Summary: What if Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina had a girl instead of a boy? What would it change? Apparently, very nearly everything.
A/N: Right! So, this is my first story, you have no idea who I am, if my writing is any good, or even if you care, so let me start off by explaining a few things to those of you who don't skip the authors notes.
The premise of this entire story is "What if Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina had had a girl instead of a boy?" I am answering this question as I believe it would happen.
Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, I'd have written myself into it as Shino's girlfriend by now.
Uzumaki Koiru may be only three years old, and maybe her cognitive functions were not fully developed yet, but she was smart enough to understand the concept of opposites. And in the past few hours, she had experienced quite a few.
She had been playing alone, per usual, outside the orphanage where she lived, when an especially inebriated man had wandered up and began insulting her. It was something she was used to, something she took in stride. She didn't quite understand what compelled her to ignore him and continue her game rather than go inside to safety. It had something to do with winning...
When he realized that he was being brushed off by a three-year-old, he got angry. He held his empty sake bottle in a manner that Koiru recognized as threatening. She dropped her game, but held her ground, now giving him her undivided attention.
"What are you, stupid?" he had asked, making a clumsy swing at her while he was still out of range.
She only glared in reply, unaware that a glare from a three year old was not exactly the most threatening thing in the world.
Meanwhile, the man stumbled nearer, raising the bottle for an actual hit.
Suddenly, Koiru was surrounded by ANBU, and the drunk was in a choke hold on the ground.
One of the ANBU bent down in front of her and asked kindly, "Are you alright?"
She nodded in reply.
"We're going to take you to see the Hokage, ok?"
Another nod.
They arrived at Hokage Tower, and Koiru sat quietly in a chair at the Hokage's desk while he and the ANBU had a discussion, looking curiously around the room and taking comfort in the familiar surroundings. She always had a distinct sense of safeness while in the presence of the Hokage, whom she viewed as a surrogate grandfather. He too asked her kindly if she was alright, and after receiving a nod and just a bit of a smile, he gave her a comforting hug and sent her back to the orphanage with an ANBU escort.
Now she was sitting on her bed back at the orphanage, idly twirling her red hair around a finger, big blue eyes narrowed in concentration, thinking. Thinking, more specifically, about opposites. First she was in danger, and then she had been safe. First things had been confusing and uncertain, and then she had assurance. The drunken man, who she had certainly never seen before in her life, had seemed to hate her, while the Hokage, who she had always known, cared for her very much. She was trying very hard to figure out just what exactly caused people to feel two such different extremes about the same person.
It seemed to her that most people she didn't know hated her, though she couldn't fathom why. She hadn't done anything that bad, had she? It also seemed that the very few people who didn't hate her, namely the Hokage, were the most powerful, the most important, and the most caring people she knew. Maybe they liked her because they cared too much? But she discarded that theory quickly. There was simply no such thing.
And then she noticed it. All the people who didn't hate her knew her. All the people who did hate her didn't know her. Her young mind struggled to work it out. As best as she could tell, they didn't like her because they didn't know if she was a good person or not, and they didn't give her a chance to prove herself either way. That wasn't fair. She swore to herself then and there that she would never do such a thing to anyone as long as she lived. Everyone deserved a chance to prove themselves. No matter what.
It was three years later. Uzumaki Koiru had grown from an energetic, outgoing, observant toddler to a brash and insatiably curious child with quite a sense of adventure, that never let anything bring her down.
She had remained mostly an enigma to those who bothered to pay her any attention and knew her past. She didn't seem to hold any grudge based on the way people treated her, despite the fact that they had no good reason. Really, she didn't seem to react at all, or if anything, she became more lively than she already was. The Hokage often wondered just what she was feeling underneath it all. Crippling depression? Boiling hatred? He liked to think she was just a happy child, but he knew better than that.
The other children seemed to avoid her like the flu. First because their parents told them to, and eventually because she was… different. When the rest of the girls were playing dress up with their dolls, she could invariably be found sitting alone near a fallen log, digging for bugs, lizards, or interesting rocks, or else on an unmoving swing just watching the other children go about their business, as if deciphering their foreign rituals.
When they came to her, they did so only to ridicule, and she met their attempts with smiles and offers of friendship. This utterly illogical reaction tended to make them leave without much more hassle.
She had, on multiple occasions, been the one to go to them, asking if she could join their game, or even just saying hi. She had received reactions ranging from being ignored to the others simply leaving.
She had eventually determined that people, especially girls, were far more vicious in groups than on their own. Girls who would simply ignore her if they happened to pass on their own would tease her mercilessly when they had a friend or two with them.
So, as she sat on her swing, she began to look around carefully, so that no one would notice. She spotted a girl who happened to be playing on her own. She had short, dark blue hair and solid white eyes. Koiru had never seen her before.
She sidled up to her nonchalantly. When the girl noticed her, her eyes got wide and she prepared to bolt – but Koiru had given her a trademark beam, and then plopped down a little away and started playing in the sand. Not quite intruding, leaving it up to the other girl to decide if she joined or not, but asserting that she was at least there. After a few moments, the girl had scooted a few feet closer to Koiru and threw her a shy glance. Koiru beamed even wider in response. It had all been going quite well, until a man who also had solid white eyes and long black hair walked up and, shooting Koiru a threatening glare, scooped up the other girl into his arms and carried her away.
She had seen the girl once or twice since, but had always received a frightened, if apologetic, expression, and had decided to leave her alone.
And so she grew up with her only friends being the Hokage and a few masked ANBU. There were very few things the Hokage knew about her. Among them were that she had a tomboy streak a mile wide, and she was obsessed with adventure. So why, why, had it surprised him when, upon entering for their weekly catching up, the first words out of her mouth were, "Hokage-ojisan, can you tell me where I sign up for the ninja academy?"
He simply hadn't known enough about her to gauge what sort of career path she would be interested in. Thinking back, it seemed that her wanting to be a ninja was the most obvious and natural thing in the world. With her parents being who they were, how could she not?
And so he helped her through the process of getting enrolled at the academy, hoping against hope that she didn't drop out for any reason.
Koiru was elated. She had gone to the Hokage and asked him how to become a ninja, expecting some contrived reason why it would be a bad idea for her to do so from the usually overprotective old man. Probably something about too dangerous or risky or some other such nonsense. But she was pleasantly surprised when he ended up personally guiding her through the process of registering.
She was going to be a ninja now. She was going to have adventures. She was going to help people. She was going to have the chance to prove herself to everyone. She was going to be a ninja!
No. No, she would not become a ninja. She would become the best ninja. She would become… the first female Hokage!
Things were changing. She could feel it. It was time for change. Big change. If people weren't going to accept her on their own, she would make them. She would show the world just exactly who she was.
She was Uzumaki Koiru, orphaned, hated by most, and as confident as the rising sun.
The first day of academy had been… interesting to say the least.
She had dressed in her new clothes which she bought specifically for the occasion, which consisted of a bright orange fishnet shirt over a black tank top, black boy's shorts, sandals, and goggles strapped to her head. She didn't know why she would need goggles, but they had looked cool and she'd had just enough left to buy them.
In her excitement she had arrived almost an hour early, to find only the teacher, a young man named Iruka. He had smiled kindly, if a bit sadly, at her, and told her to pick a seat wherever she liked. At first, she'd wanted to sit right up front, so she could see and hear everything Iruka did and said very clearly. But then she thought, 'What would a ninja do?', which was of course sit in the back corner by the window so she could watch everyone and have a quick escape rout. Eventually, her curiosity won, and she settled for the seat closest to the door so she could observe everyone arrive.
It didn't take long.
In the end, there were quite a few, but there were those who stood out above the rest. Like the first person to arrive. It was a boy, with black hair and black eyes, and an air of determination about him to rival her own. He moved to sit in the back corner farthest from her, by the window. He would be one to look out for.
After a smattering of uninteresting children came in, someone arrived whom she was very shocked to see. It was the blue-haired, white-eyed girl who had almost been her friend. She was blushing furiously and twiddling her fingers in a decidedly nervous manner. This girl was a wreck. Koiru quickly motioned that she should take the seat next to her. The expression on the girl's face went momentarily to terrified, and then became more nervous than before. Koiru knew she was remembering whatever her father had said to make her stay away. The girl hung her head in shame and moved to a seat in the back row.
Koiru didn't blame her. She knew if she had a parent, she'd probably listen to everything they told her too.
Then came a boy who had covered every inch of himself in clothing, right down to pitch black sunglasses that you couldn't see his eyes behind. He too took a seat in the back row, directly behind Koiru.
There was now a steady stream of new arrivals, and only one or two every so often seemed especially interesting. Like a boy who came in with and adorable puppy sitting on his head who took a seat smack in the middle of the room.
Then two girls came in together, one with blonde hair and the other with pink. They were chatting amiably and took a seat in the row behind Koiru, but on the other side of the room. She recognized them vaguely as people who had been part of the groups that would make fun of her.
And lastly, two boys came in together, one looking half asleep, the other steadily munching a bag of chips. The one eating looked nice enough, but she immediately pegged the other boy as lazy and unlikely to make it very far in the academy. They took seats in the back middle, and then it seemed as if everyone was there.
The teacher began speaking. "Hello, class! My name is Iruka-sensei, and along with Mizuki-sensei, who does not feel well today, I will be teaching you! Welcome to your first day of ninja academy!"
And with that, he went off on the usual reel of 'being a ninja is hard work' and 'glory isn't significant to ninja' and 'teamwork is always the most important thing'. Koiru listened with rapt attention, committing every word to memory. After an introductory speech that lasted most of the morning, the kids were released for lunch and told to come back in an hour for the last half of class.
Koiru realized then that she had neglected to pack a lunch in her excitement that morning. She wandered out to where all the other kids were eating, stomach rumbling uncomfortably. Looking around, she saw that almost everyone was eating with someone, with the exceptions of the blue haired girl and the boy with the black glasses. She was just considering how best to approach the latter of the two, when a man with shoulder length silver hair entered the grounds heading towards the building.
Koiru watched him curiously, thinking that perhaps he was this Mizuki that Iruka-sensei had mentioned. As he reached the door, he paused, and turned to look directly at her, as if he had sensed her watching him. She realized he probably had. Maybe she was imagining it, but he seemed to be giving her a look of utmost hatred. It was something she was used to, but she hadn't been expecting it from someone who was supposed to be teaching her.
Lost in thought, she forgot all about trying to make friends and wandered off to her favorite swing for the rest of lunch.
The rest of class was a blur which distracted her from the appearance of their second teacher. They were supposed to make little posters with their names and their interests and little illustrations which they then tacked to the walls around the classroom. Koiru was fascinated learning about her classmates, though not many people went to see her poster.
When they got dismissed she decided to treat herself to her favorite meal, ramen, at her favorite ramen stand. The Ichiraku Ramen Bar. It was run by a friendly old man and his daughter, who had always been kind to Koiru and never refused her business, unlike some places in Konoha.
As she took a seat at the bar, Teuchi, the man who owned and ran the place, looked over and shouted, "The usual?"
"You bet!" Koiru shouted right back. Soon enough, three steaming bowls of miso ramen were placed in front of her, and she dug in.
"Well, you seem more cheerful than usual," Teuchi chatted as he cooked. "Any particular reason?"
"I started at the academy today!" Koiru somehow managed to say through her non-stop ramen intake.
"Well! That is something! And you know, I think this calls for a celebration, eh? Your ramen's on the house tonight!"
Koiru gave him a glowing look. This was indeed the beginning of good things.
A/N: It seems like there's so much I want to put in here, but can't. Or rather, if I do it seems like too much, but if I don't some things don't make as much sense as I'd like. Hmm…
Yes, I gave her red hair. See the pic (link below) that I became too attached to. I just had to. Besides, Naruto's mom had red hair. And I don't care if blond is a dominant gene over red!
If you want a clearer view of what she looks like, here's the pic I'm thinking of:
.
I didn't draw it and I don't know who did. But credit goes to them.
On an unrelated note, oh dramatic irony… how I love you so. A cookie to the first person to point it out.
So there's chapter one! Now run along and tell me how terrible it is.