DISCLAIMER: Naruto does not belong to me.
PROLOGUE: Naruto and Kyuubi no more
Nothing could have prepared for them for this.
Lee stared in shock at the blood-stained heap of orange that was once an infamous loudmouth wore covered in a dark red chakra mist in spite of the continuous downpour of rain. With the corner of his eye, he watched as Gaara wrap up the unconscious and obviously beaten up Uchiha with his sand. The taijustsu expert knelt down to gather up the bloodied clothing, only to draw back his hands when the heap moved and let out a small whimper. His already wide eyes widened even more when the red mist disappeared and revealed a small baby lying on top looking up at him with wide blue eyes.
The baby let out a small gurgle stretching out his tiny hands at the green-clad genin, a faint trail of drool trickling out of his mouth.
Bending down to pick up the babe, Lee let out a loud yelp and jerked away when a small fox cub emerged from beneath the discarded jacket beside the baby and snapped his tiny teeth at him.
"Rock-san?"
"Gaara-san..." Lee could only helplessly motion at the baby and the fox cub to the Sand genin.
Gaara stared unblinkingly at the orange fox cub growling and wagging his two tails at him, Shukaku whispering things to him.
"Gaara-san?"
"It's Uzumaki," the sand nin replied monotonously as he knelt down and gathered up the baby, fox cub and Naruto's bloody clothes into his arms. Standing up, he turned to the Leaf genin and found him gaping at him.
"Tha- that's Naruto-kun?"
Tsunade could have killed the last Uchiha when she caught sight of the blood-covered bundle of orange that the sand genin called Gaara, if it weren't for Jiraiya's firm grip on her shoulder. Medic nins rushed over to the three genins lying in different clouds of sands while Gaara let the anbus whisk away the unconscious Uchiha.
"Hokage-sama," the youngest offspring of the late Kazekage approached her with the green-clad Rock Lee following him closely, the orange bundle still in his arms.
Tsunade tried desperately to keep tears from rolling down her face, but this is one battle she couldn't win. She stared sadly at the bloody bundle, oblivious to the shield of sand that Gaara placed around him, Lee, Tsunade and Jiraiya.
"Tsunade-sama, we found Naruto-kun like this."
At Lee's signal, Gaara pulled down a part of the clothing and revealed a small yet strangely familiar blond-haired baby sleeping.
"Na- Naruto?" The 6th Hokage managed to stammer out, just as a small orange fox unburied itself from underneath all the clothing and stared at the female human before him. "And Kyuubi?"
"Hokage-sama, Naruto's no longer a boy."
"You want us to take care of her?" Temari stared at the blond-haired sannin before her, cradling a sleeping babe in her arms. "Naruto-kun is from your village. Why can't you take care of her?"
"Simple, Temari-san." Tsunade smiled and then, turned to the red-haired boy standing beside the door with a sleeping fox cub in his arms. "Both Natsumi and Kyuu has taken a liking toward you three, especially your brother, and I cannot trust anyone in this village to accept Natsumi."
"I like the name."
Temari let out a soft sigh. Gaara had just agreed.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry to all of my readers. I know you are expecting the second chapter of the first version of the story but I got stuck. So anyway, just review on this one.