WARNINGS (PLEASE READ IT SO THERE WON'T BE ANY FLAMES/FRUSTRATION LATER.

I need to address some things:

Classification: It is classified 'M' because of curses and descriptions of injury, not to mention the implied (and outright) child abuse and neglect and the heavy themes such as war, PTSD, violence etc.

Lemon/Het/Hentai (whatever): NO. Sexual relations will be implied but NOT explicit. Nothing against and I have no problem reading, but I don't have the talent to describe the steamy scenes. Every time I tried it, it came out either REALLY inappropriate and 'ha' if everybody heeds the 'MA' little sign, or REALLY weak. So I don't wanna ruin the story with something that I have ZERO talent for.

Length: I plan on expanding this until the end, meaning until Naruto the Last, but Boruto (the next generation and the movie) will be very different (duh) but so far I don't know how many chaps this monster will have. Which brings us to…

Schedule: I know that it has been two years but I was honestly with ZERO inspiration for this until more or less recently. I plan to write at least five chapter before I post as to have one week between them. No promises though. I'm a overworked college student with very little free time.

Fillers and OVAs: Hmm, I guess I can do them if there are enough requests on a specific one (or the ones that I particularly liked will already be included), otherwise I will stick to canon.

The Crossover Elements: I will MENTION them (heavily especially after the Chuunin Exams, you will see), but no lines and their 'world' won't 'exist'. The elements will be from Ruronin Kenshin, Claymore, Fairy Tail, InuYasha, Shaman King, One Man Punch and Avatar (The Last Airbender). Sometimes it will be pretty obvious like a move or technique or even the explanation (that let's be honest, one anime can easily apply to the other) and sometimes it will be subtle like a personality trait, an object and so on but it shouldn't interfere with the main events.

"Sakura Bashing": I am not sure what is the line dividing 'bashing' and what is just Sakura being Sakura because… wow. I may be biased but in my opinion she never actually 'got better' regardless of her newfound interest in getting strong so she wouldn't be 'looking at her teammates' back anymore' that took idk how long to finally stick for her to do something about it (the entire Naruto Classic she was completely useless, only whining that she was always 'behind' but never doing anything about it until she went and asked Tsunade for training at the very last episode) *sorry for the mini quasi rant* and even then I have other plans for her because KARMA! I will TRY not to 'bash' her but considering everything, she didn't exactly endear herself to me, anime, manga or whatever. So please keep that in mind, Sakura fans!

Main Pairing/Romance: There WILL be one, but I am still unsure if this can be classified as a romance because while there will be an obvious interest, nothing more 'daring' will actually happen for a good while, until at least Shippuuden.

Final note, the first chap is very boring and filled with exposition because I needed a base to build on. I admit that this story has been on the shelf for years but it wasn't until now that I managed to finally get inspiration back.

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CHAPTER ONE: Keimei and Naruto.

In one world, timeline, universe… Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina had a healthy little boy. He inherited his mom's eyes' and face's shape but all the coloring of his father's. A boy that due to neglect and abuse resorted to pranks to get attention and tried to cover everything with a smile. A mask that as open as it seemed was even better than that of his apparently more skilled peers, Neji's, Sai's, Sasuke's, Gaara's, you name it, but Uzumaki Naruto, born Namikaze Naruto was infinitely better at hiding his emotions, at the very least the truly bad ones than any of his peers.

He figured, that perhaps if he was someone as important as the Hokage, people would treat him with the same respect and kindness that they did the Old Man. In his thirst for acknowledgment, he was competitive and so straightforward that often it was taken as sign of ignorance. Years of pretending that nothing affected him took its tool.

Unlike his more apathetic friends who embraced hatred and anger, Uzumaki Naruto never acknowledged that a part of him – no matter how small – truly and fully hated Konohagakure for everything it did to him, treating him like a vermin only to worship him after he dragged half of the village back from death itself.

Now, boys and girls are different aside from the obvious. They respond and reacted to stress differently; so if Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina had a healthy young girl, Namikaze Keimei: the story would be different.

Uzumaki Keimei, born Namikaze Keimei was different from your usual girl. She wasn't into gossip – aside from the pieces of info that one could use to kill/threaten/blackmail people – she wasn't interested in dressing trendy and tidying her hair or talking about boys like the Yamanaka Ichizoku's (Clan) heiress Ino, which for those that knew her mother came as no surprise; people would think that due to the undeserving hardships she endured she would be quiet and withdrawn like the Hyuuga Ichizoku's (Clan) heiress, Hinata, or angry and vengeful like the Kurama Ichizoku's (Clan) heiress, Yakumo, but even with her frightening temper inherited from her mother, she was reserved and would only speak if spoken to like her father.

Her hair was long and wavy, tied at the nape of her neck and swinging around her knees, sapphire blue eyes just a little slanted at the corners giving her an exotic look. Short and too thin because of lack nourishment made her slightly rounded face look narrower than it should have been, tanned skin for spending a lot of time outside and full lips. Keimei always wore a standard black Shinobi training suit and blue sandals.

This is her story.

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The seven-year-old just finished her notes on the last bit of History of Konoha when the teacher that was replacing Iruka for the day called her attention.

"Uzumaki! Stop messing around you're disturbing the rest of class, get out immediately." the man was a thirty something year old that was quite aggressive towards the girl. He was a promising Chuunin that was on his way to become Jounin when the Kyuubi struck, rendering his feet's tendons almost useless.

Said child just lifted her head and raised an eyebrow.

"I was unaware that taking notes on the class was such a disturbance" her voice was as light as any girls' her age but had a calm to it that made it sound like the voice of someone much older. The Chuunin blushed angrily when every student turned from the girl to him with curiosity.

"Doesn't matter! When I say for you to get out, you get OUT!" Keimei just calmly gathered her books, notebooks and pencils in her battered backpack before standing in front of the man that clearly thought he had won.

"Well?" he said smugly pointing towards the door before his expression turned into a confused one when the girl raised her hand.

"As per the Academy Regulations, rule 5, that encompasses a student's exclusion of the class, section B that comprises of the said student's lack of any infectious diseases, the fourth paragraph clearly states that in case of misbehavior, the Instructor at the time is required to give the student in question a Report Card, in which it has to be written the reason he or she is being excluded, the class and subject that are going to be missed and the Instructor's signature in case the student's guardians need or want to speak with him or her."

All the other students gaped at her. Nara Shikamaru even raised his head from where he was in deep sleep while the Instructor sputtered before angrily stalking towards his desk and searching around before finally coming across the "Report Cards". He scowled even harder because he was sure that the Demon was making this all up, but there it was, a neat stack of blank Report Cards, hurriedly filling one he chuck it towards the girl that analyzed it meticulously before nodding and leaving.

Keimei didn't realize, but that was the day that she thoroughly impressed Aburame Shino.

The blonde was heading towards the Hokage Tower, by now taking the more scenic routes in order to avoid her worse attackers. She still grimaced when she remembered the worst ones, but Iruka-sensei taught her to always keep track of situations she knew were against the laws, when asked how she could do that, the kind Chuunin answered with a simple: "Paper track". Therefore, every single attack on her, she insisted in keeping the medical records, every single time an Instructor made good on his or her word, she used the Academy own rules to keep track of every single move. The young Uzumaki was smart.

Once there, she nodded towards the Kunoichi that was the Hokage's assistant, she was completely ignored but her passage wasn't barred, not after the last time when the Hokage himself threatened the girl's life and not just her job when she was about to strike the blonde.

"Hello, Sandaime."

Hiruzen Sarutobi winced at the cold tone, but he only had himself to blame, he sighed.

"Hello, Keimei-chan." not to be deterred by the deadpan expression he continued, "Shouldn't you be in the Academy? It's important for the basis that will be your strongest…"

She let him go on and on about the Academy while thinking that she needed to tend to her crops, she was almost out of apples and broccolis. Now that she really thought about it, the best season to plant strawberries was approaching as well, damn she loved those. The plantation of grains was going nicely per usual, rice, wheat, soy, beans, oatmeal anything that she could get her hands on. A few ANBU gave her the first few seeds and it snowballed from there. She discovered that she really liked gardening and it provided her a steady source of food. Unfortunately Keimei still needed to buy meat and milk derivations since to get those there was only one alternative: breed cows and other animals, and she didn't have the time or resources for that, but like any food that she tries to get through normal means, those had the danger of being overly priced, rotten, expired or worst case scenario but that was still pretty constant at the very least 1 in 5: poisoned.

Keimei sighed before adopting a thoughtful expression. Perhaps she could begin to hunt for some game around the village, at the Academy, Iruka-sensei already taught them how to set up traps and skin the different kind of animals those could catch. She still snorted in amusement every time that she remembered how every single girl in class save for a very a pale Hyuuga Hinata absolutely refused to even go near the dead game. Yeah, they would survive for a very long time in real world. The idea had merit, she decided, it wouldn't cover for the lack of calcium, but at the very least the iron was ticked, now she had to find out if she could do so.

The blonde blinked when she realized that Sandaime was trying to get her attention, a frustrated expression in his aged features.

"Sorry, I got distracted."

The Hokage sighed and tried to explain again why the Academy is important when Keimei raised her hand stopping him in a move so alike her father's that it always stunned him for a second.

"Iruka-sensei's replacement excluded me from classes, here is the Report Card. I ask that you no longer hire him for the events that Iruka-sensei has to be absent, please." she just watched while Sarutobi blushed in embarrassment for giving such a long winded speech when it wasn't even her fault that she was there in the first place and read the report before his shoulders slumped.

"I will see to it." she nodded her thanks and accepted the Report Card back, Sarutobi knew that she would want it back, she always did and he still didn't know why, but she was diligent in this.

"Just one more question: would I be allowed to hunt for small preys, such as rabbits, squirrels or birds in the village's forest areas?"

The Hokage blinked at this before scratching his chin.

"Well," he began absently "there is no law against it, I believe that no one ever had the need to, but if you want to practice traps, I see no harm in it."

Keimei lifted an eyebrow but didn't bother to correct the Hokage, she already got her permission and any other explanation would just delay her. The blonde just nodded her thanks again and headed home, she needed to find the most deserted spot of forest area so she wouldn't be disturbed… or attacked.

The next day she was approached by Aburame Shino.

He was hesitant, many if not all his peers balked at his allies, so he was unsure whether this is a good idea or not. But logic – and his very insistent mother – dictates that making friends is fundamental for his psychological and career progress.

For what he could gather, only Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji, Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuuga Hinata and Uzumaki Keimei are the ones most likely to accept his clan's symbiotic relationship with the Kikaichuu (Parasitic Destruction Insects) hive. Uzumaki Keimei would be his obvious first choice for many reasons. Nara and Akimichi had too much of a tight and old friendship for there to be much progress for outsiders, Uchiha Sasuke seems a very likely companion, but his personality, while alike enough to his own, had proved to be isolationist and arrogant and indifferent, therefore striking a friendship with him would take a lot more effort than it was worth in the long-term, Hyuuga Hinata while the most glaringly obvious, also being the heir to one of Konoha's Noble Clans, was at the other end of the scale, personality-wise.

Keimei never arrived a second late, but always at the last possible moment. And after a few days of Academy, Shino certainly could understand why. Uchiha Sasuke was always one of the first there, closely followed by his fan club and punctuality sometimes just wasn't worth one's hearing.

So, his best chance would be in lunch break. Uzumaki Keimei usually spends this time by herself in the swing in front of the Academy. Gathering his own lunch, he headed towards the entrance. As he expected she was there, with a bentoin one hand, chopsticks in the other and a book that looked almost as heavy as she was in her lap, her feet swinging her very softly.

Shino had already realized it, but here, where most Academy students spent their lunch, the discrepancies towards her own social life and similarities to his own are more evident. Most of those from civilian families sneered at her and steered clear, in the first few weeks there were more than that thou, blatant attacks and bullying, that ended quickly when Keimei made her temper known. And boy, what a temper, even Shino that prided himself of his clan logic and stoicism had unconsciously taken a step back from the fray that took place.

Regardless boy or girl, Uzumaki Keimei had torn through them like a white-hot knife through warm butter. But he excused himself on the fact that in this stance, it was logical to distance himself from clear danger, he really didn't expect Keimei to… explode like that, she was usually pretty quiet and reserved. Honestly, he couldn't fault her actions, a boy three years older and almost five times bigger was about to hit her when her patience had run out… they have yet to fix the human shape size in the fence. He heard that many parents tried to complain and have her throw out but Keimei was smarter than this, she glared so fiercely that only the more stupid picked on her, she waited for and only retaliated in the Taijutsu classes when violence was controllably incentivized. Shino wasn't even eight feet from her when her head snapped up. Blue eyes shining with curiosity and wariness. Stilling himself, Shino was man – regardless of his age – enough to acknowledge the drop of sweat that he could feel in his back, he walked the rest of the way until the distance was polite enough.

"Hello, Uzumaki-san. I'm unsure if you know my name, but-"

"Aburame Shino-san, I know who you are." she seemed unsure whether he was there to insult her. A fair judgment considering their classmates' historic, but completely unconcerned with the fact that she was having lunch close to what was basically a living hive.

Now here was the second issue that Shino had no idea how to go about: how one makes friends? He had no idea. First because from what he could observe, it was with constant coexistence, or they just naturally become so because they have common interests?

Keimei watched as Shino struggled with himself, then something in her hard stare melted slightly and the corner of her lips twitched a little, almost imperceptibly. She shouldn't find this amusing, she knew, but it was funny to see someone so socially inept venturing out of their comfort zone. Regardless of her own inexperience in social matters, Keimei was always very skilled in reading people. That said, she doesn't think that Shino had any ulterior motives for trying to befriend her. With a small smile, the blonde decided to take it easy on him.

"Would you like to accompany me in today's lunch break?"

By the almost deadpan expression in Shino's face, he knew exactly what she did, not that she made it hard by not even attempting to suppress a small smile in her face. But beggars can't be choosers, so Shino just nodded and sat beside the swing.

Five minutes of serene silence later, Keimei asked if he would be willing to play "20 questions".

"I do not know that game." he admitted after trying to remember if he ever heard such a thing.

"It's a less hypocrite and a more straightforward way of getting to know each other. I ask a question about you and then you do the same with me, now it can either be 10 question each or 20 question each, considering that we only have 45 minutes of lunch break, I am presuming that we'll only have time for 10 questions each. What do you say?"

Shino could feel his eyebrows raising. Keimei was, for sure, the most different girl he had ever met. Not that this was saying much, but even at the tender age of 7, he knew that girls liked to play little mind games with boys to confuse them just for personal amusement. The blonde beside him was clearly not a believer in that.

"That would be acceptable."

Inside the classroom and watching the scene, Umino Iruka smiled a little hopefully. A few feet away, Hyuuga Hinata was hiding behind a tree and staring at the scene a little wistfully.

Uzumaki Keimei was diligent and stubborn when it comes to many things. Very early on life she understood that books gave her unbiased information and that was the base of everything she knows, a very shame-faced Umino Iruka taught her how to read after asking her to stay behind to lecture her for falling the theory classes to which she waited until he finished and only responded with "I do not know how to read or write", her rich vocabulary being born because of that as well. Not having many willingly socializing with her made Keimei learn from the books.

The first problem she ever had after that was with food, a book on healthy eating habits and how-to subsistence marked the beginning of her hobby as agriculturist. The first ever beating she received, the blonde overheard the Hokage, that was visiting her at hospital, saying a simple phrase, "against the law", and it turned out that according to the dictionary, "law" is a rule or conjunction of rules that every citizen must follow with various repercussions should someone disobey and so she acquired her first book on Konoha History and then a book about its laws.

A simple Henge guaranteed her entrance in the Public Library after the first violent refusal and as she didn't like spending her money, instead of borrowing it, Keimei copied all of them. Doesn't matter the subject, a book would always be her first source. They helped her live, survive and fight. She brewed poisons and studied the correct positions on fighting stances, she knew of the various clans and notables citizens, thought nothing too secrecy after all it was open to the common public, but at the tender age of 7, Uzumaki Keimei could be considered as dangerous as a ninja… even if a different way. When it is considered foolishly suicidal to piss of a Jounin since they can kill you and make it look like an accident or an illness, the same could be said could be said about Keimei since she could legally ruin you and you wouldn't even know that she was the one that did it.

At the end of the Academy term, besides Hinata, all the other girls in class couldn't help but be jealous of her impossibly long golden blonde hair that swayed around her knees. The threads silky and wavy, the bangs sometimes getting in front of her eyes; the bluest set of eyes that anybody has ever seen shadowed by a thick and long set of lashes, naturally tanned skin that was a burnt gold and subject of envy to anyone who saw it. But they all knew better than to try to mock or intimidate her, not after she sent all and every single one of them to the infirmary after the first week of class in their Taijutsu spars.

It didn't take long for one Uchiha Sasuke to realize that both, Uzumaki Keimei and Hyuuga Hinata were the only two girls that wouldn't jump… well, him. Of course, much to the exasperation of both girls, Sasuke's friendship, or something close to it, meant having to put up with his fangirls' screeches and pathetic threats – the Taijutsu spar between the winner among the girls and the one among the boys where Keimei literally made him eat dirt by slamming his head in the ground, grabbing his hair and dragging him through the grass was non deterrent to his approaching her. If anything, it was this incident that made the Uchiha realize who he could freely socialize without the risk of either committing suicide or homicide. He wasn't exactly their friend, but it was something close to it. Of course, it helped that even though he lost, Keimei didn't go home unscratched, male pride and all.

Hinata was always very kind to her even if at times she looked at the blonde like she was some kind of a hero, being used to the opposite end of the spectrum, it was more than a little awkward, but after catching her hiding behind a post, Keimei invited her for lunch.

Shino… well, Shino talked even less than Sasuke and considering that the Uchiha was either screaming or mute it was really something. But there was comfort in the companionship for the four lonely kids, it helped that Shino's parents were accepting in their silent way of their friendship.

Sasuke's mother, Mikoto, seemed to try and find every possible excuse for Keimei to spend as much time as possible in the Uchiha Main House, much for Sasuke's bafflement and Itachi's knowing gaze. And the three of them were the only ones that Sasuke let coming within sniffing distance since the Massacre.

At first, Hinata's caretaker, Hyuuga Ko warned her to stay away from Keimei, but Hinata wasn't about to ditch the friend that meant so much to her.

The blonde was at a friendly terms with Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji, but something went cold in their almost formed friendship after some trouble involving a foreign named Yota. No one on their class, even Sasuke, Shino or Hinata, knew what happened, but whenever mentioned both boys would cringe and be filled with guilt. And both Shikamaru and Chouji hang out – or put up – with Yamanaka Ino and said girl was friends (?) with Haruno Sakura, often competing to see who screeches loud enough to shatter glass. Combined, it was enough for Keimei to be in "greetings only" status with them.

That all being said, the four kids knew that they would likely be separated, three of them – in reality four – from prominent clans and Keimei always finding out stuff that she shouldn't; the Genin teams were composed of three Genins and one Jounin-sensei, the chances of three of them being put on the same team were slim, the chances of the four of them being on the same team were zero.

The rest of class save for Inuzuka Kiba, Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji, were all from civilian families that were fed the usual fairy tale bullshit about Ninja life, they were in for a nasty experience.

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Edited: 07/17/2019

Edited: 07/31/2019