Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Kuubi no Cabbit ❯ This is either very good or very bad ( Chapter 2 )

Kyuubi no Cabbit

Chapter 2: Inner demons revealed.

(Now, I know that some people are probably upset that Naruto is a girl, but don't despair! He WILL regain his true gender by the end of chapter three.) Thanks to deitarion/SSokolow for being my beta reader.

[Inset Line]

After a long day, consisting of being sorted into teams, finding out that the village thinks that one of her teammates is a demon, shopping, and running around the entire village with weights on, twice, Ino wanted nothing more than to go to sleep. Unfortunately, her parents had a different plan for the evening. As soon as she walked into the room, her father asked her, “So, how is your team? I expect that you got along well with Shikamaru and Chouji.”

“Why would I be on a team with those two?” Ino asked.

“Well, you are the second generation of the winning Ino-Shika-Cho combination,” her father, Inoichi, commented.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not on a team with them.”

“How did that happen?” her mother, Nodoka, all but demanded. Nodoka was a red haired woman who, while very pleasant, was somewhat traditional.

“We were supposed to try to be on the same team?”

“Well, no, but it should have happened naturally. So, who are your teammates then?” Inoichi asked.

Ino prepared for the reaction she feared would come, and said, “My teammates are Hyuuga Hinata,” here her father and mother nodded, “and Uzumaki Naruto.”

“What?!” Inoichi and Nodoka exclaimed. Inoichi continued, “I'm going to go and see the Hokage about changing your team right away!”

“What's wrong with my team?” Ino asked scathingly. “Is there something I should know about one of my teammates?”

Here Inoichi began to sweat. He could not tell his daughter about the demon because of Sandaime's Law, but he wanted to warn her in some way. “It's not that there is something wrong, per se, it's just that Uzumaki is a bad influence. I mean, look at all the trouble he causes! Why, just today he mooned a helpless store manager.”

Ino began giggling at that memory. “And Shikamaru's laziness or Chouji's overeating are good influences?” she demanded after fighting down her giggles.

“Well, when looked at like that,” the long blond haired man began, before firming himself. “Compared to Naruto, those two are shining examples of proper behavior.”

“Did you know that Naruto hasn't had a single friend, not even one, since before I first met him?” Ino demanded. “You stopped me from being a lonely boy's first friend!”

“I was stopping you from making a horrible mistake!” Inoichi said, raising his voice significantly.

“The only mistake I made that day was listening to you!” the young blond screamed.

Inoichi immediately froze, quickly becoming concerned. Softly, he whispered, “Oh, my poor Ino-chan, what has that monster done to you?”

“Daddy, Naruto isn't the Kyuubi,” Ino said just as quietly. “Why can't everybody see that?”

“What did you say?” her mother asked, wanting to make sure she was not just hearing things. Inoichi was too shocked to speak.

“I said that Naruto is not the Kyuubi.”

“Who told you about that?” Inoichi demanded. Someone had broken the law, and someone would have to pay for it.

“Naruto told Hinata and me, as soon as he knew he was allowed to. He could have hidden it from us, but he told us, just so we could trust each other more.”

“How can you trust him?” Inoichi asked. “How can you trust him after hearing about the demon?”

“How can I not?” Ino retorted. “He willingly shared his darkest secret when he could have hidden it. Now, if you don't mind, I'm tired, so I am going to go to bed. Good night.” Ino continued on to her room and much deserved rest, leaving her father and mother to think about the way they had treated Naruto in the past.

 

Hinata was extremely sore when she got into bed that night. When she had staggered into the Main Family house, her father had demanded she spar with her seven year old sister, Hanabi. Hinata lost even faster than she usually did, for multiple reasons. While she was probably skilled enough to win, she disliked the idea of hurting her family while having very little self confidence, and thus would hold back most of her ability, slowing her progress immensely. With her state of exhaustion and not being given enough time to even take her weights off, Hinata could not move even half as quickly as normal. After being Juukened into submission and called a dismal failure by her father, Hinata was dismissed to return to her room for the night. At no point did the Hyuuga head, Hiashi, ask about Hinata's Genin team, seeing it as beneath his notice.

Tired, though with much to think about, Hinata stayed up for another hour, thinking about her day. `Naruto-kun is much stronger than I thought. I should try to be strong like him. He isn't even letting his current problems get to him. And I hugged him! Squeeee! And he even returned the hug. He must like me!' That decided, Hinata's self confidence began its climb out of the deep shaft her father had dug then pushed it into. The fact that Naruto was currently female did not even register to the young heiress.

Hinata was tired enough that she almost instantly fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow. Her dreams were filled with images of Naruto-kun and Naruto-chan, so she slept happily. There were even a few furry Naruto of each variety running around her head, and all of the Naruto were giving her hugs. It soon degenerated into what could only be compared to the Harem no Jutsu. All in all, she had very pleasant dreams, dreams pleasant enough to make her more confident and far less timid, at least were Naruto was concerned.

 

Naruto was spending her night in a similar yet different manner. She was discussing the day's happenings with Kyu-Ohki while doing push-ups with her vest still on. She had more weight to adjust to, but she also had far more stamina than the girls and torn muscles, ligaments, and tendons would not be an issue. Thus she could train harder than she technically should. “So, Kyu-Ohki, what did you think about our team?”

“I know we're in your apartment, but you should still practice talking to me silently, so you won't mess up later.”

“Sorry.”

“Anyways, I think you were extremely lucky to get the team you did,” the cabbit replied. “I doubt any other team would have accepted us so quickly.”

“So, when do you want to meet them? I mean in person, or as close as you can get.”

“Probably before the team begins any serious training,” Kyu-Ohki decided. “If I remember correctly, the Yamanaka are known for mind-controljutsu. If she were to try that on you without any warning, she could panic and hurt herself. She should probably meet me face to face as soon as possible, to remove any lingering doubts and to prepare her in caseshe ever encounters another demon vessel. Most aren't as nice as I am, and even I would destroy any unexpected intruders that I didn't accept.”

“That is a good idea,” Naruto agreed. “Well, that was one hundred push-ups. I think I should get to sleep now.” Naruto was soon asleep and dreaming of a girl with dark blue hair hugging him. When he awoke in the morning, however, he did not remember his dreams at all, even though he knew that they were among the best he had ever had. Kyu-Ohki, on the other hand both remembered and chuckled over the dream.

 

 

 

The next morning, while Kakashi's team was miserably waiting for him to arrive, Kurenai's team was meeting to prepare for their first mission. All three girls were wearing their weight vests and their habitual clothing, meaning Naruto was still asking to be killed in her orange jumpsuit. When everyone had arrived, right before seven o'clock, Kurenai began, “We'll be doing a D-class mission in the morning, and we'll be working on chakra control and other abilities after lunch. Your mission today is to retrieve the Fire Lord's wife's cat. This is also a training mission, specifically for Hinata. From what I have heard, small, moving, living targets are the best to train the Byakugan with. So find that cat!”

Hinata activated her Byakugan, and Naruto made a few dozen clones to look for the cat. The group then split up, the original team staying together while the Kage Bunshin spread out over the entire village and surrounding area. The three were passing the Hyuuga Complex when one of the Branch members on guard shouted, “Stay away from Hinata-sama, you beast!” Quickly racing towards the team, he called out, “Hakke Rokujuyon Sho!” The attack hit the surprised Naruto, who had only been recognized by his orange jumpsuit. Seconds after the attack started, sixty-four of her tenketsu had been closed, causing her to drop to the ground. The guard finally noticed that his target had been female, and was not under a henge, and turned to Hinata. “My apologizes, Hinata-sama. I mistook your acquaintance for Uzumaki Naruto. The Council ordered that we protect you from him, at all costs. They even taught some of us guards some of the Main Family's attacks to use on him, if need be.”

“I don't need protection from Naruto-kun,” Hinata replied, still properly confident from her thoughts the night before and quite upset at this development. “Please tell the Council that any such measures are deleterious towards my Genin team, as Naruto-kun is part of it.” Turning towards Naruto, she asked, “Naruto-kun, are you alright? That J-Juuken attack stops you from being able to move or use c-chakra, but it is only temporary. You should be fine in a few hours.”

“A few hours is too long!” Naruto exclaimed. “We have a mission to complete.” Turning inward, Naruto asked, “Oi! Kyu-Ohki, is there anything you can do to fix this?”

“You are lucky, Naruto. You essentially have two chakra systems, so all you need to do is flood the second with my chakra.”

“Thanks, Kyu-Ohki,” Naruto replied before drawing on the cabbit's power. Red chakra seeped from her pores as she began to circulate the demonic chakra. Slowly, the chakra applied to her tenketsu was expelled, point by point, and Naruto was able to stand. “Well, what do you know?” Naruto asked rhetorically. “Juuken doesn't work on me.” The guard stood in shock for a moment before running back to the gates of the Hyuuga Complex in fear at Naruto's display of power, not to mention current gender. “Come on, let's get going.”

“How were you able to do that?” Ino asked amazed.

“It's simple, really,” Naruto replied. “I just had a little help.” She made a vague gesture towards her stomach, which the two others picked up instantly. “Come on, let's find that cat!”

The trio continued to search around, using the Byakugan for the amount of time Hinata could sustain it and in a more normal way the rest of the time. They had made it into the wood surrounding the village before any sign of the cat was seen. Finally, Hinata spotted movement on the edge of her Byakugan's range. Turning quickly, she zoomed in on the movement. “I see the target!” she said excitedly. “It is approximately thirty meters in that direction.”

“Alright! Let's get it!” Naruto shouted, pumping her fist in the air. She quickly dispelled her clones from around the city and stumbled slightly under an unexpected wave of experience before creating a new batch to capture the cat. The Naruto charged and tackled the cat, easily preventing its escape. The cat showed its irritation by scratching Naruto's face into a pattern of bloody lines. “Ah! Get it off me! Get it off me!”

“Hold it still for a minute, okay? Oh, and be ready to carry me,” Ino ordered, flying through some hand seals. “Shintenshin no Jutsu!” Suddenly, Ino's body slumped forward. Seconds latter the cat calmed down completely and leaped into Hinata's arms.

“Eh?” Naruto exclaimed. “What happened to Ino?”

Hinata continued to pet the cat innocently, and said, “I think her m-mind is in the cat. Come on, get her b-body and let's go. I'm not sure how long this jutsu lasts.” Naruto picked up Ino's body, bridal style, and followed Hinata. About half way to the drop off point, Ino returned to her body, yet the cat stayed just as tranquil in Hinata's arms as before.

“Damn,” Ino muttered. “I held the jutsu too long. Naruto, do you mind carrying me for a little longer? I need to recover.” When Naruto gave her consent, Ino murmured, “Thanks,” before her head lolled against Naruto's chest, which was currently a rather soft pillow, and was asleep within seconds. She squirmed to cuddle closer to the source of warmth and comfort, causing Naruto to flush a deep red from the sensations it produced.

“Um, what should I do with her now?” Naruto asked.

“Just c-carry her for now, Naruto-kun,” Hinata answered. The two slowed down, no longer trying to reach their destination before Ino ran out of chakra. That was no longer a concern, as Ino already passed that point. Twenty minutes later, the small group arrived at the village's business office. When the Hokage saw Naruto carrying a sleeping Ino, who was smiling slightly and still occasionally trying to burrow into the other blonde's side, he blinked a few times, but said nothing.

When the slightly obese woman received her cat, she began to hug it in a manner that made it obvious why it had run away. Even as Hinata was regretting having a part in the torturing of the poor cat, both Naruto and Kyu-Ohki were thinking, `Yes, hug it harder! Mwahahaha! Just a little more!' Ino, obviously, had no opinion regarding the fate of the cat because she was still sleeping in Naruto's arms. She was very happy at the moment, whether she consciously realized it or not. “Um, Hinata-chan, did Kurenai-sensei want us to get another mission or just head back to the training grounds?”

Hinata replied, “I think she wanted us to h-head back to the training ground.” Despite her calm exterior, she was jealous of Ino. She wanted to be the one sleeping in Naruto's arms. “I wonder why Kurenai-sensei didn't come with us on this mission.”

“I'm sure she followed us and just kept out of sight to see how well we worked together.” Oh, how very wrong she was.

 

Kurenai was, in fact, in the most popular hangout for off-duty Jounin. While she was not drinking sake like most of the others, she was doing something usually done later that day. She was bragging about her Genin team, “I can't believe that I actually managed to get such a great team! They managed to demonstrate teamwork even before we finished our introductions!”

“How'd you pull that one off?” asked Kakashi, who was currently only two hours late for his own team's test.

“Naruto told her teammates about Kyuubi,” the brunette deadpanned.

With that one simple statement, Kakashi and nearly every ninja listening in spit out whatever they were drinking. The waitress, an unusually young, retired ANBU almost started throwing kunai at the shinobi making her job that much harder. Only the thought of having to clean the bloodstains stopped her. “He did what?!” Kakashi exclaimed once he calmed down enough. “That is the type of thing that would break a team!”

“Or makes it that much stronger,” Kurenai stressed. “They readily accepted her; now they have a much deeper trust of one another.”

“Why do you keep referring to Naruto as `her'?” Kakashi asked.

“Damn,” Kurenai muttered to herself. “I keep forgetting that she's really a boy.” When she saw Kakashi's disbelieving look, she retorted, “What? Have you seen him recently? You'd forget, too!”

“If that's true, I hope his teammates don't forget, or things will get really awkward.” It was then that Kurenai remembered the time and decided to leave.

At another table, the only eavesdropping shinobi who had not reacted to Kurenai's revelation about Naruto was thinking to himself, “Ino, you are a better shinobi than I.” Leaving a tip on the table, Yamanaka Inoichi left the bar and headed back to his house, thinking of ways to properly apologize to the youth.

Kurenai knew that her team was special, that was why she let them do their first mission solo. That and she did not want her team to come to rely on her presence. They would need to think for themselves later, and it is always best to learn in a relatively safe environment. Besides, Naruto should be able to handle anything the village could throw at him. He did habitually evade many of the village's Chunnin and Jounin, after all. She arrived at the appointed training site just moments before her team did, which lessened any suspicions they might have had. She blinked in shock when she saw a red faced Naruto carrying a sleeping Ino. “What happened to Ino?” Kurenai asked, completely blowing any chance of making them think that she had been following them secretly.

“S-she just wore herself with her Sh-shintenshin,” Hinata stated. “Naruto is just c-carrying her so she can get some rest.” Ino took that moment to snuggle even closer Naruto, making the neo-girl blush even more fiercely. “As you c-can see, Ino seems to like N-Naruto carrying her.”

“Can I put her down now?” Naruto begged; she was really starting to get embarrassed.

“Sure, sure, I need to talk about your training, anyways,” Kurenai said dismissively. Naruto tried to place Ino gently on the ground, but the sleeping girl would not let go. After about five minutes of maneuvering, she finally gave up, having managed to get the other girl sitting on her lap and leaning against her sideways. At least this put Ino's head against Naruto's shoulder instead of her breast. “Now that the two of you are comfy,” Kurenai began sadistically, “we can talk about your training, Naruto. Because you are having problems with chakra control, we'll start with tree climbing. I also want you to work on your natural chakra capacity, so you are to make as many Kage Bunshin as you can safely maintain and have them do tree climbing as well.”

“Kurenai-sensei, how will climbing trees help my chakra control?” Naruto inquired.

“You won't be climbing with your hands,” Kurenai stated. “Instead you need to channel enough chakra to your feet to stick to the tree. If you don't use too enough, you won't stick. If you use too much chakra, you'll blast off of the tree. This is a good control practice because the bottom of the foot is really hard to channel chakra to. Now, go make your Kage Bunshin and get to work. And don't use any of the Kyuubi's chakra or your reserves won't get any larger. Have them use a kunai to mark how high they get on each attempt. Oh, and a running start is supposed to help in the beginning.”

Naruto gently placed Ino on the ground before jumping up. “Right. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!” Naruto called, using what was becoming one of her favorite jutsu. Two-hundred clones popped into existence. They each ran at a nearby tree, with up to four Naruto on a tree, channeling chakra into their feet. They all made it a few steps before either slipping or blasting off. They continued to try to climb the trees, making it up a few more steps each time.

As the Naruto continued their practice, Kurenai turned to Hinata. “Now, I expect that you already know tree walking because of the Byakugan. Is that correct?” Hinata nodded. “Good. Now, I know from Gai that watching moving animals and such is best, so I want you to watch all of the Naruto as they train. Try to pick out the real one.”

“H-hai, Kurenai-sensei,” Hinata stuttered with a blush. She walked into the middle of where Naruto was training.

“Ino, wake up,” Kurenai said gently, lightly shaking the sleeping girl. “Come on, wake up. Wake up!” she finally screamed into Ino's ear. That woke the girl up. “I'd like you to join Naruto in the tree walking exercise.” Ino only nodded before she ran towards a tree with only two Naruto and made it three meters up before slipping. She began to practice with earnest, knowing that better chakra control would help her last longer when performing her family jutsu. It was not her fault that her father was too lazy to teach her the technique earlier.

About two hours later, both Ino and Hinata were getting low on chakra. Naruto, all two hundred or so of her, was still going strong. “Kurenai-sensei, can we break for lunch?” Ino asked. She could already make it most of the way up the tree, with only her depleted chakra reserves holding her back. Naruto, on the other hand, was still only making it about half way up the tree on each attempt, gaining a few centimeters at a time. Hinata was not only tired, her eyes were also sore from the near constant use of her Byakugan. If she had actually had pupils, her eyes would have been crossed, as there were too many Naruto to watch at once. Despite having looked at each Naruto intently, she still could not find any significant difference between the clones and the original. Even the warm, red chakra that stayed near the blonds' stomach was copied. Now that she thought back on it, she was surprised she had never noticed it before.

“H-hai,” Hinata started, “let's take a break, please. Naruto's clones are perfect duplicates, down to the chakra systems. Not even the Byakugan would be able to tell them apart. If I try for any l-longer, I'm going to get a migraine.”

“Alright,” Kurenai relented. It is time for lunch anyways. Naruto! The original! Come down here; we're taking a break. You, Kage Bunshin, continue with the tree walking until we get back!”

A single Naruto flipped down off of a nearby tree, pouting, “Why do I have to continue with my training when Hinata and Ino get to take a break?”

“Are you starting to feel tired, Naruto?” Kurenai asked.

“Not really,” the girl admitted.

“That's why,” the Jounin stated. “In order to increase your chakra reserves, you must work them down to nearly empty. With reserves as unnaturally large as yours, one must train almost continuously while using as much chakra as he or she can at once. Now, are you ready to go and get something to eat?”

“Sure! Where are we going?” Naruto asked.

“I know a really great dango shop nearby,” Kurenai said, while leading the group away from the training site. “And, if I'm lucky, a friend of mine will be there as well,” she muttered under her breath.

Soon the four girls found themselves in front of the dango shop. There was currently only one other customer in the shop, a kunoichi wearing a trench coat over her fishnet body stocking and short skirt. She was happily munching on a dumpling when she noticed the group. “Oy! Kurenai! Who're the brats?” she called to the Jounin.

“Anko, be nice,” Kurenai admonished.

“That was nice,” Anko replied.

“Anyways,” Kurenai continued, “this is my Genin team. The Hyuuga is Hinata, the platinum blond wearing normal clothing is Yamanaka Ino, and the blond wearing orange is Uzumaki Naruto. Team, this is my good friend, Mitarashi Anko.”

“Heh,” Anko scoffed. “I always thought Uzumaki was a little more male than this. So, did you come here to eat or talk?”

“A bit of both,” Kurenai admitted. She and her team ordered several helpings of dango before she continued. “I thought you could possibly help my team with their ninjutsu and taijutsu.”

“And why would they allow me, the `Snake Bitch,' to train them?” Anko scathingly asked, glaring at the Genin. Ino vaguely remembered her father mentioning the kunoichi several times as someone to avoid. Then again, she had also been told to stay away from Naruto.

“Huh?” asked Naruto, never one to know or understand the politics involving certain people in the village, himself included. “Why are you called the `Snake Bitch'? Do you have a demon snake in your stomach or something?”

“What?!” Anko demanded angrily. “How dare you suggest such a thing?”

“Well, it isn't that much harder to believe than a demon fox, when you think about it,” Ino commented.

“And that would be why they might allow you to train them,” Kurenai interjected, before certain secrets were revealed. “Naruto already explained his condition and they have accepted him, so, if you explain your past, they might accept you as well. I wish I could have seen Kakashi's face when I told him about that. Damn his mask.”

“Fine,” Anko relented. While she refused to get her hopes up, she was willing to potentially antagonize three Genin for the chance to have more people accept her. “But I won't tell you here. We need to be someplace more private.”

“Agreed,” Kurenai said. “Alright, team, hurry up. We're going back to the training grounds.”

“Hai!” the three Genin chorused. They quickly finished their meals and paid. Kurenai then led the Genin and Anko back to the training ground. The Naruto clones were still tree walking and had, on average, made it three quarters of the way up. One clone had actually finished the training and had gotten bored. She was trying to figure out how to do the exercise using her hands instead. She had already made it a meter up the tree.

“Th-this is insane!” exclaimed Anko. “No one should be able to make that many shadow clones as a Genin!”

“The scariest part is that Naruto is doing this without any help, at all. This is all natural,” Kurenai stated; Anko boggled. “Naruto, how did you get that one to do that?” Kurenai asked, gesturing to the one climbing the tree on her hands. “You were with us the entire time!”

“Ano,” Naruto began, “I didn't tell my kage bunshin to do anything, other than to train.”

“I kn-know kage bunshin can th-think for themselves,” Hinata announced, “but I d-didn't know they could show in-initiative.”

“They can't,” Anko said with a completely blank face. “Not unless the chakra used in their creation is more than a civilian needs to survive.”

“Um,” Ino interrupted, “could we possibly get to your story, Anko-san?”

“Yeah, I guess I should,” the Special Jounin started. “When I was a Genin, my team's instructor was the Snake Sannin, Orochimaru. We helped him with his experiments, because he claimed they were traitors and criminals. Finally, we found out the truth. He was using the villagers, innocent villagers, in his quest for immortality. The bastard then tried out a new Cursed Seal, the Heaven Seal, on me and nine others. I was the only one to survive. When Orochimaru learned that I didn't have the hate needed to activate the seal, he abandoned me.” She looked at the three Genin who were staring at her with open horror in their eyes. She was about to leave when Hinata, of all people, stopped her, with a hug.

“H-how could he do that to you?” Hinata asked. “To abandon one's own pupil because she wasn't cruel enough, that's horrid!”

Ino joined the hug, adding, “Why would we hate you for following orders when you were lied to? His throwing you away like that proves you are better than that.”

“Yeah!” exclaimed Naruto, as she joined the hug. “Things out of your control don't make you a bad person unless you let them.”

“How? How can you just accept me like that?” Anko asked, tearing up. Her answer was in the form of tighter hugs. Hugging the three girls tightly, Anko sobbed, “Thank you. Thank you so much for accepting me.”

Kurenai jumped in before things could progress even further. There was training to do, after all. “This is all very nice, and I'm glad that you're willing to learn from Anko, but we do need to train today.”

“Um, Kurenai- sensei?” Naruto cut in. “Everybody needs to meet someone before we start.”

“What do you mean Naruto?” Kurenai asked as everyone looked curious.

“He means me, Kurenai-san,” Naruto said, in a voice distinctly not his. “I am Kyu-Ohki, the Kyuubi no Cabbit. Naruto and I agreed that his team would need to meet me before you began any serious training. Ino especially needs to meet me.”

Ino started at this revelation, and asked, “Why would I need to meet you?”

“You are a Yamanaka, and specialize in mental techniques. If you try to enter the mind of a demon carrier, the results could be disastrous. You will need special training in case you ever encounter another.”

“I understand,” Ino replied. “What do I need to do?”

Naruto answered, “You need to use your Shintenshin on me. If we can, it'd be best to get it over with.”

“That's fine with me. Hinata, I want you to practice your taijutsu with Anko. You need to practice against people who do not use Juuken as well.”

“Hai, Kurenai-sensei.” Hinata and Anko moved into the clearing so they could work on taijutsu.

“Are you ready, Naruto?” Ino asked. When Naruto nodded, Ino put her hands into a triangular position pointing towards Naruto and shouted, “Shintenshin no Jutsu!” Ino slumped forward like a puppet with its strings cut, and Naruto stiffened. Ino was surprised when she looked around Naruto's mind, as very few people, especially their age, had a physical representation of their mind. She noticed a large gate closed before her. She took a step towards the gate to see what lay beyond and noticed that there was stagnant water, about a centimeter deep, on the floor. Wrinkling her nose in disgust, Ino shouted, “What the hell is this? Why is Naruto's mind a sewer?”

“This is a representation of Naruto's mental state,” a voice from behind her stated. “I would like to thank you. Just three days ago, the water reached up to Naruto's shins. You and Hinata are slowly healing his mind, and for that, I have a gift for you. Though it is curious that you would enter the seal rather than Naruto' proper mind.”

Ino slowly turned around and noticed the huge beast standing behind her. Naturally, she panicked and stumbled back against the gate. “Wh-what are you going to do to me?”

“Oh, calm down, Ino. If I was going to hurt you, I would have done it by now,” Kyu-Ohki stated. “Will you accept my gift?” Ino could only nod mutely. “Then come, look me in the eyes.”

Ino looked into Kyu-Ohki's red eyes and felt something change. “What did you do to me, you bastard!” she demanded angrily.

“I have done nothing that will harm you. Indeed, it will instead help you greatly. But I think I'll allow you to find out what I did on your own. Now, I am going to try to restrain you here and I want you to try to escape as quickly as possible. Begin.” Ino immediately tried to cancel her jutsu, but Kyu-Ohki held on tight. “You need to forcefully end your jutsu! The normal way won't work now.”

Ino desperately gathered all of her available chakra and shouted, “Kai!” Panting heavily, she found herself safely in Naruto's arms. “Yes, I made it,” she said weakly before passing out.

“Damn it, Kyu! What did you do to her?” Naruto bellowed.

“I am training her to escape from a demon. Of course it's going to make her tired. It'll get easier as she trains more.”

“Alright, Naruto,” Kurenai said, “dispel your clones and join Anko and Hinata and work on your taijutsu.

“Hai,” Naruto replied before she dismissed her clones. The shear shock of having over six hundred accumulated hours of chakra control training crammed into her head at once caused her to faint from the mental strain. She collapsed on top of Ino, and the two blonds squirmed around until they were both comfortable, if a little intimate. Ino had ended up sleeping on top of Naruto, their budding busts pressed together and their arms wrapped around each other.

“Damn, I forgot about that,” Kurenai muttered. “I guess she'll need the rest after that. Twenty-five days of tree walking in a few seconds would knock anyone out.”

Surprisingly, Anko over heard. “How the hell does that brat have so much chakra,” she wondered.

 

[Initiate dream sequence]

Naruto found herself in a field of flowers. “This is different,” he muttered.

“Naruto?” Ino asked, from the blanket she was lying on, half nude. “Where did Sasuke go? We were just getting started!”

“What do you girls see in Sasuke, anyways?” Naruto asked.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Why is he so great?”

“He just is!” Ino shouted.

“When has he ever done anything nice for any of the girls chasing him?”

“What are you talking about?” Ino asked, uncertainly.

“What are you looking for in a guy?” Naruto asked. Surprisingly, neither had yet noticed Naruto's gender change. Coincidently, Naruto did not notice Ino's current state of undress while she forgot about it.

Ino thought for a moment and replied, “I'm looking for a guy who's handsome, nice, caring, intelligent, brave, and makes me feel safe.”

“Sasuke is nice?” Naruto asked, incredulously. “I haven't seen it.”

Ino began to get angry before she realized something. “Sasuke isn't nice, or caring,” she whispered. “He only cares about getting stronger. He has never even tried to become friends with anyone.” Ino began to cry, saying, “I can't believe I spent so much time chasing him.”

Naruto quickly walked to Ino and hugged her from behind. Sitting down, he pulled his fellow blond into his lap to better comfort her. “It's alright, Ino-chan, I'm here for you.” As he hugged her, Ino's sobs lessoned and soon they stopped, leaving Ino hiccuping in his embrace. “Ino-chan, are you feeling better now?”

The girl nodded and turned in Naruto's lap slightly, just enough for her to return his hug and rest her head on his shoulder. “Thank you, Naruto. You always seem to make me feel better.” They sat in silence like that for a while before Ino remembered something about Naruto. “Hey, Naruto, why do you like Sakura so much? I mean, she seems to hate you.”

“I, I don't really know. I think it may have been because she didn't ignore me.”

“Getting abused like that is worse than being ignored!” Ino nearly shouted. She hugged Naruto tighter and implored, “Please don't chase Sakura anymore. She isn't worth it.”

“Why do you care?”

“Naruto, you are far too nice and caring to ever deserve what she does to you.” Ino hugged Naruto even tighter, accidentally grinding her breasts into his chest, though neither noticed. “I'd have to say that you are at least twice the man Sasuke is, even when you're a girl.”

It was right about then that Naruto noticed two things. First that he was currently male, and second that both he and Ino were not wearing anything above the waist. “Um, Ino, I think we should get up now.”

Ino hugged him closer and said, “No, I'm happy right where I am.”

“You do know we're both topless, right?”

Ino blinked. “We are?” Naruto nodded. “Huh, when did that happen?”

“I don't know.”

“Well, I'm too comfy to move right now,” Ino stated. “And I trust you.”

“If you say so,” Naruto relented; resigned to the beating he would receive in the near future.

“Naruto, lie down,” Ino ordered after about half an hour of comfortable silence. “I want to take a nap.”

“Why not just get off my lap then?”

“I told you, I'm too comfy right now. Now, lie down!”

“Fine,” Naruto huffed, before lying down with Ino on top of him. “You know, this really is comfortable.”

“Mmm,” Ino answered, already drifting of to sleep. Naruto followed soon after.

[Terminate dream sequence]

 

“Are they waking up yet?” Anko asked while looking at the two sleeping blonds.

“They've been out of it for a while, haven't they?” Kurenai replied. Hinata was propped up against a tree, too tired to show her displeasure with the current situation.

“Mmm, where am I?” Ino asked as she woke up. When she realized that she was lying on Naruto, she jumped up, blushing furiously. With a wave of relief, and some regret, she realized that she was clothed and that Naruto was still a girl. “So it was just a dream,” she whispered.

When Naruto awoke a minute later, she looked around, and asked, “Ano, Ino, where did all the flowers go?”

“Wait,” Ino said, in a near panic. “What type of flowers were they?”

“How would I know? There were mostly pink, yellow, and blue ones, though.”

“How is this possible?” Ino started, shivering. Naruto immediately wrapped her in a comforting hug. “That is the same setting as my dream.”

“What happened in your dream,” Kurenai asked.

“Well, at first I was with Sasuke, but then he disappeared and Naruto showed up. He asked why I liked Sasuke and led me to realize that Sasuke isn't worth loving. Then he comforted me while I cried. We then lay down and went to sleep. That's all I remember.” The blush on her face, however, said otherwise.

“Hey!” shouted Naruto. “That is about the same as my dream, except we ended up topless and you got me to see that Sakura doesn't deserve my love either!”

Realization hit both at the same time and they growled, “Kyu-Ohki, what did you do?”

“It's simple, really.” The cabbit stated. “I just initiated a mental link between Ino and myself. Since Naruto and I have a mental link already, Ino was also mentally linked to her. They just had a shared dream.”

“What?!” demanded Hinata. “That isn't fair! I demand you give me a link as well!”

“And why should I?”

“It would greatly increase our teamwork,” Hinata stated, grasping at straws.

“While that is very true, why should I initiate the link? Naruto could do it just as easily.”

“I can?” Naruto asked in surprise.

“Yes, you just needed to learn enough chakra control first. The tree walking exercise was enough.”

“Alright,” Naruto said, as he could easily see the tactical advantage this would provide, while completely forgetting about the already revealed side effects. “What do I need to do?”

“You need to maintain eye contact and perform these seals: ram, rabbit, dragon, and boar. That sets up the preliminary connection, allowing you to ask permission to establish a permanent connection. Unfortunately, that is all you can do. If the person agrees, the link is immediately formed, if not, nothing happens,” Kyu-Ohki explained. “After the connection is formed, you'll only need to think towards the person you want to communicate with. The link is passive, so it won't use any chakra after it is established.”

“Are you sure you want to do this, Hinata,” Kurenai asked. Hinata nodded firmly. “In that case, I will not try to stop you.”

“Ram, rabbit, dragon, boar,” Naruto chanted while staring into Hinata's eyes. “Do you accept?”

“Hai.” With that, the connection was made. “So all we do is think towards each other?” Hinata mentally asked towards both Naruto and Ino.

“Seems about right,” Ino commented back, through their link.

“You two have caught on exceedingly quickly,” Kyu-Ohki commented, only to Ino and Hinata.

“I could hear Kyu-Ohki,” both girls told the group.

“This is so cool!” Naruto exclaimed aloud.

“At least this will save on the expense of radios,” Anko said dryly.

“If Ino and Naruto shared a dream already, what will happen with more people linked?” Kurenai asked. The two blonds paled while Hinata smiled happily.

“It almost looks like Hinata was counting on sharing Naruto's dreams,” Anko said slyly. Hinata only blushed while retaining a brilliant smile.

“Well, Naruto and Ino slept the afternoon away, so I suppose I should let you go now. I'll see you here at the same time tomorrow. Dismissed.”

The three Genin split up, with each heading towards their respective houses for the night. Naruto made herself a meal of ramen and promised to get some better food as soon as she could. Hinata sat with her family for an overly formal meal that started and ended in silence. Ino's meal, on the other hand, was quite animated.

 

“How was your day, dear,” Nodoka asked after the family

“Very tiring,” she admitted. “Learning how to escape from a demon in the mental world takes a lot out of you.”

“What?!” Inoichi demanded. “I thought you said Naruto was safe to be around!”

“He is. His `friend' is just teaching me how to defend myself in case I ever try to use Shintenshin on another container,” Ino explained calmly. “He didn't do anything to me.”

“Did anything else interesting happen today?” Nodoka asked.

“Well, Kurenai-sensei found someone to help us with our taijutsu and ninjutsu, since she's a genjutsu specialist.”

“Really? Who?” asked Inoichi, wondering who would give up their time to help train Genin other than the Jounin-sensei.

“Mitarashi Anko,” Ino answered quickly.

Inoichi sighed, “I should have realized that Kurenai would ask Anko. They are good friends, after all. Just be careful around her, okay?”

“Why? Because she was tricked by Orochimaru?” Ino demanded angrily.

“So she told you about that, eh?” Inoichi shook his head sadly. “No, I don't hold that against her. The reason I want you to be careful around her is that she is a little… excitable when it comes to blood.” He shivered. “It's down right creepy at times.”

“Alright, Dad, I'll be careful.”

“Honey,” Nodoka began, “Your father and I thought that you could ask your teammates over for dinner tomorrow.”

“Hmm, Hinata would probably need to ask her father tonight. Give me a minute please,” Ino requested before zoning out. “Hey, Hinata, Naruto, you there?” she asked through the ever convenient mental link.

“Hai,” Hinata responded from the Hyuuga complex.

“I'm here, Ino-chan,” Naruto answered from his apartment.

“My parents want to know if you would like to come over for dinner tomorrow night.”

“I'll be happy to come!” Naruto exclaimed, adding a mental image of pumping his fist.

“I'll be happy to come as well.” Hinata added quickly, not wanting Naruto to spend anymore time alone with Ino.

“Wow, I didn't know we could send ideas as well!” Ino mentally exclaimed excitedly. “This is so cool!”

“Ino! Ino!” Nodoka almost shouted. “Are you all right? You just zoned out for a minute there.”

“I did? I guess I need to work on that,” Ino stated verbally. “Anyways, both Naruto and Hinata can come.”

“Wait,” Inoichi started, “when did you ask?”

“Oops,” Ino said bashfully, “I forgot you didn't know about that. Naruto and Kyu-Ohki set up some sort of a mental network between them, Hinata, and me.”

“Who is this Kyu-Ohki?” Inoichi demanded.

“Eh heh heh,” Ino laughed nervously. “Kyu-Ohki is the Kyuubi.” Inoichi and Nodoka looked ready to grab torches and form a mob, so Ino tried to diffuse the situation, “It's perfectly safe! Mom, Dad, you don't need to worry. The mental links only allow communication. Kyu-Ohki can't do anything to me.” --> [Author:SS]

“Alright Ino, if you're sure it's safe, we'll be fine with it” Nodoka said, as the first to calm down sufficiently. “Is there anything else we should know about?” Ino just blushed and shook her head.

“Are Kurenai and Anko going to come as well?” Inoichi asked.

“I don't know. They aren't part of the mental link, so I can't just ask them,” Ino stated. “I'll ask them when I see them tomorrow. May I be excused? I'd like to get to bed so I'll be ready for tomorrow's training.”

“All right, dear,” Nodoka said. “Go get a good night's sleep.”

“I will Mom.” Ino walked to her room and got in bed. Moments later, she was asleep and immersed in a nightmare.

 

[Initiating dream sequence]

It was dark, very dark, all except for the torches carried by some of the villagers. In the background, Ichiraku Ramen was burning. “What the hell is this?” Ino practically screamed. The mob of villagers parted slightly, showing Naruto curled protectively around Hinata as several of the villagers beat them. “What the hell are you doing?” Ino demanded. “Leave them alone!”

“Look, it's another of the demon's bitches!” a villager screamed, thrusting his torch in Ino's direction. “Let's get her, too!” Several of the villagers grabbed Ino and threw her into the center of the mob and began beating her along with Hinata and Naruto.

Naruto latched onto Ino and dragged her into his protective embrace alongside Hinata. “I'm sorry, I'm so sorry,” he muttered each time one of the girls was struck.

“Hinata!” Ino shouted. “This is Naruto's nightmare! We need to end it, quickly!”

“But it feels so real!” Hinata cried as she tried to protect herself and Naruto.

“Maybe we can get out of this if we work together,” Ino suggested. “Think about the training ground!” Both girls concentrated on the training grounds and slowly the villagers and the burning ramen stand faded away, leaving the three Genin in the middle of their training field.

“What just happened?” Naruto asked as the assault ceased.

“We're sharing our dreams again,” Ino supplied. “You were having a nightmare, and Hinata wasn't expecting it, so she thought it was real, or her dream, or something. I realized what was going on, so I told her to think of here. The two of us were enough to overcome your nightmare.”

“How often do you have nightmares, Naruto-kun?” Hinata asked, concerned for Naruto's well being.

“Unless I pass out from exhaustion, almost every night,” Naruto admitted. “Earlier today and last night were two of the best dreams I have ever had.”

“But we just sat there and talked for most of it!” Ino protested.

“Exactly,” Naruto admitted. “Most of my dreams are about being alone or having the villagers beat me.”

“That's horrible!” Ino exclaimed. “What was different this afternoon?

“Ino, you were already asleep then,” Hinata pointed out. “Naruto-kun entered your dream, without realizing it.”

“So Naruto was the first to fall asleep tonight?” Ino asked.

“It seems likely,” Hinata answered. “Most of my dreams are either very pleasant or involve Hyuuga family politics.”

“So what should we do then?” Naruto asked. “I don't want you two to suffer any more of my nightmares!”

“Well, making sure you fall asleep after at least one of us does could work,” Ino suggested. “I could probably get my parents to call you after I'm asleep, though we'd have to explain why.”

“That could work,” Hinata admitted, sad that she could not offer the same. The Council would never allow it.

“So, what should we do for the rest of the dream?” Naruto asked.

“Since we will be eating over Ino's tomorrow,” Hinata suggested, “we could teach Naruto-kun proper manners.”

“That is a good idea,” Ino replied, smiling. “I doubt anyone has taught him any before.”

“Hey! That isn't my fault!” Naruto protested.

“We weren't saying it was, Naruto,” Ino soothed. “But it is the truth. Now, we should start with basic table manners.” After a few moments of concentration on Ino's part, a table with a simple meal appeared in the clearing. “The first lesson is sitting properly. You should sit up straight and look forward, with your napkin in your lap.

The lesson continued through the whole night, with both Hinata and Ino acting as an example and explaining proper social behavior in ways Naruto could more easily understand. By the time the three awoke in the morning, Naruto was ready for even a casual meal in the Hyuuga complex, which equated to a semi-formal meal for normal people.

[Terminating dream sequence]

 

When the three Genin arrived at the training field, they found both Kurenai and Anko waiting. Ino, remembering the conversation with her parents the night before, quickly said, “Kurenai-sensei, Anko-sensei, my parents would like you to join us for dinner tonight. Naruto and Hinata are already coming.”

“Sure, I'll come,” Anko replied, secretly overjoyed at being invited to anything. True, most of the village did not hate her, but the majority still feared her.

“I'll come as well,” Kurenai stated. “I need to speak to Inoichi about training Ino anyways.” Addressing the entire group, Kurenai announced the plans for the day, “We will not be taking a mission today. Instead, Ino and Hinata will be working on their taijutsu and ninjutsu with Anko.”

“What about me?” Naruto demanded.

“You will be accompanying me to the library. Your less than stellar education has been brought to my attention and I intend to rectify this deficiency. Let's get started. We will meet at the Barbecue at twelve for lunch. Begin.” Kurenai started leading Naruto off towards the library.

“All right, girls, get ready!” Anko shouted gleefully. “Ino, you will be learning my style of taijutsu, as it is very powerful at close range, and that is where you are weakest. Hinata, I want you to learn at least one D-rank ninjutsu from this scroll by lunch.” She handed Hinata the scroll.

“Anko-sensei,” Hinata began. “The Hyuuga C-Council will not approve of me learning any n-ninjutsu not required by the academy.”

“Is that a problem?” Anko asked with a wicked grin on her face.

“N-no, sensei!” Hinata quickly answered.

“Good girl. Now get to work!” Hinata began reading the scroll while Ino began the basics of Anko's style of taijutsu.

 

When Kurenai and Naruto reached the library, they entered with surprising ease, though that may have been because of the genjutsu Kurenai used on the librarian, making him think that the Hokage himself had escorted them there. “Now, Naruto,” Kurenai said, “I want you to make as many kage bunshin as you can, without help, and have them all start reading. I also want you to join them until lunch time. At that time, one of your Kage Bunshin is to henge into me and watch over the others while we go to eat lunch. You are to maintain all of your shadow clones until you are ready to sleep, at which point you will dispel them all. This way, we can get the most out of a single day. I suggest starting with the laws and history of the village before moving on to any jutsu. Those can come later; I want to increase your overall knowledge first. Also have some read up on math and physics; it will help you later. Understand?”

“Hai. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!” Two hundred twenty Kage Bunshin popped into existence. They immediately split up, heading to the different sections of the library. Sixty began reading the village laws; another sixty began reading its history; yet another eighty split themselves between mathematics and physics, while the final twenty began reading about the history and politics of the other villages. “Can I go read some jutsu scrolls?” the original Naruto asked.

Figuring that the clones would be enough for now, Kurenai answered, “Sure, but keep them bellow C-rank and no practicing them. Just read them. You can practice later.” With that the final Naruto ran off to the jutsu section happily. “That kid is going to have an insane headache tonight,” the Jounin stated with a smirk. Pulling out a book on the history of genjutsu, she began to read, only paying the slightest bit of attention to the two hundred twenty-one Naruto.

Four hours passed quickly passed and it was almost time for lunch. Naruto motioned to one of the shadow clones and she came over to Kurenai. One henge later and there were two Kurenai. The real Kurenai handed the double her book and then left the library with Naruto in tow. They quickly made their way to the Barbecue stand and met up with the rest of their team. “Yo,” Anko greeted the pair as the entered. “How many clones did she pull off this time?” she asked, already forgetting Naruto's true gender. No one caught her slip.

“I made two hundred and twenty,” Naruto announced proudly. “And Kurenai-sensei wants me to maintain them until I go to bed.”

“Naruto, what time do you usually go to sleep?” Ino asked nervously.

“Well, I usually go to sleep around nine o'clock, but after last night, I think that I'm going to wait until eleven. Why did you want to know, Ino?”

“Hang on a second, Naruto. Two hundred twenty clones, times fifteen and a half hours is three thousand four hundred ten hours. Divided by twenty-four hours to a day… Naruto! You are going to cram over a hundred and forty days of reading into a few seconds! Are you insane?!”

“That is a lot of reading,” Anko commented.

“Oh, I'll be fine,” Naruto assured the group. “All I'll need is a good night's rest, right Kurenai-sensei?”

“I hope,” Kurenai said under her breath. Out loud, she said, “Of course, Naruto. I'm sure you'll be fine. There is nothing to worry about.” Mollified by their teacher's confidence, the Genin continued their meal.

“What are we doing after lunch?” Hinata asked.

“Well,” Kurenai started, “Ino will be finishing her tree walking and Naruto will be working on his taijutsu with Anko. I am going to set up a special targeting scroll I convinced your father to give me so you can improve your reaction time.”

“My father?” Hinata asked, surprised.

“Yes. He said I could do anything I want with your training, and handed me the scroll when I asked.”

“A-anything you want? What about the C-council?” Hinata asked fearfully.

“I think that the Hyuuga clan has given up on you,” Kurenai stated sadly. “I doubt that they would care if you died.”

“That's horrible!” Ino shouted.

“Those bastards,” Naruto said angrily.

Hinata hung her head and all but whispered, “I refuse to go all out on my little sister, so they see me as weak. I'm surprised they haven't sent me to the Branch house yet.”

“Hey, Hinata, why don't you practice on me?” Naruto suggested. “We already know that Juuken doesn't really work on me, so you don't have to worry about it. What do you say?”

“How do you know that Juuken doesn't work on you, Naruto?” Kurenai demanded.

“The Council ordered the Branch family to `protect' me from Naruto at all costs,” Hinata said, angry once more. “On our mission yesterday, one of the Branch members attacked Naruto and closed sixty four of her tenketsu. Naruto used his second chakra system to unseal them.”

“Second chakra system,” Anko and Kurenai mouthed in disbelief.

“It's for my `special' chakra,” Naruto admitted.

“Ah,” Kurenai said in understanding. “Now, since we've finished our meal, let's head back to the training grounds.” The team rose from their seats, paid for their meals, and headed back to the training grounds.

“So, Hinata,” Anko finally asked. “What D-rank ninjutsu did you learn?”

“I learned Kage Shuriken no Jutsu,” Hinata stated.

“Well, that's a good start,” Anko admitted, “though it barely counts as ninjutsu. Why not try learning a Doton technique. Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu is a good one. Even though you primarily use Juuken, an underground attack is often very helpful. Even experienced shinobi seldom look down for an attack.”

“Hai, Anko-sensei,” Hinata answered before turning back to her scroll.

“Ino, resume your tree climbing please,” Kurenai asked. Ino nodded and began, easily making it to the top of the tree. “Good. Now, I want you to continue climbing up and down that tree until you are too tired to continue.”

“Naruto, get over here,” Anko ordered. “It's time you learned something better than the brawler version of the academy's taijutsu you use now.”

“Hai, Anko-sensei.” From there, it was mostly a repeat of Ino's training, only significantly rougher, as Naruto could handle much more than the other blond could.

Hinata's training consisted of spreading the special scroll on a tree and hitting the small flashes of chakra a quickly as possible. The exercise was meant to increase speed as well as accuracy when using the Byakugan. At one point, Anko looked over and, after recalling her training with the girl, noticed two severe weaknesses in the style. “Naruto, rest for a minute. I have to ask Hinata a few questions.” As Naruto slumped to the ground gratefully, Anko made her way over to Hinata. “Hinata, what would you do if both of your arms were broken?”

“What do you mean, Anko-sensei?” Hinata asked.

“Juuken seems to concentrate solely on using the palms of the hands. Can you continue to fight without your hands? Or if the tenketsu in your arms were blocked?”

Hinata looked at Anko in shock for several seconds before replying, “I c-can't believe no one in the Hyuuga family has n-never noticed that before.”

“That is because most Hyuuga are too arrogant to look for any flaws in their `perfect' style,” Anko scoffed. “Even the Branch members have a superiority complex. In fact, you are the only Hyuuga I can remember actually being humble enough to even consider listening to someone else's suggestions. We are going to have to work some form of kicks into the style as well as teach you some normal taijutsu in case you ever can't use your chakra.”

“Hai,” Hinata agreed. She returned to her training while Anko walked back to Naruto to continue her training.

Several hours later, at around six o'clock, the training was done for the day. Kurenai turned to her team, and said, “Good work, everyone. We'll take another mission tomorrow before moving on to water-walking. Naruto still needs more chakra control before he can even attempt to return to normal. On that note, I suggest you all wear bathing suits tomorrow, so you don't get your normal clothing soaked.”

“Um, sensei,” Naruto interjected. “My swimsuits won't work anymore.”

“Hmm, --> [Author:SS] good point,” Kurenai conceded. “Ino, Hinata, do either of you have swimsuit Naruto can borrow for tomorrow?” Both girls blushed at the thought.

“Er, I should have something that will fit,” Ino admitted, leaving out the fact that it was something she bought to try and seduce Sasuke with. “Um, it's about dinner time, so we should probably head over to my house now.”

“True enough,” Kurenai stated. “Well, lead the way.” Ino lead the group back to her mother's flower shop and up into the house proper.

“Mom, we're here,” Ino called.

“Alright, honey,” Nodoka called back from the kitchen. “Dinner is almost ready, so wash up.”

Ino led her team to the bathroom, where they took turns washing their hands and such. She then led them to the dining room where they all say at the table. Anko and Kurenai were surprised when Naruto sat properly, without slouching or facing away from the table. “When did you learn manners?” Kurenai asked.

“Last night, while I was asleep,” Naruto answered.

“Shared dreams, got to love them,” Ino quipped. Hinata just bobbed her head happily.

“Hello, everyone,” Inoichi said as he entered the dining room. “I am Ino's father, Inoichi.”

Kurenai smiled, and said, “I am Ino's primary sensei, Kurenai. This is our supplementary instructor, Anko. These are your daughter's teammates, Hinata and Naruto.”

Inoichi's eyes widened when he saw Naruto, and he shouted, “What is the meaning of this? Is this some kind of a joke? Uzumaki Naruto is definitely male, yet you say this girl is him? Who is she really?” Nodoka came rushing out of the kitchen when her husband had started shouting, so she was there to hear the response.

“I am Uzumaki Naruto,” the girl stated, her eyes downcast. “I will leave now if you don't want a monster like me eating with you.” As Naruto got up to leave, Ino grabbed her hand and prevented her from exiting the dining room.

“I thought you said you wanted my team to come over for dinner,” Ino accused her father. “Was that just a lie?”

Inoichi immediately calmed down at his daughters reaction. “I apologize for my outburst. Naruto, you are welcome to stay. I was just expecting to meet a boy, not a girl,” Inoichi stated. “When I overheard Kurenai yesterday, I thought she was exaggerating your situation. It appears that I was wrong.” He bowed his head and continued, “I am also sorry for keeping Ino away from you. I now realize that I had been judging you unfairly. I now see that you would have been a great friend for Ino.”

“I am sorry as well,” Nodoka added. “I should have known better than to listen to the villagers instead of to Hokage-sama. You really are a hero.”

Inoichi, his head bowed in shame, finished, “It took us two days to come to terms with the truth, and that is unacceptable.

“Thank you,” Naruto said with tears running down her cheeks. “You don't know what that means to me.”

“Oh!” Nodoka exclaimed, “I need to go get dinner. I'll be right back.” She headed back into the kitchen and came back with the food. As they ate, all of the adults were surprised with Naruto's table manners. While she did eat several times as much as anyone else, she managed to be polite about it.

“So, how is your training going?” Inoichi asked the Genin.

“I'm reading most of the library,” Naruto admitted with a blush.

“Won't that take up most of your time for the next few years?” Nodoka asked.

“Kage Bunshin really are great time savers,” Anko replied with a smirk.

“How many are you using, Naruto?” Inoichi asked, somewhat surprised at that revelation. “Two? Three? Maybe even five?”

“Um,” Naruto started nervously, “two hundred and twenty, and they're still reading right now.”

“Two-two hundred and twenty!” Inoichi exclaimed. “That's insane! Assuming you survive using that much chakra continuously for any length of time, the mental feedback could fry your brain!”

“What!” Naruto, Hinata, and Ino shouted, glaring at Kurenai.

“Heh heh heh,” Kurenai laughed nervously, “I'm sure she can handle it. She'll only need a really good night's sleep. I'd say about eight hours should be good.”

“But Kurenai-sensei, it's already almost nine already!” Ino protested. “And either Hinata or I need to fall asleep before Naruto does!”

“And why is that?” Inoichi asked.

“Um,” Ino tried to think of a reasonable excuse but failed. “We have shared dreams, and Naruto has a lot of nightmares. When we go to sleep, we enter the dream of whoever fell asleep first. The dreams are really hard to alter, and it took both Hinata and I to overcome Naruto's nightmare last night.”

“I want to see this effect,” Inoichi stated. As a shinobi specializing in mental techniques, the idea of a shared dream was a professional curiosity. “Naruto, Hinata, could you two please stay over tonight? I would really like to see this, and I could monitor Naruto's mental health when she releases her Kage Bunshin.”

“Sure,” Naruto said. “It isn't like I have anyone to go home to.”

“L-let me just call and let my family know, so they don't st-start looking for me.” Hinata added. At Nodoka's nod, she went over to the telephone and informed the Branch member who answered of her plans for the night.

“You can all sleep in Ino's room,” Nodoka suggested. “It'll be more comfortable there, and you are all girls, at the moment, so there is nothing to worry about. I knew we got her that king sized bed for a reason.”

The three girls laughed nervously and made their way to Ino's bedroom. Naruto considerately kept her eyes averted while Ino and Hinata prepared for bed. When the two girls were ready and under the covers of the bed, Naruto quickly changed and slid in as well. “So, whose dream should we start with this time?” Naruto asked.

Ino replied, “Well, I still need to practice getting out of your head, so I'd say mine, unless Hinata falls asleep before we finish.”

“Well, we might as well get started then,” Naruto stated.

Ino nodded and got into a familiar stance. With a cry of, “Shintenshin!” she collapsed against the bed and entered Naruto's mind. As they waited, Hinata got a naughty idea and promptly pressed her own sleep point, ensuring that it would be her dream the trio entered. She soon wormed her way under the covers towards the nearest source of warmth. Since Ino was situated in the middle of her bed, she became Hinata's makeshift teddy bear. Naruto, who was lying back and thinking about the day's events did not notice Hinata's move.

Inside the seal within Naruto's mind, Ino called, “Alright, Kyu-Ohki! I'm ready to train!”

The large form of the demon cabbit loomed out of the shadows, and simply said, “Begin.” He immediately began to hold Ino in place while she began gathering chakra.

“Kai!” Ino shouted when she felt enough chakra had been gathered. When she did not return to her body, she gathered even more chakra before shouting, “Kai!” This time she made it back to her body. As she fell asleep from the mental exhaustion, she felt warmth close on one side, and further away on the other. Groping blindly for the warmth that was further away from her, she dragged Naruto over to her.

At the same time as Ino started pulling her, Naruto was dispelling her Kage Bunshin. As over one hundred twenty days worth of reading was dumped in her head, Naruto passed out. Her body instinctively moved towards the source of warmth. After a few minutes of squirming, the three girls were tangled in a very intimate embrace with Naruto on the bottom, despite her being the smallest of the girls. Inoichi looked into the room, saw the position the three girls were in, and walked away shaking his head, wondering if this had really been a good idea.

 

[Initiating dream sequence]

Naruto and Ino appeared in the dreamscape at almost the exact same time. Naruto was, once again, male, but at least he noticed this time. The two blonds looked around and noticed Hinata sitting on her bed pouting. “Oi, Hinata-chan, what's wrong?” Naruto asked.

“When you two arrived, all of the other Naruto vanished,” Hinata admitted sadly. “I miss all the Naruto-kun and Naruto-chan, and the furry ones were so cute!”

“Um, Hinata,” Ino began, while backing away from the bluette. “You're a little scary right now.”

“Naruto-kun and Naruto-chan?” asked Naruto, also slightly nervous.

“Hai.”

“Furry, Naruto, eh?” Ino asked. “That would be interesting.” As Ino began to think of Naruto with cabbit features, her thoughts synced with Hinata's, overriding Naruto's perception of himself, causing him to become Naruto, the cabbit boy. “Kawaii!” Ino exclaimed. Both she and Hinata caught the long eared, furred Naruto in a flying tackle-glomp. “And we can make him turn into a girl as well?” Ino asked. Hinata nodded and soon Naruto the cabbit girl was being hugged by the pair.

“What would you two look like furry?” Naruto asked, pouting. Seconds later, three cabbit girls sat on the bed as they imagined each other as cabbit girls. “All we need now are some carrots,” Naruto commented. Again, in mere seconds the scene changed as a bowl of carrots appeared. The three girls began snacking on the carrots as they talked.

“Did you learn anything interesting in the library, Naruto?” Ino asked.

“Hai, Ino-chan. There is a certain law that Sasuke had better hope his fangirls never learn about.

As an ex-fangirl, Ino was naturally curious. “What law is that?”

“The Advanced Bloodline Preservation Act, enacted under the Sandaime's first term, requires any male member with a sufficiently rare kekkei genkai to practice polygamy in an effort to ensure that it won't die out,” Naruto explained.

“Didn't you say you had a new kekkei genkai, Naruto-kun?” Hinata asked while sharing a look with Ino.

“Yes; what are you getting at, Hinata-chan?”

As a response, both Hinata and Ino jumped on Naruto again and exclaimed, “You're ours now!” They then descended into rather creepy perverted giggling and began taking turns kissing Naruto. Naruto tried to fight them off at first, but then gave in and returned the kisses. Soon the three girls, as Naruto had not been returned to normal yet, were as tangled in their dream as they were in real life. They soon fell asleep, cuddling each other like the furry cabbit girls they were.

[Terminate dream sequence]

Still could use some fleshing-out here.

Doubling up the "m" to make "Hm" into

"Hmm" results in a more accurate

mental image of how it sounds.

 

To people who care, "Hm" is short enough

that it's almost a grunt.