Konoha's Saviour

Prologue: Part One

By: Foxtriller

Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto in any way or form. (Insert clever and witty comment)

Hello guys…Miss me? (Cough) I'm sorry for disappearing for ages…here begins the re-write of Konoha's Saviour + ONE NEW CHAPTER HEHEHEHHEE

Uh yeah… You really should read my newly re-written chapters because the plot(especially Itachi's character) has been changed drastically to suit my taste. It still fits the summary below, but other stuff has been changed…And you might notice that the chapter titles are not 'chapters' anymore, they're parts of the prologue (why am I writing such a super long prologue)

Anyway, on that Note: This is the story that ddd first proposed to me (ddd, if you're still there, I love you, I love you, I love you…in a totally platonic sense. You know…the platonic sense in which you love someone you don't know. YEAH PRONESS HUH?)

Another Note: Even though it's been ages…I really still can't believe Itachi's dead in the canon…I always thought he'd be one of the characters who would outlive the entire manga. In other words, I thought he'd be immortal. I was one of the thousands of fan-girls around the world who spent almost a week walking around and just feeling quite hollow and blank. I was also one of those who cried while reading the part where he died, and kept rereading it until I felt a kind of numb loss. And then cried even more when discussing with other fangirls about how Itachi had been good all along. And began reliving all of the scenes where Itachi had appeared in the manga and realising that most of the affection we'd cultivated for him was from reading fanfiction…

Nevertheless…I still declare that Itachi was the best character in the entire manga!

Summary of this Story:

Naruto leaves the village at a young age. However destiny draws her back to Konoha…which is in grave danger…can Naruto save the village she hates? What secrets will be revealed about her? ddd's idea.

"DIE DEMON!" the shouts rang around her ears as she kept her easy pace down the alleyway. Naruto inclined her head as she heard the thundering footsteps nearing. Was this the fifth or sixth time? She shrugged to herself; it didn't make a difference, really.

Eight whole years…they've been chasing me around this goddamn place. When are they going to give up?

"We're not going to rest easy till you're dead!" The cries came from directly behind.

Never, it seems. Naruto gave a long-suffering sigh. Go for it, you idiots, as long as you supply me, I'll run for your stupid, on-street, real-life, 'lets-kill-the-demon' show. There was a hiss as a kunai narrowly missed her and made a squealing impact with the concrete ground. Damn…that's one good kunai wasted. Subconsciously, she calculated the time that it would take for the rest to start launching weapons.

Her feet beat at the ground easily, she was well used to running by now. No big deal. I can out run all their asses. I could probably beat those ninja show-offs. But…I need to keep them hot on my trail. The voices grew fainter, so she slowed down so they could catch sight of her. One of the villagers gave a triumphant shout when he saw her, raised his kunai and ran straight at her; the other's following, ranting and raving.

They're drunk. Naruto thought grimly and gritted her teeth, making her cheeks sore as she squeezed her jaws together frustratedly. I could…I could…

Kill them? Sure, go ahead.

I'm not going to do that. Naruto slowed her pace and pretended to tire. She turned around and shot scared glances at her pursuers. They were carefully practiced actions – all part of her elaborate act. It'd help if there were rocks around…I could actually trip on a few. She pretended to stumble over her seemingly wearied feet.

"She's tiring! We can get her!"

Idiots. You could chase me till next week and I'd just keep running. It's for your own good that I'm not turning around and setting the demon on you.

Why not?

Why don't you shut up too, fox?

Naruto wiped imaginary tears from her eyes and gave short choking gasps that sounded slightly like crying. Like I would cry over those brain-dead retards. Her eyes focused on her goal, a clearing that only lay a few feet from her. A few kunai flew past her and buried themselves in the soft soil in the clearing. I love soil. She made a well practiced slip on the wet dirt and went sprawling across the slippery glass.

Ow…maybe I over-did that. She could hear louder, more victorious shouts as metal and wood made contact with the ground around her. She gave a short gasp of pain as a large shuriken knocked the breath out of her. That actually hurt.

She was used to simple kunai wounds by now. The villagers, exuberant at their apparent victory, launched more weapons at her. Naruto got up and fell in real pain, the all too familiar feeling of blood slickly soaking her clothes and dripping through her hair comforting her. She was used to the soft thumps of kunai burying dully into her flesh. The familiar gushing that followed and the soft sense of lethargy that came with it was part of her daily life.

I must be quite a sight. I can be one of those stunt-women for movies…how about I audition? I'll never die. She joked to herself wryly. A feeling of frustration was slowly building in her stomach. She wanted to scream at the sky but she didn't want to scare away the villagers.

Rats. She closed her eyes as angry tears leaked out of her eyes. Why do I cry every time? Over those retards throwing weapons at me, no less... Why am I crying again? She balled her fists as the villagers began leaving, drunk in their own supposed victory. They laughed and hooted as they made their way back to the village, forgetting all their weapons and planning to drink themselves silly that night. Those villagers would drag me to hell time and time again… It's funny how those cold blooded monsters are so caring to their own kin. But not to me…

Not the demon, of course. I'm not human. She sat up as the last of them had left. She began pulling the weapons out, wincing slightly at the acute pinpricks of pain. They couldn't care less. What's love, you retards? If your kid had the fox in their stomach, would you do this to them too? She thought with hatred. Will you cry if I sneak into your houses and slash their necks?

Would anyone cry if I killed myself? What am I? Sport?

Shut up.

Make yourself useful and start healing me.

A soothing wave of red chakra encased her form. She allowed the wounds to close up and stitch themselves together in their own time. She stood as most of the major wounds had finished healing and began gathering the bloodstained weapons.

Didn't know I bled that much. Next time, I'll buy a bucket of red paint for extra effect, how about that? She thought sarcastically as she began limping slowly back to her house, hugging an armful of bloody weapons tightly to her chest. She stuck closely to the shadows, and took three whole trips to transport to the whole lot back to her ever growing supply of weapons. Sitting down cross-legged, she took out a cleaning cloth and began washing the blood off her new 'batch' of weapons.

It's like catching fish with bait. She thought, grinning wryly to herself. I'm the bait, I throw myself in the rat infested waters of Konoha, and attract mountains of their good quality weapons. Her huge supply of weapons which lay around, taking up much of the space in her tiny, crowded apartment, consisted of nearly every weapon existing on earth, from ancient heirloom katana to carved gold kunai. I'd be rich if I sold these. She thought softly. Some of these here could be worth a lot. The villagers didn't know what they'd thrown away, and most wouldn't remember where they'd misplaced their precious family swords after a night of drunken revelling.

It was a foolproof plan. Naruto got up and went out to her equally cramped garden. Growing side by side with her half-dead cabbages and snail-eaten carrots, flourished an array of extremely poisonous herbs and plants. She could still feel the tingle of pride as she observed the vines, which uncurled themselves from the bamboo lattice and waved tendrils her, the venus fly-traps that snapped playfully at her fingers and the various other plants which extended leaves, blossoms and stems at her in greeting. They weren't normal plants.

Konoha's first ninja specialising in poisonous plants. Uzumaki Naruto. When she'd opened her door one morning and found these greeting her, she hadn't been fooled into eating them like the stupid villagers had expected her. Instead, she'd inserted her chakra into the plants, forcing them to submit to her will and making them her own, deadly weapons. The plants were dependant on her daily dose of chakra and acted only according to her will. They yielded poisons to her and moved according to her mind-spoken directions.

She was currently experimenting on making a plant entirely dependant on her, and as a result, she was growing a poisonous vine from the flesh of her right arm. It grew by the stimulus of chakra alone and seemed almost intelligent. Naruto named it Ginji.

So now Naruto was a self-trained and self-proclaimed poisons expert. She was also a weapons mistress. The two made a dangerous combination, which Naruto made sure to keep secret from the entire village, excluding the Hokage, to get them off her back – they'd be sending ninja's after her if they knew. Mentioning the hokage…

Naruto turned her face to the sky and pointed an indignant finger. "I know you're watching oji-san!"

Meanwhile, in his office, old man Sarutobi choked on his tea and spluttered all over his crystal ball. Damn, she knows…

And shortly after, Damn, I fuzzed up my crystal ball.

Satisfied that she had given the old man a good scare, Naruto turned back to her own thoughts.

Life here is getting dreary…

She groaned as her stomach complained. "That's one of the problems about you." She remarked to the plants, "I can't eat you." And you're all way too ugly to eat anyway. She added fondly in her head. Funny how my only friends are plants, and I live in the Leaf Village…

The plants seemed to quail under her mocking glare. She laughed, as the plants breathed a sigh of relief, and fished some money from her pocket.

"I'm off to Ichiraku's."

One of her favourite plants, the Venus fly-eater, opened its jaws enquiringly and waved its leaves.

Naruto chuckled, "Yes, yes…I'll bring you back some of the soup broth for you guys." She gestured to the other plants, which seemed to nod in approval. Ginji unfurled himself lethargically and came snaking down Naruto's arm, waving a lazy goodbye to his fellow plants.

Naruto shook her head in mirth as she walked away. I must be going mad. Talking to plants. Huh.

Not any madder than me, locked up in a crampy cage with only water and tunnels to look at, with not a single person to talk to. Kyuubi retorted drily.

No one asked you to talk, fox.

She sighed as she walked towards Ichiraku. What is with those villagers? Did their parents drop them on their heads when they were born? She laughed a little at the thought of dozens of villagers being dropped on their heads. I am really going mad. Perhaps insanity runs in my family…

Kyuubi made no comment to that.

Her wrecked sandals scuffed on the ground. They were too small for her, and contrasted strangely with her new shirt, which the Hokage had purchased for her recently. Sometimes, I wonder, what the hell am I doing here? When I'm 30, if I'm still alive, am I going to continue running everyday and gathering weapons? Am I going to have an actual life? Like a job or something?

She scratched her head. Suddenly, she didn't feel so hungry anymore. There's no future for someone like me, not in this village, anyway. I need a way out.

Wait no. Don't suicide. That's bad for my spiritual health.

Shut up, idiot. Like I'd kill myself. It'd give the fools in this village the satisfaction that I never want them to have. I'm not going to die. I'm never going to die.

You're not immortal either.

You're so good at misunderstanding. Join a comedy show or something. That's a good one. A humongous lump of fur in a talk show… What a hit…

She lifted her head to the sky again, addressing the Hokage. "OI, oji-san, meet you in your office!"

She pulled a face before dashing off towards the Kage tower on her trained legs, faster than any Magic Ball could follow.

"WHAT?" Sandaime roared, raining spittle on Naruto, who cowered a little and wiped the saliva off her face and bare arms, "You're going to leave the village?"

"Yeah…I figured life would be better somewhere else…" Naruto fidgeted a little. She didn't want to hurt the old man, since he did care for her. But she didn't want to appear weak either. She held herself together composedly and smiled falsely at him. When she came back, she would be a strong Ninja, and then everyone would acknowledge her, even the stupid villagers.

Sandaime sighed. She's right… "I can't let you go like this, Naruto…you're only eight, you're too little." Maybe he hadn't done enough? Maybe he should have taken her under his wing…

She shrugged, "I can take care of myself. I have my plants." She waved her small hand, and Ginji uncurled himself, made his winding way out of her sleeve, and waved lazily at the Sandaime with one of his tendrils.

"This is my pet, Ginji." The vine twisted itself around her arm casually, unnervingly reminding the Hokage of Orochimaru's snakes. She's got great potential as a ninja… The scene reminded him eerily of a scene from decades before.

…

"WHAT?" a younger Sandaime roared, raining spittle on the skinny, pale, dark-haired man before him, who stood emotionless, his eyebrow creasing a little on the saliva on his arms, "You're leaving the village?"

"I can't conduct my experiments here." Orochimaru explained simply. He kept his eyes away from that of his mentor. He didn't want to tell the Sandaime of his greater, grander schemes, because he knew he'd be berated for it. Wait till he'd perfected the Immortality Jutsu…then the whole village, no…world, would have to acknowledge him, even that stupid genius kid Minato.

Sandaime sighed. He knew the boy was right. "I can't let you go just like this, Orochimaru. You're twenty-eight and a responsible ninja who should be assisting the village instead of pursuing your own goals." Hadn't he taught the boy the most out of his team? What more could he do? Or was this favouritism going to be his downfall?

The pale man shrugged nonchalantly, "I can take care of myself. I have my snakes." He waved a pallid arm and a snake shot from his sleeves, hissing and ready to bite. It made venomous eye contact with the Sandaime and looked eerily intelligent as it regarded him with unnerving reptilian eyes.

"This is Sasuke." Orochimaru said by way of introduction. "I named him after Uchiha Sasuke. The snake warrior who was the brother of the first Uchiha, Uchiha Madara."

Sandaime regarded the snake, waging a silent battle of stares. Orochimaru's fixation with bloodlines, especially the Uchiha…It was slightly disturbing.

…

"But are you sure…" The hokage swallowed his fear. Was this simple déjà vu? Or would history really repeat itself? Would Konoha have another S-rank missing-nin to deal with? He closed his eyes tightly. History was the best teacher…Nidaime had taught him that…but…

"I'm sure…besides I've got the teme fox in my stomach to heal me." Naruto explained truthfully, interrupting his thoughts.

I thought you came up with a better insult ages ago.

Naruto ignored him. "Please, Oji-san, I want to live my life, without villagers after me, without a council which wants my blood, or even better, my head on a platter, served fresh."

Sandaime winced. Eight-year olds do not talk like that… She's lived a very hard life that has caused her to mature far quicker than she should…

"What will you do once you're out of the village? Any other village will be more than willing to get their hands on you. Are you going to sever all ties with Konoha and become an enemy nin?"

"No." came the curt reply, "Mind you, the only reason I'm not doing that is because my father…I don't know who he is, but I'm sure, being a Konoha nin, that he wouldn't have liked it if his daughter betrayed the village. Besides, I need to honour his death"

Sandaime sighed and began in a quiet voice, "Naruto…your father…he…" What am I saying? He stopped talking abruptly. No…he was not going to reveal such shocking information so early.

"My father what?" Naruto asked, suddenly suspicious.

"Nothing. I thought of something, but I've forgotten it. I'm sure it's not important." He said kindly. Forgive me, Naruto.

Her face was still suspicious, but she decided to leave it alone, "Can I leave now?" Ginji waved a lazy goodbye.

"Oh yes." The Hokage sighed, regret settling heavily on his heart. Minato…what have you done? "But what are you going to do for a living once you're out of the village?"

"Don't worry, I've got it all planned out…nearly. If no-one'll hire me, I still have tonnes of weapons to sell. My plants will be good for selling too…I studied the books in your library, they say that there are only three specialised poison experts left in the shinobi nations, all of them old geezers from Kusa. It would do you good if one came from Konoha, huh?"

This is ludicrous. Sandaime thought painfully to himself. An eight year old weapon-monger? Kami help me…

"Old man?"

Sandaime looked up and found that Naruto's face had softened a little

"Thankyou…for…everything." Ginji warped himself ridiculously into the shape of a heart. "You're the only friend I have in Konoha. If I ever come back, it'll be for you. Please stay alive."

Sarutobi was touched, "Naruto, just remember…that I will always care for you. Is there anything you need?"

"No. I will buy everything I need with my own money and leave tonight." She smiled grimly at the only person she cared about in the entire village

So determined to be independent. Sarutobi thought sadly, "I bid you luck, Naruto."

"I might see you again…one day…old man." There was no determination in her voice as she began walking out the door.

Sandaime smiled, trying to hold back tears, "Good bye, granddaughter."

The door closed with a soft clink.

…

"Orochimaru, out of all my students, you were the most talented. You were a great talent, unrecognised throughout your harsh childhood and untrained during the wars, when I was focused on fighting." Sandaime began.

The pale man no reply, only waiting for a prompt to leave.

"Just…" He could tell that his former student was beginning to get fidgety from his twitching eyebrow. What arrogance…such impatience… "Just don't forget that you are a Konoha nin. This is your village. I am still your mentor."

Orochimaru gave a terse nod, gold eyes unblinking.

"I bid you the best of luck in your experiments."

Orochimaru turned to leave, brushing off the blessing like dust, "I will be back one day old man…" There was no affection in his voice. Only stone-cold politeness. Or was that hatred? Resentment?

Sandaime sighed a little. When had their relationship deteriorated to such a poor degree? "Good bye, Orochimaru."

The door closed with a soft clink and he was gone.

…

Sandaime put his head in his hands.

Did I make the right decision?

So that's the end of the first chapter, re-written! Yay! Go Me!

3 Charel (Hey look, new nickname…) (Kitchi is like, so last year. Jk jk)