Summary: They called him a demon. It wasn't far from the truth. After growing up an orphan and learning from a wandering mage how to control his cursed power, Naruto stumbles upon a certain Sky Dragon Slayer. He'll show everyone you don't have to be a mage to kick ass. Etherious Naruto. Naruto x ?.

AN: This idea totally slammed me in the face, and I was like "dude, this has to happen..." And happen it did.

Prologue

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Fiore x776

The sun over the town of Hargeon was shining brilliantly through the clouds, a pleasant change to the storms that ravaged the port town for the past couple days. Now that the skies had cleared, people were out on the streets, passing by markets filled with exotic spices and fresh fruit. As Fiore's main shipping and long distance travel hub, Hargeon was filled with all sorts of people, even mages. It wasn't unusual to see people, especially mages, with decidedly strange appearances. But, among all of them, there were those who were left behind by the crowd.

Such was the life of Naruto Uzumaki. Currently nine years old, he had lived in an orphanage all his life, stringently saving up money in the hopes of buying an apartment one day. Escaping that orphanage and joining a mage's guild was somewhat of a dream of his, especially when he heard they accepted all varieties of mages. Ever since he could talk, he knew just how different he was. The two short horns jutting from his forehead were a pretty good indicator. Still, something like that wasn't enough for him to have the reputation he had now. No, that came from his cursed magic that wasn't really magic at all.

That is why they called him a demon. Even if people didn't go out of their way to shun him and he accepted it himself, the moniker prevented him from living a normal childhood. Despite the horns, he looked rather normal. He had unruly, spiky blond hair that reached his deep blue eyes and three whisker marks on each cheek.

Right now, unlike all the other children who were playing out in the courtyard of the orphanage, Naruto was sitting in an alley reading an issue of Sorcerer's Weekly. "Man, Gildarts is so cool," he admired, eyes sparkling.

His stomach rumbled, interrupting his leisure time. 'I think I missed lunch again,' he moaned. The magazines were cool and all, but he couldn't stand to miss the orphanage's lunch no matter how much it sucked. He really wasn't looking forward to paying for food, considering he had basically no spending money. Not even enough for the delicious ramen stand.

He stood up from the ground, dusting off his ratty black pants and orange tee shirt. 'Alright, now to find a good food stand.' He checked the number of jewels in his pocket and sighed. 'A cheap food stand...'

After wandering around a bit, getting strange looks from a couple of the foreigners, he spotted a stand selling some delicious-smelling cooked fish. 'Jackpot!'

"You lookin' for somethin' kid?" The tall, round man with a rather large steak knife asked irritably.

Naruto looked at the prices and frowned. He could barely afford any of it! "Uhh, I'll take the salmon."

The man almost growled at him. "That'd be 1000 jewels buddy."

"1000!" Naruto exclaimed. "But it says here that-"

"Never mind that, boy," the burly man bit out, stabbing the wooden stall with his knife. "We're low on salmon today, so the price is higher."

Naruto sighed dejectedly. "But I can't afford anything." All his money was back at the orphanage, and he didn't want to pay too much for food.

"Then do some work on the docks. This is a business, brat, not a charity."

"They don't let me do work!" The boy yelled. A few people glanced over at the commotion.

The salesman rose to his full height, looming over the stall. "I suggest you leave. People'll get the wrong idea."

"And what idea would that be?" A voice returned.

Naruto whipped around to see a middle-aged man with spiky white hair that reached his waist tied in a ponytail with two bangs framing his face. He wore a red haori-style jacket over a dull green shirt and pants. By the sleeves and hem, mesh armor stuck out from under his clothes. He wore red wooden sandals, incredibly unusual by any means. Red markings ran down from each eye, and he sported a metal forehead protector that read 'oil'. To top it off, he had a giant scroll strapped to his back. Even by mage standards, this guy's style choice was strange.

The weird guy grinned madly. "Here's some cash for the kid's food," he said, tossing a bunch of bills towards the owner. Then he grabbed the piece of cooked salmon and handed it to Naruto. "Well, I've gotta go deal with some important stuff." He ruffled Naruto's hair. "Don't let people talk you down, kid." Without another word, the man started walking away.

"Wait!" The white-haired guy stopped, looking over his shoulder to see the young blond running after him. "Why did you help me?"

The man shrugged. "I heard about you kid, the so-called demon. Frankly, I really don't care who you are, it's bullshit to charge people extra for anything."

"You're dressed all funny," Naruto pointed out. "Are you a mage?"

"You haven't heard of me!?" He seemed comically shocked before striking a dramatic pose, palm facing Naruto. "I'm the legendary Toad Sage of Mount Myouboko, the amazingly good-looking Jiraiya!" The blond seemed confused at the introduction, considering he'd never heard of a 'Jiraya' before. "This generation's got no respect, What's your name kid?"

"Naruto Uzumaki!" He declared, pointing a finger at himself proudly. "And I'm gonna be an awesome mage."

"Naruto!" Jiraiya gasped, eyes bulging wide. "W-whaaaaatt!" He calmed down a little, placing his hands on his hips. "Sorry, that's just the name of the main character in the first book I wrote. Your parents must have good taste."

The blond frowned and looked down. "I never knew my parents. They left me at the orphanage the day I was born."

"Oh..." The sage wasn't entirely sure how to respond to that. "Hmmm, you know, I travel a lot. You ever been outside Hargeon?"

"Nope."

That prompted a smirk. "That's ironic. You wanna get out of here?"

Get out of here? He knew he had to eventually, but he hadn't expected anyone to ask something like that. "I guess so. How else could I find a cool guild?"

"Heh, well then kid. You're an interesting case, so I've got a good idea. I'm a wandering mage, and I know a thing or two about rare magic like yours. And this demon stuff I'm hearing around definitely has me curious." He placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "How about you become my apprentice?"

"Really? You'll teach me how to use magic?" Jiraiya nodded. "That sounds awesome!"

Jiraya gave him a thumbs up. "Alright then. Grab your stuff and meet me here this time tomorrow. It isn't often I chose a student, so count yourself lucky."

"I won't disappoint," Naruto promised. If he really was a demon, then he was going to be the toughest, strongest demon out there.

The whole world was ahead of him.

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A figure with untamed blond hair sat on a rock trapped in the middle of a shallow creek, dangling his feet haphazardly into the water. He sighed, placing his hands behind his head and glancing up at the pristine sky. His cerulean eyes matched its color flawlessly today, and he knew it would be the perfect day to lay there and relax. It wasn't like he had anything else to do in the middle of Worth Woodsea, a large coniferous forest in the north of Fiore. He had traveled all over in his short 15 years, exploring a couple countries. Still, he couldn't escape the beauty of the region he was born in. Even though he grew up in a town, Fiore had its own natural wonders that never ceased to amaze.

He was wearing a dark jacket that went past his knees with white trim and designs. That was the only distinctly unique piece of clothing he owned, settling for a plain orange shirt and grey pants. It was a funky combo, but he always did have a thing for the color orange. There were far worse people out there when it came to choosing an outfit, namely his teacher. But the most noticeable feature of his wasn't clothing at all, it was his two horns on his forehead, signifying what he was.

Naruto had grown a lot since Jiraiya first took him in, allowing him to truly see the world and develop his curse ability. Of course, all good things must come to an end, and Jiyaiya had been called away on a mission from the magic council that Naruto didn't have the clearance to follow him on. Apparently, the Toad Sage, in addition to being a formidable mage, was also a stellar information gatherer. And a pervert, but that didn't help much with anything.

Leaves crunched in the distance. The blond swiveled his head, staring into the dense forest. Someone was there.

He stepped out from the river, his large jacket billowing behind him, and crossed his arms."Oi, what are ya sneaking around for?"

There was a surprised yelp and a loud swoosh of leaves followed by some quiet arguing. There was more shuffling, and the whispers started to grow in volume. Finally, someone emerged from the forest. A young girl? She had lengthy blue reaching her waist with two long bangs framing her face. She had a simple, wavy dress with alternating yellow and blue, and sported wing-like attachments to her ankles and wrists. "H-hello!" She greeted, a bit timid.

"What's a little girl like you doing here?" Naruto tilted his head as he looked into her dark blue eyes. "Haven't you heard about the demon?"

"Of course she has." A white cat-like being declared. The cat stood protectively in front of the girl, her pink eyes surprisingly fierce.

The girl nodded. "I'm the mage from Cait Shelter."

"Whaaat? Aren't you a little young?" He wondered why a guild would ever decide to send a ten-year-old to eliminate a reputedly powerful demon.

She was flustered at that. "I-I was raised by a dragon, and Master Roboul thinks I'm capable."

"A dragon, huh?" Naruto thought aloud, considering the idea. Jiraiya had told him about Dragon Slayers and dragons, so he knew it was an honor to be gifted power to by a dragon. "That sounds pretty cool. I was raised by a perv, so that'd be a step up for sure."

The girl giggled, surprisingly knowing what a perv was. "Oh!" She blushed furiously. "I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Wendy Marvell."

"And I'm Carla, her partner," the cat added.

"Pleased to meet you, I'm Naruto Uzumaki." He pondered if he should tell them that the one they were looking for was him.

Carla humphed, crossing her paws. "You're the demon, aren't you?"

'Man, the cat got it already? She's all no-nonsense and no fun either.' It wasn't like he was ever going to attack either of them, not when he just wanted a couple people to talk to. See, he kind of ruined his reputation around this area by showing off his true form. That probably explained the request to get rid of a demon. "Demon's kind of an offensive way of saying it, ya know. But yeah, that's me."

Wendy seemed unsure. "You don't seem that bad at all, so why would they want me to fight you?"

Naruto shrugged. "I'll admit, I played an epic prank on some campers. And the tourists." Wendy opened her mouth to reply, only to find that Naruto wasn't done talking. "And some people in the nearby towns. But it was all harmless, I swear!"

The cat stared at him, unimpressed. "I highly doubt people would deem it worthy to request a mage's guild to deal with pranks."

He rubbed the back of his head, sheepishly. "Alright, you caught me. There was a dark guild back in Maple Town that I took care of."

"A dark guild?" Wendy gaped. "You took out a dark guild all by yourself?"

Naruto pumped a fist, grinning. "Hell yeah. They weren't one of the tougher ones, so it wasn't a big deal." Both of them were gaping at him. "Oi, I've got a sense of justice too ya know! They didn't have any information on demons either..." He paused, thinking about it. He was on an eternal hunt to understand what he was. Currently, all he knew was that he was similar to the demons created by the dark mage Zeref, but that was hardly enough to sate his curiosity. "Say, you're part of a guild right? You've got that mark on your shoulder."

"Carla and I are members of Cait Shelter," Wendy confirmed proudly with a nod.

Naruto hummed. "Do you mind if I meet up with your Master, just to ask some questions? I mean, if I turn on you guys like a demon should, you'd have your whole guild there to protect you."

"I don't like this Wendy," Carla warned.

Wendy frowned at her. "Why not? If he wanted to attack us, wouldn't he have already?"

She hmphed. "I don't presume to understand how or why demons do anything, and neither should you." She relaxed her strict tone momentarily. "However, it is your call what we do Wendy."

"I promise I won't hurt you guys, and I never break my promises," Naruto interjected.

Wendy nodded. That was enough for her; she was ten. That and Roubaul was plenty strong to deal with any mage she'd met before. "Okay then, Naruto-san. I'll take you back to Master Roubaul."

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AN: This chapter is short, even for a teaser. Then again, it is a prologue. What do you guys think? Want me to write this or not? Also, leave a review please! They're immensely helpful for inspiration.