Author's Note/Summary/Disclaimer: First off, I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. Usagi (and her little brother, but he's not that important) is my only OC and no one better make a joke out of her name. I mean it. I will delete the review. Second, I know I included some people who died, ok. I haven't seen anything after the time skip, and I really don't care who dies. They don't in my version. If you don't like the inaccuracy, don't read it. Thirdly, I deeply apologize to any sasusaku fans (I hate this couple), and to any Neji fans (but only for the beginning). Fourthly, on reviews; if you don't like the concept don't read. If you don't like the pairings don't tell me. If you have a problem with me message me, I don't want any hate reviews. And finally . . . PLEASE REVIEW!
P.S. Anyone that can catch the Firefly reference good for you, I would love to hear what you think of it.
Chapter 1: The Fox and the Rabbit
From the ruins of the Sand and the Leaf rose the Golden Army. When the invaders from across the ocean threatened to eradicate the five shinobi nations, fifteen great ninja, lead by the most powerful shinobi in existence, from the Sand and the Leaf, banded together under a new symbol. They wore a headband that was neither Sand nor Leaf, but a seven-pointed star, a Golden Star of Hope. Together, under the guidance of the Golden General, they defeated the invaders and united the divided nations, both civilian and shinobi, into the great country of Japan. This ushered in a golden age of peace and prosperity, as the shinobi of each region of Japan were turned by the Golden General's example to the true purpose of the shinobi, to protect the innocent from the demons that plagued Japan. Some said that the Golden General himself should have become Japan's emperor, but after he had placed a ruler on the throne, he and the Golden Army vanished, as mysteriously as they had come. No one knows what became of them, but their memory, and the memory of what they did for the people of Japan, lives on at the Golden Academy, the great ninja academy within the region of fire, not in any village but open to shinobi of all villages and regions to study in the hopes of becoming members of the next Golden Army, the army that will defend Japan should it ever be attacked from beyond its borders again.
It was Usagi's favorite story. Every night when she was four years old her mother, a beautiful women with dark hair and eyes like the moon, pale and unbroken, would tuck her into bed and whisper quietly the story of the Golden Army, the heroes of every shinobi. "Will I go to the Golden Academy someday mother?" Usagi asked every night, just before she closed her eyes.
Her mother would just smile. "We'll see little one," she bent to press a kiss to her daughter's forehead, "we'll see."
-Two years later-
"Usagi!"
The cry came from what seemed miles behind her. Six year old Usagi Uzumaki's feet pounded the dirt under her as she raced ahead, leaving her pursuers in the dust. Usagi had been taught to run by Rock Lee, the fastest shinobi in Konoha. No one was catching up to her.
"Little rabbit, come back here!"
Except him.
Usagi leaned forward and streamlined her small body, shooting forward like a bullet. Just a little further, she thought to herself, her eyes fixed on the long wooden staff leaning against the fence ahead of her. She smiled to herself. In just a few more seconds she would be beyond even him, Neji Hyuuga and his horrible abuse of her nickname. Only father's allowed to call me little rabbit.
"Little rabbit, stop!" Neji called again, but Usagi wasn't listening. All her attention was focused on reaching the staff. He quickened his pace, knowing he'd have to reach her before she got to it. "Little rabbit!"
He was just feet behind her, his arm outstretched to catch the back of her shirt when, "Gotcha!" Usagi's hand closed over the smooth wood and before another second had passed she fed her chakra into it, willing it to release its wings. Four fan-like stretches of cloth, two at the head of the staff and two at the foot sprung out and immediately caught the wind, whisking her up into the endless sky, out of reach of her uncle's grasping fingers.
Usagi whispered a silent thank you to her Uncle Shikamaru as she grasped the glider just bellow the front wings, her ankles tucking instinctively behind the wooden frame just above the back wings. The wind carried her still higher and she laughed as its familiar warmth tickled her face. She angled the glider's head to swoop down over the village. She closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of tremendous freedom and calm suddenly restored to her. I am a leaf on the wind. Watch me soar.
The sound of ripping fabric tore her out of her trance. She looked up at the left front wing of the glider, to see a shaft of sunlight through the torn material. This was bad. The glider was meticulously balanced and very sturdy, however it was small, and it did not take much to upset the delicate balance and send her careening out of control.
The glider flipped dangerously upside down. A less experienced flier might have been thrown off, but years of doing circles and flips in the air had taught Usagi how to hold on to her only anchor to the sky. She shut her eyes tightly. It was useless to try and make sense of the spinning world bellow her, and trying would only make her more disoriented when she came back to earth. She spun and swerved crazily, her arms working on feeling as they tried desperately to control the glider. She fell towards the village at a dizzying speed until . . .
Usagi grunted as momentum crashed her into Neji's very solid chest. The impact knocked the breath out of her and when he touched down to the ground, absurdly lightly, Usagi noticed in disgust, she sucked in a great breath as she began to fight the hold of his strong arms.
"Little rabbit don't . . ." Neji started, but Usagi cut him off.
"Don't you call me that!" she shrieked, squirming madly against his hold. "Get off me get off me GETOFFME!" she screamed. If she was lucky she had been just loud enough to make him . . .
"Don't raise such a fuss!" Neji told her angrily, bringing one hand to her mouth. Big mistake. As soon as his hand was in range sharp canines sank into the tender flesh. "Ow!" he yelled, and dropped her.
Usagi hit the ground running, but as soon as she was satisfied she was far enough away from him she turned and adopted a fighting stance. Again she channeled chakra into the staff. It obeyed her hurried command instantly, the damaged wings retracting into the wood and the sharp point of a kunai emerged from the end, pointing at Neji's throat. "Careful Uncle Neji, this rabbit bites."
Neji contemplated the little blond girl in front of him a moment. Her yellow hair was cut short, just above her shoulders, the ends spiky and jagged, like her father and grandfather's. Her eyes were the same blue and burned with the same fire, and her tiny face was marked with the same whisker-like lines. There was no denying that this was Naruto Uzumaki's daughter. She looked for all the world like a tiny female copy of him. Emphasis on tiny. Usagi had also inherited her father's youthful shortness of stature; she stood only two and a half feet tall to his five and quarter feet, and yet somehow she still managed to look down her nose at him.
Neji raised his hands and showed her his palms as a sign of peace, smiling in what she supposed he thought was a kind way. With his Byakugan, though, it just looked creepy. Usagi glared at him. Her mother always managed to smile warmly without letting the Byakugan make it look eerie and unnatural, why couldn't he?
"Little rabbit . . ." Neji began gently.
"Don't!" Usagi snapped, "Call! Me! Little! Rabbit!"
Neji bowed his head slightly, his eyes closed in an attempt to hide the Byakugan he knew made her so uncomfortable. "Forgive me, Usagi-sama."
"Not that either!" Usagi raged. "Its just Usagi, to you! Not Usagi-sama, not Usagi-chan, and certainly not little rabbit! Just Usagi!"
Neji, to her continued fury, simply smiled fondly at her. "Usagi, then," he replied softly, reaching out a hand to her "you need to give back the scroll you took. Give it to me, little one, I'll . . ."
"You can't tell me what to do!" she cut him off, "You're not my father!"
"But I am, little rabbit," came a voice from behind her.
Usagi quite forgot Neji as she whirled around, a bright smile lighting up her small face as Naruto Uzumaki stepped out of the shadows of the nearest building. He was dressed, as usual, in a white shirt and orange pants, with his trademark black and orange coat billowing around his shoulders. He walked up to stand next to his daughter, eyes flicking lazily from Neji to Usagi.
Usagi, meanwhile, stared up at her father with nothing short of idolization. Her eyes sparkled, her face shone, and she unconsciously leaned on her staff as her every instinct told her that as long as he was around there was nothing she had to be afraid of. No danger.
"I see you've been getting into trouble, little rabbit," Naruto's eyes danced playfully as they gazed down upon his little girl.
Usagi smiled up at him innocently, then darted a glance back at Neji and scowled. "Uncle Neji broke my glider," she told him.
"You stole a scroll," Naruto replied, tilting his head to the side as he looked down at her.
Usagi grinned up at him. "I was going to give it back," she told him, tilting her head in just the same way.
Naruto shut his eyes and sighed heavily, "However you did manage to cause quite a commotion little rabbit. Come on, we're going home."
Neji nodded respectfully to Naruto. Usagi looked up at her father with a shocked expression, hurt in her eyes, but as Neji temporarily took his eyes off them Naruto's eyes opened slightly, a grin playing around his mouth, and he winked. Usagi smiled brightly, then turned to glare at Neji. "Happy now?" she asked, scowling, as her father turned.
Neji just looked at her with that same, eerie, fond smile, "as happy as I will be today, little rabbit."
Usagi's face twisted, "Don't call me little rabbit!" she snarled before turning to follow her father towards the Hokage tower. She threw one more scathing look over her shoulder at her least favorite uncle, his long hair falling around his shoulders, his Byakugan giving him that unearthly look, his headband pulled down around his neck, proudly displaying his bare forehead. She stuck her tongue out at him.
Usagi and Naruto walked in silence for a few moments as they put some distance between themselves and Neji. When at last Naruto was satisfied that his in-law was out of earshot, he turned to Usagi without breaking his stride. "You did cause quite a commotion, little rabbit," he said, taking the glider she offered him to carry.
"At least I didn't paint the faces of the four Origin Hokages!" Usagi protested.
Naruto laughed, staring down at her, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "True," he said, "but I think you still badly flustered the two guards posted at the scroll room."
Usagi put her hands behind her head and grinned, much in the same way Naruto had done when he was young. "If they can't handle a few smoke bombs fired at high speed then they don't deserve to be jonin."
Naruto laughed again. "Oh, so you don't think it had anything to do with the fact that you're the First Golden Hokage's daughter, eh?"
Usagi shook her head. "No," she stated matter-of-factly, "if anything it had something to do with the fact that I'm the future Second Golden Hokage."
Naruto reached down and rumpled her hair. "Probably," he agreed playfully.