Chapter 4 here you go! Full disclosure, this is just the second half of chapter three, I didn't want it to be too long so I broke it up. I'll age them up after this, as well as give more interactions between them and the villagers. These people are truly stupid for never seeing the similaries between Naruto and Minato, even more so because Kushina was an Uzumaki, they'll never stop laughing at them for being so slow. This chapter will show a bit of the influence Kuram's words have been having on both of the twins, as well as their relationship and feelings toward the fox, especiallly Naruko. Enjoy.

Chapter 4 Fox's wisdom and story

In the Back Hills

The twins were taking a break from training, this was their second day of playing hooky and they were enjoying the free time. Kurama had run them through taijutsu drills and they'd upped their gravity seal to 30x, it took them a while to get used to the 20s but now that they've fully acclimated, it was time to move on. This was by far the hardest aspect of their training, both of them liked pushing themselves until they dropped, but the gravity training made them really go beyond themselves. Weather it be through exercise or sparring, gravity training was physically and mentally difficult. Unlike the 10x gravity seals they would wear all the time, anything above that was just for training, and for good reason. There were times they trained so hard they could barely make the hand signs to undo the seal. But the benefit was that they grew far stronger than the would have with basic weight training.

Last night was successful, they killed all the bandits and stolen all of their stolen goods. Unbeknownst to them the hokage had to cancel missions to deal with them, the anbu investigated their deaths, leaving the old man wondering who could have killed them. As the report told of injuries befitting professional shinobi, jonin or even anbu rank, if that were the case someone would have told him about it, but the bandits loot had been looted by someone. He had no way of knowing who, so for the moment it became an afterthought.

They had sat down for lunch, they had been working non-stop for over five hours and it was past noon. Naruko prepared the meal today, Kurama sat in the shade while the two ate. The three talked about last night, the memory of their first kill would be forever grained in their minds, "You so full of it, Naru-chan."

"No I swear, while the boss was panicking because all their loot was gone I slid back on the branch I was standing on and broke his neck upside down in front of his whole band. True story. Hey Kurama, back me up here?"

"He's telling the truth."

"And how did you make an appearance last night?" He asked in a playful sassy tone.

"For your information, I skipped into the camp."

"You skipped?" Her brother asked with a raised brow.

"Yes Brother, I skipped. I even hummed a pleasant tune as I made my way into the camp. The bandits were surprised but not one of them was on edge. I told them I was here for their loot and to make them go bye-bye. One of them stepped up with a sword to kill me, so I let him swing first. You should have seen it, Naru-chan, in that fraction of a second I summoned my own sword and cut him down."

"Just how many times did you cut the poor bastard?" Naruto asked before taking a swig of water.

"Only four. I also broke his sword in two places, his death was virtually painless."

"I'm still salty you took home more loot then I did." Naruto lightly complained.

"It's still crazy how much stuff they were able to steal in a few weeks. Given how we left them, bandits near the village shouldn't be a problem for a while." Naruko said before taking a bite of a rice ball. She smiled happily as the flavor filled her mouth, she closed her eyes and brought a hand to her cheek, "I really outdid myself this time, I'm such a good cook!"

Naruto smiled as he finished one of five rice balls, "Can't argue with that."

"Kurama, you have to come try one of these, they're really good!" Naruko exclaimed while waving to the transformed fox. He's praised her for her cooking on several occasions but his food was always better than hers, she wanted to surpass him in that regard.

Kurama opened his eyes and his red met her blue, he saw how hard she worked to become a better cook, it reminded him of how Kushina became such a good cook. It was to be a good wife to Minato but still, he couldn't help but feel nostalgia. "Alright." He got up from his resting spot and scooped up one of Naruto's rice balls, much to his vocal dissaproval, he took a bite and his eyes lit up, "This is really good, Naruko, I'd say this is your best yet." He took another bite, "Not too salty, not too sweet. What's that in the center?" He took a couple bites before recognizing the taste, "Spicy tuna. The flavors really come together. It's not perfect, but I would definetly eat ten more of these."

Naruko smiled happily at his words, a clear blush across her face as she accepted his praise. "I'm glad you like it, Kurama!" She was happy to hear he liked her cooking, "I really put in extra work in the kitchen so it would taste super good." Naruto shot a glance at his sister noting her rise in tone. Her crush couldn't have been more obvious, he would tease her about this in subtle ways. Kurama was fully aware of her feelings and just chalked it up to a childish crush, in a few years, who knows?

"The food is great, Ruko, but I've got a question. Do you want to do anything about the three ninjas sneaking around up here?"

"Figures you'd be monitoring them, Naruto." Kurama said.

"Someone had to."

"Well good for you. Anyway, given how these three chakra signatures are moving it's safe to say they are foreign ninja to this village." Naruko stated.

Naruko finished her last rice ball, "And let me guess, they're looking for something?"

Kurama looked at her with a sarcastic smile, "Good to know you're using your training, Naruko."

Naruko turned to her brother, "Didn't that idiot, Hibachi mention something about his dad's squad fighting some ninja in the Back Hills?"

Naruto gripped his chin and thought back, "Yeah, now that I think about it. I heard about that and their test of courage at the same time." Naruto pointed a thumb over his shoulder, "Wanna go check it out?"

Naruko stretched her arms out, "I just finished eating, I could use the exercise." After she was finished, the two body-flickered away from their position. They appeared in a forested clearing, the corpses of waterfall ninja litered the area and the signs of a battle were all over. Naruto looked around, "So these were the ninja who infiltrated the leaf."

"I count about four dead bodies. But if three are still on this mountain there's only one thing they could be looking for." Naruko stated knowingly while looking at her brother who met her gaze.

"Information." Naruto said.

"They're heading back this way, there's probably a sensor among the group. Let's "Help" in their search and find what intel their dead comrade may have left." Naruko said before taking a few steps and looking around. The twins began a search of the area, nothing of note came up until Naruto decided to look into a birds' nest. He pulled out a kunai that was buried in the nest, it was a kunai different from the hidden leaf, so he figured it was a hidden waterfall kunai. "Good thing I've already eaten, these would have made a good lunch." He stated as he looked at the three eggs in the nest. He dropped down and looked at the kunai and noted the piece of paper wrapped around the base, "If I had to guess, this is probably the intel they're looking for." He thought as he looked to his sister, who was looking through the bushes, "Ruko!" He called out to her mentally.

The girl turned towards her brother and saw the kunai he was holding and the paper attached to it, "Hey, you found something, Naru-chan!" She said purposefully, noting that the three shinobi were watching them from the shadows.

"You see the kunai that kid's holding? It contains the information we've been looking for. She must have slipped it into that tree before she was defeated." A masked shinobi whispered in the bushes along with her three comrades.

"They gave their lives to get that intel, now we just have to swipe it from that brat." Another stated.

"I don't think it will be that easy." Her allies turned to her in confusion, "I can't explain it, but I get the feeling those kids are very dangerous."

"You're just nervous, first infiltration mission and all." The leader saw the two leaving the area, "Let's go, they're leaving." They all body flickered to get ahead of the blonde twins.

The twins made their way down the path through the forest, "Looks like we definitely have what they want." Naruto spoke to his sister in the shared mental space.

"Looks like you were right on the money, Naru-chan! What do you think is on that paper anyway? I figure it's mission plans or leaf patrol routes."

"My thoughts too, it's either that or political nonsense." Naruto answered as he calmly went on his way. "Let's let them make the first move. Whatever their mission is, it was worth it to spend the past few days hanging out in the leaf village."

"So we either send them packing, kill them, or hand them the intel."

"Basically." Naruto responded casually.

"Here they come." Naruko said excitedly as they exited the psychic plane and got back to reality.

Three ninjas wearing hidden waterfall headbands appeared in their path, each had a sword on their back and their body language was serious. "W-who are you three?" Naruko asked, feigning shock and slight fear. She stepped back with Naruto standing firm.

"Hey Kid, give us that kunai you've got. Hand it over nice and easy." The leader said in a stern, demanding but rough feminine voice.

The blonde smirked before spinning the kunai on his finger, "Why, what excatly is on this kunai?" Given your headbands you're not from around her, and you came all the way here just to get this. Why's it so important?" He questioned as he stopped spinning the kunai and gripped it tightly.

"It's not your concern, it's a part of our mission. Now give it here, or we're going to take it!" The leader replied before unsheathing her sword, he comrades followed suit.

Naruto's smile didn't fade from her words, "Well, we have a problem. While I hate this village and most of the people in it, I can't just let you take off with whatever intel is on the kunai." He released a massive surge of chakra, cracking the ground around him and intimidating the enemy ninja. All three ninja tensed up in fear at the strength of his chakra, their mission was to collect any intel left by their comrades so they wouldn't had died for nothing, but challenging these kids would surely lead to their deaths. "So, what's it gonna be, ladies? You can return to your village safely. We can kill you and gift wrap your corpses to the leaf, and hand this to the old man anyway. Either way there is no victory for you here, so decide?"

The chakra coming off this kid was so strong it was terrifying, they all visibly shook with fear as they decided their next course of action. They were shinobi, death was an occupational hazard, if one of them got back to the village with that intel the higher ups could do something with it. They were on a mission, as suicidal as it seemed they had to carry out their duty. But this kid's chakra was so huge, so strong, and the girl stood next to him completely unbothered, but the smile on her face was one of the most innocent yet terrifying things they'd ever seen. "Can we at least collect the bodies of our dead comrades."

Naruto calmed down his chakra, "Yes you may?" The ninja went past them and put the dead bodies in sealing scrolls. They all internally swallowed their shame of being chased out by some kids. They looked to still be academy age, and in a few years they would make the Leaf even more formitable than they were now. They all silently wanted to kill them, but it was obvious they couldn't, "The ninja stood before the twins after collecting the dead bodies. "I don't know who you brats are, but you're strong, the Leaf may be the strongest, for now." The head ninja said before they all body flickered away.

The twins stood in silence for a moment before Naruko's face shifted to one of disappointment, "Naruto, you dummy!" She playfully shook her brother, not hard but rough enough. "This was the perfect time to use my original jutsu on someone!"

"Forgive me, Sis, I thought this was the best thing. Remember what Kurama said about Ninishu and hatred among shinobi? The ninja that died had families wanting them to come home, even as corpses now they can bring them some comfort. They needed to confront hatred and this was a good start. While Naruko didn't entirely agree with Naruto's methods, she still went along with them. They hated the village and most of the people, but that was something to overcome another time, and they each had to do it in their own way. For the moment, all that mattered was that they were in a three man team, and it would stay that way.

Hokage residence

In his private chamber, Hiruzen's brush moved across the sheet in front of him as he wrote a tranquilizing haiku. It was one of those rare days where he had little paperwork and a handful of free time. These moments were bliss in his old age, times where he could relax and allow his mind to wander. He turned around just as he sensed two presences on the other side of the door, he inwardly signed, thinking it was someone with an issue that needed addressing. He knew instantly who it was when there wasn't a knock at the door and they just let themselves in. "Naruko, Naruto, how are you both?" He asked warmly.

"Alright, old man." Naruko replied.

"You weren't in your office so we came here." Naruto added.

"Yes, I had a light workload today so I'm taking some time to relax." He turned back to his haiku with a smile.

Naruko pointed at the sheet with a mischievous smile, "By the way, that kanji's wrong."

"What!" Hiruzen quickly turned back to the paper, chuckling upon realizing she was joking with him. "You got me, Naruko. Is there something you two need?"

Naruto pulled out a kunai along with a sheet of paper as the two approached, "We heard there was a battle in the Back Hills and wanted to check it out the aftermath. Found this in a birds nest, it looked important." He said casually as he handed both items to the Hokage.

Hiruzen took them, instantly recognizing the type of kunai it was, and looked at the paper and contained his surprise. "These are security patrol schedules and routes, even the names of the assigned ninjas are here. The enemy ninja must have hid this before they were defeated, hoping their allies would come looking for it. But these two got to it first. With this they've effectively saved the entire village." Though he wanted to ask them why they were in the Back Hills anyway, it's a good thing they were. "Thank you, you did the right thing by giving me this, Naruto."

The blonde rested his hands behind his head, "Sure thing." He said casually as he turned to leave with his sister in tow.

"Later, Old Man." Naruko cheerfully waved back before leaving.

The two walked casually as they left the building, "That went as well as expected." Naruto said in their mental space.

"The old man doesn't suspect a thing. He might have ninja go back out there but the corpses are gone, and we eliminated any sign we were up there, so we're in the clear!" Naruko happily stated. She turned to Naruto, "So, wanna send clones to the academy for a while while we train and have fun?"

"I was waiting for you to bring this up, it's not like we've ever learned anything we didn't already know at the academy."

"School isn't a place for smart people, not that many of your teachers are capable in the first place." Kurama commented.

"Yeah they all suck!" Naruko added. "Still surprised they haven't tried to sabotage is yet."

"Let us get one perfect score and I promise they'll accuse us of cheating and try to kick us out." Naruto stated.

"I wouldn't put it past them. Let's forget those idiots for now, It's supposed to be hot tomorrow, wanna go swimming?"

"I'm all for that! Kurama?"

"Why not, it's been a while. Just make sure to make plenty of clones to handle the academy and your training while we're having fun."

"It's a deal!" Naruko exclaimed, looking forward to tomorrow.

It was past noon on a hot day in the Hidden Leaf Village, in one of the villages watering holes. The twins were enjoying the sun and the water, Naruto was relaxing on the shore, Naruko was swimming all over while Kurama was floating peacefully in the center. Naruto was wearing blue trunks, Naruko was wearing a teal two piece bikini and Kurama wore red trunks. The water felt amazing on this hot day, they'd much rather have clones be couped up in the academy on a day like this. Naruto looked out to his sister and Kurama enjoying the water, they'd been out hear for about two hours, splashing around in the water that was deep enough they could jump off the waterfall that was roughly 10m up. The sounds of flowing water was always so calming and tranquil to him, "Not that I'm not having fun, but shouldn't we be doing something more productive?"

A small smile spread across Kurama's face, "Naruto, you should always remember to take time to enjoy the simple things in life. Just look at how beautiful the blue sky is today, my real body is split in two and trapped behind a seal but here I am able to enjoy the air. And this cool water on a hot day." He felt the water shift around him, a sign Naruko was swimming close to him. The girl was like a fish, happily swimming on and under the water with an adorable smile on her face and having the time of her life. "See, Naruko's got the right idea. Look at her? Living in the moment and just enjoying herself." He felt her swim under him.

"Ya!" Naruko suddenly burst out of the water and jumped on him, bringing him underwater. Kurama kept a smile as he broke out of her playful hold, he grabbed her and lifted her out the water. Naruko squealed with excitement as he held her sideways over his head, "Naruto, help me!" The toss came as a girly yip escaped her before hitting the water three meters away.

Naruto smiled confidently as he cracked his knuckles, "Oh it's on now, Kurama! Mess with my sister and you answer to me!" The bell had been rung and the splashing match was on.

Uzumaki appartment

The sun had gone down, it was almost nine o'clock, the twins had had dinner, both had bathed and were wearing their night clothes. Today was fun and enjoyable. Their clones had raised plenty of hell at the academy today. Iruka appeared less inquired to scold them for some reason, probably still ashamed from the other day. The two dozen clones they had done their training and studying was beneficially as always. 24 transformed shadow clones of them is probably the best idea they've ever had. Thanks to them and this training they'd learned every law of the Leaf Village, quickly learned high Jonin level knowledge, sharpened all their ninja skills from Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Taijutsu, Kenjutsu and Sealing jutsu. Today they each added a new chakra nature to their arsenal, Naruto picked up lightning and Naruko fire. Today was definitely a good day.

Naruto was in his room, probably reading a book before bed. Naruko was in the living room with Kurama on the couch, the fox was spread on his side while Naruko was on the other end with her legs spread. The girl looked up towards the ceiling, then at the transformed fox. "Kurama, can you tell me a story?"

He met her eyes, "What kind of story?"

"Tell me about your past, you know. Another story about life before you got sealed." she said innocently.

Kurama kept resting his head on his left hand, not lifting from his position. He thought about it for a moment, "Alright."

"Yay!" She happily cheered. "Hold up a second?" She got up from her end of the couch and slide closer to him. She snuggled up closer to him laying on her side facing him, "Ready~!" she looked him in the eyes with a bright smile, her tone and excitement were adorable. She was naturally cute, and would grow into a true beauty one day and Kurama's always known it. In moments like this she was truly precious.

"Hmmm, alright, where to begin?... This happened 500 years ago, it had been a long time since I'd seen the ocean. Longing to get a feeling of the scent and sea, I decided to head to the coast. When I arrived, I found a group of fishermen who appeared greatly shaken up. According to what they told me their had been a giant, vicious sea monster stalking the coast, attacking boats, eating their catches, nets and all. The creature had killed a dozen people and the local economy had come to a stand still and it became hard for the locals to survive."

"What kind of monster was it?"

"According to witnesses, it was a dragon-like fish that perfectly blended with ocean. It was 100ft long, a mouth lage enough to swallow entire fishing boats, it could even fly!"

Aahh~!" Naruko let out a jittery squeal picturing the creature.

"I offered my aid and the villagers gladly accepted. I gave them a large sheet that I use for my meals in my true form and told them to spread it out when I got back. I surfed on the water to draw the creatures attention, after half an hour on the water it struck at me from below! I barely jumped high enough to avoid it's jaws, I had to pull my right foot back to keep the fish from taking it. I didn't believe it could fly but It rose higher and higher, forcing me to jump off it's head, lucky for me it didn't open it's mouth again. It never took it's eyes off me as it soared nearly 30m off the water, I slide back towards the shore and it eagerly followed. To my shock it had kekkei genkai, combining water and lightning chakra to fire powerful yet fluid lasers at me. Storm Release, I believe this is called."

"Did any of them hit you?"

He smiled confidently, "Of course not." That was a lie, two of them pierced his haori because he was playing too much. "Anyway, using my speed to slide along the water I lead the creature back to the shore, throwing fire jutsu at it to keep it angry and eager. When it was close enough." He weaved handsigns for a water jutsu, "I binded it with Water Style: Water Shackle Jutsu! All I needed was three rings of water to immobilize it completely." He smiled fondly, "And then came the fun part."

"The cutting!" Naruko excitedly exclaimed.

"No… The serving." The way he said that, his smile and his handsome face made Naruko visibly blush, mouth agape.

"I called the fishermen to the shore and had them spread the sheet as far as they could, then I got to cutting. Leaping as high as I could, I summoned my sword and started with the belly. I gutted it with one stroke, then the guts, fat, separated the meat from the scales and bones then let it all fall." The meat of the monster fell to the sheet in perfect order in sections of similar cuts. Then the body fell, just a head and a tail with no meat on the bones to speak of… I indulged in the banquet to celebrate the creature's demise, met some really nice people. That meat was pretty good actually, I hear if fed the fishing communities for over a month."

"Wow~! That's crazy you can remember something from 500 years ago."

"Naruko, when you've lived as long as I have, eventually everything becomes a memory. I've had many human friends come and go over the years, I still miss many of them." Naruko's body language shifted to concerned and uneasy at these words. He noticed the sad look in her eyes and never liked seeing that side of her, "Naruko, what's wrong?"

She buried her head in his chest for a moment. She turned her head and looked him in the eyes, "Kurama, you'll live longer than me, and there's nothing I can do about that. But… When the day comes that we can't be together anymore, will you still think about me?" The look in her eyes was desperate for an honest answer.

Kurama was unflinching as he met her gaze, "I have a very good memory, Naruko. Don't concern yourself with such thing." He closed his eyes, Naruko could tell he was done talking and wanted to take a nap. She smiled happily at his response, thankful he would never forget her. She saw he still had his eyes closed and blushed slightly, she leaned in and planted a kiss on his right cheek, closing her own eyes as she did so.

Kurama's eyes shot wide, not expecting her to do that, she quickly got up before he could question her about it. "Thank you, Kurama." She turned towards her room, "I love you, good night." She left the room and went into Naruto's room, they'd likely spend some time talking before going to bed.

Kurama lightly shook his head as he laid on the couch, a small smile. "Hm, that girl." He thought aloud before disappearing in a plume of smoke.

Chapter 4 is in the books, hope you enjoyed reading. I'll get chapter five out as soon as I can, I'll age them up to their last year in the academy. Mainly because I want to get the story going. Still undecided to have them take the mask off in their last year or when they become genin, mainly because them making others feel inadequate because of their strength is a big part of both of their characters. Leave a review and let me know what you thought, see you then!