"Normal speech"

'Normal thoughts'

"Demon/Summon speech"

'Demon/Inner Sakura/Summon thoughts'

Jutsu name

(author comment)

flashback/memory

~locations and transitions~

Beta read by: Irusha the Kitsune

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Chapter 40: Heading back

Tsunade was tapping her foot as she glared at Jiraiya, who was sweating bullets. He was already running through mental gymnastics, trying to figure out a way to escape should Tsunade lose her temper.

Jiraiya didn't know how much he should reveal, seeing as he didn't know much about the relation between Naruto and the Kyuubi himself. He already knew that the Kyuubi had saved the boy's life and that they had a close relationship but that was about it. He cleared his throat and shakingly asked: "W-well what do you want to know?" He spoke softly as for one he didn't want to wake the boy up as he was sleeping in the bed that was directly behind him... And he didn't want to set off the clearly frustrated and angry woman.

A tick mark formed on her head, and it was clear she was dying to punch Jiraiya through the wall. But first... first, she was getting answers. Then she would be punching him through the wall. "I want to know why the damn Kyuubi itself was summoned by the boy and helped us when facing the snake. And I want to know why he called it 'tou-san'!"

Jiraiya held his hands up in surrender "Your guess is as good as mine! All I know is that he has a good relationship with it..." He wanted to tell her the other thing he knew about Naruto but he felt that this was something that Naruto had to tell her himself because if he told her... He knew he might actually die.

Shizune was examining Naruto to make sure that he was ok but during her examination, she felt that something was off about him. Her medical jutsu could tell that his blood was flowing but his muscles felt like they were pumped full of chakra, so much so that she thought for a second that they were actually made of chakra. She shook away the thought as it was completely ludicrous to have anything made of chakra. The only thing close to that were the bijuu themselves as they were beings comprised of chakra. She thought that it might be because he was the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi.

Tsunade sighed as she sat down in a chair and glared at Jiraiya "You two better tell me what it is your hiding as I am taking the job as Hokage."

Jiraiya smiled after hearing this "You're taking the job?"

Tsunade sighed as she looked towards Naruto and saw the glint of the necklace that he now wore "Yeah...I am."

~two days later~

Tsunade was tapping her foot as she stared down at the boy who was still sleeping but now he was sleeping as any other restless kid would. Blanket kicked off drool coming from his mouth and he was hugging the pillow as if it was his lover. She turned to glare at Jiraiya "How long does it take for this brat to wake up? He should have woken up yesterday with how fast he seemed to recover from everything."

Jiraiya chuckled a bit as he thought about what he had to do during their travels. He had learned that sometimes Naruto would sleep deeper than the dead and no matter what he did the boy would not wake up. He remembered that Naruto had told him that the Kyuubi can be like that sometimes too. 'Must be a trait for being a tailed beast….or maybe the kid is just lazy.' He walked forward and pulled out a scroll from his pocket.

Tsunade would have asked him what he was about to do but she, Shizune and Tonton grew confused when they saw him unseal a hot bowl of ramen.

Jiraiya brought to bowl to Naruto's face and waited.

Naruto's nose twitched as the smell hit him and he lifted a hand to reach for where the smell was coming from.

Jiraiya moved the bowl out of his reach before bringing it back to his face. He did this a few times until Naruto moved his head to follow the movement of the bowl. Jiraiya moved the bowl back slowly, getting Naruto's head to follow. He kept pulling back until Naruto fell off the bed.

Tsunade and Shizune thought that the boy would have woken up from that but they both heard a snore and sweatdropped at how deeply asleep he was in.

Naruto got to his feet and zombied his way to the smell.

Jiraiya placed the bowl onto the ground and sat down and waited

Naruto sleepwalked to the bowl and began to eat it.

Everyone apart from Jiraiya just stared dumbfounded at how the boy ate in his sleep. They watched as the boy finished eating and slowly opened his eyes.

Naruto looked around sleepily and rubbed his eye with the back of his hand. "...Morning."

Tsunade and Shizune's sweatdrop doubled in size.

Jiraiya sighed as he spoke, "Gaki, get ready, we are heading back to Konoha."

Naruto groaned as he sat on the ground "Can't we stay in the hotel for a few more days..? I just woke up...!" Naruto decided to unleash the most powerful jutsu, ever, to plead with Jiraiya... The feared Koinu-kyu no Jutsu! (Puppy dog eyes jutsu)

Jiraiya sighed as he shook his head "Naruto, you've been asleep for a few days already. It's time to go home, or do you not want to get back to those lovely ladies you have waiting for you...?" He finished his sentence with a perverted giggle which promptly earned him a punch to the face from Naruto.

Naruto was now wide awake and was glaring at Jiraiya "If I find out that you used either of them in any of your books, I'll make sure that you never get to see any woman again without thinking of Guy-sensei in a bikini!"

Jiraiya shivered as for a brief second he remembered when Naruto actually made him see that. He was pale white for a week because of it. He pulled his face away from the fist as blood came from his nose "I-I promise I won't!"

Naruto nodded before getting up "Good. Let's go home." Naruto began to make his way to the door of the room but was stopped by Tsunade...

"Hold on! You still have some things to answer Gaki."

Naruto looked back towards Tsunade and Shizune. He tilted his head in confusion "Like what?"

Tsunade was now serious as she looked into his eyes "What your relationship is with the Kyuubi."

Naruto just shrugged his shoulders "That's my secret. And I don't wanna tell you."

Jiraiya put his hand on Naruto's shoulder "Kid, she's taking the job as the new Hokage."

Naruto looked up at him in shock before looking at her. He slumped as he realized he had to tell someone else his secret "Can't I tell her on the road, away from town...? Besides, she isn't Hokage yet!"

Jiraiya sighed as he crossed his arms "It's best to just get it out of the way. So you might as well tell her now, or you could just show them."

Naruto glared at Jiraiya "My clothes don't expand with me, Ero-sennin!"

Jiraiya looked sheepish as he rubbed his head "Right, sorry. I forgot about that but you should still tell her."

Naruto groaned as he thought about what he should do. He knew that he HAS to tell her since she is going to be the new Hokage but he really didn't want to tell his secret to anyone. He thought about this for a minute before just accepting the fact that he had to show her. He removed his jacket and took off his shirt. He didn't have to worry about his bracers and greaves since he wasn't wearing them at the moment.

Tsunade quirked an eyebrow at this action as she looked to Jiraiya, looking for an explanation.

Jiraiya looked at her and said, "Just... wait for it."

Tsunade and Shizune were just confused more by the answer. They grew more confused when Naruto took off his sash, Anbu boots, and pants leaving him in only his boxers. Tsunade was growing impatient at what this could be and all she was seeing now was a boy in his underwear "Now mind telling us what you're doing?"

Naruto rolled his shoulders before saying "It'll be easier if I just show you my biggest secret." He then fell to be on all fours and began his shift.

Tsunade and Shizune grew wide-eyed when they saw Naruto begin to get bigger. They watched in stunned silence as the boy was growing in size and they could see small bits of fur growing from all over his body. They were a bit unnerved when they heard some bones shifting but it wasn't anything that they hadn't heard before as they have had to re-set bones throughout their medical career.

Naruto's snout began to move forward as he grit his teeth and growled. He felt his teeth begin to sharpen, forcing him to open his maw so they could grow without one of them cutting something in his mouth. His ears grew in length and he honestly wouldn't have noticed if it weren't for the fact that they hit the top of his head when they reach full length. He felt his claws grow out and curled his fingers, leaving marks on the wooden floor. He felt pressure in his boxers and quickly shoved them off, revealing his six tails as they sprouted out and swayed back and forth

Tonton grew scared as she hid behind Shizune's leg and continued to watch in horrific fascination.

Naruto's shift had finished and he shook himself before letting out a sigh of relief. He looked down as he felt the necklace still around his neck

Tsunade and Shizune were now on guard as standing before them, was a six tailed fox that had a black pattern on it.

Naruto looked to Jiraiya and glared with his blue slitted eyes.

For a second the women thought that he was going to attack the man, especially when the fox opened its mouth but what happened next stumped them.

"Happy now?"

Tsunade and Shizune looked at Jiraiya in confusion and grew more confused when they saw that he was just standing there with his arms crossed.

Jiraiya nodded "You have no idea. I still remember how it used to be." he shivered as he remembered the screams of agony.

Naruto sat down as he looked to the woman that were giving him a dumbfounded look. He lifted his front right paw and gave a wave "Yo."

~later on the road~

The group was at the moment walking out of town in the direction of Konoha. Naruto had finished his tale on how he became what he is. He felt a lot better being out of his shift but he still had to walk on two feet while henged.

Jiraiya was mulling over one piece of new info he learned "So you consider the Kyuubi your dad?"

Naruto was walking with his hand behind his head as he was looking at the sky "Duh. He was always there for me. He raised me, taught me how to speak, played with me, trained me and was always there when I felt bad!"

Jiraiya nodded "Sounds like what a father should do... Still hard to wrap my head around though."

Tsunade nodded "Yeah... To think that the strongest of the nine had a soft spot for kids, huh?"

Naruto smiled, he loved his father and wouldn't change a thing. Sure he could have done without the dying part but it all worked out in the end!

"Glad to have you too, kit."

'Thanks, Rama-tou-chan.'

Shizune asked something that was bugging her after she heard a bit of the story "How have you been able to maintain your henge for so long? Surely someone would have hit you at some point."

Naruto looked to Shizune with a smile "I practiced the Kawarimi a lot. It's become my most useful jutsu apart from the Kage bunshin. I made sure to always be careful around everyone."

Shizune nodded "It's impressive how you use those Jutsu. You're very... creative with them!"

Naruto puffed out his chest in a bit of feigned vanity "That's right, I'm awesome!"

Tsunade shook her head before something came to mind "I think it's a good thing that this was kept a secret. If other villages find this out they might try to replicate what happened to you."

Everyone grew grim as they thought about this.

Naruto shook his head "It's not like it would do any good. I became like this because tou-chan WANTED to save me. It isn't like I took anything from him, he just pumped his chakra into me, trying to save me and then this happened. He said that this has never happened before and it might never happen again."

Tsunade nodded in agreement but still held a stern expression "That doesn't mean that the other villages won't try. Everyone but the ones you have told think that there are only NINE tailed beasts in the world but with you, there are now TEN!"

Naruto raised his arm in the air as he declared nonchalantly "Yay, I'm special." After he said this, something came to his mind. He looked to Tsunade and asked, "Hey Baa-chan, I have a few things I want to ask you for."

Tsunade grew a tick mark n her forehead but kept her fists at her side "And what would they be?" she asked in a forced smile

Naruto ignored the feeling of anger coming off her as he didn't care about it "Can you heal a couple of people that ended up in the hospital? I have a friend that was hurt really bad and wanted to know if you could fix him up? My sensei also ended up there from some genjutsu."

Jiraiya piped up here "There is also his teammate that was hit by the same thing."

Naruto sighed as he nodded his head "Yeah... him too."

Tsunade nodded her head after hearing the request "I'll look at them when we get to Konoha."

Naruto smiled before he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head "I have another request."

Tsunade felt like she would need a drink whenever she had to deal with this brat "What is it?"

Naruto smiled as he looked up at her.

~a week later, Konoha gate~

Izumo and Kotetsu were sitting at their posts as they played cards to pass the time.

Izumo laid down his hand to show a royal flush "I win again."

Kotetsu sighed as he put his cards down and leaned on his hand "How many times have we played this game? I kinda want something interesting to ha…" he didn't get to finish his statement as Izumo put a hand over his mouth

"Please don't finish that statement." He removed his hand from Kotetsu's mouth before leaning back "Last time you said that we were attacked by Oto and Suna!"

Kotetsu shook his head as he turned his head to look down the road "Oh come on. There isn't anything nearby to show that anything interesting is about to happen!"

As he said this, something was sent flying towards the gate and lowered into the ground and leaving a trench that moved a bit passed the gate.

Kotetsu and Izumo jumped from their poss and slowly made their way to the object that was sent flying. Once they made it to the endpoint they tried to look through the dust cloud. They were shocked to see what it was... It was Naruto

Naruto was laying on his back groaning as he slowly tried to open is eyes

Izumo was the first to get out of his shock "Naruto? What the hell happened!? Were you attacked!?"

Naruto looked up and gave a weak smile "Oh, hey guys! It's been a while. And no I wasn't actually attacked."

Kotetsu jumped into the crater that Naruto was in and knelt down to the kid "Than what the hell happened?"

Naruto slowly got into a sitting position "I bit off more than I could chew. That woman has a stronger punch than Ero-sennin." He slumped down as he was slowly losing consciousness "That's the last time I ask for her to help in my endurance training…." he fell unconscious as he felt his ribs slowly heal

End of chapter

This chapter is short because I wanted to end it when they got back to Konoha. I was not going to put in the filler episode about the debt collector (I think it was on their way back).

before anything I want to let you guys know that chapters will be coming out slowly as I'm sure some of you know. classes have started and they will be my main focus until I can get back into the rhythm of it. stuff like this makes me wish I could use the shadow clone jutsu

Ok, something I want to bring up. I'm thinking of changing a couple of the rookie 11's pairings. I mean I already changed who Sakura will end up with so I felt like changing a few others. I have a couple already in my head, namely Shikamaru and Kiba. I felt like pairing Kiba with Temari and Shikamaru could end up with Samui. Shikamaru and Samui came to mind when I thought about the lazy genius with the "Cool" beauty. When that came to mind I thought who I would pair Temari with and then I remembered that Kiba had an interaction that could be built with her. What do you guys think and if I change the pairings who should end up with who? If you have suggestions let me know and give me a reason for it. Choji is one I think of keeping as is but I am not sure since I have seen no interactions between him and Karui

Also, I find it interesting that a lot of you like the fight scenes that I write since I always feel like I won't be able to make a good fight scene but with all the positive reviews on it makes me think I am doing something right

Ok for the voting results (poll is still ongoing)

1rst place for Naruto: Foxes - 23 votes

1rst place for Ino: Cats - 12 votes

1rst place for Hinata: Lions - 9 votes

2nd place for Naruto: Wolf - 9 votes

2nd place for Ino: plant/butterfly - 6 votes

2nd place for Hinata: Tiger -6 votes

Honestly, I was hoping for some more recommendations for Naruto and maybe some votes going to other animals for him but oh well. The poll will be up for a while. A couple more weeks before I close it so maybe the results may change. I will let you guys know that the summons will not be Gamabunta size so no super large summons other than the three will show up.

Post note: someone gave me a new animal for Hinata. I was given Otters for her so it has been added to the poll

Also, one more thing I want to add to the summon factor for them. Two words: Sage Mode. maybe that will get some more votes on them and maybe change the ratios of votes or get some more recommendations on new animal summons

also, sorry that the chapters have been getting shorter but they should be getting longer with another big event coming up

one last thing, Itachi: should I keep him alive or allow him the peace he wants

Please read, favorite, follow, and review