For as long as I could remember, I have dedicated my life to protect humans. Why I say humans? Well, I'm not human; I'm a Fox Demon, a guardian if you will… I mostly protect the villages that don't have a priestess, for during these times, demons and humans were always, at war. I only protected the villages until a priestess was sent to reside in the village or, until the demons no longer wished to attack that village. I know that I cannot protect everyone, but it doesn't stop me from trying to protect people.

Yet, lately there have been more and more attacks… mostly, on this one village where it was rumoured to have one of the most powerful priestesses known to human and demon kind. She had come from a clan that specialized in sacred energy and a unique fighting style that not many people knew of. It shouldn't be possible, but I knew that I had to stop them… but what I hadn't known, was that I sealed my own fate…

It was a beautiful day in the forest; a young looking man was walking through the trees. It was such a peaceful day, why would he want to ruin it. Stopping for a brief moment, the young man closed his blue eyes as he felt the wind blowing through his long blonde hair. His hair was styled in a spiky way, yet the hair that he had pulled back in a black hair tie was straight. He never understood why that was though; he also didn't care, just like he didn't care if his ponytail was red, instead of blonde.

His clothes were that of a cheap looking kimono. The jacket was orange yet the sleeves were black with dancing orange flames along the sleeves. The umanori hakama of his kimono was black. He wore a pair of straw sandals, something mostly to keep the stones from cutting his feet. Sure, he healed fast but it still hurt like hell. Next, were the gloves that covered his palms and the back of his hands, though the cloth only wrapped around his middle fingers and made their way up his arms just ending past his elbows. On his chest, were swirls the colour of crimson, a sign that he can use wind to do his bidding if he so chose to. From what you can see of his hands, there were faint red markings that resembled flames, though what the other markings covered, one couldn't really tell unless he were to remove his gloves. He was a rare demon indeed, one that can control fire and wind at his call among other abilities.

The wind rushed at the young man, his long hair flowed out behind him, as did his many nine orange fox tails. All of which, were tipped black. Opening his eyes, the spiky haired man thought he heard something, his ears twitching from the sounds of something moving through the forest. Growling, his eyes turned blood red, his pupils turning into slits and the thin-like whisker marks on his cheeks thickened. "Who's there?" growled out the young man, he wasn't going to allow anyone to attack him like this; sneak attacks were the coward's way out.

Acting quickly, the young man reached for the sword at his waist, his hand wrapping itself around the orange hilt and pulled out a long sword, the blade red as crimson, the guard of the sword sharpened out and pointing upward, almost looking like fangs. He narrowed his eyes as he looked toward the shaking bushes; the scent of a demon was making its way toward him. "I know you are there, do not make me kill you."

Soon, coming out of the bushes was a short person… a little girl. Frowning a little, the young man put his sword away and made his way over to the little girl. She had short brown hair, wearing a floral pattern kimono. It seemed a bit fancy, was she from some rich family or something? Shaking his head, the young man's eyes returned to being their ocean blue, and the whisker marks thinned out to simple lines on his cheeks, then he knelt in front of the little girl as he asked "are you okay?"

The little brown haired girl lifted her head, and stared at Naruto with a pair of white eyes. Was she blind? The little girl sniffled as she said "I… I want my mommy…" She had to be young… her small frail looking body told him that she had to be at least four. The little girl looked up at the man before her a little more before she yelped and tried to get away. "Demon! Demons are mean!" shouted the little girl.

"I'm not mean. I'm a demon yes but I'm not a mean one." He said in soothing words, hoping to calm down the little girl. Hm… how could he convince her that he wasn't going to hurt her? It would be hard to prove that for, demons are cruel by nature, though he wasn't. Waving his tails out behind him, the young man had his tails hovering in front of the little girl as he said "here, would you like to pet my tails?" The little girl blinked her white eyes and looked up at him in shock. She looked nervous, like something bad would happen to her if she were to touch his tails. Giving her a soft yet gentle smile, he said "it's okay, watch." He gently laid his tail against the grass before lifting it back up, the grass still in perfect shape. "See? Living things, grass, trees, or people won't be in danger from touching my fur."

The little girl slowly reached out for the demon's tail, her little hand shaking like crazy before her fingers carefully touched his fur. She smiled a little before starting to pet one of his many tails and started to giggle. It seemed that she had started to cheer up, that was something so now all he had to do was ask where she was from and take her home.

Soon, she wrapped her tiny arms around his tail and started to nuzzle it while giggling. The demon couldn't help but smile at her before he carefully lifted the little girl in his arms. "My name is Naruto, what about you?" said Naruto with a bright smile on his face, though careful not to show his fangs. The little girl blinked up at Naruto for a moment before tilting her head. Her skin was a little pale; it made the fox demon wonder just when was the last time she had anything to eat.

"Hana…" said the little girl, her voice sounded just as frail as she looked. Hm… he would have to get her something to eat… Hana yawned softly and started to lay her head against his chest as she started to rub her eyes. It was rather amazing that she would warm up to him this quickly just by touching his tail. Shaking his head, Naruto bounced the little girl a bit in his arms as he asked her where her home was. "I live in the Sacred Village…" That was the village with that powerful clan… though that would be at least a day's journey.

"I'll take you home Hana." Whispered Naruto before he started to walk on toward the Sacred Village. It was a rather odd name for sure, though he figured that they're too busy with their training to come up with a better name. Shaking his head, the young man kept on walking, knowing that he would have to be careful when it comes to human villages. There were villages that knew of him, a demon that would rather protect humans than to kill them, but there were still the odd village or so that didn't think it was possible or had only thought it was just a stupid story to give them a false sense of security.

What bothered him right now though, was how Hana ended up all the way out here. It just didn't make any kind of sense to him. In fact, it was rather odd, no, strange for a little girl from the Sacred Village to have been that far away from her home in the first place.

Looking down at the little girl in his arms, the young man knew that it would be a little difficult to get her home since her village didn't really speak to demons. In fact, this little girl was the only one from that village to have real contact with demons, or at least a nice one. Breathing deeply, Naruto looked up at the sky as he wondered what it would be like to see that village. Would it be like every other village he had gone to see, or would it be more than that? He couldn't really say, though it did have him interested in knowing what the place was.

Hm… as soon as the sun was going to set, he would have to set up camp, he knew that it would be a while until they had reached the village. Or, at least they wouldn't reach it until tomorrow at least. Sighing softly, the young man knew that it would be difficult for him to tend to a human child, since after all, he didn't know what all humans needed, sure he had a way to find out but he wasn't going to do it, not with a little girl. It was going to be hard enough as it was just trying to learn all of this stuff on his own… and he hated it when he still did not understand something…

"If it gets too complicated for me… I'll have to do it…" he whispered softly before he shifted Hana and placed her on his back, her arms around his neck and him holding her legs. Though to make sure that she would stay warm, Naruto wrapped his tails around the little girl and started to hum a soft song that he remembered his mother singing to him when he was young. Well, young looking in the human sense… hell, to them, he would look like he was seventeen at the least…

Letting out a soft sigh, Naruto found it rather odd, for what a human thinks is old, is young for a demon. It is rather confusing, if he could live within a human village, though he knew that it wouldn't be possible, for humans could never accept a demon to live in their village. Or even near their families. It would only become more difficult for him later on in his never ending life. Closing his eyes for a moment, Naruto knew that life was only going to become more difficult as time passed him by, as humans lived, grew older and passed on from this world to the next.

Shaking his head, the young demon knew that he would have to forget about his troubles for now. Right now, he would have to deal with other problems that he would have to live by. Yawning loudly, Naruto hoped that he didn't wake up Hana, not wanting to wake up the little girl. He had to admit, she was adorable, she could easily break a few hearts when she's older though… he wondered if she would still fear demons when she was older, or if he had opened up her heart to the possibilities of there being good demons out there like him.

That would be a dream world that was for sure… for a world that demons and humans could live together in peace and harmony. That was a world that he wanted to work towards… he wanted that world to be possible, a world that his parents wanted before they were killed. Yes, they had been killed off by humans but it still did not change his mind about humans. Just like how there were both good and bad demons, there were both good and bad humans. It wasn't their fault and he had learned to accept that. Breathing deeply, the young man just kept on walking through the forest.

It had been a tough night that was for sure. Though it was the end result that mattered. Soon, Naruto would be able to take Hana to her home and she would be able to live her life the way she wanted. Yet, he hoped that her experience with him would open her heart all the more to the possibility of humans and demons being able to live in peace. Or was that just wishful thinking? Even in his long, almost never ending life it may never happen, demons and humans may never live in peace but there would be some differences and he would just have to learn to accept that, that's all.

Breathing deeply the young man looked down at his side, smiling at the little girl as he held her little hand in his. It was rather amazing that she was so happy, and so open around him. She spoke about her life in the village, about her family and about the head priestess. Such as her power and her abilities. It was something he wished that he didn't know about though he knew that it would be something that he would just have to smile about. After all, Hana was just a little girl and she didn't know any better yet.

"Naruto, will you live in the village?" asked Hana, her white eyes looking up at him with innocents. He couldn't help but give her a soft smile, it was sad that he couldn't stay. There was just no way that they would allow him, a demon, to live in the village. It just didn't seem possible for him and he knew that, he also had learned to accept that at the time. Though it would also be hard for him to just leave Hana, even if he had only protected her, known her, for a day at the most…

Shaking his head, the young man calmly said "sorry, but I won't be able to stay here in the village… They won't accept me there like you would Hana. Besides, I'm a traveling swordsman… I travel to village to village to help people. I cannot just 'settle' down in a place if I am not needed or wanted even for a second." Hana frowned at him that was something that he never wanted to do, he never wanted to upset Hana but it was, sadly the truth. He couldn't stay with her and be her protector, even if it was in his nature because he was once a guardian for a village but that village had burned down, protecting people was just in his nature, and it was what he wanted to do if that made sense.

Looking ahead, Naruto saw a small hill, and the scents of humans were coming from the other side. He just knew that on the other side of the hill, was Hana's village. Her home… after today he wouldn't see the little girl though he would just be happy knowing that she was safe. Breathing deeply, Naruto found it hard to believe that he had grown attached to her… he's only looked after her for a day and yet he cared deeply about her, though… not like he would if he had cared for a woman…

Closing his eyes for a brief moment, Naruto started to walk up the hill. "Naruto…? Can I ask you something?" asked Hana. Turning toward her, the blonde and red haired demon wondered what she would want to ask now; it seemed rather odd that she would have another question before she would be returned to her home. "What are these weird markings?" asked the little girl, pointing to the markings on his chest and the tiny bit of the revealed markings on his hands.

"They show people that I have power over fire and wind. The markings on my chest represent wind. While the markings on my hands show that I can control fire. Though, I have better control over wind than fire." Naruto explained with a chuckle. It was cute that she had been curious about his markings, sure, most demons like him, or at least the ones that can retain a human form, would have special markings that showed their rank or at least their powers. Different markings represented different markings or rank… it did get confusing but it didn't matter all that much, he didn't really care about his rank.

Hana stared with wide eyes only to smile brightly. It was nice to see that she at least liked his answer. Though it made him wonder if he had spoken too much about his markings… for, he's never told anyone about his markings or his abilities. To others, it was just a way to tell who he was because of those markings… though he also hoped that this knowledge didn't get Hana in trouble, it was bad enough that she would have just spent time with him though he would just have to be very careful when he brought her home.

"Hana, what do you plan to do when you go home?" asked the young looking man.

"I would go back to living with the main family… my mother and father was killed… so the main family looked after me." Hana whispered softly, this had caused Naruto to look down at her with a frown. She was an orphan? In a way, she was like him, someone who had lost their parents at such a young and tender age. Giving her a soft smile, Naruto ruffled her hair as he told her that if she ever needed him, he would come and try to help her in any way he could. If it was within his power, then he would do whatever he could to cheer her up or to help her.

Suddenly, there was a scream before it had suddenly been cut short. In fact, the scream almost sounded like they were gargling on water or something… no, something thicker. Narrowing his eyes, the young man turned to Hana as he told her to go and hide. 'I can't allow her to see this… I just can't…' thought the young man before he ran up the hill, sword drawn and ready to fight. He would have to do what he could to help them though it would be a surprise that they would need the help in the first place since, after all, they were trained to fight and kill demons.

Growling, Naruto's eyes bled red as he rushed over the hill and growled at the sight he saw. It seemed that there was some kind of group of humans, trying to get into the village for protection. He could tell for the two guards were trying to fight the demons with what they could do, it seemed that they were weaker members of the clan to tend to the gate. Shaking his head, the young man rushed forward, his tails impaling the demons as he let out a soft growl. "Get them inside, I'll deal with the demons." Growled out Naruto, he didn't want them to be in the way, he had to make sure that they were safe and he couldn't do that while fighting.

Standing before him was just one demon; on the ground of course were a few dozen dead humans. Humans that hadn't been able to get away from the demon in time… and lost their lives in the process. It was a terrible thing to go through though Naruto knew that he couldn't let their deaths be in vain. The demon standing before him looked like a reptile. Had golden eyes with slitted pupils, his skin was green scales and he wore a worn and torn green kimono that didn't cover his chest, arms or legs very well. His long tail swayed from side to side as his thin tongue hung low but curled as if tasting the air.

"A fox demon hm… rare indeed. Thought the last ones died out hundreds of years ago by humans." Hissed the lizard demon.

"No, I still live and I will protect these humans no matter the cost!" shouted Naruto as he held onto his sword tightly in his hands. So tight in fact, that his knuckles turned white. The demon swung his claws at the blonde haired demon, only for it to be blocked by the crimson blade that Naruto carried with him. Narrowing his eyes, Naruto removed his left hand from the hilt of the blade, and thrust out his palm letting out gusts of wind, allowing the air to slice through the demon's flesh. Blood oozed from the opened wounds causing the demon to hiss and growl in pain and anger.

The demon smirked for a moment, as if he had some kind of plan forming in his mind. Whatever it was, Naruto didn't care. All he knew was that he had to kill this demon now before anything else happened or before anyone else got hurt. Growling, Naruto shoved the demon back and slipping his sword back into its sheath before thrusting his palms out and release flames hoping to set the demon ablaze. Yet, it seemed that the demon's skin was fire proof, for it didn't even burn him.

Growling, Naruto pulled out his sword again and created blades of wind to swirl around the crimson blade, he knew that he would have to take this demon down quickly if he wanted the villagers to be safe. He had to make sure that they would always be safe, that he could bring that much needed peace. Sure, he would try to deal with this peacefully, but when there are too many humans around, a demon could easily lose themselves to their bloodlust, and this demon had the aura of death around him. That was all he wanted, was to kill and eat humans.

Breathing deeply, Naruto rushed forward and swung his sword at the demon, slashing at his chest and more blood just gushed out like that of a stream, and splattering on Naruto's clothes, and skin. 'Damn demon, I'll need a nice hot spring to clean myself up.' thought the young man as he tried to take down the demon.

"You cannot stop this war between demons and humans. Why not join us?" said the demon. What the hell did he mean by 'us'? Was there more of them or was there someone controlling them? Like a puppet and the puppet master? "My master would be very pleased to have a warrior such as yourself to join us, so why not come and be on our side fox demon?" asked the snake demon.

"Sorry, but I would rather be on the humans side. Something about them not killing because they enjoy it brings meaning." Naruto calmly said before he jumped in the air and swung the blade downward only for the demon to block the strike with his arm. Naruto blinked in shock as the demon's arm came clean off. Blood just falling like that of a waterfall. It made the young demon a little sick but he would have to hurry up and kill this thing then dispose of the body after this whole thing… and then, he would do some hunting after he was sure that Hana would be looked after.

"Well, I will just have to do the rest of my job. You are, after all in the way of my master's plans… and we need you either on our side, or out of the way. I would gladly, give up my own life, just to see that happen; at least… part of my life…" He said with a smirk before rushing to Naruto and wrapped his arms around him before a loud bang echoed through the area.

The demon had exploded, Naruto of course was caught in the blast and he was not pleased. Growling, he looked himself over and saw that he was covered in the demon's blood. His clothes were a little torn and burned from the blast of the demon bombing himself to take both himself and Naruto out though he knew that it would be better for the demon to have been taken out then and there… of course, he would have preferred a cleaner way to kill the demon though at least everyone would be safe now…

"Demon!" shouted a new voice, causing Naruto to turn around and blinked in confusion. Coming toward him was a woman with long flowing brown hair, pale eyes much like Hana's though it had a hint of lavender in their depths. He couldn't help but wonder who she was, though he also saw, that she wore simple priestess robes, though instead of the usual red and white, the top was light lavender while the bottoms were a sky blue. "You dare to kill the innocent people of this village or the soon to be villagers." Whoa, whoa! She thought he killed the villagers?!

"Look lady, I just saved the villagers. I even brought back one of the children that had been taken from here and looked after her until I could bring her home." Said Naruto as he put his sword back, he knew that he would have to explain this a little better, though the woman's eyes shined with her anger, she wasn't going to buy what it was he was selling. Great, she wasn't going to listen to him; he would just have to explain it a bit better now wasn't he? "The demon was a lizard demon; it tried to get me to join him because I was powerful and had tried to take me out. The only blood on me is the demon's blood. No human's blood stains my body."

"Only a demon can lie." Shouted the priestess before she held out a vase. What the hell was she going to do with that thing? There was no way a vase could take him down; he was a demon for crying out loud. "For your crimes, I will make sure that you spend the rest of your immortal life in a prison. Death is too good for you… you must suffer for your crimes." Soon, the woman had started to mumble something under her breath. Naruto was about to walk away until he felt his whole body freeze. What the?!

Gritting his teeth, the young man tried to move, his arms and legs felt like they were encased in ice, only that he wasn't cold. He tried to move his arms, tried to grab his sword so he could slice through whatever powers were around him though it seemed that even that was useless. "A demon, is a demon… they can never change and you shall face your crimes for all eternity." Whispered the woman before she had gone back to her chant…

The vase that she held in her hands, was a large vase, it was lavender with swirls of blue, gold, and crimson. In a way, they made Naruto think of waves and wind. He knew that he had to stop this, that he had to break free before it was too late! Growling, Naruto was thankful that his mouth still worked. "I didn't kill them! I would never kill humans, I would only want to protect them!" shouted Naruto, his eyes tightly shut as he kept on trying to break free of the spell, but even he cannot break a sacred spell like this.

"Seal the demon!" chanted some of the villagers that came. Why did they want to seal him away? Sure they thought that he killed the villagers but why won't they see his side of the story? Turning his head, the only other part of him that can move, Naruto saw Hana rushing toward her. He saw that she was crying, calling out to him. Telling the priestess that he was a good demon, that he had tried to save the villagers and that he had saved her from the forest and tried to bring her home. Though it seemed that no matter what, they would not hear her words.

"Hana stay back! They won't listen to you!" shouted Naruto; he felt his body starting to be pulled into the vase. He gave the young girl a soft and gentle smile before he closed his eyes. He knew that he couldn't fight this, but prayed that one day; he would be able to be free of this prison. "Hana, I want you to live a long and prosperous life. I want you to treasure everything you have in life for one day, you will find happiness and I just know that humans and demons can live in peace… I hope you always remember that."

Turning to the priestess, Naruto narrowed his eyes as he let out a soft growl. He wanted to make sure that this woman knew just what it was that she was doing. "One day, demons will come to hurt you all, and the only one that could have helped you, you are sealing away for crimes that I have not committed. I was the fox protector and now… you are forever sealing me away. I hope, you live a peaceful life for that peace will shatter when you least expect it to." With that said, Naruto felt his body turn into vapour, and flow into the vase. Now, he was to live his immortal life in this place, never to see sun, never to see the sky, or to smell the fresh air ever again…

Though he hoped that the humans can regain peace and that the demons will leave them all alone… but would that wish ever come true, or would it all be for nothing?