The Power of Corruption:
They say that power corrupts and that absolute power corrupts absolutely...So what does that mean for the innocent heart of a child? Something that can be so easily corrupted?
Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Naruto. The name "Reiko Inoue" I'll put claim forward to. Since I spent like two hours making that name (Wanted to find Meanings I liked). The name and name alone are all I claim. The character I've Modeled Reiko from does NOT belong to me and is, in fact, owned by Kishimoto.
AN: This is a rewrite of the first chapter. This Rewrite will likely get rewritten again at a later point. REWRITES OF CHAPTERS 2, 3, 4, AND 5 WILL BE COMING SOON! TO FIX CONTINUITY ERRORS THAT MY CHAPTER 1 REWRITE HAS UNINTENTIONALLY CAUSED!
Now, you have to understand that I'm not completely happy about my rewrite. I don't really like it but…it functions infinitely better then how I first had started my story out…since the majority of my readers didn't like how I paced things. I wanted to reveal things slowly…like a puzzle coming slowly into place…but due to mounting requests, I caved and put in a sloppy Flashback in Ch.5…that Flashback now takes the form of the first part of Chapter one…and goes into some minor details about why "it" occurred.
4 Years after the Sealing of the Kyuubi: The Prologue (Chapter 5 Flashback replacement)
Being four years old should've been a fun time for a child. At that age, a child should be innocent to the Worlds darker side. At that age…their life should've been full of laughter and happiness from playing with their friends and family…but for one particular whisker marked boy that wasn't the case. Having no friends or family, he had to find his own ways of keeping his young, active four year old mind occupied.
The circumstances of his birth had left a huge stigma on him due to a mistake on the Hokages' part. A Life of joy and happiness was shattered when a Secret was revealed to the public. The parent's of the newest generation, having survived the horrors of the Kyuubi's assault on Konoha didn't want their children around the young blond, whisker marked boy for they all knew "what" he was.
Naruto often over heard people talking about him, calling him bad names in front of their children, and saying that they couldn't play with him because he was a very bad child; the worst of the worst. It left poor little Naruto in tears many nights in a row due to the constant rejection by his fellow age group. Even the children at the Orphanage he lived at were told to stay away from him by the caretakers. The caretakers at the Orphanage never directly physically or mentally abused Naruto as they knew they would get found out and potentially lose their jobs, or worse, so they had the other children stay away from him.
Left to his own devices, without any friends, Naruto took to exploring the streets of Konoha as the Orphanages caretakers were suspiciously lax when it came to watching over him. He explored every little nook and cranny he could find for places to either hide in or hide things in. The places her looked for were places where he believed people wouldn't be very inclined to look at or into.
Naruto never noticed his silent protectors, an ANBU squad, keeping pace with him on the roof tops, whenever to took to exploring the streets. Naruto always wondered why people would whisper so many nasty things about him and yet…no one really tried to bully him. The few people that were brazen enough to come up to him to either strike him or yelled at him were always stopped by some random "Kind Person," at least that's what they were in Naruto's eyes, would always come in and stop the person.
This made the young Naruto look up to those kind people that stood up for him whenever he was about to get into trouble but he never got the opportunity to thank them before they disappeared leading him to believe, correctly but unknowingly, that those people had to be Ninja as he could never follow them as they seemingly always vanished into thin air.
It was during one of Naruto's explorations of Konoha that he had a fateful encounter that would change his life forever. Naruto…idolized the Ninja and the Military Police that protected Konoha and wanted to be just like them…and since Ninja often used the Roofs to travel quickly, little Naruto wanted to do that as well, not understanding that it takes Chakra and months of training to do such a thing.
Naruto, ever determined and stubborn even at such a young age, climbed up the side of a building, using a circular downspout as a make shift ladder as he climbed higher and higher until he made it to the roof of a building. It was only one story high but it was the highest he had ever been at that point and he discovered that he liked looking down at everything. Everything seemed a little different with added height! He took the time to simply look around the street he was on, surrounded mostly by taller buildings, he couldn't really see more of the village but now…now he knew that the higher he was the more he could see…and he knew what the highest point in the Village was. The Hokage Monument.
It then sparked in his head that he should roof travel to the Monument like the Ninja's he so idolized! Walking over to the edge of the building, he looked down and gulped in fear. It looked so high up and that…that almost stopped him right then and there. Almost made him crawl back down that downspout and be safely back on the ground again but then he told himself that Ninja were fearless! And Ninja's roof jumped every day!
Naruto balled his hands into fists and scrunched up his face, his spirit full of determination to roof jump. He stormed away from the edge of the building to get a running start but not before taking a deep breath to calm his nerves. "Okay! Here I go!" He cried out as he ran as fast as his small legs would carry him and pushed off the edge of the roof. He thought it would work. He thought he could make it to the other roof. He thought wrong.
The blond haired spitfire seemed to float in the air for a few moments before coming crashing down into the alley which sported the downspout he had climbed up. Time seemed to slow down for him as he watched himself falling, getting closer and closer to the ground as fear and the sense of failure flooded his small frame.
And with a loud crack…he hit the ground. His entire body was in pain but it didn't feel that bad, not at first. He thought he had simply bumped his head really hard since his head throbbed in pain and felt 'fuzzy' on the inside before feeling something warm trickling down his face. Slowly, he dragged his right hand up to his hand to rub the warm wetness off his face and, much to his horror, discovered it was blood. His blood. Apparently he had hit his head on his way down.
In a Panic, he tried to get up, tried pushing himself off the ground with his left hand only to scream out as a new wave of pain coursed through him forcing him to look at his left arm and why it hurt so much. His forearm was hanging at an odd angle, having broken from the fall. Being one always full of determination, he tried to stand once again, using his right arm this time. He succeeded in pushing himself to his feet and even walking a few feet while gritting his teeth as each step he took seemed to only hurt more and more.
And that's when it happened. His right leg had suffered two serious fractures from his fall and the weight and the strain of walking cause those fractures to turn into breaks. Naruto fell to the ground once again; his head hitting the pavement with a sickening wet sounding crunch and the world quickly fell into darkness. The last thing he saw was the Black robes of the ANBU surrounding him and then a soft green glow that eased a little of his pain. He could hear them shouting but couldn't make out what they were saying before he slipped into unconsciousness.
"You…You really did a number on yourself didn't you, Kit?" He heard from…within the blackness. It was a woman's voice…soft yet firm, full of gentle caring and the harshness of a razors edge, beautiful, in other words.
"I didn't think…we'd get to meet so soon…and I'm sorry we had to meet like this…" The voice sounded honestly apologetic as it echoed from within the blackness.
"Well…are you going to open your eyes…? I…I would like to see you…and I would like for you to see me too…That way…I can apologize to you…" Naruto noticed that the voice grew weaker and weaker. Not really quieter just…losing its warmth, losing its strength to give into nothing but raw sadness. The woman that was talking in the darkness seemed so strong when he first heard her voice that the sadness in her voice seemed wrong to him, like it shouldn't be there and he knew he was the cause of it because he wouldn't open his eyes.
It took him a few moments to notice it but…the pain was…away. It wasn't at the forefront of his mind anymore. He still ached but it wasn't debilitating, it wasn't causing him to grit his teeth anymore and that's when he noticed he was laying in water.
"Nngh…" He groaned as he hesitantly pushed himself up out of the water, worried about a repeat of the last time he tried to get up. "W-w-where…am I?" He stammered in fear as he looked around the stone work tunnels filled with water.
"You're here…inside yourself. Sort of. Now please…come here…and…and I'll answer your questions…and apologize" Some of the warmth and strength in the woman's voice returned and it wasn't long after she spoke that he saw a faint red glow coming from one of the tunnels, beckoning him to go there. So he headed the call, figuring that's where the warm, strong sounding woman had to be.
He wasn't disappointed.
Behind a giant cage like door, the largest door he had even seen, was a woman dressed in a black kimono with blood red hair and eyes to match. Just like her voice, she seemed gentle sitting there on her knees yet strong at the same time with how poised she seemed to be. A small smile graced her ruby colored lips as Naruto walked into the area.
"Hello, Kit…" The woman spoke softly as she rose from her knees in order to walk towards the massive barred door separating them. The bars were so widely spaced that it looked like the woman should've been able to easily walk out between them. "I'm…glad I have the chance to talk to you…face to face…" Her voice hiccupped as she spoke, the way a person hiccups when they're trying to speak while on the verge of tears.
"A-Are you…okay?" Naruto hesitantly asked the redheaded woman. She shook her head and raised her right hand up to her face, part of her kimonos sleeve gripped in it as she rubbed her eyes. "Yes…and no…I've…hurt you, Kit…and I didn't mean to…because of me…everyone hates you. I am the so called 'demon' they speak of…And I am sorry!" She cried out, her right hand shielding her face as her body was wracked from her sobs.
"I cannot ask you to forgive me for what has been done to you when the Fourth Hokage died to seal me inside of you...but…if there is any way I can make it up to you…please…! Please let me!" The redheaded woman begged as she buried her face into her kimono covered hands.
Naruto watched, scared, as the woman broke down in front of him. He didn't know what to do, didn't know how to handle a crying girl so…he did the only thing he could do and that was to listen to the words in which she spoke. And those words confused him. She didn't look like a demon, that was for sure…but then her mentioning the Fourth Hokage dying to seal her. He knew the tales about The Fourth Hokage and how he died to stop the Kyuubi…if what this woman was saying was true…
"Y-you're the…the Kyuubi!" He screamed and stumbled backwards onto his butt, splashing down on the water covered ground. The woman had looked up with puffy red, tear stained eyes, to look at Naruto as he spoke. He felt instantly bad at his reaction for the woman's wails grew louder and louder as she clutched herself tightly in an effort to make herself even smaller, to hide herself from his fearful gaze.
"Y-yes…I am…the being you call "Kyuubi"…" The Kyuubi whimpered as she slowly crawled off the massive door before letting her back slide down against its massive frame, effectively hiding her from Naruto's eyes.
The slow pathetic action felt like a cold hard knife stabbing Naruto through the chest. The woman…no, the Kyuubi looked so very broken as she slide off the bottom of the caged door to hide herself. Nothing like the stories he had heard about the Kyuubi. He had heard some stories about in passing, how the Kyuubi was this massive beast, many stories high, with Nine long tails capable of creating natural disasters with just a flick of one of its tails and how the Fourth Hokage, the Greatest Ninja to ever live, had defeated it at the cost of his own life. The woman before him…looked nothing like a towering fox ready to bring forth destruction. No one who cried that much or pleaded that much for redemption could be evil like the stories said.
He also realized that he did the same thing to her that the people of Konoha were doing to him. Judging without knowing…and that made him feel very, very ashamed. "I…I'm sorry…the stories…said you were a bad monster…and the name 'Kyuubi' is…is…a bad thing, very bad thing…" Naruto stammered apologetically.
"Don't apologize to me…it's my fault for your suffering…but…I will help if you let me…I want to make amends, I want to make it up to you…" The Kyuubi spoke softly from behind the bottom frame of the door. "I'll be here for you…to listen to everything you have to say…and answer whatever questions you wish to ask of me…"
And for the next couple of years, Naruto spent as much time 'within' himself as he could in order to better know the woman who called herself the Kyuubi. The Kyuubi listened to Naruto, answered his questions to the best of her abilities or giving Naruto the age old answer of "I'll tell you when you're older." She even gave him guidance when he sought it, gently steering him in the directions he needed to go in order to best achieve his goal of recognition. Some of the guidance the Kyuubi gave him was for him to start acting a little better, to be more polite and to cut down on his mischievousness as it was best to set a good impression while he was still young. And Naruto listened.
Unfortunately, the Kyuubi eventually brought a horrible issue to Naruto's attention. The people of Konoha were seemingly becoming even more hostile to him when he tried acting up less and being more polite as it appeared that they believed it was simply the "demon" trying to trick them by acting like a fairly good little child. Naruto didn't want to believe the Kyuubi at first but he eventually began to pay more and more attention to the people and realized what she (the Kyuubi) had said was all too true.
Naruto begged the Kyuubi to tell him how he could change the minds of the people; to get them to see him in a better light…but the Kyuubi was silent. Again and again Naruto asked the very knowledgeable Kyuubi what could be done to get him the recognition he wanted…and eventually he got an answer from her but getting her to actually tell him without 'beating around the bush' proved to be a monumental task. She kept telling him that the easiest method he could think of to gain the acknowledgement he wanted was NOT the best way to do it. She kept trying to stall under the guise of attempting to think up a better way but she had hinted to a viable path to the acknowledgement he sought…and he wanted to hear it.
Eventually Naruto's stubbornness 'won' over the Kyuubi and she told him that in order to gain the acknowledgement he deserved…he would have to literally become a different person. Not just the changing of his attitude but his appearance as well. When Naruto asked just how he could do that, the Kyuubi told him that foxes were natural shape shifters and that she let him use her power, with her guidance of course, to take advantage of that little fact. Of course, the Kyuubi then told Naruto that the change in his appearance meant that he would have to change his gender…which didn't go over well with him once he was told that.
For months he persevered, trying to shape people's opinions himself without relying on the Kyuubi's idea. Something which the Kyuubi said made her proud of him…but eventually he grew dejected as his attempts weren't showing a lot of results. Of course, being as young as he was, he was impatient and couldn't think in the long term so he didn't realize that changing people's opinions of him would take many, many years…a little detail the Kyuubi purposefully left out.
At the end of his rope, Naruto eventually took up the Kyuubi's offer to make use of her shape shifting ability. Though the Kyuubi told him that, in order for her plan to work, she would need just a little more freedom, freedom that the Seal denied her. She told Naruto to tear just a little bit off the bottom of the Seal which he did without question as the Kyuubi never once deceived him, to his knowledge. Though he did ask why just a little bit of the Seal and not the whole thing and the Kyuubi truthfully answered him. She told him should he remove the seal now, he would die and that was something she did not want. As that wouldn't fit her plans…of course she didn't tell him that detail as well.
So, with a little bit of the Seal gone, the Kyuubi went to work very, very quickly as she knew she wouldn't have much time at all to do what needed to be done as Her chakra would flare up because of it. That meant Ninja would be swarming over Naruto in moments. Thankfully, Naruto's ANBU follows never actually stayed 'on top of him' but rather a few blocks away. Which was perfect for the Kyuubi and her plans.
The entire process didn't last long at all, just a couple of seconds, but the massive flare up from the Kyuubi's chakra made many Ninja's fear the worst. Naruto had let the Kyuubi have 'control' over his body to do what was needed, altering his body to that of a females just as quickly as a Ninja would make a Henge before creating a very unique 'clone.' With the Kyuubi in control of Naruto's body, she was able to use an aspect that was unique to her which allowed her to create a clone that looked exactly like the original Naruto. This clone was identical in every way to an actual living breathing human…
When the ANBU arrived 'on scene' to the massive outbreak of the Kyuubi's Charka all they found was a pair of unconscious bodies of Naruto and a redheaded girl that appeared to be of the same age. Both children were rushed to the hospital while the Kyuubi talked to Naruto in their little 'dreamscape' over what needed to be done to solidify their new identity. And no one, not even the mighty Third Hokage, was aware of what actually happened…
Chapter 1: Already Corrupted? Or Just the Beginning?
A fairly short red headed girl sighed heavily as she looked outside of her classrooms window. "Naruto, you moron…" She groaned, staring over the desecrated Monument. It was only moments later that Iruka noticed it and rushed out of the building, placing Mizuki in charge of the students. Her violet eyes flashed over Mizuki and waited until he looked down at the lesson planner before sneaking out of the window. Her fellow students didn't say a word.
The red head stalked after Iruka, using every ounce of her naturally occurring stealth abilities to go undetected as she followed him to the Monument and thus, Naruto. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid!' She thought angrily as she noticed the familiar blonde still hanging from the Monument, paint cans and brushes hanging around him. She couldn't help but shake her head as she heard his little speech about "Being Incredible" for doing being able to paint the Monument in broad daylight.
"What the hell are you doing during class time!" She heard Iruka yell to Naruto after stopping on top of the Hokage's Tower…where a crowd, Hokage included, had gatehred. "Get Down here right now, you idiot!" She snorted from that, and that was the first time the people on top of the Hokage's Tower noticed she was there. More than a few people were surprised by the appearance of the young redheaded girl as she obviously wasn't a Ninja yet and yet she was still on top of the Hokage's Tower with them. Unfortunately the snort had caught Iruka's attention as well, causing him to spin around…and then stare blankly, for a few seconds, at the redheaded girl.
"Reiko…" Iruka growled at the red-headed, "What the hell are you doing out of class!"
While his back was turned, Naruto was trying to scramble back up the Monument. "I'm here to help catch Naruto! You know he listens to me! Plus, I know where he hides and you don't!" She said smugly with a sly grin causing Iruka to let out an exasperated sigh.
"Fine, but you're getting detention for cutting out of class."
"…Yes, Sensei" Reiko grumbled and glanced up at the Hokage, who seemed to find the situation rather funny. "Hey, Old Man! Sorry about Naruto…next time I'll try making sure that his next prank stays are a more…sane level." She yelled and bowed slightly, before running off to chase after Naruto.
In the end, it was Iruka who caught Naruto and tied him up in the rope he used to suspend himself from the Monument and dragged him back to the Academy. She couldn't help but giggle at the sight of Naruto, sitting in front of the class, tied up, and pouting. For the life of her she couldn't figure out how Iruka managed to beat her to the punch, but he did.
Reiko just let her head hit her desk as Iruka announced the surprise review of the Henge. "Idiot..." She murmured for what seemed the millionth time today.
Naruto plopped down into the seat next to Reiko, grumbling about his bad luck at being caught and then having Iruka spring the review on them. A few of their classmates blamed Naruto who simply grumbled that he didn't care in response.
When Iruka called Reiko up, she had a hard time controlling her grin as she walked up to the front of the class. "When you're ready" Iruka prompted. With a nod, Reiko formed the familiar hand signs for the Henge. She took a deep breath before muttering 'Henge' and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Once it cleared, it showed a perfect transformation into Iruka…if Iruka had been a woman. "Reiko…" He said threateningly as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"What? You said to Henge into you! You never said what Gender the Henge had to be" She said as innocently as possible. A few of her classmates chuckled, but other than that, it was normal for Reiko to do something Naruto-like, given her friendship with the orange jump-suited kid.
"You know what I wanted! A perfect Henge of me is a MALE me. Do it correctly and no other funny business" Iruka's voice was very sharp and stern, leaving no room for any argument."Yes, Sensei…Henge!"
This time it was a perfect male Iruka, and with a nod, the real Iruka checked her off. Nearly 10 minutes went by as Iruka when through the rest of the class, until it was Naruto's turn. "Like Reiko, no funny business, you got that, Naruto?" "Yeah, yeah, I hear ya Iruka-sensei" He grumbled sullenly.
'Hehe, here we go! Iruka-sensei won't know what hit him!' Naruto thought excitedly and brought his hands up. A huge, swirling mass of blue chakra erupted from Naruto, startling everyone in the room, except for Reiko. "HENGE!" Naruto seemed to yell at the top of his lungs.
"Oh, Lord…" Reiko groaned, a massive sweat drop forming, as the cloud around Naruto dissipated from the ground up, allowing her to spot the naked feet and slender ankles, and realizing what Naruto had just used. She couldn't help but shake her head in embarrassment as Iruka shot off backwards in a shower of blood. All the while Naruto was clutching his sides in laughter. "That was my awesome 'Sexy no Jutsu!'" Naruto exclaimed loudly after he dispelled it.
"Damn it, Naruto! Don't invent useless skills!" Iruka roared at the blonde, which Naruto casually shrugged off. "But...It's not a useless Jutsu..." Reiko murmured to herself causing a red faced Sakura to turn to look at her. "How...How can that NOT be a useless Jutsu? It's perverted!" Seethed the pink haired girl. "Naruto's Henge isn't just a simple illusion Sakura...It's a REAL transformation. Think of the possibilities an actual transformation could used for." Reiko whispered to Sakura after leaning forward.
It took a moment, a very brief moment for Sakura to think up all the uses a real transformation could be used for…along with the fact that an actual transformation wouldn't be 'dispelled' unless the person using it wanted it to dispel. Never once had Reiko lied to anyone in the class, so Sakura knew that she wouldn't lie about something like that and the implications that Naruto could use such an amazing technique was astonishing. That didn't mean Sakura believed Reiko right off the bat.
"You…Your serious aren't you? But...But he's Dead Last! The failure!"
"Do you really believe that, Sakura?" Reiko Murmured. "Of course! Look at his grades, that's proof enough" "I know you've seen some of Naruto's work when we've had to pass it forward, what did his assignments tell you" This caused Sakura to blink and to open her mouth for an instant retort before stopping herself as she thought back to the few assignments she had seen of his. "A-are you suggesting that…that the teachers are sabotaging him..?" Sakura's eyes widened as she whispered fearfully, which earned a sharp nod from Reiko. "Well...Not all of them" Reiko murmured.
"But…But why would they do that?"
"You're a smart girl Sakura, I'm sure you can figure out part of the reason"
Sakura bit her lower lip and put that brain of her to use, thinking over the reasons as to why the Teachers would want to hurt Naruto's performance. "It's...Because of those looks isn't it? And why everyone says to stay away from them…? It's something to do with why everyone dislikes Naruto so much, right?" Sakura asked Reiko, her voice shaky, almost as if she really didn't want an answer.
"Yeah, that's my best bet. I've known Naruto pretty much all my life; we're both Orphans whose parents were killed before the Yondaime could kill the Kyuubi. I don't know what Naruto's family did to make people hate him so much, but my guess is that they were both Ninja's who did something pretty disgraceful before they died and to get back at them, they're treating Naruto like shit." Sakura's shoulders sagged slightly, she knew people didn't like Naruto, but the thought never really crossed her mind.
"I-I haven't treated him that well…Have I?" Sakura asked softly. "No. No you haven't" Reiko replied, causing Sakura to wince at her bluntness.
Just a Sakura was about to reply, Mizuki's voice came snapping over their little conversion. "Uzumaki, Inoue, Both of you go with Iruka. You're both cleaning the Monument as punishment for skipping out of class." "Great, Just great…" Reiko murmured and got up to leave. "You don't have to change Sakura; just…try to be a little nicer to Naruto, ok?"
Atop the Monument
The sun was starting to go down and the Monument was only half cleaned, both Naruto and Reiko were looking a little worse for war on the hanging scaffolds as they scrubbed the paint of the faces of the Hokage's. "Naruto...Next time...You're using Water-colors! This...Sucks!" Naruto laughed nervously and a scratched the back of his head while staring at Reiko. "Sorry, Rei-chan…I'll keep that in mind next time."
"I'm not letting the two of you go home until you finish up with the Monument." Came Iruka's voice from atop the Monument. This earned him to dejected sighs and blank looks. "It's not like we anyone to go home to, Iruka-Sensei" Spat Reiko as she sent a glare towards Iruka. As much as she liked Iruka due to his friendly treatment of Naruto, and by extension her as well, but the prospect of returning to an empty 'home' was never a pleasant concept. Naruto simply lowered his head and began rubbing the Monument harder.
Iruka winced slightly; he'd momentarily forgotten, since nearly all the other kids in the Academy had family, that Reiko and Naruto didn't have anyone but themselves. Naruto had taken Reiko into his little apartment when they were both only 6 years old. When the Hokage found out about this, he ordered that Reiko be moved into the orphanage. The two new friends didn't want to be separated and raised absolute hell about the thought of being separated. Eventually the Hokage conceded and let the two orphans stay together; of course, he made sure that the kids were cared for as best he could, assigning Two ANBU squads to watch over the kids around the clock.
For more reasons than one: First was Naruto's Status, Second was the fact Reiko was an unknown. While not uncommon since the Kyuubi attack had destroyed several Key buildings, including an administration building that kept a lot of birth certificates. It was entirely possible that Reiko was one of the unfortunates that had lost both their parents and birth certificates during the attack, but one could never be too careful in a Ninja Village.
With a heavy sigh, and knowing he would regret his offer, Iruka spoke up, "Look you two, finish up here and I'll buy you some ramen…" The two Genin hopefuls immediately brightened up at the sound of Ramen and renewed their efforts. "If only Iruka-sensei offered us Ramen before! We'd be done by now!" "Hehe, that's for sure, Naru-kun!"
Afterwards, Iruka took the both of them to Ichiraku's, much to the absolute delight of the kids. Naruto couldn't help but inhale the Ramen while Reiko was a little more reserved, but not by much. "Why did you do that to the Monument, Naruto? Don't you know how those faces are of?" Iruka asked softly. "Of course I know! Those are the faces of the strongest Ninja's in the village! And my Hero is up there! The 4th! The hero that saved the Village from the Kyuubi!" Naruto exclaimed happily. "So why did you do it than, Naruto? Why deface them?" "Why? 'Cause one day...I'm going to become the Hokage! And then I'm going to surpass ALL of them! Then people will acknowledge my strength!"
"Naruto, you're yelling too loudly. I think I've gone deaf in my left ear…" Reiko murmured dryly as she brought her ramen bowl to her lips and finished off the last of the broth. "Eheh...Sorry Rei-chan" Naruto said while blushing lightly in embarrassment.
"Hey...Sensei...can I borrow your Hitai'ate?" Naruto nervously asked Iruka and stared hopefully at him. "Heh, this old thing? Sorry, Naruto. You can only wear one after you become a Genin. It's proof that you've Come of Age. Maybe you'll get one tomorrow" Iruka said softly, a little sad, as he watched Naruto visibly deflate.
"Don't worry Naru-kun! We'll definitely get our Hitai'ate tomorrow!" Reiko exclaimed with a big grin and giving Naruto a thumbs up. "After all, I've been helping you with your assignments! I know you'll get to graduate!" Naruto shot a weak smile over to Reiko, slightly cheered up but Reiko's exuberate attitude.
The Next Day at the Academy
Reiko visibly paled as the graduation test was announced and shot a look at Naruto, who let his head slump down onto the desk. "This…isn't good" Reiko murmured as Iruka called students up to perform the Bunshin. Reiko had preformed the Bunshin perfectly and received her Hitai'ate, as she passed Naruto on the way to her seat and patted his shoulder before giving it a soft squeeze. "Good Luck, Naruto…Do you best!" "Thanks Reiko-chan!" Naruto said in false cheerfulness, he knew things wouldn't go well.
"Bunshin!" Naruto screamed as he formed the hand signs. He let off a huge burst of Chakra, sending a powerful, but small gust across the class room, causing the windows to rattle and startling his classmates. Naruto gulped as he looked over to the dissipating cloud of smoke, with high hopes, before freezing up, wide eyed over the poor state of his Bunshin. The thing looked, not only sickly, but nothing like the original.
Iruka mercilessly announced that Naruto had failed. "Iruka, technically he did create a clone and this is, after all, his third time…We could let him pass" Mizuki said with a soft smile which caused Iruka to shake his head before turning to look at him. "No way Mizuki, the test was three Bunshin and Naruto couldn't even make one useful one. I can't pass him." Naruto gritted his teeth in anger as he glared at Iruka, his hand balled so tightly into fists that a little blood managed to drip onto the floor.
"Naruto…" Hinata murmured sadly as Naruto stomped back to his seat. She watched as Reiko went over to Naruto and wrapped her arm around his shoulders and pulled him into a gentle hug. She envied Reiko for being able to be so forward and wished that she could've had the courage to help comfort Naruto.
"Ne, Reiko…Can I…Be alone for a little bit? I promise I'll be back home before it gets dark" Naruto whispered softly, his voice full of sadness. Reiko sighed softly before smiling sadly at him. "Sure thing, Naruto…I'll pick up some Ramen for us, just don't be too late! Don't want it getting cold after all!" Both laughed sadly before Naruto got up and left the Academy. Reiko's eyes followed him as he left the building.
"Hey! Naruto, could you stop for a moment!" Mizuki called out to Naruto as he jogged up to him. Naruto, pulled from his thoughts and random wandering, turned and pulled his hands from his pockets to face Mizuki.
"Yeah? What is it Mizuki-sensei?"
"Look, I wanted to say that you shouldn't blame Iruka for failing you. He's a serious person and he takes the safety of all those in the Academy very seriously. He…failed you because he was worried about you. He doesn't want you to get hurt out in the field. If you did, I don't think he could live with himself because he really does like you." Mizuki said softly as he knelt down in front of Naruto and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Still…I wish I had graduated so I could be with Rei-chan…We had lotta hopes for the future ya know? I'd be Hokage and she said she would be right there with me, supporting me! B-but now…" Naruto sniffled as he slightly hunched over.
"I see…Well then, why don't I tell you a little secret then? It should help you and Reiko achieve your dreams" Mizuki said with a deviously dark grin.
"It…will?" Naruto said slowly before he was suddenly excited and grinning broadly at Mizuki, "What's the secret? Come on! Tell me! Tell me!" Naruto was practically jumping up and down.
"Calm down, Naruto…Listen carefully, ok? Do this for me and you'll be the top Genin. Now, here's what you need to do…"
Later that night after dinner
Naruto told her he was going for another walk, saying that the cool night air might do him some good, before leaving. Reiko simply nodded and watched him leave the little apartment they had shared for years before narrowing her eyes. Something was up, that much she knew, since Naruto didn't seem to be acting himself. More so than the last two times he failed.
So she made a simple decision. She would follow him and make sure he didn't get into trouble, or go pull some prank of some poor innocent. Her eyes narrowed again as she finally caught up with him, following his unique scent. Reiko occasionally joked about the fact that she might be related to the Inuzuka Clan, due to her heightened sense of smell, but quickly changed her tune, saying her features were much too 'soft' for her to be from that clan of feral looking Ninjas. She was happy with Naruto and wouldn't do anything to jeopardize that. Finally she caught up to him just in time to see him running from the Hokage's Tower, with a very large scroll strapped to his back.
By the time she actually managed to reach him, she had plopped onto the ground next to Naruto. "Naruto! Just what the hell are you doing!" Reiko yelled in anger! "Some 'walk' this is!" "Rei-chan? What're you..? Never mind...Mizuki-sensei told me of another graduation test! He told me I had to steal the Scroll of Seals and bring it to him! But I figure I'll try learning something from it before that…Hey! You wanna look too?" Naruto said full of excitement.
Reiko raised a single eyebrow at him before shrugging; it wouldn't hurt to take advantage of the situation and looked over Naruto's shoulder as he opened the scroll. "Kage…Bunshin…" She murmured before giggling loudly as she heard Naruto groan. "Looks like the Bunshin technique is gonna stalk you! Huh…It does seem pretty interesting...I mean look at that Naruto! A Dispelled Kage Bunshin returns all its memories to its creator! My God…" She trailed off as the realization of what that meant hit her, "Think of all the things we could do with that! We could learn stuff faster and even use it as decoys and scouts!" Reiko continued excitedly and soon Naruto picked up on the vibe as well. Both grinned to each other and began working on mastering the Kage Bunshin.
The alarm had been sounded and a large portion of On Duty Chunin and Jonin amassed outside of the Hokage's tower. Sarutobi walked out with a grim look on his face as he looked over his Ninja's. Some were screaming for Naruto's blood while others weren't. 'This isn't good. Naruto has had that scroll for well over half a day now. Reiko isn't anywhere to be found either…' His eyes darkened considerably. 'This is taking a simple prank way too far' He sighed softly. If Reiko was in on this, she wouldn't be able to escape punishment as a newly instituted Genin. Though, he would probably make it something light since she was such a promising young Kunoichi. "Find Naruto and retrieve that scroll at once! But Bring Naruto to me! I'll deal with him myself! Now go!" Sarutobi roared, striking his arm out swiftly in front of him. The crowd of Ninja scattered as one.
Mizuki, on the other hand, decided not to look for Naruto, since he obviously knew where he was, and went about town, telling people that Naruto had stolen the Forbidden Scroll of Seals and disappeared with it. Panic slowly spread as the word got around. People began fearing that the Kyuubi was finally going to make its appearance once again with the use of the Scroll of Seals.
Iruka had a gut feeling that Naruto had gone into the forests surrounding Konoha and rushed in that direction. Though and behold, his instincts were right as he found not only a haggard looking Naruto, but a tired looking Reiko as well. "I've found you…Do you know how much trouble you two are in! Especially YOU Reiko! You're a Genin now! And Stealing the Forbidden scroll is a crime! Even if Naruto stole it himself, you're still an accomplice!" Iruka yelled very loudly at the two tired kids. "Hey! Leave Reiko outta this! And want do ya mean a crime! This is a Test Mizuki-Sensei gave me so I could become a Genin like Reiko!" Naruto screamed, confused, back at Iruka.
"Test? What the heck are you talking about Naruto?"
"Mizuki-Sensei said there was this secret test, that was really hard, and if I did it I could become a Genin! Well, I got the Scroll! So can I get my Hitai'ate now?" Naruto exclaimed, already having forgotten Iruka's mention of a crime.
"Mizuki said that…? Naruto…There isn't—" Iruka was cut off by Naruto's excited rambling.
"But we only got a chance to learn one thing from the scroll…But if I show you this Technique, you definitely have to let me graduate!"
"Technique..? What..?" Iruka started, but his senses picked up danger, causing him to tense briefly before grabbing Naruto by this shoulders and throwing him to the ground as a hail of Kunai struck him. Reiko had been too shocked to say anything earlier as her brain processed the fact she might be in serious amounts of trouble.
"Iruka-sensei!" Two sets of voices rang out at once as Iruka slumped lifeless against the tree. Numerous kunai sticking out of his Chunin vest, most weren't lethal hits but one managed to get lucky and hit him right in the jugular.
Both Naruto and Reiko were deathly pale as they watch blood spurting out from Iruka's neck as he slowly slide down the tree and onto the ground. "I-Iruka…sensei..?" Reiko murmured in shock as his Chunin vest slowly turned a dark red. A dark, evil laughter filled the woods and drew Naruto's attention to Iruka's murderer, who was standing high up on a tree branch. Reiko had frozen up at the side of the Iruka's corpse. This time it was Naruto's turn to murmur in shock. "Mizuki-sensei..? What? What's going on?"
"Haha...I'll tell you wants going on…What's going on is that I'm going to kill you and take that scroll from you and then…I'm going to rape your little girlfriend there before I cut her throat" Mizuki said darkly while cackling almost manically as he lewdly eyed Reiko. She wasn't supposed to be there, but he wasn't going to waste the chance to get himself off on a nubile young Kunoichi. He'd show her one of the horrors Kunoichi could be expected to face if they were caught, just before he killed her.
"Wha..? B-but why? Why Mizuki-sensei!"
"Why? That's easy..That's because YOU'RE the Kyuubi! The very monster that attacked Konoha all those years ago! You see, we teach you that the 4th Hokage killed it because of a law passed to keep what truly happened that night a secret! In truth, the Yondaime gave his life to seal it inside of YOU!" Mizuki roared with laughter as he reached behind him and pulled a large shuriken from off its holster on his back.
"M-me? The Kyuubi? Y-yeah right!" Naruto yelled his hesitant response, the shock of seeing Iruka killed in front of him slowing down his thoughts. He was about to say something else but Mizuki let loose the Giant Shuriken at Naruto. Reiko was still frozen in shock over the sight of the dead Iruka. No matter how many times she had seen blood and gore in her dreams, as the Kyuubi had tried desensitizing her to such horrors, seeing the real thing was a huge shock to the system. That was when she heard a soft wet thud before a scream of pain. Her head mechanically turned to see the giant shuriken embedded deep within Naruto's chest, her eyes wide in disbelief, before shuddering as some deep rooted link seemed to sever with his death. (A/N: Due to the upset this caused…here's a spoiler. Naruto really isn't dead. He'll be making a comeback. And yes, when I do bring him back, it'll still be, mostly, the Naruto we know and love. He plays a VERY major part in future chapters.)
"Ahh that takes care of that" Mizuki said in sing-song tone as he hopped down from the tree and started to walk towards Reiko. He stopped briefly to pull the Forbidden Scroll of Seals away from Naruto's corpse and proceeded back towards Reiko with a sick perverted grin on his face.
Just before all life left Naruto's body, the Kyuubi quickly used the link that connected clone to creator to 'jerk' all of Naruto's memories into Reiko which caused the redheads eyes to glaze over due to the shock of so many years of foreign memories flooding into her head. That was before the Kyuubi 'stepped in' and 'blocked' Narutos memories.
Mizuki saw Reiko's glazed over eyes and thought she was so scared that she simply blanked out. He began working at his belt as he stood over her. Just as he let his pants drop, he heard a dark chuckling coming from Reiko and tilted his head slightly to look into her eyes and gasped. Her irises were a dark red and her pupils were now slits, unlike her normally violet colored eyes. "W-what the...What the hell are you!" Mizuki screamed and tried taking a step back, only to trip on his pants. The Forbidden Scroll rolled a few feet away from him.
"Oh? Me?" Reiko replied innocently. "Well, I'm Naruto! Or at least…I was until Okaa-sama promised me a better life…So she made me into Reiko! And then we made a copy of the old me to avoid suspicion" She said in a dark yet childish tone as she slowly stood up. "You killed my Naruto earlier then I wanted him to die…it'll make destroying Konoha that much harder but…oh well. I'll just do it myself. Now do me a favor and die already" Mizuki, at this point, had pissed himself due to the newly revealed demonic Genin in front of him. The sheer amount of focused killing intent nearly made him lose all control right then and there, but it was more than enough to paralyze him.
Reiko's hand flashed quickly through a serious of seals and a part of Mizuki's fear clouded brain realized she was preparing a Katon Jutsu. "Katon: Hōenka!" Reiko murmured as she took a huge breath in before exhaling and 'spitting' several small balls of fire at Mizuki's cowering form. Her victim cried out in agony as the Katon justu engulfed him, causing him to writhe about in agony on the ground.
Thanks to her currently Kyuubi enhanced senses she was able to sense multiple chakra signatures heading straight for her. Powerful signatures making her realize that the Ninja of the village had forgone stealth to go all out without restriction. So she quickly rushed over to 'Naruto's' corpse and cradled it in her arms after removing the giant shuriken from his chest. She buried her face in against the crook of his neck and began to sob heavily against into it. At first the sobs wouldn't have fooled even oncoming Ninja but the reality of the situation finally hit home and her cries became painfully real. She was able to ignore Mizuki's slowly dying cries of pain.
That was the scene the Hokage and his ANBU arrived at, the crying form of Reiko against a bloody Naruto, a burning Mizuki, and the kunai ridden corpse of Iruka. A hand signal from The Third, sent an ANBU to grab the Forbidden Scroll that was lying nearby, as he himself walked up to Reiko's crying form. He gazed sadly down at her and Naruto's body and noted her lack of reaction to his presence. With a heavy sigh he reached out and touched Reiko's shoulder, startling her, and causing her head to snap up to look at him. "O-old...Man..?" She said through her sobs. "Reiko, I need you to tell me what happened here, EVERYTHING that happened here" Sarutobi said gently, but firmly at the same time. Sniffling loudly Reiko told him everything that happened, to a point.
Reiko bent the truth in some areas, saying she had managed to get there in time to hear Mizuki saying something about Naruto being the demon and then saw Naruto die in front of her. She said that she couldn't remember what happened next, said the next thing she remembered was seeing Mizuki burning alive. That was when she rushed over to Naruto.
Reiko purposefully kept a lot of the truth within her 'lie' to make the lie that much harder to pick up…while having the Kyuubi 'back' her words by 'channeling' some of the Kitsune's devious nature. "I see…" The Hokage muttered. "Sleep now Reiko, I'll have you sent to the hospital to rest" Reiko blinked through tear filled eyes and opened her mouth to speak, just as the Hokage delivered a swift chop the back of her neck, rendering her unconscious.
"Take her to the Hospital and put her on double watch and double guard. We've lost enough Ninja today and I don't want to lose another" The Third commanded, worried that she might possibly commit suicide, and one of his ANBU came up to take Reiko's unconscious form before using Shunshin to whisk her away.
Sarutobi looked down at Naruto's bloody corpse and shook his head in shame. It would seem as if Naruto would only find peace in the Next life. At least, he thought, he would be with his Father. "Clean this place up and properly dispose of Mizuki's body. Have Naruto and Iruka brought to the mortician to be cleaned up and prepped for burial." He spared once last look at the bodies before using Shunshin to get back to his office. Tomorrow as going to be a long, long day, he thought.
AN: As it says, it's a rewrite. Sort of. Chapter 0.5 is an addition to show everyone how Reiko came about..in a more plausible fashion over my shitty little additive in chapter 5. Chapter 1 has been...heavily edited as I've learned from some of my past mistakes. Also expect the future chapters to be rewritten/edited as well.
I look forward to your Reviews! Flames are welcome as well; SO LONG AS THEY ARE CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM. I need to know what issues you may have with my story in order to fix them! Simply saying "This story sucks" doesn't tell me what I can do to fix it after all.
Lastly, I do have this planned out. I know where I want this story to go, and when to reveal certain things.
Thank you for reading my story! I hope you've enjoyed it so far!
Revision Date: 8/10/2012 (Sorry it took so long~!)
Signed,
Kit the (Not So) Fiendish Fire Cat~!