Summary:
Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze was born 5 years before the Kyuubi attack. She was a prodigy of Itatchi's level and was expected to become even stronger than her father, the 4th. But then her little sister, Mito, was born. The Kyuubi got out and her mother, Kushina, died in the attack. Minato sealed the Kyuubi into Mito, and Mito was praised as a hero by the entire village. Feeling forgotten, Naruto leaves Konoha when she's 15 years old. 4 years later the nations are on a brink of a war, and Minato calls her back. Fem!Naruto Alive!Minato
There's also no Uchiha Massacre.
Warnings: Possible swearing and drug references.
Disclaimer: Would I seriously be writing a fanfiction if I owned Naruto? Honestly.
XxXxXx- Scene, time, or perspective change
XxXxXx
Itatchi pulled his cloak around him as tight as he could. Why the eldest Namikaze decided to move to Snow Country was beyond him. He fondly remembered growing up with Naruto. She was always so bright, so cheery. She was his best friend. In fact, she was also his first love.
He should have realized.
Itatchi should've noticed how unhappy Naruto was. Day by day after Mito was born she grew more moody, more irritable, more regardless of the feelings of others. Her relationship with her father became strained and eventually fell apart while her relationship with Mito was basically nonexistent.
Itatchi was indeed there the whole time, observing as the young girl changed from his best friend into a stranger.
And then, when they were both 15, she left. She left her family, her friends, even her career. She didn't even pack a bag.
Minato searched for her for about a year before giving up. She was as stubborn as her mother. If she didn't want to be found, she wouldn't be found.
This is why it was surprising when Itatchi got a lead on the blondes whereabouts.
There was a rumor about a young woman, about 19, like himself, who was running a bar in western Snow Country.
At the same time, the tyrant of the country had also been mysteriously assassinated.
Itatchi pushed through the saloon like doors, a henge covering his body. He looked like a regular dude with shaggy brown hair and dark eyes. No one even gave him a second glance.
The bar was actually rather crowded. Mostly men, a couple whores in the corner smoking cigarettes, beckoning over random strangers.
"Oi, Blondie! My brother here wants a rematch for last week's humiliation!" A large man called. He pounded his fist on the table, short barks of laughter erupting from his mouth. On que a waitress wearing a tight fitted uniform sauntered out.
She was breathtaking.
She wore a long sleeve skin-tight black shirt and black leggings. She wore a royal blue apron around her slim waist and had on a pair of high top converse. Her blonde hair, as vibrant as he remembered, was pulled up into a tight bun on her head. A few strands fell out here and there, and bangs framed her delicate face. A bright smile spread across her flawless face. Well, flawless except the three dark lines that were on each cheek. Despite the cold weather, Naruto had retained her golden tan. And her eyes, framed by long, dark eyelashes, were still a crystalline blue. They shone with excitement of the challenge.
And then she laughed. It sounded like tinkling bells. She grinned cockily at the man who was easily twice her size.
"Oh? Don't you think you guys have lost enough money?" she replied, her voice, though soft, was still low, and even a little husky. Itatchi gulped.
Naruto put down her tray of drinks on the counter and sat across from a man even bigger than the last.
"So, how much we betting?"
The man grumbled darkly, muttering to himself.
"All of it." He spoke finally. He tossed a coin purse onto the table. Naruto pulled one coin out of it, bit it as if to test it, and then dropped her share into the bag.
"Fine. Lets go."
People around the bar began to take bets. Some of them bet on Naruto while the majority bet on the larger, more muscular man. The dudes own brother bet on Naruto.
A hand wrapped around the two's hands in the center of the table.
"Three, Two, one….Go!"
The mans face immediately turned red with anger. His arm began to tremble in effort to push down Naruto's arm. She didn't move an inch. Her face was stoic until a small grin played across her face.
"That's the longest anyone's lasted!" She giggled, before slamming his hand onto the table.
"But I win!"
People all around the bar began to groan, pulling their losses out of their wallets.
"Come again, okay?" Naruto called over her shoulder, before picking up her tray again and continuing her rounds around the bar. When she came back to his table she placed a bottle of rum on the table and smiled at him.
"On the house." She smiled, placing a cup next to the bronze liquid. The man snarled at her.
"I don't need your fucking pity." He hissed. He then slapped the bottle off the table, sending it crashing to the ground. The bar fell silent. She narrowed her eyes at him before grabbing him by the collar and throwing him across the bar.
"Excuse me? I think you owe me an apology." She hissed at him. The man stood up and brushed himself off.
"You're not getting anything outta me, bitch."
Naruto grabbed a kunai and chucked it at the man's head. It missed by only about an inch.
"Get out of my bar, pig."
The man snorted before picking himself up and leaving. His brother approached Naruto warily.
"Sorry about him. Can I pay for the bottle he broke?"
Naruto waved him off.
"Nah, I'm sorry you have such a jerk for a brother. Can I get you a drink? You'll need it if you have to go home to that." She said, a foxy grin spreading across her face.
"Sure. I'd like that. Thank you."
As Naruto rustled together a drink Itatchi pondered on the fact that not a single person in the bar acted like that whole situation was weird. It must've happened before. He also noted that Naruto seemed to have quite a temper, and the strength to back it up.
"Oi, can I get you something?" Naruto questioned. Itatchi whipped his head up and met her eyes.
"Yea. A whisky please, light on the ice."
"Coming right up, Itatchi." She winked at him, before making his drink. Itatchi sighed, releasing his henge.
"How did you know?" He asked. Naruto turned around and placed his drink on the table.
"What, did you think I wouldn't recognize my best friend? But even so, I'm impressed. ANBU, eh?"
Itatchi glanced at his shoulder where there was the classic ANBU tattoo. He forgot to cover it, something he didn't normally do.
Naruto leaned over the table, giving him a very nice view of her incredibly distracting cleavage.
"You're pretty attractive too. Bet you got fan girls everywhere, just like when we were kids."
Itatchi brought his gaze up from her chest up to her eyes, which were glinting with some unseen emotion.
"But fun and games aside, why are you here Itatchi?"
He sighed.
"Minato wants you home. A war is going to break out soon, and Konoha needs all the help it can get. He also wants to make sure you're okay."
Naruto laughed coldly.
"There's no way in hell-"
"If you don't come with me then you'll be marked as a missing nin, and it'll be more than likely that I'll be assigned to kill you. I already know where you've been hiding. Just give in."
Naruto glared angrily at him, before letting out a long, exaggerated sigh.
"Fine. At least help me pack up, we'll leave in the morning."
Itatchi followed the blonde into an apartment above the bar, which was a total mess. There were clothes in the hallway, strewn about randomly. Like she was looking for something.
Itatchi dully noted that she didn't own much stuff. Actually, she didn't even have much furniture. A bed, a couch, a bed, kitchen necessities, and that was it. This obviously wasn't a house she planned on staying in. She gathered her things and neatly folded them into a pile before pressing them into her bag. A storage seal, Itatchi assumed, as she bit her finger and placed her bed sheets into her bag.
"Let's roll, Itatchi."
XxXxXx
Konoha was hell, as Naruto liked to call it. The journey had taken two days, half the time it took Itatchi to find her bar. Naruto brushed a piece of hair out of her eyes, holding her hand on her forehead in effort to block out the sun.
"Damn Konoha and it's sunny weather." She mumbled angrily, wishing she had the cool iciness of Snow Country. She had to sell her bar and pack up and leave the closest thing to home she ever had. And she was not happy. A blonde haired man met her at the gate, looking dull and lifeless. Like the man she had grown up with. A small smile played across his lips at the sight of his daughter. She certainly was his child. Naruto tipped her head in acknowledgment.
"Hokage-sama. It's been a while." She said, sounding dead. Minato frowned. Couldn't she at least pretend she was happy to see him? Her own father? He mentally shook his head.
"Indeed it has. I'd like to see you at the tower as soon as possible, if that's okay." Minato said. To Naruto it sounded like an order. And she hated getting orders. But she would amuse the old man.
"Now is okay. I'm not in any hurry." She said, looking her father straight in the eyes. Minato broke contact first.
"Very well." He said. He then grabbed Naruto's arm and teleported to the Hokage Tower. Landing with ease, Naruto glared at the man.
"A little warning would be nice." She grumbled, shaking out her leg as if to make sure it was still intact. A hand slapped her across the face.
"You have no right to talk to him like that. You left Konoha. You should treat your Hokage with respect. Bow." a familiar voice growled. Naruto turned around to see a very angry blonde haired woman glaring at her. It seemed as if her father had taken them to the council room.
"Oh? Do you have something to say, Haruno Mebuki?" Naruto retorted, cocking her fist back in preparation to punch that smug smirk off her face.
Mebuki glared at the young Namikaze. She was so ready to attack her tooth and nail if she had to for insulting their Hokage like that. Daughter to him or not, Minato deserved respect. Now Mito, that was a charming young girl. Mebuki's daughter, Sakura, was on team 7, along with Sasuke Uchiha and the very same, respectful, Mito Namikaze.
"Yes, I do, Naruto. Let me tell you a thing or two about respect-"
Minato held up a hand.
"Enough. Naruto, from what I've heard you seem to be in fighting shape. We need Kakashi for war preparations, so you'll need to take over the genin team 7, consisting of Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Mito Namikaze." Minato interrupted.
"What?!" Both Naruto and Mebuki exclaimed.
"My daughters ninja training will not be placed in the hands of a juvenile delinquent who doesn't even know how to throw a kunai straight!"
"Say that again, Haruno."
The two woman seemed as if they were about to destroy each other when Mebuki's husband grabbed her arm and Itatchi restrained Naruto.
"Let go, Itatchi. Let me show her a thing or two about respect."
"Hah! Please. You can't even make your own father feel pride in you. You're a failure. A defect!" Mebuki screamed.
Naruto stopped in her verbal assault and simply stared. Her face was completely emotionless, just a void. The endearing features Itatchi loved were hidden under a mask of indifference. She looked younger than he'd ever seen. Naruto bit her lip.
"What a joke. Just tell team 7 to meet me at training field 6 tomorrow at 8 o'clock sharp."
And at that Naruto turned around and left. Itatchi watched after her in concern. The odds were obviously not in her favor. He made eye contact with the Hokage and got the message that he was to follow her home. Make sure all was well. Minato turned to Mebuki angrily.
"You know none of that is true, Haruno-san."
Mebuki blew a strand of hair out of her face in disgust.
"You may not think so, but that's what she always wanted you know. Your approval. But you never quite gave it to her, did you? Don't blame me for saying what everyone else could see." She laughed bitterly. "And now I have the number one failure of Konoha teaching my daughter."
Mebuki's husband dragged her out of the room, trying to stifle her laughter with his hand. But she had already said too much. Minato was crushed. Is that why she ran away?
XxXxXx
Naruto turned the knob of the door of her room. There was a fine layer of dust over the entire room, which was displaced on command when she sent out a pulse of wind chakra to clean the room. It seemed as if her father had pretended she didn't exist once she left. Just like how he ignored her presence when she was still in Konoha. Mebuki had ripped open a wound that she had thought was closed. But tomorrow, she had a team to train. And even though her dreaded sister Mito was on it, she would try her best. Not because her father told her to.
No, because she wanted to prove that she could be as good as Mito. That she could be as dedicated. That she could be strong too. But at this point, all Naruto could feel was emptiness. The emptiness that had only grown after she ran away. The emptiness that began the day her mother died.
The day that her sister killed Kushina Uzumaki.
XxXxXX
Well, I made a new story lol. Should I keep going, or nah? And for anyone who's read/is reading ANB, I'll get back to it eventually. I'm just a little distracted.