Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

The Kitsune Sisters

Chapter 1: Learning is the Hardest Part

Naruto was walking down the street, head held high for all the world to see. If anyone were to look at him, he or she would say that Naruto didn't have a care in the world.

He or she would be wrong.

Naruto smiled, as it was what he was used to doing. He could not remember a time when he was actually happy when he smiled, but this was the first time in a long time that the smile hid a deep sadness behind it. His eyes felt itchy from unshed tears and his throat was starting to close up, but he clamped down as hard as he could on his emotions in an attempt to ignore the pain. It worked in the past, why wouldn't it work now?

But for the life of him, he just couldn't forget what had just happened that changed his entire view of his life.

Flashback

Naruto happily slurped up his thirteenth bowl of miso ramen, careful not to make a mess. He grinned as he set down his now empty bowl and gave a thumbs up to the owner of the small stand.

"Thanks, ojii-san! That was great!" Naruto shouted, his boisterous nature coming through even though he was sitting three feet away from the man he was talking to. The man didn't seem to care, however, and just smiled back.

"I'm glad you liked it Naruto-kun! It was on the house, as a celebration for passing your end of year exam!" the old man said. Naruto jumped for joy at that.

"Thank you so much! I gotta go, the pranks aren't gonna do themselves, ya know!" Naruto shouted over his shoulder as he darted past the stand's flaps and onto the street. The old man chuckled and turned to his daughter.

"He really is a handful, isn't he Ayame-chan?" he asked. His daughter covered her mouth with her hand to stifle her giggles.

"That he is, otou-san."

Naruto was walking down the street, scouting for his next victims. Before he knew it, he left the shopping district and ended up in the residential district, just south of the shopping district. He started to sneak around, since shinobis' houses were usually more secure than civilians' shops. He didn't want to be caught before he even did anything.

He came up to a house with two adults outside. They looked an awful lot like his classmate, Yamanaka Ino. Huh, might as well scope it out, Naruto thought. He crept closer, trying to listen in on what they were saying.

"-him about it? He deserves to know!" the woman whispered to the man. The man sighed and ran a hand through his long blonde hair.

"I know he deserves to know, Mina-chan, but it's still not the right time. We still have to worry about Kurama-sama being out of control, as well as what the other allied clans would think if he were to suddenly go from being an orphan to being royalty," the man whispered. Naruto blinked. What? This conversation was confusing, but for some reason he couldn't stop listening. It was like some force was making him listen until the end.

Mina turned around and started walking toward the door to the house. Just before she opened the door, she turned around and looked directly at the man. "I hope you know what you're doing, Inoichi, because if you are making Naruto go through all this pain without the comfort of being with his family, you'll be sleeping on the couch indefinitely."

The man paled and started to beg, but Naruto tuned that out. They were talking about me? They care about my well-being? Why? Then, he analyzed what she said a bit more. Wait, I have a family? And they're alive?! Naruto started to tear up. What if they hate me?

Flashback End

Holding it together while he was in public was necessary, because Naruto didn't want to show weakness to the villagers of Konoha. They were like sharks: the moment they smelled blood in the water, they were after it. If he showed weakness, then they would be mobbing up instantly to make his life a living hell. That was something he didn't need at the moment, so he tried as best he could to clamp down his emotions, at least until he reached his apartment three blocks away.

After an excruciating fifteen minute walk, Naruto was at the front mat of his apartment. He didn't bother to pull out a key, since his lock was broken anyway. He simply slid the door open, stepped in, and slid the door shut behind him in an unconscious motion. He was running purely on autopilot at this point, his brain turned off because he knew the instant he allowed himself to think he'd break down.

He looked over at the single framed picture on his wall. It was of him sitting on the Third Hokage's lap, laughing while wearing the hat that was way too big for his six year old head. The picture captured the Hokage's grandfatherly smile as he watched young Naruto struggle to keep the hat from covering his eyes. That picture opened the floodgates for Naruto, and he finally started to cry.

"Dammit, I promised myself I would never cry again," Naruto whispered to himself as he angrily swiped at the tears trailing down his cheeks. "Does my family hate me? Did they really abandon me? Are Hokage-jiji and Teuchi-jiisan the only ones I can count on?" Naruto questioned, sniffling. No matter how much he wanted to stop, the tears just kept coming. He laid down on his bed and cried, letting out his emotions for the first time in years.

For the first time in a very long time, Naruto cried himself to sleep.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

"Okay, I'm really not in the mood, so stop dripping water right next to my fucking ear!" Naruto shouted. He opened his eyes and rubbed the blurriness from his vision quickly, hoping to see who was causing the incessant dripping. "... What?" he paused for a moment, confused. Why was he in a sewer? And why was there just enough light for him to be able see even though he was in a sewer?

"Is this a prank? Ha ha, very funny. You got me!" Naruto exclaimed, trying to keep his cool. He didn't want to think of the possibility that the villagers got him and threw him away somewhere he'd never find a way out of.

"Heh, stupid brat. This is no prank. Take a look around, why don't ya?" Naruto heard a booming voice coming from seemingly everywhere. He whipped his head around, trying desperately to find the voice.

"Who said that? Where are you? Are you the one who brought me here?" Naruto called out. "When I find you, I'm gonna kick your ass, ya hear me?!" he challenged with more bravado than he felt. He heard the dark chuckling reverberating around again.

"Turn around, simpleton. Maybe that'll answer your question." Naruto did so, and nearly shrieked in fright. There was a giant cage directly behind him, and inside it was a dark silhouette of something large. Something that could talk.

"What are you?" he whispered out. He didn't even realize he spoke. The beast laid down, its face coming up to the bars of the cage. Razor sharp teeth, yellowed from mistreatment, filled his vision entirely. He gulped and took a step back. The grinning visage of the Kyuubi no Kitsune was staring back at him. "Kyuubi... but how?" he questioned again.

"Brat, do you really think I could die?" was the response he got back. Naruto tilted his head in confusion.

"Yes?" he said, now unsure. The Kyuubi chuckled again.

"Well, you're right. But I didn't die, did I? No, I was only sealed. Your Yondaime was smart, almost too smart. It was a shame that he had to sacrifice his life to complete my seal. I would've liked to see how his life unfolded." While the Kyuubi was reminiscing, Naruto listened in confusedly. His brain was really starting to hurt.

"Wait, I thought you were supposed to be a savage? Why are you complimenting an enemy? Naruto asked. The fox tilted its head a bit.

"Brat, whoever told you I'm not a nice guy was a liar. I'm the nicest being on this planet, barring the Sage himself," the Kyuubi said. Naruto sweat-dropped. The being sighed. "Fine then, maybe I'm not the nicest, but I'm not an asshole. In fact, I was already in Konoha before my rampage, having a peaceful conversation with a few people. Then all of a sudden, BAM, Sharingan straight up the ass! What was I supposed to do about it? Fuck if I know," the Kyuubi stated. Naruto could feel the pressure building up around him, from the Kyuubi's chakra flaring up in his anger.

Naruto started freaking out. "You were in Konoha?! How could no one notice a giant fucking fox in the middle of the village? You're taller than the Hokage Tower for fuck's sake!" Naruto shouted. He took a few breaths to calm himself down.

The Kyuubi grinned. "Kid, being a giant is boring. You can't go anywhere. Just lazing around in a forest or a cave or something for who knows how long. No, I'd go crazy," the Kyuubi explained. He chuckled a bit, before continuing. "We Bijuu can take almost any form we please, since we are made of pure youki. I tend to prefer being a human male," he explained. Naruto stood there, slowly but surely absorbing the information.

He started thinking aloud. "Hey Kyuubi, do you know which Uchiha would want to control you? Just brainstorming here, but if you were in Konoha, would the Uchiha know about it? or would there be someone stalking you? Or maybe someone was ordered to do it? I don't know, this is hurting my head," Naruto complained. The Kyuubi sat back up and put a claw to its temple, looking almost like it was massaging it to alleviate a headache.

"First off brat, don't call me Kyuubi. Call me Kurama-sama, you lowly insect," Kurama said, puffing his chest out in what seemed like pride. It was hard to get a read on this guy, honestly. "Second off, there were Uchiha in the group I was talking to. That makes it a little difficult to narrow down the suspects, I'd say. I guess I'll just have to put this task onto your shoulders, since you are my vessel and therefore inherit my enemies," Kurama finished. Naruto nodded slowly, absorbing the information bit by bit. Then he realized something.

"Hey, I overheard the Yamanakas saying something about a Kurama-sama! Was that you that they were talking about?" Naruto asked. He didn't even wait for an answer before he snapped his fingers and nodded to himself. "It definitely was! So they knew about you, and not just you, but also your name! Does that mean they are part of the group you are talking about? Well, if so, then that makes me trust you a little more, but not much, ya know, since you're a giant fox that could eat me in one bite!" Naruto ranted. His stream of consciousness was blocking out the rest of the world, keeping him focused on spewing his nonsensical gibberish that was somehow starting to make a lot of sense.

Kurama was impressed. If nothing else, the brat has good intuition. I'd like to see how far she gets. He stopped for a moment. Hold up. Does she even know about that yet?

"Hey brat, has anyone ever told you that you're a girl?" Kurama asked. Naruto looked up at him, confused.

"Why would anyone tell me that? I'm a guy," Naruto replied. For about a second, everything was silent. Then...

"HAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAA! Oh, this is golden! Brat doesn't know what gender she is! HAHAH! Ooohh, shit, that was a good laugh!" Kurama guffawed, throwing his head back in laughter. Naruto pouted.

"Stop laughing! Seriously, stop!" Naruto shouted at him, but to no avail. "And how would I even be a girl anyway? It's not like I can just change my gender on a whim!" he asked. This caused Kurama to stop laughing. He laid his head back down on his paws.

"Brat, did you know that you have family still alive?" Kurama asked. That triggered the memory of the meeting between the two Yamanakas all over again.

"Yeah, Ino's family was talking about it. I only caught the end of the talk, though. Why?" Naruto asked a little suspiciously. He narrowed his eyes. "Do you know who they are? Tell me!" He started raising his voice at the end. Kurama didn't take kindly to that.

Naruto stopped breathing for a second. Is this what a Bijuu's killing intent feels like? Kurama grinned at seeing Naruto choking on air. "Do not presume that just because you are my jailor you can make demands of me. I am still the king of demons," Kurama said. Then he let up on the KI and shifted into a more comfortable position. "But I like you, so I think I'll just ignore what you just did. That'll be your only mulligan, brat. Anyway, moving on. The Yamanaka clan is the family that's still alive, but you were hidden from them. They just discovered your relationship to them about a month ago, and have been fighting over whether or not to bring you in for a while." He took a moment to let that sink in.

"You are disguised as a boy because I had, rightfully, assumed you'd be facing some vicious civilians that don't understand the difference between me and you. I only put up the illusion when you weren't alone, since I can only affect things outside of the seal at the cost of quite a large portion of my youki. You know, since I need to force my way through minuscule cracks of a seal made by the SHINIGAMI. It's a bit draining." Kurama said. Then he started laughing again uncontrollably. "But the *HAHAHA* the illusion was dropped for a *Hah* majority of your life! *HahaHA* How could you not *Heh* notice EVER in your ENTIRE LIFE?" Kurama asked through the laughter. Naruto pouted.

"I don't believe you. Even I'm not that stupid and unobservant," Naruto said. Kurama stopped laughing for a second, stared at Naruto, then promptly broke down laughing again.

"Brat, THE ILLUSION ISN'T EVEN UP NOW! HOW CAN YOU NOT NOTICE?" Kurama forced out in his laughter. Great. Now he was wheezing and snorting. What an ugly sound.

Naruto looked down at himself, and noticed something very bizarre. He didn't see his usual body, with his flat pecs and a bulge in his pants. Instead, he saw two mounds on his chest and a flat crotch under his- actually, her- clothes. "Well, at least my shortness can be explained now," Naruto said. "Well, if I'm a girl now, and Naruto is a guy's name, then what should my name be? Naruko maybe?" Naruto asked herself. "Yeah, sure."

"Why do you need a new name, brat?" Kurama butted in. Naruto huffed at him.

"Well, if I'm changing everything about my life, I might as well get a new name on top of that. A new name for a new me," Naruko said. Kurama shrugged. It didn't bother him.

"Whatever. You're still a brat." Naruko growled.

"Why you-" she never got to finish her sentence. Kurama snapped his claws and she disappeared.

"Well, that was interesting," Kurama mused.