Goddess of the Hunt

Narumi Uzumaki stared at the large gates in front of her with her pack slung over a shoulder. Her long crimson hair hung lowly in a braid, ending in the middle of her back, was fluttering in the cool night breeze. She moved her gaze up to the stars in the sky as she debated in her mind whether this was the best choice for her. Her eleven years of life had never been easy. Hell, she could probably count all the good things that happened to her on one had.

Growing up in Konoha was a daily challenge for Narumi. From her first memories of the orphanage and the cruel matron who always took sweet delight in making her work all day with little to no food, to eventually having to get her own apartment when she was six due to the same matron kicking her out on her birthday – and subsequently the Kyuubi Day festival. She could honestly say that that had been one of the most terrifying nights of her life when the villagers spotted her wandering the streets.

She shuddered at the memories of fear, panic, and running. So much running. They were relentless that night. When they finally grew bored at the idea of catching her she felt like she had done over a dozen laps around the village. Which for a malnourished girl as herself was no easy feat.

Then her time at the Ninja Academy came, and that presented her with a whole new slew of challenges. Between teaching herself to read and trying to learn everything required by the Academy without anyone to help was a struggle, which inevitably caused her to fall behind everyone else. Due to this everyone treated her like an idiot, destroying what little hope she had for a normal life as an Academy student.

Normal. That was all she ever really wanted in life. She just wanted to be like everyone else. But she quickly learned was that if there was anything Narumi was, it was different. Between all the lies and half-truths that people gave her to cover up all the glares, the sneers, the sabotage of her academics and price gouging at stores, she had finally learned two months ago why she was different from a villager who had gotten a little drunk and was nice enough to 'inform' her of her condition.

She was a container. A human scroll that held a demonic kunai. The jinchuuriki to the strongest of the bijuu. It took weeks to accept that she held the Kyuubi itself within her. So many questions answered but so many more raised. Why would the Yondaime choose her? Why did the ever-friendly Sandaime Hokage never tell her, always letting her suffer in loneliness and confusion? Why did everyone seem to think she was the Kyuubi itself?

So here she stood before the south exit to the village, just a few months before her graduation exam to become a Genin. Her dimmed violet eyes looked down the path ahead of her and wondered what would happen if she were to just walk down that dirt road and never look back. What would life be like out in the rest of the world? Would she still want to be a ninja? Where would she go? What type of people would she meet? Would Konoha come hunting after her if she left?

She'd just have to add those to her very long list of questions titled after the Sandaime's favourite quote for her whenever she would ask questions; "You'll found out when you're older Narumi."

Why did no one want to adopt her? "You'll found out when you're older Narumi."

Why did she get kicked out of the orphanage? "You'll found out when you're older Narumi."

Why did the villagers call her a demon and say she was dangerous? "You'll found out when you're older Narumi."

When she was nine she stopped asking him questions, then the next month she had asked the Sandaime to just stop coming to visit. It hurt too much to be lied to when the person lying to you obviously knows the answers to your questions. He had let the hurt flash through his eyes before he pushed it down and nodded, never darkening her doorstep again. After that she had stopped talking altogether. She didn't even really know what her voice sounded like nowadays. No one wanted to talk to her, so why bother talking at all?

People were a little unnerved that the once bright and smiling girl suddenly become a despondent machine who just went through the motions of life. Routine helped suppress the hurt that no one really cared, and soon she just stopped looking for affection or recognition altogether. No one ever asked her exactly what caused her to change, she figured it was because nobody actually cared for her. Not exactly a puzzle that no one cares about you when all the looks people have given you are either hatred or casual disdain.

Taking a step, Narumi let her feet move her forward. Despite how jumbled her brain was, it seemed her body had decided for her. Soon she was taking steps past the gate, and soon after that she was picking up speed. As she started moving farther from the village and the trees started to blur in her peripheral vision, Narumi realized it didn't matter what the answers to any of the questions in her life were. There was no need to be tied down by them anymore.

They could be answered any time later on. She could do anything and go anywhere. She had freedom now.

5 Years Later

Sitting next to a campfire somewhere in the now named Land of Spring, Narumi filtered through some scrolls and her collection of different village's bingo books while tracing her finger across a map. She was currently in the process of tracking a rather elusive missing-nin. Her prey had been eluding her for a few months now and she was getting frustrated, but every clue brought her just a little bit closer.

Standing at 5'4, the now sixteen year old Narumi had grown well after her departure of Konoha. She now wore tight, dark purple ninja pants that allowed her to still move freely and carry supplies. Her top is a tight white high-necked shirt with no sleeves and no back, showing off her lightly tanned skin and the back of her bindings that held her C-cup breasts in place. On her neck was a small black scarf that allowed her to pull over her mouth if needed. Over top of that she wore a black cloak with red clouds, a rather treasured cloak she had gotten on one of her harder hunts.

About two months into her travels she had come across the problem of money. Her main problem being she didn't really have any. She would do small jobs in random villages she would come across for food or supplies, but nothing consistent. So after deciding that money would have to be a priority she travelled to one of the larger villages she could find, which turned out to be the Land of Iron. It was here she learned more about the world, and a little more about herself.

It had taken a bit of talking to convince the neutral nation she wasn't a missing-nin or a threat to their village. It was only after the village leader, Mifune, had heard her name that they let her in. It turned out that Mifune had an interest in the Uzumaki clan after he had dueled against a woman named Kushina Uzumaki years ago. She remembered talking for hours with the man about Kushina and the Uzumaki clan itself. Mifune had indulged her despite obviously being busy as the village leader, and after saying she was from Konoha they both figured the young girl must have been Kushina's daughter.

She learned how her mother was a sealing mistress of the highest degree like the Uzumaki before her, as well as being a highly feared kenjutsu master. Her mother had apparently killed a few of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist in her day, on top of being a monster on the battlefield when she was called to fight. Between her Adamantine Chakra Chains and her katana, she was described as a deadly whirlwind of blood and death if you crossed her. This gave the powerful kunoichi the highly feared name 'The Red Death'.

After spending a couple weeks in the Land of Iron reading in the village library that Mifune had generously allowed her access to, he also threw in meals for doing some work here and there, she had a basic understanding of the ninja world and her ancestors' village; Uzushiogakure. Once she had learned enough she departed for Uzushio after thanking Mifune profusely for his kindness.

It took a few weeks to get to the coast, mainly because she enjoyed travelling slowly and doing some chakra training while she travelled. She didn't have a teacher or scrolls to work off of, but she managed to work out tree climbing and water walking through observation of ninja she had seen in random villages. After she had secured a boat and traveled to the ruins of the once great Uzushiogakure, she stayed there for a full year learning everything she could.

As it turns out, her ancestors had seen fit to hide their collected immense knowledge of the shinobi arts - especially fuuinjutsu - from their attackers in a sealed off room in the hidden basement of the village's Kage building. Finding this vast wealth of knowledge was like finding gold to the young Narumi who used to have to scrounge for answers to her questions, whereas she now had all this knowledge all to herself!

It was about eight months into her training in Uzushio that she had started studying the seal on her stomach and noticed that it bore a resemblance to some of the Uzumaki style fuuinjutsu she had been studying, which confused her greatly. The Uzumaki were very secretive of their fuuinjutsu, and seeing as the Yondaime had sealed away the Kyuubi into her, she wondered how he managed to get his hands on some. She didn't think her mother had given away her sealing secrets to anyone in Konoha, as according to the village records she looked through, her mother had been sent to Konoha when she was a child so it was likely she had known to not teach anyone her clan secrets.

Narumi had a few theories, but there was never anything concrete. Her two main ones were that either Konoha had somehow managed to steal Uzumaki clan seals from either her mother or from Uzushio after its destruction. The other was that her mother had taught the Yondaime her clan seals because he becamepart of the clan. She liked to believe that the Yondaime was her father, and she had always heard he was a very kind and honorable man, so it wasn't farfetched to believe that he would only use his own child for the sealing of the great bijuu.

As well as her training in fuuinjutsu, Narumi had also done other training as well. She had found out her elemental affinity was lightning and had trained it relentlessly with Shadow Clones, resulting in her being able to create lightning chakra instinctively. By combining this with her taijutsu, the Whirlpool Fist, she created something similar to the Gentle Fist of the Hyuga clan. By focusing lightning chakra through her limbs and fingertips, she was able to increase the speed of her nerves and as a result ended up creating something to the Raikage's Lightning Armour, something she called Raiton: Inner Lightning Soul. The difference being that rather than coating her body in lightning chakra, she would use it internally to stimulate her muscles and nerves by releasing lightning chakra through her body's chakra points and circulate it inside her body. Then she would unleash the lightning chakra through her fingertips and change the intensity whether she was trying to capture or kill her opponent.

It was an effective style incorporated into her clan's Whirlpool First taijutsu style which was designed to flow around an enemies' strikes and attack from all angles, just like when someone was caught in a whirlpool. The lightning chakra added to the style allowed her to stun and mess with her opponents' nerves, causing them to slow down the longer they fought her. With the added speed it was like being attacked by a concentrated lightning storm.

She also practiced kenjutsu with wooden swords she would make out of trees on the island due to her not having a sword of her own. She contemplated the idea of going to Konoha to see if she could find her mother's sword, but she didn't even know where her mother had lived so she ruled that out. Instead she decided she would travel after she left Uzushio and see about finding a sword for her to use.

When she left Uzushio she brought everything she could find in a large sealing scroll that she sealed into a seal on her left bicep. She had designed the seal to look like her clan's symbol so most people would think it was a tattoo rather than a seal. It was also locked with her blood and chakra so as to keep people who knew some fuuinjutsu from trying stealing the scroll.

The then thirteen year old Narumi restarted her travels and set out for the Land of Lightning and eventually reached Kumogakure. Despite her clan having knowledge on how to train her lightning affinity, they didn't have many actual lightning jutsu, so Kumo seemed liked the best option for her. It took her even longer to get into Kumo than it did the Land of Iron, mainly because they were such a militaristic village, but by using a mixture of seals and suppressing her own chakra she was able to pass for a civilian.

She ended up getting a job as a hostess in a popular restaurant that ninja often frequented when off duty. By using a seal of her own creation, the Recording Seal, she was able to effectively gather information while saving money. She would then sort through what was recorded every night and write down any information or techniques she overheard. Then four months after she arrived in Kumo she started to get bored and she decided to go for a big score. After overhearing how Kumo's archives were available to jonin from a particularly chatty chunin one night and how he couldn't wait to become a jonin to learn 'awesome jutsu' as he put it, she decided that before she left Kumo she had to see if she could take a little peek for herself.

As expected security was very tight, but the ninja that protected it were predictable. Observation revealed patterns in patrols and guard changes, and because of this she was able to create an effective plan to get in and out without anyone noticing. By using a Chakra Locking Seal to completely hide her chakra signature she snuck in late one night and copied every lightning jutsu she could find from D-rank to A-rank, as stealing them would result in alarms being raised and copying them was easy due to her skills in calligraphy due to being a fuuinjutsu mistress. Unfortunately the Raikage protected anything above A-rank, but her haul was still great.

She then waited inside until the morning when the archives opened. By using the Kumo hitai-ate she had procured from a drunk patron one night, she effectively passed as a Kumo ninja and walked right out the front door with her new Kumo jutsu scroll sealed in a Kumo symbol just below her Uzushio scroll. Narumi had quickly headed back to her apartment after that and sealed all her belongings away before she left Kumo that day.

She then went on and did something similar to the other great hidden villages. She stole earth jutsu from Iwagakure, wind jutsu from Sunagakure, water jutsu from Kirigakure, and by changing her hair to black and eyes to brown she was also able to steal some fire jutsu from Konoha. She had also stopped by the empty Uchiha district and stole from their library of ninjutsu. It turns out the Uchiha had copied hundreds of techniques over the years, so Narumi didn't feel all that bad about stealing every scroll they had. Plus, she found out the last Uchiha in the village had defected before she arrived, so essentially she wasn't stealing from everyone. With the amount of ninjutsu and other scrolls she had taken she had a hard time understanding why Sasuke would defect to Orochimaru for power when he had all sorts of ninjutsu down the street from his house. She guessed her old classmate was just stupid or something.

It was also when she was in Konoha that she found what she was looking for; the Namikaze clan house. Although the Namikaze were effectively only one member, her father, they were given clan status because Minato became Hokage. She could still remember when she put her blood on the front lock and it glowed and unlocked for her. She had walked inside and looked around when her eyes spotted a picture on the mantle above the fireplace. The picture showed a beautiful, very pregnant redheaded women with violet eyes being held by a tall blonde man with deep blue eyes; her parents. The pure happiness she had felt at the time was amazing. She finally had proof of her parentage instead of just theories and speculation. She was Narumi Uzumaki-Namikaze!

She had stayed the night in her parents' room that night before she sealed everything she could the next morning. Konoha had refused her everything that was supposed to be hers anyways, no point leaving anything of the Uzumaki-Namikaze family here. Additionally, she wanted her parents to be with her every step of her journey now, so everything got sealed up to come with her. She may or may not have left an empty house in Konoha. She didn't really need a bunch of couches, but her father's cloaks were pretty awesome.

A few months after she turned fourteen she had effectively stolen from every major village in the Elemental Nations. Her stealth and infiltration skills were top notch as a result, and she most likely now had the largest collection of techniques in the world. So she spent months out in different parts of the Nations learning all sorts of different things. Her lightning manipulation was top notch now, she could manipulate the other elements to the point she could use B-rank techniques, and by learning her father's Rasengan her shape manipulation was taken to the highest degree. She did have to spend a long time sorting all the jutsu scrolls with clones, but now it was all categorized effectively for her to find whatever she needed.

A few months before she turned fifteen she was effectively one of the strongest up and coming ninja in the nations, although no one knew that, but she still didn't have what every Kage and S-rank ninja had – experience. So to get experience, and solve the problem she still had with money, Narumi became a bounty hunter. She had already collected bingo books from every nation in her travels anyway, so she started by hunting C-rank bounties to get started and train her tracking skills so she could work her way up to hunting higher ranked missing-nin and bounties.

It was shortly after she turned fifteen that the Elemental Nations started to notice that strong missing-nin were disappearing rapidly. It was alarming when a ninja liked Zabuza Momochi was taken down, but it was terrifying when Kisame Hoshigaki's bounty was cashed in. Narumi didn't realize, but rumours started to spread about a redheaded ninja who commanded lightning like no other and could hunt down anyone in the nations. The Nations then realized it was this same woman who was taking the bounties of all the missing-nin, as a result they all named her the 'Goddess of the Hunt'.

It was also when she was fifteen and relaxing in Hot Spring Country that she finally spoke with her tenant.

Flashback Start

Narumi sighed as she relaxed in the hot springs. As a result of her constant travelling and hunting she didn't have a lot of time for relaxing, so when passing by a village named after hot springs she felt she could indulge herself a little and relax. Taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly, Narumi melted into the hot water and let her muscles loosen. As a result of her deep level of relaxation, she was soon brought into her sealscape for the first time.

It was when she could no longer hear the other women in the springs did she crack an eye open and jump in surprise. She was now in a dimly hallway with ankle deep water and pipes running along the roof; one that had a liquid that was a very deep shade of blue running through it, and the other was a leaking pipe that had a bubbly red liquid in it. She also noticed she was dressed in her usual clothes.

Looking at the direction the pipes were going, Narumi started following them in hopes she could find her way out of wherever she was. As it turned out she was in some kind of maze, but by following the pipes she was able to bypass all the other turns that most likely were dead ends. She also realized this maze must have been huge, if the fact that she had been walking for what felt like hours was any indication of its size.

It was when she came out into a giant room with a tall ceiling and a huge cage did she start to get incredibly confused. She had never heard about anything like this before. And what could possibly need a huge cage likethatas a prison? Taking a closer look at the cage, Narumi could also see what looked like a piece of paper stuck in the middle of it where the lock would be. Squinting to see what was written on it, she took a few steps forward and saw the word 'Seal' written on it surrounded by seals.

What confused Narumi was that the seal looked familiar. It was obviously a very well-constructed containment seal; it had purification seals in it, and looked like it was surrounded by an Eight-Trigram seal….

Oh.

That was why it was familiar. This washer seal. The one she had studied so extensively she had actually been able to create a key for if she ever needed to unlock the seal. When red eyes snapped open in the darkness beyond the cage doors, Narumi was now completely sure of where she was and what was behind those doors.

'So my jailer finally decides to come and visit little ol' me? I'm so honoured. What can I do for you kit?'rumbled a deep, surprisingly feminine sounding voice.

Watching as a large red nine-tailed fox slowly lumbered out of the darkness, Narumi wasn't sure exactly what she was supposed to say. This was the fox that had killed her parents and orphaned her for whatever reason it had at the time. Its' chakra had also kept her alive as a child when she struggled to feed herself. Deciding that being cautiously friendly was her best bet, Narumi addressed the mountain sized kitsune before her.

'I never thought I'd get to meet you Kyuubi. I wasn't actually sure if I could meet you to be honest, but I was always curious what you were like.' Narumi admitted honestly.

'So my container is curious about me is she? Well kit, what would you like to know?'the kitsune purred.

Narumi was surprised that the fox was being so, not exactly friendly, more like civil. She would have thought the bijuu to be more arrogant than this.

'Well, I'm not too sure really. Like I said, I never thought we'd talk so I'm not exactly sure what to say here or what I would like to know. I guess I'll ask the obvious then; why did you attack Konoha?'

'Well that is the obvious question, isn't it kit?'Narumi wasn't sure, but it sounded like the large fox sighed. 'Well I guess I can tell you since you asked so politely. I never actually meant to attack your village. You didn't know this but you were my third container. I was sealed in two Uzumaki before you were, Mito Uzumaki and then your mother, Kushina Uzumaki. The day that you were born I found myself released into the forest outside Konoha staring down at a man wearing an orange mask with a Sharingan. I was then put under a very strong genjutsu and the next thing I knew I was sealed here inside of you.'It also sounded like the bijuu mentioned something about 'Uchiha and their damned shitty eyes' but Narumi couldn't be positive.

Narumi was speechless.That was why her mother was sent to Konoha, to be the vessel for the Kyuubi? It made sense she supposed, the Uzumaki were strong willed people with even stronger chakra. They were likely the only people who could house the mighty bijuu safely due to its intense chakra. The fact that a man with a Sharingan was responsible only further confused her. What would an Uchiha hope to gain by attacking Konoha?

'Thank you for telling me that Kyuubi. I wasn't sure what to expect when I saw you behind the cage, but I'm sort of glad we could meet like this. It's nice to know that you weren't directly responsible for everything that happened.' Narumi admitted with a small smile aimed at the huge fox.

'And why is that kit? Are you not afraid of me? Your mother was terrified of me, so much so she chained me to a floating rock and never once so much as spoke to me. But you're different, even despite our history you still talk to me. Why?'

Narumi could hear the intrigue in the question. She figured no one had ever sat down and talked to the kitsune before, so the fox was obviously confused as to why this young woman who was orphaned because of it would want to talk to her.

'Although I can't say I'm not upset by the fact you killed my parents, even if you were being controlled, you did keep me alive throughout my childhood and you healed me whenever I got hurt due to one of my hunts or I messed up during my training. Without you I definitely would have died a hundred times over. So in the end all I can say is thank you for keeping me alive and unscarred all these years.'

She could tell the Kyuubi was surprised by the way its eyes widened. No doubt no one had ever been so polite to it before, let alone actually thanked it. She could hear the Kyuubi chuckle, before it started to descend into a bellowing laugh. It was a few minutes later before the fox stopped laughing enough to talk again.

'Oh kit, you are the most intriguing human I have ever met. So strong, independent, yet still full of humility despite your childhood. Not to mention quite the young beauty too.'

Narumi could hear the teasing tone in the fox's voice, but it didn't stop the pink from spreading on her cheeks. She had been complimented before on her looks by all sorts of men that tried to hit on her when she travelled the nations, but men never really intrigued her so she would just say thank you and move on. This made her heart skip a little even though she found it quite odd.

'So Kyuubi, is there something I can call you? I don't think your name is actually Kyuubi, is it?' Narumi asked, clearing her throat to hide the slight stutter in her voice.

'Well you are pretty smart too, nobody thinks we bijuu have names. Quite the package aren't you kit? Brains and looks all wrapped up together in a pretty little crimson haired package. And since you asked so nicely, you may call me Kurara.'Kurara said while she leaned down and looked Narumi directly in the eye, a foxy smirk forming as the girl blushed a light red and averted her eyes.

'W-well, I just thought someone must have given you a name, everyone has a name after all.' Narumi said before she paused. 'Wait, Kurara? Are you a girl?'

'Why yes I am kit. Most people don't think we have genders either, sort of understandable I guess, but it still doesn't change the fact the strongest of the bijuu is a female. It is easier to understand when I take my human form though.'

'You have a human form? I always figured the bijuu were just large chakra constructs, I didn't realize that you could change forms or had ganders.' Narumi was very intrigued by this, as it probably explained why the bijuu would randomly disappear at times during history before they started being sealed.

'Yes kit, we have human forms, though only Nibi and I are females. My sister and I used to travel around the world and mess with humans years ago. A nekomata and a kitsune together are trouble for anyone.'Narumi could hear the fondness Kurara had for her sister, and she also heard the chuckle that probably signified one of the many times the sisters pranked people.

'I must say, this isn't what I expected at all. You're pretty cool Kurara. We'll have to keep in touch from now on. My travels get kind of lonely seeing as it's just me most of the time, so a friend would be nice. Maybe we could look into getting you out of here from time to time.' Narumi tilted her head as she thought about some seals that could work. 'We could probably use a modified summoning contract to pull your consciousness and some chakra out of the seal to get you some freedom once in a while. The eight-trigram seal will block most of your chakra from coming out, but with your power even one percent is pretty strong. Although we could bypass that by using the key I created to loosen the seal and give you more chakra.'

Narumi could see Kurara's eyes widen when she mentioned getting her out of the seal. She could guess that Kurara didn't have high hopes about getting out of the seal ever again, so it probably surprised her that her container would freely offer her freedom.

'That would be… most appreciated kit. As much as I enjoy my naps, being able to stretch my legs would be very nice.'Narumi could see the thankfulness in Kurara's eyes, but the sudden smirk had her on guard.'I'd have to keep my human form while you had me summoned, but I'm sure you could make that…enjoyablefor me, couldn't you Naru-chan?'

She knew she was being teased again. Damned fox kept getting to her somehow! Averting her eyes again as some mental images of being held by a beauty with fox ears assaulted her mind, Narumi tried to force the blush down again. The dark red staining her cheeks showed she was failing though - quite badly by how red her face was getting.

'I'm sure we could find something to do Kurara. Next time we talk I'll have something put together and I can meet you when we're closer in height.'

Getting another knowing smirk from the large kitsune which caused another blush, Narumi waved goodbye with a small smile and focused on leaving the seal. Blinking away some sleep in her eyes, she stepped out of the hot springs and got dressed again before she headed to her hotel room for the night. Raiga Kurosaki and Aoi Rokusho wouldn't exactly hunt themselves. Plus she had a rather impressive sword collection going so far, and she was sure Kubikiribocho and Samehada wouldn't mind seeing the Kiba blades again and meeting the Raijin no Ken…

Flashback End

A couple weeks after that she had designed a rather simple yet effective summoning contract for Kurara in the form of a fox tattoo on her left arm, which would allow her to leave the seal with up to four tails of chakra, depending on how much Narumi decided to summon her with. The initial summoning had been interesting, in that Narumi was surprised when a very voluptuous naked women suddenly appeared before her in a cloud of smoke.

Kurara had easily been one of the most beautiful women Narumi had ever seen. She had tanned skin and long red hair that slowly became black towards the end and had her bangs covering her left eye, leaving her slitted dark red right eye visible. Atop her head were two tall fluffy fox ears that were red and tipped with black like her hair. She was a few inches taller than Narumi herself at 5'11" with long caramel legs, and what appeared to be large D-cup breasts with dark areolas and slightly lighter nipples.

What surprised her even more was when the beautiful fox woman proceeded to speed toward her and glomp her. Between the joyous squeals, thank yous and large breasts her face was pressed into, Narumi could tell Kurara was very happy to be free. And after getting her new companion dressed into her new clothes, a dark blue turtleneck with the kanji for 'Nine' over her heart and tight black pants with high heel shinobi sandals, Narumi was happy she could look at Kurara without blushing. Although her new companion's naked body was burned into her mind, it did give her an inkling as to why men never really interested her all that much.

Narumi did find herself enjoying Kurara's company during her travels though. She never realized how lonely she actually was until her new partner came along. Kurara just had a way with her. She always seemed to know how to make her blush, or laugh, or just put a smile on her face. And Narumi would never admit it in hopes to avoid more teasing, but it was nice having a warm body to sleep with on the colder nights.

It was three months later the two new partners finally ran into what would turn into one of Narumi's hardest hunts and strongest prey so far. She had kept tabs on him from rumours she heard and finally pinpointed where he would be; an old Uchiha Hideout deep in Fire Country.

Itachi Uchiha.

She had noticed a year or so ago that a lot of S-rank missing-nin had started wearing similar cloaks, but she hadn't been able to confirm it until she had taken down Kisame Hoshigaki and saw him wearing a black cloak with red flags. She had heard before that these people in black and red cloaks were asking around silently for information on jinchuuriki, but Narumi didn't really care until she had heard that both Iwagakure's jinchuuriki had disappeared. Then she had taken down Kisame and held onto his sword and what appeared to be a ring that may have been important.

She had found Itachi a few weeks later and the battle was the most intense she had ever fought. Kurara had watched from afar due to not wanting to risk getting taken control of by Itachi's Sharingan, and she described it as being similar to when her family use to fight in the past. The devastation was everywhere. Narumi had flung lightning ninjutsu everywhere and scorched the ground, as well as harnessing the actual lightning in the atmosphere and making it strike from above, causing fires to start in the forest.

Itachi's Sharingan had given him a slight advantage, but Narumi was used to fighting stronger opponents. Samehada had been a huge help during the fight which made her happy she had kept the chakra-eating sword. By using her Inner Lightning Soul and Samehada's chakra eating abilities Narumi was able to power through the fight and overwhelm Itachi. The Sharingan was good for slowing down fast opponents, but Narumi was one of the fastest people in the Nations, right beside the Raikage. She'd never forget when Samehada tore through Itachi's Susanoo cloak; that was the only time during the fight when she had seen Itachi surprised.

After the battle she had taken Itachi's ring and his cloak to remember her hardest fought battle yet - plus she liked the way it looked. She felt bad, but she had also taken his eyes and sealed them away, no point letting someone have a fully developed and very strong Sharingan if they looted his body after she turned in the bounty. Bounty offices only wanted the body anyway, so she supposed there was no harm done in the end.

Soon after she had healed from her fight, she heard rumours that Orochimaru and Itachi's younger brother Sasuke were searching for the 'Goddess of the Hunt', as she never let people know her actual name. Apparently Sasuke had wanted to kill his brother because Itachi had killed the Uchiha clan, and he now had a personal vendetta against her for taking his 'right to kill him'.

But if there was one thing no one ever did, it was hunt her down. So Narumi decided she would have to pay Orochimaru and his pet Uchiha a visit to let them know that no one ever hunted the Goddess. Which is why she was in Spring Country, she had been moving from base to base, slowly tearing apart Orochimaru's bases in search of her new prey. The twisted experiments and notes on his terrible fuuinjutsu practice that she found, especially those awful cursed seals of his, was just extra incentive to gut him. Adding the Kusanagi to her collection would be cool too… Damn she loved swords.

Feeling arms drape over her shoulders, Narumi was knocked out of her reminiscing as Kurara appeared over her shoulder and nuzzled her cheek while looking at her notes.

"Watcha doing Naru-chan?" Kurara purred into Narumi's ear. Kurara always enjoyed teasing her 'kit', as she affectionately liked to call Narumi. Well, it was one of the many affectionate terms she had.

Narumi sighed, maybe she would have better luck finding more of Orochimaru's bases later. "Not much Kura-chan, just trying to locate Orochimaru like usual. Damn snake is so slippery he's nearly impossible to find. We've destroyed close to two dozen bases and put down so many of his horrific experiments that I'm starting to get irritated."

Kurara could feel the tension in Narumi's shoulders. She was obviously stressed about finding Orochimaru and Sasuke. Kurara knew that this hunt would be tough, not as tough as Itachi because Narumi had been keeping tabs and hunting him for close to two years, but she was basically playing hide and seek with the snake at this point.

"Hmm, maybe my kit needs a massage to relax?" Although it was phrased as a question, the fact Itachi's cloak was pulled off her and hands were rubbing into her shoulders let Narumi know she didn't have much of a choice, not that she minded.

Narumi relaxed and leaned back into Kurara's chest. She loved when Kurara would give her massages. It wasn't very often Kurara massaged her, usually when her partner noticed she was particularly stressed or just wanted to tease her, but she was always grateful for them. Narumi always had a difficult time keeping in her pleased moans when Kurara hit a nasty knot in her back though. She didn't want her overly affectionate and somewhat frisky partner to know just how much she loved her massages. Giving her partner a pleased hum, Narumi allowed Kurara to nuzzle into her neck a little. A fair trade for back rubs she reasoned.

Feeling lips pressed against her neck, Narumi's eyes snapped open. The kitsune had never gone this far before. She had teased her and danced around the subject, usually in the form of subtle hints or innuendos, but Narumi didn't think she'd ever go through with it or actually meant it. She felt the fox woman's lips move up to below her ear as her head fell back on Kurara's shoulder. Narumi didn't know what she was supposed to do in this situation. Her whole life had been training, travelling or hunting. It didn't leave a lot of time for anything remotely sexual.

Kurara was surprised. She didn't think Narumi would allow her to go this far. She usually just left little suggestive hints without acting on them, usually something along the lines of 'being cold at night' or 'her tent was always open'. Letting herself be lost in Narumi's scent, Kurara sucked gently on her earlobe before she moved back down to her neck.

Narumi moaned throatily. She had tried to hold it in, but Kurara's lips just felt sogood. Reaching a hand back and wrapping her hand in the taller woman's hair, Narumi pulled her further into her neck. She didn't exactly know what to do in this situation, but she figured it best to let her body do whatever it wanted and enjoy herself. She always did enjoy learning new things…

…

Narumi panted deeply in Kurara's lap. She wasn't exactly sure when she had turned around to seat herself in Kurara's lap, but apparently she had. She thought it must have been sometime between when the third hickey was placed on her neck and when her gorgeous companion's tongue invaded her mouth.

"Kura-chan…" Narumi panted out. "Wh-what just happened?"

Kurara pulled the flustered girl into her neck and stroked her hair to calm her erratic heart. She didn't expect the young kit to be so feisty when they got into it, but even if she wasn't that experienced she still put her all into it, just like everything else she did.

"Well my little vixen," Kurara purred, "I finally got you to act on your instincts. Although you've never paid attention to your sexuality, mainly because you've been alone so long, I've been trying to coax it out of you ever since you unsealed me. Don't worry Naru-chan, you can seduce me next time." She finished with a wink to the blushing girl.

Narumi just buried her face back into the kitsune's neck and allowed herself to be held. She hated that Kurara could fluster her so easily. The redhead just knew what buttons to push and how to push them perfectly. 'Damned sexy ladies with fluffy fox ears…'

Kurara giggled. Her kit really was precious, more so when she got all embarrassed like this and her cheeks started to match her hair. Deciding to hold off on the teasing for a bit, Kurara pulled the crimsonette out of her neck and placed a small kiss on her forehead.

"Now Naru-chan," Kurara said in an uncharacteristically serious voice, "where this goes from here is up to you. I know I tease you from time to time, mainly because you're such a cutie and I do think you're beautiful, but I won't force you into anything." Kurara cleared her throat for this next part. "I know you've never had a relationship before, and this is all new to you, but we can take this as slow as you want and just get used to each other for the time being. We travel together and know each other very well, so if you'd like to call me your girlfriend or anything else that's fine." Here Kurara smiled slyly. "I'm with you no matter what, figuratively and literally."

Narumi stared into Kurara's uncovered red eye, which wasn't filled with mirth like usual, but was looking directly into her own eyes seriously. It seemed under all that teasing Kurara really did like her. This just begged the question of what did she want? She had never actually considered what it would be like being in a relationship as she was always told when she lived in Konoha no one could love her, and travelling didn't really allow for love either way. She could admit to herself that Kurara was the only person she had ever found attractive, even if she was actually a mountain sized nine-tailed fox, it didn't change the fact that the busty fox-eared woman was the only one who could get her heart really beating.

"I-I don't know what to do Kura-chan. I've never been in this situation before." Tears started to build up in her eyes. "I didn't think anyone could ever really like me, so I never let myself hope that one day someone would." Narumi buried her head in Kurara's neck again. "What do I do Kura-chan? You're so great to me but I don't know what to do…" she mumbled softly into Kurara's caramel coloured skin.

"It's okay Naru-chan. Like I said, we can just take this slow." Kurara said in hopes to comfort the confused the young woman in her lap. "We'll continue on like we usually do, though we'll just add more snuggles and kisses. Is that okay my little vixen?"

Kurara felt Narumi nod into her. Deciding that she made great progress tonight with her container, Kurara picked up the girl and held her in her arms and placed some more kisses around her face.

"Come on Naru-chan, let's go to bed and we can resume our hunting in the morning." Crawling into the tent, Kurara turned Narumi around and held the girl's back to her own chest and wrapped her arms around the crimsonette's waist. Placing a kiss at the back of her neck, Kurara whispered a soft goodnight and allowed herself to fall asleep with her kit in her arms.

Staring at the large gates before her, Narumi sighed and leaned on her lover's shoulder. She didn't want to do this, but she was left with no choice. She needed more information on her target, and there was only one place she could get it.

Konoha.

It had taken all her courage just to come here when she was younger to gather everything she could find from her parent's home. The added scrolls from the Uchiha Clan was a bonus, but it didn't change how much she did not want to be here. Feeling lips pressing against the top of her hair, she looked up into a pair of crimson eyes.

"Just breathe and stay calm Naru-chan." Her companion whispered soothingly. "All we need is any information they have on the snake and we can leave right after. I'm with you every step of the way."

She smiled at her partner. Kurara really was a blessing for her sometimes. Other than being a fun sparring partner and late night cuddle buddy, she was a great companion and always seemed to know how to relax her when she got nervous. Like now.

Nodding to her fox-eared love, she walked with hand in hand to the gates and approached the two guards. She recognized the both of them from when she was last in the village, though she didn't remember their names. She had only seen them once before, not really her fault she didn't remember everything about a couple average Chuunin.

"Papers and reason for visiting Konoha please." The one with bandages on his face said while he eyed her cloak. An error on her part, the Akatsuki cloak obviously set them on edge.

Handing over her papers that detailed her and her companion as wandering shinobi named Kurari and Miyabi, no need to give away their names with the snake having ears everywhere, she told them they were here to visit and to see the Hokage about some information.

"And what would you need information would you be asking for?" The other one with the bandana as a hitai-ate asked.

"My companion and I are looking to gather some information on two of your missing-nin. We are hoping your village can provide us with any knowledge of their whereabouts." Narumi explained.

"We may be able to take you to the Hokage depending on which missing-nin you are currently after." The bandaged one said. Narumi figured they were probably looking to buy time until some Anbu showed up. Maybe they thought she was an Akatsuki member hunting down herself? She almost snorted at the thought.

Feeling five chakra signatures moving to her location rapidly, one much larger than the other. Narumi figured she was about to have some company. Seeing four animal masked shinobi drop down to the streets, surrounding a rather chesty blonde woman, Narumi sighed to herself. She was hoping to see the Hokage in private, not in handcuffs. Seeing all the shinobi before her tense in anticipation for a fight, she supposed she should say something.

"Hello there, glad you could see me so promptly. Though I will admit I wasn't expecting such a large group to escort me to the Hokage." Hearing Kurara snicker, she supposed her lover would enjoy the sarcastic tone in her voice.

"Who are you and why are you in my village?" The busty woman demanded.

"Your village? I wasn't aware Konoha had chosen a new Hokage. Last time I was here you had a Hokage who took time out of his day to lie to a little girl from time to time. I hope you're a better leader than him." She wasn't originally here to cause problems, but being back here brought some ugly emotions to the surface for the redheaded girl. No reason not to vent a little.

"How dare you talk about my sensei like that?!" Feeling the ground shake under her feet as the woman approached her and the mention of 'sensei', Narumi knew who she was talking to now. Her strength was legendary and she was listed in quite a few bingo books; Tsunade of the Sannin.

"Ah, so you were made Hokage? Last I heard you didn't particularly like Konoha, so I wonder what changed your mind, hmm? Maybe decided your goddaughter was finally important to come back?" She couldn't keep the venom out of her voice there. She had read all about Tsunade in her mother's journals, and although her mother loved the woman dearly, Narumi did not feel the same way. Guessing by the rage on the new Hokage's face, Narumi knew she hit a sore spot.

"And what would you know of my goddaughter? No one knows anything about her. For good reason." Tsunade snarled through gritted teeth.

"Why don't you take me to your office and we can have a nice friendly chat? Maybe I can tell you about little Narumi-chan and you can give me some info on a snake and his pet for me." Narumi knew the woman would understand who she was referring to.

"Anbu, escort my guests and I to my office, And call the monkey and toad to meet us there." Tsunade addressed to her guard before she turned her gaze back on Narumi. "You will follow me, and if there is anything suggesting that you're here for anything other than to talk I will kill you."

Nodding to the woman she had so easily enraged, Narumi grabbed Kurara's hand and followed after the Hokage and her guards. This trip had turned out to be more fun than she originally thought.

…

Sitting on a small couch in an office she remember quite well, Narumi waited for this 'toad and monkey' she had heard her godmother mention before to show up. The walk through the village was tense, no small in part to the group of Anbu escorting her. The civilians were all put on edge by her escort too, no doubt thinking she was a dangerous criminal, which did a good job of escalating the tension.

Hearing the door and window open at the same time, she looked around the room at the two new occupants and scowled slightly. She recognized both of them immediately, one from her father's journal and the other from her own memories. Seeing the Toad Sage Jiraiya and the Sandaime come in made this one big happy moment for Narumi. Feeling her hand being squeezed and a thumb rub the back of her hand she relaxed, thankful for Kurara's continued work in keeping her calm.

"So now that your teammate and sensei are here, would you like to begin?" Narumi said in an effort to get the conversation started. She wanted her info and to be gone as soon as possible. The longer she was in the village the more on edge she felt. Being surrounded by three experienced S-rank shinobi didn't help her nerves either.

"First, why don't you tell us who you are and what you know about Narumi Uzumaki?" Tsunade demanded, setting both Jiraiya and Hiruzen on edge. They hadn't been told why they were called, but if this woman knew anything about the child that ran away five years ago they knew they had to treat this delicately.

"Well my name is Kurari, and you could say I have an… interest in Narumi. Not every day you meet the child of Minato Namikaze out in the woods, so when she asked me to train her after we got to know each other I accepted. Quite the eager student that girl." She was surprised they all managed to keep their facial expressions so schooled. Her heritage was the one of the most well kept secrets Konoha had.

"And where is Narumi now?" This time it was the Sandaime who asked, though Narumi wasn't about to let them have all the information without a price.

"Nuh uh," she said while wagging a finger at them playfully, "I believe if you want to know any more than that you'll have to tell me some information in return. I am here for anything you have on Orochimaru and his pupil Sasuke Uchiha, not to give you everything you want. I would like them both dead and have had… difficulties in finding them. You show me the way towards the snake, I'll tell you all about Narumi-chan."

It was Jiraiya who stepped forward next. "And what reason do you have to kill Orochimaru exactly? And why would you choose to train Narumi, judging by your cloak there I would assume you had a different goal in mind for her." He said with an edge in his voice.

"Well you could say I'm quite the experienced missing-nin killer. This cloak was a prize from a very difficult hunt I went on, and I rather enjoyed the look of it so I decided to keep it for myself. Itachi was a very formidable opponent and deserved his ranking as an S-class missing-nin and I like to remember my more difficult bounties." Narumi said while remembering her fight with Itachi. "As for Narumi, well how could I say no to a little girl who just wanted to be strong and needed a friend?"

Her statement drew the desired results when three winces were seen. It proved they all felt rather guilty about her childhood and subsequent running away. Not that she really cared. They wouldn't feel guilty if they hadn't abandoned her.

"You want us to believe that you killed Itachi Uchiha? You look like you're still in your teens, I find it hard to believe you could take down someone of Itachi's level. Besides, it was the Goddess of the Hunt who took him down." Tsunade retorted with a condescedning snort.

"Well it was the villages that started calling me that, I didn't exactly start calling myself a goddess. Though I am rather fond of the name now. Anyways, after killing Kisame Hoshigaki and taking Samehada from him," Narumi said, running a hand down the bandaged sword resting beside her, "I decided to go after anyone else wearing a similar cloak to this one, and Itachi was the only one I could find. So I hunted him down and killed him. As a result I drew the attention of the snake because of Sasuke, so now I am out to find them before they find me."

Narumi watched as the three legendary shinobi in the room all exchanged glances. She just wished this would all hurry up. Yes, her shinobi nickname was 'Goddess of the Hunt', and although it was an awesome name, she didn't actively go out asking people to call her that. That wasn't to say she would stop someone if they were to call her that. Her parents both had cool shinobi names and she liked hers. Hopefully Samehada was proof enough for them for her to believe her name and for them to give her something about Orochimaru.

"If we were to tell you what we know about Orochimaru's whereabouts," Tsunade started to say, "would you be willing to tell us about Narumi? We are all concerned about her safety and would like to know she is doing okay."

"That is acceptable to me, as long as the snake dies I'm fine with telling you about her."

Tsunade turned to Jiraiya and motioned for him to do something, and by judging by the look on his face, he wasn't too eager to do whatever she was asking of him. A few seconds of staring between the Sannin and Jiraiya finally sighed before he unsealed a rather thick book and tossed it over to Narumi. Flipping open a few pages, Narumi was surprised at the level of detail Jiraiya had gone into about his ex-teammate.

There were notes on some of his experiments, some Narumi had run into and some she hadn't. There was information on the cursed seals and a couple maps of different parts of the Nations detailing the locations where Orochimaru had been sighted and where Jiraiya knew a few of his bases to be. It really was a goldmine of knowledge on the snake. Seeing the last known location for him in the book was somewhere in the Land of Birds a week ago, Narumi supposed this was more than helpful. Orochimaru usually stayed in a base from anywhere from two weeks to a month. At top speed it would take her five days to get to Bird Country, hopefully giving her enough time to find her prey, or at least it would be helpful in getting her in the vicinity. Snapping the book closed she nodded to Tsunade and Jiraiya, letting them know they could ask whatever they wanted. She had what she needed, might as well give them something to calm them down.

"How is Narumi doing? Is she doing okay? And how do you know of her heritage?" Tsunade blurted out rapidly.

"Narumi-chan is doing just fine, quite the strong kunoichi that one. I ran into her while she was travelling from the Land of Iron to the ruins of Uzushiogakure. She had an interest in the Uzumaki clan and told me all about a woman named Kushina Uzumaki she had heard about from Mifune of Iron Country. I stayed around in Uzushio with her for a little bit and taught her how to fight and she taught me about seals." Narumi explained to the shinobi in the room, all of them eager to hear anything about herself, though they didn't know that. Which was actually hard to believe because she wasn't even in a Henge. "She later started studying her own seal and theorized that the Yondaime must have been her father by the similarities between Uzumaki seals and the one the Yondaime used to seal away the Kyuubi."

It took a little bit for her words to sink in for all of them. Narumi saw them all grimace when she mentioned her mother, no doubt feeling more than a little guilty that the leader of the Land of Iron had told her of Kushina when they all kept it from her. They all grew nervous when she mentioned studying the seal on her stomach, so there was no need to also say the Kyuubi was in the room with them. That'd just make things worse. Besides, Kurara was rather enjoying the show.

"So I took some of her blood and snuck into Konoha and tested it on the Yondaime's house." Narumi admitted without a care. "When the gate outisde the compound opened I used the rest of the blood and brought everything that was inside the house back to Narumi for her to keep. She was extremely grateful to have her inheritance in her possession. Last time I saw her she was working on the Hiraishin. She was making great progress on it too…"

That wasn't a lie either. Although the original space-time ninjutsu had been keyed to a singular person, her father, she was making progress on it. She had to rebuild it from the ground up so it would work for her, but it worked as a good side project to clear her head some nights.

"What do you mean you snuck into Konoha?!" Tsunade roared after a few seconds of silence. "And you took everything from the Yondaime's house?!" She added quickly.

"It's exactly what it sounds like." Narumi replied flippantly with a wave of the hand. "Narumi wanted confirmation of her lineage and I gave it to her." There was no reason to tell them she broke into the Uchiha District too, though she was surprised no one actually knew she had. 'Village security must be a real problem here,' she mused silently.

"So where exactly is young Narumi now?" Hearing the voice come from the couch across from her, she looked to Hiruzen who had asked the question.

"Well that's tough to say really." Narumi said thoughtfully. "I guess it's fair to say she's nearby." Hearing a chuckle from Kurara, she shot her girlfriend a look telling her to not give anything away. "Tell me, what do you know of Narumi?"

Though confused, Tsunade answered her question. "Well you've already talked of her heritage and her tenant. From what I've been told she was a rather quiet girl when she was in the village. Didn't have many friends, though that wasn't really her fault." Tsunade said lowly. "Had long, vibrant red hair, violet eyes…"

Narumi watched as Tsunade slowly started to realize who exactly 'Kurari' was. She was a little bewildered that it had taken this long, it's not like many other people had dark purple eyes and long crimson hair. Jiraiya should have probably realized that you can't unlock a blood seal without blood and chakra, meaning the person had to physically be at the seal, meaning Narumi would have to have been at the gate to unlock it.

"Narumi… is that really you?" Tsunade shakily asked, tears building in the corner of her eyes. Both Jiraiya and Hiruzen looked to Tsunade wondering what was wrong, until they both gained surprised looks and turned their heads back to her.

"Hello there Tsunade, Jiraiya. It's nice to finally meet my godparents. Though I would have liked to have met you when I was younger." Ignoring the winces that statement drew, she turned to Hiruzen. "I suppose it's nice to see you as well Old Man, but not really."

The sarcasm was heavy in her voice, and they all knew why. They had left her to the wolves as a child, with only Hiruzen offering a few nice words here and there to give her some semblance of kindness while he constantly lied to her. It was obvious Narumi was still a little bitter about their decisions surrounding her childhood.

"Before I leave and start hunting down Orochimaru again, would anyone like to ask anything?" Narumi thought that was more than they deserved, but she supposed her parents would have liked it if she at least talked to them a little.

"It really is you, isn't it?" Tsunade looked like she was on the verge of falling apart. Narumi was a little confused by the reaction. The woman had been off wherever while she suffered in isolation for eleven years, why did she seem to be having a breakdown? "W-when I was told a few years ago Kushina had had a daughter, I was so excited to meet you." Now Narumi was even more confused, Tsunade hadn't even known she existed? The tears made more sense now if that was true. "I was heartbroken when I heard you were gone and why you had left. I may not have loved Konoha back then as much as I used too or even now, but I always thought the people were better than what I had heard. I'm so sorry Narumi, I'm so sorry I wasn't there."

This was getting awkward for Narumi now. She hadn't planned for any of this to happen, but she got so caught up in her little game of leading them on that she exposed her actual identity to them. She didn't really do much to hide it, but she was playing off of the premise that no one would expect her to come back to Konoha ever again. Now Tsunade was openly crying in front of her and she didn't know what to do. Jiraiya still looked shocked, as did Hiruzen, but they were both eyeing her and Kurara with some level of suspicion. Probably trying to figure out if she or Kurara was a threat.

"I wasn't aware my existence was hidden from you. Though judging by the village's track record for hiding things from people it shouldn't have been a huge surprise to me. I knew from my parents' journals that my mother never had a chance to tell you she was naming you my godmother, but I would have thought someone had told you eventually, especially when I was orphaned."

She didn't care that Jiraiya and Hiruzen refused to make eye contact with her now, she didn't care much about them at all at the moment. Both of them had known her heritage when she was younger and both had refused to tell her. And in Jiraiya's case he had abandoned his duties to her father and to her as her godfather by doing whatever he did. Most likely those stupid books she had seen in bookshops around the nations. She didn't want to have anything to do with them right now or in the immediate future. But if it was true that Tsunade hadn't known she was born, it meant she had at least one family member she could somewhat forgive.

"So why wasn't she told? What excuse was it this time to keep my godmother from knowing my existence?" She asked the two silent men in the room.

"Now Narumi…" Jiraiya said nervously with a gulp, "there were certain circumstances-"

"Fuck your 'circumstances'!" Narumi stood and shouted in a rare loss of control. "I know all about circumstances. I was orphaned because of circumstances! I was left to fend for myself because of circumstances! I was lied to every single day that I lived in this Kami-forsaken village because of yourso called circumstances. That's just your way of justifying your abandoning of me you bastard!" Narumi was panting with pure fury in her eyes. She had never lost control like this before, but once she started it just all came flowing out. Eleven years of neglect and hurt was pouring out of her and she had no desire to stop now that she had the floor. "You and the Old Man there decided it was best for me to grow up ignorant of who I was and where I came from. You both probably figured I was a strong little girl who could somehow survive on her own with the weight of the hatred of every villager on her shoulders, didn't you? As long as you justified it you were fine while I suffered." Narumi's voice cracked a little there, she still remembered the glares and whispers some nights. The hatred had never really left her even after all these years.

"'Oh, Narumi is the daughter of two strong shinobi, no doubt she'll be strong as well and be able to change their minds about her being a demon. She just has to work hard and she'll get there one day.'" She said in a mocking tone. "My parents trusted you to look after me, not lie to me and let me fester in my own isolation for a decade! And now I find out the one person who actually is blood-related to me was lied to about my being born?! Whatever your excuses were, they're just that, excuses. If my parents knew that this is what would happen when they named you my godfather and left me in both your and the Sandaime's care, they would have never done it in the first place. I'm sure my parents are rolling over in their graves with the way you two handled things."

Everyone stared at her wide-eyed. Tsunade looked on the verge of breaking down into more tears, obviously distraught at her goddaughter's confession. Jiraiya looked like his heart had been ripped out of his chest by her own hand and couldn't look her in the eye. Hiruzen himself looked like he had been slapped across the face. She didn't enjoy the guilt she caused them, but she had been dealing with this for years now, she deserved to get some of this off her chest.

"So yes I left. I left this hellhole my parents for some reason gave their lives for." She was no longer shouting now, but the venom was still there. "I travelled, became strong, learned everything I could from wherever I went and I still have more to learn. I fell in love with a woman, who despite all the crap she's been put through, loves me anyway." She felt the warm hand squeeze her own when she mentioned Kurara, and allowed herself a small moment of happiness that Kurara was here with her. "Know that I have no plans for Konoha out of respect to my parents' sacrifice, but should you come after me I will fight back." She let the threat hang there, they'd have to bring her back to this village in a body bag if they tried to bring her here against her will. Konoha never felt like home to her, and it most likely never would be.

"If you would like to talk to me Tsunade, as despite how everything turned out I really don't blame you, you're free to write to me with this," handing over a scroll to the woman, who looked to her for an explanation, "it's an invention of mine for long distance communication. I use it with some of my contacts when they want to send me information. The seals transmit anything written onto it to the sister scroll, which is in my possession."

Narumi was happy to see her godmother's face light up at the explanation of the scroll. She herself was all for getting to know the woman her mother wrote so much about in her journals, but right now she didn't have the time nor the desire to stick around in Konoha to do it. Pulling Kurara to her feet and preparing to leave, she had a few more words for them.

"Jiraiya, Hiruzen." She said coldly. "I don't really care what your intentions were for leaving me on my own, but I have no desire to patch things up or 'bury the hatchet'. You're made your decisions and I've made mine. My parents trusted you both, but I do not. Tsunade has a chance and that's it. Don't ask me to come back here, don't ask me to help Konoha, and do not try to follow or track me."

Ignoring the protests of the men who obviously wanted to explain themselves, she grabbed Samehada and walked out of the room with Kurara beside her. She had gotten the information she needed and said what she wanted to say, now she had a snake to hunt.

So if this is your first time reading chapter one, feel free to ignore this. If not, I'll explain some of the changes. The first big change was Narumi's attitude, which if you remember is now a bit angrier and emotional than before. I was writing chapter two and had a hard time justifying Narumi staying in Konoha, so this was my alternative. The story will be more about Narumi and Kurara travelling and different battles than anything else. She obviously does NOT like Jiraiya and Hiruzen, for good reason, but she is willing to give Tsunade a chance. Plus I wanted to write a more emotional character, what with Artic Fox having the stoic type of MC.

Now for everyone else. Yes, Narumi is going to give Tsunade a chance to be part of her life. It was obvious Tsunade never wanted any of this for Narumi, and it'll be explained later on why Tsunade is Hokage when Narumi wasn't there to convince her.

Jiraiya and Hiruzen get the wrath of the Goddess brought down upon them. I never liked that canon Naruto was so forgiving to both Jiraiya and the Sandaime. It shouldn't have been up to a chakra imprint in the seal to inform him Minato and Kushina were his parents. And no matter what Jiraiya believed, it's not cool to leave your godchild as an orphan when your apprentice trusts you to watch over him. And teaching him to summon toads and make bigger variants of the Rasengan over the course of three years is just terrible teaching.

Anyways, next chapter gets into fighting Orochimaru and Sasuke. Dunno what'll happen to Gaara and Deidara/Sasori, but I've got a vague idea of what'll happen with them.

Feel free to check out my other story if you want; Arctic Fox. If you don't, well that's cool too.

Your author,

InsanityFic