DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Naruto universe but I do have an imagination of my own.

Thinking (or flashbacks, etc.)

Emphasis

Biju, etc. speaking

Biju, etc. thinking

"...You make me sick!"

"Honestly, sometimes I wonder why I even try," Ru said as she slouched down more comfortably in front of the Kyuubi's cage in her mindscape, which just seemed to tick the bijuu off even more. "But I'm still going to try to work with you. I'm sorry that you don't like me hanging around the Uchihas, but..."

"DON'T speak of that detestable clan in front of me! And why would I care about who you cavort with, Uzumaki? How can you even stand their smell?!"

Ru choked out a chuckle at that. "You were the one freaking out about the… that family! But," she laughed again but tried to cover it up. "I have to say that when you mentioned their smell it was just so funny." For a while, Ru sat and wondered whether or not her enhanced senses compared to Rachel's were simply due to chakra, or if the Kyuubi had something to do with it.

"The - uhh - people in that clan do have an ash smell, huh? Not like a cigarette or anything; it's more like a campfire... Ash and peppermint for Itachi," Naru began counting on her fingers as she continued, "Shisui's got an ash and musky, earthy smell - along with chocolate, of course. Mikoto-oba wears perfume over it, but I think she smells like ash and lilies or something - I'm not especially familiar with flowers, ya know, and Sasuke smells like ash and well - ash. Maybe a hint of ozone? Like global warming on a good day crossed with seventies people, then add a touch of hairspray? Hmm... I haven't used hairspray in this life, so I'm probably totally off there. Oh," she snapped her fingers and smiled broadly as the right pairing to describe Sasuke's smell hit her. "A storm! Just a little bit." The blonde flushed at seeing the look of disbelief etched on the Kyuubi's face. She had been rambling again. "Part of a storm. Yeesh. Tough crowd," she muttered out loud.

She was back in her flat by herself so it didn't matter.

"The 'ash smell' you stupidly mentioned was not what I meant. Just go away," he said without heat.

It almost sounded like he whined the last word, but Ru would never tell him that.

When she didn't leave - and of course she didn't - the great Kyuubi decided to ask a question that might benefit him later. "Why are you still in this rathole you call a flat? You know who your loathsome parents are," (he didn't appreciate at all the way she gently laughed at that,) "so why aren't you in the Uzumaki compound?"

Ru hummed and thought it over. "First off, I didn't ask the jerk Hokage or Lady Ichika (she ignored the way the Kyuubi gagged at hearing the elderly woman's name: he could be so immature sometimes,) if I COULD stay there, and... Oh, I don't know. It would be too weird to live in a house that my dead-since-my-birth parents lived in. I mean, Naruto's room had a never-used crib in it."

"Tch. You're still thinking of yourself as Rachel, the promiscuous, continent-hopping hard-ass who could barely deal with the grief over her young adulthood. Understand this now and remember it well: you are now Nar-Ewe-Toh. End of story. Just because that Shinigami asshole forgot to wipe your memories, doesn't mean that you aren't Uzumaki Naruto."

"Hey! I get that I'm 'Naruto' now," she said using finger quotes around the name but looked away when one of the Kyuubi's eyebrows went up, saying without words that she was proving his point. "And I was neither promiscuous nor a hard ass! And screw you about my 'young adulthood.' You're one to talk, or not talk, rather!" She glared at the fox who just glared right back at her. "And should you really be calling the Shinigami an asshole - if he really exists I mean?" She winced and held her ass in place as the Kyuubi roared at her; it was deafening and really uncalled for. "What was that for?!"

"Your father stole my Yin half and gave it to that god! Do not doubt his existence! You have been touched by the Shinigami. Your entire clan... is disgusting and better off dead. Go away."

"Wait. How would that even work?! And seriously, half of you is gone?!" Seeing the Kyuubi's humorless stare, she sat back and bumped the back of her head into the wall opposite his cage. "But you're so big!"

"I was twice my current size," he said simply.

"Jesus! You were huge!" She stared in disbelief at him for a minute before giving up as she tried to imagine him even bigger. He really was serious. And she knew that some Japanese and people here considered the Shinigami to be a god: one of many. "Hey, speaking of Jesus, do tailed beasts have a religion?"

The end of a tail flicked through his cage, thereby flicking her out of her mindscape and back into her living room, as well, where she was sitting on her throne. She called it a throne because it was certainly more than a chair - and was the single nice piece of furniture: one that she had "borrowed" from the Pleasure Bar next door. As she always did, Ru considered what the Kyuubi had said as she prepared for bed. Maybe she should consider asking if she could move into her family's compound. There was less and less hot water here daily, it seemed. Plus it would take her less time to get to the Uchiha compound from there.

The Kyuubi's face had looked almost shocked when she asked about religion. Maybe she'd bring that up again the next time she paid him a visit. She checked her traps and set her alarm clock for 0700.

"Hokage-sama, Uchiha Shisui and Uzumaki Naruto reporting for a D-ranked mission."

Ru refused to look up at the Hokage and pretended to study the many shinobi surrounding her, all lined up at different desks. She ignored a few glares sent her way and simply wondered how things were categorized by desk since she already knew how missions were assigned.

Hearing an old throat being cleared along with, "...good luck, Genin Uzumaki," she looked up and away quickly as she bowed to the Hokage.

...Whom she didn't like very much.

"What are we doing?" Ru asked her shishou. She was in regular kunoichi clothes today: tiny ones, but still. Her three-quarter kimono-sleeved battle dress was navy blue with white accents, and she paired it with black shinobi sandals. She left her hair down today, but she had ponytail holders on one of her wrists in case she needed them. She had black weapons pouches on her right thigh and against her rear on the left, and the dress had a bright orange obi that she could keep scrolls in. The clothes had shown up in a box outside her doorstep a few days ago, and she really wondered who they were from. She'd like to thank them.

Naru knew who that bright green dress was from, that's for sure... She almost felt faint when she opened that green box this morning. She supposed that she'd have to wear it if only in appreciation of Gai thinking of her.

"You weren't listening at all. What kind of student are you?" Shisui asked and offered a head pat followed by a finger flick.

"I'm sorry."

"Well, this morning we're after a missing being of sorts. A missing cat, to be exact."

Ru felt a shiver go down her spine. She'd heard the Tora mission referenced repeatedly when she lived with her ANBU. She - well, Rachel had cats for most of her life. Dogs, too, but she loved cats just as much. Was this Tora really that bad?! And how could it have lived since the Shodai was a boy?

45 minutes later, Ru didn't understand whether or not this was the right cat. It had a bow on like she was supposed to, but once she and her shadow clones surrounded it and put down a can of cat food, the pretty kitty purred as it ate, then continued purring as she came to her. The real her! "What a smart kitty! Oh, you are such a shmart, shmart kitty, Towa-chan!" She rubbed the cat's nose and it nuzzled her, continuing to kiss and baby-talk the big smart kitty cat.

Ru never noticed the complete quiet that followed her into the missions room, nor the stares of disbelief she got. They took another mission which was more difficult but still fun. The Inuzuka Clan Head was a hoot and let her and Shisui play with puppies after Ru walked their dogs. They were unbelievably well-behaved. And she and Shisui got cookies and milk afterward!

"You are such a brat," Shisui said as he walked toward the Uchiha compound. Ru pouted at him and he snickered under his hand. "Being a shishou is so awesome," he stretched and yawned loudly before continuing. "I have to find some way to haze you, though."

"Haze me?!" Naru asked in horror. Shisui just nodded his head and winked at her. "Seriously?! Like, make me run naked, getting spanked while eating poo or something? That's just fucked up and I refuse!" Naru began to run but he caught her before she could even get started.

"WHAAAAA? Where did you even get... Watch your language, hime!" Shisui nearly screamed. "It was a joke! I just have to find a mission you don't like so much is all I was thinking. Weird girl! And I'm telling Aunt Mikoto what you just said. And no more sweets for you!"

"No! Please!"

Ru had just entered the Mikoto-oba's home when she was mowed down in their foyer. "Na-ru-to!" She was on the ground and someone was weeping over her - someone with purple hair, and another person that she recognized with purple hair.

"Moon-san? Anko-nee-chan?" The little blonde was hugged tightly and passed back and forth between the women. "I can't believe it, 'ttebayo. I - I didn't think I'd ever see you again," she sniffed.

Anko let out a loud "HA!" before grabbing Ru so that Mikoto couldn't get her. The Uchiha Matriarch looked put out from not receiving hugs. Too bad, Anko thought as she ruffled the girl's shaggy blonde hair. She needed to trim it again. "Naruto, this is Yugao-chan. And yes, Yugao is who you think she is," she whispered conspiratorily as she kneeled down beside the girl, "but you know our covers have to be maintained." She laughed as the girl formally introduced herself to the other woman who had been taking care of her since she was an infant. Yugao bowed right back to the girl then took her hand and led her into the formal dining room.

"Oooooooo," Naru exclaimed in a whisper as she looked at what she supposed was at least part of the setup for a formal tea ceremony. Mikoto gave her a hug and asked her to go change her clothes again. She and the other women squealed at seeing Naru's new kimono. It was purple with sakura blossoms on it. There were some red flowers, too, but Ru didn't know what they were. She also had no idea of how or in what order to put on most of the other clothes and things that were in the kimono box, so she was sent back upstairs with Uchiha-sensei and Yugao-san, who would teach her how to put herself together.

It was harder than her two missions earlier that day, combined.

Then there was the tea ceremony itself. It was just so FOREIGN to everything Naru - er, Rachel - had ever known. She thought it would be like what they did at some of the restaurants or tea joints in Okinawa or Osaka that Rachel had the chance to visit, but it was much more formal and precise. It was weird but nice, and Naru couldn't figure out how it would fit into her job. She appreciated all the effort going into teaching her, however, and committed to learning this by heart.

She'd need more help with that kimono and the stuff under it, though, not to mention the fancy, much more elaborate obi which seemed impossible to tie correctly. And the geta sandals straight out sucked.

And those socks? Who thought of that?! Whelp, when it's cold outside, they'll help I guess. What a drag.

She had two shadow clones watch as the women fretted over her unmanageable and long head of hair until they successfully finagled it up and into something very similar to theirs. Mikoto put eyeliner and a bit of lip gloss on her, and Ru would admit that she looked pretty.

Damn, Naruto would be a knockout someday if she lived long enough! Shit. Maybe the Kyuubi's right about me not believing I'm him er-her... Me! Whatever: too bad they don't have true psychologists in this world. I could use one. And what use is being pretty when you have an identity crisis a mile wide?

...Maybe I should take a break from visiting the Kyuubi so often. It was easier to simply not think about it.

Mikoto and Anko explained how the tea ceremony had evolved over the centuries, and how it sometimes incorporated touches from abroad. Yugao brought up what she said were important principles of Wabi-Sabi, something Rachel had only heard of in passing. "Wabi" mainly concerned the inner spiritual side of anyone's life, (in Ru's understanding.) Important aspects of the Wabi thing included being quiet and refined and learning to behave in a way that was characterized by humility and restraint. That made Ru want to laugh because Anko was supposedly an expert at the tea ceremony thing, yet those were the last words she would ever use to describe the snake summoner!

Maybe Anko was more into simplistic things or the important "beauty that time and caring for something imparts?" That was hard to imagine considering what her nee-chan normally chose to wear, though.

"Sabi" represented the outer, or material side of life. Sabi had something to do with a void or desolation that would bring about a "spiritual awakening." That sounded more to Ru like the Wabi spiritual concept, but what did she know? Naru could only try to keep up with the intense conversation that the three women were having. She understood the words and concepts they were debating, but they were really foreign to her way of thinking. Not as foreign as breathing fire and walking up walls, but still... She could definitely understand the idea of embracing imperfection, and it was nice to think that doing so could be the first step to enlightenment. Supposedly...

Rachel had lived an entire life being more and more aware of her faults and imperfections, and what did she achieve? She desperately tried to hide her fears and insecurities, had been divorced from an abusive loser, and was somewhat estranged from her family and completely from her old friends. She got blown up out of an airplane, and...

"Naru-chan! Are you alright?" Mikoto asked in alarm.

Ru realized that tears were sliding down her face and didn't know what had come over her. It wasn't like her to be so negative. Or was it?

"Yeah! Sorry, sorry," the little blonde began before being given a fancy little hanky so that she wouldn't wipe her eyes on her new kimono sleeves. Anko reminded her that she had eye makeup on and Yugao asked her to dab at her tears rather than wipe them away. Those were things she should have known, having been an adult before, but once again she was reminded that she was truly a child again. She tried to laugh before saying "I'm just embracing my imperfection, 'ttebayo! Ugh! That verbal tick is haunting me!" Ru pouted and nearly growled. "That's definitely an imperfection."

The women quietly laughed, but Mikoto still looked concerned. Naru watched as the three women moved through motions that were so graceful, always explaining what they were doing and why - and sometimes other options for the traditional tea and matcha. Ru wasn't sure that she could ever be like them, but she'd try.

Lady Ichika arrived unexpectedly but as if she owned the manor anyway, loud as ever, and said that they were doing everything wrong. By the end of the day, Naru had no idea what a tea ceremony was really supposed to be like. Ichika said that she was "too tired, old, and lazy" to put on her version of the ceremony, but would instruct Mikoto-oba in a week or so. The Uchiha matriarch agreed but looked highly put out.

Anko was really excited about it, though. Naru was too, especially when she learned that a full-sized gong would be necessary. That tea ceremony sounded fun! A sudden realization hit her.

"Ne, Mikoto-oba, you said that sometimes customs from abroad can be incorporated into the tea ceremony?"

"That's right, Naru-chan!"

"Well, what other continents are there, aside from the Elemental Nations?" Ru asked, hope blooming in her chest. The only place that she'd ever heard or read about were the countries in the continent she currently lived in.

"Aa. That's information classified to Jonin or maybe ANBU, Naru-chan," Anko said, winking at Yugao.

Ru's eyes widened. Maybe she could find her family. She wouldn't be Rachel to them, but she could still check on them to see if they were okay after Rachel's death, and perhaps someday... It was almost mind-blowing to believe it could be possible! She could also escape the glares of the villagers and all the hate directed toward her here in Konoha.

"How does one, exactly, become a Jonin?" she asked, terribly serious.

Rachel/Naruto left for home that day, henged again, but with a new goal in mind. She would become a Jonin and travel back to Texas one way or another.

A/N: I hate this chapter. Sorry about that. I did want to put some things out there to further the story and needed a transition. Hopefully, this will suffice, and y'all will stick with me as the story progresses.

Stay safe and well out there!