Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, I am just a fan. But I do own Raida and Ryu… Glares threateningly at Garra for his behavior in the last chapter

'I will find her again and the moment that I do I will never let her get away again. Then I will figure out just what happened today…' He thought as his grip on the hilt of the katana tightened as he spent the rest of the night watching the moon.

Chapter One: The Trust Of One Person

Raida woke up to a severe pain in her chest, and she shrieked in terror. It took her a few moments to realize that she was back in the Leaf Village but… 'How did I get here? Was all that just another nightmare?' She thought nervously as she shook her head to clear her thoughts and got out of the large, soft bed that she bought last year with her extra money as her gray eyes clouding with fear as she saw her mother's sword was missing.

"God please forgive me…" She gasped as the facts of her time in the Sand Village began slowly become clearer, the knowledge that it was real forcing them back into focus with startling affects and at that moment Ryuji burst into the small room, his golden eyes smoldering with a variety of emotions like rage, concern, and another emotion she couldn't place.

"What were you thinking?" He shouted, and she flinched at the sound of his voice.

"Ryuji…" She muttered hoarsely, sinking to the ground in despair at the crushing weight of her memories. Her eyes glowed silver in the darkness around her, the pain and confusion in her voice cutting through the anger, sinking into his heart. "I need to see the Hokage… jerk." She said in an attempt to be tough, but failed miserably in her emotional state. The lack of her rough exterior left her looking desolate and that must have shattered Ryuji's anger because instead of yelling some more he knelt beside her and embraced her in a warm, soothing, protective hug. This was too much for Raida as she shuddered and began sobbing at the loss of her mother's last possession and guilt that she felt broke through her mask of anger and violence she normally wore, all the tension in her back and shoulders slowly loosening.

"Ry… Ryuji I am so pathetic… I could have been found again if he had looked, and he still has my mother's katana, but if I go back to get it I won't be able to come back… he won't let me…" She said clinging to him as if he were the only thing that kept her from Garra and the monster that she had become around him, and where Garra hadn't been able to scare her… the monster she was horrified her.

Ryuji comforted her as much as he could through his touch, and she gladly welcomed his comfort. "Raida… you are not pathetic!" He said and she pulled away from him abruptly. Her eyes were puffy and red while her black hair clung to her tear soaked cheeks making her look unusually vulnerable, but as she examined him her eyes blazed with a fiery courage.

"You are the first one to ever hug me… why did you do it?" She asked as she became visibly tense once again, and she glared at him suspiciously as she backed away from him to put a barrier between them.

"Stupid girl…" Ryuji muttered under his breath, watching as she retreated from him but his voice was thick with concern. "You were so upset that anyone would have… and you are still upset!" He said and although she still looked doubtful she had stopped backing away from him.

"I still wanna see the Hokage Ryuji…" She demanded softly, her old self that she had been before she went to the Sand Village slowly returning to her.

"Tomorrow but you need to get some sleep now." He said and she hissed softly with uncontrolled fury.

"NO! HE HAS A LOT OF EXPLAINING TO DO, AND HE NEEDS TO DO IT NOW!" She hissed as she exploded in a violent rage, walking slowly, menacingly, towards Ryuji, and her grey eyes burning with unspoken questions. She took a deep breath to calm down, but all that happened was that her breathing became more even and relaxed. "I have gone from wondering why I am so different from everyone else to having a damn good idea, and I want answers!"

"Raida do you have any idea of what time it is? It's two in the morning, everyone is asleep." Ryuji shouted and stepped towards her in an unspoken challenge. "Now go to bed damn it!!" He growled through clenched teeth, and he glared at her with his intense, furious golden eyes. She had never seen Ryuji lose his temper and she knew that he was very close.

"No!" She hissed again, smirking, knowing she was close to making him explode. He growled again and grabbed her around the waist, shocked by how light she was before tossing her onto her bed. She hissed at the rough treatment and when she attempted to sit up Ryuji pushed her back onto the bed, sitting next to her.

"Go to bed, it's late and you need the rest!" He said wearily, as if he had been up for three days with no sleep.

"Nope and the moment you leave my apartment, I get back up and beat the answers that I want out of the Hokage!" She regretted her words the next moment though when he looked down at her with a piercing gaze and nodded to himself.

"You would do that wouldn't you? Well… you leave me no choice…" He sighed heavily before continuing. "So I guess you need to move over…" He laid down on the bed facing away from her after she moved over confused and she jumped out of the bed too quickly and fell backwards as soon as her feet touched the wooden floor. Ryuji moved quickly and grabbed her hand and waist, but in shock at his touch she pushed his hands away from her only to fall hard on her butt.

"Ow… just what the hell do you think you are doing on my bed?" She asked sourly, her voice strong and livid as she got up and rubbed her butt tenderly. Ryuji stared at her through narrowed eyes, his eternal patience with her gone for now, and she stared at his with the same rage that had his rigid body gave away with every subtle movement as he stood up.

"Raida you stupid, self-centered, arrogant brat! Get in the god damn bed and go to fucking sleep! There is no other place to sleep here so we will be sharing the bed for one night! I didn't expect this any more than you did, well… actually I did but that's only because I have been watching you for four years, and that has given me the knowledge that if you want something you get it… but could you deal with it reasonably for tonight?" He demanded as, despite her at him for the earth-shaking blows to her dignity and ego, she found herself nodding slightly in consent under his golden gaze.


Raida woke up to the smell of something cooking and sat up groggily. "Morning already? Who the hell is cooking in my house?" She thought aloud, yawning as she stretched and the memory of her shameful behavior last night making her freeze. 'Well he wouldn't still be here… would he? I… I probably scared him away last night… yeah…'She thought as she felt a blush warm her icy cheeks and she slipped out of the bed. As she crept toward the door and peeked out she saw that not only had Ryuji stayed, he had cooked himself breakfast which he was eating in her only chair.

She must have made some type of revealing noise because Ryuji looked up, smiling gently, and pointed to the large black pot on the stove. "Your bowl is on the counter, I made soup incase you still weren't feeling well." He greeted kindly, but she couldn't hide her confusion at his words.

"What are you talking about? I feel fine… actually I feel better than I ever have! I'm not sick… but thanks anyway." She replied with just as much kindness, but even though she tried to cover up her confusion, Ryuji noticed instantly.

"What's bothering you Raida?" He asked, setting down his bowl of soup and looking at her, concerned.

"Okay you want the truth? I can't help but wonder why you are still here and making me breakfast after last night… but wait I'm not even close being finished! You say that I said I was feeling sick but I have never felt better in my life. What is going on with you? What's going on with me?! I should be in class, now at my house yelling what I feel! Ugh!" She screamed with frustration before walking back into her room and going to the bathroom after she grabbed her clothes. "Why did I everwant to have a somewhat normal life? This is so much better." She hissed darkly, sarcasm obvious in her biting remark.


Ryuji watched as she retreated into the bathroom, turning on the shower before she slammed the door shut. She had changed since she left, her outburst last night proved it but what could have happened, and who is the 'he' that she mentioned? He had hoped to talk to her about it during his homemade breakfast but that failed when she once again blew up on him. 'She wants a normal life… but why would she have been on her way back when she fainted? We searched the bank of the river at least a dozen times… and where was she hiding? Another thing that worries me is the things she said last night… so many questions about her, but even with the four years that I have followed her I have no answers to them…' He thought as he leaned back in the old rocking chair that she used for everything, his chestnut brown hair covering his eyes.

He said like that for a while trying to understand Raida but she was too mysterious to be figured out. She screamed, snapping him out of his thoughts and in the solitude of the room he laughed softly. "I forgot to tell her that there isn't much hot water left…" He said smirking.


Raida came out of the bathroom door shivering and dressed in navy blue sweatpants and black t-shirt. "You… get out of my house!" She growled, her fangs biting into her lips, staining them red with her blood. Ryuji stared at her shivering and shapely form, her black hair dripping on the floor as she glared back. "I said out!" She snapped and lunged forward, but the look in his golden, gem-like eyes stopped her… he looked to smug for comfort.

"Well I could leave but then the Hokage would have to have people watching you again…" He said slyly, his smile turning into a smug and triumphant smirk.

"What do you mean?" Raida said as she cringed, Ryuji's smirk reminding her of Gaara's insane promise slightly.

"Well when the Hokage came over this morning, yes he came by but let me finish before you begin your yelling, he wanted my thoughts on whether to punish you for running away from the village. I told him to overlook it one more time and as long as I'm given full responsibility for you then I'll take the punishments for what ever you do. So in exchange for me getting to live with you and being the only one that you have to answer to, you are as free as you'll ever get… but all I have to do is tell the Hokage 'never mind' and you'll be under full observation again." Ryuji said she gasped with surprise.

"What do you mean? I take care of myself, no one else is responsible for me, and…" She fell silent as her mind worked in overdrive to process his last words. "If you stay with me… then nobody will follow me? How-"

"None of your business Raida, now am I supposed to leave or not?" Ryuji asked, but he already knew her answer.

"Fine you can stay but there are a few rules that you need to follow. First, the hot water is all mine, use it again and I'll kill you. Second, you will not sleep in my bed with me again… ever! Third, you make a mess, you clean it up. Last but not least, keep the fuck out of my way you asshole! Follow them and we will have no trouble getting along, if you don't… I'll torture you, making you beg for death." She said dangerously, and for the briefest moment their eyes met… hers blazing with a challenge and his answering with a cool, arrogant confidence.

"Fine, whatever you say…" She heard him mumble as he smirked victoriously again.

'Think you won this? I'll make you want to leave!' She thought before she spoke again. "Good and since I don't have a sofa or another bed you will be sleeping on the floor out here. Be careful… don't let your guard down." She said the last part in a sing-song voice, turning around to leave.

"Raida it's no longer wise to threaten me considering that I am the key to your freedom." He said and almost as an afterthought he smiled. "Your graduation test is in about twenty-five minutes so you may want to hurry to the academy."

She glared at him before glancing at the calendar on the wall and groaned when she saw that he was right. "Damn you Ryuji! Damn you to the deepest depths of hell you can go to." She snarled under her breath as she ran out the door.


Ryuji laughed to himself as she left, unsure of why he had to start with her but he was having too much fun to stop. He would need to make it up to her though tonight if he hoped to live until sunrise tomorrow.


Raida tried to calm down as she dashed wildly towards the academy to take her exam. 'Damn him! I'll skin him alive.' She thought bitterly ad swung around a corner, smirking victoriously as she spotted the academy doors. She pushed them open and ran down the hall to her classroom, opening the door as she slid into the room. "Raida? Where have you been!? You have been gone for a week!" Someone shouted and she cringed, turning to see a boy with blond hair, ice blue eyes, and his cheeks marred only by three whisker-like scars on each. "They said that you left the village!" He accused and she hissed through her fangs, fury rolling off her in waves.

"Naruto… not here, not now. I am here and that is all someone like you needs to worry about!" She hissed as she glared at Naruto, her hands balled into fists. She and Naruto were friends but anyone who was around them was acutely aware of the tension that was often felt between them. She was too pissed off today to put up with the violent urges that she got around him, so she gave in slightly as she loomed threateningly above him.

"Raida what's up with you today?" Naruto asked as his eyes narrowed with suspicion while he studied her.

She opened her mouth the say some sarcastic remark but someone called her name from the next room. She exhaled grateful for the excuse to leave, but she felt Naruto's gaze following her as she left the room.

The room that she entered was fairly small compared with the classroom but she would have to deal with the lack of space, Iruka and Mizuki sat at a table with the headbands for those who passed. "You weren't here earlier so I'll explain what you need to do. Make a dopple-ganger and you pass, you don't and you fail." Iruka said and she laughed with relief.

"Is that all? Are you being serious?" She asked in obvious disbelief, but she was smiling triumphantly. Iruka nodded and she giggled, forming the hand signs necessary to perform the jutsu. When she was done she was surrounded by four copies of herself, and she walked up to the desk, grabbing a headband. "Thanks!" She called sweetly as she left the room.

In the classroom Naruto waited and she walked up to him smiling sweetly as her grey eyes glowed with malevolence. "You don't pass I'll beat you to a bloody pulp, break every bone in your body, and then cut you up so I can laugh as you bleed out… so good luck!" She whispered, her voice coated with sweetness, before she left the room and running into the shopping district to forget everything on her mind… like why Ryuji didn't tell her that Naruto was asking about her and what she should ask the Hokage.


Raida walked quietly through the village when she spotted Naruto sneaking into the Hokage's house. 'What the hell does that idiot think he's doing?' She thought curiously, looking up at the moon halfway across the sky. 'It's late… I should check this out…'

She waited and soon enough Naruto came back out carrying a large scroll on his back. Raida stared at him with growing dismay and disbelief as she slowly realized that he had stolen from the Hokage. She took of after him in a rushed attempt to get him to return the scroll, and soon she found herself in a part of the forest surrounding the village when he finally stopped. "Naruto! What the hell do you think you are doing? Stealing from the Hokage! You need to go and give it back before the Hokage decides to punish you!" She hissed as she burst into the clearing.

"Raida? What are you doing here?" Naruto asked as he unrolled the scroll, unconcerned with Raida's intrusion. He looked over the scroll as glanced menacingly at him. "Okay, let's see. The first technique in the scroll is multiple dopple-gangers…" He groaned and she felt her curiosity perk up. "Man! My least favorite jutsu and suddenly it's turning up all over!"

"What are you doing?" She asked peaking over his shoulder at the scroll.

'Kyuubi… so close… close enough to destroy…' Hissed a voice in her mind and she jerked away from Naruto violently.

"Raida, are you okay?" Naruto asked as her sudden movement and the dark in her eyes frightening him slightly.

"Y-yeah… are you going to train? If so let me join you…" She answered in a shaky voice. She wasn't okay at all, the voices were back but she wouldn't let anyone else know how psychopathic she was.

"Sure…" He said eyeing her warily, not believing her.

"Okay!" She said with fake cheerfulness, the tension not leaving her body as she began reading over his shoulder again. "Oh… is that all?" She asked herself, and Naruto looked at her with exasperation.


Naruto and Raida were tired from all their practicing and Raida smiled with triumph. "Heh… great job." She said and laughed. Naruto sat on the ground huffing and she muttered under her breath. She became unusually quiet as a shadow loomed over the two of them, and when she looked up her breath caught in her throat. "Iruka-sensei…" She gasped as Naruto jumped up.

"Gotcha both now!" He said and she flinched guiltily.

"About time nosebleed! I found you!" Naruto shouted and Raida groaned inwardly.

"No, you fool! I found you!!" Iruka shouted as Raida inched away from the two, noticing before she slipped into the trees that Iruka's warm, chocolate brown eyes were studying Naruto with surprise.

She ran back towards her home but on the way she heard someone else going towards Naruto and Iruka, his movements harshly loud with his urgency to get there. "Who…" She asked on one in particular as she tried to distinguish the odd scent, and she flinched as she realized she could actually smell the person's scent like a dog could while she followed the person. When the person got to where Naruto and Iruka were, she saw the glint of light on metal and she screamed. "Naruto, Iruka, watch the hell out!" She hissed as she jumped out of the trees and tried to use herself as a shield between Naruto, Iruka, and the kunai coming towards them.

She blocked some of the lower kunai and but because Iruka was taller than her he still had some hit him. Her scream of pain became painfully lodged in her throat as she glared wildly around for the attacker and seeing Iruka's wounds. "I'm impressed that you figured out where to go." Mizuki said and a dark, understanding look shadowed Raida's eyes.

"You… AHH! You asshole…" She screamed as she pulled out one of the kunai that were lodged in her chest.

"Now I understand!!" Iruka said as Naruto looked between all three of them in confusion.

"The scroll, Naruto. Give it to me." Raida glare became much darker and more dangerous as he mentioned the scroll as she understood as well.

"Don't Naruto!" She screamed, a loud sucking sound coming from the wound in her chest every time she inhaled. She reached towards her waist for her katana and for the second time she remembered with sudden helplessness that Gaara from the Sand Village had it. "Naruto if you give him that scroll, I'll never forgive you! Ever!" She howled as the wound bleed heavily, her cool, crimson blood staining her shirt.

"Don't let him have it, Naruto! Protect that scroll with your life!" Iruka shouted and pulled a kunai from his chest as well. Naruto looked stricken as Raida struggled for breath, the skin around her lips turning light blue.

'Damn… a sucking…chest… wound… FUCK!' She thought pissed, knowing that she had royally fucked up when she pulled the kunai out of her. "Shit… I need a god damn medic! I'll die if I don't get help…" She muttered, irate as she remembered what happened last time she tried a medical jutsu… and during her trip down memory lane she missed some of the conversation.

"You… know what really happened in the incident where the fox demon was sealed up again twelve years ago, don't you…?" Mizuki asked leaning forwards slightly, and Naruto looked even more confused then she had ever seen him. "Since that incident… the people of our village have been bound by the strictest decree."

"I don't remember any decree…"

"You're actually listening to him Naruto?" She asked astonished at Naruto's gullibility, her tone suggesting that she was questioning his sanity. "He's probably lying to you so he can get his filthy hands on the scroll!" She hissed softly, but Mizuki's gaze became locked with hers.

"Keep quiet snake-bitch, now… Naruto you would know about it. Part of that decree was that everyone would know about it… but you." Mizuki sneered and Raida visibly flinched, knowing the snake comment was directed at her.

"Mizuki! Shut up!!" She hissed, hiding her hurt and shame at his harsh words.

"Except me…? Why not me? What law are you talking about?" Naruto demanded and Raida groaned as Mizuki began laughing, she knew what he was about to tell him only because she had overheard some adults talking about it one day at the end of the school day. "What… what was the decree? What?"

"That no one must ever tell… that what you really are… is the demon fox!!"

"What?" Was all Naruto managed to say, his eyes wide with shock. "Wha… what are you talking about!?"

"You filthy liar! Tell him you're lying! Naruto don't listen to him!" She said, glaring murderously at Mizuki as she moved closer to Naruto, as if to protect him from Mizuki's harsh words.

"STOP!!" Iruka shouted furiously as Raida grabbed Naruto's shoulders, her blood staining his orange shirt where ever her hands touched.

"It's true; you… are the nine-tailed fox that destroyed the village!!" Naruto stood as still as a statue as the information sunk in and in her wounded state, Raida couldn't snap him out of it. "It was you who murdered Iruka's family. Until, at last, out beloved hero, the fourth Lord Hokage, trapped and bound you in this form…"

"Naruto! Don't listen to him! You are only you, not a damnable demon fox!" Raida shouted over Mizuki's next words. Her eyes flickered towards Mizuki as she heard the sound of metal cutting through air, and she smiled with absolute peace as she saw the oversized shuriken he was preparing to throw. "I'll prove that you're only Naruto… I'll protect you, Iruka, and anyone else you care about with until I die…" She said serenely, her grey eyes holding nothing but sympathy for the mischievous blond. "Now Mizuki, I'm going to kill you for this!" She hissed and jumped towards him as he threw the weapon, moments later she crashed to the ground limply, her eyes wide with pain and shock as it landed in her chest.

"Raida!!" Naruto shouted as she plummeted to earth, her body numb as the power that she had tasted back in the Sand Village slowly began taking over again, only this time with more forcefulness. She laid there dazed, her eyes slowly becoming blood red and her skin becoming slightly darker as well as more scale-like.

"Forget about me… protect the scroll." She hissed as the wounds slowly began to heal on there own. An ominous feeling overtook the three men there as she laid there, her nails becoming deadly claws.

"Touching… to bad no one will ever truly accept you." Mizuki said scornfully as soon as his terror faded away, and grabbed the second large shuriken from his back. "That scroll that you've stolen… it was the instrument of your bondage!!" He said and threw the weapon before Raida could get up to protect Naruto once again.

"NO!" She shrieked and cringed at the next sight of Iruka shielding Naruto, the large shuriken that had pierced his back exactly like the one that now laid on the ground, bloody and warm, knocked out of her when she landed on the ground. "Iruka!" She gasped as the smell of his blood overwhelmed her, filling the air with the rust and salt stench. She noticed Mizuki's shock at Iruka's actions and she relished the fact that this was harder than he thought it would be.

Naruto's eyes flickered back and forth between Raida and Iruka. "Why…?" Raida snorted in an irritated way that was meant to be incredulous but it was too weak with sorrow to be.

"I…" Iruka looked deep in thought, and glanced at both his wayward students as he spoke again, tears falling freely from his chocolate eyes. "With my parents gone… there was no one to praise or respect me. I was so lonely… I became the class clown… anything to attract attention. I just wanted someone to notice how good I was… to be proud of me. Being the class clown… was better than being a nobody. It… hurt so much. I know that, Naruto… Raida…" Iruka looked at her as if he knew her secret, and alarm flared through her, forcing her to look away quickly before he saw the changes that had overtaken her. She sighed with relief when he turned away, knowing that the Hokage must have said something with the way he had looked at her with heart wrenching sympathy and understanding. "I was so hard on you both, yelling, scolding… it must have hurt… forgive me. If I had been a better teacher… a better self… maybe none of us would have come to this." He said as Raida gauged Naruto's reaction, knowing he was close to breaking point.

"NARUTO!!" Both Raida and Iruka shouted at the exact same time as he ran from the two men and girl. Mizuki laughed as he jumped down from his tree branch and walked towards Iruka, Raida flinching at the harsh sound of his laughter.

"What a pity… but I'm afraid, once Naruto set his mind on something, he can't be dissuaded. He's going to use the scroll to take revenge on the village! Did you see the look in his eyes? Those were the eyes of the demon fox!" Mizuki said and Raida stood, stumbling to her feet, unable to listen to him anymore.

"Who the hell do you think you are Mizuki?" She hissed as she glared into his eyes, her blood red jewel-like eyes causing him to freeze momentarily in fear. "Naruto is no demon… but I am! And for you to do that to him… I'll kill you for that!" She hissed as a tear fell from her porcelain cheek and onto the ground. She looked at Iruka, their eyes meeting for just a moment before she saw the terror in them, but her eyes burned with absolute authority as she turned away from him, knowing that she probably wouldn't be welcomed back into the village after this.

"Kill me?" Mizuki demanded incredulously, and Raida dropped into a watchful, predatory crouch. "I'll kill Naruto, then you Raida, and lastly you Iruka." He said before taking off after Naruto.

"Keep out of my way… or you may end up hurt or…" She couldn't bring herself to say that she may kill him as well before she took off after Mizuki, the black chakra from before swirling around her, concentrated around her heart.

Raida caught up to Mizuki in minutes, her movements becoming wilder as she slowly began to completely lose herself in an unholy and bloodthirsty power. "You have threatened my friend… wounded me and my teacher… and caused the demon inside of me to awaken…those crimes, along with your crimes against our village are reason enough for me to kill you…and trust me, I'll make it painful and slow so you can beg me for a release from the pain that you will experience because of me…" She hissed as she grabbed his shirt and forced him to the ground, the bloodlust she felt no longer was under her own control… and she wanted to torture him, ripping him apart mentally before she inflicted true pain. Once on the ground though, she pounced on him, her claws ripping bloody gashes in his sides, her fangs glinting in a toothy grin just above his neck, the blood red gems for eyes clouded by something beyond what the twelve year old could have ever began to imagine… a bloodlust so monstrous that a terrified yell tore from Mizuki's throat.

"Any last wi-" She was lifted off of him and she shrieked with loss and rage at the loss of her victim as she tried to spinning around in the person's grasp while lunging at Mizuki with the intent to kill him. When she succeeded in spinning around to face the person she froze… her blood red eyes wide as she caught the gaze of the person's golden eyes. "Ryuji, wha-" Something hit her in the back of the head and her eyes turned back to storm grey as warm, comforting blackness washed over her…