A/N: It's out! Don't have much time so I will reply to reviews and such at a later date. Probably tomorrow if I have time. Other than that, enjoy.

Chapter Three: The Questioning

12:40 A.M.

"I believe that is my win," Hiashi smiled to himself as he revealed his hand. Since the Hokage had left, the game of poker had been more even. However, Hiashi had been able to draw a really good hand.

"Ugh. I thought for sure I would have won that with my four of a kind but no~. You had to have a straight flush," Ishira grumbled to herself before noticing the Hokage making his way, rather quickly, towards them.

"Lord Hokage. Did you find anything useful in his memories," Ishira asked as he came closer to them.

"Yes. The name of the Jutsu he used was the Fūgan Hōin. It seems to be specific to the Cloud Village and as such, I am unsure as to how it could have caused this change to Naruto as of now," Hiruzen stated sadly. Ishira and Hikari gave a sad sigh at that revelation while Hiashi's mouth gave a slight downturn.

"Damn it. And since it is specific to them, they most likely won't divulge it's secrets to us to help," Ishira swore as the reality of the situation settled in.

"That is most likely correct. It would be best if we go ahead and start Naruto in the ways of the Gentle Fist. However, since it is so late, I believe it would be prudent to continue this in the morning. Hiashi and Hikari, take Hinata home and let her rest. Also Hiashi, I will send a message to inform you of when we shall meet and discuss in detail, with Naruto present, what his future will entail. Ishira, you should also go home and rest as well. I will finish up here before retiring myself," Hiruzen said, turning to each of them as he spoke. After a few, "Yes, Lord Hokage," was said, they proceeded on their way.

Ishira went straight home and collapsed on her bed. Her home was not very large but since it was only her living there, it had plenty of room. I hope Naruto and Hinata will be ok. I feel like they were keeping something from me. I'm sure they had a good reason to do so if they did. Oh well. Nothing to do now but sleep. She snuggled up in her warm bed and drifted off to sleep.

Hiashi and Hikari had to extract a sleepy Hinata from Naruto's tail. It was a bit harder than they expected as she really didn't want to let go of his new appendage as it was so warm and fluffy but they managed. As they made their way home, Hinata mumbled, "N-naruto." Hikari smiled at her daughter and husband as they walked home, happy that they were all together and okay.

Hiruzen, after giving directions to the rest of the ANBU present, he picked up Naruto and started to make his way towards the orphanage that Naruto was in before stopping and deciding to proceed to his office instead. He signaled an ANBU with spiky silver hair and told him to bring a small couch to his office for Naruto to sleep on before proceeding. I don't think it would be a good idea to take him back there. He will have to come to my office in the morning anyways. It would be easier on him if he didn't have to face any of the civilians or other children that are not fond of him at all. Until we can find a way to hide his ears and tail effectively that is. Hiruzen continued contimplating solutions but didn't want to decide on anything until Naruto was up. Before he knew it, he was back in his office, laying Naruto on the couch that the ANBU had just finished unsealing.

"Thank you Inu. Assemble your team and continue searching for any other ninja. Try to bring them in alive but lethal force is authorized," Hiruzen ordered. Inu nodded with a, "Yes. Lord Hokage." and Shunshin'd out of the office. Hm. He even brought a blanket for him. How thoughtful of him. Inu's team and the other's I dispatched should deter any other attempts from the Cloud ninja if they haven't already left yet. Hiruzen looked at his desk and the stack of paperwork that was piled about a foot high. He sighed. Might as well get some of that done before morning. He grumbled as he sat down and prepared to fight every Hokage's worst nightmare. Paperwork.

...

9:47 A.M.

"...th... we have... prote... them." Naruto stirred as he heard voices in the same room as him. He slowly sat up, yawned and stretched as he took in his surroundings. Where am I? Why am I not in my own bed? As he wondered what was going on, the events of what had happened earlier came back to him. Ah! Me and Hinata fell asleep in the alleyway. I guess her parents took her home. I hope she's okay. Naruto's musings were cut short when he heard a familiar voice speak just to the left of him.

"Ah. Look who finally woke up." Naruto's new ears flicked towards the voice as he looked over and saw the Hokage sitting at his desk with Hiashi standing slightly to the side of it. Hiashi appeared to be reading a scroll that Hiruzen had recently handed to him, his face unreadable as he took in the contents of said scroll. Hiruzen gave Naruto a tired smile. He had stayed up much later than he had originally intended and was running on only a few hours of sleep.

"I had expected you to wake up earlier and had some breakfast prepared for you. It should still be warm." Hiruzen pointed towards a small table that had a small variety of breakfast food layed out for Naruto to choose from. Naruto visibly salivated at the choice pickings followed by his stomach grumbling loud enough to be heard clear across the room. Hiruzen chuckled at this and even Hiashi's normally stoic expression cracked a small smile as well. Naruto turned a slight shade of red and gave an embarrassed chuckle before quickly throwing the blanket, which was orange to Naruto's delight, off of himself and making his way to the table.

"Thanks old man! Itadakimasu," Naruto said before grabbing a plate and proceeding to pile it with just about everything he could fit onto it along with a glass of cool, delicious, refreshing orange juice. Hiashi, taken aback at how Naruto had addressed the Hokage, looked over and was surprised to see the Hokage with an amused expression on his face. I'm surprised that he just let him say that to him. Well he is an orphan. Guess nobody taught him proper etiquette. Since he will be living with us, I'll just have to... 'teach' him the proper ways to speak to his elders. Hiashi gave a mental chuckle at that thought.

"While he is filling both his plate and his stomach, did you finish reading the scroll," Hiruzen asked Hiashi who merely nodded. "Good. Treat this as an S-Rank mission that will end once Naruto is a Genin." Hiashi nodded, understanding how important this was. Despite Naruto being busy eating to his heart's content, he stopped when he heard the word Genin.

"Genin? You mean I'm going to be a ninja," Naruto asked the last part in an almost whisper. Hiruzen replied by giving Naruto a big smile and a nod. Naruto couldn't believe it. As he wouldn't be able to cheer without spitting food everywhere, he decided to just celebrate mentally with a wide grin on his face. I'm going to be a ninja. I'm going to be a ninja. I'm going to be a ninja! I'M GOING TO BE A NINJA! Naruto's mental celebrations were cut off when he heard a slight groan emanate from the inner reaches of his mind.

'Did you forget I was in here kit,' Kurama's voice which sounded, to Naruto at least, like he had just woken up, echoed in Naruto's mind. 'And don't try looking for me. I'm speaking to you in your mind. Just think what you want to say to me and I'll hear you.'

"Kurama? You can hear what I think... That's creepy," Naruto 'said' to Kurama. Kurama sighed and explained to Naruto that he could only hear the thoughts if either they were loud enough, like his "ninja" outburst earlier, or if he wanted him to hear them.

"Oh. Well that's not as creepy." Kurama made an exasperated expression before remembering that Naruto couldn't see it.

'Whatever. Anyways, has anyone brought up the events of last night since we slept?' Naruto replied that no one had. 'Unless its Hinata, since she knows of me, or the hokage and he specifically asks if I was involved, don't tell anyone that it was I that helped you both.' Naruto agreed, knowing that he could trust Hinata and the old man with the true events of last night. While he was talking to Kurama and still filling his stomach, he didn't notice when Hiashi had left. He did notice the Hokage working on some more paperwork, glancing towards him every once in a while.

"Naruto," the hokage stated after Naruto had finally finished eating, "there is something I need to discuss with you. Privately." After speaking that last weird, he made a hand motion, dismissing the ANBU that were currently in the room. After they had left, he made a hand sign, activating the silencing seals on his office to ensure that what was said would not be overheard.

"What is it old man," Naruto asked after finishing off the rest of his orange juice. Hiruzen gave a small sigh before answering the young blonde.

"About the events last night, Inoichi Yamanaka showed me the memories of the kidnapper and what I saw is very... disconcerting." Naruto stared blankly at the Hokage. "Disconcerting means troubling." Understanding flashed in the young blonde's eyes after the clarification.

"Uh. What did you see," Naruto questioned the Hokage. He is probably going to ask about Kurama.

"I saw a red chakra in the air around both you and Hinata after he cast his jutsu at you both... That red chakra..." He paused as he tried to think of a way to tell Naruto about how the Kyuubi was sealed inside of him. Naruto, however, beat him to it.

"Is it because of Kurama," Naruto asked, confusing Hiruzen, who then asked who that was. "Oh. He's the Kyuubi that was sealed inside me."

The Hokage blinked a few times, took out his pipe from his robe, opened up his desk drawer and put it in there before shutting it back. "I'm sorry. Could you repeat that," he asked, hoping that it was the combination of small amount of sleep and the new tobacco that he bought. Naruto reaffirmed what he had said previously, leading to the Hokage to sit in silence for a moment.

"So. You know. And here I was trying to think of a way to break it to you," Hiruzen stated after thinking over this new fact. "You surprised me." Naruto chuckled at being able to surprise the Hokage. Guess he's really just an old man after all.

"Anyways, how did you find out about the Kyuubi?" Hiruzen asked after Naruto had ceased his chuckling.

"Well..." Naruto wondered how much he should tell him.

'Tell him everything.' Kurama stated as the blonde was pondering.

"Got it. When me and Hinata were hit with that jutsu, we got knocked out and woke up in a sewer," Hiruzen raised his eyebrow but stayed silent. As Naruto recounted the events of what happened in his mindscape, the hokage's expression went from stoic silence, to surprise at hearing Madara's name, and even to pride when he heard of Naruto's brave choice. After he finished, Hiruzen grabbed his pipe out of the drawer and lit it. He took a few puffs, letting the smoke drift out a small ventilation shaft he had installed above his desk. Aaaahhh. That's nice. From the sound of it, the Kyuubi wants to work with Naruto, not against him. But...

"Naruto. One last question. Do you trust him?" Hiruzen asked him.

"Of course. He's a little scary looking but if he was willing to help Hinata and me, then he can't be that bad," Naruto answered with conviction in his voice.

"Ok. If you trust him then I will trust you. However, if he ever does anything suspicious or you don't feel safe, come to me immediately. Understood?" Naruto nodded. "Good. I'm going to get an old friend to take a look at your seal to make sure it is stable though." Naruto nodded again.

"Did you hear that Kurama? He's willing to trust you." Naruto told the fox gleefully.

'He said he trusts your decision to trust me. Even so, I don't blame him. If someone had come and killed a bunch of my family and friends and then claimed to be under someone else's influence, I would be even less trusting. He must really believe in you kit.' Kurama answered Naruto.

"Yeah... I guess he really does." Naruto gave a genuine smile to the Hokage. "Thank you for trusting me so much old man. I won't let you down!" Naruto's declaration and smile warmed the Hokage's heart.

"You're a good kid Naruto. Now. Onto your new features. We need to conceal them in some way so that other shinobi and civilians won't believe you are even more of a monster than they already think," Naruto fervently agreed. "First, I believe we could hide your tail underneath your normal clothes or a cloak with some modified pants if the others are too uncomfortable." Naruto thought on that for a minute.

"I would like to try my normal stuff first. But I'll tell you if I can't." Hiruzen nodded and continued.

"Next will be your ears. A hooded jacket or hat would work for now. There is a technique you will learn in the ninja academy that will allow you to wear what you want," said the Hokage. Naruto said he would like a jacket since it was cold out and his old one was a little thin. "Now, for the Byakugan. I would say wear black, polarized sunglasses to hide them until you learn the jutsu I was talking about earlier." Naruto agreed again, thinking that the sunglasses would make him look cool. I wonder if Hinata will like them. Kurama heard his thought and gave a small chuckle at it.

"Now that all of that is taken care of, I think it's about time I tell you something that will make you very excited," Hiruzen smiled at Naruto while saying this. Naruto, always happy to hear something like that, waited patiently. "Not only will Hiashi be training you to be a fine shinobi, he will also be your guardian now." The hokage waited as Naruto processed the information he was just given.

"G-guardian? As in... I'm being adopted?" Naruto couldn't keep the hope out of his voice.

"Yes Naruto. As of now, you are now under the care of Hiashi Hyuga and will be living with them at the Hyuga compound," Hiruzen stated happily. Naruto was silent for a few moments before letting out a cheer that could be heard halfway across the village.

"WOOHOO! I HAVE A NEW FAMILY!" Naruto couldn't keep his enthusiasm at a lower level while Hiruzen chuckled. He's always been an entertaining child. I'm sure his future will be even brighter now that he has a family that can also teach him to be an excellent shinobi.

...

Chapter Three: End