What Butterflies Affect:

Prologue: Wow, We're Delayed…

Minato Namikaze watched his wife rub her large belly with a contented smile, but she seemed thoughtful.

"What are you thinking about Kushina?" He asked, walking up to her with purpose, slightly hugging her.

"Naruto…" She said, looking at her belly with a blush. "Though…"

"Yes?" He asked, slightly concerned.

"What if our Naruto is a girl? On the off-chance of him not being a boy…"

He laughed. "Then we can name 'her' Naruko instead, alright?"

She nodded, and smiled, laughing with him.

.N.

It seemed like a poetic justice to Minato that his wife and himself were dying over their new-born daughter. The Nine-Tails was sealed, and he knew that he'd never see his daughter grow up.

"Be strong, okay?" Kushina said, making him smile.

"She's our Naruto-ko… Naruko…" He chuckled. "She'll be fine…"


Nineteen years later, Naruko Uzumaki sat up in her cot, panting hard and waking the man next to her in bed.

"Are you okay?" Kakashi asked, turning to her, concern in his gaze.

She took a deep breath, ruffling her own hair with a false grin. "Yeah Sensei, don't worry so much about me; I can take care of myself dattebane."

"Sure you can…" The Copy-nin laid back down, but the blonde got out of bed and went to the balcony attached to the room.

Stepping outside, she wrapped her arms around herself, frowning as she stared out at the woods surrounding the hideout that had once been the Hatake clan's private land.

"One day, I'll return home to Konoha, and I'll take down Danzo and anyone that tries to take my friends and companions away from me again…" She said in a low tone that reached Kakashi indoors. "I promise you that… Dad…"

Sighing, the man got out of bed, walking up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. Pressing his head into the crook of her neck, he sighed, and she shivered.

"Worried about meeting the others in a few days for the first time in years?" He asked quietly, and she shook her head. "Well, that's good, because there's no reason to be."

Nodding slowly, she smiled. "Great for me, huh?"

.A.

Meanwhile, in the land of Wind, Sakura was enjoying the cool night as she sat in one of the windows of Suna. Leaning back, she closed her eyes, the light wind being disrupted by a person taking several slow steps towards her figure. Ignoring the interruption, she swung her foot over the ledge, leaning even more outside.

"It's not safe for you to be inside the village, you know."

A smile flitted across her features. "But I like danger, and can't the leader of a medic rebel cell get some time off in the land her man rules?"

Stepping out of the shadows, with a barely visible smile on his face, Gaara appeared. Continuing foreword, he looked out the window, and she slit her eyes open to glance at him.

"I still don't want you to risk yourself and your cause just to visit me…" He sighed.

Shrugging, she slightly smiled when he got beside her on the ledge, sliding her hand into his. "Just enjoy the time we have now and stop worrying about me… okay?"

Looking at her with a smile, he leaned foreword, and she met him in the middle for a kiss. With eagerness, she slid closer to him, and he wrapped his arm around her waist. Careful not to fall off the sill, she got onto his waist and slightly pushed him into the side of the opening, about to continue on when someone cleared his throat.

Pulling apart, Sakura looked embarrassed, while Gaara just seemed irritated, and she demanded. "What do you want Kankuro?"

Smirking, the puppeteer crossed his arms over his chest and rolled his shoulders. "If you weren't so distracted, Gaara, you'd remember that the daimyo will be arriving in the morning… and since 'Almighty-san' doesn't know about your girlfriend's plans…"

"You're right…" Gaara looked like he was disappointed. "Brother, leave us for a final moment."

"Sure." He turned, putting his hands in his pockets as he walked out of the room.

Once he was far enough down the hall, Gaara turned back to Sakura and enveloped her in his arms, pressing his face into her hair.

"I'll miss you too." She said softly, her Inner cursing Kankuro and the Wind Daimyo and everyone else that was cutting the short time her and Gaara could spend together.

Just holding her for a second, he backed off, pressing his forehead to hers gently one last time that night. "Now go to your unit, they've most likely been missing you…"

Smirking, she leapt onto the window ledge and blew a kiss at him "I'm sure they are…"


It had been three years since the rebellion fraction had left Konoha to escape death by Danzo's orders, Naruko joining them after meeting Killer Bee and completing her Sage training, roughly a year later. By that point a small network between the Great Nations was made for the rebels, and along with those left behind in secret were planning a way to take Konoha back from Danzo and give it to their 'true' Rokudaime, Naruko.


A short, tan Chinese woman with a long braid was laying in a highly decorated bed, her cave-like room looking just as lavish. With a closer look at the shadows the candles provided, it was revealed to indeed be a cave, and when the door opened, the woman sat up to reveal she had violet eyes with shadows around them like a person with insomnia.

"Obito, what are you doing here while I'm resting?" She asked the young-looking man that had opened the door.

He sighed. "Takaya, I was hoping Xian would be here to greet me so she'd be happy to hear that Kiyoshi has been able to use her father's Jutsu."

Getting out of bed, grumbling to herself, the woman changed into a comfortable-looking kimono and walked up to him, her eyes turning a soft brown and the dark around her eyes fading into her skin.

"I hear through Takaya's ears hon, don't forget it." She said kindly, with a slap to the side of his head. The man with heavy scarring on the right side of his face smiled a little in return. "Now, let's go congratulate the girl before Sasori or one of the others remind her what her father used to do with that technique."

The ex-Uchiha nodded, walking ahead of the woman and opening the door for her, leading her down the hall of the cave-like building to the main room that was more cavernous than the other halls. People were grouped on mismatched furniture, a few watching the small girl sitting on the floor. She was laughing, using string coming from her fingers to make her voodoo-like doll dance.

"I see what you mean about her using her father's abilities…" Obito noticed Takaya's grin. "This is a very promising thing… though, it might not help us getting the 'Konoha Rebels' on our side…"

"We'll figure something out." Obito said with finality, putting an arm around her shoulder. "Just enjoy her delight right now."

"I refuse."

They saw Sasori's human face watching the girl with interest.

"What are you talking about?" Xian asked, confused and slightly pouting.

"Oh, I don't want to explain it all, it would be a waste of time." He shrugged, leaving the others in the room confused.


For some unknown reason, the remaining Akatsuki members not loyal to the 'new' leader Madara went into hiding, though there were reports of the rouges helping rebels from time to time. No one knew what they were doing- just that they were alive and kicking…


Lounged across a couch, the raven-haired and sarcastic Uchiha Sasuke was trying to get some sleep before he went to work with Madara and Kabuto. To be honest, he wanted to just kill the ancient Elder, but as long as everything went along with Madara's plans… it didn't matter to him.

"Ah, nice to see you Sasuke…"

He internally groaned. "What do you want Kabuto?"

"Its not much… just seeing if you know where my little pet has gone…." He said, looking mildly hopeful.

Slight irritation flickered across his features. "You know I don't like you referring to her that way, but I haven't seen her in awhile… maybe she ran off with my missing ex-comrades."

The snake-man clicked his tongue. "Pity, but it's not like we'll need her for our plans at any rate… 'Madara' has everything figured out, with or without Danzo's cooperation."

"Psh, whatever…" Closing his eyes, Sasuke opened them again and sat up, realizing he wouldn't be getting a nap today. "Lets just go to the 'hideout' and meet with Madara."

"Of course."

The two traveled deep into the ROOT headquarters, spotting Zetzu and the mentioned Uchiha already speaking with the hated current leader of Konoha.

"… and it seems that the rebel groups have intel here in the village that they're getting to their main base of operations. We'll have to tighten up security again to find the breach." Danzo said darkly.

"I agree, but remember, this isn't just about you winning the title of Hokage, remember?" Madara warned, and with a frown, Danzo nodded.

On the inside, Sasuke thrived off his displeasure. With Tsunade, Shizune, and several other ninja reported escaping the coup but not leaving the village three years back, the old man didn't have a clue at the true threat he was facing, and still was most likely going to be unable to identify it by the time the rebels decided to strike.

Listening to the meeting but not truly leaving any input, the young man felt his lip curl into an anticipant sneer with the thought of Naruko fighting him again.

'She won't hold back this time, and I'll be able to see her full power…' He examined the cracks in the cement on the ceiling, remembering all their past fights… and then some, frowning slightly. 'I'll fight to kill this time as well, then I can fulfill my promise to myself that Konoha will fall.'


Everyone assumed Madara was working with Danzo because of reports of Kabuto, Zetzu and Sasuke in the village of Konoha, often working at night. With that information looming over the rebel's heads, they were more cautious, but still strove on for their plans to go through.


"Hey, aren't you going to clap for Asuka blowing out the candles?" Moegi asked, tapping on the bathroom door.

"Uh… I'm a bit too busy with… something else… to be clapping." Konohamaru said through his teeth, and the blushing girl turned bright red.

"Oh dear god man…" She managed, covering her mouth and walking back to the 'party' with those loyal to Naruto that had chosen to stay behind.

"Where's Konohamaru?" Iruka startled the girl with the question, and as most of the guests were looking at her, she scrambled for an answer.

"Well… Konohamaru-kun… he's…" She turned red again, voice going quiet. "Taking care of himself…"

Kotetsu, Izumo, and Genma broke out in chuckles at the mortification of the teenage girl before being harshly slapped by Tsunade and Shizune.

"There is no need to make a joke out of something you most likely do every day." Tsunade looked irritated at the men, who were now dejected. "This is the birthday of a now three-year-old daughter of a hero, please have some respect!"

"Tsunade-hime is right." Shizune said boldly, glaring a bit at the now embarrassed Genma. "Now, let's go give Asuka her present, okay?"

He left with her, and the old Sanin collapsed in the seat that was now unoccupied.

"Moegi, could you get me a sake?" She asked after a moment, her forearm covering her face.

"Of course." The girl got up and left, and Tsunade's old attendants gave each other a knowing look.

"Worrying about Naruko and the other rebels again Tsunade-hime?" Izumo asked, and the woman groaned as a response. "… I thought so…"

"Come on, its Naruko we're talking about. If anyone could handle being the leader of such a thing, it's her." Kotetsu said, smirking. "Even if she's still an idiot, she's matured enough to be reliable as a leader."

"I hope you're right you two…" Tsunade seemed uneasy still. "God, where is that girl with my sake?"


The people left behind were worried for their friends, but they pulled through, having high hopes for the future.


AN: This was a product of writers block for some of my other stories, and the details are still being worked out, but I'll work on this enough to post every three days to a week :D

Next chapter will explain more about why Naruko and the others are not in Konoha and are older than we know them as, plus the OC's that will be major comic relief.