Hinata sat meditating in her favorite rock garden, next to a small koi pond under a wisteria tree while her Shadow Clone went through the kata's for her Taijutsu style. Her mind drifted back to the conversation the evening after saving Tayuya and Karin. Once everything had calmed down, with the group sitting around a campfire, Naruto had been silent, constantly glancing nervously at Hinata and Shino before turning back to the fire. Karin and Tayuya had already turned in, borrowing Hinata's tent, as the Hyuga could share one with Yūgao-Sensei. Hinata glanced at her Sensei asking a silent question who thought for a moment, then gave a slight nod.
"Naruto," Glancing at her, Hinata said, "We know."
"Wha… since when?" Naruto asked, not bothering to ask what she meant. Omoi had already revealed he was a jinchūriki.
Shino adjusted his glasses, "Some time. Father always said there was more to the village's hatred than it seemed. The Fourth was well known for his mastery of Fuinjutsu, and some of my Kikaichu told me of your seal shortly after our team was put together. After that it was simple to deduce what happened that night."
Hinata nodded, "I've known about the seal for a while longer. Do you remember when Iruka-Sensei had me use my Byakugan to show the class an example of a Bloodline?"
Naruto's eyes went wide before he face palmed, "How the hell did I not think about that."
"Hindsight is always a coin flip," Shino calmly stated, "The fact is we have known for some time and do not care. Could you one day go berserk under the Kyubi's influence? Possibly. Does that mean going berserk is your fault? No," Tears slowly leaked from Naruto's eyes despite trying to keep them at bay.
Yūgao moved forward from where she'd been standing a few paces away, sat next to Naruto and much to his surprise pulled him into a one armed hug, "None of us, not even your family will blame you for something outside your control. You never asked for what the Fourth did. How could you? You were literally just born! I highly disagree with the Fourth's choice of letting everyone know about your burden when no one knew about your Mother sharing the same burden."
Shino adjusted his glasses, a slight angered buzzing coming from him, "This might be the only time I say this but in this, the Fourth was a fool."
"Nothing is perfect," Hinata said with a slightly pained look, "Just look at my family…" The three looked at her surprised, "I hate the Caged Bird Seal and how it splits my family in two. If I had the power I'd wipe the cursed thing from the face of the planet right now… but I don't."
"Nore do we have the power to free you of your burden," Yūgao sighed, "But that doesn't mean you have to suffer alone. We'll do what we can to help. Just remember. The only people who can tell others of your burden are the Hokage, and you."
The day before they returned to Konoha, Naruto told Karin and Tayuya of his burden and how he was treated. Karin wasn't quite sure how to react but Tayuya… "Are you FUCKING SHITTING ME?!" She'd barked, "Are all those fuckwads REALLY that stupid?! The Civ's I can understand since they know jack fuck all about Fuinjutsu but the Shinobi too?! How fucking hard would it be to hold a mandatory seminar to teach them the basics of Fuinjutsu?!" She then paused and hissed as her cursed seal tried to activate at the large spike of anger. Once she'd calmed down a little, she continued, "Jiraiya of the Sannin was the Fourth's teacher according to some of the Know-It-All's in Oto. Point is Konoha has no excuse for this fucking stupidity and each time they insult or attack you, they're spitting on the Fourth Hokage's skills. Hell Jirobo is smarter and THAT'S saying something considering everyfucking time he opened his mouth he was either being a complete idiot or chastising me for cursing saying 'it's not ladylike'. Bitch we're Shinobi. Do you really think I care if I sound like a complete bitch?"
Yūgao shook her head, "You and Anko will either become the best of friends… or fight every chance you two get."
Tayuya's replied with a feral smirk, "I can't fucking wait!"
Snapping back to the present Hinata was glad they'd been able to ease Naruto a bit but… she had a different problem. She still carried a flame for Naruto but now one for Shino was growing. She admired his calm demeanor to problems, how he was able to quickly come to a logical and more often than not correct solution, and how seamlessly he was meshing his family's traditional style with his brand new abilities. She knew the only reason the Elders hadn't forced her to be branded was Naruto's threat of not renewing the alliance with the Uzumaki and Aburame. She was happy not to have the dark cloud of the seal hanging over her but now it was over Hanabi and Hinata didn't know how she could protect her precious little sister. There had to be something she could do!
Her eyes then snapped open as she remembered one of the Land of Fire's laws. Could that be the way to free her family of its curse? Something so simple and obvious that no one had thought of it? She got to her feet as her clone burst itself and began walking to the library. She needed to double check just to make sure this wasn't a false hope.
Tayuya was lounging on the couch in the Uzumaki household, in nothing but her underwear thinking about her time in Konoha so far. Ibiki, Anko, Shikaku and Inoichi had pulled out all the stops when it came to getting information and Tayuya was more than happy to tell them everything they wanted. About how Oto was set up, the base she used to be in charge of, the rest of the Sound Four, possible shinobi who could take her position in the group, and even about Kimimaro Kaguya. She even guessed at Jirobo's shoe size when Anko asked as a joke. Once the four were positive they'd gotten everything they could including that Orochimaru was planning something big but Tayuya didn't know what it could be.
It took a couple days but afterwards she was allowed to rejoin Naruto and was even given a new outfit. It was a simple set of white shirt and black pants with the Uzumaki Spiral on its back but it was enough. Hell she'd set the fire that burned her old uniform herself!
Yūgao had also been correct, she and Anko got along very well once the interrogation was over. The two had even gone shopping to get Tayuya an entire new outfit. She'd chosen a fishnet outfit like the one Anko wore, but instead of wearing a trench coat like the Snake Mistress. Tayuya chose to wear a vest in the same open style, and shorts with dark red sandals. She'd already replaced her broken flute and was working with the Kurama Clan on improving her Genjutsu skills. She would have worked with Kurenai but the woman had instantly insulted the Uzumaki asking why on earth she'd want to mimic Anko's style. Of course Anko was right around the corner as the two had been out to get some dango as both had a weakness for the treat.
Anko had come around the corner and she and Kurenai had gotten into an argument, Anko accusing the recently demoted Jonin, if the only reason the Genjutsu Mistress hung out with Anko was to make herself seem more accepting of others despite the fact she was such a prude and was constantly calling people perverts. The argument didn't last long after Anko asked if the only reason the Genjutsu Mistress was trying to get Asuma Sarutobi's was to raise her own standing even more along with being so kind to Hinata Hyuga. Help one of the Major Clan Heirs, while sabotaging a Minor Clan Heir. The Genjutsu Mistress stormed off after that.
Once she calmed down Anko shook her head as the new friends continued on their way to the dango shop, "She's been really touchy ever since she was demoted back to Chunin, but we were both out of line back there. I'll apologize once she calms down a bit."
"I won't hold my breath on you two kissing and making up," Tayuya snarked, "I saw plenty of high and mighty people in Oto. Once they got an idea into their heads that they were better than others it was next to impossible to change that. I told ya bout the rest of the Sound Four. Each one thought they were tough shit because of the position and power That Bastard gave them."
Anko snorted, "Looks like That Bastard's gained the habit of gathering egotistic fools."
Tayuya jerked out of her musings as she heard the front door close with Naruto calling out he was back. When the blond entered the living room he froze the moment he saw her while Tayuya gave a lazy smirk and wave, "Welcome back Squirt. Have fun being 'Konoha's Underdog Hero'?"
Naruto rolled his eyes as he shook off his surprise, "What would you have done if I had guests?" Naruto raised an eyebrow as he sat on a chair just as Karin came down stairs. She's been working on becoming a Medic Nin wanting to be able to heal people without using her odd ability. Seeing Tayuya's current outfit or lack thereof, the young Uzumaki sighed, shook her head and sat on the couch next to Tayuya.
"Hasn't happened yet so I wasn't worried," Tayuya replied with a smirk, "By the way. Anko told me about a unique Jutsu you made."
Karin perked up, "You made a Jutsu? What's it like?"
Naruto chuckled, "A distraction technique that works on basically everyone."
Tayuya smirked and sat up straight, "Oh this I've got to fucking see!"
Naruto smirked, "Transform!" As the smoke slowly faded, they heard a feminine giggle as two long yellow pigtails and more and more skin appeared before the Blond Uzumaki was fully revealed and the now busty young adult female Naruto gave a flirtatious wink and blew a kiss making Karin blush in embarrassment, while Tayuya burst out laughing.
"Genius! Fucking Genius!" Tayuya said between howls of laughter, "No one is going to expect that!"
"And that's one reason why I made it!" Naruto replied, even the voice was feminine but they should have known that from the earlier giggle, "Remind me to tell you about that asshole Mizuki sometime. I even got the Hokage with this."
Tayuya's laughter grew even louder as tears slowly leaked from her eyes. Eventually Karin regained her composure and shook her head with a small smile on her face, "Well it's definitely a useful distraction technique. Combined with your Shadow Clones you could knock just about anyone out with that."
"Shino said basically the same thing," Naruto replied before noticing Tayuya had gained a thoughtful look, "What's up Tayuya?" By now all the smoke had vanished revealing that under the smoke was a skimpy bikini.
"Anything under the bikini?" Tayuya asked with a teasing tone, "Did our little perv decide to go all the way?"
Naruto rolled their eyes, "Nothing's there. I made this form by looking at swimsuit magazines bookstores," Then much to Karin's and Tayuya's shock, Naruto grabbed the bikini top and pulled it up revealing smooth skin, "See?"
"How… Did you do that?" Karin asked, "Isn't the Transformation Jutsu just an illusion?"
"Is it?" Naruto asked as they dropped the bikini top, "It's always been physical for me. It's how I escaped form one of Sasuke's wire tricks during a group training session. Just turned into a mouse, and ran away before the burning wires fell."
"Well damn Little Bro!" Tayuya said in a rare show of affection. The three had grown closer in the last couple weeks to the point they were more like siblings then distant cousins, "You somehow stumbled your way onto something everyone else thought was impossible! Looks like you just need one thing to make that Jutsu perfect. Guess even a physical transformation still has the normal limits."
"What does he need to perfect the Jutsu?" Karin asked despite already having an idea on what the answer was.
"A better understanding of the female body," Tayuya replied as she got up and stretched, "So I'm gonna get dressed and get ya a couple books about it."
"Yeah the Kitsune said something similar, but I can't just go buy those books with my reputation as most people will just think the worst," Naruto scowled as he released the Jutsu.
Karin tilted her head, "Why do you say 'the Kitsune' instead of 'the Kyubi'?"
Naruto gave a fox-like grin, "I haven't told anyone yet mostly because I don't trust some members of the village to not spy on us during training or someone else spying on the team during a mission, but no one can spy on us here…" He then explained about the Kitsune and what she said when they first met.
As expected Tayuya burst out laughing again, "So everyone thinks you've got a big old ball of pure Nature Chakra in your gut but instead you have the Leader of the Fox Summons because the Shinigami didn't go with the Fourth's plan?" Getting a nod and a smirk from Naruto Tayuya started laughing again, "Not even three months of being a Shinobi and you already have two summoning contracts. That's got to be a fucking record!"
Karin adjusted her glasses slightly, "Still it just shows how incompetent Jiraiya is if he didn't even bother to check the seal afterwards. There should have been some sign that the Kyubi wasn't sealed inside you."
Naruto shrugged, "Apparently he's away most of the time doing some kind of important job for Konoha."
"And working on those Icha-Icha books," Tayuya said casually, getting a curious look from Karin, "I picked up the first book since I was curious if it was any good. It was so god damn basic I have no idea how it's so popular. Also did you know he based the main characters of that book on Tsunade and himself? I've never seen them but I heard enough about them in Oto to figure that out."
"Did he?" Karin asked, "How bold of the Toad Sannin. From the rumors I heard in Kusa she nearly killed him just for peeping on her once."
Naruto's grin turned evil, "Well according to mom's journal he was dad's first choice on on Godfather, and the Ero-Sannin's done jack shit."
"HE was your old man's first choice?" Tayuya asked with a raised eyebrow, "Why would… oh you have got to be fucking kidding me!" Realization crossed her face as she face palmed, "How did I not see it sooner! How did the village not see it sooner?! Your old man is Minato Namikaze the Fourth fucking Hokage!" Karen then looked closer at Naruto before removing her glasses and face palming herself.
"No fucking idea how no one noticed," Naruto snorted in amusement, "Just don't go telling people. Pretty sure who my dad is, is another S-Rank Secret but I have no idea if I can spread that around... but I've already got a plan on how to reveal that and make the entire village look like idiots at the same time!"
The two female Uzumaki chuckled while Karin inquired, "You just don't slow down with your pranks do you?"
"I'm the Prankster King of Konoha!" Naruto replied with a grin, "No way in HELL am I letting that title go without a fight!"
Giving him a nod Karin turned to Tayuya, "Did you pick anything else up at the bookstore?"
Tayuya grinned, "Yeah, I also got one of the adventure books made by some guy named Roshi down in Iwa and THAT shit is fucking amazing! Dude can both make interesting characters and goes into the perfect amount of detail on a scene."
"Huh," Naruto said, "Mind if I borrow that book when you're done?"
"Sure," Tayuya said, "Well I'ma get dressed and head out. Got some training tools ta get ya."
Shino was in one of the Aburame Compound's training grounds going through a Taijutsu kata along side a clone. Most Aburame didn't use Taijutsu as a hard enough blow on their body could damage their internal hive, however Shino's Earth Element Kikaichu had solved that issue. After showing this to his family more Aburame were beginning to go through the process of gaining Elemental Kikaichu.
Sadly Naruto's Seals weren't a universal solution as the seals had to be directly tied to and channel the Aburame's Chakra directly into their hive, so had to be custom made for each individual. The seal that Shino had used to get his Earth Elemental Hive had taken an entire week of absorbing his Chakra before it had enough for the experiment. His father however had considered other ways to go about this and gave Shino a temporary hive of Kikaichu that while they had shorter than average lives, allowed other hives to reproduce rapidly. Combining this new hive with his normal one and having them feed on his Wind Chakra, produced the Wind Elemental Kikachu during the same month his Earth Elemental Hive was undergoing their metamorphosis. Once the two hives had fully transformed, Shibi reclaimed the temporary hive as it was no longer needed.
Even for a stoic Aburame it was difficult for Shibi to hide the pride he had for his son who had more than enough Chakra to house three hives in his body, something normally only found in Elite Chunin members of the clan. Shino had found that he wasn't able to perform the Shadow Clone Jutsu, as due to his hives it took far more Chakra than the average Shadow Clone. To compensate, Shino and his parents worked together to make a new variant of the Jutsu called the Shadow Insect Clone. Like the original, the Shadow Insect Clone transferred the memories and experiences of the clone to the user, however unlike the original, this variant could temporarily disperse before reforming to dodge attacks. The down side to this is if the clone didn't reform in under a minute the Jutsu would instantly end.
He was proud that he and Hinata were able to make a single Shadow Clone even if his was slightly different but in this case it's the results that mattered. He was also proud of how far they've come in such short a time. After all, how many Genin could say they could fight experienced Chunin to a stalemate? It's true that Nuke-Nin couldn't train as much as they had when they were part of a village on top of constantly being on the run from Hunter Nin so the Gekiryū brothers weren't as strong as they could have been but the fact remained. That as Rookie Genin he, Hinata and Naruto had not only matched the two Chunin but soundly defeated them once they removed the key to their training seals. Pausing in his exercise, he pulled up his right sleeve and looked at the orange, violet and gray wrist band. Yūgao-Sensei had asked a friend for a custom order as a way to show team unity.
Naruto had then taken the bracelets, and added the seals to them, along with corresponding seals on Hinata and Shino's backs. The seals had two functions. First, was gravity seals to increase the force of gravity on their bodies without altering the force of the Genin walking on anything. Like making it that a rope bridge didn't fall apart under them for example. That seal was one Yūgao remembered well as Kushina had her Genin Team wear it as it was 'A standard seal that all Uzumaki Genin wore'. The second function was a resistance seal that restricted their movements. Currently they were under five times Earth's normal gravity, and the resistance seal made them feel as if they were wading up to half way up their chest in a mud pit.
"I see you're training has been going well," A voice said from behind Shino who turned and saw his adopted brother Torune.
"Brother. It has been sometime since you were able to visit," Shino stated, as his Clone continued to train.
"It has," Torune said with a small nod, "Danzo-Sama has been keeping me and Fu Yamanaka close for some time, though I am unsure why," Shino nodded, he still remembered the day Danzo had tried to 'recruit' him, and how Torune had offered himself due to his Rinkaichu, "Rumors of your training has also reached us. Danzo-Sama hides it well but he is slightly annoyed that he wasn't able to recruit you when he had the chance. I however am glad you weren't as you would not have flourished and become the person you are today."
Shino adjusted his glasses, "And you? How have you been?"
"Overall well," Torune replied, giving his adopted brother a rare smile, "But it could always be worse."
"Shall we head inside? Father and Mother will be delighted to see you after how long it's been," Shino suggested.
"Let us not wait then. Threw years is a bit long to wait to see a son who lives in the same village," Torune replied, "I rarely get any time off, and I do have something to speak to Father about."
Sasuke sat in his room, thinking about his latest therapy session as he read a scroll on elemental manipulation exercises. At first he did his best to ignore what Shū Yamakana said but something they went over in his latest session was bothering him. Sasuke was asked about the night his brother had slaughtered their clan and Shū had pointed something out that Sasuke had missed. With Sasuke's permission Shū had used one of his family's Jutsu to witness the moment through Sasuke's eyes and a couple things stood out to the Tokubetsu Jonin. First is that Itachi had said he was 'testing his eyes' but what kind of test would using the Mangekyo Sharingan be when used on a child who wasn't even in the academy yet or a baby? Plus Itachi was crying as he killed his parents and as he cast a Genjutsu on his brother.
Shū had promised to see if he could read the autopsy reports on the incidents and take his findings to the Hokage as things weren't adding up. Could it be that someone had forced Itachi to kill his clan? If so, who and why? Sasuke didn't know, but if he ever found out that person would be at the top of his 'To Kill' list, and that person would die as slowly and painfully as possible. After that… well he'd just have to wait and see, but for now Itachi was still going to pay.
As the sun slowly set over the horizon, Shibi, Might Guy and Yūgao once more met in the same meeting room where the catalyst for all the recent changes at taken form, "I must admit," Shibi started, "I did not think things would change as much as they had, after simply reminding Hiruzen that he couldn't seal Kushina's Will."
"I agree," Guy stated, "It is amazing to see all the changes within Konoha. The civilians no longer have control of the academy and you have done amazing work in revamping the curriculum. I fully expect the students who are just beginning their studies under it, will rival, if not surpass the current generation of Genin!"
"High prase considering how the current generation has grown," Yūgao chuckled, "Even if I am taking more than one page from Kushina-Sensei's training book, I would never have expected my students to be able to take on and defeat Chunin after only two and a half months of training."
"Doubly so when you realize that Shino defeated his opponent with only minor help form Hinata and Naruto," Guy laughed, "With nothing but his whip and Taijutsu! His studies in Elemental Kikaichu are a wonderful addition to your family's style Shibi!"
Shibi nodded, "I agree. Naruto's seals might have been a tremendous help, but it was Shino who sent the shuriken flying. I am tremendously proud of his growth and achievements."
Guy then frowned, "Then there is the news Torune brought on Danzo's plans. The War Hawk is planning something, and whatever it is, it's big."
Yūgao frowned as well, "His latest batches of Root Recruits are twice as large as previous years. He's trying to up his organization's numbers and quickly."
"The next Chunin Exams are to be held in Konoha," Shibi mused, "That would be the best time to try something as the rest of Konoha's forces will be distracted with protecting all the important guests and civilians."
"There is also Orochimaru leading the new village Oto," Guy said, "The Land of Sound is right between the Land of Fire and Land of Lightning, meaning if we invade it the Raikage could take that as a sign that Konoha wants to invade Kumo next. Even if we send word about Orochimaru being in charge of Oto he might not believe us, or worse yet team up to destroy Konoha."
"Then there is the problem in Suna," Shibi stated, "Their Daimyo is a fool and sending to many missions to Konoha forcing Rasa to take drastic actions if he wants to prevent Suna from dispersing at worst, or being demoted to a minor village at best."
"He could sell some of that gold dust of his," Yūgao scoffed, "And use Iron Sand like his predecessor, but no. Gold Dust is his weapon of choice as with his mastery of his bloodline he can counter and single handedly defeat the Ichibi. Something that he has had to do several times in the last couple years! Anyone else finding that a bit odd? It's obvious he has made someone a jinchūriki but the questions are who, and what methods are Rasa using to teach the jinchūriki to 'control' the Ichibi?"
"Indeed," Guy stated, "It raises questions on his leadership abilities, and whatever methods he's using obviously don't work. As to his financial situation I once heard a rumor that he has a Jutsu that turns normal sand into Gold Dust. And I don't mean Fool's Gold but real honest to kami Gold Dust!"
"That just makes it even more asinine!" Yūgao exclaimed, "He lives in a fucking desert! If he does have that kind of Jutsu then all he has to do is go to a section of the desert that people rarely go to with sealed barrels, use that Jutsu and use his bloodline to put the new Gold Dust into the barrels and sell that! Just doing it once could solve much of his financial problems."
Shibi was silent for a few moments, "With Suna in such a state… it would be easy for Orochimaru to move in and use it to his advantage… and if Danzo is aware of this, then that would explain much."
"Orochimaru manipulates Suna into invading Konoha, and Danzo either has his forces clean up and rebuild Konoha from the ashes or throw a cue if Konoha wins," Guy stated his eyes narrowed, "Either way Danzo comes out on top, and as he was known to work with Orochimaru in the past before the Sannin went rogue…"
"The problem is we have no proof," Yūgao sighed, "For now all we can do is keep our eyes open, and wait."
"Indeed," Shibi said, "An annoying but occasionally unavoidable situation in our line of work. However if we get confirmation on any of our suspicions then we will act, swiftly, silently, and precisely like a true Shinobi."
Author's Notes 2:
So I've gotten many notes on there being two Kitsune in Naruto. That is not true, there is ONLY one. Kyubi is somewhere else. I thought I made that clear enough, and as it is obvious I didn't, I apologies. Why this is the case will be explained later in the story.
Yeah… I don't have the best opinion of Kurenai. If you like Kurenai, then all power to you! I mostly know her from the manga, and what little I know of filler. Perhaps there's something I missed so if you have an arc that show's her in a good light feel free to let me know.
As for Hinata gaining a crush on Shinoz that is mostly because as of writing this I have no set plans for pairings but Hinata/Shino is an idea I am considering. As such I put that in the story so it wouldn't come out of nowhere later if I choose to make them a couple.
I know I read a story with resistance seals but I don't remember exactly which one. I think the first time I saw it was 'Dark Phoenix of Konoha' by White Angel of Auralon but I'm not 100% sure.
For the bit about Rasa and his gold dust… I honestly don't know if he did use his gold dust to help Suna's financial problem in cannon, but obviously this isn't cannon so I can have a bit of fun lol.
