A/N: Hey guys. I fixed up a mistake that a few lovely reviewers pointed out to me. Thanks guys/gals! Also, I don't own Naruto. There. Copyright thing done. I'll have next chapter up within two days. I promise. And if I don't, I give everyone one of you permission to flame me as hard as you want. Other than that though, reviews are welcome and encouraged.

A/N #2: For some reason, when I uploaded the revised chapter, it took away all the bold, underlined and italicized words in it. I went back and fixed it and a few other things. Let's hope it doesn't do that again.

Chapter One: The Linking

Dec. 27, Hinata's 3rd Birthday

11:57 PM

It was a wintry night with small gusts of wind chilling those in inappropriate clothing to the bone. Most of the residents of Hidden Leaf Village were asleep but a few were still up and about celebrating the treaty that ended the war between the Hidden Leaf Village and the Village Hidden in the Clouds. Although the ANBU were keeping a vigilant eye out for anything suspicious or threatening, one lone figure was able to slip through their patrol and reach the Hyuga Compound. The man was clothed in a form fitting black outfit that covered his entire body but was not restricting in his ability to move.

"Hmph. That was almost too easy. Now, to kidnap the Hyuga heir and discover the secret to their Byakugan," the man whispered to himself.

"... Wait. Why am I saying this out loud? Its not like a group of people are currently seeing this unfold from a different dimension or something." The shinobi crept through the Hyuga compound until he reached Hinata's room. With extremely quick but silent steps, he approached her bedside and gazed down on her.

"Haaah. Finally. The Byakugan's secret shall be ours." He quickly gagged and tied her up and fled out the window. If any of the other residents had decided to activate their Kekkei Genkai, they would have seen the man quickly escaping through the nearby wooded area.

...

11:59 PM

"I'm gonna check on Hinata and make sure she is asleep," Hiashi told his wife, "Those fireworks just now might have woke her up." His wife nodded to him before continuing to read her book. Hiashi activated his Byakugan and what he saw made his blood run cold.

"HINATA HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED!"

...

12:01 AM

"Hehehe. Now to get out of here and get to the rendezvous. Hmmm. This conveniently placed alleyway should get me out of here faster," the kidnapper mused as he turned into the alleyway. Since he was trying to get out of there quickly, he didn't notice the figure walking towards him. The other person was a young boy, no older than 3, dressed in a small black shirt, orange pants and blue sandals. His eyes were a shocking blue and his hair a vibrant blonde. On his cheeks were whisker marks, identifying him as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. This boy was none other than Naruto Uzumaki... Who was currently sleep walking and thinking about ramen. Due to the speed at which the man was going, his collision with the boy not only knocked him down, but also woke the boy up, woke Hinata up, bang his shin against a conveniently placed bench, drop Hinata and almost knock himself unconscious against a brick wall.

"Aiyah! That hurt! Who just ran into me? Probably another villager that hates me. Why do they hate me though? I haven't done anything to them. Nyaahh. I'm hun-" Naruto's mumbling and random cat sound was cut short when he saw the tied up and now frightened Hinata.

"Woah! Hey! You okay?" Naruto made his way towards her while the kidnapper fought against the blackness that was threatening to completely take over his vision.

"I'll make sure... that if... I can't take her to... my companions... her Byakugan will be worthless! Aishiru No Jutsu (Eye Sealing Jutsu)!" He made a few hand signs known only to the shinobi of the Village Hidden in the Clouds and pointed his palm towards the still tied up Hinata not noticing Naruto untying her before it was too late. An orb of light that shined in no single color formed and quickly shot towards the pair.

"Don't worry. I'll have these ropes off of you in no ti- AARRGHH!" Naruto yelled as the light enveloped Hinata and him. Hinata's scream was muffled but still gut-wrenching to be heard. Their screams only intensified as the chakra networks in their eyes slowly started to close off. If they were cut off completely, they would lose their eyesight permanently. The jutsu wasn't perfect however. It could also close off some of the chakra networks in the recipients brain, either leaving them permanently brain damaged or even kill them. However, the jutsu also interfered with Naruto's Eight Trigram's Seal allowing some of the Nine-tail's chakra to escape and mix with the chakra in the air and in Hinata's body.

...

Within Naruto's subconscious

Naruto and Hinata were currently asleep in a sewer complex. To their right was a dark passageway that led into only blackness with no clear end in sight. To their left was a giant gate with a paper that had 'Seal' written on it that housed the Nine-tailed Fox. On the ceiling were two pipes of different sizes. One was small and flowed with blue fog while the large one flowed with a red fog. The fox looked down at them and smiled.

"Wake up Naruto. Wake up." The Nine-Tails voice didn't even make Naruto grumble. It did, however, make him tighten his arms around Hinata who instinctively curled into his warm embrace.

"I hate to wake them up like this but I need to speak to them." The Nine-tails took a deep breath and yelled, "WAKE THE HELL UP!" Naruto and Hinata both shot up, wide awake after the scare they just had, with Naruto blinking his eyes rapidly and Hinata holding onto Naruto's arm for dear life.

"Wah? What the heck was that? I was having a great dream. Wait. Where am I?" It wasn't until Hinata squeezed his arm a bit tighter that he noticed she was there.

"Hey! It's you! Are you okay? What's your name? Do you know where we are?" Hinata looked up at him and blushed. She hadn't met anyone like him before.

Her shyness caused her to stutter when she talked to anyone and everyone but she was able to say, "S-sorry. I'm n-not s-s-sure where w-w-we are but I-I am o-o-okay. My n-name is Hi-Hinata Hyuga. Wha-What about y-you? A-are you okay?"

"I'm okay Hinata. And my name is Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki. And that's fine that you don't know where we a-," Naruto's voice caught in his throat when he noticed the giant nine-tailed fox behind bars in front of him. "Woah! What is that!" Hinata meeped and hid herself behind Naruto who stood his ground for her sake even though he was scared out of his mind.

"Heheheh. HAHAHAHA!" The fox started laughing at what just happened. "Whew. I haven't laughed that hard in... I can't even remember the last time I laughed. Anyways. Hello Naruto and Hinata. I am Kurama. Or you may know me better as the Kyuubi or the Nine-tailed Fox."

"EEEHHHHH? You're the Nine-tailed Fox that attacked our village three years ago? What is going on! Where did you take us," Naruto yelled as Hinata huddled closer to Naruto's back.

"Calm down. I haven't taken you anywhere. Physically anyways. Your physical bodies are currently being assaulted by a jutsu that is very dangerous and can be fatal if not treated properly. Where we are is inside your mind Naruto. Hold on. I'm not done speaking yet. Where was I? Oh yeah. Currently, time has no meaning in this place so we can talk for hours without any time passing in the real world. Alright. I'm done talking now. You may ask your questions." Naruto looked like he was about to burst with questions while Hinata was stifling a giggle at the face he was making.

"Alright! First, why are you inside me?! Two, why is Hinata here?! Three, why are we even here," Naruto's voice rushed out so quickly that Kurama almost didn't understand everything he said.

"Ok. Any questions you want to add Hinata?" She shook her head and moved to sit beside Naruto so she could see Kurama better but kept close to Naruto just in case anything happened. Even though they had just met, she felt safe just being near him. "Alright. Then that makes things easier. Okay. For your first question, I was sealed inside you by the Fourth Hokage on the day I attacked your village which I am sorry for. A man named Madara cast a Genjutsu on me that heavily influenced my thinking. If it was up to me, I wouldn't have attacked your home at all. I just wanted to live in peace. Next, the reason why she is here is because the jutsu that was cast on you and her interfered with the seal on your stomach allowing some of my chakra to slip through and mix with the surrounding chakra. Because of this, when I brought you into your mind to talk to you, it also brought Hinata here with you. And for your last question, the reason why is because I will be able to help counter-act this jutsu. It will have some side-effects but it would be much better than the alternative," Kurama finished.

Before he could continue, Naruto yelled, "What do you mean? What kind of side-effects? And whats the alternative? It won't hurt Hinata will it?" This last question caught both Kurama and Hinata off guard. They didn't expect for him to be worrying about whether or not she would be harmed. They thought he would be mainly worried about his own skin. Kurama looked at him with a new gleam in his eye while Hinata blushed a deep red and held onto his arm a bit tighter.

"Hmhmhm. Interesting. I expected you to be more concerned for yourself than her. I mean. You just met her and all," Kurama said to Naruto. "Let's see how he reacts."

"Well of course I'm worried about myself. But I believe in putting others safety before mine!" Kurama looked at him and gave him the biggest smile Naruto had ever seen. Not surprising considering how big he was.

"Perfect. I was hoping you would say that. Well. First, if I didn't do anything, both of you would lose your sight and not be able to regain it ever. I can stop that from happening however. The side-effects are not that bad but a bit... different. First, the only thing that would happen to Hinata would be that she would gain some of my chakra. Her chakra reserves, power and control over it would increase. Its more of a blessing than a curse right? For you Naruto though, it will be a bit more noticeable. One of the seal's points will be removed allowing me to do this but doing so will cause my chakra to flow forth more freely, giving you a new... feature about your body." Kurama trailed off there clearly having trouble to tell him what would happen.

"Well? What would it be? Can't cause anyone to hate me more than they already do. I mean. They already hate me for me just being me," Naruto looked down sadly after saying this clearly troubled at the thought of how many people hated him. He was startled out of his sad spell when he felt a small hand on his cheek.

"I-I don't h-hate you N-N-Naruto," Hinata said while somehow managing to look into his eyes without fainting. Naruto stared at her in disbelief before he broke out into a huge grin and hugged her tight.

"Thank you Hinata! You have no idea how that makes me feel! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you," Naruto continued hugging her until Kurama cleared his throat.

"You may want to give her some room. She's turning extremely red," Kurama calmly stated. Naruto quickly let go of Hinata while apologizing. Hinata told him it was fine and stayed close to him, a blush ever present on her face.

"Now that we got that out of the way. You would... uh. Gain a fox tail and ears," Kurama looked down sheepishly after saying that last part. Naruto stayed quiet for a few minutes. Hinata and Kurama were starting to worry that he wasn't gonna say anything at all.

Naruto startled them when he suddenly said, "So long as Hinata doesn't get hurt I'll do whatever it takes." Hinata and Kurama had similar but also different reactions. Both were shocked at first but Hinata's next action was to sidle closer to him, the seeds of love having been planted in her heart with those words, while Kurama's was to smile and chuckle.

"Glad to see your committed and stay true to your word. There is one more side-effect I must address. I'm not sure how this one will turn out though. For me to be able to counter-act this jutsu, I must connect your eye's chakra networks for a small amount of time. Doing this will cause one of three things to happen. One, nothing will happen. It's always a possibility. Two, Hinata will lose her Byakugan and gain normal eyes like yours. She won't be able to use her Kekkei Genkai anymore but will be able to see just as well. Or three, you will gain the Byakugan Naruto. This one is a wild card so we will just have to what happens. Do you both still want to go through with this?" Kurama waited patiently as Naruto and Hinata thought about it.

"As long as Hinata doesn't get hurt or minds, I'll go through with anything," Naruto stated confidently.

"Y-yes. I w-will go th-through with it a-as long as N-Naruto doesn't m-mind," Hinata shyly replied.

"Very well then. I will begin the procedure. Be warned. I will have to let you return to your bodies for this to work. You will experience pain but it will not last long," Kurama stated while looking at them intently. Naruto and Hinata simply nodded before their vision faded to black.

...

12:03 AM

Hiruzen Sarutobi, or the Third Hokage as he was more commonly known as, looked across his desk at Hiashi Hyuga and his wife Hikari. All of them were tired but the fact that Hinata had been kidnapped kept them working at their very best. The Hokage was dressed in his usual attire, the Hokage cloak over a suit of mesh battle armor with his hat resting atop his head. Hiashi and Hikari were clothed in traditional Hyuga attire although Hikari's was more worn due to the current situation. Hiashi was also worried but he was able to keep his cool... Barely.

"Don't worry Hiashi and Hikari. I have the very best ANBU and Jounin trackers working on finding her and her kidnapper. I would use my crystal ball but it's being polished and won't be ready until tomorrow... Er. Later today that is. Anyways. I'm sure they will find her in no time.

"For all of our sakes, I hope you are right," Hiashi replied, putting his arm around Hikari to comfort her.

...

12:04 AM

The kidnapper looked over in awe as a red light started to shine from the two kids as the Kyuubi's chakra started to do its work. They became linked as the chakra went into their eyes and started to work on forcing out the other man's chakra and also completely destroying the binds holding Hinata in place. As this was going on, Naruto's seal became bathed in an orange light as one of the points burst, allowing more of the Nine-tails chakra to flow out. Two fox ears and a tail started to form out of this excess chakra before solidifying into a solid, physical form. Both Hinata and Naruto's fingernails took on a more clawed shape and their canines increased in length and sharpness before the red chakra was fully absorbed into their bodies.

"What the... hell just... happened," the man groaned out before he passed out from exhaustion. Before Hinata and Naruto also succumbed to the encroaching darkness in their vision, Hinata curled up next to Naruto while Naruto held her close. They both sighed and let the darkness take them then.

...

12:10 AM

"Hokage sir! We found her," a Jounin yelled as he burst into the Hokage's office.

"Where is my daughter," Hiashi calmly asked even though he wanted to jump for joy.

"That's a bit complicated. You see..." the Jounin explained how they found her curled up next to Naruto with the kidnapper unconscious against the wall. He also told them of how Naruto has red fox ears and a red tail.

"What do you mean she's curled up next to Naruto?" Hiashi's eyes betrayed nothing but his stance gave away his unease. Hikari on the other hand didn't mind at all so long as Hinata was okay.

"Well sir. I mean that she is curled up against him and he... uh... Has his arms around he-," the Jounin wasn't able to finish his sentence as Hiashi blew past him to go to where Hinata was.

"Don't mind him. He's just concerned for her. Now, please continue. I can tell you weren't done speaking yet," Hikari said with a soft smile.

"Oh. Uh. Thank you ma'am. This next part is a bit more serious..." The Jounin hesitated.

"Go on Akaru. Tell us please," the Hokage calmly said with a smile.

"Yes sir. It's... Well. It's about Naruto's eyes and body," Akaru said cryptically.

...

12:15 AM

"WILL SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHY THE HELL NARUTO HAS THE BYAKUGAN," Hiashi screamed at the nearest ANBU who was guarding the alleyway from anyone he deemed suspicious. In the alleyway were multiple Jounin and other ANBU shinobi. Some were examining the alleyway itself to determine what happened. The rest were guarding the Cloud Ninja until Ibiki arrived. More in the center of the group were the now awake Naruto and Hinata. Naruto, with his new ears folded against his head and tail wrapped around himself, was cowering behind Hinata due to her father acting like this. Hinata was blushing at the thought that she was, in a way, 'protecting' Naruto. Naruto had some trouble adjusting to his now pupil-less eyes but also found that he was able to see a bit more clearly. His new ears allowed him to hear better and his tail acted as a makeshift blanket. As Hiashi vented his frustration and confusion to the very patient ANBU agent, a medic-nin slipped by them and made her way towards the two children. She was dressed in usual doctor attire consisting of a long, white coat, glasses, a stethoscope around her neck, green slacks and brown high heels that were oddly silent. She had a kind face with long, brown hair done in a ponytail and deep green eyes that shined with comfort and warmth.

"Hello. I'm Ishira, a doctor at the ninja hospital. I would like to ask you a few questions and give you a light examination. Okay," she asked Naruto and Hinata with a smile gracing her lips. Hinata and Naruto, whose ears perked up at fact that he was being treated nicely, readily agreed. They felt safe with this woman even though they had never met her before.

"Alright. Let's get started. First of all: what happened?" She looked at them expectantly. Naruto and Hinata looked at each other trying to decide who should speak first. Naruto jumped when he heard a voice in his head.

"Don't tell them about our conversation. They wouldn't trust what I had to do in order to save you both. If they ask how you got the Byakugan and your new, uh, 'features'. Just tell them that they appeared after he used a jutsu on you," Kurama said in his head. Naruto complied with him and quickly took the initiative.

"Well. I guess I was sleep-walking before that guy over there," Naruto pointed towards the still unconscious Cloud Ninja, "ran into me, knocking me down and dropping Hinata on the ground. I went over to help him but he used a Jutsu on us. We were in excruciating pain because of it and we blacked out due to it. When we woke up, I had the Byakugan and these ears and tail." Hinata looked at him quizzically but trusted he had a good reason for not mentioning that the Kyuubi within him helped.

"Hm. Strange. Is everything that Naruto said correct Hinata? Did he forget anything or get anything wrong," Ishira asked Hinata after writing down what Naruto told her.

"Y-yes. He d-d-didn't leave an-anything o-out or mix u-up his in-information a-at all Miss I-Ishira," Hinata stuttered out.

"Alright. Next question. Did either of you happen to hear what Jutsu he used on you?" Ishira looked at them expectantly, hoping that they had heard what he used on them. "If they can even tell me one part of it, I may be able to help Naruto return to normal." Both Hinata and Naruto shook their heads at this though.

"Damn. I was hoping I could help you out Naruto," Ishira stated sadly. Naruto was a little stunned by this declaration.

"She wants to help me? Guess there are other people like Hinata after all," Naruto thought to himself happily.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it. To be honest, I kinda like these changes. I can see better thanks to the Byakugan, I can hear better thanks to my new ears and my tail can keep me and anyone else who I wrap it around nice and warm." To emphasize his point, he wrapped his tail around Hinata who had just shivered at that moment. Hinata gave a little meep and a jump but quickly snuggled into the warmth of Naruto's tail.

"H-he's right. I-it is n-nice and warm," Hinata told Ishira with a blush on her face. Ishira looked between the two and gave a small chuckle.

"So long as you don't think it will be a burden, then I see no reason for you to not have them then. Alright. Last question. This one is only for Naruto though. And it is very important so please answer seriously," Ishira told Naruto in a serious tone. Naruto gulped and could only nod. Hinata started absentmindedly rubbing his tail which actually had a calming effect on him.

Seeing how Naruto was ready, Ishira looked him dead in the eye and asked, "Do you want to become a ninja and learn the Gentle Fist Style?"

...

Chapter One: End