Disclaimer: I DO NOT own any part of the Naruto universe/manga/anime or the spinoff.

Chapter 3

"Now, how about we discuss the other thing you're not telling me?"

Naruto's humor dried up when the Hokage brought his attention back to the genin.

"Judging by how Kakashi skirted around the subject, I feel this has something to do with your tenant?" Hiruzen mused to the teen. A grimace passed over his features at Naruto's slow nod.

"Haku already knows," Naruto said. "I told her once she made it clear that she wasn't going to accept being anything other than a servant. Figured she should at least know that much before she made any definite decisions." he explained.

The aged leader's eyes widened by just a fraction at the admission but the nod he received from the ice user upon looking at her put much of his unease about it to rest.

"I don't think we can really call him Kyuubi anymore though, to be honest, Jiji." Naruto went on and quickly explained everything that Kakashi had left out from his own report. Once his explanation was finished Naruto and by proxy Haku, were treated to a sight that not very many in living memory had been privileged to. Hiruzen Sarutobi was completely baffled.

For the first time in a long time, the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf was at a loss of something to say. To think that the awakening of an ancient bloodline could cause such a change to a creature as powerful as the Kyuubi; a being that was practically a natural disaster, it was unheard of. But if the Ryugan was as powerful as what Kushina had explained it to be all those years ago, and what Naruto was now corroborating it to be then Hiruzen could believe it, if only just.

At the back of his mind however, he had a feeling the seal holding the beast was at least somewhat responsible for the fox transforming as well. Hiruzen's eyes trailed up to the photo of his successor as a frown took hold on his face. The seal Minato had used was the strongest in existence, having been designed by the Shinigami itself, how it worked was still not fully understood to even the world's foremost sealing experts; a group that included both himself and his student Jiraiya!

"I suppose you are right in that regard, Naruto-kun." the Hokage chuckled, deciding to ponder on his thoughts at a later time. "Calling Kyuubi by that title does feel off. But should word of this leak out to the village I fear you shall be even more ostracized then you already are." He frowned, once again reminded of his failures. "I already must inform the council of your bloodline. I doubt they'll be able to handle this news on top of it."

Naruto nodded. He could already hear the civilians calling for his head at the idea of him having even the littlest amount of power. He didn't need the headache that would be caused by the information the fox itself had been affected to get spread around.

Speaking of which…

"I'm dropping the mask, Jiji." he said, "I'm sick of the abuse. Any more hunts and there's gonna be new graves to be filled." The glare that met the Hokage's eyes was fierce, determined. Hiruzen knew Naruto wasn't joking, and honestly? He was relieved.

He nodded his consent, 'About time!'

"Very well." Hiruzen said. "The council won't be happy about this, but I will warn them that messing with you will have severe consequences, if there's anything left of them." he smirked darkly to his adoptive grandson. It was time the villagers learned to not mess with a shinobi of Konoha, especially if that shinobi was a jinchuriki.

It was shortly after that and being informed that they would be summoned at a later date to reveal their respective bloodlines that Naruto and Haku left the old man to his mountain of paperwork.

xXx

Later at Naruto's apartment

"Home sweet home." Naruto muttered quietly as he led Haku through the door to his apartment.

There really wasn't much to see if he were completely honest with himself. The apartment itself only had two rooms, the one they were in being a combined living room and kitchen, one terminating into the other around the center of the room. In the living room section there was a couch and a small table on one wall and a bookshelf along the far wall next to which were a set of doors, one leading into Naruto's bedroom, the other to the small bathroom. The kitchen wasn't much better but it had a table and chairs in addition to what was normally part of a kitchen set up.

Naruto found himself waiting with baited breath as he watched Haku eye the room around them. Several long moments passed before she finally returned her focus to him.

"This is where you live?" she asked slowly. He nodded, unsure of how to respond.

"Do...you like it?" Naruto asked, looking around the sparsely decorated room. He hated being nervous around people, but having visitors to his home was a rare occurrence, outside of the villagers' 'fox hunts' anyway.

There was a low growl coming from the back of Naruto's mind at the thought of the foolish actions of the Konoha populace but he shut the dragon out. That stuff could wait for now.

"Strange." Haku mused, confusing the red streaked blonde. "I had imagined it would be messy, since a teenage boy lives here." a small smile was tugging at the edges of her lips. Naruto's face became deadpan, but a chuckle escaped him. "You'd think I would be. Truth be told, I was for a while. But there was only so long I was able to live in a pigsty before realizing I had to make a change."

Haku nodded, the amusement in her eyes bringing Naruto's mind a sense of relief. It was the most emotion he'd seen from the ice user since the bridge battle. Well besides gloom that is, but Naruto wasn't going to complain about it.

He was about to open his mouth to say something else but was stopped when he felt something off in the distance, something that made him snap his mouth shut instantly.

'Uh-oh.' Naruto thought, grimacing at the agitated signatures he felt in that direction and how quickly they were approaching.

He had to move, fast, if he didn't want to be nearly impaled by the sword one of them carried. "I gotta go, Haku." he said, turning to the girl from the window he'd been staring through.

"But Naruto-sama, I-" the ice user froze as the boy turned and stared at her fiercely, a small grin on his lips.

"Trust me." he said.

And just like that he was gone, his form simply having vanished from the spot he'd been standing in a second before.

For the life of herself, Haku couldn't move after having seen that stare. It had filled her with a sense of ease the ice user had never felt before. Seeing it had made it feel like everything was right with the world. It was something Haku had not seen or felt since the first time she had met Zabuza. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes at the thought of the man and the loss of him, but Haku held them in. She'd spent enough time crying over the dead, it was time to move on and make a fresh start.

But why had her face felt as if it was on fire when she'd seen the look Naruto had given her?

xXx

"You know, hatchling." Tsudzurao, muttered to his host, watching through the boy's senses as he leapt across the rooftops of Konoha. "You have one of the strongest bloodlines in the world; something only being matched by one other, so how is it you are so scared of two teenage girls?" he asked, watching as Naruto threw himself to the left to dodge a kunai aimed for his shoulder.

'Two things:" Naruto thought back, glancing behind him at his pursuers only to be met by a shuriken nearly missing his cheek. "One, one of them has eyes that can see all the spots needed to cause pain without leaving a mark and also processes the skills to hit those marks without being seen doing so. Two, "HOLY!" Naruto's explanation was cut off by his own yell when a ball of fire screamed up to him, only to miss him and disintegrate the log he managed to replace himself with.

"Damn, Satsuki." he muttered, crouching on a tree branch some distance away. "You've gotten a lot better with that fireball technique." he gulped when he realized what would have happened if it had hit him.

"You were saying?" Tsudzurao prodded with a sigh at the girl's antics with his host.

'Oh yeah. Two, the other has an absurdly strong affinity for fire, as seen here. And is a pyro on top of it who loves to test her new techniques on me!' Naruto mentally wept, cursing his luck at training partners.

The dragon could only sweat drop at the explanation. "Only an Uzumaki…" he muttered.

Naruto could only continue to hide as he watched Hinata and Satsuki leap around looking for him.

xXx

"Damn it! I thought we had him!" Satsuki screamed in outrage, slamming a fist into the palm of her hand.

Hinata shook her head at her best friend and love rival. She could not understand the girl's love of fire and testing it out on their blonde crush. "Did something seem different about him to you, Satsuki-Chan?" she asked. "Naruto-Kun doesn't normally run from us when we surprise him."

Her voice had an edge to it, as she had seen another person in Naruto's apartment with him using her byakugan, a female person and it had irked both of them to no end.

"Well…." Satsuki paused as she mulled it over. "Now that I think about it. Something about Naruto-kun did seem off, but I couldn't tell what since he was running."

Hinata inclined her head, she had thought as much too but before she could say anything both girls felt the cold metal of a blade press against their necks, poised to sever their jugulars if the holder so pleased.

"You're dead, ladies." a voice that sounded so familiar to them muttered in each of their ears and sent pleasant shivers down both Hinata's and Satsuki's spines.

'Shit!' they thought as one.

"Gotta try harder than that if you want to get the drop on me. Especially when I have company." Naruto said, withdrawing the blades and stowing them in his kunai pouch. He sounded a little annoyed at the last bit though.

As one the girls turned to face him and gasped at seeing his new looks, but at the same time their faces lit up like a tomato.

"What happened to you, Naruto-kun?"

CUT!

Hey guys, sorry for the long wait, but with everything going on in the world right now, life has been heck lately.

Chapter 4 should be along sometime in the next month or two as I am trying to get out of this slump I've found myself in.

Anyway, read, review and leave comments about what you liked or didn't like.