percy zoe and artemis fan, As per your request, here is the first chapter of many, I hope to come, so without further ado,

The Wind Rises

1:The Demon's New Clothes

"Where did he go?!"

"He went that way!"

"Don't let the demon escape!"

The mob of raging people was close behind a small, blond -haired child that had no idea why they were after him. This child barely understood anything anymore since the orphanage kicked him out a few months ago. Since then, he'd been living by the skin of his teeth, barely scraping by with the scraps of food or clothing he managed to dig out of the garbage.

Now, on his birthday of all days, he was being chased like an animal for doing nothing. Sure he pulled the odd prank now and then to keep himself sane, but he hadn't done anything in a few days!

Something flew past his side, slicing across his ribs. The boy yelped in pain and grabbed his side to try and stem the flow of blood, and kept running. He couldn't run very fast, given his short legs. Nor did he think he could outrun the mob of angry, drunken adults behind him, but maybe...just maybe...

In the past few months he'd been in and out of every ally in the village, and knew about all the best places to lose someone if he wanted to. He wasn't trained as a shinobi yet, but he could damn sure give his pursuers a few regrets!

He ducked into one of such allies, over turning trash cans and anything that might bar their path. Behind him he heard crashing, curses and shouts as people plowed into the obstacles he'd made.

He shot out of the other end of the ally and hit the ground on a skid before doubling back the way he'd come toward the Hokage mansion, hoping to catch the old man's attention.

Suddenly something shot out of the darkness and tangled around his feet, causing him to trip, tumbling end over end. He tried to untangle his feet and get a away, but whoever had thrown the chain had a tight hold of it from their end. He was pulled back toward them. "Well, well, lookie what we have here, boys," a cruel voice laughed, "Looks like I caught a little demon!"

Laughter cascaded of the street walls, ringing in his ears like gongs as fear gripped him. A hand grabbed his hair, and yanked him up, causing the child to yell out in pain. He felt something cold against his throat, "You even think about calling for help, brat, and you'll be breathing through a hole in your throat, got it?"

He nodded furiously as frightened tears started pouring down his face. "Oh, look, he's crying! Haha, didn't think demons could cry!"

"I-I'm n-n-not a d-d-d-emon," the child squeaked out, but the cold press of steel against his flesh stopped him.

"Oh yes you are," the man holding him sneered, "and we're the demon hunters! Right boys?!"

"Yeah!"

The blond found himself thrown into the mob, hands grabbing and ripping at him. A frightened, pained scream erupted from the boy's throat as he felt his bones and flesh being broken and pierced.

Feet stomped. Knives stabbed. And the people laughed as he begged them to stop.

=x=

Hiruzen Sarutobi was not a man to lose his temper. Not once in his eighty odd years did he once lose his temper. Yes, he'd raked a few shinobi over the coals for their deeds, but he had kept his temper from flaring. Tonight, as he gazed into his crystal ball, all of that changed. "Hatake!"

"Sir!" Said a dog masked Anbu that appeared in the room.

"Take a squad down to the shopping district on the fourth street, and retrieve the child there," he said, "Also, any shinobi or civilian you come across, take them to the T&I department, and tell Ibiki to interrogate them with extreme prejudice! AT ONCE!"

"Yes sir!"

=x=

He wasn't sure if he was dead or alive. All that he was aware of was pain.

Help me...someone please...help me...

He felt like he was drifting. The water was red, like blood. It was dark. He could hear the dripping of water. The sound of something breathing. Something big.

A monstrous growl sounded around him, "Hn, you truly are pathetic, aren't you, you stupid little ningen. No, even by your standards, you are pathetic." The monster's voice growled at him, "To think that my vessel is something so small that it cannot even defend itself from something like those idiots on the outside."

Help me...please, he repeated.

"If you insist," the monster's voice seemed amused, "If you want my help, then I shall give it to you...but be warned, ningen, taste my power, and you shall come to me again and again, wanting more!" With that, red tendrils came from the red waters around him and wrapped around the boy's body. His pain began to fade. And anger replaced it.

"Yes...feel the hate, ningen. Feel the rage, and let it make you strong." The voice said as the child began to change, "Hate them. Hate everything!"

In the outside world, the blond's eyes shot open, no longer human. The startled shinobi and civilian villagers stepped back as the boy growled deep in the back of his throat. The wounds inflicted upon him hissed and steamed as they closed themselves. Fangs grew from his canine teeth, and claws sprouted from his fingernails. The whisker-like markings on his cheeks darkened, growing deep and more scar-like.

"It's...it's breaking loose!" Someone yelled in fear, "Kill him! Someone kill him!"

One brave shinobi stepped toward the child, only for the red-eyes to turn on him. The boy roared, and lept at him. The man didn't have time to do anything as the boy's fangs sank into his neck and a strangled scream tore from his throat as the boy's jaws closed around his windpipe.

He wasn't killed outright, no. The blond demon jumped away from the dying shinobi in pursuit of the others around him, nothing stopping his wrath as he tore into the frightened people that had hurt him.

=x=

"My god," Kakashi eyed the carnage on the street before him, "How could this have happened?"

"Inu-taicho, what do we do about this?" Asked a owl-masked Anbu beside him, "The village will be in an uproar over this."

"Check for survivors, and find out if any of them have surviving family," Kakashi said, "If they do, send them our condolences, but these men were traitors to the village for attacking and harming a valued comrade," he lept down to the street where he saw a small blob of blond hair. His clothes wore covered in blood, and shredded completely. Whether the blood was his own, or of those around him, he didn't know, nor did he care.

All he knew was that this boy wasn't supposed to be wandering the streets at night, or alone. It had been some months since he last checked on the boy he had been forced to leave at the orphanage, but he didn't think things would become so bad that he would face the wrath of the village.

"I'll take him to the hospital, someone inform Hokage-sama of my whereabouts," he said after picking the boy up. He looked down at the boy's sleeping face, "Don't worry. I'll make sure that this never happens again." He flickered away via shushin, leaving his team with the clean up.

=x=

Naruto...he remembered...that was his name...

"Yes," growled the voice from before, "Remember your name. Remember the name they tried to take from you. Demon they call you. Creature...monster...why allow them to treat you as an object when you have the power to make them see you for what you are...who you are..."

Because...I want...to be Hokage...Naruto started to feel again. His limbs that had once felt like led now seemed to be coming back to life. I want to be Hokage. To make them see me. To acknowledge me! To make them see that I exist!

"You'll need to be strong to do that, ningen," the voice said, and Naruto looked around in search of it, finding himself in a sewer-like setting, which also seemed to be a massive cage as he found a gigantic gate behind him, "All you have to do," two gleaming red eyes opened on the other side of the gate, "Is set me free. If you do, then I shall give you all my power."

Naruto looked closely at the creature behind the bars. It...it was a fox! And it was gigantic! You're the -

"The Kyuubi," the fox said with a maniacal grin, "Yes, I am. The very same one that was said to be destroyed by your Yondaime...how lies have fed his legend!" The fox sneered, "No mortal can kill me. Not even a god can kill me. All your Yondaime could do was to steal half of what I am, and seal it inside the stomach of the Shinigami himself, along with his own soul, and with his dying breath, he took what was left of me, and sealed it inside you."

Hearing this, it all suddenly made sense to the boy. Why everyone hated him, and wanted to beat him...they thought he was the Kyuubi. But...that wasn't fair! It wasn't his fault! He didn't ask to be a monster's prison!

"It is as I said," the fox said, "They do not see you as you are, but as me. Yet you wish to protect them. Such foolishness."

No! I'm not a fool! I'll be Hokage, and make everyone see me! You'll see! And I won't need your power! I'll do it on my own! I don't need you! I don't need anyone!

A monstrous roar sounded from the cage and four massive claws jutted through the bars, "You wretched little creature! 'Tis not I that shall see, but you, when your world comes crashing down, you will come to me. When you feel weak and pathetic, you will come to me. When you fail, you will come to me!"

No, Naruto said, turning his back on the Kyuubi, I won't.

=x=

Hiruzen sat alone in the hospital room save for the sleeping child and Kakashi who had brought him there. "To think it came to the boy defending himself in such a way...how many dead?"

"Ten civilians, and four low ranking shinobi," Kakashi said, "All of them lost someone in the attack five years ago. None of them had any family left."

"That is, I hate to say, fortunate, as we will not have to invent a cover story for this incident. They will simply cease to exist," the aging Hokage said with a sigh, "But I'm sure that many have already caught wind of this, and I leave for Suna in two day's time. Naruto-kun will be defenseless."

"Hardly, if tonight is anything to go on," Kakashi said morosely, "Though I'd rather not have him go through that again. We found teeth marks on many of the bodies."

"Good lord," Hiruzen sighed, "What about the orphanage the was supposed to care for him? Why did they turn him out?"

Kakashi growled behind his mask, "They said, and I quote, 'the demon's too dangerous to keep around normal children, and he's old enough to fend for himself'." Kakashi said, imitating a high-pitched, nasal voice, "It took all I had not to run her through, Hokage-sama."

"Have her stripped of her position, and placed in jail for abandoning a child in need," he told the masked Jonin, "Find someone trustworthy to take her place, but I feel that it won't be enough to keep him safe, if anything, I believe that someone may come after him, and hurt the other children in the process."

Kakashi thought for a moment, "I would take him, but there are some in my unit that think the way the civilians do. He would be safe, but I'd rather not kill my own men...why not take him with you, Hokage-sama? It may give him a good experience to get out of the village for a few days."

Hiruzen stroked his beard in thought, "Yes, that would solve the problem...yes, that will do nicely. A fine idea, Kakashi-kun."

"I aim to please," Kakashi said, casting his gaze at the boy, "Now...about the injuries he sustained?"

"Everything seems to have healed," Hiruzen nodded, "All that's left is heavy scaring from what seem to be fierce wounds. If what you said about the battle is true, then I would surmise that the Kyuubi took a hand in the boy's safety. Or his actions for the matter. The way you described the scene was brutal. Almost like a mauling." He sighed, looking at the boy's stomach, "I will have to send for Jiraiya-kun when we return. It wouldn't do for the seal to be weakening now."

Kakashi nodded, keeping silent as he saw that the boy was beginning to wake. Naruto blinked his eyes a few times to clear his vision. He looked around the room, his eyes landing on the Hokage. "Jiji?"

"Yes, Naruto-kun, it's alright," he said gently, reaching a hand out to the boy's shoulder, "You're safe now."

"Do you remember what happened?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto rubbed his eyes, "What happened?" He slurred sleepily, "Those people were chasing me...trying to hurt me...I tried to get away, but they caught me." He shivered, making the Hokage wince, "It hurt so much. I asked them to stop, but they just laughed at me."

"Bastards," Kakashi muttered darkly.

"What happened then?" Hiruzen asked.

Naruto shook his head, "I think I was falling somewhere...and there was water...and a cage..."

Both men held their breath as Naruto's gentle blue eyes went wide in realization. "And there was a giant fox...he said he was the Kyuubi..."

"Naruto..." Hiruzen brought the boy into his arms.

"I really am a demon..."

"No!" Both men said.

"You're no more a demon that Kakashi is!" Hiruzen said, "Naruto, you hold the Kyuubi prisoner, but that does not mean that you become the Kyuubi. If anything, you should be a hero for keeping the beast locked away. But the foolish people of this village fear what they cannot understand, such is the way with many people, who are blind to what lies beneath the surface."

Naruto snuggled into the old man's embrace, comforted for the moment, "What am I supposed to do, Jiji? I don't have anywhere to go."

"You'll stay with me," the old man said, surprising both the boy, and the shinobi guard, "I'm tired of adhering to those old fossils that once called themselves shinobi. I would have taken you in the day you were born had they not given me such a hellish time about it. But as of this day, you will live with me at my home at the Sarutobi compound."

"Really?" Naruto brightened up.

"Yes," the Hokage nodded, smiling, "And I have a little question for you, Naruto-kun, how would you like to come with me to Suna in a few days? You could see what another shinobi village looks like, and maybe makes some new friends?"

"I can go?" Naruto asked, "Really?!"

"Of course," Hiruzen said, "I never go back on my word, Naruto-kun."

Naruto grinned, "Me neither! It's gonna be my nindou!"

"So you want to be a shinobi," Hiruzen laughed, "Well, I can see a bright future for you as a shinobi of the hidden leaf."

=|The Next Morning|=

The first thing on the Hokage's list when young Naruto woke the next morning was to buy the child some new clothes, seeing as his own were less than descent. At first, Naruto had homed in on a horrendous orange and blue track suit that had "Kill Me Now" written all over it. The Hokage had squashed the idea right away saying that no self-respecting shinobi would wear such loud colors that wouldn't blend int to any sort of surroundings.

Naruto pouted of course, but listened, opting for a similar track suit, yet it was black in color with a single stripe of orange down the front wear the zipper was, and an orange trim around the bottom, along with a set of black shinobi pants. Although he was still two years from entering academy, Hiruzen bought him a kunai holster, which he strapped to his right leg, and a supply of the weapons for his defense in his absence should something happen that separated the two.

"Now, Naruto-kun, you look like a proper young shinobi," Hiruzen smiled, patting the boy on the head as he took in his new look, "When you enter academy, I'll lend you a set of grieves and vambraces to complete the look."

"My headband will complete it," Naruto grinned up at his grandfather-figure.

"So it will," the old man chuckled. "Now, let get our things packed for tomorrow. It'll be a long journey to Suna, and we will be traveling fast."

"I'm ready now, Jiji, believe it!"

This is only the start of the story, so sorry if it's short, but I'm hoping you all find it enjoyable.