Anko looked around carefully. She tried to see through the thick black fog in her way, but every attempt to see in front of her was unsuccessful.
She assumed it was her mindscape, as Inoichi had said something previously about black fog when he had given her the memories she would need. She had never been in her mindscape herself, so she was unsure if it was true or not. Only now she was sure because of what he had told her.
Anko continued to look around, still unsuccessful in her attempts. Suddenly, another figure appeared before her, one that she had not seen before.
The woman in front of her had long, fiery red hair, and violet eyes, and was dressed in a flowing kimono of various reds and oranges. Anko swore that she had seen the woman's face before, at the very least one time. She had a neutral expression on her face, and said nothing to Anko as she turned around, revealing a large battle fan on her back.
The red haired woman grabbed a hold of the fan and unfolded it, getting into a battle stance facing away from Anko. She then waved her fan around fiercely, causing a gust of wind that blew some of the black fog away.
Anko watched as she unnamed woman swung her fan around, and could only assume that she was helping to fight off the curse mark. With every motion the red haired woman made, Anko's mind became clearer, the dark whisperings getting quieter and further away from her.
With every gust of wind, the condition of Anko's mindscape became better and better. She was no longer haunted by the dark thoughts and whisperings of the curse seal, it was just her now.
Despite seeing the red haired woman right in front of her, Anko was unable to feel any presence in her mindscape other than her own. It was an odd feeling to Anko, but she got over it rather quickly as she enjoyed her now free and spacious mind.
She wasn't sure how much time had passed within the mindscape, but when she checked around once more, Anko was still unable to feel the presence of the woman that was blowing the last of the fog away from the confines of her mind.
Anko wanted to ask the woman so many questions, but she had not uttered so much as a single sound in the entirety of her stay in Anko's mind. The Snake Mistress, however, laughed and sang and made several other noises out of enjoyment. She had a feeling that the woman wasn't going to speak at all.
When the job was done, the red haired woman turned around to look at Anko, who had been watching her blow the fog away for at least several minutes. She did not say anything, nor change expressions, and Anko was left wondering who she was and why she was there.
When the unnamed woman turned to look at Anko, the purple haired woman was finally able to get a good long look at the woman, and was now able to identify where she had seen her face before. Before Anko could say anything to her, the red haired woman turned back around and began to walk away from Anko and into a seemingly random corridor. Anko wanted to follow her, but she was too busy wandering around and seeing all of the various parts of her mind.
The other occupants of the Uzumaki Compound were gathered in the living room, their current prisoner tied to a chair in the corner with a gag in her mouth, all the while watching them. Gathered for this meeting were the Third Hokage, Inoichi Yamanaka, Ibiki Morino, Naruto Uzumaki, Tsunade Senju, Shizune, and Kurenai Yuhi, and they were discussing how best to find out who this apparent duplicate of Anko was, the Hokage had been brought in by Ibiki requesting his personal presence at the compound, and Inochi had been called over by Kurenai so he could help get to the bottom of this.
Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at the duplicate of Anko for what had seemed like the hundredth time since he had gotten to the compound. He was quite confused as to how there was another Anko. One was more than enough to cause havoc to anyone who crossed her, and two was sure to be a curse from kami himself for everyone.
"Please, explain to me again what happened." He asked, looking at the others gathered around the room.
Naruto looked at his family, before looking at the man he thought of as his grandfather, "Well, I came home and asked where Kaa-san was when there was an explosion from upstairs..." he said, still confused as to what exactly the duplicate of his mother was, "When I got up to her room, the door opened and Kaa-san flew out of the room, and some of the smoke got out too. When I was tackled by Kaa-san, next thing I know, there was another Kaa-san standing in the door. But she had longer hair than the real Kaa-san." He explained the situation to the best of his ability to remember, but looked to the others in the room for help on better wording.
Kurenai nodded and cleared her throat briefly before speaking. "When the rest of us came to see what was going on, we just saw two versions of Anko. The duplicate was about to say something, but Tsunade knocked her out before we could understand her." She looked at Ibiki, Tsunade, and Shizune, who all nodded in agreement. "There isn't anything else to the story as far as we're aware."
Hiruzen nodded slowly, thinking over what next to say. The old Hokage looked at Tsunade, who nodded in recognition. "Have you done tests to see if this imposter really is Anko?"
Tsunade nodded once more, taking a glance at the unconscious woman. "Yes, but, at the same time no." She started. "Me and Shizune have run tests on both Anko and whoever this is, but because Anko is currently going through changes, her DNA isn't exactly the same as it once was. The results are close, probably exact, but we can't tell for the reasons I've already said."
Hiruzen took in the information. It made no sense to him, as Anko never had a twin, and was in fact an orphan as far as he could remember, but there had to be some answer to the situation. He turned to Ibiki, looking at the scarred man curiously. "Have you started the interrogation yet?" He asked, wondering if anything had happened from between the time she was knocked out until now.
Ibiki shook his head, "I wanted to first wait till Anko woke up. It's been two days since the array was applied, so I decided to start without her. Once she wakes up, she can get a turn at the imposter." Ibiki responded, taking a glance at Inoichi, who nodded back and looked at the Hokage. "Inoichi is here in the event that this person turns out to be a tough nut to crack. If she's anything like the real Anko, she will be. We can start whenever you're ready, Hokage-sama."
"I see." Hiruzen said to himself. He looked at Inoichi briefly before looking at the strange family before him. "This woman attacked the temporary head of the Uzumaki clan, making this a situation of clan affairs. By all means, you should have the right to decide when to start the interrogation here. She has never been recorded on any document before. She's a ghost, and because of this, her fate is in your hands."
Naruto stepped forward, "Thanks Ji-san! I'm sure she had a good reason for causing so much trouble. With Ibiki and Inoichi-san's help, we can get that reason!" He said, looking at his surrogate uncle and the mind walker.
Ibiki looked at Naruto, "Of course we will Naruto, no worries," he then looked at Inoichi, "Shall we get started?" he asked the mind walker, who nodded in agreement. Taking a chair and turning it around so the back was in front of him, Ibiki sat down and leaned on the back of the chair as he looked at the duplicate, "Alright, I am going to remove the gag, and I would prefer if you could remain calm and answer some questions. Much as I would like to be rougher about this, we want to keep it clean for Naruto's sake over there, understand?" he told her, pointing at Naruto as he spoke, and waited for her to respond to his words.
The duplicate looked at Ibiki for a moment before nodding and letting her shoulders droop, a gesture that could only be a replacement for a sigh of annoyance.
Seeing the nod, Ibiki reached up and removed the gag, when he did, the duplicate said nothing, keeping her non spoken word to remain calm. "Ok, first off, what are you?" he asked, before seeing her confused look, he sighed, and decided to reword his question, "A clone, a duplicate, what?"
The woman looked at Ibiki, before suddenly grinning, "Come on Ibiki, the whole interrogation game is way past me. I can hold my own against anything you throw at me, remember?" She started with a smile, tilting her head just slightly.
She was surprised to see Ibiki shake his head at her, acting as if he had no idea what she was going on about. "Wait, you're serious?" She asked with a much more curious tone of voice.
The scarred man nodded his head at her. "I have no idea what you're talking about." He said dryly.
The imposter looked at him incredulously. "You have to be fucking shitting me! UGH!" She threw her head back in disgust, sighing as she returned to normal.
"You're sure? Whatever, fine." She acted as if she didn't have a care in the world anymore, and the slightly aggravated undertone in her voice suggested that she believed she was telling them something they already knew.
She looked at him in disbelief, squinting her eyes at him and tilting her head to the left and right frequently. "How can you not remember me? I... I'm the one who got you that friggin' black kitten for your thirteenth birthday as a prank gift and you treated it like a goddess!" she said, "You even went so far as to name it Amaterasu, and you're absolutely sure that you have never seen me in your life, EVER?"
After a moment of silence from everyone, the imposter sighed and looked down at the chair. "Fine, you want to play this? Let's play this." She said in a calm tone of voice. "My name is Yugana Mitarashi, older twin sister, arguably, to Anko Mitarashi, seeing as she likes to claim she is the older twin, and student of Orochimaru of the Densetsu no Sannin, jonin of Konohagakure no Sato, and friend of the Uzumaki and Namikaze families." She stated to them officially. "Ring enough bells for you all?" She huffed, wanting to be released to fulfill her mission.
Ibiki looked at the now named Yugana and took a small breath. He had never heard of this woman before in all his life, and he was sure that Anko didn't know her either. "Why were you attacking Anko, imposter?" He didn't want to use the name that she had given herself, choosing to press on the detail about her looking, talking, and acting just like Anko.
"Ha!" She laughed loudly. "You're calling me the imposter? That woman you call Anko is the imposter here, since none of you seem to remember me. The real Anko isn't like her. She doesn't have a tomoe tattoo on her neck, and her hair sure as hell isn't up in a ponytail like that either!"
Ibiki looked at Yugana with a critical eye, "Anko is not an imposter, you are the unknown here," he said, looking at Yugana still, "As for the curse seal on her neck, it was a 'gift' from that bastard, Orochimaru of the Densetsu no Sannin. It was given to her the day he betrayed and fled from Konoha for his crimes."
Yugana's eyes widened at his words. She couldn't believe how Ibiki was talking about Orochimaru. "You take that fucking back!" She snarled at him. "Orochimaru is a good man! He'd never do something to hurt me, Anko, or the village! He loves Konoha, and is one of the most respected people here!"
Ibiki looked at her weirdly, "Orochimaru's crimes were discovered by the Third Hokage himself, hundreds of Konoha citizens, both shinobi, and civilian, found murdered and mutilated by inhuman experiments in a secret lab under Konoha, Orochimaru is considered one of the most dangerous missing nin of the elemental nations!" he declared.
"LIAR!" She shouted at the top of her lungs. Her world was collapsing, crashing around her, and she didn't want to believe that the man she saw as a father could do horrible things like that. She wanted to believe everything she remembered, but she couldn't. Everything presented to her within the last few minutes had broken down everything she believed, and the woman began to shake. Everything she had been told and experienced had all been a lie. She began to sob uncontrollably. Wherever she was, she didn't exist here. She knew all of these people, but they didn't know her. Her sobbing turned into tearful crying. She wasn't even real, most likely a just a creation of some sort by the horrible and inhumane Orochimaru of this reality.
Ibiki looked at her, and sighed, "Would you consent to having your memories be checked by Inoichi Yamanaka?" he asked, he kinda felt bad for her now.
Quietly, the woman replied, shaking her head at Ibiki. "No... It's all fake, all lies..." She responded to him, not wanting to face the cruel reality that she was just exposed to.
Naruto looked at Yugana with sadness, he could tell she was in pain, and stepped forward, so that he would be in her field of vision, "Please, Yugana-san, let Inoichi-san see your memories, maybe they are real. If anyone could tell for sure if they were real or creations, I am sure he could." he said, looking at Inoichi as he finished.
Yugana looked at the blond boy before her. He was so familiar, but at the same time so much different. It hurt to even say his name in her head, but she needed to hear it in the real world. "Menma..." She said quietly, her tear filled eyes looking at him as she sat there. "Fine... It'll be worthless though..." She hung her head and looked down at the ground.
Naruto looked at her curiously, "My name is Naruto, who is Menma?" he asked, his head tilted to the side in curiosity, while Inoichi walked forward and formed the connection.
As painful as it was to remember, Yugana thought about the young blonde that she knew. "Just like you..." She said as she drifted off, falling victim to Inoichi's jutsu.
Naruto looked to his godmothers and the Hokage as Yugana's memories were reviewed by the head of the Yamanaka clan.
A half hour later, Yugana slowly opened her eyes. They were still puffy and red from crying, but they didn't look as bad as they did before Inoichi looked at her memories. Not long after her eyes were opened, Inoichi returned to his own body and woke up as well.
The mind walker looked at the men and women around him, all of them wondering about what he had found.
With a slight nod, he answered their silent question. "If they're fake, I can't tell. Everything I saw was as real as it can get, and not even I can make memories as real as those ones. No one, not even an Uchiha, could create real memories like hers." He told them honestly.
Ibiki nodded back and thought about what he had just been told. "But that raises another question, as well as a problem. Where did she come from to get those memories?" He asked generally, going quiet once again to think. Despite this, he was stuck on thinking how he had apparently been given a cat for his thirteenth birthday, and decided to name it after a goddess and treat it as such. As he thought further on this, he knew that it would be something that Anko would do to him as soon as she hears about Yugana's life. He knew all too well that she would pull a joke like that for shits and giggles.
Looking at Yugana, Naruto was thinking heavily. As an idea came to him, he looked at the Hokage excitedly. "You said I can choose her fate, right Jiji?" Naruto asked rather hurriedly.
Hiruzen looked at his surrogate grandson, "Yes, doubly so, since she does not technically exist, I will also do my part to keep existence a secret," he nodded.
Naruto jumped up and down in excitement, much to the confusion of the others, and Yugana. "Yes!" He exclaimed loudly. "Jiji, I wanna put her in the clan!"
Yugana was shocked by what Naruto said. She was silent for a moment, quietly sobbing and tearing up again, but this time from a mix of sadness, and happiness. "Why...?" She said almost inaudibly, looking up at him slowly. "I assaulted Anko, tried to take clan items, I don't even exist!" She began to sob harder. She was confused, surprised, and happy all at the same time. "Thank you, thank you..." She chanted over and over.
Naruto smiled a *genuine innocent smile, "Because," he replied, "You are Kaa-san's sister, my aunt!" he finished with a heartwarming smile.
Yugana was surprised once more. She wasn't real in this world. She wasn't Anko's sister, but he treated her as such anyways. She smiled slightly and looked down at the rope that bound her to the chair. "Please untie me... Naruto…" She knew it would take some getting used to, but she would make the effort. The Orochimaru she knew would want her to face something like this with everything she had and not give in.
The others in the room looked at one another, but before anyone could move, Naruto walked over to Yugana and quickly untied her, allowing her to stand up from the chair.
As soon as she was free from the chair, Yugana tackled Naruto into a hug and held him tightly to her. She was so thankful that she had given him a chance at life in this different world. "You won't regret this." She said to him, her eyes threatening to have tears to burst from them.
Before Naruto was able to respond to her, a knock was heard at the door, as well as the yipping of seemingly several small dogs.
"I'll get it." Kurenai said, walking over to the door and opening it to see Hana with her pups.
"Hi Kurenai-san!" Hana said happily. The young woman glanced inside the house, unable to see anyone from her spot outside. "Has the adopting thing begun yet?" She asked, remembering what her mother had told her before she left.
Kurenai nodded, "Yes, well, about that..." she began, before trailing off awkwardly.
Hana's eyebrows knitted together as she wondered what the elder woman was talking about. "What happened?" Hana asked curiously.
"Weeeell..." Kurenai replied, trying to think of the right answer, "Um, how can I put this?" she asked more herself, then Hana.
Naruto suddenly called from the *living room, "Hey Hana, I have an Aunty now!" he said cheerfully.
Hana moved around to look inside the house. Kurenai had noticed this and allowed the young woman in, letting her come inside to see Naruto being hugged somewhat tightly by a woman who looked remarkably similar to Anko.
Hana looked back at Kurenai for an answer, but the older woman sighed and shook her head, not wanting to explain the rather long night that they had. She then looked back at Naruto and the strange woman, who seemed to recognize her, at least vaguely.
"Your marks are different, and you've got dogs!" The woman exclaimed, taking note of the differences between the Inuzuka's she knew and the one she was faced with now.
Hana could only look at the woman with a confused look on her face as she looked to the adults of the room, before looking at the woman again and saying intelligently, "Eh?" with her confused look still on her face.
"Long story short. She's from another world." Inoichi answered as he sat down on the couch, taking note of how Yugana had a little experience with the Inuzuka clan, and how they were cat lovers rather than dog lovers.
"Oh...kay...?" Hana answered unsurely, not entirely sure how to comprehend and react to something like that.
Naruto smiled again, "Isn't this awesome Hana-chan?" he asked, "I have an aunty now!" he grinned.
"I, uh...I see..." She smiled widely, but still unsure about how to properly react to the situation, given the new context. "Anyways, Naruto. How is your mother doing? Kaa-san wanted to check in, but she has to watch my brother while he picks out his Ninken, hopefully one that is smarter than he is." she said, smiling at the little joke she made at the end.
While she asked her question, the Haimaru triplets wandered around the living room, investigating the numerous new scents and people. Suddenly, they began to walk into one of the hallways, apparently following a scent that they had picked up.
Before Naruto was able to respond, Hana cut him off as she noticed her pups leaving the main room.
"H-hey! Get back here you three, come on!" She tried to get the triplets to come back to her, but to no avail. Eventually, she was forced to follow them to get them back.
Hana followed the three pups through the halls, eventually into Anko's room where she saw the pups licking Anko's face and sniffing her.
Quickly and quietly, the Inuzuka girl scooped up her pups and walked out of the room, hearing whimpering from all three of them as she re-entered the main room. As she rejoined the group, she sighed and bowed slightly. "Sorry about that." She apologized for her pups, which all had their paws on their faces. "I'll make sure they don't wander off too far next time."
Naruto suddenly looked at Kurenai, "Um, Kurenai, is it ok if we have a party to celebrate Aunty Yugana joining the clan?" he asked, trying to stay calm despite obviously being excited of the thought of a new aunt in the family.
Kurenai hummed in thought, tapping her chin every so often as she weighed the options. "Sure. But only after your mother wakes up. She'd hate to miss out on a party, even with the circumstances at hand."
Naruto grinned massively, "YAAAAAAAAY!" he shouted as he whooped in joy, causing those watching him to smile at his enthusiasm.
Inoichi smiled as he looked at Kurenai and said, "Would it be alright if I invited Shikaku and Choza to the party?" he asked.
Kurenai smiled and nodded, "Yes, but, try and leave the kids at home, alright?" she replied. "Nothing against them, but you know, secrecy and all."
Inoichi nodded to Kurenai. "I understand. My daughter tends to talk more than she needs to, and something like this isn't something she needs to spread like wildfire." He said with a small smile.
Hana looked at Kurenai, "My mother is invited right?" she asked, "And, don't worry, I intend to make sure my brother is...preoccupied when the party happens so he... is unable to attend..." she said, smiling darkly as she finished *speaking.
"Uh, yeah! Yeah, sure. Okay Hana." Kurenai nodded to the second youngest in the house.
Hana smiled, "Oh, and don't worry about my brother, he won't be...permanently, harmed at all, just unable to attend the party when it happens," she said, her smile turning a bit too sweet when she finished speaking.
"...Yeah. Just make sure it isn't illegal." Kurenai told her, wanting to make sure that she and her family couldn't be blamed for whatever Hana planned to do with or to her brother.
Hana pouted, and jokingly stated, "Oh sure, be a kill joy why don't you," she said before laughing, "But seriously, don't worry, I just don't want a repeat of the whisker incident." she reminisced, getting Yugana to look at her in curiosity. "Anyway, I was just thinking that it'd be unfortunate if he happened to down an almost unhealthy amount of laxatives and prunes during his meals before the party," An evil smile made its way to her face as she planned out every little detail.
"Uh... No." Kurenai responded with a deadpan expression. "He's your seven year old brother, and you're just supposed to keep him away from the party, not belt him down to the toilet."
Hana pouted cutely as she looked at Kurenai, "Oh come on," she said, "He totally deserves it after revealing that fact about Naruto's whiskers last year!" she said, "Plus, I do not intend to allow him the chance to ruin this party by revealing the secret that Anko has a sister now to the entire village," she finished.
As she explained, Hana was unable to see Yugana move away from Naruto and creep over so she was standing behind her, stopping just inches away from her. "What's this about whiskers?" She asked into Hana's ear.
Hana jumped in shock at how close Yugana had gotten, before putting a hand over her heart, "Please don't do that!" she said, taking a deep breath to calm her heart, before replying "Anyway, a year ago, there was an incident during Naruto's poison immunity training that Anko gave him," Hana started only to be cut off by Yugana.
"Poison immunity training?" Yugana asked in a rather serious tone, no longer joking around. The purple haired woman moved away from behind Hana and walked in front of the Inuzuka girl. "I know that everyone here is different from how I know them, but I'm absolutely sure Anko would never do something like that to a kid, especially not her kid."
Tsunade was just about ready to throw someone through a wall upon hearing about the poison immunity training. "She WHAT?!" She yelled, not caring if she woke up half the village. "She better be thankful for the stronger life force of an Uzumaki when she wakes up, she's going to need it!" She clenched her fists and looked around with a scowl engraved into her face.
Hana smiled sheepishly now, "Well, actually, they were manageable doses, but, they just kinda overwhelmed Naruto from what I heard about the doses," she said awkwardly, "Truthfully, I came into the situation when they lost track of Narut-" she was again cut off, this time by both Yugana and Tsunade shouting in unison. Kurenai could only shake her head in both amusement and embarrassment, forgetting that she was present for said event as well, but for longer than Hana.
"SHE LOST NARUTO!?" They shouted together, both enraged beyond belief.
Hana immediately gulped in fear, trying to think of a way out of this, before she remembered the other person involved in the event, "Well, talk to Kurenai about it, she was with Anko when they came looking for me or my mother to help them find him!" she said, her words causing Kurenai to choke and gasp for air as she had just taken a sip of her drink when Hana said her defence line.
Kurenai quickly looked for an escape route as she noticed the two angry women coming over to her to interrogate her, and watched as Ibiki smiled in the background, clearly enjoying this.
Inoichi looked at Ibiki with confusion. He glanced at the women in the room and Naruto before looking back at the interrogator. "I know Yugana is new here, but is it always like this around here?" He asked, worried about the safety of others if things got out of hand.
Ibiki smirked, "More or less, seems that everything surrounding Naruto tends to be...explosive..." he said, trying very hard not to laugh as he spoke.
"Hey...!" Kurenai attempted to say something in her defense, but quickly faded away as she wasn't sure what to tell them. "How about, instead of blaming me," She motioned with her hands as she spoke, "We just blame Anko!?"
Yugana gave Kurenai a dead pan look, "How much were you involved in this fiasco of a poison immunity training incident?" she asked seriously.
Hana decided to speak up at that moment, "By the way, we ended up finding Naruto in the Forest of Death," she said, shooting a grin at Kurenai from behind Yugana and Tsunade, which Kurenai returned with a glare.
Kurenai glared at Hana briefly before returning her focus to the two angered woman before her. None of them had noticed that Naruto walked away and took a seat next to Ibiki, and would be unable to notice this until this fiasco was dealt with. "Look, I just caught Naruto running from Anko with a bunch of senbon in his back. I pulled them out and got mad at Anko, and in that time Naruto disappeared...and reappeared in the jaws of a panther..."
Tsuande and Yugana looked at Kurenai with a dumbfounded look on their faces. The two turned to each other, with Yugana speaking first. "Would you do the honors?" She asked the Senju woman.
With a smirk, Tsunade shook her head. "You know what? We'll just wait it out. After all, it wasn't really her fault, much more Anko's than hers." She had a large cheesy grin on her face as she spoke, and Kurenai knew that it was a promise for pain in the future, she just hoped it didn't include her.
Hana smiled, "Anyway, after we rescued the unconscious Naruto from the Forest of Death," she said, looking at Yugana and Tsunade, "We got back to the Inuzuka compound, and I was, um..." she blushed, trying to think of how best to phrase that she had been petting Naruto's whiskers to help keep him calm.
It was time for Kurenai to smirk at Hana, and get a bit of payback for earlier, and she did so with such fashion and grace that it could have been considered a crime to look that devious. "Oh yes. You were just in love with hearing him purr as you were petting his whiskers." She laughed loudly as she remembered how the girl encouraged her mother to pet Naruto's whiskers as well, and shot another smirk at Hana for good measure.
Hana glared at Kurenai while she had her arms crossed over her chest, but she was unable to get the effect she wanted due to her face being as red as a tomato, "I was...mesmerized...by his purring when I was petting his whiskers," she defended herself, hearing the snickering from Yugana, Ibiki, and the snorts of laughter from Inoichi and Tsunade, with Shizune apparently blushing from picturing Naruto purring.
"Okay, okay. I think I'm going to be heading out now, before I bust a gut. It was good seeing and meeting you all." Inoichi said as he got up from his seat and headed towards the door. The others nodded and said their goodbyes as he left.
Hana decided to try and regain control of the situation, "OK, anyway, back to the retelling," she said, looking at those remaining in the room, "Now, apparently my stupid little brother was eavesdropping when we were talking, and then went and spread word all over Konoha that, when you pet Naruto's whiskers, it makes him purr," she finished.
Kurenai nodded, "Yeah, and because of your little brother, Naruto has stalkers and fan girls now..." she said, trailing off at the end, "Oh, and their numbers have only grown since it was revealed who Naruto's parents are," she added.
Yugana raised an eyebrow at the reveal of Naruto's parents, but soon shook her head afterwards as she reminded herself that things were different than what she knew.
Hana saw the look of surprize on Yugana's face and realised something, "Naruto's parents are alive in the world you came from, aren't they?" she said, more as a statement then a question, one that also caught Naruto's attention instantly.
Yugana noticed that look that Naruto was giving her, and nodded slightly. It seemed like something happened to Minato and Kushina, but what exactly, she didn't know. "Yes. Yondaime-sama sacrificed his life so Konoha could live in peace. Menma has a family, but he doesn't really... connect with them, I guess."
Everyone in the room gave her a funny look when she mentioned the Fourth Hokage.
Yugana looked at the people around her as if they had two heads. "What are you looking at?" She asked them, unsure what the problem was this time.
They all looked at one another before, surprisingly, it was Naruto who spoke up first, "Um, aunty Yugana," he began, "Kaa-san Kushina was the wife of the Fourth Hokage, which was Minato Namikaze-baka," he said, saying his father's name distastefully.
"No..." Yugana said with slight confusion. "Minato didn't become the Hokage. Yondaime-sama is Kizashi Haruno." She explained to them. "He had a daughter a few months before he died for the village, and his wife, Mebuki, had to raise her on her own.
Kurenai spat out the drink she had just taken a sip off before coughing violently, "Wait, you're kidding me, right?!" she shouted in shock, "Your telling me the husband of the pink haired banshee on the civilian council was the Fourth Hokage in your world?" she said incredulously.
"I... guess so? I didn't know them that well." Yugana replied. "Kizashi-sama was a good man, though. I'm not sure if he is different in this world, or reality, or whatever this is, but he deserved the title of Hokage and earned it."
Kurenai looked at Yugana weirdly, "How exactly did he earn it?"
Naruto suddenly spoke up, "Can you tell me about my birthmother sometime aunty Yugana?" he asked hopefully.
Hana decided to point some things out at that moment though, "I am sorry to interrupt everyone but, I realised something," she said, looking at them all.
Kurenai looked at Hana quizzically, wondering what she had realized. "What is it?" She asked the girl.
Hana spoke up before she lost her train of thought, "First, Yugana tried to kill Anko, and even called Anko the imposter, that means someone must have told her something or given her a mission making her think it was official or something." she said, pointing out what everyone had missed so far apparently, even Inoichi, "Secondly, we should ask Yugana about key people and figures in her world, so we can compare it to this one, and help her fit in better," she finished.
Yugana nodded and tried to remember all she could. As much as she tried, she couldn't remember anything about someone telling her to take out Anko. All she knew was that it was something she just knew. "I... I don't remember anyone, but I can tell you what I know about everyone and everything that I know about."
Yugana began to explain as much as she could, with Naruto, Hana, Kurenai, and Ibiki all chipping in to help her get better acquainted with the world she was now in and what was different.
Some of the changes that Yugana had mentioned included Kiba loving cats, Shino hating bugs, Hinata being confident, and to quote some of the others from her world, 'scary', and Neji being a pervert on the scale of Jiriyia, but even more so because of his special plans to utilize the Byakugan which he had just become proficient with, Kushina still had the title of 'Red-Hot Habanero', so not everything was different, but some things, not as many, were the same as well.
"So," Kurenai said, "It would seem there are many differences between our worlds, in yours, Orochimaru is still loyal to the village, and even has orphanages in several of the countries of the Elemental Nations," she said.
Yugana nodded, "It's just... I can't believe that somebody as smart and caring as Orochimaru is such a horrible person in this world..." she said sadly.
Naruto went over to Yugana, and hugged her, "I am sorry that the man who raised you, is not the man you knew in this world aunty," he said, trying to cheer her up.
Yugana hugged her nephew back and began to tear up. "It's alright... My Orochimaru would have wanted me to continue on with life, even with something as ground breaking as all of this... It's just so sad knowing that I'll never see him again..."
Hana smiled softly at the scene before her, it was hard to believe that only a few days ago, Yugana was trying to kill Naruto's mother for some reason, and now, she and Yugana would probably be very protective of Naruto.
Kurenai suddenly had a thought and decided to voice it, "Yugana, you told us that your Orochimaru ran orphanages, right?" she asked, looking at the woman who was the twin of her surrogate sister.
Looking at Kurenai, Yugana nodded as she let go of Naruto. "Yeah." She replied. "He had orphanages all over the Elemental Nations. They're hidden so the kids stay safe!" She said with a smile, looking up in thought. "I helped a lot with brining orphans to the orphanages, even got myself a nickname, Yugana the Kidnapper!"
Kurenai nodded in thought, "What if our Orochimaru's bases, are in the same locations as your Orochimaru's orphanages?" she suggested, getting the attention of Ibiki and Yugana immediately, "Also, further into my reason for asking, I am sure our Orochimaru, may have Uzumaki survivors at some of his bases," she said, "What if, after you too are adopted into the Clan like your sister, you help us liberate those bases and bring them to Konoha, if there are any that is of course," she suggested.
Yugana thought about it. Of course she wanted to see how different the bases were compared to the orphanages she knew of, but she now knew what kind of monster the Orochimaru of this world was like, and she was afraid of what she'd find. "Sure..." She answered quietly. "But maybe sometime later. I want to know more about everything and everyone here first."
Kurenai nodded, "I figured as much, but I just wanted it to be out there as something for you to consider. After all, if he does have any survivors, we can't let them rot in his bases for his sick experiments, but, that is for the future. I just wanted to mention it and hope you will think about it in regards to helping us in the future," she said, smiling softly at Yugana, "First you get settled into being here now, and then, later, we can try and help those who Orochimaru has kidnapped, or bought off slave traders, or taken in through lies," she said.
"Of course." Yugana agreed. The woman looked around at the people in the room. Tsunade and Shizune seemed to have retired for the night without anyone noticing, and Ibiki was on his way to his room. "Well, it's been a long day, so we should all get some rest!" She suggested, getting Kurenai to nod at her.
Naruto pouted cutely as he looked at Yugana, "How about you sleep in Kaa'-san's room tonight?" he suggested.
Kurenai snorted, knowing there was only the one bed, and Anko was currently in that bed of that room Naruto suggested, "I am not sure if that's a good idea Naruto," she replied.
Yugana shook her head at them, smiling slightly at the offer. "Thanks, but that's her room. I'll find my own, or sleep out here until I can get a proper room." She said to them.
Naruto pouted, "Then you can share my bed!" he said cutely, "Besides, you won't sleep on the couch, Clan Heir's orders!" he said cutely, trying to be demanding.
Kurenai couldn't help it, and giggled at the site of Naruto trying to be a proper clan heir.
Yugana smiled at Naruto's suggestion. While she didn't know everything, she was aware that Kushina and Minato, the Yondaime in this world instead of Kizashi, died the day of Naruto's birth, and the Kyubi was sealed into him. That meant that he was the heir to two clans, and since he was too young to be a clan head, his mother had to step in for the moment. "Thank you Naruto." She said to him kindly. "Since I can't disobey your orders, I'll share your bed."
Naruto grinned, and then ran up to her and grabbed her hand, pulling her towards the stairs, before stopping and turning to look at Kurenai and Hana, "Night Kurenai, night Hana-chan," he said, before pulling Yugana from the room like the child he is.
Hana couldn't help it, she laughed when they were out of the room, the scene she had just seen had been so adorable.
Kurenai stifled her laughter with her hand, "According to Anko," she said, trying very hard not to laugh now, "Naruto is a real cuddle bug when he sleeps. We'll see you tomorrow, Hana." she finished, watching as Hana and her pups left the house to return to their own home, smiling and giggling at the thought of Naruto cuddling his new aunt, or anyone near him.
Several days passed after Yugana was revealed to have just appeared in the world. Things started to get back into routine, more or less, with Yugana even teaching a few things to Naruto while they waited for the changes to finish up with Anko's body.
One morning, a purple and red haired woman slowly trotted through the Uzumaki compound groggily. Despite now having an outstanding metabolism, and healing factor, she felt like she had downed several bottles of the Uzumaki whiskey's finest, straight and untampered with.
As she slowly made her way through the halls, she decided to stop by her son's room, wanting to know how long she had been out. The woman slowly opened the door and looked at Naruto's bed, only to see her son and the purple haired imposter cuddling together in their sleep. Her eyes went wide at the sight, and she quickly scrambled to find a kunai, but was unsuccessful due to the fact she was still wearing a bikini. Cursing under her breath, Anko told herself that she could finish the job with her bare hands.
As quick as she could, Anko stumbled into Naruto's room, making her way to the bed.
Kurenai was having a quiet and peaceful morning. Since Anko had been subjected to the array, things were more peaceful in the mornings, no explosions or pranks being set off or pulled. She believed it was mean to say that she liked having Anko unconscious as to not disturb her mornings, but she knew that it was true.
The genjutsu mistress was making herself some breakfast. Tsunade and Shizune had gotten jobs at the hospital, and Ibiki had been regulating his interrogations as to not run out of people to psychologically assault and break down, so it was mainly just Kurenai, Naruto, and now Yugana in the mornings, with Hana stopping by from time to time with Tsume.
Hearing footsteps, Kurenai looked around. They were off beat and irregular, making Kurenai wonder who it could be. Since Yugana wasn't official yet, she didn't go on any missions, and had a normal sleep schedule. Naruto was homeschooled, so he slept in later than normal as well, so it could only be one other person.
Kurenai quickly walked through the halls of the compound, making her way over to where their rooms were. She saw that Anko's door was open, and the woman gasped. She began to move much quicker to inspect the room, and saw that Anko was no longer in there. She turned around and looked around, noticing that the door to Naruto's room was open just slightly. She stepped into the room and saw Anko, now with red and purple hair, ready to attack Yugana.
"Anko!" Kurenai whispered loudly, but not enough for the words to be registered in her mind. "Anko don't hurt her! Anko!" She continued to whisper before finally walking over to her and pulling her away from the sleeping duo.
"What? She's trynna take my spot! She can't do that!" Anko slurred out groggily.
"Anko, she isn't taking your spot. When they wake up, and you aren't... however you are right now, then we'll explain everything, okay?" She attempted to reason with Anko.
Suddenly loud stomping could be heard from downstairs accompanied by rapid footsteps before Tsunade came into the hallway outside Narutos room and looked around, seeing Anko's open door and wondering where she could have gotten to, "Kurenai, you here?" she called, hoping that Kurenai was here and knew where Anko was, since as they all knew, Anko wasn't the most predictable woman, and if she were to suddenly wake up and see Yugana, she might enter attack mode.
"We're in here, Tsunade." Kurenai said in response.
Tsunade pushed her way into the room and immediately took stock of the situation before going up to Anko, who was resisting and trying to get free and shouting to let her go, before placing a hand over Anko's face and causing her to pass out from a simple medical jutsu to help knock out unruly patients. "There," Tsunade said, as she watched Anko suddenly sag into Kurenai's arms like a sack of bricks being dropped, "That should keep her out for a while, as we do a check up on her now that she is awake, in a sense…" she said, helping Kurenai carry Anko back to her room while, the now also awake Yugana and Naruto followed quickly in their respective sleep wear to hear about the changes in Anko. Naruto was particularly curious about the changes his mother had under gone from the array, and hoped that nothing bad had happened to his mother.
Omake: One Thing Leads to Another. The ANBU prank war!
The first day after Yugana's little introduction into the clan, Naruto had decided he wanted to bond with his new aunt, so, when they were all having breakfast as a family, Naruto turned to Yugana and said, "Hey, Aunty, what do you say to a little bit of good old fashioned fun and chaos?" he was smiling, but it was a devilish smiled, one that Kurenai recognised instantly, and Tsunade and Shizune had learned to fear, and Ibiki had learned to groan about as it usually caused trouble for him.
Before Yugana was able to respond to her nephew's question, a silver haired jonin appeared in the kitchen. Moments later, a purple haired woman appeared as well.
"How about no." Kakashi suggested, taking a glance at Yugao, who shook her head slightly.
Naruto pouted, "Oh come on Kaka-san," he said, using the pet name he and Anko had come up with as a way of teasing Kakashi and to annoy the hell out of him at the same time, needless to say, it worked every time, "I haven't pulled a prank in months!" he whined.
Kurenai sighed and rubbed her nose, "And for damn good reason!" she said, drawing the attention of the others in the room, "Even your mother was a bit afraid when she found out about that last prank you pulled!" she shouted, "Granted, Anko found it funny as hell, but she is still scared about if the clans find out it was really you that pulled them!".
Yugana looked at Kurenai and Naruto with confusion. "That last prank?" She echoed the genjutsu mistress. "What was the last prank he pulled?" She asked generally, but was hoping for anyone other than Naruto to answer.
Naruto grinned like a mad fool, "Only the most awesomest prank in the history of Konoha!" he said with pride.
Kureni pinched her nose, "It was not awesome, funny, yes, but, only because of who you left the blame on!" she stressed.
Naruto pouted, "But he DESERVED to be blamed for it, even if it wasn't his fault!" he responded.
Kurenai sighed, "Even still, you do know that many of the clans can't target you cause of the fact they owe you their allegiance since you won it in that poker game, so they intend to target him instead!" she responded seriously, "Not to mention that they didn't realize it was you, like me and Anko did," she mumbled.
"And thats the point Kurenai!" Naruto pouted stubbornly, "They don't know it was really me that did it!" he grinned now, thinking of how it will be hilarious as hell the next time the target of the shinobi council's wrath will face the next time he enters the village.
Yugana sighed, "Will someone just tell me what happened already?" she rubbed her temples.
Kurenai sighed, "Tweedledee here," she said, pointing at Naruto, causing him to let out a small 'Oi!' of indignation, "Found out who his godfather was, and showed me and Anko the paper he found, indicating who he was," she sighed, "Needless to say, Naruto was not happy with finding out he had a godfather who did jack shit for him while he was growing up the last six years, well, the six years before this last one, as this last one me and Anko have been looking over Naruto," she said, "Anyway, Anko has...plans…for Jiriyia, not sure what they are as she refuses to tell them to anyone, but I have heard her late at night cackling with glee in an insane manner as she mixes poisons and hallucinogens together for hours at a time," she pinched the bridge of her nose, "Knowing Anko though, it's bound to be extremely painful...and horrific for that old perv…" she finished, trailing off at the end.
Naruto smiled, "What she is trying to say is, I burrowed his appearance from the last photo Jiji had of the old pervy toad," he said, grinning with glee, and causing Yugana to realise that Naruto must have damaged Jiriyia's reputation with this prank he was now talking about. "Anyway," Naruto continued, "Using shadow clones, and the transformation jutsu in conjunction with one another, I pranked every shinobi clan in Konoha!" he said with pride.
Kurenai rubbed her temples with both hands at the memory, "What he is failing to say is he planned them with basic Uzumaki style time release seals and security seals so that if they were discovered they cause a chained reaction within a 30 meter radius," she clarified.
Naruto again grinned when Yugana gave him an incredulous look, "What exactly were the pranks and what was pulled on which clans?" she asked, almost dreading the answer.
Naruto grinned again with a mad genius like grin, but before he could answer, Kurenai cut him off, "He put sneezing powder in the food supplies of all the Inuzuka dogs and clan members," she started, this caused Yugana to snort at the image of all the Inuzuka clan members and dogs sneezing for hours, "He put itching powder in all the Hyuuga's underwear, even the branch members, and they were set to activate the first time they were exposed to air after making contact with human flesh first," she continued, this caused Yugana to stare at them with a dumbfounded look at how a kid got his hands on stuff like that, "For the Uchiha, he put kick me signs on their clothes, that were only visible to people without the Uchiha Sharingan. Something to do with how their eyes filter things because of their doujutsu. It was a prank seal developed by Kushina apparently that reportedly got a fair amount of people in trouble." she further continued, "He dosed the Aburame's food with time release laughing potions he claims he got from some man traveling through Konoha selling pranking goods and who was apparently scheduled to leave hours after Naruto bought the stuff, next he replaced all of the Akimichi clans food supply with diet friendly foods, gave books on tips of 'how to beat your husband into submission' to every female in the Nara Clan, shaved off all the hair of Hiruzen, and Asuma Sarutobi as they slept. For the Yamanaka clan, he cut their hair to buzz cuts as they slept," Kurenai sighed, "And finally, the Kurama clan, he replaced all of their ink supplies with scat," she finished. However, before Yugana could say anything, Naruto grinned even wider.
Yugana sighed, "There's more, isn't there?" she asked, already guessing the answer.
"Yes, there is..." Kurenai replied, "He pranked the entire Anbu Corp. and Uchiha police forces," she sighed, "Thing is, he made it look like the each side pranked the other, causing a prank war that lasted for four whole months!" she shouted the last part, glaring at Naruto, who replied with a grinning smile.
Yugana blinked, "And he did all this disguised as Jiriyia?" she asked.
Naruto continued to grin, "Yep!" he replied.
Yugana smirked, "You do realize that means the entire village will be out for his blood, right?" she asked.
Naruto lost his grin, "Umm..." he thought for a moment before shrugging his shoulders, "Punishment for the peculiar pervert!" He replied, grinning once more..
Yugana shot a look at Kurenai, "Oh, the pranks didn't go unpunished, but it was still funny to see how they directed their rage."
Naruto huffed lightly and smirked. "That'll teach him."
Hello once again everyone! Once again, not the biggest chapter around, but it gets the job done. So… Meet Yugana! She is the second Original Character to be formally introduced in this story, but not the last. She represents what Anko used to be before she got the curse seal. She looks up to Orochimaru, is strong hearted, kind, and confident. Also, if there are inaccuracies to the actual RtN, then I apologize, but those inaccuracies are going to be like that for forever.
Anyways, I hope that you all enjoy this chapter, and review if you can!