A/N: So, I've been going back over my previous chapters, fixing errors and decided to make a minor change. Instead of blue eyes, I decided Naruko should have purple (actually violet, to be more specific) eyes, as I think it feels a little more fitting to her heritage, especially the demonic side of it from Kurama. If anyone got spammed with updates any time I made a correction, I apologize. I'll try to avoid that in the future by reading through a bit more carefully and trying to do all my corrections at once, rather than saving them one at a time.

This chapter is probably going to be long thanks to a huge amount of exposition and world building. Sorry if that gets boring, but I feel it is probably needed.

Anyway, I don't own Naruto. Don't believe anyone who tells you I do. I have no idea why they would do that.

Chapter 4

Hokage's office, next day

Sarutobi Hiruzen was doing his least favorite activity, paperwork, hoping that Naruko would show up soon. The Uzumaki girl should have been escorted to his office over an hour ago. He sighed and shook his head in exasperation. He should have known better than to assign escort duty to Inu. That man is almost always late to everything. After he finished the last document he had on his desk (for now), he leaned back in his chair, smoking his pipe while thinking about the previous day.

Flashback

After the girl had cleaned the blood of that... scumbag off of herself, Hiruzen and the young kitsune headed over to Ichiraku ramen. He figured it would be a good idea to cheer her up and get the girl's mind off things. Sure, he was pleased she was finally speaking, but the circumstances surrounding that were abhorrent to the old man. He made a mental note to have his ANBU operatives track down the other men to get some answers... and punish them, should it be warranted. He did not know to what extent they were involved in such... activities.

When they had arrived at Ichiraku's, Naruko had greeted Teuchi san with a, "Hey, Teuchi-oji-san!" as if she did this all the time. Apparently not, however, as Teuchi's eyes widened, surprised at the girl's voice and responded, "Oh hello, Naruko-chan. I see that you are speaking now?"

"Yep," the fox girl answered simply and cheerfully, already sniffing the air for the scent of ramen. Ayame laughed at the younger girl's antics, happy to see she seemed to be opening up a little to the people around her.

Flashback end

Hiruzen was certainly glad that Naruko had not seemed to have as big of an appetite as she did the first time they went to Ichiraku ramen. She had only eaten 20 bowls, yesterday. He supposed that was probably more normal for the girl, and the previous 52 bowls was merely a result of simply not having enough food for a fox demon her age available when she was living in the forest. They did tend to have larger appetites than humans, Kurama had once told him.

*Knock Knock*

"Come in," the Sandaime said. When the door opened and he saw Inu lead Naruko in, he could not help but smile at the girl. However, he did need to reprimand Inu for his tardiness. As he turned to glare at the perpetually late ANBU, Inu quickly said, "I'll take my leave then, Hokage-sama," and shunshin'ed away, clearly knowing a tongue-lashing was coming. Hiruzen sighed, deciding that he would speak to the man later, one way or another. But he had more important things to do right now, namely, sate his surrogate granddaughter's curiosity.

Addressing the young girl now, Hiruzen asked, "Now, if I recall correctly, you had asked why the villagers treat you unfairly, and why you have more than one tail?" Naruko nodded, paying close attention to the old man's words. She clearly was desperate for answers. "Because, to put it bluntly, the civilian councillors are mostly either idiots or easily manipulated. They all either refuse to believe an Uchiha would have manipulated the Kyūbi with the hypnotic power of the Sharingan, or they have given into Shimura Danzō's political pressure to fit his agenda," Hiruzen said angrily. Naruko, surprised by the venom in her surrogate grandfather's words, asked "What do you mean?"

Hiruzen sighed and proceeded to explain the true events of the Day of the Kyūbi. That the Kyūbi was not some evil monster who attacked the village for the sheer sake of destruction, but had been manipulated against his will by an Uchiha who called himself 'Madara.' That the council had hidden this fact from the majority of people living in Konohagakure no Sato, and just allowed everyone to believe the kitsune race were simply evil.

"Much of the civilian council see the entire Uchiha clan as saints, rather than individuals; some good, some malicious. Fortunately, I was able to keep put a law in place keeping your parentage secret, or things would be even worse," the Hokage told the fox girl. She simply tilted her head questioningly, waiting for him to explain what he meant by that.

"It just so happens that your father was the Kyūbi no Yoko, Kurama, ruler of all foxes, demon or otherwise. The very kitsune that was forced to attack the village. Since he died from that battle, you are the inheritor of his position and will be the next Kyūbi. Well, at least once your other tails grow in," Hiruzen explained to the girl, hoping this would not be too much for her to take in. It was. She fainted from shock. Hiruzen sighed wearily.

After some time

Naruko had finally woken up. After having taken a few more minutes to process what she had been told, she asked the Sandaime if he had any other things she should know. He sighed and said that there was more he could tell her, but that it would have to wait for another day. He felt she had enough to come to terms with already. She had still been worried about what kind of person her father had been, but Hiruzen assured her that he had been a good man. Perhaps a bit brash, aggressive, and rude like many demons are, but deep down he cared for his friends and wanted to be accepted, just like her. Naruko's eyes watered a little at that, happy to know her father wasn't a bad guy.

"Now, enough questions for today. I have an offer to make to you Naruko," the old man said.

"What is it?" the girl asked curiously. Hiruzen smiled at her and asked, "Would you like to train and become a ninja?" Naruko's eyes widened at this. "I can do that? Even with how this village sees me?" she asked, almost pinching herself to make sure this wasn't a dream.

"Of course," Hiruzen answered, "In fact, ninjas are more likely to be accepting of you than the civilians are. Take Chōza and Shikaku for example. They are two of my most trusted jōnin, and I know both of their sons are going to be trained to become ninja as well." Naruko's tails waved around excitedly at the idea of getting to spend more time with people she knew accepted her, regardless of her being a fox demon. "And you're one too, right Jiji?" Naruko asked excitedly.

Hiruzen nodded, "That's right. The Hokage is the highest ranking ninja in the village."

"Then I'll be Hokage one day!" Naruko declared boldly and loudly, proud of having a goal. The Sandaime smiled warmly. He was sure, that with Naruko's conviction, that she would find a way to reach her dreams.

"But before that, how about we get you some nicer clothes for your ninja training? You can't attend the academy until the year you turn 8, or are going to turn 8, but I can get you started a little on my daily visits. And when you graduate, I'll tell you more about your family history," Hiruzen said, smiling at the excitable kitsune princess. "Let's do it! Dattebayo!" she cheered. Hiruzen laughed, remembering the similar phrase the girl's mother used to say.

Not being one for women's clothing shopping, Hiruzen had assigned Mitarashi Anko to assist the younger girl. She had recently been promoted from chūnin to, tokubetsu jōnin, or tokujō, so she had been informed about Naruko's heritage as was befitting of her new rank. More importantly, she was the perfect woman for the job. Although the woman seemed to slightly intimidate Naruko, Hiruzen knew that Anko would *NOT* put up with any shopkeepers mistreating Naruko. The woman knew what it was like to be ostracized. Because her old sensei was the traitorous snake Sannin, not many people trusted her, even though she was a loyal kunoichi of Konoha. Regardless, everyone knew not to get on her bad side, or they would have a very bad day, so they kept quiet. The only other worthy candidate was another tokujō, Yuhi Kurenai, but she was away on a mission at the moment. The only thing that truly worried Hiruzen was that Anko might encourage the young girl towards her... overtly bold fashion sense. Naruko was too young to be wearing an outfit as revealing as Anko's, in the Hokage's opinion. Now that he thought about it, he really wished Kurenai wasn't on a mission at the moment.

Later, after a long time in spent trying on different outfits

Naruko was very happy with her new outfit. She was honestly glad that the Snake Mistress had been there with her for this; she doubted that half the things she wanted would have actually been done if not for Anko. For that matter, she doubted the owner of the clothing store would have even served her if they had not been terrified of Anko. Then again, they seemed pretty terrified of Naruko as well, so maybe they would have gone along with what she wanted. Rumors seemed to have spread about her killing that man in the alleyway. Naruko really didn't know how to feel about that. On the one hand, she felt like she was a little bit safer from being beaten by an angry mob, which, of course, was a good thing. However, it also meant that she received even more cold, fearful glares than ever before. As well as people going well out of their way to avoid her, such as crossing to the opposite side of the street when they saw her, or going inside the first building they could reach any time she passed them. That aspect of it was pretty disheartening; she didn't really want people to be afraid of her, either. She wanted friends and love, not hatred and fear.

Regardless, she had gotten the clothes she had wanted. She was wearing black shorts with thigh-high black leggings and shinobi sandals. Her top was the same shade of violet as her eyes, and just short enough to show only about an inch or so of midriff. Underneath that, she was wearing a mesh top, commonly worn by ninja that covered the rest of the way down to her shorts. On the front of the top was a white spiral, which, she had been told by the Hokage, was the Uzumaki clan symbol, as she was one of the last known members of it, as it was her mother's clan. On the back was a cute depiction of a fox's face, with the kanji for 9 (九) right below it in gold, as she had been told that her father, Kurama, had worn that kanji on his back as well as a sign of status. It had cost quite a bit, but she didn't care because her jiji had offered to pay for it as a present. Hiruzen, however, was going likely going to cry at the financial blow the girl had dealt him once he realized how much of his money she had spent. Again.

"Gaki, are you sure that it's okay for you to have that on your back? Hokage-sama did make a rule against revealing to the general public who your parents are, you know," Anko asked the proud kitsune girl. Naruko sighed and rolled her eyes before she replied, saying, "I'm sure, Anko-nee-san. I asked him before we left and he said that if I wanted to do it, I could, since the rule was meant for my sake anyway. If I want to be loud and proud about who I'm related to I can." Anko laughed at the girl's response, being pleased by the confidence Naruko possessed and how much it reminded Anko of herself. "Atta girl, you show them! I'll treat you to dango for that one," Anko said in reply. Naruko's tails waved about in excitement at the idea of being able to try another new food.

Meanwhile, with Kiba and Akamaru

"Arf, arf! (The scent leads here, Kiba!)" Akamaru told his human partner, Inuzuka Kiba. Kiba scratched his head in confusion, "It just doesn't make any sense? Why is a fox just roaming around the village, even going so far as to walk up to this old abandoned-looking apartment? They usually avoid the village completely." Akamaru had no answer to that. He had no idea why a fox would come so close to the village either, seeing as the villagers seemed to despise foxes for whatever reason. While the two were looking at the door in confusion, trying to think of an answer, they heard footsteps approaching from behind them, followed by a loud female voice.

"OI! What are you doing hanging around here?"

Kiba and Akamaru turned to see who had shouted at them. The woman that had shouted seemed to be a kunoichi. She had her hair up in a spiky ponytail, and her outfit was downright nosebleed inducing. Wearing a tan coat left open and a miniskirt, Kiba could see that the only thing the woman was wearing underneath that was a fishnet mesh bodysuit. Beside the boldly dressed woman was a girl who looked to be about his age. Her appearance was equally as shocking to Kiba, but for different reasons. She had fox ears and two fox tails. 'Wait, WHAT?' Kiba thought to himself. Looking more closely, he saw that the girl had fiery red hair that matched the fur on her ears and tails, as well as bright, almost glowing, violet eyes with slits for pupils. She was wearing black shorts and a top the same color as her eyes, with a white spiral pattern on the front.

"Oh, uh, me and Akamaru found the scent of a fox. We were curious so we decided to track it," Kiba answered honestly. He had a mother and older sister, so he knew that it was a bad idea to lie in this situation. They could be scary when they wanted to be, and this woman was definitely giving off that 'do NOT lie to me' vibe right now.

Naruko bristled at that. She was sick of being referred to as an 'it' or a 'monster.' Most of the villagers treated her as if she were a thing, rather than a person. "I am not an it. I am a girl," Naruko told him angrily, glaring at the boy. Kiba held his hands up apologetically and said, in a slightly panicked voice, "Woah, woah, woah! I didn't mean it like that! I didn't know anything about you before! Well, still don't really, but you get what I'm saying, right? Anyway, It's pretty strange to see a fox girl, especially one with two tails." Anko glared at the boy angrily. Was he saying there was something wrong with her surrogate little sister? "What, you got a problem with that?" Anko asked aggressively, poking the boy in the chest to make her point.

"No no no! I just haven't seen someone like her before, I didn't mean it as a bad thing! She's actually kinda cute!" Kiba said in a rush, scared that the woman would do something painful if he didn't explain what he meant quickly. When he realized that he had called the girl cute, he blushed and looked away. He hadn't meant to say that out loud! "Damn right, she is!" Anko declared proudly, pulling Naruko to her side with one arm in a sisterly hug. Naruko's eyes widened and her face heated up. She was surprised and embarrassed by the two of them giving her compliments, even if it did make her really happy. She didn't often hear nice things about herself, being forced to listen to all the villagers whispering about how she was a 'monster' or a 'damn demon bitch' all the time with her sensitive hearing. She was a kitsune, not a dog, dammit! 'The proper term is vixen! Vixen!' Naruko mentally ranted.

"...Naruko," the kitsune girl told the boy.

"Huh?"

"You said you didn't know anything about me, right? The name is Uzumaki Naruko," she explained. Kiba blinked for a second and then replied, "Oh, yeah, I'm Inuzuka Kiba, good to meet'cha, Naruko." She smiled at having met another person who seemed to not hate her just for what she was. "Yeah, nice to meet you too. But hey listen, I just got home from a day out and I'd like to go inside, but you're kind of blocking my door...?" Naruko said, tired and hungry from a long day of shopping with Anko. "O-oh, right. Sorry about that. Yeah, I probably should go home too since it's getting close to dinner. I'll see you around, Naruko-chan!" the boy said as he ran off with his dog. "Sure, see you around, Kiba-kun!" Naruko replied before going inside. Anko laughed and shook her head at the pair. That was before she realized Naruko had closed the door on her. She had been planning to eat dinner with Naruko today!

"H-hey! Wait a sec!" Anko yelled to the door.

A/N: This encounter with Kiba does not guarantee that Naruko will end up with him, as I haven't decided that yet. I'm just setting up the possibility for later on down the line, if I go for that route. Same with Chōji having a crush on her after seeing her eating 52 bowls of ramen. Anyway, time to answer your comments. I did figure that Naruko and Anko would go through a lot of similar struggles so perhaps they could form a sisterly bond, or something. Also, will the Sandaime ever learn his lesson about letting Naruko have free reign with his wallet? The world may never know.

Responses to reviews:

Loganiscool: Kiba IS one of the candidates I have been considering. I'm not guaranteed to do a pairing at all, but I'd say I'm more likely to do a pairing than none (Naruko deserves some love, I think). It definitely won't be anyone with a sharingan, though. Especially not an Uchiha after what she learned this chapter. Mostly considering Kiba, Shika, Choji, Gaara, and Lee for males (though I may or may not consider others). Haven't considered what females are options as a pairing other than Hinata. I guess I might consider anyone except Sakura, though some thought will have to be put into who would be most likely if it does go that direction. It has to be someone who will treat her well, and Sakura... probably won't be doing that in my story for quite some time.

PinkiePieParty122894: Haha, I'm still wondering that too. As I responded to Loganiscool, I've a few possibilities for both males and females, but if you have any specific suggestions for candidates, I'll consider them (No promises, it'll depend on where the story goes of course, but it'll at least give me some food for thought).

ThunderClaw03: Yeah, definitely don't want Naruko going on rampages even worse than Gaara, seeing as she has basically taken her father's role (though is still FAR weaker than he was at this point) and is unsealed... Yeah, that would be scary. She's already forming the start of some bonds that will get stronger over time.