Hello again, its acw28 back with another chapter of A New Realm. So this chapter took a while longer to write than the previous two because this is the first chapter where I didn't initially know what I wanted to happen, the other two I had in my head since day 1.
Before we begin, there is one thing I feel I need to remind my readers of because I really do not want to be answering the same question or a variation of one multiple times. Since posting the last chapter I got a private message telling me that there was no way Scorpion could defeat Kyubi with hellfire. As I am doing now I politely reminded the person that this is an AU, as in Alternate Universe, story which means that not all elements of the canon will make it in and that as the author I can adjust elements of the stories to suit my needs. I'm not the only author on this site that write like this and AU stories are not just found in the crossover section of the site. Two prevalent examples in my mind would be Uchiha Heiress Remix by JGResidenEvil, which changed the gender of one of the major Naruto characters, and Master of Jiongu by The Dark Dragon Emperor, which among other cannon changes introduced Fu into the story much earlier. These AU elements do not detract from the stories at all, both are excellent fanfictions that I highly recommend reading.
Now that my little rant is over, let's move onto our story. This chapter is going to contain a few time skips.
Disclaimer: I enjoy watching Naruto, I love playing Mortal Kombat, but I don't have the rights to either of them.
A four year old boy was currently running through the back alleys of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The blond boy was wearing a white shirt with read spiral on the front, black shorts, and some worn shinobi sandals. If one was to look at the boy's face, they would see three scars on each of his cheeks, resembling whiskers. This was Naruto Uzumaki.
Why was this kid running, you may ask? About 20 feet behind him a mob of 50 drunk civilians chasing the boy, shouting things such as, "Kill the demon!" and "Finish the Hokage's work!". Naruto did not know why some people hated him, sure he had pulled a few pranks, but not anything to warrant death threats. While there were some in the village that seemed to hate him unconditionally, Naruto noticed that most of the villagers were simply indifferent to him. Many would act as if he was not around, some gave him looks of sympathy, others acted like they would help the boy, if not for one of the haters standing next to him.
After another twenty minutes of running, Naruto finally lost what was left of the mob, as most had either tripped while chasing him or passed out from drinking too much, the last few Naruto was able to escape by backtracking in the maze of alleyways. Once he was sure he was alone, Naruto quickly jumped into the dumpster that he had been calling home for the past few days. It wasn't always like this, Naruto used to live in one of the village's orphanage. Although he was little, he did remember being taken care of by an old woman, she didn't treat Naruto like one of her favorite children, but she wasn't terrible to him and made sure to read him a bedtime story most nights. Naruto's last memory of her was when she answered the door and two men started talking to her. Although he didn't understand most of what was said, the young boy did hear the words "council", "unfit for the position", and the first time he heard the word "demon". The nice old woman left soon after that and the mean younger women began taking care of him. She was one of the people who hated Naruto. Instead of his semi-comfortable bead, she locked Naruto in the closet at night, she always gave him rotten food, and the one time he had tried to get a fresh apple from the kitchen, as he had done countless times with his old caretaker, the mean women caught Naruto and didn't feed him for three days. The only time he was happy under the care of the mean women was when the old man with the funny hat came one day and played with all of the children. He did ask Naruto if he was treated well, to which Naruto told him the truth and said he wanted the old woman back. The old man, who Naruto later learned was the Hokage of the village, told the boy he would look into it before he left. The next day the mean woman kicked Naruto out of the house and onto the street. For the last six months Naruto had been scavenging food out of dumpsters as well as living in them and running form the mobs. He would switch which dumpsters he slept in periodically so that the mobs wouldn't know where to find him.
Naruto was broken from his short sleep when the dumpster lid was pushed open, revealing a girl with brown hair a number of years older than Naruto with a bag of garbage in her hand. Before Naruto could think of running, the girl turned around and yelled, "Tou-san, there's a boy in our dumpster!"
Soon after the girl said this, a man wearing a white karate shirt, a blue apron, and paper hat came outside. This was Teuchi Ichiraku, the owner and chef of Ichiraku Ramen. Looking at the boy, Teuchi already knew who and what he was, the shinobi that regularly ate at his ramen bar tended to forget about him once they started eating and would talk about numerous village "secrets". While he might know almost as much as the Hokage about the inner workings of the village, Teuchi was not one of those that hated Naruto, and promised himself that he would be kind to the boy if he ever ran across him.
"And who are you?" the ramen chef questioned simply.
"Naruto Uzamkai sir," was the boy's fearful reply, "I'm sorry for being in your dumpster, I'll leave right away."
"Wait a second young man. First, I haven't introduced myself, my name is Teuchi Ichiraku, and this is my daughter Ayame. Second, why are you here? Certainly someone is worried about you."
Naruto looked down, hiding the tears in his eyes as he told the two people in front of him, "No one cares about me."
"Tou-san, that was mean." The Ayame reprimanded her father, hitting him on the arm.
"Right, sorry about that Naruto. How about we get you cleaned up and get you some ramen then go talk to someone to get this whole mess sorted out, okay?"
Naruto's face brightened up, never before had someone been so nice to him. Sure some people had quickly tossed him food, but this man was actually talking to him and showing concern for his wellbeing. The boy also admitted to himself that he needed the bath, his last one was months ago in a semi-dirty river.
Smiling, Naruto said, "Okay Old Man Teuchi!"
Ayame laughed as her dad face planted onto the ground muttering, "I'm not that old."
Naruto suddenly got a look of confusion when he asked, "What's ramen?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi was, for once during his time as Hokage, having an easy day. All of his paperwork was done early, Danzo had not come into his office demanding Naruto be given to him for special training, and the civilian council was not hounding him about some trivial matter. The Third Hokage then became concerned. After he had visited the orphanage and heard what Naruto's treatment had been like, he had the matter investigated and a replacement caretaker found. However when he arrived the next day he was told that Naruto had run away the previous night. Although doubtful of the story, there was nothing the aged leader could do. Since that day, no one had seemed to be able to find Naruto.
Hiruzen was broken from his thoughts when his office door opened. In walked Teuchi and, to Hiruzen's great relief, Naruto.
"Hokage-sama," Teuchi began, "I believe I have a matter of great importance for you."
"Yes it appears you do. Naruto, my boy, where have you been, you've had many people worried sick about you."
"Well Old Man," the boy sheepishly began, "after you visited the mean lady kicked me out, saying I had wasted enough time there. After that I wondered around the streets for a while until Ayame and Teuchi found me and introduced me to the wonderful food that is ramen."
Hiruzen mentally face palmed at the birth of another ramen addict while Teuchi was mentally dancing because of the amount of future business the kid was sure to bring him. Sighing, Hiruzen asked Naruto, "Well what do you want to do? Do you want to go back to the orphanage or do you think we should find another solution?"
The room was silent for a few moments before Naruto began to talk, "I don't think I should go back to the orphanage, I can guess that the mean lady is gone now, but what's to stop another mean person from taking over? I don't think I would get adopted either, a few nice people tried but they didn't come back. I asked the nice lady what happened to them and she said that someone with more power vetoed the adoption."
Hiruzen was angered when he heard this. Naruto had a chance at a happy life with people that would care for him, but someone on the civilian council, he knew it wasn't one of the clan heads as they knew the difference between the boy and what he contained, had let their ignorance blind them and prevented what could have been a happy future.
"How about this," the aged leader began, "I'll give you your own apartment and have people come help you until you can take care of yourself?"
"That sounds great Old Man." Naruto then gained a thoughtful expression. "Hey Old Man, how do I become a shinobi?"
"Why do you want to know?"
"Well," the young boy began, "while a number of people hated me, the shinobi of this village were never in the mobs that chased me and some were nice enough to leave food out in the open. They always helped me when I needed it and I want to help people to."
The Hokage and the ramen chef smiled at the boy, knowing he would not just make a fine shinobi, but a great human being as well.
"Well Naruto, for that you have to go to school when you are six, study for a number of years, and graduate by the time you're twelve. Do you think you can do that?
Naruto's face instantly formed a wide grin as he exclaimed, "You know I can Old Man, dattebayo!"
In the village of Konohagakure was an area of land known as the Forest of Death, also known as Training Ground #44. This name was misleading however as almost no one used the giant tiger and bug infested forest for training, instead it was the traditional area used during the second part of the Chunin exams. Being in such disuses, Mileena figured this would be the perfect home for her when she was not looking after her daughter.
Returning from the Hyuga compound, Mileena noted that they had continued to train her daughter in their fighting style, what was known as the "Gentle Fist." While she did have some concerns about starting her daughter too young, she was happy none of the Hyugas treated her daughter differently, and that Bara would step in before the training became too destructive. She also noticed that Bara and Hizashi had started to spend more time with each other and wondered if they would ever confess to each other.
Mileena was broken from her thoughts when she heard the metal hitting metal below her. On the ground were six people, she recognized that three wore the Konoha Hitai-ate while the other three had what she learned was the Iwa Hitai-ate. It was at this point Mileena realized the Chunin exams must have started.
Looking closer, Mileena noted that the trio from Iwa seemed to be in their mid-twenties, with the leader possible being in his thirties. This team was obviously well trained and experienced, easily overpowering the trio form Konoha and capturing them. Mileena wondered if this trio was already Chunin and slipped into the exam to try to weaken Konoha.
By contrast, the shinobi from Konoha looked to be in their mid-teens, with the oldest possibly being seventeen. It was cruel, but after staying in this realm for a number of years Mileena recognized that the warriors here were trained young and that the strong prospered and lived long lives while the weak died quickly. She only hoped that her daughter would enjoy her life as she knew almost all members of the Hyuga clan were required to join the village military.
"Well well, look what we've managed to capture boys, three little tree huggers. Now what should we do with them?" The leader of the Iwa team asked.
"Let's gut them, I've always heard the genin here are so green that you can see it on their intestines."
"No, let's cut the legs off of one, the arms off another, and an arm and a leg off the last. Then let's see if they can make it out of here."
"Actually, I know what to do." The leader began. "We'll tie these tree lovers to the trees and give them a little cut, let the animals finish them off. Then they can act as fertilizer for the forest they love so much." At this the trio began to break into laughter while the Konoha teens were absolutely terrified.
Mileena knew that she shouldn't interfere, that a warrior should be able to stand by their own strength, but these were just kids. They had agreed to risk their life during this test, but no one should be killed off so violently before their life had truly began.
With her mind made up, Mileena jumped down from her tree. Landing behind one of the Iwa shinobi, she quickly broke his neck. When his comrade saw Mileena, he tried to charge at her with a kunai. Mileena easily caught her opponents forearm, kneed him in the stomach, then twisted his arm so that he stabbed his own heart. The last man from Iwa was terrified. He heard tales about the deadly animals within the "Forest of Death" but was confidant him and his team of Chunins could handle it. Yet within the space of six seconds, this mysterious woman decimated his team. He was too shocked to react when Mileena summoned one of her sai and shoved it through the bottom of his jaw into his brain.
The Konoha genin were shocked as they watched the massacre before them. This women who had appeared out of nowhere and had easily killed the Iwa team that just seconds before were debating what way to kill them. They became frightened when the women turned her yellow eyes to them, believing they were about to share the same fate as they had seen happen to the team from Iwa.
Instead, the mysterious women grabbed a discarded kunai and cut the ropes binding them. "Get what you need from them and get out of here quickly, I'm not rescuing you three again." With that said, the women disappeared back into the forest.
Quickly grabbing the Iwa team's scroll, the three genin started their trek to the tower in the middle of the forest. "Guys," one of the shinobi genin began, "what just happened back there?"
"We were saved." the other shinobi simply said.
"Yeah, but by what?"
"By the phantom of the leaves." Stated the only kunoichi of the team.
And thus a new legend was born.
Hinata Hyuga was panting as she spared against her father. She had just turned four today and just like any other day for the past year of her life, her father had demanded she train almost all day. She would not have minded if all she had to do was practice the katas of the Gentle Fist, or if she had to spare against one of the other kids, or if her father would take it easy against her. Instead her father always fought hard against her, never letting her get a hit and always punishing her for leaving an opening. Some days she felt as if her father had great expectations for her, more so than just being a clan heir.
As her father was about to give her another hard hit to her abdomen, the silence of the training ground was broken by her mother. "Hiashi, that is enough for today."
"My daughter needs to learn how to fight if she is to be a successful kunoichi and leader of this clan."
"That may be true," Bara Hyuga began, "but she is also my daughter who I can tell you have pushed too far once again. She is still a child Hiashi, she requires rest. No matter the amount of training she has, you cannot expect her to defeat a jonin at her age. Hinata-chan go wash up then get ready for dinner."
"Yes kaa-san." With that Hinata quickly left her father to go take a short bath. On the way she ran into her uncle Hizashi and her cousin Neji. She remembered last year when her cousin had the Caged Bird Curse Seal placed on him, it was also the same day when both children saw the seal used for the first time when Hiashi demonstrated on his "volunteering" brother. Since that day Neji had been a little standoffish around anyone from the main branch.
"And how are you today little Hinata-sama? Did your father let you out of training early?" Asked her Unlce.
"No Hizashi-oji, kaa-san made him stop. She seemed happy this morning, saying you and her were going to meet an old friend."
Hizashi seemed to perk up for a brief moment hearing about what Bara had said earlier, "Yes I guess we are, no run along before you stink up the hallway too badly."
At this Hinata ran away to the bathroom with a cry of "Oji." After her bath, Hinata quickly went into her room and got dressed. She was about to walk out the door when she noticed something new in her room. On her bed was something she dreamed of having one day but knew her father would never let her have, a teddy bear. Next to the stuffed animal was a note.
"Happy Birthday little Hinata, I hope it helped you create memories you will always treasure. From M." (A/N If you played MK 9, you know who left the gift.)
As she was reading the note, Bara walked into Hinata's room asking, "What is taking you so long to get dressed Hinata-chan, dinner is getting cold."
"Look kaa-san," Hinata began, holding up her new teddy bear, "someone left me a gift."
Reading the note, Bara knew exactly who the gift was from, "So someone did, let's keep this a secret from your father, he'd just make you get rid of this. Did you tell your uncle what I asked you to?"
Nodding her head, Hinata said, "I did kaa-san, who are you meeting? Is it anyone I know?"
Laughing at her daughter's curiosity, Bara said, "Oh just an old friend of mine, and no you don't know them. Now come on, it's best not to keep your father waiting."
Later that night, Hizashi walked down a familiar hallway within the compound. Stopping and looking around to make sure he was not followed, Hizashi opened up a hidden door. This was the room that once housed Mileena during her stay with the Hyugas, since the day she left no one had ventured inside. At least that's what Hizashi thought, but a quick look revealed that the simple bed was replaced with a more luxurious one, and instead of Mileena, Bara Hyuga sat on the bed wearing a white robe.
"Mileena hasn't shown up yet?"
Bara smiled before she answered, "No, she was in the compound earlier and left Hinata a gift, but I would assume she is long gone by now."
Digesting this new information, Hizashi quickly came to a conclusion that made him blush. "So, we are doing this again?" the Head of the Branch Family asked simply.
Bara nodded at this and said, "We both had fun last time, and we both know who I would have picked if it was not for the divide within the clan."
"The only reason we were not discovered last time was because your husband was away on a long term diplomatic mission." Hizashi warned.
"And now we are some of the few people who know of the existence of a room that not even the Byakugan can see into. Now," at this Bara stood up and let the robe fall of her body, revealing she had worn nothing else, "are you going to shut that door or are you going to make me walk back to my room like this?"
The door was closed so rapidly one would think that Minato taught his team mate the Hiraishin.
Hopping from rooftop to rooftop within the village, Mileena began to reflect about the last few months since she saved the genin team in the Forest of Death. Once they had reached the tower, they had quickly reported her appearance to the exam officials and had given her the moniker of "the phantom of the leaves." At the news of the rescue, some foreign diplomats had caused a fuss, saying she had tampered with the exam and accused several kunoichi of helping the students in the exam, but the Hokage was able to provide alibies for all of them and remind them that a shinobi must face unexpected challenges.
Mileena was pleasantly surprised when a small shrine to her was set up just outside the fence surrounding the forest. What once was one of the most avoided spots in the village soon gathered a healthy amount of traffic as many parents came asking for protection for their children. While she couldn't really do anything outside the village, Mileena resolved to help those she could within the village. She was determined to speak with her daughter someday, and she wanted to say that she was a better person than she once was.
So far in the course of the night, Mileena had stopped several drunk brawls before they had gone too far and made sure several drunk women made it to their homes without incident. She was about to head back to the Forest of Death when she notice a man chasing a small boy with blonde hair. The man was obviously drunk based on the amount of staggering, but was somber enough to keep up with the child. Soon enough, the man caught the child and started waving a knife around. Mileena was able to hear the men yelling something about killing the demon. Before she could jump in to help the boy, he wildly kicked the knife into the man's neck.
For a few minutes everything was silent. The kid stayed were he fell, staring at the body of the man who just moments earlier was trying to kill him. Mileena expected the boy to jump up and run away, instead he started to cry. Looking closer, Mileena noticed the boy also had whisker-scars on his cheeks. She let the boy cry for a few minutes until she decided to make herself known.
Walking slowly into the light, she asked the boy, "Why are you crying?"
The boy looked shocked at her sudden appearance and continued to cry, sobbing out, "Because I killed him, I'm everything that the mean villagers call me, a murderer, a killer, a monster, a demon."
"Did you seek this man out?" Mileena asked.
"No, he started chasing me with a few other people, but he was the only one that stuck around."
"I see. Did you enjoy killing him?"
"No, I feel horrible about it."
"Well then little one," Mileena began, "you are none of those things. Only a murderer would actively look for someone to kill and only a monster finds joy in killing. I've known plenty of demons, and I can safely say you aren't one."
Mileena was almost knocked off her feet when the boy suddenly hugged her, muttering thank you over and over again. Deciding it was time for her to go, Mileena gentle untangled the boy's arms before asking, "And what is your name?"
"Naruto Uzamaki, miss." Mileena recognized the last name as that of one of Bara's friends. If her memory served the same women was also rumored to be the last Hokage's wife. However, Mileena never met either of the two, so this information was trivial to her.
"Well Naruto," she began, "I can tell that you've had quite that night. Why don't you run along and I'll take care of things here, okay?"
"Really? Thanks nice lady." With that Mileena watched the boy run into the night. She hoped he wouldn't have any more problems before he got home. After throwing the body into a nearby river, Mileena decided to go visit some old friends.
Arriving at the Hyuga compound, Mileena stealthily looked for Bara and Hizashi. She had gained practice dodging the Byakugan's gaze. Checking in her daughter's room, she found that neither of her friends were there, but she did note her daughter was cuddling with her teddy bear, if only she had a camera. Checking the master bedroom also revealed no one there, she did hear Hiashi muttering in his office, something about his wife insisting on working at the hospital and working late. A check of Hizashi's house showed her the only occupants were Hizashi's son, she thought his name was Neji, and a trio of Konoha genin. They must have been babysitting, a common "mission" for genin.
Running out of ideas of where her friends could be, Mileena decided to check her old room. Inside she found a bed much better than the one she slept in. On the bed was a content looking Hizashi and Bara, both lacking any clothes.
"I knew it!" Mileena exclaimed, startling the pair, "I knew you two would hook up."
"Quite down Mileena," Bara scolded her friend, "do you want the entire compound awake?"
Mileena had the decency to look sheepish, "Sorry."
"As much as we enjoy your visits," Hizashi began, "what do you need, we were kind of in the middle of something."
"Yes I bet you were," both Hyugas blushed, "now what can you tell me about Naruto Uzamaki?"
"I don't know much," Hizashi began, "All I know is that he is an orphan who has the bad luck to be chosen as the container for the Kyubi."
"Wait, his last name is Uzamaki?" Bara asked.
"Yeah, how is that significant?" Mileena asked.
"That was Kushina's last name. Look, not many people know this but before the Kyubi attacked, it was sealed within someone to keep it from destroying various villages. This isn't an uncommon practice as the rest of the major villages do something similar. Kushina once told me about this and how she was the Kyubi's jailer. But there is a risk, as when a female container is pregnant, the seal weakens."
"So you think that Naruto is your friend's son?" Mileena questioned. "But then who is father?"
"What did the boy look like?" Hizashi questioned.
"Tanned skin, blue eyes, and spiky blond hair."
"Sounds like a mini-Minato. This would make sense, the last few months Minato was constantly getting ramen to go, even he wasn't that much of a ramen addict."
"But Kushina was." Bara finished. "But why hide the truth?"
"From what you two told me about Minato and Kushina, they both had a lot of enemies. Both within and outside the village. Not to mention that while there is a minority in the village that hates Naruto, they are still sizable enough to let an outside agent in to kill him."
"So what do we do now?" Asked Hizashi.
"We'll try to help him from the shadows," Bara answered, "we can't let Hiashi know the truth, I don't want him to try to weaponized the boy. Is there anything else we should know?"
"The kid accidently killed one of his pursers."
"Oh dear kami..."Hizashi began.
"Relax," Mileena cut him off, "I talked to him and made sure he was okay and took care of the body, he's find now. Well, I'm off. You two enjoy your night, just not too much."
Mileena left the compound chackling while both Bara and Hizashi yelled after her.
A five year old Hinata was walking in the park with her heavily pregnant mother. The news her mother's pregnancy was a great, but welcomed surprise. Hinata looked forward to playing with her younger sister, her mother seemed excited to have another child, and her father was actually happy about having another potential heiress for the clan. Hinata stopped and waited as her mother sat down on a bench to rest. Hinata waited patiently, although she wanted to go on ahead to the field of flowers and pick some to practice her new hobby of flower pressing.
Seeing her daughter's impatience, Bara sighed. "Go ahead, I'll catch up shortly, just don't wonder too far away."
Hinata immediately thanked her mother before rushing off in the direction of the flowers. Before she got there, she bumped into something and fell down. Looking up, she saw three third year academy students
"Look what we have here fellas, another one of those stuck up Hyugas."
"Well let's teach this one a lesson, that she can't go around crashing into people without consequences."
"Well what are you waiting for, bow down and apologize."
Hinata was afraid. She had been outside the clan compound before and was always treated nicely. This was the first time someone had been remotely mean to her. The three bullies must have misinterpreted her fear for arrogance as the leader suddenly slapped her and yelled, "I said apologize."
Just as soon as Hinata was slapped, the bully was hit and knocked to the ground by a blur. In front of Hinata was a boy around her age with blue eyes, blond spiky hair, and whisker-like scars. (A/N How many times am I going to have to reintroduce/ re-describe characters. It gets tiresome.)
Hinata's knight in shining armor stood protectively in front of her and yelled, "Leave her alone you bullies, it's obvious it was an accident."
Getting up from the ground, the leader turned to his subordinate, "Hey Binya, isn't this the kid your Uncle said was always causing trouble."
"Yeah."
"Well why don't we teach him a lesson?"
At that, the three bullies crash tackled Hinata's savior. Once they got up, two of the bullies held the boy by his arms while the third alternated punching and kicking the boy. Being forgotten for the moment and feeling like she couldn't do anything, Hinata ran back to her mother to get help. She meet her mother halfway, Bara already rushing over after hearing the commotion. When the pair made it back to the boy, they found him knocked out and his bullies far away. In a different timeline, Hinata might have been dragged back to the clan compound. Instead she and her mother knelt down next to the boy and waited for him to wake up.
After a few minutes, the boy began to move.
"Ah, what hit me?"
"From what my daughter told me, about three bullies. That was reckless of you to fight someone so above your level, much less three people."
"Don't worry mame, I'll be fine." The boy's eyes then landed on Hinata, "Are you okay?"
A strange feeling found its way into Hinata's stomach. She felt happy and nervous when the boy looked at her. Trying to speak normally, instead Hinata while she was blushing, she stuttered out, "I…I…I'm fi…in…..ne. Th…han…k yo…u."
Seeing her daughter stutter and knowing who this boy was based on Mileena's description, Bara couldn't help but smile at the pair. Deciding to break the slightly awkward silence, she asked "And what is the name of my daughter's knight in shinning armor?"
"Naruto Uzamaki, miss?"
"My name is Bara Hyuga, and this is my daughter Hinata. Thank you Naruto-kun for protecting her."
"It was nothing," Naruto said scratching the back of his head, "I just did what any good person would."
Sensing her daughter's crush and the opportunity to slightly help in Naruto's life, Bara told her daughter, "Well that's enough excitement for me for right now. Hinata, why don't you stay and play with Naruto for a while, I need to go sit down."
As she turned around to go back to the park bench, Bara heard a thud as well as Naruto calling out, "Hinata!" Bara simply chuckled to herself at her daughter's behavior.
Once Hinata was conscious again, she spent the rest of the afternoon playing with Naruto while he helped her pick flowers. Although she still blushed whenever she was around him and still stuttered, she did not faint again. As the sun started to set, Bara called her daughter back. The Hyugas left the park with the promise to Naruto that they would be back again soon to play again.
"Hinata-chan," Bara began, "did you enjoy your afternoon with Naruto-kun?"
"Yes kaa-san," Hinata replied, able to speak normally once away from, what she did not know as, her crush, "Naruto-kun was funny and helped me find all these pretty flowers."
"Naruto-kun is it?"
"KAA-SAN!"
"I'm just joking my little girl, although if you want a marriage contract." Hinata once again blushed madly and looked like she might pass out again. "Relax honey, I was just joking, you two are much too young for that kind of thing. Now Hinata, we can come here quite often if you do well in your training, but it will be our little secret, your father does not need to know, okay?"
Hinata smiled once again before replying, "Yes kaa-san."
For the next few months Bara and Hinata visited the park almost every day. Once they arrived at the bench, the two would find Naruto waiting for them, at which point Naruto and Hinata would rush off to go play. It was during this time that the duo would meet various other children, including the children of the other major clan heads and one civilian girl with pink hair.
This changed on March 26. That morning Bara woke up and realized she could not move her legs. As she was close to her due date, she figured this was related to her pregnancy. She spent the rest of the day in her bed, and was heartbroken when she told Hinata that she wouldn't be able to play with Naruto for a while. Once the crying Hinata left her room, Bara sent for Hizashi and asked him for some paper, a brush, and to tell Naruto he might not see Hinata for some time.
Bara knew that something was off even if she refused to let other people know her doubts. Once she received her supplies, Bara quickly wrote a letter to the girl she had been raising as a daughter, telling Hinata many truths save for the one story that was not hers to tell. Hoping that it would never have to be read, Bara sealed the letter and instructed her must-trusted servant to that if anything were to happen to her to deliver it to Hinata, but that she must only read it once the time was right. Shortly after this Hizashi returned, informing Bara that Naruto looked heartbroken at the news, but said he understood.
That night Bara could not get any sleep, she worried what her sudden paralysis meant for her baby. These thoughts were soon broken when she felt something wet against her thighs. Much like five years previous, the Hyuga compound became a flurry of activity. This time Bara was transported to the village hospital, as there were better resources to handle the delivery. The birth was relatively simple, with many of the nurses commenting it was as if Bara had done this before.
"Well Lady Hyuga, you have given birth to a healthy baby girl." At this point Bara was finally given her baby to hold. The child had inherited the Byakugan, her father's tanned skin, and her brown chestnut hair instead of her father's darker brown. When asked by a nurse for her name, Bara told her it was, "Hanabi Hyuga."
The nurse then took Hanabi away to be weighted and given a full check up. Once the room was empty, the doctor came back in and put a syringe in Bara's IV bag while muttering, "and here's something to help you relax."
Bara Hyuga soon fell into darkness.
In the waiting room
Hiashi, Hizashi, Hinata, and Neji waited for news about Bara and the baby. The children were taking a nap while the adults nervously looked at the door. All activity stopped for the occupants of the waiting room when a doctor walked in.
"Any news?" Asked Hiashi.
"There is good and bad news Lord Hyuga. Your wife gave birth to a healthy baby girl, who she named Hanabi, but shortly afterwards she fell into a coma for some unknown reason. Rest assured we will work our hardest to have her back among the awake."
"I see, thank you for your assistance."
"My pleasure Lord Hyuga."
Life had continued in the time since Hanabi's birth. It was true, the girl was extremely healthy, her crying keeping half the compound up at night was proof of that. During this time Bara was still in her coma and was moved to a long term care area of the hospital. Hizashi requested many branch members to check on her health. This lead to many rumors within the branch family, but all were smart enough not to say anything around a main house member or around the general public. Hinata continued to train, although she missed her almost daily outing to the park and meeting Naruto.
Today was special for two reasons The first being that all of the clan heirs and heiresses would be entering the shinobi academy today. This included Saskue Uchiha, the only surviving Uchiha clan member after his brother Itachi massacured the entire clan a few months ago. Saskue remembered his brothers final words to him, to hate him and grow powerful. Saskue dedicated his life to following those words, shunning any and all friendship in search of power. The other new students worth mentioning are Shikamaru Nara, the lazy genius, Choji Akimichi, the gentle boy until someone used the taboo "F word", Ino Yamanaka, the mind reader and this generations gossip queen, Kiba Inuzuke, the wild boy, Shino Aburame, the silent bug collector, Sakura Haruno, a pink haired girl from a civilian family, Hinata Hyuga and Naruto Uzamaki. Of course all of these children knew of each other, having played in the park previously at different times and meeting each other then. It was in that time that certain patterns developed. Naruto and Kiba had a friendly rivalry while neither one liked Saskue. Shikamaru spent most of his time watching clouds while Choji ate his chips nearby. Sakura and Ino both developed crushes on Saskue. Hinata would often times switch from playing with Naruto to picking flowers with Sakura and Ino, Shino tended to hover around the various groups with only Naruto, Kiba, and Hinata ever actively interacting with the boy.
The second cause for celebration was that after many years of conflict, a delegate from Kumogakure had arrived to talk with the Hokage about reaching a lasting peace. It was agreed that the man was to be housed in the Hyuga compound so that one of the most powerful clans since the Uchiha's destruction could keep an eye on the foreign man. Many in the village were hopeful that an end of the stalemate and bloodshed would be reached to prevent more families from losing fathers, mothers, and children.
Naruto was currently sitting in his seat in the classroom, excited to learn some great ninja stuff. He was also glad that he was with his friends again. In the time that had passed, he had gotten some new clothes. He now wore a black shirt with a red spiral on the front and a pair of grey shorts. He also took to wearing a pair of green goggles that were left to him at his doorstep as a gift on his last birthday.
Hinata was glad to be in the same class as Naruto, even more so that he was wearing the goggles she had secretly given him on his last birthday. She wondered if she should try to switch seats with someone so that she could sit closer to Naruto and hopefully not stutter around her crush. Yes, in the time since she had seen him, Hinata recognized the fact that she had a crush on Naruto, one she hoped would lead to something more. She was broken from her plans when two men walked into the room. Both wore the standard chunin uniform of Konoha. One was pale and had straight silver hair that he let hang freely while the other was tan and wore his brown hair in a short ponytail, he also had a large scar across the bridge of his nose.
"Hello class. My name is Iruka Umino, you will address me as Iruka-sensei. The man next to me is my assistant Mizuki, his last name doesn't matter, you will address him as Mizuki-sensei. I hope you are prepare as we have a full day ahead of us. Now open up your notebooks and get ready."
Hinata was slightly disheartened at this. She wouldn't be able to speak to Naruto at all today. She couldn't talk to him after school either as she was expected back at the compound to help entertain the Kumo delegate. With a sigh, Hinata opened her notebook. In the front pocket was the letter her mother had written before she fell into her coma. Despite being over a year since that day, Hinata had still not broken the seal, feeling it was not yet time.
After school, Hinata immediately went home to the Hyuga compound. After greeting her father and informing him of her classmates and getting an ninety-eight percent on a surprise quiz, to which he said she could have done better, Hinata rushed off to play with Hanabi. Since her mother fell into her coma, Hinata had been helping the nannies take care of Hanabi, feeding, changing, and teaching her. Today was no different as Hinata was reviewing the alphabet when Hanabi said her first word, "sister."
Hinata was so excited that she almost ran to her father with the good news. However she was stopped by her uncle before she could even leave the room.
"The Kumo delegate is here, you are expected at the front gate."
"Yes Hizashi-oji." Hinata quickly changed out of her school clothes and into a formal kimono and stood with her father as the entire main branch greeted the delegate that would soon bring peace to two of the great nations.
That night
Sitting around the table in the Hyuga dining room was Hiashi, Hizashi, the clan council, and the Kumo delegate.
"To peace." The delegate declared raising his saucer of sake.
"To peace." The assembled Hyuga mirrored his actions as everyone drank their sake.
"Finally, this pointless conflict is over. You know if your Fourth Hokage had lived longer, we might have ended this years ago, the Raikage had a great amount of respect for that man." Said the delegate.
"Yes, how very unfortunate." Hiashi replied. He then stood up and walked towards the delegate and extended his hand for the delegate to shake. "May this be a wonderful opportunity for both Kumo and the Hyuga clan."
The delegate joyfully took Hiashi's hand saying, "On that, we can agree on."
Faster than most could follow, Hiashi extended his other hand and pushed a lethal amount of chakra into the man's heart, he was dead before he hit the floor.
Shocked by his brother's actions, Hizashi quickly exclaimed, "Brother, what have you done?!"
Calmly Hiashi turned towards the Hyuga council said, "Leave us, I have something to discuss with my brother alone."
Once they were alone Hizashi asked, "Now will you explain your madness?"
"Simple dear brother," Hiashi began, "the clan needs this conflict to continue."
"But why, peace is within our grasp."
"That is exactly why," Hiashi stated, "as it stands right now the Hyuga clan either directly or through puppets controls most of Konoha's economy. With the destruction of the Uchiha there is a power vacuum for the military power. The Hyuga clan needs to gain more notoriety to fill that space, which we can't do in peace. To make sure the Hyuga clan is fully behind this conflict I have several witnesses seeing this man kidnapping Hinata as we speak."
Outside
Mileena was watching the various festivities around the village in celebration at the future peace. Since she first accepted the name of the phantom of the leaves, her only set of clothes had collected a large amount of tears. While they were still useable, if only slightly, Mileena had started to wear a brown travelers cloak with a hood, this allowed her to interact with the village population more.
Looking towards the Hyuga compound, Mileena saw a figure dressed in black carrying a brown bag running away. Fearing the worse, Mileena gave chase. Once she was in range, she threw her sai into the man's legs, causing him to fall. Opening the bag, Mileena was shocked and horrified to discover a sedated Hinata, someone had tried to steal her baby! With motherly vengeance Mileena stalked towards the downed man and pulled off his mask, revealing a Hyuga branch member.
He didn't even open his eyes, just said "please make it quick."
Dumbfounded, Mileena asked, "Why are you doing this?"
The man opened his eyes, shocked at seeing Mileena, "No, no, no! Hiashi is supposed to be here, not you. Believe me miss phantom, I don't want to do this, but he promised my son wouldn't get the curse seal."
Recognizing another scheme of Hiashi's, Mileena quickly knocked the man unconscious, grabbed him and her daughter, and started walking back to the compound to put them back where they belong.
Back with Hiashi and Hizashi
"Kumo will demand your head."
"And they will get yours," Hiashi replied, "we are twins, they will never know the difference."
"Why would I agree to this?"
"Because if you don't I will kill your son. This is also self-serving on my part. Tell me brother, do you think I am an idiot, I know Hanabi is not mine, I realized that bitch of a wife of mine did something to make me infertile years ago. It cost me a lot to pay off the doctors to keep her under, but it is worth it to have her out of my hair. I still don't know what slut is your boy's mother, but I guess it won't matter if he's dead."
With his piece said, Hiashi grabbed four items from within his robes. A piece of paper, a brush, a container of ink, and a knife. "Before you off yourself, write your son a letter saying how the clan didn't make you do this, but how you did this by your own choice, remember I'm reading it after your gone do a good job and I'll ensure your daughter is raised well."
As he was walking out, Hiashi heard his brother say, "I wish I never stepped aside and allowed my younger twin to take over the clan to spare him from this seal."
Hiashi didn't turn around, but said, "We can't take back what we did in the past, only move forward with the consequences in the future." and closed the door.
Left alone, Hizashi quickly wrote a letter to his son, giving a bullshit reason for his death as his freedom form the seal. He was grateful that his brother did not know the entire truth. Once he sealed the envolope, Hizashi picked up the knife and considered his options. He could do what his brother wanted and hope his son and daughter where well taken care of. But he learned the truth behind Bara's coma, and he wanted his daughter to know her mother, perhaps he could surprise Hiashi and explain to the Hokage the truth of what happened tonight before his seal was activated. He was broken from his thoughts when a figure appeared out of the shadows.
"Mileena, what are you…"
Before he could finish, Mileena had grabbed the knife out of his hand and put it to his throat. "I heard everything my friend," she began, "I'm sorry for this, but the pain is only temporary."
She then slit his throat open.
Standing in the room with the body of what used to be her friend, Mileena waited. After a few moments a green ball rose out of Hizashi's corpse. Grabbing it and opening a portal to another realm, something so assumed Shang Tsung implanted the knowledge of, she hoped she reached her destination before it was too late.
In Edenia
Sindel was once again have a pleasant day. With the resurrection of her husband, her royal work had been cut in half. Of course the people were happy to have their beloved king back, but not as grateful as Sindel was, which she showed her husband every night. It seemed however that being dead once had messed with Jerrod's reproductive systems, so Kitana wouldn't be getting any little siblings anytime soon.
The other souls Scorpion had brought her, Minato and his wife Kushina, had decided to build a house in one of the more wooded sections of Edenia. She visited the two often and enjoyed the tales and history of their realm, she hoped she could visit one day. As she was planning her distant future, she heard a portal open behind her. Turning around, she saw a feminine figure dressed in a brown cloak approach her.
"Queen Sindel," the figure bowed, "I have a favor to ask of you."
"You have a lot of nerve coming here," although she could not see her face, Sindel recognized the voice, "and why would I do anything for you Mileena?"
"Because I caused your revival, please help me friend." At this Mileena opened her hand and allowed a green ball to float up. The ball soon shifted form and became Hizashi Hyuga.
"Mileena," Hizashi began, clearly angry, "why the fuck did you kill me?"
"I knew any option you chose would have resulted in your death and for me to help you I needed to collect your soul as soon as possible. Well he has physical form in this realm, he's your responsibility now Queen Sindel." With that Mileena quickly backed into the still open portal and went back to the Elemental Nations.
"And just how do you know that women?" Sindel asked the man before her.
"It is not my story to tell." was the simple reply.
Sighing, Sindel asked, "Do you by chance know Minato Namikaze or Kushina Uzamaki?"
"I do, I suppose I should inform my friends what has happened in the years since their deaths."
The Next Day
It was heart wrenching for young Neji to have to identify his father's body. Although it had been completely shaved and all fluid drained, Neji easily recognized his father's face. What caught his attention however was a series of small, circular scars that formed a bigger circle on one of his father's shoulders. When asked by the clan elder if this was his father's body, Neji nodded his head. It was on this day that Neji decided that this was his father's fate, to have his life traded so that his Uncle could live. Everything, Neji determined, was predetermined, he had no say in his life. Slowly, the child became bitter, and a hatred grew for the main house for imposing this fate onto him and his father.
In the Hokage's office
It was not a good day for the aged leader. Just yesterday he was talking to an official from Kumo and had reached an agreement to end their conflict. Yet it was all a rouse just to try to steal the Byakugan. Signing again while he went back to his paper work, Hiruzen was startled when a voice behind him said, "You know he was behind it right, Kumo really did want peace until last night."
Turning around, the Hokage was greeted by the sight of a women with yellow eyes in a brown cloak. "So I finally meet the famous phantom of the leaves. And what would you know of this?" While saying this, he quietly motioned his guards out of the room, knowing this woman would not harm him. He was also grateful Danzo's spy was currently getting lunch.
"More than you think Hiruzen, and my name is Mileena. While it may seem that Hiashi is the victim and only wants what's best for the village, he is actually the mastermind behind this plot and wants to use the conflict to elevate the Hyuga's position even more."
"And what would you have me do? The only evidence I have is your word which no one else will take."
"Just keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't gain any more political or economic power within or outside the village." With that Mileena disappeared back into the shadows, giving the aged Hokage much to think about.
(A/N: All characters are wearing canon clothing as of now, if I feel they need to be described I will do so, but until then you now know what they look like.)
Six years had passed quickly for Naruto. He attended the academy every lesson, but would often sneak out and pull a prank on a civilian or prank Mizuki, though no one could prove it was him. He made decent grades, enough to pass but as there was no one around to help him study he was the dead last of the class. Overall, he was bored within the academy, by his last year it was mostly review of the previous five. Although he was happy that he spent some time with Hinata, he missed playing with her in the park, even if she did stutter. He also continued his friendship with Kiba, who had finally gotten a nin-dog he named Akamaru, Shikamaru, and Choji. He would occasionally ask Sakura out on a date, but this was just to get attention, as he knew she had a massive crush on the prick known as Saskue and that Kiba had a small crush on her.
Today he had just been caught by Iruka-sensei, who he saw as a brother, painting the Hokage monument. For Naruto's punishment, Iruka was forcing the entire class to practice the Henge no Justsu. So far everyone was doing well with the jutsu. When it was his turn, Naruto decided to pull one last prank for the day, when it was his turn he cried out, "Oiroke no Jutsu!"
In Naruto's place was a heavily endowed woman with blond pigtails. She was completely naked with only a small amount of smoke covering some areas of her body. Upon seeing this, Iruka, as well as most of the boys in the class save for a laughing Kiba, snacking Choji, sleeping Shikamaru, unmoving Shino, and revenge obsessed Saskue, launched backwards due to massive nosebleeds. After being yelled at by Iruka, Naruto did the technique correctly, then was required to go clean up his "artwork."
Once he was done cleaning off the Hokage Monument, Iruka decided to treat Naruto to his favorite ramen, even if he would lose most of his money to Naruto's apatite. Naruto of course was overjoyed, but suspected Iruka's choice or restaurant had less to do with the food and more to do with a crush on Ayame, but who was he to complain about free ramen?
After starting their meals, Iruka asked Naruto, "So why did you do that? You know who those men where, right?"
"Of course I do Iruka-sensei. I know about the Hokages, even if your boring lectures put everyone to sleep." Iruka felt three sweat drops on the back of his head. "But to answer your question, I guess I was just bored and wanted some attention. Most of the people in this village act like I don't exist, while some outright hate me and only a few like you, Old Man Hokage, the Ichirakus, and my friends actually talk to me, why do you think I ask out Sakura all the time?"
At this Iruka spat out the sake he had been drinking, "Wait!" he exclaimed, "You don't actually like Sakura!"
"Well yeah I like her as a friend, she's not so bad if you catch her outside of being a fangirl, plus there's someone else I like."
"Oh really," Iruka began, "and who would that be?" he asked, already having an idea.
"Okay, don't tell anyone, but I kinda, sorta, possible, maybe, might have a small, little, tiny crush on Hinata-chan, but nothing's going to come from it. Look at her, she's amazing and a heiress to a powerful clan, while I'm just a fumbling street rat."
"Don't get so down on yourself Naruto." Iruka finished his sake and paid the bill before Naruto could get any more free ramen. "You never know what will happen in the future, now get home and get to bed, you have a big test tomorrow."
The next day at the academy the entire class was waiting for the jutsu portion of the exam. Naruto knew he did all right on the written portion and was second best on the target portion, only being beaten by Saskue and tied with Hinata. As long as the Bushin no Jutsu wasn't chosen he would be okay. However the boy forgot to knock on wood as Mizuki announce, "Now for the jutsu portion of the exam we will test you students on the Bushin no Justu." Naruto's head immediately hit the desk, with several of his friends giving him concerned looks, knowing his hate of the jutsu.
Naruto watched as one by one his friends, and Saskue, came back into the room with a Hitai-ate proudly displayed. He was then called by Iruka.
"Alright, Naruto, just two bushins and you can graduate. I know you have an excessive amount of chakra, so try to use as little as you can okay?"
Naruto nodded, focused on using as little of his chakra as he could, did the handsigns and called out, "Bushin no Jutu!" The room was filled with smoke, as it cleared Iruka and Mizuki could see that Naruto had made two bushins, however they appeared way too pale and had swirls for eyes. The bushin lasted for three seconds before dispelling.
"I'm sorry Naruto, but it looks like you fail."
"Iruka can't we just pass him?" Mizuki asked. "He showed rudimentary retention of the bookwork, was one of the best in the physical work, and we know he can do other jutsus. Last year one kid passed without being about to use chakra, so why don't we pass Naruto?"
Iruka looked about ready to agree with what his assistant had said and started reaching for a Hitai-ate to give to Naruto before he was stopped by the boy.
"Thank you two for considering this, but I can't accept it. I need to be able to stand on my own two feet and not rely on the kindness of my comrades. I can't expect all of the other genin to treat me the same when I can't accomplish the same feats that they have. Guess I'll see you next semester Iruka-sensei." With that, Naruto walked out of the room, the only student in the class not to pass.
Sitting on the swing outside the academy, Naruto watched as the families gathered around the graduates, congratulating them. This served to make Naruto sadder as he realized even if he did pass the exam there would be no one waiting for him at home. While stuck on this though, he overheard two of the civilian mothers gossiping.
"Look, it's that thing."
"Good thing it didn't pass, could you imagine if that de…"
"Don't talk about that in the open, it's forbidden."
This perked Naruto's interest. They were obviously talking about him, but what was forbidden? To his and his friends knowledge he was an orphan no one wanted. Maybe his parents were nuke-nin and Old Man Hokage didn't want him to know. Naruto was broken form this though, along with several others, when he saw Kiba start to walk over to him.
"Bushin no Jutsu, tough break man. If it was any other you would be wearing one of these to."
"Thanks Kiba, guess my luck just finally ran out. Better luck next time I guess."
Curious about his friend's happy attitude, Kiba asked, "What is with you? You failed the big test that would make you a shinobi and you act like it's just another day? Do you have some disease that makes you always happy?"
Laughing at his friends joke, Naruto replied, "Nah, I guess I'm just use to looking on the brighter side of things." As he was saying this, Naruto's eyes wondered to the farthest edge of the crowd. Seeing his friends movements, Kiba turned and saw Hinata being lead back to her clan compound by her escort. Turning back to his friend, Kiba asked, "So are you finally going to ask her out, now's your chance."
Sighing, and for once actually seeming sad, Naruto only said, "I can't do that. She's still the Hyuga heiress while I'm still street trash. If I had graduated we would actually have the same status as genin of Konoha, but right now I would just get laughed at by everyone. Well, more than usual. And what about you, are you going to ask her out now?"
With a blush, Kiba told his friend, "I'm not asking Sakura out. She's still too much of an Uchiha fangirl and you know what my mom does when my sister brings home a potential boyfriend."
"I never said anything about Sakura."
"Why you, shut up and stop changing the subject."
Hearing Sakura's name, Akamaru barked giving his two cents. The puppy actually liked Sakura. Whenever she wasn't imitating a howler monkey and when she was not fangirling, the girl would rub his stomach in just the right way. It also helped she gave him meaty and tasty treats.
Grabbing his nin-dog by the scruff of his neck, bring him to his face Kiba said, "It nice to know I have your approval, but you don't get a say in who I date."
"And who does Akamaru want you to date Kiba?"
Looking to the side, both boys saw the subject of the previous conversation. While not as physically skilled as the other students, Sakura made up for it due to her intellect, able to memorize any information almost instantly and could come up with simple battles strategies, though Naruto always beat her in those exercises because of unpredictability. The boys were in luck that they had caught the girl in one of her moments outside of being a fangirl.
"Oh, no one you know Sakura." Naruto quickly said to save Kiba the embarrassment.
"Too bad, I could have helped you out Kiba. But you really should listen to Akamaru, he probably knows you better than yourself and knows who is perfect for you."
"Thanks Sakura." Kiba paused, before gaining the courage and started to ask, "Hey Sakura, if you're not…"
"Hey have you two seen Saskue-kun around here?" Only to be cut off by Sakura's fangirl side returning.
"No sorry, think he might have mumbled something about training back at his house."
With that Sakura turned and ran towards the Uchiha district in hopes of intercepting the love of her life.
Turning around, Kiba saw Naruto holding in his laughter, if just barely.
"Don't you dare fucking say it." the feral boy warned.
Ignoring his friend, Naruto threw his head back and yelled for the entire village to hear, "FRIENDZONED!" and promptly ran away from his enraged friend, until he bumped into Mizuki.
"Ah, Naruto. Just the person I wanted to see."
"That's great Mizuki-sensei, but could we talk somewhere else. I need to save my skin."
Sitting in the middle of the forest, Naruto had the village's Scroll of Seals unwound on his lap. He was happy Mizuki-sensei had given him this make-up test. It was easy enough to sneak into the Hokage tower, the only hiccup in the plan came when he was caught by the Old Man. Luckily the Hokage proved to be a pervert and was easily knocked out by Naruto's original jutsu. He did become a bit disheartened when the first two jutsus listed were the Kage Bushin no Jutsu and the Taju Kage Bushin no Jutsu, but dedicated himself to learning the techniques. After a few hours of practicing, Naruto had the jutsus down to his liking, at which point he heard, "Naruto, do you have any idea what you've done?"
Turning around, Naruto was greeted to the sight of Iruka breathing heavily. While not the smartest in his class, Naruto was able to piece together enough information to realize someone was lying to him. Knowing Iruka would never do such a thing, Naruto asked him, "There is no make-up test, is there?"
Obviously angered at his favorite student, Iruka said, "Of course there is not, and even if there was why would it involve a scroll filled with jutsus that could kill you learning them? Who told you about this?"
Gulping, Naruto stated, "Mizuki-sensei."
Suddenly a giant shuriken burst out from the surrounding trees. Thinking quickly, Iruka pushed Naruto to the ground before jumping out of the way. Turning in the direction from which the weapon was thrown, the duo saw none other than Mizuki, with two more shuriken strapped to his back. Seeing Iruka, Mizuki only said, "You're not supposed to be here."
"Mizuki, why are you doing this?" Iruka demanded.
"Well, I'm always looking for more powerful techniques, and I know someone who will pay enough money for that scroll for me to live like a king in beach country for the rest of my life."
"So you trick a kid with the promise of helping to fulfill his dream for your own selfish ambitions."
"Yeah sorry about that Naruto. I have nothing against you, but I always planned for a little collateral damage. Seeing as it won't matter anymore, I'll tell you a secret. Do you want to know why some people in the village hate you while others act like you don't exist?"
"Don't do this Mizuki," Iruka warned, "it's forbidden to speak of."
"Well," Mizuki continued ignoring Iruka, "twelve years ago the Kybui attacked the village. The story that we tell at the academy is that the Fourth Hokage gave his life to kill the demon, but that is a lie, instead he sealed the beast into a newborn child. Face it kid, you're the nine-tailed fox, see ya!" With that said, Mizuki threw another one of his giant shuriken at the stunned boy.
Naruto was too shocked by this revelation to move. He was the demon that killed so many people so many years ago? Maybe he deserved the hateful stares and being ignored. Maybe the world would be better off without him. With the last though in his head, Naruto closed his eyes and waited for the end.
It never came. Instead, Naruto opened his eyes to find Iruka looking down at him. Looking to the side, Naruto saw Mizuki's shuriken lodged in his sensei's back. Iruka had saved him, the demon fox, for death. Only one question was in Naruto's mind, "Why?"
Iruka just smiled as he told the boy, "Don't listen to what that bastard has to say, you're not the fox, you're just a kid. My parents died in the fox attack, I know the pain of having to live alone for so long. I was glad that I was able to help you in whatever why I could. Now take the scroll, get out of here, and get help."
Nodding, Naruto followed his sensei's instructions, grabbing the scroll and running into the trees, but stopped when he heard Iruka and Mizuki start to talk.
"You know," Mizuki began, "he's just going to run away from the village, or possible use all of the jutsus in the scroll to destroy it."
"If he was a demon, maybe he would. But you didn't tell him the entire truth. Yeah he was used to seal away the Kyubi, but that doesn't make him the fox, he is his own person. He is Naruto Uzamaki of the Village Hidden in the Leaves."
"You talk too much you know that Iruka?" Mizuki asked as he grabbed his last giant shuriken. "Well goodbye Iruka, I'm going after your favorite student next." With that said Mizuki threw his weapon.
Iruka was prepared to die, if only to give Naruto a few more seconds of a head start so that he could warn the Hokage. Instead of the shuriken taking Iruka's head off, both man were surprised when Naruto jumped from above and kicked the weapon away declaring, "I will not allow you to hurt my sensei."
"Naruto, you need to get out of here and go tell the Hokage!"
Smiling, Naruto told him "It's my turn to protect you sensei." He then turned to Mizuki, brought his hands into the shape of a cross and yelled, "Taju Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" Instantly the clearing was filled with hundreds of thousands of Naruto's, each completely solid. Iruka was impressed, and figured Naruto showed more than enough skill to be a genin. Mizuki was fearful about what this meant for him in the near future. His suspicions where confirmed when the original Naruto yelled, "Charge!"
Ten minutes later, a bloody and bruised Mizuki laid at Naruto's feet. "Whoops, looks like I over did it." Naruto said, scratching the back of his neck.
Chuckling at his students antics, Iruka said, "Hey Naruto, come over here for a second, and close your eyes."
Moving quickly, Iruka took off his Naruto's goggles and replaced them with his own Hitai-ate. "There open your eyes." As Naruto did as he was told he noticed Iruka holding his goggles. "There," Iruka began, "I now name you an official genin of Konohagakure." Feeling extremely happy, Naruto crash hugged his teacher, yelling, "Thank you Iruka-sensei!"
The moment was broken by two things. One, the hug aggravated Iruka's injuries. Two, a squad of ANBU dropped from the trees with the leader saying, "Naruto-san, the Hokage requests you to return the Scroll of Seals to his office. We will take Iruka-san to the hospital."
In the Hokage's office
Once the Scroll of Seals was place back in lock down, Naruto stood before Hiruzen while the latter sat behind his desk.
"Naruto," the aged leader began, "why did you steal the scroll?"
"I'm sorry Old Man," Naruto began, "but I really wanted to be a shinobi, and as much as I like Iruka-sensei, I didn't want to wait another year for the chance."
Sighing, Hiruzen stated, "It's fine Naruto, you exposed a traitor to the village and showed that you have enough skill to be a genin. Now, you've learned something important today, I think it goes without saying you shouldn't tell anyone except those you absolutely trust, an even then I think you should wait a few years before you do."
Nodding, Naruto replied, "Right Old Man." Naruto paused before he asked, "Old Man, who were my parents? I heard people around me mention me related to something forbidden, I figured my parents were nuke-nin or something and you didn't want me to know."
After a long moment of silence, Hiruzen sighed. Standing up, the old man walked to one of his file cabinets and retrieved a single file He then stopped in front of Naruto.
"Naruto, I can tell you that your parents were among some of the most loyal people to this village and are probably rolling over in their graves at the treatment some of the villagers have given you. Now, before I give you this file, I need you to understand some things. One is that you cannot tell anyone about what is in this file. The second is that you are not this person, I don't want you to think of yourself in their shadow or think you need to imitate them, you are Naruto Uzumaki. Do you understand this?
Nodding his head, Naruto said, "Of course Old Man."
Smiling, Hiruzen handed the thick file to the boy saying, "Then read this when you get home, don't forget to get your picture taken for your shinobi ID tomorrow."
Naruto eagerly grabbed the file. Walking out of the Hokage's office, Naruto read the name on the cover.
"Kushina Uzumaki, ANBU codename: Vixen."
And that's where I'm going to end it. Now how many of you thought Hiruzen was going to tell Naruto about his father?
As I said at the top, this chapter took the longest to write so far. The first two chapters took me about a day each to write and edit, while this one took me three days. Again, I didn't initially know where this chapter was going to go, the rest I have the general idea in my head. I thought this was going to be a short chapter, maybe only ten pages, instead this is the longest yet at 26! On a few different notes, this is probably going to be my last update for awhile, my college starts again today, I'm actually uploading this between classes. I also finally posted some ideas for future stories on my profile, take a look and let me know which ones you want me to write next, or if you think I should focus on A New Realm.
As always, this chapter has answered some questions, but presented more. Such as…
What did Bara's letter say?
What is the full truth that Hizashi knows?
What will Naruto learn about his mother from the ANBU file?
These questions and more will, hopefully, be answered in future chapters.
Again I got all of the spellings and the terms of off the wiki, if you see anything that you think needs to be corrected let me know and I'll try to fix it as soon as possible. I know that certain events have been moved around, but this is my story and this is how they fit together this time. I'll probably stick closer to cannon in later stories, but no promises.
As always, if you enjoyed leave a review. I'm still open to answering a question from the first reviewer with an account or answering a question I feel is warranted. Also if you enjoy my work, please share it to your friends that are also on the site, I want to get as much input from as many people as possible, the main reader interaction part of this story is coming up shortly. I might not always take the suggestions my readers give me, but I always appreciate the fact someone took time out of there day to write a few short words. I might also take the suggestion and take the story into a new direction I had not thought of before.
So, here's acw28 saying, "until next update."
