What Could Have Been
Konohagakure.
The biggest and known strongest of all five main shinobi villages.
And the village that would make her life hell, had she remained here.
Such was Naruko's thought.
Honestly, that mere idea terrified her.
That as she passed the streets of normal people, her father showed her a horrible future that led her to becoming a demon, and a key to make Muzan more powerful by eating her, effectively dooming humanity worse than the nine Bijuu ever could.
These people around her, enjoyed beating a child with a cruel smile on their faces, thinking she herself is Kurama.
She can't even hate the fox who also didn't ask for both their dismays, that they have a shared hatred towards anything and anyone Uchiha.
She hates all adults here.
She hated Hatake Kakashi who enjoyed what she should have had with her parents, and after they died, spat on their memory by ignoring her while aware of the suffering she was in! And as a Genin her training as well as another's, was grossly neglected while favoring one student when he has three!
She even hated more her irresponsible godfather, Jiraiya the Sannin who never looked at her once, until Akatsuki made its presence known, that is!
Her anger boiled just by being in Konoha!
She rushed to her hotel and put up an easygoing nature to get herself a nice room. But once alone by herself, her beautiful face twisted into a look of anger and hatred.
"I swear, I got here too early, this place pisses me off!"
Its hours TOO early if you ask me. Kurama rumbled from within her.
"I know but I needed a hotel room real fast you know! I haven't bathed in days nor lived off the land!" Naruko replied, irate. "River unsafe due to leeches, can't even drink! I'm freaking hungry so I rushed!"
Rule of thumb in Outdoor Survival:
If you see freshwaster shrimp and crayfish, water is clean to drink. Leeches and larvae in water? EW!
Well, two more hours till the showdown Kagaya predicted.
"Two more irritating hours!"
Naruko spent said two hours showering, putting on her last clean clothes, paid for laundromat service, and eat out in an izakaya, buying herself Kaisendon and Chicken Nanban. Light meal for one hell of a fight later. Moving around in high speeds with a full stomach sucks.
There was a newcomer in the corps.
Kanroji Mitsuri.
In the north where they lived, colored hair is EXTREMELY RARE. The most common were Black, Brown and Red and that last one's still rare!
Seeing different-colored hair is treated like how schools treat kids who dye their hair. Noooot nice!
Mitsuri-san who was four years older than her joined the Corps at 14 when father came to meet the distraught older girl in hopes of acceptance and finding a man stronger than her to marry as NOBODY WANTS TO MARRY HER due to her strength and nobody wanted to marry a 'boar-like woman' with strange hair that being reminded of it puts her to tears. Due to her strength, she simply needed flexibility training, chakra and swordsmanship training in one year, went to the Final Selection the year after, and is rising in ranks. She is currently a Hinoto.
Due to her unique musculature that she was born with, she has to eat as much as three sumo wrestlers do to maintain that body. So she often brings a lot of scrolls with food in it on jobs.
Naruko eats a lot as well due to what she was. Jinchuuriki eat a lot.
'It should be starting soon.' she mused as after eating food, she paid the bill and left for where she would encounter Gaara and waited outside the Village.
Actually, Chuunin Exams began while she was eating.
She can watch it from the telly in the restaurant.
After she finished her meal, she paid and left to wait by the promised area in high speeds. With Breathing alone and having mastered it since childhood along with arduous training, she was this fast and only a Jounin invested in speed can HOPE to catch her while high-ranking Slayers easily can, but if she combined it with her full body prowess, NOBODY can catch her.
'A fellow...neh...?' she smiled ruefully, soaring through the trees in blurs without any discomfort. 'I truly am fortunate that I was saved...but now, it's my turn to save him.'
Just don't wanna meet Shukaku again, he's nuts.
"You don't have to come out unless my life's in danger anyway just to heal my sorry ass. You won't meet him, don't worry!" Naruko giggled at Kurama's grumbling. "Just that, make only Gaara see that we are indeed, alike for the empathy thingy to work as father wishes."
So she waited, hidden in the trees...while in deep thought.
Kagaya predicted what would happen when she was discovered MISSING.
As an infant who was betrayed the second Sandaime declared her a Hero on her father's will...she would have had her first assassination attempt, had father and grandpa not saved her. Sandaime, discovering an assassin sent help, but found the baby missing and a few corpses in the nursery room. He panicked and had a village-wide search as well as outside for her father's only daughter. When she wasn't found, out of anger, he called an assembly and in his rage, accused the entire village of being the potential killer of her father's daughter...and why all Jinchuuriki are related to a village's Kage.
Because all of them declared hate and murder to a child the Yondaime hopes to be seen as a Hero, they were all potential suspects on an innocent infant's murder, a baby who never had a choice after leaving her mother's womb, that life became hard on Konoha courtesy of an angry Hokage.
He also created a 'Dormitory System' on Konoha Academy. One building per year level and children who enroll cannot go home until they graduate for all seven years and there is no 'early graduations' this time. This is to ensure 'today's children are smarter and more human than their parents who were perfectly OK with murdering infants', and curriculum changed. And all dorms were guarded with Barrier Seals to prevent sneaking ins and outs. As for clothes and shoes, children are measured every four months on weekends. ALL children of Konoha will enter the dorms, no exceptions at age six to seven, the latter age due to orphans incoming.
Not only that, High Rise Apartments are built for Orphans who graduated the Academy as well, all of which, were on the same blueprints of 1DK, that they'll have until they move out to get married. Naturally, Gender-Separated.
Boys and girls were separated to avoid 'fangirl syndrome' as so loathed and disdained by Inuzuka Tsume in her younger years, even during her youth when it's war and girls in the academy were still such idiots it was no surprise most kunoichi died first. Sandaime, twitching, agreed to her proposal that boys and girls be raised and educated SEPARATELY. Konoha has a low number of Kunoichi and he never knew why...until now and NOBODY TOLD HIM?
To those who advanced too fast, were given harder training to challenge themselves to come out the cream of the crop. And at age ten, they were made to study History of the World with no bias, books specially published for the kids. World History, and History of Konoha were the most important subjects. And parents, even clans were never informed what the curriculum was, strictly controlled and monitored, and the parents of shinobi clans with specialized skills were allowed to visit on weekends to interact and teach their heirs the family jutsus...starting at age ten as well.
As for those kids who were kids when Kyuubi attacked? Had to be disciplined.
But for those with problematic thoughts?
'Had to transfer out to another class' when in reality...they were disposed of, along with their families, and for them to cease to exist entirely. Neighbors were made to forget they ever knew them.
Civilians never saw the truth behind the Dormitory System, but the Shinobi Families knew the truth, that the system was borne out of the Hokage's rage upon seeing through his words when he proposed the system and they had no choice. Someone among them committed a crime and everyone pays. Those who were friends of the late couple who fought Kyuubi to their deaths were deeply ashamed of themselves.
But such feelings were quickly forgotten as years went by to recover from the Kyuubi Attack. What remained, was bitterness and feeling sorry for themselves. That they will never see their children for seven years as a result, and guilt. As for civilians, they never saw further, thinking that it's just a new change in school!
Ignorance was indeed, a bliss, but also, they fail to see lessons driven in hard.
This system would never happen had she remained here.
This system would never change the education and upbringing, resulting in weak graduates had she stayed here. Lots of casualties in the future to lack of discipline, training, and delusions of grandeur causing young deaths and trauma in surviving teammates.
Now?
When the first generation, the generation of Uchiha Itachi graduated this new curriculum, the kids were far too mature and 'worldly-wise', as well as precociously-enlightened. They were also physically-capable, with great skill in ninjutsu(basics only), genjutsu(resistance and dispelling training), bukijutsu and tool usage(proficiency levels), taijutsu(the best they can be at that age) and iryojutsu(basics only) with great chakra reserves and degree of control for their age, and perfectly capable of teamwork, with respect towards each other, having grown up as surrogate siblings while still looking after their actual younger siblings who were in the younger year levels.
However, this changed Itachi's fate...that he was never the 'famed traitor'. Instead, Shisui was. That upon graduating, Itachi became a young Clan Head, with his little brother Sasuke as his successor. He, Sasuke and the only girl in the Academy Izumi survived the massacre. When he graduated, he had a lot of mess to clean up with Izumi, and a few trusted ANBU to help, much to his chagrin. They were also informed of the horrible truth about the situation so they have to rebuild on their own.
Yakushi Kabuto's fate also greatly changed. Due to the Hokage's new system, the Orphanage cares for children younger than six and was spared from ROOT and the trauma that led to him becoming a future enemy in the future. But this never changed his desire to be a doctor 'like his mother'.
And many fates of those of her own generation were changed as well.
Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura would have been immature fangirls, only seeing Uchiha Sasuke in their eyes while looking down upon other boys and hardly trained to avoid looking sweaty and oily, smelling bad and dirty to look good before him. Hyuuga Hinata would have had a low self-confidence and self-esteem as a result of life in the Hyuuga Household as well as carrying guilt over the death of her uncle by her kidnapping. Life in the Academy in the Girls' Dorms and classes stopped such things. They became mature, confident and grew up happy as well as worldly-wise while hardworking and skilled.
The boys being boys, were subjected to much tougher physical and skill training, that at a young age of twelve, already have toned, muscular but slender and physically fit bodies at their peak. Rock Lee was fortunate that the Hokage and a few ANBU were interviewing new enrollees when his turn came up. Other instructors would have kicked him out because he had no chakra, but the Hokage took him in, seeing his pure nature and determination, thus had a 'special schedule' to bring out his best. He wasn't given any chakra-related classes.
Reason being? 'We are shinobi. Before chakra became our tool, shinobi back then relied on solely just their bodies' natural abilities and skills taught! Chakra will never define nor determine your chances in becoming a good ninja.'
Hyuuga Neji's mentality was carefully 'dealt with' through counseling, alongside his cousin Hinata where the family failed in due to their mentalities.
The children in the Hyuuga Clan changed thanks to this system, never growing up in the Hyuuga Household actually saved them, growing up happier, and learning techniques through visitations from clan members and limited exposure from the 'Hyuuga Mindset' greatly helped them, and were prepared for the eventual return home to such a gloomy household!
Due to this, Team 7's fate changed. Sai never grew up in ROOT and was in Team 7 in her place. However, Kakashi was still a lazy teacher who 'barely did anything' as the genins already had all the basics drilled into them thus perfectly content with just missions and not teaching them anything new, to Itachi's annoyance when he hears from his brother how his day goes, so Itachi filed a complaint more for the sake of his brother's teammates as Sasuke gets training at home, eventually putting him at odds with Kakashi who got scolded by the Hokage, called out on his laziness as a Jounin-sensei.
Her being taken away turned out to be a good thing, that Sandaime finally grew 'a pair' and as a result, the fates of the younger generation greatly changed for the better. She respected the old Hokage for that and perhaps, show herself to him if he survived this war if his fate changed. Because there are those 19-belows who are by now, Jounin-Class Fighters in both body, jutsu and chakra levels. Stronger than those who were never in the 'New System' of the Hokage that Sandaime happily had plenty of candidates for his retirement, with Itachi being top candidate that he was getting 'private tutoring' when he was fifteen due to his mentality and spirit alone when talking to 'the chosen ones'.
For now, saving Gaara was her priority as she put on her warding mask to obscure her face.
In the Chuunin Exams, what never changed, was Sasuke gaining the Cursed Seal, pissing off Itachi...and Itachi never got his disease nor the Mangekyou Sharingan but this never stopped him from becoming a feared personage, known as an S-Class Threat at just age 13. Due to the new system, he got stronger and healthier than he could have been if she stayed in Konoha.
Orochimaru's War will never last long than what was fated...
...here they are.
The Sand Siblings pursued by who could have been her teammates because Sasuke got too confident with himself and his teammates had to drag him back, accompanied by Aburame Shino.
'How on earth are they so fast?!' Temari gasped out as they were caught up to by Team 7 while Gaara was in a state of struggle for control.
'That's simply because you're slow.' Sasuke grinned. 'What you Sand fellas are planning, we'll stop!'
'Get away from him, now! He's changing!' Naruko warned them while remaining hidden as Gaara burst out a howl, and he was now partially-transformed. She showed up to slap a seal on him to stop the process and the influence of Shukaku on him...and he calmed down.
'...its...gone?' Gaara looked befuddled as eyes were on Naruko the masked girl. She gave Temari a small box, baffling the teams even more.
'That box contains a wad of the same paper I slapped on him incase the current one gets wet or torn...the sole weakness of seals written on paper, that is.' said Naruko as she knelt down to be on Gaara's level in sitting. 'You are...exhausted. Your mind. Your heart. Your body. Your life is the sole fault of those around you. They who never understand. They who never bothered holding your hand. And they who were never there when you need them most at your hour of need.' she spoke condemningly. 'You were all alone. Alone in a world that only scorned, hated and feared you for what was never your fault as it is them who made you the way you are now. Its not like you asked to be a Jinchuuriki when you were born. Can a baby say 'no, please don't' and 'don't do this to me'?'
Temari and Kankuro looked utterly uncomfortable now. Team 7 and Shino could only listen to the mysterious girl's words in silence. Gaara gave her all his attention...because he knew. He knew she understood him.
'Your seal was deliberately sloppy...after all, who cares about your sleep and sanity in exchange for an easily-wielded power and weapon? Boy, that backfired on your Village big time, that Karma came charging, with interest.' she chuckled darkly, '-but still, they conveniently forced YOU to pay the cruel price THEY should have paid and ran away with their tails behind their legs, refusing to take responsibility by treating you like a monster whom they all blamed for their misfortune. That's unfair, right?'
'Enough already!' Temari burst out, upset. 'Don't you think we know that?!'
'Indeed you know and you're thinking it, but did you ever take action? Were you there when your brother used to cry on why everyone hated him and wanted nothing to do with him? Were you there when he cries from the nightmares caused by the voice within that he can never have peace nor the comfort of sleep? Did you even think to defy your father to be there for a brother who needed those who truly cares? Thus you are not spared from blame. You never did anything, that is the problem.' Naruko sighed, shaking her head. Gaara truly believed he had no one. That everyone hated him for being a Jinchuuriki!' Naruko told Temari coldly.
'A horrifying situation no baby ever asked for in this world. You know not the horror of being all alone in the world. The despair that you are suffering yet nobody will ever help you. Nobody to turn to. No one who will hold your hand to help you weather through. Despair turns to bitterness...and bitterness turns into anger...and eventually, hatred.'
'You...who are you?' Gaara shook. 'How...why do you know?! Why do you know what I'm going through?!'
'If I wasn't saved by the man I now call 'father'...I too, would have been just like you.' that got the genins gulping at her admission and Gaara looked at her in wonder. This girl is a Jinchuuriki! 'Only, I never had the convenient sand shield that you have...father foresaw my future and took me away, and killed my assassins.' she told them with a sigh.
'Had I remained in Konoha...you will be very glad you have a sand shield...for the cruelty I would have been subject to, is inhumane. They who call me monster, are no better themselves. They take glee in hurting an infant up to childhood and they have creative ways to even make Morino Ibiki upchuck his lunch...and nobody will save me. Nobody.' she laughed bitterly. 'Sandaime Hokage will be forever lied to by fake platitudes, hiding from him that they enjoyed making my life hell behind his back when he thought he could trust them as my protectors.'
That, painted a horrible picture as they can clearly see in their minds what she's talking about.
'You mean, you're...?!' Sakura squawked out in disbelief. They studied Jinchuuriki in school...but to this day, they never know who Konoha's was!
'Yup~the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki!' said Naruko cheerfully, doing a curtsy despite her short skirt and several jaws dropped. 'I came here to help my fellow brother out...he needed to know that he is never alone, even if we are far apart...and to give him seals my father made so he could sleep every night! It will also stop Shukaku from being 'too annoying'. Its a recent discovery.' she chuckled before turning to Gaara. 'Never think you're alone, OK?' she said, giving him the first comforting hug in his life that his shoulders sagged. He had no idea how to feel when he was hugged. 'We other Jinchuuriki...can only understand each other's pain and sorrow.'
'Ah...so that's how it is?' Gaara asked her. His own arms were shaking, and he didn't know if he should hug back or not.
'Yes...but now, your siblings have realized their wrongs and faults regarding you when I pretty much aired out how a typical Jinchuuriki life is like. That things will look up soon.' Naruko promised him as she gave him a scroll. She then turned to her would-be Team. 'Team 7, led by a sorry-ass excuse for a teacher...can you even call him that?' she snickered derisively. 'I would have been your teammate if I was never saved. Had I remained in this village, Sandaime would have retained his easy-going approach that he was always lied to, never knowing the truth when it comes to me as he was too trusting.'
'Sakura and I were horrifyingly neglected while he played favorites. Kakashi dislikes me for the death of my parents as my father treated him like his son so deliberately ignored me, conveniently forgetting they're MY parents and I never knew them, while ignoring Sakura for having no motivation in training.' Sakura did a double-take at that. 'Hence our survival on missions was sheer dumb luck as my father foresaw. He doesn't care at all. As for my piece of shit godfather, Sandaime knows who, never once looked at me unless Sandaime forced him back home because of Orochimaru's antics today. He didn't care about me either...seeing me as Kyuubi, of course.'
'...foresight.' Shino realized. 'Your foster father has foresight.' he said. 'You're speaking of what-could-have-been...but all our fates changed.'
'Bing-bong~' Naruko clapped her hands playfully in a carefree manner. 'Oh yes, before I go, I should share something neat.'
'Neater than the tags?' Kankuro asked her warily.
'Yup...while your father, the Kazekage agreed on teaming up with Orochimaru as the Kaze no Daimyo stiffed you so much that the village was in danger of extreme poverty and the horrors that came with it that pushed Sunagakure to allying with a known nukenin out of desperation...he didn't agree with some of the amoral stuff, see? End result, he's now a rotting corpse outside Suna somewhere, while Orochimaru posed as him for weeks and played you all like a fiddle!' that was to Kankuro and Temari's horror while Gaara clearly didn't give a damn. 'Have fun with that one and its time for me to go!' and she vanished by 'shimmering' away into gold dust as Konoha Jounin were coming. Asuma and Kakashi who have an ETA of ten seconds so she really had to go.
'Have fun, my ass!' Kankuro howled. 'That's a mess!'
'Let's go, now!' the team fled while Team 7 was quiet.
'Who is that masked girl?' Kakashi asked them.
Sakura and Sai could not say anything due to what-could-have-been and what Naruko revealed about Kakashi. How they see him is changed now.
'...Hatake-san, Sarutobi-san,' thank god for Shino. 'What is the name of Konoha's Jinchuuriki? That person's identity was never known.'
'...why ask?' Kakashi obliged him.
'She is that masked girl who talked to us today and we never knew her name.'
Shino revealed what happened in their time with the girl and Asuma glared at Kakashi for being called out as his students were clearly awkward towards him...
...what a fun thing to report back home, the smoker thought.