Facing Bad Tropes with Naruko-chan 4 (Patreon)

Facing Bad Tropes with Naruko-chan 4 - (Naruto AU, SI)

Uzumaki Naruko was a delivery girl… at 8.

The idea had came from the fact that her dad had tried to give her other chores in the kitchen but, as she would go around and outgrow some of the onesie and ‘distractions’ used to keep most people away from her ‘unusual’ traits such as her whisker marks, the man decided to give her a ‘risky’ job: be a delivery girl and have an uniform to justify the outfit that would hide ‘her’ away.

For the whisker marks, she would use some makeup that covered the ‘scars’ from being seen. It wasn’t effective enough to hide those away from close inspections, but it didn’t give off anything to anyone keeping their distances.

Thus, Naruko had a cover, a new job, and even an opportunity to check the village on her own. By all means, Konoha should be safe enough for kids her age to walk around, but it felt so difficult to imagine herself doing so without a disguise.

As she discovered through her dad and then confirmed through her first deliveries, the village’s mobs had seemingly been dispersed four months after she ‘disappeared’. The agitation had died down, the hate had gone away with ‘the lack of a focus’, and the Hokage broke down the mobs once those kept on disrupting affairs for the shops.

As much as Namikaze Minato was unwilling to ‘explain why what they were doing was dumb’, he was pushed by the same civilians that had wanted her death to stop the economically-taxing mobs as they were keen to scare clients away.

That put a smile on Naruko’s face. But she had taken her father’s words to heart when it came to that sort of business.

“Hm? The Kyuubi Brat? Dunno. I didn’t lose anyone to it and I was too young to remember.”

Make the ‘Kyuubi Brat’ someone that isn’t you.

A ‘Scapegoat’ that had no true face but hateful connotations. A symbol that truly bore her no connection beyond sharing some of her appearance. That’s all, a coincidence.

For five months of being a delivery girl, Naruko had no issues. In fact, she pretty much became the ‘Mascot of Lower Konoha’ with her bubbly attitude fully developing. Her father had told her that she would have become more open to others in due time- but Naruko didn’t expect for so many nice people to be there.

Many of those were once those that would spit her way, that would call her name, that would attack the Kyuubi Brat. But Naruko was now ‘Ruruko’, and that was fine for her sake as she was spared any issues through the next years.

Her skin was no longer sickly pale, and she had taken a relatively healthy lifestyle for a civilian who studied in the dreadfully youthful Might Gai’s dojo. It was her mistake when she asked her father how she could learn to defend herself, leading Naruko to learn about the ‘Way of the Youth’.

Martial arts wasn’t the same as being a ninja (not that she wanted to be one, but those were still cool in her opinion), but Naruko was still pleased when the Dojo didn’t demand any proper documentation and Gai just had her training alongside other civilians.

There wasn’t an exact division in categories, the entire body of students was made by people of all ages and kinds. It was exciting to make so many acquaintances left and right, but it was insane how her unusually high-stamina led Gai-sensei to just put her through hell to ‘unveil her path of the Youth’.

Naruko was more than happy to say that she hated the word ‘youth’ despite having hardly ever used it herself in her short life. Still, it was through this experience that the first hint of how extensive Kyuubi's influence over her existence was.

Unusual stamina, resilience to sickness, an insane amount of chakra, and, worst of all, she was ‘growing up’ a bit too much in some areas. It was around age seven that what she commonly called her ‘funny back-pain bags’ came along.

Her breasts were forming earlier than a girl her age should get, and the need for a bra surprised a few clothing stores with her ‘peculiar growth spur’. Naruko knew who was to blame, same for her father.

What she hated was how her capacity to hug him properly was impaired by her boobs and… and one day Naruko decided to tackle the issue head on. Gai-sensei explained how meditation can help clear one’s mind before training.

Not everyone could just go into ‘full training mode’ unless they had a calm mind, and while that was not an issue for Naruko since the girl loved to train without any worries, this method opened a way to her problem.

It was night, she was sweating a storm due to how easily warmed up she was through her fat tits, thus Naruko felt urged to dabble this issue. Taking position on her futon, closing her eyes and mustering her inner peace… Naruko actually ‘stumbled’ into something.

Thud!

“Ouchie,” She mumbled, the girl rubbing her butt as she suddenly landed on the floor. It wasn’t her room’s floor.

Wide eyes were soon aimed upward as Naruko’s blue-eyed gaze was greeted by the large lounge of a massive manor. It was humongous! The hugest place she had ever been into.

Looking around, the girl got off the floor and tried to make sense of where she was. This didn’t feel like Konoha- in fact, it didn’t feel like anyplace she could find on the map. Naruko started to explore, slowly but with a guarded stance. She wasn’t weak, but something about this place had her on the edge.

This wasn’t her mindscape, this much she could tell and… she had been told by her father her ‘sealscape’ should have been unpleasant due to the way it came to be. Could it be that something was wrong with the Seal? Fuinjutsu was, after all, something that her father called an ‘insane thing that one can try to understand but will only learn there’s even more to it’.

An endless subject with endless potential. Naruko felt intrigued by it, but, at the same time, saw no point in tackling it. And thus, she just focused on the moment itself rather than in the depths of it.

Her wandering concluded as she followed a new noise. Someone singing softly, the tune unknown to her as the blonde tracked the source of it in the form of a young woman sitting in the middle of verdant courtyard.

A large forest spread on the side, leading into a neverending natural unknown. Naruko didn’t dare to go for it to ‘run’ as she realized that the figure waiting was indeed the Kyuubi.

The red-haired woman had vulpine ears, the nine tails adding to her kitsune appearance as she sat on a rock. She was dressed in a white kimono dress that looked quite unusual to many others the girl had previously seen.

First, her hips were shown, then her breasts were barely covered as the sides were exposed. The violet pearls-necklace also felt more than just a necklace, but the girl was focusing on the one thing that frightened her the most.

The ‘taunting’ red eyes of the Kyuubi no Yoko.

“Well, well, well, my jailor finally comes to visit-”

“Reduce my boobs.”

The abrupt demand caught the kitsune off-guard, the woman frowning and her smile twitching with renewed mirth.

“I think I will not do that.”

“It’s horrible! I sweat a lot, and my back hurts!”

“Yup. That’s the pain of growing up, ‘Ruko-chan’~.”

“You forced this!” Naruko snapped, glaring at the Kitsune. “I will punish you if you don’t-”

“What? Hurt me? Make me sorry?” The Kyuubi boasted, then giggled. “I am already stuck in a seal, child, I doubt you can scare me-”

“Kurama.”

That’s the name her father said the Kyuubi was actually known with. And from the surprised look on her face, that seemed to be the case.

“How-”

“Dad knows who you are. That- That you were born from the Sage of the Six Paths and that you are actually regenerating your chakra so you are not a ‘weakling’ as others may think!”

…

…

“Yummy and smart, your daddy sure is amusing,” The redhead openly stated, making Naruko snort. “Oh? Someone’s feeling jealous?”

“That’s my dad! And I am threatening you-”

“By calling in your daddy and… trust me when I say I wouldn’t mind gulping him down just nicely~,” The woman interjected, shuddering momentarily and causing a strange feeling of irritation to erupt from within Naruko’s chest.

“You will stop it! That’s my daddy!”

“...Daddy?”

She opened her mouth, realizing what she had just said, but the Kitsune giggled.

“Fine, fine. I am sorry for teasing you so much, child and… apologies for being the cause of a lot of worries in your early life. I may not have directly caused this, but I can assure you that I don’t live to torture any human for fun,” The kitsune commented softly, the tune of the conversation changing with that apology. “Alas, your daddy is right. I am currently close to be at full capacity and, at that point, you could end up with quite an ally if you let me be your… friend.”

“...Why?”

“Many reasons. But I will start with the most simple of them all: I think the one that brought me to Konoha is still around and will eventually come for you too,” Kurama explained with a nod, leaving Naruko frowning. She knew that someone had forced the Kyuubi in Konoha after ripping her out of her mother but… who? “But I have reason to believe your daddy may know more of this. You should ask for the man’s name since I have a little list of people I want to kill, and I don’t like to keep one as just ‘masked bastard’.”

The blonde frowned at the insult, but the girl kept her wits within the topic at hand.

“What if I don’t want to use your powers? I don’t want to become a ninja, so how would I be in danger if I was to never leave Konoha?”

“The same reason that your mother was attacked despite retiring. You are a Jinchuriki, and thus a pregnancy may cause your seal to weaken and demand a Fuinjutsu master to keep it under control. While I wouldn’t forcibly want to leave just yet, I would be forced out in my feral form. And that could cause the same disaster as when you were born with your sister.”

“That’s… wait, my sister?”

“Twin sister. Did your daddy tell you about-”

“My family is dead to me,” Naruko interrupted, her tone quiet and yet the irritation bubbling up in her throat. “I was just surprised. Does that mean my father is… the Hokage?”

“Yep. Does it change much to you?”

The child frowned. “Not really. I think. Sure, that explains a lot, but I hate him regardless of the role.”

“A fair assessment. Yet, back to the deal I am offering you, child,” Kurama got back to the topic. “I will actually aid you in that instance so that no one is harmed but I want you to train under me through some basic human techniques.”

“Like?” Naruko pressed, unsure of the honesty of the deal, but knowing that having the Kyuubi as a friend could be beneficial in the long run.

Instead of saying her answer, Kurama showed it to her. Hand signs came from her as Naruko nodded at those and heard-

"Kage Bushin no Jutsu.” And a puff of smoke emerged, the cloud soon leaving to show a copy of Kurama. “This is the Shadow Clone Technique. It has many functionalities since it was used for recon, training and numerical-related needs.”

Naruko saw a ‘goodish’ technique due to its potential and after testing it out a few times in front of Kurama, she felt like she could do some good with it. The deal was tentatively accepted. She was sure she did not do anything binding, but the girl would ask her father after giving him a gift.

Cleaning the kitchen early in the morning could be such a difficult effort for a single individual, so Naruko decided to put herself at work by using the clone technique. Her father would walk in the kitchen to find it clean and pristine, his eyes widening… even more when he saw the clones of his daughter in front of him.

“Hi daddy!”

He flinched. “Ruko-chan. Who taught you this?”

“Oh, that was-” Naruko thought it would be fine to dispel the 40 clones all at once. “Ghh!”

That proved to be a mistake as she was hit by a seizure and felt absolutely sick through the rest of the day.

“Kurama did you dirty, kiddo. Kage Bushin has some shortcomings, such as having a drain on those with smaller chakra reserves and also frying people’s brains due to the higher memory input you get the more clones you use. You should not go for so many all at once.”

“S-Sorry, daddy.”

“Shh, I will let you off the hook until the migraine is gone.”

Despite that humiliation, Naruko was tended and nursed to health by her daddy. And while that may have served as a lesson to not rush to overuse techniques if any was to fall on her lap, she took the ‘warning’ that Kurama was both a friend and a prankster- one that was trying to do the worst thing one could try to do around Naruko.

Trying to steal her daddy from her!

—------d-d–d-d—-------

AN

Next time, Naruko finds out she has a rival in that last topic. Specifically, one that has a connection with ‘Ruko-chan’ and that will ultimately be her frienemies through the duration of the story.