Naruto and its characters were created by Masashi Kishimoto. This is fan fiction.
Japanese versus English
I'm going to be using mainly English for technique (jutsu) names unless I think they're unwieldy or silly sounding in English such as Rasengan (Spiralling Sphere) and Hiraishin (Flying Thunder God). I'm taking the creative license of calling Henge no Jutsu Disguise Technique, instead of the literal and more commonly used Transformation, because I think it describes the skill better. I'll be mainly using Japanese for titles and place names, and bloodline abilities. I'll be using the Asian style of family names before given names.
Standard Romanji (Latin alphabet transcription of Japanese) calls for the use of a macron (a bar over a letter) to denote a long vowel. For ease of typing, I'm using the alternate style of doubling a vowel to denote its long (except for long o which I'm writing ou). The Japanese learned the Latin alphabet from the Portuguese, so vowels are pronounced as in Portuguese, Spanish, or Italian: a is like a in father, e is like e in they, i is like i in machine, o is like oa in boat, and u is like ue in blue. Long vowels in Japanese are longer or more stressed rather than "saying their name" as in English.
Honorifics
I'm going to try and use honorifics in the Japanese style as best I can, but it might be a little bit off. In general using too high or too low an honorific is insulting. If too high an honorific is used it is assumed to be sarcastic or patronizing. Honorifics can be applied to family or given names for more or less formality.
No honorific: Denotes intimacy or contempt. Used only with those very close or those you wish to deliberately insult.
-chan: More a diminutive than an honorific. Very roughly equivalent to calling someone baby or honey in English. Used to talk to children. Often used for teenage girls, especially among themselves. Considered cutesy. Is insulting when used for an adult or teenage boy. Naruto overuses this due to not being taught correctly.
-kun: Very roughly equivalent to calling someone a pal, dude, or friend. Used for peers that are friendly. Often used for teenage boys.
-san: The standard honorific for strangers or formality. Roughly equivalent to calling someone Mr., Mrs., or Ms.
-sama: The honorific to someone above you. Shows great respect. Roughly equivalent to calling someone Lord or Lady.
Relatives
Japanese has many ways to refer to relatives. These are the ones I'll be using.
O-: Adds respect
Honorifics: The following are used with honorifics most often (e.g., Baachan)
Baa: Grandmother
Ba: Aunt
Hibaa: Great grandmother
Jii: Grandfather
Ji: Uncle
Kaa: Mother
Mago: Grandchild
Nee: Older sister
Nii: Older brother
Otou: Father
Japanese Glossary
Akatsuki: Dawn
ANBU: Short for Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai which means Special Assassination and Tactical Squad
Bijuu: Tailed Beast. In Naruto, this denotes the nine sentient, powerful chakra constructs
Byakugan: White eye. A bloodline ability that allows the holder to see through solid objects and to see chakra when activated.
Chuunin: Middle ninja. Secon shinobi rank
Doujutsu: Eye technique. A class of bloodline abilities
Ero-sennin: Pervert sage/hermit
Fuuinjutsu: Sealing technique. A technique a user to create a seal using pictures, characters, and chakra. Some allow later activation using more chakra. Most frequently used to store things or to make explosions, but many other effects are possible.
Genin: Low ninja. First and lowest shinobi rank
Genjutsu: Illusionary technique. Using chakra to make an illusion
Hi no Kuni: Land of Fire
Hime: Princess
Hiraishin: Flying Thunder God. A technique that allows teleportation to premade seals.
Hokage: Fire Shadow. The leader of Konoha
Ichibi: One Tail. One of the bijuu
Jinchuuriki: Power of human sacrifice. Indicates a human with a bijuu sealed inside them
Jounin: High Ninja. Third and highest ninja rank
Kitsune: Fox. In English this denotes a supernatural fox, but in Japanese it means any fox. It's used as a synonym for fox here
Konoha: Tree Leaves. Short for Konohagakure no Sato. Village Hidden by the Tree Leaves
Kyuubi: Nine Tails. One of the bijuu
Mokuton: Wood release. A bloodline ability that allows the user to create objects out of living wood and to influence the growth of trees and plants.
Nibi: Two Tails. One of the bijuu
Nin: Short for ninja (shinobi)
Ninjutsu: Ninja Techniques. Expressing chakra outside the body for a physical result
No: A Japanese preposition indicating possession or to connect two nouns, e.g., Hi no Kuni or Kyuubi no Kitsune
Oni no Kuni: Land of Demons
Rasengan: Spiralling Sphere. An offensive technique that makes a ball of chakra that has multiple rotational axes inside of it. Drills and grinds when pushed into an object
Sanbi: Three Tails. One of the bijuu
Sannin: Three Ninja. Short for Densetsu no Sannin: Legendary Three Ninja
Sharingan: Copy wheel eye. A bloodline ability that allows its holder to predict movement and to understand how chakra is used when activated. It allows the user to copy many types of techniques and to remember them.
Shinobi: Ninja. Shinobi and ninja are two different readings (pronunciation) of the same kanji (Chinese style word character). Ninja is the reading emulating the original Chinese pronunciation (onyomi) and shinobi is the native Japanese reading (kunyomi). Note that Chinese has changed since the Japanese adopted Kanji, so those characters would no longer be pronounced that way in Mandarin
Taijutsu: Body technique. Martial Arts. Includes some chakra techniques that are used in conjunction with martial arts
Tsukiko: Child of the moon. A Japanese girl's name
Uzu no Kuni: Land of Whirlpools
Uzushio: Whirling Tides. Short for Uzushiogakure no Sato: Village Hidden by the Whirling Tides
Yonbi: Four Tails. One of the bijuu
Youkai: A supernatural creature
Naruto waited a little nervously for Kakashi to finish debriefing Tsunade about their mission to rescue Gaara. It was taking longer than it should due to Gai's presence and the teasing that always happened when the two jounin were together. They finally finished and Tsunade dismissed them. Naruto lingered.
"Baa-chan," he started and then ducked the paperweight she threw at him as a reflex for the nickname, "I need to speak to you about something I think is important, but it would be better if Ero-sennin was here for it. Is it alright if I send a toad to recall him?"
The Fifth Hokage stared at him for a couple of seconds. She looked a little unsettled by the blond boy's serious tone. "I don't have him doing anything out of the ordinary, but he might not be able to come right away? Is it something that can wait?"
"Yeah, it's sort of related to Akatsuki, so it's important but not super time sensitive."
"Go ahead and send the toad. You can tell him I said to come."
Naruto entered the Hokage's office in response to Tsunade's summons. Jiraiya was already there.
"So, Brat, what was so important that I needed to be recalled?" Jiraiya said just as Tsunade was about to speak. "Something about Akatsuki?"
She shot her former teammate a dirty look, but just looked at Naruto expectantly.
Naruto was uncharacteristically subdued. "Can you excuse your ANBU, Baachan? This is beyond S-Rank. I trust your judgment, but I'd rather you make a conscious decision on who to share this with rather than just relying on the duty roster."
"Very well." Tsunade said. The younger blond's attitude was contagious. She made a gesture and Naruto felt small spikes of chakra as the ANBU in the room left.
"Well?" Tsunade asked.
"Sorry," Naruto said. "This is surprisingly hard for me and to be honest, I'd rather just stay quiet about it, but I have knowledge of something that seriously hampers, if not completely demolishes, Akatsuki's plans and after what happened to Gaara I think you should decide whether a portion of it gets released to the other nations and Akatsuki itself."
"Get on with it, Brat!" the Fifth Hokage shouted.
"Sheesh. Keep your shirt on, Baachan," he responded. "Fine. I'll start with the bottom line. But first, I want you two to promise to hear me out completely. You can ask me questions, but don't send me to Ibiki until I'm done, okay?"
Tsunade was beginning to look disturbed, but she nodded.
Naruto took a deep breath and then said, "The Kyuubi is no more."
Jiraiya shouted, "No more? What do you mean? When did this happen?"
"She's not the Kyuubi any more. We did a ritual that stripped her of most of her power and changed what remained. It happened six years ago."
Jiraiya looked confused. "Six years ago? I've examined the seal dozens of times since then."
Naruto smirked. "It's a pretty good counterfeit, isn't it?"
Jiraiya was nonplussed.
"Don't feel too bad, Ero-sennin. You were looking for specific characteristics and the Kyuubi and I made sure that those were perfect. Your mind missed the other stuff because you 'knew' what they were supposed to look like. I didn't think it would work, but she convinced me to take the risk."
"Wait! She!?" Jiraiya whipped out his notebook and started muttering about demon queens and seducing young boys.
Tsunade slugged the pervert in the stomach which sent him flying into the wall.
Naruto laughed. "Well, the bijuu don't really have gender-being giant masses of chakra-and to be honest her default form looked male before she incarnated into a kitsune youkai. She decided to be female since she spent over 50 years trapped in two different women compared to 10 in me. Plus and I quote, 'All the cool stories about kitsune youkai are about vixens. Nobody takes the tods seriously.' As for the demon comment, you should know that neither the bijuu nor youkai are demons like are found in Oni no Kuni."
Jiraiya, who was just standing up, waved dismissively, "Never let the facts get in the way of a good story, Brat."
Naruto frowned. "And that's why my childhood was cold and lonely."
The older man chuckled nervously.
Tsunade sighed. "I don't want to sound cold, Brat, but the Kyuubi was a military asset. I don't think you should have disposed of her power unilaterally."
Naruto frowned. "I have two comments. First, if Konoha wanted a proper jinchuuriki, they should have told me and trained me as one."
"Sensei wanted you to have a proper childhood instead of being looked at solely as a weapon," Jiraiya explained.
Naruto snorted. "That excuse would fly if I had had a proper childhood. I'm not saying the Old Man didn't have good intentions, but I question his judgment. Kumo manages to train their jinchuuriki without socially isolating them and that happened to me anyway. Something could have been done without me ending up like one of Danzo's zombies."
Tsunade sighed. "I can't disagree with your point, but it still should have been brought to the Hokage."
"I liked the Old Man and he was one of my few friends growing up, but I had the feeling he would have done something I would have regretted 'for my own good.' My second comment is that I haven't disposed of the Kyuubi's power."
"But you said. . ." Jiraiya started.
"I said we stripped her of it. What we did was split it among five of us: me, my wife, two kits that are effectively our children, and the original Kyuubi who at times is my sister, my mother, or my daughter-depending on our moods. If I asked, all of them would help Konoha-even the Kyuubi, if she received guarantees on her freedom."
"You have a wife!?" Tsunade shrieked. "And children!?"
Naruto smirked. "She's a Konoha shinobi and you know her, but her family doesn't know. I'll tell you who it is before we're done, but I want to tell the story my own way after we're done with the highlights. The ritual to make a youkai required a fox, human, and a huge amount of power. Because we were creating a body for the Kyuubi it needed a male and a female as well. Don't look at me like that Ero-sennin. No sex was involved. I was only 10! Since the Kyuubi was so powerful, we did the ritual with two humans, two foxes, and her to split the load. The ceremony made new bodies for all of us out of a mixture of our genetic material, but the two that were originally foxes started with the minds and bodies of infant, so my wife and I raised them as our children. The Kyuubi also started with an infant body to go with her ancient mind. Since she raised me from the time I was five until I was ten, our relationship is complicated."
"New bodies?" asked Tsunade.
Naruto chuckled nervously. "I'm actually a persistent clone made before the ritual. I sync memories with the original every night, so it's not like you don't know the real me."
Tsunade rolled her eyes. "Don't give me that! You're acting quite different than normal, Brat. Was your idiot act a ploy to gain my sympathy?"
"Don't be like that, Baachan. I admit that I act like an idiot as a defense mechanism, but the Kyuubi tells me that my base personality is very similar to my mom's. You knew her, right? Wasn't she a cousin of yours?"
"Second cousin once removed. So you know who your mom was and that she was also the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki?"
"Yes, and who my dad was, and that your grandma Mito was the first Kyuubi jinchuuriki. The thing is Konoha has taught me very little, so I feel justified in acting like an idiot and only using what Konoha has taught me: the Disguise Technique, Replacement, Tree Climbing, Water Walking, and the Rasengan. I even throw in Shadow Clones since I would have learned it via Mizuki's treachery if I hadn't known it already. Did you know that the Kyuubi was the one who actually taught me to read? So forgive me if I hide my real skills. But I will tell you that while my idiocy is fake, my enthusiasm is not. I really do like ramen and orange. I do have a disregard for authority. I do think of you as an aunt and Ero-sennin as a crazy uncle not to be left alone with my wife or daughter."
Jiraiya grumbled under his breath about blond brats not giving him any respect.
"I don't know, Brat," the Hokage said. "I don't know if I can let this deception go."
"Look at it from my point of view. My godfather and my last living relative left me to grow up alone and unloved. I know you both had reasons both good and bad for not being here, but did you really expect me to trust you two right off the back?"
She sighed. "I see your point. I guess we start over and take it one day at a time?"
Naruto and Jiraiya both nodded.
"I want to meet the real you," Tsunade said.
"Sure. I can arrange something after we're done. The main reason my wife and I use the persistent clones is because there's no way we could raise our kids here."
"So why even stay at all in this fashion if your childhood was so bad?" asked Jiraiya.
"A couple of reasons. The main one being that we do have ties here. My wife would miss her sister and she has a couple of family members she would like to fix things with if it's possible. For me there was the Old Man and the Ichirakus. It was one of my wife's conditions for doing it. Once I figured out how to do it, it didn't really cost much to do it for me as well. The second, more minor reason, is that of morbid curiosity. I want to see if this place will ever be worthy of my father's sacrifice. My wife wants to know if her clan can be a family in more than name or if they will sacrifice her to their pride." He paused as he saw the figurative light bulbs go off above the Sannins' heads. "Figured out who my wife is?"
"It's got to be a Hyuuga. Is it Hinata?" asked the Fifth.
The young man nodded.
"How did you managed to 'steal' the heiress to the all-seeing Hyuuga Clan?" asked the Toad Sage.
"The Hyuuga treat Hinata much the same way as the rest of the village treats me: they try to pretend she doesn't exist unless they have to deal with her and then they treat her with spite. It wasn't that hard, especially once she learned Shadow Clones."
"Hinata could do Shadow Clones before she was ten?" asked Jiraiya increduously.
"Not the standard way. We had to do it using seals so that I could power them until we did the ritual."
"How strong is she by the way?" asked the Hokage.
"Well, the ritual gave me three tails of the Kyuubi's chakra, two each for Hinata and the Kyuubi, and one each for the foxes. We've all grown some since then. I have more chakra than the Sanbi, but less than the Yonbi. Hinata has more than the Nibi, but less than the Sanbi. Our chakra doesn't act the same as bijuu chakra, so we can't do all the things that a jinchuuriki can, but we have other abilities that compensate a little. Plus a substantial amount of our chakra is sunk into our persistent clones. "
"Wow. How's her chakra control? asked Tsunade. "Most of the Hyuuga techniques require very good control."
"It's excellent. After the ritual it was pretty rough, but she's very persistent and within six months she was back to where she was before. It helped that she can see chakra and knew what the techniques were supposed to be like. Incidentally, my real body's chakra control is almost as good. It really helps to only have one chakra source. The seal that I use to fake the Kyuubi's chakra in this clone really messes my control."
The conversation lulled until Tsunade said, "How about you tell us how it happened, Brat."