Hello readers!

I've got another story, I really need to stop having ideas...

But I couldn't let this one go! This is the first fanfiction idea that I ever had. So I had to put it out there.

For once, this is not a neglect story or a crossover!

This is Naruto cannon up to the forbidden scroll incident, where it starts. All characters are in their shippuden outfits, except the ones wearing chunin and jounin gear.

A harem as always.

Important: I re-uploaded this chapter because I noticed a few errors, nothing has changed except where I didn't put in where Naruto's headband was in the weapon shop.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other series that may appear.

Chapter 1:

Failure!? I think not!

In a forest clearing, there were three people, a 16 year old blonde with an orange and black tracksuit and a pair of goggles on his head. Two men dressed alike, one with brown hair in a pineapple style with a scar across his nose, and one with silver hair covered by a bandanna.

Naruto Uzumaki watched as Iruka-sensei passed out from the pain of having a giant shruriken embedded into his back. This day had gone to hell in a hand basket! First, he'd failed the graduation exam for the third time, then he'd found out that Mizuki-sensei was using him, then he found out that the Yondaime sealed the Kyuubi inside him, and lastly in this parade of total shit, Mizuki had just mortally wounded Iruka-sensei!

"Sensei, Sensei!" Naruto cried as he tried to wake Iruka up, but to no avail.

Mizuki chuckled darkly, "Aw, the demon is sad... Well don't worry, you'll be reunited with Iruka... IN HELL!" He said as he threw the second shruriken.

Naruto shook and threw his hand out, grabbing the metal weapon by the ring in it's center, "You hurt my sensei..." Naruto felt sharp points of pain in his back, "I'm gonna make sore that you suffer!" As he said this, golden chains erupted from Naruto's back, racing toward Mizuki and tearing the ground apart along the way. Mizuki didn't even notice as a streak of red made it's way through Naruto's hair, or one of his eyes turning violet.

Mizuki was so shocked that he didn't think to do something until the chains had wrapped around him, but when he tried a kawarimi, he found that he couldn't access his chakra!

"Let me show you something I learned from the scroll..." Naruto said as he placed his hands into a cross shape, "Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" Suddenly, clones of the blonde appeared surrounding the clearing. Mizuki trembled as he realized his position.

Naruto narrowed his eyes and charged, the clones following suit...

Hokage's office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, watched the scene unfold in his crystal ball. He was happy that Naruto learned the Kage Bushin, but the Kongo Fusa as well? That would complicate things...

Hiruzen made a hand signal and watched as three ANBU dropped down and knelt before his desk, "Tora, retrieve the scroll and return it to the vault, Usagi, round up some ninja to take Iruka home and arrest Mizuki, Neko... bring Naruto here."

The three ninja nodded and disappeared to complete their assigned tasks. A few minutes later, the purple haired ANBU with a cat mask returned leading Naruto inside, "Thank you Neko. Now leave us."

Neko nodded and left the room, leaving Naruto and Hiruzen, Naruto looked down to the ground and said, "I'm in deep shit aren't I?"

Hiruzen sighed and lit his pipe, "Not as much as you'd think, I know Mizuki tricked you my boy, but there are other things we need to discuss." At Naruto's confused look, he elaborated, "The Kyuubi, those chains, and your parents..."

At hearing the last topic, Naruto's head shot up, "My parents, you mean you knew them? You lied to me?"

"I know you're angry with me Naruto-kun, and you have every right to be. But I promised them that I wouldn't tell you about them until you made chunin. However, things have changed." Naruto calmed down and nodded, "Your parents were Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage."

Naruto's jaw went slack, before he started to think about the implications, "My Tou-san sealed the Kyuubi into me..."

Hiruzen saw where this was going, "It's not like he wanted to Naruto. Only an Uzumaki could contain the Kyuubi, you and Kushina-chan were the only ones left, and she was far to weak to contain it. Your chakra coils were still underdeveloped, you could adjust to it."

Naruto nodded and thought about that, knowing that, he could understand his father's reasoning... But that didn't mean he liked it, "What about the chains?"

"They are known as the Kongo Fusa. I suppose you could call it a bloodline. That's where your new red highlight and purple eye came from. It only appears every few generations among members of the Uzumaki clan. It can suppress chakra and they are nearly unbreakable."

Naruto looked back up at Hiruzen, "I have a clan?"

Hiruzen blew out some smoke, "I'm sorry Naruto, but they were destroyed when your mother was still a child... You're the last that I know of..."

The blonde's head dropped again, "So what am I gonna do now? I failed the academy three times, I can never go back... I'm never going to be a shinobi now..."

"... Naruto, what would you say if I told you that you could still be a shinobi?"

Naruto's eyes went wide, "What!?"

"If you still wish to be a shinobi, then meet me at training ground 13 tomorrow morning. Now you're dismissed my boy, go get some sleep... you've had a long day." Hiruzen said, giving Naruto the most serious expression the blonde had ever seen on his surrogate grandfather. Naruto nodded and left.

Hiruzen then called Tora and Neko back in, "Neko, get a message to Jiraiya, tell him to get here as soon as he can. Tora, get me the acting head of the Kurama clan."

Naruto looked up at the night sky as he walked back to his apartment, today had been... tiring, "My parents... Jiji didn't tell me a whole lot about them, I would really like to hear more about them. Though I wonder what he wants..."

The blonde climbed the stairs to his small home, walking into it and looking around. It wasn't much but it was home...

He walked to his room, dressed himself in his pajama bottoms, lied down on his futon, and closed his eyes to sleep...

The next day.

Naruto walked past the trees into training ground 13 with a small bit of hesitation, when he got a good look at the clearing, he saw a river, a patch of pure stone, a grassy area, and a corner with sheer cliffs rising up above the trees.

"Welcome my boy." Naruto focused on Hiruzen standing in the center of the field.

"Hey Jiji, what's-"

"Sensei."

"What?" Naruto said with some confusion.

Hiruzen gained a hard look on his face, "For the next seven days I will be your sensei. Should you manage to impress me with your growth, then I will make you a shinobi. Fail and you stay a civilian forever. Is that understood?"

Naruto realized that these would be some of the hardest days of his life, but he stood tall, "Understood Sensei."

Hiruzen smiled in a grandfatherly way, "Excellent. Now dodge."

"What?"

"DODGE!"

One week later.

Naruto panted as he dropped to the ground, he was exhausted... His jacket was torn to shreds, his pants were completely torn, his sandals were falling apart, and his shirt was in tatters. Over the past week, Hiruzen had shown no mercy, Naruto had taken art in a training schedule that would make Might Gai flinch. But it was worth it. Hiruzen had made him eat healthy, fixing his malnutrition and making him grow taller, to a tall 6"2'. Thank you Uzumaki healing factor! He had quite a few new jutsu to add to his repertoire, Hiruzen had taught him boujutsu for some reason, he was stronger and faster than ever before, and he was most certainly not the dead last. Though Hiruzen had made Naruto train his mind as well, by making Naruto send clones to the library and read up on everything he should have known from the academy. He had also used the clone method to learn some chakra exercises.

Hiruzen had also told Naruto some things about his parents, how they met, what they were like, and Naruto was even more bummed that he wasn't able to meet them.

"Is this all you have my boy?" Hiruzen said with a hard voice.

Naruto struggled and rose to his knees, "Not... on your life... old man..."

Hiruzen smirked at Naruto's progress, he had gone from the dead last, to an impressive shinobi. Now there was one thing left to do, Hiruzen quickly tossed a metal object at Naruto, the blonde mustering the last of his energy and catching it, seeing a Konoha headband before he passed out.

Hiruzen chuckled at his student's actions, it was rare to see Naruto this worn out. He placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and shunshined back to his office, placing Naruto on the couch to the side. He then sat down at his desk, waiting for his other student to show up.

Soon, he heard the telltale sound of the window sliding open, "You called sensei?" Jiraiya asked as he hopped into the room. He looked around and noticed the passed out blonde, he flinched as he noticed the state of him, "Damn, did you give him your 'sink or swim week'?" Hiruzen's smile was all the answer needed, "Damn... he really looks like a miniature Minato." The sage said, noticing how Naruto's hair had grown, looking almost like Minato's.

"Yes he does. Now I'm sure you're wondering why I've called you here." At Jiraiya's nod, Hiruzen continued, "Do you remember that idea you had when you wanted to become a sensei? The one about a team of supposed failures?"

Jiraiya nodded, "Yeah. I thought that as a former failure myself I could turn some lost causes into strong shinobi, why?"

"How would you like to give it a try?"

"What?"Jiraiya said with wide eyes, "Are you serious? I have my spy network to handle you know."

Hiruzen nodded, "You'll need someone to handle it when you're gone. Plus it was one of your biggest wishes."

The toad sage sighed and thought a minute, "Alright, who did you have in mind?"

"Well, he's not exactly a failure but..." Hiruzen said gesturing to Naruto.

"Really? You want me to teach him?"

At this, everyone's favorite blonde stirred and sat up, "What hit me..."

Hiruzen smiled, "That would be me Naruto."

Naruto took a minute to regain his bearings, then he noticed Jiraiya, "Who's he?"

Jiraiya face-faulted, "Who am I! I am the gallant Jiraiya! How have you not heard of me!?"

"Ah, the bonding of teacher and student..." Hiruzen said with a laugh.

Naruto stopped, "He's gonna be my sensei?"

Jiraiya grumbled about no respect from kids while Hiruzen nodded.

"There's someone else, she should be arriving-" The Sandaime was cut off by a knock at the door, "There she is, come in."

The door opened to reveal a brown haired girl Naruto's age wearing a pink yukata, and a yellow hairclip in her hair, Hiruzen smiled at her and looked to the man escorting her, "Thank you for bringing her here, you may go now."

The ninja seemed all to eager to get away, making the girl seem depressed. Hiruzen smiled at her and asked, "How are you feeling Yakumo-chan?

The girl looked up and spoke in a sad voice, "Normal... But I still wish I could get over my... problem..."

Hiruzen nodded and said, "I brought you here for a reason. How would you like to become a Kunoichi Yakumo-chan?"

Just like Naruto, Yakumo's eyes went wide, "What? But Kurenai said that I could never be one!"

"I disagree. I believe that with the proper training, you can become an excellent Kunoichi. Now allow me to introduce your teammate and Sensei, this is Naruto Uzumaki." Hiruzen said, gesturing to the now stretching blonde.

Naruto gave her a foxy grin and said, "Yo, it's nice to meet you Yakumo-chan."

She blushed and looked around for her sensei, not seeing him, the two students looked around while Hiruzen facepalmed, knowing what was coming.

Suddenly, the room went dark and a spotlight appeared above Jiraiya, who moved in a Kabuki dance, "I am the envy of men and the dream of women, My voice can make women quiver and calm a crying child, I am... The gallant... JIRAIYA!" He finished with a double thumbs up.

Naruto and Yakumo merely stared, until they both pointed and said, "Ero-sensei."

Jiraiya face-faulted again as Hiruzen tried to contain his laughter. After finding his footing again, Jiraiya slammed his head against the wall, mumbling about 'the return of the disrespectful brats'.

After Hiruzen got his laughter under control, he said, "Why don't you three go out for a bit of team bonding? You also need to pick up some ninja gear. Speaking of which, Yakumo-chan?" Said girl caught the headband tossed to her and stared at it with a sense of disbelief, like it was all a dream.

After hearing this, Naruto looked down at his last tracksuit, torn to shreds. Yakumo also picked at her yukata, agreeing with Hiruzen.

With that, the three left the office, heading for a small store in the ninja section, when they arrived, Jiraiya said, "Welcome to Higurashi Weapons, the best ninja outfitter this side of anywhere." When they entered, they saw a girl with her hair in two buns manning the counter, looking bored.

Jiraiya looked at his two students and said, "Go look for some gear you like, I've gotta talk to the owner for a minute."

As they walked off into the racks, Jiraiya took out a small iron key and headed up to the counter, then he said, "Excuse me, may I speak to Ken?"

The girl nodded with a smile and said, "Sure. Hey dad! You have a customer!"

A large bald man with a mustache walked out of the back and walked up to the counter, when he saw Jiraiya and the key, he turned to his daughter, "Tenten, why don't you go help those two, they seem like they need it."

Tenten looked at them, seeing Naruto picking far too much orange, and Yakumo looking lost, "Alright."

When she was gone, Ken turned back to Jiraiya, "That key... You're here for that?"

Jiraiya nodded and watched as Ken walked over to a painting of a forge, moving it to the side to find a safe. He put in a combination and opened it up, taking out a long wooden box locked with a heavy iron padlock. It was six feet long and one foot wide.

Ken set it down on the counter and rubbed some dust off, "I never thought I'd see the day when this was released..."

Jiraiya nodded as he placed the key into the lock and turned, watching as the padlock dropped to the ground with a loud thud. He then opened the box to reveal the items within.

The first was a sword, six feet long, with a gentle curve. The sheath was made of shining reddish brown lacquered wood, with a silver cap on the end and a thin line of gold running through the middle. The hilt was a foot and a half long wrapped in wine red cloth, with another silver cap on the end. The tsuba was made of both the gold and silver metals, in the style of a highly detailed swirling whirlpool, a leather strap to place it on someone's back, and lastly, there was a bright orange ribbon hanging from the cap on the hilt, half as long as the sword itself.

There were six other weapons identical to each other, six three-pronged kunai each with a sealing formula painted onto the handle.

Lastly, was a scroll, about the size of an average forearm, with pictures of waves and tornadoes along the sides.

Jiraiya stared at them for a minute before closing the box and looking back to Ken, "Thank you."

He smiled and shook his head, "The only thanks I need is to see those weapons being used again."

"We're all done!" The two heard Tenten say. The two men both turned to see their new gear, Yakumo was wearing a purple battle kimono with black bike shorts, and her headband on her waist. (Her actual shinobi outfit, but the headband is on her waist instead of forehead, look her up and you should find a picture of her in it.)

It was Naruto that made them do a double take however. He was wearing a long sleeved mesh shirt, with a pale green sleeveless undershirt, a blue sleeveless hoodie lined with white fur stopping at the bottom of his ribs, black cargo pants tucked into dark brown boots that came up to just below his knees, white fingerless gloves reaching halfway up his forearms, and his headband was tied around his neck, but certainly not least, was an orange belt with rings to hold scrolls or kunai around his waist.

Naruto pouted a bit, "I think it needs more orange..."

Tenten, and surprisingly Yakumo, both shook their heads in exasperation. Then Tenten noticed the box sitting on the counter, she knew that box, but she had only seen the contents once, when her father took the weapons out to do some upkeep on them. However, he had seen her and told her to never speak about the contents to anyone, she had been confused, but recognized that her father was being serious, so she complied. Seeing the box out and Jiraiya ready to carry it away got her wheels turning, someone was going to be using them!

Yakumo noticed the box as well and asked, "What's with the box sensei?"

Jiraiya tossed the box at Naruto, who held it easily, if a bit unsteadily, then ha replied as he paid Ken for the clothes, "It's for the brat. Now let's go, we've got some things to do yet."

So the sage and his two new students left the store, leaving a nostalgic Ken and a stunned Tenten. They kept going until they got to training ground 13, where Jiraiya sat down and told them to as well. After they did, he decided to get down to brass tacks, "Alright, first off there will be no secrets among my team. Naruto, Yakumo, tell each other about your... inner afflictions."

They both flinched and stayed silent for a minute, Naruto, after getting tired of the silence went first, "The Kyuubi didn't die when fighting the Yondaime... It was sealed away inside me..." He then lifted up his shirt and made his seal appear.

Yakumo was, understandably, scared at first, before she realized that he was just like her, "I have an ido inside me... it's an alternate personality created by my psyche."

Naruto smiled at her, "Well, looks like we're more alike than we thought huh?"

Yakumo smiled for the first time in a long time, "It seems that way..."

Jiraiya interjected here, "While I hate to break up a budding romance..." He inwardly chuckled at their blushes, "There are a few more things to take care of. Yakumo, I'm going to remove your seal, while I'm doing that, Naruto's gonna tell you about his family."

Yakumo nodded as Naruto stiffened, he didn't think that Jiraiya knew about that! But never the less, as Jiraiya drew a release seal over the seal on the back of Yakumo's neck, Naruto told her about his parents.

After he was done, Jiraiya decided to drop another bomb, "Also I'm your godfather, and Tsunade Senju is your godmother."

"WHAT!? Then where the fuck have you guys been my whole life!?" Naruto yelled, jumping to his feet.

Jiraiya noticed how angry he was and sighed, "I had to keep track of my spy network. Plus it's not like I left you all alone, your monthly stipend comes from me, and there's also a storage seal full of shadow clones on your left arm, made to let a clone out when your heart rate goes above a certain level, speaking of which, kai!"

A puff of smoke appeared on Naruto's arm and he suddenly remembered something, whenever his... beatings came around and the ANBU weren't there, about a minute in a cloud of smoke would appear, he would black out, and appear at the hospital...

Naruto sat down and nodded, "What about my godmother?"

The toad sage sighed as he finished up the release seal, "She left the village before you were born... She lost her lover and little brother in the third great shinobi war. She had nobody left, and she couldn't handle the pain, so she left. To tell you the truth, I'm not even sure that she knows about you."

Naruto took that all in and tried to arrange his thoughts while Jiraiya spoke to Yakumo, "You ready?"

She nodded and braced herself, "Fuin Kai!" Yakumo gasped as she felt her chakra truly start to flow again, she had limited access before, but now she had true flow again... It felt amazing!

"Now get a feel for your chakra again. It'll help your control." Yakumo nodded at her sensei's advice and took a few minutes to familiarize herself with her chakra.

After both his students had gathered their thoughts, Jiraiya spoke, "Now on to more... emotional business. When I made jounin, I wanted to make a team of failures and turn them into Kage level ninja, since I was a failure myself. After all these years I've realized something... There are no failures or prodigies, there are only people. How good a ninja they are depends on their heart, hell everyone said I would amount to nothing and look at me now, I'm not bragging when I say that I'm one of the strongest ninja in the world. Everyone thinks that you two are lost causes, we're going to show them that they're wrong. That's why I chose to be team 13, when we would normally be team 12."

At their confused look, Jiraiya remembered that students wouldn't know about it, "Team 13 is always the throwaway group. The ones who will never make it as ninja as they are now. Not to say that they could never be ninja, but they never would if they didn't make some major changes. I chose team 13 because I want people to see that lost causes can become as good as any so-called prodigy. Now... what do you two say?"

Naruto and Yakumo looked at each other before nodding, "We accept." They both said with conviction.

Jiraiya smiled at his two pupils, "Good, now there's still a few weeks until the regular team selection. In that week, we're going to be training our asses off, but first I have a few things to give you." At this, he pulled out a small black scroll, "Yakumo, this is a scroll of genjutsu from one of, if not the best, genjutsu users in the village. He's working on a long term mission right now, but he agreed to help you out with this scroll." As Yakumo took the scroll, Jiraiya tilted his head at the box at Naruto's feet, "Open it up kid..."

Naruto nodded and flipped it open, when he saw the contents, he felt like his world shifted... The Yondaime's Hiraishin Kunai... His father's weapons... His attention was also taken by the sword, he didn't know why, but he felt a pull toward it. He unsheathed it and stared at the long blade, gleaming like liquid silver...

Jiraiya watched as Naruto handled the weapons, "Even if you're not ready for the jutsu, your Tou-san would have wanted you to have those kunai... But the sword... Her name is Benihime. That sword will only be drawn by the true heir to the Uzumaki clan, it used to be Kushina-chan's sword, but now it's yours."

Naruto sheathed the sword and picked up the scroll, "That scroll contains everything your parents knew, take a look." Naruto did just that, and unrolled it to see storage seals, labeled: Fuinjutsu, Kenjutsu, Boujutsu, Futon, Raiton, and Suiton.

Naruto looked at them and said, "I assume there are more scrolls in these?"

Jiraiya nodded, "Exactly. We'll get to them when we start training. I assume sensei found out your chakra nature."

"Futon with lesser Raiton and Suiton natures. But why is there a section on boujutsu?"

"The sword. It's so long that the wielders started to use it like a staff, it just stuck and became a part of the sword's style. It's used as a staff until you need an edge, then you switch to kenjutsu to unleash it's real power." Jiraiya then took out his fuinjutsu kit, "Now let me put a sealing scroll on you so you can keep them with you... What are you doing?"

What Naruto was doing, was putting the six Hiraishin kunai onto the straps in his belt, three on each side, as well as strapping Benihime on his back, with only a small bit of difficulty, leaving the whole hilt sticking up from his right shoulder.

Naruto gave Jiraiya a serious look, "I'm not going to hide who I am. If I need to I'll keep them in a scroll, but not when I don't."

Jiraiya stared into Naruto's eyes and saw the same fire he always saw in Minato and Kushina, "Fine. But while we're in the village, before we leave, keep your hood up. You're not strong enough to protect yourself from your parent's enemies yet."

Naruto nodded while Yakumo thought, "What do you mean leave?"

Naruto wondered this too and looked at their sensei, who told them, "I need to keep track of my spy network, and teach one of you two how to run it for when I'm gone. So the day after team assignments, we're leaving the village to travel and train. No D-ranks for us, when I say we're ready, Sensei will start sending us C-ranks to do."

"Will we ever be back here?" Yakumo asked.

Jiraiya gave them a smile, "Of course we will. We'll just spend most of our time on the road."

When they smiled back, Jiraiya cracked his knuckles, "Now to get to training. Dodge."

Yakumo was shocked as Naruto immediately grabbed her by the back of her kimono and ran.

Two weeks later.

Yakumo was standing in the middle of training ground 13. She was looking all around to find her opponent, larger than life he was, he could be stealthy... They had been at this for about an hour...

"Futon: Rekudan!" Yakumo turned to the barrage of wind bullets and dodged them, well not so much dodge as, flow around them, like a willow tree in the wind.

Once the attack stopped, Yakumo pulled out her scroll, popping a paintbrush out and pulling a length of paper from the scroll, complete with seals for automatically clearing it. She popped open a small compartment that stored ink, with backup seals filled with more. (It's like Sai's scroll, but a metal cylinder with a set amount of paper that can clear. The rest of the empty space is filled with ink and a compartment for the brush.)

She dipped her brush and waited, she needed to see her victim for the genjutsu to work, the real problem was that Naruto knew that. She tried thinking of a solution, but as soon as she did, she found a three-pronged kunai at her neck.

"Game over Yakumo-chan..." Naruto said with a smile, until he saw Yakumo smirk, then dissolve into crows, "Aw damn."

Yakumo then appeared behind him, holding a picture of Naruto bound in rope, "Damn right! Genjutsu: Kosoku Ropu!" Naruto suddenly felt his body go stiff, as if an invisible rope was holding him.

As soon as Yakumo thought she'd won, another Naruto dropped down from a tree and made a hand sign, "Kongo Fusa!" The golden chains flew from Naruto's back and wrapped around her, nullifying her jutsu and making the bound Naruto disappear in a puff of smoke.

Yakumo gave an exasperated sigh, "Stupid clones..."

Naruto laughed and released her, then Jiraiya appeared and said, "Nice spar you two, you're getting better." It was true, they had learned quite a lot in their time training under him, Naruto had a good handle on his sword, the two had learned more jutsu. To people's surprise, Yakumo was a fire nature. The girl had also opened up to the two of them, mostly Naruto, and the blonde himself had gotten rid of his mask of idiocy, as well as learning more about his parents fro Jiraiya, including the masked asshole who tore the Kyuubi out of his mother and controlled it, apparently Minato left a note explaining it, "But we're going to leave the village tomorrow, and before we do, we need to take care of something." At their looks, he prepared for their reactions, "Confronting your... inner demons."

They both flinched but nodded, they knew they'd have to do it eventually... So Jiraiya made a giant sealing circle for them to sit in, they sat down and he prepared to activate the seal if anything went wrong. The two gennin took a deep breath, letting themselves be drawn down into their minds...

Naruto's mind.

Naruto appeared in a traditional temple, even bigger than the Hokage tower,Naruto walked to the back and saw an enormous cage. As he walked closer, a claw shot out and tried to skewer him, he stood still and watched as it stopped the smallest margin away from his heart.

"Hmph no fun at all. Just like your mother..." The Kyuubi said as it appeared from the darkness of the cage, "At least the accommodations here are better, no more being stuck to a rock with pillars through my tails... What do you want kit?"

"I wanted to talk to you about your chakra." Naruto said, staring into the bijuu's eye.

"Of course, well I can guarantee kit that you won't be taking it."

"Wasn't planning on it."

"Don't backtalk me you... What?" Kyuubi said, getting confused.

"We're both stuck with this situation whether we like it or not, so we might as well make the best of it." Naruto said with a smile.

Kyuubi blinked a few times before speaking, "This is new... I like you kid, so I'll make a deal with you. I'll let you use my chakra, but I get to choose how much you get and when you get it. In return... You have to do something for me..."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "What do I have to do?"

Kyuubi smirked and glowed a bit, before shrinking down. When the glowing and shrinking stopped, Kyuubi was... No longer a fox... well, not totally. Kyuubi was now an incredibly hot girl. She was about his age, wearing a modified kimono and glasses, with a large bell on her rather generous chest. Complete with nine fluffy tails behind her... (The shrine priestess from No Game No Life, but with red hair the color of Kurama's fur and nine smaller tails, plus no whiskers.)

She smirked at him and said, "You just have to let me out of here when you figure out how... Call me Miko, and I promise to make it worth your while..." She finished with a purr.

Naruto blushed and said, "Sure... I'll let you out when I can. But you don't have to do anything for me. It wasn't your fault hat you attacked, so I won't hold it against you." With that, he disappeared from the mindscape.

Miko blinked and gripped the bars so hard they whined in protest, "Did. I. Just. Get. Rejected... I don't know whether to be flattered that he didn't want to take advantage of me, or to rip his heart out..."

Yakumo's mindscape.

Yakumo looked around the copy of the Kurama compound in her mind. Half was normal, while the other half was decrepit and destroyed. She walked over to the border between the two halves and stood waiting. It wasn't long before her Ido showed up, a demonic version of herself cackling with sadistic joy.

"Well well, look who's here... Are you ready to stop fighting me Yakumo?" It said while staring into Yakumo's eye.

"I'm actually here to tell you that I'm not going to take your abuse anymore. I'm not going to let you harass me any longer." Yakumo said shakily.

Ido just laughed madly and mocked Yakumo, "Aw that was so cute.~ You think you can stop me! I'm not going to stop Yakumo, I am going to take over your mind and lock you away! I'll take such pleasure in killing anyone who opposes me, but not before I have some fun with that stud of a teammate you have..."

As Yakumo listened, one thing Ido said stuck with her. She pulled out all the confidence she had gained over the past few weeks and stood up to her Ido, "Exactly. My mind." Ido stopped, "This is my mind. I am in control here." As she spoke, her confidence grew, and the compound started to put itself back together, she walked forward as Ido backed up, "I don't need you, you insane bitch, you need me! Without you, I could be perfectly fine, but without me, you don't exist!" By this time, Ido was against a wall while the entire compound was fixed, "Now listen up, I'm going to be using my bloodline, and you're gonna sit here and like it. If you behave, I might let you have a little freedom, but until then, you're going to pipe down and sit here LIKE A GOOD LITTLE MALFUNCTION!"

Ido shook and slumped against the ground, then nodded, feeling respect for Yakumo for the first time. Said girl nodded and left, with a new level of confidence in herself.

Training ground 13.

Jiraiya watched as Naruto woke up first, he must have had a civil conversation with Kyuubi, then they waited for Yakumo to wake up, her chakra spiked near the end, but other than that she was fine. When they were both out, they told about their encounters, and while everyone was proud of Yakumo, it was Naruto that shocked them the most.

"Kyuubi's a girl!?" Yakumo asked with wide eyes.

Jiraiya grabbed Naruto's shoulders and shoo him, "An incredibly hot girl!? But more importantly... YOU TURNED DOWN HER OFFER FOR SEX!? WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?"

Yakumo smacked Jiraiya with a paper fan and said, "Calm it down Ero-sensei..."

After a few minutes of yelling and crying, Jiraiya pulled himself together and said, "Alright, we'll cut training off early today..."

Naruto blinked, "Really? It's only noon." They usually got done so late that nobody was up anymore...

"Yeah, you two have earned it, so go on, have fun! Plus... I need to catch up on my research..." His student's eyes twitched as he jumped away laughing perversely.

Naruto turned to Yakumo and asked, "Wanna go get some lunch? My treat."

She nodded and the two set off, Naruto pulling up his hood before they left the training ground, shadowing most of his face except his mouth.

As the two walked through the village, they couldn't help but notice people staring at Naruto, or more specifically, the weapons he was wearing. Most were shocked seeing Benihime, while they nearly had a heart attack when they saw the Hiraishin kunai. They walked to Ichiraku, and Yakumo put up a small genjutsu so Naruto could take off his hood, which he did.

"Yo old man! Got some ramen for your best customer?" Naruto called, soon Teuchi walked in from the back.

When he saw Naruto, he said, "Well Naruto! Where have you been these past few weeks?" He then noticed the sword and kunai on Naruto, "So you know huh?"

Naruto stared at him, "You knew?"

The ramen chef nodded, "Your parents came here all the time, it was easy for me to spot. So how've you been, and who's this lovely lady?"

Naruto smiled, "Pretty good, and this is my teammate Yakumo-chan. By the way, where's Ayame-neechan?"

"She's out getting groceries, lemme head back and get started on your ramen,"

So the two gennin sat and chatted for a few minuted before someone walked in, "Hey Tou-san! I'm back with the groceries!"

Naruto looked to the girl a few years his senior, "Hey nee-chan."

She turned to him, "Hey Naru-kun!" she then continued walking back, before she was back out faster than a jounin, "Naruto!? What happened!?"

He chuckled and scratched the back of his head, "I've been training..."

"I guess so..." Ayame said while looking him over.

For a completely unrelated reason, Yakumo wanted to take Naruto somewhere else.

After they ate and Naruto caught up with Teuchi and Ayame, the two went out for a walk around town. As they walked, they turned a corner and someone ran into Naruto, he just got pushed an inch, but she was knocked to the ground. Naruto looked down and recognized her, Hinata Hyuga.

Naruto leaned down and offered Hinata a hand, "I'm sorry about that, here, let me help you up Hyuga-san."

She hesitantly took his hand and said "N-no it w-was my f-fault. I w-was in a h-hurry..."

"But I could have dodged, sorry again." Naruto said.

Hinata got a good look at the two new arrivals, they looked to be her age, but she had never seen them before, "My n-name i-is H-hinata... U-um Wh-who are y-y-you two? I d-don't think w-we've ever m-m-met."

Yakumo smiled and held out her hand, which Hinata took, "I'm Yakumo Kurama, nice to meet you."

When Hinata looked at Naruto, he chuckled nervously, "Sorry Hinata-san, but you already know me... So why were you running anyway?"

Hinata, forgetting her confusion, said, "Oh no! I'm a-almost l-l-late to meet my t-t-team! It was n-nice m-meeting y-you, but I n-need to r-run!" With that, the shy Hyuga sped off.

Naruto and Yakumo shrugged before walking back to training ground 13 for some last minute training.

A few hours later.

Hinata dropped to the ground in exhaustion, she had made it in time and her team had managed to pass their test. She sat herself up and caught her breath, annoyed beyond belief and more than aware at Kiba staring at her heaving chest.

Suddenly their sensei, Kurenai Yuhi, appeared and spoke to them, "Excellent work you three, we'll start missions tomorrow. For now, just head on home and get some rest."

With that, Kiba and Shino left, though Hinata took a few more minutes to catch her breath. She then let her mind drift back to the two she had met, more specifically the boy, "What did he mean when he said that I already knew him... I don't think I have..."

Kurenai noticed her expression, she knew Hinata's emotions after taking care of her when she was a girl, "Something on your mind Hinata-chan?"

Said girl snapped out of her thoughts, "N-nothing s-sensei... Just th-thinking about a c-couple p-people I m-met today..."

"What about them?"

Hinata took a moment to gather her thoughts, she was comfortable talking to Kurenai, so her stutter went away, "It's really the boy I'm confused by... I don't think I've ever met him, but he said we had. He also had some weird weapons with him... One was a six foot long sword with a long orange ribbon, and he also had six three-pronged kunai on his belt..."

Kurenai held in her stunned expression. It sounded like this kid had Hiraishin kunai, and her sensei's old sword, "You said there were more?"

Hinata nodded, "There was a girl with long brown hair. Her name was Yakumo Kurama, she wore a purple battle kimono and had a headband around her waist."

Kurenai was internally screaming, "Yakumo!? What is she doing with a headband!? She can't be a shinobi, I haven't trained her in years!"

She regained her composure and said, "Well, I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually. Now why don't you head home? You look about to drop."

Hinata nodded and left the training ground, her mind still on the mysterious boy, before it drifted to Naruto...

Kurenai waited until she was gone before letting her face harden, she then shunshined straight to the Hokage's office.

Hokage Tower.

Hiruzen was doing the evil paperwork when a puff of smoke appeared in the middle of his office, when Kurenai appeared, he was a bit surprised. The team pass/fail report wasn't for another hour, "Hello Kurenai-chan, what can I do for you?"

"Why is Yakumo a shinobi?"

Hiruzen sighed, "Naruto..." he then took out his pipe, "I made Yakumo a shinobi because I wanted to see her potential realized. Forgive me for saying, but this is my final decision and you have no more say in the matter."

"No say!? You are the one who told me to seal away her power!"

"But I did not order you to tell her that she could never be a shinobi."

Kurenai flinched as she recognized this, Hiruzen continued with, "Yakumo is now a shinobi. No ifs ands or buts. I suspect that you also know about her teammate."

Kurenai nodded, "Only some special objects he carries."

Hiruzen sighed, "I knew it would be trouble letting him carry those around openly so soon... If there's nothing else, then I'll see you at the meeting."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Kurenai said as she disappeared, she had a lot of thinking to do...

Meanwhile, just outside Konoha.

Naruto and Yakumo looked over their shoulders at the looming gate of Konoha... This was the beginning and the end of so many things. They then looked out on the stretch of road past Jiraiya, they had never been outside the village gates before, but now they were going to be traveling all over the nations... It was a bit daunting.

Jiraiya looked back at his two students and noticed their faces, "Don't worry, it may seem too much now, but you'll get used to it. Hold your heads up! This is a whole new adventure!"

They both smiled a bit and nodded. As they walked, they were both filled with excitement, this was a new adventure...

However, Jiraiya had to ruin everything, "By the way I've only got two tents. As sensei I get one of them to myself. Do with that information what you will."

Naruto and Yakumo were silent for a minute before, "EEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHH!?"

Chapter end!

I hope you guys like my new story.

Yes Naruto and Yakumo will get a third teammate. Also they won't be going back to Konoha until the chunin exams.

Review please!