Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor am I making any profit from this fanfic. This idea was originally thought up by the user Beautiful Kaos; I am only editing/continuing his/her fic that was up for adoption, "Lessons in Pain".

Changes from canon: FemNaruto, Naruto is the first Kyuubi Jinchuriki, the third Hokage had more trouble than in canon when trying to help Naru (in this case) survive her earlier years in the village. That's all for now.

UPDATE 3/17/12: I have gone back and edited this chapter to be more in line with how I want this story to progress. I've also edited it to make it read somewhat smoother :)

Warning: this fic will contain at least a little abuse, neglect, and possibly a few lemons if readers request them (though not in this first chapter).

Key:

"this is talking"

'this is thinking'

"this is Naru and Kurama/Kyuubi mindspeaking"

Naru Uzumaki was born on October 10th to one Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina. As a couple they were happy; how could they not be when Kushina had just given birth to their first child?

But their happiness, though great, was not meant to last, as Naru's birth date was also the day the great Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked Konohagakure no Sato in a blind rage.

Even with their baby girl still held in her mother's arms, the Hokage and his wife argued over how to proceed against the walking natural disaster. It was a long and heated debate, but eventually they hammered out a plan of action; they would seal the great beast into none other than their own daughter, though Kushina agreed to this only grudgingly.

Unfortunately, when the two of them went about carrying out their plan, they did not foresee the true depth of the Kyuubi's strength; as it was, it managed to break out of Kushina's chakra chains after a fierce struggle, then charged towards the small clearing where Minato stood going through the many hand seals required for the Shiki Fuin.

Time seemed to slow down for the fourth Hokage as the beast's clawed paw grew ever nearer to where both his daughter lay and he stood on the soft earth; only to speed up far too quickly as his wife used her body as a shield to block the claw from crushing their child.

"K-Kushina…" Minato almost faltered in his hand sealing as the woman he loved coughed up a few globs of blood, but the look in her eyes was enough to keep him going. She smiled slightly as his hands landed on the final seal, before closing her eyes for the last time.

"Shiki Fuin!"

And so the fourth Hokage passed on, using his soul as payment to seal the Kyuubi no Kitsune into the belly of his daughter. Naru Uzumaki, a baby only a few hours old, was now an orphan.

. . . . .

By the time Naru was six years old she had already learned all about pain.

There was the pain of hunger.

The orphanage she was sent to mere days after her birth had taught her that lesson. The matrons started off giving her meals that were always a bit smaller and not quite as good as they gave the other children. Sometimes they would 'forget' to give her breakfast or dinner. And her lunch hour was conveniently taken up by chores. She was made to do the dishes, wash the windows, scrub the floors, and fold the laundry. If she didn't finish then she was sent to bed without supper and given even more chores to complete the next day. Even with all that, the matrons made sure to feed her at least one small meal a day. After all, it wouldn't look very good if they had a child dying from hunger while in their care. Even if it was the demon child.

There was the pain of loneliness.

Naru would have given anything to have a friend at the orphanage. She was surrounded by children who were laughing and playing together. She wanted to be like they were; happy and carefree. She had tried several times to join the others in their play, only to be shoved aside or glared at. But mostly they acted like she wasn't there at all. That was what hurt her most. At least if they smacked her aside they were acknowledging her presence. But when they ignored her very existence it made her heart clench painfully. It made her feel like she didn't matter enough to even be insulted. After a while she gave up hoping for a friend.

There was the pain of abuse.

One day a man came to the orphanage. He was a tall and fierce looking man with sandy blond hair and icy blue eyes. The man, whose name was Ryuuhei, told the matrons that he was looking to adopt a child. Preferably a girl. There were fourteen girls in the orphanage not including Naru. The matrons brought those girls out while Naru was (as usual) made to stay in the girls' dorm room. Ryuuhei gave the girls a thorough look over but shook his head at each one. He told them he was looking specifically for a blond haired blue-eyed child. Now, there were four girls in the orphanage that had blond hair. And there were three girls that had blue eyes. Naru was the only one who had both. The head matron eyed the man carefully and, seeing the dark look in his eyes, decided. She sent the girls back to their room and bade the other matrons to send Naru out.

Ryuuhei took one look at the girl and saw the whisker marks that were the testament of the demon sealed within and knew this was the child he had been looking for. He took Naru home with him that very night.

Ryuuhei was a man in his early thirties living alone. He had been happily married once, but lost his beloved wife to the demonic fox's rampage on his home. The loss of his wife had turned him into a hard and bitter man. When he learned that the demon had been sealed away into an infant he vowed one day he would find the child and make it suffer as he himself had suffered. So began his search.

Naru could hardly believe she had been adopted. The matrons had told her many times that no one would ever want her and so was hidden away when prospective parents came along. And now here she was, with a new father and she had been picked from among all the other girls. A smile bloomed on her face as she walked towards Ryuuhei's house. She had never been happier.

And yet, it took less than three minutes after entering her new home for Naru to become miserable. Ryuuhei was certainly not the kind of father she had always dreamed of having. She was pretty sure that fathers were not supposed to punch and kick and whip their children, but as she had never had a father she couldn't be certain.

Naru thought she must be doing a bad job of being a daughter and so one day while Ryuuhei was at work she decided to clean the house, just like she had done at the orphanage. Maybe that would make him love her.

When Ryuuhei returned home to clean swept floors, a sparkling kitchen, freshly washed clothes and shining windows he was marginally pleased. At least the demon brat was good for something. When he went to his room and found the quilt his wife had sewn by hand, washed and folded on his bed he grew angry. He remembered the nights they had sat together talking and making love under that quilt. And the filthy demon had dared to touch it after she was the one who had taken his wife away from him. He would not let her get away with it.

He found Naru in the small room he had given her. She was sitting on the floor (as she was given no bed) folding the tattered gray cloth that served as her blanket. She looked up when he entered and smiled hopefully. The smile made him angrier. How could she smile, knowing what she'd done? He jerked her up by the collar of her shirt and backhanded her across the face. Tears sprung instantly to her eyes. He sneered and threw her into the wall.

"Take off your shirt and lay down on the floor" he ordered.

She looked at him fearfully and did as he told her to. He pulled off his belt and snapped it across her skin. He struck her several more times, drawing blood, until she begged him, sobbing, to stop. He did not listen and instead struck her again. After a few more blows he finally stopped to catch his breath. Leaning against the wall he admired his handiwork, dimly hearing the gasping sobs of the girl and ordered the child to shut up lest she warrant another beating. She silenced herself immediately, shivers wracking her small frame.

"Don't ever enter my room again, demon." He glanced around the room, seeing the blood splatters on the walls. "And clean this mess up." He turned and walked out the door.

Nearly a year had gone by and even with her accelerated healing abilities Naru had a hard time just making it through each day. Ryuuhei thrived on see her bleed and seemed to get crueler with each beating. Naru no longer cried when he did this, for it only made her adopted father more irate. And so when her punishment was over and she was sure he was asleep Naru would cry herself silently to sleep.

Once, Naru had actually churned up the nerve to ask Ryuuhei why he called her Demon and not Naru and why was she always being punished when she did nothing wrong. Ryuuhei had snarled and cursed at her, telling her she was a demon and she was being punished for all the evil she had done. Afterwards he gave her a beating so severe that it took Kyuubi four days to heal. Though she still didn't have any answers as to why she was getting beating, she knew better than to ask questions again.

On her sixth birthday Naru spent most of the day hiding in her room, awaiting the return of her tormentor. He would be at the festival today and would not be home until later, or so she hoped.

Ryuuhei arrived home mid-afternoon swaying slightly and smelling of sake. He was in a surprisingly good mood. He had thought of a new punishment to use on the demon. He couldn't wait to try it out. He could practically hear the screams now. He gave a sinister grin as he walked towards the girl's room.

Upon entering he spied the little demon huddled into a corner, curled tightly into a ball. She looked up timidly when she heard his footsteps stop in front of her. He glared at her silently for a moment watching the tremors race through her body.

"Strip." He commanded.

Hands shaking, Naru did as he ordered.

"Lay down on the floor."

He watched as she laid face down on the brown speckled carpet and pulled off his belt. He gave a few practice swings enjoying the flinches the brat gave as he did so. The first strike came down on the girl's lower back. Next he struck a little higher. One strike, then another, and another, till her back was red with welts and wet with blood.

He threw the belt aside, deciding it was enough. He had better things in mind to do.

"Today," he spoke, "We are going to try something new."

Naru felt a bolt of fear run through her at the words. He sounded positively joyful. That scared her more than anything.

"Get on your hands and knees."

Naru thought about refusing, but a sharp kick to the ribs convinced her otherwise. She climbed to her hands and knees.

The man came a knelt down behind her, running his fingers along her back, humming when they were thoroughly wet with blood.

Naru hissed when she felt his fingers gliding along the open wounds. The fingers stopped for a moment and tensed violently when the fingers returned, sliding down her back and along her buttocks. She tried to scramble away only to be yanked right back. The fingers slid down further, reaching the place she knew he should not be touching and gasped loudly as a finger slid into her. She jerked, trying again to get away, only to be smacked back down. Another finger slid in beside the first and Naru cried out. She couldn't let him do this, he had to stop. Her struggles renewed.

She kicked at him, thrashing wildly until he lost his grip. Naru jumped to her feet and made a dash for the door when she felt a hand grasp her ankle and jerk her to the floor. She screamed as he climbed on top of her and scratched at his face and eyes. One of her fingers sunk into his eye socket and he roared, backhanding her across the face so hard that she felt something crack. He had broken her jaw.

Black spots danced across her vision and she stilled for a moment, dazed. When she came to Ryuuhei had his hands grasped around her neck, squeezing.

"You will pay for that, demon."

She choked, trying to get some air in her lungs. As her vision began to fade, Naru had one final thought before she succumbed to the darkness:

'Please, somebody, help me.' she prayed. 'Please…'

. . . . .

An indeterminable time later she opened her eyes, finding herself standing in some sort of a sewer. After a thorough check to make sure her head was still attached to her neck, Naru glanced up, down and around, curiosity as to how she arrived here overcoming what fear she had felt previously.

Like all sewers there was water flowing above the ground she stood upon. Now, being rather scrawny for her age, the slowly flowing liquid was barely above her knees—just high enough to restrict her movement and yet not fully inhibit it. To her left and right were old, worn down stone walls with pipes running along them, and in front of her was a tall golden gate held closed by a paper with the kanji for seal on it. But while the particular tunnel she was in stretched onwards seemingly for miles behind her, she couldn't make out even the tiniest details of what was on the other side of the bars…

Curiosity now bubbling forth like it would from any child her age, she moved forward, pressing her face between two of the tall golden rods, trying to get a glimpse of what was on the other side. But as she did this, a deep, rumbling growl echoed throughout the room.

Before she could move, before she could so much as blink, two enormous, glowing red eyes appeared right at her eye level on the other side of the bars, seemingly staring straight into her soul. Naru only stared back, the small part of her that wasn't consumed by fright idly wondering what in the Elemental Nations could possess eyes so big. Whatever it was, if it were proportionate to the eyes she saw, it had to be at least fifty stories tall!

After a while of their staring contest the great beast let out a soft chuckle, before shifting so Naru could see it in all of its nine-tailed, kitsune glory.

Naru stared at the Biju in awe.

"You are the Kyuubi no Kitsune." she stated, her voice quavering slightly.

"I am." the demons voice rumbled loudly.

"Where are we?"

"We are inside your mind."

"My mind." she paused. "So this is why they call me a demon."

"Yes. I was sealed within you on the day of your birth."

"I see." she glanced at the seal upon the gate. "What would happen if I removed the seal from the gate?"

Kyuubi eyed the girl who had become his prison. "If I was stronger and you released the seal, I would tear my way from your body, killing you and regaining my physical form. Then I would exact my revenge and destroy this village for daring to seal the great Kyuubi no Kitsune into a pitiful human. But because I have not yet regained my full power, if you were to pull the seal now then our forms would merge. And we two would become one."

"And if we did merge, what would happen then?" Naru asked, for once truly curious as to what would happen.

"Your form would change. You would truly be part demon. My instincts would be your instincts. My power would be your power, and vice versa. Our souls would be tied together for all eternity."

"And what would happen to you? Would you gain a form of your own?"

"...Before I answer that, tell me this. You know me as the Kyuubi no Kitsune. I slaughtered many of your brethren in my attack six years ago. Why should you care what happens to me?"

That did it. Naru closed her eyes, fighting back the torrent of tears she had held at bay for so long. It was a difficult struggle, but eventually she managed to calm down to the point where she could speak, though her voice was scarcely loud enough for even the Kyuubi's enhanced hearing to pick up. "Look at my memories. Then you will know why I care..."

When the small child said nothing more the giant fox did as she requested, only to recoil in shock at the unending amount of pain she had been through. He might have been a demon, a being made purely of chakra, but even he and the eight other Biju wouldn't stoop so low as to inflict such harm upon one of their young...! Sighing ever so softly at the predicament he now found himself in, the Kyuubi no Kitsune laid his head on his front paws, letting his gaze soften as he eyed the child on the other side of his cage. It was a while before he spoke again, but when he did his voice carried none of its previous malice or hate.

"Kurama."

"...What?" was Naru's intelligent reply.

"My name. It is customary for humans to give their name before asking for someone else's, is it not?"

"Oh...I'm Naru. Naru Uzumaki."

Kurama rumbled his approval, his tails twitching slightly. It had been a long time since he'd last had an intelligent conversation with another being, Biju or otherwise. In fact, Naru was probably the first human he'd ever come in contact with...without destroying them where they stood, of course. As you could probably guess, he didn't like humans, not one bit. They were greedy, selfish, and a plethora of other bad things...but perhaps, just perhaps, this girl would be different. He'd give her a chance, he decided. It wasn't as if he could do anything to her, anyways, what with the seal blocking any and all attempts at escape he made.

"Well Naru, in answer to your earlier question, yes I would gain my own body, but because I no longer have a physical form, if you were to remove the seal my life cycle would have to begin anew. You see, we demons grow more powerful with age. Our strength is shown by the number of tails we have. Until I was sealed I was the most powerful demon alive, but now..."

"I see. By the way, when you mentioned beginning anew…Does that mean you will be a baby fox? With only one tail?"

The Kyuubi growled. "A kit. And yes."

Naru thought for a moment. "And would you have to stay with me? Or would you go away?"

"In the beginning we would have to stay close to one another. As we grow and age we would be able to separate for longer periods of time."

"Then I will remove the seal. And we will both live."

"Yes, remove the seal, but know that I still intend to decimate this pathetic village."

Naru's blue eyes darkened as she looked into the demonic red ones. "And I will help you."

Kyuubi let out a rumbling laugh. "I think you may make a worthy demon yet."

She smiled. "I suppose we shall find out." And with that Naru grasped the paper seal and jerked it off.

And then there was pain.

She screamed.

Naru had never felt pain like this before. All consuming and never ending. Not even the beatings compared to this. Liquid fire burned within her veins. Her organs felt as though they were being ripped out. Her teeth, hair, and nails ached. Her skin felt like it was being melted off and regrown, only to be melted off again. Her eyes felt like they would explode from her skull. It seemed as soon as one pain was over another immediately took its place. There was no escape from it. It went on like this for hours.

And then it was over.

. . . . .

Naru awoke.

She was in her room in Ryuuhei's house. Ryuuhei was on the floor, his throat ripped open and blood steadily pumping out of the wound.

She looked around the room trying to figure out what happened.

"I killed the filthy human."

Naru jerked her head around towards the door where the 'voice' had come from. Sitting there on its haunches was a fox. It was about three foot tall with a sleek blood red coat and crimson eyes. The tips of his tail and ears were black.

'"Kurama?" she whispered.

"Obviously." the voice drawled.

"Oh. I thought you'd be smaller. But I guess even as a kit you are still quite powerful."

Kurama gave a pleased growl and nodded. "You are right of course. But aside from that, demons reach maturity quicker than humans do. Once we reach our maturity we stop aging. You will reach yours a bit slower than I will because you have yet to gain the normal demon characteristics, but you will still reach it before any humans your age would."

"When will we reach our maturities?"

"I will reach mine in approximately five years. You will reach yours in about seven. Eight at the most."

Naru nodded at that. "That's good, the sooner I grow up the better." She threw a disgusted glance at the body of her former caretaker. "I don't ever want to be that weak again." The fox let out what could only be considered a chuckle.

"Trust me when I say this; you're already stronger than you were before your soul underwent the alteration to become a demon. Your reflexes, senses, and general strength of body should be about double what it was before, and that will only increase as your body changes to accommodate your new soul." his voice then took on a steely quality.

"But while that may be true, we are still at the bottom of the metaphorical demon food chain; we must bide our time, growing stronger before we destroy this pathetic excuse of a village."

Naru thought over this for a moment before speaking. "So that pain I felt was my soul being...altered?"

Kurama nodded. "Yes, though your body has yet to adapt to the changes. But that will happen in time; what we need to do now is think about what we should do. Obviously, with your 'caretaker' now dead, it wouldn't be a very good idea to stay here, lest someone find out what happened. We might be demons, but as strong as we are now there is little we could do against a village full of ninjas."

"I think joining the academy might be a good idea, or at least stealing a textbook so I can learn the material. I want to learn as much as I can for both my demon side and my human side, as knowledge can often be equated to power. Once I read through the text, though, we can get out of this hellhole.

Kurama inclined his head in approval. "A solid plan. Very well, we will stay here until you have learned what you need to. And if it turns out that leaving to train abroad is a better plan, well..." the fox bared his teeth in a sort of wolfish grin. "Then that is what we shall do. And when we have gained enough power you and I will destroy this village."

Naru's smile answered his. "Yes. We will have revenge enough for us both."

AN: So what do you think? How was it? Any and all criticism and/or comments are appreciated, even if it's just a simple 'good job'. I'd love to have some feedback on what I can do to improve, both in my writing and perhaps my style. In other words, please Review! You know you want to!

-ZGS