A/N: Alright so here I go again with another story and yet seemingly no update to previous ones. Well, at least I have a reason this time. As I believe I've told all of you before, I joined the Army, well with that move left a lot of issues along the way, I was stuck in a base for roughly 10 months hoping to move onto AIT after I finished my basic combat training. Now that I am at AIT I have much more free time to actually post stuff, as well as actually getting to use a phone and computer instead of having it all confiscated. However I have a very weird schedule and my schooling does come first before all of this so don't expect fast updates, even when I reach my duty station I wouldn't expect fast updates. This was a small plot bunny that ran through my mind after I went on a reading binge of Naruto crossovers to try and mix up my reading, as well as read something well written to engage my mind after going without for so long.
This small plot bunny is born out of an annoyance towards certain crossovers that take certain canon events and completely abandon them and then destroy the characters. Mind you I am a person who changes characters, but I feel like I should give examples. In many Naruto fics, there is a reoccurring issue when bringing up his family both in his regular fics and crossovers. When it has to do with his family a lot of the time, in crossovers at least, they seem to make his family majorly neglectful or outright abusive. Honestly, I find that annoying, don't get me wrong some of those stories are well written and fun to read but why is finding a story where his family does care from the get-go but maybe they have some legitimate reasons not to train him so hard to find? It shouldn't be that hard to write them, and I find it frustrating, from what little we know of Kushina and Minato they were model parents, they loved him and honestly, I couldn't see them ever having a good reason they could justify to themselves to ignore him let alone give a good enough reason for an author.
Now as I said some stories are well written, most of the time they make changes to allow for this but why can't I find good stories where they care but they are wary of training him for some more legitimate reasons? Sorry kind of went on a tangent there. My point is I wanted to try that out as well as exercise a crossover that has had a few well-written stories in it that probably could use a few more. I'm not going to claim anything I write is perfect or even well written as I leave that to all those who read them to decide, but I would like to help contribute to a pool of stories that should grow a bit. Inherently you will make changes when making a crossover its bound to happen and I'm certain most here don't want you to just post a word for word repost of the story itself, actually since its Fanfiction that's kind of a waste of time don't you think? This is something I thought I could get away with, something that takes the many or stories where his family hates him or is neglectful and sits on the opposing side to that plot bunny.
So sorry to say don't expect his parents, siblings, or whatever is added to hate him, or be cruel to him, at least intentionally. As is something within the real world you can unintentionally do things to hurt someone, something that happens all the time in families, but at no point is it blatant and consistent in this story. Now it's probably best I actually get to the point a bit and outline a few changes to be made besides the obvious one of its crossover pairing. If you hadn't figured it out this crossover is Naruto and Titanfall, however, what you probably don't know from just looking at the names of the two fics used in the crossover section, this will have a few glaring changes. One: His parents lived, Two: He isn't the firstborn, Three: several large changes to the world have happened (It will be outlined later), and lastly Four: This is not your traditional spirited away to a new dimension/planet/world fic, in fact, that trope isn't used in this instance in regards to Naruto at all, it will all take place on his world.
This is a little bit of something else, don't expect to see any character from Titanfall make an appearance, at least not any character from the official series, and sorry to say it but you won't see a bunch of pilots and mechs running all over the Naruto world, nor will you see massive fleets of space ships fighting in the skies and over the planet. I have plans here don't worry about that, it will just be a minute before I even get around to explaining them to anyone.
Anyways let's get to the heart of it all, the story. And as with all stories we have to establish a beginning.
Prologue: The Humor of Life
Naruto's POV
It's funny what the mind can do, it can take every last feeling from every single nerve or organ in your body and convert it into a way you yourself can understand, take all of that massive data and condense it into a simple word. Softness, Wet, Hot, Cold, Pain. It can tell you all of that and more and yet the one thing that is funnier than all of that is when it burns the memories of those feelings into your mind, takes that single moment, and stretches it to a lifetime or condenses it into a second. After all, he could still feel the rough texture of the paper he had been handling, the slightest twitch from his finger as a muscle involuntarily shifted and the cool warmth from the ink drawn line that finger scratched over, just seconds before a searing heat burned into that finger and flowed like a raging waterfall up his left arm. He didn't think he had done anything to wrong at the time, having been little older than four years old. After all, the only thing he had done at that young age is what all children do, move about their home in curiosity, and touch anything of interest. But perhaps we are getting ahead of ourselves, The first thing you should know is that he had siblings, quite a few, in fact, it seemed like his moth and father couldn't hold back how much they loved one another and well, those expressions were obvious to everyone now. He was a middle child, Two older sisters and two younger, the only male of his family. He could be considered the Heir to the family name, although with how things worked in a Ninja village it was very possible his eldest sister was the holder of that title.
but I digress. He had touched a paper, nothing major you might think if it hadn't been inside his father study, a study dedicated to the sealing arts. He didn't know what the paper had written on it but at the young age he had been it looked pretty so he wanted to touch it. It was a mistake that had cost him much more than he had ever thought he would lose. No, he didn't lose his Chakra he still maintained that he also did not lose his sanity or any such thing, but the damage was enough to affect his life. It was told to him later that whatever he had picked up had caused some fairly bad damage to his left arm, it wasn't paralyzed but something had destroyed the chakra system in that limb, and as such left him with only a single had with which to do handseals. Now you might be thinking no big deal, he has his other hand all he will need is a bit of training to use only one hand for seals. You would be right in a normal situation but since most people need to know the original hand seals and how the chakra flowed through those first before trying to make half seals, it wasn't as easy as that. He still tried every day, without fail. Yet even still even now at thirteen, he could only barely manage a passable Henge and Substitution. His clone however never improved, more often than not when he tried there would a soft puff of smoke and then a lack of anything, the few times something was left behind it was weak and looked emaciated. No matter how much he trained he still couldn't manage a single clone. That alone might explain why he was held back several years. His older sisters had managed to graduate, his oldest sister Miyumi was a Chuunin and only seventeen, while Yuna was just fourteen and was a Genin with two years experience. He was thirteen and still couldn't pass, and yet his next birthday approached and he still couldn't grasp the clone jutsu.
His Mom tried to help out but with the two youngest she couldn't do much, he didn't complain though, he was happy to have any help at all, and while his older sisters managed to excel in their training he had hit a wall. His father was uncomfortable with teaching him more advanced techniques, at least not until he finished his studies in the Academy, but with the way, things were going that looked to be out of reach as well. He couldn't help but stress over it, he knew his parents never pressured him, and his siblings weren't mean or poking fun, but he felt like a failure. He heard what people said behind his back, it wasn't that hard to hear it, after all, the whispers of pity and disappointment from the civilians as he walked about the village with his younger sisters. It was hard not to notice, he had learned not to react to it when it seemed to make his sisters worried, but he couldn't help but feel like they could still see how he was affected by it. They didn't ask him to head out with them as frequently anymore, saying they didn't want to interrupt him. Yet even that made him feel worse than before, feeling more like a burden with every moment. He shook of the thought, trying to throw off those memories, that small trip down memory lane didn't help him at all. He breathed out a small sigh as he sat in his room staring out the window at the clouds. It was easy to get lost in them, easy to let his mind wander, but he knew that was dangerous, too many times had his mind wandered to his past and what seemed to be the very bleak future.
He could already tell his Dad was uncomfortable with the thought of him passing the academy, and he couldn't help but feel like a small request to maybe step back and evaluate life as a civilian might be the next response to failing. He turned and left the room walking through the large yet comfortable house, no one was home yet, with his two youngest sisters Mina who was eight and Suki who was seven still in class, his older sisters off on missions, his father at work, and his mother off to pick his little sisters up he had the house to himself. You might wonder why he wasn't at the academy himself, well he didn't really feel like going today and felt like one day of rest wouldn't hurt him too much, after all he didn't really feel like staying with the kids who were easily two years younger and endure their looks. He shifted around the house slowly looking over its interior, he'd lived in it all his life, and yet he still found it interesting, the small photo's here and there of the family on vacations or during important events. He moved quickly, descending to the first floor and towards the front door. He fumbled with his boots before sighing as he finally got them tied and moved for the door. He stopped in surprise as he pulled open the door seeing his mother standing there a bemused expression on her face.
"And where are you going?" Kushina asked making him sweat a bit under the penetrating gaze. His Mom always seemed to know when he was up to something.
"Just out to see some friends." he mumbled getting a small narrowing of the eyes before she sighed.
"Alright be careful." Kushina said letting him walk by. He didn't relax until he passed the front gates. He eased into his walk letting the stress fade a bit.
It wasn't that he didn't like dealing with his mom, he just thought she could be a little much with how worried she would get, that and she had a temper from hell, one he had certainly learned to fear from a young age. He wandered through the village ignoring the murmuring of everyone nearby and looked at the surroundings. It was still fairly hot, the sun high in the sky and yet it was nearing October. He could tell by the streamers already up and the advertisements that the October festival was coming up soon and he couldn't help but wonder what his families plans were, they used to make things up as they went but with Miyumi and Yuna off doing missions they now had to plan things out in order to do anything. He turned his head forwards as he heard a familiar voice. He smiled slightly at the animated expressions and waving arm movements from his long time friend as she tore into a civilian bartender.
"What do you mean I can't drink anymore!" The girl yelled getting an annoyed scowl.
"Its two in the afternoon go drown yourself in someone else's bar!" The man yelled turning to leave her in the street. He chuckled to himself and walked over, if one thing could be said about him it was that he was tall for his age.
"Anko, still drinking in the day?" He asked getting the eighteen-year-old to turn in place in surprise before a grin broke out on her face.
"Oh please, nothing else better to do." The Tokubetsu Jonin said making him roll his eyes as he looked over her real quick.
She hadn't changed her look much but the one obvious change was that she removed the shirt from her clothing choice instead of choosing a fairly revealing fishnet top which had him flush lightly. He cursed inwardly at the reaction seeing her grin turn predatorial in nature before she got him in a headlock and proceeded to drag him into a hug. It would have been fine if his head wasn't pressed against the object of his attention seconds before.
"Oh, looks like mister red is interested in his old friend, hmmm. got anything to say to this poor defenseless Jonin?" Anko asked making him look at her in a deadpan.
"Defenseless really? and do you have to hold your rank over my head?" He asked getting the slightest of winces from the girl as she released him and frowned. The awkward silence that fell over them made him shift in place.
"Sorry." They both said quickly only to stop and grin at each other. "Sorry, Anko, I shouldn't take my frustration out like that, I know you didn't really mean it." he said getting a small sigh.
"Hey, it's fine, besides I know it stresses you out." Anko said shrugging slightly before turning towards the street.
"Wanna grab some Dango?" He asked only to see her turn around quickly stars in her eyes as she grabbed him by the arm and dashed off into the village. The trip was nothing more than a blur and once he collected himself he saw a stack of three empty Dango plates already in front of him.
"Oi! Don't do that." He said in mild annoyance before seeing the small happy smile on her face and let it go. He smiled a bit at the small happiness she showed, he had thought to come out and just take a walk to break himself from his mood and now found himself making someone else happy.
"Are you alright?" Anko asked after a second her tone low. He blinked and looked over the girl seeing the serious expression and the small sliver of concern hidden underneath it. He relaxed a bit and shrugged.
"Same as always." He said getting a small nod from the girl before seeing the next plate land in front of him. He stared at the plate unsure what was going on as usually Anko just hogged it all.
"Come on it's no fun if I'm the only one eating." Anko said making him smile slightly. He ate slowly enjoying the moment and the relaxing atmosphere.
"So you ready for the festival? it's only a few days away." Anko said making him hum softly at the statement.
"Yeah I guess, how have things with the others been?" He asked getting a small narrowing of the eyes for a moment before she rolled them and thought over the question.
"Well, Kurenai is a bit busy, running around trying to get approved for a team, Yugao is busy with her hush hush job in Anbu, and Hana hasn't done much more than her work at the clinic." Anko said sarcastically while shrugging it all off.
He chuckled slightly, he missed them a bit but he could understand how busy the lives of the older women could be. He still remembered running into them, well more like running into Anko, he was only eight at the time and he ran from some of his classmates. They had been picking on him a bit during the time, calling him a cripple and such, it was when he first ran into the girl and her small group of friends. Although the small chase he had to give them as he accidentally spilled her Dango was still remembered to this day. If Kurenai hadn't managed to stop her and Yugao hadn't grabbed a new order from a stall nearby he didn't really want to think over what would have happened. Kurenai, is roughly twenty-two, although he couldn't be too sure since he didn't really know her birthday, with how busy she was it was kind of hard to find that out. Yugao was twenty, and Hana remained the youngest at sixteen, it wasn't that much of a gap between him and her only three years roughly but she was a Chunin. Something he had congratulated her over when she managed to get the rank, it was nice to have this small group as friends although he has a feeling it only started that way because he was a kid and not a pervert, now it was because he had managed to earn some trust, something most considered impossibly, from them.
"Oi. You listening to me?" Anko asked a little annoyed and a pout on her lips.
"Yeah, you have so many interesting things to say." he said letting a thinly veiled sarcastic tone roll out of his mouth.
"Fine, see if I tell you anything anymore." Anko said making him roll his eyes at the statement.
"So why were you really out and about, and don't give me that shit that you wanted a walk." Anko said biting into another Dango. He blinked in surprise and moved to respond as he always did only to get a small glare.
"I don't know, I'm just stressed with the whole Academy thing, I still can't get passed this handicap, and Dad is starting to get a little tense, Mom's not much better." He said getting a small nod.
"And your sisters?" Anko asked making him sigh.
"Well Miyumi was a little intense recently, she kinda dropped hints that she was worried about what would happen to me after the academy. I think she's got plans to keep me around as a secretary or something since she is so gung-ho about being Hokage in the future." He said getting a small wince.
"I don't think she's being mean or trying to force me out but... It kinda hurts you know?" He asked getting a small helpless shrug.
"I don't really know what to say, I'm not really good with emotional shit." Anko said getting him to snort.
"Yeah ain't that the truth. It's not just that though, I know they mean well but they can get a bit overbearing, and the villager's arent making it any easier, it's like walking around under a telescope, they want to see every small move and criticize every mistake." he said with a small breath before slumping a bit.
"I don't really know what to do, They know I can only use one hand but doing seals and molding chakra like that, it isn't easy." he said getting a small nod before she leaned back.
"Well, don't worry about it, an opportunity will come along, that's usually how shit works right?" Anko asked getting a small deadpan stare from him in return.
"Gee, you are just oh so very helpful." he said before smiling slightly as she shrugged helplessly.
"Still it's the thought that count's Anko so thanks." he said smiling softly only to see her freeze and cough as she looked away.
"Whatever, just cheer up yeah?" Anko asked still staring out the nearby window, he could almost swear he saw a slight dusting of pink on her cheeks but when she looked back they were clear and he shrugged it off as a trick of the light.
"Maybe I should get home before my Mom tries tracking me down to find out where I have gone." he said getting a small snort as she raised a small glass of sake in his direction.
He rolled his eyes and left her to her drink while he trudged along the road back to his home. The villagers were fewer at this time of night and it allowed him some time to relax without whispered sympathies and pity thrown his way. The night was also far more beautiful than he thought the day could ever be, at least he got to see so many of the stars dot the sky, the large constellations overhead. Konoha had plenty of light for people but its size didn't allow that light to block out the stars which he was thankful for. His eyes stared into the massive gathering of stars in the night sky and he couldn't help but feel for a short moment a bit more free less weighed down than he ever had before, that feeling was washed away after a few moments as he refocused himself on his walk back home.
"Ah well, it was a nice feeling while it lasted." He mumbled letting his feet take him along the long-familiar route. maybe tonight it would be a small relaxing dinner before bed, he could hope, right?
A/N: I felt a little off when I wrote the first part, I felt like it fit but wasn't in the right spot, but I like the overall flow and it turned more relaxed later on allowing me to actually do writing in a more relaxed way. I got into that groove of typing and everything I was typing felt right like it all fit, I enjoy that feeling as generally those chapters are some of my better chapters. I have high hopes for this, especially with the plans I have for how things will work out. Mind you this won't be a nice happy fic all the time, there will time of darkness, depression, fear, anger, hatred, joy, I want this story to feel real, to be something akin to real life. where it can bring both joy and sadness, but you never really know what you are going to get until it happens. There will be more mature themes as well as this fic isn't meant to hold anyone's hand. but I think that's what a good few people want these days.