Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
A New Life:
Naru Uzumaki-Namikaze stared up at the tree she was about to climb. The three-year-old was excited to see how far she'd come in chakra control. From the time she was a year old, her mother had worked with her to control her chakra. It was essential for all Uzumaki children to start young because of their natural vast reserves. Something that she had been denied in her first life.
She was jarred from her thoughts by her mother tapping her on her shoulder. Naru glanced up at her. Kushina flashed her a grin. "Okay, Naru-chan. Today we're going to test your chakra control. To do that, all you have to do is climb up that tree using your feet. You've seen me and Daddy do it before, haven't you?" she said.
Naru nodded. "Hai, Sensei!" she said. She closed her eyes for a moment to get control of her chakra, then without warning she opened her eyes and sprinted towards the tree. With a practiced leap, she latched herself onto the trunk. To the girl's pleasure, her feet stuck to the bark with no problems. "Heck Yes!" she thought. Once she secured herself, she began running up the tree. She made it halfway before she slipped. "Oh no, you don't!" she thought to herself, and immediately began working to regain control. It took her a few minutes, but eventually she regained control and finish her climb. "Yes!" she cheered mentally before looking down at her mother. "Look Sensei! I did it," she said.
Kushina flashed her a foxy grin. "Excellent job, Naru-chan! Now, I want you to walk down and up the tree a few times, then we'll break for lunch, okay?" she said.
Naru felt a wave of sadness and happiness at her mother's praise. This is how things should have been in her first life. "I'm sorry Kit," Kurama said.
The blond shook her head. "It wasn't your fault, Kurama. You were controlled," she said.
Kurama winced. "I wasn't under Obito's control when I stabbed your parents, Kit," he said.
Naru sighed. "It doesn't matter. You were angry because of how everyone had treated you in the past. You and all the Tailed Beast deserved better treatment," she said. Kurama says nothing, but he's touched by the girl's words.
As Naru works on remastering tree climbing, she lets her mind think over the last three years. She was a year old when her memories of the future returned. At first she was unsure of what she was seeing, but then Kurama had spoken to her and confirmed everything. In all honesty, she was grateful Kurama had returned as well, or this venture would have never worked.
"That's not true, Kit. It just would be a lot more difficult," Kurama said.
Naru shook her head. "But it is true, Kurama. If it wasn't for you, I'd still have that stupid Ashura's chakra, and I wouldn't have my parents," she said.
The kitsune laughed. "Oh come on now, being the reincarnation of my father's dead son wasn't so bad, was it?" he said, his voice held a teasing tone.
"Yes, yes it was," Naru said, deadpanning.
Kurama laughed. "Yeah, I guess I can't really blame you there," he said.
Naru shook her head to clear it as she made her way up the tree one more time. "I will forever be grateful to you for freeing me of being him. Now I can finally be my own person and carve my own destiny," she said.
Kurama smirked at her words. "You've already changed quite a few things already. Like be friending a certain Hatake," he said.
A light blush found its way on the girl's face, thinking about the silver-haired boy that used to be her sensei. She had met Kakashi again a year ago when his father had needed an emergency babysitter. She remembered it like it was yesterday.
Two-year-old Naru was trying to read the book her Godfather Jiraiya had left her. It was her favorite book in her past life."Tales of a Gutsy Shinobi." It wasn't going as well as she'd hoped for. Although she had her future memories, she had discovered that she had to train her current body on how to read and other functions like potty training. Luckily, she'd relearned the latter rather quickly.
The toddler was busy trying to retrain herself on pronouncing each word. That was what she was doing when the doorbell rang. Naru curiously, looked up from her book, wondering who it could be. She didn't recall her parents mentioning anyone coming over today. She watched as her mother hurried towards the door. A moment later she heard her mother give an exclaim of excitement. "Sakumo-san! What do I owe the pleasure today? Oh, you brought Kakashi-kun too," she said.
Naru snapped to attention at hearing Kakashi's name. A wave of excitement ran through her. She was finally going to meet someone she knew in her past life. "Remember kit, don't call him sensei when you see him. It will raise suspicion if you do," Kurama's deep voice spoke from inside her mind.
Naru pouted. "I know that Kurama. I'm smarter than I was before now that I don't have Ashura controlling me," she said.
Kurama huffed. "We'll see about that, Kit. Now pay attention, your mother is still talking to the older Hatake," he said.
The little girl took his advice and listened in. "I'm sorry to impose like this Kushina-san, but my regular babysitter has fallen ill and isn't available. I just received an urgent mission from the Hokage, but I can't leave until Kakashi-kun is taken care of. I was hoping you might watch him for a day or two?" he asked.
Kushina squealed. "Of course Sakumo-san! It's no problem at all. Plus, I'm sure Naru-chan would love to have a playmate," she said.
Naru could hear someone make a soft wine. "Daddy, I don't need a babysitter. I can take care of myself," a boy's voice said.
The girl heard the older male moan. "Kakashi, we've been over this. Just because you're ridiculously smart for your age doesn't mean I'm going to leave you by yourself," he said.
Now curious, Naru walked to the front door where her mother was. Peaking between her legs, the girl saw an older male who looked like the Kakashi from her time. Just with more wrinkles. "So this is the famous White Fang of the Leaf?" she thought. Naru had heard a little about him from Kakashi-sensei in her previous life. Like how he chose his comrades over a mission and was later disgraced for it, which lead him to commit suicide. Naru felt a great respect for the man; although she was sad to know his ending. "Maybe I can do something to change that," she thought.
Moving her attention away from the older male, her gaze was immediately drawn to the little boy clinging to his father's leg. Naru blanched. Kakashi was so short! In her memories, the Kakashi she remembered was a decently tall man. "He is cute though, and OMG! He's still wearing that mask!" she thought. Smiling widely, Naru pushed past her mother and stuck out her hand towards the boy. "Hello, I'm Naru Uzumaki-Namikaze. Who might you be?" she asked.
Kakashi stared at her in surprise, but his father smiled widely. The White Fang bent down so he was eye level with the girl. "Hello Naru-chan. I'm Sakumo Hatake, and this is my son Kakashi. Would you like to be friends with him?" he asked.
Kakashi shot his father an annoyed look, but Sakumo ignored it. Naru just smiled at the man, before turning to Kakashi. "I would like that very much Sakumo-san. Come on Kakashi, we can talk in the living room. Why the grownups talk," she said, grabbing his arm before he could protest.
Naru could hear the adults laugh as she pulled Kakashi away. Sakumo smiled at Kushina. "Your daughter sure is smart for her age, Kushina-san," he said.
Kushina gave him a wary smile. "Yes, sometimes I think she's too smart, Sakumo-san," she said.
Sakumo laughed. "Nonsense Kushina-san. Anyhow, maybe she'll be able to befriend my son. He's a smart child, but his social skills need a lot of work. I've got to go now, thank you so much again," he said, before he shunshined away.
Meanwhile, back in the living room. Naru was talking up a storm, trying to reacquaint herself with her former sensei. Now that he was her age, maybe she could finally learn more about him. "So your dad seems nice. Is he a ninja?" she asked.
Kakashi gave her a duh look. "Yes, he is. A very important one. He's the White Fang of the Leaf," he said.
Naru faked surprise. "Really? I was just talking to the famous White Fang? Cool! So I'm guessing you want to be a ninja too, right?" she asked.
Kakashi gave a cautious nod. "Yes, I want to be an excellent ninja, just like my dad," he said.
Naru clapped her hands in excitement. "Me too! You know my daddy and mommy are both pretty cool shinobi too. Hey, maybe we can train together. I would love to have a training partner," she said.
Kakashi looked contemplative. This girl didn't look like much, but then his daddy was always telling him that good shinobi look underneath. It wouldn't hurt to give her a chance, he supposed. Making up his mind, he smiled underneath his mask. "Okay, I'd like that," he said.
Ever since then, the two had become inseparable. Naru was pleasantly surprised by how awesome of a training partner Kakashi turned out to be. Also, she discovered he was a pretty nice kid once you got past his sarcastic mouth. She wouldn't give him up for anything, though. The closer she got to the boy, the more protective she felt towards him. She silently promised herself to keep the boy from relieving the trauma of his first life.
Naru knew besides losing his father. Obito Uchiha's supposed death during the war had affected Kakashi in the worst way. It had left a deep psychological wound on the Hatake's mind. Speaking of Obito, Naru had been surprised when she saw him for the first time.
Kushina and Naru were out spending the day running errands together. Their first stop being the local market. While her mother was busy looking over the produce; Naru took the time to observe the village market. It was so different from her original timeline, probably due to it being destroyed several times.
While she was observing the villagers. Naru noticed an elderly lady holding hands with a small raven-haired boy who was wearing orange goggles. Inspecting the boy, she noted he looked like a certain one-eye Uchiha from her past life. "Is that Obito?" she wondered.
The boy, sensing her stare, turned and flashed her a grin. Letting go of his guardian, he ran up to Naru. "Hello, I noticed you looking at me. I'm Obito Uchiha and the future hokage. Want to be friends?" he asked.
Naru blinked. "Wow, Kakashi-sensei hadn't been kidding when he said that her and Obito had similar personalities. Now, if she was being honest, she hadn't thought about being friends with the boy, especially after all the crazy shit he pulled. But seeing how nice he was being made her reconsider. If she befriended him, maybe he wouldn't go crazy? Deciding, she smiled. "Sure, I'll be your friend. I'm Naru Uzumaki-Namikaze," she said.
Obito's eyes widened. "You mean it? You'll really be friends with me?" he asked, as if he'd expected to be rejected.
Naru smiled. "Of course I mean it! From now on, the two of us will be friends," she said.
Obito smiled. "Yatta! I made a friend. I can't wait to introduce you to Rin-chan!" he said.
Naru blinked. "Rin-chan?" she wondered. As in the Rin that was Kakashi-sensei's third teammate in her past life. The same Rin whose death sent Obito into insanity? The Rin who was nothing more than a pawn in Madara's game of manipulating Obito. Rin, who threw herself into Kakashi's Chidori and scared him for life. That Rin? Oh boy, Naru was definitely going to monitor that one, and for the sake of the future, keep her from being a member of Team Seven. For now, though, she would become friends with the girl. "I look forward to meeting her," thought Naru.
A few days after she'd befriended Obito, he introduced her to Rin. Naru was still surprised by the meeting.
Naru was rather pleased with herself as she could now pronounce the words aloud. Meaning she could now read aloud. She was currently reading a book of Uzushiogakure, fairy tales her mother had given her. Her concentration was broken by a soft knock on her door. Kushina once again answered it. "Oh, hello. Who might you be?" she asked.
Naru listened in when she heard a familiar voice. "Hello, Mrs. Does Naru Uzumaki-Namikaze live here?" a boy's voice asked.
Naru could hear her mother hum. "Yes, she does, but you didn't answer my question? Who are you?" she asked.
The boy sucked in a breath before loudly proclaiming. "I'm Obito Uchiha, and the next Hokage. Nice To meet you, and this here is my best-friend Rin Nohara," he said.
Naru's eyes widened. "He brought Rin here already?" she thought, jumping up to go greet her guest. "Mama, who is it? I thought I heard someone say my name," she said, as she approached the entrance.
Kushina turned and gave her daughter a look of surprise. "Naru-chan, I was just about to call for you. It seems you have visitors. Do you know these kids?" she asked.
The little girl smiled brightly as she glanced at Obito and blinked in surprise when she saw a cute brunette with purple marks on her cheeks standing next to him. "That must be Rin," she thought. She looked up to address her mother. "Mama, this is Obito-kun. We met at the market the other day and he promised he'd introduce his friend Rin-chan to me," she said.
Kushina smiled proudly. "Look at my Naru-chan, making friends wherever she goes. This is what the second and third person who've befriended? And a boy at that. It looks like Kakashi-kun has some competition, and just wait until your father finds out," she said teasingly.
"As if," Naru thought. She might be comfortable enough to befriend the Uchiha, but if her mother was talking about dating him in the future, then heck no! Plus, she was more than aware the boy only had eyes for Rin. "Can I go play, mom?" she asked.
Kushina thought about it a moment before nodding. "Yes, but stay close by as lunch is almost ready," she said.
Naru nodded before running out the door.
The play date had gone well. After Obito had introduced the two girls, Naru discovered something shocking. She liked Rin. Rin was a calm but confident child, and the blonde appreciated that the other girl wanted to be a strong kunoichi like Tsunade-baa-chan. Naru immediately felt protective of the girl and decided right then and there to save her from being Madara's puppet. However, she observed how clingy Obito was towards the girl. That couldn't be healthy. There was having a crush on someone, and then being obsessed. "I'll have to put some distance between the two," she thought.
Despite the fact that Naru liked the girl, it didn't change her mind about replacing her as a member of Team Seven. For three reasons. One. To put distance between her and Obito. Two. To keep her out of Madara's eyesight. The third reason was a selfish one, but to keep the girl from Kakashi-kun. Rin, although not a fan girl, had a crush on Kakashi. Naru did not like that for some reason.
Kushina's voice snapped her back to reality. "Alright, Naru-chan. You've been working hard. It's time for lunch now. Then if there's time we can practice some more," she said.
Naru smiled. "Alright, sensei!" I'm coming down," she said, before jumping off the tree. The girl smirked. The future was looking bright.
Author's note: So here's the chapter three rewrite of "A New Life," I hope you like it.
P.S. So, just want to say that I know I made Kakashi and Naru over developed for two year olds. Just remember that Naru has her teenage memories so technically she has the mental intelligence of one. As for Kakashi, the kid was a Genin at five, which means he had to have been trained from an early age. Plus, I've always assumed that he was more mentally developed at a young age anyway.
Naru is closer to three when she meets Obito and Rin.
Naru will gain more friends in the chapter four rewrite.
P.S.S: Happy Fourth of July!