To avoid confusing references from this point on, Naruto in Hinata's body will be referred to as N-Hinata, and Hinata in Naruto's body will be referred to as H-Naruto. This way you know who's talking but you also know whose voice and face to have in your minds. In dialogue, the characters will be addressed as who the other person thinks they are.

"As long as we don't know who's behind this problem, we'll never find out all we need to know. And if they find out you've used the scroll, they'll cover their tracks to ensure we never find out. So we need to convince everyone else you two are who you look like. To do that, you two need a few nights to get to know each other better and fill the other in. I'll give you two a cover so hurry and get somewhere where you can be alone."

Those words from Tsunade were the reason H-Naruto and N-Hinata were now in his apartment sitting on his couch.

Both were highly uncomfortable, for differing reasons. N-Hinata was uncomfortable because he was not used to having company and knew his residence was not the best place to bring them even if he did. His apartment was actually better than many gave it credit for, usually picturing an infested hole in a wall when they thought of it, but it wasn't. Sure, it wasn't well furnished and needed patchwork in multiple places, but it was livable. H-Naruto meanwhile was uncomfortable because she had a hard time believing she really was in her crush's home alone with him and the two of them needed to share personal stuff about them. Part of her was excited that Naruto had to learn more about her, because that meant there was a chance he'd grow to like her more, but part of her feared he wouldn't like what he found out.

They had been quiet for a bit and N-Hinata had never been a fan of long silences like this. "So Hinata...?"

"Y-yes Naruto-kun?"

'It feels so weird looking at my own face and calling it by his/her name.' Both thought to themselves.

"Would you like to go first or would you rather I do that instead?" N-Hinata asked, hoping this would feel less uncomfortable once they stopped delaying and got started on what they needed to do.

"Uh... wh-why don't y-you go fir-first? I'd pr-probably take too long." H-Naruto answered.

'It's so weird seeing myself stutter and fidget like this.' N-Hinata thought. "Hinata, are you afraid of me?"

"What? Why would you say that?"

"Because you look so scared right now and I'm the only one here."

"I... I'm not sc-scared Naruto-kun. I hope... I don't want you to be upset with me."

"Huh? Why would I be upset with you?"

"Because I g-got you dragged in-into this."

"No you didn't." N-Hinata countered. "Someone else came up with this idea and we just happened to get involved. It's not your fault."

"And it's not your fault either."

Naruto sighed. "Then why are we both blaming ourselves?"

"I g-guess we just f-feel bad for the o-other. It's un-understandable."

N-Hinata sighed and shifted to get more comfortable. "Well Hinata, what would you like to know about me?"

"Umm... wha-what are the sort of thing you u-usually do around town?" She had a good idea what he did given her habit of following him, but she wasn't going to tell him that just yet.

"Well I like going to Ichiraku's when I can, and some of the vacant training grounds, and when I want to be alone... maybe I should keep that to myself." N-Hinata answered.

H-Naruto blushed slightly, trying not to imagine what Naruto did when he was alone, but failed. N-Hinata saw this and was confused. "Hinata, why are you always red so much? It's weird how your face is always red even when it's now my face, and this whole time I've been in your body I've never seen my-your face turn red."

"Na-Naruto-kun, I... I just blush a lot, is all."

"Why?" N-Hinata plainly yet curiously asked.

"I..." H-Naruto started, not sure how to answer that without revealing too much. As much as she wanted to tell her crush her feelings, she worried that today was not the right day to admit it. Naruto had been thru a lot today and he didn't need more to stress him out. "I... just get nervous easily. I worry that you... don't like me."

N-Hinata blinked twice. "Why would you think that?"

"Probably for the same reason you feared I would hate for when you told me about Kyuubi. We're both so used to being put down we've come to expect it even from those close to us." H-Naruto said.

"Hinata, who puts you down?" N-Hinata asked. "Why would anyone insult a nice girl like you?"

"You'd be surprised Naruto-kun." H-Naruto said quietly, as if whispering to herself.

"WHAT HAPPENED?" Both Kakashi and Kurenai said together in Tsunade's office.

"Both Hinata and Naruto have switched bodies by accident." The female Hokage said. "I know it's hard to accept, but somebody in Konoha had possession of something contraband and thought to be eliminated, and it ended up in the hands of Naruto and Hinata. The result of which is that the two have now taken on the body of the other for an indeterminate amount of time."

Kakashi and Kurenai were silent as they took this in. Initially they didn't want to believe this, but for what reason would the hokage fabricate this? Such a claim could easily be proven wrong. With that in mind, the only reasonable explanation was that somehow what she said was true.

"How could such a thing happen Hokage-sama?" Kurenai asked.

"You both are probably too young to remember it, but my old teammate tried to create his own version of the Yamanaka possession skills so he could likely stay young forever. The project was destroyed and abandoned by even Orochimaru himself, but apparently not all the tools for the job were destroyed too. Someone in Konoha managed to get ahold of a scroll that forces two people touching it at the same time to temporarily switch bodies. It ended up in Naruto and Hinata's hands and they unknowingly activated it."

"How long does the switch last?" Kakashi asked.

"It's impossible to say. I'm still going over the reports on the project and have yet to find any indicator. All I do know is it's temporary and if Orochimaru prefers his current method of stealing bodies then this switch is likely to last only three years at max."

"Three years?" Both jounin repeated.

Tsunade snickered. "Those two kids reacted the same way. Rest assured, that's only a theorized maximum amount of time, not the most likely solution. A more reasonable amount to expect is anywhere from twenty-four hours to even a week. But don't quote me on that."

"So what do we do?" Kurenai questioned.

Tsunade sighed and relaxed in her chair. "For now, there's little we can do. I don't like the fact that someone somehow managed to get ahold of one of these switch scrolls and intended to use one on Hinata. According to Naruto, he accidentally took the scroll thinking it was his after bumping into someone, and the one he got after that incident had Hinata's name on it. This can only mean someone was hoping to switch places with the heiress to the Hyuuga, and likely take advantage of her position."

Kurenai nodded in understanding. "I'm sure there are plenty of people who would do that. But how would they be able to impersonate Hinata? Her personality is quite distinguished to those that know her."

"Maybe they weren't trying to impersonate Hinata. Maybe someone from the Hyuuga planned this." Tsunade thought out loud. "I find it hard to believe this whole thing was done by one person. It's more likely that two or more were in on this in an attempt to gain influence with the Hyuuga, and that implies one of them already has a connection to the Hyuuga."

"Hinata is part of the Main House. Maybe a Branch House member wanted to take her place." Kurenai suggested.

"I thought that too. However there's a flaw in it." Tsunade replied. "While Hinata is supposed to be the heiress, her position and inheritance has been threatened for years from what I've heard. Hiashi has told me he's hoping being an active ninja will break her out of her shell and allow her to become a proper leader, but he did warn me that some Hyuuga feel such a thing is a waste of time and are looking for any reason to brand her with the seal. Hinata is too much at risk for an already-sealed Hyuuga to consider her safe for this. If anything, they'd be more likely to target Hiashi's other daughter."

"Unless they were certain they could get away with masquerading as Hinata but ensure she stayed unsealed." Kakashi added.

"Maybe. Either way, the fact is someone was in possession of an illegal object with plans to use it. This person ended up unable to complete their objection due to Naruto being at the right place and the right time. But there's no way this person or persons is going to just forget their plan and act like nothing happened. It's likely they will try someone new against Hinata. They may even have a second scroll to use."

"So what do we do? Wait for them to act?" Kurenai asked.

"I'd rather we don't, but there's no way of knowing what's going on until we catch them and we have no leads on who's involved. All Naruto can remember of the person he bumped into was they were wearing white. His teammate was apparently intending on giving him a merciless beating so his mind was occupied with getting away."

Kakashi mentally sighed. 'Sakura, you've got to learn to control your impulses.'

"We need to ensure Hinata and Naruto are kept out of danger, but don't draw attention to themselves. Whoever's behind this is likely to observe Hinata to see if anything has happened to her, and if they learn someone has taken her body they will hide their tracks and/or make another effort to take her body. And if they learn Naruto's involved there's no telling what they'll do."

Kakashi and Kurenai nodded. "Agreed. If they thought he was a threat they'd likely have little qualm getting rid of him." The cycloptic jounin stated, then grew worried as something crossed his mind. "Hokage-sama, you said that Hinata's mind is now in Naruto's body. So where is the Kyuubi?" Kurenai looked worried at this question too.

"I already checked for that. The seal is still in place on Naruto's stomach, but that means that Hinata now has to deal with the fox. She has already been informed and does not think ill of Naruto of his burden."

'I don't think she could hate him even if her life depended on it.' Kurenai told herself.

"But is Hinata's will strong enough to handle the burden?" Kakashi asked.

"We can only hope so, but I suspect if she gets help from Naruto she will find it much easier to." Tsunade answered.

"That may require time we don't have and a lot of time for them to be together that will be hard to justify to any who ask." Kurenai pointed out.

"Which is why we need to make time by getting those two away from everyone else so we can ensure nothing will happen to them." Tsunade stated. "The fact is we don't know how long these two are going to be stuck like this, so to avoid exposing their situation and making things worse for them and us, they need to learn how to act like the other and trust each other completely. So I need you two to take them somewhere outside the village for a while, a week at least, and help them adjust. I'll keep your other students occupied to reduce suspicions. I'm thinking a joint mission under a new sensei."

"Couldn't one of us do it instead?" Kakashi asked.

Tsunade shook her head. "Not a good idea. Naruto and Hinata both need someone they can count one and who better than you two?"

"I'm willing to help, but Naruto better keep his hand off of Hinata's body." Kurenai stated.

"That's not going to be possible Kurenai." The hokage told the genjutsu expert. "Like I said, we don't know how long this will last. Sooner or later Naruto and Hinata will have to see their new bodies naked, for cleaning and maintaining it if nothing else. How do you expect them to wash up? Blindfolded and shackled while someone else scrubs them? They're not prisoners. Besides, Naruto is apparently so uneducated regarding sexual topics that he doesn't even seem to realize there's an upside to the matter."

"That's impossible. He is a boy after all." Kurenai countered.

Tsunade looked like she wanted to break something. "Dammit Kurenai, I'm counting on you to be a professional here, not a misandrist! Hinata is not the only one who needs guidance and reassurance here. Naruto does too and he deserves it no less. What if it was one of your male students who was in this?"

Kurenai didn't answer right away, and when she did she crossed her arms. "Hokage-sama, I don't hate men for being men. I hate it when men cannot control their lusts. Fortunately Shino has no problem there and Kiba's mother and sister have already made sure Kiba doesn't let his urges control him or affect him on the field. But Naruto, who's never been guided in a good way, AND was taught by your perverted teammate, I don't have as much faith regarding."

Tsunade frowned and slowly rose from her seat. "Allow me to inform you Kurenai, that during Naruto's time with Jiraiya he never once listened to anything 'perverted' the peeper told him. I know this because I was with them for a week on my way back to Konoha and heard from both what happened between them while I wasn't there. Jiraiya did try to teach Naruto about the facts of life, but Naruto absolutely refused to listen even once. And today when I saw him and Hinata, he sounded like he was genuinely unaware that he even could do something to Hinata's body. I don't know why, but that young boy is completely ignorant of these matters."

"Then how do you explain that degrading Sexy Jutsu of his?" Kurenai asked.

"Why don't you ask him yourself? As a ninja, you should know it's better to get answers from the source than just assume what they are."

Kurenai couldn't argue that. "Fine."

Tsunade then turned to Kakashi. "What about you Kakashi? Are you going to prove difficult here?"

"It's not that I don't want to help here Hokage-sama, but more that I don't think I'd be effective here." The silver-haired jounin said. "If Naruto is in a girl's body, there's not much I can inform him of compared to what a woman like Kurenai here could. And if he refused to listen to a word from Jiraiya, I have no reason to believe he'd listen to me instead on the same subject. The best I could do is damage control. Not to mention I still need to help Sasuke get his anger under control."

"I know someone who could take your place for a short time. Someone who might be able to get thru to him as well as help the others on both teams." Tsunade stated.

"Who?" Both jounins asked.

"Let me see if they're available first and willing before I make any promises." The slug sannin told them. "Now, you two get some rest and think up what you're going to tell your two students. Come back here tomorrow at 9:00 AM. If you're late by even one minute Kakashi so help me I'll demote you back to chuunin. When you're here, Naruto and Hinata will be too. Pack for a week long trip out of the village, I'll tell you the destination tomorrow. Tell no one of this."

Both jounin looked displeased by this but neither objected. "Yes Hokage-sama."

Tsunade called out before they left the room. "And before you complain too much about how uncomfortable you two feel now, remember how uncomfortable Naruto and Hinata must be."

H-Naruto and N-Hinata were currently eating dinner. Rather than force Hinata to eat ramen, N-Hinata ordered out for pizza. There was a place in Konoha that didn't mind delivering to him so he enjoyed this food too, though nothing could replace the feeling he got from eating at Ichiraku's.

"You really never had this before?" N-Hinata asked his guest.

H-Naruto shook her head/Naruto's head. "No. I usually eat homemade meals. Sometimes I eat with my team at restaurants, but I never heard of a place that actually brings food to you if you call them and tell them what you want."

"Well go ahead and enjoy it. This is pretty good."

H-Naruto picked up a slice. N-Hinata ordered pepperoni since H-Naruto didn't answer his question for what toppings she wanted. He was halfway thru his first slice. "It looks a li-little greasy, but if y-you like it..." She slowly took a bite, chewed, and swallowed. "Hmm... not bad. It's different than anything else I've eaten, but..." She paused to take another bite. "I like it."

"Of course you do. That's my tongue you're eating with." N-Hinata commented with a smirk.

H-Naruto blushed. "Umm... Na-Naruto-kun, since Hokage-sama told us both to... to st-stay here t-to-tonight..." Her blush deepened. "H-how are w-we going to handle t-the sl-sleeping arrangements?"

N-Hinata thought it over for a brief second. "Well, I remember hearing somewhere that the girl gets the bed and the boy gets the couch, but..." He paused to motion to both of them. "That kinda doesn't apply to us right now. Though since I am the rightful boy here, I can take the couch and give you privacy."

H-Naruto looked a bit fidgety at the moment. "Umm... Naruto-kun, I... I d-don't th-think privacy w-will be a big problem for us." She saw N-Hinata was confused. "After all, I know what my body looks like and you know what your body looks like. So it's not like we h-have to... hi-hide them f-from each other now. The o-only ha-hard thing will be times like w-when we bathe."

"What do you-?" N-Hinata asked before he caught on. "Oh." He then put down the second slice he had been grabbing. "Hinata-chan, I promise you I will not be perverted with your body. It's bad enough you got involved in this, so I won't make it worse by doing something horrible to your body before you get it back."

"Thank you Naruto-kun, but don't forget what Hokage-sama said. You can't avoid at least looking at... your new body forever." H-Naruto told him. "Would you feel better if I... if I... told you I d-don't m-mind you s-seeing my body wi-without clothes?"

N-Hinata had wide eyes. "Really? But why? I thought girls never ever ever wanted boys to see them naked."

"N-not until they're in l-l-love or m-married, most of the time." H-Naruto said, avoiding eye contact and wondering what the boy in her original body would say to that.

N-Hinata tilted his head, confused. "Why would that make a difference?"

H-Naruto widened her eyes. "You really don't understand?" Suddenly her heart ached for the boy she so greatly admired. Most people would call Naruto naive at best and retarded at worst, but she could tell what the real problem was. Naruto was ignorant, uneducated. He didn't know better because he had nothing and no one to learn from. How could Naruto know as much as other people if he had no way to learn anything? Other people in Konoha took for granted their sources of knowledge. Parents, fair teachers, books, social interactions, all the kind of things Naruto had limited access to if any to begin with, so they just lazily assumed he was just too dumb to know as much as them, never taking into account he was deprived of all this by the very people who mocked him.

Apparently one of the things he was most ignorant on was male-female interactions. Hinata could already tell that given his adamant denials that he would be perverted, but it was worst than she feared. That wasn't just about Naruto respecting her privacy; it was as if Naruto honestly and truly believed there was nothing good about anything that could be considered perverted. At that point this attitude was not noble, it was practically love-phobic. Why would Naruto want a girlfriend if he was afraid to show her this kind of affection?

With that in mind, H-Naruto had to ask something. "Na-Naruto-kun, don't you f-find girls attractive?"

"Yeah, of course Hinata-chan." N-Hinata answered, wondering why she asked him that.

"Then aren't you even a... a l-little cur-curious to see girls n-naked?"

"No because that's perverted."

H-Naruto sighed. "Naruto-kun, I don't know what taught you all this, but... there are times w-when being 'perverted' as you say, is... is okay."

N-Hinata widened his eyes. "That's impossible."

H-Naruto shook her head. "No Naruto-kun, it isn't. There are times it isn't good to be perverted, but there are times it is acceptable."

N-Hinata arched an eyebrow, a gesture H-Naruto thought was weird to see on her old face. "Like when?"

'How do I answer that without giving away any of my own secrets?' H-Naruto asked herself before getting an idea. "Like... when you have to w-wash my old body tonight. You do have to s-see it to know you got everything, and y-you c-can enjoy what you see. But I know you don't mean any harm to m-my body so I know I have no reason to be afraid of you. Fear is the thing that determines whether or not you're doing a bad thing."

N-Hinata still looked confused. "So... whether or not the girl dislikes it decides if it's good or bad?" H-Naruto nodded. "But why would any girl like it?"

"W-wouldn't you l-like it if a girl th-thought you were good-looking and wanted to see more of you?" H-Naruto asked.

N-Hinata thought it over. "I guess, but it wouldn't really mean anything if it was just any girl. If it was a girl I knew and liked, then it would feel better than just any girl looking for a peek. Then I'd feel like my privacy was being invaded."

"It's the same for girls Naruto-kun. We don't want lots of guys trying to peek at our bodies and... do more to them, but if it's one guy we do like, then we're not that upset by it. We might be embarrassed, but not angry. If we care for the boy, we feel flattered and loved. If we don't, we feel like our privacy was invaded."

N-Hinata looked like he was starting to understand. "I think I understand. So... if I ever did decide to take a peek at Sakura-chan in the hot springs and she caught me, she'd feel angry. But if it was Sasuke and she caught him, she'd be embarrassed, but not angry, more flattered. Is that right?"

H-Naruto nodded. "Yes, that's a good way to describe it Naruto-kun."

"So is there any boy you wouldn't get about seeing you Hinata-chan?" N-Hinata curiously asked.

H-Naruto blushed until it looked like she had no blood anywhere else in her current body. "Umm..." She did not know how to answer that. "Na-Naruto-kun, y-you sh-shouldn't ask a girl that."

"Oh please forgive me Hinata-chan, it just popped into my mind." N-Hinata pleaded, his head lowered.

"It's okay Naruto-kun. I'm not mad, j-just embarrassed."

'Not mad, just embarrassed?' The words repeated in N-Hinata's mind. 'Hinata-chan said girls feel that way with boys they care for? Does that mean...?' He stopped himself from saying anything. 'I better wait for that. We've both dealt with a lot today. No need to add to everything by asking her what she thinks of me.' He cleared his throat. "I just want you to know, you can trust me with your body, just like how I trust you with mine."

H-Naruto smiled, her blush still there but lessened. "Thank you Naruto-kun."

They finished up their dinner and put away the leftovers. Soon came time to shower and go to bed. Being polite, N-Hinata allowed H-Naruto to go first but asked she save some hot water for him, which she had no problem agreeing to.

Hinata had to admit this was a strange experience for her, cleaning a male body. Thanks to her byakugan and anatomy lessons to maximize damage done to enemies, Hinata was not ignorant of what a male body should look like. But this would be her first time actually seeing one for real, without the byakugan which focused more on the chakra system than other physical traits to actually allow her to peep with it. Washing it in the shower wasn't too different than washing her own, just with a flatter chest and a more sensitive to touch lower region. She had to avoid doing too much to that particular area, out of fear what would happen if she didn't restrain herself.

Soon it was Naruto's turn, and he tried to restrain himself, but teenage curiosity got the better of him and he allowed himself to see what Hinata's baggy clothes had been hiding. Now, Naruto's Sexy Jutsu did give him a good idea what the female body was like without covering, but he never stayed in it long enough to actually do anything with it other than tease perverts. After looking at girls like Sakura, Ino, and even Tenten, Naruto was surprised a girl their age like Hinata could be so much more developed. And when looking at the crouch, he wondered how exactly a girl urinated.

Fortunately, when he finished the shower, he was going to find out by doing what came natural.

Later it came time to sleep. Naruto instinctively grabbed a pair of his pajamas, which were a little loose on Hinata's body, and he had to give Hinata a pair since she didn't know where to look and couldn't go back to the Hyuuga compound in his body.

"Ok, I'll see you tomorrow morning Hinata-chan. Good night." N-Hinata said before heading back to the front room.

"Wait, Naruto-kun." H-Naruto called out, stopping the boy in her original body. "I... I'm still w-worried that som-someone will try to find me tonight and do something b-bad to me, and you too. Could you... could you please... s-st-stay with m-me tonight?"

N-Hinata was silent for a moment. "Well... since we both know what the other looks like, and Baa-chan did say whoever's behind the whole scroll thing would come after you sometime, I suppose it wouldn't be a problem."

The two were cautious, but soon they both laid down on Naruto's bed. N-Hinata assumed H-Naruto's blush was from not being used to sharing a bed, and her holding him was from a need to feel safe in a strange place and situation.

He was only half-right.