Hey everyone, its Its Rice Man and this is a reuploading and revamped story of mine I originally made back in 2017. It is a Naruto/Kurotsuchi pairing and I decided to give this fic a fresh start as the events that happened in the original posted story had me backed up into a corner. So I hope those who hated this story for how I made Kurotsuchi so hated and unlikeable give it a second chance. The original story will be deleted but most of the material from the first chapter will stay the same. In regards to the age of the characters, Naruto, Rin and Kakashi and Kurotsuchi are all 18, Konan is 35, Minato and Kushina are 42. Kurotsuchi won't be really toxic as she was in the original upload but will retain her hatred of Konoha. Naruto will retain his immaturity but at a lesser level and this is just me giving this pairing another shot.

Chapter 1: First Contact

It's a quite scene in the lush, green and beautiful forests of Kusagakure, otherwise known as the Village Hidden in the Grass. However, today was the first day of a new war between two of the most powerful of the five great villages, Konohagakure and Iwagakure.

The scene changes to one of these mushroom forests and we see a figure wearing orange dart through the tops of the mushrooms. Instead of lush forests made of trees like any other forest, the forests of Kusa were made up of giant mushrooms which rose high and blocked out the sun's light with their thick canopy. As stated earlier, this figure was wearing an orange combat jacket that had velcro shoulder pockets. On his left shoulder he has the kanji for fire and on his right he had the leaf symbol. He wore orange cargo pants with black ANBU combat boots and had a kunai holster strapped to his left leg. The most noticeable feature of this person was that he had spiky, blonde hair and bright, cerulean eyes with whisker-like birthmarks on his cheeks.

This figure is Naruto Namikaze, the son of fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze who was also known as Konoha's Yellow Flash and his mother was Kushina Uzumaki, Konoha's Crimson Wind and Mistress of Fūinjutsu.

Currently he is hopping through the mushrooms of Kusa on a mission to head to the front lines where forces from Konoha were to commence battle with forces from Iwagakure or the Village Hidden in the Stone. Despite having reached a peace agreement during the Second Shinobi World War the third Tsuchikage, being the hateful man towards Konoha that he is decided to once again challenge Konoha to another conflict in hopes of wiping the Land of Fire and becoming the dominant of the five great villages. Four if Konoha was completely wiped out.

Minato tried his best to resolve the issue peacefully but the Tsuchikage ignored all peace proposals and attacked an outpost that was manned by Konoha and killed the shinobi stationed in it which was more than enough for Minato to declared war on Iwa.

Now, back with Naruto. As said earlier he was making his way through the mushroom tops of Kusa and currently headed to the front lines. As he continued to leap through the trees three more figures showed up and appeared to be tailing him.

''Hm? What is that?'' Naruto thought as he sensed the presence of the three figures fast approaching him.

Turning his head, he spots three people and immediately recognized them.

One was a young man with spiky, silver hair that oriented his left eye. He had the standard Konoha Chunin vest with dark blue pants, black boots and a wakizashi strapped to his side. He wore a mask and the standard Konoha headband.

The other figure was a female, about the same age as Naruto who had chin-length hair almost in a bob cut, she had rectangular purple markings on her cheeks and she wore a long-sleeved black top with an apron skirt and red stockings.

The third figure appeared to be an older woman with short, straight blue hair, grey eyes with lavender eye shadow which accentuated her eyes. She dawned a Konoha Jonin vest and wore a black under shirt and black pants with blue ninja sandals.

''Naruto wait up!'' The silver-haired figure said.

Letting out a small laugh, Naruto stopped atop a large mushroom and watched as the three figures caught up and landed in front of him.

''Hey Kakashi, Rin, Konan-sensei, finally caught up?'' said the blonde teen while sporting his signature smirk.

''Seriously Naruto, can you at least slow down? I mean I know you're excited about participating on the front lines but don't go taking off like that.'' Kakashi, the silver-haired young man said with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

''I know, Kakashi is right, I mean what if you get jumped by a bunch of Iwa shinobi? We won't be able to help you right away Naruto.'' Rin, the brown-haired girl inquired. She saw Naruto as her male best friend, she really did but he can be so brash and a little too headstrong sometimes.

The blue-haired woman merely shook her head at her pupil's recklessness. ''Naruto, Kakashi and Rin are right. Please don't go running off like that again. You didn't even let Minato-sama finish explaining the mission details so you basically would not have had a clue of what to do.''

Naruto gave out a nervous laugh while scratching the back of his head. ''Yeah hehe, well sorry guys but the thought of being some of the first to the front lines got me all excited ya know? So what were the mission details? How are we going to help with the war effort?'' He asked.

Konan took out a scroll from her vest pocket and unfurled it. ''Alright Naruto, since you took off like a bat out of hell I'll kindly explain the mission details to you so please listen okay?'' She said earning a nod from the blonde teen.

''And listen carefully too, it's really important Naruto.'' Kakashi said while pointing his finger at his friend while Rin simply nods.

''Your father has assigned us to investigate a report from the ANBU of a division-sized force of Iwa shinobi who were reported to be mobilizing in northern Kusa. Usually Iwa shinobi operate in a squad level which is about fourteen shinobi altogether. Since this is reported to be a division-sized element it's something out of the ordinary for Iwa. Being one of only few teams with no mission at the moment your father wants us to confirm the existence of this division-size element which he believes will act as the first wave of a possible Iwa invasion of our country. Our only objective are to gain a visual on them but we are to not engage to prove Minato's suspicion and then head back.

Naruto raised his hand to protest something that he thought was wrong with the mission. ''Hold up Konan-sensei, did dad only send us to confirm the division is in Kusa? That's like 10,000 to 20,000 shinobi so what if we end up fighting them? That's a little excessive dontcha think?''

Konan, Kakashi and Rin all shook their heads no at the blonde's question.

''Not really, we have the forces at the border ready to deploy and..''

Before Kakashi could finish his sentence Naruto swore he heard something coming right at them. Listening intently he picked up the sounds of multiple projectiles flying in their direction.

''Careful! Iwa shinobi are here!" Konan shouted out.

''What the?!'' Rin shouted as they all jump out of the way just narrowly avoiding becoming shuriken and kunai pin cushions.

''Looks like we got some company!'' Naruto said in excitement as he draws a three-pronged kunai from his back pouch.

''And look who decided to come play.'' Kakashi said as he draws his own weapon being his wakizashi.

The four Konoha shinobi land on an adjacent mushroom and looked at a another cluster of mushrooms about fifty feet away. Landing on those mushrooms were four Iwa shinobi.

At the head of the group were two Iwa Jonin. One was a teenager about the same age as Naruto who had long, blonde hair that was drawn into a half ponytail with the rest hanging freely and a long bang hanging over his left eye. He wore the standard Iwa shinobi outfit which consisted of a red outfit with two long sleeve and a brown Iwa vest. The other person next to him was a teenage girl the same age as Naruto, about eighteen years old. She has short, black hair with beautiful pink eyes and wore the Iwa Jonin vest with the Iwa red outfit. Her right sleeve was missing while her left wasn't. She wore gloves and had on a red skirt with a lapel running over her right leg and finishing her outfit were brown sandals and fishnet tights.

The third one was a big dude that had dark eyes and black hair that spiked out from the back of his bandana. He also has big cheeks and a plump nose and was wearing the same outfit as the other two. The fourth and final Iwa shinobi was another female who had shoulder-length brown hair with a single lock falling onto the right side of her face and going over her right eye just a little bit. She had steel-grey eyes with orange markings in the corner. She wore what appeared to be an altered, purple kimono dress with red trimmings. Lastly, she wore a yellow sash around her waist and thigh-length stockings that merged into her sandals.

''Hey Deidara, you see that blonde-haired Konoha scum?'' The girl with pink-eyes said turning to face her partner.

The blonde Iwa Jonin gave Naruto a good hard look and immediately knew who it was. ''Yeah, looks like it's the fourth Hokage's son and the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki there Kurotsuchi.''

''No doubt, that blonde hair, cerulean eyes and those whisker marks on his face. It's Naruto Namikaze, ain't it our lucky day?'' Kurotsuchi, the pink-eyed girl said, a hint of excitement in her voice.

Naruto raised his eyebrow at what the two lead Iwa shinobi were talking about. He looked over the girl and smiled to himself when he recognized who it is. ''And I know you, you're Kurotsuchi, granddaughter of the third Tsuchikage Onoki and a descendant of the first. I hear you can use earth, water and lava release and you're easily the top kunoichi right now in Iwa right? You're a prodigy.''

Kakashi, Rin and Konan were watching the exchange between the two.

''That girl is the Tsuchikage's granddaughter? This should be interesting.'' Kakashi thought to himself.

''The son and granddaughter of two Kage duking it out? That's actually kinda cool.'' Rin thought.

''A person who can use lava release? Not good for me.'' Konan thought with a displeased look on her face.

''And you're that bastard Hokage's son and the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, I hear you're quite a great shinobi yourself underling but I highly doubt it. Oh well, taking you out here and now would give Iwa an early edge against you and your village.'' Kurotsuchi said back with a snort.

Deidara tapped his partner on the shoulder getting her attention.

''What's up Deidara?'' Asked Kurotsuchi.

''Hey, do you remember what the old man said? If we ever ran into the Yellow Flash himself or his son we needed to retreat? C'mon, we are confronting the Jinchuuriki of the most powerful tailed-beast to exist.'' Deidara said, his voice a bit shaky.

Akatsuchi, the big guy nodded in agreement. ''He's right Kurotsuchi, I know how much you want to kill the him but him having the strongest of the beasts he might use the its chakra against us and we'd have no chance so we should bail.'' He then turned to face the other Iwa kunoichi, ''Right Suzumebachi?''

The fourth Iwa Jonin, Suzumebachi made a sound of agreement. ''Definitely, we could take out any Konoha shinobi but against a Jinchuuriki? It wouldn't be smart to try and take him on unless you're a Jinchuuriki yourself.''

Kurotsuchi scoffed at her partners' cowardice, usually Deidara would absolutely enjoy taking on some Konoha shinobi but today he seemed apprehensive about challenging Naruto.

''Don't be such pussies you guys, if you want to get out of here then be my guests but I'm not about to let this opportunity slip. We can gain a winning edge over Konoha if we can kill or capture this guy.'' Kurotsuchi said unsheathing her katana. ''Honestly I think he'd be better off dead.''

Konan, Kakashi and Rin drew their weapons preparing for an impending fight but Naruto held his arm out in front of them.

''Naruto? What are you doing?'' Kakashi asked.

''You're seriously not thinking about taking all four on are you?'' Rin, who was in disbelief asked.

Konan was about to say something but decided against it. Putting her kunai away she turned to look at her other two students. ''Put your weapons away you two, let Naruto handle this.''

Kakashi and Rin looked at Konan like she was insane.

''But he is taking on four Iwa Jonin sensei!'' Kakashi protested only for Rin to place a hand on his shoulder. Turning to face Rin he saw that she was shaking her head.

''Let Naruto take them on, as a matter of fact the other three seem to be afraid of Naruto since he's the Jinchuuriki of Kyuubi. So it's gonna be just him and the Tsuchikage's granddaughter.''

Kakashi then turned to look at the Iwa Jonin and saw that three of them, namely Deidara, Suzumebachi and Akatsuchi appeared to be backing away slightly while Kurotsuchi stood her ground with a look of determination plastered on her face.

''You sure you can take on a Jonin Naruto?'' Asked Kakashi.

''You three just stay out of this.'' Naruto reached into his back pouch and quickly he threw a kunai into a nearby mushroom, ''This girl wants a fight? I'll give her a fight she'll never forget.'' the blonde declared with the utmost confidence in his voice.

Kurotsuchi merely scoffed at Naruto. ''An underling like you thinking you can take on a prodigy like me? Typical of Konoha shinobi to act so stupid with that brave act. Gets you killed every time.'' She spat condescendingly, ''That's some weird looking kunai, never seen one like that before.''

Kurotsuchi and Naruto stood in their respective battle stances and stared each other down. Sensing that the two were about to engage one another the Iwa Jonin and Naruto's team jumped back onto other mushrooms to give the two prodigy ninja space to fight.

''Your move underling.'' Kurotsuchi said.

''No way, you can attack first, unless you're too scared of me like your teammates that is.'' Naruto said teasingly while beckoning her over with his finger.

Naruto implying that she was afraid like her teammates made her get a bit riled up. ''You really want to die blondie? Fine then, I'll happily kill you right now if you really want.'' Kurotsuchi spat, ''This guy doesn't have a weapon in hand, what's the deal with that?''

Making her move, Kurotsuchi took her katana and leaped into the air with such grace and speed that Naruto was admiring her form.

''She almost looks like a dancer in that stance.'' Thought the blonde as the Iwa kunoichi drew near.

''Okay why isn't he attempting to dodge my attack?'' Kurotsuchi thought in disbelief as she came within arm's reach of Naruto's face.

Kakashi, Rin, and Konan did not seem the least bit worried. They knew what Naruto was planning.

''Crazy son of a bitch.'' Kakashi said whilst shaking his head.

''Hey, he mastered that jutsu already so this fight should be over in no time.'' Rin said.

Konan just simply looked on with a smirk. ''Oh Naruto, that's just like you.''

As Kurotsuchi's blade comes within millimeters of striking Naruto he vanishes.

''What the hell?! Where'd he go?'' A now shocked Kurotsuchi thought as her katana plunged deep into the mushroom's head.

''This is bad, he knows that jutsu.'' Deidara thought with a frown, ''This is gonna be problematic.''

Just then, Naruto appeared on the mushroom stalk where he threw the kunai from earlier.

''That was fast, how the hell did he do that?!'' thought Kurotsuchi as she watched Naruto take the kunai out and tosses it right at her. What she saw though made her wonder even more as the kunai was not aimed at her, but was headed right for the space behind her and before she could react, Naruto disappeared again and immediately appeared right behind her.

''Is that the..''

Kurotsuchi's thoughts were interrupted when she spotted Naruto grabbing a hold of the kunai and proceeded to thrust into her back.

''This was easy, too damn easy. Oh well, it was a blast fighting you Kurotsuchi!" Naruto thought with glee as he grabs onto Kurotsuchi's shoulder and went to shove the kunai into her neck.

''Earth Release: Mud Wall!''

Just then, a wall of mud appeared in front of the blonde Chunin and instead of stabbing Kurotsuchi, Naruto's kunai embedded in the wall. Jumping back and landing on his two feet Naruto stood up and looked in the direction where Kurotsuchi was.

The mud wall crumbles and there stood Kurotsuchi with her sword held to her side. ''There's no kidding, you're using your dad's specialty are you? The Flying Thunder God huh?'' Asked the Iwa kunoichi.

''Oh? You know of the Flying Thunder God? Pretty cool jutsu huh? My dad invented it in the last war and it sure comes in handy.'' Naruto boasted as he spins the kunai around his finger through the hole in the handle.

''Tch, not only are you the fourth's son and the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, you also seem to have mastered that damn jutsu.'' Kurotsuchi then let out a small chuckle. ''Heh, this is actually gonna be fun.''

''You're having fun? That's good because I'm having a lot of fun too.'' Naruto chuckled.

''Then what are you waiting for underling? You tired already?'' Kurotsuchi said with a scowl.

''Pfffft, far from it.'' Naruto snorted before he and Kurotsuchi charge one another and meet in a clash of steel that echoes throughout the mushroom forest, blow for blow they matched each other and neither were able to land a hit on the opposition.

Kurotsuchi and Naruto were exchanging blows at such a speed that their comrades were having trouble keeping up with them.

''Holy crap look at Kurotsuchi go, her kenjutsu is no doubt the best in Iwa.'' Akatsuchi said proudly.

''That may be, but Naruto has that jutsu to his advantage.'' Deidara said.

''So what? Every jutsu has a weakness and knowing Kurotsuchi, she'll find a way to counter the Flying Thunder God.'' Suzumebachi said cockily.

The Konoha shinobi were in the same train of thought as their Iwa counterparts.

''C'mon Naruto, take her out already!'' Kakashi shouted with his hands around his mouth which helped amplify his voice.

Just then, a whistle echoed throughout the mushroom forest catching everyone's attention.

''Shit, that's the retreat signal. Kurotsuchi we need to bail!'' Deidara called out to his partner.

''Yeah, it's the signal if we ever encounter Konoha's Jinchuuriki so come on cousin!" Suzumebachi added before she, Akatsuchi and Deidara hop through the forest effectively leaving the battle zone.

Just then, a second whistle echoed, this time it came from the side where the Konoha shinobi were.

''And there's our signal, Naruto let's go!" Konan said as she, Kakashi and Rin left the battlefield much like their Iwa counterparts.

However, Kurotsuchi and Naruto continued to exchange blows despite hearing their respective retreat signals and comrades' words. The two would continued to exchange blows until Naruto decided it was enough.

''Sorry, gotta bail Kurotsuchi.'' Naruto said as he shoves Kurotsuchi away. He tries to make a run for it but a mud wall forms in his path making him stand in place.

''Don't be a pussy, fuck the retreat signal we're fighting and I'm gonna win, take your head as a trophy and prove that Iwa is superior.'' Kurotsuchi said as she charged the blonde with her katana ready to slice him to ribbons.

Naruto only let out a chuckle before looking over his shoulder. ''This girl has spunk, I like it.'' He thought as he watched Kurotsuchi fast approach him.

''You're just standing there you're planning on using that kunai to teleport away right?'' Kurotsuchi approached Naruto and swung her katana horizontally and just like she guessed, he vanished. ''Of course, flee the battlefield like a coward.''

Kurotsuchi just looked on toward Konoha's side and before she could leave she felt a small gust of wind from behind. Looking over her shoulder she widened her eyes in shock. There he was, Naruto only a few feet behind her and in his hand he had a strange jutsu consisting of a ball of spiraling chakra in hand.

''Rasengan!" Naruto shouted as he shoved his hand forward.

''Shit! Earth style: mud wall!''

Kurotsuchi manages to form another mud wall behind her hoping it would shield her from the strange jutsu Naruto was using but as quickly as she formed it, the mud wall crumbled under the sheer power of the rasengan and in seconds the wall was destroyed and the force of the impact sent her flying away.

''Agh!'' The Iwa girl cried out as she was sent flying off the mushroom and plummets to the forest floor.

Seeing this, Naruto leaped over the edge and caught the girl before she could land on the forest floor effectively breaking her fall. Landing on his two feet he set Kurotsuchi down and went on one knee so they could be eye-level.

''You're pretty good Kurotsuchi, best fight I've ever had ya know?'' The blonde said with his signature grin.

Kurotsuchi just gave Naruto a look like he was stupid and immediately she shoved him away.

''Shut up you Konoha trash, you won with dumb luck is all that's how you beat me!" The Iwa kunoichi said, obviously frustrated that she was beaten by a Konoha shinobi, namely an underling like Naruto.

''Whatever ya know.'' Naruto said as he took Kurotsuchi's katana, which landed several feet away from them and handed it to her. ''Here you go.''

Kurotsuchi just growled in annoyance before turning her head. ''Piss off, you already touched the sword so you might as well just kill me with it.''

Now it was Naruto's turn to look at Kurotsuchi like she was the insane one. ''Kill you? Why? I had fun fighting you."

Kurotsuchi had a tic mark form on her head. Looking at the blonde she sensed that he really didn't have any intention to kill her. ''You're a fucking idiot you Konoha bastard. Just how did you teleport behind me anyway? There was no kunai.'' She asked, despite her anger she was very curious to how Naruto had gotten behind her.

''Look at your shoulder.'' Naruto said pointing to said area.

Complying, she looked over her shoulder and there was a jutsu formula, the ones like he has on the handles of his kunai. ''Is that when he did it? When he grabbed my shoulder? This asshole.'' Kurotsuchi then forcibly grabbed her sword from the blonde's hands and stood up despite the soreness of her body. Courtesy of the rasengan's impact. Taking off her Jonin vest she then uses the blade to slice it to ribbons leaving no trace it.

''Woah, easy Kurotsuchi. Well, I guess I should be going now so I hope we get to meet again!'' Naruto said as he turned to head home only to hear Kurotsuchi call out to him. ''Hm? What's up?''

Kurotsuchi sheathed her katana back into it's sheathe and looked at Naruto with fire in her eyes. ''You just got lucky, that's how Konoha always wins, sheer dumb and idiotic luck. Pray you don't meet me again because if we do, I'm seriously gonna win and cut your fucking head off and send it to your piece of shit Hokage!"

Despite her obvious threats, Naruto just smiled and shook his head. ''I sure do hope we meet again, it was fun fighting you so..'' Just when he turned around however, he saw that Kurotsuchi had already left. ''Huh, I didn't even get to say what I wanted to say.''

''Naruto!''

Kakashi, Rin and Konan, his comrades who had left earlier had returned to the battlefield once they realized that Naruto hadn't retreated with them.

''Why the heck are you not retreating with us?! Good Kami Naruto we thought you got lost.'' Kakashi said shaking his head in disapproval.

''Yeah, we would've thought that the Tsuchikage's granddaughter might've taken you prisoner or something.'' Rin said jokingly.

''Your teammates are right Naruto, we almost made it back to the border when we realized you weren't tailing us, Kami forbid if we came back home and your mother realized that you weren't with us.'' Konan said in a scolding manner.

''Sorry guys, but I was so caught up in dueling Kurotsuchi that I didn't paid no attention to the retreat signal.'' Naruto chuckled.

Kakashi looked around and noticed there was no sign of the Iwa shinobi. ''Where is she anyway? Did you kill her?'' the silver-haired Chunin then noticed Kurotsuchi's shredded vest on the ground, ''Wait, did you..?''

Naruto nodded his head in response. ''Yeah, I won by shoving a rasengan in her face and turned her to mush.''

''Wait what?!'' Rin screamed in disbelief, ''You what!?'

''You killed Onoki's granddaughter? What the heck Naruto, now the old man is seriously going to send one-thousand of his shinobi to invade.'' Konan scolded.

Naruto then held his hands up in mock defense. ''Just kidding ya know! I teleported behind her and used the rasengan but she used the mud wall technique just in time to save herself. The force of my attack destroyed her wall and knocked her on her ass. I could've taken her katana and finished it once and for all but I decided against it.''

''Why?'' Kakashi asked with a deadpan expression.

''Well, I had fun fighting her, I really did and I think she had fun too.'' Naruto said before turning to face the direction where Konoha was. ''I told her I would love to cross paths with her again because I think she's really cool and I really respect her...though she threatened that if we did meet again she'd take my head off and mail it to dad.'' He said with a light laugh and with what Kakashi interpreted as a shit-eating grin.

''Um...okay...that won't end well for Iwa.'' Kakashi said.

''Whatever, let's head home and tell dad that our mission was unable to be carried out since we were attacked by an Iwa team. I'm sure they will notify the division of our presence in the area.'' Naruto said before leaping through the forest.

''That guy, he's my friend and all but he's just so daring and crazy sometimes.'' Kakashi groaned rubbing his temples before hopping away as well.

''Naruto will always be Naruto.'' Rin said as she follows her two male teammates.

''Minato, your son is one crazy kid, but he's grown up well.'' Konan thought before following her students.

Unknown to the Konoha shinobi, a lone figure was watching them from afar and when the camera zooms in on the person it's revealed to be Kurotsuchi. Naruto had thought she fled back to Iwa but in reality she was secretly watching Naruto as he was chatting with his teammates.

''He had fun and thinks I'm cool? He respects me too? Is that why he didn't want to kill me? Tch, moron.'' Kurotsuchi thought before making her way back to Iwa.

Despite having fought the first battle of the war against the Hokage's son and losing it, deep down Kurotsuchi felt excitement, and it was the excitement of fighting Naruto again in the future. Even though he was the enemy from a village she hated she put her pride aside just for this moment and admitted it to herself that it was a good fight.

Please don't forget to fave, follow and review and PM me any questions. This is Its Rice Man signing off.