Prologue

Orochimaru's Konoha Hideout - Laboratory

Orochimaru was discovered conducting illegal research and experiments on the people of Konoha, people who had been reported missing in recent months, with all reports saying they were last seen with Orochimaru before they disappeared.

As there was sufficient evidence pointing to Orochimaru, a raid was carried out on Orochimaru's hideout, led by the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, followed by Jiraiya and a group of Anbu.

Orochimaru is dissecting a corpse when his uninvited guests invade his laboratory, which is filled with body parts and organs stored in jars and containers in cabinets around the room.

"Orochimaru! Explain yourself, what is the meaning of this?!" Shouted Hiruzen, he was greatly disturbed by what he saw.

"We've received numerous reports of missing persons from the village, civilians, council members, shinobi, even members of the Anbu Black Ops, they were all last seen with you before they disappeared." Jiraiya spoke calmly, though he was disgusted by what he saw. "I suppose I don't need to ask where all these body parts and organs came from, do I?" Jiraiya gritted his teeth.

"By the looks of it, it seems I've finally been found out." Orochimaru spoke dryly. "What a shame, I was really hoping to have gotten away with it for a little bit longer, but what can you do? We can't always have what we want now, can we?" Orochimaru showed no signs of remorse for his actions.

"Well, since you seem to have caught me red-handed, I suppose there's no point in trying to hide it now, is there?" Orochimaru suddenly becomes very serious and lets out his killing intent. "It's research, research that will lead to the destruction of the World Tree." Said Orochimaru with venom in his voice.

"Destroy the World Tree? But why? Why do you want to destroy the World Tree?" Asked Hiruzen, who didn't understand why Orochimaru would want to take such an action.

"A thousand years ago, my father, the eight-headed serpent Orochi, was defeated by the Ten-Tailed Rabbit, the mother of the Ten-Tailed Beasts, The Guardian and Heart of the World Tree, the Rabbit Goddess Kaguya, I seek a way to kill Kaguya, which will in turn kill the World Tree, in order to free my father back into this world." Orochimaru is deadly serious.

"Are you insane?!" Hiruzen shouted at the top of his lungs. "This whole world depends on that tree, it's the source of all chakra, if you destroy it, all chakra will disappear, everything in this world will die, humans, creatures, plants, you, Orochi, everything!" Hiruzen began to gasp as he used up all the air in his lungs.

"Well, in that case, if my father cannot have this world, then no one can have it, and if the result of destroying the World Tree means destroying the entire world along with it, then so be it." Orochimaru shrugs, showing that he really doesn't care, while grinning menacingly.

"I will not let you have your way, Orochimaru!" Hiruzen bit his thumb, made a series of hand-signs and performed the summoning jutsu, summoning Monkey King Enma.

"So it's true, Orochimaru is behind the kidnappings." Enma said in shock.

"Not only that, he just declared his intention to destroy the World Tree in the hope of freeing his father Orochi." Hiruzen informed Enma with urgency.

"I'd ask if he was insane, but I suppose that's pretty obvious, I'll be more than happy to help tear that bastard in two!" Roared Enma, more than eager to kill Orochimaru.

"I hate to admit it, but I had doubts about whether or not I could bring myself to kill you, Orochimaru." Hiruzen really hated to admit that in front of everyone. "But I no longer have any doubts about what must be done, I will never let you destroy the World Tree and I will never let you free Orochi!" Hiruzen attacked Orochimaru with conviction, Enma following him in the attack.

Hiruzen and Enma attacked Orochimaru together, they didn't hold anything back, Jiraiya and all the Anbu present joined the attack, however, all of their combined strength wasn't enough to defeat Orochimaru, at the end he wasn't even scratched or out of breath, they all knelt defeated on the ground.

Orochimaru, however, decided not to kill any of them. "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, Sarutobi-sensei, but I've lived in this world long before the dawn of the six great nations, before Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha were even born, so how have I managed to live in this world for so long? Well, by the simple fact that I'm immortal, I can't die to illness or old age, but I can still be killed, but my pride simply won't allow me to die at the hands of weaklings such as yourselves, if I'm to die, it must be at the hands of someone truly powerful and remarkable, and that's none of you." Orochimaru chuckles mockingly at his kneeling opponents.

"Wait! Do you mean to say that you have been?" Hiruzen is trying to keep himself from fainting.

"Yes, I've always hidden my true strength from you, I had to do so in order to fool you all into trusting me for the sole purpose of gaining knowledge and experience in the shinobi arts, but I've now gotten all I can gain from this shinobi life, my days of playing ninja with the Leaf are over." Orochimaru doesn't mind telling them all this, none of them are powerful enough to do anything about him anyway.

"But as a thank you for assisting me all these years, I will spare your lives so you can tell the tale of my strength, and I'll even leave my dear daughter Anko as an asset to Konoha, she carries a rare Crystal Release Kekkei Genkai inherited from my wife and her mother Guren Mitarashi, she will be a mighty asset to you, but know this, Anko had nothing whatsoever to do with my research and experiments, I haven't altered her memories because I have no reason to lie to you weaklings, so should serious harm befall my precious Anko at the hands of Konoha, it will mean the end of your entire village." Orochimaru is deadly serious with his threat. {So long Anko, grow into a beautiful woman, just like your mother did.} And with that, Orochimaru Body Flickered away.

Although defeated and injured, a thorough investigation of the laboratory was carried out, they saw all the victims Orochimaru had conducted research and experiments on, no one survived, what was found sickened even Hiruzen and Jiraiya, the level of cruelty Orochimaru had inflicted on his victims surpassed anything they had seen in their entire lives.

After Hiruzen experienced the strength of Orochimaru first hand, he created a brand new criminal rank in the bingo book just for Orochimaru, Z-rank, and the only orders for him were to flee on sight and do not engage, Hiruzen even shared this with all the other nations, Orochimaru was too powerful for anyone to handle.

Although she was innocent and had nothing to do with her father's crimes, Anko Mitarashi, who was only thirteen at the time, became the target of scorn and ridicule throughout the village, more so when false information started spreading accusing her of having helped her father lure his victims to him and assisting him in his research and experiments.

This was a ploy by the village elders, Danzo, Homura and Koharu, in the hope that they could break Anko mentally so that they could manipulate her, because a Crystal Release user is indeed a very rare and powerful weapon and they wanted control over that weapon.

Fortunately, Anko had a lot of support from the Third Hokage, Kurenai, Asuma, Kakashi and Gai, who knew her very well. The heads of the shinobi clans were not hostile towards Anko because Inoichi had proven her innocence, and the one thing he's not known for is lying, so they trusted Inoichi's word, Anko was innocent and they all did their best to support her.

Naruko and the World Tree

Adoption Arc

Chapter 1 – Orochimaru's Plan

Two Years Later

Streets of Konoha

Anko Mitarashi, now fifteen years old, was taking a walk through the streets of Konoha at midnight, she couldn't sleep so decided to go out for a walk to clear her head.

Anko is looking down at the ground as she walks slowly. {Why did you do it father? You use to be so kind. Was it Mum's death during the night the Nine-Tailed Fox attacked? Was it her death that changed you? I know what you did was wrong, but I wish I could see you again, talk to you again.} Anko holds a locket with a portrait of her late mother in it, Guren Mitarashi.

{Although things have been difficult for me for the past two years, things have suddenly started to get better for me, three days ago information was leaked about a girl named Naruko Uzumaki being the Jinchúriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox. Since then, people have paid less attention to me and more attention to a new target of their hatred, Naruko.}

Anko didn't know how to feel about that. On the one hand, she was no longer the main target of the village's hatred, but on the other hand, another girl will now be the main target. And if the last two years of Anko's life were an indicator of anything, it was that the new girl was going to experience a hell worse than hell itself.

"I know that girl didn't kill my mother, even my father never blamed the Nine-Tails Jinchúriki for her death, but I also know the other moronic villagers don't see it that way." Anko spoke quietly to herself, despite all the support from her friends, the Hokage and the Shinobi Clan Heads, the hatred of the village towards her as slowly been taking its toll, she now feels hatred towards Konoha and the people who live in it.

"I bet they think Naruko is the Nine-Tailed Fox, that she attacked this village, killed the Fourth Hokage and took the lives of many people, it's like saying if you put soup in a bowl, the bowl becomes soup. God I hate this village, I wish my father would destroy it." Anko whispered, her mind filled with dark thoughts for Konoha's destruction.

{The only ones who could have access to such information are Lord Hokage and the Council of Elders, I know for a fact that Lord Third would never leak such classified information, so that leaves the other three, why would they leak such information? I smell something foul going on and I don't like it.}

Anko especially hates the current Council of Elders, because she knows it was them who spread false information about her being involved with her father's crimes, but she can't prove anything because they're experts at destroying evidence that would lead to them being exposed as criminals.

They refuse to allow themselves to be interrogated by Inoichi, If the Third Hokage tried to have them interrogated and got it wrong, they could have him removed from the position of Hokage by complaining to the Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire, as he has the power to decide, deny and remove a Hokage from office.

Five Minutes Later

After five more minutes of walking, Anko comes across a girl all by herself looking up at a street light, almost as if she were in some kind of trance, ignoring the rest of the world going on around her.

"A lone girl? What's she doing out here at this time of night? Then again, what am I doing out here at this time of night?" Anko stopped walking and began examining the girl. {Judging from her size, I would estimate her to be about three years old.}

{Messy blonde hair that would probably reach her mid-shoulder blades if it were properly brushed and kept tidy, a spiky fringe covering her forehead, chin-length bangs neatly framing the sides of her face, kind of funny how her bangs are so neat despite how messy the rest of that mop is.} Anko smiled in amusement at the sight of the little girl's messy hair.

{Blue eyes, though it's hard to tell what shade they are from here, I think those are whisker marks on her cheeks.} Anko then began to examine the rest of the girl's body, her pleasant expression turned into a look of horror.

{What the hell? She has multiple cuts, scratches and bruises all over her body, injuries related to being physically beaten. This must be the girl who has the Nine-Tailed Fox sealed inside her, Naruko Uzumaki, this must be her. Coming across a beaten up girl so soon after that information was leaked out, that a girl has the Nine-Tailed Fox inside her, this is not a coincidence, this has to be Naruko. And it seems they wasted no time in physically attacking her, bastards! Cowardly fucking bastards! Attacking a little girl who can't even defend herself!} Anko began to grit her teeth hard, rage building up and tears began welling up in her eyes, disgusted by the fact a little girl barely out of nappies as been beaten up, and no doubt by adults.

Anko took a deep breath to calm herself down, exhaling sharply before continuing to examine the girl. {Torn clothes, no shoes, a malnourished and underweight body, this girl is no doubt an orphan and she's homeless.} Anko sighs "I know I feel bad for her and all, but I really don't want to deal with a homeless orphan."

"I should just ignore her, leave her to her fate, let her be a problem for someone else." Anko starts looking towards the ground. "But I know in my heart that not a single person in this disgusting village will ever take her in, nevermind adopt her, they don't want to risk bringing the Nine-Tailed Fox into their homes, to them she is as much of a demon as the demon fox is itself." Tears began welling up in Anko's eyes again. {And my pissing conscience is telling me that I shouldn't abandon this homeless, defenceless little girl.}

"Damn you little girl, I should've just stayed home, but no... my brain just wouldn't let me sleep and that made me feel the need to go on this walk to clear my head, and now this little tramp is unintentionally guilt tripping me into taking her in." Anko grumbled to herself well and truly crying at this point, but quietly enough Naruko couldn't hear her.

"Fine, you win little girl, I will take you in." Anko whispered, choosing to listen to her conscience. "I'll most certainly be hated even more by this fucking village for taking the demon fox in, but at least I won't have to face it alone anymore, but it also means she won't have to endure it alone either."

Anko approaches Naruko until she's standing right next to her, both of them are now standing under the street light Naruko is looking up at, Anko looks up to see what has the little girl in such a trance.

{So that's why she seems to be in a trance, she's watching some moths flying under the street light, honestly it's kind of fascinating to watch, I can understand how a child can go into a trance watching them, but it also means she won't notice anyone trying to attack her, she hasn't noticed me, and I'm standing right next to her, she's not the least bit interested in paying attention to her surroundings.} Anko starts to smile before looking back at the girl.

"Hello there." Anko spoke gently to the little girl. "What are you doing out here so late at night?" Despite her negative feelings and dark thoughts for Konoha, she is still able to put on a kind expression.

Anko's voice snapped Naruko out of her trance, she quickly turned her head towards Anko, the rest of her body followed her head shortly afterwards, Naruko's eyes widened, her hands began covering her mouth and her whole body started to tremble.

"Peas don ur me, I do no wong." Said Naruko frightened, so frightened she's paralysed with fear and cannot bring herself to run away.

At the same time, Anko's eyes widened as soon as their gazes met. {Azure eyes? Azure eyes paired with primary yellow blonde hair, there was only one other person I knew who had that exact eye and hair colour combination, Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, and if I remember correctly, Minato's wife was Kushina Uzumaki.} Anko's eyes widened even more and her mouth gaped open, causing Naruko to tense up even more.

{If I also remember correctly, Kushina was pregnant with Minato's child over three years ago, this girl seems to be about three years old, if she is, she'd have been born right around the exact time Kushina gave birth, there was no other Uzumaki living in Konoha before or during the time Kushina was pregnant, which means.} "No way!" {This little girl is Minato and Kushina's daughter, and she's standing right in front of me!} If Anko said she was shocked, that would be an understatement, for she did not expect to come across the daughter of the Fourth Hokage and his wife Kushina during this walk.

{And the people of this fucking village have attacked her, the daughter of our Fourth Hokage. This damn village just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?} No words can describe just how much Anko hates Konoha right now.

{There's absolutely no way I can leave her out here by herself now that I know that, I can't abandon her to suffer more abuse from this disgraceful village alone.} Anko softened her expression considerably.

Anko kneels down as close to Naruko's eye level as much as she can. "I'm so sorry Naruko, I didn't mean to scare you like that, I knew your mummy and daddy a long time ago, I just wanted to see if you were alright." Anko spoke softly to Naruko, which helped as the little girl began to calm down.

"I no Mummy, I no Daddy, I orpan." Naruko replied timidly to Anko.

"I know you are and I think it's very sad seeing you out here all by yourself." Anko wasn't going to ask Naruko why she wasn't at the orphanage, she already knows the answer, they kicked her out as soon as they heard Naruko had the Nine-Tailed Fox inside her.

"Naruko, would you like to come live with me? I want to take care of you, I will give you yummy food, some nice new clothes, nice hot baths and a nice comfy bed to sleep in." Anko said with genuine warmth, accompanied by a warm smile towards Naruko.

Naruko's fear of Anko disappeared instantly because she felt Anko's warm words, she saw her warm smile for her and she offered her food, Naruko was sold upon the mentioning of food.

Hearing that, Naruko's face lit up with sheer joy. "Yes! Me wan foo, baf, beh, me weelie, weelie wan!" Naruko became extremely excited, she started radiating so much childlike energy that Anko could actually feel it flowing into herself, which immediately began to melt away her negative thoughts and feelings, like the sun of spring melting away the snow of winter.

At that moment Anko remembered something extremely important. {I remember now, Kushina use to be a role model to me growing up, she was a powerful Kunoichi, the very definition of powerful Kunoichi, just as my Mum and Tsunadi Senju were, I looked up to all three of them like heroes, they are what I inspire to be, a strong Kunoichi. However, Kushina was even more special, she wasn't just strong, she was the single kindest, purest person I'd ever met, she had an energy so pure, so infectious, that it affected almost everyone without ambitions who came near it, when you were around her, you felt all of your negative thoughts and emotions disappear, Kushina was a woman with the energy of a child, that's the best way I can describe it, and I feel that same energy coming from Naruko, she truly is Kushina's daughter.} Anko for the first time in a long time felt warmth flowing into her heart, she no longer had doubts now, Naruko is Kushina's daughter.

Anko extended her hands and arms in front of her to invite Naruko into a hug. "Come Naruko, let's go home." Anko said with the warmest smile she had made yet, seeing that, Naruko without hesitation ran straight into Anko's arms, for the first time in her life, Naruko received a hug and it was full of warmth and love.

Anko lifted Naruko, right arm supporting her weight, left arm supporting her back, Naruko held Anko tightly around the neck resting her head on Anko's left shoulder, Anko didn't understand why, but she found herself able to hold Naruko tightly, but not in away that hurt the fragile little girl, but in away that made Naruko feel safe, the safest she as felt in the past few days and maybe even in the whole of her very short life.

While carrying Naruko home, someone spotted them and tried to protest, he tried to grab Naruko but Anko promptly kicked him through the nearest wall, Anko didn't care enough to access what injuries he had afterward, she just continued walking like it never even happened.

{This is a village full of scum, if any of them try to hurt Naruko, especially in my presence, I'll hospitalise the entire lot of them.}

To Be Continued

Next Chapter - Chapter 2 - The First Days

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