A Woman's Heart and Mind

Chapter 1 - Change in the Winds

Naruto Uzumaki leapt atop a light pole in the middle of the bustling streets of Konoha. From here he could see everything. All of Konoha was laid bare below him. He smiled brilliantly, one of those grins he was known for, at the town he had left for two and a half years.

He turned his gaze up to the Hokage Monument, and what he beheld made his impossible grin even larger.

"So they've put Obaachan's ugly old mug to the monument." He said to no one but himself.

"You've grown up quite a bit in the last couple of years, haven't you, Naruto?" A familiar voice called out from a nearby rooftop.

Naruto turned his gaze to the source of the voice to see an older ninja with a messy frump of silver hair, his headband pulled low over one eye.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed as he leapt from his perch to the nearby rooftop, "You haven't changed a bit!"

Naruto landed on the roof with a grace that he had not possessed only two years ago. However his mind was on other things as he reached back into his pack, "That's right, I got something for you sensei."

Naruto quickly produced a familiar pink-bound tome with a large red circle with a slash on the back. On the front was a portrait of a kneeling man with thought bubbles filled with crossed out hearts surrounding him, the title reading Icha Icha Tactics.

Kakashi, though usually being a very calm and collected individual, was flabbergasted, "What? This is… you… but… how…?"

Naruto grinned, "This is newest book in the Icha Icha series, three years in the making. I think it's kinda boring, but I think you'll still like it."

Kakashi gently took the book, cradling his new possession as though it were a child. He was still speechless from the gift.

Not one to waste any time, Naruto leapt from the rooftop to the street below, excited for his first planned stop of his return to Konoha. "Alright! Straight to Ichiraku Ramen!"

In a flash, the teenage ninja was in a dead sprint, heading to his favorite place to eat. However, on his way, he saw something that halted his progress to the salty goodness that was a bowl of Ichiraku's finest. A pink-haired young woman walking down the street with what appeared to be a blonde in her late twenties.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto called out as he skidded to a stop. The pinkette whipped her head around to see who was addressing her.

"Naruto?" She asked as she squinted to get a better look at Naruto. It had been two and a half years since the two friends had seen each other, though Naruto still wished they had something more. He looked at her closely, some of her clothing changed over the years. She now longer wore a red one-piece, but instead a red tank top with a beige skirt. She also wore shin guards and elbow pads. However, to him, she still looked like she always had, beautiful.

"How do I look, Naruto?" She asked in a slightly seductive manner, "Do I look more like a woman now?"

"You look fine?" Naruto replied with a smile, "You haven't changed a bit."

That statement, however, had the opposite effect than Naruto had intended. Her face scrunched up in a manner of mild annoyance, "You'll never understand a woman's mind…"

Naruto could only stare blankly, unsure of what he had said to annoy his longtime crush. He had been certain that he had said the right thing. However, luckily, Sakura did not dwell on it for long.

"You're taller than me?" She said, having finally realized that she was looking up to him for the first time that either of them could remember.

"Yeah." Naruto said as he put a hand on top of his head and moved it out across and above hers. Because of this, he missed the look of admiration that had found it's way onto her face.

However, the time for catching up with old friends was cut short as a puff of smoke announced a new arrival.

"Naruto-niichan!" the cloud called out, "Oiroke no Jutsu!"

Another cloud of smoke replaced the one that had just been dissipating. As the cloud cleared the silhouette of an attractive female could be seen. Finally, the dust and smoke cleared and there was a raven-haired beauty standing in the middle of the street stark naked, striking a seductive pose for the benefit of the men present. However, as soon as the beauty was there she was gone, replaced by another cloud of smoke. After the smoke cleared this time, a young teenager with similar raven hair and slightly similar facial features stood in the woman's place.

"How was that? Wasn't it one drool of a jutsu?" the boy asked.

Naruto chuckled, "Sorry, Konohamaru, but I'm not a kid anymore. From now on, you shouldn't use that jutsu either."

Konohamaru looked devastated at what his idol was saying to him. It had been Naruto that had taught him the Oiroke no Jutsu. However, Naruto continued on, "Such a jutsu is now mediocre, Konohamaru. Take a look at the new perverted jutsu I've been developing!"

Sakura, standing beside Naruto, smiled. She believed that Naruto had matured over these last couple of years, "That right, a new perverted…"

However, as soon as what was being said finally registered in her mind. Her face quickly changed from one of respect to one of blind rage, "A new perverted ninjutsu! You idiot!"

Sakura went to strike down Naruto. However, he had already started the jutsu, and a puff of smoke obscured her vision such that she missed completely.

She turned to strike again, however something was completely wrong. Kakashi and the man who had taken Naruto under his wing for the last two years, an old lecher by the name of Jiraiya were on their guard. Even Sakura's sensei, the young looking blonde, Tsunade was on her guard and had taken up a position between Konohamaru and Naruto.

"What is this?" Sakura asked worriedly, she could see, visibly see, wisps of red chakra jutting through the cloud.

"It's the Kyuubi's chakra." Jiraiya informed her, "Something's gone terribly, terribly wrong."

Sakura slowly backed away from the ever increasing cloud of debris.

Meanwhile, inside the cloud, Naruto knew something had went wrong as soon as he had began molding his chakra for his new jutsu. He also knew what the problem was.

What the hell are you doing, you bastard fox? Naruto screamed inside his own mind. He knew that the Kyuubi, the nine tailed demon fox that he contained, was behind this.

Reverberating in his own skull, Naruto could here the fox's evil, maniacal laughter. I might not be able to break free from you, kit. I might not be able to hurt you. However, I can give you a "gift."

What the hell are you talking about? However, try as he might to get an answer from the fox all he could hear was the twisted laughter of the evil spirit Stop this! Now! Goddamnit, answer me you stupid fox!

As soon as the danger seemingly came, it passed. The fox's chakra receded and the cloud of dust and debris calmed. Everyone present eased up a little as the threat was seemingly gone.

As the dust settled, everyone could make out a very different Naruto. He now had long blond tails on either side of his head. His bright blue eyes were now framed by a feminine face, though it still looked like Naruto. Also, all of his clothes now seemed to large for him, and hung off his body. His hip and back pouches and pants were too large to stay on and clattered down around his feet. There, for everyone to see was a distinct lack of a certain part of the male body. Also, even though his shirt was much to large now, one could make out the hints of a bosom. His broad shouldered, male frame had been replaced with a slender, hourglass, female silhouette.

"Bro, that's pretty lame." Konohamaru said from behind Tsunade, "The Oiroke no Jutsu is way better. You're not even naked."

"NARUTO!" Sakura shouted, "What the hell are you thinking? Change back right now before I beat the everliving daylights out of you!"

Naruto gulped and did as the enraged pinkette said. He had no interest in taking another one of her beatings. He put his hands in the common seal to release a jutsu, however nothing happened.

"Na-ru-toooo!" Sakura said warningly, cocking back a fist.

"It isn't working… I can't change back." Naruto replied worriedly, "I don't know what's wrong…"

For once letting a calmer head prevail, Tsunade stopped Sakura before she could beat Naruto into the ground. She ran through a quick set of seals and her eyes started glowing. It was a jutsu for allowing people to see genjutsu, the type of jutsu used for the Oiroke no Jutsu.

"He doesn't have chakra covering him. This isn't a jutsu, or at least not one we've ever seen before." Tsunade informed the group.

"What do you mean? Why can't I change back?" Naruto cried out, "Help me."

"Calm down, Naruto. Let's head up to the hospital, I'm sure we can fix this there. Just pull your pants up, please." Tsunade said.

Naruto looked down to see that everything below his waist was bared for all to see. He quickly reached down and pulled up his pants before nodding and walking off behind Tsunade.

Hours had passed, and Tsunade was sitting at her desk in her office, pouring over papers, test results, and books. Across the desk, in a chair, sat a very nervous and confused Naruto. Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Sakura were also in the room, sitting and standing in various places.

"This doesn't make any sense. I have no record of anything like this happening… ever." Tsunade said. She continued to pour over everything, looking for a solution that wasn't there. "The tests are all conclusive…"

"What's going on, Baachan?" Naruto asked tentatively. He just wanted this to be over. If Kami would just change him back, he'd swear never to perform another perverted jutsu ever again.

"Even your DNA has been changed…" Tsunade said.

Sakura started in shock, "Tsunade-sama, surely you don't mean…"

"What? What's wrong? What happened to me?" Naruto exclaimed.

Tsunade let out a breath and looked the young man... woman right in the eyes, "Naruto. For all intents and purposes you are female now. Biologically, even down to the genetic level…. You are a girl."

A/N

I don't know where it came from, but I just randomly got the idea for this. I know gender bending isn't everyone's cup of tea, and that's okay. This isn't something I'm used to writing either, so it's going to be an adventure for me.

Also, I've started this without a lot of planning, so I don't have a lot mapped out yet. I know I want to have a romantic pairing somewhere down the line, but with the basic premise of Naruto turning into a girl, it opens up a ton of possible pairings. I'm not sure if I want to play it straight or go with a yuri pairing. (Although, I'm a large NaruHina fan, and am currently leaning towards putting this story on that path.)

Also, if you have read my other Naruto fic (Four Man Squads, also I'm sorry I haven't updated it in so long), please note that this will be a radical departure from that. FMS is a decidedly shounen work. While the romantic and emotional elements in that story are important they do take a back seat to the action. This will be much more shoujo, in which the romance and emotions of the characters will be much more important. That's not to mean that there won't be any action whatsoever, it just won't show up as often as in FMS.

Also, as if it needed clarification, this takes place after the time skip (right at chapter 245 of the manga). I, also, do not make any money from this work and the original idea for Naruto and all the characters therein belong to Kishimoto-sama.

Please read and review. Also, while it's not evident yet, this will have mature themes later on. Thank you for reading Chapter 1.