"Normal speech"

'Normal thoughts'

"Demon/Summon speech"

'Demon/Summon thoughts'

"Jutsu name"

[translation] - this will not stay for long

flashback/memory

~locations and transitions~

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Chapter 10: Time for a change

Naruto opened his eyes with a smile. He had his reunion with Kurama, who he hasn't seen in four years. Getting up from his pillow, he stretched his legs but still walked groggily to the door. He was so out of it that he just walked onto the door and with his full weight, the ground beneath Naruto disappeared and he fell into his bedroom, landing on his back with all four of his legs twitching in the air much to his displeasure. Finally awake, he flopped to the side and just stayed laying there 'ow maybe I shouldn't have stood on the door…..and I think I hurt my tails…...still weird to think that'. After getting back on his feet he shook himself and began to walk to the bathroom to get clean.

After he turned on the shower, he jumped into the shower, just to freeze feeling that the water was ice cold 'AAAhhhh damn it! Why don't I just jump into the lake! At least it's warmer than this!'. After getting used to the cold water, he stood on his hind legs to grab the shampoo with his hand/paw but paused when he saw his paw 'it looks more like my hand just got covered in fur'. After he grabbed the shampoo bottle and soap, he sat back down on his haunches and put some shampoo on his paw but stopped after looking at his arm 'I don't have enough to even get half of me, heck I might not even have enough for one of my tails' he thought as he looked at his tails …. His four tails. 'WHY DO I HAVE FOUR TAILS. I ONLY HAD THREE YESTERDAY!' he screamed in his head and jumped out of the tub and stumbled into his room still wet and began to run in circles. This kept up for a minute until he tripped on his feet and landed on his chin with his butt and tails in the air. With a groan, Naruto began to think 'why do I have four tails now? Mmmm'.

After he got to his feet, he shook himself dry and went to turn off the shower and went back into his bedroom, grabbed a pair of beige shorts, a white shirt and got dressed. He decided that he was going to go pick up his flower order from the Yamanaka flower shop.

~Konoha street~

Naruto had picked up his order but much to his dismay Ino was out doing a delivery but Inoichi was there to give him his and much to his shock. He liked Inoichi. The man was always nice to him when he met the man four years ago (after the incident). Lifting the potted plant in front of him, he began to wonder "where will I put you? Hmm, maybe I should put you in the kitchen? I need more in there." He was so into his thoughts that he didn't watch where he was going and bumped into someone, falling on his butt still holding the pot. On reflex, he jumped to his feet and backed up "sorry, sorry, sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going!" he said with his eyes closed and ready to run.

The person who he bumped into just looked at him and just shook her head with how the boy responded "Naruto, it's me"

Naruto opened his eyes and looked up and realized it was Hana Inuzuka. "Hana-Onee-chan!"

He met her when she came one day to pick up Kiba just to see that he and Kiba were in the middle of a race they started. She called Kiba over causing the two boys to stop and walk up to her. They were introduced to each other and her three Ninken. All three dogs had grey fur with white undersides with short pointed ears, they looked like big Huskies. Her three canine companions stared at him for a few seconds before one of them pounced and started to lick him. It was this action that was the start of his close friendship with Hana and her Ninken. So much so that Hana became another older sister figure.

Hana was out buying some groceries for her mother and was on her way home when Naruto had bumped into her. She was deep in thought about the boy in front of her, still trying to wrap her head around the fact that the boy was a fox but she also felt bad for him hearing about what led to it "Naruto, you need to look at where you are going so you don't bump into people. It's both rude and hazardous to do that." she said as she patted his head but paused when she noticed something about his hair but held her tongue for now.

One of her Ninken decided that he wanted to play a bit with the pup and moved under the blonde and lifted him up so he sat on his back "whoa!". Naruto had grabbed the scruff of the Ninken's neck as the dog raced around the street as he held onto the pot in one hand. He couldn't help but have a smile on his face.

Hana, watching this couldn't help but question in her mind 'how can anyone think this pup is some sort of demon.' Her other two ninken watched this as well with their tails wagging back and forth, hoping they can play with the pup as well. Hana would have continued to watch but they needed to get home "Ok! You've had your fun, I think it's time to let the pup go!".

Hearing this the Ninken made a sudden stop which Naruto was not prepared for. Unfortunately for him, he was launched into a small puddle of mud, which was made from someone cleaning in front of their shop. Landing on his butt with the pot being held in the air, he got up and looked down at the mud that splashed all over him "aw man, now what?"

Hana came rushing to the boy with a bit of worry "Naruto-Kun are you ok?"

Naruto just tried to wipe the mud off with his one free hand and found it hard to get it off "yeah but I don't have enough shampoo to get rid of all this mud now." 'not like I had enough to begin with, with me being covered in fur now.'

Hana was a little confused when she heard this. 'He makes it sound like he will need a lot of shampoo. He doesn't have that much on his hair…...oh now I see'. She remembered what he was now and realized something. When she had touched his hair, she realized it that not only did it feel less like hair and more like fur but it also felt like it wasn't washed properly 'he must not realize that he is going to have to change his lifestyle a lot.' "Naruto, have you showered today."

Naruto just stopped wiping himself and in a moment of self-consciousness he sniffed himself "do I smell that bad?" he kept doing it until he remembered that he cut his shower short because of his shocking discovery in there "uh not really. Something caused me to cut it short" he said feeling sheepish

Hana smiled and decided to bring some things up "you are using shampoo for your fur right?" she said in a low voice so only they could hear.

Naruto looked insulted from this "what do you mean? Of course, I'm using shampoo on my fur!" he said until he realized what he said and slammed his hands over his mouth 'oh shit!'

Hana chuckled at his easy slip up "it's ok Naruto, I know. When the Hokage brought you to the hospital, he called me over to examine you to make sure you were ok and he told me about what happened to you."

Naruto stared at her in disbelief "and you don't hate me?"

Hana shook her head "no Naruto I don't, but back to the matter at hand. From what you said you couldn't get clean this morning and if I can guess you aren't using the right products for your fur."

Naruto, not liking where this was going, decided to try and cut it off "I'm sure that what I'm doing is good enough for it!" he said as he began to sweat and back away.

As he turned around to run away, he was grabbed by the back of his shirt and dragged away flailing his free hand with the pot in his other "don't even think about it pup. I'm going to make sure that you get cleaned up and know the importance of fur care."

Naruto continued to try and get out of her grip "you don't have to! I can figure it out ….and people are looking!"

Hana just kept walking with her Ninken at her side, not even looking at him "it's fine, I've done this with Kiba when he refused to take a bath and I had to drag him back to the compound"

Naruto just kept ranting while they made their way to the Inuzuka compound

~Inuzuka Compound, Hana's veterinarian clinic~

Naruto had stopped struggling halfway to the compound and just let himself be dragged with an annoyed look on his face.

Once they made their way into the clinic. Hana made her way to the back as her Ninken followed behind to watch the show. Once they made it to the back which was filled with tubs, hoses and other objects meant to clean animals that have been brought in for it she lifted Naruto into the air seeing that he brought his legs and arms up to be in a fetal position and plant in his arms. She grabbed the potted plant and placed it on a table to her left "ok Naruto drop the henge please"

"No"

"Naruto this is for your own good so please"

"No!"

"Naruto, stop acting like a child and listen to me!"

"NO!"

With a sigh, she just bopped Naruto on the head, hard enough to dispel the henge "good"

*bark yip bark bark yip* [hey no fair! Hana-onee-chan]

"It's not meant to be fair. How else are we going to clean your fur if you hide it?"

Naruto stopped wiggling for a second to turn his head and ask through yips and barks [Hana-Onee-chan…..you can understand me?]

Chuckling a bit, Hana put Naruto on the floor "of course I can, foxes are canines themselves so of course, I can understand you. Now…." Hana pulled the shirt he was wearing off and before he could start running away she grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and pressed on a small pressure point causing him to relax.

[how...did ..you do that?] he asked as he let his body go somewhat limp in her hands

"You think that you are the only fiesty one that I had to deal with." she answered as she removed his pants and boxers (...not like that) and put them in a basket meant for pet accessories. She looked down to see the four tails swishing in the air "looks like you got another tail, is that what shocked you?" she asked because she remembered he only had three.

[yeah…..I was ...shocked ….seeing it…..and jump out…..of the shower] Naruto answered through some slurred yips and barks.

Walking next to a tub she turned on the water to fill the tub a bit "alright Naruto, we are going to get you clean. Now you can either cooperate and make this go faster or you can make this harder and make this longer. Your choice" she said as she put him into the tub and release the pressure point so he could stand again.

Naruto heard the choices and as much as he wanted to bolt to the door and escape he knew he wouldn't win so groaning in his head he sat still [fine but don't tell anyone this happened!] 'this is so embarrassing.'

Hana just smiled and grabbed some animal shampoo and started to wash him.

Naruto will never admit this to anyone but halfway through the bath he was getting, he began to enjoy it. He was at the moment enjoying being dried off with the towel and although he walked out of the towel and doubled in size with his fur puffing out, he felt fantastic. He was pulled out of his euphoria when he was picked up and put on a table and seconds later he felt something going through his fur. Looking back he saw that Hana was brushing his fur carefully to make sure that she didn't get it caught and hurt him. He enjoyed it and just let her continue.

After his fur was back to normal, he shook himself a bit, he walked into the waiting room which was set up as a cozy living room and went to the window to lay down in the sunlight.

Hana came in to see Naruto lay in the sun and smiled "Naruto, your clothes are being washed right now and will be ready in about an hour." seeing Naruto turn his head and nod she brought something up "Naruto if you are going to lay there, can you make yourself smaller and hide your other tails with a henge, please. You can leave your markings since many ninja animals have markings but your tails and size could cause problems".

Nodding his head again, Naruto concentrated and in a poof of smoke, three of his tails had disappeared leaving the tail that had the black line that went up his spine and shrunk down to the size of a normal fox. 'That bath felt great. It's not so bad being like this'

After laying there for fifteen minutes he smelled something familiar, but couldn't think from where.

"Hey, sis! Did you get the stuff mom asked you to get! She needs them to start feeding the dogs in the kennels"

Jumping a bit from the yelling Naruto looked to see who it was 'Crap it's Kiba! He can't see me like this'

Kiba noticed the movement and saw the fox starring there staring at him "hey sis! What's with the weird colored fox?' he said not noticing the vein popping out on the foxes head

[what do you mean weird colored fox! I look badass you scruffy-looking mutt!] Naruto said baring his teeth in a threatening manner

Kiba just looked at the fox as Hana walked in "Kiba you shouldn't say something like that, and yeah, the bag is on the counter. Where's Akamaru?"

"He is in the main house getting his food bowl so he can eat." Kiba said as he went to get the groceries

[watch your back cause I'm going to prank the hell out of you] Naruto said never taking his stare from Kiba

Kiba looked at the fox before turning to his sister "what'd he say?"

Hana just rolled her eyes at this "Really Kiba you should learn how to speak to canines other than the ones you know."

"Hey! I'm still learning it, I just have trouble with some of them!"

"Well, you better learn it! If you want to be a proper clan head." reprimanded Hana as she put her hands on her hips

"Yeah yeah, catch you later sis!" Kiba said dismissively as he walked out of the clinic

Sighing after Kiba left, Hana turned to Naruto "don't make the prank too bad, don't want a repeat of the flea fiasco"

Naruto hearing this looked sheepish and rubbed the back of his head with his paw [sorry about that Hana-oneechan]

Hana nodded her head and walked to the back of the clinic to get some work done as Naruto laid back down and waited for his clothes to get out of the wash.

~Naruto's apartment night time~

After Naruto had left Hana's clinic with his new flower and a bag Hana gave him full of fur care products, much to his embarrassment feeling like they were beauty products he has to use now, he made his way home and looked through all the stuff he now has.

He wanted to go to sleep early because he was meeting Anko the next day and didn't want to be late. 'CRAP I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE TO MEET HER' he thought dropping his head in a moment of depression until he just figured that he would just find her, most likely at the Dango shop, and with that settled he put the stuff away, opened the ceiling door, undressed, undid the henge, jump into his corner of nature closed the door and went to bed

~Naruto's Mindscape~

A Naruto entered his mindscape he looked around the moon he began to look for Kurama in the dense forest. He kept searching until he found himself in the same spot as last time looking into the darkness in the tree "Rama-tou-chan! Are you here?"

"Where else would I be kit?" Kurama said as he walked out of the shadows

Naruto smiled at his father while his four tails wagged back and forth. After Kurama fully came out of his den Naruto jumped high so he could land on top of Kurama's head and laid down on it.

"Kit, there are a few things we need to talk about." Kurama said in a serious tone

"If it's about you being the Kyuubi and me being your jailer, then I already know and….I'm sorry"

"*sigh* you don't need to apologize to me kit. I should be the one doing that. It's because of me that yo…...ow!" Kurama began to say until Naruto stopped him by biting on his ear

"It doesn't matter anymore Tou-chan. I know the truth and I'm glad you are here but there's something I want to know."

"What is it?"

"...Why did you attack the village?

"*sigh* well kit my previous jailer was living in the village at the time. During a specific time when the seal was weaker, someone had forced me out of the seal. Once I was out, I didn't even have time to see where I was until someone used the Sharingan to put me in a powerful genjutsu to attack the village. After a long battle between me and the shinobi of the village, your fa….fourth Hokage confronted me, and in an act of desperation he had sealed me into you to save the village at the cost of his own life."

Naruto listened intently at the story and understood the actions of the Hokage "so it was an Uchiha that made you do it." he said more as a statement than a question

"Yes but enough about that, I've noticed that you now have four tails"

Naruto, looking at his tails answered "yeah I do. Why? Is it important?"

"Hmm for you it just might be. Now that you have four tails I'm not sure if you will be able to use your chakra a bit more easily or with more difficulty"

Naruto just gave a confused "huh?" so Kurama decided to elaborate

"you see kit now that you have four tails you chakra flow has smoothed out a bit now that it has more room. For example: say your body is a glass cup and it is filled completely with water, which represents your chakra, so much so that it is spilling out, now because your body won't allow your chakra to just spill out and disappear, it had to adjust, and in doing so all the water in the cup has been put into a larger cup giving it more room to flow. Now, this doesn't mean you are stronger, it just means that you have more room for your chakra which is at the same level as before. I can only assume that this happened because of your transformation and the seal your third Hokage placed being broken causing your chakra that was used for it to burst through your body. Now I don't think this will happen again for a very long time so you don't have to worry about getting more anytime soon. But I would recommend trying to get a feel of your chakra when you can because it might be easier or harder. But like I said, I'm not sure."

Naruto was surprised to hear this but he was happy his dad explained it to him "hey Rama-tou-chan? What was that transformation I went through against Mizuki?"

Grimacing a bit Kurama looked up "sorry kit but I will not tell you how to do that again" Naruto whined about it but Kurama stopped him "don't give me that! That transformation is dangerous and is harmful to you. When I think you are ready to handle it, I will tell you but until then please don't try and use it"

Still thinking it was unfair Naruto just nodded his head "ok"

"Good" Kurama then smirked as he looked up "so…...how was your bath"

"TOU-CHAN!" Naruto yelled in embarrassment as he pulled one of Kurama's ears and used it to cover himself and trying to drown out Kurama's laughter

~Konoha streets next afternoon~

Naruto and Anko were walking to the shop that Anko said would allow them to get some ninja supplies. Naruto didn't need to look for Anko long. He knew where she would be since she usually spends her breakfast lunch and dinner at the same bar since it sells her favorite Dango and fortunately she never drank sake in the morning….unless she came back from a tough mission or she was pissed off at something.

"Okay Gaki the shop we are going to, has a bunch of things that we can get but today we are here for a new shinobi outfit." Anko said as she finished off the last of her Dango sticks

As they made their way closer to the shop Naruto was excited about getting new ninja stuff. He wanted to get there faster but he didn't know which of the shops it was so he just followed Anko.

"And here we are!" Anko made a grand announcement with her arms and legs spread out

Naruto turned his head to the shop and looked at the sign "Dragon Fang Weaponry". Looking at the name he couldn't help but think he had heard about it before ' I know I have heard about this store before but where?'

As they walked into the shop he saw a person twirling a kunai in her fingers, someone that he hasn't seen in a few years "Welcome to Dragon Fan….Naruto?"

At the front counter was a girl with brown hair tied up in duel buns that make it look like panda ears and with short fringe bangs framing her face. She wore a pink sleeveless qipao-style blouse with red sleeve trimmings and yellow fastening buttons and dark green pants and a pouch adjusted to her thigh

Naruto gained a wide smile on his face seeing one of the friends that he made during his school years. He had met her one month after he transferred into Iruka's class when he found her practicing her shurikenjutsu on one of the field practice dummies. He thought that she was amazing in it and challenged her to see who could hit the target more. Obviously, he lost but they became friends after that and she even gave him some pointers on how to use kunai and shuriken and she even went on a tangent on how amazing weaponry is. When she graduated, she had told him about how her adoptive father owns a weapons shop called the Dragon Fang Weaponry and he should visit when he needs some supplies but he chose not to because he didn't want her to see him get kicked out just as he entered.

"Hey, Tenten! It's been a while." he said with a wave

Tenten just gave him an angry look with her hands on her hips "yeah … 'a while'. More like a year. Jeez I was starting to think that you forgot about the store I told you about"

Naruto just scratched his cheek while looking away 'I actually did forget about it'

Seeing this Tenten gave a sweet smile with her eyebrow twitching "you DID forget didn't you?"

If there was one thing that Naruto learned from Tenten is that when a girl gives you that look you are going to feel pain…..if you aren't fast enough

Anko was watching from behind Naruto and would have loved to see Naruto squirm even more but decided to save the gaki…..just this once. So walking up she spoke "Hey Panda-chan, what's up!" only to tilt her head to avoid a kunai aimed for her head.

Tenten with her arms stretched out, glared at the Tokubetsu Jonin "I told you never to call me that!"

Anko just smiled and decided that her fun had to end….for now, "maybe one day I will. Anyway we're here to give the gaki here a new ninja outfit and get him the standard ninja toolset"

Hearing this Tenten had to scream to the heavens "Oh thank Kami! At least one of them chose to wear better clothing now! YES!" she yelled with both hands in the air like her prayer has been answered

Naruto just ended up crouched down in the corner with a rain cloud over his head as he drew circles in the ground with his finger while saying "There was nothing wrong with my outfit. Why does everyone hate it so much?"

Tenten gave an exasperated sigh "Naruto the outfit was a bright neon orange that just screamed 'here I am, kill me.' And with this, at least one of the people I know will change into better clothes"

Naruto still depressed turned his head to look at Tenten "who are the other people you are talking about?"

With a shiver, Tenten shook her head "trust me you don't want to meet them. But forget that let's look around and find an outfit that looks a lot better than that jumpsuit you used to wear"

Getting up from his corner he walked up to Anko and Tenten "can it at least have Orange on it"

Both Anko and Tenten looked at him with a deadpan expression and both said "maybe!"

End of the chapter. This one was more of a filler

Edit Notice 2/12: grammar and format correction

Next chapter will be team assignments and outfit reveal

One thing I realized is that I have been adding a lot of females to the people that Naruto knows but it came out this way. It made the most sense since a lot of female characters in the show are affiliated with useful resources that Naruto needs: Hana being a vet, Tenten owning a weapons shop even if I don't know if she helped out in one in part 1. Ino being the one to introduce the Yamanaka flower shop which ties to Naruto's green thumb fanon aspect, Anko who understands being branded against their will, Ayame….ramen. So I made it so he knew them and for the older females to be older sister figures

I hope I described the tails aspect well enough to understand

And I don't know Tenten's parents so I used the adoptive father aspect from another fic I read, though I can't remember which one

Ok pairing, the way it is coming out of my head seems like it will be either Hinata or Ino. now I like both pairings but as I said in earlier chapters I might do one or I might make it both but if I do both I have an idea on how that isn't the usual CRA or mutual understanding and share. I think I will make a pairing decision by the time I get to the Chunin Exams

Next chapter will take a while because college break over

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