A/N: Alright, so I'm not really sure how often I'm gonna update this story. So sorry if it takes a while. Believe me when I tell you I'll make sure you guys know if I abandon it.

In other news, this is going to be an semi-AU story. Itachi for one will be pretty different, along with the Hokage. Multiple other will be too, Naruto obviously included. This will be a dark, strong(But not godlike) Naruto. Hope you like it.

Also, pairings are undecided, if there will any at all. If I do do any it won't be NaruHina/Saku/etc. Basicly any of the big ones. I've read enough of those and written a NaruHina on another account and it all just kinda blends together. I find you can be much more creative with something like NaruFemKyuu or the like.

Wow... That was a long rant. For me anyways.

Hope you enjoy!

-Chapter 1-

"Demon!"

The word rang in nine year old Naruto's ears. He stiffened, an automatic reaction to the word he had heard far to often. 'No... please... Not again!' Naruto started to run, his legs already starting to burn and his adrenaline pumping. He looked back, seeing four or five villagers chasing him down the street he had been walking calmly down a moment before. More began to join them as they saw what was happening.

The young jinchuuriki turned his head back around, ignoring the growing size of the mob for the moment in favor of running as fast as possible. Spotting an alleyway on his left he turned to run down it to escape, only to have the entrance blocked by what appeared to be a ninja.

Quickly changing his direction, he continued running down the main street, trying to find somewhere he could hide or be safe. Then, through the space between two buildings, he saw a red building, standing proudly in the center of the village.

'The Hokage! He'll help me! He's got to!'

He changed direction yet again, this time running down a side street that would lead him closer to the tower of the villages leader.

Seeing a group of people in front front of him, the small boy started praying. 'Please, Kami, grant me this one stroke of good luck. Don't let them see me until-"

"Hey! Look! They're chasing the demon!" The entire group turned, and vicious snarls grew to occupy their faces.

Panicking, Naruto went the only way still available to him. Straight through a collection of three roughly chuunin ranked ninja that were just taking notice of what was happening.

"The hell?" One exclaimed.

Not bothering with answering his colleagues question, if it could even be considered one, one ninja turned around, apparently not caring, and the other pulled out a kunai.

Naruto would remember the mans face for the rest of his life. The hate in his brown eyes, the way his face contorted to show just how much he wanted the boy dead, and the way his arm was after he released the kunai. The deadly throwing knife landed squarely on its targeted spot, not caring wether it was cutting through wood or the flesh of a small boy. It sank deep into the blondes shoulder, but he didn't slow. He was almost there. He could almost see the face of the Hokage he had seen talking about the will of fire in his speeches.

Sprinting through the door to the building, Naruto immediately started climbing the steps at full speed. After the first flight, he saw a sight that he would have leapt for joy and relief at had he not been so tired. As it was Naruto put his hand on his knees and allowed himself to relax.

"H-Hokage-sama! You have to help me! T-There are people chasing me and... And." Naruto stopped as he looked up. The Hokages face... It was exactly like that of the man who had thrown the kunai at him.(Naruto has never met the Hokage in this AU, so he doesn't know that he hates him.)

He heard the mob of people come up the stairs behind him, but he couldn't turn away from the Hokages face. The hate... The aging man roughly pushed Naruto aside with neigh a flick of his wrist, then walked by him and all of the assembled people on the staircase, effectively sealing the boys fate.

Now fearing for his life once again, Naruto backed up, looking for a way out. There was a flight of stairs leading up to the next level, but it was blocked by the roughly twenty people that had managed to fit into the room so far. There were more, of that he was sure, but he didn't want to find out how many.

Seeing only one option available, he did the last thing the group expected.

He charged.

Startled just enough to allow him to perform his last ditch effort, Naruto jumped through the air.

The human body is capable of incredible things when powered by fear and adrenaline. Accelerating to over 25mph in half a second to escape an explosion, lifting cars off of children, and pulling a 2000 pound crashed helicopter off of another human being. Things that could only ever happen in the most desperate circumstances.

While not lifting up an helicopter, making the twenty foot jump ten feet into the air and over a group of over twenty crazed villagers is certainly a feet to be proud of, especially if the nine year old making the jump managed to jump precisely through the partially opened window.

Unfortunately, all the strength in the world can't help you stop gravity, a fact that Naruto found out the hard way as he fell two stories onto the hard dirt below.

Naruto stayed where he laid, not being able to force his body to move any further. He heard the mob running out of the building and shouting as they saw his disabled form laying on the ground. Naruto was unable to see them, as his head was looking in another direction. He was able to see the lone ANBU land in front of him, however.

Just before he passed out, the blond jinjuriki saw the weasel masked ninja perform a sealess fire jutsu, roasting the first row of the mob alive, singeing the second, and causing the rest to flee.

Naruto opened his eyes to see the familiar ceiling of his ratty apartment. The mold growing on it was something he had long since stopped trying to remove. It always grew back anyways.

He forced himself to sit up, immediately feeling almost every part of his body protest. He lifted up his shirt to see that almost his entire chest was bruised. He also discovered that the same thing had happened to his thighs, hands, and arms.

Sighing heavily, he pulled on his orange jumpsuit, then put a bowl of instant ramen in his microwave. He waited the three minutes for it to cook, the opened the door of the kitchen appliance. Smelling the food that he considered to be a gift from Kami himself, he immediately perked up, pulling himself out of the depression that he had been feeling earlier.

Without waiting for the noodles to cool, he immediately started to slurp it down.

He finished the noodles threw the noodles container in the general direction of the trashcan to join a pile of its dead brethren.

After locking his door, Naruto began his journey to the ninja academy. He made sure to take side roads this time, and to stay out of the way of any areas where a lot of people normally gathered. He soon found himself walking down a road that was unavoidable if he wanted to get to the academy. Unfortunately, the villagers knew this as well as he did.

He tensed when he heard a man call out from a stand to his right. "Hey, Shiroi! Look who it is! Our little friend! Hey, Naruto! Where you going?" the way he said Narutos name made said boy shiver. He ignored the two men who threatened and annoyed him every morning.

Naruto ducked as he saw a glass bottle fly towards head. He was unprepared, however for the second bottle that was send flying at him. He reacted to slow to dodge, and as such, the bottle hit him squarely on his ribs. He held in a howl of pain as the bottle angered his bruises, and the now broken glass bit into his flesh. Still, he soldiered on, ignoring the two men who were now laughing and celebrating at their recent success.

Finally arriving at the academy, Naruto quickly headed to his classroom, then moved to take his seat.

After a few minutes of waiting for class to start, Naruto looked over to see a pink haired girl walk into the room. 'Today... Today I'm gonna do it. She's gonna say yes... She has to.' he started to get up, but quickly sat back down. Suddenly his resolve strengthened and he stood up and walked over to where Sakura was heading to her seat.

"S-Sakura-chan!" Naruto stuttered nervously.

A slightly annoyed look crossed her face at his words. "What is it?" She demanded.

Despite the brevity and rudeness her sentence held, it was still one of the nicer things he had heard in months. Most of them came from her, hence the reason he was talking to her right now.

"I was wondering if... If you would like to..." he trailed of and Sakura looked even more annoyed then she was before.

"Like to what?"

Naruto suddenly gathered all of his strength. "Go on a date with me!"

Sakura stood in stunned silence as she looked at Naruto. 'Is... Is she going to say yes?' he thought. She opened her mouth and his hopes flew that was was about to make him happy for once in his life.

...

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRING WITH YOU YOU IDIOT?" She screeched. Naruto felt stunned as a fist collided with his face.

"W-What?" he asked weakly, unable to comprehend the rejection.

"Are you deaf too? Why would I ever want to go out with someone like you? My mom told me you were a demon!"

Naruto saw the second fist glide through the air in slow motion.

The mobs of villagers chasing him through the streets.

The realization that his hero, the third Hokage, hated him as much as the rest of the village.

The two men who threw bottles at him and taunted him everyday.

The way Sakura rejected his offer at a date just now.

The words they all said when they saw him... 'Demon'.

Naruto looked again at the fist, but saw that it wasn't just a closed hand meant to hurt him.

It was the one final push, that one final little shove that made it all to much.

He snapped.

Nine tails made of a deep orange red chakra shot of Naruto. Three immediately grabbed hold of Sakura's arm inches in front of his face. The pink hairs teen stared at the boy in front of her.

It wasn't the deepened whisker marks... It wasn't the fangs... It wasn't the feral looking hair or smile. It was the eyes. It was the eyes that convinced her that her mother was right. That he was a demon. Blood red with black slits running down the center.

She screamed. Naruto laughed.

He reveled in the feelings that he could feeling roiling around in him. He no longer held in his hate, resentment or anger. Now it was his turn to throw the punches.

Iruka was having a good day. He had maneged to finish the weeks paperwork last night, and had gotten a good nights rest for the first time in months.

'I don't even think the demon brat could ruin today for me.' Iruka mused.(remember, Iruka was one of the people that hated Naruto when he was first at the academy. He still hasn't accepted Naruto at this point.) He hummed a cheery song to himself as he walked towards his classroom.

He pulled the door open. "Good morning cl-" his unusually happy greeting was cut short as Sakura was thrown across the room and into the blackboard hard enough to crack the stone it was made from.

He dropped us papers as he looked to the rest of the class room for whoever would do suck a thing. The theories ranged from enemy attack to an explosive note that had been contained in the room for some reason. The second one would certainly explain the burns that covered her right forearm and her abdomen.

What he saw made his blood run cold.

"Good morning to you too Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said as if it was another morning.

A/N: Hoped you liked it. If you want a pairing at all, here's a list of possibilities. Leave a comment if you like one or want to suggest another.

FemKyuu

Yugito Nii

Kuranai Yuhi

Yugao Uzuki

If you have any other ideas, just review. Hell, review even if you don't have any ideas!

Also, sorry if it seems a bit rushed. It feels that way to me, and i think i ended up writing it this way as a precursor to the actually story. Kind of a really long prologue