NOTE: I do NOT own Naruto or any of its characters. I ONLY own the plot to this story.
About a month passed since Naruto and Kyuubi spoke for the first time, and Kakashi had just enrolled his team in the Chunin exam. His team of genin had been training hard and nearly all day and sometimes at night. He knew they were ready.
"Naru-chan, please focus and stop playing with that silly fox!" Sakura scolded them.
Said fox, hissed and swiped at the pinkette, but Narumi just picked up the chibi sized fox. It jumped into the hood of their sweater. "Why does she hate me?"
Narumi just chuckled, "Sorry Sakura-chan. Kura-chan gets cuddly sometimes. What are we going to be practicing now?"
Kurama bristled at the Chan part. "Oi! I am not a cute woman or little kit!"
The group just laughed, before deciding to call it a day. Narumi went over to Sasuke. "I'm gonna head back first, still want to meet up with the group around lunch?"
The ravenette just nodded, and then Narumi was running across the roofs as fast as they could go. Once they reach their apartment, Kurama changed to the fifteen year old male, while Naruto disabled the seal.
Kurama brought tea out for them, while Naruto just sat at the table. "What's bothering you Naru-chan?"
"Why must you call me that?" The blonde huffed indignantly.
"Because you are adorable, and very sweet. Now tell me what's bothering you. Is it something from that mission to the wave still?"
Naruto shook their head. "No, i've already dealt with that. And it's nothing."
"When are you going to drop the seal?"
"Oh not you too. Why can't you all see that this is the only way, at least until I make Jounin!" The blonde shouted.
Kurama growled at them, "Why do you absolutely need Narumi? You could simply go as yourself. No one would probably notice the difference!"
"Because everyone loves her!" Naruto cried.
Those four words halted any response the fox had ready. What did they mean everyone loved Narumi? Everything about Narumi was based off of Naruto's real self, and the only difference was the body style. "I suppose i don't understand your meaning."
"Everyone loves the Female Naruto aka Narumi. Even though she looks just like me, everyone loves her! I need her to survive. Without Narumi i'll be hated again. I don't want to be hated anymore."
Kurama sighed, before pulling the sulky teen into his lap. "I love you Naruto. As do Iruka-san, Sarutobi-sama, Jiraiya-sannin and all of the people who know the real you. What does it matter if the normal human village doesn't love you? You have so many people that do."
"Kura-"
"Narumi-chan! Let's go shopping! Sasuke is-" Sakura suddenly shrieked when she noticed the two boys sitting together in her friends apartment.
"Shit!" Naruto cursed, before pushing away from Kurama. "Sakura-chan, please calm down, I'll explain everything."
Said Kunoichi sat across from the boys. Noticing that the Redhead wanted the blondes attention. "Alright, i'm calm. Where is Narumi?"
"You have to keep everything i say a secret alright?"
Sakura nodded. "I promise."
"I am Narumi or rather, Narumi is me." Naruto chuckled. "My name is Naruto, my father was the Yondaime Hokage. He sealed Kurama here into me. I've been Narumi since i was six."
The female ninja just stared at them. "I know this is said a lot, but can i have some proof?"
Naruto nodded and flared their Chakra, activating the seal. Both people watched as Naruto morphed into Narumi again. "Ne Sakura-chan, did you still wanna go shopping?!"
Kurama cackled at the females shocked face as Naruto morphed back. "She looks so much like you."
They noticed the teen was rubbing her temples. "Okay, so-HEY!- your that little boy that helped me that one day! Oh man, I looked for you forever, but never saw you again."
The blonde chuckled sheepishly. "Yeah, that's because the next day, I became Narumi."
"Why do you morph into her?"
"Oh, well. The villagers don't like me very much, or rather, at all. So to survive i became Narumi. Though at this stage, I'd say that I'm pretty Genderfluid, much like Haku."
Sakura nodded, before looking them over. "Your really cute you know. Why don't you just go out like this? No one would mind. We all love you."
The genin just shuddered. "I haven't stepped out of my apartment like this in seven years. Besides not everyone would be open to it, and I want to be able to feel the sun on my face without living in fear."
"Alright, then I'll keep your secret Naruto. Guess your little nickname suits you very well, Naru~chan."
Said blonde just blushed while their two house guests just chuckled at their embarrassment. The team had become a lot stronger thanks to Kyuubi's input and soon they'd all be Chunin.
Kurama interrupted them. "So when does the Chunin exam begin?"
"Day after tomorrow i think. By the way Naruto, what's your type?" Sakura asked nonchalantly.
Naruto started choking on their tea, when they'd heard the question. Kurama was just staring at the blonde genin in thought. "Jeez Sakura, couldn't you have been a little more tactful with that question? You nearly killed me!"
"Quit being a baby, and answer the question! I can help you find a good boyfriend and vice versa."
Kurama seemed to bristle at this, though Naruto and no one else knew this but he fully intended to make the Blonde his mate when Naruto was a few years older. His body was already taking on certain features, meaning he'd have a heat eventually. That's when they would mate and bond with each other. Now this pink haired interloper was question his intended! But at the same time he wanted to know if Naruto liked anyone, purely for knowledge's sake, not that he wanted to hunt the other boys down and warn them off. But of course, who knew if that would work, it could just upset Naruto.
"I have no idea what your talking about Sakura-chan! I've never really looked at guys that way before, i mean i know i like them, but it's not like i check them out. I can't exactly fall in love with just anyone, because of Narumi. What am i supposed to do? Pretend to be her for the rest of my life, no thanks!" The blonde bristled.
"That's not what i meant Naruto! But you should be able to have a relationship just like everyone else." She chirped, sipping her tea.
The blonde sighed, they knew that their friend was correct. But even if they were to like someone, how would Naruto go about asking them out. They didn't really want to reveal themselves to a potential crush, but how else were they supposed to have a relationship with someone? Although Sakura had suggested her help, how was she going to be able to help them? Sipping their tea, Naruto just hummed.
"Alright Sakura, what do you suggest?" The blonde smiled, though they was oblivious to the bristling fox beside him.