Author's Notes:

Disclaimer:

Naruto does not belong to me, and I have no intention of making any profit by this works.

"normal" = Talking

'italics' = Thinking

XXXXXXX

Naruto entered Tsunade's office after being summoned to it at 8 o'clock in the morning. When he was standing in front of the Hokage he said "Baa-chan, what's the big idea?" whilst in the process of rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

"Naruto..." Tsunade got an angry glint to her face "what have I told you about calling me that?"

"Hmmm..." Naruto said, tapping his chin, thinking back, "...call me it as often as you like?" Tsunade threw a chair at him, which Naruto dodged and said "whoa, whoa, calm down..." waving his hands in the air between them. Looking to the side he continued "...I was just joking."

Tsunade said "nevertheless, you should still show respect to your Hokage." Naruto, by this point was getting suspicious of the reasons that he was summoned and he got even more so when Tsunade continued "...especially when they are about to assign you an S-class mission."

"An S-class. What's the game?"

"I'm not playing any games with you Naruto."

"Really, it wouldn't be the first time."

"When have I ever assigned you a dud mission, huh?"

"Well, let's see, there was the time that you had me 'guarding an important individual,' who turned out to be a snot-nosed, spoiled brat."

"Well, I suppose there was that time, but that's all."

"What about that 'Hokage training' when you had all of us take academy students for a trip through the woods?"

"But that was..."

"Then there was the time that..."

"Enough, you've made your point."

"Good. Now, what is your game Tsunade?"

Tsunade sat back in her chair and thought back...

-Flashback-

Tsunade was actually doing her paperwork when she came upon a report that said that Iwagakure were entering talks with Kirigakure about the possibilities of an alliance. When she got done reading it she thought 'this can't be good, Kirigakure has traditionally kept mainly to itself, but Iwagakure is another matter. In the past they've been openly hostile against both the leaf and its allies. What should I do about this...hmm, if we've got intelligence pertaining to this meeting, all the other countries likely do as well; I suppose we could inform Sunagakure about this, we've also had unusually strong ties to Amegakure since that whole Akatsuki incident. Well, I guess I'd better send this info to Amegakure and also send someone to spy on the meeting on Konoha's behalf. Now, who's available for such a mission...well, since there was an alliance between all of the nations, we were forced to share information on all of the current jounin and chuunin level shinobi and this is going to need someone on such a level...' Tsunade sighed and then called out "Shizune, call Kakashi." There was the sound of someone calling out "hai, Tsunade-sama."

Twelve minutes later Kakashi was standing in front of Tsunade and Tsunade, with a raised eyebrow, asked "Kakashi, where were you?"

"Well you see, I saw a cat stuck up a tree in an old lady's backyard and the genin team that were there were having difficulties climbing up the..."

"There were no such d-rank missions assigned today Kakashi."

Kakashi scratched the back of his head and said "sorry...I actually got lost on the road of life."

Tsunade, getting increasingly angry at Kakashi's lame excuses said "forget it."

"Okay, so, what did you call me for?"

"I need someone to go spy on a meeting between Kirigakure and Tsuchigakure."

"And you want me to do it, I'm honoured with your high opinion, but don't you think that I'm a bit too well known to underta..."

"Yes. I am well aware of your notoriety, that's why I want to pick your brain for viable candidates."

"Ah, I see."

"So, any ideas?"

"Well, for such a meeting there would likely be jounin level ninja attending as bodyguards, or even as the emissaries themselves."

"My thoughts exactly, so we'd need someone capable of fighting multiple jounin at once."

"Indeed."

"I'd like to send Sakura, but she, unfortunately isn't quite at such a level yet."

"There'd be A to S class shinobi attending, so there are at the moment, really only two options, excluding me and you that is."

"Let's hear it."

"Maito Gai, and Naruto."

Tsunade sighed and said "I thought you'd say that, but they're too well known as well."

"Well, I hate to admit it but Naruto's skills are, actually quite well suited to this situation."

"Seriously? You don't think he's a bit too loud for such a mission?"

"That, as you well know, is just a mask that he really had no choice but to adopt."

Tsunade, once again, sighed and said "I suppose, but he's also rather well known as well as his fighting style."

"So he'll have to learn a new way of fighting then."

"In less than a month? Do you think it can be done?"

"I believe so."

"How?"

"Naruto really only has one area of ninjutsu to master, and with his kage bunshin, I think that he can master it in a month."

"You're not talking about..."

"Genjutsu, yes."

"But genjutsu requires absolute mastery over ones chakra."

"Well, I think that Naruto's overly large chakra supply is what is hampering with his control."

"If that's the case then there's no way he should be able to do it."

"What if there was a way to limit it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Naruto has become quite the Fuuin Jutsu Master lately, as a matter of fact, he's probably surpassed the fourth."

"He's that good, I know that his Uzumaki blood should give him a natural talent in the area but even so..."

"He's really that good, trust me...he's even developed his own version of the Hiraishin."

"Hiraishin..."

"Yes."

"You said 'his own version,' what did you mean by that?"

"Well, as Jiraiya-sama's teammate, I'm sure that you know what Minato-sensei's elemental affinity was."

"Same as you, lightning right?"

"Yes, and Naruto, typically, inherited his mother's and therefore was incapable of using it, so he got me to look through my things and I had one of sensei's tri-pronged kunai, so I showed him and he, somehow, managed to reverse-engineer it using wind elemental seals."

"He really is his father's son then."

"I'd say he's more 'The Bloody Habanero's' son personally."

"There is ample proof for such an argument I guess."

"So, should I go get Naruto then?"

"I suppose, though there is still the issue of his appearance."

"I think we both know that he has a way around that...although, he has been increasingly hesitant with the use of it."

"You don't mean..."

Kakashi sighed and said "yeah, that one. He once told me how he did it and he said that he had apparently messed the seals up once, but the effect was the same."

"So what'd he do?"

"Well, you know how the 'Henge' is merely an illusion pasted on over the skin?"

"Yes."

"Well, apparently, the seal that he bungled was actually the one that placed the jutsu on the user. So instead of just placing the illusion over him he actually used his rather excessive chakra to reshape his molecular structure instead."

"So you're saying that instead of merely an illusion he actually becomes 'Naruko' or whatever he calls that, well, quite frankly, abomination is the only thing that I think comes close enough."

"Yes. He actually described it as a genjutsu placed on the user."

"Like Izanagi" Tsunade muttered to herself.

"Like what?"

"Never mind. It's something my grandfather told me about once, it no longer is a problem however."

"Alright then. I'll go get Naruto now."

-Flashback End-

"I need you to spy on a meeting between Kirigakure and Iwagakure in the Land of Fangs."

"Uh, I'll have to refuse thanks very much."

Tsunade face-faulted and asked "why's that?"

"Well, other than the fact that my fighting style and my appearance are very well known thanks to that brawl with the Akatsuki... I'm almost a carbon copy of my father."

"We know" Tsunade said as Kakashi was entering the room.

"Eh, and you still want me to undertake this mission?"

"Yes."

"As a matter of fact, you're probably the only one that can do this mission Naruto."

"Why's that?"

"As you said, in that war with Akatsuki, all of the village's' shinobi's data was exchanged. Therefore we would need a jounin level ninja that had just been promoted, and as you know that wouldn't be enough to take on multiple high-jounin level ninja at once."

Naruto sighed and said "so, what do you want me to do?"

"We need you to, not only use the Oiroke no Jutsu to hide your identity, but be able to maintain it whilst you are asleep."

"Oh, is that all?" Naruto sarcastically asked.

"Actually, no."

"What!"

"We also need you to learn Genjutsu at the same time."

"And how exactly do you expect me to do that?"

Kakashi interrupted Naruto's tirade by saying "Naruto, traditionally, those that have larger chakra supplies have always had trouble with finer chakra control."

"So you're saying that..."

"There was never anything that you really could have done to learn Genjutsu."

"But you just said..."

"The Oiroke uses significantly more chakra than a normal henge would. Therefore, theoretically, if you're using it constantly, and get used to subconsciously maintaining it, you should be able to manipulate your chakra at the level of Sakura."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"Well, why the hell didn't you come to me with this before?"

"Well, there's a slight problem with this plan."

"And what exactly is that?"

"Well, the longer you use a technique, the more your body gets used to maintaining it."

"The point being?"

Tsunade said "you could end up being in the form that you chose forever."

"Forever."

"Yes."

"I'll have to think about this one then."

"Well, I hate to rush a decision such as this, but you really only have about two hours to decide."

"Two hours...why?"

"Because, learning an entirely new way of fighting takes time, not to mention you have to be able to maintain a chakra draining jutsu subconsciously and you only have six weeks to do it in."

"I guess so."

"Alright then, if you do decide to take the mission, then I suggest that you say goodbye to all your friends as you will be functioning as a Kunoichi for the foreseeable future."

"Alright, I'll see you in two hours."

The first thing that Naruto did after leaving Tsunade's office was go to the top of the Hokage monument and look out over Konohagakure and thought to himself 'I did swear that I would give my all to defend Konoha from all dangers...but this is just crazy. What the hell is baa-chan thinking? Okay, if I'm the Hokage and I were told that there was a meeting that had to be spied upon for the sake of the village, what would I do... I'd probably call in an A to S class shinobi to either spy on or sabotage any chance of the meetings' success. Any shinobi would do; so why me? Let's see... I am an S-rank shinobi and thanks to my training with ero-sennin I am talented in such areas that would make me ideal for such a mission...but that whole Akatsuki matter should have excluded me automatically. I suppose the Oiroke would take care of identification via either looks or chakra. But there have been other shinobi upgraded to such a rank recently and any one of them should be enough for any old meeting...but I suppose if they should get caught then they'd need to be able to get away from multiple shinobi...and should there be a sensor type ninja with them...it would leave only 2 people available for such missions...but why aren't they considering Kakashi for this...I'll have to ask them before I make my decision.' Naruto then stood up and sped off, back to Tsunade's office.

XXXXX

Naruto suddenly appeared in Tsunade's office. Naruto looked around and, seeing that only Tsunade was there, asked "so, why exactly did you choose me to assign this mission to?"

Tsunade looked up and said "Naruto, you really are the only person that can successfully complete this mission."

"Why's that? There're plenty of other jounin capable of spying missions...any one of the Hyuuga could pull it off with their eyes closed...quite literally too."

"During the Akatsuki Affair all information on current shinobi was shared between the Elemental Nations and there are no new jounin capable of fighting off multiple jounin level ninja at once; the only other jounin capable of such a feat is Kakashi, who is even more well known than you are."

Naruto sighed and said "very well then, I accept."

"Alright. I'll tell your friends that you've been assigned a long-term mission and will be unavailable for at least 6 months."

"Thank you."

"Alright. With that settled, we need to choose a form and name for you. Perform the Oiroke no jutsu and we'll decide on your appearance now."

Naruto said "Hai" and went through a sequence of handseals and called out "Oiroke no jutsu." When the smoke cleared, where before there was a blonde haired mal, there was now a female with long blonde hair in pigtails.

Tsunade, seeing the end result said "no, that won't do, you still look too much like Uzumaki Naruto."

"What do you suggest then?"

"Well for starters, get rid of those marks on your cheeks." Naruto went through a shorter sequence of handseals, resulting in the disappearance of the distinctive markings from her face. Tsunade then continued "okay, with that done I want you to change the colour of your hair."

"What? Why?"

Tsunade sighed and said "just do it."

"Okay okay, what colour?"

"Red."

"Hai" Naruto said, running through a set of handseals, different from the previous set, but still just as short, leaving a red haired, blue eyed girl standing in front of Tsunade, who said "alright, now there's one last thing that I want you to do, alright?"

Naruto replied "Hai."

"I want you to put your hair into a ponytail, alright?"

"What, why? What's wrong with it now?"

Tsunade, once again, sighed and said "just do it."

"Hai" Naruto said, with a questioning lilt to her voice.

"Okay, with the form done now we just need a name for you."

"Well what about Naruko or Natsuki?"

"Too close to Naruto, sorry."

"Well, what do you suggest then?"

"How about Mikoto?"

"Mikoto? Why? Isn't that similar to Naruto as well?"

"Well, Mikoto was your mothers' best friends' name, so I thought it might be appropriate."

"Really?" Naruto, now Mikoto asked in excitement to learn more about her mother.

"Yes" Tsunade replied in a factual tone.

"Okay, that'd be fine."

"So, that's your first name done, what about a last name?"

"How about Namikaze?"

"Certainly not; are you insane?"

"just say that a new family recently moved to Konoha."

"Not going to fly."

"Why not?"

"You are a jounin level kunoichi Mikoto it's unthinkable that a hidden village would let someone advance that quickly. We need to falsify documents, from a birth certificate to academy grades."

"Ri-i-ight"

"Well, we'll deal with that later Mikoto."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama."

"Tseh,..." Tsunade scoffed "...all it takes is a new name and a new gender to make you address me with the proper respect huh?"

"Well, Uzumaki Naruto's habits and personality traits are rather well known, so I figure I'll just do the opposite of what I would usually do."

"Hmm, makes sense. Alright, I'll leave Mikoto's personality to you and I'll get on creating fake documents...ah yes, I'll need to make up a new ninja licence for you too, so say cheese" Tsunade said, bringing a camera that was in her draw out.

"Hai, so, who have you got training me and do they know of the situation?"

"I'll answer in order for you; I've gotten Kurenai to teach you genjutsu and Yūgao to teach you a form of taijutsu suitable for Mikoto. They'll both join in teaching you the ins and outs of being a kunoichi and living as a woman, even if temporarily; and yes, they do know of your situation."

Mikoto sighed at the last bit and then said "so, when do I start?"

"Right now" Yūgao said, appearing in the window.

Tsunade grouched "why is it that no-one seems to be able to use a door?"

Mikoto and Yūgao simultaneously replied "because it's more fun this way," before disappearing through said window.

While Yūgao and Mikoto were jumping over the rooftops Yūgao turned to Mikoto and said "so Naruto, what am I to be calling you now?"

"Mikoto, Yūgao-sensei."

"I'd rather you didn't call me that Mikoto."

"Why?"

"I've never actually taught anyone before and the title 'sensei' just seems weird to me."

"Hai."

"Well, with that out of the way, the first thing that we need to do Mikoto, is get you some new clothes."

"Why?"

Yūgao looked at Mikoto as if she thought that the other kunoichi was an idiot and said "because, Mikoto, other than the fact that the clothes that you are currently wearing scream out 'I'm here, kill me;' they're clothes made for a male, which you, Mikoto, are decidedly not."

"Oh, right, got ya."

"So, first stop, shopping."

"Oh dear lord" Mikoto grumbled to herself and, off in the distance, Mikoto swore she heard Tsunade cackling in glee.