Name – Goddess (The Remix)
Genre:
Romance – The (beginning of a) romantic relationship between two characters of any gender.
Dark Romance – The (beginning of a) unhealthy, criminal, abusive or obsessive romance (that may be unrequited or one-sided) between two characters of any gender.
Avdenture/Action – The story contains fight/action scenes and/or the characters are travelling.
Fantasy – The story contains magic, including magical worlds, magical creatures and people who can use magic. There are also other elements that do not exist in the real world.
AU – Stands for Alternate Universe. This story does not follow the actual storyline of Naruto (Manga or Anime).
Overall Warnings: This story contains or will contain in later chapters;
Gender-bending – Some characters are of a different sex. Sasuke, Neji, Iruka, Kiba, Haku, Gaara and Hidan so far are female. Tenten is male.
Het – The (beginning of a) romantic and/or sexual relationship between members of the opposite sex.
Yaoi – The (beginning of a) romantic and/or sexual relationship between two males.
Yuri – The (beginning of a) romantic and/or sexual relationship between two females.
Character Death – Characters will die in later chapters.
Mature Content – (Later) chapters will contain violence, swearing and sex scenes.
Summary – Uzumaki Naruto, son of two legendary heroes, was born with a monstrous secret that threatens his dream of following his father's footsteps. He's living in times of war, discrimination, secret organizations and dangerous affairs. History itself has been tainted with lies and deceit. He will need more than dreams just to survive. Especially when he falls in love with the enemy.
Prologue – King of Heroes
When Naruto was young he did not dare to dream. But every now and then, he would see himself being held in the arms of a beautiful, vibrant woman with red hair and green eyes. She would cook delicious meals every day, sing him to sleep every night, hold him whenever he was scared, soothe him whenever he was sad. He would see himself smiling up at a handsome man with blond hair and an intelligent look in his brilliant blue eyes. He would play with him when he was lonely, he would tell him stories to make him laugh, he would take him to wondrous places when he felt trapped.
And sometimes he would even see himself growing up in their care. As someone who people would remeber. Someone who would make it into the pages of history. Someone who even the gods themselves couldn't ignore.
Someone who was wanted and loved.
But that was an illusion.
Naruto had spent the first eleven years of his life locked up as doctors and magicians from all over the world gathered in Konoha to do unspeakable things to him. Eleven years taken away from him without mercy. Eleven years of cold treatment, painful experiments and hate-filled beatings for something he could neither help nor control. Eleven years of not knowing what love and happiness was.
Because he was a monster, they said. He was a demon.
The doctors and magicians had been cold, cruel and selfish, caring little about what their experiments were doing to him. But what they had expected to be a one-way ticket into glory turned out to be a huge disappointment.
The last memory he had from that place was the look of fear on the doctor's face as his vision turned black. He woke up, bloody and bruised more than usual, in a dark alleyway somewhere in the slums. He laid there, who knew how long, until someone noticed him.
That someone had been a young waitress with a heart of gold and a tongue like a knife by the name of Umino Iruka. She saw him laying there in the alleyway, injured and alone. He hadn't paid her much thought when he heard her heels clicking on the concrete, until she saw him. She could've just pretended not to have seen him and continue on her way like all the others before her, but she didn't. Instead, she crouched down next to him and smiled and said 'hi there' and for some reason that tore at his heart like a chainsaw and he cried. Sobs that shook his bruised ribcage until he passed out once more.
00
It was a difficult beginning to a whole new life for both of them. When Iruka had found the small, emaciated boy in between the trashbags she didn't think of herself as a hero. In fact, she felt like a wicked witch who ate children when the boy woke up on her couch, saw her and threw a fit. He began to calm down when she kept her distance, but let out an odd screech whenever she tried to get close. His eyes were fixed on the tray of food in her hands. She could tell he was hungry, but he didn't trust her.
She stood there for a long time, not knowing what to do. She studied him, his reactions whenever she moved, the way he started every time he heard a sound coming from outside. It took a while before she realized that his stomach wasn't the only thing that was growling. The boy seemed wild, almost animalistic.
She decided to take a risk. Collecting her courage and hoping for the best, she walked forward, ignoring the warning hiss that turned into a frightened yelp when she finally stood in front of him. The boy looked terrified. He closed his eyes and began to wrap himself up in a ball despite the pain it probably caused him.
Iruka swallowed thickly, feeling like a bully. She put the tray down on the floor next to him and left the room. She sat on her bed for what she felt was in eternity until she heard the distinct sound of someone trying to open her window. Panicking, she went back to the living room and found the boy trying to get out. The sight of her freaked him out and he began to bang his already battered body into the door. He fumbled with the doorknob, covering it with blood as he reopened his wounds. She saw the dried wounds on his back tearing open again and flinched.
She was going to have to use force. Heart pounding in her ribcage, she lunged forward and tackled the boy to the ground. His eyes were mad with fear, tears streaming down his face and he was starting to hyperventilate. Her heart almost shattered at the sight. So she held him to her chest and mumbled sweet nonsense into his ear because that was the only thing she could think of.
She asked him if he liked the sandwhiches and told him that she could make more if he wanted. Because she had cheese, ham, blueberry jam and peanut butter. She would be making him ramen for dinner and it was going to be really hearty so that it would warm him up nicely. She had already asked her downstairs neighbor if she had an extra futon to spare, but the darling woman ended up giving it to her along with some sheets and a pillow. She told him about work and that she asked one of her colleagues, who was studying to be a healer, to take a look at him, but she was now wondering if that was a good idea seeing as the guy was over six feet tall and was build like a silverback gorilla.
The boy was calm within minutes, but she didn't let go nor did she stop whispering to him. He was looking at her with big, blue eyes as if he was searching for something in her face. He glanced at the scar across her nose a few times. She didn't realize she was rocking him in her arms like a baby and she was vaguely aware of the fact that he was softly repeating some of the things she said to him.
Those blue eyes had captivated her. Little did she know that her own light brown eyes had a similar effect on him.
00
The boy was starving for love. That became very clear to her within the first week of taking care of him. But it was still a struggle to live with him. He wanted her attention, he enjoyed her storytelling and her cooking, he wanted her to hold him when it became dark, but at the same time he didn't trust her completely. One wrong move was enough to send him into a state of panic and it could take hours before he'd calm down.
It was on the third day of the second week that Iruka began to notice some improvement. The boy was trying to talk to her. Most of the time he would just repeat what she said to him, but it didn't take long for him to figure out how to tell her he was hungry or sleepy or wanted a hug. The more she talked to him, the more he talked back. One night the boy had crawled into her lap during storytelling and asked 'mommy love Naruto?' It had taken all her willpower not to press him to her chest and burst into tears. It would've scared him off no doubt. So she settled for nodding and patting his blond head.
Not only had he told her his name, it was the first time she had seen him smile. A smile that could put the sun to shame.
In order to keep up with the boy's insane appetite Iruka took a second job as a bar keeper. She took a third a few weeks later when Naruto suddenly shot up into the sky and was in dire need of new clothes. It took her six months, but he was finally starting to behave somewhat like a normal teenage boy. He was beginning to speak better and she was teaching him how to read and write. Some days he was hyperactive and misschievous, other days he was grumpy and whiny. He could be incredibly sweet and thoughtful, but he could also cause trouble like no other.
It was partially due to his insatiable curiosity. As soon as he got over some of his fears, Naruto began to join her on little trips. They went to get groceries or to the book store, they went to visit some of her friends or went sightseeing. She even took him to the park one day where other kids his age would play sometimes and tried to encourage him to make friends.
That day Iruka realized that children knew exactly when someone was different. Her stomach flipped when she saw and heard some of the things they said and did. But Naruto had been in a good mood that day and fortunately he didn't quite get the fact that they were trying to bully him.
His persistence, good nature and determination to make some friends to play with when Iruka was working had proved to be effective. Though some of the richer kids kept their distance, others started to flock to him, pulled in by that sunny smile.
At that moment Iruka knew everything was going to be alright with her little boy.
00
Naruto was curious. He had nearly burned down the entire apartment complex when he started playing with the hot plates in the bedroom that Iruka used to cook. He liked learning new things. He'd watch documentaries with the neighbor lady downstairs and read educational books. Though he was curious about everything, he was most fascinated by the animal kingdom. He felt a strange connection to it somehow.
People were... odd. Naruto still wasn't sure if he liked people. He liked the neighbor lady who let him eat cake for breakfast and play with her grandson's toys. He liked Iruka's colleague who would check up on his health every now and then, and reminded him of a giant panda even though he made lame jokes sometimes. He liked Sora who played with him whenever he went outside, but sometimes he was too bossy and he didn't always feel like doing whatever he wanted to do. He didn't like Iruka. He loved her.
She gave him a place to sleep in her tiny apartment, she kept him fed despite her limited income, she told him stories even when she was tired from work and she gave him so much love that it made his heart swell and burst into tiny, sparkly stars. So when Iruka was considering taking up a fourth job due to a rise in rent Naruto decided it was time for some action on his part.
She had helped him more than she'd ever know and now he was going to help her. He did numerous odd jobs. He helped old people in the neighborhood by carrying their groceries, taking their dogs for a walk, posting their mail and stuff. He fixed the roof of a toystore that had seen better days and did deliveries for the local laundrymat.
It was troublesome and tiring sometimes, he didn't always feel like going, but the jobs connected him to all kinds of different people in a healthy way that didn't involve blood, screams and fear.
He knew that not everyone was nice. The playground had taught him that. Rich kids didn't like poor kids and vice versa. Naruto was a poor kid. He and the others would watch how the rich kids bullied their nannies and bragged about whatever present their parents bought them to keep them out of their hair. They always sat around the climbing frame and seesaw, leaving the poor kids to play in the dirt which was fine with Naruto. He liked the mud fights, soccer games and races across the grassfield. He didn't feel like he was missing out on anything.
Until he met Hagabuki Tenten, a boy not much older than he was. He had been standing in the middle of the grassfield holding a katana. Of course, the other kids, poor and rich alike, asked him if they could hold it. Tenten refused, telling them that he was training for an exam and proceeded to show them how to handle a sword.
Naruto was so impressed that he immediately headed to the library and borrowed several books on swords. But as fascinating as the encounter and the books were it also introduced a third group of people into his world that, unbeknownst to him, Iruka had been trying to shield him from.
The warriors.
00
On Naruto's thirteenth birthday Iruka had taken him to the palace of Konoha for a three-day tour. She refused to tell him how much it had cost. The sheer beauty of the place had awed him beyond belief. And that was before they had even gone inside.
That day, Naruto fell in love with Konoha.
The palace was large and majestic. Marble floors, arched doorways, elaborate tapestries, colorful paintings and life-like statues. Showcases displaying magical artifacts, gold and silver jewelry embedded with gemstones, beautifully crafted weapons and valuable historical books. It seemingly held hundreds of massive rooms dedicated to something or someone.
On the final day, their guide had taken them to the memorial wing. A section of the palace dedicated to the deceased heroes and rulers of Konoha.
Senju Hashirama, the first king of Konoha. The one who had turned a small village into a blossoming country during his rule.
Senju Tobirama, the second king of Konoha. The one who had followed the first king's footsteps and made Konoha one of the most powerful and influencial countries of the world.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, the third king of Konoha. The one who guided Konoha through the rise of the Tailed Beasts.
And then... there he was, at the end of the hallway. An entire room the size of their apartment complex in his honor.
Namikaze Minato. The fourth king of Konoha. The greatest hero of all time. The one who led Konoha to victory during the Second Great War. The one who sealed away the most powerful and terrifying Tailed Beast. The one who had dozens of songs, dances, buildings and monuments named after him.
They had spent a good hour in that room just looking at the tapestry depicting the Fourth. Naruto couldn't take his eyes off the blond, blue-eyed man smiling down at him even when he sensed Iruka and their guide looking at him and he knew why.
The resemblance was uncanny. It was almost too good to be true and yet something about it made perfect sense. So when Iruka asked him what his favorite part of the tour was he answered with 'seeing my father smile at me'.
Their guide had been unusually quiet after that and seemed to deliberately ignore Naruto for the rest of the tour. The look on her face when they left gave them both a bad feeling.
00
Naruto had just scored a steady job as a gardener in one of the more prominent areas in Konoha. It was the first time he really came into contact with aristocrats, and it hadn't been pretty. The owner of the land and his wife were horrified to find Naruto talking to their daughter and fired him on the spot.
Since that day, people started looking at him funny. They started whispering to each other as he passed them on the streets. Iruka told him that he should just ignore it, that it would pass over time, but it didn't. In fact, it became worse. More people started staring and the whispers became louder to the point where they didn't care whether or not Naruto heard them.
They were calling him a demon...
Just like that, Naruto's world was shattered again. Not even Iruka with all her loving soul could comfort him. He stopped walking the streets looking for jobs, he stopped running errands for Iruka, he stopped leaving the aparment altogether. But nothing helped.
People would throw rocks at their window, leaving obscene messages on their door, Iruka was being harassed at work and the people they once considered friends were nowhere in sight.
One day Iruka returned home with a red mark shaped like a man's hand on her cheek, her clothes were disheveled and her hair was a mess. She had been assaulted on her way back. It sent Naruto over the edge. He left the apartment for the first time in months to find the ones responsible. He searched for hours, even daring to look in the wealthy areas.
He didn't find them. And it only added to his rage. That night, Naruto swore he would become a warrior. He would protect Iruka like the Fourth protected Konoha. And, maybe, if he tried hard enough, he could change the world. No more hatred, no more discrimination, no more blood.
The next day he had enthusiastically told Iruka that he wanted to enroll himself into Konoha's Warrior Academy, but she had not reacted the way he had hoped.
She was against the idea. Protesting the very thought of her boy being thrown from one violent life into another. She had tried to change his mind, telling him in the most frightening way she could that he would be forced to kill people, watch those he grew close to die at the hands of the enemy. The other students would treat him cruelly, maybe even the teachers.
But Naruto couldn't be swayed. He had been stubborn, stating that if Iruka wouldn't pay for his education than he would pay it himself somehow. They hadn't spoken for a week after that, both angry and disappointed in one another.
Naruto had been deadset on protecting his foster mother and proving that he was not the 'demon child' everyone thought he was. Iruka, however, had been confident that it would much harsher than Naruto wanted to believe.
And she had been right.
After several weeks of saving money, Naruto finally had enough to pay for the first semester. But Naruto had soon discovered that there was more to it.
Konoha was one of the few countries in the world that had several entirely dissimilar clans and tribes. But like all other countries they were viewed as the aristocrats among warriors.
Each clan had their own separate school. Not only did it teach their children the culture, language and history of their clan, but also techniques and abilities only the people of their clan could learn. Equality was a word not used in the system of Konoha's Warrior Academy. Money, status and ancestry was what mattered.
There was the basic classes. Anyone with a little spare change could take them. But with just these lessons the best Naruto could become was a guard and not even a royal guard at that. It taught them self-defense and nothing more.
And then there were 'special classes'. Those lessons would cost extra money. Those lessons were specific and there were dozens of them. Lessons in weapon handling, espionage, martial arts, interrogation, disguise, healing, inflitration, survival in the wild and so on. And each separate class would cost money.
Money only clan members had. Money that would take Naruto a lifetime to collect just to complete one special class.
It didn't help that Naruto was one of the oldest students either. Nor did the fact that he hadn't had a day's worth of preparation or education like the other students. Hell, the only reason he knew how to read and write was because Iruka taught him. And he still needed help with it every now and then.
His first week at Konoha's Warrior Academy had been disastrous. He had returned every day with tears in his eyes. The teachers ignored his raised hand and pretended not to hear him when he asked them the question during break, the students mocked him and bullied him, the parents insulted him and encouraged their children's behavior.
It had been unbearable, until Iruka finally took pity. She had sat down on the bed next to him offering him all the comfort and hope he needed to fulfil his dream. Though the lessons hadn't become easier nor did the people become kinder, Naruto could bear it simply because one person believed he could. Because Iruka, who loved him, would be waiting at the end of the day with a proud smile and comforting arms.
She had even started saving some money to try and get him into at least one special class. But even with Iruka working three jobs it would take years before that happened.
There had been a time when they had thought they had finally collected the money for one special class before Iruka discovered the price was for one lousy introduction lesson. After that, they began losing hope. Naruto no longer believed he could make it.
But then, Naruto turned fifteen and something miraculous happened. He received a letter from the council announcing that he was now old enough to collect his inheritance. Naruto had stared at the letter for a long time. Not because of the sheer fortune he had just been given, but because the letter confirmed that he was indeed the son of Namikaze Minato and a woman named Uzumaki Kushina.
It had been the happiest day of his life.
The first thing they bought was a new house. A house that actually fitted two people, had a kitchen and separate bedrooms. The second was pay off all their debts. And, finally, Naruto had enough money to afford seven special classes. (Iruka had told him he couldn't take them all because unlike clan members who made this kind of money every month, theirs was only a one time budget.)
Naruto would never forget the faces of the clan members and aristocrats when he walked into the classroom with a fresh haircut, new clothes that actually fitted and even the standard armor.
It hadn't been the looks he had been expecting. Instead of outrage and disgust there had been something akin to respect. Naruto never stopped smiling that day.
And his smile got the attention of one Haruno Sakura. Her clan was small. They owned a chain of apothecaries and had never been really known for their warrior skills. She wasn't the first in the family to enter KWA, but she was the first one to last more than three years.
Naruto didn't know what to think of her at first. Sakura was very pretty, but she was from a different world. Her family had money and status. She lived in a wealthy area and had attended dinners with Hyuugas and Akimichis. Naruto had never even seen a Hyuuga.
His first impression of her was snobby, bad tempered and spoiled. He was too young and inexperienced to know that she was trying to impress him. That she was trying to show off, trying to make him see that she was not like the other girls. She was strong and loyal and stood by her opinion.
But Naruto wasn't used to getting attention from girls. Most of them preferred boys with rich, powerful parents, the rest were all about looks. Naruto didn't really fit into either. He was a late bloomer and he blossomed in awkward stages. The only thing he didn't have, thankfully, was acne, though he did have his fair share of pimples. He was small for his age and skinny. But for some reason, Sakura chose him over all the richer and better-looking boys.
He fell in love with her the moment she finally confessed her feelings to him. She was different that day. Not as violent, more shy. She couldn't look him directly in the eyes and her blush deepened every time she stuttered. She had looked beautiful professing her love for him. So beautiful that he wanted to marry her on the spot.
A week after they started dating he introduced Sakura to Iruka and was forced onto a couch next to his girlfriend as his foster mother marveled over how pretty she was.
Dating Sakura had suddenly given Naruto a rather remarkable fascination with sex. It was the first time he connected it to something other than procreation. He knew what sex was. He'd seen enough nature documentaries. But he'd never really had any interest in it until Sakura. He started thinking about kissing and penises and vaginas and breasts in a whole new way that sometimes made spending time with his girlfriend more than a little awkward.
But that was then.
00
This is now.
Uzumaki Naruto was now twenty. He no longer had a funny way of talking, he was no longer a skinny boy who was small for his age. He was tall, muscular, handsome and ready to serve Konoha after graduating with outstanding marks. He had his own house where he lived with Sakura, his longtime girlfriend whom he had proposed to on graduation day in front of hundreds of people.
He was no longer the demon child. He was Uzumaki Fucking Naruto, the luckiest bastard in Konoha.
Naruto smiled at his family. He squeezed Sakura's hand as they walked up the stairs to Konoha Palace. Iruka standing to his right, sniffing and dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief.
Naruto rolled his eyes, "Oh come on, Iruka. You already did this to me on my graduation day. Haven't you run out of tears yet?"
Iruka slapped his arm playfully, glaring up at him. It reminded her of the fact that he was no longer her little boy. He was two heads taller than her now, ready to start his own life and have a family with Sakura. Those nine years just went by too fast.
She burst into tears again.
Sakura punched Naruto's other arm, "Now look what you did. She's allowed to cry. You're her baby."
"Yeah." Naruto said softly. He hadn't even registered the punch, giving Iruka a soft smile and a warm hug. "I'll always be your little boy, Iruka. You know that."
Iruka gave a happy hiccough that made Naruto chuckle.
"Now, aren't you glad I didn't invite my mother. She clings onto whoever's closest to her whenever she gets dramatic. And she loves getting dramatic."
"Don't remind me." Naruto had spent an entire afternoon comforting his mother-in-law when they had announced their engagement. She had refused to let go of his shirt, making sure he couldn't escape. She forced him to look at baby pictures and eat vile cookies.
He looked up at the great doorway to the palace and was suddenly hit by a strong wave of excitement, "I'm finally going to be a warrior. A true, official warrior." He said.
Sakura smiled and nodded, her eyes growing suspiciously shiny. Naruto groaned. "Not you too."
"Sorry." She gave a watery giggle. "I'm just so happy for you."
Naruto smiled excitedly. He had to change to subject somehow or he would start crying too. "I wonder who I'll be working with."
Sakura rolled her eyes.
"What?" Naruto replied innocently.
Sakura rolled her eyes again, just to annoy him. "I can't believe I agreed to marry you." She joked which succeeded in making Iruka sniffle even more.
"Yeah, well, neither can I." Naruto snapped back playfully. "But we're getting married and that's final."
"Married." Sakura giggled. "I like that word."
Naruto smiled at her. "Yeah, me too. 'Cause, you know, marriage creates families."
Sakura's eyes saddened for a second before lighting up again. "Damn straight. Now, come on, or you'll be late for the ceremony." She poked him in the side before dragging him through the grand door. Iruka, still dabbing at her cheeks and holding onto Naruto's other arm, followed them.
Just before they entered the palace, Naruto turned around and looked up at the sun. "Keep smiling down at me, dad. I'll make you proud."
The sound of a bell echoed throughout Konoha.
000