Yet another chapter in the lovely world of…well…Naruto I suppose. I had to do some thinking for this one, because this is an integral transition in the story (in more ways than one) and many hints will be dropped in this chapter on things to come. But first a clarification in terms of powers for the future, at least in this story.

In this specific story, this is the power "classification" of x-amount of tails for a certain pair of brothers and any other Kitsune that may appear in the story.

One tail – Genin, two tails – Chuunin, three tails – Jounin, four tails – Elite Jounin or ANBU, five tails – Kage/Sannin. Six through Nine tails – you begin to understand why Akatsuki wants these things so badly.

Some of you also had some reservations, which will be taken care of at the bottom of the chapter.

Enjoy!

"Speech"

'Thought'

"Kyuubi Thought"

Flashback

I do not own Naruto, sadly. Otherwise I'd be a millionaire!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Previously….

No one spoke, nor moved as silver met violet, eyes locked and never moving from each other. Both of those that had merely watched were suddenly frozen in place at what happened next.

The pale skinned beauty, for they had no other name for her, slowly stepped forward towards Arashi…bottom lip gently being bitten. Slender arms circled around his neck, head tilted to let a soft breath leave those pillow soft lips as one word left them before their lips slowly met in a tender kiss….bodies gently pressing into each other.

"….Ara-kun…."

No one moved an inch. It was almost comical really, you could practically hear crickets in the background. Blinking slowly out of the haze the fusion put him in, Arashi felt something soft and warm brushing against his lips as well as something moist brushing lightly against them. Unconsciously he captured the moist intruder, a soft squeak coming from it.

'Squeak? What the….'

Silver pools blinked the fog away, before widening as they immediately met violet ones…violet eyes that were glinting in an all too familiar way. He jerked his head back slightly, eyeing the face he usually only saw inside of his head.

'Wait, that can't be right. She CAN'T be out here...can she?'

He slowly looked down, a slow blush slowly starting to creep along his cheeks as he finally saw what the "moist" thing was that he was almost sucking on. Looking past the soft pink tongue that was still sticking past her full lips, his eyes drifted downward until….

"GAAAAHHH!"

Thump.

The girl just stood there, before looking down with an owlish expression on her face… eyes slightly growing wider before returning to normal. A giggle teased past her lips as she peered down at the still form of Arashi beneath her, lightly prodding him with a toe. "I guess I should have put some clothes on before coming out neh Ara-kun?" The voice was a soft alto, almost like a certain indigo-haired kunoichi voice except not as "squeaky". Shrugging she straightened up before peeking behind her with a foxy smile, violet eyes landing on the two statue-like figures behind her.

"Tsunade-san, Jirayia-san, you know it's not polite to stare ne?"

Frowning at not getting any response, she huffed before a poof of smoke covered her. 'Bunch of perverts, all of them' The smoke cleared to reveal her finally clothed as she turned to face the two, a scowl on her face as she noticed the slack-jawed expression on a certain perverted old man. A standard mesh shirt covered her torso, a thick strip of black material circling around the upper area to just barely cover her breasts and nothing more…leaving only mesh to cover the expanse of her stomach. Black shorts adorned her hips, stopping just above her knees (think Sakura's shorts post time-skip). Flaming red hair cascaded down her back to her hips, almost seeming to subtly glow in the morning light as she sighed…fluffing it out. This would have to do for now.

The scowl only continued to deepen at the little river of drool that slid down Jirayia's chin, both of his hands in front of him as he wiggled his fingers in a creepy perverted fashion. Tsunade, having finally snapped out of her daze at seeing an entirely naked woman draping herself over the boy she considered a brother, ominously turned towards Jirayia…her eyes hidden in the shadow of her bangs.

"Jirayia…."

Said perverted man turned towards the direction of the voice that whispered his name, before the most unlikely of circumstances happened. Oceans heaved and swelled. Pigs flew. The Hokage actually finished his paperwork for the day.

And Jirayia stood there, groping the chest of one Tsunade.

"ERO-BAKA!"

The voice thundered through the heavens, before a vague man-shaped object sped up into the sky before unceremoniously crashing down into the trees some few hundred yards distant. Huffing, Tsunade turned and glared at the red-headed woman in front of her, left eyebrow twitching slightly.

"You….you have a lot of explaining to do. What the hell happened?! KYUUBI!"

Blinking innocently, Kyuubi batted her eyelashes at the angry Sannin…jumping up and down in a childish display as she clapped her hands once (resulting in unconsciousness yet again for a slowly awakening Arashi who happened to look up).

"Ummmm, I don't know?"

The tip of one finger posed coquettishly on the side of her chin, before she grinned cheekily at the fuming older woman in front of him. "However, I DO know that the fusion isn't over yet. Ara-kun needs his rest now for the rest of the physical changes to finish." Mumbling under her breath, Tsunade walked over to her otouto, leaning down and gently picking up him before turning to head towards the house…Kyuubi skipping after her.

Both ignored the low groaning of an almost mortally injured old man somewhere in the forest.

A few hours later…

Tsunade slowly closed the door, moving down the hall away from Arashi's room. If Kyuubi was correct, then whatever physical changes that had yet to manifest were going to do so tonight. Which meant no sleep for her out of pure worry. Sighing, she walked into the living room before flopping down on the opposite end of the couch from Jirayia, glaring at the lounging red-headed woman in front of them.

"Ok, what the hell is going on. Minato said when he made that seal that Arashi would fuse with the half of you that was inside of him. He never said anything about you ESCAPING the seal."

Kyuubi blinked, lazily looking towards the irate woman and then towards the surprisingly serious face of Jirayia before letting out a soft sigh. "There is a reason for that, one that his father did not account for." She shifted in her chair, getting into a more comfortable position before leaning back…one finger lazily teasing a couple strands of her hair.

"To understand why, you need to go back to when he first sealed me inside Ara-kun. When he split my chakra in half between the two children, he forgot to take my mind and soul into the equation. See, while a beings chakra can easily be distributed or sealed that does not mean the same thing can be done for a mind or for a soul. So one of them was bound to get my mind and soul bound to them along with my chakra. It was a fifty-fifty gamble on who would get both, and Ara-kun just happened to be the one who got me in my entirety."

Kyuubi shifted, violet gaze landing on the two Sannin in front of her.

"As for me physically manifesting, you cannot fuse with a mind or soul…at least not in one body. Especially if the soul you're trying to fuse with happens to be stronger than your own. If that had actually happened, Arashi would be dead and I would be stuck in his body. Neither Minato nor anyone else would have wanted that to happen, myself included. So when the fusion occurred, a body was created for my mind and my soul to inhabit instead of overriding and destroying Ara-kuns."

Tsunade frowned, glancing over towards Jirayia. "That explains some things, but that doesn't explain why you called him "Ara-kun" let alone kissed him when you decided to poof into existence." Just her luck, all she needed was the Queen of Demons to seduce her little brother. A soft chuckle broke through her inner ranting, an almost coy look on Kyuubis face.

"I was in contact with Ara-kun the moment he was old enough to mentally understand it. So from age four onwards, he was able to talk and interact with me. In essence, I've known him as long as either of you have so I'm perfectly justified in calling him whatever I want to call him…especially since he's mine anyway."

"Yours? What do you mean he's yours?" Jirayia spoke up finally, "You mean as in your brother?" Tsunade on the other hand just eyed the demoness carefully, before her eyes widened. "NO! You can't mean…."

Kyuubi snickered before wiggling her pinky finger at them both. "When I say he's mine, I mean he's MINE. He's my mate, lover, boyfriend, husband…whatever you want to call it. Though in all actuality the bond we have extends far deeper than any of those titles. He's MINE, and I'm HIS. I can't put it more plainly than that. Over the years I've watched him grow, I've grown attached to him and him to me."

The two were so shocked at this that they missed the flash of a frown on Kyuubis face, before it disappeared. She had decided to leave out the soul mate part. I mean after all, what human would believe such a thing? Fate wasn't on her side however as a scowling Tsunade tapped her finger on the table between them, as if in deep thought. That or something to keep her from hitting someone. One of the two.

"There has to be more than that. I mean he's still a kid for kami sake. I mean yeah he's far more mature for his age then any adult I've ever seen but that's no excuse as to why he'd suddenly become something more than any of the titles you just said. The only thing you could possibly get beyond a marital relationship is…"

"Soul mates, that's what you meant to say wasn't it eh?" Kyuubi sighed, turning her ahead away from the disbelieving look on Jirayias face. "Whether you humans believe in it or not, demons do in their own way. What the few mortals that believe in it think is that a "soul mate" is someone they get feelings for out of the blue. Which is utterly preposterous." Kyuubi snorted, turning her eyes back to Tsunade to fix her with an unblinking gaze. "When demons find a mate, it is their soul mate. Most demons mate for life, which tends to be thousands of years in my own case. For us, our souls actually resonate with the one destined to be with us. For me, the moment I was sealed inside Ara-kun I felt our souls resonate on a level I have never experienced before."

"But a demon becoming the soul mate of a human? What if you hurt him?! I'd sooner cut off my own arm then let you--."

The red-haired demoness snorted, glaring angrily at the irate blonde. "Then let me what? You obviously have no understanding of what I was just talking about hag. I would sooner kill myself then let Ara-kun get a single bruise from me. THAT'S what soul mates mean, you old bitty. Not this glorified nonsense you mortals spout on a daily basis. While a husband might cheat on, or even willingly hurt, his own wife it would be physically and mentally impossible for me to even fathom doing either of those to him. The same thing for him in regards to me. It's just not possible."

Violet met caramel brown in anger for a long moment, before Tsunade huffed softly and turned away muttering to herself. Wanting to get off this decidedly touchy subject, Jirayia coughed and looked towards Kyuubi. "What exact features can we expect on Arashi when tomorrow comes around? I take it his hair changing from blonde to red and his eyes going from blue to silver won't be the only things that happen to the poor kid."

Shaking her head, Kyuubi muttered before closing her eyes. For a brief moment both Tsunade and Jirayia glanced at each other, before a loud pop echoed in the room. Looking back towards Kyuubi, both of their jaws dropped. Three fiery red tails swayed and shifted around her, twin furry red ears adorning the top of her head as she fixed them with a neutral look. "I'd expect him to look something like this, though I'm unsure of how many tails he'll get. All of my chakra, all of my demonic jutsu and everything else was absorbed by him so technically he could have up to nine tails, but I seriously doubt that would happen. He'll have more than me at any rate, considering how you and his parents trained him into the ground twenty four hours a day."

"Well no matter how many he gets, we can't just let him walk into Konoha with fox ears and a random number of tails. That would be worse than wearing all orange on an assassination mission." For the first time, both Tsunade and Jirayia were nervous about the return trip home…more so for their young charge then for themselves. True they both had bad memories in the place, but they had pushed those far away when they agreed to take care of Arashi. The last thing they wanted was for everything to come to naught when they fulfilled the Sandaimes wish of bringing Arashi home in time for the Genin exam.

Kyuubi on the other hand, just smirked mentally. She already had a good idea of how many tails Arashi would get. While it was true he wouldn't get nine, he would have enough to make any attempt on his life utterly meaningless unless it was from a squad of ANBU or more.

"You don't need to worry. We still have a year before the Genin exams, which will be used to wrap up any final training as well as getting used to his new body. It's easy enough for a Kitsune to hide their ears and tails, much the same as I just showed you. Your Hokage doesn't want him back until a month before the Genin exams anyway." Both Sannin nodded, some small measure of relief showing on their face.

"What about his brother? He will probably have to go through the same thing Arashi did, and being in the middle of Konoha makes it all the more dangerous." Tsunade bit her bottom lip after she spoke. Already images were popping up in her mind about the poor kid being beaten or worse.

Kyuubi smiled, shaking her head. "The process was actually meant to be gradual over a period of years. The only reason Minato wanted to have Arashi fuse all at once was because of the same predicament as his brother will have. We can either let him fuse with my chakra normally, or just take him away from the village for a week or two and do the same thing as we did to Arashi."

Both Sannin sighed, before slowly standing up. Their talk seemed to take forever, and it was already late in the evening. "Either way, the rest of this can wait until morning. It's just too much to take in at this point." Watching them trudge up the stairs to their respective rooms, Kyuubi couldn't help but giggle. Making her way upstairs, she slid past the door leading to Arashi's' room before closing it behind her. Gazing quietly down at his sleeping face, she bit her bottom lip softly…brushing a red bang away from an eye. Sighing, she slid down and wiggled under the covers next to him. Tomorrow was going to be an eventful day, and she needed all the rest she could get.


Konoha, Next Day

"HINATA-CHAN! HURRY UP OR WE'LL BE LATE!"

An impatient Naruto bellowed outside of the Hyuuga gates, before pouting and leaning up against the wall as he waited for his teammate to appear. He had tossed aside the bright orange outfit that was his namesake, having decided on a "new look" for his final year of the Academy. A black undershirt underneath a dark green vest adorned his upper body, with loose black pants adorning his legs. Bandages circled around one thigh on the outside of his pants, his shuriken and kunai holster on the outside of his opposite leg. Forgoing his goggles, he let his blonde hair droop down over his face…both his bandaged hands resting behind his head. A sandaled foot idly kicked at the ground, a rock rolling away before the soft creak of the gate opening caught his attention. Naruto immediately perked up, spinning to look at who came out.

"HINATA-CH….oh."

He laughed nervously, one hand idly scratching the back of his head as he looked up into the pale gaze of one Hyuuga Hiashi…who was standing with arms crossed gazing down at him.

"Gomen Hiashi-sama, I didn't mean to wake you up. I just didn't want Hinata-chan to be late for class and--…"

Hiashi chuckled, shaking his head at the blondes' antics before he slid a scroll out of one sleeve. Turning it over in his hands, much as he was turning over his thoughts in his mind, he gazed down at the almost fearful whiskered boy in front of him, before smiling. "That is understandable. However, try to be quieter about it in the future. That aside, I have a scroll here that Hokage-sama wished for me to deliver to you when you came over next." Hiashi turned and made his way back into the compound after handing the scroll to a shocked Naruto, making his way into his office.

It goes without saying that Naruto was on cloud nine right now. The first day back to the Academy for his final year and he was already getting good news. Well, at least he hoped it was good news. Setting the scroll in his pack, he turned just before Hinata stepped out from the gate…any words of greeting that had any hope of being composed in his throat suddenly dying as his jaw dropped to the ground with a loud thunk.

Hinata giggled, a soft blush coloring her cheeks as she watched his reaction to her new clothes. She had traded her baggy pants out for skin tight shorts that stopped just above her knees, bandages wrapped about one thigh as well as both ankles. She had left her coat at home, a mesh shirt covering her torso and the upper parts of her arms…with a black sleeveless top covering the mesh to keep things decent. She had let her hair grow out a bit longer, the soft indigo strands reach past her shoulders now as pale lavender eyes looked up to meet Narutos.

"Ano…"

"Wow Hinata-chan! You look….sugoi." The last word was spoken out in almost a whisper as he just stared at her, ignorant of the blush that only got darker and darker the longer he stared at her before her soft cough broke him out of his reverie.

"Eh heh, anyway we need to hurry or we'll be late!"

Grinning his infamous foxy grin at her, she giggled at his antics before the turned to walk towards the Academy. A comfortable silence settled between the two as they walked, which was haphazardly broken by a sound that could send even Kami himself fleeing in terror.

Fan girls.

They watched, mouths agape, as one Uchiha Sasuke came dashing past them…a horde of screeching banshees known only as fan girls hot on his trail. They glanced at each other, before laughing…though Hinata was secretly happy. Naruto had almost had the same exact problem before Hinata had put a rather ruthless end to it. She had vowed to never let any of those….those….THINGS….touch her Naru-kun come hell or high water. Especially since he looked so handsome these days. Naruto blinked owlishly as Hinata suddenly blushed, before shrugging it off as a girl thing. They resumed their walk, though in a bit more somber tone. While they laughed at Sasukes girl misfortunes, the incident that had happened three years ago was hardly a laughing matter.


Flashback…

Three years ago…

Hinata and Naruto lay on the grass in the field near the hospital, giggling over one thing or another before the sounds of running and yelling shattered the peaceful calm of that afternoon. Rolling over on their stomachs, they were shocked at the sheer multitude of people running down the street…

Towards the Uchiha Compound.

Glancing at each other, Hinata and Naruto slipped to their feet and dashed down the street after the Jounin and ANBU that dashed along the rooftops, before they pushed through the grim crowd in front of the gate leading into the compound.

What they saw would forever be ingrained into their memories…

From what they were able to gather, only three people had survived the massacre that occurred there. Sasuke, his mother Mikoto, and the murderer that had killed the entire clan…Uchiha Itachi.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was little wonder then that he had hordes of fan girls chasing after him as the "last Uchiha". Naruto was just happy he didn't have to deal with them himself. Hinata was just happy she didn't have to start beating people off her Naru-kun with a large stick.

They continued their way in silence, both lost in their own thoughts as they pushed past the doors leading into the Academy and down towards their classroom. Naruto, still lost in thought, unconsciously opened the door for Hinata who giggled at the spaced out expression on his face. Blinking, he grinned and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment before following her up to their seats. Flopping down, he lightly teased a fingertip along the palm of Hinatas hand…drawing another giggle from the girl before the slamming of the door drew their eyes down to the absurd spectacle below.

"Ha! I'm first! I get to sit next to Sasuke-kun!"

"NO WAY! I was first!"

It was all the class could do to just to not collapse at the two girls struggling and yelling at each other. Catching sight of the brooding Uchiha, both banshees suddenly developed hearts for eyes…a shriek unheard of to human ears splitting the air.

"SASUKE-KUNNNNNNN!"

Naruto rolled his eyes at Ino and Sakura, glancing to the side to see the pale-eyed girl next to him hiding her mouth behind her hand as she laughed softly. She turned just in time to see the mischievous gleam in her Naru-kuns eye before he started whispering to her. Not loud enough so anything could be made out, but just barely so people would know that SOMETHING was being said. Suffice to say, it didn't go unnoticed by two of the villages self-proclaimed "Queens of Gossip".

"Naaarruutttoooooo! What are you whispering about over there! IT BETTER NOT BE ABOUT MY SASUKE-KUN!"

Leaning back, the whiskered boy adopted a completely angelic expression as he gazed down at the pink-haired girl though Hinata didn't miss the flash of anger in his eyes. Her face grew sad, remembering back to when they were four years old. 'So he still remembers that…' It was only natural she guessed. After all, how many pink haired women actually existed? It only saddened her more as she saw Sakura hold almost the same hate for Naruto as he did for her…though for an entirely different reason.

6 years earlier…

"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING! LET ME OUT OF HERE!"

Ibiki pointedly ignored the yells and screams of the pink haired woman in front of him, making a show of cleaning under his nails with a kunai. "You attacked a citizen of the Leaf and –"

"That DEMON is not a citizen of this village! I should be given a medal for what I did to that…that…THING."

The Haruno matriarch huffed as she upturned her nose, glaring down it at the scarred Jounin in front of her. Ibiki sighed, before shrugging…though he was struggling to mask the grin he had on his face as he raised his eyes to look behind her. "Very well, if that is all you have to say." Ibiki yawned nonchalantly before sliding out of the chair and making his way out of the door, glancing at a figure in the shadows to his left.

"She's all yours….Anko."

He could almost HEAR the Harunos eyes widen at that. Even if he didn't, the screams that echoed out into the hall were enough to confirm it.

Hinata didn't know exactly what had happened, but from the satisfied smirk on her Otou-sans face as he informed her that Naruto would never have to worry about the pink haired woman again spoke volumes. The whispers that said woman couldn't be a ninja anymore due to "injuries sustained while on duty" didn't help either. All she knew was that Sakura blamed Naruto for it, and hated him with a passion. A sentiment the blonde-haired boy was only too happy to return.

"I didn't say anything about the teme, Sakura."

Blue eyes narrowed on the pink haired girl before turning away. Sakura merely huffed, and went back to fighting over the seat next to the brooding boy. Hinata and Naruto both merely sighed, glancing at each other as they both thought the same exact thing.

'This is going to be a long year."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He hurt. That was just about the only lucid thought that flew through his mind. Not only did he have a headache the size of the mansion, but his ASS hurt for some reason as well. Well, around there anyway.

'I swear to god if that ero-baka did that perverted butt poke on me I'm going to KILL him!'

Arashi tried to move, but only succeeded in moving one arm and one leg. Frowning at the weight that seemed to hang on his right side, he slowly opened one eye…then the other. Blinking, he peered down beside him…only to stare into the unblinking gaze of the deepest violet he'd ever seen. He blinked, only to have the violet eyes blink. They went back and forth like that for a little while before a rough cough sounded from the door, making both sets of eyes crane to the side to peer over at one unhappy Tsunade…who seemed totally ignorant of a perverted Jirayia giving him a double thumbs up in the background.

"Way to go Arashi!"

"BAKA!"

BOOM.

Arashi and Kyuubi both winced at the same time, eyeing the man-shaped hole in the wall across from their room. Yawning, Kyuubi shrugged before closing her eyes and once more curling up on HER Ara-kun…who finally seemed to get a faint clue on what or rather WHO was practically laying on top of him. The twitching ears that brushed past his nose (at a frequency he was sure was NOT incidental) as said vixen teased him only caused Tsunade to fume even more.

"If you two lovebirds are done, we have training to do."

Pouting cutely, Kyuubi wrinkled her nose before sticking her tongue out at the blonde woman…sighing as she rolled off the bed and stood up to stretch. Arashi on the other hand was too busy fending off the barrage of tails that were rubbing all over his face from said vixen before he muttered and got to his feet, taking his time stretching and yawning himself totally unaware of the two women (and one groggy man) staring at him.

'Hot DAMN! He'll have to beat the women off with a tree!'

'A-Arashi?! What the hell happened to you?!?! Grrrr I'm going to beat that fox for this.'

'Mmmm, Ara-kun looks like a yummy piece of tai…ls. WHOA! He got more than I thought he would.'

Slowly lowering his arms to eye the three staring people, he narrowed his eyes. "WHAT?!?! Why are you staring at me like that for?" One hand slid up to rub through his hair as he yawned again, before his eyes grew wide. Hesitantly, ignoring the softly giggling Kyuubi, he felt over the ears on his head…before he was suddenly tugged backwards.

"HEY! What's the big….idea…?"

He stared behind him as a certain vixen lightly tugged on a set of tails. A set of tails that belonged to HIM. Kyuubi merely giggled again at the shocked expression on his face as she glomped him, her three tails curling between and intermingling with the seven tails that flowed behind him. Too shocked to do anything beyond reflexively catch her, he just stood there…shaking his head. Kyuubi reached up and tweaked the corner of one ear, causing him to yelp and jump, glaring at the laughing vixen who merely batted her eyelashes.

"Come on Ara-kun, you have to get training! You only have ten months before you have to go back to Konoha and take your Genin exam. I still have to teach you how to hide your new foxy accessories, as well as how to handle your new body and powers as well. Just because you have all this newfound power doesn't mean you know how to use it."

Pouting, Arashi merely allowed himself to be pulled out of his room by a giggling vixen and a laughing Tsunade who had finally decided to join in on the fun…too tired and too shocked to really do anything. Only one thought lingered on his mine.

'Troublesome women…"

On a hill somewhere in Konoha…

"ACHOO!"

Shikamaru wiped his nose, eyeing around him before muttering and leaning back to watch the clouds. 'Someone's talking about me.'

"SHIKA-KUN!"

"GAH! Troublesome women!"


Ten months later…Konoha

Time seemed to fly for Naruto and Hinata, though things seemed to get worse and worse between them and a certain pink haired banshee. But other than that, and a few unexplained chakra spikes from somewhere or another that set the village in a tizzy, time seemed to pass uneventfully for the couple.

Yes, it seems Naruto finally got his head out of the clouds and figured it all out and finally asked Hinata to be his girlfriend (though they had been acting like husband and wife for lord knows how long, which was pointed out to him by a certain Hatake Kakashi). All seemed right in the world. Hell, the villagers had even started to let up on the attempted beatings! Naruto merely grinned his famous smile as he leaned back in his chair, Hinata giggling as she watched him. His thoughts turned back to when he opened the scroll the Hokage gave him, and the ensuing surprises that happened from it.

Sarutobi eyed his menacing foe warily, before sliding into his seat. The evil entity only known as 'paperwork' seemed docile today. Good. Picking up his pipe, he slid it between his lips and lit it with a minor katon jutsu, leaning back in his chair to FINALLY relax.

"HEY OLD MANNNNNNN!"

"GAH!"

Arse over tip he fell, papers scattering to the wind. Once more, paperwork was triumphant…ignorant of the defiant shaking fist of the Hokage as he vowed revenge. Sliding to his feet, he eyed the blonde haired boy in front of him, muttering.

"You're here earlier than expected Naruto."

"Neh neh Jiji-san, is it really true?!? Are you going to train me yourself?"

Straight to the point at least. Sarutobi chuckled before smiling down at the excitable bundle of energy, nodding. "Hai Naruto, I'm going to be teaching you for the next ten months…"

Ever since then, he had been the personal apprentice under the Third Hokage though he had been sworn to secrecy. Yawning, he crossed his arms over his desk and laid his head down on them…closing his eyes as he waited for the rest of the class to get here and for the roll call to finally start.


Konoha Gate – East Side

Izumo and Kotetsu yawned at the same time, muttering to themselves as they watched the gate. Guard duty was the most boring thing they could think of on a day like this, so of course it was only natural that the Hokage would stick it on them.

Ignorant as they were, they didn't miss the four figures that seemed to come out of nowhere on the road. Glancing at each other they made their way out from inside the booth. Something about this group made them think trouble.

Arashi walked quietly down the road, the ever present Kyuu-chan hanging on his left arm. He had changed his wardrobe drastically near the end of his training period, having both outgrown and destroyed his previous clothes. Black ANBU pants adorned his legs, bandages closing the bottom around his ankles just above his equally black sandals. A mesh shirt adorned his chest and upper arms and nothing else. A tan sleeveless trench coat was over top of that, the edges having fiery red flames right around the edge (think Yondaimes cloak, only tan instead of white), which stopped just above his ankles with the clan symbol for "Uzumaki" decorating the back. His fiery red hair was cut short and flowed freely in the wind, curling around the black blindfold that covered his eyes…a silver outline of the leaf symbol stitched into the front of it. Golden bandages wrapped up both forearms and along his hands as well.

But what caught the Chuunins attention most was the katana that lay horizontal across the small of his back. The sheathe was a matte black so as not to reflect light, kanji decorating its length in fiery red color as it detailed some long forgotten tale before ending in a fox with nine red tails. The grip itself was also black, with red wrapping spaced in between the black wrapping…a fox head making up the pommel.

The rest of the party (that they could see) consisted of a woman with equally fiery red hair with a mesh shirt and a black wrap going around her breasts, with black skin tight shorts along with black sandals. Violet eyes regarded the two gate guards, before glancing back to the woman and man behind them…which they recognized as two of the Legendary Sannin.

Both of them snapped to attention, a nervous glance shared between them.

"Please follow us, you're expected by Hokage-sama."

Two ANBU immediately leapt down from a roof, motioning briefly towards them before turning to walk through one of the main streets of Konoha. Villagers and shinobi alike stopped to stare at the procession, though whether they were staring at the weird couple or at the Sannin themselves Arashi didn't know and he most certainly didn't care…at least until a villager caught sight of the back of his coat and threw an rock out of habit at the back of his head. The villager, and everyone else who had been watching out of suppressed anticipation, only watched in shock as a pale hand slipped up to capture the rock before crushing it. A golden bandaged hand slid up to the pale one, his head shaking slightly as a frigid pair of violet eyes locked onto the man who threw the stone.

"Mah Kyuu-chan, kill him later."

She snorted slightly, before mumbling as they made their way to and then up the Hokage Tower…soon being led in front of the Hokage himself. All four of them looked at the old man expectantly, who just stared at Arashi. A soft smile teased his lips before he nodded towards one ANBU, the dog mask a dead giveaway as to who it was.

"Please escort Arashi-san to the Academy for his first class. I need to speak with the other three."

Kakashi bowed before glancing towards Arashi, who shrugged and followed him through the door…the worried gaze of Kyuu following after him (Arashis' pet name for Kyuubi). They both wandered down the street, ignoring the glares and mutters of the populace at large before they arrived at the Academy proper…leading him towards the classroom.


Naruto was bored. No, he was BEYOND bored. Iruka-sensei was taking far too long to call role, almost as if he was waiting for someone. Shrugging, he straightened up as he heard his name being called.

"Uzumaki Naruto?"

"HAI!"

Iruka smiled slightly, before nervously moving down to the last name. 'It's now or never I suppose. I wonder how he's going to take it.'

"Uzumaki Arashi?"

The classroom came to a standstill, everyone turning as one to look up at Naruto who was noticeably pale. He looked frantically around, before staring at Iruka-sensei. This had to be a joke right? He was told all his family was dead. If this was a prank to get back at him it was done in very poor taste. He was about to get up and yell when the door leading into the classroom suddenly opened and in stepped on Uzumaki Arashi.

"Hai"

THUMP


To be honest, I didn't like this chapter. It just didn't seem to come together all that well, like I kept starting and stopping…but it was an essential chapter to get out of the way.

A couple of people pointed out that they believed Arashi was being overpowered while Naruto was underpowered. Both Arashi and Naruto have the same amount of chakra. The ONLY thing that will differ one from the other is their techniques. There is no need to worry about either one overpowering the other. This will in fact be an integral part of the story later on.

Let me know what you think!

And as always, pictures of both Arashi and Kyuubi are on my profile (though I have them described in different clothes.)

Ja ne!

Sugoi – Great/Cool/Wow