A/N: This is written for the 'Demons in our Midst' author challenge hosted by Manatheron.

Tales of the Jinchuuriki

Prologue: Four Warriors Fallen

"Are you absolutely sure about this?"

"As sure as I can be. The hardest part is not being able to see what happens after this."

"I suppose that you will just have to leave that to me. I'll take care of him, I promise."

"I know that, old friend. Don't feel bad, there's a difference between heroism and stupidity. I've got the easy part of this, the physical part, the two of you have the hard part, going on."

"This I know. Do you have anything that you want done, before and after you're gone?"

"Yes, don't let him go through life alone."

With those final words, Kazama Arashi, Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure, left his office for the last time, with Sarutobi and a small infant with blond hair remaining within. The kid is going to go through hell, but if he can get out on the other side he's going to be one of the greatest of all time.

Arashi went through a few seals before setting his hands on the ground. Gamabunta, the boss of the toad demon clan, appeared in front of him.

"You're all set, gaki?" the toad asked, puffing on his pipe.

"I am. You'll take care of him, won't you?" Arashi asked as he jumped onto the amphibian's head.

"Hai, I've wanted to revive that old custom anyway. You do know what we'll consider him after you go through with this?" the toad asked as he leapt toward the battlefield.

"I know, that's why I asked you. This way, he'll have a way out if this all goes wrong."

The area immediately around Kyuubi was horrible. Bodies of fallen Shinobi lay in positions that one couldn't obtain naturally, some were burnt so horribly that they were unrecognizable, while still others, well, there wasn't much left of the rest of the fallen.

The living, on the other hand, were doing their best to stop a beast that couldn't be brought low by mortal weapons.

"The Yondaime is here, we can beat this thing!" a Shinobi shouted upon seeing their beloved leader. Arashi grinned darkly, even the greatest of mortal heroes didn't have a prayer against this monster. At least, not a prayer of beating it and living…

"Gama, grab him!" Arashi commanded, beginning to form seals for what someone had termed 'the ultimate suicide technique.' The toad grabbed the legs of the monstrous fox, attempting to hold it in one position while Arashi finished his seals. Kyuubi thrashed around, attempting to get some distance between himself and the toad. Gamabunta held on as best he could, receiving a slash across an eye for his efforts, but he managed to keep hold of the fox just the same.

"Gaki, it's now or never!" the toad shouted, barely able to maintain his hold on the fox king.

Arashi's answer came in the form of an ethereal hand reaching out through his gut, snaring the soul of the fox demon.

"Kyuubi, you have gone too far! For your treason against both the Yokai council and against Konoha, you are hereby sentenced!" Using all of the strength he could muster, Arashi, with the assistance of the Shinigami, pulled Kyuubi's soul into the seal on the stomach of the child in the Hokage Office. The seal closed shut with a brilliant flash of light, preventing the fox from ever escaping.

Arashi could barely stand, his soul had been taken by the Shinigami as the price for using the Shiki Fuujin ritual. Forgive me, I know that the life you will have to lead is a hard one, but don't give up!

"Stay strong…Naruto!"

With those words, Kazama Arashi, the Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure, passed from this world to the next.

--The Next Day—

"I'm not quite sure what you're asking of me. Are you saying that you want one of your children to be raised alongside of Naruto?" Sarutobi asked Gamabunta. Sarutobi, Gamabunta, and Enma the monkey king, were on top of the Hokage Tower, discussing the fate of Naruto.

"Exactly. It's an old custom with some demon clans to raise their heir with the heir of the human clan allied with them." The toad boss replied.

"It wouldn't be too odd, Sarutobi. There are clans in the village who do similar things with their animal partners." Enma replied.

Sarutobi nodded, puffing on his pipe. "Alright, I don't see why not. This might actually help the people accept him."

"Do you need Jiraiya to give you a hand?" the toad boss asked, also puffing on a pipe.

"If you could get him here, it would be appreciated. He might be able to help me out in just the right way." The Hokage replied.

"I'll get him here, and I'll make the arrangements for Naruto and Gamakichi." With that, Gamabunta vanished in a puff of smoke.

"It would seem that the little guy has a chance. Now, I just have to convince the council that he's not the fox." Sarutobi commented, tugging on his hat as he walked toward the door inside.

"I'm sure you'll be able to convince the council, it's the villagers are the ones that are going to take some convincing." Enma responded.

--The Council Chambers—

"Is there really any evidence that proves he's human?" a council member asked, looking at the infant Naruto in Sarutobi's arms.

"There's plenty, the fact that he's not growing fox ears and tails is a big one, as well as the fact that he's not grown to monstrous size and started attacking everyone." Another retorted.

"What did the summon bosses say in this respect, Sandaime-sama?" the only female council member in the room asked, also looking at the infant who was peacefully sleeping.

"They never came right out and said it, but Gamabunta implied that he was, in fact, quite human. He also had an old human/demon relations custom that he wanted to revive." Sarutobi answered, moving the infant into a more comfortable position.

"That old custom? I haven't heard of anyone wanting to revive it since my father's time." The first councilman commented, looking insightful.

"Whether or not the toad clan wishes to revive a custom with this child is not our concern, what we do with this child is." The female council member said, giving a stern look at the first man to have spoken.

"What should we do with him, after all, the villagers are not exactly inviting him into their homes with open arms." The second councilman asked, folding steeping his hands and resting his chin on them.

"Jiraiya shall be returning within two days, I intend to let him raise the child. After all, I thought it appropriate that a child who will work closely with the toad demons should be raised by a toad summoner." Sarutobi responded.

"Who are the child's parents, do we know?" the woman asked.

Sarutobi sighed before answering. "I know who his parents are, but I was forced to promise not to tell anyone else until I told the child himself."

"This is unfortunate, but understandable. Very well, if there are no objections we shall go through with Sandaim-sama's plan to allow Jiraiya-dono to raise the child." The woman again spoke, closing the record book as she did so.

--Two days Later—

"So, this little guy is Naruto." Jiraiya commented as he picked the small child up. "He really does resemble Arashi, you know, except for the whiskers."

"Gamabunta has spoken with you of his plan?" Sarutobi asked, once more puffing on his trademark pipe.

"That he did. Are you sure it's such a good idea, after all the villagers seem to think that he's nothing more than Kyuubi in human form?" Jiraiya asked, ruffling the blond hair of the napping Naruto.

"I think it is a good idea, and I have another idea that will help Naruto come to grips with his situation and help this village accept him for who he is." Sarutobi replied, rings of smoke surrounding his head.

"Does this plan have anything to do with the attack made by the Seven-tails on Nibelheim a few weeks back?" Jiraiya asked.

"It does. Did you here how they finally defeated the dragon?"

"No, I only heard that Cloud and Tifa lost their lives fighting the beast."

Sarutobi again puffed his pipe. Strife Cloud and his wife, Tifa, had been two of the best ninja to ever come from Konoha's sister village, Nibelheim. The two had been the teammate with Arashi, and helped him develop the moves that had made him feared as 'Konoha's Yellow Flash'. The two had gotten married shortly before Arashi had been named as the Yondaime Hokage and moved back to their home village to start a family of their own, much like Arashi and his wife, Uchiha Keisha had. Two good families lost to demon attacks, and two children of these heroes who will never know their parents. Damn it, karma, what the hell did they do to deserve this? "The situation there is very much similar to the one here, and I intend to bring the child Cloud used for the sealing here to Konoha. That child is already in the care of a legal guardian."

"That's good to know. So, I guess the rest is up to me and this little guy here, ne?" Jiraiya responded, winding the small music box beside the crib.

Sarutobi nodded slowly, walking out the door as the musical notes of the lullaby settled over the house.

--Later the same day—

Jiraiya stood on the roof of the small house that he now shared with Naruto, staring down the giant toad in front of him.

"Are you certain you want them to be raised together? It wouldn't hurt at all to let them both grow up a little bit before we introduce them to summoning and each other." Jiraiya challenged the toad boss.

"I'm certain. This way they'll grow up working together. Don't tell me that you're afraid of raising a toad and an infant?" Gamabunta challenged, puffing on his oversized pipe.

"Of course not, just let me meet the toad that I'm going to be keeping an eye on." Jiraiya responded, barely fazed at the toad boss's challenge.

With a chuckle, Gamabunta summoned a second toad, this one much, much smaller than him. "This is Gamakichi, and I expect you to take care of both him and the gaki, do you understand me, Jiraiya?"

Jiraiya picked up the smaller toad, this one with a blue shirt, red body, and orange markings, and nodded toward Gamabunta.

"Don't worry so much, if anyone can do it, it's me." Jiraiya said, walking back into the house.

This is going to be interesting. Arashi, I hope that the kid is a lot like you, because he's gonna need the resilience to handle what's in store for him. Jiraiya thought as he walked over to the small crib, placing the small toad in with the infant.

Outside, Gamabunta was having similar thoughts. Arashi, I promised you that I would take care of him, and I will make him the greatest that ever walked the face of the earth!

A/N: What do you guys think? This is just the beginning of an evil plot line that's been bouncing around inside my head for a while, and Manatheron-sama convinced my muse to force me to write it for the 'Demons in our Midst' authors challenge. Obviously, this is a Naruto/Final Fantasy VII crossover, but the only things from FFVII that will be appearing here is the locations, several of the main characters, and materia.

For my dedicated readers of The Chronicles of Naruto and Tsunade, do not despair, I am not abandoning it, but my updating speed on it will drop considerably as I work to meet the challenge deadline. As always, read and review, any and all constructive criticism welcome, flames shall be noted, extinguished, and used to pad my nest of ashes. As always, this is your one and only Shining Pheonix signing off.