A/N: Hey guys! Welcome to my newest story! Whether you are coming over from my NaruSaku fic or if this is your first time reading one of my stories, I hope you will enjoy it nevertheless.
Ever since reading stories like Love Your Enemy and Horo-Sha, Naruto and Kurotsuchi quickly became my second favorite pairing behind NaruSaku. That is why I have decided to finally give my own spin on the pairing. Before I go any further, I want to make clear that this story WILL NOT be a Romeo and Juliet type romance fic like numerous other NaruKuro stories that have been already published.
In addition, this story will contain NONE OF the Destiny bullcrap that Kishimoto had written in the original Canon plot. This includes things such as the Toad Sage, that child of prophecy nonsense, Sage of Six Paths reincarnate and ESPECIALLY Kaguya Otsutsuki.
This story takes place beginning directly after the Pein Arc when Naruto defeats Nagato. At the very core of this plot though is a character who has had his world turned upside down, which in turn causes him to question what he really wants for himself. As Naruto progresses through the War Arc, he will be begin to find love with someone who see hims beyond being Hero of the Leaf or Savior of the Shinobi World.
Without further adieu, let's get right into the first chapter of The Fox & the Hardheaded Iwa Nin.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, any of it's characters, places, original plot, etc. All rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto.
Chapter 1
One week had passed since The Village Hidden in the Leaves had been decimated by a surprise attack launched by the Akatsuki leader, Pain. Most of the structures that once stood throughout the village had been blown away with a single use of Pain's Shinra Tensei jutsu. Decades of growth were now nothing more than a pile of rubble, surrounding a deep crater the lie at the very heart of the village. Everything had looked hopeless, until one boy returned to the village and defeated the Six Paths of Pain, along with the one controlling the action from behind the scenes. Had it not been for brave actions of this young hero, the Leaf would no longer be standing.
The villagers once used to ostracize this boy, looking down on him just as was the case in with every other jinchuuriki across the five great nations. He was their scapegoat, the person they blamed for all the damage that had been inflicted upon the Leaf sixteen years ago by the Nine-Tails. What the villagers refused to accept or acknowledge was the fact that this boy was human, no different than the rest of them, with one noticeable difference. He was the one and only thing keeping the demon fox from going rampant.
The choice of being the next village's jinchuuriki had not been made by him, as it was decided upon the night of his birth when the Fourth Hokage sealed the Nine-Tails within the newborn. In the end though, he was the one person to succeed where others had failed, saving the village and bringing those who perished back to life. The one person that the villagers least expected to save them all, had finally proven everyone wrong. Who might this boy be you ask? His name, is Naruto Uzumaki.
Ever since the brief impromptu ceremony that was held upon Naruto's return after confronting the real Pain, there had been little to no sightings of the hyperactive blonde. Those who wished to give thanks for saving their lives or apologize for treating him so harshly were sorely disappointed. Ever since the rebuilding process had begun, the Village Hero nowhere to be seen.
Naruto's sudden change in demeanor caught everyone by surprise, especially with how joyful and outgoing he normally was. Even those close to him were growing concerned for the blonde jinchuuriki. What no one knew however, is that Naruto had been intentionally avoiding everyone for a reason.
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Naruto was currently sitting atop his father's head on the Hokage Monument, trying to meditate in hopes he could find a solution to guide him out of his current predicament. He was still deeply troubled after having not one, but two bombshells dropped on him during his fight with Pain's final surrogate body.
Flashback Begin
During his fight with the Akatsuki leader, Naruto had entered a six-tailed state after witnessing Pain drive a chakra rod through Hinata's abdomen. The shock of seeing someone he cared get killed while trying to protect him caused Naruto's heart to connect with the Kyuubi, releasing the demon fox's chakra.
As the fight raged on with Naruto growing more powerful by the minute, Pain was left no other choice but to contain the miniature kitsune using Planetary Devastation.
Just as he was about to remove the seal from the Kyuubi's cage, Naruto found himself stopped as a hand took hold of his wrist and forced him to the ground. Looking up, Naruto saw that the very same figure who had stopped him was now offering a hand to help him back up to his feet. That is when the real shock began to set in.
Standing right before Naruto was none other than his childhood hero, the Fourth Hokage. Not only had the Yondaime called him by his name, but Naruto was at a loss for words when he told him that he was his father.
As the two talked, Naruto learned of the real reason why his father had sealed half of the Kyuubi within him. On the night of Naruto's birth sixteen years ago, a masked man had manipulated the Nine-Tails into attacking the village using the Sharingan in his right eye.
Minato believed the attack sixteen years ago was only the first round, with the mysterious mastermind likely to strike the village again. Sealing half of the Kyuubi within Naruto was his way of ensuring that the village would be protected should a similar threat arise, but that could only be achieved if Naruto could learn to master the beast's chakra.
With time running out, Minato rebuilt the seal and said goodbye to his son, but not before saying the words that Naruto had always wished he could have heard as a child. Minato told Naruto that he was proud of everything his son had accomplished and believed that he could do anything he set his mind to as long as he stuck to his ninja way.
Flashback End
Coming back to the present, Naruto couldn't help but smile a bit after recalling the events of meeting his father for the first and possibly, only time. Years of hard work and training that Naruto had put in to prove had finally paid off. He had succeeded in his wish to be finally acknowledged. More importantly though, Naruto had finally proven everyone who doubted him wrong. The funny this was, even though Naruto had achieved on of his childhood goals, it didn't give him the feeling of satisfaction that he thought it would.
Despite being dubbed the Village Hero, Naruto didn't feel like he deserved all the attention and love that he was now receiving. He had been alone his entire life, not knowing what is was like to be truly loved. This sudden change in the villager's attitude, treating him with the respect he had always yearned for as a child was something he didn't feel accustomed to.
Naruto was also beginning to understand what Sasuke had gone through in their academy days, as he now seemed to have his own loyal following of fangirls chasing after him. Though he thought the girls were cute, Naruto just let their sudden affections for him simmer on the back burner.
Several of them had already made offers to treat him out to eat or asked if they could be his girlfriend. Somewhere in between the lines however, all Naruto could hear them go on and on about was how grateful they were to him for saving the village. Naruto figured that was the reason he had not given a single one of them the light of day. These fangirls only seemed to start giving a damn about him after he had become popular. He wanted to be seen as the person he had always been, not someone with a fancy title such as Hero of the Leaf.
Recalling what had caused him to go into a rampage in the first place, Naruto remembered hearing Hinata profess her love for him just before he thought that he had witnessed Pain killing her.
Naruto was grateful to Hinata for risking her life to save his own, but he didn't know how to respond. To Naruto, she was a friend, but he couldn't honestly say whether or not he felt the same way as she did.
Shaking his head of any further thoughts, he heard a pair of footsteps coming up behind him. He turned around to see his teammate and best-friend, Sakura.
"There you are! I've been looking all over the place for you!" Sakura exclaimed.
"Oh, Hey Sakura-chan." Naruto greeted weakly, giving his teammate a fake smile. "Sorry if it seemed like I've been avoiding everyone. Just needed some time to be alone and clear my head."
"Don't give me that crap Naruto. I know you better than that. You've been acting like a loner all week and everyone has been getting really worried about you." Sakura said.
"I appreciate the concern Sakura-chan, but I'm fine." Naruto muttered under his breath.
"No you aren't Naruto. Something has to be weighing on your mind for you to isolate yourself like this. And whatever it is, it must really be bothering you. Do want to talk about it?" Sakura asked, as she took a seat next to her friend.
"I appreciate the offer Sakura-chan, but I'm just not in the mood right now." Naruto said.
Sakura frowned. She was a bit frustrated by the way that Naruto was bottling things up. Instead of being straight to the point as she generally did, Sakura decided it might be better take a different approach this time.
"You know that you can tell me anything Naruto. I won't hold any judgement against you. We're friends aren't we?" Sakura inquired.
"Of course we are. But this is something I don't feel comfortable sharing with anyone right now, not even you. I'm sorry Sakura-chan." Naruto replied.
"Okay. Well if you change your mind, you know I'm always here if you need someone to talk to." Sakura said in a reassuring tone.
"Thanks. So what brought you all the way up here to just to find little old me?" Naruto asked curiously.
"Well I've got some good news that should brighten your day a bit, Mr. Gloomy. Lady Tsunade has woken up and she is requesting to see you." Sakura answered.
Naruto's eyes widened. Grandma Tsunade as he called her, had gone into a coma after exhausting herself of chakra as Pain launched his attack. She had used the chakra built up within her Strength of One Hundred seal, summoning Lady Katsuyu to protect the villagers.
Words couldn't even begin to describe the feeling of relief that washed over him, knowing his mother-like figure was finally awake once again.
"Okay Sakura-chan. Can you take me to her tent?" Naruto inquired.
"Of course. Follow me." Sakura chirped, giving Naruto a bright smile.
As they began to make their descent down the mountain, Naruto began running through what he was going to tell the busty Hokage.
He remembered that Jounin sensei, Kakashi Hatake, telling him during his nature manipulation training that the Fourth had been his sensei. Naruto figured if he was going to tell the old hag about what transpired during the fight, the masked pervert should probably be present as well.
"Hold up Sakura-chan. Before we go see Granny Tsunade, I think we better find Kakashi-sensei first."
"But Lady Tsunade requested your presence alone. She…." Sakura began, but was cut off as her teammate began to speak.
"I know Sakura, but there is something that I need to discuss with both of them. And before you ask, it cannot wait." Naruto emphasized.
Though reluctant at first, Sakura finally gave her friend a nod in understanding as the two took off to find the Copycat Ninja.
XXXX
The Godaime was currently residing in her tent medical tent, chowing down on a plate of food that Shizune had brought her to help recover her strength.
Tsunade still felt extremely fatigued from using all of her chakra up just before Pain leveled the village. As much as she wanted to get some rest, the busty Hokage knew it would be near impossible with a certain loudmouth blonde Genin coming to see her anytime now.
Letting out a deep sigh, Tsunade closed her eyelids and tried to get some shuteye in before that could happen.
"GRANNY TSUNADE!" Called out the voice of a young man.
'Damn brat! Can't he ever learn to shut up and stop yelling.' Tsunade thought to herself.
As the flaps to her tent were pushed to either side, she saw her favorite hyperactive blonde coming barreling towards her and quickly found herself to be pulled in for a tight embrace.
Sakura, Shizune and Kakashi couldn't help but smile at the sudden affection that the blonde was showing for his mother-like figure.
"Thank kami you're okay Granny." Naruto said.
"It's nice to see you too brat, but could you please ease up a bit. I just woke up a little while ago and am still somewhat exhausted." Tsunade said.
"Oops. Sorry Granny." Naruto said while rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
"It's alright." Tsunade said, giving the younger blonde a brief smile as she turned her attention to look at her two students.
"You may go Sakura. Same goes for you Shizune. I will call for you again when I need you." Tsunade declared.
"Yes m'lady." Her students responded, bowing before they exited the tent.
After they were gone, Tsunade once again fixed her gaze on the blonde jinchuuriki.
"Alright Naruto, so let's get down to business. The reason I requested your presence is because I want to know what happened during your fight with Pain after I had gone into a coma. But before you begin with your report, do you mind telling me why you dragged your sensei along when I had only requested to see alone?" Tsunade inquired.
"I know Granny and I'm sorry, but part of my report will contain some very important information. The reason I brought Kakashi-sensei along is because I'm sure it's something he might be able to lend some more insight." Naruto relented.
"Very well. You may begin whenever you're ready." Tsunade said.
Naruto nodded, taking a deep breath as he began to recount the events of his fight with Pain to Tsunade and Kakashi. He deliberately had stopped at the point of what caused him to go into a six-tailed state because that was where the most important thing he had to discuss with the busty Hokage and his Jounin sensei.
When Naruto finished detailing what he had gone through after she had slipped into her coma, Tsunade was at a loss for words. She knew Naruto was strong, but she couldn't believe that he had single-handedly eliminated the Six Paths of Pain all by himself.
'You've come a long way Naruto. Jiraiya and your parents would be so proud of you.' She thought while a small smile formed at the corners of her mouth.
Kakashi on the other hand already knew most of the important details thanks to Lady Katsuyu, so he didn't really bother paying too much attention to Naruto as he made his report to the Godaime. The only thing Kakashi didn't understand though was how Naruto had managed to suppress the Kyuubi's chakra. He hoped that whatever reason Naruto had for dragging him along to meet with Lady Tsunade would finally provide the missing pieces to solve the puzzle.
"Well that's quite the tale Naruto, but I get the feeling this is the part where you want to talk about the important information you mentioned earlier. Would that be correct?" Tsunade inquired.
"Hai. When I was pinned to the ground by Pain's chakra rods, Hinata came to my rescue. She tried to remove the rods, but was unable to loosen more than a couple of them before Pain engaged her in combat." Naruto began.
"Go on." Tsunade said, motioning with her hand for Naruto to continue.
"Despite her best efforts to hold off the final Pain, she was no match for him. I watched on in horror as he used his Universal Control jutsu to send Hinata crashing to the ground and quickly followed it up by driving one of his chakra rods through her abdomen. That's what caused me to lose control, giving into my hatred, thus connecting my will with the Kyuubi's." Naruto said.
"After I had gone into an Eight-Tailed state, I was just about to undo the seal on the Kyuubi's cage. That's when someone grabbed my arm and stopped me before I could do it." Naruto continued.
"Someone stopped you?" Tsunade asked.
"Hai. It was the Yondaime." Naruto replied.
Both Tsunade and Kakashi's eyes widened upon hearing this.
"That isn't all though. During a conversation I had with him, I learned that he was my father. Dad went on further to say that Hiruzen-ojiisan was aware of my parentage, which is the reason why I asked you to come sensei. Did either of you know who my parents were?"
Tsunade and Kakashi gave each other a look of uncertainty, unsure of how to approach this new development.
After a few moments of silence, the Godaime figured that she should probably be the one to answer Naruto first, thus allowing Kakashi to chime in and help fill in the gaps when appropriate.
"We've both known who your parents were since the day you were born." Tsunade said.
"I've known of your parentage much longer than Lady Tsunade has. When your mother was pregnant with you, sensei assigned me to be her personal ANBU bodyguard. It was my duty to watch over her from the shadows at all times and ensure no harm came to her." Kakashi stated.
The Copycat Ninja and the busty Hokage sat there, watching as tears began to form in the corners of Naruto's eyes. Neither one of them was sure what to expect or how the young blonde might react, but they braced themselves for whatever might come their way.
"You knew. All of this time, you knew who my parents were and you didn't think once to tell me about them?" Naruto shouted, as the tears began to roll down his face.
"We're sorry for keeping you in the dark like this Naruto. There were very few people who knew of your true parentage. Aside from myself, the only others to know about it were the Sandaime, Kakashi and the old pervert Jiraiya." Tsunade said in a reassuring tone.
"Ero-Sennin too? Why didn't you guys ever say anything to me?" Naruto yelled in frustration, as tears continued to pour from his eyes.
"I understand that you've just had your whole world turned upside-down Naruto, but the Sandaime chose to keep the identity of your father top secret. Your father had a number of enemies, the most notable being the Hidden Stone. Are you familiar with the events of what earned your father his nickname as Konoha's Yellow Flash?" Kakashi asked.
"Hai. If I remember correctly, Iruka-sensei told us in the academy that the Tsuchikage had sent 1,000 of his troops to invade Fire Country. He went on further to explain that my father had single-handedly wiped them out." Naruto answered.
"That's right Naruto. This is why your parents were married in secret, not to mention why you were given your mother's last name after their deaths during the Kyuubi attack. Sandaime-sama wanted to avoid any potential future conflicts with the old fence-sitter." Kakashi stated.
"Can you tell me anything about my mom? You know, what she was like?" Naruto asked.
"I would be happy to Naruto, but that is a conversation for another time." Kakashi replied, giving his student an eye smile.
"Agreed. Now the old perv asked me to give this to you in the event he didn't return." Tsunade said as she took out a scroll from a drawer in her makeshift desk and handed it to Naruto.
"The Sandaime was supposed to wait until you were either a Jounin or turned 18. Considering the circumstances have changed however, I think you should read it whenever you feel ready." She explained.
"Thank you. I'm sorry for my outburst from before, but this is just so much to take in and I don't know what to do." Naruto said, wiping the few remaining tears from his eyes.
"It's alright Naruto. I would have done the very same thing had I been in your position, receiving such life-altering new in the manner like you just did." Kakashi consoled, placing a hand on his student's shoulder while giving him a trademark eye smile.
"I'm sure your parents would both be very proud of you Naruto. Moving on though, it seems we owe you a great debt once again Naruto. Had you not shown up when you did, Pain probably would have wiped this village off the map permanently." Tsunade reassured.
The tender moment was quickly brought to an abrupt end as the flaps of the tent were pushed aside once again to reveal a panting Shizune.
"I thought I told you that were dismissed Shizune!" Tsunade boomed.
"Sorry for the interruption Lady Tsunade, but we have a major problem." Shizune managed to get out, still panting while trying to ease her breath.
"What do you mean?" Tsunade inquired.
"The council called for an emergency meeting while you were still in a coma. They were trying to find a successor to take your place as the Rokudaime. The Daimyo himself was present with his advisers and selected Danzo as his candidate of choice." Shizune started nervously.
"WHAT!" Tsunade screamed. "How dare those old geezers try to replace me while I was in a coma!"
"I'm sorry m'lady." Shizune whispered, desperately trying to avoid upsetting her master any further.
"It's alright Shizune." Tsunade said before turning her gaze to the blonde jinchuuriki. "Naruto, I want you to come with me right now. I have a sneaking suspicion that the Old Warhawk is planning to use the Akatsuki attack to his advantage and make the Leaf a military superpower. If we don't stop him, the village will no doubt be plunged into chaos under his leadership."
Naruto nodded as he followed the Godaime out of her tent and raced off in the direction of the emergency meeting spot where the next Hokage was always determined in the past per village tradition.
End Chapter 1
Alright everyone. I hope you enjoyed this first chapter of my new fic. Like my NaruSaku story, I will try to update this NaruKuro fic at least once or twice a month, depending on when time permits. I also want to take the opportunity to thank my beta reader, Tormint, for reviewing this chapter before I published it.
For those wondering when Kurotsuchi will be making her first appearance, it won't be for a few chapters at least. Her first encounter with Naruto will also be taking place a bit later on as well, as I need to ensure that I've given Kurotuschi's character the proper build up before I can even begin laying the foundation for the beginning of their relationship.
If you have any suggestions for a better title, please feel free to leave them in a review. I would love to hear what you guys think. Thanks for reading and I'll see you guys next time!