The Art of Kunoichi
Summary: Falling in love with guys isn't the only thing Female!Naruto can do. She's learning the fine art of being a kunoichi.
/ Prologue /
Things change.
Every little thing, every decision and action - or lack thereof - has an impact in our lives. Scholars have studied it for ages - the ripple effect, they call it; the butterfly effect, others say, but they all mean the same thing.
One action can change the universe; a single doing can create an infinite number of changes to the path people would have traveled on. The slightest difference - maybe a certain day having a different temperature, for example - can dictate the circumstances of a child's birth.
Looking at it from a different angle, a closer, narrower one, the type of food an expecting mother eats can change the gender of her unborn child. This, of course, will create its own consequences - its own changes, its own ripples…
It was a cool day.
Uzumaki Kushina was looking out the window, observing Konoha and its happenings. This window was, of course, open, which is how she knew it was a cool day. The wind was breezy, and leaves were flying around.
The leaves were a beautiful bright green, reminding her of spinach. Ooh, spinach… That sounded delicious. She jumped out the window - she hoped nobody had seen, or Minato would be on her case again (honestly, she was too early on for that to have hurt the baby, really, and of course she was enforcing her stomach with extra chakra to protect him/her).
She made her way to the village market, where she knew a vendor would be able to sell her so-craved spinach - mmm, maybe she'd have it in a pastry - or maybe just steamed with rice…
It was a hot day.
Uzumaki Kushina was looking out the window, observing Konoha and its happenings. This window was, of course, open, which is how she knew it was a hot day. The wind was alternating between hot and nonexistent, but she loved the sun. It was golden, like Minato's hair… and pineapples.
Ooh, pineapple… That sounded delicious, juicy, cool... She thought about jumping out the window, but decided it was too hot to do something like that. Besides, maybe she could pick up a glass of icy-cool water before she left the house.
She made her way to the village market, where she knew a vendor would be able to sell her so-craved pineapple - mmm, maybe she'd make it into juice to drink, or maybe she'd just eat it as it was…
The door opened, and Kushina paused in her dinner. Only one person walked like that -
"Minato-kun!" Kushina grinned, "You're just in time for dinner! Ne, come have some of this spinach!"
Minato chuckled, "Of course, Kushina-chan. But, first…" He gently took a paper napkin from the table and wiped his wife's mouth, "You have spinach on your mouth."
The door opened, and Kushina paused in her dinner. Only one person walked like that -
"Minato-kun!" Kushina grinned, "You're just in time for dinner! Ne, come have some of this fish teriyaki! I made it with pineapple!"
Minato chuckled, "Of course, Kushina-chan. It smells great… But, first…" He placed his hand on his wife's cheek gently, stroking her with the pad of his thumb. "But first," he said huskily, "You have some pineapple sauce on you…"
"O-oh?" Kushina whispered, "Where?"
Minato smiled, "Right here," before marking the spot with his lips.
It was a cool day.
Koku smiled; this was her favorite kind of day. The windows in Konoha Orphanage were all open, and she could feel the wind coming in, almost refreshing the place, refreshing her soul.
"OH! Koku-chan! Please help me with this, the wind blew all Kamiko-nee's paperwork away!" The wail came from one of Koku's closest friends, Minoru. Koku chuckled. "I'm coming!"
It was a hot day.
Koku groaned; it was so warm. There was no wind - anyway, what little there was of it was hot. That meant, to Koku, that it was no good.
"Koku-chaaaan," Minoru, one of Koku's closest friends, wailed. "It's so hot, I hate it!" Koku sighed; one of the worst things she could have on her hands was a whining Minoru, especially when Onee-chan was busy doing paperwork.
"Maa, fine, Minoru-kun. We can go to my room; Kamiko-nee lent me her fan the other day. Come on!"
"Cat, you may begin your report."
"Yes, Hokage-sama. The orphanage seems acceptable. The rooms provided for the children are well-furnished, and each child has one roommate of the same gender. The children are given three meals a day as well as a snack in between lunch and dinner.
Each meal has rice or noodles, as well as some kind of vegetable, though breakfast sometimes replaces this with soup. Lunch and dinner have one kind of meat each.
The children mostly spend their time outside the orphanage. The staff checks for each child in the morning during breakfast, and in the evening during dinner. The matron seems to be a kind woman, and on holidays gives the children toys or sweets.
Among the children themselves, many are close friends. There is a tendency for them to have someone older to look up to as an older brother or older sister, with the older ones looking up to the matron and the orphanage staff as mothers.
All in all, it seems to be a good orphanage."
"But?"
Yuugao sighed. "Hokage-sama, what I say now I have no evidence for, but my own instinct and thoughts. Koku-san, the matron, had a husband whom she lost to the Kyuubi attack. I've spoken to some of her older acquaintances, and Koku-san is known to those who know her as a person who does not let go of grudges easily.
She is not said to be cruel, but I feel she may have some prejudice against him, which may leak out onto her staff and the older children, who in turn…"
"- May ruin Uzumaki Naruto's chances of making friends among his peers. I understand," sighed the Sandaime. "You are dismissed; thank you, Cat." The ANBU-masked ninja bowed before leaving the Hokage's Office.
Sarutobi Hiruzen bowed his head. 'I am sorry, Naruto… But the Konoha Orphanage is the ideal place for you to stay. I can assure you will not be beaten, at least… I am sorry; I cannot do anymore in this situation. Forgive me, Minato."
"Cat, you may begin your report."
"Yes, Hokage-sama. The orphanage seems acceptable. The rooms provided for the children are well-furnished, and each child has one roommate of the same gender. The children are given three meals a day as well as a snack in between lunch and dinner.
Each meal has rice or noodles, as well as some kind of vegetable, though breakfast sometimes replaces this with soup. Lunch and dinner have one kind of meat each.
The children mostly spend their time outside the orphanage. The staff checks for each child in the morning during breakfast, and in the evening during dinner. The matron seems to be a kind woman, and on holidays gives the children toys or sweets.
Among the children themselves, many are close friends. There is a tendency for them to have someone older to look up to as an older brother or older sister, with the older ones looking up to the matron and the orphanage staff as mothers.
All in all, it seems to be a good orphanage."
"But?"
Yuugao sighed. "Hokage-sama, what I say now I have no evidence for, but my own instinct and thoughts. Koku-san, the matron, had a husband whom she lost to the Kyuubi attack. I've spoken to some of her older acquaintances, and Koku-san is known to those who know her as a person who does not let go of grudges easily.
She is not said to be cruel, but I feel she may have some prejudice against him, which may leak out onto her staff and the older children, who in turn…"
"- May ruin Uzumaki Naruto's chances of making friends among her peers. I understand," sighed the Sandaime. "You are dismissed; thank you, Cat." The ANBU-masked ninja hesitated, glancing at the doorway.
"Hokage-sama - if I may speak freely…" The Sandaime raised his eyebrow, but allowed her request with a nod of his head.
"There was one rumor, from one of Koku-san's former friends. Their friendship apparently ended when the man discovered Koku-san keeps questionably illicit reading material in her bedroom."
"Cat, much of Fire Nation - much of Konoha - keeps such material, due to influence from our Sannin Jiraiya -"
The ANBU - by all means, rule, and accounts his subordinate - interrupted him. "With all due respect, Hokage-sama, this is worse than Jiraiya-sama's preferred form of reading material. This was imported from Kirigakure. The topic of which is young girls."
The Hokage started. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Cat," hastily writing something onto a scroll of paper. "If you could bring this to T&I before you leave? Make sure to tell them it's urgent."
Cat nodded, seemingly satisfied with his reaction. "Hai, Hokage-sama," she bowed respectfully, before leaving the Hokage's Office.
Sarutobi bowed his head, deep in thought. It was clear now that Naruto couldn't stay at the Orphanage - not for awhile, anyway. But then, her circumstance was so unusual - the more he thought about it, the more he realized it would be difficult for the child to find people who would likely not dislike her for something the demon had done.
Thousands had been lost to the Kyuubi, after all. Everyone had lost someone. He had lost someone. Not everyone was as open-minded as he was, though, especially the civilians, who were not used to losing loved ones for the cause of letting others live in their place.
Perhaps, perhaps it would be better for Naruto to stay with shinobi. Of course, there was no orphanage solely for shinobi children - it was a shinobi village, with equal chances for all children with strong enough chakra to become ninja.
If Naruto was to grow up with ninja, then it would be a ninja family. A family, not a clan - Sarutobi nodded to himself. A clan might try to harness the girl's power as a jinchuuriki, to use as a weapon, or a defense, or simple bragging rights.
There were enough problems with some of the clans by themselves - the whispers of dissent among the major clan powers, those with seats on the Council.
On the other hand, though, a clan would be able to train and look out for Naruto better, help her control her chakra early on. A family might have problems with such a thing, especially if there were more civilian members than shinobi. Sarutobi had learned over the years that as important civilians were for certain things - oddly enough, he couldn't think of any now - they were annoying.
Many of them were arrogant, for all they were the weak links in a village of capable ninja. They overreached their boundaries and tried to band together to overrule Sarutobi. Civilians were like pests in that manner - one on their own was easy to deal with, but a swarm of them was just ridiculous.
There was also the need to think about how much stronger the protection of a prestigious and prominent clan was when compared to a single family. There were going to be people angry with Naruto, people who needed a scapegoat to blame for their losses and pain after the Kyuubi. It was as illogical as calling a sealing scroll the kunai it had inside of it, but grief and losing someone you loved didn't leave much room for logic. Either way, the girl needed protecting.
Sarutobi reached under his table and took the papers he had taped under his desk. Copies of the village's files on the various clans, for his quick appraisal whenever the situation called for it. Being Hokage had its privileges, especially when said privileges let him skip the tediousness of bureaucratic processes.
The Sandaime flipped through the various papers, thinking. The Uchiha clan was too proud. The Hyuuga clan would put Naruto into the Branch Family, giving her a Cursed Bird Seal, and Minato would hate that.
The Inuzuka might be good for her, but there was the whole 'fox-sealed-into-her-navel' problem that may harm her chances of being accepted in a clan of people with such a close affinity with dogs, one of the foxes' natural enemies.
The Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi clans would all be ideal to taking on the girl. Unfortunately, a contract, signed at the founding of Konoha itself, stated that the three aforementioned clans would each produce one child the same year, together, or they would not produce a child at all. This agreement was tied into their loyalty to Konohagakure as well as to the Hokage.
Of the clans whom Sarutobi deemed capable enough of, at the very least, protecting Minato's daughter from the more narrow-minded population, the only option left was the Aburame clan.
The more he thought about it, though, the better an idea it seemed to the Hokage.
The Aburame - those with enough chakra to do so, anyway - play host to kikaichu, or insects that fed on their chakra. If anyone would be able to accept Naruto for her tenant, it should be them.
Yes, the clan of bug-users should be able to empathize with Minato's daughter. Perhaps she could make some friends during her stay there... Only time would be able to tell.
AN: Am I the only one having problems with line breaks?