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 7: Almost-kiss
(Completed: 08-05-09)
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"She could only hope that the Squad assignments would be better."
They weren't.
Nariko sat in her seat, body tense, arms crossed, and positively fuming. How could they? How could she? How could Izumi do this to her!
This was criminal! It was insane! Who was stupid enough to place her on a team with Sakaye?
Okay, so she had to admit that she had been thrilled when her name had been called after Seiichi's—what more could a girl ask for when she was placed on a team with her crush?—but then... then Izumi just had to say that stupid Uchiha's name.
Her mood had been ruined near instantaneously. How was she supposed to get Seiichi to like her if that brat was on their team?
Nariko narrowed her eyes, tuning out Izumi's explanation on how they would meet their jounin, and turned her gaze instead to glare at Sakaye. At the same time, she couldn't help but notice Seiichi's smug grin as he turned in his seat to smirk at his aggravated, blond rival.
The pinket's elation only proceeded to worsen Nariko's mood, and she slid down in her seat so that her chin landed on the desk with a soft thump. She sniffed dramatically, bottom lip pushed out as she prepared to wallow in her new-found sorrow.
However, Izumi's voice broke through her self-pitying fog. "Now, we're going to have a quick break for lunch," the chunin said, hands on her hips and the papers listing the genin teams still clutched within her fingers. "You may leave the classroom, but I expect you back here in one hour, no later. At that time, your jounin instructors will begin to arrive, at which point you will leave with them to..."
The blonde blinked, once again tuning the chunin out in favor of a plan that had begun to form within her mind. She perked up, a grin slowly consuming her features as she glanced from Sakaye to Seiichi.
Lunch break, huh?
oxoxo
Sneak. Sneak.
Narrowed eyes. "What do you th-"
Spring. "Raaaaargh!"
Numerous crashes and bangs echoed throughout the air, mingling with startled cries and scuffling feet.
And then...
Silence.
oxoxo
Haruno Seiichi was in a bad mood.
Actually, no, it wasn't even really that because a part of Seiichi was happy, really happy. What boy wouldn't be after learning he was going to be spending a great amount of time with Uchiha Sakaye? Yet at the same time, Seiichi was extremely annoyed, and the cause of that was also the reason for his foul temper.
Seiichi scowled, hunching his shoulders and shoving his hands deep within his pockets as he frowned in thought.
His name had been called first, and though he had prayed and prayed hard that the next name called would be Sakaye's, it had not been so. Instead another name had been called, the name of the person he liked the least and had prayed almost just as hard not to get...
Uzumaki Nariko, the #1 blonde annoyance and troublemaker of their class; no, better yet, their whole grade! And to make matters worse, she appeared to have a crush, and on him of all people!
He swore his life had ended right then and there.
What was Sensei thinking, placing him on a team with Nariko? There was no way they would ever get anything done with her going ga-ga over him all the time.
However, he smiled on recalling the name announced after hers.
Uchiha Sakaye, the #1 rookie, top of their class, and most beautiful girl in their entire grade.
Seiichi grinned broadly. He had been thrilled on hearing her name as Sensei assigned her to the same squad as him. He had even forgotten that he was supposed to be groaning about Nariko being placed on his team.
But, of course, reality had just had to come crashing down on him when, after a wonderful bout of gloating to his rival, he had glanced briefly to his right and spied the main source of his annoyance. Short term memory kicking in to gear, he had been swiftly reminded of who was to be his other teammate, and his mood had instantly soured.
His face darkened. It was just his luck, wasn't it? He had the Uchiha Sakaye on his team, and he couldn't do anything because he had to get stuck with a pain like Nariko. That practically destroyed anything he had hoped to accomplish with the dark-haired Uchiha! How could he make a move on the girl if Nariko was there every step of the way? He couldn't have asked for a worse road block.
Seiichi scowled once more, growling as he took out his frustration upon a small stone that littered the path before him.
"Stupid Equivalent Placement," he grumbled, shoulders tense and frowning deeply. His mind—which was, quite honestly, a living dictionary after many years of hand raising and reciting the meanings of shinobi terms in class, coupled with his bookworm-ish hobby of reading any book he could get his hands on—defined the phrase against his will.
Equivalent Placement: n. A specific placement used within the ranks of shinobi defined by the equality of power amongst the nin of the squad.
Though, Seiichi knew it probably should have read genin instead of nin. That particular definition of the word better applied to the first team assignment a shinobi faced, or more specifically, his genin squad.
The pinket's lip curled as he punted the pebble again. However, if you wanted to put the term simply, it meant placing the best student in the class, obviously Sakaye, and the worst student in the class, unfortunately Nariko, together on the same team.
Oh, the horror.
Seiichi bit back a groan. It really was just his luck, wasn't it? He should have known better. He had read the textbooks, learned the history; he knew that was how the squads were assigned. He should have seen it coming, though really, how bad was his luck if the worst student was his biggest annoyance and the best his greatest pleasure?
He paused for a moment and blinked, grimacing at how the thought might sound to someone else's ears. The boy flushed slightly in response, hunching his shoulders. He hadn't meant it like that...
Not yet, anyway.
'Who said anything about yet? I definitely think it's for the here and now...' a voice within his mind grinned broadly.
Seiichi blushed a little darker, thanking whoever listened that there wasn't a Kekkei Genkai that allowed people to read minds.
He shook his head hard and instead returned to the stone he had been kicking so insistently across the ground. Ignoring his growling stomach, he paused to watch the small rock skitter before taking up his pace again, but he pressed a hand to his grumbling midsection in acknowledgment.
Though Sensei had left them an hour to break for lunch after she had assigned the squads, Seiichi had not taken up her offer, being so irritated and occupied with his thoughts that he hadn't felt hungry enough to eat. So, forgoing his meal, he had followed many of his fellow peers out of the classroom, taking off on his own in the hopes of clearing his mind of his annoying dilemma.
Thus, there he was, unsuccessful and taking his frustrations out upon the pebble that lay innocently on the path ahead.
Nostrils flaring in a sudden fit of irritated anger, Seiichi drew back his leg and punted the stone as hard as he could, guaranteeing that it wouldn't come to a stop until several feet before him, if it even stopped at all. Olive orbs followed the small rock as it bounced and skipped along the ground until, to his aggravation, it came to a halt.
Seiichi glared at the stone, stalking towards it to continue with his vehement kicks, but stopped on realizing that instead of the several feet he had predicted, the pebble had instead come to rest before two feet; a pair of feet, in fact, clad in navy-blue shinobi sandals.
On closer inspection, Seiichi came to realize that the appendages belonged to a very familiar form, one he recognized and had grown to know very well by sight alone in the past couple years...
"Sakaye-chan," he murmured softly, surprised to see the female Uchiha.
If the girl heard him speak her name, she gave no indication of it, instead continuing to stare at the cobbled path before her. Her hands rest gently in her lap, back bent slightly and thighs pressed together, her knees bent so that her toes balanced lightly on the ground, slightly turned inward.
Glancing at her face, Seiichi noted that her lips were placed in a faint frown and her eyebrows were furrowed, as if she were troubled over something.
The olive-eyed boy stared at her, debating with himself on whether to approach her or not.
'Would she want me bothering her?' he questioned himself. 'Sakaye-chan always seems to prefer being alone, but...' He frowned. 'I don't want to just stand here and do nothing. Besides, whatever she's thinking about seems to be really bothering her...'
His brow crinkled in thought as the dispute went on within his mind. Would she be angry with him if he approached? Would she be relieved? Girls liked to talk about things that were worrying them, right?
Seiichi crossed his arms, staring at the ground as he puzzled it over. But then again, girls were strange in the first place, so what if she reacted entirely different from what he might expect? His eyes widened. Oh god, what if she started crying?
He looked uneasy at the thought. Sakaye didn't seem like the type to burst into tears, but she was a girl, and girls cried a lot, didn't they? So, what was he supposed to do if she got emotional? What if he made it worse? He wasn't exactly an expert on girls like his blond-haired rival was, so what if he screwed up? What if he-?
Seiichi paused. Then again, what if he was over-thinking it? This was Uchiha Sakaye he was talking about, after all. He honestly didn't think her to be the kind of girl to cry so easily, and besides, she didn't seem that upset...
The red-clad genin thought about it a moment more, pursing his lips. After several seconds of contemplation, he inhaled deeply, held it, and then released the breath, steeling his resolve. Alright, he was going in.
Coming to a stop before his crush and the pebble that rest at her feet, Seiichi stood facing Sakaye, his confidence wavering for a brief moment. Then, he shook his head once and hard, finally taking a seat beside her.
The dark-haired girl glanced at him, eyes flashing with surprise, though she quickly turned her face away—almost shyly Seiichi liked to think. The thought, whether it was true or not, made him feel better.
The male genin hesitated for a moment before clearing his throat softly. "Um... Hey, Sakaye-chan. How's it going?" He smiled at her, faintly nervous. Her response to him earlier that day had not exactly been inviting.
"...Fine."
Seiichi's eyes widened. That was new; Sakaye usually didn't answer him when he spoke to her. She usually responded with silence, so this was definitely a surprising development for him. Though, of course, that didn't necessarily make it an unwelcome one.
"Really?" he replied. "That's good..."
There was a moment of awkward quiet, and the young boy glanced at his crush, hoping to garner something from her expression. He was stunned when he saw the Uchiha's eyes swiftly dart away from his, suggesting that she had been watching him. Her form bent over a little further and her cheeks flushed lightly, fingers clutching her knees.
Seiichi couldn't help but grin. He had never seen Sakaye like this and it was almost... endearing. The boy laughed softly at the thought, and the dark-haired girl glanced at him.
"What?" she asked, curiosity shining within her dark orbs.
He smiled sheepishly at her. "Nothing. It's just... you're really cute when you blush, you know?"
His teammate's eyes widened and she looked away, though Seiichi liked to think he had seen her smile before she had done so.
The boy grinned at her. This was going way better than he thought it would. He had worried that it'd be much more difficult to talk with her, but surprisingly, he was having relative ease with the task. That, and he had made her smile! Uchiha Sakaye! The corners of his own lips pulled further on his cheeks.
The pink-haired genin took in a deep breath. He had never expected things to go that well, so he wondered... Maybe now would be a good time to ask her out or tell her of his crush. He was mostly playing the situation by ear, but he figured this was how things usually went, so why not give it a shot?
Seiichi paused for a moment. But wait a minute... Didn't girls have a thing for romance? Did he have to ask her out romantically? A troubled frown tugged at his lips. Oh great, he hoped not. He didn't know how you were supposed to do that. How would you do that? Would Sakaye care if he didn't? What if-
"Seiichi?" the object of his affections asked softly.
The pinket blinked, pulling himself back to reality to look at his crush. "Ah, yes?"
"...What do you think of me?" the Uchiha inquired, glancing at him strangely.
Seiichi blinked again. "Oh, well..." He shrugged sheepishly. "I kinda figured that was obvious... you know?" He laughed nervously, pushing his fingers back through his bangs.
She continued to stare at him expectantly.
"Well, I..." he hesitated, before taking a deep breath and steeling his resolve once more.
Thus, he forced himself to lock eyes with her, though the action knotted his insides. "I really like you. I've... actually liked you for a couple of years now." He shrugged in faint embarrassment, but smiled despite it. "I guess... you could even say... I have a crush on you, Sakaye-chan, but, um..." He trailed off, laughing and cheeks flushed.
Seiichi had turned his gaze away to somewhere towards his right so he was unable to view Sakaye's expression. Though he really wished he could see it, the nervous churning of his stomach kept him from turning back—his steeled resolve had lessened somewhat after he had gotten the words out.
After a few moments however, he decided to chance a look in her direction, but on glancing back towards the girl, he noted that her head was turned slightly so that his view was that of the back of her ear and cheek rather than her face as he had hoped. He frowned in disappointment. Was that good or bad?
The olive-eyed male shifted uneasily, his brain attempting to make sense of the matter. Was it normal for a girl to react like this when a guy confessed to her? Grimacing, he sighed.
Oh, what he wouldn't have given right then to be able to read minds... Furrowing his eyebrows at the odd sense of déja vu the wish brought him, he almost didn't hear his crush speak.
"What..." she trailed.
Seiichi perked up. "Yes?" he encouraged anxiously.
Much to his continued disappointment, she did not turn to face him and instead only bowed her head ever so slightly. "...What do you think of Nariko?"
The boy's eyebrows rose. What? Where had that come from all of the sudden? He frowned at the girl in confusion, but answered her anyway.
"Well, Nariko..." he began reluctantly, eyebrows knitted together. "She's pretty annoying. I mean, she's always yelling and screaming at you, and she's way too loud." The corners of his lips pulled down further as he thought the blonde girl over. "She's always getting in trouble and fawning over me..."
His expression darkened. "And then, there are those stupid pranks of hers. I mean, geez, so she can paint a wall. So what? I could do that!" He shook his head in disdain. "You know, the only reason she's allowed to get away with it even a little is because she's an orphan."
He didn't notice how Sakaye stiffened at the word.
"I mean, really," Seiichi continued, scowling. "If I didn't have my mom to worry about, then I could probably go around pulling pranks too. Nobody wants to get on to the kid with no parents. They feel bad for them, so they let it go."
He crossed his arms, frown deepening further. "Nariko's lucky. She doesn't have to deal with parents or moms or any of the stuff that comes with it..." Seiichi shut his eyes, eyebrows drawing down firmly. "But she's so selfish. I don't see what she has to complain-"
"How... How can you possibly understand?"
The pinket, startled to hear the female Uchiha speak, jerked his head to look at her with wide, olive-green orbs.
The girl's eyes were shadowed, and she clutched the fabric of her capris tightly with her fingers.
"You," Sakaye continued, jaw clenched and trembling slightly, "have no idea how painful it is to have no one to come home to. Being alone, that kind of loneliness... It just kills you inside."
Seiichi watched on, insides going cold as he remembered one little fact about Sakaye, an incident that had happened long ago...
He paled, recalling what he had read of it, the Uchiha Tragedy, or better known as the Uchiha Massacre. The genin swallowed hard. Though it never specified who had done the killing, Seiichi didn't need the library scrolls to tell him something he had known since the first and only week his crush had been absent from school.
Uchiha Sakaye was an orphan.
And here, he realized with no small amount of horror, he had ultimately just informed her she was better off that way. His guilt-ridden conscience beating him up for his mistake, Seiichi could only listen as the Uchiha continued.
"It's like a hole... a hole you can't fill because whatever, whoever is supposed to be there is... gone." Sakaye dipped her head lower. "Just gone."
Unable to take a moment more of his crush's pain, Seiichi reached out and placed a hand on her back. The girl tensed at the sudden contact, and hesitantly, the male genin looped his arm around her, the other also sliding about her form as he brought his new teammate into an awkward hug. He furrowed his eyebrows and swallowed hard. Girls liked this sort of thing, right? When they were upset?
Frowning uneasily, he tightened his grip, hoping it was the right thing to do.
"I'm... sorry," he whispered anxiously. "I didn't mean to make you upset... I just... I guess I'm just a little frustrated today and... well... that came up and I just... I didn't mean to, ah... hurt your feelings..." he finished lamely.
They both sat there, him awaiting her reaction as silence wrapped around them for not the first time that day.
Just as Seiichi had decided that perhaps he had made the wrong move, Sakaye leaned lightly into him, surprising the male pinket. He blinked, but didn't release her, instead smiling and praying that this was a sign she had accepted the small bit of comfort and not one that meant she was contemplating the best way to kill him for the intrusion into her personal space. The thought made him gulp.
However, he took yet another deep breath, also not for the first time that day, deciding it wouldn't hurt to continue what he had left unfinished earlier in their conversation.
"I really do like you... A lot, actually," he said softly. "You... your opinion, it matters to me. I've just... always wanted your acknowledgment and respect, you know? Your opinion really means a lot to me..."
"Seiichi," Sakaye cut in. "I..."
The pink-haired boy silenced and waited nervously.
"I really like you, too," the kunoichi replied, just as softly. "I've actually... liked you for a while now. I mean..."
The female Uchiha hesitated, as if uncertain of her words, but Seiichi just smiled and pulled away. She seemed surprised by the loss of his arms, but even more so when he touched her cheek.
The male preteen grinned at her. "I..." He laughed, half-embarrassed with himself for being so nervous, before carefully curling his fingers under her jaw, sliding them down so they hooked under her chin.
For the first time in his life, he thanked his mom for forcing him through all those chick flicks of hers as the dark-haired girl blushed, the rush of blood all the more prominent because of her pale complexion. However, his own actions surprised him. When had he gotten so bold?
"I'm really glad to hear that," he said sincerely.
Watching as the female preteen's eyes fluttered shut, his stomach turned pleasantly in anticipation and he swallowed hard.
Alright, this was it. This was the moment he had been waiting for, the moment where he would finally get to be Uchiha Sakaye's first kiss! They had barely been teammates for an hour and already he would be able to claim what no other guy could. He would practically be a legend!
But the thoughts faded from his mind as he glanced down at her lips, and he grinned on realizing he would get to find out if they really were as soft as they looked.
Eyelids lowering, he dipped his head towards hers. "...Sakaye-chan..."
Suddenly, the Uchiha froze, startling the pink-haired boy before her. He blinked down at the dark-haired girl, opening his eyes.
"Hey..." Seiichi said, brow crinkling with worry. "What's wrong?"
His crush sat there, clutching the fabric of his shirt, her cheeks still flushed as she stared at it with a strange, dazed expression, almost as if she had never seen it before. "I..." She paused, bowing her head. "...I have to go."
Within moments, she had pulled herself from his arms and taken off down the stony path from which he assumed she had come.
Seiichi watched stunned as she walked away from him, until finally, the Uchiha disappeared around the corner.
"...What?" he whispered softly.
He looked down at his arms, which resided in the same position they had been in when he had held her, as if she had never left. Slowly, he let the limbs fall to his sides, confusion causing his eyebrows to furrow and yet another frown to form upon his lips. Sitting alone, expression puzzled, Seiichi mulled the situation over in his mind.
'What just happened?' he thought to himself, leaning back against the bench and crossing his arms. 'She just... left... But why would she...?'
He narrowed his eyes, turning it over in his mind as he tried to think up an explanation.
'I wonder... Maybe... This is her first kiss, or so I hope, of course, but... Maybe she's just nervous about giving it away?...' He tilted his head to one side, playing with the idea. Wasn't the first kiss supposed to be a big deal for girls? They didn't like giving it away so easy, right? So... Maybe she was just nervous. Maybe she just wasn't ready to give it away yet?
Seiichi allowed that thought to settle in his mind. Yeah, that sounded about right. That sounded like something a girl, especially one like Sakaye, would do or be worried about. Not that he really knew much about girls, but it seemed to make sense. He briefly smiled to himself. Weird, but he supposed it was kind of cute...
Though he really would have liked to kiss her.
He sighed, shaking his head as he stood. Oh well, he supposed he'd just have to try that much harder to be her first.
The male genin grinned, recalling that they were now members of Team Seven. It was a good thing they were on the same squad or he wouldn't know how he'd manage to be around her enough to get to something like that.
Seiichi frowned again. Though, of course, he still had Nariko to worry about. Releasing a weary sigh, he turned to walk down the path that led back to the Academy. Ah well, he guessed he'd just have to figure something out.
After all, from the looks of it, he'd have plenty of time to do it...
oxoxo
On returning to the classroom, Seiichi was surprised to see not Sakaye, not Nariko, but for some reason, both of his new teammates in bad moods.
His eyebrows drew down in confusion as he stepped through the doorway, eying the two curiously.
He thought he could figure out why Nariko was in a bad temper. After all, she had seemed very irritated when finding out she had been placed on a team with the Uchiha. Sakaye, on the other hand... Seiichi frowned. Did their almost-kiss really upset her that badly? He knew it was her first, but would it really be so bad if he was the one to take it?
Glancing around for a moment, he huffed quickly on his hand and sniffed. No, his breath was fine, so it couldn't be that.
He sighed, deciding to press his luck, as he made his way up the steps and to the bench where the kunoichi sat. Sliding in beside her, he smiled at the female Uchiha, deciding that maybe he shouldn't mention it. She had seemed rather embarrassed when she had left.
A few rows ahead of them, Nariko turned her head back to scowl at the dark-haired girl. Seiichi frowned, which he seemed to be doing a lot recently, at the sight—the anger seemed a bit much for simply being placed on a team with the Uchiha—as the blonde turned her head back to the front. Sakaye shifted her gaze away from the fuming girl, eyes sliding shut.
Seiichi furrowed his eyebrows at the action, glancing inquisitively at the Uchiha. Was she really just going to dismiss him like that? He had already agreed that he wouldn't mention the almost-kiss.
...But then again, she didn't know that, did she?
He opened his mouth to not only reveal that little fact to her, but to question the girl's sudden reversion to her usual indifferent state, when suddenly the door opened, the first of the jounin filing in to claim their students.
The pink-haired genin perked up, curious to see the higher-level ninja and also hoping to catch sight of their own amongst the crowd.
His attention diverted, the words faded into the back of his mind.
Forgotten.
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Fun Facts:
– I could think of nothing better for the title of this chapter. I hope you can forgive me for that. I know it's really lame... I can also assume that you figured out where I was going with this chapter by the title alone. Laughs.
– I do not expect many, if any, of my male readers to like this chapter. Grins wryly.
– Seiichi is very intelligent and is quite prone to over-thinking things as a result, as seen here quite clearly. Also, he is indeed an avid reader, or bookworm if you prefer the term, and with his sharp memory, he is very good at reciting information and definitions. It is actually rumored that he's read through the dictionary before, perhaps even more than once.
– Originally this chapter began with the line "Haruno Seiichi was in a bad mood." which would have incidentally made it a Seiichi-centric chapter from solely his Point-of-View. However, I decided I needed a little more filling at the beginning than just what I had and got the idea to create the two beginning scenes. I'm much happier with it now.
– This chapter is a very good example of how the storyline is a bit more Shoujo-y, which I warned about in a previous Fun Facts I believe, due to the increased number of females. Do not be surprised if other portions of the story are more emotional and Shoujo-ish than would be normal in the Canon Universe, where the majority of the characters are male.