Hey Readers!

Quick note ~ Wow, I havent checked up in this story in nearly five years, it's amazing to see all that feedback. One thing I would like to request of my reviewers, if I may be so bold.

I started this story when I was 14, and finished it at 16. You are in no way shape or form forced to read if you dont like the material. Its young and full of errors, wishful thinking, improper world building and incontinuity. That's how all writers start out. I will ask that if you choose to leave criticism, be specific! Tell me what you think could be improved, or where the story lost your interest. Negative feedback is wonderful. Rage reviews for putting a German shepherd in the Naruto verse helps no one. I was an angsty little thing at 14, and writing was the outlet I chose. Please dont use your influence with feedback to intimidate writers out of their craft. If I'd read some of the more hateful reviews at 14, they would've broken my heart. As things stand, there's enough hate in the world without creative minds turning against one another. I gently ask that you please mind your words.

If you'd like something a bit more mature but still with a kick of supernatural, go check out AddisonBritt on FictionPress. I'm 21 now, and I guarantee I learned a few things from writing Fireborn. Thanks for your time, and never stop writing!

1 - The Fire

Kiruma loved fire. She loved its color, the way it moved, even the smell of smoke that came with it. She wasn't a pyromaniac; at least, that's what she told herself. She didn't like lighting things on fire, she just liked watching it. It was almost an obsession. That was why, on that particular night, Kiruma had stolen the matches from the cupboard downstairs and was lighting them one by one, watching in fascination as matchstick after matchstick was burned to a crisp. She held each one until the flame seared the tips of her fingers and she was forced to drop it. Blackened splinters littered the floor once the matchbox was empty and she tossed it into the trash with a sigh. She glanced at the match in her hand. Only one left. She decided to save it for later. She jumped, startled, when she heard the front door slam open. She sprung to her feet and threw away the matchsticks, hiding any evidence that she had been playing with fire. Her parents despised her newfound obsession. They said it was dangerous and that fire was a thing to be hated. It just destroyed and only accidents occurred because of it. Of course, she paid no heed to their warnings, instead keeping her fascination to herself. The only one in her family who didn't mind her love of fire was her older brother, Yuuko. He didn't really like her messing with fire, but instead of telling her to stop, he taught her how to use fire safely so that she wouldn't accidentally burn the house down. She opened the door to her room and poked her head out, wondering who was home. Her mother was downstairs preparing dinner, so it was either her father or her brother.

"Haruka, why isn't dinner ready?" her father's voice carried throughout the house. Kiruma frowned. He didn't seem to be in a good mood that night.

"It'll be ready soon," her mother replied, walking out of the kitchen with her wooden spoon still in hand.

"Why don't you relax until then, alright?" Her father scowled angrily.

"You shouldn't be telling me what to do in this family!" he growled sharply.

Her mother put her hands on her hips, frowning slightly.

"I didn't mean to offend you-"

"I'm not offended! My own wife shouldn't be telling me what to do in my own house!" Kiruma stepped out of her room and closed the door behind her, freezing in place when both her parents' heads snapped towards her at the sound.

"Kiru-chan, wash your hands for dinner, okay? It'll be ready soon," her mother instructed her, turning to go back into the kitchen.

"I'm not done talking to you, Haruka," her father demanded, grabbing her upper arm to stop her. Kiruma took a step towards them, frowning slightly. She was worried.

"Otou-sama," she called quietly. He either didn't hear her or chose to ignore her.

"Otou-sama," she said, a bit more forcefully. His eyes shifted to glare at her.

"Let go of Ka-chan."

There was a silence.

"Oh?" her father responded, his voice deadly.

"Talking back are we?" She wavered slightly as he released her mother and started walking towards her.

"She wasn't trying to tell you what to do," Kiruma insisted, though her hands were trembling slightly. She had been hit by her father before, but only when he was drunk. Never when he was angry and sober. And never when her mother was home. She wondered briefly which would hurt worse.

"Wasn't she?" her father answered calmly, though his eyes were flashing angrily. "What would a child like yourself know about the adult world?"

Her mother took a hesitant step forward, ready to step in between them.

"Sh- she was just giving you a suggestion," Kiruma stammered, trying to keep her face calm. Her father raised his hand threateningly and Kiruma flinched, squeezing her eyes closed in anticipation of the strike. When no pain came, she opened one eye only to see her mother immediately close the gap between them, grabbing the back of her daughter's shirt and dragging her back out of the way.

"Ka-chan?" Kiruma questioned in surprise as her mother stood in front of her protectively.

"Kiru-chan, do as your told and go wash your hands for dinner," her mother told her quietly, releasing the back of her shirt.

"Your father and I need to talk."

Kiruma backed away slowly, looking back and forth between her mother and father.

"Hai," she answered reluctantly, before turning on her heel and leaving the room. Knowing it would be a while before dinner would actually be ready, Kiruma slipped out through the back door of her house, deciding to go for a walk. She took a deep breath of cold air, exhaling with a sigh. She wished Yuuko were there. He would make her feel better. It was nearly seven o clock, but the streets still had a few wandering pedestrians and families, some going out for dinner and others heading home. Konoha was a lively place at night. She shoved her hands into her pockets and kicked a pebble down the street. She didn't like the cold. She got cold even when it was just breezy, maybe because she became so used to being around open flame. Speaking of which… she took out the match that she had stored in her pocket earlier. She ran off a side street into the forest, not wanting wind from being in the open to put it out. She leaned against a tree, shivering as the cold from the bark seeped into her shoulder. She dragged the match against a piece of bark and the flame flared brightly, lighting up her face. She watched it, transfixed as the small glow devoured the stick. Normally she would hold the match until the flame seared her fingertips, but to her surprise, it didn't burn her when it finished the match. Her eyes widened when the little flame stayed lit, dancing on the tip of her finger. It didn't spread across her hand or burn, but a light tingling sensation shot through her fingertips. She breathed a small sigh of awe as it flickered there. She had no idea what she was doing or how she was doing it, but the fire itself made her feel better, and made her stop shivering.

She heard a quiet whistle and jumped in surprise as a kunai came out of nowhere, speeding through the air and pinning her to the tree she had been leaning on. The flame immediately flickered out.

"Who's there?" she demanded, reaching up and grabbing the kunai. She tried to yank it out of the tree to no avail. It was really stuck. A boy walked towards her, arms crossed over his chest. He stopped a few feet from her, black eyes bored.

"Who're you?" she asked rudely, glaring at him.

"That's my line," the boy answered coolly. "You were making so much noise I thought you might be an intruder."

"I wasn't even moving," she spat back at him. The boy shrugged, eyeing her coolly.

"Regardless, you interrupted my training."

"Yeah? Well you interrupted me too," she snapped. She had just discovered something amazing, and this boy, who couldn't be older than six, had started chucking knives at her.

There was a silence where both of them glared at each other.

"Why don't you free yourself, then?" he asked. She blushed in humiliation but refused to back down.

She gripped the kunai and yanked on it, but the weapon didn't give at all. She gave it another sharp tug, but it was no use. That thing was imbedded in there and wasn't coming out anytime soon. The boy sighed.

"What a nuisance." He walked towards her and she scowled at him, not wanting his help. She braced her hands on the tree and pushed herself forward, ripping a large hole in her shirt.

"No need to rip your clothes," he said calmly. He stopped in front of her, his face less than a foot from hers, eyes practically boring holes in hers as she glared right back at him. He grasped the kunai and dislodged it with a sharp tug, placing it in his pocket. She fell to the ground with a startled shout before getting to her feet.

"I didn't need your help," she snapped, irritated. He looked down at her coolly. She had to remind herself that the only reason he seemed so tall was because his silver hair stuck up like a troll. She wondered briefly what he would look like if she set his hair on fire. It was a tempting prospect. His eyes watched her, the lower half of his face obscured by a mask. He twirled the kunai around his finger, raising an eyebrow.

"I suppose red hair runs in your family?" the boy asked, pocketing his kunai and looking her up and down.

"I suppose troll hair runs in yours?" she shot back without hesitation. He ignored her comment.

"…It matches your temper." Kiruma put her hands on his chest and shoved him away from her, hard. She turned on her heel and stomped away heatedly.

"Stupid ninjas," she muttered under her breath. She could feel his black eyes boring into her back, but she didn't care. She never was good at making friends, and she wasn't going to start now. She slowed down when she reached the road. It was getting dark. Hopefully by now her parents had stopped fighting and dinner would be ready. She approached her house slowly, somewhat reluctant to go back, when a flash of movement caught her eye. A small creature was hiding behind her house, nose snuffling through the dirt. She crouched down by the animal and its head snapped up at the sound she made.

"Hm? I didn't think there were any dogs around here," she muttered to herself. The puppy was small enough to fit in the hood of her jacket, which was strange to her, because he looked to be some kind of German shepherd, and those kinds of puppies usually weren't this tiny. His fur was matted with mud, and his paws were cut up and bleeding, probably from running until the pads of his paws wore out. She picked him up by the scruff of the neck until they were eyelevel. There was a silence as she and the dog just watched each other. Brown eyes staring into ash grey ones. His tail wagged slightly.

"Nobody wants you either, huh?" she sighed. Even as she said it she knew it wasn't true. Yuuko liked her. Maybe even loved her. And her mother tried to, it was just hard to balance out the family's relationship with their father sometimes. She frowned at the puppy.

"Your name will be… Dog." His tail drooped. She scowled.

"Sorry I'm not more creative," she muttered defensively. She set the puppy down and he laid on her feet, immediately covering her shoes with mud. She sighed.

"Kiruma-chan?" Kiruma whirled around to see her older brother standing behind her, a confused look on his face.

"Nii-sama!" she exclaimed. Yuuko glanced at the puppy.

"Who's that?"

"This is Dog," she answered impassively. Yuuko snorted.

"You can't name a dog 'Dog', Kiruma-chan. And you don't even know how to take care of one, do you?"

"So? Dog is used to being on his own. I'll train him to do all sorts of things." She put her hands on her hips, glaring fiercely at her older brother. He smirked slightly.

"I don't think Otou-sama would be very happy having a dog in the family." They both fell silent, knowing Yuuko was right. Sensing her disappointment, Yuuko put a hand on her shoulder.

"Ne, Kiruma-chan, how about you name him Apollo? Apollo was the god of the sun in Ancient Greece, and you like things that have to do with fire, right?"

A smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

"You're such a nerd, Nii-sama."

He lightly poked her cheek and she punched him in the shoulder, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Let's go home," he suggested. They turned and walked towards the front door, Kiruma shoving her hands into her pockets for warmth.

"What were you doing out so late anyways?" Yuuko asked, watching her curiously.

"Otou-sama almost hit me while Ka-chan was watching, and she told me to leave." Kiruma wondered briefly if she should tell Yuuko about her recent fire discovery, but decided against it. It might have been a one-time thing, something she would never be able to repeat. Yuuko scowled, then suddenly stiffened. He grabbed Kiruma's shoulders and spun her around to face him, his dark eyes watching hers intensely.

"Kiruma-chan, what do you mean 'while Ka-chan was watching?' Has he hit you otherwise?" Kiruma watched her brother warily, a bit unnerved by the dark fury in his eyes.

"Of course not," she lied, pushing his hands off her shoulders and crossing her arms. "I didn't mean to make it sound like that."

She wasn't sure if Yuuko believed her or not. He was quiet for a long time.

"Alright, let's go inside."

Kiruma opened the door and walked inside her home, gasping as a plate hit the wall right next to her, breaking with a loud crash. Her father stormed into the room, his face red with anger, and whirled around. His eyes narrowed when he saw Kiruma standing in the doorway.

"You…" he thundered dangerously. "Where have you been all this time?"

Kiruma felt Yuuko shift slightly in front of her, but she stared around him, facing her father. She didn't need his protecting and she hated looking like she was scared, even if she was terrified.

"I-I went for a walk," she answered as calmly as she dared. Heart racing, she watched her father's face darken.

He strode towards her, grabbing her by the wrist and lifting it above her head, hard enough that her feet almost left the ground.

"Liar," he snarled at her. He glared at her mother, who was standing on the other side of the room, eyes widening in horror.

"You have raised our daughter to be a liar," he spat at her.

"Otou-sama," Yuuko ordered darkly, his eyes murderous. "Put Kiruma-chan down."

Father and son glared at each other for what seemed like hours.

"Respect," their father snarled eventually. "This family needs respect." Kiruma struggled against her father's grip. He smelled like alcohol. She hated that smell. She hated what it made him do. Her father pulled something out of his belt and their mother gave a gasp of horror.

Kiruma didn't recognize the object in his hand. It was black, shaped at an angle, and her father was pointing it at her brother, whose eyes had widened slightly.

"Haruka," he addressed their mother. "If you don't teach our son some respect, I will." He made the object click once, presumably for emphasis, and Haruka flinched at the sound.

"Leave, Yuuko," she ordered.

"But, Ka-chan-" Yuuko protested.

"Don't talk back to me!" her mother's voice suddenly had a desperate note in it.

"Leave, and don't return until… until you've gained some respect for your father." Even Kiruma could tell that her mother didn't believe in her own words. Yuuko's hands clenched into fists, hesitating.

Kiruma watched her father aim the object more carefully, and she panicked. She didn't know what it was, but it terrified her mother, and if that was the case, she did not want it used on her brother.

"Don't hurt him!" she yelled at her father, trying to tear her arm out of his grasp.

He looked at her in wild anger, setting the object down for a moment and hitting her across the face, hard. Her vision was tinged with red for a moment, and suddenly a familiar tingling sensation ran through her arm. She saw the barely traceable hint of a flame race across her wrist. She heard her father give a startled shout and drop her, clutching his hand. His face was contorted in pain.

"Yuuko!" Their mother yelled. "Get out of here!" Yuuko gave a reluctant nod, turning and flying out the door, leaving it ajar in his haste.

"Haruka, this is your fault! It's your fault we have a demon child! She burned me! Look at this! She burned me!" He snatched up the object and aimed at Kiruma, eyes full of murderous intent.

"You're not my daughter," he snarled, pulling the trigger. An earsplitting crack rang through the air as Haruka threw herself at Kiruma, pushing the shocked girl out of the way just in the nick of time. Kiruma felt a shrapnel of metal slice through her lower neck near her collarbone and pain exploded through her upper shoulder. The weight in her hood lessened as Apollo fell from her hood to the floor, jumping to his feet with a startled bark.

Her mother stood and ran to the other side of the room while her father made the object click again, eyes narrowed in an insane fury.

Kiruma froze, unable to move. She felt unshed tears building in her eyes and she tried to stumble back, away from the terrifying weapon her father held. Apollo nudged his nose into her hand, whining slightly. She froze when she heard a shattering noise. There was a moment of absolute silence. Her father's eyes bulged. Kiruma's mother was standing behind him, a broken bottle in her hand. Her father slowly fell to his knees, then to the ground, unmoving.

"Don't you dare lay a hand on my daughter," she whispered quietly. She dropped the bottle and ran to her daughter's side.

"Kiru-chan, baby, are you hurt?" Kiruma clutched Apollo to her chest, eyes wide and trembling as the puppy licked her chin.

"Come on, we're staying somewhere else tonight," she encouraged gently, scooping up Kiruma in her arms.

"N-Nii-sama," she protested weakly. "What about Nii-sama?"

Her mother smiled reassuringly at her, though it somehow seemed false.

"I'm sure Yuuko will find us later, okay?"

They stayed at a small hotel in another part of Konoha, away from their home. Kiruma gave Apollo some water and food, promising to clean him up as soon as he finished. She could hear her mother making phone calls, discussing plans to go to Iwagakure. Kiruma wondered why her mother would even consider moving when Yuuko hadn't found them yet. She was worried about him, but she knew he was strong. He could probably even take out that troll haired kid she had seen earlier that day. She brushed Apollo's fur, using warm washcloths to get rid of all the mud and to clean his paws, amazed at how much mud had been matted in his fur. She brushed through each section of fur until it was soft and silky. Once clean, he really was a beautiful dog. Of course, Kiruma probably would have thought that even if she wasn't a dog person. He watched her with big brown eyes, pink tongue lolling out of his mouth.

"Kiru-chan, you're hurt," her mother said suddenly, entering the bathroom. She took out the first aid kit and gently started cleaning the cut on her upper shoulder.

"Who's this little fellow?" she asked kindly, smiling at Apollo.

"Apollo," she answered after a moment. "I'm taking care of him."

"He's a little guy for a german shepherd," she observed quietly.

"Mm," she agreed.

"No mud on the carpet, okay, baby?" Kiruma's eyes widened, a smile of excitement lighting up her face. She knew that was her mother's way of saying she could keep him.

"Yes ma'am," she answered immediately.

Her mother put a bandage on the cut and kissed her on the forehead.

"We'll leave tomorrow, okay?"

Kiruma nodded. She had a weird feeling that she wasn't supposed to ask about Yuuko. Suddenly the phone rang, making both of them jump. Her mother answered it and Kiruma walked over to her, curious. She could hear the other line easily. The man's voice was loud and official.

"Hello?"

"…speaking to Koizumi-san?"

"Yes that's me."

"We are afraid to inform you that your husband was found deceased in his home. As of now the authorities believe it was a suicide-"

The phone slipped from her mother's hands and fell to the floor.

"Koizumi-san? Koizumi-san?"

The voice cut off as her mother terminated the call.

"Ka-chan?" Kiruma asked hesitantly. Her mother took two steps back, sitting on the bed slowly. There was a faraway look in her eyes.

"Did you… did you kill Otou-sama?" Kiruma's voice was hesitant. Death was still something that was a bit of a mystery to her, but she did understand the general idea that it was something you didn't come back from. At the word 'kill', her mother flinched, her hands starting to shake a bit spastically.

"Ka-chan?" Kiruma kneeled in front of her mother, taking the woman's hands in her own. Her mother didn't answer. She seemed devoid of hearing, as if her very spirit had left her body. She started twitching, first her face, then her hands, and then she was shaking spastically, having some sort of seizure. Kiruma paled, terrified, when, just as suddenly as it had started, her mother froze.

"Ka-chan, answer me," Kiruma begged, getting to her feet. Still no response. Apollo padded into the room, his fur still damp. He licked Haruka's hand, but again they received no change. Her mother was in shock, completely oblivious to her surroundings.

"Ka-chan!" Kiruma shouted, holding her mother's hands to her chest. "Please! Say anything!"

When she got no answer Kiruma fell to her knees, leaning her head against the edge of the bed. She tried to calm down. Think, Kiruma. Think.

Her father was gone. Dead. Yuuko was missing, and that meant her house was empty. Tomorrow she would take her mother and Apollo back there. She needed to find Yuuko, and she needed to help her mother get better. She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling tears slide down her face. She was so scared. She looked at her hands, watching as the tingling in them started again, sending small flickers to her fingertips. What am I? She wondered, cringing at the memory of her father calling her a demon child. She didn't know what was wrong with her, and that was the least of her problems.

She set the hotel alarm, promising herself that she would go back tomorrow and everything would be okay. It just had to be.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Author's Note: I'm not sure if this story will make it, but I hope you enjoy regardless. Any and all feedback appreciated.