Chapter 1
With a satisfied grin Kurama lazily opened his eyes to stare down his muzzle at the familiar tuff of bright blond spikes before him. At the sight that greeted him the great nine-tails, the most powerful of all the tailed beasts, couldn't help but let out an amused laugh. Dressed in the ever familiar orange jumpsuit and looking very much like his Sexy no Jutsu form was the very irate Naruto Uzumaki.
"It's not funny dattebayo!" his loudmouth of a vessel proclaimed. "Why am I a girl you bastard fox! Is this your idea of some kind of sick joke?"
"Believe or not brat but this is not my doing," he replied with a large grin. "It is, as you weaklings call it, just an added perk of the process."
"An added perk!" the former boy screeched at a decibel that he was sure could crack glass. His voice barely changing in spite of everything.
"Shut it you ungrateful idiot," Kurama growled out at the sudden assault on his ears, unable to help but wonder why on earth he was subjecting himself to the brat's unholy screaming and hollering all over again. As bad as he was now the legendary fox couldn't help but recall how grating Naruto was when he was nothing more than a snot-nosed kid with an even higher pitched voice than the one he had now. He winced at the thought of that being permanent. If his banshee of a mother was anything to go by the next few years were going to be an even greater annoyance than the first time round. "The sex of the child had already been determined. Had I interfered any more than I had there was every chance I would have killed your new body before you could even be born into it."
Not technically true. But his vessel didn't need to know that.
"Anyway what difference does it make?" he demanded sharply, cutting off the tirade he knew was coming. At the sudden silence that followed he scoffed derisively. "Had you known would that have changed your decision? You would let something as insignificant as this make your choice for you and risk losing it all once more. Because if that is the case then maybe I should have just left you to take your last breath out on the battlefield instead of wasting my time and power on such a weak minded brat like you. At this rate you might as well just let me out and allow me to save Madara the trouble by razing this whole place to the ground. At least I would be able to accomplish the task of getting rid of quite a few of his greatest pawns."
"Dammit!" Naruto swore. Despite the addition of long blond pigtails and a slightly more feminine face there was no disputing the fact that the girl that stood before him was indeed the same brat he had come to recognize if the determined glare being directed his way was anything to go by. "You're a right bastard you know that you stupid old fox."
Let it not be said the great nine tails did not know how to motivate people.
"But you're right," the brat conceded rather grudgingly before exclaiming, "I've never quit or run away from anything and I'm not about to now. Girl or boy I'm going to kick the ass of anyone who even so much as tries to touch my comrades. Bring it on dattebayo!"
With a satisfied grin Kurama was just about to voice his approval when the sixteen year old before him suddenly shrunk. Visibly shocked by the occurrence Naruto looked down.
"What's happening to me?"
Realising what was going on Kurama simply replied, "You're a baby."
"Not a baby!"
Long resigned to the fact that his container could at times be more than a little idiotic despite moments of sheer brilliance he explained, "Mentally you may be sixteen but physically you are nothing more than a newborn. At the moment your body is barely developed which means physically your brain has not yet established the neural capacity necessary to accommodate your adult mind." He paused for a moment and unable to help himself added, "No matter how simple it may be."
Though from the perplexed look on the idiot's face it was clear that while Naruto barely understood his explanation it seemed there was one thing the former boy was able to grasp perfectly. No doubt catching the jibe the now eight year body of his vessel stamped a foot indignantly.
Ignoring the display Kurama continued, "You will still have your memories but you won't be able to make sense of it until your body is ready. Until your mind is developed enough to be able to comprehend it all you will have to relearn everything. Even if instinctively you may already know how to do some things you will need to work hard to regain yourself, to get back your strength and your mind."
"What does dat mean?"
"It means brat, for all intents and purposes you will truly be a baby," was his simple reply.
"What! How I'm 'upposed to help 'ange anything like dis?" the said brat demanded, frown deepening as her speech began to reflect the continued shrinking of both her mental age and body.
"Don't worry. There is time brat. You have years before we need to act."
"But wat if it go wrong?" Naruto questioned with the slightest hint of fear. "Wat if I no 'member?"
Staring down at the now three year old that stood before him Kurama leant forward and reached out with a large paw. With his claws curled into a fist he gazed down at the blond without a word. Yet even in the deafening silence that befell the both of them they each knew exactly what he was asking for. What he wanted. For a moment the miniature Naruto did no more than return his stare. Then finally taking a step forward the girl brought her own fist up and somewhat grudgingly gave him what he was sure was supposed to be a hard bump.
"You dere ta 'elp me," the brat said, the earlier fear completely gone. "Dat wat team 'ates do."
At the unflinching belief in those words Kurama felt the corners his muzzle lifting even as he roughly grunted, "Don't get too sappy brat. I won't hesitate to eat you if you dare make me suffer your embarrassing idiocy and weakness this time round."
"Ya, ya," was the casual reply that was accompanied by a wide grin from the now barely standing toddler. "Ku'ma luff Na."
"Yeah whatever you stupid idiot," he scoffed. "Make sure you get stronger and get me out of this cage faster this time brat."
At those words the tiny infant that now lay on its back before him merely gurgled happily, tiny hands reaching up towards him with a demanding cry. With a sigh Kurama lowered his head to rest on atop his paws and closed his eyes. As much as the older Naruto annoyed him at least the brat was never boring. He cracked an eye open to give the giggling child a rather baleful look. These next few years were definitely going to be great test of his patience. Unlike the idiotic humans he could not understand the fascination and excitement over babies. All they do is sleep, eat and poop.
In the days following Naruto's birth Minato Namikaze threw himself into trying to figure out what had happened almost obsessively. For all his genius he found himself completely stumped. Even with Kushina's help, who was still recovering from the birth and extraction, they weren't any closer to finding a plausible explanation for how the Kyubi ended up sealed within their daughter. Every clue they discovered only lead to more questions. Like their discovery of the existence of a key to the seal, a key that had been inscribed on the toad Gerotora who when questioned could only tell them that it had just suddenly appeared the very same night Naruto was born. Then there was also the additional mystery of the beast calling him Yondaime upon its release, growling the name out to him as if it was nothing more than a mere fact. It was a mystery and the only answer he could come up with was one that was too far-fetched to be considered feasible. Yet it was one he could not allow himself to dismiss even though he knew there was no way to prove it.
While he knew there were ways of speaking to the beast in order to try and get some answers it was not something either he or Kushina wanted to subject their daughter to. Not unless they absolutely had to. He was just glad that no one saw fit to even try to suggest such a thing. The only people who knew of what truly happened – that being the Sandaime, his wife and her assistant – trusted them enough to leave well enough alone. As for everybody else, well, since the beast was contained just as soon as it was released, it didn't take very much to convince the council that they were the ones to seal the Kyubi into Naruto when the seal seemingly broke. As the three greatest seal masters in Konohagakure and with Kushina's expertise as an Uzumaki to back them up they were easily able to convince everybody of what had happened. At least for now.
With a sigh Minato waved the troubling thoughts aside. Though it bothered him to not know for sure he did know one thing and that was the Kyubi was completely contained, a fact both Jiraiya and Kushina could attest to. In the end what mattered was that Naruto was safe. All he could do was to continue to monitor the situation and make sure the seal remained strong. There will be a time when it will no longer be needed but that was a long time coming and right now he needed to concentrate on what was most important, his daughter.
"She's perfect," Minato found himself whispering as he stared down at the tiny hands clasping his finger in wonder. Aside from Kushina she was the single most beautiful thing he had ever seen. While she had his colouring Naruto was definitely her mother's daughter. The shape of her eyes, the cute yet stubborn jut of her chin and the pout of her lips was definitely all Kushina.
"She is, isn't she," Kushina agreed from where she sat beside him, a radiant smile curving her lips as they both looked into the precious bundle in the cot before them.
Ever since Kushina and Naruto were released from the hospital Minato had decided to take a well needed break from his duties. Aside from wanting to ensure that the Kyubi was truly sealed he also wanted to spend time with his new family. Considering how close he had come to losing them both it was understandable for him not to want to let either one of them out of his sight.
"She looks so much like you," his wife said as she gently ran her fingers over the whisker-like marks that lined both sides of their daughter's cheeks. With a twinkle in her eyes she lightly teased, "Let's just hope she doesn't turn out as flaky."
"Knowing my luck she'll probably end up having your temper," Minato murmured to himself. As much as he loved her there was a reason why she was called the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero and even though she had calmed considerably since their academy days she was still prone to violent outbursts when angered.
"What was that?" Kushina demanded with a crack her knuckles.
"I was just saying how lucky I would be if Naruto turned out to be as wonderful, smart and generous as her beautiful mother of course," he quickly answered, swallowing down a nervous gulp.
"That's what I thought you said," she cheerfully said. With a clap of her hands she stood up and announced, "Now be a dear and get Naruto-chan ready for me while I prepare her bath."
Holding their daughter in front of him like a shield Minato meekly nodded. Unable to do a thing but watch as his wife practically skipped her way towards the bathroom. It was only once she was gone did he let out a sigh of relief before looking down at the big blue eyes staring right back at him. With a smile he leant down to place a gentle kiss on Naruto's nose, causing her to go cross eyed for a moment. As he pulled away he whispered, "Just between you and me Naruto I do kind of wish you do end up exactly like your mother, temper and all."
Just as he was about to gather her bath towel and a change of clothes he felt a pair of damp hands wrap around his neck. At the touch of lips against his Minato smiled as he returned the kiss. As they drew apart he couldn't help but ask, "Not that I am complaining but what was that for?"
"Nothing," Kushina cheekily replied. Without another word she withdrew completely from him in order to carefully pick up their baby daughter from her cot. Then stopping at the threshold of the door tilted her head back to command, "Hurry up Minato. You don't want Naruto-chan catching a cold just because her flake of a father was too damn slow with her things do you dattabane?"
As he continued what he was doing before Kushina decided to ambush him Minato couldn't help but roll his eyes and think half-heartedly, 'I take it all back.'
