Title: Nothing in This World Is Easy
Author: Random Facts
Pairing: Naruto x OC!Mina Chinoike (slow burn)
Word Count: 613 (give or take)
Notes: Oh hey look, a new story based around another anime series and an original character that has a special ability. But this time it has ninja! But yes joking aside, I'm writing a story on Naruto. I only started this because I started binging Part I recently and it reawakened my love for the show. So I figured: why not?
This story takes place during season 1 of Part I, but will also have flashbacks of before and after the Nine-Tails' attack. I'm debating whether I should split this story up into different parts considering Part I's number of seasons, or just power through all of them and make this just one, long story. Hopefully that made sense. I'll follow the show's main plot points, while occasionally adding my own twists and changes. Hopefully it'll add some originality and unpredictability. I can't guarantee the chapters will always be long, though. Other than that, enjoy your stay and feedback is always welcome!
Rating: T — mentions or possible semi-descriptions of canon and non-canon violence, language, spelling/grammatical errors, etc.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. I only own my characters and any changes I make.
Prologue
My name is Mina Chinoike, and this is my story.
However, to understand my story you'll have to know how it fits into everyone else's. We're all so intertwined, I couldn't have imagined it happening any other way. My story begins on October 10th, the day Konoha was attacked by the Demon Fox. I was already one day old at that time, born to parents who, from what I've been told, were emigrants to the Land of Fire. They'd moved to Konoha nearly a year before the attack, and since they were foreigners and a lot of the villagers didn't trust them, my parents were apparently, somehow, involved in the attack on the village. But since my parents were among those who died, the villagers decided to aim their hatred and resentment in my direction. That never made much sense to me. Even now, after witnessing such a shift in the villagers' overall opinion of me, from hatred to praise, I'm still baffled. But everyone handled their grief in their own way, though... even if it meant hurting others.
The overall damage to the village was devastating. Konoha lost its Hokage, and many more lives in the process as well. I don't think there wasn't a single person who hadn't been hurt in some way that day.
Once the Nine-Tails had been dealt with, that's when search and rescue started. Civilians and shinobi desperately sifting through the rubble to find their loved ones, hoping for the best but expecting the worst. There were more casualties than survivors. People in mass being told or finding out their loved ones died in some horrific way. Children were left without parents or anyone willing to claim them.
In my case, I was found by a woman's body. Just out of reach of her outstretched arms. From what I'd been told, the lower half of her body was crushed underneath some rubble. I can only assume she's my mother. As for my father, there was a man's body found further in the rubble where I was found, where the woman's body was found. The two of them had wedding bands on, and with them being near each other, near me, during the attack could only mean they're my parents. It makes sense. And I learned to appreciate the little time I had with them before everything went down with the Nine-Tails.
At first I was angry. I only got one day with my parents, and now I don't even remember them. On top of that, I was being blamed for their alleged involvement in the Nine-Tails' attack. No one had any evidence of their involvement. No one cared if there was no evidence. Their emotions were clouding their judgement. But their clouded judgment led to my childhood being miserable. In the orphanage, the staff separated me from the other children. They didn't want me to influence them in any way. The few times I was allowed out of my room, the other kids would either pick on me or ignore me. I was treated similarly by the villagers. The children mimicked the adults' behaviors, a majority of them not really understanding why they were treating me this way. Unfortunately, I learned quickly that being alone was better than dealing with all of that. The resentment, the loneliness, the pain. And that pain was, and in some ways still in, powerful. But, the older I got, the more I realized that I can make positive use of everything I've endured. All that pain allowed me to grow, to understand, reminding me that I'm more than some sad story. Because all that pain led me to him.
Naruto Uzumaki.
*I did make some edits to this chapter, so please let me know what you think!