Blonde is Blond: Chapter Two
Naruto, or rather I suppose Ino, left the hospital after a few days of observation. She was really off her game, and the change in gender was the least of her problems. She had spent a good bit of time using her Sexy Jutsu, and was reasonably comfortable with such a form. The real trouble was that she was not herself, she was someone else. Someone young.
The biggest problem was that she had never had so little chakra. Even the times that she had been near death from chakra exhaustion she had more than she did now. It was a surreal experience, she felt that a pressure she had never realized was there just disappeared. She felt weak as well, sluggish. Though she wasn't sure if that was form the small amount of chakra she had, or because her body had been in bed for a few weeks.
She would have to train in chakra control. She doubted that even with the best of training she could get anywhere near the chakra level she was used to. For the first time in her life, she actually considered learning things like genjutsu and medical jutsu. That however, will have to wait. For now she would need to settle in to her new life.
As she walked home she practised moving her chakra around, to get a feel for her new system. She was disturbed at how easy it was to move it, it was like it was truly an extension of herself. Her chakra system was a lot like it was when she was a young boy, except for the area around her navel. Before it felt like a labyrinth, or a clogged toilet, now it was more like a basin. As she was playing with her chakra, her father was watching her closely.
"There's no reason to fuss about your chakra, you weren't under long enough for your pathways to atrophy." Naruto looked up at her new father, and smiled reassuringly. "I know, but it's a good habit nonetheless. Keeps out the kinks."
Inoichi didn't know whether to be proud or suspicious, but eventually the father in him took over and he patted her on the head. "We'll have to work on your physical training for the next few weeks. After we've made up for lost time we'll start back up on your jutsu training."
They proceeded to do just that, Naruto worked her new body as much as she could. A month or so after that she began learning the Yamanaka clan jutsu, she claimed partial amnesia and so her father retaught her.
She got the basic mind transfer jutsu down after a few tries, Inoichi made sure to walk her through every step of the way. "Alright Ino, you seem to have learned it rather well. This technique is extremely useful. With a little training you can displace the minds of just about anything."
Naruto smiled. "So, can I use it on animals? What are its limits?" Inoichi patted her on the head. "It can be used on anything with a mind! However you cannot supplant a will stronger than your own, so I wouldn't try it on a a summon or a advanced ninja."
He thought for a minute. "As for the limitations, it isn't exactly something that can be used too many times, or in rapid succession. If you train your mind to its peak you might be able to use it about six times before wearing yourself out, and speaking of, if you ever wear yourself out wait at least a few hours before trying again."
He looked at her gravely. "This puts you mind under a lot of stress, if you don't keep an eye on your mental state you could cause some serious damage. It is important that we know our limits. Another thing is that it if you miss it will take time to recover, and when you are using it your body is at risk. Any damage you take while in someone else body will effect yours as well."
Naruto practised the jutsu for several more month, both by herself and with Inoichi, until she felt comfortably skilled with it. One night, sometime later she snuck out of her house and made her way to the scroll archives.
She found an out of the way hiding spot and used her new jutsu on a mouse she caught for this purpose. As the mouse she ran out of the hiding spot and scurried into the building. Snooping around for a while, she eventually came across one of the scrolls she was looking for.
She quietly nibbled the seal, and opened the scroll. She quickly memorized every last detail and moved on to the others she needed. Four hours later she returned to her body, and ran home. When she got there she copied all the information she got onto empty scrolls she had waiting for her.
All in all she got several basic genjutsu, a guide to learning to use genjutsu, a few medical scrolls, and several advanced chakra exercises.
A few months later was Ino's birthday. Naruto woke up, had breakfast, and started training again. She didn't care about her real birthday, why would she care about her body's? Naruto went through a taijutsu form she was working on, it was based on a grass country style that uses an opponents movements against them.
It was primarily defensive, and focused on speed and flexibility. However when combined with a knife style she was working on it became quite deadly. The knife style uses speed and precision. However she was having trouble combining the water nature of her movements with the wind nature of her strikes.
She started when she heard a voice behind her. "Ino-chan, you need to pick one way of moving and stick with it. Mixing them, while possible, is just too much work for too little benefit." The man speaking to her was Shikaku, Shikamaru's father. "You seem to respond better to the strikes you were making, so you should try to move your body that way. Take what you know about the two styles you are using, and adapt it to what suits you."
Naruto nodded, and got to work on that. She focused more on making her movements a bit more rigid by adding power to it, and focusing more on making a lot of small movements rather than the long and loopy movements of the original style. The results were choppy and awkward, but showed promise.
Shikaku smirked, and popped open a bottle of sake. "Atta kid, remember that you shouldn't force a technique to fit you or force yourself to fit a technique. Either adapt it to yourself or adapt yourself to it." Naruto rolled her eyes as he took a swig of it.
The party was pretty much uneventful, Naruto got some presents... Most of which were inconsequential, and would never see the light of day. Some new clothes that were okay, and some shinobi equipment.
Shikaku spoke with Inoichi in private when they met at their bar. "You do know that the person living with you is not your daughter right?" Inoichi had some suspicions, but just shrugged them off as a lingering effect of her coma.
Shikaku drank the last of his sake, and slammed it on the table. He wiped his mouth and looked back at his friend. "She walks like a shinobi, talks like a boy, and has knowledge Ino could never have known and lacks knowledge she should very well have. I saw it the first time I laid my eyes on her after the accident, she was fundamentally different. I don't know why you didn't see it."
Inoichi looked down at the table. "I.. Didn't want to see it. I wanted nothing more than to have my little girl back. It is possible that a spirit could have taken residence in her body if she lost her soul in the accident... But that would mean my daughter is dead!" Inoichi broke the bottle in his hand and huddled over the table. He took several deep breaths, then looked at his friend urgently.
"How do we handle this situation?" Shikaku put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Confront, interrogate, and if necessary eliminate. We need to know who, or what, we are dealing with."
Inoichi looked down at his hands, he watched his blood mix with the booze as tears came to his eyes.
Later that night Naruto found herself strapped onto a table in the Yamanaka estate. She figured they'd catch on to her ruse eventually, but she thought she was doing a good job so far. Inoichi and Shikaku stood above her. Shikaku started the interrogation. "State your real name, your real rank, and your real affiliation. I'll know if you're lying."
Naruto smiled lightly. "Naruto Uzumaki, Chuunin, Konoha." Shikaku looked at Inoichi, who nodded. "Well, that's... odd. The Uzumaki clan is no more, and you're not on the ninja record."
Naruto nodded as best she could. "Well you see I am, or was, kind of dead. Your daughter's body was kind too good of an opportunity to pass up. She wasn't home, but the door was open and I was all alone in the cold..." Inoichi felt like smacking her, but he couldn't. Shikaku had no such reservations.
"You slime! Get out of my friends daughter!" Naruto whined. "I already died once, I'm not doing it again!" Inoichi took a deep breath. "She has a point as much as I hate to say it. We can't, rightfully, ask her to kill herself just so I have a body to bury. If nothing else, Ino wouldn't have wanted it that way."
Inoichi looked at her, and then formed a seal. Shikaku caught him when he fell.
Inoichi found himself in a small apartment. He found Naruto slumped on the couch, with a kick, he woke him up. Naruto stood up, he was almost as tall as Inoichi. "Hey!"
Inoichi punched him as hard as he could, then kicked him in the stomach. "Ow, what's that about?" Inoichi growled at him. "That's for stealing my daughter's body and for lying to me!" Inoichi took a few deep breaths. He then drew a seal on the wall and threw some scrolls to the floor.
"Those are the Yamanaka clan techniques, you can have them... But only if you promise to leave me in peace, I want to mourn my daughter and I can't do it if you're around! Just meditate on that seal, and you'll come here."
Inoichi, as if on a whim, kicked him in the gut once more. "When I let you go, I am going to tell the Hokage about this. While I'm doing that you are to pack the things that belong to YOU and leave. Do not taker my daughter's things, you can have those scrolls you stole and the stuff you got for her birthday. Just touch this seal when you want to leave here. Oh, and that last kick was because your apartment is filthy."
Naruto left after putting the scrolls away, she then packed up what belonged to her and left for the Hokage's office.
She avoided Inoichi like she was told to, and entered the Hokage's chamber when it was her turn. Naruto sat before the Third Hokage. He looked down at her, and sighed. "I am to believe that you are not Ino Yamanaka. I want to hear in your own words who you are."
Naruto nodded. "I am Naruto Uzumaki, in life I was a Chuunin. I am loyal to Konoha." The Hokage nodded. "How old are you?" Naruto thought for a bit. "I was sixteen when I died."
The Hokage leaned back in his chair. "How are you related to Kushina Uzumaki?" Naruto grimaced, the Hokage would definitely know if she was lying.. "She's... my mother." Sarutobi's eyebrows shot up at that. "I can't say anymore about it." The Hokage didn't press it, he decided to gauge her threat level instead. A ninja is nothing without their secretes after all.
"Do you wish to become a Konoha ninja?" Naruto nodded. The Hokage sighed. "If you were older I could appoint you a ninja, but as you are it would just cause problems. You will begin your studies at the ninja academy in a few days. I will grant you your name back, and get your papers in order. You will be Naruto Uzumaki the orphaned seven year old girl."
Naruto nodded sourly. "But won't people be a little suspicious, I mean Ino disappears and a girl her age that looks like her mysteriously pops up out of nowhere." The Hokage frowned. "Ino will be listed as deceased, and your papers will state that you are of Yamanaka blood. I recommend getting a hair cut."
Naruto thought for a bit. "I'm an underage orphan, right? That means I'm entitled to a housing and a stipend correct?" The Hokage nodded, and produced a key and a small pouch from one of his drawers. Naruto thanked him, and gathered her things. The Hokage signalled for the ANBU to follow her.
She made her way to her new apartment, casing the neighbourhood as she did so. She dropped off her stuff, and made a trip to one of the clothing stores. There she picked up a new outfit. It was a simple one. Orange shirt with whirlpool symbol, dark green jacket, brown shorts, and a green hat with the Konoha symbol on it. Naruto loved bargain bin sales.
Naruto began her training again, she focused on her taijutsu and studying the scrolls from the archive for now. The Yamanaka jutsu were a bit too advanced for her.
The academy was an odd experience for her, she actually paid attention and learned things.