but pain and misery and is now most likely dead by your hands." yelled the Hokage once more.

Every one decided at that point to just let the ANBU herd them to the torture chambers.

Sarutobi sat down and looked at Naruto while his trusted ANBU pushed the villagers the other way. If he hadn't known that it was indeed a boy, he would have thought it the scariest scarecrow on Earth.

Before him lay a burned, mutated, contorted thing that had about 200 kunai and shurikan sticking out of its skin. 'Naruto, how could they do this to you?' the old man thought in despair.

100 feet below the ground, the mob was being led to the torture chambers of Konohagakure. One woman had the nerve to complain.

"We did a friggin' community service, why are we being punished?" yelled an elder woman. Others agreed with her.

Before she got her answer, every member of the group was introduced to the sadistic grins of the mental and physical torture experts of The Village Hidden in the Leaves. Behind them was the gaping door of a large cage.

"Welcome," they said in unison, looking at the scarred shitless villagers. "…TO HELL!" they proclaimed. No one heard their screams.

Naruto was confused. One minute he was burning like a Yule log, and then he found himself in this dark place.

If he had to guess, he would have said it was a sewer. The water came up to his knees. After a while he started moving.

He wasn't sure, but he could have sworn someone or something was whispering directions to him. Finally, he came into an enormous room with a gargantuan cage.

I mean really, it was huge! But the first thing Naruto noticed was what was behind the cage. There, behind the cage, was the infamous Kyuubi no Kitsune.

"About time you got here!" yelled aforementioned demon. "Now get over here so we can discuss saving your life." he continued to say, while all Naruto could do was stare shocked at the fox.

"You're supposed to be dead!" the blond exploded after about a minute. "The Yondaime killed you 4 years ago!" continued the boy while the fox just stared in shock at the young kit before him.

'This kit dares to talk to me like this? I'm the Kyuubi no Kitsune! I'm the king of all bijuu. He's barely more than a pup, and he talks to me like this?' As Naruto continued, the fox got angrier and angrier. Finally, he too exploded.

"Listen you little brat! The Yondaime didn't kill me. My power is too great to be thwarted by any man. Everything you were told is a lie. In the end, all the Yondaime could do was seal me away inside the stomach of a newborn child… YOU!" the Kyuubi screamed, while Naruto just stared at him, beyond shocked

"W-What?" was all Naruto managed to say. His entire body tingled. It was to be suspected considering his whole world had been turned on its axis. Despite himself, Kyuubi felt the tiniest bit of pity.

"That's why the villagers hate you. They think you are me, not my jailor. Human psychology isn't my strong point, but I think they needed something to vent their loss on and you fit the bill… sorry." the 100-foot giant confessed, wondering why he was apologizing, actually apologizing, to this kid whom he'd technically just met.

"Th-thanks." was all Naruto managed. After a brief moment of silence, the Kyuubi spoke. And I mean brief.

"Anyway, the reason you're here is because you are on Death's Door. You're body is uninhabitable. Even if you lived, you'd never move an inch. Which is why I'm giving you a choice." said the Kyuubi, his natural cunning coming back. The kit would accept, no doubt.

"What kind of choice?" asked the interested Naruto. Once he got used to the situation, he realized that the Kyuubi was very good company. He might have claws, fangs, and fur, but he acted more humane than any other person he met.

"The choice is this: A) we fuse together. I would get more freedom, meaning I could just talk to you instead of calling you here. You would also receive my millennia of knowledge. You, on the other hand, would get a lesser version of my body, with all its considerable advantages. It's that or die. And if you die, I die. And I refuse to die at the moment, so this really isn't a choice. I just said that so you wouldn't feel forced." said the Kyuubi.

To say Naruto was shocked would be the understatement of the millennium. Not only had he been given an extraordinary offer, but the lord of all Bijuu was being nice to him.

"You're body?" he asked in wonder. "That's right." the Kyuubi replied, thinking the kit would go for it. He thought of finally feeling something other than this cage and the stinky water. He thought of feeling the wind in his fur, the sun on his-

"ARE YOU NUTS? THE VILLAGERS THINK OF ME AS A DEMON ALREADY. HOW DO YOU THINK THEY'LL REACT WHEN THE SEE ME LOOKING EXACTLY LIKE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" screamed Naruto, shocking the Kyuubi out of his fantasies, and just plain shocking him. This outburst was followed by some profanity surprising to hear from a 4-year old boy.

"It's that or die." The fox repeated. "Fine, at least I won't get beaten to death anymore." Naruto retorted. The Kyuubi had to use all his self-control to hold himself back.

This was his one chance at freedom, and he was going to get it. He then thought very quickly of ways to get the kit to agree. If this were a cartoon, not anime, you would have seen a light bulb above Kyuubi's head.

"If you die now, they'll only ever think of you as "that demon brat". If you live on, you can show them wrong." said Kyuubi with a convincing tone of voice.

That shut Naruto up. Naruto seriously thought it over. He weighed the good with one hand and the bad with the other. The good was he'd get that awesome power the villagers feared, which had him very excited at the very idea. He'd also just about triple his IQ from having the fox's mind.

The bad was he'd be the spitting image of said demon lord. That would make social interaction difficult to say the least. The good won, but just barely.

"Fine, how do we fuse?" asked Naruto, excited despite his calm appearance, as thoughts of using the Kyuubi's body popped in his head. The Kyuubi grinned. His plan had worked. "Right. First, come through the bars." Naruto obliged, walking through the giant rods of iron.

"Now, the stomach is the center of all chakra, so to fuse you have to go there." the Kyuubi said bluntly. Naruto just starred at the fox like he was insane as the village thought he was.

"What, you want to eat me?" Naruto asked incredulously. "Yep. Try not to squirm." With that, Kyuubi scooped Naruto into his mouth and swallowed before the blond could protest.

It was extremely weird to travel down the Kyuubi's throat. It was slimy and ticklish at the same time. Naruto would have yelled, but the smell was unbelievable. Like a slaughterhouse that hadn't been cleaned in centuries.

When Naruto hit the stomach, after a slight burning feeling, he felt as if he were dissolving into Kyuubi. At the same time it felt like Kyuubi was dissolving into him. It was interesting to say the least. He felt an enormous rush of power…

Sarutobi had just turned to leave the dead form of Naruto when he felt an unknown chakra flare behind him, both malevolent and benevolent. He spun around to come upon an extraordinary sight.

Masses of both red and blue chakra was covering Naruto's corpse like a cocoon. Even as he watched the chakras melted together into a rich purple.

It was beautiful, in a strange sort of way. 'What's going on?' was all that went through the Sondaime's mind.

When the chakra cleared, he could only stare. It was as if a 4-year-old-sized Kyuubi no Kitsune had just decided to take a nap and plopped himself on the ground.

However, there were some slight changes to the form from what Sarutobi remembered.

The knee cap was on the front of the legs, like a human's.

The muzzle only extended an inch from its face, as if it was imitating a nose.

But the most noticeable change was the mass of spiky blond hair on top of its head. "Naruto?" the Sondaime whispered, barely believing his eyes. A wheezy snore was his only answer.

After gazing at the body a little while, the Sondaime called out "Kakashi!" The said ANBU, who had watched the proceedings as if they were a good movie, snapped to attention.

Jumping down from the roof, he said "Hokage-sama." with a little hesitation. "Help me get Naruto to the Hospital. We'll discuss your inability to protect him later." the Hokage said while giving Kakashi a glare that could have sent all of hell into the Ice Age.

With a pang of guilt, he meekly answered "Yes, Hokage-sama." And so saying, he grabbed one end of the blond Kitsune while the Sondaime Hokage of Konohagakure grabbed the other. They then rushed to the hospital.

End of chapter 1. So, what do you think? Feel free to criticize in your reviews, which I hope you'll give. I'll update soon!