Naruto hesitantly walked up to the bridge where her team normally met. Hinata was walking beside her and she could see that Sasuke and Kakashi were already there. She was wearing one of her new outfits which was the reason for her nervousness.

Sasuke looked up at them and his jaw dropped. "Dead Last, you look like a girl!"

"I am a girl, Jerk!" she responded.

Sasuke grunted. "I know that, Idiot. You are normally so much of a tomboy, that if it weren't for your doll-like face, nobody could tell."

She looked away. "It wasn't really safe to remind people I was a girl, so I always wore baggy clothing. Hinata-chan convinced me to wear form-fitting clothing because it was quieter." She glared at Hinata. "I don't think that's fair because she always hides her figure underneath that bulky jacket and she has the best figure of anyone in our class!"

Hinata turned crimson. "Naruto-chan, I'm not the stealth expert on our team!" she hissed.

Naruto smirked at her petty revenge. Naruto's new outfit was formfitting and contoured without being tight. The tailoring had taken a small amount of extra time, but Hinata said it would cut down on rustling when she moved. Realistically, Naruto's feminine figure was just barely developing, but the new outfit made a stark contrast to the baggy jumpsuit she used to wear.

She was wearing dark-blue pants with a dark-orange stripe up the side of each leg. She was wearing a dark-green long-sleeve shirt. Over the shirt was a dark-orange vest. The pants and vest together emphasized her hips, which she thought were starting to develop nicely, although showing them off was embarrassing. The vest also showed that she had a small bust. She was wearing a dark-green belt with her Leaf Badge over the buckle. She had a black weapons holster on each thigh. Rather than pouches, she had pockets in her pants and vest. Her hair was still to her mid back, but was gathered into a loose ponytail by two dark-green bows—one at her neck and one near the end of the ponytail. She had opted for something that would be easy to undo so that she could use her hair as a weapon again—if she figured out how.

Naruto thought the dark colors contrasted well with her pale coloring, but would also help her blend in when sneaking. She was glad that she had managed to get some orange in it, as she had become attached to the color, even if it wasn't the bright orange she had used up until now. Hinata had said that she would help her make a knit cap to cover her hair for sneaking. It had to be specially made due to her ear-like protrusions.

"Looking good, Naruto-chan," Kakashi commented.

The trip to the capitol went smoothly. They jogged at a comfortable pace so that they wouldn't be too worn out when they got there. They had one overnight stop-over. While Kakashi and Sasuke set up camp, Kakashi had Hinata teach Naruto how to bow properly and what kind of responses were appropriate for the likely scenarios they would encounter.

"Under no circumstances are you to call Daimyo-sama Jiichan, Naruto-chan," Kakashi commanded.

The formal reception in front of the Daimyo's court was boring. The only thing required of them was to present the list and to formally present themselves to the court. As they were leaving the audience, an attendant caught Kakashi's attention and motioned for them to follow him.

The attendant led them to a smaller audience chamber. About five minutes after they arrived, four of the Twelve Ninja Guardians arrived through another door. After the four took their places, the Daimyo entered followed by two more of the Twelve.

"Ah, Kakashi-san," said the Daimyo, "I wanted to meet with you and your genin more privately. I usually don't do this, but your team has some of the bright, upcoming lights of Hi no Kuni—the Uchiha and Hyuuga heirs and. . . Uzumaki Naruto-kun." The Daimyo sounded like he was mentally saying a different family name for her. He must know who her parents were. "Please give me a short description of your training accomplishments."

The three genin each gave a brief description of what they had trained in.

"So advanced," said the Daimyo. "Advanced weapons skills and beginning elemental manipulation. I'm impressed and pleased, Kakashi-san. Konoha and Hi no Kuni are in good hands. I look forward to seeing you three compete." He looked at Naruto for a moment. "I see you have your mother's beauty, but it seems you have your father's temperament, which makes me happy. I had heard that you had your father's coloring. Was this in error?"

"An accident with some missing nin, Daimyo-sama," she replied.

The Daimyo looked at Kakashi who nodded. "Indeed?" the Daimyo said, "I'll have to send to Hokage-dono to get a report on this. I'm glad that you escaped mostly unharmed. Your loss would be a tragedy for Hi no Kuni."

Naruto bowed her thanks, the Daimyo thanked them for coming and withdrew. Afterwards, Kakashi led them out of the city.

As they were leaving the palace, Sasuke started to speak, but Kakashi silenced him with shake of his head.

After they were a few kilometers from the city, Kakashi stopped them and they made camp. After the necessary things were done, Kakashi said, "I suppose you have some questions about what the Daimyo said."

"I've been thinking about what the Daimyo said about Naruto-chan," said Sasuke. "He made it sound as if her parents were important. The only important blond man I can think of besides, Ino's dad is the F. . ."

"Stop!" commanded Kakashi. "Naruto's parentage is an S-class secret. Please, don't utter any guesses."

"Why did Daimyo-sama leave so many clues as to who they were, then?" asked Hinata.

"Hokage-sama wanted to keep Naruto-chan's heritage a secret to protect her from her parent's enemies both within and without Konoha. Daimyo-sama favored letting people know, in order to raise morale after the Kyuubi Attack, but keeping her under heavy guard. Although Hokage-sama reports to Daimyo-sama, he has a lot of independence where Konoha's internal affairs are concerned. Daimyo-sama conceded to Hokage-sama's plan reluctantly. This was his way of pointing Naruto-chan in the right way if she didn't know already, as a form of petty vengeance."

Naruto pouted. "I can kind of see Jiichan's point in keeping my parentage a secret—although it did stink that everyone said I was the kid of a criminal or prostitute. I think he should have told me though. I get the sense that he only told me about my mother due to the kidnapping. I had to find out who my father was from the Kyuubi, of all people." She looked at Kakashi. "Hokage-jiichan told me I act a lot like my mother. Why did the Daimyo say I acted like my father?"

Kakashi laughed. "The first time your mother met the Daimyo, she threatened to rip out his intestines and feed them to him for not sending enough aid to save Uzushio and Uzu no Kuni. She was young and important for being the new jinchuuriki and Daimyo-sama was somewhat sympathetic, so he let it go. Your father was given to cold rages when mad, while your mother was very hot blooded. The fact that you were polite made a good first impression on him."

The trip back was uneventful. During the debriefing, the Hokage commanded the genin to not mention anything the Daimyo said about Naruto's parents and to keep any speculation of Naruto's heritage silent. He then asked Kakashi to remain behind and dismissed the genin.

As they were leaving the tower, Naruto asked, "Want to get something to eat?"

"Sure," said Sasuke, "as long as it's not ramen."

Naruto pouted while Hinata giggled and Sasuke smirked.

As they walked, Naruto noticed a square box with eye holes following them. She didn't even need to use her Byakugan to know who it was. She decided to ignore it.

Both Hinata and Sasuke signed, Box?

Kids play. Ignore, she responded.

They had a nice lunch at an udon stand, although she would have preferred ramen. When they left the box was waiting for them.

Naruto sighed. "Come on out, Kono-chan," she said.

The box was tossed up and smoke billowed forth.

"Too much gunpowder," a kid's voice whined.

As the smoke dissipated, Konohamaru said, "I'm Konohamaru, the next Hokage!"

A girl his age with orange hair tied in two fat pigtails that stuck up from her head at angles said, "I'm Moegi, the sassiest young kunoichi!"

A dark-haired boy with glasses and a dripping nose said, "I'm Udon. I like algebra."

"Together, we are the Konohamaru Corps!" they all said. All of them were wearing goggles similar to the ones Naruto used to wear. She had not seen them since before she left for Nami no Kuni.

"Boss!" said Konohamaru, "Don't call me 'chan.' I'm not a little kid."

Naruto snorted. "When you stop acting like a little kid, I'll stop treating you like one. That disguise was pathetic!"

The loud one is Asura's transmigrant, a deep voice growled from within her.

"What?!" she yelled.

Simply think at me, Step-mother, the voice sneered. You don't have to speak to me aloud.

Kyuubi? I wasn't serious about the step-mother comment, she replied.

The Kyuubi cackled. Just because we're partners doesn't mean I can't torment you. Your friends are probably wondering what's going on. The Kyuubi's mental voice dripped sarcasm, especially when it uttered the word "friends."

When she looked around at her friends they were all staring at her—Sasuke with amusement, Hinata and the others with concern.

"Sorry, just had a bad. . . flashback," she said while signing to her teammates, Explanations later.

"Boss!" exclaimed Konohamaru. "How come you look like a girl?"

"I've always been a girl, Kono-chan," she said irritatedly.

"I know that, Boss Lady, but you've always been a tomboy. Is it because of him?" He pointed at Sasuke. "Is he your. . . boyfriend?"

Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other. Sasuke turned away and grunted. "Like I'd date the Dead Last."

Naruto yelled, "No way!" and made barfing noises.

"I knew it!" Konohamaru crowed. "They're protesting way too much for it not to be true."

Naruto stopped and glared at Konohamaru. 'This is why I didn't want to give up my jumpsuit,' she thought to herself. She spared Hinata a withering look before turning back to Kohohamaru. "Run!" she growled. Her hair started to come loose form its bows.

Konohamaru stopped cackling and said, "What?"

"I'd run if I were you, Kono-chan!" she said as she took a menacing step forward. She activated her Byakugan to look more intimidating. She saw that her hair had started to clump into ten segments as it writhed. She throttled her anger back a little, since she only wanted to scare him, but her hair kept moving.

"Scary!" Konohamaru whimpered before turning and running. Moegi and Udon raced after him.

She cackled and gave chase. Her anger dissipated as she chased them. She dismissed her Byakugan as she didn't need it and didn't want to alarm any ANBU watching them. Before she turned it off, she saw that Hinata and Sasuke were following her. The chase led them first into a residential area and then the main market area.

She turned a corner to see Konohamaru being held by a boy in a black jumpsuit. The boy had purple markings on his face and was wearing a hood with "ears" and was carrying a bandage-wrapped bundle on his back. He had a Sand Badge on his hood. Next to him was a blonde girl in a light-purple outfit. Her hair was gathered in four spiky pigtails. A Sand Badge hung around her neck and she had a large folded fan on her back.

"Stupid brat," said the boy. "I'll teach you to run into me." He cocked his fist back in preparation to hit Konohamaru.

"Just let the kid go, Kankurou-kun," said the girl. "It's not worth causing a ruckus over."

"Got to teach the brat to respect his betters, Temari-chan," the boy responded.

"If you get us kicked out. . ." she replied.

"It's just a brat."

"I'd listen to your teammate, Suna nin," Naruto called out.

"I'm just going to teach the brat some manners, Konoha nin," he sneered. "You want a piece of me too?"

"I'd say to save it for the Exams, Suna nin," she said, "but you're obviously too stupid to make it that far."

"Why, you!" yelled Kankurou as he started to remove the bundle from his back.

Konohamaru took the opportunity to scamper away. By this time Sasuke and Hinata had caught up and were bracketing her.

Naruto turned to the girl and bowed. "Temari-san, my name is Naruto. I suggest you control your teammate before he has you expelled from the village for assaulting the Hokage's grandson."

Temari turned to her teammate and smacked him in the back of the head. "Idiot, are you trying to get us killed?"

Just to rub it in, Naruto added with a smirk, "I can also suggest some traps to keep him out of your makeup."

"It's face paint!" he yelled.

Temari chuckled. "I apologize for my little brother. He was dropped a few too many times as a kid."

"Temari. . ." Kankuro growled.

"There's another one in the tree," Hinata said quietly.

All five of them looked at the tree. A redheaded boy was standing on a branch. Kankurou and Temari paled. The redhead had the kanji for love in red above his left eye and dark circles around his eye. He was dressed in a black jumpsuit and had a large gourd held on his back through an arrangement of leather straps.

He Flickered down to stand beside Kankurou. "Kankurou, you are a disgrace. Behave or I'll kill you," the redhead said in a creepy monotone.

"Yes, Gaara-san," said the hooded boy.

Gaara turned and looked at the three Konoha genin. He seemed to dismiss Hinata and Sasuke, but stared at Naruto before smiling in a sinister manner. "Are you participating in the Chuunin Exams?" he asked.

"Yes," she responded tersely, not liking the way he looked at her.

"Perhaps you will validate my existence," he said. He turned and walked off calling, "Temari, Kankurou, come."

The redheaded monkey is the container of another of your step-children, the Ichibi no Tanuki, the Kyuubi said.

Wonderful, she responded.

Author's Note: As there has been some confusion in the reviews about -chan vs. -kun, I'd ask anyone wanting to know how I use the honorifics to look at the first chapter explanation. However, to explain further: Naruto uses -chan here for Konohamaru to imply he's a little kid, not to imply he's a girl. The Daimyo uses -kun for Naruto to imply that she's a junior colleague (he's trying to be friendly). The Hokage does this for Naruto and other young kunoichi too, unless he's being grandfatherly, then he'll use -chan.

In this story, -dono indicates high regard without submission. Daimyos will use it for Kages and Kages will use it for each other. High-ranking shinobi might use it to refer to a Kage or Daimyo not their own.