Title: A Blessing or a Curse

Summary: Naruto had been cursed by an irreversible jutsu. He initially dealt with it accordingly but when he learned that there was no way to fix it. He resigned himself to his fate but he does not tell anyone. However, when Jiraiya takes him on an unexpected training trip how will he conceal it now?

Warning: Potential Slash but it won't be Jiraiya/Naruto.

AN: Hello this is my second story but my first Naruto one. I'm so excited to write this. It is probably an extremely crazy and controversial idea but whatever.

Read and Review~

Chapter One: A Puzzle

Word Count: 1330

Naruto swore violently as he came across another knot in his ever tangled hair. Why, oh, why did fate hate him so much? Perhaps he was a murderer in a past life and this was simply his retribution. He was usually not one to complain, opting to instead grin and bear it but this, this was breaking his resolve. In the beginning, it was very uncomfort but also intriguing. However, now it was a bit irritating. Of course, he would not complain. No, he decided he had angered God quite enough already. Besides it wasn't like there weren't any benefits. He certainly learned many things due to his new curse. He was treated kindly by people. He wasn't scorned like he usually was, especially among civilians. No one expected a petite girl to be tough or strong. No one looked at a sweet blonde girl hatefully. No one gave her damaged goods or expired food. No one forced her to pay outrageous prices. If harm were to befall Ru-Ru (the name of his female version), people helped her out. People did her small favors.

That's right you guessed it: Naruto Uzumaki had been cursed into a girl. Not a full girl, though. The universal wasn't kind enough for that. He was half and half. He would turn into a girl as soon as the sun set. How then you ask has that fact not been discovered by now? Naruto used a genjutsu to look like himself at night should anyone be watching but occasionally he would go out at night as a female. He searched everywhere for a way to break the curse. All those missions and odd jobs when he was younger finally paid off. He had connections in high and low places and used them to find the information he needed.

After a month of searching and full confirmation that nothing short of time-travel could reverse his condition, he resigned himself to his fate, opting to say YOLO and deal with it. He ended up liking the way his hair cascaded down his back and decided he wanted it in both forms. He cursed his decision but was unwilling to part with his gorgeous locks. They felt so nice and looked beautiful. He didn't want people to draw conclusions so they were hidden under a genjutsu during the day. There were many major drawbacks from his "condition". One of them being that he was now forced to deal with "that time of the month" and while he could escape the uncomfortableness during the day, he was still victim to the mood swings. He tries to control himself from snapping at Jiraiya but it was still difficult. Not that the toad sage was undeserving of the blame in any way but Naruto somehow always felt bad about being mean to him. Jiraiya had been forced to watch his students die and one of his teammates turn traitor. He also had to deal with the fact that that same teammate killed their sensei. He probably suffered in many other ways being the war veteran he was.

Naruto could still recall the way Jiraiya had woken up one night, reaching for something that wasn't there. He had folded in on himself moments later. Knees drawn to his chest, eyes glassy no doubt seeing some sort of memories. Naruto tried to shake him out of it which only caused him to close in more. He tried yelling, which only caused Jiraiya to flinch back. Not knowing what else to do, he recalled when a friend of his female form had soothed him and began to rub circles in his back while softly singing a sweet tune. He had no idea where the words were coming from but continued singing with his angelic feminine voice that he forgot to alter as Jiraiya slowly relaxed and fell asleep before crawling in his own bed and going to sleep as well.

He didn't know if Jiraiya remembered but since the next day there was no mention, he assumed that Jiraiya forgot or simply chose not to mention it to save them both the embarrassment.

One might think he was taking the situation a bit too calmly but the curse was mild in comparison to everything else that usually happened to him. Thus, the world kept moving and so did Naruto.

Jiraiya sighed as he heard loud cursing coming from from the bathroom. He winced slightly as he heard language colorful enough that even Jiraiya would hesitant to use it casually. He briefly wondered what it was that got the gaki so worked up but chose not to investigate. The blonde hadn't wanted to go on the trip but it was important that he leave the village for his and and the village's sake. As they left, the blonde gave him a strange offer: he wouldn't say anything, do anything, or comment about his perverted tendencies not even calling him pervy sage essentially allowing him his privacy. Jiraiya couldn't allow him to do so without offering the same. Thus, Naruto's issues were his own concern. However, it was undeniable that the blond had changed since they last met, less than three months ago. He was more mature and composed than before. He also had less outbursts and seemed more subdued than ever before, it was disturbing but alas Naruto's problems were not his concerns.

Over the months another habit of Naruto was discovered. Whenever they stayed in an inn; Naruto occasionally spent an abnormally long time not super long as a couple hours or half a day but 20-35 minutes in the restroom, not that it affected Jiraiya very much. Already at least 6 months had passed since they had left Konoha. Jiraiya suspected that it would be a long while before they returned. He wondered if he could figure out what happened to the blonde somewhere along the way.

"What are the plans for the day, Jiraiya-sama?"He was interrupted from his musings by the subject of his thoughts.

Naruto had been sitting on his bed across from where Jiraiya sat at the tiny table in the room. He had been working on something in his lap but closed it as he began to answer.

Jiraiya grinned and said, "I'm off to do research. I won't be long. I'll be back tomorrow for sure."

And with that, he was out the window, disappearing to wherever to do his "research". Naruto rolled his eyes at the white haired toad sage's antics.

When Jiraiya returned, it was the middle of the night and almost a week had passed since he claimed he'd return "tomorrow". He wandered in tiredly and collapsed on the bed, the alcohol in his system forcing him to ignore the weird feeling in his stomach like he had forgotten something.

Jiraiya awoke in the evening of the next day, the sun just beginning to set, groaning and cursing himself for the thousandth time for drinking too much. He had an awful hangover and decided that a cold shower and coffee were in order.

Finally managing to wake himself up and aware, he realised that his blonde traveling companion was nowhere to be seen. Looking around he noticed that there was a note on the table. It was in Naruto's familiar handwriting.

Dear Jiraiya-sama,

You were supposed to return 3 days prior to today, the 27th of January. I have decided to leave you a note so you are not unaware of my location. I have gone to the forest to the east of the town in order to train. I doubt you'll be worried but I felt obligated to leave a note should you be concerned or merely curious. I hope your endeavors were fruitful.

See you soon,

Naruto

The letter was written 4 days ago. Doesn't that idiot know how much danger he is in? Jiraiya cursed and jumped out the window, intent on finding the blond and knocking some sense into him.

Sorry about the Cliffhanger but I had to.

Hope you liked it! Please leave a review on your way out.

Next Chapter should be up in the next two weeks.

-Fairilina ~.~