Warnings: Slight AU Femnaru! Story where the Uchiha Massacre doesn't happen. There will be a pairing and it's not with Sasuke. If you don't like it, then don't read.

Edited: 5/21/17

"All cruelty springs from weakness." ―Seneca

Chapter 1: The Fateful Night

"Demon!"

"Catch her!"

"Let's finally kill the damn thing!"

"We'll be doing this village a favor!"

The villagers yells of hatred echoed in the crisp, cool night air. A small, blonde girl no older than five, ran as fast as her short legs could take her. Her short sunny blonde hair, which was pulled into twin pigtails, danced wildly behind her. The cool night air chilled the tears on the girl's whisker-like cheeks. Oceanic blue eyes darted around frantically, searching for a possible escape route. Her eyes locked on an alley, which she prayed linked to another which would allow for her smooth getaway. Quickly glancing over her shoulder, the blonde looked to see if her attackers were directly behind her. They weren't. But the young girl knew they weren't far off. Quickly changing her course, she dashed into the dark alleyway. Giddiness entered her veins as the realization of her plan working. The girl looked over her shoulder once more, just to reconfirm that no one was behind her.

Haha! Suckers! I'm totally outta here!

All of a sudden she was painfully torn from her thoughts as she crashed into something incredibly hard. Hissing in pain, she looked up to see what she'd stupidly crashed into. Her eyes locked with bricks. There, right before her, was a brick wall. It's rusty red bricks mocking her for her abysmal stupidity.

Then that means...

"No..." She whispered weakly, "This was my only way out."

Desperation consumed the blonde as she sunk down to her knees and lay her forehead on the coarse bricks. A wave of fresh tears leaked out of her eyes. She was done for. A complete goner.

"Did you see where she went?" A deep, gravelly voice rumbled.

"No. But she couldn't haven't gotten far." Another voice, more grating the the first, responded.

"Let's check in here." Added a third, breathy tone.

Footsteps pounded against the earth as they neared her. Hopelessly, the blonde pulled her knees into her chest and cried as she silently accepted her fate. A small hand raced up to her mouth as she tried to suppress a disgusting sob but knew it was useless. They were closing in on her and she knew there was nothing she could do about it. One by one the endless stream of tears fell. A ragged breath fell from her lips.

How did I get myself into this mess?

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

It was already eight in the evening, the sun had since set and the world was dark save for the dim light provided by the celestial bodies overhead.

It's a full moon tonight, the young girl thought as she stared up to the bright white orb in the sky.

Isn't that bad luck? Or did it mean good luck? I'll have to ask Jiji.

A loud growling sound abruptly yanked her from her musings. The sound belonged to none other than her stomach. Akin to a black hole, the blonde's stomach was always demanding food. Creaking door hinges caught the young girl's attention immediately. A door swung open, and in it's wake stood a girl. She looked to be in her early stages of teenage hood. She was slim and had a tall stature, with long chocolate colored hair accompanied by soft brown eyes. Tied around her hair was a pearly white bandana, which accentuated her fair skin and essentially only further added to the young teen's beauty. She also donned a white robe with the neatly folded sleeves, and a navy blue apron which was tied around her waist. The younger girl had never seen anyone dressed in such a way, but then again, she was never allowed outside the orphanage so she guessed it wasn't too strange.

In the teen's left hand was a garbage bag filled to the brim with contents that looked ready to burst.

Sitting in the shadows the young girl grinned at the bag. With a bag that stuffed, there's gotta be some food in there! She thought to herself. Her stomach voiced its agreement by letting out another giant growl. Blue eyes widened in fear as the brown haired teenager looked in her direction. The teen's gaze was acutely fixed on her. The blonde youngster knew hiding was futile, because the older girl now knew she was there. But instead of approaching the blonde like she thought she would, the older girl instead carried on with her business and tossed the garbage bag into a nearby dumpster. Her eyes, warm like hot chocolate, flickered back to where the blonde was hiding, but only for a second, and then she walked back into the building shutting the door behind her. The young girl waited for a few seconds just to make sure the teenager wouldn't come back out and when she deemed the coast clear, she emerged from her hiding spot. Beside the dumpster was a crate, to which she was thankful for. It didn't take long for her to swiftly climb atop the crate and hop into the dumpster. Fingertips grazed the black material of the bag, but before she could even think about opening it she heard a soft gasp from behind. Turning around her eyes met with those warm brown ones, a blatant look of pain could be found in them. They stayed like that for the longest time, staring into each others eyes. But then the older girl did the oddest thing. She smiled. Smiled! It wasn't wicked or fake. It was a real, genuine smile. A full smile that showed off her pearly white teeth. And it was directed at her!

Her voice was soft and melodic, drifting over to her like a gentle breeze, "You can come out of there, I promise I won't hurt you."

Sapphire irises gazed into fawn brown, trying to detect any hint of a lie. But that smile, and those warmer than life brown eyes...those were the things that told her she wasn't bad. Slowly she made her way out of the dumpster and stood at a safe distance. The teen's smile never faltered, not even for a second.

"What's your name? I'm Teuchi Ayame." She introduced herself, sticking out her right hand.

The younger girl stared at the extended hand, debating whether or not she should shake it. This girl could hurt me. But once again, she shook off the ridiculous notion because the brunette standing before her seemed to radiate good intentions and had a pleasant, angelic aura around her. The youngster extended out her own hand.

"Uzumaki Naruto. It's nice to meet'cha." Naruto smiled back. Maybe...just maybe this person might like me.

Ayame took in Naruto's features, her smile widening at how absolutely adorable she was! The Uzumaki was incredibly short with pinch-worthy chubby cheeks. On her cheeks were whisker-like marks, that eerily reminded Ayame of a fox. Her cheeks weren't her most defining feature though, oh no, it was her eyes and hair. Ayame couldn't help but feel envious over the Uzumaki's sunny blonde hair that rivaled the sun itself. Her chin-length, sunny blonde locks were tied up by two orange hair ties, a color most befitting for the young girl. But Naruto's eyes are what made Ayame really green with envy. They were the prettiest color Ayame's ever seen. The color was so rich and vibrant it surely put the sky to shame. The brunette's smile broadened.

"Naruto-chan, would you like to come in for something to eat?" Ayame asked softly, already knowing the answer. When she received a nod of approval, she grabbed Naruto's small chubby hand and brought her into the ramen shop.

"Ah, Ayame. Who's your little friend?" A kind and jovial voice called. It was slightly deep, obviously belonged to a man. Naruto's eyes looked up to the owner of the voice, and noted that he wore an outfit similar to Ayame. She also noted the crinkles near his eyes due to his joyous squinting, along with the laugh lines surrounded his mouth, no doubt from a lifetime of laughter and smiling.

"Uzumaki Naruto." Ayame introduced. Naruto smiled warily up to the man, but couldn't help but notice the way his shoulders tensed at hearing her name. She pretended not to notice, and he smiled down to her anyways.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Uzumaki-san. Everyone calls me Teuchi." As he introduced himself warmly Naruto couldn't help but feel overwhelmingly...safe. These two people were warm and pleasant, like a perfectly timed hug on a cold winter day.

"How would you like your some ramen, Uzamaki-san?" Teuchi asked, leaving Naruto to stare at the man as she fumbling for an answer. She'd didn't even know what ramen was.

"I...uh...I've never had ramen before." Naruto sheepishly replied, scratching her cheek nervously.

"Never?" Ayame gasped, obviously shocked.

"Never." Naruto confirmed.

"Well, Uzumaki-san, today's your lucky day! Pull up a seat and we'll show you how the magic's made." Teuchi said, turning around to collect an assortment of ingredients. Naruto made her way over to the stool and tried to get on. Tried being the key word. Naruto was far too short to get on it, much to her embarrassment, which made Ayame giggle. The brunette happily helped the youngster up, before helping her father make ramen. She watched, vastly intrigued by the father-daughter duo. They moved in perfect sync, dancing around each other as they dashed in a few spices here, added some herbs there and more. By the time Teuchi delicately set the steaming hot bowl of ramen in front of Naruto, she couldn't help but stare at it. It looked different, but not in a bad way. Naruto wasn't very picky, especially when you had to scavenge from the garbage in order to survive.

She inhaled the lovely aroma, and stared up the two ramen chefs, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." They chorused together.

She clasped her hands together and closed her eyes, hurriedly saying Itadakimasu. The blonde hastily broke apart her chopsticks and plucked up the noodles. Ayame and her father watched as Naruto slowly and experimentally tasted the noodles. As soon as the noodles touched her taste buds, her eyes widened comically. Hurriedly swallowing, she looked up to the duo in front of her.

"My taste buds are lovin' this!" Naruto shouted jovially, which made the two laugh. Teuchi and Ayame watched in awe as the young girl literally scarfed down an entire bowl of ramen in less than two minutes.

"Would you like some more, Naruto-chan?" Ayame asked.

"Yes!" Naruto instantly replied. Her cheeks reddened as she forgot her manners, then quickly added, "Please."

The brunette smiled, handing the empty bowl to her father who happily refilled it.

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

"Thanks for the ramen! I don't know how to repay you." Naruto sheepishly said, scratching her cheek one more. Naruto couldn't repay them both literally and figuratively. She was an orphan that roamed the streets for her next meal and obviously couldn't pay for anything. But she did know that she owed them, and wouldn't soon forget their kindness.

"No need to worry Uzumaki-san, it was on the house. Please feel free to come back anytime." Teuchi said.

"Will do!" She promised.

Little did they know, as they watched the young blonde girl walk away, that she'd be walking towards her impending doom.

Naruto walked down the street feeling lighthearted. Staring up at the twinkling stars she silently whispered, "Thank you,"

For once in her life something had gone right. She'd successfully made two friends and her tummy was full, which was a foreign feeling she happily accepted with open arms. The Uzumaki had also discovered something amazing. Ramen.

But good things never lasted for Uzumaki Naruto.

"It's her...the demon." A male's gruff voice harshly whispered.

"Oh yeah. Whadda ya know." Another's voice broke in, his voice sounded like broken glass being grinded in a blender.

"How about we teach her a lesson." A third voice added. Naruto tried to block out the feeling of bile skyrocketing to her throat. Her mind began to scramble on what to do. But it came up blank. Complete and utterly blank. Her body however, kicked into overdrive, and she did what she knew best. She ran.

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

It hadn't taken them long to get their hands on her. She had been cornered, like a mouse being attacked by a sadistic cat. There had no fight or flight. It was three grown, drunken men, against a small and pitifully weak young girl.

They had shown no mercy as they brutally beat her. The look of hatred that shone brightly in their eyes was sickening. Their wicked smiles they displayed as they hit her was almost as nauseating as the names they'd called her.

When they had finally finished their assault, she was rendered incapacitated. Naruto had never before felt pain like this. Everything hurt. Breathing was excruciating, every shallow breath she took felt like a thousand knives stabbing into her lungs. Moving the slightest bit was more than agonizing and crying did nothing but further intensify the sensation of searing pain that burned her forcefully shut eyes.

All the Uzumaki could do was lie there helplessly in a puddle of her own blood and wait to die. At this moment she wished for nothing more than the sweet release of death. Nothing could alleviate the pain but slipping out of this world forever.

The worse about this whole ordeal was the fact that Naruto didn't know what she'd done to deserve this. At the orphanage, the cruel ladies in charge would always tell her bad children were to be punished. But what had Naruto done wrong this time?

Her musings quickly went from self-blame and contemplative to regret and paranoid.

I...don't wanna to die like this. I-I'm too young to die. If someone can hear me...please...help.

So as stated at the top, I am currently rewriting the first few chapters of this story while also continuing it. I'm doing this because when I look at what I've written on here, I visibly cringe. I started this story when I was 13, in the 7th grade. And it's been 3 years, so I'd like to think I've had a decent amount of time to mature as a person along with my writing style. I would also like to state for the record that this story is really fucking dark right now, but it will lighten up with time and will become humorous. Please stay tuned and see what this story has to offer, because I refuse to give up on it.

Additionally, I'm in the process of cleaning everything up. The whole structure of how this story used to look was absolutely vile. So please be patient as I work my incredible magic.

―Sandafairy