CHAPTER 2 Blood vows and demons… oh my

After Geko had finished with curing the stranger, he looked to his Hokage, who nodded before he poofed away, leaving Naruto, Fox and Neko to look after him. They didn't have long to wait, thanks to the skilled attentions of the healer. The man sat back up with a small groan.

"Damn that stupid ass. See if I take another job for him again…" were the first words out of his mouth.

"Who are you, stranger? Why are you here?"

The stranger looked up at the group, seeing the Hokage, flanked by two females in professional looking clothing and face masks with a fifteen year old sitting on the ground in front of them. It was the boy who held his attention the most, as his extra senses were telling him some interesting things about this boy.

"My name is Dante, and as for why I'm here… well, frankly I have no idea where here is, so I don't have one."

"I see. Well, we can offer you hospitality in return for your word to cause no trouble for the night. I will need to speak with you again tomorrow. In the meantime, Naruto-" on hearing his name, the boy looked at the old Hokage- "Why don't you go back to your appartment and get some rest. Fox, you are released for the night and Neko, would you show our guest to the hotel?" getting nods from the two ladies, the Hokage smiled a bit as they all left.

All in all, it was a successful handling of the situation. So why did he feel a chill of premonition? Something was going to happen soon, and he deeply doubted that it would be a good thing.

Naruto was just about home. He had managed to avoid the gangs of people on street level by using the roof road. He sighed as he listened to the ones below him, cursing the "demon brat" for escaping them. He didn't know why they called him that, but it was wearing on his already over-thinned patience.

Pushing the uncomfortable thoughts to the back of his mind for later, he finally made it back home. However, his night was about to go straight to hell.

Just pushing the door open, there was a slight shnick sound and then an expolsion threw the door, and Naruto, into the wall nearby. Having been stunned by the impact, his ears ringing, and his eyesight blurred by the impact and the smoke, he saw his home, all he had go up in smoke.

Before he could do anything, he was beset by another angry mob. This time he couldn't run, couldn't defend himself. He was going to die. He knew that, and hated it.

As the villagers and even some of his supposed comrades and guardians, the ninja of the leaf, continued their beatings, there was four things that saved him. One was the stunning arrival of the stranger, who arrived like a comet from on high, using the shockwave of his impact to stun several villagers.

The second thing was a particular pale-eyed girl and her father. They had been on their way home and had heard and investigated the noise only to see the boy getting the holy hell beaten out of him. Without a thought or a moments hesitation, Hinata ran into the crowd, using her families fighting style to disable the insane villagers. Hiashi followed after getting over his own shock at his daughters actions.

The third thing was the arrival of Neko, Fox and the Third Hokage, who immediately started returning the beating to the villagers for breaking the law.

The fourth and final thing was Naruto himself. Out of the blue, a fierce wave of anger broke over the combatants, freezing up most of the people. They turned to see Naruto stand up and break a villagers leg. He then proceeded to pay them back for all the abuse he'd gotten.

He was so lost in fury that it was only the actions of one Hinata Hyuga that managed to calm his insane rampage. She stood in front of him, tears in her gentle eyes begging him to stop. What shocked everyone what that he did.

Until one of the villagers hit her before anyone could react. When he saw that, Naruto flipped even more. Moving too fast to track, he kicked the man with a lunging kick to the chest, grabbed one of his arms, yanked him back before grabbing his throat and ripping it out in a spray of blood. Everyone, villagers on up to the Hokage himself froze at the sight of the now-dead villager bleeding out on the ground.

Naruto snapped back to himself and saw what he had done. With a look of dawning horror, he screamed in pain and fled the scene. Hinata had seen what he did, everyone there did, but that didn't change her feelings for the boy. She spit on the corpse of the villager and then took off in hot pursuit of her secret crush.

Naruto was perched on a tree limb, crying in shame at what he had done. He hadn't wanted to hurt the villagers, hell, he wanted to protect them! But when he saw that one man hit Hinata in the back, he had lost it and any vestige of control he had. Now he was beating himself up inside for what he had done, and in front of everyone no less.

Maybe their right. Maybe I am a demon.

That was what he was thinking until he saw Hinata looking at him from across the same branch he was perching on. He started to turn away in shame, only to be stopped by her soft, gentle hands on his face.

"N-Naruto, I-..I saw what happened and…"

"Yeah, Hinata, I killed him. I'm sorry for doing it but after he hit you… I just- I couldn't let him get away with that!"

Hinata's heart was glad that he said that, and she opened her mouth to say something else, but they were interrupted.

"Naruto, I have to speak with you." came the voice of the old Hokage.

"Hinata, come on. Let's go see what the old man wants, aside from a severe chewing-out."

Hinata giggled a bit in spite of the seriousness of the situation. Naruto could always make her laugh.

--2 hours later--

Hinata was in shock. Naruto, her crush, was the container of the demon fox? How? Why? It made no sense… Although many things now did to the smart girl.

As for Naruto himself, he was likewise in shock. His mind was awhirl with random thoughts and feelings, sadness, anger, understanding. He sat for a few minutes as he absorbed all the information the old man he looked at as a grandfather had given him. He had the most feared demon trapped inside him and was to be its container till his dying day. Then he began to laugh and cry at the same time.

"Naruto? W-What's wrong?" asked Hinata in concern. She was afraid he was having a mental breakdown.

"Oh, it's just that now I get why I've been hated all this time… damn." Suddenly he was possessed of a deep and abiding anger. Moving quickly, he punched the wall, it being less likely to get hurt than if he hit the old man or Hinata. He did this several more times cursing all the while.

"Why? WHY?! All I wanted was to be accepted and cared for, to protect this village and its people! Damn it all! (Sigh) Well, if that don't clinch it. Old man, I can't stay here. If I do, I'm gonna get murdered in my sleep. There's only so much you can do with that stupid Council on your back, so…"

The Third Hokage nodded sadly as he saw the truth of what Naruto was saying. Hinata paled a bit as she too realized the implications of what he was saying. She would never see her love again! She had to sop it!

"Why? Why do you have to leave? Why can't you stay here… stay with me?" She whispered the last bit, but she was still heard loud and clear. Naruto was a bit surprised at that, but he moved over to her and instinctively wrapped her in a hug.

"There is nothing I would like more than to stay… here… but if I do, even if I tried, I'd still be forced to leave eventually, and on that trip, there is no coming back… And I'm not ready for that trip yet."

Hinata nodded as she finally saw what he meant, blushing a bit as she accepted his embrace, feeling secure and safe for the first time in a long time. She just rested her head against his shoulder and cried a bit, since she would be losing him so soon.

"I'm sorry, but…" She still couldn't speak the words, the words that nestled oh so close to her heart.

"I know, just hold on. When I'm strong enough, I'll come back for you, I swear."

Hinata pulled back from him quickly. "Really? You mean it?"

He nodded, then pulled a kunai from his holster, and before she knew what he planned, he cut his palm and told her, in a solemn voice, "Hinata Hyuga, I swear by my hearts blood, I will return for you once I have achieved my strength. " Hinata blushed at his vow, and smiled at him. What she did next surprised the two men in the room.

Taking the bloody kunai from Naruto, she likewise cut her palm to let the blood flow and told him, in an equally solemn voice, "Naruto Uzumaki, I swear by my hearts blood to be strong enough for you when you return for me." Extending her cut hand towards Naruto, he nodded and took it, letting their mutual vows meet. There was a tingle as their hands met and their blood flowed, then a small burning.

Crying out in shock, the two teens looked at their hands in amazement. There was a small mark on their hands, a spiky circle enclosing the kanji for blood vow. Sarutobi was shocked. He had never seen that happen before, and he had seen quite a bit in his time. Hinata saw the mark on her palm and looked questioningly at Naruto, only to see him looking off into space with a look like he was deep in thought.

--INSIDE THE MINDSCAPE--

Shaking his head at the rough landing, Naruto looked around. How in the hell's did I get in a sewer? Last I knew, I was in the old man's office… Hrm… lets investigate. So deciding, Naruto began poking around. In his wanderings, he saw strange things, pipes, what appeared to be an office, and a picture gallery, except that most of the frames were empty, with the notable exception being a large picture of Hinata framed in gold. That shocked Naruto, but he was gonna let it lie for now. He was nearing the end of the trail and he was curious to see what lay at the end.

Reaching it, he was surprised to see bars with a seal on it that he had never seen before. Moving closer, he tried to see if anything was in the cage, when two glowing eyes opened up almost directly in front of him. Letting out a scream of fright, he jumped back.

:Hello, boy. Finally decided to stop by and see me after all this time, huh? I'd just about given up on that.:

"What are you talking about? Where am I, and who in Kami's name are you?!"

:Well, as to the first, you are currently… in your mindscape. I have to say, I will be really glad when you get around to changing the décor around here. Quite depressing to see this day in and day out for thirteen years. And as to the second, I am none other than the Kyuubi no Kitsune, your so-called "demon fox":