Boy before Demon

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Naruto.

Kagome watched the six year old blonde train with a smile on her face. He tried so hard to become stronger, to prove to the people of the stupid village that he was more than the demon they believed him to be. Her smile widened when he finally got the jutsu he had been working on right and he did a little victory dance. He is so much more… they just can't see it.

She jumped down from the tree she had been hiding in and watched him tense and turn to her warily. Stupid villagers… If I ever meet the one that made a child like him so distrustful, I'm going to shake his hand for the accomplishment then I'm going to purify his ass.

She put on a kind smile and crouched down so she would be about his height if he was closer to her. "Hey, you're name is Naruto, right?" He gave her a shaky nod and her smile softened a little. "I saw you do that jutsu just now, and I wanted to tell you that you did a good job, but I know of a way that will make it better. Do you want me to show you?"

The blonde nodded enthusiastically, but Kagome could see that he was still wary of her and his eyes were still guarded. Well, I probably would be, too, if I had to go through what he did… He's stronger than anyone gives him credit for. "Alright, now just watch me then copy what I do."

He did as she asked several times and, eventually, she was right beside him, correcting little things that he did wrong and that took away from the effect of the jutsu. When he finally did it perfectly, he turned and beamed up at her happily while hugging her legs. "I did it! I did it!"

The black-haired girl laughed and hugged him back. "That great, now why don't we celebrate with some dinner? Where do you want to go?" His eyes lit up even more and he began dragging her from the training ground and back into the village, chanting something about ramen all the way. Just my luck: He has Shippo's energy and Inuyasha's obsession with ramen.

The miko ignored all of the stares that she received as they walked through the streets and just watched Naruto fondly. She had gotten enough stares in the Sengoku Jidai for similar reasons, (walking around with demons attracts a lot of attention,) that she no longer cared about them. Naruto took her to a ramen stand that she had seen was quite popular.

The waitress and her father, the chef, smiled warmly at the boy, but seemed a little cautious of her, but that made her smile. It showed that they cared about him.

Naruto sat down and ordered miso ramen and Kagome whispered to the waitress that she would take care of the bill. Ayame, huh?... I wonder how the Ayame that I know and Kouga are doing…

She turned to Naruto with a smile and let him tell her all about the pranks that he has pulled and what he had learned in the academy. He really did remind her of her adoptive son in the Sengoku Jidai; always hyper about something.

"Well, it looks like the demon came back." The miko noticed the fear flood Naruto's eyes as they heard the sneer. She turned slightly and gazed at the group of obviously drunken shinobi, all of them only chuunin level. "Didn't we teach you not to come here again?"

Kagome glanced at the trembling boy and the worried waitress. These jerks had apparently harassed her new friend before, and most likely they had contributed to Naruto's wariness of people. She turned around entirely and glared at them. "I suggest that you leave us alone."

They looked her over and the 'leader' gave her a smirk. "What is a pretty little gal like you doing with an ugly demon like him?" Naruto flinched and seemed to expect her to leave him, but she stayed put. "I'm sure that we could give you a much more… fun time than him."

Kagome narrowed her eyes at the poor attempt to be seductive, feeling disgusted. If I had wanted that, I would have sought out Sesshomaru the moment I learned that demons still existed here.

He reached out to grab her, but she snagged his wrist and twisted it to the side and down. "I'm quite where happy where I am, thank you. Now…" She allowed her eyes to glow with her purification powers and burned his arm where she held his wrist. "Leave us alone."

She shoved him away and into his lackeys. The drunkards fell over and Kagome paid for the meals. Giving him a kind smile, the miko held out her hand to Naruto. "Come on; I'll walk you home."

The jinchuuriki looked up at her with wide eyes and tentatively slipped his hand into hers. She smiled a little more and led him out of the stand. "If you like, you can spend the night at my apartment." Kagome had come to Konoha a couple of months ago and she made her money by doing several odd-jobs. She had an apartment in the more run-down side of the village, but it was better than the streets she knew her companion slept in.

Naruto looked up at her in renewed awe and happiness and nodded slowly. Kagome smiled and gently led him away. She was probably the only one besides the Sandaime to see him as something more than a monster. "Anou… Kagome-chan? Why are you so nice to me?"

She smiled softly and shifted his position to keep him from being hit by a passerby. "Because I hate seeing someone as promising as you being treated so badly." She smiled more brightly down at him. "And because I can see that you aren't a demon, jut a boy who can aspire to anything he wants. I'm sure you'll be a great Hokage one day."

Naruto stared at her in awe and grinned. "Okay! I'll be Hokage and everyone will see me for me! Believe it!" Kagome laughed and assured him that she would always be there to support him while taking him into an apartment building.

"Here we are!" Naruto stared at the clean rooms in awe and immediately began exploring. Kagome laughed. Now that is the nature of a six year old. "You can come here whenever you like; even if I'm not home, there is a key in the kitsune mask on my door."

Naruto ran over to her and hugged her legs hard, grinning like there was no tomorrow. Kagome smiled and wrapped her arms around him. He's no replacement for Shippo, but he'll make a good brother when I find him again. After all… She smiled down at him and let him return to exploring the small living space. He's a boy before a demon.

AN: Okay! No real pairing, but it's good nonetheless in my opinion; though that doesn't count for much, does it? -.-' Thank you all for reading, and please leave me some reviews with your thoughts, as well as anything you might want me to write, 'cause I kinda have writer's block.