Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Speed Racer or Naruto franchises. This crossover fanfiction is written only for non-profit entertainment purposes under the Fair Use Act.

Author's Note: This is a re-write of Naruto the Fox Racer with some improvements here and there that will make it much better than the original. However, there will still be some bashing, so don't be surprised! Don't worry, Sasuke will be redeemed. Also, there will be references to the 2008 live-action movie by the Wachowski brothers.

Naruto the Fox Racer Redux

By AlxkendBlader

Chapter 1: Beginnings

Prior to the mission to retrieve Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto had decided that he has had enough of the Hidden Leaf Village's (Konoha for short) B.S., especially in Sakura Haruno's rabid fan-girl attitude, the hypocrisy of his assigned jonin sensei, Kakashi Hatake, as well as the fact that the Civilian Council treated Sasuke as their golden boy and even pampering him excessively. Thus, he revealed to Tsunade that he had been pretending to be an idiot so that he could hide that he was secretly doing some independent training to become stronger as a ninja up until the fiasco of the Chunin Exams, and that he knew that Minato Namikaze, the currently-deceased Forth Hokage, was his father. He also intends to go into a self-imposed exile during the mission.

She may not have liked the idea, but it was understandable, especially when she looked over the medical reports concerning her godson among other information. Jiraiya wasn't big on the idea, either, but he too had understood the circumstances behind what Naruto intended to do, and was disappointed in his sensei, the late Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, for his inability to truly do anything about it. He was also disappointed in himself for not having been there for Naruto, no matter how much he needed to maintain his spy network or write his adult novels. The two sannin then decided that their godson should not have to leave the village empty-handed; they decided to give Naruto his long-denied inheritances, in the form of money from the Namikaze and Uzumaki clan bank accounts, valuable clan jutsu scrolls, weapons, clan artifacts (especially the Uzumaki masks), etc. all stored up in a single high-capacity storage scroll. In that way, not only would he have something to fall back on, but the Civilian Council would have nothing from him to take for themselves.

Naruto then informed certain ninjas within the village, especially his fellow rookies, about his plans for exile, even Hinata Hyuga. Also surprising the shy Hyuga heiress; he revealed that he actually knew of her feelings for him, and felt the same way for her. His parting words for the girl is for her to grow strong for him and to never let her family issues drag her down. And on top of that, he gave her a little kiss on the lips, causing her to faint.

(Time Skip no Jutsu: Post-Valley of the End confrontation)

Our blonde hero had just managed to defeat Sasuke, knocking him unconscious. However, he doesn't intend to waste any more time at the moment, as his self-imposed exile was about to begin. He had also sensed Kakashi's chakra signature, making his eyes narrow in contempt. He leaves behind a little message for his so-called sensei to read, as he then began to walk away from the valley, to parts unknown.

When Kakashi arrived at the site of Naruto and Sasuke's fierce battle, he found an unconscious Sasuke but no signs of the blonde jinchuuriki. He did, however, find a scroll next to Sasuke's body. As he puts the renegade Uchiha scion over his shoulder, the silver-haired jonin picks up the scroll and unfurls it, reading the message inside;

"Dear Kakashi-teme,

If you're reading this, then I've already left this valley for parts unknown. You see, I had it with all the B.S. I've been suffering through for the past several years in my life, from Sakura's attitude concerning Sasuke, to your hypocritical favoritism with him! Along with that, the way that the Civilian Council puts him on a pedestal as their golden boy and treating him like he's Kami's gift to the ninja arts, along with making moves to bring me down as much as they could! Well, here's some news; all this time, I had been pretending to be an idiot all so I could hide that I had my own secret training regimens from you and that spoiled duck-haired teme! I wasn't about to let you, Sasuke, or that pink-haired floozy drag me down, no matter how weak and stupid I acted around you lot!

Oh, and certain ninjas, along with Tsunade and Ero-Sannin, I informed them of my intent for self-imposed exile. I'm not coming back to Konoha, even if my father was a past Hokage! That's right, Kakashi, I know that I'm Minato Namikaze's kid, along with being the son of my totally bad-ass mom, Kushina Uzumaki! Because of your favoritism with Sasuke, you disgraced tou-san's teachings, all for the sake of repaying Obito Uchiha for giving you that stupid monkey eye! He would be more than just disappointed in you! He'd be pissed! I have a hunch Obito-san would be, too.

I am not your student anymore,

Naruto Uzumaki

PS: Hope you're prepared to face your punishment from baa-chan when you return home to Konoha!"

Kakashi, after reading the message, paled severely, knowing that he had made a terrible mistake for his own selfish reasons. And now, he and what's left of Team 7 would pay the price for it severely when he and Sasuke return to the village with the other rookies...

Meanwhile, Naruto had just managed to board a ship that is departing from the continent of the Elemental Nations, and by extension, his own traumatic past within Konoha. Wearing an Uzushiogakure headband that was once worn by his mother in place of the Konoha headband, he took in the salty air of the ocean as the ship made its way towards a place outside of his old home. He thinks to himself, "Now that I think about it, it seems really selfish of me to leave the Elemental Nations and my friends behind altogether, but I had enough with all the B.S. from jerks like Haruno, Hatake, and that stupid Civilian Council! Good-bye dark past, hello bright future! I wonder what it may hold for me..."

In response to his thoughts, Naruto's tenant, the Nine-Tailed Fox, remarked, "Who knows, kit? Perhaps you might find a new job, hopefully one befitting of your skills."

Mentally nodding in agreement with his inner demon, he looked on at the horizon in anticipation of what would be the start of his new life. However, Naruto did promise to Tsunade that he would keep in contact with her via toad summons, to get updates from her from time to time.

A few days later, the ship arrived at a far away island nation known as Japan, or Nippon as it is referred to as by its denizens. The vessel docked in Tokyo Bay, where Naruto disembarked and walked into the city of Tokyo, as he marveled at all the skyscrapers and those strange horseless carriages going to and fro on paved roadways. He had also noticed that people there, most likely in all of Japan as a whole, speak the same language as in the Elemental Nations. However, if Naruto is going to buy anything in this town, he'd have to go to a currency exchange office in order to turn a portion of his parents' hard-earned money into the local currency. Before he could do so, he notices a man in a business suit being harassed by three mean-looking assailants. It appears that they intend to mug their victim. Seeing someone in need, Naruto stealthily approaches the thugs as he then caught them by surprise, knocking them out with a bokken via kenjutsu.

Naruto then ties the three thugs up real tight in ninja wire, before turning to the businessman and asking him, "Are you alright?"

He replied while dusting himself off, "I am a bit shaken up, but relatively unscathed. Thank you for saving me, lad. It was most appreciated. I have to admit, though, I've never seen someone as young as you having such skill in swordplay. Is there any way I could repay you?"

Naruto shook his head as he replied, "No need to repay me. I was just doing what's right, that's all. I'm new here in this country, and this town. I'll be on my way now."

He then walked off, going on his merry way through the city of Tokyo, not knowing of what may come his way. After experiencing the sights and sounds of the city, he decided that he'll be going somewhere more natural; a forest somewhere outside the city limits. It was there at this forest that he decided to meditate on his situation, but little did he know of who he is going to encounter.

Watching his every move since he had entered the forest is a figure dressed in a black ninja uniform with a ninjato on his back. His face could not be entirely seen due to his mask, but his eyes could be seen.

Upon noticing the headband on Naruto's head, he raised an eyebrow and thought, "A genin, from the Elemental Nations? What could this boy be doing here so far away from whatever village he had come from," but when he saw the symbol of the Hidden Whirlpool Village on the metal plate, he narrowed his eyes in suspicion, "That boy has the symbol of Uzushiogakure upon his headband. Could it be that he is one of them? I must go in for a closer look!"

Just as the individual had secretly followed Naruto to where he is meditating and is watching him he thought, "Maybe I could test him a little with a few blowdarts."

The black-clad ninja smirked underneath his mask as he took out a blowgun and loads a dart into it, before taking aim. However, before he could do anything else, he noticed that Naruto disappeared and thought, "Blast it! Where did he go," as he then looked around desperately for his target.

As if in response to his thoughts, he hears Naruto's voice say to him, "Right behind you, pal!"

The ninja turned around fast as he then finds himself with a mean-looking blade being pointed at his throat. Raising his hands up in surrender, the ninja asked Naruto, "How did you know I was spying on you?"

Naruto explained, "Well, I sensed your chakra signature the moment I went into your block of the woods, and as I was traversing through the area. Now, being a jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox, I was able to sense your negative emotions. That's how I caught onto you."

"A jinchuuriki, eh?" asked the ninja, "We've never actually seen a jinchuuriki in years, especially someone as young as you. Now then, do you happen to be of the Uzumaki clan by any chance?"

As soon as Naruto nodded, the ninja then added, "Boy, the Minamoto clan, of which I am a member, were once the arch-rivals of the Uzumaki clan before leaving the Elemental Nations. We saw each other as our own worthiest opponents, let me tell you, Uzumaki. I think that I should take you to see the clan head to discuss about what to do with you. Our fortress is nearby in a secret location that only clan members know."

That day, he had started to work with the Minamoto ninjas on a variety of missions, similar to back home in the Elemental Nations, but thankfully, no dull and boring household chores. No, these are real missions, like capturing high-profile criminals in collaboration with Interpol (an international law enforcement organization), bodyguard work, and the occasional assassination or two. The pay for those missions is reasonable enough. While not on any missions, he would read books and such to study up on how the world beyond the Elemental Nations worked and how much society had evolved. He had also continued learning new jutsu from the scrolls that he took with him, and using the Shadow Clone Jutsu, he learned them quite quickly, thanks to a certain quirk behind the high-ranking technique; When a Shadow Clone disperses, that clone's memories is transferred to the brain of the person who performed the jutsu. Of course, he made sure to contact Tsunade via toad summons now and again for status updates concerning Konoha.

The village had gone through some changes since he left. Apparently, Sasuke had a major epiphany, realizing how foolish he was as to accept Orochimaru's cursed seal and is now working to redeem himself in the eyes of his fellow ninjas. Because of Kakashi's incompetence and favoritism while as an instructor for Team 7, he was demoted to chunin and assigned to gate guard duty as punishment. Sakura Haruno complained like a spoiled brat about how "her Sasuke" was defeated in battle by "that loser" (Naruto), earning her the scorn of the other rookies, even Ino and surprisingly Sasuke.

When the Civilian Council had found out of Naruto's self-imposed exile, they demanded for Tsunade to send hunter ninjas to find and bring him back to be tried for treason and injuring their golden boy, Sasuke. This was shot down, however, when they were confronted with incriminating evidence against certain members. As it turned out, certain members of the Civilian Council were involved in some pretty nasty acts of corruption; Embezzling village funds for their own selfish purposes, bribery, and others. But worst of all, they were selling information to enemy villages, which is a serious act of treason. They were arrested and removed from power.

Hinata improved herself, and was even able to defeat her younger sister, Hanabi, in a training session. With her new found confidence and strength she earned her father's respect, as well as that of some of the other main branch Hyugas and cadet branch members. However, the Hyuga elders, who cling to ancient and outdated clan traditions, still look down on her. However, those arrogant old coots weren't laughing for long, as a cadet branch member came forward, revealing to Hiashi that he was secretly ordered to poison his wife after she gave birth to Hanabi. This was confirmed with an autopsy performed on the missus' body by Tsunade. The elders were removed from power with this, much to the displeasure of those who sided with them, but they were silenced. As clan head, Hiashi's word in the Hyuga clan is law.

While on the topic of missions, Naruto had won the admiration of the Karasugoi family, who are close associates of the Minamoto ninjas and the operators of a prominent automobile manufacturer in Japan. It was during a security job at the Karasugoi Motors (1) office that he had foiled the attempted kidnapping of Wanko Karasugoi (the daughter of CEO Kurao Karasugoi) by an intruder, who turned out to be a corporate spy under the employ of a rival company; Kawarimono Inc. (2), whose CEO that had ordered the kidnapping has since been fired, arrested, and replaced. In gratitude for rescuing Wanko, Mr. Karasugoi offered Naruto a free tour of the Karasugoi Motors factory. He himself, who had come to gain a fascination with automobiles during his studies of the modern world, happily accepted. During the tour, he was especially fascinated with the sport of auto racing, especially when he sees footage of Karasugoi's racing models in action. He decided there and then that he wants to be a racing driver in addition to being a ninja.

Of course, he'd have to wait some years before he could apply to take an exam in order to get a driver's license, especially since it is generally illegal for people to drive automobiles below the legal age for safety reasons.

Chapter End

Okay, so there we have it for the first chapter for the re-write of Naruto the Fox Racer. I found that I wasn't satisfied with the original version of this fic, so I decided to re-make it. Constructive reviews are appreciated. The Minamoto clan, I'll admit, seemed like something I made up on the spot only for the purpose of helping the story progress in this chapter, but I wasn't about to let Naruto's ninja skills be rendered useless in a modern society like something in the universe of the original Speed Racer cartoon series.

1. A reference to the Karasugoi hotblock in the Grey Ghost's T-180 car, the Fumeé. See the Supercharged featurette to see what I'm talking about.

2. A reference to the Kawarimono chassis used in the cars driven by those military-looking dudes from Sempre Fi-Ber in the Casa Cristo 5000. Again, see the Supercharged featurette to see what I'm talking about.