So IMPORTANT: Yes, this is a female Naruto and reverse harem. If you don't like either, please don't comment or whatever. Either try the story or go find something else to read. Yes, there is a CRA, but I've been writing it seriously and fleshing it out, and not just using it simply as a plot device to stick Naruko with guys. As for the guys, I'm actually developing their characters and developing their relationships with Naruko, and not just putting her straight out with them. If it's still not to your liking, find the exit please and keep your opinions to yourself.
7/10: So, wanted to address a few things. A few people have left reviews (like a handful of people, but I like to settle things so I don't get bothered by the same points by others in the future, hence this note) that try to critique things, but either make no sense or is answered later (they're too impatient for the development, etc.)
1. 1 or 2 people (out of everyone else) think the beginning part is confusing. Um yeah, I don't get that...because it's based off and mostly follows canon? So yeah...Whatever.
2. Sasuke/Sakura bashing: So I don't like them, whatever. That doesn't mean I'm bashing them in here. It's canon that Naruto dislikes and fights Sasuke in canon in the beginning, and without Naruto's crush on Sakura, I think it'd be the same thing when she's stuck with someone who doesn't like her and insults her often. However, if those same few people kept reading, they would see those those three eventually undergoing a development and starting to bond. Impatient people are impatient.
3. Lastly (I think), someone might've griped about Naruko having "favorites in here and not liking some of the others as much, etc., even though this is supposed to be a reverse harem." Yeah, well, this is also (despite the humorous tone) a very serious play on the CRA cliche. Not everyone, especially if it's through the CRA, will be an instant love to Naruko. Realistically, relationships (definitely with something like this) take time and development, so you know I have to flesh it out.
I know most everyone else got all this and thank you sincerely -but there are those who need it spelled out.
Pairings: KakaNaru, Naru/OMC, Genma/Naru, Hashirama/Naru, Tobirama/Naru, Asuma/Naru, Hiashi/Naru, Kabuto/Naru, Yamato/Naru, Inoichi/Naru, Sasori/Naru, Michy/Naru, Shikaku/Naru, Itachi/Naru, and Yondy!Kaze/Naru.
Yare, Yare! Naruko Gaiden
Chapter One: Bird Cage Princess
The young girl hummed in boredom, getting herself ready for the day and for the upcoming meeting with the Hokage and who he had wanted her to meet. According to him, it was someone very important and that it was 'imperative' she and whoever it was get along.
Huh. She didn't know why, but if Hiru-jiji really wanted it and thought it was super important, then damn right she was going to take it seriously! Humming to herself, she grabbed the pretty package that had been sent to her from Hiru-jiji and opened it up to reveal a really pretty (but thankfully simple!) kimono. Scrunching up her nose at the colors and lack of orange, she slowly dressed herself in it and then glanced at the mirror at herself, tilting her head. Her blonde hair needed a good brushing, but she didn't look too bad, right? Smiling at herself widely, whisker marks on her cheeks stretching with her smile, she made sure to fix her hair into simple loose pigtails after she'd yanked the brush through her hair a few times.
Uzumaki Naruko was one of a kind and you can damn hell bet on it! She could be spunky, (hopefully) pretty, and way too energetic for her own good. She didn't think that was bad, but she was always buzzing with energy and couldn't help it sometimes. But what she knew absolutely was that she was going to be a kickass kunoichi pretty soon too, and soon enough she'll be the Hokage!
Humming louder, she slipped on her shoes that were hid under the long kimono and headed out of her apartment, ignoring the rickety stairs and grinning up at the sunny sky once she was outside.
She wore her happiness on her face, open about it and refusing to let anything get her down. That was how she was, even if sometimes she admitted to just herself the resentment and loneliness were always going to be present too. She was open to herself about those things and to those who mattered. Then again, sometimes you fake it to make it, right? So sometimes a mask ended up being shoved on for the world when she needed it…
Still. She wasn't really into having secrets, but like most people she had secrets of her own. The one that was most sacred to her was the one approaching her —like all young, silly girls, Naruko wasn't immune to crushing on a guy.
Just…15 year olds normally weren't crushing on older guy friends, did they?
"Ah, Genma-san! Do you need help?" Naruko grinned at the senbon chewing man, trying not to focus on her rapid-beating heart and hoped her cheeks weren't flushed red.
"No thanks, Naruko. I'll see you around," he replied as he continued walking past without another glance.
Naruko kept grinning until he went out of sight, the grin dropping dejectedly. She tried not to think about it or Genma, but for a while now he'd been like that and she didn't know why or what was going on. Her mood worsened as she watched Uchiha Sasuke being stalked by his fanclub. She almost sneered, but shook herself mentally. She reminded herself that she had to meet the old man.
"Um, Naruko…how are you?" Kotetsu, a long-time friend of hers, asked as he appeared suddenly.
"Ara! You snuck up on me. Don't do that!" she practically jumped, heart beating out of her chest. Some super kunoichi she was!
He chuckled before nervously rubbing the back of his head. "Um, well, can I walk you to the Hokage's?" he asked, knowing she had to go and was headed there himself.
"Sure," she shrugged, looping her arm around one of his nonchalantly and glad to be able to take her mind off of Genma, even if it was only for a bit.
The two of them leisurely took their time in walking to the Hokage Tower, Naruko back to musing over her latest failure with Genma and continuing to wonder what happened with them.
"You look really pretty today in that kimono, Naruko," Kotetsu said quietly, breaking her out of her previous thoughts.
"Oh…this? Hokage-jiji made me wear it. He said I'm meeting someone special so I have to wear something nice. Do I really look nice?"
The black yamabushi kimono she wore was topped with geta and a dark emerald haori. She'd much prefer orange, but it was nice and the Sandaime was the one who'd given the getup to her, so she could deal.
"Really beautiful, Naruko. Who're you meeting?"
"I don't know," the blonde frowned, realizing she had no idea who or why she was meeting anyone. It'd slipped her mind and she hadn't really cared too much about it or looked into why.
"Guess you're about to find out," Kotetsu mentioned as they stood in front of their destination. "Well, I've got to go deliver my report. You'll be okay going up?"
"Hai, hai. I'll see you later, Tetsu-chan."
He grinned and planted a kiss on her cheek, disappearing into the building first. She sighed before following after him and this time forcefully dispelling anymore thoughts of her unfortunate infatuation.
"Ah, Naruko. You're here," the Sandaime Hokage smiled at her and she sent a huge one back, though it faltered at seeing someone next to him.
A younger man stood next to him, wearing similar clothing as the Hokage, only with brown instead of red. He was just a bit taller than Hiruzen, blonde hair (just a touch lighter than Naruko's) was styled loosely around a handsome face, complete with piercing blue eyes.
"Hello, Hokage-jiji. Who's…this?" Naruko started out warily, remembering to be more respectful when others were around Hiruzen.
"This is who I want you to meet. This is the Yondaime Tsuchikage Minamoto Nakago."
Naruko awkwardly bowed politely before she hesitantly held out her hand and was surprised when the Tsuchikage grabbed it and bent to kiss it. Her face heated up and she was sure her face was bright red.
"Anou sa…why am I here?" Naruko questioned, getting dazed.
"You're here to meet Tsuchikage-dono. He's to be your fiancé," the Sandaime abruptly revealed, waiting for the inevitable outburst after dropping that bomb on her so suddenly.
"WHAT?!"
The other men looked suddenly awkward, but the air was driven out of her and her head filled up with confused thoughts.
"Wait, wait, wait," she said anxiously, way too confused and a little panicky. "But I'm 15 and he's…not? And I'm just about to become a genin! And what about being from different villages? Wait a second, he's the Kage of another village! How does that work? Aah, do they know he's here?"
The Tsuchikage —Nakago -Minamoto? How did she refer to him in her head?! —looked amused and gave her a friendly, though reserved, smile.
"I apologize for the suddenness of the news and meeting," he said and she admitted he had a soothing kind of aura that made her slightly relax. "This is urgent however and Hokage-dono and I decided it best to meet at this time and let you know. Please believe us when we say, though, that this is important and we are not trying to ambush you into anything."
"As Tsuchikage-dono says, Naruko, this is actually trying to be for your benefit. We'll try to explain more over time, but…time is actually very short on us and I'm hoping to do all I can for you. I promise you, you'll understand soon enough and that this is meant well."
Naruko was still unsure but she nodded unsurely anyway, giving a tentative smile. "I still don't understand…but I hope I will." She turned to her…fiancé and tried to make her smile surer. "I am still actually very pleased to meet you, Tsuchikage-kun," she said, trying to compromise between being respectful of titles and her usual tendency to be overly familiar with names and honorifics.
"I am pleased to meet you too, Naruko-san," he gave her another reserved smile.
They talked a bit more about idle stuff, mostly about her upcoming Genin Exam that day and how she was feeling about it, and just staying around idle subjects to diffuse the tension and awkwardness. Not too long after though, the Tsuchikage had to excuse himself to receive a message and Naruko rounded on Sarutobi Hiruzen, looking more like an angry cat. Hiruzen chuckled nervously.
"Hiru-jiji, you're not serious, are you?" she asked incredulously, once again feeling out of sorts about the abrupt situation she found herself in.
"Naruko, it won't be that bad," he insisted. "Besides…you've met him before, don't you remember? You liked him before." But that confused her and made her even more agitated, since she had no idea what he was talking about.
She let out an outraged scream, turning and stomping away, not bothering to stay and hear out his reasons. The old man sighed and put his head in his hands. He wondered if the events would ruin Naruko's chance at passing the Genin Exam, agitated and unfocused as she now was. Maybe he should've waited until after the Genin Exam to talk to her about this…
Meanwhile, as Naruko stormed away, she couldn't shake off the feeling that she was missing something. But then a newly familiar voice interrupted her thoughts and she stopped and turned, seeing the Tsuchikage calmly walking towards her. She fought the urge to turn and run and gave him a small smile.
"May we get together and talk?" he quietly requested.
She fidgeted but shyly nodded, even more shyly accepting his offered arm. He led her, to her happy surprise, to Ichiraku's where he ordered two miso ramen to go. Strange, how he'd ordered her favorite…
"If you don't mind us taking our meal to your place for a more private discussion?" he looked calmly at her and she tried not to turn too obviously a red.
She nodded and after the silent wait, the food was ready and this time she led him to where she lived. She was certain he knew where it was already though.
In embarrassment, she led him up the precarious staircase and then to her apartment, fumbling with the keys before finally getting it right.
"S-sorry about the place. I haven't had time to fix it up or make repairs," she said as she closed the door behind him.
He nodded, not letting her see his unhappiness at her place. It wasn't her fault, he knew, but the state of the place could do with some renovating. If he could, he would already be bringing her with him to Iwagakure.
"Let me cut to the chase, Uzumaki-san. I have been Tsuchikage for only a few years. My predecessor, Onoki-dono, is currently unable to serve as Tsuchikage for…health reasons," he started out quietly. "I'll be blunt. This is a marriage alliance, but that doesn't mean that I will be distant or controlling. In fact, should you wish it, you may pursue a relationship with others."
It was only fair, given the force-ness of the marriage and the age difference, as well as the political machinations she was unwittingly involved in. He wanted her to have some sort of choice and the ability to find some happiness.
"But wouldn't that reflect badly on you?" She tried not to fidget, but his presence and his words were making her feel nervous.
He gave her a small smile. "No, the marriage or engagement will not be public, at least not for a long time. No one else has to know but myself, Hokage-dono, and you. Well, Onoki-dono knows as well, but he's reluctantly accepted the 'truce'."
"Will you have…a mistress?" she mumbled, the thought upsetting her. She didn't want to marry someone and then they'll have someone else.
He looked at her in surprise. "Oh. Ah, no. Of course not. It would not be appropriate for me to seek someone else's company when I will be a married man, and especially once we're married."
She scrunched up her eyebrows. "Then why are you letting me go after guys?"
He actually started to look embarrassed and she thought the reaction was rather cute.
"Well, I feel, as a man, that it is inappropriate for me to engage in such. You're being forced into this and we have not married yet anyways, so I would understand if you wanted to see other men. But for myself, I find it would be dishonorable to go into such conduct. I'm not saying that because you're a female and so and so, and that I'm a male and so and so…it's just that in my personal belief that as a man, I have more responsibilities and I will be the one more judged for such things."
He winced, "Ah, I apologize. I am rambling and not making much sense, am I? Please allow me to try again. I am trying to say that…I'm not being misogynistic –" she had no idea what that word meant – " and being gender biased at all. I'm merely trying to say that I believe personally that I shouldn't engage in such things because as a man, I just feel it is beyond improper and highly disrespectable to you. It's just…wrong, especially since I am one of the instigators of this whole thing."
She looked at him in amusement as he sighed and rubbed his temples. So she just snapped apart her chopsticks.
"Itadakimasu," she said simply digging into her ramen.
He stared at her before hesitantly reaching for his own chopsticks and starting to eat as well. He murmured his greeting before snapping his chopsticks.
"You tend to ramble, don't you?" she grinned after slurping up a noodle.
He coughed, "…Yes. Especially during explanations or speeches. I just tend to…end up trying to explain myself and it never goes well. My advisors exasperatedly end up making my speeches and such for me, and I just tell them what I feel and what I want and they interpret my ramblings into some semblance of order."
She snickered before switching onto something else. "And this 'as a man' thing…you really don't have to be so chivalrous and outdated, Nakago-kun. Though I think I can…sort of interpret that. You mean as a personal belief and not a 'world view', huh? And as yourself, not men in general?"
By the silence and his elegantly continual usage of his chopsticks, she could guess she was right and that was only compounded with the slight tinge of pink across his cheeks. Though he was surprised at the use of his given name and with a more familiar attachment.
"Sometimes I'll never make sense. I apologize in advance for it, and thank you for putting up with it," he just said simply.
She waved it off and happily went back to her ramen.
"Anyways, why me?" she asked after she'd finished, glancing mournfully at the empty takeout bowl.
Nakago was quiet for a second before sitting back and looking at her seriously.
"You are aware of your heritage, are you not? As am I. I know whose daughter you are, Uzumaki-san. You are the daughter to the Yellow Flash, the bane of Iwagakure's existence. The reason why a marriage alliance is being proposed is to help bury the hatchet between our villages. You see, Sarutobi-dono wishes to announce your heritage preferably near the next Chuunin Exams, for your rights you are denied now and other things of his agenda. But to avoid assassins and any bitter grudges from my village when the time comes, he's approached me with this so that you may be safe when the time comes."
"Why say yes?" she questioned him.
"Now that I must keep to myself for now," he murmured, staring straight into her eyes.
She knew she had to be at least somewhat blushing at the attention.
He pushed aside their bowls and grabbed her hands, tugging her around the table and away from where they were sitting. Standing up, she realized that he was way taller than her at her current height and her heart oddly began to thump loudly in her chest.
"If I may, Uzumaki-san," he said simply, still holding her hands. And then his hands moved and cupped her face, tilting it as he leant down, her breath stuttering in surprise and anticipation.
His lips touched hers and her eyes fluttered close.
A little girl with whisker marks on her cheeks sat crying in the sandbox. She was all alone and it was getting late, the sun starting to set.
"What's wrong, little one?" A blond man with funny clothing like the old man's smiled at her as he squatted next to her.
"No one wants to play with me…they all left when I asked if I could play with them!" She let out a sob and the blond man's smile widened.
"Well, I can't play with you right now but I have something that might cheer you up. You can remember me this way!" and he handed her a pretty ring, a pearl resting in the middle of a silver band, with tiny little diamonds surrounding it.
"Take good care of it, okay?" He smiled again, leaning to kiss her cheek.
"I will," she smiled up at him.
He left and she stared at the ring in her hands. She tried to put it on, but it was much too big on her tiny fingers. Clutching it, she ran to ask the old man if he would give her a necklace she could put the ring on.
Naruko stared at the pearl ring on her left index finger. She had grown and it fit on that finger when she turned eleven, four years ago. She wondered why that memory came up right then. Sighing, she looked at her clock and then gave a slow blink. She screamed.
"Oh crap! The Genin Exam! Iruka-sensei is going to flip!" She hurried fixing herself up and bounded out of her apartment in a panic, rushing to get to the Academy to be on time.
But, as Iruka stared her down with narrowed eyes, she'd probably failed. She winced and gave a shifty grin and small wave at him.
"You're late!" her favorite teacher yelled at her.
She offered a weak smile then and gave a shrug. He frowned but shook his head in exasperation.
"Hurry it up, the exam is right through that door," he pointed to a lone door in the corner of the room.
"You're not the examiner?" she asked confused.
"No, Hakuro-sensei is the examiner this time," he smiled reassuringly at her and she nervously headed to her fate, though she wondered where Mizuki-sensei was. She thought the other examiner would've been him, since he was usually the assistant teacher for Iruka.
"Alright, one mokuton bunshin, one suiton jutsu, and two katon jutsu," Hakuro ordered once she was in the room, catching her off guard and confusing her.
What? They never learned any of that…and she was sure they wouldn't be testing them on this stuff.
"But –"
"Well?" he smiled maliciously and she felt her heart drop into her stomach.
Her legs quivered and she felt herself fill with anger then. She couldn't stop the sob that escaped her mouth before she turned tail and ran from the room, bursting into the room Iruka was in, startling him and fleeing. There had been two instinctive reactions. One had been to violently explode and start screaming obscenities at him and the other had been to run away and cry to herself where no one could see her. Her tears were few and far in between, but when it all just built up, that was always the reaction that forced its way through.
So she sat gritting her teeth on a random rooftop, glaring into another setting sun. She had stopped crying awhile ago, but her anger was still present.
"Naruko, so you're here," a much loathed voice interrupted her silent vigil.
"What do you want?" she grumbled, not turning to look at Hakuro.
"I'm sorry about earlier, I wasn't in a good mood. I should have talked to the others, seeing your situation, and changed the test for you. There is, however, another test you can take right now that will allow you to pass."
"…Really? Are you serious? What is it?" Her curiosity overwhelmed her, even though she still felt hesitant.
Hakuro smiled, looking apologetic. "There's a certain scroll that'll give you a straight pass."
And it was only later, when the truth began to unravel and things came apart…
In the forest, Naruko grinned in triumph, holding tightly to her prize. The Forbidden Scroll of Sealing was held tightly to her bosom and she dared not move it away for even an inch. She eagerly began opening it and started learning the first jutsu.
By the time she was halfway through, Hakuro decided to appear. The malicious grin was back on his face and Naruko shivered at the harsh demeanor that had come over him.
"Well, well. Look at what the monster's doing," his voice mocked her.
Her breath was coming in heaves, her eyes narrowing at him even as her sweat gathered down her face and got into her eyes. Her heart was pounding too fast and a sick feeling was coming over her.
"What are you talking about?" she gritted out, feeling stupid and knowing that she'd somehow messed up now.
Hakuro laughed in ridicule at her. She gnashed her teeth in anger, feeling the betrayal creep up.
"Nothing you should know about, you little wench. You're just a little demon," he sneered, coming up close and grabbing her hair roughly. He gave a sharp pull, dragging Naruko up and she thrashed around in his grip, trying to get away. Then his face twisted into a monstrous expression, smiling madly at her and it made chills run up her spine.
"But I think I'll tell you anyway," he whispered huskily into her ear once he'd punched her gut and had subdued her enough.
And then he began telling her one of Konoha's most dirty secrets, each word spilling from his lips taking the fight out of her and making her more and more numb and miserable, shock rushing through her system.
By the time Iruka arrived on the scene, the secret had just been entirely told and Naruko was crying harshly against a tree with Hakuro's form pinning her there. The brown-haired chuunin immediately caught the henge around Hakuro though.
"Kai!"
Hakuro's form poofed into Mizuki, the other two's eyes widening at the truth, with Iruka becoming more furious and Naruko's confusion growing, but also anguish getting in the way of it.
"What's…what's going on?" Naruko cried out.
Mizuki shrugged carelessly, "I saw Hakuro treating you unfairly at the exam and decided to use it to my advantage. Too bad Iruka had to get in the way. And all I wanted was to kill you and take the scroll all for myself."
Iruka glared at him, understanding why Naruko ran off earlier and that now she had been tricked and used. He wasn't going to let Mizuki get away with this!
"How dare you use Naruko! She doesn't deserve any of this!"
"No…he's right. I do deserve to die. I'm the Kyuubi. I have to be killed before I get out of hand," Naruko unexpectedly said, eyes glazed over as she was still reeling from the revelation of what Mizuki had told her and now understanding the truth of what she was and why everyone hated her.
Mizuki smirked and released his hold on her, her body sliding down the tree uselessly. She was starting to feel completely numb.
"Finally, someone with some sense!" Mizuki cackled, but to keep away the anguish and distress and also stop feeling numb, Naruko clung to the growing seed of anger inside of her.
"Naruko! Are you alright? Don't listen to him! You are Uzumaki Naruko, not the Fox!" Iruka tried to counter.
Naruko hid her face and took a deep breath, before looking back up fiercely at the both of them.
"Suck face, you bastard!" she yelled, glaring at Mizuki. She leaped up and began running away, scroll thrown over her shoulders.
"Naruko!" Iruka yelled in panic.
Mizuki cursed and began to chase after her. Iruka chased after him and then a while later, Mizuki and Iruka faced off after the latter had tricked Mizuki into following him when Iruka henged into Naruko.
"Why do you defend her? She killed your entire family! That demon wench had that look in her eyes! She'll turn around and murder the whole lot of us and backstab you!" Mizuki sneered.
"Sorry, I haven't met that Naruko. My Naruko is sweet, compassionate, and even if she's bratty at times she can always come through for the rest of us!" Iruka retorted stubbornly.
"Well then, I'll just have to kill you now."
Mizuki started towards him, but a sudden tackle to his gut halted his progress. Naruko immediately stood up and glared, glad to at least know she had someone on her side still.
"You won't lay a finger on Iruka-sensei, teme. Or else I'll show you what this demon can do," she growled, once again clinging to her anger and letting herself drown in it and feel for that odd sense of light and power within that anger. She glared at Mizuki and thrust out her hands, instinctively grasping that sense and letting it go.
Mizuki snickered, but he stopped and screamed in fear when branches sprouted from the ground and began binding around his body. It encased him and Iruka watched wide-eyed as some kind of mokuton jutsu was performed, surprisingly from his student.
"Naruko, well done," the Sandaime's solemn voice echoed into the clearing as he approached the scene and Iruka spotted the Hokage with a taken aback but hesitant Hakuro.
Naruko stared in horror at the wooden tomb, not noticing the arrivals as she dropped her hands uselessly to her sides.
"You did it to save me," Iruka tried to reach her.
She cried out in horror, collapsing onto her knees and began bawling. She was lost to everyone else.
But she wasn't lost anymore as to why she seemed to have so many people always leaving her behind…maybe this was why they left…
…Oji-san…Inu-tan…Weasel-kun…Genma…
Shuriken and kunai was scattered all around the six year old girl, who was panting in frustration, glaring at the target away from her. Stupid Uchiha. Him and his stupid fangirls and stupid perfectness. She could do better than him. Just watch.
But she had no one to teach her to throw the weapons correctly. She knew her hold was clumsy, her aim was always off, and her throws felt awkward. She tried to ask for help but no one came to her aid, unlike with Uchiha-teme.
Growling to herself, she chucked a kunai at the target and missed.
"You're doing it wrong."
She whirled around in surprise, too startled to be angry about the criticism and to work up a retort.
A brown-haired young man was glancing at her and the target, eyes noting the various kunai and shuriken around. The senbon in his mouth moved to one side before the other. He walked closer.
"Your stance is wrong. You're not aiming, you're just throwing. You need to really look at the target and judge your throw. Your grip should be a little more like this," and then he actually adjusted her hold, amazing her.
Who is he and why was he actually helping her?
"Eh, I got a couple minutes. Want some help?" he asked nonchalantly and she looked at him in awe, not even noticing the slight blush that grew on her face.
That was her first meeting with Shiranui Genma, and how she'd immediately fell in love with him.
Genma-san, Genma-san, would you ever be able to fall in love with a monster? Or is that why you've become so distant from me?
Please…my hand that reaches out to you stretches so far…but you're an ever fading figure that I just can't reach…
You grow so farther away from me.
Started 2/12/07 –Completed 2/13/07
Revised 2/24/11 –Completed 2/27/11
Edited 5/25/20-5/31/20
A/n: I think in the revision, I did a pretty good job editing it to fit with a reverse harem…And it will be a pretty odd mix of men in the reverse harem, very unusual but that's usually how I do things. I know there are two OCs, but to be fair –I can't even remember why I made Hakuro in the first place. He won't have too big a role, but he'll be a nice, supporting character –just to expand Naruko's family and so she can have more precious people, I suppose.
Nakago, on the other hand, will be a larger character. He was my Tsuchikage before the new chapters revealed who he really was, so I had to edit his background and role in here to sort of keep it in canon with Onoki and all. I hope you guys don't mind him too bad and grow to like him. I usually have a good track record of at least male OCs (the one main female OC I had everyone hated, but that's only because she unintentionally and unknowingly broke up the main couple for a little bit).
As for Naruko, I know she cries a little bit more than the male Naruto, but you can't honestly say you wouldn't either if all this was happening and it just kept building up. And the Japanese, when I first wrote this, I had a lot of that in here, but because I didn't think I did too badly with them and because I'm lazy, I didn't remove them. They'll lessen over the chapters once I start writing new ones, but I can't completely stop since I already started with them in the beginning. It'll look inconsistent. Honorifics are a must though.
7/5/20: Was rewriting her to be 16, but then thought it'd be more significant later on.