Gender Bender Naruto: The Series
By: KioKat
Summary:We all know Naruto, the #1 knucklehead, loudmouth ninja, right? Well, what if He had been a She? What if the whole Naruto world had been flipped around? The kunoichi now shinobi and vice versa? Join us on the adventure of a lifetime with Uzumaki Nariko, Konoha's #1, knuckleheaded Kunoichi!
xox
Chapter 3: Failure
(Completed: 07-09-09)
x
x
Elated giggles and excited chatter filled the evening sky. The street was mostly dark but for the few brightly-lit lamps that were scattered along the path, hanging from the edges of the shops and shining from apartment windows. Small groups of people clustered about the edges of the buildings, some making a last trip out while exhausted men and women returned home after a long day of work. However, for the most part, the road was quiet and empty.
The source of the aforementioned noise bounced alongside a brown-haired chunin, rambling eagerly about some subject or other that her companion had long lost track of. Fortunately for the brunette, with the chatty girl's oblivious nature, the blonde remained ignorant and continued with her non-stop babbling.
Izumi smiled softly down at her student as she did her best to listen, though most of it passed too quickly for her to actually register it within her mind. Despite this, she indulged the over-exuberant blonde as they made their way to the well-known Ichiraku ramen shop.
"It was so cool, Izumi-sensei!" Nariko exclaimed with awe, arms waving broadly as she attempted to physically show her enthusiasm. "I didn't know anybody could do something like that! Did you?"
"No, I don't think I did," Izumi replied without hesitation, though to what subject she was responding she had no clue.
"See? Even you didn't know and you're a teacher!" the blonde exclaimed, eyes wide as she pointed into the air for emphasis. She grinned confidently and placed her hands on her hips. "But you know what? I bet I know someone who could."
Izumi raised her eyebrows, giving the girl an amused smile. "Is that so? And who's that?"
Nariko rolled her eyes, though the grin seemed glued to her face. "Who else, Izumi-sensei? The Fourth!" She closed her eyes and nodded. "He's the best, after all, and no one can be better than the best. Everyone knows that!"
The blonde opened her eyes again and whirled around to beam at the chunin, continuing whilst walking backwards. "He was so awesome. I bet he could do anything!" She put up her fists as if she were fighting off an imaginary foe. "If he could beat back a huge demon fox and save the whole village, then there's no way he couldn't walk on water!"
The brunette found her eyebrows rising a second time. 'Ah, so that's what she was talking about earlier...'
Izumi thought it best not to mention to the blonde that most all Konoha shinobi were required to learn that skill. Why burst her bubble? She would learn the truth soon enough.
So, the chunin simply smiled again, a mischievous twinkle in her eye as she remembered exactly who she had taught about that day.
"You know, Nariko," Izumi said casually, already predicting how the preteen would react to her news. "I actually gave a lesson on the Yondaime today..."
There was a brief silence.
"What!" Nariko's wail deafened Izumi, as the girl dramatically pressed her palms against her skull. "You talked about the Fourth without me there? Izumi-sensei, how could you!"
The brunette gave the girl a stern look, though her eyes betrayed her humor at her pupil's over-the-top despair. "Well, last I checked you were actually supposed to be in class today."
Nariko made a face as she crossed her arms. "Yeah, yeah, I know. You've already pointed it out, like, a bajillion times!" She began waving her arms again.
Izumi laughed, eyes sparkling merrily. "Nariko, that's not a number, and besides..." She lightly rapped on the preteen's head in a scolding manner. "I have to, or it won't get through that thick skull of yours."
Nariko rubbed the place her teacher had knocked, mock-pouting at her. However, it swiftly morphed into a grin as she giggled.
Izumi felt the corners of her own lips quirk up for yet another time that night as they finally reached the blonde's favorite ramen shop. The young girl lit up as she bounded towards it excitedly, rambling on about the noodle soup she had been craving so.
The chunin trailed behind her, shaking her head in amusement. 'I wonder if I'll ever grow used to her enthusiasm...' As she watched Nariko's eager chatter with the shop's owner and her son as the blonde ordered her first bowl, Izumi decided not.
'Give me fifty more years and I still doubt I'll be used to it,' the chunin thought wryly, even as she felt an affectionate grin swell upon her features. She then ducked underneath the shop flap to join her student.
oxoxo
Nariko slammed her now empty ramen bowl on to the table, licking the remnants of broth from her lips. "More please!" she exclaimed as if starving, despite having long since devoured quite a few bowls of the steaming dish.
Izumi, though mentally moaning over whether or not she could pay for them with her kind of salary, remained focused on the wobbling tower that rested dangerously close to the blonde's elbow. The chunin eyed it nervously, worrying that the young girl would accidentally bring the heavy ceramic pile crashing down upon her pig-tailed head.
Oblivious to the brunette's concerns, Nariko grinned broadly as the owner presented her with a new bowl. Barely remembering to shout out a brief "Thank you!" she began to devour it, nearly brushing the large stack again as she did.
Izumi bit back a gasp as she gripped the table edge with one hand, her knuckles going white. Noting the Ramen Woman's sympathetic and understanding glance—Terumi, Izumi thought her name was—she forced herself to relax and release the counter, rubbing her forehead after she had done so. She swore the blonde was going to give her a heart attack one day if this kept up. God only knew she already stressed enough every day over the little hellions she called her students. Yet, despite that, Nariko stilltook the prize by far...
"I still can't believe you'd teach about the Fourth in class without me there, Izumi-sensei!"
Izumi blinked and glanced at the preteen, who was pouting at her again and had paused in her consumption to bring up the topic of earlier. They were back to this again?
"I mean, come on!" The girl waved one hand in disbelief. "How can you teach about the coolest guy everwithout his biggest fan there?" She beamed at her teacher, clutching the large bowl to her chest. "He's practically my idol! You know that..."
The chunin shook her head in exasperation. "Yes, yes, of course I do. You never let me forget it!"
As if to prove the brunette's claim, Nariko gushed about the Fourth ecstatically, stuffing her mouth full of noodles between words and leaving Izumi to worry that the girl might choke.
The brunette smiled at the irony of the blonde's open adoration and, filled with thoughts of her own, snuck a glance towards the preteen's stomach, knowing exactly what lay beneath her dark tank top. 'Oh, Nariko... If you only knew...'
The blonde continued to slurp her ramen, the subject transforming into that of Hokage. "That's what I'm gonna be one day, you know," she stated matter of factly as she guided a stream of noodles through her lips. "It'll be awesome! I'll be the greatest Hokage there ever was, not to mention the first female Hokage in all of forever!"
Nariko beamed proudly at Izumi, blue eyes narrowing in glee. "Can you just imagine that? Not only will I be the best, but I'll be a first!" She grinned excitedly. "How cool will that be? People will never be able to forget my name after that! I'll be something, someone special! Just you wait and I'll- I'll-" She waved her hands frantically yet another time that night, as if to make up for her sudden inability to express what she intended to do once she had reached her goal.
Izumi also waved one hand in a semi-frantic manner, attempting to calm the over-exuberant girl. "Whoa, whoa, slow down there!" She tilted her head towards Nariko, a smile playing at her lips. "You still have to pass the Academy first, remember?" She tapped the metal of her headband and the corners of her lips lifted further. "You're not even officially a ninja yet, not until you get one of these."
"Oh, don't worry about that," Nariko giggled, eyes going shut. "There's no way I can fail!" She grinned and pumped a fist, chopsticks still held within her fingers. "I'm Uzumaki Nariko, future Hokage of Konoha, remember?"
Izumi quirked one thin eyebrow with an amused grin. "Oh, is that so? And who exactly failed her graduation exam the last two times she took it?" the brunette teased.
The blonde slouched down and crossed her arms, giving her teacher a sulky look. "But that was back then..." She perked up in her seat, beaming again. "I'm way better now. You'll see!"
The orange-clad girl leaned forward, towards her teacher, chin tilted upwards and blue orbs shining with enthusiasm. "I'm gonna pass that test and get one of those headbands, Izumi-sensei! Then, I'll be a real ninja and one step closer to my dream!" She closed her eyes again and giggled, returning to her ramen.
As Nariko slurped up the noodles, she glanced towards the Hokage monument where her idol's face lay, stone eyes firm but proud.
'Just you wait,' she thought to the frozen features of the Fourth Hokage. 'You may be the greatest, but I promise to be greater.' She smiled once more. 'I don't break promises, so you can count on that...' And then, with one last, lingering glance towards the stony visage, she returned to her meal, leaving Izumi to moan pathetically over her wallet.
oxoxo
The next day was bright and clear, with the sun beaming warmly upon the earth. To Uzumaki Nariko, however, it could have been storming as badly as the day before, and she wouldn't have noticed. In fact, she might have even preferred it if it meant postponing this test.
The blonde squirmed in her seat, two rows back from the front where Izumi stood, explaining the details of their graduation exam. The genin hopeful swallowed hard and gripped the edge of the bench on either side of her knees, toes curling nervously within her sandals.
Today was the day: the day she had faced two times already and the day she had left disappointed from those same two times. The thought only made her stomach twist further and she regretted letting it slip into her mind.
"This portion of the exam you will be called up one by one where you will then enter the room next door," Izumi described, pointing at the place they would exit from. "From there in front of a table of teachers, which will include myself, you will complete your test..."
Nariko furrowed her eyebrows and lifted her chin in determination, though her fingers still clutched the seat with white knuckles. Today would be the day she ended the pattern. Today, she was going to graduate and she was going to get that headband just like she had told her teacher the night before. Today, she would become a genin, a real ninja, and one step closer to her goal of Hokage! Today, she-
"...by successfully conjuring three copies of yourself in the form of Bunshin," Izumi finished.
-was doomed. The preteen's head thudded on the table as she whimpered to herself. They were going to use Bunshin for the test again? They had used it the last two times; weren't they tired of it yet!
Nariko pried her fingers from the bench to clutch at her head instead. Did some deity up there hate her? Was it karma for all the pranks she had pulled? Sure, maybe she had gone a little overboard with the whoopee cushion in the Sandaime's chair when he had been assigning missions, or the "artwork" on both the Hokage Tower and, most recently, the great wall, but really, this was insane! You couldn't have the same thing three times in a row; it wasn't right! That, and she completely failed at Bunshin. What was wrong with them?
She winced as she thought back to their review the day before when she had unsuccessfully attempted a clone of herself. It wasn't as if nothing had happened, but still, the results had been pitiful to say the least.
'And humiliating,' she thought to herself, recalling the jeering laughter of her fellow students when she had failed. She had hunched her shoulders, embarrassed by the giggles, but had swiftly recovered, scratching her cheek and sticking out her tongue with a grin, as if she had intended to do it all along.
The blonde frowned at the memory, face resting behind her arms on the table. She then sighed and clenched her fists, sitting up again to lean back in her seat. Story of her life...
"Uzumaki Nariko!"
Said girl jolted from her thoughts, startled by the sudden shout of her name. Noting the attention of her classmates, she grinned and leapt onto the bench.
"It's about time!" she cried excitedly. "The future Hokage is on her way!"
The chunin responsible for calling the names glared at her, but before he could open his mouth to speak, Nariko bounded from her seat and slipped under his arm, making her way to the room for the test.
However, she slowed as she approached the door, it suddenly feeling one hundred feet tall and at least eighty feet wide. She gulped, nervousness playing with her stomach and causing her to bite her lip. Immediately, she shook it off and forced a grin on to her features, snapping the panel open and skipping inside.
"I'm here!" the preteen exclaimed, placing her hands on her hips and meager chest thrust out in pride. "And ready to take this test!"
Silence greeted her, followed by a faintly vexed look from Izumi.
The brunette cleared her throat, lacing her fingers together upon the desk and falling into Teacher Mode.
"Alright, Nariko," she began, "you know what to do. Create three complete bunshin of yourself and you'll receive a Konoha headband, becoming a genin in the process. If you fail to do so, you will sit through the Academy for another four months until we hold the next Graduation Exam where you will be given the chance to try..."
The chunin trailed off as Nariko waved her hand in dismissal of her teacher's words. "Yeah, yeah, I know that already! I heard all this the first two times! Can't I just get it over with?"
Izumi's eye twitched in annoyance, but she took a deep breath and sighed. "Fine. Continue then, if you're so confident."
"Alright then!" the blonde grinned broadly, placing her hands together in the proper seals. "Bunshin no jutsu!"
Poof!
'Oh, I hope it works this time...' Nariko worried to herself as she watched with the others to see if she had succeeded. She bit her lip anxiously, waiting for the smoke to clear. 'Maybe...'
Her heart plummeted when she met with the same sight she had seen yesterday, the past two tests she had taken, and every time she had tried.
Slumped on the floor, looking almost deathly ill and completely pitiful, was Nariko's attempt at a clone. She stared at the bunshin, face paling until she nearly matched her copy. She knew what came next.
"Nariko... you fail."
The blonde could almost feel Izumi's disappointed and frustrated gaze upon her. Who could blame her? Nariko didn't feel any differently, though her heart sunk lower, head drooping. A lump formed in her throat, and a strangely familiar heat built up at the back of her eyes. She clenched her fists in an attempt to force it back. She had thought... Maybe... This time...
She shut her eyes, not wanting to cry in front of the nasty, triumphant looks that coated some of the teachers' faces. Not in front of them; it was what they would want.
"Izumi-san... Perhaps we could let her pass?"
Nariko jerked her head up, shocked to hear those words. Izumi appeared just as startled as her student as she regarded the male beside her with wide eyes.
"Hajime-san..." the female chunin trailed, frowning. "You know we can't do that. Nariko was supposed to make three clones, but she barely even made one. Not only that, it wasn't even a very good one."
"Yes, yes, I know..." the dark-haired nin replied, ice-blue eyes hesitant. "But she's already tried... wasn't it twice already?" Izumi nodded and he went on. "And it's not as if she didn't make an effort. She did create something even if it wasn't..." He paused, debating over his wording. "...the best clone I've ever seen. It was still something." His eyebrows furrowed as he glanced at Izumi nervously. "Maybe we could? Just this once?..."
The brunette frowned again, glancing at her young student. The preteen watched them with hopeful eyes, the blue orbs shining anxiously as she nibbled on her lip, twisting her hands together. Izumi bit her own lip, a part of her wishing to let the young girl pass as well, but the other part of her that had been teaching for years stomped the wishful half down. Izumi pursed her lips, knowing what had to be done.
With some measure of reluctance, she shook her head, the expressions on the faces of the other teachers darkening in malicious joy. "I'm sorry, but we can't do that." She tried to ignore how the blonde's face visibly fell at her words. "The requirement was that she make three bunshin. It wouldn't be fair to the other students. We can't make exceptions..."
For a brief moment, Hajime looked faintly surprised, but it vanished as quickly as it came, instead transforming into disappointment as he nodded at her words.
Izumi shot one last glance at Nariko before the young girl left the room. She regretted the action immediately upon spotting the betrayal in her student's once bright blue orbs.
The brunette tried to overlook the guilt that tightened her chest as they called in the next student.
oxoxo
Nariko walked slowly along the streets of Konoha, each step heavy with despair. Anger stirred within her, the combination bringing frustrated tears to her eyes. She harshly rubbed them away, furious with the Academy, furious with the students who had passed, furious with Izumi for not letting her do the same, furious with the parents who looked so proud and smiled so big...
...Furious with herself for wanting to just curl up and cry. She squeezed her eyes shut, not needing to see to walk Konoha's streets. She practically knew the roads by heart now, having to use them as escape routes on more than one occasion.
She listened to the quiet scrapings of her sandals upon the dirt, struggling to think of anything but her failure. Yet she couldn't help but bitterly recall the large crowd that had gathered outside of the Academy, with those happy kids, who had recently become ninja, and their overjoyed parents, who patted their backs and promised to treat them.
Nariko kicked at the ground in frustration, wanting so much to... to... She released an irritated noise, hugging herself tightly as she glared helplessly at her feet. She didn't even know what she wanted. How pathetic was that?
'I wanted to pass,' she amended quietly. 'I wanted to pass this time. I wanted to show everyone that I could do this. I wanted...' She lowered her head.
"I wanted to show Izumi-sensei that I wasn't a complete failure," she whispered.
Feeling frustrated again, she shoved her hands in her pockets and kicked a stone that littered the path...
...only to be startled when she felt something something larger than her shuriken and vaguely foreign thump her through her weapons' pouch at the movement.
Carefully, she reached back and pulled the object out, lifting it up to stare. It was a small scroll; in fact, it was the very same one she had taken from the Hokage's office the other day.
Nariko gaped at it with wide, blue eyes. She had completely forgotten she had stuffed it in her pouch during her panic. How she had fit it in there...
The blonde tilted her head, wondering again what lay inside. She stiffened as it suddenly hit her. Hadn't she puzzled that there might be some advanced jutsu in there?
A grin slowly stretched her cheeks. Maybe... Just maybe... If she learned it... Maybe it would be enough for Izumi to let her pass! She looked down at the scroll, trembling with excitement, but stopped as she went to open it.
Wariness filled her and she looked around, suddenly uncertain of her surroundings as faint murmurs of the few lessons that had managed to wriggle their way into her brain echoed within her mind. Perhaps it was best she took this somewhere else, somewhere secluded where no one would be, where no one could catch her and try to take it away.
A quick glance to her right brought the forest into view. She stared at it for a moment, thinking the idea over. Then, coming to a decision, she scanned the area around her once more before taking off into the thick foliage.
oxoxo
Sarutobi leaned back from the large desk before him, sighing deeply as he rested from his work. There were so many papers, so many documents to be signed, so many piles; it was truly overwhelming at times, and some of those times he almost wondered why he had taken the job...
But all it took was one glance out his window, down at the bustling people doing business in the street and greeting each other cheerfully, and he was easily reminded.
The Third smiled at the thought and, raising himself up, decided it wouldn't hurt to take a quick look. It was still light outside, after all, though just barely, and much easier to enjoy the view when he could still see it. However, as he stood, he noticed something amiss.
The bottom-most drawer on his desk was slightly ajar.
To most, this wouldn't seem too unusual or troubling. Perhaps he had just forgotten to close it or had bumped it, bouncing it open.
Yet to the Sandaime, this was a subject of distinct worry. Though he knew he was getting on in his years and becoming a bit more forgetful as time went on, though his mind was still comparatively sharper than most his age, he also knew there was no possible way he could have left or bumped this drawer open. This particular drawer was one that was constantly kept locked and closely guarded by his personal ANBU and by himself.
The mostly-sole object it contained held information that was completely forbidden and possessed dangerous consequences, depending on who held it. For it to get into the wrong hands... And then for the drawer to be open?
Dread filling his aged form, the Hokage reached down and tugged at the handle.
The drawer slid open smoothly.
The scroll was gone.
o
o
Fun Facts:
– The title of this chapter is fairly obvious, I think. Her failure at the test was a big part of this chapter, especially considering how torn up Nariko was about it afterward, but perhaps the "Failure" in the title could also be thought of as being Izumi's failure to comply to Hajime's suggestion or his failure in changing her mind or even the Third's and his ANBU's failure in protecting the scroll. There's a lot of failure in this chapter, come to think of it.
– Personal ANBU, you say? Then, how did Nariko get a hold of the scroll? ...That is a very good question.
– Izumi says "Is that so?" more than once, enough so that we are meant to be lead to believe that it is something she says often when speaking with Nariko.
– Nariko has idolized the Fourth Hokage from the moment she first saw his photo and learned his story. She greatly looks up to him, as you could tell by the first two scenes, and he is a good part of the reason why she first thought up her dream to become Hokage. This is considered highly ironic by many, considering what he did to her, though she so far has been ignorant of that knowledge.