AN- This is my rewrite of another fiction I started forever ago. I had many things I hadn't planned for when I first started that I ended up working towards and without changed so the earlier chapters would have come out of nowhere. Anyways, enjoy my take on the FemNaru story. -AN
Hinata dropped silently onto the back walkway of the apartment building, spying the window she was searching for. Stepping as quietly as she could she moved to the window to investigate, through the window she could see little more than the shadowy form of something moving, but she couldn't make out any details.
Holding her breath and concentrating chakra to her eyes she called upon the power of her bloodline, the byakugan. Though untrained, she could still activate it for enhanced vision and the ability to see the glow of chakra through obstacles to a limited degree.
With the activation of her byakugan Hinata's vision changed, accompanied by a slight discomfort as the blood vessels around her eyes expanded and bulged outward slightly. With her now enhanced vision she could see the glow of a familiar chakra through the window, one she could recognize anywhere; a unique purplish blue glow around the form of a slim young girl that nobody ever got to see.
The girl was Uzumaki Naruto, though not as the world knew her. Hinata would give anything to get to know this Naruto, to see under the disguise she wore for their city. Every day Hinata tried to work up the confidence to talk to her, to get to know her, but she could never bring herself to do it, always either too afraid or unable to catch her away from Sasuke.
But Hinata didn't let that get her down, she dedicated herself to anonymously brightening Naruto's life in any way she could, like she was doing right now, providing Naruto with a healthy home cooked breakfast made just for her.
Spying Naruto's aura exiting the shower Hinata silently set her package for Naruto on the window sill and gave two light taps on the window pane with her knuckles before gracefully backflipping off the back walkway and onto the roof the building across the alley where she crouched and waited, watching. When she saw Naruto's glow approach the window she smiled and crept away before the window was opened, so she would not be noticed.
The sound at the window startled Naruto, putting her on edge. Her eyes locked onto the window, straining to see what lay beyond in the darkness while her ears listened for any signs of motion nearby. Staying on full alert she slowly approached the window, cautiously opening it and looking around. She could have sworn she heard the sound of motion but she found neither threats nor dangers, only a small delicately wrapped food basket with a note tied to it. Gently picking up the basket by the cloth tied around it, she took it into the main room of her apartment, setting it on her only chair next to her small table.
Returning to the bathroom she flicked on the lights, unwrapping the towel from around her torso and hanging it on the back of her door. Looking in the mirror she let out a sigh, pinching at a slightly orange tinted tip of her otherwise sunny blond hair.
'Orange already? Looks like I'm due for another haircut.' She mused as she looked over the rest of herself in the mirror. Her reflection looking as alien as ever to her, like looking at a stranger who mocked her every movement.
As she stood at that very moment her appearance was very average, pressed from the same mold as just about every other kunoichi her age. Her only really defining features being; her short messy blond hair, styled after her father's; and the thin scares that traced across her cheeks, marks caused by the presence of the demon she carried within herself.
The demon within her, and to a lesser degree the identity of her father, were the reasons her natural appearance felt so foreign. To protect her from threats both inside and outside the village her identity was hidden. When she was young a simple haircut and a name change were enough to keep her hidden under the identity of a boy her own age, but as she grew she started needing to resort to illusions, which she learned with the help of her caretaker, the third Hokage. Illusions are easily dispelled however; to make it through school undiscovered she eventually needed something better.
Running through a well versed series of hand signs she performed the Jutsu she created to help her take on the world. When her hands landed on the last sign she watched in the mirror as her appearance began to shift to be more masculine. Her shoulders widened, her features became more flat and angular, and she even became a bit taller. After only a few seconds the technique was complete and her body had fully transformed into a boy of around her own age. The appearance she chose was her own father from his childhood photos, though she changed a few minor details to suit her own preferences.
'I've really go to think of a name for that technique, or the old man will never stop bothering me about it.' Naruto thought, looking her newly transformed self over to make sure it worked properly.
Satisfied with the transformation, she exited the bathroom and grabbed the clothes she had laid out for today, her usual orange jumpsuit with her family seal sewn to the back. Struggling to pull them on while at the same time making her way to the table, she picked up the package she found at her window. Pushing a pile of books and scrolls aside she set the basket on the table, and untied the cloth that wrapped it, removing the note.
"Eat up Naruto; we have a big day ahead of us today." Naruto read the card aloud, smiling and placing it in a basket hanging on the wall with a hundred or so others she had received over the past three years, all unsigned and written in the same elegant print and unique purple ink. Lifting the lid of the basket Naruto was greeted by the savory scent of breakfast ramen, still warm and delicious looking.
"One day I will find you, generous stranger, and you will get the best thank you ever!" She vowed, taking a seat at the table. Glancing at the clock on her stove she smiled, she was a few minutes ahead of her regular schedule, just enough to sit down and enjoy her meal.
Finishing up, Naruto put the dishes in the sink and headed for the door, grabbing her key, equipment pouch and a book titled "Storage Seals: The Basics" for the walk.
Hinata struggled to fight off a yawn as she entered the courtyard of the Konoha ninja academy, feeling the effects of her early morning excursion more than usual. But then again, it could also be from the sleepless night she spent stressing over today's test as well.
Looking around for any sign of Naruto in the bustling courtyard, Hinata spied her trademark orange in the usual place, surrounded by at least half of the class participating in "sparring matches". Every morning, one by one, a large number of the students of their class would take turns trying to beat Naruto into submission, either out of jealousy over her marks or her friendship with Sasuke, or even just the general bad attitude towards her that the adults of the village encouraged. Naruto seemed to enjoy the exercise though, having gained enough skill over the years to be nearly untouchable by most of the combatants.
Hinata found a comfy seat among the roots of a rather large tree that stood close to the door to the academy, her favourite seat in the courtyard. Once situated she pulled out a scroll and began reviewing the basic Jutsu that may be covered on the coming test.
She didn't have long to read however, as not five minutes after she sat down the doors to the academy swung open, and the senior instructor Iruka stepped out, clad in his usual Chuunin vest and standard ninja pants. He took a quick look over the courtyard as he emerged, offering her a friendly wave when he spotted her.
"Morning Hinata." He greeted enthusiastically before turning his attention to a bell hanging from the doorframe and giving it a good ring. Punctuating the ring, he called out across the courtyard for his students. "Senior Class, lets go!"
Hinata sighed and grabbed her things, rushing to get into the school before the crowds of other students invaded. She smiled when she stepped into the empty classroom, she always liked being the first one in so she could get her pick of seats. Today her choice was the front row window seat, she liked that one because it gave her a good view of both the teacher and the trees outside.
Not long after Hinata was seated the majority of the class poured in and seated themselves. Naruto and Sasuke were, as usual, the last two into the classroom; Hinata suspected that Sasuke had been hiding from the hoard of girls who obsess over him seemingly as a hobby.
The only open seats were directly next to Hinata, but that didn't stop many of the girls in the class from calling Sasuke over while trying to make some space on their full benches. Sasuke simply ignored them, crossing the front of the class and sliding into the seat next to Hinata.
"Ready for today's test?" Sasuke asked in his usual bored tone as he settled into his seat, catching Hinata by surprise.
"I Know I am, stayed up all night reviewing my theory notes." Naruto chimed in enthusiastically, giving Hinata a wink as she slid onto the last seat on the bench.
The class was silenced at the sound of Iruka clearing his throat at the front, and once attention was on him he began speaking. "As you all should know, today is exam day. We will be having a written test followed by a practical test involving essential Techniques. Pencils out and keep the page I hand out face down until I give the signal."
"I hate written tests." Naruto complained down the table to Sasuke and Hinata, adding to the collective murmur of dissatisfaction over the written test.
Hinata smiled shyly at the grumpy face Naruto made at Iruka as she received a copy of the test before looking down at her own copy, waiting for the signal to start. When the signal was given she flipped her paper and quickly scanned through the questions. They were all fairly simple, things every ninja should know to survive, and she had the sheet filled in only a few minutes. Flipping her test back over to hide her answers, she noticed most of the class follow suit quickly, even the laziest members of the class were finished within a few more minutes.
"Now that you are all finished the written portion," Iruka broke the silence as soon as the final test was turned over, "we are heading to the gymnasium for the Ninjutsu portion of the exam. Leave your test papers on your desks, they will be collected later."
A murmur of interest and excitement rippled through the room at the mention of the practical section. They all knew it was part of the exam, but Iruka had not revealed what it would entail, that had left the entire class studying everything the had gone over just to be prepared. Hinata was confident in her skills in casting Ninjutsu, but she was less so about doing it in front of the whole class.
The students quickly filed out of the class and across the hall into the gymnasium, most of them chattering amongst themselves regarding the answers of the written portion. From what she could hear, Hinata guessed that there were going to be a few people that might need to retake it, though maybe not since the practical test they were about to take was worth far more than the written part.
Looking around at the equipment Iruka had set up as she entered the gymnasium, Hinata could guess what some of the techniques they would be demonstrating for this portion. Lots of punching bags the size of the average student lay in various places on one half of the gymnasium, likely to be used with the Replacement Technique, and a set of mirrors that could be used to quickly see a transformation technique from every angle.
"Alright, form a line on this half of the gym. Alphabetical by last name." Iruka instructed enthusiastically, pushing Shikamaru and Choji, the classes infamous "lazy duo" in the door and pulling it shut. "The faster we get this done, the sooner you all can go home and celebrate."
Once the class was lined up he called on the first person, asking them to stand in front of the mirror and perform an illusion to mimic the appearance of Iruka himself. After a few notes were scratched down on his notepad he requested a pair of clones while maintaining the illusion and, a few notes later he requested a replacement technique with one of the objects left around the room. After the first student finished and crossed back onto the waiting side of the gym the next was called, and then the next, with Iruka taking a few notes after every Jutsu performed.
Hinata nervously fidgeted with the hem of her sweater as Iruka worked his way down the line, bringing her closer to the front. With a deep breath she steeled herself for her performance as the student before her, Sakura stepped up to the mirror, putting her at the front of the line.
'You can do this,' Hinata thought to herself, taking another steadying breath as Sakura passed back onto her side of the gym and her name was called. Slowly she stepped up to the mirrors and turned to face Iruka, feeling slightly overwhelmed by the sight of the entire class behind him. Looking past most of the crowd she could see Naruto's tuft of orangey blond hair and she thought of Naruto's ever-present confidence. 'Yes, I can do this.'
Quickly running through the hand signs she felt the slight drain on her chakra as the Jutsu activated, granting her the illusory appearance of Iruka, down to the little details. Receiving an approving nod from Iruka, she closed her eyes for a moment to concentrate before she ran through another set of hand signs, this time creating two intangible clone images that mimicked her disguised appearance. Receiving another approving nod from Iruka she released the illusions and performed a replacement technique, swapping places with a punching bag of roughly her size.
'I did it!' Hinata cheered to herself as she walked quickly back over to the waiting half of the gym, the next person in line already taking their place in front of the mirrors. Not sure where to go now that she was done, she took a moment to decide before heading towards where Naruto and Sasuke were talking near the back of the line.
'It's now or never, I might not get to see her often after today.' Hinata thought as she stepped stand beside Naruto, an awkward half step outside of the conversation. Taking a calming breath she opened her mouth to speak, but her breath caught when Naruto turned to face her, smiling warmly.
"That was a great job Hirata, it looks like you've been practicing." Naruto said, offering her a thumbs up and an extra wide grin.
"Agreed," Sasuke added with a nod, as stoic faced as ever as he stepped forward with the advancing line, "that was a very skilled performance."
'I did a good job?' The unexpected compliment erased any words Hinata had wanted to say, and she was left staring blankly at Naruto for a moment. Shifting her gaze to her feet nervously, and grabbing at the bottom of her zipper on her sweater, she tried to focus on getting words out. Sasuke's presence made this more difficult, but he seemed distracted by his proximity to the front of the line.
"T-This is our last day of classes." Hinata quietly saying the first thing that came to mind,nervously stumbling over her words. Her eyes fixed on her own fingers as she fidgeted with edge of her sweater.
"Yeah, we finally get to be real ninjas." Naruto replied with an excited smile that Hinata couldn't help but timidly return. "They're assigning teams tomorrow, I'm excited to know who I will be working with."
"Me too, -" She started, wanting to say she would like to be on a team with Naruto, but she was interrupted by a gentle nudge on the shoulder.
Looking back, she saw Kiba trying to get her attention. He was dressed much the same as her, in a neutral tone hoodie and standard ninja pants, and he carried his companion ninja dog puppy proudly balanced on his head.
"Did you see my excellent performance out there?" Kiba asked, eyes on Hirata and his hands on his hips, his chest puffed out proudly. The puppy on his head barking excitedly and doing it's best to mimic his pose.
"We missed it actually." Naruto replied, to Hinata's surprise she sounded somewhat annoyed. "We were having a conversation here."
"Was I asking you?" Kiba snapped in an unfriendly tone, turning to glare at Naruto for a moment before waving his hand dismissively and muttering an exasperated sounding, "Whatever."
With that he walked off towards another group of students that were separate from the line, leaving Naruto and Hinata behind. Hinata was glad to see him go, he wasn't so bad, but he was often quite vocal with his dislike of Naruto.
"Were you saying something?" Naruto asked after a moment, somewhat distracted by watching Sasuke step up to perform the test.
"Ah-" Hinata responded in surprise before hurriedly saying, "W-well, I just wanted to say good luck."
"Thanks." Naruto responded with a smile as Iuka waved her up to the front.
'That's not all, though, you inspire me, and I... I...' Hinata played a scene of her actually saying all the things she wanted to say in her own mind as she watched Naruto walk away.
'Hinata you coward...' She cursed her own lack of confidence, picking at the bottom of her zipper while she thought of how she could have done better. She was distracted by the sound of Sasuke grumbling under his breath as he walked past her. Some of the other girls from the class had started to move towards Sasuke, as they usually would when Naruto was distracted. Without a word he turned away from them and slowly walked towards the back wall of the gym, not giving them any of his attention.
Falling in step with Sasuke because she had nowhere else to be, she looked back at Naruto who was now disguised as Iruka. When Naruto was given the okay to cast the clone technique she swiftly performed a series of hand signs that Hinata did not recognise. The unfamiliar Jutsu summoned a pair of clones, though Hinata could tell that something was different about these ones.
Being as discreet as she could, she activated her byakugan to have a closer look. She was surprised to see that these weren't just illusions but fully tangible duplicates, making this a technique more than a step above anything they have learned in the academy.
Naruto then performed the replacement technique, releasing a small eruption of smoke in the process, and Hinata saw the two summoned clones escape through a window under the cover of the smoke. She would have like to see where they were off to, but her byakugan was not yet developed enough to see through the wall well enough at that distance.
As the smoke cleared Naruto stood triumphantly on the other side of the gym, a punching bag sitting where she stood a moment ago. Receiving a nod from Iuka, she crossed back over to the waiting half of the gym to the place where Hinata and Sasuke stood.
"So how'd I do?" Naruto asked cheerfully as she rejoined Hinata and Sasuke at their new position on the back wall. Propping herself against the wall in a relaxed pose, looking to Sasuke and waiting for an answer.
"Huh?" Sasuke replied, not really paying attention, "Yeah, you did fine."
"Aww, you weren't really watching, were you?" Naruto sounded disappointed that Sasuke had not been watching her performance.
"I th-thought you did very g-good." Hinata offered nervously when she saw the look on Naruto's face. She could feel her own face getting warm with embarrassment, hoping what she said was alright.
"You really think so?" Naruto asked excitedly, a smile returning to her face when Hinata shyly nodded.
Hinata felt her face get uncomfortably warm with Naruto's full attention on her, and she poked at the floor with her foot as she tried to think of something more to say.
"You made it a-all look so easy." Hinata said quietly when she saw one of their classmates struggle to get the hand signs correct for the replacement technique, remembering how quickly and precisely Naruto performed hers.
"It's all practice," Naruto replied casually, giving Hinata a wide smile. "And you looked like you didn't have any trouble either."
'Naruto, you're so kind...' Hinata thought, too overwhelmed by the complement to reply. Her first time talking to Naruto for more than a few words had gone better than she expected, but it was a little more than she could handle all at once. She spent the next few minutes with very warm cheeks, picking at the bottom of her zipper and watching the last few students perform the techniques for Iruka as Naruto fidgeted impatiently.
Naruto shifted uncomfortably in her seat, watching Iruka's hand motions as he delivered his graduation speech to the students. She was not absorbing a word he said, instead she was thinking about all the exciting things she was going to get to do as a full fledged ninja. She had trained and studied her entire childhood for this and she was ready for adventure and excitement.
'I wonder who will be on my team..' Naruto thought looking around the room. Most of the other students weren't particularly fond of her, the Hokage had told her that it was because of the burden she carried. The students didn't know, telling anyone of their generation was forbidden, but the adults of the village knew and they encouraged the negative attitude. That thought made Naruto reconsider her enthusiasm towards team assignments, and she distracted herself with imagining the types of missions she would be assigned once she was part of a ninja team.
"Naruto..." Sasuke called quietly, shoving her toward the end of the bench with his shoulder. "It's time to go."
"Huh?" Naruto replied, looking around to see all the other students heading for the door where Iruka was handing out forehead protectors. Realising that she must have completely missed him finish his speech she jokingly commented, "Iruka's words hypnotized me."
Getting a half second smile out of Sasuke with her joke she got up and joined the crowd of other graduates swarming the door. She was about to step up to Iruka and receive her own forehead protector when she was struck by an elbow between the shoulders and shoved out of the line.
"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed, turning to see who it was, but they had already gotten their headband and disappeared through the door. The other students near her were all looking away as if they hadn't seen anything. Grumbling, she stepped back and waited for a gap in the line, which she found in front of Shikamaru. Shikamaru simply yawned and pretended not to notice her step into the line.
"Congratulations Naruto!" Iruka offered as she reached the door, holding out a forehead protector with both hands and inclining his head towards her. "This headband is proof that you are a fully fledged Konoha Ninja."
"Thank you Iruka," Naruto replied, allowing Iruka to tie the forehead protector around her head. Once the band was secured she looked up at him and hopefully inquired, "Can you come for ramen to celebrate later?"
"Not today," Iruka declined, affectionately tousling her hair in a way he knew she hated, "I've got mountains of paperwork to fill out for all you new graduates. Maybe in a day or two."
"You always have mountains of paperwork..." Naruto grumbled, fixing her hair as she stepped out into the hallway and headed for the exit. She stopped and took a moment to adjust her headband proudly before exiting the school into the milling crowd of proud parents and excited new Genin.
"What's that Monster doing with a forehead protector?" Naruto heard one of the parents nearby whisper, to which another replied, "He probably stole it."
Naruto's spirit fell at those words, her eyes stinging with the threat of tears. She looked around for a way through the crowd to get away, but nobody would let her through. Most of the parents pretended she wasn't there, but she could feel their glares on her back.
She was about to give up and return to the school when Sasuke strode past her, the crowd parting before him as if he were royalty. Naruto took the opportunity and hurried after him, walking directly behind him with her head down and hands in her pockets.
Once they were out of the school yard and away from the crowd Sasuke slowed his walk, falling in stride next to Naruto. They walked in silence for a few minutes, Naruto's eyes fixed on the ground at her feet.
"Why do they call you a monster, Na-Na?" Sasuke asked once he was sure nobody would hear.
'Why did you have to ask now?' Naruto thought with a sigh, scuffing her feet slightly while she thought of how to respond. She really didn't want to tell him, at least not right now, but she figured he would find out some day.
"I'll tell you tomorrow, if you are on the same team as me." Naruto decided after a long silence. She knew Sasuke wasn't going to like that answer, but it was the best she could offer at the moment. To stop him from arguing she gathered her energy and performed the body flicker technique to disappear down a side street before he could reply. Slowing to a walking pace after she had covered about a block's distance she headed in the direction of her favorite ramen shop, deciding to treat herself to a special supper.
Ichiraku Ramen was one of Naruto's favourite places in the whole village. It was never too busy, and the staff always treated her very nicely. When she hopped up onto one of the bar style seats the owner, Teuchi himself, turned from the food he was cooking and waved at her, calling down the counter at her. "Heya Naruto, What can we get for ya today?"
"I think I'll have a Shōyu beef bowl today." Naruto replied with a smile; good food and friendly people always made things better. Waiting for her meal, she pulled out the book she had started that morning, flipping to her page.
The smell of the ramen was making it hard for her to concentrate on the intricacies of storage seal patterns; she persevered though, because seals, or the art of fūinjutsu had always interested her and this book had been hard to get her hands on.
"Hey hey! Nice new headband!" Teuchi congratulated her as he brought her order over. "So I guess this makes you mister big guy ninja now?"
"Naruto passed?" Ayame, Teuchi's daughter, inquired excitedly, sticking her head out from the back room of the shop to see the forehead protector. "Way to go Naruto!"
"It was a piece of cake. Next stop is to be the champion of the whole village!" Naruto declared with grin, making both Teuchi and Ayame laugh as they turned back to their work. Turning her attention to the bowl in front of her, she began picking away at the ramen, taking her time to savor every bite while slowly reading the last few chapters of her book.
"This one's on me." Ayame whispered with a wink as she leaned over to collect the bowl Naruto had just emptied. "The headband looks good on you."
Naruto smiled at her and hopped off her stool out into the street, starting off towards home. As she put some distance between her and the ramen shop she heard Teuchi shouting, "You what? You're going to put us out of business if you keep giving out free meals!"
Naruto chuckled a little at that; Teuchi was a businessman to the core sometimes.
"Stupid cheap piece of junk." Naruto grumbled as she jostled the lock to her apartment, having no luck getting the key to work in the worn out mechanism. Giving up, she knocked on the door and waited for a moment for the lock to click open. Entering the apartment, she walked past the two clones she summoned earlier that day, one was cleaning returning to cleaning, the other was practicing hand signs for various jutsu.
Adding the book she was carrying to the stack of finished books, she grabbed a blank scroll, a brush and a bottle of ink. Finding an empty space on the floor she laid out her materials, rolling open the scroll and wetting her brush in the inkwell.
She needed to test out what she had read to really cement the knowledge in her brain. She had the basic idea, seals have patterns, and the pattern dictates how the seal works, but she needed to see it.
'How about this?' she asked internally, making a crude replica of the most basic seal in the book. the mark was the kanji "Storage" in the center of an overlapping circle and square. Placing the bottle of ink in the center of the diagram, she put one hand on each side of the circle. When she concentrated chakra to her hands the seal released a small eruption of smoke.
"Awesome!" Naruto cheered, drawing the attention of her clones. Through the thinning smoke the ink bottle was clearly gone, stored inside the seal. With a big grin on her face she looked up at her clones and declared, "We're going to have some fun with this."
Rolling up the scroll, Naruto handed it to one of the clones as she stood up and headed for the bathroom to get ready for sleep.
AN- This is the reworked first half of chapter one of The secret life of Uzumaki Naruto. The second half is still being polished and will be posted when it is ready. I hope you enjoy the read. -AN