A/N: Yo! KG here. This is a story I've had in my head for a while, and it's jumped from one thing to the next. My Hope is someone likes this enough to leave a review or leave some comments on how I can improve or just to say they love it. To those with me earlier, sorry I changed again. Know this is the last time, and hopefully, you'll like what I now bring to the table. Without further ado, I bring you this new Naruto/femHaku story. Enjoy! Ps Haku's part will come after act 1 so just cool your jets. I have a timeline, and I'm following it. The Good demon is OUT!

I don't own Naruto, which is a disgrace.

Once I could Kindle Fire; Now I'm Cold as Ice

Chapter 1

The Roar, the ear-splitting, glass-shattering, soul-shaking roar, is what she remembered most of that night. It's one thing that stays with you no matter what, like a scar from touching a hot iron with bare hands or a stab wound from a poisoned kunai; it just remains with you forever. That Night the Kyuubi attacked the first time was scary, shocking, and terrifying all at the same time. The Sirens blared just as a loud boom shook the village, slightly making a five-month pregnant Mebuki Haruno panic. Yet, that went up to full-on panic mode as she, like so many others, stepped out of their homes to get to the shelters per the protocol only to look up and see what could only be described as a giant nine-tailed fox wreaking havoc.

What made it worse beyond the fires that cropped up, the thick choking black smoke that filled the air, and her aching sore feet was that she was alone.

It Scared her to death knowing that somewhere in all that raging tide of earth-shattering stomps and vicious claw swipes that could take out blocks in seconds was her husband fighting that thing. She didn't think about her parents until it was all over when she got to the shelter. She at first thought her parents were safe; seeing as their house was right there by the shelters, there was no way they'd not make it. At least it's what she thought until her husband came back with anguish across his face and pulled her into a tight hug.

That night her parents had decided to visit some friends near the west wall where the giant fox came in. She somehow found herself on her knees just staring at it. A Pile of rocks mixed with wood, broken glass, and blood-stained grass. That was all that was left of four adults, two female and two males, a pair that was her parent's friends, and another that was her parents.

The Days seem to blur after that as more were found dead or wished they had died; it was when she was kneeing only a month away from being due in front of the portraits of her parents that unreal grief turned to hot boiling rage. She wanted revenge, but how she was supposed to get it was the question. Then the answer came in the form of an announcement from the reinstated third Hokage about how the fourth sacrificed his life not to kill but sealed the object of her anger within a human child for their protection.

Protection?

What Protection?

Her Parents were dead killed by that...t-that thing!

That Monster that is simply Pretending to be innocent!

No! She refused to believe that thing was human and that any parent in their right mind would give up their child to be a prison for that monster. After what it did to them, her village, her friends, and her parents. Its charms deceive the Hokage and ninjas; they only think it's a harmless child because it's making them believe it.

It took no time before that thing could walk and talk, then it just started making hard-working folks like herself work harder, especially after one of its pranks. She and many like her couldn't understand how that thing had the god of shinobi himself wrapped around his finger.

The Little Happiness she got raising her daughter dulled enjoying her husband after a long time away from her was no longer as exciting. All she could think about then was how that thing smiled and played—pretending to be a child, constantly trying to get close to their children to infect them or get them to side with it.

Her family quickly noticed her withdrawal, and her precious Sakura was fooled by a little smile or her favorite treat, yet her husband was different. She first thought her husband would join her in her anger when he'd asked what was wrong. She felt her best friend would always understand and support her in his carefree way. Yet, when she laid out her frustrations bare and open for the world, he surprisingly tried to sway her to the demon's side. He told her how that thing was keeping them safe and how he only did pranks and such to gain attention from those who would pretend he didn't exist.

It was Sickening just watching her beloved husband be caught in the lie that was the demon child. She could only smile falsely and told him she would try to see it his way. As he hugged her happily, she knew then that she could not trust him as she thought.

A while later, Saiyuki approached her, a small-time merchant she would occasionally see; he asked if she wanted to get even with the demon. Naturally, she would say yes in a heartbeat, but she knew the fate of those who tried to get physical with that monster. They would be captured and then whisked off to T. I to enjoy the tender mercies of the cold-hearted Ibiki or that snake whore Anko.

So, she was initially skeptical, wondering how they would pull it off. So, it was to her shock and awe that so many nobles, administrators, and even retired ninjas were there, along with one lone Anbu still in uniform the sight alone made her able to imagine a light at the end of the angered darkness in her mind.

The Plan was simple yet masterful in its attention to detail with the subtle complexity of a haiku she thought they were going to do it. To avoid suspension and being an easy target, they were placed in groups of four, and besides that first night, they were to have no contact with anyone else unless within their group. Her group was made up of two women, including herself and two men; they didn't have a name or any set spot to meet; it was always jumping from place to place.

It took a month for everything to be set and ready. Then they struck; she couldn't say when they grabbed him, but she knew when it was done. She was then given a schedule of two times a week where she could get her "relaxation" time in. The First time she had gone, she dropped Sakura at her friend Ino's house and made up a half-truth to her husband about going to a women's night book club. She went to a home where she changed clothes and wore a different color wig on top of her dark blonde hair then as a woman looking very close to her went and sat in a chair, while she went out the back to a different house. This house was not so much a house as it was a hole in the ground with walls and stairs.

She was nervous with all the cloak and dagger she had to do to get there, but once she was there, opening the heavy metal door and seeing it for the first time up close. She saw the look of fear in its eyes as it squirmed, hanging there like a worm in an empty room by a large thick metal chain in the middle of the room. There was a rolling cart full of simple to just absurd so-called torture devices; she ignored them not because she had no intention of using them but because she brought her own.

Her father had been a carrier ninja in the Third war. Due to his bravery and courage, the third gifted him with a ceremonial Kunai made of a special chakra alloy that would not rust regardless of whether he used it. She pulled the gleaming ceremonial kunai from a special pouch on her red qipao while she walked forward, glaring at the monster she saw before her, knowing she was now the one to cause fear and pain; it felt good.

Slowly but surely, her life seemed to brighten once again as almost when she found out, she was pregnant for the first time. Life was great again; her child's smile seemed to bring her more joy than usual, and her day-to-day was just better overall. Like her, the other members were happy, smiling finally in a good place because they knew that while Konoha slept, they could deliver some measure of justice, and while it wasn't what they truly wanted, it was a significant step up. By Day she was the lovely caring wife and mother, then by night, she became a dealer of justice and a righter of wrongs, the nightly screams of pain she heard made her feel more relaxed knowing that for every minute that her parents and their friends felt pain on that night that monster is getting twice that.

However, where there is light, there is dark, and she was sometimes beside herself watching her husband flail in that darkness; it took a whole week before the ninjas started looking for the boy. After that, it was full high alert for the ninja side anyway, she would barely see her husband in those following weeks, and when she did, he was always dead tired. She Once asked why he couldn't take a sick day or something and let others search; he took one look at her, and for a second, she felt as if he was probing her with his eyes as if he didn't know her anymore.

He turned away and said no like that one word explained his actions thoroughly. Two months later, things started to get heated; apparently, the Hokage was not giving up the search for the boy, only tightening the reins. Set Curfews patrols and even random searches made her nightly activity much harder. Some other members were getting a little afraid, thinking they would get found out, so they were tasked with coming up with ideas to get rid of the thing without killing it.

Some believed killing it in its human form would release its fox form, and they wanted to avoid another Kyuubi attack if they could help it. By Close to the end of the third month, they were all starting to feel the pressure of not knowing what to do besides killing it until someone said they had a plan. The Monster was a demon. So, what if they did an exorcism to banish the monster from where it came? The idea seemed to have merit as the only other idea was to pay someone to ship it to Iwa and then kill it, hoping that to kill two birds with one stone, they could finally kill it and create problems for the rock heads all the same.

A Vote was taken, and number one won it, as some of the retired ninjas thought there was a chance Iwa could use it against them if they somehow managed to subdue it. So, the member who brought up the idea already had some priests who would keep silent about it. From there, they just needed to wait for a full moon night, according to the priests, then they could come and watch the end of the demon once and for all.

She did plan to go, but unfortunately or fortunately for her, her baby Sakura got sick the day before and had to stay home until she was better. Still, she was okay if she missed it, and while she knew they would never get credit for it, she could say at least to herself that they were heroes.

She was asleep curled up next to her husband when it happened; there was a shake, then the roar. That Roar she thought she would never hear again reverberated throughout their home with shaking new force. Her husband was up and halfway dressed when Sakura burst into their room as sirens blared and houses shook. She grabbed her child and rushed out the door as her husband took to the rooftops joining others racing toward the danger. Her eyes, like many others, couldn't help but look toward the eastern half of the village to see a red light flying straight up toward the moon, turning its once pearl white surface into a dark deep blood red.

It would be an event known as the second coming of the Kyuubi or the night of the blood moon, something everyone could see throughout all the elemental nations. As she ran toward the shelter, she could not fathom what could have gone wrong with the ritual. She thought banishing it meant taking it away, not unleashing it on the village again. So many questions filled her head as her legs pumped herself forward, only to run into a fleshy wall making her fall back and her daughter scream a little.

She was about to scream at the man who had just stopped when she saw his face looking eastward in awe. She looked over herself to realize that they had reached the street right in front of the shelters, giving a clear view of the Giant beast ravaging the land, the monster that plagued her dreams for years, was there. Yet, that was not what held everyone's attention; instead, the glowing golden child standing atop what was left of the east wall with golden chains in his grip wrapped around the Kyuubi and its tails pulling what looked to be the fox itself into him that drew her attention.

It was at that moment that words her husband had told her only months ago made themselves appear in her mind then.

"Dear, you must understand that boy is more important than you realize. He's not just important to the village as an asset; he's important to me, to you, to everyone because without him, there would be no Konoha, nor me or you or even our daughter. I wish those idiots would understand that he's a warden given to us by lord forth to protect this village from harm. He isn't like other ninjas or me; he didn't choose this life he was given; it was chosen for him; he didn't ask for the heavy burden, yet he does it even unknowingly every day without complaint."

"Aha…Why can't you understand that if you piss off the warden long enough, they begin to no longer care about their job; they start to see it as a tiring burden. One day, if they get disgusted enough, they will walk away from it regardless of the potential shit storm it will cause because if it's one thing I know, the prisoner is much more dangerous than the warden."

The Beast Flailed almost uselessly as the golden boy pulled his golden chains taking more and more of the beast in. The Kyuubi resisted by first using its tails, which were immediately caught and pulled in one by one. Then it clawed the ground trying to find purchase which stopped its movement for only a few seconds before the boy screamed, drawing it in with the might of ten kages.

That scream made her whole world come crashing down at that moment. It was not a scream of pain, not a scream of a pleading wish for death, not even a shout of cold heart rage that bubbled to the surface to burn all. No, this scream was different from all the ones she had heard of during the past three months. This scream was of perseverance, a scream of great strength, a cry that loudly yelled that even after all I've been through, I still am willing to do my job even if it kills me.

Before she knew it, hot tears fell from her green eyes, eyes connected to a brain and heart that knew then that she was wrong. They were all wrong, and they fucked up something fierce. She knew her husband, the Hokage, and the other ninjas were right. They were right all along, and they were wrong. There was a saying she remembered then that her father once told her about some of the atrocities made during the war.

"The worst monsters to fight were monsters that didn't perceive themselves as monsters at all."

Present Day

One year and seven months later we come upon the one who once again saved the village from destruction. In a small apartment complex that was by the Hokage mansion the savior or golden child as he known by some was once again fighting the demons that plague his mind even now from that event so long ago.

Tossing and turning we enter into an apartment on the ground level to pained grunts and groans.

The pain was always the first thing he felt when waking up. It would tense his muscles, ramp up his breathing, and make his brain want to scream out in agony. Yet the pain was also an old friend that reminded him he was alive, that their sacrifice was not for nothing, that her sacrifice was not for nothing. Though the thought was always there, did he deserve to have their gift?

Was he worth the pain? What about the sorrow? What about the people he never even got to honestly truly know? Why was his life so much more important than theirs? Why couldn't they live?

Bandage hands gripped linen sheets as a small body lit up by glowing blue kanji as the once peaceful dream turned into a waking nightmare. The boy tossed and turned to breathe heavily as teeth clashed and ground, trying to gather some grip on his mind that threw out such painful accusations.

His Sky Blue with bleeding edges of a deep blood red met pain-filled black, and due to a swollen left black eye, only her right eye was even visible. Her once beautiful face was marked with cigarette burns to black and blue punch bruises with a side of knife cuts and crusted blood that flowed from her mouth in wheezing coughs. Seeing this, he pulled and strained his muscles to overpower the chains and 13-size boot on his head, keeping him on the ground. He screamed, raved, and pleaded with them to let her go. They had him; why did they need her? She has never done anything to anyone.

Sky blue and pained black could only watch as a colossal battle-ax was lifted in front of them, going over her head. This caused him to struggle more to break his right arm free, only for it to be cut off an instant later by a fast-moving red curved blade. He screamed in agony, only to keep trying despite the blood loss and pain going over his whole body as his eyes were now straight blood red. The chanting of robed figures around them began to speak louder and louder as the headsman who held the wicked large ax raised it while chanting as well. Naruto growled and started feeling that burning feeling as he accessed the power that a deep rumbling of a voice kept telling him to release him for more.

"Na…r... u…t…o." Her voice was so raw from screaming and coughing coppery blood she could barely speak among the throngs of voices chanting, yet he heard and looked at her with blood-red eyes.

While the reddish chakra beginning to build in his veins was close to busting, his rage-addled mind cleared for that moment to look at her as he heard her voice thanks to his powered senses. He watched as she closed her good right eye for a second, took a shaky breath, and then opened it again to gaze at him. For that moment, the growing loud chanting disappeared, and the pain and the fear of death disappeared. What he saw in those warm coal-black eye made him want to cry.

Her single coal-black eye and blood-encrusted lips formed a smile that oozed an outpouring expression of acceptance, calm, and love. Then her mouth moved, but there was no sound, only the slow-moving of her blood-stained lips into letters. The skill of lip reading is a skill she taught him from the knowledge she gained during her time in the academy long ago. Her mouth moved into different words slowly enough for him to catch all that she said, and once she was done, she smiled as a flash of silver went behind her head.

His eyes just watched as her head pitched forward and rolled, stopping right in front of him, immortalizing her smile deep in his soul.

That's when he crouched over on the bed with glowing blue bandages covering his body from head to toe; he screamed a soundless scream just as reddish chakra burst forth. The chakra appearance was short-lived as the seal on his stomach appeared, pulling the red chakra back into his body except for his head. The blood-red chakra encompassed his head, bubbling and moving almost as if it were alive. Then a touch of black seemed to creep in slowly, then all-consuming until only impenetrable living darkness remained covering his whole head. The once rapid breathing slowed, hands relaxed as he moved off the bed, not caring about the bedspread as it fell to the floor.

White silvers of moonlight from the boarded-up windows showed a bandaged boy walking to his closet opposite his bed in nothing but black shorts. The darkness around his head seemed to be ignoring the fact that light is supposed to pierce the dark and simply was. The boy opened his closet, looked at the many orange jumpsuits, and pushed them aside to go for a small, latched door. He pulls the latch free and opens the door to find a panel of breaker switches which he ignores for the top corner screw sticking out partially. He unscrewed the four screws and pulled the paneling off from the wall to reach past the wiring to the side, where he grabbed a bag and pulled it out.

He then returned to the bed and opened the bag to pull out some dark blue baggy pants torn around the calves with reddish stains at the bottom. After taking off the shorts and putting on the baggy pants, he grabbed two black and one brown belt from the bag alongside a black baggy long-sleeved shirt that was bleached white halfway up. Once he put on the shirt, he placed the brown belt on his waist while the two black belts wrapped around his chest in an x pattern.

Naruto grabbed a double tan gourd with a red string off his nightstand and tied it to his waist. Then he bent down and pulled a suitcase from under the bed with small clear liquid balls of different colors attaching them to the holes in the belts across his chest. Once done, he walked to the door; as a silver-white moonbeam caught the deep purple sad-filled eyes and full-on maniacal grin within the darkness around his head, he headed out.

It began a few weeks after what was now being called the second Kyuubi attack. Many knew it was terrible when some spotted the legendary jiraya himself within the village. After that, what started was what many called later the purge. You could be talking to someone one moment, then the next, that person disappeared in a haze of white smoke, leaving no clue as to where they went except for the flourish of a black cape on a rooftop.

Bodies were found at the warehouse where it all began. Some were severely damaged that Id was challenging, yet maybe it was karma that most were Id able. To say the gates of hell were thrown open was saying it mildly, as some people found out the hard way.

Homes were searched, families were interrogated, and even the children. Then the tapes were found tapes she remembered some members said to have recorded so their "justice" would maybe one day be recognized. Yet, if the haunted look on her husband's face, who was one of the few to have to sit through hours of that so-called "justice," was any indication, it was anything but that. For those first few weeks, she waited for her husband to come home with friends to take her for a visit with T.I., but that day never came.

Public executions mainly happened to those who were ex ninja and were found to be traitors to the village for helping with such vile things. Civilian and ninja families were kicked out of the village just for being related to some of the deceased who caused it all.

After a month, things returned to normal for those not involved with the so-called red moon incident. For those like her, it was a tense time of trying to act normal while at the same time keeping a look out for the other shoe to drop. Her Husband became more closed off after finishing his part of the investigation, sometimes just going down on his knees and hugging their daughter while crying for no reason.

She had to explain to Sakura that her daddy had just gone through something very hard and needed her to help him during those times. Sakura, only four, would hug her daddy and tell him it was OK; at those times, she could only feel proud of her daughter. Yet, when it came to herself and the guilt she now carried, it weighed on her like horse and carriage on her back.

She would wake at odd hours hearing his screams, see his face on random children, and even sometimes see his eyes staring at her in mirrors. As the Months continued, paranoia was something she got very cozy with. The Rest of the village assumed that now the literal ball of orange and yellow sunshine would be back terrorizing them soon after; however, when six months when by and no word or sight of him, people just continued with their lives.

Soon a whole year passed, and they thought they would never hear from what some people called their savior. Then fresh after the new year, surrounded by Anbu, he appeared. Some bowed; others quickly hid because of the shame, seeing as they were the ones to kick him out of their stores to overcharge him for old or stale food. They couldn't bear the thought of looking at him and seeing the truth of their actions being thrust into their faces.

As he walked, many noted the changes with him that made even those who now would worship the ground he walked on flinch in shame. They know that while they may have done nothing to him like others, the fact that they did nothing was just as worse as doing something. He mostly wore the same old orange jumpsuit he was fond of, except for the windbreaker he wore, which was now an orange zip-up hoodie. The Orange Pants and blue sandals were still there; however, it wasn't what had not changed that made people look at him with pity. The addition of the white bandages covered him from head to toe without a gap except for his eyes. His eyes were no longer filled with happiness or that sparkling mischief that laughed in the face of scorn he once received. No, his Eyes excluded a cold countenance that was a shell of his former happy-go-lucky self. The Cold dark blues seem to pop against the pure white of his bandages, giving him a vibe of not to mess with this person.

She couldn't look long at him for fear those cold eyes would find hers, and if they did, she didn't think she had what it took to not simply bare her soul to get rid of the guilt she still struggled with. After that, not many people saw him anymore except for the hunters who would buy animals from him often. He hunted for his food, not trusting any business to treat him fair he only sold the furs because it would be a waste otherwise and only to hunters not of Konoha. Beyond that and going to the Hokage office every couple of days, he stayed held up in that apartment building that no one else was allowed even to come close to.

When she tentatively asked her Husband about it, he said the boy had boobytrapped the place so well that R.D was recreating some of the traps to be put in some of their top-secret areas of the village. The Only ones who could go in were him and maybe the Hokage, and that's with the boy with him going solo without warning almost got an Anbu squad killed. With the Boy out into the village again, her guilt started hitting her full tilt to turn herself in to scream that she was so sorry for her actions. Still, she bit her lips until they bled to starve off such notions because she just couldn't; her family might get kicked out, and she would most likely spend the rest of her life behind bars or on a chopping block.

She couldn't do that to her beautiful Sakura and her devoted husband. She just couldn't.

March twenty-eight was a special day in the Haruno residence, but to the rest of the village, it was when the murders began. While the kids ran and played without a care in the world, the parents would be wondering who did it and why. When she first saw the pictures of the ones killed in the daily scroll, she almost had a heart attack. As it turned out, she remembered them both at that one meeting; they liked her being one of the few left to survive that night and the purges. It was only a coincidence; she said as she tried to convince herself that that's all it was.

Of course, she said the same when it happened again this time; she only remembered the man, not the woman that was his wife. Two murdered couples meant nothing in the grand scheme of things until it happened again and again.

Then before they knew Konoha, citizens were back to curfews and lockdowns only a year after the second Kyuubi attack. Panic started settling in quickly; some did not want to be caged, while others were waiting for the Kyuubi to attack again. More Ninjas were called from the Jonin section to assist in keeping the village safe, like her husband, who retired from Anbu mid-last year. While she was happy to have her husband home every other night, she hoped that with Shikaku Nara in charge, they would catch this killer and put her fears to rest.

That proved false hope when an explosion rocked through Konoha on one of the few nights her husband was home. Later that afternoon, she would hear that Shikaku and Inoichi, two clan heads, were almost killed in the blast that killed a man and his wife. A Man she knew somewhat well, considering he was the only other member of her group to survive that painful night. She knew then she was next, and it scared her.

She made arrangements that moment after hearing the news for Sakura to stay at her friend Ino's for at least a week, then she went home and packed, grabbing what little supplies she could take. She knew her husband and daughter would not understand her sudden leaving, but she knew it had to be done, seeing as she could not put them in danger. By evening she had everything packed with Sakura already at Ino's. Her husband wouldn't be home until the end of the week, so she left a note for him to get Sakura and wrote them both a brief message on how she was sorry and explained her guilt to help him understand. With that done, she grabbed her bags, went down the stairs, and was seconds from opening the door when she stopped.

It was only then she remembered she needed her Id papers to get out of the country, which she left upstairs in her room. Dropping her bags at the door, she ran like lighting up the stairs combing through drawers for only a minute before stuffing her kimono pockets full as she flew back downstairs to leave. Though both her feet got to the bottom of the staircase, she felt the hair on the back of her neck rise as she noted with wide eyes that her bags were nowhere near the front door.

Her heart beat rapidly as goosebumps formed on her skin; she took a step back and then another, bumping into the stairs. She slowly moved to the side of the staircase, keeping her back to the wood while looking around at every shadow with the dimming light in her home. She moved slowly toward the back door, knowing it was her only hope. As she inched, the creaky floorboard at the top of the stairs sounded, causing her to stop.

Her Heartbeat speeded up, pumping the adrenaline through her body rapidly, causing her fight or flight instinct to kick in. With her brain only thinking one thing: RUN! That next second she bolted for the back door, grabbed the knob, turned, and nothing. She pulled again harder, twisting the knob every which way, but nothing worked; no matter how hard she pulled, the door wouldn't budge. Only after using her feet against the wall and removing the doorknob off falling back onto the floor did her eyes spot the weird globs of white sticking between the door and frame cracks. She touched it, getting back to her feet, realizing the texture of glue made her heart sink as she realized her way of escape was blocked again.

She then ran into the kitchen, where she knew the knives were, hoping she could fight her way out. She paused for a moment and saw that the kitchen wasn't how she left it, with a lone chair covered in chains, belts, and even some thick rope wrapped around and through the chair itself. Next to that on the kitchen table were only what she could describe as tools of torture with a barbed two-by-four, a spiked rusted hammer, broken shards of glass poking out an upside-down spray bottle with a stick coming out the bottom along with other twisted things that would no doubt hurt when hit with. Now knowing her fate should she allow herself to be caught by that monster made her mad dash to the table and grabbed the barbed two-by-four as a means of survival.

She thought of breaking the small kitchen window while knowing she could not climb through; she could scream for help at least. She moved to execute her plan when the large thump of something metal and heavy sounded behind her. In that instant, she shifted her weight to her forward foot to swing behind her wildly hoping to get a lucky hit only to hit the air. Her eyes darted all over the place to find the noise maker to find nothing while holding the weapon out in front of her in a death grip.

The Overwhelming urge to get to freedom saw her running toward the only exit out of the kitchen thinking it was better to fight than stay and die. However, she didn't expect the fast-moving grey blob that blasted through her weapon in seconds going right for her face as she barely crossed the threshold. The resulting crunch of her nose breaking was felt as was the hard wooden floor meeting the back of her skull as she now was laid out in a daze before darkness claimed her vision just as a much darker blob appeared.