When Naruto regained consciousness, she looked around the room. There were cracks in all the walls and the door was hanging off the hinges. Her clothes had been shredded by her chakra exploding. Her skin looked noticeably paler. A lock of her hair that hung down her front caught her eyes and she saw that it had lightened to a pure white color. As she stood up, she noticed that her head felt heavier than normal. She reached up and felt two hard growths on the top of her head.
She grimaced. The hair and skin colors were not too bad, but the last thing she needed was to look less human.
She left the room and started carefully exploring the area outside her room. It appeared to be a small hideout with a central room with a cooking and dinning area and four side rooms, one of which had been her cell. Thankfully, she was the only one present. They must have left that weird Zetsu thing on guard. She explored the other main room and the side rooms. She stole some clothes from what must have been the redhead's room and found her ninja tools. She found a mirror in the blond's room. She looked mostly the same other than her coloring and the things on her head. In addition to her skin and hair, her eyes were now very pale with just a hint of blue. They looked a lot like her classmate Hinata's eyes. The horn or bone protrusions on here head were a light brown and looked vaguely like rabbit ears. That Zetsu thing did say she reminded him of the Rabbit Goddess Kaguya. She wondered if there was a connection. The only other thing was a faint vertical line in the center of her forehead. She poked at it and it felt like a crease. A harder poke told her that the area around the crease had give to it unlike the rest of her forehead. She decided to leave it alone for now.
She gathered up some food and anything else that might be useful. After a quick meal she left through a cave mouth. She was in a forest with no obvious trails. She kept walking until she came to a small river. She decided to follow it downriver. Eventually she came to a small village.
She approached a middle-aged woman and asked, "Excuse me ma'am, but I got lost in the woods. Can you tell me where I am?"
"This is Kashiwa no Sato, Hyuuga-san."
"I'm not a Hyuuga," Naruto said absently. She had not heard if this village before.
"Oh, my apologies, Miss. Your eyes, from the stories I've heard. . ."
"It's a common mistake, Ma'am," she said, "I don't mind, but Hyuuga have dark hair. Is your village in Hi no Kuni?"
"No, this is Kawa no Kuni. You must be really lost."
"Thank you, Ma'am."
Naruto thought quickly as she walked away. Kawa no Kuni was between Hi no Kuni and Kaze no Kuni. To get back to Konoha she needed to go east. She did not dare stay put lest she be recaptured. It was mid morning, so the sun was in the east. She oriented herself and started walking.
When she was a few minutes out of town, she made a Shadow Clone and told it to think about what had happened and that she was moving east from Kashiwa no Sato in Kawa no Kuni. Then it dispelled.
She moved off into the forest about 50 meters from the road and started jogging, keeping parallel to the road. After five minutes she felt new memories from a clone dispersing. The Hokage had had her remaining clone in Konoha make and disperse a clone to send her a message. The Hokage wanted her to try and make for the border. He wanted her to wait at a border station if she could find one. He suggested that she use the Disguise Technique to hide her appearance and suggested that she pretend to be a Hyuuga since she had been mistaken for one already. He suggested that she keep her Leaf Badge on her forehead so that no one would think she was Main Family who were all too well known and gave suggestions for getting past the border. She used the Disguise Technique to change the color of her hair to black and to hide her horns and whisker marks. She started jogging again.
About two hours later she noticed a clearing up ahead. She looked toward the road and saw two booths. They must be customs stations at the border. She thought about sneaking across the border, but figured it was better to make contact sooner with friendly forces. She moved back to the road and approached the stations.
When she approached the first booth a bored-looking guard looked up from reading a book and said, "Name and purpose for traveling?"
"Hyuuga Naru, Genin of Konohagakure no Sato returning to Konoha after a personal visit to Suna," she said following the suggestions given her by the Hokage via her Shadow Clone.
"Anything to declare for customs?" he asked.
"Nothing."
He waved her through and went back to his book.
She approached the second booth which was standing 20 yards away. There were three guards on the Hi no Kuni side and they were much more alert. Part of the reason may have been the vaguely familiar Konoha shinobi standing with them. He had a bowl cut and huge eyebrows. He was dressed in a green jumpsuit with orange legwarmers and a jounin flak jacket. He had a Leaf Badge on his belt.
"Hello, Miss," said the lead guard. "Can I have your name and purpose for travel?"
"Hyuuga Naru, Genin of Konohagakure no Sato returning to Konoha after a personal visit to Suna," she repeated.
"Anything to declare for customs, Hyuuga-san?" the guard asked.
"Nothing."
"Naru-san," the shinobi said, "My name is Maito Gai, Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey. Hokage-sama sent me on a most Youthful mission to retrieve his honorary granddaughter from her stressful journey. I assume that is you?"
"Yes, I can't wait to sit down to a bowl of ramen with jiichan." 'Stressful' and 'ramen' were the sign and countersign that the Hokage had set up to identify someone he had sent.
She followed Gai until they were out of sight of the customs stations. "Excuse me Gai-san, I need to let the Hokage know you've found me via a Shadow Clone."
She quickly made and dispersed a clone.
"What a most Youthful communication method!" Gai boomed.
"Err, yes. Gai-san, do you know how long I've been gone?"
"About 3 days."
"Okay. I'm anxious to get back."
"How Youthful! Naru-san, I am one of the fastest shinobi in the service of Konoha. Do you mind if I carry you so that we may arrive in our Youthful village much more quickly?"
Naruto was felt like she could keep going physically, but she was mentally and emotionally exhausted. "Okay, Gai-san."
"Very well. I will speed us to Konoha with extra Youth!" he boomed and scooped her up into a 'princess' carry and sped off.
Just less than two hours later they were standing in the Hokage's office. One of Naruto's Shadow Clones was sitting in the office.
"Can I dismiss now?" asked the clone.
"Just a moment, I want you to make another Shadow Clone and dismiss and we can see if she knows the password I gave you a few minutes ago," said the Hokage.
The clone followed his instructions. After the clone's clone dispersed Naruto said, "The password is 'orange.'"
"Very well, you can disperse," said the Hokage.
The clone dispersed and Naruto felt the rush of experience. The clone had not done much, but she had been awake for three days. The Hokage had been afraid she would disperse if she slept. The only noteworthy thing that had happened to her was a mild interrogation by T&I.
The Hokage dismissed Gai and said, "Naruto-kun, I'd like you to tell me what happened. Your clone told me, but she only knew of it via second hand memories. I'd like a first-hand retelling of it."
Naruto told the Hokage what had happened from the time that Mizuki approached her after the failed exam until she and Gai entered the office.
"My wife, Biwako, was a Senju. She told me that the Senju, Uzumaki, and Uchiha Clans were all descended from Rikudou Sennin-sama and that his name was Outsutsuki Hagoromo. She said that the reason the Senju and the Uchiha always fought was because of an inheritance dispute that the Uchiha couldn't let go. I wonder if this Kaguya lady is related to him."
"There's an Uzumaki Clan? Why haven't I met them?" she asked earnestly.
"Unfortunately, most of them died years ago during an attack on their homeland. Your mother was the last that we knew of."
"How come you never told me about my parents, Jiichan?" she said sadly.
"Your parents had many enemies, Naruto-kun. Your mother was even kidnapped when she was about your age. While you look like your mother, your coloring used to be very similar to your fathers, and you were missing the distinctive Uzumaki red hair. Without that I thought it safe to let you have your mother's name, but if people thought you were a real Uzumaki, it would put you in danger."
"Please tell me about her, Jiichan. I swear I won't tell," she pleaded.
"I'll tell you a little bit as a test, but if I hear gossip about her being your mother, I won't tell you about your father until you are a jounin or are 18. He had even more enemies. If you've kept the secret I'll tell you about your father when you are a chuunin."
She pouted and gave him the puppy dog eyes, but he remained unmoved. "Okay, Jiichan, I promise."
"Your mother's name was Uzumaki Kushina. Her personality was actually a lot like yours when she was young. She was very boisterous and prone to pranks. She and your father were very happy when they found out she was pregnant with you, but they both died during the Kyuubi attack. I can show you a picture of her tomorrow."
"Thanks, Jiichan," she said. "I would like that." Her eyes were a little watery with emotion from finally finding out a little about her family.
The Hokage let her process it for about a minute and then said, "Please dispel the Disguise, Naruto-kun."
Naruto did so and the Hokage said, "Mostly just a coloring change. I wonder if that's a real Byakugan or if it just looks like one? Can I touch your horns?"
Naruto nodded. She felt a slight pressure as he gently pushed on one of them. "Have you noticed anything else strange, Naruto-kun?" he asked.
"Just the weird slit in the center of my forehead. It's easy to miss, if you don't look closely. There's something other than bone behind it."
"I want you to get an exam from my personal physician before you go home today," he said.
"Do I have to? I'm really tired and I hate the hospital."
"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun, but it's standard practice for shinobi who have been captured—especially if there are physical changes. Mostly it's to make sure there aren't tracking seals or worse on you."
"Worse?" she asked nervously.
"My old student Orochimaru, for example, used a curse seal on one of our shinobi that sometimes causes her pain. She says Orochimaru told her it would give her power, but my other student, Jiraiya-kun, says that if she uses it, it will rob her of her free will."
"Okay," she said begrudgingly.
"I have just a couple more things to talk to you about before I let you go," the Hokage said. "First, I've decided to honor Iruka's advancement of you. Not only did you learn a jounin-level ninjutsu, you defeated a chuunin and escaped from S-rank missing nin. Also, I think that failing you because you can't perform the Clone Technique with your huge chakra reserves is stupid. You would need much better chakra control than what we expect of genin to do so. If I had known that's why they were failing you I would have intervened."
Naruto gave him a blinding smile.
"The second thing is that I'd like to ask you about a few of your classmates and whether you think you can work with them. I don't normally do this, but with the Clone fiasco and the kidnapping, I want to cut you a break."
Naruto nodded. "Thanks, Jiichan."
"Do you think you can work with Haruno Sakura-san?"
Naruto frowned. "I've tried to be friends with her, because she used to get picked on for her hair and her forehead. At first she friendly, but after the first couple of days she just ignored me. But within the last few years, she has been vicious to me, both physically and verbally—especially if the Uchiha is in the room. I've asked Ayame-neechan about it and she thinks it's because she's jealous of my looks and she's afraid I'll steal her 'Sasuke-kun' from her. Personally, I don't see it. I'm too short and skinny and I have these birthmarks." She touched her cheeks. "But to be honest, all most all of the girls are like that. Sakura is just the worst. She's usually the only one that hits me."
"Is Yamanaka Ino-san one of them?"
"Yes, she's one of the worst verbally, although she rarely hits me."
"How about Hyuuga Hinata-san?"
"No, Hinata-san is very quiet and shy. A couple of times she was friendly to me, but for the most part she kept to her self."
"Do you think you can work with Uchiha Sasuke-san?"
"No, but to be honest, I don't think he's willing to work with anyone. Where Hinata-san keeps to herself out of shyness, Sasuke does it out of contempt. I tried to be friendly to him after the massacre, since I'm an orphan too, but he ignored me like he does everyone." She chuckled nervously. "I may have indulged in some name calling and bragging with him because he ignored me or put me down."
"What do you want from your jounin sensei?"
"I want someone who will actually train me. No one has ever taught me anything. I don't really count the Academy lectures since I didn't understand most of what they said. I like to work hard. I need to work hard. I don't want to be captured by those red-cloud freaks again. What I don't want is someone that will ignore because of the Kyuubi or because I was dead last or because I don't have a clan to help me."
"Alright, thank you, Naruto-kun, for answering my questions," he said. "I want you to rest for the rest of the day after you finish with my doctor. Tomorrow, I want you to come and get your picture taken and turn in your shinobi registration. I also want you to meet me here at 9 o'clock to test and see if you have the Byakugan. The following day head to the Academy at 10 o'clock for team assignments."
"Okay, thanks, Jiichan."