Author Notes: Hello all you beautiful people. Welcome to my story. I hope you enjoy this. I worked hard on this. Here's the disclaimer: I did not create Naruto and he belongs to the wonderful man who wrote the manga and I only own this specific story, seeing as it came from my brain. None of the content is taken directly from the manga, the only things I use are basic events, characters, and settings.
Demon of the Leaf
Chapter 1: Fruits and Vegetables
"For the last time, no demon shall be served in this shop!"
The blond child frowned. He had been treated like this for all seven years of his life. He had been shunned by his peers, called a demon, and his friends were few and far between. The only people he could consider as friends were the 3rd Hokage, his teacher Iruka, and the good people at Ichiraku Ramen. Even then, Iruka got mad at the blond every other day because of the pranks that the child was so fond of, and the workers at Ichiraku, Ayame and her father, who owned the place, probably enjoyed his company because he was their best customer. The worst part of his treatment was that he had no idea why everyone was so upset with him. Sure, the boy had pull a "couple" pranks, but they were obviously done to get attention. What the boy, whose name was Naruto, didn't know was that, on the same day that he was born, a great demon attacked the village. It was called the Nine-Tailed Fox and it was said that the only thing that could control it was a powerful enough Sharingan. It took most of the village's ninja and hours upon hours of grueling combat, but eventually, the 4th Hokage was able to seal it away inside of the young child, at the cost of his own life. Most today believe that the demon has possessed the child and they take out their anger at the beast on the boy.
"Why can't you just give me a little bit of food? I have enough money to buy half of the things in here. You know just as well as I do that no person can live off of ramen alone, no matter how heavenly it is. I just want a basket of fruit to take home. Is this too much to ask?" The boy began to tear up as he said this.
The shopkeeper flinched. If she owned the shop, she would have sold Naruto anything, if he had the money for it. She herself had no problems with the boy. However, the shop was not hers. Her boss had lost more than a few friends to the fox and he would not allow his wares to get near his "grubby" hands. The policy of the shop prevented the employee from treating this customer fairly and it pained her to see his whisker marks scrunched up into a pitiful shape. She couldn't take it.
"I'll tell you what, I'll buy a basket with food in it and then you can buy the same basket directly from me. How does that sound?" She smiled as she spoke. The young male almost jumped with joy when this news reached his ears. "Really?" he whispered. The employee's smile grew wider. "Really." Naruto bowed and said, "Thank you."
The vendor whirled around, picked up a basket, and began to fill it. Naruto attempted to see what was going into the basket, but all he caught were glimpses of orange and purple. When the vendor turned back around, the basket was full to the brim with orange sticks and blue and purple spheres. The cashier looked around the shop to see if anyone was watching, then she opened the metal box and dropped the correct amount of money inside. Then she held out the basket to the boy. "These are my favorite fruits and vegetables. Please, enjoy them." The boy's mouth watered as he looked upon the carrots, blueberries, and grapes. He reached for the basket, but the vendor pulled it away at the last moment. She wagged her finger at the blond. "Not yet. First, I'll need the money. I'll give you a break though. Half price. It'll only be 400 yen."
Naruto fished the money out of his wallet, Gama-chan, and plopped it onto the table. The vendor smiled and gave the basket to the boy. "Have a nice day!" she exclaimed. "Thank you very much!" the boy responded.
The boy left the store with a skip in his step, swinging his basket gleefully, yet carefully. He was heading towards his apartment complex, a small building with few tenants. As he ran home, he didn't notice the many glares made in his direction. One man even got out a rolling pin and began to follow him. Naruto had almost gotten home when he was pulled into a nearby alley and hit by the rolling pin in the back of his head, promptly knocking out the poor boy.
The basket landed gracefully a few feet from the unconscious boy. The man began to beat him into the ground, more blood sticking to the rolling pin with each strike. Then, right before the man could deliver the finishing strike, the boy stood up. However, it was not the boy who was conscious. It was the fox. The boy whisker marks became more raged and defined. His hair grew slightly and took on a more feral appearance. His eyes bubbled into a fierce red. His nails grew into sharp claws. He growled and took on a pugnacious stance. The man had dropped the rolling pin at this point and was slowly crawling away from the demon boy. He was backed up against the wall. He then begged for mercy, the scared creature he was. It didn't do him much good though. The fox had seen how most of the villagers had acted towards Naruto, and the demon was finally able to share his two cents about the issue. And by two cents, I mean he was going to brutally murder every single villager than had wronged the boy. He almost did that too, but then he realized that no one would really look fondly on that, so he just took his anger and rage out on the frightened man. He all but killed him.
The next morning, the man's family found what was left of him and rushed to the hospital. He had been maimed, bitten, stabbed, sliced, diced, burned, and one of him arms had even been ripped out of his socket. The medics at the hospital were eventually able to heal him, and even reattach the arm, but that would be three years and plenty of medical bills from now.
Elsewhere, the boy woke up in his bed, wearing his pajamas. He rubbed his eyes, trying to figure out what had happened. He readjusted his face-eating sleeping cap and sat up. He noticed a little fox, snuggled at the bottom of the bed. He stared at it for the next hour, waiting for something happen, blinking ever so often.
The fox began to tremble and it blinked. It stretched out its limbs and yawned. It then turned to look at the boy. It opened its mouth and Naruto heard words telepathically inserted into his head. "I guess this is a new experience for you…" Naruto rubbed his cerulean eyes again. "W-what are you?!" He trembled as he spoke.
The fox smirked. "I am simply a manifestation of chakra built up within you. I am actually the nine-tailed fox. I have been sealed within you sense you were crawling as a toddler. I'm sorry, this must be pretty awkward."
Chapter End