A/N. Ok I know I've already started another Naruto fanfic, and not even gotten the second chapter out yet for it, but I had this sudden flash of inspiration, probably originating from my love of books and I always wondered how everything would have turned out if canon!Naruto had a love or at least a good amount of respect for books and the knowledge that they carry within them, and I also want to wait till I get at least two reviews for it before I post the second chapter. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this one! Oh, and yes this is a Fem!Naruto fanfic.

Summary: In the ninja village of Konohagakure, there lays an old, almost completely forgotten library. Within that library hides a demon who thrives within its dark walls…

When she was six, Narumi Uzumaki stumbled upon an old library. Lost, cold, and losing hope, she decided to take shelter inside the ancient building, and met Kaede, the old woman who ran the library. Taught and raised by the old woman from then on, Narumi grew to respect the books that surrounded her in her new home. Now guided by their knowledge and Kaede's teachings, Narumi will strive to gain the power necessary to protect what is precious to her and become Hokage of her village. But the road will not be easy, strife with many hurdles to overcome, but if there is one thing that she inherited from Kaede beside her almost endless well of knowledge, it's the old woman's stubbornness and tenacity, and Narumi will succeed or die trying. Warning: Smart, book-loving Fem!Naru fanfic set in an AU. Please don't let that ruin the story for you however.

(Sasuke: That sounds so wrong, you just don't put Naruto and books in the same sentence…)

(Me: Shut it Duck Butt! It's my fanfic, I can make Naruto a book-loving girl that can still kick your butt every day of the dang week if I dang well want to. You are not the author here, I am. Now shut up and sit back and wait until I decide to bring you into the story, if at all.)

(Sakura: Don't talk bad about Sasuke-kun! You're just jealous because you know for a fact he could write a better book then you ever could!)

(Me: Yeah right Pinky! He's too busy trying to kill everybody, and after he near killed all of you, I'm shocked your still chasing after him, especially since it's plainly obvious that he is not interested in you or any of his other fangirls. Oh wait, you're the pre-time skip Sakura, you're supposed to get on my nerves. Never mind!)

Anyways time for disclaimer!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!

Prologue: A Safer Haven- The Demons' Library!

It was night, the moon high in the air, or would've been if one could see it through the dark, thick, gray clouds that blocked sky above from view. The temperature was almost below freezing, not helped at all by the rain that poured down mercilessly on any unlucky enough to be caught in its wake. A young girl, no older than five, maybe six years in age, slowly walked through the muddy roads, bare feet hitting the ground with a sickening sound as she trudged through the muck. She shivered, pale, almost white, blonde hair all but glued to her face as she continued the long torturous trek home. Blue eyes stared ahead through the pouring rain, dulled with a look of utter emptiness, only obtained when one seemed to be close to losing all hope in life and giving up. It was true of course, the young child had been ostracized for as long as she'd been able to remember, for no reason that she could clearly remember.

People had called her a demon, claimed that she had murdered people, of course she wasn't sure, and she highly doubted she could have, but still the people of her village, Konohagakure, insisted and shunned her. She had wanted to prove them wrong, to gain their respect, so she chose to one day become Hokage. Asking the kind old man who currently held the position to allow her into the academy was a good start in her mind, but the teachers there refused to help her, all save for one that is. Instead, they pushed her down and made sure she failed, went out of their way to make sure she learned nothing to accomplish her goals. To keep the demon from regaining its strength so it could attack the village and take its revenge they had said. Last she checked she felt no reason to want to kill anybody for such things. Still, it made for a lonely, difficult life so far, and she was beginning to feel disheartened.

She was shaken from her depressing thoughts as a particularly cold wind hit her, easily bypassing the thin, water-soaked clothes she was wearing. She was definitely not dressed to be in this weather, and any longer outside, and she might catch pneumonia or worse. A quick look around however only served to dampen her mood as she realized she had no idea where she was. None of the surrounding buildings looked familiar at all, and there was no real signs of life anywhere, even if there was she was sure they wouldn't offer her shelter from the rain however. Still she had to keep moving.

Finally she caught sight of an at least half decent shelter. What looked to be an old abandoned building of some sort. She quickly ran inside, trying to rub some warmth into her arms once she was out of the rain finally.

"Now what do we have here?" a voice came from behind her, causing her to turn around in surprise,

"I-I'm sorry! I-I'll leave right now I-"

"Don't you dare go back out in that pouring rain! That is no weather for a young child to be wandering about in. You're staying right here until it passes." The owner of the voice, an old woman, said sternly,

"Ah…T-Thank you…" the child said, a tone of surprise and disbelief could be heard in her voice. This old woman was letting her stay here with her? The village pariah, the child who everybody else seemed to want dead and buried six feet under? Unheard of as far as she herself had been concerned.

"My name is Kaede Tsukuyo, but you can call me Gram-Gram little one. Now what is your name?" the old woman, Kaede or rather Gram-Gram asked in a gentle, kind voice.

"N-Narumi miss-I mean Gram-Gram, m-my name is Narumi Uzumaki." The old woman's eyes widened in response, and Narumi vacantly wondered if she should've lied instead, would the old woman kick her out now?

"Narumi Uzumaki? You're the child that everybody ridicules and calls a demon." The woman stated rather then asked, Narumi still felt the need to nod her head. "Now, now. Don't you worry that pretty little pale head of yours. You'll always be welcome here. Unlike those fools in the village, I can actually tell the difference between a scroll and the kunai sealed within." Kaede said, shuffling her clothes as she snorted indignantly at the mere thought of the other villagers. Narumi couldn't help but giggle slightly in amusement, finding the woman's reactions slightly funny, she went quiet though as something she said had bothered her.

"Um…G-Gram-Gram…You said those fools in the village."

"Yes? What about it?"

"Well, i-isn't this place also a part of the village? What is this place anyways?" Narumi asked as she surveyed the interior more closely. There were shelves after shelves of books, from one wall to the next, and though the place was obviously old and largely unused, it looked like until maybe about ten or so years ago, it had been visited a lot by many people.

"It's a library, a place where people come to read books. My child, haven't you ever been inside one before?" Narumi shook her head in response, causing the woman to act like she had just admitted to committing some sort of heinous crime, "My dear, you have been missing out on quite a bit then. Books are the messengers of Kami herself! They are wells of knowledge, able to bring a person to far off lands that one could only hope to visit! To place oneself in another's shoes! They are wonderful gifts to mankind! To not have even read one might as well be a crime!"

"Um…I'm sorry…B-but none of the v-villagers would even l-let me near their stores, let alone read a b-book." Kaede sniffled indignantly, turning her nose up in an action largely reminiscent to the members of the Hyuuga Clan, who all seemed to have a stick shoved so far up their butts you couldn't see either end.

"Well then, my child, you have been deprived of a great thing." Suddenly the woman seemed to be struck with an amazing idea, or at least an idea that she herself considered amazing, "Narumi, how would you like to live here in the library with me?" Narumi really couldn't believe her ears now. This kind old lady, wanted someone, something like herself to live in the same building as her. She felt faint.

"I-I-Are you sure? Y-you wouldn't mind?" Kaede gave her a gentle smile in response.

"Of course I'm sure, I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't. Besides, you my child, need to learn the importance of books and the knowledge that they carry within them."

"T-Thank you…" Narumi was now in tears when she said this. Nobody, except for the current hokage and the old man that ran the ramen stand and his daughter, had even been this nice to her before. Nobody. She was beside herself as she ran up to hug the old woman, "Thank you… Gram-Gram."

"Nothing at all my dear, nothing at all…"

A/N. Well that's the first chapter, or prologue really. I hope you guys enjoyed the story, and please review and tell me what you think! Thanks for reading and see ya!