LAPD Metro HQ, 2710 West Temple Street, Los Angeles, California, 2003.

The muffled sounds of gunfire rang out as I shot the paper target down the center mass and the slide of my beretta 92FS locked back. I took off the ear protectors and the safety glasses, loaded my gun with a fresh mag and walked over to the person manning the desk nearby.

"Hey Alex," the man greeted me and asked, "How are you doing today?"

"I'm good Charlie, can't complain," I replied as I handed Charlie the ear protectors and the safety glasses.

"Glad to hear it. Say, I was wondering if you would want to come to my son's birthday party later today?" Charlie offered as he loaded my empty mag with fresh rounds.

"Really? Your son is turning five today, right?" I inquired curiously.

"Yeah. So, how about it?" Charlie asked after he handed me the loaded mag.

"Why not? I don't have anything planned for this afternoon." I said with a nod and Charlie perked up.

"Great! I'll be seeing you, Sergeant Winston," Charlie stated just as my pager buzzed.

"I gotta go Charlie, duty calls," I said as I went to leave.

"Go get them, Sergeant," Charlie encouraged me just as I left.

Taking out my cellphone, I called the number on my pager and was instructed to suit up and respond to a 211 that had turned into a barricaded hostage situation at the Valley Trust Bank.

I rushed over to the men's locker room and saw my team suiting up.

"Hey Sarge. You got the call too?" Jake, my second in command, asked.

"Howdy Jake, and I did," I replied as I put on a navy blue jumpsuit, black elbow and knee pads, black gloves, black combat boots, black tactical vest with the word SWAT on the front and back, and a black military helmet with goggles on it.

My team and I hurried over to the armory and each took an M4A1 carbine with ACOG scope and flashlight attachments, an MP5A2 with surefire flashlight attachment, and a Kimber custom TLE with a flashlight attachment.

We headed out of the building and got into a bearcat truck. When we were all loaded in, the driver took us to the scene.

I began to brief the team on the situation. "Okay, listen up boys. We have a 211 turned barricaded hostage situation at the Valley Trust Bank. Officers on scene have been taking heavy fire from two gunmen and one officer is down. What's going to happen is that we will be going in two teams. Team 1, which is us, will be on the ground and providing assistance while team 2 will be flying in by helicopter and taking the roof. Everybody clear on what I just said?" I questioned while I checked my M4 and everybody muttered in agreement.

"Alright, lets rock and roll boys," I declared just as we approached the scene and could hear the sounds of rapid gunfire blaring out.

"Arriving at the scene now!" the driver notified us as we pulled to a stop. I fist-bumped Jake as we exited the bearcat and kept our heads down from the spray of gunfire.

While my team and I headed to the mobile command truck, I spotted the two perps, who were shooting at uniformed officers with AK47s and staying close to a white sedan.

"Lieutenant," I greeted as we approached the mobile command unit.

"Sergeant Winston, it's good to see you," Lieutenant Velásquez replied with a nod.

"So, how many perps are we dealing with?" I questioned.

"We've got the two perps shooting and at least two more inside the bank with hostages, but we don't know if there are more inside," Velásquez informed me.

"Okay. What about the negotiator? Is he here?" I inquired.

"He's over there waiting for us to tap in so that he can contact the perps inside the bank," Velásquez stated as he pointed to a man wearing a suit and I nodded.

"Thanks. We're going to take up positions around the front of the bank so that the perps won't be able to get mobile on foot," I notified him and my team and I quickly took up positions behind cars, the corners of the bank, and waited for the go ahead.

"Suspect's trying to get into the driver's side door," I heard Sierra 1 notify on my radio as I spotted one of the perps getting into the white car.

"This is 10 David, do not let them get mobile," Velásquez ordered and momentarily the perp inside the car was taken out by sniper fire from Sierra 1.

"He's down," Sierra 1 said.

The other perp kept firing as he backed up to the passenger side and leaned into the open door of the car. The car started moving and he used it as cover as he fired at my location, prompting me and Jake to shoot back in alternating single shots to try and take him down.

I let out a yell of pain when the shooter got lucky and caught me in the vest with a few shots, sending me crashing to the ground and hitting my head hard.

"Shit! We have an officer down!" Jake notified in his radio urgently as he leaned out of cover and grabbed the back of my vest, dragging me back into cover and resuming fire.

I felt woozy and my head hurt bad. I was very dizzy and I closed my eyes just for a moment to regain my equilibrium and blacked out.

I was startled awake when I heard the sounds of screaming, destruction, and roars of something very large.

"Argh...my fucking head. Where the hell am I?" I thought as I unsteadily stood up and got a good look at my surroundings.

I was in an alley of some kind with my weapons, equipment, SWAT helmet, uniform, and tactical vest, but my attention was focused on determining what was happening.

"What the hell is going on?" I thought in confusion as I carefully looked beyond the alley and I paled when I saw the scene in the street.

People were running and screaming, but what caught my attention and made me feel shock and disbelief was that there was a giant fox-like creature the size of a skyscraper, with a humanoid muscular torso, arms, hands with paw pads, orange/red fur, long ears, and, honest to God, nine tails destroying the large town I was in with swipes of its claws and tails as people wearing strange clothing were literally shooting fire, water, earth and the other elements from their mouths and throwing weapons that looked like they were something out of a ninja movie.

"What in the holy name of everything is that fucking thing?! Are those people shooting the elements out of their mouths?!" I thought incredulously at the sight before me.

The fox that was the size of the Empire State Building opened its muzzle and roared, sending an enormous gust with the force of a hurricane out to destroy buildings and send people flying. I cried out in terror as I dived back into the alley to prevent getting blown away.

"Jesus!" I exclaimed as I scrambled back to my feet. Even though part of me had decided that all this must be a hallucination from a head injury, my military and law enforcement training kicked in and I ran out of the alley toward the people who were battling the fox monster, praying that my weapons could help in the fight.

I approached many people throwing kuni and other ninja weapons. I stopped and looked at the monster warily, trying to gauge the distance. I raised my rifle and aimed, praying that I could do some form of damage. I fired repeatedly and the rounds struck the thing. They barely made a difference, but a few of the men and women stared at me in confusion as I kept shooting.

The giant fox looked in my direction with its blood red eyes, and I trembled as it snarled and swung a tail at me. Something grabbed the back of my vest and I was suddenly airborne and landing on a nearby rooftop with a middle aged man dressed in battle armor of some kind, just as the tail smashed the area where I used to be.

"Are you alright, strange one?" the man asked me in a gravelly voice.

"I'm fine, thank you. What the fuck is that thing?! And what the hell is going on?!" I questioned frantically just as more men and women landed onto the roof.

"Lord Third! We aren't putting a dent in the Nine Tails! What are your orders?!" one man asked as the fox kept destroying buildings and killing people.

"You know your orders! Keep pressing the attack and stall the fox long enough for the fourth to arrive!" the man instructed and asked me, "Strange one, will you help us?!"

"I don't know if I'll be of any help, but I'll do my best," I stated just as the fox looked at our location and swung a hand at us.

"Incoming!" one man exclaimed in alarm and we all were forced to move to prevent getting crushed.

The strangely dressed people managed to move out of the way, but my vest was caught by the monster's enormous claw and I was flung to the top of its head. I clung onto its fur as the fox turned its head to look at a mountain that had stone heads carved into it. I noticed a figure standing on one of the heads. The fox saw the same figure and reacted by lifting its head and forming a giant purple ball in front of its mouth, which then shot at the mountain. Giant letters, some form of writing appeared in front of the mountain and the purple ball stopped suddenly in midair, then was sucked into the writing and disappeared. Within a few seconds an explosion happened miles away.

"Holy shit! What the fuck did I just witness?!" I thought in disbelief as the fox lifted its head up and roared in savage rage.

I felt so afraid at the feeling of intense bloodlust and hatred coming off the monster, but I was in awe at its power and strength as I clung to its fur for dear life as it thrashed around. It suddenly stopped moving entirely for several surreal seconds, then sprang back to life, roaring as it smashed more buildings and killed more people. A few men wearing white animal masks threw kuni decorated with paper tags that exploded on contact with the fox, causing the monster to roar and slap the men away. I saw something, I don't know what, extend from a nearby building and hit the monster in the gut, shoving it out of town and into the nearby forest. I yelled and hung on for dear life as as the monster was forcibly moved and we wound up in the forest. I was unable to do anything or unholster my Kimber custom since letting go of the monster's fur would cause me to be thrown off and I would fall to my death.

The monster started forming another purple ball, but something large landed on the monster, nearly crushing me.

"Ohhhhh fffffuuuuccckkk meeeee!" I screamed in terror when I saw that the thing that landed on the fox was a giant toad with a sword.

"Hold the Nine Tails just a little longer!" I heard a male voice from above shouting.

"I'll give it my best, but that's going to be tough, even for me!" the toad spoke and I felt like I was losing my mind.

"This isn't real! This is a fucking nightmare!" I thought in sheer terror and denial as I felt the strangest jarring sensation of rapid movement.

I suddenly hit the ground and a felt a few ribs break, making me choke at the agonizing sensation as I laid in front of the fox. I groaned in pain as I slowly stood up and looked up at the monster in fear, who looked down at me in hatred and a little bit of curiosity.

"What do we have here? A human wearing strange clothes and holding a stick that shoots fire?" I heard the fox mutter in a demonic and guttural voice.

This was unbelievable as chains came out of the ground and wrapped around the fox, who snarled and struggled harshly just as I heard an infant crying and I turned around to see a man and a woman with a baby nearby.

The man appeared to be in his late 20s with neck long spiky blond hair, wearing a headband with a metal frame on the front, a cloak with flames on the bottom and a kanji on the back, green flack jacket, blue pants, and sandals. The woman in her late 20s looked worse for wear as blood trickled out of her mouth. Her long red hair was disheveled from sweat that matted her clothes. I heard the woman talking to the man, who recoiled and and looked like he was going to cry as I approached. The man made strange gestures with his hands, and something that looked like some kind of altar with a small bed on it appeared out of nowhere. The man took the baby from the woman and laid him gently on the small bed.

"Excuse me," I announced and they looked at me, the man instantly on guard, holding a strange looking kuni.

"Who are you?" the man asked warily as he stood between me and the woman.

"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you or your friend. I just wanted to see if your friend was okay," I assured as I slung my rifle and held my hands up to show that I wasn't a threat.

"You look strange...how do I know you aren't a threat to my wife and son?" the man questioned suspiciously.

"You have my word that I won't hurt your wife and son," I vowed while keeping my distance and I said, "My name is Alex Winston, what's your name?"

"My name is Minato, my wife's name is Kushina, and this is our son Naruto," Minato introduced while I took a closer look at Kushina.

"She doesn't look so good." I thought grimly just as Kushina gasped in pain and slumped forward as Minato caught her, keeping her from falling to the ground.

"Kushina!" Minato cried out in panic just as I heard the chains loosening and looked back to see the fox raising a hand, about to impale the baby with its claws.

"Look out!" I exclaimed in alarm and watched in horror as they both leapt into the fox's way and were impaled while protecting the baby.

"Damn you, Fourth Hokage!" the fox roared out in fury and frustration and cried out desperately, "No! This will not happen again!"

Before I could react, the fox thrust a claw at me and I was impaled through my vest and into my chest. I choked and gurgled in agony as blood bubbled out of my mouth and the most horrible pain ripped through me. I howled in agony as a red bubbling aura flowed from the fox and into me, the unbearable pain nearly sending me into unconsciousness.

"If I'm going to be sealed again, then this human will continue as my legacy!" the fox declared as my body started changing into a different form.

My clothes and gear vanished as my feet and legs snapped into a digitigrade form, my nails turning into black claws, paw pads growing on my paws, ears growing long, multiple tails growing out of my spine, and my head stretching and compressing into a vulpine shape as orange fur grew all over and black fur covered the inside of my ears, trailing to my eyes. The last change was my eyes turning blood red and my pupils forming into slits just as the fox removed his claw from my chest. As the hole healed up, I grew until I was twice the size of a large horse.

I collapsed, breathing heavily from the pain just as Minato made handsigns and a transparent humanoid creature with horns appeared.

"Alex-san? Oh Kami, what has the Nine Tails done to you?" I heard Minato question in horror as the pain began to fade and I sat up to stare at my hands in disbelief.

"Oh God...I'm not even human anymore," I thought in shock as I got up on all fours and wobbled a little as I glared at the monster in hot rage.

"You bastard! What the fuck have you done to me?!" I roared out in fury in a deep and guttural voice while my new tails thrashed around in agitation, and the fox smirked in amusement.

"I gave you a little...gift, human. Enjoy being a Human Tailed Beast for the rest of your now immortal life," the fox huffed as the creature with horns took out the knife from between its teeth and reached for the fox, sinking its hand into the fox's body and pulling out a blue aura.

The aura went into Minato and he gasped in pain as he did more handsigns and a human sized toad appeared in a puff of smoke. The toad looked at the fox and then at me, and paled.

"Aaahhhh! The Nine Tails and a clone?! And the Lord Fourth too?! What the hell is going on here?!" the toad cried out in panic as I watched in distress.

"Gerotora...I'll give you the sealing formula's key. When I'm done, take it to master Jiraiya to store it," Minato instructed and my new powerful ears picked up someone talking.

"So that's it...Minato plans to make his own child the Nine Tails Jinchuriki to save the village!" I heard a voice state. I looked behind me to see the man that had saved me earlier, standing with two other men next to him a short distance away.

"I can confirm I've received the key! Alright, I'm off!" Gerotora declared as I looked back to see him poof out of existence in a cloud of smoke.

"And now we're safe...Alex-san, I know this whole thing has been a shock to you but I want you to promise me and Kushina something," Minato told me as I awkwardly moved to him and his wife.

"What is it?" I asked, my voice cracking up and tears starting to form since I had an idea about what he wanted me to promise.

"I know that we aren't going to make it so please...guh...help to watch over our child...Naruto will live a cruel life due to being a Jinchuriki and I sense that you have unique abilities that can help him as he grows," Minato gasped and I nodded.

"I swear I will. I'll treat him as if he was one of my own," I agreed while I looked at the child with a solemn expression.

"Thank you...we appreciate that," Minato groaned as Kushina smiled gratefully and she looked at Naruto.

"Naruto...don't be a picky eater. Just eat a lot so you'll grow up big and strong...and make sure that you bathe everyday and stay warm too. Also, don't stay up too late and get plenty of sleep...don't forget to make friends as well...you don't need a ton of them, okay? Just a few is fine...as long as they are ones you can really trust. And...your mom wasn't very good at this, but make sure you study very hard and learn your ninjutsu...always remember that everyone is good at some things and not so good at others. So even if something doesn't go well, don't get depressed...okay? When you're at the Academy...respect your teachers in the classrooms...oh, and now this is important...regarding the three prohibitions of the shinobi...be extra careful about borrowing and lending money. Take your pay...and put it in a savings account...no alcohol, not until you are 21 years of age...too much sake is bad for you so...practice moderation...and another prohibition is women...remember, I am one...so I don't know too much about it. Keep in mind...that this world is made up of men and women, so at some point, you'll notice girls and that's normal...just be careful and don't fall for the bad ones. Just go out there and find someone like me...one more thing, watch out for Jiraiya Sensei and always listen to Alex-san...Naruto, I'm sorry to say that there will be plenty of hardships and painful times ahead, but just be true to yourself and make sure to have dreams...along with having the confidence to make them come true...oh Naruto, there's so much...so much more. There are so many things I wish I had time to pass on to you...so much more I wanna tell you. I wish I could stay with you longer...I love you. Minato, I'm sorry...I used up your time," Kushina apologized while she was sobbing and he shook his head in understanding.

"No...it's alright. Naruto, my words to you...I guess your talkative mom said it all, but Alex-san will be there to take care of you while we're gone...I'm truly sorry to put this burden on you. I hope one day you will forgive me for this...eight signed seal," Minato muttered sorrowfully and the fox roared as he was sucked into Naruto and the two parents fell to the ground.

At that point it was too much for me and I broke out sobbing at the horrible tragedy I had witnessed, heading over to Naruto and curling up next to him with my tails instinctively wrapped around him gently to calm the crying child.

"I will make sure this child has someone to take care of him, I swear," I thought as the man in battle armor and his men quickly approached.

"Oh Kami..." I heard the man in battle armor mutter in despair as the two men with him saw me and readied their swords.

"Lord Third! It's a clone of the Nine Tails!" one of the men cried out in alarm as their leader looked to see me with Naruto.

"If you three attack me, you'll hurt the boy so stand down," I said sternly as I kept Naruto close.

"We're not taking orders from a demon! You and your filthy kind killed my son! Now die!" the man roared out and went to attack me, but he was stopped by his leader.

"Stand down!" the man ordered and the two men looked at him in shock.

"B-but Lord Third-" the second man tried to protest, but he was cut off with a stern look.

"You heard me! There has been too much death tonight, and this "clone" used to be human, so stand down," the man in the battle armor stated wearily.

The two men hesitated but they eventually sheathed their swords and tensed up when I stood up on all fours and put Naruto on my back with one of my tails. Suddenly, we heard gasping and saw Kushina wheezing weakly, prompting everyone to rush over to check on her.

"Kushina! Can you hear me?!" the man in battle armor spoke frantically and Kushina barely looked at him.

"...Sarutobi? Is that you?" Kushina gasped and coughed harshly.

"I am here, just stay with me so that we can get you to a hospital!" Sarutobi said frantically but Kushina shook her head weakly.

"It's too late for that...I only have seconds...I just wanted you to do me and my husband a favor," Kushina wheezed.

"Anything," Sarutobi said with tears running down his cheeks.

"That child is going to live a harsh life...my husband's final wish is that the people of Konohagakure see our son as a hero for keeping the fox locked up, and we want people to see that Alex-san is not the Nine Tails or it's clone...guh...can you do that for us?" Kushina asked while her weak breathing started to fade.

"I will..." Sarutobi trailed off quietly.

Kushina smiled and before I knew it, her breathing stopped and I lowered my vulpine head out of respect for their sacrifice and hard choice to make their son a vessel for a monster.

"Nobody is ever going to be the same after tonight...not even me," I thought bitterly as I felt the fox's intense power flowing through my new form and I wondered what would happen next in this new life I had been thrown into.

I kept Naruto close as Sarutobi and a few men escorted me through the village. It was strange moving around in a new form and feeling the alien sensation of multiple tails swaying fluidly, but I knew that I had to adapt for Naruto's sake. If there was one thing I had learned in the military and the battle of Mogadishu in 1993, is that you needed to adapt and overcome if you wanted to survive a hellish situation.

I saw many survivors glaring at me with intense hatred, shouting threats and calling me names like monster, demon, hellspawn, and other cruel insults. I didn't know if it was the new body the Nine Tailed Fox had forcibly changed me into, but I could somehow sense rage, grief, hatred, vengeance, fear, and malicious intent coming off all the people around us as we kept moving through the village.

After the whole tragic events of tonight, I was ordered by Sarutobi to follow him and he explained that there was going to be a council meeting to discuss what was going to happen to me, and what was going to be Naruto's future. I didn't blame the people looking so hateful at me since I was a perfect replica of the monster that killed their friends and family, and I also didn't blame them for not knowing what to do with me, a person that was an unexpected development in their lives.

"How much longer?" I asked Sarutobi patiently, who had his men keeping people back from taking out their fury and vengeance on me.

"Not much longer, strange one. We are almost there," Sarutobi assured as we were approaching a large building.

"Alex," I said and Sarutobi looked at me in confusion.

"I'm sorry?" Sarutobi inquired.

"My name is Alex Winston," I clarified while I kept Naruto gently wrapped in one of my tails like a blanket and held him close to my side.

"Alex Winston...a strange name but it is not my place to judge," Sarutobi stated as we entered the building and he didn't appear to be looking forward to the meeting that was going to happen.

We eventually came to a large door that led into the council chambers and I could hear quiet whispers about how I was being escorted by the now fully named Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had the title Third Hokage and that I was carrying an unnamed child. I didn't know what the title Hokage meant, but my guess was that whoever carried the title was someone of great importance.

I felt nervous since I didn't know what was going to happen to me and if things were going to turn out okay, but I was snapped out of my thoughts when the large door opened and I was led into the chamber.

As we went in, all the whispering stopped and I saw everyone inside staring at me with a mixture of emotions. One half was looking at me with fear and the other half was looking in confusion since I had Naruto with me and I wasn't being hostile.

The council made up of civilians and shinobi were currently staring uneasily at the eerie looking copy of the monster fox that nearly destroyed the hidden leaf village, and they also felt confused when they saw that the thing was holding a newborn baby in one of its tails.

"Sorry for the wait. Now, I hereby declare this meeting underway," Hiruzen stated as he and the large fox headed to the seat at the head of the room and the formerly retired Hokage knew that he and Alex were going to be in for a long one when everyone started murmuring at the announcement.

"Lord Third...forgive me if I'm being rude, but why is the Nine Tailed Fox with you? Why is it at a smaller size? What happened to Lord Fourth and why hasn't it attacked?" Shikaku Nara questioned.

"Who cares why! That's the demon that attacked our home and slaughtered our loved ones!" a gaunt civilian cried out in rage and he was shut up by a small burst of killer intent from Hiruzen.

"If you will stay quiet and let me speak, then I will explain!" Hiruzen said sternly and started to explain.

As Hiruzen explained, some of those in the clan council felt horror and despair when they learned that Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki were dead since they knew them really well and fought alongside them in the 3rd Great Shinobi War, but they also felt shock and disbelief when Hiruzen told them that the Nine Tails that was sitting in front of them used to be a human who was forcibly changed by the real fox before it was sealed into the baby Alex was keeping close.

"Lord Third...there are no words to describe how this is possible...I thought the fox was a mindless being of destruction that causes disaster, and none of us knew that it could use its chakra to change a human into a clone of itself," Tsume Inuzuka spoke in shock as she looked at the fox who used to be human.

"Neither did I, Tsume. But if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it myself...which is why we need to figure this out by contacting Jiraiya so that he can study this phenomenon and hope that he will find a way to reverse the affects," Hiruzen agreed grimly, then Inoichi Yamanaka started speaking.

"Lord Third...if I may, I would like to delve into our furry friend's mind so that I could make sure the fox isn't influencing him to carry out malicious intent," Inoichi offered.

"As long as it's okay with Alex-san, because he has been through enough tonight and we don't want to further distress him anymore then he already has been," Hiruzen said and everyone looked at Alex, who was in deep thought.

As everyone looked at Alex, Hiruzen noticed that Danzo was being unusually quiet and he narrowed his eyes in suspicion since the war hawk was most likely planning something. Hiruzen knew Danzo and if he was being quiet, then that wasn't a good sign for Alex.

I kept thinking about how the man with blond hair was going to go into my mind and if I wanted him to do that. On one hand, if the monster fox had left its dark essence in me, this examination could prevent the fox from influencing me and making me do something I would regret. But on the other hand, this could be a way for these people to control me. I didn't know what to expect since I had seen so many unexpected things in this land.

"If that fucking thing really did leave something behind to make me go on a rampage, than I have to take the risk so that I don't get influenced to kill people," I thought and I looked up to nod, showing people that I was giving consent.

The man with blond hair left his seat and carefully approached me, stopping in front of me and performing a single handsign.

"Mind Transfer Jutsu!" the man declared and everything went black as I felt a presence enter me.

The next thing I knew, I was inside a familiar precinct with the man, who was looking around in awe at seeing the inside of the building. I looked down at myself and saw that I was back to normal with my standard LAPD uniform and duty belt.

"This is what you look like as a human? Your clothes look very strange," the man observed while I was looking at my hands and clenching them.

"This is so strange...being human after staying in a different form," I remarked at the sudden change and the man took my shoulder so he could lead me.

As we were moving through the building, I spotted a mirror and saw my reflection- a clean shaven Caucasian man in his mid thirties with short red hair and blue eyes. As we kept walking, I felt the presence of the fox move through me and we were suddenly in a sewer system of some kind that lead into a large room with a enormous gate. We stopped and looked up at the gate, which had a paper tag covering the lock on the doors. We could hear soft growling coming from the shadows.

"What the hell...is this place?" I wondered as the man went close to the gates, and he quickly jumped back when giant claws came out of the gate to try and eviscerate the man.

I reacted by pulling out my beretta and aiming at the gates just as two blood colored eyes appeared and the darkness lifted to show us the large fox in all his glory.

"So, my legacy has deigned to grace me with his presence. How are you enjoying your new form?" the fox asked me with a mocking grin and I started feeling pissed.

"Fuck you! I want some answers, you son of a bitch! What the hell did you do to me and how can I change back?!" I yelled at the monster, who laughed in amusement.

"Like I said human, I gave you a gift. Be thankful that I had decided to lower myself into making a human into my legacy. As for you changing back, why would I help you? You are fine as you are and I am never going to lower myself any further by helping a human," the fox sniffed as he laid down and simply stared at me with his blood red eyes.

"In case you haven't noticed asswipe, I'm no longer human thanks to you. There must be a reason why you destroyed my life like this. What am I and how do I become human again?" I demanded and the fox scoffed.

"Well, since you asked so kindly...you are something I like to call a Human Tailed Beast. You typically have my full power and shape, but you don't need to eat, drink, or sleep to survive, and you can't die since you are also immortal. If you do die, you will just reform though it will be a long and painful process. As for changing back into a human, you will need to figure that out on your own since I have already lowered enough of my dignity into helping you. And my reasons for doing this are my own, now leave me in peace," the fox stated as he turned his head away and closed his eyes.

I looked at the blond haired man, who was staring at the fox in surprise and he looked at me.

"Did you find anything?" I asked the man, who shook his head.

"No, I haven't found any signs that you could be influenced, so you're safe," the man informed me as I holstered my gun and breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's good," I muttered as I went over to the man, and he did his handsign again.

I woke up and looked at Naruto, who was snuggling in one of my tails and I laid down so that I could curl up around him to keep him warm.

"Have you found anything Inoichi?" Hiruzen asked the blond haired man.

"No, but I did discover something interesting while I was with Alex-san," Inoichi notified which caught everyone's attention.

"What did you find?" an obese man with long spiky hair asked.

"While we were in there, I discovered Alex-san's memories by accident and saw a world that was far different than ours. There were no shinobi or chakra, and technology has far surpassed ours. I also discovered that the fox was inside Alex-san's mind, but it was intelligent and speaking. It had a conversation with Alex-san and it told him that he was something called a Human Tailed Beast," Inoichi explained and everyone looked at him and me.

"This is an unexpected development...I never once considered that the fox was intelligent and that it could speak," a man with pale eyes and a stern expression mumbled as he looked thoughtful.

"This brings us to our next question. What happens to Alex-san now and what about the child he has with him?" the feral woman named Tsume asked.

"That child is the son of Kushina Uzumaki and his name is Naruto. Minato's dying wish is that the village sees this child as a hero for keeping the fox locked up. As for Alex-san, Minato also wanted the village to not see him as the fox or it's clone...we must honor Minato's dying wish. It's the least we could do for him," Hiruzen declared and some of the counsel started protesting.

"Lord Third! That child and the fox are monsters! It is obvious that the baby is the demon in human form and that the fox taking care of it is it's spawn! We must do something before they kill us all!" a gaunt looking man protested and Hiruzen shot a stern glare at him.

"You and everyone else will do no such thing! That baby is an innocent child and Alex-san is nothing more than a victim in all of this! From what Inoichi told us, Alex-san was taken from everything he ever knew and thrown into a situation he had no control over! Seeing as how everyone can't agree on this, I am enacting a law that forbids anyone from talking about the fox! This is a SS-rank secret that is penalty of death, and Alex-san will be taking care of Naruto from now on. If that is all, this meeting is adjourned," Hiruzen declared as he stood up and gestured me to follow him.

As we left the chamber, I wondered what would happen next since I was taking care of a baby and I also wondered what would the future would hold for me and Naruto.

A/N So, what do you all think about this chapter? I just wanted to say that I took some inspiration from the story Nine Tails Incarnate and that the part about Alex becoming a Tailed Beast with a human soul is an interesting concept I couldn't help but write down. Now, I just want to come out and say that I need help on changing the story a little bit while keeping it a little canon. Like Naruto getting stronger at a realistic pace and Sasuke turning out to be an okay guy while also growing strong in his own way. If any of you have any ideas, let me know either by review or contacting me by private messaging.