Disclaimer: You're not reading thisd part anyway.

It had been only 2 measly years before they'd had to return to this annoying village and Naruto cursed every day since they'd entered the gate.

"Grab him! Grab his arm!"

"Damn it, the little bastard is slick!"

Not only were the adults going out of their way to be a nuisance, but they had also influenced their kids, his classmates, with their attitude as well.

"Gha, mah jaw! He smashed mhy jaw..."

"He barely Touched you, you wimp!"

"But it HUrtsh!"

Then again, he supposed jealousy also was a factor. After all, just the plain fact that he was half their age, yet at the top of the class must've been enough to rub alot of people the wrong way, prejudice or not. His stand-offish attitude to his classmates on TOP of that probably added fuel to the fire, but it's not like they hadn't annoyed him first.

"Got him! Help me hold him down!"

"Keep his hands apart! Don't let him do any jutsu!"

So he was hardly surprised that some of the more arrogant punks in class, the type that took his presence and stature as a personal slight, were to decide to "put him in his place" during a recess.
They didn't even bother to try and be subtle about it as they mobbed him for everyone to see, but no one intervened, either from fear of said punks or because they secretly agreed to their idea that he deserved this. He didn't have to guess which of those applied for the teachers watching the spectacle, Kami, did they honestly think he couldn't spot them were they were watching from, lurking around the corners with poorly contained smirks.

"Hey, demon-lover! Look at me!"

Naruto's eyebrow twitched and he focused his attention on the one punk who wasn't busy restraining him (or trying to at least).

"That got your attention, huh? Che, you're disgusting, caring for that thing!"

Naruto would've growled at the kid (Mizu-something) hadn't he already heard such things to the point of boredom already.

"Mizuki, get started already!! He's breaking loose again!" one of the brats restraining him yelled. Mizuki lost his smug grin for a split-sec before he...was he planning to...? Oh, this was too briliant!

"I've been waiting for this since I first laid eyes on you and that... that critter! Doriyah-!" Mizuki yelled, letting his fist fly at his face.

The painful yell echoed across the schoolyard, but no one made a move. No one dared to, too confused (or was it frightened?) by the fact that Mizuki was clutching his bleeding, possibly broken hand while Naruto was grinning wide and sinister. The metallic sheen of the skin on his left cheek, not to mention the blood on it (not his own) made him look even more unsettling to those watching.
The other kids' grip loosened a second, surprised by this turn of events.
It was all he needed. It was time to set an example.
Mizuki's nose was the next thing to be broken.

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NEGIKO: NARUTO, THE DEMON SHIELD

Chapter 2.

"This sucks." Negiko admited to herself quietly as she was rushing through the treetops, the Forbidden Scroll strapped on her back. "This sucks, this sucks, this sucks."

Today had been nothing but a constant bum-fest. (Was that a word? She didn't care).
It was supposed to be her graduation day, but everything had gone wrong.
First her brother had been called away on a urgent mission the night before, making him unable to come to the cermony.
Secondly she had woken up that morning feeling off-balance and with abdominal pain, seriously, what was up with That? She hadn't drinked anything expired, she'd Checked the Date!

The feeling lasted with her through the day and it ended with, curse it all, throwing of her chakra-control right at the crucial moment. She didn't even get to open her mouth before they had failed her. So as everyone else was proudly displaying their headbands to their families, she sat in the corner, alone and a failure to boot.
That's when Mizuki had approached her with the offer.

Mizuki...

"Don't think about it." she whispered to herself.

('You are the demon fox who attacked the village twelve years ago!')

"Don't Think about it." Tears started to gather in her eyes.

('You're the reason Iruka lost his parents!')

"Don't think about it," it had become a plea.

('You're the reason your brother have lived in misery ever since!' his grin widening... 'There's no way he doesn't blame you in some way. I wonder how hard it must've been, swallowing his hatred for you whenever you were near.')

"Guaah!! THIS SUUUCKS!!!" she cried as she leapt on, tears flying freely.

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He had to find her. He had to find her before Mizuki did. He had intended to talk with her after the exams, but she had dissapeared before then.
"Mizuki, you bastard." Iruka cursed.
Initially he had been surprised that Negiko would flunk like she did, but things seemed to happen in a hurry and perhaps he had lost control.

"Idiot, Iruka. You bloody idiot."
Ignoring the bleeding wounds all over, Iruka hurried through the trees. He had to find her. He HAD to.

He couldn't let HIM down. Not again.

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"Don't you dare touch Iruka-sensei." Negiko stated standing defiantly between the two teachers, shielding one from the other.
"I'll KILL You!!"

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"Iruka's wound were luckily nothing too serious, but he did lose quite a lot of blood." old Sarutobi stated as he and the two other occupants of the hospital room went over the details of last night.
"A little rest should be all he need to recover though so don't fret about it."

"Well that's a relief," the blond shinobi stated. "Would hate to see our mighty school-teacher forced to leave his post. I'm telling you, I substituted for him once. NEVER again! Believe it"

The people in the room chuckled at that, but the atmosphere thickened as it was obvious the girl in the hospital bed couldn't force out any more cheer.

"Sigh, what is it already Negiko?" Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head. "Didn't we go over this already? You are NOT the Ninetails, only it's prison. You aren't to blame for a SINGLE thing!"

"... But..." she weakly stated. "But isn't it somewhat true what he said? That you must hate...Blame me for this? ..somewhat... B-because of me, everyone..." she could hardly get the words out, so busy was she trying not to look up. To not look at him. If she had she may have been able to dogde the fist crashing down on her head. Bewildered, she looked up only to find his hand gripping her cheeks together, making her unable to spit out a word.

"Look at me." he said, those eyes as blue as her own pierced through her. Into her. "Do you really believe I could ever hate you? Do you really think I give a damn what those fools think of me? Those pitiful people's stabs at me aren't even WORTH my attention, and if they get out of line where You are concerned then I remind them just where that line is drawn! You're the one most precious to me and I will always love you so don't you dare think otherwise for even a second! Not a Second!! Got that you baka?!"

"Sh-shut-up" she said softly as he finally let go of her cheeks, fighting unsuccesfully to keep the tears out of her eyes and the growing smile of her face. "You are the last one who should call anyone that."

"Oh yeah? What's that supposed to mean?" he yelled, getting in her face.

"What do you think it means, baka?!" she yelled back with just as much ferocity, butting heads. "Are you too much of a baka to realize when you're being called a baka, you baka?!"

"Don't you "baka" me, youu...!" and the argument broke up there as the siblings couldn't fight off their splitting grins any longer.

The Hokage chuckled as a comfortable silence followed. These two really were something special alright.

"But there's something I still don't get... How could you manage to Fail at the exam? I mean Come On, it should've been CAKE-walk for you."

"Yes, i would like to know that as well."

"Err," Negiko stiffened. "Well, I'm not sure why, but I felt extremely ill and out of it that morning. I think I must've opened a wound or something."

"A wound?" the other two voiced concerned.

"Yeah, cuz I was bleeding. ..down there..." she trailed off, embarrassed.

You could've heard a pin drop. Technically they did, though it was the Hokage's pipe that'd hit the floor.

"Naruto-kun. D-didn't you ever...?" The Hokage uneasily questioned.

"Eh? No, Hell No! What would I know?! Besides, aren't they supposed to be taught this... STUFF at the academy?!"

"What, what? You two know what this is?"

The two stiffened.

"Na-naruto-kun. What say we go find a friendly nurse to help our poor girl here with her questions."

"Wh-why what an excellent suggestion, Hokage-sama. Shall we?"

"We shall."

"Wait, what? What is it?! Why are you acting like that? Hey, are you listening?! COME BACK YOU COWARDS!!"

End chapter 2.

Author's notes:

To those who asked, the story will mainly follow Negiko as she acts out the fate of Team 7 with a twist, but Naruto himself will play just a big of a role (if not bigger) most of the time.