The next few years were relatively dull. Naruto slacked off in school, trained with Kurama, and hung out with Hinata. Kiba was a fun-loving prankster, but as the years went by, he grew more focused on his training, wanting to surpass Sasuke as the best student in a one sided rivalry. He even tried courting one of Sasuke's fangirls with no success. Sasuke was still a prick. He would continuously rebuff Naruto's attempts to help resolve his problems, and be his friend. Under Mizuki's guidance he grew more vicious, beating Naruto more brutally each time. The only reason Sasuke hadn't severely hurt anyone yet was because the only person he every fought was Naruto, who healed from the injuries before anyone besides Hinata noticed how bad they really were. Hinata grew closer to Naruto, joining him and Kiba at lunch, watching over Naruto's training, and checking up on him when Naruto was too slow to escape on a prank and got sick after being forced to drink a liter of rancid milk. Her relationship with her family openly suffered though, with them disapproving of her association with Naruto and her adamant refusal to stop. She was punished multiple times, and the next time she'd meet Naruto she'd be covered in bruises from whatever training they chose as her punishment.
"I hate this," Naruto said, softly, as Hinata rested her head on his lap.
"Hm?" she hummed, radiating contentedness and the warm emotion that Naruto still hadn't identified.
"That they keep hurting you. This isn't training, this is just abuse," Naruto said, holding a bag of ice against Hinata's black eye.
"It's no worse then what Sasuke does to you every day," Hinata replied, keeping her voice quiet to reduce the strain on her bruised throat.
"But I heal fast," Naruto said, upset. "You have to suffer for weeks and it's my fault." He took a deep breath. "If I-"
"I'm going to cut you off right there kit," Kurama rumbled, angry. "You are not to blame for the sins of humanity. If her family beats her for being your friend, that doesn't mean you are responsible. Nor is it her fault for going against her family. The only ones to blame are the ones hitting her."
"It's not your fault, Naruto," Hinata said, at the same time. "I'm not going to let my family drive you away, so don't even start." She opened her good eye and grabbed Naruto's free hand with her battered ones.
"It's still not right. You shouldn't have to suffer like this," Naruto said.
"Nobody said it was," Hinata said, smiling sadly. "But my clan has a lot of issues and really, me being hurt in training is nothing compared to what Neji has had to put up with. As a member of the branch family he has a special seal on his eyes that allows main branch members to kill him from afar, halt him with bursts of pain, and his father was sacrificed to keep the peace with a different ninja village."
"Wow, that is, wow," Naruto said, eyes wide. "I kinda don't like your family now. Is that okay?"
"That's fine," Hinata murmured. "They don't like you either. They think you are a bad influence on me."
"Hinata, I am the best influence," Naruto declared, grinning widely. She smiled back, closing her eye again.
"You really are. Do you mind if I take a quick nap?" she murmured.
"That's fine Hinata, I can show you my new trick later," he said, watching her snooze on his lap. There was a funny feeling in his chest as his eyes traced the details of her face.
"Hey Kurama?" he whispered mentally.
"You don't need to whisper kit, we're talking mentally," Kurama said. "What's up?"
"Are you sure about that? I swear, sometimes it's like Hinata can read my mind," Naruto said.
"All vixens can do that, don't worry about it. And don't you dare tell me you are still thinking about that garbage of Hinata's injuries being your fault," Kurama said, with a warning growl.
"Nah, you guys are right. Like, maybe if it was possible to talk things over, and I didn't, or I actually did something, then maybe it'd be my fault, but I think her clan is just run by awful people," Naruto said.
"I told you so. Ninjas are awful people," Kurama said, smugly.
"There can be good ninjas," Naruto protested.
"Sure. But they are good people despite being ninjas. Really, the whole killing people for money thing that ninjas do should be a pretty big hint on what they are like," Kurama said. "But we've gone over all this before. You seem to want to talk about something else."
"Right right. Umm. Is it just me, or has Hinata gotten really cute?" Naruto asked.
"Oh. Oh no. Please no," Kurama said, dread in his voice.
"And sometimes, when I look at her my chest goes all tight, and my heart feels like it's thumping really hard, and my mouth goes all dry and it gets really hard to say what I'm thinking," Naruto rambled on. "Which is weird for me. I mean, I like talking, and can just keep talking all the time. I really don't need something to talk about to keep talking you know? I can just make the words appear. But then Hinata will brush back her hair, and glance at me with those pearly white eyes and I'll suddenly unable to speak, and that just doesn't happen to me. It's like all of a sudden I really need to say something but I can't figure it out and all the words get clogged up in my throat and it makes it hard to breath cause of the word blockage."
"No. Please, just stop," Kurama said, laying down and covering his face with his paws.
"Anyways, do you know what's going on?"
"That's. Not. I mean. Arrgh, why are humans so useless?!" Kurama shouted in frustration.
"What brought that on? I'm just asking a question," Naruto asked, confused.
"I know. It's not your fault," Kurama sighed. "I'm just angry that I'm the one who has to explain this to you. Okay, so. When a kit starts to grow up into a reynard, he begin to notice vixens in a more...physical manner. That's perfectly normal and natural. He becomes attracted to a vixen in particular, and decides to court her. Now it's up to you how to court a vixen, but typically singing and playing are good ways to go about it."
"Playing? What do you mean?" Naruto asked.
"Well you leave your den, meet in neutral territory, and then do something that's fun for both of you. Anyways if the vixen accepts the reynard's courtship, the two will mate and have kits," Kurama said.
"And then?"
"And then life goes on, except the mated pair will typically stick together, raising their own kits to live their own lives," Kurama said, nodding to himself in satisfaction.
"Huh. Well how do you mate with someone anyways?" Naruto asked.
"BY ALL NINE OF MY FURRY TAILS I AM NOT TEACHING YOU HOW TO HAVE SEX!" Kurama roared. "You and Hinata can figure that out on your own! Just do what feels good, don't be too shy, and communicate with each other!"
"Wait, Hinata and me?" Naruto asked, shocked.
"Don't be a dunce, kit! Of course Hinata and you. Those 'weird feelings' are your body's way of telling you that you're attracted to Hinata. Now I'm done with this. Go away!" Kurama snapped, turning his back on the bars of his prison and ignoring Naruto.
/*/
Later Naruto was eating at his favorite/the only ramen restaurant that would serve him food when a dog masked ANBU showed up and grabbed him by the shoulder.
"Damn it Dog, I'm trying to eat here," Naruto cursed, as he was dragged away from the counter.
"The Hokage requires your presence," Dog said, a barely detectable undercurrent of spite radiating off of him. "Come along."
"I can walk you know," Naruto said, struggling in Dog's grip. "Hey, Chef! Put that on the Hokage's tab! If he's going to interrupt my meal the least he can do is pay for it!"
"A brat like you shouldn't talk about the Hokage like that," Dog said, a flicker of hate escaping his control.
"Yeah, well, a jerk like you shouldn't be interrupting a person's dinner," Naruto said. "And I can walk by myself. You don't need to drag me the whole way there."
"If I let go of you, you'll run away, and these days you're a pain in the ass to catch," Dog said, coldly.
"I won't run. I'll go meet the Old Man, so you can let go already!" Naruto said, redoubling his efforts to pull away.
"No," Dog replied, tightening his grip. Naruto continued to give Dog a hard time, making a scene as he was slowly pulled to the Hokage's tower. As he got closer Naruto couldn't help but settle down, the waves of pain and fear radiating from the building nauseating him. By the time he reached the Hokage's office, Naruto was somber and silent, trying his best to block out the horrible feelings he was sensing.
"Ah, Naruto it's good to see you," the Third Hokage said, smiling. Despite his appearance Naruto couldn't sense anything from him. Where even experienced jonin still had wisps of emotion that Naruto could sense, the Hokage was like a void. Whatever emotions he felt were tightly contained and controlled. "Dog you are dismissed."
"Yes sir," Dog bowed, and left the room. An awkward silence fell, as Naruto and the Hokage stared at each other. A few seconds passed before the silence was broken by Naruto's stomach rumbling.
"So what's up Old Man? What's so important that you had to drag me away from my dinner?" Naruto asked, trying to put some life in his voice. Hiruzen stared at him for a second, before letting out a sad sigh.
"It was nothing urgent. I apologize for interrupting your meal, I'll make sure to buy you all the ramen you can eat afterwards to make up for it," he said, bowing his head slightly. "Dog is a diligent ANBU, he must've been eager to finish my request and return to his other duties."
"Bastard probably waited until I was eating just so he could ruin my meal," Naruto muttered. "Well, alright, I forgive you. So what's up?" he asked loudly. The Hokage smiled, and held his hands together as he gazed at Naruto.
"I wanted to talk to you about your studies," Hiruzen said. "You've entered your final year in the academy and from all indication it looks like you are set to fail." Hiruzen held up a hand to interrupt Naruto, "and yet you are skilled enough at hiding that the only ninja I could trust to successfully track you down is the head of the ANBU, even fully trained ninja end up falling for your elaborate pranks, and when we found one of your hidden training areas, the damage to the scenery suggested you are many times more powerful than anything you have shown in class. Can you please explain this discrepancy?"
Naruto gulped, "alright," he said, taking a deep breath. "The truth is that I really don't want to be a ninja. I don't like it. I don't want to be like the ninja I see around the village."
"What do you mean?" Hiruzen asked. Naruto began to sweat, desperately wishing he could sense something from the man behind the desk, or at least, stop the constant pain that was radiating from elsewhere in the tower. Naruto got up, and moved to the window, opening it, taking a few deep breaths of the fresh air. "What's wrong Naruto?" Hiruzen asked, a hint of alarm in his voice, though not an iota of emotion was shown to Naruto's senses.
"I really don't like being here," Naruto said. "And I don't want to be a ninja. I don't want to hurt anyone, and I really don't want to kill anyone. I don't want to become some emotionless killer." Hiruzen stood up, and walked over to Naruto. He raised a hand to place on Naruto's shoulder, but seeing Naruto flinch away, he placed his hands behind his back instead.
"I don't know what happened to make you think that ninjas are emotionless killers. And I apologize for whatever I did to hurt you so much that you can't even bear to be around me anymore. You used to be so cheerful, and I truly miss how you used to come around. Please believe me, I don't know what I did, but I promise I won't ever do it again if you'll just explain," Hiruzen said, his voice full of sorrow and regret, despite the lack of emitted emotions.
"No, Old Man, you didn't do anything!" Naruto protested, turning around. "It's not you, I mean, it kinda is, but more importantly is all the pain that fills this building. I can't stand it!" Eyes wide, Naruto clapped his hands over his mouth.
"The pain? What do you mean?" the Hokage asked, frowning. "Naruto," he warned, when Naruto didn't speak. The boy sighed.
"As a demon, I can sense emotions. And there is always so much pain coming from this building. It, well, it hurts," Naruto explained, frowning as he rubbed the front of his head.
"The Department of T&I," Hiruzen breathed, a sliver of shock slipping past his defenses. "Come on then. Let's continue this conversation somewhere else." With no further warning, the Hokage left the room and lead them outside into the village. He brought them back to the ramen stand Naruto had been dragged from before. "Go on, order whatever you like. I promised I'd make up for interrupting your meal earlier, and you must still be hungry."
"Thanks," Naruto smiled, relaxing as he ordered a bowl of his favorite food.
"So you can sense emotions. Does that mean you can sense what I'm feeling right now?" Hiruzen asked.
"No. You're almost always completely cold, like a stone," Naruto said. "The fox says you just have such control over your emotions that you keep them contained, and that's why I can't sense them, but it's still really scary to be around."
Hiruzen was silent for a few second, as Naruto slurped down his ramen. Naruto cheerfully ordered another bowl before Hiruzen spoke again. "I see," he said, evenly. "Do you often talk to the fox? Is it the one who told you were a demon?"
"Uh huh," Naruto nodded, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "He teaches me everything I need to know about being a demon."
"You shouldn't trust the fox demon, Naruto. It's filling your head with lies," Hiruzen said, sternly.
"Well today he was teaching me what my feelings for girls meant, and how to properly court a girl I was attracted to," Naruto said, tapping his chopsticks against his lip as he waited for the next bowl.
"He what?!" Hiruzen yelped, releasing a massive wave of shock. Kurama started laughing.
"Go ahead kit. Tell him exactly what I taught you," Kurama chuckled with evil satisfaction. Puzzled, but happy to have broken through the Hokage's shell, Naruto complied, and told the Hokage what Kurama had taught him today. Hiruzen radiated embarrassment as Naruto talked.
"Oh right, and he said that humans are useless and that he was really angry that he was the only one I had available to teach me about this sorta stuff," Naruto finished, getting a wince and a wave of shame from Hiruzen.
"I see," the old man said quietly bowing his head. Kurama watched smugly, enjoying the Hokage's shame. "What else has he taught you?"
"Let's see. He's taught me how to hide because dodging a blow is better than blocking one, but not being there in the first place is even better. That being a demon means that even if I live a peaceful life, ninjas will still try and kill me or turn me into a weapon. That being a ninja means I'll have to kill whoever I'm ordered to, regardless of their innocence or guilt."
"Being a ninja is more than just being a killer," Hiruzen cut in. "It means serving the village, protecting it from dangers, and serving it the best you can, doing whatever the village needs. Ninjas don't just kill people. They rescue lost children, help deliver messages, capture dangerous criminals, and more." Naruto regarded the Hokage with a serious look, one too old for his young age.
"Which includes killing people for money," Naruto said, "yeah, they do more than just that. Sure, I get it. Sometimes they might even be a big hero and rescue a princess or something. But the main thing they do is kill people. Like, take the Fourth for example. He once killed over a thousand people and everyone praises him for it. But all I can think of is how much pain and fear those thousand people would have felt. And the pain of loss of all the families left behind, how awful it must have been."
"Naruto," Hiruzen began.
"And yeah, I get it! It was a war," Naruto said, ignoring Hiruzen. "He protected the village by killing those people. But he still killed them. And people loved him for it. They called him the greatest ninja Konoha had ever seen. Because he was the greatest killer they had ever seen."
"Naruto, it's more complicated than that," the Hokage tried.
"Is it?" Naruto asked. "Is it really? I mean, they call you the Professor right? You know more techniques than anyone else in the village. How many of those techniques are meant for something else other than fighting? Like do you have a technique to build a house? Or one to help crops grow?"
"No. But that is not my role. My role is to protect and lead the village," Hiruzen said.
"Well it won't be my role!" Naruto yelled, "I don't want to be someone who causes pain, but someone who heals it! I want to make a world where everyone can smile truly."
Hiruzen paused, and sighed. "I see. And what if someone tried to kill you? Or someone you cared about?"
"I would protect them. But I'd do my best to avoid the fight first," Naruto said.
"Hmm. Well young Naruto, if that is what you wish to do, then I suggest you focus in class and train as a ninja," Hiruzen said. Naruto made a confused face, getting the old man to laugh. "Someone who protects, heals, and only fights as a last resort describes a medical ninja perfectly."
"A medical ninja?" Naruto said, surprised. "I don't know. I never thought of that before."
"Well take some time to think about it. You have the rest of the year to decide after all. And if your heart is truly against being a ninja, then we shall find a different path for you," Hiruzen said, smiling.
/*/
Weeks later, Naruto was training in the woods. His body remained still, but was still propelled through the air by a blue arm of chakra that he was using to grab onto a tree and pull him along. He flipped through the air even as the arm grabbed the next tree in line and yanked him toward it. Again and again he repeated the process, until he saw his destination, a bright red X in the middle of a clearing.
"And chakra shield, now!" Kurama yelled, as Naruto landed. He collapsed the arm of chakra, pulling it around his body to form a bubble even as dozens of old kunai, shurikens, and even a bucket of rusty nails and rocks shot at him from every direction. All of the objects bounced off of his shield, and after a few more seconds, Naruto released it, panting in exhaustion.
"T-there," Naruto panted, patting himself over to check for injuries. "Not a single one got through this time."
"Good job. Take a break for now. We'll start training you on multiple chakra arms after lunch," Kurama said.
"Awww, but why? I've already got one arm, isn't that good enough?" Naruto whined.
"You've got two real arms, do you think you only need one?" Kurama countered. "Stop whining. Multiple arms means you can attack and defend from multiple angles at the same time. With your current chakra levels you should be able to get three arms going. It's more a matter of focus and learning how to multitask that's holding you back."
"Fine," Naruto grumbled. Sensing someone approaching, Naruto disappeared into the woods. As they got closer, Naruto could sense their curiosity and laziness and he popped back out of the bushes. "Hey, Shikamaru, how's it going?" he called.
"Hey, Naruto," Shikamaru said, entering the clearing. "I got that book you asked for."
"Aw, sweet," Naruto said, taking the book, The Role of Medical Ninja in the Field, by Tsunade,"thanks a lot."
"So what have you been up to?" Shikamaru asked, looking at the scattered weapons.
"Oh, just training," Naruto said, beginning to pick up the weapons.
"Really? How bothersome," Shikamaru asked, eyebrow raised. He scanned the clearing again. "If you're training this hard, I'm surprised that Sasuke is still kicking your ass every class."
"Okay, first off, Sasuke's really good. And he does his own training after class as well. I'm pretty sure you or Kiba would have a hard time landing a blow against me after years of fighting Sasuke. Second we are only allowed to use taijutsu in class. If I could use my chakra, even Sasuke couldn't touch me anymore," Naruto said, a little indignant.
"Whatever, man," Shikamaru said, shrugging. "So what's got you interesting in medical ninjutsu anyways? You don't have anywhere near the grades needed to pull that off."
"That's because I don't try, not because I can't learn," Naruto said. "Seriously, why do I need to know how to calculate the exact location a deflected shuriken will land at? It's so pointless. If I need to know where a shuriken will land, I just practice and throw them til I know where they will all go."
"Eh," Shikamaru shrugged again. "So you changed your mind about being a ninja?" he asked.
"Kinda? Not really though. The Hokage was talking to me about my grades, and he suggested that I look at being a medical ninja if I don't want to hurt anyone. But like, can I even go straight to working as a medical ninja? Cause the whole point is to not kill people, but if I have to kill people to not kill people, then I think I'm doing it wrong. In fact, let that be your demon wisdom of the day. If the goal is to not kill people, then the answer isn't to go around killing people until you don't need to kill people anymore. That's really dumb. That will never not be dumb."
"Enlightening as always, oh great demon," Shikamaru said, sarcastically. "But you are training awfully hard for someone who doesn't want to fight."
"Hey, I'm a demon. It's a guarantee that someone is going to try and kill me one day. Even if I hide away in a shack in the mountains, one day a bunch of jerks will show up and try and kill me or enslave me, or some stupid human thing. So I'd rather sweat now, than bleed then," Naruto said. Shikamaru just shrugged a third time.
"Well my business here is done. Finish that book quickly okay? I don't need the bother of anyone learning that I'm loaning books from the library to the demon child of the village," Shikamaru said, walking away as he waved.
"Sure, sure," Naruto said, packing up the rest of the weapons, not bothering to reset his traps. He started reading the book, all while trying to maintain his awareness of the villager's emotions. He read for a couple of hours before a familiar presence approached. "Hinata? But she's so sad and worried. What could have happened?" he muttered to himself, jumping up. He rushed to wear Hinata was, and as soon as she saw him, she rushed over, throwing her arms around Naruto.
"Oh, Naruto, it's awful," she said, trying not to cry.
"What is?" he asked, gently patting her back as he hugged her back.
"My family," she said, sniffing a little. "They've gone too far this time."
"What did they do?" Naruto asked, sitting down and gesturing for Hinata to sit beside him. She sat, releasing him from the hug, but grabbing onto his hands instead.
"They're making me fight Hanabi," Hinata said.
"What? As a training exercise?" Naruto asked, not understanding.
"No, that wouldn't be so bad," Hinata said, sadly. "They are making me duel her for leadership of the clan. The winner will be deemed the heir to the main family, and the loser will be demoted to the branch family."
"What? That's awful!" Naruto said.
"See?" Hinata said. "I don't know what to do. I couldn't bear to hurt my younger sister. And forcing her into the branch family would be even worse. Seeing her sealed, and knowing it was my fault." Hinata shuddered.
"I don't get it. Why are they doing this? I thought your family hated you," Naruto asked.
"They think Hanabi will win," Hinata explained. "She's a genius, and my father has devoted almost all of his free time to training her."
"So um," Naruto shifted, uncomfortably.
"She can't beat me. Not yet anyways," Hinata said, confidently. "The so called 'training sessions' I've endured have been more punishment than actual training, but they have made me tougher and faster than I was before. And Hanabi is only seven years old."
"Okay, so she can't beat you. And you don't want to beat her. Can you throw the fight?" Naruto asked.
"I could. But then Hanabi would blame herself for me ending up being sealed," Hinata said.
"Can you tell me more about that? Like would they seal you right after the fight?" Naruto asked.
"No they wouldn't," Hinata said, shaking her head. "The seals cannot be removed, not even by the head of the clan, so they would wait until my father stepped down as the head of the clan before sealing one of us. That way, if something were to happen to one of us, we'd still have the other to take over instead."
"Alright, that's good. Hmm, lets see here. So Hanabi can't beat you without you letting her,"
"Yes," Hinata said, nodding.
"Which is bad, because then she'd have to deal with the guilt of being responsible for you being sealed. Okay. And you can't beat her, because you don't want to hurt your sister, and because you don't want to deal with the guilt of having Hanabi sealed,"
"Right,"
"Okay. Hmm, this is really a tough one. It seems no matter what you do one of you is being sealed," Naruto said, scratching his head.
"I don't mind being sealed so much. I just want to spare Hanabi the responsibility of it," Hinata said.
"Well I don't like it," Naruto said, quickly. "The idea of one of those seals on you makes me feel sick." Naruto's stomach twisted.
"It's okay. It won't happen for years yet at least," Hinata said.
"It's not okay. Not to anyone and especially not to you," Naruto said. "But that's not the problem right now. Right now, we've got to protect Hanabi, and I've got the perfect way to do it, believe it!"
"Really? How?" Hinata asked, excitement pushing away her misery.
"Refuse to fight," Naruto said, proudly.
"Huh?"
"Look, just outright refuse to fight. Stand up to the Elders and tell them that you won't, under any circumstances, fight Hanabi," Naruto said. "That way, even if they do decide to put you in the branch family, Hanabi won't feel any guilt about it. It will have been one hundred percent your idea."
"That's perfect," Hinata said, smiling. "It'll be scary standing up to the Elders, but it'll be worth it to spare Hanabi. They'll punish me of course, and I'll almost certainly end up in the Branch House, but that's fine."
"No it's not," Naruto said, seriously. "I'm sick and tired of them punishing you, and I'm certainly not going to let them seal you."
"But-"
"Hinata," Naruto interrupted. "I've got a really important question to ask you. Okay? And I want you to give me an honest answer. It's really important. Are you ready?"
"S-sure," Hinata stuttered, a little unnerved by the intensity of Naruto's words.
"Hinata, will you run away from Konoha with me?"
Author's Notes: So yeah, this isn't going to be following canon for much longer. The Hokage talking to Naruto is an interesting one, as Hiruzen like Naruto and feels responsible and guilty for driving Naruto away, even after Naruto explains himself. He is very woried about the demon talking to Naruto but he knows he doesn't have a leg to stand on at the same time. The only being acting like a parent to Naruto is the demon, and as much as that hurts, Hiruzen really can't do anything about that. And he knows that trying to drive a wedge between Naruto and the demon would likely just drive Naruto away. If anything, he suspects the demon wants him to try for exactly that reason. Hiruzen is also in a difficult spot. He doesn't want to force Naruto into being a ninja, but it's really the only way Naruto could have a happy life in the village since no one else would ever hire him, and he needs Naruto trained as a fighter in case he needs to use him as a weapon.
Hinata's departure from canon is pretty big, but it's mostly a factor of her openly being Naruto's friend since she was not able to hide from him, and thus he offered her friendship right away.
Naruto is a lot more mature, being able to sense people's emotions means he knows better than anyone exactly how much pain killing someone causes. Particularly with how many messed up veteran ninjas live in the village. Kuruma helps a lot there as well, as he wants to push Naruto to not be a ninja, and sees encouraging Naruto's aversion to violence as an easy way to accomplish that.