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The Story of Us
'For those who never gave up'
Naruto x OC
Friendship, Adventure, Romance
Chapter 7: Treated
Everyone deserves a gift now and again, even from themselves.
Cool Kids- Echosmith
Today Kakashi-sensei really meant it when he said 'upping the training'.
I was told to arrive at 5am to run laps until Sensei got there…. Two hours later. I was practically dying by then, but then he drilled me on all the E-ranked Jutsu I knew, before asking me to hang upside down from a tree branch for one minute.
It was hard, but I had been training for two years now. There was no way I was going to give up when Kakashi-sensei had finally started to push me.
"Alright, that's long enough. I think you're ready for the next step." Sensei called me back. I dropped down from the tree and walked up to him. He held out two gold bangles to me, but when I took them I learned they were weighted. "I got these from a friend. Both only weigh a pound, but I want to slowly break you into using them. I'll increase the weight when I think you're ready for it. I want you to wear them all the time that you're awake. And when you go to bed make sure to take them off. It could injure you to sleep with them on. Understand?"
"Got it." I said, taking my shoes off to properly wear them around my ankles.
"Good, now the next part of training," Kakashi-sensei held out a piece of paper. I tilted my head, then recognized the sheet.
"Oh, that's that special chakra paper, right? The one that will tell me what my natural affinity is?" Kakashi-sensei smiled at me. I had read about it in the books Iruka-sensei had given me for studying.
"Very good, then you shouldn't need further explanation." I didn't and started to pour my chakra into my hand in an attempt to get the paper to react. Nothing was happening though, and even after a soft glow emitted from the paper thanks to my chakra nothing happened. I was getting frustrated, but Sensei stopped me.
"It's alright, perhaps it's a faulty piece of paper." Kakashi-sensei explained while handing me another one. This one came to the same effect of no reaction. He took the paper from my hands then, and within seconds of pouring his own chakra into it the paper it wrinkled.
Lightning affinity.
"Strange," Kakashi-sensei regarded the paper while rubbing his chin. "it doesn't appear to be defective…."
He turned to look at me, and I couldn't help but squirm under that intense stare. It was quiet, Sensei was thinking, but man did that make me feel painfully uncomfortable. I jutted out my chin, biting down on my lip to keep from blurting out how creepy that one eye could get when he was thinking.
I felt like he had x-ray vision.
Maybe I should start wearing a mask too….
Kakash-sensei made rapid hand-signs, so quickly my eyes couldn't follow them. A strange sensation similar to the one I got from performing the transformation jutsu came to me.
"Ah, wait what-" I started to feel dizzy as the world quivered around me. My head was starting to hurt, and eventually I fell on my butt. Sensei released the genjutsu, but I was still dizzy.
"What was that for?" I rubbed my head in pain. Kakashi-sensei muttered something I didn't quite catch.
"Well, this is a first. Most shinobi with a yin, yang, or yin-yang affinity can block or break a genjutsu of that level. You couldn't, yet the paper never altered when you used it….." Kakashi-sensei had a bad habit of hitting me right in the weak spot with his comments, and today was no different. I pouted a bit, looking away.
"So I have no affinity, what of it?" I muttered. Nature affinities were very common, in fact I remembered reading about them vividly. Everyone who had the ability to perform jutsu could do one. Also, considering my level of chakra control there was no doubt I had some capabilities.
"Get up, we're going to try something a bit…. different." Sensei had a curious look in his eye, and I really didn't like where this was going. First the drills, then the weights, and now I had a feeling ninjutsu training was going to send me flying. I listened though, standing slowly to allow myself the mental preparation for such torture. Kakashi-sensei stepped back for a moment.
"We're going to work on two different types of ninjutsu. The first is something you will slowly work up to. The Body Flicker technique." Kakashi-sensei demonstrated it, disappearing in a puff of smoke. I looked for him, not seeing him anywhere at all. A strange sensation similar to before could be felt, but something wasn't right.
Where did he-
Something grabbed my leg, and within seconds I was yanked into the ground up to my shoulders. The movement was so smooth I didn't really realize what had happened until Sensei was emerging from the ground not far from me. He sauntered up to me, and crouched down to my level.
"The second is an Earth Style technique: Head Hunter Jutsu." He was smiling at me as I tried to wiggle out with zero success. "I think these two jutsu would be easy enough for you to work on. Oh, and one more thing…."
I stopped my struggling to watch him reach into his ninja pouch. With it he produced a ball of string and two long sticks… Were those for…. Knitting? He cottoned on to my confused and chuckled lightly.
"I want yo to knit me a scarf. It'll help with the dexterity of your fingers. Your hand-signs are painfully slow." He confessed. I glared.
"Hey not fair! I'm just an academy student! Don't treat me like an invalid!" I exclaimed, much to Sensei's amusement. He gave a chuckle, but proceeded to show me the technique to do the knitting. After a few minutes he placed the ball of yarn and the knitting needles on the ground in front of me and stood up. Turning his back, he started to…. Walk away?!
"Sensei! Hey! Let me out!" I called to him. The jerk didn't even pause in his walk, but he did throw over his shoulder a scathing comment.
"What's wrong? You told me you're not an invalid. So you should be able to escape such a weak jutsu no problem! See you tomorrow, same time, if you've escape."
He vanished, I started to flail.
"Sensei! I have class soon! SENSEI!"
Stupid Kakashi and his stupid training….
I ended up not being able to go home and clean up before class. Instead I ran straight to it, getting marked late by Iruka-sensei.
"Hikari, you're covered in grass and dirt. Did something happen?" Sensei asked with concerned. I glowered, thinking of my other sensei who just left me to rot in the ground.
"No Sensei, I was training and lost track of time." I explained, marching over to sit next to Naruto. He looked over to me as I shoved the knitting supplies onto the seat next to us and scowled. Iruka-sensei seemed to catch my mood and decided to let it go. Naruto narrowed his eyes at me, but said nothing.
Yet.
The ambush came at lunch time while I fumbled with knitting the scarf. I was trying desperately to mimic the movements Kakashi-sensei had shown me, but it was hard with Naruto nattering in my ear. Was this what Shikamaru felt like everyday?
"C'mon! You gotta tell me!" Naruto insisted. I sighed, dismissing the question quickly.
"I told you! The scarf is for me! I get cold in the winter and training gives me the chills if I don't go home and shower first." I lied smoothly. While my ninja skills may have still be sub-par, my conversational skills were phenomenal. I must say, I was quite proud of them.
I flubbed again on the needles, poking myself, and cursed under my breath. Kiba snorted across the table from me.
"At least we know that's not for a crush or anything. No way someone hands that crappy thing to someone they like." He sneer, I glared. Naruto jumped up.
"You wanna go? I'll wipe the floor with you! Believe it!" Naruto shouted, and the two were getting in each other's faces again. Shikamaru rolled his eyes again, half falling asleep on the bench.
"Man, you always cause so much trouble. Women are such a drag." Shikamaru muttered. Choji glared.
"Don't talk to Hikari like that, it's rude Shikamaru." Choji said between mouthfuls. Shikamaru glanced at me, I glanced at him. He paused for a moment then yawned.
"Honestly, I don't get how you get people riled up so easily." The Nara yawned. Hinata, who had been quiet next to me stuttered to my defence.
"Sh-Shikamaru, please don't talk about Hikari like that." Her face turned red when he looked at her, and she leaned into my side. I smiled though, dropping the yarn to put an arm round the shy girl's shoulders.
"Ah, don't worry about him Hinata. Last week he called the sky a drag because there were too many clouds to watch," I liked over at the Nara then, who was leaning against his propped up arm watching me. "As for getting people riled up, your guess is as good as mine. I mean, I'm not super pretty or anything, and my grades are average. Actually now that I think about it, there isn't much that's impressive about me, except my way with words I suppose."
Choji stopped eating to look at me, Hinata stared at me too while Shikamaru lazily glanced across at me.
"Hi-Hikari, I think you're-" Hinata was cut off as Naruto was kicked into the table. I swiped my needles out of the way of hitting Naruto's back, Choji grabbing as much of the food as possible, but he still skidded right across our lunch. His white shirt was covered in takoyaki, there was udon in his hair.
"Ha! Serves you right, you loser!" Kiba jeered at Naruto. I whipped around the glare at him.
"Inuzuka…..!" I growled. Kiba was undeterred though. I turned to help Naruto up, wiping as much of the udon out of his hair as possible. Naruto's lip jutted and he glared beside me at the ground. He was really embarrassed…
"Hey Naruto," I started before getting him to look up at me. I gave him a big smile. "Let's not waste our time on him today. Wanna go to Ichiraku's?"
He lit up immediately.
"Seriously? Ramen for lunch? Oh boy! C'mon Kari! We're gunna enjoy it! Believe it!" Naruto was practically yanking me out of the classroom, but I laughed and slowed him down.
"Wait! Your shirt, go wipe it off!" Naruto looked down at himself, realized the issue, and booked it to the boy's bathroom. I turned back to Kiba and narrowed my eyes at him. He deflected again.
"What? Kid's a runt and you know it." He looked a bit uneasy when I didn't move. He glared back, crossing his arms. "What? You want some too?"
I didn't say anything, just walked away from him and turned to the table group. A smile popped onto my lips.
"If you guys want, we can all go, my treat." I offered, though a resilient cha-ching could be heard in the back of my mind. Choji jumped up immediately after inhaling the rest of his food. Shikamaru mumbled under his breath but agreed to come. I turned to Hinata, who blushed but nodded too.
A short while later Naruto re-appeared with a half wet shirt that was somewhat clean. We organized ourselves enough, but before leaving I turned to see Kiba sitting alone under one of the trees.
"Kari! Let's go! Lunch will be over soon, y'know!" Naruto said while patting my back hard. I wheezed, but only glanced at our group.
"You guys go ahead, I'll be right there." I whiled walking over to Kiba. Naruto groaned, but Choji whacked his head.
"Hey, I wouldn't make a fuss about it…." Shikamaru's voice drifted off as I got further from them. I stopped in front of Kiba, who looked up at me with a small glare. We both stared for a moment before I offered my hand.
"Well? You coming?" I asked. The Inuzuka looked suspiciously at my hand. "What? It's not like it can bite. But you might like that."
Kiba glared at me while getting up without assistance.
"You're really lucky you're small…." Kiba murmured. I smirked.
"Green isn't your colour, Kiba." I teased, turning away to follow after the group. They hadn't gotten too far. Kiba was livid, but he didn't do much more than bounce around next to me yelling.
"I'm not jealous! Who would I be jealous of?!" Kiba growled, but I just winked at him. "What?! Answer me you-"
I swatted his hand away when he went to grab my shirt.
"Aw, Kiba you look like a rabid dog growling at me like that." I laughed at him, and Kiba continued to fume next to me. We caught up to the group, Naruto complaining about me bringing Kiba while the rest just dealt with it. I thought it was hilarious how Choji would hip check Kiba out of the way when he got too noisy.
We arrived at Ichiraku's, and I had the painful reminder that my wallet was now near empty and sighed.
Well, guess I'm not getting that kunai set anytime soon.
Naruto, Choji, and I were done our bowls before everyone else. Hinata offered her half eaten bowl to Naruto, which sent Choji into a fit. This prompted Shikamaru to give the rest of his to the larger boy.
Meanwhile I was furiously trying to knit that stupid scarf.
"Seriously, why are you knitting?" Shikamaru asked. I was glowering at the purple fabric.
"Dexterity." I answered without looking away. Naruto was looking over to the small piece of fabric I had woven.
"Kari, there's a hole there." He pointed to the piece I just finished. It pissed me off.
"I know!" I frowned. Dammit this was going to take forever!
"U-um Hikari…?" Hinata spoke up, but I only grunted while glaring at the scarf. "You might have an easier time if you didn't rest your hands like that."
I froze, looking at my hands, before looking at her with furrowed brows. Hinata came over to help, re-adjusting my hands for me. I was pretty clumsy with them, so she had to help me for a few moments adjust to the feel of the needles.
"If you hold them like this…. Then it will be easier to do that shape." Hinata explained. I looked to her, realizing she probably did this frequently. I felt like crying when I realized Hinata wouldn't be mocked by Kakashi-sensei on her dexterity.
"Thanks Hinata." I said while trying to refocus and keep going. She was right, this was way easier. So I untied it again and fixed the whole line I was dong before.
Even as we walked back to class I continued to knit the scarf. Though it was hard doing it and carrying the roll of yarn. I dropped the ball for the third time, Naruto offering to carry it instead.
However, to my surprise, Kiba was the one to pick it up. He wouldn't look at me, but he held the ball and made no move to give it back.
"Well? Let's go, we don't have all day." Kiba said, still not looking at me. I smiled.
"Aw, a dog after a ball, how cute." I said, prompting him to look at me. He opened his mouth to say something but hesitated when I gave him a big smile. "Thanks Kiba."
He looked away again, murmuring about how it was no big deal. I focused on my knitting, Naruto grumbling about Kiba better be nice to me, but the Inuzuka was quiet as we walked. Naruto instead went on chatting with Choji about ramen flavours, Hinata and Shikamaru walking quietly behind us.
I had to admit, Kakashi-sensei was right in only giving me one pound weights. Doing cardio instantly became ten times harder. I could only do half as many laps with the same amount of energy. It did make training faster, as I was only supposed to run until exhaustion until I was used to the weights. They hurt the joints significantly, and so Sensei made it very clear not to be too aggressive.
Instead of running the entire time, I was to use the practice log to work on punches and kicks. It had different juts of wood here and there to latch on to or punch at. It would catch your leg, imitating a ninja guarding against it. I was to do this for the rest of the time that I didn't run until Kakashi-sensei arrived.
Part of me was certain he was nearby the entire time, as he always appeared right when I was just getting tired. He would then work first on reviewing the old jutsu in any order, before training me on the newer ones.
The Body Flicker technique was a really common one, but few people mastered it enough to truly make a show of it.
It was a high speed movement jutsu, where a ninja cloaks themselves in chakra for a brief second to seemingly teleport elsewhere. It was just like the substitution jutsu, but instead of swapping locations with said object, one could speed away to distant areas with this jutsu.
Accuracy was the biggest difficulty with this jutsu, as moving that fast required your brain to process everything faster. It just wasn't do-able frankly, not unless someone had a dojutsu to help them. Sensei was insistent on getting me to learn it though, with my weights. The energy required to perform it was minimal, and Kakashi-sensei initially just wanted me to use it to move anywhere else. I graduated that quickly though, so now he would place a small circle on the ground and get me to try and land in there.
The first time I was fifteen feet off the base.
This was going to be tough.
The Head Hunter Jutsu was also tough, as it required a nature element. One simply had to change their chakra to the element of Earth in order to allow themselves to rapidly tunnel under their enemy without leaving a trace. They then had to draw their opponent into a hole to capture them and emerge in a different location. Pretty simple.
In theory.
Theory was always easier.
The actually jutsu was sort of tough, because if your chakra strayed from the earth element it would lock you in the ground too. More than once Kakashi-sensei had to save me from my own jutsu.
Thankfully, I was actually making progress. I performed the jutsu properly once, but Sensei gave me a sorrowfully long list of things to do in order to improve.
However, whenever we finished training Sensei would pat my head and tell me when our next session was, whether it was tomorrow or in a few days due to a mission.
I would never tell him, but the pat on the head reminded me every day of my Dad. And while it was a stab in the heart sometimes, I wouldn't tell him to stop anytime soon.
Naruto was improving too. I took most of what I learned from Sensei and taught him. He was much better at dexterity than me, but I was getting much better at countering. Naruto was a lot smarter than most people gave him credit for; between the ridiculous pranks he pulled to the way he could trick even me into traps during sparring. Naruto could use that, but when I mentioned it to him he never seemed to understand what I was getting at.
Well, I guess that explained why his test scores weren't increasing.
He was smart though, and it killed me whenever we were in class and he would play a prank on Iruka-sensei instead of trying to answer the question. But that was Naruto, my knucklehead was still himself deep down. He was still vying for attention with his pranks, but there was an interesting dynamic when he played a prank on Iruka-sensei and would get scolded.
I realized sometime ago, he did that because Sensei was the closest thing to a dad he had probably ever known.
He didn't get adopted like I did, he was always treated differently by the adults, but Sensei….. Sensei looked at him like a bratty kid, which was exactly when Naruto wanted. To treat him like a normal kid.
This torture Naruto put on Iruka-sensei made me act extra well behaved…. Most of the time…. To make up for the hell he had to endure otherwise.
I say most of the time, because there were times the boys would up and take off to the park, and I would stay quietly, but there were other times that stupid Hibachi opened his mouth and found it stuffed with glue.
Just saying, a girl's gotta have a wild side too.
A few weeks passed, I was still knitting that stupid scarf. It was almost complete, thankfully, and looked pretty good too. Naruto was starting to cotton on that I was meeting someone in the morning, but the lazy ass could barely got out of bed in time for school, so I made no move to hide myself leaving. It took me ten minutes to untangle myself from the sleeping rock most days anyways, and half the time he never woke.
He was, however, starting to poke more at me.
"So, we gunna talk about it yet?" Naruto asked while on our way to class. I feigned ignorance, having him carry the tiny ball of yarn while I knitted. It had gotten significantly easier over the past few weeks, and I was begrudgingly thinking of taking up knitting for the activity. It was calming once I got over the blinding rage of inadequacy I felt for it.
"Talk about what?" I asked, still needing to focus on my hands while they worked. Naruto unraveled more yarn for me.
"About who you're making this for." He said. I paused in my work, for the first time since wondering who I really was giving this scarf to. I did intend to give it to Kakashi-sensei, at the very least to show him I knitted it. Maybe I could just give it to him?
I picture his face without a mask and started blushing. Naruto was on that like white on rice.
"Aha! I knew it! Believe it! You have a crush on someone!" Naruto exclaimed. I sighed heavily, knowing full well I wasn't getting out of this one unscathed.
"Naruto, I don't have a crush on anyone, most boys are really dumb anyway." I muttered, continuing my work.
"What about girls?" Naruto questioned. I stuck out my tongue.
"Girls are stupid too, except Hinata, I like Hinata." I said, accidentally stabbing myself again and getting frustrated. Naruto put his head next to mine.
"You mean, like like, y'know?" He asked, I narrowed my eyes back at him.
"Is that a problem?"
"No, I just didn't think you liked girls." Naruto said, but seemed to get excited. "That means you could help me with my Sexy Jutsu!"
"I don't like girls, and no. I already told you, show me that jutsu only if you can make me look pretty." I said while he gave me more yarn again.
"But Kari, you're already really really pretty!" Naruto encouraged, but I just snickered.
"Of course you think that, you're my best friend. But I know objectively I'm not as pretty as someone like Sakura or Ino or Hinata." I said, deciding to stop my knitting and packing it all away into my bag. Naruto was frowning at me for a moment, but the he grinned and put his hands behind his head now that they were free.
"Sakura really is pretty….!" Naruto said in a dreamy tone. I giggled at him, and we fell into a comfortable silence.
Getting to the academy, however, we found an interesting surprise.
In the spot I normally sat was a bag with a little note with my name written on it. Obviously the bag was for me, but I had no idea who have given it. So far the whole class had arrived, and a few were staring at me as I stared at the bag. Naruto was having a field day next to me.
"No way no way! Who gave you chocolates?!" Naruto was practically screaming. I was turning pink as several more eyes turned to me. All I could do was uselessly stare into the sea of eyes and back down at the bag in front of me.
Were they safe to eat?
"Naruto, we didn't prank anyone so badly they would poison me, right?" I asked, delicately picking up the bag. It was white, with a little yellow ribbon tying it shut. Inside were just a handful of what looked to be homemade balls of chocolate.
I instantly didn't trust it.
There was no way someone would just leave chocolates out like this. No boy would be that cute about it….. right? My brain immediately rattled through a list of known boys and I tried to justify why it wouldn't be them.
It simply couldn't be Naruto, because he wouldn't bother leaving them, and watching Naruto cook anything other than what one could find in a riverbed was hilarious. Never mind baking.
Shikamaru was out, considering he would probably find this way too troublesome to even bother. I didn't think he couldn't leave chocolates, but they would probably be tossed at my face to shut me up instead.
Kiba didn't like me much, moreover he was messy, and these chocolates looked delicate.
Choji would've eaten them, and even if he didn't I wouldn't expect him to just leave them here either. He'd probably die a little inside leaving food on the table where just anyone could grab it.
Sasuke was… Sasuke.
I had never even spoken to Shino, or any of the other boys in the class. Hibachi would never give me anything along with his buddies.
So who…?
Or was it a girl? I didn't think anyone but Ami swung that way, and she called me ugly at least half a dozen times already. So I had my doubts.
I poke the bag, then pulled out one of the little chocolates and observed it closed. Carefully, I popped on in my mouth, then froze.
This was…..
"Uh, Kari? You okay? Does it taste that bad?" Naruto asked while reaching for one. I snatched them away.
"Nope! Naruto you would hate it! Sorry, I wouldn't want to disrupt your ramen pallet." I explained, my eyes practically rolling to the back of my head. Naruto pouted before trying to reach for the chocolates. I fought him off, complaining he should get his own. He whined that I needed to share, but I kept holding them at arms length to stop him from getting any. He pushed forward, practically laying on me as I played keep away.
"Naruto stop!" I said, but he lunged for them at the same time someone grabbed them from my hand. Naruto and I collapsed in a heap on the ground, the back of my skull hitting the wooden floor hard. Naruto knocked the window out of me, so I was laying there stunned for a moment as my eyes went bleary form the pain.
Some time later I refocused, my eyes landing on none other than the devil himself.
Sasuke stood there, holding the bag of chocolates by the tip of his fingers while staring down at us.
"Would you losers stop clogging the isle? Some of us actually want to use it." He said in his usual patronizing tone. Naruto leaped up, giving me a hand. I dusted myself off while Naruto was egging Sasuke for a match.
"Sasuke! Quit being such a jerk!" He glared. I took a moment to compose myself again while Sasuke egged Naruto right back.
"I wasn't, you two were sprawled out fighting over some stupid chocolate." Sasuke said while giving the bag a little shack. I watched him, then eyed the bento wrap I had in my bag next to me. Naruto made to grab the chocolates, but Sasuke mocked him further by jerking them just out his grasp. I watched his movements silently for a moment. Naruto was becoming even more upset.
"Ah! That's it you and me right here right now! Fair and square!" Naruto stomped his foot, Uchiha snorted.
"As if, you can't even touch me, loser." Sasuke replied. I put a hand on Naruto's shoulder.
"Hey, let's just sit down, no point getting riled up over him." I explained, pulling Naruto back to his seat. Naruto was not impressed with that.
"But what about the cho…." He stared at Sasuke, who looked just as confused at the bento wrap in his hand. I grinned, holding the chocolates in the palm of my hand.
"Now, who was it who couldn't touch them?" I teased. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at me, reviewing that I indeed had used the substitution jutsu just for some tiny chocolates.
Hey, a girl has standards. Those were the best chocolates I had ever had.
"Whoa! Kari, you've gotten quick!" Naruto said, but I just smiled secretively. The Body Flicker technique didn't need to be used in full, and at this range even at my slowest speed it was fast enough for someone at the academy not to catch me when they weren't looking. Combined with a substitution this was child's play. I couldn't do it to Kakashi, he was way faster than me, and much smoother in the motion.
Still, it made for a good trick at the academy.
Iruka-sensei came in, cutting us off from anymore confrontations. Still, I couldn't help but notice Sasuke eying me suspiciously several times through out the lesson.
I got the feeling I just made another enemy.
PLEASE READ THIS NOTE!
So I got a couple PM's and inquiries in general about this story. Please read this stupidly long Authors note. I'm going to cover 3 important points in it that I think y'all should know.
1. Boruto
The main thing I want to cover. People have pm'd me about if I was going to cover the Boruto Manga/anime.
Short answer: No.
For starts, Boruto only exists if Naruto and Hinata get it on, which frankly isn't happening in this story. Secondly, I don't consider Boruto canon to Naruto, but Naruto is canon to Boruto. That is to say, Naruto can stand on it's own as it's own series, but considering Boruto requires and borrows many character from Naruto, it technically needs Naruto to be Canon. That being said, Kishimoto didn't really create Boruto, and thus I don't consider Boruto canon to Naruto.
I will say nothing about the quality of story or anything like that, in fact I have only seen maybe 3 episodes of boruto and never read the manga. Apparently the manga is great, but no, i don't really care for it. I honestly think Boruto shouldn't be seen as a continuation, considering Boruto is the main character and not Naruto. OG fans will have a hard time dealing with Naruto having to be sidelined and no longer the strongest character in order for Boruto to shine, but I don't think that's realistic from a Canon Naruto perspective. And so, I will tell you no, there will be no Boruto continuation.
Will there be a next gen continuity? Probably. It won't be nearly as long, but there are some things I think that would make for a wonderful mini-series.
2. Backstories
For the reviewer who called me a dick for saying having a tragic back story is a prerequisite for being a Naruto character: you do you boo boo. It was a running joke when Naruto first came out, and was mentioned a lot in the abridged series, that the amount of flashbacks to tragic events in this series could've been a series on it's own.
But honestly, there are reasons for Hikari having a shitty past. Her story is going to be mirroring another characters quite a bit, as an indirect way of helping them. Naruto's story is sad, but there is merit to why it was the way it was and why he turned out the way he did. He never gave up, he wanted attention, and finally when he got that attention he started to change. He stared growing once he stopped focusing on getting people to look at him and started to look at himself. Sasuke too, when he finally realized what it meant to be a ninja, when he realized what Itahci had truly done for him, he changed a lot.
These characters have huge arcs that deal with more than 'I had a rough childhood, pity me'. No, these characters have fought and bled and survived and despite their pain they have grown past it. They have become something strong enough that that pain can hurt them anymore. Gaara is a huge example of this. He by far had to most horrific story in the entire series, but I love the character because of the wisdom this pain brought, and the fact that he was able to turn his dark past into a reflection of hope for the allied forces during the war.
I don't think it's wrong for someone to have a horrible past. In fact a properly compelled character that grows from it can be one of the most amazing characters to read about.
3. Updates
Yeah, a guest reviewer messaged me saying the story is great and all but they're not putting down investments since this story is technically 7 years old. Totally fair, I get that, but the story isn't really 7 years old.
I published this story immediately before my first round of finals for University. I have 8 courses to study for and had a mental break down so i published 3 chapters and then ran away. Things happened in my life and I also fell out of the fandom for a while. Nobody had interest in it until a bit later, when suddenly reviews piled up. Then, recently, I fell back into the fandom and was punched with nostalgia feels. I won't lie to you and vow I will never have a hiatus, because each time i try to keep to a schedule I find literally anything else to do (sweating nervously as I stare at my FMA fanfic). But I do want to keep writing this. Hikari is one of those characters that just comes easily to me. She doesn't take a lot of brain power, she's sweet and simple and yet has a sharp side to her that comes out when she needs it. She loves openly but has a lot of glaring insecurities (most will come out slowly in writing, I don't like to pile them on you at once).
So I am trying my best, but I am human. I will say I did re-write these 8 chapters completely starting on May 1st, and considering it's the 12th today I think I'm doing okay. 8 chapters in 12 days isn't so bad. I probably won't always have this speed, but I do intend to keep going. It's a lot to write, and I completely understand if people are hesitant to invest in this story, but this is what it is. If you invest I will try my absolute best to keep going.
Also, I rewrote the first 7 chapters because of continuity errors, and also the fact that I initially wrote this with the intent of ending the story before the shinobi war. At that point I had only seen the Pain destroys Konoha arc, and wasn't feeling invested in the character. I now have a long long story to tell and hope y'all enjoy it.
4. Naruto Speech
Okay, this one's quick. Naruto is a character who, in the japanese version, says something along the lines of 'y'know' at the end of his sentences, but he does it all the time. In the english dub it was changed to believe it and removed a lot in shipuuden. I grew up watching the subs online and then the dub on YTV each friday night. I find them to be pretty interchangeable, so if there isn't enough Believe It! and there's a lot more 'y'know's then you know why. I intend to write him like this since it is a much less stunted sentence structure than the English Dub and makes more sense than purely 'y'know' being added to every sentence, since he does that a lot.
TL:DR
Not covering Boruto (Don't think it's canon), Tragic backstories is a running joke so chill, I'll update as much as I can so please review, Naruto talks weird so I'm trying to make it seem more natural than the english dub.
And thank you everyone for taking the time to read this and for those who reviewed. I love this anime, it was the first one i ever watched and has a huge influence on my writing. I think Naruto is a great starter anime and it has a good balance of good and bad to it. My biggest hope is I do it justice with my story, and that you all stay with me to the very end.
Also check your inboxes if you reviewed! I'm replying to every new review to this story!
Anyway, hope you're all doing well! Wash your hands, and stay safe!
Iland Girl