Months later Naruto ran from his pursuers, ducking down the narrow ally way.
"You damn brat," the villager yelled, bits of rotting tomato still stuck to his face. Naruto just laughed, nimbly dodging around the various obstacles he set up earlier, while the man plowed through them, cursing as he slipped in the muck. Naruto reached the end of the ally, and turned around, smiling with anticipation.
"I've got you now, punk," the villager growled, walking up. He cracked his knuckles. "I'm going to beat you black and blue."
"Yeah? What's a fatass like you going to do? Fall on me? Suffocate me in your gigantic tummy?" Naruto mocked.
"Why you-" the man's already face turned nearly purple, and he charged forward, his meaty hands grasping for Naruto, who laughed as he pulled on a rope, yanking himself upward as he sent a deluge of garbage down on top of the villager. He landed smoothly on the roof of the building beside him.
"Oh, I know. You'll smell bad at me," Naruto yelled one final taunt before running off, still laughing his head off. He jumped down towards the street, channeling chakra into his legs as he fell to take the impact of the landing. He landed with a crack, attracting the attention of all the nearby villagers, who almost immediately glared or looked away with a huff. Naruto just grinned, and waved insolently. He walked away, closing his eyes as he did. He focused on the pulses of hatred he felt around him.
"I count eleven," he said to Kurama, slipping into his inner mind.
"Try harder kit. There are ten villagers and one ninja who really hates you or isn't bothering to hide it. But you missed the hatred of the other three ninja, including your watchdog," Kurama said, chiding Naruto. "Sensing the hatred of the villagers is pointless they are stupid, small minded beings to begin with. They will never be a threat to us. Until you can reliably detect ninja, you're nothing more than a helpless kit."
"I'm not that bad," Naruto protested. "Even if I can't see them coming they aren't going to be able to kill me. And I'm already stronger then any of my classmates."
"Don't be stupid kit!" Kurama roared, the shockwave from his voice knocking Naruto over. "Relying on your ability to survive a blow is a good way to die! A blow from ambush is ten times as deadly as the one you see coming! And never ever think a fight is fair! When, and yes, when, not if, a ninja is sent to kill you, they aren't going to send some half-trained brat out on his first mission. You'll get a seasoned killer who has slaughtered more people than you can count. That's the reality we demons face."
"I'm not a demon though," Naruto muttered, sulking.
"You are," Kurama replied, easily hearing Naruto's low voice.
"But the old man says-"
"That you are a human, that I'm evil, and you can't believe a word I say, because I'm the demon. Yes, I know. I hear everything you do, kit," Kurama interrupted, rolling his eyes.
"Well the old man wouldn't lie to me," Naruto insisted.
"Of course he would," Kurama said, amused. "There isn't a human alive who doesn't lie. And that goes twice for ninja. The Hokage is the greatest ninja in the village and that means he's also the greatest liar." Naruto opened his mouth to protest, but Kurama silenced him by slamming his paw on the ground. "No interrupting kit! I'm not finished yet. If the old man truly cares so damn much about you, then why hasn't he taken you into his home? He can certainly afford to considering he pays all your bills anyways. But no. He leaves you to take care of yourself. He either values the opinion of the villagers or he hates you as well and is just a lot better at hiding it."
"He doesn't hate me," Naruto said, his eyes watering.
"Who knows? He's one of the few ninja that can completely hide his killing intent. Not even I can detect his hatred. But there's a human saying; actions speak louder than words. What has the old man actually done?" Kurama asked.
"He treats me really nicely," Naruto said, immediately.
"He treats you politely," Kurama countered. "You just think it's exceptional because everyone else treats you like garbage."
"He takes care of me. He gives us money, and he hasn't driven us out of the village," Naruto said, after thinking about it for a few minutes.
"True. But that is likely because he wants to work for the village when you grow up," Kurama said. "I'll give him credit though, at least he's being smart about it."
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.
"You are more powerful than you realize. Your own chakra is already the equal to an adult ninja, and will only grow as you get older. And should I deign to allow it, you can even channel my power as well. So it makes sense that he would want you to be a ninja and turn you into a tool for war," Kurama explained.
"Not that, the other part. About being smart," Naruto said.
"Oh that. In other villages they would abuse and torture their jinchuriki because they are demons. And then act surprised and horrified when their junchuriki inevitably betray and attack the village. As if they didn't deserve it," Kurama sneered.
"That's awful," Naruto said, frowning.
"It is. Honestly, I don't know why you are so against being a demon. It's so much better then being another worthless human," Kurama said. "We at least don't kill and enslave our own. In fact, most of us don't even want to hurt humans. We just want to be left alone."
"So if you ever got out you'd got live in peace?" Naruto asked.
"What? Oh no. I would go on such a rampage, you have no idea," Kurama chuckled. "This village has been the bane of my existence since it's founding. And the continual disrespect! Treating me as if I was nothing more than a weapon to be called out at their convenience. If I ever get out I will inflict such wrath upon Konoha that people in the Land of Storms will have nightmares."
"But that's not fair either!" Naruto protested, standing back up, and glaring at Kurama. "I don't know what happened in the past, but the villagers here didn't do anything to you,"
"But they did," Kurama said, grinning down at Naruto. "They hurt you." Naruto closed his mouth, shocked. "You are mine, kit. That means any insult or attack on you is an insult to me. And if you don't repay those debts in your life, then I'll repay them in your stead."
"I don't want that," Naruto whispered. "I don't want that! I don't want you taking vengeance or anything like that! What's that going to solve? It's just going to hurt a bunch more people who will want vengeance of their own!"
"And what are you going to do about it?" Kurama asked, laughing. "Are you going to change the world? Unite the villages? Rescue all of my brothers?"
"Believe it! I'll do all of that and more! I'm going to be the greatest ninja that ever lived!" Naruto declared. "And I'll even get you to forgive everyone!"
"Ha! Well kit, if that's the sort of demon you want to be, then at the very least my time in here won't be boring! I look forward to seeing what you can do," Kurama said.
A year later
Naruto was practicing his hatred sensing as he walked towards his first day of class. The familiar waves of hatred, anger, and other negative emotions washed over him. He paused, taking a deep breath to settle himself before continuing onward. It never got any easier to engulf himself in the negative emotions of the town. In fact, it got worse and worse. First he could reliably detect a ninja's hatred towards him, but it wasn't long until he was able to detect the hatred people felt for each other. The first time he sensed it was also the first time he really hoped that the fox was right, and that he was a demon. Everyone hated someone else. They hated those richer for having what they did not. They hated those poorer than them for being in the way and scaring them. They held grudges for hurts long past. They hated complete strangers just for being different. It was depressing and overwhelming all at once and it made him wish he wasn't part of humanity.
"I'll become the greatest demon the world has ever seen. I'll steal away all of your hatred and suffering, believe it." Naruto said to himself, repeating what had become a familiar mantra to himself. He navigated the busy streets, and quickly made his way to the academy.
"Naruto Uzumaki," The teacher called, looking over the class. His words were accompanied with a spike of hatred, but Naruto just grinned. It was such a relief inside the class. The hatred of his fellow students was so mild in comparison to the ninja around town.
"Hello everyone! I'm Naruto, and I hope we'll be able to be good friends," Naruto greeted the class, paying close attention to everyone's reactions. To his joy, there were actually a few people who didn't greet his words with hostility. He took careful note of the fellow students who weren't hostile to him. A lazy looking kid, who looked half asleep. A black haired girl with white eyes, who glanced once at him shyly before looking down. A pink haired girl whose attention was focused entirely on the last one, a black haired guy with dark eyes.
The class itself passed in a blur, with the teacher lecturing them on some subject or another. Naruto wasn't paying attention. In fact, it was all he could do to stay awake. The lack of killing intent was so nice. Even the teacher's jarring note of hate was subdued beneath the boredom of the lesson. Naruto yawned and rested his head on his arms. I guess this is why demons like the wilds so much. Not being around so many people is actually really pleasant. Naruto thought sleepily, before a spike of hatred jolted him awake.
"Naruto!" the teacher snapped. "Are you paying attention?"
"Of course sensei," Naruto said, grinning.
"Then what was I saying?" the teacher asked.
"Blah blah blah, here's a bunch of stuff that has nothing to do about being a ninja, blah blah blah," Naruto said, immediately.
"Do you think this is a joke?" the teacher yelled, his hatred spiking.
"No no," Naruto said, "jokes are supposed to be funny." One of his classmates snorted as the teacher's teeth ground together in frustration.
"Detention," the teacher snarled. Naruto just watched him, amused at the futile rage he was pouring out. Naruto fought to keep a smile off his face. Yeah, being forced to stay behind in an empty building away from everyone else. Where nobody is allowed to hurt me, and no excuses will be accepted for 'accidents'. What an awful punishment. Naruto thought to himself as the lecture resumed.
At lunch Naruto went looking for the kids he had noticed before. The black haired kid was easiest to find, but Naruto took one look at the rabid fangirls surrounding the kid and decided against it. Instead he approached the sleepy looking kid, who seemed to be taking a nap along a fat kid ate his lunch instead.
"Hey, how's it going? Mind if I sit here?" Naruto asked, sliding in next to the sleeping kid. The fat kid looked nervous, but the napping kid just opened an eye and shrugged. "I'm Naruto," Naruto said, holding a hand out to shake.
"Shikamaru. And this is Choji," Shikamaru said, gesturing to his friend.
"What possessed you to talk back to the teacher like that?" Choji asked, outraged.
"Well-" Naruto began only to be interrupted.
"Oy, Naruto right? That was hilarious back in the classroom," the dog kid said, slapping Naruto on the back as he sat down at the table. "Name's Kiba."
"Nice to meet you Kiba," Naruto said. "Now, as I was saying to Choji, I've got something to confess about why I said what I did."
"Yeah, what's that?" Kiba asked. Naruto dramatically gestured for them to lean in, and lowered his voice.
"I wasn't actually paying attention," Naruto whispered, before grinning. Kiba burst out laughing, and Choji gave a small grin, before trying to stifle it. Shikamaru looked up at Naruto, still not bothering to raise his head.
"You don't care about getting in trouble?" Shikamaru asked.
"Phhh, what trouble? Having to stay late? Being suspended? Whatever. That's just time I'd spend practicing anyways, so who cares?" Naruto said, flippantly.
"How bothersome," Shikamaru said, "but it's not really my problem. At least when you're fighting the teachers, I'll be able to nap in peace."
"I guess this is why our parents warned us to stay away from you," Kiba said.
"Kiba," Choji hissed, glancing at Naruto.
"What? It makes sense. We've been in one class and he's already got detention. And he did it deliberately. So he's some hooligan that our parents are afraid will get us into trouble. Makes sense, right?" Kiba said, not leaking even the tiniest bit of anger or hostility. "Kinda annoying though. I wish they weren't so coy about it, and trusted us to stay out of trouble. We are training to be ninja after all."
"That's not why," Naruto said.
"Oh?" Shikamaru asked, opening both eyes and look at Naruto. "Then what is the reason?"
"They don't want you hanging around me because I'm a demon," Naruto said, concentrating on his classmates.
"A demon? You're kidding right?" Kiba asked, while Choji just stared, his fear and distrust spiking. For the first time Shikamaru sat up, and gave Naruto his full attention.
"That's what they tell me," Naruto said, shrugging.
"They? Who?" Shikamaru asked.
"The adults in the village. When they don't think I'm listening they call me a demon," Naruto said, shrugging again.
"That's interesting. My parents didn't have anything to say about you," Shikamaru said. "I wonder what they'll tell me when I ask them about this?"
"Ditto," Kiba said, now releasing nervousness and discomfort. Choji was silently freaking out from what Naruto could sense from him. "Still, if you are a demon, then what are you doing here?"
"The old man wanted me to enroll," Naruto said. "He said being a ninja would be a good way to support myself when I grew up, and I'd learn a lot as well. So I enrolled."
"All three of us are from ninja clans. So we enrolled because we were expected to. It's so bothersome," Shikamaru sighed. "I'd much rather just relax and watch the clouds. But my family insisted, and fighting with them would be even more bothersome."
"I want to live up to my family legacy," Choji said, quietly.
"Ha! Those are all boring reasons. Me, I'm aiming for the top! I'm going to be Hokage!" Kiba declared.
"Nice. And what would you do as Hokage?" Naruto asked. Kiba started talking about his various plans to turn Konoha into some sort of dog paradise. Naruto listened, and joked around with the other kids as rejoiced as he sensed their hostility slowly begin to fade.
"Don't get too cocky kit. We'll see how they treat you after their parents have talked to them again," Kurama rumbled from deep inside his soul.
I know, Naruto thought back. But it's a good first step.
A few more classes went by and then the class was brought outside for practical lessons. To Naruto's embarrassment he was the absolute worst in the class in using kunai or shuriken. His stances for martial arts were awful, and he couldn't even throw a proper punch. However when it came to the obstacle course, Naruto was unmatched, with only the black haired boy from earlier even coming close to his time. His traps were top notch, and to the surprise of everyone, he was almost impossible to find when he was hiding. He aced the detection part of training as well, but he wasn't nearly as proud of that. After all, all he had to do was look for his opponent's emotions and follow them to their source.
"All right kids," their latest teacher, Mizuki clapped his hands together. "Lets end the day with a little sparring. We'll start with Sasuke Uchiha vs Naruto Uzumaki. The rules are simple. Fight until you either push your opponent out of the ring, pin them flat, or until one of you gives up."
"An Uchiha?" Kurama rumbled, "take a deep sniff kit, let me smell this human child." Naruto complied, breathing deeply from his nose as he entered the ring. "It is an Uchiha. You should kill it now, before it has a chance to spread its cursed ways any further."
What, I'm not going to kill him! Mizuki-Sensei would stop me if I tried, Naruto thought. Secondly, it's wrong. Actually make that first. First, it's wrong to just kill people, second Mizuki-Sensei would stop me anyways. Naruto's distraction cost him, as the fight began and Sasuke immediately punched him in the nose. Naruto reeled back, and Sasuke followed up by punching him in the gut. As Naruto involuntarily bent forward, Sasuke grabbed the back of his head and brutally smashed his knee into Naruto's face. Naruto collapsed on the ground, and Sasuke turned away, a taste of disdain filling the air as he started to walk way.
"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Naruto asked, staggering back to his feet. He grinned weakly. "I haven't given up, and you haven't pinned me yet." Sasuke turned around, his face cold.
"Don't be dumb. You don't stand a chance against me," Sasuke said.
"Maybe not," Naruto said, shrugging. "But we're training, and I'm not going to get better if I don't push myself." Sasuke thought for a second, before nodding. He took a step forward and returned to the ready stance. Naruto narrowed his eyes, and the pair began circling around each other.
So who are the Uchiha anyways? Naruto thought to Kurama, being careful not to let his guard down.
"They are slavers and betrayers," Kurama growled. "Their eyes are cursed, allowing them great power, but only if they devote themselves to hatred and evil. By betraying those closest to them, they can enhance their eyes further. From the looks of things, this young Uchiha is still in the first stage. He hasn't betrayed anyone yet."
I see, Naruto thought, dodging a sudden punch from Sasuke. He threw his own punch, only for Sasuke to easily grab his arm. Sasuke flipped Naruto over his shoulder, slamming Naruto into the ground, and immediately slammed a knee into his chest. He sat there, a knee pinning Naruto in place.
"And finished," Sasuke said, glancing at Mizuki to make sure.
"Well done Sasuke," Mizuki said, applauding. "You utterly destroyed him. Naruto, try not to be so pathetic next time. Next up with Ino vs Sakura." The class settled down to watch the next fight, as Naruto took a seat next to Sasuke.
"That was a good fight," Naruto said. Sasuke glanced at him and smirked condescendingly. "Okay, you kicked my butt," Naruto admitted. "Those were some pretty slick moves, who taught you?" Naurto was almost immediately floored by the sudden spike of pain and hate coming from Sasuke.
"Hn," Sasuke grunted, his face cold, as everyone turned to stare at Naruto's display.
"What on Earth happened to you?" Naruto asked, loudly. Everyone began muttering, and the girls stopped fighting to look over."
"Hn," Sasuke just grunted and walked away. Naruto got up and tried to chase after him, only to be grabbed by Mizuki
"What do you think you're doing you piece of crap? Are you trying to harass Sasuke or something after he humiliated you? Just because you're garbage, doesn't mean you can bother the actual students you got that?" Mizuki yelled, shaking Naruto. He threw him into the dirt, radiating hate and sadism. "Run laps around the field for the rest of the class. I may have no choice about your presence here, but I won't allow you to distract any of the other students."
"Jerk. You just want to hurt me," Naruto muttered, getting up and beginning to run. The class ended and they went back inside. They had one more class and then Naruto reported for his detention. The teacher gave him a bunch of line to write, and Naruto sat down and started doodling. The teacher yelled at him when he came over to check on Naruto's work, but Naruto just laughed.
"So what are you going to do? Tell my parents?" Naruto challenged, staring into his teacher's hateful eyes. "Complain to the Hokage? What?"
"Get out," the teacher groweled, his hatred turning rancid. "And I won't let you waste the time of the students who actually have a future."
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.
"I said get out!" The teacher yelled, slamming his fist on his desk. Naruto backed off, and left the school.
"Do you think I went too far?" he asked, aloud.
"No," Kurama said, yawning. "They were never going to treat you fairly anyways. The Academy won't teach you anything useful. A teacher or two actively sabotaging you is irrelevant."
"But then how am I supposed to learn any jutsus?" Naruto asked, frowning.
"I will teach you," Kurama replied. "I'm already teaching you how to sense chakra, I might as well teach you the other applications of that skill. So let us begin. First check to see if anyone is watching you, I don't want any humans learning any of my demonic techniques." Naruto nodded and did a quick scan of the emotions around him. He immediately caught a spike of hatred and pain a short distance away.
"What's that?" Naruto asked.
"Humans hurting humans," Kurama sneered, "it's none of our business. And you're already running to check it out," Kurama sighed. "Well go and have fun with it at least. We'll pick this up tomorrow," Kurama added, before returning to his rest. Naruto ran to the disturbance, and saw the black haired girl from class surrounded by three older kids who had pushed her to the ground and were taunting her. He didn't pause for a second, running as fast as he could to the closest kid.
"Dramatic entrance!" He screamed as he threw himself into a full body drop kick. The kid he was targeting looked over just in time to take Naruto's foot to the face.
"It's that damn demon brat," one of the kids yelled.
"Get him!" the other yelled, completely forgetting about the girl on the ground. The trio of kids chased after Naruto who laughed as he ran away. He kept himself just out of reach, encouraging the kids to keep chasing him through the town. Once he noticed the kids getting tired he led them straight towards one of the traps he had set up. The brats were soon buried in a pile of refuse, and Naruto headed back to where the girl was. He was smiling as he went, satisfied in a job well done, but his smile quickly faded when he sensed the girl's pain. He turned the corner to see the girl still on the ground, crying softly, as she sat in the dirt.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Naruto asked, offering her a hand. She started, and stared blankly up at Naruto. "Come on, don't leave me hanging," Naruto said, wiggling his hand.
"Sorry," the girl mumbled, gently putting her hand in his. He pulled her up, and steadied her.
"So what was going on anyways?" Naruto asked. The girl just looked down, refusing to answer, even as her pain increased. Naruto sighed, and grabbed her hand. "Come on, let's get moving," he said, pulling her along.
"O-okay," she said, startled, walking behind Naruto.
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto said. "What's your name?"
"Hinata Hyuga," she said. "Umm, where are you taking me?" she asked, after a few seconds of silence.
"Oh, sorry," Naruto said, letting go of her hand. "I'm just heading to one of my best hiding spots. I didn't mean to drag you away."
"It's okay," Hinata said. "Um, now what?"
"I guess I could take you home," Naruto said, wincing at the small flicker of sadness Hinata emitted at the word. "Or not I guess. What's bothering you about your home?"
"How did you know?" Hinata gasped, her eyes wide.
"I'm a demon," Naruto said, shrugging. "I can sense all sorts of things. Including that thinking about your home makes you sad."
"Oh," Hinata said, looking down.
"Oh come on, don't feel ashamed," Naruto said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "I don't know what's bothering you, only that it does. But even if I did know, you shouldn't feel ashamed of your problems."
"What do you mean?" Hinata asked, looking back up at Naruto.
"Whatever is bothering you is hurting you. And your pain is no less real than anyone else's. Small and simple or large and complex, it's still a problem, and you shouldn't be ashamed of it," Naruto said.
"What if it's my own fault though?" Hinata asked.
"So you aren't perfect," Naruto snorted. "No one is. Now what do you want to do?"
"Hmm?" Hinata mumbled,
"Do you want me to bring you home? Or do you want to wander around town with me?" Naruto asked. Hinanta looked down, mumbling underneath her breath. "Come on, you're going to need to speak a little louder than that." Hinata hesitated before sighing.
"Take me home, please," she whispered, barely loud enough to hear, radiating reluctance and disappointment.
"If you're sure," Naruto shrugged taking her hand again and smiling as her disappointment vanished. They walked through the town to the Hyuga compound, with Naruto chatting about the various bits of gossip he overheard and his favorite hiding spots. They soon arrived and Naruto let go of her hand. "Here we go," he said. Hinata frowned and looked down at the ground. Naruto smiled at her and gently raised her chin so she was staring at him.
"This doesn't have to be a one time thing," Naruto said. "If you ever want to hang out, just find me after class, okay?" Hinata looked shocked before hesitantly nodding. Naruto released her, "then I'll see you tomorrow!"
Author's Notes:
So new story, one that is highly inspired by some other fanfictions I've read, mostly Fuzzy Logic by Deritine, but a few others as well. I won't be following canon for very long, or very closely, for reasons that will soon become really evident. The biggest changes so far is that Naruto is a lot more sensitive, and a lot more disrespectful. He can tell when someone is trying to screw him over, or is trying to hide their problems and that's going to change a lot.
The other big change is that he thinks more widespread then before. He doesn't want to be Hokage, because that's only leading over one village, and that's not enough for Naruto at this point. He wants to help everyone, not just the village of the leaf.