Uzumaki Naruko was a complicated creature, whose subtle nuances were known to none. Not even herself. Of course, being a container for a massive chakra monster that could accidentally wipe out a continent trying to chase it's tails did not quite help her circumstance. Her upbringing only served to amplify her turbulence, and stifled her potential.
Growing up in harsh isolation, the girl was extremely shy; yet constantly yearning for validation. Her physical stature, didn't help her chances. She was easily taller than most men twice her age, and much stronger. The dirty blonde hair and whisker marks? Only added to her oddness. She was a black sheep in a white flock.
So when she was given the opportunity to take part in the Chunin exams, she thought of it as a way to fit in. To be accepted.
That same thought fueled her through fighting Kiri-nins who eclipsed her in both skill and experience, written tests, sticking her neck out to save her teammate from a snake-obsessed gender-confused pedophile (which in retrospect, was a bad plan), and now, she hoped it would carry her through whatever obstacle would cross her next.
That's at least what was running through the blonde's mind when she hoisted her own personal unconscious, exhausted, idiot Uchiha over her shoulder. Her unused arm was weakly clutching a kunai, despite being covered in blood soaked bandages. Oh yeah. That was another thing. Blood was everywhere.
Her olive green tank sported dark, crimson blotches. Her hair was patched together with hardened blood. Her face didn't come out unscathed either, sporting streaks and scratches.
At this point, she didn't even know how much was hers.
"Sakura, did you lose our scroll?" the blonde murmured.
The pink-head nodded through weary eyes.
"Great. Just great." The Uzumaki chuckled. "You had only one task and at that, you failed." she whispered loud enough, only to be heard by herself.
Her teammates, in her mind, sucked. Sakura had a rose-tinted glass view of the shinobi world. Her scuffle in the Wave, Naruko could only hope, opened her eyes, even a tiny bit. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Sakura appearing frazzled by her contact with the Uchiha slung over her shoulder.
On the subject of the Uchiha? He had no life outside of his brother. She would sooner trust Sakura to not stab her in the back.
'And yet you still tried to save him' a treacherous voice in the back of her mind whispered. She banished it as soon as it came.
"Would you mind looking after him? I'll see if I can find anyone with a scroll." The girl lit up.
Naruko sped off in no particular direction, sending clones out anywhere she could.
Multiple thoughts of failure crossed her mind. Because ultimately, it was down to her whether their team passed or failed. Which, in retrospect, she figured was a common theme. Her teammates were all for the praise and glory, but wouldn't get their hands dirty.
And the worst part was, if things did go south, it was her head on the chopping block.
"Why didn't she help out?"
"I bet she didn't even lift a finger."
"She's nothing but a d-"
Shaking herself from her thoughts, she found a genin team from Ame, who looked like fairly easy pickings. Normally, she'd go for someone who would give her a challenge, as in her ideal world; the harder the fight, the greater the validation.
She silently made two clones, to ambush the genin squad below her, while her mind drifted once more.
"What if I had someone who would look out for me." Parents. Relatives. A friend. A lover. The list went on.
She watched as each one of the team members went down, each of them were concerned for their comrades.
It was beautiful, in sad sort of way. That's what a team should be like. It was unfair, that they should fail and she would pass, when they were more worthy. She felt jealous. She felt guilty.
She hastily made her way back to her team, while silently hoping that the Ame squad made it out safe. The exams were lethal and, if she could, she'd like to make it out with a minimal body-count.
She was just a sucker like that.
Arriving back where she had left, she found Sakura with a soft smile on her face. And she saw the Uchiha now in pristine condition. His hair was even fluffed into place.
Naruko gritted her teeth. For some reason, the act made her blood boil.
"We're moving." she made her presence known, yanking the Uchiha from his fallen position, a little harsher than necessary.
The Haruno girl was upset, seeing her time and effort spent grooming the Uchiha swept away. She glared daggers into the back of Naruko's head.
Eventually, Naruko realized she wasn't angry at the pink haired girl, who was now struggling to keep pace with her.
She was, once again, jealous. Like she was with the Ame squad, she was of the seemingly non-existent bond her other squadmates shared. To most people, it would have appeared to be fruitless. Girl loves boy, boy loves no one, nothing goes nowhere. Heck, she figured even Kakashi thought that. To her, the connection they shared was beautiful.
Sasuke had someone who consistently fretted over him, constantly worried about him, and was unwaveringly loyal to him. And he didn't even acknowledge her.
Sakura's admiration, and devotion to him was simply completely out of Naruko's realm of comprehension. She would have respected her faithfulness, if it weren't interfering with their line of work. To Naruko, food was one of the most important things; it kept you alive, and she personally never had much of it, being an orphan. She valued food like few others did. And her teammate actively starved herself for her unrequited love. Naruko didn't understand.
The only thing they had in common, was their shared ignorance of their third team member. Her.
And every day, her heart broke just a little bit more.
The members of Team 7 strolled into the compound at the heart of the forest.
Opening their scrolls, they found Iruka, who was the first person she knew to be somewhat glad to see her.
Their bond, however, was fleeting. Despite how much Naruko hated that.
Ultimately she knew, that there would always be another student, who would take her place in the teachers heart. A student who reminded the kind man of himself, more than she. Eventually, her memory would fade. And she would be on her own, once again.
That was her life in a nutshell.
That night, she climbed to the roof and gazed at the stars, till she fell asleep on her knees, like she had done countless times before. The stars, she imagined to feel like a hug, from the vast ocean of infinity. She had the mind of an artist. It came naturally; keeping her mind away from dwelling on the loneliness she felt. She spent her days seeking, recognizing, or creating beauty.
If she weren't coerced into becoming a shinobi, she figured that's what she would have done. Spend the rest of her life travelling under the skies as a painter. She figured that the despair of loneliness wouldn't phase her, when she was isolated because of her environment, not because of societal ostracization. She figured she would live out her days becoming art herself, turning her anguish into beauty, and then fade into the wind like a ghost.
But the reality was she would never be able to. Yet another dream the village she was tasked to protect had stolen from her. She chuckled mirthlessly.
She was dreaming, and she knew it. She loved and hated her dreams, as they always tended to show her exactly what she yearned for, yet kept it eternally out of her reach. She dreamt of herself, walking into a modest, cozy tent, as the last of the evening sun glowed around her.
She opened the flap, and felt a warm pair of arms wrap around her.
And then…
"Oh! Hello! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you."
She was woken up.
Normally, she'd be fine with being stirred from her slumber. But this time…she was considerably less fine.
She looked to the source of the voice, fully intent on venting some of her frustrations…
And then her words died in her throat.
She pinched herself to make sure she wasn't still dreaming.
Standing on the balcony, was easily the most beautiful woman that the blonde could imagine to have ever existed, enveloped by the early light of the sun.
"I- um. Uh. It's fine. I w-wasn't. Well. I was planning to- um… not be asleep. Doing the waking people things. Not do the dreaming. Yes." She wanted to die, as she continued to incoherently stammer. She could only pray the woman didn't think of her as a loon.
The auburn haired woman merely let out a melodious laugh.
It was the most beautiful sound she had ever heard.
"Aren't you adorable?" her face flushed violently red, while she fruitlessly tried to hide behind her knees. Her large figure, once again, did her no favors. "Should you not be with your team?" the woman inquired, her smile not once vanishing.
"I...uh. I think I would prefer to be separate from them right now. The forest...took a toll on me." She had no idea what she was saying. No idea why she was opening up to the strange woman.
"I see. The view is quite lovely up here." She said, gazing into the distance. The woman had rich, auburn hair, the flowed endlessly. She wore a dark azure dress that fluttered with wind that Naruko wasn't sure even existed. Her eyes were sea green and her lips...Naruko would have died a thousand times to feel them "And what would your name be?"
"Um. I'm...Naruko Uzumaki." Her already quiet voice died down to a whisper, as if she were ashamed. The woman noticed, and frowned slightly.
"A pleasure meeting you, Naruko. I think I've bothered you enough for now, so I'll be getting out of your hair." the woman said with another, dazzling smile as she turned to leave. Naruko just nodded dumbly, before her brain caught up with her.
"W-wait!" The woman halted. "Sorry, um. I just. I didn't get your name." she forced out, while jumping to her feet, inwardly cringing.
The woman noted the nearly apologetic tone in her voice.
"That would be because I never gave it, dear." Naruko flushed red again. "But, I doubt this is the last time we'll meet. Perhaps you will know it, next time around. Hopefully after you've had a bath." She laughed again, much to the the Uzumaki's embarrassment. Said girl, however, decided that hearing her laugh was worth an eon of humiliation.
The woman took a brief moment to once-over the now standing blonde.
Her arms were shyly tucked away, each with a death-grip on the other. Even so, it did not hide the strength they were imbued with. Other than that, she decided that the girl was built like a tiger. She was the balancing point of raw power, and untapped finesse, easily being taller than herself. Her dirty blonde hair was completely wild, barely contained by a small cord. She had the most adorable whisker marks. All of the dirt and grime caked on her face did nothing to hide her innocence.
There was very little that was overtly feminine about the girl who stood before her; being a rather rough around the edges.
With her assessment complete and leaving her rather pleased, she turned and left the blonde to her thoughts.
Said blonde's thoughts were complete mush.
Unsurprisingly, they continued to be utter mush throughout the preliminaries. The only fight she had paid attention to was between Sabaku Gaara and Rock Lee, for which she nearly got disqualified from continuing. In an instant, she and Gai both interrupted the fight, when Gaara was nearly about to kill the budding taijutsu expert. An action for which, got her the sincere gratitude of the Gai.
She felt rather nice about that.
She was quite fond of Lee. He was the one Konoha genin she could relate with. He turned his painful failure into unprecedented dedication to taijutsu. His willpower was in her eyes, unmatchable. Every movement he made was brimming with his love for taijutsu. To her, any opponent he faced should have been honoured to battle one who fought as soulfully as Lee.
Unless, they were a ruthless, cold-blooded killer.
The matches all seemed to blur past her, until it was hers.
"Uzumaki Naruko vs Kankuro of the Sand."
Both combatants faced each other.
Kankuro had a smirk.
Naruko had a glare.
She was reasonably pissed, after the sand shinobi dared to come to her village, and hurt her friend.
When the signal was given. She charged at the puppet user without even bothering to make clones, fully intent on crushing him.
The puppet wielder smirked as he sent blade after blade from his mobile arsenal.
The blond was able to dodge most of them, and ignored the one that did graze her upper arm.
She chased him around the area, with a wide array of kicks and punches, each of which had the capacity to cause immense damage.
The puppet wielder had yet to be touched however.
In the stands, the auburn haired woman watched the fight with amusement, and irritation.
Why was the Uzumaki so...sloppy?
She had expected so much more from a girl of her potential.
She watched as the blond got out of a position that she instinctively landed in, and changed into a stance that offered her no combative advantage. In fact, it actually weakened her structural integrity. A look at her face told her that Naruko herself was uncomfortable with the position she was in.
Then it clicked. And the woman's blood began to boil.
The sweet Uzumaki girl she favored, had been sabotaged from the very beginning. The girl was fighting against her own instincts, sticking only to what she thought she was taught correctly. Her flaws weren't because she was lacking in talent, or attention. No, they were because she was such a good student, that she forced herself to utilize a style that was intended to sabotage her.
The woman gritted her teeth in anger.
'Why my poor little Naruko, how the Leaf has failed you.' she the thought to herself.
She watched as the Uzumaki got frustrated to the point where she simply sent out clones and ordered them to wildly smash at her foe.
And surprisingly, it worked.
A lucky shot saw to the puppetmaster being thrown into a wall, forming craters around him.
"Victor: Naruko Uzumaki!"
An awkward pause fell over the spectators, as they looked around the arena.
There were craters everywhere.
The Hokage, though slightly embarrassed by the girls poor skills, was mildly comforted since at the very least, she broadcasted the Leaf's strength in a very, very obvious manner.
Said girl clenched her fists, which now were a bloody mess, as she walked up the stairs. Her bangs completely covered her eyes, since she was too ashamed to look at anyone.
In the stands, she hid in a small alcove, that allowed her to prop her head onto her knees, and tried extremely hard not to break down completely.
At least that was her plan until she heard the same voice from the morning.
"Room for one more?" The woman said in a soft voice.
'Oh god. How long was she here? Oh no. Did she see me? Good going blondie, you've probably disappointed her.' a million thoughts raced through her head, and none of them were comforting.
Ultimately, she scooched over, never once making eye contact with the ethereal woman.
"Mei." The woman said after a long pause. Naruko briefly considering leaving the comfort of her own arms to acknowledge what was said. "That's my name. Mei Terumi."
Naruko gave out a small, slightly bitter chuckle. A beautiful name, for a beautiful woman.
The woman, Mei, placed her arm around the younger girl's shoulder, not entirely surprised when the her entire body tensed up. She resisted the urge to sigh. She should have expected this.
The signs were all there. Her painful shyness, her social awkwardness, her burning desire to prove herself. The girl was an orphan, and presumably living in extreme isolation, with no one establishing any sort of contact with her.
"Are you okay, Naruko?" she asked, giving her best reassuring voice.
'She...said my name.' Naruko didn't understand why that felt so strange, but it did. No one ever said her name quite like the woman had.
"I'm fine, Terumi-san."
"Please call me Mei. Terumi-san make me sound so old." Mei joked, trying to lighten the mood. The girl didn't budge.
'Figures. It wasn't even a good joke.'
"Are you disappointed in your performance, Naruko?"
A small, affirmative nod.
"That's good." she paused, feeling the girl tense again. "That means you have the desire to improve." she heard a sniffle.
"At least you tried your best."
And that was the straw that broke the camel's back.
Mei couldn't help but feel somewhat guilty when the blonde girl besides her broke into quiet, harsh, sobbing, which she did her best to hide. She still tried to hold herself together
'To hell with the offer, there's plenty of time for that later. This girl needs a hug.'
Mei pulled the girl's shoulder, encountering a weak-willed attempt to resist her. It wasn't surprising to her. She figured that it was probably the first time Naruko ever was given a shoulder to cry on. That thought, infuriated her as much as the blonde's training.
She ran her hand over the girl's spine, instantly feeling her relax into her embrace.
Naruko wrapped her arms around Mei's waist, simultaneously trying to hide her face in the woman's armpit as she sobbed.
'I've probably ruined her dress' She didn't quite notice, until that moment, how nice of a color the woman wore. She found herself partial to bright colors; the ones that popped out and made her happy. Yet the soothing shade of azure that the mysterious woman wore was quickly becoming her favorite. The woman who offered her comfort when she was woman who had done more for her in a day, than her village had in 17 years.
Mei smiled when she felt the blonde wrapped her arms around her waist and clutch as if she was her sole anchor. It would be an awkward situation to explain to any passing by Leaf shinobi, but she didn't particularly care. Her opinion of the Leaf as of late had come crashing.
"Naruko?" a pause in the girl's hiccuping told her she was listening. "Look at me." Mei somewhat ordered. For some reason, she couldn't tire of gazing at the blonde's face. Something about it, despite its rough condition, reflected purity.
"Do you want to become strong?" she asked the puffy-eyed Uzumaki.
The girl nodded.
"Good. I will make you the strongest."
Yo. Whaddap. This is something I wrote like a while ago and forgot about so. Not super reflective of my writing as it stands now but eh. Tell me if y'all are interested.