Demon Fox? Kneel When You Speak

Orange-red Chakra dried the muddy water in the backstreet.

The wooden walls on both sides of the alley gave off tiny cracks. Lanterns hanging beneath the eaves swayed in the heat, their paper edges scorched black.

Naruto stood where he was, still wearing that filthy jacket, dried mud streaked across his face.

But no one dared treat him like the little brat they could push around anymore.

The fish seller tried to back away, stepped on a fish basket, and fell flat on his back.

Several children hid in the adults' arms, too frightened to cry.

Naruto walked toward them, one step at a time.

His feet left shallow prints in the ground. Chakra curled around the soles of his shoes like thin flames.

"You were the one who said I wouldn't dare fight back?"

The fish seller swallowed and scrambled backward on his hands and feet.

"I... I didn't... Naruto, you misheard me. I was just..."

Naruto raised a hand.

An orange-red Chakra arm extended from behind him, seized the man by the collar, and lifted him into the air.

The stench of fish, sweat, and fear mingled.

The man kicked wildly, his face turning bright red.

"Demon Fox." Naruto repeated the words quietly. "You've called me that for six years."

A woman beside them dropped to her knees.

"Naruto, the children don't know any better. The adults were frightened by the Nine-Tails, too. Please let us go."

Naruto looked at her.

"Did the Nine-Tails kill your family?"

The woman opened her mouth.

No one in her family had died in the Nine-Tails' Attack.

She had only heard others call him that and joined in.

"Did the Nine-Tails destroy your shop?"

Naruto's gaze swept over the shops at the mouth of the alley.

No one answered.

Whenever those people saw him, they shut their doors. They sold him expired milk and spat behind his back.

But when asked what blood feud they had with the Nine-Tails, not one of them could say.

Naruto's fingers tightened slightly.

The man suspended in the air let out a ragged gasp.

Just then, two dark figures landed on the roof.

ANBU.

White masks. Short Blades drawn. Precise movements.

One of them said in a low voice, "Naruto Uzumaki, withdraw your Chakra and come with us to the Hokage Building."

Naruto did not look up.

"Whose orders?"

"Lord Hokage's."

Naruto gave a short laugh.

"You were nearby when they surrounded me and threw stones, weren't you?"

The ANBU on the roof said nothing.

That was answer enough.

Naruto looked up at them.

"You stayed out of it then, but now you show up?"

The ANBU on the left tightened his grip on his Short Blade. "The seal inside you is unstable. We must bring you under control immediately."

"Control me, or control the Nine-Tails?"

The Chakra arm behind Naruto lashed out.

Roof tiles exploded.

The ANBU was about to use the Body Flicker Technique, but the Chakra arm had already wrapped around his ankle. It slammed him hard into the alley wall.

The second ANBU charged down with his sword drawn.

The blade swept past Naruto's shoulder without touching him.

Nine-Tails Chakra formed a second hand behind Naruto, caught the ANBU's wrist, and snapped it with a crack.

The Short Blade hit the ground.

The ANBU grunted. Naruto kicked him into the fish shop, smashing through its door.

Every face at the mouth of the alley went pale.

The ANBU, so far above everyone else on any ordinary day, could not last a single exchange against Naruto.

Naruto dropped the fish seller onto the ground.

The man lay in the mud, coughing hard, tears and snot smeared across his face.

Naruto crouched and picked up a pebble the man had dropped.

"Was it fun when you threw this at me?"

The man shook too hard to speak.

Naruto pressed the pebble against the back of his hand.

Chakra burned through it, embedding the pebble in his flesh.

The man screamed.

Naruto stood and swept his gaze over the people kneeling, hiding, and trembling.

"From today on, anyone who calls me a Demon Fox will find out whether one really kills people."

A rush of footsteps came from the distance.

More ninja were on their way.

At the end of the street, an old man wearing the Hokage's hat appeared with two ANBU.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was not dressed for battle. He wore only his Hokage robes, his face bearing its usual kindly, weary expression.

He glanced first at the fallen ANBU, then at Naruto.

"Naruto."

His voice was deliberately gentle.

"Don't be afraid. Grandpa's here."

The villagers kneeling nearby turned toward the Third Hokage as though he were their lifeline.

Naruto did not move.

The Nine-Tails Chakra behind him swayed gently, like a tail stretching out for the first time.

Hiruzen Sarutobi took a step forward.

"You're still young. There are things you don't understand. They misunderstand you, but the disaster back then caused them so much pain..."

Naruto cut him off.

"Third Hokage."

It was not the "Grandpa Hokage" that boy usually called him.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stopped.

Naruto raised a hand and pointed at the kneeling villagers.

"Where were you when they threw stones at me?"

Only the man's pained groans remained in the street.

Naruto pointed at the ANBU slumped against the wall.

"Where were you when they watched it happen?"

For the first time, Hiruzen Sarutobi's kindly expression cracked.

Naruto took a step forward.

Orange-red Chakra formed the outline of a second tail at his shoulder.

"Don't talk to me about misunderstandings."

"Now kneel when you speak."

Hiruzen Sarutobi did not move. But his silence was answer enough.