Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Kuubi no Cabbit ❯ There be eggs here ( Chapter 4 )

Kyuubi no Cabbit

Chapter Four

 

I'm going to be dropping the majority of the Japanese I've been using, as I don't know it well enough to use it correctly.  I'll still use what I am sure about, though.  Also, the years given was for simplicity, as I don't think any was ever given.  If this is false, let me know so I can change it.

 

 

 

“Ah,” Naruto sighed happily as he walked out of the bathroom, barely five minutes after regaining his manhood.  “It's great to be able to pee standing up again,” he declared, naturally causing a round of giggles from the girls.

“Hey, Anko, can you change your sex as well?” Kurenai asked.  “I mean, Naruto can do it so easily.”

“I don't know,” Anko replied, “but I'd rather not find out.”

“Come on, Anko-chan,” Ino urged.  “We want to see what you'd look like as a guy!”

“Please,” Hinata pleaded, utilizing the kinjutsu known only as the dreaded Puppy-Eyes no Jutsu.  It had been known to quell even a Kage in under a minute.  The only kinjutsu more devastating was Naruto's Sexy no Jutsu, even though the Puppy Eye no Jutsu had a better success rate against women.

Anko, who was still twelve, just sighed, “Fine, I'll try it, but, if you laugh, you die.”  Her threat delivered, Anko concentrated on what she thought she would look like if she were male and formed the tortoise seal, calling out, “Masu Henge no Jutsu!”  Once the smoke cleared, everyone could see Anko, who was completely unchanged, except her hair was shorter and spiked instead of in her customary spiky pigtail.

“So, did anything happen other than changing your haircut?” Naruto asked.

“I don't think so,” Ino stated.

“Ano, why don't you go check in the bathroom, Anko-chan?” Hinata suggested.

“Yeah, I guess I should, even if my pants just seem to fit differently, and nothing else,” Anko replied before heading into the bathroom.  A moment later, she came back out and announced, “Yes, I am a boy.  Not that you can really tell at first glance.”

“Why Anko,” Kurenai joked, even as Anko drew a kunai, “you must be too much of a tomboy for your henge to make much of a difference.”  A second later, she dodged the kunai aimed for her head.  The Genin were smart enough to realize that laughing would be very hazardous to their health and remained silent.

“Oh yeah?” Anko shouted angrily.  “Why don't you try it then?”

“Sorry, I can't,” Kurenai answered pleasantly.  “I don't have any masu.”

“Naruto,” Anko growled, causing said blonde to gulp nervously.  “Next month you're to give Kurenai some masu, understand?”

“H-hai,” Naruto stuttered, afraid of the glint in the new boy's eyes.  Trying to avoid any unnecessary bloodletting, he quickly changed the subject, “Come on; let's go check on the eggs.”

“Right after I change back,” Anko interjected.  As the others paused on their way to the clutch, he formed the tortoise seal, and, with a cry of, “Masu Henge no Jutsu,” she was back to her old, if younger, self.  With a curt nod of her head, causing her spiky ponytail to bob cutely, Anko led the way towards the eggs.

The group was soon gathered around the eggs.  “Hey, that one is moving,” Ino pointed out.  The egg in question was indeed rocking back and forth.  With a lurch, the egg rolled completely over, towards Anko.  “Hey, Naruto, why is that egg trying to roll towards Anko?”

“I think that the cabbit in that egg has decided to partner with her,” Naruto explained.  “Or at least that is the feeling I'm getting from the egg.  Why don't you try holding it, Anko-chan?”

“Sure, why not?” Anko shrugged before picking up the egg.  “I feel so warm,” she commented in wonder as she gently held the egg.

Naruto nodded in what he thought was a wise fashion and said, “So I was right.  The cabbits will choose their own partners.  I just didn't think they'd do it until after they hatched.”  Of course, he was working off of the biology books he'd read in the library, regarding the imprinting of hatching birds and had no knowledge on hatching cabbits.

“So are we going to see if Hanabi will be getting one?” Hinata asked, excited at the prospect of her sister getting a pet and partner of her own.

“Not quite yet,” Naruto announced.  “I want to look up my parents before meeting with Hiashi-sama again.  Knowing my lineage might help convince him to let me try to copy the Byakugan.”

“In that case, let's head to the Hokage's office and ask to see your birth records, Kurenai suggested.

“Hai, Kurenai-sensei, let's go!” Naruto shouted, charging back into the Forest of Death.  Thirty seconds later, he was back.  “We can't forget about the eggs, can we?” he asked sheepishly before collecting the six remaining eggs, allowing Anko to keep hers, and placed them in a padded sling under his shirt. The fact that she had threatened to gut him if he so much as thought about trying to separate the egg from her had no bearing on that decision.  Ino, Hinata, and Kurenai wisely stayed far away from that argument, as well as the kunai Anko was waving about wildly to keep Naruto at bay.  With the eggs properly in hand, the group made their way to the Hokage's office, quickly navigating through the now familiar Forest of Death.  The last few days were exceedingly good training for the three Genin.

 

 

As the team traveled, Kurenai reminisced on her team's growth since they came under her wing.  'It started off amazingly well, considering that Naruto had revealed his deepest, darkest secret even before the team could go through any trust building exercises.  The girls are made of better stuff than most of the villagers, however, and readily accepted him, her at the time, as their teammate.  Then I brought in Anko to help her teach them taijutsu and ninjutsu.  Well, that was the reason I gave them, at least.  I did have an alternate motive, after all.  Anko's attitude towards most of the ninja in the village, while justified, is holding her back from advancing to a full Jounin.  With any luck, having her help with the Genin might be enough to show that she can work with others.

'Anko's addition to the team was actually the best move I could have made at the time, as it provided someone to teach the kids the harder parts of being shinobi, particularly the killing. I, while capable of killing during missions, would have a hard time teaching such innocent kids to take a life.  Anko was also doing wonders for their pain thresholds, even if that was just a side effect of her training style.  At the rate she was progressing with Naruto, he would probably be able to take a Chidori to any non-vital area and keep fighting.  Of course, having Kyu-Ohki there to help heal him so he wouldn't die after having fifty deep wounds inflicted in the space of an hour helped immensely.

'And that brings up the next surprise.  Kyu-Ohki being essentially benevolent was a bit of a shock to everyone.  Using him as a training tool was just strange, even if it will keep Ino safe from any other Jinchuuriki she happened to encounter.  It was just three days ago that he pronounced her sufficiently trained in escaping a mind to continue on to the next step: staying in a mind that wanted her out.  She seems to be doing well so far.

'Hinata has also under gone extreme improvements over the last month.  While she still refuses to go all out on Ino, Anko, or myself, she no longer has any qualms about fighting Naruto.  The need to teach him the basics of Juuken as well as his complete resistance to any attack on his chakra coils or tenketsu combined to spur the still somewhat shy girl into putting forth all her effort.  With Anko's help, Hinata has also been 'corrupting' the style, as the Hyuuga clan would claim. We just call it removing weaknesses and increasing adaptability. Adding kicks to a fighting style just means you have more to work with, and Hinata is sure she can figure out how to preform normal Juuken strikes with her feet soon enough. Her ninjutsu training is also coming along nicely, even if she is still sticking mostly to supplemental techniques and staying as a mostly taijutsu user.

'Naruto, on the other hand, can be described with one word.  Scary.  Through the use of Kage Bunshin, he has already increased his chakra reserves to nearly Kage levels and has more chakra control down than even I do. Oddly enough, even with all that control, Naruto still cannot use Bunshin no Jutsu or stop his chakra completely. His pregnancy was also a disturbing topic, even if it's over now, especially his cravings. Paint chips made sense after Kyu-Ohki explained that the lead would be needed, but why would Naruto want to eat the bright orange glaze off of ceramics? Even worse was Kyu-Ohki ensuring us that the lead in Naruto's skin would protect us. I don't think I even want to know what that was about.

'The first few days of the pregnancy was fine.  We took a D ranked mission or two each day and went on to continue training.  Strangely enough, I haven't seen any of the other teams doing much training at all.  Then again, I might not be looking in the right places at the right time.

Everything was fine until about four days ago, when Naruto began to visibly show her condition.  That marked the end of our missions until Naruto returned to normal.  Speaking of which, I need to find mission for tomorrow while we're at the administration building.  The day after we stopped doing missions, Naruto had grown so large that we couldn't even train in public without risking unwanted attention.  Actually, Naruto wouldn't even have been able to safely leave his apartment without me providing her with a genjutsu.  I asked the Hokage what we could do about it, and he mentioned that no one ever entered the Forest of Death if they could avoid it, barring an angry Anko, of course, so Naruto could probably hide out there until she came to term.  When I explained everything to the team, they decided to accompany Naruto, to provide emotional support and so they could continue their respective training.

'With the three Genin going, I had to join as well, to keep them out of trouble, if nothing else.  Surprisingly, even Anko decided to join the group, which justified my accompaniment even more.  Even though she said it was because she wanted to change back to her rightful age as soon as possible, it was obvious that she would have come with us anyways.  After two days of running around the forest training and avoiding the excessively large insects and such, Naruto was finally too far along to safely continue physical training, so we took the day off.  Anko choose that time to surprise the Genin with her hobby, Tea Ceremony.  In turn, Naruto surprised Anko and myself by demonstrating that she knew the basics and managed to complete the ceremony properly.'  Kurenai brought her thoughts to a close as they neared the Hokage's tower.

 

 

 

“Hikari,” Naruto called out as the quintet entered the waiting area of the Hokage's office, “how are you?”

“I'm fine, Naruto,” Hikari replied.  “How are you?”

“I'm happy to be male again,” the boy said with a grin.  The blond glanced around conspiratorially and leaned over the desk, bringing his face to scant inches away from Hikari's, and whispered quietly, so that only she could hear, “Want to see my eggs?”

Humoring her surrogate brother, the green haired girl whispered back, “Sure, I'd love to see your eggs.”

 With a flourish, Naruto revealed the six unclaimed eggs.  Looking down at the motionless eggs, Naruto sighed sadly, “Aw, I was hoping one of them would have chosen you.”

“What do you mean?” Hikari asked, a frown marring her features.

“Well, since you've been so nice to me,” Naruto began, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head, “I wanted you to have one of my cabbits.”

“One of your what?” the confused secretary asked, barely keeping her voice soft enough to not alert the Chunnin guards.  Kurenai looked worriedly towards the guards and put up a noise dampening genjutsu.  This conversation was definitely entering dangerous waters.

“Naruto-chan here decided to have children with the Kyuubi to shorten the amount of time he was going to be stuck as a girl,” Anko answered with an evil grin.  The shriek of fear Hikari let loose upon hearing that simple statement proved the wisdom of Kurenai's preemptive genjutsu.

After managing to calm the poor girl down enough to listen, Naruto continued to soothe his sister figure, “It's alright.  Kyuubi isn't as bad as everyone thinks.  His attack on Konoha was all a misunderstanding.  And the cabbits are going to be normal cabbits, not demons.”

After Naruto had finished consoling the girl sufficiently, Kurenai turned towards Anko and shook her finger disapprovingly.  “Anko!” she admonished her friend, “Act your age!”

“I am,” Anko replied, smirking even wider.  “Twelve,” the youthful Special Jounin added after a pause, sticking her tongue out at Kurenai's indignant expression.

“Wait, you're Mitarashi Anko?” Hikari asked incredulously, pointing to the purple haired youth.

“Yes I am.  You have a problem with that?” Anko retorted savagely, a kunai appearing in her hand as her eyes flashed dangerously.

“Not at all!” Hikari squeaked fearfully, her hands raised to protect her face.  Anko reluctantly lowered her kunai, and the less frightened secretary continued, “I was just surprised.  Aren't you supposed to be twenty-four now?”  Genuine interest shone in her eyes.

“I am, chronologically,” Anko replied with a shrug.  “But I'm twelve biologically, at the moment.  It's Naruto's fault,” she concluded without any real malice in her voice as she caught Naruto and gave him a noogie.

“How is it my fault that you haven't grown up yet?” Naruto protested from his position in Anko's headlock.

She just gave  Naruto another noogie as she substantiated her claim, “You made us come here without letting me get a change of clothing first!  You know I can't wear this as an adult!”

“Oh.  Good point,” Naruto admitted.  “But you're still cuter like this!”

“You still haven't said how Anko-chan is currently twelve,” Hikari interjected before any blood could be spilled.  The blush currently on Anko's cheeks made that outcome seem unlikely, though.

“Oh,” Naruto started, once again rubbing the back of his head sheepishly after Anko released him.  “That's part of my kekkei genkai,” Naruto stated.  “I can share it.”

“I was his first test victim,” Anko added with some affection in her voice.  “The hardest thing to get used to was the shared dreams.  Everything else is kind of cool.”

“Really?  I wonder what it's like,” Hikari commented wistfully.

“I'd love to give you a link, Sis,” Naruto began mournfully.  “But we don't know what it'd do to civilians, and I don't want to risk you getting hurt.  We don't know how it works, if it needs any form of chakra control, or anything.”

“Oh,” Hikari replied with equal sadness.  “I guess it's for the best, then.”  After a few moments she perked up and asked, “So, did you come here just to show me your eggs, or did you want to see Hokage-sama as well?”

“Thanks for reminding me, Sis,” Naruto exclaimed.  “I need to see the Old Man about finding my birth certificate.”

“Alright, Naruto, I'll see if he can see you now,” Hikari said, pressing the required button to do so.  Moments later, the light indicating they could enter flashed.  “There you go, Hokage-sama will see you now.  Oh, and Naruto?  Good luck!”

“Thanks, sis!” Naruto exclaimed happily, giving the secretary a hug.  The four girls said their goodbyes as well and followed Naruto into the Hokage's office.  “Oy! Old Man!” Naruto shouted irreverently, causing Anko and Kurenai to gape in shock.  “I need to see my birth certificate!”

“Naruto!” Kurenai angrily berated the blond.  “How dare you talk to Hokage-sama like that?!”

Instead of being angry, as the two older kunoichi expected, Sarutobi merely chuckled.  “Ah, Naruto, your attitude is as refreshing as ever.”  The pair of kunoichi continued to gape mutely.  “Now, why do you need to see your birth certificate?  And why do you need a four kunoichi escort just to see me?”

Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly and replied with Hinata's silent suggestion, “The escort isn't for me; it's for my eggs.”

“Ah,” the Hokage wisely said.  “So you've laid them already.  May I see them?”  The Hokage leaned forward over his desk eagerly as Naruto revealed the eggs.  “I see you have a veritable clutch with those six eggs of yours.”

“Seven,” Anko corrected quietly from behind the others, still cuddling her egg.

“Seven eggs?” Sarutobi asked for conformation.  When Naruto nodded, he added, “That is impressive.”  The wizened Hokage then took a closer look at Anko, and inquired, “Anko-chan, how did Naruto get you to agree to pranking me by using a henge to appear twelve?”

“Why do you always think Naruto is trying to prank you, Hokage-sama?” Hinata asked quietly.  She had not expected the others to have heard her.

“So this isn't a prank then,” Sarutobi stated.  “What did you do this time, Naruto?”

“Um,” Naruto hedged.  “It turns out I can share my bloodline, and Anko-chan agreed to be my first test subject.”

“And when did this occur?” the Hokage asked, looking directly at Kurenai.

“The incident occurred about a week ago,” Kurenai admitted.

“And why are you informing me of this only now?”

Kurenai nearly panicked and gushed out the truth, “I felt it would be considered a private clan matter.  Once the complication of Anko's age became apparent, we were too busy in Training Ground 44 to tell you at the time.  By the time we had finished, I had forgotten all about reporting it.  I apologize for my oversight, Hokage-sama.”  The Jounin-sensei bowed her head awaiting punishment.

“Relax, Kurenai-san,” Sarutobi soothed.  “I am not going to punish you for respecting the rights of a budding clan.  I was merely referring to the necessity of formally inducting Anko-chan into Naruto's clan.”

“I have a clan?” Naruto asked stupidly, before remembering the Clan Laws he and his Kage Bunshin had read.  “Oh, right.  The Bloodline Purity Act.  Forgot about that.”

“Yes, the BPA,” the Professor repeated.  “Under it, you are considered the founding member and head of your clan, unless you appoint another member of your clan to act in your stead.”

“Wait a minute here,” Anko butted in.  “What is this about me being made part of Naruto's clan?”

“As you share his bloodline, and are of a different clan, there are only a few ways for the Law to be satisfied,” Sarutobi explained, rubbing his temples in an attempt to relieve his growing headache.  “You can either be married or adopted into the clan, as Naruto is the founding member.  If you choose the adoption method, you can later decided to use marriage, as you and Naruto are not related by birth.”

“But Naruto is an orphan!” Ino complained.  “How will we be able to know if Anko-chan could be related to him or not without seeing their birth certificates?”

“That is a very good point, Ino-chan,” Hokage-sama agreed indulgently.  “I will write a message for you five to deliver to the Records Office, allowing you to access all pertinent records about Naruto's and Anko's parentage,” as he spook, the old man pulled a scroll in front of him and began to write his orders on it.  “I'll also allow you access to the public Shinobi Registration records, in case anything comes up that requires its search.”

“Alright!” Naruto shouted excitedly.  “Now I can finally find out about my parents!”

“We should get started soon,” Kurenai announced.  “We have other plans for today that we need to see to as well.”

“Hai, Kurenai-sensei,” the Genin heartily agreed.  “Thanks Old Man/Hokage-sama,” the three expressed their gratitude before following Kurenai out of the room.

“Uzumaki Anko?” Anko asked herself as she left the office behind the others.  “I suppose that doesn't sound too bad,” she admitted with a slight blush before hurrying to catch up with the others.

“It would appear that Naruto is well on his way to fulfilling the Advanced Bloodline Preservation Act,” the perverted Hokage said with a perverse giggle before returning to his viewing globe, which was currently showing the women's hot springs.  His perverted giggling only increased.

 

 

 

As the group of five entered the Records Office, the Chunnin secretary sneered in distaste.  While he knew better than to actively antagonize the demon brat, he did not have to be any more helpful than strictly required.  “Can I help you?” he asked in a strained, if polite, voice.  Being rude in front of even a rookie Jounin was a bad move.

Kurenai strode forward and handed the secretary the Hokage's orders, adding, “We would like to see the birth records of Uzumaki Naruto and Mitarashi Anko.”

The Chunnin, who was a distant relative of the Nara main branch, was chronically lazy.  Add to that his dislike of Naruto, and you have one incredibly unhelpful secretary.  After confirming that he was actually required to allow the group to look, he sighed, and said, “Birth records are on the right, and are sorted by last name and then reverse chronology.  Help yourselves.”  He had, in one of his less lazy moments, reorganized the entirety of the Records Office, to facilitate future laziness.  That fact was going to pay off now.

“Aren't you supposed to help us?” Ino asked.

The man shrugged and replied, “I would, but it's my break right now, and I don't feel like it.”

Ino stared at the man in disbelief until she saw his name plaque on the desk.  “Nara Sosuke.  I should have known.”  With the lack of potential help properly established, the group waded into the Birth Record section.

“Naruto, why don't you make a few Kage Bunshin to help us look?” Kurenai suggested.  Moments latter, there were fifteen people looking for the names.

“I found Uzumaki!” one of the Kage Bunshin announced excitedly before opening the file.  “But there are only four records in here!”

“That is strange,” Kurenai commented as she made her way over.

“Yeah, especially since most of the parent's information is covered by black lines,” the Bunshin added.

“Information classified by order of Yondaime Hokage,” Kurenai led aloud for the benefit of the others.  “Let's see, there are two birth certificates and a death certificate.  Let's start with the birth certificates.  First we have Uzumaki Naruto, son of CLASSIFIED and Uzumaki Usagi now CLASSIFIED; born on October 10, 2000AS.  Next we have Uzumaki Tenten, daughter of CLASSIFIED and Uzumaki Usagi, now CLASSIFIED; born on March 9, 1999 AS.”

“I have a sister?” Naruto asked in awe as he looked at the file in question.

“It appears so,” Kurenai stated.  “Unfortunately, you are the only one with the family name Uzumaki in the village that I know of.  Let's continue on to the death records, though I fear I know what we'll find.  The first is for Tenten Uzumaki.  I'm sorry, Naruto, but it seems your sister died.  This is odd.  `Thought to have been killed in the Kyuubi no Kitsune's attack.  No body was recovered.  No witnesses saw her death.”

“So she might still be alive?” Naruto asked, hope shining in his eyes.

“Yes, she might have survived, though there is no way to know for sure,” Kurenai admitted.  “Please don't get your hopes up.  I don't want you to be hurt like that again.”

“Alright, I won't,” Naruto sadly agreed.  “So what's the last death certificate?”

“The last one is for Uzumaki Usagi, now CLASSIFIED.  It seems she died in childbirth to you, Naruto.  I'm sorry.”

“It's alright, Kurenai-sensei,” Naruto replied, stifling a sob.  “I can still make a new family!”

“The thing that confuses me,” Kurenai admitted, “is why your mother doesn't have a birth certificate.”

“That is strange,” Naruto agreed.  “Hang on, I know who to ask about it.  Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!”  A single clone popped into existence, surprising every one.  That the clone was created was not a surprise, as Naruto could easily create over two hundred clones.  No, the surprise was that this clone was female.

  “How can I help you, Naruto?” the clone asked.

“Why are you female?” Ino asked before Naruto could even open his mouth.

“I want to be,” the female Naruto answered defensively.  “Is that a problem?”

“No, I was just curious,” Ino quickly replied.

“Um, Naruko, do you know why Mom doesn't have a birth certificate?” Naruto asked to change the subject.

“Oh, that's easy,” the clone said dismissively.  “Mom was obviously abandoned at an orphanage when she was young.  As you should have remembered, abandoned orphans who don't get adopted have no family name until they reach the age of fifteen, when they can choose their own names.”  The question answered, the clone asked, “Why did you call me Naruko?”

“Well, Naruko is a girl's name similar to Naruto,” Naruto replied, rubbing the back of his head.  “I thought it fit you.  Why?  Do you have a name you'd prefer?”

“Actually, yes,” `Naruko' stated.  “Those of us Kage Bunshin who have a recurring and separate personality than yours have decided to call ourselves by our dominant trait.  You can call me Thinker.”

“Alright, Thinker.  Thanks for the help!” Naruto enthused.

“Oh, and I suggest looking up the orphanage records for Tenten.  She might have survived, only to be mistaken for an abandoned baby.”

“That's a great idea!  Thanks!”

“Well, if you don't need me any longer, I'd like to go out on the town for a bit.”

“Sure, go right ahead.  Have fun!” Naruto consented, before shooing Thinker out of the Records Office.  “Come on!  Let's go check the orphanage records if Anko doesn't need any help.”

“I'm good,” Anko replied.  “Considering your parent's were either orphans or classified, we wouldn't be able to tell anyways.”

“Ano,” Hinata started.  “Maybe it'd be easier to check the Shinobi Registration to see if your sister is in it, Naruto,” she suggested.  “She is just a year older than us, so we could find out if a kunoichi from the previous class graduated who has her birth date.”

“That is an excellent idea,” Kurenai commented.  Why don't you and Ino go look into that?”

The two girls scampered off to the Shinobi Registration section and began looking.  Luckily, it was filed in reverse chronological order, so there were only a possible eighteen people to look at.  Given that nine were this year's graduates, only nine were left, of which very few were female.  That number was quickly reduced to one when birthdays were applied.  “We've found it!” Ino exclaimed, causing Naruto to dismiss his Kage Bunshin and rush over, quickly followed by the others.  “One Tenten, no family name, graduated in last year's class.  She is currently a Genin under a Jounin named Maito Gai.”

“All we need to do now,” Kurenai explained, “is to find Gai.  Then Naruto can finally meet his sister.”

“What are we waiting for?” Naruto asked.  “Let's go find my sister!”  After memorizing what his sister looked like, Naruto rushed out of the office and into Konoha's streets.  “I want to find her as soon as possible, so…  Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!”  A small army of Naruto formed and spread over the entirety of Konoha, looking down all the streets and into every training ground.  In less than ten minutes, the orange wave had covered the entirety of the village, causing quite a bit of terror among the villagers who thought Naruto was finally going to kill them all.  Before anyone could start the widespread panic, the clones dispersed, their objective completed.

“So, you find her?” Anko asked impatiently.  The poor girl was obviously in need of rescue if she was training with Gai.

“Yup,” Naruto exclaimed, even more excited than before.  “She's in Training Ground 15.  Come on, let's go already!” the blond shouted as he led the charge towards the specified training ground.

“I wonder if we'll finally see that damn genjutsu of Gai's get dispelled,” Kurenai thought out loud.  “Should be interesting to see, in any event.  I definitely need to remind Hinata to keep her Byakugan inactive, though.  It'd be horrible if she went blind from it.”

“I think Naruto's ready to up his weights again,” Anko commented as she followed the Genin.  “If he can run this fast with that much on him, it isn't enough yet!”

“What is he using now?” Ino asked as she and Hinata struggled to keep up the pace under their one hundred pound vests.

“I think he's at four hundred pounds,” Hinata replied from behind the others.  As the only one who was not looking forward to the coming confrontation, she found it difficult to find the energy to keep up with Naruto's excitement fueled speed.

It took Naruto five minutes to cross the majority of Konoha to reach the training grounds Team Gai was currently occupying.

 

 

 

As Thinker left the Records office, she considered her options.  She did not have any money that wouldn't disappear as soon as she popped, so she could not do anything more than window shopping.  She still had enough of a male mentality to find such an activity horrendously boring, at least when she could not buy anything.  She could train, but that was exceedingly tedious, and this was her first day off.  She supposed she could go find another Genin team to annoy.

`Yes', she thought to herself.  `Bothering another team is the best idea.'  Thinking back to this year's class she focused on the smartest of the Genin.  “And I know just the team to annoy.”  With that thought in mind, she headed off to find Team 10.  “Shikamaru!  I will defeat you!” she yelled as she began her hunt, cackling maniacally.

About five minutes later, she was lucky enough to see the pineapple-head sitting across a Shoji board from his Jounin sensei.  “What do you want, Naruto?” the genius Genin asked as he saw the girl.

“Hi Shikamaru!” she shouted as she closed in on his location.  “I'm not really Naruto.  I'm one of his Kage Bunshin.  You can call me Thinker.  Naruto's giving me the day off, so I thought I could play a game of Shoji with you,” the clone explained.

“Why would I want to play against one of Naruto's clones?” Shikamaru asked.  “It's too troublesome to waste my time beating someone so easily.”

“Why don't you just play one game with me?” Thinker asked, employing Hinata's favorite kinjutsu.  “If you beat me in less than five minutes, I'll never ask you to play with me again.  How does that sound?”

“Fine,” Shikamaru said as his resolve crumbled before the might of the Puppy Eyes no Jutsu.  “It'll be less troublesome to beat you now than to have you keep asking me to play with you all the time.”  Shikamaru motioned for Asuma to stand aside so he could face his new adversary.

As the game started, Thinker made one last request, “Please keep your teammates from attacking me, or we won't be able to finish our game.” Thinker did not want them to hit her, and definitely wanted to keep Shino's bugs away from her.  Even if she would not feel it, really, being eaten alive was not on her list of things to do today. Seeing the speculative look on Shikamaru's face, she quickly added, “And then I'll never stop bothering you!”  Shikamaru groaned and nodded his consent before informing his fellow Genin of the situation.  And thus Thinker's boredom was banished, for the next few minutes if no longer.

 

 

 

“Five hundred ten!  Five hundred eleven!  Five hundred twelve!” a loud voice cried from within the training ground.  Accompanying each cry was the thud of flesh against wood, emanating from a green clad youth with orange leg warmers as he slammed a bandaged fist into a thick training log.  The log was slowly gaining an indentation from where the boy repeatedly punched it.

In another part of the training ground, a long haired Hyuuga was doing a kata that could only be for the Juuken style.  He was of the branch house, as he wore his forehead protector in its proper place, like all Branch House members did.  As he was performing the kata, he dodged the various objects his sensei would throw at him, such as a stick, a rock, a senbon, a kunai, and occasionally a training log.  The boy was quick to get out of the way of those when they came at him.

In yet another part of the yard, a girl in a pink pantsuit, with her hair in twin buns, was practicing with throwing weapons of all varieties.  She threw dozens of kunai in the general direction of her target, arcing them in to hit the bull's-eye from multiple angles.  This feat was followed by threading senbon through the thumb holes of each kunai.  All of this was accomplished from over one hundred feet away from the target and only took thirty seconds.  In fact, the senbon had been thrown as all of the kunai hit the target, allowing only microseconds for aim before throwing the thin needles.

Overseeing the Genin's training was a green clad Jounin who would throw random objects at the Hyuuga from time to time.  Such as that orange clad boy who had appeared on top of his throwing pile just as he grabbed his next object.  Maito Gai blinked at that, wondering where such an object could have come from.

“What was that for?” Naruto demanded after he landed from his unplanned flight, flipping to his feet about half way between Gai and the Hyuuga.

“Yes,” Kurenai said from the edge of the training field, “Is there a reason you threw one of my Genin at the Hyuuga?”

“Yosh!  In my youthful training of Neji I grabbed your youthful subordinate by mistake!” the green Jounin shouted, flashing his `Nice Guy Pose.'  As he gyrated around to face Kurenai with a thumb up, he smiled a horribly bright smile, resulting in a ping off his teeth.  The female Genin covered their eyes at the Jounin's spandex covered display.

“My eyes!  They burn!” Ino moaned in pain, nearly trying to claw out the offending organs to reduce the pain.

“Your eyes?” Hinata shot back incredulously.  “I had my Byakugan active!  At  least you didn't have to see past the spandex!”

“Great,” Anko muttered.  “I'll go get the mind bleach.  I'll meet up with you at our usual training ground, then.”  With that, she headed back home to pick up suitable clothing for her elder self.  It would not do to be turned down at the local liquor store.  The Genin were going to need a LOT of shochu to get over this meeting.  More than she had stashed in any of her supply caches around the village.

Back in the training ground, the three practicing Genin slowed to a stop as the intruders persisted in their existence.  Neji blinked as he looked at his cousin, wondering when the girl began to have anything resembling a spine.  Tenten wondered why these rookies were taking up their training time with their inconvenient interruption.

Gai's clone, on the other hand, rushed up to the new arrivals and announced, “I'm Rock Lee, a Genius of Hard Work!”  He followed his introduction with his own rendition of the `Nice Guy Pose,' sending the girl's to the ground rolling in agony, trying to get the image out of their minds.  Hinata thought herself fortunate for having deactivated her Byakugan before then.

“Lee!” Gai exclaimed.  “That's the way to show your Flames of Youth!”

“Gai-sensei!” Lee cried, quickly joining his superior in a manly hug.

“Lee!” Gai cried back, tears streaming from his eyes.

“Gai-sensei!” Lee cried yet again, tears flowing from his own eyes.  As Team 8 stared in horror, a brilliant sunset formed behind the pair, despite it being near midday and them facing south.  As the sunset appeared, the remaining members of Team Gai palmed their faces and shook their heads before resolutely ignoring everything and returning to their practice.  Having seen the spectacle so many times already, Neji did not even deign to deactivate his Byakugan, a mistake he was not soon to forget.

“What is this?” the confused Naruto asked.  “Some sort of a genjutsu?”  Naruto formed the Ram seal and compressed a minute amount of chakra, for him anyways, in his stomach, releasing it with a loud “Kai!”  A barely visible sphere of chakra rushed from Naruto, spreading twenty feet before dissipating.  Despite being only ten feet away, the genjutsu was not affected in the slightest.  “Does it need more power to break?” Naruto wondered aloud as he began to compress much more chakra in his stomach.

Kurenai's eyes widened perceptibly as she figured out the Genin's plan.  Her eyes were locked onto the blond and his light show, entirely composed of the chakra he was molding and compacting into his stomach.  The fact that the chakra was clearly in the visible spectrum was a bad sign.  That some of the chakra was red was even worse. “Hinata!” She shouted quickly, not even looking at the girl.  “Byakugan off!  Now!”

“KAI!” Naruto roared as he released more compressed chakra than the average ANBU squad used in a day.  A solid dome of blue light streaked with red slowly expanded outward from the boy, creating a weak pressure wave that caused trees to bend, ninja to affix their feet to the ground with chakra, civilians to brace themselves against the force, and every genjutsu it touched to implode under the pressure.  The Hokage's peeping orb showed only snow for several minutes and several Hyuuga to go temporarily blind.  The chakra pulse also caused a surprising number of spies to be caught as their disguises dissolved, which might be the only thing to keep Naruto from being arrested once he is found to be the cause of the disturbance.  Only one genjutsu withstood the tide of chakra, the one Naruto was trying hardest to break.  There, in the clearing, stood Gai and Lee, still hugging with a sunset backdrop.

“Arg!” screamed Neji as he rolled around on the ground, clutching his head in pain.  “My eyes!  I can't see!  How could this happen?!”  As his all seeing eyes failed him for the first time, Neji began to panic.

“Oh, stop being such a baby,” Ino called to the pain filled boy, having no sympathy for people who do remarkably stupid things.  “When someone says something like `Byakugan off!  Now!' it's usually a good idea to listen.”  Looking around the area, she whistled in awe, “Wow, Naruto, you really did it this time.  I think you cleared out every genjutsu in the village.  Well, except for that one anyways.”

“How did that thing survive?” Kurenai asked.  While she knew Gai's special genjutsu did not have any practical purpose beyond torture, the fact that it could survive a demon powered chakra pulse specifically targeting it was astounding.

“A ninja never reveals his tricks,” Gai stated wisely as he dispelled his technique.  Lee pulled out a little note book and quickly jotted his role model's words down.  “So, what brought you by, Kurenai-san?”

Kurenai sighed in frustration.  She had been trying to figure out that genjutsu for the last three years, to no avail.  With a resigned huff, she answered, “We're actually here because of Naruto.”

“Really?” Gai queried.  “Why would he have you coming here?”

“I think it'd be best to let Naruto answer that.  Naruto?”

“Huh?  Oh, sure,” Naruto started, having not been paying the most attention to the conversation because he was trying to figure out why the genjutsu survived even a chakra pulse of that strength.  “Right.  Well, I looked at my birth certificate and found out that I had a sister, who was thought to be dead.  Anyways, since no body was found, we looked through the orphanage records and the Shinobi Registration records, and found out that someone with the same given name and birth date as my sister was a registered kunoichi.”  At this point, Team Gai was listening attentively, although Neji was also quietly sulking about his blindness.  “Tenten,” Naruto dramatically stated, “I am your brother!”

“You can't be; I was abandoned,” Tenten said sadly.  “I don't have any family, let alone siblings.”

“Look into your heart,” Hinata softly urged.  “You know it to be true.”

“I, I want to,” Tenten admitted shakily, “but I just don't know.”  While the girl would love to have a family, she still could not get past the fact that her family had abandoned her, but not her brother.  “Our parents did abandon me, after all,” she added glumly. “And we don't even know if we're really related. I mean, how do we know I'm even the same Tenten that's your sister?”

Naruto engulfed his sister, related by blood or not, in a hug and said, “They didn't abandon you, Tenten.  Mom would have never have done that.”

“How do you know that?” the distraught girl demanded.

“Because Mom would never do that to her children, especially after having been abandoned herself.”

“But then why was I in the orphanage?” Tenten quietly asked.

“Mom died giving birth to me,” Naruto admitted with a heavy heart, “and all of the information on Dad is classified.  I couldn't even find his name; our family name is the one Mom picked for herself when she turned fifteen.  You were thought dead in the Kyuubi's `attack.'”  Naruto subconsciously grimaced in distaste but continued, “So I doubt they checked if you had parents when they found you. But if you really want to make sure that we're related, we can stop by the hospital and have them check. Even if we aren't related by blood, I'll still be your brother, if you want.”

“You don't care if I'm really your sister or not?” Tenten asked in shock. “Why not?”

“Well,” Naruto hedged, “there are somethings thicker than water, and what ties my family together is one of them. We can still go check at the hospital if you want, or we could wait and do it another time.”

Tenten hugged her future brother back and said, “If we're going to be a family anyways, I guess we can wait a bit before finding out if we're really siblings or not.”

“The meeting between long lost siblings is a beautiful thing, is it not Kurenai?” Gai asked, going into another `Nice Guy Pose.'  Before Kurenai could comment, he continued, “Tenten, you have the rest of the day off to get to know your brother better!”

“H-hai, Gai-sensei!” Tenten replied, surprised that Gai would let anyone skip training for anything short of a full emergency.  “Thank you, Gai-sensei!”  After a quick bow to the green Jounin, she allowed Naruto to drag her off into the village, followed by the others of Team 8.

“So, we're heading back to the Forest and meet up with Anko now?” Ino asked, referring to Training Ground 44.

“I guess it would be best,” Naruto agreed.  “We can't let anyone hear the rest of our conversation.”

“Wait,” Tenten interrupted.  “Why are all of you coming with us?  Shouldn't it be just Naruto and me?”

“It would be,” Ino replied, “if we weren't the closest thing to family Naruto has ever had.”

Seeing that Tenten was going to ask another question, Kurenai cut in saying, “Let's get to the privacy of the Forest and we'll talk there, alright?”  Seeing the girl's agreement, she nodded and picked up the pace a little, wanting to get to the Forest as quickly as possible.

 

 

 

Shikamaru sweated as he faced his most difficult opponent to date.  After calculating every variable, he made his move.  There was only one thing his adversary could do to win now, and no one would ever think of that maneuver.  Or so he thought

Thinker scrutinized the board for a few seconds and made her own move.

“What!?” Shikamaru yelled in disbelief.  “How could a clone of Naruto beat me?”

“Come now, Shika-chan, you can't win every game,” Thinker replied with a smirk.  “We could always play again, if you'd like.”

“Yes,” Shikamaru agreed.  “We'll play another game.  I will not allow you to hold this small victory over me!”

Thinker smirked, knowing that the lazy boy would not underestimate her again.  This was going to be fun.  “Bring it on, then,” she said as she set up the Shoji board for another game.  Naruto was not training today, so she needed some way to spend her time, and this was the best she could think of.  Besides, it got that lazy Jounin off his ass and training his other team members for a change.

 

 

 

“What are we doing here?” Tenten asked nervously as she looked at the gates clearly marked `Stay Out' and other warnings.  “Isn't this area forbidden?”

“Bah,” Anko scoffed, carrying a large quantity of booze.  “To a Shinobi, `forbidden' really just means `too dangerous for normal use.'”  She pointed to Naruto and said, “For instance, your brother can use a forbidden Jounin level cloning technique better than an `elite' Jounin can.”

“Granted, he was almost killed for it,” Kurenai commented.  “At least until he returned the Forbidden Scroll of Seals.”

“The forest isn't that bad,” Ino added.  “As long as you keep an eye out for the killer insects and stuff.”

“We've spent about a week in here, after reaching the tower in the center,” Hinata added.

“Alright, I'll take your word for it,” Tenten acquiesced.  “But if we die, I'm going to kill you all!”

“Sure thing, kid,” Anko laughed.  “Let's get going before it gets any later.”  Without further ado, she led the group further into the forest.  Naruto quickly created a dozen Kage Bunshin to act as guards, preventing any of the forest's less pleasant inhabitants from getting too close to the group.  After the half hour jog, they had reached the tower that had become akin to the team's official home.

“Alright,” Kurenai said as she opened the door to the tower.  “We should have enough privacy in here.”

“Why do we need to go so far out of our way for just a little privacy?” Tenten asked.

“That's Naruto's S-Class secret to give,” Anko said in a chipper tone.  “Ino and Hinata already know enough of the story, so they might as well get started on forgetting all about Gai,” the Special Jounin added, handing the two girls in question a bottle of shochu each.

“Aren't we too young to drink?” Ino questioned.

“If you're old enough to kill and be mentally scarred by Gai, you're old enough to drown the memories out with booze!” Anko retorted with a somewhat crazed grin.

“Can't argue with that logic,” Ino commented before taking a swig from her bottle.  Hinata quickly followed her example.

“So what's this secret?” Tenten inquired.

“Well, before Naruto can tell you, you have to realize that you cannot tell anyone else about this, not even your teammates,” Kurenai cautioned.  “On the other hand, feel free to talk to Gai; he already knows.  Do you agree to this?”

After Tenten nodded her agreement, Naruto took over and began his tale. “When the Kyuubi came to Konoha, looking to raid our carrot patches, its hunger was mistaken for bloodlust.  The village panicked and launched a preemptive strike.  This caused Kyu-Ohki to defend himself, which made the situation escalate even further.  Finally, after a good portion of Konoha had been destroyed, Yondaime was forced to use a forbidden and very powerful fuinjutsu to seal the Kyuubi into an infant.  That infant was me; I'm the container of the Kyuubi no Cabbit.”

Tenten backed away from Naruto until her back was against the wall, halting her progress, her eves wide in fear.  “Y-you mean y-you're the K-kyuubi?” she whimpered as she cowered against the wall.  The orphanage she had been raised in would always told them that they had to behave, or the Kyuubi would get them in their sleep.

“Naruto is not the Kyuubi!” Ino shouted, her inhibitions stunted by the alcohol induced buzz.  “I'd be the first to know!  I've been in his head, you know!”  She staggered over to Naruto and plopped down next to him, leaning against him for support.  “Do you think I'd do this with a demon?” she demanded, hugging the now depressed boy.

Tenten looked at the girl in shock, wondering how she could stay so close to Konoha's version of the boogieman.  Moments later, her brain began processing logically again and she realized several things.  First, since the first time she met him, the only time she felt any hostile intent was when he tried to dispel Gai-sensei's genjutsu.  Second, none of the people around him at the moment were showing any fear.  Finally, and most importantly, Naruto is her brother, her only remaining family, and a good family sticks together; a demon would never care for its human family.  All of these facts led her to one conclusion.  “No, you're definitely not a demon,” she said softly as she slowly approached Naruto.  She enveloped him in a hug, adding, “I'm sorry, Naruto, it's just a lot to take in at once.”

“Here, have some booze,” Anko exclaimed, waving another bottle of shochu around.  “It'll help take the edge off.”

“Don't worry, Tenten,” Naruto started as he returned her hug.  “I took the news even worse than that when I found out about it.  If it hadn't been for Iruka-sensei, who knows what would have happened.”

“You wouldn't be on my team, for one,” Kurenai commented.  “And I think you'll prove far more useful than Kiba would.”

“Wait,” Tenten suddenly said.  “Isn't the demon in you the Kyuubi no Kitsune?”

“Funny story, that,” Naruto replied, rubbing the back of his head.  “The fox was killed and eaten about a thousand years ago.”

“Eaten?” Tenten asked incredulously.  “What could eat the most powerful of the Bijuu?”

“Me,” came the reply from Naruto's mouth, yet not in his voice.  “I'm Kyu-Ohki, the Kyuubi no Cabbit.  Glad to make your acquaintance.”

“Eek!” the stressed girl squealed as she jumped to the ceiling.

“Oh, come on,” the demon reproached soothingly.  “What can I possibly do to you from behind the seal?”

“Other than talk to you, o' course,” Hinata slurred, beginning to get rather smashed.

“So, are there any other surprises I should hear about while I'm still drunk?” Tenten asked.

“Actually, yeah, there are a few,” Naruto hedged, rubbing the back of his head.  “I guess we should start with clan matters.  Then again, most of the other things are clan matters.”

“Get on with it!” a slightly tipsy Anko demanded, waving a kunai.

“Right, right.  Anyways, I am the founding member of the Masu bloodline, thanks to Kyu-Ohki.  Now, I can't use a normal henge, but I can control my age and gender.  I can also set up permanent telepathic links between a person and the group, and I can transfer my bloodline to others, as Anko-chan has tested.  This also means that she'll be adopted into the clan because of certain clan rules.  I'm also going to be subjected to the Bloodline Protection Act, forcing me into a polygamous marriage.  On the bright side, I'll get to watch Sasuke deal with it, too.  Oh, and I agreed to lay a bunch of eggs for Kyu-Ohki so he'd tell me how to use my Masu Henge correctly.  Want to see them?  You are their aunt after all.”

“Eggs?  Now I know you're lying,” Tenten accused with a smile.  It was a rather funny joke, after all, at least it lightened up the mood after all the other shocks she had received.

“No I'm not!” Naruto shot back.  “I really did lay the eggs, see?”  With a flourish, he revealed his sling of eggs.  There was a loud thump as Tenten hit Naruto's lap in a dead faint.

“I think she took that rather well, actually,” Anko joked.

“As the only one sober and not pinned by someone else, I'll go check the first aid kit for smelling salts,” Kurenai sighed as she got up to get the med kit.  When she returned, she waved the foul smelling substance under Tenten's nose, causing the unconscious girl to jolt awake.

“You mean it's all true?” the brunette asked after her mind cleared.  Naruto nodded an affirmative.  With a surprising calm, Tenten opened her hand towards Anko and demanded, “More booze, and keep it coming.”  After receiving another bottle of shochu, she noticed something strange, so she asked, “Am I hallucinating, or is that egg rolling towards me?”

One of the eggs, finally out of the sling and able to move, was indeed moving towards its aunt.  “This is great, Sis!” Naruto exclaimed.  “The egg's chosen you to be its partner.  Go on; pick it up.”

“You mean one of the eggs you laid wants me, its aunt, to be its partner?” Tenten asked.

“Yup.  Isn't it great?” Naruto cheerily confirmed.

“Just checking,” Tenten replied as she made a move to pick up the egg; she missed by about a foot.  After another five tries, she finally managed to grab the egg, right before it could roll into her lap.  As the feeling of warmth and contentment consumed her, Tenten could only joke, “You know, Naruto, you have a really flat chest for a girl.”  From there, the poor overwhelmed girl broke down into hysterical laughter.

“Hey!” Naruto protested.  “I'm not flat chested when I'm a girl!”  The drunken girls snorted and joined Tenten in laughter.

“I think we'll need to let them sober up before we do anything else,” Kurenai noted as she observed the four drunken females.  After looking at all the unopened bottles still waiting, she sighed, “I guess me might as well join them for the time being.  They aren't going to stop anytime soon.”  With that, she tossed a bottle to Naruto and opened her own, quickly drinking it down.

Soon, Hinata, Ino, and Tenten were out of the unofficial drinking contest, having passed out after only a few bottles more than any twelve or thirteen year old should ever drink in one sitting. Half an hour later, and Kurenai bowed out of the drinking, having reached her limit before heading into potential hangover conditions. Someone was going to need to be functioning properly in the morning, and as the Jounin-sensei of the team, it fell upon her to be the responsible one. The irony of being the responsible one after allowing her entire team to drink themselves unconscious was not lost on her. She headed to bed to sleep off her intoxication, leaving Naruto and Anko still awake and drinking.

“Hey, Naruto,” Anko asked after another two hours of nonstop drinking, “why aren't I getting drunk?”

“I don't know,” Naruto replied. “But this juice tastes kind of funny.”

“That's shochu, not juice,” Anko deadpanned. “It's about twenty five percent alcohol, and should have knocked both of us onto our asses by now.”

“I guess that could explain the burning,” Naruto commented.

“I'm pretty sure I can pull of katon jutsu without chakra,” Anko began, “So why aren't I drunk?!”

“Well, my masu leached lead from my bones earlier, so I guess they might help protect against any poison,” Naruto supposed.

“You mean I'll never get drunk again?” Anko asked with wide eyed anxiety.

“I don't know,” Naruto shot back. “It's not like we actually know anything about the Masu Bloodline, after all.”

“Damn you Naruto,” Anko whined. “I wanna get drunk!”

“Well, if we finish off the rest of these. We might get lucky,” Naruto suggested. Anko immediately began chugging as though her life depended on it. After another hour, both Anko and Naruto passed out, from exhaustion, not inebriation.

 

 

“Why does my head hurt so much,” Tenten groaned as she sat up, holding her head in an attempt to stop Lee and Gai from sparring inside it. She was currently failing horribly.

“That would be a hangover,” Kurenai stated as she looked over the assembled girls.

Anko looked upon the pile of entangled flesh and commented, “And this would be the awkward morning.”

Hinata tried to sit up and failed, as Tenten's legs were across her chest. Activating her Byakugan for the brief second before the wave of pain crashed against the inside of her head, Hinata discovered that Ino's legs were tangled in hers, yet the blonde's head was in Tenten's lap. “Keep the noise down, please,” the bluette whimpered.

“What happened last night?” Ino moaned.

“You all got drunk,” Naruto stated as he walked in from the kitchen. “Want some tea? It might help with the hangover. At least it shouldn't hurt any.”

“I suggest taking some vitamins and some fruit juice,” Kurenai said from the entrance to the main room. “I also think you should stay away from your team for at least a few hours, Tenten. Loud noises will only make it worse.”

“At least you got drunk,” Anko whined as she entered the room, remembering to keep her voice down, the last of the shochu in hand. “Naruto and I passed out before I had even a decent buzz going! And it's all Naruto's fault!”

“How was I supposed to know that the masu would make it impossible for us to get drunk?” Naruto demanded.

“Children,” Kurenai interrupted, referring to both Naruto and Anko. “Stop your bickering and let the girls recover. We have several important things to finish before the end of the day.”

“Like what?” Naruto asked.

“Well, for starters, we need to get Anko and Tenten registered as part of your clan,” Kurenai answered. “And we still need to see if Hanabi will get a cabbit or not.”

“I guess we should head to the records department again,” Anko sighed. “I just know this is going to be a paperwork nightmare. Come on you three, get up.” The three girls groaned but complied. After a short breakfast, the group made their way back towards the Hokage's tower.

 

 

“I see you're back,” Nara Sosuke stated flatly as the group trouped into his office. “What do you want this time? I'm in the middle of a game of solitaire, so make it quick.”

“I'd like to add two people to my Clan Registry, please,” Naruto asked politely, hoping the lazy bastard would actually help this time.

“Sure, sure. Go find it and bring it here. I'll take care of it then,” Sosuke instructed. As an afterthought, he added, “Clan Registries are on the left and are sorted alphabetically.”

“Thanks for nothing!” Naruto called back as he headed into the Clan Registry suppository. Moments later he returned with a very modest scroll. “Why is my scroll so small?” he asked as he placed the thin scroll on the counter.

The Nara opened the Registry and gave it a quick once over. “You're the only person in your clan, so you don't need a scroll as thick as the Hyuuga,” he explained. “As your family grows, so will the scroll. Then again, the Hyuuga never come here for that anyways. They keep their official scroll in the Hyuuga compound and just send us update reports to amend our own records. Arrogant bastards.” Suddenly, the Chunnin noticed the presence of the Hyuuga heir, and stuttered out, “No offense intended, Hyuuga-sama.”

“None taken,” Hinata replied. “Although we are usually married before having children, so bastards doesn't really fit, now does it?”

“N-no Hyuuga-sama.”

“So can I add people to the Registry now?” Naruto asked excitedly.

“Sure,” Sosuke said. “All you have to do is sign their names in with your blood; as the head of the Clan, only you can add or remove members. Then all you do is add a drop of their blood next to their name.”

“Are you sure you want me to add you two?” Naruto asked Anko and Tenten.

“Any clan is better than no clan,” Tenten stated, nodding firmly. “I'm sure.”

“I think I'll take you up on the offer as well,” Anko added. “Between changing my name and the Masu Henge, I might be able to have a normal life now.” After waiting a minute for Naruto to get started, which he still had not, Anko pulled out a kunai and sweetly asked. “Are you going to add us now, or do you need a little help to get the blood flowing?”

“No, I'm fine,” Naruto quickly insisted as he saw the gleam in Anko's eyes. Biting his thumb, Naruto added both names to the Registry, before Anko could get into bloodletting. “There you go, just add your blood and it's all set.” With a deft poke of her kunai, Anko's blood was added to the Registry, soon to be followed by Tenten's.

“Good, now all you have to do is return the Registry to its proper location, and the additions to your clan will be finalized,” Sosuke announced.

“Why can't you put it back where it goes?” Hinata asked.

“Because I would have to get up to do that, and Uzumaki-san here is already standing.”

“Do you actually do anything here?” Ino asked the Nara.

“Well, after I properly organized the place, not really,” the chronically lazy Chunnin admitted. “All I really have to do is make sure no one leaves the room with anything they're not supposed to.”

“Keep up the good work, then,” Kurenai commented as she began shooing the Genin out the door. “Come on, we don't want to spend our entire day in this musty old room. We still have things to do today!”

“We're coming, we're coming,” Anko complained. “You don't have to push us.”

“Finally, now I can return to my solitaire,” Sosuke muttered after the mob had left his office. “Black ten on red jack...”

Outside the administration building, brother and sister were preparing to go their separate ways. “One last thing, Tenten,” Naruto declared as soon as they were away from the building. “Do you want to really join the family now?”

“What do you mean?” the girl asked.

“He wants to know if you want to be added to our mental network,” Ino explained. “It's what Naruto was talking about yesterday as being thicker than blood.”

“Please say yes,” Hinata urged. “We'd love to have you in the family.”

“When you put it that way,” Tenten said slowly, “I'd love to join.”

“Great!” Naruto exclaimed as he started the hand seals. “Ram, rabbit, dragon, boar. Do you accept?” he asked as he finished.

“Yes,” Tenten answered. Seconds later she gasped in shock at the feeling of being connected to five other minds, even if it is only for communication.

“Well, we've got to get over to the Hyuuga compound now,” Naruto said a little sadly.

“And you should probably be getting back to Gai soon,” Kurenai added.

“We'll see you tonight, alright?” Naruto asked. “Anyways, we'll see you later, bye, Sis.”

“Bye, Bro,” Tenten said before heading back towards Gai's favored training ground. Naruto and the others headed the other direction, towards the Hyuuga Compound.

 

 

 

As the team approached the Hyuuga compound, they were met by the same guard as had led them to Hiashi the last time, and the same one who had attacked Naruto on his first full day as a Genin. “You again?” Kurenai asked in surprise. “How is it that we keep running into you whenever we come here?”

The guard shrugged and replied, “Just lucky, I guess.”

“What is your name, anyways?” Ino asked.

“Eh? Oh, my name...” the guard started, surprised anyone would actually want to know, and decided to have some fun. “There are some who call me... Tim.”

Everyone stared for a second before rolling their eyes. “So what is you're name really?” Anko asked sweetly, visibly fingering a kunai.

'Tim' gulped and answered, “My name is Hyuuga Taro.”

“Good boy,” Anko stated, putting her kunai away. “Was that so hard?”

“I was just trying to be funny; do you have any idea how boring guard duty is?” Taro commented. “Anyways, what can I do for you?”

“We would like to see Hiashi-sama,” Kurenai announced. “Tell him it's about the agreement we made during our last visit.”

“I'll go do that. Please wait here for a moment.” With that, Taro was gone, having rushed into the compound, most likely to escape the crazy kunoichi.

“He sure is faster today than he was the last time we were here,” Anko commented.

“I think that might be your fault,” Kurenai stated. “Threatening people with kunai over something as trivial as their name tends to make them nervous around you.”

“Really?” Anko asked with obviously faked innocence. “Who would have guessed that.”

Taro, having made it to Hiashi's office in record time returned and announced, “Hiashi-sama will see you now. Follow me, please.”

As the group followed the guard formerly known as... Tim, Naruto turned to Hinata and asked, “Couldn't you just lead us there, Hinata?”

“Well, I suppose so,” Hinata replied, “but Father so enjoys formalities.”

“Ah,” Naruto commented eloquently. “So we're led there just to make him look more important?”

“And to make sure you don't touch anything,” their guide added, glaring at Anko, who was once again about to poke a vase. “Please stop that, Anko-san,” he said tiredly. “Each of those costs more than a single A Rank mission would pay.” Anko could only whistle in awe of the price. She did stop trying to poke them, however.

“Why do you have such expensive stuff?” Naruto asked. “Wouldn't it be better to use that money on something important instead?”

“The Hyuuga Clan,” Hinata explained, “takes pride in its nobility and displays it at every opportunity.”

“So you're saying that most of your family just likes to show off?” Naruto questioned.

“Pretty much,” Hinata confirmed.

“Alright, we're here,” the guard announced. “I'd suggest continuing your conversation about the Hyuuga's tastes later.” After letting the group into the office, the guide was dismissed.

“Greetings, Kurenai-san, Anko-san, Hinata, Ino, and Naruto,” Hiashi started. “Have you done as I've requested so far?”

“I've looked up my family,” Naruto declared, “but it won't help you much.”

“Oh?” Hiashi asked. “And why not?”

“My mother was an orphan, and abandoned, and everything about my father is classified,” Naruto explained.

“Classified on who's order?” Hiashi demanded.

“The Yondaime's,” Naruto clarified. “I might have a sister, though. You might know her; she's Tenten, and on a Hyuuga Neji's team.

“Well, I guess that will have to do,” the Hyuuga head relented. “What else did you come here for?”

“Well, you said you wanted your daughter to have a chance at getting one of my cabbits, so here we are.”

“You have them with you?” Hiashi asked, looking the group over without the aid of his Byakugan.

“Of course,” Naruto scoffed. “You can't just leave eggs laying around unprotected, you know.”

“Eggs?” Hiashi asked in surprise. “Never mind. I'll have Hanabi called in.” The assembled group waited for the newest arrival to make her appearance in an awkward silence.

“You called for me, father?” the young Hyuuga asked as she entered the office.

“Indeed I have,” Hiashi stated. “Naruto, here, wants to try an experiment with his advanced bloodline that could help protect the Byakugan. In exchange for this chance, I have made him agree to give you the chance to have your own cabbit.”

“What is a cabbit?” Hanabi asked, having never heard the term before.

“Well,” Naruto began, rubbing the back of his head, “a cabbit looks like a mix of a cat and a rabbit, but is much more intelligent. Your father asked if I would give you one as a pet. I will not.”

“Then why am I here?” Hanabi interrupted.

“I said I wouldn't give you one, not that you wouldn't be getting one,” Naruto explained. “Cabbits are far too intelligent to be pets, so they'll be more along the lines of a partner, similar to the Inuzuka's dogs or the Aburame's insects. Because of this, the cabbit has to choose you.

“Then again, none of them might choose you at all,” Naruto continued. “So now the question is whether you want to risk getting your hopes up and being disappointed if none of them choose you, or never knowing if you could have had one at all. So, what's your decision?”

“I'm sure that I am deserving of a cabbit,” Hanabi stated smugly.

“How do you figure that?” Anko demanded.

“It's simple, really,” the seven year old explained. “As a Hyuuga, I am naturally superior to one of your low standing, so I would be more worthy of such a partner.”

“Then why did Tenten and I get cabbits,” Anko started with an evil smirk, “when no Hyuuga has? Your sister and your cousin were both close enough for Naruto to have noticed if Neji would have gotten one, so what do you say about that?”

A small amount of fear showed on the girl's face as she tried to rationalize this. “Obviously, it is because neither Hinata nor Neji are true Hyuuga. Neji is from the Branch House, and Hinata is too weak to be a real Hyuuga.”

“Hinata? Weak?” Naruto asked. “Hahahahaha! She isn't weak at all; you just don't know her as well as you think you do.”

“I always beat her when we spar,” Hanabi asserted. “She is definitely weak.”

“Does she lose because you are so much stronger, or because she doesn't want to hurt you?” Ino asked. “Have you ever seen Hinata fight someone she didn't have to worry about hurting?”

“What do you mean?” Hanabi asked, not sure how she felt about what she was being told.

“Hinata is the kindest person I have ever met,” Ino explained. “She tries to not hurt anyone if she can help it. You need to watch her spar against Naruto if you want to see her go all out.”

“Against Naruto?” Hanabi parroted. “Why would she go all out against a teammate if she won't even try against me?”

“Mainly,” Naruto cut in, “because I can take a full Hakke Rokujuyon Sho with no ill effects.” Hanabi could only gape at that revelation. “So, ready to see if you'll get an egg?”

“I guess so,” Hanabi agreed hesitantly. “What do I need to do?”

“Mostly, you just sit there,” Naruto said as he removed the egg sling from under his jacket. “I'll place the eggs on the desk here, and if one of them chooses you, it'll start rolling towards you. Or something like that.” With a flourish, Naruto placed the five remaining eggs on the table.

Everyone, including even Hiashi gathered around, trying to get a better look at the eggs. “Is that one moving?” Hanabi asked as one egg wiggled but stayed in place.

“I don't think so,” Hinata replied.

Suddenly, an egg twitched violently and rolled over. “Is it just me or are the eggs reacting stronger each time they chose someone?” Ino asked as the egg quickly rolled over to Hanabi.

“I knew I was worthy of a cabbit,” Hanabi said smugly, looking down upon the egg before her on the desk. Hiashi stood back and tried to look as though he felt no emotion at the joining of lives before him, much to his daughters' disappointment.

“You are sure that this cabbit will not shed?” Hiashi asked stiffly.

“It's too late to worry about that now,” Naruto crowed happily. “So, Hanabi, when are you going to pick your egg up?”

“Oh, right,” Hanabi started, shaking herself out of her disappointment. Carefully, she reached down and picked up the egg before her. As soon as she touched the egg, her demeanor changed, as though a switch was flipped. Gone was Hanabi, the seven year old Hyuuga brat. In her place stood Hanabi, seven year old girl. Her face seemed to shine with a new inner light as she tenderly held her egg, nuzzling it against her cheek. “I've always wanted a pet, “she reverently murmured, “But I can already tell that this is going to be so much better than a cat could ever be.” Spontaneously and unexpectedly, she hugged Naruto, shouting, “Thank you so much!”

Naruto chucked and ruffled the girl's dark hair. “No problem, Squirt,” Naruto replied fondly.

While Hanabi was in too great of a euphoric high to catch anything more than Naruto's tone, Hiashi was too worried about another matter t notice. “Why is my daughter reacting this way?” he calmly demanded.

“I don't really know,” Naruto admitted. “But you could ask Anko; she's already gotten her egg.”

Hiashi quirked an eyebrow towards Anko and inquired, “Indeed?”

“It's the best feeling I've ever had,” Anko gushed. “It just makes you so warm and content.”

“Hm,” Hiashi gave a dignified grunt. “Hanabi, that is enough. Put that egg down immediately,” he commanded, ignoring how everyone was motioning for him to stop talking.

“Never,” the girl hissed as she ducked away from Naruto, backing into the far corner of the room. Her Byakugan activated instinctively as she scanned the room with wide, feral eyes as she clutched the egg tightly to her chest. One hand was placed to the fore, glowing a dull blue as Hanabi prepared to use her Juuken on all who approached.

“You really shouldn't try to make her let go of that egg,” Ino commented.

“Why not?” Hiashi demanded. “I am her father, after all. She should obey me.”

“Anko threatened to gut Naruto when he only implied that she let go of her egg,” Kurenai explained. “We're actually somewhat lucky that she hasn't tried to attack us.”

“So what do you suggest I do?” Hiashi asked as he relented.

“Letting her keep the egg should help,” Naruto suggested. “And reassure her that you won't try to take it away again.” Turning towards the youngest Hyuuga in the room, he demonstrated, holding his hands out placatingly, and soothingly murmured, “Don't worry Hanabi-chan; I'm not going to try to take your egg.” The girls immediately followed suit and soon Hanabi was much calmer. She was still hiding in the corner, but her posture was much less defensive, though she was keeping her father under constant surveillance.

“If that is what it takes to return Hanabi to a civilized state, then so be it,” Hiashi declared with a heavy sigh. Holding his hands up in supplication, he stated, “Hanabi. I promise I will not try to take your egg from you. Now, stop this inappropriate behavior immediately.” Considering his voice had no inflection, at all, it was hardly surprising to the others in the room when Hanabi refused to budge from her corner.

“You could sound like you mean it,” Naruto suggested, earning an elbow to the side from Ino for not being properly polite.

Hiashi grimaced briefly before forcing his voice to sound comforting. “Hanabi-chan, I really promise that I will not take your egg away.” He grimaced again as he realized that his voice was a far cry from comforting, because he had not used it for such in many years.

“Promise? Really?” Hanabi asked from her corner, her head cocked to the right with an inquisitive look on her face.

“I promise,” Hiashi agreed in his normal, dead tone. Luckily, it was enough for his daughter. Hanabi hesitantly stood and edged out from the corner while still keeping some distance between herself and the others in the room. As she continued to calm down, her Byakugan deactivated, allowing Hinata to sneak behind her unobserved.

Once she was in range, the elder sister pounced the younger, crying, “Hanabi-chan, I'm so proud of you!” Hiashi just groaned and rubbed his temples irritably while the others watched on in amusement.

“Personal space,” Hanabi almost whined as Hinata continued to hug her. “Need air!” the girl gasped as she was being crushed in the embrace of her older sister.

“Um, Hinata,” Ino started nervously as she watched the two sisters. “I think Hanabi needs to breathe. She's starting to turn a little blue.”

“Huh?” Hinata asked before looking down at her younger sibling, who was beginning to turn a nice purple. “Oh! Sorry, Hanabi!” she exclaimed while releasing the girl enough for her to breathe but not to escape. “I didn't think I'd gotten so strong already.”

On the other side of the emotional group, Hiashi looked at the clock and cleared his throat to draw attention to himself. Once everyone was looking at him, he emotionlessly stated, “While I would love for us to continue this meeting, I have an important appointment in twenty minutes and need to prepare. I'll have a Branch Member see you out.”

“Thank you, Hiashi-sama. It was good of you to see us so promptly.” Kurenai said with a bow. “Come along, team; we still have training to do today.”

"Hinata and Hanabi seem to finally be getting along, despite my interference." He sighed again. "How am I ever supposed to be a father, let alone a leader, if I cannot even safeguard my own daughter from the members of my own family? Damn those old fools on the council and damn me for being so weak. The clan is at its own throat over the caged-bird seal, and I can barely protect Hanabi as it is." A few more seconds and a few more muttered curses followed before Hiashi, having vented his frustrations in the privacy of his office, turned back to his desk and began the truly impossible task: finishing the paperwork that comes with all positions of power.

 

 

Outside the Hyuuga complex, Team 8 was discussing where to head next.  Anko headed off the discussion, urging, "Come on, we need to get back to training!  We've already lost a full day!"  She had the perfect idea for a training activity, too...

"I still need to find the partners for my other four eggs," Naruto protested.

"We don't even know where to look," Ino pointed out as the group meandered through the village.

"Maybe there's a pattern to who gets an egg," Hinata suggested.

"Well," Kurenai decided, "let's go get some lunch, and we can think about what type of pattern there might be while we eat."  With that said, the group headed towards the nearest worthwhile restaurant, in this case, a new barbecue place that had just recently opened.  After everyone had ordered, Kurenai started the discussion. "So, what do we know about the recipients so far?"

"Tenten, Hanabi, and I were chosen, while you four, Hikari, Hokage-sama, and the rest of Team Gai didn't get one," Anko started, listing what little concrete facts they had.

"So what do you have in common that we don't have?" Ino asked.

"All three are young," Kurenai replied.  “Hokage-sama might be too old for a cabbit to join with him.  Also, all of the cabbits have chosen girls so far, so that might be important."

Hinata thought for a moment and added, "It doesn't involve blood, as far as I can tell.  Hanabi is the only one with an advanced bloodline, and Tenten has a different blood type than my sister does."

"It can't be social status," Ino added thoughtfully.  "Hanabi is the daughter of the head of a major clan, while Anko and Tenten are of minor clans, as best as we can tell."

"Maybe a different kind of social status is involved?" Naruto suggested.

"What do you mean?" Hinata asked. “Is it that they're all training to be kunoichi?”

"How many friends does Hanabi have?" Naruto asked before continuing with his idea, "We know that Anko only has a few friends who see her for who she really is, and Tenten spends all of her time training, so the cabbits might be drawn to people who need friends."

"Hanabi doesn't get to leave the Hyuuga complex that often," Hinata admitted sadly, "So she doesn't have any friends that I know of."  After another moment of thought, she asked, "But Naruto, if the cabbits are choosing people who need friends as their partners, why didn't one choose you?"
Naruto smiled his typical smile and replied, "Why, Hinata, I already have the biggest and most powerful cabbit of all."