The Demon Child.

By: SpaceOrbisStories.

Chapter 1: The Invitation.

Naruto awoke with a start in a cold sweat due to yet another of his nightmares. This time it was a group of angry villagers all armed with pitchforks and other such things ready to in their own words kill the demon child and save the village. Looking to his left he saw it was now nearing six in the morning and seeing no real need to remain in bed any longer he quickly jumped off of his bed and into the shower. Unsurprisingly the water that flowed out of the shower head was freezing cold but he knew better than to complain to his landlord, Mrs. Misaki Keto. The last time he did so she beat him so bad he had to be sent to the hospital. But even then he was treated like he was contagious. Like being near him would make you sick or something. They would always do the absolute bare minimum for his care. They would do enough to keep him alive but never enough to keep him comfortable and unlike everybody else, he was only allowed one meal a day and that was whatever was left in the cafeteria the day before.

He was constantly being picked on by the older kids or in the case of the adults being run off by the shop owners and streetside vendors. It was due to this that he had mastered the art of the ninja. He knew every street corner or shortcut the village had to offer a twelve-year-old with no real family to speak of. He was almost always alone. The only person who cared for him at all was grandpa Hokage who would come to visit him every now and again. It was in those rare visits of his that he knew love and kindness. Otherwise, it was near constant bullying or worse being beaten into unconsciousness. But that was his life each and every day. He was Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze. He was the demon child. The social pariah. The butt of everybody's jokes. That fact didn't look to be changing anytime soon no matter how much he wished it to. By the time he was done with his ice cold shower, it was around 6:10. So with the speed befitting a ninja twice his age he was out the door and jumping from one rooftop to the next with great speed. No sooner had he dropped down onto the school ground's did the bell sound. He had just made it. Unbeknownst to him however, he wasn't the only person still outside the school. Ino Yamanaka eyed her fellow blond with great intensity. She was his polar opposite. She was beloved by all who knew her he, on the other hand, was despised. However, unlike the others in her class she never once mocked him. For she knew how sad his life was. How he was being beaten by both her fellow classmates and the adults. Yet time after time he would slowly get back up and go about his day as if that horrendous act didn't just happen. Today she was going to do something about that. She was going to make his life a little better no matter what. He deserved happiness and she was by sage going to give the boy a day of happiness. He deserved that much at least.

Naruto entered the classroom and like clockwork, the jokes began to be sent his way. He did his best to ignore them but even so, it still hurt. Sure he wasn't as book-smart as Sakura Haruno or as skillful as Sasuke Uchiha or even as graceful as Hinata Hyuga but he did his best each and every day. Taking his seat he hoped the chunin wouldn't call on him today. That hope however like everything else wasn't meant to be.

"Naruto what's the name of the battle that took place on this date"? The chunin instructor asked as he pointed to an area on the edge of the Land Of Stone.

"I don't know...sir". Naruto replied. No sooner did he say that a new round of jokes were sent his way. In time even the chunin instructor joined in on the mocking of his lack of basic ninja knowledge.

"Maybe you should just drop out. Your clearly a failure boy. Why waste everybody's time with your ignorance". The instructor said before kicking him out before locking the door behind him ensuring he wouldn't be able to enter the classroom again. For the rest of the day, Naruto sat with his head down low as he sat on the old swing near the back of the school. It was only when a shadow block the sun did he look up.

"Ino...do you want this? You can have it". Naruto said as he began to get up freeing the seat for her.

"No, it's fine Naruto that's not it". Ino said her face now red in embarrassment. This would be the first time she talked to the boy and being so close to him she would be lying if she said he wasn't kind of cute with his fox-like whisker marks. At her words, Naruto looked confused.

"So why are you near me then? Naruto said before looking around just in case anybody could see them together. Aren't you worried you would be seen with me"?

"No". Ino replied. At this, his face grew just as red as her own face was only seconds before. "You can join me and my family for a fun day. That is if you want". Ino said awaiting the boy's response. Naruto for a time eyed the girl before him closely. This wasn't the first time he had been invited by one of his classmates for a fun day out. An escape from the loneliness, however, the last time he did so it ended with him being cold and wet. But she had never said an unkind word to him or belittled his skills or really anything else. So just this once he would take a chance on her. He would accept the invitation.