Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and if you're reading this then you most likely don't own Naruto as well.

In the field that Team Chouza usually used for training purposes Naruto and Iori were currently having a taijutsu fight. Normally on a day like today Team Chouza would be practicing together before going off on a mission. Unfortunately for that routine two things had happened. First, Chouza had been requested to join his old teammates from the Ino-Shika-Chou trio for an A rank mission. Not wanting to bring his students into a situation that was most likely going to go over their heads Chouza had requested that Team Chouza be put on reserve for the duration of his A rank mission. For the past week Naruto, Rei, and Iori had all gotten together to train so as to keep up their skills. Sadly for the boys Rei had to call in sick this morning so they were left with only each other to train with.

As the main focus for today's training Iori and Naruto had decided to work on taijutsu. The sparing match that Naruto and Iori were doing was over all a very interesting and unpredictable match. Naruto's Uzu Sen Ken style was based on the idea of very hard and crushing blows flowing one after the other. This flow of attacks was often brought about through Naruto spinning as he attacked. One example of such an attack that Naruto liked to do was a haymaker used to soften a person and then very quickly following the haymaker with a jab from the elbow. These fast and constant attacks of Naruto's along with Naruto's ability to maneuver around could give Naruto's opponent the sensation that he was trapped in a whirlpool.

Iori was no slouch either when it came to taijutsu and Iori also had the advantage being trained in a family taijutsu style. Kusanagi family, like many ninja clans and ninja clan founders, had developed a taijutsu style that best played to the strengths of the clan. The Kusanagi family taijutsu style, which was interestingly enough known as Lighting Kickboxing, differed greatly from many of the taijutsu styles found in the Elemental Countries. In Lighting Kickboxing the hands were not used for attack at all and they were only used to deflect an opponent's attack. Instead all of the damaged dealt to the opponent was done with the legs. This was very different then most other taijutsu styles in the Elemental Countries which had come to use a person's fists as the primary and/or preferred method of attack.

This was a match of pure skill against skill for the boys and absolutely nothing but taijutsu was allowed for the fight. As a show of good faith Naruto had taken off his sunglasses so that Iori could visually see that Naruto's Ranseigan was not active. Although they tried to make the fight as fair as possible, both Naruto and Iori had advantages in the fight that just couldn't be taken away. Iori, unlike Naruto, had been trained in the Lighting Kickboxing style for years. Shadow Clones, while they are very good substitute, just couldn't truly beat the physical conditioning and training that years of good solid exercise could bring a person. Taijutsu unlike Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, or the Sealing Arts, was a predominantly physical art making it that using too many shadow clones for training would have the adverse effect of making a person fight like they had 'lost their edge'.

Naruto, while he would readily admit to being less skilled then Iori in Taijutsu happened to also have a very good hand for this particular match. Thanks to his training with Iruka Naruto had been able to figure out how to use Shadow Clones to speed up his training without causing a gap between his skill level and what his body could do. Still, even with the Shadow Clone training the skill difference in pure taijutsu between Naruto and Iori was too great. Also the fact that Naruto wasn't using the Ranseigan to help him left Naruto was a bit of trouble as the Uzu Sen Ken style was designed to help utilize the Ranseigan. With all of these handy caps that Naruto had he slowly and steadily was defeated by Iori. Naruto's regeneration bloodline, which seemed to be getting stronger lately only helped Naruto delay his defeat.

After Naruto lost the spar both he and Iori sat down on the training field to catch their breaths. There were smiles on both of their faces because they enjoyed the fight that they had just had. Naruto, who a propped up against a tree that was on the edge of the field reached into his pocket and pulled out a small scroll. Opening up the scroll just a bit Naruto came to the first storage seal on the scroll that he wanted to use. Swiping his finger across the seal Naruto activated the storage seal which resulted in a small smoke explosion being released. When the smoke cleared Naruto was holding a large canteen in his hand. Naruto then uncorked the lid of the canteen and took a long chug of water. Once he was done drinking Naruto tossed the canteen over to Iori who also took a long chug.

After both of the boys had something to drink Naruto turned to face Iori. Closing his eyes for a moment Naruto tried to shore up his resolve for what he was about to do. Naruto knew that Iori really should know about the Kyuubi. Team Chouza had after all been working together for four months already and Iori was the only member of the team to not know about the demon. True there wasn't really any instance in the Team's history that Iori not knowing about the Kyuubi would negatively affect the team. However Iori's ignorance on this matter seemed to Naruto to be creating a slight undercurrent of friction in the team. This was something that Naruto was determined to correct as a team needed its members to be able to absolutely trust each other.

Naruto opened his eyes and said, "Iori, there's something I want to talk to you about." Upon hearing Naruto's voice Iori turned to give Naruto his full attention. Once Naruto could see that Iori was paying attention Naruto continued to speak. "As you know Iori, I have a 'condition' that Rei has been helping me take care of for the past two months. Well here's what's going on Iori, during the Kyuubi assault things didn't go like they teach us in the academy. The Yondaime had to seal the Kyuubi into a child in order to stop its assault on the village. I was chosen as the child to have the Kyuubi sealed into because I was born on that day and because my mother was friends with the Yondaime. Rei's been using her bloodline to help me lessen the negative effects that containing the Kyuubi has had on my body."

Iori quietly sat where he was and processed what Naruto had just told him. What Naruto had said made perfect sense in Iori mind. It did explain why many of the civilians in Konoha were either hostile to Naruto or they tried their best to ignore his existence. Turning to face Naruto Iori said solemnly, "Thank you for telling me about the Kyuubi and I want you to know that you have my full support." Seeing the look of relief and happiness on Naruto's face when he said that made Iori proud that he had promised himself not to judge Naruto or his condition a while back.


Katshuito was calmly sweeping the steps of the shrine when he noticed Naruto coming towards the shrine. Normally Katshuito wouldn't pay too much attention to his little sister's teammates simply because they mostly just came around do to ninja business or to talk with Rei. As a big brother Katshuito was of two minds about Rei's teammates and in particular Naruto. Naruto and Iori were Rei's teammates and their friendship with Rei was something that Rei had really needed for some time. On the other hand, they were boys and Naruto was getting a little too close to Rei for Katshuito's tastes as a big brother. True, Katshuito had nothing against Naruto but it was the principal of the thing. However Katshuito wasn't really thinking about Rei and Naruto's friendship at the moment because he was shocked by the look on Naruto's face. Instead of his normal friendly face Naruto looked extremely scared and worried.

Seeing Naruto's face like that greatly worried Katshuito. While Katshuito may have been a little cautious towards Naruto when it came to the relationship that Naruto seemed to be forging with Rei, Katshuito greatly respected Naruto. As Naruto rounded corner and started climbing up the steps Katshuito laid his broom down. When Naruto reached the top of the stairs he was caught by Katshuito who said, "What is it Naruto? Why are you running so fast?"

Naruto looked up at Katshuito and said in a ragged breath, "M-my seal. W-when I got up this morning my seal; you know the one that I'm talking about." Katshuito nodded his head to show that he knew that Naruto was talking about the seal use to keep the Kyuubi locked inside Naruto. After seeing Katshuito nod his head Naruto continued his explanation. "I was taking a shower this morning when I glanced at the seal in my mirror and it's changed!" With that said Naruto lifted up his t-shirt just enough to expose his stomach and force the seal to reveal itself.

Katshuito looked down and carefully observed the now visible seal. The Dead Demon Consuming Seal and the Four Image Seal were both exactly the same as they always had been. However, the Eight Divinations Signs Seal Style, which was the 'spokes' of Naruto's seal had changed. Instead of being a solid black script that it used to be the outer third of each 'spoke' was now a dull silver color. Racking his brains for a moment, Katshuito remembered an old family scroll that all Higurashi were supposed to study. Looking Naruto in the eye Katshuito said in a firm voice, "Calm down Naruto. There is no need for you to worry about your seal; all will be explained shortly. However, we need to go and talk with my little sister about this."

With that said Katshuito lead a much more calm, but at the same time confused, Naruto into the Higurashi household. Katshuito and Naruto didn't have to look very far for Rei because she was currently sitting at the dinner table in her usual pink one-piece pajamas with a red bathroom on. There was a look of surprise on Rei's face as she watched her brother and her 'teammate' walk through the door. After all, today was the weekend so Rei didn't expect any of her teammates to be here until eleven o'clock if they were to come over at all today. Getting out of her seat Rei gave the two a smile and said, "Hello brother, Hello Naruto. What's going on that Naruto is here so early?"

Katshuito shot Rei a questioning look and he said, "Naruto came over here today very worried. It seems that the seal holding back the Kyuubi is starting to change; in fact the outer tips of the seal are starting to become silver. Now why I wonder Naruto's seal changing?"

Rei thought about what Katshuito had said for a second and then she said, "That doesn't make any sense. I've been strengthening the seal and purifying Naruto's chakra system at the same time with the Celestial Caress Seal for the past two months whenever I had a reasonable amount of time to use the sealing technique. However, given the fact that the Kyuubi is the strongest of all demons, it should have taken years if not decades before the seal showed any signs of the purification process!" Inside her head Rei furiously went over all of her extensive sealing knowledge. The Celestial Caress Seal worked with the Higurashi bloodline by directing her chakra to go into Naruto's body and eliminate the foreign chakra a.k.a. the Kyuubi's. At the same time, Naruto seal would have been strengthened. While several weeks of this treatment would have been enough to start purifying the seal of a Jinchuuriki for a minor spirit, it shouldn't have been enough for Naruto.

Katshuito saw the look of confusion and disbelief on Rei's face and he would have laughed if the situation wasn't so serious. "Rei the Kyuubi may be the strongest of the Tailed Demons, but you overlooked a very important fact. Unlike the Jinchuuriki that our ancestors helped in the past the Kyuubi is asleep in the seal." As soon as Katshuito said that the Kyuubi was asleep Rei's eyes practically bulged out of her head. Katshuito placed his hand on his forehead like he was trying to keep a migraine from coming and said in a serious tone, "Little Sister why didn't you talk to grandfather or me first? You may be one of the most talented person in the sealing arts that this family has produced since Kikyo lived over 350 years ago but you still don't know all there is to know about sealing."

Naruto wondered what was going on that Rei and Katshuito were talking about. Letting out a polite cough to get the two's attentions Naruto said, "What's going on? From what you two are saying it sounds like my seal is supposed to change like it is but it's changing too soon. Can someone please explain to me what this all means and how it affects me? And for that matter, why are you acting like Rei's done something wrong Katshuito? Rei's sealing technique has allowed me to gain a greater deal of control over my chakra and has also allowed my healing ability to increase since its not having to repair the damage that the Kyuubi's charka causes. As the bearer of the seal in question I think I have a right to know what's going on."

Rei nodded her head and she said in her usual voice, "Of course Naruto you do deserve to know what's going on." Taking a deep breath for a second Rei then continued, "As I've told you before Naruto, being a Jinchuuriki has certain negative effects on a human body. These negative effects are caused by the fact that yokai or demon chakra is, for lack of a better word, corrosive to most living organisms. Thanks to our bloodline the Higurashi Clan can neutralize the minute amounts of yokai that are filtered into a Jinchuuriki's chakra network. Now when I've been treating you with the Celestial Caress Seal I've not only been neutralizing those yokai particles in your network but I've also been establishing 'converters' in the seal that contains the Kyuubi. These 'converters' allows your seal to transform the Kyuubi's yokai into your own chakra. You see Naruto with how the seal was designed it would have allowed you to draw power from the Kyuubi but you would have been drawing yokai and not chakra. While yokai is powerful, using it in great amounts or over a period of time would have had terrible consequences for your body."

Katshuito then took over the conversation at that moment and said, "Very true Rei, very true." Turning to Naruto Katshuito then said, "you see Naruto, these 'converters' take a while to develop. The length of time that they develop in is related to the strength of the demon sealed in the person; stronger demons take longer then weaker demons. According to the Higurashi records as these 'converters' develop the seal on a Jinchuriki will start to change color showing that the 'converters' had been established and how strong they were. With the strength that the Kyuubi possesses it normally would have taken years or decades for this process to start to show. However my Little Sister forgot to take into account that the Kyuubi is currently sleeping within you Naruto and thus the process has been sped up dramatically."

Naruto tilted his head and got a confused look on his face as he processed what he was being told. With his head and face in that confused position Naruto said, "So what's the big deal then? From what you're telling me I'll soon be able to use the Kyuubi like a very large chakra battery and not have any bad effects on my body." Opening his eyes Naruto saw that Rei's face was full of worry and Katshuito's face was very serious. The fact that their faces were like that made Naruto nervous. Looking Rei in the eye Naruto said, "Rei, why are you worried?"

Katshuito let out a small sigh and said, "Naruto why don't you sit down before I explain everything." Naruto did as Katshuito instructed and then Katshuito started to explain. "From what I've seen of your seal Naruto you're almost at the point where you will start to receive chakra from the 'converters' that Rei has created for you. According to the family records, the chakra is immediately pumped into your chakra network and as the process is completed more and more chakra is pumped into your system. For weak demons this isn't a problem because the Jinchuuriki is able to adapt to the increased chakra. Unfortunately, given your current age, strength, and the strength of the Kyuubi the fact that the chakra will enter your chakra network is very bad. If left unchecked your chakra network will be flooded with chakra; this will lead to your chakra control deteriorating and later you would develop serious medical conditions due to containing far too much charka for you body to be able to handle."

Rei slammed her hand down on the table and she said in a surprisingly angry voice, "Enough of that brother! Why are you needlessly scaring Naruto? I may have made a mistake in my calculation of how fast the Celestial Caress Seal was working but that's something that can be easily corrected. All we have to do is graft a regulatory and/or a buffer seal onto Naruto's existing seal. Once the new seal or seals are added Naruto won't ever have to worry about this again and he will get a great energy boost out of the deal. This whole situation was caused by an error on my part and I will do everything and anything in my power to correct it for Naruto."

Katshuito looked into Rei's eyes and saw the fire and determination that were shining there. Never had Rei ever mustered such a firm and unyielding conviction on something; even the time that she declared that she wanted to be a ninja paled in comparison to this. In the back of his mind Katshuito mused that Rei had, just like grandfather had said she would, started to fall for Naruto and would do anything to help him. Looking back and forth between the two young adults for a moment Katshuito thought over the options available to help the situation before he came to a decision. Narrowing his eyes just a tad Katshuito said, "It's a good thing that you're willing to give your all to correct this mistake of yours Rei. Because you see Rei, once we've done what we need to do; there's no going back."


It was morning and Rei was in the bathtub taking a very thorough bath. As she bathed Rei thought about what had happened and what was about to happen. Last week after the changes to Naruto's seal were revealed to the Higurashi siblings Katshuito took control of Naruto's sealing 'operation'. Katshuito told Naruto and Rei upfront that due to the seriousness of the situation they would use the strongest seals that they could use. After that declaration Katshuito and Rei had spent most of the morning looking up the various seals available for the job with Naruto helping out by staying out of the way and meditating to keep calm.

After a few hours of research the siblings had devised a set of seals to be used to take care of Naruto's problem. First Rei had applied a seal known as Four Heavenly Guardians Twenty-eight Mansions directly around the original seal. The FHGTM seal acted as a buffer keeping the new charka generated by the purifying process of the modified old seal from freely mixing with Naruto's natural chakra. As soon as the FHGTM seal was set Rei had added another seal, this time the Twelve Signs Wind Zodiac seal, directly on top of the seal she had just created. By itself the Twelve Signs Wind Zodiac seal made sure that the chakra generated by the original seal was elementally aligned with Naruto's natural chakra and the Twelve Signs Wind Zodiac seal greatly strengthened the FHGTM seal. Finally to help Naruto control his new seal and to help protect the seal Rei had given Naruto one final seal: Karma of the Six Bardos.

The last seal that Rei gave Naruto last week was different then the other two seals. Instead of being placed on or next to the seal on Naruto's stomach, the Karma of the Six Bardos seal had been place on the back of both of Naruto's hands. Karma of the Six Bardos was powerful seal which prevented anyone from tampering with other seals or adding more seals to a person without the person's permission. Also, this seal strengthened the seals that were on a person. It wasn't used very often because the seal was both very tiring to make and it also required that a person have several powerful seals already on their body. In fact, Rei had needed to have Katshuito created the seal on Naruto's other hand due to chakra exhaustion after she had placed the first one of the Karma of the Six Bardos on Naruto.

Getting out of the bathtub Rei dried herself off and with a towel wrapped around her exited the bathroom. Instead of going to her bedroom to change Rei headed outside towards a small freestanding building in the Higurashi family compound and shrine complex. Upon reaching the building Rei opened the door and entered the dimly lit room. There were no windows in the room, only two standing torches and the dull glow of some glyphs arranged in a circle on the floor. Her eyes scanning the dim light of the room, Rei saw the shape of a person sitting in a lotus position between the two torches. Letting the towel fall to the floor, Rei walked into the circle and sat down in the lotus position with her bare back touching Naruto's.

Rei's cheeks started to get a rosy hue because, even though she couldn't really see him, Rei knew that Naruto was sitting back to back with her in the nude. It had been decided last week that, in order to have a failsafe on the new seals, an old sealing ritual was to be preformed. This ritual had been created over three-hundred years ago and what it did was it made sure that one very powerful person (Naruto) couldn't access a predetermined percentage of their power without the approval of a second person (Rei). Both Naruto and Rei were nude because any adornment or covering, even something as small as an earring, could potentially cause catastrophic effects with the ritual. Considering the fact that they were sealing a piece Naruto's chakra network into Rei so that she could control the output of chakra that Naruto got from the Kyuubi seal, messing up the ritual was not something to be desired. Both Naruto and Rei were willing to put up with a little embarrassment if it meant getting the job done and getting this job done correctly. Besides, between the poor lighting and the fact that they were back to back it wasn't like either of them would actuallysee something.

Rei, after calming her breathing down, began to slowly chant the mantras that made the ritual work. This ritual took several hours to complete and a single mistake could be deadly for the both of them. Sarutobi who had been notified, and who had given his grudging approval, about this ritual had given Rei the week off so that she could memorize the lines that she needed to say. Due to the fact that she had a natural knack for these sorts of subjects Rei had been able to fully memorize the mantras to her and Naruto's satisfaction just as her brother finished creating the massive seal that was being used.

As the hours passed on the glyphs on the floor, which had been absorbing Naruto and Rei's chakra, started slowly glow brighter and brighter. Naruto, who was in a deep meditative state, gradually felt the effects of the ritual start to develop. Slowly a bit of charka in Naruto's hands was drawn out leaving a void behind in the chakra's place. A few minutes later there was an itching sensation that developed in Naruto's hands right where the void was. After about an hour of that itching sensation Naruto's hands stopped itching and felt almost normal again. Finally the ritual was finished twelve hours after it started.

The visible proof that the ritual had been successful was that both Naruto and Rei were sporting seals that looked like their gender's half of the yin-yang symbol on the back of their hands. Also, there was a purple script that gave the outline of the half of the symbols that each of them was missing. For Naruto his seal was a little more complicated as it was surrounded by the fragmented circle of the Karma of the Six Bardos seal. Both Naruto and Rei could feel the connection between the two of them created by ritual. Naruto could now use up to the equivalent of one tail of chakra on his own from the seal but he couldn't go any higher expect by Rei giving him the okay. Also Rei, if she though it was a good idea, could prevent Naruto from using the chakra generated by the seal.

Naruto, who was still sitting back to back with Rei, said, "Thank you Rei for doing this. You are the only person in the world that I would trust enough to have this kind of power over me."

Rei felt her heart start to speed up when Naruto told her how much he trusted her. In her elegant voice Rei replied, "I'm honored that you place so much trust in me Naruto." Slowly getting to her feet Rei started walking out of the circle. When she reached where her towel lay Rei picked up the towel and wrapped it around her again. Naruto waited until he heard the sound of the door opening and closing before he got up. After Naruto changed into his own clothes that were in a pile on the ground he left the room to go home.


In his office Sarutobi was trying to get the paperwork for the upcoming Chunin exams filled out. Trying being the important word because Sarutobi's mind kept wandering back to what was going on today with two of his genin. Sarutobi had been very worried when he received Naruto and Rei's report about the changes in the Yondaime's seal. Fortunately for 'The Professor's' heart, the new seals had already been added to Naruto and they were working beautifully. After seeing seals that had been placed on Naruto and hearing what it was that they did Sarutobi was wishing that he had asked the Higurashi clan to examine the Yondaime's seal years ago.

Moving beyond old regrets and should haves, Sarutobi gave up on his paperwork for a moment and he thought about what Naruto and Rei were doing today. The Feng Shui Fusion ritual was a very old and very powerful ritual. However it was an almost completely unknown ritual that was only preserved by the Higurashi family. In order to get his approval for the ritual to be done Sarutobi had been given a detailed copy of what the ritual did. Sarutobi, knowing that he currently wouldn't be able to complete his paperwork, calmly moved the official papers off to the side of his desk.

Taking a deep breath Sarutobi then opened on of his desk drawers and picked up the copy that he had been given that detailed the Feng Shui Fusion ritual. Carefully rereading the text on the paper Sarutobi mused on the properties of the Feng Shui Fusion. Since the ritual prevented Naruto from using a portion of his power without Rei's approval, it gave the side benefit of helping Naruto out politically. Even Naruto's enemies on the council, and there was still a sizable minority of those on the council, wouldn't be able to touch Naruto should it be revealed that his power was limited by Rei. Of course anyone trying to use Rei against Naruto would be in for a nasty surprise because the seal of the Feng Shui Fusion ritual allowed Rei to mentally give Naruto access to his powers. Usually, or so the text claimed, the controller used a verbal command to unlock the other person's powers but all it really took was the mental command. Finally, the ritual seal was able to notify Naruto and Rei through a slight warming sensation that the other person was in danger.

Putting the pages back in his desk, Sarutobi let out a sigh and reached for his pipe. Taking a few puffs of his pipe to relax himself, Sarutobi turned to look at the photo of Minato Namikaze that was hanging in his office. Looking at the photo like it was an old friend Sarutobi said, "You would be proud of your son Minato. Naruto has grown up into a wonderful young boy even if he has had to face a great deal of hostility from the more obstinate people of the village. I can only hope that you can forgive me for not being able to make the people of this village see more clearly what a wonderful son you have. However, where I have failed I do believe that Naruto will himself one day succeed. I hope that Chouza allows Naruto and his team to enter the exams next month as I am sure they are all ready to become Chunin. If all goes well in two months time I will finally be able to reveal to Naruto and the majority of the village that he is your son."