A/N Thanks to Madeyemoody95 and firegamerftw for their reviews. As always, I like constructive criticism. Also, if anyone likes pranks, then shoot me some ideas for Naruto. The best part of life is humor in my opinion, and that's one trait I think that she won't lose.
As soon as Naruto had closed their apartment door behind them, she had seized Sakura in a tight hug.
"Sakura-chan, that was the best cover story I've ever heard. How did you come up with that?" She said excitedly. Sakura laughed and patted the blonde's head.
"I was planning it pretty much the whole time from when we got in the shower until Ino turned up. I left the name open just in case you wanted to create your own." Naruto laughed.
"Sakura-chan, you're the best!" She smirked.
"I know. So whatcha gonna name yourself?"
"Ummm well, that could be tough," Naruto said thoughtfully.
"Yeah, it's gotta be different enough that people won't guess it's you. I mean, they'll guess just from seeing you, but the name could help allay suspicion. I have an idea if you want to hear it though."
"What's that Sakura-chan?"
"Tomomi." (A/N It means beautiful friend according to a website. If said website is wrong, I don't even care. I like the sound and this is my fic. I'll do what I want.)
Naruto, once he figured out the meaning, just hugged Sakura again, not having words to express what it meant that she thought the name was a good fit for her.
Sakura glanced around. "I wonder where Sasuke got to anyway. Did he fall asleep?"
It was about that time that the door opened and Sasuke walked in followed by Kakashi.
"Sensei!" Naruto cheered, happy so see him. Kakashi glanced over him seeming amused.
"Yo. Congrats on surviving." Naruto sweatdropped.
"Did you have to kill the mood with yucky talk?"
"I think the word you're looking for is morbid, Dobe," Sasuke drawled. Naruto threw her hands in the air.
"Whatever, I don't even care. More importantly, did Teme tell you?"
"He did. Iruka helped. Naruto the Hokage is here and we're going to see him, kay?" Kakashi said with a smile.
"Okay Sensei!" Naruto said happily. "Um, should we bring Teme and Sakura-chan?"
"They can come along, and if the Hokage says so they can come in," Kakashi replied nonchalantly.
"Okay!" Naruto said with a grin.
Team Seven made their way up to the top of the tower where the Hokage was waiting in an office.
"Ah, Naruto."
"Oy Jiji! How's it going?"
"I think I should be asking you that. You seem quite a bit different from when you went into the forest. Why don't you tell me what happened? Iruka already told me that you fought with Orochimaru. I'm very glad that you're alive."
"Yeah, he wasn't so tough. Though I'm really mad he broke my pendant, he vanished right after that from what Sakura and Teme told me," Naruto jabbered.
"The pendant that I explained was left to you by your father, correct?" Hiruzen asked with a slight frown.
"Yeah, that one. He grabbed me with a snakes tongue then crushed it in his fist…that's all I really remember. Sakura and Sasuke know what happened next though." The Hokage nodded and glanced at the other two members of Team Seven. Sakura looked at Sasuke so he began.
"As soon as Orochimaru broke the gemstone, there was a massive blast of chakra from where he was with Naruto, and then there was an explosion of smoke that turned all visibility to zero. After that all was silent until I heard Sakura coughing. I freed her from the debris and when the smoke started to lift a little I was able to find Naruto looking as you see him now. Orochimaru and his summons had vanished and they did not return, so Sakura and I located a cave next to the stream and put Naruto in there. His chakra wasn't stable and he had a fever so we kept watch for approximately four hours until he began to stabilize, at which point I told Sakura that I was going to hunt. I proceeded from there for about another hour and a half at which point I met Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame. I alluded to the fact that Naruto was mildly injured and Hinata-san suggested to her teammates that they give to me an extra heaven scroll they possessed, as it was the one we required. I accepted the offer and promptly returned to where I had left Sakura and Naruto," Sasuke replied. Sakura swallowed slightly and began to speak.
"I kept watch for Naruto and also for unfriendly approaches for about two hours before Naruto woke up, nothing eventful happened in that time." She glanced at Naruto who didn't seem like she wanted to continue the story so Sakura kept speaking.
"After she woke up and drank some water, I showed her how she had changed. She expressed confusion, thinking she had accidentally activated a justu she had created." At this point Hiruzen's face tinted slightly red, knowing which justsu she was referring to.
"It was around this time Sasuke-kun had returned, and he asked if Naruto was able to transform back into his normal form. He wasn't, but Sasuke asked him to show him the jutsu and its release while he had his sharingan activated, so Naruto did so." Hiruzen looked at Sasuke.
"Please tell me every detail you observed about what happened next." Sasuke nodded.
"First, I asked him to initiate the technique. When he attempted it, the first thing I noticed was that the hand seals he used were not the normal ones for a henge. I asked him to release the technique and once again he used a different hand seal, neither of the two attempts produced the desired response, but from what I could tell from the behavior of his chakra, the one he named as the initiation technique was actually a form of release, while the one he named as the releasing technique appeared to be a jutsu initiation. I inferred that therefore it was possible that when he released the technique, he was actually initializing a different technique that remained in effect until he initialized his invented jutsu again. I also inferred that the jutsu was connected to a seal in his pendant, and when the seal was destroyed by Orochimaru, the technique it powered could no longer function, resulting in the explosive dispersal of the technique and the inability to use the technique afterward. My hypothesis, which may be entirely inaccurate, was that Naruto has always been naturally a female, and the purpose of the sealing jutsu as powered by his pendant, was to conceal that fact for reasons that can only be theorized, though I warrant Naruto's personal safety was probably on the list. The technique that Naruto discovered, by accident, was one that could temporarily deactivate the seal and return him to his normal, female, state, which he then adapted into a weaponized technique by combining it with a classic henge. The reason he never realized this until now is simply because he's that stupid."
"What was that, Teme? I'll pound you to the ground you damn smug Uchiha!" Naruto shouted, though she was held back from attacking his teammate by Sakura. Hiruzen sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"Were you able to recover any pieces of Naruto's pendant?" He asked. All three genin shook their heads.
"Hokage-sama, if you don't mind, I'd like to repeat the test Sasuke-kun did with his sharingan, and see for myself this justu of Naruto's." Kakashi put in. Hiruzen nodded.
"Naruto, if you would please attempt to activate and then dispel the justu you invented." Kakashi pushed up his forehead protector to reveal his Sharingan. Naruto tried the technique, once again without success. Kakashi seemed thoughtful before looking at the Hokage.
"Well, in my opinion, Sasuke-kun's hypothesis is completely correct, though any more confirming tests would have to be done by the medical corps. I recommend someone take a long look through the archives and see if anything related turns up."
Naruto hung her head and stared at the floor, falling into despair. This was what he had been afraid of. "But Jiji…why would I be disguised like this? I don't understand it at all," She whispered. The Hokage faltered but Kakashi answered for him.
"Naruto, as much experience as you already have with some of the darker sides of human nature…I'll tell you bluntly. What you've seen only covers the tip of the iceberg. As it is you had a tough time dealing with the persecution of the villagers. If you had been a girl and if anyone had known you were a girl. It could've been worse. Far worse," He said slowly and quietly. Naruto shivered and knew that his sensei was not bluffing.
"Did you know about this Jiji?" He asked. Sarutobi shook his head.
"Honestly Naruto, I had no idea you were born a girl. In his last breaths your father begged me to keep you safe, and keep the pendant safe, so you would have something of his but I never knew for what reason. It is possible that the only people who ever knew died that night, and the knowledge with them. If there is anyone alive who does know however, I can think of only one man it could be, and I have already sent a message to him. He will arrive following the conclusion of the second exam," The Third Hokage explained. Naruto relaxed faintly by the end of this.
"So. The only problem I have left is how to break the news to the others," She muttered, massaging her temples slightly. Kakashi shrugged.
"Perhaps talk to Shikamaru-kun about it. He has the best strategical mind after all, and if he saw you downstairs he probably figured it out already." Naruto paused before thinking about it.
"Alright, that's a good idea Sensei. Oy Teme, go get him will ya?" Sasuke gave his teammate a bored look.
"Fine, on the condition you leave me alone for the next while so I can train."
"Sure, whatever." Naruto said with a grin. "Was that all Jiji?"
"That's all Naruto. As far as who and how you decide to reveal your personal information to, it's entirely your call," The Hokage replied.
"Hai hai! Come on Sakura-chan, I'm gonna need your help with Shikamaru," She said happily. Sakura chuckled.
"I'm coming, keep your shirt on," she teased, following the smaller girl outside. Sasuke sighed. "Well better go get the Nara. Troublesome." Kakashi chuckled.
"Careful with that, you'll get sued for copyright." He joked. Sasuke's mouth twitched in mild amusement before he went to locate the other boy, whom he found lazing about in the hallway.
"Shikamaru, Naruto wanted me to convey a message to you. He wants your help with something in our apartment," Sasuke replied seeming bored." Shikamaru sighed and started following him.
"I knew it would be troublesome. It was like that all along wasn't it?"
"Looks that way. I take it he was as subtle as a fireball jutsu?"
"The fact that Sakura is a far better actor than him has probably saved his life. He should be thanking her on bended knee,"
"He is actually. I've never seen the two get along like this before."
"Figured it would take something like this. Anyways, I'll do what I can for the kid." Soon he entered the apartment and walked into Naruto's room where he was waiting with Sakura.
"Your acting sucks as much as it ever has you troublesome girl," He grunted by way of greeting. Naruto groaned.
"Shikaaaaa don't call me a girl…"
"Yeah yeah. And you want my help in telling everyone else, yes? You're lucky Ino is too focused on Sasuke to give a rip about you or she wouldn't have let her suspicions die so easily.
"I fooled Choji and Tenten-chan!"
"No, Sakura did all the work. Choji just didn't care as he'd felt food deprived for three days, and Tenten is still mildly suspicious. Now here's what you can do. You can go downstairs, gather everyone together, and tell everyone at once what happened, get bombarded with questions, and try to have this blow over as fast as possible. That's option one. Option two: You can wait until the end of the Second Exam when we'll know who passed and who didn't, and everyone can be in a more stable state of mind, and then deal with it and have the issue be settled for the most part then. Option three: You can pretend that this never happened and you can attempt to live a double life as male-you and female-you simultaneously utilizing henges and shadow clones for as long as possible. Eventually, people will find out and you will have explaining to do," Shikamaru explained, pressing the tips of his fingers together in front of his closed eyes as he drew out the possible actions and their immediate consequences.
Naruto swallowed. "I kinda want a bit more time so…at the end of the second exam? I'm worried about what some of them might do though. Do you have a guess?"
Shikamaru listed a few possibilities off the top of his head. "Choji would be confused; I'll explain it to him later. Ino would want to dress you up like a life sized doll. Sakura, you and I are going to have to waylay her and convince her that she'll only scar Naruto with that. Kiba would either burst out laughing or be ticked that he didn't find out first. Hinata would faint. Tenten would probably find it mildly amusing and then excuse herself to take care of Hinata. Shino would deal with his thoughts in his own head. Lee might develop a crush on you; though probably just go on about how youthful you look now. Neji would be ticked he never figured it out by Byakugan, though aside from that wouldn't care."
Naruto nodded slightly as she processed this. "Alright. I think I have an idea."
"And if you're gonna wait for the end of the week to tell everyone, you could use the time training. You're smaller now so you might want to shift to a more speed-type taijutsu style instead of relying on physical power. Put weights on and run laps until you drop," Shikamaru added.
"Uh, okay," Naruto mumbled. Sakura thought on all this before grinning mischievously.
"So Naru, what's your plan for the 'big reveal'? She asked lightly. Naruto shrugged.
"Improvise?"
"You don't need to improvise on the spot though; you can plan ahead for it since you know it's coming," Sakura pointed out.
"I'm not much of a planner you know." At this Sakura snorted.
"Says the single greatest prankster in the history of Konoha?" Sakura asked with a slight smile. Naruto blinked before thinking it over. "I…might be able to mix something up prank-wise," The gears were now visibly turning in her head.