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Anime/Manga » Naruto » The Difference Between You and Me
Puppet in the Corner
Author of 10 Stories |
The difference between you and me
Synopsis: What if... Naruto had been taken in by Zabuza? Not Haku? How would Naruto change, according to Zabuza’s teachings and the people around him? Events are in a different chronological order.
Warning(s): Some yaoi hints. And no, it will not be between Zabuza and Naruto, even though there are some silly scenes. When I say the events aren’t in normal order, I mean that Nine-tails basically attacked at a different time. Six years earlier, to be exact. So expect a lot of things to be out of whack, including Naruto and some other character’s age. I’ve changed it to my own liking, even though some of these mentioned characters don’t really play that much of a part.
At present time:
Naruto: 18, 5 when it first starts.
Iruka: 26(no real relevance to the story though.)
Kakashi: 28(Once again, look above.)
Zabuza: 30
The Fourth: No freaking idea(Same as Kakashi and Iruka.)
And for some bizarre reason
Haku: 12
Everyone else will probably be at the same age, give or take a year. Oh, and expect a femmy Naruto and slightly tomboyish Haku. (That had to be the weirdest thing I’ve written in a long time. O.o;;;)
READ OR BE DAMNED: Now, I want to make this PERFECTLY clear. This isn’t your cliche ‘Naruto gets taken in by Zabuza and has control over the Nine-tails’ story. I replaced Haku with Naruto because I wanted to see how he would grow up. On that subject, believe me when I say that I will have as few oc’s in this story as possible. In fact, as far I know, the only one is the crazy manipulator, and I’m almost expecting you to hate him. XD Remember, though, Naruto is going to be somewhat ooc here, though he’s going to act like his loud and boisterous self sometimes, expect him to be more, well, more... ‘Haku-ish’. And that means cross-dressing.
Pairings: I don’t think I’ll make any true pairings, though there will probably be a lot of hints. Yaoi hints. Yaoi hints that will most likely include Itachi, Naruto, or Haku. XD
This is sort of like an alternate, better version of “ Of Kitsune tails and Tanuki Dolls”. Why? Because I have put more thought into it. That, and I like the idea of Femmy-Naruto.
Disclaimer: Alas, no matter how I try, it’s impossible to avoid these. But you know the drill...However, I do own Kouseiki Douyara. But I don’t know why you’d care about him, he’s mostly inconsequential. Besides, does anyone even READ these? If you do, tell me. :3
Naruto’s mind, for example, was something of a wasteland. That’s all it was. There were no precious memories to keep there, just the bad ones. So what was the point in even caring?
The villagers who yelled at him just for being there. The other children who threw rotten food, and sometimes rocks, at him. The mothers who hit him for simply asking their children if they’d like to play.
By now, Naruto didn’t ask for kindness. And he didn’t expect it, either.
“ I hate Konoha.” Those had become his favorite words, other than ‘Ramen’.
Naruto liked ramen. It was simple, easy to make, and didn’t get mad at him if he made a mistake. Naruto had actually gone far enough to start apologizing to inanimate objects if he were to accidentally bump into one.
The villagers just stared at him in disgust. Great, he’d given them another reason to hate him.
Naruto wasn’t stupid. He knew why they hated him. And rightfully so, he hated them back.
Anyway, how had he found out? Well, drunkards tended to have few inhibitions.
That memory had firmly imprinted itself upon him.
So here he was, standing outside the gates of Konoha. He didn’t even know how he managed to get so lucky. The guards had fallen asleep, and likely wouldn’t care.
He never looked back.
Let’s go... and never look back, Kit.
Still, that was years ahead.
His hair grew rather quickly, and it now fell over his face. He didn’t bother with it, since he didn’t really see anything wrong with it. However, he hadn’t had a clean bath in a few months, only stopping to take a dip in some springs.
He honestly didn’t know how he could have survived without the voice in the back of his mind. Annoying at times, but if not for the fox, he wouldn’t have been able to catch his own food.
The Fox...
The fox had commented on how many screws he had loose many times before. Still, even with the damnable thing, Naruto was lonely. He didn’t want someone to talk to, he wanted something he just couldn’t quite place.
Though he didn’t know it at the time, he wanted to be needed. He wanted to be used, to have a purpose. He wanted someone to need him.
Traveling was hard, on his already emotionally battered mind and his body itself. The food that he caught, and the times where he actually managed to keep it down, were in no way sufficient for his body. They kept him alive, sure, but that didn’t mean they kept him healthy.
But he’d come this far already. To a place where it was perpetually cold.
Naruto thought the place suited himself rather well.
So far, he hadn’t seen any people, so he just sat down by a tree, too tired to go on. He’d been following a beaten path, but he honestly had no idea where it went. He wrapped his arms around himself, before closing his eyes, but not sleeping, just resting. Sleep would bring nightmares. And the nightmares tended to be real bad around this time...
What he didn’t know was that a certain Missing Nin was walking down that exact trail...
Especially not a scruffy looking child whose gender he couldn’t tell. They had dark blonde hair, but that was more than likely from all the dirt on the child. The clothing they wore were nothing more than rags.
However, what truly peaked his interest was the red Chakra that sparked, almost protectively, around them, every so often.
It was a little know fact that only demons had red chakra.
He raised an eyebrow, weighing his thoughts.
On one hand, he’d save himself the trouble and just leave the child to starve.
On the other hand, however, the child’s red chakra intrigued him, and the thought of a powerful tool tempted him.
All in all, it was an all or nothing choice.
Guess what Zabuza-san chose.
“ Kid.” He started, softly, for he didn’t want to frighten the child right away.
The little child flinched at the calloused fingers gently shaking his shoulder. However, their eyes opened when they seemed to realize that it wasn’t hostile in nature.
Zabuza had knelt down, and was faced with one of the most striking pairs of blue eyes he had ever seen. He, Zabuza guessed the child was a boy, blinked rapidly.
“ Who are you?” He didn’t seem frightened at all, Zabuza noted.
“ Momochi Zabuza. Your name?” At this, the boy’s face grew troubled, but vanished in a moment. It was replaced with a smile that Zabuza was sure was not entirely sincere.
“ Uzumaki... Naruto.” He seemed to be almost hesitant when giving his name. Uzumaki he didn’t mind, but Naruto?
What kind of parent names their child after instant noodles?
The boy looked at him, with trepidation or something else entirely, he wasn’t sure. It was then that he noticed something strange about Naruto’s eyes.
While a bright blue color in general, they were dull, lifeless. It was as if he was broken, on the inside as well as the outside. That was fine for him, even better than he thought it would be.
Naruto was a broken doll, and Zabuza intended to put him back together, to create a new and better tool.
“ Kid,” He started, placing his hand upon Naruto’s head. “ What are you doing all the way out here, all alone?” He had to word what he said carefully. The kid was sharper than he looked.
The boy seemed surprised. His cast his face down.
“ I left.”
That... hadn’t quite been what Zabuza was expecting.
“ Left where?”
Zabuza could have sworn that he saw a flash of red spark from behind those large, dull blue eyes, but it was gone before he could confirm it.
“ Konoha.” He growled out.
Konoha, eh? But that’s miles away from here... it would a child weeks to get here... even more when they’re alone... Zabuza mused silently, filing that little tidbit of information away.
“ Why?”
“ Because... they hate me. They hate me for what’s inside of me. And I hate them back.” He bit out, looking down. Surprisingly, there was no sign of tears on his face.
For what’s inside of him, hmm? Could that mean... He is the container of the Kyuubi no Kitsune? This is going to be easier than I thought.
His decision made, Zabuza then started to ask.
“ Then come with me. Help me accomplish my dreams. And I’ll assist you in accomplishing yours.”
The boy couldn’t have been more surprised if Zabuza had suddenly grew another head.
“ What...? Why? Why would you help me...?” He asked, eyes large and confused, a change from the silent and morbid little thing from moments ago.
Zabuza chuckled.
“ I need someone strong to help my idealize my dreams. Come with me.”
Naruto’s eyes became distant.
“ My dream... was once to have everyone acknowledge me. But now... all I want, is someone to need me...” He looked at Zabuza with a glimmer of determination in his eyes. Again, the red sparked.
“ I’ll come with you... Zabuza-san. I don’t care how hard it is, I’ll do whatever I can to help you with your dreams.” He rose from his seated position, but his legs wobbled from overuse. He steadied himself on the tree, and looked up at Zabuza, who had also risen.
As Zabuza turned to go, Naruto spoke.
“ But... Zabuza-san... I don’t want to be me. I don’t want to be... Naruto anymore.” Zabuza smirked again. That would be an easy enough thing to do...
He turned to face the child.
“ That’s all? Come on then, I know someone who can help you.”
Naruto looked up, eyes wide and drinking up everything he could. They were at a waterfall. Not huge, but not small either. It was absolutely beautiful, especially to child who hadn’t seen most of the sweeter things in life in his short existance.
Zabuza just strode over the little home hidden away. It was nearly impossible to see, unless you knew what you were looking for. Carefully, if not lovingly, tucked away from behind a raging waterfall, safe from snow, rain, or whatever else he could think of.
Naruto ran up behind him, just as he started to knock on the door. The door itself was nearly impossible to discern from the rest of the wall, so it looked as thought there was no door at all.
A faint voice rose up from inside.
“ What is it?” It was soft, and feminine, so Naruto was surprised to see a man at the door.
Or at least, he thought it was a man.
They were androgynous, and possessed long, dark hair that reached down to their waist in a braid. He wore a kimono, a women’s kimono, with dark coloring. Pale of face, thin of body, with full red lips, he irately looked upon Zabuza.
All in all, he didn’t look like much.
Except, like, not a man.
“ Zabuza? What are you doing here?” The voice, though more than likely attempting to be angry, was calm, and Naruto couldn’t help but feel soothed around the strange... er, man. It wasn’t obvious that this was man, and Naruto was sure anyone would have thought this was a woman. The only reason that he could tell was that a small flap of the kimono was loose, so it was possible to see he had no breasts. Obviously.
Zabuza took a step to side, revealing Naruto, who had been standing behind him. Naruto gulped. He closed his eyes, afraid of what would happen when the beautiful...person saw him.
The person’s eyes fell on him, and widened. Naruto was dirty, and his hair was a mess. Still, the reaction was not one he would have ever expected. Zabuza, however, was prepared, and covered his ears.
“ KAWAII!”
Huh?
He immediately grabbed Naruto and swung him around in his arms.
“ Oh my God, look how precious you are! Zabuza, where did you find this little dear? He looks half starved!” He cooed, nuzzling his face into Naruto’s cheek.
Zabuza gave him a flat stare. Instead, he focused on Naruto.
“ Naruto, this is Kouseiki Douyara(1)... He’s an expert chakra manipulator and can change your appearance, permanently, if you so wish...” He let what he said hang in the air.
“ Kouseiki, this is Uzumaki Naruto, or just Uzumaki now, I guess. He doesn’t,” He paused, as though think of how to word it, “ Want to be ‘himself’ anymore.” Douyara nodded, as though not caring that was a five year old child and not the missing nins he usually worked with, understanding completely.
However, Zabuza continued.
“ And Kouseiki, take care of Kitsune.” He made a motion with nine fingers, and Douyara’s eyes widened, but that was all the surprise he showed.
Douyara then smiled cheerfully, irritation forgotten, and waved his hand, beckoning Zabuza in.
He shook his head, however.
“ Kid, I’ll be back in a little while. Be good for the drag queen.” Douyara only pouted, and Naruto whimpered, but he knew that Zabuza-san would be back for him later.
Ever.
So imagine his surprise when Douyara placed him on a plush chair, playing gently with his now clean hair. It had taken a while for Douyara to get all the grime out, but he was rather proud of the seemingly impossible job.
The chair was placed in front of a large mirror that took up almost all of the wall. Naruto hadn’t gotten a good look at the house itself, immediately ushered to the bathtub to get washed up.
Now that he was clean, at least, Douyara started running his fingers softly through his hair, humming a tune while he carefully dried Naruto’s hair.
“ You remember what Zabuza called me, right, Uzu-chan?” Naruto nodded, not really caring for the nickname.
“ You’re a...a... Chakara manipu... person?” Douyara laughed.
“ Well, you are only a child...”
Naruto pouted. “ I’m five.”
“ And?” Douyara giggled. Naruto enjoyed it. It was strange, because he’d never been coddled or loved or anything even vaguely resembling how Douyara was treating him..
“ You see, Uzu-chan, I have complete control over my Chakra, my energy, so to say.” Naruto could feel the comb in his hair, brushing out tangles.
“ Because of that, I can mold my chakra, and even my body(2). Many Nukenins have come to me, because they want to change their appearance permanently.” Naruto nodded, listening intently.
“ Have you ever changed Zabuza-san’s appearance?”
Douyara laughed loudly. “ Zabuza? Never. He doesn’t care what he looks like, but he is pretty intimidating when he wants to be.” Douyara paused, putting the brush down. Naruto then felt Douyaras’ finger running through his hair, soft and warm.
“ I can use my chakra to heat up my fingers, it’s a lot easier to dry your hair that way. It’s like having a flat iron built right in!” He laughed again.
“ So,” Naruto questioned, “ You can change the way someone looks, forever?” Naruto saw that Douyara nodded in the reflection cast in the mirror.
“ It’s complicated, but like I said, I can mold my chakra, and in a way, mold the way people look. I can straighten your hair, curl it, anything. I can change your skin tone, make you as pale as me, or give you a tan. The only thing I can’t do is make you taller.” He giggled cheerfully.
His hair was fully dry now, and clean. Naruto hadn’t felt this...good in a long, long time.
“ Hmm... Uzu-chan, your hair is so soft, just like a newborn kit’s fur.” Douyara honestly hadn’t expected Naruto’s hair to be, well, soft. He at least thought it would be even just a little coarse, due to the fact that it was untamed and stuck up in many directions.
“ So, Uzu-chan,” He started, “ What would you like to change? Try to pick things that aren’t too drastic, alright?”
Naruto, though he didn’t want to be ‘Naruto’ anymore, wasn’t exactly sure what he should do. Everything about him was so... loud, there, in your face. So Naruto. He didn’t want to be Naruto anymore, and if it meant that he shouldn’t be so attention grabbing, then so be it.
A child’s depth of perception was far different from an adult’s, and Naruto wasn’t sure what would be ‘drastic’.
“ Can’t chose, eh?” Naruto nodded. Douyara smiled softly.
“ How about this; Your hair is a bright golden color, and it just screams ‘Hit me, I’m a target’! Let’s keep it blonde, but change the exact tone. It’s attention grabbing, but not nearly as much as your current hair color, so I think platinum blonde would suit you. Sure, it’s rather... uncommon, but it’s a calm, soothing color.” He mused, rising up and marching over to a cabinet in the corner that Naruto hadn’t noticed.
He opened it up, and inside were hundreds of different boxes of dye. Naruto’s eyes widened at all the colors. Douyara paused, searching for the color of choice, before finding it in the form of a silver blonde color. He came back, and set it down on a small table composed of a few brushes, combs, and hair clips.
“ Now, what about your hair itself? Do want to keep these spikes?” Naruto shook his head the moment Douyara suggested it; the spikes were another thing that was Naruto, not him.
Douyara nodded. “ I’ll let you pick this one.” Naruto looked up at Douyara, and weighed his options. Douyara’s hair was long and thick, but at the same time looked delicate and silky. Despite that, it looked a lot easier to control than his own untamable locks.
“ I want your hair.” Douyara blinked, taking a few strands of his own hair. “ This way? Straight?” Naruto nodded, smiling.
Douyara smiled, seating himself next to Naruto.
“ Okay, we just have a few more things to do, and then I can get started.” Douyara pulled back his sleeve, revealing pale skin. Naruto then noticed that Douyara was completely void of facial or body hair, except for his eyebrows and hair.
“ Your skin is slightly tan. Because you’re with Zabuza now, you’ll stick out more, since you’ll most likely head straight into the Hidden Mist. People there are usually pale of skin, because the sun is mostly covered up by mist. That, or it’s raining. I’ll give you the choice of keeping your skin the tone it is, or I can make change that for you. So what will it be, Uzu-chan?”
Naruto looked at him, determination in his eyes. Douyara was slightly shocked when he thought he saw a spark of crimson behind those large, blank blue eyes.
“ I told you, I don’t want to be ‘Naruto’. And that means I don’t want to look like ‘Naruto’, either.” Douyara’s normally cheerful expression was somewhat troubled, but he couldn’t help but agree. He sighed, nodding.
“ Alright then. However, there are two things that are a little more difficult.” Douyara paused. A single finger rose, pointing Naruto’s cheek. His voice suddenly became serious.
“ These,” He said, gesturing to the whisker scars, “ Say a lot of things about you. I think I can get rid of them, but it might hurt. Also,” His finger rose to eye level. “ Your eyes. Eye color is a common enough thing to be chosen to change, but it’s permanent, so pick a color that you like, because you’ll be dealing with it for the rest of your life, Uzu-chan.”
Douyara’s serious expression instantly cleared, and he was smiling happily again.
“ So, Uzu-chan, take your pick, and then we can get started!”
“ Zabuza! Just the Missing Nin I wanted to see!” He laughed positively.
Zabuza hated being around Douyara and his stupid happy attitude. It made him feel ill.
“ Stuff it, Kouseiki.” He forcefully pushed the bag into Douyara’s arms, and walked into the house. Sitting there, upon one of the small chair in Douyara’s living room, was Naruto.
Or at least, Zabuza assumed it was the kid.
Truthfully, Douyara hadn’t done much in terms of body structure. Instead of that bright, obnoxious blonde hair color, was a soft silvery blonde. It bordered on very pale blonde to an almost ashy, but liquid silver.
Naruto looked up at him. The now platinum blonde’s hair was straight, and actually rather long, as it was tangled and matted under all those spikes. Douyara had done a very good job on his hair. The front fell over Naruto’s face, somewhat obscuring his eyes from view in such a way that Naruto himself could see, but it would be difficult for others to distinguish his eye color. The rest of his hair reached past his small shoulders, and was held back by a hair clip.
His skin, even Zabuza had to agree, would stick out in the hidden mist. However, it was now a pale white, like snow, but not sickly.
Naruto’s face was now devoid of the whisker scars, though Zabuza could tell from the tell-tale signs of Naruto’s slightly red cheeks that they hadn’t come off easily.
The last bit, however, he figured he could have done without. Douyara, crazy bastard that he was, had dressed Naruto up in a... cute kimono with snowy patterns on it. It was a light blueish-purple color, and he knew Douyara would have thought it was cute.
“ He looks like a girl.” This was said flatly, and though Zabuza wasn’t angry, he was still... somewhat apprehensive.
“ Well, he’s from the leaf,” Douyara said, having learned a few things about Naruto from talking with him, “ So I figured that they might sent some hunter-nins after him, because he’s so...” Douyara paused, thinking of the correct way of wording it, “ Important. Now, they’re looking for a scruffy little boy with blonde hair, blue eyes, and whiskers scars, right? Now,” He went down on his knees, placing the bag on the ground, and kneeling next to Naruto.
“ All they’ll find is a little girl with platinum blonde hair and beautiful amethyst eyes, with no whisker scars.” He finished dramatically. “ He’s still the same, Zabuza, it just matters on how hard you train him.”
Zabuza sighed, but he knew Douyara was right. Still, even though he’d seen the results of Douyara’s work before, it never failed to impress him. Douyara wasn’t a shinobi, he was a... er, beautician.
“ Ooh! Neru’s Special Udon! Zabuza, you shouldn’t have!” He said joyously, after looking into the bag.
“ You’re telling me...” The mist shinobi muttered to himself. Still, Douyara, skilled as he was, was the only person Zabuza knew would help missing nins, with food, of all things, as his price.
“ Uzu-chan, would you like some? It’s delicious!” Naruto nodded, looking up at Zabuza.
He sighed, waving a hand as if to dismiss it all. “ Whatever, just hurry up...” He paused. “ Uzu-chan?”
Douyara looked up from the small table he’d set the udon on. “ He doesn’t want to be Naruto, so it’s not his name anymore. Uzumaki is all he’ll keep.” He said, brushing it off afterwards.
“ So, what? He has no first name now?”
“ Well, basically. I’m sure the right name will come along eventually.”
1) Ah yes... Douyara-san... XD Kouseiki means ‘To Change Life’. Douyara isn’t actually a name, it’s an adjective, and basically means ‘it seems as if’, but I can’t quite remember. I thought his name sounded... er, okay.
2) And I am, of course, making this all up. XD Honestly, though, I think it’s... somewhat valid, with all the super badass ninja’s out there, there could be someone with that sort of power. And before you ask, Douyara ain’t really a ninja, he’s just extremely skilled at chakra manipulation.
“ Names are important things. You can’t just change them on a whim like clothing.”
-
“ ‘Shikai’... as lifeless as cold ashes... You may not see it now, but in the future to come I’m sure of it. Because, after all, you can’t break ashes, now can you, Zabuza-san?”
