I do not own anything from Naruto, that is all Masashi Kishimoto.

This is my first fanfic and because it is my first, criticisms are welcome, feedback is appreciated.

As previously stated, I do not like to write to canon, but some parts will be as per canon. Though that will be up to my discretion. I have read and thoroughly enjoyed the reviews.

"Normal conversations"
"Thoughts"
"Tailed beast talking"
"Tailed beast thoughts"
"Jutsu"
(Jutsu name)

Chapter 14: Kurama's True Form

Naruto woke up at 7 AM and stretched before getting out of bed and dressing in his black clothes, hooking his mask to his waist. He looked towards the dresser that hid the vault of tomes, scrolls, and weapons of his mother and father, deciding he would spend some time studying it, but first he wanted to see his panther. He walked out of his room and walked up to the guest bedroom and pushed open the door, having forgotten that Yugao had stayed the night. As he walked into the bedroom, he found Yugao standing in front of him holding a shirt in front of her. She was completely naked with the exception of a pair of black underwear, which allowed him to get a full view of her shapely body and firm breasts.

"I.. um..." was all he managed to say before his nose started bleeding and he fell back, fainting. "So... perfect." Naruto thought to himself as his body hit the floor, unconscious and out of it.

Kurama started laughing as his jailor passed out. "She's going to make a fine specimen of a partner for this brat."

Yugao quickly put on the shirt she was holding and a pair of pants as she rushed over to Naruto, picking his head up and putting it in her lap, "Damn it Naruto, you should have knocked first.." she said as she started patting his cheek lightly, while at the same time thinking, "Well, at least I know he likes what he saw, even though I wasn't planning on showing him what I looked like this soon." She listened as she heard the panthers claws clicking on the wooden floor as she came up to Naruto and began licking his face to get her owner to wake up. She waited for a few more minutes before Naruto started opening his eyes. "Well hey there. You know, you really should learn to knock before walking in on a woman."

Naruto looked at Sanarah who sat on her rear and looked at him with a tilted head, licking her nose. He reached a hand up and scratched the side of her face and she began purring and licking his wrist. Naruto sat up and turned his attention to his friend, the image of her body burned into his brain never to be erased as he responded to her, "I'm sorry, I'm not used to having people over for the night, especially a woman. How long was I out for?" he asked, not wanting to be late for his meeting with the Hokage.

"You were only out for a few minutes. Why do you ask?" Yugao asked him as she followed him out of the room and into the kitchen, Sanarah following close behind.

"I have a meeting with Hokage-jiji about a mission." he said, knowing he wasn't allowed to say anything more. He grabbed some milk from the refrigerator and put it in a bowl and set it on the floor, watching as Sanarah started sniffing at it before beginning to drink. He grabbed an apple and started eating as he looked at his friend, "So what are you up to today?"

"Not a whole lot, I'm off for a couple weeks from active duty, so maybe just relax and read or paint, maybe do a little bit of training." she grabbed a banana and peeled it before eating it. "Besides, someone has to watch Sanarah while you're gone." she teased, reaching a hand up to the necklace.

"Yeah, that's true. Thanks again for taking some time off. Is there anything I can do to repay you?" Naruto asked.

"Sure. Treat me to a nice dinner twice a week." she responded, smiling to herself.

"Sounds like a deal. I'm sure we could visit Ichiraku's.."

"Ichiraku's is not a 'nice' dinner, Menma. By nice, I mean a sit down restaurant with waiters and everything." she said, cutting him off.

"Ichiraku is too nice!" Naruto retorted back.

"It is not!" Yugao shot back.

"Is too!"

Kurama growled in his mind. "She's right kit. Ichiraku's is not a nice dinner for two."

"Shut up Kurama, who's side are you on anyway?" he asked as he argued with the purple-haired ANBU operative and now his inner demon.

"I'm on the side that makes sense." Kurama answered back.

"It is not!" Yugao said, glaring at Naruto. "Tell you what. Once a week we go to Ichiraku's and then we go to a real restaurant twice a week. That sound better?" Yugao offered once more, wanting to spend some time in a more practical setting with the shinobi she wants to be bound to.

"Ichiraku's is a real restaurant." Naruto muttered, suddenly feeling the wind from a thrown shuriken.

"It's not a NICE restaurant. Its a restaurant but not a nice one." Yugao said, lowering her arm.

Muttering, Naruto agreed and threw away the core of the apple that he had just finished. "I have to go meet the Hokage before I'm late." he grabbed his mask and put it on."

"I'll be here." Yugao said as she watched Naruto disappear in a shun-shin of leaves.

Hiruzen sat at his desk as he heard a knock on his door, "Enter."

Naruto walked in, wearing his mask and black clothes, his sword on his back, as he stepped before the desk and kneeled. "Hokage-jiji."

"Menma Shonjiki." he said, pushing a folder and scroll towards the shinobi in front of him. "You are hereby on temporary leave from Team Seven and are being assigned to an S-rank mission that involves city defense. You will be paid accordingly, but you cannot tell anyone the details of your mission or the rank of your mission. It will be a year long mission, any means of completion is allowed, to include the use ofKage Bunshin (Shadow clones), of which I already know you will likely use. So, during this year you will be training under an old friend of mine, Magenta."

As soon as the name was finished, an ANBU member, with a magenta colored mask and blonde braided hair with streaks of magenta materialised in the room as if she had always been there, kneeling in front of the Hokage. "You called Hokage-sama?"

"Yes, starting tomorrow, you will train with Menma for two hours, no holding back. Do you understand?" Hiruzen asked the newly named ANBU.

"I understand." Magenta said, though by the voice, you couldn't tell if it was male or female, but by the hair and how it was braided, you could tell the operative was a female.

"Excellent. Dismissed." Hiruzen said as Magenta disappeared just as quietly as she arrived.

"Who's Magenta?" Naruto asked curiously. "Noone has that perfect of a Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)."

Hiruzen grinned and looked at the 12 year old boy in front of him. "Magenta is the most highly skilled, most deadly, and most dangerous ANBU operative Konagakure has, and second most dangerous shinobi in the village." He watched the boy scratch his head in confusion.

"So, who's the first?" Naruto asked stupidly, before receiving a glare from the Hokage. "Oh, right."

"Me. However, if you have not figured it out, Magenta is the only other person, besides me, who is authorized to command the ANBU." Hiruzen stated, looking at Magenta's file marking her status as an S-rank shinobi, easily capable to training Naruto to the next level.

"Well, this is going to be interesting... trained by the ANBU leader herself. Should count yourself lucky Naruto, well, that is if she doesn't kill you." Kurama said, a feral grin going from ear to ear.

"Yeah, and I still have to change your seal too. So getting trained by two people at once is going to be a lot of fun." Naruto thought to himself.

"Hmmm. So you found a way to change the seal?" Kurama asked, a feeling of joy and elatedness coming over him.

"Yeah, one of my clones found a scroll that showed a formula that would allow you a bit more freedom." Naruto told his captive demon.

"Excellent, then I strongly suggest that you do so immediately." Kurama stated to his somewhat friend. He hated to admit it, but he was starting to like the kid.

"Or what?" Naruto asked curiously, immediately getting a splitting headache as Kurama bashed into the bars of the cage he was locked in.

"Or I give you a migraine on a scale the world has never heard of before." Kurama said, settling back down after hitting the bars a couple times to emphasize his point.

"Ok ok... just stop beating the cage." Naruto said, wincing slightly behind the mask.

"Hmph."

"Any questions Menma?" Hiruzen asked.

"Yes, just one. When it comes time for the Chunin Exams, will I still be part of Team Seven and will I still be able to participate?" he asked curiously.

"Yes and yes. Just because you are being assigned a different mission, does not change which team you are on, nor is it going to keep you from partaking in the exams." Hiruzen said, leaning back in his chair as he grabbed his pipe from his desk, lit it and began smoking from it. "Now leave and prepare for your mission. You start immediately."

Naruto bowed and left the office, running into Tenten, Sasuke, and Kakashi. "Hey guys. I'd love to chat but I have to go."

"Where are you going baka?" Sasuke asked, crossing his arms at his masked friend.

"I have to get ready for a mission, I can't tell you anything other than that." Naruto stated as he watched his teammates look at him in disbelief.

"What about us? We're your teammates?" Tenten asked, looking over to Sasuke and Kakashi.

"Uh..." Naruto scratching the chin of his mask, unsure how to answer.

"Lets go guys, Menma is busy and the Hokage is waiting for us. See you soon Menma, and don't forget what I've taught you and don't be a stranger to our training grounds. You are still part of Team Seven you know." Kakashi said as he turned around and knocked on the door to the Hokage's office, entering it a few moments later, his last two genin following behind him. "A kunai with a strange seal, a solo mission that is possibly S-rank considering the secrecy, living in the Yondaime's estate, and always wears a mask. Who are you really Menma and why go to such lengths to hide who you are?"

Naruto made it back to his home and made a single Kage Bunshin with over half of his natural chakra, the clone appearing in a cloud of smoke. "Start the mission, create more clones when you get there and create them with as little chakra as possible. You are just there to gather and obtain as much information as you can, if you find anything else you know how to reach me. Oh, and feel free to use the Hiraishinno Jutsu(Flying Thunder God Technique) to get there."

"You got it boss." the clone said as he disappeared, having used the Hiraishin to get to his destined location.

Naruto went over to the window to see Yugao training herself. "Even though she's off work, she still continues to train herself." He spots Sanarah laying on the porch in the shade, watching the woman train. "Seems Sanarah has taken a liking to Yugao-chan." He turns around and walks to his bedroom and removes his mask as he sits on his bed and enters his mindscape.

"So, you going to change the seal yet?" Kurama asked of his jailor, eager to finally revert to his human form and have a larger area to roam around in.

"Yeah, however I need something to write the seal on and I need you to promise me that you won't try to kill me or break free when I change the seal." Naruto said, eyeing the tailed beast carefully. Kurama may be his friend, but he still hated humanity and wanted to kill everyone.

"I can't guarantee that. I've been locked away inside three jinchurikiis for almost 100 years. The idea of freedom would be something far too tempting to pass up." Kurama said, his claws scratching the ground, but unable to leave any gouges in the floor, despite how powerful he is.

"Well, unless you can guarantee it, I won't change the seal..." Naruto thought for a moment, "Then again, even if you did break free, you'd likely end up getting your tails beat AGAIN by Konohagakure shinobi. Either that or controlled by an Uchiha again." Naruto said, knowing he was prodding the beast with insults that were going to inevitably enrage the fox.

"How DARE you insist that I was even beaten! Do you remember who're you're talking to? I am Kurama, the Kyuubi no Yoko, strongest of all the tailed beasts!" Kurama yelled out to the masked boy in front of him, slamming his head into the bars of the cage that resulted in the boy getting down on a knee, holding his head in pain. "To think that I saved a brat like you countless times! You aren't even worth the air I breathe! Why should I NOT kill you?" Kurama asked his jailor.

"Because..." Naruto said, pushing through the pain, "You want out of that cage and you don't want to be manipulated again by another Uchiha or put into another jinchurikii after gaining a moment of freedom." He responded. He couldn't help but feel that Kurama was trying to teach him to think like a leader, but he pushed that thought away as the fox likely wouldn't care one way or the other if he ever became Hokage.

"Hmph." Kurama didn't want to admit that the boy was right, but he was. Even if he did manage to break free from his current jailor, he'd likely just end up getting sealed into another jailor and the cycle would begin again. "Fine, you have a deal. I won't attempt to break free at all, so long as you make sure I get a temple, a large forest, and a volcanic area. Give me that and I'll stay right where I am." Kurama said to his jailor, and if he would stay true to his word. He may be a fox, cunning, dangerous and deadly, but if there was anything he hated more than being trapped, it was being trapped after a momentary briefness of freedom.

Naruto grinned and nodded. "I figure since you said you had a human form, you might have something that you would prefer to have the seal on."

Kurama growled but slid something across the floor. "That will suffice. Just don't break it."

Naruto looked down and noticed a large red and golden necklace with a red and golden chain that would wrap around the neck of the wearer. As he picked it up, he ran his hand over the large curved triangle that was the head of it and saw there were nine chakra gems in it as well, but these were a fiery orange that glowed as bright as the sun. "So chakra gems are why you're so powerful?"

"Not even close. Those chakra gems aren't even a fraction of my true power. I only have it because it was my tou-sans and he gave each of us a necklace to wear in our human forms. They compliment our already massive powers. However, these gems can store up to five tails of chakra, whereas a normal gem can only store up to an eighth of that. Which is quite a feat in itself to store 200% of your normal reserves, for a human." Kurama explained, though not having ever once used the gems, but has stored chakra into them countless times, which is how Madara Uchiha was able to take control of him that first time to fight Hashirama. He growled softly to himself at the thought of both those shinobi before laying his head back down onto his paws, watching the boy carefully.

Naruto rolled his eyes and sat down, placing the necklace in his lap and began making hand signs, before pressing his hand onto the back of the triangular face of the necklace. "Fuinjutsu: Hakke hafu shiru no jutsu." (Sealing Style: Eight Trigrams Half-Sealed Jutsu) As he finished the jutsu, black lines of kanji began forming around the necklace and chain, the back of the triangular face having two semi-circles with four strands of kanji on each side, the edges of the circle nowhere close to touching while the middle lay a swirl, but the spacing in it was larger than what was on Naruto's stomach. He looked up to Kurama and grinned as he was brought up to the seal on the cage. "Remember Kurama, you can't kill me or take me over." He said, seeing the fox nod as he peeled off the seal, before the doors burst open and sent him flying back, slamming him into a wall. "That hurt." He thought to himself as he stood up, still holding the necklace in his hands as the scenery around him began to change.

Kurama stepped out of the cage as he finally came out completely, the scenery around him changed immediately. He was no longer in a sewer, but was standing in the middle of a forest and saw a temple not too far from him. Though in his bijuu form, it was quite small but still a magnificently constructed building, even if it was in Naruto's mind. He looked over and saw a valley of volcanic activity and grinned, a small guttural purr as he stretched after being locked up for 12 years inside a tiny cage. He looked down to see Naruto holding up the necklace, smiling at him. "You're not bad for a human. Reckless, a bit naïve, and unpredictable, but you're not bad. You have my respect kit." He grinned and closed his eyes willing his body to revert back to his human form.

Naruto watched in amazement as the large mountain like beast slowly transformed into a man. A man with long orange hair that was tied at the nape of his neck with a golden band and was easily six feet tall, if not a small amount taller. He was lean and skinny but still had a toned body that hid his true strength completely. He still had red slits for eyes and a toothy grin, but what he wore made Naruto facefault. He was wearing a cloak much like the Yondaime Hokage's, with the exception of the colors. Where the Yondaime's cloak was white with red flames, Kurama's was golden with red flames and had nine black tomoe surrounding the collar of the cloak and also had the kanji for 'fox' on his back. On each side of his waist, he had a sword each five foot in length and in his hand, he held a golden staff that was a foot taller than the man. The staff had a circular ring at the top and in that ring were nine more rings. He walked up to Kurama, the man, and handed him the red and golden necklace. "Do all bijuu's look like that when they take human form?"

"Not all. I take a lot from my tou-san being the strongest of us tailed beasts." Kurama took the necklace and put it on, the sealing jutsu taking effect once it touched the man's light colored skin. "But us bijuu's do have a tendency to find the finest products and wear them." Kurama said before thinking to himself, "Well, we used to, until we started getting hunted for our powers and we had to go into hiding." He looked at the boy and held out a fist towards the boy. "Although you are still weak in my eyes, you truly are a great jinchurikii."

Naruto looked at the fist before him and smiled, meeting Kurama's fist with his own, suddenly feeling a small boost of power, seeing a toothy grin on Kurama's face.

"You better go. I sense your girlfriend coming." Kurama teased.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Naruto yelled.

"Right, and you didn't see her topless. Which, for a human she's quite stunning if I might add." Kurama put a hand to his chin in thought.

"I didn't mean to, and stop being a pervert. She's still my friend." Naruto said as he threw a punch at Kurama.

Kurama stepped to the side a little and easily parried Naruto's blow with a smack to his forearm, putting his foot out to trip the boy, and watched as he fell face first into the dirt. "Maybe if you weren't so naïve, I wouldn't have to be a pervert." Kurama answered. "Besides, you'd be the same way if you went years without seeing and doing the things I've done." Kurama grinned, watching Naruto push himself up.

"Doesn't matter, stop perving out on Yugao-chan." Naruto said as he left his mindscape just as Yugao was knocking on his door.

"You'll get there too Naruto, you just need to get older.." Kurama thought as he laughed and walked off towards the temple, enjoying being in his human form once more.

"Menma. Magenta is here to see you. She's in the backyard." Yugao said as she left to go to the backyard. She's never seen Magenta fight before and always wanted to see her fight, after all, she wasn't the ANBU leader for no reason.

Naruto showed up in the middle of the porch, Sanarah coming up to nuzzle his leg, even though she was still relatively weak. He reached down to pet his panther and smiled at the animal, scratching behind her ears.

"Hurry up Menma. I wish to test your skills out so I know where to place you when training you." Magenta said, not moving a muscle as she watched the boy hand the panther to her Neko operative.

Naruto walked down the steps to the middle of the backyard and bowed towards Magenta. "So, how will this spar go?"

"Simple. You will try to kill me." Magenta said, not giving off a hint of emotion when she spoke, nor moving a muscle.

"You're a Leaf shinobi, I can't kill you." Naruto countered.

"I said TRY to kill me. Personally, I don't think you'll be able to touch me. Not even the Yondaime Hokage could beat me, even with his own personal jutsus." Magenta said, eyeing the boy through her mask, not being able to tell if her statements were getting to the boy himself as he too, wore a mask.

Naruto shrugged and grabbed a few shuriken and threw them at the ANBU leader and ran through a few hand seals and throwing both hands out in front of him in the same manner he threw the shuriken, "Futon: Kami sori jinpu"(Wind Style: Razor Blade Winds). The wind jutsu caught the shuriken and propelled them forward even faster, frowning as he saw Magenta grab a kunai faster than he could follow and blocked the shuriken, while only managing to scratch her kunai.

"I thought I told you to try to kill me, not toy with me." Magenta said, trying to rile the boy up.

Naruto frowned as he grab five kunai and placed his seal on them and threw them to random spots in the backyard. He drew his sword from his back and got into an offensive stance and teleported behind Magenta, attempting to stab her but missed as she side stepped and spun around, quickly landing a kick to the back of his head, which sent him stumbling forward. Naruto leaped backwards and slammed his sword into the ground and began going through more hand seals, before breathing out multiple medium sized balls of fire, "Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu" (Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu) The balls of fire began covering the entire length of the backyard, leaving the ANBU operative no place to bypass the flames.

Magenta backflipped as she saw a wall of flame come towards her and made hand signs and spit out a wall of water."Suiton: Suijinheki" (Water Style: Water Wall) as the wall finished coming up, she flipped through more signs and held a firm stance. "Suiton: Suiben"(Water Style: Water Whip) As the jutsu finished, she held two whips of water in her hand, jumping up and over the water wall and lashing out with her whips to grab the masked by the arms and threw him into one of the wooden pillars of the backyard, landing gracefully when Naruto once had been. "I will tell you once more. Try to kill me, don't play with me." she said, dispersing her whips as they splashed onto the ground, kicking Naruto's sword over to him.

Naruto growled that he was getting beat so easily. "Who is she and how was she even able to block me when I used Hiraishin?" Naruto stood up and put his sword away. "Ninjutsu obviously won't work against her, and I'm not going to try kenjutsu as she doesn't seem to have a sword of her own. So, lets try taijutsu." Naruto looked at his shoulders, debating on if he should remove the gravity seals he had on him, but quickly decided against it as he ran forward and began a taijutsu match with the magenta masked ANBU who easily blocked, parried, and jabbed Naruto with ease without him once landing a hit on her.

Throughout the entire fight, Yugao was watching with rapt interest to the style that Magenta was using, wondering just what rank of a shinobi she must be. She watched as Magenta performed two jutsus back to back while the other was still going and was able to throw Naruto around like a rag doll, without even breaking a sweat. "I can see why she's ANBU leader. She isn't even trying against him."

Magenta kept blocking and parrying the kicks, punches, jabs, and kneeings that Naruto tried to give her every second. It was hard to find an opening in his offense, it was well refined and mastered, so she would just keep looking for it. Finally, he took a flawed right step and she acted on it, quickly kicking the side of his right calf, which made him lose balance. Afterward she grabbed his wrist and spun around to the back of him, pulling his arm with her until she had his wrist against the back of his neck, pushing him forward into one of the wooden pillars and put a kunai to his neck. "You lose, Menma." she said as she let him go, eying her new student carefully. "Overall, you're not bad. Though I think you were holding back a lot."

Kurama sat in the throne of the temple, having watched the entire first and scowled that his container was beat once again by an ANBU. He watched as Naruto rubbed his shoulder and gave a small complaint of, "Are all training sessions going to be this rough?" Putting his face in his hands he decided to answer Naruto at the same time Magenta was: "Yes, and you're going to need a lot more training."

"Yes, and you're going to need a lot more training." Magenta said at the same time as Kurama.

Naruto grinned and sighed. "Great, two senseis at the same time. I'm in for one hell of a year." he thought to himself as he watched Magenta disappear as if she was never there in the first place. He walked around and picked up his kunai and walked over to Yugao and pet his panther which was in her lap.

"Its going to be fun watching you train for the next year. Maybe I can help train you more as well?" Yugao said as Naruto sat down beside her.

"That would be perfect." Naruto replied as he sat down beside Yugao, enjoying the day and the idea of being trained to many higher levels.