Vixen

Author's Note: I had some requests for another female Naruto x Sasuke story. In this story, Naruto was born female and her name is Naruko. The Uchiha Massacre never happened. If any of those things bother you, you might want to turn back now. For those of you still here, I hope you enjoy the story and reviews are always appreciated.

Naruko talking to Kyuubi is in bold.

Kyubbi talking to Naruko is in bold italics.

Disclaimer: I own nothing and make no profit off of any of my stories.

Chapter 1

Sasuke Uchiha had always been very proud to be part of his family. The Uchiha Clan was well known for its visual prowess, strength, and intelligence. Unfortunately, it also had a rather bloody history. It was that history that was the problem.

Long ago, they had been put in charge of the Military Police Force and given their own District. Tobirama, the second Hokage, had claimed that it was a show of trust and good faith. It would allow them to have an outlet for their emotions while benefiting the village. After all, only exceptional ninjas were capable of apprehending criminal ninjas.

"That backfired spectacularly." Sasuke mutters to himself as he passes by the Military Police Force's building on his way home.

Some Uchihas thought that it was just a clever move by Tobirama to further isolate them. The prison was inside the organization's building. That fact was just another reminder that it was the Uchiha Clan's job to capture their fellow ninjas and punish them for whatever offenses they committed. Naturally, this was going to cause resentment to form.

"Sasuke, come. Father wants to speak with you." Itachi calls out to him.

While Tobirama's true motivation may forever a mystery, the end result wasn't. The Uchihas were officially Leaf Citizens, but the Uchiha District functioned as a semi-autonomously. They even had their own shops and grew their own crops.

The only things they didn't have were an Academy and Hospital. Otherwise, they were almost completely self-sufficient. That meant that they were rarely forced to interact with those outside their Clan.

"Coming!" Sasuke says as he races over to his elder brother and the two of them make their way home.

When Sasuke walked inside their home and saw his father's face, he was suddenly overcome with a feeling of dread. What could possibly make his father look that solemn? It was almost like he felt guilty about something.

"Father? Itachi said that you wanted to speak with me about something?" Sasuke inquires.

"Yes. Sasuke, please sit down. This isn't easy for me to say, but you're an adult now. I can only hope that you will understand why this has to be done." Fugaku says as Sasuke sits down and Itachi watches them anxiously.

The fact that Itachi was nervous only made Sasuke even more concerned. It was unfathomable that both Fugaku and Itachi Uchiha were anxious about anything. The two of them had always seemed so unflappable to Sasuke, even as a little boy.

"You hope that I can understand what?" The raven haired Uchiha asks.

That's when Mikoto came in. She places her hand on Fugaku's shoulder in a gesture of comfort and looks at Sasuke with sad eyes. Sasuke frowns. Apparently everyone else knew what was going on, but him.

"Sasuke, our Clan has grown rather isolated from the rest of the village for a long time now. Tensions have always lingered underneath the surface, but it is growing worse by the day. We have real fears that if something isn't done, there may be a Civil War inside the Leaf." Mikoto informs him gently.

Sasuke's eyes widen in horror. A Civil War inside the Leaf? A war between his family and the rest of the Leaf Village? It would be a bloodbath. Even if they won, they would be vulnerable to attack from outside villages.

"There has to be something that we can do to stop that from happening." The ninja says.

"There is something that we can do. I regret that it has come to this, but I don't see any other alternative that doesn't end in blood. A symbolic marriage of one of our own to someone outside the Clan would be best. Ideally, the marriage would be between one of our most prominent members and to someone who holds an important position in the Leaf Village." Fugaku says.

The young Uchiha frowns. A marriage? That didn't sound so bad. Well he supposed it all depended on who was getting married though.

"I guess that makes sense. I don't see why you are all so upset. I'm sure that can be arranged easily enough. Cousin Shisui is very flirtatious and popular with the women in the village. I'm sure that we could find him someone and that would solve all our problems." Sasuke says brightly.

Fugaku chuckles. Yes, Sasuke was definitely right about Shisui. Unfortunately, that wouldn't be enough. Shisui was an important member of their Clan, but it wouldn't be personal enough.

"Yes, I suppose he would be more eager than most to find himself a pretty wife and play the part of our Clan's savior. Unfortunately, he is not the right man for the job. As a show of good faith, it should be a more personal choice. You do have the right to refuse, but I would urge you not to do so. I would have asked Itachi, but he is already married." Fugaku says.

Sasuke blinks. His father wanted HIM to enter an arranged marriage? He knew that arranged marriages were still fairly common in Clans, especially ones with a bloodline. Despite that, he had always assumed that his parents wouldn't try to match him. The practice was slowly falling out of favor.

"You want me to get married for the good of the Clan?" Sasuke asks in disbelief.

"Yes, essentially that is what I'm asking you to do. Of course, you have the right to reject it. There is a chance that she might reject the offer, even if you do not. I would urge you to strongly consider it though." His father says.

He didn't know how to respond to that. Sasuke had always known that is Clan was different from the other Clans in the Leaf. The only other Clan that came close to being as insular as them were the Hyugas and even they were more integrated with the rest of the village. He tried not to think about it too much, but it looked like reality wasn't going to be denied any longer.

"Who? Who do you want me to marry?" Sasuke asks in a voice barely above a whisper.

"The Hokage's daughter. Naruko Uzumaki. Your mother and Kushina are still friends. That makes the Hokage Family more favorable towards us than most others. You're the same age as well. I believe that you even attended the Academy together." His father replies.

Sasuke was almost certain that he was gaping at his father like a fish. Fugaku wanted him to marry NARUKO? The Jinchuuriki? The Vixen?

"You want me to marry, Naruko?" Sasuke repeats.

That was what her nickname was. If you were a ninja and became well known, often times you would earn another title. Naruko was known as the Vixen.

It made sense because the Nine Tails dwelled inside her and because she could be rather mischievous, just like a fox. (Sasuke also suspected the fact that she had whisker like markings on her cheeks had something to so with it, but he digressed.)

There was also another reason she had gotten that nickname. While Naruko still seemed unaware of the fact she had fully blossomed, even Sasuke was forced to acknowledge she was beautiful. Sky blue eyes, long golden hair, and her body definitely had the curves of a full grown woman.

"It would be ideal. She is the Hokage's daughter and you are my son. I lead our Clan and Minato leads this village. There are very few unions that would have greater symbolic significance." His father says.

"Sasuke, it's truly up to you and Naruko. We wouldn't force you to marry someone against your will." Mikoto assures him.

She wanted her sons to marry for love. Itachi had certainly married for love. Sasuke should have that same opportunity. Unfortunately, she wasn't entirely certain if that would be the case.

"I'll do it. It's for the good of the Clan. I don't think that it matters though. She's never going to agree to an arranged marriage, anyway." Sasuke says confidently.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, foolish little brother." Itachi says with a smirk.

Meanwhile a similar conversation was about to be had in the Namikaze-Uzumaki household. Naruko was getting really nervous. She had never seen her parents this on uneasy before.

"Mom, dad, what's wrong?" She finally asks at dinner.

The tension was killing her. Idly, the blonde woman thought that you could cut it with a knife. Something was up. Something big was up.

"Naruko, do you remember Mikoto Uchiha? She used to babysit you sometimes when you were younger." Minato inquires.

"Well yeah. I remember her. She was nice. Why? Did something happen to her?" The blue eyed ninja asks in concern.

"Not exactly. You have every right to say no, but I hope that you don't. I wish that I didn't have to ask you this, baby. I really do. There's no other choice though." Kushina says.

At that, the hairs on the back of Naruko's neck stood up. She didn't know where this was going, but she doubted it was anywhere good. Why were her parents acting this way?

"You wish you didn't have to ask me what?" Naruko demands.

"Tensions between the Uchiha Clan and the rest of the Leaf Village are getting worse. We have very real fears that sooner or later, they will boil over and trigger a Civil War within the village. In some ways, it doesn't matter who would win. The causalities on both sides would be enormous and the Leaf would be severely weakened. Other villages would take advantage of that fact." Minato informs her.

Naruko frowns. She knew what that meant. If there was a Civil War in the Leaf, other villages would attack. That could easily trigger another Great Ninja War. They couldn't let that happen!

"That's horrible. Is there anything we can do? I mean they already have the Police Force and their own District." She asks.

"That's part of the problem. It's easy to resent someone when all you associate them with is punishment. Most of the Leaf doesn't really know them like we do. People tend to be very afraid of the unknown. Fear makes people do very stupid and horrible things." Her father continues.

Naruko gulps. She knew that voice. That was the Hokage Voice. It meant that he was serious. He wasn't her playful father at the moment, but a leader who was very concerned about the future of his village.

"What can we do to fix it?" The young Uzumaki inquires.

"The simplest solution would be an arranged marriage. The Uchihas would choose a prominent member of their Clan and he or she would wed someone who holds an important position amongst the rest of the Leaf's citizenry." Kushina says.

She tilts her head to the side. A wedding? Well that didn't sound too bad. She felt kinda sorry for whoever was getting married though. Arranged marriages were just so barbaric. People should marry the person they loved and not whoever they got matched with for political purposes.

"Oh well then what's the problem. I'm sure you can find at least one willing Uchiha and Leaf Villager to tie the knot." She assures them.

"I'm glad you feel that way because we would like for you to be the bride in this arranged marriage." Minato says and Naruko falls out of her chair in shock.

Naruko couldn't believe it. Her parents actually wanted her to be part of an arranged marriage! What was wrong with them?!

"I don't think that's such a good idea. I mean they are pretty isolationist. Besides, there's no way that they would ever agree to something like that!" She protests.

"Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha are their Clan Heads. They seem agreeable to the idea, but they want to speak with Sasuke first." Kushina says.

The Jinchuuriki blinks. Why would they need to speak with their son about the arranged marriage? Then it dawned on her. Sasuke was supposed to be the groom in this insane plan!

"You w-ant me to marry Sasuke?!" She squeaks.

Kushina and Minato nod. Both of them winced on the inside. That was about what they expected really. Naruko was an old fashioned romantic, the idea of an arranged marriage probably seemed borderline blasphemous to her. They had to try though.

"There's no way that he'd agree to this. He probably has his heart set on some distant cousin or something. Clans can be creepy like that." Naruko says.

"Well that's mostly to preserve bloodlines, but you're right. Generally, that would be the expected route for him to go. This isn't an ordinary situation though, Naruko." Her father reminds her.

Naruko sighs. There was no way that Sasuke was going to agree to such a thing. They barely knew each other. Yeah. They went to the Academy together, but they hadn't interacted much. Well other than a few schoolyard scuffles and The Kissing Incident.

It was the day that they would be assigned Genin Teams. Naruko still wasn't sure what was so damn fascinating about Sasuke. She didn't get why all the girls always giggled around him and tried to make him fat with chocolates. Seriously, the guy didn't even like chocolate! He hated sweets! You would think that they would know that since the girls all claimed to be in love with him. What kind of person didn't like sweets? Clearly, a strange person!

"Is there a reason why you are sitting on my desk and glaring at me, Princess?" Sasuke asked as he glared at her.

Alright. Maybe crouching on his desk and getting in his face hadn't been the best idea, but she had just wanted to get a closer look. The bastard didn't have to call her Princess in such a mocking tone just because of that!

"I'm just trying to see what's so special about you." She muttered.

"The fact that I don't invade other people's personal space and glare at them for no reason, may have something to do with it." Sasuke replied sarcastically.

Naruko was about to explain to him why he was such a bastard, when someone accidentally hit her in the back. It didn't hurt, but it was enough to make her tumble over a bit. Unfortunately, that meant she tumbled into Sasuke.

Their lips connected. Naruko wasn't sure who was more shocked. Her or Sasuke. She did know that both of their eyes had gone really wide and that their lips and teeth had banged together. Owe. That hurt.

"You bastard! You stole my first kiss!" She grumbled at him as they broke apart and both gagged.

"I didn't steal anything! You're the idiot who was sitting on my desk and glaring at me!" Sasuke countered between his own gagging sounds.

That's when their classmates all got over their shock. Sasuke was chased after the boys for stealing Naruko's first kiss and Naruko was chased after by the girls for stealing Sasuke's. It had been a very long and exhausting day, after The Kissing Incident.

"Well I guess if it's going to prevent a war, I can't really say no. He's going to say no though. So it doesn't matter." Naruko says.

"Thank you, Naruko. That's very mature of you to put the needs of your village over your personal desires. You'll make a wonderful Hokage, someday." Minato says as he kisses the top of his daughter's head affectionately.

Later that day, Naruko heads to one of the Leaf's Training Fields. She wasn't really sure what to think about the entire situation, but she needed to blow off some steam. Training was an easy way to do that.

Smack! Crack! Crunch! Though by the sounds of it, she wasn't the only ninja in the mood for some training. Curious, Naruko decides to see who was clearly beating up some poor, innocent training posts.

"Sasuke?" She whispers to herself.

It was definitely him. The posts didn't stand a chance in Hell. Naruko would never admit this out loud, but she had always envied how graceful he was. Every movement was like some jungle cat. Graceful and deadly. It seemed to be an Uchiha and Hyuga thing, she had noticed.

Every movement was precise. The perfect nature of his strikes irritated her. Actually, so did his hair. How did he get it to spike like that? That couldn't be natural. Maybe it wouldn't matter if they got married. He probably spent like three hours a day on his hair and preening like a peacock.

"If you're going to spy on people, you really should mask your chakra first." She hears him say and suddenly several kunais go flying, pinning her to the tree by the sleeve and collar of her shirt.

"I wasn't spying! I j-ust was watching. I was going to train, but s-aw you were already here." She stammers.

Sasuke blinks. Out of everyone that it could have been, it had to be Naruko. It had to be his potential future wife. Great. He had just "attacked" his possible fiancée. Itachi and Shisui were never going to let him hear the end of this, if they found out.

"Alright. You weren't spying. Sorry about that. It's just never a good idea to try to sneak up on another ninja." Sasuke says as he yanks his kunais out of her sleeves.

"I wasn't trying to sneak up on you. Nevermind. Um so did anyone tell you about the Thing?" Naruko asks nervously.

Sasuke raises an eyebrow. Clearly, Minato and Kushina must have already spoken with Naruko about the matter. He would have laughed at Naruko's description of the situation, if it things weren't so dire.

"Yes, my mother and father told me. I'm guessing that the Hokage told you? They want us to get married. It'll help to ease tensions. If an Uchiha can marry the Hokage's daughter than it will prove we are trustworthy and vice versa." Sasuke says.

Naruko tilts her head to the side in confusion. It sorta sounded like Sasuke was saying that he was going to agree to the crazy idea. That couldn't possible be right though, could it?

"Well yeah. I guess that's their logic. So what do you think about everything?" She asks awkwardly.

"On paper, it's a good idea. I want to know what you think about it though and I'm sorry about your shirt." He says.

Naruko blinks and then looks. Damn. His kunais had torn up her sleeves pretty good. They were half torn off. She sighs and just yanks her sleeves off the rest of there way. There was no point in even trying to salvage them now.

"It's okay. I have other shirts. I don't know. I mean we've never really been friends or anything and being married is a big deal." She reasons.

"You're right. We don't really know each other that well and it is a big deal, but so is preventing a Civil War. Things are bad, Naruko. A lot worse than I ever thought they were. I guess I always knew subconsciously that something wasn't right. I just didn't know how badly relations between my Clan and the rest of the village had really soured." Sasuke says.

Naruko blinks. Sasuke sounded like he was actually scared. She had never known the cocky bastard to be scared about anything. This really was serious.

"Yeah. Preventing a war is also a really big deal. Do you think that we could, you know?" She asks.

"Live together without killing each other? I don't know. It would be tough, but I think that we could manage it. It would be for the sake of our village." Sasuke tells her.

"You are such a bastard! Do you always have to be so sarcastic and smug about everything?!" Naruko yells at him.

Sasuke smirks. It was fun to rile her up. That hadn't changed from their Academy Days. He knew that it was childish, but he really did like getting under her skin.

"Being sarcastic comes as naturally to me as being loud comes to you. I'm standing right next to you. You don't have to scream at me like a banshee, princess." Sasuke taunts her.

Naruko twitches. Oh how she hated that nickname. It was only natural that the Hokage's daughter would get saddled with the nickname princess. That was why she hated it so much.

She loved her dad, but she was her own person. Naruko wasn't some princess that needed Prince Charming to come and rescue her. Nu uh. She could slay her own dragon.

"Stop calling me that!" She growls at him.

"Sorry. It's a habit. I suppose I'll just call you Vixen instead. Anyway, I think we made real progress in our relationship today." Sasuke muses.

Naruko raises an eyebrow. She was really failing to see how they had made progress. Then again, Sasuke was Sasuke. Who knew what went on in his head.

"How do you figure that?" She demands as she places her hands on her hips.

"We argued without punching each other. Iruka would be proud of it." Sasuke says with a smirk.

Despite the messed up situation, Naruko found herself laughing. Oh yeah. Iruka Sensei had been so angry with them when they used to fight at the Academy. She supposed she couldn't blame him. He was their teacher and neither of them had made things very easy for the man.

"Yeah. When you put it that way, you kinda have a point. Just don't let it go to your head." Naruko replies sagely.

"I'll try not to. My parents said that it's up to us. We can accept or reject this arrangement. I'm assuming that the Hokage said the same thing to you?" Sasuke asks.

Naruko nods in confirmation. She loved her parents. They would never make her do anything that she didn't want to do, but it was obvious they really wanted her to go through with this. They wanted her to marry Sasuke for the good of the village.

"Yeah. That's what they told me." The blonde informs him.

"Alright. So we are on the same page. What do you really think?" Sasuke asks.

Naruko frowns as she considers it. She really didn't know what to say. Their marriage could potentially prevent a war and that was a very good thing, but they barely knew each other.

"Kurama, what do you think?" She asks the Nine Tails.

"I think humans make things far more complicated than they have to be. He's a young, healthy, and powerful male. At the very least, you know you'll get strong kits out of it. Besides, it will protect your village. I would think that's something you'd want to do." Kurama replies in a bored fashion.

Naruko rubs the back of her head sheepishly. That was one thing that she hadn't really thought about. If they got married, it was highly likely they'd be expected to have children. That meant that they would have to do a whole lot more than kissing each other. This wasn't just Playing House. This was for real.

"I think we might be able to not kill each other for the sake of the village anyway." She says diplomatically.

"That's very romantic. Come on. Let's go tell our families the "good" news, Vixen." He says as he wraps one of his arms around her waist and gently leads her off.

Naruko found herself blushing as he did so. There was something about the way he called her that, that sounded different than when other people called her by her title. That and she had never been touched like that before.

A boy had never put his arm around her waist as they walked together. It felt nice. Maybe they would find a way not to kill each other, after all.

"Yeah. Let's go tell them that we agreed, bastard." She says brightly.

"You might want to come up with another nickname for me. I don't think my family is going to be too thrilled with you calling me a bastard." He mutters.

"Oh! Right. I'll come up with something else. Something cool! Believe it!" She says.

Sasuke rolls his eyes good-naturedly. What had he just gotten himself into? He had just agreed to marry the Hokage's daughter. Well he supposed there was no turning back now.

At least his vixen was beautiful and strong, that had to count for something. Maybe, if they were lucky they would find a way to get married without killing each other. After all, there was a very real chance that the fate of their village was linked to the fate of their marriage.

"Of course. I can't wait to see what you come up with." Sasuke says.

They HAD to make this work. Somehow. So they would find a way to make this work because they had to. Their families, friends, and fellow Leaf Villagers were depending on them.