Naru of the Leaf
Chapter 1
It was a bright morning in Konoha as the villagers and shinobi alike began their morning routines. As per usual lately a blind blonde pink eyed girl could be found by the stream parallel with the residential district of the village. She sat on the edge of the walkway allowing her feet to dangle in the water of the stream. She wore a black dress that the skirt fanned outward around knee length. The back of her hair was tied into a bushy ponytail while her pale blonde bangs covered her forehead. The black shinobi sandals she wore were currently placed next to her as she slowly kicked her feet back and forth in the water while just staring into seemingly nothingness.
"Today's the day" she thought to herself, by the end of the day hopefully she'll have made her first big jump in the direction of her dream and become a genin of Konoha. She knew there were things she would definitely fail at during the exam like taijutsu and shuriken/kunai techniques but she couldn't help that. She would just have to try and make it up in the written part of the exam and hope that the ninjutsu portion was a jutsu of her own choosing...
"So are you ready for the big day Naru?" suddenly asked a voice behind her belonging to Mizuki. For the last couple years he always helped her make her way to the academy.
Naru turned her head slightly to the side such that only the side of her face was facing Mizuki, "You startled me sensei"
Mizuki smirked, "We both know that isn't true" he replied. While like everyone he didn't know the extent of Naru's abilities, however unlike most he knew the basics and that she knew he was approaching her awhile ago.
Naru smiled softly, before responding "true" as she removed her feet from the water and proceeded to put on her shinobi sandals as Mizuki waited for her. Being an orphan she didn't know too many people and most strangers kept their distance from her, it was clear to all that she was blind and it seemed because of that they were afraid to get near her. Mizuki was one of the few people who actually helped her with small things like shopping and guiding her to the academy. She was very grateful to him.
Once her sandals were on she stood up and put her hand out for Mizuki who grabbed it before they both began their trek towards the school.
In the Academy
There wasn't many things in this world that made Uchiha Sasuke overly happy. Giddy and Uchiha Sasuke were two things that nobody would ever seem to place together. However today was different, not that anyone could tell with his present cold as ice expression, he was hours away from becoming a genin and that much closer towards ending his brother's life.
However as more students entered the classroom the more irritated he got. They were all so annoying, talking about the most mundane things, couldn't they all just shut up? No that would be too good to be true, but they could at least be more discreet and not speak as if they are giving a speech to the whole class.
His brooding was interrupted by one topic that caught his attention.
"Whoa she really is serious?" asked some kid Sasuke didn't know nor care about a few rows in front of him.
"No way, I understand going to the academy but she was trying to become a real shinobi? What a joke!" replied the other simpleton, as Sasuke liked to call them, sitting next to the other kid.
Sasuke knew who they were talking about but looked up anyway. Sure enough it was Naru being guided to her seat behind him by Mizuki.
"Oh man that's a good one! A blind shinobi!" said one of the kids out loud and they both began laughing.
It didn't surprise Sasuke that rather quickly over half the class was joining them in the laughter. This was why he despised most people. It wasn't that what they said was too inaccurate, even for him he had a hard time imagining a shinobi being blind, it was that he wasn't certain that these two simpletons that started the laughter would even walk out of here as genin. He let out a "Hn" as he thought how dumb it was, they themselves were trash in his eyes and yet just because there is someone seemingly below them they feel as if they are superior in some way, now that was the real joke.
Despite the obvious opinion about her of the class, he wasn't sure about Naru. Yea she was apparently completely blind, if having Mizuki always walking her around objects meant anything, so why was she here. Clearly she had to feel as if she could become a shinobi, at the very least she wasn't afraid of it. From the little he knew about her she wasn't stupid, he would even go as far to say she was one of the smarter kids here and one of if not the only one he could probably stand being around. He didn't know much about her, even in taijutsu spars she always forfeited immediately so she mustn't have any taijutsu skills which to him makes sense since she can't see. So what in the world were her abilities to make her seem so confident?
The classroom door slid open again and in walked Iruka whom joined Mizuki at the front of the room.
"Alright everyone, I'm proud to have been able to teach each and every one of you these past couple years. We'll be starting this exam immediately beginning with the written portion. Remember, no matter what the outcome, whether you become Konoha genin or not, you control your own fate, nothing is ever permanent, so keep striving towards your dreams!" finished Iruka smiling at his class, he was indeed proud of his students.
Sasuke glanced back at Naru, he'll find out soon whether or not he was overestimating the girl.
Near the end of the exam with Naru
Naru was currently being guided by Mizuki to the room where she'll be tested on ninjutsu. She felt confident about the written portion, but just as always she forfeited both the taijutsu and kunai portions of the exam. She'll just have to ace the ninjutsu portion of the test.
"Well here we are" said Mizuki as he grabbed for and opened the door with the hand not currently occupied by Naru's. "Good luck Naru" he cheered her kindly before resuming his position next to Iruka.
"Welcome Naru" greeted Iruka as Naru stepped into the open room. Iruka always tried to be kind to the girl, he didn't associate with her out of class like Mizuki but he had no choice other than to admire her. Here she was blind and still pushing towards her dream, he wasn't sure if she'd make it but her determination was unparalleled.
"Greetings Iruka-sensei" replied Naru whose current demeanor was calm with a gentle smile on her face as she greeted Iruka. She wasn't nearly as familiar with him as Mizuki-sensei but he was another person who was always kind to her.
"Ok, for this portion of the test each student is required to create at least three bunshin's of themselves, you may begin when you're ready Naru" Instructed Iruka at which his heart immediately panged as he watched her happy expression fall apart.
The second she heard the word bunshin she nearly stopped breathing. She knew she couldn't do that one at all... She bit her bottom lip before asking, "Um sensei, is it at all possible to perform another jutsu instead? Like one I have created?" she asked, or more like pleaded to her sensei.
"I'm sorry Naru, it's a requirement of all students to perform this, I can't pass you on other jutsu". Iruka replied sadly, he would love to pass the girl but this was just the way the academy was run and he couldn't show any kind of favoritism.
Naru began to say "But-" before she was cut off by Mizuki, "He's right Naru, many of the other students also know other jutsu outside of what is taught in the academy but they too are required to do this same exercise".
Naru faced her head downward, not that she could see anything so it really didn't matter where she was looking. It just felt like everything was out to get her now, she really thought she could become a shinobi, but all because of one stupid technique that was impossible for her she would be walled off from her dream... Having nothing else to do she formed the seal to create a bunshin. After applying a little chakra she felt three bunshins appear next to her, but she didn't have to have working eyes to know they were just blobs.
Iruka looked on sadly at the three things she created. They were just white puddle like things on the ground. He could see that she knew the result and he hated what he had to say next. "I'm sorry Naru you fail this portion of the exam". He could imagine why she couldn't create a proper bunshin. He knew she definitely had the chakra control, hell he was willing to bet she had the best chakra control out of the whole class. But, to create a bunshin you had to know what you were creating, more specifically you had to know what it visually looked like. This would be an impossible task for someone like her who was born with dysfunctional eyesight.
What she said next nearly broke him, "Thank you for teaching me over the years sensei, sorry for not doing better and making you proud" she said before quickly removing herself from the room, feeling the walls to guide her down the hall.
She quickly tried to find her way back to the main classroom still using the walls as a means to guide her. It's always like this, she should have expected something like this to happen. She pushed constantly all her life and the one time she relaxed and actually felt somewhat confident that she could do this, it comes back and smacks her in the face. She wanted to just be normal like everyone else! Even now as she made her way back to the classroom she could feel the way the other students stood back and stared at her like she was something else, some sort of thing and not a person like them.
She quickly turned a corner following the wall and ran straight into someone and fell backwards on her butt. "Ow" she said but quickly was shocked and hurt by the words she heard.
"Watch where you're going baka" said Sasuke out of reaction but quickly realized the depth of what he just said meant to whom ran into him. "Shit" was the first thing he thought. He hated most people yes, he could care less about nearly everyone yes, however unlike the other morons here she, like him, had a huge hurdle to overcome that none of the other fools did. He knew saying what he just did to Naru was like someone saying he deserved what Itachi did.
Naru froze, she couldn't believe Sasuke had just said that. He was a person that really intrigued her, she knew of his brother and knew why he acted the way he did. Because of each of their situations they took becoming a shinobi more seriously than anyone of their peers. Because of her goal and that she wanted to become Hokage to help protect the precious things people have and make them happy, she paid a lot of attention to the feelings of others. She knew most of the class looked down upon her but she knew Sasuke didn't, she knew that he felt at the very least a small amount of respect for her and that instantly made him one of her favorite kids in the class. She didn't talk to him, she didn't have to, just having that small amount of respect for her made her happy. But this...
"Y-You, your such a teme!" she shouted at him before quickly getting up and stumbling her way on her path back to the classroom.
Sasuke blinked, "Whatever" maybe he was overestimating her. He never expected her to yell at him like that. She seemed like the more cool and collected type. Now she seemed more like one of those simpletons to him, granted he knew what he said was bound to get some sort of reaction out of her but he felt that she could have handled it in a more mature way. He wasn't only surprised that she reacted like that but no girl ever said something like that to him. He smirked, at least she still wasn't like one of those other things that constantly fawned over him. He wondered if it was just because she was blind and didn't have eye's to gawk at him with. He quickly shook his head, this train of thought was stupid.
Naru eventually made her way back to the classroom and after a few more bumps into people she found her seat. She tried to calm herself down, it wasn't over yet. She still had the chakra control test left and that was the one thing she knew she couldn't fail. Her control was literally near perfect, she practiced constantly with it. Also from what she remembered reading awhile ago, when someone lost one of their senses, the sensitivity of other senses increased. So as far she could tell because of her blindness, her chakra control went through the roof.
"It's ok I should have enough points to pass with just my grades in the written and chakra control portions of this test" she thought. The written portion weighted heavily in the overall exam. Sounds weird for shinobi but she knew how important it was. It covered basics such as math and reading since both of those subjects really work your mind in terms of problem solving and observation which can be a very valuable key on missions. History was also included, she believed that this was one of thee most important subjects for it taught about people's past mistakes. When she eventually achieves Hokage that information will be indispensable so that she doesn't repeat the horrors of the past in anyway. Shinobi strategy, micro and macro, were the final topics and the importance of those were obvious. Since she was limited in the activities she could do, she spent nearly all her time studying or practicing her control and jutsu. She bit her bottom lip, she had to have passed.
After the completion of the exam
All the students were waiting patiently, or impatiently in most cases, for their results. Some of them were confident, some were nervous. Naru kept repeating the calculations for what she could surmise her results were.
Iruka finally entered the room and perhaps for the first time ever all the students got quiet as he did so. "Ok everyone, out in the hall are the results for the exam. There's a board that has the names of all those who have passed. If your name is on the board then congratulation you're finally a shinobi of Konoha and make your way to Mizuki's office to receive your headband. If your name is not on the list then I'm sorry you didn't make it" he announced though getting slightly more quiet at the end. He didn't like the fail students but that was just part of the job.
The students began quickly moving towards the hallway to see if their dreams would be realized. Iruka sighed, maybe they'd do it a different way next year as he watched all the kids fight their way out of the door. He suddenly spotted Naru making her way down the steps.
Naru stepped down from the last stair and slowly went to make her way towards the door behind everyone but felt a hand on her shoulder, it must be Iruka. "Yes Iruka-sensei?" she asked nervously, why was he stopping her?
After placing his hand on her shoulder he was going to wait for her to turn around but she just slightly turned her head in his direction and he almost smacked himself realizing it didn't matter which way she was facing. "Look Naru, I stopped you becau-"
"My name isn't up there is it?" She interrupted him quietly. She could feel it in his hand, he felt like he was nervous and knew exactly why.
Iruka averted his gaze from her, it was heartbreaking looking at the girl. She tried so hard and was so kind and adding perhaps the heaviest burden yet on her was not something he ever wanted to do but he had no choice. "No, I'm sorry Naru you didn't make it"
Naru turned her head away from him, "No I'm the one who needs to apologize sensei, I'm sorry" she said quietly before quickly escaping his grip and fumbled her way out of the classroom and out of the academy as fast as she could.
"Why why why" she kept repeating in her head. If she couldn't do this what in the world was she suppose to do now? Why was she even here? Why did her parents leave her? Did she even have parents? After hearing what Iruka said she felt like she was being crushed. All she could see was darkness, the one thing she could see or in reality feel was her goal of becoming a shinobi for this village but now that image was leaving her and the darkness for the first time was frightening.
Later that night
It was getting late, Naru sat unmoving in her spot by the stream with her feet in the water. Usually Mizuki would come visit her and escort her home by now. She didn't know how to feel towards that, she knew she would feel even more depressed if she saw him but she also didn't want him to abandon her then she would really be alone. The only other people who were as nice to her were the Hokage but he was busy with the village and the owners of the ramen stand who always treated her like she was just another person and not different.
She decided to look for Mizuki, she had to know if he abandoned her too or not. Concentrating for awhile she felt it, she felt his chakras in a forested area just outside the village. His chakras were different than normal, it was like he was fighting someone? She then felt another chakra signature which felt like Iruka, so then were they training? Using her abilities a bit more so she could tell, she felt that they were indeed fighting with the intent to kill! She quickly got up and put her sandals on. She had to get there! She couldn't lose Mizuki!
The fight
She arrived at the scene quickly dispelling her technique, "Mizuki! Iruka-sensei!" She called out to them mid fight.
Iruka looked over and was shocked to see Naru, what was she doing here? "Naru get bac- AGH" he tried to warn before getting hit by multiple shuriken in his leg.
Mizuki smirked from the tree he was in looking down at his pathetic former friend. "Good work Naru! Thanks for distracting him" he praised the girl.
Naru was frozen, what was this? "Mizuki what's going on?" she said clenching one of her hands to her chest in nervousness.
"Naru run away! Warn the Hokage, Mizuki is trying to steal a forbidden scroll and leave the village!" shouted Iruka desperately before Mizuki jumped down and kicked him in the stomach knocking the wind out of him.
Mizuki was leaving? "I-Is that true Mizuki? Your leaving the village?" she asked. This didn't make sense to her, she thought Mizuki loved the village!
Mizuki looked at her with a smile, "That's right Naru, I'll be taking this scroll with me as an offer to Orochimaru-sama. I planned for you to come too, Orochimaru-sama has expressed great interest in you Naru, you could become strong under him!" explained Mizuki holding his hand out to Naru as he approached her.
Naru was panicking, "Leave the village, but Orochimaru is a sworn enemy to Konoha!" what was this situation? Was this real? The Mizuki she knew would never do this! Her thoughts were interrupted as Iruka got up.
Iruka stood up slightly hunched, he had removed the shuriken during Mizuki's speech. "I see, you botched Naru's written test so she wouldn't pass" said Iruka shocking Naru whom was about to protest before Mizuki commented first.
"That's right little Iruka, but none of that matters. Come Naru we're wasting time" said Mizuki as he reached to take Naru's hand.
Naru quickly pulled back, this wasn't the Mizuki she knew. "Is that true, did you really make me fail on purpose?" she questioned quietly but both men heard her.
"He did Naru, I suspected it but I wanted to believe in Mizuki, my friend. If his plan really has been to leave the village with you, it would be a lot easier to get you out if you were still just a civilian and not a shinobi of Konoha" said Iruka explaining Mizuki's plan.
A tear fell down Naru's cheek, "Why Mizuki, why would you do this" she asked pleadingly.
"For power, you could have some of it too if you come with me, now let's go!" he said again reaching for her hand.
Naru quickly slapped it away, "No! I won't go with you! You're not the Mizuki I knew all these years, especially after you made me fail. You knew my dream was to become Hokage yet you want to take that away from me? I-I'm staying here!" she shouted at him.
Mizuki face gew angry, "You stupid kid! You really think you could become Hokage, here? I was offering you a chance to become strong!" Yelled Mizuki at her before he whipped out a kunai and was about to slash down at her but Iruka came up behind him and grappled the kunai out of his hand, both men fell to the ground as Iruka pinned Mizuki down.
"Run Naru!" again shouted Iruka, he had to get her out of here first. It was now clear Mizuki was placing her as one of his enemy's.
Naru moved back a few meters before turning around again, "No I won't run Iruka-sensei, this man betrayed me, but also the village! As a future Hokage I cannot allow that!"
Mizuki kicked Iruka off before getting up and looked back at her laughing, "And what do you think you can possibly do to me brat? I'm a chunin and your just a blind wannabe kunoichi, why don't you go play in your water or something!" taunted Mizuki.
Naru lowered her head a little so that her bangs covered her eyes, "As you wish, traitor" quickly Naru flashed through some hand seals, she didn't have too much running speed, actually it was near nonexistent but practicing fast seals were something she knew was required for someone like her. She then crouched down on one knee and placed her left hand on the ground. "Suiton - Shinsui no jutsu" from her hand a small wave a water flooded the entire area like a marsh as far as they could see in the night.
Mizuki didn't move, he didn't know what her technique was but there was no way she could harm him. He looked down at the water under his feet, was this really her technique? He knew he said to go play in her water but this was laughable.
Iruka was also puzzled, he had never seen her use any jutsu, he was quite impressed that she could use water manipulation, especially since she created the water right out of her hand which was something only extremely skilled water users could do like the Nidaime Hokage. He then heard Naru say Iruka-sensei and understood what she was getting at. He didn't know what she could do but he had to stop Mizuki no matter what!
Mizuki took his eyes off Naru, she was just a waste. He wondered what in the world could Orochimaru-sama want with her. She was trash, just a blind girl who'll get nowhere, probably die in her first mission if she does get promoted. Mizuki then parried Iruka's kunai with his own as they began fighting.
With those two occupied, Naru stood up and flashed through some more seals before whispering to herself, "Heavenly Illusion". She then proceeded to run behind Mizuki.
Iruka glanced at her for a second before dodge a roundhouse kick from Mizuki. "I don't think I've ever seen her run, she always walks slowly so she doesn't run into things but now she's moving like she can really see everything!" did it have something to do with the water? At any rate for some reason Mizuki didn't notice her at all.
"You'll never beat me Iruka!" shouted Mizuki between slashes of his kunai, "You were always weak, hell you're not much better than that fool over there!" he said glancing towards where Naru previously was but she was gone. He didn't see her anywhere, did she really run away? "Well it looks like she ran home, and I was going to kill her next".
Iruka knowing where Naruto was smirked, "Someone like you who is power hungry will never understand what true power is!" he said as Mizuki's eyes widened before he collapsed on the ground. "Nor will you understand why you'll never surpass those who seek power for the sake of others" finished Iruka more quietly.
Mizuki looked up into the sightless eye's of the girl who he recently tossed aside holding a bloody kunai that had just been pulled from his back. "Y-You B-Bitc-" he tried to get out before he passed out.
Iruka fell backwards onto his behind in exhaustion, it seems he needed to train more often. He looked up at perhaps his now most precious student. He had a conversation with the Hokage earlier about Naru and her not passing. He had learned some stuff about the kind girl. Aside from the stuff the Hokage told him, he learned probably even more during this fight. It seems while she couldn't see, she could see things that were in water. The moment she flooded the forest she moved as if she weren't blind, an interesting technique and one that she must have worked extremely hard for. And then how she seemed to vanish from Mizuki, when he saw her the whole time. The only thing that could mean was that she also somehow caught him in a genjutsu as well but when?
At any rate there was something he had to do, "Hey Naru come here for a second" he asked the girl kindly.
Naru dropped the kunai and walked over to Iruka, "W-What is it sensei?" she asked standing before him.
Iruka smiled and thought back on his conversation with the Hokage;
Flashback
"During the exam Naru apologized to me after I failed her in the ninjutsu portion, I've never had a student do that before and it seemed odd" said Iruka as he and the Hokage talked about the exam in the Hokage's office.
"Naru is a very unique girl as is obvious, however she views the shinobi world from a very mature and noble perspective compared to other kids her age and even some chunin and jonin. You may have heard she wants to become Hokage?" asked Hiruzen.
"Yes I heard that from Mizuki awhile back, but there's always a few kids who dream about holding your position Hokage-sama" replied Iruka.
The Sandaime nodded, "That's true but the reason Naru wants to become Hokage is what separates her from them. She has a rough life, and sadly not too many things make her happy and she throws all her focus into becoming a shinobi. As you mentioned, kids dream of the things they want, Naru wants to just be happy and that's what she dreams of. That idea to her means so much more than it does to anyone else and she understands that everyone in this village has something that makes them just as happy." he explained.
Iruka thought for a moment, "So because she understands how important the things that make each person happy really is she wants to become Hokage to protect all those things for the people of the village?" he asked wondering if his deduction was correct.
Hiruzen smiled, "That's right, it's been a long time since I've seen someone who wants this seat for such an honorable reason".
Iruka had to admit that for a kid of her age that was admirable, "But what does that have to do with her apologizing to me?"
The Sandaime laughed to himself, it seems Naru's way of thinking was even giving Iruka trouble. "It's simple, you too are a member of this village Iruka. Your job is the instructor at the academy and your happiness comes from guiding these students down the path of being a shinobi. She wants to make you proud cause that's what makes you truly happy and she feels that by failing in front of you that she wasn't able to protect your own happiness" he further explained to Iruka's shock.
End of Flashback
"I just wanted to say, out of all the students I have taught you're the one who's made me the most proud. You always worked the hardest and stayed focused in class, despite forfeiting taijutsu matches since joining, I have enjoyed teaching you Naru" he said praising the girl. While he truly felt this way about her, after his talk with the Hokage he knew he needed to tell it to her directly.
Naru was speechless, "I'm his favorite?" no one's ever said that to her.
"Also I got a present for you" He said taking off his headband and tying it around her forehead.
Naru now not only speechless became frozen too, "W-What is this? D-Does this m-mean?"
"Congratulations Naru! You pass!" congratulated Iruka before immediately being engulfed by a hug from a teary eyed Naru repeating "Thank you!" over and over again between sobs.
Hokage tower
The Hokage smiled looking into his glass ball at the scene, "It seems she really will be becoming a shinobi" He thought then remembered when she first told him she wanted to become a shinobi and a Hokage and how much it shocked him. But now she was really a shinobi. He looked at the photos of the previous Hokages, it sure looked like a certain blind kunoichi's picture would soon someday join them.
First I'd like to thank the three people who reviewed the prelude; Taijen, TheBlackSeaReaper, imachan1208.
As for imachan's question I'm sure you got your answer if you read down to this lol.
So I hope everyone likes it so far, got to see Naru do some stuff and get a small feel for what her abilities are going to be. Also hinted at some major things that will become more relevant in this story that wont be canon.
PS: I don't know how often I'll be able to update, I'm a college student taking organic chemistry and majoring in biochemistry (AKA Hard as hell compared to most majors), so my free time gets screwed very easily. Some times ill update quick, other times I might update agonizingly slow, just now that I am here and doing my best but as always RL wins.
