A/N: I know a lot of you were really looking forward to the continuation of Elegant Embers which I am sad to say, it has been discontinued. I was finding too many discrepancies and plot holes. There will be parts from said previous story I will turn over to this one.

So far, the pairing for this story is undecided. However, I will say there won't be any straight pairings for Kamiko. Yep, once again, another femslash fic. So in the comment section, lemme know what lady you want our Heroine to end up with.

Disclaimer: Naruto and relating franchise is copyright to Masashi Kishimoto and I, in no manner or method owns a scrap of it. Just this measley fanfic.

Chapter I

Winter was a harsh season for the denizens of the Village Hidden the Leaves. Almost year round, the weather was warm, often balmy and generally pleasant. However, the time between autumn and spring brought a chill to the Land of Fire. Lethargy and a distaste of going outside in this dead season was a common consensus among the population of Konoha. They struggled to enjoy life and do their work when blighted by a blanket of snow.

But none so more than a young orphaned girl by the name of Kamiko Uzumaki-Namikaze. Of course she wasn't aware of her full name; she was only four years old. But despite her youth, she was a devilishly bright child. Given the chance, she would be hailed as a prodigy with intelligence and common sense. A hero to the people around her.

That however was far from how she was really treated. The citizens of Konoha at large, held an unrivaled animosity towards the crimson haired girl. Villagers despised the poor girl so much that every year on her birthday, they would take turns chasing her down and beating her up, hoping one year, the brat would die. They named this activity the ' Fox Hunt'. Sometimes she could not successfully hide or outrun the villagers, resulting in wounds that would normally mean mortal peril.

But why do they hate a young girl less than ten seasons old? That can be answered by the events when Kamiko drew her first breath. It was early in the morning on October 10th when Kushina Uzumaki went into labor. However the birth became complicated due to the seal's vulnerability. With the Yondaime manually keeping the seal strong, it would have held fast, but a mysterious stranger did the unthinkable.

In his black garb and orange mask, this unknown man forced the seal open enough to summon the beast from the mother's stomach. It appeared his only motive was to obliterate the Hidden Leaf using the destructive power of the Nine Tailed Demon Fox, an avatar of pure chakra.

This man, a paragon of strength in the village used everything in his arsenal to defeat this invader and his pet tailed beast. He had successfully fended off the enemy shinobi, but the demon fox continued to rampage. Being the most powerful of nine, the Kyuubi could not be sealed into a contained. Only a host; a living sacrifice would be able to jail it. His wife too weak and on the verge of death, there was no way she would survive another sealing.

With no choice left, the late Yondaime sealed the yang half of the Kyuubi's chakra into his daughter and the yin into himself. Using the forbidden technique, it had cost him his life so his daughter may yet live. His dream, was for the village to treat his baby girl as a hero for keeping the terrible monster in her gut. But reality kicked in, making young Kamiko despised for what she holds...

It's here in mid December when Kamiko found herself huddled up in the back alley somewhere in the Red Light District. Her ratty cloak which she had once salvaged from a dumpster last week was too light to keep the biting wind from harming her.

"What are you doing out here, child?" came a low feminine voice that the little girl had barely heard over the wind. The sound of the noise had startled her a little. A shadow had obscured what little sun was shining down on her face. The voice continued and asked, "Where are your parents?"

Kamiko reluctantly peered up. Her gaze was met with a buxom woman in her late thirties, or so the redhead estimated. In a quiet voice, she rasped, "I don't have any parents. And I was kicked out of the orphanage awhile ago. So I live on the streets..."

"You have no other family to speak of?"

"No," answered the redhead immediately, not meeting the woman's gaze. For some reason the question made her uncomfortable. She never had parents, so why was the question like a knife to her gut?

Raising a brow, the woman fired another question, "Tell me dear, do you have a name?"

Biting her lip, the four year old reluctantly answered, "Kamiko...Uzumaki..."

"A beautiful name. Mine is Mitsune Iwanako, but you may call me Mitsune or Madame. All the ladies at Yūgata no Hana call me Madame or by my first name, that is the place I manage. I am the sole owner. How long have you been out here?"

Whimpering cautiously, Kamiko asked, "Y-you're not gonna take me somewhere where people can beat me up, a-are you?" Her query was met with a lofted eyebrow but the expression was devoid of maliciousness. "A-a year," came her hesitant reply. "They kicked me out of the orphanage for b-being a monster..."

"None of that now, dear. You're just a young girl down on her luck. Why don't you come with me Kamiko? We can get you a bath and then a nice hot meal into your tummy," said the strange woman, extending a gloved hand to the shivering child. "The street is no place for young girls. You must be so cold."

Taking the hand, Kamiko smiled hopefully as she was pulled to her feet. The woman and the girl walked a few blocks before they stopped in front of a back door to a tall building. The padlocked door was quickly unlocked and she was ushered toward the entrance. It took a moment or two, but the middle aged woman managed to coax Kamiko in.

Inside, the young redheaded girl couldn't help but smile at the warmth. It had been so long since she had last been inside. Her cheeks burned as her body temperature returned to a healthy level. Only a little longer would she stop shaking from hypothermia.

"Come sweetheart, let's get you cleaned up!"

After the bath and having her hair brushed, Kamiko had practically passed out. The herbal bath had quickly brought the young redhead to a normal human temperature. With the hypothermia abated, the young child only had a few more things to fix. Namely, the starvation and care of her body. Teaching her to read and write could come later.

With the dirt and grime washed away, Mitsune could see the child certainly had the potential to be just as or even more beautiful as her top performing women. The bright scarlet hair she was currently combing tangles out of was unlike anything she had seen before. Most folks in the Fire country were born with brown, black and auburn hair. But this little girl had a sleek mane of hair the color of freshly spilled blood. Or a very ripe tomato.

By the time, the little one was toweled off, she was beginning to doze off. Picking up her newest charge, Mitsune dressed the little redhead in a pair of pjs. Earlier, she had sent one of her ladies out to the local clothing store to pick up a couple changes of clothes so the girl would have something nicer to wear than a couple rags.

While there wasn't any room suitable for residential use other than the Matron and a few of the other girls. Mitsune put young Kamiko in a cot in her own bedroom. The older woman tucked her in and gave a kiss to the child's forehead. Quietly, she stepped out and closed the door behind her.

A sigh escaped her lips as she sat down in her office chair. She sat in deep thought for nearly ten minutes. Growing a little frustrated, the matron with silver tipped locks pulled open a drawer and fetched her kiseru set onto her desk. A match ignited and the tobacco was lit. She sucked in a lungful of smoke. She held it in for nearly a minute and a half before she exhaled slowly. She dumped the smouldering ash of used tobacco into the used pile.

"What are you thinking, madame?" came a soft voice from the slightly ajar door to her office. Mitsune didn't look over her shoulder to see who had come.

Instead, she answered after taking another drag on her pipe, "Many things, Akali. I don't know why I did what I did; I took her off the streets without a second thought. In my gut, I feel like she's worth more than what life's failed to give her thus far. As though she deserves everyone's respect. I can't explain it, nor why I want her safe, warm and close to me at all times."

The dark haired woman that served as a bodyguard to the matron replied with a small smile, "That's your maternal instinct. I'll be here if you need help raising her."

"Thank you."

A/N: I know the chapter is short, but I didn't want to make it too fluffy and full of droning exposition. So I hope this story caught your attention.