Vendetta

Rating: T for heavy language, most likely M later for language.

Disclaimer: No, I do not own Naruto. And this will be the only time I say it too.

AN : This is not a variation of the original Vendetta but it has some similar ideas. For a more thorough explanation, check the ending notes or my profile. And, before you flame me for it, I know that Naruto is OOC and so are a couple others. This is my idea of what would happen in an AU with a ninja high school with his parents alive. That said, enjoy!

Chapter 1 - Yo

The name's Naruto. Yeah, I'm named after fishcake; great, huh? Still, it's better than some generic name like Sakura. I've met more girls with that name than any other—and not one had pink hair like the one I know now. And not one hits as hard as her either, come to think of it.

My friends are part of the 'it' crowd in school. I'm not though, not really. I mean, almost all of my friends are pretty much known across campus, but not many other people know about me. I like it that way; a ninja's best friend—next to the dark—is secrecy. It's funny though; you'd think with the Hokage as your old man and an elite jounin as a mom, people would be all over me, right?

Wrong. At school, I'm Uzumaki Naruto, not Namikaze Naruto, the only son of the Yondaime. This way is better. People don't flatter me just to get to my old man. To them, I'm just this distant relative of my mom, Uzumaki Kushina, who lives alone—that part is true though; I moved out about two years ago when I was fifteen, into an apartment a few blocks away. I still come home for dinner every now and then though. My friends don't know about my heritage either, which is a blessing. Their folks, on the other hand, they know since most of them are clan heads and all. I asked them not to tell; it's less troublesome, using Shikamaru's words.

They also don't know about the little furball behind my navel. No one other than my immediate family and a few select others know about Kyuubi. That secret will never get out, unless they want to be at the receiving end of the Yondaime's rage. Not a pretty sight; I was there when dad just about lost it with Kumo (cloud) about twelve years ago.

Actually, today marks the anniversary of the end of that war, which is why everyone in school is wearing black to honor those who lost their lives fighting for their home and family. There a couple people who decide to be funny and wear some outrageous color like orange, yellow, red—one idiot even wore hot pink—to stand out. It was pretty funny watching Kakashi-nii go up to them and have a 'talk' with them about disrespect. Funny. He and Obito-nii do it to dad all the time.

I myself was wearing all black, which wasn't all that different from my usual clothing, except the pants were black instead of dark blue. Thankfully, my mom's fixation with orange didn't rub off on me as I grew (she took to dressing me in orange kimonos for diplomatic meetings when I was younger). At the moment, I was looking around for Sakura to see if she had dyed her hair black for the occasion like I had jokingly suggested to her. 'Course, she might have done it anyway just to impress a certain someone.

You see, I guess you could say some girls that I know come to me for advice, mainly 'cause I don't date much or like anyone. I'm not gay, but I just don't see the point if all you're gonna do is break up with that person after a few months or so. (Then again, people like Kiba do it anyway just for the heck of it.) Well, back to Sakura. She told me that this guy—one that didn't go to our school, that she had seen talking to Sasuke-teme who had transferred a while back—she liked was going to be in the area today and she might meet up with him later, so she wanted to look extra good. Again, I really don't see the point in it, but if I said that I would probably be at the receiving end of a very hard punch, so I kept my mouth shut.

"Hey Kiba," I said, nodding to the brunette heir of the Inuzuka clan. He and Shikamaru (who's just too lazy to stay with a girl) are players in the truest sense of the word, which was why a very scantily covered blonde was hanging off his arm.

He grinned in a cheeky way. "Naruto. Seen Sakura yet?"

Odd question. "No, should I?" Somehow, I was getting a bad feeling, and around Kiba, that was never a good thing.

"Good. Don't."

" . . . What?"

Sighing in what was meant to be a long-suffering way, the dog-nin whispered something into the blonde's ear who then giggled—have I mentioned that I absolutely hate it when those girls giggle?—and left. "Now that we're . . . semi-alone, I think you should know that Sasuke and Sakura were in a compromising situation earlier this morning."

Say what? Sasuke-teme wasn't even in town. I voiced my opinions to Kiba, who merely shrugged and left to find his other blonde friend. I scratched my head; didn't Sakura have a crush on one of those guys from out of town? Then why . . . oh. That made sense. She probably did it to make the other dude jealous if he was there. If he wasn't, then I have absolutely no idea why one of my best friends was feeling up another best friend. But why would Kiba tell me to not see Sakura today? Unless she was pissed off of course, which meant that she would seek out the nearest person who could survive her anger.

. . . Crap. Having Kyuubi sealed in me, though no one knew, made me heal much faster than normal. Sakura thought that I was just a fast healer, meaning that she would probably be out looking for me—

"Nautoooo." I sighed and turned around. As expected, Sakura was there—she actually had dyed her hair, but it was more of a strawberry blonde than black—with a falsely sweet smile adorning her face. "You know," by now she was right next to me, "I was wondering if you knew how people figured out about my little situation this morning? Because," now she was flipping her hair though the effect was a bit ruined since it was so short, "that wouldn't be very nice."

"No, Sakura, I don't know who started it," I replied dully. "Kiba just told me now, so I suggest beating it out of him."

"Hmm." She pursed her lips thoughtfully before they tugged down in a frown. "Naruto, do you know what exactly happened this morning?"

"No," I said again, but I'm sure you'll tell me.

Right in one.

Sakura chewed on her lip for a second and then dragged me to a janitor's closet. To anyone who might have been watching, it would have been quite strange to see one of the most sought-after girls going into a closet with a relatively unknown boy, but it's not like Sakura cares. She's the one who tells me to hang out with her crowd more, to be 'popular'. Just like dating, I never understood the true point, but back to the matter at hand. "Okay," she said once we were in the dingy looking closet, "this is what happened.

"I saw Sasuke and . . . 'him' on my way to school, so I thought it would be a good idea to say hi to Sasuke-kun. Then Sasuke saw my hair, 'he' left after a while, and things kinda got out of hand. Worst part though, he didn't see us in that situation so I don't know if he's jealous or not," Sakura finished, staring at me for an answer.

"Uh . . . " I scratched my head. Offering dating advice wasn't my strong suit, no matter what girls thought when they confided in me. "You didn't—" I gestured widely with my hands, hoping she caught on. She did and violently shook her head.

"No, we just wound up in a 'position'. We didn't do anything, not even kiss, I swear."

"If you say so," I muttered, moving to open the closet's door. "Coming, Sakura?"

She stared at me oddly, as if thinking of something to say. Weird. Sakura pretty much says what's on her mind without a second thought. My parents said I was like that once upon a time too. "Naruto . . . I know what I'm about to say is a bit personal and completely off topic, but are you really an orphan?"

I rolled the idea around in my head. People automatically assumed I was an orphan because I lived alone at my age. I never bothered to correct them since if I did they would ask where my parents were and that would lead to more complications. Besides, I already get enough questions about how much I look like the Fourth and if I'm his distant relation instead of his wife's. "Not really," I said at last. "I moved out of my parent's place a while ago. They're still alive; I just don't get along with them that well." Not a complete lie; I get along fine with my mom. My dad, on the other hand, he's a different story.

The look she gave me told me flat out that she didn't really believe me, but thankfully Sakura let the matter drop as we went to our classes. At the door, we sorta parted ways. See, I typically don't hang out with them during class; instead, I either go off by myself or talk to Shino—Aburame Shino, a pretty cool guy once you get past the bug thing—who's part of the 'it' crowd as well, but he's more quiet. Now, why don't I hang out with them when they're clearly my friends? I don't want popularity. In fact, it's the last thing I want. Believe me; I had it back in grade school, when I lived in Uzu (whirlpool) with my grandfather. When I came back here, I asked my parents to change my last name to Uzumaki; I wanted a normal school life for once. Popularity would only make it more hectic than needed.

When I took my seat near the window at the very back of the class, I saw a couple people give me and Sakura odd looks. They probably just saw me and her go into the closet and were surprised when Sakura didn't come out with disheveled clothing and hair. Sheesh. I swear, all the guys and girls in this school think about is sex. Idiots. They should be thinking about their ninja career after school ends, but noo, think about how babies are made. I bet they'll die after their first mission, that is if they even become ninja. Not many are allowed to pass even if they did the required curriculum.

"Naruto," a boy with shades stated, sliding into the seat next to me. Aburame Shino, the dude with bugs. It's actually pretty cool, though watching Ino scream when she first figured it out was so freaking hilarious. 'Course, Shino didn't find it so funny, but he forgot about it after a while (about a year later).

"Shino," I replied. He, even though he's a clan heir, doesn't sit a lot with the others. I don't know why. It's not because he pities me, I know that, but it probably has to do with the others who are quite . . . loud. Shika joins us a lot 'cause of that too. They could probably give my dad a run for his money.

We didn't say much after the greeting. That's one of the reasons I get along with Shino; he doesn't feel the need to fill the void with unneeded chatting like some people. 'Course, it does get a bit annoying after a while . . . especially when your teacher won't be here until there are about five minutes of class left. Kakashi-nii's like that. He's so lazy. Hard to believe that once upon a time he was a stickler for the rules. Obito-nii says that it was his influence (and a rather nasty encounter with some Iwa (rock) nins) that changed him. I'm not so sure if that's a good thing, since he's late for everything (that is because of Obito-nii).

After a while though, Shino surprisingly spoke; he almost never does unless it's something important.

"Will you be doing anything about Hinata?" Oh. Figures it would be about her. Shino's like her overprotective older brother—they did kinda grow up with each other, as did Kiba, but I've always thought the feeling went deeper than that.

"Uh." I tugged at my collar. "Tell me, what am I supposed to do?" Like it's my fault the girl decided that the person she would crush on for the past five years would be me.

Shino's eyebrow rose slightly over his sunglasses. "You know how she feels. Do you return those feelings?"

I resisted the urge to glare at him. Just barely though. "Do you even have to ask? Look, Shino, I've known you guys since the beginning of junior high. I don't date. Simple as that."

"Hn." The conversation just about shriveled up and died there. I rubbed the bridge of my nose. The 'Hinata' issue as I had come to call it was something I've been deliberately putting off for the past couple months. I mean, the girl's okay, if a bit shy—well, really shy, but I just don't like her like that, like how I don't like Ino, or Sakura, or Tenten. Well, I did kinda toy around with the idea of having a crush on the last one, but that was shot down early when Neji claimed her.

It's not that I don't like girls; I appreciate the fairer sex a lot—I'm no pervert like many, many people I know—but dating? Marriage? I'll probably just let my mom pick out some girl from another village as a political marriage and live out the rest of my days like that with a couple of blond brats running around. Sure it's not ideal, but it's better than Shika's plan: he wants to be a bachelor for the rest of his life. I don't mind kids, just the 'how' to get them is a bit annoying. I'm not big on the whole 'let's hump like rabbits and make babies!' like a couple—okay a lot of guys I know.

Class passed in that fashion: Shino was staring at his folded hands, I was looking out the window and thinking about exactly how to let Hinata down gently without having either Shino or Kiba murder me in my sleep. About five minutes to the bell, the door swung open and a tall man with white—I swear, no matter how many times he says silver, it's white—hair, a mask, headband covering one eye and a little orange book in one hand. Kakashi-nii was getting later by the day, apparently. Huh. You'd think that having a bossy lady as your old genin teammate would help with that.

"Okay . . . open your books to . . . " Kakashi trailed off, looking around the room as if hoping to see a giant neon sign with the answer.

Up in the front row—why they sit there, I don't know—Ino yelled, "Give it up, Kakashi-sensei. There's like five minutes left."

"Mm," he said, propping his feet on his desk. My eye twitched when he started reading that perverted book of his. Sadly, I knew that it was my godfather who wrote those books . . . oh the shame.

As the bell rang, I walked out the door with a thoughtful expression on my face. Next class was history and I sat next to Hinata there (not by choice though). And Kiba and Shino were two rows ahead, so I could probably get that solved without getting killed in the middle of Anko-sensei's lecture. Then again, it wouldn't make a difference since I'll die before I make it back to my apartment, but I'll take what I can get.

"Hey, Hinata," I greeted, watching in amusement as the Hyuuga heiress blushed. We, along with Shino and Shikamaru (he's only here because otherwise he'd find it too lazy to come to class when the bell rings) were the only ones there; everyone else was mingling in the hallway, or in Kiba's case, jumping each other in the hallways.

"H-hi, Naruto-k-kun," she stuttered, blush intensifying. I wonder; if I talked to her more often, would she blush and stutter less? But how often is often, 'cause I don't really talk to her more than I talk to Ino. No, wait. I talk to Ino a lot more than Hinata, since Ino wants to know everything about my life. And I mean everything, including every girl I've kissed, how far I've gone and the rest. Nosy nosy nosy.

I waited until the bell rang again, signaling the starting of second period and all the students plus Anko-sensei had entered before tightening my resolve. I took one look at the concentrated look Hinata had though, and squirmed. Maybe after class. So she isn't distracted.

Knowing me though, I would never get out of this mess even if Kiba and Shino did kill me. And as much as I hated it, I needed a woman's advice. Not a girl, like Ino and Tenten and Sakura (though I highly doubt the first two are still 'girls' sexually). A woman like . . .

My mother.

Why can't someone just kill me now?

"Uzumaki Naruto! Pay attention you little brat before I hang you by your intestines!" one very sadistic teacher yelled, waving a suddenly very large ruler around.

. . . It figures. The one time someone listens to my prayers is the one time I didn't mean it. Giving in, I took out a sheet of paper and methodically copied down the notes on the board. After all, the faster I do this, the faster class ends.

And the glass is half empty. Hey, I'm a pessimistic person half the time, meaning that if I say something optimistically, I need to balance it with a bad thing. It is the natural order of things.

I held back a snigger at my thoughts. Some people had angels and devils on their shoulders. I had a very strange mind. It's like it has a mind of its own sometimes . . . . It's probably from my mom's side of the family; grandpa's like this too.

"Alright maggots," Anko yelled over our mutterings, "next week there's a test—quit your moping!" she added at the sudden groans. "As I was saying, there's a test that you should be well-prepared for. I suggest studying anyway. So far, I can count on one hand the number of people who I think can pass." She grinned in that special way of hers that made us shiver in our nightmares. "Now, for a little review: Uzumaki! Who was the Shodai?"

"Senju Hashirama," I answered automatically. Knowing everything about the Hokages is basically necessary in my family.

"Correct. Let's see . . . oh, here's a good one." Anko smiled at me in a sickly way. "What does anyone know about the Yondaime's son? Sakura?"

My breath hitched. That little . . . she was doing it on purpose. I've been told a thousand times by many different people to tell everyone about my lineage, but for her to do it in this way . . . . At least the younger crowd—my crowd—didn't know much.

"Well," Sakura hesitated. My 'fake' history wasn't a very kind story. "It's been told that Namikaze Arashi" —I held back a snort at the name I was given after leaving for Uzu— "lived in Uzu for almost all of his childhood. Then when he was due to return on his twelfth birthday, something happened and he never came back. I've heard that he was abducted by bandits or missing-nins, but I don't think that's true."

"Oh?" Anko prompted, sneaking a look at me.

"I've always thought that the Yondaime's son would be strong," Sakura admitted. "So bandits couldn't have kidnapped him. Missing-nins, maybe, but who would do that to the Fourth's son? If he ever found out who did it . . . they wouldn't be alive for much longer."

"Very true." Anko glanced at the rest of the class. "Sakura's version of the story is quite possibly the best theory as to what happened to little Arashi-chan—don't look at me like that, I saw the brat when he was born!" she yelled. "Anyway, does anyone else have another theory?"

"I have a question!" Kiba said, putting a hand up. "Why are we talking about a guy who's probably dead?"

Silence filled the room, and I gave Kiba grateful look that he didn't see. Now everyone would be mad at him for almost disrespecting the Fourth's son, so the issue would be partially dropped. Unless Anko did something completely inane . . . like she normally does. I groaned slightly. That woman . . . I feel sorry for Kakashi-nii; he dated her for a while.

"Good question Kiba," Anko finally answered, "and the answer is . . . because this is history class and he is part of history! Now, any questions that aren't stu—" she was cut off by the bell and by Kiba rushing to the door before she could verbally murder him. I followed; Sakura wasn't dumb, not in the slightest, and she might connect the dots about how much me and my old man look alike (though I'm shocked it's lasted this long). And if she found out, then she would tell Ino, who would spread it all over school, and then I'll be in the same situation I was in back in Uzu.

Shaking my head slightly to get rid of the cobwebs, I rushed to third period. It was a normal class, for me at least since only Ino and Kiba have this class with me. Everyone else is either in advanced math or they have a different teacher and today, that is absolutely fine with me. 'Course, Kiba and Ino, though they act like airheads sometimes, aren't that dumb otherwise they wouldn't be their heirs of their clans. Then again, Kiba is only heir in case something happens to his sister, so I probably don't have to worry about him.

"Naruto!" Ino snapped her fingers in my face. I jumped and looked around; I was already in the classroom and in my seat. Huh . . . my feet must've led me here. Cool.

"Yes, Ino-hime?" I asked sardonically. To my left, Kiba, who had just taken his seat, sniggered.

The blonde huffed. "Be grateful that I'm ignoring that tone, Naruto. Anyway, did Sakura talk to you about this morning? Because I have no idea what she was thinking."

Well, I doubt Sakura was thinking . . . she does the stupidest things for a smart person. "I dunno. She said Sasuke looked at her hair—"

"And he was overcome by hormones," Ino said, nodding. "But why couldn't it happen to me?"

"I doubt that too," I said wryly. "The dude's asexual. I'm guessing it was more to annoy S-someone." Good thing I'm not writing this, otherwise that blunder would have been spotted in moments.

"Hmm." Ino didn't look convinced, but she said nothing more as our math teacher, the 'normal' one as Kiba refers to him as, began the lesson. Math is quite possibly my best subject, which is strange to consider since both my parents hated their Academy lessons (back when the graduation age was twelve) and my mom nearly failed four times before becoming a genin. Still, I'm an oddity within my family. Always have been. I look like my old man, yet act nothing like him. I guess it would be alright if I acted like my mom, but I don't do that either. I am, according to my godfather the super pervert, the perfect little shinobi. The way he said it though made me believe that it's not such a good thing.

Like the past two classes, math passed relatively quickly—though Kiba would deny that—and soon enough we were out the door without a scrap of homework. Awesome, huh? Not really. We didn't get homework only because today is Thursday, the day that Iruka-sensei piles science homework on us without any mercy. None. The dude is crueler than some missing-nins I've met, and I've met quite a few. Sure enough, right before we left Science, Iruka-sensei loaded us with homework. Slave driver. But, the next class more than made up for it.

"Ah, lunch," I whispered, breathing in the delicious—to me, that is—smells of the school cafeteria.

"I think you're the only person in this school who likes school lunch," Kiba muttered, heading straight to the vending machines. Or it could be the busty redhead over there. Probably the latter.

Our cafeteria was pretty weird: there were roughly a hundred tables each sitting ten, and the entire left side was glass with a couple French doors—yes, French doors in a school—leading to the outdoor picnic benches where people ate when the weather permitted. I asked my old man a couple times why the budget allowed so much for the school, going as far as to add three indoor swimming pools—and that's not counting the two outside—but all he said was to thank the Yamanaka clan, which is Ino's clan. It made sense then; her dad probably donated a lot to make sure his princess had a great school experience. Ino's not complaining for sure.

"Naruto?"

"Hm?" I looked up from the muffin I was eyeing in the lunch line to see Sakura timidly standing there, rubbing her elbow. Strange. Sakura's pulling a Hinata. "Something wrong?" Please don't let it be what I think it is. Pretty please with a cherry and whipped cream on the top even though I hate whipped cream.

"Well," she leaned in and whispered in my ear, "there's something I really need to get off my chest, and I trust you so . . . "

"You can trust me, Sakura-chan." I grinned, adding the suffix I haven't used for years. She instantly relaxed.

"Remember what I said in Anko-sensei's class? Well, I think . . . I think the Yondaime's son is alive. I think I saw him once."

Now that was completely unexpected.

AN : Damn . . . I didn't have to do a scene change once! That's a first for me. Anyway, this is not a variation from the original 'Vendetta' I wrote. It's a different story with the same title, and I deleted the first one because I probably wouldn't have continued it with this on my mind. This is a chapter to see how well you guys like it, so an update might take a while, though if you review it won't take that long. (Yes I'm bribing.) And, don't be surprised if I bump the rating up to 'M'—I think I'm pushing it with this chapter, what with Naruto's thoughts.