Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the characters that will be mentioned. They all belong to Misashi Kishimoto. (°ヮ°)
A/N: Hello there~! I know a lot of fanfictions with gender-bent characters have been done, but they're so fun to do and imagine because of infinite possibilities of what could've been my fellow anime fans~! I had a previous fanfiction uploaded on this old account beforehand, but because of how long I've been gone and because I wanted to start a fresher project, I've decided to remove it for now and upload it again in the future once this one is finished. The summary for this story speaks for itself, so I hope you'll have fun reading it regardless of what direction the story takes place. ^_^
I'm writing this out of my deep passion for writing and purely for fun including for the enjoyment of others~! Reviews and comments are always appreciated~!
For one Naruto Uzumaki, life was very hard growing up. Despite the hardships, he was resilient and ambitious to the core. He always knew what he wanted in both mind and spirit. What happens when he finds that again somewhere else unexpected? What if Itachi had a little sister?
A Sheep in Fox's Clothing
... Konohagakure...
"Hey... is that the boy?"
"Yes... that's the one."
As usual and in the eyes of many, five-year-old Naruto Uzumaki strolls around town in his little ninja sandals all by himself. The blond boy's blue eyes remained focused on the dirt beneath his feet as he kept on walking, having a hard time again to ignore the whispers.
It was like this for him everyday.
Not a day goes by without someone in the village giving him strange looks. If they weren't looking at him strangely or full of caution, their gazes were full of spite.
Even other kids wouldn't go near him.
Although one night while cooking himself a mushroom soup dinner under the stars, he met the Third Hokage. Thanks to the old man, he helps provide the money he needs to keep a roof over his head. But Naruto rarely sees him due to how extremely busy he was as village leader.
Lost in his innocent thoughts, Naruto pauses when his eyes caught the sight of animal masks displayed in a store booth.
A smile spreads across his face as his eyes browsed in delight. There was one that caught his attention in particular. It was a white mask with red stripes duplicating a fox's features. If he had the money, he would've loved to buy it and wear it around town.
"What are you doing here?!"
Naruto snapped out of his childish imagination when the shop owner's angry voice boomed. The man had his narrowed eyes pinned on him for a moment before shifting them toward the mask he was looking at. He takes it down and waves it in a taunting manner.
"You want this?! You can have it!"
The man throws it at him, making Naruto shield his eyes as it hit his head. It falls to the ground.
"NOW GET LOST!"
As the little boy watches the shop owner go back inside, the whispers grew in volume all around him. Everyone was staring at him, but not in a good way.
That made Naruto forget about the mask and bolt on the spot. He kept on running and running like the wind, wanting to get away from it all... again.
He went to the green area full of trees. Sitting in front of a river, sad blue eyes reflected and stared back at Naruto.
"Why?"
Naruto touched his cheeks... was it his birthmark whiskers? Did they make him look ugly or worse, scary?
But he was only a kid, he couldn't be that scary.
He sat down, sighing heavily, the sound of birds chirping and the flowing river being his only source of company today... again. He actually didn't want to be alone right now, but wished someone was there to comfort him and tell him it was going to be all right.
But he didn't have that... he didn't have anyone.
"Hey!"
"Huh?"
Naruto glanced over his shoulder to find a group of kids approaching. They didn't look, too, happy to see him.
"This is our spot! Get outta here right now!"
Naruto blinked and stood up, turning around to face them.
"Uh..." he said. "What's wrong if I stick around?"
Naruto knew he was being stubborn again, but he couldn't help it. He was getting sick of being treated like an outcast.
"I can't play with you guys?"
"No!" one of them said immediately. "We'd get in trouble! Just leave already!"
Naruto crossed his arms. He gritted his teeth and stomped one foot down in a tantrum.
"I don't get it!"
Naruto was always so confused yet hurt at the same time about the constant rejection he'd receive from other
"What's wrong with me?! Why am I treated differently?! Why doesn't anyone want to do anything with me?!"
"Look if you don't wanna leave, then we'll make you leave!"
Closing his mouth, his eyes widened. "Uh-oh..." Naruto thought.
Dashing pass tree after tree, Naruto can hear the group of kids chasing after him.
This isn't what he meant and wanted when he complained about no one wanting to do anything with him.
Sure Naruto hated being ignored constantly or treated poorly, but being chased to get beaten up?!
The kids were only supposed to make him leave! Not get into the chase while throwing rocks and twigs at him!un
"This isn't fair! It's five against one!" he thought frantically, tears in his eyes.
He's been running away for quite awhile now. He saw a bright light and by the time he reached a clearing, he stopped to catch his breath.
He glances right and left, thinking how to escape them when the sound of a rock making contact with wood caught his ears.
Up ahead, a girl his age with her dark hair tied into a pretty braid was swiftly throwing pebbles against a dangling piece of wood.
After throwing another one, she got out of stance and glanced over at him. Naruto blinked twice, forgetting about being chased for now to take in the scenery in front of him. He glanced between the silent girl and the dangling piece of wood. This... This awfully looked like-
"There he is!" one of his chasers shouted, making Naruto jump.
Naruto was frantically on the move again. The kids ran into the clearing with rocks and twigs in hand. They started throwing them again, a twig scratching Naruto's shirt on the back. Instinctively, he ran to shield himself behind the little girl whose been watching in mild confusion.
A few ended up hitting her instead.
"Hey! Don't hide behind a girl! What are you, a wimp?!"
"Shut up!" Naruto's face turned solid red. "I'm not a-!"
"You five are the wimps," the little girl stated plainly, looking a little annoyed. "It's one against five. What if it were the opposite or the odds were even? Would you still act tough?"
"What's she talking about?!" one of them questioned.
"I don't know, but I don't like her either! Get her!"
The boys were about to throw some rocks and twigs at their new target... until she beats them to it.
It was almost too fast for any of them to see, but five pebbles were tossed one by one at them like shuriken. They yelped in pain when the sharp rocks made contact. The group leader's right cheek started bleeding from a small cut.
This he noticed and he started to cry, making him along with the other mean kids make a run for it.
"LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!"
After Naruto watches them run until they were out of sight, his wide eyes stared at the back of the dark-haired girl as she landed on her two feet.
He saw the clan symbol imprinted on the white blouse.
"Wow..." he muttered. "That... That was amazing! It was like throwing real shuriken at them!"
The girl remained silent. She closes her eyes and turns around to take her leave, walking pass by Naruto without a word. That made the amazed smile on Naruto's face drop. He turns around himself to look at her again.
"H-Hey! Didn't you hear me?! I said that was amazing! Where'd you learn that?! You're my age, right?! Are you enrolled in the Academy yet?! What's your name?!"
There was no answer to his blabbering questions, only silence greeted him, which wasn't too different from the usual.
The momentary shine and vibrant life that reflected off Naruto's eyes from witnessing such a display began to fade away like the sound of the crunching grass beneath the unknown girl's ninja sandals.
"Satsuka Uchiha,"
Naruto's head perked up at the unexpected response. The girl was still turned away from him though.
"My older brother taught me a few tricks. I won't be enrolled into the Academy until I turn eight. In the meantime, I'm practicing to get ahead." was all she said.
Naruto watches her go until she was, too, far away to see anymore. After she was out of sight, Naruto's eyes landed on the hanging log. Unlike her, Naruto was already enrolled into the Academy. He as a little kid already had dreams and had his own plans for the future.
He picks up a pebble off the ground. Sporting a small grin, Naruto tries imitating the little girl's actions out of inspiration, only to fail as he was far off from the bullseye mark. He pouts and crosses his arms in disappointment.
"Geez. My aim still needs work."
A/N: Here's the first part of it. ^_^ Now in my iPhone, I've kept notes on how the first ten chapters will go. After that, I'll take a week off to continue planning how the plot and story will play out from there.