A/N: Hello again! This chapter has been a little more difficult for me to write. Honestly, I've been torn between skipping up to academy age, or covering some time in between first. I've ended up going with... well you'll see. My problem has been that lately, most of my ideas have been further into the future of this story, but I have to *get* there first. I've been tossing around ideas for what genin team assignments are going to happen in my story, but it isn't even time for that yet... Oh well.

For those that haven't realized it yet, in the context of this story, the word kitsune will specifically be used to refer to fox demons, not regular foxes. This is just to make things a little easier on me, even if it isn't technically correct.

I don't own Naruto. I do eat ramen, though.

Chapter 5

Unknown Location

Naruko opened her eyes and looked around in confusion. She had thought she was in her apartment, getting ready to go to sleep, but she seemed to now be in a huge cavern of some sort. The area was lit by numerous torches, revealing 8 huge creatures sitting in a circle. To her left was some weird tanuki made out of sand, and to her right was a giant ox with... octopus tentacles? Around the circle were also: a two-tailed cat made of blue flames, a three-tailed spiky turtle, a four-tailed gorilla, what looked like a mix of a horse and a dolphin with five tails, a six-tailed slug with stubby arms and legs, and finally a seven-tailed rhinoceros beetle.

"Hey, is that the damn furball's new jinchūriki? How the hell did she get here? And where is that bastard anyway, I wanna kick his ass," the tanuki yelled.

"Quiet down, Shukaku. But I am curious as to who you are and how you are here, girl," the gorilla said. The ox snorted, "Come now, Son Gokū, she is clearly no jinchūriki with her ears and tails. That, and her scent is far too similar to Kurama to not be some relative of his."

Naruko's eyes widened at the mention of her father's name. "You knew my daddy?" she blurted out, staring at the ox.

"Hmm... it seems you were right, Gyūki. Looks like this is his kit. Where is your father, child?" the cat questioned. "I think she might have been implying he died somehow, Matabi," the turtle pointed out.

"You hadn't realized that, Isobu? I thought it was obvious with how he hadn't been showing up in the Bijū mindscape for a couple of years now. What do you think, Chōmei?" the slug said incredulously. The beetle laughed, "Sorry, Saiken, I didn't imagine one as powerful as Kurama dying. What about you, Kokuō?" "I noticed," the horse-dolphin replied.

"Gyahaha, this little runt is the leader of the kitsune now? I could crush her with one toe! How the mighty fox demons have fallen gyahahahaha!" Shukaku laughed.

Annoyed by the taunting of the Ichibi, Naruko angrily yelled, "Shut up, you annoying tanuki, or I, Uzumaki Naruko, will kick your ass! Dattebayo!" With that said, she huffed and crossed her arms, glaring at the annoying creature. At this, all of the Bijū except Shukaku laughed uproariously at the sand demon's expense.

"Hahaha, I like her spunk!" Son Gokū said approvingly.

"Hahahaha, she probably can too, even though she's still such a young kit! You always were the weakest of the Bijū, Shukaku!" Gyūki opined. The others nodded in agreement.

"Damn you all! I'll get you for this, you mini-furball!" Shukaku shouted, glaring at Naruko as he shimmered and disappeared. The kitsune girl stared at the spot where he vanished in confusion. "So, um... What are jinchūriki? Where did that jerk go? What is this place?" she asked, looking up at the remaining Bijū.

"This is a shared mindscape of the Bijū, the leaders of each of the major demon clans. We come here to discuss various matters, such as relations between the demon clans. He just left because you embarrassed him," Matabi explained to the young Kyūbi. "As for the jinchūriki," Son Gokū chimed in, "they are the humans that, when they were babies, other humans used fūinjutsu to seal us inside of. Don't you know that the jinchūriki are our living prisons?"

"They did WHAT to you? No way in hell am I going to let ANYONE do that to me!" Naruko yelled vehemently, her emotions swirling in a mixture of shock, rage, and panic. "...You mean to tell me you are currently unsealed, Naruko-chan?" Saiken asked. Naruko nodded in confirmation. "Hmm. Perhaps you can find a way to help release us if you are on the outside. Regardless, make sure that you do not get sealed. Even with all of our powers, it is not something a Bijū can escape so easily," Gyūki advised.

Naruko nodded, "Okay, I'll remember that. Now umm... how do I come and go from this place?" The Bijū all sweatdropped. The young kitsune princess had gotten here completely by accident, when she had only grown two tails so far. She had a lot of potential, obviously, but also had a lot to learn.

"Just close your eyes and imagine yourself wherever you were before you came here. To come back, do the same but imagine yourself here. Since it is a mindscape, it exists within your mind, as a mental link to us. You haven't actually left your physical location," Matatabi explained.

"Oh... Well okay, then? I guess I'll probably see you all around or something?" Naruko said, a little unsure of herself before she shimmered out of the shared mindscape.

October 10th, Naruko's 7th birthday

Naruko sighed as she wondered around the village by herself. Hokage-jiji had said that he couldn't teach her about being a ninja today. Apparently, he had some important matters to attend to that couldn't wait. Naruko sat down with her back leaned against a building, knees curled up to her chest, and rested her head on her arms. This was the worst. The villagers were even more hostile to her than usual today, since it was the Day of the Kyūbi. She had gone looking for any of her friends, but she hadn't found anyone. Even though she could usually find and track her friends' scents, Chōji, Shikamaru, and Kiba's scents were all missing. She had even tried the Hyūga girl's scent, wasn't her name Hinata or something? It had been missing, too. To make matters worse, Ichiraku Ramen was closed for the day.

"Can't that demon have the decency to leave the village, at least on this day?"

"Of course not, it is a demon after all."

Naruko's ears and tails drooped lower and lower at the hostile whispers of the villagers. 'Maybe they are right. Maybe I should have just stayed living in the forest. I'll miss the people who are nice to me, but at least I won't cause them problems with being associated with a demon,' Naruko thought to herself, depressed. Just as she was getting up to head out of the village, she heard a familiar voice shout to her.

"Oi, there you are Naruko! I've been looking all over for you," Mitarashi Anko said to her, relieved to have found the kitsune.

"Oh, hello Anko-nee-san," Naruko replied listlessly, with a dull expression in her eyes, as she looked towards the kunoichi approaching her.

To say Anko was unhappy at the younger girl's current state would be a huge understatement. "You've been listening to what the villagers say about you again, haven't you?" Anko asked, sighing. She had seen this a few times before from Naruko, and it was always from the younger girl listening to idiot demon-haters whisper about her.

"It's kind of hard not to," Naruko answered quietly, gesturing to her ears. She did have sensitive hearing after all. This, however, gave Anko an idea.

"Oh, so that means you have to listen to me if I do this?" Anko asked as she scratched behind one of Naruko's ears. Naruko melted at the contact. Her ears were really sensitive, and that felt really good. "N-no fair, Anko-nee. You know how I get when you do that," Naruko said, eyes slightly glazed over. "Shhh," Anko said, "Now, tell me what you are to me?"

"Y-your precious imōto that you would miss if she wasn't around?" Naruko answered shakily. Anko nodded, "Exactly. So no being depressed or paying attention to what they say about you." Naruko nodded in response weakly, having surrendered to the ear rubbing and scratching.

"That's more like it!" Anko cheered, pulling the kitsune girl into a tight hug. Naruko, now that she suddenly had a very up close and personal view of Anko's breasts, was now finding it very difficult to breathe. "MMMPH! MMPH!" Naruko tried to shout as she struggled, attempting to get free from the relieved kunoichi. After about a minute, Anko released Naruko from the hug.

"For someone who 'loves me and would miss me if I were gone,' you sure do come close to suffocating me to death with your boobs way too often, Anko-nee-san," Naruko panted, slightly glaring at the woman. Anko laughed apologetically and scratched the back of her head. "Sorry Naruko-chan, but you are just way too huggable for me to resist," Anko said. Naruko snorted in amusement, rolled her eyes, and replied, "Trust me. I've noticed."

"Anyway Naruko-chan, come on, I've got something you'll want to see," Anko told the girl, grabbing her hand and pulling her along before she had a chance to respond. Naruko sighed, having learned it wasn't worth the effort of arguing with Anko when she was like this. "What is it?" Naruko asked, wondering what had Anko so excited. "You'll see when we get there. But not until then!" Anko said, remembering something she had forgotten. Before Naruko knew what was happening, she found herself being carried in Anko's arms, with her arms tied behind her back and her eyes blindfolded. Naruko squirmed half-heartedly, knowing she wouldn't actually escape from Anko's binding techniques. "What am I, a prisoner or something?" Naruko complained. Anko laughed and didn't reply, knowing the girl would like would happen next.

After some time...

Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled in satisfaction. He had pulled some strings to make sure everyone he thought might want to be there could attend. It had taken some convincing of her father, but he had even managed to get Hyūga Hinata permission to come. He had not been keen on the idea of the Hyūga heiress associating with the demon, but the Sandaime had managed to get through to him in the end. They had set everything up in the upstairs portion of Ichiraku Ramen, where Teuchi and his daughter Ayame lived. When Anko burst dramatically into the room, carrying Naruko as if she were some kind of prisoner of war, everyone sweatdropped.

"Anko-san, was it really necessary to carry her here like that? I'm sure she figured some things out by her sense of smell alone," the Hokage deadpanned. Anko put the girl on her feet and said sheepishly, "Yeah, well, I thought it was a good idea until she listed off everyone who was here once we turned on the street. I'm not sure how she didn't find out sooner, actually."

I used a genjutsu that disguised the scents of everyone here. It only recently wore off. It would not do if she had found us while we were setting up," the Sandaime explained. Naruko squirmed slightly and asked, mildly annoyed, "Can I please be untied now, Anko-nee?" Anko sighed and cut the ropes, slightly disappointed that her plan to keep Naruko in the dark hadn't worked as well as she had hoped.

"Happy Birthday, Naruko!" cheered Chōza, Anko, Teuchi, Ayame, Chōji, Kiba, and Hiruzen. Hinata stuttered out a nervous, "H-h-happy b-birthday, Naruko-chan." Shikamaru said," It's troublesome to cheer like that, but happy birthday." Shikaku smacked the back of his son's head and said, "Troublesome son, just tell her happy birthday normally instead of making it awkward." Everyone sweatdropped at that, thinking that Shikaku had done basically the same thing he had scolded his son for doing.

Naruko's eyes teared up as she looked at everyone. Naruko closed her eyes, trying her best not to cry from the overwhelming emotions she felt. When she opened her eyes again to look at them, she spoke quietly, but with heartfelt words, "T-thank you all. I-I can't say how much this means to me coming from you all." She couldn't hold it in anymore. She let the tears flow, the joy of having people care about her being too much to hold back anymore. Everyone moved closer and took turns hugging Naruko. Even shy Hinata worked up the courage to hug the fox girl, though she blushed at having done so. 'How anyone can see her as an evil, emotionless monster is beyond me,' Hiruzen thought to himself as he watched Naruko, seeing how much this truly meant to her.

A/N: I wanted to do more with this chapter, but honestly, that was way too good of an ending point. If I had continued then I feel like I would have just ruined the pacing of the chapter. I'll continue with my plans in the next chapter, which I'll try to make longer, and hopefully sooner.

Responses to reviews:

H3llion: I probably won't make this particular story a harem. My current mindset is leaning towards several people being interested in Naruko, but she eventually decides on one. Because of her kitsune nature, she'll probably tease some people just to mess with them, but that doesn't mean she's actually interested in them that way. I'm definitely not going to have Naruko sleeping with every single person in Konoha or something ridiculous. At most 2 partners, and even that I doubt. Definitely think a single mate is enough for her. Once she decides on her mate, she will also be doing less flirting/teasing, as she will mostly want to save that for her partner. Other characters probably will end up being jealous, though.

ThunderClaw03: Thanks for the support! I'll keep them coming out as fast as the ideas come to me. Can't go much faster than that :P

PinkiePieParty122894: And I love your support, so I'm going to keep doing my best on this story :D