Naruto

Disclaimer: This episode of Naruto is of my own creation. I do not own any portion of Naruto. "Naruto" and all related characters, names, etc. are ©1999-2006 Masashi Kishimoto/SHUEISHA Inc. Naruto is a trademark of Viz Media LLC. All rights reserved.

Note: This series contains content from both the manga and the anime and takes place shortly after the very first chapter/episode of Naruto and will have our main protagonist acting a bit OOC for the rest of the series. Read to discover how and why.

The Demon Within
Number 1:
Awakening the Demon

'Naruto's thoughts'
'The Kyuubi's thoughts'

Uzamaki Naruto sat down in front of the mirror in his room and gazed in admiration at the Hitai-ate Konoha leaf headband Iruka-sensei had given him earlier, proof of his passing the ninja entrance examination. 'I did it!' he thought to himself. 'I'm finally a shinobi and one step closer to becoming the greatest Hokage who ever existed!' He absentmindedly rubbed his stomach as he felt it become a little tingly. Ever since he was a kid, the strange tattoo-like object he had always had on his stomach would burn or tingle from time to time, sometimes it would continue for an entire day. Since it had happened randomly, Naruto never gave it a second thought. The young recently made shinobi rubbed his stomach a little harder as the tingle did not go away as fast as it normally did in the past.

Later that night as Naruto slept, the 'tattoo' on his stomach, which in reality was a sealing spell that kept the feared nine-tailed fox spirit from coming forth and wreaking havoc once more, had begun to glow slightly. Inside the boy's psyche, a second presence started to make itself a new home there, a presence that had patiently awaited twelve long years for this moment. Though it had not been fully freed, this second presence had more than enough freedom to affect the young boy it was sealed inside…freedom enough to influence the child and have him enact out the one thing it had desired since it was sealed away…REVENGE!

Now all it needed was a little time, a day, perhaps two, to prepare both itself and young Naruto for the future and the big plans that would soon be unfolded.

The next day as Naruto goofed off and interacted with Konohamaru, the Hokage's young grandson, the recently awakened presence of the demon fox inside of him strengthened itself while it watched it's young vessel. It instantly had a liking for the boy. Naruto had inside of him a great deal of pain and anguish because of the treatment he received from almost the entire Konohagakure village and that could be skillfully steered towards it's own needs. The boy also had a flair for trickery and mischief…one area that all foxes excelled in. Yes, it could not have been sealed inside a better candidate than this child.

Throughout the day as the young shinobi befriended young Konohamaru and helped him to mature a bit and stand up to his tutor Ebisu-sensei, he had an uncomfortable sense that something was…off somehow, though he couldn't discover what that was. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary despite the fact that this had been a day where his stomach had been tingling and burning all throughout the day. Naruto shrugged it off as just nerves since he would be officially staring his ninja training the following day.

As Naruto drifted into a peaceful slumber that evening, the spirit of the nine-tailed fox enacted out the first step of its masterful plan. With some gentle prodding deep inside the boy's psyche, it made first contact. 'Naruto,' it calmly began in a deep voice.

'Wha…' the psyche of the young shinobi responded while looking around the endless darkness in surprise, 'who are you? What are you doing here?'

'Fear not young cub,' it answered, 'I am not here to harm you. To answer one of your questions: I have always been here. Only just recently has the seal upon me been loosened and allowed me to finally speak to you.'

Inner Naruto quirked up an eyebrow in obvious confusion. 'What are you talking about? I don't understand,' after a moment, he added, 'and why did you call me cub?'

A deep chuckling reverberated seemingly from everywhere and nowhere at once. 'No, you would not understand would you? Your entire village has strived to keep my existence within you a secret from you…though I believe the deceptive Mizuki revealed what was kept hidden from you no more than a day ago.' All of a sudden, the demon fox appeared in Naruto's psyche…though it severely toned down its appearance as to not frighten his unwilling host. It appeared to the young shinobi as nothing more than an ordinary harmless average sized fox with red eyes and nine long flowing tails. 'It was I young cub,' it spoke though it's mouth never moved, 'the Kyuubi. The being that was sealed within you when you were nothing more than a newborn.'

'You?!' the shinobi's psyche asked incredulously. 'You're the reason why all the adults give me the evil eyes and nobody respects me?' He looked the fox up and down. 'You don't look too bad. I thought you would've been a lot bigger and scarier looking.' He walked over to the second psyche inside of him and patted it on top of the head with a grin. 'I don't see what the big deal is about you. A talking nine-tailed fox? I think that's pretty cool!'

The fox spirit showed no emotions though he was intensely pleased at his host's immediate acceptance of him. This was one of the two toughest steps to take and now things should progress quite smoothly as long as Naruto was willing…and that there was the other toughest step. 'I appreciate your acceptance of me young cub. It is not something I am used to receiving. I would like you to know that although I have been completely sealed away all this time, I have been able to watch everything that has happened through your eyes. I know the contempt your fellow villagers have directed towards you for housing me inside of you.' It turns its head away in a showing of apparent shame. 'You have needlessly suffered because of me.'

Inner Naruto took his hand off of his new 'companion' and used it to rub the back of his head while smiling. 'Nah, don't worry about it! I'm kinda used to it now…' he paused and lowered his hand as a frown spread across his face, 'but there's something I want to know. I remember Mizuki-sensei told me that you destroyed the village and murdered Iruka-sensei's family. Iruka-sensei even said that he hated you,' the young shinobi backed off while looking hesitant. 'Why? Why did you do it?'

The long feared demon fox suppressed a growl at this unexpected twist. Using every ounce of intelligence and cunning it possessed, it quickly thought up of an excuse that would appease the boy. 'I may be a nine-tailed fox spirit young cub,' it began, 'but I am still a fox. It is in my nature to bring mischief and chaos wherever I go. Sometimes…' it dramatically pauses, 'sometimes I tend to go overboard. I am quite powerful you know. My true form is also much, much larger than what you see here. Death and destruction are unfortunate…but as shinobi are you and your people not prepared for such occurrences? If I am not mistaken, I believe that is part of your lifestyle.'

'I…I guess you make a point,' the boy's psyche hesitantly responded while he mulled over what he just heard, 'but I still think what you did wasn't cool.'

The fox nodded its head once, it's tails lazily swished from side to side. 'I understand your reasoning and there is nothing I can do to reverse what I did all those years ago…but I would like to perhaps help you with your current situation if you would allow me to.'

'Help me? How?'

The second, and much more malevolent psyche inside of Naruto carefully planned out its next words to most appease to its host and make him more willing to go along. 'It is quite simple really. Over the years since I was sealed within you, our native chakra and psyche have slowly begun to adapt to one another and learn to coexist. When you grow and mature more physically we will be at the level of symbiosis.'

Inner Naruto tilted his head from side to side, more than a little clueless. 'What's that all supposed to mean?'

Patiently, it answered, 'It means that in due time you and I would work in perfect unison with each other so to speak…but that is still some time away. What I wish to due is to go one step further and merge our chakra together into one. I will keep our psyche separate so I will still be able to communicate with you, but you will gain my power…more power than you can imagine. With my aid you will become the strongest shinobi who ever existed and will see your dream of becoming the greatest Hokage come into fruition. You will be respected by your entire village in no time.' It held in a smirk at the pure elation it sensed coming from its host.

'Really?!' he asked with a wide smirk, 'you can do that?!' The shinobi's psyche clenched his hands into fists at the idea. 'Can you really make all of that happen if I do this chakra merge with you?'

'It will not be I who will make your dreams a reality young one. You will accomplish all those feats. I will merely supply you with the power and knowledge necessary to do them.' Its psyche walked over to the boy. 'All I need is your willing consent and we will begin, mind you it will take several nights to complete the full merging.'

'Why's it gonna take so long?' Naruto complained. 'Why can't you just do it all in one night and get it over with?'

The fox spirit gazed intensely at his host. 'I cannot merge our chakra together so easily because your body would not be able to contain such an increase in its native chakra in a single setting. It would most likely kill you and that would kill me in turn. I need to slowly merge my chakra with yours so it will adjust to the steady increase and do not worry, this will not cause you any pain.'

The young shinobi's psyche visibly gulped while a bead of sweat trickled down the side of his face. He took a deep breath and steeled himself. 'Okay, lets do this.'

Resisting the urge to laugh out loud at how gullible its host is, the fox calmly walked in front of Naruto and leapt up, placing its front paws on his shoulders. It leans its head down and moves forward until both of their foreheads are touching. The darkness surrounding them was suddenly filled with bright light as both of their bodies had begun to glow brilliantly.

That next morning Naruto woke up at his normal time. He stretched with a loud yawn, the sunshine glaring through his window. 'Man,' he thought to himself, 'that was a really weird dream!'

The recently made shinobi got out of bed and prepared his breakfast for the morning. He was just about to pour himself a glass of milk when a deep voice in his head suddenly said, 'I would not do that young cub.'

"What!?" he shouted in shock as he leapt to his feet and dropped the milk carton in his hand. "W-What was that?"

'I am surprised you so easily forgot about me,' the voice replied with a tingle of amusement. 'Normally when one meets me…I am never forgotten.'

Naruto sat back down in his seat with a look of wonder. "So last night wasn't a dream?" he muttered. "So you're really that nine-tailed fox spirit?"

'Yes young cub,' it patiently replied, 'and like I had previously said, it would not be wise for you to drink that milk. Instead of speaking out loud you may think of what you wish to say,' it added after a moments thought. 'While in public you do not desire for others to think of you as possibly mentally unbalanced.'

The shinobi chuckled a bit out loud. 'Yeah,' he thought while rubbing the back of his head, 'the last thing I need is for everybody to think I'm crazy or something…but why don't you want me to drink this milk?'

'Smell it,'

Naruto picked up the carton of milk, leaned forward and took a tentative sniff inside. He immediately dropped it and covered his nose, his eyes wide in shock. "Oh man!" the boy shouted, "that stuff stinks! I mean really bad!" He shook his head and rubbed under his nose to try to get the smell away.

'Yes,' the demon fox muttered with a wince, the smell having also got to it. 'That milk is expired and would undoubtedly conflict with your system. You should be more careful with products that expire young cub. Do not forget that your actions will affect myself as well as you.'

'Yeah, sorry,' he thought in apology. 'How did you know about the milk?' Naruto picked up the carton from the floor and checked the expiration date of the top. He nodded as it was indeed expired and shook it slightly and cringed at the sounds of something not quite liquid sloshing around inside. 'And why did it stink so much? It's not that expired.'

'I am a fox and I have more advanced senses than a normal human,' it answered. 'Because of the beginning of merging our native chakra together you have gained advanced senses as well. You physical appearance has altered slightly too.'

The young shinobi's eyebrows raised in surprise. 'I look different?' He ran over to his mirror and his eyes joined his eyebrows as he took in his new look.

The first thing he noticed was that he was taller. Not a lot taller mind you, but probably a couple of inches or so. His hair had also grown a little longer and was a lighter shade of blonde than normal. Naruto had grown some slight claws on his hands and fangs in his mouth and the three marks on both of his cheeks that looked like whiskers were more pronounced. His ears had become a little pointy on top of them and to top it off, his eyes had darkened from a lively, vibrant blue to purple. All in all, he had a more feral appearance to him now.

"Whoa!" he muttered out loud. After a moment of examining himself in the mirror he smirked widely and let out a laugh. It was quickly replaced by a minor frown as he thought, 'Am I going to keep looking more and more different until we're done with our chakra merging?' He scratched his head in confusion. 'I'm still kinda confused about all that,' after a moment he added, 'and why are my eyes purple?'

The fox spirit inside of him chuckled once before it replied, 'Worry not young cub, I will be here to assist you in any way you need. To answer your first question: this slight physical transformation will be the only one you will experience throughout our merging and it is a permanent change. There is more to explain about another transformation you will be able to make but I will discuss that in due time. Now to your eye color,' It projected a mental vision of its head into Naruto's mind. 'As you can see my eyes are pure crimson in color whilst yours were a fair sapphire and mixing them together made a clear violet. Again I will discuss more later but very soon now I believe you have a class to attend pertaining to your full ninja training.'

'Oh yeah,' the recently graduated shinboi thought with a wide smirk. He took a glance down at his Hitai-ate headband in front of the mirror and his smirk widened while a mild chuckle escaped him. 'I can't wait to show everyone what I'm made of! Nobody will ever make fun of me again!'

'Indeed young one,' the second psyche agreed, 'but first I think it would be wise to obtain some new apparel.'

Naruto looked over at his favorite orange and blue getup and muttered, "What's wrong with what I have?"

'If you will now be going out on missions it would be wise to wear something that is not so easy to distinguish from natural surroundings, especially if a mission requires intense reconnaissance and you must remain concealed for long periods of time. Better to wear darker, less conspicuous clothing.'

'Wow you're really smart,' the boy thought in wonder. 'I'm really glad you're on my side…uh…by the way,' he added as a sudden thought came to him, 'what do I call you? I know you don't have a name or anything but I don't think you'd really like me calling you 'foxy' or something like that.'

Inside Naruto, the nine-tailed fox spirit nodded once. 'Yes, you have brought up a point and I am admittedly surprised that you would consider it at all. I have seen how you tend to speak before thinking of other's thoughts and feelings ahead of time. Perhaps you have developed some in not in just body but also in spirit. That pleases me greatly.' It paused to clear its thoughts. 'But I am getting off subject. True I have no real name that I am aware of but if you so desire, you may call me 'Sensei' since I will be your true instructor from now on. Anything you will learn from any chûnin or jônin in your village will not compare to what you will acquire from my teachings.'

The Kyuubi's host had begun to chuckle again while he placed his hands on his hips for dramatic effect. "Alright Sensei," he began, "lets get some new clothes then I can start my journey to become the greatest Hokage ever!" Naruto quickly tossed on his clothes, grabbed his leaf headband and toast and ran out of his room, his aura literally expelling pure radiance at his good luck.

Deep inside his body, the psyche of the fox spirit grinned malevolently at how perfectly things were unfolding. He had easily gained Naruto's trust and willingness to merge their chakra into one, ensuing its continued existence. Given time, it would soon make the boy powerful enough to become a suitable vessel to take over. When that could properly occur without any problems, it could have a little fun on those who had wronged it and bring back the death and destruction it so lusted for.

Yes, if all progressed as planned, the future would become filled with nothing but blood and despair, a very wonderful future indeed.

To be continued…

Author's notes: Hello everyone out there, I hope you enjoyed my very first Naruto fic. I've just recently gotten into this really good series and have been watching the anime closely while also buying every manga volume as it is released here in the States. I want to make sure I have everything down properly about chakra and the many different jutsu that will appear in later chapters. If I make any mistakes please feel free to notify me and I will make the proper adjustments.

I actually started to watch the anime before I began to purchase the manga and I got the idea for this fic right after Naruto first transformed during the fight with Haku. I patiently sat on it until I knew a bit more about the Naruto universe and I hope I have done well so far. This chapter was shorter than I normally post but rest assured the other chapters will always be at least two full pages longer than this one is.

For those of you patiently awaiting updates on my other fics, I apologize but this idea has been nagging me for a while and I couldn't focus on anything else until I was able to at least get the starting chapter done. Now I will get back to my Inu-Yasha fics…I'm almost finished with the next chapter of 'What's a Hanyou to Do?' so you won't have to wait too much longer! – lighthawkdemon

Questions or comments? E-mail me at: lighthawkdemon at Y!