A/N: I don't own Naruto, oh and in this Naruto is 17 and Akatsuki managed to get very few Bijuu.


Naruto walked through the arch of Konoha's main gate and into the village, it had been a reasonable mission overall, though there had been one unexpected outcome. That particular outcome was now sat on his shoulders in awe of the unfamiliar setting.

"You ok up there Mai-chan?" Naruto asked the little girl, she was around five and had unkempt and dirty blonde hair, she wore a brand new dress that Naruto had bought her a couple of days ago and similarly new shoes.

"H-Hai." She answered in a shy voice.

"Ok then, we're off to see Baa-chan, careful of your manners she kind of important." Anyone who heard Naruto give this advice would have thought him hypocritical beyond reason but the girl he carried just nodded and clung tightly to the top of his head.

Naruto smiled at this, god she was cute – how could anyone treat her like that?


Naruto walked through a market in search of supplies, his tracking mission had been a success but it had taken him much further than he had intended and was now dangerously low on food. It was going to take him nearly two weeks to get back at full speed and although Kyuubi could probably keep him going on sheer stamina until the next country he didn't want to try.

"Hey it's the demon brat!" Naruto spun round at the yell and dropped into a defensive stance reflexively, it had been a long time since anyone had shouted that at him in broad daylight – since before Tsunade was Hokage – but that didn't mean he was any less prepared for a fight.

However no one appeared to be nearby, as Naruto's thought processes caught up with his current situation a couple of things occurred to him. The first was that he was two weeks Shinobi travelling time from Konoha, it would take a civilian much longer – therefore no one should recognise him. Secondly the yell sounded distant, as if it was in the next street.

Now this really had Naruto curious, who would be considered 'the demon brat' in this far off little market village? Using chakra to increase his muscle strength Naruto leapt up onto the roof of a nearby building and took a look around ignoring the gasps of people unfamiliar with Shinobi.

In the next street was a large crowd of people chasing a small girl, she was filthy and wearing a ragged and torn dress. She was barefoot and clutching a small object to her chest, she may have been young but she was managing to just stay ahead of her pursuers.

As Naruto watched she stumbled and fell down skidding along the dirt and dropping what he now saw was nothing more than a bread roll. Even Naruto's slow intellect could put the pieces together.

The pursuers caught up to her and that should have been that, Naruto turned to jump back down and continue with his shopping but he froze. As soon as the first man reached the girl he kicked her violently in the side, picking her up by the scruff of her neck he proceeded to punch her in the stomach sending her flying back only to be caught by Naruto as he flickered behind her.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Naruto asked in as calm a voice as he could manage, he had been treated roughly as a child so this struck a sore point with him. Especially as it seemed to be over something so minor.

The man sneered at Naruto, "You're new around these parts so you don't know but that ain't no little girl – she's a fucking demon."

As the man spoke Naruto knelt down and inspected her injuries only to snap his gaze onto the man at the last part.

"What does that mean?" Naruto asked activating a healing jutsu to mend a cut to her brow from the trip.

"She ain't human – she's a four tailed cat, she attacked the village and it was only because of this Shinobi bloke we're still alive."

Naruto entered drew back into his thoughts for a moment, 'Is she?' 'Yup, you guessed right Kit, a Jinchuuriki – I can sense the bijuu inside of her.'

Naruto came back to reality, "Who looks after her?" he asked wiping some dirt off of her face, she was a very pretty girl, her hair although dirty was a dark blonde and she had piercing green eyes that seemed to have a slightly feline touch to them.

"Looks after her? No one – we have to chase her out the village but she keeps coming back!"

As soon as he finished the man was flying through the air and into the other congregated people, "You would torment a child over something that is not her fault?" Naruto channelled some of Kyuubi's chakra to his eyes to get the right effect, "Perhaps you need to be taught a lesson."

The man was about to fight back but he caught sight of Naruto's now red eyes, if this man was scared of a little girl just because of her tenant Naruto was going to make sure that he knew what real fear was.

"Where can I find the leader of the village?" Naruto asked his voice coarse and demonic, "We have some issues to discuss.