Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto (either manga or anime!); the wonderful Kishimoto-sensei owns all rights. However, the plot and Namiko Uzumaki are mine!

Author's Note:
I'm so glad you have decided to read this fan fiction! This is very closely aligned with both the manga and the anime, though will start deviating quite a bit around chapter 306 of the manga/episode 51 of Shippuden.
The main difference is that I have added a new character. Naruto will still be a focus, but Namiko (my OC) will mostly be the main character. You'll follow Team 7 for some of the story, but mostly Team 8 and also occasionally some of the other teams. My goal is to explore the different connections within the Konoha 12 and some of the jounin as well.
You will most likely recognize scenes from both the manga and the anime; I do not own these scenes (they belong to Kishimoto-sensei) but I will be tweaking them to fit my writing style and the longer plot I have. This fic will most likely be between 100 to 150 chapters long. I will be including things from Shippuden (Hurricane Chronicles) as well as the original.
I will be using Japanese honorifics/names but English jutsu names. There is a reason for it, I promise.
Also, yes, there will be romance in here, but not for quite a while. You may see glimpses of it like in the anime/manga (for example, Hinata's crush on Naruto and other childhood crushes) but full-blown romance won't be until much later after the time skip in Chapter 20.

Thank you,
Eriisu

Chapter 1: So It Begins

Twelve years ago, the nine-tailed demon fox suddenly appeared. Its tails lashed out, smashing mountains and sending tidal waves crashing to the shores. The ninja rose to defend their villages. One shinobi faced the nine-tailed fox in mortal combat. He sacrificed his life to capture the beast and seal it away. That shinobi was Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage, who sealed the demon away in not one child, but two. And so begins the story…

"NARUTO!" a young girl's voice cried out as she ran about Konoha, "Naruto! Where are you?" As she ran past the Hokage Monument, she saw several shinobi gathered around the base, yelling at someone.

"Enough with the stupid pranks!"

"We're sick of it! Grow the heck up!"

"You're dead when they catch you! You know that?"

She heard a familiar chuckle and looked up towards the monument. "Looooosers! Wanna-be's! You don't have what it takes to do something this low! I rule and you drool! Oh, good morning imouto-chan!" Naruto said with a cheesy grin, "Looking for me?" He held a paintbrush in one hand and a bucket in the other and had spread different colors of paint all over the monument.

The young girl pushed back a strand of long, bright red hair from her freckled face and climbed up to her brother. "Uzumaki Naruto! You are in so much trouble! You shouldn't do stupid things like this, onii-chan." She snatched the paintbrush from his hand, putting her hands on her hips. "What will Iruka-sensei say when he sees all of this?" She said with obvious disapproval tainting her voice.

"Aw, come on, Namiko, I was just having fun!" Naruto said, trying to grab back the paintbrush, "Besides, Iruka-sensei will love my artwork, ya know!"

"Oh, would I now?" A voice suddenly bellowed from the ground beneath the siblings, "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING YOU IDIOT?! Both of you get down from there and get back to class!"

Namiko sent a glare towards her brother, while Naruto waltzed down to Iruka-sensei like nothing was wrong.

"Naruto, what in the Land of Fire possessed you to do this?" scolded Iruka.

Naruto still held the same grin on his face. "Iruka-sensei, I was so bored in class! And this monument looks so boring, I thought painting it would be fun for me and Konoha!"

"Well, it's not! I'm taking you back to class and when we are done with class, you are going to clean up every last drop of paint on this!" Iruka said, gesturing to the mess on the Hokage monument.

Naruto sighed and hung his head, slowly beginning the walk back to the academy. Namiko followed closely behind, glaring at the back of her brother's head the entire time.

"So, due to Naruto choosing to skip class, we're going to have a re-test on the Transformation Jutsu, even those who've already passed it," Iruka announced. The whole class let out resounding groans.

"Naruto! See what you did!"

"Naruto, you are an idiot!"

"Stupid dobe…"

Naruto groaned to himself, 'Great, Iruka gets mad and takes it out on me yet again and with a jutsu that I'm not good with!'

One by one, the students showed Iruka their very best transformation of himself. Sakura did well, Sasuke did excellently, and even Namiko did very well!

Naruto got up slowly to do the jutsu. "This sucks! But here goes nothing…change!"

A loud pop was heard and out of a thick mist showed the silhouette of a voluptuous, naked blonde woman. Iruka's nose immediately began to bleed, "Naruto! That isn't funny!"

Naruto let out a laugh and immediately transformed back into himself, "I call it my Sexy Jutsu, dattebayo!"

Iruka was fuming. "HOW BIG A FOOL ARE YOU?! You waste all your time and talent inventing these stupid tricks! Class is dismissed, but Naruto stay here!"

Iruka stood with his arms crossed over his chest. "You don't leave here until every drop of paint is gone!"

Naruto scrubbed the faces of the Hokage monument while Iruka and Namiko watched from on top of the monument. Namiko watched her brother with a melancholy look on her face and sighed, "Iruka-sensei, can I please just go down there and help him?"

Iruka sighed and turned to face the young girl. "Namiko, he made this mess himself, so he has to clean it up himself." Namiko always felt bad for her brother when he got in trouble, regardless of whether he deserved it or not. Iruka knew they were both good kids, they just didn't have parents to help reinforce it, "Oi! Naruto, if you hurry and clean all of this, I'll treat you both to ramen!"

Naruto perked up. "Really?" Iruka nodded and a big grin spread over Naruto's face, "Yeah baby! Talk about motivation!" Naruto quickly finished cleaning and soon they were at Ichiraku eating ramen.

Iruka sat between the two children and looked over at Naruto, "Naruto, why did you choose to deface that spot? Don't you know who the Hokage leaders are?"

"Of course I do. I know they earned the title Lord Hokage because they were the best shinobi in the village." Naruto took off his goggles and downed the last of his ramen. Namiko continued, "Especially the Yondaime Hokage who saved the village from the nine-tailed demon fox. He was truly amazing!"

Iruka sighed, "If you know, then why did you do that?"

Naruto smirked, closing his eyes, and putting a thumb to his chest. "Because I'm going to become Hokage myself and I'll be the greatest Hokage of all time! Then everyone will have to respect me! By the way sensei, I have a favor to ask…"

"What? More ramen?" Iruka questioned.

"Mmm…no…can I borrow that Konoha headband for a while?" Naruto asked with a cheeky grin.

"This?" Iruka pointed to his forehead protector. "No, no, this is worn only by those who've graduated from Ninja Academy."

"What s rip-off!" Naruto whined.

Iruka laughed heartily, "So, that's why you took off your goggles!"

"All right, we're ready for the graduation test to begin! When your name is called, please go to the next classroom for your final test which is on the Clone Jutsu," announced a chuunin named Mizuki, who was helping Iruka with the test.

Naruto grimaced and internally groaned. 'Of all the jutsus, it had to be my worst one!' he thought.

Namiko knew her brother struggled particularly hard with that specific one and tried to offer him some comfort, "Naruto-nii, you'll do fine! It won't be that bad!"

Names were beginning to be called and Naruto got more nervous by the second as the room emptied. Namiko smiled softly at her brother hoping to calm his nerves, "You can do this!"

"Uzumaki Namiko!" a voice called from the hallway.

Namiko got up to take her test, turning towards her brother, "Wish me luck!"

Naruto gave her a giant smile and a thumbs-up, "Go get it!"

She greeted both Iruka-sensei and Mizuki as she walked through the door. "Clone jutsu!" In a poof of smoke, two decent clones of herself appeared.

Mizuki grinned slyly, "Not bad at all."

Iruka did not smile or frown, "It could be better, but I know this isn't your strongest jutsu. You pass."

Namiko smiled brightly and happily accepted her forehead protector, running outside the academy to wait for Naruto to finish.

Naruto sat in the classroom anxiously playing with his goggles in his hands when he heard, "Uzumaki Naruto!"

Naruto took a deep breath and walked to the next room. When he entered the room, he closed his eyes for a moment before proceeding. "Clone jutsu!" Out of the poof of smoke appeared one clone of Naruto, crumpled up on the floor, knocked out cold. Naruto broke out in a cold sweat.

Iruka shook his head and bellowed, "Failed!"

Mizuki tried appealing to Iruka. "Iruka, his physical coordination and stamina are excellent and he managed to at least make one clone. Shouldn't we let him pass?"

"Mizuki, all the others managed to create at least two copies. Naruto only created one and it can't even function. With all due respect, his performance doesn't merit a passing grade."

Naruto angrily ran outside and sat on the swing outside the academy, watching his classmates and their families celebrate their success.

"Great job, son, you old man is proud!"

"Congratulations, graduate! Tonight, Mom is going to cook up a feast!"

He heard a few of the adults talking quietly. "Hey, isn't that the kid who…?" "Yeah, that's him. The only one who failed." "Serves him right…" "Can you imagine if they let someone like him become a shinobi?" "I mean, think about what he is…" "Don't even go there."

Namiko, who had been talking to a girl with pink hair, spotted Naruto and ran up to her brother with a huge grin, "Naruto! Let me see your forehead protector!" She was practically jumping up and down with anticipation.

Naruto couldn't meet her gaze and just sighed, "I didn't get one…"

Namiko immediately stopped dead in her tracks, her smile instantly fading to a look of disbelief. "What? How is that possible?"

"Because Iruka-sensei hates me!" Naruto immediately ran away from everyone, trying to find a spot to let out his anger.

"I'll let him calm down for a bit and then go looking for him," Namiko said quietly to herself, knowing better than to go after her brother when he was upset. He never handled rejection well, but then what child would when they'd be ridiculed and reviled like they had been?

Naruto ran through the streets of Konoha, just trying to erase all the hurt that was going on in his heart. Why did everyone seem to hate him and Namiko? He constantly heard the hateful comments that adults and even other kids would mutter under their breath. He wouldn't defend himself, but if anyone ever insulted his sister, there would be hell to pay.

"Naruto," a voice called out from behind him.

He turned around and saw a familiar face. "Master Mizuki!"

"I heard what you said to Namiko and I wanted to talk to you," started Mizuki with a solemn look on his face. "Iruka-sensei is a really serious guy. His parents died in the demon fox attack twelve years ago, so everything he's accomplished he did by himself, with a lot of hard work and discipline."

Naruto scoffed. "What's that got to do with me?"

"You remind him of himself. He thinks he's helping you to grow strong by pushing you so hard. Give him a bit of a break. Can't you understand where he's coming from? One orphan to another?"

"But…I really wanted to graduate…" sighed Naruto as he sat down on a nearby ledge.

Mizuki gave a mischievous smile. "Let me tell you a secret that I've been keeping for a long time…"

"Sexy jutsu!" Naruto yelled from inside the Hokage office. The Sandaime Hokage was bleeding from his nose and passed out cold. Naruto smirked, "Crazy old man…now where is that scroll Mizuki told me about?" He scanned the shelves until he spotted the largest scroll he'd ever seen. "Gotcha!" and hopped out the window, rushing towards the forest.

When he felt he'd gotten far enough in the forest, he stopped and pulled out the scroll. "Okay, what's the first jutsu in here? Multiple shadow clones? SERIOUSLY?! My worst jutsu and it's popping up everywhere!" He groaned loudly as he began to read the scroll.

After letting Naruto cool off for a couple of hours, Namiko decided it was time to check on her older brother. Suddenly, Iruka-sensei ran up to her. "Namiko! Have you seen your brother anywhere?!"

Dread instantly filled her body. "No…what is wrong? Is he in trouble?"

"He stole a secret scroll from the Hokage's office. Do you know where he would go?"

Namiko blanched and quickly tried to regain her composure, "Probably the forest. I'll lead the way!" She quickly started leaping from rooftop to rooftop towards the forest with Iruka following closely behind her.

When they arrived at the forest, they weaved expertly through the trees, searching for Naruto. However, Namiko seemed to know exactly where to find her brother in the depths of the trees and soon they found him in a small clearing. "Onii-chan! What did you do?!"

Naruto's head popped up and scratched his head. "Heh, you found me…I only had time to memorize one technique."

Iruka raised an eyebrow and studied the young blonde before him. "You look exhausted. What have you been doing out here?"

"Wait'll I show you!" Naruto beamed with pride. "Some of the shinobi arts are amazing! If I master them, then you'll have to let me graduate!"

Iruka's face softened as he thought, 'He's been out here studying himself into exhaustion?'

"Naruto, what is that massive scroll?" questioned Namiko, pointing at the scroll strapped tightly to his back.

"Oh, this?" Naruto gestured to the scroll strapped to his back. "Master Mizuki told me about the scroll and this place. He said if I learned what was written inside, I could be a full-fledged shinobi!"

Iruka's eyes widened as Mizuki's plan started to form in his mind. Iruka quickly shoved Naruto out of the way as dozens of kunai rained over him.

Mizuki hid in the shadows. "Nice job in finding him, Iruka. Naruto, give me the scroll!"

Iruka roared as he yanked out the kunai embedded in his body. "Naruto! Don't give him the scroll, even if you die! It has forbidden jutsu sealed in it and Mizuki used you to try and get his hands on it!"

Mizuki's dark smirk grew larger. "Naruto, Namiko, it's time you two knew the truth. Twelve years ago, you knew about the fox being sealed away, right?"

Panic was all over Iruka's face, tainting his voice, "NO! Don't!"

"Since that incident, a rule was created in the village. A rule that was to never be told to you two," said Mizuki, closing his eyes.

Naruto looked worried, "What is the rule…?"

Namiko glanced between her brother and Mizuki, "Why aren't we allowed to know?"

Mizuki opened his eyes, "The rule is that nobody can tell you that the demon fox was sealed inside you both. Naruto and Namiko, YOU are the demon fox! You killed Iruka's parents and countless others and destroyed the village…"

"STOP IT!" screamed Iruka, trying to cut off Mizuki's words.

Mizuki kept going, "Naruto, you were sealed up by the very Hokage you so admire and have been lied to by everyone. Didn't you two find it odd how everyone seemed to hate you for 'no reason'? Iruka is the same! He hates you as well!" A pulse of orange chakra surrounded the siblings and Naruto's eyes flashed red for a split second.

"No one will ever accept you. You're alone in the world. The scroll you hold is the one that was used to seal you up!" Mizuki threw a large shuriken towards the sibling pair, but it never made it to them. Iruka jumped in front of them, using his body as a shield and taking the shuriken to the back.

Namiko stared at Iruka with tears in her eyes, "Why would you shield us?"

Naruto watched Iruka's face with stunned eyes. "We killed your parents…"

Iruka gave a sad smile. "After my parents died, no one gave me attention or acknowledged me in any way. So I started acting like an idiot to get attention. I was in so much pain and no one seemed to care. Naruto, you must've been in a lot of pain too to act out like you did. Namiko, I know you just shut down and stayed quiet, hoping no one would notice you and hurt your feelings." Tears streamed down Iruka's face, "If I had done a better job, neither of you would've ever felt like that. I'm so sorry…"

Mizuki chuckled menacingly. "Iruka, come now, you saw Naruto's eyes and their demonic chakra earlier…"

Iruka quickly cut him off, "They aren't like that!"

"It doesn't matter anyway," Mizuki said with a malicious grin. "I'll kill them both and get the scroll!"

"No way!" Iruka stood and pulled the children to their feet, "Go you two! Hide! I'll hold him off!"

Namiko quickly grabbed her brother's hand and ran as fast as she could. Naruto stumbled as he rushed along behind her, "Iruka…"

"Nii-chan, we have to keep the scroll safe. That's what Iruka told us to do! Think of this as our first mission!"

"Right, let's hide over here behind this tree." Naruto pulled her behind a large tree, hugging the scroll to his chest. "Do you think that what Mizuki said was true?"

Namiko let out a sigh, looking down in her lap. "I honestly don't know, but he is right, we've always been alone. No parents, no nothing."

"You're wrong." Naruto said, grinning at his little sister, "We're not alone, we have each other."

She looked up and gave a small smile in return. "You're right. Thanks, nii-chan."

Suddenly they heard movement from behind the tree they were leaning against, followed by Mizuki's voice, "You'd really risk your life for a demon? One that killed your parents and destroyed so many lives? You're pathetic and delusional. The demon fox is going to use that scroll and destroy the village again!"

Iruka shook his head, "The demon fox would do that, but not Naruto or Namiko. Naruto may not be the hardest worker and he's clumsy so nobody accepts him. Namiko is quiet and stays hidden because she doesn't want to get hurt by others. They both know what it feels like to have deep pain in your heart. They aren't the demon fox; they are members of Konoha…they're Uzumaki Naruto and Namiko of the Leaf!"

Mizuki rolled his eyes, "I said I'd take care of you later, but I'm changing my mind." He charged at Iruka with another giant shuriken in hand, but he was knocked back by Naruto rushing out from behind the tree.

Namiko ran over to Iruka to check his injuries, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, but why did you two come out of hiding?!" Iruka demanded.

Mizuki scoffed. "You shouldn't have done that."

Naruto's eyes narrowed at Mizuki. "Don't touch Iruka-sensei or I'll kill you."

"Shut up, idiot, I'll kill a weakling like you in one shot!" spat Mizuki with a wild look in his eyes.

Naruto smirked. "Try it trash, I'll return the pain a thousand times over!"

"Do it demon fox!"

"SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!" yelled Naruto and hundreds of copies of himself surrounded the area. His grin got bigger, "What's wrong, sensei? Weren't you going to kill me in one shot? I'll start things off then!" With those words, his clones jumped onto Mizuki, beating him to an unconscious and bloody pulp. When the clones disappeared and the end scene was before him, he grimaced slightly at the sight of Mizuki. "…maybe I went a little too far…"

Namiko stared wide-eyed at her brother. "You think? And what the heck was that? I thought clones couldn't make contact with physical objects and people?"

Iruka smiled proudly and explained, "Naruto made shadow clones; they're able to actually fight like real flesh and blood. It's a forbidden jutsu because it divides your chakra equally among your clones, but Naruto and you have quite a bit of extra chakra because of the demon fox. So he was able to make hundreds of them. Not even the Hokage could do that. It's amazing! Naruto, come here, and close your eyes."

Naruto followed what Iruka told him as he felt Iruka place something around his head, "Can I open my eyes now?"

"Sure," Iruka said beaming at Naruto, as the young blond noticed the hitai-ate on his forehead and smiled brightly, "congratulations on graduating! Now, let's go grab some celebratory ramen!"

Naruto slurped down his noodles with gusto. "So, what's next Iruka-sensei?"

"Don't talk with your mouth full, dummy!" scolded Namiko, rolling her eyes at her brother.

Iruka thought for a moment before responding, "Tomorrow you'll take your ninja registration photos, and the day after will be your graduation ceremony. Then you'll be put onto a team with two other students and a jounin leader soon after."

Namiko looked cautiously at Iruka. "On a team? Do we get to stay together?"

Iruka shook his head, "I highly doubt it. Siblings have never been allowed to be on the same team due to the likelihood of forgoing mission goals to save your brother or sister. What you two will have to remember most is the mission always comes first, no matter what it is."

Naruto grinned at his sister, "We'll be okay! Maybe it'll be good for us to spend a little time apart. Plus, we'll see each other at home anyhow."

Namiko nodded, biting her lip. "That's not the reason I'm worried. What about the secret that Mizuki told us? Does everyone know?"

Iruka shook his head again, "No, your classmates and any others who weren't old enough to remember when it happened have no idea. This also means that you two will have to keep what you now know a secret too. There's too big a chance that someone could try to use either of you to hold leverage over your teammates, or even Konoha itself."

"What?! That's hard!" whined Naruto.

"But important," replied Iruka, "Just think of this as an S-class mission. Valuable information that cannot be leaked to anyone."

"Understood, sensei!" the siblings answered in unison, with Namiko breaking down into giggles shortly after.

Being a ninja is going to be interesting…

A/N: And there is chapter one! This first chapter clocked in at a little over 3,600 words. I'm aiming to have each chapter somewhere between 2,000 and 5,000 words. Some longer, some shorter, though it will depend on what is covered in the chapter. I will be aiming to post a chapter a week. I hope you enjoy this adventure! Please remember to review! Thank you!

-Eriisu