-This is my first Naruto fiction so please review. And I know that the Kyuubi was a manipulative bastard, but I can't help but think that he is a maternal fluff ball at heart. -

Chapter One

A Not So Mean Fox

Uzumaki Shiro smiled weakly as the threatening shouts and angry cries of the furious villages faded away only to be replaced by a cold unyielding silence. It seemed like it had always been this way, the villagers and even many of the shinobi glared at her with hatred and disgust and then, mostly the time before and after her birthday, they would come to beat her in great mobs. Other days it was mostly drunkards and civilians that had a bad day, but that didn't mean they couldn't shake things up a bit.

She shivered as a pulse of dark and malicious chakra enveloped her. She opened her eyes slowly, curious as to what could make such chakra, but didn't truly wish to see it. To her surprise she found herself lying in a room much like the sewers in an ankle deep pool of rather leery liquid. The room itself was depressing, thick and narrow pipes, some dripping the debatable substance, lined the walls of what seemed like a domed room. Small torches dotted the room, mostly mounted on the pillars that stretched down from the ceiling, lighting a dim pathway to a cage.

Another pulse rippled through the room, causing the surface of the shallow pool to become waved and dipped. Casting her cerulean gaze to her left, she focused solely on the cage. To say it was large was an understatement; it was bigger than the Hokage Building. She rose from her position on the liquid covered floor and slowly made her way to the cage.

As she neared the cage, Shiro instantly noted the bars looked ancient, corroded, and basically couldn't even hold her for all the strength they seemed to hold. She paused when yet another wave of the dark chakra rolled out, yet it didn't seem to intimidate the eight year old. Whilst she stood there a blast of hot wet air nearly caused her to fall before a deafening roar succeeded its predecessor. A pair of enraged crimson eyes glared down at her, the burning hatred like that of all of the villagers and then some.

"So you have come kit? After eight years you have finally answered my call, and for what? For you to sit there and stare at the confines of your mind as if you have yet to see them!"

The monstrous being howled enraged and furious at being kept waiting. Shiro calmly stood waiting for the beast's tantrum to end or at least waiting for a painful lashing from the terrifying demon. When the creature saw his raging had no effect on the girl he stopped and glared at her, his cat like eyes narrowing in speculation.

"Speak kit, I know you have something to say, so spit it out so I can sleep."

"Are…. are you going to hurt me too…Kyuubi-sama?" Her voice was soft, and if it weren't for his enhanced senses her would have never picked up the bell like voice. Yet it wasn't the soft voice of his jailor, nor the question that stunned him into a higher level of respect (not much higher mind you).

"How do you know of my name Shiro-kit? I have yet to tell you and none your age were to know of my where-a-bouts."

"I would think that you know Kyuubi-sama, after all you can sift through my memories as I have learned from the jinjuriki history volume I found in Jiji-san's office when he was away. You should also know that I was listening in one of his conversations after a narrow escape from a pedophile. He was reprimanding one of the mob leaders before sending him to Ibiki."

Shiro sighed before moving to sit and paused, remembering the liquid she was currently standing in.

"Kyuubi-sama, you said we were within my mind right?"

The Demon Lord jumped, startled out of his task of searching her memory to see the fullest extent of her knowledge.

"Yes, that is was I told you. The image within your mind, the one you see now, is the reflection of both physical and mental health. When I arrived here, it was a simplistic replica of your birthing room and these bars looked as strong as they are, but as you grew it turn into this."

"Let's change that." Shiro concentrated but to her disappointment the only thing that changed were the torches flaring to hold a brighter and now blue flame.

"Kit, this is a reflection of your all around health. The surroundings represent your state of mind, dark and dank like the sewers, the multitudes of cracks and leaks represent your physical welfare, understand?"

Shiro nodded and gracefully sat down, a look of discomfort flashing across the morose expression she had bore since her arrival. Kyuubi how ever couldn't help but lower his head in guilt. It was his fault she was this way, well mostly. Although the villagers couldn't see past their own pain and mourning to see she was simply a child and not he, the great Kyuubi no Kitsune. And his anger didn't help at all, the feared bijuu king, was no better than those pieces of scat that tortured the poor kit.

During the eight years of his confines, he had plotted and tried many painful ways to free himself, waiting to destroy his jailor in the slowest most excruciating process known to any race. A soft growl escaped his throat as he fought the urge to bite down on his own foreleg as a punishment. He looked back to the girl who was deep in though, pain and loneliness etched into her face.

"Kit…. come here please." She came closer to the cage, silent and frightfully willing. He knew this kit like the back of his paw, what happened to the young growing vixen that defied even the Hokage, held the most impossible dream close to her heart? Once she had reached the bars, she stopped, looking up at him with blank eyes. "Shiro, I have a deal for you, please hear me out before objecting. I know you hurt yes? I know you are alone and without a close protector, for this I think I have a remedy. I wish to train you and take you in as my own, but there is a slight problem in this my kit. All of my techniques rely on the use of demon chakra, something that you do not have without me, but I cannot always supply chakra when needed, or at least not properly. You see after a certain point of me supplying my chakra through that seal, you will begin to grow tails, after a certain number you will lose all control and will fail to recognize friend from foe. At this point I am simply stuck giving you as much chakra as you want or need and cannot take control until you have ripped off the seal and allow the completion of my return. But I do have an idea that might just work. I wish to turn you into a half demon, a hanayou. If you accept you will have your own supply of demonic chakra, but will be able to use your human chakra as well, I'm not sure what else will happen seeing as how the last hanayou died thousands of years ago."

He paused, looking down at Shiro, her face hidden by the long, slightly messy golden locks.

"Will it make me strong?" She whispered no higher than a wind's breath. Kyuubi lowered his head to hear better, surprised at her willingness. "Will I be able to protect Jiji-san? And who ever will become precious to me?"

"With proper training, yes."

"Then do it." His gaze softened as he looked upon Shiro's determined face, searching for any signs of doubt or hesitation.

"Realize there will be no going back from this, yes?" She nodded and reached for the seal. His crimson fur bristled from shock. "Don't touch that kit! As much as I want to be free myself, you would die and I have no clue as to what will happen if you tamper with it!"

"Then how do I become a half demon?"

"Well there are only three ways I know of, one being the offspring of a demon and a human, that is already nixed. The second is dangerous and you only receive half the power a hanayou should have, that one deals with forcibly merging a demon and a human together at a genetic level, so far none have survived, save for one and he only lasted a year. The third is the one we shall be performing kit. But first you must enter the cage."

Shiro hesitated, was this all a trick? The history manuscript had detailed personality reports and Kyuubi had been the most malicious and cunning of all nine. But what did she have to lose besides ramen? Steeling her nerves she entered the cage stopping just before Kyuubi's nose.

"Now the first thing in becoming a hanayou is retaining the blood of a demon, the blood is so powerful, so aggressive that it burns and eats away the human cells, a small amount will be enough to allow for harmony between the two types without killing the host, second step is to kindle your own demonic chakra, this is done by the demon planting a seed of their own chakra within the human and the human feeding it their own until the chakra has created a second more finely tuned chakra system. The last step is looking deep within yourself to find your inner beast to finalize the process."

"Do you already know my animal?"

"Your inner beast was destroyed to make room for me, so you are to be a fox. Before hand I think you were a large bird of some kind. Now come here kit, we have to begin the ceremony before those despicable doctors try to wake you."

He delicately made a small cut on her arm with a claw before mimicking the wound and allowing a few drops to spill into the gash. She hissed in pain as the Kyuubi blood got to work and sealed off the entrance so as not to be repulsed. The last thing Shiro saw were Kyuubi's crimson eyes clouded with concern as the abyss consumed her yet again.