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!
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Chapter 8: Introductions
(Completed: 08-14-09)
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Three hours, thirty-two minutes, and an ever increasing forty-six seconds...
That was how long Team Seven had been waiting on their new, and extremely late, jounin sensei.
Nariko, ever the bundle of energy, alternated between fidgeting and pacing, her inability to stay still almost as painfully obvious as her intense boredom—the latter was more apparent by the random doodles and squiggly words that had accumulated on the room's chalkboard.
Seiichi, though immensely irritated with their teacher's tardiness, found himself more focused on his growling stomach than his annoyance.
The pink-haired boy grimaced and clutched at his middle, biting back a moan. He now wished more than ever that he had eaten lunch before he had left. He gave the blonde before him, who had returned to her aggravated pacing, a half-hearted glare. If she hadn't been placed on his team, then he wouldn't have been too frustrated to eat and he could have allowed himself to mull over their sensei's continued absence instead of his vengeful stomach.
Unfortunately, the girl was oblivious to his irritated glare, instead continuing on in her quick gait, back and forth at the front of the class.
Seiichi glanced at the ebony-haired kunoichi on his left.
Unlike her teammates, the Uchiha appeared indifferent to the lateness of their squad leader, her face showing only a slight that was because the jounin was keeping them waiting or because it was the usual look upon her face, the male pinket wasn't sure, but it was there nonetheless.
Meanwhile, Nariko continued to pace, shoulders tense as she grumbled to herself. What was taking their teacher so long? Everyone else had already gone and left, so where was their sensei?
The blonde frowned, glaring at the ground as she turned on her heel to stalk in the other direction. After a few minutes of this, the girl huffed and returned to her seat, having grown tired of walking at the front of the room. She plopped herself down, crossing her arms and pouting, though she continued to shift positions every minute or so.
This was nuts! They couldn't keep her cooped up in there forever! Already Nariko was sure that was exactly how long she—and her new teammates, she had to remind herself—had been waiting. She scowled at the door, which remained innocently closed.
Where was their jounin sensei?
"So, Sakaye-chan, where do you think our teacher is?"
The blonde's ears perked up on hearing her crush speak, and she glanced in the boy's direction.
Apparently, Seiichi had grown tired of the quiet, which was only disturbed by the sound of Nariko fidgeting where she sat or her huffs and frustrated groans when she stood and made her way down to the front. Thus, he had turned to the only person nearby in an attempt to strike up a conversation.
Unfortunately, that same person was Uchiha Sakaye; quiet, anti-social, "Keep the fuck away from me and shut your mouth before I glare you into oblivion" Uchiha Sakaye.
The blue-eyed genin snorted lightly. Yeah, good luck getting her to reply. Even so, Nariko gave the girl a dirty look when she didn't respond to the male preteen.
Seiichi merely continued to smile at his teammate, though he almost regretted speaking. So, okay, maybe he did manage to get her to converse with him earlier, but nothing seemed forthcoming this time around. Maybe there was some sort of quota on how much she could talk in a day?
The pinket had to keep himself from frowning thoughtfully, instead forcing his nervous half-laugh. Better a nervous something than nothing at all, right?
His gaze flickered towards the object of his affections, trying not to be intimidated by her apathy. Lack of response didn't necessarily mean she wouldn't ever speak, right? She might come around eventually and if there was one thing Seiichi could claim to be, other than smart or charming, the latter of which was more wishful thinking than anything, it was persistent.
"More than three and a half hours and we're still waiting," the male genin continued with an irritated smile. "You'd think a jounin would know how to be on time, wouldn't you? It's practically Shinobi Rule #1..." He frowned. "Well, actually, it's Shinobi Rule #18, but you get my point, right?"
The raven-haired girl didn't reply.
"Uh... So..." Seiichi grinned anxiously, pushing his fingers back through his hair, something he had a habit of doing when he grew nervous. "It's pretty annoying. You'd think a jounin of all people would know how to follow the rules, wouldn't you?"
Silence.
The boy swallowed. "I'd think that's a pretty bad sign. It makes you wonder what kind of teacher this person must-"
He cut off when the female Uchiha glared darkly at him.
"Just shut up," she told him simply, but coldly, "and leave me alone." With that said, she returned her gaze to the front, though her mood seemed a little worse than before.
Nariko didn't take very kindly to that, standing up and glowering at the other kunoichi. The blonde raised a fist and whipped her hand around to point with the other. "Hey, don't talk to Seiichi-kun like that! He's just trying to be nice to you!"
The orange-clad genin placed her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes at the pale girl. "Personally, I don't get why he'd bother with a brat like you! You don't deserve it at all with the way you act-"
"Lay off, Nariko! I don't need you to protect me, okay!" Seiichi snapped, already confused and frustrated with Sakaye's returned coldness—which he also quietly noted was, however impossible it seemed, even worse than before. That, coupled with his embarrassment at having a girl try to defend him against his crush of all people, especially when he found himself perfectly capable of the act if he needed it, which he didn't, and his temper greatly soured.
The blonde jerked back slightly, as if he had slapped her, hurt flashing through her eyes before she slowly sat herself down. She grew quiet, unusual enough for the noisy genin, but even her fidgeting came to a halt, something that was nearly unheard of.
Seiichi frowned, turning his gaze away, and crossed his arms upon the desk, not liking the guilt that rose up within him. On spying Sakaye out of the corner of his eye, he was reminded of their conversation earlier that day.
"What... do you think of Nariko?..."
He grimaced, recalling his response, the thoughts he had spoken aloud about his blonde teammate and the apparently touchy subject about orphans, which he had inconveniently forgotten at the time. Thinking about that brought Sakaye's own words to mind, and the table came into view as he lowered his head, his cheeks flushing slightly with shame.
From his perspective, he didn't think he had been particularly callous or insensitive about Nariko's lack of parents. He just didn't believe she should get away with the things she did because of it. It was only fair she be punished for things she did wrong, and no sob story or excuse should make her any sort of exception.
He had been honest when he had told Sakaye that he thought Nariko lucky for it. In his defense, anytime he had seen the girl, she had been smiling or laughing or escaping from some prank or other. Even when Sensei had assigned the girl some form of punishment, the blonde had acted like it was a joke, like she actually enjoyed Sensei yelling at her or the consequences of her actions.
Seiichi scowled lightly. He hated to admit it, but there were actually a few times he had been envious of the blue-eyed girl. How could she grin when being scolded by a teacher? How could she enjoy getting in trouble? It just... It didn't make sense to him! Any time he had been lectured by his mom—because no way had he ever done anything to ruin his record at the Academy—as much as he disliked it, he had always felt bad and as if he hadn't accomplished anything by doing wrong.
He always hated that feeling. Even when he won an argument with his mom, it always felt like a hollow victory, so how could Nariko always seem so pleased with herself? How could she always look so happy about it?
He had wondered about it for months until he had concluded that it must be her lack of parents. What else about them was all that different, other than the obvious, such as gender and grades?
So, he had disliked her for it—even he agreed that hate was a bit too strong a word.
He disliked that she always got away with things, because even when she was punished, she still acted as if she were victorious, like it was some sort of special privilege to be made to stay after school or to be yelled at or to clean up her messes.
He disliked that she always seemed so happy about nearly everything, as if she didn't seem to understand something as simple as guilt, thus making it so easy for her to complete her pranks and jokes that very few found funny. He would have said none at all, but he had caught a few of his classmates suppressing giggles.
He disliked that he had never seen anything other than that stupid grin or the childish glares or the pouts, though he was so sure there must be nothing she really had to sulk or complain about. Why else would she seem so happy all the time?
He disliked that even with the lowest grades, few friends—if she had any at all, that was—and a label of "Troublemaker," she still seemed to milk every drop of fun from her twelve year old life.
He just... he couldn't stand it. How could he believe being an orphan was so bad when Nariko was grinning and laughing every time he saw her?
Just... How?...
He frowned, eying Sakaye from the edge of his vision. How could the Uchiha's words be true? How could it be possible? It couldn't be... Could it? He glanced at the blonde, his brow crinkling.
"Being alone, that kind of loneliness... It just kills you inside."
His frown deepened. There was no way Nariko could feel like that, not in a million years. She was just... too happy. It wasn't possible. She really couldn't honestly feel that way... Not with the way she grinned... Not...
"It's like a hole... a hole you can't fill because whatever, whoever is supposed to be there is... gone. Just gone."
Seiichi tore his gaze away from the girl and dipped his head. It couldn't be... She couldn't... No way...
But his eyes didn't lie. The slumped shoulders, the almost-blank eyes, the unnatural stillness… It didn't make sense, but looking at her, he thought he could believe it.
This quiet, morose Nariko, this Nariko right before his eyes... She was new to him. Never, never had he seen her without the smiles or giggles, the glares or pouts. This was different from the Happy Nariko or the Irritated Nariko or the Sullen Nariko, who really wasn't that upset but was just sulking for the sake of sulking.
This Nariko was genuinely upset, genuinely hurt by his snapping at her, genuinely...
...Genuinely sad.
Seiichi's shoulders slumped forward and his fingers dug into the skin of his still-crossed arms. This was why he hated girls—except for Sakaye, of course, though there were times he was a bit tempted. They were so confusing; he didn't understand them at all! They kept changing and he didn't like it. Really, just how was he supposed to keep up?
The pinket sighed softly, recognizing the pang in his chest as being the same remorse he had felt for Sakaye that day, though it was on a much smaller scale. Even so, it was there and annoyed him all the same.
He gave the table a half-hearted, sulky glare. It wasn't fair. Why did he have to be such a nice guy? Better yet, why did he even have to have a conscience?
Sighing through his nose this time, he gave the blonde a half-irritated, half-tired look. He supposed he should get it over with. It was going to bother him if he didn't.
"Nariko..." he said reluctantly.
The blonde looked up in surprise, blinking a few times just to make sure he had spoken. Even when she realized he actually had, she still looked confused. "Yeah, Seiichi-kun?"
Seiichi hesitated, a part of him honestly not wanting to apologize, just to leave it be and forget about it, but...
He sighed, and with as much unwillingness as he could muster without making it obvious, he said, "I-"
The door to the classroom slid open with a snap, catching the attention of the three genin.
Nariko's eyes rounded in shock, and completely forgetting that Seiichi had just been speaking to her moments ago, she whipped her hand about to point at the figure that stood there. "Hey, you're that jounin from earlier!"
Kairi winced lightly, though it was hard to tell beneath her mask. "I see that your noisiness is a full time deal, not just an early morning one."
Seiichi gave the woman a strange look and muttered half to himself, half to Sakaye, "Is noisiness actually a word?..."
The jounin merely glanced at him. "Yes, actually, it is. It's right beneath noisy, labeled as a noun."
The male genin jolted, shocked that she had heard him since he had spoken so quietly and she stood all the way at the front of the room. 'How did she...'
"Talent and practice," Kairi stated simply.
Seiichi now gaped at her.
'What the hell!' the voice within his mind, or his Inner as he preferred to call it, screamed.
Funny enough, Seiichi couldn't help but agree wholeheartedly.
Kairi placed her hands on her hips, eying the three before her with an almost lazy look. "So... you three are going to be my students, are you?"
Nariko jerked back, jaw dropping and eyes widening even further. "You're our teacher? You?"
The jounin glanced at her. "You have trouble with your Inside Voice, don't you?"
Seiichi stared mutely at the woman, not sure what to say. If she was their new sensei, that also meant she was nearly four hours late; but accusing her of such, as true as it was, might get him in trouble with her, and he wasn't the type to want to give a bad impression on their first meeting. After all, weren't first impressions supposed to be everything? From what he heard, few people ever forgot them.
'What's a nice way of saying 'You're late. Where the hell were you?'" Seiichi mulled within his mind. He shook his head lightly and eyed their teacher suspiciously, as if she might respond to those thoughts as well.
She did not, though he thought her visible eye might have held an amused glint within it.
But of course, Nariko ended up voicing the pink-haired boy's thoughts anyway.
"Hey!" she yelled, having made her way down to stand in front of the silver-haired woman at some point. The blonde scowled at the older kunoichi, placing her hands on her hips. "You're late! You're supposed to be our teacher, right? Where were you!"
The blonde lifted a hand to point. "We've been waiting here forever, and I know you should have been able to come!" She crossed her arms, glaring at the jounin. "I saw you in the Old Man's office this morning, remember?"
Kairi glanced at Nariko, unimpressed. "You know, it's rude to point."
The young girl looked surprised for a moment, but then flushed and returned to glaring. "I'm not anymore, and you still didn't answer my question!"
The older kunoichi ignored her new student in favor of observing the other two.
Thus far, Nariko had been acting much like her original impression and the girl's Academy record had implied. Uchiha Sakaye and Haruno Seiichi on the other hand—She remembered their names from their own records—she couldn't be sure of yet, having just met them and hearing little from them in the way of speaking.
Though, she had to admit, messing with the male genin had been a little entertaining. She could still see the uncertainty and confusion reflected in his eyes.
Now, the Uchiha... Kairi glanced at the girl, trying to garner what she could from the dark-haired genin's expression. Unfortunately, Sakaye did not seem very forthcoming in that aspect. Other than the obvious annoyance she felt towards the jounin's late arrival, she seemed rather bereft of emotion.
Kairi gave them one last once over before smiling again. "Well, I think it's about time we got down to business, don't you?"
The three genin only eyed her curiously, wondering what she could possibly mean...
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"You're kidding, right?"
Kairi turned her gaze towards the pink-haired boy seated on the far left. He seemed to realize that he had spoken aloud and shifted uncomfortably under her stare.
"What's wrong with it?" the jounin asked, tilting her head. "I thought it was a rather good idea."
Seiichi shifted again, resting his elbows on his knees, and looked at her uncertainly. "Well, nothing, I guess..."
The silver-haired woman smiled, her dark eye closing with the effort. "Good! With all concerns having been made, let's continue."
She leaned back against the railing that edged along the Academy roof, bracing her palms against the metal and crossing her ankles. "Now, as I was saying, I would like you to tell me a few things about yourself. First and foremost, your name, of course, but also your likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams, and so on."
'Bo-ring...' Seiichi's Inner complained.
The genin did his best to ignore the voice, but grudgingly, he had to agree.
"And I'm thinking our little blonde should be first since she seems so eager to go," Kairi continued, glancing at the girl wryly.
Nariko, who had been bouncing lightly against the step in anticipation, grinned.
"I'm Uzumaki Nariko!" she proudly exclaimed. "I like ramen, practical jokes, and Seiichi-kun!" She grinned broadly at the boy, cheeks flushed a light pink.
Seiichi grimaced and looked away, groaning softly.
Nariko seemed undeterred by his actions, instead giggling to herself and turning back to their teacher.
The blonde thought about the next part for a moment and made a face. "I don't like the three minutes you have to wait for ramen to cook, or Mondays, because that's the day Ichiraku closes." She suddenly scowled, crossing her arms and turning her head to glower at the female Uchiha beside her. "But most of all, I don't like Sakaye-gaki."
The girl seemed unaffected by the blonde's words, keeping her gaze firmly locked on their silver-haired jounin. Seiichi, on the other hand, glared at the girl from Sakaye's other side, sending Nariko into a pout as she returned to their teacher.
The short genin perked back up as she proceeded through her hobbies and dreams. "My hobbies are pulling pranks and-" She cut off for a moment, frowning. "Well, um... that's actually it." She grinned sheepishly, sticking out her tongue and scratching her cheek as she giggled.
"And your dream?" Kairi questioned, focusing herself upon the young blonde.
She, of course, already knew the girl's dream. After all, Nariko had practically already told her herself, and she had heard it straight from the Third, but... somehow, she wanted to hear it from the genin word for word. Were her expectations really that high? When even she hadn't been able to accomplish it in the end?...
Kairi frowned slightly, saddening at the thought of that woman and her lost dream. It seemed so unfair, but perhaps...
Nariko cut off her mind's wanderings with another broad grin. "My dream is to become not only the next, but first ever female Hokage of this village!"
The jounin couldn't help but smile a little, though not enough that anyone could tell she had. 'Looks like it was true, after all. This girl really does plan on-'
"But it's also my dream to be even greater than one of the greatest heroes of this village!" Nariko beamed, eyes sparkling as she leaned forward excitedly. "My idol: the Fourth!"
Kairi blinked at the blonde, surprised by the sudden development. She stared at her for one, long moment. '...Very interesting girl, indeed.'
The older kunoichi then shifted her gaze, pausing on the Uchiha for a moment, before proceeding to look at the sole male amongst them. "Alright, your turn now."
He straightened under her stare, a reflex he had developed as one of the higher-ranked students within the Academy. "My name is Haruno Seiichi. I like Umeboshi and good grades." He smiled. "There's actually someone I like, but..." He grinned at Sakaye. "She already knows who she is..."
The dark-haired girl didn't spare him a glance as she continued to stare at Kairi, her nearly-trademark annoyed expression fastened upon her face.
The pink-haired boy didn't falter, though a frustrated confusion flashed through his eyes.
"I dislike my rival: Yamanaka Ikuo..." Seiichi gave a dirty look to what Kairi assumed was the aforementioned rival's image within his mind. "...being scolded or lectured, and..." The boy's eyes landed on the blonde on the other side of his crush. His face instantly became deprived of any emotion but irritation, and a tick started at his eyebrow.
"...Nariko," he said flatly.
"Heh?" the girl cried, a comical look of shocked despair upon her face.
The silver-haired jounin had to suppress a smile at this, proceeding to wait for the male genin to continue.
Seiichi ignored Nariko's cry, instead returning to their sensei once more. "And my hobbies? Well... I read a lot and I'm very good at memorizing things. I fight often with Ikuo, if you consider that a hobby, but..." He shrugged, sending a brief glance in Sakaye's direction, which lead Kairi to believe maybe he had another hobby or two he wasn't bothering to share.
"And my dreams..." the pink-haired boy trailed, frowning. "Well, I do have this one..." His gaze turned a little distant and his frown deepened. After a moment, he shook his head, freeing himself from whatever thoughts he had been immersed in. "But it's kinda personal."
He lifted his gaze to stare at their teacher again. "I actually have another though..." His eyes darted towards the Uchiha by his side, but he glanced away after a brief moment, eyebrows furrowed, eyes half-closed, and cheeks flushed just faintly in embarrassment. "But, uh, it's pretty personal too."
Kairi raised her eyebrows. "Oh, really now? Any that aren't so... personal that you'd be willing to share then?"
Seiichi hesitated for a moment as he thought about it. "...I guess to be able to beat my rival one day in any way possible."
He lifted his chin at this, eyes hard. "I'm sick of losing to him. I wanna wipe that stupid, smug smirk right off his face." He paused before shrugging. "And probably knock his ego down a few notches."
Crossing his arms, Seiichi grumbled to himself. "Could definitely use it considering how great he thinks he is, the stupid pretty boy..."
Kairi watched the boy in amusement for a moment longer, not failing to notice how he had glanced momentarily at Sakaye on saying "in any way possible."
Finally, she turned to the last member of the trio of genin, the dark-haired girl not once having removed the jounin from her line of sight.
The older woman cocked her head slightly, eying the Uchiha with a vague sense of curiosity. "Alright then, looks like you're up."
Sakaye, without relinquishing her gaze, proceeded through the words. "My name is Uchiha Sakaye. There is little I like and much I dislike, so I see no point in giving out either information. My hobbies are few and I find it none of your business what I do with my time. I don't have very many dreams, if any at all, and for that I do have, I doubt the label dream applies."
She shut her eyes for a brief moment before opening them once more to lock with the silver-haired jounin's single dark orb. "What I have would be perhaps better entitled as a goal or an ambition. Whatever you wish to call it, I have two things I wish to accomplish in life. One, the revival of my clan, and two, the most important..."
She paused and Kairi couldn't help but half-wonder if it wasn't for dramatic effect.
"...there is a person I plan to kill." Her eyes and face darkened, a cold chill entering her voice. "Their death is foremost within my mind and I will stop at nothing to have it ensured." Her expression tightened. "Nothing."
The rooftop was silent.
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Fun Facts:
– The title of this chapter is very obvious, no?
– This is the first time Nariko mentions the 4th Hokage being her idol since discovering that he had sealed the Kyuubi inside her. That's 3-4 chapters of not knowing whether her feelings towards him have changed. Surprisingly, they appear to have not.
– This is not the first time Ikuo is mentioned. He was actually first referenced to in Chapter 2 as "one blond in particular who was smirking arrogantly," as were Seiichi and Sakaye and quite a few other students. The first member of the Rookie 9 referenced to, even before Nariko's introduction but excluding the baby Nariko at the very beginning, was actually Shinako, our female Shikamaru, in Chapter 1, seen sleeping after Izumi had told of the tale of the 4th Hokage. Her name has not yet been used in the story.
– Ikuo is the second person, after Seiichi, to have his name used in a chapter before and separate from the one in which he is first introduced, and he will not be seen for quite some time.
– I love the way this chapters ends. In fact, this chapter is one of my favorites.
– Yes, this chapter holds a good deal of Seiichi-centricness, regarding the large portion in the middle discussing his thoughts. The first arc was pretty much "Nariko!Nariko!Nariko!" so now that I have the others, I'm trying to go more into them and flesh them out. This arc is more Seiichi-ish, with a bit of Sakaye during the Bell Arc, and some Kairi. Sakaye will be delved into more in the Wave Arc.
– According to the Data Books, Sakura's favorite food is Umeboshi and her hobby is memorizing things.
– Nariko's other hobby, which she did not reveal in this chapter, is gardening. According to the Data Books, that is one of Naruto's and he's apparently quite good at it as well, if the deleted manga panel regarding it is any indication. Kishimoto had intended to have a panel for this in the first chapter, but ended up cutting it. The sketch of it can be found in Naruto Volume 3, as well as in Naruto: The Official Handbook, which actually describes this hobby of Naruto's and the story I've told.
– Nariko cut off before getting to the hobby because it's a bit of a secret. Very few know anything about her love for plants.
– Seiichi bits seem to have a lot of question marks in them, perhaps due to his nature of over-thinking things, which leads him to question many things. Nariko is in a similar boat with her exclamation points.