Enchantress

Chapter 11 – Milestone

Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of mangaka (comic artist) Masashi Kishimoto. This story implies nothing about the characters nor does the plot of the story have any effect on the manga volumes (or the anime) themselves. This story is pure fiction.

A/N: Read the author's note at the end of the chapter for a full formal apology for being so late in updating. The 1st half of this chapter might be a little boring but the 2nd half of the chapter will be a little more interesting. Promise.

——†——

It had been a few days since Masato's tale of Michiko, the Enchantress, leaving Minako with plenty of time to mull over the details of the story. Despite being nothing more than just a myth, at least to her, Minako couldn't help but feel an odd sense of realism to the so called 'legend.' While the narration had provided a convenient explanation as to how the nine bijus came to be, the blonde continued to wonder as to why she was able to picture the events of Michiko's tale so vividly. She would have easily dismissed this thought as being pointless had it not been for the heavy longing, almost nostalgic, feeling that her body had succumbed to throughout the entire hour and thirty minutes that she had spent with Masato a few nights ago.

It's just a story. It's just a story. It's just a story.

Minako often chanted this phrase as if it were a mantra in the hopes of convincing her usually one-tracked mind that she was just thinking too hard on some fairytale. However, as effective as it was when it came to performing her medic-nin duties with her undivided attention (sort of), the desired results were seldom met as the blonde's train of thought would always be brought back to the legend in some way, shape or form. Even some of the most mundane objects, with no real relevance whatsoever, would make her think of Michiko's story (i.e. a pair of mini plant shears).

Spending her most recent working days in silence with this kind of inner aggravation had unfortunately cracked Minako's easy-going exterior and even more so, her focus, consequently resulting in the blonde to unconsciously mix the wrong set of chemicals together in her current line of work.

"OH GOD!"

Minako's sudden exclamation had directed a few of the other sand village's toxicologists towards her direction and the sight that had unfolded before them was both surprising and somewhat amusing.

Since the clinic's toxicology lab was generally not in possession of any highly reactive substances, the possibility of any dangerous instances occurring in the workplace was not a major area of concern amongst the health care professionals stationed within its walls. For the time being though, the lab was however in possession of a certain chemical compound that could pose as a potential but nonetheless minor hazard if handled recklessly. And as her luck would have it, Minako had unfortunately triggered the unwanted chemical reaction, somehow making the likely improbable, quite probable. Fortunately for her (as well as for her co-workers), no true resulting damages had taken place.

Minako's vigorous attempt at fanning away the faint purple fumes that were emitting from the test tube of an equally purple solution seemed almost comical, given the circumstances that surrounded it; to put it simply, the large "DO NOT MIX TOGETHER" warning sign in Minako's accompanying procedure manual (for the antidote that she was compounding) should have been a big enough hint towards the potential danger. But due to her lack of focus, it unfortunately wasn't. Despite the solution's bubbling state, it was fortunately not overflowing out of its receptacle, much to the blonde's relief. The present sand medics had calmly halted their own work to assist Minako in remedying her mishap. One of the nearby medics had calmly instructed Minako to put on a filtration mask while the two others began to analyze the contents of Minako's so called 'mixture.'

"I'm SO, SO sorry about this! I honestly have no idea what came over me!" The blonde's incessant apologizing and bowing made the medics sigh mild frustration.

"Everything is alright Minako-san, it was just a minor mistake. Thankfully the solution that you had concocted here was nothing truly dangerous."

"B-but it was bubbling! And smoking!"

"It was just a side effect of adding an excessive amount of the aconite extract into the buffer. The high concentration of the alkaloid substance found in the Aconitum Ferox plant used to make the extract had oxidized the edentate disodium within the diluted solution gradually reforming its chemical structure into a somewhat acidic poison. Not to worry, as you can clearly see, the reaction has now reached equilibrium."

Had Minako received no medic-nin training prior to this event, there would have been no words to describe the amount of confusion to accompany the medic's response; but thanks to Tsunade's stern and somewhat unconventional tutelage, this was not the case. Minako looked towards her workstation and noticed that the bubbling purple solution inside one of her test tubes was indeed stable. Despite having only an acute amount of understanding with regards to the chemistry behind her screw up, Minako was still left shocked and embarrassed at her little episode. Not only will her mess up reflect on her performance as a competent individual but it will also affect her overall impression as a representative of the Konoha medical division on top of her being a Fire Country ninja. She could picture the old hag's reaction right now…and it was looking quite violent. Tsunade had an almost unhealthy obsession in the philosophy of a medic's actions reflecting on the credibility of their respective country.

"Luckily for you, the aconite extract and the diluting solution are two of this lab's most common compounding substances so you can easily retrieve all that has been lost and continue on with your work without delay. I will properly dispose of this," the medic was holding up Minako's test tube, "and you shall proceed with our duties as follows. Since nothing serious had taken place, this incident requires no need to be reported." Minako let out a sigh of relief. "Your compounds can be found in the walk-in refrigerator along the back wall."

Even though he was not yelling or being patronizing in any way, the medic's calm and professional tone still made Minako feel incompetent. Deciding that it would be best to remain quiet about the whole issue, Minako simply nodded to the medic and followed his orders. After she retrieved her chemicals, Minako returned to her workstation and continued on with her laboratory duties in silence. One of the other medics, who was closer in age to Minako than the other two, felt some sympathy for the blonde and decided to being her spirits up.

"Got a lot on your mind?"

Minako glanced towards the light brown-haired, 23 year old, female medic that stood next to her. Even though she wasn't completely sure of it, Minako believed that the medic's name was Natsu.

"H-huh? Oh...um yeah. Yeah, something like that."

Natsu simply nodded. "It's alright Minako-san, we all have our moments. Trust me, you could have done a lot worse had you been given something else to work with. Much like myself on my first day in the lab."

Minako looked back in slight surprise. "You, Natsu-san?"

Natsu sheepishly grinned at the younger blonde. "While it may not have been one of my most positive moments as a licensed medic, it had firmly reinforced the practice of being extremely careful when it came to handling chemicals and compounding substances. And I never had another reported incident ever since then. "

Minako dared to ask. "What did you do?"

"Well...let's just say that because of my mistake, I have been practically programmed to glance back at my notes or instructions every five seconds whenever I am in the lab. It's become almost second nature to me."

Minako raised an eyebrow at the unconvincingly vague answer. Natsu noticed the blonde's scepticism and leaned in to whisper.

"Did you ever wonder as to why there is so much walking space in that far corner over there right next to the sliding doors of the walk-in refrigerator?"

"W-well, no not really. It never really caught my attention. Why? What are you getting at?"

Natsu made an almost inaudible giggle. "Two additional work tables used to be there. Well, that is, until I managed to corrode them away from existence."

Minako's eyes widened. She was left speechless.

"Whether you choose believe it or not, that nightmare genuinely happened. And if THAT didn't teach me a lesson in laboratory safety, nothing would. Dr. Kimura, your mission representative and one of the members of the Sand Village's medical committee, decided to leave that area empty in order to remind all current and future medics the potential dangers of being careless in the compounding lab. And THAT was considered 'generous' on her part."

Minako was about to say something in response but a stern 'shh' from one of the two older supervising medics made the two girls quickly return to their work. After a few minutes of concentrated silence, Minako felt the slight point of a note that had come into contact with her forearm. She glanced towards Natsu and noticed the brunette make a quick nod in her direction, indicating the blonde to open up the folded piece of parchment. It contained only single sentence with which Minako couldn't help but smirk at:

Had I not been Dr. Kimura's niece, I could have easily said goodbye to my spine.

It was all that Minako needed to continue the rest of her day without anymore distractions from her previous encounters with Masato, at least for the time being.

——†——

After a few rounds of "goodbyes" and "so longs" to the hospital receptionists and a few passing medics, Minako threw all thoughts of her evening with Sakura and Ino out the window and bolted towards Masato's store without a second though. Refusing to visit the old man for a two nights in a row had not only resulted in extensive thinking (on her part) about his stories but it had also made her feel strangely guilty about being away from him for so long. Given his age, Masato seemed like the kind of elderly man whose only forms of human interaction involved the bystanders that would walk into his store, even if it was just to browse.

Minako never really knew how active Masato's store was during the day, as her previous two visits were both near and during the store's off-hours, but judging from the sheer availability of his merchandise it did not appear as though Masato achieved any significant amount of business as the blond had initially believed. But then again, this was merely through observation and assumption.

As Minako dashed through the dusk-laden streets of the Hidden Sand Village, only one and strangely unexplainable thought was running through her mind:

I gotta make sure he's okay…

She never knew why Masato's well-being was her top most priority. Was it because he was elderly? Was it because of his friendly nature that it just seemed wrong to treat him like any other stranger (which he technically still was)? Was it because of the impression that Masato seemed to know a lot more than he lets on?

While it could have been any combination of the three, Minako had definitely sided with the third possibility. Before Masato, Minako was never aware of any mythological tales or legends involving spiritual people and supernatural creatures, let alone the Tale of the Enchantress; for no one had even bothered to approach her on such a subject. For all Minako knew, Michiko could have been an actual historical figure. Her story behind the so called 'creation' of the Nine Bijus seemed believable, to some extent, since any factual evidence surrounding their existences was virtually non-existent, at least to her knowledge.

Little did Minako know that this late night escapade of hers would not be left unnoticed for there were two sets of eyes spying on her retreating form from just around the corner.

——†——

It wasn't long before Minako had eventually reached the trademark double doors of Masato's shop. She took a few moments to herself to not only catch her breath but to also carefully (and mentally) prepare herself with regards to what she wanted to say to him.

Hmm…I think I'll start off by asking him where Michiko's story had originated from and see where things go from there. It had to come from somewhere right? It's not like some person from hundreds of years in the past made absolutely all of it up right? It just seems…a lot more complex than it should be if it was created simply for the sake of entertainment or sending kids to sleep. She sighed. Then again…

Minako still couldn't shake off the possibility that Michiko's tale was indeed just that: a tale. Never in her entire life had she spent so much time thinking about one particular (and somewhat random) subject. In top of that, it was only recently where she had begun to use logical thinking to deduce her findings for the very first time. Argh! Even studying for one of the old hag's medical tests is more bearable than this! And I hate them! Minako knew that all of this confusion and uncertainty would consume her entire being completely if she didn't find some clues to remedy her gender change soon. Being a female for almost an entire month may have had its ups and downs but ultimately, Minako sorely missed being her original self. She didn't like living behind a lie, constantly forcing herself to fabricate an alternate identity for herself all for the sake of her closest companions avoiding suspicion.

It's just not worth it. It's too hard for me to continue keeping it up with a straight face. She snapped her gaze back to the large double doors in front of her. Every problem leads to a question. She immediately thought of Masato. And every question will always have an answer, regardless of how vague it may be. Minako was just about to touch the large iron knocker before her until a strangely cold chill flow through her entire body, apparently out of no where.

Something's wrong…Minako felt the chill grow stronger as a strange force began to tug at her heart, feeling as if a part of her soul was desperate to leave her body.

Then, a disturbing image flashed through her mind: the image of Masato, down on the ground, clutching a hand to his heart and desperately gasping for air. Without question, Minako barged through the doors.

——†——

"Masato! Masato!"

The main body of the store was empty, but it didn't defer Minako from wanting to find the old man. The only other place that she could think of would be the back room that Masato had directed her to when he further shared the Tale of the Enchantress just a few days ago. She glanced around hastily trying to remember where the entrance to Masato's meditation chamber was.

U-um…I think it was along the back wall, through a hidden opening in the large curtains, and somewhere near that far corner.

As fast as he legs could carry her, Minako dashed for scarlet-draped back wall while trying her very hardest to manoeuvre around the display beds, shelves, mounts and casings that littered the shop's dark mahogany floor. She leaped over the long table, which served as the store's purchasing till, and begin to feel around the vibrant red drapery for the entrance to the meditation chamber while scaling along the wall to her right.

Come on, come on where are you?!

While in her search for the back door, Minako suddenly stepped on a hidden panel, which was cleverly disguised amidst the intricate design of a red and yellow throw rug. In her moment of surprise, Minako heard a heavy sliding noise right in front of her. Even though all that could be found in front of her was the heavy scarlet drapery, the blonde assumed that the noise came from behind the fabric. She eventually found a small opening within the drapery, just to her left, and went through the hidden doorway that greeted her.

As she reached the very end of the short hallway, Minako saw Masato just as she did in her vision: on his knees, hunched over and gasping for air. She wasted no time.

"Masato hang on!"

"M-Minako…?"

The blonde made her way in front of the heaving elderly man, got down to her knees and looked straight into his eyes. Her medic persona clicked into overdrive and began her patient questionnaire with Masato.

"How did this happen?"

"It…i-its…" Masato struggled to get his voice out.

"Easy there Masato. Let me help you up. I might be able to get a clearer understanding of your situation when you're not hunched over."

"Minako wait!"

Unfortunately for Masato, his cry was left unheard for the moment the young medic had touched his shoulders, she was flung back with a powerful repellent force. From her spot on the ground, Minako attempted to look back at Masato to simply recollect what had just happened to her but her thoughts and her unspoken words were interrupted by a gradually brightening shine that seemed to emit from the old man's body.

Struck with confusion and a little bit of fear, Minako's heart began to race as the light shone with greater intensity. Accompanying the blinding sight was a faint chiming noise which rang through her ears, additionally growing louder with every passing second.

"W-What's happening?!"

While she couldn't physically see Masato through the illumination, she had heard a hushed but soothing voice which simply told the shaking blond: "Do not be afraid. You are in no danger…" The disembodied voice did not resonate through her ears, but rather, through her mind. Shortly following, she felt her body grow hot and her breathing becoming short. Even though the strange voice had a firm tone to its assurance of her safety, Minako still felt terrified. With her thoughts overcome with thoughts of uncertainty and her senses overpowered by a blinding glare and a painful ring, Minako did the one thing that her body could permit her to do: scream for dear life. Before she knew it, the light that had threatened to engulf her entire being had completely consumed her; mind, body and soul.

——†——

The ringing was gone. The heat coursing through her body was gone. The glare that had shone with such intensity that it partially pierced through her tightly shut eyes was also gone. Believing that the intimidating moment was over, Minako removed her arms, which were crossed protectively in front of her face, and slowly opened her eyes. What she saw after her vision had adjusted was truly unbelievable. Instead of the familiar surroundings of Masato's meditation chamber, Minako was staring at a vast expanse of lush and beautifully green land, decorated with trees and multiple collections of flowers here and there for as far as her eyes could see. Way out into the distance was the majestic formation of snowless mountains. What made things even more surprising was the fact that there was not a single cloud to be seen in the sky.

Wait…wasn't it night time?

Minako wasn't able to continue pondering for much longer, for the sound of young children laughing, originating from behind her, had broken her train of thought. It was at that moment when she realized that she was standing at the top of a small flight of stairs, just underneath the impressive form of an elegantly designed, stone shrine arch. She turned around, with the landscape at her back, and noticed that she was actually situated at the entrance of some unknown town. Its entire foundation was laid out with smooth, dark grey stones and all of the buildings (at least the ones that she could currently see) which littered the area, were designed in a fairly archaic fashion: wooden homes, with the occasional stone sculpture at the front, complete with purely sliding doors and curved rooftops composed of ceramic tile.

Hmm…you don't see very many towns designed like this. Usually it's only one or two buildings that bare such old-fashioned construction. She scanned her surroundings for a few moments.

"W-where am I?"

Minako immediately brought a hand up to her throat at the sound of her notably deeper voice. She also made a quick glance down at her chest when she did not feel the notable protrusion of her breasts press up against her raised arm. When she was finally able to comprehend the nature of her situation, Minako was left dumbfounded. Her skin had tanned, her chest had flattened and her sorely missed sinewy muscles had returned once again. For some strange and miraculous reason, Minako had reverted back into her original self: back into Naruto.

In addition, Naruto also noticed that he was clothed a in a simple white top and matching pants. The top had no sleeves and the sides were slit from the hem, reaching up to about mid-ribcage. The pants were of an even simpler design, fitting comfortably around the waistline but loose around the legs and ending at just above the ankles. The cool and refreshing breeze that gently caressed his body made the blond feel incredibly relaxed; virtually weightless. Naruto felt his entire being become completely overwhelmed with a powerful sense of inner peace. He never wanted such bliss to end.

However, despite wanting to remain where he was and drink up every last ounce of this newfound comfort, Naruto knew that he had to figure out where exactly he had been transported to and return back to the Sand Village. Judging from the large number of lush trees and patches of open fields, Naruto had the feeling that he could have been relocated somewhere within the vicinity of Fire Country, but this was just a hunch. Naruto was never a good geographer, as he typically relied on his gut instinct or through the guidance of others, but he at least had the decency to ask for directions if he ever needed them; and this was certainly one of those times.

"As nice as this place is, I gotta get back." His anxiousness to return back to his team-mates and Masato (but most especially Masato) was all of the motivation that he needed.

From his position, Naruto made his way further into the village.

——†——

It wasn't long before Naruto stumbled upon a pair of (what he assumed to be) local residents, aimlessly chatting in front of what appeared to be a small produce stand. The vendor of said stand also seemed to be actively engaged in the pair's conversation, providing small bits of input every now and then. Even though it was rude to interrupt other people while they were talking, Naruto knew that he wouldn't get the information that he needed if he chose the polite way and remained quiet. After clearing his throat, Naruto reached out a pointed finger towards the back of the man who was closest to him.

"Excuse me...sir?"

But instead of physically tapping the man's shoulder as he had intended, Naruto's hand had sunk right through it, disappearing completely into the shoulder as if he were ghost. Naruto jerked his hand back in shock.

"W-What the...?!"

Naruto looked back at the three gentlemen and noticed that they were still talking happily amongst each other without even a second glance in his direction. Naruto hesitated for a bit before reaching his hand out to the man once again and just like last time, his hand went straight through. He even tried talking, while dropping an unconsciously made curse every now and then, at very rude volumes but none of that seemed to make much of an affect either. When he felt like his sanity could not handle anymore ignorance, Naruto shouted in exasperation.

"What the hell is going on?!" He slumped his shoulders in defeat.

"Oh would you look at that?! If we don't hurry, we might miss the union Assembly."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. Union Assembly…?

"Goodness! Is it time already? Just give me a few minutes to close down my stand and I'll follow you two."

"Don't worry about that. We'll help you."

As Naruto watched the three men box up the various fruits and vegetables that were out on the display bins, the blond couldn't help but have a strange anxious sensation swell up in the pit of his stomach. Once the vendor locked up his shop and pocketed the key, the three men nodded to each other in unison.

"Alright, let's go!"

Naruto had no choice but to follow them.

——†——

Surprisingly enough, the so called "Union Assembly" was located only a couple of blocks away from his previous position at the produce stand. Upon his arrival, Naruto found himself standing at the very back of a large gathering of people excitedly conversing with one another in an almost equally large courtyard. As much as he wanted to see what this apparently hyped up ceremony was about, Naruto had a fairly difficult time trying to see anything else other than the mass of bodies crowding about in front of him.

After realizing that trying to peek overtop of everyone's heads just to see what was going on directly ahead of him was much too irritable, Naruto decided to take his viewpoint straight to center stage. Since he assumed that nobody else could see him or feel him, as inferred from his previous episode with the three old men only minutes ago, Naruto figured that he could basically just walk right through the massive crowd and take a front row seat to observe what all of this commotion was about.

Why didn't I think of that sooner?

And just as he thought, Naruto was able to pass straight through every single body that came into "contact" with his own; ghosting through every single man, woman, child, and the occasional animal without a care in the world. Once he had reached the very front of the crowd, Naruto was intrigued by what he saw next. Standing at the very base of a tall and majestic-looking five-tiered pagoda were three separate groups of people, with each group clothed in garments completely different from the next. The notably obvious differences between each of the three groups seemed to enhance even further from there due to the distinguishable mix of genders and their respective composures between each of its members; emitting a certain air and character when each group was looked at individually.

The group on the right consisted of about an even mix of both males and females, young and old, with all of them dressed up in robes of the deepest purple; greatly resembling the appearances of high-mountain monks or temple keepers.

The group in the middle consisted of mostly males, with all of them donning armour and cloth garments of black and navy blue. The selective females that could be seen in this particular group all wore simple clothing of an identical color scheme as their male counterparts. Many of the men and even some of the younger males were armed with sheathed swords, daggers, and other hand-held blades. Naruto found it quite odd that he was able to spot only one female child within this particular group; granted that it was only what he could see while standing at ground level.

The final and left-most group of the three was more-or-less the polar opposite of the center group. While the previous group consisted of mostly males, this one primarily consisted of females (save the few males that could be spotted) with each member donning a robe of the most vivid shade of red (with the occasional splash of white here and there) that Naruto had ever seen. Each fair-skinned woman that can be seen all had brown hair in a fair and gentle earthly shade however; there was only woman, a young girl to be precise, whose hair was as pure as spun gold.

As odd as it seemed to see only one blonde-haired girl amidst a crowd of brunettes, it definitely made her stand out, and it was captivating. In fact, even amidst the entire crowd of people gathered within the courtyard, that one girl standing in front of all of the other mikos (1) was the only blonde in sight – save for Naruto himself. Despite her young age (judging by her size, Naruto guessed that she was around 10 or 11) the girl was quite pretty; which was odd since normal pre-teens would be generally designated as 'cute' rather than 'pretty'.

Naruto noticed that standing at the forefront of each of the three groups was a single child, situated beside who Naruto assumed to be one of their respective parental figures. Following in the same manner as the young blond girl from the group of mikos were two young boys: one from the monk group and one from the warrior group, both of whom appeared to be about the same age as the blond girl.

Standing in front of all of them (and only a few feet away from Naruto) was an elderly man, clothed in a robe of black and white and donning a very regal-looking headdress, who seemed to be addressing the crowd of villagers before him with Naruto included. In a loud and surprisingly spirited voice (for a senior), the old man began his proclamation to the masses in his deep yet jubilant tone.

"Welcome one and all on this glorious afternoon to commemorate the joining and the most blessed addition of these three tribes into our humble little establishment of Yasogami (2). About one decade ago, I began to receive dark and frightful visions of a bleak and dismal future. A nightmare of chaos and misfortune, symbolizing an unholy beast most determined to bring the very land that we live and breathe on to ruin. Our once peaceful world has been foretold fall to the hands of an ancient evil that has long since been revered from times of lore as mankind's greatest obstacle towards salvation.

But, amidst these darkened clouds shines three rays of hope. The high priests, the elders and myself have all been praying for many moons in the hopes of finding an answer to this desolate fate.

Hailing from the majestic ridges and valleys of the North West, please extend your welcomes to Arai-sama and the holy monks of the Yasakani Clan!" The crowd cheered in delight.

"Hailing from the mountainous regions of the North East, please welcome Takeru-sama and the noble blacksmiths and warriorsof the Kusanagi clan!" The crowed cheered once again.

"And last but not least, hailing from the oasis-laden shrine of the shimmering South-western sands, please welcome Chizuru-sama and the healers and priestesses of the Yata clan! (3)"

The final introduction of the Yata maidens resulted in the loudest cheer that the crowd had made – at least during the short amount of time that Naruto had spent with them.

"Today marks the dawn of a new…"

Naruto was unable to hear the rest of the old man's speech for the sound of his voice (and all other sounds for that matter) was rapidly draining out of his ears.

"W-what's going-"

Naruto's statement was left unfinished for the powerful force that had surged over his entire being back when he was with Masato had completely returned to him in the blink of an eye. The loud chiming noise, the blinding light, and the immense pulling sensation from within his core, all of it flooded his senses to an almost painful extremity. The pressure was much too sudden and much too forceful for Naruto to even comprehend. The sensation was overwhelming. All he could do was scream for dear life.

——†——

"Mina…? Mina…!"

The sound of a youthful male voice rang through his ears. While it wasn't an immediately familiar voice, at least one that Naruto couldn't automatically recall, there was something oddly warm and nostalgic about it that made him feel at peace.

"Come on Mina…wake up."

"M-mmm…" Consciousness gradually returned to Naruto as he slowly opened up his heavily lidded eyes. A foreign sigh of relief was heard just to the right of his lying form.

"Ahhh…thank goodness. You almost had me worried there."

"W-what…?" Even while rubbing the drowsiness out of his eyes, Naruto immediately acknowledged that he was now back in "Minako's body," simply from the sound of his now higher-pitched voice; and yet, he didn't seem all that surprised about it.

"How are you feeling?" said the young male voice.

"F-fine I guess…"

Minako gently turned her head over to her right, where the voice had originated from, and finally took a good long look at her company. As a result, all traces of sleep and fatigue were almost immediately removed from her body.

Instead of seeing some young gentleman, which was basically the only option that she had logically expected from the masculine voice, her eyes were now greeted by a small, almost cat-sized, white-furred fox pup. Accenting his ears, his paws and the very tips of its tail were patches of fur colored in the deepest black. Located on his forehead was another patch of black fur (which was oddly shaped like a four-sided diamond) and situated within the very centre of it was a small circular jewel, colored in a hypnotic icy blue hue. When combined with fox pup's equally icy blue eyes, Minako would have immediately assumed that the jewel on his forehead was in fact an additional third eye, among other things. (4)

The combination of surprise and confusion had left Minako speechless. Despite the fox pup being quite adorable in appearance, she was quite unsure of what she was supposed to do next, if anything. After mentally weighing out her options, she finally came up with a solution: to simply stare back at the pup with inquiring eyes and a slightly open mouth.

"U-um…hi."

The pup made a very human-like smile and wagged its tail happily.

"Hi Mina! Glad to see you up!"

"Y-yes. Thank you." Minako raised an eyebrow at the pup. "U-um…how do you know my name?" More importantly though, how the Hell does this animal know my fake name?

The fox continued to smile back in that happy demeanour of his while continuing to wag his tail. His perky attitude greatly reminded Minako of Akamaru when he was only a pup.

"You told me remember?"

"N-no I can't say I do." Minako shifted her position so that she sat cross-legged in front of her furry friend. Minako closed her eyes for a few seconds as she scratched the bridge of her nose.

"U-um I don't mean to be rude but…who are you? Or better yet, what are you exactly?"

The pup made a small laugh. "Don't you recognize me?" He padded his way over to a nearby table and hopped up onto its surface with Minako following shortly afterwards. The blonde sat down in front of the pup yet again and, because of its position on top of the table, the two were finally at eye level with each other.

"W-well…not really to be honest. I mean, I only know a small handful of talking animals and not one of them is…well…you."

The fox squinted its eyes ever so lightly, making it seem as though he were challenging the seated blonde before him.

"Look closer…"

Minako made a sigh in exasperation. "Is this really all that necessary?"

The fox simply continued staring back at Minako. "Just trust me on this…"

Minako sighed once again. "Fine." The blonde did as she was told and intently gazed back into the fox pup's icy blue eyes. Wait a minute… Minako carefully analyzed the contours and the emotional depth hidden within the animal's eyes and felt a strange surge of familiarity. Without even realizing it, the words just left her mouth.

"K-koki…?"

The fox pup smiled in glee. "You remembered!"

Without even a single ounce of warning to the blonde, Koki jumped up from the table and into Minako's arms, savouring the warm and blanketed feeling that came from the girl's embrace. She never really knew what caused her body to do so, but Minako humbly returned the gesture of affection to the pup and began to tear ever so slightly. The two of them never really knew how long they had been holding each other but the silence was finally lifted by way of Koki's soft youthful voice whispering into Minako's ear.

"I've been waiting for so long for you Michiko-san. And now you've finally returned."

Minako continued to hold onto Koki's small form as she gently moved him from her chest and down to her lap, where he politely took his seat.

"Michiko…?" The name resonated from Minako's voice in a slightly hollow tone.

"Or would you rather prefer that I call you Minako? Or better yet, why don't I refer you by your real name: Naruto?"

Minako's eyes widened in surprise while her heart skipped a beat. "H-how did-!"

Koki simply smiled back as he looked into the blonde's eyes. "Believe it or not Naruto…I know more about you than you would ever know."

Minako let out a soft, "Really…?," not even bothering to react after the pup had used her real name for the second time tonight.

Koki nodded. "I do."

Minako held a hand up to her heart. She slowly lifted her gaze back towards Koki's patiently seated form which was now found back on the nearby wooden table. Koki was back to eye level once again with the blonde.

"Koki…"

There were just so many questions that flooded the very depths of Minako's mind that she never really knew where to begin asking. When combined with the fatigue that had befallen her body from both a long work day and these sudden turn of events, all Minako could do was sit in silence and awe.

"I trust that you have a lot to ask of me from just the short amount of time that we have been together, but for now, we must rest. When the timing is right, I will be there to answer all of your questions wholeheartedly to the best of my abilities."

Minako felt the genuine sincerity resonating from Koki's voice; it was all that she needed to heed his word and hold to his promise.

"Alright…"

Koki nodded. "Thank you…" The white fox pup leapt up from the table and back into Minako's arms to which the blonde gladly accepted almost instinctively.

"You know…the inn doesn't normally allow pets, or other animals for that matter, into their facilities."

Koki scratched one of his ears. "That is fine. I can simply remove myself from your person once we arrive at the inn and make my way over to your room from the outside. Your scent should be more than enough for me to find you from there."

Minako gently scratched Koki's other ear to which he gladly leaned into in approval. "My life just keeps getting weirder and weirder."

"Perhaps. But one of these days, you will find that everything will be right where it needs to be."

Minako smiled. "Strange. Somehow, when you say it, I feel like I can believe that. Thanks Koki-chan…"

Koki smiled in earnest. "Now before we depart, we must perform a little manual labour."

Minako raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

"Indeed. Just head outside and I'll show you."

The pair made their way out of the mediation chamber, through the interior of the store and eventually stepped outside into the cool night air.

"Now just go around the left corner…"

Minako did as she was instructed and made a small gasp in surprise at her discovery shortly afterwards.

"Sakura? Ino? What are they doing here?"

Koki leaped out of Minako's arms and padded his way over to the young medics' unconscious forms.

"Your friends I'm assuming?" Minako nodded in confirmation. "Hmm…well from what I can infer, my belief is that they followed you here. Out of worry I'm presuming."

Minako knelt down next to Koki and carefully analyzed their lying forms and noticed that they didn't seem to sustain any visible injuries. It really just looked like they were knocked out cold.

"Well…there's no time to keep wondering about it now. Guess we'll just have to take them back to our room at the inn and sleep it off."

"Agreed. The temperature is already beginning to drop so it's best that we take them now before it gets too cold."

"Right…"

Minako gently gathered up Sakura and Ino's sleeping bodies, placing Sakura over her right shoulder while holding onto Ino's waist in her left arm. Despite being in her female body for close to a month now, Minako continued to have those small instances of surprise simply from the realization that she had still retained her old strength and stamina prior to the gender change. Her current body – which was both svelte and slender – did not reflect the hidden physical prowess that lay beneath her soft and delicate features.

"Do you need a hand Naruto?"

"No, I should be okay but thanks for the offer Koki-chan. And I hope you don't mind me asking but would you please just refer to me as 'Minako' whenever we're around others?"

"Of course. Would you also like me to refrain from speaking around others as well?"

"Hmm…" Minako spent a few moments contemplating over it. "Actually, I think that would be a wise choice. While the strange patterns along your body might say other wise, it would probably seem more believable around others to say that you were just some stray animal that I picked up and took in on the spot out of sympathy."

Koki made a forced sniffing noise in response to Minako's attempt at a joke. "I think that can be remedied…"

Within a matter of seconds, the black patches of fur on Koki's more-or-less white body, along with the strange blue jewel located in the center of his forehead (surrounding black patch included), completely vanished, transforming the exotic looking animal into a completely normal and natural-looking fox pup. His flawless fur was colored in the purest white whilst his eyes darkened into a much deeper, almost ocean-like shade of blue.

"Remarkable…"

Koki sat down on the ground looking as innocently cute as he possibly could, and he wasn't even trying. "And of course, no one would need to question the origins of a stray so I can keep my fur in its near natural color. The less effort that I have to exert in order to disguise myself, the better."

Minako sighed and smirked at the talking pup. "What have I gotten myself into?"

Koki jogged his way over to Minako's side and began to walk in tandem alongside his new master.

TBC

——†——

A/N: Apologies are in order of course to all of you incredibly patient readers who have been waiting for this chapter for a good, what 10½ months? I'll make it brief: final year of undergrad studies was HELL! Oh right, and over 7000 words for this chapter. My longest one yet! I kinda felt that I owed my awesome readers a nice long transitional chapter.

Hopefully I'll be able to remain motivated to continue with this story and make sure that I don't leave this sitting on the back burner for almost a full year. But that's what reviews are for! If you found this chapter worthy of your love and interest, drop me a review you wonderful people.

Oh yes. And I promise to keep my chapters interesting. I always feel guilty whenever I think that one particular chapter might tank amongst my readers – which is that LAST thing that I want for you guys.

(1) Miko – a Shrine Maiden

(2) Yasogami – Meaning "Many Gods" in Japanese. I borrowed the word "Yasogami" from a fictional High School of the same name from the RPG Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4, published by Atlus for the PS2. FYI: HEART the game!

(3) I derived the name "Chizuru" from a King of Fighter's character whose affiliation with the ancient Yata clan of priestesses (from the game) was also utilized in my story. Interesting fact: the name "Chizuru" means "1000 cranes" in Japanese.

(4) I sort of based Koki's physical appearance with that of Kirara, Sango's demonic animal companion from Takahashi Rumiko's original manga series: Inuyasha. And yes, I know that Kirara is actually a cat.