The Animal I've Become

This is a challenge Fic by Chewie cookies

No, I don't own Naruto

We find one Naruto Uzumaki just leaving the academy, from serving six hours of detention. He had thrown a balloon filled with bright pink oil-based paint at Mizuki, making him look like an older, male version of Sakura Haruno.

Flashback

Naruto was sitting in his seat, bored out of his mind. It wasn't too much different from any other day, since no teacher other then Iruka had ever tried to teach him anything. His teacher today was Mizuki. The man was the worst of all the teachers, since all he did was either ignore Naruto or give him tests far harder than the tests given to the rest of the students.

Naruto was sick of it, and today, he was going to get back at the stuck-up prick. He had filled a balloon with bright pink oil-based paint. Naruto was only waiting for the right time to use it, the man was a chuunin, after all. Naruto also made sure he couldn't just wash the paint out. He had gotten help with that little detail from the ANBU named Dog who was always hanging around his apartment.

Naruto was waiting for the clock to strike noon so it would be lunch time. Naruto figured he could hit Mizuki in the head with the paint balloon. He laughed maniacally in the middle of class getting everyone's attention.

"Sorry! I was just thinking of something funny, that's all!" Naruto exclaimed.

Everyone just shrugged and went back to what they were doing. Everyone, but a certain indigo-haired, pale lavender-eyed Hyuga. Her name was Hinata Hyuga, and she was infatuated with the thirteen-year-old blonde prankster. She had always thought his pranks were funny. Hinata liked the fact he never gave up, even though most of the teachers were unfair to him. Hinata herself was quite the opposite of Naruto. She was quiet and reserved, and never spoke out of turn or against anyone, while Naruto was loud, energetic, and always speaking whenever and to whoever he felt like.

Naruto watched as the clock slowly ticked towards noon. The clock dinged. The time had finally come for one Naruto Uzumaki to get his revenge. He shot up and threw the balloon at Mizuki, who had his backed turned. The balloon impacted with Mizuki's head, covering all his hair with the pink liquid.

"NARUTO! I KNOW THAT WAS YOU! I'M GIVING YOU SIX HOURS OF DETENTION TODAY!" Mizuki screamed.

The kids in the class could only laugh and make comments on how their teacher looked like Sakura now. Naruto didn't mind. He knew he would have the last laugh, considering that the stuff wouldn't come out for at least a week.

End flashback

It was dark out when Naruto finally got out of the academy. Naruto laughed as he walked home. He couldn't stop thinking of how Mizuki looked.

Off in a dark alleyway...

"So, is he the one Danzou-dono wants?" a masked figure asked.

"Yes, that is indeed the fox child that he wishes to acquire. Naruto Uzumaki; the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki," The other person replied.

The two men watched from the shadows. They were waiting for Naruto to be on a street alone. Naruto turned a corner and walked down a street with no light on it. This was a street he always took on his way home. This was exactly what the men were waiting for. They quickly knocked Naruto out, and disappeared.

A day later, at the Academy...

A day passed since Naruto had disappeared. The clock struck noon in the classroom, and everyone went to lunch. Iruka was worried. Naruto hadn't shown up today. Of course, Naruto didn't show up some days, but today was different. Iruka felt something was off.

His fears were realized when an ANBU with a dog mask appeared in the room.

"Iruka, has Naruto come to class today?" Dog asked.

"No. Why?" Iruka replied.

"Well, he didn't come home last night. I haven't been able to find him anywhere."

"So you were the one assigned to be his protection?"

"Yes. Normally I only guard his house unless there's a problem." Dog shook his head, and added, "This is bad. I'll have to inform the Hokage of this."

Dog disappeared from the room in a swirl of leaves. Iruka realized someone was listening in on the conversation. He walked over to the door and opened it. Hinata Hyuga was standing at the door. She had listened to the entire conversation.

"Is Naruto-kun really missing?" she asked.

Iruka knelt down in front of Hinata. "It seems that way, but keep that between us until we know for sure. Alright?"

Hinata looked down at her feet. "Alright," She said just above a whisper. Hinata left the doorway to go to her seat. Soon after, all the other students in the class came back in from lunch.

The day came and went, and soon enough, a week had passed. Naruto had not been found. Not even a trace of him had been found by anyone.

With Naruto...

Naruto was sitting in a dark room. He didn't understand what was going on. He didn't even know how long he had been in this place. They recently tried wiping his memories, with partial success. At least that's what he overheard a short while ago. Naruto didn't remember his past anymore, but he still remembered how to speak. Naruto just kept asking himself over and over again who he was, in hopes it would jog his memory.

No matter how many times he asked himself who he was or what his life was like, nothing happened. He sat in the dark room on the bed listening to what was happening outside the room. He could hear them talking about the demon brat, whom he knew was himself. He heard how they were going to mess with the seal on his stomach today.

He didn't know what the seal was, but he had a feeling something bad was about to happen. He heard people unlock the door. He watched as three people walked into the room and grabbed him. He used to resist, but this time he saw no point. They would normally just hit him to make him quiet down. Naruto wasn't about to help them get to where they were going either, though, so he made them drag him across the floor.

Naruto was taken to a room and strapped to a table, his shirt removed, exposing where the seal on his stomach was. A crippled old man walked into the room through the open door.

"He's ready, Danzou-dono," the ROOT ANBU said.

"Very good. Stand at the door, in case something goes wrong," Danzou stated.

"Hai!"

The ROOT ANBU stood at the door while Danzou prepared to alter the seal. Danzou made a few hand signs before he placed his hand on Naruto's stomach, making the seal visible. He began to rearrange certain parts of the seal. Danzou was successfully changing the properties of the seal, when he made the final mistake of his life.

Naruto screamed in pain as he was enveloped in demonic chakra. The chakra spread quickly throughout the room, and enveloped Danzou and the ROOT ANBU in the room. The energy died down and the only thing left of Danzou and his men were a few charred-looking corpses.

The energy release had left cuts on Naruto's body that bled horribly. Naruto sat up painfully. His instincts told him now was the time to run. He hadn't noticed the new features he was sporting. All he thought about was running as fast as he could.

Naruto bolted out of the room and ran down the halls, and ran into a few ROOT ANBU who threw shuriken at him. They weren't trying to kill him That was against orders. The shuriken were embedded in Naruto's back. Naruto kept running, regardless of what hit him. He turned right, then left, then right again, then ran down a long hallway, where he found a door leading to the outside. Naruto had gotten lucky with the turns he took, because he had no idea how big the place was, or how to even navigate it.

With Hinata...

It was now nighttime, and a cool breeze began to blow. Hinata began to think about Naruto, who disappeared a week ago. She had visited Naruto's little training ground that he always went to, in hopes that he would suddenly show up. She was currently sitting on a stump in Naruto's training area like she had for the past week after she got out of the academy.

She picked up one of the old kunai that was on the ground, and tossed it at the target. She sighed; the academy was so dull and boring when Naruto wasn't around. She hated it. It was growing really late and she realized that she should be heading back to her home soon.

She got up off the stump when a foul chakra rained over the area. She quickly activated her Byakugan eyes to see which direction it was coming from.

Hinata saw that the thing that was emitting the energy was coming right for her at a fast pace. All she could do at this point was hide, so she quickly hid behind a bush. A minute later, whatever it was jumped into the opening, landing next to a tree stump. Hinata stared curiously. It looked like a boy about her age, but with animal tails and ears, and he stood on all fours. Also, the boy had a lot of nasty cuts that looked like they had just stopped bleeding, but were still open.

She then saw his face, and her heart leapt to her throat. "Naruto-kun?" she called out softly, exiting the bush to reveal herself. He stiffened suddenly, then arched his back, sort of like an injured animal trying to fool a predator into thinking it was bigger, and growled.

Realizing that something horrible must have happened to him, and that, for whatever reason, he believed he was some kind of animal, she approached him slowly, letting out shushing sounds in an attempt to calm him. Slowly reaching her hand out as she got close, Hinata rubbed his ears gently. Naruto purred softly, realizing that Hinata wasn't a threat to him, and curled his tails around her as he snuggled.

Hinata smiled a bit at the affection Naruto was currently showing her. Seeing as he was hurt, she decided it was best that she get him someplace where she could treat his injuries. After waiting a while, Naruto calmed down a decent amount, and Hinata quietly led him to Kurenai's place.

A little later, at Kurenai's Apartment...

Kurenai groaned, as she was awakened by somebody knocking at her door. "If that's you, Anko, go away! I'm already in bed!" she shouted.

She was surprised when she heard the door unlock. She had given a spare key to only one person, and that was Hinata. After getting up and making sure she was dressed properly, Kurenai went out into the area where the front door was, so she could properly greet her friend.

If Kurenai was surprised before, she was shocked now. In front of her was not only Hinata, but Naruto as well, except he had a blanket covering most of his body. Hinata hesitantly removed the blanket to show Kurenai his new 'features'. "Is that really Naruto? Where did you find him, Hinata-chan?" Kurenai asked worriedly.

"Ano... I found him near one of the training areas he usually goes to, but I th-think it was just a coincidence. H-he looked like he was r-running from something, and he's hurt, too! C-could you please treat his injuries?" Hinata explained/asked.

Kurenai nodded, then made a Shadow Clone, and sent it to inform the hokage. After the Shadow Clone had left, she leaned down to be at eye-level with Naruto. "It's going to be okay, Naruto. Can you tell me who did this to you?" she asked.

Naruto shied away a bit, giving Kurenai a curious look. Hinata took his hand in hers, and tried to ease his worries. "It's okay, Naruto-kun. Kurenai-neechan is nice. She won't hurt you," she said softly, hoping that whatever had happened to him wasn't keeping him from understanding her.

Naruto let out what sounded like a sigh, and relaxed on a rug on the floor, giving Kurenai a look that said, 'Just do whatever you're going to do and get it over with.'

Hinata took a seat on the floor next to him and began rubbing his ears to keep him calm while Kurenai went to get the first aid kit. Hinata knew things were going to be different for Naruto now, but for the moment, she was just glad he was safe. It also made her feel good that Naruto seemed to enjoy her presence, and right there, she decided that whatever it was that was happening with Naruto, she would help him out as much as she could.

Meanwhile, with Hiashi...

Hiashi was angry. No, scratch that, he was FURIOUS! His eldest daughter, a complete failure in his eyes, was not only out past her curfew, but from what he could gather, she was also looking for that accursed demon child! He had told her many times to never interact with the monstrosity, but the little failure couldn't even do that right!

After reaching the training area that Hinata was reportedly searching tonight, he was enraged to find that she was no longer there. Activating his Byakugan, he found Hinata's chakra trail. He was angered further, however, when he realized that there was a second chakra trail following alongside hers; the demon brat's!

Seeing that the trails both led into town, Hiashi growled angrily. "That little wench is going to get the beating of her life when I get her home," he muttered angrily, as he followed the chakra trails to wherever they led to.

Hiashi followed the chakra signatures through out the village till he came up a somewhat familiar building. He growled as realized just whose home this was. The home was of Kurenai Yuhi. He grumbled as he walked up to the door.

Inside Kurenai's apartment

Kurenai was in her bedroom looking for some old t-shirts that she could give to Naruto. She paused when she felt killer intent, she quickly ran into the room with Naruto and Hinata to find Hiashi Hyuga standing in the doorway. Hiashi stood there glaring at Hinata and Naruto.

"You are coming home now, Hinata!" Hiashi shouted in rage, as he walked over to Hinata.

Hinata was frozen in place she was coming back from the kitchen with a clean wash cloth and bowl of water. She was going to clean Naruto up now that he was bandaged. But as soon as she saw her father she froze, she didn't know what to do. Naruto was looking between the two. He figured by the look on Hinata's face this man that had just walked in wasn't nice.

"You have disobeyed me for the last time daughter!" Hiashi raised his hand and took a swing at Hinata. But his arm never made contact as it was being held by one of Naruto's tails. Naruto swung with one of his other tails to hit Hiashi when Hinata shouted.

"Naruto stop!" Hinata cried.

Another voice filled the room right after Hinata had spoken. "Yes, that is quite enough!"

Hiashi's eyes widened. He knew that voice! It was Hiruzen Sarutobi. He turned around to see it was in fact Hiruzen and one other person, it was an ANBU member, Dog to be exact.

"Hiashi you will leave this room, and you will do it without the company of your daughter Hinata. It is clear that she is not safe in your care therefore she will not be in it any longer."

"You can't do that!" Hiashi yelled.

"I can Hiashi, and I just have. Take it up with the council if you like, but you will leave for your home now or I will have you removed." Hiruzen's tone was firm and left no room for argument.

"This is not over!" Hiashi stormed out of the room and back to the Hyuga estate.

Hiruzen sighed, he was still standing in the doorway with dog. He walked up to Naruto who was sitting next to Hinata. Dog still remained outside of the doorway waiting for his orders.

"Kami, what happened to you Naruto?" Hiruzen muttered.

"I wish I knew Hokage-sama," replied Kurenai who was walking up to the Hokage. "Hinata appeared at my front door a little earlier with Naruto looking like that, as my shadow clone explained."

"Dog, please enter. We will probably be here for a while."

Dog entered the room without a word. Hiruzen noticed Naruto looked afraid of dog. But why, was he afraid of dog or something on him? The first thing that came to mind was dog's mask.

"Dog please remove your mask. I think it might be scaring Naruto."

Just like Hiruzen had thought as soon as dog had taken off his mask Naruto visibly relaxed.

"What do you think of this reaction, Kakashi, Kurenai?"

"I'm not to sure Hokage-sama. We should probably call Inoichi," Kakashi replied.

"I'd have to agree with Kakashi. We can only speculate on what this could mean. It's best we call someone experienced with this sort of thing."

"Yes, indeed, Kakashi go and retrieve Inoichi. I don't think we should wait till tomorrow," Hiruzen ordered. "Hinata could you get Naruto to sit on the couch?"

Kakashi disappeared from the room in a swirl of leaves to retrieve Inoichi.

"S-sure," She replied. "C-come on Naruto-kun lets sit over there." she said pointing to the couch.

Hinata grabbed Naruto's hand and led him to the couch. They both sat down on the couch. Hinata suddenly began to giggle when some of Naruto's tails brushed against her skin. Naruto snuggled affectionately against her, causing her to blush.

Kurenai couldn't help but think how cute that scene looked. She smiled and sat down in a chair in the next room to talk with Sarutobi.

"Kurenai, would you been willing to adopt Hinata?" Hiruzen asked.

"I would be more than happy to."

"What about Naruto? It doesn't look to me like he is dangerous, and he seems to like Hinata. Would you be willing to allow him to stay as well?"

Kurenai looked at Hinata and Naruto on the couch in the other room. "I agree. I don't think he's dangerous, but this place isn't really big enough for so many. But I don't think anyone else will take him, and Hinata would dislike it if I just sent him away." Kurenai sighed. "Yes I'll look after Naruto from now on."

"Yes. I thought about the space issue before I asked you. I will see to it that the four of you get a larger place."

"Four of us? What do you mean by that?"

"Kakashi will be staying with you three as well. He has been taking care of the boy and his home for quite a few years now. I don't think he will object to this reassignment. I am also doing this for Hinata's protection as well. Even after the adoption papers are signed, I fear Hiashi will still try something. Will there be any issues with this?"

"No! Of course not!" Kurenai blushed slightly at the thought of living with Kakashi Hatake. There isn't a single woman in the village who would mind that. Maybe she would finally get to see what he looks like under that mask.

They both looked at Naruto and Hinata. They smiled as Hinata was playing with some of Naruto's tails. She seemed to really enjoy them.

"Do you think he remembers anything?" Kurenai asked.

"From what I've seen, I'm afraid not, but at this point I think it's best he doesn't remember everything from when he was younger. But I hope he at least has some kind of memories. Maybe Inoichi can find something in his mind and bring it to the surface," Hiruzen stated.

"Perhaps, but if we can't, we have to reteach him everything he learned over the years."

"If that is truly the case, I'm sure Iruka would be more then happy to put in the extra time to help Naruto. He's been rather worried about Naruto since he disappeared."

"What are you going to do with Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.

Naruto was now all cuddled up next to Hinata. All nine tails were wrapped around the two of them like a blanket. The scene was rather cute and Kurenai was wondering if Hinata was going to pass out or not from that reddening face of hers.

"Well it seems Naruto is rather attached to you Hinata, so you will be looking after him. Oh, I almost forgot! How would you like it if Kurenai adopted you Hinata?"

"What about my father?" She asked.

"He is not a factor in this. I'm asking you what it is you want."

"I would it like that very much!" she said happily. She looked at Naruto. "What about Naruto-kun? Will he be able to stay as well?"

"Of course he can. I've already talked to Kurenai about it. You three, along with Kakashi Hatake who came with me will be staying in the same home together."

They couldn't believe it, but Hinata's blush got even darker. Inoichi and Kakashi finally made it back to Kurenai's apartment.

"Well you don't see this everyday," Inoichi muttered.

"Ah, good, Inoichi, you're here. I need you to take a look at Naruto here," Hiruzen stated.

"Kami, what happened to him, and what exactly do you want me to do?"

"That's what we need you to find out Inoichi. Naruto here doesn't seem to be able to speak at the moment. I want you first to find who did this to him, and then see about bringing whatever memories he has to the surface."

Inoichi looked over at Naruto who was cuddled up against Hinata Hyuga. He walked over to Naruto, who looked a little wary of him. Inoichi sat down in a chair in front of the two.

"Well, seeing that Naruto seems to like you Hinata, would you mind calming him down a little so I can proceed?"

"What are you going to do to him?"

"Nothing, really. I'm just going to see who did this to him and see if I can find his memories and bring them to the surface."

Hinata nodded. "Naruto, it's alright, he's not going to hurt you, he just wants to help." Hinata spoke in a calming tone and it seemed to work as Naruto relaxed.

Inoichi preformed the jutsu and entered Naruto's mind. Inoichi appeared to be in a sewer that seemed to have a large number of doorways. The first doorway he entered led to a room with a massive cage, but it was empty.

"That must have been where Kyuubi was."

The massive cage was completely empty. Not even a trace of Kyuubi was left. Inoichi left the room and began to search the others. Inoichi searched many of the rooms but they were completely empty. It's like Naruto had no memories of his past life at all.

Then he came to one of the last few rooms and found the memories of what happened right after Naruto lost his memories. He saw Danzou, ROOT ANBU, and where Naruto had escaped from.

"I should have known, Danzou always called him a weapon. I guess he grew impatient and died trying to mess with Naruto's seal."

Inoichi finished and left the room, He traveled to the second to last door way. He had found that Naruto knew how to speak still, but when the seal went haywire it pushed that to the back of his mind. Naruto, as far as he could figure, was running purely on instinct at the moment.

Inoichi went to the last door way this room showed what was on Naruto's mind currently. He saw a massive number of images of Hinata, and a few various other ones that were basically of the people standing in the room.

"Well, it definitely seems he likes Hinata by the looks of things. This is going to be one long rehab for Naruto, it seems." Inoichi canceled the jutsu.

Inoichi stood up and walked over to Hiruzen. He began to explain what he saw and who had done this to him.

"I knew I should have killed him years ago!" Hiruzen was furious! Naruto was probably never going to have a normal life but now this would definitely ensure that.

"Danzou's apparently already dead. I'll give you a position to send ANBU. On the upside, Naruto knows how to speak, but sadly nothing more then that. Social situations, knowing right from wrong and appropriate to the inappropriate will all be need to retaught. He is basically a clean slate at the moment,"

"How is it he knows how to speak and understand us but not anything else?" Kurenai asked.

"Speech is something used everyday, so even if one was to lose all there memories they would still know how to talk and understand what someone is saying to them. During the event with his seal that completely absorbed the Kyuubi, his instincts pushed all of his memories of how to talk to the back of his mind. I'm not sure why that happened, but I have done what is needed to bring those memories back to the surface. I'm guessing it will take a few days before he can form complete sentences, but the overall rehab to teach what he has forgotten will take much longer."

"Do you think he's a danger to anyone?" Hiruzen asked.

"Honestly? No I don't think he's a danger to anyone at the moment. He doesn't even understand the amount of power he holds. Maybe if someone attacked him he would understand and be able to use it. However, now I think he's more interested in spending time with Hinata."

The three of them looked at Naruto and Hinata. Naruto was laying on the couch with his head on Hinata's lap as she rubbed his ears; she was smiling.

"Well I'd have to agree with you on that one," Kakashi replied.

"Thank you for your assistance on this, Inoichi. We didn't have too many other options at the time," Hiruzen said.

"Of course. Well, I'll leave you all now. I'm sure you have things to do and you probably want to get some sleep tonight."

Inoichi left the room leaving Hiruzen, Kakashi, Kurenai, and the two children to discuss things. Naruto had fallen asleep at this point with his head on Hinata's lap. Hinata was looking sleepy and would soon follow. Kurenai came over and put a blanket on Naruto and lifted his head and put a blanket on Hinata as well.

Hiruzen sighed, tomorrow was going to be a long day. "Kakashi, you will be staying here tonight and looking over the place. Now I must go assign some ANBU squads to check out this place Inoichi was talking about." With that said Hiruzen disappeared from the room leaving Kurenai and Kakashi with the two children.

End chapter

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Please check out my other stories Jiraiya's last student and The Demon King if you already haven't done so.