Altered Destiny
Title subject to change, rating PG13 to be on the safe side.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, I do own the plot of this story (for as far as there is one) and the extra characters I may or may not add.
Response to reviews at the bottom, be sure to read the A/N's.
Chapter 01 – Meeting for the First Time:
It was a perfect day and there was not a care in the world. The sun was shining, dreamy misty white blobs drifted lazily across a brilliant blue sky and the various birds were chirping their contentment loudly. Yet for one woman, this day would change her life.
Mitarashi Anko, only just having reached the tender age of eighteen, was strolling merrily down one of the busy streets of Konohagakure no Saito, her home… The place she had almost betrayed… But that was not important now. She had left her depressing thoughts about those events behind her. Although their presence would always be like a looming shadow within her consciousness, they were always squashed down and carelessly flung aside by the boundless energy and spunk that was in her very nature.
Almost always anyway…
A dazzling grin was plastered on her face, wrinkling her nose, and made her big almond-shaped and dark brown eyes shut tightly despite herself. She didn't need to see to actually see. She was a Jounin after all…
Two sets of dango, the sweet An-dango type today, were held firmly in her hands. It was her favourite food, but kept slowly disappearing as she ate the sweet dumplings at a rapid pace. Technically speaking it wasn't food as in something you could live on, though Anko kept denying this fiercely at every possible opportunity. But seeing that she kept eating dango and barely anything else, made several people doubt about the true nutritional value of it. She hadn't died of malnutrition yet after all…
As she passed a particularly large crowd of people, she felt the stares of all the males boring near literal holes in her back… And other places… Her grin broadened, if that was even possible. She always laughed about the prim attitudes of all the other women in this village. If you had the goods, why not show them off like they were supposed to be in the first place?
This had become her personal motto. A fishnet bodice that stretched halfway down her arms and legs hardly left anything to imagination. Thankfully she had the prudence of mind to cover her waist and the short distance of her thighs with an incredibly petite beige-coloured skirt, dappled with several small pouches and rings to hook on several weapons of her own choice. Hardened and spit-shined steel armguards and shin guards protected her, and added the necessary punch if someone was unlucky enough to get on her bad side.
A contemptuous snort escaped her fulsome lips, as she could feel the glares shot at her by several women, no doubt jealous they couldn't make it look as good as she could. Or they were silently accusing her of being a nymphomaniac. In any case, Anko couldn't really care less; they were probably right with the latter option anyway. A long coat, a slightly darker colour than her skirt, with a high mandarin collar, covered her generous bust from view even though she never closed it.
The standard issue sandals exposed her bare feet except for the straps that held them fast. The Konoha hitai-ate held her slightly spiky black hair from falling in her eyes, and a simple ribbon swept her longer hair back into a simple bun; thus finishing her ensemble.
'Ahhh, this is the life…' Anko thought contentedly, throwing away the sticks that were left of her precious dango. The back of her hand swept in a carefree, careless manner across her face, wiping away the remnants of food that still clung stubbornly to her face. People would never be able to accuse her from eating dinner in a dainty manner, and she was quite proud of that fact, thank you very much.
Having wiped the now dirty back of her hand on her coat, she opened her eyes, her chocolate-brown orbs sparkling with mischief. She had already done her mission for the day, an A-rank assassination, nothing special, and was now steadily becoming bored. She needed something to do… Anything would do.
'Hmm, I could annoy Iruka-kun…' She thought with unchecked glee. 'He's so easy.'
Her grin, already having died down several moments before, returned in full force. People that milled all around her backed off without even knowing why. All that they did know was that they wanted to get out of here fast.
Rubbing her hands together like a megalomaniac about to take over the world, she ran off towards where she thought she would be able to find the kind-hearted Chuunin, and bowled over several people, sending even some sailing into the air without stopping to apologize.
She stood, panting, bloody and definitely not looking like the little girl she was supposed to be. Only a child yet she already knew more pain than most would in a lifetime.
Uzumaki Naruko, a scorned yet spirited little girl and only six years old was currently in the middle of the toughest fight of her short lifespan. And things were not looking good. Not good at all…
It didn't help she was outnumbered four to one either.
Every part of her body ached, even the roots of her long blonde hair, tied into two neat pigtails until they were tugged on mercilessly by the girls of whom she had asked a simple question; "Can I play with you guys?" Well it had been a simple question…
That she had shouted things at them that they would not dare to repeat at home was just a logical response to being turned down and laughed at, wasn't it?
With one eye puffy and nearly closed, that left one particularly bright sapphire eye to judge her current situation. Her prized orange jacket and matching baggy pants that always screamed: "Look at me, I'm here, you won't be able to ignore me!" had several large rips in them. Numerous stains of dirt and blood darkened the bright orange to a muddy red.
She flexed her hands, wincing noticeably as she felt the stinging pain of a fresh bite from one of the girls. Naruko smiled however as she looked at the girl who did that to her. She had certainly come worse off, with a bite to the nose and a set of teeth marks that marred her exposed skin below her horrible purple skirt, she looked ready to cry.
The ringleader of that little group glared at Naruko and cracked her knuckles in a very unladylike fashion. "We've told you before Naruko-kun, we don't want to play with you!"
"Yeah!" One of her lackeys with a particularly heinous pug-like nose shouted. "Why do you always keep trying?!"
Another, standing next to the girl who was about to cry, looked up and rubbed her cheek, which was still sore from when Naruko had punched her as hard as she could. "We don't want to be seen with a tomboy like you!"
"Shut up!" Naruko screamed. No matter how often this scene unfolded, she always got enraged. Why wouldn't anyone play with her? Why wouldn't anyone even acknowledge her? "I'll kick all of your asses, I won't be ignored!"
The four girls looked shocked for a split second, and Naruko took that chance to viciously bowl into the leader's stomach. They rolled over and over for a few moments; punching, kicking, biting and pulling on each others' hair and looking like two street dogs fighting over a tasty-looking bone. Standing slack-jawed at the ferocity of their leader and the blonde girl that always approached them every day without fail, the other girls quickly jumped into the fray.
A few minutes later, the leader gave one final vicious punch before rising and staggering off, followed by the three girls, every single one of them either nursing a bite, bleeding nose, scrapes or bruises, and left behind a ragged pile of humanity that was left of Uzumaki Naruko.
Over an hour after the severe beating, the intense glare of the setting sun looked down uponher small figure, dragging herself up along on hands and knees before standing up ever so shakily. Without so much as a sound escaping her lips, Naruko managed to stay upright, even though she wobbled from side to side dangerously. She clutched the ragged remains of her jacket, which hardly covered her black t-shirt with a prominent swirling symbol on the front and back.
Taking the jacket off, she slung it across her shoulder and wiped her eyes with her arm. She wouldn't cry. She hardly cried at all any more. Instead, she would keep trying without fail. Every single day for the rest of her life if she had to.
They wouldn't be able to ignore her forever… Would they?
A small sigh from the little girl broke the silence of the eerily silent playground she found herself at. She looked around and spotted the thing she was looking for. Ever since she had first used them, Uzumaki Naruko had had a strange affinity for swings. For some reason they made her feel like she was able to fly, and she found the motion of going back and forth strangely soothing.
When she seated herself on the only operational swing, the other having one chain broken due to rust and excessive use, she began swinging backwards and then forwards again. Taking a moment to throw her jacket on the ground, she began to steadily increase her momentum by using her small legs. When she picked up enough speed, her mind went blissfully blank as the wind began to sweep through her matted and long blonde hair.
Naruko stayed like this for a while longer, until her ears picked up the faint sounds of people coming closer. She perked up, and her eyes widened slightly. Had those girls changed their minds? Would they play with her now?
Those hopeful thoughts were shot down quickly however, as the faints sounds were punctuated by loud shouts and if Naruko wasn't mistaken, they didn't sound too happy. She was proven right quickly, when she saw a large group of people, all carrying an odd and wide variety of items, and were being led by the leader of the small group of girls Naruko had asked if she could play with them.
It felt like her insides were being sucked down into nothingness through a large pit in her stomach when Naruko noticed the individual members of the group. There was the old lady from the marketplace who hit Naruko on the head for no reason at all. There were undoubtedly the parents of the girl glaring menacingly at Naruko and if she wasn't mistaken, that woman right there used to be her caretaker!
"There she is!" Naruko heard someone shout.
"Let's get her!" Was the surrounding chorus, and little girl or not, Naruko definitely knew she was in trouble now.
She was used to people staring coldly at her, or throwing insults her way, not caring if she listened or not. Some even went so far as to throw various items, ranging from rotten fruit or vegetables to small rocks at her. The size of those rocks though depended on the ones that were readily available. Meaning they could range from the size of a small pebble to the size of her own head.
Without waiting for the group to come any closer, Naruko quickly jumped off the swing, picked up her orange jacket and ran for it, without looking back.
'Where is he?!' Anko wondered angrily.
She had been searching for hours and it was already getting dark, yet she still hadn't found Umino Iruka, the supposed victim of her torment today. Needless to say, Anko was beginning to feel mighty cranky.
Anko had tons of particularly sadistic ideas she wanted to try out. They usually ended with Iruka hanging from one window or another in nothing but his boxer-shorts. 'Or just plain butt-naked…' Anko sniggered to herself.
It wasn't that she hated the man, oh no, she would even go as far as to say she liked him very much. But that wouldn't stop her from taking out her sadistic pleasures on him.
If only she was able to find him…
But as all things come to an end, her train of thought was brought to a screeching halt when she heard a significant number of people shouting in the distance.
"That's odd…" She muttered. "I wonder what's… Oof!"
Anko was interrupted when a blonde and orange blur rammed, quite literally, head first into her abdomen. As expected of a Jounin, Anko managed to stay her ground, but due the sudden impact, the blur halted and dropped onto the ground.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Anko asked rather angrily, surprised to see a little girl rubbing her head forcefully.
"Owww!" The girl moaned and immediately glared at the older woman.
While most people would take this chance and inquire if the other was alright, Anko wasn't most people. Instead…
"I asked you a question, you little brat! What the hell do you think you're doing, bumping into me like that?!" Anko shouted furiously, ignoring the fact that the little girl seemed to be beaten up quite severely.
The child looked frantically behind her before she fixed the only eye she was able to use properly for now on the raging Anko.
Getting even angrier because the girl still hadn't answered her, she picked her up and shook her like a rag doll. "Answer me damnit!"
Even though the little girl was aware that this very, very imposing looking woman was by now shouting death threats and of course the always bloody dismemberment and so and so forth, she couldn't help the fact that she thought the woman was absolutely, positively the coolest person she had ever met.
"Wow!" She managed to utter, her voice strangely distorted due to be shaken so fiercely.
Her anger leaving her like a popped balloon, Anko was left spluttering and dropped the girl to the ground. "W-wha?"
Watching the child stand up again and dusting herself off, Anko took note of her various injuries. "Kid, what's your name?"
The girl looked up and grinned, despite a swollen cheek. "Uzumaki Naruko!" She answered…
…And promptly kicked Anko in the shins.
Cool person or not, nobody was going to shake her like that and get away with it. But Naruko managed to oversee one thing. Anko wasn't a normal villager, and had shin guards. Steel shin guards. Steel and barely covered feet didn't mix.
Moaning for the second time that day, Naruko hopped in place on one foot, desperately rubbing it to make the pain go away.
Unable to help herself, Anko burst out into a fit of laughter, clutching her midsection all the while. "Hahahaha! You idiot! HAHAHAHAHA!!!"
Rubbing her foot and now glaring at the Jounin at the same time, Naruko uttered several curses. "Don't laugh damnit!"
Pinking away a small tear from the side of her eyes, Anko recomposed herself. "Oh man, what the hell did you do? Did you get run over or something?"
Naruko had the grace to look slightly embarrassed and fingered her blackened eye as she put her foot back down, wincing as she reached a particular tender spot. "No…" She began softly…
"Then what?" Anko grinned as she saw the tattered clothing that threatened to fall from the girl's body out of sheer misery. "Did you get in a fight?"
Uncharacteristically shy, Naruko fingered one of her dirtied pigtails with two of her fingers and stared at the ground. "Yes…" She whispered and then quickly looked up again, an almost defiant look in her eyes. "But I made those four girls pay!"
'Whoah, she took four kids on herself? And judging by those bruises, they were older than her too…' Anko thought, amazed. "What did they do, pick on you?" She inquired further, tucking a few of her rogue strands of hair behind her ears.
"No!" Naruko shouted, surprising even herself. "They wouldn't let me play with them!"
"You got in a fight over that?" Anko asked, puzzled that a little girl would take on four others just for that. "Your parents are going to be pissed off at you for that you know."
"No they won't." Naruko added sadly and stared at the ground again, using her foot to make random doodles in the dirt.
Anko was about to ask further, but didn't get the chance as a male voice suddenly rang out clearly.
"I found her! Over here!"
It was soon followed by a growing hum of angry voices, rising to an intimidating cacophony of insults and jeers. Like a cloud of buzzing bees, a growing group of people carrying items that were undoubtedly supposed to service as weapons, came closer and closer. Anko merely raised a delicate eyebrow and took notice of the fact that the little girl looked as skittish as a frightened rabbit, ready to bolt at the merest hint of trouble.
Finally, the mob of people surrounded the Jounin and the blonde girl, shaking their pitchforks, torches, and many more items. There was even someone, a rather large man, waving a table-leg in what Anko supposed was supposed to be a threatening manner.
The portly man, who put the strong members of the Akimichi clan to shame, spoke up. Or as Anko thought, it sounded more like a series of high-pitched oinks. "You little brat," he said, glowering at Naruko while wringing the sturdy piece of wood in his chubby hands. "You went too far this time!"
This was seconded by a plethora of; "that's right", "we'll make her pay" and the occasional; "you're going to die, demon-spawn!"
That last comment sparked Anko's interest. She already thought the child looked familiar, with the brilliant blue eyes and those strange thing whisker-like scars that ran along her cheeks.
She immediately mentally slapped herself. 'How could I forget, Yondaime-sama was such a hottie!'
Her subsequent thoughts about the Fourth Hokage, and the small amount of drool that escaped from the side of her mouth, were interrupted as she felt something latching on her left leg. Looking down, she saw and heard Naruko clutching her leg fiercely, all the while whimpering as she took in the group of people that obviously didn't have anything good in store for her.
Despite herself, Anko's heart melted at the sight. Even her slightly sadistic streak wouldn't allow her to just walk away from all this and leave the already beaten up little girl to her fate.
Naruko looked up in surprise when Anko bent over and patted her softly on the head. "Don't worry Naruko-chan. I won't let these people hurt you." She whispered conspiratorially and gave the blonde girl a cheeky wink before she turned to the angry mob with a maniacal gleam in her eyes…
A/N:
Hitai-ate: Metal forehead protector with the village's symbol on it.
Dango: Usually three to four dumplings put on a stick. There are several kinds, ranging from sweet to (slightly) nutritional. Guess which one Anko prefers.
Update: It has been beta-ed now. Thanks to Princess-Tsunade, my source of inspiration...
Hey you guys, this was just a short test chapter. I guess it's cliffhanger-ish, but I'm sure you guys can figure out how it's going to end, especially with the preview at the end of this chapter. Oh and no, don't worry, I'm not giving up on DYHM or anything. I just wanted to try something new for a change. It hasn't been beta-ed yet, since this was a spur of the moment thing, so please excuse the errors if they are there, which I'm sure they are. I wanted to release this before I went to bed. I'm pretty sure more details will be added to this soon so there's probably going to be a revised replacement for this chapter.
Thanks to FenrisLupus for reinvigorating my interest in Anko. She's just too cool.
Just a few warnings if I decide to continue this, it all depends on you guys and the support I'll get. It's probably going to be Yuri, as in girls getting together with girls. Only for Naruko though, so I'm not going to turn the whole village gay or anything. The pairing I haven't decided on yet, but those with a keen eye will already know the probable pairing for Anko and Naruko will be paired with either Hinata or Temari (oh I do love Temari, don't I?)
My reasons for Yuri are my own. It is not really meant as an attack at Yaoi or anything.
So anyway, if you like this, please leave me a review. And if you don't like this… Well… Don't leave me a review.
And one final thing. Please for the love of god, don't think I'm going to go Mary-sue or whatever, because I'm not. And no-one is going to be overpowered either. This is AU, so a female version of Naruto is allowed.
Preview for the next chapter:
"State your name." Mizuki ordered in a lazy drawl, giving Naruko a peculiar look as she stood before them with her hands on her hips, tugging on her dress impatiently while he shuffled some papers on his desk.
Iruka stared at him for a few moments before giving the girl an encouraging smile.
The twelve-year old grinned broadly and ran a hand through her spiky hair before she pointed at the two teachers in a threatening manner. "Naruko! Mitarashi Naruko! And I'm going to kick all of you bastard's asses!"