Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Prince of Tennis.
Author's Note: This is the rewritten version of "Eye of the Beholder." It's been so long since I've written it that I kind of lost sight of what I was writing. Plus, I'm not very satisfied with how much I've powered up Naruto and her friends. So here's to Effort #2!
Have fun and I hope you enjoy!
"This is normal conversation."
These are thoughts.
These are demonic (bijuu) voices.
-Into the Abyss~~~~Chapter 1-
October 12, XXXX. Konoha Village
The sealing was done. The Kyuubi was gone and the village safe. It was the time for celebrating, yet how could he be happy when his successor was now dead? The Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, sat in his chair, heading the council meeting once more. To his right sat the heads of the ninja clans and the left held the civilian council. Both sides were shouting, trying to get their voice heard, while he sat back and looked at them with hooded eyes.
The slight fidgeting from his lap captured his attention. Not even a week old, Uzumaki Naruto was bundled on his lap without a care in the world or not even realizing that today could be last for her. Slowly, cerulean blue eyes, so familiar to his, opened as the shouting woke her from her sleep. Sandaime caressed the downy soft tuff of hair on her head, attracting the attention of the bickering council and clan members. Noticing the lack of volume, the Sandaime looked up to see the wary glances of his shinobi, the calculating ones from Danzo, Hyuuga, and Uchiha heads, and the poorly hidden glares of the civilians.
In a velvety smooth voice, he spoke, "Are you all done with the yelling? It's time to start this meeting."
Not wanting to be the one who evokes the God of Shinobi's wrath, the civilian and shinobi heads sat down. Satisfied with the temporary peace, the Hokage spoke once again.
"You are all gathered here today to discuss the future of Uzumaki Naruto. As I am sure you are all aware, there have been rumors floating about the village and I am addressing them now."
"Then…that child is really the.." One civilian head tried to say before being cut off by Sarutobi while receiving a quelling glare.
"As I was saying, this child is Uzumaki Naruto. She is the keeper of the seal. A jinchuriki."
Mutterings from the shinobi side could be heard. Most of them were aware of the existence of jinchuriki but not exactly where they were located. Rumors of their power were spoken with some envy but even more with fear.
Danzo answered the unasked question floating around. "Do you mean to say that the child is the jinchuriki of the nine tails, Kyuubi?"
"What? That child is the Kyuubi? Hokage-sama, why is that thing still alive then?" Haruno Daisuke spluttered angrily. More muttering broke out only with more demands for the Kyuubi's death. A cold killer intent pressed down into the room. Those that could do so, stared at their revered leader.
An intense look entered his face. "This child, Uzumaki Naruto, is not a thing nor is she the Kyuubi. She is its jinchuriki. To put it into simpler terms, she is the scroll that holds the sealed kunai."
"What…what is to be done with her the, Hokage-sama?" Nara Shikaku asked with an even voice.
"Ah yes," Danzo said. "A child will such power at her disposable would be best as the village's weapon. If you'd like, I would volun-"
"No. She is not to be a weapon." Hiruzen harshly interrupted. "Minato asked that she be treated like a hero. Naruto-chan will not be a soulless weapon. For anyone."
"Then what is to be done with the child?" Uchiha Fugaku said, sneering at the last word.
The Sandaime sighed softly. "She is to be placed into the orphanage where she will live until she enters the academy." His voice hardened before staring down his council. "However, Uzumaki Naruto's status as a jinchuriki and holder of the Kyuubi is an S class secret. Those that reveal it shall be executed for treason. Am I understood?"
"Yes sir!" The voices cried out. The council was dismissed and the Sandaime sat alone in his chair with a sleepy baby in his lap for a companion. A soft cough interrupted his thoughts.
Recognizing his chief tactician's chakra signature, he didn't bother looking up but continued to rock the baby back to sleep.
"Is this wise Hokage-sama?"
"It's all I can do, Shikaku-san. I just hope she can have a normal life."
Nara Shikaku rubbed his head before walking away from his leader. His low voice was still audible to the Hokage. "But will it be enough?"
I can only hope. The Sandaime was lost to his thoughts as he held the last remainder of his successor's memory.
.
.
Three days later.
The Sandaime was sitting in his office dealing with his worst enemy: paperwork. A soft knock on his door interrupted his thoughts before the intruder entered.
The anbu held in his arms Uzumaki Naruto. The only odd parts to the picture were his bloodied Inu mask and the blood dripping from his clothing.
"So another attempt has occurred?" The Sandaime asked in a weary voice.
"Yes sir," Inu responded. "This is the fourth attempt this morning. Overall, it has been 27 tries since the council meeting, sir."
Sarutobi's eyes glared at nothing in particular, yet the anbu was feeling the cold intent coming from the man. Even little Naruto started fidgeting from the chilly atmosphere. It stopped.
"Inform the council and anbu that there will be an all-village meeting in three hours. Send out messengers to alert the villagers. It's time that we've corrected this."
"Yes sir!" Inu said before giving his leader the baby.
The villagers gathered in front of the Hokage tower. They looked up to see their revered leader and several of his loyal anbu positioned around him. The crowd got quiet as he made the signal to begin speaking.
"There have been rumors that the child in my arms is the Kyuubi. This is not true. She is the jailer of the tailed beast. The Yondaime sacrificed his life for the village and wished for you to treat the child as a hero." He paused.
Before he could speak again, angry shouting could be heard from the crowd.
"That's no hero! That's a monster!"
"Kill the Kyuubi! Revenge for all our loved ones!"
"Kill the beast before it grows old enough to kill us all!"
More shouting and then the throwing of rocks started. The Hokage shunshined out of the open and into his office. His anbu guards followed while other squads were ordered to take care of amassing mob.
It had been two days since his announcement and already the threats to the Uzumaki child had tripled. His guards had just captured the 20th person to attempt the murder of the baby. Fearing for the baby's life, the Sandaime made a decree that the status of Uzumaki Naruto as a jinchuriki was an S-class secret to be maintained by the whole village, shinobi and civilians alike. The addendum to his decree was that no one may share the secret to any others.
The Sandaime thought it would give the baby a chance to make friends with those in her generation or new citizens in the future.
Unfortunately, such naïve thinking can only work in a ideal world.
.
.
Four years later.
A four year old girl was walking down the streets of Konoha. Her sunshine-spun hair was matted with dried mud and grass twigs were sticking out of it. The unkempt clothing was well worn with small stains here and there. Downcast sea blue eyes looked dully ahead while uninterested ears heard the whispers around her.
"That's the thing. Uzumaki Naruto is its name. Don't go near it."
"Listen son,, don't play with that girl. I'll give you a cookie if you don't." "Ok, papa!"
"Look at her mocking us with those whiskers of hers. How…"
Tired of the whispers, the damning voices, and cold glares, Naruto broke out into a run. Uncaring feet raced across the streets of Konoha and pass the shops and into the more run-down neighborhoods. A sudden bump into the person coming out of the nearby store stopped her mindless run. Naruto looked up.
A shinobi and his civilian girlfriend looked at her. Don't! Stop looking at me with those eyes! Naruto wanted to shout before noticing the bags on the ground. Realizing that the couple had dropped their bags, the child grabbed and lifted the bags to them. She smiled at them.
The couple stepped a few steps back. Naruto's smile faltered before returning to its brightness, although a bit dimmed.
"Um, you dropped these." Naruto said shyly.
The girl scoffed in disgust. The shinobi sneered at Naruto. Both had been old enough to remember the day of the Kyuubi attack. Both had lost family and loved ones that day. Both considered Naruto to be less than human.
"Anything touched by you is no longer of any value." The shinobi said. "Let's go Leiko."
The girl smirked before grabbing her boyfriend's arm. She turned to look at Naruto who still held their abandoned bags. "Those whiskers and smile of yours are even trashier. I guess trash goes with trash."
Both of them laughed as they walked away. Naruto stared at them as they left. How long she remained there, she did not know. Only when the shop owner came outside and started swatting his broom at her did she leave.
Naruto walked aimlessly until she reached a small stream and a bridge. It was fall and getting chillier by the day. She sat down by the bank and only just realized that she was still carrying the bags.
"I'm not ugly, am I?" Naruto asked to herself before looking at her reflection in the water. She scooped some water out to wash her hair and face.
"I have two eyes, a nose, and mouth like everyone else." She said before smiling wide. "My teeth are white and round like everyone else so why doesn't anyone like looking at me or talking to me? Is it because of my whiskers? But Jiji says he thinks they're nice..."
Naruto smacked her cheeks to forget the bad memories. Instead, she got curious about her new haul. There were two bags. One was full of cloths and the other had books.
"A Beginner's Guide to Sealing and "The Basics of Being a Ninja." Naruto read before taking a closer look at the cloth. Her eyes widened when she realized what it was. She read the tag out loud.
"Cloth Masks for Children. Ages 4-9. Adjustable for those ages." Naruto squealed to herself. Maybe if I wear this, then no one will hate me because of my whiskers. Of course, Naruto realized that she couldn't very well eat with it on but decided to practice that later. Gathering her haul, Naruto made her way to a small hidden forest. A few days ago, the headmistress had kicked the little Uzumaki out of the orphanage so she had been staying in the forest since.
It was a week and a half before the Sandaime realized that it was a little too quiet in the village. There had been no new attempts made on Naruto's life or any of his anbu reporting of them. Having an uneasy feeling concerning a certain blond, Hiruzen made his way to the orphanage where he finally learned the truth. An enraged Sandaime called for his anbu squads to search for the missing child.
Inuzuka Tsume and her partner Kuromaru were the ones to find their target. At first the two were wary of approaching the girl and were unsure if it was her.
"Kuromaru, are you sure that's her?" Tsume asked in a disbelieving voice. Her partner grunted in confirmation after taking a sniff to be sure. "Hokage-sama has been looking for you, Uzumaki-san."
The child nodded before packing up her few belongings. She gathered to books she had kept, cloth masks, and random bits of things she had picked up in town. Tsume grabbed the child before informing the ninken to alert the rest of the tracking teams of their results and shunshined to the Hokage's office.
Overcome with relief to see his surrogate granddaughter safe, the Hokage reached out and gave her a tight hug. It was after that he noticed the small changes.
The once mid-back length hair had been hacked into short spikes like a boy's. The joyous smile that used to make his day was covered with a cloth mask similar to Hatake Kakashi's. As a result, her six whiskers were also covered. Her clothing were truly worn thin with holes showing small patches of skin.
The Hokage dropped to his knees when he saw the once smiling eyes of the child were shielding her true emotions like a veteran shinobi. Tsume felt her alpha's grief yet could do nothing but stand aside as he shook.
Naruto paced closer before patting her Jiji's shoulder. Sarutobi looked up at her, saw the slight reassurance in her eyes, and smiled back at her. And that's when Naruto realized that smiling was a lot more powerful than a glare.
If only my smile had the same power….She thought before sending off her heart into the abyss. Too many times had her smile been rejected. Too many times had she been condemned before her feelings were shattered. Too many times she had opened her heart and had it crushed. And Sarutobi Hiruzen never realized it.
.
.
Within the seal, the slumbering beast started to wake.
.
.
.
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And that's the first chapter of the re-write of "Eye of the Beholder." The pace of Naruto's development is going to be slower but hopefully more believable than in its predecessor.
Just so you know, Naruto is a girl in this story if you weren't able to tell. Thanks for reading!
Updated 3/4/11