I know that I'm not managing my other stories well but I want to get this story out there before I lose the idea so please bear with me. This is a very odd plot that I think will be very…interesting to say the least.

The Devils Masquerade

Prologue

Dancing Alone…

Dark…broken…pained…beaten…these were the only words that were able to describe the young figure that walked through the dimly lit, overcrowded streets of Konohagakure no Sato. The form of the person was easily recognized by everyone as a girl of ten years old. Though, it did not matter the pain she was in, as everyone around her despised her very existence.

'Did…did I deserve this?'

Her young, tanned face stung as the cold air hit her tear covered cheeks. Her Sea Blue eyes were bloodshot from her fit of crying that she was in. Her normally bright blonde hair hung down to her shoulder blades and was caked in blood and dirt. Along the sides of her cheeks, one would be able to see the faint whisker marks that adorned her shapely face. Her walking soon became limping as she felt another massive surge of excruciating pain course its way through her small, frail body.

'Why do they do this? Why do they hate me? I just…don't know…'

As she walked the streets, the lights of the lamps came and went on her form. People looked at her in disgust and went on their way. They did not care for her lack of clothes as they saw that she only wore a pair of generic panties and a bra. Looking even closer, if they cared, they would be able to see the slight line of blood that worked down her left leg until it became smudged.

'The beatings…the glares…all of them…easy to bear. But…why…why would they do this to me?'

Unable to control herself, she fell to her knees and let her pain be known to the village through her cries of pain. No one cared though. Everyone that passed her would just toss their glares and turn a blind eye to her pain. She didn't know how long she had cried for before she finally blacked out from exhaustion.

XxXxX

The girl's eyes fluttered open when she smelled the rank and distasteful odor that permeated the air. She realized that she also lay in water. Slowly but surely, she stood in the foul liquid that, with her size, came up to her waist. Surprising to her, all of the pain that she had been feeling was now miraculously gone. She looked down to see that she now wore a red tank top with shorts that showed off her body. She was very surprised with herself at the moment.

After she tore herself from the surprise of her person's current state, she looked around. With her slight exploration and observation of her surrounding area done, she saw that she was in a sewer. With her curiosity finally getting the better of her, she set off into its dark and even fouler depths, unknown of what lay with the tunnels.

XxXxX

A cage, large with an aura sadness surrounding its metal bars and bands sat deep within the confines of the sewer. Inside of this monstrosity, an eye opened up, showing its red, demonic demeanor to the darkness. This eye…it was not one of a demon, though. The eye held compassion, worry and an emotion that no demon would ever hold within its body. Inside of this eye was the most sincere form of lament.

'I should've done more for you…I should've given you some sort of protection from all of this…' A heavy sigh came from the massive creature as it waited for the inevitable to happen. In its time to wait, its thoughts became sorrowful… 'For however little it is worth to you for the pain that my being here has caused you…I'm sorry…for everything, kit.'

XxXxX

After many twists, turns, false doors and dead ends, the confused and adventurous girl finally came to what she thought was the central area of the hectic and confusing sewer. She saw the massive cage that had a tiny paper seal on it. 'What could be so big that someone would need a cage that huge?'

As she walked forward to the barred door, the eye opened back up, effectively scaring the poor girl half to death. Cowering in fear of the creature that lay beyond the bars, she tried her best to speak. Her voice was soft and silky, untouched by any cruel taste of the tongue or mind. Her heart was as pure and white as the free clouds of a summer day. "U-u-uuh…h-h-h-hello?"

A voice accompanied the, now two, demonic eyes. What she did not expect, though, was for the voice to sound so soft and sympathetic, yet manly and boisterous at the same time. "Good evening to you, kit. I was not expecting, nor hoping, for you to find this place so soon; that must mean that the seal is starting to lose power…power that is pulled straight from your strength of willpower. This is all happening far…far too sooner than it should be. They have finally broken you…"

Staring the massive creature dead in the eyes, she could see the honest regret in them. Knowing that the entity was truly sorry for whatever it did to her, she was able to stand a little taller than before. "Who are you? Where are we? Please?"

Another sigh came from the great beast. "Where are we? This is the deepest part of your mind. Here, all is untouched by knowledge and compassion. We are basically in a part of your mind that has been dead from my presence for a very long time. Who am I? I…I am the cause of everything…the reason for this hate in your life. I am why they beat you, why they torture you. I am the reason that they have…" They both caught the pause and equally saddened at the thought. "I…am the Kyuubi…the Kyuubi no Yoko."

Once more, looking into its eyes, she saw the regret that layered them. An emotion she never would've expected from a demon of such monstrous power. She could not help but feel so much pain for the creature. She hadn't the heart to hurt it further. "No…please don't feel bad. It was…it was not your fault...I'm sure…"

The eyes of Kyuubi narrowed and a disheartened chuckle sounded through the sewer "Heh…do not try to fool yourself, kit. Deep inside of you, you hate me more than the villagers hate you. Tell me, kit…tell me how you really feel. Tell me the truth."

Her scowl was soft, almost halfhearted, like she had never done one in her entire life. "I…I hate you. I hate what you've done and the kinds of things that your kind does. I hate that you had to be sealed into me against my will. I always asked myself why the villagers hated me…but now that I know…now that I know it wasn't my fault, I am mad at you and them! But no matter what…I am sure that my parents, whoever they are or where, would never have wanted me to hate, even if they themselves didn't want me in the first place. It is my duty to forgive those that wrong me…no matter how much I want to get revenge on them for their stupid acts…"

The grunt that came from the fox was a surprise to the girl. "I find it very interesting that you would feel that way after what everyone in this village has done to you. I may not have done anything for you in your early life to protect you, but I will not let you go through the rest of your life with nothing to protect yourself from the world's stupidity."

The young blondes face was showing her confusion so well that it would take a complete idiot to not know her feelings at the moment. Her question was one that the giant fox expected from her and was fully prepared to give her the answer that it had come up with. "What do you mean by that?"

"What the vixen means is that we will teach you to tap into your hate…to use it against your enemies. If you are to be a ninja…a shinobi, then you will have to be able to hate another person with every fiber of your being! The ninja world and the universe at large revolves around hate…this is something dates back before your world was even known. Without hate, you have no strength…and with no strength…you might as well be a kitten in a room full of rabid dogs on this world."

The girl jumped almost ten feet into the air as she heard the voice and turned around ready to throw a punch until she came face to face with no one she was expecting to meet. Actually, she had never seen anyone dressed as this person was ever in her entire life. Not in pictures nor in person.

The man, assumed by the stature and voice, wore a black cloak with the hood drawn that covered the whole of his body with the exception of his hands and his face. His face was covered, though; by a sleek, black, metal mask that showed only his eyes. His eyes were a very evil and menacing yellow that had hints of a very dark outline of his eyes, and there were hints that they were bloodshot. His hands were covered by black gloves that had metal plates on the back of them and small, but deadly, metal claws on each finger, like nails. To her, he looked like the embodiment of pure evil itself.

Though the man gave off the feeling of true evil and fear, she was no longer afraid of the man as she was when she first heard his voice. Instead, her instincts told her that she should remain wary of him. Not letting her guard down, she spoke to him, leaving no room for a lack of answer. "Who are you?"

The man sighed and chuckled before he began to walk around her as if he were inspecting her, talking all the while. "I am simply a curious spirit that wished to help out the young, poor, broken, beaten and defenseless child that I see before me. But as I can obviously see, you have no fear in defending yourself against an obviously stronger opponent like me if I were a threat. If so, then please tell me why you do not defend yourself from these pathetic life forms."

The girls' hard face went from its current form and started to droop into apathy and sadness. She turned her back to the man with a saddened tone. "I know that I can beat them…I know that I can win against them with the power I have now…I know that I could easily kill them…I don't want to, though…"

The man put his hand to his face and cupped his chin in a thinking pose before he spoke what he gathered from her speaking. "I see. You know that you can win, but you wish to show them that they are wrong about what they think you are, am I correct? You wanted to finally prove to them that you were not the demon that they constantly say that you are."

She turned back to the man with her eyes tearing up and becoming red from their sting. "I only wanted to be loved! All I wanted was for a single person to see me! To acknowledge that I was a person and that I wasn't a bad person! Was that bad? Was that too much to ask?"

The man smirked under his mask and retorted. "No, it is not bad, youngling. It is, in fact, human nature to wish for such things from another. We all want to be seen and known. But the way you are now, you will never get what you want…you will never be seen…you will never be known…and you will never be loved. You will but fall into darkness with no one caring one way or the other. But if you listen to me…if you give yourself to my teachings…then I can give you the power to get the recognition that you so crave from this cruel, cruel world. All you need to do is to say that you will become my apprentice and eventually pass your teachings onto your own apprentice. Say that with you…the Sith will rise again…if only you accept my offer of power."

She turned her back once more to the man. Her emotions were having their way with her and she couldn't stop them. She only wanted to be seen by the villagers. She only wanted to be loved. All her life she had wanted this, and now this man comes along offering the key to everything that she had ever wanted with the only string attached being that she pass on what she learns. After her thoughts were processed in her brain, she made her decision. She turned back to the man. "I will do what you want."

A dark chuckle came from the man and his eyes narrowed to snake-like slits. His voice became lower…more evil in tone as he spoke to her. "Good! But before we can begin with everything, I must know the name of my apprentice. It would be hard to train someone with no name, now wouldn't it?"

The girls' deep, blue eyes met his and she said her name with conviction, like all her life she had no idea, but now she held all the truth in the world. "My name is Naruko. Uzumaki Naruko of Konohagakure no Sato! A Shinobi! A TRUE Kunoichi! And…A Sith!" The cloaked man burst into laughter at this. A laughter that echoed through the halls of the sewer, following it was the dark pride that carried in its noise.

Naruko smirked and looked him into his eyes as he came back from his evil laughter. Staring back at him, she spoke, now with confidence in her voice. "I have given you my name, Sensei. What is your name? It would be hard to learn from a man with no name…now wouldn't it?" The man chuckled as he noticed the mocking tone she had taken at the end.

Nodding his head, he spoke…as he did so, though, lightning danced across the tips of his fingers and up his arms. "I am the previous…the final…Lord of the Sith. I have gone by many names over the millennia in stories. Some have called me a cruel, heartless man…others have said that I was a practical messiah, bringing about a different type of justice to a corrupt galaxy, derelict of any hope. A Harbinger of Destruction…a Bastion of Hope…it doesn't matter one way or the other to me, how people view me. I accept and go by only one name. I am…Darth Revan. The TRUE Lord of the Sith!"

Naruko now smiled, as she had a name to put to a face. Bowing low, she spoke once more. "Thank you for telling me your name, master. I must now go." Before she could fade from the sewer, Revan spoke up. "Before you leave me just yet, youngling. I need you to do something." Naruko nodded and looked back up to the cloaked Sith. "Of course Revan-sensei. What do you need?"

Wasting no time, he spoke. "I require that you leave this village for the time being to conduct your training in the use of the Force." Naruko was surprised at this and got a worried look on her face, not unnoticed by Revan. "Is there something that would complicate this requirement?"

Naruko nodded and looked back to her master. "The old Hokage would never let me leave this village on my own. It is an impossible request, Sensei." At this, Revan chuckled, confusing the blonde Sith Apprentice. "If there is one thing that you must learn, youngling, it is that with the Force by your side, there is very little that is impossible."

Naruko was about to speak up, but then Revan continued. "Just go to the old geezer and tell him what you want. If you do not get the answer that I want, then I will take care of it. After all, I am not trapped in this body; therefore I can still use the Force to a certain extent." Naruko was a little wary, but she nodded anyway before she proceeded to fade from the sewer that was her mind.

XxXxX

Naruko awoke in the middle of the street where she had collapsed. The pain that was in her before was still there, and instantly she wished that she could go back to the sewers of her mind. Knowing that she needed to listen to her new master, though, she picked herself up and trudged off into the night towards the Hokage's office, despite her current state of dress.

Limping into the dark building, she knew that no one but the Hokage would be here this late and continued up the stairs to his office. Coming to the door, she didn't bother knocking and only pushed it open slowly while recognizing the Hokage's hat instantly behind the gigantic pile of paperwork. Coughing, she got his attention by startling him half to death. The old man popped his head out from behind it and smiled while getting up. "Ah, Naruko! You scared me half to death! Haha! What do you…dear Kami, child…what happened to you!"

Naruko looked down slightly and the Hokage tried to catch her eye, but in doing so, he also caught sight of the line of blood running down her leg. Following the trail, he saw where it went, his eyes going wide in horror as he ran to her and scooped her up in his arms, holding her in a tight hug. "My girl…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…I should've known that something like this would happen…I should've known and stopped it…"

Naruko shook her head and didn't say a word. It was when this happened, that the old Hokage knew something was deeply wrong, besides the actions of the villagers. He let her down and held her shoulders calmly. "Naruko-chan…what is wrong? Is something else the matter?" She nodded and backed away from his grip, surprising Hiruzen. "Hokage-sama…" This deeply shocked the old man. Never had she referred to him like that.

"I can't stay in this village…not right now and not as weak as I am…I need to leave and train to become stronger in order to be able to defend myself." Sarutobi looked at her and was still in shock over what had just been said to him. Naruko wanted to leave? Leave the village? This was a massive change from the day before, when she was running around, boasting about the prank that she had pulled on one of the merchants in the market square. She was no longer happy and cheery, but instead she was broken and sad.

Looking at her, then out the long window that lined his office, he stared out over the village towards the gates. 'This was not meant to happen…not now. I had planned on having Jiraiya take her and teach her to control the demons chakra and have that under my control with her loyalty. Damn it…the villagers pushed it too far this time and now she wants to leave! If I deny her, then I lose what trust and control I have of her, but if I let her go, she will possibly be captured by another village! Damn it! Wait…Kakashi! I can have him take her, being that he is one of the few people that likes her, have him watch her and send me reports, but also have her guaranteed return.'

With his smile back on his face, he turned back to the somber blonde girl and spoke in his grandfatherly voice. "I grant you permission to leave the village to train, Naruko-chan. But I'm going to have Inu accompany you to help you and protect you." Naruko brightened at this and smiled for the first time that night. "Thank you, Ojii-san!"

Sarutobi smiled to her, but on the inside, he was smirking at his ability to twist the situation to his preference. Turning, the Hokage sent out a pulse of his chakra to Kakashi, A.K.A. Inu, and the scarecrow behind a mask appeared in an instant in front of the old Hokage. "You summoned me, Hokage-sama?" Sarutobi, still smiling, nodded and jabbed a thumb at Naruko. Kakashi looked over to her and smiled behind his mask before noticing something wrong. First it was her state of dress; he then noticed the line of blood on her leg. His composure visibly darkened, scaring Naruko slightly.

Her eyes widened and she backed up a bit. 'B-b-but…I thought he…I thought h-he always liked me?' Then, for the first time outside of her mental sewer, she heard her master, though it did not startle her. 'This man does not hate you. He has simply seen you as you are now. Beaten, abused…and raped. His anger is coming from his deep protective instinct over you. Something in him drives him to keep you safe, but I sense regret as well. I believe he knew you were being chased, but something…or someone…held him back from doing so. Do not blame him, child. I was a Sith Lord, but I was one with some sense of compassion. Be ruthless and evil to your enemies, but a friend to your allies. This is your first lesson, youngling. Learn it fast, for I will also teach you to read people as I have read him.'

Kakashi saw her back up and instantly knew what was wrong. She thought that he was mad at her and loathed her like all the others did. He moved faster than she could see and pulled her into a hug. "Please don't think that, Naruko-chan…don't…I don't hate you…I am only mad that they would do this to you…I am sorry I couldn't stop them…"

Hearing what she did from her master, she already had forgiven him, but she knew it would do him well to hear it. "It's okay, nii-san…I don't blame you." She put her arms around him in a tight hug as she felt her eyes burn for the second time that night. Picking her up, Kakashi turned to the Hokage and spoke. "What would you have me do, Hokage-sama? I would happily track down and mete out judgment to the men that did this to her."

The Hokage shook his head with his smile still on his face and Kakashi was about to get mad until the man continued with words. "That won't be necessary, Inu-san. Little Naruko-chan has asked that she leave the village to be trained to defend herself. I have granted this under the perquisite that you accompany her on her trip."

Kakashi took no time in nodding his head in agreement. The Hokage kept his smile and spoke again. "Good. Go change, because you are now a Jonin, Kakashi-san. Get your headband and gear and have Naruko get cleaned and dressed. You leave when you wish. But, I require that she be back before graduation exams are taken with her age group. She has four years to train. Remember that."

Kakashi nodded and left the room with Naruko via Shunshin. They appeared in his small, Spartan-like apartment living room. He put her down. "Okay, Naruko-chan, you go and shower and I'll have clothes for you when you are out, okay?" She couldn't see it, but she knew that he was smiling at her and she smiled back. Nodding, she walked around and soon found the bathroom down the hall. About to walk in, she poked her head back out and spoke. "Uh…Kakashi-nii-san?"

In his room, Kakashi yelled out. "Yes, Naruko-chan?" Naruko snickered a bit and spoke back. "Why do you have girls clothes?" There was no answer from him and she laughed harder until he appeared in front of her at face level. She saw that he was already changed and he had the typical Jonin attire, only he wore his headband slanted over his left eye and a facemask that covered his nose and mouth. He had a small eye smile and she thought it was funny.

"Well I had to stock up on clothes for you. You remember those few times that you ended up in the hospital?" The memories were not pleasant for her, but she did remember the clothes that would be at the end of her bed when she woke up. Looking down to the ground, she put the info together and gasped, looking up, only to find him nowhere. He more than likely returned to his room. She smiled softly and went into the bathroom.

It didn't take her long to shower and she got out and dried herself off, being careful of a spot in particular on her back. Wrapping herself up. She opened the door and walked back to Kakashi's room and knocked to enter. He gave her permission and she saw that he had laid her some newer clothes out to wear. He smiled at her and left the room for her to change.

It didn't take her long to change and she left the room to go to the living room. Kakashi saw her and he smiled again as she wore the outfit proudly. Starting at the shoes, she wore a pair of common ninja sandals, but with a grey tint to them and her pants were a very light colored red with a grey stripe down the side of each leg. The legs were wrapped in tape from her ankles to her knees, making the top of her pants poof a bit. Her shirt, long-sleeved to the point that the sleeves passed her hands by an inch, leaving only the tips of her fingers visible, was light red with a dark grey spine. It was tucked into her pants and she wore a black belt with a grey buckle. Her face from her chin to her nose was hidden by a light red mask, allowing her piercing blue eyes to be seen and her blonde hair was in a ponytail down to her shoulders with a grey band that flowed down to her feet.

Kakashi thought she looked great and stood to speak. "Do you like the clothes? I had gotten them for you as a present when you joined the academy this year, but since we are leaving for training, I figured I'd give them to you now." Naruko smiled the same way that he did with his mask on. "I love the clothes, Kakashi-nii-san! Thank you!"

Kakashi nodded with his smile and turned to the door. "Now we are going to leave, Naruko. Are you ready to go?" Nodding, the young blonde followed him out the door before pausing briefly. Looking back, she saw his mask on the bedside table from the door. 'This man has cast aside his mask in order to better protect you to the fullest of his ability. I think that it is only best that you do the same thing. Cast your mask to its grave and realize your full abilities, youngling. The world is cruel, and doesn't pity the weak. Be strong and rid yourself of your mask.'

Naruko, without a single word, nodded and closed the door behind her, ready to begin her new life, void of fear.

'From this day…I am an individual…I will no longer be a mask to please every. I. Am…'

'Uzumaki Naruko.'

END:

Hope this was good! The next few chapters are going through the same overhaul and as you may have noticed, I have changed a few things and it is longer (Duh, that's what an overhaul is for). Some plot points on Naruko are more clear hopefully.

R&R

Elemental Shadow Out!