Disclaimer: I once had a dream …. That Naruto was all mine ….. then I woke up ….

Unwanted Changes

By NeOhOOnS

Chapter 3: The Solution

Naruto's goal in life was to gain acknowledgement from his friends and the village. He spent the majority of his childhood playing pranks and trying to get people's attention. What was ironic about the situation he was in, was that presently he was completely in the center of attention, and he just wanted to run away. Therefore when Kiba asked him who he was, the only thing preventing him from running away, was Sakura's vice-like grip on his wrist.

Naruto stuttered, "Eh … I .. um …"

"She's my cousin, Naru!" interrupted Sakura.

Naruto turned his head to Sakura and gave her a weak grin. "Ano … Hi, my name is Naru Haruno,"

Everyone's eyes widened in surprise at what they just heard. Since when did Sakura have such a beautiful cousin and why didn't anyone meet her before?

Naruto looked down and blushed. "Damn it! Why do I blush so much with this body?" he thought vehemently.

Kiba responded, "Hi Naru! I'm Kiba and the little dog on my shoulder is Akamaru. Where are you from? How come we never saw you around before?"

Naruto cursed at the question. "Ah! What am I going to say!" he thought as his heart began to race.

"Sorry Kiba, Naru is a little shy around strangers. Um … She doesn't live in the Hidden Leaf Village. She's actually from Wave Country … hehe," answered Sakura nervously.

"Since when did Forehead Girl have relatives in Wave Country?" questioned Ino.

"Since always, Ino-Pig!" snapped Sakura.

"You girls are so troublesome. Quiet down so I can eat my ramen in peace," muttered Shikamaru annoyed.

As Ino proceeded to beat up Shikamaru, Naruto just sighed and began to eat his pork ramen. Naruto jumped when suddenly Sakura poked him in the ribs.

"Why did you get a large bowl? Girls don't eat large bowls! Now people are going to think my relatives are pigs!" whispered Sakura fiercely.

Naruto just rolled his eyes and continued to eat his ramen. As he slurped up the last noodle, he glanced over at Sakura to see if she was done with her ramen yet. She had actually not even touched her ramen since it came out because she was busy arguing with Ino about something. Ever since the time where Sakura and Ino fought to a draw at the first Chuunin Exam, they agreed to not let their crushes on Sasuke get between them anymore and afterwards became best friends again. Naruto found it funny how although they were best friends they argued and insulted each other non-stop every time they saw each other. "Old habits die hard, I guess," he concluded.

He then looked at the person next to Ino. Shikamaru was the only person present that wasn't still a Genin. Naruto could see that he was still as lazy as ever, as he watched Shikamaru sitting around with a bored expression on his face. Chouji was sitting on the opposite side of Ino, busy stuffing his face with his third bowl of ramen. He was so focused on his food that he was completely oblivious to the argument between the two girls around him. Chouji was probably the only other person in the village that could eat as much ramen as Naruto without getting a stomachache. "Hmm, I should challenge him in a ramen eating contest someday," thought Naruto.

His attention suddenly changed to the person next to Shikamaru when he heard a loud belch followed by a bark and then a painful scream. Kiba had burped into Akamaru's face as a joke after he finished his ramen, and Akamaru, annoyed by Kiba's idea of a joke, bit his ear in response. Kiba immediately yelled in pain and proceeded to chase Akamaru, who had run out of the restaurant immediately after doing his deed. When Kiba left the ramen stand, Ino sighed at her teammate's immaturity. With Rock Lee's injury, and Shikamaru and Shino's promotions to Chuunin, the Genin teams were rearranged to maintain the teams of three. Team 8 was split up and Kiba joined her and Chouji, while Hinata joined TenTen and Neiji.

"Why am I with all the useless ninjas?" sighed Ino.

"Did you say something Ino?" asked Chouji as he proceeded to eat his fourth bowl of ramen.

"Err … nothing … I didn't say anything …" muttered Ino as she sighed again.

When Sakura finally stopped arguing with Ino long enough finish her food, she and Naruto headed towards Tsunade's office. Once they reached their destination, they were stopped by the ninja guards at the entrance.

"What business do you two have here?" asked one of the guards.

"We have some urgent business to discuss with Hokage-sama," explained Sakura.

"Sorry, but we can't let you through. Hokage-sama is very busy due to the upcoming Chuunin exam. She can only be seen by appointment," said the other guard apologetically.

Naruto sighed, "It looks like I'm going to take things into my own hands. Sexy no Jutsu!" As Naruto completed the hand seals, a sudden thought came to his mind, "Ah! I forgot that I'm already a girl!"

A cloud of smoke appeared around Naruto temporarily blocking him view. Once the smoke cleared the two guards immediately passed out from loss of blood. Sakura looked over at Naruto and shook her head in annoyance. Since Naruto was already in his girl form, Sexy no Jutsu had simply made his clothes disappear.

"BAKA! You're a girl right now! Don't go around doing your Sexy no Jutsu! You're basically just taking off your clothes for a free show!" screamed Sakura.

Naruto, realizing what he had just done, blushed a beet red and quickly proceeded to cancel the jutsu, "Hehe, my mistake Sakura-chan."

"Naruto … Argh! Lets just go in since you already took care of the guards, "sighed Sakura.

Tsunade sighed. When she had accepted the position of Hokage a year ago, she had never expected so much paperwork. What actually depressed her even more than the paperwork was that she couldn't gamble freely whenever she wanted. Not only did Konohagakure have very few places to gamble, it was very bad for her image as Hokage to be gambling.

"This is so boring. I need some excitement!" she thought with a yawn. As she put her head down on a stack of papers, she heard a knock at the door. "Will the work never end?" she sighed. The door opened revealing Sakura and … Naruto? Tsunade's eyes widened at the girls before her, one of them looking like a female version of Naruto.

"Hey Oba-san!" greeted Naruto cheerfully.

"Uh … Naruto … What's going on? asked Tsunade. As Naruto readied himself to speak, Tsunade quickly decided that she would rather hear the story from Sakura. "Actually, Sakura, why don't you tell me what happened?"

"Hey!" exclaimed Naruto.

Sakura looked at Tsunade's face. She was somewhat nervous. It wasn't everyday that she stood in the presence of the village's Hokage. As Sakura began to explain to Tsunade about the current situation, she calmed down and spoke with confidence. Tsunade simply nodded her head every few minutes listening to the details. "Naruto's problem couldn't have come at a better time," thought Tsunade with a grin. Finally, something interesting was happening.

"… and then we decided to come see you," finished Sakura slightly out of breath.

"Hmm …" Tsunade thought for a minute with her eyes closed thinking of what was possibly causing Naruto to transform. "So the problem began since the last Chuunin exam and now you transform into a girl once a month. Naruto, you have been using the Kyuubi's chakra with much more ease recently haven't you?"

Sakura gasped, "Kyuubi? What are you two talking about!"

Naruto's face paled while Tsunade gave a quick gasp, "You mean you didn't know?" She then looked at Naruto, "Your teammates didn't know? I'm so sorry Naruto!"

"What the hell is going on!" screamed Inner Sakura

Naruto sighed. He had been dreading the day that Sakura would find out about the damn fox. "It's okay Oba-san …" he said quietly. He then turned to Sakura. "Eh, Sakura-chan …" he began and then paused.

Sakura was extremely worried. Not only was she worried about what Naruto was about to say to her, the extremely scared and depressing look Naruto had on his/her face was breaking her heart.

"You remember learning about how Yondaime defeated Kyuubi?" asked Naruto. Sakura nodded. "Well, what we didn't learn in the academy was how Yondaime defeated Kyuubi." said Naruto while sighing.

Sakura was confused. What did Naruto mean? Wasn't the demon dead? What did all this have to do with Naruto?

Tsunade decided to finish for Naruto, "Yondaime didn't kill Kyuubi … he sealed it … into a newborn baby."

Sakura's eyes opened wide as she realized the implications of what Tsunade was saying.

"Sakura-chan, I am the vessel of the Kyuubi." said Naruto with a sigh.

Sakura gasped, "It … it can't be! Are you serious?"

Naruto looked slightly away from Sakura's piercing gaze. "Unfortunately … Yes …"

Sakura sat down in shock. This was the last thing she had expected to hear. That Naruto was … a demon. "NO!" she thought vehemently, "Naruto is NOT the Kyuubi! He said it himself ... that he is simply the vessel of the demon. Now that I think about it … everything that has been happening to him makes sense now. All the cold stares and turned backs. Even I was cruel to him in the beginning. I only thought of him as an annoying brat. I always ignored him … spending all my time fawning over Sasuke-kun. Oh my god … how did Naruto survive all these years with the burden of being the container of the Kyuubi?

Naruto and Tsunade looked at Sakura with worry in their eyes. Naruto was worried that he had just lost a close friend and Tsunade was afraid at what Naruto's reaction would be to Sakura's response. Sakura, suddenly noticing the silence of the room, looked at Naruto seeing the fear in his face. The fear of losing someone close to him.

Sakura then decided to say what was on her mind. "Naruto … you are amazing."

Naruto's jaw dropped. He definitely did not expect to hear that.

Sakura continued, "The pain you must have gone through because of me and everyone else …. I'm so sorry!" She then gave Naruto a quick hug.

"Sakura-chan … you … you still want to be my friend?" he gasped in shock,

"Baka! Of course! Why would I stop being your friend for that? I was your friend before I knew about the demon and I'll always be your friend! You're still Naruto! Everyone has secrets that they hate. You just happen to have a pretty darn big one," she finished with a giggle.

Naruto smiled brightly while on the brink of tears. This was the first time that someone found out about the damn demon fox and still accepted him. Granted, Iruka-sensei also acknowledged him, but he had always known about the fox. "S-Sakura-chan … T-Thank you!" he exclaimed and gave Sakura a crushing hug.

"Eh ... Naruto … you're squeezing too hard!" she gasped.

Tsunade smiled at the two. She was genuinely happy for Naruto. She then decided that she should continue her questioning to figure out Naruto's problem. "Well now that that's cleared up, let me ask you again. Naruto, Kyuubi's chakra is a lot easier to use now right?

"So that's where Naruto gets all his power," said Sakura finally realizing Naruto's source of endless energy.

"I guess I'm getting used to her chakra," answered Naruto, "but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Did you just refer to Kyuubi as 'her'?" questioned Tsunade, not being able to hide her surprise.

Naruto snorted in response, "Yeah, I always get the feeling that the damn fox is a female."

Tsunade sat down while rubbing her temples. "Naruto," she called, "I think I may know what the problem is. As you know, Kyuubi was sealed in you with a special seal. A seal designed to not only lock the fox away, but to allow you to have access to its chakra. Before I say anything more, can you show me your seal?"

Naruto thought for a moment before suddenly calling out to Sakura, "Sakura-chan, can you hold my shirt up while I bring up some chakra?"

As Sakura pulled up the front of his shirt, she looked on in wonder as he molded some chakra and a seal appeared around his navel. Tsunade came over and looked at the closely.

"Just as I thought," she muttered. "Naruto, it seems that something interesting is happening. The seal is actually fading and if you take into account how easily you can use Kyuubi's chakra, I think it is safe to say that your body is absorbing the fox. That is the good news. The demon fox will soon be gone forever. But, the fact that Kyuubi is a female is also having an interesting affect."

"WHAT? I'm turning into a girl!" yelled Naruto. He cursed the nine tails fox, "Damn fox, you ruin my life even when you die!"

Sakura absorbed this bit of information and then looked at Tsunade "Hokage-sama, is there …"

"Call me Tsunade" interrupted Tsunade.

"T-Tsunade-sama, is there any way we can help Naruto and prevent him from changing permanently? asked Sakura uncertainly.

Tsunade sighed, "To be honest, I don't know anyway to prevent Naruto from becoming a girl …"

Naruto screamed, "NANI!"

"But," Tsunade continued, "We may be able to stop the seal from fading away completely. If we can do that, we may be able to stop the complete absoption of Kyuubi, but you will probably be changing into a girl once a month for the rest of your life.

"NANI!"

Chapter 3 end

Author's note: Sorry about the wait! I was kind of busy … so I didn't have much time to write this chapter till recently … For some reason, I had a little harder time with this chapter … and once again … I wasn't able to do much NaruSaku …. Don't worry! It will come! Trust me! R&R please!