A/N: I would never even attempt to claim to own Naruto or any other manga….in Naruto's case because it's TOO LONG! So here is another version, from my mind to your eyes.
And seriously, stop NOW if you aren't willing to read an AU, with Naruto having been born and, living, as a female. Things are different in this version--I'm not rewriting or cloning the Naruto story--just a few changes and the whole Naruto universe may change!
Okay and about the whole accuracy issue: forget it. I'm trying to write a story that is fun for those who enjoy femNaru stories, not for those who are sticklers for accuracy, or the cannon. So no point complaining because I don't really want to deal with any of that--if you have a legitimate complaint like in chapter five making Temari have a crush on Sasuke a teensy bit, and then in the next chapter her harboring secret desires for Kabuto…well THEN you can complain, k? K!
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Dictionary of words used in this chapter:
Ojiisan—somebody's grandpa
Gaki brat
Obaasan—somebody's grandma
Ai-- love, not necessarily romantic
Nii-san somebody's older brother
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Kaiyou was a very lucky girl in all but a few things. Her father never made her eat vegetables. She had two good friends, and her father's student hanging around--an uncle figure. Jiraiya, her ojiisan, came around sometimes. Dad was always hitting him on the head… (She'd learn why a few years later.) She almost always managed to escape from her pranks unscathed, and her dad applauded her efforts unless she went too overboard.
The ills in her life more than made up for her good fortune however. Mother had died giving birth to her. One of her granddads had sealed a demon inside of her on that same day. Lots of the villagers feared her, but some loved her. She was the Hokage's daughter, and on the occasions that violent acts were committed against the 'demon brat' ANBU reacted violently and swiftly against the perpetrators. Her reputation in the village was a mixed bag; between her pranks, the demon, and her status everybody played hot and cold about how much they actually liked the gaki. It didn't bother Kaiyou; she had her friends, a father, an uncle, and wasn't failing at the Academy. Yet. A few more pranks on Mizuki and Iruka and they might just decide to fail her for an immature personality…
Outside the village was dangerous for Kaiyou. Minato had many enemies, and all of them would love to hurt him through the petite little girl. Luckily the Namikaze reputation (despite no real clan affiliation) was so feared that his enemies had run on sight orders—and few were foolish enough to incite his wrath by attacking his daughter. Outside the reputation she wasn't known as a Jinchuuriki but still as a demon nonetheless--cross her path and Daddy comes calling. At least that was the reputation that followed Kaiyou, nobody had actually tried to hurt her…
Namikaze Minato knew that his young daughter, still five years old, would have challenges in her life, but she'd beat them. Tsunade-obaasan would be green at the girl's luck. He could still, precisely five years later, only marvel that he was able to watch his little girl grow up, his Kaiyou, the only woman left in his life. It was a sad thing that saved his life—his grandfather figure had taken his place.
Flashback—5 years ago
Minato sadly stared down at the little bundle in his arms, sitting in the hospital room. Bright blue eyes looked up at him, from a pale face, a tiny strand of blonde hair on the top of her head. She didn't look anything like her mother—she took after him all the way. That was dangerous for her; on the bed in the room lay his wife's covered up body, a mere husk to the woman she'd been—without parents there would be nobody to protect the young Kaiyou from the enemies he'd made in other countries, nor from those within the village who would hate her.
He planned to sacrifice himself to save the village from the demon that was rampaging through his village. Unfortunately it would also sacrifice his daughter's safety, the tiny little girl in his arms would become a powerful demon vessel, a hero without respect. Sighing he put his daughter down in the cradle where the nurses could keep an eye on her. One last bowl of ramen, and then he'd pick his daughter up, and sacrifice the two of them for the sake of the village--the Namikaze family would go from two, to three, to one in a single day, the last Namikaze would be an outcast, probably disbarred from even claiming her heritage.
He left to go to his hidey-hole for ramen (a necessity during long hours of paperwork) before heading to his office to grab the notes on the seal. When he got there it wasn't there.
His daughter was no longer in her little cradle either. Minato began to panic, tugging on his wild blonde hair. Grabbing the shoulder of a nurse who walked by he spoke to her franticly, "Where's my daughter? Where is Kaiyou?"
"Oh the little one? Sarutobi-sama took her, said he needed her for a little while." Minato paled and ran off, headed for a view of the battlefield. He got there just in time for the Kyuubi to disappear along with a giant simian. A figure with a cloth bundle in his arms crumpled to the ground. Minato's grandfather-like-figure had taken his place. He was to live on, and raise his little daughter.
Minato jerked his attentions back to his daughter, snoring lightly in her bed. It was time for him to wake her up for breakfast. Then he would go to the Tower for the day, keep himself busy with paperwork (ugh) while his little girl would go play at the park. A grin lit up his face; he may have to work but there was no rule saying he couldn't have fun on his own time!
The man, who used to enjoy a good prank every so often, grabbed his daughter and pulled her out of bed, and dangled her over his shoulder. She woke up with a screech, and squirmed trying to escape her dad as he ran down the stairs and into the kitchen with her, making her giggle.
"Is Daddy going to play with Kaiyou today? We have fun today?" Kaiyou asked rubbing grit from her eyes as she looked at the bowl of cereal on the table and pouted. "Can we have ramen together today?"
Namikaze Minato shook his head at his little girl. There were a lot of things he needed to do. Paperwork, pass some laws on psychiatric care for young ninjas, age restrictions to becoming a genin (in turn preventing psychos like Orochimaru becoming obsessed with power and not caring about human emotions), some more paperwork, getting lectured at by the council, some more paperwork, oh yeah and some more paperwork. His life was taken up with so much paperwork he never actually got around to passing laws or playing with his daughter. She needed some parental influence in her life—more than their weekly ramen binging sessions, Fridays at lunchtime.
"Sorry Ai, I have sooo much paperwork it could take me ten days to do it all!" His daughter pouted, her face screwing up in a way that would have looked bizarre on a boy. In the back of his mind he wondered where his little girl had picked up that trait from—none of the people he let hang around his daughter had it--not Kakashi, Iruka, ...
Then suddenly, shocking the young widower from his thoughts, a grin lit up his girl's face. "Then why doesn't daddy put others to work? Bunshin technique is so hard it has to be good for something!" A grin cracking his face Minato reached over and tousled the girls' hair.
"It sure is good for something! I can make more of me and put them to doing my work! Maybe I'll even manage a little bit of time to play with my favorite little girl. Do you think she would like that Kaiyou?"
"She would! She would," Kaiyou exclaimed with a giggle.
"Okay then I'll be sure to put you on my schedule for….is 4 okay? Hmm?" At her nod he nodded, grinned and tapped his head twice, their secret sign for an agreement. Then a stern look crossed his face. "Now what do you mean the bunshin is hard? It shouldn't be hard for a midget like you," he teased.
"I am not a midget daddy! You're a midget!" She pouted, then giggled realizing how foolish that had been. "It just is hard daddy! All my catra goes kablooey! My clone looks sick, I feel so bad to make a sick person…"
Minato nodded his head, knowingly. A sick clone could mean not enough chakra, too much, or improper handseals. Iruka would have caught it for the third, the first was impossible for any child of his, especially for a little Jinchuuriki. The second explanation it was.
"When daddy goes to work can you do a big job for me?" Kaiyou nodded excitedly, practically bouncing on her feet and barely managing to get her spoon into her mouth with the last bite of her cereal on it. "I want to you pester your nii-san to help you with your chakra control. Tell him leaves and trees." Kaiyou grinned, she had permission to bug Kakashi! Today couldn't get much better.
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Today couldn't get much worse, Minato sighed to himself at noon that day as he slurped down his ramen noodles that he had hidden away, still, in his office. Sure Kaiyou had given him a great idea about using his kage bunshins to do his paperwork. But that meant now he had a bit of a headache from releasing them. AND he had to deal with the counsel to pass the laws he'd been drafting all morning.
Luckily Konoha politics were limited and he would not have to spend hours on this law, stopping youngsters from elevating in rank too quickly, and being exposed to the adult world too young. He just had to convince the counsel in argument that it was wise. Orochimaru was a prime example, and he had to appeal to the parental instincts that many of the counsel members would have. He'd probably have to stipulate that training would not be diminished, and students could advance in training and learning advanced techniques as soon as they were skilled enough to use them, and not put others' lives recklessly in danger. Their mental state would be watched over to ensure loyalty to Konoha and stability—no need for bloodlust marring a shinobi's outlook. Translation: Their genins might be extremely skilled, but not have the missions to prove it to other countries, and there would be no power-hungry, ruthless shinobis running around unchecked. No Orochimaru clones. Not one.
It would be a hard sell to the counsel, but Minato was going to force it through. He wanted it to protect his little girl, and all the other children of the village. The future could not be risked for their current status, not like it had been a year ago.
Flashback
Counsel meeting, ramen or paperwork…counsel meeting, ramen, or paperwork….which do I want to do…Ramen wins! Minato was just about to add water to his cup of instant ramen when an urgent knock came to his door and an ANBU hurried in.
"Hokage-sama, young Anko has had her apartment vandalized again. Tiger reported activity and managed to stop civilians from throwing exploding tags into the apartment while she was out."
Minato sighed. Anko was having a tough time of it. Only fourteen and the whole village hated her- she didn't have any friends that he knew of. "Send them to Ibiki to scare them into telling him who gave them the exploding notes." As the ANBU left Minato mumbled to himself—"Which of my shinobi was foolish enough to sell a controlled item to a civilian..?"
Shaking his head Minato shook tried to rid himself of the memory of that awful week. He'd failed her: one of his own jounin, who was now in a jail cell, courtesy of the Uchihas, had sold civilian exploding tags, despite knowing the laws, and their hatred of Anko. The jounin had actually approached them, offering to sell, over some foolish vendetta of revenge against Orochimaru for experiments done on orphans. The shinobi had a friend who'd gone missing, an orphan, and a girl eight years his junior and called him 'Nii-san'. That man was testament to his shinobi forces needing mental evaluation.
With monitoring Orochimaru wouldn't have been able to harm Konoha so much. The young jounin wouldn't have become unstable enough to seek revenge on an innocent, using civilians as his unwitting tools. No shinobi should see themselves, or others, as tools. Minato believed that it was the strengths humans brought to battle in order to defend their loved ones that made a shinobi great. The heartless shinobi never achieved anything of which to be proud.
Minato's rambling thoughts had carried him right through the annoying three-minute wait for his precious ramen to be done. The smell of it alone relieved his headache. Maybe today wouldn't be so bad after all. He had ramen, a daughter to play with at four, and clones to do his paperwork for him. A little headache, easily cured by ramen, was surely worth the hassle of protecting all the children of Konoha.
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Kaiyou stood on the swing, pushing herself to go higher, faster, and laughing her full head off. There were no other children around right now. Kiba and Hinata weren't allowed to come play with her all the time. Hinata had a baby sister, and the Inuzuka boy had a puppy to try to bond with. Kaiyou was an only child, with no mother figure, a busy father, and an uncle who kept staring longingly at bookstores. She figured nii-san (who refused to let her actually CALL him uncle, because he was too young, or so he said--he had GREY HAIR!) was a bit crazy. Bookstores weren't anything to want to go into—books were boring!
She couldn't wait until Kakashi-nii showed up so she could pester him—on orders! A wicked grin lit her face and she jumped off the swing, landing on her hands and feet, before tearing off to the edge of the park, an ANBU who was with her until Kakashi showed up tailing along quietly. She began to collect leaves. She then built a big pile of the them, as if they'd been raked that way, and laid out on the them, tiredly, when she was done, just in time for Kakashi to show up--just as her energy began to raise back up. Poor Kakakshi, if he had only showed up fifteen minutes before he'd have gotten a few minutes of peace….
"Ne, ne, Kakashi-nii! Daddy said you have to! He said it so you have to right?"
A guilty look immediately emerged in his sole eye. "I didn't go into the bookstore, I swear I didn't.." He trailed off when he realized the little girl was blinking confusedly at him. "uhm…what do I have to do again? The wind blew through my ear and I forgot."
Kaiyou sighed at her uncle's dumb excuses. Even she wouldn't fall for that one! "Daddy said to teach me the leaves and the trees….catra something," a confused look passed on her face. She knew there was something wrong with that sentence, besides, the 'something' but she couldn't figure out what. "So teach me teach me! I wanna play with leaves! Can I make them blow up? Will it be cooler than the bunshin thingy-mabob? Or can you teach me to disappear into them like I've seen you and daddy do? Come on old man teach me! PLEASE?"
Kakashi sweatdropped. Dear Kami, Minato-sensei wasn't like this as a kid was he? Because so far, in everything, Kaiyou took after her father…
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Minato sneezed in the middle of writing his final draft of the law he wanted to cajole the counsel into passing. The sneeze shook through his body and made his hand shake, smearing the ink on the scroll. "Shoot! Now where is that scroll detailing the 'Erasing Jutsu' that I'd been meaning to study…"
One month later Minato managed to pass the bill-- he never found the Erasing Jutsu. Apparently it had erased itself from his office… (Or it could have been used as a napkin when he couldn't find one during a ramen lunch one day. His secretary voted for the latter, Minato was positive it was the first.)
A list of his ninja forces that should be investigated early for signs of mental trauma was attached to the passed bill. All ninjas on the list would undergo evaluation, and then counseling if necessary. The list was long—too many of Konoha's shinobi forces had been forced to take lives too young, lost everything they cared about, or were generally reported to be unstable, or had strange occurrences and omissions in their mission reports. Looking at the list he himself had penned, he sighed- there were just too many names. Only once the priority list had been evaluated would anyone else get the attention that should be given to them.
Ninja's Who Might Go Crazy
Mizuki-- chuunin
Shisui--jounin
Kakashi-- ANBU
Anko-- special jounin
Ibiki-- Torture head
Itachi-- chuunin
Iruka-- chuunin
Tsunade--Sannin
Jiraiya--Sannin
The list went on to include all of the Hyuuga's, since Minato felt that that family was "messed up in the head", and he meant more than just the eyes or the Caged Bird seal. The list had a few more Uchiha clan members, and some Akimichis and Aburames, both clans facing social stigmas that damaged their social interactions. He must admit looking at his list that he'd never convince Jiraiya or Tsunade to undergo counseling…especially since only Jiraiya came around the village. Tsunade still avoided the village where her heart had been broken.
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Okay, that is the first chapter. I anticipate all of them being about this long. And no there won't be any voting for pairings- I already have the main ones decided. I suppose you could request a side pairing. No yaoi or yuri. And yes this fic will go through beyond the chuunin exams. I would love to finish this fic BEFORE Christmas 2008 (even before college resumes in the fall, but no promises there at all…)
Watch for the next chapter-- Ambassadors and Massacres!
Simplice