Chapter 1: First Encounter

After punching open his exit, multiple thoughts started running through his head.

'Either I will land in some place – probably unknown – or I will continue to fall through who knows how many of these weird spaces until I die.'

At the latter thought a small shiver runs through his spine.

"Let's hope that won't happen," he lowly whispers to nobody in particular.

Rearing back his fist once again, he braces for whatever might lurk behind the weird portal; enemies, monsters, the wrath of Mother Nature or maybe even gravity itself.

As soon as he enters the portal his vision turns completely white but he fought the urge to shield his eyes in favour for narrowing them . He refuses to be caught off guard! Not now, not ever!

'Well, at least as long as I can help it that is.'

With a final shrug of his shoulders he swiftly approaches – or rather falls to – the exit. Colours start bleeding into the white canvas of the portal; shades of blue, green and various others begin blooming up, straining his vision even further.

Upon leaving the strange world he expected a lot; falling out of the sky, being attacked by some random army or even bandits! He didn't expect to come face to face with a massive tree though!

In a split-second decision he let his instincts completely take over all his motor functions. He noticed early on that reacting on pure instinct is marginally yet distinctively faster. The only downside to it is the small timeframe it takes for him to regain full conscious control and the lack of said consciousness; making his movements predictable.

Sensing that the body was in imminent danger it reacted accordingly and snapped his still golden fist forward as fast as possible.

The resulting strike was as strong as it was fast. Still unknowingly enhanced by the Kyuubi's chakra mixed with his own latent energy and muscular strength, his punch was nigh invisible, even to the trained eye.

It had the slight side effect of not only uprooting and tearing through the tree before him but blasting away anything that was 100 feet behind the tree as well; leaving behind a deep, five foot wide trench.

After safely rolling off the ground and landing in a crouch he took back control of his body and instantly started scanning and observing his surroundings. The gold started to slowly fade away, leaving behind the familiar cerulean. He could think about the immense power boost and golden energy later in peace but this explosion is bound to attract a lot of attention so it is in his best interest to find a safe spot as far away from here as possible.

'Better start running, don't want uninvited guests to pop up now, do I?'

This time he let's his instincts only sharpen his sixth sense and awareness. By relinquishing the near instantaneous reaction speed, he can stay conscious while benefitting from most of the advantages his instinct grants him.

"Ahh, Instinct sure is a life saver. Now if only it didn't exhaust me so much after continuous use..." Naruto pondered quietly to himself. "Nothing that can't be corrected with lots of training and a healthy dose of perseverance!" Pumping his fist in motivation he starts moving along the route his gut feeling tells him would be the best way to go.

However it seems like Lady Luck decided to grace him with a small blessing today and literally not a soul was close enough or strong enough to neither feel his energy outburst nor hear the shockwave of his punch. The only sign of him ever being there in the first place is the trench and the accompanying path of destruction, the portal having was long closed behind him.

She may also have planned a small – maybe even life changing – surprise for him...

~(°3°)~

A couple miles away a little girl who could be no older than five years old was cowering and hiding in a forest beneath tree roots and shrubbery; hoping to avoid any more pursuers. The only clothing articles she had on her being oversized, white shirt and baggy pants that make running a real chore.

Her name is Shirone, no last name. She is a petite girl, looking a couple years younger than she actually was. On first glance she looks like every other child but there were two major distinctions between her and a normal child: her cat-like ears and tail; traits of her Nekoshou heritage, a special kind of Nekomata. A Youkai. A supernatural being and also a dying race, hunted nearly to extinction out of fear.

Befitting to her name her ears, tail and short hair are white as snow, and she had beautiful hazel eyes. Eyes that were now filled with fear, wariness, confusion and anger. Fear for her life, wariness of the people that want to capture and execute her for her sisters crimes, confused why her sister did it in the first place and anger because her sister actually did it!

'Calm down 'Rone, getting angry now won't help you in the least!' she mentally reprimands herself. 'One day I will find her and ask her directly! There must be something else... She wouldn't just do something like this without reason.'

Resolving herself, she wraps the shirt around her tighter to preserve her warmth and maybe get some much needed sleep.

Soft sobs break the silence. No matter how strong willed Shirone may be, at heart she is still only a five year old girl who just got separated from her big sister that always took care of her ever since their parents died. She never was without her sister for such a long time before. Now she was all alone; lonely and afraid.

Why did her sister suddenly kill their master? Was it really the fabled Senjutsu? Did it make her drunk on power? He may have deserved it but still!

She always comes back to this one question. Why. Even if she herself says not to think about it, she just can't help but still do it.

A rustling shook her out of her train of thought. Immediately awake she perked her cat ears, listening for any other noises.

'There!' She starts getting up slowly to avoid making any noise. 'Two people. Probably devils. If I estimate it right, male and Low-Class.'

Her sensory capabilities scared even her sister sometimes. Nekoshou normally had enhanced sensory abilities anyways but Kuroka, her sister, noticed that Shirone's abilities far outstripped anything that she ever heard of or read about. So she started training her – not too harsh of course – to utilise her talent and Shirone was an incredibly fast learner. The finesse of her control was truly astounding.

In not even a year she had learned to read energy signatures with almost scary precision, able to classify power levels, race, gender, centre of gravity and even emotions. If that was not enough, her hearing was just as frightening; being able to pick up even the faintest sounds in a radius of at least a mile.

Now she has to use all her acquired skills to escape certain death!

'Good thing sister also drilled me physically, otherwise I would be on the chopping block already.'

Gulping audibly at that thought, she continues to monitor the devils' movements. She may not understand her sisters' actions but she will forever be grateful for what she did before.

The pair of devils were slowly moving away from her. She could still hear snippets of their conversation though and what she heared didn't necessarily make her a happy kitty.

"I swear that stupid cat ran in this direction!"- One of the devils, a young looking man, ranted while searching through thicket; lighting some bushes on fire with magic out of frustration. "Damn cats. We should have killed them all off when we had the chance!"

Hearing the devil so casually talk about the genocide of her race did nothing but enrage Shirone but she restrains herself lest she gives away her position.

"Stop complaining and continue searching. I want to be done with this as much as you do," the other devil responds, a middle aged man, clearly annoyed by his partners whining. "Also, if you kill them all off we won't have any left to use for our peerages now, will we?" he adds jokingly.

Boisterous laughing fills the forest as the younger of the two cackles in amusement . "Too true. The only thing those things are useful for is being our slave soldiers and serving their masters!"

It was getting harder and harder for Shirone to hold back. Her mental fortitude was strained already from the whole ordeal beforehand, so it grows increasingly difficult to not jump out and attack these... savages; no matter the outcome!

While trying to hold in her rage, the two devils enter her field of vision and as she observes them she gets the feeling that she had seen them somewhere before.

Then she got a glimpse of it. A crest. Specifically the crest of her previous, now deceased, master. They were former servants – or Pawns, she couldn't remember – of that greasy slimeball.

"That wretched black cat just had to find out master's plans and go ruin them!" - Now the younger devil is ranting once again.

That cleared her mind instantly.

'Plans? What plans are they talking about?! So there really was a reason!' Hearing that nearly made her cry and laugh out loud at the same time but now wasn't the time to be relieved. She was still in mortal peril after all.

"Yea, what a terrible shame. Losing our master and the chance to bed a young Nekomata. What a shame, what a shame," he sighs in regret with a shoulder shrug.

The image of that alone sends shiver after shiver down Shirone's spine. Devil's truly were savages! All of them!

It was easy for her to piece together the rest but she couldn't hold back her rage anymore; to lose her precious older sister just because of these perverted lechers and fiends!

Her pupils subconsciously turn to slits, her energy wrapping around her, strengthening her, fuelled by her immense anger and anguish. Still, rushing in without any sort of plan is suicide. So she stays her hand – and rolls up her pant legs and sleeves.

'Don't want to trip at the last second after all.'

Patiently she waits for them to move past so their backs are turned to her; they can't be too far away nor too close...

'Now!'

Pouncing out of her cover she immediately aims for the one nearest to her; in this case it is the older of the two.

Her sister taught her a bit about weak points that worked on all races, be it humans, devils or angels. Especially males. She forms a claw with her right hand, nails elongated and sharpened, and snaps it forward.

Before the devil even registered the noise she made by leaving the shrubbery she shot her still clawed hand to his crotch; nails poised to rip any and all tissue in their way.

And then she gripped with crushing force.

Nails dig into skin and flesh, tearing all connections. Her hand crushing his pitiful testicles. Blood started to flow en masse with no end in sight.

As he realises what just happened she put as much strength as she could muster and pulls her arm back with a small battle cry, her hand still in an iron grip. The result? A screaming and crying man missing not only his crown jewels but also his sceptre.

Clutching at his crotch area he falls to his knees and continues to scream in agony all the while blood keeps on pooling on the ground and dripping down his legs.

Before the other devil could react she rears back her right leg and unleashes a devastating kick to the kneeling devils neck; snapping it and ending his life.

Shirone has no time to relax though because the younger devil finally regained his bearings and starts wildly attacking her with his fists, legs and even magic. Only her natural instincts allowed her to avoid the initial attack.

"You wench! How dare you! You will pay for that!" he roars in blind rage. "You should've just given up and maybe we would've only used you when you were older! Now I have to kill you and use your dead corpse!"

She tries avoiding as many attacks as she could but the chase took a massive toll on her body. Weaving and bobbing through kicks and punches and jumping away from spells is all she could muster. Blocking was out of the question; his attacks would just break right through her block in her weakened state.

Unfortunately she slowly but surely grew sluggish, her stamina running dangerously low. There was no energy left to counter attack. Her body was riddled with cuts and bruises already. Killing one of them was all she was capable of it seems.

"I have enough of your games! Take this!" he bellowed annoyed and fires off his charged magical attack, a condensed water ball, in her direction.

Feeling her legs give out under her she could only watch the water ball fly at her in resignation. A lone tear rolling down her cheek.

'I'm sorry sister. Forgive me for wasting your sacrifice.'

Before the water ball could hit her though something – or someone – appeared in front of her and smashed it out of existence.

~(°3°)~

15 Minutes prior

Naruto is still moving in the same direction and on the way he came to one conclusion: He is nowhere near Konoha – surprise, surprise – and he probably isn't even in the Elemental Nations to begin with. The sky was blue there and not violet. Different vegetation and wild life just confirmed his suspicion.

To be honest, he wasn't that bothered by it all.

'I mean why should I miss people I had nothing to do with and that loathed my very existence?'

Arriving at a forest he decides to take a stroll through it to clear his mind a bit and finally think about everything that happened in the last hour.

First off, he fell through some space time portal mumbo jumbo... probably.

Secondly, when his life was in danger due to the toxic atmosphere in the space between dimensions some weird golden energy started fuelling him, healed him and strengthened him tremendously. Ergo,the life threatening situation coupled with his will to survive must've triggered it.

'I should find a way to utilise it more freely as soon as I can and with my luck I probably will find it by accident; like always,' laughing quietly at that thought he continues his recollection of events.

Thirdly, he landed in some weird place that looked completely foreign to him.

'Well, if it really was some space time phenomenon I'm probably in a totally different world altogether,' he thought to himself.

"Neat."

Suddenly his senses started guiding him in a specific direction, deeper into the forest. Sounds of attacks could be heard and a man, probably around 25 years old, shouting obscenities about "killing a cat wench" and "using her corpse for his enjoyment".

He decides to scout out the situation by sending out a Chi pulse; it works like echolocation, obstacles send back a response that deliver him all the information he needs to construct a simple three dimensional map of his surroundings in his mind.

What he sees enrages him instantly.

An adult. A grown man, attacking a child probably no older than himself!

Bursting into a sprint he rushes to the location as fast as his feet could carry him, enveloping himself in his Chi shroud at the same time.

A minute later he could already make out the shape of the man, but what truly caught his interest were the wings on the man's back.

'Maybe a different type of Human? Could be another race altogether but this is not the time for these thoughts!'

Seeing that the winged man was about to shoot a dangerous looking ball of water at the little girl he pushes more Chi into his legs and kicks off the ground, cratering the ground and propelling him forward with incredible speed.

He lands directly between the attack and the girl, the attack alarmingly close. Using the momentum of his previous jump he spins once and kicks the water ball with all his might, dispersing it instantly.

"Who the fuck are y-" - the devil starts his sentence but Naruto interrupts him by kicking off the ground once again but this time flying to the man himself.

Giving him no time to react, Naruto appears infront of him nearly instantaneous and drives a gut-wrenching uppercut into his abdomen. The eyes of the man widen in pain and spittle flies out of his now gaping mouth, his body hunched over in pain.

Naruto not being one to pass up such opportunities clenched both his fists, lifts them over his head and sends the man down to the floor with a double hammerfist to the spine, cracking it in the process. Before the man could bounce more than once Naruto stomped his neck, breaking it and ending the onesided beat down.

As soon as he was done he rushed to the girl who was still kneeling on the ground, still shocked to her core. Noticing her looking at him with panic in her eyes he slows down his approach immediately. Raising his hands cautiously in a placating gesture he stops moving towards her. There was something peculiar about her though.

'Could be the cat ears and tail...' Shaking his head and storing that information for later he focuses on the matters at hand; those matters being a calming down a terrified girl that was just assaulted by some weird winged man.

"I'm not here to harm you. I only want to help you. No one else is nearby. It is over now," he told her soothingly, trying to get her to trust him even a little bit.

Seeing her losing the panicked expression he gently asks,"Can I come to you?"

A small nod was his response so he slowly started moving towards her, making sure to not make any sudden movements that could startle her.

He carefully kneels opposite of her and gently embraces her in a gentle hug. She flinched slightly so he tries projecting as much warmth as possible through his aura; the edges of the cerulean shroud slowly soften in response, turning into softly moving , blue flames.

Her body slowly relaxes into the embrace feeling the warmth he transmits and feeling no ill intent in him whatsoever.

"He is gone now. No one will harm you anymore. You are safe now," he gently whispers to her.

Finally realising that she was safe of the people hunting her she unleashed all emotions she had bottled up over the last three days. It started out as small sobs but soon she was crying into his chest while clutching to it like a lifeline.

Carefully stroking her head and back he tries comforting her as much as possible. He himself doesn't know why he is so comfortable around this girl he literally just met but it feels right.

'Maybe, just maybe, she can be my friend,' he wistfully thinks to himself.

They continue to sit like this for a while longer even after she stopped crying.

Releasing the embrace, they sit down infront of each other, the girl wiping away the rest of her tears with her overly long sleeve.

"Are you alright now?" Naruto asks softly after waiting for her to finish.

Nodding once, she replied in soft and quiet voice, "Thank you for saving me."

"Don't think any of it. It was my pleasure. The important thing is that you are safe now," he answered cheerfully with a toothy, close-eyed grin. "I'm Naruto by the way. Naruto Uzumaki," he says while holding out his hand.

Shaking his hand timidly she introduces herself quietly.

"Shirone, Just Shirone."

. . .

I hope the fight scene was okay even if it is short. Didn't want rush their meeting but it is what it is. Next time should be more interactions between Naruto and Shirone/Koneko and a little bit of training/time skips/explanations (probably).

Beta: Cuddly Cat