This is only a rough draft concept at the moment.
Liked enough I felt I should share it.
If it strongly appeals, I may come back to this after Fox of Remnant and Hushed Dreams are complete or am in a better position to work on this too.
Enjoy.
Disclaimer: Naruto will not be called by his name for at least the first eight chapters.
"Where is this? What's happened? Last thing I remember…"
"Get back here, brat! You've got to pay for that!"
"Not with that kind of hospitality, jerk!" A young man with a broad, toothy grin waved his hand, wearing an open orange jacket with a deep blue fitted shirt outside of a loose fabric over his neck, and tattered and rough jeans ran, bouncing away from an establishment while holding two grocery bags at his side. "Maybe if you learned some compassion, maybe! But for now, no sale for you!"
"You won't get away with this! I'm calling the police, you filthy animal!" The shopkeeper's voice shouted, giving up the chase, failing to keep up with the boy.
The young man only laughed as, with a single bound, he leapt onto one of the tall buildings, his cerulean eyes glimmering. He then turned around as two tall furry ear-like appendages on his head twitched as one flattened and the other perked up. "Bah, whatever! Even if they do find me, I'll take a week of jail time! Next time get that sign out of your shop and show better dignity to us Faunus, and maybe I won't treat you like the jerk you are!"
Turning around after flipping the bird to the man, the young man scurried from roof to roof, leaping from the buildings faster than the normal eye could see.
All the while making sure the groceries were kept in the fragile bags.
Couldn't lose them.
It was the entire point he left!
"Whoa! Who are you? What is this place? Where is Boruto? Hinata? Himawari…"
This is the beyond. Your time has come.
"What? Are you saying what just happened…"
Yes, mortal. Your mortal shell has ceased to exist. You fought valiantly. Showed spirit like no other. As such, you gathered our interest.
"Fen!"
Laughing as a young girl half his age ran over and tightly embraced his midsection the moment he entered through the shabby front door of a small, run-down house. Gently wrapping an arm around the dusty-blonde girl, he hugged her back. "Hello to you too, Vix! I said I'd be right back! Mom needed something from the store…"
"Last time you said you were in jail for a week!" Vix pouted, her brown eyes glaring straight up and into Fen's.
"Well, they should have known better than to charge double the price on produce and expect me to pay for it!" Fen retorted, his ears twitching in annoyance before shaking his head as he let Vix go. "And then have the gall to call a goon squad after me? They had it coming!"
"Fen, their store didn't need to be firebombed. You're better than the White Fang." A tender voice carried from the open and tiny kitchen, and Fen's eyes trailed to it, seeing a long blonde-haired woman with a fluffy fox tail swishing behind her. "Our values have always been what they uphold, not what they do. Even if it was an accident, you shouldn't have used that force on those men. You're better than that."
"Yes, mom." Fen winced at the disapproving tone his mother used against him as he brought over the groceries and set them on the kitchen table. "Got what you…"
"Fen. Were they paid for?" She asked simply, not even turning around as she focused on her chopping, her voice stern and strict.
She knew exactly what the answer was and wanted to hear him say it. She was already not pleased with her child.
"What if I were to say no?" Fen grimaced as he heard a loud chop and saw his mother stop her motions, her tail stiffening and the hair on it standing on end.
He knew he was in trouble as she turned, and her deep blue eyes gazed into his, her eyes dilated. "Fen Aryl. You know we can't afford another incident like last time. Your heart is in the right place, but this has to stop. You can't keep doing this."
"I'm not going to lie down and take their shit, either," Fen responded with a scowl, ears flattening. "Oum, help me. I'm not gonna sit there and let them try and belittle me, our race, and our family in front of me. Plus, the jerk had it coming after the last time. He's lucky I was feeling benevolent!"
"Fen!" Fen jerked and hunched, hearing his mother raise her voice, reminding him of all the previous times she disciplined him before she softly sighed and looked away worriedly. "I understand. I truly do. It's a difficult aspect of our lives that we have to deal with. But you can't be doing this right now. You have so much potential. It's so close to time, and we still haven't received your letter. Pray to Oum things like this aren't delaying it…"
"Oh, I picked up the mail before brother got home!" Vix, who had been silently observing from the small living room, sitting on a tattered couch before picking up the letters and sifting through them. "Big bro! Look, you got a letter! It's from Beacon! I'll open it!"
"Wait, what?" Fen sharply turned and dove for the couch and missed the letter out of Vix's hand. "Come on! It's my letter! I should be the one to open it!"
"Nu-uh! I want to see!" Vix grinned as she slipped over the couch as Fen landed on it, slicing open the letter with her clawed hands with a grin and pulled it out. "Oh! I see! I see!"
"Vix!"
"Vix, give Fen his letter. It really should be him that gives us the news." Their mother scolded her daughter, placing her hand on her hip while side-eyeing the groceries on the table, thinking about whether to use them.
Pouting, Vix gingerly handed over the letter as Fen got off the couch and reached his sister. "Okay, Mom. But can I help with dinner?"
"You can always help with that, darling." Their mother smiled softly before sighing as she reached into the grocery bags. "Come, help me put up what your brother brought home."
"Yay!" Vix happily cried as she hopped to the kitchen to assist while keeping an eye on her brother reading his letter. "What's it say?"
Reading over the letter, a gauntlet of mixed emotions surged through Fen. He wasn't sure how to handle what he felt as while there were many positives, his eyes trailed to his family…
And his eyes misted over.
What would happen while he was absent?
What were they going to do without him?
His father's job wasn't the most stable and didn't pay very well, and his side income helped out significantly…
"You were accepted, weren't you?" His mother's voice softly pulled him out of his thoughts.
"Yes! Big brother's going to be a Huntsman!" Vix jumped excitedly, almost spilling the item she was carrying before she carefully placed it in the fridge. "This is so freaking awesome!"
His eyes were drawn to her delicate features, noticing a genuine smile on her lips as she held her eyes closed. "Dear, that's wonderful. It's truly the best thing we could have hoped for."
"I, but…"
"It's okay to feel conflicted." His mother walked over to her son and pulled him into a warm embrace. "Don't worry about us. We were getting by before you started doing odd jobs to bring lien in. We'll be fine without it. You are making a future so that you can take care of everything. Even your father knows that even if he's upset about losing the extra income…"
"Mom…" Fen felt tears christen and well in his eyes.
"You are making us all proud." She gently reminded him, nuzzling into her child before breaking their embrace. "I know you will do well."
"You are my son, after all."
Your time for judgment, before you move to the Spirit Realm, has come.
But we have intervened as we have something special within you, Child of Prophecy.
And we would like to extend you an offer.
"Fen…"
"Yeah, Vix." Fen lay in his bed, looking up at the bunk above him, and heard his sister's voice echo above it.
He had much on his mind, so sleep wasn't coming. His emotions were all over the place ranging from anxiety to excitement, so his nerves were shot too.
Sleep wasn't an option tonight anyway.
"Dad hasn't come home."
Vix sounded worried.
He understood her concern. Even if their father did occasionally spend time out drinking, which he felt was a waste of the little lien they had, he couldn't help but accept it. His father didn't have the easiest of lives before, and sometimes he needed a night to kick back now and then.
But given the time, Vix was right.
It was after midnight. Their father should have been back by now…
"I'll search nearby and see if I can find him." Fen frowned, slid out of bed, and grabbed his day clothes. "Don't worry too much about it, okay, Vix? Dad's probably tipsier than normal and stayed at the bar as today was his payday. I'll bring him back home."
"Thank you, big brother," Vix softly smiled as her eyes glowed in the dark from the bunk above as she gazed at her brother below.
Slipping on his regular clothes, Fen frowned as he almost left the room. Just before he did, he pulled back into his gear and slipped a pouch onto his left hip, and his sister immediately noted it. "Big brother…"
"Just in case. You never know at this time of night." Fen gave a wide grin at Vix to reassure her. "Don't think I will need it. But I would rather not be without it if I run into any criminals, right?"
"Right…" Vix still looked worried as she nodded, biting her lip. "Be careful."
"When am I not?"
"All the time..."
"Bah! I'll be back in time with Dad. You'll see!" Fen waved his sister's worry off as his eyes glowed in the dark, slinking out their door through the darkness and letting it click behind him.
Vix continued to stare at the door worriedly, her eyes shimmering. "Be back soon…"
"Taken an interest in me? Wait, so I have passed on? Dammit! I left everyone behind! There is still so much more I could have…"
You have done everything that world has asked and more. There is nothing left to be accomplished there.
Too much for it. It thrives now, even in this time of peril. It will survive without any you. You have done well to cultivate it with your friend.
"Okay, not at the bar?" Fen scratched his right ear while sitting in a crouch at the top of the building. He scoureed the low-end sector of Vale and occasionally sniffing as he attempted to catch a scent. "He was here, that's for certain. Didn't run into him along the way back. Where are you, Dad?"
It was unusual for his father not to be around here. There were very few places he would be if he weren't at home. The bar was his place, and that was after paydays. Otherwise, he was at home or at his friend Rufus' place to hang out and for a game of cards on his days off.
Fen frowned. Maybe he should check Rufus' place? They did drink together, so if he was hammered enough, Rufus might have brought his dad over to let him pass out there instead of letting him go home in that state. He was that kind of friend and a good man.
As he was about to leave, something caught his attention.
A man in a suit.
"A member of the Xiong clan?" Fen scowled, and his eyes narrowed as he focused on him. "Why are you out here? Haven't I kicked your asses enough to know better than this is my territory…"
Slipping the loose cloth of his shirt up over his chin and above his nose, it fit snuggly like a mask. The material was breathable too.
It was why he used the little lien he could afford to spend to custom-make this shirt. He'd like to keep his identity a secret. Fennec fox ears were a common Faunus trait, so that would never pin him down.
His scarred whisker marks, however…
Observing his target and the area around him, seeing very little obstructing him as no one was out at night, Fen moved in.
Leaping down in a blurring motion, Fen landed in a crouch before the man, his cerulean eyes glowing in the darkness just out of the lamplight as she stood before the frightened man. "Xiong clan. You know who this territory belongs to. Why are you here?"
"This place has and always will belong to the Xiong…"
Those words hardly left the man's lips before the air rushed from his lungs, a fist planted into his sternum. He stumbled back and would have fallen flat on his back if there wasn't a follow-up as a heel of a kick was buried into his jaw, launching him into and through a fence.
"Wrong answer," Fen growled as he walked over to the man put through the fence, reaching over to the groaning man and lifting him by the back of his skull, cranking it back and putting pressure on the spine of his neck. "Now, tell me. Why are you here on my territory?"
"Junior!" The man cried, fearing for his life as the young man's deadly intent washed over him, and the blistering pain of his neck being stretched was too much for him. "Got a call to bring someone in! The brat was known to be too much of a hassle, so we grabbed his father…"
"You did what?" Fen snarled, slamming the man's face into the concrete, making the man squirm. "Where did you take him? Did you take him to Junior's?"
"Yes!"
"Fuck!" Fen roared before picking the man's head back up and slamming it into the concrete again in frustration, hearing a deafening crack.
Checking the pulse immediately after, Fen relaxed as he was only out cold. Didn't want to kill the man. Just wanted to make him suffer…
"Dammit, stupid ass didn't call the police. Called the Xiong clan." Fen's eyes shone brilliantly as he slicked his hand through his spiky blonde locks and long Fennec ears. "This is gonna be a long night. Couldn't do this the normal way and call the police, could ya?"
"They're going to pay for every second of making my sister wait!"
Dare we ask you a favor?
One that will challenge even you, indomitable one?
"A favor? What are you asking of me? I'm already dead. Not much I can do…"
"Here at last," Fen growled as he walked up the bar, his eyes in disgust as he scowled at the sight of having to make the long trek here by foot. "Oh, this night is not… What is that noise?"
He recognized it.
He knew that sound.
It was the rumbling of an engine…
His eyes widened as he realized he was still on the street. He immediately dove out of the way as a motorcycle came to a screeching stop, attempting not to hit him.
The person on the bike immediately got off. Her lilac eyes blistered with an unnatural glow as a fiery tint overtook her blonde hair as she gazed at him. "Yo, what kind of idiot stands in the middle of the road?"
Fen jumped back up, eyes burning heatedly to match hers. "What kind of idiot can't swerve their motorcycle better and avoid a pedestrian?"
"What kind of pedestrian just stands in the middle of the street like some sort of moron begging to be hit?"
"What kind of moron drives their motorcycle and thinks a pedestrian standing on the road in front of a bar is begging to be hit?"
"Yo, you want to fight? Cause I'll kick your butt all the way back to your home!"
"Like you could! I'll beat you so badly you'll cry to your mom!"
"Oh, that's it! Gonna stomp you flat!"
"I don't have time for this!" Fen avoided the first punch of the attempted fight as he stepped off the street and toward the bar, remembering why he was there in the first place. "I have more significant business than dealing with someone with temper issues!"
"Oh, is that so?" The blonde young lady roared, clenching her fists as her eyes burned brilliantly. "Well, as a matter of fact, so do I. And you just so happen to be in my way. So get out of it!"
"Oh, hell no!" Fen barked back, his eyes narrowing as he turned around at the young woman he was arguing with. "You do not want to step in there. After I'm done with this place, it's not going to be pretty…"
"Wait, what?" The blonde lady questioned belligerently and placed her hands on her hip. "I can't have you do that! I need information from that place! I'm looking for someone!"
"Yeah, so am I! These jerks kidnapped my dad, and I'm going to get him back!"
"They what?" Her eyes flared into a crimson blur briefly before reverting to their lilac color. "I knew this place was shady, and that's why I came here for some information, as maybe they could lead me to who I'm looking for. But nah, that's low! If they've got your dad, that ain't cool!"
"No shit!" Fen rolled his eyes and stepped to the door, and prepared to enter. "I just crossed half of Vale to get here and bring him back home after wringing out the info from one of their men. So you best be off… What are you doing?"
"Joining you." The girl stepped next to him and flashed a grin. "Sounds like fun. Count me in."
"Say what now?" Fen looked perplexed at the young lady next to him, tilting his head in confusion.
"I came here looking for information about my mom." The blonde continued to grin as she tilted her head to match his. "I figured they might not be receptive to my request, so I was planning on beating it out of them anyways. If they have your dad, that gives me all the more reason to join in and want to help! I'm a Huntress in training, after all! I'm supposed to help in situations like these!"
Blinking at the logic being used before him, Fen simply stared at the blonde in front of him, unsure how to handle the situation. He was left flabbergasted by it…
"You are a Huntress in training," Fen questioned before turning to the door and opening it to head in. "Oh, I hope you aren't going to Beacon too…"
"You are going to Beacon as well!"
"Fuck!"
It's a demanding task and one not to take lightly.
One that will likely even you.
"And that is?"
"Junior!" Fen's voice bellowed as he pushed the doors open, his cerulean eyes peering into the bar with furious intent and landing directly on the bar. "We have some things to discuss…"
"I like this kind of entrance!" The blonde girl clasped a fist into her hand, a gauntlet-style weapon engaging as a swarm of black-suited guards approached apprehensively. "You know what a girl likes, don't ya!"
"You have some… Questionable tastes." Fen frowned as he stepped forward, uncaring about the guards that impeded his progress before glaring at them. "Stand in my way, and you will be broken."
"We're doing this then!" Fen roared as the first moved in his direction and flattened him with a single blow to his sternum, sending him down to the dance floor below, sending the bar patrons into a panic and scurrying.
"I like your style!" The young lady in blonde jumped in, engaging in the fight, throwing a few pointed jabs and knocking back a guard rushing in away. "My name is Yang Xiao Long, by the way!"
Gripping the next guard by the wrist as he overextended, using him as a bludgeoning weapon, and slammed him into the gut of another, Fen had to resist turning and staring at his supposed partner.
Just who was Yang?
What was she?
"You have got to be kidding me," Junior groaned at the sight, seeing who it was, and grimaced as he looked to his side. "There is no way Uzumaki Naruto and Fen Aryl are the same person…"
"Tried to tell you, boss." A young woman wearing a white strapless dress sipping on a martini with her eyes closed.
"You didn't want to listen." Another young woman wearing a red strapless dress stirring a fruity cocktail with a smile. "We're good with faces."
"And we are intimately familiar with his body…" The young lady in white spoke with a twinkle in her green eyes.
"Ehem, let's not go there, Melanie. We were drunk." The lady in red flushed scarlet in a demure manner.
"It was still fun, Militia." Melanie cockily grinned. "I'd do it again."
"Are you two planning on doing anything?" Junior snapped at them, looking at the two girls drinking at his bar and doing nothing about the situation around them. "What am I paying you for?"
"Not enough for this," Melanie responded, casually taking a drink of her martini with a smirk. "I don't get paid to be beaten to a pulp. Well, unless you're paying me to distract him in another way…"
A scream was heard as a fellow Xiong clan member bounced against the bar and tumbled to the dance floor below. Neither sister moved, and Militia continued stirring her drink. "He is decimating your guard. Maybe you should give him his father back? This isn't worth it."
Gnashing his teeth at the two in front of him, his eyes snapped up at the scene before him. Then he caught something intriguing. Without hesitation, he used it. "Looks like he's hooked up with a blonde girl…"
"That two-timing…" Both said in unison as they stood up, green eyes emblazoned with fury.
With a blur, they disappeared from the bar.
"I feel a disturbance in the force…" Fen's eyes narrowed before he reared his neck back as a white high-heeled blade foot nearly slashed him open from behind. "Hello, Melanie! How are you and Militia doing?"
"How are we doing?" Militia's furious voice came from above, and Fen quickly drew a knife from his pouch, deflecting a crimson and black claw slashing down at him, causing him to skid back from the force of the blow. "You dare ask that?"
"Coming in here with another woman?" Melanie's eyes glimmered as the two surrounded Fen.
"Whoa, what?" Yang knocked the last guard back as her weapon fired a round with her punch and looked at her partner with wide eyes. "Wait, this sounds juicy! I want to hear this!"
"Stay out of this! Hustler!" Three voices yelled, two adding an insult at the end.
"My dear Malachites," Fen grinned as he looked over at the two girls he was stuck between, glancing between the two. "What we had wasn't anything special. You were both drunk, and you came onto me while you were supposed to be seducing me to find out all about my weaknesses and use them against me! Not my fault I was able to turn it around on you and make you fall for me!"
"But I do thank you," Fen's grin grew as both of their eyes shimmered with rage. "That was such a wonderful night. I will never forget it!"
Eyes brimming with passionate fury, both Malachites charged toward Fen. But out of the corner of his eye, he caught movement…
"Don't you dare call me a Hustler!" Yang rocked Militia with a heavy right in her cheek, sending her flying to the dance floor, eyes burning crimson for a brief moment as Fen avoided Melanie's kick, and caught her ankle.
Her eyes widened, and she screamed as she was tossed to the fluorescent floor below. Fen and Yang shared a glance and jumped to join the sisters below. Watching the young woman pick themselves up off the floor as they landed, he put out his hand to Yang and grinned. "Shall we share this tango, my dear?"
Accepting his hand, Yang's grin spread from ear to ear. "Oh, let's go wild!"
With a twirl, Fen spun Yang around him and tossed her straight between the two sisters as they managed to reach their feet. The two were taken off guard as she pumped her fists back and slammed them into their abdomens, flying back as her weapon shot off. They were sent tumbling back as her momentum equaled out, and she flipped backward and landed on her feet.
She joined Fen as he rushed past her, clashing with two Malachites to end the fight.
Melanie knew it was over the moment Fen was on her.
He was too fast. Too strong. Agile.
Like he had been fighting for years longer than his age belayed. He seemed far more capable. Knew far too much about combat. Any move she could make, he had a counter to. Had a sense for.
There was nothing she could do.
And the power of his blows.
Any time they connected, it was lights out. He was too strong. Stronger than anyone she had ever seen before. Even Huntsman didn't seem to have this kind of strength.
She questioned where it came from, but…
As her world dimmed, she smiled softly.
At least he was kind and put out quickly.
And he didn't activate his Semblance…
"Bitch, my hair!" Yang roared as the clawed blade of Militia caught Yang's hair and tore just a strand of it.
Yang had been controlling the fight. She blocked her strikes, weaving in and out effortlessly, and placing well-aimed shots into her torso and jaw. The girl was on her last ropes. But as the final stretch came in, Militia's claw caught Yang off guard and slipped through her hair.
The change was immediate.
Crimson flames of aura exploded around Yang in a heated display as lilac eyes burned red. And her hair took on wisps of flames as she rushed into Militia far quicker than before.
And Fen could hear her blows hitting far harder as she pummeled Militia, rounds firing with every blow she delivered. With one last impact that collided with Militia's jaw, she was sent flying and through the DJ's booth.
Yang stood there panting heavily as the aura burnt and faded around her. She then immediately started to comb through her hair. "You have no idea how long it will take to fix that and even it out! You know how hard I take care of my hair!"
"Don't screw with her hair." Fen looked at the sight, impressed, before whistling. "Okay! I believe you now! You are a Huntress in training!"
"You doubted me!" Yang shouted, looking indignant at the Faunus as he walked toward the bar… "Hey! Wait for me! I got a stake in this, too, ya know? And you never told me your name, jerk!"
"The name is Naruto," Fen replied as he reached the bar, his cerulean eyes gazing and daring the man to cross him. "Uzumaki Naruto. Or Kitsune no Ogami to those who dare trespass on my territory. Isn't that right, Junior?"
"Please don't do anything to me." Junior shuddered behind the bar before waving his hands to a figure with Fennec fox ears and dusty brown hair looking at him with a troubled expression.
"I am aware of where he is, Junior." Naruto sat at the bar, his eyes cold as ice. "We have a few things to discuss about tonight, my friend, and they will not be pleasant. So let's start with the easy one first. Yang."
"Woah," Yang muttered as she witnessed the scene before play out and looked at Naruto. "You know how to take control of a situation. Gotta say I'm impressed!"
Naruto grunted for a response. He hoped she would finish her business quickly…
"Fen?"
Before his father began to question and realize where his source of income had been coming from.
Sighing for this was inevitable, Fen grinned behind his mask as he looked at his terrified and bewildered father. "Hey, Dad…"
"So you probably have some questions."
Fix our mistake , Uzumaki Naruto.
A/N: So you may have noticed that I have been calling Naruto Fen the entire time. There is a reason for this.
I have a problem with other reincarnation stories.
The issue I have is why is he always Naruto in them? I can't figure out why does he keep his name? If he's an orphan, sure. Makes sense, he'll keep his name. Fine, I'll live with it. But if you give him parents in the new world? That's something I can't understand.
Why would they would they name him Uzumaki Naruto?
The answer in most circumstances is they wouldn't unless they are mind-wiped by whatever deity or writer who is doing the reincarnation to do so. I don't find that as a valid reason to keep his original name. The world he is put in doesn't have the same cultures as the Naruto world, usually, and wouldn't name him the same thing. RWBY for instance, has a Color-Naming rule, so something in the name needs to be a reference to a color. Faunus tend to have something about nature or animal story tales lore in their names, too, so that had to be added in.
It would be like Naruto being reincarnated in the 18th-century Europe and still having his name, which wouldn't be a normal Japanese name for that time! Keeping his name doesn't make sense.
Naruto can keep his memories. Keep who he was. That's fine. Still be him. Still know that he is Naruto. But he should also be aware enough that he has to take this new name in this new world of his. But he can use his name, have friends call him by it, and start using it later in his life. Even change to it. But for a time, he would be going by his given name.
The long and short of this is that Naruto is going to be Fen for at least until he arrives at Beacon. His family is used to calling him Fen. Until people are consistently calling him Naruto, the shift won't occur, and that is slowly starting to happen as things shift to Beacon.