Feral
A Naruto Story
He was a small kid, smaller even than the other children his age, though that was easy to predict, what with the inadequacy of his diet. More disturbing was his tendency to walk on all fours, and the tattered clothes that may have, long ago, been orange, but were now a pale brown of old dust and dirt. His face was hardly visible, not even the deep, parallel scratches across his cheeks that marked him for what he was. His hair, though noticeably blond, was still more brown than it was yellow, as it hadn't been washed in a long time.
The ANBU agent who had brought him into the school had frustratedly handcuffed the boy to his desk after failing to get him to stay willingly. Even then, he still struggled against the steel bracelet and the much weaker table until it had perceptibly bent. Iruka was amazed at both his stubbornness and his strength – few five-year-olds, especially with malnutrition problems, were capable of bending such thick metal, even the cheap table-leg. But he didn't appear to understand where he was, or what he supposed to do, or even what his own name was. The only other kid willing to sit anywhere near him was Inuzuka Kiba, and... were they barking at each other?
"That Naruto kid... needs some serious help." Iruka sighed. At least taking care of the kid out of school wasn't his problem.
(scene change)
"Lord Hokage, sir, it's a serious thing... he's seven years old and he can't even read, and he still barely knows how to speak with other human beings... if he even is one! He should be taken out of the academy and put in a mental institution, or you should finally get rid of him for good!"
"I make my own judgments, Mizuki, and I think he'll be just fine where he is. Do you know he didn't know how to speak at all two years ago, when he first joined the academy? You didn't teach the same class as Iruka then, so you didn't have him. He's made great progress."
"But he's still some sort of animal – or demon!"
"Don't think I'm not mad at how you still call him that, Mizuki, just because I haven't killed you yet for almost breaking my law."
"Uh... yes sir! Sorry sir!"
(Scene change)
"It's as you expected, Hokage-sama. He is failing all of his classes except for unarmed combat, in which he has received a D+ ranking – for a student, that is. They noted that he is strong, fast, and quick to react, but that he uses no discipline and is as likely to bite his foe as he is to punch them." The rabbit-masked woman finished her report and waited for the Hokage to give further orders.
"Very well. Continue to keep a watch on him at all times. Hmm... Send one ANBU to restock his groceries, and tell him to leave a book on chakra control with the ramen. I hear Naruto is reading just fine, now. After all, he is nine years old, and he seems to look for knowledge about being a ninja as much or more than any other student his age."
"Hokage... a final thing, if I may." Pausing for permission, she continued after a slight nod from Sarutobi. "He seems to have befriended the Inuzuka child, but is still rejected by the rest of the people his age and the village as a whole. He and the Inuzuka... they spar with each other the most, and frequently spill blood. Kiba has had to explain bite marks to his parents. It doesn't seem to be a regular or healthy behavior."
"Thank you, rabbit, and while I am aware that it is not normal to bite your allies, may I remind you that the Inuzuka regard it as a sign of close friendship, and that Kiba merely had to tell his parents that he had made a good friend at school?"
"Very well, Hokage-sama." She disappeared with what Sarutobi would have sworn was an angry poof. 'Even the ANBU,' Sarutobi mourned, 'Even the ANBU hate Naruto...'
(scene change)
"Naruto has stolen the scroll! Hokage-sama, Naruto has stolen the scroll!" Sarutobi was rudely awakened with rather pressing news. How had Naruto entered the buuilding without setting off his alarms, anyway? Sarutobi hadn't thought Naruto had the skill or the stealth. This problem required the use of his crystal ball. Seeing Mizuki and Iruka confronting Naruto, he tuned in to watch the show – it was too late to get to the edge of Konoha grounds in time to change the outcome.
Naruto stood, holding the scroll, and staring between Iruka and Mizuki with a confused expression.
"Don't tell him, Mizuki! Remember the law!"
Mizuki smiled. "See, Naruto? He's trying to leave you in the dark – because he hates you as much as anyone else. I'll tell you why: you killed Iruka's parents, and you killed a lot more people twelve years ago! You are the Kyuubi, the demon fox that attacked Konoha years ago!"
Iruka looked shocked, but Naruto just grimaced. "I... already knew that. You fool! Who couldn'ta guessed?"
This time, Mizuki looked shocked.
"My strange birthmark, my birthday... but more importantly, did you know, Mizuki, that Iruka was the first person to call me 'Naruto?' You wouldn't know, because you started teaching my class a few years after Iruka did. I didn't know my name was Naruto then... I thought it was Demon, because that's what everyone called me. I know that I'm a demon that everyone hates – it's all I knew for most of my life! And you know what? I like being a demon, sometimes."
Mizuki snarled, and put a hand behind his back to reach for a giant shuriken, which he then realized was no longer there. Turning around, forty copies of Naruto faced him, each with a nastier smile on his face, sharper teeth, and longer claws than the real one. The one in the front held up a demon-wind shuriken that was surprisingly familiar.
Mizuki screamed.
(scene change)
AN: Well that's over.