Introductions

Shizune eventually found the source of the shouts in the Senju household. She looked into a small bedroom to find Tsunade glaring at a girl about twelve to thirteen years old. The girl was glaring back just as hard at her sensei. Shizune found it funny and wished she had a camera or something handy to record the moment.

"Tsunade-sama?" Shizune said hesitantly.

The sound of Shizune's voice startled both of the arguing pair and they both got into a defensive martial arts position. The dark haired apprentice could see the girl's form was terrible and completely unsuited to her build.

Tsunade recovered quickly and hid a smile before composing herself and frowning.

"Shizune, what took you so long to get back here? It has been two weeks and the Tea Country is only a few days travel from here," the blonde woman said with an edge of relief she could not quite hide.

Shizune smiled at how badly her sensei was hiding her feelings.

"I had to make a few stops along the way, Tsunade-sama. I took advantage of being left holding your winnings and took care of a few outstanding items," the apprentice said with a smile as she pulled out the receipts for the Tsunade's paid off debts.

Tsunade looked shocked at the stack of receipts and flipped through the pile noticing all said 'Paid in Full'. She looked up in gratitude at her thoughtful student.

"Thank you, Shizune. I think I would be lost without you beside me," she said in a quiet voice.

Shizune smiled at the praise but knew that it would not be spoken of in public again. Tsunade was ill-mannered at times but she always meant well and was uncomfortable expressing her true feelings. Looking for a distraction, Shizune noticed the girl still standing there.

"And who is this young lady, Tsunade-sama?" the younger woman asked politely.

Tsunade glared at the girl and smirked.

"This young lady is the reason I got dragged back here to Konoha. Until just before I was pulled here, this girl used to be Uzumaki Naruto," Tsunade said.

"Still am," the girl grumbled under her breath.

Shizune frowned for a moment as she recalled the name but before she could speak, Tsunade cut her off.

"It seems Orochimaru used some kind of jutsu on the boy to split him into two separate being, a boy who is still going by the original name and this young lady who refuses to choose a new one."

"I'm still Naruto no matter what. No pretender is taking my life away from me," grumbled the girl.

"She also will not wear the proper gear for training," the blonde woman continued to prevent any comment Shizune might have on the subject of Naruto's heritage. Tsunade held up a sports bra top that most kunoichi wore to support their breasts and keep them from bouncing too much.

"I never needed anything like that before!" the girl shouted out. "I won't wear it!"

Shizune now noticed the girl had been wearing just a t-shirt and a thin one at that. It was quite obvious that the girl needed to wear something under her shirt. While still modest in endowment, the girl needed support if she was going to run and fight.

"Is she going to be a fighter or a seduction specialist?" Shizune said with a gleam in her eye that Tsunade picked up on.

"Seduction?" the girl said confused.

"Ooo that could be an idea, Shizune. So, gaki, would you like to become a seduction specialist? You could go without support and have all the guys ogle your goodies and want to have sex with you," Tsunade said with an evil look in her eye. The girl paled as she finally caught what the older ninja were implying. The pale was followed by a blush and the girl yelling back.

"No way am I EVER going to have a guy do that to me! I'm not gay!" she screamed in a voice that cracked and became shrill as she finished.

Tsunade tossed the girl the top and commented. "If you wear it, you will get less attention from boys than if you don't wear it."

The girl caught the top and grumbled 'fine' under her breath as she retreated to a side room to put it on.

Tsunade looked to her apprentice and briefly informed her of the situation and events surrounding the split of the Narutos.

"Does this mean we will be staying in Konoha, Tsunade-sama?" Shizune asked trying to keep her voice from sounding excited.

"For now, Shizune. For now," Tsunade said not meeting the younger woman's eyes.

Shizune could see the pain of bad memories had flared up in her sensei's look and decided to leave that point alone. It was a sore point for Tsunade and Shizune knew not to poke at it.

The girl returned by then having struggled a bit trying to get comfortable in the confines of her new attire. Shizune was glad to see the girl was wearing the sports bra correctly and had put the t-shirt back on over it. She was tugging at it and wiggling trying to get used to the feel of the top.

"This thing pinches and squeezes me," the girl complained.

Tsunade snorted. "Amateur. You want to know troublesome? Try getting these into a full military armor," she grumbled as she pointed her thumb at her own endowment. Shizune giggled as the girl blushed once more but from embarrassment.

"You mentioned her needing a name, Tsunade-sama. Surely an appropriate one has come to mind," Shizune said as a change of subject.

"She refused to pick something. I have suggested dozen of names but she will not budge. She wants to keep Naruto," the Sannin replied.

"It is my name. He's the copy. He shouldn't get it," the girl growled once more.

"The boy says the same thing about you," Tsunade said to the girl.

The girl lifted her shirt to expose her slender belly and focused chakra. The black lines of the seal on her stomach came into view. "I know I'm the real Naruto because I still have THIS!" she said before turning and running out.

The blonde boy woke and stretched and looked around. Naruto's life was certainly going to be going through a few changes now that he was in charge.

'Correction, my life will be going through some changes,' the boy thought as he smiled.

Naruto scanned the apartment and noted the items the girl had taken with her. He had grudgingly agreed to the Hokage's plan but he didn't like it. The girl was going to be a pain but he could deal with it. He had the important things; his identity being the main one. Now, he would make them his in fact as well as name.

'First order of business, this place needs to be better,' he thought as he reached for trash bags. He knew that in the past, 'he' had not been the cleanest person but now that was going to change. All the things he had to do to get attention were going to be different now. No more pranks. No more grins. No more putting up with crap in order to get people to accept him. 'I am Uzumaki Naruto. These people do not have to like me. But before I am through, they will respect me.'

He smirked as he tossed the full trash bags into the dumpster behind the apartment building. The apartment had not been that clean in months. His wardrobe and food situations were next. The hideous 'look at me' orange outfits would have to suffice for now until he could buy better. Ramen was good but he was getting tired of it day after day. The idiot had not wanted to stand up to the merchants who disliked him in the past. Naruto decided the first bout of revenge was going to happen at the grocery store.

Dressed in black shorts and a white shirt with the symbol of Konoha on it, Naruto set out with his spare wallet and a purpose. He decided the vegetable vendor would be first today. He did not mind the taste of them in ramen and he knew it would get Kakashi off his back if he ate a more balanced diet. The man he had in mind would never sell to him in the past and had told him never to come to his stand.

The blonde looked over the selection from a distance to add up what the price should be when he was going to buy things. The timing of this was going to be tricky. He needed a good patsy to make this work. He spotted the perfect person in the form of a matron of the Akimichi clan. The old woman was browsing toward the vegetable vendor. Naruto hurried to get into line just before her. He gave the matron a pleasant 'Good morning' and a smile. The Akimichi had always been fair to him in the past and Choji had made the finals of the Chunin Exam. Perfect.

"I heard that Choji made it to the finals of the Exam, Akimichi-san. Your clan must be proud of him. I was a classmate of his," Naruto said in a respectful tone.

The woman looked Naruto over as if trying to place him. The boy's shock of blonde hair and whisker like marks on his face were the key to her realizing who he was.

"Ah, yes. You must be that Uzumaki Naruto boy that Choji spoke of a few times. Not getting into mischief any longer, are you?" she said with a smile. 'The boy is much more polite than Choji had made him out to be,' she thought.

"No, Akimichi-san. I am a genin now and have put all that behind me. I just got out of the hospital after getting hurt in the Chunin Exam and I thought some nice vegetables would help me regain my strength. Could you suggest any that might help me?" Naruto said still being respectful.

The old woman smiled. She loved talking about food and the benefits of certain kinds of vegetables. She began to talk about ones that would aid in his recovering strength quickly and Naruto listened attentively; occasionally nodding and smiling at the old woman.

When it was Naruto's turn with the vendor, the man looked at him coldly.

"What are you planning, Uzumaki?" the man said in a clipped tone.

"I was planning on buying some of your vegetables today," Naruto replied. He pulled out his money and tried to order when the man cut him off.

"Your money and business are not welcome at my stand, boy," he almost snarled.

Naruto put on a lost face and looked hurt. "I've never done anything to wrong you Sir. I have been a new person since I became a genin and I put my pranking past behind me. I have not done a single prank on anyone since I made genin. I just wanted to get some vegetables today with the money I earned defending the village."

"I said your money and business are not welcome at my stand, boy," the vendor repeated.

Naruto looked crestfallen and turned to leave; making sure the Akimichi matron saw his sadness. "I just wanted to buy some vegetables."

The old lady saw the look and she got angry. "Why are you being so mean to Naruto-kun?" she snapped at the vendor. "He was going to spend his money at your stand. He just got out of the hospital and even asked my advice on what would help him get better and get back to making sure our village and you are safe."

The old woman stepped up to the vendor and began to poke him in the chest as she continued.

"He was polite and waited in line like everyone else. He wanted to spend his money and you turn him away like he tried to steal from you."

The vendor blubbered and tried to speak but the matron cut him off.

"Are you going to accuse me and not help me next? Well, I am not going to give you a chance. I am going to the stand on the next street over and buy his vegetables. See if I come back here again. Come, Naruto-kun, I know that other vendor well. He is a bit more expensive but he is fair to everyone," the woman finished and practically dragged Naruto after her.

Many onlookers had seen and overheard the entire things. Many had expected some kind of prank from Naruto but this was something new. No one had really thought about it, but his pranks did stop after he had become a genin. There were many who knew his secret and disliked him or ignored him for it. But a few others in line stepped out and glared at the vendor before following off after the Akimichi matron as well.

As Naruto went home with a nice sized bag of assorted vegetables, he grinned inside. The rising temperature meant the heat of the day was coming and the vendor still had a good sized pile of his stock left. The remaining produce would wither under the heat of the sun soon and the man would be forced to sell it at a loss to recover anything. By hurting the man's business like that, Naruto had hurt that vendor more than the man had ever hurt him. The best part of it was that he had done nothing illegal. In a couple of weeks he would go back and try to buy there again. If the man still refused to treat him fairly, then he would have to do something else legally to hurt his business.

Life was good.

'Life sucks,' the girl thought.

Once she had calmed down from her snit that morning, Shizune came over to meet her. She found the girl hiding in the bathroom of all places. The dark haired apprentice looked over the near teen girl and frowned. The girl needed a lot more than the single outfit she wore after getting out from the hospital. The girl's hair was short, blonde with quarter inch long red roots and appeared to have been cut unevenly with a dull knife giving it a spiky look.

After her initial impression on the girl's appearance was finished, Shizune introduced herself.

"Hello, um, Naruto I guess. I'm Shizune, Tsunade-sama's apprentice, medical ninja and jonin of Konoha. She said she would take care of you but I think she is going to need some help. I have been her apprentice and looking after her for more than your lifetime. I would like to be your friend as well," she said to the quiet girl.

"You know what's inside of me, don't you?" the girl asked.

"Yes, I do, Naru-chan. It was something inflicted upon you and not your fault. You are a victim, not the cause."

"Why can't the villagers see that then?" the girl said.

"I don't know, but you have been given something you cannot get again in your lifetime. You get to start over," Shizune said with a smile.

The girl looked up confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, the villagers dislike Naruto, correct? Describe what he looks like to me please."

"Um, he is a boy, same age as me. He has blonde hair, blue eyes and about the same height," the girl began before Shizune stopped her.

"You do realize that you are none of those things. I see a girl with purple eyes and red hair growing in making her once blonde hair look like it had come out of a bottle," Shizune said as she picked at the points of the girl's badly cut hair. "The villagers know Naruto. However, they don't know a thing about the girl I see. With a little work on your part, they would never see you are Naruto."

"But I am Naruto," the girl muttered.

"I understand that. But if they see a blonde boy who looks just like Naruto standing next to a girl who looks similar but not the same. She has different hair and eyes. Who would they think really is Naruto?"

"Him," the girl whispered morosely as tears threatened again.

After a pause the girl spoke up.

"Why am I crying so much these past couple of weeks? I never used to cry like this," she said rubbing her eyes.

"Part of being a girl, Naru-chan. All the hormones," Shizune said trying to stop a giggle.

"Don't call me Naru-chan, I'm not a baby," the girl complained.

Shizune chuckled now. "Well, I have to call you something. Besides, girls call each other 'chan' all the time. Something else you need to get used to."

The girl just nodded. "It seems like I have to get used to a lot of stuff I don't like. But it's not like I haven't before," she said with resignation.

Shizune smiled. "Well, since you are in such an accepting mood, why don't I take you shopping for the things you are going to need? Tsunade-sama is horrible at it and I bet she got you that outfit you're wearing right now. Shopping, weapons, and a couple of other stops."

A sigh followed by a nod followed Shizune's suggestion.

The girl formerly known as Uzumaki Naruto was practically dragged out of the Senju estate behind an excited Shizune.

Kakashi got to his team's meeting place only an hour late today. He was greeted with silence as Sasuke brooded and Sakura braided grass in silence. This was a different reaction than the team had before the Chunin Exam. Before, Sakura would have been pestering Sasuke. Now, Sakura was past thinking his silent brooding was cool. When she was locked in the same room with him for several days, the experience made her realize there was not much more to the boy. It finally dawned on her that he felt she was not worth his time and interrupted his training.

'If he wanted to be nice he would have been. All he wants to do is train and get stronger. He has nothing else in his life that he cares about and wants it that way. Fine, he can be alone,' she finally admitted to herself.

"Good morning Sakura, Sasuke. I hope you will be glad to find out that Naruto is better and should be returning to the team in another few days. I hope neither of you are holding a grudge over his getting hurt in the Exams but it was an s class missing ninja after Sasuke," Kakashi said with his single visible eye crinkling in a smile.

Sakura was surprised at the news. Sasuke just made a dismissive noise and said, "Are we going to do any training now?"

Kakashi shook his head. "An overnight D-ranked mission for us; we are escorting a noble to the village from his estate to Konoha for the Chunin Exam finals in two weeks. We meet him at the trade town first thing tomorrow morning and bring him to Konoha. Go prepare for overnight and be at the gate in two hours."

The blonde boy placed his bags of groceries onto his table and looked around the room. Various scrolls had been piled on the bed and table when he had cleaned up that morning. Most of the books and scrolls he kept had been from Academy classes he had blown off when the grinning idiot had been in charge. He had a vague idea of what many held as most had been skimmed over at best. A few jutsu scrolls were mixed into the piles and he would need to organize everything.

'First lunch and then I go over things,' he thought.

Naruto pulled out his rarely used pots and bowls and began preparing a basic stir fry with some of his purchases. A leaf pulled from the vegetables reminded him of the chakra control exercise Iruka had made him do with Choji, Kiba and Shikamaru. Then, Naruto had moaned about how he hated doing those things. Now, he was not the same person anymore. He lifted the leaf to his forehead and focused chakra to hold it there as he continued to prepare lunch.

After eating the most nutritious meal he had ever cooked for himself, Naruto pulled out one of the math textbooks from the Academy. The question he remembered from the first test in the Chunin Exam needed some high level math to solve. He should go back over that and see if he could even figure it out with the book's help.

In the back of his mind, a presence growled its approval.

The girl who had once been Naruto sat still as the sharp shiny object drew closer to her head. The sound of metal sliding over metal made her flinch but she remained still. Shizune had given her such a pout when the girl had tried to bolt from the shop the first time the beautician approached with the scissors.

"I'm not going to cut a lot. I am just going to even it out a little bit," the woman said with a smile once the girl had calmed down.

"Relax Naru-chan," Shizune said at the girl tensed at each sound the scissors made.

The woman with the scissors looked to Shizune. "What happened to her hair? Did a mission go wrong or something?"

"More like an 'or something'," Shizune said in a hesitant voice. "We just got back into town from a long term trip and there was an accident on the way."

The beautician nodded knowingly. She dealt with kunoichi daily and fixed many bad 'accidents' in her time. The blonde would have to be re-colored to match the roots but that was a simple task. The young woman in her chair was acting like she had never had her hair done before. The hair itself looked like it had been cut by someone with a kunai and it was badly uneven.

But a few minutes wielding the scissors fixed most of the uneven hair and the woman moved to the dying stage. The girl was trying to get out of the chair again until Shizune tapped her forehead while muttering a jutsu and the girl couldn't move anymore.

"It's for your own good, Naru-chan. The blonde has to go and match the red that is coming in. I'll release the jutsu when she is done."

The girl whimpered but the beautician worked efficiently and was done quickly. Shizune pulled her to one side and spoke to the woman and received a nod before returning. The motionless girl could do nothing to stop the beautician as the woman applied cosmetics and other tortures.

At last, she was done and the beautician stepped back to allow Shizune to see. The dark haired woman nodded in approval and smiled.

"Can we have a few minutes?" Shizune asked the beautician.

The hair stylist nodded and went to help someone else.

"Naru-chan, I am going to release the jutsu I put on you now. Before you get up and panic, I want to you do something for me. Just take a minute to look at what you see in the mirror before you try to undo anything. Can you promise that?" Shizune asked.

The girl nodded with the limited movement she had of her head before the medic released her paralysis jutsu. Shizune stood between the girl and the mirror before stepping to the side. The image that appeared in the mirror was a stranger to the girl but she was struck by what she looked like.

Ever since being changed into a girl, Naruto had avoided even looking into a reflective surface. Now, she was faced with what she felt would be something hideous and ugly.

The once blonde hair was in a pixie cut and colored to match the roots to shine a rich red in the lights. The makeup that she had been imagined as caked on had only the barest of appearance as it was designed to enhance what was there. It was not trying to make her look older or younger.

The overall look was one even Naruto would call as cute. This stranger in the mirror was nothing like she had imagined it would be. She watched as the image lifted her hands to lightly touch her face as the girl did.

"You look very pretty, Naru-chan," Shizune whispered in her ear. "It is nothing like what you expected is it?"

The girl only shook her head and watched the image in the mirror do the same.

"Have you decided on a name yet, Naru-chan?" the medic asked and once more got a shake of the head in reply.

"Can I suggest one for you? It is close to your old name with only a slight difference. It also fits the person you can see there, a growing beauty. Plus I get to keep calling you Naru-chan," Shizune finished with a smile.

The girl who had spent her entire life as Naruto whispered out the name Shizune suggested quietly to herself.

The day after the escort mission, two thirds of Team 7 was waiting by their normal meeting place at the bridge. Sasuke was in his silent mode and Sakura continued braiding grass. She had made a grass whip several feet long since the Chunin Exams. It kept her mind off the boy standing nearby while she waited. They just waited as always but something in the air felt different today.

"Kaka-sensei said Naruto would be back with us today but no sign of him yet. You think he is going to make it, Sasuke?" Sakura asked to break the quiet.

"Hn, he is likely staying away," Sasuke grumbled. "Not like we really need him anyway. He got in my way during the Exams and made us fail."

Sakura was tired of the same line. "Sasuke, he saved your butt in there. If that hit he took had gone to you, I doubt you would be coming back so quickly. That chakra …" Sakura stopped and shuddered and remembered she was not supposed to talk about it.

'That chakra felt so strange,' she continued in her head. 'It was both comforting and scary at the same time. At least the blue part felt comforting. That red chakra popped up in the Wave country as well. That stuff felt like I would die if I get too close to it. Ugh, I really need to tell anyone about this. Maybe I should take up that Ibiki guy on his offer to talk to him.'

Sakura was pulled from her thoughts by the arrival of Kakashi.

"Well, glad to see you back Naruto," Kakashi said to the amazement of Sasuke and Sakura.

Neither one saw the blonde boy anywhere. Sakura followed Kakashi's line of sight to a nearby tree to see Naruto looking the same as always in a tree. That is where the sameness ended. The blonde boy was sitting cross legged on the bottom of a branch with a leaf plastered to his forehead. It was a display of chakra control that Naruto had never accomplished in front of them before.

Sakura actually smiled when she saw the boy was all right after his ordeal in the Forest.

"Hi there," Naruto said. "I was wondering when you two would notice me. Your awareness sucks."

That remark had Sakura flinch slightly but she held back. 'He just got out of the hospital,' she reminded herself.

"I means I was sitting there for a half hour and neither one of you even had a clue," Naruto laughed as he said that.

Sakura's eyebrow twitched and she got angry.

"I thought I was the dobe of the team but even I notice when my teammates are nearby," the blonde said with a grin as Sakura finally lost her temper.

"NARUTO!" she yelled as she charged her teammate ready to pummel him. Her charge quickly became something else when Naruto merely stepped to the side and made her attack miss. Sakura fell to the ground and had a face full of dirt when Naruto looked back at her.

"Sakura, I am not going to let you do that any longer," he said in a cold voice that was completely unlike the boy they knew. "Your days of just hitting me like your own personal punching bag are over."

Sasuke actually smiled slightly at that. 'This might be interesting,' he thought.

A few hours later, Sarutobi was meeting with Jiraiya when they were interrupted by Tsunade and Shizune with the red headed girl in tow.

"Sensei, with much fuss and bother involved I can now present to you your newest genin. Please meet Uzumaki Narumi, twin sister to Uzumaki Naruto and the girl I returned to Konoha after raising her in secret to protect her from all enemies foreign and domestic," Tsunade said with a smirk.

Sarutobi was shocked to see Naruto, now Narumi. The girl was wearing maroon Capri length cargo pants, and a belted gray tunic that came mid-thigh. Black high top ninja sandals were on her feet. A kunai pouch peeked out from under the tunic along her right thigh and a smaller one down on her left calf for a single blade. The tunic was a turtleneck loose enough to hide most of her chest development as well as her hips and buttocks from view. A medic style equipment bag hung behind her back to further hide the still somewhat shy girl's posterior from view. The forehead protector was tied in its proper place and had a maroon band holding the plate.

The aged leader stroked his slight beard, "Narumi. That does indeed fit her. I'll get the paperwork finished off quickly. You made a splendid choice for a name, Narumi."

Narumi blushed slightly and replied, "Shizune suggested it."

Sarutobi nodded and puffed once on his pipe. "Now, what team should I assign you to?"

"None just yet, Sensei," Tsunade cut in. "She will need about another month of down time before she is ready to go out on any missions. There are still some things she needs to learn about herself and being a girl before going back on active duty."

"Very well, I'll defer to your judgment, Tsunade," the Hokage replied. "Narumi, you will report in one month for team assignment. Until then you are considered off duty and under the instruction of Tsunade. However, I do hope you won't be a stranger and come visit when you can."

"I'll try, Old Man. Thanks," Narumi said smiling for the first time since entering the office.

Next Chapter: Growing Pains

End Notes:

After reading the suggestions and looking through a half dozen baby name sites I decided on the name Narumi. It is close enough to satisfy the criteria I wanted and still be an actual name. I wanted something similar to 'Naruto' and have an appropriate meaning relating to the character.

Narumi – Japanese girl's name meaning 'growing beauty'

Pronounced (NAH-roo-me) emphasis on the first two letter sound.

Thank you to everyone who suggested names and many were good but not quite what I had in mind.

Review Notes:

I have a basic understanding of how genetics work. For story purposes, we are going with the idea that most of the factors that gave Naruto / Narumi the blonde blue eyed appearance were on the deleted Y chromosome. My intention is to have her not look like a sexy jutsu version of Naruto.

Author notes:

A small issue developed with the flash drive containing my stories. It decided to take a prolonged visit as my sister's house after Thanksgiving weekend. I should have it back soon but as nearly all of my writing is on it, it is delaying anything else being posted. Updates in progress for three other stories are delayed.

Posted 12/11/10