Here we go, first chapter of the story:

Special thanks to Mister Fummeln for beta-reading this chapter.

Chapter 1: Demon meets ghost

Seven year old Naruto was walking through one of the less crowded streets in the poorest area of Konoha. Through years of experience the little boy found out that here he was treated a little better, than anywhere else in the village. Maybe just because everyone had enough problems to deal with without him to worry about? Not that Naruto really cared – he was relatively safe walking in the daylight here, and it was enough for him. Suddenly his heightened senses picked an ANBU approaching. Moments later a purple-haired woman with cat mask on her face landed in front of him. Blond boy relaxed a bit; 'Cat' was assigned to watch over him, so he was in no immediate danger.

"Hokage-sama wishes to speak with you, Naruto-kun." At his nod, Cat took his small hand and they disappeared from the street in a swirl of wind and leaves. They reappeared right in the Hokage's office. Sarutobi looked at his guests from behind the pile of paperwork and set aside the document he was reading.

"What dij'ya want to talk 'bout, Old man?" Naruto asked as soon as Cat disappeared.

"This is something very important. Actually, it is an S-rank secret of the village." Hokage paused for a moment, ignoring the boy's yell about his own S-rank secret. "Originally I wanted to tell you this when you became Chuunin or when you turned sixteen. But now I see that it was my mistake and it caused you much more pain than it saved you from."

"what'z zat, Old man? What'z my S-rank secret?" Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed. This boy was a ball of energy, though, with what he contained, it wasn't a real surprise...

"This is a rather long story, Naruto... What do you know about the Kyuubi?" The blonde looked surprised by Hokage's question.

"Umm... It came seven years ago at my birthday... and... Umm... Yondaime fought it and killed it!" Sarutobi nodded.

"You are almost correct, my boy. The Kyuubi did attack our village for unknown reasons seven years ago on October tenth, and our Yondaime Hokage did battle with it and defeated it. But what only few know, is that the Kyuubi was a giant mass of conscious energy and thus impossible to kill..."

"But if the Yondaime didn't kill it, where iz it then?" Naruto asked, interrupting the Hokage's story.

"Yes, he couldn't kill it, so he did second best thing; he sealed it away..." Sarutobi paused for a moment before continuing "He sealed the demon into the newborn baby." Naruto looked confused. Then it hit him, all those glares and looks of hatred people gave him, all those names he was called... all of that had a reason.

"He sii... sealed it in I?" The Hokage nodded cautiously. "Am I the Kyuubi then?" Sarutobi immediately frowned, killing intent radiating from him in almost visible waves.

"Who told you that?" Then he saw poor Naruto shaking in fear, but, surprisingly, still standing. He stopped releasing his KI. "Sorry, Naruto, I didn't want to scare you. I'm not angry at you at all... To answer your question: are water in a glass, and the glass itself the same thing?" The boy shook his head. "You are right, they are not. Now just think that you are the glass and the Kyuubi is water in it. Are you the Kyuubi?"

"N-No?" Naruto answered uncertainly

"You are not, my boy, you simply contain the beast. You protect this village with every moment of your life. Unfortunately, only a few can see this." Sarutobi paused for a moment before continuing. "Unfortunately, people are so caught in their hate towards the Kyuubi, that they don't want to even try to see you, instead they only see the beast you contain. They are fools." Naruto thought for several seconds. "So I did nothing wrong to zem, Old man?" Hokage nodded.

"Yes, Naruto, you did nothing wrong... I wish I could do more, but even a Hokage can't change hearts." There was a rather long pause. "Naruto, before you go, I want to talk about what you learned today. This is a S-rank secret that is punishable by death. Only our current Hokage and you can tell it to others without punishment, but if I were you I wouldn't tell it everyone I come across. The Kyuubi's power is unimaginable... Do you want someone evil to use it against Konoha?" Naruto shook his head.

"Naruto I don't order you not to tell anyone about your... status, but try to keep it only to those you trust with your life." The boy nodded. "Good. Now, how about I treat you ramen?"

"YES! Thank you, Old man!" Naruto shouted.

~/ *** \~

Naruto was walking home alone. Of course, he would prefer to stay with the Old man, but the Hokage had a lot of work to do... Plus it was hard to call the place where he lived home. It was really just a big space – something about two times three times two meters – in the ventilation of one of the bigger houses in the area. It had electrical cables so Naruto managed to get himself a working lamp and a kettle even, though he still needed to go the nearby river to get some water or to wash his things or to bathe.

Naruto's senses quickly alerted him to someone in the shadows, who was potentially dangerous. And several seconds later he was forced to duck. A rather large stone flew through the space his head had occupied moment ago. Naruto continued walking, no more stones flying his way,but now he was walking closer to the buildings. Later his senses again picked up the same someone walking after him in the shadows. And something snapped inside of him, now he knew that he had done nothing to deserve this treatment, why does he have to put up with it? He stopped just at the corner of the building and waited. Soon enough small figure of someone of his age appeared, waiting for him with a stone in hands. Mastering all his speed, Naruto jumped at the figure, pinning the figure's hands to the wall with his. To his surprise, this figure was a girl with almost white, if you didn't count the red tinted, unruly hair and bluish-purple eyes.

"Why are you throwing stones at me!" Naruto roared, looking straight into her eyes.

"They say it is a good thing!" The girl yelled at him, struggling to free herself from him. Blond container frowned, still looking into her eyes.

"Iz it good to throw stones at humans?" He asked angrily, not knowing that his pupils became a little slitted.

"You are not human! YOU ARE A DEMON! The girl cried loudly. Surprisingly, and luckily for Naruto, no one paid attention to them.

"Hokage-Jiji said I'm not! I'm just container!" Naruto yelled back. Only a moment later his mind caught the fact that he let out his S-rank secret to a random girl. But he didn't care right now.

"YOU ARE A DEMON!" The girl yelled again.

"NO I AM NOT!" He yelled back. "I'm just a container! Like glass for water! I AM NOT A DEMON!" And now his words planted a seed of doubt into the girl's mind.

"Like a glass for water?" She asked, letting the stone fall from her hand.

"Like a glass for water." Naruto confirmed. "How did the old man said it?.. Something like zis... Iz water the same with a glass?" The girl shook her head. "Then, am I ze same with as the demon I contain?" There was an uneasy pause, before she answered, lowering her head.

"...No." Another, but shorter pause. "Sorry..." Naruto waited for a second before letting her go. As soon as she was free, she ran away... The Kyuubi container shrugged and continued walking 'home'...

~/ *** \~

"This is the academy. They will teach you how to be ninja here." Sarutobi said, walking little Naruto there. "Are you ready to study hard?"

"Yes! And I will be an awesome ninja!" Naruto shouted happily.

"Good. You still want to take my hat from me?" The Kyuubi container nodded eagerly. "Then you better become good shinobi soon." The Hokage walked him into one of the classrooms and as soon as Naruto picked a seat near the back of the class, he left the room. 'I hope, you will be treated better here...' And then the Sandaime Hokage shunshin'ed to his office to continue his battle with piles of paperwork.

Naruto watched the other kids arrive. Some were accompanied by their parents, other – by their brothers and sisters. Some walked into the classroom alone. Suddenly, Naruto's eyes picked in the dappled crowd of kids the very same white-haired girl that attacked him several month ago. She scanned the class for empty seats and for a moment her eyes met with Naruto's. She walked towards three-seat empty area around the blond container and sat one seat from him.

"C-Can I seat here?" She asked.

"Of course!" The blond boy replied. "You may already know it, but I am Naruto Uzumaki."

"I'm Sachiko. Just Sachiko." The girl introduced herself. They were quiet for several minutes...

"Do you want to be my friend?" Naruto asked finally. Sachiko looked at him and nodded.

"Why not?" The blond boy smiled happily.

"Thank you! You're my first friend!"

"First friend?" The girl asked him in disbelief. "What about other kids?"

"Their parents never let me come close enough to them." Naruto replied quietly.

"And?.." She was about to ask another question, but he continued.

"...I was kicked out of the orphanage when I was four and they too drive me away every time they see me..." Sachiko looked away.

"Sorry."

"Don't be. It's not your fault...

Their dialogue was interrupted by the appearance of a teacher. It was white-haired Chuunin with not-so-kind expression on his face. "Shut up, gakis!" He barked. When the classroom was finally quiet, he continued. "Welcome to the shinobi academy of the Hidden Leaf village. My name is Touji Mizuki, but you should call me Mizuki-sensei. Is that clear?" Everybody nodded. "I don't hear you. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir!" Children shouted.

"Good. Now, let's see who do we have here..." And 'Mizuki-sensei' started going through the list of student. "...And finally, Uchiha Sasuke."

"Here." Said dark-haired boy in an indifferent tone. Mizuki rolled the scroll back.

"Let's start our first lesson..." He noted that Sachiko raised her hand.

"What do you want?"

"Sorry, Sensei, but you haven't called Naruto's name." Mizuki narrowed his eyes and looked at the Kyuubi jinchuuriki.

"Oh, and the demon is here too? Thank you, I almost missed this hell-spawn in my class, but unfortunately Hokage have grown senile I can't kick it out. Don't let the demon bother you." He spat out.

"B-But?.." Sachiko wanted to say something to defend her new friend, but found that she couldn't do it under Mizuki's glare.

"Are you demon lover too? Listen here, girl, if you ever speak even one word to it, if you even think about helping it in any way, I will throw you out of the academy faster than you can say 'ninja'. Is that clear?" Sachiko nodded, clearly afraid of him. "Same goes for everyone else." Naruto let his head fell onto the table, tears running from his eyes... Suddenly a kunai hit the table mere millimeters from his head. Naruto looked up at Mizuki. "And, you, demon, if I ever hear even one sound from you, you are DEAD." Naruto too nodded. "Now, that the problem was solved, let's start our first lesson..."

It was lunch break at the academy and Naruto was crying in the dark corner he found on the roof. He was hungry and scared... this definitely wasn't what he imagined shinobi life to be. His senses again picked something big flying in his direction. Naruto opened his eyes and saw that it was an apple. Catching it in the air, he saw that it was thrown by Sachiko. He almost got angry at the girl, when she nodded at the apple. Looking closely, Naruto saw, that she carved words "can I still be you friend?" into the fruit. He smiled at her and then looked down at the apple to make sure that it was real. It was. But when looked up again, Sachiko was gone..

~/ *** \~

Minato looked at his new lover. He still was afraid that Kushina will find out this. But he was already dead, so at least she won't be able to kill him, will she?

"Another round, Minato-kun?" Asked Mikoshi. The ex-Yondaime Hokage nodded, and the girl positioned herself over his tool.

"STOP FUCKING FUCK IN MY STOMACH!" Suddenly a loud voice boomed through the darkness. Minato looked up.

"SHUT UP, DEAD BONES!" He yelled back at Shinigami, before turning back to his lover. "So, Mikoshi-chan, where were we?"

That's all folks! Read and Review! Flames welcomed... as long as you explain why you are flaming.