DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything from the Naruto universe.

Thinking (+ flashbacks, Naruto speaking to Kurama in her mindscape, etc.)

Emphasis

Bijuu, etc. speaking

Bijuu, etc. thinking, etc.

"Wonderful," the client cried after being introduced to the team he'd hired. "You have a mascot!"

Naru closed her eyes, reminding herself to be a good soldier. She plastered a smile behind her Kitsune mask - a little too on point, in her opinion - and allowed her commanding officer to address the guy who was already begging for a beating.

"Fox is not a mascot," Rhino said in his deep, gravelly voice. "She may be young, but Fox is indeed a kunoichi."

"Interesting," the man replied excitedly, not apologizing for calling her a mascot at all. "Still! This is wonderful," he repeated. "My son is traveling with me and I'm sure they'll enjoy each other's company! They can play together!"

Naru accidentally let out a whimper but stood up even straighter at the quick, reprimanding glance her squad leader gave her while remaining at parade rest.

"The mission you've hired us for is to escort you to Suna," Rhino reminded the Daimyo's son. He hated missions like this. They were slow and would normally be boring, but much was at stake here. His team couldn't allow the Daimyo's family to be hurt, and he'd been assigned a chibi-soldier to take along for the ride. "We will meet at the West Gate in two hours."

"Wonderful!"

Each member of the team figured they'd be hearing that word way too often over the next few weeks.

Naru gaped at the amount of crap the client was taking with him. He had a whole entourage that they would need to protect! It was a little overwhelming. She thought of the stories that her family had often told her, of the monsters and weirdos they'd had to defeat in the field, feeling more and more anxious as more and more carts and stuff showed up at the gate.

"Fox, it's a drag, but I need you to put on a henge. At least one to cover your hair."

Naruto nodded, not quite understanding why, but wouldn't question it. She trusted Rhino as much as she trusted anyone in ANBU. He was nice but stingy and didn't like to gamble or spar with her, but she'd seen him training with some of the others. He was super good! And old! But not too old…

"No. Not red," Rhino said with a heavy sigh. Naru dutifully changed her color again to make it black. "Much better."

"Hello," a boy about a head taller than her said shyly. Naruto nodded at him then looked up at Rhino for direction.

"Troublesome," he sighed to himself. "At ease. You may speak with him," he said before bending down to whisper in her ear. "No cursing: that's an order." He'd heard this kid's mouth before and was the one to buy Hatake a swear jar. "Be polite and on your best behavior."

"Hai," she chirped before smiling at the boy from behind her mask. "Hello."

"You made your hair black. And it was red before that! I saw it!"

"I did," Naruto agreed, wondering what civilian life was like. Civilians were so silly - or mean, sometimes.

"You did it with your hands."

"And my chakra. You have chakra, too, ya know. Just a little, but it's there. It's… kinda hard to make out, actually," she pouted in frustration.

"Really? I'm Lee, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Lee. I'm… Fox."

"I like your mask," he said, tilting his head. "Is it supposed to be a fox, too?"

"Yeah," Naru said before scratching at her now black buns. "It needs rabbit ears and a really big nose to look like a real fox, but it's close enough I guess." She ignored Kurama's sleepy grumbling about her description of him.

"I like the orange whiskers. Orange is one of my favorite colors!"

"Wow! You're smart! That means we're going to be great friends," Naru laughed. "I have to work though, okay? And I painted the foxy whiskers on just before we left!"

"Nice! What's it like to be a ninja?" he asked curiously.

Naruto would not know for many years just how much she influenced the boy's choices in life as she continued chatting with him until he was too tired to walk anymore.

"Now that the little prince has gone to bed, I need to debrief you on what I've observed," Ensui sighed behind his Rhino mask.

"Can I summon a dog for him to play with?" Naru asked. "I think he got tired but was trying to keep up with me or somethin'. He kept talkin' about challenging me and… you know." She was a ninja and he was just a kid. A nice kid, though.

"No summoning," Rhino ordered. "We've all heard about your adventures in summoning and just no. Troublesome," he then grumbled to himself before sighing deeply. "Here's what I've noticed, brat. You're doing a fine job keeping your senses alert. Distracting Prince Lee with rubber bands for finger exercises was a good idea." Looking down at her big blue eyes, he realized that she hadn't intended to distract the boy at all since she clearly looked puzzled. What a drag. "Teaching him hand seals was a little over the top."

"But how else would I show him how to go through the exercise?" Naru asked innocently. "I didn't show him how to do jutsus or anything: just the seals."

"Did you pick up that exercise from Tsunade-hime or your father?" Those difficult exercises were commonly taught to clan children, and little Naru pulled them off quickly and flawlessly. It figured, but neither his clan's heir nor his other lazy nephew could pull them off like that, and that boy was ten!

And Naru had been locked up…

"Neither," the girl replied, bitterness evident in her tone. The snake made me do it until my hands bled. With tighter and tighter bands and…" The little girl wiped away angry tears under her mask before they appeared and tried to smile up at her squad leader. The only good thing about those exercises was that they made her chill out, plus her daddy always was proud of her and liked to mix them up. "What?"

"Nothing," Ensui said before patting her head, concerned about the girl and this mission. Her first mission, in ANBU of all places. "Modified diamond formation; you're in the fourth position. We'll talk more later. I'll be in the front, Eel will be behind you. Stay alert." The little fox nodded and ran back to her position, making him feel only slightly better. Ensui knew the kid was talented but wondered just how much he'd have to instruct her.

So far, so good. Hizashi was on loan and backing her up, in the rear position as always, so he figured they'd be okay until the Hyuuga approached him.

"We've got company. An Uchiha," Hizashi said in a low voice: he'd know that Fire nature and tenketsu structure anywhere. "He's attempting to stay out of my range, but I've caught sight of him on two occasions."

"Following us?" Ensui asked for confirmation. Hizashi nodded. "Troublesome. Keep an eye on it, Eel."

"Naturally.'

After two scary bandit attacks, Prince Lee didn't come out of his carriage much anymore. Naru felt kinda bad that she hadn't taken part in the fighting, but she had been ordered to protect the princes, and now Rhino was proud of her for "using her head" and making clones to surround the rest of the convoy, too. Four of the clones had put up a barrier around the civilians, although it wasn't a particularly good one, she thought. Nothing, so far, had been lost or stolen, so things were successful as they SLOWLY approached the Land of Wind.

The air was getting drier and Naruto found it terribly uncomfortable.

The warmer temperature was also causing Big Prince Wonderful to complain more and more. And he said he'd been to "the wonderful Suna" before this! She got that this guy was supposed to be royalty, but Naru had little respect for it although she'd kept her mouth shut. Just like Hokages, Daimyos weren't voted in and she thought that unfair. BPW had mentioned that one day, HE'D be the next Daimyo, but the guy was a total goofball.

She could say that with authority since she was widely known as a goofball, too!

It made her wonder what his Daimyo father was like. Was he like him, saying "wonderful" all the time?

She'd never use that word again if she was lucky. And how could one govern if they were so silly?

When they finally got to Suna, Naruto almost flipped at learning that they'd have to stay there until BPW was finished with his business. She was a shinobi, though, so she only pulled out a few handfuls of hair instead.

"Naruto. My brother is nearby. He is… the world's greatest moron."

"Okay," the little blonde drawled out loud, wondering which of Kurama's brothers it was: he had called almost all of them names at one point or another, although he rarely spoke of them. She looked up, rubbing the back of her head in slight embarrassment for speaking out loud as Eel looked down on her with his pale lavender eyes, somehow giving her an unimpressed look even through his mask. Normally he looked at her warmly: don't ask her how she knows!

"What do we do now?"

"We wait," Eel said. "Taicho knows that you are small and need your rest." Hizashi ignored the girl's sigh and probable pout that was thankfully hidden behind her mask. She was so much like her mother who had been one of his teammates and close friends. "The prince should be finished with his business with the Kazekage in 2 - 3 days. Then we'll escort him back to the Capital."

"Right," Naruto said, trying not to sigh loudly and failing. It's not like she expected the Kazekage to be as warm and fun as her Jiji, but the Kazekage, Rasa-sama, seemed like a jerk. When they'd escorted BPW to him, the Kazekage had stared at her for far too long! Granted, she knew that she was short and stuff, which was awful, but he didn't need to keep looking at her like THAT.

As they walked together toward the hotel they'd be staying at, she saw a playground that was abandoned, save for a small boy and a Suna shinobi. Seeing that the boy had red hair and that Kurama was grumbling in her head, she thought he might be an Uzumaki. Kurama hated the Uzumakis, although they were well down his hit list.

Kurama's big list:

1. Madara.
2. Orochimaru.
3. Kabuto.
4. All Uchihas - which, aside from Madara, was pretty silly. The Uchihas were alright; not that she would say that to him anymore! She also thought that it might be her affection for certain members of the clan which made her put the Uchihas as low on his list as she had. Kurama REALLY hated the Uchihas.
5. Her papa, the Yondaime, should he ever rise from the dead again.
6. Uzumaki Mito, should she ever rise from the dead again.
7. Her mother, should she ever come back - which would be wonderful, even though she had been pretty crazy when she met her in her seal a long time ago.
8. Two guys in Kumo whom he wanted to resurrect and rip to shreds.
9. Hashirama Senju. He also really hated that Hashi-kun had been named after him and thus didn't like him too much either. Hashi-kun was not yet on his shit list, however. With Kurama, it was always WHEN someone would make the list and not IF.
10. The Uzumakis, just because they could seal. She was often included in the shit list along with the rest of her clan.

His list went on and on, basically covering all humanity with occasional special emphasis on the Hyuugas and even her dad, just because they had special eyeballs or something. Yes, she knew exactly what the Sharingan and Byakugan were, but she didn't get why Kurama thought they should all be ripped out of their heads.

She'd told him time and time again that he was being a dumbass about it, and he always reminded her that she was a kit and understood nothing yet. Grumpy bastard.

"I shall guard you while you shower and sleep until the others arrive," Eel said, making the girl toss her mask into the bed cattily.

Naruto turned to him and nearly closed her eyes, smiling like her daddy did when he was threatening people. "Maa, maa! I don't need you perving on me, ya know!"

Hizashi closed his eyes, struggling for composure. Naruto was too young to say things like that! He couldn't imagine what he would do if his own son or niece said something similar. He found that he didn't know quite WHAT to say. "I will not be… perving on you," he sneered, feeling like he was sucking a particularly sour lemon.

"Do not say such lewd things," he eventually scolded as the girl unpacked while rubbing his temples. "Go get cleaned up NOW. If there is time, I may even take you to the playground after you sleep for at least eight hours."

"Why would we go there?" Naruto asked, very puzzled.

Well, didn't that break Hizashi's heart? With a softer voice, he responded before taking his mask off. "My son and niece often particularly enjoy the swings."

"Hinata?"

"That's right," Hizashi said with a kind smile. He loved his niece very much, and would forever be grateful that Naruto had saved her from those kidnappers. "My twin brother is Hinata-sama's father, and Neji is my son."

Naruto sucked in a deep breath. "What's it like, having a twin?" Naruto asked eagerly, holding her hands to her heart.

"Perhaps I will tell you about our adventures as a bedtime story if you properly shower and brush your teeth."

"Okay," she chirped, before turning around and looking at him, harsh in her judgment. "It's daytime, ya know."

"A shinobi's hours are not a civilian's, Naru-hime," he reminded her, making him melancholy. His son was desperate to become a shinobi while his niece longed to learn iryo-ninjutsu, but they were just so YOUNG. "Go clean up."

"Hai!"

Guarding was boring and troublesome, just like Rhino always said.

The Kazekage still looked at her in a weird way, and worse, his daughter the princess took one look at her and started whining and demanding that she be made a Genin. Temari-hime was older and tall but still a kid. From their arguments, she learned that the princess was still in the Academy and that the Kazekage wanted her to be in a team with her brothers.

That led to a loud argument about an unknown brother, and finally, the Leaf ANBU were excused, as BPW wanted to give the father and daughter time alone.

Smart on Big Prince Wonderful's behalf, but to Naruto, the Kazekage's idea about putting siblings on a team together seemed stupid. What if they were killed together on a mission? Wouldn't Rasa-sama be sad? He seemed to like his daughter, at least. Either that or he was slowly poisoning her with the candy he kept bribing her with…

"There's a nearby playground that I saw," BPW said while scratching his cheek and smiling down at her.

She truly didn't get what the big deal was about playgrounds. Her old friend, Shikamaru, had been right about it being better just to watch the clouds, but the kids were always noisy there.

"I believe I'll bring my son there. Would you be good enough to guard him?"

"I'm good enough!"

"That's not what he means, Fox," Rhino said, sighing like an old man. "Please forgive Fox," he said to the prince. "Although her skills are sharp, she occasionally misses context."

Naruto didn't miss what he mumbled after that: "Or she does so on purpose." She had to hold back her snickers. He was right!

Once on the playground, Lee wanted to swing, although Naruto looked at the things suspiciously. The red-haired boy and the Suna Jonin were there again, and Naruto was concerned about how she could guard the princes properly and not possibly screw up. It made her stomach hurt: screwing up her mission could embarrass her family! Deciding to make clones to surround the perimeter, a high-pitched screech nearly made most of them pop!

"Kurama, you dipshit! What are you doing here?"

Naruto's head snapped to where the Suna boy was sitting. He looked paralyzed with fear.

"M- Mother?"

Naruto looked around for the boy's mother, but she was the only female there. The Suna Jonin was now the one looking fearful: it was coming off of him in waves, but Kurama was laughing loudly, although his laughter sounded mad and forced.

"Bah! 'Mother?' You made your jinchuuriki think you're his mother? …You pathetic genderbending fuck!"

Naruto went stiff, her mission temporarily forgotten until sand began to swirl around, not following the weather pattern at all. She quickly looked toward the boy who was now being held in Rhino's shadow possession as he started to cry.

She ran toward him, even though the sand was getting wilder. "Hey, it's okay! It's just a jutsu: don't cry!"

"Oh for fuck's sake, Naruto!"

"Why are you talking to your jinchuuriki?" the high-pitched voice asked/screeched. "Where's your hatred?! What's happened to you, FOX?" it asked derisively, making Naruto feel a bit defensive. "Cat got your tongue?"

"Don't bring our sister into this you turd!" Kurama was almost embarrassed that he used some of Naruto's childish language - he'd really been hanging out with her far too much - although the word "turd" was very descriptive of his human excrement-like youngest sibling. "You've gone too far with that boy!"

If there was one thing Kurama couldn't stand - ESPECIALLY after being locked up with that snake - it was cruelty to kits.

The screechy voice in Naruto's head began laughing maniacally. She tried to get closer to the boy through the sand, but now Rhino had her in his jutsu, too.

"FOX," Rhino yelled over the building sandstorm, realizing that this red-haired kid is the one he'd heard about. "I'll release you, and you are ordered to retreat!" He did and Naruto couldn't stop herself.

The crazy guy - Kurama's moron-brother, she surmised - was in the boy's head and being mean! Channeling just a little of Kurama's chakra, she reached through the sand and smiled sadly at him, even as she got cut up. "I'll try to come back and we can maybe swing later?"

The sand died down, and Naruto jumped back to Rhino, who was there with the rest of her team, guarding the princes. Prince Lee was shaking but standing bravely in front of his father with his arms out. BPW had clutched his son against him tightly and looked terrified.

Prince Lee and MUCH less of his big party hurried to leave immediately.

Sadly, Naruto didn't get to stay to swing with the kid that was like her.

"I believe she may be like Gaara," Kazekage-sama," Yashamaru reported uneasily. "Either that or she has a Kekkei-Genkai that I have otherwise not heard of."

Rasa sat back in his chair, crossing his arms as he considered that. What Yashamaru reported - a golden arm stretching through the sand to reach his youngest… No, to reach out so bravely to their jinchuuriki sounded similar to what the Uzumaki could produce with their chains. Yashamaru couldn't see clearly enough through Shukaku's sand to confirm his ideas, but a realization hit the Kazekage hard. He began chuckling, despite himself.

"I bet she is an Uzumaki or half," he said, shaking his head. "Did you see her eyes, Yashamaru?" he asked, thinking of the small Konoha nin that had made ANBU at such a young age. "What do you bet that she's small for her age?"

Yashamaru didn't understand. "As is Gaara," he said uneasily, hating that his little nephew was often all but abandoned when he was out on missions.

"Yes, yes, indeed," the Kazekage mumbled to himself, rubbing his hands together with the more he thought about it. Sitting back in his chair, he gave his brother-in-law a smile that, for the younger man, meant nothing but trouble. "Powerful, regardless."

"Regardless of what, Kazekage-sama?"

"Think about it, Yashamaru," he said, then scoffed. "A fox mask? Konoha is practically rubbing it in our face," he said spitefully. Talking more to himself than anyone, more and more, he thought he was right. "Orange whiskers would make sense if she's the child of the Flash and Habanero." Yashamaru gasped, realizing what his leader meant by the girl's unique eye color. "A jinchuuriki AND an Uzumaki… Rubbing it in our face."

Yashamaru didn't like where this was going. Suna had fallen on hard times, but things were looking up, weren't they?

"It's decided. Find some cannon-fodder: GOOD cannon-fodder, Yashamaru. The Konoha team is not that impressive, and she's still a child. …She can be of use to us, either way."

.

Yashamaru would've tried to talk his leader out of the plan that slowly unfolded. It was too risky and what if Konoha wouldn't pay? What if there was war?! And who was he willing to send to die this time in Rasa's name?

Kami! He missed his sweet sister. She was the one who kept Rasa in check; the only one who could do so!

"Can we really afford to lose more shinobi?" he finally asked.

"HA! Once again you prove why you'd be no good in the game of politics," Rasa said with a bright smug grin. "Only you would fail to notice that we've recently gained a benefactor. …And I think he'll be pleased."